Role of U.S. in Russia-Ukraine conflict: "We want dollars, not peace"

17:24, May 12, 2023 By Chen Zi ( People's Daily Online

Cartoon by Ma Hongliang

Since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out, the U.S. has been continuously providing weapons for Ukraine, fueling the conflict in an attempt to make gains from it.

On May 9, the U.S. Department of Defense announced a new security assistance package totaling $1.2 billion to help Ukraine bolster its air defenses.

According to statistics released by the Pentagon, the U.S. has committed $36.9 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since February 2022.

The U.S.' continuous military assistance to Ukraine is not conducive to talks between Russia and Ukraine, but will protract the conflict. By providing weapons for Ukraine, the U.S. military-industrial complex has raked in huge profits.

As the conflict escalates, the U.S. has caused anxiety in Europe.

On one hand, as Europe beefs up military support for Ukraine, the benefits generated are reaped by American arms dealers. On the other hand, as Europe follows the U.S. to impose sanctions on Russia, it encounters an energy crisis. To get out of the crisis, it has to purchase energy from the U.S. at a higher price.

Washington doesn't care about world peace, but is interested in profiting.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Du Mingming)
Roundup: CIIE important platform for Ethiopian products to enter wider Chinese market

Xinhua) 10:09, May 13, 2023

ADDIS ABABA, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Experts and policymakers attending a high-level promotion conference here Friday said the China International Import Expo (CIIE) offers a crucial platform for Ethiopian products to enter the wider Chinese market.

During the promotion conference, senior Ethiopian government officials, representatives of the Ethiopian business community, a Chinese delegation group, as well as diplomats from the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia said the CIIE is an impetus for Ethiopia to diversify its export base to China.

Dagnachew Atinkut, the advisor to Ethiopia's Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration, said on the occasion that the Ethiopia-China partnership has developed substantially over the past three decades.

He said the upcoming 6th edition of the CIIE, slated to be held in November, serves as an important platform to promote the Chinese domestic market to foreign companies and boost domestic consumption. "It (the CIIE) is a good opportunity for our country to promote trade and investment to broaden its market linkages."

"The CIIE is a world-class expo, providing new channels for businesses to strengthen cooperation between our two countries," Atinkut added.

During the seminar, representatives from the CIIE Bureau briefed senior Ethiopian government officials and representatives of the country's business community on the general introduction of the CIIE, overall exhibition introduction as well as the potential of the CIIE to tap into the wider Chinese market for Ethiopian producers and exporters.

Figures from the bureau show that in the past sessions, 633 companies from 50 African countries have participated in the CIIE, out of which 31 were Ethiopian companies with an average intended transaction amount of 26.59 million U.S. dollars for each session.

"Economic and trade cooperation is the ballast and propeller of the China-Ethiopia relationship. The active participation of Ethiopia enterprises and products in the CIIE precisely reflects the significant role of economic and trade cooperation in the China-Ethiopia partnership," said Song Shangzhe, deputy director general of the CIIE Bureau.

Melaku Ezezew, president of the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations, underscored the importance of various Chinese initiatives, such as the CIIE, in terms of promoting Ethiopian exports to China.

Describing Ethiopia as a country endowed with "untapped and immense investment opportunities in the areas of agriculture, livestock, agro-processing, manufacturing, industry, construction, real estate, and tourism," Ezezew stressed that the East African country should prioritize its major export commodities during the upcoming CIIE.

He said the expo would make quality products widely available in China, to work together in a sustainable manner, to expand economic relations between China and African countries including Ethiopia, and to share development opportunities.

Zhao Zhiyuan, Chinese ambassador to Ethiopia, said China and Ethiopia can make full use of the high-quality platform provided by the 6th CIIE to deepen mutually beneficial bilateral economic and trade cooperation and promote the China-Ethiopia friendship to a new level.

"At present, more and more Chinese enterprises wish to invest in Ethiopia, while more and more Ethiopian friends want to find new opportunities in China," he said.

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Wu Chaolan)
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One of the arguments for legalizing marijuana in New Jersey was that a disproportionate share black and brown people were being arrested and imprisoned for marijuana offenses. The campaign proclaimed that decriminalizing the drug would end that, and a legal cannabis industry could go further -- steering marijuana businesses to the minorities that had suffered the most from enforcement of pot laws.

State officials repeatedly affirmed this goal after legalization. Making progress on it was never going to be easy for many reasons. Nearly three years after the referendum approving legal sales and consumption, achieving the target of minority ownership of cannabis businesses still looks elusive.

The state Cannabis Regulatory Commission has designated 30% of cannabis business licenses for diverse ownership groups -- 15% for certified minority-owned businesses, and 15% for those certified as women owned or disabled veteran owned. Certification requires that a 51% interest or more is held by a combination of minorities, women or disabled veterans, and daily business operations are controlled by one or more of the owning minorities.

This strong backing at the state level may have given eligibly diverse entrepreneurs the idea that a path was cleared for them to get into the promising cannabis business. Not that simple in heavily regulated and home-ruled New Jersey.

The Cannabis Regulatory Commission seems to be doing its part. In December, it said that 1,080 of its cannabis license applicants -- 72% -- qualified as diversely owned. A month or so later, the commission announced that 247 applicants with prior convictions had received at least conditional approval to grow, manufacture or sell recreational cannabis.

But after the approval or temporary license comes the hard work of starting a business in New Jersey, including making a solid business plan, finding an appropriate location, securing financing and more. The state hasnt said how many diversely owned cannabis businesses are open and operating. Judging by the complaints of frustrated minority entrepreneurs and their attorneys to NJ Spotlight recently, the number must be well short of the goal.

Local government approval is a major challenge for all cannabis businesses. For starters, only 1 in 5 municipalities have chosen to allow the sale of cannabis in their towns. Those that do allow it are free to limit it to a designated zone. From Atlantic City to East Orange, sprouting cannabis businesses have had their seemingly fine business locations rejected by local officials.

To help the state reach its goals for diversity in ownership, the Cannabis Regulatory Commission prioritizes applicants with ties to municipalities suffering from unemployment, poverty or disproportionate enforcement of marijuana laws in the past. Municipalities, however, are under no obligation to pursue such priorities or goals. The state gives diverse applicants a break on fees, but towns set their fees and taxes and apply them to all cannabis businesses.

Municipalities also have their own ordinances that apply to their businesses, and those involved in cannabis must meet these too.

In December, the N.J. Economic Development Authority announced more help, a $10 million Cannabis Equity Grant pilot program. Last month that started making awards of up to $250,000 and technical training. Nearly two-thirds of this will be for qualifying social equity applicants, such as those who have previous cannabis convictions or live in economically disadvantaged areas. Their grant application fee of $1,000 may be waived.

New Jersey seems to be developing its legal cannabis market more slowly than other states in the region. Diversity among pot business owners may reach a high short of expectations, and it may be delayed.
French President Emmanuel Macron got chatty with reporters aboard his plane on the way back from China recently, and what he said had some observers wondering if the pilot had perhaps made a cabin pressurization error that deprived the French leader of oxygen.

The question Europeans need to answer  is it in our interest to accelerate (a crisis) on Taiwan? No. The worse thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the U.S. agenda and a Chinese overreaction, Macron told reporters. In other words, if China is next in line for some freedom and democracy with U.S. weapons and assistance flooding into Taiwan in the same way that it has into Ukraine to counter Russia  then count France out.

The reaction from the U.S. neoconservative pro-interventionist camp was swift. If, in fact, Macron speaks for all of Europe, and their position now is theyre not going to pick sides between the U.S. and China over Taiwan, maybe we shouldnt be taking sides either. Maybe we should basically say were going to focus on Taiwan and the threats that China poses, and you guys handle Ukraine and Europe, said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

Does anyone care how the Ukrainian people feel about Rubios suggestion that they be treated like pawns to keep France on board with a conflict thats of absolutely no benefit to Europe and has, on the contrary, wreaked havoc on its industry and cost of living with no end in sight? Macron needs to call Rubios bluff. Sure, my friend, drop Ukraine in Europes lap. Watch how fast peace breaks out.

The response to Rubios query of whether Europe as a whole agrees with Macron came swiftly. There has been a leap forward on strategic autonomy compared with several years ago.  Some European leaders wouldnt say things the same way that Emmanuel Macron did  I think quite a few really think like Emmanuel Macron, European Council President and former Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said.

So far, the only actual leap forward on strategic autonomy in Europe has come in the form of idle blabber rather than action. Everyones arguing over the blocs role in a potential future conflict with China over Taiwan while ignoring the existential one in Ukraine.

Macron has the opportunity to return to the French status quo of East/West neutrality that persisted for decades under former President Charles De Gaulle until former French President Nicolas Sarkozy reinstated Paris back into NATOs strategic command in the wake of his 2007 election. Strategic autonomy kept France out of Iraq under former President Jacques Chirac, and would have arguably prevented the current quagmire in Ukraine.

It would just take one leader of a major European nation to adjust course on Ukraine for the rest of Europe to follow. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki recently flew to Washington and denounced Macrons defense of autonomy, which is hardly surprising considering the generous defense funding that Warsaw receives from Washington. But ultimately, Poland is more dependent on top EU donor Frances generous contributions, as the top recipient of bloc funding, by far.

And while Germany relies on Americas nuclear umbrella and close defense cooperation with U.S. bases all over Germany, Berlin will follow France for reasons of economic competitiveness.

All war and conflict ultimately is about economics, with winners and losers  no matter how some might try to dress it up in lofty ideals. Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh recently cited American intelligence sources accusing Kyiv officials of embezzling American assistance funds. And American Big Oil is enjoying skyrocketing profits from global price increases and European energy needs that have shifted away from Russia in favor of outsized reliance on pricy U.S. gas. So while some are profiting from the fighting, an exit ramp is starting to look increasingly attractive to others.

Economics also explain why Macron isnt interested in riding shotgun with Washington into a conflict with China. During Macrons China trip, French-headquartered Airbus secured a sale of 160 new commercial aircraft to Beijing and a doubling of the aerospace multinationals Chinese production, marking a victory over Pentagon contractor Boeing.

But what does France get out of siding with the U.S. in the Indo-Pacific  other than the shaft? Paris was excluded from the U.S.-led AUKUS security pact of Anglo allies against China in the Indo-Pacific, despite Frances overseas territories in the region. France also simultaneously was booted from a $66 billion submarine deal with Australia to Washingtons ultimate benefit with its own deal. So why shouldnt Macron tell them now to shove it?

Its long past time for a European leader to stand up for the interests of Europeans. Macron has just taken a step in the right direction, but only time will tell if he has the courage to stay the course.
The Pimpri Chinchwad police have busted a prostitution racket operating in a five-star hotel in Wakad. The Wakad police have arrested one and booked two men and rescued the women forced into the flesh trade by the accused.

As per the police, the accused Prabir Prakash Mujumdar (age 24, resident of Triveni Chowk near Bharti Vidyapeeth) and has registered a case against Dinesh Yadav and Viraj. The accused allegedly lured the victim women into prostitution by offering them money.

The police raided a five-star hotel in Wakad on May 11 around 6:45 pm and rescued the women and recovered cash and mobile phone worth Rs 29,040 from the accused.

Police havildar Sunil Jagannath Shirsath has registered a complaint and a case has been registered under sections 370 (3) and 34 of the IPC (Indian Penal Code) and sections 4 and 5 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 and Wakad police are further investigating the case.
Flooding now is "manageable" in the Quad-Cities.

Senior Hydrologist Matt Wilson, of the National Weather Service Quad-Cities, said some flood risk remains, but most areas along the Mississippi River are back to moderate or minor levels, excluding some to the south, along the Missouri-Illinois border.

"We finally have the flooding back down to manageable levels," Wilson said.

As of Friday afternoon, the Mississippi River at Rock Island was at 17.1 feet. The Quad-Cities is expected to be at minor flood stage on Sunday. By Tuesday, May 16, the Quad-Cities is expected to no longer be in flood stage.

Lock & Dam 11 at Dubuque fell below flood stage today  the first time since April 9.

Rain is in the weekend forecast, with amounts expected between 1.5 inches and 2.75 inches. The rain is not expected to have a significant impact on river levels, Wilson said.

While the river still is rapidly receding, water levels could be dangerous for the next month, he said, due to higher stream flows and strong and fast currents.

A majority of streets in downtown Davenport have reopened, including River Drive from E. 3rd Street to Bettendorf. River Drive remains closed in the immediate downtown area.

A sinkhole on Brady Street and River Drive in downtown Davenport continues to keep a portion of River Drive closed along the riverfront.

Roadways have been under water for the better part of about three weeks, Wilson said. Though they may appear solid on the surface, erosion has likely occurred below.

"I wouldn't be surprised to see that in other places," he said. "This is typical damage that we see with roadways that are submerged."

A crew appeared to be working on the sinkhole on Friday. Because the storm sewer is Davenport's infrastructure, the city will be responsible for the cost to repair it.
LOS ANGELES  Three men associated with a gang have been arrested in connection with two deadly Los Angeles shootings in a case in which all suspects and victims were from the Chicago area, police said Friday.

Investigators, however, would not specify the motive for the shootings that killed three women and wounded four other people in January and a man in December.

"We can't discuss the motive but we can say that it's associated with Chicago," Capt. Jonathan L. Tippet, commanding officer of the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Division, told a headquarters press conference.

"One thing that can be said is that the violence that occurs in Chicago today is having an effect on all of us," he said.

Tippet said the three suspects are "involved in" and "connected to" a gang but he could not go into further detail about their relationship with the group.

The arrests followed a nation-spanning investigation involving numerous law enforcement agencies including FBI violent crime task forces, Tippet said.

Dejean Thompkins, 28, was arrested last month in the Chicago area. Dontae Williams, 22, was also arrested in April in Gary, Indiana, and was transferred to Chicago. Daries Stanford, 28, was arrested May 10 in the Manhattan area of New York. All three are awaiting extradition to LA. It was not immediately known if they had attorneys.

Around 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 28, Iyana Hutton, 33, Nenah Davis, 29, and Destiny Sims, 26, were fatally shot in a car as they returned to a vacation rental house in LA's Beverly Crest area after a night out.

The women grew up together and had come out to LA in support of a Chicago rapper, Tippet said. He added that they were not the intended targets of the attack.

Four others were wounded and two others escaped injury in the attack, in which more than 30 rounds were fired. Their identities were being withheld, Tippet said.

Investigators connected that shooting to the Dec. 16 killing of Julian Bynum, 30, on a North Hollywood sidewalk outside an apartment complex.

"In both of these cases the suspects used ambush-style tactics on their unsuspecting victims," Tippet said. "Planning and coordination was utilized."

The slain women were not connected to Bynum, who is believed to have been targeted, Tippet said.

Public tips about the getaway car used in the Beverly Crest shooting were important in the investigation, he said.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office filed four counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder against Thompkins. Williams and Stanford were each charged with three counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder. All three were also charged with six counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.

The complaint also alleges special circumstances of lying in wait and multiple murders.

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A Clinton teen has been sentenced to 50 years in prison in connection with the shooting death of Zachary Tyler McDivitt, 35, last summer.

Clinton County District Court Judge Stuart Werling imposed the sentence on Kyler Jay Andresen, 18, during a hearing Thursday in District Court.

As Andresen was 17 at the time of the incident, Werling could not impose a mandatory minimum sentence, but left it to the Iowa Board of Parole to determine Andresens progress and appropriateness for release.

Andresen initially was charged with first-degree murder, but on April 13, he pleaded guilty to the lesser included charge of second-degree murder. The charge is a Class B felony that carries a prison sentence of 50 years. In the case of adults, 70% of the sentence, or 35 years, must be served before parole can be granted.

The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled there should be no automatic minimum terms of incarceration for juvenile offenders. However, the district court has discretion to impose a mandatory minimum sentence after an individualized hearing.

According to the arrest affidavit filed by Clinton Police Officer Joshua Winter, on July 20, 2022, police were dispatched to the 100 block of N. 5th Street to investigate a report that a person had been shot.

Officers found McDivitt suffering from a gunshot wound. McDivitt was taken to MercyOne Clinton Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

According to Winters search warrant, officers spoke with a resident in the area who said he was inside his residence near the scene of the shooting and heard an argument. The resident said he then heard gunshots and observed a small passenger car, possibly a four door, go through the alley eastbound from 5th Street between Locust Place and 2nd Avenue North.

Officers canvased the area and found security footage at a residence a few doors down from the shooting near the alley between Locust Place and 2nd Avenue North.

Officers observed in the video a vehicle come northbound on North 5th Street from Locust Place. Officers then hear gunshots and the victim yell on the security footage. The vehicle is then observed going eastbound in the 400 block alley between Locust Place and 2nd Avenue North.

Officers then located surveillance video at a storage facility next to 430 Locust Place, Andresens residence, which is just east of the alley intersecting with North 5th Street.

Officers observed a silver passenger car, later identified as a 2000 silver Honda Civic, continue east in the alley and pull behind 430 Locust Place.

A man is observed exiting the vehicle and goes along the east side of the residence.

The man is observed on a couple occasions walking from the front of 430 Locust Place to the rear of 430 Locust Place where the 2000 Honda Civic was located before going to the west side of the residence, out of view of the cameras.

Officers went to the rear of 430 Locust Place and located the 2000 Honda Civic. Officers then set up a perimeter around Andresens house.

Officers obtained a search warrant for Andresens residence and took the teen into custody.

During a post-Miranda interview at the police station, Andresen admitted to shooting McDivitt and told police where in his house he had hidden the 9mm handgun used in the shooting.

Photos: A list of high-profile mass shootings in the US this year Monterey Park, California Half Moon Bay, California Nashville, Tennessee Louisville, Kentucky Dadeville, Alabama Bowdoin, Maine Cleveland, Texas Allen, Texas
A 29-year-old Clinton, Iowa, man was wounded by gunfire Thursday at an apartment house at 514 8th Avenue South, Police Chief Kevin Gyrion said in a news release Friday.

Officers responded to a call of a person shot at 2:23 p.m. Thursday.

The victim was taken to MercyOne Clinton Medical Center for treatment. The man was then transferred to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, for treatment of what appear to be non-life-threatening wounds.

No arrests have been made and the case remains under investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Clinton Police Department at 563-243-1458 or Clinton County Crime Stoppers at 888-883-8015.
Two people are dead after a semi-trailer truck and a train collided Friday, the Iowa State Patrol said.

The crash occurred at 1:36 p.m. in the 120th block of 115th Street east of Lisbon, Iowa, in Cedar County.

Police said that the driver of a 2016 Mack 600 truck was attempting to cross the railroad tracks and was struck on the drivers side by an eastbound train.

One person in the truck and one person on the train were killed, according to the crash report issued by the Iowa State Patrol.

The names of the deceased were not released Friday, pending notification of family members.

Iowa State Patrol troopers were assisted at the scene by Lisbon and Mount Vernon police, fire and ambulance, Mechanicsville Fire Department, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Iowa Department of Transportation.

The crash remains under investigation.
For more than three years, the Rock Island Arsenal Museum has been closed to the public.

Inside its limestone walls, displays have been demolished and rebuilt. Tales of the Arsenal's history have been written and printed. The gun wall has been taken down, and howitzers and weapon-launcher systems painstakingly placed.

With the re-opening now scheduled, Museum Director Patrick Allie is getting ready to welcome the community that has always supported it.

For me, whats becoming more palpable  what I'm starting to really feel more  is the fact that we're going to be opening, and we're going to be sharing this brand new museum with the public, Allie said. It's really exciting. It really is.

The Rock Island Arsenal Museum will reopen June 29, marking the occasion with a gala on June 28 and a ribbon cutting on opening day. Crews currently are placing exhibit displays and hanging large photo prints before moving in smaller artifacts and interactive pieces.

One of the most exciting things about announcing the museums re-opening is being able to tell people that a date has been set, said Rock Island Arsenal Historical Society Board President Amanda Siegner. The historical society is a nonprofit supporter of the museum. Siegner is planning the gala, and more details will be available as it approaches.

"The Arsenal has played such a significant role in the Army and the military at large and still continues to do so," Siegner said. "Having this museum re-open with the new exhibits and the money that has been graciously donated and appropriated for it is going to allow us to share that impact of the arsenal with everyone again."

The museum holds 10,500 square feet of permanent exhibit space with an additional 2,000 square feet added for temporary exhibits, which Allie said will host both in-house and traveling exhibitions.

With its new chronological layout, the museum takes visitors through the Arsenal's history from its inception to its work today. It shows how the Arsenal has  and still does  aid in every aspect of the Army, from sustainment to munitions production to training.

Deep blue walls are patched with giant archive photos, illustrations and text information, detailing life and work for those on the island.

Some personal stories are pulled out in exhibits, such as those of Cora De Wilfond, the first woman motorcycle delivery driver on the Arsenal, and Milton Howard, one of the first Black people employed on the Arsenal. Allie said he tried to showcase stories of diversity throughout the museum.

Interactive supplements will give visitors the chance to look through historical maps, try on replicate uniforms and try their hands at designing a bridge. These will all serve to teach people more about the Arsenal's history and legacy in a more engaging way, Allie said.

Our primary listenership is families, Allie said. We are getting groups like grandpa, who may have served during Vietnam or worked here bringing in his family, so you may have his daughter or son and their grandkids, and so we tried to make an experience that really appealed to a broad range of ages and demographics.

Once finished, Allie said, the museum will display about 250 of the 7,000 artifacts in its collection.

The museum was originally slated to close in March 2021 for its first major renovations in more than 80 years, but it closed in early 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has remained closed since.

With all the struggle and tragedy that came from the pandemic, Allie said, a silver lining was all the extra time he got to plan exhibits and create materials for the renovated museum. He was the museums only full-time staff member until very recently and handled the research, text writing and graphic and artifact selection himself.

Just having the museum open, engaging with the public, all the different activities we hosted here at the museum, COVID was, in that regard, a blessing in disguise. It did allow me to really focus, he said. And I think at the end of the day, the final product is really going to reflect the fact that I was able to put that much time and attention to it.

It took six months to streamline the long and storied histories of the Arsenal into one cohesive body of work and have everything reviewed by the Center of Military History Publications department, after which it was sent to the designer at the Army Museums Enterprise, Allie said. The designer, Roxann Showers, worked with Allie and laid out the space, text and graphic layout.

Funding from the U.S. Department of Defense and Army hit in fiscal year 2022, Allie said, allowing them to get started on renovations. After clearing out the old artifacts and exhibits and redoing floors and walls among other changes, the first step was to bring in the largest artifacts. The walls and exhibit displays were built around Howitzers and other large military equipment.

Once the walls are up, moving these things in this space is quite challenging, Allie said. We had a very exciting first week, getting all of our really big stuff.

Despite supply chain issues and other hardships experienced by most industries during the pandemic and in its aftermath, the museums set opening date wasnt pushed back. Renovations were largely untouched by any problems, Allie said, and the timeline was nudged back just slightly, eating away at the built-in time between adding finishing touches and opening the doors.

Allie doesnt spend all his time on museum renovations. He recently was giving presentations on the Civil War to fifth-graders in the Pleasant Valley School District, where he heard interest from educators for bringing students to the museum for programming, rather than having him come to them.

These renovations that allow for more programming, alongside interactives and dedicated space for temporary exhibits, all come together to give visitors of all types a better experience, Allie said, and one that will change over time, so people can come back and find something new.

The museum is the second-oldest in the Army, having opened in 1905. As a Quad-Cities and military institution, Allie said, both civilians and soldiers learning about the changes have been very excited to see their histories displayed.

This is a very local story in a lot of ways  in these exhibits and what we do, Allie said. In that regard, the response has been very, very positive, because no one else is doing that, and it's our place to tell those stories.
Gianforte, a Republican, had previously issued amendatory vetoes on the three policies that cleared the Legislature with broad, bipartisan support. But because the Senate adjourned abruptly on the last day of the session hours before the House and prior to either chamber taking Gianfortes suggested changes into consideration, the bills were sent back in their original form for his signature or rejection.

House Bill 29 and Senate Bill 4 were the product of bipartisan legislative work before the 2023 session got underway. At that time, lawmakers were learning patients had died due to the state hospital's own neglect to meet health and safety standards, and the federal government terminated its funding agreement with the facility because of those failures.

HB 29, carried by Rep. Jennifer Carlson, R-Churchill, would have ended the practice of admitting patients to Montana State Hospital with dementia, Alzheimer's or traumatic brain injury.

That prohibition already exists in the hospital's policy and in state law, but patients have still been committed to the state hospital by the courts in instances where they have nowhere else to go. The Legislature this session sought to boost the number of available beds in community settings by upping the Medicaid reimbursement rate paid by the state, theoretically giving assisted-living facilities the funding to actually pay for the cost of care.

The bill would also create a commission to oversee the transfer of current patients who fit into this category to community placements in assisted-living facilities, far less restrictive environments than Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs. The commission would have until June 30, 2025, to develop a plan and transfer the patients out of the state hospital.

Last year the state health department contracted with a third party to examine staffing issues and how to become re-certified with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services after the federal government terminated its certification with the state hospital last year over patient mistreatment and deaths. The department also rolled out a $300 million behavioral health initiative meant to enhance the state's continuum of care for generations to come.

The other proposal, Senate Bill 4, was intended as an accountability measure, opening up abuse and neglect reports to Disability Rights Montana, designated by Congress to have access to certain records in order to protect and advocate for patients in that facility.

"The Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) has dedicated, and continues to dedicate, significant time and effort to realizing the intent of House Bill 29, to improve the care provided to this patient population, independent of proposed legislation," Gianforte wrote in his veto letter Thursday. "However, as I emphasized to the Legislature in my amendatory veto letter, and as DPHHS has repeatedly warned over the course of the last 18 months, House Bill 29 fails to offer a realistic mechanism for compliance and to transition these patients who are currently committee to MHS's care to community-based treatment services and facilities."

HB 29 cleared the Legislature by very wide bipartisan margins, only receiving 18 no votes through its entire journey. The day after the session adjourned, Carlson said it was good policy and urged the governor to sign it.

Of SB 4, Gianforte called it "legally insufficient, deeply flawed, and fails to protect Montanans' constitutionally protected rights to privacy."

Earlier in the session, the head of Disability Rights Montana explained why she felt it was important to have external oversight of the facility.

"Without our organization having access to the records, the only oversight of the facility is internal," Bernadette Franks-Ongoy, Disability Rights Montana's executive director told lawmakers in a Jan. 4 committee hearing.

SB 4, sponsored by Sen. Jen Gross, D-Billings, did not receive a single no vote during the session, passing with the support of every legislator who voted on it.

House Bill 37 was also carried by Carlson. It would require a court issuing a warrant before a child is removed from their parent by child protective services unless theres an emergency.

It cleared the House with just eight "no" votes in total, but saw a slightly harder path in the Senate, where it advanced from a committee by just one vote but then later cleared the full chamber 41-9.

In a press conference last week after the session adjourned, Carlson advocated for the governor to sign HB 37 since lawmakers could not take up the amendatory vetoes.

This is a historic opportunity to fix a problem Montana is known for and I don't want to be known for that problem anymore in Montana, Carlson said, pointing out the bipartisan support for the bill.  It wasn't just people pushing a button because someone told them to. People in this building know we need to fix the problem, and this is the opportunity. This is a grand opportunity.

In a statement emailed Thursday, Gianfortes spokesperson explained the governors reasoning for the vetoes and pointed blame at the top Democrat in the Senate, who brought the successful motion to end that chambers work for the session before lawmakers had taken up the amendatory vetoes.

The administration consulted legislators before and during the legislative session to fix problems with the bills. The governor does not take vetoes lightly, and made efforts to improve them through amendments, spokesperson Kaitlin Price wrote. Unfortunately, the Senate Minority Leader and a band of senators decided to quit early and sine die before the work was done, leaving the bills unchanged and deeply flawed. When considering these bills, the governor is putting the health and safety of children and other vulnerable Montanans above any political calculations, and we hope lawmakers will do the same.




Dil Rahut, Aichurek Kurmanbekova, and Subhasis Bera





Women around the world are burdened with unseen work, such as house cleaning and maintenance, preparing meals, taking care of children and the elderly, fetching water, and gathering wood. These unpaid contributions to production and consumption in households remain excluded from the narrow economic definition of work but are essential to welfare (Stiglitz, Sen, and Fitoussi 2009).





Globally, women perform more than 3 out of every 4 hours of unpaid labor (ADB and UN Women 2018). In the United States, women spend around 4 hours a day on unpaid work, compared with 2.5 hours for men, and women in Japan perform 5 times more unpaid household and care work than men (OECD 2017). These women are faced with giving up opportunities to work outside the home or must find part-time or flexible working arrangements to fulfil unpaid housework and care work. Misperceptions regarding the difficulty in measuring unseen work and its policy relevance have led to a scarcity of initiatives aimed at addressing this inequality.





The World Economic Forums gender gap index measures gender inequality based on four pillars (economic participation and opportunity; educational attainment; health and survival; and political empowerment) and 14 indicators. However, the construct does not account for the volume of unseen work that women carry out in homes and offices, mainly because of the paucity of data. Therefore, irrespective of education, economic status, and cultural practices, women in the home or office bear a greater responsibility while experiencing gender inequality. Moreover, the labor indicator focuses on the two ends of the spectrum: women working outside the home for pay, and women exclusively engaged in domestic care activities, such as cooking, cleaning, routine household chores, and looking after children and the elderly. However, spatial disparity reveals the existence of women between these two ends of the spectrum who must work outside the home and also provide domestic care (WEF 2021).





Often ignored by policy makers and researchers, unrecognized domestic care work suffers from a historically formed gender-based labor division, resulting in a significant effect on womens participation in economic activities. In South Asia alone, 45% of economically inactive women do not feature in the labour market because of unseen and unpaid work, compared to 19% of men (ILO and ADB 2011).





The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has blurred the border between informal and formal work and exacerbated existing gender inequalities, aggravating the burden of unpaid household and care (WEF 2021). During the lockdowns in Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries, 30% of women experienced an increase in the intensity of unpaid domestic work, compared to only 16% of men (Sirivunnabood and Liao 2021; WEF 2021). While the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a higher penetration of digitalization irrespective of gender, technology platforms tap invisible labour for creating innovative profit-generating practices (such as photographers, net idols, bloggers, online traders, and cell phone novelists) in between their household chores, rendering womens labour invisible (Lukacs 2020). Therefore, even in the comparatively new environment, women continue to contribute more through unseen and unpaid work and remain at the receiving end of gender inequality. To address this gender inequality, the United Nations (UN) has called for prioritzing the empowerment of women to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, unseen and unpaid work, primarily by women, requires recognition and compensation if gender inequality is to be eradicated.





Policy implications





SDG 5 on gender equality and womens empowerment includes a target to recognize and value unpaid care and household work. Moreover, it suggests that states grant more opportunities and rights to women, ensure social services and social protection, and nationally promote the idea of shared responsibility within families. However, many countries are still at the nascent stage of implementing such schemes for improving womens empowerment.





The Beijing Declaration, adopted by the UN in 1995, emphasizes recognizing the importance of equal rights. It highlights the need to improve the issue of unpaid household and care work by introducing state policies to reduce and redistribute such work and allow women to be a part of the formal economy, qualify for retirement, and enjoy other employment-associated benefits. In addition, governments should promote the redistribution of domestic work among other family members, including males, so women have better opportunities to engage in paid labor. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development also calls for collecting proper statistics on unpaid work and formulating policies that appropriately include unpaid work in calculations of national income (United Nations 2015). Recognition of unseen and unpaid work as an economic activity through labour and social protection laws can reduce inequality, regardless of gender.








A damning report released Friday by the United Nations on a March 2022 incident in Moura, central Mali, describes five days of horror during which at least 500 people were allegedly executed by Malian and "foreign" soldiers.





Testimonies gathered by UN investigators suggest most were killed at gunpoint.





Their bodies were thrown into several mass graves which the military had ordered local residents to dig, according to the report.





"Those who resisted or tried to flee were systematically executed by both the white soldiers and the FAMa (Malian Armed Forces) and dragged into the pit," said one resident quoted by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).





"The executions went on all day -- it was unbearable", he added.





Malian authorities did not allow UN investigators to access Moura apart from one initial flyover.





Instead, the report draws from 157 individual interviews with victims, residents and aid workers as well as 11 group interviews. The investigation lasted seven months.





Information is very difficult to obtain in the area, which is remote and dangerous to access. Telecommunications are poor and there are frequent military operations in the area.





The nationality of the white foreigners is not explicitly identified in the report. Mali has brought in Russian operatives that western countries and others say are Wagner mercenaries.





The report said some civilians were afraid of speaking out due to reprisals and strong political pressure.





Some sources were arrested by Malian services during their interviews with human rights officers, and others were ordered not to cooperate with the investigation, it said.





Ten days after the events, jihadists returned and abducted at least 10 people accused of cooperating with the Malian army who have since gone missing, the report said.





The only visual evidence of what happened is aerial photographs showing piles of burnt-out motorbikes.





But the UN account corroborates information gathered by various NGOs, which runs counter to the narrative of the ruling junta.





- Three-hour assault -





In the late morning of March 2022, a livestock fair was in full swing in Moura, a rural town on the banks of a tributary of the Niger River.





Thousands of civilians had come to buy supplies in preparation for Ramadan.





The area has been known for years as a stronghold of Katiba Macina, a group affiliated with the Al-Qaeda-linked Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM).





About 30 jihadists were reportedly in the crowd.





At around 11:00 am (1100 GMT), five helicopters appeared in the sky. One of them reportedly opened fire "indiscriminately" in the direction of the market, and the jihadists returned fire.





About 100 men emerged from four of the landed helicopters.





Among them were Malian soldiers, but also white men in fatigues speaking an "unknown" language, according to witness testimony cited in the report -- indicating they were not speaking French, which is Mali's official language, or English.





The assault on the town lasted three hours, the UN said, killing 30 people including a dozen jihadists.





After seizing control, the Malian soldiers and white allies arrested at least 3,000 people, including men of all ages.





"The majority of the people executed were identified as terrorists... on the observation of apparent signs such as having a long beard, trousers that do not reach the ankle, marks on the shoulders supposedly from carrying a weapon, or even the fact that they showed fear", the report said.





- 'Beep of death' -





According to several sources, the military used a machine it claimed would detect "terrorists".





It made each man, including the village chief, pass through the machine and each time that it beeped, there was a death sentence.





The military swept the town and continued to make arrests between March 27 and 31.





At least 58 people were arrested, some of whom were tortured and ill-treated, according to the UN. It said 47 of them are now free.





"The soldiers slapped us, punched us, stomped on us, kicked us in the head, beat us with cords and with the butts of their weapons", said one man who was arrested, according to the report.





"They called us jihadists, accused us of killing our own brothers and destroying our country -- I told them that I knew nothing about all that and that I am not a jihadist", he added.




Racial slurs and other racially offensive conduct, coupled with alleged retaliation, resulted in a $1.2 million settlement of a lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The EEOC announced earlier this month that the Whiting-Turner Contracting Company, a construction management and general contracting company headquartered in Baltimore, will pay $1.2 million to a class of Black former workers and furnish other relief to settle a race harassment and retaliation lawsuit.

Whiting-Turner was the prime contractor for the construction of a Google data center in Tennessee. In 2018 and 2019, Black employees were allegedly subjected to a racially hostile work environment in which employees referred to Black workers as boy, mf- and you. Many port-a-potties and buildings on the jobsite were defaced with racially offensive graffiti, and a noose was displayed in the workplace on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.s birthday, according to the announcement.

The EEOC also alleged that Whiting-Turner engaged in retaliation. Specifically, the EEOC alleged that Black employees reported these issues to Whiting-Turner several times. Whiting-Turner allegedly failed to investigate the complaints and instead terminated two employees who complained of discrimination.

As a result of the settlement, the company will incorporate a strict prohibition against racial graffiti, racial jokes, racial slurs, racial epithets and hate symbols into its anti-harassment policy, among other relief.

In announcing the settlement, the EEOC focused on the need to eliminate racism in the construction industry, citing the shocking findings in this case and the concerns that they were not an isolated occurrence in the industry.

The EEOC also suggested that managers and supervisors should be trained on Title VII, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin, and companies should take prompt action at the first sign of trouble.

Unfortunately, I hear all the time, You dont understand our culture or Thats just the industry. Even though all industries have the potential to engage in atrocious discriminatory conduct, whether due to age, race, national origin, color, sex, etc., they all think they are exempt from the rules because thats just how it has always been.

Every employee deserves a civil, safe and respectful workplace. It is unimaginable that any person should have to experience these aggressions, and even worse that the company needs a strict policy to prohibit the very things that no company should ever have tolerated in the first place.

Whiting-Turner professes on its website a demonstrated commitment to diversity. The site says, We recognize the value of diversity and foster an inclusive environment built on collaboration, community and respect. People are our most valuable assets, and we are committed to providing equal opportunity and advancement for all of our employees and trade partners. Cultivating a diverse community and embracing a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives is crucial to our success.

Too many organizations flaunt commitments to respectful workplaces, diversity and inclusion, and then tolerate and fail to immediately address completely unacceptable conduct like that which allegedly occurred on this worksite.

Employers should train managers, supervisors and employees on your companys expectations and investigate any allegation that those same expectations have been violated. Immediately take action to address them if they are found to have occurred. If they recur, then you arent doing enough. Never excuse this type of behavior (or sexual harassment, or harassment based on disability or any protected characteristic)  even if its been like this for years  or you assume no one is offended.

Employers can avoid the abuse and harm that come from the misconduct and the liability by making a real commitment, not just one on the website for show. Set expectations. Share expectations. Hold people accountable.

PHOTOS: Recognize these Richmond-area places?
Its not every day that you walk into your local library and find it patrolled by some of the most fearsome fighters any galaxy has ever seen.

But that is exactly what the patrons of the North Courthouse Road branch of the Chesterfield County Public Library encountered Saturday when Jedi warriors and stormtroopers alike came together for the second annual Star Wars Reading Day, sponsored by the Chesterfield Police Activities League.

Children who came in costume competed for prize packages including Big Bad Toy Store gift cards, and members of Garrison Tyranus, the Virginia chapter of the 501st Legion  a worldwide organization dedicated to fostering a love of Star Wars and creative cosplay  posed for pictures with fans of all ages.

Its all about making the kids smile, said Troy Gaines, a Garrison Tyranus member who greeted people at the library entrance clad in screen-accurate stormtrooper armor.

Librarian Carol Sties led younger children in Star Wars-themed songs and read Are You Scared, Darth Vader?, a story about how even the most intimidating villains have things that frighten them, and Chewie and the Porgs, a tale about being open-minded and finding friendship in unexpected places.

There was even a raffle of Star Wars memorabilia, including a poster for the first Star Wars movie that hung in a Chicago theater at the time of the films original 1977 release and an action figure of Black Krrsantan, a character in the Disney+ series The Book of Boba Fett, signed by actor Carey Jones when he was in Richmond in March for GalaxyCon.

Officer Nik Barndt, the Police Activities League coordinator, said the raffle would help support future PAL events, like its bowling league and game days, in which police host children for kickball, dodgeball and other fun games on teacher workdays.

Barndt said the PAL is also sponsoring a summer camp for incoming sixth-graders that will be staffed by school resource officers. The camp will give the students a chance to engage with those officers before interacting with them on a more frequent basis in middle school.

The PAL, which resumed activity in the summer of 2021 after a pandemic-related hiatus, puts on more than 50 events a year for Chesterfield children.

31 photos from The Times-Dispatch archives Air Force Women Broad St. Broad St. Central State Hospital Cloverleaf Mall Country Club of Virginia Dogwood Dell Folk Dancing Hull St. Station Jackson Ward Jackson Ward Reunion Mail box Mailboxes Monroe Park Mooer's Field Noldes Bread O.K. Foundry Piccadilly Cafeteria Remote Controlled Cars Reynolds Metals Richmond Day Richmond Symphony Salt Sobles South Side Health Center The Diamond VA State Capitol VCU Gym Westhamtpon School YWCA
You can smell rotten eggs on Carlisle Avenue.

For weeks, a natural gas line has been leaking from a yellow gas cap by the side of the road. Kevin Cianfarini, a volunteer with the local environmental advocacy group Beyond Methane, checks the air with a high-end gas detector.

The detector beeps and spits out a number: 100%. Cianfarini looks worried, but not surprised. According to Cianfarini, there was enough gas in the air that a stray match or a spark could ignite the gas.

The leak on Carlisle Avenue is one of more than 870 known leaky pipes, according to records shared by the city Department of Public Utilities.

Those pipes are releasing natural gas into the citys air, costing consumers money, contributing to global warming and creating health hazards that repeatedly require city and state agencies to intervene. The city has primarily placed fault on its old gas lines  created in 1851  made of materials more prone to leakage as they age.

'It smelled pretty crazy': Gas leak briefly evacuates West Broad building Wednesday morning A gas leak outside 3600 West Broad Street Wednesday morning forced temporary evacuations from the building and shut down both West Broad and Interstate 195 while crews investigated the source of the leak.

A case-in-point occurred last week, when two gas leaks were reported within the city limits in less than 24 hours, prompting crews to evacuate buildings and shut down Interstate 95. By law, the city is compelled to respond immediately to leaks inside houses. Outdoor leaks are not required to be fixed immediately.

But the longer-term disruption is affecting Richmonders checkbooks. When the citys pipes leak, residents foot the bill. Last year, the city lost nearly $4 million worth of gas, according to purchasing receipts reviewed by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The year before, it lost more than $5 million.

City data shows that the leaks are everywhere  in Short Pump, Glen Allen, Highland Springs, Bon Air. The Fan and Museum districts are pockmarked with leaks, the data show, and at least 10 leaks are active in Church Hill and Montrose Heights, where Cianfarini and volunteer Erik Shilts often walk to test gas caps.

The leaks pop up as 170-year-old cast iron pipes corrode or when the pipes are accidentally nicked by construction crews. In 2019, a leak sprang from a gas line in Bon Air because of a nearby lightning strike. The pipe released more than $50,000 worth of gas, according to PHMSA, the federal agency that monitors pipelines.

In Richmond, the leaks are also worsening. In January 2022, the system leaked 14% of all its gas into the atmosphere  the highest leak rate ever recorded by the utility in a month. In the past four years, the system leaked between 4% and 6% of its total supply each year, according to city data.

Mayor Levar Stoney has promised to repair many of the lines using $10 million in federal grant money that the city celebrated receiving in April.

These $10 million will go a long way obviously because it will cut costs for our consumers, but it will be environmentally friendly as well so we can reduce the amount of emissions that go into our atmosphere that unfortunately lead to dangerous effects on our climate, Stoney said last month.

In a statement, city spokesperson Petula Burks defended the utility, saying that it remains in compliance with strict regulations that ensure public safety.

All leaks are taken seriously, evaluated immediately, and assigned a grade to indicate the potential hazard, Burks said. Any gas leak that represents an existing or probable hazard to persons or property is immediately repaired until the conditions are no longer hazardous.

Burks also defended the agencys current strategy of continually repairing the system  a task that costs the city $20.5 million annually: twice what the city celebrated receiving in grant funds in April.

Gas hookups in Richmond, Henrico County and northern Chesterfield County primarily run through Richmond Gas Works. RGW is a private company run by the city. It is headed by April Bingham, who was appointed by Stoney in December 2021 and who now earns more than $200,000 a year.

The utility buys gas from wholesalers and makes up the loss by selling gas to Richmond residents. The city has previously said it does so without producing a profit, according to the Richmond Free Press. It also incurs costs when it has to repair gas lines or connect gas lines to new homes.

The numbers have not made sense for the company for years. In 2022, it had more than $250 million of unpaid debt, a reflection of its inability to keep customers and the cost of repairing its legacy pipelines.

Binghams early strategy has been to raise prices. Last summer, a year into her term, the gas utility hiked the price of gas by 40%. At the time, the city said it was passing on price hikes that were being seen nationwide.

Stoney pushed another increase across all utilities in this years budget, approved recently. Those increases will show up on Richmonders bills in July.

Your utility costs are going up in July under city's new budget Richmonders will see a 9% increase to their utility rates starting July 2 following City Councils unanimous vote Monday to approve Mayor Levar Stoneys proposed $3 billion 2023-24 fiscal year budget.

Cianfarini said he does not see the light at the end of the tunnel. He believes the current strategy will lead to higher bills for everyone connected to the system, particularly as the city plans to invest more than $100 million repairing its current lines  a debt that it will have to recoup well into the future.

The leaks exacerbate the issue and put a point on perceived mismanagement of RGW, where debt continues to climb.

Each year, several millions of dollars in natural gas escape the citys pipes. Fugitive gas, as it is called, forces the city utility to tread water financially: For every $10 million grant that comes in, as much as a third is being wasted on gas that seeps out into the city air.

Its money going up into the atmosphere, said Glen Besa, former director of the Virginia chapter of the Sierra Club.

Natural gas pumped through Richmonds gas lines is 95% methane, a greenhouse gas that should not be inhaled by humans and that contributes heavily to greenhouse gas emissions.

While carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere longer, methane is thicker. The Environmental Protection Agency believes its impact on global warming is 28 times that of CO2.

Despite that, Richmond Gas Works public-facing website advertises gas as environmentally friendly, a position at odds with that of Stoney, who last month said fixing the leaks would be environmentally friendly. It is a refrain that echoes public statements made by national gas companies that regularly lobby Virginia politicians to defend the states natural gas infrastructure.

It is not clear what the city plans for RGW, if the city intends to meet its own goals of net-zero carbon emissions.

City Response All gas leaks are taken seriously, evaluated immediately, and assigned a grade to indicate the potential hazard. Any gas leak that represents an existing or probable hazard to persons or property is immediately repaired until the conditions are no longer hazardous. Other leaks that are non-hazardous are scheduled for repair and continuously monitored and re-evaluated. - Petula Burks, Director of Richmond's Office of Strategic Communications and Civic Engagement

In February, the City Council approved an aggressive plan known as RVAgreen 2050. It tasks the city to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% by the year 2030 and then become net neutral by 2050. While one city agency works to curb natural gas usage, another needs to sell more in order to pay off its debt.

Burks said the agency acknowledges those goals in the long-term, but that absent current solutions, DPU continues to provide natural gas services.

In 2018, the city assessed that 18% of Richmonds greenhouse gas emissions come from natural gas  meaning Richmond Gas Works.

Mary Finley-Brook, a professor of environmental studies at the University of Richmond and an expert on American gas infrastructure, says repairing the pipes no longer makes sense as gas prices continue to rise.

She thinks the lack of a new strategy for the utility reflects its rudderless leadership as it heads straight into economic insolvency, dragging Richmonders along with it as it routinely raises their utility prices.

Its mismanagement that (prices) are as high as they are, Finley-Brook said. The only thing I can call it is a slow disaster. Nobody is driving this ship.
When the time came to name the consolidated Henry Clay and John M. Gandy elementary schools, the fix was in.

Theres no way a majority of the Hanover County School Board would allow the new building to retain the name of Gandy, a former all-Black segregation-era school named for a longtime president of Virginia State University. The clock began ticking on the Gandy school brand the moment the district removed the names of Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee from its schools.

The School Board majority maintained that it was strictly adhering to a district policy against naming new schools for persons living or dead. But a committee selected by the board had proposed a reasonable compromise: name the school after Berkleytown, an early- to mid-20th century African American hamlet developed just outside the town limits to accommodate racist zoning laws designed to keep Ashland white.

Berkleytown  anchored by the original Gandy school, which now houses the Hanover School Board offices  became part of Ashland in 1977. It recently was placed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places. But the board thumbed its nose at these historical considerations and the recommendation of its committee in voting 6-1 Tuesday night to name the school Ashland Elementary.

Ola Hawkins of the Ashland District was the dissenting vote.

Karen Lynne, the Ashland representative on the committee, expressed shock and disgust with the decision in a letter to the board, noting that shed put in hundreds of hours of work on the matter and poured through hundreds of emails and phone messages from the community.

Of the more than 700 opinions given, more than 600 wanted the name to be Berkleytown or Gandy. How can you sit in your seats and claim to represent the community when the committee counted the votes and told you what the community wanted  only for you to ignore it?

Its preposterous, she wrote. The committee went on facts. And you have ignored them.

In the process, the board sent a clear message to county constituents: Think twice before agreeing to serve on an advisory committee. The School Board will take your recommendation under advisement  wink-wink  and then do what it intended all along.

In this case, the board majority didnt desire a research-based recommendation; they wanted political cover. When the committee failed to provide it, the board responded with pettiness and arrogance.

I really didnt think that they would just so overtly ignore the work of their own committee, Lynne said Thursday. The committee was handpicked by the School Board. And I know they got people that they believed would see things from their perspective. And it didnt turn out that way at all.

Its reassuring to know that the majority of the committee acted in a spirit of community engagement, open-mindedness and compromise.

Can we get those folks on this School Board?

Several years earlier, there had been a tacit, if unofficial, agreement among Superintendent Michael Gill, the board and the Ashland community to retain the Gandy name on a consolidated school to be built on the Gandy site. But that was before the names of Lee-Davis High School and Stonewall Jackson Middle School fell, the arrival of Redd on the board and the purging of members whod supported the name changes.

Ashland Elementary was among the suggestions Redd floated to Gill in a June 29, 2022, email objecting to school district references to the planned rebuild as the new Gandy school.

Williams: The Hanover School Board is reneging on Gandy school name "Hanover has become the place where consensus goes to die," writes The Times-Dispatch columnist Michael Paul Williams.

Being a graduate of LDHS, I had hard feelings about the Boards decision to remove the Lee-Davis name but I have accepted it and am moving on; so, lets not show some type of bias in naming the new school, Redd wrote. If we stick to the policy, no one has a valid claim of some sort of bias in the naming of schools. We need to be consistent in the application of the policy and the treatment of citizens in all parts of the county; otherwise, we will rightfully face claims of bias.

If avoiding the appearance of bias was the goal, Tuesdays action represents an epic fail. The Berkleytown name was not at loggerheads with district policy; there was no sound reason to reject it.

On one hand, it might seem perfectly logical to name the consolidated school Ashland Elementary. After all, the school is in Ashland. But viewed through a historical lens, this naming shows the same sort of callous disregard that led the Hanover school district to lionize Confederate leaders who took up arms against the U.S. government for the right to keep Black people in chains.

A majority of the committee understood this. It took into account how Berkleytown residents felt about having Gandy Elementary renamed for the town that had excluded them residentially and educationally. It also considered that the town of Ashland is named after the Kentucky plantation of Hanover native Henry Clay, an enslaver and U.S. senator known as The Great Compromiser.

The School Board, in ignoring the will of a historically oppressed community, tossed compromise out the window.

It was very clear that to name it Ashland Elementary was going to be a slap in the face to the Black community, said Ashland District Supervisor Faye Prichard.

When a score-settling school board hides behind policy, and ignores historical considerations and community consensus, indifference and insult are the point.
Richmond is spending $300,000 in ARPA money on 120 ballistic shields for the police department, a move that drew derision from activists at Monday nights City Council meeting.

The ballistic shield proposal was introduced on March 7 by Mayor Levar Stoney, who requested that the council accept $300,000 in grant funds from the office of Attorney General Jason Miyares.

Federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act were earmarked to act as stimulus for state and local governments to deal with the financial burdens brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some municipalities used the aid to stabilize their local economies and pay essential workers, while others put the money toward housing or investments in infrastructure.

During Mondays meeting, critics said the money should have gone directly toward community programs.

Miyares was given the money in 2021 by the General Assembly, with the stipulation that it be earmarked for community-based gun violence prevention programming.

Miyares office then designated the money to be used for equipment, new program implementation, training, or existing program enhancement.

RPD specifically requested the shields, each of which costs $2,300, stating that the gear would help make up for a department with fewer human resources, and that there were 150 vacancies on the force.

The shields can be attached to police cruisers and are intended protect officers from gunshots. The grant will also go to purchase $24,000 worth of window tinting.

Inside Richmond's new high-tech crime-fighting plan "Cameras are all over the city. Some are owned by the police department and some are owned by other city agencies," said interim police Chief Rick Edwards.

The grant said RPD has been experiencing an uptick in physical assaults, but did not provide data in their grant to support the statement. RPDs request for the shields also referenced national FBI numbers about rising police fatalities in 2021.

Tracy Walker, a spokesperson for the department, said RPD vehicles were struck by gunfire in two separate incidents, highlighting the need to retrofit our patrol vehicles with internal ballistic door panels.

We believe utilizing grant funding from the Virginia Office of the Attorney General will help mitigate some of the risks our officers face and support RPDs core value of improving employee health and wellness, said Interim Police Chief Rick Edwards.

The item was approved by Stoney and Lincoln Saunders, the citys chief administrative officer. Stoneys spokesperson, Gianni Snidle, did not respond to a request for comment.

On Monday night, the line item was approved as part of a unanimous vote on the councils consent agenda  which is when council members vote on a number of expenditures and motions in one overall package after a public comment period.

The ballistic shields drew criticism from four Richmond residents. One was Omari Al-Qaddafi, a community organizer who questioned why the council had not attached a memorandum of understanding regarding the shield purchase.

Who from the administration is going to sit here and tell us how this is preventing gun violence in our community? Al-Qaddafi asked.

Community organizer Art Burton told the council he was furious that the violence reduction grant was not coming to directly to the community.

We wrote that grant; we helped get that grant funded, Burton said. And to this day, we havent seen one dollar that was promised to the community.

We are dying. We are suffering, and we can get nothing, he said. This is the worst government in the history of this city.

Allan Chipman, a former candidate for the City Council in Richmonds 3rd District, spoke at the meeting to connect the investment with the recent killing of Irvo Otieno. Seven sheriffs deputies and three hospital workers are charged with murder after Otieno was pinned to the ground while shackled and handcuffed.

Stoney touts economic wins in State of the City speech "Today, Richmond is free of Confederate monuments and our past is no longer leading our present," the mayor said.

If police cant feel safe when people are shackled, then I dont think theres any amount of shielding that can change their concept of protection if our existence continues to be a threat to him, said Chipman, who was a friend of Otienos and spoke at his funeral.

Chipman suggested that the council should reassess its priorities and invest the money in housing or homelessness reduction rather than in the expensive police gear.

Later, council member Reva Trammell said she stood by the shields. She said Edwards defended their purchase at an 8th District meeting on Thursday night.

When are we gonna get real? When are we going to start realizing that if we dont have enough officers, who is going to protect us? Trammell asked. My people wanted it. I was for it.

No council members responded to residents comments at the time of the meeting.
It's easy to believe nothing has changed. It's easy to believe that nothing even can change given the grip of gun culture on the U.S. Supreme Court and the Republican Party. Republican politicians coast to coast have put themselves wholly at the service of the gun industry and the gun fanatics who enrich it. And the Supreme Court's conservative majority has codified gun obsession with ever more tendentious opinions that shatter not only precedent and reason, but a good many human bodies, too.

Yet as we sort through last weekend's gun massacre in Texas, and await the next gun massacre elsewhere, while taking in stride the gun murders, suicides and shootings too routine to merit public attention, it's worth noting that the political landscape is far from static. The politics of gun violence are different today than they were a few years ago, both for better and for worse. It's hard to imagine, for example, any Democratic senator voting, as four did just one decade ago, against a proposal for expanded background checks. It's even harder to imagine such a vote in the wake of a massacre of children.

In essence, while gun fixation has taken over one party (and that's bad), it has been run out of the other party (and that's good). Polarization on guns has followed a track similar to polarization on other issues. But it also received a stiff shove from the National Rifle Association. Mark Pryor, then a Democratic senator from Arkansas, joined with Republicans in 2013 in opposing background checks on people who buy fi rearms online or at gun shows. The NRA rewarded Pryor's cravenness with a seven-figure advertising buy supporting Pryor's Republican opponent, who won. The NRA, once bipartisan, is now exclusively a GOP interest group, as are other militant gun organizations. Gun zealots have increased their power with Republicans. But they have lost allies elsewhere.

Meanwhile, the "gunsense" lobby is larger, better funded and more potent than at any time in history. It eagerly courts bipartisan allies, seeking to move Republicans incrementally when they can be moved at all. The most successful organizations lobbying for gun safety laws didn't exist in the 20th century. (One of these organizations, Every town for Gun Safety, is backed by Michael Bloomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP.)

States including California, Connecticut, Hawaii and Washington have strengthened their gun restrictions, from red flag laws to ammunition background checks to a ban on semi-automatic rifles. And the steady accumulation of academic research on gun violence has obliterated the gun lobby's claims of social benefits flowing from widespread gun possession. A similar vein of research on the history of gun regulation would likely shame the Supreme Court if the court were capable of such reactions.

Gun violence is complicated. But our current mayhem is partly a result of the gun lobby getting its wish  a nation awash in guns, with red states providing virtually any violent, unhinged man with ready access to lethal arsenals. The gunman who murdered at least eight and injured seven last weekend in suburban Dallas reportedly bought guns from "private sellers." In Texas, such sellers don't need to conduct a basic background check before selling fi rearms to a homicidal Nazi.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott mumbled his traditional post-Texas-massacre remarks about "mental health." It's the default rhetoric of the pathetic and weak. ("We're not going to fi x it" is the manly, forthright response, although that truth wasn't well received when a Republican congressman from Tennessee recently delivered it.)

The sick beauty of the gun industry's business model is that it's self-perpetuating. Gunmakers sell guns, which lead to more gun violence, which increases fear, which encourages people to buy more guns, which leads to more gun violence. If lawmakers don't intervene, you can keep that cycle spinning for a long time before you bleed out a nation of 330 million.

Yet the gun-mad dystopia promoted by gun culture remains a nightmare vision to most Americans. A recent Fox News poll of registered voters shows giant majorities for a menu of gun regulations, including a ban on "assault weapons" and a 30-day waiting period to purchase fi rearms. Public opinion is unstable. But what the Fox poll shows is that Americans right now prefer Canadian gun laws to Texas gun laws.

Turning that public sentiment into a mass mobilization for life is the task at hand for the gun-safety movement. It will require new levels of public awareness, and political pressure, with the goal of isolating true-believing gun radicals from the "thoughts and prayers" cynics, opportunists and frauds who only pretend to be crazy.

With every massacre, guns are becoming a more defining issue. Either the U.S. will institutionalize fear, turning public spaces into state garrisons to counter the threat from armed and dangerous men, or the U.S. will bolster freedom by curtailing the forces of gun violence and intimidation. Something's got to give: The status quo is increasingly untenable.
American tourist to stand trial for illegal possession of firearm

La Paz, Baja California Sur  An American man will stand trial in a Mexico court for the illegal possession of a firearm. The Los Angeles native was found with the weapon in Terminal 2 of the San Jose del Cabo International Airport last month.

According to the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR), Keith F was arrested from the terminal by the National Guard after the gun was located in his luggage.

The defendant was detained by elements of the National Guard in Terminal 2 of the San Jose del Cabo International Airport when boarding a flight to the City of Los Angeles, California for carrying a .9 mm caliber firearm supplied with eight useful cartridges of the same caliber, the FGR said in their report.

The Baja California Sur judge has ordered Keith F to remain in prison for the duration of his trial, which is expected to begin in two months.
Authorities say disappearances related to organized crime the most difficult to solve

Riviera Maya, Q.R.  Maria Lopez Urbina, in charge of the Commission to Search for People in Quintana Roo, acknowledges that disappearances related to organized crime are the most difficult to find and solve.

According to Lopez Urbina, forced disappearances (kidnappings) carried out with violence and firearms make the search work more difficult because it is a problem that goes beyond the state, but requires the collaboration of the Attorney Generals Offices and the Public Security Secretariats of all states to fix it.

From September 2022 to date, 187 cases of missing persons have been reported in the state, of which only 60% have been solved with a 5% fatality rate.

Lopez Urbina pictured here in a monthly missing persons progress meeting with the FGE. Photo: FGE February 16, 2023.

Lopez Urbina says that they are in contact with search groups to continue investigating and locating those reported as missing. She says that while they search for recently missing people, they also search for cases that go back five or more years.

She says that the missing persons files are permanent and that monthly meetings are held with Oscar Montes de Oca of the State Attorney Generals Office to review progress.
Mexican Navy and U.S. Coast Guard participate in security exercise off coast of Veracruz

Veracruz, Mexico  Mexico and U.S. navy personnel participated in the NAMSI GoMex 2023 exercise off the coast of Veracruz. From May 9 to 11, the Bilateral Exercise of the North American Maritime Security and Protection Initiative, NAMSI, was held in correlation with the U.S. Coast Guard based in the port of Veracruz.

This initiative was signed in 2008 and ratified in 2018, being a trilateral forum for cooperation, focused on promoting the strengthening of capacities and appropriate practices among the maritime forces of the Mexico Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard and Canadian Maritime Component Command in order to increase security and maritime protection in the North American region.

Likewise, interoperability through the exchange of information, the development of exercises, seminars, protocols and coordination of operations.

On this occasion, the Canadian Maritime Component Command could not be present, so the trilateral forum changed its format to a bilateral exercise, beginning with a significant welcome and inauguration ceremony on board the ARM ship OAXACA.

Subsequently, at the facilities of the Third Naval Region, a cabinet exercise was carried out with the objective of familiarizing the participants with the protocols, the procedures of the initiative and the current international legislation.

During the execution of combined training operations on the Veracruz coast of the Gulf of Mexico, the following units participated, from Mexico, the ARM ship OAXACA (PO-161), the ARM interceptor patrol HAMAL (PI- 1131) and a Defender-type vessel from the Naval Search, Rescue and Maritime Surveillance Station of Veracruz.

In charge of the the USCG ship DANIEL TARR participated with personnel from the Coast Guard of the Atlantic Area Districts 7, 8 and 11, as well as observers and controllers from both nations.

Among the combined training operations, Passing Exercises (PASSEX) were carried out, to maintain the Rule of Law as well as search and rescue at sea in accordance with the protocols of the initiative.

The bilateral forum concluded with feedback based on the lessons learned, the strengthening of friendship ties and the learning acquired through the exchange of knowledge and practices, which enriched this version of the NAMSI GOMEX, 2023 Initiative.

These exercises will continue to be carried out with the main objective of ensuring the safety and integrity of citizens.
Mexicos Secretary of Tourism meets with Houston mayor to strengthen travel ties

Mexico City, Mexico  Mexicos Secretary of Tourism has met with Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner to work on strengthening tourism between the destinations.

The Secretary of Tourism of the Government of Mexico, Miguel Torruco Marques, held a meeting with the mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner, in which they agreed on joint actions that will strengthen tourism between both destinations.

During the meeting, Torruco Marques highlighted the importance of the bilateral relationship between the two destinations as they are the largest source markets for each other.

He specified that by 2023, 20,300 flights and 2.8 million seats are scheduled from Houston to Mexico. They also discussed areas of opportunity to promote segments such as health and wellness tourism, among others.

The head of the Ministry of Tourism (Sectur) highlighted the importance of the bilateral relationship between our country and the United States, in terms of tourism, as they are the largest source markets for each other, so this sector plays a key role in both economies.

He indicated that, in 2022, the arrival of tourists residing in the United States to Mexico exceeded 13 million, this is 24% more than the year before the pandemic.

Torruco Marques stressed that tourism cannot exist without connectivity. In this vein, 136,000 regular flights from the United States to Mexico are scheduled for this year, with an offer of 22.3 million seats.

He pointed out that, in the case of Houston, last year there were 20,100 flights to Mexico in which 2 million passengers were transported. By 2023, the scheduled flights from Houston to Mexico are 20,300 flights and 2.8 million seats.

He specified that the American traveler likes the sun and the beach, but also urban and cultural experiences. He added that the five most visited destinations by Americans from Houston in 2022 were Cancun, Mexico City, Monterrey, Los Cabos and Guadalajara.

The Secretary of Tourism informed the Houston delegation that 2022 was a historic year for the tourism sector in Mexico, registering a record in foreign exchange earnings from international visitors, as well as the arrival of 38.3 million international visitors, 20% more than the previous year.

The relationship between Houston and Mexico is better than ever, so lets continue working together to promote tourism by generating income, jobs and investment, but above all, I invite you to continue coming and exploring our country, said Torruco Marques during the meeting.

Houstons Mayor Sylvester Turner thanked the Secretary of Tourism for his reception and his interest in strengthening the relationship between both destinations to increase the number of travelers and trigger investments, since tourism is a sector of mutual interest.

He agreed that Houston is the main point of entry for Mexicans to the United States by air, so it is also a market that is of great interest to them.

He also highlighted the large community of Mexicans living in Houston, as well as the relevance of continuing to strengthen the relationship, and agreed on the importance of promoting air connectivity.

Michael Heckman, president and CEO of Houston First Corporation, affirmed that the number of Mexicans traveling to Houston has increased by 41%, year after year, which is why it is essential to continue motivating tourists jointly between the two destinations.

Through a productive dialogue, the members of the Houston delegation and directors of different areas of Sectur stressed that the health and wellness tourism segment represents a great area of opportunity for those who travel between both destinations, in addition to the fact that our country has Internationally certified services to offer and prescribe different treatments.

Turner invited Secretary Torruco to attend the Houston Travel Fest as guest of honor and speaker, an event that will promote Mexicos tourism offerings to the large consumer market of this U.S. city.

The event will open on September 29, and its purpose is to increase the number of travelers between Houston and more than 20 destinations in Mexico, which have direct flights from the two main airports in the city, with nearly 100 daily flights operated by five airlines
One of the Roanoke Valley music scenes busiest members has a new responsibility.

John Pence, a multi-instrumentalist, composer and show promoter, is now The Spot on Kirks venue manager. The nonprofit spaces board voted unanimously for the move, founder and board president Bruce Bryan wrote in an email on Friday.

Hes done just about everything a person can do here over the eight years weve been open, Bryan wrote. Hes been a volunteer, a performer, a street team member, the person who books our music and the manager on duty.

Pence plays guitar and keys with Cinematheque, plays bass in OmegaWolfe and does DJ gigs as The Grand Total. The onetime Savannah Shoulders member was until recently was an artist-in-residence at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. Were surely leaving out something about the Berklee College of Music graduate.

I am so grateful for this opportunity to continue growing with The Spot on Kirk and serve the community, Pence wrote in a text message exchange.

Follow The Spots diverse concert lineup  from listening room to headbanging joint  at thespotonkirk.org/shows.

Honoring apprentices

The Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program since 2002 has teamed up mentor artists with younger people hoping to continue artistic traditions. On May 25, the program will celebrate the latest groups to do it during an event at Taubman Museum of Art.

This years teams are:

Bernadette BJ Lark and Alanjha Harris, both of Roanoke. Lark is working with Harris on Gullah Geechee-style gospel singing.

Smyth County-based Elizabeth LaPrelle and Elsa Howell, of Roanoke. LaPrelle is helping Howell investigate Appalachian ballads.

Betty Vornbrock of Carroll County is passing along old-time fiddle music to Galaxs Sharon Andreucci. Theyre focused on women fiddlers repertoire.

Violin maker Daniel Smith of Lynchburg is sharing his knowledge with Alexandrias Richard Maxham.

The 5:30 p.m. event, with a reception and a film screening, is free but requires registration via eventbrite.com (search folklife apprenticeship celebration).

From FloydFest to Beech Mountain

When FloydFest organizers canceled this years festivities, fans were bummed to lose such headliners as newly minted Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Sheryl Crow and likely future honoree My Morning Jacket.

Both acts have emerged in another locale  Beech Mountain Resort, North Carolina  on what would have been FloydFest weekend. Micah Davidson, who grew up in Roanoke, booked them for the July 28-30 Party on the Mountain.

Crow is scheduled for July 28. MMJ headlines July 30, with FloydFest 2021 act Katie Pruitt opening. In between those dates, past FloydFest performers JJ Grey & Mofro and Dawes are on the bill.

Tickets remained for all three concerts by press time at tixr.com/groups/beechmountainresort. Others on the Beech Mountain summer schedule include Amos Lee with Langhorne Slim (July 15) and Grace Potter with Morgan Wade (Aug. 12).

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Davidson, who runs Harvester Performance Center and is Bristol Rhythm & Roots talent buyer, just keeps making things happen.
This May, observed annually as Mental Health Awareness Month, a Roanoke attorney and his client are celebrating a victory for a not guilty verdict.

Brandon L. Moore, 37, was charged in November with making a bomb threat at LewisGale Medical Center. In Salem Circuit Court Thursday, Judge David Carson found him not guilty by reason of insanity.

Up until this point, the justice system hadnt necessarily failed Mr. Moore. Its done everything it could to manage the consequences of his actions appropriately, said Chris Anderson, Moores attorney. But today, I think we finally have got him figured out to a degree that we all understand rehabilitation is whats important for Mr. Moore, not incarceration.

On Nov. 21, Moore entered the emergency room at the hospital on Electric Road seeking medical assistance. When he didnt receive the treatment he sought, he became unruly and was asked to leave, Salem police reported.

Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Drew Givens said Moore said there was a bomb in a bathroom trash can. Inside it, police found a backpack carrying batteries and wires, but no bomb.

They actually found Mr. Moore in that area, Givens said. He did admit to placing the items in there.

Anderson said Moore was raised without a father, and his mother died when he was 11 years old. He has a criminal record that includes another bomb threat charge and assault charges, including misdemeanor battery of emergency health care personnel.

The defense attorney said Moore has had a hard life and is still living that hard life. A joint effort between counsel and the court led to the insanity stipulation and ultimately Moores acquittal.

The stipulation places Moore into the temporary custody of Virginias Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, or DBHDS, where hell be comfortable, protected, medicated and counseled in a way that the Department of Corrections isnt set up to provide for him, Anderson said.

The prosecutor said that while the Western Virginia Regional Jail kept Moore safe as he awaited his day in court, it fell short of providing the care Moore is really in desperate need of.

Two medical evaluations of Moore after his arrest both found that he was insane at the time of the offense as he was not aware, because of psychosis, of the nature, character, and consequences of his act, and did not know whether his acts were right or wrong, and did not have the requisite ability to control his actions at the time of the offense, according to a court order.

Had the two evaluations come to different conclusions, a jury would have had to decide whether Moore could claim the insanity defense, Anderson said.

Weve been able to get to this junction by agreement and by two individually returned medical reports, which were in harmony with respect to their findings, he said.

While in temporary custody of the DBHDS, Moore will be evaluated by various clinicians and two more reports will be submitted to the court, explained Dr. Angela Torres, director of DBHDS Office of Forensic Services.

Each evaluator independently recommends to the court if the acquittee should be committed to DBHDS, released to the community with a set of conditions to follow, or discharged to the community with no monitoring by the court, Torres said Friday. If committed to DBHDS, the acquittee goes through the graduated release process, which allows the acquittee to demonstrate improvement in his or her recovery while having increasing privileges and contact with the community.

In the DBHDS 2022 fiscal year, there were 101 people in Virginia found not guilty by reason for insanity, according to the state department. Thirty were allowed to remain in the community while in temporary custody.

Anderson said after Thursdays hearing that Moores acquittal is a manifestation of the strides being made to better understand and govern the ever-changing, multi-layered pandemic that is mental health.

The law is a living, breathing organism that is capable of changing and morphing along with the needs and changing demands of our society, he said.
YORKTOWN  Nearly 100 soon-to-be American citizens gathered with their families Thursday to honor the final step in the naturalization process that for some has been years in the making.

Today, the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundations R. Homer Lanier said, is a day of celebration.

The naturalization ceremony took place at the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown and included candidates from 47 different countries, including Albania, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ethiopia, Germany, Moldova, Mexico and the Philippines.

The Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation and the Comte de Grasse Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution hosted the event in collaboration with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Im just glad I completed it. Its like a milestone, said Roneil Roy Marshall, one of the 97 citizens naturalized at the ceremony.

Marshall has been in the U.S. for 11 years and serves in the Navy. He originally came from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean.

The naturalization process was long, Marshall explained. He started it in late 2021 when he first got to his command.

It was worth it in the end, of course, he said.

Before the ceremony, the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation Honor Guard and Field Musick Virginia led the candidates to the museums outdoor amphitheater, where attendees rose for the national anthem.

The group of candidates recited an oath of allegiance to the United States, along with the Pledge of Allegiance and the American Creed.

Carol Edlow of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation addressed the crowd on this momentous occasion and shared her own story as a descendant of immigrants and a first-generation college student.

Edlow talked about the challenges of going through an extensive citizenship process that includes applications and interviews. She commended the newly naturalized citizens for their bravery and the contributions they will make to the fabric of this quilt that we call America.

Dirk Stanley McPherson, who is from Guyana, has been in the U.S. for three years and joined the Navy in 2021 with the hopes of becoming a citizen. Being deployed in Europe for almost a year made it challenging for him to complete the citizenship process.

This final ceremony means a lot, said McPherson, whose goals included becoming a citizen and pursuing an education.

McPherson said he would encourage others to join the military and pursue citizenship because its a good stepping stone for more opportunities.

Anne Nowinksi, the supervisory immigration services officer from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, called the 97 new citizens by name to present each of them with certificates of naturalization. As each new citizen walked up to receive their certificate, family and friends in the audience cheered and clapped. Citizens also received a miniature American flag to commemorate the occasion.

Despite battling cancer, Yovanny Enrique Millano became an American citizen at 74 years old. Millano, originally from Venezuela, came to the U.S. in 1998.

The Lord, he has given me the victory, he said. I never thought that I was going to be here because of my health problem.

The ceremony concluded with an artillery salute.
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" " Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River in southern Africa can slow to a relative trickle when droughts come. ZINYANGE AUNTONY/AFP/Getty Images

Waterfalls are one of nature's most demonstrative wonders, sometimes plunging to vertical depths that create stunningly violent sprays. But what happens when there isn't enough water to fuel the fall?

Several world-renowned waterfalls around the globe have either dried up entirely or are functioning at a fraction of their previous power. This can negatively impact everything from local tourist trade to important ecological functions that benefit an area's flora and fauna.

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"While some waterfalls are spring-born or spring-fed, the majority are reliant on precipitation," says Adam Sawyer, an outdoor photographer and guide based in the Pacific Northwest whose published guidebooks include "Hiking Waterfalls Oregon, Hiking Waterfalls Washington" and the forthcoming "Hiking Waterfalls Idaho." "With many regions seeing a reduction in snowpack and extreme or prolonged drought conditions, many waterfalls are reducing to little more than exaggerated trickles, or even drying up entirely."

Climate change is often fingered as a culprit, causing both damaging floods and prolonged droughts. It can take years to fully realize the deleterious effects of precipitation shortfalls, and by 2025, half the world's population is likely to live in a water-stressed area, according to the World Health Organization.

"Waterfalls are just another geological canary in the coal mine," Sawyer says. "Hopefully, we will find a way to correct the course sooner rather than later. In the meantime, there may never be a better time to get out and observe these natural wonders, in order to garner a deeper understanding and appreciation for them."

Here are six famous waterfalls that slowed to a trickle when drought set in.
A Clemson University researcher is part of a multi-state, multi-disciplinary study to improve rice farming sustainability and profitability through research innovations that advance climate-resilient crops.

Raghupathy Karthikeyan, Newman Endowed Chair professor of natural resources engineering and a professor in Clemsons Agricultural Sciences Department, is collaborating with researchers from other land-grant institutions and the United States Department of Agriculture to learn how the development and adoption of climate-smart crop production technologies and practices can enhance rice production.

This $10 million project is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA) through its Agriculture and Food Research Initiatives Sustainable Agricultural Systems program. The project addresses the three pillars of the land-grant mission  research, education and the Cooperative Extension Service.

During this project, we will work to identify climate resilient rice, particularly salt-tolerant rice cultivars and appropriate management practices for rice growers, Karthikeyan said. The outcome of this project will allow for development of a skilled workforce that will continue research and development and help distribute information related to using climate resilient technologies.

Rice once was a dominant agricultural staple in South Carolina before saltwater intrusion forced farmers to grow other crops.

During this project, the researchers will: assess socio-economic and environmental impacts of current farming practices and identify barriers to adopting climate-smart technologies; design climate-smart rice cultivars; develop climate-smart management practices; and develop and implement effective Extension programming. Knowledge gained will be used to identify rice varieties that can adapt to a changing climate.

For his part in the study, Karthikeyan will calibrate and validate the rice crop model, CERES-Rice, a model from Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer  DSSAT suite, using different environmental and management conditions. This model is used for crop management design. Karthikeyan will use this model to forecast rice yields across different management practices under variable climate scenarios.

Crop simulation models simulate growth, development and yield as a function of interactions between soil, plant and the atmosphere, Karthikeyan said. Optimum management practices to increase rice production can be identified using CERES-Rice simulations.

Field trials will be conducted on salt-tolerant rice lines at the Clemson Coastal Research and Education Center (REC) in Charleston, South Carolina.

Clemson researchers will apply the CERES-Rice model to assess responses of different rice cultivars using projected climate change. Once calibrated, the model will be used to make on-farm management decisions in current and future climatic conditions. This farm modeling system uses data from across the agricultural production chain and includes social and regional considerations to maximize economic, environmental and societal benefits.

Qiong Su, a post doctoral fellow working with Clemson professor Raghupathy Karthikeyan on a climate-smart project to increase rice production, studies the effects of abiotic stresses on rice.

Qiong Su, a Clemson post-doctoral fellow, studies the effects of abiotic stresses on rice grown at the Coastal REC.

Karthikeyan also will develop and teach a special topics class and coordinate a mini-symposium on sustainable and climate-resilient rice production at Clemson University.

In addition to Clemson, this Louisiana State University-led project also includes researchers from the University of Arkansas, Texas A&M University AgriLife Research, Mississippi State University and the USDA-Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center. These researchers have expertise in plant breeding, genetics, plant physiology, plant pathology, entomology, agronomy, soil science, precision agriculture, microbiology, mechanical engineering, modeling, artificial intelligence, sociology, economics and Extension education.

Karthikeyan said this expertise will help the researchers share their knowledge with rice growers today, as well as with rice growers of the future.

We will use Extension and education activities to equip the current and next generation of rice farmers, consultants and researchers with knowledge and skills needed to embrace new climate-smart agriculture technologies and production practices, Karthikeyan said. Growers will learn how to make the correct decisions at the correct times to help reduce yield losses, land use, labor and consumer energy.

This grant is part of a $70 million dollar investment from USDA to establish robust, resilient and climate-smart food and agricultural systems.

To help revive the South Carolina rice industry, another Clemson-led project is iCORP  Increasing Coastal Organic Rice Production in South Carolina Using Salt Tolerant Cultivars. During this project, researchers will detail cultivation practices and economics of growing rice in salt-affected coastal areas to help growers to make informed crop-related decisions.
Seguin, TX (78155)

Today

Mixed clouds and sun with scattered thunderstorms. Heavy and torrential downpours at times. High near 80F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms. Low 66F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
 Closing another busy week rounding up some notable commentary | Main

In this latest Relist Watch over at SCOTUSblog,John Elwood includes a discussion of yet another issue dividing circuits concerning how to apply the Armer Career Criminal Act's severe 15-year mandatory minimum term for gun possession. Regular readers know the wide array of technical issues SCOTUS has had to address in the application of ACCA, but this latest issue seems a bit more interesting than most. Here are John's full descriptions (with links from the original):

[W]e have a group of three relists that raise the same issue. Brown v. United States, Jackson v. United States, and Jones v. United States all concern a single recurring issue involving the Armed Career Criminal Act, a federal sentencing enhancement provision. The ACCA provides that someone who has been convicted of a felony and possesses a firearm is normally subject to a maximum 10-year sentence. But if that person already has at least three serious drug offense convictions, then the minimum sentence  the minimum  is 15 years. Courts decide whether a prior state conviction counts as an ACCA serious drug offense using a categorical approach. It requires determining whether the elements of a state drug offense are the same as, or narrower than those of its federal counterpart. If so, the state conviction qualifies as an ACCA predicate offense. But federal drug law often changes  as here, when Congress decriminalized hemp, narrowing the federal definition of marijuana. If the state law doesnt follow suit, sentencing courts face an issue: What if the state and federal offenses matched (and thus the state offense was an ACCA predicate) under an earlier version of federal law, but federal law has since been narrowed? Thus, the courts choice of which version of federal law to consult dictates the difference between serving a 10-year maximum or a 15-year minimum.

The question presented in these three cases is: Whether the serious drug offense definition in the Armed Career Criminal Act incorporates the federal drug schedules that were in effect at the time of the federal firearm offense, or the federal drug schedules that were in effect at the time of the prior state drug offense. The U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 3rd, 4th, 8th, and 10th Circuit have gone with federal law at the time of the firearm offense; the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit has gone with federal law at the time of the prior state drug offense.

The government has told the Supreme Court that there is a circuit split on the issue and recommends that the court should grant review in Jackson, and hold Brown and Jones for that case. I also rate Jackson a likely grant.

We should know more after the court releases its order list next Monday.
Singapore's Law Minister K. Shanmugam speaks to Reuters in Singapore July 31, 2019 (PHOTO:REUTERS/Edgar Su)

SINGAPORE  The Singapore Police Force (SPF) is still trusted by the community. Still, it's important not to take this for granted and let the relationship between the police and the community turn adversarial.

This was emphasised by Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam in a speech at the Police Workplan Seminar and Exhibition at the Singapore Expo on Friday (12 May).

He warned that other countries have experienced situations where the police are viewed as enemies instead of protectors of the community.

Using the example of the Capitol Hill riot on 6 January 2021, he explained that the police were caught in the political chaos during the riot and were the target of hostility from some members of the public.

Despite over 140 police officers being injured during the riot, and more than 1,000 people being arrested, certain individuals in the media and politics attempted to downplay the event for their gains.

Shanmugam also cited a Fox News report that used security footage from the riot that was shared by the Speaker of the House, with a commentator from the news network accusing the Democrats of lying to the American public about the events.

The minister said political tussles for power could drag the police into political debates, where certain groups or individuals use the police as a scapegoat or collateral damage to make political points.

"The Police should not, and cannot, be used as a tool for politics, or as scapegoats by political leadership," he stressed.

"We try and avoid this, and support the Police to be neutral and independent, not to be used for political purposes. Neither should the Police be made a victim of politicking. The responsibility lies with the elected leadership, political leadership, and it must stay this way."

Laws will impact police officers' mindset

The minister also discussed the impact of laws on the way police officers handle day-to-day situations, citing the example of the gun ownership situation in the US.

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He said that he does not believe Americans are more or less prone to violence compared to people from other countries, including Singapore. However, due to the high rate of police officers being killed by firearms in the US, it affects the officers' mindset and makes them more cautious.

"If there are four million guns out there, for our 3.6 million citizen population, I think our officers will have a very different mindset. You will attend each incident with fear. And the slightest suspicion might trigger an instinctive reaction  to shoot or be shot," said Shanmugam.

"It is a vicious cycle. And it is not just this. This is the reason why we try and keep crime low across the rest of the society, because you need to create a certain culture and approach for reducing crime.

"That is why we take such a tough approach on drugs as well. Every time we allow one side to move, it affects the entire society and the way we will police."

Defending the defenders

Shamugam also called for the right remuneration for police officers in his speech on Friday.

He said that policing is a demanding job, and officers face a higher risk of getting injured while on duty, working shifts, and being on duty during public holidays.

Therefore, if the conditions of service are not good, the SPF will not be able to attract and retain good people for this tough job.

The minister also stressed the importance of standing up for officers and quickly debunking falsehoods when they are unfairly attacked. He cited the case of a police officer falsely accused of bullying an elderly woman in Yishun in 2021, which resulted in invoking the fake news law.

"These attacks will only get more complex, with deepfakes and artificial intelligence," he warned.

"To counter such attacks, it is crucial to put out the truth swiftly and accurately, set them out publicly and openly... There is some political cost but it is more important to protect the institution.

"Our officers know that when there are false or unfair allegations, we will act quickly and decisively to tell the truth and stand by the officers."

Shamugam also emphasised that, in cases of wrongdoings by police officers, firm action has been and will be taken to preserve the public's trust in the police force.

Gratitude for strong public trust

The minister expressed his gratitude for the public's trust in SPF, with 87 per cent of respondents in a 2020 survey by the Institute of Policy Studies stating that they were confident or very confident in the SPF.

The minister noted that this is the highest level of trust among state institutions in Singapore and the highest among police forces globally. This positive view was also reflected in the 2022 Gallup Global Law and Order report that found 93 per cent of Singapore respondents were confident in the police.

"It is the trust that enables the Police to first, prevent crimes  they keep crime rate low in the first place  and to solve crimes, when they do take place," he said.

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Mother's Day is on 14 May this year, and if you are only looking at options now, it might almost be too late to get a gift, or not. Stave off any guilt and see if you can make a last-minute reservation at any of these restaurants serving Mother's Day specials!

When was the last time you gave your mum flowers, treat her to a good meal or even have a conversation? (Photo: Gettyimages)

Pazzion Mother's Day High Tea Set

Where: Jewel and Takashimaya

Retailing at $49.00, this PAZZION Mother's Day High Tea set includes savoury mini sandwiches and pie tees, finished with an array of meringues, pudding and fruit tarts. (Photo: PAZZION)

From now to 31 May, 2:00pm5:00pm on weekdays and 1:30pm5:30pm on weekends, Pazzion Cafe is offering a delectable Mother's Day High Tea set for two. Treat your mum to a cosy tete-a-tete over a pot of warm tea and a delicious spread of sweets and savouries at only S$49. And you know what's better after that? Taking your mum shopping for shoes!

Mothers love their shoes too

Hilton Singapore Grand Sunday Brunch and Afternoon Tea

Where: Hilton Singapore Orchard

Brunch at Hilton for Mother's Day (Photo: Hilton Singapore Orchard)

There are three dining venues to consider at Hilton Singapore: Estate, the hotel's all-day dining buffet restaurant, Ginger.Lily, the botanical-inspired lobby bar and lounge and Cali-Italian restaurant Osteria Mozza. Full deets below.

Estate Mothers Day Brunch Buffet

Sunday, 14 May 2023 | 12 pm to 3 pm

S$188++ per adult (inclusive of chilled juices, coffee and tea)

S$50++ top-up per adult (Free flow champagne package: Laurent Perrier Champagne, Whispering Angel Rose, house red and white wine, beer and soft drinks)

S$70++ top-up per adult (Free flow premium champagne package: Billecart Salmon Champagne, Whispering Angel Rose, house red and white wine, beer, house cocktails and soft drinks)

Ginger.Lily Mother's Day Afternoon Tea

8 to 14 May | 1pm to 3pm; 3:30pm to 5:30pm

S$68++ per person with free flow coffee and tea (a minimum of two persons is required)

Top up S$20++ per person for a glass of Laurent-Perrier Champagne

Reserve here

Mothers and Fathers Day with Deluxe Set Menus at Si Chuan Dou Hua

Where: Si Chuan Dou Hua at PARKROYAL on Kitchener Rd

Decadent Chinese cuisine at Si Chuan Dou Hua (Photo: PARKROYAL on Kitchener Road)

Celebrate Mothers and Fathers Day with deluxe set menus at Si Chuan Dou Hua at Kitchener Road. For a cosy and heart-warming meal, go for the four pax menu (S$298) and indulge in an extensive 7-course feast comprising the restaurants classic signatures. For a more elaborated family gathering, go for the 10 pax menu ($698) comprising 8 beloved signature dishes. On top of that, get a complimentary Longevity Bun with Ginger Mountain for all Mothers and Fathers Day set menu orders.

Book here.

Fairmont Singapore

Where: Fairmont Singapore

Anti:Dote Mother's Day High Tea Set is available from S$58 per pax (Photo: Fairmont Singapore)

Anti:dote Mother's Day Afternoon tea is available from 3-5pm daily from 2-31 May. You can also check out Japanese restaurant Mikuni and Italian at Prego!

Ce La Vi Mothers Day Rooftop Dining Experience

Where: Marina Bay Sands Rooftop

Mothers Day Special Dessert, Pavlova (Photo: Ce La Vi)

Roll out the red carpet for Mum through Mother's Day weekend (13/14 May) and treat her to a dining experience at rooftop destination Ce La Vi.

Reservations are required, and they can be made online here, by phone at +65 6508 2188 or by email at reservation-sg@celavi.com. Please note that the brunch and dinner menus differ and are available on CE LA VI Singapores website.

Beauty in The Pot Dishes Out Mothers Day Exclusive Nourishing Set

Where: Around the island

Everybody loves hotpot, right? Famed hotpot restaurant Beauty in The Pot will showcase its exclusive Moms Nourishing Set S$98, which comes with special ingredients such as Dang Gui Ebiko Prawn Paste, Wild Mushroom Platter, Sliced Giant Grouper Fish as well as Warming Yellow Wine Kampong Chicken Broth to improve health and immunity levels. Bring your mum to any Beauty In The Pot and let her choose everything else she wants to eat!

Got a mum who loves cooking instead of eating out? Gift her a set of Tefal products that won't break the bank!

Mums-approved Tefal products that won't break the bank
Employees of AMC Classic Grand Island 7 were told to remove their belongings from the theater on Wednesday, the same day the movie theater was served with an eviction notice.

On Wednesday morning, a Hall County Sheriff's deputy posted a writ of execution on the entrance to the theater. That writ is also known as an eviction notice.

Woodsonia Real Estate, which owns the mall, told theater employees they had to be out by 5 p.m. Wednesday, a theater employee said.

On May 1, Hall County Court Judge Alfred Corey ruled in favor of the mall owners in a civil action brought against AMC's owners. Woodsonia had filed the action April 7 against American Multi-Cinema Inc., in care of Corporate Creations Network of Omaha. American Multi-Cinema is also known as AMC.

Corey ruled that the premises should be surrendered to Woodsonia, which is redeveloping the mall. AMC still hopes to reopen the Grand Island theater and is trying to appeal the ruling, the theater employee said.

But much of the equipment is being removed from the theater. In the words of the theater employee, the interior is being gutted.

The last time movies were shown at AMC Classic Grand Island 7 was Monday, May 1.

The theater had 21 employees, including management. Three of those employees were full-time. A fourth worked full-time hours depending on the week.

AMC paid the Grand Island staff through Thursday, May 11. Supervisors and managers will be paid through May 18, and the general manager will be paid until June 1.

The theater employee expressed doubt that the theater would reopen, at least in its current configuration. According to renderings he's seen, the Nos. 6 and 7 theaters are going to be reconfigured into "some sort of entrance," he said.
WARSAW, Poland (AP)  An object believed to be an observation balloon entered Polish airspace from Belarus and flew over the country for several hours before disappearing from radar, prompting the military to carry out a search by air and on the ground on Saturday.

Polish President Andrzej Duda linked the object and previous objects that have entered Polish airspace to the war that Russia is waging in Ukraine, which lies on Poland's eastern border. Belarus, an ally of Russia, also lies on Poland's northeastern border.

Never has war been so close to us, never been so tangible, Duda said on a visit to Ustka on the Baltic Sea coast, where the Polish military was holding a large exercise.

It creates many different, difficult situations, many provocations, even those that we see even in the last hours."

Duda said he planed to speak to speak Monday to NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg.

The Defense Ministry said that it believed the object was an observation balloon and that radar contact with the object was lost near Rypin, a town in central Poland 143 kilometers (89) northwest of the capital, Warsaw.

A search was launched in that area involving a helicopter, a drone and ground groups from the Territorial Defense Forces, a press officer with the Operational Command of the Armed Forces, Capt. Ewa Zotnicka, told the television broadcaster TVN24.

The object was spotted Friday around 8:30 p.m. local time near Biaowieza, which is near Poland's border with Belarus. Radar monitoring was carried out, but at around 12:30 a.m. Saturday, the object ceased to be visible, Zotnicka said in a phone interview with the private TV station.

The development reported Saturday follows two other known incursions into Poland's airspace since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In November, two Polish men were killed when a missile landed in eastern Poland. Western officials said they believed a Ukrainian air defense missile went astray as Ukraine tried to repel a large-scale attack by Russia.

Polish military and political officials are also facing questions about another object that landed on Polish territory in December, but which was only discovered in April by chance by a member of the public who was riding a horse in a forest.

The issue is raising questions about the authorities' handling of Poland's air defenses amid new risks created by the war in Ukraine.

President Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki were only informed of the December airspace incursion in late April.

The National Security Bureau, which advises the president on security and defense matters, said Friday that its head, Jacek Siewiera, and Duda were informed on April 26 about the object, which the bureau said may be a Russian-made cruise missile.

Officials have said that no traces of explosives were found at the site where the aerial object was discovered.

Defense Minister Mariusz Baszczak this week pointed the finger of blame at the operational commander of the armed forces for not properly informing political leaders of the object. Army leaders have pushed back, insisting they fulfilled their duties properly.

Poland and the Polish army have not seen such events on our territory and over our territory for many decades," Duda said in his remarks Saturday. He said Polish authorities were analyzing new procedures which were being used for the first time and that some had worked better than others.

But he said he could not go into detail because of security concerns.
SIOUX CITY  A man wanted in connection with the killing of a woman in Dakota Dunes was found in Mexico Friday evening.

Alfredo Castellanos-Rosales, 39, was arrested in Mexico Friday evening and turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service in Laredo, Texas, according to a U.S. Marshals news release.

Alfredo Castellanos-Rosales will remain in custody in Texas pending his extradition to South Dakota, according to the news release.

Jordan Beardshear was found dead in her apartment at The Wellington at the Dunes apartment complex on April 26. The South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation has determined her death to be a result of a homicide. A young child was found safe by law enforcement.

Union County issued an arrest warrant for Castellanos-Rosales on charges of first and second-degree murder.

Castellanos-Rosales is accused of killing Beardshear on or about April 25. The two have a child together and were in a "significant romantic relationship" during the past 12 months, according to a criminal complaint filed in Union County Circuit Court.

The affidavit of probable cause states that cellular phone evidence shows that Castellanos-Rosales was near Beardshear's residence and also near the same location as her phone around 8:30 and 9 p.m. on April 25. The document also noted that witnesses placed Beardshear at her apartment complex around 8:30 p.m. on that date.

A search warrant executed at Castellanos-Rosales' residence identified clothing suspected of containing blood, according to the affidavit.

"Beardshear sustained significant injuries including stab wounds, defensive slashing wounds, and significant trauma to her neck/throat area," the affidavit states.

The U.S. Marshals Service, Mexican authorities, the Union County Sheriff's Office and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation were involved in the operation.
SIOUX CITY  Morningside and Briar Cliff students will celebrate the end of their college experience Saturday.

Unique to this year, this is the first commencement ceremony for the new presidents at both universities.

Briar Cliff University interim president Jacobson-Schulte Patrick Jacobson-Schulte, Briar Cliff University's interim president, is shown in front of statues of St Francis and St. Anthony on July 15 at

Briar Cliff President Patrick Jacobson-Schulte has been serving as interim president since July 2022 and was named as the official president in March. He joined Briar Cliff University in June of 2021 as the Vice President of Finance.

Jacobson-Schulte said he is proud of the Class of 2023 and is excited to be part of their commencement.

"This is the culmination of the hard work our students have put in over their time at Briar Cliff University," he said. "This will be a critical step for them as they go on to pursue their dreams and make an impact in the communities we serve."

Mosley_2.jpg Morningside President Albert Mosley pauses in front of the university's mission statement. This week, he'll be inaugurated.

Morningside President Albert Mosley was selected for the position in 2021 and started in July 2022.On April 20, Mosley was inaugurated as the university's 13th president, succeeding longtime president John Reynders.

He said commencement is a signature event for colleges and universities and is "the most important element in fulfilling Morningside Universitys mission."

"Saturday will be an opportunity to pause and reflect upon the myriad of experiences each of our students have had over the last four years," he said.

Briar Cliff's commencement will take place at 10 a.m. at the Orpheum Theatre and Morningside's commencement will take place at 2 p.m. at Elwood Olsen Stadium.

In the event of inclement weather, the commencement ceremony will be moved to Allee Gymnasium.

No tickets are required for guests to attend. If commencement is moved to the rain location in Allee, each graduate will have four tickets for family and friends to attend the ceremony due to limited seating.
SIOUX CENTER, Iowa  Though Ron DeSantis hasn't officially declared for next year's presidential election, the two-term Florida governor had a lot to say about 2024 during his keynote address at Saturday's Feenstra Family Picnic in Sioux Center.

"We must reject the culture of losing that's affected our party in recent years, the time for excuses is over," DeSantis said to a crowd of at least 500 people inside of the Dean Classic Car Museum. "If we make the 2024 election a referendum on Joe Biden and his failures, and if we provide a positive alternative for the future of this country, Republicans will win across the board."

The line drew applause from those attending the third-annual event hosted by two-term Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, and it was as close as DeSantis came to referencing former President Donald Trump who lost the 2020 election to Biden.

DeSantis, who won re-election in 2022 by nearly 20 points, said such winning wouldn't come easy for the GOP and told the crowd "(It's) going to require a lot of hard work and sacrifice" and "I've only begun to fight."

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis addresses a crowd of at least 500 people during a keynote speech at the third-annual Feenstra Family Picnic in Sioux

What he touted

Much of the half-hour DeSantis spent at the podium was dedicated to talking about the legislative and executive work he's been a part of since first winning the governorship in 2018 by less than one percentage point.

"We're not dealing with the pronoun stuff," DeSantis said.

2023 Feenstra Family Picnic Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs pictures for guests after speaking at the 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Classic Car Museum in 

Education

Both education and gender were issues DeSantis returned to over and over again. He suggested schools should increase their focus on math, science and reading and "not have pornographic materials in the school library" (referring to his state's focus on restricting what books students are offered). A Times of Israel story from Friday reported that the state's new efforts recently lead to the Florida Education Department rejecting two Holocaust-focused textbooks, "Modern Genocides" and "History of the Holocaust."

DeSantis later told the eventgoers that students in Florida are being told the "truth" about the political ideologies of Leninism and Marxism and how they are "better off as a result of that."

At another point, DeSantis warned about "diversity, equity and inclusion" initiatives at the university level and said so-called DEI measures are "trying to impose an ideological agenda on the student body through the administrative apparatus of the university."

2023 Feenstra Family Picnic Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during the 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa, May 13, 2023.

Gender

More than once, DeSantis used the phrase "gender ideology," or a variant, while talking.

Near the end of his speech, DeSantis alleged there has been a lull in enrollment in the U.S. military because of an embrace of "gender ideology."

"When you see videos of folks recruiting for the military services, using things like drag queens, that is just fundamentally wrong," DeSantis said.

He also told the audience they should wage a war on practices such as educators talking to students about gender identity.

"It's wrong for a teacher to instruct a student they were born in the wrong body," he said. "We should not have transgender ideology in our schools."

2023 Feenstra Family Picnic Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis shakes hands with Vicki Vermeer of Sioux Center as he greets guests after speaking at the 3rd annual Feenstra Family

Iowa connections

The Florida governor told Iowans at the Feenstra Family Picnic that his political focuses over the past four years are matters Gov. Kim Reynolds has dealt with as well. In fact, he joked about the two Republican-led states being mirror images of one another.

"Iowa is like the Florida of the Midwest," DeSantis quipped. "You know, after watching all the good stuff you've got in Iowa, it may be that Florida is the Iowa of the southeast."

Reynolds noted the parallels as well and said Florida and Iowa are in a kind of legislative contest with one another. "When governors are competing, Americans win," Reynolds proclaimed.

Like DeSantis, she too carved out time to target the issue of gender by denouncing gender-affirming care for minors. "Our children are not experiments," Reynolds said.

Both politicians lamented the rollback of Title 42, which allowed U.S. officials to turn away migrants arriving at the southern border on the grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19, and the overall state of immigration between the U.S. and Mexico.

"(A) national disgrace," Reynolds called it. DeSantis echoed "Don't tell these foreigners to just decide to come across the border when they want to." He then said he would shut down the border if he could which drew major applause in the room and had one attendee yell "hell yeah" and say "eliminate the problem."

2023 Feenstra Family Picnic Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during the 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa, May 13, 2023.

What he faces

At present, Trump is leading DeSantis by more than 29 percentage points, according to a FiveThirtyEight average of recent national polls of the 2024 Republican primary. The data site's figures, most recently updated on Friday, May 12, show Trump at 52.1%, DeSantis at 22.5%, former Vice President Mike Pence at 5.6%, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley at 3.9%, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy at 3.4% and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson at 0.7%.

Visitors to the Feenstra Family Picnic were not resolute on which candidates they support the most.

Dawn Kottler, a 72-year-old Ames resident, said she wanted to hear other choices out there but was leaning towards Trump.

"I just think he has the track record of everything he got done when he was in office last time," Kottler said.

Orange City resident Peggy Subart, 62, shared she's "all in" for a DeSantis 2024 bid.

"I believe he has conservative values. He's articulate. He stands up for parents," she said. When asked about Trump, Subart said "I'm just going to let that all pan out" but acknowledged she would vote for whoever the Republican nominee is.

2023 Feenstra Family Picnic Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, greets Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on stage during the 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Classic Car Mu

A similar sort of hedge came from Susan Eshuis, a Rock Valley resident in her 50s. She said she wasn't worried so much about the people running but the party itself and that Republicans need to do whatever it takes to win.

Marie Knebler, a 72-year-old native of Sioux County who now lives in Council Bluffs, gave Trump a slight edge over DeSantis though confessed to some concerns about Trump who, on Tuesday, was found liable of sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996.

"I haven't completely made up my mind yet," Knebler said.

Thirty minutes before the event got going, a 71-year-old Greene County resident flat out said he didn't think Trump could win and didn't know what he was doing during his four years in the White House. DeSantis, the man said, seemed to have "all of the qualifications."

DeSantis and Trump were set to having "dueling" events on Saturday, with the governor appearing in Sioux Center and Cedar Rapids and Trump going to Des Moines. But Trump announced via Truth Social that he had to cancel the speech at Lauridsen Amphitheater in Water Works Park "due to tornado warnings."

What comes next

In the days leading up to DeSantis' appearance, Iowa GOP legislators from around the state, including more than a half-dozen from Siouxland, endorsed the former Congressman.

On Thursday, Iowa Senate President Amy Sinclair, Allerton; and Iowa House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl, Missouri Valley; announced their support of DeSantis.

Then, on Friday, Politico reported that the pro-DeSantis political action committee "Never Back Down" had 35 more endorsements to roll out. Those co-signs for a 2024 DeSantis presidential campaign included: State Sen. Dave Rowley, Spirit Lake; and State Reps. John Wills, Spirit Lake; Steve Holt, Denison; Skyler Wheeler, Hull; Bob Henderson, Sioux City and Ken Carlson, Onawa.

Haley was the keynote speaker at the second-annual Feenstra Family Picnic in 2022. For the first iteration, in 2021, Feenstra, the two-term Congressman who defeated Steve King in the 2020 primary, played host to Pence. Haley, who also served as governor of South Carolina, is running in the 2024 GOP primary while Pence, a one-term Indiana governor, has been perpetually floated as a candidate. Were he to run, both Pence and Haley would be competing with their former boss, Trump, for the Republican presidential nomination.

The Iowa caucuses will kickoff the GOP primary in early 2024.

PHOTOS: 2023 Feenstra Family Picnic Close Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, waves on stage with his wife, Lynette Feenstra, left, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his wife, Casey DeSantis, right, during the 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa Saturday. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis greets guests after speaking at the 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa, May 13, 2023.Vicki Vermeer Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs pictures for guests after speaking at the 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa, May 13, 2023.Vicki Vermeer Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis shakes hands with Vicki Vermeer of Sioux Center as he greets guests after speaking at the 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa, May 13, 2023.Vicki Vermeer Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, shakes hands with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, right, after DeSantis' speech during the 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa, May 13, 2023. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during the 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa, May 13, 2023. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during the 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa, May 13, 2023. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during the 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa, May 13, 2023. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during the 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa, May 13, 2023. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during the 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa, May 13, 2023. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis waves to the crown after being introduced by Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, right, during the 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa, May 13, 2023. Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, greets Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on stage during the 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa, May 13, 2023. Guests listen as Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, speaks during the 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa, May 13, 2023. Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, speaks during the 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa, May 13, 2023. Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, speaks during the 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa, May 13, 2023. Sen. Joni Ernst speaks during the 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa, May 13, 2023. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird waves as she's introduced during the 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa, May 13, 2023. Iowa Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg speaks during the 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa, May 13, 2023. during the 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa, May 13, 2023. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds greets guests during the 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic at the Dean Classic Car Museum in Sioux Center, Iowa, May 13, 2023. +19 +19 +19 +19 +19 +19 +19 +19 +19 +19
IOWA CITY and URBANDALE  Vivek Ramaswamy started an event on a swing through Iowa this week with a promise: Were not going to be angry tonight.

Tonight we're going to start a little curious, he said.

The 37-year-old biotech entrepreneur is making a long-shot, largely self-funded campaign for the Republican nomination for president. And hes doing it, in part, by lobbing hard-line conservative policies  including his suggestion in Dallas County on Thursday to institute duty based voting for ages 18-24.

Ramaswamys proposal, which would require a constitutional amendment, would raise the voting age from 18 to 25, unless a person is in the military, a first responder or passes the U.S. citizenship test.

Its the latest of a number of proposals  dismantling the Department of Education, stationing the U.S. military at the southern border and using military force on Mexican drug cartels, and reversing affirmative action policies  that are part of his promise to take former President Donald Trumps America First agenda far further, by exerting powers in ways Trump never did.

Eliminating the Department of Education would have sweeping implications on the administration of federal education grants, student loans, and how students civil rights protections are enforced. The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 prohibits the use of the military for civil law enforcement, unless expressly authorized by law. And any constitutional amendment would require buy-in from two-thirds of the states or of Congress.

Diverging from Trump, Ramaswamy packages his right-wing agenda as a message of unity and a cohesive national identity rather than addressing grievances.

And I think we can do that if were doing it based on first principles and moral authority, not just vengeance and grievance, Ramaswamy said of pushing forward an America First platform that emphasizes American exceptionalism.

Campaigning across the state, Ramaswamy said he believes the country is in the middle of a national identity crisis. One he said has been caused by turning away from the founding values of the country, where success by merit and adherence to the rule of law  values that wooed immigrants like his parents to Ohio  have disappeared to be replaced by wokeness and cults of racial victimhood, radical gender ideology and climate culture.

Faith, patriotism, hard work, family, these things have disappeared, he said, adding he wants to fill that void with a vision of American national identity that runs so deep that it dilutes this woke poison.

Voting age amendment

Speaking to a crowd gathered at Royal Flooring in Urbandale on Thursday, Ramaswamy pitched raising the voting age as a solution to what he sees as a decline in national pride for the next generation.

The requirements  that a person spend six months in the military or as a first responder, or otherwise pass the U.S. citizenship test  would instill young people with a sense of duty, Ramaswamy said.

When I think about young Americans today, I see a deficit of national pride because I see a deficit of duty, he said. You don't value that country you inherited. You will only value a country you have a stake in building and knowing something about.

Ramaswamy acknowledged the view may not be popular, but he said he believes he can convince voters.

I don't believe in just giving people dopamine hits by telling them what they believe. I believe in telling them what I believe, and if they don't agree with me, persuade them of it, he said.

George Pierson, a 20-year-old, Republican Iowa native who attends college in Washington, D.C., said the idea is thought provoking and he likes the citizenship test portion, but he was not fully convinced. He said he worries about the effect the policy would have on getting young people, who already have low voter turnout, engaged in politics.

Part of me is thinking about the implications of that, of voter turnout and younger people getting engaged, he said. If younger people have to demonstrate civic proficiency and voter material, then should older people have to do the same thing as well?

Iowa Democratic state Reps. Sami Scheetz, 27, of Cedar Rapids, and Adam Zabner, 23, of Iowa City  among the youngest members of the Iowa House  criticized the proposal as an attempt to disenfranchise young Iowans.

We support voting rights for all adults and we believe that our democracy is stronger when young people engage in the process, the pair said in a statement. If Republicans are concerned about the political power of young Iowans, they should work to earn their support rather than working to strip their voices. Republicans should work with us on issues that concern our generation like gun safety, protecting reproductive freedom, and legalizing marijuana.

Path to the nomination

Relatively unknown when he launched his campaign in February, Ramaswamy has been gaining the interest of Republican primary voters. Polls, both nationally and in New Hampshire, show him on the rise in the Republican field.

In one CBS poll released last week, the son of Indian immigrants from Ohio and the GOPs first millennial presidential candidate managed to tie with former Vice President Mike Pence in third place among likely Republican voters, ahead of establishment figures such as former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, South Carolina U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson.

Trump, however, remains popular among Republican voters, despite his myriad legal troubles and GOP voters in the state who say theyre keeping an open mind and eyeing an alternative  someone without the constant turmoil, who is less controversial and has a compelling backstory and an upbeat message that can inspire the next generation.

Youre aware that your biggest obstacle is going to be defeating Donald Trump for the nomination, 19-year-old University of Iowa student Kyle Clare asked Ramaswamy during a Q&A in Iowa City.

Clare pointedly asked whether Ramaswamy is truly running to win the nomination, rather than looking for some other gain.

And why should someone who is voting for Donald Trump choose you instead? he asked.

Ramaswamy said while he and Trump have a relationship of mutual respect, I am running this race to win.

He pitched himself as a more energetic, but less divisive version of Trump.

Ive got fresh legs. Im the outsider in this race, Ramaswamy said to a group of about 60 gathered in a rooftop ballroom at Courtyard by Marriott in Iowa City for the Johnson County Republican Central Committee Dinner.

I think you get to be the outsider once. (Trump) was the outsider in 2015, said Ramaswamy.

Clare, the UI student, said he appreciates seeing younger people in politics. And while Ramaswamy could become an important part of the future of the Republican Party, Clare doesnt foresee supporting him in Iowas first-in-the-nation Republican presidential caucus.

I lean more toward DeSantis as this moment, he said. Vivek, he could do great things, but I think (executive) experience matters. ... Its two things for me, electability and experience. Hes unproven. Thats my thing.

Eric Rosenthal of Cedar Rapids, a former Linn County Republican Party chairman, said theres a large chunk of Iowa evangelical voters like himself open to a White House hopeful other than Trump.

Rosenthal supported Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who won the 2016 Iowa GOP caucuses.

Asked whether Trumps recent legal battles  including being found liable this week by a New York jury for sexually abusing and defaming an advice columnist nearly three decades ago  will cause him trouble with Iowas influential evangelical voters, Rosenthal said that remains to be seen.

For a lot of evangelical voters they want a personal story that aligns with their values, he said. And thats a big deal. To say it doesnt matter, thats ridiculous. These things matter.

That, he said, gives candidates like Ramaswamy and Tim Scott an opening with Iowa GOP voters.

Ramaswamy plans to take that opening and run with it. His path to the nomination, he said, starts with finishing among the top three candidates in Iowas first-in-the-nation caucuses, then winning first or second in New Hampshire, the first primary state.

The race is turned upside down, I think its wide open for us after that, he said.
DES MOINES -- Former President Donald Trump canceled a rally in Des Moines Saturday, citing the possibility of severe weather as central Iowa is under a tornado watch until 7 p.m.

There is also a potential for hail and wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.

Unfortunately, due to the Tornado Warnings in Des Moines, we are forced to cancel todays outdoor Rally at the Lauridsen Amphitheater, Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Stay tuned, we will reschedule soon. Be safe out there!

Trumps campaign has not announced details on when or if the rally will be rescheduled.

Trump was scheduled to speak at 7 p.m., with other Republican speakers expected to take the stage at 4 p.m.

Hundreds of supporters were gathered outside the Lauridsen Amphitheater at Des Moines' Water Works Park waiting to enter when a message announcing the rally had been postponed was displayed on a billboard in the waiting area.

Phil Calderon, 65, a former police officer from Illinois, said it would have been his first time seeing Trump.

Im disappointed its canceled. he said. This is the first rally that I attended. I drove from Illinois, I came five hours away to see President Trump.

Pammi Priestley, who drove four hours from Minnesota for the rally, said she was disappointed, but the cancellation does not affect her support for the former president.

Theres nothing we can do with the weather being bad, so what else are we going to say? she said. Were disappointed, but you cant be upset or mad when the weather is not going to cooperate with him.

It would have been Trumps second visit to Iowa this year as he seeks to woo Republicans ahead of the first-in-the-nation caucuses. It was also the first since he was indicted on campaign finance violations and found civilly liable for the sexual abuse of author and journalist E. Jean Carroll.

Former U.S. Rep. Rod Blum, Iowa state Sen. Brad Zaun and state Rep. Bobby Kaufmann were among the announced speakers.

Trump remains the clear front-runner in the Republican primary, regularly pulling more than 50% of support in national polls. In a March Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll, about 80% of Iowa Republicans had a favorable view of Trump, compared to 75% for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, 66% for former Vice President Mike Pence and 54% for South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

Trumps event was scheduled the same day DeSantis, the runner-up in primary polling, made a push through Iowa, headlining a fundraiser with northwest Iowa Rep. Randy Feenstra and holding a rally with Cedar Rapids Republicans.

DeSantis has not officially announced his intentions to run for president, but he has held rallies in Iowa, and in Sioux Center on Saturday made overtures about the importance of the 2024 presidential election.

A DeSantis-aligned PAC also announced endorsements from powerful Iowa Republicans ahead of his visit, including Senate President Amy Sinclair and House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl.

Shortly after Trump's rally was canceled, his campaign announced a list of supporters from elected and party leaders around Iowa, including members of the Iowa Legislature like Sens. Tim Kraayenbrink and Julian Garrett, and Reps. Heather Hora and Mark Cisneros.

Despite the list of challengers, many of Trumps supporters on Saturday said they were not interested in supporting another Republican in the primary. Priestley said shes all Trump all the way.

I like (DeSantis) too, but hes not ready to run, she said. Hes too young, and he needs to stay in Florida to do what his job is, that he got voted in for. But its all going to still be Trump.
The reason I talk to myself is because Im the only one whose answers I accept.  George Carlin

Former president Donald Trumps appearance at a CNN Republican Town Hall in New Hampshire stretched the truth beyond any standard by which that virtue can be measured.

Trump told more lies in one hour than many politicians tell in their entire careers. There are too many to list in a short column, but here are a few of the lowlights.

Trump said he would end the war between Russia and Ukraine in 24 hours if he again becomes president, but didnt say how.

He said he finished the border wall and then contradicted himself. He called CNN host Kaitlan Collins a nasty person and then at the end told her she did a good job.

Trump continues to promote the fiction that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Collins rebutted him each time, but it didnt seem to matter to the mostly white and largely older Republican crowd. The few who had a chance asked mostly softball questions.

Trump swore on my children, which Ive never done before that he never knew E. Jean Carroll, the woman who just won a defamation and sexual battery civil suit against him and was awarded $5 million. He said he may have met her once along with her husband, who he noted is Black and a nice guy. He denied having any physical contact with her.

Asked by Collins if he would accept the results of the 2024 election should he lose, Trump said it depends on whether the election is fair, meaning he gets to decide that and also whether to extend the fiction from 2020 for years to come. That sounds like the coin flip heads I win, tails you lose.

Trump also said if he again wins the presidency he would be inclined to pardon most of those who broke into the Capitol on January 6. He also claimed to have offered National Guard troops to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, but said they rejected his offer. Trumps own acting secretary of defense, Chris Miller, said in a deposition that the president never gave him a formal order to have 10,000 troops ready for deployment.

Responding to Trumps CNN appearance on Hugh Hewitts radio program, former Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) said: I think hes a coward, and I think hes a puppet of Putin.  He wouldnt say last night that Ukraine should win the war.  It was  the most stunning moment of the debate. If you wont say that you think Ukraine should win the war, I dont know where you stand with Putin. And to say that he could settle it in 24 hours is the same kind of bravado that we heard eight years ago when he said that he would build the wall across the entire border of Mexico and the United States and Mexico would pay for it. And we have a wall thats about a fifth of what we need after his presidency, and Mexico hasnt paid their first peso to us, yet.

Trump tried to explain without success his comments about women and when one is a star he can pretty much have his way with them. It was another embarrassing, even pathetic, moment.

One of my favorite modern musicals is Chicago. In the film version, Richard Gere, who plays an attorney for women arrested for murdering their husbands or boyfriends, sings a song called Razzle Dazzle. Some of the lyrics seem to fit Donald Trump.

Its all show business, kid

These trials, the whole world, show business

But, kid, youre workin with a star, the biggest

Give em the old razzle dazzle

Razzle dazzle em

Give em an act with lots of flash in it

And the reaction will be passionate

Give em the old hocus pocus

Bead and feather em

How can they see with sequins in their eyes?

What if your hinges all are rusting?

What if, in fact, youre just disgusting?

razzle dazzle em, and theyll make you a star!

What if, indeed?
Graduation season is upon us, and so weve rounded up a few classic Care and Feeding letters on grad celebrations, tickets, and an unusual gift. Have a question about parenting or family life for our columnists? Submit it here.

Dear Care and Feeding,

My daughter is about to graduate college, and shes refusing to let anyone go to the ceremony or acknowledge it in any way. Even though she did well academically, she struggled emotionally and hated the school she attends. Overall, it was a pretty bad experience. She really didnt make any friends or fit in. She wasnt able to transfer due to financial reasons, and she changed her major so many times she had to go for an extra year, so shes mortified (her word) that she didnt graduate at the same time as everyone else.

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Im a little hurt that she wont go to the ceremony or even let us acknowledge it.

Her dad and I suggested just a nice dinner, but she also refused. She lives at home, so I guess I could technically make her go, but that feels wrong. I just want her to want to celebrate this milestone. Is there a way to get her to go, or should I just get over it?

Mom of the Graduate

Dear Mom,

Though you and your family surely supported your daughter during her time in college, ultimately, her graduation is her achievement and she should be allowed to decide how it is acknowledged or celebrated, if at all. It sounds like she may have a hard time even looking back at these years with pride, and that the best thing for her may be to simply close the door on this chapter of her life and move on. You can want her to want to celebrate in the same way you can want it to rain tomorrow, or you want there to be a new Batman movieyou can wish all you want, but you cant bend this situation to your liking.

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You and your husband can have dinner on your own in honor of her achievement and raise a glass to her and to yourselves without her being present. You can also purchase a gift, of whichever size or cost, that your daughter would enjoy having, then present it without making a big fuss: I know you didnt want a big to-do about graduating, but we wanted to give you a little something to say we love you and were proud of you. We wont say anything else about it, and I hope you can accept this. And then move on, because thats what she wants to do.





Jamilah Lemieux

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Read the original column.

Dear Care and Feeding,

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I need some help navigating a situation in my blended family. My husband has two daughters (14 and 17) from a previous marriage. The original marriage ended when the girls were toddlers. His ex-wife remarried five years later. My husband and I married when the girls were 10 and 13 after a whirlwind romance. We had to move out of state for my job shortly thereafter. The girls primary residence has been with their mother, stepfather, and grandmother. Initially, they would both come and stay with us in the summers, but those extended visits have dwindled as they expressed interest in spending their summers engaged in sporting activities and at camp, which we have been supportive of. I have always had what I would consider a friendly relationship with both girls.

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The issue is with the eldest childs high school graduation, which will be in June. Each student only gets five tickets. My stepdaughter wants her tickets to go to her mother, stepfather, grandmother, sister, and father. I would be left in a hotel room to celebrate with them at dinner after the ceremony. To her credit, my stepdaughter called me herself to explain the situation, but the conversation went sideways. I was taken aback when she said that she wanted the people closest to her at the ceremony. I do not think it is fair that I am being treated as less than her stepfather or grandmother. I pointed out that her father continued to provide support above and beyond what he was required to even after we married (private school, camps, etc.) and that our household should be treated with equal respect. She became distraught and ended the phone call.

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I have proposed a number of solutions to my husband: both her stepfather and I can refrain from going; her grandmother could take a step back and allow the parents and stepparents to attend together; my younger stepdaughter could skip the ceremony and join us afterwards. My husband is reluctant to push the issue and has asked me not to make him choose. My stepdaughter is hoping to procure a ticket that one of her classmates will not have use for, but Im not sure how to proceed if she cant get an extra ticket. I want to preserve the relationships going forward, but I also want to make sure my husband and I are maintaining appropriate boundaries regarding not excluding anyone.

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 Graduation Blues

Dear Graduation Blues,

I dont really think this is about believing in boundaries or not excluding anyone. Indeed, you have crossed a few boundaries here, and now you are proposing that your stepdaughters stepfather, her sister, or her grandmotherthe people that she spends most of her time with and therefore probably does feel closest to, like it or notbe excluded. Your feelings are hurt (which I get), so you have chosen to lash out at your stepdaughter and pressure your husband to override her wishes. But at the end of the day, there are only five tickets, and its up to your stepdaughter who gets them. I truly see no good reason to continue to make the whole situation even more wrenching and stressful for her, a teenager who is just trying to graduate and celebrate her big day. If no sixth ticket is forthcoming, I think you need to stand down and accept her decision.

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You can be in your feelings about this all you want! It sucks to feel left out and its fine to be hurt over it. But you have a choice in how you deal with your feelings. Im really stuck on the fact that you felt okay throwing school tuition and summer camp expenses (?) in your stepdaughters face during your phone call with her, thereby implying that shes insufficiently grateful to you for  what? Letting her father fulfill his responsibilities as a parent after you were married? As his daughter, she was entitled to his continued financial support regardless. Your husband and his ex presumably decided that paying for her private education and activities was the right course, and its really A Choice for you to try to make her feel guilty about that now. If you truly care about fairness and respectand if you want to improve your relationship with your stepdaughterI think you ought to apologize for how youve treated her over this graduation ticket situation, and try to do better going forward.

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Nicole Chung

Read the original column.

 If you missed Fridays Care and Feeding column, read it here.

 Discuss this column in the Slate Parenting Facebook group!

Dear Care and Feeding,

I am struggling with how to best support my eldest child, a high school senior whose grades are good, who has good friends and participates in extracurriculars and works a part-time job, and who is dead set against college. And in theory I am fine with that, because even though his dad and I are both college grads and college has always been the assumed path for all our kids, we do know that college isnt the right choice for everyone. But our son has become 100 percent anti-school of any kind. His goal is to open his own business in the hospitality field, and yet he refuses to consider any sort of post-high-school education, training program, skill development course, entrepreneurship/business mentoring program, or anything else that might help him reach his goal. There are lots of local options for such things in this field and most are very affordable. We are able and willing to help pay for them. But he considers all of these to be school and believes that all he needs is grit and determination and hard work. He considers any suggestion about putting together even a rough plan for his post-high-school life and career to be insulting evidence that we are not supportive. He is an independent (and stubborn) thinker and I believe he is very capable, even if a bit naive at not quite 18. And I very much do support his goals and want to help him achieve them. But we are really worried about him. He thinks that by skipping college hell be getting a head start on his peers in a career, but I think he is risking being left behind. Do we need to be stern and tell him he cant live at home (he has no plans to move out anytime soon) unless he is doing some kind of a formal career training program? Is there some advice we could give him that could help him see the future more realistically, or do we just let him experience the consequences of his bad choices? All of our friends with kids his age are focused on college acceptance and financial aid right now (as are the guidance counselors at his school), so I have no one to brainstorm this with. I am a traditional-minded and risk-averse person, so maybe I simply dont have the imagination to see what he sees?

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Lost, Alone, and Worried

Dear Worried,

I am here to brainstorm this with you! You are not alone!

I dont think you have a lack of imagination. I do think you might be worrying excessively, though. Hes still in high school, he isnt even 18 years old, he is indulging in a fantasy (that has unfortunately been stoked, Im sure, by a superficial message thats been promulgated by self-help gurus and inspirational speakers, and that seems to have drifted its way over to your child) without any plan for a means of achieving it. But he has plenty of time to course-correct in any number of ways.

He does not risk being left behind. He is still a kid. That he is taking a less common path than his friends are doesnt mean he is making a mess of his life. I understand that youre worried, but I hope you can take your foot off that gas pedal. Step back from all the advice and options youve been throwing at him. Hes not ready to hear any of it. He may be telling you that hes insulted by your suggesting that he needs any sort of schooling or mentoring to get where he (currently thinks he) wants to be, but I suspect hes mostly feeling overwhelmed.

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I think it would OK to tell him, gently, that you know hell be fine no matter what he chooses to do, that you love him and have faith in him (and do your damnedest to mean every word of it), and leave it at that for now. I dont see sternness as whats necessary here. Reality will begin to sink in as the school year nears its end: he has to do something with his time. Give him some leeway to figure that out. Easing off on the pressure may help him do that. You dont mention what he means to do, practically speaking, once he isnt spending his days at school and the hours after it engaged in extracurricular activities. Does he suppose that hell continue at his high school part-time job? If so, what will he do with the rest of his time? Daydreaming about his future hotel empire isnt going to cut it (for him or for you). Does he plan to get a full-time job? You may decide to tell him he has to (which will be appropriately stern when the time comes, if he continues to live at home and he isnt in school or a training program). Perhaps he hasnt begun to think about any of this yet (perhaps he doesnt want to think about it yet, or perhaps he simply cant). Give him some time. Graduation is still months away, and youre in a position to offer him essential support (i.e., a roof over his head, meals) when he finds himself facing choices about what to do next. (And he can make plenty of what you consider bad ones, by the way, without wrecking his life. I think you all may need to take a breath right now.)

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Michelle Herman

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Dear Care and Feeding,

I feel strange asking this low-stakes question based on everything going on in America, but here goes. Im a mom and my only daughter is 18 and will be graduating high school shortly. The only thing she wants for a graduation gift is breast augmentation surgery. We have the money to pay for it, and she inherited my flat-chested genes, but wants no part of looking that way. She only wants a small C cup, not anything over the top. Im on board with it because it will make her feel better about herself, but my in-laws are vehemently against it. They keep shaming me and my daughter for even considering it, and now my husband thinks we shouldnt allow it. I think we should go forward with it. What do you think?

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Busty or Busted

Dear Busty,

Theres no need to qualify your question. Yes, America is a dumpster fire right now, but that doesnt mean that you cant discuss your personal problems here. This column serves as a safe space for every reader.

That said, Im 100 percent on your side on this. Yes, I know Im speaking from a male perspective, but I dont see any harm in a young adult making a decision that will make her feel better about herself. The only caveat to that, of course, is if she wants to get the surgery due to pressure from boys/men to look a certain way, because that would give me some pause. If the motivation is intrinsic, then I believe she should do it without hesitation.

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Also, I think were at the point where people need to stop telling women what they should (or shouldnt) do with their bodies. You asked for my opinion, so I gave it to you, but at the end of the day, nobodys opinion should matter other than your daughters. I dont know why your in-laws have such strong feelings about your daughters body, but I would remind them that as an adult she can do whatever she pleases, and they should support her.

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I would also remind your husband of that fact and not have him join in the long line of men who think its cool to make decisions on female bodies. Because when its all said and done, shell probably go through with the surgery with or without your help. If its done without your help, it will probably come with a great deal of resentment that could negatively affect your relationship with her going forward.

I think its high time that we empower young women to do whatever they please as long as its within reason, and this request is definitely reasonable.

Doyin Richards

Read the original column.

More Advice From Slate

Ive recently been forced to sit behind several people who seemed to have forgotten their belts that daythink spending four hours at a business conference behind two people from separate groups that were almost entirely exposed. Maybe Im just a bit anal, but it grosses me out to the point of anxiety to see exposed plumbers cracks. In the future, should I say something to these people directly? Ask someone running the event/restaurant to ask them to un-expose themselves? Help!
The Supreme Court handed down a pair of unanimous decisions on Thursday vacating the convictions of Louis Ciminelli and Joseph Percoco. Ciminelli tried to rig the bidding process for Buffalo Billion, a key economic project of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Percoco, a former Cuomo aide, accepted payments to help secure state funding for a private development company. Both men were found guilty of violating federal laws against fraud; both argued that their unsavory conduct fell outside the scope of these laws. With no dissents, the Supreme Court agreedstriking another blow against prosecutors efforts to bring federal charges against self-dealing politicians.

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On this weeks Slate Plus segment of Amicus, Mark Joseph Stern and Dahlia Lithwick discussed the cases and their bleak implications for American democracy. Their conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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Dahlia Lithwick: Before we get into the details of these cases, Id just like to note the hilarious irony of the court weighing in on corruption at this moment.

Mark Joseph Stern: And on the side of the criminals! This is really a cross-ideological project to hollow out federal anti-corruption laws. The project began in proper with the Bob McDonnell case, in which the court unanimously ruled in favor of McDonnell, the former governor of Virginia who was involved in super sleazy and sordid schemes to enrich himself and his wife. Chief Justice John Roberts said: Just because this behavior is sordid doesnt mean its criminal. That continued in 2020s Kelly v. U.S., the Bridgegate case. Justice Elena Kagan, writing for a unanimous court, said: Sure, Bridgegate was gross, and maybe it was illegal under state law, but this was not a form of property fraud. So the conviction got tossed.

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That leads us to Thursday, when more clearly corrupt dudes got their convictions unanimously thrown out the window. Basically, every justice of this court thinks that the federal anti-corruption laws, like honest services fraud and wire fraud, are way too broad, so the courts have an obligation to narrow them to cover a limited subset of explicit corruptionbribery, extortion, an exchange of actual property or money in return for a government favor. Anything short of that, the court reiterated on Thursday, is just not going to cut it, because the court is really worried these laws sweep too far and give prosecutors too much leeway to charge a bunch of behavior that, while sordid, is not clearly prohibited by these statutes.

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Dahlia Lithwick: And as you said, this is cross-ideological. The conservative and liberal justices agree on this.

Mark Joseph Stern: I think this is tricky. I understand why the liberals are going along with this project. I dont think Justice Sotomayor has ever met a federal criminal law that she likes, and you know, I havent either. I get it. But the liberals are concerned, I think quite honestly, with a whole range of very broad and vague criminal laws. I think Justice Gorsuch is genuinely concerned about this, too.

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But I think the other conservatives view these cases of a piece with Citizens United and McCutcheon, where the court said that giving a candidate a bunch of money then asking them for favors in return is not illegal corruption, but actually at the heart of the First Amendment. Roberts famously said that ingratiation and access embody a central feature of democracy, especially when its motivated by gratitude for a campaign contribution. Somebody dumps a ton of money on a politician, and the politician does them a favor in return. To this Supreme Court, thats how democracy is supposed to work.

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If you combine those sets of cases, you get to our current situation where the federal government is largely powerless to prosecute this kind of egregious and sordid fraud because it doesnt fit into these very neat and specific categories. Its depressing to me that weve reached a point where a unanimous Supreme Court is just throwing its hands up and giving up on the idea of prosecuting officials for fraud.

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Dahlia Lithwick: This is also the week in which defenses of Harlan Crow and Leonard Leo funneling money and gifts to Clarence and Ginni Thomas seem to have winnowed down to: It cant be corruption, because you cant show me one case in which Clarence Thomas has changed his position based on these millions of dollars! It feels as though its a straight feedback loop: The only corruption is quid pro quo corruption. And the only time influence peddlers can be tagged for anything is if theres a big money bag and a note that says do this for me and its done. Right?

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Mark Joseph Stern: Even that might not be enough under this case law. But yes, its like: Of course Clarence Thomas doesnt think theres anything wrong with his weird one-way relationship where Harlan Crow showers him with money and favors, because Thomas can still say I am not taking that bag of money and changing my vote because of it, so Im perfectly innocent. Sadly, the courts anti-corruption jurisprudence increasingly reflects that super-cramped view of what counts as bribery and fraud. I just dont think thats good for the judiciary or good for democracy. Its only good for justices who want to live the life of a billionaire while retaining their position as one of the most powerful people in the country.

Dahlia Lithwick: Well, this week we learned that Elena Kagan refused to accept bagels from her former classmates. Thomas has taught us that you cant be corrupted by half-million dollar world tours on a super-yacht. But a couple extra poppy seeds with some cream cheese might do the trick.
The demo was beautiful. At Googles I/O developer conference this week, the company showed an experimental version of its search engine handling an almost unimaginably difficult query. Asked whether a family with kids under three years old and a dog would prefer Arches National Park or Bryce Canyon, Google scoured the internet and returned a lengthy, detailed answer. It noted that while only Bryce had paths that allowed dogs, kids might love the rock formations at Arches, and that Arches still had plenty of dog-friendly campgrounds, pullouts, and roads.

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Now, search does the heavy lifting for you, said Google Search VP Cathy Edwards. Behind her, an A.I.-generated search response took up the full browser window.

This new search product is undeniably appealing, but itll likely come at a cost. When people search with Google today, they visit a bunch of websites, gather information, and synthesize it. The process is a bit of a pain, but the websites they visit depend on them to survive. By doing the heavy lifting itselfby using a Chatbot-like interface to save users another clickGoogle could leave these primary sources out of the equation, diminishing their ability to remain standalone entities, or even exist at all.

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Now, an already shaky digital publishing business will prepare for the fallout. For the 2,500-plus digital publishers that Parsely covers, the analytics provider found that 29 percent of their traffic came from search last year. And now that social platforms like Facebook and Twitter are moving away from timely news content, a decline in visitors from search engines could cause existential damage.

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Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, told me that search, while not without some pain and friction, has been a more stable source of traffic and partnerships for publishers than other tech platforms. The prospect of [search engines] following social media in featuring far fewer links must be daunting, he said, especially for those publishers who do not have a strong, direct relationship with a loyal, returning audience.

In some ways, digital publishers brought this moment on themselves. They created content farms and published undifferentiated stories What Time Is The Super Bowl? to win the never-ending Google traffic sweepstakes . Websites became impossible to navigate in the name of SEO. They buried recipes, wrote for amorphous audiences they didnt care about, and lost sight of their relationships with readers. Eventually, they let search engines dictate their product, instead of making sense of it. And search engines went with it.

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When ChatGPT arrived last fall, it started delivering on Googles missionorganize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and usefulbetter, at times, than Google itself. (The problem, of course, was its pesky habit of making stuff up.) It reshaped the information on websites instead of simply sending people there. And people loved it, making it the fastest-growing consumer application ever. After OpenAI and its benefactor Microsoft threatened Googles position with their generative-A.I. experiences, the search giant had to respond. And it did so in force this week. Its a.I.-powered Search Generative Experience is still in a labs preview, but its almost certainly its future.

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For publishers looking to adjust to this future, a likely reality is that their search traffic will diminish. Google and Bing do include links to their websites in their generative-A.I. products, but those links are no longer as crucial to click.

So what to do? Publishers that minimize their reliance on search traffic will be better off in the long run. Email, podcasts, and other subscription media seem poised to come out best. Ironically, the fears that ChatGPT would flood the web with crap websites seeking search traffic are likely a bit overblown since generative search would kill their business models anyway.

As for the search engines, their generative products should work exceptionally well as long as theres content on the web to draw from. Googles demo relied on content from the National Park Service, a tour guide website, and likely other sources across the web. It needs this content in order for it work. And without ensuring that web publishers stay solventeither by sending them readers or some other meansitll have less information to draw from as its A.I. generates responses. Absent its primary sources, the beautiful demo, however great a user experience, might become a hollow shell.
Today, Bard, the innovative platform that allows users to collaborate with generative AI, announces new updates that will make the platform more accessible, more interactive, and more integrated. This comes less than two months after Bards initial launch and is a direct response to user feedback.

The Bard team is excited to remove the waitlist and expand access to over 180 countries and territories. In addition to this, Bard is now available in Japanese and Korean, with plans to support 40 languages soon. This global expansion aligns with Bards vision of creating a platform that transcends cultural and linguistic boundaries. However, Bards team remains committed to maintaining high standards for quality and local nuances, adhering closely to their AI Principles.

In addition to expanding its global reach, Bard is also becoming more visual. Users will soon be able to supplement their prompts with images, allowing for even more creativity and imagination. This will be made possible by integrating Google Lens into Bard. For example, users can upload a photo and ask Bard to generate a funny caption, leveraging Google Lens to analyze the photo and create context-aware responses.

Bard is also set to become more integrated. There are plans to weave the capabilities of popular Google apps, such as Docs, Drive, Gmail, and Maps, directly into Bards user experience. Users will have full control over their privacy settings when deciding how to use these tools and extensions. Further, Bard is working to integrate services from across the web, including Adobe Firefly, Kayak, OpenTable, ZipRecruiter, Instacart, Wolfram, and Khan Academy.

Bard is also introducing key coding upgrades. These include more precise source citations, a Dark theme, and an Export button, which enables users to export and run code with Replit. Additionally, users will have the ability to move Bards responses directly into Gmail and Docs, streamlining the drafting process for emails and documents.

For the latest, follow us on Google News.
West Virginia-based InnerAction Media (IAM) recently launched StoryMaker, an Software as a Service (SaaS) application that leverages Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to assist small businesses in the US in creating their ultimate 30-second pitch and other crucial marketing messages on demand.

The cloud-based application is founded on IAMs proprietary BrandStory process. This unique approach curates a businesss marketing data, then employs AI similar to ChatGPT, to generate strategic marketing content. The customized content can be published across various platforms including social media, emails, presentations, and even traditional media outlets.

The softwares genesis can be traced back to November 2022, when it was just an idea proposed as part of a project by Vantage Ventures and Executive Director Sarah Biller. Vantage Ventures, an initiative of the John Chambers School of Business and Economics at West Virginia University, aims to foster scalable businesses to address complex challenges.

The idea was then transformed into reality in the SaaS Factory initiative, which tasked five WVU students and five West Virginia entrepreneurs to create ten SaaS applications in ten weeks starting in January 2023. Successful software engineer Cary Landis oversaw the project which eventually led to the birth of StoryMaker.

The software also reflects the experience of IAM President and StoryMaker developer, Jim Matuga. Ive had the unique opportunity to interview and help thousands of business leaders over the past 35 years. One thing most people struggle with is the question: Whats your 30 second pitch?' Matuga said. StoryMaker solves this basic business problem and so much more.

StoryMaker is hailed as a tool that brings marketing sophistication within the reach of small businesses. It provides them the necessary resources to create effective marketing messaging effortlessly, including their perfect 30 second pitch, social media content, longer form marketing messages like emails and blog content, and even tag lines.

Matuga adds, The right words matter and are essential for most small businesses  to cause people to take action, buy their products or services and increase sales, thats exactly what StoryMaker does.

The application also offers a variety of features such as user-defined marketing tone of voice, customizable calls-to-action, blog content writing, social media hashtag generation, and infinite products/services creation. Furthermore, it safely stores the business profile and product/services data in a secure, cloud-based database, and allows users to create unlimited marketing messages as needed.

In an era where effective marketing can make or break a business, StoryMaker appears to be a valuable tool for small businesses, allowing them to compete with larger corporations by offering a level of marketing sophistication that was previously out of reach.

IAM is offering a free 7-day trial of StoryMaker, following which the subscription price is $29 per month as a limited time introductory offer, with the regular price being $99 per month. The application has a Provisional Patent Pending.

As small business owners continue to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, tools like StoryMaker can offer significant benefits by simplifying and amplifying their marketing messages, providing them with an edge in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

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Loan processors play an essential role in the financial industry, acting as the bridge between loan applicants, mortgage lenders, and other stakeholders. This article goes into the key aspects of a loan processors job, from duties and responsibilities to required skills and qualifications. Well also explore the career outlook and opportunities for growth in this vital role.

Loan Processor Job Description and Key Responsibilities

A loan processors primary responsibility is to manage loan files and ensure the smooth processing of mortgage loans and other loan applications. Their job includes working with various banking computer software systems, coordinating with loan officers and mortgage brokers, and ensuring that mortgage loans and loan applications are processed promptly and efficiently.

Some of the essential duties and responsibilities of a loan processor include:

Reviewing loan applications and financial records to assess the creditworthiness of applicants.

Obtaining and verifying necessary documentation, such as credit reports, tax returns, and other financial information.

Communicating with loan applicants, real estate agents, mortgage lenders, and other stakeholders to gather and confirm required data.

Ensuring compliance with relevant rules, regulations, and law requirements in processing loan applications.

Working closely with loan officers to provide exceptional customer service and address any issues or concerns that arise during the loan application process.

Loan Processor Skills and Responsibilities

To effectively process mortgage loans, loan processors must possess a combination of technical expertise and soft skills. Among the necessary soft skills for loan processors are strong communication abilities, effective time management, adaptability in a fast-paced environment, and proficiency in MS Office and relevant software systems.

Technical knowledge is also vital for loan processors, including a comprehensive understanding of financial procedures, loan products, and industry regulations. Most loan processors are responsible for performing appraisals and pre-underwriting assessments, which are crucial steps in the loan approval process. In summary, loan processor duties require a balance of technical proficiency and soft skills to ensure a successful loan processing experience.

Educational and Experience Requirements for Loan Processors

Loan processors are generally required to meet a minimum educational requirement of a high school diploma or equivalent, though many employers prefer candidates with a bachelors degree in finance, business, or a related field. Previous experience in banking, mortgage lending, or loan processing can provide a competitive advantage to applicants.

In addition to educational and experiential qualifications, loan processors must possess knowledge of loan repayment plans and creditworthiness assessments. They play a crucial role in evaluating the financial stability of loan applicants and determining appropriate loan repayment plans. With the right combination of education, experience, and expertise, loan processors can help ensure successful loan processing outcomes.

Compensation and Career Outlook for Loan Processors

The salary of a loan processor can vary based on their level of experience and the location of the job. Qualified applicants can expect opportunities for growth and advancement in both job responsibilities and compensation, much like other positions within the financial industry.

Individuals interested in pursuing a career in loan processing may also be eligible candidates for similar job titles, such as mortgage underwriter, credit analyst, or loan officer. Each of these roles involves unique challenges and rewards, with varying levels of responsibility and specialization in the fields of mortgage lending and loan processing. Creditworthiness assessments are a critical aspect of all these positions, and loan processors must possess this expertise to succeed in their role.

Navigating Financial Institution and Credit Union Regulations

Loan processors must be well-versed in the established regulations and guidelines governing financial institutions and credit unions. They are responsible for ensuring that all loan applications and contracts adhere to these rules, which can be both complex and subject to change.

To stay current on industry regulations, loan processors should engage in ongoing background research and education. This may include attending industry conferences, participating in professional organizations, and maintaining relevant certifications or licensures.

Ensuring Timely Processing and Meeting Tight Deadlines

One of the most significant challenges faced by loan processors is managing their workload to meet tight deadlines. Loan applications must be processed in a timely manner to ensure that potential borrowers receive a prompt response and that mortgage lenders can efficiently move forward with the loan approval process.

To meet these deadlines, loan processors must have excellent time management skills and be able to work effectively in a fast-paced environment. They must also be adept at coordinating with various stakeholders, such as loan applicants, mortgage lenders, real estate agents, and loan officers, to ensure that all necessary documentation and information are collected and verified quickly.

Collaborating with Various Stakeholders and Building Strong Relationships

Loan processors work closely with many different parties throughout the loan application and approval process. Building strong relationships with these stakeholders is crucial for ensuring a smooth and efficient process. This includes maintaining excellent communication with loan officers, mortgage brokers, real estate agents, and financial institutions.

To develop and maintain these relationships, loan processors must have exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal. They should also be able to provide excellent customer service and be comfortable working with diverse groups of people.

The Loan Processor Role: Challenges and Tips for Success

The loan processor role can be challenging, but it is also rewarding and offers numerous opportunities for personal and professional growth. To succeed in this career, loan processors should focus on honing their time management, communication, and soft skills, while also staying up-to-date on industry regulations and best practices.

Some tips for success in the loan processor role include:

Continuously updating knowledge of industry regulations, trends, and best practices.

Developing strong relationships with loan applicants, mortgage lenders, real estate agents, and other stakeholders.

Utilizing efficient systems and software to streamline the loan application and processing workflow.

Prioritizing tasks and setting realistic deadlines to manage workload effectively.

Seeking opportunities for professional development, such as attending industry conferences or pursuing certifications.

Adapting to Changes in the Financial Industry

The financial industry is constantly evolving, and loan processors must be adaptable to keep up with these changes. This may include staying informed about new loan products, adjusting to updated regulations, or embracing technological advancements that improve efficiency and accuracy in the loan processing workflow.

Loan processors should always be open to learning new skills and techniques that can enhance their performance in their role. By staying current on industry developments and embracing change, loan processors can ensure they remain valuable assets to their financial institutions and continue to provide the best possible service to their clients.

Balancing Multiple Loan Types and Individual Loans

In their role, loan processors are often responsible for processing various loan types, from mortgage loans to personal loans and auto loans. Each loan type may have its own unique set of requirements and guidelines, which loan processors must be familiar with to ensure accurate and compliant processing.

Loan processors must also be able to balance the demands of processing multiple individual loans simultaneously. This requires excellent organization and multitasking skills, as well as the ability to prioritize tasks effectively. By staying organized and focused, loan processors can manage their workload efficiently and ensure timely processing for all loan applications.

Job Seeking Tips for Aspiring Loan Processors

For those interested in pursuing a career as a loan processor, its essential to develop a strong resume that highlights relevant skills, qualifications, and experience. When applying for loan processor jobs, be sure to tailor your resume and cover letter to the specific requirements and expectations of each potential employer. This may include emphasizing your experience with mortgage lending, loan processing, or financial institution regulations.

Networking is another critical component of job seeking in the financial industry. Attend industry events, join professional organizations, and engage with others in the field through social media or online forums. Building connections with professionals in the loan processing and mortgage lending fields can lead to valuable job opportunities and provide insights into the latest trends and best practices.

Job Description Template

When creating a loan processor job description, it is essential to outline the specific duties and responsibilities, required qualifications, skills, and experience, as well as any expectations for the workplace, schedule, and potential collaboration with other professionals. Here is a template to help guide you:

Job Description Template #1:

Job Description: Loan Processor

Location: [City, State]

Company: [Company Name]

About Us: [Company Name] is a small business specializing in providing financial solutions to our clients. We are currently seeking a detail-oriented and organized Loan Processor to join our team. As a Loan Processor, you will play a critical role in the loan origination process, ensuring accuracy and efficiency in processing loan applications.

Job Description: As a Loan Processor at [Company Name], you will be responsible for gathering and reviewing loan documentation, verifying information, and preparing loan files for underwriting. The ideal candidate has strong analytical skills, excellent attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple tasks and deadlines.

Responsibilities:

Receive and review loan applications to ensure completeness and accuracy of information.

Verify borrower information, including income, employment history, and creditworthiness.

Request and gather required documentation from borrowers, such as pay stubs, bank statements, and tax returns.

Submit loan files to underwriting for review and decisioning.

Coordinate with loan officers, borrowers, and other stakeholders to obtain any missing or additional documentation.

Review loan documents for accuracy and compliance with regulatory requirements.

Prepare loan packages for closing, including preparing closing documents and coordinating with title companies or attorneys.

Communicate effectively with borrowers and provide regular updates on the loan status.

Maintain accurate and organized loan files and documentation.

Qualifications:

Previous experience as a Loan Processor or in a similar role is preferred.

Strong understanding of loan processing procedures, including knowledge of mortgage lending regulations.

Excellent attention to detail and organizational skills.

Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.

Effective communication skills, both written and verbal.

Ability to work efficiently in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.

Proficiency in loan origination software and Microsoft Office Suite.

High school diploma or equivalent; additional education in finance or related field is a plus.

Benefits:

Competitive salary based on experience and qualifications.

Comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance and retirement plans.

Opportunities for professional growth and advancement.

To Apply:

Please submit your resume, cover letter, and any relevant certifications to [email address] with the subject line Loan Processor Application  [Your Name]. We appreciate your interest in joining our team and look forward to reviewing your application.

[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or any other protected characteristic. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

Job Description Template #2:

Job Description: Senior Loan Processor

Location: [City, State]

Company: [Company Name]

About Us: [Company Name] is a reputable financial institution providing a wide range of lending services to our clients. We are currently seeking an experienced and detail-oriented Senior Loan Processor to join our team. As a Senior Loan Processor, you will oversee the loan processing function and ensure the timely and accurate completion of loan files.

Job Description: As a Senior Loan Processor at [Company Name], you will be responsible for managing and supervising the loan processing team, reviewing loan applications, and maintaining quality control throughout the loan origination process. The ideal candidate has extensive loan processing experience, strong leadership skills, and a commitment to excellence.

Responsibilities:

Oversee and manage the loan processing function, including assigning tasks and monitoring team performance.

Review loan applications for completeness, accuracy, and adherence to lending guidelines.

Verify borrower information and documentation, including income, assets, and credit history.

Communicate with borrowers, loan officers, underwriters, and other stakeholders to obtain any necessary documentation or clarification.

Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and company policies.

Manage loan pipeline and prioritize workload to meet closing deadlines.

Perform quality control checks on loan files to identify and resolve any issues or discrepancies.

Train and mentor junior loan processors to ensure their professional development and adherence to processing standards.

Stay updated on industry trends, regulations, and best practices related to loan processing.

Collaborate with underwriters, loan officers, and other departments to resolve any loan-related issues.

Maintain accurate and organized loan files and documentation.

Provide excellent customer service to borrowers and stakeholders, addressing any inquiries or concerns in a timely and professional manner.

Qualifications:

Previous experience as a Loan Processor, with a strong background in mortgage lending.

In-depth knowledge of loan processing procedures and regulations.

Strong leadership and supervisory skills.

Excellent attention to detail and organizational abilities.

Effective communication and interpersonal skills.

Proficient in loan origination software and Microsoft Office Suite.

High school diploma or equivalent; additional education in finance or related field is a plus.

Benefits:

Competitive salary based on experience and qualifications.

Comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance and retirement plans.

Opportunities for professional growth and advancement.

To Apply:

Please submit your resume, cover letter, and any relevant certifications to [email address] with the subject line Senior Loan Processor Application  [Your Name]. We appreciate your interest in joining our team and look forward to reviewing your application.

[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or any other protected characteristic. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

Job Description Template #3:

Job Description: Mortgage Loan Processor

Location: [City, State]

Company: [Company Name]

About Us: [Company Name] is a trusted mortgage lender dedicated to helping individuals and families achieve their homeownership dreams. We are currently seeking a skilled and detail-oriented Mortgage Loan Processor to join our team. As a Mortgage Loan Processor, you will play a critical role in ensuring the smooth and efficient processing of mortgage loan applications.

Job Description: As a Mortgage Loan Processor at [Company Name], you will be responsible for reviewing loan applications, gathering documentation, and coordinating the loan processing workflow. The ideal candidate has a strong understanding of mortgage lending procedures, excellent organizational skills, and the ability to work effectively in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities:

Review loan applications to ensure accuracy, completeness, and adherence to lending guidelines.

Collect and verify borrower information, including income, assets, and credit history.

Request and obtain necessary documentation from borrowers, such as pay stubs, bank statements, and tax returns.

Communicate with borrowers, loan officers, underwriters, and other stakeholders to obtain any missing or additional documentation.

Prepare loan files for underwriting, ensuring all required information is included.

Coordinate with title companies, appraisers, and other third parties to facilitate the loan closing process.

Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and company policies.

Maintain accurate and organized loan files and documentation.

Provide updates to borrowers and stakeholders regarding the status of loan applications.

Qualifications:

Previous experience as a Mortgage Loan Processor or in a similar role is required.

Strong knowledge of mortgage lending procedures, including understanding of loan products, underwriting guidelines, and regulatory requirements.

Excellent attention to detail and organizational skills.

Effective communication and interpersonal abilities.

Proficient in loan origination software and Microsoft Office Suite.

High school diploma or equivalent; additional education in finance or related field is a plus.

Benefits:

Competitive salary based on experience and qualifications.

Comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance and retirement plans.

Opportunities for professional growth and advancement.

To Apply:

Please submit your resume, cover letter, and any relevant certifications to [email address] with the subject line Mortgage Loan Processor Application  [Your Name]. We appreciate your interest in joining our team and look forward to reviewing your application.

[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or any other protected characteristic. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

Please note that only qualified candidates will be contacted for further consideration.

Job Description Template 4:

Job Description: Junior Loan Processor

Location: [City, State]

Company: [Company Name]

About Us: [Company Name] is a growing financial institution dedicated to providing excellent lending solutions to our clients. We are currently seeking a motivated and detail-oriented Junior Loan Processor to join our team. As a Junior Loan Processor, you will support the loan processing function by assisting with loan application reviews, documentation collection, and file preparation.

Job Description: As a Junior Loan Processor at [Company Name], you will work closely with senior loan processors and loan officers to ensure the timely and accurate processing of loan applications. The ideal candidate is organized, eager to learn, and has strong attention to detail.

Responsibilities:

Assist in reviewing loan applications for completeness and accuracy.

Collect and verify borrower information and documentation.

Request and gather necessary documentation from borrowers, such as income verification, tax returns, and bank statements.

Input loan application data into the loan origination system accurately.

Assist in preparing loan files for underwriting, ensuring all required documents are included.

Communicate with borrowers, loan officers, and other stakeholders to obtain any missing or additional documentation.

Support the coordination of loan closings by working with title companies and attorneys.

Maintain accurate and organized loan files and documentation.

Learn and adhere to regulatory requirements and company policies.

Provide updates to borrowers and stakeholders regarding the status of loan applications.

Qualifications:

Previous experience in a loan processing or administrative role is preferred.

Basic understanding of loan processing procedures and terminology.

Strong attention to detail and ability to multitask.

Effective communication skills, both written and verbal.

Proficiency in using computer systems and Microsoft Office Suite.

High school diploma or equivalent.

Willingness to learn and adapt in a fast-paced environment.

Benefits:

Competitive salary based on experience and qualifications.

Comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance and retirement plans.

Opportunities for career growth and advancement.

To Apply:

Please submit your resume, cover letter, and any relevant certifications to [email address] with the subject line Junior Loan Processor Application  [Your Name]. We appreciate your interest in joining our team and look forward to reviewing your application.

[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or any other protected characteristic. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

The Future of Loan Processing

As technology continues to advance, the loan processing industry will likely see increased automation and digitalization. This may result in faster and more efficient loan processing workflows, as well as changes to the role and responsibilities of loan processors. However, the expertise and human touch that loan processors provide will continue to be essential for ensuring accurate, compliant, and personalized loan processing experiences for borrowers.

By staying informed about industry trends and continuously developing their skills, loan processors can position themselves for success in the evolving financial industry. By embracing change and remaining adaptable, they can continue to play a crucial role in helping borrowers achieve their financial goals and secure the loans they need.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What does a loan processor do?

A loan processor manages loan files and ensures the smooth processing of mortgage loans and other loan applications. They work closely with loan applicants, loan officers, mortgage lenders, and other stakeholders, gathering and verifying necessary documentation, and ensuring compliance with relevant rules and regulations.

What qualifications do I need to become a loan processor?

At a minimum, loan processors typically have a high school diploma or equivalent. However, a bachelors degree in finance, business, or a related field is often preferred. Prior experience in banking, mortgage lending, or loan processing can also be advantageous.

What skills are important for a loan processor?

Some essential skills for a loan processor include excellent communication, time management, adaptability in a fast-paced environment, and proficiency in MS Office and relevant software systems. Technical knowledge of financial processes, loan products, and industry regulations is also important.

What is the average salary for a loan processor?

The average salary for a loan processor varies depending on the level of experience and the geographic location of the job. Salaries can range from entry-level positions to more experienced roles, with opportunities for advancement and growth in compensation and responsibilities.

Are there opportunities for advancement in the loan processing field?

Yes, loan processors can pursue various opportunities for advancement within the financial industry. This may include progressing to roles such as mortgage underwriter, credit analyst, or loan officer, each of which offers its unique challenges and rewards.

How can I stay up-to-date on industry regulations and best practices?

To stay current on industry regulations and best practices, loan processors should engage in ongoing background research, attend industry conferences, participate in professional organizations, and maintain relevant certifications or licensures. Staying informed about changes in the industry will help loan processors excel in their role and provide the best possible service to their clients.
Many large corporations launched grant programs to support small businesses during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, many businesses still need support today. So several programs are launching additional funding rounds in 2023. Read about new grant opportunities from Comcast, Progressive and more below.

Comcast RISE

Comcast is launching another round of its Comcast RISE small business grant and entrepreneurship program. The program originally launched in 2020 to help businesses that were negatively affected by the pandemic. And each funding round focuses on businesses in specific metropolitan areas. This year, the cities include Detroit, Baltimore, Memphis, Philadelphia, and Portland, Oregon. Winning businesses receive grants of $5,000, business consultancy services, a 30-second TV commercial, media placement, and new technology upgrades from Comcast. Comcast plans to award 500 grants during this round, with 100 allocated to each metropolitan area. Applications will be accepted from June 1 to June 30.

Progressive Driving Business Forward Grant Program

Progressive Insurance is opening another application period for its Driving Business Forward grant program. The company is partnering with Hello Alice to facilitate the program. During this round, 10 small business owners will receive a $25,000 grant, which can be used to purchase commercial vehicles. This years program will focus specifically on Black-owned businesses, while the 2022 funding round awarded grants to Hispanic entrepreneurs. Applications are now open on the Hello Alice online platform and will be accepted until June 2.

Santa Barbara Foundation Micro-Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program

The Santa Barbara Foundation and the County of Santa Barbara, California are offering Covid-19 relief grants to local small businesses and self-employed entrepreneurs. The Micro-Business Covid-19 Relief Grant Program is awarding grants of $2,500 each to small businesses that faced negative financial effects due to the pandemic. The program is currently accepting applications and has about 60 grants left. The deadline was recently extended to June 7.

Oahu Business Recovery Program

The Oahu Business Recovery Grant is providing an additional $3.5 million to local small businesses. This is the second funding round, and eligibility is being expanded for businesses going forward. For example, the annual gross revenue requirement has been lowered from $75,000 to $60,000, and businesses only have to show a 25 percent decline in revenue over the past year. Individual grants may range from $15,000 to $50,000, depending on each companys revenue. This application round opens May 15, and grants will be awarded on a first come, first served basis.

Hartford Microenterprise Microgrant Program

Hartford, Connecticut is launching a new grant program for small businesses with five employees or less. The $500,000 Microenterprise Microgrant Program is funded through the American Rescue Plan Act and Community Development Block Grants. Each eligible business can apply for grants of $2,500, and the online application portal is open now.

Danville Small Business Grant Program

Danville, California is making grants of up to $3,000 available to help small businesses cover facade improvements, marketing promotions, and other upgrades that contribute to economic vitality. The Town Council recently passed a resolution designating $200,000 to the grant program, which is open to brick-and-mortar businesses in Danville with less than ten full-time equivalent employees. Applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.

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A reliable smartphone lets you stay connected, manage your business on the go, and even capture stunning content for your marketing efforts. As a small business owner, freelancer, or entrepreneur, these are key features in todays digital ecosystem. This article will give you what you need to know about this device, from its features and specifications to how to purchase and set it up. It will also answer frequently asked questions and provide tips on leveraging the Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked to your advantage.

Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked: Features and Specifications

The Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked has impressive features that will make your day-to-day tasks much easier. Lets take a closer look at what makes this phone a top choice for small business owners and entrepreneurs:

Display and Design

With a stunning 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED display, the Galaxy S20 offers a crisp and clear viewing experience. The screen is also protected by Gorilla Glass 6, ensuring durability and resistance to scratches. The sleek design and slim profile make it easy to carry around and use on the go.

Performance and Storage

The Samsung S20 Unlocked is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor, providing a fast and seamless experience. With 12GB of RAM and up to 128GB of internal storage, youll have plenty of room for your apps, documents, and multimedia files. Plus, the phone features a microSD card slot, allowing you to expand the storage up to 1TB.

Camera Capabilities

The Galaxy S20 Unlocked boasts a versatile camera setup, featuring a 12MP wide-angle lens, a 64MP telephoto lens, flash, and a 12MP ultra-wide lens. With Single Take mode, you can capture multiple photos and videos with just one tap, ensuring you dont miss a moment. The phone also supports 8K video recording, giving you the power to create high-quality content for your business.

Battery Life

Equipped with a 4,000mAh battery, the Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked provides more juice to last you throughout the day. The device also has Super Fast Charge allowing you to power up your phone quickly when youre short on time.

Connectivity and Network Compatibility

As a 5G-ready device, the Galaxy S20 Unlocked offers super-fast download and upload speeds, ensuring smooth communication and collaboration with your team. It also supports Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 for seamless connections with other devices.

Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked

Samsung S20 Ultra 5G Factory Unlocked

Top Pick: On top of the list is this Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G, a fully functional and reliable smartphone with excellent features, including a large 6.9-inch screen, 512GB storage, 16GB RAM, and a quad-camera setup.

Backed by the 90-day Amazon Renewed Guarantee, this pre-owned product has been professionally inspected, tested, and cleaned by Amazon qualified vendors. Its in excellent condition, with no cosmetic damage visible from 12 inches away. The batterys capacity exceeds 80% relative to new, ensuring long-lasting use. The accessories may not be original, but theyre fully functional and compatible, and the product may come in a generic box. Here some of the other features:

Features:

G988U1 Factory Unlocked. Works on all carriers.

LTE BANDS.5G N71 (N600), N260, N261, 4G LTE: 2, 4, 5, 12, 48, 66, 71,1, 3, 7, 8, 13, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 38, 39, 40, 41

5000 mah battery, 512GB storage, 16GB Ram, Snapdragon 865

6.9 inches, 1440 x 3200 pixels, Corning Gorilla Glass 6

Rear Camera: 108 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), 1/1.33, 0.8m, PDAF, OIS Periscope 48 MP, f/3.6, 102mm (telephoto), 1/2.0, 0.8m, PDAF, OIS, 10x hybrid optical zoom 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm (ultrawide), 1.4m, AF, Super Steady video 0.3 MP, TOF 3D, f/1.0, (depth)

Pros:

High-quality refurbished phone

Fully functional and in excellent condition

90-day Amazon Renewed Guarantee

Large storage capacity and RAM

High-quality camera with 10x hybrid optical zoom

Cons:

Refurbished phones may not maintain their waterproof seal

Accessories may not be original

No headphone or SIM card included

While there may be minor signs of use, the device is backed by a 90-day guarantee, factory unlocked, and compatible with all carriers. The phone comes with a SIM removal tool, a charger, and a charging cable; headphones and SIM cards are not included. You can use the 90-day replacement or refund policy if the phone does not work as expected. However, please note that refurbished phones are not guaranteed to maintain their waterproof seal.

Samsung S20 Ultra 5G Factory Unlocked

Buy on Amazon

Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G, 512GB, Cosmic Black

Runner Up: In second place is a similarly powerful phone, the Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G, 512GB, Cosmic Black. This phone has a 6.7 Quad HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, Infinity-O Display with a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+. It has a 525ppi and 32001440 pixels resolution. It comes with 512GB of internal storage and 12GB of RAM powered by Qualcomm SM8250 Snapdragon 865 5G (7nm+) Octa-core processor and Adreno 650 GPU.

This refurbished phone is fully functional and backed by the 90-day Amazon Renewed Guarantee. This product has been professionally inspected, tested, and cleaned by Amazon qualified vendors. The phone is in Excellent condition with no visible cosmetic damage from 12 inches away. Accessories may not be original but are fully functional and compatible. The battery has been tested to exceed 80% capacity relative to new. Please note that refurbished phones are not guaranteed to maintain their waterproof seal.

Features:

6.7 Quad HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, Infinity-O Display with a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+.

512GB internal storage and 12GB of RAM powered by Qualcomm SM8250 Snapdragon 865 5G (7nm+) Octa-core processor and Adreno 650 GPU.

4500mAh battery capacity.

Rear Camera: 64MP, f/2.0 + 12MP, f/1.8 + 12,MP, f/2.2 + 0.3MP, TOF, Front Camera: 10MP, f/2.2

Compatible with Most GSM and CDMA Carriers like T-Mobile, AT&T, and MetroPCS.

Pros:

Large 6.7 Quad HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+.

Huge 512GB internal storage and 12GB of RAM.

Powerful Qualcomm SM8250 Snapdragon 865 5G (7nm+) Octa-core processor and Adreno 650 GPU.

Great camera system with 64MP rear camera and 10MP front camera.

Compatible with most GSM and CDMA carriers.

Cons:

Refurbished phones are not guaranteed to maintain their waterproof seal.

Accessories may not be original.

The phone is compatible with most GSM and CDMA carriers like T-Mobile, AT&T, and MetroPCS. Please note that refurbished phones are not guaranteed to maintain their waterproof seal.

Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G, 512GB, Cosmic Black

Buy on Amazon

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G, US Version, 256GB

Best Value: The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G delivers the best value because of the price and solid all-around features. This pre-owned phone has been professionally inspected, tested, and cleaned by Amazon qualified vendors. The 5g technology and the 256GB storage are some of the standout features.

Here are some of the other key features of the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G:

Unlocked for all carriers on GSM and CDMA networks

Android operating system

5G cellular technology

256 GB memory storage capacity

Wi-Fi connectivity

Navy color

6.5-inch screen size

GSM, Wi-Fi, and CDMA wireless network technology

Pros:

Unlocked for all carriers

Large storage capacity

5G cellular technology for faster internet speeds

Comes with a charger and charging cable

90-day Amazon Renewed Guarantee for peace of mind

Cons:

Accessories may not be original

Comes in a generic box

No headphones or SIM card included

Refurbished phones are not guaranteed to maintain their waterproof seal

The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G is a reliable phone thats sure to meet the needs of any small business owner. You cant go wrong with this purchase with its powerful features and excellent condition. Plus, with the 90-day Amazon Renewed Guarantee, you can rest assured that youre making a smart investment. Accessories may not be original, but theyll be compatible and fully functional. This phone may come in a generic box, but it includes a SIM removal tool, a charger, and a charging cable. Note that headphones and a SIM card are not included.

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G, US Version, 256GB

Buy on Amazon

Samsung Galaxy S20 5G, 128GB, Cosmic Gray  Unlocked

This Samsung Galaxy S20 5G is pre-owned phone has been professionally inspected, tested, and cleaned to ensure it is fully functional and ready to go. With a 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen, 128GB of storage, and an octa-core Qualcomm SM8250 Snapdragon 865 processor, this phone has everything you need to stay connected on the go. Plus, you can stay connected anywhere with 5G, 4G, 3G, and 2G cellular technology and Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB, and NFC connectivity.

Features:

Refurbished, fully functional, and in excellent condition

90-day Amazon Renewed Guarantee

6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen

128GB of storage

Octa-core Qualcomm SM8250 Snapdragon 865 processor

5G, 4G, 3G, and 2G cellular technology

Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB, and NFC connectivity

Pros:

Refurbished to ensure like-new quality

90-day guarantee for peace of mind

Large 6.2-inch screen for easy viewing

Plenty of storage for apps, photos, and more

Fast and reliable connectivity with 5G technology

Cons:

Accessories may not be original

Product may come in a generic box

Refurbished phones are not guaranteed to maintain their waterproof seal

The Samsung Galaxy S20 5G is a refurbished phone in excellent condition, backed by a 90-day guarantee. With a large 6.2-inch screen, plenty of storage, and fast connectivity options, this phone is perfect for anyone who wants to stay connected on the go.

Samsung Galaxy S20 5G, 128GB, Cosmic Gray  Unlocked

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Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G 128GB Fully Unlocked

This Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G has a 6.7-inch Quad HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen, 128GB of storage, and a Qualcomm SM8250 Snapdragon 865 5G (7nm+) processor.

Features:

Refurbished, fully functional, and in excellent condition

90-day Amazon Renewed Guarantee

6.7-inch Quad HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen

128GB of storage

Qualcomm SM8250 Snapdragon 865 5G (7nm+) processor

5G, 4G, 3G, and 2G cellular technology

Wi-Fi connectivity

Pros:

Refurbished to ensure like-new quality

90-day guarantee for peace of mind

Large 6.7-inch screen for easy viewing

Plenty of storage for apps, photos, and more

Fast and reliable connectivity with 5G technology

Cons:

Accessories may not be original

Product may come in a generic box

Refurbished phones are not guaranteed to maintain their waterproof seal

The Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G is a refurbished phone that is in excellent condition and backed by a 90-day guarantee. With a large 6.7-inch screen, plenty of storage, and fast connectivity, this phone is perfect for any small business or entrepreneur.

Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G 128GB Fully Unlocked

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Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, 128GB, Cosmic Gray

The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra has a 6.9-inch screen and 128GB of storage, so this phone has plenty of space to store all your apps, photos, and more. Plus, with 5G cellular technology, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB, and NFC connectivity, you can stay connected anywhere.

Features:

Refurbished, fully functional, and in excellent condition

90-day Amazon Renewed Guarantee

6.9-inch screen

128GB of storage

5G cellular technology

Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB, and NFC connectivity

Pros:

High-end phone with top-of-the-line features

Refurbished to ensure like-new quality

90-day guarantee for peace of mind

Large 6.9-inch screen for easy viewing

Fast and reliable connectivity with 5G technology

Cons:

Accessories may not be original

Product may come in a generic box

Refurbished phones are not guaranteed to maintain their waterproof seal

This refurbished phone is fully functional and backed by the 90-day Amazon Renewed Guarantee. This product has been professionally inspected, tested, and cleaned by Amazon qualified vendors. The phone is in Excellent condition with no visible cosmetic damage from 12 inches away. Accessories may not be original but are fully functional and compatible.

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, 128GB, Cosmic Gray

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Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (128GB, 12GB RAM) 6.9 AMOLED

This Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G features a 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, 128GB storage, 12GB RAM, and a Qualcomm SM8250 Snapdragon 865 (7 nm+) processor. It has a 108MP rear camera and a 40MP front camera. The phone is compatible with most GSM and CDMA carriers, including T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon.

Pros:

Large 6.9-inch display

5G connectivity for fast internet speeds

High-quality camera

Large storage and RAM capacity

Fully unlocked and compatible with most carriers

Cons:

Refurbished phones may have imperfections

Accessories may not be original

Not guaranteed to be waterproof

May have cosmetic damage, depending on the condition

The Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G is a high-quality refurbished phone that offers great features like a large display, 5G connectivity, and a high-quality camera. It is compatible with most carriers and is backed by the Amazon Renewed Guarantee. However, customers should be aware that refurbished phones may have imperfections and the accessories may not be original.

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (128GB, 12GB RAM) 6.9 AMOLED

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Galaxy S20+ Plus 5G BTS Edition

Samsung Galaxy Buds S20+ Plus 5G BTS Edition is an unlocked Android phone with 256 GB storage capacity, LTE wireless network technology, and a 6.7-inch D-AMOLED screen. Despite its high price point, the Galaxy Buds S20+ Plus 5G BTS Edition is a solid choice for small business owners who require a high-performance phone.

Features:

Unlocked for all carriers

5G cellular technology

256 GB memory storage capacity

Bluetooth, USB, and NFC connectivity technologies

Purple color

6.7-inch D-AMOLED screen

Snapdragon 865 / 7nm+ / RAM: 12GB / Built-in: 256GB / microSD: Up to 1TB

Rear camera: 6,400 megapixels + 1,200 megapixels + 1,200 megapixels + 30 megapixels / Front camera: 10 megapixels / Video: 4320p (QUHD), 24fps / Electronic Image stabilization (EIS) / Optical image stabilization (OIS)

Fingerprint recognition (on-screen) / Face recognition / Bixby / IP68 / GPS / NFC / AOD

USB Type C / 4,500mAh / Charging support: Max.25W / Qi wireless charging : Max 15W

Pros:

Large screen

5G network support

High-quality cameras

Large storage capacity

Unlocked for all carriers

Cons:

May not be fully waterproof

Accessories may not be original

Limited warranty period

High price point

The device has been professionally inspected, tested, and cleaned, and comes with a 90-day Amazon Renewed Guarantee. However, refurbished phones are not guaranteed to be waterproof and the accessories may not be original. It may come in a generic box and the accessories may not be original, but they will be compatible and fully functional. The phone has been graded as being in Excellent, Good, or Acceptable cosmetic condition.

Galaxy S20+ Plus 5G BTS Edition

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Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G (128GB, 6GB) 6.5 AMOLED

The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G is a powerful smartphone with 128GB of storage and 6GB of RAM. It provides ample space and memory for all your files, apps, and multitasking needs. The Cloud Navy color and 6.5-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity-O Display with 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ provide a sleek and vibrant viewing experience.

Pros:

5G connectivity

Powerful processor and ample storage

Water and dust resistant

High-quality cameras

Under-display fingerprint scanner

Cons:

No headphone jack

Limited wireless charging speed

No optical zoom

No official IP rating for water resistance

The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G is a versatile, feature-packed smartphone with 5G connectivity, powerful hardware, and high-quality cameras. Its water and dust resistance, under-display fingerprint scanner, and compatibility with most carriers make it a great choice for busy business owners. However, it lacks a headphone jack, has limited wireless charging speed, and no optical zoom or official IP rating for water resistance.

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G (128GB, 6GB) 6.5 AMOLED

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Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G Factory Unlocked

The Galaxy S20+ Plus 5G Factory Unlocked has a 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED display with a resolution of 32001440 pixels and 120Hz refresh rate. The phone runs on Android OS and features 5G cellular technology, making it perfect for fast downloads and streaming.

Features:

Excellent condition pre-owned phone backed by Amazon Renewed Guarantee

Professionally inspected, tested and cleaned by Amazon qualified vendors

6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED display with a resolution of 32001440 pixels and 120Hz refresh rate

128GB storage and 8GB RAM

Rear camera with 64-megapixel resolution, ultra-wide camera, and telephoto camera

Front camera with a resolution of 10 megapixels

5G cellular technology

Eligible for a replacement or refund within 90-days of receipt if it does not work as expected

Comes with a SIM removal tool, a charger, and a charging cable.

Pros:

Large, high-quality display with 120Hz refresh rate

5G technology for fast downloads and streaming

High-quality rear camera with multiple lenses

Large amount of storage and RAM for smooth multitasking and app usage

Comes with a SIM removal tool, a charger, and a charging cable.

Cons:

Refurbished phone, may not maintain waterproof seal

Accessories may not be original, but are compatible and fully functional

Limited to 90-day warranty period

Samsung Galaxy S20+ Plus 5G (SM-G986U) is a fully refurbished product that is in excellent condition and backed by the 90-day Amazon Renewed Guarantee. This pre-owned phone has been professionally inspected, tested, and cleaned by Amazon qualified vendors. The phone comes with a battery that exceeds 80% capacity relative to new, a SIM removal tool, a charger, and a charging cable.

Although the accessories may not be original, they are compatible and fully functional, and the product may come in a generic box. Refurbished phones are not guaranteed to maintain their waterproof seal. This product is eligible for a replacement or refund within 90-days of receipt if it does not work as expected.

Samsung Galaxy S20+ 5G Factory Unlocked

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Benefits of Choosing an Unlocked Samsung Galaxy S20

Purchasing an unlocked Samsung S20 provides several advantages for small business owners and entrepreneurs:

Carrier Flexibility : Choose the carrier and plan that best suits your needs, without being tied down by contracts or restrictions.

: Choose the carrier and plan that best suits your needs, without being tied down by contracts or restrictions. No Contracts : Enjoy the freedom of switching carriers whenever you want, without facing termination fees or penalties.

: Enjoy the freedom of switching carriers whenever you want, without facing termination fees or penalties. Easier International Travel : Using your phone with local SIM cards when traveling abroad saves you money on roaming fees.

: Using your phone with local SIM cards when traveling abroad saves you money on roaming fees. Potential Cost Savings: Unlocked phones often have lower prices, allowing you to save money upfront or when upgrading your device.

How to Purchase a Samsung S20 Unlocked

When youre ready to purchase a Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked, there are several options available:

Retailers and Online Stores

Retailers like Best Buy, Amazon, and Samsungs official website offer unlocked Galaxy S20 devices. Verifying that the phone youre purchasing is unlocked and not tied to a specific carrier is very important. Look for unlocked or factory unlocked in the product description. From credit approval to shipping, Make sure to take a good look at the details of your purchase or contract on your accounts.

Price Comparison and Finding the Best Deals

To ensure youre getting the best price for your Samsung S20 Unlocked, compare prices across different retailers and online stores. Watch for special offers, discounts, or promotional codes to save even more on your purchase.

Setting Up Your Unlocked Samsung Galaxy S20

Once you have your new Galaxy S20 Unlocked in hand, follow these steps to get it up and running:

Choose a carrier and plan that fits your needs, considering factors such as coverage, data allowance, and international roaming options. Insert the SIM card provided by your chosen carrier into the device. Turn on the phone and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the setup process, including connecting to Wi-Fi, signing in to your Google account, and customizing your settings. Transfer your data from your previous phone using the Smart Switch app, which supports both Android and iOS devices. Install essential apps for small business owners and entrepreneurs, such as communication, productivity, and file management tools.

Customizing Your Samsung S20 Unlocked for Business Use

To get the most out of your new Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked, take some time to customize it to suit your business needs:

Adjust settings for optimal battery life and performance, including turning off unused features and setting up battery-saving modes.

Organize your apps and home screen for increased efficiency, creating folders for different categories and placing your most-used apps within easy reach.

Enable Samsung DeX, which allows you to connect your phone to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse for a desktop-like experience.

Mobile Security and Privacy for Entrepreneurs

As a small business owner or entrepreneur, safeguarding your sensitive data is crucial. Follow these best practices to ensure mobile security and privacy on your Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked:

Set up biometric authentication, such as fingerprint or facial recognition, to secure access to your device. Regularly update your phones software to benefit from the latest security patches and improvements. Install a reputable mobile security app to protect your device from malware and other threats. Use a VPN to encrypt your data and protect your privacy when connecting to public Wi-Fi networks.

Leveraging the Samsung Ecosystem for Business

The Samsung ecosystem offers various products and services that can enhance your experience as a small business owner or entrepreneur:

Invest in Samsung Galaxy Buds for hands-free calling and high-quality audio during video conferences or online meetings.

Use Samsung Knox, an enterprise-level security solution, to protect your business data and manage your devices.

Integrate your Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked with other Samsung devices, such as tablets or smartwatches, for a seamless workflow.

Mobile Payment Solutions for Small Business Owners

Embracing mobile payment solutions like Samsung Pay can offer convenience and flexibility for your customers:

Set up Samsung Pay on your Galaxy S20 Unlocked, adding your credit or debit cards for quick and secure payments. Accept mobile payments from customers using compatible devices, streamlining the checkout process and offering an additional payment option. Compare different mobile payment solutions to determine which suits your small business needs and requirements best.

Remote Work and Collaboration with the Samsung S20 Unlocked

In todays fast-paced business world, working remotely and collaborating effectively with your team is vital. With the Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked, you can stay connected and productive no matter where you are:

Utilize cloud storage and file-sharing services like Google Drive or Dropbox to access and share documents, presentations, and other files with your team. Take advantage of collaboration apps and tools such as Slack, Trello, and Microsoft Teams to communicate, manage projects, and stay organized. Use the Galaxy S20s high-quality camera and video capabilities to capture and share content for marketing campaigns, social media, or team meetings.

Using the Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked for Marketing and Social Media

Small business owners and entrepreneurs need effective marketing and social media presence. The Galaxy S20 Unlocked provides a powerful tool to create and manage your marketing campaigns:

Capture high-quality photos and videos with the devices camera using advanced features like Single Take, filters, and 8K video recording. Edit and enhance your visual content directly on your phone with built-in or third-party apps. Schedule and manage your social media posts using apps like Buffer, Hootsuite, or Sprout Social. Engage with your customers and followers by responding to your devices comments, messages, and reviews directly.

Time Management and Productivity Apps for Entrepreneurs

As a busy entrepreneur, managing your time effectively is crucial. The Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked offers a variety of apps and tools to help you stay organized and productive:

Use calendar and scheduling apps like Google Calendar, Todoist, or Microsoft Outlook to keep track of your appointments, tasks, and deadlines. Set up reminders and notifications for important events, meetings, and tasks. Utilize project management tools like Asana or Trello to assign tasks, track progress, and collaborate with your team. Install note-taking apps like Evernote or OneNote to capture ideas, create checklists, and store important information.

Virtual Meetings and Conferencing on the Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked

With remote work becoming increasingly popular, virtual meetings and video conferencing are necessary for collaboration and communication. The Galaxy S20 Unlocked makes attending and hosting virtual meetings a breeze:

Join video conferences and webinars using apps like Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams. Utilize the devices high-quality front-facing camera and audio for clear video and sound during virtual meetings. Share your screen to present documents, slides, or other content during online meetings. Record meetings and save them to the cloud for easy access and future reference.

Stress Management and Work-Life Balance for Entrepreneurs

Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is crucial for entrepreneurs and small business owners. The Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked offers various tools and apps to help you manage stress and find balance in your busy life:

Use meditation and mindfulness apps like Headspace, Calm, or Insight Timer to take breaks and relax during the day. Install fitness and health tracking apps to monitor your daily activity, exercise, and sleep. Set up screen time limits and app usage restrictions to help you disconnect and focus on your personal life. Utilize digital assistant features like Google Assistant or Bixby to streamline tasks and save time.

Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked for Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Keeping track of your customers, leads, and sales is key for growing your business. The Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked provides a convenient platform to manage your CRM on the go:

Install CRM apps like Salesforce, HubSpot, or Zoho CRM to access and update customer information, manage leads, and track sales. Use the devices camera to scan business cards and instantly add contact information to your CRM system. Set up notifications and reminders for follow-ups, meetings, and sales calls. Leverage your phones GPS capabilities to plan efficient in-person meetings and sales visits routes.

By incorporating these additional topics into your Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked guide, youll provide small business owners, freelancers, and entrepreneurs with an even more comprehensive resource to help them make the most of their new devices.

A smartphone is much more than a communication device; its a tool that empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners to work efficiently and effectively. With the Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked, youll enjoy the flexibility and freedom of choosing the carrier that best fits your needs, avoiding contracts, and benefiting from potential cost savings.

FAQs

How does the Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked differ from carrier-locked versions?

An unlocked Samsung Galaxy S20 allows you to choose your carrier and plan, switch carriers without penalties, and use local SIM cards when traveling internationally. Carrier-locked versions are tied to a specific network and may come with contracts or restrictions.

Will the Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked work with any carrier?

The Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked is compatible with most carriers, including major networks like AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. However, verifying that your chosen carrier supports the specific model youre purchasing is important.

Can I use my existing phone number with the Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked?

Yes, you can transfer your existing phone number to your new Galaxy S20 Unlocked. Contact your carrier for assistance with the number transfer process.

Does the Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked come with a warranty?

Samsung offers a one-year limited warranty for the Galaxy S20 Unlocked, covering manufacturing defects and other issues under normal use. Be sure to register your device and keep your proof of purchase for any warranty claims.

Is it possible to upgrade the storage on the Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked?

Yes, the Galaxy S20 Unlocked features a microSD card slot, allowing you to expand the storage up to 1TB.

How can I ensure my Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked stays up-to-date with software updates?

Regularly check for software updates in the settings menu and install them when available. This ensures that your device receives the latest security patches and feature enhancements.

Can the Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked be used with Samsung DeX?

Yes, the Samsung Galaxy S20 Unlocked is compatible with Samsung DeX, enabling you to connect your phone to a monitor, keyboard, and mouse for a desktop-like experience.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/biden-white-house-claims-they-are-not-releasing-mass-amounts-migrants-into-the-us-1110304791.html

Biden White House Claims They are Not Releasing Mass Amounts Migrants Into the US

Biden White House Claims They are Not Releasing Mass Amounts Migrants Into the US

On todays episode of The Backstory, host Lee Stranahan discussed current events including Baltimore blaming Kia and Hyundai for making cars too easy to steal, and the US State Department threatening Georgia with sanctions.

2023-05-13T04:02+0000

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Biden White House Claims They are not Releasing Mass Amounts Migrants into the US On todays episode of The Backstory, host Lee Stranahan discussed current events including Baltimore blaming Kia and Hyundai for making cars too easy to steal, and the US State Department threatening Georgia with sanctions.

Ian Shilling - Geopolitical Analyst, Researcher, and Blogger | Elon Musk Announces a New CEO of Twitter, Local Election Results in the United Kingdom, and Robert F. Kennedy Attacks the CIATyler Nixon - Attorney, Media Relations Specialist | The Legacy Media Spit their Venom at Americans, The Left Distorts Reality, and The Access Hollywood TapeIn the first hour, Lee spoke with Ian Shilling about the new CEO for Twitter, the media are forced to focus on illegal immigration, and local elections in the UK. Ian described the results of the local elections in the United Kingdom and the Green party holding extreme energy positions. Ian discussed the possibility of Joe Biden pardoning Hunter Biden and the Biden financial records exposed by the GOP.In the second hour, Lee spoke with Tyler Nixon about the Florida Republicans, Mike Pence, and the consultant class of politics. Tyler discussed his pleasure with Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz and former Vice President Mike Pence criticized for attempting to run for President in 2024. Tyler talked about the media narratives and how Donald Trump destroyed the CNN media narratives.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/20230513/black-sea-fleet-240-years-in-defense-of-russias-southern-frontiers-1110318775.html

Black Sea Fleet: 240 Years in Defense of Russia's Southern Frontiers

Black Sea Fleet: 240 Years in Defense of Russia's Southern Frontiers

May 13 marks the 240th anniversary of the creation of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Through its history, it has fallen to the sailors and officers of the fleet... 13.05.2023, Sputnik International

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On this day in 1783, the Imperial Russian Navys Azov Flotilla was dissolved and its 11 ships assigned to the newly created Black Sea Fleet.Moored in the then-sparsely populated Ahtiar Bay in southwestern Crimea, the fleet was formed to protect the peninsula following its peaceful absorption into the Russian Empire in April of 1783, nine years after the end of Ottoman control over Crimea in the wake of the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774.Veteran naval officer Fedot Klokachev was appointed as the first commander of the new fleet, and began the construction of the Black Sea Fleet's future home - the city of Sevastopol, in July of 1783. Ahtiar Bay was later bestowed the name Sevastopol Bay.In the years that followed, the Black Sea Fleet was strengthened with new warships, while Sevastopol witnessed the construction of major fortifications and port infrastructure befitting of a major new naval force. By August 1785, the Black Sea Fleet consisted of over 13,500 sailors and officers, and had 12 battleships, 20 frigates, and about a dozen transports and multipurpose boats at its disposal - nearly quadrupling in size from its initial strength.Crimean WarThe Black Sea Fleet and the defenders of Sevastopol would spend the next hundred years protecting the Black Sea from Ottoman and European geopolitical and military intrigues, including during the Russo-Turkish War of 1787-1792, the 1821-1829 Greek War of Independence (in which Russia supported Athens), and the Crimean War of 1853-1856. The latter conflict saw Russia face off alone against a coalition of Ottoman, British, French and Sardinian forces, plus German, Swiss, Polish and Italian legions.The 1854-1855 Siege of Sevastopol saw the coalition invading Crimea and marching on the Black Sea Fleets home base, besieging it, with a garrison of 48,500 Russian defenders facing off against the combined strength of over 175,000 enemy troops. After 11 months of siege, Russian troops were finally forced to abandon the city, with Russia forced to sue for peace, and temporarily losing the right to base warships in Sevastopol (Russia would denounce these provisions in 1870, and the restrictions were scrapped with the signing of the London Convention of March 1871).The British and French empires were equally drained by the Crimean War, with the conflict proving highly unpopular in their home countries  perhaps best exemplified by Alfred, Lord Tennysons famous narrative poem The Charge of the Light Brigade about the charge to their pointless death of scores of elite British troops on horseback against Russian defensive emplacements.Russia would gradually rebuild its Black Sea naval power toward the late 19th century.First World War Victories and Revolutionary ChaosIn the First World War, the Black Sea Fleet, now armed with modern battleships, destroyers, dreadnaughts and submarines, won the biggest victories that the Russian Empire managed to enjoy during the conflict mining the Bosporus, providing support for the Romanian and Caucasus fronts, and destroying dozens of Ottoman warships.The Black Sea Fleet dissolved in the chaos following the twin revolutions of March and November of 1917, with Imperial German forces and a German puppet Ukrainian national government temporarily occupying Crimea in 1918, during which time over 130 ships were seized and taken abroad to countries including the Ottoman Empire. The Bolsheviks scuttled what was left of the fleet at Novorossiysk to prevent its capture. The Black Sea Fleet lay in ruins through most of the Russian Civil War, with Crimea and coastal territories surrounding it occupied by French and Greek forces. The intervention lasted until April 1919, when the occupiers were forced to evacuate.Rise of the Red NavyThe Black Sea Fleet began its reconstruction in 1921, starting with the restoration and upgrade of what remained of the Imperial Navys warships. Between the late 1920s and the late 1930s, over 500 vessels were added to the fleet thanks to industrialization and rearmament campaigns.The fleet met the beginning of the Great Patriotic War in June 1941 with 64,000 sailors and officers, one battleship, 5 cruisers, 3 flotilla leaders, 16 destroyers, 47 submarines and scores of smaller gunboats, patrol ships torpedo boats, minesweepers, patrol and anti-submarine boats. Sevastopol was turned into a fortress of modern coastal defenses, including elaborate fortifications and dozens of 305, 203, 152, 130, 120, 102, 100, and 45 mm coastal guns and machine guns, as well as 76 and 37 mm anti-aircraft guns.During the war, the Fleet was tasked with holding off the advancing Germans and their Bulgarian and Romanian allies, and watching carefully for a possible Turkish entry into the war on the Axis side.German and Romanian forces began an operation to capture Sevastopol in October 1941, with the city surrounded on all sides as Axis troops advanced through Crimea. The siege of Sevastopol continued for nine months until the city's fall in July 1942, and saw Soviet defenders face off against numerically superior German and Romanian troops with naval support from Italy. Over 200,400 Soviet troops were killed, injured or taken prisoner (many of them later dying in Nazi POW camps), with Soviet estimates on the number of enemy dead and wounded amounting to 300,000 men. Efforts to evacuate the remainder of the citys defenders by sea were thwarted by Axis naval and air power, as were efforts to resupply them.The siege of Sevastopol tied up hundreds of thousands of Axis troops, and ultimately helped to delay and weaken Nazi offensives in the Caucasus during the summer of 1942  culminating in the Battle of Stalingrad and the turning point in the war in Europe in the Allies favor.Sevastopol was occupied between July 1942 until May of 1944, when it was liberated during the Crimean Offensive Operation. Soviet naval aviation destroyed scores of German and Romanian cargo ships, tankers, tugs and motorboats as Nazi forces attempted to evacuate by sea.During the war, the Black Sea Fleet mounted over a dozen amphibious assaults, including the Kerch-Feodosia operation of 1941-1942, and the Kerch-Eltigen Operation of 1943-1944. The daring and determination of the fleets naval infantry in both offensive and defensive operations led the Germans to nickname them Black Death due to the distinctive black color of their uniforms.After the end of WWII, Sevastopol, Crimea and the Black Sea Fleet would enjoy relative peace and tranquility over most of the remainder of the 20th century.In 1988 at the twilight of the Cold War, the US Navys USS Yorktown cruiser and the USS Caron destroyer tried to sail through Soviet territorial waters off Crimea under the guise of rights and freedoms of navigation in the Black Sea, prompting the Soviet warships Bezzavetny and the SKR-6 frigates to bump up against and literally push the intruders out of the area. The incident was filmed by sailors onboard the US ships, demonstrating the panic that ensued once the Americans realized what the smaller Soviet vessels shadowing the US warships were doing.Hard Times in the 1990sThe collapse of the USSR in 1991 raised hard questions about the Black Sea Fleets status, with Russian President Boris Yeltsin refusing to contemplate apparent willingness by Kiev to return Crimea and Sevastopol to Russias jurisdiction (the peninsula had been transferred to the Ukrainian SSR from the Russian SFSR by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev through the course of interparty-elite political maneuvers in 1954). In 1991, the fleet of 100,000 sailors and officers and 835 warships suddenly found itself facing an uncertain future.Ultimately, naval assets would divided between the new states and an agreement reached for Sevastopol to remain the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Russia would lease the Sevastopol Naval Base and other naval facilities in Crimea from Ukraine, with Kiev receiving cash payments and certain bonuses like discounts on energy worth tens of billions of dollars. In 1997, an agreement was reached under which Russia received 338 ships and over 100 aircraft of the Black Sea Fleet, with the Ukrainian side getting 67 ships and 90 combat aircraft.The lease agreement lost its relevance in March 2014 when, a month after a Western-backed coup in Kiev ousted the countrys democratically-elected president, Crimean authorities held a snap referendum on the peninsulas status, with the overwhelming majority of Crimeas residents voting to break off from Ukraine and rejoin Russia.Back In Home HarborsCrimeas return to Russia led to immediate major investments into the Black Sea Fleets capabilities with the fleet fitted out with new ships and aircraft, including Buyan-M missile ships, Project 636.3 attack subs, and the new Admiral Grigorovich-class of frigates, including its lead ship, the Admiral Grigorovich, plus the Admiral Essen and the Admiral Makarov, commissioned in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Together with the Pytlivyy and Ladny frigates, the warships make up the 30th Surface Ship Division.Today, the Black Sea Fleet also has six large landing ships of the Project 1171 and Project 775 classes, the 4th Separate Submarine Brigade with its nine attack subs, the 41st Missile Boat Brigade and its Buyan-M, Sivuch and Molniya-1 missile boats (8 total, two more on the way), the 295thMissile Boat Battalion and its four vessels, and dozens of smaller anti-submarine warfare and minesweeping vessels, coastal patrol ships, ASW and coastal defense craft, firefighting, rescue ships, tugs, tankers and reconnaissance ships. Most of the fleet is based at Sevastopol and Novorossiysk.The Black Sea Fleet has been used extensively during the course of the ongoing Russia-NATO proxy war in Ukraine, with the fleets resources used in battles against Ukrainian forces for Zmeiny Island, as well as operations to destroy Ukraines naval forces and prevent them from leaving their home ports, and keeping NATO ships and reconnaissance assets from approaching too close to Crimea and the conflict zone.At least three major ships of the Black Sea Fleet have been lost in the course of the conflict, with the missile cruiser Moskva  the former flagship of the fleet, suffering critical damage in a munitions explosion in April 2022 and sinking while being towed back to port. A Russian large landing ship was lost in March 2022, and the Vasily Bekh tugboat was lost in June 2022 off Zmeiny Island.The Ukrainian Navy was forced to scuttle its flagship, the Hetman Sahaydachny, in March of 2022, and has lost dozens of patrol ships, river patrol boats, reconnaissance vessels, command and control vessels, minesweepers, tugs, and gunboats over the past 14 months. Some were sunk in Russian attacks, others scuttled, and others still captured by Russian forces (including multiple Gyurza-M gunboats, Zhuk-class patrol boats, Kalkan-class and UMS-1000-class patrol cutters, a Sorum-class sea-going tug, and up to 10 unmanned reconnaissance vessels).1783-2023: Some Things Remain Eternal

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/what-battle-force-ships-does-russias-black-sea-fleet-have-1110312307.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20220820/uav-attacks-russian-black-sea-headquarters-in-sevastopol-governor-says-1099790129.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/devastating-failure-to-raise-us-debt-ceiling-would-pose-serious-threat-to-global-economy-1110314414.html

'Devastating' Failure to Raise US Debt Ceiling Would Pose 'Serious Threat to Global Economy'

'Devastating' Failure to Raise US Debt Ceiling Would Pose 'Serious Threat to Global Economy'

If the United States defaulted on its debt, it would pose a very serious threat to the global economy, said British finance minister Jeremy Hunt on Saturday.

2023-05-13T11:15+0000

2023-05-13T11:15+0000

2023-05-13T11:15+0000

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If the United States careened into its first-ever debt default, it would pose a very serious threat to the global economy, said British finance minister Jeremy Hunt on Saturday. Hunt offered his take on the possible outcome of the crisis over the US debt ceiling that overshadowed the latest G7 finance meeting in Japan, telling reporters: Jeremy Hunt faced the media on Saturday ahead of a meeting with the US Treasury Secretary. Janet Yellen had not minced words when she warned earlier that the US, which has been operating under "extraordinary measures" taken up by the department since January, could default on its financial obligations as early as June.As for the US Treasury chief, she also told journalists on the sidelines of the G7 event that negotiating a debt ceiling raise was, on this occasion, "more difficult, but I'm hopeful that...we will find a solution."A report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) also fed into recent dire forecasts. It did clarify that if the government avoided default by June 15, financing operations could "probably continue" through at least the end of July thanks to quarterly tax receipts and additional extraordinary measures. Last month, Republicans, who wield a narrow majority in the House after the November 2022 midterm elections, passed legislation to raise the debt ceiling tied in with cuts to government spending. However, Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer both rejected the truncated budget measure. Democrats have been calling for raising the debt ceiling without concessions.A scheduled Friday meeting between the US President and congressional leaders to discuss the debt ceiling and looming default had to be postponed. US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said the postponement was due to the fact that staff-level talks failed to make any headway in the standoff.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230511/debt-ceiling-meeting-with-biden-congressional-leaders-postponed-as-talks-lack-progress-1110273471.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230511/us-debt-ceiling-crisis-sasts-shadow-on-g7-finance-meeting-1110254508.html

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uk's jeremy hunt, us debt ceiling, looming default, debt celing crisis, group of seven finance ministers, g7 meeting, gdp knocked off track, raising the debt ceiling, without concessions, budget cuts, cuts to government spending
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/ex-peruvian-president-faces-35-years-in-prison-on-money-laundering-charges-1110305447.html

Ex-Peruvian President Faces 35 Years in Prison on Money Laundering Charges

Ex-Peruvian President Faces 35 Years in Prison on Money Laundering Charges

The Peruvian Prosecutor's Office requested a 35-year prison sentence for former Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski on money laundering charges.

2023-05-13T00:15+0000

2023-05-13T00:15+0000

2023-05-13T00:11+0000

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Peruvian Prosecutor Jose Domingo Perez filed charges against Kuczynski for money laundering in an organized crime group, Peruvian media reported. "He is totally calm," the former president's lawyer Julio Mindolo told reporters. "He is confident the situation will be resolved and that no one can link him to any acts of corruption."An investigation into Kuczynski has reportedly been ongoing for the last five years.Local media indicated that three more people are subject to the investigation, facing prison terms of 35, 26 and 11 years. During the hearing, the judge reportedly dismissed the prosecutor's petition to extend exiting ban on Kuczynski, ruling that such a move would be a violation of the former president's right to freedom. Kuczynski spent 36 months under house arrest from 2019-2022, after which he was released and attended court as a free man.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230405/perus-congress-votes-against-motion-to-impeach-president-boluarte-1109134685.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/g7-finance-ministers-confirm-commitment-to-financially-support-ukraine-as-long-as-needed-1110310908.html

G7 Finance Ministers Confirm Commitment to Financially Support Ukraine as Long as Needed

G7 Finance Ministers Confirm Commitment to Financially Support Ukraine as Long as Needed

G7 Finance Ministers and Central Banks Governors confirmed on Saturday their commitment to support Kiev "for as long as it takes" and address urgent financial needs of Ukraine and its neighboring countries.

2023-05-13T06:55+0000

2023-05-13T06:55+0000

2023-05-13T06:55+0000

russia's special operation in ukraine

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"We reiterate our unwavering support for Ukraine for as long as it takes and are united in our condemnation of Russias illegal, unjustifiable, and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine," they said in a joint communique released following the three-day meeting in Japans Niigata, adding that they are "strongly committed to continue addressing Ukraines urgent short-term financing needs, as well as supporting its neighboring and other severely affected countries." The participants of the G7 summit also reaffirmed their support for international cooperation as a means for solving global economic problems, adding that they reject "Russias repeated false narrative" about the negative impact of sanctions on food and energy security. The allocated funds, the G7 finance ministers believe, will help to restore Ukraine's critical infrastructure and ensure the normal functioning of its government, the provision of basic services and the economic stabilization. Besides, the G7 member states' representatives confirmed their intention to maintain the anti-Russian sanctions regime. The parties also intends to continue closely monitor cross-border transactions between Russia and other countries, as well as analyze "the effectiveness of the price caps on Russian crude oil and petroleum products to ensure the measure delivers on its objectives."

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/g7-science-ministers-warn-about-space-debris-1110323467.html

G7 Science Ministers Warn About Space Debris

G7 Science Ministers Warn About Space Debris

G7 nations science ministers warned on Saturday that strong international action was urgently needed to address the accumulation of orbital debris to ensure safe use of outer space.

2023-05-13T17:29+0000

2023-05-13T17:29+0000

2023-05-13T17:29+0000

beyond politics

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"We  reiterate our commitment to the safe and sustainable use of outer space, and share the view that orbital debris constitutes an urgent issue," their joint statement read. The communique released on the second day of the G7 Science and Technology Ministers' Meeting in Sendai, Japan, blamed the problem on the rapidly expanding space exploration and satellite launches as well as tests of direct-ascent anti-satellite missiles. The ministers said they would promote discussions within the UN and other international frameworks about "the impact of large constellations of satellites on astronomy for the protection of the dark and quiet sky." The ministers also stressed the importance of polar research for addressing climate change. They proposed strengthening international cooperation and observations in the Arctic and Antarctic and increasing the role of indigenous peoples in the Arctic research.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20190810/russia-invents-self-destroying-satellite-to-resolve-space-debris-problem-1076518350.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/germany-plans-to-send-ukraine-largest-military-assistance-package-worth-3bln---reports-1110313172.html

Germany Plans to Send Ukraine Largest Military Assistance Package Worth $3Bln - Reports

Germany Plans to Send Ukraine Largest Military Assistance Package Worth $3Bln - Reports

The German government has made a decision to provide Ukraine with additional weapons worth 2.7 billion euros (almost $3 billion), which will become Berlins largest military assistance package to Kiev, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday, citing sources.

2023-05-13T08:57+0000

2023-05-13T08:57+0000

2023-05-13T08:57+0000

russia's special operation in ukraine

volodymyr zelensky

ukraine

germany

olaf scholz

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The German Chancellors office and other ministries have agreed during secret negotiations to send to Ukraine "additional weapons worth about 2.7 billion euros" in the coming weeks and months, according to the report. Berlin plans to transfer Ukraine 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, 30 Leopard 1 tanks, up to 200 reconnaissance drones, as well as Gepard anti-aircraft vehicles, additional IRIS-T anti-aircraft missiles, artillery shells and transports, the news magazine said. This will become the largest arms package provided to Ukraine by Germany since the start of Russias military operation there in February 2022, according to media reports. The packages announcement is expected to be made on Sunday, at the ceremony of awarding Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky simultaneously with the Charlemagne Prize in the German city of Aachen. The prize is awarded annually for contribution to the unification of Europe. In early May, German media reported that Zelensky plans to visit Berlin at the invitation of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on May 13. Kiev was very disappointed that details of Zelenskys visit were made public and was thinking on canceling the trip, according to the T-Online news outlet.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230420/spains-new-military-aid-for-ukraine-to-include-naval-defenses-1109708469.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/house-gop-demand-gaffe-prone-biden-renounce-2024-bid-or-submit-to-cognitive-test-1110311153.html

House GOP Demand Gaffe-Prone Biden Renounce 2024 Bid or Submit to Cognitive Test

House GOP Demand Gaffe-Prone Biden Renounce 2024 Bid or Submit to Cognitive Test

US President Joe Biden should either consent to a cognitive test, or drop out of the 2024 race for reelection, a group of at least 61 Republicans have demanded in a letter.

2023-05-13T09:05+0000

2023-05-13T09:05+0000

2023-05-13T10:29+0000

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US President Joe Biden should either consent to a cognitive test, or drop out of the 2024 race for reelection, a group of at least 61 Republicans have demanded.The House GOP are concerned about the 80-year-old gaffe-prone Democrats "present cognitive state and ability to serve another term as President".The 46th POTUS officially indicated that was going to run in the presidential election next year in a tweet posted on 25 April, portentously saying he needed to finish the job". Inaugurated as US president at the age of 78, Biden is the oldest sitting POTUS in history. If he manages to win the 2024 election, he will be 82 years old at the beginning of his second term and 86 by the end.The letter noted that Biden has "failed to respond to any previous communication on the issue, and ignored the demands of more than 50 Members of Congress to take a cognitive exam".Concerns regarding Bidens cognitive abilities surfaced when he first announced his bid to run in the 2020 presidential election, the Republicans said, but since then they have been amplified by the myriad gaffes, misstatements, and bizarre tics that everyone has witnessed from the octogenarian.The GOP group cited a Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll that found 57 percent of voters "do not believe you are mentally fit to serve as President or have doubts about your mental fitness."The Republicans concluded by emphasizing that it was the right of US citizens to have "absolute confidence in their President and know that he or she can perform their duties as Head of State and Commander in Chief".Earlier, Jackson, who was presidential physician to both Donald Trump and Barack Obama, accused the US administration of concealing reports on the mental health of President Biden. After a recent physical examination found him "fit for duty", Jackson seized upon presidential physician Kevin O'Connor's words that Biden was a "healthy, vigorous" 80-year old man.Unlike with Biden, Trump's then-physician Jackson gave reporters an opportunity to grill him amid critics' attacks on Trump over his perceived health and mental failings. Last year, dozens of GOP lawmakers called on Biden to "follow the example set by former President Trump and take a cognitive test. Trump himself has repeatedly demanded a drug test for "Sleepy Joe", before or after their debates in late 2020. The Republican former POTUS also boasted about how he had "aced" a "very hard" cognitive test which included checking his ability to name exotic animals and repeat basic sentences aloud.Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley ruffled feathers at the White House when she proposed in February to introduce mental competency tests for politicians over age of 75. FLOTUS Jill Biden dismissed Haley's suggestion as "ridiculous".People online can rely on Biden to offer them ample opportunity to troll him over his frequent gaffes and weird gestures.o

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230306/flotus-snubs-idea-of-mental-competency-test-for-older-politicians-as-biden-makes-another-gaffe-1108079172.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20220930/physician-calls-for-biden-to-receive-cognitive-assessment-at-next-annual-medical-exam-1101393464.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/japanese-us-finance-ministers-discuss-macroeconomic-issues-russia-sanctions-1110315763.html

Japanese, US Finance Ministers Discuss Macroeconomic Issues, Russia Sanctions

Japanese, US Finance Ministers Discuss Macroeconomic Issues, Russia Sanctions

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki discussed macroeconomic matters and sanctions against Russia on the sidelines of the G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in the Japanese city of Niigata, which wrapped up on Saturday.

2023-05-13T11:16+0000

2023-05-13T11:16+0000

2023-05-13T11:16+0000

economy

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"I would like to discuss macroeconomic matters, sanctions against Russia, supply chain resilience," Suzuki said in the opening remarks at the meeting. Yellen, in turn, pointed out that besides the countries' unity as regards the conflict in Ukraine, there were critical macroeconomic issues, adding that the United States seeks to work together to further boost the global economy. The agenda also featured bank failures in the US, global economic problems and bolstering the resilience of the financial system. Suzuki told a press conference after the G7 ministers meeting that they managed to come to an agreement on many specific points, which will be built on at the upcoming G7 summit in Hiroshima, adding that measures to strengthen the financial system will also be considered. The three-day meeting in Niigata brought together G7 finance ministers and central bank chiefs, along with their counterparts from Brazil, the Comoros, India, Indonesia, South Korea and Singapore as well as officials from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Financial Stability Board. Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhii Marchenko joined the meeting via video link.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/g7-finance-ministers-confirm-commitment-to-financially-support-ukraine-as-long-as-needed-1110310908.html

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us treasury secretary janet yellen, japanese finance minister shunichi suzuki, g7 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/mexico-temporarily-stops-migrant-transit-through-country---reports-1110309400.html

Mexico Temporarily Stops Migrant Transit Through Country - Reports

Mexico Temporarily Stops Migrant Transit Through Country - Reports

Mexicos National Institute of Migration (INM) has temporarily stopped issuing transit permits to incoming migrants amid changes in US immigration regulations, according to media reports.

2023-05-13T05:01+0000

2023-05-13T05:01+0000

2023-05-13T05:01+0000

americas

joe biden

mexico

us

migrant crisis

migrants

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INM has directed all offices in all of Mexicos states to stop issuing multi-entry migration forms or other documents authorizing transit through the country, a presidential document, cited by Formula on Friday, says. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) agency has reinforced its presence at the Northern Mexican border given the US lifting of Title 42, UNHCR spokesperson Deanna Bitetti told Sputnik on Friday. The Title 42 public health policy expired late on Thursday night. The Trump-era public health emergency order imposed in March 2020 allowed the US government to turn away illegal immigrants at the border to prevent the spread of COVID-19. US President Joe Biden said earlier this week that the US administration expected the situation near the border to be chaotic once Title 42 was lifted.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/biden-pulling-agents-from-us-mexico-border-despite-post-title-42-migrant-influx-1110307748.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/pope-francis-receives-ukraines-zelensky-in-vatican-1110330065.html

Pope Francis Receives Ukraine's Zelensky in Vatican

Pope Francis Receives Ukraine's Zelensky in Vatican

Pope Francis had a 40-minute audience in the Vatican with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who arrived in Rome earlier on Saturday, the Holy See said.

2023-05-13T18:05+0000

2023-05-13T18:05+0000

2023-05-13T18:57+0000

world

holy see

vatican

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volodymyr zelensky

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Journalists accredited at the Vatican learned that the meeting took place not in the Apostolic Palace, where the pontiff receives heads of state and government who arrive on official visits, but in the Paul VI Audience Hall, which is usually used for general audiences. A source at the Holy See told Sputnik earlier that the visit was private and had been agreed at the last minute. Zelensky and Pope Francis discussed issues concerning the humanitarian and political situation in Ukraine during the 40-minute audience, according to the Holy See press office. "Both agreed on the need to continue humanitarian efforts to support the population. The Pope particularly stressed the urgent need for 'gestures of humanity' towards the most vulnerable people, the innocent victims of the conflict," the statement said, adding that the pontiff "pledged his constant prayers, evidenced by his numerous public appeals and continuous invocation to the Lord for peace, since February last year."Pope Francis thanked Zelensky for the visit, while the latter responded that it was a great honor for him to meet the Catholic leader. They also exchanged presents, with the Ukrainian president gifting an icon of Our Lady painted on a fragment of a bulletproof vest, while the pontiff gave a bronze sculpture of an olive branch. It was Zelensky's second visit to the Vatican since taking office in 2019. After his first meeting with Pope Francis in 2020, the president stressed he was "inspired by the discussion on peace in Ukraine" and invited the pontiff to Kiev. Earlier on Saturday, Zelensky met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella.Meloni said that Rome will support Kiev when it decides that the time has come to start peace negotiations with Moscow."We support a diplomatic solution to the conflict and will lend Kiev all support it needs when it decides that conditions are right for launching any kind of negotiations," she said after a meeting with the visiting Ukrainian president.Zelensky told a press conference he had raised his government's "peace formula" and military cooperation during the meeting with the right-wing Italian prime minister. He said they discussed "very important solutions" for bolstering Ukrainian air defenses.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230501/pope-francis-hints-at-vaticans-secret-mission-in-ukraine--1110002858.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/press-conference-after-eu-indo-pacific-ministerial-forum-in-stockholm-1110310225.html

Press Conference After EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum in Stockholm

Press Conference After EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum in Stockholm

Sputnik is live as Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Tobias Billstrom and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell Fontelles hold a joint press conference following the EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum in Stockholm.

2023-05-13T16:22+0000

2023-05-13T16:22+0000

2023-05-13T16:22+0000

world

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Sputnik comes live from Stockholm as Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Tobias Billstrom and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell hold a joint press conference after the EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum. During their two-day talks, the foreign ministers are discussing the Ukraine conflict and EU-China relations.Follow Sputnik's Live Feed to Find Out More!

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/probe-launched-after-arbys-employee-finds-dead-woman-inside-restaurant-freezer-1110306976.html

Probe Launched After Arbys Employee Finds Dead Woman Inside Restaurant Freezer

Probe Launched After Arbys Employee Finds Dead Woman Inside Restaurant Freezer

The woman was believed to be an employee of the restaurant, and her death is currently under investigation. Authorities do not believe her death was a homicide, but an accident that happened during normal work hours.

2023-05-13T03:18+0000

2023-05-13T03:18+0000

2023-05-13T03:14+0000

beyond politics

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A womans body was found in the freezer of an Arbys restaurant in New Iberia, Louisiana, on Thursday at around 6:20 p.m. local time.According to New Iberia Police officers who were called to the scene, an employee of the restaurant discovered the woman, who is believed to be the manager of the Arbys restaurant, which is located on Admiral Doyle Drive.We are aware of the incident that took place at our franchised location in New Iberia, LA. The franchisee is cooperating fully with local authorities as they conduct their investigation, said the American fast food chain in a statement.Due to this being an active investigation, we defer any further comment to the police department.New Iberia Police Captain Leland Laseter has stated the incident occurred during regular business hours. It was further explained that while the womans death is not being ruled as a homicide, the captain has suggested the situation is unusual."Nothing is set in stone yet," Laseter said of the investigation.Criminal authorities are now waiting for the results of a coroners autopsy in order to identify the victim, and determine her cause of death."We're going to re-examine all the evidence tomorrow and they're going to conduct an autopsy to give us the cause and manner of death. So there are a few more steps that we need to take before a (final) determination is made," Laseter said.

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arby's restaurant, death, employee death at work, accidental death, crime, investigation
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/russia-starts-producing-completely-domestic-cheytac-sniper-cartridge-1110312070.html

Russia Starts Producing Completely Domestic Cheytac Sniper Cartridge

Russia Starts Producing Completely Domestic Cheytac Sniper Cartridge

Russia has launched the serial production of the Cheytac sniper rifle cartridge made from domestic components only, thanks to import substitution, the head of Russian arms manufacturer Lobaev Arms, Vladislav Lobaev, told Sputnik.

2023-05-13T07:51+0000

2023-05-13T07:51+0000

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"We have created a fully Russian cartridge for caliber 375 Cheytac rifles, and have already begun its mass production. For the first time, our 375 Cheytac rifles are supplied with Russian cartridges developed by Lobaev Arms and gunpowder from a Kazan enterprise, before we used foreign components," Lobaev said. He specified that the foreign components previously used for cartridges of this caliber were supplied from the US, Finland and Australia. After Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, Western countries rolled out a massive sanctions campaign against Moscow. Sanctions, particularly restrictions on new technology, have pushed Russian manufacturers to accelerate import substitution. According to data of Russian statistical agency Rosstat, in 2022, an increase in production was registered in various domestically oriented businesses, including the production of drugs and medical equipment. The growth amounted to 8.6% in comparison with 2021.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230512/watch-russian-assault-troops-train-for-combat-1110291536.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/scott-ritter-ukraines-shelling-of-defenseless-donbass-town-constitutes-war-crime--1110310171.html

Scott Ritter: Ukraine's Shelling of Defenseless Donbass Town Constitutes War Crime

Scott Ritter: Ukraine's Shelling of Defenseless Donbass Town Constitutes War Crime

Shelling of the civilian town of Gorlovka in Donbass by the Ukrainian Armed Forces constitutes a war crime, Scott Ritter told Sputnik.

2023-05-13T07:09+0000

2023-05-13T07:09+0000

2023-05-13T10:03+0000

ukraine crisis

donbass

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Shelling of the civilian town of Gorlovka in Donbass by the Ukrainian Armed Forces using Grad multiple-launch rocket systems constitutes a war crime, Scott Ritter told Sputnik via his telegram channel.The shelling of a civilian area could not be considered "legitimate" under any military terms, the former US Marine Corps intelligence officer said.He went on to point out that it also could not be a shelling by mistake as the Ukrainian government receives very accurate intelligence from the United States and NATO regarding the position of Russian forces. There are no Russian forces stationed in Gorlovka, or near where the Kiev regime strikes fell, the ex-UN Weapons Inspector pointed out.This was an act of terrorism, and the international Criminal Court (ICC) should investigate Ukraines actions targeting this city, Ritter said.Ukrainian forces scaled up the intensity of attacks on Gorlovka in the Donetsk Peoples Republic on 11 May, shelling it 57 times during the day from 08:00 Moscow time (06:00 GMT). As a result, one civilian was killed and at least six others were wounded.The targeting of Gorlovka is nothing new, as the Kiev regime relies on terror, and has consistently shelled civilian areas in Donetsk.Both the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics have been subjected to heavy shelling by Kiev since 2014, when the legitimately elected president of Ukraine was forcibly toppled by the violent US-backed opposition and neo-Nazi paramilitary groups. The mostly Russian-speaking people of Donbass did not accept the February 2014 coup d'etat in Kiev, refusing to knuckle under and go along with the junta's Russophobic agenda and banning of the Russian language.On 7 April 2014, the Republican People's Council declared the sovereignty of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). Shortly after, on 27 April, the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) was proclaimed. On 11 May of the same year, referendums were held in the Donbass region on the status of the republics, with the majority of the population backing the DPR and LPR's independence from Kiev. Since that time, the Kiev regime has hounded the Donbass with relentless attacks, claiming numerous civilian lives. After efforts to end hostilities via the Minsk Agreements fell through, in February 2022, Moscow launched a special military operation aimed at demilitarizing and de-Nazifying Ukraine to protect the Russian-speaking people from a campaign of extermination unleashed by the Ukrainian leadership.In October 2022, the Donbass, Zaporozhye, and Kherson regions officially joined the Russian Federation after a series of referendums.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230512/aftermath-of-ukrainian-artillery-strikes-on-gorlovka-in-dpr-1110283758.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230512/kiev-terrorizes-donbass-civilians-since-it-cannot-win-on-battlefield-1110294477.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/top-thai-general-claims-theres-zero-chance-of-coup-after-sunday-election-1110306601.html

Top Thai General Claims There's Zero Chance of Coup After Sunday Election

Top Thai General Claims There's Zero Chance of Coup After Sunday Election

Thailands top general has promised the military wont intervene ahead of a crucial election whose frontrunners are harshly critical of the countrys armed... 13.05.2023, Sputnik International

2023-05-13T02:08+0000

2023-05-13T02:08+0000

2023-05-13T02:03+0000

asia

thailand

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The head of Thailands army, Gen. Narongpan Jittkaewtae, insisted Thursday that no coup detat will take place in the country regardless of how Sundays elections play out.Speaking at a news conference ahead of the upcoming vote, local media reports Gen. Narongpan said that the chance of a coup taking place is zero now.The general reportedly went as far as to chide reporters for bringing up the subject, responding to a question about the prospect of a coup by urging journalists to refrain from using the word itself."The term should not be used. It is not appropriate. I want reporters to remove it from your dictionary," the army chief said.Asked whether the military would remove the word from its vocabulary as well, Narongpan responded in the affirmative, saying: Of course, it's removed.The general pushed back on questions regarding concerns about post-election unrest and the militarys potential response, telling reporters:While the general cautioned that he cannot say whether the country will be peaceful in the wake of Sundays vote, he insisted that peace can only be achieved by everyone working together.Indeed, the country needs to be peaceful so the economy can grow, the general noted.But I can assure you that what occurred [coups] in the past. The chance is zero now.But the top Thai general downplayed suggestions that the Move Forward Party, which is highly critical of the military, would be prevented from forming a coalition government after the poll, telling reporters, it is up to political parties to form a coalition.Military personnel are not political-office holders, he concluded.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/turkish-foreign-minister-says-ankara-wont-wait-for-us-f-35-jets-wants-14bln-back-1110315435.html

Turkish Foreign Minister Says Ankara Won't Wait for US F-35 Jets, Wants $1.4Bln Back

Turkish Foreign Minister Says Ankara Won't Wait for US F-35 Jets, Wants $1.4Bln Back

Turkiye has no plans to wait until it is brought back to the US F-35 multirole fighter program, from which it was officially removed two years ago, and seeks a refund of $1.4 billion paid for the jets, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday.

2023-05-13T11:11+0000

2023-05-13T11:11+0000

2023-05-13T11:11+0000

military

turkiye

washington

recep tayyip erdogan

mevlut cavusoglu

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ankara

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"We want out money now. We want the money we paid there to be returned. Our friends from the ministry came together and reviewed the steps we will take from now on. We are now taking care of ourselves," Cavusoglu told media, adding that Ankara does not want the situation to "turn into a snake story like with the Patriot defense system." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan previously said that the country had paid $1.4 billion for the jets. In April 2021, the US excluded Turkiye from the F-35 program after Ankara purchased Russia's S-400 air defense systems. Washington annulled the joint memorandum on the F-35 fighters with the country, while signing the document with seven other project partners  the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, Denmark, Canada and Norway. Erdogan said later that year that Turkiye had received a US offer to buy F-16 jets instead, one generation behind the F-35s. The US Congress has been debating whether to include restrictions on the sale of jets in its annual defense spending bill for fiscal 2023, while the US State Department has been trying to convince lawmakers that the deal was aligned with Washington's interests.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230504/pentagon-rethinks-f-35-spare-parts-purchase-scheme-as-jet-hemorrhages-money-1110086950.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/turkiyes-election-council-says-not-going-to-nullify-votes-cast-for-withdrawn-candidate-1110317360.html

Turkiye's Election Council Says Not Going to Nullify Votes Cast for Withdrawn Candidate

Turkiye's Election Council Says Not Going to Nullify Votes Cast for Withdrawn Candidate

President of the Turkish Supreme Election Council (YSK) Ahmet Yener said on Saturday that the votes cast for Muharrem Ince, who withdrew his candidacy from the presidential election, will not be nullified.

2023-05-13T13:24+0000

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2023-05-14T07:34+0000

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Ince, the leader of the Memleket party, announced the withdrawal of his candidacy on Thursday, three days before the election. Voting at polling stations abroad took place from April 27-May 9, with more than 1.8 million Turkish citizens cast their votes. Muharrem Ince's name was on the ballots. Turkiye's presidential and parliamentary elections are set to take place on May 14. The second round, which will take place if no candidate gains 50% of votes, is scheduled for May 28. Now, there are only three presidential candidates. Incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was nominated by the ruling Justice and Development Party and its coalition partner, the Nationalist Movement Party, will run against Kemal Kilicdaroglu, put forward by a six-party opposition alliance, and Sinan Ogan of the ATA Alliance.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230512/turkish-interior-minister-accuses-united-states-of-meddling-in-turkish-elections-1110280228.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/ukraine-cant-have-russian-assets-frozen-in-switzerland-bern-says-1110323614.html

Ukraine Cant Have Russian Assets Frozen in Switzerland, Bern Says

Ukraine Cant Have Russian Assets Frozen in Switzerland, Bern Says

Hundreds of billions of dollars in Russian assets were trapped in the West in February 2022 after the United States and the European Union moved to freeze them to punish Moscow for its military operation in Ukraine. A year later, the EUs legal service indicated that it didnt know the whereabouts of over 85 percent of these funds.

2023-05-13T18:28+0000

2023-05-13T18:28+0000

2023-05-13T18:36+0000

economy

maria zakharova

dmitry peskov

ursula von der leyen

ukraine

russia

switzerland

european union (eu)

russian central bank

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Switzerland will not allow assets belonging to the Russian Central Bank held in Swiss banks to be used for "Ukrainian reconstruction," a spokesperson for the nations State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) has said.Your statement is a misinterpretation of [a government] press release dated May 10. The release notes only that in the EU there are ongoing discussions on whether assets of the Russian Central Bank should be invested and the proceeds used for the reconstruction of Ukraine, and that Switzerland is following these discussions closely, the spokesperson said.SECO announced Wednesday that about 7.4 billion Swiss francs ($8.23 billion) worth of Russian Central Bank assets are trapped in Swiss banks. Transactions related to the management of these assets were immobilized in February 2022 after Russia kicked off its special military operation.Swiss authorities reported on the size of the Russian reserves stuck in its banks in accordance with a new reporting obligation introduced in late March.Earlier this year, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Switzerland of doing away with centuries of neutrality by coming out to unequivocally support Kiev, pointing to restrictions on Russian assets, Berns decision join EU sanctions against Russia, and to the sale of military hardware to European countries for delivery to Ukraine.The governments Ukraine policy has sparked a backlash among some Swiss nationals, with thousands attending a rally in the capital in March calling for a return to neutrality.The fate of Russian state assets trapped abroad turned into what looks like a financial thriller caper in February after the EUs legal service revealed that only about $36.4 billion of the estimated $258 billion in frozen assets have actually been accounted for by the EUs member states. The legal service urged European banks to report the details of their Russian holdings to assist in funding Ukrainian reconstruction  an idea pushed heavily by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.President Vladimir Putin prepared a hard-hitting response to countries looking to seize Russian assets last month, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying it is becoming increasingly clear that it is impossible for the West to justify the freezing of Russian assets under accepted conventions of international law. No matter how you look at it, all their actions still look illegal, Peskov told reporters at a recent press conference.In a ministerial meeting on Friday, the G7 reportedly discussed ways to send Russian assets seized abroad to Ukraine, with a source familiar with discussions saying legal complexities and domestic restrictions were making it difficult for the money to be transferred.Also this week, the US transferred the first tranche of assets of a sanctions-hit Russian tycoon to Kiev. While this represents the United States first transfer of forfeited Russian funds for the rebuilding of Ukraine, it will not be the last, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement after signing off on the move.The Russian businessman whose funds were taken accused Bidens organized crime group of defrauding him and asked Russias prosecutor general to lay formal charges against US officials. The Kremlin promised that US steps would be responded to accordingly, possibly including the use of unnamed non-standard options.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230312/demonstrators-in-bern-demand-switzerlands-neutrality-regarding-ukraine-conflict-1108302037.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230427/putin-prepares-hard-hitting-response-if-russian-assets-seized-abroad-1109877210.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/ukraine-loses-almost-300-military-mercenaries-in-donetsk-direction-over-past-day---moscow-1110316273.html

Ukraine Loses Almost 300 Military, Mercenaries in Donetsk Direction Over Past Day - Moscow

Ukraine Loses Almost 300 Military, Mercenaries in Donetsk Direction Over Past Day - Moscow

The South Grouping of the Russian armed forces has eliminated over 285 Ukrainian military and mercenaries, as well as 17 military vehicles and a weapons depot in the Donetsk direction over the past day, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

2023-05-13T12:07+0000

2023-05-13T12:07+0000

2023-05-13T12:07+0000

russia's special operation in ukraine

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"Over the past day, nine sorties were carried out in this area [near Donetsk]. Artillery of the grouping completed 98 striking missions. Over the day, more than 285 Ukrainian military and mercenaries, two tanks, three infantry fighting vehicles, four armored personnel carriers, four cars, two Akatsiya self-propelled howitzers, a Gvozdika self-propelled artillery mount, as well as a D-30 howitzer were destroyed in this direction," the ministry said in a statement. Additionally, a missile and artillery shells depot of the Ukrainian army was destroyed near the city of Kramatorsk, according to the statement. Besides, the ministry announced that another quarter in the northwestern part of Artemovsk (Bakhmut) was captured by Russian assault units, which were supported by the airborne forces on the flanks. The Russian air forces also conducted numerous strikes on the surrounding positions of the Ukrainian army.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230508/video-russian-assault-team-storms-building-during-battle-for-artemovsk-1110201780.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/ukraine-officials-realistic--pragmatic-about-dubious-success-of-counteroffensive-1110309775.html

Ukraine Officials 'Realistic & Pragmatic' About Dubious Success of Counteroffensive

Ukraine Officials 'Realistic & Pragmatic' About Dubious Success of Counteroffensive

The Kiev regime is dubious about the success of the long-awaited counteroffensive of Ukraines Armed Forces, US media reported.

2023-05-13T06:21+0000

2023-05-13T06:21+0000

2023-05-14T05:30+0000

ukraine

counter-offensive

volodymyr zelensky

world

russian defense ministry

kiev

joe biden

ukraine crisis

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The Kiev regime is dubious about the success of the long-awaited counteroffensive of Ukraines Armed Forces, US media reported.Behind closed doors, some high-ranking officials in Kiev have struck what was described as a very realistic and very pragmatic tone, conceding that it is unlikely Ukraine will be able to gain ground in the new Russian regions of Zaporozhye and Kherson, as well as in the people's republics of Donetsk and Lugansk - at least this year, writes the publication.The West's puppet regime in its proxy war with Russia appears to fear that failed expectations about battlefield advances will cause the West to lose interest in providing financial and military support to Kiev. Furthermore, reports suggest that anything less than victory might prompt the West not only to start questioning whether there is any point in propping up the authorities holed up in Kiev, but could lead to its putting pressure on Kiev to agree to peace negotiations with Moscow this year.Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky recently argued the case for more promised Western military aid before starting the counteroffensive, adding that Kiev needed a little more time". This plea came despite NATO member states having already sent billions of dollars in tanks, armored vehicles, missiles, launchers, ammunition, and drones, with the UK recently announcing it was giving long-range Storm Shadow missiles to UkraineUS President Joe Biden indicated strong support for Ukraine for as long as it takes when he visited Kiev, and a White House official was cited as saying we would not describe the counter-offensive as make or break. However, that is exactly what it may become.Speaking confidentially, some US officials reportedly think that if Kiev hopes to "sell additional aid requests to Congress and the American public," it will need to demonstrate success on the battlefield. As for the support Ukraine's officials receive In Europe, it is not really conditional on Ukraine making progress on the military front in the near future... But it could be important for the US to see some progress before they get into an election year. Its not that their commitment will vanish but their attention span gets very short in an election year, a senior diplomat was quoted as saying."Time is not on Ukraines side, Russia has the upper hand in the long haul, a European source added.Earlier, weighing in on the "muscular Ukrainian talk" about a looming counteroffensive to "retake ground", it was suggested that a real surprise would be hard for Kiev to achieve. In fact, Kiev might be staking on brinkmanship that would escalate the conflict to the level of a world war, an Asian media report speculated. Although it could not be ruled out that Ukraine saw this as an opportunity, NATO was "not quite ready to buy into this," the report concluded.On 11 May, the Russian Defense Ministry said statements by military correspondents "shared by individual telegram channels about defense breakthroughs that took place in various parts of the contact line do not correspond to reality. It added that two Ukrainian attacks were repelled in the Liman direction. Earlier, unconfirmed statements claimed that a Ukrainian operation had been underway along Russia's frontline despite past remarks from Kiev that forces still needed additional time to prepare for such a move.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230512/ready--waiting-russian-soldier-on-ukraines-anticipated-counteroffensive-1110280354.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230501/west-worried-kiev-not-prepared-for-counteroffensive---report-1110007214.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230423/high-risk-ukraine-counteroffensive-may-end-up-with-encirclement-of-troops-by-russian-forces-1109772461.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/watch-russian-forces-destroy-ukrainian-radar-station-1110308688.html

Watch Russian Forces Destroy Ukrainian Radar Station

Watch Russian Forces Destroy Ukrainian Radar Station

The Russian Defense Ministry has released a video showing units of Russia's Yug group, following a tip from a Sparta battalion reconnaissance officer, destroying a Ukrainian radar system in the Donetsk direction.

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russia's special operation in ukraine

russia

ukraine

russian defense ministry

d-30

video

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Russia's Defense Ministry has released a video showing units of the Russian Yug group destroying a Ukrainian radar system in the Donetsk direction on a tip from a Sparta battalion reconnaissance officer.The drone operator identified the location of the enemy radar, and then the coordinates were transferred to a D-30 howitzer. The rising smoke indicates that the enemy position was successfully hit.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230513/weekly-news-wrap-weekly-job-claims-rise-trump-town-hall-europe-divided-over-nato-1110306078.html

Weekly News Wrap; Weekly Job Claims Rise; Trump Town Hall; Europe Divided Over NATO

Weekly News Wrap; Weekly Job Claims Rise; Trump Town Hall; Europe Divided Over NATO

Divisions are reportedly brewing in Europe as some members of NATO contemplate a security arrangement that is not dominated by Washington DC.

2023-05-13T04:01+0000

2023-05-13T04:01+0000

2023-05-13T09:23+0000

the critical hour

radio

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Weekly News Wrap; Weekly Job Claims Rise; Trump Town Hall; Europe Divided over NATO Divisions are reportedly brewing in Europe as some members of NATO contemplate a security arrangement that is not dominated by Washington DC.

Caleb Maupin, journalist, and political analyst, joins us to discuss this week's important news stories. An ex-marine has been charged in the death of a homeless man on a subway in New York City. Also, the US accuses South Africa of providing weapons to Russia.Dr. Jack Rasmus, professor of Economics and Politics at St. Mary's College in California, joins us to discuss this week's important news stories. The US jobless claim rate is the highest since the Covid economic disaster. Also, nearly a third of the world is under sanctions.Dr. Colin Campbell, DC senior news correspondent, joins us to discuss this week's important news stories. CNN leadership is in disarray after massive pushback regarding a Trump town hall. Also, the debt ceiling battle continues.Ajamu Baraka, 2016 US vice presidential candidate for the Green Party, and Dan Lazare, investigative journalist and author of "America's Undeclared War," join us to discuss this week's important news stories. Cubans celebrate May Day with pushback against the US blockade. Also, Mexico's president accuses the US of interference in the internal politics of his nation.Jim Kavanagh, whose work can be found at Jim Kavanagh's Substack, thepolemicist.net, and Counterpunch, and Steve Poikonen, national organizer for Action4Assange, come together to discuss this week's important news stories. Taiwan rebukes the US for threatening to blow up TSMC. Also, President Trump is leading Joe Biden in 2024 polls, and the new King of England is facing a citizen revolt.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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us-mexico border, war in ukraine, tensions over taiwan
CHADRON  The Chadron Police Department is seeking the publics assistance as police seek a man accused of robbing a bank in the community Friday.

According to a post on its Facebook page, police are attempting to identfy the unknown man who allegedly is a suspect in an armed robbery. Chadrad.com reports that the man is accused of robbing the Chadron Federal Credit Union at about about 2:40 p.m.

According to the Chadron Police post, he is considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached. He is described as a white man with a trimmed beard and mustache, wearing an olive green hoodie and olive green cap with a yellow patch on it, Chadrad.com reported. He last seen on foot fleeing east from the credit union.

The Star-Herald has reached out to the Chadron Police Department for additional details.

Anyone who sees the man is advised to call 911 or contact the police department at 308-432-0510.
NaKayla Griffin has a new employer, a new office and a new title, but the Statesville Police Departments community resource coordinators goal of helping the community remains the same.

Its been a smooth transition because of the relationships I have with community members, the police department, and the city. The transition has been easy because I had opened those doors up prior to starting this position, Griffin said. Im learning some new things about how to advocate for different people, but that transition has been great.

Griffin had worked for more than a decade with the Boys & Girls Club of the Piedmont, most recently as its director of operations. Griffin said that from that position, she not only picked up skills needed for her new position, but also relationships that give the community trust in her as she begins her work with the SPD.

Her work at the BGCP had her working to improve the lives of the children under the organizations roof, but now she is not only advocating for those same children but adults in the community as well.

Griffin said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the BGCP had a number of teens depart from their programs and that she is aware that some of them will need help going forward. She said pointing them and others in the right direction for needs like housing, food and other issues is part of her work and she hopes to point people in the right direction when it is an issue the SPD cant take on directly.

But enthusiasm for those challenges as she takes them isnt something she lacks, though time and resources might not be able to keep pace with the energy she said she brings to her new position.

Challenges will arise, but Im a solutions person, and well have solutions in place to get things done, but you always have to remain humble, Griffin said.

Griffin herself grew up in Statesville and understands many of the issues people face, as well as the reputation that the southern part of the city has as it is one of the poorer parts of town and has some long-standing issues with crime. She said that while people are responsible for their own choices, she hopes that she can have others see the city the way she sees it as she helps those in need navigate their challenges. She said that her faith in God makes taking on these issues makes it easier for her as well.

Griffin replaces the position that Turkessia Brown-Evans departed from earlier this year. Griffin said Brown-Evans encouraged her to apply and that she knows she has big shoes to fill and appreciates the work her predecessor had done as she looks to build on that.

She said she is excited to be part of a team with Police Chief David Onley and others in the department have her back as she continues previous SPD engagement efforts while adding some of her own ideas.

Griffin said that creating hope for residents, particularly younger ones, is critical. She spoke of one person she knew from her time at the BGCP that had once said he wanted to be a doctor when he grew up but had gotten off that path at some point.

When I saw him getting in trouble, I had to ask him if he remembered telling me that he wanted to be a doctor, I need you to start dreaming again. I see you as that person still, but I need people to see you as that as well, Griffin said. Regardless of the issues you have now, you can still be great.

Griffin said being able to relate to people like that and others in the community allows her to communicate between them and the city in ways others may not be able to.

The community resource coordinator said that there are trust issues when it comes to residents and the police department, but that she hopes the relationships she has built with people over the years give them a sense of trust when interacting with police, which makes both the residents and officers feel safer when those bonds are made.

However that looks in bridging that gap between citizens and the police and city, I want to be the person to be able to do that. To speak one language and have one goal, Griffin said.
Deterring bears from regularly ravaging green box sites is a goal unlikely to be successful without help from county residents.

Without the communitys cooperation, green box sites could be temporarily or permanently removed.

Game Warden Mark Shaw said bear-proof green boxes are a good way to start addressing the problem, but transitioning to them is an expensive project. He also pointed out that they dont work if people dont close the doors.

People have just got to realize that they cannot leave food or anything with a smell on the outside of the Dumpster, Shaw said at the April 25 Board of Supervisors meeting.

Shaw said hed recently received inquiries about issuing kill permits for bears at green boxes, but he said the situation doesnt qualify.

These people that are asking for these permits Its got to be impacting their livelihood, Shaw said, such as farmers, bee farmers, tree farmers and some types of livestock.

As far as them doing damage to hay fields and areas like that, the statute doesnt allow me to do it, he said.

Shaw isnt able to issue a summons for feeding animals at the green boxes without first issuing a warning, he said.

That kind of handcuffed us a little bit, Shaw said.

If an individual is videotaped leaving trash that could attract wildlife and they were already warned, Shaw said, the individual can be cited based on that evidence.

Bear deterrents that work well on bears, in Shaws experience, include rubber buckshot, a lot of noise, paintball guns to be able to identify repeat offenders and electric fences.

They hate electricity, especially if it gets them in the nose or the face, Shaw said.

He said its important to change the bears habits over trapping them and relocating the problem.

Chairman Joe Turman said the situation is like finding a good restaurant and taking your family the next time you go.

Locust Grove Supervisor Levi Cox asked Shaw about the future of wildlife like bears and deer in Floyd County. He said his dad would sit in a field all day and never see a deer, and now theyre common, even within town limits.

Shaw said the protections put in place for the black bear population and other bears in 2000 worked.

The act cites reports by the World Wildlife Foundation and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in 1997 that estimated the U.S. was home to 325,000-448,000 black bears.

Across North America, there was estimated to be 600,000-800,000 in 1997.

The National Park Service said, by current estimates (2022), more than 900,000 American black bears live across the continent.

Shaw said the county could hold a public meeting for input and solution ideas, and consider asking for an early bear season.

There is not much regular bear hunting in Floyd. Shaw said most bear hunters in the region are in Craig County, where they can run their dogs on public land.

If [the public] doesnt put the trash in the Dumpster, [the bears] will keep on coming, Shaw said.

Courthouse Supervisor Jerry Boothe said carcasses dumped at the green box sites also draw bears, and he said he was just waiting on someone to get mauled.

Shaw said maulings are ...rarebut it does happen.

In his 13 years as a warden, Shaw said, he has worked two: one involving a group of hunters and one in Giles County, where a bear swatted at a hiker.

Local and public governments can use the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries outreach forms to request a local population study.

County Administrator Linda Millsaps said she has received a number of phone calls regarding green boxes recently, one of which was a person who witnessed someone dump construction waste in the green boxes on Deer Run Road, then pull into a Roanoke County driveway.

She said carcasses that have been found at green box sites across the country are not only wildlife, but also domestic pets.

Little River Supervisor Linda DeVito Kuchenbuch noted no construction waste should go in green boxes; it should be taken to the county transfer station.

Kuchenbuch said the county did extended hours, and very few used it.

We made the effort, and it just didnt pan out, she said.

Boothe emphasized that the idea is the green boxes are for trash generated in Floyd.

Later in the April 25 meeting, Locust Grove Supervisor Cox said hes kind of in favor of pulling the green boxes from Deer Run, mentioned by Administrator Millsaps, at least temporarily.

Were pulling them because weve got people feeding animals down here, carcasses, construction material, Cox said. I know there are going to be people that arent happy about it, but run up to Dollar General on Hummingbird.

Chairman Joe Turman of Burks Fork said a notice would need to be posted about a week before the Dumpsters are removed. He said the notice could read along the lines of:

Because of the misuse of the green boxes, they will be removed from this location until further notice.

The public doesnt realize the tax increase were going to have to do, to make green box sites fenced-in and monitored, like in Montgomery County, Boothe said.

The Deer Run green boxes were removed on Tuesday, May 9. The next closest site is on Hummingbird, near Dollar General.

Those who may not be able to lift their trash into the green boxes should take it to the transfer station, Millsaps said.

The station is at 141 Transfer Station Road. Hours are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and from 8-11:30 a.m. on Saturdays.
A Marion natives considerable contributions to civilization and humanity were celebrated Saturday at Emory & Henry Colleges 175th commencement.

After graduating from Marion Senior High, Arthur Scrapper Broady enrolled in Emory & Henry in 1966. He went on to become the first Black man to graduate from E&H in 1970. In the years since, Broady has not forgotten Marion or E&H.

On multiple occasions, Mayor David Helms has said that Broady, a former member of E&Hs board of trustees, played a role in establishing the colleges School of Health Sciences in Marion.

In 2018, Broady, a longtime resident of Washington state, attended a Marion Town Council meeting. He reflected that he maintains a deep sense of pride at being from this town. He declared, Im at home.

At the time, the council was asking Broady to deliver an honorary resolution to former Marion educator and Broadys aunt Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson, a central figure in the story captured in the book and movie, Hidden Figures.

Broady hasnt limited his service to Southwest Virginia.

On a fishing trip to Costa Rica, he kept hearing from the residents about their desire to learn English. The conversations lingered with him. Two years later, Broady returned to Costa Rica to visit a school in the tiny community Copey. He went on to found Friends of Copey to support the school and build a partnership with E&H.

Some of that schools students have visited Marion. Broady told the council: They love Marion. They love Hungry Mother park. They dont see that down there.

In his Washington home, Broady has taken part in the work of Kiwanis, Shriners, and the United Way. Hes also served as his local school board president. Broadys own education included Carnegie High School in Marion. Carnegie served the communitys Black population until desegregation. Early in his career, after graduating from E&H, he spent about six month teaching in an elementary classroom in Maryland.

Broadys education career was cut short when he was drafted. He joined the U.S. Air Force and served nearly four years.

After being honorably discharged, Broady spent four years working in Alaska and then found his way to Washington.

Despite the continent between his adopted home and his hometown, Broady loves both communities. In 2021, he virtually joined an awards ceremony in which Marions Mount Pleasant Preservation Society received a Hope Award from E&Hs Appalachian Center for Civic Life. Broady remembered being baptized in the one-time Methodist church.

Speaking of the society leaders, Broady described them as people with hearts of servants.

Saturday, E&H used much the same terminology to describe Broady as he was presented the DeFreice Award for his service to the world.

During the commencement ceremony at Fred Selfe Stadium on the Emory campus, more than 230 graduates received diplomas.

Speakers included Dr. John W. Wells, E&H president; Dr. Michael Puglisi, executive vice president and provost; Dr. Ann Sluder, 81, board of trustees chair; the Rev. Sharon Wright, 94 college and co-pastor Emory United Methodist Church; graduates Diego Zamarripa Velo, 23 and Olivia Bailey, 23; and keynote speaker, Alan Levine, chair and CEO of Ballad Health.

Americas greatness rests on the strength of faith and a culture that recognizes goodness, compassion and giving will always triumph over strife and evil. Look for ways to serve others and put those in need above yourself. Dont expect anything in return, but do it for the joy that comes with knowing you are inspiring someone else, said Levine.

The first degree of the ceremony, a Posthumous Doctor of Divinity degree, was conferred to Squire Miller Henry, a former porter and furnace stoker at the college. The degree was accepted by his eldest living descendant, Marie Lampkins, 90. More than 70 of Henrys descendants were present for the recognition.

Sluder shared Henrys story and said that the board of trustees joined with the faculty to recognize the distinctive contributions of [Henry] with the posthumous degree in an effort to tell a more complete history of Emory & Henry College and bring light to the stories of hundreds of people who have helped build and sustain it for nearly two centuries.

The class of 2023 included members from 15 states and four international countries: Mexico, Scotland, the British Virgin Islands and Haiti. The graduates have indicated a variety of preliminary pursuits following graduation, including Teach for America, the U.S. Peace Corps, Verizon, Blue Gate Musicals, Deloitte, Bristol Motor Speedway, the U.S. Air Force, Knoxville Police Department, Bristol Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Walt Disney World, Utility Trailer, Eastman Chemical Company, the U.S. Department of Defense and others. Additionally, many undergraduate students have been accepted into graduate programs to further their education at universities like the University of Tennessee Haslam College of Business, Stony Brook University Chemistry, Harvard University International Relations, Yales David Griffin School of the Arts, George Mason University, Virginia Tech, the University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, and Emory & Henry School of Health Sciences in Marion.
The Clark County Medical Examiners Office identified the remains found near the Camas paper mill Wednesday as those of a 45-year-old Washington man.

The remains were those of Terry Joe Ross, no city of residence listed, the medical examiners office said. His cause and manner of death are still pending.

The Camas Police Department said Ross was from Vancouver, and his family reported him missing to Vancouver police earlier this year.

Millworkers doing annual vegetation management on mill property in Camas found human remains Wednesday afternoon, a police news release states.

According to the agency, police were called to a heavily wooded property west of the Georgia-Pacific mill to investigate the discovery of what police believed was an adult man. The condition of Ross remains indicated his death was not recent, police said.

Camas detectives are continuing to investigate.
Following the end of a housing-focused state Legislature in April, the Longview City Council voted Thursday on the first steps to add more homes in the city, including allowing tiny homes and more home lots.

Most of the ideas came from Mayor Pro Tem Mike Wallin.

Two recently passed laws from the Legislature  one legalizing duplexes and fourplexes in most neighborhoods and another allowing easier construction of accessory dwelling units  do not apply to Longview because the county does not follow growth management policies.

Even so, the City Council directed the Planning Commission to look at the bills for ideas about affordable housing density that could work in town. Ideas have to be approved by the Planning Commission after public hearings and no timelines have been set.

Zoning

Councilmembers asked the Planning Commission to review the citywide zoning codes and consider changes to allow for smaller homes or more dense construction. The councils suggested changes include allowing for smaller, narrower lots and changing the street setbacks to free up more space.

Wallin said adding more housing of all sizes would stabilize or even reduce the cost of housing.

The Planning Commission also plans to look at changing Longviews code to permit tiny home developments. Multiple homes as small as 300 square feet could fit onto a single lot.

Community Development Director Ann Rivers said the tiny homes could be especially useful for younger residents.

I think that we have to be very realistic with ourselves about young people, who are maybe moving out of their parents homes for the first time. Values are changing and we should have a look at the way those values are changing, she said.

Affordable housing

The City Council also took steps to be more hands-on with encouraging affordable housing. The city will soon open the first round of requests for proposals for projects to use Longviews newly created sales tax to help shelter seniors and disabled residents. The council enacted the 0.1% sales tax in January.

The council voted to set two housing targets for the citys next rounds of federal money through the Community Development Block Grants. The stated goals are to support projects that repair and modify homes to keep current at-risk tenants sheltered, or that create educational programs for renters.

The renter education piece is heavily inspired by the Rent Well Program run by Housing Opportunities of Southwest Washington, which provides lessons to renters about their rights and Washingtons housing rules. Housing Opportunities Director Jennifer Westerman said the program is only open to veterans because it is funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs, but said a similar program could apply to more people if it received alternate funds.

The council is set to discuss even more affordable housing changes at a workshop later this year. That meeting will focus more on Longviews possible financial incentives, including a multifamily tax exemption for builders and adding resources to the citys planning department.
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:

Newly announced Twitter chief Linda Yaccarino told Elon Musk during a recent marketing conference interview that content moderation and safety are part of a formula to get advertisers to spend more money at the platform.

Named Friday as Elon Musk's successor as Twitter CEO, Linda Yaccarino is a respected media and advertising executive considered a visionary by some.

Yaccarino left her job as head of advertising at NBCUniversal, where she worked for 12 years.

Born into a family with Italian roots, Yaccarino has spent her career in television, 20 years of it with the Time Warner group that has since become known as Warner Brothers Discovery.

Yaccarino said in a 2021 episode of the Great Minds podcast that she fell in love with television shows as a child and originally thought she would get into production.

"I wanted to create the new 'Sesame Street'," Yaccarino said, referring to a popular children's television program.

Yaccarino became fascinated with the business side of broadcasting while a student at Penn State University in Pennsylvania.

That interest shaped her career path after graduating, which her LinkedIn page indicates was in 1985.

At NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of cable operator Comcast, she redesigned advertising strategy to support a shift from traditional television to streaming shows online.

Yaccarino brought the group's channels into a single platform to streamline ad campaigns.

She also focused on providing metrics when it came to showing audience numbers and the effectiveness of advertising.

Yaccarino didn't hesitate to give Musk advice while interviewing him in front of an audience of advertisers at the "Possible" marketing conference in Miami in mid-April.

Advertisers "need to feel that there is an opportunity for them to influence what you're building," Yaccarino told Musk.

She argued that the goal is to make Twitter a place where advertisers are excited to spend marketing money, saying that involves content moderation, user safety, and product development.

"That's where the influence is," Yaccarino said to Musk.

'Skeptics in the room'

Since taking over Twitter in late October, Musk has repeatedly courted controversy, sacking most of its staff, readmitting far-right figures to the platform, suspending journalists and charging for previously free services.

In response, advertisers fled Twitter due to concerns over marketing messages being associated with troubling content.

"The people in this room are your accelerated path to profitability but there's a decent bit of skeptics in the room," Yaccarino told Musk at the marketing conference.

During the interview in Miami, Yaccarino's direct style and sharp insights visibly intrigued Musk.

Yaccarino brings to Twitter a network that reaches beyond advertising and media.

She is involved in the World Economic Forum in Davos and was a member of the US Presidential Council on Sport, Exercise and Nutrition, attached to the White House.

Yaccarino's connection to the WEF as well as her reported support for vaccinations and masks during the pandemic irks some politically-conservative fans of Musk's previous actions at Twitter.

"Twitter's problems really revolve around Elon Musk," said independent analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group.

"The real test will be, can he step aside and let her do her job?"

 2023 AFP
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

This Feb. 25, 2020, file photo, shows the icon for TikTok in New York. A former executive at TikToks parent company ByteDance has accused the tech giant of serving as a propaganda tool for the Chinese government. The allegations were made in an amended complaint filed Friday, May 12, 2023 at San Francisco Superior Court as part of a wrongful termination lawsuit. Credit: AP Photo/File

A former executive fired from TikTok's parent company ByteDance made a raft of accusations against the tech giant Friday, including that it stole content from competitors like Instagram and Snapchat, and served as a "propaganda tool" for the Chinese government by suppressing or promoting content favorable to the country's interests.

The allegations were made in a complaint Friday by Yintao Yu, the head of engineering for ByteDance's U.S. operations from August 2017 to November 2018, as part of a wrongful termination lawsuit filed earlier this month in San Francisco Superior Court. Yu claims he was fired for disclosing "wrongful conduct" he saw at the company.

In the complaint, Yu alleges the Chinese government monitored ByteDance's work from within its Beijing headquarters and provided guidance on advancing "core communist values."

Yu said government officials had the ability to turn off the Chinese version of ByteDance's apps, and maintained access to all company data, including information stored in the United States.

ByteDance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The allegations come as TikTokone of the most popular social media apps in the U.S.faces heighted scrutiny in Washington and some states about whether it can keep American data safe from the Chinese government. The Biden administration has threatened to ban the app if its Chinese owners don't sell their stakes.

TikTok maintains it never gave U.S. user data to China's government and wouldn't do so if it was asked. In an effort to avoid a ban, it also wants to store U.S. user data on servers operated by the software giant Oracle.

In another attention-grabbing part of the lawsuit, Yu alleges he observed ByteDance promoting content that expressed hatred for Japan on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. At another time, he said the company demoted content that showed support for the protests in Hong Kong while promoting content that expressed criticism of the protests.

Yu said ByteDance developed software that would scrape user content from competitors' websites without permission. He alleges the company would then repost the content on its own websitesincluding TikTokto attract more engagement from users.

Yu said a fellow TikTok executive in charge of the video-sharing app's algorithm waved off his concerns. At some point, Yu said the company modified the program, but continued to scrape data from U.S. users when they were abroad.

The former executive also alleges the company created fake users to boost its engagement metrics, including by programming them to "like" and "follow" real accounts.

Yu is seeking punitive damage, lost earnings and 220,000 ByteDance shares that had not vested by the time he was fired.

 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
A city of College Station employee was arrested Thursday afternoon after he allegedly used a cell phone to film a teenage girl in a Walmart dressing room, according to College Station police.

Homar Padilla, a 24-year-old Bryan man, has been charged with invasive visual recording, which is a state jail felony. He remained in jail on Friday morning with bail set for $5,000, according to Brazos County jail records.

Officers responded to Walmart at around 4:45 p.m. on Thursday afternoon after a parent reported Padilla was filming her 16-year-old daughter in the dressing room, police said. While the girl was changing clothes, she told police she noticed a hand slide a phone under the rear wall of the changing room. She said the hand disappeared, but the phone remained and it appeared to be recording video since it had a flashing red light and a timer counting up. The girl then grabbed the phone and heard a male voice say, Oh, crap and also noticed a hand reaching for the phone.

The girl told police she then heard a man, later identified as Padilla, talking with her mother outside the changing room. Padilla told her mother she took his phone while he was filming a TikTok video, but the girl stepped out of the changing room and told her mother Padilla was recording her and handed the phone to her mother. Police said Padilla tried to take the phone from the mother, but she stopped him.

During an investigation, Padilla told police he decided to make a TikTok video in the changing room, but dropped his phone and inadvertently kicked it under the dressing room wall. When asked, he told police he didnt use his hand to push it under the wall or put his hand under the wall at any point in an attempt to retrieve the phone. Police then reviewed Walmarts surveillance footage and said Padilla crouched down on the floor to the back wall, was out of view for a moment before he came back up to his feet, and then went back to the ground again momentarily. He stood up again and then left the dressing room.

Padilla was arrested at the scene due to the girls statement and Padillas conflicting statement after a review of video, police said.

Police said Padilla is an employee in the city of College Stations public works department and added city officials said Thursday night Padilla has been terminated from his position.

This is an ongoing investigation.
A lone longhorn, Dante, traveled from Austin all the way to Aggieland to have his horns saved by Texas A&M veterinarians. Luckily, they didnt have to saw em off, as the saying goes in the known rivalry between Texas A&M Aggies and the University of Texas Longhorns.

Dante was donated to the Austin Zoo, a non-profit rescue zoo, in January 2020 and was only 5 months old at the time. It wasnt too long before his horns grew and spanned 93 inches from tip to tip.

According to Patti Clark, executive director for the Austin Zoo, he was not particularly mindful of his horns. At three and a half years old, Clark said he was more boisterous and liked to romp and frolic around with his two longhorn buddies he shares space with, Chance and Mack.

Unfortunately in November last year, Clark said she noticed a change in Dante as he seemed to be in pain and had no appetite, as one of his horns was drooping lower than the other.

We noticed that he had come up with nasal discharge and we couldnt tell if it was maybe allergies or something else going on, Clark recalled. Then we noticed simultaneously that his right horn was starting to look lower than the left horn. It seemed to get a little worse and we knew that shouldnt be happening.  We were told he needed to go to the Texas A&M Large Animal Hospital and get diagnostics run to figure out why he has the respiratory symptoms and what is going on with his horn.

On Nov. 29 of last year he was transported to the Texas A&M Large Animal Teaching Hospital, where he would end up staying for almost four months in recovery.

We heard that his horn was drooping and that is kind of an unusual complaint, said Dantes doctor, Shannon Reed, a clinical associate professor at the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Longhorns can break their horns, but usually they break where you can clearly see a fractured horn, so we were just a little unsure what the cause was going to be. But once he got here we could feel that the entire horn would shift up and down if he moved it.

Reed said given that the horns are attached to the skull, it is painful to damage them as they also are prone to infection due to a sinus lining inside; which also triggered the nasal congestion in Dante when he arrived.

It takes quite a bit of force to do that, but Dante is not the most careful with his horns, Reed said. There are longhorns that know exactly how to navigate things and know how to navigate well, and Dante is a bit exuberant and sometimes not the best at paying attention. So I am going to bet he ran into something and caught his horn while he was running, but I dont know for sure what happened with him.

Once Reed and her team found the fracture in his skull at the base of his horn, they believed the best solution would be to amputate both horns. However, after some research into previous techniques, Reed and her team invented a new and groundbreaking procedure that might save his horns.

Several days before the horn amputation [Reed] called me and said, We have tried to save longhorns horns in the past, but we have never been successful casting them. But we have come up with a plan, Clark said. Dr. Reed explained they were going to put a plate on his skull and cast it, and then create this rebar that connects the horns to stabilize everything. She said he would need to wear it on his head for at least three or possibly four months, and that if this works, this will be a game changer for the people in the longhorn industry, for all other animals and veterinarians.

The two-hour long procedure did work. The 1,600-pound longhorn was propped under an airbed system as a team of veterinarians created the bracing system. The creation of an external implant would help realign Dantes horns with a splint to hold them in place while they healed, and it would take the weight of his horn off of his skull, Reed said.

Once he survived the surgery and was back up and moving around, Reed said he scared her a few times because he wasnt being careful with his horns.

He ran down the hallway and I thought he was going to bang that horn again, she chuckled. We put him in one of our outside pens and he had to have a companion cow next to him the whole time; and he taught the large blood donor cows to lick his head and clean his incision site.

Because of his recovery process and his never ending horns, Dante would have to stay at the hospital wearing his external fixator helmet until his horns grew strong again. He stayed under Reeds care the entire time as she worked every day, even weekends, to check on him. On Christmas Day, Reed said she tried to give Dante a peppermint, which she found he wasnt too fond of.

Well over 50 people played a part in Dantes success, Reed said, as this longhorn became the mascot for a hospital full of Aggies.

I am not a Texas native and people were telling me, You didnt saw it off. And I was thinking, Well no. Why would I do that? Reed said. And it took me awhile to catch on why everyone was making Saw em off jokes. So I was thinking, Everyone must think I am a really bad surgeon. I am now very familiar with the phrase Saw em off, and I think its very funny now.

Once Dante finally arrived home at the Austin Zoo on March 23, Clark said he was so happy to see Chance and Mack.

They were so excited to see him, too, she said. And of course when we got Dante out of the trailer we were all standing there going, Dont hit your horn on anything!

Both Clark and Reed said it was special to be a part of something innovative that will help not just longhorns, but any animal with similar difficulties.

It is not just about Dante. It is about how we take that and the teamwork and principles and apply it going forward. This is an innovation and that is why Texas A&M is here, Reed said. I think that is really important for Texans [to know] that we are innovating things that can be applied in lots of different places.
New York Community Bancorp (NYSE:NYCB  Get Rating) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued on Friday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Bank of America upped their price target on New York Community Bancorp from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 4th. Wedbush upgraded New York Community Bancorp from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded New York Community Bancorp from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $11.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 11th. TheStreet lowered New York Community Bancorp from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Monday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on New York Community Bancorp from $10.50 to $10.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, New York Community Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $10.54.

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New York Community Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of New York Community Bancorp stock traded up $0.34 during trading on Friday, reaching $10.09. 10,575,210 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,079,266. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. New York Community Bancorp has a 1-year low of $5.81 and a 1-year high of $11.02. The company has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.65, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.06. The firms 50-day moving average price is $8.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.09.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On New York Community Bancorp

New York Community Bancorp ( NYSE:NYCB Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts consensus estimates of $0.23. New York Community Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.25% and a net margin of 49.74%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $623.11 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 666.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that New York Community Bancorp will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NYCB. Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of New York Community Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of New York Community Bancorp by 71.5% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,984 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,244 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of New York Community Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of New York Community Bancorp by 181.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,347 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 2,156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in New York Community Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. 63.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

New York Community Bancorp Company Profile

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New York Community Bancorp, Inc is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of multi-family loans on non-luxury rent-regulated buildings that feature below-market rents. It also offers financial products and services to individuals and businesses. The company was founded on July 20, 1993 and is headquartered in Westbury, NY.

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Shares of Nippon Paint Holdings Co., Ltd. (OTCMKTS:NPCPF  Get Rating) reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $9.18 and last traded at $9.18, with a volume of 0 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $9.18.

Nippon Paint Stock Performance

The stocks 50 day moving average is $8.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.78.

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Nippon Paint (OTCMKTS:NPCPF  Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion for the quarter.

About Nippon Paint

Nippon Paint Holdings Co, Ltd. engages in the management and strategies of its group companies that is involved in the manufacture and sale of paints and fine chemicals. It offers automotive and industrial-use coatings and trade-use paints. It also provides surface treatments and fine chemical products.

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United Lithium Corp. (OTCMKTS:ULTHF  Get Rating) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 8,000 shares, an increase of 321.1% from the April 15th total of 1,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 49,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.2 days.

United Lithium Price Performance

OTCMKTS ULTHF traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $0.17. The stock had a trading volume of 88,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 44,815. United Lithium has a 1 year low of $0.00 and a 1 year high of $0.35. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $0.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $0.17.

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About United Lithium

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United Lithium Corp. engages in the acquisition, exploration, and evaluation of natural resource properties. It explores for lithium deposits. The company holds 100% interest in the Bergby Lithium Project, located in Sweden. It also holds an option to acquire a 100% interest in the Barbara Lake property comprising 56 mining cell claims that covers an area of approximately 2,147 hectares land in the Barbara Lake Area of the Thunder Bay Mining District, Ontario, Canada.

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Abitibi Royalties Inc. (CVE:RZZ  Get Rating) shares traded down 0.6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as C$26.80 and last traded at C$27.00. 4,551 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 22% from the average session volume of 3,730 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$27.15.

Abitibi Royalties Stock Down 0.6 %

The company has a market cap of C$336.50 million and a P/E ratio of -168.75. The company has a fifty day moving average of C$27.00 and a 200 day moving average of C$27.00.

Abitibi Royalties Company Profile

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Abitibi Royalties Inc engages in exploring, evaluating, and promoting mineral properties and other projects in Canada. Its flagship royalty is 3% net smelter return royalty located on the eastern portion of the Canadian Malartic mine that includes the East Malartic, Odyssey, Sladen, Sheehan, Jeffrey, Barnat Extension, Gouldie Zone, and the Charlie Zone.

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Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited (OTCMKTS:AIPUY  Get Rating) traded up 3.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $21.65 and last traded at $21.57. 1,522 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 20% from the average session volume of 1,908 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.92.

Airports of Thailand Public Trading Up 3.1 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.52 and a 200 day moving average of $20.73.

Airports of Thailand Public Company Profile

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Airports of Thailand Public Co Ltd. engages in the operation of airport and hotel. It operates through the Airport Business and Hotel Business segments. It also manages Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK), Don Mueang Airport (DMK), Chiang Mai (CNX), Hat Yai (HDY), Phuket (HKT), and Mae Fah Luang  Chiang Rai.

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U.S. deputy secretary of state announces retirement

Xinhua) 10:10, May 13, 2023

WASHINGTON, May 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman announced her retirement on Friday, saying that she will step down and leave government service at the end of June.

Sherman, 73, is the first woman in U.S. history to serve her current role, starting in April 2021, months after President Joe Biden took office.

In one of a series of tweets mentioning U.S. foreign policy undertakings in which she was involved during the tenure of the deputy secretary, Sherman listed such events as the Russia-Ukraine conflict, "challenges in the Indo-Pacific," as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Joining the Foreign Service exactly 30 years ago, Sherman was under secretary of state for political affairs in former President Barack Obama's administration, also the first woman to serve in that post.

The deputy secretary of state is the No. 2 diplomat in the United States.

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Wu Chaolan)
Barclays downgraded shares of Bank of Nova Scotia (TSE:BNS  Get Rating) (NYSE:BNS) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. Barclays currently has C$64.00 target price on the banks stock, down from their previous target price of C$78.00.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Bank of Nova Scotia from C$77.00 to C$76.00 in a research report on Monday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Bank of Nova Scotia from C$85.00 to C$75.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. Fundamental Research set a C$86.76 target price on Bank of Nova Scotia and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, March 14th. TD Securities lowered their target price on Bank of Nova Scotia from C$72.00 to C$69.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. Finally, Cormark lowered their target price on Bank of Nova Scotia from C$75.00 to C$70.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of C$77.02.

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Bank of Nova Scotia Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of BNS opened at C$66.52 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of C$79.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.94. The stocks 50-day moving average price is C$67.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$68.33. Bank of Nova Scotia has a 1 year low of C$63.19 and a 1 year high of C$86.22.

Bank of Nova Scotia Dividend Announcement

Bank of Nova Scotia ( TSE:BNS Get Rating ) (NYSE:BNS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 28th. The bank reported C$1.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of C$2.04 by C($0.19). Bank of Nova Scotia had a return on equity of 12.30% and a net margin of 30.69%. The business had revenue of C$7.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$8.25 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bank of Nova Scotia will post 7.5091533 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 4th were issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.19%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 3rd. Bank of Nova Scotias payout ratio is currently 56.91%.

About Bank of Nova Scotia

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The Bank of Nova Scotia engages in the provision of various banking products and services in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, the Caribbean and Central America, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Canadian Banking, International Banking, Global Wealth Management, and Global Banking and Markets.

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China Vanke Co., Ltd. (OTCMKTS:CHVKF  Get Rating) was the target of a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,069,400 shares, an increase of 66.0% from the April 15th total of 1,246,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 8,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 240.6 days.

China Vanke Stock Performance

CHVKF remained flat at $1.62 on Friday. China Vanke has a 1 year low of $1.62 and a 1 year high of $2.09. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.90.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut China Vanke from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, April 6th.

China Vanke Company Profile

China Vanke Co, Ltd. engages in the development and sale of properties. It operates through the Property Development and Property Management segments. The Property Development segment refers to the sale and development of residential properties. The Property Management segment offers management and other related services to purchasers and tenants of the companys developed residential properties and shopping arcades as well as those developed by external property developers.

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Finning International (TSE:FTT  Get Rating) had its target price hoisted by Raymond James from C$42.00 to C$43.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock. Raymond James also issued estimates for Finning Internationals Q2 2023 earnings at $0.83 EPS, Q3 2023 earnings at $0.82 EPS, Q4 2023 earnings at $0.75 EPS, FY2023 earnings at $3.30 EPS and FY2024 earnings at $3.25 EPS.

FTT has been the topic of several other research reports. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of Finning International from an outperform market weight rating to a sector perform market weight rating in a report on Monday, February 6th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Finning International from C$44.00 to C$45.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. National Bankshares lowered shares of Finning International from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating and set a C$40.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. CIBC increased their price target on shares of Finning International from C$43.00 to C$45.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Finning International from C$38.00 to C$43.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Finning International has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of C$43.29.

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Finning International Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of TSE FTT opened at C$34.99 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of C$5.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.71. Finning International has a 52-week low of C$23.46 and a 52-week high of C$39.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 94.60, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.41. The companys 50 day moving average price is C$34.29 and its 200-day moving average price is C$34.10.

Finning International Increases Dividend

About Finning International

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 25th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 24th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. This is a boost from Finning Internationals previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Finning Internationals payout ratio is 28.92%.

(Get Rating)

Finning International Inc sells, services, and rents heavy equipment, and power and energy systems in Canada, Chile, the United Kingdom, Argentina, and internationally. The company offers telehandlers, articulated trucks, asphalt pavers, backhoe loaders, cable assist vehicles, cable yarding systems, chip dozers, cold planers, compactors, dozers, drills, electric rope shovels, excavators, material handlers, motor graders, off-highway trucks, pipelayers, remixing transfer vehicle, road reclaimers, road wideners, skid steer and compact track loaders, tack distributors, track loaders, underground-hard rock, wheel loaders, wheel tractor-scrapers, and windrow elevators, as well as attachments.

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First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Rating) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,727,807 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after buying an additional 339,358 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LPs holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $268,218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the first quarter valued at approximately $332,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 111.5% during 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 grew its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 53.2% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 165,336 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $12,075,000 after purchasing an additional 57,444 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC acquired a new position in Bristol-Myers Squibb during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,997,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 25.1% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 338,563 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $24,725,000 after buying an additional 68,018 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.51% of the companys stock.

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Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BMY traded down $1.02 on Friday, hitting $68.06. The company had a trading volume of 11,964,118 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,038,352. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 1-year low of $65.28 and a 1-year high of $81.43. The stock has a market cap of $142.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $68.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

Bristol-Myers Squibb ( NYSE:BMY Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.07. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a net margin of 15.95% and a return on equity of 51.75%. The business had revenue of $11.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.96 earnings per share. Bristol-Myers Squibbs revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 10th were paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 6th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Bristol-Myers Squibbs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.47%.

Insider Activity at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In related news, EVP Rupert Vessey sold 50,385 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $3,378,818.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,751 shares in the company, valued at $3,202,182.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BMY. Atlantic Securities upped their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a strong-buy rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. 51job reaffirmed a maintains rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Friday, April 28th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group dropped their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $78.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Friday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bristol-Myers Squibb has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $79.43.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Profile

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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.

Further Reading

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AmerisourceBergen Co. (NYSE:ABC  Get Rating) CEO Steven H. Collis sold 10,499 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.52, for a total value of $1,779,790.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 257,967 shares in the company, valued at $43,730,565.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

AmerisourceBergen Price Performance

NYSE:ABC opened at $170.99 on Friday. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $161.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $162.19. The firm has a market cap of $34.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.98, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.52. AmerisourceBergen Co. has a 52-week low of $135.14 and a 52-week high of $174.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.13.

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AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC  Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $3.29 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $63.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.40 billion. AmerisourceBergen had a return on equity of 809.53% and a net margin of 0.65%. AmerisourceBergens revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AmerisourceBergen Co. will post 11.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AmerisourceBergen Announces Dividend

Analysts Set New Price Targets

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 12th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 11th. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. AmerisourceBergens dividend payout ratio is currently 24.94%.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ABC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on AmerisourceBergen from $174.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. Evercore ISI reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $185.00 target price on shares of AmerisourceBergen in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their target price on AmerisourceBergen from $184.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. StockNews.com began coverage on AmerisourceBergen in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a strong-buy rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on AmerisourceBergen from $182.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $181.62.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AmerisourceBergen

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kentucky Retirement Systems increased its stake in AmerisourceBergen by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 12,794 shares of the companys stock worth $2,048,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in AmerisourceBergen by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 4,426 shares of the companys stock worth $709,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC increased its stake in AmerisourceBergen by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 2,317 shares of the companys stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Vantage Consulting Group Inc increased its stake in AmerisourceBergen by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vantage Consulting Group Inc now owns 1,482 shares of the companys stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J2 Capital Management Inc increased its stake in AmerisourceBergen by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. J2 Capital Management Inc now owns 2,682 shares of the companys stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.79% of the companys stock.

AmerisourceBergen Company Profile

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AmerisourceBergen Corp. engages in the provision of pharmaceutical products and business solutions that improve access to care. It operates through the Pharmaceutical Distribution Services and Other segments. The Pharmaceutical Distribution Services segment distributes an offering of brand-name, specialty brand-name and generic pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter healthcare products, home healthcare supplies and equipment, and related services to healthcare providers, including acute care hospitals and health systems, independent and chain retail pharmacies, mail order pharmacies, medical clinics, and long-term care and alternate site pharmacies.

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Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated their hold rating on shares of InterContinental Hotels Group (LON:IHG  Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has a GBX 5,850 ($73.82) price objective on the stock.

IHG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of InterContinental Hotels Group from GBX 6,000 ($75.71) to GBX 6,200 ($78.23) and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of InterContinental Hotels Group from GBX 5,500 ($69.40) to GBX 6,200 ($78.23) and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. Numis Securities reissued an add rating and issued a GBX 5,550 ($70.03) price objective on shares of InterContinental Hotels Group in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. Barclays downgraded shares of InterContinental Hotels Group to an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, March 6th. Finally, Peel Hunt reissued a hold rating and issued a GBX 5,750 ($72.56) price objective on shares of InterContinental Hotels Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, InterContinental Hotels Group currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of GBX 5,836.67 ($73.65).

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InterContinental Hotels Group Trading Down 1.1 %

InterContinental Hotels Group stock opened at GBX 5,266 ($66.45) on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of 9.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 3,153.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.95. InterContinental Hotels Group has a 1-year low of GBX 4,174 ($52.67) and a 1-year high of GBX 5,796 ($73.14). The company has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 5,410.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of GBX 5,217.82.

InterContinental Hotels Group Increases Dividend

Insider Activity

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 30th will be given a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 30th. This is a boost from InterContinental Hotels Groups previous dividend of $0.44. This represents a dividend yield of 1.4%. InterContinental Hotels Groups payout ratio is presently 6,826.35%.

In other news, insider Graham Allan bought 300 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 5,370 ($67.76) per share, for a total transaction of 16,110 ($20,328.08). In related news, insider Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson sold 21,094 shares of InterContinental Hotels Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 5,521 ($69.67), for a total transaction of 1,164,599.74 ($1,469,526.49). Also, insider Graham Allan purchased 300 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 5,370 ($67.76) per share, for a total transaction of 16,110 ($20,328.08). Corporate insiders own 4.82% of the companys stock.

InterContinental Hotels Group Company Profile

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InterContinental Hotels Group PLC owns, manages, franchises, and leases hotels in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Greater China. The company operates hotels under the Six Senses, Regent, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Vignette Collection, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Hotel Indigo, EVEN Hotels, HUALUXE, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, avid, Staybridge Suites, Atwell Suites, Candlewood Suites, voco, and Crowne Plaza.

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Jet2 plc (LON:JET2  Get Rating) traded up 1.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as GBX 1,244 ($15.70) and last traded at GBX 1,235 ($15.58). 522,196 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average session volume of 796,411 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 1,215 ($15.33).

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reissued an overweight rating and issued a GBX 1,500 ($18.93) target price on shares of Jet2 in a research report on Friday, April 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Jet2 from GBX 1,600 ($20.19) to GBX 1,850 ($23.34) and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. Finally, Numis Securities reissued a buy rating and issued a GBX 1,970 ($24.86) target price on shares of Jet2 in a research report on Tuesday, February 14th.

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Jet2 Stock Up 1.6 %

The stock has a market capitalization of 2.65 billion, a PE ratio of 1,603.90, a P/E/G ratio of 9.34 and a beta of 2.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average of GBX 1,268.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of GBX 1,131.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 122.64.

About Jet2

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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Barclays downgraded shares of Nabors Industries (NYSE:NBR  Get Rating) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Barclays currently has $150.00 price objective on the oil and gas companys stock, down from their prior price objective of $250.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Benchmark initiated coverage on Nabors Industries in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. They set a hold rating for the company. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Nabors Industries from $135.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Nabors Industries from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Nabors Industries from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, 888 reiterated a maintains rating on shares of Nabors Industries in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Nabors Industries has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $163.57.

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Nabors Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NBR opened at $88.29 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $842.29 million, a P/E ratio of -5.90 and a beta of 2.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.40, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 1.87. Nabors Industries has a one year low of $87.71 and a one year high of $193.88. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $115.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.03.

Institutional Trading of Nabors Industries

Nabors Industries ( NYSE:NBR Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 7th. The oil and gas company reported ($3.89) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.06) by ($2.83). Nabors Industries had a negative net margin of 4.03% and a negative return on equity of 26.14%. The company had revenue of $769.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $734.46 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Nabors Industries will post 8.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State of Tennessee Treasury Department raised its stake in shares of Nabors Industries by 64.3% in the 1st quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 5,759 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $702,000 after buying an additional 2,253 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Nabors Industries by 30.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 53,656 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $6,541,000 after buying an additional 12,461 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nabors Industries in the 1st quarter worth $310,000. Martingale Asset Management L P raised its stake in shares of Nabors Industries by 23.1% in the 1st quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 6,930 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $845,000 after buying an additional 1,302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Nabors Industries by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 292,061 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $35,604,000 after buying an additional 14,612 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.98% of the companys stock.

About Nabors Industries

(Get Rating)

Nabors Industries Ltd. engages in the provision of platform work over and drilling rigs. It also provides performance tools, directional drilling services, tubular running services, and innovative technologies. It operates through the following business segments: U.S. Drilling, Canada Drilling, International Drilling, Drilling Solutions, and Rig Technologies.

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National Bank of Greece S.A. (OTCMKTS:NBGIF  Get Rating)s share price was up 0.9% on Friday . The company traded as high as $5.65 and last traded at $5.65. Approximately 100 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 99% from the average daily volume of 13,396 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.60.

National Bank of Greece Price Performance

The stocks 50-day moving average is $5.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.56.

About National Bank of Greece

(Get Rating)

National Bank of Greece SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in Greece, the United Kingdom, North Macedonia, Romania, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Malta, Egypt, and Luxembourg. The company operates through Retail Banking, Corporate & Investment Banking, Trouble Assets Unit, Global Markets and Asset Management, Insurance, International Banking Operations, and Other segments.

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Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE:PWR  Get Rating) EVP Derrick A. Jensen sold 100,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.36, for a total value of $16,936,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 282,225 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $47,797,626. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Quanta Services Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of PWR opened at $173.85 on Friday. Quanta Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $109.25 and a 52 week high of $176.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.28 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $164.20 and a 200-day moving average of $153.58.

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Quanta Services (NYSE:PWR  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The construction company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.06. Quanta Services had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 2.86%. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.27 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Quanta Services, Inc. will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quanta Services Dividend Announcement

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 10th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 6th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.18%. Quanta Servicess dividend payout ratio is presently 9.44%.

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Quanta Services in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Quanta Services from $150.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, April 17th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Quanta Services from $160.00 to $170.00 in a report on Tuesday. KeyCorp increased their target price on Quanta Services from $174.00 to $190.00 in a report on Monday, April 24th. Finally, Argus increased their price target on Quanta Services from $168.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Quanta Services currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $176.70.

Institutional Trading of Quanta Services

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PWR. Norges Bank bought a new position in Quanta Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $180,853,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Quanta Services by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,905,283 shares of the construction companys stock worth $817,416,000 after purchasing an additional 806,157 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quanta Services in the 1st quarter worth approximately $118,223,000. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Quanta Services by 52.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,492,323 shares of the construction companys stock worth $196,405,000 after purchasing an additional 511,508 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Quanta Services by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,055,835 shares of the construction companys stock worth $862,956,000 after purchasing an additional 501,131 shares during the period. 89.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Quanta Services Company Profile

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Quanta Services, Inc engages in the provision of comprehensive infrastructure solutions to the electric power, oil and gas, and communication industries. It operates through the following segments: Electric Power Infrastructure Solutions, Renewable Energy Infrastructure Solutions, and Underground Utility and Infrastructure Solutions.

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SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT  Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 30,825 shares of the healthcare product makers stock, valued at approximately $3,384,000. Abbott Laboratories comprises 1.6% of SS&H Financial Advisors Inc.s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Arcus Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 283.3% in the 4th quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 391 shares of the healthcare product makers stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 72.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 8,226 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.56, for a total transaction of $909,466.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 70,427 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,786,409.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 8,226 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.56, for a total transaction of $909,466.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 70,427 shares of the companys stock, valued at $7,786,409.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Daniel J. Starks sold 50,000 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.02, for a total value of $5,551,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,825,316 shares of the companys stock, valued at $757,746,582.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 60,197 shares of company stock worth $6,659,607. Company insiders own 1.10% of the companys stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.4 %

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. SVB Leerink boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, March 31st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a buy rating for the company. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $103.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 20th. Finally, BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $122.37.

NYSE:ABT traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $110.49. 3,325,163 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,172,245. The company has a fifty day moving average of $104.13 and a 200 day moving average of $105.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $192.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.58, a PEG ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.68. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $93.25 and a 12 month high of $118.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 19th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $9.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.64 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 22.36%. Abbott Laboratoriess revenue for the quarter was down 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.73 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 14th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 13th. Abbott Laboratoriess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.01%.

About Abbott Laboratories

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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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StockNews.com upgraded shares of Teekay Tankers (NYSE:TNK  Get Rating) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Friday.

TNK has been the topic of a number of other reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of Teekay Tankers from a c rating to a b rating in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Teekay Tankers from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $51.00.

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Teekay Tankers Stock Down 5.3 %

TNK opened at $41.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a current ratio of 2.70. Teekay Tankers has a fifty-two week low of $14.90 and a fifty-two week high of $48.05. The firms fifty day moving average is $41.57 and its 200 day moving average is $36.05. The stock has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of -0.15.

Teekay Tankers Announces Dividend

Teekay Tankers ( NYSE:TNK Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The shipping company reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $3.51 by $0.82. The company had revenue of $367.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $211.54 million. Teekay Tankers had a net margin of 21.55% and a return on equity of 23.65%. Teekay Tankerss revenue for the quarter was up 129.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.74) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Teekay Tankers will post 11.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently disclosed a  dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 22nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 19th. Teekay Tankerss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 1.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Teekay Tankers

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quantamental Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Teekay Tankers during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $312,000. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Teekay Tankers in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $929,000. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Teekay Tankers during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $412,000. Navellier & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Teekay Tankers during the 4th quarter worth approximately $482,000. Finally, Ahrens Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Teekay Tankers during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $857,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.74% of the companys stock.

Teekay Tankers Company Profile

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Teekay Tankers Ltd. engages in the provision of crude oil and refined petroleum products through the operation of its oil and product tankers. It operates through the Tanker and Ship-to-Ship (STS) Transfer segment. The Tanker segment includes the operations of all the tankers, including those employed on full service lightering contracts.

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National Bankshares upgraded shares of Thomson Reuters (TSE:TRI  Get Rating) (NYSE:TRI) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has C$184.00 price objective on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. National Bank Financial raised Thomson Reuters from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a report on Sunday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Thomson Reuters from C$182.00 to C$184.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Finally, TD Securities lifted their price objective on Thomson Reuters from C$175.00 to C$185.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd.

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Thomson Reuters Trading Up 1.0 %

TRI opened at C$167.53 on Tuesday. Thomson Reuters has a one year low of C$120.57 and a one year high of C$180.93. The stock has a market capitalization of C$78.90 billion, a PE ratio of 53.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.27. The businesss 50 day moving average price is C$172.44 and its 200 day moving average price is C$161.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 42.04, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.57.

Thomson Reuters Cuts Dividend

Thomson Reuters ( TSE:TRI Get Rating ) (NYSE:TRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 9th. The company reported C$0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of C$0.86 by C$0.13. The firm had revenue of C$2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$2.36 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Thomson Reuters will post 4.3202218 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 17th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Thomson Reuterss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 84.98%.

About Thomson Reuters

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Thomson Reuters Corporation provides business information services in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in five segments: Legal Professionals, Corporates, Tax & Accounting Professionals, Reuters News, and Global Print. The Legal Professionals segment offers research and workflow products focusing on legal research and integrated legal workflow solutions that combine content, tools, and analytics to law firms and governments.

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Trilogy Metals Inc. (TSE:TMQ  Get Rating)s share price dropped 2.6% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as C$0.74 and last traded at C$0.74. Approximately 19,109 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 32% from the average daily volume of 28,083 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.76.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TMQ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Trilogy Metals from C$2.25 to C$1.75 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Trilogy Metals from C$1.50 to C$1.10 in a report on Monday, January 16th.

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Trilogy Metals Price Performance

The stocks fifty day moving average price is C$0.76 and its 200-day moving average price is C$0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 5.25 and a current ratio of 2.21. The firm has a market cap of C$114.58 million, a PE ratio of -3.22 and a beta of 1.21.

Trilogy Metals Company Profile

Trilogy Metals ( TSE:TMQ Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 14th. The company reported C($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of C($0.01) by C($0.04). As a group, equities analysts forecast that Trilogy Metals Inc. will post -0.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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Trilogy Metals Inc, a base metals exploration company, explores for and develops mineral properties in the United States. It principally holds interests in the Upper Kobuk mineral projects that include the Arctic, which contains polymetallic volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits; and Bornite that contains carbonate-hosted copper  cobalt deposits covering an area of approximately 426,690 acres located in the Ambler mining district in Northwest Alaska.

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As a graduate from Hinsdale South High School in the Chicago suburb of Darien, Jamie White began her college education nearly 27 years ago.

This weekend, after a long series of stops, starts and setbacks, she will finally earn her bachelors degree as one of more than 1,200 undergraduates earning diplomas from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Her story is one of challenges overcome through dedication and persistence.

Its kind of a long, twisty tale, the 45 year-old Cambria resident said of her education. Sometimes I cant believe it all.

The twists and turns began even while White was a high school student. For years, she believed her future was in the arts or music  even receiving a scholarship to pursue a college degree at what she called her dream college, the only school to which she applied. But a newfound passion for biology and plants sidetracked those plans.

At the last minute, I made the choice not to go to that college and instead start exploring the things I had not focused on very much in high school, she remembered.

Those things included a year of studies in math and science at the College of DuPage as well as a year of traveling and giving consideration to what she really wanted to do, leading her to move to Carbondale in 1998 to pursue a degree in plant biology. She started by taking more classes at John A. Logan College with plans to transfer the credits to SIU. Then things took a turn.

Something happened and I started having some health issues, White said.

The physical problems  and the birth of daughter Morgan in 2000  led to Whites withdrawal from school  and the rethinking her career plans.

Long story short, I took of couple of years off of school and at that point, I decided I would go back to music. At least, to my brain at the time, it seemed like what I was supposed to do, she said.

She enrolled in the SIU School of Music in 2002, studying music theory and composition. That is until the birth of her son in 2003.

At that point, I decided that school was going to have to wait a while, she said. I took some time off and it was during that time that we discovered that our daughter had some health issues. A lot of my focus turned to my family and I kept it that way.

Morgans health led White and her husband, artist Chad Goodpastor, to the decision to homeschool. Another son was born in 2006, but even with three small children, White was thinking about college. She had even gotten as far as registering for classes in 2008, but decided not to actually enroll.

Another son was born in 2011 and Whites dream of returning to school seemed far-fetched.

I was really sad because my degree was something I really wanted to complete and at times I thought it would never happen, she said.

Many would have agreed, especially after she suffered what she called a small stroke in 2016, but the stroke served to renew her dream.

I gave myself time to recover and that is when I realized, No, you have to do this. There is no way you can put this off any longer. It was something that I so much wanted to do and I realized that the opportunity could be gone in an instant. It really pushed me to take it seriously and do it for myself, she explained.

This time, a rekindled interest in biology arose, too, and a potential career path appeared through a conversation over crafting.

I was teaching a knitting class and one of my students was a teacher in molecular biology and we were talking about my plans and she asked if I had heard about the fermentation program at SIU, she said. I had been fermenting foods for a while and I started reading up on the program and it just sparked with me. It was perfect.

But she didnt enroll right away. First, she met with Matt McCarroll, director of the Fermentation Science Institute.

That meeting set everything in motion, she recalled. From there, I spent two years at John A. Logan, getting caught up on things like calculus and physics. I sort of gave myself a gentle start because I didnt know how things would go.

As a stroke survivor and with four children ranging in age from seven to 18, White began her pursuit of a degree in fermentation science, graduating from John A. Logan with both an associate in arts and associate in science degrees.

She again registered  and this time enrolled  for classes at SIU in 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, learning not only about food fermentation but also about the brewing process of beer.

Ive learned a lot and gotten pretty good at it. Ive thoroughly enjoyed it and actually was an undergraduate teaching assistant for the introduction to brewing class last spring, she said.

She also recently completed an internship at the Carbondale Prairie Farms facility and now, she will become the first female to graduate from SIU with a degree in fermentation science.

White credits her husband and kids, saying they have been amazing, patient, tolerant and gracious throughout her studies.

Well, my goal has always been to go to graduate school and Im not giving up on that, but I do need a little bit of a break, she said.

She also is taking time to reflect on her college career.

I think I did a good job making things more difficult for myself, she said of the time since her high school graduation. But at the same time, it has all given me the opportunity to get a very well-rounded experience. Sometimes I think when you pick one area of study and you really dial into it, you miss out on so many other things. It has definitely been a difficult road, but I dont know that I would change it.

Close The very first concert in the SIU Arena (now Banterra Center) was part of SIU Homecoming celebrations in October 1964 and featured the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Simon and Garfunkel performed at the SIU Arena in 1969. A 1971 performance at the SIU Arena featured Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, The Statler Brothers and Carl Perkins. Rock Supergroup Chicago appeared at the SIU Arena in 1971. Grateful Dead appeared at the SIU Arena in 1979 A 1974 SIU Arena concert featured pop duo Sonny and Cher. The "King of Rock and Roll" performed in front of a sold-out audience at the SIU Arena on Oct. 27, 1976. ZZ Top in concert at SIU Arena, 1980 Country superstar Garth Brooks sold out three concerts at the SIU Arena in October 1996. Elton John performed at the then-named SIU Arena in 1999. Rock group KISS has performed at the Banterra Center at SIU twice, including this performance in 2000. James Taylor performed at the Banterra Center (then SIU Arena) in 2002. The SIU Arena welcomed performers The Blue Man Group in 2007. Kenny Rogers performed at the SIU Arena in 2011. PHOTOS | A look back at past performances in the SIU Arena/Banterra Center The very first concert in the SIU Arena (now Banterra Center) was part of SIU Homecoming celebrations in October 1964 and featured the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Simon and Garfunkel performed at the SIU Arena in 1969. A 1971 performance at the SIU Arena featured Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, The Statler Brothers and Carl Perkins. Rock Supergroup Chicago appeared at the SIU Arena in 1971. Grateful Dead appeared at the SIU Arena in 1979 A 1974 SIU Arena concert featured pop duo Sonny and Cher. The "King of Rock and Roll" performed in front of a sold-out audience at the SIU Arena on Oct. 27, 1976. ZZ Top in concert at SIU Arena, 1980 Country superstar Garth Brooks sold out three concerts at the SIU Arena in October 1996. Elton John performed at the then-named SIU Arena in 1999. Rock group KISS has performed at the Banterra Center at SIU twice, including this performance in 2000. James Taylor performed at the Banterra Center (then SIU Arena) in 2002. The SIU Arena welcomed performers The Blue Man Group in 2007. Kenny Rogers performed at the SIU Arena in 2011.
CHICAGO  All state-funded affordable housing would be required to have air conditioning under a bill sent to Gov. J.B. Pritzker by legislators spurred to action by the heat exposure deaths last year of three seniors in their apartments on Chicagos Far North Side.

The bill passed in the House by a 98-13 vote Thursday and the Senate by a 54-3 vote in March.

During the House debate on the measure, Democratic state Rep. Kelly Cassidy of Chicago recalled being alerted in May 2022 to a heat emergency in the James Sneider Apartments in Rogers Park that would result in the deaths of Delores McNeely, 76, Gwendolyn Osborne, 72, and Janice Reed, 68.

I quickly ran over there to help (Ald. Maria Hadden) do well-being checks, Cassidy said. For the entire week proceeding this tragedy, Ald. Hadden pleaded with the building management to switch over from heating to cooling. And it was too much trouble for the building managers.

The cause of death for all three seniors was environmental heat exposure, according to the Cook County medical examiners office.

The bill on Pritzkers desk will require housing financed under the Illinois Affordable Housing Program to have cooling and dehumidification systems capable of operating independently from heating systems. There is also a requirement that newly constructed buildings that fall under the state program include permanent cooling.

While there is no explicit penalty for an apartment building that does not adhere to these rules, the bills chief Senate sponsor, Chicago Democrat Mike Simmons, said that in order for apartment buildings to receive their funding from the state, building managers must adhere to the new regulations.

We want to make sure that our residents, not just seniors, but everybody in affordable housing has access to cooling in their units that they can control so that we dont have unnecessary deaths, he said in March on the day the bill passed through his chamber.

The bill also establishes daytime and nighttime temperature requirements for colder months, from Oct. 1 through May 31.

Under the measure, any tenant complaint about heating must be rectified within 24 hours.

These three seniors died unnecessarily because air conditioning was not operable in their place of residence, Simmons said during the brief Senate floor debate before the March vote.

In December, the families of McNeely, Osborne and Reed were awarded $16 million in a settlement after they sued Gateway Apartments Ltd. and Hispanic Housing Development Corp., which own and manage the Sneider Apartments.

Gorner reported from Springfield.

Photos: Pritzker sworn in for second term Jesse White.JPG JB Piitzker 13 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 12 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 11 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 10 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 9 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 7 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 5 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 3 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 2 010923.JPG JB Piitzker 1 010923.JPG Juliana Stratton 1 010923.JPG Stratton 2 010923.JPG Alex Giannoulias 1 010923.JPG Alex Giannoulias 2 010923.JPG Michael Frerichs 010923.JPG 011023-illinois-ball 011023-illinois-ball 011023-illinois-ball 011023-illinois-ball 011023-illinois-ball 011023-illinois-ball Tiffany Mathis 1 011023.JPG dance gov 7 010923.JPG dance gov 13 010923.JPG dance gov 12 010923.JPG dance gov 11 010923.JPG dance gov 10 010923.JPG dance gov 9 010923.JPG dance gov 8 010923.JPG
CHICAGO  In 2007, Reginald Lane shot and killed Jwonda Thurston, his pregnant girlfriend. For the murder, he was sentenced to life in prison, following state statute for someone who is found guilty of killing more than one victim.

On Thursday, the Illinois Supreme Court heard arguments in Lanes case, specifically around whether Lane was given the appropriate sentence. Lanes appeal hinges, in part, on whether Thurstons unborn child can be considered a victim of the murder and, more broadly, whether it can be considered an individual under the law.

As it stands now, the unified code of corrections defines a victim as any natural person who suffered direct harm, Talon Nouri, an attorney representing Lane, told the justices. And again, the statute on statutes notes that whenever the word person or individual is used, that person must have first been born alive.

Nouri also cited the states Reproductive Health Act, a 2019 law that, among other things, stipulates fetuses do not have independent rights in the state of Illinois.

In addition to the question of what constitutes a victim under state law, Nouri also argued Lanes sentence was inappropriately applied because the lower courts had sentenced Lane in alignment with the sentence for a double murder.

Lane was convicted of both first-degree murder and killing an unborn child  also called feticide  which are two distinct crimes.

While the penalty section of the intentional homicide of an unborn child statute states that the sentence shall be the same as for first degree murder, the relevant statutes and definitions unambiguously exclude intentional homicide of an unborn child from this double murder sentencing statute, Nouri told the court.

Assistant Attorney General Josh Schneider, who argued the case on behalf of the state, relied on the statutes language identifying the sentence for feticide as being the same as murder.

When a person is convicted of intentional homicide of an unborn child, the sentence they receive for that offense is the same sentence they would receive if they had been convicted of first-degree murder under those same circumstances, Schneider said.

Several justices interrogated that line of reasoning.

So we really dont even need to go to these definitions in the other statutes because the legislature has directed us to apply the same sentence as in murder? Justice Lisa Holder White asked of Schneider.

Thats exactly right, Schneider replied.

The justices took the matter under consideration with a ruling to come at a later, unspecified date.

Stop and frisk

The justices on Thursday also considered the case of Francisco Lozano.

In 2018, Lozano was the subject of a Terry stop, sometimes also known as a stop and frisk or field interview in Chicagos East Garfield Park neighborhood.

From their unmarked police car, two officers noticed Lozano running on a rainy afternoon with his hands in his pockets. After turning their car around, officers saw him run up the stairs of an abandoned apartment building before stopping him and finding that he had a car radio, two screwdrivers and a wallet.

As a result of this stop, Lozano was eventually found guilty of burglary to a vehicle and possession of burglary tools.

Lozanos lawyer, Pamela Rubeo, argued the police violated Lozanos 4th Amendment right against unlawful search and seizure by stopping him for running in the rain.

The parties agree the officers needed reasonable suspicion of criminal activity at the inception of this stop, Rubeo told the court. Here, no such reasonable suspicion existed.

Assistant Attorney General Jalan Jaskot, who argued on behalf of the state, told the justices that police had reasonable suspicion by the time they stopped Lozano, citing the behavior that police observed as they approached Lozano for the stop.

This received some pushback from Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis, who referenced the lower courts opinion on the case.

According to the officers own testimony, the reason why he stopped him was to conduct a field interview and ask him why he was running, Theis noted during oral arguments. Why shouldnt we just accept that was the basis of the stop  as the officer himself described  and evaluate whether that was an appropriate Terry stop?

Jaskot responded that the officers saw Lozano flee to the abandoned building when they turned their car around and that while they were approaching, they saw a bulge in Lozanos front sweatshirt pocket, giving them reasonable suspicion for a Terry stop.

If the facts of this case were simply that the defendant was running in the rain, officers would not have the reasonable suspicion to conduct that Terry stop, Jaskot said after further questioning on the subject from the justices. However that is not all that we have. Very importantly, we also have the defendants evasive behavior where he did change that direction and run towards this building that appeared abandoned.

Rubeo also argued that some evidence in Lozanos trial was inappropriately introduced, as it was taken from statements Lozano gave during his arrest, without being given a Miranda warning, a set of notifications police are required to give people they arrest. These notifications include the right to remain silent, the right to an attorney and the warning that anything a defendant says can be used against them in court, among other things.

In their court filing, the attorney generals office argued that Lozano forfeited the chance to suppress the statements he made before being given a Miranda warning because his lawyers failed to bring it up in his trial.

The case will also be considered by the justices, although there is not a set timeline for how long they will take to deliver a final opinion.

Riding the circuit

The justices did not hear arguments for these cases at their typical venue at the Supreme Courts building in Springfield. Rather, the court was riding the circuit and heard arguments on the campus of Chicago State University on Chicagos South Side.

The court uses a version of the historical practice of judges traveling to district courts to raise public awareness and confidence in the judicial branch, according to Theis.

Its a practice that had been temporarily stalled in recent years amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The court held a virtual riding the circuit program in 2021 in conjunction with schools from the states Second Judicial District in northern Illinois. The courts previous in-person road trip took place in Sept. 2019 when arguments were heard at Lewis & Clark Community College in Godfrey.

It is the first time in our history of this court and our state that we have come to the First District here in Chicago, Theis told attendees of the arguments on Thursday.

Around 300 students from schools around the region attended the event. Following the oral arguments, students participated in a question-and-answer session with representatives of the Cook County Bar Association.
Orangeburg County School District has announced that a group of students from Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School will be participating as vendors at the Columbia Black Expo on May 13, 2023.

The expo, which runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., is a celebration of African American culture and entrepreneurship. The students will be showcasing an array of products and services, and the experience will provide them with valuable real-world business skills and exposure.

"I was fortunate enough to interact with our young entrepreneurs at the Bruin Expo earlier this spring, said Dr. Shawn D. Foster, Orangeburg County School District superintendent. It's exciting to see Mr. Darrin Thomas extend an invitation for them to participate in the Black Expo. Our students are extraordinary in their endeavors by consistently delivering high-quality products.

The Columbia Black Expo will be held at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center. For more information about the event, please visit the Expo's official website.
The Orangeburg County School District Board voted Tuesday to donate the former Nix Elementary School and Rivelon Elementary School to Orangeburg County for community use.

The board voted 5-2 to transfer the properties to the county.

Trustees Dr. William O'Quinn and Mary Berry Ulmer voted in opposition. Dr. Sylvia Bruce-Stephens and Idella Carson did not vote.

There was no money exchanged as part of the property transactions.

The transfer of properties is an offshoot of discussions the district had with the community about what would become of school buildings and properties the school district would no longer need or that would close as part of its district-wide $190 million building plan. The plan was approved by voters in November 2022.

The district had said at that time there would be hopes the properties no longer needed by the district would go toward community uses.

Rivelon Elementary and Edisto Primary School will combine for the 2023-24 school year.

Rivelon and Edisto Primary exclusively serve early learners in prekindergarten through second grade. The underutilized schools have bordering attendance lines.

The district is planning minor renovations at Edisto Primary School and transitioning Rivelon students to Edisto Primary. Rivelon would close.

Currently, the former Nix Elementary serves as district office space.

Orangeburg County Administrator Harold Young said there are no specific plans for the properties, noting that each council member will work with community leaders to determine what is needed and would be the best use for the properties.

In related matters, trustees received an update on the Rivelon and Edisto transition process.

Trustees were informed Rivelon faculty, staff and students have conducted tours of Edisto and that parents of Rivelon have met at Edisto primary.

The district has also installed a security fence at Edisto Primary where students transition from one building to another and secure access doors will be installed at the school.

As part of the combining of the two schools, a wall honoring Rivelon Elementary will also be placed in Edisto Primary that will include artifacts of Rivelon as well as a plaque honoring the school, school district officials said.

In other business:

Trustees unanimously approved maintaining its pay for summer school teachers at $50 an hour for certified staff and $25 an hour for classified staff. Summer school is scheduled for June 7 through June 29, four days a week. Teachers in elementary school teach about 6-1/2 hours and middle school teachers about 4-1/2 hours.

Orangeburg County School District graduations are scheduled for Friday, May 26, and Saturday, May 27, at the South Carolina State Universitys Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center.

Trustees approved updates to the clear-bag policy upon the recommendation of the S.C. School Boards Association. The policy does provide exceptions for medical usage and items that may need to be kept cool. The policy will be in place for this years graduation events.

Trustees were informed about 1,834 employee contracts, letters of agreement and support staff agreements published online for employees to review and that 419 had not been acted upon as of May 8. About 1,401 contracts were accepted and 14 were rejected.

Trustees recognized 21 of the districts Leadership Academy graduates.

The 18-month program aims to help form district leaders. The program consisted of the districts teachers, principals and assistant principals. It is the districts first Leadership Academy graduates.

Trustees recognized 18 Lake Marion Technology Center students for success in various career and technical student organization competitions.

Trustees recognized 21 students for receiving the South Carolina Department of Education's Seal of Biliteracy award.

The award is given in recognition of students who have studied and attained proficiency in two or more languages by high school graduation. It is the fourth year OCSD has recognized students for the award.

The first year the district had no students recipients. This year saw the highest total since the district began the award.

Recognized six Orangeburg Technology Center students who participated in the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America Students Taking Action with Recognition (STAR) Events.

Students are recognized for proficiency and achievement in chapter and individual projects, leadership skills and career preparation.

The first-place students will compete in the national competition in Denver in July.

Recognized Bethune-Bowman Elementary School reading interventionist Danielle Berry as the April Rookie Teacher of the Month.

Recognized Hunter-Kinard Tyler High School building-level supervisor and bus driver Lisa Moultrie as the April Employee of the Month. Moultrie has worked with the school district for 25 years.

Superintendent Shawn Foster thanked teachers for their work as part of Teacher Appreciation Week. He said district is delivering cupcakes to employees to show appreciation.

Trustee R.L. Poppy Brown wished all mothers a Happy Mothers Day.

The next board meeting is scheduled for June 14 at 6:30 p.m. at district headquarters 102 Founders Court in Orangeburg.
South Carolina State University faculty are part of a Clemson-led coalition of South Carolina researchers formed to modernize health care diagnostics and treatment in South Carolina with the use of artificial intelligence.

The National Science Foundation announced a $20 million, five-year investment in a multi-institutional project called Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Devices for the Advancement of Personalized and Transformative Health Care in South Carolina or ADAPT-SC.

Funding comes from NSFs Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Research Infrastructure Improvement Track-1 Award, which bolsters their overall goal to improve the research and development competitiveness of researchers and institutions within EPSCoR jurisdictions.

Clemson will lead a statewide team of researchers from 11 institutions who will work closely with industry to advance AI-enabled medical devices and to train an AI-ready workforce.

Translational research and economic development will be the cornerstones of ADAPT-SC, Clemson University President Jim Clements said. With an exceptional network of collaborators, ADAPT-SC is well positioned to reach all areas of South Carolina with life-saving health care technologies and a skilled workforce for the future. I want to thank our partners for joining this effort and NSF for investing in this cause.

SC States Department of Computer Science and Mathematics has a number of ongoing education, research and outreach activities in AI, machine learning and cybersecurity. The faculty is collaborating with faculties from the University of South Carolina, Medical University of South Carolina, Clemson University and the University North Carolina at Charlotte in related projects.

Through these projects we provide our undergraduate students with the undergraduate research experience, said Dr. Nikunja Swain, chair and professor of SC States Department of Computer Science and Mathematics. This collaborative project will further enhance these ongoing activities.

This will help us preparing next-generation AI, data science, and cybersecurity leaders through education, research, outreach, and collaborations, Swain said.

Swain will act as SC States lead researcher on the ADAPT-SC project. The SC State team also includes Dr. Jagruti Sahoo and Dr. Biswajit Biswal.

In addition to Clemson and SC State, collaborators include the University of South Carolina, the Medical University of South Carolina, Benedict College, Claflin University, College of Charleston, Francis Marion University, The Citadel, Winthrop University and Tri-County Technical College.

S.C. State AAUP chapter given new life South Carolina State University is poised to form its own chapter of an association which has helped to shape American higher education since 

To advance translational research, ADAPT also will work with SC Bio, a statewide economic development organization and life-sciences industry association with nearly 200 members.

Health innovation has long been a strength at Clemson, and we continue to build a strong platform in AI research. ADAPT will bring these two critical fields together to improve the quality of care and life in South Carolina, said Tanju Karanfil, principal investigator on the project and Clemson vice president for research. Ultimately, patients and their families will be the beneficiaries of what we believe will be life-saving research.

The project has three primary goals:

Build research capacity in AI-enabled biomedical devices in strategically identified areas to transform SCs health care system, particularly in underserved areas. Build a diverse talent pool in the field of biomedical AI through innovations in education and workforce development from K-12 through all levels of higher education. Foster interdisciplinary collaborations and academicindustrial partnerships by establishing research, education, and technology-transfer integrated programs.

Examples of ADAPT research projects include incorporating AI into diagnostic devices to illuminate some of the hidden underlying causes of cardiovascular disease, accurately detect wounds in intensive care units or predict the likely outcome of peripheral artery disease. Digital twins of patients will also be used to test AI-enabled therapy and rehabilitation plans for lung-cancer patients. ADAPT also will evaluate AI trustworthiness and device security.

Health care providers face numerous challenges diagnosing disease, or monitoring infections from traumatic injuries, or predicting likely outcomes of various treatment plans. It is an incredibly difficult job, but AI can remove some of those challenges, said Bruce Gao, ADAPT scientific lead and South Carolina SmartState Endowed Chair of biofabrication engineering at Clemson. In particular, AI can provide expedient information that will help physicians create a care of plan specific to each patients condition and medical history.

To advance the research, EPSCOR funds will support hiring five tenure-track faculty members and eight postdoctoral researchers throughout the state, as well as adding new computing and other infrastructure. The project involves more than 30 faculty members across the institutions and is expected to support training for more than 100 new PhD students and 400 undergraduate students. ADAPT will conduct outreach to encourage K-12 students throughout the state to explore careers in science, technology, engineering and math, and provide training to K-12 STEM educators.
(TBTCO) - Ngay 14/5, Bo truong Bo Tai chinh Ho uc Phoc - To truong To cong tac so 5 cua Thu tuong Chinh phu va oan cong tac sau khi i khao sat mot so du an, a co cuoc lam viec voi lanh ao 5 ia phuong ve tinh hinh san xuat kinh doanh, au tu cong, xay dung ha tang va xuat nhap khau.
Following a long, cold winter with heavy snowfall that killed off weak and young wildlife, four conservation projects are planned for Montana and Wyoming to help elk, pronghorn, deer and other species.

The work is targeted at improving wildlife migration corridors and habitat in northern, southeastern and southwest Montana, along with Wyoming. Without easy passage, animals can waste important energy when they are weak, become trapped or entangled and die.

The conservation projects funded this year by the Western Big Game Seasonal Habitat and Migration Corridors Fund will make great strides toward protecting species including pronghorn, mule deer and elk during their annual migrations and enhancing the rangeland habitats they need to survive and thrive, said Jeff Trandahl, executive director and CEO of National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, which administers the grant program. This years awards include two important projects in eastern Montana that will support efforts to secure much-needed migration routes for pronghorn and mule deer.

The four projects were awarded more than $1.82 million in federal funding to match money raised by conservation groups and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. In all, 13 projects in nine western states were awarded $4 million in grants.

Northeast

The work planned includes:

A project to improve 35 miles of fencing to wildlife-friendly standards in northern Montana and better grazing management on 15,500 private acres. The $415,400 grant, matched by Pheasants Forever, will also restore 1,866 acres of grassland.

Wildlife-friendly fencing puts a smooth wire on the bottom so pronghorns can crawl underneath, or it raises the bottom barbed-wire up. The top wire is lowered so game like deer and elk can more easily jump over.

The work is part of the Big Game Habitat Improvement Project, Big HIP, started in 2020. The project uses collared pronghorns to identify problem fences. Pheasant Forever is also working with the Montana Department of Transportation to identify landowners next to highway projects where fencing improvements can be made.

Southwest

In southwest Montanas Beaverhead County, almost all of the $407,100 being invested by the National Wildlife Federation was matched to improve big game movement  primarily pronghorn. By removing or modifying 40 miles of obsolete woven wire sheep fence over three years, the work is improving wildlife connectivity. The project is concentrated on the western side of the county.

Weve been working in southwest Montana on fence removal and modification projects since 2021 and have received a couple NFWF grants to support the work, said Kit Fischer, director of Wildlife Programs for the Federation in the Northern Rockies, Prairies and Pacific.

Almost 16 miles of fence has already been modified with another 10 miles targeted.

In 2020, a NWF study pointed to a need for fence modifications to aid winter pronghorn migrations between the Horse Prairie Valley and near Anaconda, a summering area.

Recent data has shown migration from the Dillon area west to the Big Hole Valley and north to the Upper Clark Fork watershed along the western boundary of I-15, NWF noted in its application for funding.

Southeast

In southeastern Montanas Custer, Rosebud, Powder River and Carter counties, $1.05 million was raised by the Montana Outdoor Legacy Foundation with another $275,000 grant awarded to work with landowners and organizations to improve big game habitat. To that end, the effort would include controlled burns across 10,000 acres, conifer removal, weed management on 50,000 acres and expansion of conservation easements to 50,000 acres. Twenty miles of fencing would be improved to wildlife-friendly standards. Another 75,000 acres is targeted for improved management with restoration on 20,000 acres.

Over the past few years research efforts led by FWP (Fish, Wildlife & Parks) have identified migratory movements and pathways that link populations between Montana and Wyoming, key barriers impacting movements, and winter habitats used by pronghorn and elk, wrote FWP director Hank Worsech in endorsing the project.

The grant request identified a vast area ranging from the Bighorn River through grasslands, sagebrush and forested lands to the borders of Wyoming and South Dakota and including the Powder and Tongue river drainages. The Miles City BLM Field Office has already replaced 170 miles of woven-wire and/or barrier fences since 2005.

Wyoming

The Wyoming work will improve forage as well as connectivity between seasonal ranges for mule deer and other wildlife that suffered heavy losses this winter. The $732,500 the Wyoming Game and Fish Department earmarked, which was matched by federal funds, will improve 25 miles of fencing, restore 3,050 acres of public land and remove invasive vegetation from 5,776 acres.

When combined with work planned in the other states, the projects will remove or improve 890 miles of fencing to wildlife-friendly standards; improve management on 903,000 acres of rangelands; restore 218,614 acres of public, private and tribal lands; place protective easements on 175,410 acres; and treat 13,000 acres for invasive plants.

Wildlife corridor connectivity is central to the Biden-Harris administrations all-of-government approach to addressing the impacts of the climate crisis and the impact of human activity on habitat, said Deputy Secretary Tommy Beaudreau in announcing the grants on Wednesday in Tucson, Arizona. Thanks to these types of holistic public-private partnerships, the Interior Department is making significant progress on migration corridor conservation.

Funding comes from the Improving Habitat Quality in Western Big Game Migration Corridors and Habitat Connectivity program. The program is administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in-part through annual appropriations funding from the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of Agriculture.
POWELL  When Chris Baltz, East Entrance fee supervisor at Yellowstone National Park, saw a car parked in front of the closed entrance Thursday evening before dark, he thought the visitors were mistaken about the parks opening schedule. This is his first season in the park.

He approached the vehicle to advise the occupants, only to find they were well aware of the Friday morning schedule and intended to wait until 8 a.m. to save their place as first in line.

Stacy Boisseau and her crew  daughters Kiya and Hailey McIntosh have now been first in line to enter the East Entrance for the past five seasons. They arrive earlier each year for the tradition of the supervisor swinging the gates open on the first Friday in May, trying to extend their record of being first.

They were down one crew member; Grace McIntosh, a fifth-grade student at Southside Elementary School who had been there the four previous years, decided to skip the trip to preserve her perfect attendance record.

Shes part of the student leadership team this year. Shes very dedicated  smarter than the rest of us, said Kiya.

Baltz was inspired by their love for the park and, after heading back to his park residence for about an hour, returned to the family with a surprise.

He brought us a big bowl of popcorn, Boisseau said.

They were shocked, but grateful for the treat. The last thing Baltz did before opening the gate was to collect his stainless steel bowl, pose for a couple pictures with the group and congratulate the East Gate gang on their persistence.

Hes such a cool guy. Im so grateful for him to have this opportunity, Kiya said.

Baltz is a military veteran, and is working in Yellowstone for his first season. He previously worked at Glacier and Grand Canyon national parks and was a postmaster before scoring the job with the National Park Service.

It was raining when the group arrived at the gate. But then, early Friday morning around 1 a.m., the clouds cleared, revealing the stars.

It was gorgeous, Boisseau said.

The group stayed up through the night reminiscing and waiting for sunrise. The second vehicle in line arrived at about 4:30 a.m., she said. By 7 a.m. there were still only seven vehicles in line  which is far fewer than normal.

It was the shortest Ive ever seen it. We usually have cars stretched out around the corner by now, she said pointing back toward the Shoshone National Forest. By the time the sun comes up, I can usually see dozens [of vehicles] in line behind us.

By 8 a.m. there were a couple dozen vehicles in line, all getting through quickly as officials opened three lines to process the guests. Park officials reported it was an average opening day for visitation.

The weather and snow levels in the park may have been factors affecting the number of visitors coming in, said Linda Veress in the Public Affairs Office.

The snow closed several hiking paths and those wishing to see early spring favorites, like the Harlequin ducks congregating at Le Hardy Rapids, had to make their way through snow, slush and water for a close view.

But visitors seemed to be happy to play in the snow, with several small snowmen built along the way, including at Lake Butte Overlook and near Fishing Bridge.

Traffic in the east section of the park was light through the day, but was fairly congested near the North Gate and throughout the Mammoth and Old Faithful corridors.

Most of the folks entering through the East Gate appeared to be from Wyoming, although a couple had traveled from Iowa for the annual spring opening and a group from Spain traveled all the way to the Lamar Valley, gawking at bison near the road, including a few red dogs (baby bison) and a grizzly munching on roots by the Lamar River just after noon.

Park officials warn visitors that they should anticipate temporary road closures near Sylvan Pass because of increased avalanche danger from recent snowfall and warm temperatures and to watch for quickly changing weather conditions.

Many areas of the park are still experiencing winter conditions and snow and ice may cover sections of road, said Morgan Warthin in the Public Affairs Office.

There was more snow than in recent years in the east section of the park, with some drifts taller than trucks moving through the area. The depth of the snow slowed wildlife viewing, with many of the bison, elk and deer stacked up near Mammoth Hot Springs, which didnt get as much snow as areas south of the headquarters.

Roads to open this coming Friday, May 12, include the South Entrance to West Thumb, West Thumb to Lake Village, and West Thumb to Old Faithful (Craig Pass). Tower Junction to Tower Fall Road is planned to open by Memorial Day weekend, May 26 at 8 a.m. and includes Dunraven Pass.

While the Northeast Gate is open for business, the section of U.S. Highway 212 between Cooke City and the Chief Joseph Highway has yet to be plowed. The area was hit hard by snow  fairly common  and is usually open by Memorial Day. Residents of the gateway community said crews are already working on opening the road.

May 7-13 is National Travel and Tourism Week. Established in 1983, the event is an annual tradition when the U.S. Travel Association and the entire industry come together to celebrate the power of travel as an economic driver for the U.S. economy. This years event marks its 40th anniversary.

A National Park Service report released last summer shows the 4.9 million visitors to Yellowstone National Park in 2021 spent over $630 million in communities near the park. That spending supported 8,736 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $834 million.

The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by economists at the National Park Service and the U.S. Geological Survey. The report shows $20.5 billion of direct spending by more than 297 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park.

This spending supported 322,600 jobs nationally; 269,900 of those jobs are found in these gateway communities. The cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy was $42.5 billion.

As for the economics of visitor spending, the lodging sector had the highest direct effects, with $7 billion in economic output nationally. The restaurants sector had the second greatest effects, with $4.2 billion in economic output nationally, the report stated.
Mothers Day, which is being celebrated around the world today, remains one of the best opportunities to honour the matriarch of the family.

Some people have bought flowers, gift baskets, electronics and other items to celebrate mothers today. Others will be preparing their mothers favourite dish to honour her.
The Government is doing itself and the public a complete disservice by rushing to introduce far-reaching legislative changes without the benefit of thorough research, analysis and consultation.

An immediate example is the Trial by Judge Alone Bill, 2023, which attempts to disband jury trials for all capital and non-capital indictable matters except in cases where the accused asks to be tried by judge and jury. If passed into law, these persons who request jury trial will have a smaller panel of nine jurors instead of the current 12 .
BOISE, Idaho  A jury convicted Idaho mother Lori Vallow Daybell on Friday in the murders of her two youngest children and a romantic rival, a verdict that culminates a three-year investigation that included bizarre claims that her son and daughter were zombies and she was a goddess sent to usher in the Biblical apocalypse.

Prosecutors in the case described Vallow Daybell as a power-hungry manipulator who would kill her two youngest children for money, while the defense team said she was normally protective mother who fell under the romantic sway of a wannabe cult leader.

Jurors heard both stories Thursday during final arguments in the seven-week long trial, and deliberated for about four hours before breaking for the evening. They resumed deliberations Friday morning and reached a verdict, which was announced shortly after noon.

Vallow Daybell was convicted of conspiring to commit the murders of 7-year-old Joshua "JJ" Vallow, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, and Tammy Daybell. She was also convicted of grand theft as well as first-degree murder of the two children, a charge that indicates a more direct role in the crimes.

Vallow Daybell's fifth husband, Chad Daybell, faces the same charges, but his trial is still months away.

Prosecutors say the two worked with Vallow Daybell's brother, Alex Cox, to carry out the crimes. Cox died in December 2019 and was never charged.

Vallow Daybell faces up to life in prison at sentencing, which a judge said would be in at least three months.

JJ's grandparents, Larry and Kay Woodcock, held an emotional news conference outside court and at one point Larry Woodcock began to sing the Willie Neslon song "The Party's Over."

"JJ, I love you," he said, choking up. "It started with two children. I said, 'Where are the children? Where are the children?  Give me back my children," he said. "This is not the end of this."

Prosecutors said they were not able to comment on the verdict because of pending charges against Chad Daybell. They thanked jurors for their service and said they "remain committed to pursuing justice for Tylee Ryan, JJ Vallow and Tammy Daybell."

Vallow Daybell wanted the victims' money, so she used sex and power to manipulate her brother and her lover into carrying out the crimes, Madison County Prosecutor Rob Wood told jurors during closing arguments.

"Money, power and sex," Wood said, reprising the arguments his team made at the start of the trial. He claimed Vallow Daybell considered the three victims nothing more than obstacles to her goals.

"What does justice for these victims require? It requires a conviction on each and every count," Wood said.

Defense attorney Jim Archibald countered that there was no evidence tying his client to the killings but plenty showing she was a loving, protective mother whose life took a sharp turn when she met her fifth husband, Chad Daybell, and fell for the "weird" apocalyptic religious claims of a cult leader.

He suggested that Daybell and Cox were the ones responsible for the deaths, and that Vallow Daybell's only crime was lying to police about where her children were.

Daybell told her they were married in several previous lives and she was a "sexual goddess" who was supposed to help him save the world by gathering 144,000 followers so Jesus could return, Archibald said.

"Why can't people escape religious cult figures, why can't they break out, why can't they break away from that mind control?" Archibald said. "Promises are marvelous to some people even if they sound like stupid gibberish to the rest of us."

At times, the testimony in the case has been heartbreaking  such as when Vallow Daybell's only surviving child, Colby Ryan, accused her of murdering his siblings in a recorded jailhouse phone call.

Other testimony has been strange, such as when Vallow Daybell's former friend Melanie Gibb testified that Vallow Daybell believed people in her life had been taken over by evil spirits and turned into "zombies"  including JJ and Tylee. Four of the people the defendant described as "zombies" were later killed or shot at, according to the testimony.

It has also been gruesome, such as when law enforcement officers testified about finding JJ and Tylee's remains buried in Chad Daybell's yard.

The case began in July 2019, when Vallow Daybell's then-husband, Charles Vallow, was shot and killed by her brother, Alex Cox, at his home in a Phoenix suburb. The husband and wife were estranged, and he had filed divorce documents claiming that she believed she was a goddess sent to usher in the Biblical apocalypse.

Cox told police he acted in self-defense, and he was never charged in connection with the death. Cox died later that year of what authorities determined were natural causes. Vallow Daybell was later charged in Arizona in connection with Charles Vallow's death; she has not yet had the opportunity to enter a plea in that case.

According to prosecutors, Vallow Daybell was already in a relationship with Chad Daybell, who was still married to his wife, Tammy Daybell, at the time. She moved to eastern Idaho with her brother and kids to be closer to Chad Daybell.
Lakes Powell and Mead, the depleted symbols of the Colorado Rivers water crisis, are unlikely to ever fill again, several water experts say.

This years extremely heavy snowpack in the rivers Upper Basin states will produce the rivers second highest annual flow of the 21st century, federal forecasts show. The river is expected to bring 18.6 million acre-feet of water to Lees Ferry, lying between Glen Canyon Dam and the Grand Canyon in northern Arizona, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation predicts.

The flow is likely to be 80% to 140% greater than the river has carried in any of the previous three years, federal records show.

But given the reservoirs precarious conditions, with both carrying 25% to 30% of their capacity today, it would take another four or five consecutive years of high flows like this one to fill Powell and Mead again, said Brad Udall, a Colorado State University climate scientist, and Eric Kuhn, a water researcher and former general manager of the Colorado River Water Conservation District in Glenwood Springs, Colo.

Thats highly unlikely or impossible, with the river carrying about 20% less water, on average, each year than it did during the 20th century, Udall and Kuhn said.

Were in a century with extreme climate change that is reducing flows in most years due to human-caused increases in heat, Udall said.

Officials in Reclamations Upper and Lower Basin offices didnt respond to questions from the Star about whether they agree with Udall and Kuhns gloomy outlook for the lakes.

But at a federally sponsored webinar held Tuesday, May 9, Paul Miller, a hydrologist for the federal Colorado River Basin Forecast Center, said he believes it could take even six to eight years like this one to refill all the reservoirs in the rivers Upper Colorado River Basin, plus Lake Mead in the Lower Colorado River Basin  which probably isnt very likely.

Miller noted that Jennifer Pitt, a longtime Colorado River activist for the National Audubon Society, has recently concluded that if we had normal snowpack conditions for three straight years and also zero water use, wed refill the majority of the Upper Colorado Basin reservoirs. Miller based his six- to eight-year estimate on Pitts logic, but knowing we are not ever going to not use water.

The webinar was sponsored by the National integrated Drought Information System, a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospherics Administration. A second speaker, Andrew Hoell, a research meteorologist for NOAAs physical sciences laboratory, said Millers back of the envelope calculations are realistic.

While the lack of soil moisture due to hot, dry springs and summers has repeatedly held down runoff into Lake Powell in recent years, this year, Things are copacetic now. Theyre great, Hoell said.

The snow is going to run off and replenish the soil moisture. But it will take longer for reservoirs to recharge. They need the sustained behavior for many years. We need to go into a wet regime to refill those reservoirs.

Cutting water use

The reservoirs are in bad enough shape that the bureau is studying two alternatives for curbing consumption of river water by the Lower Basin states of Arizona, California and Nevada by 2 million to 4 million acre-feet a year. Such a cut, starting next year, would be equivalent to up to nearly 30% of current levels of use.

Such reductions are needed to insure the lakes dont fall so low that their dams can no longer generate electricity, let alone to dead pool, in which no water could be extracted from them, bureau officials have said.

The bureau is expected to announce a final decision on cuts by August. Arizona and the six other river basin states water officials are trying to negotiate their own agreement to avoid taking more draconian, federally imposed reductions.

But the reservoirs situation may not be hopeless even if they dont refill. Even in todays drier climate, its still possible the river could get enough consecutive years of better than average flows  as occurred during the late 1990s  to give the Colorado a breather and stave off drastic cuts for awhile, Kuhn and Udall said. While such a string of wet weather years wouldnt fill the lakes, they would lift their levels to at least half full.

The river carried 21.6, 16.6 and 15.8 million acre-feet a year, respectively, from 1997 through 1999. All three flows were well above the Colorados average, annual natural flow of 15 million acre-feet during the 1900s  an average that has fallen sharply since then. Since 2000, the Colorado has never had even two consecutive years of above-normal flows, federal records show.

Maybe that would not completely fill the reservoirs, but it would certainly give us plenty of maneuvering room, Kuhn said.

While agreeing with Kuhn, Udall added, Ive always said that we could get a string of wet years but that the overall aridification trend in the long run means it will get hotter and drier over time. Not every year will be hotter and not every year will be drier, but thats our future.

But even if the river had three wet years combined with 4 million acre-feet annually in water use curbs, that would still not refill the reservoirs entirely, he said.

More importantly, I cannot envision any set of circumstances ever where once these reservoirs went to half full that anyone would want to endure the pain of 4 million acre-feet a year cuts, Udall said. Historically, this whole system has been designed to push out as much water as possible every year.

Pattern: Dry years after wet ones

The last time the Colorado had four lush years in a row was also the last time both reservoirs filled: 1983 through 1986.

In those years, the river regularly experienced flooding, sometimes very serious. Between 21 million to 24 million acre-feet a year poured through Lees Ferry, a natural corridor between Utah and Arizona where the federal government measures river flows.

Thats more water than all the Colorados 13 major reservoirs are storing today. The last time Powell and Mead came even close to filling was in 1999.

The mid-80s were part of an unusually wet era on the river that stretched from the late 1970s to the late 1990s. Since then, the Colorado River Basin, along with the entire Southwest, has suffered through its worst drought in 1,200 years.

Considering the magnitude of the 20th century flows . . . the unprecedented warmth since the 1970s, the repeated low flows since 2000, and additional certain warmth going forward due to continuing massive greenhouse gas emissions, the only possible conclusion is that a system refill is exceedingly unlikely, said Udall. Son of the late, longtime U.S. Rep. Mo Udall of Tucson, he has been at the forefront of scientists warning about risks to the river from climate change since the early 2000s.

Lake Powell in early May stood 25% full, at about 3,525 feet. At the same time, Mead stood at 29% full, at 1,049 feet elevation.

Udall noted that over the past decade or so, a pattern has developed in which very wet years in 2011, 2017 and 2019 were followed by one or more very dry years.

In fact, 2018 had the lowest precipitation across the rivers Upper Basin of any year since 1895, when records started being kept. The 23-year period ending in 2022 also had the lowest 23-year average precipitation on record, he said.

Yes, climate change can provide very wet years like this year  and we should expect these years  but they will not make up for the more frequent hot and dry intervening years, Udall said.

Kuhn noted that many forecasters are already predicting that the upcoming winter of 2023-24 will be an El Nino winter, in which the Southwest gets unusually heavy rains and in which the Colorados Upper Basin can but doesnt always get unusually heavy winter precipitation. The Upper Basin states include Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
Southern Arizona could be on the cusp of a mining boom, with two major projects now in the works in mountain ranges east of Tucson.

Australian mining giant South32 wants to tunnel underground in the Patagonia Mountains near the U.S.-Mexico border in search of zinc and manganese, two critical minerals used to make electric vehicle batteries and other products for the growing clean-power economy.

On Monday, the proposed $1.7 billion Hermosa project became the first mine to be accepted into an Obama-era program aimed at streamlining the federal permitting process for what is considered critical infrastructure.

Meanwhile, in the Galiuro Mountains, about 100 miles to the north, Canada-based Faraday Copper is assembling property in hopes of developing an open-pit and underground copper mine in the steep hills 10 miles from Mammoth.

Faraday touts the site as one of the largest undeveloped copper resources in North America, with an estimated yield of 4.2 billion pounds of copper and a net value of $713 million.

South32 officials say their Hermosa property is sitting on one of the worlds largest undeveloped zinc deposits, as well as what could be the only viable site in North America capable of producing battery-grade manganese from local ore.

Both of the proposed mines are located in historic mining districts that date back to the 1800s, but neither site has seen significant activity for decades.

South32 spokeswoman Jenny Fiore-Magana said the company is expected to make a final decision on whether to proceed with underground mining in the Patagonia Mountains later this year. If developed as planned, the project would represent the single largest investment in the history of Santa Cruz County.

The company acquired Hermosa in 2018 and began voluntary remediation at the site, about 9 miles southeast of the town of Patagonia, the following year to clean up historic mine waste left by a previous operator.

Fiore-Magana said the initial mining work can be done without federal permits on the private land the company owns, but full development of the project will require some activities that touch on surrounding federal lands and therefore require federal review.

Hermosa hopes to obtain the permits it needs from the U.S. Forest Service and others in expedited fashion through its recent inclusion in FAST-41, a comprehensive federal infrastructure review program created by the bipartisan Fixing Americas Surface Transportation Act signed into law by President Obama in 2015.

Uphill fight

South32 operates 11 mines on three continents and is the worlds largest producer of manganese ore. According to the company, there has been no manganese mining in the U.S. since the 1970s, leaving the country to rely on foreign sources for its entire supply of the mineral.

Both manganese and zinc are designated as critical minerals by the U.S. Geological Survey. President Biden has authorized an increase in domestic mining and processing of manganese and four other strategic minerals under the Defense Production Act to help strengthen the large-capacity battery supply chain.

In some ways, its this crazy fight between critical habitat and critical minerals, said Russ McSpadden, southwest conservation advocate for the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity.

According to McSpadden, the Patagonia Mountains are home to a number of rare and protected species that could be impacted by a major mining operation, including ocelot, Mexican spotted owl and Pima pineapple cactus.

The Hermosa mine also threatens to further fragment critical habitat for one of Southern Arizonas most elusive residents. Weve fought for two decades to get the jaguar protected in the borderlands, McSpadden said, only to see those protected areas gradually picked apart by developments like this one.

Even so, he said Southern Arizonas two newest mining projects have largely been flying under the radar so far, as national environmental groups focus most of their attention on the Rosemont mine expansion in the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson and the Resolution Copper project at Oak Flat, east of Superior.

That has left local conservationists to challenge the projects.

Carolyn Shafer is president of the Patagonia Area Resource Alliance, a local nonprofit dedicated to preserving natural areas in and around their small town 60 miles southeast of Tucson.

The small band of volunteer activists has been battling plans to open a mine in the mountains above Patagonia for years. They worry about how the pollution, noise, dust, traffic and groundwater pumping associated with such a project will affect their community and the treasured wildlands surrounding it.

The health and economic prosperity of our region are tied deeply to the well-being of the Patagonia Mountains and the Sonoita Creek watershed, which are the source of our drinking water, clean air and the biological wealth that drives our regional nature-based economy, Shafer said.

If the Hermosa mine has to be built, she said, it must be done responsibly, transparently and with strict oversight to ensure its owner is held accountable in order to avoid short-sighted destruction of natural resources in pursuit of corporate profits.

But given the choice, Shafer would prefer to see nothing built at all.

These mountains are no doubt filled with a lot of minerals, but these mountains are also filled with a lot of species of wildlife, she said. The first tenet of responsible mining should be that there are some places that should not be mined.

Boom and bust

Its unclear what sorts of federal reviews and permits the Copper Creek project might require.

A promotional video released by Faraday earlier this month depicts as many as six open pits at the site about 55 miles northeast of Tucson. The video also shows a massive, underground block-cave mining operation like the one that eventually caused a large sinkhole to develop next to the pit at the long-shuttered San Manuel copper mine.

In March, Faraday announced the purchase of a ranch surrounding its proposed project. The $10 million deal for the Mercer Ranch included 6,000 acres of private land and 32,000 acres of grazing allotments along the mines namesake creek in Pinal County.

The company said the Mercer family would continue to operate the ranch on the property.

In an online overview of the project, Faraday describes the area around Copper Creek as politically-secure with access to established mining infrastructure.

That sounds about right to environmental advocate Peter Else, who lives along the San Pedro River just outside Mammoth.

Us grassroots conservationists are still in the minority, he said.

Else worries about impacts to Copper Creek and the surrounding area from groundwater withdrawals, heavy equipment use and endless truck traffic, as ore is hauled away from the mine to be processed offsite.

He said the project would also disrupt a migration corridor for wildlife moving between the Galiuros and the Catalinas by way of the Lower San Pedro Valley.

Ironically, one of the properties most likely to be impacted by the mine is a ranch along the San Pedro near Mammoth that was set aside for conservation mitigation as part of a 2014 land swap that gave Resolution Copper its controversial Oak Flat site.

Else said the old 7B Ranch and its 800-acre mesquite bosque lies downslope from the mine and downstream from the spot where Copper Creek empties into the San Pedro. As a result, land that was meant to offset the damage from one mining project could now be at risk from another mining project.

These mitigation designations get degraded every time this happens. Its just a really sad situation, Else said. How do you mitigate the impacts to dedicated mitigation land? I dont think you can.

But he also knows that plenty of his neighbors in their quiet corner of Pinal County would welcome a major new mine to the area, even if its benefits are temporary and its drawbacks might not be.

Yeah, theyll get an economic boost in Mammoth, but theyll be left again when the mine plays out or shuts down because of a dip in copper prices, he said. Its a familiar cycle in Arizona mine country, where boom-and-bust communities sometimes end up with little more than a mess to clean up.
Up until Wednesday, the University of Arizona provosts website inaccurately claimed Vice Provost for Campus Life and Dean of Students Kendal Washington White holds a doctorate in educational leadership from Northern Arizona University.

Her personal profile on LinkedIn, an online space for professionals to post their resumes and network within their fields, also listed her participation in a doctoral degree program from 2017-2020, until the Arizona Daily Star questioned Washington Whites purported credentials on Wednesday. That line on her online resume made no distinction about the doctorate being incomplete or in progress, and was listed in the same style as her completed degrees.

Washington White does not have a doctorate. It took the Arizona Daily Star two phone calls to confirm it.

A call to the registrar at NAU earlier this week confirmed that Washington White started a doctoral program in educational leadership there but never finished. A second call to the universitys department of education leadership also confirmed this. While she does hold a masters degree in education from NAU, she did not complete the doctoral program.

UA, White updated webpages

Within hours of the Star asking Washington White about these discrepancies on Wednesday, the UA provosts webpage, which hosted the incorrect information about a doctorate, was updated to say Kendal Washington White holds a Master of Education degree from Northern Arizona University.

In response to questions about these discrepancies, Washington White emailed this statement to the Star on Thursday evening:

I have always been transparent that I have not completed my doctoral degree at Northern Arizona University, she said. Any errors or misstatements on how the status of my doctoral candidacy was presented online were inadvertence and have been addressed. What is most important is that I lead, partner, and support students, faculty, and staff.

Washington White has worked in the UA Dean of Students office since 2009. In 2013, the UA named her interim dean of students and selected her to permanently fill the role in 2014. Nearly 10 years later, Washington White, who is responsible for providing leadership in the areas of student accountability, academic integrity among other duties, receives an annual salary of $208,314.

To get the job, Washington White added, I participated in a nationwide search from a consultant and earned the position per my credentials and performance.

A spokesperson for the UA administration, Pam Scott, offered no further explanation about how or why the provosts website indicated Washington White had a doctorate, and said the deans statement covers everything.

Reference to a doctoral degree have also been removed from Washington Whites LinkedIn page in the past two days, in addition to some other modifications. The page still states that she earned a bachelors degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1989. For her masters in education from NAU, it indicates she started the program in 1997, but does not have an end date. It previously stated she completed the masters degree in 1998, and the Star has confirmed that with the degree-granting department.

Where her LinkedIn profile once listed a doctorate in educational leadership earned between 2017-2020, it now lists an unspecified program of study at NAU started in 2017 with no end date.

Although White is the likely arbiter of her own LinkedIn page, it is not clear who made those erroneous modifications to the provosts website, why or exactly when.

A search using the Wayback Machine  which periodically takes screenshots of webpages and archives them  revealed that as of Jan. 26, 2022, Washington Whites page on the provosts website only listed her title and contact information, with no mention of her credentials. But by Nov. 30, 2022 (which is the next available screenshot in the Wayback Machines archive), the provosts website had been updated to state Washington White held a doctorate.

Not a victimless error

Experts say regardless of how it happened, its inexcusable for a university to have incorrect credentials about an employee, no less a top administrator, on its own website for months.

The impact on students can be real and traumatic. This is not a victimless crime, said Sarah Eaton, an associate professor of education at the University of Calgary. She recently co-authored the book, Fake Degrees and Credential Fraud in Higher Education, and has studied this issue at length.

Regardless of how Washington Whites credentials were misrepresented, the fact remains that there (were) inaccuracies on an institutional website and this persons LinkedIn, Eaton said in an interview Thursday. To exemplify integrity and ethics those things should be clarified.

Although Eaton could not comment on the specific situation regarding Washington White and the UA, she said that from the outside looking in, the irony here is difficult to ignore, because the dean of students typically has the power to discipline students, which is true at the UA. Youve got somebody disciplining students for misconduct when they themselves have exhibited  at the very least  questionable behavior.

Eaton said there is no data on how common it is for higher education professionals to inflate their credentials, but that it happens frequently enough to be a known issue that colleges and universities need to avoid because it can undermine institutional credibility.

Eaton acknowledged that not all roles at a university  even one like dean of students  necessarily require a doctorate to do excellent work and serve students. But because modern society often privileges those with more credentials, some people are motivated to embellish their expertise, she said.

Part of Washington Whites defense of this discrepancy is that regardless of what the website said, the UA dean said whats most important is that I lead, partner, and support students, faculty, and staff.

The problem with that line of defense, according to Eaton, is it ignores the integrity issue at hand.
PHOENIX  An attorney for failed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake told a judge Friday he has new bombshell evidence that on-site ballot tabulators either were intentionally tinkered with or infected with malware.

Kurt Olsen said Maricopa County says the reasons many ballots printed at vote centers could not be read by the tabulators was due to unauthorized changes to the settings on the printers. That resulted in many ballots being printed at the wrong size.

The new evidence ... shows that that was absolutely false, he told Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson. This could not be caused by a printer setting change on site.

But Deputy Maricopa County Attorney Joseph La Rue told the judge the claimed bombshell is nothing more than a dud. He said Olsen knows that because the county responded point-by-point to each of the allegations.

Thompson has not said when he will issue a ruling.

Lakes new claims

Olsen said a post-election review of the problems performed by a team headed by former Arizona Supreme Court Justice Ruth McGregor found machines malfunctioned.

None of the technical experts that they consulted with could explain how or why that occurred, he said. Thats malware or it is somebody remotely accessing the printer.

Another new piece of information, Olsen said, was that printers failed on Election Day at 58% of vote centers, far more than known at the time of a trial over Lakes lawsuit against the election results, when Thompson previously threw out that claim.

Changes made to equipment prior to Election Day voided the legally required logic and accuracy tests, Olsen said.

He contended thats all clear misconduct and intent.

This evidence would support our allegation that this election was rigged, he said.

However, Thompson ruled in December that Lakes legal team presented no evidence of misconduct that would allow him to overturn the results, in which Republican Lake lost the governors race to Democrat Katie Hobbs in November. That decision was upheld by the Arizona Supreme Court.

Olsen said Friday, however, all this information was not available at the time, telling Thompson that allows him to relitigate the issue and give Lake a new chance to seek to overturn the results.

The countys rebuttal

Maricopa Countys La Rue disagreed.

What we said was either ignored or misrepresented, La Rue told the judge. There was no shocking bombshell, he said. There was no violation of logic and accuracy tests.

In fact, he said, those tests were observed by members of Lakes own Republican Party.

La Rue said the same election program that passed the tests was placed in each of the tabulators used in the election. Thats the shocking bombshell that Lake wants to grab hold of, he said.

Also, La Rue said Lake effectively is presenting entirely new legal arguments about equipment malfunctions, something he said cannot be done months after the case was decided  and months after Hobbs already was installed as governor.

Lake alleges misconduct

Whether Lake gets a do-over is only part of what Thompson needs to decide.

The Arizona Supreme Court directed him to look at whether there is evidence that Maricopa County did not follow its own procedures to verify the accuracy of signatures on early ballot envelopes.

Olsen told the judge there is evidence to show at least 175,000 early mail-in ballots out of more than 1.3 million cast in Maricopa County were illegally counted  far more than Hobbs 17,117-vote margin of victory  because the county ignored signature verification requirements.

We have a mathematical basis to show that the election should be overturned, Lakes attorney said. Olsen said the countys actions constitute misconduct, which is a basis to set aside the results.

But an attorney for Hobbs, Abha Khanna, told the judge the evidence Olsen claims simply does not exist.

Three part-time workers who were doing first-level signature verifications claimed they rejected anywhere from 15% to 40% of signatures as not matching voter registration records.

Khanna said even if that is true, it ignores that this is a multi-level process. She said other, better-trained individuals then reviewed the signatures on the envelopes with others already on file from the same voters.

She acknowledged that Lake contends there were not enough observers overseeing that second-level verification. Lake makes a similar allegation about people watching the cure process, where county election workers contact the voters and verify if, in fact, they submitted the ballots with the questioned signatures.

But that isnt enough to sustain a claim and overturn an election, Khanna said.

Absent from these declarations is any allegation that Maricopa County failed to comply with the signature-matching statute, with the Elections Procedure Manual or the Maricopa County elections plan, Khanna said.

She similarly told the judge to ignore various claims Lake made about the 2020 election, including findings by then-Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, that it would have been impossible for the county to verify as many signatures as it claimed.

Even if all that is true  and Khanna makes no concession  she said it doesnt legally matter.

The 2020 election is no more relevant or informative of what happened in this (2022) election than is an election that took place in New Mexico or Florida, she said.

Olsen disagreed, saying that, if nothing else, it shows Maricopa County has a pattern and practice of ignoring signature requirements.

He said anywhere from 325,000 to 540,000 early ballots were flagged by first-level reviewers as not matching, all of which had to be reviewed by higher-level staff.

There was simply not enough time, minutes in the day, for the Level 2 reviewers to do a review, Olsen said. The math simply doesnt add up. As a consequence, clearly mismatched signatures which were not cured and were illegal, were entered into the system.

But Khanna said Lake has yet to provide any evidence this would have affected the results of the 2022 election.

Ms. Lake, I think, misunderstands the standards to think that by throwing out a host of numbers that that somehow provides a competent mathematical basis, Khanna said. What Lake offers instead, she said, are untethered assertions of uncertainty.

Theyre untethered to actual ballots, theyre untethered to this election, and theyre wholly untethered to reality, she said.
Loy Calhoun, who served as Sand Springs city manager for two decades from 1986 to 2006, was presented Monday evening with the 2023 John M. Hess Municipal Award for Outstanding Citizenship.

At a special City Council meeting, Mayor Jim Spoon read aloud a proclamation listing the reasons councilors saw fit to honor Calhoun.

Among the accomplishments noted was that he played an integral role in helping to secure a dedicated water source  the Skiatook Reservoir  for residents of both Sand Springs and Sapulpa and was a leader in facilitating the innovative Skiatook Raw Water Conveyance System, a joint venture with Sapulpa to deliver water from the lake to each city.

The proclamation also noted Calhouns foresight and active role in the early 2000s in bringing to fruition the Keystone Corridor Project, which began as an investment of $14.5 million in Vision 2025 tax monies for redevelopment of 30 acres between Oklahoma 97 and Main Street and U.S. 412 and Morrow Road. Today, that area is known as the RiverWest development.

Councilor Mike Burdge, who also was on the council during Calhouns tenure as city manager, part of that time as mayor, said that there would have been no (Sand Springs Vision 2025 proposal) if it hadnt been for Loy.

One of the most prominent features of RiverWest is a park the city established in 2020, named in honor of Bessie Crawford Zackery, the first African American teacher to serve in the desegregated Sand Springs school system.

Zackery was a graduate and valedictorian of  and eventually a teacher at  Booker T. Washington School, which was demolished as part of the Keystone Corridor Project.

Today, the park is joined in RiverWest by a hotel, grocery store, medical office, pharmacy and a credit union, as well as a number of retail shops and restaurants.

In fact, Spoon noted the appropriateness of the timing of the honor for Calhoun, pointing out that the very last lot (in RiverWest) was sold in the last week or so. So that project is done.

A Planet Fitness facility is projected to be built and opened before years end at 100 W. Morrow Road, just south of Coltons Steak House & Grill.

Calhoun thanked the council for the honor, adding that the efforts of many other people were critical to the successes for which he was being recognized.

I very much appreciate this, and it wouldnt have happened without all of you, he said. I am grateful and thankful that I had the opportunity to go through that process, and those jobs, and those arguments and endeavors. It was a wonderful experience, and I am grateful for it.

The two immediate past recipients of the John M. Hess Award also were in the audience  Mayme Crawford, the 2022 honoree, and Michael Phillips, who received the award in 2021.

Calhoun said in an interview earlier Monday that he couldnt choose one accomplishment that stood out above all the others, although besides the Skiatook water project and the RiverWest project he mentioned how pleased he was about the twin developments of Tulsa Community Colleges West Campus and the Armed Forces Reserve Center, both on 41st Street near 81st West Avenue.

Construction began in 1994 on the TCC campus, which was expected to open the following fall. Although delays pushed the campus ready date back to 1996, classes still began in August 1995, Sand Springs Leader archives show.

The city, the Charles Page Library, Sand Springs and Berryhill public schools, the First Presbyterian Church and BancFirst all reportedly provided space for classrooms until the campus could be finished.

The 15-acre Armed Forces Reserve Center was the first in the state to combine two military branches  the Oklahoma National Guard and the U.S. Army Reserves, according to Tulsa World reports from the time. The roughly $10 million project was funded by the federal government, but the city spent $90,000 for the site and then donated the land for the project.

Calhoun said at the time the project was announced that the location of a military establishment would be an asset to any community.

Theres great economical benefits to be had here, he said. People use the services nearest them. This will not only promote more growth in housing, but retail too. This is an opportunity every community hopes to get.

Calhoun grew up in Tulsa and moved to Sand Springs in 1970 to take a job as a purchasing agent for the city. He also had brief stints as the citys public works director and assistant city manager before being named the city manager in May 1986 after the death of Inez Kirk, who had been the city manager for 10 years.

Before venturing into city management, Calhoun had been a homebuilder in the area.

In January 2006, on the occasion of announcing his impending retirement from city service, he said it was probably time to take a look at doing something a little different.

Twenty years is a long tour of duty in a position like this, Calhoun told a Tulsa World reporter. I think this ones been rewarding, and Im ready to let someone else try.

He said at the time that he was most proud of having city councils and elected officials that were cooperative and focused on the community, and not some of the political issues that go on.

I cant say enough about the mayors and councils Ive worked with over the years, he added. Theyve been supportive and allowed me to do my job.

Current City Manager Mike Carter said Tuesday that Calhoun set a standard for city managers in the state of Oklahoma. He performed his duties while keeping a high ethical standard and left Sand Springs in a position for success.

Many of the great things you see in our community today are due to his vision and conservative values, Carter said. When I took the position as city manager, I sought him out for his perspective and advice. I stand in line with a large number of people to say that he made a positive impact on my life.

The John M. Hess Award was initiated by the City Council in 2002 to recognize people who have provided a legacy of public service to the city. It is the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a person by the city government.

Who was John M. Hess? John M. Hess, for whom the John M. Hess Municipal Award for Outstanding Citizenship is named, was born in 1918 in Bartlesville and moved with his wife to Sand Springs in 1945. He was the citys mayor and finance commissioner from 1963 through 1970. His commitment to community service continued for three more decades until his death in 2002 at the age of 84. One of Hess major accomplishments as mayor was working with others to change the citys form of government to a city council-city manager system. Another achievement was the annexation of Prattville into Sand Springs. Hess also helped establish the citys Planning Commission, was the first chairman of the Indian Nations Council of Governments and was a primary mover for Sand Springs James R. Pogue Airport.
May brings on a rush of helpless baby birds along with flocks of well-meaning humans who sometimes are not helpful at all.

There are times the little ones could use a helping hand, but other times they are better off when left alone. Nature can be tough on critters at the lower ends of the food chain, and sometimes thats hard for people to witness. Sometimes we just cant help being, well, human.

People are always calling and saying the adults arent coming back to the nest to feed the chicks, said Jan McKay, a wildlife artist and licensed bird rehabilitator with Wildlife In Need Group in Tulsa. Its usually because theyre staring at it. I tell them, Just walk away, and the parents will come back.

McKay offers a flowchart of appropriate actions from the National Audubon Society as her go-to piece of basic advice for anyone concerned about a nest, chicks (she calls them pinkies) or fledglings.

The first question is whether the bird is obviously injured. If so, then a call to a licensed bird rehabilitator is the first step.

The next question is whether the bird is a nestling, which would have very few feathers, if any, or if it is a fledgling. Fledglings are fully feathered but might not be great at flying just yet. Still, its likely they have left the nest intentionally and are still being watched over and cared for by the parents. The advice in that situation is to leave and make sure your dogs or cats wont bother them.

Just give them space, McKay said.

If it is a nestling that might have been knocked out of a nest by a storm, or fallen out, or been accidentally tipped after building a nest on something stored in your backyard, the best move is to just put it back and keep an eye on it from a distance. Watch for one hour to see if the parents return. If the adults are absent, then a rehabilitators services might be required.

If its the nest itself that has fallen out of a tree or off an eave or other spot, people can make a simple container and attach it to the tree or other structure, put the nest inside and see what happens.

McKay recommends using something like an old plastic butter tub or an old Cool Whip container.

Just poke holes in the bottom so if it rains it will drain out, she said. I just did this at my neighbors house the other day. Get a ladder and put it back up as high as you can in the tree and nail it, or tie it, or use wire to secure it in place. The parents will find it. The mother bird is always a lot better at raising them than me.

At any time during the spring, often depending on the weather, McKay said she might be caring for any number of birds in various stages from eggs in her incubator to fledglings that have grown to spread their wings in her aviary.

She works with veterinarians to help severely injured birds. All that are healthy enough to live on their own are released back into the wild. Currently, she has nearly 30, including 15 house finches that had the misfortune of hatching in nests built on things like trailers and boats in storage, and not noticed until it was too late.

People who need to find a rehabilitator can often get a reference through their veterinarian. Some rehab groups are active on Facebook and can be found by searching there, as well. The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation also keeps a county-by-county list of licensed rehabilitators and their specialties on its website at wildlifedepartment.com/law/rehabilitator-list.

Kelly Bostian is an independent writer working for the Oklahoma Ecology Project, a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to in-depth reporting about environmental issues for Oklahomans.
As Republicans in the Oklahoma Legislature fight over details on additional school funding and teacher pay raises, one piece that seems all but assured of passage is the states first refundable tax credit for private school expenses.

Theres been broad support among the Republican supermajority in both chambers for the private school tax credit proposal. Disagreement has come around possible income caps or the overall cost of the program. But if passed, it would be a departure from recent attempts by the Legislature to crack down on tax credits, mostly for economic development.

House Bill 1934 passed both the House and Senate, but House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, is holding onto the Senate-amended bill in a rarely used parliamentary move before it is sent to the governor. Thats ostensibly as a negotiating tactic with the Senate on other pieces of educational funding in this session.

HB 1934 puts most of the responsibility for tracking the private school tax credits on the Oklahoma Tax Commission. Estimates by the Tax Commission show it would take about $1 million to set up the program and about $706,000 per year to run it.

Obviously, its going to take human power and human capital; youre going to need individuals who can track that information, House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City, said Tuesday. Is it just taxpayers turning in receipts, or are they doing that while they file their taxes? How do we ensure that those dollars are actually going where weve said they need to go? The lack of accountability is obviously problematic.

Tax Commission concerns

The bill establishes a tiered system of refundable tax credits for private school expenses. The latest version has a cap of $7,500 per child for families with income below $75,000 a year. It steps down in four tiers to credits of $5,000 per child for families with income below $250,000 a year. The median household income in Oklahoma is $57,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

A refundable tax credit lowers a taxpayers tax burden by that full amount. Any amount of credit beyond what is owed in state income taxes would be refunded to the taxpayer.

Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, said HB 1934 has a provision for lower-income families to get priority in qualifying for the tax credit. He called it a progressive cap where families making less than $75,000 get first priority. Treat said it would be up to the Tax Commission, through its administrative rule-making process, to figure out the details.

Thats the design of this, absolutely: to allow families who could not afford it or have the tax burden necessary to get that refund to attain a quality education if their parents so desire, Treat said in a Senate debate on April 27. You dont have to be wealthy; you dont have to have a huge tax liability. You can get the credit regardless of your ability to pay for that private tuition on your own.

HB 1934 would allow parents to qualify for up-front payments before taxes are due each April. In a fiscal impact statement, the Tax Commission said it had several concerns with administering the program.

It is unclear how the OTC should administer advance credits claimed by multiple taxpayers for the same student, such as credits claimed by divorced parents who each pay a portion of qualified expenses, the summary says.

Verifying taxpayer compliance with the requirements to claim the proposed credits presents further administrative challenges. The OTC may be required to review all public school student enrollment information to determine that a student who is claimed by a taxpayer receiving the credit is not enrolled in a public school.

The bill also would provide a $1,000 per child tax credit for educational expenses for home schooling. It caps that credit for the state at $5 million per year. The Tax Commission estimated that total requests for credits for home schooling could total $33.1 million.

Information is not available to verify homeschool enrollment, and it is unclear whether a student who is enrolled in a public school for only a portion of the school year is eligible for the proposed credits, the Tax Commission said in its fiscal impact statement.

Dangerous road financially

Lawmakers advanced the private school tax credit proposal after it became clear that vouchers faced a tougher legislative route. Vouchers are direct payments made by state government to private schools on behalf of qualified students. Oklahoma has had a limited voucher program for children with disabilities, called the Lindsey Nichole Henry Scholarship Program, since 2010.

Individual state income tax credits for private school expenses face fewer questions because the tax dollars never go directly to private schools. That also allows lawmakers to get around state constitutional prohibitions against directly funding religious entities providing educational services.

Critics have called HB 1934 a tax giveaway that will mostly benefit parents with children already in private schools. The bill caps the overall cost of the program at $150 million in fiscal year 2024, rising to $250 million in 2026. More than 32,000 students are in private elementary or secondary schools in Oklahoma.

I think were opening up a pretty dangerous road financially, Sen. Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, said when the Senate debated the measure at the end of April. I think what were setting up is sending money, through families, with very little follow-up to know how its being spent on the other end. That kind of accountability is unacceptable, especially when it comes to our kids.

Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt said he believes in the free market, but he didnt have a detailed response when a reporter asked him whether the Legislatures private school tax credit proposal might disrupt the free market that exists in private schools. Critics have called the tax credit a subsidy for private schools.

The rich folks already have school choice; they already have options, Stitt said in March. Im thinking about the moms who are stuck in a ZIP code in Tulsa, and during COVID, their school was shut down and other schools were open. If their kids not thriving, lets give them another option.

Munson and other Democrats in the House and Senate worry that Oklahomas private school tax credit will subsidize families who already are able to send their children to private schools. Private schools can remain selective in which students they accept, and few will want to expand with additional teachers or bigger facilities if they are unsure of the demand, critics contend.

We have to be truthful with ourselves. Are we actually helping lower-income families access private school? Munson said.

But Sen. Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville, said Infinity Generation Prep School in Oklahoma City and Crossover Prep in Tulsa both have waiting lists. Daniels authored a voucher bill this year that didnt advance.

I believe it will lift all boats, and I certainly support Oklahoma joining this movement across the United States to make sure parents have the right to get the best education that they believe will benefit their child, Daniels said during the Senate debate on HB 1934.
A new Oklahoma graduate with a nursing degree can start a job at a higher wage than the professors who taught those skills  another example of under-valuing educators in the state.

That explanation was given to Tulsa World reporter Tim Stanley in a story as one of several contributing factors to the nursing shortage. Higher education has been under pressure to expand nursing programs, but it cannot do so without staff.

The depressed wages reflect the under-funding of higher education for more than a decade, which includes years of several legislative revenue failures. Oklahomas peak of higher education funding was 15 years ago at $1.05 billion. Then the downward slope began.

Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education asked for a nearly 12% increase in this years allocation from last year. But the $985.99 million request is still about $65 million less than in 2008. The defunding put the state as the highest in the nation for higher education cuts during that time.

Compared regionally, Oklahoma trails the funding average by about $400 million, or $3,613 less per student ($5,838 vs. $9,451).

The results were as expected: tuition and fees exceeding beyond reasonable affordability, fewer Oklahomans attending college and limiting enrollment into certain programs that cost more to offer.

These had a rolling effect in workforce shortages, including nursing. About 26% of Oklahomans have a bachelors degree, below the regional average by 5% and national average by 7%. About 60,000 fewer students are enrolled in state colleges and universities compared to 10 years ago.

Several initiatives are happening to turn that around, hopefully quickly. That includes a new strategic plan by the Higher Education Regents with a goal of producing 100,000 degrees and other credentials in STEM and critical occupations in next seven years. Locally, a Tulsa Higher Education Consortium launched in 2020 to coordinate a more responsive higher education system.

While finding efficiencies remains critical, world-class education requires serious public investment.

Boosting enrollment requires more than just adding chairs in a classroom. For some areas, such as engineering and medical fields, it takes specialized equipment, space and highly trained faculty with doctorate-level knowledge and experience. A reasonable student-to-faculty ratio must be maintained.

To recruit faculty from the workforce, the pay must be competitive. Or, perhaps there are models of adjunct faculty to be expanded.

The investment doesnt start at the college level; it begins in pre-K. Bolstering higher education must be in concert with building stronger public elementary and secondary schools to have students ready for post-high school work, whether thats at a university, Career Tech or workforce.

Oklahoma hasnt kept pace with common education teacher pay or per pupil spending, though public school enrollment is up by 75,000 more students than 20 years ago. The state ranks last regionally in per pupil expenditures (47th nationally) and fourth in average teacher pay (38th nationally).

The center of every school or academic program is the quality of an educator. Pay them their worth.
LAS PALMAS -- Spanish authorities have seized a Brazilian-flagged fishing boat off the Canary Islands with 1.5 tonnes of cocaine in a hidden compartment in its machine room, police said on Friday as they brought the boat to the port of Las Palmas. Authorities shared a video of the 25-metre (82.02 ft) Efesios 5-20 being approached on rough seas by a speedboat sent from the patrol ship Condor. Drugs lie near a Brazilian fishing boat on which they were found, in the port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, after its crew members were detained by the Spanish police officers for transporting approximately 1500 kilograms of cocaine on board, Gran Canaria, Spain, May 12, 2023. Photo: Reuters Officers arrested the crew of six people - five Brazilians and a Venezuelan national. The boat's name - Ethesians 5:20 in English - is a reference to a prayer by Paul the Apostle praising and thanking God. A Brazilian fishing boat docks in the port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, after its crew members were detained by the Spanish police officers for transporting approximately 1500 kilograms of cocaine on board, Gran Canaria, Spain, May 12, 2023. Photo: Reuters Police said boats transporting drugs from Latin America often transfer their cargoes to other vessels in mid-Atlantic to more easily reach the European market. The Efesios 5-20 caught their attention because it was so close to the Spanish islands off the northwestern coast of Africa. Spanish police officers carry out a test on drugs found on an intercepted Brazilian fishing vessel carrying approximately 1500 kg of cocaine in Gran Canaria, Spain, May 12, 2023. Photo: Reuters Police officers lead the captain of a fishing boat to a police car, after a fishing vessel carrying approximately 1500 kg of cocaine on board was intercepted off the island of Gran Canaria, Spain, May 12, 2023. Photo: Reuters

LAS PALMAS -- Spanish authorities have seized a Brazilian-flagged fishing boat off the Canary Islands with 1.5 tonnes of cocaine in a hidden compartment in its machine room, police said on Friday as they brought the boat to the port of Las Palmas.

Authorities shared a video of the 25-metre (82.02 ft) Efesios 5-20 being approached on rough seas by a speedboat sent from the patrol ship Condor.

Drugs lie near a Brazilian fishing boat on which they were found, in the port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, after its crew members were detained by the Spanish police officers for transporting approximately 1500 kilograms of cocaine on board, Gran Canaria, Spain, May 12, 2023. Photo: Reuters

Officers arrested the crew of six people - five Brazilians and a Venezuelan national. The boat's name - Ethesians 5:20 in English - is a reference to a prayer by Paul the Apostle praising and thanking God.

A Brazilian fishing boat docks in the port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, after its crew members were detained by the Spanish police officers for transporting approximately 1500 kilograms of cocaine on board, Gran Canaria, Spain, May 12, 2023. Photo: Reuters

Police said boats transporting drugs from Latin America often transfer their cargoes to other vessels in mid-Atlantic to more easily reach the European market. The Efesios 5-20 caught their attention because it was so close to the Spanish islands off the northwestern coast of Africa.

Spanish police officers carry out a test on drugs found on an intercepted Brazilian fishing vessel carrying approximately 1500 kg of cocaine in Gran Canaria, Spain, May 12, 2023. Photo: Reuters
Construction workers discovered a bomb while building a boundary wall at the Hoc Mon General Hospital project in Hoc Mon District, nearly 20 kilometers from the center of Ho Chi Minh City, on Thursday. Dang Quoc Dan, director of the hospital, said on Friday that the discovery of the bomb happened on Thursday afternoon when an excavator was digging the ground for the construction of the foundation of the projects boundary wall. The hospital staff reported the incident to local authorities who dispatched a specialized team to the construction site to remove the bomb on the same night. Details of the bomb were undisclosed. The new Hoc Mon General Hospital is one of the three hospital projects recently approved by the prime minister, along with Cu Chi General Hospital in Cu Chi District and Thu Duc General Hospital in Thu Duc City. The construction of the new Hoc Mon General Hospital officially started at 65/2B Ba Trieu Street in Hoc Mon Town, Hoc Mon District on January 20, 2021. It is designed with 12 stories and a capacity of 1,000 beds, including 500 for inpatient care, to alleviate the burden on both central-level and inner-Ho Chi Minh City hospitals. The hospital will also have a helipad on the 12th floor to meet emergency requirements by air. Moreover, the hospital project includes set-aside land for the construction of 500 extra inpatient beds for future expansion if required. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

Construction workers discovered a bomb while building a boundary wall at the Hoc Mon General Hospital project in Hoc Mon District, nearly 20 kilometers from the center of Ho Chi Minh City, on Thursday.

Dang Quoc Dan, director of the hospital, said on Friday that the discovery of the bomb happened on Thursday afternoon when an excavator was digging the ground for the construction of the foundation of the projects boundary wall.

The hospital staff reported the incident to local authorities who dispatched a specialized team to the construction site to remove the bomb on the same night.

Details of the bomb were undisclosed.

The new Hoc Mon General Hospital is one of the three hospital projects recently approved by the prime minister, along with Cu Chi General Hospital in Cu Chi District and Thu Duc General Hospital in Thu Duc City.

The construction of the new Hoc Mon General Hospital officially started at 65/2B Ba Trieu Street in Hoc Mon Town, Hoc Mon District on January 20, 2021.

It is designed with 12 stories and a capacity of 1,000 beds, including 500 for inpatient care, to alleviate the burden on both central-level and inner-Ho Chi Minh City hospitals.

The hospital will also have a helipad on the 12th floor to meet emergency requirements by air.

Moreover, the hospital project includes set-aside land for the construction of 500 extra inpatient beds for future expansion if required.

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The investor of the metro line No.1 project in Ho Chi Minh City has sought the authorities support to ensure the safety and security of the metro line as several pieces of equipment on elevated sections were stolen, in addition to the railcars being smeared with graffiti. The Ho Chi Minh City Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR), the investor of the project, wrote to the administration and the police department of Thu Duc City, reporting the equipment theft and vandalism facing some elevated sections passing through Thu Duc City. Thieves stole ground wires, sleeper anchors, and other equipment on elevated sections from Thao Dien Station to Suoi Tien Station. Besides, railcars at Long Binh Depot were sprayed with graffiti for the second time, the MAUR said. These incidents showed that vandals were still trying to get past security guards to break into the metro line site to smear graffiti over railcars. The projects investor and contractors already adopted various measures to address the issue after some railcars were daubed with graffiti for the first time in mid-2022. Therefore, the MAUR proposed the Thu Duc City administration ask the citys police to team up with the investor, contractors to work out security solutions to the problem. The MAUR requested the police launch a probe into the issue and tackle the vandals and thieves to ensure the public security and safety of the metro line. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

The investor of the metro line No.1 project in Ho Chi Minh City has sought the authorities support to ensure the safety and security of the metro line as several pieces of equipment on elevated sections were stolen, in addition to the railcars being smeared with graffiti.

The Ho Chi Minh City Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR), the investor of the project, wrote to the administration and the police department of Thu Duc City, reporting the equipment theft and vandalism facing some elevated sections passing through Thu Duc City.

Thieves stole ground wires, sleeper anchors, and other equipment on elevated sections from Thao Dien Station to Suoi Tien Station.

Besides, railcars at Long Binh Depot were sprayed with graffiti for the second time, the MAUR said.

These incidents showed that vandals were still trying to get past security guards to break into the metro line site to smear graffiti over railcars.

The projects investor and contractors already adopted various measures to address the issue after some railcars were daubed with graffiti for the first time in mid-2022.

Therefore, the MAUR proposed the Thu Duc City administration ask the citys police to team up with the investor, contractors to work out security solutions to the problem.

The MAUR requested the police launch a probe into the issue and tackle the vandals and thieves to ensure the public security and safety of the metro line.

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Police in Ho Chi Minh City have smashed a ring smuggling illicit drugs from Cambodia, arresting several traffickers and seizing almost 95 kilograms of narcotics. A representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Public Security said on Thursday that the investigation police agency had filed charges against Truong Ngoc Mai, a native of the citys District 1, Chu Ba Chung, alias Long, a Canadian who resides in Khanh Hoa Province, Do Thi Minh Tam, a resident of District 3, Tran Kim Loan, who lives in District 5 and Mai Thi Ngan, a native of Bac Lieu Province, for allegedly trading illegal drugs. Besides, Nguyen Vu Khai Hoang, a native of Binh Dinh Province, was prosecuted for alleged transportation of narcotics, while the police launched criminal proceedings against Diep Hoang Linh, Nguyen Trung Quoc and Nguyen Tan Thanh, who reside in Bac Lieu Province, Long An Province and District 1, respectively, for allegedly storing illicit drugs. In September 2022, police officers discovered Mai, a 26-year-old woman, showing some suspicious signs of illegally trading drugs on Do Ngoc Thanh Street in District 5, thereby stopping her for checks. The police found her carrying three boxes that contained nearly 12 kilograms of methamphetamine on her motorcycle. After searching Mais residence, the police officers confiscated more than 11.5 kilograms of heroin, over 19 kilograms of methamphetamine, 78.54 grams of ketamine and one kilogram of ecstasy. More than 19.3 kilograms of methamphetamine, some 11 kilograms of ketamine and over 844 grams of ecstasy were found at another residence of hers. The total volume of illicit drugs stored by Mai was nearly 84 kilograms. A huge volume of narcotics was confiscated by the police in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Supplied by police In a related case, police in District 3 and Tan Binh District raided a house on Tran Van Dang Street in District 3, catching Loan and Tam red-handed hiding narcotics. The police seized a plastic bag of 996.6 grams of methamphetamine at the residence. Tam and Loan confessed that Loan had Tam keep the drugs. A box of 16.5 grams of methamphetamine was detected at Loans house. In addition, the police searched an apartment in an apartment building on Thanh Loan Street in District 8, discovering Ngan storing 405.9 grams of ecstasy and 981.9 grams of ketamine. The police raided another apartment in the building, seizing over 2.1 grams of ecstasy kept by Quoc and Linh. Thanh was arrested for keeping 0.9 grams of ecstasy after a sting operation was launched in District 1 in mid-September 2022. During the expanded probe into the drug trafficking gang, police officers detained Hoang, Chung and some relevant individuals. In early 2019, Chung incurred losses on gambling in Cambodia, leading to a huge debt. His lender, who remained unidentified, asked Chung to ship drugs to customers in Ho Chi Minh City to earn VND2.3-4.6 million (US$100-200) a week. Chung hired Mai to ship the illegal goods to customers. Since 2020, they have traded 5-30 kilograms of drugs of all kinds in one or two months. Mai received 30 kilograms of methamphetamine and some 12 kilograms of ecstasy on September 15, 2022, but she was arrested before shipping them to customers. Chung was caught while he was hiding in Nha Trang City in the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa. Meanwhile, Hoang admitted that in March 2022, he borrowed money from an unknown man, alias Thach, but he could not pay the debt. In September, Thach offered Hoang to ship the drugs to customers in Ho Chi Minh City to pay his debt. Hoang was paid VND100-200 million ($4,260-8,500) for each delivery. On September 13, 2022, Hoang received a suitcase of drugs in Ngoc Hoi District in Kon Tum Province in the Central Highlands region, and then drove his car to Ho Chi Minh City. When arriving in Ho Chi Minh City, Hoang gave 30 bags of heroin and 15 bags of ecstasy to Mai in Thu Duc City. Hoang was arrested on the way back to Binh Dinh Province, central Vietnam after his delivery. Mai confessed that in mid-2020, Chung contacted her to make her rent a house to store the drugs and ship the illicit goods to customers. She was paid VND5-10 million ($213-426) a week. Mai shipped drugs to many customers, including Loan, Tam, Quoc and Ngan. After cracking down on such a massive transnational drug trafficking ring, the police in Ho Chi Minh City seized a total of nearly 95 kilograms of narcotics. The police are expanding the investigation into the ring. Police seize many bags of drugs. Photo: Supplied by police Police in Ho Chi Minh City busted a ring trafficking drugs from Cambodia, seizing almost 95 kilometers of narcotics. Photo: Supplied by police Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

Police in Ho Chi Minh City have smashed a ring smuggling illicit drugs from Cambodia, arresting several traffickers and seizing almost 95 kilograms of narcotics.

A representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Public Security said on Thursday that the investigation police agency had filed charges against Truong Ngoc Mai, a native of the citys District 1, Chu Ba Chung, alias Long, a Canadian who resides in Khanh Hoa Province, Do Thi Minh Tam, a resident of District 3, Tran Kim Loan, who lives in District 5 and Mai Thi Ngan, a native of Bac Lieu Province, for allegedly trading illegal drugs.

Besides, Nguyen Vu Khai Hoang, a native of Binh Dinh Province, was prosecuted for alleged transportation of narcotics, while the police launched criminal proceedings against Diep Hoang Linh, Nguyen Trung Quoc and Nguyen Tan Thanh, who reside in Bac Lieu Province, Long An Province and District 1, respectively, for allegedly storing illicit drugs.

In September 2022, police officers discovered Mai, a 26-year-old woman, showing some suspicious signs of illegally trading drugs on Do Ngoc Thanh Street in District 5, thereby stopping her for checks.

The police found her carrying three boxes that contained nearly 12 kilograms of methamphetamine on her motorcycle.

After searching Mais residence, the police officers confiscated more than 11.5 kilograms of heroin, over 19 kilograms of methamphetamine, 78.54 grams of ketamine and one kilogram of ecstasy.

More than 19.3 kilograms of methamphetamine, some 11 kilograms of ketamine and over 844 grams of ecstasy were found at another residence of hers.

The total volume of illicit drugs stored by Mai was nearly 84 kilograms.

A huge volume of narcotics was confiscated by the police in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Supplied by police

In a related case, police in District 3 and Tan Binh District raided a house on Tran Van Dang Street in District 3, catching Loan and Tam red-handed hiding narcotics.

The police seized a plastic bag of 996.6 grams of methamphetamine at the residence.

Tam and Loan confessed that Loan had Tam keep the drugs.

A box of 16.5 grams of methamphetamine was detected at Loans house.

In addition, the police searched an apartment in an apartment building on Thanh Loan Street in District 8, discovering Ngan storing 405.9 grams of ecstasy and 981.9 grams of ketamine.

The police raided another apartment in the building, seizing over 2.1 grams of ecstasy kept by Quoc and Linh.

Thanh was arrested for keeping 0.9 grams of ecstasy after a sting operation was launched in District 1 in mid-September 2022.

During the expanded probe into the drug trafficking gang, police officers detained Hoang, Chung and some relevant individuals.

In early 2019, Chung incurred losses on gambling in Cambodia, leading to a huge debt.

His lender, who remained unidentified, asked Chung to ship drugs to customers in Ho Chi Minh City to earn VND2.3-4.6 million (US$100-200) a week.

Chung hired Mai to ship the illegal goods to customers. Since 2020, they have traded 5-30 kilograms of drugs of all kinds in one or two months.

Mai received 30 kilograms of methamphetamine and some 12 kilograms of ecstasy on September 15, 2022, but she was arrested before shipping them to customers.

Chung was caught while he was hiding in Nha Trang City in the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa.

Meanwhile, Hoang admitted that in March 2022, he borrowed money from an unknown man, alias Thach, but he could not pay the debt.

In September, Thach offered Hoang to ship the drugs to customers in Ho Chi Minh City to pay his debt. Hoang was paid VND100-200 million ($4,260-8,500) for each delivery.

On September 13, 2022, Hoang received a suitcase of drugs in Ngoc Hoi District in Kon Tum Province in the Central Highlands region, and then drove his car to Ho Chi Minh City.

When arriving in Ho Chi Minh City, Hoang gave 30 bags of heroin and 15 bags of ecstasy to Mai in Thu Duc City.

Hoang was arrested on the way back to Binh Dinh Province, central Vietnam after his delivery.

Mai confessed that in mid-2020, Chung contacted her to make her rent a house to store the drugs and ship the illicit goods to customers.

She was paid VND5-10 million ($213-426) a week.

Mai shipped drugs to many customers, including Loan, Tam, Quoc and Ngan.

After cracking down on such a massive transnational drug trafficking ring, the police in Ho Chi Minh City seized a total of nearly 95 kilograms of narcotics.

The police are expanding the investigation into the ring.

Police seize many bags of drugs. Photo: Supplied by police

Police in Ho Chi Minh City busted a ring trafficking drugs from Cambodia, seizing almost 95 kilometers of narcotics. Photo: Supplied by police

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Graham Norton joins as Liverpool host, with Joel Creasey & Myf Warhurst commentating for Australia. Live 5am (Results published Live), replay 7:30pm Sunday on SBS.

The Summit

Five Bedrooms

The Messenger

Kangaroo Beach

Farmer Wants a Wife
The latest new local drama to hit our screens, Ten Pound Poms, is a co-production between Stan and the BBC.

Created by Danny Brocklehurst (Sex Education, Safe, Accused, Brassic) it centres around the post-WWII immigration chapter when Brits were promised a new life down under for just ten pounds.

Boarding an ocean liner are Annie (Faye Marsay) and Terry Roberts (Warren Brown) and children Pattie (Hattie Hook) and Peter (Finn Treacy), with high hopes that Terrys boozy ways can be put behind him in sunny Oz.

But arriving in Sydney in 1956, the plan came with strings, including handing over your passport for two years, and living in a migrant hostel camp which resembles army barracks. For Annie & Terry its a shock to the system and in dire contrast to the advertising back home.

Weve come from the other side of the world to live in squalor, Annie sighs.

Worse is to come when Terry is assigned a ditch-digging job -because few Australians wants to do it. There he meets larrikin bully Dean (David Field), hell-bent on making his life torture. Laborer Ron (Rob Collins), who previously fought for Australia overseas, is also helpless as he watches on  Indigenous Australians are at the bottom of the pile in this era, with Aunty May (Trisha Morton-Thomas) literally sent to the back of one store queue.

Also prominent is young nurse Kate (Michelle Keegan) who arrives without her fiance and is harboring a secret, but furtively pursues personal business like a spy with a mission.

There are subplots surrounding expat Bill (Leon Ford) who resorts to desperate measures to attain the Australian dream, and hostel manager JJ (Stephen Curry) who is intimate with Brit Sheila (Emma Hamilton) when he isnt complaining about whinging poms.

The series is handsomely-produced with colourful period sets and costumes and the acting is top-notch throughout. Warren Brown underplays the male lead as a fish-out-of-water trying to adjust to Aussie ways. Brocklehurst lays the colloqiual on thick with upside-down pineapple cakes, outdoor dunnies, strewth, ooroo and lines like, Youve got more luck spottin a one legged wallaby peein on a kiwis grave.

David Field is positively menacing as a leering, violent bully who is openly racist in this 1956. Its a stand-out performance amongst a strong ensemble. Stephen Curry is always dependable when TV asks him to turn on the ocker.

Pitched squarely at a British audience, Ten Pound Poms is like a well-made play on TV. It is neatly tied up, rarely putting a foot wrong, and working its way up to episode climaxes -one in particular will see Rob Collins step up with a strong First Nations storyline.

The costumes are a little too spotless and I spotted double-decker trains, not introduced until mid 60s, oops

Special mention for scenes depicting the first night of Australian television with actors as Bruce Gyngell, Toni Lamond and Frank Sheldon.

Yet for all its handsome attributes and easy pot-shots at our expense, it lacks an edge, save for Fields terrifying bully. These Aussies mostly hate the British, subjecting them to poverty, abuse, torment, pranks, spiders, jellyfish, teachers dishing out corporal punishment and orphanages run by draconian priests. At least they love our beaches.

Ten Pound Poms may lean more BBC than Stan in its portrayal of this chapter of our history, but it is easily entertaining without demanding too much of its audience, and will bring light to those for whom this is a seemingly dark tale.

Ten Pound Poms screens Monday on Stan.
Rudi Weissenstein - Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Before they were Israeli, the Jewish community of Palestine  the Yishuv  had been Britains close junior partner. A dispute over Britains restrictions on Jewish immigration to Palestine began in 1939, but was set aside during the struggle to defeat Hitler.

In a white paper that year, the British government declared the Jewish National Home, as promised in its 1917 Balfour Declaration, as a settled policy. It planned to replace direct rule with a democratic government for all. These plans never matured, because of the war and because of both Palestinian and Zionist resistance to them.

Zionist institutions supported Britains war effort against a common existential enemy but their frustration boiled over once it was finished. The monthly quota of 1,500 Jewish immigrants was seen by the Yishuv as complicit with Hitlers near-complete genocide. There would be no further compromise on this issue.

Expert analysis of the birth of the state of Israel and the plight of the Palestinian people.

After decades of close security and counter-terrorism cooperation  and wartime cooperation in covert action, propaganda, economic warfare, signalling, and other elements of intelligence work  the Zionist leader and future prime minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, launched a secret war on Britain.

Previously, the large Jewish militia in Palestine, known as Haganah or defence, had served as an auxiliary to the British police and army. Its intelligence service, called Sherut Hayediot or Shay, had supported Britain in the war effort and cooperated in the suppression of anti-British Zionist terrorism led by two other future prime ministers: Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir.

When Ben-Gurion learned from a source in the cabinet that Britain would prevent European Jewish survivors from entering Palestine, he authorised secret cooperation between Haganah and the two terrorist groups: Begins Irgun and Shamirs Lehi, also known as the Stern Gang.

Story continues

Britain knew about these orders to cooperate thanks to its signals intelligence service (todays GCHQ). But intelligence officers struggled to interpret these messages.

Even when intelligence was accurately understood, it was difficult to act upon without alerting Haganah that its codes were insecure. GCHQ relied on a small cell, including future historian Bernard Lewis and another British Jew, Samuel Stalbow, to handle intelligence. They never leaked Britains top secret intelligence, unlike  as we shall see  the British government itself.

British missteps

After months of bombings, kidnappings, and murder, the high commissioner for Palestine, Alan Cunningham, was finally authorised to act. So the British army planned to arrest the leadership of the Jewish Agency (the main representative body of the Yishuv, led by Ben-Gurion).

Often described by British authorities as an imperium in imperio, or a state within a state, the Jewish Agencys relationship with armed groups was more complicated than the British had realised.

On June 29 1946, the army and police launched Operation Agatha, arresting most of the Jewish Agency and some of Haganahs strike force. Its chain of command remained intact thanks to warnings from its own intelligence, allowing some to hide or escape.

Ben-Gurion had been in Paris. This moment was the climax of his five-year strategy to sever Zionisms dependence on Britain, thus far a pillar of the movements approach to colonisation.

Operation Agatha forced the Jewish Agency and the Zionist movement to consider next steps: what did they want from this struggle? Ben-Gurions drive for independence was the only viable answer available.

King David Hotel bombing

Then, in what GCHQ historian John Ferris called an act which finalised the Anglo-Zionist divorce, on July 22 Irgun terrorists bombed the British headquarters at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, killing more than 90 people, including GCHQ and other intelligence personnel.

Gordon Trevor Moore

Deceptive intelligence, disseminated by none other than Kim Philby  later unmasked as a senior Soviet mole  sent Palestines top security and police officers to Beirut. Britains poor security at its headquarters was thus compounded by the absence of those meant to interpret warning intelligence. Terrorism destroyed part of Britains top secret intelligence unit and its grip on the intelligence picture weakened.

The arrests in June had created a constitutional complication. By closing the Jewish Agency, British opposition MPs and some government backbenchers argued, the army had threatened the legitimacy of British rule at least as much as Jewish terrorism.

Having confiscated Jewish Agency records, Britain hoped to present such evidence without blowing GCHQs sources. Although the material illuminated Jewish Agency complicity in terrorism, and a wider pattern of theft of arms and intelligence, it was not enough to prove that Ben-Gurion ordered Haganahs resort to terrorism.

In response to parliamentary pressure, and against the advice of military and intelligence authorities, the prime minister pressured the security service MI5 to prepare a paper for parliament that included decrypted communications of Ben-Gurion, the head of Haganah and other officials. The aim was to embarrass those leaders, spurring their cooperation, but also to settle parliamentary outrage.

After these intelligence leaks, the Jewish Agency and Haganah updated and professionalised their cryptography, meaning Britain lost access to vital intelligence.

During 1947  a critical year  Britain struggled to regain this access within the Jewish resistance. The British government also tried to bring Jews and Arabs back to negotiations, but failed to get official Jewish Agency participation.

End of the Mandate

In January, Britain referred the Palestine question to the newly formed United Nations, and was surprised when the UN recommended ending British rule and the creation of an independent Jewish state. The leaders of this new Jewish state had learned from Britains intelligence mistakes, as well as its own.

More significantly, by late 1947, Haganah began to attack the encryption used by surrounding Arab states and their armies, especially the volunteer Arab Liberation Army. Israels ability to locate its enemies and understand their intentions and capabilities contributed to its many tactical advantages during its 1948 war for independence.

The Israeli experience in signals intelligence  drawn from wartime cooperation with Britain and the post-war anti-British struggle  proved vital to the emergence of Israel, and its enduring legacy as an intelligence powerhouse.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The Conversation

Steven Wagner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Concerns are mounting over the potential of a historic default by the US government, with a non-partisan congressional report warning of a "significant risk" within the first two weeks of June.

The research supports Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's June 1 default notice. The US might fail for the first time if it cannot increase its $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, according to Reuters.

The Congressional Budget Office has warned that there is a "significant risk" that the government will not be able to pay all of its obligations within the first two weeks of June.

Even if the Treasury ultimately runs out of funds in early June, the federal government's debt payments will remain uncertain throughout May, according to Congress' budget scorekeeper.

Since January, President Joe Biden and the Democrats have called for a swift increase in the national borrowing ceiling without restrictions. Republicans, who barely control the House of Representatives, want new spending restrictions before covering borrowing on already passed expenditures.

Read Also: Heatwave Hits Western US, Canada

Worries Grow Over US Debt Ceiling Issue

The potential of a US debt default crisis is beginning to worry Americans, with a new survey from the University of Michigan revealing that for the first time this year, the "debt crisis standoff" is contributing to a decline in consumer sentiment, Yahoo! Finance reported.

The US consumer sentiment index preliminary print was at its lowest in six months in May as a result of growing concerns about the US economy.

World Bank President David Malpass says the US debt limit issue is also causing global economic concerns.

At a meeting of Group of Seven (G7) finance officials in Japan, David Malpass warned that "distress in the world's biggest economy" would negatively impact everyone.

Meanwhile, Investors and traders are beginning to bail on short-term government bills, with volatile trading being observed in the two-month maturity on Friday.

According to data from Tradeweb in the New York afternoon, the rate for the corresponding 2-month Treasury bill rose by 32.6 basis points to 4.865%, which partially reverses the 43.4-basis-point decline observed in the previous session, per Market Watch.

The severity of Friday's move indicates increasing worry that the US government may run low on money in June. Yields rise anytime the underlying maturity sells out.

Next week, President Joe Biden is expected to attend a G7 summit in Niigata, Japan, but he has warned that if he and congressional leaders do not make sufficient progress toward raising the US debt limit, he may postpone his trip.

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Anjo Santos (left), the teacher of many Vietnamese beauties

Like domestic beauty pageants, contestants in international contests have to care for their health, style, performance and communications, makeup, general knowledge, clothes and talents. However, for international contests, they have to prepare more thoroughly.

Pham Kim Dung, CEO of Sen Vang (Golden Lotus), which holds the copyright of many international beauty pageants, said the company doesnt fix the numbers of training courses that contestants have to attend or total training costs. These depend on the women's willingness.

They sometimes are lazy and want to skip some skills, but we still ask them to practice skills. It is not true that we have to make bigger investments in bigger contests. The rule is that weaker beauties need more training, she said.

Unicorp, which once had the right to send representatives to the Miss Universe pageant, said the firm will plan training specifically for every individual. The training content consists of performance skills, makeup, behavior and critical thinking. The tuition fees vary for different contestants.

Hoang Thuy, the first runner-up at Miss Universe Vietnam 2017, said before Miss Universe 2019, she attended a lot of training courses. In addition to basic skills, Thuy also practiced introducing herself, watched videos featuring previous contests and had orthodontic treatment to have a bright smile.

Khanh Van, before attending Miss Universe 2020 in the US, also took a training course and the training was recorded in the Road to Miss Universe program. She got financial support for training from the Miss Universe Vietnam organization.

According to Dung, the lesson plans are designed specifically for each contestant, depending on the criteria of the contest.

For Miss International, natural beauty is appreciated. Beautiful skin, elegant style and good knowledge are favored. Winners need to be smart. As for Miss Grand International, girls need to have personality, good body, professional catwalk ability and good English.

In many cases, the performances at the contest are not just to show skills, but also to convey certain messages. And this was why Snake walk by Pham Huong, Butterfly walk by HHen Nie and Bamboo walk by Hoang Thuy and Mint tornado walk by Khanh Van were created.

A common trend in theatrical skills is training with international teachers. In 2022 and before, Anjo Santos from Philippines was the teacher of many Vietnamese beauties such as Huyen My, Do My Linh, HHen Nie, Hoang Thuy, Luong Thuy Linh and Kieu Loan. Jonas Gaffud from the Philippines was also a visiting teacher for Elite Vietnams training center. He was the teacher of Le Au Ngan Anh before Anh attended Miss Intercontinental 2018.

In 2018, Phuong Khanh was trained at Kagandahang Flores in the Philippines. She and My Duyen, a contestant at Miss Global 2019, practiced in a warehouse with no air-conditioning despite the hot weather, in order to train for endurance.

In late 2022, Ngoc Chau went to the Philippines to have a 3-week practice in performing and interviewing with Carlos Avila Buendia Jr, the teacher of Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray. Earlier this year, UniMedia sent Thanh Thanh Huyen to a 2-week training course to prepare for Miss Charm. The major physical exercises are gym, yoga, walking, jogging and breathing techniques.

Vietnamese contestants need to pay attention to when attending international beauty pageants is community projects which have positive effects on society.

Duc Thang
HA NOI  Improving product quality coupled with infrastructure was critical to promoting cross-border trade via official channels with China.

Deputy Director of the Import  Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade Tran Thanh Hai said that a project on Viet Nam  China cross-border trade was being developed.

He said that China was no longer an easy market with import management measures in place, urging enterprises to take action to grab opportunities and increase exports to his huge market. Enterprises must meet requirements from production to processing with a focus on ensuring quality, he added.

The first thing was to increase the awareness of both local authorities and enterprises about the official trade with China so that enterprises could have a correct and sufficient assessment of the Chinese market and change their thinking in a more positive way, Nong uc Lai, Trade Counselor of Viet Nam to China said.

Lai said that there was significant room to increase export to China, citing statistics that Viet Nams export of vegetables and fruits to China accounted for just 9 per cent of this countrys annual import of these products. However, China was tightening control over food hygiene and safety.

Localities should have long-term planning to orient enterprises to switch to official export and promote sustainable export with China, he said. He urged enterprises to improve their understanding of the market and carefully study the market before exporting goods to China.

Relevant ministries and agencies must cooperate with Chinese authorities to speed up the process of completing procedures of opening markets for key agricultural products, he said, adding that the investment should focus on processing to increase the added value of agricultural products.

Lai said that switching to official export was a top priority to minimise the risk of congestion at land border gates and also an optimal direction in promoting sustainable exports with China.

Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien said that Viet Nam had a significant opportunity to increase exports to China, especially when this country with huge consumption demand reopened its borders after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Still, Dien pointed out that the competition would be harsh when Viet Nam remained heavily dependent on raw materials from China.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung uc Tien said that besides providing support to enterprises so that they could meet Chinese requirements, it was necessary to improve the information system to provide market information to enterprises and promote trade of agricultural products via e-commerce channels.

Tien said that the opportunities were there, but enterprises and cooperatives must prepare carefully in terms of market demand, investment in production, improving quality, ensuring food safety as well as reducing costs to increase competitiveness.

Infrastructure and going digital

Chairman of Lang Son Province Peoples Committee Ho Tien Thieu said that the infrastructure system at border gates had not fully met the demand for import and export activities, especially the warehouse system, parking stations and logistics infrastructure.

Thieu said that with the growing demand for import and export activities, the amount of goods concentrated at the border gates was huge. In addition, China was applying new requirements for labels, quality and origin traceability.

Thus, it was necessary to implement digital border gate platforms to improve customs clearance efficiency.

Thieu said that a digital border gate platform would help reduce the time for customs declaration from 30 minutes for a truck to 3-5 minutes.

Nguyen Anh Tai, Deputy Director of Lang Son Province Department of Customs, said that its important to invest in improving the infrastructure for the border gates and applying digital technologies in management.

Tai also urged negotiations to be accelerated for an agreement on mutual recognition of quarantine which would help prevent congestion and make it easier for the export of Vietnamese farm produces to China via border gates.

The Ministry of Industry and Trades statistics showed that the total import and export revenue of goods between Viet Nam and China reached $175.56 billion in 2022, presenting a rise of 5.47 per cent against 2021.

Entering 2023, China was the only trade partner of Viet Nam with a trade revenue hitting $10 billion.

Two-way trade hit $11.9 billion in the first quarter of this year, a drop of 11.3 per cent against the same period last year but the decrease was slowing down compared to 24.33 per cent in January and 18.72 per cent in February  a positive signal. The ministry forecast that the export to China would improve in the second quarter.

Viet Nam borders China in the north with a total terrestrial border length of more than 1,449 km where there are seven international border gates, six bilateral gates and 21 sub-gates.  VNS
HA NOI  VinFast announced the arrival of its second shipment of electric vehicles, consisting of 1,879 VF 8 vehicles at the Port of Benicia in California.

The VF 8 has a certificated EPA range of 264 miles for the Eco trim and 243 miles for the Plus trim, per full charge. VinFast expects to begin delivering these VF 8 vehicles to US customers in June of 2023.

The second batch contains all VF 8 vehicles, which have a longer battery range than the initial batch of 999 VF 8 City Edition vehicles imported to the US last year. The VF 8 has an EPA-rated range of 264 miles for the Eco trim and 243 miles for the Plus trim per full charge.

The VF 8 Eco and Plus model pricing will start at US$46,000 and $51,800, respectively (battery inclusive), and have both lease and loan options.

Qualified customers can lease the VF 8 with a minimum term of 36 months, and monthly payments start at $479/month for the Eco trim and $614/month for the Plus trim.

With the loan option, qualified customers may choose a minimum term of 60 months with monthly payments. VinFirst Pioneer customers may also be eligible for further incentives.

The VF 8 comes with a 10-year warranty/125,000 miles for the vehicle, a 10-year warranty for the battery (unlimited mileage), Mobile Services and 24/7 emergency roadside assistance during the vehicle warranty period.

VinFast will initially deliver 1,098 of the VF 8 vehicles to the U.S. market and then deliver the remaining 781 VF 8 vehicles to Canada, which are expected to arrive by mid-May 2023. - VNS
HA NOI  Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh called on Boeing to offer incentives to Viet Nam, at his reception for Brendan Nelson, Vice President of the Boeing Company and President of Boeing International, in Ha Noi on Friday.

Recalling his meeting with leaders of the Boeing Company in Washington D.C. in May 2022 when he attended the ASEAN-US Special Summit, and their recent working sessions in Viet Nam, Chinh spoke highly of the US aerospace companys plans for long-term cooperation in Viet Nam and the opening of its representative office in the Southeast Asian nation.

Viet Nam always considers the US a leading important partner, he said, lauding US support for a strong, independent, self-resilient and prosperous Viet Nam.

The PM went on to affirm that Viet Nam wishes to promote its comprehensive partnership with the US in a more substantive, stable, and intensive fashion on the basis of respecting each others independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and political institutions, elevating the bilateral relationship to a new height.

Economic and trade ties should be the pillar and momentum of the comprehensive partnership, he stressed.

For his part, Nelson, emphasised Viet Nams important position in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as its outstanding economic growth, saying the country holds an important position in Boeings business strategy.

Boeing will further expand its cooperation and investment in the country, thus contributing to the Viet Nam-US economic cooperation, he noted.

PM Chinh also affirmed that Viet Nam always listens to opinions of foreign enterprises, including those from the US, making it easier for them to expand operations in the country.

Viet Nam regards Boeing as an important, long-term partner in the development of the domestic civil aviation industry, he said, commending Boeings flexible approaches to maintain aircraft supply agreements with Vietnamese air carriers amid the COVID-19 pandemic and uncertainties of the global aviation sector.

According to the PM, Viet Nam is building airports in many cities and provinces to support socioeconomic development, which will create a foundation and favourable conditions for the domestic aviation industry to grow further.

The host also suggested Boeing to continue its support to Vietnamese airlines in devising fleet development plans for both short-and long-terms, as well as its assistance in aviation safety, and flight and airport management, among other relevant fields.

Nelson agreed with the PMs proposals and committed to long-term investment in Viet Nam, contributing to the development of the domestic aviation sector.  VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nam must continue to research and refine policy frameworks and state management mechanisms in the development of renewable energy, according to Pham Quang Huy, the deputy director of the Electricity Regulatory Authority of Viet Nam under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

He shared this perspective during the third Vietnam Clean Energy Forum, which took place in Ha Noi yesterday.

As energy demand continues to rise and domestic sources of fossil fuels for electricity generation become increasingly scarce, ensuring national energy security has become a pressing issue that requires a long-term vision, Huy stated.

Consequently, Viet Nam must devote considerable attention to improving its policy frameworks and state management mechanisms to facilitate the development and expansion of renewable energy sources.

The Vietnam Clean Energy Forum is a platform for experts, policymakers, and industry stakeholders to discuss the challenges and opportunities related to clean energy development in Viet Nam.

The move aims to attract more participation from the private sector in infrastructure development and energy service provision as well as taking advantage of national resources and ensuring a balance for the safety of electricity system operation, he said.

Cap Tuan Anh, deputy head of the Development Strategy Department, Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN), said developing renewable energy sources at reasonable prices is associated with ensuring operational safety and the economic benefit of the power system.

The structure of power sources, as well as wind power and gas power, in particular, for 2030 has been calculated by the consulting unit and decided by the competent authorities following the draft Power Master Plan VIII, he said.

EVN commits to strictly implement EVN's power source development programme until 2030 when approved by the competent authorities, he said.

Power sellers tend to demand high electricity prices to maximise their profits, but EVN can only buy electricity at a reasonable price and comply with the law, he said.

In many cases, there is a big gap between the requirements of the seller and the ability to meet the requirements of EVN, he said.

Therefore, we need to have clear regulations of the competent authorities to meet the principle of harmonising benefits and sharing risks of parties involved in the purchase and sale of electricity, of which EVN is a participating party, he added.

Other experts at the forum also suggested building a mechanism of direct electricity purchase and sale contracts to effectively implement electricity planning in the future.

Besides, improving the financial mechanisms for electricity development and investment and promoting policies to attract and encourage the private sector to participate in investment and development of power projects are believed to be very necessary, experts said.

Difficulties

Ta inh Thi, vice chairman of the National Assembly's Committee for Science, Technology and Environment, said the draft Power Master Plan VIII proposed to strongly develop onshore and offshore wind power, gas-fired thermal power plants for domestic use to replace coal-fired power plants, reducing greenhouse gas emissions gradually. Viet Nam needs to make the most of the largest-rated offshore wind power potential in Southeast Asia.

Wind power projects require the nearest infrastructure to serve the survey, construction of transmission grids, operation and maintenance, and being ready to participate deeply in the power supply chain, he said.

According to the draft Power Master Plan VIII, the country needs to develop from 14,900 to 22,400 MW of imported Liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 2030 and could increase to 32,400 MW by 2035 to increase the base power source, balance and effectively exploit renewable energy sources, he said.

"We need infrastructure to import and store a sufficient amount of LNG for power plants to operate stably and to be able to sign long-term LNG purchase contracts, he said.

Gas power infrastructure includes upstream, midstream and downstream stages, he said.

Especially, LNG power infrastructure is a complex fuel chain, including ports, warehouses, re-gasification systems, pipelines, and power plants, as well as a price mechanism and the mobilisation of power generation to ensure the efficiency of the project chain, he said.

Referring to the difficulties in the development of wind and gas power over the past time, Huy said that currently, the negotiation of power purchase and sale contracts still meets difficulties because all factories want a high commission rate of electricity output to manage risks when gas prices have continuously increased in recent times.

He said that the power output negotiated under the contracts is not high enough, making it difficult to borrow capital to implement the project and recover costs for the investor.

In addition, mitigating the price risk of gas fuel can be done by purchasing gas under long-term contracts. Still, it always comes with a constraint on power output, becoming one of the problems affecting the investment in gas power plants over the past time, he said.  VNS
HA NOI  The Standing Committee of the National Assembly (NA) yesterday continues their 23rd meeting session, discussing the gender affirmation law and 2021 State budget settlement.

The Law on Gender Affirmation, which is expected to be included in the 2024 law making programme, was formerly known as the Law on Gender Identity.

The revised draft has reduced the scope of regulation and subjects and clarified the political and legal grounds, with adjustments in conditions, processes and procedures for gender affirmation.

Presenting the report, NA deputy Nguyen Anh Tri said the document also changes to allow for gender affirmation only once in a persons lifetime, instead of twice in the previous draft.

It also states that medical intervention is required for the change, the scope of which is also reduced to male and female.

A regulation is also added to recognise cases who have undergone medical procedures before the gender affirmation law comes into effect.

The NA justice committee agrees with the four major policies in the proposal, adding that the NA deputys suggestions are based on the health ministrys research and recommendation, with a logical arrangement.

However, the committee recommends adding the case of re-affirming an individuals gender as stated in Article 36 of the Civil Code and clarifying the extent of medical intervention required for gender affirmation.

NA secretary general Bui Van Cuong added that consultation with medical and legal experts is needed regarding the requirement of medical intervention and the conditions for these procedures.

A review of related legal documents should also be conducted for necessary adjustments before the law comes into effect.

Responding to the concerns, NA deputy Tri said that the surgery-required gender affirmation is an outdated view that no longer fits the current context. He added that the change depends on self-perception, as gender is closely linked to genes and hormones.

He also acknowledged opinions from the NA Standing Committee and the research dossier transferred from the health ministry during eight years of the drafting process.

Concluding the meeting, deputy NA chairman Nguyen Khac inh said that the NA Standing Committee agrees on the necessity to develop the gender affirmation law, to implement Article 37 of the Civil Code.

The majority of the committee also agrees to submit the document to the NA for a decision on including this legal project in the upcoming law making programme.

inh added that if this project is approved for the programme, the law is expected to be presented at the NAs eighth session and approved in the ninth.

2021 State budget

In the discussion regarding the 2021 State budget, finance minister Ho uc Phoc said that despite the pandemic, socio-economic challenges and natural disasters, financial policies in 2021 were promptly and comprehensively implemented.

Economic activities started recovering from the end of Q3 2021 and saw positive developments. The State budget revenue increased by 17.2 per cent, while domestic revenue rose by 15.9 per cent compared to estimates.

In 2021, the government also allowed tax exemptions, reductions and budget collection, helping businesses and people overcome challenges and resume production-trade activities.

The finance minister added that the investment for the central budget development decreased by 13.5 per cent compared to the estimates, mainly due to the impacts of COVID-19, challenges in official development assistance (ODA) projects, importing equipment, receiving foreign experts, and prolonged dossier approval procedures.

The government has directed ministries, departments and localities to accelerate the process of public investment disbursement and implementation.

Regarding audits, State auditor general Ngo Van Tuan said that as of December 31, 2022, relevant departments had resolved recommendations to increase State budget collection and reduce expenditures, with a completion rate of 88.57 per cent. For other proposals, this figure is 80.08 per cent.

A total of 270 legal documents not aligned with the laws and current context were also adjusted, amended or removed.

Out of 95 audit reports that asked for a review of collective and individual responsibilities, 57 were resolved.

The State Audit proposed the government and Prime Minister to direct the finance ministry, central agencies, localities and auditors to fully and promptly implement audit conclusions and recommendations.

The finance ministry will also review and report to the government, the NA and its Standing Committee on several expenditures transferred from other sources approved by local Peoples Councils.

Deputy chairwoman of the NA Committee on Finance-Budget Nguyen Thi Phu Ha said that these achievements during the time of COVID-19 show the significant efforts of the entire political system as well as businesses and people.

She noted that regarding State budget settlements in 2020 and earlier, many State Audit conclusions and recommendations still have not been resolved. The government needs to direct relevant units to draw lessons and clarify responsibilities in the 2021 settlement.

Chairperson of the NA economy committee, Vu Hong Thanh, added that the finance ministry needs to work with the NA finance-budget committee to consolidate the data.

In the session concluions, deputy NA chairman Nguyen uc Hai praised the governments efforts, especially during the severe impacts of COVID-19.

He said that the NA Standing Committee agreed with the report presented. However, the settlement period needs to be improved.

The deputy NA chairman added that proper assessments of the yearly budget are required for an accurate viewpoint.

The context is different each year, therefore, the reports must reflect the situation and propose prompt solutions to address the issues, such as legal document adjustment, leaders responsibilities, and resolving auditors recommendations.  VNS
HA NOI  Chairman of the National Assembly (NA) Vuong inh Hue hosted a reception in Ha Noi on Friday for Teresa Maria Amarelle Boue, a member of the Council of State of Cuba and Secretary General of the Cuban Women's Union (CUW).

The top legislator said Teresa Maria Amarelle Boues visit contributes to strengthening the traditional, special friendship between the two Parties, States and peoples.

It takes place at the time when Viet Nam and Cuba are celebrating the 60th founding anniversary of the Cuban Committee for Solidarity with South Viet Nam  the predecessor of the current Cuba-Viet Nam Friendship Association (September 25, 1963-2023), and the 50th anniversary of Cuban leader Fidel Castro Ruzs first visit to Vietnam and the liberated zone in the South of Viet Nam (September 1973), he continued.

Hue recalled his deep impressions during his recent official visit to the Caribbean nation, and shared difficulties facing Cuba, especially those caused by the embargo, the COVID-19 pandemic and fires in 2022.

The Vietnamese State and people always accompany the Cuban Party, State and people and will do the utmost to support them, he pledged.

The host also congratulated Cuba on its achievements in the cause of national development, and promoting gender equality and womens progress.

For her part, Teresa Maria Amarelle Boue, who is also a deputy of the National Assembly of People's Power of Cuba, said her visit aims to learn about Viet Nams policies and laws, and learn from the countrys experience in promoting womens progress.

On behalf of Cuban people and women, she thanked Viet Nam for supporting the implementation of projects and providing technical consultations over the past time.

Hue spoke highly of Cuban womens role and the operation of the CUW, as well as cooperation between the CUW and the Viet Nam Womens Union with two agreements for the 2018-2022 and 2022-2027 periods.

Enhancing cooperation and experience exchange between the two unions plays an important role in the present context, he stressed.

The Vietnamese leader asked the guest to convey his wishes and regards to General Raul Castro Ruz; First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel; Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz; and President of the National Assembly of People's Power Esteban Lazo Hernandez.

He also used the occasion to extend his invitations to the Cuban friendship female parliamentarians' group to soon visit Viet Nam, and Cuban representatives to attend the ninth Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Forum of Young Parliamentarians in Ha Noi slated for September.  VNS
CA MAU  The southernmost province of Ca Mau plans to have an additional four new-style rural communes by the end of this year, taking the number of new-style rural communes to 58, or 70 per cent of its total communes.

It plans to have at least one district which will have all its communes recognised as new-style rural communes by the end of this year.

It also aims to have four additional advanced new-style rural communes by the end of this year.

Under the countrys programme of building new-style rural areas, a commune has to meet the programmes 19 criteria related to planning, infrastructure, transport, irrigation, power supply, environment, income, education, healthcare, social security, culture, and others to be recognised as a new-style rural commune.

An advanced new-style rural commune must achieve higher standards across all 19 criteria than the standards set for a new-style rural commune.

The province had 54 new-style rural commune areas and three advanced new-style rural communes as of the end of last year.

It has effectively implemented the programme and encouraged the public to actively participate in it as local people have donated their land and working days to build infrastructure for developing new-style rural areas.

In Thoi Binh District, many people have donated money and land for building schools, roads, bridges and health clinics.

Pham Van Giang, a local in Ho Thi Ky Commune, for instance, has donated 5,000 sq.m of land to build the Tan Loi Primary School.

Under the programme, the province has built more than 3,785 km of rural roads, helping to facilitate travel for local people.

To mobilise the resources of local people to build new-style rural areas, the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Area is implementing various measures to develop agricultural production and improve the lives of rural people.

Phan Hoang Vu, director of the department, said the province is developing agriculture production towards smart production, efficiency, sustainability and adapting to climate change.

The province has undertaken advocacy activities to enhance the awareness of the public about the programme.

In am Doi District, the Quach Pham Commune Women's Union has encouraged its members to actively participate in building new-style rural areas by treating waste to protect the environment, growing flowers and trees to beautify roads, building hygienic toilets, and developing effective production models.

Le Thi My Duyen, a union member, is nearly 60 years old and has participated in all the unions activities such as keeping her house clean and growing trees to beautify her house.

She makes organic fertiliser from waste and grows vegetables and fruits to earn additional income, she said.

I and other members understand the benefits of building new style rural areas and have actively done things which we are able to do, she said.

Nguyen Thi Hong Tham, chairwoman of the union, said the programme warmly receives the responses of the members.

With their hard work, houses and roads look cleaner and more beautiful, she said.

The union will focus on helping poor members to escape poverty, aiming to have no poor members by the end of this year, she said.

The province has developed products under the countrys One Commune-One Product programme to improve income and create jobs for rural people, and this boosts building new-style rural areas.

OCOP products are rated between one- to five-star status and include foods, souvenirs, furniture, agricultural products, and rural tourism.

The province has 122 three-star OCOP products and six four-star OCOP products. They are mostly shrimp chips, shrimp flakes, dried shrimp, fish sauce and fish products.

Nguyen Hoang An, chairman of the Cai Bat Processing, Trade, Services and Aquaculture Co-operative in Cai Nuoc District, said his co-operative had its tilapia paste recognised as a three-star OCOP product in 2020.

After the tilapia paste was rated as a three-star OCOP product, its sales and value have increased compared to before the recognition, he said.

The market for tilapia paste has been expanded to Ha Noi, Hai Phong and Binh Duong Province and is estimated to be expanded to some supermarkets in the coming time, he said.

Cai Nuoc District has 15 OCOP products rated at the three-star level.

Tran Hoang ao, head of the district Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the provinces relevant departments and agencies have created favourable conditions for producers and companies to develop OCOP products.

The district has established the Ca Mau Agriculture Services Co-operatives Union to sell the specialty products of Cai Nuoc, Ca Mau and other provinces, he said.

The union has nine co-operatives and sells more than 100 OCOP products, he said.  VNS
(Photo : Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

Daniel Penny, the former Marine who was charged with manslaughter for the subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely, has been freed on a $100,000 bond.

Former Marine Daniel Penny released on $100,000 bond over death of Jordan Neely

Penny was recently charged with manslaughter for the subway chokehold death of Neely

The suspect could face up to 15 years in prison for the manslaughter charge

Daniel Penny, the former Marine charged with manslaughter in the subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely, has been freed on a $100,000 bond.

The incident was caught on video, where Penny was putting Neely in a deadly chokehold while on a New York City subway train. The former Marine was released on bail on Friday after he turned himself in to face criminal charges.

Daniel Penny Released on $100,000 Bond

The 24-year-old suspect was recently charged with second-degree manslaughter for the victim's death, said the Manhattan district attorney's office on Thursday. The victim, 30-year-old Neely, was a former impersonator of the great Michael Jackson.

He was homeless and lost his life following the chokehold earlier this month. On Friday, attorneys representing Neely's family supported the prosecutors' decision to charge Penny but argued that he should be charged with the victim's murder, not manslaughter. They also said authorities should have arrested him sooner, according to CBS News.

In a statement on Friday, Neely family attorney Lennon Edwards argued that Penny intentionally chose a technique that cut off the victim's air supply. He added that the defendant continued to keep Neely in the chokehold minute after minute and second after second.

If the former Marine is convicted of the manslaughter charge, he could be imprisoned for as long as 15 years. Penny did not enter a plea deal in his Friday court appearance and was later released on bond. Authorities require the defendant to surrender his passport and cannot leave the state without prior approval.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg released a statement saying that Neely should still be alive today if not for Penny. He also sympathized with the victim's family as they mourned their loved one's loss. The former Marine is also scheduled to return to court on July 17.

Read Also: 2 Michigan Schools Restrict Backpacks After 4th Student Found Carrying Gun

Jordan Neely's Subway Chokehold Death

Penny's attorneys have argued that the former Marine acted in self-defense to protect the people on the subway after Neely allegedly threatened them. They argued that the defendant could not have foreseen that the victim would die while being choked, calling the death an "unfortunate result," according to NBC New York.

Sources said that the New York district attorney's decision to charge Penny was made in consultation with the New York Police Department (NYPD) before the case was presented to a grand jury.

During his brief arraignment, Penny kept mostly quiet, simply answering Judge Kevin McGrath's answers using one-word responses. At the time, Steve Raiser, his lawyer, placed his arm around his client's shoulder.

In a statement, Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass said that the victim was allegedly threatening and "scaring passengers" before Penny approached him from behind. The former Marine then kept the hold on for several minutes, even after the victim was motionless, said the Associated Press.

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HCM CITY  HCM City authorities plan this year to improve the citys competitiveness to create the most favourable conditions for investment, production and businesses in all fields as it announced its 2022 Department and District Competitiveness Index (DDCI) results.

Speaking at a meeting to announce the results on Thursday, Phan Van Mai, chairman of the municipal Peoples Committee, said in addition to the DDCI, the city would improve its Public Administration Reform Index (PAR Index), Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI), and Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI).

To improve the PAR Index and PAPI, the city would focus on the major role played by and responsibility of leaders of departments, agencies, districts and Thu uc city.

To enhance the PCI index, it would improve its business climate, accelerate digital transformation and promote online public services.

Mai has ordered departments, agencies, districts and Thu uc city authorities to develop plans to improve the indicators and report to the city by the end of the month.

Improvement in the indicators will be the basis for evaluating the annual performance of departments, agencies and districts, he noted.

DDCI results

According to the 2022 DDCI results, the Department of Science and Technology ranked first in the index, followed by the HCM City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority, the Department of Industry and Trade, the Department of Culture and Information, and the Department of Justice.

These departments also achieved high scores in criteria such as transparency and access to information, application of information technology and digital transformation, time cost, fair competition, business support, legal institutions, creative dynamism, and effectiveness.

Meanwhile, the Department of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs is at the bottom, ahead of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the Department of Transport.

The three departments of Health, Tourism, and Education and Training had failed to provide sufficient information for the evaluation, which was condemned by the city government.

Regarding districts, Phu Nhuan District led the overall index with a score of 78.56, followed by District 11, District 10 and Tan Phu District.

Meanwhile, Thu uc city (Viet Nams first city within a city by merging HCM Citys districts 2 and 9 and Thu uc District in 2020) is at the bottom, ahead of Binh Chanh and Cu Chi districts.

More than 15,000 firms, cooperatives, and business households were invited to join the survey from last December to the end of January this year.

The index evaluated 22 districts, including Thu uc city, and 17 departments based on nine indicators.

They include transparency and access to information (which accounts for 10 per cent of the ranking), information-technology application and digital transformation (10 per cent), unofficial costs such as bribes (10 per cent), time spent on administrative procedures (15 per cent), fair competition (10 per cent), support for business (10 per cent), legal institutions (5 per cent), the dynamism, creativity and effectiveness of departments, divisions and sectors (15 per cent), and the role of leadership (15 per cent).

In addition, land access and land use stability were also taken into consideration when assessing the localities.

The city had some of the lowest scores for transparency and access to information, land access and stability, unofficial costs, support for businesses, time expenditure, and the role of leadership.

The index aims to help departments, agencies and districts recognise their strengths and weaknesses so they can adjust to create a more friendly environment for investment, production and business activities in all fields.  VNS
Cement export turnover to China decreased by more than 90 per cent over the same period last year.  Photo kinhte.congthuong.vn

Export tax on clinker increased from 5 per cent to 10 per cent from January 1.

However, even though the price of export clinker did not increase, it was extremely difficult for businesses because it was not enough to cover production costs and taxes, said VNCA.

Currently, the three main export markets of Viet Nam's cement are the Philippines, the US and Hong Kong (China).

As for clinker, the main export markets are China, Bangladesh, and the Philippines.

As a major export market of Viet Nam, the export of construction materials to China has been quite gloomy since the beginning of the year because the real estate market of this country has not fully recovered.

Among them, cement export turnover to China decreased by more than 90 per cent against the same period last year.

VNCA President Nguyen Quang Cung commented that Viet Nam's clinker exports to China accounted for the most.

Viet Nam exported to other countries about 40 million tonnes of clinker in 2021, of which, the Chinese market alone took 30 million tonnes.

It was clear that the Chinese market recognised quality Vietnamese goods at competitive prices, he told the Vietnam News Agency.

However, Cung assessed that the market situation this year was no longer as optimistic as before.

The export of clinker is forecast to continue to face difficulties as the construction demand of the Chinese market has not prospered.

Statistics showed that the total export volume of cement and clinker only reached 30.65 million tonnes last year, down 33 per cent compared to 2021.

The total value of foreign currency earned from the export of cement and clinker reached US$1.36 billion last year, down $398 million year-on-year.

Along with that, Viet Nam's second-largest export market, the Philippines, recently announced the imposition of a temporary anti-dumping tax on Vietnamese cement.

A number of cement manufacturers in the Philippines sued cement exporters from Viet Nam to the Philippines for dumping in early 2021, causing damage to the Philippine cement industry.

Cement exporters reflected that with the current large oversupply, when the total capacity exceeds 110 million tonnes and continues to be supplemented with supply from new lines, while the demand for cement consumption at only 64 - 65.5 million tonnes, leading to increasingly fierce competition.

Therefore, the cement production units are under pressure to consume the products they produce.

Therefore, maintaining traditional export markets such as the Philippines, China, and Bangladesh is a "lifesaver" for businesses that choose to export as the main consumption market.

In fact, manufacturers with large export volumes are trying to reduce production costs and find new markets in addition to maintaining traditional customers in the Philippines.

They even accept to adapt to the policies of trade protectionism and anti-dumping tax to export the most effective products.

Experts predict that cement production capacity will reach more than 120 million tonnes this year, while domestic consumption is only about 65 million tonnes and exports will struggle to reach 31 million tonnes as last year.

Although it is forecast that the export channel in the coming years will not have many growth opportunities, experts said that the cement industry could still expect positive signals from the Government's strong disbursement of public investment projects in the coming period to partially offset the decline in the export market.

Bizhub
The Vietnamese government views Boeing as a long-term partner in developing the local civil aviation industry.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Vice President of Boeing and President of Boeing Global Brendan Nelson. Source: VNA

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh made the remarks during a meeting with Boeing Vice President and President of Boeing Global Brendan Nelson today [May 12].

Recalling his meeting with Boeing leaders in Washington D.C. during the ASEAN-US Summit in May, as well as subsequent discussions with company representatives as part of a recent US business delegation to Vietnam, the Prime Minister praised Boeing's plans for long-term collaboration with Vietnam and expressed his appreciation for the company's decision to establish a representative office in the country.

Chinh reiterated that Vietnam always considers the US as one of its most important partners; welcomes the USs support for a strong, independent, self-sufficient, and prosperous Vietnam.

He said the US is an important partner for Vietnam and welcomed the US support for Vietnam to become strong, independent, self-sufficient, and prosperous.

"Vietnam seeks to bring the Vietnam-US comprehensive partnership to a more substantial, stable, and profound level based on respect for the country's independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political institutions," Chinh said, adding that economic and trade relations play a crucial role in advancing the comprehensive partnership between the two countries.

For his part, Nelson thanked Prime Minister Chinh for taking the time to meet with him and acknowledged Vietnam's important position in the ASEAN region.

With a growing economy of 100 million people and several free trade agreements with major markets around the world, Vietnam is an important part of Boeing's business strategy, he said. Nelson assured that Boeing will continue to invest and expand its cooperation with Vietnam, contributing to promoting economic cooperation between Vietnam and the US.

Chinh reiterated Vietnam's unwavering policy of ensuring political, economic and social stability while prioritizing sustainable development through scientific progress, innovation, digital transformation, and improving market economy institutions.

He noted that the goal is to build an independent, self-sufficient Vietnamese economy and actively integrate with the world in a comprehensive and effective manner, while continuously improving the business environment.

Vietnam remains receptive and attentive to the feedback and views of foreign companies, including those from the US, to facilitate their expansion in the country, Chinh said.

Chinh emphasized that Vietnam considers Boeing an important and enduring partner in the development of the country's civil aviation industry, and highly appreciates Boeing's flexible approach to fulfilling aircraft supply agreements for Vietnamese airlines during the Covid-19 pandemic and instability in the global aviation industry.

Vietnam has emerged from years of war and is currently undergoing economic transition and development. After more than three decades of renovation, the Vietnamese economy has reached a size of more than US$400 billion, with a GDP per capita income of more than US$4,000. Vietnam has signed free trade agreements with more than 60 economies worldwide, and its trade turnover is expected to exceed $700 billion in 2022.

The construction of airports in various provinces and cities serves as a foundation for socio-economic development and provides favorable conditions for the growth of the aviation industry. Therefore, the Prime Minister recommended that Boeing adopt a long-term investment strategy in Vietnam based on the principles of "win-win", "harmonious benefits" and "shared risks".

He requested that Boeing offer preferential policies for the Vietnamese market and continue to support Vietnamese airlines in their fleet development plans with a long-term vision.

Boeing was urged to meet the delivery dates in the signed contracts and improve the negotiation terms for new ones. Chinh also asked for Boeing's support in aviation safety, flight operations management and airport operations management, as well as the development of the aviation ecosystem in Vietnam by establishing more facilities and partners to provide components, technical services, warranty, and maintenance in the country.

Nelson agreed with the Prime Minister's remarks and proposals and pledged to make long-term investments in Vietnam to support the development of the country's aviation industry.

Hanoi Times
Co-funded by a $3 million grant from the US Mission, the pilot project will demonstrate how energy storage can help Vietnam integrate more renewable energy into its power system to meet ambitious climate goals. First announced at the annual US-Vietnam Energy Security Dialogue, the project plans to use a Honeywell Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) integrated into a 50MW peak solar farm operated by AMI Khanh Hoa.

US Consul General Susan Burns witnessed the signing of the MoU between Nguyen Nam Thang, CEO of AMI AC Renewables, and Ramanathan Valliyappan, general manager of Honeywell Process Solutions, Asia Pacific, at the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City.

The US Mission is proud to support this project as part of our commitment to a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) with Vietnam, said Burns. By leveraging advanced energy storage technology, we can work together to accelerate the transition to clean energy and build a climate resilient future.

Nguyen Nam Thang, AMI AC Renewables CEO, said, "The success of the BESS project at AMI Khanh Hoa will be among the top achievements of the bilateral cooperation in technological, technical, and economic development between the United States and Vietnam, and help contribute to Vietnams target of Net Zero emissions by 2050."

Battery energy storage solutions are vital to advancing sustainability efforts," said Honeywell's Valliyappan. We look forward to collaborating with AMI to extend renewable energy availability from the Khanh Hoa solar farm beyond hours when there is no sunlight. Honeywells BESS Platform improves grid stability and sustainability, while reducing cost and the size of the carbon footprint by lessening the need for non-renewable baseload power sources.

Energy storage plays a critical role in the transition to renewable power generation and the decarbonisation of global power systems. It is a key element of the JETP signed between Vietnam and its international partners to support the country's clean energy transition and deliver on its emission reduction goals.

Investors eager to boost cold storage The demand for cold storage is increasing thanks to the growth of agriculture and seafood, which is boosting investment trends in the market.

$15.5 billion in financing for green energy from Just Energy Transition Partnership 2023 could be an interesting year for Vietnams energy sector, as $15.5 billion of financing is set to be mobilised for Vietnams green energy transition through a recent energy partnership.
The tech giant announced that it will launch its first online store in Vietnam on May 18 in a bid to meet the growing demand from Vietnam's young and tech-savvy population, as well as its quickly expanding digital economy.

Apple will offer its full line of products and customer support in the Vietnamese language, and has also launched a Vietnamese website.

Deirdre O'Brien, Apple's senior vice president of retail said, "We're honoured to be expanding in Vietnam and extremely excited to be able to provide Apples superior care and support to customers with the launch of the online Apple Store."

"With our online store, customers in Vietnam can now explore our wide range of amazing products and services, connect with experienced professionals, and experience the best of Apple like never before," O'Brien continued.

The expansion into Vietnam is part of Apples broader business strategy. Due to lower demand and sales in China, Apple has shifted its focus towards emerging markets like India, Brazil, and Malaysia to boost sales.

In Apples most recent earnings call on May 4, CEO Tim Cook noted, "We had a stellar quarter in emerging markets overall. Were putting our efforts into a number of these markets and really see a great opportunity, particularly given our low share and the dynamics of the demographics."

Apple has not only tapped into the domestic market, but has also been adding production lines to their supply chain diversions in Vietnam. Foxconn, a major supplier of iPhones to Apple, is investing $300 million to increase production in the country. Meanwhile, Quanta Computer, which specialises in assembling MacBooks for Apple, will build a factory in an industrial park in Nam Dinh province.

Apple to make iPhone 14 in India in shift away from China Apple will manufacture its new flagship smartphone in India, the US tech giant said Monday, as it seeks to diversify production away from a dependence on China.

Apple to manufacture MacBooks in Vietnam next year Apple plans to begin producing MacBooks in Vietnam for the very first time next year as a part of its manufacturing diversification strategy amid rising tensions between the United States and China.
Backed by the Canadian government and official distributors of Canadian food in Vietnam, exclusive offers for a wide array of food products such as beef, seafood, ginseng, freeze-dried fruits, staple cereals, and maple syrup will be made available.

"Vietnam has been an important market for us in Asia Pacific and is the second location, after Japan, that we have launched this campaign, said Jeffrey Lang, representative of Canada Brand and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Speaking at the launch, Behzad Babakhanj, Canadian consul-general in Ho Chi Minh City said, Vietnam is Canadas number one trading partner in ASEAN, and Canada is also among the top 10 biggest international buyers of Vietnamese products. Canadian agricultural and seafood exports to Vietnam were valued at around $308 million (VND7.2 trillion) in 2022, a 34 per cent increase from the previous year,

Additionally, the export value of beef products from Canada to Vietnam saw robust growth last year of 55 per cent, with Vietnam being one of the two largest import markets for Canadian beef in Southeast Asia.

The implementation of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in 2019 has further boosted bilateral trade, particularly in the agricultural sector. As a result of the CPTPP tax-reduction roadmap, up to 94 per cent of Canadian agricultural products exported to Vietnam will incur zero tax. This will make Canadian products more accessible and competitive in the Vietnamese market. According to a Canadian seafood importer to Vietnam, the prices of some lobsters and crabs imported from British Columbia are even lower than some similar kinds in Vietnam.

Apart from the collaboration with Shopee, the campaign will also feature an official website to provide information about Canadian agricultural products and Canadian culinary culture. It will also collaborate with Vietnamese culinary influencers and chefs throughout the year to showcase special recipes using ingredients from Canada for Vietnamese families' daily meals.

The solutions for stronger Canadian moves in Vietnam Vietnam and Canada are going through a heyday in bilateral ties, and currently celebrating a 5-year comprehensive partnership. Canadian Ambassador to Vietnam Shawn Perry Steil talked to VIRs Thanh Tung about how the cooperation will continue to flourish.
Since its establishment in Tokyo in 2016, Genesia Ventures has launched three funds, focusing on early-stage investments from pre-seed to pre-series A.

Specifically, the first fund, with assets under management of $35 million, successfully raised capital in December 2017. With this source, the fund has invested in a total of 47 different startup companies in Japan and Southeast Asia.

Subsequently, the second fund raised over $70 million in October 2020. From this, Genesia Ventures invested in a total of 59 startup companies, primarily in three main markets, including Japan, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

According to Hoang Thi Kim Dung, Vietnam country manager for Genesia Ventures, the third round demonstrates the resilience and confidence in the fund's investment strategy.

The success of the third fund reaffirms Genesia Ventures' commitment to supporting and nurturing early-stage startups in the region. As the investment landscape continues to evolve, the fund remains dedicated to identifying and backing promising ventures that possess the potential for significant growth and innovation.

Capitalising on its unique advantages, and with an active presence in Japan, Southeast Asia, and soon India, the fund expects to facilitate the transfer of resources, networks, information, and knowledge among these markets. This will create synergies and enable startups and investors to learn from each other, enhance collaboration, and collectively grow.

In Vietnam, Genesia Ventures has invested in 12 different startup companies. The first fund invested in Homedy and Luxstay, while the second invested in seven more  Kamereo, Manabie, eDoctor, BuyMed, Vietcetera, Fundiin, and Selly.

With the third fund, Genesia Ventures has invested in M Village, Rootopia, and Wareflex. With the infusion of $110 million, the fund is determined to make even stronger investments in startups with excellent growth potential in the Vietnamese market that share a common vision.

Little Wallet secures pre-seed funding of $1.6 million Little Wallet, a fintech company headquartered in Singapore, has secured $1.6 million in pre-seed funding led by Tikaani Partners.
VSBF 2023 - Driving sustainability and inclusive growth in the digital era was organised by Vietstar and the Singapore Management University

Tran Van Tung, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, said that to pursue the goal of sustainable development, Vietnam has committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and made two other commitments related to agriculture. Thereby, the nation has gradually reduced its use of energy from fossil fuels and accelerated the use of renewable energy sources.

To implement these commitments, the role of technology is critical because new technologies can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, Vietnam needs technology transfer from other countries and the resources to absorb the transferred technologies, said Tung.

The Ministry of Science and Technology has been carrying out practical activities to support the business community, including the digital transformation of the transportation sector and the development of new sources of energy.

Confirming that choosing a sustainable development orientation is an inevitable trend, Ho Sy Hung, Deputy Chairman of the Commission for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises, said that this is a global strategy, based on a close, reasonable, and harmonious combination of the three aspects of economic development, including the economy, society, and environmental protection. This pushes the overarching goal that the government of Vietnam is pursuing.

To achieve this target, Hung said that the government should raise awareness of sustainable development, while clearly issuing requirements, standards, and regulations.

"It is necessary to focus on development policies that green existing industries. We need to transform to a more advanced industrial structure, boost investment in the research and development of green technologies, develop new and high-value-added sectors, establish a carbon emissions market, build a green financial mechanism, and provide tax incentives for environmentally friendly activities," suggested Hung.

According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes AR6 Synthesis Report on Climate Change in 2023 that was released in March in advance of COP 28 in Dubai, it is more likely than not that global warming will exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius this century, with the best estimate being that this will occur before 2040.

Lim Boon Heng, chairman of Temasek Holdings said, "Businesses and governments will face increased scrutiny and be expected to increase the pace and scale of their actions. Most with net-zero targets have set a deadline of 2050, so there needs to be a significant acceleration of ambition."

"The net-zero transition will bring both opportunities and challenges. Business leaders need to follow climate policy developments and global trends closely to best prepare," emphasised Heng.

2023 marks the significant milestone of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations and the 10th year of the strategic partnership between Singapore and Vietnam.

"The imperative to work together has never been stronger," said Singaporean Ambassador Jaya Ratnam.

Economic cooperation has been the cornerstone of the bilateral relationship, and Singapore has long recognised Vietnams economic strengths and potential. Singapore has been Vietnams top source of foreign investment for the last three years, with the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIP) across northern, central and southern Vietnam being emblematic symbols of the economic cooperation.

"VSIP just represents the tip, with many other Singaporean companies including Capitaland, Keppel, Mapletree, YCH Group, PSA, Charles & Keith, and Breadtalk active in Vietnams infrastructure, transport, logistics, food, and retail sectors," added the ambassador.

YCH, in a joint venture with T&T Group, has broken ground on a multi-modal logistic hub, dubbed the Vinh Phuc Superport, which will be the largest logistics infrastructure project spearheaded by a Singaporean company in Vietnam. Scheduled to go live in 2024, it will be a first of its kind hub with an integrated dry port and advanced supply chain nerve centre  modelled on Supply Chain City in Singapore.

"Overall, investor interest from Singapore remains strong and there is a firm conviction in Vietnams future," emphasised Ambassador Ratnam.

Sci-tech innovations at heart of green goals Mobilising private investment in sci-tech and innovation development should be strengthened towards sustainable development goals, experts said. With that, Vietnam is required to be bold and experiment with policies to attract more investment from the private sector.

OXO-degradable plastics threaten sustainable development OXO-degradable microplastic particles have become a common pollutant in soil and water and pose a threat to both ecosystems and human health.
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN, Tenn. (AP) 

Mary Harris has lived through two world wars, two global pandemics and the terms of 20 presidents, and on May 13, she will turn 112. As of 2021, she has been recognized as the oldest living resident of Tennessee.

Harris said she doesnt feel any different, despite her age. When asked during a Friday interview how someone can accomplish living such a long life, Harris said she doesnt have much advice.

If (people) want to live, theyll live, she said. If they dont want to, they wont.

When she was born prematurely in Ithaca, New York, in 1911 to Italian immigrant parents, a doctor said it was unlikely Harris would survive past infancy.

Instead, more than a century later, Harris can look back on a life that has included getting married, having two daughters, five grandchildren and more than a dozen great-grandchildren; she admits to having lost count of exactly how many great-grandchildren she has.

Harris husband, James Harris, came from North Lexington, North Carolina, and worked with her at her brothers dry cleaning business. He would give her a ride home after work, which she said helped foster their relationship.

Harris and her husband remained together until his death in 2003. During their time together, they lived and raised a family in Ithaca, retired to Florida and moved to Signal Mountain, where one of her daughters lived, and settled into Ascension Livings Alexian Village.

Harris mother provided a piece of wisdom Harris said helped her have a long and happy marriage.

I took advice from my mother, Harris said. She said, Always forgive him.

Imparting her own wisdom on younger generations, Harris said, Always be smart, and stay away from people that are no good.

Harris does not appear and act her age.

She manages to dress herself and get ready for the day before her caretaker even arrives. She moves about her room at Alexian Village with only the assistance of a walker, or a scooter if she is going to the dining room for meals.

Harris birthday has become quite a celebration at the retirement home. According to Melissa Thomas, the clinical program coordinator at Alexian Village who plans Harris birthday parties, previous years themes included a Hawaiian luau and a candy shop, which reminded Harris of her childhood.

This year, Alexian Village will honor Harris on Friday, one day before her May 13 birthday.

The gathering will bring together her family, friends and Alexian Village community to celebrate. Those who want to give well wishes to Harris for her birthday may do so by commenting on Alexian Villages Facebook post for Harris.
Authorities identified the Cameron police officer and a suspect who were killed during a shooting late Wednesday night.

The officer has been identified as Sgt. Joshua Lee Clouse, a 39-year-old from Cameron. The suspect is Albert Rafael Acosta, a 29-year-old from Cameron.

At around 10:55 p.m., Cameron police responded to a report of a gunshot victim in the 700 block of North Travis Street in Cameron, according to the Milam County Sheriffs Office. Upon arrival, the victim told police she had been shot in the neck by her spouse, later identified as Acosta.

Cameron police obtained a search warrant for a house in the 500 block of East Seventh Street in Cameron. Law enforcement from the Milam County Sheriffs Office, Rockdale Police Department and Texas Department of Public Safety assisted in the execution of the warrant.

When law enforcement executed the warrant, Acosta opened fire and law enforcement fired back. Acosta was killed and Clouse was wounded.

Clouse was transported to the nearest ER where he succumbed to his injuries.

There is no danger to the public at this time. The Milam County Sheriffs Office has requested the assistance of the Texas Rangers to investigate the incident.

The 100 Club of Central Texas activated its Survivor Fund in response to Clouse's death. The fund's mission is to help ease the burden for the family of someone who fell in the line of duty and all donations go toward supporting families of first responders who fell in the line of duty. For more information, or to donate, visit 100clubcentex.com/program-fund-activation.
(Photo : Burak Kara/Getty Images)

Turkish opposition election candidate Kemal Kiricdaroglu accused Russia of interference as the Kremlin denied the lawmaker's claims.

Turkey election opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu claims that Russia is interfering in the elections

The Kremlin promptly rejected the accusation, saying Moscow does not interfere in the internal affairs of other states

Kilicdaroglu's remarks come amid his challenge to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkey's opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu has accused Russia of interfering in his country's ongoing election.

However, the Kremlin has denied the claims that it was meddling in the internal affairs of other states. In a statement, Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov added that they were liars if someone gave Kilicdaroglu such information.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu Accuses Russia of Election Interference

The comments of the opposition candidate come amid his challenge of strongman President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been in power in the country for the last 20 years. Kilicdaroglu, despite making the claims, did not provide any details about them.

Kilicdaroglu also posted on Twitter that Russia is responsible for the "montages, plots, deep fake content, and tapes" released in Turkey. That particular tweet was also shared in Russian on Thursday, as per BBC.

The Turkish opposition added that if Moscow wanted to secure a "friendship" with Turkey following the election this weekend, it should get its hands off the state. He noted that despite the situation, they still favored cooperation and friendship.

On the other hand, Peskov noted that Russia continues to value its relations with Turkey despite the comments. On Friday, he added that the country has taken a "very responsible, sovereign, and thought-out stance on a whole range of regional and global problems."

The recent Twitter post was not the first reference to Russia's alleged election interference that Kilicdaroglu made. He warned government officials earlier this month against making deals with what he called the "dark web" to "interfere" in the elections.

The situation comes as polls suggest that Turkey's election is a tight race between Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu but showed a slight lead for the opposition candidate. According to CNN, if neither candidate wins a majority in the first round of elections on May 14, a second round will be held on May 28.

Read Also: US Debt Default Threatens Global Economy, Warns World Bank President

Russia-Turkey Relationship

Turkey, a NATO-member country with the second-largest army within the military alliance, has continued strengthening its alliance with Russia. In 2019, the country also bought weapons from Moscow in defiance of the United States.

Furthermore, as other countries started to boycott Russia's energy supply, Turkey went so far as to extend its dependency on Moscow. The situation was a result of the Kremlin's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Major media outlets have called the latest Turkish elections the most important of 2023 as many in the West are hoping that someone would be able to beat Erdogan. They hope that a new administration would be a more accommodating liberal leadership that would work on a change to the nation's domestic and international policies.

Many in the West refer to Erdogan as "the other Putin," a reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin. They consider the Turkish president as a populist, divisive autocrat who is determined to pursue his dream of an empire, said Aljazeera.

Related Article: Ukraine Recaptures Significant Territory Near Bakhmut

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ZAVALLA  Tom Bailey had just finished his morning routine of checking the towns three water well sites when he got a call from a resident: Water was coming out of the road.

Waco's struggle to replace aging water system takes time, money In Wacos historic core, old pipes can be a landmine for street projects, adding unpredictable and sometimes exorbitant costs.

Bailey, public works director for this small East Texas town, hopped in his pickup truck and drove to the scene on a bumpy road that sits behind the high school.

The entire road was wet.

Water was just boiling up in the middle of the road, Bailey said. Not normal. Not normal at all.

As water continued to flow down the street, Bailey and Cody Day, a water operator who works under Bailey, jumped back in the truck and drove into town to pick up a mini excavator from storage. They returned and dug into the ground to find the water source: a leaking pipe.

That one leak turned into a saga. Every time Bailey and Day would make a repair, the line would break somewhere else. Customers in the area lost water intermittently for three days.

I felt disappointed in myself, Bailey said. If its my repair and my repair failed, then I did something wrong.

The repeated line breaks were not under Baileys control. Installed in the 1960s, the pipes are part of a larger, deteriorating underground infrastructure that Bailey was handed when he took over as the towns public works director in January. His start date followed a disastrous water crisis that left Zavallas roughly 700 residents without drinking water for 10 days and forced the towns water department to work on Christmas Eve.

Theres so much in disrepair, Bailey said. Its a daily balance.

Zavallas struggles are not unique. Across the state, from the arid plains of West Texas to the Piney Woods along the Louisiana border, water and wastewater infrastructure is failing  if it exists at all.

The Lone Star States drinking water infrastructure barely received a passing grade in a 2021 report from the American Society of Civil Engineers, a low mark for the nations second-most-populous state with a reputation for bravado. The multibillion-dollar situation has grown only more dire, as the underground problems erupt into Texans everyday lives.

In 2021, the state reported more than 30 billion gallons of water lost due to breaks or leaks that were fixed, according to the Texas Water Development Board, a state agency that tracks the states water supply. Another 100 billion gallons of water loss can be attributed to faulty infrastructure and other issues, Texas officials said. That loss cost the utilities more than $266 million.

The actual amount of water lost is likely greater. Most water agencies are required to submit water loss audits to the Texas Water Development Board every five years. Agencies that have more than 3,300 connections or receive money from the board are required to submit the audits annually. Only a fraction of those entities water loss is captured because either the local water agencies didnt report or the state found inaccurate data in what was submitted and did not include the audit. About 800 agencies are represented in the 2021 report. Agencies that do not report face few, if any, consequences: The water board can withhold financial support until a water provider has submitted its audit.

Deteriorating water infrastructure contributed to an extended water outage in Odessa last summer and continues to fuel a growing number of boil-water notices statewide. Over the last five years  between 2018 and 2022  water entities have issued 55% more boil-water notices than they did over the previous five-year period, according to a Tribune analysis of data from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

The problem is exacerbated in rural areas  where population densities tend to be lower and the pipes tend to be older, some dating back to the 1890s. With a smaller tax base, rural communities have less money to spend on fixing repairs or upgrading water infrastructure. Texas has the largest rural population in the country. Nearly 4.8 million people live outside a metro area in Texas, according to the latest estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The state continues to grow rapidly, and although much of that growth is concentrated in metro areas, it is beginning to spread into rural counties, including those just outside of Houston and Dallas. The booming population places more pressure on the states vital resources, including water.

As Texas population continues to grow at a record pace  including in new developments across rural Texas  the question is not if, but when, the pipes will break.

Texas water infrastructure issues mirror those across the nation. From Jackson, Mississippi, to Lincoln Park, Michigan, water systems are under duress.

While water infrastructure is traditionally a local issue, water advocates and cash-poor municipalities hope the state will take a larger role in investing in past-due upgrades. And state lawmakers have a unique opportunity to address the states crisis before they leave the Capitol at the end of the legislative session. Texas lawmakers entered the legislative session with more money at their disposal than they ever had before, thanks to a historic budget surplus of $32.7 billion. Texas is expected to receive approximately $2.5 billion of federal dollars earmarked for water infrastructure through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2021.

And as Texas gets hotter, drier and more populated, state lawmakers are paying attention to the collapsing, aging systems that are meant to provide safe drinking water to 30 million Texans.

Lawmakers are keen to act. Texas senators unanimously approved legislation that would create a new water supply fund and pay for upgrades to water infrastructure, with some funding reserved for communities with fewer than 150,000 people.

The amount of money allocated for the legislation is yet to be determined. The Senate has set aside $1 billion and the state House, which must co-sign on any legislation, has proposed a substantially higher figure: $3 billion.

Water advocates and stakeholders say the bill is both a crucial step and insufficient to meet the growing statewide need.

Texas needs an estimated $61.3 billion in infrastructure investment over the next 20 years, according to a national survey by the Environmental Protection Agency released in March.

Jeremy Mazur, a senior policy analyst for the nonpartisan advocacy group Texas 2036 who has studied the states water needs, put the federal and state investment this way: Its going to be a drop in the bucket compared to the long-term cost.

Boil-water notices

Two days before Thanksgiving, dozens of Zavalla residents packed into City Hall for an emergency town meeting. What had begun with low water pressure earlier in the month turned into a complete outage that caused schools and businesses to close. The towns public works director resigned, and no city employee had the appropriate license to operate the towns main well. For longtime Zavalla residents, the problems were bad but nothing new.

Weve always had water problems, said Brenda Cox, a former city council member who will take office as the towns mayor this month. The bottom line is, we need a quick fix. Weve got to have water.

The Texas Division of Emergency Management sent pallets of bottled water to Zavalla and deployed the Texas A&M Public Works Response Team to help. They fixed leaks and checked water lines for a loss of pressure. By Thanksgiving Day, water was restored for most residents, but a boil-water notice remained in effect. The working-class town 25 miles outside of Lufkin and known for its proximity to the popular fishing destination of Sam Rayburn Reservoir was thrust into the public spotlight.

Boil-water notices are among the most public manifestations of the states water crisis, and they are increasing rapidly. In 2021, 3,866 boil-water notices were issued across the state  the highest number in the last decade, according to data self-reported by water agencies across the state to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. That high number likely was linked to the 2021 winter storm Uri, which caused pipes to freeze and burst across Texas.

The number of notices dropped slightly to 3,068 in 2022. That number is significantly higher than the 10-year average, and numbers have remained high in 2023. During the first three months of this year, 759 notices have been issued, or an average of about eight per day.

Boil-water notices are issued for a variety of reasons and do not necessarily mean water is contaminated. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality requires water entities to issue boil-water notices under circumstances in which public health could be compromised, including when water pressure drops below 20 pounds per square inch. A loss in pressure can indicate a leak, and leaks can allow foreign particles or contaminants to enter the water supply.

Leaks are becoming increasingly common in part because of aging infrastructure. Old pipes are more vulnerable to breaks and damage during extreme weather events. And those events are becoming more frequent because of climate change, experts say.

Last year, Texas faced its worst drought in more than a decade. About 75% of the state is still experiencing drought conditions, according to U.S. drought monitor, and those conditions will persist this summer. On the other end of the spectrum, ice storms are also common occurrences in Texas. In February, a heavy winter storm caused widespread power outages in much of Central and East Texas and raised questions about whether Texas infrastructure is equipped to handle such extreme weather.

In Crockett, one of the oldest county seats in Texas, water workers at Consolidated Water Supply Corporation have dubbed one particularly troublesome area mini tornado alley. Tornadoes can bring strong wind gusts along with lightning and floods that can damage water infrastructure, including storage tanks and distribution systems. Ruptured service lines can decrease water pressure and result in more boil-water notices.

In April 2019, a devastating tornado with peak wind speeds of 140 mph struck northeast of Crockett. The storm uprooted one of Consolidateds water lines, and post-storm cleanup damaged water mains, said Amber Stelly, general manager of the water agency. Three boil-water notices were issued in connection with the storm.

Last March, a tornado struck between two of Consolidateds water plants. The water system issued two boil-water notices that day due to low-pressure systems and water outages. The water tanks were spared, Stelly said, but severe weather keeps everyone on edge.

What I lose sleep over is storms, said plant operator BJ Perry, who worked for the water department in Elkhart  a town about 25 miles north of Crockett  before joining Consolidated. Its like, oh my god, here we go again.

On a Friday afternoon in March, Perry was nearing the end of his shift when a tornado warning sounded an alarm on Stellys iPhone. Perry had just returned from investigating a chlorination issue and was reporting his findings to Stelly.

State environmental guidelines say that chlorine levels of 0.2 milligrams per liter must be maintained throughout the drinking water treatment process and distribution system. Water systems are supposed to issue boil-water notices when levels fall below that threshold. Chlorine is a common disinfectant used to rid drinking water of bacteria or other microorganisms.

Perry detected signs of a possible drop in chlorine levels. The likely culprit: a leak. If he could get the levels in check, he could avoid issuing a boil-water notice. Consolidated issued 68 boil-water notices in 2022, the highest number issued by a public water entity last year and has led the state in the number issued in March, according to TCEQ data.

Stelly said notices typically apply to certain areas, but they still go out to all customers and can unnecessarily cause alarm.

I want people to heed warnings, Stelly said. I wont want them to ignore them because they are blasted with them all day. She said shes working on a system that would better target the notices.

Barely keep up with growth

Water is the never-ending task on Randy Criswells daily to-do list as Wolfforths city manager.

Every day, he must manage the delicate interplay among quantity, quality and the system that is supposed to ensure both.

Not one single day has passed that it doesnt come up, Criswell said of his 15 months in office. Some days its the majority of my time, if not a substantial portion of it.

Criswell inherited the Lubbock suburbs worst-kept secret  the towns water problems. Over a 10-year period, Wolfforth received 362 violations for exceeding the legal amounts of fluoride and arsenic, a known carcinogen.

Wolfforth was using water from private wells supplied with water from the Ogallala Aquifer, which does have both contaminants. As a way to make the water safer for residents and regain their confidence, Wolfforth opened its current water treatment plant in 2017 specifically to lower the arsenic and fluoride levels.

The Ogallala water in this part of the state is not the greatest quality, said Criswell, who took office in January 2022. A lot of it has fluoride concentration levels that are not where the EPA and TCEQ would like to see them.

Wolfforth isnt the only town that has higher levels of the carcinogen. A 2016 report found that 65 Texas water systems, primarily in small towns or rural areas clustered in West Texas and the near the Gulf Coast, contained excessive levels of arsenic, exposing more than 82,000 Texans. Water in Seagraves, 65 miles southwest from Lubbock, had arsenic levels that were three times over the health standard, making it unsafe for the 2,396 residents.

Subpar water infrastructure makes the arsenic problem  which is largely unavoidable, particularly in the endless plains of West Texas  worse.

Existing in pockets of dirt and rocks, arsenic is essentially shaken loose by natural causes and human activity, such as traffic or construction. Its then released into groundwater sources, such as the aquifer. Its also found in industrial products and chemicals that are used in the region.

Older pipes that break and develop small cracks also leave the water vulnerable to harmful contaminants. The risk could get worse, depending on what the water lines and their bindings are made of.

Since some cities were developed in the late 19th century, construction workers made do with whatever materials they had nearby.

Sometimes their water supply piping or stormwater piping might have actually been made out of wood, said Ken Rainwater, a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. They would make cylindrical pipes out of planks because thats what they had on hand.

Rainwater said other materials included cast iron, copper and lead  a new EPA assessment found that 647,000 water lines in Texas are made of lead, accounting for 7% of the states total water infrastructure.

Keeping track of endless miles of water lines can be difficult as there is no database tracking the age or materials of pipes, or even where exactly they are located underground. While some cities in Texas have managed to create such mapping, many small and rural communities have understaffed city offices that cant commit resources to intensive, yet necessary, mapping.

Melinda Luna with the Texas ASCE often finds herself piecing together the lost history of the states water infrastructure. Its a daunting task. When she asks local officials for maps of their water lines for projects, she is sometimes met with confused looks.

If cities were built 100 years ago and they havent touched them since, then its out of sight, out of mind, Luna said.

Lunas research has shed light on some of the states oldest pipes, such as wooden pipes in Waco, Tyler, Eastland, Laredo and Weslaco. Most recently in 2019, a wooden water pipe in the Panhandle town of Pampa was discovered that had originally been installed in the 1890s.

Until cities get a true inventory of their stuff out there, they dont really know whats there, Luna explained. Once you have an inventory, you can maybe manage the madness a little bit easier.

Back in Wolfforth, Criswell is hopeful he has found a way to manage the madness. The filtration system in his areas treatment plant is designed to clean the water through thousands of thin polymer membrane layers. The layers could have cost the city a pretty penny  they are worth $35,000. However, they were reclaimed from a plant in El Paso.

The city is in the process of designing another water treatment plant, this one to clean the water and to hold more water that the city is bringing in from other sources. Its made city officials more optimistic about the future of their home.

Soon, well have survived a crisis in Wolfforth that everybodys going to come out on the other end of OK, Criswell said.

Raising rates

On a Monday evening in April, Bailey  Zavallas public works director  drove back up the road where he had tended to a series of leaks three weeks earlier. His truck jostled over potholes that residents have been asking him to patch up. Bailey oversees water and wastewater  along with the towns infrastructure needs like road repairs. Bailey and Day patched up holes on that road using gravel.

It was never meant to be a long-term fix, Bailey said, but it was the most he could do.

Im on a limited budget, Bailey said. I only have so much money a year for patching.

Down the road, an orange traffic drum marked the spot where the leaks had occurred. The spot was still damp.

I hope its not leaking, Bailey said. But its awfully soft.

A mile away at City Hall, the towns council was set to discuss changes to the water departments payment plan guidelines.

In February, the council approved a $4 per month increase on water and sewer rates, the first rate increase they had adopted in decades. It was a small victory for Bailey, who hopes the added revenue will help the town create a contingency fund for infrastructure repairs or future expansions.

Mayor pro tem Kim Retherford said some residents have not paid for water in years and have accumulated an over $800 water bill. She urged the council to change the towns payment plan guidelines, which have previously allowed residents to repeatedly defer payment on their water bills.

On the paperwork we have, there is not a place where you can say this is how much you owe, this is when youre gonna pay it, and this is how, Retherford said to the council. Weve got to give [the water department] what they need to push forward.

After nearly thirty minutes of debate, Retherford called for a vote on the new policy. Under the new guidelines, customers who enter into a payment plan would be expected to pay off their bill within four months. With three city council members in favor, none against, and one member abstaining, the new policy passed and went into effect immediately  another victory for Bailey.
Bryan College announces graduatesLINCOLN  Bryan College of Health Sciences announces the graduating class of May 2023. Six graduated with a Doctor of Education, 22 with a Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice, six with a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences, eight with a Bachelor of Science in Health Professions, one with a Bachelor of Healthcare Studies, and 47 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

Graduation was held at St. Pauls United Methodist Church, Lincoln, on May 5.

Area graduates include Peyton Allan Brodrick of Valparaiso, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice.

CSC Health Professions students honored at banquetCHADRON  Chadron State College Students majoring in Health Professions were recognized at an annual banquet April 13 at Country Kitchen .

Area students include Micaiah Vrbka of Brainard, UNMC, Nursing.

Spicka inducted into Honor Society

of Phi Kappa PhiBATON ROUGE, Louisiana  Katie Spicka of Wahoo was recently initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nations oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society. Spicka was initiated at University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Membership is by invitation only and requires nomination and approval by a chapter. Only the top 10% of seniors and 7.5% of juniors are eligible for membership.

Top UW engineering honors awarded at Tau Beta Pi BanquetLARAMIE, Wyoming  The University of Wyomings College of Engineering and Physical Sciences and the Wyoming Alpha chapter of Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honor society, have announced award recipients for 2023. The awards were presented at the annual Tau Beta Pi Awards Banquet April 29 in the Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center.

Joint Engineering and Physical Sciences Council Outstanding Freshman included Laura Kuhr of Mead.
A Lincoln man offered a brief apology to his boyfriend's family at his sentencing Friday for unintentionally killing him during a fight last September and leaving him in the bathtub at his house for three days.

"I'm really sorry this happened," Joshua A. Larsen, 35, said. "I never meant for it to happen."

In a letter to the judge, Larsen had asked for five to 10 years for the manslaughter of Robert Aguirre, a request that Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Julie Mruz said Friday depreciated the seriousness of what he'd done.

On Sept. 29, Lincoln police went to check on Aguirre at his home near North 65th and Adams streets after Larsen told his mother and another witness that he "had a dead body in the bathtub down the street and he was threatening to kill both of (them)," according to police.

They arrested Larsen on an unrelated warrant, then went to Aguirre's home and found him dead in the bathtub with wet blankets and a carpet covering his body and blood smeared on the living room floor.

Larsen told investigators he'd gone to Aguirre's to buy drugs early Sept. 26 but Aguirre refused to sell him any. He left, but came back and an argument turned into a fight.

He told police Aguirre started hitting him, so he put Aguirre in a headlock then a leg choke around his neck. After Aguirre was unconscious for about a minute, he tried CPR but couldn't revive him.

Defense attorney DeAnn Stover said they discussed arguing at trial it was a mutual fight but ultimately agreed to the plea offer.

Larsen pleaded no contest to manslaughter (the unintentional killing without malice upon a sudden quarrel), first-degree domestic assault and terroristic threats, and for assaulting an officer in a separate incident earlier the same month.

Mruz said: "What happened to Mr. Aguirre is something feared by every prosecutor, law enforcement officer and family member when an abuser continues to escalate the violence in an already abusive relationship."

Aguirre may not have been perfect, she said. But he deserved to be treated better by his partner.

"He deserved to be respected, and he deserved to live," Mruz said, going through Larsen's history of assaultive behavior that included assaulting a man with a hammer for trying to stop him from assaulting a previous significant other.

She said Larsen was out on bond with an open domestic assault case when he killed Aguirre. And he had two prior convictions for domestic assaults where Aguirre was the victim.

Despite all of this history, the abuse didn't stop, Mruz said.

"He knew what he did was awful. And then he failed to call 911 for any chance at medical intervention. Instead, he tried to cover up his heinous crime," she said.

In the end, retired Lancaster County District Judge John Colborn sentenced Larsen to 23 to 26 years in prison, saying he couldn't ignore the serious nature of his crimes and that imprisonment was necessary for the protection of the public.

Best public high schools in Nebraska Best public high schools in Nebraska #30. Valentine High School #29. Milford High School #28. Crofton High School #27. Gordon-Rushville High School #26. Platteview Senior High School #25. York High School #24. Wood River Rural High School #23. High School at Syracuse #22. Seward High School #21. North Bend Central Junior/Senior High School #20. Pender High School #19. West Holt High School #18. Elmwood-Murdock Junior/Senior High School #17. Chadron Senior High School #16. Bellevue West High School #15. Central High School #14. Diller-Odell Secondary School #13. Bennington Secondary School #12. Millard South High School #11. Lincoln High School #10. Papillion La Vista Senior High School #9. Papillion La Vista South High School #8. Lincoln Southeast High School #7. Westside High School #6. Southwest High School #5. Millard West High School #4. Elkhorn High School #3. Lincoln East High School #2. Elkhorn South High School #1. Millard North High School
Famed for its bald, leathery visage and astonishing wingspan, the federally endangered California Condor symbolizes both a species on the brink of extinction and a thundering success story for conservationists.

Just 22 condors existed when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began a captive breeding effort in the early 1980s. Today, there are 183 in California, and 541 on the planet.

Now, however, the majestic scavengers are facing a biological catastrophe they may not be able to overcome.

Federal wildlife officials have confirmed that an outbreak of avian influenza has killed 21 condors in Arizona and Utah since early March. Thats nearly 20% of the 116 condors that were patrolling the skies above Grand Canyon and Zion National Parks.

Now, the Fish and Wildlife Service and its conservation partners are scrambling to devise emergency strategies to protect the remaining condors from contracting a virus that has already killed hundreds of millions of poultry and untold numbers of wild birds around the world, according to a recent World Economic Forum report.

Were reevaluating multiple aspects of our condor recovery program to keep it moving forward, said Ashleigh Blackford, California condor recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. But the challenge is this: How do we implement new strategies without doing more harm than good?

Avian influenza has been around for years, but this particular strain is lethal to wild birds in a way no other strain has been, Blackford said. Its a puzzle we are trying to get through without triggering setbacks.

That wont be easy. Many of the strategies under consideration are untested and conflict with programs that have made condors largely reliant on humans for safe refuges, veterinary tests, breeding programs, and food free of contamination from lead ammunition.

For example, condors frequently dine at communal feeding stations stocked with roadkill deer and still-born calves donated by local dairies. But that routine may increase their risk of infection because the virus is spread through airborne transmission from infected birds and indirectly through contact with saliva, mucous or feces.

Discontinuing the use of feeding stations, however, could increase the chances of condors dying of lead poisoning from spent ammunition left in the carcasses of hunted animals such as ground squirrels and coyotes.

Bird flu has not yet been confirmed in condor populations in California and Baja California, Mexico.

There have been no new reports of sick or deceased condors since April 11, officials said. As of Thursday, two condors that tested positive for avian flu were recovering.

The FWS has asked the U.S. Department of Agricultures Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to expedite approval to vaccinate captive and free-flying condors against the highly pathogenic avian influenza known as H5N1.

As of last week, however, animal health officials were still studying how to use a poultry vaccine on condors, including those that soar over the Sierra Nevada range.

The virulent nature of H5N1 has prompted nonprofit conservation organizations to launch a series of efforts. They include preventing future exposure to the virus, caring for ailing condors, and improving biological safety procedures for staffers and field crews.

Bird flu is considered low risk as a human health concern, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, the World Health Organization has described increased reports of the virus jumping to a variety of mammals, including humans, as worrying.

Kelly Sorenson, executive director of the nonprofit Ventana Wildlife Society of Monterey, Calif., said his group recently raised $85,000 to buy 10 quarantine pens for use in the event that Californias condor populations test positive for H5N1.

Its sad to think, he said, that this horrible avian flu emerged when the California condor was on the threshold of becoming a self-sustaining, free-flying population.

If the overall population continues to grow, the vulture that scientists know as Gymnogyps californianus may be eligible for down-listing from endangered to threatened within a few decades, researchers say.

Now, in a worst case scenario, wildlife authorities might have a difficult time finding enough facilities able to take in and care for a large number of condors stricken with the virus.

The Los Angeles Zoo, which has been at the forefront of condor captive breeding efforts for three decades, said it has no plans to accept condors that have tested positive for bird flu.

Peter Bloom, a biologist who helped implement the captive breeding program that is credited with saving the California condor from extinction, said he also believes its a good idea to hit the pause button on take permits.

Photos: California condor takes flight in wild after near extinction Return of the Condor Return of the Condor Return of the Condor Return of the Condor Return of the Condor Return of the Condor Return of the Condor Return of the Condor Return of the Condor Return of the Condor
Google has disclosed plans to infuse its dominant search engine with more advanced artificial-intelligence technology. The effort is in response to one of the biggest threats to its long-established position as the internets main gateway. The gradual shift in how Googles search engine runs is rolling out three months after Microsofts Bing search engine started to tap into technology similar to that which powers the artificially intelligent chatbot ChatGPT. Google will begin its AI transition in search cautiously, starting with a waitlist available only in the U.S. to people who want to test the new approach. Other AI improvements are coming to Gmail, Photos and the conversational chatbot, Bard.
POTIOMKYNE, Ukraine  A grassy lane rutted with tire tracks leads to Volodymyr Zaiets farm in southern Ukraine. He is careful, driving only within those shallow grooves  veering away might cost him his life in the field dotted with explosive mines.

Weeds grow tall where rows of sunflowers once bloomed. Zaiets land hasn't been touched since the fall of 2021, when it was last seeded with wheat. Now, it's a minefield left by retreating Russian forces.

Zaiets eschewed official warnings and demined this patch of land himself, determined not to lose the years harvest. He expects that 15% of his 4,000 acres of farmland was salvaged.

Workers like Victor Kostiuk still spot mines, but he's ready to start the tractor.

We have to do it, he said. Why be afraid?

Across Ukraine, the war has forced grain growers into a vicious dilemma. Farmers in areas now free from Russian occupation must decide if it's worth risking their lives to strip land of explosives before the critical spring planting season.

They have soaring production and transportation costs caused by Russias blockade of many Black Sea ports, and several neighboring European countries imposed import restrictions on Ukrainian grain to prevent a glut.

The dual crisis is causing many farmers to cut back on sowing crops. Bottlenecks in shipping grain by land and sea are creating losses, with expectations of a 20% to 30% reduction in grain output, poorer quality crops and potentially thousands of bankruptcies next year, according to industry insiders, Ukrainian government officials and international organizations.

The drastic reduction of grain crops potentially threatens global food security, said Pierre Vauthier, head of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization in Ukraine. That is the main thing everybody eats. So thats why it is a big concern.

More than a year since Russia's invasion, the Ukrainian agriculture industry is starting to see the full impact on what's been dubbed  the breadbasket of the world, whose affordable supplies of wheat, barley and sunflower oil are crucial to Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia where people are going hungry.

The FAO says 90% of agricultural businesses lost revenue and 12% reported lands contaminated with mines. Land planted with grain dropped last year to 28.6 million acres from around 40 million acres in 2021. That's expected to fall to 25.2 million acres this year.

In the southern Kherson province, between the threat of missiles from the sky and mines on the ground, farmers make the same, often tragic, calculation: Take the risk and plant or lose their livelihoods.

The region is among the highest wheat-producing areas in Ukraine and the most heavily mined. Demining services are overstretched, with infrastructure and civilian homes prioritized over farms.

But growers cant wait: April and May are key planting months for corn, the autumn months for wheat. Many are switching to planting oil seeds that are less costly.

We have nearly 40 big farmers in our area, and nearly everyone is unable to access their lands except two, said Hanna Shostak-Kuchmiak, head of the Vysokopillya administration that includes several villages in northern Kherson.

Zaiets is one, and Valerii Shkuropat from the nearby village of Ivanivka is the other.

Our heroes, said Shostak-Kuchmiak, who were driving their cars around picking up mines and bringing them to our deminers.

Neither farmer felt they had a choice. Both knew that without a harvest this year, they will be insolvent by next.

Everyone understands the risks, said Shkuropat, whose more than 6,000 acres once grew peas, barley, millet and sunflowers. He estimates that half can be planted.

Last month, one of his workers was killed and another was wounded while picking up metal missile remnants.

If we sow, if we grow crops, people will have jobs, salaries and they will have a means to feed their families, Shkuropat said. But if we dont do anything, we will have nothing.

Russias blockade of Ukraines Black Sea ports stripped the country of the advantage it once enjoyed over other grain-exporting countries. Transit costs, now four to six times higher than prewar levels, have rendered grain production prohibitively expensive.

High costs of fuel, fertilizer and quality seeds only add to farmers' woes. Most must sell their grain at a loss.

Farmers are responding by seeding less, said Andrii Vadaturskyi, CEO of Nibulon, a top Ukrainian grain shipping company.

No one is paying attention to the fact that already 40% less wheat has been seeded (this year), and we expect 50% less corn will be seeded in Ukraine, he said, drawing on data from 3,000 farmers.

Nibulon once paid an average of $12 to ship a ton of grain from the southern port city of Odesa. Now it pays $80-$100 per ton, Vadaturskyi said.

HarvEast CEO Dmytro Skornyakov said that his agricultural company pays almost $110 in logistics costs to export every ton of corn.

It covers our expenses, but doesnt give us any profit, he said.

Negotiations are underway on renewing the U.N.-brokered agreement that allows Ukrainian grain to safely leave three Black Sea ports. Shippers say the deal isn't working efficiently.

Russian inspections are causing long wait times for vessels, piling on fees and making the sea route expensive and unreliable, Ukrainian grain shippers say. Russia denies slowing inspections.

In Ukraines forests, fighters race to prepare for next push
ROME  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had private talks with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday, later saying he sought support for Ukraine's peace plan from the pontiff, who in the past offered to try to help end the full-scale war Russia launched a year ago.

Meanwhile, Germany will provide Ukraine with additional military aid worth more than $3 billion, including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition, its government said Saturday. The announcement came as preparations were underway in Berlin for Zelenskyys possible first visit to Germany since Russia invaded his country. The exact schedule was not publicly announced because of security concerns.

The new military aid package, first reported by German weekly Der Spiegel, includes 30 Leopard 1 A5 tanks, 20 Marder armored personnel carriers, more than 100 combat vehicles, 18 self-propelled Howitzers, 200 reconnaissance drones, four IRIS-T SLM anti-aircraft systems and other air defense equipment.

It comes after Ukrainian military commanders said their troops recaptured more territory from Russian forces near the eastern city of Bakhmut amid speculation about a possible counteroffensive by Kyiv.

Russian shelling on Saturday killed two civilians, including a 15-year-old girl, and wounded 10 more in Kostyantynivka, a city less 18 miles west of Bakhmut, the regional prosecutor's office said.

Zelenskyy held his hand over his heart and said it was a "great honor" to meet with the pope. Francis, using a cane for his knee problem, came to greet the Ukrainian president before ushering him into a papal studio near the Vatican's audience hall.

In a tweet after the 40-minute audience, Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to Francis for "his personal attention to the tragedy of millions of Ukrainians." He said he spoke with the pontiff "about the tens of thousands of deported (Ukrainian) children. We must make every effort to return them home."

Last month, Ukraine's prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, asked the pope to help get children returned from Russia to Ukraine. The Vatican's statement Saturday made no mention of the request.

Instead, the Vatican said the two men spoke of Ukraine's "humanitarian and political situation provoked by the ongoing war."

"The pope assured his constant prayer, paid witness to by his many public appeals and by his continued invoking of the Lord for peace, since February of last year," the Vatican said, a reference to the Russian invasion that began Feb. 24, 2022.

The meeting came as Russia's defense ministry said Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles delivered to Ukraine by the United Kingdom this week damaged unspecified civilian enterprises in Luhansk province in Ukraine's far east. Luhansk authorities separately said another missile strike hit the regional capital, wounding an elderly woman.

Two Russian Mi-8 helicopters and an Su-34 fighter-bomber crashed Saturday in the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, state news agency Tass and a Telegram channel close to the Russian defense ministry reported; the newspaper Kommersant cited reports of two fighter planes crashing. The causes of the crashes were not immediately disclosed, but concern in Bryansk is growing about cross-border attacks from Ukraine.

Some Ukrainian units continue to push forward near Bakhmut, the commander of Ukraine's land forces said Saturday, just a day after Ukrainian commanders said their troops recaptured territory at the scene of the war's longest and bloodiest battle. "Our soldiers are moving forward in some sectors of the front, and the enemy is losing equipment and manpower," Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Telegram.

Zelenskyy also said he asked the pope to condemn Russian "crimes in Ukraine" because "there can be no equality between the victim and the aggressor."

"I also talked about our Peace Formula as the only effective algorithm for achieving a just peace," Zelenskyy said. Later, in an interview on Italian state TV, the Ukrainian leader said the pope "knows my position. The war is in Ukraine, that is why it has to be Ukraine's plan" to bring peace.

Zelenskyy's 10-point plan would establish a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes. It would also create a European-Atlantic security architecture with guarantees for Ukraine, restore Ukraine's damaged power infrastructure and ensure safety around Europe's largest nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia.

Earlier in the day, Italian officials pledged open-ended military and financial support to Zelenskyy as well as stronger backing for Ukraine's cherished aim to join the European Union.

"The message is clear and simple," Premier Giorgia Meloni said after a meeting with Zelenskyy that lasted more than an hour. "The future of Ukraine is a future of peace and freedom. And it's the future of Europe, a future of peace and freedom, for which there are no other possible solutions.''

The premier, who staunchly supports military aid for Ukraine, said Italy would back the country "360 degrees for all the time necessary and beyond."

Separately, Italian President Sergio Mattarella told Zelenskyy, "We are fully at your side," Mattarella told Zelenskyy as he welcomed him. Later, presidential palace sources said Mattarella assured his guest that Italy would continue to support Ukraine militarily and financially, as well as with reconstruction and humanitarian aid.

Since the war began, Italy has contributed about $1.1 billion in military and financial aid, as well as humanitarian assistance.

In Ukraines forests, fighters race to prepare for next push
DES MOINES  Former President Donald Trump canceled a rally in Des Moines Saturday, citing the possibility of severe weather as central Iowa was under a tornado watch until 7 p.m.

Unfortunately, due to the Tornado Warnings in Des Moines, we are forced to cancel todays outdoor Rally at the Lauridsen Amphitheater, Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Stay tuned, we will reschedule soon. Be safe out there!

Trumps campaign has not announced details on when or if the rally will be rescheduled.

Trump was scheduled to speak at 7 p.m., with other Republican speakers expected to take the stage at 4 p.m.

Hundreds of supporters were gathered outside the Lauridsen Amphitheater at Des Moines Water Works Park waiting to enter when a message announcing the rally had been postponed was displayed on a billboard in the waiting area.

Phil Calderon, 65, a former police officer from Illinois, said it would have been his first time seeing Trump.

Im disappointed its canceled. he said. This is the first rally that I attended. I drove from Illinois. I came from five hours away to see President Trump.

Pammi Priestley, who drove four hours from Minnesota for the rally, said she was disappointed, but the cancellation does not affect her support for the former president.

Theres nothing we can do with the weather being bad, so what else are we going to say? she said. Were disappointed, but you cant be upset or mad when the weather is not going to cooperate with him.

It would have been Trumps second visit to Iowa this year as he seeks to woo Republicans ahead of the first-in-the-nation caucuses. It was also the first since he was indicted on campaign finance violations and found civilly liable for the sexual abuse of author and journalist E. Jean Carroll.

Former U.S. Rep. Rod Blum, Iowa state Sen. Brad Zaun and state Rep. Bobby Kaufmann were among the announced speakers.

Trump remains the clear front-runner in the Republican primary, regularly pulling more than 50% of support in national polls.

In a March Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll, about 80% of Iowa Republicans had a favorable view of Trump, compared to 75% for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, 66% for former Vice President Mike Pence and 54% for South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

Trumps event was scheduled the same day DeSantis, the runner-up in primary polling, made a push through Iowa, headlining a fundraiser with northwest Iowa Rep. Randy Feenstra and holding a rally with Cedar Rapids Republicans.

DeSantis has not officially announced his intentions to run for president, but he has held rallies in Iowa, and in Sioux Center on Saturday made overtures about the importance of the 2024 presidential election.

A DeSantis-aligned PAC also announced endorsements from powerful Iowa Republicans ahead of his visit, including state Senate President Amy Sinclair and House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl.

Shortly after Trumps rally was canceled, his campaign announced a list of supporters from elected and party leaders around Iowa, including members of the Legislature like Sens. Tim Kraayenbrink and Julian Garrett, and Reps. Heather Hora and Mark Cisneros.

Despite the list of challengers, many of Trumps supporters Saturday said they were not interested in backing another Republican in the primary. Priestley said shes all Trump all the way.

I like (DeSantis) too, but hes not ready to run, she said. Hes too young, and he needs to stay in Florida to do what his job is, that he got voted in for. But its all going to still be Trump.
 Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation

(13 May 2023)



Part I (see Part II)

On 12 May at around 6.30pm Moscow time, AFU Air Force combat aircraft launched a missile attack on Polipak polymer products company and Milam meat processing plant in Lugansk.

The strike was carried out using Storm Shadow missiles supplied to the Kiev regime by the UK, contrary to Londons claims that these weapons would not be used on civilian targets.

As a result of the strike, a fire broke out on the territory of Lugansk food and chemical industries. Some nearby residential buildings are destructed. Civilians, including six children, were injured. Russian Aerospace Forces fighter aircraft shot down AFU Su-24 aircraft that attacked Lugansk and Mig-29 fighter that was covering it.

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.

In Kupyansk direction, the attacks, launched by aviation, as well as artillery and heavy flamethrower systems of the Zapad Group of Forces, have resulted in the neutralisation of the enemy units close to Sinkovka, Kurilovka (Kharkov region), and Stelmakhovka (Lugansk Peoples Republic). 2 Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups have been thwarted near Berestovoye and Timkovka (Kharkov region). The enemy losses were up to 170 Ukrainian servicemen, 4 motor vehicles, Gvozdika and Akatsiya self-propelled artillery systems.

In Krasny Liman direction, the attacks, launched by Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, as well as artillery of the Tsentr Group of Forces, have resulted in the neutralisation of AFU units near Terny, Grigorovka (Donetsk Peoples Republic), and Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk Peoples Republic). The enemy losses were up to 75 Ukrainian servicemen, 2 infantry fighting vehicles, 1 Akatsiya self-propelled howitzer and 1 Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system.

 In Donetsk direction, the assault detachments have liberated a neighbourhood in the northwestern part of Artyomovsk. The Airborne Troops units provided support to the assault units and restrained the enemy on the flanks. Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, as well as artillery of the Yug Group of Forces inflicted a fire damage on the enemy units close to Grigorovka, Krasnoye and Chasov Yar (Donetsk Peoples Republic).

Russian aviation have made 9 sorties in this area during the day. The Groups artillery have performed 98 firing missions. The enemy losses were over 285 Ukrainian servicemen and mercenaries, 2 tanks, 3 infantry fighting vehicles, 4 armoured personnel carriers, 4 motor vehicles, 2 Akatsiya self-propelled howitzers, 1 Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system, and 1 D-30 howitzer. In addition, 1 AFU artillery-missile armament and munitions depot was destroyed near Kramatorsk (Donetsk Peoples Republic).

 In South Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, the attacks, launched by aviation and artillery of the Vostok Group of Forces have resulted in the neutralisation of the enemy units close to Ugledar, Pavlovka, Novopol (Donetsk Peoples Republic), Malinovka, Malaya Tokmachka and Novodanilovka (Zaporozhye region).

The actions of a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group have been disrupted close to Novomayorskoye (Donetsk Peoples Republic). The enemy losses were over 155 Ukrainian servicemen killed and wounded, 14 motor vehicles, as well as 1 U.S.-manufactured M777 artillery system.

 In Kherson direction, the enemy losses were up to 20 Ukrainian servicemen, three motor vehicles, and one Giatsint-B gun. One AFU ammunition depot has been destroyed near Nikolayev.

#MoD

 @mod_russia_en

 Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation

(13 May 2023)



Part II (see Part I)

 Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, and Artillery of the Russian Group of Forces have engaged 74 AFU artillery units, manpower, and hardware in 114 areas during the day.

 1 radar station of Ukrainian S-300 anti-aircraft missile system has been destroyed near Novodmitrovka (Donetsk Peoples Republic). The 5th Assault Brigades battalion command and observation post has been hit near Krasnoye (Donetsk Peoples Republic). 1 aircraft missiles and fuel depot for Ukrainian military equipment has been destroyed close to Zaporozhye.

Fighter aviation of Russian Aerospace Forces has shot down 1 Mi-8 helicopter of Ukrainian Air Force near Kupyansk (Kharkov region).

 Air defence have intercepted 3 HIMARS projectiles. In addition, 18 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles have been shot down cloe to Velikiy Vyselok, Dvurechnoye (Kharkov region), Belogorovka, Kremennaya, Svatovo (Lugansk Peoples Republic), Veseloye (Donetsk Peoples Republic), Mirovoye, Pologi (Zaporozhye region), Korsunka and Krynki (Kherson region).

 In total, 424 airplanes, 231 helicopters, 4,117 unmanned aerial vehicles, 421 air defence missile systems, 9,119 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,100 fighting vehicles equipped with MLRS, 4,806 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 10,167 units of special military vehicles have been destroyed since the beginning of the special military operation.

#MoD

 @mod_russia_en

WtR
Snapchat influencer, Caryn Marjorie, set up an AI-powered "girlfriend" based on herself, allowing users to engage with her virtually as she seeks to help "cure loneliness."

CarynAI offers a virtual clone of the 23-year-old famous online personality, which enables her to engage with her 1.8 million Snapchat followers for a fee.

AI 'Girlfriend': Snapchat Influencer Caryn Marjorie Debuts Her Clone

As per NBC News, the famed influencer launched an AI-powered platform that she hopes would help provide companionship and alleviate feelings of isolation among individuals seeking meaningful connections. In other words, she says she wants to help "cure loneliness" among people.

Marjorie, who garnered a substantial following online by sharing her personal experiences and adventures, partnered up with an AI company, Forever Voices, to make it possible. The firm says that the chatbot is based on the now-deleted YouTube videos of the influencer. They also infused the viral OpenAI GPT-4 language model to cap it off.

The Forever Voices CEO, John Meyer, took to Twitter to proudly announce the partnership with the influencer, dubbing it "an incredible step forward in the future of AI-to-Human interaction!."

According to a report by Fortune, the newly launched CarynAI has amassed tens and thousands of revenue for its week-long beta run. To be precise, the "Virtual Girlfriend" has earned roughly $71,600 in revenue in its first week of testing.

Read Also: VP Harris to Hold High-Level Talks with CEOs on Tackling Risks of Artificial Intelligence

Here's How AI-Powered 'Virtual Girlfriend' Works

Business Insider reports that the website of CarynAI says that the users could expect an "immersive AI experience" as if they were talking to the famous Snapchat influencer. But to get on with it, her followers have to pay for a $1 per minute rate.

As the platform is still in the early beta stage, CarynAI only lets in new users randomly based on its growing waitlisted folks. The current wait reportedly spans 26 hours. So you must be patient to dive into the "virtual girlfriend" service.

In a recent tweet, Marjorie announced her commitment to tackling loneliness and addressing male emotional health through CarynAI. The influencer emphasized the prevailing societal pressure on men to suppress their emotions, hide their masculinity, and avoid discussing their issues.

And as such, the Snapchat influencer vows to address these problems. The 23-year-old online personality disclosed that she worked hand in hand with some of the leading psychologists, allowing the "virtual girlfriend" to learn Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) techniques.

She touts that the virtual companion, which offers a clone of her, "will help undo trauma, rebuild physical and emotional confidence, and rebuild what has been taken away by the pandemic."

CarynAI is the first step in the right direction to cure loneliness. Men are told to suppress their emotions, hide their masculinity, and to not talk about issues they are having. I vow to fix this with CarynAI. I have worked with the worlds leading psychologists to seamlessly  Caryn Marjorie (@cutiecaryn) May 12, 2023

Related Article: ChatGPT AI Shares Possible Doomsday Scenarios Amid Humanity Threat Concerns





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A middle-school student waiting to board a school bus in a rural area east of Reedsburg was struck and killed Friday by a pickup truck that failed to slow down in time, authorities said.

The Sauk County Sheriffs Office said the student at Webb Middle School in Reedsburg was fatally injured about 7:20 a.m. along Highway 23-33 near Northwoods Drive in the town of Excelsior.

The Sheriffs Office said a Reedsburg school bus had stopped to pick up the student on the highways north side when the pickups driver failed to slow down in time, sideswiped the bus and hit the student before driving into a ditch.

First responders from various area agencies, along with a UW MedFlight crew, attempted life-saving measures, but the student was pronounced dead at the scene. No one on the school bus was hurt, while the pickups driver suffered minor injuries, authorities said.

Authorities did not immediately release the student or pickup drivers names, and were notifying the students family.

Reedsburg School District superintendent Roger Rindo informed parents at the school, describing the students death as a truly devastating time for our entire community, WISC-TV reported.

Students on the bus were taken to Webb Middle School to reunite with family members. A staff member at the school said counseling was available on Friday and will be again Saturday for students.

School district officials said theyve been communicating with families and will release information on student support programs shortly.

Highway 23-33 in the area near where the crash occurred was closed for more than four hours.

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Turkish politicians have held their final rallies in the last hours of campaigning before Sundays pivotal presidential and parliamentary elections that will significantly shape the NATO members future, before a so-called propaganda ban went into effect
An Albuquerque man pleaded guilty Thursday in the 2021 killing of 40-year-old Marie Krueger, who was found strangled in her car near Interstate 25 and died two days later.

Adrian Baltazar-Fierro, 28, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Kruegers death, according to a plea agreement filed in 2nd Judicial District Court.

Baltazar-Fierro could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison under the plea deal. His sentencing hearing has not been scheduled.

On March 25, 2021, Krueger called co-workers asking for help because Baltazar-Fierro, her boyfriend, was acting strangely and would not let her go, prosecutors wrote in a pretrial detention motion.

The co-workers called Kruegers cellphone and Baltazar-Fierro answered, according to a criminal complaint filed in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court.

Baltazar-Fierro, who was employed at the same workplace, told two co-workers that he didnt know Kruegers whereabouts, the complaint said. He agreed to meet the two men at a gas station to look for Krueger.

The three later spotted Kruegers car parked in a dirt lot off the side of the I-25, it said. As they drove to the lot, Baltazar-Pierro handed over Kruegers cellphone and keys.

Co-workers found Krueger slumped over inside her car and attempted lifesaving measures, the complaint said. When her co-workers called 911, Baltazar-Fierro left the scene.

Baltazar-Fierro later returned after police had arrived and was taken into custody. Krueger died of her injuries two days later.
I dont want to be mean, but I want to go to the store without you, 7-year-old Catalina told her mother, Blythe Tipton, in the lobby of the Juvenile Justice Center in Albuquerque.

Catalina wanted to pick out a surprise Mothers Day gift for Tipton. She already had an idea.

Flowers, she whispered out of earshot of her mom. I might get two.

It will be an extra-special Mothers Day for the pair. Its Tiptons first Mothers Day following Catalinas adoption Friday morning  an event theyre planning to celebrate with a party this weekend.

It took Tipton and her husband, Ben Tipton, about a year to get to this day. The family came out in force, wearing matching lavender outfits to the court venue. Ben Tipton carried three bouquets of flowers; Blythe Tipton, two stuffed animals; and Catalina, a handmade quilt covered in raining dogs.

Catalina was one of 10 children who were adopted on Friday at Spring Adoption Day at the Childrens Court Division of the 2nd Judicial District Court of New Mexico. On the day, regular dockets are set aside to finalize adoptions. There were cookies, smiles and tears as foster parents, step parents, grandparents and more came to support their adoptees.

Theres nothing more special than opening your hearts and homes to these children, said Chief Judge Marie Ward, who said they scheduled the day before Mothers and Fathers day to make the holidays extra-special.

Samantha and Dominic Fritsch didnt know they would be able to officially adopt their foster son, Kaiden, 11, until two weeks ago. Its been six years since they first took Kaiden in as a foster child, and almost three since hes lived with them full time.

Its exciting. I feel relieved, Samantha Fritsch said.

Im glad its over and we can make it official, Dominic Fritsch added.

The pair beamed with excitement. During the adoption process, the Fritsches promised to raise Kaiden, who is Navajo, within his culture.

The family is planning to take Kaiden and his 16-year-old brother on a road trip this weekend to celebrate.

Catherine Troy, executive director of All Ages Adoption Plus, has attended nearly every Adoption Day since 1999. The first baby she placed for adoption is now 26.

Troys own family has grown through adoption. She finalized the adoption of her daughter at the same courthouse in 2000, and adopted her two sons in 2004.

Its been my life for the past 25 years, Troy said.

Yvonne Garcia, outreach and recruitment manager for New Mexico Kids Matter, was attending the event for the first time.

Im so excited for all the kiddos, Garcia said. This is what all of our community works toward  making sure that these kiddos have a happy beginning.
SANTA FE  New Mexicos leading oil and gas industry group is looking for new leadership, after abruptly parting ways with its former director.

A spokesman for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association said Friday the groups board of directors had begun organizing a search for a new president and CEO to replace Doug Ackerman, a longtime marketing and public affairs executive.

But NMOGA spokesman Joe Vigil did not immediately respond to questions about what prompted the decision to sever ties with Ackerman, who was on the job for just over a year after being hired in March 2022.

We are encouraged about the future NMOGA and the oil and gas industry have to contribute to the growth of the state of New Mexico, Vigil said in a statement.

In addition, Betty Read Young, the chairwoman of the trade associations board, sought to reassure members by saying in a message the board would take the necessary steps to ensure the continuity of NMOGA.

The turnover comes as surging oil production levels in the states Permian Basin have made New Mexico the nations second-highest oil producing state  behind only Texas  and driven state revenue levels to record-high levels.

New Mexico has produced more than 50 million barrels of crude oil per month every month since late last year  more than double the amount that was produced on average just four years ago, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data.

But the industry has also faced political pressure, including a lawsuit filed this week by a coalition of environmental groups and frontline residents who argue Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams administration has shirked its constitutional duty to limit pollution levels.

Several bills have also been filed seeking to codify new greenhouse gas emission limits and enshrine the right to a clean and healthy environment in the state Constitution.

In response, oil industry advocates have insisted advances in drilling technology have allowed for cleaner and safer operations, even as production levels have steadily increased.

NMOGA is the oldest and largest organization representing the states oil and gas industry, with more than 1,000 member companies and individuals.

Ackerman, the former executive director of the Florida Department of Citrus, took over the groups reins last year from Leland Gould, who had been interim director for roughly one year.
In its 10th year, the Albuquerque Community Foundations Great Grant Giveaway was able to top its previous record by raising more than $600,000 for seven local nonprofits.

Grant recipients were celebrated on Friday with a luncheon at the Albuquerque Hotel in Old Town during an afternoon full of surprises and appreciation.

The Albuquerque Community Foundation supports local nonprofits working to improve crucial areas of the community. Funds come from corporate sponsors, local organizations and individual donors.

Mayor Tim Keller and first lady Elizabeth Liz Kistin Keller were both special guests at the event.

It takes each and every one of us, mobilizing our resources, our networks, our time and our good ideas to help create and support the incredible problem solvers, the incredible innovators who are looking to make Albuquerque and New Mexico a better place for all of us, Kistin Keller said.

The event traditionally has given grants to four nonprofits, according to Denise Nava, the foundations marketing and communications director. This year, event organizers upped that number to seven  and the addition of three new organizations didnt mean less money for recipients.

Thanks to donations by the four Decade Sponsors Public Service Company of New Mexico Resources Foundation, New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, Bradbury Stamm Construction and the Daulton Family Foundation  which donated $100,000 each  the total number of raised funds was able to reach a record-shattering milestone.

Were speechless.  We had no idea, said Gloria Rael, executive director of the Albuquerque Adult Learning Center, one of the fundraisers recipients.

Having this funding really allows us to invest in our participants and support them and just hit the ground running vs. having to fund raise.

Last years donations were also considered a record amount with $218,525 distributed among four organizations. This year the total number rose up to $625,027.

Rael said she and her colleagues have been running the Albuquerque Adult Learning Center for 16 years. She said they have rarely received unrestricted funding that allows them to accommodate for all their employees.

Unrestricted funding means that were going to use it for what it should be, which is direct payroll instead of tirelessly fund raise on our own, she said. Im almost in tears with what this means to us.

Gail Garber and Linda Contos from Hawks Aloft said they plan to use funding to build a medical clinic to treat wildlife because there isnt one in Albuquerque.

This is probably the biggest thing thats happened to us, Garber said. Im just kind of in awe with all of this, you know, I didnt expect that.

The recipients for this years giveaway are:

Albuquerque Adult Learning Center, which aims to educate adults and raise their literacy to high school levels

Hawks Aloft, which works to preserve New Mexicos unique wildlife

Keshet Center for the Arts, which provides a space for dance as an art form

New Mexico Tribal Resilience Action Network, which aims to improve adaptation to the effects of climate change in tribal communities

Not Our Farm, which supports farmers who dont own lands yet do a lot of the hard work of farming

Together for Brothers, which focuses on encouraging leadership among young men of color

Transgender Resource Center of NM, which aims to provide support and safe spaces for the transgender community

Individual amounts received by each organization will be announced next week on the foundations website.

Aside from the surprise announcements, the event featured table grants of different kinds. Each table had a check for $500 designed to be given to the organization of the tables choice. Additionally, one random person from each table was selected to allocate $250 to any of the seven nonprofits.

The media sponsors were Albuquerque Journal, KOAT-Channel 7 and KKOB/Cumulus Radio.

For more information about the coalitions and the event, visit abqcf.org.
China willing to promote cooperation with Norway: FM

Xinhua) 10:12, May 13, 2023

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store (R) shakes hands with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang during their meeting in Oslo, Norway, on May 12, 2023. (Xinhua/Lin Jing)

OSLO, May 12 (Xinhua) -- China attaches importance to its relations with Norway and is willing to strengthen communication, enhance mutual trust and promote cooperation with Norway, visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang said here on Friday.

Qin made the remarks when meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store. Qin said that China appreciates that the Norwegian government adheres to the one-China policy, treats China with a pragmatic and rational attitude, and promotes the development of bilateral relations with the principle of mutual respect and equal treatment.

China's economy is recovering at an accelerated pace, which will bring unprecedented opportunities to all countries in the world, including Norway, Qin said.

China and Norway should strengthen cooperation in the fields of economy and trade, ocean, social welfare and green transformation, expand cooperation both in depth and breadth, and push bilateral relations to a new level, Qin said.

Next year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, the two sides could make early preparations and plan for related celebration events, Qin added.

Store said that Norway and China, different in size and national conditions, have a long history of exchanges and have maintained dialogue and communication.

Norway attaches importance to cooperation with China and is willing to strengthen exchanges at all levels with China to work for greater development of cooperation, especially in the fields of green transformation, climate change, medicine and Arctic affairs, Store added.

The two sides also exchanged views on the Ukraine issue.

During the visit, Qin also met with members of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense of the Norwegian Parliament, held talks with Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt and the two sides signed a new version of the bilateral agreement for the avoidance of double taxation.

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Wu Chaolan)
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new medication to treat hot flashes and night sweats among women experiencing menopause.

The newly approved pill, which hits the shelves as "Veozah," seeks to address one of the most common symptoms of menopause sans any hormonal therapy.

FDA Approves New Drug to Treat Hot Flashes, Night Sweats

The vice president for BioPharma Developer of the drug maker, Astellas, Marci English, says that the recent approval should make the non-hormonal pill available to pharmacies in the next few weeks. It would enable women grappling with menopause to get a new treatment for frustrating hot flashes and night sweats.

However, NBC News notes that the new medication is less effective than the standard hormonal therapy treatment, which amazingly cools roughly 90% of hot flashes. Instead, the clinical trials of the drug show that it improved hot flashes by about 48% for those taking it in high doses. Meanwhile, the lower dose shows a 36% breakthrough.

A Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons assistant professor of women's health, Dr. Mary Rosser, expressed her excitement about the latest FDA approval. Rosser, the director of Integrated Women's Health at Columbia, says, "[We are] talking about something that is going to be powerful."

She touts the new type of drug to be a "game-changer" for women out there since it no longer requires them to undergo hormone replacement therapy. It is also a terrific development for ladies who have previously undertaken treatment for cancers that are hormone sensitive, Rosser notes.

CBS News reports that roughly 80% of women between 40s and 50s encounter hot flashes. With the new medication, they can address the issue without going through hormonal therapy.

Read Also: FDA Recalls Thousands of Home COVID-19 Tests Due to Potential Bacterial Contamination

Veozah: Are There Side Effects?

According to CNN, the FDA issued a liver injury risk warning for the newly-approved drug, Veozah. And as such, women who are planning to get their hands on the medication must take a blood test beforehand. It should rule out any existing liver damage or infection.

Besides the blood test, the FDA also requires them to take blood tests after every three months to check for any signs of liver damage.

CNN reports that the studies of the newly FDA-approved drug show some of its common side effects. It includes possible abdominal pain, insomnia, and diarrhea. In addition, the medication may also trigger back pain and elevated liver enzymes.

The new medication has no effect on menopause symptoms such as weakened bones, vaginal dryness, and painful sex. Relief from heat flashes transcends mere comfort.

The clinical data revealed relatively few adverse effects, at least during the duration of the trials. Some participants had unusual liver function test results, but these markers returned to normal when the medication is discontinued.

Related Article: GSK's Arexvy: FDA Approves Historic RSV Vaccine for Adults Aged 60+

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About two months ago a white van pulled up next to Steve Valdez on the streets of Southeast Albuquerque and asked if he wanted to go to rehab.

Those inside offered him $100 for each person he got to go with him and promised that they could all stay together in a group home in Phoenix while they got treatment. They emphasized that hed have to get food stamps and promised that after 12 days theyd get him a job.

The 53-year-old from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in Towaoc, Colorado, told the Journal he was tempted to go  and he did want to get sober. But something about the situation seemed sketchy.

And then he was able to get some work doing roofing so he decided to pass up the opportunity. A couple of his friends were not so lucky.

When they came back they said they got us for everything, recalled Valdez, sitting in a narrow strip of land abutting the Albuquerque Indian Center. They were pissed off. It was awful, they didnt have no drugs, they were sick. The first day they took them to a motel room, the second day they were in the motel room, then they had them sign some paperwork and the third day  they just left them.

Its a story  about people luring victims across state lines, asking them to sign up for benefits to get treatment that they dont actually provide and then leaving them stranded  echoed by many Indigenous people living on the streets in Albuquerque and Gallup.

Some know people who got in the van and have not returned. Or, like Valdezs friends, they hitchhiked home from Phoenix, reporting that they were not provided services and were left alone to navigate the city.

Gallup police say they are still looking for 14 people who were reported missing over the past 18 months after they went to Arizona seeking treatment.

The FBI is now investigating a number of group homes for health care fraud, saying the organizers are allegedly defrauding the insurance system.

Its unclear how many residential facilities are engaging in fraudulent practices. In response to questions, an FBI spokeswoman said the agency continues to seek victims and/or any new information from people and families affected regarding this investigation.

Per FBI policy, we do not comment on ongoing investigations, said Brooke Brennan, a spokeswoman for the agency in Arizona.

In a news release earlier this year, the FBI said they are aware that people are targeting Native Americans from the Navajo Nation and other reservations in Arizona, New Mexico and South Dakota and bringing them to behavioral health residential facilities in Phoenix for treatment for substance abuse and mental health issues. It said in some cases the victims are intoxicated or given alcohol on the trip.

When the patients arrive, the organizers ask them to get food through food stamps or change their drivers license so they can get Arizona Medicaid benefits, according to the news release. The homes receive government funding to provide patients with therapy, but often no therapy services are provided and thus no government funding should be received.

The scheme has gained more media attention over the past several months and advocates have been widely sharing information on social media or on printed fliers. The Arizona State Legislature and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Task Force have discussed ways to take action on the issue.

But people are still falling victim to it.

Scammers seen often in Gallup

The organizers of the group homes are no strangers around Gallup, said Barry Ore, the program director of Four Corners Detox Recovery Center in the border town.

Countless programs have shown up knocking on our front door that weve sort of determined are not reputable, Ore said. Theyre not only recruiting off the streets, but theyll show up to the front door of your treatment center, knock on the door saying, please call us.'

Four Corners Detox Recovery Center is the only residential facility in Gallup. With 45 beds, it houses 30 people for 30-day stays and reserves the remainder for those who are detoxing.

The dearth of options in New Mexico makes facilities in Phoenix seem particularly appealing, Ore said.

When youre living in an environment with so few resources for treatment and with so few social resources, its compelling to go to a program like that, he said. Because of that resource disparity if somebody really wants help and its just not available in the community, they might in that moment feel like oh, this is my chance. And so theyre more vulnerable.

In total 32 people who are believed to have gone to group homes were reported missing to the Gallup Police Department, said chief Erin Toadlena-Pablo. She said of 20 cases in 2022, three are still open, and of 12 cases in 2023, 11 are still being investigated. Most recently, on May 1, both a man and a woman were reported missing.

Over the past 18 months Gallup public service officers and detectives posted warnings on social media and distributed fliers to people on the streets who might not have phones or access to the internet about better ways to access treatment.

Toadlena-Pablo said they have been working with other agencies, including the Navajo Nation Police Department, the Albuquerque Police Department and the FBI, since the cases cross so many jurisdictions.

Sen. Shannon Pinto, D-Tohatchi, said she first heard about this issue when someone texted her a social media post last year. She forwarded it to Sen. Theresa Hatathlie, a Democratic member of the Arizona State Legislature, who this legislative session introduced a bill to impose certain requirements on behavioral health residential facilities and fine them if they do not comply.

Pinto said a lot of the solutions have to come through policy changes in Arizona or through federal investigations since it involves multiple states and the Navajo Nation.

But in New Mexico she would like to increase funding for services to treat addiction and keep people safe so they arent tempted to go elsewhere.

Id like to see more funding dedicated, and see some things built out in the rural communities, Pinto said. I know in a way, some view it as a black eye for their communities to have something like that and so a lot of people say, Oh, we dont have no problem. I dont think its just alcohol, its substance abuse, addiction.

Scheme hurts legitimate facilities

In Phoenix, the Creating Hope AZ treatment facility gets calls a couple of times a week from people who say they are at a group home where they are being given alcohol and drugs and they want to leave to get help, said marketing manager Lacey Greer.

She said she started hearing about this scheme about two years ago and has been keeping track of places shes heard bad things about  drug use going on and no classes and that kind of thing. So far she has hundreds of facilities on her list and she has heard there are more than 1,000.

Creating Hope AZ serves the Indigenous community and includes a spiritual leader, drumming circles, beading and therapists who specialize in intergenerational trauma, Greer said.

These other places have really given us a bad name, she said. So weve had to go through extra measures  which is not a problem  but to be extra transparent, offering tours for the family, sending out our license number to people, just really going above and beyond to make sure that people are feeling safe.

Four Corners Detox Recovery Center refers patients to Creating Hope AZ and others they have vetted, Ore said. He said that for a lot of people it does make sense to travel out of state to get treatment so they can get out of a bad environment.

Ore said the publicity around the fraudulent group homes, while necessary to keep people safe, has also added more stigma around seeking treatment and more distrust of the providers.

Often times if youre approached on the street by somebody in a white van saying that they can take you to housing or anything like that, or a treatment, just be skeptical, Ore said. Ask more about their services, get their information first. Id say to watch out for those red flags of offering money, alcohol or drugs to people to go to services, and especially out-of-state services.

Sen. Hatathlies bill, which did not make it through the session, would have mandated that facilities notify a patients family that they are there. Jasmine Blackwater-Nygren, the first lady of the Navajo Nation, and Monica Antone, the lieutenant governor of the Gila River Indian Community, testified in support of the bill before the Senate Health and Human Services Committee in February.

However, providers, including Greer and Ore, raised concerns that its not always in the patients best interest to have family notified of their whereabouts and that they are receiving treatment. In addition, doing so may violate the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

During New Mexicos legislative session this year, Sen. George Munoz, D-Gallup, sponsored a similar bill requiring family members to be notified when someone is admitted to a behavioral health residential facility. It passed the Senate in the final days of the 60-day session, but failed to pass the House.

Victims promised treatment

In Albuquerque, Christine Barber, an advocate who works with women on the streets, said she and others working for nonprofits in the International District started hearing about the vans approaching people in January.

Since then she has encountered several people who went to the group home or were asked to go.

Barber shared a video she took in which a man recounted how he was taken to a motel in Phoenix.

The man said he spent about a week-and-a-half there before figuring out a way to get a ride to Gallup.

I think the biggest lie that I was told was that it would be a fresh start and I was able to get a job and turn my life around and start putting myself in a better habitat and working environment, sober living arrangement, the man said.

On a recent afternoon, the Journal accompanied Barber as she drove around Southeast Albuquerque handing out water, hygiene supplies and more to people clustered in alleyways and on sidewalks.

Down a dusty dirt alley near Louisiana and Central, a man from the Jemez Pueblo recalled how last month he was walking down the street with his friend, girlfriend and brother when a van pulled over and its occupant approached him.

Hey, would you guys be interested in getting your life straight? the driver asked.

He was tempted, saying, Ive been tired of living on the street, and started to ask questions like: What about detox? and whether the program was 30 days, 60 days, or 90 days?

The response: Its all paid for and we can leave today.

Ultimately the 29-year-old  who didnt want to give his name because hes living on the streets and using fentanyl and doesnt want family to know  decided the offer didnt sound legitimate.

I am ready to go back to treatment and to get my life straight again, he said. For some reason, I dont know why, I stopped to talk to them because  I thought that might have been a good chance to go, but I knew that just going straight to sober living isnt right.
Devin Munford was on pretrial release  and wearing a GPS ankle monitor  when police say he fatally shot a friend in Northeast Albuquerque in 2021.

Now, the victims mother has filed a lawsuit alleging court personnel failed to properly supervise her sons killer.

Munford, 21, is charged with first-degree murder and other charges in the April 2021 shooting death of 22-year-old Devon Heyborne. Munford is scheduled for trial in October.

Munford was released from the Metropolitan Detention Center about four months before Heybornes killing, court records show.

The conditions of Munfords release in January 2021 required him to wear a GPS ankle monitor and placed geographical restrictions on his movements, according to the lawsuit filed in 2nd Judicial District Court.

Prosecutors allege that Munford obtained a shotgun and killed Heyborne.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Heybornes mother, Angelica Alire, claims staff responsible for monitoring Munfords whereabouts failed to report violations of court-ordered restrictions on his movements.

Court personnel failed to properly operate the equipment that monitored Munfords non-compliance with the home arrest aspect of the pretrial release, according to the suit. It seeks undisclosed damages.

The suit was filed against the 2nd Judicial District Court, which oversees the pretrial services program.

Pretrial services operates a program known as the GPS ankle bracelet monitoring, which uses a global positioning system to monitor the whereabouts of certain criminal defendants while they await trial. The program is intended to help the court supervise defendants a judge finds to be dangerous when they are released from jail.

Tom Thorpe, a spokesman for 2nd Judicial District Court, said Friday the court cannot comment on pending litigation.

The New Mexico Supreme Court this week appointed 13th Judicial District Judge Cindy Mercer of Peralta to preside over the case. All judges in the 2nd Judicial District Court have recused themselves from the case.

The suit also identifies Bernalillo County and the Metropolitan Detention Center as defendants.

The courts pretrial services monitors the GPS equipment from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, according to the suit.

On weekends and holidays, MDCs community custody program monitors the GPS equipment, the suit said.

Bernalillo County spokewoman Tia Bland said Friday the county will review the lawsuit and address it accordingly.

Munfords attorney, Camille Cordova, did not immediately respond Friday to the Journals request for comment.

Munfords history

Munford was arrested Dec. 23, 2020, on charges of shooting from a motor vehicle, distribution of a controlled substance and receiving stolen property. No trial has been scheduled in that case.

In Jan. 4, 2021, a district court judge denied a motion from prosecutors asking that Munford remain in custody while awaiting trial on those charges, court records show.

Munford was placed under the supervision of the courts pre-trial services program and required to wear a GPS ankle monitor, according to the order signed by District Judge Clara Moran.

Munford may only leave his residence for work, education, medical appointments, or other necessary appointments as determined by the courts pretrial services program, the order said.

The order also prohibited Munford from possessing a firearm.

Heyborne was killed on April 23, 2021. He was struck twice by shotgun shells after he answered the door of his apartment in the 800 block of Locust Place NE, Albuquerque police wrote in a criminal complaint.

Munford allegedly met Heyborne while the two were in jail together at MDC.

The 2nd Judicial District Attorneys Office Criminal Strategies Unit identified Munford through a Snapchat video posted 30 minutes after the killing that shows him rapping and showing off a shotgun.

GPS data placed Munford near Heybornes apartment at the time of the killing, the complaint said.

Munford was charged May 17, 2021, with first-degree murder and conspiracy in Heybornes killing, according to his indictment. He was also charged with aggravated assault for allegedly firing a shot at an elderly woman in the parking lot before driving away.

Munford also faces a charge of armed robbery and other charges for allegedly holding up a 7-Eleven store on Kathryn SE two days after Heybornes killing.
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E. Jean Carroll mulls over the possibility of launching another lawsuit against the former President of the United States after he accused her of lying in a new interview after guilty verdict.

May 13, 2023

AceShowbiz - E. Jean Carroll is contemplating suing Donald Trump again after the former US president branded her sexual assault claims against him "fake" and part of a "made-up story." The 76-year-old billionaire was recently convicted and ordered to pay the writer $2 million for sexual abuse and nearly $3 million for defamation over claims he attacked her in a New York department store in the 1990s.

However, he made "vile," "disgusting," and "stupid" comments about the case during a CNN town hall earlier this week, and Carroll's attorney admitted they are looking at the next steps to take, including further legal action.

The journalist told the New York Times newspaper she had been "insulted by better people" and added, "It's just stupid, it's just disgusting, vile, foul, it wounds people. I am upset on behalf of young men in America. They cannot listen to this balderdash and this old-timey view of women, which is a cave-man view."

Her lawyer, Roberta A. Kaplan, confirmed "everything is on the table," including another potential defamation lawsuit. Roberta told the outlet, "Everything's on the table, obviously, and we have to give serious consideration to it. We have to weigh the various pros and cons and we'll come to a decision in the next day or so, probably."

During Wednesday's ay 10 event, which came a day after the verdict in the civil case was delivered, Trump branded his accuser a "wack job." He added, "What kind of a woman meets somebody and brings them up and within minutes, you're playing hanky panky in a dressing room?"

The former "The Apprentice" star - who was found not liable for rape - suggested that the trial won't have any impact on his political ambitions to return to the White House. Asked if the verdict would deter women from voting for him, he replied, "No, I don't think so."

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Rymir Satterthwaite brings new details about the alleged affair between his late mom Wanda Satterthwaite and the hip-hop mogul rapper back in 1992 with a signed 2015 affidavit.

May 13, 2023

AceShowbiz - More details surrounding Jay-Z's alleged illegitimate son have found their way out online. Rymir Satterthwaite revealed new details about the alleged affair between his late mom Wanda Satterthwaite and the "4:44" rapper back in 1992 in a signed 2015 affidavit.

Obtained by Daily Mail on Friday, May 12, the affidavit saw Wanda claiming that she met the hip-hop mogul, who went by "Rock" at the time, in Philadelphia through her friend, Kaleesha Allen, who reportedly signed the affidavit as an eyewitness. Wanda said she referred to herself as "Carmel" or "Precious" at the time and that Kaleesha was the only person who knew about the alleged encounter.

"Mr. Carter and a friend came to Philadelphia to pick up both me and Kaleesha around the area of 24th and Bolton St. in Philadelphia," Wanda wrote in the affidavit. She went on to say that they all went to Jay-Z's aunt's apartment in Brooklyn where they had "protected sex, but the protection broke." He was 22 and she was 16.

According to Wanda, Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, and his unnamed friend "returned two weeks later to see" her and Kaleesha, but the latter was not present because she was "having problems at home." She added, "Shawn asked me to leave with him, but I told him I could not because my mother would be upset. I never saw him again until a year later on television, but I had no idea of his real name until later and did not know how to reach him."

While Jay-Z has yet to respond to the affidavit, a source who is familiar with the situation told Page Six that the husband of Beyonce Knowles "never met" Wanda, who died of heart attack in 2019. "He doesn't know her. This is not true."

The insider added that the affidavit may not even be "real" as it was "never filed in court." The informant stressed, "Jay-Z doesn't even know this person."

The new report came after Rymir filed a motion in an attempt to unseal 2012 court documents in his case against the rapper and force the rapper to take a paternity test. However, New Jersey Supreme Court denied Satterthwaite's motion as it noted it did not have jurisdiction to grant his request. It was then re-filed by Rymir in the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court, and it was also rejected on May 8. Rynmir claims he's now planning to file an appeal with the District Court.

In an interview with Daily Mail, Rymir insinuated that he doesn't want money from Jay-Z as he only wants justice. "This is not going to be over until justice is served. I just want to live my life and, when it is all said and done, I hope that Jay-Z would want to be a part of my life, if that is God's will," the 30-year-old said. "I won't stop fighting for this until I win. And I will win because the law is on our side."

Through his attorneys, Jay-Z previously denied the claims. The "Empire State of Mind" hitmaker's attorneys said in a statement, "The allegations have been previously reviewed thoroughly by the courts and have been refuted. I am sure that will be the outcome of whatever filings Mr. Satterthwaite may be currently considering."

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The former U.S. president and his wife are all smiles and beaming with pride as they are joined by their eldest daughter Malia Obama to watch Sasha graduate from the University of Southern California.

May 13, 2023

AceShowbiz - Barack Obama and Michelle Obama have shown their support to their daughter Sasha Obama as she reached another milestone in her life. The couple was seen attending their youngest daughter's USC graduation.

The former U.S. president and his wife were all smiles as they arrived for the ceremony in Los Angeles on Friday, May 12. The pair were beaming with pride as Sasha received her undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California.

For the special occasion, the former POTUS and FLOTUS were dressed to the nines in the sunny weather. The 61-year-old politician wore a light gray suit that he paired with a crisp white button-down shirt and black brogues. The former First Lady looked chic in a sleeveless black trench dress that was tied at the waist and featured a navy ruffled tulle skirt. Both of them wore sunglasses.

Barack and Michelle's eldest daughter Malia Obama also joined them at Sasha's graduation. The 24-year-old screenwriter opted for a stylish nude dress that featured an off-shoulder design and a thigh-high slit with pink lining. She completed her look with green high heels and black sunglasses.

Sasha, who was at the center of attention that day, appeared to wear a white gown underneath her black cap paired with green high heels. She had the official USC sash and multiple floral graduation leis hung around her neck as she was spotted holding hands with her mother while walking across the lawn at one point.

Both Malia and Sasha graduated from the private school the Sidwell Friends. Although she started college at the University of Michigan, Sasha later transferred to USC in 2022, where she was studying psychology.

Her sister Malia, meanwhile, graduated from Harvard in 2021 and has since taken on screenwriting job. She is currently working as a writer for Donald Glover's Amazon series "Swarm". She previously worked as an intern on Lena Dunham's HBO series "Girls" in 2015 and at The Weinstein Company in 2017.

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The former 'Shake It Up' actress reveals she was a huge fan of Nick Jonas and his two bandmates/brothers Joe Jonas and Kevin Jonas when she was a young girl.

May 13, 2023

AceShowbiz - Haley Lu Richardson recalls "freaking out" during her first meeting with the Jonas Brothers. The 28-year-old actress features in the group's "Wings" music video, and Haley Lu admits that working with Nick Jonas, Joe Jonas and Kevin Jonas was a long-time ambition.

"The first time I met the Jonas Brothers was when I was 12, and somehow my parents finagled me into getting a meet and greet pass. I don't know how, but they did it," "The White Lotus" star told PEOPLE.

"It was a dream come true. My mom came with me. I was at their concert in Irvine, and so we drove to California for this concert because I grew up in Arizona, and I waited in line for a couple of hours before their concert started."

"Then, I got to meet them and take a picture with them. I don't remember if they let me hug them, but I think I said hi and was just freaking out and peeing my pants. Unfortunately, I had braces and a unibrow, so that was not the hottest face of my life but, internally, it was a beautiful moment."

Haley Lu remains in awe of the brothers, and she's confessed to being overcome with emotion during a recent encounter in Las Vegas. The actress shared, "I don't have braces and a full-on unibrow now but, weirdly, the picture that I took with them at their [recent Las] Vegas concert, I look so bad because I'm just smiling and crying so hard that my face is contorted. It almost looks painful because I'm so happy. I've yet to have a picture of me and them where I look actually really good."

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1702 Digital, a top-tier creative and digital media agency in India, is proud to announce its partnership with Jabsons, a rapidly growing peanut, and healthier snacking brand.



The partnership will see 1702 Digital provide Jabsons with innovative digital marketing strategies, including creative development and execution, social media management, content creation, influencer marketing, paid media, and analytics.

Jabsons is known for its diverse range of tasty Peanuts and healthier snacks, which have gained a loyal following among its consumers. With the brand's exponential growth, Jabsons aims to increase its reach and expand its customer base. To achieve this, Jabsons has partnered with 1702 Digital as its creative and digital media agency to help the brand take its marketing efforts to new heights.

As a leading creative and digital media agency, 1702 Digital has a proven track record of delivering outstanding results for its clients. Their team of experts specialises in branding, social media management, content creation, influencer marketing, paid media, and analytics.

"We're excited to partner with Jabsons as their creative and digital media agency to elevate their brand presence," said Amit Panhale, CBO of 1702 Digital. "Our team is passionate about delivering innovative and effective digital marketing strategies that create real results for our clients. We're excited to bring our expertise to Jabsons and help them reach new audiences."

1702 Digital will work closely with Jabsons to create and implement a comprehensive digital marketing strategy aimed at increasing brand awareness, driving sales, and engaging with consumers across various digital channels. By leveraging data-driven insights and industry-leading creative expertise, 1702 Digital aims to position Jabsons as a leading snack and nut brand in the market.

"We're thrilled to partner with 1702 Digital as our creative and digital media agency," said Rahul Agrawal, Director of Jabsons. "As a growing brand, it's essential that we have a marketing partner that can deliver innovative solutions to help us achieve our goals. We're confident that 1702 Digital is the right partner for us, and we look forward to gaining from their expertise in the FMCG and e-commerce sectors."
Bandhan Bank, one of the fastest-growing banks in the country, has rolled out a celebratory Mother's Day campaign to showcase a new perspective on mothers of all ages. The bond between a mother and child starts when the child is in the womb and lasts for a lifetime, irrespective of age. The campaign reflects how, no matter what the age is, a daughter or son forever remains a child for the mother. This unbreakable bond is a testament to the incredible power of a mother's love and this should be celebrated and cherished.

Paying tribute to a childs first bandhan, the video has been released on social media. The video charmingly captures moments of not-so-young children recounting their moments with their mothers. The video focusses on the relation that a mother and a child enjoy.

"Mothers and the value they have in the lives of individuals cannot be defined in words. The bond of love between a mother and her children is pure and strong, one that stays forever." said Apurva Sircar, Head - Marketing, Bandhan Bank. "At Bandhan Bank, we have extensive experience working with women and empowering them to lead their families to prosperity. For us, the mother of the house is a more powerful CFO than we find in large corporates. This film is our tribute to all mothers who leave an impact that cannot be replicated. "

The films concept was co-created by Bandhan Banks Marketing team and Leo Burnett Orchard. The script has been written by Leo Burnett Orchard. The film has been produced by Bombay Montage Films and directed by Sonal Batra.

The Bandhan Bank Mother's Day video celebrates the unbreakable, everlasting Bandhan that we have with our mothers, said Pravin Sutar, Head of Creative - Leo Burnett Orchard. Whether you are a child or an adult, a mother's love and guidance can bring a sense of comfort, security, and direction that is invaluable, no matter where life takes us. Our Mother's Day video is a heartfelt expression of love and appreciation for all the mothers who have enriched our lives with their presence."

Video link: https
The Cannes Film Festival, held annually in Cannes, France, is one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world. Over the years, several Indian filmmakers, actors, and actresses have attended the festival and have been recognized for their contributions to Indian cinema

This year, Indian content creator, entrepreneur and actress Dolly Singh who has a mainstream film release dropping later this year will be making her grand debut at Cannes Film Festival in association with AJIO and Brut India.

She will be headed to the French Riviera later this month where she will be walking the red carpet and attending the official movie screenings at the iconic Grand Lumiere Theatre. Her four-day itinerary will also include her cultural explorations where she will sample exquisite culinary experiences at Chez Albane, La Mome Plage, Silencio Club, Fred lecailler and Majestic Le Paradisio.

Dolly Singh states, The Cannes Film Festival has been an important platform for Indian artists to showcase their talent on the international stage. Over the years Indian talent has not only brought Indian cinema to the world stage but has also helped to break down cultural barriers and promote cross-cultural exchange. Today I am honoured to be contributing in my own unique way to this exchange and making my debut this year at the festival. From making candles in a small town of Nainital to walking the red carpet at Cannes with AJIO and Brut India, Im truly grateful and excited for this opportunity. This was a long-standing dream and Ive finally ticked an important milestone off my bucket list.

Mehak Kasbekar, VP And Editor-In-Chief, Brut India states, Around the world, creators are the new generation of celebrities with a follower base that can eclipse many traditional movie stars. They are innovative and versatile. Most of them started out as writers, directors, actors and producers of their own content. Millennials and Gen Zs, the larger demographic in the world right now, are increasingly recognising them as their idols and icons. As a global publisher, official media partner for the event, and one that speaks the language of this generation, Brut is proud to invite top creators from India to share space on the red carpet with icons from the silver screen."

Ruchi Patel, AVP, OML states, Dolly Singh has proved herself as a multifaceted creator who has built herself up from the ground. Her journey is an inspiration to young Indians everywhere. At OML, we have always been excited to push the envelope and work towards bringing our creators to the global stage.

Indian creators have been taking the centre stage at global events and Dolly Singhs debut at Cannes Film Festival is opening more doors for the community. The collaboration between Dolly Singh and AJIO brings together two of the biggest names in Indias fashion scene and is a match meant to be. Singh is known for her eclectic and unapologetic style and AJIO is the go-to house of brands for those on the lookout for unique and bold styling choices. With over 1.3M+ styles and 5000+ brands, AJIO offers curated and handpicked fashion for everyone. With this collaboration, AJIO aims to take the Indian fashion ecosystem to the global stage.

This appearance marks a commendable inning for the widely popular content creator who hails from a modest background and faced many trials during her journey. Growing up, she was the target of bullies who picked her apart for her complexion, her smile and her general lifestyle choices. But through social media Singh turned it around and has made these things a point of pride. Today, she is adored for her authentic and inclusive storylines that condemn social stigmas and find popular resonance with the millennial and Gen Z community. The girl-next-door from Nainital has become one of the most recognisable content creators in India today having built a Dollyverse of her own, with fun little characters like Raju Ki Mummy, South Delhi Girl, Guddi Bhabhi, Zeenat and Shree.

Growing up, Singh was always aligned towards making a mark in the world of fashion. After completing her bachelors in political science, she decided to pursue her masters in fashion from NIFT. Singhs personal content creation journey started with Spill The Sass where she spoke about affordable fashion. Her humour and relatability shined through in fashion videos, and came on full display through her skits. Even after the comedy sketches took off, her love for fashion never left. She is a trendsetter and is not afraid to push the boundaries of fashion. Vibrant colours, fun slogans and prints are a huge part of her wardrobe.

Creating content, acting, collaborating with brands and celebrities, winning awards and venturing out as a businessperson with Rad Living candles. Dolly Singh has conquered it all.

Cannes Film Festival 2023 will take place from May 16 and will run through May 27, 2023.
A leading name in the craft of perfumery, Sawai Fragrances has a rich legacy as a manufacturer and supplier of essential oils and fragrances to leading brands around the world. The journey began with a whiff of rose petals in Kannauj by founder, Sawailal Jain, who set up the first hydro-distillation plant for the production of natural attars in 1965. Today the brand has distillation centres and plants in Silvassa, Kannauj, Nilakkottai, Orissa, Tirupathur and Surat to develop the finest quality of perfumes.

Sawai Fragrances, one of the leading B2B companies, continues to evolve and has recently made a transition into the B2C segment. It has recently launched its own perfume brand, Eze, which is a carefully curated range of perfumes that has a young and global vibe to them.

In conversation with Adgully, Pushkar Jain, CEO & Perfumer, Sawai Fragrances, talks about the journey of Sawai Fragrances, entering the B2C market with the launch of Eze brand, strong Make in India push, targeting the GenZ audience, and much more.

Please tell us about Sawai Fragrances journey so far?

Sawai Fragrances has been in the B2B market for over 70 years and has amassed extensive knowledge and competence in the manufacturing industry. SawaiLal Jain, my grandfather, began Sawai as a small essential oil factory. My father, Prabhat Chandra Jain, took it forward and grew our firm by introducing perfume sprays and expanding into the Middle East. Being the companys third-generation perfumer, entering the B2C market with our own line of perfumes is a natural progression. The segment, I feel, is an excellent development opportunity for the organisation as well as the beginning of a new creative chapter. With our experience and skills in the area, we can enhance and extend the exquisite fragrance industry in India.

What was the need for Sawai Fragrance to foray into the B2C market after being a leading B2B company for nearly six decades in the perfume industry?

The launch of Eze is a big boost not only to the Indian economy, but also to the morale of the Sawai team, as we get to see the perfumes we worked on being sold in retail under our own name, bringing acknowledgment to our efforts. We have been building the olfactive genealogy (the art, language, and listing of the olfactive families of perfumery) for other companies throughout the world until now, so it would be a joy to do the same for our brand now. That is a feather in the Sawai familys cap and pushes us to continue growing in the creative area.

What was the creative thought process behind the making of Eze?

Eze was created with careful consideration! It is an idea that rests on the Gen-Z mindset, which is liberal, inclusive, and open to new ideas. In Igbo, Eze means king, which is how we see our consumers. The logo is a palindrome to represent fluidity and flexibility, which mirrors the attitude of the generation we are talking about. To provide a connection to the brand, the bottle form takes its inspiration from the emblem itself. The mono carton is also cleverly engineered to read Eze even when stacked upside-down or side-by-side. It is a collaborative endeavour, and we have put our hearts and souls into developing a brand specifically for Indias Gen-Z with a Made in India motto. The brand, created by and for young people, is proudly Indian in essence. Hence, when the business flourishes, the country would be happy to have a home-grown brand that may place India on the map as a fine perfumery hub. We also aim to debunk the myth that perfume is enticing and should only be worn on special occasions. We want to promote it as a type of personal statement that can be worn every day.

Eze, in its maiden launch, has chosen to skip the celebrity/ glamour route for real people in its digital campaign, which has the tagline  #ExpressYourEze. Your comments.

#ExpressYourEze means being open to different thoughts, its acceptance and owning your individuality. Everyone has a distinct personality and there are no barriers to expressing them through your life, opinions, and scents! Every day we find something new to do or even better, a new way to do something regularly. And its so refreshing to see that the new generation is open to something new and is accepting of the lifestyle that anyone chooses to live; this is what #ExpressYourEze stands for. It is a scent that not only reminds you of someone, but makes you feel empowered as well as reminds you of India in whatever part of the world you are in. Eze has 8 variants and it offers something for everyone as scents have no gender. As for the glamourati, we understand and respect the power of celebrity endorsements and are open to it going further if the path of Eze takes us towards it.

Sawai Fragrances and Ezes perfume story pushes and echoes the Atma Nirbhar Bharat narrative in the perfume industry as it seeks to revive not only the Indian artisanal perfumery story, but also stresses on the need to strengthen its manufacturing capabilities and cut down dependency on foreign markets for its materials.

The fact that it is an Indian brand encourages the feeling that Eze apna hai. Additionally, the scent and packaging are of exceptional quality as we do not believe in compromises. With Eze, we want to demonstrate to the world that the quality of Made-in-India products are at par with, or even better than, foreign items. Businesses like Eze will make a mark globally and in doing so, demonstrate to customers that India can also produce high-quality goods. That faith will come with time, and it is up to brand owners like us to keep it alive. Well get there when the Make in India label becomes more valuable. It is important to be aware and understand that the burden of preserving a history falls on brand owners like us, thus it is critical for us to continue inventing, researching, and establishing previously inaccessible categories and make them available to customers. This, in reality, is my goal as a business owner.
Florida schools may move to ban "furry" clothing and accessories, such as animal tails, ears, and dog collars, in a bid to repress "barking" and "meowing" amongst students.

The Brevard Public Schools board members discussed a possible update on the dress code policy, targeting "furry" clothing items, which has been a trend among some students these days.

Florida Schools May Ban 'Furry' Clothing to Curb 'Barking,' 'Meowing'

As per a report by Florida Today, the board of the Brevard Public Schools seriously discussed a possible ban on dressing "furry," which lasts for roughly an hour. The heated debate among board members centered on concerns wherein some students are mimicking animals. Some even recreate their barking and meowing sounds for an overall package.

The Brevard School Board is at the forefront of this dress code debate, aiming to curb "furry" clothing.

But what is it in the first place? ABC News 4 explains that "furry" refers to someone who shows interest in anthropomorphism, which involves assigning human characteristics to non-human beings or entities. These people often wear clothing accessories like animal ears, collars, and even tails. In some cases, they go as far as communicating using animal sounds.

As for "furry" attire, Florida Today notes that it may include basic accessories like animal ears. But it could also go the extra mile of a full-blown animal costume. These young minds in school typically take it as some sort of fun hobby.

Read Also: Florida Governor's First Lady Casey DeSantis Joins Husband in Hurricane Ian Recovery, Raises Millions in Reliefs

Board Members Heatedly Debated Banning Dressing 'Furry'

The BPS school board member Katye Campell is not fond of the "furry movement." In other words, she admits that she is not a fan. Nevertheless, Campbell still considers a headband with animal ears a mere hair accessory.

She adds that she does not find "barking" and "meowing" cool. But despite that, she argued that these animal sounds are beyond the scope of a dress code policy.

Meanwhile, the board chair Matt Susin finds these animal costumes alongside meowing and barking outright unacceptable. The New York Post reports that he shares his daughter is already sick of seeing "furries" in her school. He says, "At some point, [we have] got to be able to curb that behavior."

While most board members agree with the possible banning measure, one of them goes against the tide. Jennifer Jenkins says that her co-board members are merely "overcomplicating" things.

After a heated discussion, the new BPS dress code is still being finalized, specifically the language for prohibiting "furry" clothing and accessories that "emulate a non-human."

In the meantime, only time will tell how Florida schools navigate this contentious issue to curb rampant "barking" and "meowing."

Related Article: Ron DeSantis Japan Visit: Florida Governor Lauds Tokyo's Defense Efforts Ahead of Expected US Presidential

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Zee 24 TAAS, one of the leading Marathi news channels of Maharashtra, successfully hosted its first edition of Maharashtra Infra Conclave in Mumbai. The Conclave concluded with a commitment towards addressing the issue of solving potholes issue, boosting employment opportunities through upskilling, use of digital technologies for social and economic development, promoting tourism, the need for sustainable investments, etc.

The Maharashtra Infra Conclave 2023 inaugural edition was graced by Government dignitaries like Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Government of India, Shri Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Minister of Tourism & Skill Development, Govt. of Maharashtra, Shri Uday Samant, Minister of Industries, Govt. of Maharashtra, Shri Ravindra Chavan, Minister of Public Works (Excluding Public Undertakings), Govt. of Maharashtra and many other prominent policymakers.

Shri. Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Government of India said, In the next 5 years, India is expected to be the No.1 manufacturing hub of automobiles in the world. India has the potential to be one of the leaders in the world in the field of automobiles in the coming years. We will soon provide water taxi facilities/services between Mumbai and the suburban region of the city.

Shri Ravindra Chavan, Minister of Public Works (Excluding Public Undertakings), Govt. of Maharashtra

further highlighted We are launching a new app for the common people where one use the GPS facility and share the details of the potholes on any roads and within 72 hours of this complaint the potholes will be filled.

Shri. Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Minister of Tourism & Skill Development, Govt. of Maharashtra, discussed the roadmap to boost upskilling, and employment opportunities by investing 4000 Crore to upgrade the ITIs in Maharashtra and the goal of this Institution will be to modernize the workforce and provide a competing workforce against the engineering talent.

Shri. Uday Samant, Minister of Industries, Govt. of Maharashtra said 1 lakh 37 thousand crore project MOU has been signed for the Maharashtra State in DAVOS earlier this year. The state government has allotted space to the projects worth 57 thousand crores till now and for 47 thousand crores the project space is estimated to be given in the coming days. We are also working on a special act that will be introduced for the growth of industry in the state and under this act Every industrialist will get the necessary Permissions within 30 days.

Speaking about the success of the Maharashtra Infrastructure Conclave, Abhay Ojha, Chief Executive Officer, of Zee Media Corporation Limited, highlighted, It gives our team immense joy to witness the success of the inaugural edition of this conclave. This further encourages us to continue building a public forum that encourages such in-depth discussions on the latest developments in policy in infrastructure, upskilling, employment and tourism

Dr. Nilesh Khare, Editor, Zee 24 TAAS, further added, Through Zee 24 TAAS Maharashtra Maharashtra Infrastructure Conclave, Govt. dignitaries were able to reveal the challenges faced by the state and also articulate how Infra-development projects can enable a better standard of living for the people of Maharashtra. Zee 24 TAAS will continue to take a stand strong, supporting the Maharashtra official bodies who envision a brighter future in terms of social and economic development.

Zee24 TAAS Maharashtra Infra Conclave 2023 was Powered by Varad Property Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Energy Partner- Mahagenco, Environment Partner - Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, Tourism Partner  Directorate Of Maharashtra Tourism, Associate Partners - Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, Sanjay Ghodawat University, Sudhan Gold Loan, Rajyog Paints, Nyati Group, Profitwala.com by RRA & Mascot Infra - Projects LLP

Zee Media Corporation Ltd, one of India's leading media and entertainment companies, has a strong presence in the news and regional entertainment genres, with 13 news channels in seven different languages, reaching more than 528+ million viewers through its linear and digital properties.
Karnataka saw a striking turnout of 73% in this years elections. This was 2% higher than the voting percentage in 2018 (71.1%). This change is perhaps due to the Bharat Jodo Yatra of Rahul Gandhi. Women and young voters are believed to have exercised their franchise in large numbers on May 10. However, the turnout in the city of Bengaluru was not up to the mark, with only 54.8% casting their vote in Bengaluru Urban, lower than the 56% in 2018.

Despite many exit polls predicting a defeat, BJP leaders in Karnataka were very hopeful of winning the election. They believed that the last-minute surge in voter turnout was missed by pollsters and would help them retain the mandate. Several party functionaries have pointed out that most exit polls concluded by 3 pm and are inaccurate, while the polling percentage increased significantly afterwards. The fact is that most of the news channels are the pets of the BJP, but they could not change the narrative. The BJP and its favorite news channels also had the argument that those who came to the booths after 3 pm were not part of the exit polls, and therefore, the predictions of the pollsters may be inaccurate. But the reality is that Karnataka is not happy with the communal politics of the BJP.

Both the BJP and Congress generated a lot of buzz when they released their respective election manifestos for the state. The BJP promised to bring the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) to Karnataka after making similar vows in other states where polls were held recently. It also promised to provide three free cooking gas cylinders to all BPL families annually. Meanwhile, the Congresss promise to ban the right-wing Bajrang Dal in its manifesto drew the ire of the BJP. The grand old party also promised free electricity and a monthly allowance to women and the unemployed. Somewhere, Karnataka wanted to come out of communal politics, and they found some solace in Congress promises.

The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh have expectedly put in every possible effort and resource into the Karnataka election. Their desperation to win forced them to declare Yeddyurappa as its chief ministerial face and bring back the tainted Reddy brothers to campaign. The desperation did not really work in their favor. The South, with 130 seats in the Lok Sabha, has become even more crucial because of the ground the BJP is losing in Uttar Pradesh. The loss of by-elections in Gorakhpur and Phulpurconstituencies won and then vacated by the BJPs Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister in UPsignalled the writing on the wall.

But despite its best efforts, the BJP had to lose in Karnataka. The 2011 census put the states population at 6.15 crore, out of which around 83% are Hindus, tempting one to conclude that the demography of Gujarat and Karnataka is not very different. However, in Karnataka, 17% of the population belongs to Scheduled Castes (SC) and 7% to Scheduled Tribes (ST). Besides, the Brahmanical order of the RSS leadership and the language barrier have also made the SC and STs in Karnataka more alienated from upper caste Hindus and even Lingayats.

Thus, the generalization that all Hindus prefer the BJP does not seem to work in the state. The Dalit-upper caste clashes of recent years in many BJP-ruled states and cases like the suicide of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula have also led SCs to have second thoughts about the BJP. Nor does the minority community, which constitutes 15% of the population, see the BJP, as the party of their choice. The smaller caste groups belonging to the OBC fold and comprising roughly a quarter of the population also dont like the dominance of the big castes like Lingayats and Vokkaligas. This also weighs against the prospects of the BJP in Karnataka.

The BJP is still perceived as a North Indian party in the southern states, and the events of the past four years have cemented that perception. Be it the controversy over beef or the primacy of the Hindi language, the Modi government is seen as the force promoting the agenda of the RSS. The way of life defined by the RSSs Hindutva is still somewhat alien to Kannadigas. What also works against the BJP is that North Indians living in Bengaluru and elsewhere in the state are largely youth who are uncomfortable with the moral policing done by Hindutva outfits. This section may well root for Narendra Modi as PM but is not necessarily enthusiastic about BJP rule in Karnataka.

Depending on dominant castes does not always fetch handsome political returns. The BJP itself has won several state elections by strategically distancing itself from the dominant castes and thus attracting smaller groups to come together and turn the table. The BJP distancing itself from the Jats in Haryana, Marathas in Maharashtra, and Yadavs and Jatavs in Uttar Pradesh are some such examples. In Karnataka, however, the BJPs strategy revolves around the Lingayats, who comprise 17% of the population and provide the party with its main support base. While the Lingayats and Vokkaligas, the latter aligned with the JD(S), did determine electoral outcomes earlier, a rainbow coalition of smaller groups, minorities, and OBCs is likely to work better this time around.
As the counting of votes for the Karnataka Assembly polls began on Saturday, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai exuded confidence in the Bharatiya Janata Party emerging victorious with an absolute majority. The counting of votes began at 8 am today across the state amid tight security.

Today is a big day for Karnataka as the peoples verdict for the state will be out. I am confident that the BJP will win with an absolute majority and form a stable government, Bommai said while speaking to the media. The Chief Minister also visited the Hanuman temple in Hubballi.

The exit polls, which were out after voting ended on May 10, predicted a hung assembly, with some showing Congress returning to power with a majority. Most of the exit polls predicted that the BJP would fall short of the halfway mark, 113. Congress is expected to have a clear edge in Karnataka in the assembly elections conducted on May 10, with four exit polls giving it a full majority and some predicting a hung assembly with an advantage to the party.

In such circumstances, the JD (S) can likely play the role of a kingmaker. However, JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy said on Saturday that he has not been contacted as yet for the formation of the government in case of a cliffhanger, adding that he is hoping for a good show.

Speaking to the media ahead of the counting, Kumaraswamy cited the exit polls, which predicted nearly 30-32 seats for JD(S) and a clear edge for the Congress party, with some even predicting a majority for the grand old party, and said that according to the predictions, there is no need for him to explore options. In the next two to three hours, it will become clear. Exit polls show that the two national parties will score big. The polls have given 30-32 seats to JD (S). I am a small party, there is no demand for me I am hoping for a good development, he said.

No one has contacted me till now. Let us see the final results first. According to the exit polls, there is no need for options. Let us see, the JD (S) leader added. The exit polls, which were released after the polling ended in Karnataka, predicted that Janata Dal-Secular JD(S) would not touch the 37 seats it won in the 2018 polls but would continue to be a strong regional player in the state. If Karnataka throws up a hung assembly, the JD-S could emerge in the role of kingmaker.

The fiercely contested election that saw high-pitch campaigns from the political parties is crucial for both the BJP and the Congress. Hectic electioneering by leaders of various political parties saw the BJP allow Union Ministers and Chief Ministers to campaign with their full force. The Congress, on the other hand, worked hard to wrest power from the BJP, which is striving to break the 38-year-old pattern of alternating governments and retain its power in the state.

Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and Mallikarjun Kharge, held various roadshows, rallies, and election campaigns. An incumbent government has not returned to power in Karnataka after a full term of five years since 1985.
Pakistans Army has ruled out the possibility of imposing martial law in the country amidst the political turmoil and deteriorating law and order situation following the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan, saying Army chief General Asim Munir and the entire military leadership believe in democracy.

The remarks of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry came after an almost four-day political turmoil erupted due to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Khans arrest, in which Armys installations, including the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, were also targeted.

There is no question of imposing martial law in the country, he told Geo News, adding that Army Chief General Asim Munir and the entire military leadership along with him believe in democracy. The Army remains Pakistans most powerful institution, having ruled it directly for close to half its 75-year history through three coups.

Chaudhry stressed that the Armys unity is unwavering and will persist, serving as a pillar of stability and security for the nation.

He also rejected social media rumours about resignations by top Army officers or anyone disobeying the military discipline. No one in the Army has resigned and no one has disobeyed any order, the military spokesman said on Friday.

He also rejected the impression of division within the army in the wake of attacks on military facilities during protests following the arrest of Khan. Despite the internal and external propaganda, the army is united and will remain, he said.

Major General Chaudhry further said that the army is united despite internal miscreants and external enemies. The dream of dividing the Pakistan Army will remain a dream, the Army is united under the leadership of Army Chief General Asim Munir and will remain united. He called upon the public and media to rely on verified information from official sources rather than giving credence to unfounded speculation.

The Army has come under scanner after showing no response when the rioters ransacked the residence of Corps Commander Lahore after Khan was arrested on May 9. At least 10 people have been killed in the violence that erupted after Khans dramatic arrest by the paramilitary Rangers from the Islamabad High Court on Tuesday.

The unrest in the country has come to a halt for now as the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has provided blanket relief to Khan and barred authorities from arresting the PTI chief till Monday morning.

Khan has been highly critical of the alleged role of the establishment, especially that of former Army chief General (retired) Qamar Javed Bajwa, in bringing down his government in April 2022. Before his retirement, Gen Bajwa said that the Pakistan Army will remain apolitical.
An Alabama man is in custody after he allegedly stole a police vehicle from a regional airport early Saturday.

According to a tweet from the Montgomery Regional Airport, 30-year-old Gabriel Zachariah Jones of Montgomery was arrested and charged with first degree theft of property in the incident.

Related stories:

The incident happened around 4 a.m., according to Airport Police Chief Loyd Jenkins. The vehicle was recovered before Jones was, according to a release from the airport.

Prior to Jones arrest, the airport was offering two free first class plane tickets to any of the airports four nonstop destinations and free parking to anybody with information that led to an arrest.
On May 14, a number of national and Birmingham institutions will host a commemoration of the 62nd anniversary of the Freedom Rides.

Hosted by the national environmental nonprofit, The Conservation Fund, and a team of historic preservation partners, the commemorative gathering will include firsthand accounts from some of the Freedom Riders who heeded the call to continue the efforts to integrate the bus systems throughout the South after the attacks in Anniston and Birmingham in 1961.

The Freedom Rides started as a movement to prove that the South was not desegregating public transportation and amenities in interstate travel, including restrooms and bus terminals following the Supreme Courts 1960 decision in Boynton v. Virginia. In the spring of 1961, 13 men and women boarded two buses in Washington, D.C. and headed south in protest of interstate transportation segregation laws.

Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth (center) and Freedom Riders discuss plans at Birmingham Greyhound Terminal in 1961 after drivers refused to carry them farther. The day before this meeting one of the buses was bombed in Anniston and passengers on a second bus were beaten in Birmingham. Later, the riders caught a plane out of Birmingham to New Orleans. Surrounding Shuttlesworth, clockwise from left: Ed Blankenheim, (kneeling), Charles Person, Ike Reynolds, James Peck, Rev. Benjamin Cox, and two unidentified Freedom Riders. Robert Adams or Ed Jones photo. 61-3465 bnbn

A plaque in downtown Birmingham commemorates May 14, 1961, when Freedom Riders were brutally beaten. (Photo by Greg Garrison/AL.com)

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The commemoration will start on Sunday, May at 1:30 p.m. at the Greyhound Bus Station at 618 19th Street North in Birmingham. The event will include a series of speakers including three Freedom Riders: Charles Person, who was beaten by an angry mob inside a bus station in Birmingham; Hank Thomas, who was trapped and firebombed on a bus in Anniston, Ala.; and civil rights leader Dr. Bernard Lafayette. Brent Leggs, the Executive Director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund will also speak.

After the remarks, attendees will also have the opportunity to visit a replica of the vintage Freedom Riders Greyhound bus.

Sundays event is a collaboration between the Conservation Fund, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the City of Birmingham, Freedom Riders Park Board, Bethel Baptist Church, the National Park Service, Wells Fargo, the National Parks Conservation Association, Women Works Media Group, the Alabama Tourism Department, Williams Blackstock Architects and the Freedom Rides Museum.

During their 1,500-mile journey from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans, the Freedom Riders were assaulted, threatened and arrested, yet remained unwavering in their commitment to challenge segregation in America, said Leggs in a press release. This commemoration event  at such a historic site of African American history in Birmingham  will inspire all of us to remember the bravery and determination of the Freedom Riders, and to continue our pursuit of a more just, equitable society.
(Photo : FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP via Getty Images)

Pope Francis criticized couples with pets instead of children, calling the country's plummeting birth rate a "national emergency."

Pope Francis has warned that starting a family in Italy is becoming a "titanic effort" that only the wealthy can afford.

At a conference on Italy's demographic crisis, Pope Francis stated that pets had replaced children in many households. Also on stage were scores of young people donning "we can do this" T-shirts, alluding to their mission to convince people to have more children.

Pope Francis Encourages Italians to Increase Their Family Size

Italy has one of the lowest fertility rates in the European Union, and births fell below 400,000 for the first time last year. In his Rome address, Pope Francis stated that the declining fertility rate indicated a lack of optimism for the future, with younger generations burdened by insecurity, fragility, and precariousness.

Warning that pets were replacing children in some households, the Pope recalled a woman who asked him to "bless her infant" before opening her purse. Except it was a small dog, not an infant.

"I lost my temper and scolded her: there are so many famished children, and you bring me a dog?" he added, eliciting applause from the audience, as per BBC News.

Birth rates are declining in many countries, such as Japan, South Korea, Puerto Rico, and Portugal. Italy is the third-largest country in the eurozone, but a declining population is a significant concern. By 2050, the country could lose nearly one-fifth of its population. Simultaneously, the population is rapidly aging; the number of centenarians in Italy has quadrupled in the past two decades.

Speaking alongside Italy's right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at an annual conference on birth rates, Pope Francis urged politicians to find solutions to social and economic issues preventing young couples from having children.

Read Also: Australia Trade Minister Visits China, Urges To Repair Ties

Italy's Population Plummets

The government of Meloni has proposed measures to encourage families to have more children, such as lowering taxes for families with children, assisting young couples in purchasing their first property, and urging communities to provide free preschool so that parents can return to work.

Pope Francis stated that young women compelled to choose between their professions and motherhood face "almost insurmountable constraints" due to the current economic climate. According to CBS News, the Pope said many women are "crushed by the burden of providing for their families."

By 2033, the government of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni aims to encourage at least 500,000 births annually. If the objective is not met, the economy could collapse in the future as retirees draw on their pensions. Per The Sun, Italy's population increased until 2014, when an aging population caused the trend to reverse. If Italy's fertility rate continues to fall alarmingly, the country's gross domestic product could decline by 18%.

Related Article: Pope Francis Slams 'Baseless' John Paul II Insinuations in 'Vatican Girl' Case

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A major textile manufacturer has pledged to permanently stop using so-called forever chemicals at its plant in northeast Georgia to resolve a lawsuit over pollution in Alabamas Weiss Lake.

The Mount Vernon Mills in Trion, Ga. has agreed to end its use of PFAS chemicals at its mill about 25 miles northeast of Fort Payne, Ala. by the end of 2023. The pledge is part of a settlement agreement to settle a potential lawsuit over PFAS pollution in the Chattooga River in Georgia and Weiss Lake in Alabama. The Chattooga joins the Coosa River at Weiss Lake.

Last year the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of the Coosa River Basin Initiative, filed a notice of intent to sue Mount Vernon and the town of Trion under the Clean Water Act and federal laws regulating PFAS pollution. The notice alleged that PFAS-laden wastewater from the textile plant was being sent to a municipal wastewater treatment plant that was not equipped to remove those contaminants, resulting in high levels of PFAS chemicals entering the environment.

Trions wastewater treatment plant should have required the textile mill to modernize its treatment technology to remove PFAS prior to discharging them to Trions public treatment works, SELC Senior Attorney Chris Bowers said in a news release Thursday. The proposed consent decree, which requires Mount Vernon to stop using PFAS at this mill, puts long overdue restrictions on these harmful chemical releases.

The agreement, if approved by a federal court, will resolve the lawsuit.

This agreement serves as a model for how Georgias textile industry can work alongside communities to ensure safer water for everyone, Bowers said. Industrial polluters are required by law to control PFAS pollution instead of placing the burden on communities downstream, who may be exposed to these chemicals in drinking water or have to pay for expensive drinking water treatment upgrades.

PFAS (per- and poly- fluoroalkyl substances) are man-made, extremely durable chemicals that do not break down easily in the environment. Many drinking water treatment systems dont remove them.

The chemicals were used for decades to create non-stick or stain-resistant coatings on clothing, carpets and other textiles. Theyve also been used to make non-stick cookware, waterproof and flame-retardant clothing, fast food packaging and fire-fighting foam. There are thousands of different PFAS chemicals including PFOA, PFOS, and GenX.

These chemicals have been shown to build up in the blood streams of humans and animals over time, and most people sampled have at least some level of these chemicals in their body.

Research has linked exposure to PFAS through drinking water or eating contaminated fish to health conditions including liver cancer, testicular cancer, liver damage, and thyroid disease.

In addition to ending PFAS use by the end of the year, the mill has already begun sending its wastewater to an off-site treatment plant that can handle those substances.

Coosa River Basin River Initiative Executive Director Jesse Demonbreun-Chapman said the agreement was an important step toward addressing PFAS contamination in the Coosa.

Over the past several years, we have monitored the PFAS problem in our watershed with increasing concern, Demonbreun-Chapman said in a news release. Throughout this process, CRBIs goal has always been to sit at the negotiating table and find a solution that would truly be protective of the Chattooga River and Weiss Lake.

We are pleased to play an important role in hastening the end of forever chemicals in ongoing textile manufacturing at the Mount Vernon Mill, while working with industry to find innovative solutions to the challenges posed by these chemicals. Ending use of PFAS in textile production at this facility is an important step to finally dealing with ongoing contamination in our region and should serve as an example to others that there are alternatives to using these chemicals in manufacturing in the first place.
A man suspected of robbing a Hoover bank took his own life Friday evening as Hoover police closed in him.

The holdup happened just before 11 a.m. Tuesday at Wells Fargo on John Hawkins Parkway.

Witnesses told Hoover police that a tall, thin male entered the bank and demanded money from the teller. He indicated that he was armed, said Capt. Keith Czeskleba.

The suspect fled the bank with an undetermined amount of money. No injuries were reported.

Police, with help from Jefferson Countys Star 1 helicopter, canvassed the area but did not find the robber.

The suspect was wearing a hoodie, a mask and sunglasses.

Hoover detectives launched an investigation and quickly identified the suspect, said Hoover police Lt. Daniel Lowe.

On Friday, about 2 p.m., detectives tried to serve a search warrant at the suspects apartment in the 3300 block of Chace Lake Fairway. When they arrived on the scene, they learned the suspect was inside a unit and had access to a gun.

The suspects apartment was near Wells Fargo.

As a precaution, Lowe said, additional officers were summoned to the complex. Surrounding apartments were evacuate as authorities tried to negotiate with the suspect.

The standoff lasted at least several hours.

The suspect eventually ended contact with police. Officers then heard a single gunshot inside the apartment.

Police made entry, and found the suspect dead from a self-inflected gunshot wound, Lowe said.

The identifity of the suspect is being withheld pending notification of his family.
The 258-unit Highfield Madison apartment complex will welcome its first residents on June 1.

The complex, owned by Houston-based developer i3, is located at U.S. 72 and Nance Road. Matt Maglothin, i3 chief investment officer, told the Lede the complete build out for the community will be in August.

When were building apartments, what we try to consider is is this a location I want to live in? he said. When you look at the area, you have a grocery store right out front. You have a bunch of restaurants along 72. Youre close to the Village of Providence just to your east, as well as MidCity and Bridge Street.

The complex also sits near Sprouts Farmers Market Grocery and Academy Sports.

For Huntsville specifically, Highway 72 is a pretty big artery for residents, Maglothin said. You can get to the Redstone Arsenal. You can get downtown. If you go west, you can kind of cut over to the Mazda Toyota plant. I dont know that were targeting students necessarily, but the University of Alabama-Huntsville is not far.
This is an opinion column.

Want to supercharge your childs mind? Fearful of them being left out of important conversations? Are your family, friends, and neighbors enough of a network for your kids? Over-the-counter Suprament affords consumers the amazing ability to connect to any stream of human consciousness. After a few doses, Suprament users gain access to a treasure trove of knowledge, information, and breaking events through a network of minds around the world. Dont get left behind!*

As weve learned from drug commercials, that asterisk makes all the difference. Your kids might already be overdosing on Suprament. The more recognizable generic name for the drug is social media.

Other Columns by Cameron Smith:

A 2022 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health surveyed research on the risks of social media use by children and adolescents. The information is ghastly:

According to recent data, a percentage of 48% of adolescents spent a mean of 5 h per day on social media and 12% spent more than 10 h. Moreover, with that increase in virtual time depression arose.

Social media use is also correlated with conduct and emotional problems, attention deficit, peer problems, school impairments, and psychological distress.

Inadequate sleep quality or quantity associated to social media use represents a risk factor for metabolic conditions such as for diabetes, cardiovascular disease and for mental problem, such as depression or substance abuse.

Those are just some of the lowlights in the compendium of research. Tomes of research point to the devastating consequences of excessive social media use by children around the world.

We need to stop ignoring the problem and protect our children. If parents arent up to the challenge because of the shame of their own social media addictions, kids pay the price. Put social media in the same category as other traditional vices like cigarettes, pornography, and alcohol. Fully grown adults legally choosing to engage them isnt a justification for children to do the same.

As a parent, I understand the temptation of drugging children with electronic devices. They are immediately transformed into sedentary zombies. Thats helpful if you need to get some work done, clean the house, or just take a break from family chaos. Reasonable (meaning less than two hours a day) use of electronic devices isnt a huge problem. In fact, some of the research for teens suggests that small doses of social media can indeed help with social connectivity and have some positive results.

The potential benefits of the occasional glass of red wine arent justification for drinking a bottle every night. Social media is exactly the same. Parents must rein it in before kids suffer years of physical and mental harm.

Im quite familiar with the glowering looks that come with screen time and app limitations. One of the most challenging aspects of parenting is being the adult in the room. Doing whats right for the developing children in our homes is rarely popular. Parents are people too. We want to be liked. We want to be as cool as possible for people who have successfully reproduced. Holding the line on social media is difficult.

The stakes are too high to expect parents to protect their children from the social media onslaught without help.

Alabamas Sen. Katie Britt, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) have introduced The Protecting Kids on Social Media Act which sets a minimum age of 13 to use social media and requires parental consent for 13-17-year-olds. It also prohibits social media companies from targeting algorithms to users under the age of 18.

States and the federal government have struggled to come up with something other than government issued IDs or credit cards to verify identity and age online. The proposed legislation contains a pilot program for secure digital identification credentials helmed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. Were long past the point of needing such credentials, and the bipartisan sponsors of the bill have put forth an excellent starting point.

I think the reports are shocking, and I dont think the numbers lie. Last year, one in three high school girls said that they considered suicide, Britt noted at a recent hearing. Almost 1 in 10, 9%, of high school students reported actually attempting suicide in the last 12 months.

The harms of excessive social media use on developing brains arent in question. We have researched and identified them. The few benefits for minors are vastly outweighed by the harms.

American Psychological Association Chief Science Officer Mitch Prinstein, PhD, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that during puberty children begin to crave attention and positive engagement from peers. In contrast, [brain] regions involved in our ability to inhibit our behavior, and resist temptations (i.e., the prefrontal cortex) do not fully develop until early adulthood (i.e., approximately 1015 years later), he said. In other words, when it comes to youths cravings for social attention, they are all gas pedal with no brakes.

With no brakes, legions of children around the world are set up for a devastating crash. Prinstein noted research that over 50% of teens report at least one symptom of clinical dependency on social media.

We recognize that children shouldnt have access to cigarettes. The developmental harms of pornography are well documented. Weve decided that selling alcohol to individuals under 21 isnt worth the cost to our society. For some reason, were afraid to apply a similar standard to social media products our children struggle to engage responsibly.

For now, Ill deal with my teens displeasure that he doesnt have access to Facebook, Twitter, SnapChat, or other social media. Hes more important to me than my own popularity at home. Parents need all the help they can get. The Protecting Kids on Social Media Act is a good start.

*Side effects are anxiety, depression, lack of sleep, poor self-image, obesity, harmful sexual habits, dental problems, headaches, visual impairments, reduced physical activity, body dysmorphic disorder, and stunted emotional development. Numerous studies have also shown that Suprament is highly addictive for individuals under the age of 25.

Smith is a recovering political attorney with three boys, two dogs, a bearded dragon, and an extremely patient wife. Hes a partner in Triptych Media, a business strategy wonk, and a regular on talk radio. Please direct outrage or agreement to csmith@al.com or @DCameronSmith on Twitter.
This is a guest opinion column

Here we are again: Alabamas Republican-led Legislature is attacking the LGBTQ community. Alabama has a long history of discrimination against the queer community and intentionally working to instill fear in its queer citizens. In fact, last year the UAs Queer Student Association Executive Council and I wrote that Alabama is a state where we are clearly unwelcome.

Emboldened by other states extreme measures like Florida and Texass new laws that have forced LGBTQ families, children and parents to flee their states, the Alabama Legislature is now pursuing a similar path. Last month, members of the Legislature introduced a slew of new bills, including HB 405, HB 401, HB 354, HB 7, HB 312, and HB 261. Taken together, these bills will destroy the ability of LGBTQ people to live free of discrimination by the state. One bill will eliminate drag queens ability to perform in public and their fundamental right to freedom of expression. Another will prohibit schools and public institutions from considering transgender and non-binary identities in their decisions. Another will define divisive concepts and restrict the ability to discuss these topics in public schools, including whether anyone can even mention LGBTQ identities in public K-12 schools.

As a queer person, I am intensely concerned about the safety of myself and other LGBTQ identifying people, particularly my transgender and Black queer friends, to be free in the state. As president of the Queer Student Association, I am concerned about their impact on our organizations ability to exist. We have already identified several events that we are planning for the upcoming year that will have to be reworked or eliminated completely because of these bills. We work to bring community to UA students. The Alabama Legislature (and Governor Ivey) should be ashamed of themselves.

I came to this university from rural Washington County, Alabama. I know the soul of this state, and I know that these bills are the result of propaganda and fearmongering enacted by those who want to see our community eradicated, not the vast majority of Alabamians. LGBTQ bars in Mobile, Birmingham and Tuscaloosa are sometimes the first places queer people find a community in this state--this should not be true. For some, they find community and acceptance earlier. Many Alabama teachers have been the first people to make queer kids comfortable in their identities by being accepting where others have not been, and finding this community at school earlier than 19 years old--at the least--is important. LGBTQ kids should be able to see ourselves in libraries and schools. Queer people deserve their version of a Cinderella story; we deserve our happy ever after just like every other kid deserves. The Alabama Legislature is trying to take an already hard reality and make it into an impossible nightmare.

Regardless of these bills, the Queer Student Association intends to remain a bedrock of activism and community at the University of Alabama whether Republicans in Montgomery like it or not. However, we cannot be in this alone. Thats why the QSA encourages all UA students and Alabamians, regardless of their identity, to contact their state representatives and talk about their opposition. We also encourage participation in the Drag Me to the Capital March on May 16th in Montgomery. Allyship matters now more than ever, and we cannot let the Alabama Legislature strip of us our freedom to live as who we are.

Sean Atchison, a native of Alabama, is President of the Queer Student Association and an undergraduate student in Latin American Studies at The University of Alabama
This is a guest opinion

Perhaps youve read the recent AP article entitled Waste of time: Community college transfers derail students.

If you havent, Collin Binkley tells a story about a Californian community college student named Ricki Korba who had recently been accepted to California State University. Upon transferring to CSU, Ricki learned that many of her science courses would not count for credit since they were completed at a community college. Ultimately, she would need to retake the same courses at CSU that she had previously passed.

The article notes that this phenomenoncalled credit lossis quite common in California, and it typically results in community college transfer students spending extra time and money in order to finish their degree. Moreover, those receiving Financial Aid face the added risk of having their federal funding run out.

Translation: The Californian community college-to-university transition can be much more challenging than students (and their families) realize.

If this story gives you chill bumps, know that Alabama college students have a powerful weapon to safeguard against these situations. Signed by Governor Folsom in 1994, The Great State passed ACT 94-202 which created the Alabama Articulation and General Studies Committee (AGSC). Among its many functions, the AGSC aims to ensure that Alabama community college course credit almost entirely transfers to Alabama public universities.

I say almost because unfortunately some courses are exempt. For instance, most college orientation courses, despite their documented utility in helping students graduate, often dont transfer. The same can be said for many specialized courses in fields like welding, machining, and cosmetology, which typically dont have a university equivalent. Often, these classes are treated as elective credit at many Alabama four-year schools.

This brings me to my second point, specifically about Alabama community colleges. Were a small but mighty corps who, on a near daily basis, advise students who plan on transferring to state universities. Every one of us are committed to helping students select transferable coursework that aligns with their defined career goals. Many of us even have strong working relationships with university admissions counselors to ensure students are properly handed off.

The underlying premise that Binkleys Waste of time article highlights is that community college coursework is somehow beneath or less than university coursework. As a Central Alabama Community College faculty member, Im biased toward favoring my classroom over the university equivalent. But objective feedback from many academic programspharmacy schools, medical schools, agriculture programs, four-year nursing programs, veterinary schools, graduate schools, etc.indicates that CACC (like many of our sibling schools) continues to do an exceptional job at preparing our students for successful academic and professional careers.

Many are surprised to learn that Alabama community colleges serve a large percentage of four-year students. In fact, much of our past success with this cohort has attracted university students who need help mastering fundamentals in order to reach their career goals. Many make the trip, a couple times per week, to complete their needed coursework. And guess what? The resulting course credit cleanly transfers!

Ultimately, we Alabama community college employees are motivated by our students successes. Our normal is more than a 9-5 government job; its an odd combination of late nights and early mornings that culminate with our students blossoming into the next generation of teachers, researchers, counselors, engineers, pharmacists, and medical doctors, among other professions.

Whether students are planning on becoming a nurse, or welder, or (in Rickis case) a chemist, Alabama community colleges continue to play an integral part of this process in working with our partner four-year schools to ensure that every credit rightfully counts.

Dr. Jeremy M. Carr serves as a Chemistry Instructor and Mathematics & Sciences Division Chair at Central Alabama Community College.
(Photo : Henry Nicholls - Pool/Getty Images)

The G7 leaders are expected to express concern over China's use of "economic coercion."

(not the actual photo)

As part of a larger joint statement to be released next week, the Group of Seven (G7) leaders are expected to express concern over China's use of "economic coercion" in its international dealings.

According to a US official familiar with the discussions, the statement is likely a component of the overall communique that leaders will release at the May 19-21 summit in Hiroshima, Japan.

G7 Talks Focus on China's 'Economic Coercion'

The statement is expected to accompany a broader written proposal outlining how the seven advanced economies will collaborate to counter "economic coercion" from any country. The official said that the primary G7 statement would include "a section particular to China" with a litany of concerns, including economic coercion and other behavior that we have explicitly seen from China.

According to the individual, a separate "economic security statement will speak more about instruments" used to counter coercive efforts by any responsible countries, including planning and coordination. In each case, it is anticipated that the statements will go further than previous G7 statements, said Reuters.

US President Joe Biden has prioritized China in his foreign policy, striving to prevent the tense and competitive relationship, including over Taiwan, from deteriorating into one of open conflict. In addition to the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom, China is the world's largest exporter and a key market for many of the G7's companies.

Last month, China labeled a G7 foreign minister's statement on similar topics as "arrogant and biased against China" and lodged complaints with this year's G7 host country, Japan. The G7 meeting will measure the members' ability to concur on a common approach to China, the second-largest economy in the world, according to Financial Post.

G7 finance leaders are presently in Niigata, Japan, focusing on reducing their countries' "over-reliance" on Chinese manufacturing through partnerships with low- and middle-income nations. Some G7 members are hesitant to endorse controls on Chinese outbound investment.

The policies are being formulated partly to deny China's military access to tools it could use to achieve technological superiority. Many in the Biden administration view them as complementary to export controls limiting access to certain semiconductors with the same objective.

While traveling to Japan for the G7 finance meeting, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated that China had used economic coercion against Australia and Lithuania.

An absence of progress in resolving the US debt ceiling impasse hung over the meeting. As Biden's Democrats and Republicans seek a compromise to avert a catastrophic default, the Friday meeting between Biden and senior legislators has been rescheduled for early next week.

Read Also: Pope Francis Blasts Couples with Pets Instead of Babies, Calls on Italy To Boost Birth Rates

Chinese Warships Sail Around Japan

Meanwhile, Chinese warships sailed around Japan to display military dominance before the G7 Summit in Japan. A Chinese naval flotilla commanded by a powerful destroyer has completed a 12-day circumnavigation of Japan's main islands. This comes as the Group of Seven leaders prepares to convene in Japan beginning on May 19.

The Japanese Defense Ministry released a map depicting the Type 055 guided missile destroyer Lhasa, one of the People's Liberation Army Navy's most powerful warships, leading a four-ship flotilla consisting of a smaller destroyer, a frigate, and a supply ship on a clockwise circumnavigation.

The voyage began on April 30 in the Tsushima Strait between South Korea and Japan, continued through the Tsugaru Strait at the northern point of Hokkaido on May 5 and 6, and by Thursday, had reached the Izu island chain south of Tokyo. Per Big News Network, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stated that "the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait are crucial not only for our country but for the entire international community."

Chinese naval flotillas have circumnavigated Japan in the past, most notably when a Chinese-Russian flotilla of 10 ships did so in October 2021. Analysts anticipate more circumnavigations as the PLA Navy frequently exercises its capabilities outside China's territorial waters.

Related Article: Australia Trade Minister Visits China, Urges To Repair Ties

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.










English News China writes new chapter in space exploration

Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 12 Mai 2023



Before 2035, China will establish a comprehensive national system for positioning, navigation and timing services that is more integrated and intelligent based on the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, which is expected to lay a solid foundation for intelligent and unmanned development in the future.

By Feng Hua, Liu Shiyao, People's Daily The China National Space Administration (CNSA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences on April 24 jointly released a series of global images of Mars obtained during China's first Mars exploration mission.



These color images are based on 14,757 image data acquired by a remote-sensing camera on the Tianwen-1 orbiter. Scientists 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.



In 2022, China set a new record with 64 rocket launches, achieving remarkable results in its major aerospace projects.



The country has completed the construction of its Tiangong space station, and for the first time discovered the Changesite-(Y), a kind of colorless transparent columnar crystal, on the moon.



It completed the space-segment construction of its Gaofen project, the backbone network of its high-resolution Earth observation system, and a comprehensive solar observation network has been formed following the launches of the Xihe and Kuafu-1 satellites.



Besides, the country has launched a terrestrial ecosystem carbon monitoring satellite for its carbon peaking and neutralization efforts.



These remarkable achievements record China's unremitting pursuit of the aerospace dream.



Exploring the universe is a dream of the Chinese people and a common pursuit of all mankind. Zhang Kejian, head of the CNSA, noted that China, following the principle of equality, mutual benefit, peaceful utilization, and inclusive development, has initially built a model of international cooperation in the space industry with cooperation agreements as the guide, cooperation mechanisms as the backbone and cooperation outlines as the focus.



The model has formed a good situation with government guidance and the participation of all parties, Zhang added.



Over the past 30 years since the CNSA was established, China has signed 136 cooperation documents with 43 countries or regions and 6 international organizations. It has inked space cooperation outlines with 9 national space agencies, and established 17 space cooperation mechanisms.



China has actively worked with international scientists to analyze data on lunar and Mars explorations in the new era. China's Long March rockets have completed 52 commercial launches for 22 countries, regions and international satellite organizations, sending some 70 satellites of various types into orbits.



The CNSA-led China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellites program, Double Star space mission, China-France ocean-observing satellite and astronomical satellite programs, as well as China-Italy seismo-electromagnetic satellite project have become highlights of international aerospace cooperation.



China will strive for steadier and greater progress in space exploration. According to Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration program, 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.



Wu said that China plans to launch the Chang'e-6 probe around 2024 in an attempt to collect some 2,000 grams of lunar samples from the far side of the moon and return them to Earth. Besides, the Chang'e-7 probe is expected to be launched around 2026, which is intended to land on the moon's south pole and conduct detailed surveys to explore traces of water.



Wu noted that China will work to make breakthroughs in key technologies of the Chang'e-8 mission, and jointly promote the establishment of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) with relevant countries, international organizations and partners.



The Chang'e-8 mission, which is expected to be launched around 2028, will complete the basic structure for the ILRS on the moon's south pole together with the Chang'e-7 mission. There would be a lunar orbiter, lander and rover as well as a range of scientific detection devices, Wu added.



This year, the Tiangong space station has officially entered a phase of application and development, where Chinese astronauts will be on permanent duty according to the mission.



It is reported that China will launch the Tianzhou-6 cargo spacecraft and Shenzhou-16 manned spaceship this May, and the Shenzhou-17 is expected to take off in October. During the two manned space missions, astronauts will conduct extravehicular activities and carry out science and technology experiments in space, popularize science education and carry out other space activities.



China will make steadier steps in its future space exploration. The country's heavy-lift carrier rocket mission, the Tianwen-3 mission that plans to return samples from Mars, and the development of a defense system against near-Earth asteroids are all in progress. It plans to launch the Tianwen-2 mission around 2025.



In terms of planetary exploration, the country is steadily working to advance missions to collect samples from a near-Earth asteroid and explore a comet.



Before 2035, China will establish a comprehensive national system for positioning, navigation and timing services that is more integrated and intelligent based on the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, which is expected to lay a solid foundation for intelligent and unmanned development in the future.



Dans la meme rubrique : < > Cultural digitalization makes progress at Sanxingdui Ruins site Luban Workshop: a bridge of cultural, people-to-people communication between China, foreign countries China's sincere hope to promote security, stability in Middle East Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)










English News Chinese modernization conceived in China, opportunities it brings belong to world

Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 11 Mai 2023



As the biggest developing country, China always keeps in mind the greater good of the whole world. While pursuing its own development, it is also injecting more positive energy into world peace and creating more opportunities for global development. China is ready to work together with all parties to promote diverse ways of modernization and create an even brighter future for our planet.

By He Yin, People's Daily "China will provide new opportunities for global development with new accomplishments in Chinese modernization, lend new impetus to humanity's search for paths toward modernization and better social systems, and work with all countries to advance the building of a community with a shared future for mankind."



The above remarks were made by Chinese President Xi Jinping in a congratulatory message to the Lanting Forum on Chinese Modernization and the World held at the Meet-the-World Lounge in Shanghai on April 21.



The event, along with the previously held special forum "Understanding China - GBA Dialogue" in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong province, both focused on the opportunities brought about by Chinese modernization to the world.



Attendees to the two meetings believed that Chinese modernization is conceived in China, and the opportunities it brings belong to the world.



Realizing modernization is a relentless pursuit of the Chinese people since modern times began, and it is also the common aspiration of people of all countries. Over the past 100 years and more, China has found by itself a path to modernization, and created a new form of human advancement. Ample facts have proved that there is no fixed model of, or single solution to, modernization. Any country can achieve modernization, as long as the path suits its conditions and answers the need of its people for development.



Former Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf called Chinese modernization a gift to the world. Gambian Foreign Minister Mamadou Tangara said that the modernity of China is an inspiration and proof to all that every country has its unique and viable options to anchor its development pursuit.



The modernization of China will be a stronger boost for global economic recovery and open up a broader path to the common development of all countries.



Over the past decade, China has contributed more to global growth than all the G7 countries combined. Today, China is the main trading partner of over 140 countries and regions, making $320 million direct investment around the world each day and attracting over 3,000 foreign businesses every month. With over 1.4 billion people on course toward modernization and common prosperity, China will create more opportunities for global development.



The international community believes that China is the biggest hope in revitalizing global economy, and hopes to take the opportunities brought by the country's high-quality development and higher-standard opening-up.



The Belt and Road Initiative and Global Development Initiative proposed by China have built important platforms for countries to achieve common progress and prosperity. British scholar Martin Jacques noted that Chinese modernization in essence is providing opportunities to the world, especially developing countries.



The modernization of China will open up bright prospects for human progress and provide a more viable pathway to a clean and beautiful world.



China takes people's free and well-rounded development as the ultimate goal of modernization. The well-rounded development of people means not only material abundance but also cultural-ethical enrichment.



The Global Civilization Initiative proposed by China promotes the respect for the diversity of civilizations, and advances the principles of equality, mutual learning, dialogue and inclusiveness among civilizations. It advocates the importance of inheritance and innovations of civilizations, and of enhancing international cultural and people-to-people exchanges and cooperation.



Chinese modernization will add new vigor and vitality to the profound Chinese civilization, and contribute more Chinese wisdom to global peace and prosperity and to human progress. China, focusing on the harmony between humanity and nature in planning its development, readily takes on its responsibility of protecting the environment and tackling climate change, and leads the world on many counts such as the scale of artificial afforestation. It will strive to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.



Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Asia Society of the United States John L. Thornton hailed that Chinese modernization is very compelling, enduring and inspiring, adding that he sees it as a guide to higher-level human development.



The modernization of China will bring more certainty to world peace and stability and boost the force for peace and justice.



China is the only country in the world that pledges to "keep to a path of peaceful development" in its Constitution. China is the top contributor of peacekeeping personnel among the permanent members of the UN Security Council, and the only country among the five Nuclear-Weapon States that has made the promise of no-first-use of nuclear weapons.



The Global Security Initiative put forward by China has pointed out the right direction of pursuing common and universal security. China has taken an impartial stance and pushed for peace talks in order to reduce the pressure and lower the temperature around the Ukraine crisis. Facilitated by China, Saudi Arabia and Iran resumed diplomatic relations. Following a path of peaceful development, the country has made important contributions to fostering a new type of international relations and building a community with a shared future for mankind.



As the biggest developing country, China always keeps in mind the greater good of the whole world. While pursuing its own development, it is also injecting more positive energy into world peace and creating more opportunities for global development. China is ready to work together with all parties to promote diverse ways of modernization and create an even brighter future for our planet.



Dans la meme rubrique : < > Cultural digitalization makes progress at Sanxingdui Ruins site Luban Workshop: a bridge of cultural, people-to-people communication between China, foreign countries China's sincere hope to promote security, stability in Middle East Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)
The Democrat party likes to argue that Republicans are the party of white nationalism and white supremacy. That's quite an argument from the party of Nathan Bedford Forrest (D-KKK), Theodore Bilbo, Jefferson Davis, Woodrow Wilson, and Bull Connor against the party that came into existence partially due to abolitionism. It's also quite an accusation from a party that aligns openly with a racist and black nationalist hate group.

In contrast to the left's pigeon chess (knock over the pieces, call your opponent a racist, and say you have won), I can back this up to the hilt with objective evidence, not from right-wing or Republican sources, but from Black Lives Matter Global Network itself. The Republican Party needs to make this issue a central talking point in 2024 instead of throwing away yet another election with claims of election fraud and, most recently, an ad that speculates on whether Communist China will invade Taiwan and the economy will collapse. Joe Biden is in fact increasing military aid to Taiwan, and, despite the downfall of Silicon Valley Bank, whose environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risk ratings had little to do with banking, this is not 1929, and the government is making good depositors' losses while allowing the banks themselves to go under as they deserve.

Here is the ad to which I refer. Its opening is reminiscent of Orson Welles's radio broadcast of War of the Worlds and also the infamous Daisy Girl commercial from 1964. What if the ChiComs invade Taiwan? What if Martians start blasting us with heat rays and drinking our blood for sustenance? Appeal to primal emotions may get buy-in from some people, but most resent this kind of manipulation. I'm a registered Republican, and the GOP ad does not appeal to me, so I doubt that it will appeal to the swing voters who decide elections. Let's try this instead.

1. Black Lives Matter says it is black nationalist. "Second, this property has served as a safe haven to protect the leaders of our Black nationalist movement." This isn't an accusation from a conservative source, or people who don't like BLM; it's from BLM itself.

2. While black nationalists don't like Caucasians in general or Jews in particular, black and white nationalists actually collaborate to promote hatred of Jews. "Beyond [Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam], a web of white supremacists and black nationalists are linked together by online social networks that propagate anti-Semitic imagery, wild conspiracy theories about the effort of Jews to control America, and other forms of propaganda designed to foster hatred of Jews." This is not to say that white and black nationalists really like each other; their racist views would preclude that. They probably do, however, have a mutually acceptable goal of a Judenrein (Jew-free) North America with segregated "whites only" and "colored only" regions for each group. My own suggestion is for both groups to follow Theodore Roosevelt's advice for those unwilling to assimilate with our country and its values to go back where they came from. Then they will not need to look at people whose skin color differs from their own, Americans of all races will not need to look at them, and everybody will be happy.

3. The Tablet Magazine reference adds, "In comparing BDS to the boycott in South Africa during the apartheid era, black nationalist groups have found a wider audience for their transhistorical anti-Semitic hate while cloaking it in the language of normative anti-racist politics." Black Lives Matter supports the BDS movement and denies the right of Israel to exist.

4. Sullivan Israel of Santa Barbara, CA adds that BLM carried out a "pogrom," and he invoked the image of rampaging Cossacks, against Jews in his neighborhood. "On the night of May 30, while the rioters looted and burned without the intervention of the local police, they chanted an obscene message attacking the police and saying 'kill the Jews.' ... The 'protest' was organized by BLM-L.A.'s leader, Melina Abdullah, who has on numerous occasions said incredibly anti-Semitic things, as well as endorsing and defending multiple outspoken anti-Semites like Louis Farrakhan."

We have accordingly established so far that (1) BLM is black nationalist and (2) black nationalism is racist and anti-Semitic. It differs little if at all from white nationalist movements who think there should be a country, possibly carved out of the United States, for white people only and a separate reservation put aside for non-white people.

5. Black Lives Matter solicits 501(c)(3) donations via ActBlue Charities. While ActBlue says it is independent from the Democrat party, it adds, "ActBlue is not run by the official Democratic Party or any other organization. We are a mission-based organization, which is why only Democrats and progressive organizations (not Republicans) can use our tools to fundraise." This "mission-based organization" is now on record as processing donations to a black nationalist entity whose values are just as inconsistent with those of the United States as those of white nationalists or indeed anybody who thinks there should be a nation, other than the multiracial and multiethnic United States, between Canada and Mexico.

6. Black Lives Matter is still using 501(c)(3) resources to campaign openly against Donald Trump. "This is how Trump's proto-fascism has become normalized. No matter the laws the presidents [sic] breaks, no matter the communities or countries he insults, no matter the catastrophes he creates, the President has been allowed to pretend that the social peace is intact. ... Like a Nazi trying to hide a neck tatoo [sic], Trump shows his true colors whenever he shifts aimlessly from empty platitude to veiled threat." BLM and its enablers might have argued that this page no longer seeks to influence the 2020 election, but, as Trump has declared his candidacy for 2024, BLM comes across as seeking to influence a presidential election. While I can't give legal or tax advice, this comes across as problematic.

7. BLM also formed a political action committee "to increase voter participation and turnout, and to endorse candidates who move us toward Black liberation." The Internal Revenue Service says, "No, a section 501(c)(3) organization may not make a contribution to a political organization described in section 527 (such as a candidate committee, political party committee or political action committee [PAC]). Nor may such an organization establish and maintain a separate segregated fund under section 527."

The 2024 election is ours to win, but only if we stick to real issues such as not just the Democrat party's ties to racists and Jew-haters like Al Sharpton, but also squandering money we don't have on things we don't need like student loan forgiveness when our country is $32 trillion in debt. The Democrat party's efforts to force Americans to use costly and unproven renewable energy sources (I am all for economical and reliable ones), New York's ban on natural gas appliances, New York City squandering $150 million to turn a Hilton hotel into 300 units of affordable housing (that's $500,000 a unit), and similar conduct also are winners for Republicans. Unproven election fraud claims and ads full of sensationalism but short on facts are not.

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

Image: Andy Witchger via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
It's now crystal-clear to anyone with half a brain that our entire election system is a farce  from who can register and how absentee ballots are mailed to empty lots to the lack of any meaningful chain of custody.

This is not some sort of accident or incompetence, but a concerted effort to take over our country in order to destroy it.

Who is doing this? There is a long list of people, groups, and countries who have interests in weakening America. Are they working together, or do they just have common interests? "The enemy of my enemy is my partner in crime."

Here's a short list of some of the actors involved.

George Soros, with hundreds of millions of dollars spent creating anti-American organizations and funding "no crime is worth jail time" prosecutors now covering 75% of the population, leading to the utter destruction of inner cities.

Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg have spent hundreds of millions to ensure Democrat election victories.

The Democrats have embarked on a plan to remove all election integrity checks and balances so they will not only win all future elections, but choose the most liberal candidates in every Democrat primary and the least electable candidate in Republican primaries.

The "Republicans." RINOs actively fought Trump candidates in the primaries and cut their funding in the general elections. Their RNC leadership didn't say a word about 2020 or 2022 election fraud in Arizona or other states.

The Chinese. We see their involvement across the board  most notably spending at least $10 million to pay off the entire Biden crime family. Add their control of the WHO to push insane COVID laws and the deadly "vaccines" and incessant spying and extortion of government officials.

Colleges indoctrinating their students with anti-American hatred, creating a new pool of mindless Democrat voters and campaign workers.

Government bureaucracies ruling by regulation to destroy small businesses and farms.

And the Fed eliminating the middle class with insane monetary policies that are robbing everyone of buying power and forcing families out of homeownership.

These individuals, groups, political parties, and foreign countries placed Biden (and Fetterman) into office despite the fact that he is beyond incompetent (Fetterman, too). The result? Almost everything pro-American, profree speech, pro-business, promiddle class, proenergy independence, promilitary morale and readiness, has been systematically dismantled since January 20, 2021.

Who ends up actually in charge at the end is up to debate, but it won't be we. Their goal is control of everything for their own purposes. They already control 95% of what you see  on television and the internet, what you hear  on radio and music, what you say  on social media, in public forums, and, if they can create a government crypto-currency, they will control every penny you spend.

What to do? Our only choice, while we still can, is to use our own eyes, ears, mouths, and wallets to fight back.

Eyes.

Television and the internet are already lost. Witness the almost complete silence on the Comer Committee press conference detailing the 20 fake corporations the Biden crime family has set up to funnel over $10 million (and counting) from foreign governments.

Thank goodness that there are a few websites willing to post videos about the truth. Here's a Rumble.com video that shows the entire Comer press conference.

FOX news, the only remaining news outlet that carried conservative content, has gone to the dark side. Any remaining "free speech" is carefully controlled.

Tucker Carlson's ouster was the last straw, but he is resurfacing on Twitter. I'm sure he'll have a lot to say!

Read conservative articles and books, watch conservative movies, and get your news from conservative websites such as American Thinker, Canada Free Press, RedState, Daily Signal, Daybreak Insider, Brighteon, Judicial Watch, the New York Sun, and Town Hall. Share what you learn with your families and friends via email and on the new Twitter.

The internet is a great source of information, but search engines are controlled to return biased results. Try Yandex.com.

Ears.

Listen to talk radio, podcasts. Share.

Listen to new songs that promote freedom and American values.

Mouths.

Talk! Talk to your family, friends, and strangers. Ask, "Are you happy with the direction of our country?"

When they say, "Not really," follow up with "Why?" and "Tell me more" and then "What do you think we can do about it?"

Pick a few topics you are interested in and become more knowledgeable so you can discuss the state of our country and start changing minds.

Thank police officers and those in the military for their service.

Wallets.

America is the richest country in the world. But we don't realize that where we spend our money is actually supporting anti-American policies.

Large corporations are caught between a rock and a hard place. They are huge targets for government regulations, especially banks. And government bureaucracies are using their power to force them to follow leftist mandates, even when they are contrary to good business practices, or even common sense. A regulator can arbitrarily open a case against a corporation for any of a thousand reasons and cost it billions of dollars in fees, fines, or litigation.

But what will cost them even more is a rebellion of their paying customers.

The good news is that this is already happening.

Many people try to buy American and avoid anything "Made in China."

Bed Bath & Beyond tossed out MyPillow products, which started a silent boycott. The company is now bankrupt, and its leases are being sold to other businesses.

Conservatives have left FOX News. FOX's ratings took a hit.

Anheuser-Busch's appeal to wokeness and the transgenders was an absolute disaster. Its sales have tanked, and now its efforts to take back conservative customers have angered the woke community!

Here's a new website that helps you understand which companies are captives of woke policies, ESG, and climate change hysteria.

Americans spend $800 billion on primary and secondary education and over $300 billion on colleges. Most have their main goal to indoctrinate our children and destroy our families.

Take your kids out of public schools and find ways to homeschool them with other parents. Support laws that allow parents to use money they send in for public schools to fund private schools and homeschooling. Don't send your kids to liberal colleges.

Billions of dollars are being funneled into both political parties from illegal sources. There is no reason to send money to the RINO GOP. Boycott any campaign that uses WinRed to collect funds.

Instead, donate to conservative organizations and those determined to expose the truth  James O'Keefe, Judicial Watch, Heritage Foundation. And, of course, send a few bucks to President Trump's Save America PAC.

Donate to conservative candidates for sheriff, city council, and school boards. Or run for office yourself.

We are far from powerless! Use your eyes, ears, mouths, and wallets to fight back against the forces determined to take away our freedoms  while you still can.

Image: cagdesign via Pixabay, Pixabay License.
In New York City, everybody but the richest few percent rides the subway, and they know how bad things have gotten in the wake Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg treating arrests as inequitable since African Americans are disproportionately arrested.

Jordan Neely died in a hospital after being subdued by Marine Corps veteran Daniel Penny with the help of two other passengers (who have not been charged).

Uncredited photo via The New York Post

Neely avoid[ed] prison for allegedly slugging a 67-year-old woman in November 2021 during a psychotic episode by agreeing to a plea deal. Despite a record of more than forty previous arrests, he was allowed to roam the streets, though he was to stay at Harbor House, where he could receive services. When he left there, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Ellen Biben signed a warrant for his arrest on February 23.

Perhaps because police officers realize that arresting any black person can cause enormous career grief, Neely evaded arrest, even while riding subways and being visible on the streets. The justice system, in other words, completely failed to protect the public from a deranged, violent man. So, when riding the subway on May first and threatening passengers with violence, and assaulting some by throwing trash, it was only Daniel Penny who first took action to protect himself and fellow passengers.

As Andrea Widburg noted in her excellent coverage of the incident:

its theoretically possible that a chokehold could have killed Neely. Except that we know from the full video, rather than the parts the media focused on, that once Neely stopped screaming and fighting, Penny put him in a recovery position. This is inconsistent with intending to kill a man or believing you have killed him. Several people involved (many of whom thanked Penny) were certain that Neely was aliveand, indeed, Neely was alive, dying only at the hospital: MSM doesnt want you to see this bombshell video. Marine vet who restrained Jordan Neely is complimented by other passengers & puts Neely in the recovery position. Notice how NOBODY is acting like this was a murder.



https://t.co/4LNDBzDF1y  Liz Wheeler (@Liz_Wheeler) May 8, 2023

When DA Bragg indicted Penny, he avoided taking the case to a grand jury. I suspect he realized that most members of a Manhattan grand jury are subway riders, and might have even experienced a situation of being threatened on a subway car while on their way to the courthouse. He had reason to believe that a grand jury would not have returned an indictment.

So, just as he did with Jose Alba, the bodega clerk charged with murder for fatally stabbing an ex-con who was assaulting him in the grocery, his office issued the indictment on its own. Alba was sent to Rikers Island, a notoriously violent and unsafe jail, only to be released when the public uproar grew deafening.

Daniel Penny, perhaps because he is white, has so far only been publicly excoriated by activists as probably racist, simply because he was a white man subduing a black man who died later. The vast majority of New Yorkers who will make up the jury pool for his trial, most of whom are fellow subway riders, are remaining silent. Literally, a silent majority.

I am afraid it will take a jury trial for Penny to receive justice for his heroic acts that ended badly for the offender. He will need capable (and expensive) counsel.

You can contribute to Daniel Penny's legal defense fund here.

Id like to see Bragg repeat what he did in the case of Jose Alba and simply drop the charges because of the obvious injustice or prosecuting an act of self-defense. Large demonstrations might help convince him, but so far, they have not taken place. Unless the silent majority wakes up and realizes it has to encourage, not punish good Samaritans who protect fellow passengers from scary and violent lunatics, the city and its transportation system will only get scarier and more hazardous.
Illegal invaders, who travel for thousands of miles through mud, jungles, rivers, cargo boxcars, unsanitary third-world city streets, and other inhospitable places before crossing into the U.S., can bring with them a lot more than just COVID.

According to independent journalist Michael Yon, who has been traveling the migrant routes to the U.S. border:

SCABIES: From Border Patrol source just now: The problem with scabies is that is is highly contagious and the illegal aliens are getting in busses and commercial aircraft to travel around the country. The next person that sits in that seat now has scabies!



I, Michael Yon, pic.twitter.com/bjmBJyFQKS  Michael Yon (@Michael_Yon) May 12, 2023

We already know that they get onto buses, and good luck to the people who have no choice but to ride that method of transport that leftists are always trying to push Americans into.

But it also appears to be true that illegals are somehow getting onto commercial aircraft -- two days ago, I took a flight from the border city of San Diego to Denver, and was astonished to see the last seats filled in by a line of single weathered young men speaking Spanish and carrying raggedy backpacks who very much appeared to be recent border crossers. If it's true they were illegal border crossers, then yes, it appears likely that after some rough travel, they could have had scabies and spread them to the next person who took their seats on the plane.

Of course, any person who sleeps rough could, but we normally don't see those people on planes. One wonders what mechanism exists that permits illegal border crossers to get onto commercial planes, and how many people may catch scabies as a result.

And it's worth noting that illegals bring in all sorts of diseases as they cross illegally into the U.S. -- COVID, tuberculosis, leprosy, leishmanosis, flu... But scabies, unlike those other afflictions, some contagious, is pretty common and pretty closely linked to environmental factors, all of which involve rough travel and sleep, which is what nearly all illegals do.

I looked up how people get scabies and how long the scabies "itch mites" can last on surfaces and be transmissable. I found this item on the CDC website:

Scabies usually is spread by direct, prolonged, skin-to-skin contact with a person who has scabies. Contact generally must be prolonged; a quick handshake or hug usually will not spread scabies. Scabies is spread easily to sexual partners and household members. Scabies in adults frequently is sexually acquired. Scabies sometimes is spread indirectly by sharing articles such as clothing, towels, or bedding used by an infested person; however, such indirect spread can occur much more easily when the infested person has crusted scabies.

...and...

How long can scabies mites live? On a person, scabies mites can live for as long as 1-2 months. Off a person, scabies mites usually do not survive more than 48-72 hours. Scabies mites will die if exposed to a temperature of 50C (122F) for 10 minutes.

One wonders where the ever-so-solicitous-of-our-public-health CDC is now that there's this brand new imported public health hazard spreading about the country on public transport sources?

It seems insane to let obviously affected people, or even unsanitary-looking people be free to roam about the country on public transport, given the risks to ordinary Americans of new diseases being spread.

The Biden administration has taken to releasing illegal border crossers into the country without so much as a court date to track their whereabouts, let alone some scabies treatment with mandatory use in their welcome packets. That's a lot of scabies that can be spread on airliners and other public transit.

While it's important not to panic, and to investigate new sanitation methods to travel safely, it's supremely unfair for Biden administration officials to expose the U.S. public to this health hazard, particularly among the immunocompromised.

As if illegals didn't bring enough costs and problems as it is, count this as another gift to the American people from the Bidenites and their open border.

Image: Arthur Goldstein, via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 4.0
How long do the pols and the media think they can get away with it? Do they think their histrionics will carry the day forever?

I started writing an essay nearly a month ago that I never completed. It started with the fact that all I wanted to do was throw something at the TV and shut up the pols. Talk about bloviating! Nothing has changed since I started writing except, of course, that Tucker got canned. He was the only one bearable to watch. The rest? Useless!

Tonight, for example, I listened to Jim Jordan go scorched earth on Biden and his horde of ill-gotten family treasure. Great, weve confirmed what we always knew, but with more details. Now what? Wheres the intention to proceed with an indictment, special prosecutor, haul the family over hot coalsanything real?

Instead, we got ye olde Righteous Indignation, AKA an excuse for doing absolutely nothing. The club is one where you wouldnt want to be a member because the slime on the floor is so thick.

Every day, we get more of the same. A shrill, nasty interviewer brow-beating Trump and wildly slinging lies, followed by the MSM dissing Trump for trying to get a word in edgewise. Hes lying seems to be their default, when anyone with half a brain can see that its they who lie.

Image by kues1.

At least in that interview, we could see what was happening clearly. Not that you can even find it to replay without a serious internet hunt. A Google search turned up commentary, all of it, of course, by the pundits on MSNotBeCredible, or other CNN shills, or, of course, the View. If I had that view, Id move.

So, should I get to be righteously indignant myself, because its the only tool in my toolbox? WellI have no power, politically. Who can I call and subject to a rant? My congressperson, Barbara Lee? My senator, DiFi? Really? What good would that do?

Its particularly galling that you have a Republican minority leader in the Senate who is a closet Progressive. Since Biden entered office, name me one thing Mitch McConnell has done to advance reality. You cant, right? And who there is holding him accountable?

You hear Ted Cruz yammer on about the border but does it do any good? The chokehold the left has managed to put us in, with complicity from the RINO right, is strangling all of us.

How many times can you be lied to, to your face, when you know its a lie before you go nuts? How many of our leaders have a thin veneer of self-righteous indignation over their forked-tongued, snake souls? How many times can we watch them sell us all down the river?

Our mental health is suffering, just as is our physical well-being. We see what is happening, yet are powerless to do anything because were so tied up in knots by crooked pols, corrupt judges, greedy, soulless state media.

How many times can you watch good people imprisoned for years because of lies? Once, when I was younger, and read Kafka and Orwell, I thought it couldnt happen here. Boy, was I wrong!

They want to take our guns away, and their method is to foment more and more craziness to make an excuse to do so. You hear newscasters talk about gun crime as if the damned things had legs, a brain, and a trigger finger. Always absent, is the schizoid, drugged-out person who lies at the heart of the story. Unless, of course, that person might be a conservative white  then, wed get an earful, ad nauseam.

We had a killing in Tennessee, a horrific school shooting that took the lives of children and adults, that a so-called transgender person perpetrated. Do you know what all those hormones, taken to suppress ones natural gender attributes, can do to a persons mind? No?

Have you ever known a pregnant lady with surging hormones and emotions raging? Well, imagine that, but instead of natural hormones, how about some synthesized one-size-fits-all version, and strong enough to stop puberty, shrink genitals, or grow breasts? How many lives are they going to ruin with this ruse? Add SSRIs to the mix, which Im betting this person was taking, and all bets are off.

For all I know (because the manifesto is manifestly absent from view), that deluded so-called transgender person shot up the school because it suddenly realized what a crock of crapola it had been fed, that it was now sterile, and uncomfortable in its own skin. (Please note that I refuse to gender this human, or now former human. Sorry).

To say Im fed up with it all is an understatement. We must throw all the bums outMcConnell, Lindsey Grahamthe whole lip-service crowd. We need some people who will act, not just be righteously indignant. I can do righteous indignation on my own, and it wont get me anywhereand it wont get them anywhere either.
(Photo : MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Cyclone Mocha is intensifying in the Bay of Bengal and is on track to strike western Myanmar and Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar.

On Sunday, a cyclone predicted to be the strongest to strike Myanmar in over a decade is anticipated to land near the Bangladeshi border, heightening the possibility of a major humanitarian catastrophe.

Cyclone Mocha formed over the southern Bay of Bengal on Thursday, drenching western Myanmar as it churned northeast on Saturday. According to the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System, heavy rain, high winds, and storm surges are expected to persist through Sunday.

Cyclone Mocha Now 'Very Severe'

Myanmar and Bangladesh began deploying thousands of volunteers and ordering evacuations from low-lying areas in a region home to some of the world's poorest people, particularly susceptible to increasingly severe weather events.

Per NY Times, authorities in Bangladesh have instructed fishermen in the Bay of Bengal to remain close to shore. Azizur Rahman, director of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, predicted Friday that the coastal areas of Bangladesh will experience significant rainfall beginning Saturday afternoon.

The World Meteorological Organisation warned of violent gusts, flooding, and potential landslides in Bangladesh, which could strike the world's largest refugee camp in Cox's Bazaar. India's meteorological office forecasts that Cyclone Mocha will land on Sunday near the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, carrying winds of up to 175 kilometers per hour (108mph).

The office predicted a storm surge of two to two-and-a-half meters (six to eight feet) for the low-lying coastal region, which on the Bangladeshi side is home to vast refugee settlements containing hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees.

In 2017, the majority of them escaped Myanmar after a military-led crackdown. Olga Sarrado, the spokesperson for the UN refugee agency, stated that preparations were underway for a possible partial evacuation of the camp. Per The Guardian, she stated that the organization was also preparing tens of thousands of heated meals and jerrycans.

The World Health Organization stated that 33 mobile medical teams, 40 ambulances, and emergency surgery and cholera supplies were being prepositioned for the camp. In Myanmar, the WHO prepositioned 500,000 water purification tablets in addition to other supplies representing the entire monsoon season's supply. Some laid out blankets and designated sleeping areas while unpacking supplies.

According to state media, Myanmar's junta authorities supervised the evacuation of coastal villages along the Rakhine coast, which did not indicate how many people had been relocated.

The junta stated that any vessels leaving the Rakhine coast after Friday afternoon would be subject to legal action. On Friday, the United Nations Office for humanitarian affairs warned that heavy gusts and rain could provoke flooding and landslides in Myanmar and Bangladesh's interior.

Approximately 6 million people in Rakhine and the northwestern region of Myanmar already needed humanitarian assistance, it was noted. Bangladesh had not initiated any evacuations, but officials reported that hundreds of cyclone shelters were prepared to house evacuees.

Read Also: G7 Summit Targets China's Economic Coercion; Beijing Displays Military Power Around Japan

Tropical Cyclones in Myanmar, Bangladesh

In November 2007, Cyclone Sidr devastated the southwestern region of Bangladesh, murdering more than 3,000 people and inflicting billions of dollars in damage.

Meanwhile, Maarutha was the last tropical cyclone to land in Myanmar in April 2017. Even though Maarutha made landfall as a tropical storm with maximum winds of 92 kilometers per hour (58 miles per hour), it brought torrential rains and damaged nearly 100 dwellings.

In October 2010, Tropical Cyclone Giri was the last storm with hurricane-force winds to land. It made landfall as a Category 4 cyclone with maximal winds of 250 kilometers per hour (155 mph), according to CNN. Over 150 people were killed, and approximately 70 percent of Kyaukphyu in Rakhine was devastated when Giri struck. According to the United Nations, the storm destroyed about 15,000 dwellings in the province.

According to humanitarian agencies, the worst natural calamity to strike Myanmar was Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, which killed 140,000 people, severely affected 2.4 million, and displaced 800,000.

Related Article: WATCH: Pakistan Protests Turn Deadly as Authorities, Imran Khan Supporters Clash

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
American Thinker receives hundreds of promotional emails a week. Most swiftly head to the circular file. However, last week I received an email from a woman named Molly Koweek, promising that Luxxle, her employers search engine, is truly revolutionary. Her email piqued my interest, so I did something I very rarely do: I set up a phone call. So far, it appears that she didnt oversell anything; Luxxle really is something different, especially for those who are sick of seeing the major search engines ignore conservative content or give them such a low ranking that they essentially vanish. Its still imperfect, but its better than the alternatives.

As you can imagine, since I write posts every day, I frequently turn to search engines to help me track down information I know exists, so that I can provide a link to support my factual assertions. And every day, no matter the search engine I use, I run into the same problem: If I saw the facts on a conservative site, the search engines make it almost impossible to locate the source, and thats true even if I include the sites name in the search itself.

Instead, especially for controversial topics (COVID, Trump, J6, etc.), I get pages of content from the New York Times, Washington Post, ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, etc.. Sometimes, these sources have the fact Im seeking but, usually, I have to wade through paragraphs of leftist agitprop to find the fact buried in a paragraph at the end of the article. I waste incredible amounts of time thanks to the search engines manifest bias and link to sites to which Id rather not send traffic.

Thats why I got interested when Mollys email said,

As you may be aware, traditional search engines typically exclude non-mainstream media sources, such as American Thinker, from their main algorithm of results. Even after searching for popular keywords like Trump or Trump news on Google, your content does not appear in any of the results. At Luxxle, we believe that all publishers deserve a fair chance to be discovered, which is why we rank your content alongside the world's biggest news outlets. Our platform is specifically designed to showcase high-quality content, like yours, front and center, so that readers can easily find and access it. In addition, we have developed a powerful tool called Lenses that makes it even easier for users to find your content quickly. Our goal is to grow our user base and help quality publishers like American Thinker reach a wider audience.

Obviously, Molly was writing to us as a content provider, but I was intrigued by the promise that the search engine doesnt do viewpoint discrimination.

After speaking with Molly its apparent that, while the site is still a work in progress, its progressing in the right direction. Also, along with more control over results, the search engine also respectes privacy. On the about page, Luxxle promises not to sell data and that its searches are encrypted. It has a mobile browser (which I havent tried) that blocks trackers, allowing private browsing.

Heres what you see when you go to Luxxle:

I was immediately taken by how clean the page is. In a world of too much information, minimalism is attractive. But its not the look, its the functionality, that makes Luxxle different. Just look what happens if I punched in the phrase Kamala Harris:

The Luxxle feature is that lenses option at the top of the results. The first row says Lean Left, All (which is currently darker/highlighted), and Lean Right. The second row says Algorithmically (darkened/highlighted), Alphabetically, and Freshness. In other words, I can filter results by source and then, within that filter, I can view the results in different orders, depending on whats useful to me. I can also filter out all MSM sources.

If I click Lean Right and Freshness, I no longer get CNN and the New York Times. Instead, the news comes from JustTheNews and Breitbart, and even The Gateway Pundit and Newsmax:

I dont advocate filtering out all leftist content (you need to know where your opponent stands), but this is a useful tool for finding conservative content that provides facts the leftists routinely ignore.

The site isnt perfect. The filter didnt work as well for the phrase southern border. This was my first result, and you can see that it doesnt even offer the full lenses option at the top of the page, although it does include a Townhall article in the line-up:

To filter contents, I have to click on the lenses button higher on the page, below the search bar. Then, I get this global menu which, when saved, affects all future searches:

If I choose Lean Right, and screen out MSM and Wiki sources, I still get leftist content for the southern border search:

In other words, for some searches, Im no worse off than I am at Bing, Google, or DuckDuckGo, and for other searches, Im in much better shape. Given that there's no seeming downside and only an upside for making the switch, Ive set Luxxle as my default search engine.
When did unvetted foreigners violating our border rise to the top of the list of priorities for receiving taxpayer-funded services? And when did homeless veterans, many of whom are homeless because of traumas they endured while serving our country in distant and dangerous places, become sacrificial lambs in order to house these unvetted law-breakers who have no roots here?

Who made this decision?

Nearly two dozen struggling homeless veterans have been booted from upstate hotels to make room for migrants, says a nonprofit group that works with the vets. The ex-military  including a 24-year-old man in desperate need of help after serving in Afghanistan  were told by the hotels at the beginning of the week that their temporary housing was getting pulled out from under them at the establishments and that theyd have to move on to another spot, according to the group and a sickened local pol. Our veterans have been placed in another hotel due to whats going on with the immigrants, said Sharon Toney-Finch, the CEO of the Yerik Israel Toney Foundation. Toney-Finch, a disabled military veteran, created YIT to raise awareness of premature births, as well as helping the homeless and low-income military service veterans in need of living assistance. (snip) She said the hotels didnt explicitly say the vets had to move because of the migrants but that it was clear to her that was the case, given the timing.

Thank goodness, the vets werent put out on the street, but they were uprooted.

The vets were about two weeks into their hotel stays when they got the boot, she said. Now we have to work from ground zero. We just lost that trust [with the vets], the organizer said.

There is trauma for some:

State Assemblyman Brian Maher, a Republican who helps rep Orange County, said, Shining a light on this is important because we need to make sure these hotels know how important it is to respect the service of our veterans before they kick [them] out of hotels to make room. They really ought to think about the impact on these people already going through a traumatic time, he told The Post.

So, why toss the deserving vets for strangers? It seems to come down to money -- taken from taxpayers and spent by governments:

Toney-Finch said she believes it all comes down to money. They want to get paid more, she said of the hotels, referring to what her group shells out to get the vets housing compared to what the city is paying for each migrant. Thats so unfair, because at the end of the day, we are a small nonprofit, and we do pay $88 a day for a veteran to be there, she said. While its unclear what the city is paying upstate, various reported deals between the Big Apple and Manhattan hotels have called for payments such as $190 a night  part of an estimated $4.3 billion migrant price tag for taxpayers through spring 2024.

Homeless veterans are not the only group to be slighted by the priority given to taxpayer-funded services given to the invaders. Residents of the heavily black South Shore neighborhood of Chicago protested a plan to use a school there to house illegal aliens, mostly single adult males.

Residents of South Shore are taking legal action against the city of Chicago over plans to turn a shuttered neighborhood high school into a migrant respite center. "Members of the Black Community Collaborative, South Shore constituents and stakeholders are extremely dismayed by the city of Chicago's inability to control and develop safe parameters around housing migrants that have been transported here from the border," said Natasha Dunn. A week ago, hundreds of South Shore neighbors packed into an auditorium and pilloried city officials as they attempted to explain plans to open a respite center for incoming migrants in the former school building.

YouTube screengrab

Just listen to this South Shore resident speaking at a rally yesterday to protest the plan (45 second clip):

The gross violation of our border by millions of people is being felt all over America. Housing already is inadequate in many areas, too costly for first time buyers, with rents also skyrocketing. So, where are all these newcomers going to be housed?

The reaction of South Shore blacks will be shared by groups of every color and ethnic background. People who might have shunned the expression America first when Donald Trump uttered it may find it applies to their own difficulties as a remedy.
Kim Gardner is out as St. Louis circuit attorney. She resigned on May 4.

Part of her resignation letter to Governor Mike Parson says,

Stepping back is the most powerful thing I can do to stop these outsiders from taking your views and your rights. I wanted to help the people of St. Louis when I took this job, and thats still my north star. So, with a heavy heart but a firm decision, Im retiring as your circuit attorney on June 1.

Gardner announces her resignation

This is interesting comment since she was largely funded by an outsider. Gardner was one of the first states attorneys and attorneys general who were supported and funded by leftist billionaire George Soros.

She has also had the opportunity for years to help the people of St. Louis. She didnt, and thats why shes had to resign.

She has been criticized for being soft on crime since the time she took office. She has faced disciplinary actions as a prosecutor, been reprimanded by the Missouri Supreme Court, and ordered to pay a fine. Her office is currently facing contempt charges because prosecutors failed to appear, and she was heading toward facing neglect of office charges.

In one case, the judge said Gardners office was a rudderless ship of chaos, and added that Gardner complete indifference and a conscious disregard for the judicial process.

While Gardner had weathered the criticism, she has recently seen it increasing even among members of her own party. This is because of a February incident when an out-of-control car hit a teen volleyball player, Janae Edmonson, who was in St. Louis for tournament. Both of Edmonsons legs had to be amputated.

The cars driver was out on bond while he waited for his trial in an armed robbery case. He had violated the terms of his bond dozens of times. Gardners office claimed that a judge blocked their attempt to arrest the driver before the accident, but there are no records to support this.

This is when Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a petition to start the process to fire Gardner if she was found in neglect of her duties. As part of his support for this, he said nearly 12,000 criminal cases had been dismissed because of Gardners neglect and 9,000 were thrown out right before they went to trial.

This was a good first step for St. Louis. Unfortunately, it wasnt done by the voters in the city, but the states attorney general, who is a Republican. This means it will be turned into a political case, and to be honest, it is to a certain extent. This doesnt mean that Gardner wasnt incompetent as a circuit attorney, though. It means that whoever replaces her will need to show results.

Parson will choose a new circuit attorney to finish out Gardners term, which ends next year. Whoever this is will have a short amount of time to show results in an office that is in disarray. If the replacement can do this, a case can be made to allow the replacement remain in office or at least vote in a strong crime-fighting candidate. If the replacement fails to make a dent on the problem, residents will probably go back to voting for the candidate who matches their party affiliation, and St. Louis will continue to be mired in rising crime and falling public safety.

If St. Louis residents want to see crime come down in the city, they need to support Gardners replacement, and if he or she is successful, re-elect that attorney. If replacement fails, then elect someone who is tough on crime, whether that person is Republican or Democrat.

Michael A. Letts is the CEO and Founder of In-VestUSA, a national grassroots non-profit organization helping hundreds of communities provide thousands of bulletproof vests for their police forces through educational, public relations, sponsorship, and fundraising programs.

Photo credit: YouTube screengrab
(Photo : Mark Makela/Getty Images)

A Texas man who did not want his girlfriend to have an abortion fatally shot her during an argument in a Dallas parking lot.

(not the actual photo)

A Texas man allegedly killed his girlfriend after discovering she had an abortion in a pro-choice state, according to the police.

Harold Thompson, 22, was accused of murder for the slaying of Gabriella Gonzalez, 26, in a strip mall parking lot, according to the Dallas police.

Texas Man Fatally Shot Girlfriend in Parking Lot

Gonzalez had returned the night before from an approximately 800-mile journey to Colorado, where abortion is legal at all stages of pregnancy. According to the affidavit, the suspect was the child's father. The suspect was against Gonzalez having an abortion.

The affidavit alleges that surveillance footage from the parking lot shows the two arguing around 7:30 a.m. before Thompson chokes Gonzalez. Gonzalez "shrugs him off," and he and his companions flee. She was then shot in the cranium by Thompson. Authorities claim that he shot her multiple times before fleeing.

Thompson was apprehended Wednesday evening and is being held without parole at the Dallas County Jail. According to NY Post, the court documents did not identify an attorney who could represent him.

Surveillance footage documented the suspect putting Gonzalez in a chokehold, shooting her once in the head, and then firing additional shots after she collapsed to the ground, according to the police affidavit. Per Denver7, police say that Gonzalez's sister was present and heard the gunfire. Another witness observed Thompson attempting to choke Gonzalez but could not contact the police because she lacked a mobile phone.

Tragically, her sister Mileny Rubio saw the murder while driving her boyfriend to work.

I heard gunshots and immediately knew it was her and when I looked back, it was her. She was on the floor, she said. I was in shock. I couldnt touch her. I couldnt move. My body froze. I just called my mom and I couldnt even explain to her.

I knew she wasnt OK but we couldnt help, we didnt know how, Rubio said.

Read Also: Cyclone Mocha Barrels Bangladesh, Myanmar, Threatens World's Largest Refugee Camp

Texas Abortion Stance

At the time of the incident, Thompson had been charged with assault for allegedly strangling a family member in March. The March affidavit does not specifically identify Gonzalez as the assault victim. However, it does state that the woman told police that Thompson "beat her repeatedly throughout their entire relationship" and that Thompson told police the woman was pregnant with his child at the time.

According to the affidavit, the woman "reiterated that she is afraid of the suspect because he has threatened to endanger her family and her children."

In September 2021, Texas prohibited abortions after approximately six weeks of pregnancy. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned last summer, almost all abortions in Texas have been suspended, except, in cases of a medical emergency, NY Daily News reported. In response to the Supreme Court's June 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Texas is one of several states that have enacted abortion-banning trigger laws.

Related Article: Ex-Army Sergeant Daniel Perry Gets 25 Years for Killing Protester Despite Texas Governor's Pardon Promise

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
One of the pioneers of artificial intelligence has warned the Government is not safeguarding against the dangers posed by future super-intelligent machines.

Professor Stuart Russell told The Times ministers were favouring a light touch on the burgeoning AI industry, despite warnings from civil servants it could create an existential threat.

A former adviser to both Downing Street and the White House, Professor Russell is a co-author of the most widely used AI text book and lectures on computer science at the University of California, Berkeley.

Text from the ChatGPT page of the OpenAI website (Richard Drew/AP)

He told The Times a system similar to ChatGPT  which has passed exams and can compose prose  could form part of a super-intelligence machine which could not be controlled.

How do you maintain power over entities more powerful than you  forever? he asked. If you dont have an answer, then stop doing the research. Its as simple as that.

The stakes couldnt be higher: if we dont control our own civilisation, we have no say in whether we continue to exist.

In March, he co-signed an open letter with Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak warning of the out-of-control race going on at AI labs.

The letter warned the labs were developing ever more powerful digital minds that no one, not even their creators, can understand, predict or reliably control.

Elon Musk (Brian Lawless/PA)

Professor Russell has worked for the UN on a system to monitor the nuclear test-ban treaty and was asked to work with the Government earlier this year.

The Foreign Office talked to a lot of people and they concluded that loss of control was a plausible and extremely high-significance outcome, he said.

And then the Government came out with a regulatory approach that says: Nothing to see here well welcome the AI industry as if we were talking about making cars or something like that.

He said making changes to the technical foundations of AI to add necessary safeguards would take time that we may not have.

I think we got something wrong right at the beginning, where we were so enthralled by the notion of understanding and creating intelligence, we didnt think about what that intelligence was going to be for, he said.

Unless its only purpose is to be a benefit to humans, you are actually creating a competitor  and that would be obviously a stupid thing to do.

We dont want systems that imitate human behaviour youre basically training it to have human-like goals and to pursue those goals.

You can only imagine how disastrous it would be to have really capable systems that were pursuing those kinds of goals.

He said there were signs of politicians becoming aware of the risks.

Weve sort of got the message and were scrambling around trying to figure out what to do, he said. Thats what it feels like right now.

The Government has launched the AI Foundation Model Taskforce which it says will lay the foundations for the safe use of foundation models across the economy and ensure the UK is at the forefront of this pivotal AI technology.
An NHS doctor has described worrying scenes in Gaza as hundreds of cancer patients go for days without treatment due to ongoing fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant groups.

Nick Maynard, a consultant surgeon for Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, travelled to the Palestinian city for three days of keyhole surgeries on cancer patients along with fellow NHS doctor Bijendran Patel, from the Royal London Hospital, at the end of last week.

The two doctors had planned to work Monday to Wednesday, performing operations on patients in Gaza, but were only able to work for a day before fighting broke out.

Mr Maynard, 61, who is working with Medical Aid for Palestine, said he has seen rockets and destruction since the fighting broke out and the doctors have been told they cannot leave their city centre hotel.

Dr Nick Maynard, left, and Professor Bijen Patel outside a hospital in Gaza (Dr Nick Maynard/PA)

He told the PA news agency: Ive been coming out to Gaza for 12 or 13 years. Ive come out with another surgeon from London for three days of nonstop cancer surgeries but on Tuesday morning, in the early hours, there were the first bombings.

Were now confined to a hotel and none of our surgeries have been able to go ahead. A small percentage of patients have been allowed out but we estimate there are a few hundred patients not getting the treatment they need.

The father-of-three, who also trains doctors in the city, said there is nowhere for patients to receive radiotherapy and only limited chemotherapy on offer in the area, with patients needing to travel to Jerusalem or the West Bank for treatment.

He said 12 other UK nationals are among more than 100 humanitarian workers banned from crossing the border in order to get home and flee the conflict.

Dr Maynard said: Every day we hope its going to be the day (the borders reopen).

We were all pretty hopeful that on Wednesday or Thursday it was going to be the day something would happen. We understand theres no chance that anything will happen today because its the Sabbath.

Weve had an update today that talks have restarted so were hoping that its going to be tomorrow when things start happening.

Fighting broke out between the groups earlier this week when Israel killed three senior Islamic Jihad commanders who it said were responsible for firing rockets towards the country last week, with four days of bombings and fighting carrying on throughout the week despite hopes of a ceasefire.

Dr Maynard said his real frustration is being unable to help those in need.

The ones who should have been going over the border are the ones who need the treatment, he said.

Theres no radiotherapy here and very limited chemotherapy for patients. Depending on how long this goes on for, it changes the prognoses for those who are ill.

Theres huge concern about them and the longer this goes on the more dangerous it is for them.
Updated 13 May 2023 at 2:13 am

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were back in London as gruesome puppets for a one-off show by comedian Al Murray.

The puppets, created for the comedy sketch show Spitting Image, were the surprise royal guests for Murrays show at the Royal Albert Hall on Friday.

Titled Gig For Victory, the coronation-themed show is Murrays only live date of 2023 as his famous character The Pub Landlord.

BREAKING NEWS! Harry & Meghan are back in London @RoyalAlbertHall as the surprise Royal guests for the Gig For Victory coronation show, celebrating the one true Kingof Beers! @almurray pic.twitter.com/XkrycaB7rB  Spitting Image The Musical (@SpittingImage) May 12, 2023

It is billed as offering people thirsty for common sense a full pint of the good stuff, and  celebrating the one true Kingof Beers!.

The Spitting Image official Twitter account posted a picture of the Harry and Meghan puppets sat waiting for the show to begin on Friday.

BREAKING NEWS! Harry & Meghan are back in London @RoyalAlbertHall as the surprise Royal guests for the Gig For Victory coronation show, celebrating the one true Kingof Beers!, it said.

Murray was one of the co-writers for the recent stage production: Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image Saves the World  which featured the Sussexs puppets.

(Jacob King/PA)

The show, featuring other famous faces including the King, rapper Stormzy and Tom Cruise, had its world premiere in February.

Spitting Image made its return on BritBox in September 2021 following its revival in 2020 for the first time in 24 years.

The popular sketch show, featuring puppets of well-known figures, originally ran for 18 series between 1984 and 1996 and was watched by 15 million viewers in its prime.
The leader of the biggest rail workers union has called for a special summit to tackle the chaos in the industry amid escalating strikes.

Passengers suffered fresh travel misery on Saturday as members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) walked out in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions.

The strike, on the day of the final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool, followed a stoppage by train drivers on Friday which crippled services across England.

Merseyrail is not affected by the industrial action and is expected to run a normal service during the Eurovision finale.

Drivers union Aslef is planning further strikes and warned that the dispute is set to continue for months.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch has written to Transport Secretary Mark Harper to call for an industry summit of unions, employers and Government, with an independent chair if necessary, to end chaos on the railways and resolve the toxic rail dispute.

The union said that in written evidence to MPs, representatives of train operating companies involved in the dispute spelled out that legislation on minimum levels of service during walkouts could lead to more strikes and cancellations.

Mr Lynch wrote: On Thursday the Government was forced to bring the TransPennine Express franchise into public ownership after months of significant disruption and regular cancellations.

Its clear to us and the wider public that private train operation is failing.

However, the actions of your Government, up to this moment, have compounded this failure tenfold, creating chaos on our railways, not least in the management of the rail dispute which threatens to do lasting damage to the rail industry.

While we have reached agreements for rail workers with the Scottish and Welsh governments your Governments management of the dispute is set to plunge our railways into even more and worse disruption for months to come.

Instead of facilitating a resolution, your Government has repeatedly torpedoed negotiations. Instead of bringing management and unions together, you are driving a deeper wedge between them.

There will be more train services on Saturday than on Friday but many companies are restricting their number of routes and hours of operation.

Passengers were again urged to check before they travel on Saturday.

RMT members mounted picket lines outside railway stations, and the union insisted it continued to receive strong support from the public.

A Rail Delivery Group spokesperson said: While we are always open to dialogue, the only summit the RMT need is between its negotiating team and its executive committee.

Time and time again they have blocked the deal negotiated line by line by its top team from going out to its membership for a vote, with frontline losing out on a pay rise of up to 13% as a result.

Its time the union leadership and executive finally agreed on what they want from these negotiations.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: Since coming into office, ministers have met with the RMT leadership four times and helped facilitate three fair pay offers from employers.

Its now time for unions to give their members a democratic say on their future.
Updated 13 May 2023 at 2:17 am

There is little consensus on the main story of the day as Saturdays newspaper front pages feature an array of subjects.

A week on from the coronation, it continues to occupy front pages with a newly released picture of the King and his heirs  the Prince of Wales and Prince George  featuring in several editions.

Alongside the picture on its front page, The Daily Telegraph says India is planning a push to recover colonial treasures from Britain, including the Koh-i-Noor diamond.

 The front page of tomorrow's Daily Telegraph: 'India to demand return of colonial treasures'#TomorrowsPapersToday Sign up for the Front Page newsletter https://t.co/x8AV4Oomry pic.twitter.com/rTtduMDJAY  The Telegraph (@Telegraph) May 12, 2023

The Daily Mail also gives much of its front page to the royal picture as it focuses on its campaign to bring back tax-free shopping for overseas visitors, saying it has won the backing of 200 firms.

And the Daily Express mixes the royal picture with a report on Nikki Allans mother and her 31-year fight for justice as David Boyd is found guilty of the seven-year-olds murder.

Politics and Eurovision jostle for attention on several front pages, The Independents digital edition combining the two with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak saying Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky should be allowed to address tonights final in Liverpool.

Mr Sunak is the focus of the i weekend as he comes under fire from former home secretary Priti Patel for the managed decline of the Conservative Party.

And the PM faces more criticism on the front of The Times as inventor and entrepreneur Sir James Dyson says government policies on science are deterring investment.

The Guardian focuses on Labour leader Sir Keir Starmers assertion that the party will have to offer a radical vision further and deeper than Tony Blairs government to tackle the problems faced by the country.

Guardian front page, Saturday 13 May 2023: Expect Blair-style reforms on steroids, says Starmer pic.twitter.com/E30cWBmUEJ  The Guardian (@guardian) May 12, 2023

The only agreement on front page lead comes in The Sun and the Daily Mirror, which both focus on the reported rift between This Morning stars Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield.

The Sun continues its coverage of the story by reporting on a tense phone call between the pair, while the Mirror suggests Schofield is fighting to keep his job.

On tomorrow's front page: Phillip Schofield confronted Holly Willoughby in tense phone call after their angry feud was exposedhttps://t.co/yLXvox5Ys7 pic.twitter.com/beGyTk4I6u  The Sun (@TheSun) May 12, 2023

A growing dispute between the US and South Africa over relations with Russia features in the Financial Times.

Just published: front page of FT Weekend UK edition Saturday May 13 https://t.co/VWOlxB9e2G pic.twitter.com/5p0fBw39JM  Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) May 12, 2023

And the Daily Star focuses on the Popes call for Italians to have more children.
The Princess of Wales has made a surprise appearance playing the piano during the opening performance of Eurovision.

Kate played a pre-recorded instrumental piece, created by Joe Price and Kojo Samuel, which was recorded in the Crimson Drawing Room of Windsor Castle earlier this month.

She wore a blue Jenny Packham dress and earrings which belonged to the late Queen.

The 10-second clip appeared in a performance by last years winners Kalush Orchestra, which included contributions from Lord Lloyd-Webber, Sam Ryder, Ms Banks, Ballet Black, Bolt Strings and Joss Stone.

The opening film showed Kalush Orchestra performing their winning entry Stefania, from the Maidan Nezalezhnosti metro station in the heart of Ukraines capital Kyiv.

The Princess of Wales played the piano in a room at Windsor Castle (Alex Bramall/Kensington Palace/PA)

The princess, who has grade three piano and grade five theory, previously accompanied pop star Tom Walker on piano while he sang his previously unheard Christmas song For Those Who Cant Be Here during a carol service she hosted at Westminster Abbey in 2021.

The service, which was broadcast on ITV on Christmas Eve that year, paid tribute to the work of inspirational people who served their communities during the pandemic.

Walker later revealed the duet left his mother in floods of tears.
Updated 13 May 2023 at 10:49 am

Home Secretary Suella Braverman was advised to scrap plans to house asylum seekers at a former RAF base, it has been reported.

According to an email reportedly seen by the BBC in February, a senior Home Office official advised the home secretary to stop work at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, warning of significant challenges to progress.

The email from the Resettlement, Asylum Support and Integration Directorate, which formed part of the evidence, recommended the Home Secretary agree to stop work on proposals for RAF Scampton.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

West Lindsey District Council, which has secured funds from a developer to regenerate the site, on Thursday lost the first round of a High Court challenge to the plans.

Mr Justice Kerr had been asked to impose an interim injunction, preventing the Home Office moving materials, equipment or people on to the land, but he dismissed the councils application.

Crews from 617 Squadron flew from Scampton for the Dambusters raid on the night of May 16-17, 1943.

The Red Arrows display team also trained at the base.

In a similar case, Braintree District Council says it aims to appeal after losing a High Court fight over Home Office proposals to house asylum seekers at Wethersfield Airfield.
Rishi Sunak has rejected criticism of his Governments plan to tackle small boat crossings as he indicated ministers would use as many barges as it takes to resolve the issue.

The Governments Illegal Migration Bill came under attack during the week, after the Archbishop of Canterbury weighed in to label ministers plans morally unacceptable and politically impractical.

The Prime Minister, in an interview with the Mail on Sunday only days after a difficult set of local elections, defended his stop the boats strategy as well as plans to house migrants on barges.

Justin Welby condemned the Governments Illegal Migration Bill (PA)

The Bibby Stockholm barge arrived in Falmouth, Cornwall, earlier this week, where it will undergo an assessment and refurbishment.

The vessel, which will house around 500 migrants, is then expected to be moved into position at Portland Port in Dorset in the next few weeks.

Mr Sunak, speaking to the newspaper, said: Barges are a solution and we will do as many as it takes.

Asked about Justin Welbys remarks in the Lords, he said: I respectfully disagree with the Archbishop on this and Ive spoken about it a lot.

The number of illegal crossings last year was 45,000. That number has gone up four or five times in just a couple of years and it cant carry on like this.

I dont think its right that the British taxpayers are forking out 5.5 million a day to house illegal asylum seekers, that hotels in their communities are being taken over for this use. So barges are a solution to that and we will do as many as it takes.

The Prime Minister said that he had put in place a new committee structure, modelled on the Covid-19 pandemic response in government, to tackle the issue.

We want to deliver that Bill and what I can tell you is that Im not waiting for that moment to happen. We are getting ready now.

So, we have put in place a new government committee structure, a bit like how we ran things during the pandemic, where I chair meetings twice a week so that we can get everything ready so that from the moment we have the green light we can crack on and deliver it.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (centre) was in the stands during the Premier League match at St Marys Stadium, Southampton, on Saturday (Adam Davy/PA)

In the same interview, the Prime Minister responded to the concerns of Tory Brexiteers, who have been angered by the ditching of the Governments promise to complete a post-Brexit bonfire of remaining EU-era laws by the end of the year.

Some of those concerns were raised at the Conservative Democratic Organisation conference in Bournemouth over the weekend, with a backlash to the decision from pro-Brexit Conservative MPs in Westminster.

I voted for Brexit, I campaigned for Brexit, I believe in Brexit and when I was Chancellor I started to deliver some benefits of Brexit, he told the paper.

What I can tell you is what I delivered as Chancellor was quite significant. I am someone who doesnt just talk about things, Im someone who delivers things.
A Ukrainian family said they feel at home as they headed 200 miles north to celebrate the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool  despite national train strikes.

Olena Ablaieva and her daughter Vasylysa, 14, are originally from Dnipro but are now living with a host family in Sidcup, south-east London, following Russias invasion of their home country.

Ms Ablaieva told the PA news agency they were travelling from London Euston to Liverpool and hope to be able to watch the final at Liverpools Pier Head, where the Eurovision Village has been set up for fans.

The UK is jointly hosting the contest with Ukraine after last years victory by the Kalush Orchestra. UK entry Sam Ryder finished second.

Ms Ablaieva said the train strikes did not affect her plans to head north for the day.

We do not have tickets, we will watch Eurovision on big screens, she said.

We have been living in England for a year in a friendly English family. As it turned out, we have many common interests and family values.

We hope that the war in Ukraine will end soon and all Ukrainian families will be able to be together in safety.

We knew in advance about the strikes on the railway in London, but we had no doubts about our trip to Liverpool. It is important for us to feel the whole atmosphere of Eurovision for ourselves.

Olena Ablaieva with her daughter Vasylysa (Yui Mok/PA)

She continued: We are looking forward to Eurovision 2023, cheering for Ukraine and supporting England.

In my opinion, Liverpool is fully prepared for the Eurovision final and its nice to see Ukrainian flags and Ukrainian symbols everywhere.

I feel at home. We appreciate your support and our friendship.

We also want to do something nice for people from England. I have brought some presents from Ukraine  sweets from AVK, which I want to share with everyone who wants to know a bit more about Ukraine.

Millions of people around the world will be tuning in to watch the Eurovision final on Saturday, with thousands already spending the week celebrating in Merseyside as the semi-finals got underway earlier this week.
A Ukrainian pianist who fled her home with just her young daughter and a suitcase is to use her instrument as a weapon to showcase the unbreakable spirit of her country over a year later at a Eurovision event.

Daria Golovchenko, who is in her 30s and seeking full-time employment as a pianist, fled her home in Kherson in April 2022 with her then two-year-old  three-year old  daughter Sophia, before arriving in the UK later that same month to stay with her host  Rachel Balen, a retired university lecturer.

Just over a year later, she is to perform a set of Ukrainian pieces as well as classic hits including Hit the Road Jack at a Eurovision event at the Piece Hall in Halifax on Saturday May 13  the same day as the song contests grand final  in a bid to showcase Ukrainian culture.

Its a big opportunity to show and represent our culture through our music at this event, Ms Golovchenko, who is based in Holmfirth, near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, told the PA news agency.

I will play some Ukrainian music, with one piece composed by a Ukrainian composer who is in Lviv, and some other more recognisable songs.

This time is very important for Ukrainians because before the war, not a lot of people understood who was Ukrainian  and Ukraine is a beautiful country with a lot of talented people and it is not the time to hide, but to speak about our Ukrainian culture.

And I can speak about it through music.

As the war in her country continues, Ms Golovchenko said she wants people to continue standing with Ukrainians.

(The Russians) destroy our cities, our lives, but they cant destroy our spirit, she said.

I fight here with music, my weapon is music.

Ms Golovchenko opened up about leaving Kherson, describing it as the most difficult decision of my life.

Daria Golovchenko with her daughter Sophia in Poland (Daria Golovchenko/PA)

She added: I could only bring one bag and it was very difficult to decide what to bring.

Leaving was the most difficult decision of my life and finding a driver to get us out was hard.

My father had a car but he could not drive because it was too dangerous and we had to pay crazy money for a driver  you could buy a ticket to Australia for the price we paid  and it was just from Kherson to Odessa, which is not a long distance.

From Odessa, the pianist travelled many hours on a train to Lviv, arriving in the early hours of the morning, without any food and having to sleep on a tiny mattress on the floor of a train station, before being driven to Poland by a friend and eventually reaching her host at the end of April 2022.

Ms Golovchenko and Ms Balen were paired together via a local support group called Holme Valley Homes for Ukraine, with the fact that Ms Balen had a piano being of huge importance for Ms Golovchenko, especially since she has struggled finding employment as a pianist in the UK.

Daria has been to job centres, but they arent really geared up for helping musicians to find work, Ms Balen said.

She gets universal credit, but it is not really enough to cover rent.

Ms Balen added that her grandparents fled Zhytomyr in the 1900s, which was part of the Russian empire at the time, because they were Jewish, and got to the UK without money thanks to the kindness of strangers.

People helped them as they made their journey  Im repaying the help my grandparents had because it is what many Ukrainians are having to do now.

Ms Golovchenkos interest in the piano began at the age of five, where she would pretend she was playing by drawing keys on a piece of paper.

Daria Golovchenko started playing the piano at the age of five using a piece of paper with keys drawn on it (Joe Elliott/PA)

My parents didnt have a piano, so my teacher drew keys on an A4 paper and one year, I practised only using that.

And I played in a concert on a real piano after practising on paper.

Her parents managed to purchase a piano when she was six, and from there she went on to study classical piano at the Conservatoire in Kharkiv.

The performance could have been scuppered because of the lack of a keyboard, but Ms Golovchenko managed to borrow a full-size, weighted Casio keyboard in the nick of time, thanks to a Facebook appeal.

Ms Balen added that this was just one of the difficulties when you leave your life.

(Daria) could only bring one suitcase and her daughter, she could not bring a piano, she couldnt bring any music and her priority was finding somewhere safe.

Its taken Daria about a year to get to a place where she is able to play the piano properly, and its good in a way that this Eurovision opportunity has come for her a year after she has arrived because it has taken her a year to recover from the trauma of escaping Ukraine.

It has significance bigger than Eurovision, its kind of saying shes back as a musician.

Daria Golovchenko said music is her weapon in the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia (Joe Elliott/PA)

Although she is not in Liverpool in the week the Eurovision contest takes place, Ms Golovchenko has been to the city in the run-up to the song contest.

It was maybe one month before and they already had Ukrainian menus in restaurants, they put Ukrainian slogans for welcome in cafes, she said.

Now, when I watch the news, I can see that they have a Ukrainian village and everywhere there is Ukrainian food, Ukrainian musicians, Ukrainians chefs  a lot of Ukrainian culture everywhere.

Its so nice, it makes me so happy.
(Photo : Scott Olson/Getty Images)

'Doomsday Mom' Lori Vallow Daybell was found guilty of killing her two children and her husband's ex-wife.

An Idaho jury found Lori Vallow guilty of killing two children and conspiring to kill her husband's first wife nearly four years ago.

Lori Vallow allegedly murdered her two missing children, 7-year-old JJ Vallow and 17-year-old Tylee Ryan, around September 2019, with the help of her husband, Chad Daybell.

Lori Vallow Found Guilty on All Charges

Vallow allegedly conspired with her spouse in October 2019 to murder Tammy Daybell. She was found guilty on all counts, including two counts of first-degree murder, three counts of conspiracy to commit murder, and grand larceny for swiping the Social Security benefits of her murdered children.

Prosecutors Rob Wood and Lindsey Blake stated on Friday that they are "extremely delighted" with the verdict but declined to comment further due to Chad Daybell's ongoing case, Fox News reported. The argument diverged from the prevalent media portrayal of Vallow and Daybell as religious extremists who allegedly murdered JJ, Tylee, and Tammy due to their apocalyptic beliefs.

Rob Wood, Lindsey Blake, Rachel Smith, and Tawynee Rawlings, Idaho prosecutors, presented 60 witnesses and hundreds of evidence exhibits. They concluded their closing arguments by urging the jury to convict the defendant. According to KHOU, they claimed that Lori Vallow used money, power, and sex to remove the "obstacles" that were her two daughters and Tammy Daybell from her path in life.

In his closing arguments, defense attorney Jim Archibald told the jury that Lori Vallow was readily manipulated by her husband Chad Daybell and that, as a decent mother, she could not have planned the murders of JJ Vallow, Tylee Ryan, and Tammy Daybell.

For Lori Vallow to be found guilty of first-degree murder, the jury only needed to determine whether she encouraged or ordered the murders of her children. According to Idaho law, she does not need to be present during the crimes to be convicted.

Read Also: Texas Man Kills Girlfriend in Parking Lot After Getting Abortion

JJ, Tylee Daybell's Grandfather Gives Message to Lori Vallow

Idaho Judge Steven Boyce previously granted a request from Vallow's attorneys to remove the death penalty from consideration. The convict is awaiting a sentencing date when she will be sentenced to life in prison. Ryan and JJ Vallow were reported missing for the first time by JJ's grandparents, Larry and Kay Woodcock, in November of 2019.

Per Newsweek, Larry Woodcock thanked the jurors as he addressed reporters outside the courthouse in Boise, Idaho, following the verdict on Friday. Additionally, Woodcock delivered a "final message" to Vallow.

"Turn out the lights. The party's over," he said. "They say that all good things must end. Lori, it ended."

Vallow's trial was initially proclaimed incompetent to stand trial, and she was ordered to undergo psychiatric treatment, delaying it for years. Daybell's trial date has not yet been determined.

Related Article: Lori Vallow Urges to Delay Trial for Mental Health Break Despite Harrowing Details on Children's Death

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Liz Truss is to warn that there cannot be meaningful deterrence without hard power, during a high-profile visit to Taiwan next week.

The former prime minister, who was widely expected to move the UK Government on to a more hawkish footing when it came to dealings with China, is expected to meet Taiwanese government officials during the trip.

The visit comes during a sensitive time for relations between the West and Beijing, with tensions over the rise of China as a global power.

According to the Sunday Express, Ms Truss will urge the West to get real about military and defence cooperation to avoid conflict in the South China Sea.

We cannot pretend there can be meaningful deterrence without hard power. And if we are serious about preventing conflict in the South China Sea, we need to get real about military and defence cooperation, Ms Truss is expected to say.

Rishi Sunaks Government has adopted less hawkish language than Ms Truss, updating the UKs integrated review on foreign and defence policy in March to describe China as representing an epoch-defining and systemic challenge.

I have come here this week at the invitation of the Taiwan government because I am an admirer of Taiwan and the Taiwanese people. I want to do all I can to support your continued success, she will say during the visit.

I want to increase awareness around the world of the position you are in. I am also here because I believe this is the most consequential place in the world  in the most consequential struggle of our time.

Where we are today is on the front line of the global battle for freedom. The Chinese Communist Party is engaged in an ideological struggle with the free world  they are open about that.

This is a battle of ideas as much as it is an attempt to grab power on the global stage.

The former prime minister and foreign secretary, whose time in No10 lasted 44 days after a disastrous market reaction to her mini-Budget, will also back Taiwanese membership of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and call on Rishi Sunak to support a fast-track accession for Taiwan.

Not only would Taiwan joining boost UK-Taiwan trade, which already stands at 8.5 billion, it would also help generate further economic links and resilience for this important democracy.

The UK should champion the fast tracking of Taiwans accession in collaboration with key members, she will say.

It is also vital that China is blocked from ever being a member of CPTPP.
Scotlands First Minister has branded the Labour Party a replica of the Conservatives after a speech by leader Sir Keir Starmer.

Speaking at the Progressive Britain conference on Saturday, the Labour leader compared his efforts to reform the party to former prime minister Sir Tony Blairs symbolic rewriting of Clause Four on steroids.

But he has been criticised for comments briefed to the press ahead of the speech, where he said I dont care if he sounded conservative when committing to preserving precious things in our way of life.

Opponents have accused Sir Keir of pushing his party to the right in a bid to pick up disaffected Tory voters.

Sir Keir Starmer spoke to the Progressive Britain conference on Saturday (Yui Mok/PA)

Tweeting after the speech, Humza Yousaf said: This week, I accused Labour of being a pale imitation of the Tories, I was wrong, they are a replica.

Whether it is the blue Tories or red Tories in Number 10, they will continue policies that are harming Scotland. We need independence to protect our people.

Electioneering among the parties at Holyrood has ramped up in the past week after the local elections in England, with projections suggesting Labour could fall short of an overall majority if the results are mirrored.

Mr Yousafs sentiment was echoed by one of his senior ministers, who said she was not sure who in Scotland Sir Keir was pitching his party to ahead of a general election next year.

Speaking to the PA news agency at a teaching union conference in Aberdeen, Scottish Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said: I am absolutely shocked with the Labour leader in that regard -Im sure Anas Sarwar will be shocked.

He will be having to mop this up in the chamber in the coming week and I cant imagine thats the place that he wants to take the party to.

She added: When he says this, hes courting Conservative votes in England, hes not courting people who vote SNP in Scotland, or people who vote Labour, I have to say.

I dont know who he is courting, other than people in the Conservative Party that may be fed up with Rishi Sunak  thats not what I thought the Labour Party was about.

The minister added that there had undoubtedly been a shift to the right from Labour under the current leadership.

Ms Gilruth, who was promoted to the post of Education Secretary by Humza Yousaf six weeks ago, acknowledged it had been a challenging time for the SNP but vowed that her party would fight for every vote at the next election.

The SNP has been riven with internal turmoil in recent months, with a police probe into its finances resulting in the arrest of former chief executive, and Nicola Sturgeons husband, Peter Murrell and then treasurer Colin Beattie  both of whom were released without charge, pending further investigation.

Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: Labour is standing for a windfall tax on oil and gas giants to help with the cost-of-living crisis, ending fire and re-hire and repairing Britains relationship with Europe  the SNP is too busy dealing with their scandals.

Yousafs comment shows just how out of touch with reality and the people of Scotland he is.

While the SNP continue to attack Labour at the behest of their Tory allies, Labour is committed to standing up for working people.
Less than 24 hours after the Title 42 immigration policy ended, approximately 23,000 migrants were in Border Patrol custody, a Department of Homeland Security official told CNN, as tens of thousands more have gathered at the US-Mexico border seeking asylum.

An influx of migrants seeking asylum has strained cities and towns at the US border like El Paso and Brownsville and problems with US leaders enacting new policies have left many in limbo.

We knew this was going to be a difficult transition, homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in an interview with Good Morning America on Friday.

The transition, from Title 42 to Title 8 and President Joe Bidens new policies is one that will have a slow-burning impact on migrants, Border Patrol and US cities and towns that will have to make room for asylum seekers.

Under Title 42, which was enacted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) during the Covid-19 pandemic, authorities were able to turn away more than 2.8m migrants under the pretext of slowing the spread of the virus.

But under Title 8, asylum seekers who cross illegally will be detained, deported, issued a five-year ban on re-entry and could possibly face criminal charges, according to Mr Mayorkas.

Ahead of Title 42 expiring, Texas cities like Laredo, Brownsville and El Paso declared a state of emergency as they prepared for an increase in migrants.

By Thursday afternoon, there were approximately 1,000 migrants waiting to be processed in El Paso.

However, Friday was less chaotic than some officials had anticipated after the midnight expiration of Title 42, as the assistant secretary for border and immigration policy Blas Nunez told CNN there was no substantial increase overnight or an influx at midnight of migrants.

The slow increase in the number of asylum seekers over the last week has had the biggest impact on border cities.

Eddie Trevino, the county judge of Cameron County, Texas, told The New York Times the number of people was straining our capacity.

To help reduce overcrowding at Border Patrol facilities, thousands of migrants have been bused to cities around the US and the Biden administration allowed some migrants into the US without formal court hearings.

However, a federal judge in Florida blocked the Biden administrations action, forcing asylum seekers to go through the formal immigration process. Mr Mayorkas called the judges decision harmful.

Under Mr Bidens new immigration policies, asylum seekers will be turned away at the border unless they have made a hard-to-get appointment or fall under several legal pathways that were revealed in January.

However, many Democrats and organisations are finding problems with Mr Bidens slow-moving immigration process which will require migrants, from countries other than Mexico, to seek asylum in another country before entering the US.

The American Civil Liberties Union, and other civil rights organisations, filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration for the new policies, claiming they are too restrictive and not attainable.

Additionally, 13 Democrats from New York, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, sent Mr Biden a letter on Friday requesting he lessen the required amount of time for migrants to receive work authorisation.

But despite the strict rules, Republicans are also angry at Mr Biden, seeking to use the situation at the border as a political cudgel against the president as he runs for re-election.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz called the influx of migrants an invasion in videos he posted to his Twitter and blamed Mr Biden for the deaths of asylum seekers at the border.

An unaccompanied migrant child died while in the custody of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the White House confirmed on Friday.

In a press briefing, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the administration was aware of the tragic loss and that President Joe Biden had been briefed on it.

There is a medical investigation that was opened on May 10, Ms Jean-Pierre said.

HHS said in a statement that it was deeply saddened by this tragic loss and our hearts go out to the family, with whom we are in touch, according to NBC News.
Updated May 13, 2023 at 12:31 AM

Eurovision contestants from the UK, Germany, Ukraine, and Spain say they look forward to the final performance.

The north Londoner Mae Muller has said the pressure of the grand finale as she represents the UK is really exciting and an amazing experience.

The UK is hosting the final on behalf of last years winner, as the country continues its efforts to repel Russian invaders.

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Heather Armstrong, founder of "mommy blog" Dooce died on Tuesday. (Photo: Liliana Penagos for Yahoo / Photo: Getty Images)

Heather Armstrong, a pioneer of so-called "mommy blogging," died on Tuesday at age 47.

Armstrong, who also went by her maiden name Heather Hamilton, launched her blog Dooce (named after a misspelling of "dude") in 2001. For decades, the Salt Lake City, Utah resident wrote candidly about the challenges of motherhood and life with depression. Her site became a business empire and one of the first successful influencer-run enterprises.

Armstrong's boyfriend, Pete Ashdown, announced the influencer's death on Instagram. Ashdown later told the Associated Press that Armstrong died by suicide at their home. He said she had recently relapsed after 18 months of sobriety.

Who was Heather Armstrong?

When Armstrong first launched Dooce, she skewered her job at a tech company, which eventually got her fired. She reclaimed the narrative in a blog post, transforming "dooced" into a verb that describes the act of losing a job over something posted online.

After becoming a parent, Armstrong's blog changed  but she didn't glamorize motherhood in the way her peers did, or in the way society expected of new mothers. She opened up about subjects then considered taboo and private, like the messier side of parenting. She wrote extensively about substance use disorder, her eventual divorce and her departure from Mormonism.

Armstrong's uniquely open manner transformed Dooce into a massive hit. She was one of the first influencers to ever monetize her blog through advertisements. Though the term "mommy blogger" has been used to dismiss women who create parenting content as trivial and boring, Armstrong built an empire, ushering in an era of women speaking the truth about their home lives.

"It was empowering," she told Vox in a 2019 profile. "I realized I didn't need some male executive in New York to tell me that my story's important enough to publish because I can just do it myself."

Armstrong was also one of the first influencers to reckon with the ethics of sharing a child's life online. She has two children, now 19 and 14, whose lives she chronicled in unsparing detail for years. As they grew up, she granted them veto power over her posts. Her eldest child spoke with Slate in 2018 about the "embarrassing" secondhand fame she inherited.

In the late 2000s and early 2010s, Armstrong transcended online fame to enter the mainstream. She wrote books, appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and was named the most influential woman in media by Forbes.

Recently, Armstrong was perhaps best known for her writing about depression. Her posts on Dooce.com decreased substantially in the last year  she went from posting daily in September 2022 to posting only once in all of 2023. She faced backlash for some of her last posts in which she shared anti-trans ideals.

In her final post in April 2023, she compared early sobriety to "life as a clam without its shell."

In her 2019 book, The Valedictorian of Being Dead, Armstrong detailed her depression and alcohol addiction. She wrote about undergoing a clinical trial for depression, which involved having her brain activity reduced to zero by doctors before raising it again over 10 different sessions.

"When you are that desperate, you will try anything," Armstrong told Vox about the treatment. "I thought my kids deserved to have a happy, healthy mother, and I needed to know that I had tried all options to be that for them."

Reactions

Lisa Belkin, who once profiled Armstrong for Yahoo News and crowned her the "queen of the mommy bloggers," says "I started to read her because I wanted to read her."

Belkin was just one of many talented writers who admired, and even profiled, Armstrong.

It's hard to put into words just how influential she was to the blogosphere, tweeted author Roxane Gay.

Rebecca Woolf, another mommy blogger from the same era, wrote on Instagram that Armstrong "shaped the internet as we know it today."

"[Armstrong] launched a million storytellers with her willingness to write boldly and unapologetically about the struggles of being human," Woolf wrote.

Lasting impact and legacy

Belkin, who closely followed Armstrongs career and eulogized her for the New York Times, says she wouldn't even consider her to be an influencer  she was whatever came before that. Armstrong laid the groundwork for present-day influencers who post on social media to earn money, but her priority was always the writing.

"There were no limits back then on what you could post or how much," she said. "Women like [Armstrong] were writing about their frustrations with the domestic sphere and figuring it out together. That's gone now."

To Belkin, Armstrong's death marks the end of the blogging era. Sharing your life online now takes so much more work and careful packaging than it used to. But because of Armstrong's talent and popularity, she was able to turn her writing into a product, which has been copied and expanded upon through a new generation of parenting influencers.

Living her life so openly online opened doors for countless other women to take control of their own narratives. Armstrong was not without shortcomings, but her willingness to post openly about the good and bad moments in her life provided a model of authenticity for influencers and laid the groundwork for a major part of the creator economy.

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A young couple sit on the beach in Huntington Beach, Calif., Monday, May 8, 2023. For years, studies have shown a decline in the rates of American high school students having sex. That trend continued, not surprisingly, in the first years of the pandemic, according to a recent survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study found that 30% of teens in 2021 said they had ever had sex, down from 38% in 2019 and a huge drop from three decades ago when more than half of teens reported having sex. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  Situationships. Sneaky links. The talking stage, the flirtatious getting-to-know-you phase  typically done via text  that can lead to a hookup.

High school students are having less sexual intercourse. Thats what the studies say. But that doesnt mean theyre having less sex.

The language of young love and lust, and the actions behind it, are evolving. And the shift is not being adequately captured in national studies, experts say.

For years, studies have shown a decline in the rates of American high school students having sex. That trend continued, not surprisingly, in the first years of the pandemic, according to a recent survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study found that 30% of teens in 2021 said they had ever had sex, down from 38% in 2019 and a huge drop from three decades ago, when more than half of teens reported having sex.

The Associated Press took the findings to teenagers and experts around the country to ask for their interpretation. Parents: Some of the answers may surprise you.

THE MEANING OF SEX: DEPENDS WHO YOU ASK

For starters, what is the definition of sex?

Hmm. Thats a good question, says Rose, 17, a junior at a New England high school.

She thought about it for 20 seconds, then listed a range of possibilities for heterosexual sex, oral sex and relations between same-sex or LGBTQ partners. On her campus, short-term hookups  known as situationships  are typically low commitment and high risk from both health and emotional perspectives.

There are also sneaky links  when you hook up in secret and dont tell your friends. I have a feeling a lot more people are quote unquote having sex  just not necessarily between a man and a woman.

For teens today, the conversation about sexuality is moving from a binary situation to a spectrum and so are the kinds of sex people are having. And while the vocabulary around sex is shifting, the main question on the CDC survey has been worded the same way since the government agency began its biannual study in 1991: Have you ever had sexual intercourse?

Honestly, that question is a little laughable, says Kay, 18, who identifies as queer and attends a public high school near Lansing, Michigan. Theres probably a lot of teenagers who are like, No, Ive never had sexual intercourse, but Ive had other kinds of sex.

The AP agreed to use teenagers first or middle names for this article because of a common concern they expressed about backlash at school, at home and on social media for speaking about their peers sex lives and LGBTQ+ relations.

SEXUAL IDENTITY IS EVOLVING

Several experts say the CDC findings could signal a shift in how teen sexuality is evolving, with gender fluidity becoming more common along with a decrease in stigma about identifying as not heterosexual.

They point to another finding in this years study that found the proportion of high school kids who identify as heterosexual dropped to about 75%, down from about 89% in 2015, when the CDC began asking about sexual orientation. Meanwhile, the share who identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual rose to 15%, up from 8% in 2015.

I just wonder, if youth were in the room when the questions were being created, how they would be worded differently, said Taryn Gal, executive director of the Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health.

Sex is just one of the topics covered by the CDC study, called the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. One of the main sources of national data about high school students on a range of behaviors, it is conducted every two years and asks about 100 questions on topics including smoking, drinking, drug use, bullying, carrying guns and sex. More than 17,000 students at 152 public and private high schools across the country responded to the 2021 survey.

Its a fine line we have to try to walk, says Kathleen Ethier, director of the CDCs Division of Adolescent and School Health, which leads the study.

From a methodological standpoint, changing a question would make it harder to compare trends over time. The goal is to take a national snapshot of teenage behavior, with the understanding that questions might not capture all the nuance. It doesnt allow us to go as in depth in some areas as we would like, Ethier says.

The national survey, for example, does not ask about oral sex, which carries the risk of spreading sexually transmitted infections. As for sexual intercourse, Ethier says, We try to use a term that we know young people understand, realizing that it may not encompass all the ways young people would define sex.

IS LESS TEEN SEX GOOD NEWS?

Beyond semantics, there are a multitude of theories on why the reported rates of high school sex have steadily declined  and what it might say about American society.

I imagine some parents are rejoicing and some are concerned, and I think there is probably good cause for both, says Sharon Hoover, co-director of the National Center for School Mental Health at the University of Maryland. Health officials like to see trends that result in fewer teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.

But what we dont know is what this means for the trajectory of young people, Hoover says.

This years decrease, the sharpest drop ever recorded, clearly had a lot to do with the pandemic, which kept kids isolated, cut off from friends and immersed in social media. Even when life started returning to normal, many kids felt uncomfortable with face-to-face interaction and found their skills in verbal communication had declined, Hoover said.

The survey was conducted in the fall of 2021, just as many K-12 students returned to in-person classrooms after a year of online school.

Several teens interviewed said that when schools reopened, they returned with intense social anxiety compounded by fears of catching COVID. That added a new layer to pre-pandemic concerns about sexual relations like getting pregnant or catching STIs.

I remember thinking, What if I get sick? What if I get a disease? What if I dont have the people skills for this? said Kay, the 18-year-old from Michigan. All those what ifs definitely affected my personal relationships, and how I interacted with strangers or personal partners.

Another fear is the prying eyes of parents, says college student Abby Tow, who wonders if helicopter parenting has played a role in what she calls the baby-fication of our generation. A senior at the University of Oklahoma, Tow knows students in college whose parents monitor their whereabouts using tracking apps.

Parents would get push notifications when their students left dorms and returned home to dorms, says Tow, 22, majoring in social work and gender studies.

Tow also notices a general sense of disillusionment in her generation. She cites statistics that fewer teenagers today are getting drivers licenses. I think, she says, there is a correlation between students being able to drive and students having sex.

Another cause for declining sex rates could be easy access to online porn, experts say. By the age of 17, three-quarters of teenagers have viewed pornography online, with the average age of first exposure at 12, according to a report earlier this year by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit child advocacy group.

Porn is becoming sex ed for young people, says Justine Fonte, a New York-based sex education teacher. She says pornography shapes and skews adolescent ideas about sexual acts, power and intimacy. You can rewind, fast forward, play as much as you want. It doesnt require you to think about how the person is feeling.

IS THERE AN EVOLVING DEFINITION OF CONSENT?

Several experts said they hoped the decline could be partly attributed to a broader understanding of consent and an increase in comprehensive sex education being taught in many schools, which has become a target in ongoing culture wars.

Unlike abstinence-only programs, the lessons include discussion on understanding healthy relationships, gender identity, sexual orientation and preventing unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. Contrary to what critics think, she said, young people are more likely to delay the onset of sexual activity if they have access to sex education.

Some schools and organizations supplement sex education with peer counseling, where teens are trained to speak to each other about relationships and other topics that young people might feel uncomfortable raising with adults.

Annika, 14, is a peer ambassador trained by Planned Parenthood and a high school freshman in Southern California. Shes offered guidance to friends in toxic relationships and worries about the ubiquity of porn among her peers, especially male friends. Its clear to her that the pandemic stunted sex lives.

The CDCs 2023 survey, which is currently underway, will show if the decline was temporary. Annika suspects it will show a spike. In her school, at least, students seem to be making up for lost time.

People lost those two years so theyre craving it more, she said. She has often been in a school bathroom where couples in stalls next to her are engaged in sexual activities.

Again, the definition of sex? Any sexual act, Annika says. And sexual intercourse is one type of act.

To get a truly accurate reading of teen sexuality, the evolution of language needs to be taken into account, says Dr. John Santelli, a Columbia University professor who specializes in adolescent sexuality.

The word intercourse used to have another meaning, he points out. Intercourse used to just mean talking.

___

Jocelyn Gecker is an education reporter for The Associated Press, based in San Francisco. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jgecker

___

The AP education team receives support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Digging into the ruins of a large building in Armenia, archaeologists noticed something unusual. Pressed into the brown dirt was a layer of some dusty, white substance.

Initially, archaeologists at the Metsamor archaeological site thought the ashy material was just that: ashes, Science in Poland said in a May 12 news release. The substance was found scattered across the ruins of a large building with several furnaces.

The explanation made sense  at least at first glance.

But after testing the material, researchers realized it was actually preserved ancient flour, the excavations lead archaeologist Krzysztof Jakubiak told Science in Poland. Flour is rarely found at archaeological sites, but several sacks worth of flour were unearthed at the ruins, he said.

The unusual find led archaeologists to identify the ruined structure as a 3,000-year-old large-scale bakery, the release said.

Close up showing some of the white, dusty flour scattered at the ruins.

The massive structure was used from the end of the 11th century B.C. until the beginning of the 9th century B.C., archaeologists said. Initially, it functioned as a public building. Later, furnaces were added, and the building took on an economic role as a place where people likely used wheat flour to bake bread.

Eventually, the structure collapsed due to a fire, the release said.

When archaeologists began excavations of the structure, they identified it as a public building, according to a 2022 news release from the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Warsaw.

Still, the entire building has not yet been excavated and may hold more secrets for archaeologists to uncover, the release said.

A view of the bakery ruins. Some of the flour can be seen in the lower righthand section of the structure.

The structure is in a portion of the Metsamor archaeological site known as the lower city, experts said. The lower city is outside the sites main fortification network.

Metsamor is about 20 miles southwest of Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, and near the border with Turkey. The city was continuously inhabited from the 4th millennium B.C. until the 17th century, the release said.

The sites ancient inhabitants remain a mysterious group of people. Archaeologists dont know much about them except that they had no written language. Excavations of the oldest part of Metsamor  a walled settlement with a necropolis or cemetery  uncovered about 100 burials.

Many of these tombs were empty, having been looted at some point, but one couples untouched tomb contained several gold pendants and about 100 jewelry beads.

Metsamor expanded into a larger fortress surrounded by seven temple sanctuaries between the 11th and 9th centuries B.C.  about the same period as when the bakery was used, the release said. The city emerged as an economic, cultural and political center for the region.

Eventually, the city was conquered in the 8th century B.C. and became part of the Urartu kingdom, archaeologists said.

Excavations of Metsamor began in 1965 and are ongoing. The joint Polish-Armenian excavations began in 2013.

Google Translate was used to translate news releases from Science in Poland and the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Warsaw.

Unique buried treasures unearthed after 2,000 years by metal detectorist in Wales

Hunt for artifacts from both world wars leads searchers to a much older find in Poland

Ancient Roman bricks and coins lead to bigger discovery in Switzerland. See the photos
A 25-year-old man has died as a result of injuries sustained in a crash late last month.

Ezekiel Byrd died at University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital at 11:43 p.m. Thursday, the Fayette County coroners office said in a news release Friday afternoon.

Byrd suffered multiple blunt force injuries in a crash April 30 in Richmond, according to the coroners office.

Byrd was one of two people injured in a single-vehicle collision on Old U.S. 25 at The Crossing subdivision, according to a Facebook post by the Madison County sheriffs office.

Byrd, of Berea, and another man were passengers in a Ford F-250 pickup truck driven by Geremy Jones, 35, of Berea.

The sheriffs office said Jones failed to negotiate a curve, and the truck went off the road, hit a utility pole and flipped multiple times at about 7:30 p.m. The sheriffs office said Byrd was ejected.

The other passenger was also taken to a hospital. The sheriffs office said Geremy Jones did not need medical treatment.

Court records show that Jones was charged in connection with a different crash just weeks before.

In that incident, Richmond police said they were called by a tow truck driver who said someone had called him at about 2:30 a.m. April 8 and told him that he had hit a corner too hard, flipped a truck and was stuck. The driver didnt give the tow truck driver his name but told him where he wanted the truck dropped off. The tow truck driver contacted police because he was concerned about the oddness of the situation, police said in a uniform citation.

The police officer said he went to the scene on Bill Robertson Way in Richmond and found the destroyed truck, along with a damaged fence. Beer bottles were found close to the truck, according to police.

The officer said in the uniform citation that he went to the address on Old U.S. 25 that was provided to the tow truck driver and found Jones with a cut and dried blood on his forehead. The officer said Jones smelled of alcohol and fresh gasoline.

The officer said Jones told him he had swerved to miss another truck and that he didnt know he was supposed to report the crash. Jones was arrested and charged with failure to report an accident and leaving the scene of an accident, court records show.
Coast Guard crews repatriated 50 people to Cuba and transferred 19 others to the Bahamas after spotting three suspicious boats in waters off the coasts of Florida and the Bahamas in the past week.

The U.S. Coast Guard repatriated and transferred 69 people to Cuba and the Bahamas on three separate interdictions between May 5 and May 11, 2023, in Florida Straits and Bahamas waters.

 The first interdiction: A Customs and Border Protection Maritime Patrol aircrew called in to the Coast Guard a suspicious vessel about 11 miles west of Cay Sal, Bahamas, on May 5. The Coast Guard Cutter William Trump crew interdicted the vessel and found 25 people aboard. The passengers had been en route illegally to the U.S., the Coast Guard said in media release.

 The second interdiction: A commercial boat salvage company reported to the Coast Guard, also on May 5, that its staff spotted a disabled 34-foot recreational boat about 25 miles east of Fort Pierce Inlet. Sector Miami watchstanders sent an Air Station Clearwater HC-130 aircrew who located the vessel and vectored in a Coast Guard Station Fort Pierce boat crew. Coast Guard members boarded the boat and found 19 people aboard attempting to migrate unlawfully to the U.S.

 The third interdiction: Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton crew were notified Thursday of a migrant vessel about 40 miles north of Havana. The Hamilton crew returned its 25 passengers to Cuba.

The U.S. Coast Guard repatriated and transferred 69 people to Cuba and the Bahamas on three separate interdictions between May 5 and May 11, 2023, in Florida Straits and Bahamas waters.

The Coast Guard and our federal partners maintain a continual presence with air and sea assets in the Florida Straits and Caribbean Sea, Lt. Connor Ives, Coast Guard District 7 response enforcement officer, said in a statement. People attempting to migrate illegally into the U.S., will be interdicted, repatriated, or sent back to the country of origin.

Since Oct. 1, 2022, Coast Guard crews interdicted or encountered 6,662 Cubans and 4,470 Haitian migrants.

READ MORE: Cuban migrants arrive in Havana as U.S. restarts deportation flights after two-year halt
Virginia Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger wants to deny pay to members of Congress until they increase the debt ceiling, after voting against the Republican-led effort to increase the debt limit and reduce government spending.

"As we quickly approach a default, Congress is failing to protect seniors, servicemembers, Veterans, and all Americans who would be impacted by a default," Spanberger said in a Friday letter to the House administrator in charge of payroll.

Despite being constrained by congressional rules and the Constitution, Spanberger requested House administrators "prepare to withhold Members of Congress pay until Congress passes, and the President signs, legislation to raise the debt ceiling and pay our countrys bill."

Spanberger argued that elected representatives should not receive pay if they damage the economy and harm American workers by failing to increase the federal government's borrowing limit.

HOUSE PASSES MCCARTHY'S DEBT CEILING BILL BY TWO VOTES; FOUR REPUBLICANS VOTE AGAINST

Rep. Abigail Spanberger proposes withholding congressional pay until Congress raises the debt ceiling

"If the American people and the American economy are suffering as a result of congressional inaction, then Members of Congress should not be rewarded with their pay. At this moment, hyper-partisanship in Congress is jeopardizing the economic strength and security of our country, the stability of global markets, and the worlds faith in the credit of the United States of America," Spanberger wrote.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

The House narrowly passed a bill to raise the debt limit and avoid any default while also cutting spending, but Spanberger and every Democratic representative voted against the measure. President Biden is against the bill's spending reductions, and the Democrat-controlled Senate has not scheduled a vote on it.

Spanberger argued that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's The Limit, Save and Grow Act which passed April 26 would damage the government's ability to confront drug cartels at the southern border, already under strain from an influx of illegal immigrants following the expiration of Title 42.

MCCARTHY SAYS BIDEN DRAGGING HIS FEET ON DEBT CEILING: THEY WANT A DEFAULT MORE THAN THEY WANT A DEAL

"Speaker McCarthys plan is not a smart strategy when fentanyl and other illicit drugs are killing more Americans each and every day," Spanberger said, highlighting Department of Homeland Security projections that the cuts in the GOP's debt ceiling bill would lead to reductions for border patrol.

McCarthy has blamed Biden for backing away from the negotiating table on the debt ceiling since the GOP passed their proposal.

A split image of President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

Congressional leaders were scheduled to meet with Biden Friday, but that meeting was pushed until next week. McCarthy said the delay is because the White House isn't budging .

"I have not seen from there a seriousness of the White House that they want a deal," McCarthy told reporters Thursday. "It seems like they want a default more than they want a deal."

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has urged Congress to raise the borrowing limit by June or risk the government, when she anticipates the "extraordinary measures" implemented in January will run out.

Congress last raised the debt ceiling in December 2021 to a total of $31.4 trillion.

Fox News' Peter Kasperowicz and Elizabeth Elkind contributed reporting.
(Photo : John Moore/Getty Images)

As the Biden administration ceased the Title 42 rule, an estimated 60,000 migrants were waiting at the US-Mexico border.

A senior official said an estimated 60,000 migrants were waiting near the US-Mexico border as the Biden administration ended the Title 42 pandemic-era rule that allowed authorities to expel those entering the country illegally.

In the days leading up to the end of Title 42, which was triggered by the expiration of the national COVID-19 public health emergency, border officials have already recorded approximately 10,000 daily apprehensions.

Migrants Wait at US Border

Nearly 25,000 migrants were housed in Border Patrol detention facilities and shelters, despite the agency's official capacity to house only several thousand people. The Border Patrol is attempting to reduce congestion in its detention centers by expeditiously releasing migrants without court appointments.

Despite the present obstacles, Ortiz does not anticipate a "massive surge" in migrant crossings immediately following the expiration of Title 42, as per CBS News. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz stated that the transition away from Title 42 would not be precipitous, noting that only 19% of detained migrants were processed for expulsion under the public health order on Wednesday.

Additionally, he stated that the government intends to discourage illicit border crossings by deporting or returning migrants who do not qualify for asylum and by prosecuting serial border crossers.

After Title 42, the Biden administration has made it more difficult for migrants to qualify for asylum. Under a rule instituted on Friday, migrants who illegally cross the southern border will not be eligible for asylum if they did not request protection in another country, such as Mexico, before entering the United States.

Those who cannot demonstrate they are exempt from the rule will be deported to their native country or Mexico and banned from the United States for five years. El Paso, Texas, received 1,122 asylum claimants from Customs and Border Protection in response to an unprecedented order from immigration officials.

According to data published by the city, this is roughly five times the average number of permits issued on any given day during the previous three months. It followed a directive from Ortiz to discharge migrants into the United States without a scheduled court date or place and time to meet with Immigration and Customs Enforcement at facilities along the southern border that were over capacity.

Per NY Post, Texas Representative Tony Gonzales acknowledged the lack of capacity at border facilities but said Ortiz's directive was hazardous. On Thursday, it was reported that five of the nine facilities in the Southwest region were over capacity.

Monday through Wednesday of this week, the Border Patrol surpassed 10,000 border crossers apprehended per day for the first time. An analysis of data from El Paso's Migrant Situational Awareness Dashboard revealed that, on average, between 189 and 526 migrants were released per day in the 12 weeks preceding Ortiz's order, which is a significant decrease.

A Florida federal judge ruled that CBP must hold individuals in custody until it has properly processed them, collected their biometric data, and scheduled a court date or field office appointment for them to meet with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Judge T. Kent Wetherell issued the order after Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody challenged the policy in court against the Biden Administration. El Paso reported Thursday that it had taken in 1,700 additional asylum-seekers at the border since the conclusion of Title 42.

On Friday, it was reported that its migrant facilities were at 184% capacity, with 6,242 migrants in CBP detention - roughly the same number it had held all week before the expiration of Title 42.

Read Also: 'Doomsday Mom' Lori Vallow Daybell Found Guilty of Killing Children, Husband's First Wife

Biden Administration Sets New Immigration Rule

Less than twenty-four hours after Title 42 was repealed, migrants and government officials were still evaluating the change and the new regulations adopted by the administration of President Joe Biden to stabilize the region.

Migrants along the border continued to wade into the Rio Grande while officials yelled for them to turn back, taking a risk on entering the United States. Others leaned over their mobile phones, attempting to access the new system's central appointment-scheduling application.

Migrants with scheduled appointments crossed a bridge in search of a new existence. Moreover, petitions were filed to halt some of the measures. The Biden administration has stated that the revamped system is intended to reduce illicit border crossings and provide a new legal pathway for migrants who frequently pay smugglers thousands of dollars to bring them to the border.

On Friday, Biden praised Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez for his country's collaboration with the United States and Canada to establish migration centers in Latin America where asylum seekers can petition for asylum.

The US now prohibits migrants from seeking asylum if they did not first register online or seek protection in countries they passed through. Families whose immigration cases are pending will be subject to curfews and GPS monitoring, according to ABC News.

The administration's legal pathways consist of a program that allows up to 30,000 individuals per month from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to enter the United States if they apply online with a financial sponsor and enter through an airport.

About one hundred processing centers are opening in Guatemala, Colombia, and other countries for migrants to petition to enter the United States, Spain, or Canada. With an app-reserved appointment, up to 1,000 people per day can enter the country through land crossings with Mexico.

If successful, the system could drastically alter the migration patterns at the southern border. However, Biden, who is seeking reelection, confronts scathing criticism from migrant advocates, who claim he is abandoning more humane methods, and from Republicans, who claim he is weak on border security.

Related Article: Judge Blocks Biden From Using Emergency Parole Powers To Block Migrant Influx as Title 42 Ends

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FILE - This combination of photos shows Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaking on April 21, 2023, in Oxon Hill, Md., left, and former President Donald Trump speaking on March 4, 2023, at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md. DeSantis and Trump will share the spotlight in Iowa on Saturday, May 13, providing a chance to sway influential conservative activists and contrast their campaign styles in Republicans' leadoff voting state. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump will share the spotlight in Iowa on Saturday, providing a chance to sway influential conservative activists and contrast their campaign styles in Republicans' leadoff voting state.

DeSantis, expected to announce his 2024 presidential campaign any day, is set to wade into Iowa's hand-to-hand politicking at a congressman's annual picnic and an Iowa Republican Party fundraiser, while Trump, a candidate since November, hopes to show strength with an outdoor rally with supporters.

Although the two men will be hours away from each other, the split-screen moment in Iowa is a first for the two national Republican powerhouses. It's an early preview of a match-up between the former president, well ahead of his party rivals in early national polls, and DeSantis, who is viewed widely as his strongest potential challenger.

It will be DeSantis' first trip to the early testing ground since the Florida legislature adjourned last week after spending months delivering the governor a conservative agenda that he's expected to tout once he announces his campaign.

Trump, meanwhile, will be returning to the comfort of the campaign stage after a tumultuous week. On Tuesday, a civil jury in New York found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming advice columnist E. Jean Carroll and awarded her $5 million. A day later, during a contentious CNN town hall, he repeatedly insulted Carroll, reasserted lies about his 2020 election loss and minimized the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

DeSantis has burnished his reputation as a conservative governor willing to push hard for conservative policies and even take on a political fight with Disney. But so far, he hasn't shown the same zest for taking on Trump, and even before he's entered the race, he's facing questions about his ability to court donors and woo voters.

His visit to Iowa will provide a test of his personal appeal as he mingles with local Iowa Republican officials, donors and volunteers, all under the glare of the national media.

DeSantis made his first visit to Iowa in March, promoting his memoir at events that drew more than 1,000 people in Davenport and Des Moines. Although DeSantis shook hands along the rope line near the stage after the events, he didn't have a lot of interaction with voters. This time, he can expect a crush of introductions to influential caucus activists in a more conversational setting who will be taking his measure for the first time.

More than 700 people are expected to attend the Sioux Center fundraising event for Rep. Randy Feenstra at Dean Classic Car Museum, as well as dozens of news reporters from around the country. Later, DeSantis plans to headline a state party fundraiser in Cedar Rapids that's expected to draw about 300 influential eastern Iowa Republicans.

Trump, by contrast, is headlining a rally expected to draw several thousand people to an outdoor amphitheater in Des Moines Water Works Park on Saturday evening.

Although Trump aides said the Des Moines event was in the works before DeSantis' plans were made public, he and his team have long seen the governor as his only serious challenger. They hope a large rally of Trump supporters Saturday fuels comparisons to the scale of their respective events.

While Saturday is their first time in Iowa at the same time, Trump held a rally in Davenport three days after DeSantis did in March and took aim at him on renewable fuel and federal entitlements.

Saturday's dueling appearances come as the emerging rivalry has turned increasingly personal.

DeSantis has largely ignored Trumps jabs, which have included suggesting impropriety with young girls as a teacher decades ago, questioning his sexuality and dubbing him Ron DeSanctimonious.

DeSantis most pointed barb at Trump came in March, just before Trump was indicted on charges related to hush money paid to a porn actor. Asked by reporters about the prospect of an indictment, DeSantis said, I dont know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair. I just cant speak to that.

Trumps campaign began airing an ad mocking DeSantis for yoking himself to the former president in 2018 when he ran for governor, even using some Trump catchphrases as a nod to his supporters in Florida.

Trumps super PAC, MAGA Inc., also has been airing spots highlighting DeSantis votes to cut Social Security and Medicare and raise the retirement age. The group even targeted DeSantis' snacking habits, running an ad that called for him to keep his pudding fingers off those benefits, a reference to a report in The Daily Beast that the governor ate chocolate pudding with his fingers instead of a spoon on a plane several years ago.

DeSantis has said he does not remember doing that.

A pro-DeSantis super PAC, Never Back Down, has hired Iowa staff and begun trying to organize support for the governor ahead of his announcement. The group has already begun knocking doors and announced Thursday that Iowa Senate President Amy Sinclair and Iowa House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl would endorse DeSantis' candidacy. The group Friday rolled out another roughly three dozen GOP state lawmakers who would endorse him.

The super PAC also has been providing a more forceful response to Trump, suggesting that he should leave Florida if he's unhappy with DeSantis' governance, accusing Trump of not sufficiently supporting gun rights and siding with liberal Democrats.

Trump should fight Democrats, not lie about Gov. DeSantis, the narrator says in one ad. What happened to Donald Trump?
A student is recovering after a freak accident on the University of Georgias campus, school officials say.

Mia Wei Corte, 20, was seriously injured by a falling tree Tuesday, May 9, a university spokesperson told McClatchy News in a statement. It happened as a sudden and intense storm rolled through the Athens campus, toppling the tree.

High winds reached 64 mph, uprooting a tree on East Campus at Field Street, Greg Trevor, UGAs associate vice president, said in the statement. The uprooted tree struck Ms. Corte, causing serious injuries.

She suffered severe injuries to her head and body, the Athens Banner-Herald and WAGA reported. She was taken to a hospital and remained in critical condition as of May 12.

Our thoughts are with Mia Wei Corte and her family, and we wish her a speedy recovery, Trevor said.

Cortes family described her as a real fighter and resilient woman, according to WAGA. They said she just wrapped up her sophomore year and has dreams of becoming an audiologist.

She was under the tree for approximately 15 to 20 minutes before they could get everything off of her and out, Cortes mom, Rebecca Corte, told the station.

Multiple witnesses pitched in to safely lift the tree off of Corte as authorities responded to the scene, according to a police incident report. Officers said she lost consciousness at least three more times and complained of head and neck pain when she came to.

Since the accident, UGAs Student Care and Outreach team has offered support to the student and her family, a spokesperson said. The universitys president and other leadership have also visited Corte at the hospital.

Athens is about 70 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta.

Gruesome freak accident in P.E. class kills 16-year-old, Washington school says

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15-year-old equestrian dies when horse falls on her during competition, Florida cops say
A former prosecutor who once oversaw the Manhattan District Attorney Offices investigation into former President Donald Trump frustrated House Republicans on Friday by repeatedly saying during a deposition that he would not answer their questions about the DA's probe.

Mark Pomerantz spent roughly six hours with members of the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee, which is investigating Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's prosecution of Trump.

In a his opening statement, obtained by NBC News, Pomerantz blasted the inquiry as political theater and condemned the panel's use of a subpoena to compel his participation.

This deposition is for show, Pomerantz said. We are gathered here because Donald Trumps supporters would like to use these proceedings to attempt to obstruct and undermine the criminal case pending against him, and to harass, intimidate, and discredit anyone who investigates or charges him.

Pomerantz also said it would be improper for him to provide information about an ongoing investigation.

This is neither the time nor place for me to answer questions about the investigation or the pending indictment over the objection of the prosecutors.

Republicans fumed after the deposition.

Rep. Darrell Issa of California criticized what he called Pomerantzs lack of cooperation. He told reporters that instead of answering questions, Pomerantz invoked his Fifth Amendment right.

Ive never had a more obstructive and less cooperative witness in my over 20 years in Congress, Issa said.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., similarly said that the committee was not getting many answers.

Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, offered no details on Pomerantzs testimony, citing panel rules.

Asked if he learned anything new, Jordan replied, I guess in some ways, I was surprised at some of the positions he took, without providing any specifics.

The House Judiciary Committee and Jordan did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment.

Jordan subpoenaed Pomerantz for his testimony in April, shortly after Trump was indicted on charges stemming from payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels and another woman during the closing days of the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Jordan said Pomerantzs previous role as a prosecutor in the investigation made him uniquely situated to provide information that is relevant and necessary to the panels probe of Braggs prosecution of the former president. Pomerantz had abruptly resigned from the Manhattan District Attorneys Office last year.

Bragg initially sought to block elements of the Judiciary Committee's inquiry, alleging in a lawsuit that Jordan and the panel were waging an unprecedently brazen and unconstitutional attack on his investigation of Trump and attempting to interfere with his prosecution.

After opposing the committee's request for Pomerantzs testimony, Bragg and Jordan reached an agreement last month that paved the way for Friday's deposition.

Pomerantz previously wrote about his work investigating Trumps alleged financial crimes in a book released in February, but said Friday that does not mean he'll discuss it further given Trump's subsequent indictment.

Although I have written and spoken publicly about the Trump investigation, I did so before any criminal charges were brought against Mr. Trump, Pomerantz said in his statement to the Judiciary Committee. Now that a grand jury has indicted him, the circumstances have changed.

After leaving the deposition Pomerantz told reporters, "I have nothing, nothing whatsoever to say.

Reached for comment, Pomerantzs attorneys referred NBC News to his statement before the committee.
In 2007, Reginald Lane shot and killed Jwonda Thurston, his pregnant girlfriend. For the murder, he was sentenced to life in prison, following state statute for someone who is found guilty of killing more than one victim.

On Thursday, the Illinois Supreme Court heard arguments in Lanes case, specifically around whether Lane was given the appropriate sentence. Lanes appeal hinges, in part, on whether Thurstons unborn child can be considered a victim of the murder and, more broadly, whether it can be considered an individual under the law.

As it stands now, the unified code of corrections defines a victim as any natural person who suffered direct harm, Talon Nouri, an attorney representing Lane, told the justices. And again, the statute on statutes notes that whenever the word person or individual is used, that person must have first been born alive.

Nouri also cited the states Reproductive Health Act, a 2019 law that, among other things, stipulates fetuses do not have independent rights in the state of Illinois.

In addition to the question of what constitutes a victim under state law, Nouri also argued Lanes sentence was inappropriately applied because the lower courts had sentenced Lane in alignment with the sentence for a double murder.

Lane was convicted of both first-degree murder and killing an unborn child  also called feticide  which are two distinct crimes.

While the penalty section of the intentional homicide of an unborn child statute states that the sentence shall be the same as for first degree murder, the relevant statutes and definitions unambiguously exclude intentional homicide of an unborn child from this double murder sentencing statute, Nouri told the court.

Assistant Attorney General Josh Schneider, who argued the case on behalf of the state, relied on the statutes language identifying the sentence for feticide as being the same as murder.

When a person is convicted of intentional homicide of an unborn child, the sentence they receive for that offense is the same sentence they would receive if they had been convicted of first-degree murder under those same circumstances, Schneider said.

Several justices interrogated that line of reasoning.

So we really dont even need to go to these definitions in the other statutes because the legislature has directed us to apply the same sentence as in murder? Justice Lisa Holder White asked of Schneider.

Thats exactly right, Schneider replied.

The justices took the matter under consideration with a ruling to come at a later, unspecified date.

Stop and frisk

The justices on Thursday also considered the case of Francisco Lozano.

In 2018, Lozano was the subject of a Terry stop, sometimes also known as a stop and frisk or field interview in Chicagos East Garfield Park neighborhood.

From their unmarked police car, two officers noticed Lozano running on a rainy afternoon with his hands in his pockets. After turning their car around, officers saw him run up the stairs of an abandoned apartment building before stopping him and finding that he had a car radio, two screwdrivers and a wallet.

As a result of this stop, Lozano was eventually found guilty of burglary to a vehicle and possession of burglary tools.

Lozanos lawyer, Pamela Rubeo, argued the police violated Lozanos 4th Amendment right against unlawful search and seizure by stopping him for running in the rain.

The parties agree the officers needed reasonable suspicion of criminal activity at the inception of this stop, Rubeo told the court. Here, no such reasonable suspicion existed.

Assistant Attorney General Jalan Jaskot, who argued on behalf of the state, told the justices that police had reasonable suspicion by the time they stopped Lozano, citing the behavior that police observed as they approached Lozano for the stop.

This received some pushback from Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis, who referenced the lower courts opinion on the case.

According to the officers own testimony, the reason why he stopped him was to conduct a field interview and ask him why he was running, Theis noted during oral arguments. Why shouldnt we just accept that was the basis of the stop  as the officer himself described  and evaluate whether that was an appropriate Terry stop?

Jaskot responded that the officers saw Lozano flee to the abandoned building when they turned their car around and that while they were approaching, they saw a bulge in Lozanos front sweatshirt pocket, giving them reasonable suspicion for a Terry stop.

If the facts of this case were simply that the defendant was running in the rain, officers would not have the reasonable suspicion to conduct that Terry stop, Jaskot said after further questioning on the subject from the justices. However that is not all that we have. Very importantly, we also have the defendants evasive behavior where he did change that direction and run towards this building that appeared abandoned.

Rubeo also argued that some evidence in Lozanos trial was inappropriately introduced, as it was taken from statements Lozano gave during his arrest, without being given a Miranda warning, a set of notifications police are required to give people they arrest. These notifications include the right to remain silent, the right to an attorney and the warning that anything a defendant says can be used against them in court, among other things.

In their court filing, the attorney generals office argued that Lozano forfeited the chance to suppress the statements he made before being given a Miranda warning because his lawyers failed to bring it up in his trial.

The case will also be considered by the justices, although there is not a set timeline for how long they will take to deliver a final opinion.

Riding the circuit

The justices did not hear arguments for these cases at their typical venue at the Supreme Courts building in Springfield. Rather, the court was riding the circuit and heard arguments on the campus of Chicago State University on Chicagos South Side.

The court uses a version of the historical practice of judges traveling to district courts to raise public awareness and confidence in the judicial branch, according to Theis.

Its a practice that had been temporarily stalled in recent years amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The court held a virtual riding the circuit program in 2021 in conjunction with schools from the states Second Judicial District in northern Illinois. The courts previous in-person road trip took place in Sept. 2019 when arguments were heard at Lewis & Clark Community College in Godfrey.

It is the first time in our history of this court and our state that we have come to the First District here in Chicago, Theis told attendees of the arguments on Thursday.

Around 300 students from schools around the region attended the event. Following the oral arguments, students participated in a question-and-answer session with representatives of the Cook County Bar Association.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of print and broadcast outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.
Support for Sapia

I am supporting Tony Sapia for State College Borough Council. I have had occasion to work with Tony on a variety of business matters that affect downtown State College over the last several years. I have found him to be thoughtful and fair in his approach to these issues. Having grown up in State College and having his had his own businesses in this area, I believe he will bring an experienced voice to the State College Borough Council. State College Borough residents would do well to offer him their support on Tuesday.

Susan S. Benedict, State College

Best fit for judge

I am supporting Julia Rater for Centre County Judge because she knows the law and Centre County. Julia has an abundance of practical experience in family and civil law. Additionally, she has handled criminal matters through her work as a family law attorney. She is a leader both in the legal profession and in the community in which she has worked for 27 years. Rarely do we have a candidate who has the perfect background for the position. This time we do, Julia Rater.

One flyer of Mr Balachandrans, Julias opponent in this election, reads no current member of the bench has a background in criminal law. This statement and others bother me not only because they are inaccurate but also because they imply that all Centre County judges are lacking in experience/knowledge. Both Judge Grine and Judge Marshall practiced criminal law before becoming judge.

I think Mr. Balachandran is emphasizing that he has a criminal law background. The data in the Centre County Legal Journal (2022) that tracks the judges daily schedules reflects that 72% of the judges court time is on family law and civil cases and only 28% is on criminal cases. Family and civil law expertise matters in Centre County. Julia Rater appeared in a Centre County courtroom over 1,100 times through 2022. Her opponent did not represent any clients in the Centre County courtroom. Please join me in voting for Julia Rater for Centre County Judge on Tuesday.

Wendy Moran, State College

Important perspective on school board

It is my pleasure to support Laurel Zydney for another term on the State College Board of School Directors.

In the 10 years that I served with Laurel on the board, I always found her to be well-prepared, well-informed and highly dedicated to her role. As a result, I had a deep appreciation for her perspective  even those times when I disagreed with it.

In turn, I appreciated her openness, and her willingness to listen to a diversity of voices from throughout the community.

School boards operate most effectively  and the community is better served  when a diversity of perspective is incorporated into the decision-making process, especially when it is as well-informed as Laurels.

I encourage the community to avail itself of Laurels willingness to share her experience, knowledge and dedication with us for another four years.

David Hutchinson, State College. The author is a former SCASD director.

Background of judges

I have been a Pennsylvania criminal defense lawyer since 2001, and I have been a solo practitioner in Centre County since 2006. I support Julia Rater for Common Pleas Court judge because she has the right combination of temperament, personality and local practice experience needed to be a successful judge.

Ms. Raters opponent has made some statements, which the long-time members of the local legal community can instantly recognize as untrue, while the general public might not realize these statements are false.

These are probably honest mistakes as opposed to intentional lies, as Gopal Balachandran has only been a member of the Centre County Bar Association since September 2022, and he has not been part of the local legal community long enough to have much local knowledge.

For example, Mr. Balachandran asserts that no current Centre County judges had criminal law experience prior to taking the bench, yet both Judges Jonathan Grine and Brian Marshall practiced criminal law when they were lawyers.

Mr. Balachandran also asserts that no other current Centre County judge ever tried a felony case before a jury, yet Judge Grine won a felony drug jury trial just two years after graduating from law school, which is no easy feat.

I just wanted to set the record straight so the general public can make an informed decision based on accurate information.

Matt M. McClenahen, State College

Resource to school board

As a SCASD school board member of almost eight years I have been fortunate to witness the ongoing development of the board during my years of service. During this time I have acquired an increasing appreciation for one board member who has always been diligent in her work with the board.

Laurel Zydney has been an incredible resource to our school board. Laurel adds value to our work by reminding us to look back, reflect, explain and justify our position on either a financial decision, a program, or a policy when we might otherwise be inclined to overlook further reflection. Laurel routinely helps us to refine our efforts to identify evidence based programs for student growth and learning while remaining attentive to the goals of efficiency and cost effectiveness.

All school boards in Pennsylvania have a mandated membership of nine. With such a large group it can become comfortable for members to hang back and coalesce with the larger group, falling into a pattern of Groupthink. Laurels readiness to question, challenge and bring our attention back to the fundamentals empowers the board to avoid Groupthink.

Laurel Zydney is an almost 12-year board member veteran who deserves another term of service on the SCASD board. Laurel has shown her commitment to the delivery of district programs that represent what is best for students and their families, while remaining mindful of the costs involved. Voters of both parties should include Laurel Zydney among their choices for SCASD school board in the Tuesday primary.

Dan Duffy, State College. The author is a SCASD board director.

Balachandran would be asset to the court





Please join me in voting for Gopal Balachandran for our next Common Pleas Court Judge.

It takes a uniquely qualified attorney to serve as a successful public defender  one possessing a certain blend of compassion, dedication and perseverance. As a former public defender for over a decade, Gopal possesses these qualities, plus significant experience and expertise in the area of criminal law. A judge in criminal court must be exceptionally learned in constitutional principles and criminal procedure, particularly because the majority of our court docket is comprised of cases that are criminal in nature, based on my 34 years of experience in the Centre County Public Defender Office.

Gopals experience as a public defender could have left him disillusioned. However, his experience strengthened his commitment to serve others and uphold the constitutional protections we should all as a community respect. He went on to lead the Criminal Appellate and Post-Conviction Services Clinic at Penn State Law and co-founded the Centre County Pardon Project.

Some years ago, Gopal introduced himself to the staff of the Centre County Public Defender Office, and, recognizing the heavy caseload, offered his assistance. His aid in conducting legal research, discussing case law and preparing briefs was invaluable. Gopal spent countless hours  uncompensated and unrecognized  in several homicide cases at the Common Pleas Court level and further on appeals to the Pennsylvania Superior and Supreme Courts to ensure that the clients cases received the extra attention they deserved. His brilliant legal mind and analytical skills provided remarkable assistance to the clients overall representation.

If elected, Gopal will serve us fairly and impartially without regard to race, gender, financial status, and/or any law firm affiliation.

Deborah Lux, State College

United for SCASD and parental involvement

I turned with great interest to the front-page report, School Board Candidates on Transparency, Parental Involvement, in the May 3 CDT. I was keen to read the views of the United for SCASD candidates since they have highlighted these issues as priorities.

I was surprised that two of the five original United for SCASD candidates couldnt be bothered to provide any response on these issues. A third United for SCASD candidate offered a single sentence simply saying that parents should be very involved. A fourth offered a mere 20 words stating the obvious, that parents have a right to know what is being taught and the district-parent relationship should be 50-50. Only John Krajcovic provided a substantive answer. He argues that parents should be allowed to opt their children out of teachings that do not align with their beliefs. Presumably this means that children of parents who do not believe in climate change or biological evolution should not learn these basic science concept.

The United for SCASD wants to disrupt education at SCASD. They call themselves bipartisan, but not one of them is a registered Democrat. There are six Democrats running for SCASD board seats. They are Amy Bader, Gretchen Brandt, Anne Demo, Dan Kolbe, Aaron Miller and Laurel Zidney. Please vote any of these Democratic candidates. They are all dedicated to preserving the academic excellence of SCASD.

Paul M. Hallacher, State College

Rater as judge would be gift to our community

I am writing in the spirit of Michelle Obama who said, when they go low, we go high. As such, I am responding to the May 5 CDT letter that suggested that Julia Rater is part of some good old boys network.

The picture that was painted by that letter and others is so far from the Julia Rater I know, such that I feel compelled to write my first ever letter to the editor.

Julia is a first-generation college grad, who has worked hard as an attorney helping families and children navigate what for many is one of the most stressful times in their lives (divorce/custody).

She serves in roles that are personally meaningful to her and that help those in need.

She has learned to think about what it is like to be in the shoes of whoever is in front of her. She is compassionate and sticks to the facts of the case as she is committed to helping her client, rather than promoting a political agenda.

In her work, she is committed to being fair to all. As noted publicly, Julia is pro-choice, pro-LGBTQ and anti-racist.

Lets not participate in misogyny and dismiss the overwhelmingly superior qualifications and experience that Julia Rater will bring as Centre County Judge. Combined with her compassion, thoughtfulness and emotional intelligence, it would be a gift to our community to have her in this role.

Jill Hranicka, State College
Do you eat out at least once a week?

You may have contributed to each states ranking for most popular based on search volume.

PriceListo, a price-tracking website, recently conducted a study based on the regional average monthly search volume from the last 12 months and looked at the highest earning fast-food restaurants across the country to find the most searched-for fast-food restaurants nationwide and in each state.

McDonalds, Dominos, Starbucks, Chick-fil-A, Pizza Hut, and Papa Johns all made the list.

Nationwide, McDonalds was ranked as the most popular fast-food restaurant, with 22 different states searching for this chain the most with 14,879,233 total monthly searches.

McDonalds was followed by Dominos and Chick-fil-A respectively on the U.S. ranking.

Starbucks ranked fourth nationally and Pizza Hut was fifth.

As for South Carolina, can you guess which fast food restaurant was revealed to be the most popular?

If you guessed Chick-fil-A, you would have guessed right.

The states second most popular was revealed to be McDonalds and Dominos ranked in third, according to PriceListo.

With 103 locations in South Carolina and 2,909 restaurants across the country, Chick-fil-A was revealed to be the most popular in the Palmetto State and in seven total states.

The seven states that had Chick-fil-A ranked as their most popular fast food restaurant included:

South Carolina

Delaware

Georgia

North Carolina

Tennessee

Texas

Virginia

Chick-fil-A has been a staple restaurant since its beginning in 1946. The chains founder, Truett Cathy, also made the decision then to close on Sundays when he opened his first restaurant in Hapeville, Georgia, according to Chick-fil-As website.

After having worked seven days a week in restaurants that were open 24 hours, Cathy saw the importance of closing on Sundays. This was so he and his employees could set aside one day to rest and worship if they choose, the website states.

Aside from Sundays, the restaurant chain is open Monday through Saturday, generally between 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. and can be found scattered around the state.

For more specific information regarding hours and potential restaurant specials, reach out to your local or nearest Chick-fil-A location for details.
Myrtle Beach International Airport just completed its busiest April ever, a signal that tourism season inside South Carolinas most popular vacation spot is poised to put up strong numbers.

The month saw more than 294,000 passengers  a 4 percent year-over-year jump from the 282,784 people who moved through the airport last April.

In 2022, more than 3.5 million people traveled through Myrtle Beach, setting another record.

The Grand Strand is a top destination for tourism in the U.S., and our continued growth pattern help demonstrate that the Grand Strand is no longer a summer-only destination, airport director Judi Olmstead said in a May 11 statement.

All the traffic comes amid several major site expansions and additional travel routes recently announced by Avelo Airlines, Delta, Spirit and other airlines.

Heres a look at whats happening

Work is continuing on a multi-million terminal expansion announced in 2022

Architect renderings of the roughly $100 million venture were made public late last month as part of South Carolina Aviation Week.

Officials are adding six gates to the airports sole terminal, bringing the total to 18 and helping to alleviate long lines for check in, car rentals and security.

Construction is expected to start sometime next year, with a projected opening date in 2025.

In addition to the added gates, new features include:

More fuel storage: The airport is adding 100,000 gallons in fuel storage capacity. This will help in case of future supply crunches as seen during the Colonial Pipeline shutdown in May 2021.

Security checkpoint: The existing TSA security checkpoint cannot be expanded because its landlocked in its existing hallway. However, a new checkpoint will alleviate the pressure created by the current TSA bottleneck.

More food options: As part of the terminals planned expansion, the airport will add more space for restaurants and retail. Its too early to know what those new food options will be, officials said.

Profit margins are healthy, which is helping to pay for the growth. Parking will become easier too.

Olmstead said last month it costs the airport $7.73 per passenger, compared to an average $10.20 per passenger cost at facilities of similar size. That overhead allows Myrtle Beach to stay competitive while making it more attractive for carriers to add routes to and from the Grand Strand.

Look for the addition of 400 spaces to the airports long-term parking lot as one of the next big items. Construction is also under way on several capital projects including upgraded security systems, improved taxiway lighting and a relocation of its helicopter operations.

Several airlines have added Myrtle Beach runs either seasonally or full-time

On April 22, officials said United was adding seasonal runs from Myrtle Beach to Chicago OHare and Washington Dulles National Airport.

Two days earlier, Avelo said it would offer travel from Myrtle Beach to Wilmington, Del., with introductory prices of $39 for a one-way ticket.

Deltas direct seasonal flights to Boston picked up again this month  a market that area tourism officials are targeting heavily for the spring and summer seasons. Delta accounts for roughly 10 percent of the airports total traffic.

Allegiant Air will begin a Myrtle Beach to Akron, Ohio run beginning June 1.
Recently installed Flock Safety cameras in Rose Hill have led to the arrest of a murder suspect connected to a November killing in Georgia, the Rose Hill Police Department said Friday.

The plate was captured coming into Rose Hill several times since May 1st, the police department said in a Facebook post. US Marshals closed in on the suspect and were able to arrest him in a neighboring city while he was driving for work.

The Facebook post started by saying that the FLOCK CAMERAS PAY OFF 1 MONTH AFTER BEING INSTALLED. The city council had approved the purchases and three more cameras are still waiting to be installed.

Since they were installed in early April, the first two cameras have logged 78,000 license plates, the post says.

Flock Safety cameras can search for license plates and certain makes and models of vehicles, then alert police when they are found. Some argue the technology is an overreach and violation of privacy.

In the Facebook post, the police department linked to a news article detailing more about the arrest. According to the WTVM article, 52-year-old Chris Binns was arrested Thursday in connection to the killing of 50-year-old Kerry Binns in a Columbus, Georgia, apartment.

A former Kechi lieutenant was put on probation last month for using Wichita Police Departments Flock cameras to stalk his estranged wife. Flock says the incident with the Kechi officer is the first report theyve had about an officer abusing the system.
North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the abortion restrictions bill on Saturday at a rally with hundreds of supporters on Bicentennial Plaza, across the street from the Republican-controlled General Assembly.

There is nothing mainstream about this bill. They hid the dirty details of it. You know why? Because they didnt want you to show up, Cooper said to loud cheers from the large crowd of abortion rights supporters who booed every time the term-limited governor mentioned the GOP and its veto-proof supermajority in the legislature.

At the same time, demonstrators protesting Coopers veto of the bill, which would ban most abortions after 12 weeks, gathered in front of the legislative building to counter the governors rally.

Saturdays showdown between supporters and opponents of the Republican bill came after a weeklong effort by Cooper to highlight opposition to the new restrictions and put political pressure on a handful of Republican lawmakers who had previously expressed support for less restrictive abortion laws but signed on to support the 12-week bill along with the rest of their colleagues.

Republicans, who control supermajorities in both chambers of the legislature, are expected to hold swift votes to override Coopers veto and enact the new restrictions into state law.

In a statement after Coopers rally, Senate leader Phil Berger promised to quickly take up the override process, which will begin in the Senate and then move on to the House.

Gov. Cooper has spent the last week actively feeding the public lies about Senate Bill 20 and bullying members of the General Assembly, Berger said. He has been doing everything he can, including wasting taxpayer money on poorly attended events, to avoid talking about his own extreme views on abortion.

I look forward to promptly overriding his veto.

House Speaker Tim Moore also issued a statement, criticizing Cooper for spreading misinformation about the bill and vowing that Coopers veto would be swiftly overridden.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper displays his veto stamp after after using it and his signature to veto SB 20, legislation that would restrict abortions in North Carolina, during a public rally on the Bicentennial Mall across the State Capitol on Saturday, May 13, 2023 in Raleigh, N.C.

Simultaneous rallies for and against the bill

Standing in front of banners that said Stop the bans, Cooper led the crowd in applauding Democratic lawmakers, some of whom were at the rally, for sticking together and voting against the bill.

This bill has nothing to do with making women safer, and everything to do with banning abortion, Cooper said.

Cooper also criticized Republicans for fast-tracking the bill through the legislature. Lawmakers passed the bill out of both chambers within 48 hours of when it was unveiled to the public.

Republicans have defended that process, saying that the bill was the product of months of internal party deliberations, and represents a mainstream consensus position among GOP ranks.

Democrats have blasted that assertion, saying it was unfair for the bill to be passed through a special process that didnt allow them to offer any amendments.

There is nothing mainstream about this bill! Cooper roared over the speakers.

Before Cooper took to the stage, the crowd heard from Attorney General Josh Stein, who is running for governor and is expected to lock up his partys nomination and face off against the Republican presumptive front runner, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson.

Stein said Republicans know their bill is profoundly unpopular, and said that was why they drafted it behind closed doors. He said it was important Democrats focus on trying to defeat the bill when Republicans try to break Coopers veto. But GOP leaders have said they are confident theyll be able to circumvent the governor.

In addition, Stein said its critical that Democrats continue to mobilize over the next 18 months, because we have to win elections.

Today is not a day to accept defeat, Stein said. Today is the day to double down and fight.

Hundreds of abortion ban veto supporters turned out to watch Gov. Roy Cooper sign a veto of the on Bicentennial Mall in Raleigh Saturday, May 13, 2023.

While the rally went on, about 100 anti-abortion protesters gathered in front of the Legislative Building to listen to speeches urging Cooper not to veto the bill. Speakers prayed aloud and led chants.

April Gonzalez, a volunteer with Students for Life Action, said in an interview, Were here to show that life comes with joy and pregnancy is not burdensome. But its a communal effort. You might be pregnant physically and carry the baby on your own, but you should have a spouse and trusted others to help you raise your child with joy.

Yalls governor is going to hell and he wants to invite death and destruction into the state, said Mark Lee Dickson, one of the speakers.

John Amanchukwu, another of the anti-abortion speakers, said in an interview, We love the people who disagree with us. You know, thats what scripture tells us to do.  We love everyone thats over there, celebrating killing babies in the womb the day before Mothers Day. Thats so inhumane, so insensitive.

Hundreds of abortion ban veto supporters turned out to watch Gov. Roy Cooper sign a veto of the on Bicentennial Mall in Raleigh Saturday, May 13, 2023.

Cooper said last week he would veto the bill during Saturdays rally.

The House and Senate passed the bill the first week in May along party lines, with all Republicans voting in favor and all Democrats against.

Hundreds of abortion ban veto supporters turned out to watch Gov. Roy Cooper sign a veto of the on Bicentennial Mall in Raleigh Saturday, May 13, 2023.

How a veto override works

A veto override vote could be held in the next few days. Because it is a Senate bill, the override vote would have to be called first in the Senate. Senate Rules say that Rules Chair Bill Rabon, a Southport Republican, will give 24 hours notice to the Senates minority leader, Democratic Sen. Dan Blue of Raleigh.

Cooper spent this past week holding roundtables in Mecklenburg, New Hanover and Guilford counties about the abortion bill. Mecklenburg is the home county of Republican Rep. Tricia Cotham, who switched from the Democratic Party in April, giving Republicans the supermajority. She voted for the bill, even though as a Democrat she repeatedly supported upholding Roe v. Wade.

SB 20 bans abortions after 12 weeks and requires in-person doctor visits for ending a pregnancy with a pill at 10 weeks. Exceptions are up to 20 weeks for rape and incest, up to 24 weeks for life-altering fetal anomalies and no limit to protect the life of the mother. Republicans debated out of public view for months about what would be in the bill, from not changing North Carolinas current law of restrictions after 20 weeks, to a total ban.

From left, N.C. Senators Lisa Barnes, Joyce Krawiec and Vickie Sawyer confer before the start of the afternoon session at the N.C. Legislature in Raleigh, N.C. Thursday, May 4, 2023.

The 12-week ban was the middle ground within their political caucus. Other Republican-controlled states have passed laws with total bans or heartbeat bans at six weeks. Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee have total abortion bans with very limited medical exceptions, The N&O previously reported, and Georgia has a heartbeat ban.

Protesters filled the public viewing gallery in the House on Wednesday and Senate last week as lawmakers debated the bill for hours before passing it along party lines. The bill was fast-tracked to pass in one week, and only went through one committee hearing.

In addition to the rally organized by Cooper on Saturday, another Sustain the Veto rally was scheduled for Saturday afternoon in Asheville, planned by Buncombe County Democrats.
When Florida education officials announced Tuesday they had rejected more than 30 social studies textbooks for next school year, they also revealed they had worked with publishers to edit at least 47 others.

Gone from one book were passages about Black Lives Matter and the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. In another, the state removed a prompt asking students to discuss people who knelt in protest during the national anthem.

What else had been edited out? Was anything added? Why were that many books rejected?

The Florida Department of Education offered five examples of the changes made but did not respond to questions about other decisions involving content.

To find out more, the Tampa Bay Times contacted publishers of the 34 social studies books that landed on Floridas not recommended list, a group that will likely dwindle as publishers appeal. A few of the companies responded and provided copies of what they submitted to the state. Some said they were unsure why their books fell short.

READ MORE: Teach the truth. Teachers angry over Florida deleting race, social justice from textbooks

By all appearances, many of the materials were clear and straightforward, with no overt references to prohibited topics like critical race theory or social justice.

Others contained traces of subject matter that state officials have deemed inappropriate for schools  like institutional racism and discussions about mistreatment of minorities that could make some feel uncomfortable.

And there were places where books focused on character lessons for children  how to be sensitive and empathetic, for example. Those are elements of social-emotional learning, a longtime strategy in U.S. classrooms that is now banned in Florida.

In its book selections, the state seeks to have the highest quality materials available  materials that focus on historical facts and are free from inaccuracies or ideological rhetoric, Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. said in a statement.

But the rejections add to an already chilling environment for educators, said Charles White, executive director of the Social Science Education Consortium, a nonprofit that works to strengthen the teaching of social studies and the related subject of social science.

I know teachers in Florida who are scared to death to teach almost anything in their schools for fear that theyll be in opposition to the standards, or even worse, theyll say something about racial history that will violate the new Florida laws, White said.

Here is a look at some of the rejected titles, and what their pages reveal about Floridas approach to social studies:

Social Studies Alive! Me and My World

Kindergarten. Published by Teachers Curriculum Institute

A student exercise in the book Social Studies Alive! Me and My World, for kindergarten students.

Eight books from this publishing house were rejected, some flagged for including special topics that the state has identified as problematic. This kindergarten text did not have that designation.

But in many of the chapters, it seeks to address childrens emotional growth and interpersonal relationships, which are basic tenets of social-emotional learning.

Company officials allowed the Times access to its digital content but declined to be interviewed. They issued a statement saying the company has worked closely with the state and respects the importance of the approval process.

Social Studies Alive! My School and Family





Grade 1. Published by Teachers Curriculum Institute.







A page from Social Studies Alive! My School and Family for first graders, published by Teachers Curriculum Institute.

This second book in the Social Studies Alive! series is marked as containing prohibited special topics. Its not clear what the problem was, but here is another example of a student exercise that seeks to teach cooperation and character, which are elements of social-emotional learning.

Social Studies Alive! Florida and Its People

Grade 4. Published by Teachers Curriculum Institute.

A section from the childrens social studies book, Social Studies Alive! Florida and Its People, about Tampa pioneer Vicente Martinez Ybor.

In this installment of the series, students learn about the waves of Indigenous communities and global settlers to Florida, including Europeans, African slaves and later immigrants from Latin America.

There are chapters on the civil rights movement and developers, including Henry Flagler, Henry Bradley Plant, Julia Tuttle and Vicente Martinez Ybor. The book also explores Floridas role in the Civil War. Its not marked as having any problematic special topics, so the reasons for the state rejecting it remain unclear.

Social Studies Alive! Americas Past

Grade 5. Published by Teachers Curriculum Institute.

This is another of the books said to include special topics of concern by the state. One possible problem: The book explores harsh treatment of Native Americans and Chinese railroad workers in the 19th century. Those lessons are reinforced in a game at the end of the chapter.

The state prohibits topics that are potential components of critical race theory. That includes the notion that an individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin.

Gateway to Early American History

Grades 6-8. Published by Florida Transformative Education.

The 15-chapter, three-part text covers Christopher Columbus voyage to the Reconstruction era following the Civil War, according to the website. Author and publisher Mark Jarrett told the Times he did not believe any content in the book was controversial. He said no dramatic changes would need to be made, and the company intends to go through the standards flagged by reviewers and resubmit.

Two other books from the same publisher were accepted. Jarrett said the books contents were similar. This text was not marked for the inclusion of special topics.

Civics Alive! Foundations and Functions

Grades 6-8. Published by Teachers Curriculum Institute.

Over seven units and 20 chapters, the book covers basic topics about citizenship and the rules of law through the Bill of Rights, political campaigns, global issues and understanding economics. The second lesson on forms of government seeks to teach the advantages of the United States constitutional republic over other forms of government in safeguarding liberty, freedom and a representative government.

The book also stresses the advantages of a federal system of government and the benefits of capitalism and the free market in the U.S. when compared with government-controlled economic systems elsewhere. It was flagged as having prohibited special topics but it was unclear where those existed.

American History

Grades 9-12. Published by ABC-CLIO.

Two paragraphs from the book American History published by ABC-CLIO.

This high school history book includes material about segregation, the Jim Crow era and redlining. It also recounts the civil rights movement of the mid-20th century with descriptions including the paragraphs above that follow a discussion of Freedom Summer in 1964.

On its list of rejected books, the state said this title contained special topics but has not stated what those were.

The African-American Experience

Grades 9-12. Published by ABC-CLIO.

An image in the high school history textbook The African American Experience, published by ABC-CLIO. The book appeared on Floridas list of not recommended titles this year in Florida schools.

This book goes into detail about segregation and discrimination, police brutality and the Black Lives Matter protest following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. In its description of the years during President Donald Trumps administration, the authors note Trumps role in perpetuating the birtherism conspiracy about his predecessor, Barack Obama. They also write that the former president drew criticism for his slowness to denounce white nationalists at a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and for his remarks that both sides were to blame for the violence that erupted there.

The state has not explained why it rejected this title, though there are many issues regarding race that are prohibited from appearing in Florida textbooks. One of them is the notion that an individual, by virtue of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.

The book also includes a chapter on institutional racism  another frowned-upon topic  that includes the passage below:

A passage from The African American Experience, published by ABC-CLIO.

Living Smarter

Grades 9-12. Published by Achievements Educational Services.

The 370-page textbook from this Brooklyn, New York-based publisher covers basic financial literacy, from how to write a resume to step-by-step guides on filing taxes. Early chapters emphasize the importance of savvy spending and strategies for saving money. Later chapters discuss investing, insurance and identity theft.

On the states 5-point grading scale, Living Smarter has one of the lowest scores. The textbook was not flagged for inclusion of special topics and does not appear to cover critical race theory or social-emotional learning. Achievements Educational Services CEO Naftali Frankel said the state Department of Education had not contacted him regarding the rejection.

Foundations in Personal Finance-Honors

Grades 9-12. Published by Ramsey Solutions.







Financial adviser and media personality Dave Ramsey offers personal finance books for educational institutions too. One of his books was accepted by the state of Florida; another was not.

This book is one of numerous products offered by a company headed by Dave Ramsey, a Tennessee-based entrepreneur, financial counselor, author, motivational speaker, radio host, podcast host and television personality.

Spokespeople for Ramsey said one of their two textbooks was accepted but the other was not. A third-party reviewer questioned whether the material in the second book conformed closely enough with Floridas education standards. They were not specific.

Jessica Britton, the companys associate director of educational products, said there was probably fault on both sides. The reviewer did not look at the correct material, she said. But, she added, We could have done a better job of seeing that the standards were met, perhaps by improving student review questions. She expects they will resolve their differences in time for the 2023-24 school year.

Modern Genocide

Grades 9-12. Published by ABC-CLIO.







It is not clear why the state of Florida rejected Modern Genocide in selecting high school textbooks to teach the Holocaust.

This textbook takes students through a number of global genocides, including the Holocaust in World War II and continuing on to Cambodia, East Timor, Guatemala, the Kurdish people in Iraq, Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur.

Going back earlier than World War II, the book explores the Herero genocide of 1904-1907 in what is now the southwestern African nation of Namibia. Following German settlement of that land, the authors write that as many as 80% of the Herero people, as well as 50% of the 20,000 Nama people and lesser numbers of other populations, lost their lives.

The state flagged this title for containing special topics of concern but has not explained what those were.

History of the Holocaust

Grades 9-12. Published by eDynamic Holdings LP.







eDynamic Holdings LP, the publisher of History of the Holocaust, is appealing a decision by the Florida Department of Education to exclude this high school textbook.

This high school textbook takes readers from the rise of antisemitism in Europe through the creation of concentration camps and death camps, non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust and Nuremberg trials. There is a passage at the end on modern genocide in places such as Cambodia and Darfur.

Tyler Wood, a spokesperson for eDynamic, said its unclear why the book was not approved, and company officials are communicating with staff at the state education department. The state did not flag the title as containing special topics of concern.

In conversations with the education department, the company said in a prepared statement: It is clear that the (Department of Education) sees the benefit of this curriculum for students but wants to ensure that all state standards for the curriculum have been addressed. eDynamic Learning will be participating in the Departments appeal process in hopes of highlighting the evidence that our curriculum meets that state standards.
The California Highway Patrol's (CHP) 911 system was disrupted after a magnitude 5.5 earthquake in the northern region. Located in the Sierra Nevada, the Lake Almanor resort region was shaken around 4:19 PM PST on Thursday, May 11.

"The 5.5 magnitude earthquake in Plumas County has caused a disruption in CHP Chico Dispatch cell phone 911 lines and are currently ARE DOWN," the agency's Yuba-Sutter area office stated on Twitter.

At the time, they are urging people to dial 530-332-1200 from their mobile devices if they are unable to reach 911 as the problem is being addressed.

On Friday, May 12, CHP Chico Dispatch announced via Facebook that the 911 lines were once again operational.

911 Dispatch Line Was Temporarily Offline

On Thursday, a tremor of a magnitude of 5.5 was felt in the Chester area in northern California. This caused the CHP Chico Dispatch Center to lose access to its 911 mobile phone lines for around 5 minutes. An authorities' Facebook post said that during this outage, all phone calls were automatically routed to the CHP Sacramento Dispatch Center.

The 911 mobile phone lines have been restored and are operational at this time.

Residents of California were cautioned Thursday night to brace themselves for aftershocks. And at 3:18 AM PST on Friday, one was recorded with a magnitude of 5.2, according to the US Geological Survey.

The US Geological Survey said in a tweet that anybody who felt the earthquake with an intensity of 3 or higher would get a text message notice. However, at least one person felt an even stronger tremor and not receiving a text message warning, Fox News reported.

In Sacramento, nearly 160 miles distant, residents said they could still feel the shaking.

Lucy Jones, a former seismologist for the US Geological Survey, tweeted that the 5.5 magnitude quake was the strongest in California since the 7.1 magnitude Ridgecrest sequence in 2019.

Initial reports indicated that the seismic activity had caused very modest damage.

See Also: Iran Allegedly Smuggled Weapons Used To Strike US Military Inside Earthquake Aid Convoys Heading to Syria

People Felt the Terror of an Earthquake

Restaurant manager Stephanie Hughes told ABC 10 that a lot of broken glass, broken dishes, and broken liquor from an upper floor had been strewn around the establishment. "Everything was shaking. Customers were fleeing onto the lawn," she said.

Dishes and bottles were thrown all over the floor of the Plumas Pines Resort & Bar in Almanor, as seen by photos posted online.

"Due to the recent earthquake and the loss and damage our restaurant acquired, we will be closed tonight and tomorrow morning. We will reassess for the rest of our weekend after we are able to clean up and really determine what was lost!" the restaurant stated on Friday.

In a report by The Sun, an official from Plumas County was cited saying there were no serious or structural damages. Meanwhile, a representative from Pacific Gas & Electric said the utility will be conducting inspections of its facilities.

See Also: Experts Fear Mega-Earthquake as Mysterious 'Crack' Appears in 600-Mile US Fault Line

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GLENWOOD, Ark.  Last year, while campaigning for the top prosecutors job in the rural district that surrounds this close-knit river town, native daughter Jana Bradford cited a tough-on-crime record that she said had brought the worst offenders to justice and comfort to their victims.

The most important thing that Im able to do is relate to our victims, Bradford, a part-time deputy prosecutor in Pike County for more than two decades, told a crowd at a Rotary club meeting. The child who has been molested by her parents, Ive held her hand before she testified.

But time and again, Bradford used her clout and legal skills behind the scenes to assist her pedophile uncle, according to a paper trail of letters and other legal records.

Over the years, she helped her uncle Barry Walker try to get a pardon from the governor for his first felony sexual abuse conviction in another Arkansas county, vigorously disputed a girls abuse allegations when he faced more possible charges and tried to get his name removed from Arkansas sex offender registry, records show.

Bradfords efforts to assist Walker have surfaced in recent months as part of a swirling scandal in the wake of what some legal observers describe as one of the worst pedophilia cases in Arkansas history.

Last June 9, just 16 days after she won election as chief prosecutor in a four-county judicial district, investigators from the state and county, responding to new allegations from three girls, seized a cache of more than 400 homemade videos and thousands of photos and downloaded images of child pornography from Walkers residence and arrested him.

Image: Barry Walker's mugshot (Arkansas Department of Corrections)

The videos dated back a quarter century and captured Walker committing hundreds of acts of rape and other sex crimes on dozens of pre-pubescent girls, ages 2 to 14  including a 4-year-old girl whose claims Bradford had vigorously disputed to a neighboring prosecutor years earlier.

Four months later, Walker, 59, who ran a successful construction business, pleaded guilty to more than 100 felony counts in two counties related to raping or molesting 31 children, some repeatedly. He received 39 life sentences totaling 1,710 years in prison with no chance for parole.

Since his conviction in October, investigators have shifted their focus to Walkers closest relatives and associates, amid allegations that they enabled Walker to keep preying on little girls for years.

Another of Walkers nieces and his former longtime girlfriend each have been charged with felony counts of permitting child sex abuse, while Walkers brother faces a misdemeanor charge of failure to report child sex abuse, court records show.

The special prosecutor overseeing Walkers case and related ones, who was assigned in part due to Bradfords conflicts of interest, said in a recent interview that a criminal investigation of secondary targets remains ongoing. Neither the prosecutor nor a state special agent leading that probe would say whether Bradford is among those targets.

A growing number of Walkers victims, meanwhile, have joined a lawsuit that lays out a litany of explosive claims alleging a broader scheme and cover-up orchestrated by the child rapists inner circle, including Bradford.

You dont rape this many girls this many times in a small Arkansas town unless someone is running interference for you, said David Carter, a Texarkana lawyer representing at least 14 of the victims or their parents and guardians.

The lawsuit includes allegations that Walkers relatives and a former girlfriend intentionally delayed reporting two girls sex abuse claims last year to avoid hurting Bradfords election chances. Following Walkers arrest, the lawsuit alleges, his family schemed to hide Walkers business assets and property in case any of his victims later sued.

Image: Campaign fliers sent by Jana Bradford while running for re-election. (Obtained by NBC News)

The lawsuit also details Bradfords repeated legal efforts over the years to protect and defend her uncle. It contends she wouldnt allow her own daughter to be left alone with him, but failed to warn other parents that he was a sex offender who posed danger to their children.

Bradford, 54, a married mother of two who has not been charged with a crime, remains the prosecutor for Arkansas Ninth West Judicial Circuit. She did not respond to messages left by phone, email or at her downtown Glenwood office, where she displays a sign reading, Honest Lawyer.

Erin Cassinelli, an attorney representing Bradford in the civil case, said in an email to NBC News that Bradford isnt doing interviews and is instead focusing on litigating the issues in court. Cassinelli said all of the lawsuits allegations about Bradford are absolutely false, and have not been verified or supported by factual evidence.

Ms. Bradford denies in the most emphatic terms possible that she knew Barry Walker was molesting children or that she did anything whatsoever to conceal his depraved behavior, Casinellis email said. Since Ms. Bradford did not even know about Barry Walkers continuing criminal acts, she certainly cannot be held responsible for his actions and the harm he caused.

Walker did not respond to a letter sent to him in prison. His attorney in the civil case did not return a phone call.

One of Walkers victims, now 22, who is identified in court records as Juvenile 20, said in a recent interview that she was afraid and ashamed to tell anyone about what Walker did to her as a child during playdates and slumber parties at his home. But she added that she believes those around Walker knew  and could have stopped him years earlier.

The people who knew about Barry are equally complicit in what happened to me and all those other girls, said the woman, who spoke with NBC News on condition of anonymity. Every adult that was around, honestly. Nobody did s---. They failed us.

Decades of allegations

In February 1999, Walker was a married Army veteran and ex-Air Force flight surgeon practicing medicine in Fort Smith, Arkansas, when an 8-year-old girl told her mother that Dr. Walker had touched her in ways that made her feel uncomfortable, according to charging papers.

Walker, then 35, and his wife had been over to the home of the girls parents for dinner. At some point during the evening, when he and the girl were alone in a home library, Walker sexually assaulted her, the court records say. The girl later told an investigator Walker also had rubbed her privates on two previous occasions.

A few months after he was charged with two felony counts of child sexual abuse, Walkers wife divorced him. In March 2000, he pleaded no contest and was sentenced to five years in prison. Following his conviction, the state required Walker to register as sex offender and his medical license was revoked.

In 2001, after serving only about 11- months, Walker was paroled early for good behavior, a state Department of Corrections spokesperson said. He returned to live near his hometown of Glenwood, a 2-1/2 hours drive south from Fort Smith into the rolling pastures and ragged pine stands of rural Pike County  three counties away from where hed been convicted.

Before his release, court records from his 2000 criminal case show a state psychologist and counselors had assessed and advised him that, to avoid re-offending, he should refrain from alcohol, attend regular therapy sessions and avoid being alone with children.

But Walker quickly blew off all of those recommendations  and his family members knew it, the victims recent lawsuit says.

Walker initially moved into a house within an enclave of homes along a wooded, gravel road just outside of town, where several of his relatives lived, records and interviews show. He started his own landscaping business about a year later and moved a few miles away, into an isolated rambler surrounded by pastures.

By then, Bradford was several years into her career as a part-time deputy prosecutor in Pike County, with a private practice on the side.

According to the lawsuit, she and other family members regularly saw prepubescent females riding in Barrys truck around Glenwood, riding horses with Barry at the fairgrounds, hanging out at Barrys house and regularly spending the night, but they did nothing to intervene.

During weekly family meetings, Bradford and at least two of Walkers siblings discussed how it was strange how Barry always had young girls around him, despite being a registered sex offender, the lawsuit states.

New claims of sex abuse surfaced against Walker in February 2004, when a 3-year-old girl reported he had abused her, prompting the Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division to open an investigation, a state sex offender assessment report shows.

Six months later, in August 2004, court records show Bradford helped prepare Walkers application to the governor seeking executive clemency for his 2000 child sex abuse conviction. In his application, Walker wrote: I would like a second chance to be a fully productive citizen of this state and practice medicine again in rural Arkansas. The request was later denied by then-Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Over the next several years, Walker ran a landscaping business and then built a construction firm that became a thriving enterprise.

Meanwhile, more allegations surfaced, leading to more investigations. Girls came forward in 2006, 2010 and in 2014, the sex offender assessment report shows.

Based on a 2014 allegation involving the sexual abuse of a 4-year-old girl, Walker was arrested and booked into jail later that year, court and police records show. Bradford and other family members posted his $25,000 bond, hired a lawyer for him, paid his employees and kept his business running, the lawsuit says. The state police division made a referral to charge Walker, but that referral was overturned on administrative appeal, records show.

Why none of the other allegations resulted in charges against Walker isnt fully clear because most of the records are under seal, said Carter, the victims attorney.

Bradford clearly was aware of various reports of sexual abuse against her uncle over the years, Carter said, and argued in the lawsuit. She was actively working to protect her uncle against these claims even while she was a deputy prosecutor, he said.

In response to the 4-year-olds claims in 2014, Bradford sent a letter disputing them to Blake Batson, then the top prosecutor in neighboring Clark County, where her uncle lived. In it, Bradford referred to a private polygraph test she had Walker take, accused the girls parents of concocting the claims and contended that Walker never had been alone with the girl.

Batson didnt charge Walker in 2014.

Now Clark Countys circuit court judge, Batson last year presided over Walkers multiple convictions and sentencing in that county, including his guilty plea to raping the same 4-year-old girl.

During Walkers sentencing hearing in October, the girl, who is now 13, stood to face him in a packed courtroom and read aloud a statement.

You made my whole family turn against me, and think I was lying and imagining all of it, she said. And they trusted all of you people over me. That hurt just as bad as raping me.

Image: Jana Bradford, center, arrives at the Little River County Courthouse in Ashdown, Ark., on May 9. (Shelby Tauber for NBC News)

The falsest claim ever

Two years after Bradford disputed the 4-year-old girls claims to Batson in 2014, Walker, through his business, bought a secluded five-acre plot on a dead-end road, directly across the highway from his familys enclave outside of Glenwood, property records show.

On it, he later built a sprawling warehouse with an attached residence, where he lived.

In 2018, Bradford sought to get Walkers name scrubbed from Arkansas sex offender registry, writing that he met the necessary criteria: It had been more than 15 years since his release from custody, and he wasnt likely to pose a threat to others. In a formal letter accompanying the petition and sent to the prosecutor in Sebastian County, where Walker was convicted in 2000, Bradford identified herself as a deputy prosecuting attorney.

Bradfords contention that Walker wasnt dangerous may well be the falsest claim ever made in a legal filing in the State of Arkansas, the victims lawsuit later said.

In response to Bradfords petition, the state sought to reassess Walker as a sex offender. After Walker failed a state-ordered polygraph in 2019 and a risk assessment administrator took into account the various claims and investigations, she issued a finding that his community notification status should actually be increased.

Bradford blasted the administrators finding in a December 2019 letter. She disputed that any claims were even documented in 2004, and contended each and every one of the other alleged investigations were all unsubstantiated.

Theres not one scintilla of evidence to support increasing the community notification level of Mr. Walker, Bradford added, contending that since his release from custody in 2000, he had been a productive citizen whod supported the economy and provided employment to many persons in the area.

To bolster her argument, Bradford noted that Walker already had passed the private polygraph given to him in 2014 and included a report from the polygraph examiner. It shows he asked Walker only two questions related to touching the girl who had accused him.

A state panel that reviewed the administrators finding at Bradfords request upheld Walkers heightened sex offender status in 2020, records show.

According to Cassinelli, her attorney, the work Bradford performed on Walkers behalf was done in her capacity as a private attorney and included routine matters handled by attorneys for clients in jurisdictions around the country.

There is no basis to suggest she thereby became responsible for the acts of another person, Cassinelli said in her email.

Fallout for Walkers inner-circle

By early May last year, Bradfords mother and an uncle learned from one of her cousins, Brandy Cox, that two more girls had said Walker sexually abused them, according to the lawsuit.

None of them reported the allegations to law enforcement because of the political ramifications reporting Barry would have on Jana Bradfords chances of being elected the prosecuting attorney, according to the lawsuit, which does not allege Bradford was directly involved in those conversations.

About two-and-a-half weeks after Bradford won her nonpartisan race for prosecutor, Cox took the two girls to state police to report their allegations against Walker.

That led investigators to get a search warrant for his home and warehouse, where they discovered a hard drive with the videos and photos, along with a baggie of cocaine and seven firearms, including two fully automatic submachine guns.

Officers found most of the incriminating items in a horse trailer parked outside of Walkers home, a probable cause affidavit states. Walker may have been on high alert for a police search after at least one family member had told him about the girls allegations, said John Jones, a police agent leading the criminal investigation.

Following Walkers arrest, Cox admitted to an investigator that one of the girls had reported to her that Walker had molested her six years earlier, but Cox hadnt acted on those claims, according to a probable cause affidavit for Coxs arrest. Cox added that after telling other family members about the girls latest accusations, Walker had threatened to have her arrested, and offered her a house, $10,000, and other considerations not to go to the police, the affidavit said.

Nonetheless, Cox agreed to keep allowing the two girls to stay overnight alone with Walker, the affidavit says.

In December, Cox was charged with felony permitting sex abuse of a child. Cox did not respond to messages seeking comment for this article.

Barry Walkers brother, Bryce Walker, who as an employee of a school district is required to report suspected child abuse, also was charged in March with misdemeanor failure to report, court records show.

Bryce Walkers criminal defense attorney, Shelly Hogan Koehler, said her client is innocent and added, We look forward to our day in court to be able to prove that.

Investigators also arrested Barry Walkers ex-girlfriend and employee, Lori Cogburn.

According to a probable cause affidavit in Cogburns case, the 4-year-old girl told investigators in 2014 that Cogburn had walked in on Barry Walker sexually assaulting her. Cogburn didnt report that to authorities and soon allowed another girl to spend nights alone with Walker, the affidavit states.

Cogburns attorney, Michael M. Harrison, said in an email that Cogburn categorically denies the criminal and civil allegations against her as baseless and patently false.

She had no knowledge of Mr. Walkers criminal actions with regard to the abused minors, Harrisons email said, adding that Cogburn would not have allowed any child to have been placed in a position of harm by him, or anyone else.

Bradfords mother, Joyce Perser, who has not been charged with a crime but is named in the victims lawsuit, also didnt respond to requests for comment.

Persers lawyer, Jeffrey Elliott, referred to a motion to dismiss her as a defendant, contending the lawsuit doesnt provide evidence to support the allegations against her and misplaces blame on Walkers family members.

If law enforcement did not foresee the continued behavior of Walker, how can a duty be imposed on Joyce Perser, the motion states.

Image: Barry Walker, left, rides horses through Glenwood, Ark. with young girls. (Courtesy Howard Green)

The most prolific opportunist

Investigators believe Walker has many more victims beyond the 31 children he admitted to sexually assaulting. He has lived in several other parts of Arkansas and attended military training or resided in at least three other states.

Barry Walker is going to be the most prolific opportunist as far as any rapist goes in the country when its all said and done, said Jones, adding that a criminal investigation remains very much open.

At least six of the victims captured on video have yet to be identified, according to Clark County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Turner . He said several of the victims were sedated when Walker assaulted them and didnt know theyd been raped until investigators contacted them.

How do you go tell a 28-year-old that she was raped when she was 12? Turner asked, when discussing the task that faced investigators. And, that we know you were raped because weve got a video, you just dont know it because you were unconscious.

Even though Walker, and Bradford advocating on his behalf, had purported for years that he hadnt reoffended, evidence shows that Walker didnt stop raping girls following his initial arrest in Fort Smith in 1999. And he'd offended even earlier, records show. One of Walkers convictions last year involved a girl whose rape was recorded on VHS cassette in 1997.

Turner  the special prosecutor assigned to oversee all cases related to Walker, including those in Bradfords district due to her conflicts  told NBC that as far as he can tell, police took the sex abuse claims that cropped up in the years before Walkers arrest seriously, but some just couldnt be shored up with evidence.

Walker ultimately was convicted of abusing four girls whose claims from 2004 through 2014 were deemed unsubstantiated at the time, based on the videos found last year, Turner said.

Walker was a smart, sophisticated and at times charming manipulator, Jones added.

He was a flight surgeon who passed medical school and ran several successful businesses, he said. No one should underestimate his intelligence.

After Walkers arrest, Jones said that Walker told him he was able to pass the private polygraph in 2014 involving the 4-year-old because the examiner asked the wrong questions.

Since Walkers convictions, local press coverage, including a bevy of revelations in a state political blog called the Blue Hog Report, has kept an intense spotlight on Bradford as her hometown has grappled with the scandal.

A prosecutor is required to report crimes against children, said Howard Buddy Green, who has lived most of his 63 years in Glenwood, a town of 2,200 residents where he says everyone knows everyone.

Green speculated that in my opinion, she was trying to take care of a family member and thought she had enough power to make it happen.

Green, who said Bradford should be removed from office, is among some locals who said theyve given statements in recent months to the FBI or state attorney generals office about Bradford. Others say theyve separately filed complaints with the Arkansas Judiciarys Committee on Professional Conduct, contending she filed false and misleading legal records about Walker or inappropriately advocated on his behalf. Neither agency would confirm whether it was investigating.

Bradfords attorney, who is a member of the state judiciarys ethics panel, noted anybody may file a grievance with the committee. But Bradford has never been disciplined and doesnt face any pending actions, she said.

Ms. Bradford has not violated any of her ethical duties, and any insinuation that Ms. Bradford is facing disciplinary action by the ethics committee is false, she said.

Cassinelli also noted in the email that Bradford has deep sympathy for Barry Walkers victims, and contends that, like others in her community, she was horrified to learn of (his) depraved acts against children.

Juvenile No. 20, who is now 22 years old, said she only learned she was raped last year after reading about Walkers arrest and contacting an investigator, who told her she was depicted in the cache of videos and photos seized from his home.

The woman now hopes ongoing scrutiny into how Walker became one of Arkansas most prolific pedophiles will finally embolden others who kept silent for years to step into the light and hold all of his enablers to account.

If theres other girls, I think they need to come forward, she said. Its safe now.

CORRECTION: (May 13, 2023, 12:57 p.m. ET) A previous version of this article had the wrong middle initial for an attorney. His name is Michael M. Harrison, not Michael W. Harrison.
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A Texas bill that bans gender-affirming health care for transgender children is a step closer to Texas Gov. Greg Abbotts desk after hours of floor debate on Friday.

Many Democrats pushed back against the legislation that they said is dangerous for transgender kids in the state, as mostly Republicans pressed forward with the legislation supporters say is needed to keep children and teens from being harmed.

The bill passed on Friday, but is subject to one more vote in the House before heading back to the Senate for approval as an amendment. If the change is approved, the bill heads Abbott.

The legislation would prohibit doctors from providing gender-affirming health care, including surgery and the prescription of puberty blockers, to a person under 18. A doctor who violates the rule would have their medicine license revoked. Public money couldnt go to facilities or doctors that provide the transition-related care.

Minors who prior to June 1 were taking prescription drugs that suppress puberty and had gone to therapy at least 12 times over the course of six months would be weaned off the prescription in a way thats safe and medically appropriate, according to the bill.

Rep. Tom Oliverson, a Cypress Republican who is anesthesiologist and carrying the bill in the House, told lawmakers that gender dysphoria is a mental health condition and treatment should be focused on mental health care. He likened it to anorexia, which elicited groans from some watching the debate from the House gallery.

I dont mean that flippantly, he said. What I mean is, that anorexia is also a distorted perception of body image, where a patient sees themself differently and feels uncomfortable when they look in the mirror.

The American Psychiatric Association describes gender dysphoria as distress that results from an incongruence between ones sex assigned at birth and ones gender identity, which may be experienced by some people who are transgender.

This does not ban all treatments for this mental health condition, gender dysphoria, Oliverson said. It actually redirects patients, parents and providers to scientifically proven methods that have been around for a long time  counseling, psychotherapy. We dont treat mental health disorders with surgery. We treat mental health disorders with mental health treatments.

Democrats filed amendment after amendment  18 total  to change the legislation, but each was voted down.

One would have invalidated the bill altogether. Another would have excluded emancipated minors from those unable to access the health care. Another would have made it so the bill expires on Sept. 1, 2026, which the amendment author said would allow lawmakers revisit the law as medicine evolves.

An amendment would have allowed transition-related care when at least two doctors or mental health care providers determines its needed to prevent severe physical, emotional or psychological harm. Another would have studied the suicide rate of children affected by the law.

The bill was amended to let sections of the proposal remain in effect if another part is found invalid.

Rep. Donna Howard, an Austin Democrat, noted that the Pediatric Endocrine Society opposes bills that harm transgender youth. The society in a 2021 statement, when similar bills were in legislatures across the country including Texas, recommended an affirmative model of care that supports ones gender identity that includes both mental health care and puberty suppression on a case-by-case basis.

The care has been demonstrated to improve the psychological health and well being of transgender youth, the group said.

These prescriptions that were talking about are still available to children with other medical conditions, said Rep. Mary Gonzalez, an El Paso Democrat. Were banning health care for one group of people, and we have to ask ourselves why. There is so much misinformation. So much politicization, and honestly, sadly, discrimination happening against transgender people, and specifically transgender youth.

Rep. Tony Tinderholt, an Arlington Republican, called transition-related care child abuse.

I just think its despicable, and I cannot believe that anyone in this room wants to do harm, physical harm, to children, he said.

Some onlookers in the gallery cheered.

Rep. Shawn Thierry, a Houston Democrat, said she has researched the issue extensively, and after listening to the debate is convinced the age should be 18 for people to receive transition-related care.

I am making a decision to place the safety of all young people over the comfort of political expediency, she said, continuing that lawmakers should be consistent in giving children special conditions under the law as they cannot really appreciate the long term consequences of their actions.

Friday morning, ahead of the debate, advocates for LGBTQ rights packed the stairs outside the House chamber in the Texas Capitol as Democratic House lawmakers took turns reading letters from transgender children and their family members.

They shared the words a child who feared having to leave Texas and the testimony of a 12-year-old boy who wondered why there are more stories in the news about lawmakers in Austin trying to pass laws targeting transgender kids than there are about about kids being killed by guns.

I am here as a young trans adult, as a college student, because I had access to life-saving, life-giving care as a trans youth, said Landon Richie, a policy associate with the Transgender Education Network of Texas.
Bobi, the world's oldest dog, is turning 31 this week.

A purebred Rafeiro do Alentejo, Bobi lives with his owner Leonel Costa, 38, and his family in the rural village of Conqueiros, in Leiria, Portugal, according to Guinness World Records.

Bobi, who eats only human food and loves a good nap, will celebrate his birthday in style with a blowout bash on Saturday that will feature more than 100 guests, some of whom are flying in internationally for the occasion.

PORTUGAL-ANIMAL-GUINNESS-AGE-RECORD (Patricia De Melo Moreira / AFP via Getty Images)

Bobis party will be a very traditional Portuguese party, Costa told Guinness World Records. Local meats and fish will be served with extra helpings, of course, for the birthday boy.

A dance troupe is also set to perform, and Bobi will participate in one of the dances.

Bobi is not only the oldest living dog in the world, hes the oldest living dog ever. Guinness World Records honored him with both titles in February.

Weve had a lot of journalists and people come from all over the world to take a picture with Bobi, said Costa.

PORTUGAL-ANIMAL-GUINNESS-AGE-RECORD (Patricia De Melo Moreira / AFP via Getty Images)

Bobis birth date, May 11, 1992, was confirmed by Servico Medico-Veterinario do Municipio de Leiria (Veterinary Medical Service of the Municipality of Leiria), who registered Bobi in 1992.

His age was also verified by SIAC, a pet database authorized by the Portuguese government and managed by the SNMV (Sindicato Nacional dos Medicos Veterinarios; National Union of Veterinarians).

Costa, who has lived with and cared for Bobi since he was 8, said Bobi is in good health, although he noted that he recently took Bobi to the vet because he was concerned that Bobi's fame was causing him physical and mental stress.

There were a lot of pictures taken and he had to get up and down many times. It wasnt easy for him, said Cosa.

His health was a little damaged, but now its better," he added.

Several of Costa's dogs have live long lives, including Bobis mother, Gira, who lived until 18. But even Costa never could have imagined that a dog of his would reach his 30s.

If Bobi spoke only he could explain this, said Costa.

Costa credits Bobi's lifestyle, which includes a calm, peaceful environment," for his longevity. A "very sociable" dog, Bobi has always been allowed to roam the forests surrounding Costa's home and has never been chained or leashed. Although these days, Bobi, who has difficulty walking and whose eyesight is declining, prefers to stay in the family's yard.

Like many old timers, Bobi relishes his rest, particularly after a good meal. On cold day, he naps by the fire.

Costa said that living with Bobi for all these years helps him to remember loved ones who are gone.

Bobi is special because looking at him is like remembering the people who were part of our family and unfortunately are no longer here, like my father, my brother, or my grandparents who have already left this world," he said.

Bobi represents those generations.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com


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It is the end of the road for one NASA mission.

The space agency recently called for the cessation of its Lunar Flashlight mission despite its technological successes due to its failure to generate enough thrust to enter lunar orbit.

The mission launched on Dec. 11, 2022, atop the same SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that delivered Japan's failed Hakuto-R lander into space, where it would undergo the second leg of its journey to reach the Moon, per Space.com.

NASA Lunar Flashlight Mission Termination Details

NASA mentioned in its latest blog post that the Lunar Flashlight mission was part of the tech demos it had launched in 2022; this one involved sending a briefcase-size CubeSat equipped with a one-of-a-kind miniaturized propulsion system to reach the lunar South Pole to find ice there.

Unfortunately, the CubeSat experienced thruster issues that prompted months of troubleshooting efforts by the mission's operations team. Despite their efforts, though, its one-of-a-kind propulsion system that uses green fuel was still unable to produce the necessary thrust to enter the Moon's orbit, with the space agency citing debris buildup in the thruster fuel lines as the issue's cause.

Lunar Flashlight's operation team speculated that the propulsion system's additively manufactured fuel feed system likely developed the debris, made of metal powder and shavings, and obstructed fuel flow to the thrusters, limiting its performance.

Read More: YouTuber Influencer Admits to Crashing Plane for Views

While the team calculated a new orbit that was reachable with the CubeSat's limited potential thrust and even attempted to dislodge the built-up debris, the team couldn't accomplish the required trajectory correction in time.

As such, NASA had no choice but to terminate the mission. Barbara Cohen, the mission's principal investigator at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said that while it is disappointing for the science and Lunar Flashlight teams that they wouldn't use the laser reflectometer on the CubeSat to measure the Moon, they did collect plenty of in-flight performance data on the instrument that will be incredibly valuable to future iterations.

The CubeSdat has since traveled past the Moon and is moving to pass by Earth and enter deep space to orbit the Sun.

Lunar Flashlight's Technological Successes

NASA did admit that the Lunar Flashlight achieved technological successes that helped it learn more about space.

For instance, the one-of-a-kind propulsion system it had exceeded performance expectations. Its never-before-flown Sphinx flight computer also achieved the same. It is a low-power computer developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California capable enough to withstand the radiation of deep space.

Lastly, NASA also took note of the Lunar Flashlight's radio, which features a new precision navigation capability that NASA could outfit future small spacecraft to rendezvous and land on solar system bodies.

Christopher Baker, program executive for Small Spacecraft Technology in the Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said that the Lunar Flashlight CubeSat was highly successful if it's considered as a "testbed" for new systems that NASA could use for future missions.

Related Article: Japan Loses Contact With Moon Lander, Fails Landing
Today's headlines : University research reveals a quarter of young people in Hong Kong today suffer from mental disorders; A new global plan for vaccines to developing countries will be discussed at the G7 in Hiroshima; Papua New Guinea foreign minister resigns over controversy over expenses of trip to London for King Charles' coronation; First Russian Orthodox prayer book in Malagasy language.

MYANMAR-BANGLADESH

There is alarm over the expected arrival of Cyclone Mocha, which is expected to touch the area between Myanmar and Bangladesh tomorrow with winds of up to 175 km per hour. It is expected to cross the coast between Sittwe in northwestern Rakhine state in Myanmar and Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh. Concern is high especially over the likely impact on already vulnerable and displaced Rohingya communities. According to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Unocha) there are more than 230,000 people living in camps for displaced people "in low-lying coastal areas that could be particularly affected."

HONG KONG

According to research conducted by Hong Kong University, up to a quarter of young people in Hong Kong suffered from probable mental disorders between 2019 and now, with depression being the most prevalent disorder. Nearly one-fifth of respondents told researchers that they had had suicidal thoughts in the past 12 months, while 5 percent and 1.5 percent planned to end their lives or attempted to do so. When asked about the impact of the political situation and Covid-19 on young people's mental health, researcher Stephanie Wong said that social phenomena and current events may not be the main stressor, but are in addition to other important factors, such as the future and family relationships.

JAPAN

At the G7 Hiroshima summit-scheduled for next week-the establishment of a new program to distribute vaccines to developing countries will be discussed. This was revealed by the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri. The new program aims to establish a fund for the production and purchase of vaccines, the establishment of low-temperature storage warehouses, and the training of health workers to prepare for a possible new global pandemic.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Papua New Guinea Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko has resigned over controversy over expenses incurred for his country's official delegation-a member of the Commonwealth-to the coronation of King Charles III. Triggering the case had been a video posted by his daughter Savannah on TikTok in which she shows flying first class and shopping in Singapore. According to the local Post-Courier newspaper, Tkatchenko and his daughter were criticized for traveling with at least 10 officials to attend King Charles' coronation at a cost of more than 820,000 euros.

SYRIA

The United Nations has asked the Syrian government to extend the opening of two crossing points for the delivery of post-earthquake aid to areas controlled by opposition forces in the 12-year civil war. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had agreed to open the Bab Al-Salam and Al Ra'ee crossings for three months starting Feb. 13, a week after the earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people in Turkey and Syria. According to some observers, however, the extension appears unlikely.

BELARUS

Questions are growing in Belarus about the health of Belarusian President Lukashenko. Since falling ill in Moscow at the May 9 parade, in which he could not even walk 300 meters, he has not reappeared in public, without speaking in Minsk to cheer Victory for the first time in 29 years in power.

RUSSIA-AFRICA

The Moscow Patriarchate's Exarchate for Africa announced the publication of the first Orthodox prayer book in the Malagasy language of Madagascar, the work of priest Makarij Ratudzunantenaina, who received a special license in Moscow. Texts in other languages, such as Swahili, Kirundi and Nigerian Tiv, will soon be available.
by Nirmala Carvalho

Heavily defeated in the vote for the local Legislative Assembly by PM Modi's Hindu nationalists who won a majority five years ago. Voters rejected the identity ideology pursued through the anti-conversion law and the law against "love jihad." Bangalore Archbishop Machado: "Now a government that really serves the people in a secular way."

Bangalore (AsiaNews) - The Congress Party has regained a majority in local elections in Karnataka, the southern Indian state where Bangalore is located. This is a setback for the BJP, the Hindu nationalist party of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which had won a relative majority in the previous elections in 2018, ruling at the head of a coalition for much of the legislature.

Counting is still ongoing but the Congress Party in projections is given over 130 seats, well above the 113-seat threshold needed to have an absolute majority in the Assembly. The BJP is expected to stop below 70 seats, a conspicuous retreat from the 104 it gained five years ago. Rahoul Gandhi's party thus regains local governance in one of its strongholds one year before India's crucial general elections next year in which Modi will seek his third consecutive term.

The outcome of the vote in Karnataka is also significant because it touches on an Indian state where the BJP has ridden strongly on the identity theme of religious divisions in recent years. Last year, the local government had passed the toughest of anti-conversion laws, causing an uproar among local Christian communities. At the same time, local government chief B.S. Yediyurappa had pursued an anti-Islamic campaign against "love jihad," specifically targeting religious conversions by reason of marriage. Today's vote also appears to be a defeat of these identity politics against minority groups: indeed, early indicators show that many Hindus have also turned their backs on the BJP.

"The results of the elections in Karnataka," Sajan K George, president of the Bangalore-based Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), comments to AsiaNews, "are the reaction of the people to the hate mongers and improprieties of constitutional bodies at the cost of the lives of ordinary people in India and democratic values. With the targeted attacks on Christians by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in the last election campaign, the BJP silently shifted the political narrative away from the vikas-the mantra of 'development'-that had attracted voters in the 2014 national election victory."

"Modi has held more than 20 rallies in Karnataka, in his election meetings the BJP leadership has said that any action against the Bajrang Dal amounts to an insult to the deity of Hanuman. But in the eyes of the poor, the momentum of politicizing the religion has now worn off. Instead, the Congress Party has tried to keep the narrative on local issues, including rising prices, unemployment and corruption under the BJP government. We pray that the new government will uphold constitutional guarantees and defend religious freedom and human rights in Karnataka."

Archbishop of Bangalore Peter Machado told AsiaNews, "We were ready to accept any result, we respect all governments that are elected, but since the Congress got a majority, we say this is God's will today. We pray that he will properly serve the people of Karnataka and govern in a secular way."
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Chinese vice premier stresses importance of developing agricultural technology

Xinhua) 10:24, May 13, 2023

NANJING, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong has called for efforts to boost self-reliance and accelerate breakthroughs in agricultural technology to ensure China's food security.

Liu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during a recent inspection tour in east China's Jiangsu Province.

While visiting research institutions, universities and businesses, Liu said that technological innovation plays a key role in agricultural modernization, and the country must focus on unclogging bottlenecks in the development of agricultural technology.

The country should pool resources for technological innovation, ramp up talent cultivation, and coordinate the development of production, education and research, Liu said.

The development of agricultural technology must be industry-oriented and help ensure the adequate supply of grain and major farm products, the vice premier said.

Agricultural technologies need to meet the diversified demand for development across all agricultural sectors, Liu added.

During his tour, Liu was briefed on the growth of winter wheat and called for solid efforts to secure a bumper summer harvest.

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Wu Chaolan)
Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman pose for a photo during their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, June 7, 2022. AP-Yonhap



The top U.S. diplomat expressed his gratitude to outgoing Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, Friday, also praising the first female deputy secretary of state for having deepened U.S. relations with key allies including South Korea and Japan.



Secretary of State Antony Blinken also noted Sherman had broken barriers at the department as the first female deputy secretary.



"Wendy has helped lead our engagement in the Indo-Pacific, the region where the history of the 21st century will be written," Blinken said in a statement.



"She has deepened our bonds with our friends around the world, especially with the Republic of Korea, Japan and the European Union," he added, referring to South Korea by its official name.



Sherman's departure comes about two weeks after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol made a state visit to the U.S.



During his six-day trip here, Yoon and U.S. President Joe Biden reached a historic agreement, dubbed the Washington Declaration, to increase the visibility of U.S. strategic assets in and around the Korean Peninsula, which they said will effectively upgrade the countries' 70-year-old Mutual Defense Treaty.



"Wendy broke barriers as our first female under-secretary of state for political affairs and our first female deputy secretary of state," Blinken said of Sherman.



"Her remarkable career  which spans more than three decades, three presidents, and five secretaries of state  addressed some of the toughest foreign policy challenges of our time. Our nation is safer and more secure, and our partnerships more robust, due to her leadership," he added. (Yonhap)


PHEV

ICE

Founded by Ferruccio Lamborghini back in 1963, the Volkswagen Group-owned outfit is no stranger to hybridized powertrains. Remember the Asterion plug-in hybrid V10 concept from the 2014 Paris Motor Show? How about the Aventador-based Sian FKP 37 hybrid supercar, which stores energy in a supercapacitor instead of a lithium-ion battery?Ferrari's worst nightmare stepped up its game in March 2023 with the unveiling of the Revuelto , the plug-in hybrid V12 replacement for the Aventador. Not only does it feature a whopping three drive units, but also shames the SF90 series with 1,001 horsepower compared to 986 electrified ponies.The Huracan  which is Lamborghini 's most commercially successful mid-engine production vehicle (the 20,000th example was built in April 2022)  is also getting an electrified successor. But as opposed to the naturally-aspirated Huracan and Aventador, the newcomer will embrace a twin-turbocharged V8 engine. It's reportedly good for 10,000 revolutions per minute, and the spinny lads allegedly kick in at 7,000 rpm.A different engine from the Audi-Porsche unit of the Urus , therefore. Speaking of which, the sport utility vehicle can't escape hybridization either. But as opposed to the V6-powered Bentley Bentayga Hybrid and Flying Spur Hybrid, the Raging Bull of Sant'Agata Bolognese employs a V8 in the hybridized Urus. Expected to premiere in the second half of 2023 for the 2024 model year, a near-production Urushas been recently spotted just outside Lamborghini's factory in Italy.The prototype in question shows redesigned headlights, taillights, and a charging port door on the driver-side rear fender. The carparazzo who filmed it also spotted a second prototype on the very same day, leaving the factory to muted yet burbly sound of a twin-turbocharged V8 engine. Codenamed EA839, said lump cranks out 657 horsepower at 6,000 revolutions per minute and 627 pound-feet (850 Nm) at 2,300 through 4,500 revolutions per minute in the-only Urus S. Based on the sounds made while upshifting, we're also dealing with the very same ZF-supplied automatic of the Urus S and Performante.Around 700 ponies on full song from the Urus PHEV  or whatever it will be called  is a certainty. At the present moment, Zuffenhausen's Porsche makes the most powerful plug-in hybrid V8 automobile of the Volkswagen Group. That car is the Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid, which rocks 690 horsepower at 5,750 revolutions per minute and 642 pound-feet (870 Nm) between 2,000 and 4,500 spinnies. The Urus PHEV is expected to replace both the Urus S and Performante in Europe as the 27 member states and previous EU member United Kingdom prepare for July 2025's Euro 7 regulations.
Photo: Koenigsegg

kW

ESP

Over the last few decades, several wealthy people wanted to create their own supercar/hypercar companies, and most failed spectacularly. But not Koenigsegg (or Pagani, for that matter), which is synonymous with neck-snapping performance. The Swedish auto marque was founded in 1994 by Christian von Koenigsegg , is based in Angelholm, and operates worldwide. In other words, pay the money, tell them where you want your blue-blooded beast shipped, and they will take care of everything.Koenigsegg has three models in its current (and upcoming) portfolio: the CC850, Gemera, and Jesko, which build on the legacy of some of their previous exotics, like the Regera, Agera, One:1, CCR, and CCX. A true rival to the Bugatti Chiron, the Koenigsegg Jesko was introduced at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show (the good old days!). In plain hypercar fashion, all units were sold out before the event ended. Only 125 will ever be made, and assembly kicked off in 2021. It's unknown how many are still up for grabs, though 40 to 50 are being made each year. If you wanted your very own, then you have come to the right place, as we stumbled upon a build slot.Between us, it's not the first time we are covering this exact build slot, as we first wrote about it last summer. However, in the meantime, no one decided to blow the jaw-dropping amount of Benjamins on it. The same German used car dealer is behind the ad, and they're asking 4,284,000, including tax, for the Jesko that's said to become available twelve months after placing the order. That's $4,685,455 at today's exchange rates, or pretty much Bugatti Chiron territory. You could land a whole bunch of supercars for that kind of money. Any petrolhead would quench their power thirst for life on a $4.7-million budget, though the Jesko is not your run-of-the-mill model.First of all, it boasts a whopping 1,280 hp (1,298 ps/955) at 7,800 rpm from its twin-turbocharged 5.0-liter V8 engine placed in the middle. The unit's thrust is rated at 738 lb-ft (1,000 Nm), and it is available from 2,700 to 6,170 rpm. Mind you, these numbers are available on pump gas, but if you put E85 in the 19-gallon (72-liter) tank, then it will kick out a staggering 1,600 hp (1,623 ps/1,195 kW) and 1,106 lb-ft (1,500 Nm). Mated to a nine-speed automatic transmission and rear-wheel drive, the engine can be revved up to 8,500 rpm. The car's top speed has yet to be tested, but it is estimated that it can do over 310 mph (500 kph). Needless to say there are not that many places on our planet where one can max it out legally and safely.Tipping the scales at 2,910 lbs (1,320 kg) dry, the Koenigsegg Jesko measures 187.4 inches (4,760 mm) from bumper to bumper. It is 80 inches (2,030 mm) wide and 47.6 inches (1,210 mm) tall. It features a carbon fiber monocoque with an aluminum honeycomb and integrated gasoline tanks. The model has a removable hardtop that will have to be left at home, as there is no place to store it, room for two, and rear-wheel steering. The clever suspension set-up, rack and pinion power-assisted steering, carbon ceramic brakes, and others help it improve its performance on the racetrack. It has three settings for theand comes with 9.5x20-inch front and 12x21-inch rear wheels. These feature center locking can be optionally shod in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires for extra grip.Some of the equipment listed by Koenigsegg on its official website includes four airbags, adjustable steering column and pedals, leather or Alcantara upholstery with contrast stitching, Apple CarPlay, wireless smartphone charging pad, audio system, climate control, G sensor, bird's eye view parking assistance with front and rear sensors, reversing camera, hydraulic front and rear lift system, alarm, and digital owner's book. The equipment level featured on the said build slot, advertised here , is unknown. Still, interested parties are advised to double-check with the Swedish hypercar maker and to sign the papers in the presence of a lawyer. After all, it does cost a lot, and it's better to be safe than sorry. But would you blow that sum on a Koenigsegg Jesko build slot, or would you opt for something different? Let us know your answer by dropping a line in the comments area.
Android Automotive, Google says, will be available in twice as many cars by the end of this year, whereas Android Auto will soon hit the 200 million vehicle milestone In other words, the search giant's automotive strategy is working like a charm, so it continues to be fully committed to improving the experience on all fronts.One of Google's main focuses lately has been working with developers on bringing their apps to Android Auto. After WeatherRadar debuted on the platform in February, bringing a fully featured weather forecast to the dashboard, another big competitor is preparing to follow in its footsteps.The Weather Channel will soon update its Android app with support for Android Auto, Google confirmed at I/O. The company has remained tight-lipped on when this highly anticipated debut will occur and what will bring new to the table.Most likely, The Weather Channel will go live on Android Auto by the end of the summer, but the timing can change if something doesnt work as planned. As for the feature lineup, we should expect an experience similar to WeatherRadar The full weather application tracks your location and provides the weather forecast, temperature, and conditions wherever you are. Additionally, users can also access the radar and check the forecast for a location they plan to drive to with Android Auto on the screen.The Weather Channel isn't the only big app confirmed to come to Android Auto at I/O. Google has also revealed that it's working with Zoom and Cisco to bring their video-conferencing software to Android Auto. These apps will offer options to make audio calls and join meetings, with video to be blocked for obvious reasons. Users who'll want to also broadcast video will have to pull over and use their mobile devices for an upgraded experience.In the meantime, Android Auto keeps opening its doors to more app categories, including IoT software . Google encourages developers to update their smart home applications with Android Auto support, giving drivers the power to control their devices remotely from the dashboard. It's not hard to imagine how this would come in very handy.With access to smart devices from the screen in the cabin, drivers can open and close their garage doors without unlocking their smartphones. The same for alarm systems, cameras, and so on, as a smart home companion app could provide one-tap access to all connected devices right from the car.While so many big apps are already on their way to Android Auto, Google has so far remained tight-lipped on their launch dates, so users should better not hold their breaths for these debuts just yet.
Previously in charge of quality assurance, Atsushi Osaki further confirmed that in-house production of electric vehicles will start in 2025 at the Yajima plant in Japan. The Tokyo-born executive also told shareholders that a dedicated electric vehicle production line will be set up at the Oizumi plant in 2027. All in all, total production capacity is projected at 400,000 automobiles per year.Batteries will be procured through Subaru's very solid alliance with Toyota Motor Corporation. The larger automaker is currently working on solid-state batteries for BEVs, although it's too early to tell if Subaru's upcoming electric SUVs will leverage this technology.Scheduled to switch to his new role as chief executive officer in June 2023, the veteran executive assured investors that all three new models would be detailed at another time. The big question is, how many of those three are Toyota-designed electric vehicles? Even more importantly, how dependent is Subaru on Toyota for electric vehicle technology? As of May 2023, we don't really know and can't make an educated guess either.Whatever the zero-emission future may hold for Subaru, two particularities need to be addressed. Remember the abysmally bad rollout of the bZ4X and Solterra? Quite a few of them had to be recalled over improperly tightened hub bolts. Worse still, bZ4X owners were further presented with the choice of a full buyback In addition to quality  which is funny given Atsushi's previous role as chief quality officer  Subaru also needs to make sure that its upcoming three electric SUVs are competitive. The bZ4X and  by extension  the Solterra leave much to be desired against their segment rivals.From the generic styling to the poor driving range and frustrating infotainment system, there's a lot that needs to be addressed if Subaru wants to sell 200,000 electric vehicles globally per year. The United States of America remains the automaker's biggest market, with Japan coming on a distant second. Japanese customers have different needs from their American counterparts, but the Japanese company has to understand that catering to the US market will be more profitable in the long run.That's not saying to ignore the JDM completely, quite the contrary. Subaru, like every other Japanese automaker, is full of people in leading positions who are deplorably out of touch with what customers from outside Japan want from a brand-new car. Innovative in many respects  including the automaker's pioneering just-in-time production system  Toyota still is conservative in lots of ways.The same applies to Subaru , a much smaller automaker with a much smaller research & development budget. That said, both of them have to get out of their comfort zones in order to prevail in the increasingly competitive electric vehicle space.
Photo: Ray Johnson

Photo: Bob Atkins

Photo: Public domain

BEV

Photo: Jason Hughes

Photo: via TMC

Photo: Bob Atkins

Photo: Bob Atkins

According to the complaint, "Tesla knowingly and intentionally exceeded its authorized access to the Class Vehicles. Plaintiffs and other putative Class members did not consent to Tesla's manipulation of the software controlling the batteries in the Class Vehicles, including consenting to updates that would harm the performance of their vehicles, nor did Plaintiffs consent to Tesla lowering the batteries' performance capacity or, in some cases, rendering the battery inoperable." This starts to give you a glimpse of the bag of cats that this lawsuit is.First of all, it does not refer solely to the BMS_u029 error message. The complaint gathers four plaintiffs: David Bui-Ford, Igor Kravchenko, Micah Siegal, and Lucas Butler. Only Bui-Ford had the error message for sure in his 2013 Tesla Model S P85+. Butler had an OTA update in his car that made it brick. After he towed it to a Tesla Service Center, he was told that his 2013 Model S P85+ battery pack was dead. Yes, Bui-Ford and Butler had the same Model S derivative, made in the same year. Butler would have to pay "$20,798.56 to replace the battery and component parts," but the lawsuit does not clarify if BMS_u029 was involved.The other two plaintiffs were just complaining about an excessive daily battery charge drain in Kravchenko's case (8% instead of the usual 1% to 2% when he bought his 2021 Model S) and "a modest drop in the stated/estimated capacity of the battery" for Siegal, who owns "a used Tesla Model S ." The complaint does not specify which.What connects all these diverse cases is the thesis that Tesla "deliberately and significantly" interfered "with the car's performance through software updates that reduce the operating capacity of the vehicles." This is why the lawsuit argues that Tesla hurt California's Computer Data Access and Fraud Act and California's Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The complaint elaborates on that on page 22.According to the lawyers, "the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act ("CFAA") establishes a private cause of action against a person who 'knowingly accessed a computer without authorization or exceeding authorized access,' and whose prohibited access results in damage or loss in excess of $5,000 in any one-year period. 18 U.S.C.  1030(a)(4)." As you have already seen, the attorneys argue that Tesla "exceeded its authorized access to the Class Vehicles." However, it is the following allegation that makes the comparison between Tesla and a hacker more clear.The complaint proceeds by stating that "the CFAA also establishes liability against whomever: 'knowingly causes the transmission of a program, information, code or command, and as a result of such conduct, intentionally causes damage without authorization to a protected computer' ( 1030(a)(5)(A)); 'intentionally accesses a protected computer without authorization, and as a result of such conduct, recklessly causes damage' ( 1030(a)(5)(B)); or 'intentionally accesses a protected computer without authorization, and as a result of such conduct, causes damage and loss' ( 1030(a)(5)(C))."The lawsuit cites another class action as proof that Tesla has been doing so: the one that challenged themaker after it capped the cell voltage of hundreds of Model S and Model X units. It states that "Tesla did not even bother to challenge the allegations: the parties moved almost immediately to settlement discussions." Although I have no access to how that class action unfolded in court, I can say that it was filed on August 7, 2019, and settled on July 29, 2021. These almost two years were enough for the warranty of several vehicles to expire  and they were far from immediate. Did Tesla and the plaintiffs indeed take two years just to discuss the settlement? It would be weird if that were really the case.Although a jury may eventually decide that Tesla's OTA updates had predatory behavior, framing them that way could represent a major blow. After all, Tesla uses these updates as a marketing argument, and its most loyal customers frequently brag about how their "computers on wheels" are much better than any car. A simple look at the class action these attorneys used as an example would have helped them frame the whole thing in a more convincing way. The voltage cap lawsuit accused Tesla of concealing design flaws with OTA updates, not of damaging vehicles on purpose just because  which makes no sense.These attorneys could also have talked with a real hacker like Jason Hughes. The Tesla Hacker publicly protested against the BEV maker for remotely modifying his Model S so that it would not fast charge anywhere. Tesla just argued that this was a safety measure without elaborating. At the same time, Hughes could have told them that the error messages only emerge when the battery packs really present a massive failure. The weird part is having so many of these messages appearing at the same time.In fact, the complaint uses a company that performs error resets as an example. According to the lawsuit, a Hybrid ReVolt sales contract would have stated that the battery pack did not have any underlying issue that could justify the message (the bolds are on me):, in roughly August of 2022, Tesla vehicles received a software update that could trigger a BMS_[u]029 error, which resulted in the vehicle being unable to fully charge.Thus it is unclear as to why the BMS_u029 error is being triggered. Tesla's solution is to replace the entire traction pack at a great expense."I have tried contacting Hybrid ReVolt to learn more about this case but have not heard from it yet. Other companies, such as 057 Technology and ReCell, condemn resetting error messages because this would be just a dangerous way to deceive prospective buyers into buying a Tesla with a defective battery pack. Hughes pledged to help customers eventually fooled by this practice.A good argument the lawsuit makes is that Tesla repeatedly said the battery pack was supposed to "outlast the vehicles themselves." I have recently discussed the same thing, disclosed in the Tesla Impact Report 2022 , but previous versions of the document since 2019 have stated that Tesla's "batteries are designed to function for the entire life of the vehicle." They also said that the BEV maker estimated "that a vehicle gets scrapped after approximately 200,000 miles of usage in the US and roughly 150,000 miles in Europe." The 2014 Model S 85 that Bob Atkin's mother-in-law purchased new had only a bit more than 43,000 miles when the BMS_u029 error determined its battery pack was toast.If this lawsuit is granted class-action status, its discovery phase should bring up everything the voltage cap lawsuit settlement prevented the public from knowing. The attorneys said it should help to answer these "common questions of law and fact:""a. Whether Tesla engaged in the conduct alleged herein;b. Whether Tesla knew about the effect of software updates on battery performance, and if so, how long Tesla knew or should have known as much;c. Whether Tesla designed, advertised, marketed, distributed, leased, sold, or otherwise placed the Class Vehicles into the stream of commerce in the United States;d. Whether Tesla omitted material facts about the quality and durability of the batteries in the Class Vehicles;e. Whether Tesla's conduct violates the CFAA, the CDAFA, the UCL, and constitutes trespass to chattel under applicable common law;f. Whether Tesla misrepresented the truth to consumers when it advised them that the software updates cannot be undone; andg. Whether Plaintiffs and the other Class members are entitled to damages and other monetary relief and, if so, what amount."Tesla's attorneys can defend the company by stating that its customers accepted to have OTA updates , that they are an inherent part of the experience with these cars, and that the error messages have nothing to do with the updates. As Hughes once explained, they may have only triggered standard tests that the battery management system (BMS) must regularly perform. The bad news is that Tesla may be able to dismiss the lawsuit based on these arguments. Why would the manufacturer hack its products to decrease their performance?A more critical argument would have been to ask why these tests seem to be only happening now and if they were performed with adequate frequency before the warranty expired for hundreds of Model S units. Focusing on vehicles with BMS_u029 and BMS_u018 error messages would also have been wiser. I would not be surprised if another lawsuit tried to use these questions to clarify what is happening to these Model S units that had voltage caps and are now failing in droves.
EV

Lucid was, next to Rivian, the most promisingstartup, with credible chances to challenge Tesla in the luxury car market. Still, the two companies followed very different paths. Rivian seems on track to become profitable, with a clear vision and enough resources to accomplish its goals. On the other hand, Lucid is burning through its last cash reserves, with the production line barely moving and vehicles that nobody wants to buy cluttering the inventory.It's not like Lucid doesn't have a compelling product. The Lucid Air is still the most efficient electric vehicle on the market, thanks to its advanced drive units and aerodynamics. It also achieved the most impressive EPA range rating, with 520 miles (840 km). This is significantly more than the 300-mile average American drivers consider appropriate for an electric vehicle. Still, despite all these qualities, the Lucid Air is not selling.The main reason is its price, which starts at $92,900 for the more affordable Pure variant. Its archrival Tesla Model S starts at a more reasonable $88,490, and even this is a hard sell . Lucid also plans an $87,400 version of the Air Pure, but it's not yet available to order. The market conditions are worsening, and people are reconsidering their priorities, favoring more affordable vehicles. It's no wonder Lucid posted such disappointing financial results in the first quarter.Perhaps more worrying than the $780 million net loss is the lack of any sign of improvement. Lucid's losses keep widening while its cash reserves deplete. All this time, Lucid relies on its biggest investor, the Saudi Arabia Private Invest Fund (PIF), to finance its operations. According to a Reuters report, PIF has invested about $3.6 billion in Lucid since 2018. A PIF-owned company loaned Lucid $266 million in March and about the same amount in April. Besides that, the government-owned Saudi Industrial Development Fund also loaned the company $1.4 billion in 2022.As you can see, Lucid is living on life support, and the only question is when the Saudis will disconnect it from the machines. PIF is the biggest Lucid shareholder, owning more than 60 percent of the company's shares. In turn, Lucid represents PIF's largest US investment, as the Saudis bet big on the EV startup. Withdrawing from that would not only mean writing off tons of money but also admitting to a failed strategy. The move would also deal a blow to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's plans to diversify away from oil revenues.For the Saudis, Lucid is not just an investment, it's the spearhead of a strategic plan to build the local EV industry. Under the plan, Lucid will build a manufacturing plant in the kingdom to turn it into an EV powerhouse. Perhaps this also contributed to Lucid's downfall , as the EV startup concentrated on building an expensive vehicle with a limited market in the US. Saudis wanted something glamorous, and that's what they've got.The new plant in Jeddah will build 155,000 cars per year at its maximum capacity. Local media reported that the construction got underway last year. During the Q1 earnings call, Lucid confirmed that the first vehicles would be assembled starting in September. The factory is instrumental to Saudi's plans and the main reason PIF kept the stake in Lucid despite bleak prospects. PIF intended to take Lucid private and make it its crown jewel. Until all hope is lost, Lucid will soldier on, despite monumental losses.
Photo: Florin Profir/autoevolution

Photo: Florin Profir/autoevolution

What customers should do

As unusual as that may sound, Toyota says it became aware of the data breach earlier this year. The company discovered that a database misconfiguration exposed the information of Japanese customers who connected to the cloud-based Connected service.An advisory published on Toyota's Japanese website reveals that the data of 2.15 million customers has been at risk during this whole time, as anyone could access the information without a password.While there's no evidence that someone misused the data, the company emphasizes no personal information has been exposed.Here's everything you need to know about the data breach.First and foremost, let's start with who was affected. Toyota says only customers in Japan were exposed, so if you live in North America or Europe, your data is still secure, no matter if you accessed the Connected service in the last decade or not.Toyota estimates that the data of about 2.15 million people was exposed between January 2012 and April 2023. A company spokesperson says the problem lay in the way the cloud-based service was protected from external access. Because of poor security configurations, anyone could access the data without a password. The issue was spotted in April, so the servers are now properly safeguarded.The Toyota Connected service helps customers get service reminders, determine the location of the vehicle, and receive assistance when required. As such, the cloud-based platform did not reveal personally identifiable information.On the other hand, the Japanese carmaker confirms that the exposed database included the vehicle identification number, also referred to as VIN, as well as the location of the vehicle. In other words, a malicious actor would have been able to tell precisely where a certain vehicle was at any given time as long as they knew the VIN . However, it's important to understand that the database did not include personal details, so linking the VIN code with a certain Toyota customer wasn't possible based purely on the leaked information.Toyota also determined that video footage recorded by cars might have also been exposed. While this could be more concerning for some customers, the company explains that only recordings taken outside the vehicle with the onboard cameras were stored on the server. This means that linking a specific recording with a VIN code and a certain customer is also unlikely.In this case, the Japanese carmaker says the recordings were exposed for approximately seven years between November 2016 and April 2023.The company says it's still running an internal investigation to determine if any other information might have been accessed by unauthorized individuals.Since the data blunder did not include personal information (such as names, addresses, and credit card information), customers shouldnt contact Toyota or make a service appointment. The Japanese carmaker, however, says it'll contact customers one by one to detail the breach and tell them what information was exposed.Toyota says the affected services included G-Link, G-Book, and Connected, but all have received patches to block access without a password. As such, customers can access them normally at this point, so no further information is currently at risk.Hackers are unlikely to be particularly interested in the data, especially because linking the exposed information with customers is hard. On the other hand, video recordings could eventually pose a privacy risk, depending on where the driver was located.Unfortunately for Toyota, a 10-year-long data breach isn't only embarrassing but also proof the company isn't necessarily learning from its past mistakes. In late 2022, the Japanese carmaker acknowledged another similar incident that exposed the data of nearly 300,000 customers. At that point, the one to blame was a T-Connect access key, which was publicly available on GitHub for no more, no less than five years. The data was exposed between December 2017 and September 2022 after the T-Connect site source code was published on GitHub.The code also included an access key, essentially allowing any unauthorized individual to connect to the service and obtain access to customer data. In this particular incident, Toyota exposed the email addresses and management numbers belonging to customers.Time will tell if Toyota will pay more attention to its security practices, but for now, the only good thing is that the blunder doesnt produce too much damage. Given the nature of the exposed data, hackers are unlikely to have leaked, copied, or misused the data in any way.If you're still concerned about the data breach and want additional information, Toyota says Japanese customers can reach out to the company through a dedicated call center.
Foreign Minister Park Jin, left, shakes hands with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei as they meet on the margins of a ministerial council meeting of the Association of Caribbean States in Antigua, May 12, in this photo released by the foreign ministry. Yonhap





Foreign Minister Park Jin has called for Central and South American countries to support his country's bid to host the World Expo 2030 in the southeastern city of Busan on the margins of a multinational gathering in Guatemala, his office said Saturday.







Park met with 12 top officials from 11 countries, including Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei, Belize's Prime Minister Juan Antonio Briceno and Honduras' Vice President Doris Gutierrez, while in Antigua to attend a ministerial council meeting of the Association of Caribbean States.







The minister stressed the World Expo in Busan will present crucial opportunities to enhance practical cooperation with Central and South American nations on climate change, the maritime field and other areas, the foreign ministry said.







He also said that the 11 nations were important partners for cooperation with Korea as the Yoon Suk Yeol administration is pursuing the role of a "global pivotal state" to fulfill its international responsibilities, according to the ministry.







In addition, he asked for the countries' cooperation on Seoul's efforts to join the U.N. Security Council as a non-permanent member for the 2024-25 term. (Yonhap)


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13 May 2023 08:30 (UTC+04:00)

Qabil Ashirov Read more

Ukrainian conflict discloses the potential of the Azerbaijani Army because the it owns most of the same weapons or much better alternatives that are used in this war. Especially recent happenings have drawn much of attention of some experts on weapons in the country.

According to some observations, suffering a shortage of sophisticated missiles, the Russian Army has started to use guided aviation bombs. These types of bombs have small wings, tail surfaces, and a satellite control system allowing a pilot to drop the bombs into the battle zone from a great distance. The range of a Russian-made guided bomb is 50 km and the weight is 1.5 tonnes. They are much cheaper compared to missiles, and the air defense systems lack power to catch them. Even Ukrainian government asks for assistance from its allies because they cannot cope with them.

In parallel with recent events in Ukraine, the Azerbaijani defense ministry demonstrated its guided bombs in "Anatolian Eagle 2023". Unbeknownst to many, Azerbaijan manufactures guided bombs called QFAB10-SAB, QFAB-25-SAB, QFAB-50-ISAB, GFAB-100-SAB, QFAB-250-LG, QFAB-250-KAB, QFAB-250-SAB, FAB-50-KAB, FAB-75-KAB. Azerbaijan has been producing these bombs for several years and the weight of these bombs ranges from 50 kg to 500 kg, and the fire ranges from 10 km to 100 km.

In a comment on the issue for Azernews, the Military Expert Ramil Mammadli noted that a number of projects were implemented in the scientific research institutions of the Ministry of Defense Industry of Azerbaijan in the direction of the production of guided bombs. He underscored that except GPS system, all parts of the bomb are produced in the country.

We witnessed the production of different types of guided bombs. Of course, the entire system here was implemented by Azerbaijani engineers, only the GPS control system was implemented by the Turkish company Aselsan. It is integrated into Su25 aircraft, the expert emphasized.

According to the military expert, Azerbaijan has diversified strong UAV and UCAVs, and helicopter fleets. Speaking about Azerbaijan's aircrafts, Ramil Mammadli said that the main aircrafts in the Azerbaijani Air Forces are MIG 29, SU 25, and Aermacchi M-346 train aircraft that have been purchased from Italy recently. These bombs can be deployed from different platforms including aircrafts, helicopters and UAVs.

In general, this type of air bombs are mainly integrated in SU 25 and 24 combat aircraft, so they are not used so much in other combat aviation vehicles. Rather, they are aviation bombs intended for bombers. As the Aermacchi M-346 is a combat trainer, it cannot carry heavy loads. Therefore, not all guided bombs can be integrated into this aircraft. However, for example, due to its low weight, the QFAB-10-SAB, QFAB-25-SAB and QFAB-50-SAB can be integrated into an Aermacchi aircraft, Mammadli said.

However, they have several advantages over other guided bombs, such as improved accuracy and greater control over the target. Besides that, compared with the Russian-made guided bombs, the fire range of Azerbaijani bombs is twice more which makes them more attractive and a viable choice in modern warfare.

They are effective weapons against a variety of different targets, ranging from enemy ground forces, to military bases and other strategic locations. From economical point of view, it opens a great horizon in front of Azerbaijan. Moreover, there are dozens of countries armed with Soviet (currently) aviation. Previously, Russia and Ukraine were the main suppliers of these countries in terms of munitions. Nowadays, both of these countries are engaged in a war that drains their military resources. The situation enables Azerbaijan to deplete the gaps worth of million dollars that emerged as a result of the Ukrainian conflict. In other words, these newly-developed bombs are a major boost for Azerbaijan's military capabilities.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
13 May 2023 12:30 (UTC+04:00)

By Abdul Karimkhanov, Day.az

Even if Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wants to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan, it is difficult for him to do this, since he is under the close supervision of Moscow, the former US Ambassador to Azerbaijan, former US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, board member of the Jamestown Foundation Matthew Bryza told local media.

"Russia does not want to be on the side of the peace process. Perhaps Moscow is trying to put pressure on Pashinyan so that he does not conclude a peace agreement in Washington. But at the same time, the Kremlin needs Pashinyan, because he signed the tripartite ceasefire statement of November 10, 2020. It is important for Russia that the peace agreement be signed in Moscow. It is precisely with this that Pashinyans sudden trip to the Russian capital is connected, where he held talks with Vladimir Putin," Bryza said.

Answering the question of how close Azerbaijan and Armenia have become to signing a peace treaty after the meeting in Washington, our interlocutor stated the following:

"Judging by the optimistic statements of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the parties are closer than ever to signing an agreement. However, some obstacles remain. For example, Pashinyan insists on changing the legal status of Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, which has always been the goal of Armenia. Obviouslt, President Ilham Aliyev strongly rejected these demands. Indeed, Armenia had several decades to resolve the Karabakh conflict peacefully on the basis of the Madrid principles. However, Yerevan preferred war and lost it. Under the new realities, it is logical that Azerbaijan will not negotiate on the status Karabakh".

The diplomat noted the details to be worked out in a peace deal:

"The media are focusing on what will be the fate of the Lachin and Zangazur corridors, what economic preferences Armenia will receive and what benefits Azerbaijan will receive from the output of a peace agreement. In a word, there are many topics that need to be discussed. But the meeting in Washington between the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia the mediation of Secretary of State Blinken is clearly a step forward.

Blinken really understands the region and wants to make his own contribution to the final reconciliation of the two opposing sides. It is the Washington platform that is the most acceptable for both sides to solve the remaining problems. Because Russia is now busy with the war in Ukraine, and France cannot be considered as a mediator, since it openly takes a pro-Armenian position," Bryza concluded.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
13 May 2023 19:50 (UTC+04:00)

Turkiye may take steps toward making a constitutional amendment to change the 50%+1 vote requirement in presidential polls after Sunday's elections, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday, Azernews reports citing Daily Sabah.

"A step could be taken regarding this matter. It requires a constitutional amendment and we may take action after the elections," the president said, in response to a question about if he would be interested in changing the law that requires candidates to receive over 50% of the vote, which forced political parties to forge alliances.

On June 24, 2018, Turkiye officially switched its administrative structure through an election and embraced the presidential system, leaving the parliamentary system behind.

Erdogan also said Turkiye has favorable relations with both the United States and Russia.

Turkiye is "friends with America and Russia and those who are spiteful toward us in the West," Erdogan said during a live broadcast with several Turkish television channels ahead of Sunday's presidential and parliamentary elections.

Erdogan's remarks came a day after Kemal Kilicdaroglu, joint candidate for the six-party opposition Nation Alliance, on Thursday accused Russia of being behind video content allegedly discrediting candidates for the presidency in the upcoming May 14 elections.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Friday rejected accusations, saying there can be no question of any interference of Russia in the Turkish elections, and "those who spread such rumors are liars."

Russia values ties with Turkiye because it takes "a very responsible, sovereign and thoughtful position," he added.

In Turkiye, the presidential and parliamentary elections will take place on May 14.

On the presidential ballot, voters will choose between Erdogan, Kilicdaroglu and Sinan Ogan. Muharrem Ince, another presidential contender, withdrew from the race on Thursday.

When asked about criticism that he would not leave office following an opposition election win, Erdogan said that he would consider any result that comes out of the ballot box as "legitimate."

Earlier on Friday, Erdogan blasted Kilicdaroglu over his remarks on Russia.

Kilicdaroglu "is attacking (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and Russia," Erdogan told a youth event in Istanbul.

Recalling a 2019 interview by U.S. President Joe Biden who said the U.S. could support opposition elements in Turkiye to change the tide of political developments, Erdogan said: "But you are helpless, a loser."

"But when you attack Putin now, I'm sorry, I won't accept it," he said.

"Because our relations with Russia are not behind our relations with the U.S. at the moment," he said, adding that Turkiye's foreign trade volume with Russia is more than the U.S.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
13 May 2023 10:50 (UTC+04:00)

The well known Euronews TV channel aired a story about the significant Kharybulbul International Music Festival, which was held from May 9 to 11 in the cultural capital of Azerbaijan, the city of Shusha, with the organizational support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan.

Azernews reports that the video was posted in the popular "No comment" section.

Besides, the video was themed "The cultural capital of the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan - Shusha, once again hosted the music festival" Kharybulbul:

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
13 May 2023 11:45 (UTC+04:00)

Rector of Azerbaijans National Defense University, Lieutenant General Heydar Piriyev has participated in the 52nd NATO Conference of Commandants (CoC) held in Tallinn, Estonia, Azernews reports citing the Ministry of Defense.

Addressing the conference held at the Baltic Defence College, President of the Republic of Estonia Alar Karis emphasized the importance of support for military education.

The conference, which brought together commandants of national senior defense education institutions from Allied and partner nations, exchanged views on the present and future state of online education. The participants also discussed issues of modernization of military education, proper use of information and communication means in this field, and improvement of the curricula as well as other education methods.

During the conference, briefings on various topics were presented and participants' questions were answered.

Lieutenant General H. Piriyev met with the heads of several defense education institutions and held discussions about the prospects for the development of military education.

In the end, a photo was taken.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
13 May 2023 11:15 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijan`s Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeyhun Bayramov has met with the Special Representative of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation for the normalization of Azerbaijan-Armenia relations Igor Khovaev.

Discussions revolved around the process of normalization of Azerbaijani-Armenian relations, negotiations on a peace agreement as well as the current situation in the region.

Minister Jeyhun Bayramov highlighted the position and priorities of Azerbaijan in the negotiations on a peace agreement as well as future expectations. The minister also informed the special representative about Armenia`s provocative attempts to undermine the peace process and negotiations.

Russian MFAs Special Representative Igor Khovaev stressed the importance of ensuring peace and stability in the region, adding that the Russian side is ready to provide any support in this regard.

During the meeting, the pair also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.

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13 May 2023 15:44 (UTC+04:00)

The International Military Cooperation Department of Azerbaijans Ministry of Defense has held a briefing for foreign military attaches accredited in the country and representatives of international organizations, Azernews reports via the ministry.

According to the ministry, the departments head, Major-General Huseyn Mahmudov, who spoke at the briefing, informed in detail the military representatives of foreign countries about the deliberate provocation of the Armenian side, during which, starting from the evening of May 10, units of the Armenian armed forces from the positions in the Zod direction of the Basarkechar region intensively, using various types of small arms, fired on opposite positions of the Azerbaijan Army.

Mahmudov said that on May 11 and 12, in order to expand their provocations and further aggravate the situation, the Armenian armed forces, using large-caliber guns, mortars, and then D-30 howitzers, shelled the positions of the Azerbaijan Army.

He noted that the Armenian armed forces from various directions using strike UAVs also attacked several positions of the Azerbaijan Army in the Kalbajar district.

The foreign representatives were shown footage of the Armenian armed forces provocations.

After answering the questions of interest to the representatives, they were shown the remains of the UAVs.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
The Supreme Court building in Seocho District, southern Seoul / Korea Times file



By Lee Hae-rin



When a foreign embassy occupies part of a private property, the owner cannot demand demolition of the building or transfer of the land, but is entitled to receive compensation equivalent to rent, the Supreme Court ruled, Friday.



This is the first time the Supreme Court has ruled that even when a foreign mission's occupied area is recognized as extraterritorial under international law, domestic jurisdiction can still be applied for monetary claims.



The Supreme Court recently delivered the decision in favor of a company demanding the return of undue profits from the Mongolian government, partially overturning the previous rulings which stated that the case was beyond the scope of Korean courts' jurisdiction.



The territory in dispute is the land occupied by the Mongolian Embassy in central Seoul's Yongsan District. The Mongolian government purchased the property in 1998 and has used it ever since for its embassy in Korea.



VAIV Company, formerly Daum Soft, a big data and artificial intelligence company established in 2000, purchased a property adjacent to the embassy in 2015 and later discovered around 30 square meters of its land was being occupied by the embassy's office building and warehouse.



In February 2017, the company filed a lawsuit against the Mongolian government, seeking the demolition of the building, return of the property and compensation equivalent to the unpaid rent, asserting these as undue profits.



The Seoul Western District Court rejected the company's claim in the first two trials. Occupying a territory for official use is equivalent to the foreign country's acts of sovereignty, which is exempted from the jurisdiction of another country, the court viewed.



However, the top court reversed the rulings and decided that the case needs a separate trial on the payment claim.



The Supreme Court held that when a private right to real estate is infringed, the judgement procedure on claiming undue profits does not obstruct a diplomatic mission's duties and does not affect the country's occupation of the territory.



However, the Supreme Court rejected the company's demand to demolish and return the property, clarifying that the occupation of territory for an embassy is closely related to the country's acts of sovereignty.


Lois Henry is the CEO and editor of SJV Water, a nonprofit, independent online news publication dedicated to covering water issues in the San Joaquin Valley. She can be reached at lois.henry@sjvwater.org. The website is sjvwater.org.
Email Dan Walters of CalMatters at dan@calmatters.org. CalMatters is a nonpartisan, nonprofit journalism venture committed to explaining how Californias state Capitol works and why it matters. For more columns by Walters, go to calmatters.org/dan-walters.
Bakersfield, CA (93308)

Today

Sunshine and a few afternoon clouds. High 99F. Winds S at less than 5 mph, becoming W and increasing to 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Mostly clear. Low near 65F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph.










The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPKK) urged the government, Saturday, to withdraw its plan to send an inspection team to Japan to assess Tokyo's plan to discharge radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, saying it would only "give justification" to Japan's plan.







Rep. Park Sung-joon, the DPK's spokesperson, said the Japanese government has no plan to allow the Seoul delegation to inspect the safety of the release and will go ahead with the plan in July regardless of the team's activities.







"The Japanese government's attitude makes it clear that the inspection team the government is sending is only a formality to justify its plan to discharge contaminated water," Park said in a written statement.







Earlier in the day, Seoul's foreign ministry said South Korea and Japan have agreed that the delegation will visit Japan for four days. It came days after President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed Sunday on the dispatch of experts from Seoul.






Tense But Wonder-Packed Oregon Coast Scenic Drive Between Depoe Bay, Newport

Published 05/04/23 at 6:44 AM

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Newport, Oregon)  The grandest of viewpoints, hints of a forest primeval, intense ocean vistas, and a drive that is both white-knuckled and a soaring form of bliss: it's crazed and it's wondrous in this stretch of central Oregon coast between Depoe Bay and Newport. Viewpoints are high and not so high, but relentlessly beautiful. The highway is twisting, turning and downright dangerous at times  especially since you're tempted more than ever to gawk at the sights whizzing by in a part of Highway 101 where you could just go sailing off into the deep blue and wild blue yonder at the same time. (Rodea Point, all photos Oregon Coast Beach Connection)

Unforgettable vistas of endless sea pop out at you one after the other, starting just south of Depoe Bay at the Rocky Creek State Scenic Viewpoint. In any weather, this region is fire. You're tempted to check out every little thing along that 18 miles of Oregon coast highway. And you should: but be advised there's more to it than meets the eye, and just this little chunk will eat a day or two of exploration.

At Rocky Creek, pull over here and see the waves pound the pillow basalt, or maybe spot some whales. This is, after all, a hotbed area for whales to hang out. They're drawn to the Depoe Bay area by all the kelp beds that hide their favorite foods.

Rocky Creek hosts some hidden treasures, like this bench overlooking the wild surf of this remote tract of bubble basalt.

Zip up the hill on 101 - or take the immediate right, at Otter Crest Loop, to cruise down this tiny road (which eventually becomes a one-way) to catch more amazing views. There are some hidden spots to discover here as well - if you're up for a hike. One set of cliffs lying below a gravel pullout will knock your socks off. See the Depoe Bay Virtual Tour for more.

One of the absolute most dramatic spots of the entire Oregon coast lies at that junction with 101 and the little road: Rodea Point (see above).





Above it all this, 101 meanders even higher as it reaches Cape Foulweather. There, you'll find an eye-full of ocean, as well as a funky gift shop full of wonders.



From here, more high viewpoints front convenient turn-offs as the road slithers down the hill - with Newport's Yaquina Head Lighthouse coming into view for the first time.





Soon, you'll encounter the road to the Devil's Punchbowl, Otter Rock and its various vantage points, also with no shortage of stunning ocean views. But here, you can gawk at the swirling madness of the Punchbowl (a sea cave with the top missing), where the ocean can get frightfully frenzied and frenetic during stormy weather.





South of Otter Crest, the highway hovers above the beaches just north of Newport, with the pristine sands of Moolack Beach and Beverly Beach State Park streaming past as you drive.

Hotels in Depoe Bay - Where to eat - Depoe Bay Maps and Virtual Tours





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More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining.....



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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 Zach Jewell Daily Wire co-CEO Jeremy Boreing shot back at Big Tech and the Left Wednesday, revealing an onslaught of cancellation campaigns targeting Daily Wire hosts Matt Walsh, Brett Cooper, and Michael Knowles.Boreing called out tech giants YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok forfact-checks, demonetizations, and bans against the Daily Wire hosts. He also revealed that software companies HubSpot and JW Player have abruptly canceled service with his company from their platforms, as event management site Eventbrite did previously. Boreing's thread also comes after Walsh's Twitter and email accounts were hacked Tuesday night.Boreing said.he asked.Boreing said.Boreing continued.the Daily Wire co-CEO added.Boreing then revealed how Big Tech is censoring content from The Daily Wire.he said.Boreing then ripped into the policies social media giants use to censor political content.he said.Left-wing companies never face these multi-faceted attacks, he said.Boreing continued.Boreing asked.The Daily Wire god-king promised that he won't give into the Left's demands.he said.Boreing continued.Boreing said that Big Tech companies target The Daily Wire because it's a conservative company that is succeeding in a space leftists want all for themselves.he said.Boreing said.he added.
State Employees Credit Union Welcomes Visiting Delegation from Africa

Press Release:



RALEIGH State Employees' Credit Union (SECU) recently hosted a delegation of credit union professionals from Africa to share insight into the cooperative's 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. SECU's 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."





Contact: Sandra Jones

Phone: 919-508-8773

Email: sandra.jones@ncsecu.org


,/i> This post appears here courtesy of the Carolina Journal . The author of this post is CJ Staff Gov. Roy Cooper is urging a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit from unaffiliated voters who want the right to serve on the N.C. State Board of Elections. Cooper, a Democrat, filed a motion to dismiss the case roughly two months after Republican legislative leaders made the same request.The left-of-center activist group Common Cause is working with five individual unaffiliated voters to challenge the state law dealing with elections board appointments.according to a brief from N.C. Department of Justice lawyers representing Cooper.Cooper's brief added.On the standing issue, Cooper rejects the claim that Common Cause and its fellow plaintiffs can represent all unaffiliated voters. Nor can they show that the law establishing the elections board harms them, according to the governor's brief.state Justice Department lawyers wrote.The unaffiliated voters try to make an equal protection claimaccording to Cooper's brief.Republican legislative leaders made their own arguments against the lawsuit in March.wrote attorney Martin Warf, representing the top officers in the N.C. House and Senate.Warf added.Common Cause and its fellow plaintiffs responded to lawmakers' objections in April.wrote attorneys Edwin Speas and Michael Crowell.Speas and Crowell wrote.Lawmakers argue that none of the individual plaintiffs in the case has suffered a legal injury. None has applied to serve on the state elections board.This argumentthe case, Speas and Crowell wrote.Speas and Crowell added.
There was no substantial difference in mental health outcomes between gender-confused children who did or did not undergo social transition, a U.K. study from April found. A study funded by the the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in January claimed to discover cross-sex treatments improved the mental health of transgender and nonbinary adolescents, but two of the studys participants committed suicide and 11 developed suicidal ideation.

OMalley also took aim at the use of puberty blockers for kids, which the medical establishment touts as a harmless and reversible way for children to explore their gender identity.

I think its very worrisome to see children who are gender non-conforming to be medicalized. Because when you medicalize a child with puberty blockers, generally around puberty, youre suppressing their sexual awakening, she said.

https://dailycaller.com/2023/05/12/stella-omalley-psychotherapist-trans-mental-health/

Lawmakers are demanding answers after the suicide deaths of two young people involved in a transgender hormone study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Additionally, 11 participants reported suicidal thoughts during the study, according to a January article by researchers published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/two-youths-commit-suicide-taxpayer-funded-cross-sex-hormone-study
The left, including the Biden administration is pushing the idea of Central Bank Digital Curruency, and FLorida has acted to protect personal financial privacy by banning it in the state. Florida is the first state to do so. Cental Bank Digistal Currency (CBDC) would allow the government to see all aspects of anyother's financial life and control all aspects of it. It is an instrument of surveillance and control, and Florida has nipped it in the bud before it actuall gets introduced.. The leftwing Biden regime is moving forward to test CBDC, but they will not be able to do so in Florida.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/05/12/florida-effectively-bans-central-bank-digital-currency/

Similar bills are progressing in South Dakota and North Carolina. The bill against CBDC in NC has passed the NC House on a unanimous vote. Florida is urging all twenty states involved in the campaign against the Marxist ESG standards (Environment, Social Justice, Governance) to engage in stopping CBDC.
A mainstay of the power of federal bureaucrats may be about to fall as a result of a case now before the US Supreme Court. At stake is the "Chevron doctrine" which says courts should defer to bureaucratic agendies' interpretation of laws authorizing their power to issue regulations if there is the slightlest ambiguity in the law. Lower courts have used this to rarely overturn regulations issued by federal bureaucrats, and this has given the bureaucrats free rein to do almost whatever they want through regulations. The Chevron doctine has been in place since 1984.

Most observers expect the SCOTUS to severely limit bureaucrats' power in their ruling in this case. Several justices have criticized the Chevron doctrine in opinions in previous cases.

In Loper Bright Enterprises vs. Raimondo, the Supreme Court will reconsider the Chevron doctrine, and said so when the case was accepted for review. In this case, a federal fishing regulation requires certain fishing boats not only to carry third party inspectors but to pay their salaries as well. The federal agency mangled their statutory authority in issuing that regulation.

The Clean Air Act is one particular federal statute that has been hugely stretched by a power hungry Environmental Protection Agency, and this is one agency which could be kneecapped by a court ruling in this case.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-loper-bright-enterprises-v-raimondo-chevron-deference-fisheries-a6f5cb24

https://www.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-loper-bright-enterprises-v-raimondo-chevron-deference-fisheries-a6f5cb24
Provided by the Beaumont Police Department

A New Orleans man was arrested in Beaumont Thursday night, after police say they found him with a bounty of illegal items.

Around 9:30 p.m., Beaumont police stopped the vehicle in the 10000 block of U.S. 69 for a traffic violation, according to a department Facebook post.
Southeast Texans have a chance this weekend to learn more about birds migration habits when they descend into this region.

The For the Birds! event, which is free, will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday at the Museum of the Gulf Coast, located at 700 Procter St. in Port Arthur. Saturday is also World Migratory Bird Day, and the event is part of the citys 125-year anniversary celebration.

This is actually a really huge birding area where people like to come to watch birds because we do have so many different little wooden areas kind of hidden in the city, the museums Education and Tour Coordinator Dana Howard said.

RELATED: Pleasure Island's comeback includes new birding site

Howard said the wooded areas of the Big Thicket, Pleasure Island, Sea Rim State Park and several Beaumont parks are places migratory birds like to travel through, adding theyre drawn to the warmer climate.

We have the food sources that they like," she said. "The flowers that attract them grow here."

The Sabine Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalist Association will teach children about the different beaks that birds have and the purpose of said beaks, as well as the type of flowers that attract birds and the bird feeders that should be used.

The Sea Rim State Park will discuss the birds it has and the Big Thicket Natural Preserve will also give a lecture on birds.

RELATED: Birders converge at Cattail Marsh for the annual "Big Sit"

Sonny The Birdman Carlin from Exotic Wings Productions will also showcase parrots and other exotic birds.

They do tricks," Howard said. "Theyre performing birds."

There will also be non-venomous snakes people can hold and touch, and there will also be therapy horses on site.

For more information about the event, call 409-982-7000 or email mogc.educator@gmail.com.
Government officials from South Korea and Japan wait for a working-level meeting on Seoul's plan to send an inspection team to the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, to begin at Seoul's foreign ministry, May 12. Korea Times photo by Ha Sang-yoon



Korea and Japan have agreed that a delegation from Seoul will visit Japan for four days to assess Tokyo's plan to discharge radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, Seoul's foreign ministry said Saturday.



Working-level officials from the two countries held a meeting in Seoul, Friday, to discuss the details of the South Korean experts' planned visit to the plant. The meeting lasted for 12 hours until around 2 a.m. Saturday.



The two sides agreed on the team's four-day visit during the meeting and will hold an additional consultation in the coming days, the ministry said.



The director-general-level meeting came after President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reached an agreement on the visit during a summit held last Sunday.






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Tianna Lee has been working in the fast food industry since she was 17. Now 26, the Port Arthur resident has been out of work since March and said she isnt just looking for another job  shes looking for a brighter future.

Thursday morning, Lee was hitting up as many booths as possible at Workforce Solutionss Spring Job Fair in the Bob A. Bowers Civic Center.

I have a family to support  my wife and two kids aged 2 and 4. So, Im just trying to make a better future for us, Lee said.

She was among hundreds from all age ranges that filled the civic center with a similar purpose in mind -- to make a better life for themselves and their families.

Not everyone was unemployed.

Ambrose Akers has a job, but he wanted to explore new options.

RELATED: Port Arthur and Beaumont a growing hub for construction work

Ive been driving trucks for Time 2 Drive, LLC, for nine years now, the Beaumont man said. It might be time for a change. So, I thought Id use my day off to see whats out there and where I fit.

Helping people like Lee and Akers connect with new and better opportunities is at the core of Workforce Solutionss job fairs, which Chasity Bill said have been busy and drawing really good crowds.

The fairs offer the chance to connect with employers and provide tips on job interviewing and assistance crafting a resume.

There are also opportunities for interviews and job offers on the spot, Bill said, as she and co-workers checked in the steady stream of job seekers Thursday, directing them to the 85 businesses and organizations that filled the civic center. Their tables were filled with brochures, sign up lists, applications and current employees sharing information about what they do and the skills needed to get on board.

RELATED: Local college and industries partner for student job paths

Career options covered a broad spectrum from the areas biggest refineries to schools, banks, restaurants, industry, health care, law enforcement, refinery firefighters, the Port of Port Arthur and even event planning.

Within many of those businesses are layers of career options that require different levels of training or certification.

Natalie Presley, the Talent and Workforce Development Specialist with Apache Industrial Holdings, told job seekers about the services their company offers, which includes positions ranging from painters to scaffold workers.

Port Arthur ISDs Director of Maintenance and Custodial Edgar Redeaux was on hand to talk about the career paths schools offer beyond those for educators.

RELATED: How the recession impacts Texans

His department takes care of all the districts facilities  everything from routine cleaning to HVAC maintenance and repair to IT services and even a print shop that creates the handbooks and other materials used by teachers and students.

We make sure teachers and administrators have what they need and that (the students) dont have to focus on anything other than their school work. They dont have to think about it being too hot or too cold or something not working. All they have to focus on is learning successfully, he said.

Its the behind the scenes jobs needed to make schools work, he said.

That kind of variety in career options is what inspired Severa McGrady to bring her 14-year-old grandson Isaah Mesa to the job fair.

Hes not filling out applications anytime soon, but I wanted to show him there are opportunities out there for you, McGrady said. Hes just getting ready for the future.
More nurses are asserting their innocence in the national degree scheme, saying their entanglement in the situation has damaged their careers and threatened their livelihoods, Newsweek reported May 12.

The publication spoke with two New York nurses who earned their degrees from Palm Beach School of Nursing in West Palm Beach, Fla., a now shuttered nursing school allegedly involved in the scheme. The nurses spoke with the publication on the condition of anonymity.

"It's like you can't even mention what school you went to now, just in fear of being blacklisted or outcast," one nurse, referred to as David, told Newsweek. "Everyone thinks everyone that went to these schools paid for their degree, which is not true."

Both nurses said they traveled to Florida every month for a one-week period to attend genuine lessons and skill labs overseen by instructors at the nursing school. The remainder of their curriculum was online.

"We did the work," a second nurse, referred to as Angela, told Newsweek. "I sat there for my [National Council Licensure Examination]  and cried and cried and studied and studied. No one could take that NCLEX for me. It seems like all our hard work was in vain."

Both nurses, who lost their jobs since the scandal broke, said they are worried about securing future employment or having to pay to redo their nurse training.

"Everyday it's a roller coaster, and your livelihood is being threatened," David said. "You don't want to do anything because you don't know when it's your last paycheck."
Finland entrant Kaarija was among the stars for fans on Twitter (Peter Byrne/PA)   Peter Byrne

Glasses have been raised to the late Sir Terry Wogan, Finlands Cha Cha Cha and the butter churning of Mel Giedroyc as fans watching the Eurovision Song Contest final took to social media.

Millions of tweets were shared about the finale in Liverpool as #Eurovision2023 was the top trend worldwide on Saturday night.

For fans in the UK, many made a point of raising a glass as the competition reached its ninth song in tribute to the late Sir Terry, who hosted Eurovision from 1971 to 2008.

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Song number 9  cheers to Terry Wogan and the first drink of the night, tweeted one user, while many shared photographs of themselves raising drinks.

Accurately explaining the tradition, Twitter user @BronwenLewis_ posted: For those who dont know why Graham Norton raises a glass to Terry Wogan in song 9, its because Sir Terry always warned Graham not to have anything to drink until that point in case he got a bit too tipsy.

Such a lovely way to honour a legend.

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As he introduced Swedish pop superstar Loreen, Norton told viewers: It is also song number nine, this is traditionally where I would urge you to raise whatever is in front of you  a glass, a cup, a mug  and toast the memory of the late, great Sir Terry Wogan, the man who was and always will be the voice of Eurovision.

Another Eurovision highlight for viewers on Twitter was TV presenter Giedroyc, who pretended to churn butter dressed in a milkmaids outfit during a break between performances.

Giedroyc, who is of Polish descent, wore an outfit in the style of Polish entry Donatan and Cleo who performed My Slowianie during the live Eurovision grand final in 2014.

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Twitter user @shadowsofalia posted: Theyre not letting Poland live that down, are they?

Fellow user, @Ariadne_Reviews, added: I was not prepared for this this evening.

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While another, @CatWithSausages, took inspiration from Meredith Brooks 1997 hit Bitch as they posted: Im a bitch, Im a lover, Im a Mel churning butter

Finland were among the acts that entertained the most on the evening, as Kaarija sang his eccentric hyper-pop track Cha Cha Cha wearing a luminous green bolero-style jacket with spikes around the neck.

Finland were among the fan favourites on the night (Aaron Chown/PA)   Aaron Chown

Finland just gave us more Cha Chas than week one of Strictly in 2005, tweeted @HertsSid.

In response to the Finnish performance, actress and author Emma Kennedy posted: This is like if a caterpillar was bitten by a radioactive spider and became a villain in a Batman film.

LOVING IT.

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And @youngvulgarian tweeted: I want to go on a night out with Finland even though I know it would lead to my certain death.

Continuing a common theme for Eurovision finals, Norton gained plaudits for his commentary during the contest  but it was the presenting of Hannah Waddingham which garnered the most appreciation from fans on social media.

The Ted Lasso actress was trending on Twitter on Saturday evening as she drew compliments for her appearance and mastery of languages.

How do I vote for Hannah Waddingham, tweeted @HSouthwellFE.

Fellow user @HelenLOHara added: Hannah Waddingham, the human form of the fire emoji.
Alessandra is the entrant from Norway (Peter Byrne/PA)   Peter Byrne

Norwegian Eurovision hopeful Alessandra has said she cant even describe what it would feel like to win the contest.

The 20-year-old, one of the favourites, has impressed the voting public with her anthem of female empowerment, Queen Of Kings.

She will perform 20th on Saturday night after Tvorchi from Ukraine and before Lord Of The Lost from Germany.

Ahead of the grand final, the vocalist told the PA news agency: I cant even describe what I would feel. I would probably faint.

During her performance, Alessandra will hit the highest note of the contest this year.

She said she was preparing with warm tea, honey and voice steaming.

Had to cancel some interviews unfortunately, but the most important thing is to do the best we can in the final, she added.

Her costume for the final was inspired by Queen Elizabeth I and designed by stylist Susanne Hoftun.

Alessandra appears at the launch of the contest (Peter Byrne/PA)   Peter Byrne

She said: My costume is modernised and represents a warrior-queen. I am absolutely a fan of the British royal family.

Alessandra also voiced support for the UKs entry Mae Muller, who will perform last with I Wrote A Song.

She said: I love her and her song, everything. She is so sweet, sassy, beautiful.

Really love her personality and voice. Such a brilliant artist.

The Eurovision grand final will air at 8pm on Saturday on BBC One.
A Ukrainian family said they feel at home as they headed 200 miles north to celebrate the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool  despite national train strikes.

Olena Ablaieva and her daughter Vasylysa, 14, are originally from Dnipro but are now living with a host family in Sidcup, south-east London, following Russias invasion of their home country.

Ms Ablaieva told the PA news agency they were travelling from London Euston to Liverpool and hope to be able to watch the final at Liverpools Pier Head, where the Eurovision Village has been set up for fans.

The UK is jointly hosting the contest with Ukraine after last years victory by the Kalush Orchestra. UK entry Sam Ryder finished second.

Ms Ablaieva said the train strikes did not affect her plans to head north for the day.

We do not have tickets, we will watch Eurovision on big screens, she said.

We have been living in England for a year in a friendly English family. As it turned out, we have many common interests and family values.

We hope that the war in Ukraine will end soon and all Ukrainian families will be able to be together in safety.

We knew in advance about the strikes on the railway in London, but we had no doubts about our trip to Liverpool. It is important for us to feel the whole atmosphere of Eurovision for ourselves.

Olena Ablaieva with her daughter Vasylysa (Yui Mok/PA)   Yui Mok

She continued: We are looking forward to Eurovision 2023, cheering for Ukraine and supporting England.

In my opinion, Liverpool is fully prepared for the Eurovision final and its nice to see Ukrainian flags and Ukrainian symbols everywhere.

I feel at home. We appreciate your support and our friendship.

We also want to do something nice for people from England. I have brought some presents from Ukraine  sweets from AVK, which I want to share with everyone who wants to know a bit more about Ukraine.

Millions of people around the world will be tuning in to watch the Eurovision final on Saturday, with thousands already spending the week celebrating in Merseyside as the semi-finals got underway earlier this week.
Perhaps its the nostalgia of my youth but Buckfast always evokes memories of running around my familys old pub in Lurgan as a child.

Otherwise known as Lurgan champagne, the tonic wine we love to hate was always connected to the Co Armagh town and with a delivery of 60 cases a week to the bar in the 1990s and early 2000s, its popularity hasnt waned.

There is even a huge Buckfast mural in the town in tribute to the Benedictine Monks famous creation.

To mark World Buckfast Day today, I couldnt pass up the opportunity to try out its new rival King William Fortified Wine, which has hit the headlines in recent weeks.

Manufactured by Belcondie, the company said sales of the tonic wine have exploded in Northern Ireland after a watchdog upheld a complaint that the packaging played to sectarian elements.

Customers are keen to get their hands on an original bottle, which has an alcohol proof of 16.90% ABV in a nod to the Battle of the Boyne.

Before King William Fortified Wine lowers the alcohol proof, we managed to get our hands on an original bottle for that all important taste test and compare it to Buckfast.

I got a bottle for 12.99, while Buckfast set me back 8.99.

Both drinks have a high caffeine content with King William Fortified Wine providing 20mg per 100ml and Buckfast 30mg per 100ml  the equivalent of two shots of espresso.

Journalist Ralph Hewitt samples the King Billy wine   Kevin Scott

King William Fortified Wine has a strong and bold flavour, just like the man himself, writes the description on the bottle.

Sitting atop of his white horse, King William is the focus of attention on the bottles packaging.

And just like Buckie, its the pungent smell that hits you first when you crack open that golden lid.

The brown  almost orange  colour of King William Fortified Wine fails to match the deep red of Buckfast.

With my first guzzle, my tastebuds scream as a wave of liquorice and citrus flavours take over before leaving me with a sense of burning  much like a shot of the red cinnamon flavoured liqueur Aftershock.

But with Buckfast it seems almost smoother as the impact isnt quite the same as I take the first few gulps.

The sickly-sweet flavour often reminds people of Calpol or cough medicine.

Too much of either and youll be battling a three-day hangover, but maybe thats my body telling me Im not cut out for this anymore.

Not a bad effort by Belcondie as it takes on the huge challenge of rivalling Buckfast, but nostalgia plays a big part in our lives and King William Fortified Wine will have a long road to travel before it rivals Buckie in that sense.

I used to help restock the shelves in my familys pub when I was young and we had at least 100 bottles of Buckfast in the off-license fridge, while the stock room was packed to the roof after a delivery.

And I was only seven when I recall seeing a bottle of wine for the first time.

Jumping around after Glenavon won the Irish Cup in 1997 in Windsor Parks old wooden stand, I noticed two men celebrating with a bottle of Buckfast.

I may have celebrated with a bottle myself when the Lurgan Blues lifted the cup again in 2014 and 2016.

King William Fortified Wine is worth a try, Buckfast fans, but enjoy it cold  very cold.

King William v Buckfast: The final scores

King William Fortified Wine

Taste: 3/5

Smell: 4/5

Colour: 2/5

Price: 2/5

Total: 11/20

Buckfast

Taste: 4/5

Smell: 2/5

Colour: 4/5

Price: 4/5

Total: 14/20
Supporters of presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu wave Turkish flags during an election campaign rally in Ankara (Ali Unal/AP)   Ali Unal

Turkish politicians have held their final rallies in the last hours of campaigning before Sundays pivotal presidential and parliamentary elections that will significantly shape the Nato members future.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is facing the toughest challenge ever in his two decades of power, spoke at three neighbourhood rallies in Istanbul, Turkeys biggest city.

His main challenger is Kemal Kilicdaroglu of the pro-secular, centre-left CHP (the Republican Peoples Party), who is the joint candidate of six opposition parties.

He held his final rally in the capital Ankara on Friday in the pouring rain.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech during an election campaign rally in Istanbul (Emrah Gurel/AP)   Emrah Gurel

On Saturday, he and some of his supporters visited the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey and of the CHP.

On Friday, Mr Erdogan dismissed speculation that he would not cede power if he lost, calling the question very ridiculous.

In an interview with more than a dozen Turkish broadcasters, Mr Erdogan said he came to power through democracy and would act in line with the democratic process.

If our nation decides to make such a different decision, we will do exactly whats required by democracy and theres nothing else to do, he said.

Mr Erdogan said on Saturday that he viewed the elections as a celebration of democracy for our countrys future.

He showcased his governments defence and infrastructure investments and aired videos trying to undermine his opponent as incapable of leading Turkey, while claiming he was colluding with terror groups.

Mr Erdogan also argued the opposition was pro-LGBTQ and therefore anti-family in a now regular targeting of LGBTQ people in Turkey.

The oppositions campaign was continued by Istanbuls popular mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, who held final rallies in the city to call on people to vote for Mr Kilicdaroglu.

Turkish CHP party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu gestures to supporters during an election campaign rally in Ankara (Ali Unal/AP)   Ali Unal

As in previous elections, mainstream media coverage of campaign events remained unequal, with Mr Erdogans rallies getting constant live airtime.

On Friday, Mr Kilicdaroglu asked tens of thousands of people gathered to hear his final speech to vote on Sunday to change Turkeys destiny.

He said he was ready to bring democracy to Turkey, a major criticism of Mr Erdogan, who has cracked down on dissent in recent years and concentrated most powers of the state in his hands.

We will show the whole world that our beautiful country is one that can bring democracy through democratic means, he said.

Though Mr Kilicdaroglu and his party have lost all past presidential and parliamentary elections since he took the helm of the party in 2010, opinion polls have showed he has a slight lead over Mr Erdogan.

Voter turnout in Turkey is traditionally strong, showing continued belief in this type of civic participation in a country where freedom of expression and assembly have been suppressed.

If no presidential candidate secures more than 50% of the vote, a run-off election will be held on May 28.

Turkey will also be electing parliamentarians to its 600-seat assembly on Sunday.

Turkeys Supreme Electoral Board said it decided that votes cast for another presidential candidate, Muharrem Ince, who pulled out of the race this week would be counted as valid and that his withdrawal would not be considered until a potential second round.

Analysts had predicted Ince voters would shift to Mr Kilicdaroglu.
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, right, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shake hands before their meeting at Chigi Palace in Rome (Alessandra Tarantino/AP)   Alessandra Tarantino

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in Rome ahead of talks with Pope Francis at the Vatican, has received assurances from Italian leaders of continued military and other aid as his country fights to liberate itself from Russias military invasion launched last year.

Francis recently said that the Vatican has launched a behind-the-scenes initiative to try to end the war launched last year by Russia.

In a tweet, sent shortly after his arrival in the Italian capital late on Saturday morning, Mr Zelensky cited his schedule of meetings with Francis, Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni.

An important visit for approaching victory of Ukraine! Mr Zelensky tweeted.

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When Mr Zelensky arrived at a military airfield at Romes Ciampino airport, Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani was on hand to greet him.

Mr Tajani told reporters that Italy will continue to support Ukraine 360 degrees and press for a just peace, one that safeguards Ukraines independence.

Ms Meloni staunchly backs military and other aid for Ukraine.

But while her far-right Brothers of Italy party fiercely champions the principle of national sovereignty, Ms Meloni has had to contend with leaders of two coalition partners who have openly professed for years their admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Coalition ally Silvio Berlusconi, a former premier, has boasted of his friendship with Mr Putin, while another government ally, League leader Matteo Salvini, has questioned the value of economic sanctions against Russia.

Italian police enforce security in St Peters Square at the Vatican (Gregorio Borgia/AP)   Gregorio Borgia

Mr Zelensky began his official meetings by calling on Mr Mattarella at the presidential Quirinale Palace.

We are fully at your side, Mr Mattarella told Mr Zelensky as he welcomed him.

Later, after their meeting, presidential palace sources said Mr Mattarella assured his guest that Italy would continue supporting Ukraine militarily and financially, as well as with reconstruction and humanitarian aid, in both the short and long term.

Since the war began, Italy has furnished about one billion euros (875 million) in military and financial aid, as well as humanitarian assistance.

At his next stop, the premiers office, Ms Meloni and Mr Zelensky embraced in the palace courtyard, before beginning their closed-door talks.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Chigi Palace in Rome (Alessandra Tarantino/AP)   Alessandra Tarantino

Mr Zelensky is believed to be heading to Berlin next.

His exact schedule had not been publicly announced because of security concerns, and the Vatican only confirmed a papal meeting shortly before the Ukrainian presidents plane touched down.

Italian state radio reported that as part of protective measures, a no-fly zone was ordered for Rome skies and police sharpshooters were strategically placed on high buildings.

Ms Meloni met with Mr Zelensky in Kyiv, shortly before the anniversary of Russias full-scale invasion on February 24 2022.

Francis, who is eager for peace, last met with the Ukrainian leader in 2020.

The pontiff makes frequent impassioned pleas on behalf of Ukraines martyred people, in his words.

At the end of April, flying back to Rome from a trip to Hungary, Francis told reporters on the plane that the Vatican was involved in a behind-the-scenes peace mission but gave no details.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine has confirmed such an initiative.

Pope Francis (Andrew Medichini/AP)   Andrew Medichini

He has said he would like to go to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, if such a visit could be coupled with one to Moscow, in hopes a papal pilgrimage could further the cause of peace.

Last month, Ukraines prime minister met with Francis at the Vatican and said he asked the pontiff to help Ukraine get back children illegally taken to Russia during the invasion.

The German government, meanwhile, said it was providing Ukraine with additional military aid worth more than 2.7 billion euros (2.3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition.

The announcement on Saturday came as preparations were under way in Berlin for a possible first visit to Germany by Mr Zelensky since Russia invaded his country last year.

Defence minister Boris Pistorius said Berlin wants to show with the latest package of arms that Germany is serious in its support for Ukraine.

Germany will provide all the help it can, as long as it takes, he said.
Jemulpo in the late 19th century. Robert Neff Collection.



By Robert Neff



In the summer of 1884, there were a handful of Westerners exploring the Korean Peninsula  one of them was John Baptiste Bernadou, a 24-year-old ensign in the United States Navy temporarily assigned to the legation in Seoul. Part of his responsibilities was to gather material for the Smithsonian Institute  a task that he did admirably well as evidenced by the large collection that can still be found in the museum.



Bernadou arrived at Jemulpo (modern Incheon) aboard the American warship USS Juniata in early 1884. According to the warship's logs, it arrived in the early morning of February 29, but in Bernadou's correspondence to the museum, he claimed he arrived in the port on March 1. They are likely both correct; the ship arrived on the 29th but Bernadou did not go ashore until the following morning. I am amazed at how poorly the log appears to have been maintained as an examination of it reveals that it often lacked annotations of who departed the ship and when. Judging from the log, the crew also had a problem with discipline  a lot of bread and water with leg irons.





USS Juniata in the 1880s. Public Domain  Wikipedia.



Bernadou left the ship and walked to Seoul, arriving at the legation sometime in the afternoon and was given "a warm and courteous reception" by General Lucius H. Foote, the U.S. Minister to Korea and his wife. Foote graciously provided Bernadou with "a house on the U.S. Legation ground" for his use while in Korea and he would dine with the legation's staff.





An engraving of John Baptiste Bernadou. Public Domain  Wikipedia.

Shortly after he arrived, Bernadou began studying Korean with Yun Chi-ho at the American legation. When he wasn't studying the language, he was out exploring Seoul and the surrounding region. He also frequently visited Chemulpo where he collected fish specimens to ship back to the United States.



He lamented not having a camera as he could not "imagine any place where a photographic apparatus could be put to a better use than here. The costumes, buildings, memorial arches, bridges, tombs, shops, etc., would furnish work for many" researchers at the museum. It must have irked him to the degree that there were several people in Seoul who possessed cameras  including two American naval officers. In a plea to be provided with one, he wrote: "a small camera, plates and developing apparatus would, I think, well pay the investment." Unfortunately, his request was not granted.



Everything caught his attention  especially the small knickknacks and curios that he could easily send to the museum. One of the streets near the American legation was often referred to as "Furniture Street" and was a popular place for the handful of Western visitors. In late May, a small number of officers from the American warship, accompanied by Bernadou, wandered through this furniture market.





A group of curious residents of Seoul curiously looking at the cameraman, Percival Lowell, in early 1884. Robert Neff Collection.



According to one of the officers:



"Unlike the Japanese with whom everything is lacquered, lacquer-work is here the exception. But instead, the wood is either dark and finely grained, admitting of a polish like walnut, or rosewood, or it is stained in shades of purple. For the furnishing of houses, that are generally without closets, these cabinet makers furnish bureaus, cabinets and deep chests, all bound and ornamented, handled and hinged with brass and iron. The chests, bound with iron in curious fretwork, and sharply wrought hinges, handles and locks, look not unlike those we see in the Museum of Cluny and other depositories of Mediaeval art. The cabinets are often hinged with brass in the form of butterflies, and the turtle is a favorite decoration  representing longevity  while there is some inlaid work in mother-of-pearl, or abalone shell, which is well done, though inferior to the Japanese art of this character. Their most characteristic work is a long cabinet with sliding panels, which uncover all sorts of doors and recesses and would fit a mantle very well. The panels are made of hardwood and in the centre of each is a silver ornament in the form of a flower, or rosette."



Bernadou was impressed and at some point became a customer. Although he was "picking up [the language] readily with the aid of a native teacher with whom he is closeted five hours daily," I cannot imagine him being able to haggle with one of the many shopkeepers who had the reputation (at least amongst the foreigners) for being cold to potential buyers. His teacher probably assisted him with his transaction.





A cabinet and writing desk obtained by Bernadou. The picture was taken by Pierre Louis Jouy in the mid-1880s. Annual Report of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institute (1891).



In a letter to his superior at the museum, Bernadou wrote:



"I have several small specimens [of furniture], one in particular being quite good. It was made by a Corean in Soul [sic]. It has, in silver inlaid on copper, the Chinese character, (long life and happiness), repeated a number of times; this is characteristically Corean. The locks, hinges and paneling are all of good workmanship and peculiar."





A cabinet obtained by Bernadou. The picture was taken by Pierre Louis Jouy in the mid-1880s. Annual Report of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institute (1891). Two Korean boys use a less-unique technique to shoe a Korean pony. Courtesy of Diane Nars Collection. This is a wonderful publication based upon the "Annual Report of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institute (1891)" but uses modern images of the Bernadou Collection and includes his (sometimes mistaken) notes as well as the descriptions provided by his contemporaries and present-day experts. Smithsonian Institution.
A man only recently freed from prison for trying to intimidate a prison governor was back in court today accused of disorderly behaviour.

Martin Mongan appeared at Belfast Magistrates Court by video link from police custody, charged in connection with an incident on the Falls Road in the early hours of May 13.

The 36-year-old, with an address at a Edward Street hostel in Portadown, confirmed he understood the charge against him. A PSNI officer confirmed he could connect him to the offence and that police had no objections to bail.

Freeing Mongan in his own bail of 500, the judge adjourned the case to Wednesday and hopefully the matter can be dealt with then.

Mongan was only recently released from prison having been handed a 30-month sentence last October for a bizarre case of intimidation where he defended himself at trial.

After that trial, which lasted two days, he was convicted by a jury of attempting to intimidate the assistant governor from his home in April 2019.

The jury heard how Mongan made threats to the assistant governor that he would be killed and making clear that he knew where the assistant governor lived.

Giving evidence at the trial, the prison boss said the threats were part of a continuing saga between himself and Mongan, but knowing his record for violence...he had to undertake extra security measures to protect himself and his family.

Imposing the 30-month sentence, the judge ordered Mongan to serve half his sentence in jail and half on licence.
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We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom.
The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly claiming that Chelsea Clinton said, Its time to force-jab every unvaccinated child in America.
U.S. Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., speaks to the media outside the federal courthouse in Central Islip, N.Y., on Wednesday. On Friday, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly claiming an image of Santos in a gray sweater and blue jacket is a mugshot taken Wednesday after he was indicted on federal charges.
The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly claiming CNN cut short its primetime town hall with former President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
Casey Lartigue Jr. holds "While Time Remains" with Park Yeon-mi, second from right, and Han Song-mi in New York City, March 16, shortly before doing a YouTube live on Park's YouTube channel. Courtesy of Casey Lartigue Jr.



By Casey Lartigue



In my career over the past 25 years in the USA and South Korea, there have been many times that I have been "chosen" by influential people, at other times I have chosen others to mentor or assist, and there have even been cases that I chose mentors.



The first time I was chosen was in 2002 by Prof. Walter E. Williams. In 2002, the now late Prof. Williams was then a professor of economics at George Mason University and a substitute host on the Rush Limbaugh Show.



When I published a study in 2002 about the long-term failure of public education in Washington, D.C., and recommended school choice options, Prof. Williams invited me to be his guest on the Rush Limbaugh Show. After that, I would occasionally visit him at his office at George Mason University. He was an early bird, so I would meet him before 7 a.m.



His choosing me was at the level of making me, Mafia-style, a "made man." At that time, I was working at a think tank in Washington, D.C., and I had come under some criticism internally for some of my activities. Being chosen as a guest on the Rush Limbaugh Show raised my profile within my organization and had others inviting me on their shows and to give speeches.



When I became a guest host and later started my own radio show, Prof. Williams agreed to be a regular guest on it. The Rush Limbaugh Show used to have as many as 20 million listeners per week. I had no idea how large my audience was, but Prof. Williams never rejected when I invited him on my show. He squeezed me into his schedule on Saturday mornings, as he waited for his now late wife to have medical treatment. We stayed in contact until his death in late 2020.



Shortly after I was on the conservative Rush Limbaugh Show, a host on the progressive "Democracy Now!" on Pacifica Radio wanted to interview me. She had heard about attacks and allegations about me being an undercover FBI agent infiltrating black neighborhoods. She said she had received similar attacks and had heard such things about anyone who emerged. She wanted to introduce me to the Pacifica Radio audience so they could see that I was genuine. As I recall, for the first couple of minutes she talked about many things that could possibly be wrong with me, making me wonder if she had set me up. She then dismissed all of those things and talked about the work I was doing to make a difference in the lives of low-income children in Washington, D.C., and even improving the quality of discussion about education choices. That interview and some of her behind-the-scenes support calmed down some of the public school advocates out to destroy me.



There have been times that I have chosen mentors. He didn't know it at the time, but in 2000, I selected Dr. Howard L. Fuller as a mentor. He was an activist from the 1960s still carrying around a "Power to the People" protest sign. But he had also held numerous powerful positions in government and academia, and even became an advisor to President George W. Bush (which caused many of his fellow activists to accuse him of selling out). I learned many lessons from Dr. Fuller, from our discussions as well as our work together for education choice on the Black Alliance for Educational Options (I was a board member, he was the founding chairman). I sometimes hear his words coming out of my mouth when I am advising others. I cite my relationship with him as an example to young people that they shouldn't wait to be chosen, they should sometimes choose mentors.



In most cases, I am still the one choosing others. In late 2012, I met a young North Korean refugee, but I didn't think much about her. She later joined an organization I started with Lee Eun-koo helping North Korean refugees with English.



In late 2013 she returned from a trip overseas and we had our first serious talk. She said she was determined "not to lose her English" and she proved it by studying like a maniac in our organization. When she saw that I had given a speech in India with another North Korean refugee, she said she would love to do that kind of thing one day. When I invited her to give a speech at an international school a month later, she turned out to be a natural.



Without being too dramatic about it, I told her then that she was destined to become an international spokesperson for North Korean refugees, and I was determined to make it happen.



I convinced my boss at the then-fledgling organization Freedom Factory (defunct since 2016) to hire her as a Media Fellow and invited her to join a podcast my boss wanted me to start. At that time, I was the headliner, and she was my sidekick. She started getting requests internationally and for a few months I was her mentor to get her prepared to give three international speeches in 11 days. Her speech at One Young World went viral.



Park Yeon-mi has gone on to write two best-selling books and last week had the number one book on all of Amazon. In her early days, I saw her potential and did my best to get her started in her career. She has exceeded the expectations of almost everyone, except for me.



Two years ago, I chose another North Korean refugee with a different kind of potential. She was shy, unsure about her future after going through psychological counseling, and preferred to study English anonymously rather than becoming a public speaker. My organization, Freedom Speakers International (FSI), always tries to have at least one North Korean refugee on staff. We hired Han Song-mi at the beginning of 2021 as a part-time Special Assistant.



During casual conversations at the office, I saw a natural storyteller whose story could inspire many people. I suggested that she could write a book one day. Song-mi had virtually no media presence, had never given a speech or interview, and she doubted that she could ever write a book. "Mr. Casey! I only went to elementary school for one year in North Korea and I went several years without even seeing a book. How can I write a book?" She added that her story was so sad that most people would not want to read it.



She initially said "no" to my suggestions about writing a book, but after discussing it with her mother she agreed a book might not be a bad thing, but she wanted me to write it. The chooser had become the chosen! I had been writing my own book and had no intentions on writing her book, but when she said I was the only person she trusted to tell her story then yes, the chooser became the chosen!



Others around me questioned if she really had the ability to become a public speaker, some asked why I had chosen her out of the many North Korean refugees (about 500) who have studied with us, and some others even said the project would fail.



Ignoring the doubters and even critics, we finished her book "Greenlight to Freedom." She didn't give her first public speech until February 2022, but six months later she won FSI's 17th English Speech Contest.



Last year I was able to bring Yeon-mi and Song-mi together. It is quite an honor that Yeon-mi, who calls me an "angel" for North Korean refugees, and Song-mi insisted on thanking me at length in her memoir that we wrote together. September 2022 and in March of this year, I arranged for Yeon-mi to interview Song-mi during trips that Song-mi and I made to the USA. I was delighted that Yeon-mi invited me to join both interviews and that they praised me at length.



Song-mi is still shy but has given speeches in South Korea and the USA. The young woman who two years ago didn't believe that anyone would want to hear her story now encourages other North Korean refugees to speak out. On May 17, she will be speaking at the 15th Geneva Summit for Democracy and Human Rights in Switzerland. Eun-koo (FSI co-founder) and I will be joining her at the summit and another speech she will be giving in Switzerland.



It has been 25 years since I started my professional career. I have stayed true to my mission to "do freedom," to engage in "workable words," and to empower others to share their stories.



Even though I am co-founder of Freedom Speakers International, a columnist with The Korea Times, a public speaker who has spoken around the world, co-country director of Giving Tuesday's Korea chapter, a public author and editor, I still get chosen sometimes.



Last year I was chosen as an honorary citizen of Seoul. It is quite an honor to be chosen by a city. I now have a lifetime connection with Seoul and South Korea.



Shortly before he was named Foreign Minister of South Korea, Park Jin gave introductory remarks at an event FSI held featuring former diplomats from North Korea. Much to my surprise, Mr. Park spent most of his time praising me.



More recently, best-selling author E Ji-sung recently chose me. He has numerous connections and is highly sought by many people. He is not only a best-selling author, but a liberator who has helped rescue many North Koreans from China.



After learning about me, he decided that I needed to become more known among South Koreans and people around the world. Although he has more prominent contacts who could help him sell more books among South Koreans, he chose me. E put my name on the cover of his book as the main person recommending it, my name is now on Seoul transportation (buses and subways), I am pictured in marketing materials including on Kyobo and Yes24, and he has talked about me at length on his YouTube channel.



He chose me as the person to help raise awareness about North Korea's human rights violations against North Koreans. My first move is to let people at Harvard University know about his book and activities.



I was chosen a few times as a young man, starting with Prof. Williams in 2002. Two decades later, I am finding myself being chosen again. It is even more meaningful now and I can appreciate what it means to choose others and to be chosen. As my profile rises, I plan to choose others to hopefully help them with their careers.





Casey Lartigue is co-founder and co-president of Freedom Speakers International along with Lee Eun-koo and co-author of "Greenlight to Freedom" with Han Song-mi.






Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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MCLA will not move forward with plan to put a homeless shelter on campus In a letter to the campus community, James Birge explained the decision, which he said was a difficult one.

While it looks like the proposal for a homeless shelter in an empty Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts dorm is now off the table, this saga still holds some hard lessons for MCLAs leader  if hes willing to listen.

When it became apparent that the Berkshires only four-year public college was considering whether to lease out the now-empty Berkshire Towers to the Department of Housing and Community Development for use as transitional housing for families, many in the Northern Berkshire community had concerns. Most were understandable: How would this affect MCLAs already strained enrollment and sustainability prospects? What are the expected impacts on downtown North Adams and regional social services? Would this be the best move and the best location for vulnerable families from across the commonwealth?

Adding to these concerns was the fact the college official tasked with making this call seemed poised to make this decision quietly with seemingly little regard for community impact or input. Its reasonable to wonder whether the community would have known the contours of this decision before it was made if Eagle reporters Sten Spinella and Greta Jochem did not dig the story out of MCLA officials.

Thats a problem  and not just for this particular decision. Given the importance of MCLA to the greater Northern Berkshires fabric and future, its disconcerting to think that MCLA President James Birge might have simply rammed through such a weighty decision in the dark. The Eagle editorial board did come down for or against the shelter, but we underscored the aforementioned critical questions raised in good faith and urged a transparent public conversation so that 1) community stakeholders could ask questions and learn more and 2) MCLA and state officials might make a more informed decision based on that back and forth.

Instead, President Birge essentially ignored those calls and consistently stonewalled The Eagles attempt to learn more about the shelter plan and what it might mean for the colleges future, the surrounding community, the states broader anti-homelessness efforts and area service providers.

After deciding against the shelter proposal, President Birge continued to refuse Eagle interview requests. He did have time, however, for an interview on WAMC wherein he seemed to blame everyone but himself for the Berkshire Towers shelter plan bearing more heat than light. He blamed North Adams Mayor Jennifer Macksey and state Rep. John Barrett III for seeding a level of rancor and vitriol simply because they raised relevant questions about what their constituents could expect from the shelter plan. He also took a shot at the entire surrounding community with which MCLA has a symbiotic bond by saying he had a quickened concern about the safety of people that might move into Berkshire Towers, because I was concerned that the community might threaten their safety or be unkind or not very welcoming.

It apparently didnt matter to President Birge that many critical questions about the proposal centered on whether the location and the surrounding network of services could aptly serve 50 to 75 vulnerable families  many of whom might need specialized health and education supports  in a small city where residents and human infrastructure are already struggling. If President Birge had listened to the concerns and queries of community members like North Adams social worker Ashley Benson, he could not in good faith dismiss all community pushback to the shelter plan as merely anti-homeless parochialism.

Massachusetts is a right-to-shelter state. As a commonwealth, we must identify humane, sustainable ways to face a worsening homelessness problem. Sometimes those solutions will be expensive or uncomfortable or both. And yes, we need to be able to address bad-faith, classist and indecent invectives against homeless folks and plans to help them. Weve argued on this page for the creation of homeless shelters even as parochial headwinds opposed them.

But its not parochialism to ask what the expected effects are from siting a sizable homeless shelter on a campus already grappling with enrollment and sustainability problems. Perhaps the infusion of state cash from a shelter lease would have ameliorated these issues in the short term, but what about the longer term? MCLAs future affects North Adams directly and the whole county indirectly. Even if the decision was ultimately President Birges, better informing the public and allowing a chance to be heard should have been an essential part of the decision-making process.

State officials should have been more forthcoming, too  did they expect to extend the lease, were there plans for increased state aid for regional human services? The Healey administration expressed disappointment earlier this week that MCLA decided against the shelter plan, but the administration also should be disappointed in their own efforts here. If DHCD is going to pursue a shelter plan with expectedly higher pushback than usual, the run-up should be far more transparent and prepared than this.

It adds insult to injury that the systemic problems facing Berkshire communities  a thinning web of health care providers, lackluster public transportation, public schools in desperate need of augmented rural aid  continue to be overlooked by Beacon Hill decision-makers even as they considered shipping scores of vulnerable families to this underserved corner of the commonwealth. Massachusetts must come together to help relieve the pressure on the states shelter system, but the better way to do it is with a thoughtful, sustainable long-term plan.

For anyone worried about public perception of homeless shelter plans, this questionable and opaque approach likely did more harm than good. That damage will be hard to undo, but we hope MCLA will onboard some hard lessons about how to communicate transparently with the Northern Berkshire community it calls home.
Ukrainian president Volodimir Zelenskyy, right, leaves his hotel on his way to a meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella, May 13. AP-Yonhap



Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy arrived in Rome, Saturday, for talks with Italian officials and Pope Francis, who has said the Vatican has launched a behind-the-scenes initiative to try to end the war launched last year by Russia.



"Today in Rome, Zelenskyy tweeted. "I'm meeting with President of Italy Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister of Italy @GiorgiaMeloni and the Pope @Pontifex. An important visit for approaching victory of Ukraine! "



When Zelenskyy arrived at a military airfield at Rome's Ciampino airport, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani was on hand to greet him. Tajani told reporters that Italy will continue to support Ukraine "360 degrees" and press for a just peace, one that safeguards Ukraine's independence.



Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni staunchly backs military and other aid for Ukraine.



But while her far-right Brothers of Italy party fiercely champion the principle of national sovereignty, Meloni has had to contend with leaders of two coalition partners who have openly professed for years their admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Coalition ally Silvio Berlusconi, a former premier, has boasted of his friendship with Putin, while another government ally, League leader Matteo Salvini, has questioned the value of economic sanctions against Russia.



Zelenskyy began his official meetings by calling on Mattarella, who is head of state, at the presidential Quirinale Palace. Rain let up just in time about noon for the two to view an honor guard in the palace courtyard atop the Quirinal Hill, and Zelenskyy stood with his hand over his heart as an Italian military band played Ukraine's anthem.



En route, Zelenskyy's motorcade passed by cheering Ukrainians who had waited in the rain to welcome him during his visit to the Italian capital, expected to last several hours. Near the presidential palace was Mariya Hrytskevych, a Ukrainian citizen living in Italy, who noted that Zelenskyy is "traveling a lot for our good  to fight and to find more help, because we need help."

Zelenskyy is believed to be heading to Berlin next.





People holding flags and banners welcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (not in picture) prior of his visit to the Quirinale Palace for a meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella in Rome, Italy, May 13. EPA-Yonhap
Four men arrested for causing criminal damage to the Iranian embassy in Dublin during a protest have been released on bail with strict conditions.

Esmaell Mohammadi, 25, Richmond Court, Richmond Street, Longford, Nikrooz Esmaeilzadah, 50, Castleland Park Way, Balbriggan, Dublin, Reza Yaghoopi, 41, Newtown, the Malahide Road, Coolock, Dublin, and Saeid Khosroabadi, 28, Seville Place, in central Dublin were arrested at just after 11 pm on Friday.

They were held overnight in Garda custody and appeared at Dublin District Court on Saturday when gardai agreed to bail with restrictions.

Judge John Hughes noted the four men did not require interpreters.

Mr Khosroabadi addressed the court and said he understood but challenged the bail terms, asking, "Why should I stay away from that embassy."

"Sorry, sir, those people in that embassy are killing people, killing people," he said. He queried a garda's request to order him to stay away, claiming, "Do you know those people behind those walls are really criminals".

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The four, yet to indicate pleas, are charged with criminal damage to the exterior walls of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran at Mount Merrion Ave, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, on May 12th.

Mr Yaghoopi has two additional charges: possessing a screwdriver to use it or permitting another to use it to damage property by removing the embassy plaque from the wall and trespassing at a private residence in Blackrock.

Detective Garda Tara Byrne and Detective Garda David Lestrange gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution. The court heard that each man "made no reply" to the charges, and the detectives confirmed there was no objection to bail provided they obeyed several conditions.

The court did hear any evidence about the alleged incident.

The four men were ordered to obey curfews, sign on three days a week at their local garda stations, and stay out of Blackrock and away from the embassy.

Judge Hughes told the defendants this hearing was to deal with bail and not the substance of their charges.

World At least nine killed as Iran protests spread over... Read More

Legal aid was granted to three of them.

Mr Yaghoopi said he was looking for a woman to represent him, and solicitor Colleen Gildernew was assigned to his case.

Mr Khosroabadi said he was employed but informed the judge he would represent himself, and he declined the court's offer to provide him with legal representation.

Judge Hughes remanded them on 500 bonds to appear at Dun Laoghaire District Court on June 1st for directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Public order gardai have responded to an anti-migrant protest outside the International Protection Office in Dublin  a day after a migrant camp was dismantled and set alight.

On Saturday, protesters marched from the Customs House, where there was a rally against hate speech legislation currently before the Oireachtas.

The demonstrators marched towards Mount Street Lower, where dozens of tents have been erected in another makeshift camp for homeless migrants.

The protesters carried Irish flags and banners as they walked through the camp chanting and exchanging words with migrants.

There was a scuffle as some demonstrators and gardai pushed each other.

They then stood across the main entrance to the camp at Grattan Court East.

The protesters later called on the gardai to remove the tents.

On Friday, a man was arrested during a protest in Dublin during which a different nearby migrant camp was dismantled and later set alight.

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Protesters walk past tents of homeless people outside the International Protection Office in Dublin. Niall Carson/PA Wire

Makeshift tents had been erected in a laneway being used by homeless migrants.

A protest against the camp took place in the area around Sandwith Street on Friday evening and involved several groups, including counter-protesters.

Ireland Varadkar says 'we cannot tolerate this' after man... Read More

Public order gardai attended those demonstrations too.

The man, in his 30s, was arrested under the Public Order Act and will appear before Dublin District Court this month.

Wooden pallets and other materials from the camp were later set alight in the laneway but gardai said no one was present at that time and no one was hurt.
A man arrested over a seizure of 69,000 worth of cocaine and cannabis in Dublin has been remanded in custody.

Ian Byrne, 40, of Dane Road, Balbutcher Lane, Ballymun, appeared before Judge John Hughes at Dublin District Court on Saturday.

Judge John Hughes set bail in his bond of 1,000 and ordered that Mr Byrne needed a 5,000 independent surety approved before he was released.

During the search on Friday, gardai allegedly seized cocaine worth 57,000 and cannabis worth 12,000.

Garda Peter Elliot objected to bail, citing the quantity of drugs allegedly found in the defendants bedroom.

The court heard the accused, who was unemployed, made no reply to the charges.

The garda agreed with defence solicitor Andrew Molony that his client had no warrant history and witness interference was not a concern.

The officer also said he would agree to bail with conditions.

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Setting bail, Judge Hughes said he took into account Mr Byrnes financial circumstances.

Ireland Two arrested in Westmeath after seizure of drugs w... Read More

He told Mr Byrne he would also have to surrender his passport and, on release, sign on daily at his local garda station, obey an 11 pm to 6 am curfew, and remain contactable by phone at all times.

Mr Byrne was remanded in custody with consent to bail on these terms to appear at Cloverhill District Court on May 16th for directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The accused, yet to indicate a plea, told the court he suffered from seizures and had been in hospital for a few days until Thursday. Judge Hughes directed medical attention in custody.

Legal aid was granted.
A 42-year-old man is no longer in life-threatening condition after he was shot in Cork city.

The shooting happened in the Wilton Manor area early on Friday morning.

Gardai are appealing for witnesses who may have seen a silver saloon car driving from the scene towards Bishopstown.

Fine Gael Cork city Councillor Shane O'Callaghan said he's taken aback by the gun attack.

Mr O'Callaghan told Newstalk: "My reaction is one of shock and disbelief, because with the Manor apartments near the Wilton roundabout where the incident occurred is a very quiet residential area.

"I know that local residents are understandably shocked by what occurred."

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US president Joe Biden was "delighted" with the Irish For Biden campaign, which has already started work for his 2024 re-election bid.

Organised by Paul Allen, Irish For Biden encouraged people with contacts in the United States to 'Call A Cousin, Phone A Friend, and Ring A Relative'.

Mr Allen was working in Dundalk, Co Louth, as part of the group during Mr Biden's recent visit to Ireland, where he met the US president.

He told BreakingNews.ie: "I met the president in Dundalk representing Irish For Biden, and he was delighted with it."

Mr Allen also met Mr Biden's son Hunter and sister Valerie, who accompanied him on the visit, and he said they were also very impressed with the campaign.

"I had a chance to meet Hunter Biden and Joe's sister Valerie. They really liked that... and the phone a friend element they're going to use in the US when they start rolling things out.

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"They were blown away by it... they thought it was terrific. Particularly Hunter was taken back at how much effort is put into this.

"We will be rolling up our sleeves and getting started in the coming weeks."

Mr Allen said he has been busying preparing Irish For Biden for the 2024 US presidential election, with updates and new material set to be released in the coming weeks.

Joe Biden addressing the Dail during his recent visit to Ireland.

"As the lead organiser of Irish For Biden, I just want to say the amount of people who have come out of the Irish community from local councillors to people in business to try and help and energise what we're trying to do is terrific.

"We're inundated with people contacting us and wanting to help out... from Democrats Abroad through to people in Ballina and Dundalk."

He added: "We were working in Dundalk, and we were a guest of the White House in Ballina... so the amount of people we met and the contacts we built was second to none. We will certainly be rolling all that out and maximising that in the weeks ahead.

"In Ballina I met Martin O'Malley, the former presidential candidate and governor of Maryland, the outpouring of contacts we have is phenomenal, so we are ready to go... and we have so many people we can call upon.

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"Having met the team around him [Mr Biden], they are a remarkable professional group.

"We have more fresh material of him for our website in the weeks to come that will be in keeping with the overall strategy, coming from Washington DC."

Mr Allen was also in attendance at the Good Friday Agreement anniversary conference in Queen's University Belfast, where he met Bill and Hillary Clinton.

He said they were "very excited for Biden's campaign, and they certainly believe he will win".

Paul Allen with former US president Bill Clinton at Queen's University, Belfast.

Mr Allen believes Mr Biden's experience of "fighting as the underdog" will stand to him in the 2024 election, while he feels the recent visit to Ireland was "invaluable" for tourism.

"He spent loads of time in Dundalk and people stood out in the rain for hours, and it didn't do anything to bring down the fantastic occasion.

Ireland Joe Biden will be most genuine Irish-American pres... Read More

"My hero is JFK, but this man is more Irish than Kennedy and he's very keen to tell people.

"It's also a huge influence for people, if you are the underdog always stick at it, and you will win out in the end. Biden has had failures and setbacks in his life... but he's always kept going, and that can be an inspiration to a lot of people.

"Ballina and Carlingford are now very much on the map. No influencer could market Ireland the way Biden's visit has done.

"We're looking forward to getting going. The phone a friend concept is brilliant and works very well."
A Sinn Fein U-turn on its pledge to remove the country from EU and Nato defence arrangements, a shooting in Cork, and NCT delays are among the stories on Saturday's front pages.

Sinn Fein has dropped its pledges to withdraw from the EU common defence arrangement known as Pesco and from Natos Partnership for Peace (PfP) project, The Irish Times reports.

The Irish Examiner leads with a story on a shooting in Cork city.

The Irish Independent leads with a story on ongoing NCT delays.

The shooting in Cork also makes the front page of The Echo.

Plans for a new look Late Late Show with Patrick Kielty make the front page of the Irish Sun.

Today's front page of The Irish Sun pic.twitter.com/qbih5lVE4j Advertisement  The Irish Sun (@IrishSunOnline) May 13, 2023

The Herald leads with Rory Gallagher stepping back from the Derry managerial position.

In the North, the Belfast Telegraph also leads with Gallagher's decision.

There is little consensus on the UK's main story of the day as Saturdays newspaper front pages feature an array of subjects.

A week on from the coronation, it continues to occupy front pages with a newly released picture of Britain's King Charles and his heirs  the Prince of Wales and Prince George  featuring in several editions.

Alongside the picture on its front page, The Daily Telegraph says India is planning a push to recover colonial treasures from Britain, including the Koh-i-Noor diamond.

 The front page of tomorrow's Daily Telegraph:



'India to demand return of colonial treasures'#TomorrowsPapersToday



Sign up for the Front Page newsletter https://t.co/x8AV4Oomry pic.twitter.com/rTtduMDJAY  The Telegraph (@Telegraph) May 12, 2023

The Daily Mail also gives much of its front page to the royal picture as it focuses on its campaign to bring back tax-free shopping for overseas visitors, saying it has won the backing of 200 firms.

And the Daily Express mixes the royal picture with a report on Nikki Allans mother and her 31-year fight for justice as David Boyd is found guilty of the seven-year-olds murder.

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Politics and Eurovision jostle for attention on several front pages, The Independents digital edition combining the two with UK prime minister Rishi Sunak saying Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy should be allowed to address tonights final in Liverpool.

Mr Sunak is the focus of the i weekend as he comes under fire from former UK home secretary Priti Patel for the managed decline of the Conservative Party.

And the prime minister faces more criticism on the front of The Times as inventor and entrepreneur Sir James Dyson says government policies on science are deterring investment.

The Guardian focuses on Labour leader Sir Keir Starmers assertion that the party will have to offer a radical vision further and deeper than Tony Blairs government to tackle the problems faced by the country.

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Guardian front page, Saturday 13 May 2023: Expect Blair-style reforms on steroids, says Starmer pic.twitter.com/E30cWBmUEJ  The Guardian (@guardian) May 12, 2023

The only agreement on front page lead comes in The Sun and the Daily Mirror, which both focus on the reported rift between This Morning stars Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield.

The Sun continues its coverage of the story by reporting on a tense phone call between the pair, while the Mirror suggests Schofield is fighting to keep his job.

On tomorrow's front page: Phillip Schofield confronted Holly Willoughby in tense phone call after their angry feud was exposedhttps://t.co/yLXvox5Ys7 pic.twitter.com/beGyTk4I6u  The Sun (@TheSun) May 12, 2023

A growing dispute between the US and South Africa over relations with Russia features in the Financial Times.

Just published: front page of FT Weekend UK edition Saturday May 13 https://t.co/VWOlxB9e2G pic.twitter.com/5p0fBw39JM  Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) May 12, 2023

And the Daily Star focuses on the Popes call for Italians to have more children.

The international edition of The New York Times leads with a story on property tax issues in Chinese cities.

Saturdays International NEW YORK Times: With cities short of cash, China resists property tax #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/MDdhVG7miw  Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) May 12, 2023
Why are you wearing mirrored aviator sunglasses? And staring into the distance?

Because Im about to deliver Concentrated Freedom!

Youre delivering what?

Concentrated Freedom. Honestly, I am.

How are you going to do that?

Im going to do it with this, the new Jeep Avenger. It says it right here in the press notes that it delivers, and I quote, Concentrated Freedom. So thats what Im doing.

Sounds like a Fox News segment

It does a bit, doesnt it? Well, dont worry  the actual Avenger is a lot more sensible, and a lot more European, than it seems.

European? I though Jeep was all-American?

Well, it was, once. And thats certainly still its image, but through a convoluted series of mergers and takeovers, Jeep is now part of the same Stellantis Group that also includes Peugeot, Fiat, Citroen, Alfa Romeo, Opel, DS, Lancia, Abarth, Chrysler, Dodge, and Maserati.

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Thats a lot of brands.

Yes, and a lot of platform-sharing. This new Avenger might look like a Jeep up top, but underneath its sharing a platform with the Peugeot e-2008, the Opel Mokka-e, and the DS 3. Its also been designed in Italy and will be built in an old Fiat factory in Poland. And it wont even be sold in America, at least for now.

Is it fully-electric?

Yes  although some markets will get a petrol-engined version, for us the Avenger is electric-only and its Jeeps first battery-only model. Its the start of a journey (a journey of freedom) which will see Jeep go electric-only in Europe by 2030, with some cool new models such as the 600hp, 700km range Wagoneer-S in 2025, and the all-electric Recon, which you can take the doors and roof off if its sunny.

Can you take the doors off the Avenger?

Not without voiding the warranty. In spite of the chunky styling (which is really rather nice) and the lofty 200mm ground clearance, this Jeep is really a hatchback wearing a Jeep-branded false nose, moustache and glasses. Underneath, its actually pretty closely related to the Opel Corsa, but it does get a new 54kWh battery and a 156hp electric motor, driving the front wheels.

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How far can it go?

Jeep claims that itll do 400km on one charge, and that motor is a new, highly-efficient design plus you get a standard heat-pump heating system which helps when the weathers chilly. It was nice and warm when we got to drive it in Spain, but even with lots of hilly mountain routes and the air-conditioning going, it looked like it would pretty much hit its claimed range. Well have to wait and see what its like on a cold, wet day in Buttevant

Does it go off-road?

Sort of. Ive mentioned the ground clearance, and you get driving modes with settings for mud, snow, ice, and sand but with front-wheel drive only, and pretty short suspension travel, theres a limit to what you can do. That said, its more capable than a basic hatchback, but really its better kept on tarmac, where it feels smooth and eager to drive, and its actually reasonably good fun.

What about the inside?

As standard, you get a nice big 10.25-inch touchscreen and  saints of Jeep be praised  proper physical air conditioning controls. Theres lots of storage space, including a Land Rover Defender-style open shelf that runs almost all the way across the dash, but while the Avenger feels good and looks good up front (aside from a few too-cheap plastics) its pretty cramped in the back, and the 380-litre boot isnt the biggest.

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Is there anything properly Jeep-y about it?

Oh sure. Theres the ride height. Theres the driving modes. There are nice touches like the way the headlamps and foglights are sunk into the bodywork so that theyre less lightly to get damaged by rocks or tree-stumps (or, more realistically, parking dings at Dunnes). Its actually quite a charming car, one that gently works its way into your affections. Like a cute dog, really.

How much?

Ah, we dont know yet and that will be a crucial question. It looks like the ballpark is between 38,000 and 40,000 but with Tesla chopping prices every five minutes and Chinese brands like BYD and MG cut-throating their costs, Jeep is going to have to be sharp with its numbers to keep the Avenger competitive. Well find out closer to the Irish on-sale date of June.

And the freedom?

Ill keep concentrating on that. Im sure it will arrive eventually.

Key Facts

How much? Dont know yet, but probably going to start around 38,000

How fast? 0-100km/h in 9.0secs

How far? Official figure is 400km on one charge, based on using electricity at 15.4kWh/100km

What do you get? Basic versions should get a 10.25-inch touchscreen, seven-inch digital instrument panel, air conditioning, heated door mirrors, electric parking brake with auto hold, keyless go, cruise control, lane keep assistance and LED headlights

Business Tesla ends right-hand-drive Model S and Model X pr... Read More

How big? The 380-litre boot is on the small side, by Jeep standards, but theres lots of storage space up front in the cabin. Rear seat passengers will need to be short in the leg department though, and the roof is quite low which makes it feel even smaller.

Plus: Looks great, nice to drive, brand recognition

Minus: Cramped in the back, price will need to be sharp

Equals: Jeeps first all-electric foray is a good one
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in Rome ahead of talks with Pope Francis at the Vatican, has received assurances from Italian leaders of continued military and other aid as his country fights to liberate itself from Russias military invasion launched last year.

Francis recently said that the Vatican has launched a behind-the-scenes initiative to try to end the war launched last year by Russia.

In a tweet, sent shortly after his arrival in the Italian capital late on Saturday morning, Mr Zelensky cited his schedule of meetings with Francis, Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni.

An important visit for approaching victory of Ukraine! Mr Zelensky tweeted.





Today in Rome. I'm meeting with President of Italy Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister of Italy @GiorgiaMeloni and the Pope @Pontifex. An important visit for approaching victory of Ukraine!  Advertisement    (@ZelenskyyUa) May 13, 2023

When Mr Zelensky arrived at a military airfield at Romes Ciampino airport, Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani was on hand to greet him.

Mr Tajani told reporters that Italy will continue to support Ukraine 360 degrees and press for a just peace, one that safeguards Ukraines independence.

Ms Meloni staunchly backs military and other aid for Ukraine.

But while her far-right Brothers of Italy party fiercely champions the principle of national sovereignty, Ms Meloni has had to contend with leaders of two coalition partners who have openly professed for years their admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Coalition ally Silvio Berlusconi, a former premier, has boasted of his friendship with Mr Putin, while another government ally, League leader Matteo Salvini, has questioned the value of economic sanctions against Russia.



Italian police enforce security in St Peters Square at the Vatican (Gregorio Borgia/AP)

Mr Zelensky began his official meetings by calling on Mr Mattarella at the presidential Quirinale Palace.

We are fully at your side, Mr Mattarella told Mr Zelensky as he welcomed him.

Later, after their meeting, presidential palace sources said Mr Mattarella assured his guest that Italy would continue supporting Ukraine militarily and financially, as well as with reconstruction and humanitarian aid, in both the short and long term.

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Since the war began, Italy has furnished about one billion euros (875 million) in military and financial aid, as well as humanitarian assistance.

At his next stop, the premiers office, Ms Meloni and Mr Zelensky embraced in the palace courtyard, before beginning their closed-door talks.



Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Chigi Palace in Rome (Alessandra Tarantino/AP)

Mr Zelensky is believed to be heading to Berlin next.

His exact schedule had not been publicly announced because of security concerns, and the Vatican only confirmed a papal meeting shortly before the Ukrainian presidents plane touched down.

Italian state radio reported that as part of protective measures, a no-fly zone was ordered for Rome skies and police sharpshooters were strategically placed on high buildings.

Ms Meloni met with Mr Zelensky in Kyiv, shortly before the anniversary of Russias full-scale invasion on February 24 2022.

Francis, who is eager for peace, last met with the Ukrainian leader in 2020.

The pontiff makes frequent impassioned pleas on behalf of Ukraines martyred people, in his words.

At the end of April, flying back to Rome from a trip to Hungary, Francis told reporters on the plane that the Vatican was involved in a behind-the-scenes peace mission but gave no details.

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Neither Russia nor Ukraine has confirmed such an initiative.



Pope Francis (Andrew Medichini/AP)

He has said he would like to go to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, if such a visit could be coupled with one to Moscow, in hopes a papal pilgrimage could further the cause of peace.

Last month, Ukraines prime minister met with Francis at the Vatican and said he asked the pontiff to help Ukraine get back children illegally taken to Russia during the invasion.

The German government, meanwhile, said it was providing Ukraine with additional military aid worth more than 2.7 billion euros (2.3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition.

The announcement on Saturday came as preparations were under way in Berlin for a possible first visit to Germany by Mr Zelensky since Russia invaded his country last year.

Defence minister Boris Pistorius said Berlin wants to show with the latest package of arms that Germany is serious in its support for Ukraine.

Germany will provide all the help it can, as long as it takes, he said.
Germany will provide Ukraine with additional military aid worth more than 2.7 billion euros (2.3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition, the government has said.

The announcement came as preparations were under way in Berlin for a possible first visit to Germany by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky since Russia invaded his country last year.

Defence minister Boris Pistorius said Berlin wants to show with the latest package of arms that Germany is serious in its support for Ukraine.



German defence minister Boris Pistorius (Matthias Schrader/AP)

Germany will provide all the help it can, as long as it takes, he said.

While Mr Zelenskys visit on Sunday has yet to be officially confirmed, it would be a sign that relations between Ukraine and Germany have improved after a rocky patch.

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Kyiv has long been suspicious of Germanys reliance on Russian energy and support for the Nord Stream gas pipelines circumventing Ukraine, defended by then chancellor Angela Merkel.

Her successor Olaf Scholz agreed to phase out Russian energy imports after the invasion but initially hesitated to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons, fearing Germany could be drawn into the conflict.

With Washington, Warsaw and London more overtly supportive of Ukraines efforts to defend itself, Berlin got the cold diplomatic shoulder from Kyiv.



Volodymyr Zelensky with French President Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz in June last year (Alamy/PA)

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was disinvited from Ukraine last year, prompting annoyance in Germany, which pointed out that it has given considerable financial aid to Kyiv and taken in more than a million Ukrainian refugees.

Mr Scholz eventually visited Kyiv with French President Emmanuel Macron and other leaders in June.

Though slow to provide military aid, Germany has since become one of the biggest suppliers of arms to Ukraine, crucially giving the green light for deliveries of modern battle tanks like its own Leopard 1 and 2, along with sophisticated anti-aircraft systems needed to fend off drone and missile attacks.

The new military aid package, first reported by German weekly Der Spiegel, includes 30 Leopard 1 A5 tanks, 20 Marder armoured personnel carriers, more than 100 combat vehicles, 18 self-propelled Howitzers, 200 reconnaissance drones, four IRIS-T SLM anti-aircraft systems and other air defence equipment.

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Leopard 2 tanks (Martin Meissner/AP)

Berlin police confirmed last week that they were preparing for a possible visit by Mr Zelensky and have imposed a security cordon throughout much of the capitals government district.

After a meeting at the chancellery, the two leaders are expected to fly to the western city of Aachen, where Mr Zelensky would receive the International Charlemagne Prize awarded to him and the people of Ukraine.

Organisers say the award recognises that their resistance against Russias invasion is a defence not just of the sovereignty of their country and the life of its citizens, but also of Europe and European values.

Mr Zelensky last visited Berlin in July 2021. He also attended the Munich Security Conference the following February, days before Russia launched its full-scale attack.
Israel and Palestinian militants have unleashed salvos of fire for a fifth day, with the Islamic Jihad militant group launching dozens more rockets and the Israeli military pounding targets inside the Gaza Strip.

But late on Saturday, a state-run Egyptian TV channel said a ceasefire would take effect.

The Al-Qahera satellite channel said Egypt had brokered a ceasefire and it would go into effect at 10pm (1900 GMT).

Egypt often serves as a broker between the warring sides.



A Palestinian youth takes photos of an explosion from an Israeli air strike targeting a nearby building, which Israel says belonged to a Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant, in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza (Mohammed Al Masri/AP)

Egyptian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the behind-the-scenes efforts, confirmed an agreement was in place.

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The signs of progress came as fighting continued.

Last week, another Egyptian effort to forge a truce unravelled.

Earlier on Saturday, shrapnel from a Palestinian rocket that slammed into an agricultural community in Israels southern Negev desert killed a Palestinian labourer who had been working inside Israel, Israeli defence officials said.

A second Palestinian labourer was badly wounded.

In a reminder of the combustible situation in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military raided the Balata refugee camp near the northern city of Nablus, sparking a firefight that killed two Palestinians.

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the two as 32-year-old Said Mesha and 19-year-old Adnan Araj.



Palestinian youths block a road during clashes with Israeli forces conducting an arrest raid in the West Bank city of Nablus (Majdi Mohammed/AP)

At least three other Palestinians were wounded in the raid, the latest of near-daily Israeli arrest operations against suspected militants in the territory.

In a separate incident near the northern city of Jenin, Israeli police said they shot and killed a suspected Palestinian assailant who ran towards soldiers wielding a knife.

Meanwhile, hopes for an imminent ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad were fading as the Israeli military on Saturday bombed an apartment belonging to Islamic Jihad commander Mohammed Abu Al Atta, among other targets including rocket launchers, it said.

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Islamic Jihad militants fired a barrage of rockets towards southern Israel, where tens of thousands of Israelis were instructed to remain close to safe rooms and bomb shelters.

Hundreds of residents near the border were evacuated to hotels further north.

Islamic Jihad promised a further onslaught.

As assassinations and the bombing of apartments and safe houses continue, the Palestinian resistance will renew its rocket fire  to emphasise the continuation of the confrontation, the group said.

Mortar shells fired by Palestinian militants crashed into the Erez crossing between Gaza and Israel, the Israeli civil defence body said, sharing footage of a fiery explosion at the main passageway into Israel.

Israeli officials told media that Egyptian-led efforts to broker a ceasefire were still under way but that Israel has ruled out the conditions presented by Islamic Jihad in the talks.



Palestinians inspect the rubble at the site of an air strike (Fatima Shbair/AP)

Israel has said only that quiet will be answered with quiet, while Islamic Jihad has been reportedly pressing Israel to agree to halt targeted assassinations, among other demands.

If the rocket fire continues from Gaza, Israeli officials told local media, the strikes (on Gaza) will continue and intensify.

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The hostilities erupted on Tuesday when Israel killed three senior Islamic Jihad commanders who it said were responsible for firing rockets towards the country last week.

At least 10 civilians, including women, young children and uninvolved neighbours, were killed in the initial strikes, which drew regional condemnation.

Over the past few days, Israel has conducted even more air strikes, killing other senior Islamic Jihad commanders and destroying their command centres and rocket-launching sites.

On Friday, Israel killed Iyad al-Hassani, an Islamic Jihad commander who had replaced a leader of the groups military operations killed in a Tuesday air strike.

The Palestinian Health Ministry has reported 33 Palestinians killed  six of them children  and at least 147 wounded.

Islamic Jihad has retaliated by firing rockets towards southern and central Israel. On Friday, the group escalated its assaults and fired rockets towards Jerusalem, setting off air raid sirens in Israeli settlements south of the contested capital.



Israels Iron Dome missile defence system fires interceptors at rockets (Tsafrir Abayov/AP)

Most of the rockets have fallen short or been intercepted by Israels Iron Dome aerial defence system, but one on Thursday penetrated missile defences and sliced through a house in the central city of Rehovot, killing an 80-year-old woman and wounding several others.

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Hamas, the larger militant group that has controlled Gaza since seizing power in 2007, has praised Islamic Jihads strikes but remained on the sidelines, according to Israeli military officials, limiting the scope of the conflict.

As the de facto government held responsible for the abysmal conditions in the blockaded Gaza Strip, Hamas has recently tried to keep a lid on its conflict with Israel. Islamic Jihad, a more ideological and unruly militant group, has taken the lead in the past few rounds of fighting with Israel.

On Saturday, the deadly Israeli raid into the Balata refugee camp turned the focus of the conflict back to the long-simmering West Bank. Residents said Israeli forces used shoulder-fired rockets to besiege a militant hideout, sharing footage of a large explosion and smoke billowing from the crowded camp.

The two Palestinians killed were not targets of the arrest raid, witnesses said, but among the crowds of protesters throwing stones and explosives at Israeli troops.

Israeli-Palestinian fighting has surged in the West Bank under Israels most right-wing government in history.

Since the start of the year, 111 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied territory, at least half of them affiliated with militant groups, according to a tally by the Associated Press  the highest death toll in two decades. In that time, 20 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks on Israelis.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has had private talks with Pope Francis at the Vatican, later saying he sought support for his peace plan from the pontiff, who in the past has offered to try to help end the war launched by Russias invasion of Ukraine a year ago.

Mr Zelensky held his hand over his heart and said it was a great honour to meet the pope.

Francis, using a cane for his knee problem, came to greet the Ukrainian president before ushering him into a papal studio near the Vaticans audience hall.

Thank you for your visit, Francis said, as their 40-minute-long meeting began.



Pope Francis meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a private audience at the Vatican (Vatican News via AP)

In a tweet after the papal audience, Mr Zelensky expressed gratitude to Francis for his personal attention to the tragedy of millions of Ukrainians.

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He said he spoke to the pontiff about the tens of thousands of deported (Ukrainian) children. We must make every effort to return them home.

Last month, Ukraines prime minister Denys Shmyhal asked the pope to help get the children returned from Russia to Ukraine.

But the Vaticans written statement after Saturdays talks made no mention of the request for help for the children.

Instead, the Vatican said the two men spoke about Ukraines humanitarian and political situation provoked by the war going on.

The pope assured his constant prayer, paid witness to by his many public appeals and by his continued invoking of the Lord for peace, since February of last year, the Vatican said, in a reference to the invasion of Ukraine on February 24 2022 by Russias military.

Both agreed on the need to continue humanitarian efforts to help the population, the Holy Sees statement added.

The pope underlined in particular the urgent need for humanitarian gestures toward the most fragile persons, innocent victims of the conflict, the statement said.



Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky leaves after meeting Pope Francis at the Vatican (Gregorio Borgia/AP)

The meeting came as Russias Defence Ministry said Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles delivered to Ukraine by the United Kingdom this week damaged unspecified civilian enterprises in Luhansk province in Ukraines far east.

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Luhansk authorities separately said another missile strike hit the regional capital, wounding an elderly woman.

Two Russian Mi-8 helicopters and an Su-34 fighter-bomber crashed on Saturday in the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, state news agency Tass and a Telegram channel close to the Russian Defence Ministry reported.

The causes of the crashes were not immediately disclosed, but concern in Bryansk is growing about cross-border attacks from Ukraine.

Some Ukrainian units continue to push forward near Bakhmut, the commander of Ukraines land forces said on Saturday, just a day after Ukrainian commanders said their troops recaptured territory at the scene of the wars longest and bloodiest battle.

Our soldiers are moving forward in some sectors of the front, and the enemy is losing equipment and manpower, Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Telegram.

Mr Zelensky also said that he asked the pope to condemn Russian crimes in Ukraine because there can be no equality between the victim and the aggressor.

And he said he asked Francis to come aboard Ukraines peace plan.





I met with Pope Francis @Pontifex.

I'm grateful for his personal attention to the tragedy of millions of Ukrainians. I spoke about tens of thousands of deported  children. We must make every effort to return them home.

In addition, I asked to condemn  crimes in Ukraine. Advertisement    (@ZelenskyyUa) May 13, 2023

I also talked about our Peace Formula as the only effective algorithm for achieving a just peace, Mr Zelensky said.

Later, in an interview on Italian state TV, the Ukrainian leader said the pope knows my position. The war is in Ukraine, that is why it has to be Ukraines plan to bring peace.

Mr Zelenskys 10-point plan would establish a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes.

It would also create a European-Atlantic security architecture with guarantees for Ukraine, restore Ukraines damaged power infrastructure and ensure safety around Europes largest nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia.

Earlier in the day, Mr Zelensky received from Italian officials pledges of both open-ended military and financial support as well as stronger backing for Ukraines cherished aim to join the European Union.

The message is clear and simple, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said, flanked by Mr Zelensky as the two briefed reporters after their meeting at her office, which lasted more than an hour.

The future of Ukraine is a future of peace and freedom. And its the future of Europe, a future of peace and freedom, for which there are no other possible solutions.





Ms Meloni, who had met Mr Zelensky in Ukraine in February, just ahead of the anniversary of the invasion, renewed her pledge to champion Ukraines EU ambitions, saying Ukraine was moving ahead with required reforms despite the war.

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The premier, who staunchly backs military aid for Ukraine, said Italy would back the country 360 degrees for all the time necessary and beyond.

But while her far-right Brothers of Italy party champions the principle of national sovereignty, Ms Meloni has had to contend with leaders of two coalition partners who for years have openly professed their admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Coalition ally Silvio Berlusconi, a former premier, has boasted of his friendship with Mr Putin, while another government ally, League leader Matteo Salvini, has questioned the value of economic sanctions against Russia.

Mr Zelensky began his official meetings by calling on Italian President Sergio Mattarella at the presidential Quirinale Palace.



Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, right, meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Chigi Palace in Rome (Alessandra Tarantino/AP)

We are fully at your side, Mr Mattarella told Mr Zelensky as he welcomed him.

Later, after their meeting, presidential palace sources said Mr Mattarella assured his guest that Italy would continue supporting Ukraine militarily and financially, as well as with reconstruction and humanitarian aid, in both the short and long term.

Since the war began, Italy has furnished about one billion euros (875 million) in military and financial aid, as well as humanitarian assistance.

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Mr Zelensky is believed to be heading to Berlin next for what would be his first visit to Germany since the war began.

The exact schedule had not been publicly announced because of security concerns.

Italian state radio reported that as part of protective measures, a no-fly zone was ordered for the skies over Rome and police sharpshooters were strategically placed on high buildings.

Francis had previously met Mr Zelensky in 2020.

At the end of April, flying back to Rome from a trip to Hungary, Francis told reporters on the plane that the Vatican was involved in a behind-the-scenes peace mission but gave no details.



Italian police enforce security in St Peters Square at the Vatican (Gregorio Borgia/AP)

Neither Russia nor Ukraine has confirmed such an initiative.

He has said he would like to go to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, if such a visit could be coupled with one to Moscow, in the hopes that a papal pilgrimage could further the cause of peace.

The German government, meanwhile, said it was providing Ukraine with additional military aid worth more than 2.7 billion euros (2.3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition.

Defence minister Boris Pistorius said Berlin wanted to show with the latest package of arms that Germany is serious in its support for Ukraine.

Germany will provide all the help it can, as long as it takes, he said.

Russian shelling on Saturday killed two civilians, including a 15-year-old girl, and wounded 10 more in Kostyantynivka, a city less than 30 kilometres (18 miles) west of Bakhmut, the regional prosecutors office said.
The border between the US and Mexico was relatively calm on Friday, offering few signs of the chaos that was feared following a rush by worried migrants to enter the US before the end of pandemic-related immigration restrictions.

Less than 24 hours after the rules known as Title 42 were lifted, migrants and government officials were still assessing the effect of the change and the new regulations adopted by US president Joe Bidens administration to stabilise the region.

We did not see any substantial increase in immigration this morning, said Blas Nunez-Neto, assistant secretary for border and immigration policy at the Department of Homeland Security. He said the agency did not have specific numbers.

Migrants along the border continued to wade into the Rio Grande to take their chances getting into the US while defying officials shouting for them to turn back.

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Texas National Guard members stand along a stretch of razor wire as migrants try to cross into the United States on the banks of the Rio Grande (Fernando Llano/AP)

Others hunched over mobile phones trying to access an appointment-scheduling app that is a centrepiece of the new system. Migrants with appointments walked across a bridge hoping for a new life. And lawsuits sought to stop some of the measures.

The Biden administration has said the revamped system is designed to crack down on illegal crossings and to offer a new legal pathway for migrants who often pay thousands of dollars to smugglers to get them to the border.

On Friday, Mr Biden commended Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez for his countrys collaboration with the US and Canada to establish migration hubs in Latin America where asylum seekers will be able to apply for refuge.

Migrants are now essentially barred from seeking asylum in the US if they did not first apply online or seek protection in the countries they travelled through. Families allowed in as their immigration cases progress will face curfews and GPS monitoring.

The legal pathways touted by the administration consist of a programme that permits up to 30,000 people a month from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter if they apply online with a financial sponsor and enter through an airport.

Venezuelan migrant Said Jose wipes his tears while looking for his girlfriend who he was separated from while in detention, at the Sacred Heart Church shelter in El Paso, Texas (Andres Leighton/AP)

About 100 processing centres are opening in Guatemala, Colombia and elsewhere for migrants to apply to go to the US, Spain or Canada. Up to 1,000 can enter daily through land crossings with Mexico if they snag an appointment on the app.

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If it works, the system could fundamentally alter how migrants come to the southern border. But Mr Biden, who is running for re-election, faces withering criticism from migrant advocates, who say he is abandoning more humanitarian methods, and from Republicans, who claim he is soft on border security.

The lull in border crossings follows a recent surge of crossings by migrants in hopes of being allowed to stay in the United States before the Title 42 restrictions expired.

Title 42 had been in place since March 2020. It allowed border officials to quickly return asylum seekers back over the border on grounds of preventing the spread of Covid-19. The US has declared the national emergency over, ending the restrictions.

While Title 42 prevented many from seeking asylum, it carried no legal consequences, encouraging repeat attempts. After Thursday, migrants face being barred from entering the US for five years and possible criminal prosecution.
China-Central Asia Summit to carry historic significance, says Kazakh media leader

Xinhua) 10:26, May 13, 2023

ASTANA, May 12 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming China-Central Asia Summit is "very important" as it will open up broad prospects for and inject impetus into long-term cooperation and development between China and the Central Asian countries in various fields, a Kazakh media outlet leader has said.

It is historic to hold the summit in the Chinese city of Xi'an, where the ancient Silk Road began, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that was put forward in Kazakhstan, Serik Korzhumbayev, editor-in-chief of the Delovoy Kazakhstan newspaper, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

According to Korzhumbayev, the summit will bring together the heads of the five Central Asian states and experts to discuss measures to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation in various areas.

Within the framework of the BRI, said Korzhumbayev, a lot has been done in recent years.

"A number of joint ventures have been opened between Kazakhstan and China on the territory of our country. A number of projects are also planned to be implemented in the near future," he said.

Korzhumbayev praised the China-Kazakhstan Horgos International Border Cooperation Center as an excellent example of cooperation, saying the center allows the Kazakh people to conduct business and purchase duty-free goods in a convenient way.

He also commended the cooperation between Kazakhstan and China in the auto industry, which has led to a boom in the vehicle production and sales in Kazakhstan.

"We all see a very large number of new high-quality cars on the streets of Kazakh cities that come as part of our joint projects," said the media leader.

He said the Belt and Road cooperation between Kazakhstan and China has yielded fruitful results, with a large number of mutually beneficial investment and production capacity projects successfully launched and bilateral trade volume growing steadily.

He said that Kazakhstan would like to take the 10th anniversary of the BRI as an opportunity to speed up the synergy between the China-proposed initiative and Kazakhstan's "Bright Road" new economic policy, and promote bilateral cooperation in industry, agriculture, infrastructure construction, tourism, people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

"Guided by the notion of building a community with a shared future for mankind, our countries are getting closer and closer to each other in all spheres of interaction," Korzhumbayev stressed.

"The summit will have a positive effect on the long-term cooperation and development of our countries. A new format of cooperation will make it possible to involve the Central Asian region with China's large market in close economic ties," he concluded.

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Wu Chaolan)
Bestselling cookbook author Alison Roman has shared her food diary from her recent trip to Sydney, and she did not waste time sampling some of the most popular haunts in the citys inner suburbs.

The US food writer and chef, who is known for her viral recipes  such as her shallot pasta and dark choc-chip cookies (known as #ThePasta and #TheCookies)  was interviewed by former MasterChef winner and Good Food columnist Adam Liaw in front of a sold-out crowd at the Sydney Opera House last week.

Continental Delis Mar-Tinny was among the local wares sampled by international food sensation Alison Roman. Credit: Michele Mossop

On Saturday morning, after announcing her departure and thanking fans for their warm reception at the event, the 37-year-old posted a photo diary of her food adventures in Sydney to her Instagram stories.

First was Surry Hills Pellegrino 2000, a buzzy Italian joint by the team behind Potts Points Bistrot 916 which opened to such hype last year that it sold out of its branded tote bag online before it had even served a dish.
Thousands of Tasmanians have voiced their opposition to a $715 million stadium critical to the states entry to the AFL, a day after the project thrust the Rockliff government into minority status.

Liberal MPs Lara Alexander and John Tucker quit the party on Friday, citing concerns over debt and government transparency around the planned Macquarie Point ground, to be located on the edge of the Hobart CBD.

Protesters during the Stop the Stadium rally in Hobart on Saturday. Credit: Loic Le Guilly

Those issues were echoed at a protest outside state parliament on Saturday, as thousands rallied with signs including, Team yes, Stadium No. Tell the AFL where to go! and We cant eat stadiums or submarines.

You can stick your stadium up your bum, musicians sang to applause.
A new creative hub will open in Melbournes CBD to provide more affordable office spaces to artists  preferably tidy ones.

The City of Melbourne has signed a 10-year lease on a single level in the heritage-listed 271 Collins Street building  formerly the headquarters of NAB - to house up to 100 desk-based creatives when it opens in November.

We are looking for people that are non-messy artists, said Lord Mayor Sally Capp.

The City of Melbourne, in partnership with the Victorian government will launch a new creative hub in the CBD offering affordable and adaptive spaces for up to 100 creatives to collaborate and showcase their work. Pictured are filmmaker Emile Zile and textile artist Tamara Russell. Credit: Simon Schluter

We are looking for small business and organisations in the creative industry, like architects, gamers and festival organisers to become tenants.
The government quickly came under criticism from the opposition for excluding election commitments  such as the Commonwealths $2.2 billion commitment for Victorias Suburban Rail Loop  from the review. This is despite the project not yet receiving approval from Infrastructure Australia. Melbourne Airport Rail will be put under the microscope, despite being backed up by a business case and early construction works already beginning. Grattan Institute transport and cities program director Marion Terrill says all election promises should be subject to the review. Its quite common for politicians to make promises in the heat of an election campaign, she says, adding that there should be some kind of process that then assesses whether the projects are viable.

Terrill says the review  which will be carried out by former public servants and infrastructure experts Reece Waldock, Clare Gardiner-Barnes and Mike Mrdak  is worthwhile because of the capacity constraints in the industry and the rising cost of building the projects. Now is not a great time to be adding to the pipeline because theres these terrible capacity constraints in the market, she says. Loading The oppositions infrastructure spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie says there are now questions about the independence of the review because of the decision to exempt election promises. By excluding election commitments from the review, the assumption from the government would be that they are, by definition, meritorious. The facts would suggest otherwise, she says. When a premier has a pet project, that gets preference over projects that have been funded, requested and needed in communities and suburbs right around the country.

A spokeswoman for King says it is important that the industry has confidence and certainty that the nations infrastructure projects have been more robustly costed and based on realistic delivery time frames. This is critical in helping industry plan appropriately for projects across the nation, she says. Projects under construction and those that were Commonwealth election commitments will not be part of the review. No more roundabouts Labor repeatedly criticised the former Coalition government for spending money on areas which should have been the purview of local and state governments, such as new car parks at railway stations in marginal seats.

Terrill says there needs to be a more rigorous approval process that restricts Commonwealth spending to nationally significant infrastructure. No more roundabouts, overpasses and car parks. Adrian Dwyer, the chief executive of Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, an industry think tank, says the Commonwealth needs to focus on the bigger things that move the national economy. Major connections  be they energy, telecommunications, water transport, he says. He says he wants the Commonwealth review to lead to certainty about what projects are getting built over the next 10 years.

If there are reallocations or a change in timing, thats fine ... lets just then make sure we get on with delivering, Dwyer says. Because this is in the context of a really big energy transition, some pretty substantial migration numbers in the budget  for which theres going to have to be housing, social infrastructure, delivered to support a growing population. Back to normal Some commentators suggested amid the COVID-19 pandemic that transport infrastructure would need a total rethink because of a lower population growth and the death of the daily commute. Since then, many workers are returning to the office and a record 400,000 migrants will enter the country this year. The death of freeways and the death of offices was a bit premature, Dwyer says. Were reverting to mean and in some instances, we now have infrastructure that is at certain times operating above its pre-COVID capacity.

Dwyer says he hopes infrastructure spending isnt being reduced on the basis that demand went away during the pandemic. This is the problem with looking at too small of a sample of data over too short of time, he says. It would be it would be pretty short-sighted to respond to COVID by having major diversions in the big infrastructure we need. Theres no evidence for that. Where to now? Companies in the transport and construction sector are in a holding pattern until the review reports back to the government in August.

Adding to the pressures is the need to rewire the energy grid, which will suck even more workers out of transport projects. Loading At the same time, the government has a bill before parliament to reorganise Infrastructure Australia  the at-arms-length body that Albanese created as infrastructure minister  to make it concentrate more on what major projects are required for the nation. In the longer term, the government is still committed to high-speed rail, and will soon select board members for its new High Speed Rail Authority. It has already allocated $500 million for planning, early works and corridor acquisition for the Sydney-Newcastle section of the mammoth project. There are mixed views among infrastructure experts on whether a national bullet train will ever be viable in Australia, considering how spread out the populations are between Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

A 2013 business case, commissioned by Albanese when he was infrastructure minister, found the railway would take 45 years to complete and cost $130 billion, but that it would return more than $2 for every $1 of investment. Terrill says that study drastically overstated the benefits of the project by using a 4 per cent discount rate  instead of the 7 per cent rate recommended by Infrastructure Australia. A discount rate is used to put present and future costs and benefits on an equal footing, and choosing a lower rate has a significant impact on the cost-benefit analysis of a project. Dwyer says he would love to see high-speed rail, but it is difficult to see how it could be built in the context of the soaring cost of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, aged care, health and nuclear submarines. In the near term, its pretty hard to see how a multi-hundred-billion dollar investment in high-speed rail can make its way to the top of that investment priority list.


At 82, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge addressed nearly three dozen public meetings and kept the peace between its warring factions. Then there was the party's Karnataka in charge, Randeep Singh Surjewala, who relocated to the state to run an efficient campaign. The Congress owes several of its leaders for its Karnataka success.



According to party sources, the Bharat Jodo Yatra consciously focussed on the Old Mysuru region as Karnataka leadership felt Rahul's presence could wean away some of the communities toward the Congress from the Janata Dal (Secular). The party also discovered that people had genuine affection for the Congress's first family in the region. After months of keeping away from active public life, Sonia Gandhi, who had been ailing, joined the Yatra in Mandya, a bastion of the JD(S). On Saturday, as the Congress headed to a huge win, the party credited Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra for contributing to the triumph. The Yatra spent 21 days in Karnataka, the longest it did in any state during its 3500-km Kanyakumari to Kashmir journey. According to Congress sources, BJY traversed through 51 assembly seats across seven districts of Karnataka - Chitradurga, Raichur, Bellary, Mandya, Chamarajanagar, Mysuru and Tumkur, with the Congress winning or leading in 75 per cent of these. Rahul also addressed or took part in two dozen rallies and road shows.



For Kharge ensuring his party's win in his home state was a matter of prestige. It has hurt Kharge, and he has expressed this publicly often, that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah made it their mission to ensure his defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from the Gulbarga seat. Kharge, according to those close to him, believes the PM has not forgiven him for his strident criticism of the BJP government in the Lok Sabha between 2014 and 2019. Kharge was then the Congress party's leader in the House. Similarly, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi's associates said her campaign in Karnataka stood out for her powerful speeches, popularity among women and youth, her relatable and heartfelt style, and the discussions surrounding her resemblance to Indira Gandhi's image were noteworthy in the Karnataka elections." She addressed 13 public meetings, 12 roadshows, two meetings of women, and a workers' convention.

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Finally, former CM Siddaramaiah remains the most popular Kannadiga leader, as Rahul also discovered during the BJY, altering his perception of the socialist leader and backing him for the chief ministerial post for another term. Siddaramaiah was in the Janata Dal and continues to have deep links in the party that the Gowdas lead. He has had JD(S) MLAs defect to the Congress in the past and could do so again. Kanakapura MLA and party's resourceful state unit chief D K Shivakumar, a popular Vokkaliga leader, has been crucial to the Congress's fortunes in Karnataka. While Shivakumar is a chief ministerial aspirant, he has come to terms, say party sources, with the reality that Siddaramaiah has a more widespread appeal across the state. Shivakumar is willing to wait his turn as Siddaramaiah is 75 and announced that it would be his last election. With the JD(S) declining in the Old Mysuru region, Shivakumar could dethrone the Gowdas as the custodian of Vokkaliga political support.


The Congress was leading in five of the eight Assembly segments that come under his Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency, a sharp reversal from 2019, when the Bharatiya Janata Party had won six of those segments. Even as the Congress looked to be on course to win its highest tally in the Karnataka Assembly election since 1989, leading in 133 of the 224 seats, there was a huge victory for All India Congress Committee president Mallikarjun Kharge.



Interestingly, the 2023 trend was better than what the party managed in the 2018 Assembly polls when it had won four segments in the Gulbarga Lok Sabha seat. There was a lot riding on this election for Kharge, elected the AICC president just last year after he tasted the first defeat of his career in over four decades in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.



The party also looked set to retain the Afzalpur and Jewargi seats. It gained at the expense of the BJP in the Sedam seat and Gulbarga Dakshin seats. However, its incumbent MLA Kaneez Fatima was trailing the BJP candidate in the Gulbarga Uttar seat. In Chittapur, Kharges son Priyank was in the lead at 1.30 pmin an embarrassment to Kharge he had lost this segment in the 2019 LS polls, even though his son was the incumbent MLA.

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This result will come as a boost to Kharge, who was known as Solillada Sardara, an undefeated leader till 2019 when he was trumped by a Congress rebel who contested on the BJP ticket, Umesh Jadhav. The BJP looked set to retain the Gulbarga Rural seat and the Janata Dal (Secular) the Gurmitkal seat.


A Business Standard analysis of data provided by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka revealed that there were 40 assembly constituencies in Karnataka where the percentage of registered voters aged 19-39youth voterswere the majority. In these seats, there were 4.8 million young voters out of a total 9.2 million. The Congress recorded major gains in seats where young voters, those aged below 39, formed a majority of the electorate. The party was on course to win a comfortable majority of seats in the Karnataka Assembly election.



The third principal party, Janata Dal (Secular), was leading in three constituencies, compared to the five it had won last time. The Indian National Congress won in 27 out of the 40 constituencies, while the incumbent Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) was leading in only 8. In the 2018 Karnataka Assembly election, the INC had won in 19 of these constituencies, while the BJP had won in 16.



In Hagaribommanahalli, where 55.58 per cent are youth voters, the second highest, Nemarajanaik K of JD(S) won against the incumbent L B P Bheema Naik of the Congress. In the constituency with the third highest share of youth voters Channareddy Patil Tunnur of the Congress won with 53,802 votes defeating the incumbent Venkatreddy Mudnal of the BJP. Among the constituencies, in Devadurga, which has the highest share of youth voters at 55.98 per cent, Karemma G Nayak of the JD(S) won the seat bagging 98,914 votes, according to the Election Commission.

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Early trends from the Karnataka Assembly polls suggest the JD(S) could be heading for one of its worst vote shares in an assembly election in Karnataka since 1999. According to the Election Commission's website at noon, the JD(S) vote share stood at 13.1 per cent, a drop of over five per cent from 2018. However, it still led on 24 seats, down from the 37 it won five years back. It is too soon to write a requiem for the Janata Dal (Secular)'s political survival. The party is remarkably feisty in defending its bastions in the Old Mysuru region and scoring comebacks. But the 2023 Karnataka assembly elections could be different as the JD(S) is losing significant vote share and critical seats to its principal rival, the Congress.



JD(S) chief H D Kumaraswamy was leading by a few thousand votes against BJP's CP Yogeshwara in the Channapatana seat. The party was trailing the BJP on its sitting seat of Tumkur rural, which it had won by a thin margin in 2018, and on its sitting seats of Gubbi and Sira to the Congress. In Ramanagarm near Bengaluru, JD(S) candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy trailed by 13,000 votes to the Congress candidate, a seat his father, former CM HD Kumaraswamy, won by over 20,000 votes in 2018.



In Shravanabelagola, JD(S)'s CN Balakrishna, who had won the seat by 52,000 votes in 2018, was maintaining a thin lead over the Congress candidate. In some of its other sitting JD(S) sitting seats, the JD(S) was leading in the Devanahalli (SC) but trailing by 6,000 votes in Neelamangala (SC). However, the JD(S) was leading in some of its bastions, such as Mandya. Kolar was witnessing a close three-cornered contest, with the JD(S) leading by a small margin, a seat it won by over 40,000 votes in 2018. In Madhugiri, a seat it won by nearly a 20,000 margin in 2018, the JD(S) candidate trailed that of the Congress by 7,000 votes. In Chintamani, which it had won by nearly 5000 votes in 2018, the Congress candidate had secured a significant lead of over 10,000 votes over the JD(S).

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We shall soon know if the JD(S) meets a fate similar to that of its former ally, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections of 2022. However, it is evident that the Congress, which has increased its vote share by nearly five per cent over 2018, has gained at the expense of the JD(S) in several southern Karnataka seats. In Melukote, Congress-supported farmer leader Darshan Puttannaiah of the Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha led the JD(S) candidate by a small margin. The JD(S) won the seat in 2018, defeating Puttannaiah by 26,000 votes. It was trailing in Belur and leading in Holenarsipur, where Hardanhalli village, the birthplace of JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda, is situated.



But the current nearly 13 per cent vote share is the JD(S)'s poorest in two decades. The JD(S) vote share in the 1999 assembly polls was 10.42 per cent, which it contested in the aftermath of the collapse of the Janata Dal government after a split in the party. Ramakrishna Hegde-led Janata Dal (United), which allied with the BJP, competed with HD Deve Gowda-headed JD(S) for the party's support base. When criticised for equating the Bajrang Dal with the Popular Front of India, and promising to ban it, which could lead to a backlash, Congress strategists had maintained that it would consolidate minority votes in its favour, especially on seats where the JD(S) hurt it in 2018. Only a detailed analysis would reveal if that has been the case.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said Karnataka has chosen the politics of development over communal politics, reacting to the assembly election result trends that showed the Congress marching towards victory.

The Congress was striding forward with leads in 117 seats while the BJP was ahead in 75 in Karnataka, according to Election Commission of India trends, as votes were counted for an election widely seen as a litmus test for both parties ahead of the 2024 parliamentary polls.

"This will be repeated in the upcoming assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana as well," Gehlot said in a tweet in Hindi.

Assembly elections in all the four states are due later this year.

Gehlot said the atmosphere that was visible in Karnataka during Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' is clearly noticeable in the election results.

"Under the leadership of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, Congress leaders ran a great campaign," the Rajasthan chief minister added.

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With the trends pointing to a likely victory for the Congress, party workers in Rajasthan burst out in celebration in front of Pradesh Congress Committee office here.

The Congress workers said the party's performance in Karnataka will have a positive impact in Rajasthan.

"The party is going to win with a strong mandate in Karnataka. In Rajasthan, the atmosphere is already in favour of the party due to the state government's schemes and we are very hopeful that the party will retain power in the state in the assembly elections," a party worker told reporters.
Ten tribal MLAs belonging to the Chin-Kuki-Mizo-Zomi group in Manipur have urged the Centre to give their region a separate administration in the wake of recent violent clashes between the Meiteis and tribals.

Of the 10 legislators, 7 belong to the BJP, two are from Kuki People's Alliance (KPA) and one is an Independent.

The two KPA and independent MLAs are also part of the NDA led by the BJP.

As the state of Manipur has miserably failed to protect us, we seek from the Union of India a separate administration under the Constitution of India and live peacefully as neighbours with the state of Manipur, the MLAs said in a statement on Friday.

The legislators alleged that violence was perpetrated by the majority Meitei community and was tacitly supported by the BJP-run state government.

"The unabated violence that began on May 3, 2023, in Manipur perpetrated by majority Meiteis tacitly supported by the Manipur Government against the Chin-Kuki-Mizo-Zorni hill tribals has already partitioned the state and effected a total separation from the State of Manipur," the statement said.

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The MLAs are Haokholet Kipgen, Ngursanglur Sanate, Kimneo Haokip Hangshing, Letpao Haokip, LM Khaute, Letzamang Haokip, Chinlunthang, Paolienlal Haokip, Nemcha Kipgen and Vungjagin Valte.

As elected representatives of our people, we mirror the sentiments of our people and endorse their political aspiration of separation from the state of Manipur. We have also decided to hold a political consultation with our people at the earliest regarding further steps to be taken by us, the statement said.

Violent clashes had broken out in the northeastern state after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts on May 3 to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

The clashes were preceded by tension over the eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land, which had led to a series of smaller agitations and tension between the Meiteis and Kukis.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals -- Nagas and Kukis -- constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill district.
A group of concerned citizens is rallying thousands of people to form a 22-kilometer-long human chain on the banks of the Yamuna on June 4 to draw attention to the sorry state of the river plagued by pollution and degradation.

The chain will extend from Wazirabad to Okhla in Delhi, a 22-kilometer stretch which accounts for 75 per cent of the river's pollution load. Twenty-two drains fall into the river in this stretch.

This will probably be the biggest such effort to sensitize the people of Delhi and ensure their participation in cleaning the Yamuna in the capital, said members of "Yamuna Sansad", a campaign by environmentalists, conservationists, academicians and researchers working to revive the river.

Experts say untapped wastewater from unauthorised colonies and jhuggi-jhopri clusters, and poor quality of treated wastewater discharged from Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) and Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) is the main reason behind high levels of pollution in the river.

The river can be considered fit for bathing if biological oxygen demand is less than 3 milligram per litre and dissolved oxygen is greater than 5 milligram per litre.

"At 6.30 am on June 4, a 22-km-long human chain will be formed on the banks of the Yamuna in Delhi. Around one lakh people will stand hand in hand between Wazirabad and Kalindi, pledging to keep the Yamuna river clean. The purpose is to sensitize the people to work in this direction," said K N Govindacharya, former general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a member of the 'Yamuna Sansad'.

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Ravishankar Tiwari, the coordinator of 'Yamuna Sansad', said it will probably be the biggest campaign so far to sensitize the people of Delhi about the current situation of the Yamuna river.

Waterman Rajendra Singh, environmentalist Ravi Chopra, Manoj Mishra of 'Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan', Sanjay Singh of 'Jal Jan Jodo Abhiyaan', Prof. Ram Kumar Singh of Patna Central University and environmental science experts from Delhi University are looking at the technical aspects of this campaign.

"A report highlighting the reasons for massive pollution in the river's Delhi stretch is also being prepared. This report will be submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, Water Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and chief ministers of basin states," he said,



The campaign calls for removal of encroachment on the river floodplains, improving the sewer network and sewage treatment plants in the capital, stopping the direct discharge of industrial effluent into the river in Haryana and Delhi, developing biodiversity parks on the floodplains, ensuring environmental flow and making the polluters pay.

Delhi generates around 770 million gallons a day (MGD) of sewage. The 35 STPs located at 20 locations across Delhi can treat up to 630 MGD of sewage and have been utilising around 85 per cent of their capacity. The rest of the untreated sewage falls into the river directly.

Government data shows that only 10 out of the 35 operational STPs in the capital meet the prescribed standards for wastewater (BOD and TSS less than 10 mg per litre). Together, they can treat 150 million gallons of wastewater a day.

According to the city government's Outcome Budget, 29 per cent of the sewage generated in Delhi in 2021-22 fell into the Yamuna untreated. It was 28 per cent in 2019-20 and 26 per cent in 2020-21.

The Delhi Jal Board is upgrading and rehabilitating the existing STPs to be able to meet the prescribed norms and reduce the pollution load in the Yamuna.

However, several projects have been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, air pollution-related construction ban, and delay in land allotment and tree cutting permissions.

Sewer networks have been laid in just 747 of the 1,799 unauthorised colonies in Delhi.

Multiple reports submitted by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to the Union Jal Shakti Ministry have highlighted that the river cannot become fit for bathing in the absence of a minimum environment flow -- the minimum quantity of water flow that a river must have in order to preserve its ecosystems and meet the bathing standards.

A study conducted by the National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, had in 2019 recommended that 23 cubic metre per second (cumec) water (437 million gallons a day) be released in the river from the Hathnikund Barrage in Haryana's Yamuna Nagar district in the lean season for sustaining downstream ecosystems.

At present, only 10 cumecs (190 MGD) is released from the barrage. A gap of 13 cumecs (247 MGD) remains.

According to the ministry, the water sharing agreement of 1994 among the riparian states of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi is due for revision only in 2025.

According to the DPCC, an e-flow of 23 cumecs will bring down the level of biological oxygen demand from 25 milligram per litre to 12 milligram per litre and other steps being taken will bring it down further.

The sewage system in Delhi is not functioning properly. The river becomes ecologically dead after the Najafgarh drain joins it. A law is needed to hold the local municipality, legislators, and MPs accountable if dirty water from their areas is discharged into the river without treatment, Govindacharya said.

The government is concretising the catchment area of the river in the name of development. All such plans should be stopped, and the money should be used to clean up the river and carry out sanitation work, he said.

The members of Yamuna Sansad also called for development of biodiversity parks on the river floodplains.

"Fifteen to 20 biodiversity parks can be created in 9,000 hectares of land available in the Yamuna floodplains. The Yamuna Sansad will seriously work in this direction after June 4," Chetan Sharma, one of the members, said.

The Delhi Development Authority which owns the land in the Yamuna floodplains between the Wazirabad Barrage and the Okhla Barrage had last year told the Delhi forest department that there is just 1,267 hectares of land available for development along this stretch of the river.

Of this, 402 hectares have already been given for compensatory afforestation and plantation for different projects while 280 hectares is "under dispute" and the demarcation process is going on there.

The remaining 585 hectares of land has been pledged for the plantation of riverine grasses; recreation for public use; development of depressions zones to catch floodwaters; eco-friendly kaccha pathways and public amenities and ecological plantation of riverine species, it had said.
Amid the ethnic unrest in Manipur, 10 tribal MLAs of various parties, including that of the BJP in a significant development, on Friday, indirectly demanded a separate state for the Kuki tribals.

The 10 legislators -- five of the BJP, two belonging to JD-U, two Kuki People's Alliance (KPA) and one Independent MLA, demanded "Separate Administration" for the tribals, who constitute around 37 to 40 per cent of the total of 27.21 lakhs population (2011 census).

In a signed statement, the MLAs said that the unabated violence that began on May 3 in Manipur perpetrated by majority Meiteis tacitly supported by the state government against the Chin-Kuki-Mizo-Zomi hill tribals has already partitioned the state and effected a total separation from the state of Manipur.

"Our people can no longer exist under Manipur as the hatred against our tribal community reached such a height that MLAs, Ministers, pastors, police and civil officers, common men, women and even children were not spared, not to mention the destruction of places of worship, homes and properties. To live amidst the Meitei again is as good as death for our people," the statement said.

It said, therefore, "as elected representatives of the people, we today represent the sentiments of our people and endorse their political aspiration of separation from the state of Manipur".

"We have also decided to hold a political consultation with our people at the earliest regarding further course of action."

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"As the state of Manipur has miserably failed to protect us, we seek from the Union of India a separate administration under the Constitution of India and live peacefully as neighbours with the state of Manipur," the statement stated.

The ten MLAs include, Letpao Haokip (Tengnoupal assembly constituency), Letzamang Haokip (Henglep), Nechal Kipgen (Kangpokpi) Paolienlal Haokip (Saikot), Vungzagin Valte (Thanlon), all BJP legislators, Ngursanglur Sanate (Tipaimukh) Aand L.M. Khaute (Churachandpur), both JD-U MLAs, Kimneo Haokip Hangshing (Saikul) and Chinlunthang (Singhat ), both KPA members, and independent MLA Haokholet Kipgen (Saitu).

The hills account for 90 per cent of the state's area and 10 per cent population while the valley occupies 10 per cent land.In the valley, there are Hindu, non-tribal Meitei communities while the hills are inhabited largely by the Christian Naga and Kuki-Zomi communities.

The northeastern state of Manipur witnessed unprecedented violent clashes, attacks, counter-attacks and arsoning of houses, vehicles and government and private properties in more than 10 districts during and after May 3 'Tribal Solidarity March' called by the All Tribal Students' Union of Manipur (ATSUM) to oppose the demand for inclusion of the Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribe category.

Acting on a writ petition filed by the Meetei (Meitei) Trade Union, the Manipur High Court acting Chief Justice M.V. Muralidaran on April 19 had directed the state government to submit the recommendation for inclusion of Meitei (Meetei) community in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list to the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry.

The High Court order snowballed into a major controversy with thousands of tribals turning up for the 'Tribal Solidarity March' in 10 hill districts on May 3 called by ATSUM.

Earlier a civil writ petition filed by eight members of the Meetei (Meitei) Tribe Union led by union secretary Mutum Churamani Meetei had sought the issuance of a writ of mandamus directing the first respondent (Manipur government) to submit a recommendation in reply to the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry's letter dated May 29, 2013.

--IANS

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A better ecosystem is being developed for small entrepreneurs in Himachal Pradesh, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said in Saturday.

The chief minister made the remark during a discussion with the Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Government of India, B B Swain here.

Discussions were held on the expansion and strengthening of MSMEs in the state during the meeting.

He said that the state government is putting its best foot forward in the direction of attracting investment in electric vehicles, tourism, green hydrogen, green technology and other sectors.

There is a proposal to set up clusters in the areas of cane and bamboo-based, traditional footwear, tea-based, weaving, food processing under the Central Cluster Development Programme, the chief minister said, adding that clusters have been approved in Tahliwal, Parwanoo, Jitpur Baheri, Khadin and Gondpur. Apart from this, proposals have also been sent for the establishment of two clusters at Baddi and Haroli.

Further, the chief minister directed the Industries Department to ensure that proposals for the development of infrastructure in these clusters be sent to the Centre within 10 days.

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Apart from this, directions were given to prepare a proposal under the Strategic Investment Policy (SIP) and to be submitted to the central government by July 2023. An estimated investment of Rs 150-200 crore will be attracted in the MSME sector with these steps.

A detailed discussion was also held on Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma Kaushal Samman Yojana in the meeting. The chief minister urged to increase the assistance amount for artisans from Rs 75,000 to a minimum amount of Rs 2 lakh, and to raise the amount for tools from Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 under this scheme.
The ruling BJP swept the mayoral elections in Uttar Pradesh winning the posts in 16 of the 17 municipal corporations on Saturday. Official results for the Varanasi mayoral election are expected later on Saturday.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who claimed victory in all the 17 municipal corporations, thanked the people of Uttar Pradesh and congratulated BJP workers for forming a "triple-engine government" in the state after the party's "biggest victory" in the urban local body polls.

The party's candidates won in Lucknow, Ayodhya, Jhansi, Bareilly, Mathura-Vrindavan, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Prayagraj, Aligarh, Shahjahanpur, Ghaziabad, Agra, Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Firozabad and Meerut.

The urban local body polls were held in two phases -- on May 4 and May 11 -- to elect 17 mayors and 1,401 corporators. Nineteen corporators were elected unopposed, according to the State Election Commission.

Of the 17 municipal corporations, the BJP repeated its candidates only in Kanpur city, Bareilly and Moradabad and all three proved to be successful.

Adityanath said the win was a result of better coordination between the government and the organisation.

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Flanked by Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak at a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, Adityanath said the BJP has won all the 17 municipal corporations for the first time.

"In all 17 municipal corporations, voters have reposed faith in BJP," he said.

Earlier in a tweet, the chief minister said, "Hearty congratulations to all the dedicated and hardworking workers of the BJP and the people of Uttar Pradesh, who love good governance, on the massive victory of the BJP in the Uttar Pradesh municipal elections."



"This massive victory reflects the successful guidance of respected Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji and immense public faith in the pro-people, developmental and all-inclusive policies of the double-engine government," he added.

Adityanath had led the campaign for the urban local body polls, holding several election meetings across the state. During the campaign, he had repeatedly urged voters to add a third wheel or third engine to the "double-engine" government in Uttar Pradesh.

In the Lucknow Municipal Corporation, the BJP's Sushma Kharkwal won the mayoral election. According to the State Election Commission, Kharkwal bagged 5,02,660 votes while Vandana Mishra of the Samajwadi Party got 298519 votes.

In the temple town of Ayodhya, BJP candidate Girish Pati Tripathi won the mayoral election, defeating his nearest rival Ashish of the Samajwadi Party by a margin of 35,638 votes.

Tripathi bagged 77,494 votes. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) candidate Rehan secured the third position pocketing 15,107 votes. BSP candidate Ram Murti got 12,852 votes and Pramila Rajput of the Congress 4,084 votes, according to the State Election Commission (SEC).

In Jhansi, the BJP's Bihari Lal Arya bagged 1,23,503 votes and defeated his nearest rival Arvind Kumar of the Congress by a margin of 83,587 votes.

The Bahujan Samaj Party candidate came third, while the Samajwadi Party secured the fourth position.

In Bareilly, Umesh Gautam of the BJP secured more than 1.67 lakh votes to defeat independent candidate Iqbal Singh Tomar by a margin of 56,343 votes.

The temple town of Mathura-Vrindavan also witnessed a saffron bloom with BJP candidate Vinod Kumar Agarwal bagging more than 1.45 lakh votes and defeating his nearest rival Raja Mohatsim Ahmed of the BSP by a gap of more than 1.10 lakh votes.

In Moradabad, the BJP's Vinod Agarwal (over 1.21 lakh votes) defeated Mohammad Rizwan of the Congress (over 1.17 lakh votes) by a margin of 3,642 votes. In Saharanpur, Ajay Kumar of the BJP defeated Khadija Masood of the BSP by a margin of 8,031 votes.

In Prayagraj, Umesh Chandra Ganesh Kesarwani bagged more than 2.35 lakh votes and defeated Ajay Kumar Srivastava of the Samajwadi Party, who got over 1.06 lakh votes.

Aligarh, which was won by the BSP in the previous mayoral election, saw a saffron surge with the BJP's Prashant Singhal securing more than 1.93 lakh votes to defeat his nearest rival Zameer Ullah Khan of the SP by a margin of 60,902 votes.

Shahjahanpur, which voted for the first time to elect its mayor, witnessed BJP's Archana Verma clinching victory on the mayor's seat by bagging 80,762 votes and defeating Nikhat Iqbal of the Congress, who got 50,484 votes.

In Ghaziabad, the BJP's Sunita Dayal secured 3,50,905 votes to defeat Nisara Khan of the BSP, who got only 63,249 votes.

Pushpa Rawat of the Congress came third (with 58,951 votes), while SP's Poonam Yadav came a distant fourth (with 57,608 votes).

Agra candidate Hemlata Diwakar won the seat with a margin of 1,08,468 votes over the BSP candidate while Kanpur candidate Pramila Pandey defeated her Samajwadi Party rival by a margin of 1,77,846 votes.

BJP candidate in Gorakhpur, the home turf of CM Yogi Adityanath, Manglesh Srivastava posted a win over his Samajwadi Party rival by a margin of 60,876 votes and in Firozabad, Kamini Rathore won the seat for the BJP by a margin of 26,969 votes defeating the Samajwadi Party candidate.

In Meerut, Harikant Ahluwalia of the BJP won the mayoral election by a margin of 1,07,406 votes over the AIMIM candidate. The Samajwadi Party candidate came third and the nominee of the BSP, which had won the seat last time, came fourth.

Meerut and Aligarh had Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) mayors in 2017, while the BJP ruled the rest.

In the two-phase urban local body elections, voting was also held to elect 198 chairpersons and 5,260 members of nagar palika parishads, 542 chairpersons of nagar panchayats and 7,104 members of nagar panchayats.

In all, 162 public representatives were elected unopposed, while there were as many as 83,378 candidates in the poll fray for 14,522 posts.

In the urban local body elections, 53 per cent of voters exercised their franchise in the second phase covering 38 districts on May 11, while the voter turnout in the first phase on May 4 was 52 per cent covering 37 districts of the state.

According to the State Election Commission, 4.32 crore people were eligible to cast their votes in the urban local body polls. In 2017, the polls were held in three phases and the overall polling percentage was 53 per cent.
As Congress leads with 124 seats in Karnataka, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh took to Twitter, expressing that the grand old party has won and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has lost.

"As the results firm up in Karnataka, it is now certain that the Congress has won and the PM has lost. The BJP had made its election campaign a referendum on the PM and on the state getting his 'ashirwaad'. That has been decisively rejected!" Ramesh tweeted.

Ramesh stressed on how Congress has paved a way by looking at the local issues, whereas the BJP chose divisiveness and polarisation.

He tweeted: "The Congress party fought these elections on LOCAL issues of livelihood and food security, price rise, farmer distress, electricity supply, joblessness, and corruption.

"The PM injected divisiveness and attempted polarisation. The vote in Karnataka is for an engine in Bengaluru that will combine economic growth with social harmony."

--IANS

Also Read PM Modi's Vocal for Local slogan gives push to local entrepreneurs in Assam Congress leader Antony falls silent after son's tryst with BBC documentary Congress raises questions over Maharashtra govt's Dharavi project rebidding No barter on JPC, Rahul's case is matter of distortion: Jairam Ramesh BJP creating concentration of economic power, MSMEs suffering: Congress K'taka CM Bommai concedes defeat; says will comeback in Lok Sabha elections We will form government on our own strength: Cong leader Siddaramaiah UP Assembly bypolls: SP leading in Chhanbey, Apna Dal (S) in Suar Karnataka polls 2023: CM Bommai, Laxman Savadi lead, Shettar trails No one contacted me till now: Kumaraswamy ahead of Karnataka poll results

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The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that emerged victorious in the high-stakes Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll in Punjab on Saturday secured a vote share of 34.05 per cent, up from 2.5 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

AAP's Sushil Rinku defeated his nearest rival, Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary of the Congress, by a margin of 58,691 votes, according to the Election Commission's data.

Rinku, who joined the AAP after quitting the Congress before the bypoll, polled 3,02,279 votes, while Chaudhary secured 2,43,588 votes, according to the data.

Shiromani Akali Dal's (SAD) Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi, who was backed by the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), finished the poll race at the third spot, while the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal was fourth.

Sukhi polled 1,58,445 votes, while Atwal bagged 1,34,800 votes.

With this victory, the AAP wrested the Jalandhar parliamentary constituency from the Congress. The seat with a considerable Dalit presence was considered a bastion of the Congress.

Also Read AAP names former Congress leader Rinku as candidate for Jalandhar LS bypoll CBSE Results 2023: Everything you need to know to check at website Vote for AAP if you want development: Kejriwal ahead of LS bypoll Guj poll result HIGHLIGHTS: Massive victory for BJP, Patel to be CM again Jalandhar LS bypoll: AAP's Rinku ahead of Congress candidate by 4,503 votes 2,500 kg of drugs worth Rs 12,000 cr seized by NCB, Navy in Indian waters Heatwave conditions likely over Delhi, northern, central India, says IMD SCO members unanimously adopt proposal on Digital Public Infra: Vaishnaw Himachal Pradesh govt to cover 1,800 hectares for orange production Narendra Singh Tomar chairs eighth meeting of SCO agriculture ministers

The Congress has five MLAs in the nine Assembly segments falling within the Lok Sabha constituency, while the AAP has four MLAs.

"It was considered a stronghold of the Congress party as we could win only four of the nine Assembly segments during the (AAP's) wave (in the Assembly polls last year)," AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal told reporters in Delhi.

"This time, we have won seven of the nine Assembly segments," he added.

Kejriwal further pointed out that during the Punjab Assembly polls last year, the AAP had secured a 42-per cent vote share but in Jalandhar, it had managed to bag only 28 per cent votes.

The EC figures showed that the AAP secured 34.05 per cent votes in the Jalandhar bypoll as against the 2.5 per cent votes it had got in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

The Congress party's vote share dropped to 27.44 per cent from 37.9 in 2019.

The vote share of the BJP, which fought the bypoll on its own, was 15.19 per cent, while the SAD, which fought the bypoll with the support of the BSP, managed to secure a vote share of 17.85 per cent.

Nineteen candidates contested the bypoll, which recorded a voter turnout of 54.7 per cent. The turnout was well below the 63.04 per cent recorded in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
A Delhi court has granted bail to Deepak Khanna, an accused in the Kanjhawala case in which a 20-year-old woman was dragged to death under a car here on New Year's Day.

The court said the allegations against Khanna did not reveal that he was "in conspiracy with" other accused persons for the offence of murder and that in case of bailable offences, the relief has to be granted mandatorily and not as a matter of concession.

"...the application is allowed and the applicant or accused is admitted to bail on furnishing of a bond in the sum of Rs 25,000 with one surety in the like amount...," Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Neeraj Gaur said in an order passed on Friday.

"The allegations against the accused do not reveal that he was in conspiracy with other accused persons for the graver offence under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code," he said.

ASJ Gaur said the charge sheet against Khanna included Sections 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence or giving false information to screen offender), 212 (harbouring offender) and 182 (false information, with intent to cause public servant to use his lawful power to the injury of another person) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) read with conspiracy to commit these offences.

"Offences under sections 201, 212 and 182 of the IPC are bailable offences. In case of bailable offences, the bail has to be granted mandatorily and not as a matter of concession," the judge said.

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The court asked the accused to not tamper with evidence or try to influence witnesses directly or indirectly, and intimate the court in the case of a change in his residential address.

The judge noted that according to the charge sheet, Section 302 of the IPC was invoked against accused persons Amit Khanna, Krishan, Manoj Mittal and Mithun who were sitting in the car.

"During the investigation, it was found that the accused Amit Khanna was not holding any valid driving license. Therefore, his cousin, accused Deepak Khanna, initially came forward and falsely projected himself to the police that it was he who was driving the offending car," the judge said, citing the charge sheet.

According to the complaint, he said, a criminal conspiracy was hatched between the accused persons, including Ashutosh Bhardwaj (the car owner) and Ankush (brother of Amit Khanna) to save Amit Khanna. Deepak Khanna was promised some monetary benefit for deposing falsely before the police to mislead the investigation.

Bhardwaj and Ankush have already been granted bail.

Delhi Police had filed an 800-page charge sheet against seven accused on April 1 and the case was later committed to a sessions court.

The arguments on charges will commence on May 25.
Maharashtra on Saturday reported 111 COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 81,68,328, the state health department said.

The COVID-19 death toll in the state remained unchanged at 1,48,542 as no fresh fatality was reported in the last 24 hours.

Maharashtra is now left with 1,032 active cases.

A day earlier, the state recorded 121 cases and a single fatality.

At 69, Mumbai circle reported the highest number of fresh cases on Saturday, followed by 18 in Pune circle, seven in Nagpur circle, six in Latur circle, four in Akola circle, three in Kolhapur circle, and two each in Aurangabad and Nashik circles, the health department report said.

Mumbai city saw 28 fresh cases but zero COVID-19 fatality, which raised the tally of infections to 11,62,580 and the death toll to 19,769.

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Since January 1 this year, 112 COVID-19 deaths have been recorded in Maharashtra and 75 per cent of the deceased were above 60 years of age. While 85 per cent of the deceased had comorbidities, 14 per cent did not have any comorbidity, it said.

Maharashtra logged 967 COVID-19 cases in the week between May 7 and May 13 as against 1,876 infections recorded in the previous week between April 30 and May 6.

The cumulative number of recoveries in Maharashtra rose to 80,18,819 after 176 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, as per the report.

The COVID-19 recovery rate in the state is 98.17 per cent and the fatality rate is 1.81 per cent.

A total of 7,177 tests5,564 at government laboratories, 1,551 at private labs and 62 tests by self testing kitswere conducted in the last 24 hours in the state, taking the number of samples examined so far to 8,70,89,039, the health department said.

Coronavirus figures of Maharashtra are as follows: Positive cases 81,68,328; fresh cases 111; death toll 1,48,542; recoveries 80,18,819; active cases 1,032, and total tests 8,70,89,039.
Mauritius President Prithvirajsing Roopun, accompanied by his wife, is scheduled to visit Kolkata on Sunday on a two-day visit, BJP leader and Governing Council of India Foundation Swapan Dasgupta said.

Speaking to ANI, President of Khola Hawa Swapan Dasgupta said, "At one level, this is a private visit of President Rupan of Mauritius to Kolkata." Sharing details on why Roopun is visiting Kolkata, Dasgupta said, "Among the Indian community in Mauritius, those who went there as indentured labourers in the 19th century, there is a strong belief. The last port of call for most of them, when they set sail for Mauritius by ship, was Kolkata. So, they have a sentimental attachment to Kolkata as the last point in which they left India, their forefathers left India. Hence, the importance of Kolkata in an emotional sort of way for them. So, President Rupan is coming here partly as a result of that. And it's really a private visit."

Swapan Dasgupta said that there are no state functions involved in Mauritius President Prithvirajsing Roopun's visit to Kolkata. He said that Roopun will visit Dakshineswar Temple and Belur Math. Dasgupta said that there are a few ceremonial things involved in the visit.

"There are no state functions involved. There's one civic reception, but apart from that, it's him going to Dakshineshwar Temple and to Belmont and to look at one memorial which has been made by the Port Trust of India, the Calcutta Docks, a memorial for those who were indentured labourers in the 19th century. So he will be doing that. It's a very relaxed sort of informal basis, so there's no political significance. It's mainly a goodwill visit on his part," Swapan Dasgupta told ANI.

He further said, "On behalf of Khola Hawa and India Foundation, the two organizations which are hosting him for this visit, I happen to be on the executive of both these bodies, so I will obviously be like a host to him in Kolkata. Well, it's a two-day visit, but as I said, it's essentially a private visit, and there are very few ceremonial things."

In November last year, Mauritius President Prithvirajsing Roopun paid a visit to Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on Monday. Roopun and his wife Sayukta Roopun were accompanied by a 7-member delegation. Upon reaching Ayodhya, the President of Mauritius was welcomed by MP Lallu Singh, MLA Vedprakash Gupta, MLA Ramchandra Yadav, Mayor Rishikesh Upadhyay, Commissioner Navdeep Rinwa, DIG Amarendra Prasad Singh and many others officials.

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Mauritius President along with his wife and delegation visited the Ram Temple and offered prayers and performed aarti. Roopun also checked the construction works of the grand temple and obtained information about the development from the engineers. After that, Prithvirajsing Roopun visited Hanumangarhi, Kanak Bhawan.
The 8th meeting of Agriculture Ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member countries was held on Saturday via video conferencing under the chairmanship of Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.

Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, China and Pakistan participated in it, along with India.

Tomar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's emphasis is on the overall development of agriculture in the country through technology.

Tomar said in order to maintain the normal functioning of the food supply chain in the present conditions, there is a need for close contact and cooperation between various countries for food and nutrition security.

He added that India is the largest employer globally in the agriculture sector, where more than half of our population is engaged in agriculture and allied sectors, while India also represents an important economic activity for many countries.

Tomar said India's public distribution system and price support system for farmers are unique in the world, adding it is the good result of the foresight of our policy-makers, efficiency of agricultural scientists and tireless hard work of farmers that today India is self-sufficient in food grains.

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India is a leading producer of many commodities like cereals, fruits, vegetables, milk, eggs, and fish.

Tomar also apprised SCO member-countries participating in the meeting about India's direct transfer benefits initiatives, credit facilities, promoting natural and organic farming, and promoting farmer-producer organisations (FPOs).
Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi on Friday visited Machna village in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district and thanked the villagers for providing timely assistance to the crew after the hard-landing of a chopper of the security forces on May 4.

The Army helicopter crashed after the hard landing in a forested area in the upper reaches of Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district 4 following a technical fault, killing a technician and injuring the two pilots on board.

The advanced light helicopter (ALH) Dhruv was on an operational mission and it came down on the banks of a river in Marwah area, cut off from the district headquarters due to heavy snow.

"I was in Srinagar. There were DCs and DGP. I told them that I am coming here (village) to thank you all," Lt Gen Dwivedi told the villagers.

He further said the village's name is now know by all for the good work they have done saving the army aviators during chopper crash.

"We put it on Twitter. More than 3.50 lakh people have seen it. The pictures of yours have gone throughout the world, you all and your village is now a known place," the GoC-In-C said.

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He said the army will extend support to this village whatever they can do.

In separate messages, the two aviators also thanked villagers for the immediate support and help to them.


In a meeting of the SCO ministers responsible for the development of information and communication technology (ICT), which India was chairing, union minister for electronics and IT, communications, and railways Ashwini Vaishnaw emphasised on "India stack" being interoperable and resulting in higher digital inclusion. The members of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) on Saturday adopted India's proposal to support the development and adoption of the country's digital public infrastructure like Aadhaar, United Payments Interface (UPI) and DigiLocker.



"This DPI is very important from the perspective of having completion, making sure that technology is democratised and making sure of digitally inclusive growth among member states," he added. "I would urge all fellow members of SCO to assess, evaluate and adopt India Stack and benefit from this digital public infrastructure," he said.



India will also chair the Annual Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) summit in December. India also shared, with the SCO members, its plans to invest $3 billion to take mobile connectivity to villages in remote areas and $5 billion to bring broadband connectivity to all 250,000 Gram Panchayats.

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"There was also a need felt for interoperability between different systems being developed by the member states and the body recognised the need for setting up an organisation for setting common standards for interoperability of digital systems among member states," Vaishnaw said.
Karnataka elections results 2023: When, where, and how to check results

Voters in Karnataka voted on May 10 to choose their representatives in the state assembly, and the fate of 2,615 candidates was sealed in the electronic voting machines (EVMs). The counting of votes will begin at 8 AM on Friday. Track counting and election results here...

More hits than misses spur most upgrades in six quarters, shows data

More companies managed to surpass analysts estimates during the March 2023 quarter of the 2022-23 financial year (Q4FY23)  spurring the best percentage of upgrades vis-a-vis downgrades since Q2FY22.



CCI asks Google to share policies on data sharing, in-app billing Of the 63 March 2023 quarter results we analysed from our coverage universe, 49 per cent came above analyst estimates, highest in four quarters, while 37 per cent came below. The remaining 14 per cent were in line. Earnings upgrades (at 49 per cent) were the same as earnings downgrades (49 per cent); though upgrade percentage is highest in the past six quarters, said Jefferies in a note. Read more...

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Govt to spend $1.2 billion on modernising semiconductor lab in Mohali The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Friday launched an inquiry into Googles alleged non-compliance with its October 2022 directives asking the tech giant to allow app developers to offer third-party billing for in-app purchases and subscriptions, sources said. Additionally, the CCI has also ordered the company to provide details of its formal processes or internal policies regarding sharing of data generated or provided by users or app developers. The tech giant has been asked to submit the details to the CCI within four weeks. Read more...



The planned modernisation and commercialisation of the facility is a part of the governments $10 billion India Semiconductor Mission announced in 2021. The Union Cabinet approved the modernisation plan in July 2022, which includes an exploration of the possibility of the Joint Venture (JV) of the Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL) with one or more commercial fab partners. However, the government has not provided a projected timeline for the project. Read more... The government will spend around $1.2 billion to modernise the Semi-conductor Laboratory (SCL) in Mohali, a 30-year-old facility currently capable of producing 8-inch CMOS microchip wafers mostly used for the countrys strategic needs such as the space programme.

Tata Motors Q4 results: Net profit at Rs 5,407 crore, dividend declared

Tata Motors on Friday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 5,407.79 crore in the quarter that ended March 31 as compared to a loss of Rs 1,032.84 crore in the same quarter in 2021-22. During FY23, the company's net profit was Rs 2,414.29 crore. In FY22, it had reported a loss of Rs 11,441.47 crore.


A World Bank team, led by Vice President for South Asia Region Martin Raiser, held discussions with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and expressed interest in projects that the state plans to implement to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

After the meeting, Raiser said Kerala was urbanising rapidly, and this will create more challenges in the future due to the rising level of carbon emissions, particularly from the transport sector.

"So, one of the areas in which Kerala wants to make further progress is to green its transport system," Raiser told PTI.

He said the state should tap renewable energy resources to meet its energy needs.

"It has a lot of potential for solar," the World Bank official said.

Raiser said during his meeting with the chief minister and some of his Cabinet colleagues, he emphasised the need for implementing e-mobility by adopting electric and fuel cell-based electric vehicles for developing a green eco-system in the state.

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He, however, admitted that it was not an easy task.

Speaking about his team's meeting with Vijayan, the official said it was a "positive" one as the projects that the World Bank has undertaken in Kerala were being implemented well.

"I didn't have any major concerns to raise with the chief minister," he said.

Raiser said the World Bank's 'Resilient Kerala Programme' to support the state's preparedness against natural disasters, climate change impacts, disease outbreaks, and pandemics was progressing well.

"It clears a number of areas, including the development of forecasting models and translating those into local planning instruments to make sure that local communities can make use of the scientific information to reduce the risk exposure that they face," he said.

He expressed happiness over the progress the state has made in dealing with zoonotic diseases like Nipah.

"I am happy to tell you that Kerala is the most advanced state in India in terms of trying to really create a cross-sectoral local surveillance infrastructure so that new diseases when they arrive, can be very quickly detected," Raiser said.

The World Bank team also discussed with the chief minister the project under preparation to look at the impact that climate change has on agriculture production, and how farmers can adopt more climate-resilient agricultural practices while at the same time, use such opportunities to increase productivity and, as a result, create more jobs in the agribusiness sector.

According to Raiser, the ageing population is going to be one of the major concerns of the state's health sector.

"The population rate in Kerala is very low. The fertility rate is very low. It has a good health system. But the health system needs to adjust to the fact that people are getting older. This is something we talked about," he said.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister's Office said the World Bank representatives expressed interest in the various projects that Kerala plans to implement to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

"In the meeting held today with the chief minister, the representatives of the World Bank assured that there will be possibilities of cooperation in various projects that Kerala intends to implement with a long-term vision", a CMO statement said.

It said the World Bank has expressed interest in six priority projects, including power generation through floating solar power plants, green hydrogen valleys at Kochi and Vizhinjam and a green hydrogen production-consumption-export centre at Kochi.

The team was in Kerala for the last three days to review various development programmes being implemented in the state as part of the 'Rebuild Kerala' initiative.


This leaves many lessons and takeaways. Let us list the ten most important here: The standout data point from the Karnataka verdict isn't that the Congress has a clear majority, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has lost its only redoubt in the south. It is, instead, the fact that the BJP has fallen to less than half of the Congress. Chew on that number again. The almighty BJP, firing on two engines in the state and at the Centre, diminished to less than half of the Congress.



Why didn't the intense, personalised campaign by Prime Minister Narendra Modi work? Does it show a decline in his popularity? Hold your horses. Karnataka reminds us again that the voter makes a distinction between when Modi is himself on the ticket and when he seeks votes for others. He might still be able to hold a lamppost election for the Lok Sabha. That's why he wins Gujarat. He seeks the vote for himself there. Not in other states. If you run a really bad state government, nothing can redeem you. Voters will then toss aside the charm of your national leaders, nationalism, polarisation, religion and definitely a partisan news media, no matter how it grovels to you.



In their 10th year in power now, the Modi-Shah BJP has shown a stark inadequacy at replicating their Lok Sabha success in Vidhan Sabhas. They've suffered serial losses in the states or settled for coalitions conceding much more ground to the partner than they would've liked. Check out Maharashtra, Haryana and Bihar for as long as Nitish's wagon was tied to their engine. It follows that in a state contest, voters assess your local government's performance. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had swept 170 of the 224 assembly segments. The Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular), despite a pre-poll alliance, won merely 47 (36 Congress, 11 JD (S)). Today's reversal, with the Congress and JD (S) nearly reaching 170 between them despite having no alliance, shows that Indian voters are too shrewd to put their emotions above rational expectations.

Also Read High-voltage campaigning for Karnataka elections to end today at 5 pm Karnataka elections: AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge wins back Gulbarga Karnataka Assembly polls 2023: All you need to know about May 10 elections Karnataka elections: Here's what all Congress has promised in its manifesto Karnataka elections 2023: 7 out of 13 Congress, JD(S) turncoats trailing Democracy vs Pakistan A change of heart A green king in Buckingham Palace May 13: The JD(S) steps into the future Nutritional labelling: Don't scare, but sensitise



The Modi-Shah BJP model of appointing lightweight chief ministers from New Delhi was frayed already. Karnataka is the rudest reminder of how unworkable it is. Except for Manohar Lal Khattar in Haryana, who carries on in his second term  albeit after conceding half his government to Dushyant Chautala  each one of these high command choices has produced a disaster. One, Devendra Fadnavis, has been reduced to deputy chief minister. Basavaraj Bommai is just the worst yet. The 'high commandist' parties usually detest their own strong state leaders. As did the BJP with Yediyurappa. That has devastated it in two elections, 2013 and 2023. We need to make a deeper analysis of the states they've decisively won by themselves. Uttar Pradesh and Assam, for example. In both, a local leader has risen, and each is quite capable of winning the election on his own. Both are the pre-eminent campaign leaders in their states. That does not follow the BJP high command's script. Gujarat, we explained earlier. Uttarakhand, along with some northeastern states, is an exception but too small in the big picture.



You can't say polarisation doesn't work. Or, the BJP would not have maintained its vote share despite its super-incompetent governance. But reverse logic works too. A divisive appeal excites your faithful and likely also puts off those in the middle, the small percentage of uncommitted voters who matter in the end. In this case, the many disillusioned with the JD (S) preferred the Congress instead. The data so far tells us that the BJP's vote share is mostly intact, the Congress's has gone up by 5 per cent, and that of the JD-S has declined by just over 5. It looks like a straight transfer. We can risk saying that when these voters looked for another choice, they didn't want a divisive one. Polarisation, therefore, is a double-edged sword. It can also put off enough Hindu voters to decimate you in a tight election. The model of governing the states from Delhi is fully broken. Would this BJP have a heart large enough to encourage more Yogis and Himantas to rise in the states? If so, it will make clear, early choices in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh now. The party will also start rebuilding Shivraj Singh Chauhan's stature instead of continuing to undermine it. This will need a fundamental shift in its style, temperament, and strategy. Does this BJP have it in it to accept the perils of becoming a one-leader party?



The lesson for the Congress is similar to that for the BJP. That if you have strong state leaders, as in Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar, you can win despite the odds. The Gandhis' ability to win states for you is enormously less than even Modi's. But it's unlikely that this will be accepted. Not if you have been watching Congress spokespersons all day giving credit for the win to Rahul Gandhi. Hopefully, this election will finish the Gowda family phenomenon that is the cynical, ideology-free, power-hungry JD (S). Over 25 years, beginning in 1996 when patriarch HD Deve Gowda became prime minister, the party has leveraged its unprincipled number three status to often grab undeserved power. That business is over now. The Gowda dynasty is in terminal and sharp decline. It's good for India and even better for Karnataka.

And finally, the evidence shows that in 21st-century India, Tipu Sultan does not matter. He may have been a good or awful guy over two centuries ago, but abusing or adoring him won't pay for my kid's education now, get me a job, or put water in my tap. Leave him to historians and, you know what, for fake outrage on your warrior TV channels and in the living rooms of your New Lutyens.
In other views:

talks about the government's prickly responses to criticism. But it is also important to see how the West evaluates India and the way it presents some of its own problems. So, everyone needs to look in the mirror, prickly India included.
Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Saturday said the BJP should take a lesson from its defeat in the Karnataka Assembly polls and focus on development issues, adding that the people have sent out a clear message that they will not vote on the basis of "religion or caste".

Speaking to ANI on Saturday, after the Congress raced past the majority mark in Karnataka, Pilot said, "The lesson that the BJP government at the Centre should draw from the defeat in Karnataka is that if they don't focus on development issues and only whip up issues around caste, religion and mandir-masjid, people will not vote for them."

He added that the alleged corruption in the previous BJP government was the main issue in the Karnataka polls and the Congress, which built their campaign around it, reaped the desired electoral dividend.

"The results make it clear that the people of Karnataka had resolved to remove the 40-per cent commission government in the state. Corruption was the main issue in this election and it helped the Congress. Our focus now is to provide a clean and stable government to the people of the state and make good on our promises to provide jobs and ensure efficient delivery of services," Pilot said.

Earlier, on Saturday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hailed the party's victory in Karnataka saying that the people of the state defeated the "politics of hate".

Addressing reporters at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi, Rahul Gandhi said the Congress stands in support of the poor.

Also Read Explained: Why is Sachin Pilot holding a day-long protest in Rajasthan Sach was life: Tendulkar on field was raw emotion, a happiness pill From student to the God of Cricket: Sachin Tendulkar's journey to the top 80% MLAs are with Sachin Pilot: Rajasthan minister Rajendra Singh Gudha High-voltage campaigning for Karnataka elections to end today at 5 pm Adityanath thanks people for forming 'triple-engine' govt in Uttar Pradesh Congress registers emphatic win in Karnataka as BJP, JD(S) are swept aside Karnataka elects the highest number of women MLAs since 1962 Amid poll defeat in Karnataka, BJP retains its hold in coastal districts Karnataka elections: Congress registers big gains in most regions

"The poor defeated crony capitalists of Karnataka. What I really liked about this election is that we did not fight the battle with hatred. We fought the elections with love," Rahul said.

KI want to thank all the party leaders and workers in Karnataka.

According to the latest counting trends shared by the Election Commission, the Congress has won 134 seats in Karanataka and leading in 2 while the BJP has won 64 so far and is leading in 1 in the 224-member Karnataka Assembly.

The run-up to the single-phased polls on May 10 saw a high-decibel campaign between the BJP and the Congress.

The state saw robust polling for 224 Assembly seats, with the eventual turnout recorded at 73.29 per cent.
The counting of votes for 12 civic body polls and bye-elections to two assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh will take place on Saturday.

The civic body polls were held in 17 municipal corporations across the state, including the recently formed Shahjahanpur municipal corporation. While the bye-elections were held in Suar and Chhanbey assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh.

Following the counting Lucknow police have enhanced the security at all the counting centres and restricted the entry of Phones or any kind of weapon inside the counting centre, said a senior police official on Friday.

"The counting of votes for the municipal elections will be held on Saturday. In this regard, elaborate security arrangements have been made by the Lucknow Police at all the counting centres. Phone or any type of weapon is not allowed to be taken to the counting centre by the counting agent and the candidate. Liquor shops will remain closed tomorrow," said Aparna Rajat Kaushik, DCP Central Lucknow.

As per the officials, counting for the votes will start at 8.00 am and all the necessary arrangements have been made for the same.

UP had voted for civic body polls in two phases -- on May 4 and May 11.

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The results will decide the fate of 83,378 candidates who are in the fray for 14,522 posts.

In the first phase, voting was held in 37 districts of 9 divisions and 10 municipal corporations. In 10 municipal corporations, voting is held in 830 wards, 9,699 polling places and 2,658 polling stations are set up in Municipal Corporations.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had left no stone unturned while campaigning for party candidates and conducted around 50 rallies, 28 rallies and conferences in the first phase and 22 in the second phase.

For now, UP had 16 municipal corporations, out of which 14 had BJP mayors.

The counting of votes for the Suar and Chhanbey assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh will also take place on Saturday.

The ruling coalition partner Apna Dal (Sonelal) is contesting both seats.

Suar assembly seat in Rampur district was declared vacant on February 13 after a Moradabad court sentenced Abdullah Azam Khan, the son of senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, to two years in jail in a 15-year-old case.
For the past few years, Samsung Electronics has been the dominant player in the global foldable smartphone market, where early tech adopters have lugged around small tablet-sized phones in exchange for creative dual screen use.

Now, the South Korean tech giant is facing its most serious competitor yet -- Google.

The company unveiled the much-anticipated Pixel Fold, its first foldable smartphone, during its annual developer conference this week. The phone is available for preorder now and will begin shipping next month, Google said.

One of the biggest appeals of the $1,799 Pixel Fold is its thickness. It is slightly slimmer than Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 4: 12.1 millimeters versus 15.8 mm, reports Yonhap news agency.

Fitted with a 7.6-inch screen when open, the phone comes with the largest 4,821 mAh battery to date in a foldable, larger than Samsung's 4,400 mAh battery. So it is, naturally, slightly heavier than Samsung's phone: 283 grams versus 263 grams.

While Samsung is facing a tougher race in the foldable segment, more competition also means a bigger and more creative ecosystem and wider market adoption.

Also Read Samsung to launch Galaxy S23 smartphone in lime colour: Details here Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro: Lightweight laptop lifted by ecosystem benefits Samsung to launch Galaxy M14 5G smartphone in India on April 17: Details Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 smartphone may not feature Chinese foldable panels Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 5 may feature 6.2-inch outer screen SCO digital ministers adopt India's proposal to adopt digital public infra Demystifying the Indian metaverse techno-legal antitrust paradigm Dell launches two new Alienware m16, x14 R2 gaming laptops in India AI chatbots to help recruiters automate screening, cut onboarding workload Digital India's two realities: A yawning gap between tech use & tech skills

For its first foldable phone, Google optimised more than 50 of its own applications for Pixel Fold's larger display. It also promised to continue its efforts on that front, as part of efforts to encourage other app developers to do the same.

Samsung aims to raise the portion of foldable phones, which were first introduced in 2019, to half of its total smartphone sales by 2025, and to make them another pillar of the company alongside the Galaxy S flagship series and a key category in the premium segment.

According to market researcher Canalys, Samsung accounted for approximately 77 percent of foldable phone shipments worldwide last year.

On September 4 last year, just a few days after the company unveiled its fourth-generation foldable phones, Samsung said a successful foldable phone needed two core elements -- a flexible and foldable display and a strong hinge for folding and unfolding operations.

"Foldable phones are not just about the novel form factor and technological advancement," Choi Won-joon, then head of the flagship product R&D team at Samsung's mobile experience division, said during a press briefing in Berlin on the sidelines of Europe's biggest tech show, IFA 2022.

"I believe we should give users unique and valuable experiences that they can't get from any other smartphone," he said.

"Making a more compact and lightweight hinge while not compromising its durability was a huge challenge," he said, adding that Samsung developers were able to eventually come up with a completely new hinge system, called a spiral hinge, after some 20 failed attempts in the span of nearly a year.

Google's hinge system allows the two screen halves to fold completely, leaving no small gap when closed. Google also said it has the most durable hinge, made of stainless steel, which has been tested up to 200,000 opens and closes.

According to the latest report released in March by the International Data Corporation (IDC), foldable phone shipments are expected to reach 21.4 million units this year, up more than 50 percent from a year ago, as consumers start to embrace the new form factor. By 2027, the figure could reach 48.1 million, it estimated, driven by "a healthy demand for this growing form factor."

"A 10 percent decline in average selling price helped the market grow 75.5 percent in 2022, as foldable devices became more affordable in numerous markets," it said, adding, "With new vendors and models joining the race this year, we expect the foldable market to be the one bright spot in 2023 with 50.5 percent growth, while the total smartphone market contracts 1.1 percent."

Samsung said the release date for the Galaxy Z Fold 5 has yet to be decided.

--IANS

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Two terrorists and two soldiers were killed in a terrorist attack on a Frontier Constabulary (FC) camp in Balochistan's Muslim Bagh town, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Friday, reported Dawn.

The military's media wing said that a "group of terrorists attacked an FC camp in the Muslim Bagh area in northern Balochistan".

The statement said that an operation by the security forces was "underway to capture the terrorists who have been cornered into a building complex" while a heavy exchange of fire was also taking place, reported Dawn.

The ISPR further said, "Commander 12 Corps is supervising the security forces operations being conducted at Muslim Bagh area in Balochistan where terrorists have been cornered."

Since the talks with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) broke down in November last year, the outfit has intensified its attacks, particularly targeting the police in KP and areas bordering Afghanistan.

Over the past few months, the law and order situation in the country has worsened, with terrorist groups executing attacks with near impunity across the country, reported Dawn.

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Earlier this month, experts at a discussion warned that the TTP was forging a nexus with Baloch separatists and local militant groups based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan -- a development that will likely exacerbate the already precarious security situation in the country.

On April 1, four soldiers were killed in a terrorist attack along the Pak-Iran border in the Jalgai sector of Balochistan's Kech district, reported Dawn.

On March 10, five terrorists were killed by security forces in intelligence-based operations (IBO) carried out in North and South Waziristan. On March 8, six terrorists were killed by security forces in an IBO in North Waziristan's Datta Khel general area.

According to statistics released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based think-tank, January 2023 remained one of the deadliest months since July 2018, as 134 people lost their lives -- a 139 per cent spike -- and 254 received injuries in at least 44 militant attacks across the country, reported Dawn.
Imran Khan has torn into Pakistan's Army chief General Asim Munir and blamed him for his "abduction" after a court here set the former prime minister free and barred his re-arrest in any case until Monday.

A triumphant Khan returned to his Lahore home on Saturday after having locked himself in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) premises for hours for fear of re-arrest despite being granted bail on Friday.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief and ex-Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan on Friday night finally left the Islamabad High Court's (IHC) premises for his Zaman Park residence in Lahore after an 11-hour-long drama, reported Geo News.

Khan was at the IHC for hours after he decided to stay within the court's premises till he got a written verdict of his bail as he feared that the police might arrest him again once he got out.

"Get ready for peaceful protest. I am illegally detained for the last 3 hours despite my bail being approved," said Khan before leaving the IHC premise in a video release posted by the PTI Twitter handle.

He said that the court has granted him the bail and there is no case against him still he is held back, adding that powerful persons are behaving in an unconstitutional way and are not listening to the court's order.

Khan, who is on his way to Lahore, has said Islamabad Inspector General of Police (IG) Akbar Nasir tried his best to retain him at the capital's high court.

"They did not let us leave for three hours, saying that it's dangerous outside," the former prime minister said in a video message from a vehicle in which he is travelling to Punjab's capital.

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He added that he told the IG that "we will tell the entire Pakistan that you are kidnapping [me], retaining [me] forcefully".

The PTI chief said the Islamabad police chief let him go under this "pressure".

Moreover, he continued, "When we came out, the roads were empty. There was no danger of any kind."

He said he was expected to reach Lahore in the next three hours.

Khan was arrested from the IHC premises by paramilitary forces on Tuesday (May 9), which triggered violent protests across the country. But the Supreme Court nullified his arrest and ordered authorities concerned to release him.

The PTI chief was at the IHC after he appeared there today on Supreme Court's orders to seek bail in multiple cases registered against him, where he got blanket relief.

In the first relief today, a two-member special divisional bench granted two-week bail to the former prime minister in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case, and later, the court barred authorities from arresting him till May 17 in any new case filed against him till May 9 -- the day he was detained in the corruption case, which led to deadly countrywide protests.

Then, he sought transitory bail in four cases lodged against him in Lahore, in which the court awarded him bail till May 22 in the Zille Shah murder case, then, another bench barred authorities from arresting the former prime minister till the morning of May 15 in any case, no matter what their nature may be while hearing the bail petition filed against three terrorism cases.

Meanwhile, intermittent aerial firing took place around the IHC premises, prompting authorities to put security on high alert. Islamabad police's spokesperson said no one was injured as a result of the firing, reported Geo News.

"IG Islamabad himself is reviewing the security arrangements. Court orders will be fully implemented. Islamabad Police is responsible for Imran Khan's security. Imran Khan's cooperation is essential in this regard. The Supreme Court has entrusted the responsibility of Imran Khan to the Islamabad Police. Road clearance is being taken," said the spokesman of Islamabad Capital Police.
A senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement's armed wing Al-Quds Brigades was killed in an Israeli airstrike on an apartment in Gaza city, the Gaza-based health ministry said in a press statement.

In the statement released on Friday by the ministry, which is run by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), two Palestinian men were killed and five civilians were injured in the attacks on the Al-Nasser neighbourhood, Xinhua news agency reported.

The ministry identified the victims as PIJ militants Eyad Al-Hasani and Mohamed Abdel Aal.

According to a statement released by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), Eyad Al-Hasani was "a significant figure in leading the operations and making military decisions" of the PIJ.

"Al-Hasani was a key figure in the organization and was involved in all decisions regarding rocket launches and barrages toward Israel," the IDF statement read.

The PIJ's armed wing said in a statement that "assassinating our leaders won't stop our resistance."

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According to the health ministry, 33 people have been killed and more than 100 others injured since Israel began airstrikes on the PIJ's armed wing on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Israeli fighter jets and unmanned drones carried out simultaneous and surprising airstrikes against buildings and apartments that host senior PIJ military leaders in the Gaza Strip.

On Wednesday afternoon and Thursday, the PIJ militants fired more than 500 rockets at central and southern Israel, leaving one Israeli woman killed and more than nine injured, according to Israeli media reports.

Palestinian sources said that Egypt, Qatar, and the UN have so far failed to mediate a ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas-led militant groups, including the PIJ.

--IANS

int/sha
The inability of the security agencies for whatever reason to protect the symbols of the military might such as the GHQ, the Lahore Corps Commander's residence and other properties has also dented the image of the Pakistan military's invincibility, media reported.

Though the period between the arrest and release has highlighted the deepening political polarisation in the country, some experts believe that the events of May 9 -- which was declared as history's dark chapter by the army -- will have a negative impact on the PTI-establishment relationship, The Express Tribune reported.

Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (Pildat) President Ahmed Bilal Mehboob feels that "the events of May 9 following the arrest of Imran Khan would have profound and adverse impact on the future relationship of the establishment and the PTI".

The Pildat chief said the rampage of PTI supporters and their attack on military installations and properties will eventually harm the public standing of the party, The Express Tribune reported.

"Unless the perpetrators are quickly identified, prosecuted and punished, the wounds inflicted on May 9 will not heal," he said.

The Pakistan Army has entered the fray with an unprecedented challenge to the leader of a political party, writes Pakistan author F.S. Aijazuddin in Dawn.

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Aijazuddin wrote that the ISPR explicitly warned PTI leader Imran Khan. It advised "the political leader concerned to make a recourse to legal avenues and stop making false allegations". Failing that, "the institution reserves the right to take legal course of action against patently false and malafide statements and propaganda."

Khan retorted that his accusations targeted individuals, not the institution per se. This clarification was not nearly enough.

"Orders were issued, presumably at the highest level within the powers that be and are, to arrest Imran Khan. On May 9, the Pakistani public witnessed for the umpteenth time the unedifying spectacle of yet another political leader being manhandled into a Black Maria for incarceration," he wrote.

"The backlash this time has been fierce. Images are being circulated on social media of attacks on GHQ and the house of the Lahore Corps Commander in flames. Both appeared unguarded. Their gates opened at the sight of a mob," Aijazuddin wrote.

Baqir Sajjad, Pakistan Fellow at Wilson Centre said on the Supreme Court for Imran Khan's release said, "New definition for 'release' would have to be crafted. He is technically free man, but practically in custody and permitted to meet few people, who have been cleared. But I agree that not only today's development, but whatsoever happened over past few days has been setback for the Army."

"When and where premises of military installations and Commanders' houses were last breached by protesters. No one would dare even go to Rawalpindi's Mall Road to stage a protest. That's definitely nothing to be proud of, but it is a major change that has taken place," Sajjad added.

Director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Centre, Michael Kugelman, termed the arrest a "huge escalation in a long, ugly crisis". He also pointed out that the arrest came following Imran's reiteration of allegations against military officials, Dawn reported.

"There are clear indications that there is a lack of agreement within the Army on the proper way forward," Kugelman says, BBC reported.

"My sense is that the senior-most Army leadership would be happy not to see him involved in politics any more, whereas many elements in the lower and middle ranks of the Army are big supporters of Khan. Khan has polarised politics, he's polarised the public and he's polarised the Army as well, which is a difficult feat to pull off."

As per the ISPR's statement -- detailed, pointed, no-holds-barred -- protests "targeting Army property and installations" were part of a well-thought-out plan targeting the Army. The scenes that were witnessed on Tuesday (May 9) were indeed disturbing.

PTI protesters ransacked, vandalised and even set on fire some public and private property. That they were able to set fire to the Corps Commander House in Lahore and enter territory belonging to key Army installations made for visuals that were deeply disturbing to the image of the state, The News said in an editorial.

No wonder even PTI leaders were soon seen distancing themselves from these mobs. More than a hundred police officers were injured in Punjab and over a dozen in Peshawar as well.

"The ISPR has said that this "group in political garb" has done what the country's enemies could not do in 75 years, all in its "lust for power" and that the "Army showed patience and restraint and exercised extreme tolerance" despite knowing the orders, directives and complete pre-planning (were) by some sinister party leadership," The News said.

Since Tuesday, there had been murmurings about why and how the scale of protests had been 'allowed' to go on. The ISPR statement may have also been meant to put an end to the scores of social media forwards that have relentlessly talked about internal breakdowns, martial laws, coups and what not.

There was a flurry of 'audio leaks' -- a very Pakistani political tool that comes in handy at extremely convenient times -- that seemed to suggest that these violent attacks and protests were pre-planned by the PTI. Some PTI leaders were arrested yesterday and political observers say that a crackdown is imminent in the wake of the alleged audios, The News said.

The optics of Army installations being targeted or military officers homes being ransacked did no favour to the PTI. If rumours are to be believed, there is a chance the party may face a 'ban' though some observers say this step will be quite drastic, The News said.

Pakistan is teetering after former Prime Minister Imran Khan was dramtically arrested by paramilitary troops on corruption charges, sparking a deadly outpouring of anger against the powerful military that has put the country on edge, CNN reported.

Unrest has spread across multiple major cities, resulting in unprecedented scenes of defiant crowds breaking into military properties and setting the homes of Army personnel ablaze, directly challenging a usually untouchable force that has long sat at the apex of power in Pakistan, CNN reported.

Since it won independence in 1947, Pakistan has struggled with political instability, regime changes and coups with the military having a historically decisive role in who stays in power.

--IANS

san/khz/
The United States' top international development official on Friday said Washington is focusing on the urgency of normalising relations between Kosovo and Serbia in EU-brokered talks between the two former war foes.

USAID Administrator Samantha Power has been in Kosovo for the past two days, following a three-day visit to Serbia.

As the most senior representative of US President Joe Biden to visit Kosovo recently, she said her country's focus now was on the importance of implementation of the agreements that will produce a normalisation that will be incredibly important for Kosovo and for Serbia.

Over the two days of her trip, Power visited a local farm and food processing facility.

She met with young entrepreneurs at a hub for innovation and also spoke to young peacemakers bridging divides between Kosovo and Serbia.

Normalisation is going to be really, really good for business, she said at a news conference.

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The good that normalisation will do for the young people of this country cannot be overstated.

In February, Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met and gave tacit approval to the EU's 11-point plan.

During a March summit in North Macedonia, the two leaders tentatively agreed on implementation.

We are hopeful that the parties will come to the next stage of EU-mediated discussions with very specific proposals, said Power.

Washington and Brussels have stepped up efforts to help solve the dispute, fearing further instability in Europe as the war rages in Ukraine.

Both Serbia and Kosovo have been told they must normalise relations to advance in their intentions to join the EU.

The two sides have tentatively agreed to back an EU plan on how to proceed, but tensions continue to simmer.

Power acknowledged the political choices ahead for both countries were very difficult.

That's why they lie ahead. If they were easy, they would have been choices made a long time ago, she said.

Power spoke on two contesting issues, first urging Kosovo to proceed on the establishment of an association of Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo, which would coordinate work on education, health care, land planning and economic development at the local level.

A 2013 agreement on that plan was later declared unconstitutional by Kosovo's Constitutional Court, which ruled that it wasn't inclusive of other ethnicities and could entail the use of executive powers.

Power also urged Kosovo Serbs to return to their jobs in local government institutions in the north of the country, where most of the ethnic Serb minority is located.

They boycotted those posts in November and a snap election vote last month in protest at the establishment of the association.

The conflict in Kosovo erupted in 1998 when separatist ethnic Albanians rebelled against Serbia's rule, and Serbia responded with a brutal crackdown. About 13,000 people, mostly ethnic Albanians, died. NATO's military intervention in 1999 eventually forced Serbia to pull out of the territory.

Washington and most European Union countries have recognized Kosovo as an independent state but Serbia, along with Russia and China, has not.
Pop the confetti and light the pink candles: on September 13 of this year, iconic beauty brand Mary Kay will mark its 60th anniversary. To celebrate the occasion, the brand is asking Mary Kay independent beauty consultants from around the world to share their Mary Kay stories on social media using hashtag #MaryKay60. The 60 Years of Stories campaign will run through the companys diamond jubilee and will toast the millions of entrepreneurs who sustain Mary Kay Ashs legacy of empowering women then, now, and always.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230512005029/en/

Mary Kay is asking independent beauty consultants from around the world to share their Mary Kay stories on social media using hashtag #MaryKay60. (Photo: Mary Kay Inc.)

To kick off the campaign, the brand is first sharing the story itself: that of its famed founder, Mary Kay Ash. Ashs story is told in triumphant detail in a 40-minute podcast special, featuring never-before-shared stories, interviews, and insight into the business legend. Then. Now. Always. The Mary Kay Ash Story is available beginning today, Mary Kay Ashs birthday, and fans can listen on Spotify or wherever they get their podcasts.

In addition to the audio special, videos featuring several Mary Kay entrepreneurs are available now on official Mary Kay social channels and MaryKay.com. More will be released throughout the year.

Theres so much excitement surrounding Mary Kays 60th anniversary, said Nathan Moore, President of Global Sales and Marketing at Mary Kay. Its a remarkable business achievement and speaks to the strength of our brand. But at its core, this truly is a celebration of our independent beauty consultants. Without their passion, entrepreneurship, and giving spirit, we wouldnt have made it six monthsmuch less 60 years! Through the 60 Years of Stories campaign, we honor their journeys in the lead up to our big day.

You didnt expect Mary Kay to stop there, did you? The lights of Broadway also shine pink: a very special Mary Kay 60th anniversary video is currently running in Times Square in New York City, every fifteen minutes for the next several weeks.

Were just getting our anniversary festivities started, Moore added. Our founder, Mary Kay Ash, was famously tight-lipped when it came to her age. But this is one birthday she wouldve proudly celebrated. We plan to do the same.

About Mary Kay

One of the original glass ceiling breakers, Mary Kay Ash founded her dream beauty company in 1963 with one goal: enriching womens lives. That dream has blossomed into a multibillion-dollar company with millions of independent sales force members in more than 35 countries. As an entrepreneurship development company, Mary Kay is committed to empowering women on their journey to economic independence through education, mentorship, advocacy, networking, and innovation. Mary Kay is dedicated to investing in the science behind beauty and manufacturing cutting-edge skincare, color cosmetics, nutritional supplements, and fragrances. Mary Kay believes in enriching lives today for a sustainable tomorrow, partnering with organizations from around the world focusing on promoting business excellence, supporting cancer research, advancing gender equality, protecting survivors from domestic abuse, beautifying our communities, and encouraging children to follow their dreams. Learn more at marykayglobal.com, find us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn or follow us on Twitter.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230512005029/en/


TECNO, an innovative technology brand, held the 2023 Future of Imaging Technology Conference today in Delhi. The brand unveiled Ultimage- the ultimate imaging experience with a specific focus on sensors and AI processing that seamlessly integrates cutting-edge smartphone imaging technology.



"Ultimage" is the culmination of TECNO's relentless pursuit of excellence in research and development and an outcome of thorough understanding of consumer needs. Through extensive analysis and dedicated efforts, TECNO has created a game-changing solution that caters to the requirements of portrait photography, anti-shaking functionality, and lowlight shooting. The brands premium product lines, Phantom and CAMON will feature this next generation of technology starting first from CAMON 20 series.



The eagerly awaited CAMON 20 line-up includes three cutting-edge products: CAMON 20 Premier 5G, CAMON 20 Pro 5G, and CAMON 20. These remarkable devices are poised to hit the market by the end of this month. CAMON 20 Series would bring spectacular portrait video and night photography experience with the industrys first Combination of Sensor-Shift OIS Anti-shaking Technology, 50MP RGBW Ultra-Sensitive sensor and proprietary AI algorithms which will disrupt the mobile photography segment and set it apart from its competition.



Experience Brilliant colors like Never Before with RGBW Pro Technology 



TECNO's innovative RGBW Pro technology replaces the "green" array solution in the traditional RGGB color filter with a "white" one, thus allowing 208% light intake to be captured in low-light conditions . The 1G+6P lens increases the light intake when it reaches the main sensor by replacing one of the plastic lenses with a glass one. The main sensor on TECNO CAMON 20 Premier 5G is also increased from 1/1.73 to 1/1.56 and the single pixel size from 0.8m to 1.0m, with 56.25% larger light-sensitive area to ensure images are as close to real-life scenes as possible. With greater light transmission, TECNO CAMON 20 Premier 5G lets users capture crystal-clear night portrait in stunning definition, never losing a detail in the dark.

Never a blur moment with sensor-shift Technology 



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ZIMBABWE will have its harmonised elections in August and people should vote for Zanu PF to preserve their cultural heritage and independence, President Mnangagwa has said.

He said Zimbabweans should be proud of their cultural heritage and identity which was also entrenched in the liberation struggle.

The Head of State and Government, who is also Zanu PF First Secretary, said this yesterday in Mudzi while addressing thousands of ruling party supporters who had come to witness the commissioning of Rwenya Bridge that was swept away in 2013.

Lets keep our heritage by voting for Zanu PF. Elections will be held in August, I am releasing a little bit of information. We must vote for our cultural heritage which was fought for by Zanu PF. Respect for black people was brought by Zanu PF. So you must decide which side you would want to be counted on, either the side of those that are lost or the side for people who are on track. If you want to go along with me talk the language of Zanu PF, said President Mnangagwa to a rousing applause.

He said people need to love their culture and never despise it.

President Mnangagwa said the coronation of King Charles III in London, United Kingdom, which he attended last week, showed that other countries had high regard for their culture.

The British, he said, followed their tradition to the letter as was evident during the coronation of King Charles III.

It is now almost 23 years that we have not had good relations with the British, but they invited me for the coronation of King Charles III. He came here in April 1980 and brought down the flag for his grandfather, the Union Jack, so he thought of us on the day of his coronation and felt it was prudent to invite me. They observe their culture, that is one thing that I observed and why would you be fooled to despise your culture when they are respecting their heritage, said President Mnangagwa.

Addressing the same gathering, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga said Zimbabweans should gear up for the forthcoming harmonised elections.

This election is coming. It is not reversible. We ought to hold these elections in a peaceful environment. This is our country. We do not know of any other country other than Zimbabwe. Elections come and go but our relations will remain so we do not want political violence, said VP Chiwenga.

My message is I will vote for President Mnangagwa. Who are you going to vote for? We should vote for President Mnangagwa and Zanu PF MPs and councillors. Here in Mudzi you should vote for Cde Jonathan Samkange as our Member of Parliament in Mudzi South.

Zanu PF Secretary for Administration for Mashonaland East province Cde Felix Mhona assured President Mnangagwa of a landslide election victory.

He thanked President Mnangagwa for providing Zanu PF National Assembly candidates with vehicles to enhance mobility during campaigns.

Every candidate has now taken delivery of his vehicle. We want to thank you for this kind gesture. I want to assure you that we are working well with losing candidates in the just ended primary elections, said Cde Mhona who is also Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development.

Zanu PF candidates for the National Assembly also had an opportunity to convey their gratitude for the vehicles that they got recently from the party.

Thousands of Zanu PF supporters drawn from districts from both Mashonaland East and Manicaland provinces thronged Rwenya Business Centre to witness the commissioning of Rwenya bridge which is set to bring huge relief to villagers. Herald
The history of the Church is full of many Black / African Catholic saints, who received recognition for great deeds or meritorious conduct. Many lost their lives in defense of the faith. Many were also honored for their contributions to the Church and their community.

Filter 937 Black / African Saints A-Z by typing in the 'Search' box below.
The Enactus chapter at Southern Adventist University won third place at the 2023 Enactus United States National Exposition, ranking in the elite 1 percent of more than 300 teams in the country. This marks the second time Southerns student team, which is housed in the School of Business, has advanced through the competition to the final round with the top four U.S. schools.Enactus is an international nonprofit that brings together student, academic and business leaders who are committed to using the power of entrepreneurial action to improve the quality of life and standard of living for people in need.Academic advisers and business experts help guide student leaders in implementing sustainable community empowerment projects across the globe.Junior management major Roman Johnson, Southerns chapter president, described the expo as an incredible experience. My team and I had the opportunity to grow in our commitment to Christ-centered service through our projects this past year and then showcase His work through our team in the competition. I am thrilled to see what the future holds for our Enactus team."Along with creating a video, the Southern team prepared an annual report detailing all five of their current projects with statistics and finances to share with judges. The presentation focused on Akuna Soap Industrys production of natural, affordable soap that equips women and youth in Zambia to open their own businesses and BringIts empowerment of student entrepreneurs. Other Chattanooga-based projects include: Tomorrowpreneurss focus on inspiring underserved children with business knowledge and confidence; HIREs job network and training targeting unsheltered individuals; and Illuminate Marketings promotion assistance for struggling small businesses.I am so proud of the amazing work our team did this year, and its beautiful to see their accomplishments recognized on a national level, said Michelle Doucoumes, associate professor in the School of Business and Enactus faculty sponsor. The level of learning, teamwork, leadership, and innovation that goes into these projects is truly experiential learning at its best. Plus, we get to use our time for projects that make a positive impact in peoples lives.To learn more about Southern students world-changing projects, visit southern.edu/enactus.
A home in Ooltewah was damaged by fire Friday evening. Residents in the area called 911 after hearing a loud explosion. At 8:30 p.m., an emergency call was made reporting a house fire at 4717 Buckingham Drive.

The Tri-Community Volunteer Fire Department responded and arrived within minutes reporting a two-story home with fire and heavy smoke showing from the garage. Nearby residents informed the firefighters the homeowners were not home, so they immediately started an interior attack to contain the fire.



Tri-Community VFD requested additional manpower from Chattanooga Fire Department and Highway 58 VFD and Catoosa County Fire Department stood by in the Tri-Community VFD district for any additional emergency calls.

Damages are unknown at this time.

The cause of the fire will be under investigation by the Tri-Community VFD.
RHONJ: Teresa Giudice Reveals that Trips Filmed for the Show Are More Work Than Fun

From the outside looking in, the lives of the cast members of The Real Housewives of New Jersey look pretty glamorous and fun. Sure, theres plenty of drama, gossip, and plot twists that make watching reality TV worthwhile. But at the end of the day, they seem to live great lives, complete with frequent exotic vacations.

But if what RHONJ star Teresa Giudice says about the cast trips is true, perhaps fans have less to be envious of than they might think.

More work than fun: what Real Housewives cast trips are really like

Giudice appeared on a podcast episode of Namaste B$tches. She shared some behind-the-scenes details about everything that really goes into making cast trips happen.

I heard on the next season you guys are going to Ireland, one of the hosts said, which Giudice confirmed. She said she had never been to Ireland before, adding that she would have preferred being at the beach.

This is the thing, Giudice said. These trips are not fun. Theyre maybe a little fun, but its a lot of work.

Because you have the camera in your face all day long? asked the host.

Yeah, so thats the thing, Giudice replied. Even if we go to an island, its not like were going to enjoy it anyway. She added that she actually was excited to see Ireland once, and she was glad she got to experience it even though she doesnt think shell ever go back.

How the Real Housewives cast trips are planned

The Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen | Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty Images

A cast trip to Ireland might seem random, but a lot of planning goes into making each trip happen. But how does it work? Giudice clarified on the podcast.

The host asked if the producers suggested the destinations.

No, Giudice said. We give them suggestions, and then they pick. We were going to go to Turkey because Jennifer; shes Turkish. Maybe well go there next year. Id love to go to Turkey,

It was Dolores, she added, who made the suggestion that the group go to Ireland. Apparently, she had just visited and thought it would make a great cast trip destination.

But are the trips mandatory for the cast? They like a cast trip, Giudice said. You know, when youre all together, thats when shit happens, she added with a laugh.

Families and groups of friends traveling together doesnt always go smoothly, so a cast of housewives traveling with a camera crew, alcohol, and (sometimes) grudges will definitely bring out the drama.

The top cast trips on Real Housewives

The cast trips may be more work than fun, but that doesnt mean the fans dont get envious of some of the destinations everyone gets to see. The cast has been treated to some fantastic vacations over the years.

In Season 9, they went to the Bahamas, while Season 3 took them to Punta Cana. Season 4s California wine-country trip was memorable, and Milan and Cabo San Lucas have also made the list.

The group arrived in Ireland on the shows April 11th episode, where they learned they stay at the gorgeous Ballinlough Castle. Even if it was more work than fun, it couldnt have been too bad.
The sign will be placed near the graves of Sand Towns Cherokee headman Jim Woodpecker and his wife Sally.
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A federal sex trafficking trial resulted in a guilty conviction on all five counts for Rev. Michael Jude Zacharias, a Roman Catholic priest who has served as the pastor of churches in Fremont and Mansfield. The jury's verdict was made public just before 5 o'clock. Stacey Finley, the court's media coordinator, stated that decisions were made on Friday after deliberations that began at midday the day before.

Zacharias, 56, was found guilty of sex trafficking on all five counts, two of which included young victims. The priest was the target of accusations that lasted over 15 years, from July 2005 to August 2020.

Priest Found Guilty in Sex-Trafficking Case was Placed on Administrative Leave in 2020

According to the article in Mansfield News Journal, the priest's sentence date has yet to be made public. In the United States, the trial started on May 2 in District Court for Toledo's Northern District of Ohio. The guilty conviction is a significant development in a case that has received a lot of attention both inside and outside the Catholic Church.

Toledo Bishop Daniel Thomas placed Rev. Michael Jude Zacharias on administrative leave in August 2020. Bishop Thomas issued a statement following the court's ruling condemning the deeds for which Reverend Michael Zacharias was found guilty. According to Bishop Thomas, Zacharias' acts were unjustifiable, morally unacceptable, and wholly incompatible with the respect that every person and the priesthood deserved. He declared that the Church has no tolerance for such behaviour and that any allegations of sexual misbehavior or abuse by a cleric are taken very seriously.

In the shared article in Yahoo! News, bishop Thomas continued to discuss the suffering that the victims have felt, the struggles of the church due to the actions of their members, and the efforts that must have been taken to protect the minors and aslo to uphold the dignity of all the priests. Despite all of this, he admitted that evil can sometimes win.

Also Read:Sexual Abuse of Clerics: Do Church Leaders Get Punish By Law?

Diocese of Toledo to Address Allegations against Priest Zakaria, Case to be Presented to the Pope

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo is getting ready to confront the accusations against Priest Zakaria following the conclusion of a federal case. According to the article in Business News, Zakaria's standing as a priest will be decided by Pope Francis after Zakaria is accused of "grooming" victims and using his drug addiction to force them into sexual acts.

Even though he acknowledged having intercourse with several guys, Zakaria denied knowing that any of his partners had a drug issue or that he gave them money to buy illegal narcotics.

In view of these grave claims, the Diocese has reiterated its dedication to protecting children's security and the credibility of the clergy. The Diocese is requesting that anybody with additional claims disclose them to the Diocese's Victims Assistance Coordinator and local law police as part of its ongoing efforts to address any cases of abuse.

Related Article:Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia Refused to Acknowledge Sexual Abuse Claims Against Priest, Face New Lawsuit
Pixabay/Tonda Tran

After being a house and a grocery store, the former Port Orchard Church owner intends to transform it into low-cost accommodation for young adults. They are now waiting for the city's approval to get started on the church's construction.

Low-Cost Housing for Young Adults

The residence planned to be built to the southeast of Dekalb Street and Harrison Avenue crossroads has been given the working name of Amici House, MSN reported. According to Aaron Bates, Port Orchard general contractor of Amici House LLC, who bought the building for $600,000 in April 2021, the structure, which had previously functioned as a house, then as a grocery store, and finally as a church, will include 22 sleeping units if the city accepts the proposal. Up to forty individuals between 18 and 25 will call the building home. According to the designs, the three-story building located at 902 Dekalb Street would contain five shared restroom facilities as well as a sizable kitchen that will also be shared.

Bates said that the estimated range for the monthly rent is between $550 and $700, significantly less than most local rates. "We will be a dry house," Bates promised. There will be no tobacco products, vaporizers, alcoholic beverages, or marijuana. The Amici House will be a faith-based facility but will not be affiliated with any particular denomination. It will be mandatory for residents to participate in various study groups. "We are trying to create open discussions, not so much about religious points of view and not associated with any denomination," he asserted.

Moreover, Bates also mentioned that when they try to gather young adults together, they find that social media, life, and school that are taught online pull young adults apart. The company is attempting to reunite them with one another so that they can work together, create relationships, and improve their communication skills. As per Very Well Mind, communication is essential for maintaining healthy relationships. Sharing, learning, responding, and forming connections with the people in people's life is made more accessible when they are able to have honest and open conversations with them. It is reportedly essential to any connection, including those with close friends and family.

Also Read: 'One of New York's Most Picturesque Houses of Worship' Sold to Serbian Government for $15 Million After Two Years of Being on Sale

Amici House LLC

Based on an article from Taitem, the Amici House, which Tompkins Community Action operates, is a newly constructed multifamily structure with five stories that provide shelter for formerly homeless young people and children. In addition to it, there is office space, community space, and a commercial kitchen located on the first level. For this project, Taitem was responsible for the design of the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and structural components, in addition to the energy modeling. The project also included constructing a new childcare facility called the TCA Harriet Giannelis Childcare Center.

This facility has five classrooms used for the Head Start and Early Head Start programs, apart from supporting space and training space for staff. The Center also provides employment opportunities for 21 adults and cares for 42 youngsters. Accordingly, the initiative received consultancy and certification assistance from Enterprise Green Communities. It was conceived within the Multifamily New Construction Program structure of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Related Article:Ontario Church Sold for $300,000 Turns Into A Family Home
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Republicans of Maryland express concerns over Gov. Wes Moore's decision to pass the revisions of current law regarding the coverage of sex change procedures in their taxpayer-funded Medicaid program instead of a law that would stop violence in Baltimore. The new law reportedly removes the age restriction for transgender drugs and operations.

New Legislation in Maryland

Earlier this week, Governor Moore signed several bills into law, including House Bill 0283, also known as the Trans Health Equity Act, KATV News reported. This legislation contained provisions that addressed abortion, transgender rights, the implementation of cannabis reform, the expansion of access to mental health care, and the advancement of climate regulations.

At the bill signing that took place on Wednesday, May 3, Gov. Moore approved a total of 188 legislations and a large number of additional measures into law since he took office in January. However, the governor has not yet signed any legislation that addresses the issue of widespread violent crime in Baltimore, even though Maryland residents have been calling on elected officials to focus on the problem for some time now.

A recent report from CBS News stated that in order to remember 23-year-old Fabian Sanchez-Gonzalez, who was slain while working last week, members of the community, including religious leaders, friends, and family, participated in a march in which they demanded peace and justice in Baltimore City. They have high hopes that the government and the community will realize that the violence must end.

As per The Daily Record, the Maryland Department of Health revealed that the costs for the new therapies included in the bill can range from less than $800 for voice therapy or lessons to $25,000 for some surgical operations and treatments. Before the House of Delegates approved by a vote of 93 to 39 on Thursday, May 4, Republicans presented many amendments to the law. One of these changes would have prevented a physician from "performing irreversible gender reassignment surgery" on a kid under 18. Yet, it was defeated by a vote in the House, which Democrats control.

On the other hand, a survey from the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that Maryland was one of 23 states that provided gender-affirming care under Medicaid in 2022. Accordingly, only one in four of the approximately 24,000 transgender persons living in Maryland were enrolled in Medicaid the previous year. Medicaid reportedly paid for the gender-affirming medical care for about one hundred individuals.

Also Read:Church Leaders Praise Gov. Kevin Stitts Decision To Pass Law Prohibiting Sex Change Procedure on Minors

Concerns Over Gov. Wes Moore's Decision to Pass the New Law

A report from the Catholic News Agency stated that since their amendments were voted down, the pediatricians are now free to conduct the sex change procedures on minors and prescribe the medications to them so long as they receive permission from at least one parent or guardian.

Republican Delegate Kathy Szeliga said that it is exceptionally tragic that legislators have given their blessing to performing severe and frequently experimental surgeries as well as medical amputation on children younger than 18 years old, and the price is paid for by the taxpayers. In addition, a Republican member of the House of Delegates, Ryan Nawrocki, voiced his concern over the potentially permanent impact these treatments could have on kids.

The scale of these experiments on children has never been seen before in the history of humanity. A few medical community members are researching children using procedures and medications that, in many cases, result in the sterilization of the children. "We are also seeing efforts in Annapolis to exclude parents from mental and physical health treatments given to their children who question their gender," he noted.

Related Article: US Catholic Bishops Criticized By Nancy Pelosi Following Opposition on Abortion, Transgender Treatments For Children
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Pope Francis raised grave concerns about Italy's declining birthrate at a conference on Friday, attributing it to the harsh free-market conditions that, in his view, have made having children a "titanic effort" that only the wealthy can afford. He expressed concern that the "savage" state of the economy was keeping younger generations from starting families.

The birthrate in Italy fell below 400,000 for the first time in 2022, the 14th year in a row that it has decreased. To 58.85 million, there were 179,000 fewer people altogether. The Pope linked the dropping birthrate to a lack of optimism for the future and the precariousness, fragility, and uncertainty facing the younger generations.

Pope Francis Warns of "Savage" Free-market Conditions Hindering Family Creation in Italy

According to the New York Post article, Pope Francis emphasized the critical concerns affecting young people when speaking on the same stage as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. These issues include the difficulty in finding and keeping stable employment, the high cost of housing, rising rents, and low pay. In addition, he expressed criticism of the free-market system, arguing that in the absence of essential changes, it becomes cruel and widens socio-economic gaps.

The Pope also mentioned how some families are substituting children with pets, telling a story of a mother who asked the Pope for his permission for her "baby," who was actually a dog. In order to emphasize the stark contrast between the pampering of pets and the hardship of hungry children, he admitted that he ran out of patience and admonished the woman.

The "almost insurmountable constraints" faced by young women forced to choose between a profession, and motherhood were recognized by him, nevertheless. He also observed that people's priorities were changing as a result of the significant costs associated with raising children.

According to Reuters, Pope Francis also highlighted that society should not passively accept young people's challenges in realizing their aspirations of starting families. He argued that these people are forced to give up on their goals, opting instead for less fulfilling pursuits like acquiring riches, emphasizing professional advancement, prioritizing travel, or preserving their free time. His message emphasizes the urgent need for institutional changes to ensure that starting a family is a manageable goal for many Italians.

Also Read:Pope Francis Endorses Natural Family Planning; Vatican Mediates Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Italian PM Meloni and Pope Francis Address the Declining Birthrate Crisis in Italy

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been actively tackling the country's dropping birthrate issue. In the article shared on BBC, Meloni received the greatest proportion of the female vote in the September elections. Meloni has prioritized women and families in her political rhetoric despite not considering herself a feminist.

The government of Meloni has created an interim ministry to address the rapidly declining birthrates. Her government has proposed a law that would exclude them from paying income tax in an effort to encourage individuals to have kids. The Pope was seen blessing numerous expectant mothers after he finished speaking as they waited in line on stage for him to stroke their bellies. A bunch of children hugged the Pontiff as a pleasant gesture, which the event planners probably staged.

Related Article:Pope Francis Reveals Argentine Government Sought to Oust Him During Buenos Aires Tenure
Wikimedia Commons/Reading Associate 17

After leaving the United Methodist Church (UMC) last year, White's Chapel, a Texas congregation with an average weekly attendance of roughly 2,000, has announced its affiliation with the Methodist Collegiate Church.

White's Chapel is now the only member of the Methodist Collegiate Church, which distinguishes itself from the greater trend of UMC dropouts joining the conservative-leaning Global Methodist Church (GMC) by rejecting "extreme positions."

New Methodist Denomination Focuses on Connection and Accountability, Shuns Hierarchical Structure

According to the article in Christian Headlines, White's Chapel's pastor, Rev. John McKeller, stated last year that his church would not be joining the GMC, which has experienced a substantial infusion of roughly 2,000 churches among the close to 3,000 churches that have formally disaffiliated with the UMC since 2019.

Rev. Larry Duggins stressed the Methodist Collegiate Church's specific commitment to fostering a diverse community in his capacity as chancellor. He emphasized their concerted efforts to create congregations that welcome many viewpoints and promote candid discussion about these differences.

The new denomination is already generating interest. The Methodist Collegiate Church has received interest from about 50 churches in six different states. Before formally inviting other churches to join its new denomination, White's Chapel must first receive official sanction for disaffiliation. The Central Texas Conference is going to meet in Waco from June 46 and is anticipated to approve pending disaffiliation requests, including that of White's Chapel.

The Methodist Collegiate Church will be divided into regional colleges to replicate UMC conferences. White's Chapel will act as the "Cathedral Church" for the first of these colleges, Trinity College. Each of these colleges will elect a dean, a position similar to a bishop in the UMC but with more of an emphasis on direction and advice than on authority.

As part of the UMC's disaffiliation plan, departed congregations are permitted to keep their real estate as long as they pay certain amounts toward clergy pensions and apportionments, which are similar to tithes. In the article in Religion News Service, in accordance with this strategy, White's Chapel made a choice to sever ties with the UMC in November of last year.

White's Chapel is the only member of the Methodist Collegiate Church which intends to depart from conventional denominational institutions. Unlike the UMC or other Methodist offshoots like the Global Methodist Church, the new denomination has no plans to establish a comparable ecclesiastical or financial infrastructure. Instead, it seeks to promote a sense of "connection and accountability," according to Rev. Larry Duggins, the Chancellor of the Methodist Collegiate Church.

Also Read:Christ Methodist Church Decides to Leave United Methodist Church Due to ew Stance on LGBT Rights, Paid $65,000

United Methodist Bishops Propose Global Conference Amidst Mass Disaffiliations

The bishops of the United Methodist Church have suggested a five-day General Conference in May 2026 to address community reconciliation and unity in response to the ongoing flight of United Methodist churches from the United States. According to the article in The Roys Report, the conference's objectives include redefining the church's mission and taking into account a regional governance structure for greater assistance while navigating the disagreements surrounding the ordination and marriage of LGBTQ members.

Concerns have been expressed regarding the survival of one of the greatest Protestant groups in the world, which currently has around 30,000 congregations in the United States, as a result of the departure, which involved hundreds of churches. The Council of Bishops' president, Bishop Thomas Bickerton, has stressed the importance of taking a forward-looking attitude and emphasizing the need to focus on the existing churches and the future. The Commission on the General Gathering must still approve the plan for the gathering in 2026.

Related Article: 33 Churches Set to Separate from Rio Texas Conference of United Methodist Church
Pixabay/ Matthias Fischer

Northeast India has been plunged into chaos as a violent uprising swept across the region, claiming the lives of at least 60 people and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. The turmoil has resulted in numerous church burnings, forcing an estimated 35,000 individuals, including Christians, to flee their homes. As tensions escalate, the authorities have imposed internet blackouts in affected areas, exacerbating the information blackout and hindering communication efforts.

Violence in Northeast India

According to a report by CBN News, the situation in Northeast India has deteriorated rapidly in recent days. The violence has targeted the local population and places of worship, particularly churches. Disturbingly, approximately 50 churches have been torched, reflecting the intensity and destructive nature of the uprising. The unrest has caused loss of life and uprooted thousands of people, leaving them displaced and vulnerable. Among those affected are Christians forced to flee for their safety.

As mentioned, authorities have resorted to internet blackouts in the affected areas to control the situation. This move, while aimed at preventing the spread of misinformation and curbing the organization of violent activities, has inadvertently contributed to an information vacuum. The blackout has hindered communication between affected individuals and their loved ones and has limited access to real-time updates on the unfolding events. The violence and its repercussions have sent shockwaves through the region, with local communities and religious organizations appealing for calm and a swift resolution to the crisis.

Additionally, the authorities are facing mounting pressure to restore peace and order, protect the vulnerable, and bring the perpetrators of violence to justice. The situation in Northeast India is a stark reminder of the fragility of peace and the devastating consequences of violence. As the death toll rises and churches continue to burn, urgent steps must be taken to address the root causes of the uprising and restore normalcy to the affected communities. The international community and human rights organizations are closely monitoring the situation and urging swift action to protect innocent lives and safeguard religious freedom in the region.

Also Read:Christian Groups Call for Independent Panel to Address Rising Attacks in India

Ethnic Unrest in India

Recently, India has been grappling with a surge in violence and ethnic unrest, leading to heightened tensions and concerns for the country's stability. As per CNN, the northeastern state of Manipur has been at the epicenter of the recent violence. The clashes erupted between different ethnic groups, namely the Nagas and the Kukis, due to long-standing territorial disputes. The hostilities have resulted in several casualties and have forced thousands of people to flee their homes in search of safety. The conflict has deep historical roots, and the failure to address the underlying grievances has contributed to the escalation of violence in the region.

On the other hand, the Japan Times also covered the unrest in India, emphasizing the significance of this issue on a global scale. The repercussions of the violence could extend beyond the affected regions, potentially leading to social and political instability that could reverberate throughout the country. As the situation unfolds, all stakeholders must work together toward sustainable solutions that promote inclusivity and address the grievances of marginalized groups. Only through sincere and concerted efforts can India overcome the challenges posed by ethnic unrest and build a society that embraces diversity and upholds the values of peace and harmony.

Related Article:Dozen of Churches Vandalized, Set Fire Due to India Violence Following Protest March
Calif. church shooting suspect facing 98 charges, including hate crimes

A man accused of murdering one person and injuring five others at a Taiwanese American church in California last year is facing 98 charges, including federal hate crimes and weapons and explosives offenses.

David Chou, a 69-year-old Chinese American man who resided in Las Vegas, Nevada, before he attacked the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church last May, was charged with 98 counts, the United States Department of Justice said Thursday.

These charges include 45 counts of obstructing free exercise of religious beliefs by force, 45 counts of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act by attacking the church congregants because of their actual or perceived Taiwanese national origin and Presbyterian faith, one count of attempting to damage or destroy a building used in interstate commerce, one count of carrying explosives during the commission of a federal felony offense and six counts of using a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence.

Chou, who is in state custody, faces either life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty if he is found guilty, according to the DOJ.

He stands accused of entering Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, where the congregation of Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian was holding a social event.

Chou allegedly secured the doors before opening fire on the congregants, injuring five people and killing one person, 52-year-old Dr. John Cheng. He was eventually overpowered and restrained by other members of the congregation.

Don Barnes, Orange County Sheriff-Coroner, stated last year that the "tragic incident was fueled by politically motivated hate," calling Orange County a community that celebrates diversity and takes pride in being a place people feel safe to worship, work and live.

While someone from outside our community has attempted to diminish these ideals through an act of violence, we remain united in our commitment to tolerance and acceptance, Barnes said.

Barnes also commended Cheng for his courage, as he had tackled the shooter while sustaining multiple gunshot wounds, allowing other people to disarm the suspect.

"Dr. Cheng was a loving family man, dedicated doctor and a beloved member of our community, and we send our deepest condolences to all who knew him," continued Barnes.

Last June, the Office of the District Attorney of Orange County announced that it was adding hate crimes to its list of charges against Chou, stating that "Chou intentionally killed his victim because of his race, color, religion, nationality, or country of origin."
Franklin Graham warns Liberty graduates about 'culture of confusion,' 'lies from Hell'

The Rev. Franklin Graham has told Liberty University graduates that the nation is being dominated by a culture of confusion and lies, which come from Hell.

Graham, who had two children that had graduated from Liberty years ago, was the keynote speaker for the Lynchburg, Virginia-based universitys commencement Friday evening.

During his remarks, the president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association told graduates that he prayed that this class will stand for truth, noting that our world is changing.

It has changed so much, just in the time since you set foot on this campus a few years ago, said Graham. Think how much it has changed. The increase in violence, the moral decline.

I cant help but think that the heart of God is grieved as He looks at our world today. Our country. Oh, I love our country, but it's in a downward spiral morally, spiritually, economically, politically.

Graham went on to say that he believed the nation was in a freefall because the country had turned our back on God and His truth, urging the graduates to be a beacon of light, standing on the Word of God while living in a culture of confusion and lies.

Graham declared that the Bible doesnt contain truth, it is the truth, adding that every Word of God is true and that truth is not what you say it is, truth is what God says it is.

Graham quoted John 14:6, Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me, explaining to those gathered that Jesus is not a way to God, He is the way to God.

Many churches today have compromised on the authority and truth of Gods holy word. Many of our politicians and leaders have bought into the lies of culture and the woke ideology, Graham warned.

The world wants you to believe that we are more than just male and female, that we can be transgender, whatever we choose to identify as. Thats a lie. Its just a lie from Hell.

Graham added that the world wants you to believe that homosexuality is OK as long as it's between two people in a loving relationship. Thats a lie. Its sin. Its a sin against God.

The world wants you to believe that you can have sex with anyone you want to have sex with as long as it's consensual. Its a lie. God made sex to be in a marriage relationship, between a man and woman, he continued. The world wants you to believe that abortion is OK, that its a womans choice. Its a lie. Its a choice, but it's murder. Its a sin.

Where does all this come from? It comes from Hell. It comes from Satan. Hes the author and hes the father of lies. You see, the world wants you to sit down and shut up. No, dont you do that. I want you to stand up, to shout out, to lift up your voice, to lift up the truth.

In March, Liberty announced that Graham would be the keynote speaker, with then-Liberty Interim President Jerry Prevo saying at the time that the Grahams have been faithful friends and supporters of Liberty for a very long time.

We have seen God use them to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world and come to the aid of so many families and countries in times of great disaster through the ministries of Samaritans Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Prevo said.

Who better to send the Class of 2023 out into the world as Champions for Christ than Franklin Graham?  We are looking forward to hearing Franklin commission our new graduates to do the same as Champions for Christ.

Also in March, Libertys board of trustees unanimously appointed retired Maj. Gen. Dondi E. Costin as its new president, and Thomas Road Baptist Church Pastor Jonathan Falwell as chancellor. Costin was the former president of Charleston Southern University, while Falwell is the son of Liberty founder Jerry Falwell Sr.

"As one whose life and ministry have been profoundly shaped by Liberty University, I can think of no educational institution with more global impact than my two-time alma mater," said Costin in a statement emailed to The Christian Post earlier this year.

"[My wife] Vickey and I look forward to locking arms with the Liberty family as we honor the university's past and drive toward its future. With God's help and for His glory, the very best days of our great University are still ahead of us."
UK's first '3-parent baby' crosses ethical line, Christian charity warns

A Christian charity has said it is concerned about safety and the ethics of new biotechnology after the birth of the U.K.'s first baby that has the DNA of three people.

Mitochondrial donation treatment (MDT) uses healthy mitochondria from a female donor and is intended to prevent the transfer of incurable diseases from parents to children.

James Mildred, of Christian charity CARE, said the advent of MDT was "a source of some concern" and that an "ethical line" has been crossed.

He said there were a number of questions around the psychological impact on children and whether the development of MDT might lead to "designer babies."

"Evidence suggests that transferring nuclear DNA into a host donor egg cell is unsafe and could impact future generations," he said.

"The techniques used also lead to the destruction of human embryos, which raises moral questions.

"There are serious questions about how children will be affected. For example, nobody knows how a child will respond psychologically to the fact they have three parents.

"The biotechnology being used, whilst well-intentioned in this instance, also raises the spectre of 'designer babies.' It's clear an ethical line in the sand has been crossed that we come to regret deeply in years to come."

Originally published at Christian Today
FBI offers $15K reward for information on pro-life clinic vandalism 1 year after attack CompassCare CEO: 'If the FBI was serious, it would offer $25K for each of the 150 pro-life organizations that have been attacked'

The FBI is offering a $15,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for vandalizing a pro-life pregnancy clinic in Des Moines, Iowa, nearly a year after the attacks took place.

The FBIs Omaha Field Office has established a $15,000 reward for anyone with information leading to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the suspect(s) responsible for the multiple instances of vandalism at Agape Pregnancy Center in Des Moines, Iowa, last year.

The call for assistance from the American public shared on FBI Omahas Twitter account on May 5, comes nearly a year after the facility was first vandalized on June 3, 2022.

The facility was one of many targeted after Politico published a leaked draft decision in the United States Supreme Court case of Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, which implied that a majority of justices were prepared to rule that the U.S. Constitution did not contain a right to abortion.

The FBI is offering a ,000 reward for information on the vandalization of the Agape Pregnancy Resource Center in Des Moines. Anyone with information can call #FBI Omaha at 402-493-8688 or send it to https://t.co/G27WO77Kln. You can remain anonymous. https://t.co/7LzHEhUyPApic.twitter.com/N3ACR19vF5  FBI Omaha (@FBIOmaha) May 5, 2023

Janes Revenge, a pro-choice terrorist organization that has taken credit for multiple acts of vandalism against pro-life pregnancy centers and churches, took credit for vandalizing Agape in a June 9, 2022, post shared on Twitter by the handle DSM Street Medics.

the dsm street medics received the following from a trusted source. we are in no way affiliated with these actions, but we applaud them. we have been asked to use our platform to uplift the following message:



(text continued below)



COMMUNIQUE #1 pic.twitter.com/wVwLcmtaiU  DSM Street Medics (@dsmstreetmedics) June 9, 2022

The night of June 2nd, 2022 we vandalized Agape, a prominent crisis pregnancy center in a low income area of Des Moines, Iowa, the group admitted.

Janes Revenge described Agape as a religious fake clinic that inflicts emotional, financial, and physical violence on people who need healthcare and support and works to shame, and manipulate people into not getting abortions. It also maintained that crisis pregnancy centers work to uphold patriarchy, Christian supremacy, white supremacy, and cisheteronormativity.

Janes Revenge acknowledged that it broke windows and wrote messages of god loves abortion, fake clinic, this place is not safe, and stop lying on the exterior of the facility.

In November, the FBIs Buffalo Press Office established a $25,000 reward for information on those responsible for the firebombing of CompassCare, a pro-life pregnancy center in western New York that took place five months earlier.

Janes Revenge also took credit for the firebombing of CompassCares Amherst location.

CompassCare CEO the Rev. Jim Harden suggested in a previous statement to The Christian Post that the FBIs belated establishment of reward money constituted an attempt to appear evenhanded, bolstering their reputation ahead of more investigations by the House Judiciary Committee into the FBIs abdication of duty to investigate violence against pro-life organizations.

Harden maintained that if they are serious about finding the perpetrators, they will offer a $25K reward for each of the 150 pro-life organizations that have been attacked  $3.75 million.

The federal governments response to the wave of violence against churches and pro-life pregnancy centers, which continued after the Supreme Court released the Dobbs decision last June has received criticism from pro-life groups.

The advocacy group CatholicVote launched a $1 million ad campaign calling on the Biden administration to condemn the violence against Catholic churches in particular and implying that the administration has acted to encourage rather than suppress such attacks.

Dissatisfaction with the federal response to the attacks on churches and pro-life pregnancy centers prompted the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank, and former Vice President Mike Pences advocacy organization Advancing American Freedom to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice.

Even after the FBI established reward money for the firebombing of CompassCare, Harden partnered with the nonprofit legal firm Thomas More Society to hire private investigators in an attempt to find the culprits.

Some pro-choice vandals have been arrested and charged for their involvement in the wave of attacks, including four individuals who were recently indicted in Florida.

A report compiled by the Crime Prevention Research Center and published last year found that pro-life groups fell victim to 22 times more violence in the six months following the publication of the draft Dobbs decision than their pro-choice counterparts.
Gods children are not for sale: Jim Caviezel calls on 2M people to watch film that exposes trafficking

PROVO, Utah  Devout Christian actor Jim Caviezel, who stars in the upcoming film "Sound of Freedom," is calling on 2 million people to stand with him and expose the evil of child exploitation and trafficking.

Scheduled for release on July 4, Sound of Freedom" tells the true story of one man's journey to combat child sex trafficking. The studio behind the film, Angel Studios, unveiled the first trailer at their Illuminate event on Thursday.

"Gods children are not for sale," the actor declares in the trailer.

Caviezel then delivered a call to action for anyone willing to buy a ticket to see the film and raise awareness against this prevalent form of slavery.



We know this is heartbreaking and it hurts to look at, but the first step in helping these children is hearing their story. Not enough people know this problem exists and even fewer people are willing to do anything about it, Caviezel declared.

Our goal is to inspire 2 million people to attend the film's opening weekend to represent the 2 million trafficked children around the world."

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime defines human trafficking as any situation in which someone experiences force, coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or vulnerability, or giving payments or benefits to a person in control.

The International Labour Organization reports that human trafficking is a $150 billion per year industry worldwide, and that around 21 million people in the modern world are enslaved.

To spread the word, Angel Studios set up a pay-it-forward program where you can pay for someone elses ticket who might not otherwise see it, Caviezel said. If the ticket price is stopping you from attending, claim your free ticket.

The entertainer encouraged families to attend together and even said teenagers should be brought along as well.

Sound of Freedom is based on the life of Tim Ballard, a former U.S. agent who battles human trafficking after rescuing a little boy whose sister remained captive to traffickers and was sent to Colombia.

Caviezel is joined on screen by Oscar winner Mira Sorvino (The Final Cut), Bill Camp (12 Years a Slave), Jose Zuniga (Twilight), and Eduardo Verastegui (Unplanned) who is the film's producer. Alejandro Monteverde (Bella, Little Boy) is the writer and director of the film.



The film was rejected by multiple Hollywood studios but Angel Studios acquired worldwide distribution rights earlier this year.

Angel Studios is a platform for filmmakers to collaborate with the audience and bring projects to life by crowdfunding. It currently creates and distributes films and TV series worldwide and is known as the studio behind The Chosen and Dry Bar Comedy.

Angel Studios CEO Neal Harmon said his company feels a responsibility to take action and answer the prayers of the 2 million children around the world who are crying for freedom.

While unveiling the trailer at Illuminate 2023, the CEO shared a recent story of his conversation with filmmaker Monteverde who told him that he was passing the baton to Angel Studios and all of the angel investors.

I entrust 'Sound of Freedom' to you, Harmon said. Now that we have at Angel Studios this responsibility, we want to answer the prayers of children as soon as possible.

Angel Studios chose to release Sound of Freedom on July 4 to make the message clear, despite industry experts telling them not to compete with the summer releases.



We have the honor of answering the prayers of these children, Harmon said, in tears.

He believes that if 2 million people show up to theaters to support this powerful film, The world will not be able to ignore that message!



Caviezel told Variety in a recent interview that he considers the movie to be "the second most important film Ive done after The Passion Of The Christ.'"
Tragedy led Reagan actress Jennifer ONeill to share Christ more intentionally with her children

Actress Jennifer ONeill, who plays the mother of former President Ronald Reagan in an upcoming biopic, says a recent personal tragedy and studying her character made her want to share her Christian faith with her family more.

O'Neill is slated to play Nelle Reagan in the biopic "Reagan," which will premiere in theaters later this year. Although it's not a Christian film, Reagan's faith features throughout the movie.

Any mother would be proud. She truly shaped, I believe, who he was, ONeill told The Christian Post. Who he was and how he acted, what he achieved speaks for itself. He was always very, very close to his mom.

The actress said while the film doesn't delve much into the impact of Reagans mother, her faith was what shaped him despite his difficult upbringing.

He had that foundation imprinted on him from an early age, not coming from an easy family. And yet, he came out of it with a caliber that very few men carry in history, and I think much of that had to do with her influence, ONeill said.

ONeill spent many of her Hollywood years not having a personal faith in Christ and wasn't raised in a religious home.

You can't give what you don't have, she explained, addressing why her parents didnt share faith with her and why she couldn't share the hope of Jesus sooner with her older children.

The Brazilian native was first married at age 17, and had three children and nine marriages with eight different men. She now has grandchildren and makes it her duty to share her faith with the next generation.

While she did not raise her older children in Christ, the recent loss of one of her grandchildren has compelled her to be more vocal about God's truth with her family.

I lost one of my grandsons almost a year ago in an accident. He dove into a shallow pool and died, ONeill revealed, taking comfort in knowing that her 21-year-old grandson donated his organs to many people following his death.

ONeills third child, Cooper, is in ministry. While he was exposed to her faith, she's unsure if her other children have embraced Christianity.

As a mom, you know in your heart, and you worry about where they're going to be for eternity. I have a drive, a need, especially in a time such as we're living, for those unsaved, she told CP. That's where I get all the way around the mulberry bush back to what I started to talk about where my grandson, as far as I know, was not a believer."

I have had, especially in the last year, a very driving desire to make sure that my perhaps unsaved children or family or ones I love close to me know the truth about who Jesus is, what He did for us.

Despite any resistance, the entertainer is now using her influence to share God with her loved ones, saying that she has felt a need "to state simply but clearly to my other grandsons, granddaughter, and other family members how I believe. And in doing so, perhaps, state the truth of the Gospel. And then it's up to the Holy Spirit to convict each one's soul."

ONeill said she encourages others not to shy away from sharing the hope of Christ with the world.

If you simply say what Jesus has done for you, how God has changed your life, that's the testimony, she said. It doesn't have to go beyond that, and you don't have to close the deal. Share Christ in a very loving way. I think that we all have to be so much more bold. We are losing everything.

Reagan, for instance, stood for what my father fought for. Nonetheless, everything that our heroes have fought and died for in this country is just slipping through our fingers. We have to be bold for eternity, and what's going on now is not pleasing to God. So it's not a political side; it's taking a heart side."



Along with being an example herself, ONeill has started an organization called Glitter Girls to help the next generation.



"It all starts at home, but I think we have so much confusion in our own lives that it's hard to give something that you don't have, she added.

That was the beauty of this Nelle individual, mother of Reagan, who was so staunch in her own faith and taught and believed and stayed around even though she had an abusive, alcoholic husband, and Reagan grew up with that. She was able to instill that.



Despite whats happening in the world, ONeill encouraged believers to keep their faith because God is bigger.

The monster in the room, its big but so are we. We serve a big God! We don't have to do it alone, ONeill said. God says, Don't grow weary doing good. This is when we grow weary, worn out and almost give up when just the details of life get in front of us, but the central issue of life is lost and lost on our children, even if we have them, let alone all the 60 million we've aborted in this country and will pay for.

She ended with a quote Reagans mother told the 40th president throughout his life: Listen to that small, quiet voice that will lead you.

Its the Holy Spirit, and that's true for all of us," ONeill said. "That we need to not carry it on our own shoulders. It's all too big for us. But be diligent about putting it down and not picking it up at the foot of the cross.
Weeping, Pain, Guns, Lament: Inside Allen, Texas Horror (Plus: Stark Contrast In Media's Coverage Vs. Nashville Shooting)

link to download the audio instead. link to download the audio instead. 15:21 15:21

A heartbreaking mass shooting at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas, left eight people dead and horrified the nation. Christian Post reporter Ian M. Giatti breaks down what happened, what we know, how the city is being impacted and more.

Among other topics, he tackles some of the differences seen in the media's coverage of the Texas shooting versus the recent mass killing at a Christian school in Nashville, and his own attendance at a church vigil remembering the lives of those lost.

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A heartbreaking mass shooting at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas, left eight people dead and horrified the nation. Christian Post reporter Ian M. Giatti breaks down what happened, what we know, how the city is being impacted and more.

Among other topics, he tackles some of the differences seen in the media's coverage of the Texas shooting versus the recent mass killing at a Christian school in Nashville, and his own attendance at a church vigil remembering the lives of those lost.
King Charles' coronation points us to something greater

Millions worldwide tuned into the coronation of King Charles III at Westminster Abbey on Saturday.

The full name of Westminster Abbey, where kings and queens of England have been crowned since 1066, is the Collegiate Church of St. Peters at Westminster.

When St. Pauls Cathedral was built in the 1600s, they ran out of funds. So bells were taken from St. Peters and given to St. Pauls, and thus reportedly was born the phrase, robbing Peter to pay Paul.

The important aspect of the coronation is how much the Christian faith is infused in the ceremony. For example, the anointing by oil goes back to the Bible. The kings were anointed, in the same way that King David and King Solomon were anointed by oil.

As Charles was anointed Saturday behind discreet screens, the choir beautifully sang a number by George Friedrich Handel, Zadok the Priest (1727), celebrating Solomons anointing as king 3,000 years ago. Interestingly, Handel is buried and memorialized with a statue in that very building.

The ultimate anointed one is Jesus Christ. Even His title, Christ, is derived from the Greek, and it means exactly that  Anointed One. At His baptism, the Holy Spirit anointed Him. Later He was anointed for His soon-to-come burial by Mary, the sister of Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.

After His death on behalf of sinners, His burial, and His resurrection, Jesus ascended into Heaven, and He sits at the right hand of God. Even now He intercedes for His people. One day He will return and will be recognized by all for what He truly is  the King of kings and Lord of lords.

As the Archbishop of Canterbury noted in his sermon for the coronation ceremony, the crown Jesus wore when He was on earth was one made of thorns.

But now Jesus wears a crown of gold. By Him, kings on earth rule. They rule in His place. They are vice-regents for the King of kings. In fact, King Charles was handed a reminder of that fact  the Sovereigns Orb.

The orb (created in 1661) is one of the crown jewels, a golden ball symbolizing the earth, with a jeweled cross of Jesus atop it. The monarch rules, in principle, on behalf of Christ the King.

In America, we decidedly traded in a monarchy for the Constitution. We the people are the ones, theoretically, with the power in this country. We rule through our elected representatives. Yet the principle of rule under God remains.

George Washington was sworn in on the Holy Bible and gave the standard oath (in the Anglican tradition) So help me God. He even leaned over and kissed the Bible. Dr. D. James Kennedy, once remarked, Why, thats enough to give the ACLU apoplexy.

Then, Washington led the new government, including the cabinet members and House members and senators and their wives over to St. Pauls Chapel, which still stands today. Even now, George Washingtons pew remains in that church, which is near Wall Street.

Then they participated in a two-hour service of Christian prayer and celebrated the Lords Table. Eyewitnesses say the president received communion.

Soon after this, Congress asked George Washington to declare a Day of Thanksgiving as a nation to thank the Lord for the freedom we enjoyed to peaceably create our own system of government under God. He complied.

On October 3, 1789, Washington issued our first national day of Thanksgiving as a new nation under the Constitution. He began, Whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon Almighty God.

In that document, he encouraged the new nation to offer supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions. Here is a petition for forgiveness of sins from Jesus, who is described in Revelation 12 as the one to rule all nations.

A lot of people on either side of the Atlantic are quick to discount any of the pageantry celebrating God and country as in the coronation of King Charles III or the inauguration of George Washington.

But those who put together the substance of these various services demonstrate a greater understanding of the need to humbly serve the Lord God, in whatever station of life He has placed us, with whatever tasks He has set before us. This is something that Peter and Paul and Christians throughout the ages have recognized, and we forget it to our peril.

As Gods Wisdom personified in Proverbs 8 declares, By me, kings reign.
The coronation from a Jewish perspective

Jewish academic and Hebrew scholar Irene Lancaster reflects on the coronation of King Charles III from a Jewish perspective.

Recently, this country has been imbued with Jewish teachings for one of our national events! Straight after the coronation, the sad period of the Omer period finished with the celebrations of Lag B'Omer on Tuesday.

Now we are leading up to the joyous Jewish festival of Shavuot, which takes place at the end of May. In between comes Jerusalem Day, celebrating the reunification of that city. All of these Jewish celebrations are relevant to the coronation of the monarch that we have just witnessed.

Let's start with the coronation of King Charles III, which for the first time in recent history, and certainly the first time in the TV age, was held on Shabbat.

Comparisons have been made with the coronation of Edward VII but his 1902 coronation was held on a Saturday only because the monarch became ill on the designated week-day.

Foreign crowned heads had to get back to their various countries, which in 1902 wasn't exactly easy. So his coronation was held on a Saturday as a last resort at a time when very few observant Jews lived in the country.

These, from whom the majority of Anglo-Jewry are descended, were to arrive in the wake of the Russian pogrom of 1903. Tragically, in 1903 the then English Chief Rabbi tried to prevent the arrival into this country of fellow Jews facing death and destruction, lobbying both Parliament and Church against. Is he therefore the role model that we should be emulating?

With this example in mind, it would therefore be remiss, as well as cowardly, not to mention the huge upset that the latest Shabbat coronation, the first of its kind in the TV age, has caused in the observant Jewish heartlands of this country.

The word 'discrimination' was mentioned in the joint letter of protest written to the monarch with former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Rowan Williams of Oystermouth. As you know, it was Lord Williams, then Archbishop of Canterbury, who had officiated, on a weekday, at the wedding of the present monarch and his now wife. No response, but the former Archbishop was invited to be present on the big day!

Why could Jews simply not turn on the TV or phones and watch? As those Jews who participated in the event knew very well, observant Jews cannot simply turn on the electricity on Shabbat, as electricity is a form of work that is not permitted on Shabbat except to save life.

In addition, observant Jews attend Shul on Shabbat morning. But, the Archbishop of Canterbury had asked everybody to participate in an oath of allegiance through our TVs or phones at the moment of coronation. Observant Jews were therefore unable to participate in this act and people knew in advance that this would be the case.

A simple change of day for the event, based on precedent, would have included the Jewish community in the lived experience of this country, which was how the order of the day was described.

And I'm sad to say, this example of, at the very least insensitivity to religious practice, is a recurring feature of Jewish life in diaspora - in it, but certainly not of it. This despite around 85% of the coronation service being based in Jewish norms, Jewish teachings, and Jewish music (Christian Today has published a number of superb articles on the Jewish antecedents of the coronation).

So, what I would like to do is to endorse these articles and elaborate on some of their ideas.

There is something poignant for observant Jews on viewing the reenactment of the anointing of King Solomon by Zadok the Priest and Nathan the Prophet, as described to us in the Hebrew Book of Kings 1: 32-39.

The accompanying music from Handel's 'Zadok the Priest', an aria from his Oratorio, 'Solomon', made us feel very proud. Handel (1685-1759) moved from Germany to England in 1712 and became a naturalized citizen in 1727.

In London, Handel was greatly helped in his oratorical oeuvre by immigrant Jews who had settled there and wanted to play their part in contributing to the innovative musical life of their new country, as they have of course, ever since.

For Handel didn't only compose the oratorio 'Solomon', but also others based on Hebrew Bible themes. These include 'Joseph and his Brothers' 'Jephta', 'Judas Maccabee', 'Atalia', 'Joshua', 'Deborah', Esther', 'Samson','Saul' and, most tellingly for this time of year, 'Israel in Egypt'. And these new types of musical invention were written to be performed not in churches, but in the theatre, and were therefore open to all, including the Jewish community.

Another feature taken from Jewish practice was the screen placed around the monarch at the time of anointing. The resemblance was more obvious in the case of the former monarch, his mother (married, by the way, on a Tuesday!). The screen is based on the simple chuppah used for Jewish weddings. These simple chuppahs are much in evidence at this time of year in the yards of local Jewish schools and synagogues.

The word 'anoint' comes from the same Hebrew word as 'Messiah' and simply denotes someone designated by G-d to serve. An example was Cyrus, the Persian monarch who allowed the Jews to return from exile and rebuild their Temple.

And as the onus on service has been a key part of the subsequent celebrations, let me just emphasize the place of service in Judaism. There are three main pillars of Judaism. Two are Torah learning and prayer, but without service these two attributes are like a tripod missing a leg.

Recently, I was asked to help out in a clothes 'gemach' housed across the road, together with a school and two synagogues, all in the same building. So, I turned up last Sunday, the day after the coronation, and was astounded. Expecting second-hand clothes no longer wanted by families, I found myself in what looked like a luxury outlet, similar to Harrods, or other shops favoured by royalty and the super rich, to which most people could never aspire.

These were designer clothes, with labels still intact, neatly hanging according to type, material and size in a way reminiscent of Lord St in Southport in the 1950s, at that time considered the best place to shop, or window-shop, in the country.

I had often wondered how not very well-off observant Jewish families with eight or more children always looked perfectly dressed in Shul, and now I knew. In honour of Shabbat, people who could afford it would buy up beautiful clothes, and leave them, unworn, for others. This is the modern interpretation of 'gleaning' as depicted for us in the Book of Ruth, which we are studying at present in the lead-up to Shavuot, when it is recited in Shul together with the receiving of the Ten Commandments.

But this clothes gemach, in which I felt privileged to help out, is only one of many examples of the colossal support system that makes up the Jewish community worldwide. Our Shul for instance, opens its doors regularly to the NHS as a blood donor centre for everyone in the area and further afield.

Then we have people who mend computers, provide electrical goods, organize emergency help for accidents and emergencies, find work and Shabbat invitations for the disadvantaged and generally function daily according to the best of Biblical Jewish norms.

Recently, I was asked by a refugee I encountered at the local library to help him with English. As the library didn't offer themselves as a venue for these lessons, I tentatively asked my Shul if they could house us for an hour a week, and they agreed.

Was I surprised when the 'refugee' told me that he had actually been 'trafficked illegally' first to Italy and then to England, which his uncle 'preferred'. He could not give me any reason for why he had left his place of birth, other than the zest for travel!

I asked him about the possibility of France with its much greater geographical size and similar population. He took this to be a joke. Actually not. This man is not what is meant by the 'stranger' in Biblical norms. The 'stranger' is a person who keeps the laws of the Land, as well as adhering to his own customs, as long as they do not threaten our own customs.

The Jewish community have understood this correct definition of 'stranger', which is what we are and what we will remain: intent on living as Jewish a life as possible in an increasingly alien environment, while remaining extraordinarily loyal to the country.

We are the only religion, for instance, which, every Shabbat, recites a prayer for members of the royal family. Which is why so many loyal members of the Jewish community were distraught at the deliberate choice of Shabbat for the coronation. And the largest number of distressed Jews came from the younger generation.

As the Dalai Lama has correctly stated, 'The Jewish community has learned the secret of survival in Exile, and we should all learn from them.' Up to now that is. For, parallel to the huge influx of 'refugees' and 'asylum seekers' since the mid 1990s, which has taken our population from around 45 million to around 70 million, there has been a concomitant Jewish exodus out of the UK. And if things continue in the same vein, and they probably will, Jewish life in the UK will peter out and disappear altogether.

Interesting that it was Oliver Cromwell, the regicide of the monarch Charles I who, in 1656, allowed the Jews to return to this country. That is how the Jewish community were able to contribute to the success of Handel's oratorios in the early 18th century, leading to their subsequent performance at successive coronations.

Another feature of the coronation was the singing of the aria 'I was glad'. This is Psalm 122, one of the 15 Jewish Songs of Ascent, set to music by Hubert Parry.

You will see that Psalm 122 is 'glad' (actually 'rejoicing') in praise of the unity of Jerusalem, with positive wishes for that great city's everlasting prosperity and flourishing.

And that fervent prayer, recited by many on Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day, which starts this year on the night of 18 May, is also a Jewish favourite, just like 'Zadok the Priest' from the first book of Kings.

During the coronation, a reading was taken from the New Testament, in which the beautiful words of Isaiah 61, the Jewish prophet of hope, were addressed to the Jewish community suffering and excluded from the main populace while in exile.

Many think the words of Isaiah to the Jewish people in exile have never been surpassed. He is certainly the most-cited prophet in the synagogue liturgy through the Haftorah readings which accompany the reciting of the Torah (Pentateuch) reading for the week.

However, the true beauty of Judaism does not lie in monarchs, priests, or prophets. It does not lie in pomp, circumstance or triumphalism. For, here is a wonderful and well-known commentary on the Book of Exodus, known as the Mechilta of Rabbi Ishmael (written in around 135 CE, during the dreadful persecutions of the Jews in Israel under Hadrian).

In the passage known as Shirata 3, the following scenario is depicted:

G-d has just delivered Israel from Pharoah's army and Israel stands free on the far shore of the sea. As promised, G-d has brought the Jewish people, known as the Children of Israel, out of the house of bondage. How shall Israel respond to the epiphany of G-d appearing to each individual. There are six interpretations of the line sung at the sea by Moses in Exodus 15:2 'This is my G-d and I will praise Him'

'Rabbi Eliezer says 'From this [source] you say that a maidservant saw by the sea [of Reeds] what Isaiah and Ezekiel and the rest of the prophets did not see.'

In Jewish commentary, the visions of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Hoshea and the other prophets were, amazingly to some, not of the same order as the true sighting of a simple, uneducated Jewish ex-slave girl on the first step of her journey to Mount Sinai. Because at Mount Sinai (Exodus 20:15), 'The entire people saw the thunder and the flames, the sound of the shofar and the smoking mountain.'

All the Jewish people hear the commandments, including the commandment to remember and observe the Shabbat. At this moment, the Jewish people entire, both at that time and at the present time, were enabled to have an experience greater than that experienced by the prophet Isaiah and others in their subsequent visions.

But of all the festivals and holy days, Shabbat is the most important of all. When the festival of Shavuot falls on Shabbat (as is the case this year), the laws of Shabbat precede it. The same goes for Pesach, Rosh Hashana and Succot. Yom Kippur, the major fast day and day of repentance, is itself known as 'the Shabbat of all Shabbats'.

That is why the coronation of the monarch on a Shabbat is a sign. Of what one cannot be sure. But, in times to come, whenever national events take place on a Shabbat, for many Jews at least: the ordinary Jew, the not proud, the quiet Jew, devoted to Torah, the Jew who organizes clothes gemachs, who works in the soup kitchens which abound in our community, all these will say to themselves once again, 'a national event is of course a significant moment for a nation, especially when based in Jewish scripture, teaching and norms, but the observance by every one of us of Shabbat is the crown of crowns and supersedes a national event, including the coronation of a mortal monarch'.

For we Jews only have one King and He is the only one we can rely on. That is probably the lesson that the Jewish community should draw from the recent coronation. For us there is only one true King, the only One with whom we have a true covenant. And He will be with us always.
China urges G7 not to be accomplice to economic coercion

Xinhua) 10:33, May 13, 2023

BEIJING, May 12 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Friday that China is a victim of U.S. economic coercion, and urged G7 countries to stop engaging in exclusive "small circles" and refrain from becoming accomplices to economic coercion.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a daily press briefing in response to recent media reports that G7 members will allegedly declare a joint response to "economic coercion" to send a signal to China.

Speaking of economic coercion, Wang said, the first country that should be condemned is perhaps the United States. He said the United States has time and again overstretched the concept of national security, abused controls on exports, and exercised discriminatory and biased practices against foreign enterprises, which has severely violated the principles of the market economy and fair competition.

Citing relevant statistics regarding U.S. sanctions against other countries, Wang noted that, as of fiscal year 2021, more than 9,400 sanctions imposed by the United States have been implemented. The United States has imposed unilateral economic sanctions on nearly 40 countries around the world, affecting nearly half of the world's population, he added.

Other members of the G7 also find it hard to escape the economic coercion and bullying of the United States, Wang said, citing the U.S. suppression of Toshiba of Japan, Siemens of Germany, and Alstom of France, all of which countries are U.S. allies.

"If the G7 summit is going to put 'dealing with economic coercion' on the agenda, I suggest that they first discuss what the United States has done," said Wang. "When the Japanese side hosts the G7 summit, can it also express some injustice to the United States on behalf of other member countries that have also suffered from U.S. bullying? Or at least speak a few words of truth?"

Noting that China has always resolutely opposed economic coercion by other countries, Wang said China urges the G7 to conform to the general trend of the times of openness and inclusiveness, stop engaging in closed and exclusive "small circles," and refrain from being an accomplice to economic coercion.

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Wu Chaolan)
Was the coronation sermon any good?

(Photo: Getty/iStock)

There have been some great sermons preached in history. Within the pages of the Bible, we have Ezra, Moses, Jeremiah, Isaiah, John the Baptist, Peter, Paul and of course Jesus. It is "through the foolishness of the preaching of the cross" (1 Corinthians 1:18), which is the power of God for salvation, that people come to know Christ.

In Church history we can still read the sermons of the 'prince of preachers', John Chrysostom (try his homily 21 on Ephesians 6:13). Or those of Aquinas, Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Moody and Spurgeon. Three of the most influential sermons in history are Jonathan Edwards' 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God' in 18th century America, Thomas Chalmers' 'The Expulsive Power of a New Affection' in 19th century Scotland, or CS Lewis's 'The Weight of Glory' in 20th century England.

The evangelist Billy Graham is reckoned to have preached to more people directly than any other person in history. Today, because of modern media, the sermons of people like Tim Keller, Alistair Begg, Joyce Meyer and many others are heard throughout the world.

But in terms of sheer viewing figures, I suspect that three 'royal' sermons have probably reached the largest audiences. I have already written about Bishop Michael Curry's sermon at the wedding of Harry and Meghan. Then there was Justin Welby's sermon at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. And this past week he was once again able to preach to billions at the King's coronation.

It was unquestionably a great opportunity to proclaim the Gospel in front of billions and it was set up beautifully. The building, the music, the Scriptures (with a Hindu Prime Minister even reading about the supremacy of Christ!) and Cranmer's liturgy, with all its depth and biblical richness. In contrast, the sermon was disappointing.

Archbishop Welby told us that the Kingdom of God was about freeing the poor from injustice; that good government was about service; that King Charles had already shown his active love in caring for the most vulnerable, nurturing the young and the conservation of the natural world. He, like many others, lived their lives for others. He needed the Spirit of God to carry the weight. We are all called by God to serve. The prayer for grace in service is something that opens us all to the transforming love of God.

In the grandeur of the setting and the glory of the occasion, it was easy to think that we were being told something profound, but if you stopped to think about it there was little challenge, little to stimulate and little to point us to Christ, rather than Charles. The message was at best moralistic therapeutic Deism.

In the best soundbite of a short sermon, we were told "His throne was a Cross. His crown was made of thorns. His regalia were the wounds that pierced his body." But we were not told why that happened to him. There was nothing about the Cross being because of our sins.

Instead, Jesus was set up as an example of what we are apparently already doing. We don't need a Saviour, we just need a mentor. And surely there is a special lack of self-awareness in speaking of the crown of thorns whilst placing a crown worth millions on a King's head?

We were then told that the way to salvation was to earn it by service: "Each of us can choose God's way today. We can say to the King of Kings, God Himself, as does the King here today, 'give grace that in thy service I may find perfect freedom'."

This is not the Gospel of Jesus. None of us can earn our own salvation by serving. We are saved by faith in the one who died for our sins. Only by admitting our need and our sin, will we then look for a Saviour. In the picture of the world painted by the archbishop none of us need a Saviour.

As I watched the whole service, I wondered what would have happened if the archbishop had done a 'John the Baptist' and challenged the King. We certainly live in a changed world from one where King Edward was compelled to abdicate because he wanted to marry a divorcee. Even the Church of England changed its doctrine of marriage in order to be able to accommodate the new circumstances.

The American commentator and Baptist minister Al Mohler summed it up well: "In our world today marriage has been so subverted, adultery has been so celebrated, and divorce has become so routine that no one seems to have noticed just how jarring the images of King Charles and Queen Camilla should appear."

I hear Christians justify all of this by saying that at least the archbishop mentioned the Bible. Indeed he did, but the trouble is that he made it sound banal and cliched, as though it were a combination of a Hallmark card and a Lib Dem manifesto. As someone quipped, it was the banal leading the banal.

Others argue that God can use it. Of course he can. The God who can speak through a donkey is perfectly capable of taking even the most banal of sermons and causing people to think about Him. We pray that happens, but nonetheless the confusing and banal nature of the sermon means that it must be marked down as a missed golden opportunity.

I think of another sermon preached on a snowy Sunday in a small Primitive Methodist church in Colchester, England, in 1850. There were around 15 people present, including a 15-year-old teenager called Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

We do not even know who the preacher was (the minister was unable to make it because of the snow) but we do know that the poor tailor/shoemaker who gave that simple sermon on Isaiah 45:22 had a profound effect.

He exalted and lifted up Christ and proclaimed the Cross and as a result, Spurgeon was converted and went on to preach weekly to thousands directly and to millions through his published sermons.

The effect was incalculable on this earth and glorious for eternity. Perhaps those of us who preach this coming Sunday could remember and contrast these two sermons. Would we rather be with the rich and powerful in the Abbey talking about serving the poor, or serving the poor by telling them about Christ?
Callon Petroleums two agreements announced earlier this month accomplish multiple goals for the Houston company. Both also accelerate the companys debt reduction and allow for the initiation of a shareholder return program.

One agreement calls for Callon to acquire the membership interests of Percussion Petroleum Operating II in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $475 million and potential contingent payments of up to $62.5 million.

Under the second agreement, Callon is selling its Eagle Ford Shale assets to Ridgemar Energy Operating for $655 million in cash and potential contingent payments up to $45 million.

After the deal closes, expected in July, Callon will have more than 145,000 net acres in the Permian Basin and will execute its Life of Field co-development model on its expanded Delaware Basin footprint. Callon will also have an inventory of more than 1,500 high-quality locations on a concentrated acreage position.

The Percussion acquisition will add approximately 18,000 net acres in Ward, Winkler and Loving counties and approximately 70 high-return well locations in the 3rd Bone Spring, Wolfcamp A and Wolfcamp B with an average lateral length of nearly 10,000 feet, with additional prospectivity in emerging zones. The acreage is largely contiguous with Callon's existing core positions in the Delaware Basin and will benefit from the company's subsurface and operational expertise in the area. Estimated average production from Percussions assets for April 2023 is approximately 14,100 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), of which approximately 70% is oil.

Callon has been focused on building its Permian Basin footprint for over a decade at this point, Kevin Smith, director of investor relations at Callon, told the Reporter-Telegram by email. The Delaware Basin is less mature than other oil and gas producing areas and provides some of the best opportunities to increase margins through economies of scale and drive incremental production growth.

The agreement also increases the oil-weighting of Callons Permian production. Smith explained the company likes oils long-term fundamentals as global demand conditions grow, while at the same time, we see production growth slowing in many different areas in the world.

Callon, Smith continued, is proud to be a Permian-focused company. We have a decade-plus drilling inventory position in the Permian Basin and remain optimistic about the potential to further increase our asset footprint in this area. The Permian Basin is one of the most attractive places in the world to operate and we are proud to have our employees live and work in this area.

While the deal brings Callon an expanded Delaware Basin footprint, the company also has roughly 26,000 acres in the Midland Basin, primarily in Midland and Howard counties. Callon is currently running a two-rig program in the Midland Basin with plans to complete approximately 34 wells this year.

The transaction is also expected to bring the companys debt below $1.9 billion at closing. Smith called the $2 billion debt number a key initial debt milestone for Callon on our way to further strengthening our balance sheet. Pro forma the recently announced transaction, Callon will have reduced debt by about $1 billion since the first quarter of 2021.

As importantly, he said, the company has reached a debt level where officials feel comfortable using a portion of free cash flow for a shareholder return program. Smith wrote the company expects to commence its $300 million stock repurchase upon closing of the transaction.

In announcing the deals, Callon also said it plans to reduce its drilling activity to a five-rig program into the end of the year. According to Smith, company officials will take time to further evaluate the assets.

However, the drilling inventory of the new assets currently competes for capital against our existing portfolio, so we expect to start being active on the acreage in the second half of 2023. The acquired properties border some of our existing assets, making this a seamless bolt-on acquisition, he wrote.
If you're a Bayou City parent looking for an ingenious way to ignite your child's love of music, look no further than the family concerts and programming at the Houston Symphony.

In addition to family-friendly evening concerts, the symphony presents two back-to-back, kid-oriented performances several mornings each year. The events feature pre- and post-show activities from crafts related to the show's theme, to an instrument petting zoo where kids can handle musical instruments and learn more about how they are played.

The Houston Symphony also offers beneficial resources to help children experience the joys of listening to music and playing music.

Read on to discover ways to spend quality time with the family while using music to broaden your child's horizons.

Melissa Taylor/Houston Symphony

The Houston Symphony started offering dedicated family programming in 1985

In 1985, the symphony presented pilot concerts called Saturday Morning Live for families, said Houston Symphony archivist Terry Brown. These concerts took off, and were later named Mervyn's First Concerts. PNC began sponsoring the family concert series in December 2001, and continues to sponsor the symphony's PNC Family Series to this day.

"There are musicians in our orchestra and in orchestras across the country whose first experience hearing the orchestra was at a Houston Symphony family or student concert," said Allison Conlan, Director of Community Engagement for the Houston Symphony. "As an orchestra, we hope to inspire all children to begin or continue their journeys playing an instrument."

The benefits of listening to classical music

Research studies and anecdotal evidence suggest that listening to classical music can induce calm, boost concentration, improve spatial reasoning and memory function, enhance studying and social skills and strengthen self-discipline. Playing music is thought to build neuron connections in the brain and requires the brain to exercise.

Additionally, an article about the benefits of music from independent news organization The Conversation includes this wise quote from music researchers Desmond Sergeant and Gillian Thatcher, "All highly intelligent people are not necessarily musical, but all highly musical people are apparently highly intelligent."

Melissa Taylor/Houston Symphony

The PNC Family Series combines world-class performances with fun, interactive activities

The Houston Symphony's PNC Family Series presents four Saturday morning concerts each year at the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts. "These are full-orchestra concerts, about 50 minutes long, that are perfect for the whole family to enjoy together," Conlan said. "We aim to actively engage children to experience the orchestra in an age-appropriate way."

The family concerts are tailored to suit shorter attention spans. A description on the Houston Symphony's site explains, "Our PNC Family Series concerts take place in a casual, interactive space where kids can move, dance, and engage with music."

Melissa Taylor/Houston Symphony

Children participate in hands-on activities in the lobby before and after the concert. These include crafts, student performances and the instrument petting zoo, which offers kids a rare opportunity to learn from accomplished musicians how each instrument is played.

"It's thrilling to watch parents beam as their young kids react spontaneously to orchestral music without worrying about protocol," Conlan said. She added, "The kids just love it and they let the musicians know it!"

Children of all ages, including infants, are welcome. Tickets are required for each guest, but lap children get free admission.

Chris Gray

The Houston Symphony family series concert themes are appealing and engaging

To get a better idea of the family concert offerings at the Houston Symphony, a previous family concert, "Fairy Tales for Kids," included Tchaikovsky's "Sleeping Beauty" and other Disney movie songs, and young princesses and princes in attendance wore fairy tale-inspired attire.

Additionally, the Dawson High School choir teamed up with the Houston Symphony for two performances of Sergei Prokofiev's "Peter and The Wolf."

Holiday-themed family concerts have included the Halloween Spooktacular and Holly Jolly Holiday.

Associate conductor Robert Franz dressed in costume for a previous Harry Potter concert, "Wands & Wizards: Music from Harry Potter & More." Guests crafted wands, made music in the instrument petting zoo and paraded on stage in their costumes.

Many of the Houston Symphony's evening concerts captivate kids with enchanting themes

"In the 2023-24 season, we've currently got 10 concerts I'd consider family-friendly," said Conlan. Besides the PNC Family Series concerts, these include the symphony's wildly popular Harry Potter concerts (which debuted in 2017) that combine movie screenings with the orchestra performing the score live. At Harry Potter concerts, some attendees are known to dress in Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin colors and costumes.

Family-friendly Houston Symphony concerts are presented at Jones Hall and The Hobby Center. The Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land will host its first-ever symphony concert in summer 2023. The symphony has also presented family-focused concerts, some free, at The Woodlands' Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion.

Melissa Taylor/Houston Symphony

The Houston Symphony supports youth with education and community engagement programs

The symphony's education programs, which take place in the concert hall and in schools, are designed to motivate students to play in school bands and orchestra programs. Houston has some of the best music education programs in the country, noted Conlan.

An example is the DeLUXE K!ds In Harmony violin program. Through a partnership between the Houston Symphony, the 5th Ward Cultural Arts District's DeLUXE Theater and the American Festival of the Arts (AFA), 25 students in grades three to five receive after school violin instruction three days each week and perform monthly concerts.

Additionally, in January 2023, the symphony welcomed 50 Carver High School orchestra students to Jones Hall for a rehearsal of the Riots and Scandals Festival performance.

"With the curriculum led by Houston Symphony community-embedded musician and violinist Rainel Joubert, the musical goals are ambitious," said Conlan. "However, the social goalsteamwork skills, increasing students' sense of responsibility and pride in their communityare equally as important."

The Houston Symphony's "Making Music At Home" resources are free

By utilizing the Houston Symphony's Making Music at Home resources, families and student musicians can tap into excellent activities and videos at home. Kids can learn about rhythm to the tune of composer/conductor John Williams' "Imperial March" from "Star Wars," as well as a cool way to drum using glow sticks.

In an interview posted on the symphony's site, Tammie Johnson, now a Houston Symphony Legacy Society Crescendo Circle member, recalled, "I saw my first Houston Symphony performance when I was in middle school, and I was around 12 years-old. Since I was taking piano lessons at the time, my parents took me to a concert to help me develop a love and appreciation for the orchestra. I remember being thrilled to see all the different instruments, and I was incredibly impressed with the conductor and musicians!"

Find it: Houston Symphony, 615 Louisiana St., Suite 102, Houston, TX 77002; 713-224-7575

This story was edited by Hearst Newspapers Managing Editor Kristina Moy; you can contact her at kristina.moy@hearst.com.
History is written by the victors. But where's the fun in only hearing their side? To the losers belong the better stories. BlackBerry, a low-budget, high-energy docudrama, covers the lifespan of the pioneering smartphone for which it's named, from creation to extinction. Once the dominant product of its kind on the market, the BlackBerry quickly became a footnote, completely wiped out by the competition. That makes the film about it a sort of rejoinder to the Silicon Valley creation myths of the late-20th century: It captures the dawn of the Internet Age through the lens of a company that helped usher it in, before being left behind.

Maybe that sounds impossibly wonkish, like inside baseball for Wired subscribers. But BlackBerry turns out to be something more nimble and entertaining, a comedy of entrepreneurial chaos. It's directed and co-written by Matt Johnson, the Canadian filmmaker behind the we-faked-the-moon-landing curiosity Operation Avalanche. Here, Johnson applies a screwball procedural framework to a true story of tech-world boom and bust, building his movie on a clash of values and personalities.

Biggest of the latter belongs to Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), a recently fired executive who, in 1992, talks his way into a top position at Research In Motion, a struggling cybersecurity company in Waterloo, Ontario. Balsillie ends up running RIM with its chief visionary, Mike Lazaridis, played by Jay Baruchel as a soft-spoken perfectionist. Lazaridis is devoted to maintaining the reliability of his tech but lacks the business sense to realize that American Robotics is ripping him off, with no intention of paying out the millions they've promised for his modems. To get out of nine-figure debt, the company has to pivot straight into the race to get a cell phone with email capabilities to market.

Balsillie and Lazaridis have the mismatched chemistry of a classic comedy duothe bullish huckster salesman paired off with the stammering genius. Their dynamic also naturally recalls the popular conception of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, which is one of several ways that BlackBerry plays like a kind of shadow Apple biopic, creating a splintered Canadian mirror of that company's mythological backstory. (The source material, in actuality, is a nonfiction book, Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry.)

FC Films

Though he's operating far from Hollywood, Johnson isn't above the easy layup of a boardroom triumphthe landing-the-deal stuff that characterized this spring's other portraits of capitalistic ambition, Air and Tetris, both of which played at SXSW alongside BlackBerry in March. There's a great early scene where the two CEOs arrange a Hail Mary meeting with Verizon, and just as Balsillie seems cookedthe whole room laughs off his pitch, dismissing it as an overpromisein swoops Lazaridis to prove the science. It's pure crowd-pleasing movie magic. At the same time, though, Johnson is demonstrating how RIM, and by extension the whole industry, moved the needle out of sweaty last-ditch effort. They were flying by the seat of their pants, improvising their way to innovation. Their business plan was as taped-together as the prototype Lazaridis forges overnight.

What we're watching is an origin story of our present reality, and not just because BlackBerry depicts the moment that tech companies figured out a way to put the whole world in people's hands, to make information mobile. In the uneasy alliance between Balsillie and Lazaridis, the film also sees the defining, maybe corrupting intersection of corporate interests and technological advance. RIM is initially a cozy garage operation, run by jovial nerds, its DIY spirit exemplified by Lazaridis' second in command, Doug Fregin (played, pointedly, by Johnson himself). BlackBerry suggests that spirit was killed by an influx of big business thinking, taking the form here of Canada's hulking, reigning master of intimidation, Michael Ironside, cast as the interloping COO. But would the company have survived even as long as it did without the aggressive measures taken by Balsillie?

IFC Films

It's no great stretch to detect a veiled critique of the filmmaking industry, and all its related compromises. Has Johnson made any himself, even with a comparably high-profile cast? The filmmaking in BlackBerry, all nervy handheld, reflects the scrappiness of the subjectduring the more stressful stretches, you could call the energy "decaf Safdie brothers." There's a hint, too, of David Mamet in the volleying office warfare; not for nothing does Glengarry Glen Ross get namechecked. So fully does Johnson embrace the less glamorous texture and fashions of this world that only date cards and the changing wigs worn by his actors betray the story's giant leaps forward in time. Is that a joke about his home country, or a larger point about how rapidly today's advances become outdated? Technologically speaking, the late 2000s now look just about as ancient as the early '90s.

The tragicomic thrust of the story is that the BlackBerry's time is over before it even really begins. The film's final act, set over the summer of 2007, has a vaguely Scorsesian circling-the-drain vibe, as the walls close in around the company in the form of a vigilant SCC and the imminent launch of the iPhone, the downfall of one company suddenly intersecting with the rise of another. Lazaridis, blinded by success and his pride (he thinks the trademark keyboard is the key to holding onto the market), can't see the hard truth of his own obsolescence. Baruchel makes his blinkered denial quietly affecting; he's the wounded conscience of the film, abandoning his own standards in a futile bid to win a contest he's already lost.

Howerton, meanwhile, is the movie's engine, its driving force of comic and dramatic desperation. Shouting, seething, selling under a bald cap, he delivers a loud, hilarious performance: the spitting image of capitalism as a hungry, cornered animal. In his mania, we can see the truth about big tech, building the future one mad scramble and gamble at a time.

BlackBerry is now playing in select Houston theaters.
As Title 42 came to an end Thursday night, local reports seemed to indicate Friday as a typical day at the border.

While there was a group of people seen by several in the community close to midnight Thursday near an international bridge, those totals were a few dozen.

Others present coming from Nuevo Laredo to Laredo communicated that the Mexican military was seen on the bridges checking to see if those present had paperwork to cross legally.

Laredo's Mayor weighed in on the little activity stating that it remains prepared for any influxes.

"The City of Laredo has acted proactively by initiating its emergency management plan and is prepared to deal with a range of scenarios if an unexpected amount of migrants are transferred to our community," Laredo Mayor Dr. Victor Trevino said. "The key to our success will be preparation, coordination and communication with our federal representatives and partners.

"The situation continues to be fluid with changes we are seeing in the asylum rules and the TRO from a Federal Judge in Florida, which may impact the level of transfers Laredo receives. Either way the City of Laredo has acted proactively by initiating its emergency management plan and is prepared to deal with a range of scenarios if an unexpected amount of migrants are transferred to our community."

Jorge A. Vela / Laredo Morning Times

At the non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, the same information was being reported as no major increase had been seen during the first day without the Title 42 public health order in effect.

We thought we would see a surge of people coming in today or last night, but it was very calm and nobody really came into the shelter last night, said Rebecca Solloa, the executive director of Catholic Charities. Nobody new came to the shelter last night, however, on Friday night we received individuals released from Border Patrol, as Laredo is considered a decompression site for Brownsville and other ports of entry, so they are bringing the migrants here for processing, and they release them to the NGOs.

All the migrants coming to the NGOs and traveling into the country are people who were able to seek immigration court dates because of the asylum process and are in the country legally. They are tracked by CBP through tracker devices that the families must have with them.

The Friday bus consisted of 457 migrants from the Laredo area, split between Laredo's NGOs in Catholic Charities and the Holding Institute, giving them each fewer than 230 apiece. Solloa said that a week before Title 42 ended, her shelter was receiving 250-300 migrants daily composed of individuals and whole family units.

In general, we ask migrants that we would like for them to be here for 24-48 hours and no longer than that because we have another wave of families coming, Solloa said. We are starting to see some migrants stay a little longer because they have no resources or a place to go, so we kind of need to put some pressure on them to go and find a location because then we have another wave of folks coming in.

Solloa said that after the 48 hours are up, or anytime in between, the migrants can go anywhere in the United States as they already have their legal documents from CBP and can stay and live wherever they can awaiting their immigration court dates and other processes. She said the shelter has provided them with transportation and ways for them to get their bus or plane tickets if needed.

When they are with us, they are really just planning their trip, Solloa said. Throughout the day, they are preparing their trips with their families to purchase their tickets either by bus or by plane and transportation to the terminals.

Hector Garza, president of the local National Border Patrol Council Local 2455, said the calmness was because it is the first day of the end of the policy. He feels there is more to come from ripple effects of it ending.

With over 10,000 apprehensions nationwide per day, the Laredo sector processing center continues to receive migrants from other sectors, Garza said. This is just the beginning of what's coming.

Garza said that he thinks the situation is a security and humanitarian crisis.

Border security crisis (because) there are not enough agents on the border to be able to fulfill our border security mission as more and more agents are being reassigned from border security duties to processing duties, Garza said. Humanitarian crisis (because) the number of migrants coming into our custody is overwhelming and there are not enough resources to handle this crisis.

Jorge A. Vela / Laredo Morning Times

Others who are directly on the border such as Gustavo Rangel -- who lives on San Eugenio Street, which connects to the Rio Grande directly -- said that things have been normal in his area.

I have not seen major law enforcement presence in the area nor heard anything different, Rangel said. The helicopter is always heard above this area, but that has been normal for the past couple of years as normal apprehensions and protection goes on daily.

On the river banks on both on the American and Mexican sides, numerous people were seen Friday fishing in the Rio Grande without any major indication of a large number of people trying to cross.

Solloa said she is glad that the numbers have been low in the ports of entry that connect Laredo to Mexico.

It has been our experience since the beginning of these immigration trends ... that we have always been a decompression zone, as this bridge and area is not as popular where people can come just through, Solloa said. But it doesnt really matter, as we are going to serve migrants in every capacity that they come in.

Solloa said the shelter has been able to withstand the daily numbers as the capacity is around 500-700 people. Most leave the premises to seek shelter with family members in the United States within the 24 hours they arrive, she added.

Because people revolve like a revolving door and come in and go out constantly, if the numbers stay the same, it is very doable, Solloa said. With the numbers increasing, then we have to move to other shelters like St. Peters, and we are about to another shelter at the Our Lady of Guadalupe School and that shelter will help in order to increase capacity.

As for the demographics at Catholic Charities, she said people from all over the world are being seen with the recent majority being from Venezuela along with those from Colombia, Ecuador, India, China and parts of Central America. Solloa added that it is rare to see migrants coming from Mexico.
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An obscure financial entity with connections to a Caribbean-island bank that bills itself as a top payment service for adult entertainment sites would gain a sizable stake in former president Donald Trump's media company if its merger deal proceeds, according to internal documents a company whistleblower has shared with federal investigators and The Washington Post.

Yet the role ES Family Trust would assume in Trump Media and Technology Group has never been officially disclosed to the Securities and Exchange Commission or to shareholders in Digital World Acquisition, the special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, that has proposed merging with Trump's company.

The companies also have not disclosed to shareholders or the SEC that Trump Media paid a $240,000 finder's fee for helping to arrange the $8 million loan deal with ES Family Trust - or that the recipient of that fee was an outside brokerage associated with Patrick Orlando, then Digital World's CEO.

Where ES Family Trust obtained the money, and who is behind the trust, remain publicly unknown, omissions that unnerved some of Trump Media's top executives when they first learned of the loan in late 2021, according to Will Wilkerson, a whistleblower who at the time was the company's executive vice president of operations.

Republican members of Congress and Trump supporters have complained for months that the SEC's year-long delay in approving the merger has been fueled by anti-Trump bias and a "woke political agenda." Trump Media's primary business is the social media site Truth Social.

But the financial tangle offers a possible explanation for why the SEC has yet to approve the deal, said Michael Ohlrogge, a New York University law professor who studies SPACs. He called the deal unusual and rife with questionable decisions and potential conflicts of interest.

"This is definitely something that could cause problems," he said. "At a minimum, if the SEC knew about this loan, it would insist that it be disclosed to [Digital World] shareholders. . . . And the company didn't even do that."

Representatives for Trump Media and Digital World did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

In a statement last month, a Trump Media spokeswoman said a Post report then on the company was based on "discredited hit pieces, defamatory allegations and false statistics" but did not dispute any specific claims. Digital World's interim chief, Eric Swider, who assumed the role in March, said in emails last month that The Post report included "inaccuracies" but did not say what they were.

Messages sent to ES Family Trust's only known trustee and an associated email account yielded no response. A person who answered a phone number listed for the bank that transmitted the loan, Paxum Bank, said the company declined to comment. Representatives for the bank's owner, Anton Postolnikov, did not respond to requests for comment.

A spokesman for Trump's 2024 campaign declined to comment.

- - -

A lifeline appears

Digital World has faced a troubled path since pledging to merge with Trump Media in October 2021, an announcement that sparked a massive trading frenzy. Almost immediately, the company faced suspicions that Digital World had held merger talks with Trump Media before going public, a possible violation of SEC rules.

Digital World told investors last month that it was cooperating with investigators from the SEC, Justice Department and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra) but did not provide details on what was being examined. The federal agencies and Finra, an industry group, declined to provide more detail.

The ongoing investigation has halted Digital World's ability to merge with Trump Media and unlock more than $1 billion in investor funds. Digital World's board fired Orlando as chairman and chief executive in March, saying in an SEC filing that the company was facing "unprecedented headwinds" and that his "departure enables the Board to appoint new leadership, which it believes will restore confidence to the shareholders." Orlando did not respond to requests for comment.

In a separate SEC filing last month, the company said that, by the end of last year, it had just $989 in cash on hand and more than $17 million in debts. Most SPACs don't rack up anything close to this level of debt, Ohlrogge said, because "the normal costs of running a SPAC, finding a target and negotiating with that target are not very expensive."

In late 2021, the frozen merger was also raising concerns inside Trump Media over its ability to pay the bills, Wilkerson recalled. Then, he said, Orlando revealed he had made a breakthrough: a loan deal worth up to $8 million from an entity called ES Family Trust.

In a convertible promissory note dated Dec. 23, 2021, Trump Media was offered the money in exchange for agreeing to "automatically" convert the loan principal into "shares of Company Stock" once the merger with Digital World occurred, according to a copy of the document reviewed by The Post. The document does not say precisely how much stock ES Family Trust would receive. Trump estimated last month that the company, of which he owns 90 percent, is worth between $5 million and $25 million.

The document included blanks for signatures from Wilkerson's fellow co-founders at Trump Media, Wes Moss and Andy Litinsky, as well as Angel Pacheco, the trust's only named trustee.

Moss signed it, according to a copy reviewed by The Post, but Litinsky declined after expressing concerns that the company hadn't undertaken enough due diligence on where the money had come from, Wilkerson said. Litinsky and Moss did not respond to requests for comment. Both men were on the company's board at the time but left last year amid a company shake-up.

Pacheco also did not sign the document, a copy shows, and Wilkerson's attorneys have not found a more updated document in a trove of 150,000 records they've shared with investigators. The money was sent anyway.

A wire transfer document dated that same day shows that $2 million was sent to Trump Media by Paxum Bank, whose main office is on the small Caribbean island of Dominica. A separate wire transfer document, dated Feb. 17, 2022, shows Trump Media being paid another $6 million by ES Family Trust.

No names, addresses or details are listed for ES Family Trust except for Pacheco's name. Pacheco's LinkedIn account says he has been a director at Paxum Bank Limited since 2019 and has "international payment expertise." Pacheco did not respond to requests for comment.

In January 2022, Trump Media agreed to pay a cash referral fee - equal to 3 percent of the $8 million loans, or $240,000 - to a Houston-based brokerage firm called Entoro Securities, according to a referral fee agreement and an Entoro invoice provided by Wilkerson.

The referral fee agreement names "Anton Postolnikov and affiliated entities" as "Introduced Parties" who participated in the deal. Orlando is a registered broker at Entoro, according to a database run by Finra, and Orlando's LinkedIn profile says he has been a managing director there since 2020.

- - -

Unease over the money

Questions around the sudden influx of cash fueled unease inside the company for months, Wilkerson said, but the executives ultimately decided against giving it back, deeming it too critical to keeping the business afloat.

It's unclear how closely anyone inside Trump Media looked into ES Family Trust or Paxum at the time of the loans.

An attorney working with Trump Media, John Haley, sent a brief email about the first $2 million in December 2021 to Donald Trump Jr., before the former president's son joined the company's board, saying there was "no guaranty that these will get signed and funded, but we remain hopeful," according to a copy of the correspondence shared by Wilkerson.

Trump Jr. responded, "Thanks John much appreciated. d," the email shows. Trump Jr. and Haley did not respond to requests for comment.

A month after the second payment, Trump Media executives still knew little about the origin of the money. On March 8, 2022, the company's chief financial officer, Phillip Juhan, sent an email to the then-chief legal officer of another Orlando-run firm, Benessere Investment Group, seeking contact information for anyone at ES Family Trust.

The information, Juhan wrote, was needed by the company's outside auditors, BF Borgers, which required a confirmation statement from all noteholders who had lent Trump Media money. Trump Media had only Pacheco's name, Juhan wrote.

The response from the Benessere executive, Alexander Monje, was a single sentence: "Hey Philip, it is ESFAMILYTRUST@PROTONMAIL.COM," with no other names or addresses attached, according to a copy of the exchange shared by Wilkerson. Proton Mail is an encrypted email service based in Switzerland.

Juhan, Monje and BF Borgers did not respond to requests for comment. Emails sent to the Proton Mail address yielded no response.

Digital World did not tell investors about the $8 million in loans or Entoro's referral fee in its filings submitted to the SEC, a review of public documents shows. Ohlrogge said the SEC could insist the loans should have been disclosed to investors, given that the concerns over its origins and Orlando's finder's fee could affect the value of the shares.

"The right way for him to have done this is to say: 'I know this transaction looks potentially bad and may be enriching me at the expense of [Digital World] shareholders, but I really think it's ultimately in their best interest,'" Ohlrogge said. "That's the right way to do it. And he didn't do anything of the sort."

- - -

'#1 trusted . . . for the adult industry'

The Post has been unable to find any registration documents for ES Family Trust. ES Family Trust has made no public statement.

Postolnikov, whose name appeared on the referral-fee document, is an owner of Paxum Bank and employs Pacheco, ES Family Trust's named trustee. Postolnikov said in a 2018 federal court filing that he is "the principal of Paxum Bank," and a company statement in March called him its "primary owner."

Paxum itself remains a mystery. The company has promoted itself online as a way for video streamers of adult content to coordinate financial transactions across international borders and, in 2021, Paxum's then-chief executive, Andrei Octav Moise, told BCAMS Magazine, a trade publication for the business of live webcam models, that the bank was "proud and happy to be considered the #1 trusted payment service for the adult industry!"

On Thursday, Moise insisted that he wasn't familiar with Paxum's activities or the Trump Media transaction and said he "never had any job or [ownership] or any control" in the bank. On Friday, the adult-industry trade publications AVN and Xbiz reported that Moise had decided to push for a sale of Paxum and would be "retiring" from the industry. He was quoted as saying, "It has been both a privilege and a pleasure to lead the development of Paxum into one of the premier global payment platforms."

Before Paxum, Postolnikov worked as an entrepreneur in Russia, running a now-defunct online car-rental company in St. Petersburg, according to PitchBook, a corporate database. In 2016, he bought Dek-Co, a London-based payments firm, according to his online profile. In British business filings last year, Dek-Co said he is "the shareholder" of Paxum and Dek-Co's chief executive and "ultimate controlling party."

It's unclear when Postolnikov moved to the United States. In the past two years, he has invested millions of dollars in luxury real estate on Fisher Island, a private enclave off the coast of Miami Beach that Bloomberg in 2020 named "America's richest Zip code." Miami-Dade property records show that a company he owns bought two waterfront condos: one for $6 million in April 2021 and another for $7 million in December 2021.

Postolnikov, in March 2021, also gave $30,000 to the reelection campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), according to a contribution list published last year by the political committee Friends of Ron DeSantis.

DeSantis representatives did not respond to an email asking whether DeSantis and Postolnikov had a personal or business relationship. The governor filed a notice this week that he is no longer associated with the committee, a standard move due to his expected shift toward a presidential primary campaign in which he would compete against Trump.

Postolnikov is the nephew of Alexander Smirnov, a former deputy justice minister in the Russian government, according to a 2016 report by Delovoy Peterburg, a Russian business newspaper. Smirnov became general director of the state-controlled maritime company Rosmorport in 2021, according to published reports.

Postolnikov and his aunt, Smirnov's wife, Elena Smirnova, previously worked together at Russia's United Bureau of Credit History, according to Delovoy Peterburg. There is no evidence that Smirnov or Smirnova are involved in the Trump Media deal.

The Guardian reported in March that federal prosecutors in New York have been investigating whether the Trump Media loans violated money-laundering statutes, which mandate that companies and investment advisers take steps to learn basic information about their lenders and clients.

After the Guardian's report, an online news outlet in Dominica called Nature Isle News published a response attributed to an unnamed firm representing Paxum and Postolnikov. That response said Postolnikov was a U.S. citizen and had for two years "been the subject of false media smears that have originated in Russia, all to blackmail Anton into paying bitcoin to remove the stories from the internet."

The statement denied that Paxum and Postolnikov are "in any manner involved in 'money laundering' or loaning out Russian funds" and said that Paxum's compliance department ensures all transactions adhere to money-laundering rules.

Trump Media's chief executive, the former Republican congressman Devin Nunes, said in a lawsuit after the Guardian report that "the entire story is fabricated" and that neither he nor the company's leaders had been involved in the transaction. Nunes did not respond to requests for comment.

Carlisle Jno Baptiste, the Nature Isle News' managing editor, said a Paxum lawyer sent him the response after he asked the company for comment on the Guardian's report. Baptiste said Paxum has an office in the center of Roseau, the island's capital, but that it had rarely been a topic of local conversation before the money-laundering claims arose.

"There's a lot of talk about that now," he said.

- - -

'Basically my life savings'

Company-SPAC mergers are traditionally quick and straightforward affairs, according to a 2020 presentation by lawyers at the firm Morgan Lewis. A SPAC submits a merger registration document called an S-4; the SEC reviews it and asks further questions, often within 30 days; the company sends in answers in an amended filing, the SEC responds within 14 days, and the whole process generally wraps up within a matter of months.

Digital World's S-4, however, has been in limbo since May 16, 2022, SEC records show. The most recent correspondence from the SEC to Digital World, in August, was a terse boilerplate letter in which an agency official said, "We remind you that the company and its management are responsible for the accuracy and adequacy of their disclosures," public SEC records show.

That delay has become the focus of Trump Media CEO Nunes and other Trump allies, who argue that biased regulators at the SEC have delayed the merger in hopes of suffocating Trump's company and fueling a political witch hunt.

"The SEC and [SEC Chair Gary] Gensler have been holding this up. The guy clearly has a grudge against us, against Trump," Nunes said last month on the right-wing news channel Newsmax. "This is a major scandal that's brewing at the SEC: their willingness to play politics and discriminate against people who like our little company, our start-up company . . . [and] are being wiped out."

At a House Financial Services Committee hearing last month, Gensler told Republicans who were grilling him about the delay that SEC officials were working to make sure all merger filings "are accurate and in compliance with the law."

But Republicans weren't calmed. The SEC is "focused on a woke political agenda rather than focused on their job," Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), chair of the House Administration Committee, which oversees House management matters and U.S. Capitol security, said in a recent interview with John Solomon of the conservative media outlet Just the News.

Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.) wrote last week in the Washington Examiner, another conservative outlet, that the delay was hurting "blue-collar people," including "the millions of conservative investors who have put their hard-earned money into this project."

Neither Steil nor Meuser responded to a request for comment from The Post.

Tom Sas, the 40-year-old founder of a cloud-computing start-up in Chicago who says he twice voted for Trump for president, counts himself among the injured.

In October 2021, when Digital World's merger announcement sparked a stock-market frenzy, Sas bought nearly 1,200 shares at $70. Then, while listening to investing YouTubers predict that the stock could go to $300, he said, he felt a deep fear of missing out, saying, "FOMO hit me hard."

He entered a market order to buy thousands more shares, expecting he would get them at $90, but the stock's volatility led to a halt in trading. When the stock came back online, he said, his order was unexpectedly filled at the stock's all-time high, $175 a share, draining his entire account.

All in all, he spent more than $516,000 in cash on Digital World shares, according to investment account documentation he provided. "This was basically my life savings," he said, adding that he doesn't own any property and drives a 2011 Ford Fiesta. Digital World shares now trade for about $13.

Sas said he was initially excited about the prospect of Truth Social being a "true, non-biased news outlet" and that he hopes "the people running Trump Media, if they see some things not going right, they get in there and fix it."

He echoed other supporters of Digital World and Trump in blaming a "biased" SEC for stalling the merger. "I'm left holding the bag now, hoping something goes through and it doesn't collapse," he said.

- - -

The Washington Post's Magda Jean-Louis contributed to this report.
Twitter is blocking some posts in Turkey ahead of the country's high-stakes election Sunday, the American-based social media company announced Friday night.

The company tweeted in English and Turkish that it has "taken action to restrict access to some content in Turkey" beginning Friday but added the blocked content would remain available in the rest of the world. Twitter did not specify which tweets it would block and why it would block them.

The decision once again puts Twitter CEO Elon Musk's controversial free speech policies into the spotlight. This time, critics say, he is ceding to demands from Turkey's right-wing leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Much of Turkey's media is under government control, and critics accuse Ergodan of cracking down on social media companies to stifle opposition voices as he tries to stay in power.

The election is Turkey's most closely contested in years, and polls show opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu running neck-and-neck against Erdogan, who has consolidated power over Turkey during his two decades in power.

In February, Erdogan blocked access to Twitter and other social media following the country's devastating earthquake that killed nearly 50,000 people.

Matt Yglesias, a liberal Washington, D.C., blogger, tweeted Saturday morning that "the Turkish government asked Twitter to censor its opponents right before an election and @elonmusk complied."

Musk, who is planning to step down as CEO in the coming weeks but will continue to run much of the company as chief technology officer, responded and defended the company's decision.

"Did your brain fall out of your head, Yglesias?," Musk tweeted. "The choice is have Twitter throttled in its entirety or limit access to some tweets. Which one do you want?"
Midland College

Midland College is one of several partners to share funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that will lay the groundwork for a new regional innovation engine in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico. The grant funding -- $1 million to cover a two-year period -- is the first step toward a possible 10-year, $160 million NSF investment.

NSF is seeding the future for in-place innovation in communities and growing their regional economies through research and partnerships, NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan said. This will unleash ideas, talent, pathways and resources to create vibrant innovation ecosystems all across our nation.
RENO, Nev. (AP)  A private investigator who used GPS devices to secretly track the vehicles of Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve and a county commissioner ahead of the 2002 election asked the Nevada Supreme Court late Friday to overturn a judge's order that he identify the client who hired him.

Schieve filed suit in December seeking damages from private detective David McNeely for a violation of her privacy after a mechanic alerted her to the clandestine GPS tracking device.

Sparks police determined it was purchased by McNeely and ex-Washoe County Commissioner Vaughn Hartung joined the suit in February under similar circumstances.

Lawyers for McNeely said in Friday's appeal to the state's high court that divulging the name of a client who paid him to spy on the politicians would violate the long-accepted and expected confidentiality of a private investigator-client relationship.

The attorneys said Washoe District Judge David Hardy had erroneously rejected McNeely's argument earlier this month that the client's name was a trade secret protected under Nevada law. They likened the stealth nature of the relationship to the secret sauce in a prized recipe.

Clients of private investigators expect confidentiality, attorney Ryan Gormley wrote in a 31-page appeal filed Friday.

Without that confidentiality, the business will fail. Thus, the protection of client identity creates significant economic value for both defendants and the private investigation industry as a whole, he said.

Hardy had ordered McNeely to identify his client by Friday. But he noted in his ruling earlier this month that he was inclined to stay the case if an appeal was in the works because there would be no way to reverse the harm McNeely suffered from the disclosure of his client's identity if an appellate court later decided he had a right to keep it secret.

Another lawyer filed a motion this week to halt the proceedings on behalf of an anonymous John Doe who said he hired McNeely in an effort to combat corruption in government.

The document attorney Jeffery Barr filed said John Doe has a First Amendment right to anonymously investigate elected officials. It said Doe had not broken any laws or disseminated any of the information gathered on his behalf and never was aware or instructed McNeely to place GPS trackers on vehicles.

Judge Hardy on Thursday agreed to put the case on hold while McNeely pursued appeal avenues, a stipulation to which all the parties had agreed.

The tracking device was on Schieves vehicle for at least several weeks and on Hartungs vehicle for several months, their lawsuit says.

Schieve said McNeely trespassed onto her property to install the device, which a mechanic noticed while working on her vehicle last year in the thick of campaign season, about two weeks before she won re-election for mayor in November.

Hartung also won re-election but since has resigned to accept an appointment as chairman of the Nevada Transportation Commission.

Hardy said in his May 4 ruling that the use of a GPS tracking device to monitor the movements of a person could be "a tortious invasion of privacy."

McNeely's appeal said the Supreme Court's intervention is necessary to provide clarity to state law industry wide.

In the context of the private investigator-client relationship, the secrecy of the relationship between the private investigator and client is precisely what makes the relationship valuable to the business," the appeal said.

Because, without the secrecy, there would be no relationship, it said. The confidentiality is the secret sauce.
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MEXICO CITY (AP)  For weeks, Solangel Contreras raced.

The Venezuelan migrant and her family of 22 trudged through the dense jungles of the Darien Gap and hopped borders across Central America.

They joined thousands of other migrants from across the Hemisphere in a scramble to reach the United States-Mexico border and request asylum.

They raced, unsure what changing migratory rules and the end of a pandemic-era border restriction, Title 42, would mean for their chances at a new life in the U.S.

But after missing that cutoff, robbed in Guatemala and crossing into Mexico shortly after the program ended Thursday night, Contreras, 33, had only one certainty in her mind: Were going to keep going.

Confusion has rippled from the U.S.-Mexico border to migrant routes across the Americas, as migrants scramble to understand complex and ever-changing policies. And while Title 42 has come to an end, the flow of migrants headed north has not.

From the rolling mountains and jungles in Central America to the tops of trains roaring through Mexico, migrants from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, Colombia, Nicaragua, Ecuador and beyond push forward on their journeys.

Weve already done everything humanly possible to get where we are, Contreras said, resting in a park near a river dividing Mexico and Guatemala.

The problem, say experts, is that while migration laws are changing, root causes pushing people to flee their countries in record numbers only stretch on.

It doesnt appear to be the case that this is going to curb the push or pull factors for migration from Central America, South America and other parts of the world, said Falko Ernst, senior analyst for International Crisis Group in Mexico. The incentives for people to flee and seek refuge in safer havens in the United States are still in place.

For Contreras, that push came after her brother was killed in Ecuador for not paying extorsions to a criminal group. The family had been living in a small coastal town in the south after fleeing economic crisis in Venezuela two years earlier.

Others, like 25-year-old migrant Gerardo Escobar left in search of a better future after struggling to make ends meet in Venezuela like Contreras family.

Escobar trekked along train tracks Friday morning just outside Mexico City, with 60 other migrants, including families and small children. They hoped to climb aboard a train migrants have used for decades to carry them on their dangerous journey.

Escobar was among many to say he had no clue what the end of Title 42 would mean, and he didnt particularly care.

My dream is to get a job, eat well, help my family in Venezuela, he said. My dream is to move forward.

Despite misinformation prompting a rush to the border last week, analysts and those providing refuge to migrants said that they dont expect new policies to radically stem the flow of migrants.

Title 42 allowed authorities to use a public health law to rapidly expel migrants crossing over the border, denying them the right to seek asylum. U.S. officials turned away migrants more than 2.8 million times under the order.

New rules strip away that ability to simply expel asylum seekers, but add stricter consequences to those not going through official migratory channels. Migrants caught crossing illegally will not be allowed to return for five years and can face criminal prosecution if they do.

The Biden administration has also set caps on the amount of migrants allowed to seek asylum.

At the same time, Biden is likely to continue American pressure on Mexico and other countries to make it harder for migrants to move north.

Mexicos Secretary of Foreign Affairs Marcelo Ebrard said they don't agree with the Biden administrations decision to continue to put up migratory barriers.

Our position is the opposite, but we respect their (US) jurisdiction, Ebrard said.

Yet in a news briefing on Friday, he announced Mexico would carry out speedier deportations, and that it would no longer give migrants papers to cross through Mexico.

While the new rules likely wont act as a strong deterrent, Ebrard and the head of a migrant shelter in Guatemala said they saw a drop in the number of migrants they encountered immediately following the rush on the U.S. border. Though the shelter leader said numbers have been slowly picking up.

Still, migrants continued to make it across the U.S. border, even as the new rules were announced. At a cemetery near Roma, Texas, about 60 migrants who had crossed the Rio Bravo were waiting to be processed around midnight. They included a large group of Chinese migrants who huddled for cover under a driving rain.

Another member of the group, a Guatemalan who left her country to escape an abusive husband, crossed the river with her four-year-old son. With the rules changing, she was unsure if shed qualify for any asylum help.

Ernst, of International Crisis Group, warned that such measures could make the already deadly journey even more dangerous.

Youll see an increase in populations that remain vulnerable for criminal groups to prey on, to recruit from and make a profit from, he said. It could just feed into the hands of these criminal groups.

Meanwhile, Contreras continues trucking forward alongside many other migrants, even with no clear pathway forward and little information about what awaits them at the border.

Its worth it, she said, to give a better life to small children traveling with them.

Weve fought a lot for them (the kids)," she said. All we want is to be safe, a humble home where they can study, where they can eat well. Were not asking for much. Were just asking for peace and safety.



Associated Press journalists contributed from Marco Ugarte in Huehuetoca, Mexico, Edgar H. Clemente in Tapachula, Mexico, Mark Stevenson in Mexico City, and Colleen Long in Washington. Janetsky reported from Mexico City.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP)  Israel and the Islamic Jihad militant group in the Gaza Strip agreed to an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire late Saturday, seeking to halt five days of intense fighting that killed 33 Palestinians, including at least 13 civilians. Two people in Israel were killed by rocket fire.

The tenuous cease-fire appeared to take effect just after 10 p.m., with a last-minute burst of rocket fire and Israeli airstrikes stretching several minutes past the deadline announced by Egypt. Late Saturday, Israel reported additional incoming fire and said it was again striking in Gaza. But the calm appeared to be quickly restored.

While the calm appeared to bring a sense of relief to Gazas more than 2 million people and hundreds of thousands of Israelis who had been largely confined to bomb shelters in recent days, the agreement did nothing to address the underlying issues that have fueled numerous rounds of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip over the years.

In Gaza, Islamic Jihad spokesman Tareq Selmi said Israel had agreed to halt its policy of targeted strikes on the groups leaders. Any stupidity or assassination by the occupation will be met with a response and the Zionist enemy bears the responsibility, he said.

But in a statement thanking Egypt for its mediation efforts, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's national security adviser, Tzachi Nanegbi, said that quiet would be answered with quiet and Israel would do everything that it needs to in order to defend itself.

Tensions could quickly resume next week when Israel holds a contentious march through a main Palestinian thoroughfare in Jerusalem's Old City.

Still, as the truce took hold, the deafening whooshes of outgoing rockets and booms of Israeli airstrikes were replaced by the honking of cars in Gaza. Streets that had been desolate in recent days quickly teemed with people reveling in the ceasefire, waving Palestinian flags and flashing victory signs from speeding vehicles. Amid the celebration, a fruit vendor used a loudspeaker, enthusiastically promoting his supply of bananas.

The latest violence erupted Tuesday when Israeli airstrikes killed three senior Islamic Jihad commanders. Israel said the airstrikes were in response to a burst of rocket fire the previous week and that its attacks have been focused on Islamic Jihad targets. But residents in Gaza said homes of people uninvolved in fighting also had been struck.

At least 10 civilians, including women, young children and uninvolved neighbors were killed in those initial strikes, which drew regional condemnation.

Over the past few days, Israel has conducted more airstrikes, killing other senior Islamic Jihad commanders and destroying their command centers and rocket-launching sites. But the airstrikes showed no signs of stopping the rocket fire, prompting Islamic Jihad to declare victory.

Israel reported over 1,200 launches throughout the fighting, with some rockets reaching as far as the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem areas. Israel said about a quarter of the rockets were misfired and landed in Gaza, while most of the rest were either intercepted or landed in open areas. But an 80-year-old woman and a Palestinian laborer who was working inside Israel were killed by rocket fire. A Palestinian human rights group said three people, including two children, were killed in Gaza by errant rockets.

It was the latest in a long series of battles between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza since the Islamic militant group Hamas seized control of the seaside territory in 2007. Israel and Hamas have fought four wars, and there have been numerous smaller flareups as well.

Saturday's deal did not address many of the many of the causes of the repeated fighting, including Israel's ongoing blockade of Gaza, the large arsenals of weapons possessed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad and Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians claim all three areas for a future state. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but Hamas subsequently overran the territory and expelled forces loyal to the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority.

Israel and Egypt have maintained a blockade over Gaza in what Israel says is a policy aimed at preventing Hamas from arming. The Palestinians and international rights groups say the policy, which restricts the movement of people and goods in and out of Gaza, amount to collective punishment.

The Palestinian Authority, which governs semi-autonomous parts of the West Bank, said Gaza's main cargo crossing with Israel would open Sunday. Hamas government warned on Saturday that if the crossing doesnt open, the lone power plant in Gaza will stop, further deepening a power crisis.

The more powerful Hamas has praised Islamic Jihads strikes but remained on the sidelines during the latest round of fighting, limiting the scope of the conflict. As the de facto government held responsible for the abysmal conditions in the blockaded Gaza Strip, Hamas has recently tried to keep a lid on its conflict with Israel. Islamic Jihad, on the other hand, a more ideological and unruly militant group wedded to violence, has taken the lead in the past few rounds of fighting with Israel.

In a reminder of the combustible situation in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military raided the Balata refugee camp near the northern city of Nablus, sparking a firefight that killed two Palestinians. In a separate incident near the northern city of Jenin, Israeli police said they shot and killed a suspected Palestinian assailant who ran toward soldiers wielding a knife.

Israeli-Palestinian fighting has surged in the West Bank under Israels most right-wing government in history. Since the start of the year, 111 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, at least half of them affiliated with militant groups, according to a tally by The Associated Press. In that time, 20 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks on Israelis.

The truce could be further tested on Thursday when Israeli nationalists plan their annual Jerusalem Day march through the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City. The march, meant to celebrate Israel's capture of the Old City and its Jewish holy sites in 1967, is a frequent source of friction and helped spark an 11-day war with Hamas in 2021.

On Saturday, Palestinians in Gaza ventured out to assess the damage wrought by Israeli warplanes and salvage whatever they could from four destroyed homes in a densely populated neighborhood. Residents denied the army's claims that it had attacked Islamic Jihad targets.

We have no rocket launching pads at all. This is a residential area, said Awni Obaid, beside the debris of what was his three-story house in the central town of Deir al-Balah.

The nearby house of his relative, Jehad Obaid, was also leveled.

I felt like vomiting because of the dust, he said. "This is extraordinary hatred. They claim they dont strike at children, but what we see is craziness, destruction.

___

Federman reported from Jerusalem.
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A Ukrainian soldier controls a drone at a training camp during the Russia-Ukraine war in Donetsk, Ukraine, on May 11, 2023.

The Biden administration and U.S. allies doubt China can play a decisive role in bringing an end to the war in Ukraine, given Beijing's tendency to play it safe in the diplomatic arena and its reluctance to alienate Russia, Western diplomats and former U.S. officials say.

Although China has offered a peace proposal and plans to send an envoy to the region next week, there is no indication it is ready to wade in as a full-blown mediator with all the risks that could entail, former U.S. officials and two Western diplomats said.

"We're skeptical," one Western diplomat said. "They've been anything but neutral in their language."

Chinese President Xi Jinping did not speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy until more than a year after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and Beijing continues to echo Moscow's talking points about the causes of the conflict, avoiding the use of the word "war" when referring to the fighting in Ukraine.

The Biden administration wants to convey the impression of at least being open to the possibility of a positive Chinese role, but expectations remain low, said Evan Medeiros, a professor at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University who served as a senior adviser on Asia to then-President Barack Obama.

"I think they're appropriately skeptical of the role that China might actually play," Medeiros said.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier this month said the U.S. would welcome any effort by China to help end the war, saying "if they're willing to play a positive role in trying to bring peace, that would be a good thing."

But he added that China needed to support the principle that "there's a victim and there's an aggressor" in the conflict. "And I have to say, until recently, it was very unclear whether China accepted that basic principle. I'm still not sure that they do, but at least President Xi has now had a conversation with President Zelenskyy."

China's position on the Ukraine conflict "is consistent and clear," said Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington.

"China has been committed to promoting peace talks and bringing about a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis," he said, adding: "Both President Putin and President Zelenskyy welcomed China's important role in restoring peace and resolving the crisis through diplomatic means."

In discussions in Vienna on Tuesday and Wednesday between President Joe Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and China's senior foreign policy adviser, Wang Yi, the American side "pressed for some constructive engagement on Ukraine" and repeated U.S. concerns that Beijing should refrain from providing military assistance to Russia, senior administration officials told reporters.
A traveller walks in the Terminal 2 corridors of the Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport with Air France airplanes in the background, in the northeastern outskirts of Paris, on September 16, 2022, amid a strike of air traffic controllers.

Flights to Europe will be plentiful this summer. Cheap airfare? Not as much.

Airlines scheduled a near-record 51,000 flights from June through August from the U.S. to Europe, according to airline data firm Cirium. The number of scheduled seats is the highest since 2018.

Despite that increase in capacity across the Atlantic, fares are up sharply as airlines test travelers' appetites for trips abroad. According to Hopper, U.S.-to-Europe roundtrip flights are going for an average of $1,032, up 35% from last year and 24% from 2019. Average domestic U.S. airfare, by contrast, is down 15% from a year ago to $286 for a round trip, roughly in line with pre-pandemic levels.

Executives at longtime operators of European service like Delta , newcomers like JetBlue , and budget upstarts like Norse Atlantic Airways and Play are all betting big that travelers will shell out for more international trips with the worst of Covid  and accompanying travel restrictions  in the rearview mirror.

Airlines and airports have been racing to fill jobs in hopes of avoiding last summer's chaos.

"European travel was definitely still ramping up last summer," said JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes in an interview with CNBC in late March. "I think a lot of people just didn't fly last year, and now they're looking to fly this year."

JetBlue is flying to London's two largest airports from New York and Boston, and plans to launch service to Paris from New York in June. It plans to add service to Amsterdam this summer.

Delta plans to offer a record number of seats from the U.S. to Europe, up 20% from last summer. The carrier will serve 69 markets in Europe, a spokesman said.
Two Leopard 2 A6 tanks from the German Army's Tank Battalion 203 drive around the training area.

Germany will provide a new 2.7 billion euro ($2.97 billion)military aid package to Ukraine, including 30 Leopard tanks, the Ukrainian president's chief of staff said on Saturday.

In a post on the Telegram app, Andriy Yermak said Berlin would also provide four Iris-T air defence systems, 20 Marder armoured personnel carriers, 200 reconnaissance drones, 100 armoured vehicles and a large quantity of munitions.
Google employees were paying close attention to the company's annual developer conference this week as well as to Wall Street's overwhelmingly positive reaction.

When in it came to doling out credit for the 4.3% stock pop that followed Google I/O, many staffers favored the company's engineers over its executives, according to internal conversations viewed by CNBC.

On Google's internal site, Memegen, the most popular meme that came from the event showed side-by-side images of parent company Alphabet's stock price. The slide, which has received thousands of "up-votes," said on the left, "Execs cost cutting and buying back stock," over a chart with the stock price going down. On the right, a chart appeared with the stock going up below the words, "Eng[ineers] getting stuff done."

Many employees agreed with the sentiment in the comments section, praising their colleagues who worked to get the products ready for prime time as part of a companywide effort to compete in AI.

The event came shortly after workers slammed CEO Sundar Pichai for receiving a stock award for 2022 of over $200 million just as the company is slashing jobs and cutting costs. They also criticized the company for authorizing a $70 billion buyback.
A New York federal judge warned JPMorgan Chase that he might find the bank in contempt of court if it does not speed up in producing evidence related to late sexual offender and money manager Jeffrey Epstein for lawsuits by an Epstein accuser and the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands, CNBC has learned.

Judge Jed Rakoff suggested in a notice that JPMorgan and two law firms representing the bank have been slow-walking in turning over documents and other evidence to plaintiffs in the case, under a process known as discovery, according to a source familiar with the notice.

The notice comes two weeks before JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is scheduled to be questioned under oath by plaintiffs' lawyers for the civil suits, which accuse his bank of enabling and benefiting from Epstein's alleged sex trafficking of young women.

"The Court also wishes to note that it is concerned that JPMorgan is not moving more expeditiously to produce responsive documents," Rakoff wrote in the notice, which has yet to appear on the public docket in the case in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

"While the Court appreciates the large volume of discovery that is to be completed in this case, a company as large as JPMorgan and counsel as experienced as WilmerHale and Massey & Gail should be able to move with greater speed than what was revealed by this incident," the judge wrote, referring to the bank's two law firms.

"So JPMorgan is put on notice that further expedition will be needed on pain of being put in contempt of Court," Rakoff wrote.

A JPMorgan spokesperson had no comment on the notice.
Goldman Sachs named a slew of top tech picks as earnings season begins to wind down. So far, 90% of the S & P 500's market cap has reported results, and earnings are beating estimates by 6.6% with 73% of companies topping projections, according to Credit Suisse. CNBC Pro combed through top research from Goldman to find some of the firm's favorite tech stocks exiting earnings. They include Bumble, ZoomInfo, Shift4 Payments , SciPlay and Fortinet . Bumble Shares of the dating app company have plenty more room to run, according to analyst Alexandra Steiger. She said Bumble continues to execute after its "solid" first-quarter report last week. "Specifically, in its Q1'23 earnings report, Bumble mgmt. struck on a few key themes: solid Q1 revenue growth and Adj. EBITDA margins that showed continued expansion as the company is focused on maintaining cost discipline," Steiger said. The analyst said management continues to execute and make the most of its opportunities amid an uncertain macro. Monetization and new product opportunities continue to be priorities for the company, as well as user safety, according to Steiger. "Looking beyond the quarter, we remain constructive on Bumble's 2023 & beyond growth opportunity and view the company as uniquely positioned within the online dating industry," she said. Bumble shares are down 24% this year. ZoomInfo Goldman is betting on a big second half for ZoomInfo after its robust earnings report earlier this month. Analyst Kash Rangan said comps are easing, and guidance is now "de-risked" for the data provider. Shares are down nearly 32% this year, making the stock especially "compelling," according to the firm. Demand trends are also looking up, despite some macro turbulence  which Rangan admitted has hurt the company. Still, he is standing by the stock for a few reasons. For one, ZoomInfo is a beneficiary of the artificial intelligence trend, which gives the company distinct competitive advantages, the firm said. In addition, sales productivity is increasing which shows growing "conviction" in ZoomInfo's enterprise opportunity. "ZoomInfo continues to be a show-me story as investors build conviction around the de-risked CY23 guidance with the potential for a 2H recovery," Rangan said. Shift4 Payments Shift4's shares are down more than 9% this month, but analyst Will Nance is standing by the payment processing company. He said in a note to clients following Shift4's earnings report that expectations were probably too high. "We think that against this setup, investors were underwhelmed by the guidance raise being less than the beat in the quarter," he added. However, Nance praised Shift4's management. He said there are signs of success in converting lower-end customers of the company's payment gateway software to its full platform. "We also believe the commentary from FOUR around 50% of the growth coming from conversions is highly supportive, as this implies $15-20bn of annual gateway conversions, which was materially higher than we had previously assumed," he said. This growth can power the stock, Nance said. Indeed, the firm upgraded the name in early January to outperform. "While FOUR is still early in this journey, with shares trading at ~11x 2024 EBITDA, we don't think execution on this strategy is priced in and think that executing on the gateway conversion is likely more than enough to drive outperformance over time," he said. SciPlay "Longer term, we see SCPL as levered to the rise of mobile gaming more broadly and more specifically within certain sub-verticals (e.g., casual) which should outgrow the overall gaming industry as mgmt balances growth, margin evolution and capital returns. We reiterate our Buy rating, adjust our operating estimates for this earnings report and mgmt forward commentary, and maintain our PT of $22." Shift4 Payments "We think that against this setup, investors were underwhelmed by the guidance raise being less than the beat in the quarter.  We also believe commentary from FOUR around 50% of the growth coming from conversions is highly supportive, as this implies $15-20bn of annual gateway conversions, which was materially higher than we had previously assumed. While FOUR is still early in this journey, with shares trading at ~11x 2024 EBITDA, we don't think execution on this strategy is priced in & think that executing on the gateway conversion is likely more than enough to drive outperformance over time." ZoomInfo "Compelling set up for a 2H recovery as comps ease and guidance de-risked.  Management's continued investment in hiring new sales reps shows conviction in the growing enterprise opportunity.  ZoomInfo continues to be a show-me story as investors build conviction around the de-risked CY23 guidance with the potential for a 2H recovery." Bumble "Bumble reported a solid set of results as the company continues to execute against its four strategic pillars.  Specifically, in its Q1'23 earnings report, Bumble mgmt. struck on a few key themes: 1) solid Q1 revenue growth and Adj. EBITDA margins that showed continued expansion as the company is focused on maintaining cost discipline.  Looking beyond the quarter, we remain constructive on Bumble's 2023 & beyond growth opportunity and view the company as uniquely positioned within the online dating industry." Fortinet "Several drivers to medium term growth as networking and security products converge. ... In our view, the key debate around the stock remains on the trajectory of normalized demand in 2023 and 2024 after a period of demand acceleration in 2021 and 2022. ... We continue to see upside to Street estimates over the medium term, driven by Fortinet's market share gains across firewalls, SD-WAN and other security products, and consistent with our customer conversations."
Pope Francis meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Studio of Paul VI Hall on May 13, 2023 in Vatican City, Vatican. Vatican Pool | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had private talks with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday, later saying he sought support for his peace plan from the pontiff, who in the past has offered to try to help end the war launched by Russia's invasion of Ukraine a year ago. Zelenskyy held his hand over his heart and said it was a "great honor" to meet with the pope. Francis, using a cane for his knee problem, came to greet the Ukrainian president before ushering him into a papal studio near the Vatican's audience hall. "Thank you for your visit, Francis said, as their 40-minute-long meeting began. In a tweet after the papal audience, Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to Francis for "his personal attention to the tragedy of millions of Ukrainians." He said he spoke with the pontiff "about the tens of thousands of deported (Ukrainian) children. We must make every effort to return them home."

Last month, Ukraine's prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, asked the pope to help get the children returned from Russia to Ukraine. But the Vatican's written statement after Saturday's talks made no mention of the request for help for the children. Instead, the Vatican said the two men spoke about Ukraine's "humanitarian and political situation provoked by the war going on. "The pope assured his constant prayer, paid witness to by his many public appeals and by his continued invoking of the Lord for peace, since February of last year, the Vatican said, a reference to the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, by Russia's military. "Both agreed on the need to continue humanitarian efforts" to help the population, the Holy See's statement added. "The pope underlined in particular the urgent need for 'humanitarian gestures' toward the most fragile persons, innocent victims of the conflict," the statement said. Zelenskyy also said that he asked the pope to condemn Russian "crimes in Ukraine" because "there can be no equality between the victim and the aggressor." And he said he asked Francis to come aboard Ukraine's peace plan. "I also talked about our Peace Formula as the only effective algorithm for achieving a just peace, Zelenskyy said. Later, in an interview on Italian state TV, the Ukrainian leader said the pope "knows my position. The war is in Ukraine, that is why it has to be Ukraine's plan" to bring peace. Zelenskyy's 10-point plan would establish a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes. It would also create a European-Atlantic security architecture with guarantees for Ukraine, restore Ukraine's damaged power infrastructure and ensure safety around Europe's largest nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia. Earlier in the day, Zelenskyy received from Italian officials pledges of both open-ended military and financial support as well as stronger backing for Ukraine's cherished aim to join the European Union. "The message is clear and simple," Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said, flanked by Zelenskyy as the two briefed reporters after their meeting at her office, which lasted more than an hour. "The future of Ukraine is a future of peace and freedom. And it's the future of Europe, a future of peace and freedom, for which there are no other possible solutions.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni (R), flanked by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaks during a joint press conference following their meeting at Chigi Palace government office in Rome, Italy, on May 13, 2023. Zelenskyy, who also met Italian President Sergio Mattarella, is a one-day trip in Rome, including an audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican. Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 12)  The Supreme Court (SC) dismissed the Makabayan bloc's petition to nullify President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s urgent certification of the Maharlika Fund bill last Dec. 15, which allowed the measure to see third reading approval in just one day.

An urgent certification for a pending measure is typically made to respond to a public calamity or emergency.

In this case, it allowed lawmakers to approve House Bill (HB) 6608 on second and third reading in just one plenary session, even though bills are normally approved on three different readings done on three separate days.

Because of this, the Makabayan bloc last February petitioned the SC to void Marcos' urgent certification, on the basis that this was made unconstitutionally and that it was a grave abuse of discretion as it was certified as urgent although it was not in response to any valid emergency.

However, in its resolution dated Feb. 28, the high court argued: "There is no actual case or controversy here, nor is the dispute ripe for adjudication. [Bayan Muna Chairman Neri] Colmenares et al.'s mere allegation of the unconstitutionality of the President's certification of HB 6608 and the passage of the bill by the House are not sufficient to warrant review by the Court."

"To date, no law has been passed and HB 6608 remains pending with the House for further revisions, eliminating petitioner legislators' concerns regarding the expedited passage of HB 6609 in the House," it added.

Meanwhile, a version of the measure, Senate Bill 2020, is still pending second reading approval in the upper chamber's plenary.

On Wednesday, the same Makabayan lawmakers appealed to the SC to reconsider its resolution and doubled down on their argument that the urgent certification was made without any valid emergency.

"Absence of a 'public calamity or emergency' is evidenced by the fact that the certification was issued only to the House of Representatives, and did not include the Senate, the reason why no law has been "immediately enacted" months after the House passed the bill on Third and Final Reading," the lawmakers said.

The SC has not yet acted on the Makabayan's motion to reconsider.

READ: The proposed Maharlika Investment Fund: What you need to know
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 13)  The acquittal of former Senator Leila de Lima in one of her two remaining drug cases on Friday "should be accepted," said former President Rodrigo Duterte.

READ: Muntinlupa court acquits De Lima in 2nd drug case

Duterte also maintained he had nothing to do with the charges filed against De Limaone of his fiercest critics.

"Frankly, I'm not interested in the outcome of the case as I have nothing to do with it," Duterte was quoted as saying by his former presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo.

"I have never interfered with the judicial process. I always say let the law take its course," the former president added.

The first drug case against De Lima was junked in 2021.

The former senator has been in detention since February 2017 on what she and her allies described as trumped-up drug charges. Dutertewhen he was presidentaccused De Lima of involvement in the illegal drug trade.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 13)  President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has issued an executive order (EO) creating an advisory board and management body to oversee the maintenance and preservation of the Malacanang Heritage Mansions.

EO No. 26, which was issued on Friday, stated that the advisory board is tasked to formulate policies, projects and programs for the efficient management of the Malacanang Heritage Mansions.

According to the EO, the Malacanang Heritage Mansions include the Kalayaan Hall, which houses the Presidential Museum and Library, and "such other properties as may be identified by the Advisory Board."

The advisory board will be composed of three representatives from the Office of the President, who will serve in ex officio capacity, and three representatives from the private sector to be appointed by the president.

The supervision of the Kalayaan Museum is hereby transferred from the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for General Administration to the Social Secretarys Office, it added.

Marcos also established the Malacanang Heritage Mansions Management Center (MHMMC) to provide technical and administrative support to the advisory group.

Meanwhile, the Social Secretarys Office will submit the operational structure and staffing pattern of MHMMC to the Department of Budget and Management.

According to the executive order, the Malacanang Heritage Mansions may be opened to the public as [a] venue for special events, programs and temporary exhibitions, and could collect fees.

Proceeds will go to a revolving fund, which will be used for maintenance, operation, preservation, restoration, and beautification of properties covered by this Order.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 13)  President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered government agencies to look into the concerns of Malaya Lolas, a non-profit group composed of women who were sexually abused by Japanese soldiers during World War II.

"I have instructed the relevant Government agencies to look into how we can appropriately address the concerns of the Malaya Lolas," the Office of the President said in a statement on Saturday.

Marcos said the concerned government agencies are "formulating a comprehensive response" to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (UN CEDAW) to submit within the period required by the committee.

In March, the UN committee, a body of experts that monitors the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women, ruled that the Philippines violated the rights of comfort women "by failing to provide reparation, social support and recognition" to the harm they suffered.

It is waiting for the country's written response within six months, or until September, that would include information on actions taken related to the committee's views and recommendations on the issue.

"We commit to undertaking measures and finding ways to help them live better lives as an expression of our continued deep solidarity with them and of our outmost respect," Marcos added.

While the chief executive is promising to uphold human rights and value the well-being of all Filipino women and girls, he said his administration maintains its previous position on the matter.

Two days after the UN body released its decision, Malacanang said the Philippine government recognizes the suffering of the victims, but noted that "some reparations have been made and the Supreme Court has adjudicated on the matter." It is referring to a reparations agreement in 1956 signed by Manila and Tokyo.

"We honor their indomitable spirit and dignity in taking this important cause forward through these years," Marcos said in the statement.

But Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin "Boying" Remulla earlier said he would also look into this position.

The Philippines still lacks legislation to act on Filipino comfort women's claims for the abuses they suffered during World War II.

Remulla previously said the executive will have to ask congressional leaders about passing necessary laws.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros has filed a resolution urging the government to "immediately" fulfill its treaty obligations and provide "just and meaningful" reparations to the comfort women and their families.

Romel Bagares, the legal counsel of Malaya Lolas, suggested the issuance of an executive order that would launch the study of a national framework for reparations, or ask Congress to pass a law similar to the reparation for martial law victims.

Over a week after the UN Committee ruling, Hilaria Viray Bustamante, a Filipino comfort woman and one of several plaintiffs who sued the Japanese government in 1993 at a Tokyo district court, passed away still seeking justice, organization Lila Pilipina said on March 21.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 13)  The Philippines will send envoys to Kuwait this month to discuss the suspension of the issuance of new entry and work visas for Filipinos, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

The issue will be included in the bilateral talks between the two countries. The Philippines will be represented by the DFA and Department of Migrant Workers.

According to Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Paul Cortes, it is still unclear why Kuwait suspended the issuance of visas.

"'Yong sinasabi nilang paglabag hindi nanggaling officially ng Kuwait government. Nailathala lang 'yan sa mga dyaryo, news articles ng Kuwait," Cortes said. "Ang nakasulat ay ang paglabag daw ay pag-operate ng shelter."

[Translation: The news about the violation did not come from the Kuwait government. It was just reported in newspapers, news articles in Kuwait. What was written was that the violation was the operation of shelters.]

He added that the establishment of shelters for distressed Filipino workers by the Philippine Embassy is part of the agreement signed by the Philippines and Kuwait in 2018.

READ: PH confident to resolve issues with Kuwait over visa issuance suspension

CNN Philippines multiplatform news writer Mariel Celine Serquina contributed to this story.
Five days after the end of Colorado's 2023 legislative session, Gov. Jared Polis has signed 208 bills into law.

After being signed, bills take effect in August, 90 days after the general assembly adjourns, unless otherwise specified in the bill. A full list of legislation signed this year can be found online by clicking here.

Polis has until June 7 to sign, veto or let the bills passed this session become law without his signature.

Here are all of the bills signed into law this week.

House Bill 1273: Creation of wildfire resilient homes grant program

Creates a grant program to fund homeowners wildfire resilience projects. Signed on Friday. Read more about the bill here.

Senate Bill 161: Financing to purchase firefighting aircraft

Transfers $26 million from the General Fund to the Department of Public Safety for the purchase of a Firehawk helicopter configured for wildfire and other public safety response needs. Signed on Friday.

House Bill 1174: Homeowner's insurance underinsurance

Specifies what insurers must consider in establishing replacement cost coverage for homeowners, and requires the Division of Insurance to publish an annual report on replacement costs. Signed on Friday.

House Bill 1288: Fair access to insurance requirements plan

Creates the FAIR Plan Association to offer property insurance coverage that is not otherwise available on the market, consisting of all companies offering property insurance in the state. Signed on Friday.

House Bill 1240: Sales use tax exemption wildfire disaster construction

Creates a sales and use tax exemption for building materials purchased for rebuilding and repairing residential structures damaged by wildfire from 2020 to 2022. Signed on Friday.

House Bill 1254: Habitability of residential premises

Creates habitability standards for rental units following environmental events. Signed on Friday.

Senate Bill 166: Establishment of a wildfire resiliency code board

Creates the Wildfire Resiliency Code Board in the Department of Public Safety to adopt statewide building codes and standards for preventing damages caused by wildland fires in urban areas. Signed on Friday.

Senate Bill 13: Fire investigations

Requires the Department of Public Safety to conduct fire origin and cause investigations and creates a cash fund. Signed on Friday.

Senate Bill 5: Forestry and wildfire mitigation workforce

Creates and expands timber, forest health, and wildfire mitigation workforce development and education programs. Signed on Friday.

House Bill 1237: Inclusive language emergency situations

Requires the University of Colorados Natural Hazards Center to conduct a study on the implementation of emergency alerts in minority languages. Signed on Friday.

House Bill 1075: Wildfire evacuation and clearance time modeling

Requires the Department of Public Safety to conduct a study investigating the integration of evacuation and clearance time modeling in local emergency management plans. Signed on Friday.

Senate Bill 102: Rule review bill

Postpones the expiration of all state department rules adopted or amended between November 1, 2021 and November 1, 2022 except one rule by the Department of Law and one rule by the Department of Public Health and Environment. Signed on Friday.

Senate Bill 204: Correct erroneous property tax exemption end date

Corrects the end date for the property tax exemption for agricultural equipment used in a controlled environment agricultural facility. Signed on Friday.

Senate Bill 72: Sunset Defense Counsel First Appearance Program

Continues the Defense Counsel on First Appearance Program in the Department of Local Affairs, which is scheduled to repeal on September 1, 2023. Signed on Friday.

Senate Bill 12: Commercial motor carrier enforcement safety laws

Changes the amount of civil penalties that may be levied on commercial motor carriers and authorizes the Department of Revenue to cancel or deny registration of a commercial motor carrier that fails to cooperate with the completion of a safety compliance review within 30 days. Signed on Friday.

Senate Bill 220: Public school capital construction assistance grants

Authorizes unspent money for air quality improvements to instead be used for school capital construction assistance grants and repeals a scheduled transfer from the Marijuana Tax Cash Fund and creates a new transfer from the General Fund to the Public School Capital Construction Assistance Fund. Signed on Friday.

Senate Bill 291: Utility regulation

Updates transparency, rulemaking, and rate filing requirements for certain electric and gas utilities. Signed on Thursday. Read more about the bill here.

House Bill 1234: Streamlined solar permitting and inspection grants

Creates a grant program in the Colorado Energy Office to assist local governments in implementing automated permitting and inspection software for residential solar energy systems. Signed on Thursday.

Senate Bill 16: Greenhouse gas emission reduction measures

Creates a state income tax credit for new, electric-powered lawn equipment; requires the Public Employees Retirement Association and insurance companies to study climate risks to their investment portfolios; authorizes the Department of Natural Resources to regulate Class VI injection wells; updates the states greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals; and commissions a study on electric transmission capacity. Signed on Thursday.

House Bill 1252: Thermal energy

Makes various changes regarding the use of geothermal energy. Signed on Thursday.

House Bill 1272: Tax policy that advances decarbonization

Makes various changes to state income tax credits, sales and use taxes, specific ownership tax, and severance taxes. Signed on Thursday.

House Bill 1224: Standardized health benefit plan

Changes rate filling and disclosure requirements under the Colorado Standardized Health Benefit Plan Act. Signed on Wednesday. Read more about the bill here.

House Bill 1201: Prescription drug benefits contract term requirements

Limits the amount that carriers or pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) may charge beneficiaries of employer-sponsored plans for prescription drugs to no more than the amount paid by the plan to contracted pharmacies, and specifies enforcement mechanisms. Signed on Wednesday. Read more about the bill here.

Senate Bill 2: Medicaid reimbursement for community health services

Requires the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to seek federal approval for Medicaid to pay for services provided by community health workers and to implement the new coverage once federal approval is granted. Signed on Wednesday. Read more about the bill here.

House Bill 1218: Health facility patient information denied service

Requires health care facilities to report on service availability at the individual service and covered entity level. Signed on Wednesday.

House Bill 1243: Hospital community benefit

Restricts out-of-state spending for hospitals, and adds reporting, enforcement, and stakeholder engagement requirements to the Hospital Community Benefit Program. Signed on Wednesday.

House Bill 1227: Enforce laws against pharmacy benefit managers

Allows the Commissioner of Insurance to enforce existing state laws regulating pharmacy benefit managers and impose penalties, and establishes a fee-based registration program for these entities. Signed on Wednesday.

House Bill 1225: Extend and modify Prescription Drug Affordability Board

Makes several changes to the Drug Affordability Review Boards procedures. Signed on Wednesday.

Senate Bill 260: Individual access to publicly funded vaccines

Prohibits practitioners from requiring individuals to pay or provide information in order to receive a publicly-funded vaccine. Signed on Wednesday.
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They've even magicked up fake Indian tribe names.

Punky goes on a camping trip with her ethnically inclusive friends, and they promptly get lost in the wilderness. The group takes refuge in a cave, and Punky tries to pass the time (until, presumably, they starve to death) by telling a ghost story about four kids that get lost in the woods and find refuge inside of a cave. It's either a bad attempt by Punky to be meta, or they couldn't afford a second set. Either way, if kids looked down for just a second, or took a bathroom break at the wrong moment, it would have been easy to miss the fact that what happens for the remainder of the episode wasn't actually happening to Punky and friends, which is important for terrifying reasons that will soon become apparent.

Punky's story is quickly interrupted by a group of Native Americans, who are apparently synonymous with cavemen, and they have a much better story they want to tell about unspeakable horror.

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"This one is called 'The Freeeee Blankets'."

The kids hear a story of an evil spirit that, as it happens, lives in the cave and that, as it happens, can be killed only by Punky Brewster. The kids, with little concept of mortality and poor decision-making skills, head deeper into the cave. Along the way they encounter the type of horrors you would expect from a sitcom, like kindly but unnerving lost souls and some spiders.
Matt Stone and Trey Parkers silly little cartoon about kids who never age and the glorification of yuletide turds has had quite an influence on the world at large. Not only did South Park ignite the shock animation renaissance, but media outlets far and wide found themselves increasingly commenting on the latest controversy of every other episode.

Click right here to get the best of Cracked sent to your inbox.

This has also led folks to argue that South Park helped raise a generation of trolls, along with others suggesting that it accidentally created the alt-right. While the show has both done some things right and clearly some wrong, there is no denying the impact Colorados animated residents have had on culture over the last quarter century, especially considering that

South Park Has Influenced the Law In the second season episode, Chefs Aid, Chef sues Alanis Morissette for allegedly plagiarizing him. Johnnie Cochran acts as Morissettes lawyer and uses the Chewbacca defense, which goes like this: Play Since its debut, the Chewbacca defense has been used to describe any attempt by a criminal defense lawyer to confuse a trial jury instead of arguing against the prosecutor. Its also been used in reference to political commentary because no one loves talking nonsense like a politician. In 2022, a prosecutor made headlines during a federal tax fraud case for supposedly defeating the Chewbacca defense by bringing it up to prove that the defense lawyer was, basically, full of crap.
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ROME (AP)  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had private talks with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday, later saying he sought support for Ukraine's peace plan from the pontiff, who in the past has offered to try to help end the full-scale war launched by Russia a year ago.

Zelenskyy held his hand over his heart and said it was a great honor" to meet with the pope. Francis, using a cane for his knee problem, came to greet the Ukrainian president before ushering him into a papal studio near the Vatican's audience hall.

In a tweet after the 40-minute audience, Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to Francis for his personal attention to the tragedy of millions of Ukrainians. He said he spoke with the pontiff about the tens of thousands of deported (Ukrainian) children. We must make every effort to return them home.

Last month, Ukraine's prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, asked the pope to help get children returned from Russia to Ukraine. But the Vatican's statement Saturday made no mention of the request.

Instead, the Vatican said the two men spoke about Ukraines humanitarian and political situation provoked by the ongoing war."

The pope assured his constant prayer, paid witness to by his many public appeals and by his continued invoking of the Lord for peace, since February of last year, the Vatican said, a reference to the Russian invasion that began Feb. 24, 2022.

The meeting came as Russia's defense ministry said Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles delivered to Ukraine by the United Kingdom this week damaged unspecified civilian enterprises in Luhansk province in Ukraine's far east. Luhansk authorities separately said another missile strike hit the regional capital, wounding an elderly woman.

Two Russian Mi-8 helicopters and an Su-34 fighter-bomber crashed Saturday in the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, state news agency Tass and a Telegram channel close to the Russian defense ministry reported; the newspaper Kommersant cited reports of two fighter planes crashing. The causes of the crashes were not immediately disclosed, but concern in Bryansk is growing about cross-border attacks from Ukraine.

Some Ukrainian units continue to push forward near Bakhmut, the commander of Ukraines land forces said Saturday, just a day after Ukrainian commanders said their troops recaptured territory at the scene of the wars longest and bloodiest battle. Our soldiers are moving forward in some sectors of the front, and the enemy is losing equipment and manpower, Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Telegram.

Zelenskyy also said that he asked the pope to condemn Russian crimes in Ukraine because there can be no equality between the victim and the aggressor.

I also talked about our Peace Formula as the only effective algorithm for achieving a just peace,'' Zelenskyy said. Later, in an interview on Italian state TV, the Ukrainian leader said the pope knows my position. The war is in Ukraine, that is why it has to be Ukraine's plan" to bring peace.

Zelenskyys 10-point plan would establish a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes. It would also create a European-Atlantic security architecture with guarantees for Ukraine, restore Ukraines damaged power infrastructure and ensure safety around Europes largest nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia.

Earlier in the day, Zelenskyy received from Italian officials pledges of open-ended military and financial support as well as stronger backing for Ukraine's cherished aim to join the European Union.

The message is clear and simple, Premier Giorgia Meloni said after a meeting with Zelenskyy that lasted more than an hour. "The future of Ukraine is a future of peace and freedom. And it's the future of Europe, a future of peace and freedom, for which there are no other possible solutions.''

The premier, who staunchly supports military aid for Ukraine, said Italy would back the country 360 degrees for all the time necessary and beyond.

Separately, Italian President Sergio Mattarella told Zelenskyy, We are fully at your side," Mattarella told Zelenskyy as he welcomed him. Later, presidential palace sources said Mattarella assured his guest that Italy would continue to support Ukraine militarily and financially, as well as with reconstruction and humanitarian aid.

Since the war began, Italy has contributed about 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in military and financial aid, as well as humanitarian assistance.

Zelenskyy is believed to be heading to Berlin next for what would be his first visit to Germany since the war began. The exact schedule was not publicly announced because of security concerns.

At the end of April, Francis told reporters that the Vatican was involved in a behind-the-scene peace mission but gave no details. Neither Russia nor Ukraine has confirmed such an initiative.

He has said he would like to go to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, if such a visit could be coupled with one to Moscow, in hopes a papal pilgrimage could further the cause of peace.

There has been speculation about whether the Vatican could play some mediating role. But in the Italian TV interview on Saturday, Zelenskyy indicated mediation in general would be impossible. "You can't mediate with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,'' he said.

The German government, meanwhile, said it was providing Ukraine with additional military aid worth more than 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Berlin wanted to show with the latest package of arms that Germany is serious in its support for Ukraine.

Germany will provide all the help it can, as long as it takes, he said.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

 Officials in the Ternopil region about 350 kilometers (220 miles) west of Kyiv on Saturday night reported a strike on an industrial area. No casualities or other details were immediately stated.

 Russian shelling on Saturday killed two civilians, including a 15-year-old girl, and wounded 10 more in Kostyantynivka, a city less than 30 kilometers (18 miles) west of Bakhmut, the regional prosecutors office said.

 Russian forces on Friday and overnight resumed their shelling of Ukraines northeastern Kharkiv region, killing a civilian, local governor Oleh Syniehubov said. Four civilians were killed over the same period in Donetsk province in the east, said governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.

 A massive Russian barrage overnight damaged an energy facility in Ukraines western Khmelnytskyi region, but didn't affect the power supply, according to the Ukrainian energy ministry,

___

Frank Jordans in Berlin, Joanna Kozlowska in London, and Nicole Winfield and Gianfranco Stara in Rome contributed to this report.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
At least as far as state, national and international public health agencies are concerned, the COVID-19 pandemic is now over.

Gov. Ned Lamont announced Wednesday that Connecticut's public health emergency, in place more than three years, officially ended Thursday, the same day that the federal public health emergency is set to expire. The World Health Organization, meanwhile, declared last week that while COVID remains prevalent, it "no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern."

So what does all this mean? At a time when most people have already moved on from the pandemic in so many ways, what will actually change as a result of these declarations?

Here is what to expect in the post-emergency world.

No more free testing

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, testing for the disease has been available for free, allowing people who suspect they may have the disease the ability to find out at no cost to the patient.

Moving forward, that will no longer be the case. In Connecticut and elsewhere, COVID testing will become like other types of health care coverage, for which providers bill insurers, who may (or may not) cover some or all of the cost.

Christopher O'Connor, CEO of the Yale New Haven Health System, said that whether testing will be free for patients will depend on insurance companies.

"We've had some difficulty with them, so there's work to be done," he said.

Meanwhile, Connecticut's four remaining state-supported testing sites will close June 30. Though the federal government continues to offer a limit number of free at-home tests for all American households at covid.gov/tests, that program is expected to end as well.

Less vaccine availability

Like testing, vaccines will no longer be free and will instead be billed to insurance providers. The same will go for COVID therapeutics, such as Paxlovid and Lagevrio.

Dr. Manisha Juthani, Connecticut's public health commissioner, framed the change as treating COVID like any other form of health care.

"We're emerging from the federal response, where vaccines were free, where medications were free, where everything related to COVID was essentially covered, to integrating that within the regular health care delivery system," Juthani said Wednesday at a news conference with Lamont and other state health leaders.

While experts say another round of COVID booster shots will likely be available this fall, Juthani said the state's role in that effort will be largely restricted to publicity campaigns, similar to the ones it runs for influenza vaccination.

Connecticut will end its mobile vaccine sites as well as its homebound vaccine program on June 30.

Reduction in data collection

It will also soon be more difficult to track COVID data moving forward.

At the national level, the CDC will no longer collect and report data on COVID cases, relying instead on hospitalizations to assess the severity of a given outbreak. At the state level, the Department of Public Health will report cases, hospitalizations and deaths only seasonally, from October to June.

In this way, Connecticut will now treat COVID the way it treats the flu, regarding it as a concern primarily during the winter.

"COVID is still more deadly than the flu is," Juthani said. "But it is similar in the sense that it is becoming part of our regular life. ... Most likely, you're going to be thinking about it the way you would other respiratory viruses, where you see more of them as we go through the winter season."

CDC spokesperson defended the reduction in data collection by arguing that the agency will still have enough information to spot outbreaks.

"We will still be able to tell that its snowing, even though were no longer counting every snowflake," he said.

COVID will continue to spread

The end of the COVID-19 public health emergency certainly does not mean the end of COVID-19.

Though Connecticut's COVID numbers are currently lower than they have been in more than a year, the state has still recorded nearly 300 cases over the past week (likely a fraction of the true total) and had 61 patients hospitalized with the disease as of last Thursday. Meanwhile, Connecticut recorded 12 COVID-linked deaths last week, bringing its total to 12,338 during the pandemic.

"COVID is still with us," said Dr. Deidre Gifford, head of Connecticut's head of the Office of Health Strategy. "If you're feeling sick, don't just assume it's allergies, make sure you test for COVID. Stay at home if you're sick, and wear a mask if you're immunocompromised or you're around someone who is."

What isn't clear is whether Connecticut will see another COVID surge like the one it experienced when the omicron variant first arrived and tens of thousands of people were infected within a short period of time. Dr. Albert Ko, infectious diseases specialist at the Yale School of Public Health, offered a note of optimism Wednesday, saying he expects COVID strains to become less deadly over time, as has been the trend so far.

"We will have these new variants, and they may be highly transmissible, but they may be less virulent," he said.

Juthani acknowledged the possibility that COVID could come back strong this winter  or possibly even sooner, if a new variant emerges  but said she believes the state is ready to handle future spikes.

"Part of the job in public health is to be prepared for the unexpected," she said. "So yes, we think that a lot of the collective immunity that we have is going to help us ... but is there the possibility that there will be a curveball? That is possible."
EAST HAVEN  As customers flock to The Sandpiper Restaurant for fresh seafood and views of Long Island Sound, a bitter family feud over the business' ownership is playing out behind the scenes.

Greg Bertsos, brother of The Sandpiper's former owner Bobby Bertsos, is suing for the restaurant to temporarily cease operations while another pending court case determines whether he is entitled to a 50 percent share of the business. Greg Bertsos claimed in court documents that Bobby Bertsos excommunicated him from the family business and then fraudulently sold The Sandpiper in March without his permission, prompting him to file a countersuit.

Bobby Bertsos, though, has stated in legal documents that Greg only worked at the restaurant as an employee. He, too, has taken legal action, suing Greg Bertsos in March 2020 and asking a Superior Court judge to dismiss his brother's "bogus" ownership claim, according to the documents.

Greg Bertsos said in an interview this week that the tense litigation has broken the large Bertsos clan and tarnished the legacy of the once-proud family establishment. The two brothers have not spoken to each other in more than three years, and other family members have suffered from the dispute, according to Greg Bertsos.

"Were fighting for our lives to get our business back," Greg Bertsos said. "Its the worst thing that can happen to us."

Bobby Bertsos' attorney, Donald Neville, of the West Hartford-based The Neville Law Firm, said he does not comment on pending litigation. The Sandpiper's new owner also declined to comment.

The Bertsos siblings immigrated from a small village in Greece to the United States in 1968. After arriving in America, Greg Bertsos said, he and Bobby picked up a newspaper route in New Haven and, later, found jobs in the restaurant industry.

Greg and Bobby Bertsos, along with their other brother Dennis, opened their first restaurant called Pizza Plus in 1981, documents show. The family would also own and operate another restaurant, Village Inn, and a real estate investment property called Marlose.

According to court documents, the three brothers had a history of internally divvying ownership interest in their respective businesses while maintaining a separate ownership structure on the books. For example, Greg and Dennis Bertsos were the record owners of Pizza Plus, though the brothers agreed internally that each owned one-third of the pizzeria, documents state. Additionally, each brother received equal compensation from Pizza Plus prior to Bobby moving away and switching to a part-time role, per the documents.

In 1995, a local developer approached Greg Bertsos with an opportunity to lease or purchase the building at Sandpiper's current location to start a restaurant, court documents show. Greg and Bobby Bertsos decided to lease the building with an option to buy, and, according to Greg Bertsos, agreed that each would own one-half of the restaurant.

Greg Bertsos has testified under oath that, prior to opening Sandpiper, he and his brother entered into a "secret" oral agreement that they would be equal partners in the business, with Greg being an "off-the-books" owner and Bobby being the title owner. Greg Bertsos further testified in Superior Court that he agreed to this arrangement with his brother because, at the time, he was anticipating filing for bankruptcy and was told by an attorney that he could not have any companies in his name when he did so, documents show.

"Greg's testimony before (Superior Court) Judge Wahla is damning for Greg because, no matter how it is viewed, Greg is not trustworthy," Bobby Bertsos wrote in a recent motion he filed to stop his brother from temporarily shutting down The Sandpiper.

Greg Bertsos has since reopened his 1997 bankruptcy claim and corrected the mistake he made by not reporting partial ownership of The Sandpiper during the proceeding, documents show.

For the more than 25 years that The Sandpiper was in the family, Greg Bertsos claims that he and his wife, Nicole, performed the same duties as Bobby and Patti Bertsos, including hiring and firing employees, setting hours of operation and attending weekly meetings to discuss finances, among other tasks; Bobby Bertsos, however, disputes that and describes his brother as simply an employee. During that time, the restaurant grew from a beach shanty to a large, bustling operation beloved by locals and shoreline visitors.

But around January 2018, Greg Bertsos said in a counterclaim to the 2020 lawsuit, he became aware that Bobby Bertsos intended to dispute his ownership of The Sandpiper. Around that same time, Bobby and Patti Bertsos began "exercising exclusive control" over the restaurant's finances, the counterclaim states.

As a result, Greg Bertsos told his brother that he and his wife would not continue working at the restaurant until his ownership interest in the business was formalized, according to the claim. About two months later, the claim states, Bobby Bertsos informed Greg Bertsos that he would formalize his 50 percent stake. So, Greg and Nicole Bertsos took Bobby Bertsos' word and returned to work, per the claim.

However, Bobby and Patti Bertsos said in court documents that they "vehemently dispute" Greg's assertion that he is a part-owner of the business. In March 2020, the couple filed a lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment that Greg Bertsos' claim about being an owner was misguided. Moreover, Bobby Bertsos alleged that Greg Bertsos was trying to "steal" one-half of The Sandpiper by inventing a "bogus" claim that the two entered into the secret ownership agreement before opening the seafood eatery in 1995.

"Bobby and Patti had wanted to sell The Sandpiper and Greg's claim, bogus as it may be, was a cloud on their ownership interest and would likely impact the ability to sell The Sandpiper," documents state.

Bobby and Patti Bertsos sold The Sandpiper to Chris D'Agostino, a Rhode Island restaurateur, in March. Greg Bertsos told the New Haven Register that, although he knew his brother was trying to sell the business, he was surprised to hear that he had done so, because Bobby Bertsos' attorney had admitted in an email that "any sale would require a release of any claim by Greg to the business," records show.

"I didnt want to believe it in the beginning because I said they couldnt sell it because were in litigation," Greg Bertsos said.

After learning of the sale, Greg Bertsos filed a countersuit against Bobby and Patti Bertsos, and The Sandpiper's new owner, to prevent the restaurant from opening Easter weekend. But a Superior Court judge denied Gregory Bertsos' request for an emergency temporary injunction against the The Sandpiper, allowing it to open as planned. Another hearing in the case is scheduled June 1 to determine whether the eatery can continue operating, judicial records show.

In his countersuit, Greg Bertsos asserts that the sale of The Sandpiper was "made with fraudulent intent," and that the defendants "moved forward with the sale despite knowing that Greg asserted an ownership interest in The Sandpiper and with the intent to exclude Greg from the business." He also claims in an affidavit that the sale will ruin the restaurant's legacy.

"Allowing this new third-party owner to open The Sandpiper and remove the Bertsos family name and legacy will destroy the very essence of The

Sandpiper and destroy the brand that my family and I have spent three almost decades building," Greg Bertsos said.

According to Greg Bertsos, the litigation has driven a wedge between him and Bobby Bertsos; the brothers, once close, have not spoken to each other in three years. Their children have stopped communicating with each other, as well, Greg said. The feud has also taken a toll on extended family members; annual holiday gatherings, which Greg Bertsos said he and Bobby Bertsos used to take turns hosting, are no more. The whole Bertsos family is broken, according to Greg Bertsos.

"Its a shame what money does to humans," Greg Bertsos said. "You cant buy happiness or family."
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SIOUX CENTER, Iowa (AP)  Decrying a Republican culture of losing, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sought Saturday to weaken former President Donald Trumps grip on the GOP as tornado warnings interrupted a collision of leading presidential prospects in battleground Iowa.

DeSantis, expected to announce his 2024 presidential campaign any day, briefly flipped burgers and pork chops at an afternoon picnic fundraiser in Sioux Center that drew hundred of conservatives to the northwest corner of the state. From the podium, the 44-year-old governor highlighted his eagerness to embrace conservative cultural fights and sprinkled his remarks with indirect jabs at Trump.

Governing is not about entertaining. Governing is not about building a brand or talking on social media and virtue signaling, said DeSantis, who wore a blue button-down shirt without a tie or jacket. Its ultimately about winning and producing results.

Trump, a candidate since November, had hoped to demonstrate his political strength with a large outdoor rally in Des Moines, the capital, later in the day. He canceled the appearance hours before its scheduled start time due to a tornado warning.

Roughly 200 supporters had already gathered at the venue.

I feel like its still Trumps time, said Robert Bushard, 76, who said he drove about four hours from St. Paul, Minnesota to see the former president. Of DeSantis, he said, Hed be a good president after Trump.

Republican primary voters across the nation are sizing up DeSantis and Trump, two Republican powerhouses who are among a half dozen GOP candidates already in the race or expected to announce imminently. Trump is well ahead of his rivals in early national polls, while DeSantis is viewed widely as the strongest potential challenger.

Trump was hoping to return to the comfort of the campaign stage after a tumultuous week.

On Tuesday, a civil jury in New York found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming advice columnist E. Jean Carroll and awarded her $5 million. A day later, during a contentious CNN town hall, he repeatedly insulted Carroll, reasserted lies about his 2020 election loss and minimized the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

DeSantis has burnished his reputation as a conservative governor willing to push hard for conservative policies and even take on a political fight with Disney, which he highlighted in Sioux Center. But so far, he hasnt shown the same zest for taking on Trump, who has been almost singularly focused on tearing down DeSantis for months.

On Saturday, DeSantis avoided Trumps legal entanglements or his falsehoods about the 2020 election, instead highlighting the GOPs recent string of electoral losses. The Republican Party has struggled in every national election since Trumps 2016 victory.

We must reject the culture of losing that has impacted our party in recent years. The time for excuses is over, DeSantis said. If we get distracted, if we focus the election on the past or on other side issues, then I think the Democrats are going to beat us again.

Its uncertain whether DeSantis political successes in Florida can be replicated on the national stage.

Even before he formally enters the race, hes already facing questions about his ability to court donors and woo voters.

The Iowa visit, his second in two months, was expected to help address concerns about his sometimes awkward personal appeal as he met with Republican officials, donors and volunteers, all under the glare of the national media. But DeSantis devoted little time  at least compared with most of the GOPs other White House contenders  for selfies or handshakes in Sioux Center, where more than 600 people had gathered to see him at an event billed as a family picnic for U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra.

DeSantis left most of the politicking to his allied super political action committee, which had set up a table where prospective supporters for his yet-to-be-announced presidential campaign could sign up.

The road outside the museum was flanked with DeSantis 2024 campaign signs.

Trumps team had expected more than 5,000 to attend the rally at an outdoor amphitheater in downtown Des Moines for the purpose of collecting information on would-be supporters and encouraging them to commit to Trump.

Trumps 2024 Iowa campaign, unlike his rag-tag 2016 second-place Iowa effort, is putting together a more disciplined, data-driven operation. The Saturday event was aimed at encouraging attendees to sign up with the campaign on a website so the campaign could maintain contact with them, keep them posted on how and where to caucus, and recruit campaign volunteers.

In a social media post, Trump promised to reschedule the event. Shortly afterward, the campaign released a list of endorsements from more than 150 Iowa elected officials and activists across all of the states 99 counties.

And as they compete for support, the emerging rivalry with DeSantis has turned increasingly personal.

DeSantis has largely ignored Trumps most egregious jabs, which have included suggesting impropriety with young girls as a teacher decades ago, questioning his sexuality and calling him Ron DeSanctimonious.

Trumps campaign began airing an ad mocking DeSantis for yoking himself to the former president in 2018 when he ran for governor, even using some Trump catchphrases as a nod to his supporters in Florida.

Trumps super PAC, MAGA Inc., also has aired spots highlighting DeSantis votes to cut Social Security and Medicare and raise the retirement age. The group even targeted DeSantis snacking habits, running an ad that called for him to keep his pudding fingers off those benefits. That was a reference to a report in The Daily Beast that the governor ate chocolate pudding with his fingers instead of a spoon on a plane several years ago.

DeSantis has said he does not remember doing that.

At the same time, the pro-DeSantis super PAC, Never Back Down, has hired Iowa staff and begun trying to organize support for the governor before a 2024 announcement. The group announced Thursday that state Senate President Amy Sinclair and state House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl would endorse DeSantis candidacy. On Friday, it rolled out roughly three dozen more state lawmakers who would endorse him.

Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst attended DeSantis Sioux Center appearance.

After his speech, he spent about 15 minutes shaking hands and making small talk with voters as he maneuvered through the large audience, trailed by reporters, TV cameras and a security detail. He then dashed outdoors to pose with Reynolds and Feenstra while tending to burgers and pork chops at the grill.

Lyle and Sonia Remmerde of Rock Valley managed a handshake. She said DeSantis style comes across as normal.

One of the things when you compare Trump and DeSantis, I think DeSantis has  how do you say?  a much more smooth approach, said Lyle Remmerde, 65. Hes less abrasive.

___

Price reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Peoples reported from New York.
Earlier this month, a coalition of more than 40 student-run political organizations and mental health advocacy groups across Connecticut urged state Senate leaders to adopt two proposed amendments to Senate Bill No. 2, a comprehensive bill on childrens wellness poised to be voted on by the full Senate in the coming weeks.

This coalition  the largest of youth-led organizations calling for statewide mental health reforms in recent memory  was echoing calls made by its leading advocates in February, when the language of this priority bill was still being drafted. In both cases, our calls were met with little serious acknowledgment from chamber leaders, surrendering an opportunity to address gaps in mental health awareness and care faced by some of our states most vulnerable youth populations for no evident reason.

The amendments to SB-2 proposed by our coalition would add two new sections to the bill. The first of these additions would establish a task force charged with developing a statewide plan to promote the social and emotional well-being of young children, from birth through age 5 (as categorized by the DC:0-5 diagnostic classification system widely utilized in clinical practice), who are covered by the states Medicaid program (HUSKY Health). This plan would identify developmentally appropriate screening, assessment, diagnosis and treatment methods, as well as qualified treating professionals and support programs operating in a range of child care settings.

The second of these additions would task an existing state advisory council on autism spectrum disorder (ASD)-related services with extending outreach to underrepresented populations and considering updates to existing state guidelines concerning early screening and intervention for ASD.

The potential of these amendments to benefit children overlooked by past mental health initiatives is difficult to overstate. For instance, it is known that about 16% of infants and young children under 6 years experience clinically significant mental health challenges, which present as dysregulated emotional or behavioral patterns at roughly the same rates as older children. These children often respond well to therapy and family support provided under what is known as an infant-early childhood mental health (IECMH) intervention model.

The first proposed amendment, modeled after legislation approved in Rhode Island, would effectively direct the task force to identify additional IECMH services that could be covered by state Medicaids Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT) benefit but are currently not, including specific prevention- and parenting support-related programs.

IECMH services have been found by leading childrens advocacy organizations such as Connecticuts own Child Health and Development Institute (CHDI) to improve outcomes for afflicted children but be hindered by insufficient reimbursement options; in response, the CHDI has called for an exploration of current Medicaid billing options to help augment and pay for expanded services.

With more than one-third of Connecticuts children receiving coverage through HUSKY A & B, thousands stand to benefit from the incorporation of this amendment enabling streamlined, informed, and financially supported access to mental health services covered under an existing Medicaid benefit.

No task forces resembling that designated by our first proposed amendment currently exist: task forces convened under Public Acts 21-35 (2021), 21-171 (2021), and 22-81 (2022) were only charged with examining school-based services and workforce development, with no specific focus on the mental health of children under 6 years old. Many of these children are not old enough to attend K-12 schools yet and instead may be entirely dependent on dyadic therapy, home visiting programs, and other outpatient care when accessible.

Our proposal would also address the implications of a national rise in diagnoses of ASD among Black and Hispanic children, enacting a comprehensive response to racial disparities in the identification of children on the spectrum that are due in part to barriers to access and a lower likelihood of recognition of symptoms by their families.

The second amendment, modeled after legislation approved in New York, charges Connecticuts Autism Spectrum Disorder Advisory Council (ASDAC) with advising the Commissioner of the Department of Social Services on strategies to improve the coordination of ASD-related services for members of racial minority groups. ASDAC would also be tasked with considering recommendations for developmental screenings for children 3 years of age or under that would explicitly bring the states best practice screening protocols in line with ASD-specific standards established by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

We urge members of the Senate to introduce and adopt these proposed amendments when SB-2 reaches the floor. The added provisions would be among those in the bill that most directly accomplish its stated intent  that is, to improve access to mental, physical and emotional health services for children  and deserve consideration on their merits. We hope that our leaders at the state level continue to take the appeals of Connecticuts youth seriously  for if a bill that primarily affects us, our siblings, our peers, and thousands of children across our state does not address our expressed needs, who exactly is it being written for?

Vignesh Subramanian of Wilton is a student at SUNY Stony Brook University and a childrens mental health advocate.
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SHELTON  The eagle has landed  right amid Veterans Memorial Park.

The Eagle Monument  long a staple in front of the war memorial building at Riverview Park  was put in place at the park this week. Crews also laid in the stone, which will have a plaque honoring Navy Lt. and Shelton resident John Smarz and USS Thresher.

The monuments move is among a host of plans the citys Veterans Memorial Committee is working on as it continues its push to consolidate the numerous war memorials throughout Shelton at Veterans Memorial Park located downtown.

Committee member Milt Harrigan said the Smarz and USS Thresher plaque  currently at Shelton City Hall  will be mounted on the stone later this month. A dedication ceremony will be held once the surrounding area is landscaped.

The USS Thresher was a submarine that sunk off the coast of Cape Cod in April 1963 while undergoing deep sea testing. All onboard perished during this tragedy.

The overall goal, according to the committee, is to create a historical destination spot, on which already sits granite monuments honoring World War I, World II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. A black granite monument dedicated to the Global War on Terrorism should be completed and delivered around the end of July.

Harrigan said the committee has been working with Mayor Mark Lauretti on a sign for Veterans Memorial Park. The design of the sign is still under discussion.

There will be two banners secured to the lamp posts located on either side of the Civil War memorial. The purpose of the banners are to draw attention to the location of this memorial, as it can be easily overlooked. The banners have been ordered, but there is no firm date yet for delivery and installation.

Included in the budget for this project is a camera system, which will be purchased and installed. The exact locations of the cameras have yet to be determined.

Committee members stated that the installation of such a system in the pavilion area and other locations of the Veterans Memorial Park could serve as a deterrent against vandalism and help Shelton Police with investigations.
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HUDSON, Wis. (AP)  Some 1,500 law enforcement officers from several states were among 3,000 mourners paying final respects Friday to a Wisconsin sheriffs deputy who was fatally shot by a suspected drunken driver during a traffic stop.

The funeral for St. Croix County Sheriffs Deputy Kaitlin Kaitie R. Leising was held in the gymnasium of Hudson High School while a montage of photos from her life were shown on a large screen overhead. Leising's family, including her wife, Courtney, and their 3-month-old son, Syler, stood to the side of the casket, hugging visitors.

In less than a year with the sheriff's office, Leising earned commendations and the admiration of her colleagues, Sheriff Scott Knudson said.

There was so much to like about Kaitie, he said, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

Services lasted more than six hours as officers first arrived for three hours of visitation, then sat for the funeral before silently marching to the high school parking lot for an honor guard, gun salute and helicopter flyover. A law enforcement procession drove the casket to a private gathering of family in Baldwin, Wisconsin.

Courtney Leising said she was completely heartbroken that their son will grow up without Kaitlin. Leisings sister, Jordyn Stevens, remembered her as inspiring and confident, with a competitive streak that went beyond golf and basketball to board games and cribbage.

Mourners included a large delegation from the Pennington County, South Dakota, Sheriffs Office, where Leising worked before moving to St. Croix County last year.

Leising, 29, was slain May 6 in Glenwood, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) east of Minneapolis. Leising and the driver she pulled over, Jeremiah Johnson, were discussing field sobriety tests when he drew a handgun and shot her, the Wisconsin Department of Justice has said. She discharged her weapon three times, but none of the rounds hit Johnson before he fled to a nearby wooded area. Leising was pronounced dead at a hospital.

An hour after the shooting, an officer heard a gunshot in the woods. Johnson, 34, killed himself, investigators said.

Leisings death was the third fatal shooting of an on-duty law enforcement officer in western Wisconsin in a month, the Star Tribune reported.
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LOS ANGELES (AP)  Three men associated with a gang have been arrested in connection with two deadly Los Angeles shootings in a case in which all suspects and victims were from the Chicago area, police said Friday.

Investigators, however, would not specify the motive for the shootings that killed three women and wounded four other people in January and a man in December.

We can't discuss the motive but we can say that it's associated with Chicago, Capt. Jonathan L. Tippet, commanding officer of the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Division, told a headquarters press conference.

One thing that can be said is that the violence that occurs in Chicago today is having an effect on all of us," he said.

Tippet said the three suspects are involved in and connected to a gang but he could not go into further detail about their relationship with the group.

The arrests followed a nation-spanning investigation involving numerous law enforcement agencies including FBI violent crime task forces, Tippet said.

Dejean Thompkins, 28, was arrested last month in the Chicago area. Dontae Williams, 22, was also arrested in April in Gary, Indiana, and was transferred to Chicago. Daries Stanford, 28, was arrested May 10 in the Manhattan area of New York. All three are awaiting extradition to LA. It was not immediately known if they had attorneys.

Around 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 28, Iyana Hutton, 33, Nenah Davis, 29, and Destiny Sims, 26, were fatally shot in a car as they returned to a vacation rental house in LA's Beverly Crest area after a night out.

The women grew up together and had come out to LA in support of a Chicago rapper, Tippet said. He added that they were not the intended targets of the attack.

Four others were wounded and two others escaped injury in the attack, in which more than 30 rounds were fired. Their identities were being withheld, Tippet said.

Investigators connected that shooting to the Dec. 16 killing of Julian Bynum, 30, on a North Hollywood sidewalk outside an apartment complex.

In both of these cases the suspects used ambush-style tactics on their unsuspecting victims, Tippet said. Planning and coordination was utilized.

The slain women were not connected to Bynum, who is believed to have been targeted, Tippet said.

Public tips about the getaway car used in the Beverly Crest shooting were important in the investigation, he said.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office filed four counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder against Thompkins. Williams and Stanford were each charged with three counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder. All three were also charged with six counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.

The complaint also alleges special circumstances of lying in wait and multiple murders.
SHELTON  Margaret Del Buono has spent more than a decade supporting the students at Shelton High School, where she teaches culinary arts, family and consumer sciences.

Now the longtime teacher  who has been on leave since late March after being diagnosed with stage four lung cancer  is on the receiving end of that support as she continues her battle against the disease.

I think about all the fun things we had planned (with my students), said Margaret Del Buono, 49, known as Maggie to her family and friends, but just knowing that my students and community have my back no matter what is very touching.

Margaret Del Buono  who her husband, Andrew, calls a loving spirit" and "self-acknowledged master Jedi"  was diagnosed on March 23. Her prognosis is terminal, but she says there are treatments that can increase her longevity and quality of life.

It is a very heartfelt warmth and honesty knowing that they have my back regarding treatments and the diagnosis that I have been given, she added. It allows me to move forward with this and Im more aware of the giant size of my support group now.

She said she has decided to fight.

"What drives me in my fight against cancer is the decision I made to attack this head on and grab the bull by the horns, so to speak, and run with it, she said. It has allowed me to take this part one step at a time.

After the diagnosis Margaret Del Buono spent about seven weeks in inpatient care at Yale New Haven Smilow Cancer Hospital. This included four weeks of multiple trips in and out of the ICU, where she had numerous tests, biopsies, scans, mappings and other procedures.

She was discharged home about a week ago, with returns planned for radiation and chemotherapy treatments, as well as physical therapy and occupational therapy care.

At home she is confined to a hospital bed or wheelchair but is able to use a walker with assistance for short periods.

Her husband has set up a GoFundMe page seeking financial assistance for medical bills and equipment necessary to make her life easier and as enjoyable as possible while at their home. The couple has already raised more than $13,000.

She has touched the lives of so many kids, and now Maggie needs some help herself that I simply cannot provide alone, nor would she even ask, even in her own time of need she refrains from it, so here I am asking for help for her, he wrote on the GoFundMe page.

Knowing we have a long road ahead and many things to do, your support will get her comfortably back home very soon, Andrew Del Buono added in the post.

Andrew Del Buono said his wife will require therapy, continued treatments with transportation to and from the hospital in a wheelchair.

After about a month being confined to a bed, all she says she wants right now is to get back to work, and to see her class of seniors graduate this year, he said in an interview.

Andrew Del Buono said she is overwhelmed by the generosity of funds and support the pair have received.

This all significantly changed my perception on life in general and we must enjoy as much time with family friends and loved ones as we can first, Andrew Del Buono said. Having such a strong community backing us has made us very humble.
China supports EU to play more important role in int'l affairs: senior official

Xinhua) 10:41, May 13, 2023

Wang Yi (R), a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, meets with Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg in Vienna, Austria, May 11, 2023. (Xinhua)

VIENNA, May 12 (Xinhua) -- China has always supported the European Union to play a more important role in international affairs, said Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, here Thursday.

No matter how the international situation evolves, China has always firmly supported European integration, the unity and growth of the EU, a more important role of the EU in global affairs, Wang made the remarks while meeting with Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg in Vienna.

China is willing to conduct dialogue and cooperation with the European side on the basis of mutual respect and mutual benefit, added Wang, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

Wang noted that China-Austria relations have maintained a sound development, and expressed the wish to deepen the friendly strategic partnership with Austria.

Austria is committed to developing good Austria-China relations on the basis of mutual respect and seeking common ground while reserving differences, said Schallenberg on his part. He noted that Austria does not advocate decoupling from China and would actively promote the healthy development of EU-China relations.

The two sides also exchanged views on the Asia-Pacific situation, the Ukrainian crisis and other issues of common concern.

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Wu Chaolan)
EXCELSIOR, Wis. (AP)  A middle-school student waiting to board a school bus in Wisconsin was struck and killed Friday by a pickup truck that failed to slow down in time, authorities said.

The Sauk County Sheriffs Office said the student at Webb Middle School in Reedsburg was fatally injured about 7:20 a.m. along Highway 23/33 in the Town of Excelsior, northwest of Madison.
Did Jesus want Britain to increase its population by seven million people in 20 years? That is the number of migrants who have come to this country in that period, permanently changing the country in many ways.

I had no idea that Our Lord had any such policy. In fact, my searches of the Scriptures reveal no clear guidance on mass immigration as such. On the other hand, I am quite sure that both Labour and Tory governments have deliberately encouraged this revolution.

Labour, as we know from the blurted revelations of the Blairite functionary Andrew Neather, actually wanted to change the character of the country. The Tories wanted lots of cheap labour, and didn't care if it changed the country. The policy continues. I doubt that the latest law on migration will make much difference.

Lord Green of Deddington  a measured former diplomat who deals in hard fact  mordantly pointed this out during last Thursday's debate in the House of Lords. He said: 'The Government have actively encouraged large-scale economic migration,' and produced clear evidence of this.

He warned: 'The current scale of immigration, of which asylum is only a small part, simply cannot be allowed to continue. The pressure on our schools and public services is heavy and increasing. We already have to build nearly 300 homes every single day just to house immigrant families.'

The Archbishop of Canterbury, speaking in the Lords debate, said that 'in the New Testament, in Matthew Chapter 25, Jesus calls us to welcome the stranger'

Note that he states that 'asylum'  the contentious name given to a particular form of migration including the passage of small boats across the Channel  is just a small part of it. What does 'asylum' mean in reality? Lord Lilley offered this fascinating reflection, which I have not heard answered by pro-migration liberals. 'British courts and administrators reject only 26 per cent of initial asylum claims, whereas France rejects 75 per cent, Germany rejects 55 per cent, and both Sweden and Spain reject 71 per cent... in addition, Britain goes on to accept a majority of those who appeal.

'If lawyers do not admit that our system is too credulous, why do they not criticise our EU neighbours for being too harsh? Does not this disparity explain why some people are willing to risk their lives to escape safe EU countries to claim asylum in the UK?'

Those who read the devastating reports of our asylum system by my diligent, unstoppable Daily Mail colleague Sue Reid will know just what Lord Lilley means when he says our system is too credulous.

Honestly, no sensible government of any nation state can afford, as we have done, to more or less abolish our borders. If we have no choice in who comes here, then we have no idea who is coming, saint or criminal.

And if there is no limit on numbers, how long can we sustain the already tottering welfare state, health service, school system, transport system and housing supply, not to mention the relative social peace, which make us a desirable destination in the first place? Our Government absolutely cannot do this when it also goes round the world starting or fuelling wars, and so hugely increasing the number of refugees heading towards Calais.

Yet the leaders of my Church, the Church of England, so soppy about the hard issues of personal behaviour that are their true business, become fiercely militant about any efforts to curb mass immigration. The Archbishop of Canterbury, speaking in the Lords debate, said that 'in the New Testament, in Matthew Chapter 25, Jesus calls us to welcome the stranger'.

Actually, He is much tougher than that. Christ, in verse 46 of that Chapter, says to those who do not take in strangers that 'these shall go away into everlasting punishment'. I'm not sure Mr Welby believes in everlasting punishment anyway. But was the founder of our national religion, in these words, demanding that whole nations impoverish themselves so as to take in people from poorer parts of the world? How long will we be able to offer any sort of refuge if we continue such a policy without limit? If the rich man is so thoughtlessly generous that he ceases to be rich, how can he help or house the poor man?

The Christian message is about personal behaviour, not about government policy. As a country, we are bound to help within reason but not without limit. What is more, certain persons should stop believing that it is virtuous to compel others to be generous. In reality, those who really pay for mass immigration through its consequences tend to be the poor, the old, the ill and the badly housed. Many people do a lot of quiet good in the face of this, and I greatly respect them.

'The Bench of Bishops might take a look at Luke, Chapter 18, in which Jesus mocks a self-satisfied, publicly charitable person who noisily thanks God that he is not as other men are'

But I am not so sure about those who parade their consciences about the streets. The Bench of Bishops might take a look at Luke, Chapter 18, in which Jesus mocks a self-satisfied, publicly charitable person who noisily thanks God that he is not as other men are. Far too much of the debate on immigration features righteous, loud liberals living in nice places, despising those who do not share their generosity with other people's lives and living conditions.

My verdict on juries

I am glad the Scottish regime has run into trouble with its 'experiment' of getting rid of juries in rape trials.

Without a jury, a trial is just a committee of people who have already agreed on the defendant's guilt and are going through the motions before punishing him or her. Well, the authorities often get things wrong.

It is one of the glories of these islands that we still have juries, and if we allow them to be abolished, on any excuse, we will cease to be properly free.

The unlikely Britain of Harold's pilgrimage...

I love going to the cinema, where I wasted many hours of my youth. I remember when it was an experience of plush luxury in a bleak time, with usherettes and ice creams. I can still remember when they played the National Anthem at the end of films, though by the late 1960s many people hurried out to avoid standing up for it.

I have tried hard to find films I want to watch since the Covid shutdown ended and the theatres opened up again.

Jim Broadbent in The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

So I hurried to see The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry, mainly because it features that captivating actor Jim Broadbent, left, and promised a sort of cinematic journey through modern Britain.

I found it grimmer than even I was ready for. I also wondered yet again why modest hardworking suburban couples have to be portrayed as narrow-minded and joyless.

It was also striking that most of the people who are nice to Harold Fry as he stumbles and limps his way from Devon to Berwick are not mainstream citizens but outsiders, starting with a girl with blue hair and piercings and continuing in the same vein.

One of them is a trained doctor from Slovakia, who claims she must work as a lavatory cleaner because she is not allowed to practise medicine here.

As far as I can find out, Slovakian doctors are welcome to practise here. No doubt many kind people are unconventional. But many conventional people are kind, too
For all the latest Royal news, pictures and video click here

The Royal Family have been patrons of rare breed animals for many years

Few would doubt they're a rarity - or even an endangered species.

Perhaps that's why our Royal Family has shown such a keen interest in the fate of fast-disappearing British breeds.

From Princess Anne's Scots Dumpy hens at Gatcombe Park, to the magnificent English Longhorn cattle roaming Windsor Great Park, there's an impressive range of birds and animals that owe no small part of their survival to royal patronage.

Here, then, are some of the growing list finding a refuge in the protected parkland and estates of the various farms and palaces - not forgetting King Charles's favourite, the humble (and very much threatened) red squirrel.

Princess Anne is particularly fond of her Scots Dumpy Hens and Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs. Pictured: The Princess pictured with two Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs

In 2004, Prince William was seen getting stuck in at Home Farm, feeding the Tamworth Pigs

Orpington chickens

Chickens have been a favourite among the royal family for a very long time - namely Orpington chickens.

They were beloved by Queen Victoria who had her own flock, with the Queen Mother being a huge fan of the Buff Orpington breed in particular.

Following the death of the Queen Mother in 2002, Will Burdett, President of the Poultry Club of Great Britain, paid tribute to the late royal for keeping the particular type of chicken for 25 years.

He said at the time: 'We got the Queen Mother interested in receiving a trio of buff Orpingtons at Sandringham in the summer of 1977 and that renewed her interest in the breed, which she used to have in her childhood,

'She was just such a special person. In her later life, you wondered why a dear old lady would still be bothered about hens, but she remained just as interested as ever.'

The love of this breed of chicken has survived generations with King Charles still being a champion of the breed today.

The king and his wife Queen Camilla have a small flock of the breed which lay brown eggs.

Chickens have been a favourite among the royal family for a very long time - namely Orpington chickens

One source said that Charles has an 'encyclopaedic knowledge of most breeds' of chickens - his house is sometimes called 'Cluckingham Palace'. Pictured: Charles and Camilla looking at Lache Primary School's chickens

A source previously told the Sun: 'Charles is the all-time chicken lover and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of most breeds and knows how to rear them.

'"Cluckingham Palace" is what his house is sometimes called.'

It is quite obvious why this breed of chicken is so popular. They have an extremely friendly and docile nature, loving interaction with humans so much that they are tolerant to being picked up.

The Rare Breeds Survival Trust said: 'They are one of the best birds for the first timekeeper and for those with children-an ideal 'pet' chicken.'

Longhorn Cattle

You might catch a glimpse of the magnificent herd of longhorns as it roams Windsor Great Park, particularly in the area near Stag Meadow.

Said to have its origins in northern England, the longhorn was mainly used as a beast of burden - a draught animal for ploughing - rather than for its milk.

A herd of magnificent longhorn cattle roams Windsor Great Park. The milk is good for cheese

Even so, the limited milk is high in fat and is said to have played a crucial role in cheesemaking in Cheshire and in the manufacture of Stilton and Red Leicester.

According to Country Life magazine, it is one of the great British breeds.

For a brief time, the longhorn was one of the most common forms of cattle in the country, but its popularity began to wane in the nineteenth century until, eventually, it became endangered.

Scots Dumpy Hens

Like her older brother, Princess Anne is equally devoted to a breed of chickens - particularly Scots Dumpy Hens.

The 500-acre Gatcombe Park in the Cotswolds, the Princess' home, is a working farm and houses 230 Wiltshire horn ewes, 14 white park cows, six Highland cows, and two Gloucester old spot sows.

The Princess Royal has her own flock of Scots Dumpy Hens at Gatcombe housed in the estate's farm rooms.

According to the Rare Breeds Survival Trust 'the Scots Dumpy is a very old poultry breed of purely Scottish extraction'.

The breed almost disappeared in the middle of the last century and started to go in to severe decline.

The trust said had it not been for a 'dedicated band of breeders in Scotland during the 1970s' the chickens could have died out completely.

According to the Rare Breeds Survival Trust 'the Scots Dumpy is a very old poultry breed of purely Scottish extraction'

Tamworth pigs

In 1990 then Prince Charles set up his own organic food company - Duchy Organic - which was later taken over by Waitrose.

Charles farmed at Home Farm, near his Highgrove estate, for 35 years, becoming completely organic in 1985.

On the 1000-acre farm, Charles bred Tamworth pigs. These pigs are also cited to be a rare breed.

Tamworth's are considered Britain's oldest breed of pigs. They are said to be a very 'hardy animal' and are suited to breed outdoors. Their red coats protect them from getting sunburnt.

Tamworth's are considered Britain's oldest breed of pigs. They are said to be a very 'hardy animal' and are suited to breed outdoors. Their red coats protect them from getting sunburnt

Other animals on his Home Farm include Hebridean sheep (pictured)

Irish Moiled Cows also live at Home Farm

Charles' love of this special breed of pigs seems to have been passed down to his sons.

In 2004, Prince William was seen getting stuck in at Home Farm, feeding the animals.

Other animals on the farm include several other rare breeds, such as Irish Moiled pigs, Gloucester, Shetland and British White cattle, as well as Hebridean and Shropshire sheep.

Red poll cattle

For a long time red poll cows were considered a rare breed, with an estimated global population of less than 5,000

The late Queen used to keep 300 Red Poll Cattle on her Sandringham estate.

For a long time the cattle were considered a rare breed, with an estimated global population of less than 5,000.

They were also a time considered endangered in the UK by the RBST.

However, Queen Elizabeth intervened, helping raise the profile of the cows by housing them on her Sandringham Estate.

Red Poll Cattle is a traditional British breed that has a dual purpose of providing milk and cheese.

King Charles and Queen Camilla are looking to increase the number of Red Poll's on the Norfolk estate to 500.

Gloucestershire Old Spot

The Princess Royal is particularly passionate of this rare breed of pig. In 2009 she became a patron of the Gloucestershire Old Spots Pig Breeders' Club.

In 2015, however, disaster struck when one of her beloved Gloucestershire Old Sport's was savagely attacked when a wild boar broke into the pig pen on the Gatcombe Estate.

She revealed the details during a speech to the Oxford Farming Conference.

She told delegates: 'We had a visit last night on our farm from a wild boar. My Gloucestershire Old Spot boar is no longer with us as a result.'

According to the RBST the pigs have a very gentle nature. The breed was formed in the 1920s and has a very low population.

During a visit to the Cotswold Farm Park, King Charles was seen looking joyful as he met a group of Gloucestershire Old Spot piglets

The Princess Royal is particularly passionate of this rare breed of pig. In 2009 she became a patron of the Gloucestershire Old Spots Pig Breeders' Club

Ryeland sheep at High Grove

In 2002, Ryeland sheep were introduced at Highgrove following on from a promise made at the height of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak at Highgrove.

The sheep come from two lambs, D'Artagnan, who has the pets name Harry, and his mate Amanda Jane.

They were given to Prince Charles by farmer Moira Linaker after she promised the now King during a visit to her farm, that he could have a Ryeland ram and ewe for his 1,080-acre home at Highgrove once the outbreak was over.

The farmer had made headlines when she was photographed hugging Harry in a bid to stop him from being slaughtered.

In 2001 Moira Linakre (pictured holding Harry) promised to give King Charles two Ryeland sheep when he visited her farm at the height of the foot-and-mouth crisis

Speaking to the BBC at the time she said: 'His Royal Highness was so supportive during the foot-and-mouth situation in Cumbria.

'I knew that he did not have Ryeland sheep on his farm, which surprised me as King George III, under the influence of his agricultural adviser Joseph Banks, kept a pure-bred flock at Windsor.

'I thought it would be an honour, and indeed a pleasure, to re-introduce them back into the Royal Family and with who better than his Royal Highness.'

A spokesperson for Charles at the time said: 'The Prince of Wales is delighted to accept this very generous gift of this rare breed.

'As president of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust his Royal Highness is a firm supporter of rare and native breeds and puts his beliefs into practice by keeping rare breeds on his home farm at Highgrove.

'These Ryelands will be a very welcome addition to the farm and the prince is extremely touched by this gesture.'

Seabright, Burmese bantam and Poland frizzle chickens

Like the rest of us, over lockdown the Wales's, then known as the Cambridge's, picked up a new hobby.

There's was keeping chickens. Prince William and Princess Kate spent time with their children at their Norfolk Estate looking after their flock.

Over lockdown it was reported that they were keeping some of the rarer chicken breeds such as the Seabright, Burmese bantam and the Poland frizzle chickens.

Throughout the pandemic the couple said they acquired 'lots of chickens', with the children going to collect their eggs every day.

While on a visit to Ulster University in Northern Ireland, Kate explained: 'We've had lots of animals during lockdown. Animals are often like therapy.'

Throughout the pandemic Prince William and Kate said they acquired 'lots of chickens', with the children going to collect their eggs every day

Over lockdown it was reported that the Prince and Princess of Wales were keeping some of the rarer chicken breeds such as the Seabright (pictured), Burmese bantam and the Poland frizzle chickens

The Queen's love of ponies

Throughout her lifetime the late Queen made huge contributions to the survival or a number of rare and native breeds of ponies and horses.

At the Balmoral Estate she kept Shetland ponies, while Fell Ponies were kept at Hampton Court.

At Hampton Court Her Majesty's Carriage Breeding programme also took place to breed Cleveland Bays.

Further to this, the late Queen was also a patron to many different breeding societies, including the Fell Pony Society, the Highland Pony Society, the Cleveland Bay Horse Society and the Shire Horse Society.

At the Balmoral Estate she kept Shetland ponies, while Fell Ponies were kept at Hampton Court. Pictured: The late Queen Elizabeth holding her Fell ponies Bybeck Nightingale (right) and Bybeck Katie (left)

And don't forget about the Red Squirrels at Balmoral

It is not just farm animals Charles is trying to protect - he also trying to conserve red squirrels on the Balmoral estate.

He is even a patron of the Red Squirrel Survival Trust.

Prince William told Country Life magazine in 2018: 'He is completely infatuated by the red squirrels that live around the estate in Scotlandto the extent that he's given them names and is allowing them into the house.'

Charles admitted this was true, adding: 'If I sit quietly, they will do so around me.

'Sometimes, when I leave my jackets on a chair with nuts in the pockets, I see them with their tails sticking out, as they hunt for nuts - they are incredibly special creatures.'
He shared them online to protect people from getting duped by counterfeits

A luxury fashion expert has revealed how you can tell the difference between a 'scarily accurate' $1,000 'super fake' Hermes Birkin bag and the real deal - so you don't get duped by the near-identical design.

Charles Gross, a 28-year-old former handbag salesman and an online influencer based in New York who describes himself as 'a prominent fashion and lifestyle authority,' was left stunned after he examined a counterfeit Hermes Birkin 30 bag - and couldn't believe how similar it looked to the real one.

However, the social media star, who has racked up 1.3 million on TikTok for often sharing his expertise, said there were a few subtle differences that he spotted - which he has now shared on the video-streaming platform so that others can protect themselves from accidentally purchasing a replica.

Charles explained in the clip, which got more than 171,000 views in a matter of hours, that the sham Hermes Birkin he was showcasing cost 'just over $1,000.'

A luxury fashion expert has revealed how you can tell the difference between a 'scarily accurate' $1,000 'super fake' Hermes Birkin bag and the real deal - so you don't get duped

Charles Gross (seen in January), a 28-year-old former handbag salesman and an online influencer, was left stunned after he examined a counterfeit Hermes Birkin 30 bag

He couldn't believe how similar it looked to the real one (right) - but the social media star (left with the fake) said there were a few subtle differences that he spotted

@charlesgross Not a DH Gate knockoff, not a dupethis is a superfake. Many articles have been written about superfakes, Im so grateful I contributed to some. As superfakes are gaining more attention for the celebs that wear them, and the scammers that use them to dupe peope. Ill be doing a bunch of Tiktoks about this bag   original sound - Charles Gross

The company is famously very hush-hush about the price of its bags, but they are usually priced at tens of thousands of dollars - even on resale sites.

He shared them on the video streaming platform so that others can protect themselves from accidentally purchasing a replica. He is seen with a real Hermes Birkin bag

He did not specify where he got the 'super fake' from, but insisted he purchased it for 'educational purposes' only and would be returning it afterwards.

Upon receiving the lookalike purse, the fashion expert was instantly 'blown away' by the details, even in the packaging that it came in.

'The box is incredibly realistic,' he shared, as he held it up to the camera.

Inside, it contained all the stuff that comes with a real Hermes Birkin, including the 'booklet' and 'two Hermes Birkin raincoats.'

However, the first red flag that he noticed was that the Hermes ribbon - which is normally tied around the box - was placed inside rather than on the outside.

The bag was also wrapped in a plastic cover, which Charles said Hermes 'does not usually include.'

As the online star pulled the bag out of the box, he was left speechless over how real it looked.

Upon receiving the lookalike purse, the fashion expert was instantly 'blown away' by the details even in the packaging that it came in. 'The box is incredibly realistic,' he shared

Inside, it contained all the stuff that comes with a real Hermes Birkin, including the 'booklet' and 'two Hermes Birkin raincoats'

The first red flag that he noticed was that the Hermes ribbon - which is normally tied around the box - was placed inside rather than on the outside. A real Hermes Birkin box is seen right

The bag was also wrapped in a plastic cover, which Charles said Hermes 'does not usually include'

'So it's supposed to be a Birkin 30, with black Togo leather and gold hardware,' he explained. 'Immediately looking at it, I'm almost without words at how scarily accurate this is.'

As the online star pulled the bag out of the box, he was left speechless over how real it looked

He explained that the phony bag had an 'Hermes engraved zipper pull and Hermes engraved zipper stop,' but it looked like it was lined with 'Chevre leather' rather than Togo.

'All Birkins are hand-stitched with saddle stitching, and the amount of stitches and the placement all seems shockingly accurate,' he added. 'The saddle stitching looks really, really uniform.'

According to Charles, many people are being scammed by purchasing the fake luxury handbags from resale sites without realizing that they're counterfeits - and sometimes, he said even the websites that sell them don't realize they're knockoffs.

He said 'celebrities, socialites, and industry professionals with years of experience' have even been 'fooled.'

'I can tell that this is not authentic, there are some things that leap out to me,' he continued. 'But there are resale companies out there that would not be able to tell this is fake.

'So it's supposed to be a Birkin 30, with black Togo leather and gold hardware,' he explained. 'Looking at it, I'm almost without words at how scarily accurate this is.' The real bag is seen

He explained that the phony bag had an 'Hermes engraved zipper pull and Hermes engraved zipper stop,' and looked like it was line with 'Chevre leather'

When it came to the clochette and the lock on the 'super fake,' he said those too were extremely precise

'Someone could acquire this, sell it to the resale company, and then it's the end buyer that gets truly scammed.'

Charles said the sham Hermes Birkin he was showcasing cost 'just over $1,000.' He did not specify where he got the 'super fake' from, but insisted he purchased it for 'educational purposes' only and would be returning it afterwards. He is seen with a real Birkin

When it came to the clochette and the lock on the 'super fake,' he said those too were extremely precise.

'Hermes Birkin keys have a number on them and it should match the engraving on the bottom of the lock. It matches,' he said while looking closely at them.

'They even lined the clochette with Chevre and pressed the edge. Wow. I'm kind of blown away, it's scary.'

However, another thing that gave away that it was a forgery was that the lock had a 'lot of resistance' when he tried to close it.

In the end, Charles told his followers that he would never 'judge' people for owning counterfeit bags because he believes in 'kindness and education' rather than 'chastising and judgment.' But he was sharing the video in an attempt to raise awareness on the subject.

'I personally do not wear replicas, and nothing in my collection is fake. I don't support the replica or counterfeit industry and I don't promote it,' he concluded.

'That being said, I don't judge what someone chooses to do with their money. What someone chooses to wear is none of my business or anyone's business.'
A Florida dog trainer has revealed the three best dog breeds for apartment living that is certain to make you a good neighbor.

The Pug, the Cavalier King Charles and the Shih Tzu are considered the most ideal breeds for those living in smaller spaces, according to dog trainer Garret Wing, founder of American Standard Dog Training, a Fort-Lauderdale based dog training company.

'The reason we are suggesting these breeds over other smaller dog breeds are because these dogs are not as yappy and won't p**s off your neighbors,' Wing told DailyMail.com.

In a TikTok video released this week, Wing recommended the Pug as number one because 'it's small, it's friendly, doesn't bark a lot and does not require a lot of exercise.'

Number two is the Cavalier King Charles. These pups are also 'very friendly with other dogs and other pets and very good for older folks who live in an apartment.'

His third recommendation is the Shih Tzu. This miniature breed is 'easy to train and very happy to be with its owner'. They also socialize well with other people' and aren't heavy barkers.

The Pug is number one reason is because it's small, it's friendly, doesn't bark a lot and does not require a lot of exercise

Number two is the Cavalier King Charles. Wing said these dogs are also very friendly with other dogs and other pets and very good for older folks who live in an apartment

The third miniature breed is the Shih Tzu. They are 'easy to train and very happy to be with its owner.' They also socialize well with other people and don't bark a lot,' Wing said

These dogs don't need to spend hours in the park or to be kept busy with a game of ball. One walk in the morning should tire the dogs out, giving them ample time to rest while their owners are at work.

But, he said that these miniature breeds are not great on the stairs for those who live in a walk-up and don't have an elevator.

'Going up and down the stairs can put a lot of wear and tear on their shoulders and hips, so either carry them or take them on the elevator,' he said.

Wing, a 17-year-law enforcement veteran, commander of the tactical investigations unit, senior police K9 unit supervisor, patrol k-9 handler, narcotics k-9 handler and civilian EOD k-9 handler.

His advice is based on decades of experience, and growing up with a father, who was also a police K9 handler for nearly 30 years for a major South Florida police department.

Overall, he said these three breeds are very 'well-behaved,' and happy to spend time in the apartment alone or with a pack they are social and get along well with the others, including human folk.

The Pug, which is typically 10 to 13 inches in height, and weighs between 14 to 18lbs, are small and muscular yet easy to tote around.

The dog's motto is the Latin phrase 'multum in parvo'. Translation 'a lot in a little.'

Described as 'the mischievous companion of Chinese emperors, and later the mascot of Holland's royal House of Orange,' according to the American Kennel Club.

Their large round heads, large eyes, and wrinkled brows give them a range of human-like expressions including, surprise, happiness, curiosity. These lovable dogs are very affectionate.

Wing, a 17-year-law enforcement veteran, commander of the tactical investigations unit, senior police K9 unit supervisor, patrol k-9 handler, narcotics k-9 handler and civilian EOD k-9 handler. His advice is based on decades of experience, and growing up with a father, who was also a police K9 handler for nearly 30 years for a major South Florida police department

Garret Wing is in the midst of training a yorkie pup that has its little tongue out

The Cavalier King Charles is a toy spaniel that is no more than 13 inches height.

These aristocratic breeds that wear their connection to British history weigh between 13 to 18lbs. They can be active but as easily are happy to be couch potatoes.

The Shih Tzu known as the little 'Lion Dog' weighs between 9 to 16lbs don't require a lot of activity and are homebodies, and make great television companions.

Known for spending most of their day inside royal palaces these dogs are the ideal pet for those who live in an apartment and don't have a backyard, as per the AKC.

These aristocratic breeds that wear their connecton to British history weigh between 13 to 18 pounds. They can be active but as easily are happy to be couch pototoes

The Shih Tzu known as the little 'Lion Dog' weighs between 9 to 16 pounds don't require alot of activity and are homebodies, and make great television companions

Wing's TikTok video garnered nearly 600 views with many sharing their experience with their four-legged friends.

One person wrote: 'My shih tzu rarely barks , only if he is playing or we are eating pizza.'

While another person disagreed with Wing about his barking remark. 'Shih tsu are doorbell dogs... they bark every time.'

Another chimed in: 'My pugs bark! A lot! Over any little sound ...only have to put a cup down to hard and it sets them off.'

Some people asked Wing about those breeds that weren't mentioned.

'What about the schnauzer mini?' Another asked about 'yorkies.'

While one viewer gave their own takeaway: 'I have a Pekingese...best dog to live in a apartment.
An interior design expert has shared the very costly mistakes that people often make when buying furniture - from spending on items that aren't 'durable' to wasting on things that have 'inexpensive' alternatives.

Billy Shaw, the founder and CEO of furniture company 7th Avenue, from Los Angeles, California, exclusively spoke to DailyMail.com to dish on all the ways that customers can avoid wasting money while purchasing decor for their homes.

Picking out furnishings for your abode is a very important task as you're going to see and use most of it every day - and it's no secret that some pieces can be pretty pricey, so Billy explained that it's 'crucial' to take your time and not rush into buying anything.

The expert explained that people often try to cut costs by getting cheaper items - but ultimately lose money in the long run when they break and need replacing quickly.

Interior design expert Billy Shaw (seen) has shared the very costly mistakes that people often make when buying furniture

In addition, he said many make the error of forking out tons of money on items that 'only serve a purpose aesthetically' and aren't worth spending extra on.

Billy also revealed that many furniture shoppers tend to pull out their wallets without analyzing their 'lifestyle' or reading reviews first - which, according to the CEO, is a major oversight.

From the main things you should focus on when purchasing furniture, to the items you should prioritize if you're shopping on a budget, Billy shared a slew of advice for people who are getting ready to furnish their homes as well as reflecting on the biggest mistakes he's seen customers make.

Mistake one: Not taking time to reflect on your 'lifestyle' before purchasing furniture

One of the major errors that Billy said he's seen customers make is purchasing furniture that doesn't fit into their 'lifestyle.'

Before buying something for your home, Billy recommended taking a moment to 'evaluate' yourself - and, if you're the type of person that might make a mess, spend a little extra on protecting the furniture because it'll be worth it in the long run.

'For example, if you are a young person living by yourself in an apartment, then you would be able to go for 100 per cent linen upholstery since you are less likely to stain or make your sofas dirty,' he explained.

'However, if you have kids or pets, you would want to consider upholstery fabrics that are stain-resistant or washable.'

One error that Billy - the CEO of furniture company 7th Avenue - said he's seen customers make is getting items that don't fit their 'lifestyle'

Mistake two: Trying to cut costs by buying cheap items

Billy told DailyMail.com that the two most important things to consider while furniture shopping is 'functionality' and 'durability.'

If you're spending hundreds, even thousands, on a piece of furniture, you want it to be an investment that will last for years.

He explained that cheap pieces 'sound great in theory' but end up being more 'costly in the long run because they will need to be replaced more frequently.'

In addition to being a waste of money, Billy pointed out that going through tons of furniture is 'bad for the environment.'

'We have a large landfill problem in the United States with furniture being one of the biggest culprits,' he added.

Mistake three: Over-spending on decorations that 'only serve a purpose aesthetically'

While Billy believes that you shouldn't skimp out when it comes to buying furniture, he said the same does not apply for decor.

He said items that 'only serve a purpose aesthetically' usually have 'inexpensive' alternatives, so paying a lot for them isn't necessary.

He added that making your home look nice is certainly important, so you shouldn't avoid decorations all together, but just be careful not to overspend on products that won't 'get much wear-and-tear.'

Mistake four: Not getting the right couch

If you have a budget and can only afford to spend a lot on one item - Billy said your focus should be on your couch (stock image)

If you have a budget and can only afford to spend a lot on one item, Billy said your focus should be on your couch.

He explained that while some furniture pieces can certainly go on the back burner, your sofa should be on the forefront since your 'entire living room' will likely center around the object.

'The sofa is absolutely one of the most crucial investment pieces that you should make,' he said.

'You end up spending a lot of time on your sofa. It is where people lounge, work, live, and even socialize with friends and family on.'

When it comes to finding the perfect couch, he said comfort is a key factor to consider.

He recommends sofas that have a rub count of at least 50,000 or higher and are made from solid wood.

Billy also said to focus on 'cushions that are high-density to avoid sagging after just a few years of use.'

Mistake five: Not paying enough attention to the material the furniture is made out of

According to Billy, it's important to focus on what furniture is made out of which is something people often overlook (stock image)

According to Billy, it's important to focus on what furniture is made out of which is something people often overlook.

'The worst materials are particle board/plywood construction, low rub count fabrics that are not stain-resistant, low-density foam, and low-quality down feathers,' he dished.

'People should avoid buying down feather sofas. Down feather is a popular way for sofa manufacturers to increase the comfort level of the sofas, but they are incredibly hassling and high-maintenance.

'Down feather cushions do not naturally regain their shape, and cushions need constant re-fluffing. Down feathers can also escape the cushions, which can create a mess.'

Instead, he said to use down alternative, which 'gives the comfort and softness level of down, but without all the hassles.'

Mistake six: Not spending time reading reviews before buying something

The interior design expert said the last mistake that people often make is not reading reviews before making a purchase.

'Make sure to read all the reviews - good and bad,' he suggested. 'Read the negative reviews to make sure that you are comfortable with the cons a piece of furniture would have.

'In addition, make sure to read third-party review sites such as TrustPilot or even online forums like Reddit to ensure that you get opinions and feedback from real people.'
Fergie has been snapped stepping onto a boat in Venice following an appearance at the wedding of F1 billionaire heiress Chloe Stroll and Olympian Scotty James.

The Duchess of York appeared to be snapping a photo or video while standing on the boat, as she left the Italian city.

Looking stylish, the 63-year-old was dressed in a black midi skirt and green jacket, paired with matching trainers.

She pulled her auburn hair off her face with a thin band, but otherwise left her tresses loose, and they fell past her shoulders.

It is believed that the royal was in Venice to attend the wedding of F1 billionaire heiress Chloe Stroll and Olympic snowboarder Scotty James.

The 63-year-old Duchess of York (pictured) looked stylish in a black knee length skirt and green jacket as she stepped out in Venice

The appearance comes less than a week after the Duchess attended the coronation concert near Windsor Castle last Sunday.

Sarah was reunited with ex husband Prince Andrew, from whom she's been divorced since 1996, for the event, with the pair putting on a friendly display.

They joined their glamorous daughters Princess Eugenie, 31, and Princess Beatrice, 34, at the musical extravaganza, as well as other Royal Family members, including the King and Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh.

Despite not being invited to attend the coronation service at Westminster Abbey last weekend, Fergie marked the occasion with a touching Instagram post.

She posted a picture of King Charles and Queen Camilla waving at royal fans as they left Westminster Abbey with a short and sweet message of congratulations.

Sarah wrote: 'Sincerest congratulations to Their Majesties, the King and Queen.'

Earlier in the week, the Duchess had revealed how she would be celebrating the coronation.

She shared adorable photos to her Instagram and Twitter accounts showcasing the 'tea fit for a King' that she assembled for the residents at the Manor Care Home in Windsor 'to help them celebrate'.

Sarah was snapped as she stepped on a boat (pictured) in Venice - less than a week after attending the coronation concert in Windsor

In one of the images, a corgi could be seen sitting at the table, with a delicious looking cake in front of him. It's thought the pet could be one of the late Queen Elizabeth II's two surviving corgis, Muick and Sandy.

Sarah, alongside her ex-husband Prince Andrew, care for the two beloved dogs following the Queen's death

Next to the set of five adorable snaps of her 'tea fit for a King', she wrote: I hope you have got the bunting out ready for the Coronation tomorrow. I certainly have.

Today I assembled a tea fit for a King which I shared with the residents at the Manor Care Home in Windsor to help them celebrate. Enjoy the weekend!

In addition to the corgis, Sarah and her team had put together a beautifully prepared selection of sandwiches, a menu offering 'Camilla's tea' with lemon, ginger or green, and a huge cake that had been named 'Charles' Crunchy Cream Cake'.

Sarah appeared to be either snapping a photo or filming a video as she stood on the boat in Venice (pictured)

Sarah's followers on social media were quick to comment on the sweet post with many addressing the fact that the Duchess will not be attending the crowning of King Charles and Queen Camilla tomorrow at Westminster Abbey.

One person wrote: 'So glad youre taking good care of the Queens corgis.'

'Thats truly selfless and dignified!! I personally think you should be there but I hope you have a wonderful day x,' added another fan of Fergie.

While a third follower commented: 'Looks amazing... personally our Duchess of York should be in attendance tomorrow.

'Beautiful. Looks amazing. And you should be there,' penned a fourth fan. 'Awww nicely done,' wrote one person, while another follower added 'Sarah Big Heart'.
A postcard addressed to a Shropshire boarding school has finally arrived - some 66 years after being sent.

The card, which was sent to Adcote School in Shropshire, where the redoubtable Queen Mary was a regular visitor, bears stamps from 1957 and is addressed to a 'Miss D Kerr'.

Now Diane Browne, the current head of the school which was founded in 1907, is appealing for former pupil 'Miss D Kerr' or her family to claim the card.

Sent by Miss Kerr's mum, on one side of the card, there is a picture Penhelig Harbour, in the village of Aberdyfi (Aberdovey), in Gwynedd, Wales.

In the hand-written message on the back is a description of how Miss Kerr's father had been fishing while on a trip away and 'had no luck'.

Head teacher Diane Browne (pictured) is appealing for former pupil 'Miss D Kerr', to whom the card is addressed, or her family to claim the card

The headmistress said the delivery of the card in the school's morning post after 66 years 'completely disorientated' her.

'When it dawned on me what had actually happened, I was in complete shock.'

While the modern postmark on the card is dated 21 April 2023, a pre-decimal blue 1d stamp appears with a green 1.5d stamp.

Each depicts Queen Elizabeth II and research shows they were issued after her Coronation in 1953.

There was, the school added, also an old postmark, suggesting the card had entered the postal system previously, although the date was proving too hard to read.

But going by the type of stamps used, and a price hike in late 1957, the suspected postage date was either June or July of that year. Just what happened after that is unclear.

Ms Browne praised 'Royal Mail's conscientious attitude'.

'We wonder whether a worker found the card possibly when a piece of furniture was moved, and instead of tossing it aside, they have honoured the commitment to deliver it, although a little later than expected.'

The card is addressed to a 'Miss Kerr', and is signed 'Mummy'. It discusses how the recipient's father has had no luck while out fishing

But there is still detective work to be done to trace Miss D Kerr.

A search of admission registers at the all-girls school found she may be Denise Bronwen Kerr, who attended between 1957 and 1962.

Staff have appealed for help to trace her. She is thought to be 78, with a married surname of Miles.

'We would love to know who Miss D Kerr is, and unite her with the postcard sent by her mum, all those years ago' Ms Browne said.

'If that postcard had been sent by my mum or dad, I would be thrilled to receive it, even after all this time.'

The Church of England private day and boarding school's Latin motto is, perhaps fittingly, 'Nisi Dominus Frustra', which translates to 'Without the Lord, everything is in vain'.

There are currently 222 pupils aged seven to 18, eighty olf them 'boarders'.

The card was sent to Adcote School in Shropshire (pictured) which was founded in 1907. The redoubtable Queen Mary was a regular visitor

It is in a Grade I listed country house built in 1879 for Rebecca Darby, the widow of Alfred Darby.

The Darbys were the iron-master family who built Ironbridge.

In 2016 the school transferred from a charity to a limited company status, managed by IQ Schools Group, and owned by IQ Education (IQE), a Chinese backed education company based in Birmingham.

The school was founded on 18 January 1907 by Mrs Amy Gough, with two 'day pupils' and five 'boarders' in Glenmore House in the village of Doseley near Wellington, Shropshire.

In 1927 a private company was formed for the purchase of Adcote in Little Ness, five miles from Shrewsbury.
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden donned a blue suit to attend a political meeting near Stockholm today.

The heir to the Swedish throne, 45, appeared at the event alongside her father, King Carl XVI Gustaf.

Victoria looked businesslike as she made her way to the Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum in Marsta, just outside the capital city.

She paired the two piece suit, which featured straight cut slim trousers, and a belted oversized blazer, with a satin blouse in a similar blue shade.

Keeping with the monochrome theme, the royal donned a pair of heeled, pointed pumps, and carried a handbag, both in different shades of blue.

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden (pictured) looked ready for business as she donned a two-piece blue suit to attend a political meeting near Stockholm today

The heir to the Swedish throne (pictured, right) attended the meeting with her father King Carl XVI Gustaf (pictured, left)

Victoria had her hair pinned back into a smart low bun, showing offer her statement earrings, which featured a feather ornament dangling from a blue stud.

Her makeup was natural, with a fresh base that was complemented by a touch of blusher and a light sweeping of eyeshadow.

Meanwhile, the king also donned blue, pairing his dark navy two-piece suit with a patterned tie and white shirt.

Today's meeting was co-chaired by Minister for Foreign Affairs Tobias Billstrom and EU High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.

The meeting was held in Sweden, as the country currently holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union.

According to the event organisers, the event had the aim of 'strengthening the partnership between the EU and the Indo-Pacific region'.

Some 60 foreign ministers from the Indo-Pacific region and the EU, along with representatives of Indo-Pacific regional organisations and other partners were in attendance.

Co-chair Tobias Billstrom said of the meeting: 'Cooperation between the EU and the Indo-Pacific region is of great geopolitical and economic importance.

The Swedish royals were snapped as they took to their seats to listen to speakers during today's meeting

King Carl XVI Gustaf (left) posed with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba (centre) and his daughter Crown Princess Victoria (right) during the event

The royal duo's appearance today follows the pair flying to London together earlier this month to attend the coronation of King Charles on May 6

'Growing tensions are putting pressure on trade, technology and foreign and security policy, underscoring the need for Sweden and the EU to deepen partnerships and political dialogues with the Indo-Pacific. It is my hope and belief that this meeting will lead to even stronger cooperation.'

Josep Borrell added: 'In many ways, the Indo-Pacific region is where the future of our planet and of history will be decided. How the region develops is of direct interest to us.

'We have a stake in each others security and a shared interest in upholding the rules-based international order. Today, both partners are facing similar challenges, not just in security, but in trade and aid. In a globalised world, there is no faraway and conflicts cannot be separated.'

The Crown Princess and her father were photographed smiling at each other as they took their seats for the event. They were later snapped posing with some of the meeting's other attendees, including Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

The royal father and daughter duo stepped out together earlier this month, when they flew to London to attend the coronation of King Charles on May 6.
A hardworking couple have revealed the devastating reality of the country's rental crisis after becoming homeless, being forced to live in a tent and having 'no choice' but to send their kids away.

Jen* and her husband, both 30, earn a healthy combined income of $100,000, but it isn't enough to keep a roof over their heads or their family together.

The parents from Gold Coast told FEMAIL they have applied for 70 properties in the city and nearby Tweed Heads over the last four months without success.

'We aren't the only people we know in this situation. The massive influx of people to the region have made getting a rental impossible,' she said.

'The crisis isn't just in Sydney it is really bad here on the Gold Coast too, people need to know that.'

The couple have had to send their 11-year-old son and six-year-old daughter to live with relatives 'hours away' because they don't want to expose them to life on the street.

A Gold Coast couple have been forced to send their kids away and move into this tent because they can't find a rental property

Mum, 30, is a support worker training to become a nurse, and the dad, also 30, is a tradie

'We don't know when we will be able to see them again. They cry when we call them because they miss us, it is heartbreaking,' she said.

It has already been a month, which feels like eternity for the kids who have never spent more than a night or two away from their doting mum and dad.

They were initially displaced when their long-term rental sold.

'Unfortunately the buyers weren't investors so we had to move,' Jen explained.

They struggled to secure a new home - so signed a three-month lease on a short-term rental hoping that would give them enough time to get sorted.

But it wasn't - and when the lease was up the owners needed the tiny two-bedroom flat back.

'We couldn't get another rental so we had no choice but to camp.'

The couple have applied for 70 homes - including this two-bedroom apartment to no avail. This apartment was listed at $460-per-week last month, the previous tenants were paying just $285-per-week

This duplex was listed for $590-per-week, the couple applied but it was taken off the market within a week

The couple's $500-a-week budget won't get them much now prices have gone up - but they are even being knocked back on one and two-bedroom places.

'Most of the time you don't hear back or have to call them constantly for an answer,' she said.

Realtors have told her many homes already have 'approved tenants' before the open houses even take place.

'It is frustrating and feels like a waste of time. Sometimes there are 30 or 40 people there,' she said.

Jen, who is a support worker and studying nursing full-time, said she can't afford to 'offer more' on the properties.

The couple say nights can be cold and that when it rains 'everything gets wet' (pictured, the tent they live in)

'We can afford more than that right now, but I have to do my 1,000-hour placement soon so we will be down to one income,' she said.

'You can't work and do the placement.'

She and her tradesman partner 'still can't believe they are homeless'.

They don't have a fridge and gave up on their Esky, and cold food, after forgetting to put ice in it

'It is unbelievable the government lets this happen, we have both worked hard, paid taxes and done the right things in life,' she said.

'We don't smoke, drink, gamble or take drugs. We just want to raise well-mannered children in a happy home and we can't even do that.'

They had to buy the tent and other gear when they found themselves living on the street, as they aren't 'campers', and have had to be very discreet as they aren't supposed to 'live' on site.

'We thought it would just be for a few days or a week, but we are still here,' she said.

The couple shiver through the nights then have to get up at first light because the tent gets too hot.

They charge their phones at work and have even used their cars to shield their tent from the elements.

'It stormed the first eight days we were here, it was wet and gross,' she said.

When the cold front moved up the coast last week they 'froze'.

'We didn't realise it was going to be so cold, and it was so windy that night. Like a cyclone. I googled it and winds were 35km/h. We parked our cars in front of tent as a wind break.'

This home was listed for $590-per-week but agents accepted an offer 'over $700'

They have also learned a lot.

'The first week we didn't communicate properly and the Esky went without ice, all out meat went off so we don't have cold food storage anymore,' she said.

The couple are hoping for an end to their nightmare soon.

'I feel like I spend all my time at the university trying to find us a home.'

According to Core Logic Data prices of rentals have exploded in the couple's chosen areas.

One two-bedroom apartment they applied for was listed for $460, the previous tenants paid just $285.

The data suggests even less-desirable properties are being snapped up quickly - the unit had been on the market for almost six months before it was rented out for the lower price.

This time it was leased in weeks.

The median cost of a two bedroom property in Tweed Heads is $669k, while median rent sits at $600-per-week.

They aren't allowed to live at their camp - but thought they would be in and out in a week

The median rental price for a three-bedroom place in Tweed Heads is $790-per-week.

The Housing Industry Association predicted rentals costs, which already grew by 17.6 per cent for units and 14.6 per cent in capital cities last year, could now climb higher still as supply fails to keep pace with demand.

Nationally the residential vacancy rate is 1.1 per cent, the same figure as Melbourne and Hobart, while it's 1.3 per cent in Sydney and a crushing 0.5 per cent in Adelaide.

The return of migrants, students and tourists to Australia could mean vacancy rates will worsen.

'This imbalance will see the affordability and rental crisis deteriorate further,' said Tom Devitt, HIA senior economist.

Real estate agent shares tips for securing a rental: Adam Flynn, Victorian State Director of the Coronis Real Estate Group says there are three things renters can do to improve their chances of securing a long-term rental. 1 - Pay as much as you can up front - ie three months 2 - Personalise the application - Add a cover letter explaining what you love about the house. Tell them who you are, introduce your family being very specific about pet and kids. Let them know your personal situation. 'They are human, the more detail the better.' 3 - Make sure the application completely filled out correctly and your references are good. With the rental history provided for background checks.- user friendly. 'If they have eight applications it is easier to go forward with the correct one, it might not be the best one.' Some renters have revealed their frustrations with finding suitable, or any, housing despite having clean rental records and good incomes. People with children and pets often find it more difficult to secure a lease than other people. Advertisement

NSW Tenants' Union CEO Leo Patterson-Ross told Daily Mail Australia the pressure was on the government to deliver much-needed good news to renters in the budget on Tuesday.

'This is a critical budget to set up the recovery in the renting and housing system,' he said.

Mr Patterson-Ross said families that rent are too often in crisis.

'We are hearing from people sleeping in cars, in makeshift homes that do not provide proper protection or might be unsafe or dangerous environment.'

*Name changed to help the family remain anonymous. If you think you can help them email belinda.cleary@mailonline,com
It's no secret that bananas ripen super quickly in any household when left on the counter or fruit bowl.

Now, a kitchen expert has recommended households store their fresh bananas a different way to ensure they remain yellow for longer.

Mike from Kitchen Tips Online revealed that he experimented with two bunches of bananas to see which set would ripen faster.

As bananas naturally ripen, the peels give off ethylene gas. The higher the ethylene concentration in the air surrounding the banana, the faster they mature (File image)

As a banana ripens, much of the starch is converted into sugars, making it an excellent natural source of sweetness. Despite this, the public is prone to throwing brown bananas away - even though they're still edible (File image)

With one method, he placed the fruits on his kitchen counter. And with the other bunch, he put them inside an air tight container on his kitchen counter.

Inside the container, he placed an ethylene absorption ball.

What this does is it extends the shelf life of fruits and vegetables by removing the gases through an oxidation process, ensuring that the produce stays fresher for longer.

However, Mike admitted that nearly a week went by until he noticed a 'significant' difference between the bunches.

Ripen your bananas super fast... If you want your banana now, but its still firm, you can pop it in the microwave to soften it. Just poke the unpeeled banana all over with a knife or fork, and then place it on a plate inside the microwave for 30 seconds a time - until it is as soft as you want it. While these bananas won't be as sweet as the over-ripe ones, they'll still be good to mash into your pancake or banana bread mixture. Advertisement

He found that the bananas on the counter were 'significantly softer than the ones in the container'.

And by day 15, there was still 'a little bit of green' on the bananas in the airtight container.

But when he cut open the bananas from the air tight container, he noticed that there was a 'little bit of bruising' on the fruit - but it was 'still edible'.

As bananas naturally ripen, the peels give off ethylene gas. The higher the ethylene concentration in the air surrounding the banana, the faster they mature.

The brown colour comes from dark pigments including melanin, which is found in human hair and skin.

In bananas, these pigments form when oxygen reacts with natural chemical compounds called phenols in the peel.

As a banana becomes browner and browner, much of the starch is converted into sugars, making it an excellent natural source of sweetness.

Despite this, the public is prone to throwing brown bananas away, even though they're still edible and ideal for use in baking recipes, such as banana bread.

Another way to slow down the ripening process of your bananas at home is to wrap cling film around the stems to trap the ethylene gas.

It is important that you wrap the stems of individual bananas, rather than the whole bunch together.

This is because when you wrap the stem individually and cover them fully, there are fewer places for the ethylene gas to leak out.

On the other hand, if you do want your bananas to ripen faster, it has been recommended to pop the fruit into a closed paper bag.

Mike from Kitchen Tips Online experimented by placing one bunch of bananas on his kitchen counter. And with the other bunch, he put them inside an air tight container on his kitchen counter (File image)

By doing so, this will trap the ethylene while letting in enough oxygen to help move the process along.

When trying this technique, it's important not to use a plastic bag because it won't allow enough oxygen in and can actually inhibit ripening.

This is actually why, most of the time, bananas in the supermarket are often bagged in plastic - to keep them from ripening too soon.

Meanwhile, Professor Gordon Carlson, a consultant gastric surgeon at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, told Good Health he eats one relatively unripe banana every day to boost his gut health. The benefits of green bananas were confirmed in a major review of 18 studies on their nutrition, published in the journal Nutrients in 2019.

This found that green bananas can help with gastrointestinal symptoms (such as diarrhoea and constipation) and diseases (such as intestinal cancers).

A green banana typically has a glycaemic index (GI) of 30, compared to 58 for a ripe banana.

They may also assist in preventing or treating type 2 diabetes.
As Brits take AstraZeneca to court we recount what happened with the Covid jab

AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine undoubtedly saved millions of lives. But, for some, the jab proved a source of despair.

Millions of Brits rolled up their sleeves when called to get the vaccine in the hope of protecting themselves, vulnerable loved ones and society as a whole from the virus as it swept the country.

In comparison to rival vaccines which used pioneering mRNA technology, the more traditional, Oxford University-designed shot was cheaper and easier to store.

But the historic roll-out was marred after reports of a rare, but dangerous, side effect causing potentially deadly blood clots to form in the body emerged.

As survivors and the bereaved keep fighting for compensation, MailOnline answers all your questions on the AstraZeneca saga: What happened? Are there any ongoing health concerns? And what are victims fighting for?

As survivors and the bereaved keep fighting for compensation, MailOnline answers all your questions on the AstraZeneca saga: What happened? Are there any ongoing health concerns? And what are victims fighting for?

How does the AstraZeneca jab work?

World-leading vaccinologists from Oxford University began working on a Covid jab within weeks of the pandemic striking.

That team, which included respected names in the field, like Professor Sarah Gilbert and Sir Andrew Pollard, eventually teamed up with pharma titan AstraZeneca, which promised to help run trials and mass produce any successful jab.

Unlike rival jabs created by the likes of Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, which pinned their hopes on utilising never-before-used mRNA technology, AstraZeneca opted for a tried-and-tested approach with ChAdOx1 (the vaccine's scientific name).

It uses a weakened version of an adenovirus  a pathogen which causes a common cold in chimpanzees. This is genetically modified to be incapable of making humans sick.

On top of that, it also carries genetic material from SARS-CoV-2, the pathogen that causes Covid.

READ MORE: Exposed: 'Cruel' flaws of Government-funded financial support scheme for Brits injured by AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine Campaigners have demanded immediate changes to the 'cruel' financial support scheme for Brits injured or left bereaved by Covid vaccines like AstraZeneca's Advertisement

This teaches the body's immune system how to fight the real virus.

AstraZeneca's vaccine, given as two doses taken up to 12 weeks apart  was praised as a being a game-changer in the pandemic.

In contrast to its fragile, mRNA-based alternatives, which needed to be stored at sub-zero freezer units, it could be stored at domestic fridge temperatures. This made the distribution of the vaccine much easier, especially in poor countries.

The Anglo-Swedish firm also promised to initially distribute at 'cost', meaning unlike other jab makers, it didn't make any profit. Its jab was also approximately five times cheaper, at around 3 a dose.

What did original trial data show?

Tens of thousands of volunteers, from every corner of the planet, including the UK and the US, willingly rolled up their sleeves to take part in original trials.

Heavily-scrutinised data suggested two doses of the AstraZeneca jab offered about 70 per cent protection against becoming ill. This meant developing any symptoms, as opposed to being hospitalised.

Other studies calculated that a single dose reduced the likelihood of hospitalisation by up to 94 per cent.

Officials in Britain approved it for public use on December 30, 2020, just weeks after data was published.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is a genetically engineered common cold virus that used to infect chimpanzees. It has been modified to make it weak so it does not cause illness in people and loaded up with the gene for the coronavirus spike protein, which Covid-19 uses to invade human cells

First doses were dished out on January 4, 2021, less than a month after Pfizer's burst onto the scene.

When the AstraZeneca jab was approved, then-Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it was a 'moment to celebrate British innovation'.

'This vaccine will be made available to some of the poorest regions of the world at a low cost, helping protect countless people from this awful disease,' he stated at the time.

'It is a tribute to the incredible scientists at Oxford University and AstraZeneca whose breakthrough will help to save lives around the world.

'I want to thank every single person who has been part of this British success story.'

Were there known side effects at the time?

Analysis of the phase 3 trial, the final hurdle needed to be cleared before any drug gets approved for widespread human use, noted no safety concerns.

Yet, like with all forms of medication, AstraZeneca's jab carries a range of potential side effects.

Officials knew about mild ones thanks to the massive trials, with recipients mostly complaining of routine issues like headaches.

READ MORE: An 18-year-old aspiring paramedic, a rock musician and an award-winning BBC radio presenter: The 'victims' of AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine As families and survivors continue their fight for compensation, MailOnline highlights just some of those who have died Advertisement

And people who were subsequently vaccinated were warned about them ahead of getting any needle in their arm.

Common side effects, which health bosses say can affect more than 10 per cent of recipients, include fatigue, 'flu-like' symptoms, and pain in the arms or legs.

Stomach pain, a rash and excessive sweating were uncommon, strikes roughly one in 100 people who get vaccinated.

Rare (approximately one in 1,000) issues include facial drooping on one side. Very rare (one in 10,000) side effects can see people paralysed.

So, what went wrong and when?

Trials weren't big enough to spot the complication which has sparked a huge legal fight in Britain.

Vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia, or VITT, can cause blood clots that have now been linked to dozens of deaths and far more injuries.

Opening the door for millions more Brits to get the jab, as the UK did during the first few months of 2021, effectively outed VITT. Officials spotted a small, yet significant, trend that allowed them to raise the alarm in the first week of April.

How Downing St's historic inoculation campaign was set-up also assisted in quickly detecting the unforeseen complication  and working out who was at most risk.

All Covid jabs, including AstraZeneca's, were dished out to the most at-risk first. This meant prioritising the elderly, Brits with underlying medical conditions, and frontline health and care workers.

As a result, some younger people, who were found to statistically have a higher risk of VITT, were given AstraZeneca as the logic at the time was to get these people as protected as quickly as possible.

What is VITT?

This is the term given to an extremely rare blood disorder that can occur following AstraZeneca's vaccination.

It causes blood clots to form in various parts of the body, including the brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, and the legs. It is an urgent medical emergency.

These blood clots, like any others, can be deadly depending on where they form or if they break up and travel to parts of the body like the brain.

In a very small number of cases  about one in 100,000 in the UK  the vaccine can set off a chain reaction which leads to the body confusing its own blood platelets for fragments of virus. The shell of the vector vaccine  the weakened cold virus used to teach cells how to neutralise Covid  sometimes acts like a magnet and attracts platelets, a protein found in the blood. For reasons the scientists are still probing, the body then mistakes these clumps as a threat and produces antibodies to fight them. The combination of the platelets and the antibodies clumping together leads to the formation of dangerous blood clots

Blood clots in the brain can be especially dangerous, causing brain bleeds or strokes by blocking blood vessels, which can lead to permanent disability. Limbs can also have to be amputated if a blood clot cuts off the flow of oxygen to the body part.

Thrombosis UK, a charity which aims to raise awareness about blood clots, says it can be fatal even if 'treated appropriately'.

Treatment involves immediate infusions of healthy antibodies, to stop the internal misfiring that causes the life-threatening condition.

Blood-thinners are also given to treat the clots and prevent any new ones occurring. In some cases, surgery is necessary.

Government estimates suggest blood clots occur from taking AstraZeneca's jab in up to one in 10,000 people.

For VITT specifically, the risk is thought to be greatest to the under-50s, with one in 50,000 affected. In over-50s, officials believe the risk is about one in 100,000.

What are the symptoms of VITT?

VITT symptoms usually start five-plus days after being jabbed, as opposed to being felt immediately after.

Unusually severe and persistent headaches which might become worse when lying down or bending forwards are the most common sign. Victims have described them as being 'thunderclap' headaches, causing a blinding pain unlike anything suffered before.

These can be accompanied with changes in vision or nausea.

Another common symptom of VITT is seizures, weakness on one side of the body or a drop in level of consciousness.

Persistent pain in the tummy region, blood in the stools, chest pain and shortness of breath, as well as leg swelling, are other signs officials tell people to look out for.

The graph shows the cumulative number of Covid jabs dished out in the UK since the pandemic began, the percentage of each age group which has had a jab (bottom left) and the number of each Covid vaccine brand dished out

How does the vaccine cause VITT?

Researchers tasked with investigating the adverse reaction believe it occurs due to the modified cold virus lurking in the jab acting like a magnet to a type of protein in the blood called platelet factor 4.

Platelet factor 4 is normally used by the body to promote coagulation in the blood, in case of injury.

Then, in rare instances, the body's immune system confuses platelet factor 4 with a foreign invader and releases antibodies to attack it in case of 'mistaken identity'.

These antibodies then clump together with platelet factor 4, forming the blood clots that have become so heavily linked with the jab, according to their theory.

How did the world react?

Discovery of the deadly complication sparked panic across the West, especially the EU, which had bought up millions of doses.

Countries like Denmark, Norway, Iceland, The Netherlands and Ireland pulled the jab entirely.

READ MORE: I'm not an anti-vaxxer. I just lost my husband to AstraZeneca's Covid jab two years ago and have had to sell my home to help pay the bills - because I STILL haven't got any compensation Kam Miller, 57, pictured left and Neil Miller right, in 2016 five years before his death. He died on May 1, 2021, aged 50 after getting his AstraZeneca Covid vaccination in March 2021 Advertisement

Other European nations, including Germany and France, restricted the jab to under-65s based on concerns over efficacy in older people. Once they learnt of the age-based risk, they U-turned and only offered it to over-55s.

The panic led to thousands of people shunning the jab when offered in Europe and further afield, in places like the Congo and Thailand.

Britain itself eventually clamped down on its use and restricted it to the over-30s in April and then the over-40s in May, once the evidence became abundantly clear.

Most of Europe eventually followed suit. Although the saga saw some leaders, like French President Emmanuel Macron, accused of playing political games after he called the jabs 'quasi-ineffective' in what some described as Brexit bitterness.

So did the risks outweigh the benefits?

Given its efficacy and the fact it cleared all the relevant hurdles without triggering any safety alerts, officials felt confident in approving AstraZeneca's jab.

But when cases of VITT began to crop up, questions were immediately asked about the risk/benefit ratio, especially given that the complication was mainly striking younger Brits.

Healthy younger people, who the virus barely posed a threat to, stood to gain much less from being vaccinated, compared to an elderly person.

So officials needed to weigh up the risks a person might suffer if they were to catch Covid, compared to the risk of complications from the jab.

When broken down, University of Cambridge academics at the time estimated there would be eight ICU admissions prevented for every 1million 20 to 29 year olds given a jab.

For comparison, the same analysis that spooked ministers into restricting the jab to just over-30s concluded that 11 people would be struck down with blood clots, if the same amount of jabs were dished out.

Concerns about blood clots grew and eventually saw the jab restricted in under-40s, too.

But for older Brits, the scales tipped in the other direction.

This essentially meant that Covid presented a greater risk, meaning the vaccine was still recommended for them.

Do we know how many Brits were killed?

At least 73 Brits have died as a result of VITT, according to the UK's drug watchdog, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Such deaths are flagged via the MHRA's Yellow Card Reporting system which works by members of the public or medics flagging possible adverse reactions. This is the same way VITT was spotted in the first place.

The MHRA then investigates these reports to determine if the medication could be responsible, or if the event was unrelated or a coincidence.

Official figures have put the death toll from all Covid jabs at 75  but these are not broken down by manufacturer. Experts also say that, although close to the real toll, they are likely to be a slight undercount given that some fatalities could have been missed or still be under official investigation.

Some fatalities could also include other vaccine complications, such as blood clots not specifically linked to VITT.

Anti-vaxxer claims that thousands have died from Covid jabs are way off the mark, however.

While VITT deaths, and many more cases, have been reported in other countries a total global tally has not been put together.

How many were disabled?

No figures are provided for the number of people left disabled from AstraZeneca's Covid jab.

But a recent Freedom of Information request (FOI) shows that, as of April 24, 2023, 78 claimants had been notified that they are entitled to a vaccine damage payment  the Government's compensation scheme.

Common side effects, which health bosses say can affect more than 10 per cent of recipients, include fatigue, 'flu-like' symptoms, and pain in the arms or legs. Stomach pain, a rash and excessive sweating were uncommon, strikes roughly one in 100 people who get vaccinated

Of the 78 claims, 32 were awarded on behalf of someone who has died.

It means that 46 recipients were entitled compensation because they were left 'severely disabled' by the vaccine.

It should be noted that all figures quoted above could be underestimates and will not include those who don't meet the 'severely disabled' criteria  which is 60 per cent disability.

More claims could surface in the coming months.

Does this mean the jab was faulty?

No. While the deaths from VITT were unexpected, this doesn't mean AstraZeneca's jab was faulty.

Although not perfect in terms of protecting against Covid, it still worked on a mass scale.

Millions of Brits got the life-saving jab without suffering any complications.

They then possessed protection from a serious Covid infection, which itself carries risks  especially when the vaccine was first deployed, at a time when the UK's wall of immunity was so much lower than it is now.

Official estimates put the number of lives saved in the UK by Covid vaccines over the course of the pandemic at 120,000, though this isn't broken down by brand.

Globally, AstraZeneca's jab is credited with preventing 6million deaths.

I got an AstraZeneca jab. Should I be worried about long-term health risks?

Side effects from the AstraZeneca vaccine generally only occurred within the first four weeks of receiving it.

There is currently no evidence of a long-term risk from having had the jab, doctors insist.

As jabs are given as a single dose at a time, experts claim adverse effects generally only occur a short time after receiving the injection  unlike with medication that people take for years.

Additionally, given the sheer quantity of people who received the AstraZeneca jab, some 50million in the UK and over 2.5billion globally, long-term effects would likely to have been spotted by now.

I had a reaction to the AstraZeneca vaccine, what support is available?

People who have suffered a severe reaction or lost a loved one to a vaccine may be eligible for the UK's Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.

This consists of a tax-free sum of 120,000, though restrictions apply.

It is only available to the family of those who died or those left 'severely disabled'  defined as being at least 60 per cent disabled, based on evidence from a doctor  because of a vaccine.

However, this is not compensation in the technical sense, with the taxpayer footing the bill.

Instead the scheme, established back in 1979, is meant to reassure people that, in the unlikely event something goes wrong, the state will provide support.

Campaigners have demanded immediate changes to the 'cruel' financial support scheme for Brits injured or left bereaved by Covid vaccines like AstraZeneca's

In theory, this is meant to combat vaccine hesitancy and encourage the public to get jabbed from various pathogens helping protect the nation from disease.

But critics of scheme have said it is arduous, stingy in terms of total amount payout, and cruel in its 60 per cent disability threshold.

As it is not compensation, people who take the payment are still entitled to take legal action against the vaccine manufacturer if they choose, as some people affected by the AstraZeneca jab are.

While they may be taking AstraZeneca to court, if damages are awarded it will be the UK Government, and by extension the taxpayer, that is likely to foot the bill. This is due to an agreement that was made to make the vaccines available so quickly.

What is the legal action AstraZeneca victims are taking and why?

Around 90 claimants are known to be taking AstraZeneca to court over deaths and injuries they say are linked to the jab.

Some of these people have already received a payment from Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme. Others are in the process of applying for a payment. Some have been told they are ineligible.

The lawsuit is based on the Consumer Protection Act 1987 and will argue the vaccine was 'a defective product' that was 'not as safe as consumers generally were reasonably entitled to expect'.

Experts say some individuals could win seven-figure payouts depending on the level of ongoing care they might need in the future, though this likely to vary significantly case-to-case.

The reasons why people are taking action are complex.

Some who are severely disabled due to the jab are facing huge ongoing care costs, as well as being out of work with family members sometimes having to quit employment to provide them care.

Rare (approximately one in 1,000) issues include facial drooping on one side. Very rare (one in 10,000) side effects can see people paralysed

Depending on a person's age and expected life expectancy, these costs can rapidly eclipse the 120,000 offered by the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.

Others are, at least in part, pursuing the action as way of seeking justice for either those they have lost or lives that have been completely upturned by their injuries.

It should be noted that every person MailOnline has spoken to involved in the action has distanced themselves from the anti-vaxxer movement.

Without exception, they insist they support and recognise vaccination as a positive public health action but want recognition of the price they paid as a result of the pandemic.

READ MORE: The 1BILLION battle for Covid jab justice: How 100 British families left bereaved or disabled by AstraZeneca's vaccine are fighting for compensation to avoid financial ruin after being abandoned by the Government... and they insist they are NOT anti-vax The graph shows the cumulative number of Covid jabs dished out in the UK since the pandemic began, the percentage of each age group which has had a jab (bottom left) and the number of each Covid vaccine brand dished out Advertisement

Who will have to pay if the action is successful?

Likely the taxpayer. As part of the indemnity deal No10 signed with AstraZeneca, the company is likely to be spared from paying out compensation.

This indemnity was part of the agreement for rolling out the Covid vaccines so fast.

As the nation was trapped in lockdown in 2020, the Government was keen to get the jabs deployed as soon as possible once they were approved on official safety and effectiveness criteria.

Considering the sheer pace of the clinical trials the vaccines underwent, there was a risk that rare side effects from the jabs could be missed, or the risk miscalculated.

This, in theory, could make the companies behind the jabs vulnerable to legal action.

So, indemnity was offered by ministers to get the vaccines off the production line as quickly as possible.

In a note tabled before Parliament in January 2021, Mr Hancock said: 'Willingness to accept appropriate indemnities has helped to secure access to vaccines with the expected benefits to public health and the economy alike much sooner than may have been the case otherwise.'

He also said, specifically on the AstraZeneca jab: 'I would like to stress that the data so far on this vaccine suggests that there will be no adverse reactions, and so no liability.'

Are there any larger implications to the AstraZeneca jab saga?

The Covid vaccination campaign was one of the largest public health campaigns in British history.

Prior to the pandemic, the number of claims made to the vaccine injury scheme was miniscule, averaging about two per year.

To keep up with the demand posed by Covid jabs, the Government has increased the number of staff managing the scheme from four to 80.

Campaigners hope the attention brought by the AstraZeneca case will spark a much-needed rethink of how the nation's vaccine injured and bereaved are supported.

For if Brits are left destitute from vaccine-derived injuries, experts fear this may only fuel vaccine hesitancy in the future, risking the public's health from a variety of preventable diseases.

It could also leave people vulnerable to a potential future pandemic from a novel virus, if some refuse the jabs out of fear that they, or their families, could be left financially ruined if something goes wrong.

Does Britain still use the AstraZeneca Covid jab?

About 50million doses of the jab were dished out in the UK in total.

While still technically approved, it has fallen out of favour with officials. Data shows the mRNA jabs, which have their own complications, are more potent against newer Covid variants.

And with no new doses being ordered for subsequent booster rollouts, it means the jab has been all but withdrawn in the UK.
Like tens of thousands of Brits, Kam Miller knows all too well the heart-rending pain of losing a loved one during the Covid pandemic.

But her husband Neil was not killed by the virus.

Instead, he succumbed to an extremely rare complication of AstraZeneca's vaccine  designed to protect him, and millions of others, from the virus.

Its now been two years since the 50-year-old passed.

Yet his grieving family, based in Leicester, have received no compensation and zero support, leaving widow Kam struggling with her mental health and with little choice but to sell the family home.

Kam Miller, 57, pictured left and Neil Miller right, in 2016 five years before his death. He died on May 1, 2021, aged 50 after getting his AstraZeneca Covid vaccination in March 2021

The Miller families last holiday picture together shows Kam Miller and Neil with the couple's daughter Sophia, left and Ethan, right

The 57-year-old told MailOnline: 'At my lowest I actually had to ring the Samaritans because I just broke down. I just couldn't see a way through.'

The mother-of-two, who works part-time in customer services for a clothing firm, is entitled to one-off, tax-free sum of 120,000 under a Government support scheme to help those who have lost loved ones or those left 'severely disabled' because of a vaccine.

'If I had that money I could save it and make it work for me,' she told MailOnline. 'It would make me feel secure.'

However, she is yet to see a penny  despite applying last August and her husband's death certificate confirming his death was down to a rare reaction to AstraZeneca's jab.

Due to the financial and emotional toll of losing her husband, who was the family's main breadwinner, Kam decided to sell the family home, located in a leafy suburb on the outskirts of Leicester.

READ MORE: An 18-year-old aspiring paramedic, a rock musician and an award-winning BBC radio presenter: The 'victims' of AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine As families and survivors continue their fight for compensation, MailOnline highlights just some of those who have died Advertisement

She said: 'We couldn't live there anymore  it was a constant reminder.

'I sold that house and I bought somewhere slightly cheaper than the one we were in to get that buffer, a little bit of cash behind us.'

Since selling the house in March 2021, Kam has been relying on that extra money to help tide her over and pay for her counselling, which she needed to help her cope with her grief.

She said: 'Everything has gone up, bills, everything. It's all gone up and that worries me.

'Every month I am dipping into reserves, like the money from the house. I am hoping I get this money from the Government to cover what I am using now.'

The couple's 26-year-old daughter Sophia works in finance and lives in Cambridge with her boyfriend.

Their son Ethan, 22, is studying to become a pilot, which Neil paid for before he died. He has only recently started his training after being so floored by grief.

Kam is joining dozens of bereaved and injured Brits in a legal fight for compensation based on the argument that the AstraZeneca jab was 'defective', in the sense it was not as safe as people taking it were entitled to expect.

Neil died on May 1, 2021, about a month-and-a-half after getting the jab.

After his initial dose, Neil suffered some mild cold-like symptoms, like headaches, for two weeks.

His condition worsened to the point that he was forced to take himself to bed.

Mr Miller, pictured above, wrote IT manuals and was the main breadwinner, so his death has left Mrs Miller who works in customer services for a clothing firm just trying to cope with the emotional loss but also worrying over their financial future

The AstraZeneca vaccine is a genetically engineered common cold virus that used to infect chimpanzees. It has been modified to make it weak so it does not cause illness in people and loaded up with the gene for the coronavirus spike protein, which Covid-19 uses to invade human cells

In a very small number of cases  about one in 100,000 in the UK  the vaccine can set off a chain reaction which leads to the body confusing its own blood platelets for fragments of virus. The shell of the vector vaccine  the weakened cold virus used to teach cells how to neutralise Covid  sometimes acts like a magnet and attracts platelets, a protein found in the blood. For reasons the scientists are still probing, the body then mistakes these clumps as a threat and produces antibodies to fight them. The combination of the platelets and the antibodies clumping together leads to the formation of dangerous blood clots

The next day, on April 7, he was rushed to A&E, complaining of what he felt like was a heart attack, Kam said.

Medics found Neil, who spent a couple nights in hospital, had a blood clot near his heart and sent him home, armed with medication.

Two days later, on April 13, he collapsed and was rushed back to hospital.

Doctors then found blood clots in his legs, too.

READ MORE: The 1BILLION battle for Covid jab justice: How 100 British families left bereaved or disabled by AstraZeneca's vaccine are fighting for compensation Britain's compensation bill for victims killed or maimed by AstraZeneca's 'miracle' Covid jab could exceed 1billion, MailOnline has been told Advertisement

This was when medics realised AstraZeneca's vaccine could be to blame.

But by April 19, Neil was struggling to speak, read and walk as blood clots had gone to his brain.

Recalling a heartbreaking message she received from her husband while he was in hospital, Kam added: 'He wanted to text me but he did it by mistake on the home phone.

'So, the home phone rings in the middle of the night. It says [it's] a message from Neil.

'And it says, "I can't remember the children's birthdays." That broke my heart when I saw what is coming home to me.

'I thought even if he comes home, maybe it's going to be someone I'm going to have to care for. But then I panicked thinking our lives have changed.

'But then in the same breath, I'm thinking, "I don't care. I'll look after him. I'll get him well".'

Neil was discharged from hospital on April 26.

But just a few days later, he collapsed again, while Kam was sat at the kitchen table browsing online for presents for his 51st birthday.

In a tell-all interview with the Daily Mail's Good Health earlier this year, Kam revealed hearing a sickening thud and told how Neil 'was on the floor making gurgling noises'. 'That image won't go from my head,' she said at the time.

The couple Kam and Neil Miller are pictured here at a wedding in 2019. Almost a month after receiving the vaccine blood clots were in his brain and Mr Miller was struggling to speak, read and walk

Common side effects, which health bosses say can affect more than 10 per cent of recipients, include fatigue, 'flu-like' symptoms, and pain in the arms or legs. Stomach pain, a rash and excessive sweating were uncommon, strikes roughly one in 100 people who get vaccinated

Rare (approximately one in 1,000) issues include facial drooping on one side. Very rare (one in 10,000) side effects can see people paralysed

The graph shows the cumulative number of Covid jabs dished out in the UK since the pandemic began, the percentage of each age group which has had a jab (bottom left) and the number of each Covid vaccine brand dished out

READ MORE: Exposed: 'Cruel' flaws of Government-funded financial support scheme for Brits injured by AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine Campaigners have demanded immediate changes to the 'cruel' financial support scheme for Brits injured or left bereaved by Covid vaccines like AstraZeneca's Advertisement

Shaking, she called for an ambulance while Sophia ran upstairs and started CPR on her father.

When paramedics arrived, they spent 45 minutes trying to resuscitate Neil.

But it was no use  he was declared dead at the scene.

Despite Neil being diagnosed with vaccine-induced thrombosis, one of the major complications of AstraZeneca's jab, prior to his death, his autopsy ruled that he died of natural causes.

Kam had to fight for a year to change the cause of death on the certificate, which now explicitly states the jab was to blame.

'I couldn't even grieve, I put all my energy into getting justice,' she said.

Stuck in a bureaucratic loop, she was bluntly told she couldn't apply for the Government's Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme until the death certificate was resolved.

Like so many others in her tragic situation, she insists she is not an anti-vaxxer.

Instead, Kam is compelled to continue to fight for justice for her husband and any others struggling in a similar situation.

'Any vaccine or medication can have adverse side effects and we can accept that,' she told MailOnline. 'But where is the back up? Where is the support for people?'

Kam isn't alone in her fight or her suffering.

While the AstraZeneca's jab has been credited with helping end the pandemic and, alongside other vaccines, saving 120,000 Brits from the virus, dozens were killed or injured by the rare side effect.

Official data says have been at 73 deaths linked to this clotting side effect in the UK, though more could emerge.
Covid jab deaths and injuries have shown the 1970s scheme isn't fit for purpose

Campaigners have demanded immediate changes to the 'cruel' financial support scheme for Brits injured or left bereaved by Covid vaccines like AstraZeneca's.

Severely-disabled survivors and grieving families have endured year-long delays in getting the 120,000 pay-out, leaving some close to losing their homes, struggling to pay the bills and relying on food banks.

Others have been told they are ineligible for the Government's one-off payment  because they are simply not 'disabled enough'.

The fee can also affect benefits such as Universal Credit.

By law, Brits who suffer a severe disability or lose a loved one to one of over a dozen jabs recommended by the Government can be eligible for the tax-free sum.

Campaigners have demanded immediate changes to the 'cruel' financial support scheme for Brits injured or left bereaved by Covid vaccines like AstraZeneca's

The AstraZeneca vaccine is a genetically engineered common cold virus that used to infect chimpanzees. It has been modified to make it weak so it does not cause illness in people and loaded up with the gene for the coronavirus spike protein, which Covid-19 uses to invade human cells

The Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, set-up in 1979, is meant to reassure people that, in the extremely unlikely event that something goes wrong, the state will give them financial support.

Real-world evidence has repeatedly proven vaccines  championed by MailOnline throughout the pandemic  are safe and save lives.

Yet, like with every medicine, they carry risks.

In theory, the vaccine damages scheme combats this element of vaccine hesitancy and helps encourages the public to get jabbed.

However, Brits who have actually applied for the scheme say its flaws could actually impede any future, Covid-style drives.

Sheila Ward's husband, Stephen Ward, pictured above, was 57 when he died on March 23, 2021, just a couple weeks after getting the Astra Zeneca Covid vaccination

One of these is Sheila Ward, 55, from Newcastle-Under-Lyme, whose husband died in spring 2021 from a blood clot confirmed to be caused by AstraZeneca's jab.

'The way the scheme is and the lack of support being given to people will result in people getting angry and create more hesitance about vaccines,' she told MailOnline.

Her husband, Stephen, was just 57 when he died on March 23, 2021, just a couple of weeks after getting vaccinated.

He retired from the Coop after working there for 40 years.

Yet he had intended on taking up another job which would have allowed him to care for his elderly mother, who had fractured her hip at the end of the first lockdown in 2020.

Mrs Ward describes her husband as being a healthy and active man who was always on the go.

She told MailOnline: 'We all know that medications come with side effects.

'But when you are being told something is safe and effective continuously and told to do it for society and then the side effects are serious injury or death, it comes as a bit of a shock.'

Furious at how ministers have taken an 'all or nothing' approach to the scheme, she joined VIB UK, a campaign group fighting for better financial support for anyone left injured or bereaved because of the vaccine.

It wants the Government to adopt a tiered system, which would dole out cash based on personal situations instead of the current blanket approach. VIB UK's petition for the rule change has already amassed 11,000 signatures.

The full list of vaccines that Government will pay financial support for, if you're left 60 per cent disabled COVID-19

diphtheria

haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)

human papillomavirus

influenza, except for influenza caused by a pandemic influenza virus

measles

meningitis B

meningitis C

meningitis W

mumps

pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009 (swine flu) - up to 31 August 2010

pertussis (whooping cough)

pneumococcal infection

poliomyelitis

rotavirus

rubella

smallpox - up to 1 August 1971

tetanus

tuberculosis You may have had a combined vaccination against a number of the diseases listed. For example, you might have been vaccinated against DTP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) or MMR (measles, mumps and rubella). You may also be able to get a payment if youre severely disabled because either: your mother was vaccinated against one of the diseases in the list while she was pregnant

youve been in close physical contact with someone whos had an oral vaccine against poliomyelitis Source: Gov.uk Advertisement

Backing the calls, Mrs Ward added: 'I would like the compensation to be assessed on the needs of the individual.

'At least enough not to send them into poverty or the benefits system.'

Despite her loss, Mrs Ward said she is still in firm support of vaccination and is clear the campaign she is supporting isn't an 'anti-vax type thing'.

Instead for Mrs Ward, the goal is ensuring those affected by side effects get the right support.

She said: 'I put myself in the situation  if I was a person who had been left severely disabled or had got young children, how would I have coped, or if I had still got a mortgage, had no family around to help support me. It is not enough.'

Freedom of information (FOI) requests to NHS Business Services Authority, the body which manages the UK's Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, show 3.7m has been paid out to 31 Brits injured or bereaved from AstraZeneca's Covid jab since November 2021.

No-one has been paid out for injuries or deaths relating to Pfizer or Moderna's jab so far.

Seventy-eight Brits injured or bereaved by Covid jabs specifically have already been told they are entitled to the fee.

The successful claims cover those affected by vaccine-induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (VITT), the major complication that spooked health chiefs across the world.

Others developed Guillain-Barre syndrome or suffered other blood clots.

Another FOI, submitted by VIB-UK, also revealed that thousands more applications have been rejected or are still under consideration, with dozens being processed every month. Some are rejected because there is no proof that a Covid jab was to blame.

Those wanting to make such a claim fill in a form naming the medics involved in their care. They then provide relevant evidence, and the claim and medical records are put before an assessor to check eligibility for a payout.

To keep up with the demand posed by Covid jabs, the Government has increased the number of staff managing the scheme from four to 80.

One FOI, submitted by VIB UK, found that nearly 400 claims had been left waiting 18 months for a decision.

Length of time to payment, which is given as one lump of cash, is not the only flaw in the UK's vaccine injury compensation scheme, however.

Brits bereaved due to a vaccine, who are also on Universal Credit, can suffer knock-on effects  because the Government classifies it as 'income'.

Common side effects, which health bosses say can affect more than 10 per cent of recipients, include fatigue, 'flu-like' symptoms, and pain in the arms or legs. Stomach pain, a rash and excessive sweating were uncommon, strikes roughly one in 100 people who get vaccinated

Rare (approximately one in 1,000) issues include facial drooping on one side. Very rare (one in 10,000) side effects can see people paralysed

This could see some losing, or having reduced benefits, making the payment worth less than the same payment made to a wealthier Brit not on state support.

'They are giving it to you in one hand and then taking it back from you in another,' Mrs Ward said.

'Say if I was getting universal credit because I had lost my job or couldn't work, once that payment is received I would lose my universal credit.

'People have come close to losing their homes because they have come close to losing their disability benefit and can no longer afford the mortgage.'

READ MORE: An 18-year-old aspiring paramedic, a rock musician and an award-winning BBC radio presenter: The 'victims' of AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine As families and survivors continue their fight for compensation, MailOnline highlights just some of those who have died Advertisement

Aaron Bell, MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, raised this flaw in the House of Commons in January, on behalf of Mrs Ward.

He said: 'The vaccines have been incredibly important and largely very effective at stopping Covid, but there have been a few cases where there are side effects and we should acknowledge that.

'We have a vaccine damage payment scheme for such cases.

'But Universal Credit does not disregard payments made under that scheme as it does for some other payment schemes that we have in the country.'

Mrs Ward wants to see the Government repayment scheme assessed on the needs of the individual, instead of being set at a 120,000 handout.

She said someone with a life-long disability whose partner needs to give up work to care should be given enough money to 'at least not send them into poverty'.

But another of the scheme's quirks may be its cruelest.

The eligibility criteria for the scheme is that a person must either die or be left 60 per cent disabled due to a vaccine.

This means a person theoretically judged to be only 59 per cent disabled will not get a penny.

The extent of a person's disability is based on an assessment by a doctor and can include both physical disablement, such as the loss of a limb, or mental disablement such as a decline cognitive function.

It also means there is no escalation of the sum received.

So, for example, someone who is completely paralysed by a vaccine would receive the same 120,000 as someone who lost a leg as long because both reach this 60 per cent threshold.

The Department for Work and Pensions advice on the scheme states it classes going blind or deaf as being 100 per cent disabled.

Dozens of cases have already been rejected thus far for failing to meet the criteria, meaning they get nothing, according to Government data.

Mrs Ward argues such a limitation is arbitrary, as even a disability classed as 40 per cent could still impact your work.

In a very small number of cases  about one in 100,000 in the UK  the vaccine can set off a chain reaction which leads to the body confusing its own blood platelets for fragments of virus. The shell of the vector vaccine  the weakened cold virus used to teach cells how to neutralise Covid  sometimes acts like a magnet and attracts platelets, a protein found in the blood. For reasons the scientists are still probing, the body then mistakes these clumps as a threat and produces antibodies to fight them. The combination of the platelets and the antibodies clumping together leads to the formation of dangerous blood clots

'You don't need to be 60 per cent disabled to be not be able to work again or for it to have significant impact on your potential earnings because you are no longer able to do the job you previously did.'

Lawyers have also criticised the outdated scheme  which doesn't technically class as compensation, meaning those who are successful can still take legal action if they so choose  as failing to keep pace with the life-long injuries people are suffering.

Peter Todd of Scott-Moncrieff & Associates, who is representing some of the victims of the AstraZeneca jab, said it was an 'anomaly' someone could only get 120,000 for a type of injury that would get 100-times that in the courts.

'It's an anomaly that somebody with the same injury at the same severity could be awarded 20million,' he said.

Mr Todd said the stress a lack of funds could put on a family put into this situation through no fault of their own couldn't be underestimated.

READ MORE: The 1BILLION battle for Covid jab justice: How 100 British families left bereaved or disabled by AstraZeneca's vaccine are fighting for compensation Britain's compensation bill for victims killed or maimed by AstraZeneca's 'miracle' Covid jab could exceed 1billion, MailOnline has been told Advertisement

'If somebody like the main breadwinner in a family becomes disabled, or even a child becomes disabled, it creates a massive stress on the family,' he said.

'It can put strain on people's marriages and they can break up.'

Mr Todd is also among those who say classifying the 120,000 sum as income for the vaccine-bereaved is harsh given their family member got a vaccine not only to protect their health, but the nation's.

'It's pretty distasteful because that money is there because you have maybe lost your partner and are now having to cope on your own,' he said.

'In that situation people deserve a bit more generosity.'

While lawyers and campaigners are critical of the vaccine damage support scheme, they have been clear they are not anti-vax.

In fact, they say they want the scheme improved to help combat vaccine hesitancy in future, so people can get jabbed without worrying how they or their families will cope if something goes wrong.

While there have been almost 5,000 applicants to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, this pales in comparison to the number of Covid jabs dished out safely.

The latest data shows 151million doses of Covid vaccines, covering all brands, have been dished out over the course of the pandemic.

A government spokesperson said: 'The Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) provides a one-off tax free payment of 120,000 to individuals where, in extremely rare circumstances, vaccination has caused severe disablement.

'We have scaled up and modernised the operations of the VDPS to allow cases to be processed more quickly.

The graph shows the cumulative number of Covid jabs dished out in the UK since the pandemic began, the percentage of each age group which has had a jab (bottom left) and the number of each Covid vaccine brand dished out

'There is a range of other support, including financial, available to disabled people in the UK, for example, free healthcare, social care support and disability benefits.'

AstraZeneca said it is unable to comment on ongoing legal matters.

A spokesperson said: 'Patient safety is our highest priority and regulatory authorities have clear and stringent standards to ensure the safe use of all medicines, including vaccines.

'Our sympathy goes out to those who have lost loved ones or who have reported health problems.

'AstraZeneca and regulatory authorities, carefully record and assess all reports of potential adverse events associated with use of Vaxzevria (the official name of the jab).

'From the body of evidence in clinical trials and real-world data, Vaxzevria has continuously been shown to have an acceptable safety profile and regulators around the world consistently state that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of extremely rare potential side effects.

'The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) granted conditional marketing approval for Vaxzevria for the UK based on the safety profile and efficacy of the vaccine.'
Britain's compensation bill for victims killed or maimed by AstraZeneca's Covid jab could theoretically exceed 1billion, MailOnline can reveal.

Around 90 families, who allege they were harmed by the jab, are currently pursuing legal action against the pharmaceutical titan, claiming the vaccine was essentially a defective product.

Lawyers representing the claimants believe that some of the cases could be worth up to 20m in compensation, which is roughly 160 times more than the 120,000 Government support available. They hope to be able to prove that the vaccine was to blame in court.

Yet, it will be the taxpayer who could foot the bill under the special deal ministers agreed to during the darkest days of the pandemic, amid a worldwide scramble to find a jab and release the country from a never-ending cycle of lockdowns.

The claimants, who insist they are not anti-vaxxers and believe in the merits of jabs as a whole, feel abandoned by the Government and are taking action because they face financial ruin from losing loved ones or ongoing disability.

Some have chosen to sell their homes because of their dire situation.

The graph shows the cumulative number of Covid jabs dished out in the UK since the pandemic began, the percentage of each age group which has had a jab (bottom left) and the number of each Covid vaccine brand dished out

Campaigners have demanded immediate changes to the 'cruel' financial support scheme for Brits injured or left bereaved by Covid vaccines like AstraZeneca's

Experts also say more could be at stake than just one single legal battle and the UK needs to radically overhaul how it treats anyone damaged by vaccines, especially in wake of the huge sacrifices millions made during the pandemic.

Under current rules, victims of certain vaccines  including ones dished out during Britain's historic inoculation drive  are entitled to a one-off sum of 120,000.

Yet that state-funded support system, established in the 1970s, isn't compensation. That means, the Government acknowledges, that anyone awarded the tax-free pay-out can still take legal action, if they so choose.

Campaigners have also described the UK's Vaccine Damage Payment scheme as having 'cruel' flaws.

Firstly, they argue that the 120,000 sum is inadequate for some battling the most serious disabilities, which can force people to give up work and leave them needing round-the-clock care. In some instances, family members may have to become full-time carers.

Eligibility criteria for the scheme is also strict. People need to be classed as at least 60 per cent disabled, as determined by a doctor, or die to be eligible. This means, in theory, if someone is only 59 per cent disabled, they won't get a penny.

READ MORE: An 18-year-old aspiring paramedic, a rock musician and an award-winning BBC radio presenter: The 'victims' of AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine As families and survivors continue their fight for compensation, MailOnline highlights just some of those who have died Advertisement

Bereaved families eligible for the sum have also hit out at how long it takes for them to be given the cash, despite having all the necessary paperwork. Some have faced 18-month waits for a decision.

And, on top of that, the fee can affect benefits such as Universal Credit.

AstraZeneca's jab was approved by UK regulators at the close of 2020, in a spark of hope as the nation endured a Christmas in lockdown.

In the months that followed, millions rolled up their sleeves to get the vaccine.

While credited with helping end the pandemic phase and, alongside other vaccines, saving 120,000 lives, dozens of Brits allege their loved ones were killed or severely injured by a rare side effect that flew under the radar during AstraZeneca's original trials involving tens of thousands of willing volunteers.

Many were struck down by vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), which can cause deadly blood clots.

Others developed Guillain-Barre syndrome, when the immune system mistakenly attacks the body's own nerves. This can, in extreme cases, cause paralysis.

Around 90 individuals and families who claim to have been affected by the jab's rare side effects are taking action against AstraZeneca under the Consumer Protection Act, although more may join in the coming months as further cases come to light.

Lawyers representing the group are arguing that the jab, given as two doses spread up to 12 weeks apart, was essentially 'defective', in the sense that it was not as safe as people taking it were entitled to expect.

Rare (approximately one in 1,000) issues include facial drooping on one side. Very rare (one in 10,000) side effects can see people paralysed

Common side effects, which health bosses say can affect more than 10 per cent of recipients, include fatigue, 'flu-like' symptoms, and pain in the arms or legs. Stomach pain, a rash and excessive sweating were uncommon, strikes roughly one in 100 people who get vaccinated

Peter Todd, of Scott-Moncrieff & Associates, which is acting on behalf of dozens of claimants, told MailOnline that some victims would potentially be eligible for 'multi-million pound claims', if the action is successful.

Mr Todd claimed the scale of the injuries represented varied drastically, with some Brits left having limbs amputated and battling heart failure.

'Some of the cases involve incredibly severe injury and huge loss of earnings and need huge [ongoing] care,' he said. 'There will be a number of claims that could be multi-million pound claims.

'If you look at a personal injury or clinical negligence claims generally you'll see for a very catastrophic injury there are awards which are very significant.'

Pay-outs close to the 20million mark are not unheard of, with similar sums awarded for people left with a life-long disability from a medical error in the NHS.

READ MORE: Exposed: 'Cruel' flaws of Government-funded financial support scheme for Brits injured by AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine Campaigners have demanded immediate changes to the 'cruel' financial support scheme for Brits injured or left bereaved by Covid vaccines like AstraZeneca's Advertisement

Not all claimants may be able to establish they are entitled to any compensation.

And even ones who do may not get the eight-figure sum.

Yet, if a significant portion do, the total payout could easily eclipse the 1billion mark.

Lawyers expect to be able to establish in court that the clots were likely caused by the vaccine.

The VDPS has been described as a 'no-fault scheme' in Westminster. Tory MP Sir Jeremy Wright said 'it requires, not unreasonably, a causative link between vaccination and injury to be established'.

The NHS alone already pays out billions each year in compensation, with the bill for 2021 hitting 2.2billion.

Health chiefs have already ring-fenced over a billion to cover Covid pay-outs. Some of that fund is expected to be dished out as vaccine-related compensation. Others expect the bulk will consist of claims regarding treatment delays, cancellations and misdiagnoses.

In terms of comparison, the Government has paid out tens of millions to victims of thalidomide, who were left with defects and disabilities after their mothers took the drug to ease morning sickness in pregnancy.

Mr Todd's group is representing 39 claimants, six of whom were fatal cases. Another firm involved in the action is representing 20 fatal cases and over 30 injuries.

Yet it is expected to be the taxpayer who foots any eventual bill  thanks to an indemnity clause offered to British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca by the Government.

When the nation was trapped in lockdown in 2020, Downing Street was desperate to get vaccines deployed as soon as possible, once they were approved on the official safety and efficacy grounds.

But there was a chance that rare side effects from the jabs could be missed, or their risk miscalculated.

This, in theory, meant the companies behind the jabs were vulnerable to legal action.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is a genetically engineered common cold virus that used to infect chimpanzees. It has been modified to make it weak so it does not cause illness in people and loaded up with the gene for the coronavirus spike protein, which Covid-19 uses to invade human cells

Researchers tasked with investigating the adverse reaction believe it occurs due to the modified cold virus lurking in the jab acting like a magnet to a type of protein in the blood called platelet factor 4. Platelet factor 4 is normally used by the body to promote coagulation in the blood, in case of injury. Then, in rare instances, the body's immune system confuses platelet factor 4 with a foreign invader and releases antibodies to attack it in case of 'mistaken identity'. These antibodies then clump together with platelet factor 4, forming the blood clots that have become so heavily linked with the jab, according to their theory

So, indemnity was offered by ministers to get the vaccines off the production line as quickly as possible. An AstraZeneca official at the time the deal was agreed said the company 'cannot take the risk if in... four years the vaccine is showing side effects'.

Some claimants involved in the ongoing legal action have already had the 120,000 sum, in recognition of their suffering via the UK's Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.

Mr Todd described the scheme, which takes months to process applications, as 'an anomaly', given people with similar injuries can get far larger payouts reflecting the level of harm they have suffered with no artificial cap.

'It's an anomaly that somebody with the same injury at the same severity could be awarded 20million,' he said.

Other criticisms of the scheme, which campaigners are simultaneously demanding an urgent overhaul of, includes how long it can take for payments to come through.

READ MORE: I'm not an anti-vaxxer. I just lost my husband to AstraZeneca's Covid jab two years ago and have had to sell my home to help pay the bills - because I STILL haven't got any compensation Kam Miller, 57, pictured left and Neil Miller right, in 2016 five years before his death. He died on May 1, 2021, aged 50 after getting his AstraZeneca Covid vaccination in March 2021 Advertisement

Kam Miller, whose husband Neil, her family's bread-winner, died in May 2021 after he suffered a blood clot from AstraZeneca's vaccine, chose to sell her family home on the outskirts of Leicester and downsize to get a 'buffer of cash'. She applied for the scheme in August and has yet to receive the fee.

Mr Todd said the delays could leave victims not only dealing with the heartbreaking emotional toll of a death or coming to terms with a disability, but financial stress as well.

'If somebody like the main breadwinner in a family becomes disabled, or even a child becomes disabled, it creates a massive stress on the family,' he said.

'It can put strain on people's marriages and they can break up.'

Another flaw of the system, campaigners say, is that people whose loved ones have died from the jabs can have their 120,000 payment classed as 'income' if they are on benefits.

Mr Todd said this was a harsh penalty, given what the vaccine bereaved have gone through.

'It's pretty distasteful because that money is there because you have maybe lost your partner and are now having to cope on your own,' he said.

'In that situation people deserve a bit more generosity.'

Freedom of Information (FOI) requests show nearly 400 claimants have been waiting 18 months for a decision.

NHS Business Services Authority, the body which manages the UK's Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, has already paid out 3.7m to thirty-one Brits injured or bereaved from AstraZeneca's Covid jab.

No-one has been paid out for injuries or deaths relating to Pfizer or Moderna's jab so far.

Seventy-eight Brits injured or bereaved by Covid jabs specifically have already been told they are entitled to the fee.

The successful claims cover those affected by VITT, as well as Guillain-Barre.

In efforts to keep up with increasing demand for Covid vaccine injury payments, the Government has ramped up its workforce 20-fold. Eighty admin staff are now tasked with handling the claims.

Despite their ordeal, none of the dozens seeking compensation are 'anti-vaxxers', Mr Todd insisted.

He said they all recognise the importance of vaccination as an act of public good but that it is unfair for individuals and their families to be left coping with the bill if things go wrong.

'Everyone should support vaccination,' he said.

'It is unfair that the loss fall on an individual and their family. It should fall across the whole of society.

'In the grand scheme of things, it is absolutely trivial, when you think of how much money was spent on Test and Trace.'

Mr Todd added that how the UK treated the vaccine injured now could harm other vaccination campaigns in the future. Scientists warn it is a question of when, not if, in terms of the world being struck by another pandemic.

'It would be nice for everybody to know that they can be vaccinated in confidence that if they had a rare reaction that they would be supported and indemnified,' he said.

The full list of vaccines that Government will pay financial support for, if you're left 60 per cent disabled COVID-19

diphtheria

haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)

human papillomavirus

influenza, except for influenza caused by a pandemic influenza virus

measles

meningitis B

meningitis C

meningitis W

mumps

pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009 (swine flu) - up to 31 August 2010

pertussis (whooping cough)

pneumococcal infection

poliomyelitis

rotavirus

rubella

smallpox - up to 1 August 1971

tetanus

tuberculosis You may have had a combined vaccination against a number of the diseases listed. For example, you might have been vaccinated against DTP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) or MMR (measles, mumps and rubella). You may also be able to get a payment if youre severely disabled because either: your mother was vaccinated against one of the diseases in the list while she was pregnant

youve been in close physical contact with someone whos had an oral vaccine against poliomyelitis Source: Gov.uk Advertisement

'I do worry that as a result of what happened, and if people aren't supported, that it will fuel vaccine hesitancy.

'If people stopped being vaccinated, that is going to potentially burden the health service and injure a lot of people.'

While the exact details of people claiming that they have been left injured or bereaved from the AstraZeneca jab and taking legal action are not known, 73 Brits are known to have died as a result of VITT.

Some of the heartbreaking losses include an 18-year-old student paramedic, parents of young children, and many more with years of life ahead of them.

Family members of those that died have often said their loved ones were motivated to get the vaccine not out of fear of the virus, but to protect other, more vulnerable, members of society.

Risk of injury and death from the vaccine was vanishingly small, in comparison with the 50million doses of AstraZeneca's jab, technically called Vaxzevria, dished out over the course of the rollout in the UK.

And the jab itself, while marred by some fatalities, was on the whole a success. Experts estimate it saved 6million lives across the world. Millions more were protected from falling seriously ill.

While Covid may not be fading into the background, other pathogens with pandemic potential still exist.

And some fear that if the UK fails to properly look after the few injured by Covid jabs, convincing Brits to roll up their sleeves in the future will be much harder.

AstraZeneca said it is unable to comment on ongoing legal matters.

A spokesperson said: 'Patient safety is our highest priority and regulatory authorities have clear and stringent standards to ensure the safe use of all medicines, including vaccines.

'Our sympathy goes out to those who have lost loved ones or who have reported health problems.

'AstraZeneca and regulatory authorities, carefully record and assess all reports of potential adverse events associated with use of Vaxzevria.

'From the body of evidence in clinical trials and real-world data, Vaxzevria has continuously been shown to have an acceptable safety profile and regulators around the world consistently state that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of extremely rare potential side effects.

'The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) granted conditional marketing approval for Vaxzevria for the UK based on the safety profile and efficacy of the vaccine.'

A government spokesperson said: 'The Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) provides a one-off tax free payment of 120,000 to individuals where, in extremely rare circumstances, vaccination has caused severe disablement.

'We have scaled up and modernised the operations of the VDPS to allow cases to be processed more quickly.

'There is a range of other support, including financial, available to disabled people in the UK, for example, free healthcare, social care support and disability benefits.'
Deadly fentanyl is killing the equivalent of an entire classroom of children every week, staggering figures show.

Fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid that's 100 times stronger than morphine, is ravaging America's youth.

A recent study found that fentanyl was responsible for the death of 1,557 children in 2021  the equivalent of 30 children every week.

Just two milligrams of fentanyl  imagine 10 to 15 grains of table salt  can prove fatal, and it is increasingly contaminating the illicit drug supply in the US because it is cheap, potent, and keeps many users coming back for more.

In 1999, approximately 5 percent of the 175 deaths from opioids were from fentanyl. By 2021, 1557 (94 percent) of 1657 opioid deaths were attributed to fentanyl

Deaths caused by fentanyl in the US surged in the 2010s. At the start of the decade, 2,666 Americans died of a fentanyl overdose. This figure shot up to 19,413 by 2016. Covid made the situation worse, with a record 72,484 deaths recorded in 2021

Drug overdoses now rank third among the top killers of children every year, behind gun violence and car crashes.

The nation's drug overdose crisis has struck everyone, with a record 107,622 Americans dying of a drug overdose last year. More than 70 percent of deaths were caused by synthetic opioid like fentanyl.

Overdose deaths due to fentanyl far outstrip those caused by other drugs including benzodiazepines, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and prescription drugs.

A report published in JAMA last year showed fatal overdoses caused by benzodiazepines increased by about seven percent from 2010 to 2021, while deaths caused by cocaine, prescription opioids, and heroin declined.

Dr Julie Gaither, a pediatrician at the Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut, wrote in JAMA Pediatrics: Mirroring trends seen among adults, pediatric deaths from fentanyl began to increase substantially in 2013, resulting in a more than 30-fold increase in mortality between 2013 and 2021.

A surge that began in 2018 has led to a nearly 3-fold increase in deaths among older adolescents and a nearly 6-fold increase among children younger than five years.

In total, there were 13,861 opioid deaths in youngsters under 20 of which 5,194  nearly 38 percent  involved fentanyl.

The vast majority of these fatalities, almost 90 percent, occurred in teens aged 15 to 19 while two percent occurred in infants under one and 4.6 percent in toddlers one to four.

It was revealed last month that a 19-month-old baby girl died of fentanyl poisoning in 2021 when she and her parents stayed at an Airbnb property in Florida.

Its not clear how the infant got access to fentanyl, but the parents alleged in a wrongful death suit against the company that the property was a known party house despite being advertised as a peaceful place to stay.

Fentanyl has devastated American cities and towns of all sizes. A recent government report shows that fatal overdoses involving the synthetic opioid more than tripled from 2016-2021, rising from 5.7 per 100,000 in 2016 to 21.6 in 2021.

San Francisco, the west coast epicenter of the fentanyl crisis, saw a staggering 41 percent surge in the number of drug-related deaths in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same time last year.

Data from the citys medical examiner shows that 200 people died due to overdoses between January and March, compared to 142 deaths in 2022. That amounts to one overdose death every 10 hours.

San Francisco saw a staggering 41 percent surge in the number of drug-related deaths in the first quarter of 2023

People openly smoke drugs on the sidewalk of the Tenderloin area of San Francisco, where overdose deaths have rocketed upwards in recent months

Pediatricians are urging parents to keep their children as far away from drugs, especially fentanyl, as possible and speak honestly and frankly to their children about the threat that opioids pose.

Dr Scott Hadland, an addiction specialist at Mass General for Children Hospital in Boston, suggested that caregivers ask teens what they know about fentanyl, ask if their peers use drugs or if anyone they know has overdosed, and if they know how to respond to a fentanyl overdose.

Don't try to scare teens. Play to their strengths. Equip them with the knowledge & power to stay safe, he said.

Dr Hadland and countless other physicians have called on the public to make sure naloxone is a standard component in their home first-aid kits.

The Food and Drug Administration, the key federal regulator of drugs, took steps to make the reversal drug, specifically the nasal spray formulation marketed as Narcan, available without a prescription or even having to visit a pharmacy.

Naloxone is an opioid antagonist, meaning it works by binding with opioid receptors to rapidly reverse the effects of opioids, the symptoms of which can include a slowed heart rate, low blood pressure, loss of consciousness, slow or shallow breathing, gurgling sounds, blue lips or nails, and vomiting.

The antidote can reverse an overdose within minutes, but only lasts for about 90 minutes at most, meaning it is possible for someone to experience an overdose even when naloxone has worn off.

Some opioids may also require more than one dose of naloxone to counteract the effects.

Narcan is already available without a prescription in all 50 states, where state leaders have issued standing orders for pharmacists to sell the drug to anyone who asks for it.

But not all pharmacies carry it and those that do must keep it behind the counter. And even without the necessity of a doctor's order, many people feel reluctant to approach a pharmacist for the medication, wary of the stigma attached to drug misuse.

Dr Hadland said: Most teens who overdose die at home when someone else is there & could respond. But most teens who die never get Narcan & are pulseless by the time EMS arrives.

The FDAs distinction paves the way for the antidote to be more accessible than ever in gas stations to vending machines.
Leading scientists have hinted that American regulators are set to give a first-of-its-kind dementia jab the go-ahead  despite claims that it can trigger deadly bleeds in the brain.

A world-renowned dementia expert and former adviser to the US drug watchdog the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), who asked to remain anonymous, said he feared the decision could sway UK health chiefs to do the same.

Approval of the medication  lecanemab  will 'cost lives, not just in the US, but in the UK and other countries, too,' he warned.

The drug is a twice-a-month injection and was hailed as 'the beginning of the end for Alzheimer's' when early trial results unveiled in September showed it could slow the disease by a third.

But safety concerns have since emerged, leading many experts to say it should not be rolled out until more is known. In a series of exclusive reports, The Mail on Sunday revealed that one in ten people who take the drug suffer life-threatening brain swelling, and one in six develop brain bleeds, according to data published by the pharmaceutical firm behind the drug.

Approval of dementia medication  lecanemab  will 'cost lives, not just in the US, but in the UK and other countries, too,' a world-renowned dementia expert and former adviser to the US drug watchdog the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned

The MoS last month reported the case of one 79-year-old Florida woman who died suddenly after taking three doses of lecanemab as part of a medical trial. Experts investigating her death concluded the cause was a lethal seizure triggered by the drug.

Despite this, lecanemab is expected to be approved by American health chiefs next month after lobbying from dementia campaigners.

'There is so much pressure on the authorities to deliver this drug, I don't think there's any way they can not approve lecanemab,' the former FDA adviser said. 'It is almost certain it will get the green light in June.'

The calls have been led by leading US dementia charity the Alzheimer's Association, which has been accused of conflicts of interest and bias  which it vehemently denies.

It was last year reported that it received more than 220,000 from drug firm Biogen, which helped to develop lecanemab.

The drug works by attacking a toxic protein in the brain called amyloid. Amyloid proteins circulate freely in the blood, but when they clump together in the brain and form plaques it causes the brain damage that triggers dementia symptoms.

Experts believe the chemical reaction that occurs in the brain when the lecanemab removes the plaque can inflame blood vessels, raising the risk of bleeds.

The FDA has already fast-tracked the drug through the official approval process due to the pressing need for effective dementia drugs. It has also published guidance for prescribing the drug, so doctors are ready to offer the jabs as soon as it gets the green light.

Experts say the committee must carefully consider the concerning side effects, though.

It was initially believed that patients also on blood thinner drugs, given to those who suffer heart disease, were at the highest risk of brain bleeds. But scientists at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, suggests that far more patients are at risk.

It appears that all three patients who died of possible lecanemab side effects on the trial had a condition called cerebral amyloid angiopathy  a build up of amyloid plaque on the blood vessel walls that increases the risk of dangerous bleeding.

Studies suggest about half of all Alzheimer's patients have cerebral amyloid angiopathy. There may also be a risk for those taking certain types of antidepressants, which are commonly prescribed to people with Alzheimer's, experts claim.

The drug is a twice-a-month injection and was hailed as 'the beginning of the end for Alzheimer's' when early trial results unveiled in September showed it could slow the disease by a third (stock photo)

However, others say the most concerning fact about lecanemab is that doctors will struggle to predict who will suffer severe side effects as cerebral amyloid angiopathy is very hard to spot.

'Blood-thinners and some antidepressants could raise the risk of brain bleeds, but what worries me the most is that patients not on any of these drugs can also experience life-threatening side effects,' says Robert Howard, professor of old age psychiatry at University College London's Institute of Mental Health.

'Once the FDA approve lecanemab, it will be up to the UK medical regulators to make their call. I trust that they will make the right decision.'

The drug firm that makes lecanemab, Eisai, has declined to comment.

In a previous statement given to The Mail on Sunday, a spokesman for the Alzheimer's Association said: 'We make decisions based on science and the needs of our constituents.

'No contribution from any organisation impacts the Alzheimer's Association's decision-making.'
Tubes of eczema ointment should be branded with traffic-light ratings to end confusion about how strong they are, say experts.

The medications, called topical steroids, are relied on by millions Britons  and are a mainstay of treatment for the condition, which causes the skin to become itchy, dry and cracked. But campaigners say patients are 'flying blind' with no easy way of knowing their potency, because, surprisingly, the strength of the drugs is never printed on packaging and rarely in the accompanying patient information leaflet.

Doctors say some patients are unknowingly over-using powerful versions, increasing the risk of agonising withdrawal symptoms when the course of treatment ends.

These include redness, 'burning' pain, excessive skin flaking and severe itching, which patients say are different from normal eczema flare ups  and can be so severe, they trigger insomnia and mental health problems such as anxiety and depression.

Meanwhile, experts say others apply too little as they are unduly worried about side effects, meaning their skin problems are not properly controlled.

ITCHING FOR CHANGE : Lifelong eczema sufferer Ellen Vincent

Such is the concern that the National Eczema Society last week wrote to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) urging it to 'mandate pharmaceutical manufacturers to introduce clear potency labelling on topical steroid tubes, packaging and patient information leaflets'.

Also signed by the British Association of Dermatologists, the open letter continued: 'The goal is to achieve a level of public understanding comparable to sunscreen strength using the Sun Factor Protection (SPF) labelling.'

Andrew Proctor, chief executive of the National Eczema Society, said: 'It's left to healthcare professionals to explain about potency,' he said. 'There isn't always time during busy consultations or patients may not remember. A packet of paracetamol tells exactly how much you can safely take  it should be the same for topical steroids. At the moment eczema patients are flying blind.'

The condition affects one in five children and one in ten adults in the UK. It occurs due to both genetics and environmental factors such as allergies, and is incurable.

Topical steroids  also known as corticosteroids  reduce inflammation, suppress overactivity of the immune system and narrow the blood vessels, which helps relieve some symptoms, such as itching and pain, alleviating the urge to scratch so the skin can heal. There are more than 100 different types of topical steroid preparations available in the UK, broadly grouped into four categories of potency: mild, moderate, potent and very potent.

IT'S A FACT Roughly a third of children with atopic eczema will also develop asthma and/or hayfever, according to the British Skin Foundation. Advertisement

A moderately potent steroid is twice as strong as hydrocortisone one per cent  the mild type  and both are available over-the-counter. Potent steroids are ten times the strength and very potent ones are at least 50 times stronger.

But this basic information is not on packaging  instead, the concentration of active ingredients is printed, usually in per cent. But the potential for confusion is clear: for instance, betametasone 0.1 per cent is a potent steroid that's ten times the strength of hydrocortisone one per cent.

Professor Celia Moss, consultant dermatologist at Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust, said it was 'a mystery' as to why drug firms didn't make things clearer. She said: 'A few years ago, the MHRA ruled all skin lotions containing paraffin should have a fire risk warning on the packaging, despite that risk being very small. They need to do something similar to address the confusion about topical steroid strengths.

'A traffic-light-style system would be great, as we're used to them on food packaging.'

Labels could indicate green for the mildest formulas, amber for moderate, red for potent and darker red for very potent.

Topical steroids are typically meant for short-term use of between two and six weeks. For the majority of eczema patients, symptoms will ease in this time. Those with more severe eczema may need to use stronger creams over longer periods which requires monitoring as the risk of side effects increases.

A 2021 MHRA review said withdrawal could occur 'after long-term continuous or inappropriate use of moderate to high potency products'.

Professor Anthony Bewley, of the British Association of Dermatologists and a consultant dermatologist at Barts Health NHS Trust, said: 'A minority of patients using topical steroids find their skin gets worse, not better, and need to apply more. When they stop they suffer severe skin problems. We don't know why but it is mainly seen in people using potent topical steroids for years without supervision.

'Instructions can be vague  leaflets talk of applying "sparingly" or "enough to cover the affected area" which isn't good enough.'

Topical steroid doses are measured in 'finger tip units', or FTUs. One FTU  enough ointment to cover the end of an adult finger from tip to crease of the first joint  should be applied to an area of skin the size of two adult hands with the fingers held together.

'Using less can mean symptoms aren't controlled, so the patient uses more for a longer time, increasing risks,' said Prof Bewley.

The medications, called topical steroids, are relied on by millions Britons  and are a mainstay of treatment for the condition, which causes the skin to become itchy, dry and cracked (file photo)

Prof Moss said there is also an issue with patients avoiding using steroids due to fears of extreme withdrawal symptoms.

Studies suggest that up to eight in ten have concerns about using topical steroids.

'It's a problem with people unwilling to use even mild topical steroids, even if they would benefit, as they've read about withdrawal symptoms,' Prof Moss added. 'Better labelling would help.'

A survey by the National Eczema Society found just 17 per cent of eczema sufferers knew how many strengths of topical steroid there are.

One eczema sufferer who understands the confusion is Ellen Vincent, who was diagnosed as a child.

The 43-year-old, who lives in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, said: 'Like many eczema sufferers, I use different strength topical steroids on different body parts.

'At times, I've been using three at once and can get confused. There is a risk you accidentally use a strong one where you should use a mild one, and vice versa. The tubes often look very similar.

'Better labelling on the packaging would help a lot.'
For a good six months I have had swollen legs. At times they've been red, hot and very painful. I'm 90 and I've been prescribed antibiotics twice, but they didn't help. Most recently my GP said I had to learn to live with it. Is she right?

Leg swelling, wounds and ulcers that are slow to heal are all common and very distressing problems for the elderly which affect mobility and quality of life.

They deserve proper treatment. In the 1990s a brilliant district nurse, Ellie Lindsay, set up The Leg Club in order to help people with these problems. It's a network of nurse-led drop-in clinics offering treatment and advice to help prevent problems from returning.

They also provide an opportunity for patients to meet others in the same situation, as issues with the legs that limit mobility may also be very isolating.

Legs can be swollen for a number of reasons in someone older  this is called oedema. Sometimes it is due to a lack of mobility, as normal walking encourages the circulation, moving fluid out of the legs. But problems with the veins can also be an issue as the valves controlling blood flow don't work as well with age. Compression stockings and using moisturisers are important treatments.

Leg swelling, wounds and ulcers that are slow to heal are all common and very distressing problems for the elderly which affect mobility and quality of life

Your GP also needs to consider if your heart is pumping effectively, as if the rate is poor it can lead to swollen legs, and whether any medications you take are worsening the problem.

To find out more about The Leg Club, visit legclub.org or ask your GP receptionist.

About 15 years ago I started to become breathless with exercise and was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. I was given tablets which sorted it out, but over the past year I've started to feel puffed out again, even when doing something simple such as bending down to tie my laces. I am a 65-year-old man, fairly fit and not overweight. Should I worry, or is this just old age?

The kind of breathlessness described here isn't something to be expected as we age, and it certainly shouldn't be ignored. Anyone experiencing this must visit their GP who can start trying to look for a cause.

Tests should be able to flag-up any problem with the heart  atrial fibrillation is a condition that leads to an irregular heart beat and this might trigger breathlessness. But there could be other issues, such as faulty heart valves or a problem with the pump action of the heart.

Investigations should also look at the lungs.

Many problems with the lungs will cause breathlessness, from asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to less common issues such as lung fibrosis, which is a build up of scar tissue that can occur after infections.

If the GP can't run tests, then patients should expect a referral to a hospital clinic.

We have seen a lot of people suffering with breathlessness in the past few years as a result of developing long Covid, and you should discuss this possibility with your doctor.

Beyond the heart and lungs, other issues may also be relevant.

Anaemia  when a lack of iron means you don't produce enough red blood cells to ensure the body gets the oxygen supply it needs  can cause breathlessness, particularly during exercise, and blood tests can ascertain this or similar issues with Vitamin B12.

The ability to breathe well while exercising can be affected by problems within the sinuses or nasal passages, too.

I was put on statins  one called atorvastatin  because of high cholesterol (not hugely raised, but higher than it should be). Within days I began getting heavy nosebleeds. My GP told me to stop taking the tablets and the nosebleeds stopped. Does this mean that I can't be prescribed statins?

Nose bleeds are a side effect of this statin  as many as one in ten people who take atorvastatin will suffer the problem. Regular nose bleeds would be a reason to stop taking a medication, but it might be possible to switch to another statin, such as rosuvastatin, which doesn't cause this side effect.

Write to Dr Ellie Do you have a question for Dr Ellie Cannon? Email DrEllie@mailonsunday.co.uk Dr Cannon cannot enter into personal correspondence and her replies should be taken in a general context. Advertisement

We prescribe statins due to a patient's overall cardiovascular disease risk and the likelihood they might suffer a heart attack, stroke or other heart-related problem in the next ten years.

GPs calculate the risk by taking many factors into account, such as family history, other medical problems, age and weight.

To reduce stroke and heart attack risks, we advise measures such as controlling high blood pressure, taking a statin, increasing exercise, losing weight and quitting smoking. Trying to live as healthily as possible is important, regardless of whether you're taking statins.

For those who cannot take statins due to side effects  which is very rare but can happen  there are other cholesterol-lowering medications which a cardiologist can prescribe.

You can trust pharmacists with any everyday ailment

Pharmacists will soon be able to prescribe a range of medicines in order to relieve the pressure on GPs, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, pictured above, has announced

Pharmacists will soon be able to prescribe a range of medicines in order to relieve the pressure on GPs, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, pictured above, has announced.

It will mean patients with a host of common problems such as sore throats, shingles and urine infections can pop into their high street chemist for treatment, rather than scrambling for a GP appointment.

I know some patients are nervous about this. How can a pharmacist possibly offer the same standard of care as a family doctor?

Well, let me reassure you. I frequently call on the pharmacist for advice on what to prescribe certain patients  they often know better than us. They are fully qualified healthcare professionals who are perfectly capable of diagnosing and treating some of the most common complaints I see in clinic.

It also means fewer clogged-up phone lines and more time for GPs to spend with patients with far more complex problems. Trust me  its a win-win for doctors and patients.

No swift solution to chronic pain

A major trial has confirmed that one of the most commonly prescribed drugs for chronic pain doesnt work.

Millions of Britons are given an antidepressant called amitriptyline to treat arthritis, for example, or where the root cause of the pain is unknown.

Older studies showed a lower dose could help by reducing pain signals in the brain.

The latest trial results have seen GPs facing criticism for seemingly dishing out unnecessary antidepressants.

The unfortunate truth is that not much works well in tackling chronic pain. Patients may get a referral to a pain clinic where they try physiotherapy and exercises, but in my experience there is no panacea, so you cant blame doctors for wanting to try anything that might help.

The Government must fund research into better options  thats the only way things will improve for patients.
A radical rethink in the way prostate cancer is diagnosed could be on the cards  with experts calling to reclassify the earliest stage tumours as 'pre-cancer', The Mail on Sunday has learned.

Every year roughly 50,000 men in the UK are told they have the disease, and the move would effectively see this figure cut in half.

Mounting evidence suggests patients with these tiny tumours don't usually need to start treatment. Instead they can simply be monitored with regular blood tests and scans to ensure the tumours don't start to spread.

This approach is now offered to about 90 per cent of men when newly diagnosed with prostate cancer, with the aim of sparing them from complications following invasive surgery and radiotherapy, which can include incontinence and erectile dysfunction.

A major study published last month proved that survival rates for the group who are monitored are the same as for those given more aggressive traditional treatment.

A radical rethink in the way prostate cancer is diagnosed could be on the cards  with experts calling to reclassify the earliest stage tumours as 'pre-cancer'

While experts admit that it feels 'counterintuitive' to not treat a cancer, many small, early-stage prostate tumours are so slow-growing that it could be many years before they begin to spread. And some never do. And if doctors spot signs that the disease is on the march, more definitive treatment could be quickly given.

Despite this, not all men are convinced. Cancer specialists say around one in ten push for invasive therapies as soon as they're diagnosed, even when told they don't need them.

The hope is that the reclassification of early-stage tumours as pre-cancer would help to reassure this group that waiting is a better option and will give them more healthy years  free from the sometimes life-changing problems that often occur after treatment.

'The majority of men recommended monitoring have low-level prostate cancer which is in no danger of ever leaving the prostate and becoming life-threatening,' says Joe O'Sullivan, professor of radiation oncology at Queen's University Belfast and an authority on the treatment of prostate cancer.

'If you actively looked for this form of cancer in the population you'd find it in most men over the age of 60. But if you tell a patient they have cancer, that's always going to make them nervous.'

He adds: 'Of course, these early-stage prostate cancers are still  scientifically speaking  cancer, but in a practical sense they are not. The tumour is not invasive and it is highly unlikely to spread.

'It would be game-changing for my patients if I could tell them that all they have is a form of pre-cancer. This is why there is this growing conversation about reclassifying some forms of the disease.'

The Mail on Sunday has discovered this is indeed an issue that is being widely debated.

Last week, in her column, our resident GP Dr Ellie Cannon reassured a reader who'd written in expressing his fears about 'going untreated'. She told him that it was safe to watch and wait  but scores of men either wrote to us or commented online after reading the article to say they too weren't happy being told they had to live with cancer.

One recently diagnosed prostate cancer patient, Steven Griffiths, 72, said that putting off treatment until later in life worried him because he fears he will not cope as well with surgery or radiotherapy in his 80s. He is deciding whether to undergo surgery to remove his prostate this year rather than wait.

Meanwhile, 85-year-old Peter Giles said he wishes he'd had surgery to remove his prostate cancer when it began to spread when he was in his 60s. He waited instead, which meant he had to undergo intensive treatment and was left with lifelong problems.

And given that 11,000 British men die from prostate cancer each year, aren't the concerns justified?

Experts  who insist that prostate cancer is one of the best-understood diseases treated on the NHS  say not.

IT'S A FACT For every 10cm put on around the waist, the likelihood of a man developing high-grade prostate cancer increases by about 13 per cent. Advertisement

Usually it is picked up with a prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test  which checks for high levels of a protein that indicates that the prostate is not functioning as it should  and an examination.

As the disease is more common in men over 50, GPs might suggest these tests on an ad hoc basis, or they may recommend the test if the patient is suffering any symptoms of prostate problems, such as changes to patterns in urination.

If prostate cancer is suspected, scans and a biopsy  where a sample of tissue from the prostate is removed and examined under a microscope  can confirm the diagnosis. These are used to determine the stage  how large the tumour is and how far it has spread  and the grade  how rapidly it's growing.

Prostate cancer is graded using a system known as the Gleason score. A score of one is considered normal. Between two and five is 'at risk' but not cancer. A six or a seven means the tumour is slow growing and a score of eight to ten  the limit of the scale  would be deemed fast-growing.

This score, along with scan and blood test results, are used to decide whether the prostate cancer is low, medium or high risk.

High-risk patients are recommended treatment  such as surgery or radiotherapy  while the NHS watchdog the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence says low- and medium-risk men are also offered the option of monitoring only.

The reason doctors believe it's a safe bet is largely thanks to a major, ongoing trial that has been tracking 1,600 patients with low- and medium-risk prostate cancer.

The latest data from the trial, published last month, found these men have just as good a chance of surviving for 15 years regardless of whether they opted for monitoring, surgery or radiotherapy.

'This trial was a big deal,' says Dr Alison Tree, consultant clinical oncologist at The Royal Marsden. 'We know a lot about prostate cancer now and how it behaves. This means we've been able to improve survival rates and also be confident about resisting treating patients unnecessarily.'

Monitoring involves regular scans and PSA tests to keep tabs on whether the tumour is growing. Sir Ian McKellen, 83, is a case in point. The veteran British actor, who played the wizard Gandalf in The Lord Of The Rings movies, was diagnosed with slow-growing prostate cancer in 2006. He has avoided aggressive therapies, opting instead for frequent checks to make certain the cancer has not got worse.

If any worrying changes are spotted, patients will typically be recommended radiotherapy or surgery. In the study, around three-quarters of men who started out being monitored went on to have these treatments.

Experts say this shows that any changes which occur during surveillance are promptly picked up and dealt with.

CHECK UPS: Sir Ian McKellen has his prostate tumours monitored

If a patient has underlying health problems that would make aggressive treatment more risky  such as high blood pressure  or someone is considered close to the end of their life, doctors may suggest hormone therapy.

This involves taking drugs with the aim of slowing the progression of the disease, rather than curing it. If this doesn't work, radiotherapy or surgery is still an option.

'There is no age cut-off,' says Prof O'Sullivan. 'Men in their 90s can get surgery or radiotherapy if doctors judge it is necessary and safe,' he says.

Despite this, Dr Ben Lamb, consultant prostate surgeon at Bart's Health NHS Trust, says: 'Some men can't handle the idea of living with cancer and it's up to them to decide the best course of action. While we do our best to explain that they are better off on active surveillance, we give intensive treatment to roughly ten per cent of these patients because it's their preference.'

IT'S A FACT Over the past decade, prostate cancer incidence rates in the UK have increased by roughly eight per cent. Advertisement

Experts also say doctors, nervous about missing their chance to catch the cancer, may recommend treatment unnecessarily.

'It's not just patients who can push for unnecessary treatment,  clinicians can also go too early with invasive procedures too,' says Prof O'Sullivan.

Reclassifying the lowest risk prostate cancers  with a Gleason score of six  as pre-cancer could help reduce this anxiety. Research suggests about 98 per cent of these tumours  known as Gleason six tumours  do not grow or spread outside the prostate so should no longer be considered cancer.

'This is the least aggressive form of prostate cancer that is incapable of causing symptoms or spreading,' said Dr Scott Eggener, urologist at the University of Chicago and lead author of a study calling for Gleason six tumours to be reclassified as pre-cancer.

The charity Prostate Cancer UK says it is supportive of the idea.

'Prostate cancer can be a huge diagnosis and many men worry about the safety of being on active surveillance,' says Emma Craske, senior specialist nurse at Prostate Cancer UK. 'This psychological weight can drive men to seek treatment even if they don't need it.

'Given how unlikely a Gleason six tumour is to spread, it could be a good idea to recategorise them.'

Patients themselves are split over the decision. In February, a Canadian survey of 450 prostate cancer patients found that 35 per cent supported reclassifying Gleason six as 'low-risk prostate lesions' but 35 per cent opposed it, with the rest undecided. Opponents of the change argue it might lead to men dropping out of monitoring altogether. But the survey found eight in ten men said they would continue with surveillance, even if told they had pre-cancer rather than cancer.

Despite this, Dr Lamb is unconvinced. 'Gleason six tumours are cancerous and it would be dishonest to say they're not,' he says.

'The NHS needs to improve counselling prostate cancer patients after diagnosis, by properly explaining their options with facts and figures. That is better than fudging the definition of cancer.'

And what of all those worrying prostate cancer deaths?

In most of these cases, the tumour was picked up late, once the cancer had already spread to nearby organs such as the bladder and pelvis. One in ten prostate cancers are discovered at this stage  when the disease is incurable  because patients seek help too late. A small proportion of men suffer aggressive cancers that, even when detected early, spread fast and are quickly fatal. Around half of men with advanced prostate cancer survive five years.

Experts say this is an area where research progress still needs to be made.

'Every year we see patients whose prostate sadly isn't going to be treatable, even with early surgery and radiotherapy,' says Dr Lamb.

'We need to get better at working out who is most at risk of these cancers, for example if they have genes which make aggressive cancer more likely.'

Some of those with low-risk cancer who push for treatment may come to regret it.

One of them is Harry Norman, 74, from Manchester, who underwent surgery to remove his prostate in 2019 and found it left him with debilitating side effects.

He was diagnosed in 2018 after his GP advised him to take a PSA test. He had no symptoms and his consultant advised active surveillance  but Harry chose surgery.

'He thought it would be best to get it out of the way,' says his wife Jane, 74. 'He didn't want to live with the anxiety of having cancer and I supported the decision. Looking back, we bitterly regret it.'

While the surgery removed the cancer, there was an uncommon complication which left him with permanent bowel problems.

'His bladder often gets blocked so he can't pee,' says Jane. 'He's now got a permanent catheter and he regularly needs to go to hospital to have this adjusted. We can't go on holiday and he struggles to leave the house.

'People aren't aware of the risks of this surgery. If it's a life-saver, it's worth it, of course. But it's not a one-time thing which removes all your worries. There are lots of things that can go wrong.'
If Elon Musk built a time machine, this might just be the result.

Three untouched 2010 Tesla Roadsters have been put up for sale after sitting in an abandoned shipping crate for the last 13 years.

The sought after Sport Models - in 'almost perfect condition' - were never collected by their buyer after being delivered to a Chinese port, it is said.

Now, Arizona-based Tesla Roadster broker Gruber Motor Company has listed them for sale, with 600,000 ($750,000) as the last bid for all three.

The firm explained: 'Each Roadster for sale has a story, and we encourage sellers to share. This one is going to blow your mind.

Pictured: A trio of unused Teslas are up for sale after being abandoned for 13 years

'So, what if you could go back in time, Tesla time that is, and buy a brand new Roadster from Tesla? Would you do it?

READ MORE: Tesla market value plummets $143 BILLION in just 26 days after poor EV sales Tesla reduces the price of its Model Y, making it cheaper than the average US vehicle

'Here is your chance, since a time capsule has just been opened, and here is the interesting tale: In 2010, a customer in China bought three brand new US spec LHD Roadsters from Tesla.

'They got shipped to a dock in China, but were abandoned by the buyer.

'They have been sitting in sea containers, at a port, since 2010, untouched, accruing storage charges. Storage charges are being paid for by the seller.'

The three cars are listed as a 'Radiant Red' Sport Roadster, and two 'Very Orange' Sport Roadsters.

The Sport editions of the car were sold for around $128,500 (102,644) on release in 2010.

Gruber say they have not been able to check the motors in person and will be shipping them to the USA 'mid-May'.

At this point they do not even know if the cars will start, as their battery packs have lay dormant for thirteen years.

The Sport editions of the car were sold for around 102,644 on release back in 2010

The cars were discovered in a shipping crate and are now up for auction on Gruber

The 'almost perfect' Sport Models were apparently delivered to a Chinese port and left there

The last bid displayed on their auction page was 600,00 for all three Tesla Roadsters

They add: 'What we do not yet know is if the ESS pack Service Plugs were pulled before shipment, and even more intriguing, if they were, is there any life left in the packs after 13 years of storage. We will not know until they are retrieved and fired up.

'We also do not know how many, if any, miles were on odometers from testing/delivery of new Roadsters.

'Once, or if, the Roadsters come back to the US, they will be shipped to Gruber Motors for a full technical review.'

Each Roadster has unopened boxes in the trunk, assumed to be brand new charge cables, and a large box external to the car which is thought to be a hard top with carrying case.

Gruber say: 'Due to the bizarre nature of this set of brand new Roadsters and collectible status, this owner is accepting bids at this time only, and is trying to sell them as a set, but would entertain splitting them up.'
Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday's ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below.

Mrs J.D. writes: We parked at West Pentire, Crantock in Cornwall, in a car park managed by UK Car Park Management Limited.

We paid by bank debit card, and although we did not keep the ticket (who does!), we have a bank statement clearly showing we paid.

However, we later received a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) saying we had not paid and claiming 60.

Tony Hetherington replies: The PCN demand you received from UK Car Park Management included two pictures of your car, taken by the company's on-site cameras, and it claimed that you owed 100 as you had failed to pay anything for the time you spent in the West Pentire car park.

If you paid within 14 days, the notice added, the company would accept 60. But if you did not pay within 28 days, the 100 penalty could rise.

Idyllic: But the day was ruined by getting a ticket at West Pentire car park

You appealed to the 'Independent Appeals Service', a name used by a commercial business whose proper title is United Trade and Industry Limited. It is paid by UK Car Park Management to consider appeals  and it considered your appeal and promptly turned it down.

This was more than a bit puzzling, as you had provided evidence from your bank statement that you had used your debit card to pay for the use of the car park. However, the appeals service says that its adjudicator 'is only allowed to consider the lawfulness of the charge.'

And UK Car Park Management says it was unable to identify your payment, despite the evidence from your bank that it was paid.

The payment machines at the car park ask motorists to enter the registration number of their car. You have told me that your husband did this, and while there is no evidence either way, it is possible he hit a wrong key.

But this still does not explain why your undisputed payment could not be found, simply by eliminating other payments made at around the same time. Logically, UK Car Park Management did receive your money, even if it could not at first sight relate it to your licence plate.

UK Car Park Management has refused to comment, and because of the time taken to appeal, you have had to pay 100. So what we are left with is a situation in which you can prove you paid, but you are being heavily penalised for something quite different, which is a possible mistake in entering the car's number.

In short, the car park has had its money. You are being fined for something else in its terms and conditions, and not a failure to pay.

Logically then, a car park firm could make it a condition that drivers must pay while standing on one leg and singing the Hallelujah Chorus.

And if the cameras spotted them failing to hop and sing, this would count as a breach of contract and the driver would be slapped with a demand for another hundred pounds. It makes just as much sense.

After commercial television was launched in the 1950s, one of its first bosses said it was like having a licence to print money. Today, car park bosses must feel the same way. At least ITV gave us Coronation Street. Often, car park bosses behave little better than parasites.

'Perfect' pet insurance really is anything but...

Ms S.E. writes: My son and his partner took out a policy with Perfect Pet Insurance in 2020, with premiums of 44 a month.

In November 2021, our family's beloved Cavalier King Charles spaniel became ill with congestive heart failure.

He passed away in February 2022 and the insurance company was notified, and a claim for 111 was submitted but is still unpaid.

Distress: Family's beloved Cavalier King Charles spaniel became ill with congestive heart failure

Tony Hetherington replies: Your son's partner signed a legally binding release, allowing Perfect Pet Insurance to discuss your family's complaint with me and to produce any necessary documents. Unhelpfully, while banks, government departments and so on accept such signed releases, this insurance company insisted on contacting her directly, basically asking, 'Are you sure you want to authorise this?'

The reason became clear. Perfect Pet Insurance had failed to reply to the claim. 'This was an oversight on our part,' the insurer said.

And the explanation for its rejection of your claim was just as depressing. Your dog's treatment in November 2021 cost 54, and in February 2022 it cost 57, but the policy says you must pay the first 90 a year yourself. Your policy was renewed in January 2022, meaning the two bills fell into two different years, each with its excess of 90, so you get nothing.

Worse still, Perfect Pet Insurance even collected a 44 premium in March 2022, despite knowing that your dog was no longer alive.

I expected it to refund this, but the company says that as it offers the insurance on an annual basis, but allows you to pay premiums monthly, you were effectively in debt to it, despite no longer having a pet. It did not collect any further premiums though. Far from good customer relations.

If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.
Over the coming decade, artificial intelligence (AI) will transform our lives  for better or for worse. Mark my words, its impact will be on a par with the invention of the light bulb, the combustion engine, the personal computer and more recently the internet and iPhone.

Speak to some economists and they argue that AI will be a resounding force for good. It will supercharge economic growth on the back of massive productivity gains as business processes are streamlined and many jobs  and tasks  currently done by humans are carried out by all-singing, all-dancing AI tools.

Others argue that AI is the equivalent of aggressive knotweed and should be curbed before it gets out of control, endangering democracy through misinformation, misrepresentation and misuse.

Whatever your personal view  and it's currently a hot topic for debate in my local pub  AI is here to stay. And its role in society will only grow as it becomes more sophisticated and 'intelligent'  moving on from providing detailed answers to questions asked by people using search engines to its widespread use in key areas of our lives such as work and healthcare.

Yes, ChatGPT and Bard  AI 'chatbots' developed by Microsoft and Google respectively to mimic human conversation online  are just the beginning. You ain't seen nothing yet. All aspects of our lives are going to be touched by AI  including the way we go about building long-term wealth.

Finger on the pulse: Whatever your personal view, AI is here to stay

WILL AI INFLUENCE THE INVESTMENTS WE HOLD?

Although it is still early days, the impact of AI on the country's fund management industry could be seismic. Instead of the investment funds we hold in our Isas and pensions being run by exceedingly well-paid investment experts, there could come a time when many are managed instead by intelligent AI tools. Hello robots, goodbye thousands of mediocre fund managers.

And if not run by AI, they could be assisted by it. So, the potential stocks that a manager puts inside their fund could be drawn from a list compiled by AI, rather than an investment analyst poring night and day over company accounts and independent research in search of investment gems.

The implications are huge. More transformative than when index-tracking funds came on the scene in the late 1980s, providing investors with the opportunity to enjoy returns in line with the market  rather than be beholden to the competence (or incompetence) of managers running their funds.

AI-managed funds could  and it is a big could  offer investors the equivalent of investment elixir. That is, investment returns consistently better than what an index-tracker can deliver and maybe (a big maybe) performance superior to what the best 'active' fund managers  with years of experience behind them  sweat from their carefully crafted portfolios.

Fanciful? A pipe dream? Maybe, but an experiment conducted by financial comparison website finder.com indicates that a fund portfolio put together by AI has the potential to produce superior investment returns.

HOW A ROBOT PORTFOLIO FARED IN A TEST

Website Finder asked AI tool ChatGPT to put together a portfolio of 'high-quality' listed companies, based on the investment principles that mainstream fund managers commonly use to identify winning stocks. These included homing in on companies with low levels of debt, a record of sustained growth and a competitive advantage over immediate rivals.

ChatGPT came up with 38 stocks to build the portfolio around, most listed in the United States. The likes of tech giants Amazon, Meta and Microsoft, as well as familiar brands such as Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson and Visa.

The website then pitted this portfolio against one comprising ten of the UK's most popular investment funds  a mix of index-tracking funds (both UK and global), mixed equity and bond funds and one of the country's most popular actively managed funds, Fundsmith Equity.

This 23 billion fund, run by investment legend Terry Smith, has delivered average annual returns since launch in November 2010 of 16 per cent  hugely impressive on any level. The equivalent annual return from the MSCI World index over the same period is 11.1 per cent.

Since Finder launched its experiment in early March, ChatGPT's portfolio has come out on top, delivering an overall return of just short of 4.7 per cent. This compares with a near 1.9 per cent loss recorded by the portfolio of ten funds.

The results prompted Jon Ostler, chief executive of Finder, to state that 'it won't be long until large numbers of consumers try to use it [ChatGPT] for financial gain'.

More pointedly, he added that fund managers 'may be starting to look nervously over their shoulders'. A supporting survey conducted by the website indicated that nearly one in five UK adults would 'consider getting financial advice' from ChatGPT.

Of course, Finder's research should not be viewed as definitive  the results are based on too short a time period to be considered anything other than interesting.

As one well-known fund manager told The Mail on Sunday, the research was 'several years too short' to draw definitive conclusions from.

Yet, the experiment provides us with a glimpse into a future where AI funds could become an established part of the investment galaxy, vying for investors' money alongside index-tracking funds and best-in-class actively managed funds.

HOW ROBOTS COULD WEAVE THEIR MAGIC

'Undoubtedly, fund management is one of those areas where AI may well have a significant influence over time,' concedes Jason Hollands, managing director of fund platform Bestinvest.

He says many investment groups already run 'quant' or 'systematic' funds where the portfolios are constructed on the basis of quantitative analysis of financial data conducted by sophisticated computer programmes. So the jump to AI would not be a big one for them to take.

But he believes there are hurdles to overcome, the biggest being a regulatory one. 'The fund management industry is rigorously regulated given it is tasked with managing people's long-term life savings,' he says. 'But would a fund managed by a thinking AI machine restrict itself to rules drawn up by human regulators? Allowing AI to run an investment fund would carry significant risk for the investment company if it breached City regulations.'

John Moore, a senior investment expert at wealth manager RBC Brewin Dolphin, says the fund industry will have no choice but to embrace AI  'industries have to adapt or face being left behind'.

Yet he believes its main role  in the near future at least  will be in the gathering, processing and reporting of information used by fund managers to make investment decisions. He says: 'Consider the amount of information-gathering analysis undertaken to understand the effect of factors such as investor sentiment and political news on markets. All this information could be gathered in real-time by AI, enabling fund managers to make more astute investment decisions.'

WHAT FUND MANAGERS SAY ABOUT ROLE OF AI

Most investment managers that The Mail on Sunday has spoken to in recent days play down prospects of a bloody AI investment revolution  with fund managers going the way of most BT telephone boxes (taken out of service).

One renowned fund manager told the MoS: 'Saying that an AI model can run an investment fund is a bit like playing video game Call Of Duty and assuming it makes you fit to serve in a combat infantry unit.'

Christopher Rossbach, managing partner of London-based investment house J Stern & Co, was also sceptical. Fresh from attending the annual general meeting of Berkshire Hathaway in the United States  the company run by investment guru Warren Buffett  he said: 'I don't see a future where investment judgment is replaced by AI.

'Yes, AI may be able to analyse reams of past data  useful in investment decision taking  but it cannot make judgments about the future. That's where fund managers such as ourselves earn our crust, based on years of investment experience and knowledge.'

You would expect these individuals to fiercely defend their patch  and the funds they run will more than likely continue to thrive as a result of their individual investment acumen.

But it doesn't mean AI will fail to make inroads into the fund management industry. Investment house Sanlam has already embraced it, using its 'Orbit Insight' AI tool in the running of two investment funds, Global Artificial Intelligence and Asia Pacific Artificial Intelligence.

Developed seven years ago, Orbit Insight gathers data from a range of sources  company websites, news outlets and regulatory websites  that is used by the managers in the construction of the two portfolios. Sanlam says the AI tool helps build 'greater resilience' into the funds.

The performance numbers suggest it is having a positive impact. Over the past five years, the 654 million Sanlam GAI fund has delivered returns of 87 per cent  better than the 55 per cent return from investing in the FTSE World Index.

For the time being, AI's role in fund management will probably be as an adjunct rather than a main driver of investment returns. But as ever cleverer tools come on stream, AI could crack the nut that no one (not even Buffett) has yet to crack: being able to make reliable predictions of stock market returns. And in the process, it could send an army of mediocre fund managers to the proverbial scrapheap.
Tony Brewer was barely out of short trousers when he started work in the carpet business. A callow teenager fresh from school, he learnt his trade from the bottom up and by 1992 had risen through the ranks sufficiently to help found a new business, Headlam.

Appointed chief executive eight years later, Brewer spent 16 years at the helm, during which time the company became the largest flooring business in Europe and the shares rose more than 230 per cent.

Now, Brewer is trying to do something similar at Likewise, a business he set up in 2018 and listed on the stock market in 2021. The company floated at 25p a share and that year, delivered 60 million of sales, with profits of 1.6 million.

Results for 2022 will be unveiled on Tuesday but Brewer has already told investors that sales more than doubled to 124 million last year, while profits of 2.5 million are forecast alongside a 0.2p dividend. Brewer is expected to sound a confident note for 2023 as well. Yet Likewise shares are just 24p, with market-watchers spooked by the impact of economic pressures on both company costs and consumer spending.

This reaction seems overdone. Brewer has a stated goal of increasing sales to 200 million in the next few years by creating a robust and efficient business and taking market share from other operators. Progress has been encouraging but the pace should accelerate in the next few years as recent investments bear fruit.

Popular choice: The trend for fitting grey carpet helped boost Likewise sales to 60million, with 1.6million profit

Every year, retailers spend around 2 billion stocking their stores with carpet, tiles and other floor coverings.

They buy these goods from distributors, most of which are small, local firms. Brewer built Headlam into something different, a market leader that could offer retailers lower prices, swifter deliveries and more compelling window displays than most rivals. Along the way, Brewer developed relationships with manufacturers across Europe and retailers across the UK and beyond.

That network still holds good at Likewise, backed by 19 loyal managers who joined Brewer from his former place of work, bringing a string of contacts with them. Together, they intend to make Likewise a top player in flooring distribution, selling their wares to thousands of independent shops from Scotland to the West Country.

Doing so effectively can be a complex task, requiring strategically-located warehouses and well-thought-out logistics. Brewer and his team have spent the past few years ensuring that they can deliver the goods, establishing operations in centres across the country, including Leeds, Birmingham and Newbury so stores can receive carpets swiftly, wherever they are.

There has been heavy investment in sales too, not just flogging goods to store-owners but also helping them to purchase the right products for their neighbourhood and display them attractively.

Grey carpet is the most popular choice among homeowners but consumers are also attracted to tiles of every hue, as well as laminates, made to look like natural wood.

Some observers worry that spending will fall as families struggle to make ends meet. Evidence suggests however, that millions of people are still keen to buy well priced flooring, whether to furnish a new home or spruce up an old one. Brewer is also focused on grabbing a greater share of the market so Likewise should continue to grow, even if nationwide sales decline.

The company sells to commercial customers too, such as offices, schools and hospitals, where pricing and reliability are all-important.

Midas verdict: Likewise shares have suffered from wider concerns about consumer spending but, at 24p, those fears have been oversold. Brewer has spent more than 45 years in the flooring market, he has a record of success and is determined to make Likewise a leading operator in the market. As a 12 per cent shareholder, he is financially motivated too. Buy and hold.

Traded on: AIM Ticker: LIKE Contact: likewiseplc.com or 0121 817 2900
Looking for answers: Mick Lynch, head of the RMT transport union, is calling for better pay and conditions for railway workers

Mick Lynch, head of the RMT transport union is a controversial figure. To his followers, he is a hero. To his opponents, he is a troublemaker. And to many in the rail industry, he is more akin to an ostrich.

Along with fellow union members, Lynch, is calling for better pay and conditions for railway workers, even as Network Rail and the train operators battle with falling passenger numbers, ageing infrastructure and rising costs.

Even before the pandemic, the Government was shelling out more than 4 billion of taxpayers' cash to keep the industry on track. Today, that figure is almost certainly even higher. Something has to give, so that the network can operate a decent service, without breaking the bank.

Tracsis may have some of the answers, using technology to make rail work better, so trains are more punctual, fares are fairer and journeys are safer.

The company's customers span every part of the rail industry. For train operators, Tracsis helps with timetabling, providing software that ensures trains and workers are in the right place at the right time so daily rosters are managed efficiently and firms can optimise the use of their rolling stock.

Tracsis has also developed smart-ticketing technology so passengers can tap in and tap out when they go on a journey, rather than paying in advance.

Designed for commuters who no longer travel to the office every day, the service ensures that passengers pay the cheapest fares on a daily or weekly basis.

Already used by several train operators around London, the service is likely to be rolled out to other parts of the country. Tracsis provides train companies with 'Delay Repay' technology too, which refunds passengers if their journeys are delayed.

For Network Rail, Tracsis software monitors track lines, level crossings and other essential infrastructure to assess whether everything is up to scratch.

Little grey boxes, discreetly placed along the railways, use sophisticated technology to highlight when something has gone wrong or a piece of kit might need an upgrade, so engineers can fix problems quickly or even prevent them from occurring.

When repairs are needed, Tracsis provides digital tools to help complete projects safely and at speed.

The group also owns a data imagery business so firms can analyse storms, floods and other weather events  and respond faster and more effectively than in the past.

There is a flourishing business in America too, recently acquired and offering significant potential for expansion.

Midas recommended Tracsis in 2014 when the shares were 3.65. The shares have soared to 9.80 since then and there should be more to come.

Historically, the business grew largely through acquisition. In 2019, however, Chris Barnes was appointed chief executive, with a brief to continue buying complementary firms but also to ensure the various parts of Tracsis work more closely with one another.

The process has started to deliver results but should do so even more in future. Brokers predict a 12 per cent increase in revenues to 77 million for the year to this July, with profits up nearly 19 per cent to 13.9 million and continued momentum into 2024 and beyond.

Most of the firm's spare cash is spent on business expansion but Barnes is keen to pay dividends too, with 2.3p pencilled in for this year and 2.8p for 2024.

MIDAS VERDICT: The Great British Railways is a grand plan to oversee rail transport in the UK, helping to modernise services to the benefit of passengers, business customers and the taxpayer. Digital technology will play a key role. Tracsis is a pioneer in the field and the shares, at 9.80, have further to go. Just the ticket for existing and new investors.

Traded on: AIM Ticker: TRCS Contact: tracsis.com or 0845 125 9162
If one shareholder rebellion is bruising, a second could be called painful but what about a seventh?

Clarkson, the FTSE 250 shipbroker, now has the dubious honour of having clocked up a revolt at every annual meeting since 2017.

Almost 44 per cent of votes cast at this year's event went against its pay scheme for last year, and the same percentage rebelled against its pay policy  or what conditions it attaches to earnings  over the next few years.

Making waves: Clarkson now has the dubious honour of having clocked up a revolt at every annual meeting since 2017

Clarkson's boss Andi Case can't feel too hard done by  he did take home more than 10 million.

The company, which says it is engaging with shareholders over pay arrangements, is far from the only firm to experience pushback this year. Ocado and Plus500 have also been in the firing line.

And get your popcorn ready: there are still a slew of annual meetings for big-name firms to come.

L&G AGM set to be Sir Nigel Wilson's swansong

Legal & General will host what will almost certainly be Sir Nigel Wilson's swansong annual meeting on Thursday.

The chief executive, 66, said in January he would retire from the fund management titan  but could stick around until a replacement was found.

But Wilson may also face a backlash, with proxy adviser Pirc urging a vote against L&G's pay scheme.

He earned 4 million last year and has been paid 41 million since taking the helm in 2012.

However it goes, at least he's set up for a comfortable retirement.

What connects Erin Brockovich film with Yorkshire-based engineering firm?

Chemicals buffs may know the answer is hexavalent chromium.

It was at the centre of the case led by the real-life Erin Brockovich to compensate locals in the Californian town of Hinkley subjected to high levels of the carcinogenic compound in the groundwater.

Langver, whose website says it has just 26 staff, has developed an alternative coating for the ratchet tensioners used by the transport and logistics sector.

This is a niche product, admittedly, but Langver is getting in ahead of a hexavalent chromium ban in the UK and EU that comes into force in 2024.

Three cheers to British engineering punching above its weight.

Takeover fever takes a knock

Takeover fever took a knock last week when deadlines were extended for bids for Dechra Pharmaceuticals and Network International.

And on Friday it was announced that private equity group Apollo and Matt Moulding's online beauty group THG had abandoned deal talks.

The Dechra and Network International deals could go through, but the decisions being pushed back took some fizzle out of a dramatic few weeks that saw a flurry of swoops on London-listed firms.

All eyes will be on Wood Group on Wednesday, as Apollo has until then to work out with the company whether a 1.7 billion offer could proceed.

As the fifth move Apollo has made on Wood Group, it is certainly keen.
Outspoken: Tim Martin isn't shy about putting the world to rights

At the age of 68, many businessmen would be thinking about retirement. But not Tim Martin, the very out-spoken executive chairman of the high street pub chain stalwart JD Wetherspoon.

'We are built to work and it suits me,' he says over a latte at The Great Harry pub in Woolwich, south-east London.

While Martin, who founded Wetherspoons in 1979, may be an enthusiastic member of the workforce, official figures show an increasing number of Britons are stepping away from employment before they hit the State Pension age of 66.

Some politicians and economists are blaming this trend for labour shortages and say it is holding back the economy.

Last Thursday, Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride went so far as to say income tax could be cut by 2p if those who left jobs during the pandemic  many of them older workers  returned to work.

Not surprisingly, perhaps, Martin doesn't mince his words on the subject, which he says is putting 'quite a lot of pressure' on his FTSE 250 pub chain.

'I think we should get the b*****ds back to work,' he says. 'I think me and Warren Buffett [the legendary US fund manager who is still working at 92] should launch a campaign to say life is sweeter if you go out to work when everyone else is retired.'

He acknowledges that although the point at which people decide to stop working is a personal choice, employers have a significant influence, too, adding: 'It is up to businesses to make it attractive to work  maybe part time  which is what a lot of the oldies do in our business.'

According to Martin, an older worker in Clacton-on-Sea told him recently she had no plans to retire, adding: 'What am I going to do? Stay at home and look at the wall?'

While running a company would be enough for most people, Martin is also keeping up the campaigning streak he honed in the run-up to the EU referendum, when he was a vocal Leave supporter.

He is a fervent opponent, for example, of the decision by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to increase corporation tax from 19 per cent to 25 per cent

Martin also joined business leaders headed by hotel tycoon Sir Rocco Forte and senior Tories including Sir Iain Duncan Smith last month to call on Sunak to scrap the tourist tax on foreign visitors, who are no longer able to claim back the VAT they pay during shopping sprees in the UK.

In addition, he is a passionate campaigner for tax equality between pubs, bars and restaurants, and the supermarket chains which pay lower tax on food and drink sales.

Supermarkets can sell beer on the cheap, he argues, because they pay no VAT on food sales, but pubs and restaurants must pay 20 per cent. Martin says this has led to a slower post-pandemic recovery for the industry because it encourages people to buy alcohol in supermarkets and then drink it at home. In spite of all of this, Wetherspoons appears to be going from strength to strength.

The 1 billion group, which has 834 venues, reported last week that it is on course for a record year after a bumper Easter week followed by its 'busiest-ever' Saturday at the end of April.

The Coronation was a 'noticeably quiet' day, but that could have been because the rainy weather resulted in people opting to stay at home.

This buoyancy represents a change of tune after Martin said in January that expectations for a boom in the pub industry had not materialised and the recovery in sales had been sluggish.

He opened his first Wetherspoons pub in north London's Muswell Hill 43 years ago  famously naming it after the character JD Hogg in the US TV series The Dukes of Hazzard, and a teacher called Wetherspoon who told him he would never amount to anything.

When Martin launched the company, Margaret Thatcher had been residing at Number 10 for around six months.

Britain's first female Prime Minister had launched a radical programme of tax cuts and deregulation as part of a mission to revive business after years of industrial strife and economic decline under a Labour government. As a result it was an extremely exciting time for entrepreneurs. Britain's pro-business agenda continued through John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's premierships, and Wetherspoons quickly grew into one of the country's largest pub groups.

But Martin, who is one of Britain's biggest taxpayers, is pessimistic about today's politicians. 'We have a Government and political class with relatively little experience of business,' he says. 'From the 1970s, not just the Conservative government, but also Labour, genuinely realised that enterprise is the key to future success.'

He says things are different nowadays, adding: 'You don't much hear people saying we need to encourage business.'

Martin is no fan of Sunak and says he is 'not setting the world alight' and 'could be friendlier to business'.

He has decided to 'keep neutral' on the Labour Party, which many expect to win the next general election. 'I am sure Keir Starmer is one of the nicest people I have never met,' he says, then adds that he 'can't see' the pair going on the campaign trail together.

Wetherspoons was one of the most recognisable names in British business before the EU referendum in 2016. Martin went on to grab headline after headline for his criticism of the Remain campaign and for his decision to print pro-Leave rants on beermats. Despite the Leave camp winning, he has not been satisfied by the policies that have followed.

In particular, he takes aim at former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, with whom he pulled pints during the run-up to the referendum.

'I think a lot of the economic decisions that have been taken by the Government since the referendum have been awful,' he says. 'None more so than when Boris was in charge. He would not be running the finance department at Wetherspoons.'

But Martin is still a believer in the UK's decision to leave the EU, highlighting historically low unemployment and the London Stock Exchange hitting record highs. He also insists that Brexit has 'increased the level of democracy in the UK'.

He said: 'By far the most potent economic force in world history is democracy.

'If you look at the 50 most economically successful countries in the world, apart from a few oil states, they are all democracies. And if you look at the freest states they are all democracies.

'So you have a mixture of freedom and democracy, and what Brexit did is increase the level of democracy in the UK.

'That doesn't guarantee nirvana, but it is a precondition to future economic success.'
Extradited: British tech tycoon Mike Lynch

The wife of British technology tycoon Mike Lynch sold around 20 million of shares in cybersecurity group Darktrace in the months leading up to his extradition to the US.

Angela Bacares and Lynch together own more than 10 per cent of the 2 billion company. She sold around 1 per cent of Darktrace's total stock in a series of deals between January and May.

The sales came before Lynch, who was once dubbed 'Britain's Bill Gates', was extradited to the US last week after losing an appeal in the UK High Court.

He faces fraud charges in the US over the 8 billion sale of his software firm Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.

The US has accused him of cooking the books at his former firm and duping HP to overpay for it  which he denies. He could spend a decade behind bars if he is found guilty.

Lynch was one of Darktrace's original backers when it was founded in Cambridge more than a decade ago. He and his wife remain two of the firm's largest shareholders with a stake worth 200 million.

Last year, Hewlett-Packard won a civil fraud case against Lynch. A High Court judge ruled that Lynch defrauded the company by manipulating Autonomy's accounts to inflate the value of the group.
British Steel's long-awaited accounts have been delayed again as concerns grow for the future of the industry.

The Scunthorpe-based steelmaker was meant to file documents for 2021 at Companies House at the end of last year  but now says it plans to do so 'over the summer'.

In December the firm was said to be considering closing one of its two working blast furnaces, threatening thousands of jobs, unless it received 300 million in state funding to invest in green technology.

Feeling the heat: The steelmaker was meant to file documents for 2021 at Companies House at the end of last year  but now says it plans to do so 'over the summer'

Talks with the Government are understood to be ongoing  Business Minister Kemi Badenoch visited Scunthorpe last week  but many want to know how strong British Steel's finances are after rival Tata Steel recently warned that there was 'material uncertainty' over the future of its UK business.

British Steel was rescued from collapse by the Chinese group Jingye in 2020.

Accounts for 2020 show the company made a loss of 140 million.
Since January 2010, almost 4,000 dogs have been reported stolen in the Greater London area with police managing to return the pets in one in eight cases.

Across the capital, the successful return rate ranges between five per cent in Brent and Sutton to 18 per cent in Richmond upon Thames.

Of the 3,921 dogs taken, 478 have been returned, leaving some 3,443 pets missing in the capital.

The figures, which have been collated by the Greater London Assembly, show the significant problem faced by pet owners in the capital with dogs a constant target for professional gangs.

Nationally, approximately six dogs a day are stolen with just one in four being reunited with their owners.

Victims of this crime in the UK include former BBC Technology correspondent Rory-Cellan Jones as well as the daughter of the late entertainer Bruce Forsyth.

Mr Cellan-Jones' dog, Cabbage, was one of six which was stolen from a professional dog walker in west London in November 2021.

Since lockdown, demand for dogs has increased which has led to pressure on prices and a growth in the interest of Organised Crime Groups seeking to 'take advantage of the marketplace'.

This has prompted the government to make dognapping a crime in its own right, acknowledging the pain and suffering caused to both the pet and its owners.

Claire Calder, head of public affairs at Dogs Trust said: ' Having your beloved pet stolen is an extremely stressful, often heart-breaking experience. For years, Dogs Trust has called for harsher penalties to deter those who profit from this despicable crime.

'We welcome the proposed measures in the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals Bill) to introduce tougher sentences for those that steal dogs and recognise the emotional impact that this has on their owners. However, the Bill has sadly not progressed for over a year and needs to be urgently brought back or we will miss the opportunity to sufficiently tackle this abhorrent crime.'

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Nationwide, American bulldogs are the most popular dogs among thieves, followed by Staffordshire bull terriers and French Bulldogs

In figures collected by insurance company Direct Line, American Bulldogs, Staffordshire Bull Terriers and French Bulldogs are the most breeds most at risk of dognapping.

Such is the extent of the threat posed to dogs, the government established the Pet Theft Taskforce to study the issue and report back on what could be done to thwart the criminal gangs.

According to the taskforce's report: 'Britain is a nation of pet lovers, and many pets are considered members of the family, with their welfare and safety a key concern for owners. When a pet is stolen, this can cause significant emotional distress to the owner and animal, and the government is committed to tackling this crime.'

CLICK TO READ MORE: Lady Gaga's dognapper is sentences to 21 years in jail James Howard Jackson, one of three men and two accomplices who participated in the violent robbery, pleaded no contest to one count of attempted murder, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office Advertisement

The government's taskforce was ordered to uncover any evidence on the extent of the problem and consider how to counter the threat.

According to the report: 'Much of the current narrative is around dog theft, due to the higher number of dogs reported stolen compared to other pets. According to the Metropolitan Police Service, around 7 in 10 of crimes recorded in which animals are stolen involve dogs. Whilst the taskforce has focused on dog theft it has also considered the wider position around all pet theft where possible.'

Across the UK, 2,000 dogs were stolen during 2020.

The report warned: 'As demand for dogs has risen, so has their price. There has also been some evidence that as the value of stolen dogs has increased, in some areas this has attracted the interest of Organised Crime Groups (OCGs), who have adapted their criminality in response, taking advantage of the marketplace.'

The authors concluded: 'Whilst these figures might seem low, the emotional impact of having a pet stolen is undeniable, and often pets play a central role in their owners lives, especially assistance dogs. The evidence presented to the taskforce has shown the serious impact of this crime on the victims. As well as causing trauma to the pets owners, many cases of pet theft affect the animals welfare.'

As a result, the taskforce recommended new legislation to deal with the issue: 'Those speaking before the taskforce gave impassioned evidence of the emotional value a pet provides them and their families. It is clear pets are valued as something more than just property. This is where many see the deficiencies with the current Theft Act 1968 (Theft Act)  which treats pets as a type of property.'

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A government taskforce established to investigate the issue of dog thefts concluded that rising demand has prompted Organised Crime Groups to adapt their criminality and move into the lucrative dognapping business

Police believe many of the thefts of animals are the responsibility of organised crime groups

However, significant concern was expressed about the way dognapping and other pet theft is recorded which may underplay the seriousness of the problem.

A dog stolen while walking off the lead in the park can be recorded as a theft, while a dog taken from inside a parked car is deemed a car-related offence. If a dog is taken from a house, that is often classed as a burglary while someone walking their pet and is forced to hand it over can be classified as a robbery.

In response to the perceived threat, the government has introduced the Kept Animal Bill into the House of Commons which is currently at report stage ahead of its third reading and consideration by the House of Lords.

An early amendment to the bill included pet theft as a criminal offence due to the 'considerable distress for owners and their pets alike' caused by the criminality.

According to Direct Line insurance, 2,160 dogs were stolen across the UK during 2022.

Staffordshire bull terriers are among the most desirable to be stolen according to recent figures seen by MailOnline

The figures show that American Bulldogs were at greatest risk, followed by Staffordshire Bull terriers an French Bulldogs.

According to the insurance company, the number of dogs stolen in 2022 has fallen by 22 per cent when compared with figures from 2021.

Charity Dogs Trust said they have seen a 50 per cent increase in the number of requests about rehoming dogs.

Beverley Cuddy, Editor of Dogs Today magazine, Patron of Stolen and Missing Pets Alliance, and Founder of the Bark Angel, comments: 'Although reported dog theft numbers may be going down to pre-pandemic levels, the reality is that a significant number of cases still go unreported. Coupled with the rise in people using dog walkers, multiple dogs could be stolen at one time. Only one crime reference number is assigned when this happens, so we believe the scale of the problem is likely to be much bigger.'

Top ten dognapping areas by police force area Rank Police force 2021 2022 Change Percentage 1 Metropolitan Police Service 422 396 -26 -6% 2 Kent Police 182 177 -5 -3% 3 West Yorkshire Police 199 130 -69 -35% 4 West Midlands Police 35 125 90 257% 5 Lancashire Constabulary 116 103 -13 -11% 6 Leicestershire Constabulary 11 75 64 582% 7 Essex Police 93 63 -30 -32% 8 Northumbria Police 81 53 -28 -35% 9 Derbyshire Constabulary 48 50 2 4% 10 Devon and Cornwall Constabulary 32 50 18 56%

Police in Leicestershire have reported the highest increase in dog thefts over the past eight years rising from 24 in 2015 to 75 in 2022.

Madeline Pike, Veterinary Nurse for Direct Line Pet Insurance comments:

'We remain a nation of dog lovers. As more than a third (34 per cent) of UK households own a dog, the opportunity for thieves is high, with six dogs stolen each day in 2022.

'Whilst there has been a decrease in the number of dogs stolen, animal shelters have seen a sharp rise in the number of pets being rehomed. This is likely to be a sign that households are struggling with the cost of living or that they can no longer give their pet the attention they need due to a change in their working patterns.

'Taking precautions such as not leaving your dog tied up outside a shop, in an empty vehicle or keeping it on the lead when in busy areas, will help reduce the likelihood of being targeted by thieves. Its also vital to make sure your dog is microchipped and that your contact details are up to date. This can help identify your dog if it does go missing and is found.'

According to Direct Line, if your dog has been stolen you should:
The family of an Australian woman whose bones were found dumped at a building site in Malaysia have said they are 'heartbroken' and 'disappointed' after an inquest failed to determine her cause of death.

Anna Jenkins, 65, from Adelaide, South Australia, was snatched off the streets in broad daylight while on a trip to see relatives on the island of Penang in 2017.

Her family claims local police hampered the investigation into her disappearance - and her remains were only found after years of detective work by her son Greg, 43.

Last week, he flew back to Malaysia to hear the findings of a coronial inquiry into her death, but has been left disappointed again as the coroner in Penang declared an 'open verdict' due to a 'lack of evidence'.

Anna's daughter, Jen Bowen, said she felt authorities 'did not care' for her mother and didn't want to help when she disappeared in 2017.

Devoted son Greg Jenkins found the skeletal remains of his missing Australian mother dumped at a Malaysian building site as he rummaged through the construction rubble

Greg Jenkins and his sister Jen Bowen (pictured) searched relentlessly for their mother

Speaking from her Adelaide home, she told 7News: 'Every time we face the Malaysian officials we have that little ounce of hope that they're going to take the opportunity to turn things around for Mum, unfortunately (this) is another example where that's not going to happen.'

'I would say (to Malaysian authorities), I wish you valued our mum's life a lot more. I wish you valued our lives a lot more.'

Ms Bowen's brother Greg spent three years and more than $300,000 on 34 trips to Malaysia - where 25 adults go missing every week - to criss-cross the country hunting for his mother.

He has been supported by SA MLC Frank Pangallo, who joined him for the inquest on Friday.

Mr Pangallo said that the inquest was a 'disgrace', and said he was left 'waiting for several hours' for a 'three minute inquest'.

'This whole process has been a farce,' he said.

Australian grandmother Anna Jenkins, 65, (pictured) is believed to have been snatched off the streets while on a trip to Penang in 2017 and was never seen again

He found part of his mother's vertebrae lying among the rubble and boulders. There were also many of her possessions including a cross and her favourite Vicks cold lozenges

After several trips to Malaysia, Greg found his mother's skeletal remains, along with some clothing and possessions, dumped in rubble at a building site close to a $107million housing development.

The family believes the beloved grandmother was kidnapped or mugged and murdered before her body was dumped in nearby jungle.

The site was later developed for luxury homes - and construction workers are believed to have found Ms Jenkins' remains, along with other murder victims.

They were then ordered to shift the body elsewhere without alerting authorities for fear of jeopardising the construction project.

Malaysian-born Anna Jenkins married husband RAAF serviceman Frank Jenkins and moved to Australia in 1970, raising son Greg and daughter Jen in Adelaide, South Australia

'I think it was just a dumping ground for killers,' Mr Jenkins told Daily Mail Australia.

'The new housing development was aimed at wealthy Chinese buyers - and traditionally they can't buy a home anywhere that's had human remains on it.

ONE-MAN'S HUNT FOR HIS MISSING MOTHER Greg Jenkins spent three years in a relentless search for his mother after local cops showed little interest. The Australian Defence Force serviceman was helped by a military veteran mate who now works in the security industry and they were given tips on how to conduct the investigation by a contact in the police who specialises in missing persons. He interviewed more than 1,000 people and created 12,500 flyers and posters which he personally put up and handed out across Malaysia. He faced the gruesome task of checking countless random unidentified bodies in morgues and scoured lists of amputated limbs in the hunt for his mother - and even crawled through sewers. Greg Jenkins interviewed more than 1,000 people and created 12,500 flyers and posters he put up around the country 'There are tsunami tunnels around the area where mum was that you can lift the grates off and go through them,' he said. 'I saw rats there that are doing gym workouts! They were huge... 'But there was never a moment I was ready to give up. There were moments I s*** myself - but I was never giving up. 'I was chased by a Chinese gang once - they use these gangs to protect certain areas and they have free rein to ignore some laws as long as it's not against people who live there. 'I went to hand out flyers to them and then two guys came out of the bushes with machetes and came towards me, followed by the 10 other guys I had seen, so I just thought I needed to show them how quick I can run.' The flyers, offering a $20,000 reward eventually paid off when one construction worker made contact by WhatsApp with pictures of his mother's possessions and the remains of her coccyx bone. Advertisement

'This development cost over $100million to build but the selling price of the luxury villas meant it was worth more than a billion - so everyone just hushed it all up.

'They didn't want word leaking out that dead bodies had been found there as it's taboo and could have killed off the market for Chinese buyers.

'So they moved my mother's bones off to the side to an area which was going to be a water feature in parkland, and wouldn't be residential land.'

Ms Jenkins remains were only found by her family after a tip-off from one of the construction workers who led them to the spot.

Testing revealed it was actually just the soil and gravel that had been cleaned off her vertebrae when it was found. The vertebrae is now believed to be lost or destroyed.

Mr Jenkins spent days rummaging through boulders and gravel with his bare hands at the site until he found her bones.

Greg's search uncovered 36 bones and his mother's possessions, including her smashed sunglasses which appeared to be the result of an injury.

But a vital piece of skull fragment - which could have shown evidence of a blunt force trauma - was then ground up by Royal Malaysian Police detectives, who claimed they were looking for DNA.

Police only returned 34 of the recovered bones, and at January's coronial inquest in Malaysia - which heard from 30 witnesses, including 14 police officers - detectives presented a bag of what they said was the ground-up vertebrae of his mother.

It turned out to be a bag of gravel and soil.

'I knew they weren't serious about the investigation when they gave me back all her bones and possessions,' admitted Greg.

'There's a killer on the loose in Penang and these are vital clues and evidence. They should have been holding on to it.'

Local SA-BEST state MP Frank Pangallo took up the family's plight and asked Foreign Minister Penny Wong to pursue the case with Malaysian authorities.

But a new Freedom of Information request has revealed little contact between the Australian government and Malaysia on the investigation.

Just one letter was found from the Australian High Commission to the Malaysian attorney-general in January, along with a reference to a meeting in December.

'Sadly, the entire investigation by the Royal Malaysian Police into Anna Jenkins' disappearance and suspected murder has been a farce,' said Mr Pangallo.

'I hope the coronial inquiry findings finally give Anna's devoted family some sort of closure.

'Sadly, given the incompetent nature of the investigation from the day of her disappearance, I fear their nightmare will continue.'

He added: 'The Australian Government is also implicit in this.

'It has refused to initiate any genuine action to bring about pressure on the Malaysian Government to properly investigate Anna's presumed murder

'FoI applications lodged by my office prove very little correspondence has occurred between Ms Wong and the Malaysian Government and authorities  something I find bitterly disappointing.

'Ms Wong even failed to raise the matter with local authorities when she visited the country last year.

'You need to ask, why not?'

FAMILY'S FURY AT 'MALAYSIAN POLICE INCOMPETENCE' Anna Jenkins' family have endured a constant battle with Royal Malaysian Police who they say refused to thoroughly investigate her disappearance. Police initially said the beloved Malaysian-born grandmother, from Glenelg in Adelaide, was 'an adult and could choose to abandon her family'. She was last seen leaving her dentist and getting into an Uber to visit her 101-year-old mother who lived nearby - but she never arrived. The Uber driver claimed she asked to be let out on a busy road close to a mosque. The last contact anyone had with her was a phone call she made to her husband Frank to tell him she was being followed by 'two Ukrainians who were after her passport'. Anna Jenkins' family have endured a constant battle with Royal Malaysian Police (pictured with Anna's son Greg, centre) who refused to investigate her disappearance Daughter Jen Bowen, 44, raised the alarm with her brother Greg when she couldn't reach her mother on the phone. Greg is a serving member of the Australian Defence Force and was on duty in Hawaii at the time of the call but wasn't initially concerned. 'I honestly didn't think much of it,' he admits. 'Because, you know, at the time you don't think the worst is ever going to happen to you. 'We thought she had just stayed over at grandma's.' It was only after they heard about the panicked phone call to their father - who suffers from dementia - that the alarm bells began to ring and Greg returned to Australia to fly out to Malaysia. His father filed a missing person's report but Greg says the local cops wrote the disappearance off as a 'family issue, not a police issue'. The family handed out flyers across the country in the hunt for Anna 'We just thought that if this happened in Australia, police would do ground searches,' he said. 'They'd be asking people, it'd be in the media, especially if it was a foreigner. And none of that - none of that - occurred. 'They never checked CCTV around the area she was last seen - I found six cameras overlooking the area and they were never checked. 'We tried having meetings with the police - and they just never showed up.' During the hunt for Anna, Malaysian police came up with a string of absurd theories for her disappearance including:- She had walked into the jungle and was 'just hanging out there' living off bananas and mangos

She was running away from domestic violence at the hands of her husband and son and was in hiding after seeing the flyers looking for her

The 65-year-old grandmother had suddenly taken up hiking in the jungle

She had the right to disappear and the right not to be found

She was confused by the effect of an anaesthetic from the dentist (she had not been anaesthetised)

She was running out on her dentist bill (she'd used the same dentist for 16 years and hadn't been billed)

She was involved in the international drug trade Even when the remains were found, police searched in the wrong location finding nothing and yelling at Greg for 30 minutes when he questioned them about it. Even when the remains were found, police searched in the wrong location Greg's search uncovered 36 bones and his mother's possessions, including her smashed sunglasses which appeared to be the result of an injury. But a vital piece of skull fragment - which could have shown evidence of a blunt force trauma - was then ground up by detectives, who claimed they were looking for DNA. Police only returned 34 of the recovered bones, and at last week's coronial inquest in Malaysia, they presented a bag of what they said was the ground up vertebrae of his mother. Testing revealed it was actually just the soil and gravel that had been cleaned off her vertebrae when it was found. The vertebrae is now believed to be lost. 'I knew they weren't serious about the investigation when they gave me back all the her bones and possessions,' admitted Greg. 'There's a killer on the loose in Penang and these are vital clues and evidence. They should have been holding on to it.' Instead his mother's bones were given back to him in evidence bags and then bundled into a recycled cardboard box. Greg Jenkins' mother's bones were given back to him in evidence bags and then bundled into a recycled cardboard box 'There was no respect there, none at all,' he said. 'They've completely lost touch with the human side of the job. 'They even suggested snapping some bones in half so they would fit in glass jars for me to take home. 'I was pretty numb and and pretty emotional. So I grabbed the box, went back to my room and just sat and cried for a little bit.' Advertisement

Mr Pangallo added: 'We need to have faith and conviction in our government that it will do all in its powers to ensure those responsible are pursued and brought to justice.

'For reasons only known to the Australian Government, that has not occurred in Anna's case and questions must be asked why not.'

Mr Pangallo has joined with the Jenkins family to demand a full Australian investigation into the death by South Australian Police and a local coronial inquiry.

'The police and judicial system are better resourced and can be better trusted,' he said.

'I believe Anna Jenkins was kidnapped and then murdered. The Malaysian police still don't seem to be concerned a killer or killers remain on the loose.

'The Anna Jenkins investigation has been shambolic and embarrassing.'
Burned with hot irons, choked with gas masks, beaten so badly they suffered heart attacks, and forced to lie in the blood of an executed cellmate.

These may sound like scenes from a horror movie, but in fact, they are the very real fates suffered by Ukrainians held prisoner by Russian troops in occupied areas of the country.

They are among 725 cases of torture, ill treatment, summary execution, and other human rights violations documented by Dignity, a Danish anti-torture group, in a new report.

In one case, a prisoner and armed forces veteran told how he was tortured so badly he begged for death - but was kept alive by his tormentors who bragged you havent seen the full seven circles of hell yet!

In another, a detainee recalled being forced to listen to a female Ukrainian soldier being raped for three days straight before she was dragged away and never heard from again.

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES

A man stands in a pit where the dead bodies of Ukrainian civilians were found in the Kharkiv region

A gas mask used for torturing civilians in Kupiansk, Kharkiv region. The gas mask would be placed on someone's head to deprive them of oxygen until they almost passed out, at which point they would be allowed to take a breath so the torture could start over again

A mannequin of a body is left in a sewage hole. Bodies of civilians detained by Russian forces were found left in the hole

Russian forces are believed to have held detainees in a garage in the City Railway Polyclinic compound in Izium

Therese Rytter, legal director of Dignity, said the use of torture by Russian troops was widespread, systematic, and may thus amount to crimes against humanity.

For its report, Dignity interviewed 121 victims of Russian abuse, including in official detention centres such as prisons and police stations, and unofficial detention centres such as school basements, houses, and government buildings.

They found the use of torture by Russian forces was a matter of routine, used against members of the military, police or government officials to force them to collaborate or as revenge, and against civilians to intimidate them or to extract information.

In one of the most extreme cases, a man who served as a military volunteer in Mariupol before he was captured told how Russians kidnapped him from his jail cell and held him for five months during which he was tortured - sometimes for days on end.

The man recalled being bound, gagged, beaten, strangled with electrical wire until he passed out, then doused in water to wake him up only so the torment could start over again.

He said: On the third day, I asked my tormentors  [to] finish me off, because I didnt have anything to tell them.

[One of the torturers] called one of his supervisors [and] showed me to him through the phone. The one on the phone just nodded and said nothing.

The man expected to be killed, but his jailors ignored the order and carried on abusing him.

They kept torturing me, he said. My hands were turned back and shackled. I was laid on the floor face down, strangled with wire from the extension cable.

When I started to lose consciousness, they said: "Wait. It's too early. You haven't gone through all seven circles of hell yet.

A military field telephone is pictured in a Kherson detention facility. Putin's forces are thought to have used it to provide detainees with electric shocks

A dark cell in pictured in Izium Central Police Station, used by Russian forces to detain Ukrainian citizens

A total of 365 persons, including 70 children, were thought to be held by Russian forces in the basement of this school in Yahidne, Chernihiv region

Another, kept in a prison colony in Zaporizhzhia, told investigators: I heard a female soldier being raped. This lasted for about three days.

Then I couldn't hear her anymore and I don't know what happened with her.

In the opening days of Putins war, Russian troops took control of 11 jails, 100 police stations, and dozens of secure psychiatric hospitals across swathes of Ukraine.

But, since the despot expected to conquer the entire nation within hours, there was no plan to deal with the thousands of people locked up in these places.

Inmates told how they were ignored for weeks even as food and medicines ran low, but in late April and early May the Russians arrived and things went from bad to worse.

Prisoners in one jail in occupied Kherson told how the arriving guards ordered everyone to get on the floor but shot one inmate in the head through a window before he could comply.

Those in the cell recalled how their new captors forced them to remain laying in the mans blood for six hours alongside his corpse before forcing them to clean up pieces of his skull and brains with their bare hands.

One said: That day, at lunchtime, Russian soldiers came to our [prison]... The military threw grenades, fired machine guns. They ordered us not to look out of the window.

One prisoner was killed through a window from outside. His corpse remained in the cell one more day, and everyone who was in that cell was forced to stay there.

Gas masks were pictured abandoned in the basement of Izium Central Police Station. The Russian forces placed the masks on people's head to deprive them of oxygen until they almost passed out

A rope is pictured in torture chamber. A total of 725 cases of torture, ill treatment, summary execution, and other human rights violations documented by Dignity in a new report

Another said: Two pieces of skull were on the floor. Everything around was covered in blood and brain. Everyone got on the floor, we laid there until about six o'clock in the evening, lying on the floor, all in blood.

I cleaned the brains and a piece of the back side of the skull from the floor with my own hands.

Once the Russians had established their authority, they used routine beatings as a means of keeping control - with a common method being to line people up facing a wall with their arms and legs spread before striking their back with batons.

An inmate at the same Kherson jail where the man was shot recalled being beaten so badly that he had blood in my urine for a month and a half.

Gusein Abdullaiev, a foreign student held in Mariupol, said he witnessed a man who suffered a heart attack during one beating - and when he tried to help the man I was beaten even harder.

A prisoner at a different Kherson jail said simply: They beat us for everything and for nothing.

As the war dragged on Russian forces began detaining Ukrainians themselves, ranging from alleged members of the armed forces to civilians and community leaders.

Treatment was particularly rough for ex-soldiers who the Russian identified from their tattoos, with prisoners resorting to extreme measures to remove them.

Witnesses told how veterans dissolved their skin using acid or else cut out patches of skin - preferring the pain to the torment they knew awaited them if the Russians found the inkings.

Truth Sets You Free written in German on the wall of the City Railway Polyclinic in Izium. The badge is thought to depict two stick grenades, the emblem of Nazi Germany's SS brigade Dirlewanger in the Second World War

A chamber where Russian forces are thought to have held detainees in the Vovchansk Aggregate Plant

Not that life was pleasant even for those with no military links. Electric shock torture seems to have been a favourite method, often carried out using a Soviet-era field telephone which comes with its own crank generator.

One man, held in the basement of a police station in Kherson, recalled: Their favourite fun was wires connected to the ears or on other parts of the body and electric shocks.

It is called sunshine. When the wires are connected to the ears and supply electricity, apparently, the eyes can fall out. [Electricity] through the genitals, through the chest electric shocks were [also] used. This happened during interrogations.

Terrible cries were heard all day. Both men and women were tortured. After a day, I was taken to an interview, and before that they took fingerprints.

They broke my armand then they connected two electrodes to my genitals, a dynamo, 300 volts. Hair straight, of course, screams, and then they said: "Recollect!".

Then they turned the power a little down. My whole body trembled. And then they turned it up again and said [again]: "Recollect!". Turned up again and again.

Another method uncovered by investigators was the use of gas masks placed on peoples heads to deprive them of oxygen until they almost passed out, at which point they would be allowed to take a breath so the torture could start over again.

A room is pictured where Ukrianian civilians are thought to have been held by Russian forces in a factory in Dymer

Serhiy Mak, a resident of Kherson, said he was subjected to such horrors after being dragged into the basement of a business centre.

He said: They tortured me for five days  they beat me with a cable, beat me with a wire from a charger, put on a gas mask, strangled.

On the sixth day they said: "You will sing better tomorrow." The next day they brought a device for electrocuting. It lasted for an hour...

They [also] put a gun to my temple and pulled the trigger.

Viktor Kopytok, mayor of the village of Khreschenivka in Kherson, was subjected to another unusual method of torture using a hot fire poker.

They closed me in the basement of the warehouse. On the warehouse [door] they hung a grenade. 

[One] warmed up a fire poker and asked me: Do you know where the skin is the thinnest and closest to the bone? What could I say?

Then he said: Well, well show you and started to burn my heels.

The report is hardly the first time Russia has been accused of crimes against humanity, but it does represent one of the most comprehensive and detailed accounts yet of exactly what people have been forced to suffer at the hands of Putins men.

Ukrainians have been reporting Russian torture, rape and summary executions since the first day of the war, with the scale of the abuse brought to international prominence for the first time when soldiers retreated from Kyiv early in the war.

Artillery shelling is scattered across the wall against the central alley of the residential area in the Zaporizhzhya region

A witness who discovered bodies of tortured civilians stands by the door to to where they were found

Behind them, Putins troops left the bodies of hundreds of executed civilians and evidence of torture that has been uncovered in each area of the country Ukraine has liberated.

UN investigators have accused Russian soldiers of using rape as a weapon of war, and Putin himself is currently under an international arrest warrant for ordering the kidnap of Ukrainian children in forced deportations.

Kyiv has also begun prosecuting individual Russian soldiers for crimes committed as part of the invasion, and its western allies have sent lawyers to prosecute the most-serious crimes.

Meanwhile, President Zelesnky has vowed that one of the conditions of peace in Ukraine will be that all Russian war criminals are sent for prosecution in The Hague.

Ms Rytter, of Dignity, added: This report documents over 700 human rights violations including 152 cases of torture and inhumane treatment.

The report reveals torture has been used in official places of detention in order to extract confessions, intimidate prisoners, and to coerce obedience to the Russian administration.

We also see torture used in unofficial places of detention against civilians by the Russians with the purpose of identifying persons who might be a threat to the regime, or those persons who might be pro-Ukrainian to punish them and also to punish lack of cooperation.

We see physical torture such as beatings, electroshocks and suffocation. We also see psychological torture such as threats of execution, mock execution, and violence against the victims and their families.
Message was referred to in a statement to a Board of Inquiry last week

Bruce Lehrmann's lawyer was sent a threatening email shortly after defending his client against Brittany Higgins' rape claims in front of a jury for the first time, an inquiry has been told.

In a statement to a Board of Inquiry, which is examining the way the ACT Supreme Court trial of Mr Lehrmann was handled by prosecutors and the Australian Federal Police, barrister Steven Whybrow revealed he had referred a menacing email to ACT Police.

In his formal complaint to ACT Policing at the time, Mr Whybrow said that while the sender could be a nutter, he was concerned about a potential threat to his family.

The email, sent to Mr Whybrow's chambers on October 5 and obtained by Daily Mail Australia, described the defence lawyer as a 'scum-sucking pond beast' and a 'vacuous immoral vampire'.

It suggested he might be heckled in public for representing Mr Lehrmann. The message was sent from an anonymous email address with the username 'Somebody Who Knows'.

Mr Lehrmann pleaded not guilty to one charge of allegedly raping Brittany Higgins. The trial was eventually aborted over juror misconduct and the charge against Mr Lehrmann was dropped over concerns for Ms Higgins' mental health.

Mr Lehrmann has always maintained his innocence.

Bruce Lehrmann is pictured, left, outside the ACT Supreme Court with his defence barrister Steven Whybrow, right

The email to Mr Whybrow, referred to in the inquiry, began with a supposed Mark Twain quote: 'Pretty sure Mark Twain actually said: 'Never let the truth get near the scum-sucking pond beast known as a defence lawyer, for they will disfigure, twist and render it asunder until there is nary a shred of truth left in what they say.'

It continued: 'But hey I guess (being a defence lawyer) pays well, even if no-one will ever look you in the face again because you're a vacuous immoral vampire who profits off deceit and misery.'

The email continued: 'Canberra is a small town, you still have to eat out and go shopping, I hope no-one ever heckles you in public over this, that would be very unfortunate were it to ever happen.'

'I mean, imagine sitting at a restaurant eating your dinner with your family and some lunatic comes up ... that would be a horrible thing I bet, anyway I hope it never happens to you.'

Mr Whybrow asked police to identify the person behind the email. A spokesperson for ACT Policing told Daily Mail Australia last week: 'No charges were laid as the author was not able to be identified.'

Read extracts from the shocking email sent to Steven Whybrow Pretty sure Mark Twain actually said: 'Never let the truth get near the scum-sucking pond beast known as a defence lawyer, for they will disfigure, twist and render it asunder until there is nary a shred of truth left in what they say. Canberra is a small town, you still have to eat out and go shopping, I hope no-one ever heckles you in public over this, that would be very unfortunate were it to ever happen I mean, imagine sitting at a restaurant eating your dinner with your family and some lunatic comes up .... that would be a horrible thing I bet, anyway I hope it never happens to you. Advertisement

Brittany Higgins (pictured with her fiance David Sharaz) accused Mr Lehrmann of raping her. He has always denied the allegation

In a separate development, statements released by the inquiry earlier this week also revealed Mr Whybrow and Shane Drumgold, the ACT Director of Public Prosecution and lead prosecutor in the case, suffered a complete relationship breakdown as a result of Mr Lehrmann's criminal trial.

(It is not suggested Mr Drumgold, or anyone else was responsible for the missive Mr Whybrow received.)

The Board of Inquiry was launched after Mr Drumgold sent a fiery letter to ACT Chief Police Officer Neil Gaughan on November 1, 2022 - between when a mistrial was announced in October and when the matter was dropped entirely on December 1.

In the letter, he claimed there was political interference in the investigation into Mr Lehrmann - that is, he accused ACT Policing, Australian Federal Police, and the Police Commissioner of trying to get Ms Higgins' complaint dismissed.

However, during the inquiry this week, Mr Drumgold backed down on those claims - conceding that any issues he identified in the investigation was likely due to 'police deficit' rather than a wider conspiracy not to charge Mr Lehrmann.

My Whybrow's statement reveals he was on friendly terms with Mr Drumgold prior to the rape trial, and had even recommended the prosecutor for the position of DPP in 2020 when he was president of the ACT Bar Association.

During his recommendation to the High Court three years ago, Mr Whybrow said: 'May it please the court, I inform the court that the following member of the Bar here present has been appointed as senior counsel in the Australian Capital Territory.

'He is Neville Shane Drumgold.'

In his recent statement to the inquiry, Mr Whybrow said he also recommended Mr Drumgold's title be elevated to Senior Counsel.

'In addition to supporting Mr Drumgold's application, based on his experience and competence, I took the view that the Office of the DPP was one that should carry the title of Senior Counsel, given the status and importance of the position,' he said in his statement to the inquiry.

'I felt it was a way in which to give confidence to the public at large that the DPP was a highly respected practitioner as adjudged by his peers.'

He went on to say that he believed the pair had a 'friendly relationship' prior to the trial.

'We would disagree at times - and sometimes forcefully - but the relationship was never less than cordial and professional,' his statement read.

Daily Mail Australia understands the case has damaged the once-close professional relationship.

The Board of Inquiry was launched after ACT DPP Shane Drumgold (pictured) claimed there was political interference in the investigation into Mr Lehrmann

During the inquiry this week, Mr Drumgold was grilled by four lawyers over five days about all the decisions he made in the lead-up to, during and after the trial.

On Friday, Lisa Wilkinson's barrister Sue Chrysanthou ripped into him because he failed to correct a file note he wrote following a meeting with the TV host and her Channel 10 lawyer in the lead-up to the Logie awards last June.

The note said Wilkinson was warned against mentioning Ms Higgins in her acceptance speech, in the event she won the award. She was nominated for her interview with Ms Higgins on Channel 10's The Project in 2021.

During the speech, which was broadcast nationally, Wilkinson appeared to side with Ms Higgins - saying she 'believed' her allegations. She did not mention the trial, Mr Lehrmann, any criminal charge or Parliament House.

Lisa Wilkinson is pictured giving her Logies speech last year. She was widely criticised for her speech

Wilkinson faced extreme criticism, which ultimately led Mr Lehrmann's trial to be delayed.

Mr Drumgold had insisted that his file note about discussions with Wilkinson and her lawyer was contemporaneous, meaning he made it immediately following the meeting.

However, under cross-examination, Mr Drumgold admitted the file note note was not contemporaneous, but was actually made days after the meeting and may not be an accurate representation of what happened during the meeting with Wilkinson in June.

Mr Drumgold told the inquiry he formed the view the TV host was adequately warned because he saw Wilkinson and her lawyer put their Microsoft Teams meeting on mute and had a private conversation.

'I was confident they knew she couldn't make that speech,' Mr Drumgold said.

Ms Chrysanthou: 'Did you read their lips?'

Mr Drumgold: 'No'.

Ms Chrysanthou: 'Then how could you have possibly made that conclusion?'

Mr Drumgold: 'Because an experienced journalist sitting next to a lawyer would have come to that conclusion.'

Ms Chrysanthou eventually said: 'The answer you just gave is illogical and irrational and contrary to human experience.'

Wilkinson's lawyer also quizzed Mr Drumgold about why he didn't tell Chief Justice Lucy McCallum, who was presiding over Mr Lehrmann's rape trial, that his file note was not contemporaneous.

'Her honour was handed the proofing note and was observing it - [in the court transcript] you say the speech was "undesirable - the proofing notes can be open to interpretation",' she said.

Ms Chrysanthou then explained that proofing notes were normally used in criminal cases and were taken as contemporaneous notes: 'You're misleading the Chief Justice,' she said.

Mr Drumgold: 'Not intentionally.'

Ms Chrysanthou further submitted that Mr Drumgold caused the 'destruction' of Wilkinson in submitting the file note which he said was contemporaneous, but wasn't.

The inquiry continues on Monday.
Luna's neighbours say she is 'nice enough' but they are scared of offender her

The Starbucks manager filmed screaming at a customer for being transphobic after she used the word lady to describe a non-binary member of staff is an outspoken campaigner for trans rights, we can reveal.

Until today the identity of the coffee shop worker filmed berating a woman and throwing her out of a branch of the chain in Southampton in footage that went viral has remained secret - but MailOnline can reveal she is Luna Spain, 28.

The dramatic footage led to widespread speculation over the identity of the person caught on camera screaming at Vanessa Thomas, 55, after she inadvertently referred to one of her colleagues as a lady.

Luna had been working in the Starbucks, which is partially owned by a licensor for the past six months combining the job with studying for a degree in Environmental Science at the Open University.

She was raised in Gosport, Hampshire where she attended a local secondary school but has been living in Southampton for the past five years.

Luna had been working in the Starbucks, which is partially owned by a licensor for the past six months combining the job with studying for a degree in Environmental Science at the Open University

Since the incident, she has lost her job at the Starbucks with the company claiming that they did not tolerate such behaviour. Police are also investigating the matter

Since the incident, she has lost her job at the Starbucks with the company claiming that they did not tolerate such behaviour. Police are also investigating the matter.

READ MORE: Police launch probe after trans Starbucks worker was filmed aggressively accusing customer of being transphobic then 'assaulting' person filming the incident Advertisement

Ms Thomas, who has been trying to establish the identity of the store manager since the incident, claimed that she was in fear of her life after being physically thrown out of the cafe by her and that she then attempted to attack her partner Mark Andrews, who was filming the altercation.

She insisted that the whole row stemmed from her using the word 'lady' to describe a member of staff serving her without realising that they did not 'identify as a woman. This prompted Luna, who was standing close by, to confront Ms Thomas for using the wrong gender to describe her colleague.

The incident took place on 30 April.

Neighbours along the quiet road where Luna lives in Southampton described her as unique.

One told MailOnline: Luna has a partner, and they seem a nice enough couple but dont say a lot to us. Nobody around here has a problem with her sexuality, but people are quite scared of offending her if they say the wrong thing.

You saw what happened in the Starbucks and people dont want that happening to them. Sometimes you can get your genders mixed up as its become quite a complicated world. Lets just say Luna is quite a unique person.

Luna is well known within Southamptons trans community and is an outspoken campaigner on trans issues.

The incident took place at this Starbucks branch near the ferry terminal in Southampton

Luna was raised in Gosport, Hampshire where she attended a local secondary school but has been living in Southampton for the past five years

Earlier this year, she attended a vigil for transgender teenager Brianna Ghey who was found stabbed to death in a park in Warrington in February

Earlier this year, she attended a vigil for transgender teenager Brianna Ghey who was found stabbed to death in a park in Warrington in February.

Posting on social media Luna writes: A fire has been placed in my belly. Im going to be louder and prouder than ever before. Each day I live as my true self, each day every trans and non-binary person lives as their true self is justice.

We will not be stopped, we wont be silenced we wont be forced in to hiding. Trans people have always been here. AND WE ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!! RIP Brianna. We all love and mourn you dearly.

In another post she writes: Labels are important with gender identity because without labels we wouldnt have identity.

Labels are not the problem. Bigotry and intolerance of difference is the problem. Labels should be celebrated and used to build ones character and sense of self.

Before moving to Southampton, Luna attended Bay House School in Gosport with many former pupils revealing that they had seen video of the Starbucks incident but were not surprised by it.

One said: Luna was always a big, outspoken character, even at school. She was never afraid to call things out and lets just say, she wasnt everybodys cup of tea. A lot of us have seen the video and have spoken about it.

Vanessa Thomas, pictured with partner Mark Andrews, said she feared for her life after being thrown out of the cafe for using the word 'lady' to describe a member of staff without realising that they did not identify as a woman

Ms Thomas (pictured), who has been trying to establish the identity of the store manager since the incident, claimed that she was in fear of her life after being physically thrown out of the cafe by her and that she then attempted to attack her partner Mark Andrews, who was filming the altercation

It doesnt surprise us that Luna did something like this because shes not one to put up with any kind of nonsense. But in this case, I think she may have gone a bit over the top because from what Ive read, the customer didnt mean to offend anyone.

READ MORE: Other Starbucks baristas claim they were also misgendered in TikToks unearthed after a trans worker was sacked over a row with a customer - as punters defend their right to not use preferred pronouns Advertisement

Another former school friend said: Ive not seen Luna in quite a while but when she was at school that wasnt her name. Everybody in the school knew her and she was a big character.

Shes never been afraid to speak her mind. Since the Starbucks video came out, Im surprised shes not posted anything about it on social media, its not like her to be so quiet.

Lunas parents, Nigel and Fiona Spain still live in the Gosport area in a smart, semi-detached home located along a leafy road.

Mr Spain told MailOnline: I was not in the Starbucks so Im not going to comment about it, and I havent spoken to Luna about it.

The altercation in the Starbucks started after Ms Thomas was informed by an employee serving her that they did not accept cash payments.

Luna then joined in the conversation, with Ms Thomas telling her: Im not talking to you, Im talking to the lady behind the counter.

Before moving to Southampton, Luna attended Bay House School in Gosport with many former pupils revealing that they had seen video of the Starbucks incident but were not surprised by it

The altercation in the Starbucks started after Ms Thomas was informed by an employee serving her that they did not accept cash payments

It was at this point that Luna hit back, telling Ms Thomas that the person behind the counter did not identify as a lady and that she was being transphobic.

Ms Thomas said: 'I was speaking with somebody who I thought was a lady behind the counter who was serving me. I complained that this is another company that doesn't take cash and that I don't like using contactless cards because I don't want anybody to know what I'm buying.

'The trans store manager then jumped in and I said, "I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to the lady behind the counter."

And that's when the store manager went totally ballistic, came around from behind the counter and confronted me.'
Peloton went from being a 'lockdown darling item' to having to fight a number of PR battles, as a brand expert told MailOnline: 'I don't see how they can ride through this storm'.

Despite once being considered a 'frontrunner' in the wave of fitness tech, customers may be put off by the latest PR disaster after it recalled more than two million of its exercise bikes over a safety hazard, PR and brand expert Mayah Riaz has claimed.

'It's too much to recover from,' Ms Riaz, who helps big brands and celebrities navigate big PR crises, told MailOnline.

She predicted brand loyalty may dip and customers may now choose fitness tech brands 'who do not have a string of PR crises attached to their name,' amid fears the firm could be doomed.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, Peloton enjoyed overnight success when millions of spin enthusiasts around the globe raced to buy its at home exercise equipment.

The company was already riding high off an extremely successful IPO, which went it went public in 2019 saw employees sip champagne and eat seafood as many toasted becoming millionaires overnight.

A woman seen exercising on a Peloton

The company began hiring rapidly and released new products, while spending thousands to get bikes delivered to customers as fast as possible.

But things have not been as rosy for the Peloton tycoons lately amid a series of product recalls, safety investigations and negative portrayals in popular TV programmes.

Its shares nosedived when a return of Sex and the City saw one of its characters, Mr Big, collapse and die of a heart attack shortly after a 45-minute session on one of the exercise bikes - followed shortly after by a similar scene in the show Billions.

And now customers are fearing for their safety after it recalled more than two million of its exercise bikes over a safety hazard which could cause falls and injuries.

The company issued the recall for around 2.2million of the Peloton Bikes Model PL01, sold from January 2018 to May 2023 for about 1,117 ($1,400), after it received 35 reports of the seat post breaking and detaching from the bike during use.

There is no impact to Peloton Bike+ Members nor Peloton original Bike owners in the UK, Germany, and Australia.

Peloton said the safety of its members is paramount.

Ben Boyd, Peloton's SVP of Global Communications, told MailOnline: 'The last thing we would want to do is disappoint our customers.

'What I'm incredibly proud of is the transformation of Peloton over the past year. Not just the work we've done on the business but on our members' safety.

'We introduced new safety protocols that allowed us to identify this issue early, engage the US regulator, and to move swiftly and transparently to get it removed.

'We have a great responsibility to our members, we believe we have to constantly and continually demonstrate why we should be trusted.

'Their safety and experience is simply our top priority.'

He continued: 'The impact we have on our members lives is absolutely a positive one. Empowering them to be best version of themselves is our mission.'

Mr Boyd said Peloton 'voluntarily and proactively reached out to the US regulator' when it became aware of the issue with the product - and was working to help consumers easily swap their seat post.

When asked whether portrayals of Peloton in popular culture were unfair, he said: 'What we're focused on is what's within our control.'

He added that Peloton is undergoing a brand relaunch later this month in order to raise awareness that it is 'more than just a bike company' and offers a whole range of plans and programmes.

Peloton co-founder John Foley, with his wife Jill, pictured in November 2018

Shares in the New York-based company fell by more than seven per cent when the product recall was announced, marking a sharp blow for the fitness brand that has seen its shares plummet by 39 per cent over the last 12 months.

Mayah Riaz, a PR and branding expert, said: 'There seems to be one PR crisis after another for Peloton, a company that saw huge rise during lockdown - it was a lockdown darling item, just like Zoom.

'Having fictitious character in shows having a heart attack after using Peloton proves what I tell my clients all the time, that not all publicity is good publicity.

'The key is always in how a company responds to the bad publicity and Peloton definitely had to do a fair bit of damage control in the court of public opinion.'

Ms Riaz predicted that brand loyalty may dip following the latest product recall, and customers may now choose fitness tech brands 'who do not have a string of PR crises attached to their name,' she added.

She continued: 'I don't see how Peloton can ride through this storm. With the right support around them, all companies can weather a little crisis and bad publicity.

'However, Peloton have had more than a little of late. I would not want to be on the riding seat of handling Pelton's damage control, as it's anyone's guess what will happen on the brand's next ride.'

Meanwhile, Will Hobson, PR director at Rise at Seven, said that he thinks 'the brand is doing the right thing by being transparent and recalling the items',

He added: 'The brand does an amazing job of building their trainers to have celebrity personas'.

The company was on a high in the late 2020 during the pandemic, when stay at home dictats saw its revenue more than double to 1.45bn ($1.82bn) - and peaking at over 3.19bn ($4bn) a year later.

But its shares plunged when Mr Big collapsed and die of a heart attack shortly after a 45-minute session on one of the exercise bikes in Sex and the City.

Mr Big seen exercising on a Peloton bike in Sex and the City

Mr Big, played by Chris Noth, died of a sudden heart attack, shortly after exercising on a Peloton bike

Mike Wagner riding a Peloton in the show Billions

The scene, starring Carrie Bradshaw's longtime love interest, saw Peloton's share price plunge by 11.35 per cent just hours after the episode 'And Just Like That' aired.

After an intense workout, Mr Big headed to the shower, when suddenly he clutches his shoulder and collapses, as Carrie - played by Sarah Jessica Parker - states in voice over, 'And just like that Big died.'

Peloton spokesperson Denise Kelly confirmed that the company approved the portrayal of a fictional instructor in the episode, but 'due to confidentiality reasons, HBO did not disclose the broader context surrounding the scene to Peloton in advance,' Kelly said.

It meant that while Peloton knew that their bike would be featured in the episode, but did not know how prominently it would be shown, nor that Mr Big would die.

Following the episode, Peloton issued a statement through Cardiologist Dr Suzanne Steinbaum, insisting that Mr Big riding a Peloton bike would have helped delay his fatal heart attack.

The brand faced something of a deja vu moment after a scene in Billions that saw fictional character Mike Wagner, played by David Costabile, nearly suffering the same fate as Mr Big.

Wagner is seen in the episode getting off the bike and refuting to other characters that he is having a heart attack, despite describing symptoms like shortness of breath and jaw discomfort.

He is rushed to an ambulance and soon recovers, however, only to make a grand entrance in the next scene and proclaim, Im not going out like Mr. Big.

But Peloton didnt seem to appreciate the quip, taking to Twitter ahead of the on-air premiere to say that the company did not give consent for its brand or equipment to be used in the show.

In 2021, Peloton shares plunged 24 per cent after the company reported a net loss of 300 million ($376m) in its third quarter, as the company struggled to recover from a voluntary treadmill recall sparked by an infant's death and 29 other injuries.

It came off of the back of a three-year high for the company, which before Covid had enjoyed huge success with its exercise bikes and subscription-based virtual workout classes as people could not access gyms.

When it was went public in September 2019, many of its employees found they had become millionaires overnight.

After toasting their successes with a feast of seafood and champagne at Hudson Yards in New York, Peloton began to spend exorbitantly to keep up with customer demands and stay ahead of the market.

The company went on a hiring spree, invested hundreds of millions in a production factory in Ohio, but according to Forbes, the company 'now has way too much stock sitting in its inventory' after sinking its money into the product.

Things began to go south as the pandemic ended and people began to return to their old gyms.

Its founder, John Foley stepped down as chief executive and was replaced in February 2022 by former Netflix and Spotify executive, Barry McCarthy. Since then, McCarthy has battled to turn the company around.

Foley - formerly a Barnes and Noble executive - started Peloton in 2012 with the aim of providing convenient alternatives to popular spin classes for well-heeled customers.

The result was a sleek stationary bike which came with a spin classes customers would participate in remotely.

Over the years Peloton grew a devoted following, and in 2019 employees made millions when its IPO earned the company a 5.75bn ($7.2bn) valuation.

The brand faced something of a deja vu moment after a scene in Billions that saw fictional character Mike Wagner, played by David Costabile, nearly suffering the same fate as Mr Big

The premiere episode of a Sex and the City reboot featured Mr Big on a Peloton

'It felt like nothing could get in the way of all that,' a former employee who attended a lavish IPO party told CNBC, which kicked off years of unforeseeable success as the pandemic launched the company's value into the stratosphere.

As the company began to open up its coffers to meet demand, employees said leadership told them their success was only going to rise.

'There was a lot of blind trust. We all were like, okay, let's go,' the same former employee told CNBC. 'They always had this blind optimism where they were like, we're going all the way to the top.'

The company began hiring rapidly and released new products, while spending thousands to get bikes delivered to customers as fast as possible.

But co-founder Foley faced criticism when he hired a number of 'inexperienced' executives, including his wife Jill.

Meanwhile, thousands were spent on hazard pay for delivery workers, and in certain regions as much as 400 ($500) was spent per-mile delivering bikes, excluding the price of importing products from their overseas factories.

By November 2020 sales had spiked a whopping 232 percent from the previous year, and that December at the height of the holiday season reached its all-time stock high.

'The majority of us, we weren't naive to the fact that, especially in New York, there were people outside in refrigerated trucks because they didn't have enough room in the morgue, but at the same time, we're looking at our Morgan Stanley accounts and now we're all worth, you know, millions,' another former employee, whose net worth touched $5million while working for Peloton, told CNBC.

'I don't think any of us were rooting for the pandemic to continue, but as long as it was going on, it was obviously good for business, and it was good for a lot of people's bank accounts.'

Peloton co-founder John Foley (pictured centre) celebrates with employees during the company's IPO

Co-founder John Foley (pictured) stepped down as Peloton's chief executive last year after share prices plummeted

But the pandemic which gave so much to the company also began taking its toll.

Despite the company's expenses on logistics, some customers would be left waiting months for equipment they paid thousands for.

In response, Peloton hired more people, and spent more on getting bikes to customers.

To save on international shipping, the company invested 319million ($400m) into a building a factory in Ohio to build its products.

'They were like, we have so much money, we're unstoppable,' a former employee said. 'We just need to deliver the bikes, we just need to get the bikes into homes, we just need to do this.'

So many people were hired, some employees said they didn't have anything to do.

As the company continued pouring money into its booming sales, the severity of the pandemic began to wane, normal life started to resume, and people began to return to gyms as vaccines became widely available.

Sales slowed, revenue declined, and by December 2021 its stock was worth just 28 ($35) per-share from its 133 ($167) high a year earlier.

'We were trying to catch up and spending, spending, spending to catch up, and by the time we finally caught up, demand fell off,' A former employee said. 'Over time we kind of saw how the company responded to the pandemic and then misread the pandemic. It was kind of like, wow, it kind of feels like we got sold down the river.'

Earlier that same year, the company was forced to issue a warning to parents to keep children away from its treadmills after the death of a child in a 'tragic accident'.

By March 2022 Peloton had net-losses of 604million ($757.1m), and by the end of its fiscal year in June those losses had reached nearly 2.39billion ($3bn).

Former Netflix and Spotify executive, Barry McCarthy, became Peloton 's chief executive last year

Pictured: Peloton Studios in New York

As losses grew to staggering heights, Foley stepped down from his leadership position and was replaced by McCarthy in February 2022.

He began cutting jobs, shuttered the Ohio factory project, outsourced its logistics operations to third-party businesses, and announced plans to close more than a third of its retail stores worldwide.

Despite the massive cuts, employees said they felt they were finally in responsible hands under McCarthy's leadership.

'He seemed the polar opposite of John,' a former-employee told CNBC. 'I think everyone was kind of like, OK, this is a real legitimate business guy with a solid background.'

'We were all hopeful. I was certainly hopeful with his acumen and experience, but I knew it was going to come with some very hard decisions.'

McCarthy's tactics have been promising, with the company's stock rising 26 percent in February following promising second-quarter numbers.

The company has also started focusing its efforts on its digital classes as it discovered roughly half of its subscribers were using the platform on non-Peloton bikes or equipment.
A grieving British father believes his vulnerable son fell into the clutches of a ruthless drug dealer in Thailand  and was then lured to his death in a honeytrap.

Successful businessman Steven Graham angrily confronted the killer of his son, Woramet Ben Taota this week, as police staged a reconstruction of the murder in the jungle outside Lampang, in the north of the country.

And today the horror worsened as police found the body of tragic 15-year-old Suraphltchaya Khamsa, who was last seen disappearing into the jungle on the back of Ben Taota's blue moped.

Fighting back tears, Mr Graham, 60, screamed 'Look me in the eyes, you b*****d!' at suspect Chaitwat 'Wat' Boongarin, as police held him back.

The boy, whose father knew him as Ben, was found battered to death in woodland outside the remote village in northern Thailand where he had grown up with his Thai mother.

This week, MailOnline travelled to Lampang to visit Steve and Ben's 50-year-old mother Ooy at the spacious home where Ben grew up and where Steve, who divides his time between the UK and Thailand, often visited.

Woramet Ben Taota, 16, (pictured) was found in a grove in Lampang, Thailand on Sunday, after being brutally murdered

The heartbroken parents of 16-year-old Woramet Ben Taota, who was killed on Sunday, believe their vulnerable son fell into the clutches of a ruthless drug dealer in Thailand

This week, MailOnline travelled to Lampang to visit Steve (left) and Ben's 50-year-old mother Ooy (right) at the spacious home where Ben grew up. Pictured: The devastated parents hold treasured photos of their beloved son

In an exclusive interview, the couple spoke of the agony of losing their only child but also the ongoing mystery surrounding his brutal and, as yet, unexplained murder.

For while Thai police have arrested a 44-year-old man on suspicion of Ben's murder, they are still piecing together how he was killed.

The parents revealed how police believe Ben was lured to meet his killer by a 15-year-old girl who had become hooked on methamphetamine pills.

Ben had ridden to the secluded spot on his scooter with the girl on the back.

Steve, who runs a business insuring thatched-roof properties, wiped away tears as he told MailOnline: 'Ben was lured to meet his killer in some kind of honey trap set by this young girl.

'She is only 15. She and Ben have known each other since they were young. They were close.

'But she is believed to have been in a relationship with this man Wat.

'He had recently been released from prison and it is clear he was a prolific drug dealer. A very evil man.

Sex crimes convict Chaiwat Boongarin (pictured in handcuffs being led by police), 44, said he hit 16-year-old Woramet Ben Taota with a stick when a drug deal went wrong, according to Thai police. Police took him to the forest where Ben's body was found for a crime reconstruction

Steven Graham, a businessman who travelled from his home in Eastbourne, East Sussex, was pictured wearing a blue t-shirt and glasses as he approached the police car parked near to where the body of his son was found (pictured)

Pictured: Ben's mother Ooy Taota is seen being blocked by a police officer from getting to her son's killer, who is out of frame. Boongarin was showing police the scene of the crime

'Wat was supplying her with drugs. Somehow Ben got involved with him. This is because the girl was involved.'

For days the whereabouts of the girl was unknown, but police in Thailand confirmed today that her body had been discovered buried in woodland just off the main north-south highway near Lampang.

READ MORE: Body of 15-year-old girl accused of luring British boy to his death in Thailand is found in woods Suraphltchaya Khamsa (pictured) had become associated with the 44-year-old convict as part of a twisted honey-trap Advertisement

Her parents and grandparents identified her body at the scene from the braces on her teeth and the jewelry she had been wearing. They broke down in tears when it emerged that their daughter had been murdered.

Police are now continuing to interrogate sex crimes convict Chaiwat Boongarin, 44, who allegedly admitted killing Ben but denies murdering Suraphltchaya, whose nickname was Ping Pong. He is likely to face the death penalty if convicted of either or both cases.

Steve also explained how earlier this week, just hours after flying to Thailand from the UK, he found himself face-to-face with Ben's alleged killer, a convicted child sex offender and drug dealer who was released from prison just eight months ago.

That bizarre encounter, which took place during a police reconstruction on Tuesday at the site where Ben is said to have been killed, saw Steve, who had only got off a plane a couple of hours earlier, shouting and swearing at Chaiwat Boongarin in front of TV cameras. The shocking drama of those few minutes has left him reeling.

'Usually I am very English and reserved about my emotions and my anger,' he says.

'But after spending that long flight from the UK thinking about my beloved Ben I was just grabbed by the throat by the situation. I used some terrible words. It just flowed out of me.'

But while he and Ben's mother are struggling to come to terms with the loss of their son, they are determined to understand what happened to him. They want to know the truth.

'I have a dead son who suffered horrific injuries,' he says. 'I don't need to know exactly how he died. But for his mother, the details are important. She needs to know what happened. This will give her closure.'

Steve Graham and Ooy Taota stand outside their family home in Thailand where a photo of Ben sits so that well-wishers can pay their respects

Ben as a child pictured with his now heartbroken mother Ooy Tontan, 50

Successful businessman Steven Graham angrily confronted the killer of his son this week. Pictured: Ben as a child with his father

Ooy, who understandably struggles to speak without breaking down in tears, adds: 'For me, Ben was everything. He was my heart, my soul. I gave him all of me.'

This week MailOnline spoke to Thai police as well as the family of the girl, called Pong, in an attempt to piece together the events leading up to Ben's death.

Pong's family, speaking before her body was found, said that the young teenagers, who had known each other since they were toddlers, were at their home in the village of Banjua on Saturday evening.

'The last I saw of her was on Saturday night. Pong was here with Ben and then they got a phone call and they went off,' says Pong's grandfather, 60-year-old livestock farmer Charoon Annaeua.

Moments later the pair were captured on CCTV, riding a turquoise moped belonging to Ben's mother. It was the last time Ben and Pong were seen alive.

'When they didn't come back, I called her,' says her grandfather. 'The last time I called was at midnight on Saturday night.'

The following morning, a local recycler, collecting glass, plastic bottles and cans to sell along a twisting country lane less than four miles away from the village, spotted Ben's body and summoned the police. They believe he was murdered elsewhere by his killer who then tried to conceal the teen's body in bushes.

Pong's body has been sent for an autopsy to find traces of rape or sexual assault, police confirmed.

Ben had grown up in the remote village in northern Thailand with his Thai mother

Ben as a toddler pictured with his mother Ooy Tontan. She told MailOnline: 'He was my heart, my soul. I gave him all of me'

There were signs of bruising on her face and they believe she was hit with a solid object until she died.

It was 7am, UK time, on Sunday morning that Steve received a call from a family friend Thailand with the news that his son was dead.

'Everything went grey,' he says. 'In my darkest hours I would fear that the phone would ring and Ooy would say that Ben had had a motorbike accident. But not this.'

Among the theories being pursed by Thai investigators is that Ben had become caught up in a drug deal and that he was lured to his death in the forest.

His alleged killer, was a supplier of methamphetamine pills. Known locally as 'yaba' a Thai word meaning 'crazy drug', users face up to 20 years in prison.

Steve doesn't know how his son became mixed up with this man: 'Wat was a prolific drug dealer. A very evil man. He was supplying Pong with drugs. Somehow Ben got involved with him. Ben was 16 and did stupid things like all boys do. I've lost count of the amount of times I've said: 'Don't do that' or 'For God's sake, take care' or 'with girls be careful'.'

He breaks down in tears before adding: 'Ben was polite and very charming and handsome but he was also naive, like all 16 year olds. They do stupid things. He got involved with this evil man and it ended so tragically.'

The terrible events of the past week are a world away from the joy that surrounded Ben's birth in 2006.

The grove where Ben's body was found by a street cleaner in the bushes

Suraphltchaya Khamsa, known as Pong, who had been with Ben on the Saturday night

'The last I saw of her was on Saturday night. Pong was here with Ben and then they got a phone call and they went off,' says Pong's grandfather, 60-year-old livestock farmer Charoon Annaeua (pictured with his wife)

Steve, who had recently divorced, first met Ben's mother Ooy while visiting a British friend in Thailand in April 2000.

'Ooy was working in a hotel and we hit it off,' he says. 'I went back home and we stayed in touch. Back then you couldn't send texts and no-one was really using the internet so we would send each other letters by fax.'

After selling his business, he decided to pursue his relationship with Ooy.

'I was 40 years old. I thought I would rather be in Thailand with Ooy,' he says. The couple bought land in Ooy's village and spent 20,000 building their home.

'I used to wake up at dawn, go outside, into the fields with a cup of coffee, to smoke my first cigarette and I would think 'this is perfect', recalls Steve. Over the next couple of years he divided his time between the UK and Thailand, spending around four months of each year in Lampang.

After four years together, when Steve was 45 and Ooy was 35, the couple decided to have a baby.

'My father was not a very nice man so when Ben was born I vowed to be the absolute opposite of my own father; kind, thoughtful, caring.'

As a toddler Ben stood out among his young playmates thanks to his blond hair.

Steve, who had recently divorced, first met Ben's mother Ooy while visiting a British friend in Thailand in April 2000 . Pictured: The couple pictured with Ben as a baby

As a toddler Ben stood out among his young playmates thanks to his blond hair

'People would stop in the street and stare at him,' says Steve. 'He was a cheeky little boy. He stood out in a crowd.'

As soon as he could walk he was kicking a ball. His parents bought him a Manchester United shirt.

'We used to say to him: 'You are a little Beckham',' adds Steve.

Ben attended a local school but, thanks to his father, he grew up speaking both English and Thai. Steve and Ooy decided he would be better off living in his mother's country.

'They had a better life in Thailand,' says Steve. 'Why bring them to Britain? I could give them a much better life here, working in England and living in Thailand.'

But mother and son did visit. The first time they came, when Ben was a baby, Steve was living in Sudbury in Suffolk.

'It was so cold,' says Steve. 'To be honest, Ooy didn't really like it. We went to Wells-next-the-Sea to go to the beach but after the beaches of Thailand, Ooy was not impressed.'

Ben's mother describes her beloved son as a 'happy, cheeky little boy'.

Ben attended a local school but, thanks to his father, he grew up speaking both English and Thai. Pictured: Steve and baby Ben

Ben's mother describes her beloved son as a 'happy, cheeky little boy'. Pictured: Ben and his mother Ooy

'When I was expecting him, I remember wondering what he would look like,' she says. 'After he was born, I held him all night. He was just like Steve.

'And after he was born, he was Steve's number one. He gave him everything.'

She paints a picture of a dutiful and loving son: 'If I was upset he would hug and cuddle me. He would help me work in the fields or around the house and even try to make the dinner if I was worn out.'

But Ben's dream, say his parents, was to work with motorbikes. A keen rider and a member of the Sop Prap Motorcycle Club, he won several motocross trophies and hoped one day to open his own motorbike repair garage.

'We were preparing a plot of land for where it would be,' says Ooy. 'We were going to build it after the harvest.'

All these plans for the future vanished the moment Ben's parents learnt he was dead.

'I don't know how I will survive after the funeral,' says Ooy. 'Maybe I will have to leave this house.'

Thai police says that their prime suspect, Chaiwat Boongarin, has admitted killing Ben but won't say anything so far about what happened to Pong. He claims instead that somebody else attacked her and buried her body in the woods.

Suraphltchaya Khamsa's desperate grandfather, 60-year-old farmer Charoon Annaeua, at the scene where she was found in a shallow grave just off the motorway

Ambulance workers wrapped the body up and have took her to hospital for forensics

A source told MailOnline that killer Wat led officers to Suraphltchaya Khamsa's grave

According to Steve: 'He is denying anything to do with her disappearance to save himself. If he is convicted of murdering Ben he will be given a life sentence. But if he is convicted of killing two children he will be executed. They do it by firing squad here.'

He wasn't sure what to expect before he first set eyes on his son's alleged killer.

'I thought he would be intimidating but he looked like a penniless Thai peasant,' he says.

'It was so weird, seeing him like that. It's the way they do things here.

'He will never see the light of day again. Either he will die of old age in prison, be killed there or be executed. He deserves whatever he gets. He is a waste of breath.'

For the time being, Steve and Ooy are trying to focus on the practicalities thrown up by Ben's tragic death. Ben had a 16-year-old girlfriend, Yam, who has also been left heartbroken. Steve and Ooy plan to take her shopping and to buy her a gold bracelet to remember him by.

Then there is Ben's funeral on Monday, something they are dreading while being determined to pay tribute to their son.

Buddhist monks will come to the family home and pray for their son before carrying his body to a sacred site for cremation.

'We will do all we can for Ben with grace and style,' says Steve. But his voice falters and he shakes his head in despair at what he has lost.

'It's just such a waste of a young life,' he says. 'Ben was such a joy and I loved him so much. I thought this place was paradise when I first came here. I could never have imagined that something so terrible could happen here.'
Donald Trump has faced what could have been a consequential week in his bid to win the presidency for a second time.

A jury found him liable of sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll, and less than 24 hours later at his CNN town hall he doubled down by calling her a 'whack job' and dismissing her rape allegations as 'hanky panky'.

He has now been indicted on 34 felony counts and defended his comments he made in the infamous Access Hollywood tape.

Many lawmakers and commentators celebrated as a death sentence for his campaign. Then he stoked the fires even further by calling Kaitlan Collins a 'nasty woman' during their primetime showdown on Wednesday night seen by more than three million Americans.

The reality however, to some experts and strategists, is far different. Some say his behavior should disqualify him from being the Republican nominee in 2024 - but others believe that what doesn't kill the President makes him stronger.

And his dominance in recent polls and staunch support among his base shows it.

A jury found Trump liable of sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll, and less than 24 hours later at his CNN town hall he doubled down by calling her a 'whack job' and dismissing her rape allegations as 'hanky panky'

During the town hall he also called moderate Kaitlin Collins a 'nasty person'

He has a commanding lead against potential rival Ron DeSantis, some American voters view him more favorably than President Joe Biden (according to a poll last week), and he keeps getting endorsements from Republicans.

So, will the events that unfolded this week change the minds of the supporters Trump needs the most?

'It certainly will cause more independent voters to turn away from Trump and should give his GOP challengers an opportunity to go after Trump as a risky nominee,' GOP strategist Doug Heye told DailyMail.com.

'But if they take that opportunity remains to be seen.'

'At this point, the American people already have a very good sense of Donald Trump's character, and it is unlikely that the Carroll verdict will change many voters' minds,' Christina Wolbrecht, a political science professor at the University of Notre Dame who studies politics and gender told DailyMail.com.

On Capitol Hill, one thing insiders thought Ron DeSantis would have on Trump is the establishment endorsements. But insiders say DeSantis is aloof and does not take the time to forge the connections he might need down the line - and early endorsers, particularly in Florida, have overwhelmingly broken for Trump.

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., chair of the Senate's campaign arm and an endorser of the former president, shrugged off the latest liable verdict.

'Sounds like President Trump's legal team will be appealing this decision,' he told reporters this week.

'Look, I have respect for our juries, for our system of government. But at the same time that's something that was a civil case. It's not a felony or anything,' Rep. Buddy Carter, a staunch Trump ally, told DailyMail.com.

Rep. Derrick Van Orden, a Republican who was on Capitol Hill on January 6 to support Trump but denies trespassing the Capitol grounds, neither condemned nor supported the president.

In an interview with DailyMail.com he stressed the difference between guilty and liable, but side-stepped giving his own thoughts.

'I don't tolerate people speaking to people in a poor manner, ask anyone in my office. That's not something I focus on. I will give you an absolute truth: former President Trump and President Biden are gonna do what they're gonna do and neither one of them are gonna call me and ask my opinion.'

GOP Rep. Michael McCaul, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, predicted the matter might actually help Trump - just like the Manhattan district attorney indicting him did.

'I haven't seen any polling data, but it seems to me anytime people are coming after him, whether it be the Manhattan DA or in other cases, that actually - it's interesting, it seems to actually raise his popularity and his numbers,' he told DailyMail.com.

Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican and member of Senate leadership, said he thought Trump was not a winnable candidate regardless of this week's verdict.

'The fact is that I do not think he can win the presidency regardless of what you think about him as an individual.'

Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., told CNN he as particularly concerned by Trump's town hall remarks where he refused to say if Russian President Vladimir Putin is a war criminal.

'President Trump's judgment is wrong in this case,' Young said.

Jean Carroll walks out of federal court May 9, 2023, in New York

A civil jury on Tuesday, May 9, 2023 found that former President Donald Trump sexually assaulted the writer in the 1990s

'Of course' it worries him, Young said. 'That's why I don't intend to support him.'

Asked why he will not support Trump, he said, 'Where do I begin?'

Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., told reporters: 'Obviously I'd rather have a president that isn't found liable for battery. It's not a disqualifier, but it's certainly not a check in the plus column.'

But experts agree Trump will need to win over independent-minded suburban women if he's going to win. Such behavior may not hurt his standing with the women who already love him, but certainly won't win over any new female voters.

'Trump had problems winning over women, and particularly suburban women, in 2020. Women who already are Trump supporters may view a verdict as illegitimate, but they are not the people Trump needs to win over,' said law professor and conservative writer William Jacobson.

'Being found civilly liable for sexual abuse could only hurt Trump's chances with much-needed independent women in a general election, which also would factor into the primaries since electability is an issue.'
A migrant camp in the Mexican border town of Matamoros stretched two miles in length on Friday - suggesting that, despite the Biden administration's change of border protocol on Thursday, thousands more people were intending to cross.

Border Patrol agents on the U.S. side of the border said that the crossings were unusually quiet. In recent weeks, 10,000 people have been stopped each day as migrants rushed to get across before the system changed.

At midnight Eastern Time on Thursday - or 11pm in Brownsville, Texas, and Matamoros, Mexico - Title 42 was lifted, signifying the end of a pandemic-era policy that allowed the immediate expulsion of migrants.

In its place, the Biden administration brought in what they hoped was a controlled alternative.

Migrants are now entitled to claim asylum.

A man rides a bicycle through the camp on the banks of the Rio Grande, which stretches for two miles

Tents are pictured running along the banks of the Rio Grande in Matamoros. The Texan city of Brownsville is on the other side of the river

Migrants encamped along the banks of the Rio Grande in Matamoros, across the river from Brownsville, Texas, are pictured on Friday being given rice and beans by a church group

Migrants have set up a camp which stretches for two miles along the river bank

Migrants watch as a person attempts to swim across the Rio Grande

The young man could be seen on Friday setting off on an inflatable raft

A pile of discarded clothes is seen by the tents in Matamoros, Mexico, on Friday

Migrants are seen on Friday in El Paso handing themselves in and being searched by a sheriff

But those coming from countries other than Mexico had to prove they had applied for asylum in another country and been rejected, or else they would be immediately turned back and banned from the U.S. for five years, possibly facing criminal charges.

Those hoping to apply had to use an app to create a profile - unless they could prove they were unable to access the app.

And processing centers had been set up in countries such as Haiti to allow for asylum seekers to apply in-country, rather than risk the perilous journey to the border. The U.S. said up to 30,000 people a month from Haiti, Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua would be approved to enter.

Many expected that the lifting of Title 42 would see a surge on the border, but on Friday that had not materialized. Many migrants appeared to be waiting to see what the policy changes would mean in practice.

At the Matamoros camp, many migrants who DailyMail.com spoke to were from Venezuela.

Some had set up small bodegas, while others spent their days sitting on the river bank watching the Texas National Guard on the other side.

Johangel Chavez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan, arrived in the camp two months ago and has set up a barber's shop.

Johangel Chavez, 28, from Venezuela, set up his make-shift barber's shop two months ago, and is undercutting the salons in the city of Matamoros

Chavez is pictured cutting the hair of Albert Pineda, 40

A makeshift bodega has sprung up in the migrant camp in Matamoros

A woman serves coffee inside the migrant camp in Matamoros on Friday

He said he was able to charge less than salons in the town of Matamoros, and so was kept busy with clients.

'A person that was here before gave me all the gear to cut hair,' he told DailyMail.com.

'Mexicans are paying more than double for a haircut in the city so even Mexicans are coming here to get their hair cut.

'I charge 50 pesos ($2.85) for a haircut. Mexicans pay 150 in the city.'

Chavez said he was optimistic that he would soon be able to cross into the United States.

'Hopefully this new system is faster, but we'll wait in good spirits,' he said.

'I think we will make it to the USA. People are afraid to pass through the river right now because they know they will get deported to their country.

'We don't want to cross the border illegally, we are waiting to do it all via the system.'

He said he left Venezuela because he was unable to make a living.

'Things are heavy in Venezuela,' he said.

'There's no work and lots of corruption. Also, if you don't pay the mafia they kill you.'

Albert Pineda, 40, was having his hair cut by Chavez.

He said he missed his homeland, and wanted to follow the new rules for applying to enter the country.

'It's difficult, it's not easy away from home,' he said.

'We have faith things will get better, but we want to follow the law and figure out how to get into USA.'

Migrants are pictured camped out along the banks of the Rio Grande on Friday

U.S. soldiers are pictured on Friday sitting on the other side of the Rio Grande

Members of the Texas National Guard keep watch from the U.S. side

The border policy shift ordered by President Joe Biden has been controversial, with his supporters on the left saying new rules are too strict while opponents on the right have claimed, without evidence, that he is 'opening the borders.'

Alejandro Mayorkas, the Homeland Security Secretary, published a video and Twitter thread marking the moment at midnight Eastern Time that the Title 42 ended.

'We have 24,000 Border Patrol Agents and Officers at the Southwest Border and have surged thousands of troops and contractors, and over a thousand asylum officers to help enforce our laws,' he said.

'Do not believe the lies of smugglers. The border is not open.'

Mayorkas and the Biden administration have faced an avalanche of criticism for the scenes at the border, as thousands of migrants gather in the hope of entering the U.S. now the restrictions have ended.

Alejandro Mayorkas, the Homeland Security Secretary, published a video on Twitter on Thursday night warning of tough penalties if migrants cross illegally, as Title 42 is rescinded

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said smugglers were massing in large numbers at the southern border of his country, offering to take migrants to the United States and telling them the border was open starting Thursday.

But Mayorkas on Thursday tried to tell those aiming to cross that it was a bad move.

'Starting tonight, people who arrive at the border without using a lawful pathway will be presumed ineligible for asylum,' he tweeted.

'We are ready to humanely process and remove people without a legal basis to remain in the U.S.

'People who do not use available lawful pathways to enter the U.S. now face tougher consequences, including a minimum five-year ban on re-entry and potential criminal prosecution.

'Together with our partners throughout the federal government and Western Hemisphere, we are prepared for this transition.'

The expiring rules have been in place since March 2020.

They allowed border officials to quickly return asylum seekers back over the border on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19.

U.S. authorities have unveiled strict new measures to replace Title 42, which crack down on illegal crossings while also setting up legal pathways for migrants who apply online, seek a sponsor and undergo background checks.

If successful, the reforms could fundamentally alter how migrants arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Many migrants were acutely aware of looming policy changes designed to stop illegal crossings and encourage asylum seekers to apply online and consider alternative destinations, including Canada or Spain.

Groups of migrants from Peru and Senegal beat the clock just before the expiration of Title 42 in Yuma, Arizona

Migrants wait in the cold at a gate in the border fence after crossing from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico into El Paso, Texas, in the early hours of Thursday

Hours before Title 42 was lifted, hundreds of migrants lined up on U.S. soil in Yuma to begin the process of applying for asylum. Numbers have surged in recent days

On the U.S. side of the river, many surrendered immediately to authorities and hoped to be released while pursuing their cases in backlogged immigration courts, which takes years.

It was not clear how many migrants were on the move or how long the surge might last.

A U.S. official reported the Border Patrol stopped some 10,000 migrants on Tuesday - nearly twice the level from March and only slightly below the 11,000 figure that authorities have said is the upper limit of what they expect after Title 42 ends.

More than 27,000 people were in U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody, the official said.

'Our buses are full. Our planes are full,' said Pedro Cardenas, a city commissioner in Brownsville, Texas, just north of Matamoros, as recent arrivals headed to locations across the U.S.

Biden has conceded the border will be chaotic for a while.

Immigrant advocacy groups have threatened legal action.

His new policy came under immediate legal attack.

In Florida, a federal judge agreed to a request from the state's Republican administration and ordered border patrol to stop granting parole to border crossers and asylum seekers - letting them remain in the United States while their cases are reviewed, a process that can take years.

And in Texas, 13 Republican-led states filed a suit declaring parole 'illegal.'

Parole 'creates incentives for even more illegal aliens to travel to the southwest border,' they said.

Migrants wait for asylum hearings at the US-Mexico border just ahead of the lifting of Covid-era Title 42 border controls

Some of the pressure south of the border appeared to alleviate on Friday, as Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said the number of US-bound migrants crossing his country was ebbing.

He said only around 26,500 migrants were waiting in Mexican cities along the long US frontier, and the situation was 'calm and normal.'

'The flux is dropping today. We have not had confrontations or situations of violence on the border,' Ebrard told reporters.

But the United Nations warned any lasting solution to the region's migration challenges would have to be built jointly by the United States and its southern neighbors.

'The Americas... are going through an unprecedented displacement crisis,' said Olga Sarrado, spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency.

'Just decisions from one single country are not going to fix the challenges and we cannot forget that these are human beings.'
Stunning footage captured the moment a powerful tornado barreled towards a Nebraska highway, sweeping perilously close to moving cars.

The terrifying twister was one of at least two dozen tornadoes to rip through several states including Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Montana and Louisiana.

Video footage shows the massive weather system building near the Nebraska highway before edging closer to oncoming traffic.

The ominous spiraling twister can then be seen coming within inches of the highway as cars attempt to drive past.

Severe weather is forecast to batter the Great Plains and South into the weekend, as the storm front flattened buildings in its path.

Aerial video showed a supermarket roof was ripped off in Noble, Oklahoma, where at least four other businesses and homes were levelled by the storm.

Tornado damage near Cole, Oklahoma was evident as seen in this picture in which the roof of a barn was ripped off

Shocking images showed a roof torn off a grocery store in Noble, Oklahoma on Friday

A gas station in Noble, Oklahoma sustained significant damage after being hit by the storm

Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana were battered with bad weather and at least 16 terrifying twisters on Thursday evening as bad weather rolls through the country's heartland

The National Weather Service issued tornado watches across numerous counties in Nebraska and Kansas through Friday evening, while further severe weather warnings have been introduced from Missouri to Texas.

Wind gusts up to 75mph caused significant structural damage in several states, while the storm also saw large hail and torrential rainfall reported in numerous counties.

Much of the damage has been to rural areas of the Midwest, leading the National Weather Service to warn the full extent of the destruction may not be known until morning.

There have not been any immediate reports of deaths as a result of the tornadoes.

In Weskan, Kansas, a multi-vortex tornado tore off part of a school's roof, while also damaging numerous structures including stadium bleachers and a scoreboard.

'After we left the shelter - it was in the big gym - I noticed a waterfall [as] the roof had gotten damaged pretty good, and water was coming in from the rain,' Principal of Weskan Schools, Jeff Montero, told KWCH.

'And then as we walked through the building we saw broken glass. And then upstairs, my office and a few other offices and classrooms and stuff, you can look up and see sky.'

Weskan Schools was just three days out from the end of the year and had prepared the alum-funded bleachers for their graduation ceremony.

The $75,000 bleachers had only stood at the school for a week and a half before the twister mangled the structure. However, Montero admitted he was 'just happy no one got hurt.'

In Weskan, Kansas, a multi-vortex tornado tore off part of a school's roof, while also damaging stadium bleachers, a scoreboard, and more

Weskan Schools was just three days out from the end of the year and had prepared the alum-funded bleachers for their graduation ceremony. The $75,000 bleachers had only stood at the school for a week and a half before the twister mangled the structure

A tree was seem blocking a roadway in Kansas after one of the twisters (pictured)

Other tornados also touched down in McDonald, Grove County, and Edson in Kansas, according to Accuweather.

In Colorado, many short-lived tornadoes were spotted bouncing around near Arapahoe County - near Denver. More tornadoes were also spotted in Nebraska.

Outside of the twisters, the Great Plains suffered from heavy downpours and hail, with some areas experiencing an average of two months of rain in two days.

Cherry Creek Reservoir State Park in Colorado got around 10 inches on Tuesday, which left several roadways damaged, with massive holes and cracks in the asphalt.
Homeless people living in tents in a city park have been pushed out to make room for a two-day cultural festival.

Up to 50 people residing in Brisbane's Musgrave Park have been relocated to temporary accommodation by homelessness services to allow an upcoming Paniyiri Greek Festival to proceed.

The festival is expected to run across two days on May 20 and May 21, with reports of people already being moved out of the area on Thursday and Friday.

A Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy spokeswoman said the Queensland government was continuing to reach out to ensure people experiencing homelessness were supported.

Up to 50 homeless people have been moved out of Brisbane's Musgrave Park (pictured) ahead of a two-day cultural festival

More people are being forced to live on the streets and in their cars amid the state's worsening housing crisis (pictured, tents erected in Musgrave Park)

'We have activated a dedicated Housing Pathways team who has been working with key stakeholders to support people experiencing or at risk of homelessness in the Brisbane Local Government area, including Musgrave Park,' she told The Courier-Mail.

'Alternative accommodation options have been identified and are available, including additional accommodation in boarding houses and local funded Specialist Homelessness Services.'

The people who remain living in Musgrave Park will be offered free entry in and out of the event, organising committee co-chairman Chris Kazonis said.

'There will be fencing around the people living in the park,' he added.

'They can walk straight out like they do into the street.'

The Paniyiri Greek Festival (pictured) is set to run across two days on May 20 and May 21, with organising committee co-chairman Chris Kazonis promising free entry to anyone still living in the park

'It just means to go through the park they will have to go through the main entrances which they will have free access to.'

The move comes as the state's housing crisis rapidly worsens, leaving more people sleeping on the streets and in cars.

Brisbane's Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner is set to promise $1 million on Saturday ahead of his budget to turn the never-used Pinkenba Covid quarantine facility into emergency housing.

'Today I'm committing $1m towards upgrading the Pinkenba quarantine facility so it can be used as emergency accommodation,' Mr Schrinner said.

'That's a million more reasons for the state government to finally get behind this proposal.'

Brisbane's Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner is set to promise $1 million on Saturday towards turning the unused Pinkenba Covid quarantine facility (pictured) into emergency housing

Mr Schrinner (pictured) said the pledge gives 'a million more reasons for the state government to finally get behind this proposal'

'I know this facility wasn't purpose-built for crisis housing,' he said, 'but it's a whole lot better than living in a car or a tent.'

'And that's occurring right across Brisbane right now while this 500-bed facility sits idle.'

The allocated $1 million would go towards creating amenities such as laundry facilities at Pinkenba, as well as Brisbane City Council transport and library services.

State and federal governments remain unenthusiastic about the proposal, however, with a Queensland government spokeswoman saying it would support the use of the facility for a 'specific cohort of people' if there was a practical, cost-effective way to do so with the support of non-government service providers.

'We're facilitating conversations between community and housing groups, governments, and Brisbane City Council,' the spokeswoman told The Courier-Mail.

'Community service providers who have toured the facility have continually expressed concerns that it is not suitable for people requiring intensive support or with complex needs and is not suitable for families.'
Police are searching for the car and offender

The victim had left his car running while in a store

A man making instant noodles inside a service station rushed to stop a carjacker stealing his unlocked car before being dragged 10 metres and rolling under the door as the car sped away.

The thief stole the 1996 Toyota Camry from a 7-Eleven in the inner-western Perth suburb of Carlisle at about 10:50pm on Wednesday while its owner was inside buying food.

After rushing outside, the owner tried to prevent the robbery while the car reversed, forcing him to shuffle alongside it down the forecourt before he lost his grip and was run over.

The 39-year-old male victim suffered injuries to his face and arms and was taken to Royal Perth Hospital for treatment overnight.

CCTV footage of the incident released by WA police shows the moment the victim tried to intervene as the thief recklessly sped away.

A man who was inside a Perth service station came out to find a burglar in his car attempting to steal it

The thief put the car into reverse and dragged the owner alongside it until he lost his balance and fell beneath the driver-side door

After the car's owner had fallen, the thief narrowly avoids colliding with a fuel pump while reversing into oncoming traffic on Orrong Road.

'It's a very serious crime that's been committed and the actions of the offender are quite brazen so we are taking this extremely seriously,' Detective Constable Shannon Parker said.

Police took statements from those at the scene as paramedics attended to the battered victim.

Witnesses from a nearby restaurant said that they'd heard screeching before seeing the stolen car speeding down the busy street with the driver's door still open.

Those who saw the victim afterwards said that he was covered in blood.

'He had blood on the side of his face, and his pants were all ripped up,' a witness told The West Australian.

'I think he was pretty terrified.'

'He was carrying the noodles the entire time. I even saw the noodles on the floor.'

Police have said that the offender was wearing a mustard-coloured hat, a dark-coloured jumper, and light-coloured pants.

The thief had taken the opportunity to steal the unlocked car, which was still running, while the 39-year-old owner was inside making himself food

Paramedics arrived at the scene to help the victim, who witnesses said was covered in blood

The stolen car, which is yet to be found, was last seen heading west on Orrong Road.

Police are asking locals to keep an eye out for any car matching its description which has the licence plate 9HM769, which they say may have since been abandoned.

Detective Parker reminded drivers to never leave their cars unlocked in public spaces.

'Always secure your belongings, under no circumstances leave your keys in your vehicle or your vehicle running,' he said.

'Even if you're popping into the service station for just a minute or two.'

Det Parker urged the public to keep an eye out for the car as it may be abandoned.
A 'confused' airline passenger has sparked an investigation after he boarded a flight without a boarding pass, leading to a five-hour delay for other passengers.

The man, believed to be aged between 18 and 25, managed to board a Jetstar aircraft at the Maroochydore Airport, on the Sunshine Coast, bound for Sydney without a ticket on Tuesday.

He had managed to pass through two security checks before boarding the plane, and was only discovered when he sat down in another passenger's seat.

The man claimed he had forgotten his boarding pass outside of the plane when asked by a flight attendant.

The incident resulted in passengers having to go through security again after sitting on the plane for 45 minutes, leading to a near five-hour delay before it eventually took off.

A man has caused a near five-hour delay after boarding a Jetstar aircraft (pictured) without a boarding pass on Tuesday and was only discovered when he sat in another passenger's seat

A passenger, who wished to stay anonymous, told the Courier Mail the man seemed 'lost and confused' before leaving the plane with the attendant 'calmly'.

They also indicated they would be demanding compensation from Jetstar for the delays.

'We have strict procedures to ensure all customers have a valid boarding pass for our flights and we have launched an urgent investigation into the situation,' Jetstar said in a statement to Daily Mail Australia.

'The individual was removed from the aircraft prior to departure and all customers were re-screened as a precaution, which resulted in the flight being delayed.

'We sincerely apologise to customers for the impact to their journey.'

The Sunshine Coast Airport's general operations manager, Kate McCreery-Carr, said the airport follows 'strict Australian Government regulations' in regard to the safety of passengers.

She claimed that all security procedures were followed at the time of the incident and no weapons or dangerous goods were found on the man.

'All passengers and members of the public are required to clear airport security prior to entering the departures hall,' Ms McCreery-Carr said.

'Our process includes the screening of passengers, their belongings and explosive trace detection.'

The man left the Sunshine Coast Airport (pictured) before Queensland Police could arrive, but was later identified with CCTV footage and is aiding police with ongoing investigations

A statement from the Sunshine Coast Airport states that 'airlines manage the checking and monitoring of passengers when boarding their aircraft'.

'Sunshine Coast Airport is liaising with Jetstar regarding the incident,' the statement reads.

Queensland Police attended to the airport at about 3:30pm, however the man had already left the airport by that time.

They were able to identify the man with the help of CCTV, and he is now aiding with ongoing investigations.
Video taken by a passerby shows the shocking moment brazen robbers smash up a high-end watch store and steal dozens of Rolexes - before it was revealed that they were teenage boys, most likely recruited online.

The gang of three masked and hooded boys snatched 70 Rolexes from the shop in broad daylight, according to reports, which were worth a staggering 1.5million.

The masked young men carried out the raid at luxury watch shop Quark in Tokyo's Ginza district, smashing up showcases after bursting into the store in the early evening on Sunday.

The smash and grab took place in full view of bewildered shoppers, with some seen walking past and merely glancing at the chaotic scene while others tried to film and even stop the robbers.

The botched robbery bears all the hallmarks of the 'yami baito' or 'dark gigs' trend in Japan, which sees youngsters hired online to carry out the bidding of criminal masterminds.

The gang of three masked and hooded boys reportedly took 70 Rolexes from the high-end store

A string of robberies and at least one murder have been attributed to such groups, The Times reports, which are usually built and communicated with through apps like Telegram.

In this instance, the bold jewellery heist was caught on camera, and shows the seemingly amateur thieves working slowly and clumsily.

While no customers appeared to have been in the shop at the time, staff were said to have been terrified as the heist took place.

The robbers made their way to a getaway vehicle after the raid, a hired van with number plates from a stolen car.

Police were able to track them down within minutes as they remained just a few yards away from the crime scene.

The boys all came from the nearby city of Yokohama, but told police that they did not know one another and had met for the first time on the 'job'.

Many of those recruited into crime online are unknown to each other in the growing 'dark gigs' trend.

Criminal groups known as 'hangure' or 'quasi-delinquents' are popping up all over Japan amid a police crackdown on the traditional yakuza gangs.

The smash and grab took place in full view of bewildered shoppers, with some seen walking past and merely glancing at the chaotic scene

The mafia groups, which previously controlled the drugs and sex trades across Japanese cities, have been decimated by authorities over the past decade.

But this has left space for a new generation of mobsters, who have been using the internet for mass recruitment.

They are promised 'high rewards' by yami baito ads, which say 'beginners' are welcome to join to score some 'fast cash'.

Young people, often from poor backgrounds, guarantee their loyalty to bosses through offering personal details like their parents' names and addresses to gangsters.

By outsourcing scams in this way, criminal kingpins, who may be based outside of Japan, are able to reap the benefits of the crime without facing the consequences.
Pope Francis on Friday called for politicians to find solutions to reverse Italy's declining birthrate, warning that young people faced a 'Titanic effort' to start families in a precarious environment.

The 86-year-old pontiff opened the second day of a Rome conference involving politicians, business and social leaders focused on the dwindling number of babies born in Italy - a figure that experts warn will lead to the impoverishment of the nation.

For the first time last year, Italy's births fell below the threshold of 400,000, at 393,000, according to Istat, the national statistics institute.

That compared to 713,499 deaths, in a population of around 58 million.

Francis, who received a standing ovation as he appeared onstage to address the conference alongside Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, said that young people today 'live in a social climate in which starting a family is turning into a Titanic effort'.

Pope Francis and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attend the meeting on the 'General States Of Birth' at Auditorium della Conciliazione, on May 12, 2023 in Rome, Italy

He cited the difficulty of trying to plan for the future amid low salaries and high rents in Italy, the eurozone's third-largest economy, whose population is ageing and where many young people struggle to find stable full-time jobs.

'We need to prepare fertile ground for a new spring to blossom and leave this demographic winter behind us,' Francis said, calling for 'forward-looking policies' to avoid Italy '(degenerating) into sadness'.

'Reviving the birthrate means repairing the forms of social exclusion that are affecting young people and their future,' he added.

'Have you ever imagined a world without babies?' was the provocative question used in publicity for the conference, organised by the Birthrate Foundation, a group with links to Catholic associations that advocate for families.

Despite the religious ties, conference speakers mostly steered clear of some of the more controversial issues related to Italy's declining population, such as abortion, surrogacy and mass migration.

For the first time last year, Italy's births fell below the threshold of 400,000, at 393,000, according to Istat, the national statistics institute. That compared to 713,499 deaths, in a population of around 58 million (Stock image)

Speakers concentrated primarily on solutions including welfare, more childcare and tax relief.

Still, Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida, a key figure in Meloni's far-right Brothers of Italy party, noted Thursday during the conference that the birthrate issue was of concern 'because we want to safeguard the culture, languages of Italy'.

He denied it had anything 'to do with race', after coming under fire by the opposition last month for warning against Italy's 'ethnic replacement' by migrants.

Meloni, who won the largest share of the women's vote in September elections but does not consider herself a feminist, has made mothers and families a central part of her discourse.

Pope Francis, 86, opened the second day of a Rome conference involving politicians, business and social leaders focused on the dwindling number of babies born in Italy - a figure that experts warn will lead to the impoverishment of the nation (File photo)

In her address on Friday, she criticised what she called 'the dominant culture' for making the topic of families almost taboo.

'We live in an era in which speaking about the birthrate, of maternity, of family has become even more difficult, sometimes it seems almost a revolutionary act,' said Meloni.

'We want it no longer to be scandalous to say that we are all born of a man and a woman, that it is not taboo to say that the birthrate is not for sale, that the uterus cannot be rented and children are not over-the-counter products that you can choose and then perhaps return,' she said.

Italy's population was on the rise until 2014, when it began reversing.

On Thursday, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti warned that by 2042, Italy's declining birthrate would end up reducing its gross domestic product (GDP) by 18 per cent.
Almost 300 newly arrived migrants were released by officials in Yuma, Arizona, on Friday illustrating how border cities are struggling to cope with a huge surge in arrivals in the past week.

It coincided with the end of Title 42, and the lifting of a Trump-era restriction designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The result was that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had been holding as many as 28,000 migrants at its facilities, far beyond its capacity, according to a local official.

On Thursday, the mayor of Yuma announced that CBP was planning releases in the city of migrants who had not undergone full processing, although he insisted they had been 'vetted.'

On Friday afternoon, three white buses with blacked out windows pulled into the Yuma Public Safety Training Facility close to the city's airport.

Almost 300 newly arrived migrants were released by officials in Yuma, Arizona, on Friday illustrating how border cities are struggling to cope with a huge surge

Migrants were seen boarding buses in Yuma, Arizona and coincided with the end of Title 42, and the lifting of a Trump-era restriction designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19

On Friday afternoon, three white buses with blacked out windows pulled into the Yuma Public Safety Training Facility close to the city's airport

The location was a closely held secret, but DailyMail.com was on hand to witness the release. A briefing document said 141 were being freed.

Streams of people could be seen climbing out of the buses and being directed to a shaded holding area, where there was at least some shelter from 96F temperatures.

From there, it is understood they will be put on buses to take them to Phoenix.

It followed a similar release of about 140 people at a separate location in Yuma and at nearby San Luis in the morning.

Yuma County Supervisor Jonathan Lines said the process was an admission that federal authorities simply could not cope.

'This is decompressing and the federal govt is relying on the local and state government to do its job,' he said.

'It's another failure of the Biden Administration to manage a problem they created with their open border policy.'

A day earlier, Mayor Douglas Nicholls urged the people of Yuma to stay calm.

'These are people that have been vetted to at least to the point where Border Patrol has issued them notice to appear papers wherever they end up living in the country,' he said.

A group of nuns were seen distributing food to migrants resting along the train tracks in Huehuetoca, Mexico, Friday as they look to board a freight train heading north as the mass influx continues

Tents are pictured running along the banks of the Rio Grande in Matamoros. The Texan city of Brownsville is on the other side of the river

A woman serving coffee inside the migrant camp in Matamoros on Friday shows how life is for those hoping to cross the border

Migrants encamped along the banks of the Rio Grande in Matamoros, across the river from Brownsville, Texas, are pictured on Friday being given rice and beans by a church group

'They are to follow up through the judicial process. Unfortunately, that process is years three to seven years to get through that whole process.'

And he insisted that the people released did not pose a risk.

'I ask everyone, all of our citizens to remain calm. There's not people that have that are convicted of crimes that are being released,' he said.

There were immediate hopes that Friday may have brought an easing in the crisis.

After a week of elevated arrivals, the border wall outside Yuma was eerily quiet on Friday morning.

The Biden administration had stepped up messaging that it had imposed a new tough regime to turn away anyone who had not used a legal route of arrival.

Chris Clem, the former Yuma Sector Chief Border Patrol Agent, said it was too early to celebrate.

'The administration I'm sure they are working feverishly behind the scenes with Mexico. I'm sure they're doing a lot of things to manage this,' he said

'And I do believe the will control things and will play things out.

'Then the migrants may be you know, trying to figure it out. Do they want to get caught up in the rush? Do they want to wait a few days and see how things play out?'

Title 42 was activated by the Trump administration to stem the spread of COVID-19. It was a public health measure that allowed border authorities to immediately expel arrivals before they could even claim asylum.

Members of the Texas National Guard keep watch from the U.S. side as migrants attempted to cross over after the end of Title 42

Migrants were seen protesting at dawn after the suspension of permits to transit through the Mexico at the Provisional Attention Center of the National Institute of Migration (INM), in Tapachula, Mexico

But with the pandemic over, it finally expired at midnight eastern time on Thursday.

The Biden administration rushed through new restrictions, effectively restoring Trump's 'transit ban,' which allows for the deportation of arrivals who did not seek asylum in countries through which they traveled.

Migrants can legally present themselves at the border if they used a mobile app, CBP One, to register in advance.

But an eleventh hour legal challenge blocked plans to more quickly release migrants from Border Patrol detention.

Administration officials also said it was too early to declare victory.

'Overnight, we saw similar patterns to what we've seen over the past several days. We continue to encounter high levels of non-citizens at the border but we did not see a substantial increase overnight or an influx at midnight,' Blas Nunez-Neto, the Department of Homeland Security's assistant secretary for border and immigration policy, told reporters on a briefing call.

Images surfacing in the wake of Title 42 ending have shed light on the sheer magnitude of migrants hoping to cross to the U.S. following the end of the pandemic-era border restriction.

A migrant camp in the Mexican border town of Matamoros could be seen stretching two miles in length - suggesting that, despite the Biden administration's change of border protocol on Thursday, thousands more people were intending to cross.

In recent weeks, 10,000 people have been stopped each day as migrants rushed to get across before the system changed.

Furious Chicago residents who overwhelmingly voted for President Biden during the last election have angrily spoken out against the hundreds of migrants being brought to their neighborhood

On man demanded why any leader would put 'black communities' at further risk by placing unvetted non-taxpayers steps away from seniors, children and their homes

Some have spoken out about the surge with limited housing options front of mind in some regions.

In upstate New York, dozens of homeless veterans were kicked out of their hotels to make room for the influx of migrants.

The struggling veterans were only informed at the start of the week that they would be making way for the migrants, a nonprofit veterans organization told The New York Post.

In Chicago's South Shore, furious residents in the Democratic-strong neighborhoods who overwhelmingly voted for President Biden during the last election spoke out against the hundreds of migrants being brought to the area.

They said it's forced long-time residents off housing wait lists, with many taking particular issue with a former South Shore High School being used as a holding space for up to 500 migrants.

'All of these resources that have not come to us now you want to overly compensate for people that have never lived here before. We need to be taken care of first and foremost before anything else happens!' one woman demanded.

'Many of these migrants have been dumped without a plan in place to monitor and house them long term,' explained another.

Ted Cruz is seen on Thursday holding a press conference to discuss the state of the U.S.-Mexico border, in the Texan city of Brownsville

Ted Cruz yells at a reporter for asking whether Republicans have done anything to help Biden with the border pic.twitter.com/V1a8Iwnboq  Brennan Murphy (@brenonade) May 12, 2023

Although the blame has been predominantly been shifted towards the Biden administration, one Texas reporter elicited rage from Senator Ted Cruz after he asked what Republicans had done to help create workable policy at the U.S.-Mexico border.

A livid Cruz yelled that the reporter 'should be ashamed' for his question, accusing him of 'parroting' Democrat talking points and challenging him for statistics.

The bad-tempered exchange saw other reporters rally to their fellow journalist's defense, and Cruz then angrily wave them away.

Cruz was in the Texan city of Brownsville, which borders the Mexican city of Matamoros, to witness the scenes as Title 42 was lifted.

He staged a press conference with members of the Border Patrol, and issued a fiery condemnation of Joe Biden's administration for allowing the chaos at the border to unfold.
Women are still struggling to get a hold of HRT medication a year after shortages crippled the supply chain.

At the start of 2022, women suffering from symptoms of the menopause were meeting in car parks and visiting dozens of different pharmacies to obtain any available treatment.

The Government set up an HRT taskforce to ensure a steady supply, and announced a Serious Shortage Protocol (SSP) allowing pharmacists to substitute treatments without a woman returning to her GP.

But it has emerged sufferers are still resorting to sharing medication and waiting months for prescriptions to be fulfilled. And some pharmacies are once again telling patients that they do not have enough HRT to meet demand.

The country's largest online pharmacy, Pharmacy2U, sent a note to patients this week saying it was struggling to fulfil all prescriptions of Utrogestan, a form of progesterone that the majority of women on HRT take alongside oestrogen.

HRT: Supplies are restricted (file photo)

'We are trying as hard as possible to get more Utrogestan from suppliers and directly from the manufacturer,' the letter said, according to the i newspaper.

'We are receiving some supplies, but not receiving as much as we need.' It added that it could take 'several weeks' to meet demand and that other pharmacies were affected.

Women have taken to social media to ask for advice. One seeking Utrogestan said a 'kind lady from Ireland' had agreed to ship some of her leftover tablets  despite it being illegal.

The problem appears UK-wide, with women in London, Belfast and Glasgow complaining about scarce supplies. Around two million women use HRT. Diane Danzebrink, founder of the website Menopause Support, said: 'The situation with Utrogestan is really worrying as there isn't another micronised progesterone product they can swap to.'

Diane Danzebrink, founder of the website Menopause Support, said: 'The situation with Utrogestan is really worrying as there isn't another micronised progesterone product they can swap to'

She said there was also confusion with another treatment, Estradot patches, with manufacturers saying they were in stock but pharmacies unable to get them from wholesalers. 'Yet again it is women who are left to pick up the pieces,' she added.

Fellow campaigner Katie Taylor, founder of The Latte Lounge online menopause and midlife support group, said: 'Yet again women are facing HRT shortages. The fact that this situation keeps cropping up year after year is unacceptable.'

The Daily Mail's 'Fix the HRT Crisis' campaign aimed to help women get access to medication. It led to the Government's announcement of the SSP.

A spokesman for Besins Healthcare, which makes Utrogestan, said: 'We are experiencing exceptional demand for Utrogestan 100mg capsules which means that our supplies occasionally become depleted for short durations. Further supplies will be delivered in the coming days and weeks.'
The rail union leader behind crippling strikes has said Channel migrants should be given the same employment rights as British people immediately after arriving, it emerged yesterday.

In a video clip unearthed by the Mail, Mick Lynch rants in a speech at a north London mosque.

During the address he also says public sector workers should be entitled to a year of sick pay and that people with 'darker skin' are getting 'ripped off' by employers.

The RMT boss's comments were criticised by Tory MPs who accused the union leader of touring podiums to give '[Jeremy] Corbyn tribute acts' rather than negotiating. Around 20,000 members of Mr Lynch's union will strike today.

In the clip of the speech at the Central Mosque of Brent in November he said: 'Every worker has the same rights as every other worker  and that's whether you've been here as a migrant for a long time with your family, or whether you're a new migrant seeking to come into the country, whether it be on a boat or whether it's on an airplane.'

During the address Mick Lynch also says public sector workers should be entitled to a year of sick pay and that people with 'darker skin' are getting 'ripped off' by employers

He added: 'What's wrong with a full year of sick pay for people who have given their lives to our services? What's wrong with a proper set of holidays above the statutory minimum?'

Suggesting ethnic minority workers are being discriminated against by employers, he adds: 'You haven't got to be a social scientist... to see who's getting ripped off.

'It's the people with the darker skin, the people who are the migrants of this country.'

Tory party deputy chairman Lee Anderson said: 'Mick Lynch is more interested in derailing the Government's plan to stop the boats than allowing his members to vote on pay offers. Union barons should stop posturing as Corbyn tribute acts.'

Conservative MP Greg Smith said: 'If Mick Lynch thinks everybody arriving illegally should be welcomed with open arms and given a house, given a job and no doubt a great deal more then I presume he's opening his own front doors to welcome illegal migrants to live with him.'

The RMT was contacted for comment.
India will ask Britain to return legendary treasures that were taken from the country during the colonial era.

The primary objective of officials in New Delhi is to secure the return of the Koh-i-Noor diamond - one of the crown jewels currently held in trust for the king - alongside thousands of other artefacts taken to Britain hundreds of years ago by imperial explorers.

India's foreign diplomats will be undertaking the mission - which they call a 'reckoning' with the past - understood to be the largest repatriation claim faced by the UK, according to The Telegraph.

The reclamation of historical artefacts is a primary of goal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration.

The issue is likely to disrupt diplomatic talks between the UK and India on matters such as trade.

Executive Director of Jewels de Paragon (JDP) Pavana Kishore shows the 'Koh-I-Noor' diamond on display with other famous diamonds at an exhibition intitled '100 World Famous Diamonds' in Bangalore 19 May 2002

An eleventh century Hindu statue of Shiva as Nataraja (Lord of Dance) is pictured at the Royal Academy of Arts in central London, 07 November 2006. Bronze sculptures, revered as physical manifestations of the Hindu gods, are currently on display at the Royal Academy of Arts

Buddha's Footprints (Buddhapada), c. 2nd/3rd century. Artist Unknown

Secretary for the Indian ministry of culture, Govind Mohan, said that retrieving artefacts would play a key part of India's foreign policy.

He said: 'It is of huge importance to the government. The thrust of this effort to repatriate India's artefacts comes from the personal commitment of prime minister Narendra Modi, who has made it a major priority.'

A branch of the ministry of culture, the Archaeological Survey of India, will be leading efforts to reclaim objects trafficked from the country since its independence.

Oxford's Ashmolean Museum has already been approached regarding a bronze idol taken from a temple in southern India.

But it is officials in New Delhi who will be coordinating the push for the return of artefacts taken during the British rule.

A gem-encrusted gold finial from the octagonal golden throne of Tipu Sultan, the Tiger of Mysore, at Bonhams in London where it will be going under the hammer on October 7 as part of the Indian and Islamic Art Sale

Indian journalist N.S. Shergill views a throne from about 1820 of Ranjit Singh's court, decorated with richly worked sheets of gold, at the exhibition entitled 'Maharaja: The Splendour of India's Royal Courts' at the Victoria and Albert Museum, in central London, Wednesday Oct. 7, 2009

Lord Harihara idol at the British museum, London

The process by diplomats in London to make formal requests to institutions to return 'spoils of war' during colonial rule will begin this year.

The Koh-i-Noor 105-carat diamond once sat atop the Mughal emperors' Peacock Throne. It was held by Indian rulers before being handed over to the East India Company and was then given to Queen Victoria following the annexation of the Punjab.

The jewel has adorned Queen Mary's Crown but was not displayed at the Coronation last week.

The return of the historically significant artefact would be 'deeply symbolic', according to ministerial circles in New Delhi.
Mighty oaks from little acorns grow  so the old saying goes  and a broad swathe of Left-wing activists are poised to breathe new life into it. This, they believe, is their moment.

You might think the British Left would be a bit downhearted after the local elections, which were terrible for the Tories but suggested Labour would still struggle to win an overall majority come the General Election. But not a bit of it.

They see the prospect of a hung Parliament as prelude to a much bigger prize than merely another Labour government: the chance to install and enshrine Left-of-centre government for the foreseeable future  consigning the Tories to the political wilderness for at least a generation, perhaps for ever.

Heady stuff. You can understand why the Left is excited. But how could it come about? Easy. Labour emerges from the next Election the largest party but without an overall majority.

It turns to the Liberal Democrats for a working majority. The Lib Dems say: 'OK but only if you commit to future elections based on proportional representation.' Labour agrees. Future government would then be the monopoly of various permutations of Left-wing parties, involving Labour, the Lib Dems, the Greens and nationalist parties.

You can understand why the Left is excited. But how could it come about? Easy. Labour emerges from the next Election the largest party but without an overall majority. It turns to the Liberal Democrats for a working majority

. The Lib Dems say: 'OK but only if you commit to future elections based on proportional representation.' Labour agrees

The no-mates Tories would need 50 per cent to form a government on their own, a bar they've never crossed since Britain became a modern one-person, one-voice democracy. The dream of many on the Left  a permanent 'progressive' coalition  would become reality.

So are we on the brink of such a watershed that would change British politics  and the country  for ever? It's possible. But politics is more febrile than ever and divining the future more difficult than ever. Let's start with some clarity.

First, if the Tories don't win an overall majority at the next Election  and as things stand such a failure seems likely  then they are out of power. Even if they remained the largest party, they would have nobody to turn to for a working majority. Certainly not the Liberal Democrats, only now recovering from the thrashing they took in 2015 after being in bed with the Tories for five years.

The Scottish and Welsh nationalists affect to detest the Tories and could not be seen to prop them up. The Greens are a non-starter and likely still to have only one MP after the election anyway.

Ulster's DUP might be up for some sort of working arrangement if the Tories were prepared to stuff their pockets with gold (again). But unless the Tories are only a few votes shy of an overall majority, there won't be enough DUP MPs to get them over the line  and the DUP are a capricious bunch at the best of times, not the sort of people to depend on.

So if the Tories don't have a working majority after the Election, Rishi Sunak would have no choice but to advise the King to ask Sir Keir Starmer to form a government. That's when things will start to get interesting  or scary.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey (funny how the leaders of both the leading Left-of-centre parties are knights) has said he'll have nothing to do with the Tories but he has not ruled out some kind of post-Election arrangement with Labour.

Even a full-blown coalition is not off the table. That old Lib Dem warhorse Vince Cable predicts that 'serious but deniable' talks between Labour and Lib Dems will soon take place, an early example of the sort of behind-closed-doors dealings away from the eyes of mere voters that are the hallmark of coalition governments.

Davey, however, is likely to demand that proportional representation (PR) replaces our first-past-the-post voting system as his non-negotiable price for giving Labour a working majority. Why wouldn't he? PR would mean a much larger Lib Dem presence in the Commons and probably a permanent involvement in government, since no party would ever again have an overall majority and would therefore be unable to govern alone. No matter how people voted, the Lib Dems would be seated round the Cabinet table.

Davey is also well aware, as a key member of the Tory-Lib Dem coalition formed in 2010, that doing deals with dominant parties in the past has done the Lib Dems no good, in the long run, whatsoever.

Back in the days when they were known as the Liberals and led by David Steel, they kept Jim Callaghan's failing Labour government in power for 18 months in the late 1970s when it really deserved to be put out of its misery after it was forced to call in the International Monetary Fund to bail out the country.

Though the Lib-Lab pact had been dissolved by the time of the 1979 election, the Liberals lost two of the 13 seats they held and their share of the vote fell. Voters were not grateful that the Liberals had propped up Labour. It had merely delayed the radical remedial work required to reverse Britain's long post-war decline (which Thatcher immediately and controversially began).

The Lib Dem experience with the Tories was even more bruising. After five years in coalition with David Cameron's administration they lost all but eight of their 57 seats in 2015 and their share of the vote slumped from 23 per cent in 2010 to 8 per cent.

While the Tories used the coalition to propel them to an overall majority, the Lib Dems' reward was to be banished to the political knacker's yard.

Even their leader, Nick Clegg, who served as deputy prime minister, lost his seat. His party is only now recovering from that mauling.

Davey sees PR as a political safety net. Even if a future coalition goes pear-shaped, PR will still ensure a decent number of Lib Dem seats in the Commons. And, since PR makes one-party rule well-nigh impossible, the Lib Dems can still look forward to a seat at the table in the next round of coalition building.

Political elites love PR because it mitigates the penalties they should suffer for failure. There are plenty of folks in the Labour Party who'd prefer no truck with PR, probably including Starmer.

He saw off an attempt to make it Labour policy at their conference in 2021 and says it will not be in the party's next manifesto.

Even their leader, Nick Clegg, who served as deputy prime minister, lost his seat. His party is only now recovering from that mauling

Starmer is steeped in the outlook of the metropolitan liberal-Left, where enthusiasm for PR is strong and growing

That's because he still thinks he can win the next Election outright (he could be right) and won't need Davey to bail him out.

Many leading Labourites reckon PR would mean their party would never again form a majority government. It would always have to do deals with other Left-wing parties to secure power.

But Starmer is steeped in the outlook of the metropolitan liberal-Left, where enthusiasm for PR is strong and growing.

If the prize was a stable and working majority for five years, Starmer could well meet Davey's demands. He would come under a lot of pressure to do so. I can see him buckle.

He might even agree the voting system could be changed without a referendum, though that would risk ripping Labour asunder.

But the Lib Dems haven't forgotten that the last time they were given the chance to reform the voting system, during the Tory-Lib Dem coalition, their proposed new voting system was ignominiously rejected by a majority of two to one in a referendum. Why risk consulting the people a second time?

The rewards for the Left are too great to give voters a say. Nothing less than the prospect of Left-wing coalition government for as far as the eye can see.

This would give them all the time in the world to devote billions in pursuit of net-zero emissions, use the cover of climate change and 'greening' Britain to regulate the minutiae of our lives, while simultaneously launching an interventionist industrial strategy with greater state control and ownership at its heart.

All this would be financed by massive borrowing and higher taxes on those with middling incomes and above  and with a slow but steady and determined strategy to rejoin the European Union thrown in.

This is the stuff of Left-wing dreams. And all for the zero cost of giving the Lib Dems PR.

I suspect Starmer and many of those around him would be unable to resist it.

Today's Labour Party is far more metropolitan middle class than it is provincial working class so it already has plenty in common with the Greens and the Lib Dems. Converting to PR is not the same big step it would have been in the past.

Britain would be changed for ever  and not just because of permanent Left-wing government. PR represents a massive transfer of power from people to political elites. Elections will no longer choose governments. The elites will decide the government once the Election is over, out of the public's gaze. A government nobody voted for will take power.

In Europe, where versions of PR are prevalent, elections often make little difference. After a protracted game of political musical chairs, the same people who were running the government before the election can end up staying in power, maybe just doing different jobs, as decided by the horse-trading.

In Germany, it led over the years to a political consensus across a narrow political divide which supported importing gas from one dictatorship (Russia), becoming over-dependent on exporting to another (China) and spending next to nothing on defence. It took the invasion of Ukraine to shock the political elites on both the Left and Right out of their complacency.

In Scotland, which combines first-past-the-post with PR in elections to its parliament at Holyrood, you can be rejected by voters but still get into parliament by being on a top-up list.

This allocates additional seats according to each party's share of the vote, and candidates who suck up to the relevant party managers and get their name near the top of the list sail into parliament.

It's how the SNP's former leader Nicola Sturgeon started her political career.

This is an anxious time for those who do not want endless, uninterrupted rule by the Left. It is, of course, possible that Sunak will defy all the odds and get re-elected. But I wouldn't hold your breath. Attempts to scare voters with the prospect of a Starmer-Davey 'coalition of chaos' just doesn't have the same 'fright factor' as the threat of Sturgeon-Miliband in 2015. And the Tories became quite the connoisseurs of chaos themselves last year.

It's how the SNP's former leader Nicola Sturgeon started her political career

A more likely scenario is that Starmer wins an overall majority, allowing him to spurn Davey's helping hand.

I'm sceptical of those projections which take local results and attempt to predict the result of a General Election. The local elections gave Labour roughly an eight-point lead nationally which is indeed hung parliament territory. But the local elections also showed widespread tactical voting in which people plumped for the party most likely to beat the Tories.

It's why Labour took Bracknell Forest and the Greens Mid Suffolk. If that tactical voting is repeated in the General Election (and Labour and the Lib Dems have an informal agreement not to campaign too hard in those constituencies where the other party has the clearest chance of beating the Tories), then an eight-point lead could give Labour an overall majority, especially if the party also does well in Scotland. I sense that, as things stand, it's the most likely outcome of the next Election. But of course I can't be sure.

So the case against PR will have to be burnished, the arguments for our voting system taken out and refreshed. It can be unfair to smaller parties but it also has the uncanny knack of producing clear-cut change and strong government when the nation needs it.

Who can doubt that Britain was ready for a break with the past when it elected Thatcher in 1979? Or that it was up for another major change of direction when it gave Blair a landslide in 1997? Or that the country wanted to bring the misery of the protracted Brexit process to an end and get it done in 2019? Under PR all these necessary changes in political direction would have been less clear cut, more muted.

Continuity can be overstated as a virtue in politics. Sometimes you need a determined break with the status quo. But fundamental change in a democracy also requires open, transparent and extensive debate before it is implemented. It would be a betrayal of the people if the present voting system was changed without a referendum simply to suit the convenience of those trying to stitch together a government.

All politicians of integrity and goodwill must surely insist that any change to the voting system requires the clear approval of the voters.
Shoppers and fast food fans face a shortage of home produced chicken amid claims supermarkets are refusing to pay farmers enough to cover soaring costs.

The empty shelves and rationing of eggs and vegetables that was seen in recent months is likely to be repeated for many fresh British chicken products, according to experts at the British Poultry Council (BPC).

It pointed to official figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which measures the output of farmers producing the meat we will be eating in the coming months.

These put the figure at 20.8 million units a week through February, which is down from 26.8 million a week in the same month last year  a fall of more than 22 per cent.

Chicken accounts for around half of the meat eaten by families in the UK, so a fall in production could have a serious impact.

Shoppers and fast food fans face a shortage of home produced chicken amid claims supermarkets are refusing to pay farmers enough to cover soaring costs

Costs have been driven up by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has increased the price of feed, energy and transport. At the same time, the industry is blighted by labour shortages. The National Farmers' Union has accused supermarkets of failing to pay farmers a fair price for their produce, leading to cutbacks and shortages.

The BPC echoed these concerns, saying: 'Year on year increases in production costs are at 18 per cent and rising, and members aren't seeing the returns despite the price of fresh chicken increasing 12.5 per cent over the same period.

'It is simple  costs are outpacing what is being paid by supermarkets.'

Andrew Opie (pictured), of the British Retail Consortium, which represents supermarkets, said retailers were supporting farmers while 'also facing additional costs and [were] working incredibly hard to limit price increases for consumers'

The trade group wants the Government to ensure the future of agriculture by requiring supermarkets to pay a fair price for home-produced food.

On the impact of the current crisis, it said: 'Short-term it means a reduction of British product on shelves, long-term the sector will shrink with the UK becoming reliant on cheap imports.

'If producers continue to be undermined by price, we will see staple products affected, imports fill shelves, and the eradication of a British success story. We're closer to the cliff edge than ever.'

Andrew Opie, of the British Retail Consortium, which represents supermarkets, said retailers were supporting farmers while 'also facing additional costs and [were] working incredibly hard to limit price increases for consumers'.
AI bots like ChatGBT could herald an 'alien invasion' with the capacity to wipe out humanity, a top artificial intelligence professor has warned.

Stuart Russell, who laid the foundations for new technology, argued ministers have been complacent about its risks.

The British professor, who has advised Downing Street and the White House, said he is annoyed that ministers have argued in favour of light-touch regulation of the AI industry, despite civil servants warning its products could pose a colossal threat.

Russell recently signed an open letter warning that AI labs were 'locked in an out-of-control race to develop and deploy ever more powerful digital minds that no one, not even their creators, can understand,' according to The Times.

'We've made progress without expecting to,' he said, adding it was possible that a system similar to ChatGBT could form part of a super-intelligent machine that would withstand any attempt to control it.

AI bots like ChatGBT could herald an 'alien invasion' with the capacity to wipe out humanity, a top artificial intelligence professor has warned

Stuart Russell (pictured), who laid the foundations for new technology, argued ministers have been complacent about its risks

A UK government spokesperson said: 'We recognise that as Artificial Intelligence systems become more powerful, they will create new challenges and risks which is why the International Technology Strategy includes a public commitment to initiate a global dialogue on AI risks.

'We will need to act and adapt the way we regulate technologies like AI that are playing an increasingly vital role in our economy and society.'

For around 10 years, Russell has been vocal in calling for a ban on using AI to create autonomous weapons.

He believes one risk involves a powerful AI being given a goal and choosing a method that achieves that goal, but with unanticipated side-effects which are devastating for humanity.

He used the example of a world where AI is challenged to fix climate change, and decides the best way is to remove the earth of people.

Russel explained that the benefits of using AI responsibly could be great - one way of doing so being to create systems that are good at just one thing, as opposed to an AGI that can pick up any human skill.

'It's an incredibly useful thing. But it's not in the taking-over-the-world business, right?,' he said.
A furious Ted Cruz lashed out at a Texas reporter on Thursday night after he asked him what the Republicans had done to help create workable policy at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Texas senator, livid, yelled that the reporter 'should be ashamed' for his question, accusing him of 'parroting' Democrat talking points and challenging him for statistics.

The bad-tempered exchange saw other reporters rally to their fellow journalist's defense, and Cruz then angrily wave them away.

Cruz was in the Texan city of Brownsville, which borders the Mexican city of Matamoros, to witness the scenes as Title 42 was lifted.

He staged a press conference with members of the Border Patrol, and issued a fiery condemnation of Joe Biden's administration for allowing the chaos at the border to unfold.

Ted Cruz is seen on Thursday holding a press conference to discuss the state of the U.S.-Mexico border, in the Texan city of Brownsville

Ted Cruz yells at a reporter for asking whether Republicans have done anything to help Biden with the border pic.twitter.com/V1a8Iwnboq  Brennan Murphy (@brenonade) May 12, 2023

On Thursday evening, Cruz predicted the situation would continue to worsen

Derick Garcia (left) on Thursday challenged Cruz (right): Cruz said his question was 'ridiculous' and he 'should be ashamed'

When Cruz said that there was a lack of policy, Derick Garcia, a journalist with CBS 4 News, asked what their alternative policy was.

'You have voted down multiple times their policies,' Garcia said.

Cruz laughed in disgust at the question.

Garcia continued: 'To the Republican members who are here today: what have you specifically done to help Joe Biden end this situation?'

Cruz, visible angry, replied: 'Alright, so that is a ridiculous and silly question. I want to commend you for being the media and telling a Democrat policy. So let me ask you something.'

Another reporter jumped to Garcia's defense, saying: 'Come on, man. This has been going on for 20 years.'

Cruz replied: 'OK. Let me ask you something. What rate of illegal immigration did we have in 2020? Do you know anything? I asked you a question.'

Garcia replied: 'How long have you been in office?' - to which Cruz answered 11 years.

Garcia pointed out that the situation had been problematic 'for multiple administrations'.

Cruz said: 'You don't get to argue with me. You asked your question. You want to hold a press conference, you can do it over there.'

Expressing his anger, Cruz accused the Biden administration of intentionally creating the situation, describing it as a travesty. He was also furious with reporters

Cruz thanked Border Patrol and Troopers stationed along the border for their help calling them 'heroes'

Cruz characterized the situation at the border as 'an invasion' accusing the Biden administration of wanting the numbers to increase while praising Border Patrol

Cruz characterized the situation at the border as an invasion and accused the Biden administration of wanting the numbers to increase

Cruz spoke with members of the U.S. Border Patrol and praised their efforts

He continued: 'The talking point of the Democrats, which this reporter happily parrots, is, gosh, this problem can't be fixed.

'There is one little problem with that: it is an utter and complete lie.

'In 2020, the last year of the Trump presidency, we had the lowest rate of illegal immigration in 45 years.

'You ask what have I done? I've championed the men and women of Border Patrol. I've championed securing the border. I've championed Remain In Mexico.

'And we turned this problem around and solved it.'

Cruz added: 'Joe Biden inherited the lowest rate of illegal immigration in 45 years. And the first day in office, he made political decisions to cause this problem.

'And you should be ashamed of yourself because you're a reporter and you're not reporting facts. You're telling lies.

'Joe Biden made a political decision. And they turn a blind eye.'

Migrants are seen on Friday being processed by Border Patrol agents by the Tijuana-San Diego border

Migrants wait to board a bus in Yuma, Arizona on Thursday

A group is seen waiting to be processed near the Ciudad Juarez-El Paso crossing on Friday

Cruz said that he had questioned Alejandro Mayorkas, the Homeland Security Secretary, six weeks ago on the Judiciary Committee.

Cruz asked him about the colored wrist bands that people traffickers use to identify their 'cargo': Mayorkas said he had never seen them.

He said the people traffickers left young men indentured as cartel foot soldiers, and young girls working as sex slaves.

'The media don't report on that,' he concluded.

'You should be ashamed. This is evil. And the reason you don't see any Democrats here is: they can't defend this.

'They're counting on the press not to cover it. It's wrong.'

Garcia later defended his question, writing on Twitter: 'It's a legitimate question.

'Title 42 was set to end a year ago.

'Multiple efforts to send aid, enact policies and strategies were met with Nays.

'Some don't like being asked what they've done to fix when they've made millions on the "crisis".'
A top Army dentist is facing trial accused of sharing an X-rated photo of an SAS: Who Dares Wins TV star - and of stalking his girlfriend who is an heiress to Cadbury.

Major Jennifer Wilson, 41, is charged with revenge porn of Christian Craighead, 47, who was a hero when leading the rescue during the Nairobi, Kenya terrorist siege in 2019, and saved dozens of lives.

Wilson, who works for the Royal Army Medical Corps, has also been accused of stalking Tobi-Jayne Cadbury, 36, who is the great-great-great-granddaughter of chocolate businessman Richard Cadbury, who commercialised the firm in the 19th Century.

Mr Craighead, which is not his real name, was awarded a Conspicuous Gallantry Cross after fighting Al-Shabaab terrorists who attacked the DusitD2 hotel in Kenya.

He was off-duty but ran to the scene and organised local security forces while carrying an assault rifle that was kept in his car boot.

Major Jennifer Wilson, 41, is charged with revenge porn of Christian Craighead (pictured), 47,

Craighead was a hero when leading the rescue during the Nairobi, Kenya terrorist siege in 2019, and saved dozens of lives

It is alleged that Wilson, who is married, 'disclosed a private sexual photograph' of Mr Craighead last year, with the intent of causing him distress, the Sun reports.

Wilson is also accused of partaking a nine-month stalking campaign 'involving fear of violence or serious alarm and distress' against his girlfriend Ms Cadbury, a lawyer.

Wilson is due to appear before Aylesbury Crown Court on Monday, May 15.

The Army confirmed to the Sun that a soldier was scheduled to appear in court.

Mr Craighead is also reportedly attempting to challenge a Ministry of Defence gagging order which prevents him from writing about him from writing about the terror incident in Kenya.
Yasmin was given a cake saying 'people deserve joy' and icing to finish the message herself

A Florida pro-transgender activist is demanding an apology from southern grocery chain Publix after a bakery worker refused to put 'trans people deserve joy' in icing on a cake.

Yasmin Flasterstein, 28, was purchasing the cake as part of her work with an Orlando non-profit organization called Peer Support Space, which helps vulnerable people with mental illness, trauma and other problems.

In late April, she was working on a membership drive to produce care packages for transgender people and wanted to add a cake to celebrate as part of campaign called 'Spread Trans Joy.'

She went to a Publix location on Colonial Drive in Orlando and asked for it to say 'trans people deserve joy' when Flasterstein said she got a confused look from the bakery worker.

Flasterstein - who is not transgender but co-founded Peer Support Space with a trans friend - claims she received a cake that only said 'people deserve joy' and asked to speak to the manager.

A Florida pro-transgender activist is demanding an apology from southern grocery chain Publix after a bakery worker refused to put 'trans people deserve joy' in icing on a cake

After writing about the incident on Facebook, she received responses in the comments from Publix's Facebook account

Flasterstein claimed that the manager of the bakery appeared 'on the brink of crying,' offering her space at the top of the cake and icing so she could write it herself

'They could not write that 'trans people deserve joy' on the cake because it would be taking a stance and that Publix isn't allowed to take a stance on the issue,' she told Orlando Weekly.

She argued that refusing to write the word trans on cake was telling them 'they're not worthy of joy' and was a stance.

Flasterstein claimed that the manager of the bakery appeared 'on the brink of crying,' offering her space at the top of the cake and icing so she could write it herself.

After writing about the incident on Facebook, she received responses in the comments from Publix's Facebook account.

'We are sorry that our associates did not handle your request appropriately. Please message us for more details, and we will gladly make the cake,' the account wrote.

She responded: 'I appreciate the apology. I'm glad Publix does want to write, 'Trans people deserve joy on a cake.' But I think that their apology falls short of what we deserved in response to what happened.'

Flasterstein added that she wanted the company 'to be accountable' to their policy for the confusion it caused and to make it so this doesn't happen again.

Yasmin Flasterstein, 28, was purchasing the cake as part of her work with an Orlando non-profit organization called Peer Support Space, which helps vulnerable people with mental illness, trauma and other problems

In late April, she was working on a membership drive to produce care packages for transgender people and wanted to add a cake to celebrate as part of campaign called 'Spread Trans Joy'

She has been contacting the company via email ever since and says she's gotten some mixed messages.

'They said that they would be retraining the team,' Flasterstein said. 'But I want to know who's being retrained. Retrained on what? What does that training look like?'

She added that she feels that trans people are under attack and they want companies that will show they're on the side of the transgender community.

'The LGBTQ+ community, the trans community, a lot of communities right now are being bullied and targeted. And I wanted people to know that there are people in their organizations that care about them,' she said. 'I don't care if it's about a cake. Even if it's a cake, there's people that care about you,' she told WESH.

Flasterstein said that the organization had previously used Publix for 'large events many times as it's quick, easy, and affordable' but does not plan to give them business again.

Flasterstein feels that trans people are under attack and they want companies that will show they're on the side of the transgender community

Flasterstein said that the organization had previously used Publix for 'large events many times as it's quick, easy, and affordable' but does not plan to give them business again

In an email sent by Publix's public affairs office, the chain offered 'sincere apologies' to Flasterstein.

'We are often asked to create specialty cakes with free-hand designs. Our policy indicates that our associates may write statements that are not copyrighted or trademarked, support a charitable cause, are factual and considered to have a positive connotation.

'As we indicated in our Facebook conversation, our associates should have fulfilled your request.'

DailyMail.com has reached out to national and regional spokespersons at Publix for comment.
A 63-year-old woman using a walker has been arrested after she allegedly attempted to rob a bank in New Orleans.

Cathy Lynn Hamilton passed a note to a teller at a Chase Bank branch that read: 'Your bank is being robbed; put money in bag or people are going to get hurt.'

Security footage saw Hamilton standing patiently in line as she clutched her walker.

The teller complied with her request and gave her $500.

But Hamilton didn't make it far with mobility not being her strong point.

Cathy Lynn Hamilton, 63, was arrested in New Orleans after allegedly attempting to rob a branch of Chase Bank while using a walker to aid her mobility

Hamilton handed a note to a teller stating: 'Your bank is being robbed; put money in bag or people are going to get hurt.'

Once outside of the bank, a security officer from the branch escorted her back inside the branch where she was held until the police arrived.

Officers with the New Orleans Police Department and FBI then took her into custody.

It is Hamilton's second attempted bank robbery, with her previous attempt occurring in 2014 at a Whitney National Bank branch.

On that occasion, court records detail how she similarly passed a note to the teller demanding cash immediately be placed into a bag.

But the teller stalled and Hamilton left the bank empty handed.

Hamilton was given $500 but didn't get far due to her limited mobility and was apprehended by bank security and promptly held until the police arrived whereupon she was duly arrested

The alleged robbery took place at the Chase Bank on North Broad Street in New Orleans

Hamilton managed to get outside the front door of the bank but was brought back inside by security where she had to wait for the police to arrive

She was apprehended shortly afterwards while attempting to make a getaway - this time on a bike.

In 2015, Hamilton pleaded guilty to a bank robbery charge, and U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle sentenced her to two years in federal prison.

During her sentencing, Judge Lemelle recommended that Hamilton undergo evaluation for substance abuse, as well as physical and mental health issues, while serving her sentence.

Her probation was revoked in 2017 for undisclosed reasons. Federal prison records indicate that she was released once again in 2018.
Megyn Kelly on Friday challenged actress Charlize Theron - who portrayed her in the 2019 film Bombshell - to 'come and f*** me up', after Theron vowed to attack anyone who had issues with drag queens.

Theron, whose adopted seven-year-old son Jackson identifies as female, on May 7 addressed a 'Drag Isn't Dangerous' telethon to lobby against the mass of legislation currently being debated statewide to curtail trans rights.

Theron said she would 'f*** up' anyone who is 'trying to f*** with you guys'.

On Friday, Kelly replied: 'Why doesn't Charlize Theron come and f*** me up?'

Megyn Kelly, pictured on Friday hosting her YouTube show, took issue with Charlize Theron's support for drag queen shows for children

Actress Charlize Theron said she will 'f*** up' anyone who criticizes drag queens at an event opposing the recent rash of laws seeking to prevent children from seeing drag performances

Kelly said she enjoyed attending a drag show in Chicago, but it was for adults.

'I'm 100 percent against her on this,' Kelly said.

'Yes, there are fun drag queen shows - I've been to them. When we lived in Chicago I went to one and it was super fun. It was all adults.

'But there are drag queen shows out there right now that are deeply disturbing, and they are happening in front of young children.'

She said it could 'include the grooming of young children'.

Kelly added: 'Even she should be against this, trans kid or not.'

Kelly's guest, activist Sara Gonzales, who campaigns to end drag shows for children, said she was horrified by 'the sexualization of children', and told of attending a drag brunch where a child was present.

'There was one of the drag queens wearing an incredibly sheer outfit. This is just what is happening,' said Gonzales.

'I went there and saw this child being exploited and sexually abused.'

She said the drag queens were 'infecting their minds', adding it was 'disgusting'.

'All we are doing is asking: please stop doing this in front of children,' Gonzales said.

Charlize Theron (left), as Megyn Kelly; Nicole Kidman (center) as Gretchen Carlson; and Margot Robbie (right) as a production assistant

Kelly is seen on Friday with her guests Liz Wolfe (center) and Sara Gonzales (right)

Kelly is seen (left) hosting her show: Theron is seen (right) in Bombshell, portraying Kelly

Kelly agreed, adding: 'If you introduce sexual behavior to children too young, it gets them used to it.

'You don't know who's in that child's life. The child's defenses are now down, because you put them down.

'So it is a problem, Charlize.'

The Oscar-winner said that 'if you've ever seen a drag queen lip sync for her life, it only makes you happier, it only makes you love more. It makes you a better person.'

'F***, if I could do a death drop right now I would, but I would probably like, break my hip,' she said, referencing a popular drag move.

She ended her time by asking viewers to 'support all the great organizations that are out there helping all of this nonsense going away like it should, all of these incredibly stupid policies.'

Tennessee became the first state to explicitly ban drag shows in public spaces after Gov. Bill Lee signed the provision into law hours after the measure passed in the state Senate.

Drag shows have become a target of conservative criticism, as a slew of other anti-drag bills have been introduced in at least 14 other states  including Kentucky, Texas and Missouri.

Language across the numerous bills is similar to the Tennessee bill, which prohibits 'adult cabaret performances' in public places where minors could watch.

In Tennessee's bill, 'adult cabaret' is defined as 'adult-oriented performances' that include 'male or female impersonators.'

Arizona and Arkansas removed the reference to drag shows from their bills earlier this year.

Meanwhile, in March the Idaho House of Representatives voted to pass a bill restricting the performance of public live drag shows that contain 'sexual conduct.'

In Kentucky, Republican lawmakers advanced a bill that same month to put limits on drag shows, as supporters touted it as a child-protection measure and opponents called it an unconstitutional attack aimed at LGBTQ groups.

The measure won Senate passage on a 26-6 vote after a lengthy debate.

In Missouri, legislators introduced House Bill 1364 on March 1. The bill would criminalize engaging, organizing, or authorizing the viewing of an adult cabaret performance on public property, which includes drag shows.

Last week, Montana legislators sent a bill to Gov. Greg Gianforte that would ban events in which drag performers read to children at public schools, libraries or other publicly funded locations.

Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and West Virginia have also pushed similar bills.

Theron made an appearance at the event on May 7 via Zoom, which showcased live and pre-taped appearances from entertainers from Hollywood, and within the drag community

Theron, whose adopted son identifies as female, said children faced greater dangers in the world, seemingly referencing gun violence, which she has spoken out against in the past. She is pictured here with both daughters Jackson and August

The Mad Max star took a chunk of her time to praise drag queens and suggested she would have it out with anybody going after them

The event had an all-star cast of drag stars and Hollywood celebs slated to appear

Adam Lambert is among the ensemble of personalities who made an appearance

Theron has regularly posted her support for the LGBTQ community on social media and last year was seen pouting in a picture with two people dressed in drag.

In April 2019, she revealed to DailyMail.com that her elder child, seven-year-old Jackson, who was adopted as a baby and introduced to the world as a boy, identified as female.

'Yes, I thought she was a boy, too,' Theron said.

'Until she looked at me when she was three years old and said: "I am not a boy!"

'So there you go! I have two beautiful daughters who, just like any parent, I want to protect and I want to see thrive.

'They were born who they are and exactly where in the world both of them get to find themselves as they grow up, and who they want to be, is not for me to decide.

'My job as a parent is to celebrate them and to love them and to make sure that they have everything they need in order to be what they want to be.

'And I will do everything in my power for my kids to have that right and to be protected within that.'

Later that same year, Theron admitted that her daughter Jackson's transgender journey is still a 'pretty new' territory for their family, in an interview with Pride Source.

Among the celebrities who joined Theron include Elizabeth Banks, Margaret Cho, David Cross, Whitney Cummings, Billy Eichner, Marcia Gay Harden, Leslie Jones, Adam Lambert, Melissa McCarthy, Kelly Osbourne, Orville Peck, Amy Schumer, Sarah Silverman, Amber Tamblyn, and Ali Wong.
Emergency workers who rushed to rescue a woman trapped in an overturned car were surprised when she brandished axe in their direction and allegedly threatened them.

The 33-year-old woman became stuck when her black Holden station wagon rolled onto its side in Goodwood, Adelaide, around 11pm on Friday night.

As a mix of paramedics, firefighters, and police personnel attempted to turn the car upright, she allegedly popped out of the passenger door wielding the axe.

After she had dropped the weapon emergency crews were able to proceed with their jobs, safely removing her from the wreckage before she was taken to hospital.

The woman is now in Royal Adelaide Hospital receiving assessments on her physical and mental health, with police anticipating to take her into custody on Saturday.

A woman, 33, greeted emergency workers with an axe before allegedly threatening them as they tried to rescue her

After dropping the deadly weapon, a mix of firefighters, paramedics and police personnel proceeded with their jobs and got her out safely

The woman was the sole person involved in the incident, and it is not yet known how the station wagon rolled onto its side.

She is expected to be charged with a number of offences, including driving without due care and assaulting police.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted SA police for comment.
Sinn Fein is at odds with its former president, Gerry Adams, over the conditions required for a successful vote on Irish reunification.

Mr Adams, one of the architects of the Good Friday Agreement, now believes that a simple majority of 50 per cent plus one or above in a referendum for unification, as set out in the peace accord, would not be enough.

Mr Adams's views, which he expressed in an interview with Tommie Gorman in The Currency last month, mirror that of other architects of the agreement such as former taoiseach Bertie Ahern and the late SDLP deputy leader, Seamus Mallon.

However, they put him at odds with Sinn Fein.

Contacted by this newspaper earlier this week a spokesman for Sinn Fein reiterated the party's position that it supports 'the provision for a referendum on Irish unity as outlined in the Good Friday Agreement, which provides for a majority vote'.

Sinn Fein is at odds with its former president, Gerry Adams (pictured), over the conditions required for a successful vote on Irish reunification

Contacted by this newspaper earlier this week a spokesman for Sinn Fein reiterated the party's position that it supports 'the provision for a referendum on Irish unity as outlined in the Good Friday Agreement, which provides for a majority vote'. Pictured: Sinn Fein Vice President Michelle O'Neill (left) and President Mary Lou McDonald (right)

Several Sinn Fein TDs told the Irish Daily Mail yesterday that they continue to support the principle of a simple majority vote on Irish unity, including Matt Carthy and Louise O'Reilly.

In an interview with the Irish Daily Mail last year, Sinn Fein's deputy leader Pearse Doherty said a simple majority was 'democracy'.

He did not respond to a request from this newspaper yesterday to discuss the difference between his views and those of his former party leader.

The party's 2020 general election manifesto contains a commitment to seek 'the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement' with their 'core political objective' being to achieve Irish unity through a referendum.
A traveller has taken to social media to warn others after being scammed $2,700 during an hour-long massage overseas.

The Aussie woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, booked a massage with her partner whilst visiting Seminyak, in Bali.

After handing their phones over to staff, the pair were horrified to receive several messages when they got out of the session detailing large sums of money had been fraudulently taken from their account.

'When we got out, our phones had messages about fraudulent transactions  $2,700 has been successfully stolen, which cleaned out our accounts and put us in the negative,' the woman shared in a Facebook group.

The couple had booked an hour-long massage at a parlour in Seminyak, and were horrified to find alerts for multiple fraudulent transactions after giving their phones to staff

'What was a great holiday has now turned into a nightmare.'

While their bank managed to stop two transactions of $4,500 and $7,500, the woman said both her and her partner's cards had to be cancelled.

'It's left us out of pocket ... with no (working) cards and lots of tears,' she added.

'The bank also ... can't guarantee we will get (the money) back, pending a fraud investigation.'

The woman said they decided to cut their trip short and fly home early following the ordeal.

'Our hotel Marriott has been wonderful and security and management confronted the massage manager and also assisted us with going to the police to make a report for the bank,' she told 7NEWS.com.au.

The incident comes as Aussie tourists continue to uncover many tricks and ruses used by scammers as Bali recovers it's post-pandemic popularity.

Those headed to Bali have been recently warned to double check they are not being scammed when applying for visas.

Numerous holidaymakers have already been duped by visa 'agents' and 'brokers' issuing over-priced or even fake visas to Australians for travel to the holiday island.

Many travellers have fallen victim to scams in Bali as the country returns to it's pre-pandemic popularity with Australian holidaymakers (pictured, stock image)

Some visa services go as far as impersonating the Indonesian government website in order to dupe unsuspecting travellers.

Some travellers have shared online they were charged higher fees because they had unwittingly used a private agency which charged a commission to purchase the e-visa through the official site.

Others said they bought visas through agents which were not valid on arrival, forcing them to buy an official visa at the airport - meaning they paid twice.

Another Aussie traveller also fell victim to a scam whilst on a family holiday in Bali when her and her partner's belongings were stolen.

Melbourne social media influencer Anna De Rieu and her partner were swindled out of $150,000 in government support payments under their name after the scammers hacked into her MyGov account.

Ms De Rieu said she had no idea so much money had been taken out until she went to log into her account herself, with her and her husband having been blocked from accessing it.

They were then informed by Centrelink their details and home addresses had been changed multiple times with money taken out in their names.

Ms De Rieu said it took about six months to resolve the issue and she now fears she could be the victim of more hacks in the future.
Murray Bridge locals theorised what it could be

A massive piece of machinery has caused a stir in a regional town as it took up the width of an entire road while being transported.

The monstrous machine was seen being transported along the South Eastern Freeway near the town of Murray Bridge, south-east of Adelaide, on Thursday.

The machinery was being escorted by South Australian Police because it was so large it reportedly damaged artificial grass as it spilled off the road.

The sight caused some of the town's 18,000 residents to speculate what the machine could be used for and why it was passing through the town.

A monstrous piece of machinery (pictured) passing through the rural South Australian town of Murray Bridge has caused a stir as locals questioned what it possibly could be

While many theories as to what the machine was were posted by locals on Facebook, one local knew the answer.

'These are bin sorters heading out to the SA Pine site and have been on a massive mission from Dartmoor,' the user wrote.

A bin sorter is a piece of machinery used by saw mills to sort boards of wood by size, grade and length.

The sorter was being transported from the south-west Victorian town of Dartmoor, whose own sawmill had gone defunct.

'The logistics were incredible with Victorian police, SAPOL and SA Power,' the user wrote.

The machinery, confirmed as a bin sorter, is used to sort boards of wood by size, grade and length, and was being transported to a nearby timber supplier for short-term storage

The machine was being transported to SA Pine, a supplier of timber building materials, whose site is just west of Murray Bridge.

'We are storing that for another company, KSI Sawmills,' Ian Robinson, SA Pine's general manager, confirmed to The Messenger.

The machine will be held by SA Pine until KSI Sawmills is prepared to have it installed.

Once the company is ready, the machine will then continue its journey to KSI Sawmill's site an hour north in Nuricopta.
Neo-Nazis clashed with police and anti-racism protesters outside Victoria's state parliament on Saturday as hordes of masked far-right protesters marched against immigration.

The far-right group were seen performing the Seig Heil, a salute used by Nazis at rallies, which the Victorian Government has pledged to ban.

Members of Melbourne's National Socialist Network planned the event from midday on Saturday, but counter-protestors began arriving on Melbourne's Spring St from 10am, sparking clashes.

Counter-protesters were seen shouting 'wife basher' at Avi Yemini, a far-right YouTuber who has been convicted of assaulting his former partner.

Photos and videos showing masked men pushing police have been posted to social media. Photos show cops appearing to spray liquid at crowds to disperse them.

Neo nazis were seen performing the Seig Heil, which the Victorian Government has pledged to ban on Saturday

The far right group carried Australian flags to protest immigration

Cops tackled protesters in the fierce showing in Melbourne

One protester looked wet after being sprayed

Neo-Nazis clashed with police and anti-racism protesters outside Victoria's state parliament on Saturday as hordes of masked far-right protesters marched against immigration

Members of Melbourne's National Socialist Network planned the event from midday on Saturday, but counter-protestors began arriving on Melbourne's Spring St from 10am, sparking clashes. A counter protester is pictured

Photos show cops appearing to spray liquid at crowds to disperse them

'We are organising (the protest) in opposition to the system's importation of 715,000 immigrants over the next two years, further exacerbating the housing crisis and ethnic replacement of white Australians in their own suburbs and towns,' the National Socialist Network's Thomas Sewell said in a video posted on social channels.

'This will be a peaceful and legal demonstration open to all supporters and bystanders who wish to have their voice heard.

'Living space for whites! Stop Immigration!'

In response, Victoria Police declared the CBD a 'designated area' from 7am to 7pm, granting police stop and search powers.

Victoria Police declared the CBD a 'designated area' from 7am to 7pm, granting police stop and search powers. One protester is shown pinned to the ground

Counter-protesters from the Campaign Against Racism and Fascism (CARF) group rallied against the Nazis

'Police officers and protective services officers are empowered to search a person and any thing in the possession or control of the person, or a vehicle for weapons,' Victoria Police said in a statement.

Counter-protesters from the Campaign Against Racism and Fascism (CARF) group rallied against the far-right group.

'The relationship between mainstream racism and the far right couldn't be clearer,' CARF organisers said online.

'Their capitalist masters say jump, and the fascists ask 'how high'.

'It is time for anti-fascists to spring into action. Let's show up in numbers to prove that Melbourne is an anti-fascist town.'

Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, Australia's leading civil rights organisation, told Daily Mail Australia: 'Neo-Nazism is alive in Melbourne as white supremacists have declared open season on immigrants, trying to insert themselves into the conversation by holding this rally and stoking fear on this issue.

'These agents of evil who dream of an Australian Hitler see immigration as a 'fear issue through which they believe they can mainstream and normalise their abhorrent beliefs and attract recruits to their warped cause.

'Such hate-filled rhetoric can have deadly consequences and can act as justification for individuals committing heinous acts of violence.'

Huge crowds gathered in the square to protest immigration - with counter protesters also there

Neo-Nazis held up a sign reading 'living space for white nation' at the rally today

The campaigner, who spearheaded the five-year national campaign that resulted in Victoria first and then a number of states instituting the ban, and last January launched another campaign to criminalise the Nazi salute, added: 'Migrants and anyone who these Hitler worshippers deem 'unworthy' will now be the target of choice for hateful and racist demonisation.

'What is driving this demonstration is 'The Great Replacement Theory', the belief that the white race itself is threatened with extinction by a 'rising tide of non-white immigrants' controlled by a cabal of Jews.

'This atmosphere of vilification and dehumanisation can lead to murder, as we saw in lone wolf shootings around the world Brenton Tarrant actually used the slogan 'The Great Replacement' in his manifesto before massacring 51 Muslim worshippers in Christchurch. I call on every political leader to unequivocally condemn this dangerous rhetoric and for the state government to outlaw the promotion and glorification of Nazism.'

It comes after about 30 neo-Nazis attended a controversial event by UK anti-trans activist Kellie-Jay Keen in March, performing the salute on the steps of Victoria's Parliament House.
Furious Chicago residents who overwhelmingly voted for President Biden during the last election have angrily spoken out against the hundreds of migrants being brought to the area that are knocking long-time residents off housing wait lists.

The former South Shore High School is to act as a temporary holding space for up to 500 migrants and officials have not yet clarified for how long.

Residents of the strongly Democratic South Shore suburb are speaking out after a lawsuit was filed claiming the school had not been zoned for residential use and that residents were not properly consulted of the plans.

'All of these resources that have not come to us now you want to overly compensate for people that have never lived here before. We need to be taken care of first and foremost before anything else happens!' one woman demanded.

'Many of these migrants have been dumped without a plan in place to monitor and house them long term,' explained another.

Furious Chicago residents who overwhelmingly voted for President Biden during the last election have angrily spoken out against the hundreds of migrants being brought to their neighborhood

On man demanded why any leader would put 'black communities' at further risk by placing unvetted non-taxpayers steps away from seniors, children and their homes

Another woman claimed that the communities are 'at war' saying that their rights are being violated in the community

Residents are particularly upset over plans to house the migrants in the school, complaining about safety and a lack of consultation.

'Why would any leader put our black communities, already riddled with crime, at further risk by placing unvetted non-taxpayers steps away from our seniors, our children and our homes that we have worked so hard to secure?' another furious resident asked at a press conference.

'Our communities are at war. They are violating our communities. We are asking and demanding to deal with issues like this,' stated one woman.

'Politically, to have over 500 people in our community would completely wipe out any interest we have,' explained another.

In the 2020 election 97 percent of South Shore residents in Chicago voted for Biden many of whom are now vehemently protesting the overwhelming influx of migrants after the expiration of Title 42.

Earlier this month, residents packed into an auditorium and bombarded local officials with similar complaints.

'How could you do that without consulting us?' one resident said in response.

'Build the wall. Make a border,' shouted another.

South Shore, Chicago voted for Joe Biden in 2020 by a whopping 97%



This is how residents are reacting to 250-500 migrants coming to their area: pic.twitter.com/X4lbibdStV  End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) May 12, 2023

'Politically, to have over 500 people in our community would completely wipe out any interest we have,' explained another residen

A migrant couple from Venezuela sit with their children on the playground at Brands Park in Chicago, Illinois

In recent weeks migrants have overwhelmed police station lobbies faster than the city has been able to open shelters. Pictured are migrants in a Chicago police station

Nubia Willman, a City Hall official, was booed by the crowd as she attempted to defend the plans.

'What's important is that we really establish this is humanitarian crisis, and we are here,' she said.

'While this crisis may constitute an emergency for the city of Chicago, it does not constitute an emergency for the South Shore community,' Alderman Michelle A. Harris said.

The lawsuit came just days after Mayor Lori Lightfoot declared a state of emergency over the arrival migrants to Chicago, which she said had reached 'breaking point'.

'We don't have any more space. I cannot emphasize that enough,' said Lightfoot.

Lightfoot, who made history as the first black woman and first gay person to the lead city, served her last day in office on Friday.

Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson will take over the running of the city on Monday.

On Monday Texas Governor Greg Abbott told Lightfoot he would not stop bussing migrants from Texas north to Chicago.

Carlos Alvarado, Miguel Lopez and Diego Perez, who are from Venezuela and heading to Chicago, wait for a bus after being processed by the U.S. Border Patrol following crossing the border from Mexico on Wednesday

Natasha Dunn, J. Darnell Jones and 'South Shore neighbors' are plaintiffs to the lawsuit filed in the county court against the city and Chicago Public Schools on Thursday, according to Block Club Chicago.

'Members of the Black Community Collaborative, South Shore constituents and stakeholders are extremely dismayed by the city of Chicago's inability to control and develop safe parameters around housing migrants that have been transported here from the border,' said Dunn during a press conference on Thursday.

Attorney Frank Avila also spoke during the conference. 'We want the refugees and asylum seekers and migrants to come in, but we have areas across the city where they can go. Not centralized in one community,' he said.

'There needs to be community participation and community input,' Avila said.

'If we're talking about migrants and asylum seekers that came from violent nations, that came from war, that came from poverty, why are we putting them in an area where they can be further traumatized?'

A number of residents have said the migrants should be moved to a facility in the North Side - a sentiment echoed by Jones, a plaintiff on the suit.

'Why not Pilsen, Belmont Cragin, Logan Square, Little Village, South Chicago, South Deering, or Hegewisch? Communities that have a supportive cultural infrastructure?' said Jones.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot is pictured declaring a state of emergency on Tuesday over the arrival migrants to Chicago

Since August more than 8,000 have been bussed north into Chicago from the border. In recent weeks migrants have overwhelmed police station lobbies faster than the city has been able to open shelters.

The declaration that the city is in a state of crisis comes as Lightfoot approaches the end of her tenure. On Monday the incoming mayor Brandon Johnson will be sworn in and inherit a problem Lightfoot herself said is likely to get worse.

Earlier in the month Lightfoot pleaded to Texas Governor Greg Abbott that he stop the transport of migrants north from Texas.

In the letter posted to Twitter on Sunday, Lightfoot urged Abbott to reconsider 'this dangerous and inhumane action'.

She said she sympathized with the border towns in Texas dealing with the issue, but said it wouldn't be resolved by passing on the responsibility to other cities.
Tucker Carlson erupted in anger after Fox News criticized Donald Trump in a social media post shortly after the 2020 election, agreeing with his producer that they must find out who was responsible for the content and stop them before the brand became 'too damaged.'

Carlson, who was fired by Fox News on April 23, has found many of his private text messages being made public as a result of the Dominion Voting Systems defamation case.

Fox settled for $787 million on April 19, but Dominion's legal team had already secured access to a tranche of messages between Fox stars and executives in which several of them admitted they knew Trump's claims of election fraud were absurd, yet repeated them on air.

Carlson's messages were seen by Fox's board, and are believed to have contributed to his firing.

They were damning in their condemnation of Fox leadership, and at times abusive - referring to both Trump's lawyer Sidney Powell and an unnamed senior Fox executive as a 'c***'.

The latest texts, obtained by The Daily Beast, also showed that Carlson and his producer, Justin Wells, had strong feelings about the 'brand', and prized appeasing their viewers.

Tucker Carlson was enraged by Fox News' social media posts which criticized Trump according to text messages he sent to his producer Justin Wells, according to The Daily Beast

Carlson is seen with his producer Wells (left) who was fired alongside the Fox News host on April 23

Wells pointed out to Carlson on November 19, 2020 that a social media post on an official Fox News account was critical of Trump.

The post referenced a Fox News Digital story which highlighted Trump's refusal to concede the election, and adhere to COVID protocols.

Wells sent the link to Carlson, and said: 'Pop that open in full. It's our networks [sic] official Instagram feed. Literally 4-5 separate swipes at Trump for doing the Turkey pardon.

'It's actually unbelievable. We're trying to piss people off for no reason. We can't fix all of Fox but there is a 'systemic' issue here (to use an overused phrase of 2020.)'

Justin Wells, Carlson's producer

Carlson agreed, replying that they needed to point out what they saw was the error of the report, and volunteering to pressure those responsible into 'correcting' course.

'We're not going to succeed if this continues,' Carlson said.

'The brand will be too damaged. We should jump on a couple of examples just to send a clear message. Let's start with this one. Can we find out who did this?'

Carlson continued: 'I'm happy to start threatening people individually. It's too much. And again, it will hurt us badly if we let it continue.'

Wells said that he was 'going to find out who did this first' because he wanted 'to be armed with more detail.'

Carlson thanked Wells, and added: 'Fox needs to hire someone to make sure our 'news' coverage is right down the middle and fair. Like today.'

The texts, published by The Daily Beast, are the latest in a stream of messages made public, which show Carlson in a brutal light.

Carlson and Fox have not commented on the messages.

Wells, asked by The Daily Beast for his response, said that he didn't 'quite understand what the story or peg is here.'

Executives at the network were said to be 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******'.

Tucker Carlson was enraged by Fox reporter Jacqui Heinrich (right), who fact-checked Trump. He demanded she be fired

Suzanne Scott, the CEO of Fox News, called Carlson on April 23 to fire him. Carlson raged at the decision to call the election for Biden in a November 9, 2020, text message to her

Tucker Carlson Tonight ran from 2016 until 2023, and regularly attracted more than 3 million viewers a night

Carlson told 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 regularly vented his fury to his Wells - who was also fired on April 23.

'We're playing with fire, for real  an alternative like Newsmax could be devastating to us,' he said.

On November 9, 2020, he told Suzanne Scott, the CEO, who ultimately fired him, that 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.

Carlson has not commented on his messages - and even the redacted ones may yet be made public. The New York Times, The Associated Press and National Public Radio have challenged the redactions.

Furthermore, the network is facing another defamation trial - this one filed by Smartmatic, a second voting machine company allegedly smeared by hosts and guests.

Carlson's messages, which were not the only factor in his firing but played a large part, are likely to feature heavily in Smartmatic's case.

Just weeks before the trial was due to begin, lawyers went to Carlson to tell him, with relief, that they had successfully argued for his most vicious messages about the executives to be redacted, according to the Journal.

But instead of being pleased, Carlson was irritated.

A source told The Wall Street Journal that the 53-year-old wanted his feelings about the executive to be made public.

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, 53, was ousted by Fox News on April 23. He was not given a reason for his ouster, but was reportedly told it was a decision made 'from above'

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.'

He said he raised Heinrich's factually-accurate tweet with Meade Cooper, the executive vice president of programming.

'I just went crazy on Meade over it,' Carlson wrote.

Heinrich, according to the New York Times, deleted her offending tweet, though she posted a nearly identical fact-check of Trump afterward.

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'

Fox did not give any reason for the departure of their most-watched news anchor, saying: '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.'

Abby Grossberg, a former top booker for his show, has sued Carlson and Fox for a hostile workplace, sexual harassment and other alleged wrongs.

She claimed she was 'coerced, intimidated, and misinformed' while preparing for her deposition in the $1.6 billion Dominion defamation case.

Grossberg added she was discriminated against as a woman at Fox, 'overworked, undervalued, denied opportunities for promotion' and subjected to 'vile sexist stereotypes.'

She 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.'

Another legal row is on the horizon.

A January 6 protestor, Ray Epps, has written a legal letter to Carlson demanding an on-air apology after Carlson claimed he was an FBI informant, sent to the Capitol to whip up the riot and discredit Donald Trump.

A further reason for his firing is believed to be the fact that advertisers were increasingly shunning Carlson's show due to his provocative statements - such as claiming that the January 6 rioters were tourists.

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

Speaking two days after he was fired from his position as America's most-watched cable news host, Carlson addressed his fans in a two-minute video that was posted to Twitter, and spoke cryptically about being silenced.

Carlson delivered a blistering verdict on the state of modern America, without referring directly to his firing - other than noting that he had been able to 'step outside the noise for a few days'.

He declared the country was looking 'very much like a one-party state', where the 'people in charge' were silencing debate and becoming 'hysterical and aggressive' because 'they're afraid.'

Carlson said America's ruling class has 'given up persuasion: they are resorting to force.' But, he insisted, the 'honest people' would ultimately win.

'The liars who have been trying to silence them shrink, and they become weaker,' he said.

'That's the iron law of the universe: true things prevail.'

He announced this week that he is going to broadcast his show on Twitter.
A good Samaritan has shared the horrific injuries she received from a hostile passenger after trying to help a stranger.

Caitlin Morrison was on her way home riding the 57 tram in Melbourne's Maribyrnong on April 22 when she spotted another commuter being headbutted by a teenage girl.

The 45-year-old intervened and asked the teenager to stop, but was instead attacked and left with three skull fractures, an orbital fracture and eight abrasions to her head.

'I pulled my head down to protect my face, because I got multiple punches to my face,' Ms Morrison told 7NEWS.

Caitlin Morrison, 45 (pictured), stepped in to help another commuter on the 57 tram when she spotted them being headbutted by a teenage girl

The Melbourne mother was instead targeted by the teenager, and was left with three skull fractures, an orbital fracture and eight abrasions to her head (pictured)

'Then I started to get rammed into the green pole on the tram.'

Her attacker disembarked the tram at Flemington Racecourse before the Melbourne mother was left waiting almost two hours for an ambulance, with police eventually taking her to hospital.

'[The ambulance] had been upgraded nine times, and still hadn't been dispatched,' she added.

Ms Morrison was later told by Yarra Trams staff there was no security footage of the incident due to no cameras being installed on-board.

There are more than 300 trams on the network that do not have CCTV, with Victoria's Deputy Premier Jacinta Allan promising to continue to roll out additional security features for trams across the network (stock image)

'The rationale given was that [the trams] are too old and it's too expensive,' she said.

'Well, how much is my life worth then? If it's not even worth a camera.'

There are more than 300 trams on the network that do not have CCTV.

'We have been rolling out additional cameras, additional security features across the network,' Victoria's Deputy Premier Jacinta Allan said on Thursday.

'That work will continue.'

Ms Morrison continues to speak out about her horrifying incident as she fights to make public transport safer.

Her attacker has still not been found.
Eric Adams bussed the migrants north to alleviate the pressure on the Big Apple as more than 10,000 people a day across the southern border

They were were booted to make room for migrants who have arrived since the end of Title 42 on Thursday

Sharon Toney-Finch, who runs the Yerik Israel Toney Foundation, said dozens of homeless veterans were kicked out of hotels in Upstate New York

Dozens of homeless veterans have been kicked out of their upstate New York hotels to make room for an influx of migrants fueled by the expiration of immigration restriction order Title 42.

The struggling veterans were only informed at the start of the week that they would be making way for the migrants, a nonprofit veterans organization told The New York Post.

Sharon Toney-Finch, who runs the Yerik Israel Toney Foundation helping the homeless individuals, said the hotels callously decided to kick out the vets 'due to what's going on with the immigrants.'

The migrants were bussed north by New York City Mayor Eric Adams to alleviate the pressure on the Big Apple as more than 10,000 people a day across the southern border in record numbers.

Migrants pictured arriving at The Crossroads Hotel in Newburgh, where homeless veterans were kicked out to prepare for the influx

But the move came at a cost for the homeless veterans living in hotels intended for the migrants, leading Toney-Finch, a disabled military veteran, to voice her anguish at seeing the situation unfold.

'One of the vets called me on Sunday,' she said. 'He told me he had to leave because the hotel said the extended stay is not available... Then I got another call.'

Toney-Finch said she was left in tears after seeing the veterans swiftly kicked out of the hotels, despite being promised temporary housing for a month.

'We didn't waste any time,' she said of her efforts, revealing the vets still had two weeks left of their stay before they were callously ejected.

Of the 20 veterans being kicked from the hotels, she claimed 15 had been booted from the Crossroads Hotel in Newburgh, Orange County.

The five others were removed from the Super 8 and Hampton Inn & Suites in Middletown, roughly 70 miles north of Manhattan.

All 20 of the displaced ex-military members have been moved to a separate hotel in Hudson Valley, but Toney-Finch said the ordeal has been heartbreaking for the struggling veterans.

'Now we have to work from ground zero,' she added. 'We just lost that trust.'

Mayor Adams' office did not immediately respond when contacted for comment.

Buses of migrants were sent upstate in New York as officials grapple with the crisis

A man holds a sign to welcome the migrants to The Crossroads Hotel in Newburgh, New York

The organizer claimed that while the hotels did not explicitly say the move was because of the migrants, she felt the timing was revealing, and argued the hotels made the decision for financial gain.

She said that the $88 a day her organization pays for the stay is dwarfed by what the city will pay, with some reports indicating hotels can make almost $200 a night.

'Thats so unfair, because at the end of the day, we are a small nonprofit, and we do pay $88 a day for a veteran to be there,' she added.

The predicament of the stranded ex-military members also saw outraged local official Brian Maher, a New York state assemblyman, voice his disgust at the move.

'Shining a light on this is important because we need to make sure these hotels know how important it is to respect the service of our veterans before they kick (them) out of hotels to make room,' he told The New York Post.

'They really ought to think about the impact on these people already going through a traumatic time.'

Maher's constituency includes Orange County, which became a hub for the migrants after New York City mayor Eric Adams decided to bus the influx out to the suburb and away from the city.

Local officials attempted to introduce a state of emergency in a last gasp attempt to block the move, while nearby Rockland County was granted a temporary restraining order against Adams and the city.

Security forces watched on as migrants tried to enter the U.S. after crossing the Rio Grande River, in Matamoros, Mexico ahead of the end of Title 42

Hours before Title 42 was lifted, hundreds of migrants lined up on U.S. soil in Yuma to begin the process of applying for asylum. Numbers have surged in recent days

The number of immigrants reaching the border surged with the end of the U.S. government's Covid-era Title 42 policy. Here immigrants lined up to be processed to make asylum claims at a makeshift migrant camp in El Paso

The crisis comes as Title 42 expired Thursday, ending a pandemic-era policy that allowed for the blocking of asylum seekers entering the country.

But with tough new asylum rules set to replace the order, some migrants were seen rushing to cross the southern border just hours before it came to an end.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has in recent days been holding up to 28,000 migrants at its facilities, far beyond its stated capacity and in what appeared to be a record, two federal officials requesting anonymity and the Border Patrol's union said.

The busiest border detention facilities are in the Rio Grande Valley and El Paso in Texas and two areas in Arizona, according to union President Brandon Judd.
Disgraced legal scion Alex Murdaugh has been denied access to $160,000 in his liquidated retirement accounts in an attempt to fund his appeal on his murder conviction.

The 54-year-old was sentenced in early March to two consecutive life sentences after he was found guilty of shooting dead his wife Maggie, 52, and younger son Paul, 22, at the family's sprawling hunting estate on the night of June 7, 2021.

Judge Daniel Hall ruled on Friday that he will not be allowed to access the six-figure amount from his liquidated 401(k) to pay for his legal team.

'After careful consideration, defendant Richard Alexander Murdaugh's motion for payment of attorneys' fees and costs from untainted funds is denied,' the court order said.

Eric Bland, an attorney who represented and won settlements for several families who accused Murdaugh of stealing their settlement money when he was their attorney, argued against the request.

Disgraced legal scion Alex Murdaugh has been denied access to at least $160,000 in his retirement accounts in a flailing attempt to continue to fund his appeal on murder charges

Murdaugh was sentenced in early March to two consecutive life sentences after he was found guilty of shooting dead his wife Maggie, 52, and younger son Paul, 22, in June 2021

'Feeling really good with Judge Hall's ruling denying Alex Murdaugh's request for $160,000 of attorney's fees for his appeal,' he told WACH.

'I argued it would be unfair to Alex's victims and creditors to permit him to jump to the front of the line and grab that money. '

Murdaugh's lawyers filed the motion to appeal his conviction and sentencing a week after his conviction.

He is now being held in his own cell at the Kirkland Reception and Evaluation Center, where he will undergo 45 days of testing, which the South Carolina Department of Corrections carries out on every prisoner to assess where to hold them permanently.

As he is a convicted double murderer, Murdaugh is being housed with the state's most brutal and violent inmates.

Murdaugh's attorneys, Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin had previously hinted that they would file a notice of appeal within 10 days of his sentencing.

Then on March 9, Harpootlian tweeted: 'Today [Griffin] and I filed our notice of appeal for Alex Murdaugh.

'This is the next step in the legal process to fight for Alexs constitutional right to a fair trial.'

A new mugshot released Thursday shows Alex Murdaugh with his head shaved smiling in yellow prison overalls

Alex Murdaugh, 54, was sentenced last week to two consecutive life sentences for the murders of his wife, Maggie, 52, and son, Paul, 22

The court document simply says: 'Richard Alexander Murdaugh appeals his convictions and sentences in the cases referenced above.'

During the trial, jurors heard from more than 75 witnesses and viewed nearly 800 pieces of evidence.

They also heard about Murdaugh's betrayed friends and clients, his failed attempt to stage his own death in an insurance fraud scheme, a fatal crash in which his son was implicated, the housekeeper who died in a fall in the Murdaugh home and the grisly scene of the killings.

Eventually, the lawyer took the stand to admit to stealing millions of dollars from the family firm and clients, saying he needed the money to fund his drug habit.

He also admitted he had lied to investigators about being at the kennels where Maggie and Paul died, saying he was paranoid of law enforcement because he was addicted to opioids and had pills in his pocket the night of the killings.

Prosecutors did not have the weapons used to kill the Murdaughs or other direct evidence like confessions or blood spatter.

But they had a mountain of circumstantial evidence, including the video putting Murdaugh at the scene of the killings five minutes before his wife and son stopped using their mobile phones forever.

When he gave evidence last week, Murdaugh appeared to cry as he denied again and again that he killed his wife.

But juror Craig Moyer said he saw through yet another lie.

'He never cried. All he did was blow snot,' Moyer said. 'No tears. I saw his eyes. I was this close to him.'

It took the jury just a few hours to convict him.

Murdaugh took the stand in his own trial, as he admitted to stealing millions of dollars from the family firm and clients, saying he needed the money to fund his drug habit

In his sentencing in March, Judge Clifton Newman described Murdaugh as a 'monster' who continued to lie even when the evidence was damning

At his sentencing, Judge Clifton Newman described Murdaugh as a 'monster' who continued to lie even when the evidence was damning.

'This case qualifies under our death penalty statue based on the statutory aggravating circumstances of two or more people being murdered by the defendant by one act or pursuant to one scheme or course of conduct. I don't question at all the decision of the state not to pursue the death penalty.

'But as I sit here in this courtroom and look around at the many portraits of judges and other court officials and reflect on the fact that over the past century, your family, including you, have been prosecuting people here in this courtroom and many have received the death penalty, probably for lesser conduct.

'Remind me of the expression you gave on the witness stand. Oh, what tangled web we weave. What did you mean by that?'

'I meant when I lied, I continued to lie,' Murdaugh replied.

'And the question is when will it end? When will it end? And it has ended already for the jury, because they've concluded that you continue to lie and lied throughout your testimony.

'And perhaps with all the throng of people here, they for the most part all believe or 80, 90 and/or 99 percent believe that you continue to lie now when your statement of denial to the court.'

Kirkland Correctional Center will be Murdaugh's grim new home for the next few weeks as he undergoes evaluation for where to be sent permanently

This undated file photo provided on July 11, 2019, by the South Carolina Department of Corrections shows the new death row at Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia, SC

The life Murdaugh now faces is a far cry from the privileged world of multi-million dollar homes from the coast to the hunting lands of the Lowcountry he is used to.

'As part of the intake process, like all inmates, [Murdaugh] will undergo medical tests, mental health and education assessments, and the South Carolina Department of Corrections will gather other additional background information,' the South Carolina Department of Corrections said in a statement last week.

After the evaluation, Murdaugh will be sent to one of the state's maximum-security prisons to serve out the rest of his life behind bars.

Kirkland is home to more than 1,700 of the most violent criminals in the state and churns through more than 8,000 prisoners each year for evaluation.

As well as serving as the processing site for all of the state's convicts, it is also home to a specialized maximum-security jail for the most dangerous and violent offenders.

Adjacent to the prison is the Broad River Correctional Institution, which houses both high and medium security inmates.

More than 700 prisoners died in South Carolina's prisons and jails between 2015 and 2021. The majority of those deaths occurred at Kirkland (160) and Broad River (101).

'Kirkland is also responsible for the maximum-security unit which houses some of the most violent and dangerous inmates in the state,' the site's website says.

'Furthermore, Kirkland Correctional Center houses inmates who are in the statewide protective custody program.'

Adjacent to the prison is the Broad River Correctional Institution which houses both high and medium security inmates

More than 700 prisoners died in South Carolina's prions and jails between 2015 and 2021. The majority of those deaths occurred at Kirkland (160) and Broad River (101)

Trial attorney Robert Rikard tweeted on the eve of Murdaugh's sentencing: 'Tomorrow will be a much different day for Murdaugh. After sentencing instead of going to the county jail he will go to Reception and Evaluation on Broad River Rd.

'They'll shave his head and put him through a battery of tests that vet weeks.

'Then he will be assigned to a SC Department of Corrections facility. Because he's convicted of a violent crime, he will go to a facility that only houses the violent criminals. The worst of the worst.

'It will be a much different scene than the county jail. These are brutal environments and it will be quite a shock after the privileged life he has lived.'
An Australian woman living in South Korea has issued an urgent warning to female travellers visiting the Asian country, telling them to be wary of hidden cameras.

Jazmyn Jennings says there is a 'huge problem' with hidden cameras in South Korea and public bathrooms have 'every single crevice' covered in an attempt to stop voyeurism.

'Spy-cam porn' has become an epidemic in the country, with thousands of women turning out in protest against it and public toilets getting checked daily for devices.

Discussing the issue on a video posted online Jazmyn said that it's an issue 'not talked about enough by the west'.

'[It] is a huge problem in South Korea which is not discussed among foreigners,' she said.

'If you go into any female bathroom you will find every single crevice plugged up with wet toilet paper,' she continued, explaining this is a common tactic used by women to stop cameras being hidden in these spaces.

'This issue extends beyond toilets as well,' she said. 'We're talking Airbnbs, hotel rooms... basically anywhere that is a private area you run the risk of being exposed.'

She added that tourists should buy a device that can recognise a hidden camera.

'They help you find the light in the room and it'll show you [the hidden camera],' she explained. 'You can either report it, or you can take it away.'

Pornography is illegal in South Korea and has been blocked online since 2007.

A picture released by South Korea police in 2019 shows images from a hidden camera

South Korea has been battling a growing epidemic of so-called 'molka' - spycam videos mostly showing women, having been secretly filmed by men in schools, toilets and offices.

'Revenge porn'- videos taken of sexual relations without the partner's consent - is believed to be equally widespread.

More than 30,000 cases of 'molka' were reported to police between 2013 and 2018.

Thousands of women protested in Seoul on several occasions against the videos as part of the country's growing #MeToo movement.

South Korea has been battling a growing epidemic of so-called 'molka' - spycam videos mostly showing women, having been secretly filmed by men in schools, toilets and offices (stock)

In 2019, a number of high-profile K-pop stars resigned from showbusiness after admitting to filming and distributing illicit sex videos, filmed without consent, or watching them.

Asia's fourth-largest economy takes pride in its tech prowess, from ultra-fast Internet to cutting-edge smartphones.

But these advances have also given rise to an army of tech-savvy peeping Toms, with videos widely shared in internet chatrooms and on file-sharing sites, or used as adverts for websites promoting prostitution.

Cameras have even been hidden in every day devices that appear to be clocks and fire alarms to dupe women.

Although all manufacturers of smartphones sold in the South are required to ensure their devices make a loud shutter noise when taking photos - a move designed to curb covert filming - many offenders use special apps that mute the sound, or turn to high-tech spy cameras hidden inside eye glasses, lighters, watches, car keys and even neckties.
A much-loved writer whose death by suicide was announced this week was tormented by 'evil' trolls, her friends have claimed.

Heather B. Armstrong, 47, pioneered the 'mommy blog' in the early 2000s, and went on to forge a successful career as an author, charting her own experiences as a mother of two girls and her battles with alcohol and depression.

Armstrong's death was announced on Wednesday by her boyfriend Pete Ashdown, who told The Associated Press she died by suicide after recently relapsing following 18 months of sobriety.

The trolling was mostly on a website founded by the self-professed 'most reviled woman on the web', New Yorker Alice Wright.

Heather Armstrong was dubbed 'Queen of the mommy bloggers' by New York Times magazine

Alice Wright, seen in May 2022, founded the site GOMI - Get Off My Internets - in 2008 as a forum for commenting on well-known people

Wright founded the site GOMI - Get Off My Internets - in 2008 as a forum for commenting on well-known people.

Armstrong, who blogged under the name Dooce, featured frequently, in posts such as: 'Dooce Will Bravely Post Soul Sucking Sponsored Content'.

Others included: 'Dooce Wants You To Know Her Struggle', and 'Dooce's Grief Sponsored By Headache Medicine'.

Armstrong's friend Jill Smokler, creator of the Scary Mommy blog, told The New York Post: 'I had some bad experiences with them but they were so evil with her.'

'I got attacked for my parenting but they got really personal with Heather. It was complete bullying and so cruel.'

Smokler added: 'They were relentless with her. They knew she was fragile and depressed.

'It's not easy to be bombarded with messages that you're a terrible mother and shouldn't be alive. It cuts to the core of who you are. I wonder how the people at GOMI feel now.'

Another friend, Deborah Cruz, who runs MotherhoodTheTruth.com, told the paper: 'I've been told my children should die. But Heather got it really bad and she was more fragile than the rest of us.

'But she was more successful too. People are jealous. She had an empire she built on living her truth and, as it grew, some people were like, 'Why should she have that?''

Wright was brutal in her assessment of Armstrong when she heard the news of her death.

Wright is unrepentant about the content on her site, and was brutal in her comments after Armstrong died

'[Armstrong] was a bigger bully than I am, was, or ever will be, and hasn't been relevant since she refused to accept online monetizing and celebrity was changing like 10 years ago,' she wrote.

'But for some reason, people who hated her a month ago are acting like she's some light-shining saint and was some major force in creator culture.

'But she's dead so hush hush! we can't say anything other than good things. GMAFB.'

One of Wright's followers, Pontica Tottos, responded: 'Good riddance.

'[Armstrong] wasn't a nice person and the whole world finally saw that. She caused more harm than good to the people in her life and her suicide was just one more way of selfishly lashing out to those who loved her.

'Her memory will never be a blessing.'

Wright in 2016 insisted her site was not about cruelty, despite the content she wrote and hosted.

'I can't speak for all the GOMI-ers and I realize there are some people who are a bit in that category of 'let's take this person down,' and 'let's take them down a peg, and show them'  that's not where I'm coming from at all,' she said.

'I'm just very much 'Oh my gosh, did you see what they posted? How crazy is that?' and then talk about it.'

She added: 'It's not fair game to go and ruin someone's life or anything, but what someone chooses to put out themselves publicly, that is fair game to discuss and speculate on.'

Armstrong leaves behind daughters Leta, 18, and Marlo, 14.

Her heartbreaking final blog post, published on April 6, discussed her sobriety battle and paid tribute to her firstborn daughter.

Armstrong's mother (right) said her daughter (left) had a gift of intuition from a young age

Armstrong with her daughter Marlo, now 14, and her ex-husband Jon

'Early sobriety resembles living life as a clam without its shell,' she wrote.

She told how, in October 2021, she marked six months of sobriety 'by myself on the floor next to my bed feeling as if I were a wounded animal who wanted to be left alone to die.'

She described the milestone as being 'fraught with tears and sobbing so violent that at one point I thought my body would split in two.

'The grief submerged me in tidal waves of pain. For a few hours I found it hard to breathe,' she wrote.

'I had isolated myself entirely from the outside world because I didn't understand what was happening to me. And I was embarrassed.

'Here, two years into this often frenzied and wandering dance with life, I understand that I couldn't hold anyone's gaze because everywhere I looked I saw nothing but my own worthlessness. And so I chose loneliness. I couldn't handle the idea of anyone else knowing just how bad I felt about myself.'

She added: 'Sobriety was not some mystery I had to solve. It was simply looking at all my wounds and learning how to live with them.'

Her death was announced on her Instagram page.

'Heather Brooke Hamilton aka Heather B. Armstrong aka Dooce aka love of my life. July 19, 1975 - May 9, 2023,' the post read.

''It takes an ocean not to break'.

'Hold your loved ones close and love everyone else.'

Armstrong's death was announced on her Instagram page on Wednesday

In 2016, Armstrong entered a clinical trial where she was made braindead three times a week for three weeks in an attempt to cure depression

Armstrong began her blog, Dooce, in 2001.

The name came from her mistyping the word 'dude' in a work email.

By 2009, she had a monthly readership of 8.4million and was making $40,000-a-month with banner ads, according to a 2019 Vox profile.

In 2016, after battling suicidal depression and sharing her struggles online, she took part in a clinical trial at the University of Utah.

The three-week trial involved her being induced into minutes-long comas three days a week.

The results were promising - six of the ten patients who took part in say their mental health improved, and continued to be better for three months afterwards.

It's unclear if the treatment was ever advanced for approval.

She took part in drastic experiments to try to cure her depression, signing up to be made brain dead 10 times, then writing about it in the book: The Valedictorian of Death. Her previous books include Dear Daughter and It Sucked Then I Cried

Armstrong with her kids Leta (left) and Marlo (right)

After the trial, Armstrong wrote about it in her book: The Valedictorian of Death.

The experiment used propofol anesthesia to flatline her brain for 15 minutes. She was the third person to try it.

In an interview with The New York Post about the treatment, she said she was not at all fearful it might kill her.

She did it ten times, and noticed small changes in her behavior after initial bouts of nausea.

'It was after the second treatment when I suddenly realized, 'Oh, I showered without even thinking about it.

'After the third treatmentI started doing my hair and wearing cleaner clothes,' she said.

She wrote about the experience in her book The Valedictorian of Death.

Her previous books include Dear Daughter and It Sucked Then I Cried.
The Tasmanian premier has been told to stick plans for an AFL stadium up his rear end by fiery senator Jacqui Lambie as thousands voiced opposition to the controversial project.

A large crowd turned out at the state's parliament on Saturday to voice their opposition to the $715 million stadium project critical to the state's entry to the AFL, a day after the project brought the Rockliff government to its knees.

Australia's only state Liberal government was thrust into minority status on Friday after two MPs quit, citing concerns over state debt and government transparency around the planned build on the edge of the Hobart CBD.

Those issues were echoed at a rally outside state parliament on Saturday as thousands rallied with signs including, 'Team yes, Stadium No. Tell the AFL where to go!' and 'We can't eat stadiums or submarines'.

'You can stick your stadium up your bum,' musicians sang to applause.

Senator Jacqui Lambie told the crowd that Premier Jeremy Rockliff 'can stick it up your bum' in respect of the stadium proposal

Senator Jacqui Lambie soon joined in, telling Premier Jeremy Rockliff 'Tasmanians have had a bloody gutful over your stadium and you can stick it up your bum.'

Federal independent MP Andrew Wilkie addressed the rally, having earlier told parliament the 23,000-seat arena would look 'at best like a monument to stupidity, at worst like a giant bedpan'.

Tasmania's Labor opposition meanwhile took issue with the AFL making the stadium a condition of Tasmania getting a team licence to join the league.

The state will enter the men's league in 2028 with a pathway into the women's league to be announced.

'We all know a Tassie team is richly deserved and should've been granted with no stadium attached,' Opposition Leader Rebecca White said in a statement.

'But what should've been a unifying moment for Tasmania has been ruined by Jeremy Rockliff's reckless decision to write a blank cheque for a stadium we don't need.'

The onus was now on Mr Rockliff to earn back Tasmanians' trust by committing to full transparency on the AFL stadium deal, state independent MP Meg Webb said.

'They arrogantly dismissed the concerns, questions and warnings raised by many Tasmanians from all walks of life over this issue,' she said.

Thousands of Tasmanians have voiced their opposition to a $715million AFL stadium

The loss of the two MPs leaves the Tasmanian Liberals with 11 out of 25 seats in the House of Assembly. They will need the support of two of the six crossbenchers to pass legislation.

'I'm extremely disappointed, but I'm getting on with the job,' the premier told reporters on Friday.

'People might not always agree with what we are doing, but we are doing it for the right reasons.'

Defending the stadium, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said plans to upgrade the Macquarie Point site went back to at least 2012 when he was infrastructure minister under Julia Gillard.

'This site has been left derelict for too long.'
Home Secretary Suella Braverman was advised to scrap plans to house asylum seekers at the RAF base that housed the Dambusters three months ago.

A senior Home Office official advised the home secretary to stop work at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, warning of 'significant challenges to progress'.

The email from the Resettlement, Asylum Support and Integration Directorate, which formed part of the evidence, recommended the Home Secretary 'agree to stop work on proposals for RAF Scampton', according to an email seen by the BBC.

West Lindsey District Council, which has secured funds from a developer to regenerate the site, on Thursday lost the first round of a High Court challenge to the plans.

Mr Justice Kerr had been asked to impose an interim injunction, preventing the Home Office moving 'materials, equipment or people' on to the land, but he dismissed the council's application.

A senior Home Office official advised home secretary Suella Braverman (pictured) to stop work at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire, warning of 'significant challenges to progress'

The RAF Scampton (pictured) plans were officially announced in March to house asylum seekers at the RAF base despite talks of a 300 million redevelopment that would see the base used for heritage and leisure activities.

During the Second World War, crews from 617 Squadron (pictured in front of a Lancaster bomber) flew from Scampton when they staged the Dambusters raid on the night of May 16-17 1943

READ MORE: Grave of Dambusters hero's dog could be moved from RAF Scampton amid plans to house migrants at the site Wing Commander Guy Gibson VC (right), with his devoted dog Advertisement

But he dismissed it after considering arguments from lawyers representing the council and Home Secretary Suella Braverman at a High Court hearing in London.

During the Second World War, crews from 617 Squadron flew from Scampton when they staged the Dambusters raid on the night of May 16-17 1943.

Heroic airmen from the base famously breached the heavily fortified Mohne and Eder Dams in the industrial heart of Germany in a daring night raid - using a bouncing bomb.

The Red Arrows display team also trained at the base.

In a similar case, Braintree District Council says it aims to appeal after losing a High Court fight over Home Office proposals to house asylum seekers at Wethersfield Airfield.

The RAF Scampton plans were officially announced in March to house asylum seekers at the RAF base despite talks of a 300 million redevelopment that would see the base used for heritage and leisure activities.

West Lindsey District Council began legal action after the Home Office announced plans to use a 'portion of land' at the former air base.

Paul Brown KC, who led the Home Secretary's legal team, told the judge that ministers had a duty to house asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute.

The email from the Resettlement, Asylum Support and Integration Directorate, which formed part of the evidence, recommended the Home Secretary (right, with PM Rishi Sunak, left) 'agree to stop work on proposals for RAF Scampton'

The Red Arrows display team also trained at the base. Pictured: One of the famous jets parked in the hanger at RAF Scampton

He said the number of asylum seekers needing accommodation was at 'record levels'.

Mr Brown argued that the proposed use of the site was permitted under town and country planning rules.

The base had further stresses heaped upon it this week - as the RAF asked the local council to move the grave of hero Wing Commander Guy Gibson's black labrador.

The dog - whose name is a racial slur - was killed just hours befor Gibson led the raid and was the inspiration for the code word saying the dam had been breached.
Israel kills senior Islamic Jihad militant in Gaza: health ministry

Xinhua) 11:26, May 13, 2023

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, on May 12, 2023. According to the Gaza-based health ministry, 33 people have been killed and more than 100 others injured since Israel began airstrikes on Tuesday. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

GAZA/JERUSALEM, May 12 (Xinhua) -- A senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement's armed wing Al-Quds Brigades was killed on Friday in an Israeli airstrike on an apartment in Gaza city, the Gaza-based health ministry said in a press statement.

In the statement released by the ministry, which is run by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), two Palestinian men were killed and five civilians were injured in the attacks on the Al-Nasser neighborhood.

The ministry identified the victims as PIJ militants Eyad Al-Hasani and Mohamed Abdel Aal.

According to a statement released by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), Eyad Al-Hasani was "a significant figure in leading the operations and making military decisions" of the PIJ.

"Al-Hasani was a key figure in the organization and was involved in all decisions regarding rocket launches and barrages toward Israel," the IDF statement read.

The PIJ's armed wing said in a statement that "assassinating our leaders won't stop our resistance."

According to the health ministry, 33 people have been killed and more than 100 others injured since Israel began airstrikes on the PIJ's armed wing on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Israeli fighter jets and unmanned drones carried out simultaneous and surprising airstrikes against buildings and apartments that host senior PIJ military leaders in the Gaza Strip.

On Wednesday afternoon and Thursday, the PIJ militants fired more than 500 rockets at central and southern Israel, leaving one Israeli woman killed and more than nine injured, according to Israeli media reports.

Palestinian sources said that Egypt, Qatar, and the UN have so far failed to mediate a ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas-led militant groups, including the PIJ.

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, on May 12, 2023. According to the Gaza-based health ministry, 33 people have been killed and more than 100 others injured since Israel began airstrikes on Tuesday. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

People inspect a house damaged in an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on May 12, 2023. According to the Gaza-based health ministry, 33 people have been killed and more than 100 others injured since Israel began airstrikes on Tuesday. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua)

People inspect a house damaged in an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on May 12, 2023. According to the Gaza-based health ministry, 33 people have been killed and more than 100 others injured since Israel began airstrikes on Tuesday. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua)

People gather near a house damaged in an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on May 12, 2023. According to the Gaza-based health ministry, 33 people have been killed and more than 100 others injured since Israel began airstrikes on Tuesday. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua)

People inspect a house damaged in an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on May 12, 2023. According to the Gaza-based health ministry, 33 people have been killed and more than 100 others injured since Israel began airstrikes on Tuesday. (Photo by Yasser Qudih/Xinhua)

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, on May 12, 2023. According to the Gaza-based health ministry, 33 people have been killed and more than 100 others injured since Israel began airstrikes on Tuesday. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, on May 12, 2023. According to the Gaza-based health ministry, 33 people have been killed and more than 100 others injured since Israel began airstrikes on Tuesday. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

Members of Palestinian Civil Defense work in a burning apartment where a senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement's armed wing Al-Quds Brigades was killed following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, on May 12, 2023. A senior member of Al-Quds Brigades was killed on Friday in an Israeli airstrike on an apartment in Gaza city, the Gaza-based health ministry said in a press statement. In the statement released by the ministry, which is run by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), two Palestinian men were killed and five civilians were injured in the attacks on the Al-Nasser neighborhood. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

People watch members of Palestinian Civil Defense working in a burning apartment where a senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement's armed wing Al-Quds Brigades was killed following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, on May 12, 2023. A senior member of Al-Quds Brigades was killed on Friday in an Israeli airstrike on an apartment in Gaza city, the Gaza-based health ministry said in a press statement. In the statement released by the ministry, which is run by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), two Palestinian men were killed and five civilians were injured in the attacks on the Al-Nasser neighborhood. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

Members of Palestinian Civil Defense work in a burning apartment where a senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement's armed wing Al-Quds Brigades was killed following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, on May 12, 2023. A senior member of Al-Quds Brigades was killed on Friday in an Israeli airstrike on an apartment in Gaza city, the Gaza-based health ministry said in a press statement. In the statement released by the ministry, which is run by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), two Palestinian men were killed and five civilians were injured in the attacks on the Al-Nasser neighborhood. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Wu Chaolan)
A manhunt is underway for vandals who defaced a Hindu temple by spray painting 'declare Modi terrorist' ahead of the Indian Prime Minister's visit to Sydney.

Narendra Modi, 72, is due to arrive in Australia for the Quad leaders' summit on May 24.

The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir temple at Rosehill in western Sydney was vandalised on May 5 between 1-2am.

NSW Police have now released CCTV images as part of a desperate appeal for help from the public in tracking them down.

One CCTV image is of a black vehicle last seen travelling on Virginia Street toward James Ruse Drive in the early hours of May 5.

On Friday, May 5, the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir temple in Rosehill was defaced some time between 1am and 2am

They believe the occupants of the vehicle may have information which could assist investigators, or even possibly dashcam vision.

The second image was released of a person dressed in dark clothing, wearing a dark beanie and a face maskspotted in the vicinity of the temple about the same time.

Its not known if the person depicted has any connection with the vehiclecaptured on CCTV.

It follows similar vandlism incidents at three Hindu temples in Melbourne and two in Brisbane.

They are thought to have been carried out by activists angry at the treatment of Sikhs in India.

The Indian High Commission warned that 'pro-Khalistan' elements are becoming more active in Australia.

Khalistan is the name of the breakaway Sikh state some want to form.

The High Commission in Canberra said these incidents are 'clear attempts to sow hatred and division among the peaceful multi-faith and multicultural Indian-Australian community'.

NSW Police have released CCTV of the alleged vandals and asked for help from the public in tracking them down

The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha temple told the Sydney Morning Herald they are 'deeply saddened by the anti-India graffiti on the temple walls'.

'We are further disheartened that BAPS temples in Australia have been targeted for a second time,' the statement said.

Federal Parramatta MP Andrew Charlton visited the temple to help repair the damage.

He was shocked and saddened by the 'mindless vandalism'.

'Everyone in Australia has the right to practice their faith in peace. The federal government will not tolerate acts of religious extremism,' Mr Charlton told SBS.

Federal commuincations minister Michelle Rowland also condemned the attacks.

The Australian Sikh Association, Sri Guru Singh Sabha Guruduara and North Shore Sikh Association condemned the graffiti in a joint statement.

'We are deeply shocked and saddened by this heinous act of senseless vandalism of this religious place,' the statement said.

'We support our Hindu brothers and sisters in this tough time and unitedly claim the right to practice our faiths in peace.'

Narendra Modi, 72, is due to arrive in Australia for the Quad leaders' summit on May 24

Cumberland Police Superintendent Sheridan Waldaun hopes the community can help in tracking down those responsible.

'We are also hopeful that the person, or the occupants of the car, will contact detectives as we believe they could have information crucial to the investigation,' she said.

'NSW Police works closely with members of a widely-diverse community in western Sydney, and it's disappointing that actions such as these can cause unnecessary distress.

'Police rely on the support of the local community to provide information so it can be investigated, but it's important to know that information provided will be treated with the strictest confidence,' she said.
A friend of Meghan Markle's has thanked her for being an 'incredible friend and mother' in a new Instagram post.

Model Kelly McKee Zajfen shared the touching post ahead of mother's day in the US tomorrow, following the tragic death of her young son last year.

Harry and Meghan donated $5,000 to a GoFundMe fundraiser in the names of their children Archie and Lilibet after the Zajfen family lost their nine-year-old son George.

The death was said to come as a complete shock after George was found unresponsive at home.

Kelly is the co-founder of Alliance of Moms, an LA 'community of philanthropists who support pregnant and parenting teens in LA's foster care system.'

Model Kelly McKee Zajfen shared a warm posted thanking Meghan Markle for her friendship

Kelly posted the photo ahead of Mother's Day in the US on Sunday, following the tragic death of her young son last year

She also runs an eco-conscious children's clothing brand.

Announcing her son's heartbreaking passing in July, Kelly said she would keep going for the sake of George's twin sister Lily who has a pacemaker fitted for a cardiac condition.

Ahead of her first mother's day is Kelly first since her son's death, she posted a thank-you to Meghan online.

In a post on Instagram, she said: 'As Mother's Day approaches, I can't help but think of my own #commUNITY of Motherhood.

'I instantly think of you Meg. How incredibly nurturing and warm and open you are. What an incredible friend and mother.

'I'm truly in awe of you and I am so grateful you are part of my #CommUNITYofmotherhood.

'You are always the first to say yes and support those you love. You are a fierce advocate for those who are in need.

'Thank you for joining this year's campaign to support LA's expectant and parenting foster youth, which helps provide critical services, education, resources and advocacy so they can build a better future for themselves and their families.'

An Instagram post of Kelly with her nine-year-old son George who died suddenly last summer

The post was shared with a photo of Meghan and Kelly together wearing t-shirts which read 'Community, motherhood.'

Kelly also called on her followers to join her Alliance of Moms campaign to support mothers.

It is not clear how long Meghan and Kelly have known one another, but Meghan's ex-husband Trevor Engelson and his wife Tracy Kurland made a $1,000 donation to the fundraiser last year, suggesting
The body of a glamorous teenager accused of luring a British boy to his death in Thailand has been found, police announced today.

Dual-national Woramet Ben Taota was beaten to death last Saturday after meeting up with prolific drug dealer Chaiwat Boongarin close to his home in the countrys Lampangs northern province.

The 16-year-old had been lured there by a 15-year-old girl Suraphltchaya Khamsa who had become associated with the 44-year-old convict as part of a twisted honey-trap.

The pair were last seen riding off together on Saturday night on Bens motorbike.

This morning officers revealed the grim news that they had found the body of Suraphltchaya Khamsa (pictured) buried in woodland just off the main north-south highway near Lampang.

16-year-old Woramet Ben Taota had been lured there by a 15-year-old girl Suraphltchaya Khamsa (pictured) who had become associated with the 44-year-old convict as part of a twisted honey-trap

Suraphltchaya Khamsa's desperate grandfather, 60-year-old farmer Charoon Annaeua, at the scene where she was found in a shallow grave just off the motorway

Ambulance workers wrapped the body up and have took her to hospital for forensics

A source told MailOnline that killer Wat led officers to Suraphltchaya Khamsa's grave

Bens remains were discovered the following day, Sunday, in woods about three miles from his home.

READ MORE: 'Look me in the eye you b***ard!': British father whose son was beaten to death in Thai forest screams at his son's killer Parents of murdered British teenager in Thailand Steven Graham and Ooy Taota Advertisement

The killer, who is known as Wat, confessed to murdering Ben but initially claimed to know nothing of Suraphltchaya Khamsas where-abouts.

His British dad Steve Graham confronted his sons killer after making a dramatic dash from the UK after learning of the murder.

Police launched a desperate search for Suraphltchaya Khamsa, who her family believed was alive but being held against her will.

Her desperate grandfather, 60-year-old farmer Charoon Annaeua told MailOnline: I am very worried about my grand-daughter.

Its been almost a week now and we dont know what has happened to her.

We have been searching for her. We have looked all through the village, the farmland and in the foothills of the mountains.

I fear she is being held against her will. It is a terrible thing that Wat has done.

But this morning officers revealed the grim news that they had found her body buried in woodland just off the main north-south highway near Lampang.

Her parents and grandparents identified her body at the scene from the braces on her teeth and the jewelry she had been wearing. They broke down in tears when it emerged that their daughter had been murdered.

The teenagers were last seen riding off together on Saturday night on Bens motorbike. Pictured: Suraphltchaya Khamsa

Police launched a desperate search for Suraphltchaya Khamsa, who her family believed was alive but being held against her will

Bens remains were discovered on Sunday in woods about three miles from his home

The killer, who is known as Wat, confessed to murdering Ben but initially claimed to know nothing of Suraphltchaya Khamsa's where-abouts

Police are now continuing to interrogate sex crimes convict Chaiwat Boongarin, 44, who allegedly admitted killing Ben but denies murdering Suraphltchaya, whose nickname was Ping Pong. He is likely to face the death penalty if convicted of either or both cases.

Police say he denies killing Suraphltchaya.

A police source told MailOnline: The search team have found her body.

The killer Wat led officers to her grave.

She had been murdered and buried in woods by the side of the main highway.

Bens parents, Steven and Ooy have told of their devastation at his death.

They told MailOnline: We are heart-broken. Words cannot describe our pain.

Ben was lured to meet his killer in some kind of honey trap set by this young girl.

Earlier this week Ben's father furiously confronted the man who murdered his son, screaming at him: 'Look me in the eye, you b***ard'.

Suraphltchaya's parents and grandparents identified her body at the scene from the braces on her teeth and the jewelry she had been wearing. They broke down in tears when it emerged that their daughter had been murdered

Bens (left) remains were discovered on Sunday in woods about three miles from his home. Suraphltchaya's (right) has been discovered nearly a week after just off a motorway

Shaking with rage, Steven Graham stared through the window of a police truck as sex crimes convict Chaiwat Boongarin, 44, was taken back to the spot where he murdered Woramet Ben Taota, 16, and dumped his body on Saturday.

The body of Mr Graham's teenage son was discovered on Sunday in a dense forest in Lampang, northern Thailand, prompting the 60-year-old businessman to rush to the country from his home in Eastbourne, East Sussex.

Police Major General Mongkol Sampawapol, commander of Lampang Provincial Police, said: 'Police received intelligence gathered from the search operation about the location of the body.

'The suspect who admitted to killing the boy denies killing the girl. He says that somebody else attacked her and buried her body in the woods.

'We suspect that the suspect is responsible for both murders. However, police will also continue investigating the deaths to check if anybody else was involved.

'The female victim's body is now being sent to hospital for an autopsy to find traces of rape or sexual assault, because the suspect has a history of these crimes.

'There were signs of bruising on her face and it is expected that she was hit with a solid object until she died.'
Pope Francis is meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Vatican

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived at the Vatican for a private audience with Pope Francis.

The 86-year-old pontiff has repeatedly called for peace in Ukraine following Russia's invasion in February 2022, including offering to mediate with Moscow, although that has yet to yield any public results.

Francis recently said that the Vatican has launched a behind-the-scenes initiative to try to end the war launched last year by Russia.

Hours earlier, Zelensky had been holding talks with Italian leaders in Rome, including receiving assurances of their continued military and aid support as Ukraine continues to fight to liberate itself from Russia's military invasion launched last year.

Earlier in the day, Zelensky was greeted by the country's far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The two shared a kiss upon his arrival as they headed off for meetings at Chigi Palace, the government's office in Rome.

Pope Francis meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Studio of Paul VI Hall on May 13, 2023 in Vatican City

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived at the Vatican for a private audience with Pope Francis this afternoon

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (R) and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky

In a tweet, sent shortly after his arrival in the Italian capital late on Saturday morning, Mr Zelensky cited his schedule of meetings with Francis, Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni.

'An important visit for approaching victory of Ukraine!' Mr Zelensky tweeted.

When Mr Zelensky arrived at a military airfield at Rome's Ciampino airport, Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani was on hand to greet him.

Mr Tajani told reporters that Italy will continue to support Ukraine '360 degrees' and press for a just peace, one that safeguards Ukraine's independence.

Ms Meloni staunchly backs military and other aid for Ukraine.

But while her far-right Brothers of Italy party fiercely champions the principle of national sovereignty, Ms Meloni has had to contend with leaders of two coalition partners who have openly professed for years their admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Coalition ally Silvio Berlusconi, a former premier, has boasted of his friendship with Mr Putin, while another government ally, League leader Matteo Salvini, has questioned the value of economic sanctions against Russia.

Mr Zelensky began his official meetings by calling on Mr Mattarella at the presidential Quirinale Palace.

'We are fully at your side,' Mr Mattarella told Mr Zelensky as he welcomed him.

Pope Francis and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky exchanging gifts following a private audience in The Vatican

Pope Francis and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posing with the Ukrainian delegation following a private audience in The Vatican

Volodymyr Zelensky exchanging gifts following a private audience in The Vatican

Pope Francis meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, at the Vatican

Later, after their meeting, presidential palace sources said Mr Mattarella assured his guest that Italy would continue supporting Ukraine militarily and financially, as well as with reconstruction and humanitarian aid, in both the short and long term.

Since the war began, Italy has furnished about one billion euros (875 million) in military and financial aid, as well as humanitarian assistance.

At his next stop, the premier's office, Ms Meloni and Mr Zelensky embraced in the palace courtyard, before beginning their closed-door talks.

Mr Zelensky is believed to be heading to Berlin next.

His exact schedule had not been publicly announced because of security concerns, and the Vatican only confirmed a papal meeting shortly before the Ukrainian president's plane touched down.

Italian state radio reported that as part of protective measures, a no-fly zone was ordered for Rome skies and police sharpshooters were strategically placed on high buildings.

Ms Meloni met with Mr Zelensky in Kyiv, shortly before the anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion on February 24 2022.

Francis, who is eager for peace, last met with the Ukrainian leader in 2020.

The pontiff makes frequent impassioned pleas on behalf of Ukraine's 'martyred' people, in his words.

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Chigi Palace today

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Chigi Palace, Government's office, in Rome today

Italy's Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni shaking hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Palazzo Chigi in Rome today

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) arrives for a private audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrives at the Studio of Paul VI Hall

At the end of April, flying back to Rome from a trip to Hungary, Francis told reporters on the plane that the Vatican was involved in a behind-the-scenes peace mission but gave no details.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine has confirmed such an initiative.

He has said he would like to go to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, if such a visit could be coupled with one to Moscow, in hopes a papal pilgrimage could further the cause of peace.

Last month, Ukraine's prime minister met with Francis at the Vatican and said he asked the pontiff to help Ukraine get back children illegally taken to Russia during the invasion.

The German government, meanwhile, said it was providing Ukraine with additional military aid worth more than 2.7 billion euros (2.3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition.

The announcement on Saturday came as preparations were under way in Berlin for a possible first visit to Germany by Mr Zelensky since Russia invaded his country last year.

Defence minister Boris Pistorius said Berlin wants to show with the latest package of arms 'that Germany is serious in its support' for Ukraine.

'Germany will provide all the help it can, as long as it takes,' he said.
A long-time friend of a fisherman killed by a crocodile has recalled the harrowing moment his mate was taken.

John Peiti said all he could see of his mate Kevin Darmody were his thongs on the bank after the man 'literally disappeared off the face of the Earth' last month in remote Far North Queensland.

Mr Darmody, 65, was fishing along the banks of the Kennedy River at Rinyirru (Lakefield) National Park on April 29 when he vanished.

It was confirmed early this month human remains were discovered inside two crocodiles that had been euthanised after the horror incident.

Mr Peiti who was also at the riverbank when his mate disappeared said he never saw the crocodile that took him.

'When he was taken he was taken straight down, there was no waving the arms in the air - just a total disappearance,' the racehorse trainer told The Australian.

The only sign John Peiti could see of publican Kevin Darmody (pictured) were his thongs on the riverbank after a croc took him out last month in Far North Queensland

The two men were fishing at the riverbank 50 metres apart before Mr Peiti heard the hotelier 'roar' followed by a huge splash.

It then took him 30 seconds to run through the bush to get to Mr Darmody but there was no sign of life near the fast-flowing river besides a large goanna.

'[There were] no swirls in the water - it was like clicking your fingers and he disappeared ... and bang, [the croc] must have just dragged him straight under,' he said.

'He literally just disappeared off the face of the Earth. There wasn't any sign of him apart from his thongs on the bank.'

His mate suspected Mr Darmody must have lost his footing on the steep bank and fallen into the water where the crocodile was waiting.

Mr Peiti desperately searched around the river to find him along with others from their fishing party.

But with no mobile phone coverage the group drove to a ranger's station to report Mr Darmody's disappearance.

The two men who had known each other for 20 years had been hanging out in the week leading up to the horror incident.

On that morning Mr Peiti, who is from Moruya in southern NSW was fishing for Barramundi with friends at the Kalpowar Crossing in Lakefield National Park in Far North Queensland.

Mr Darmody joined the group later after he finished a morning shift at his pub in Laura 330km north of Cairns.

Mr Darmody was fishing at the Kennedy River at Rinyirru (Lakefield) National Park (pictured) on April 29 when he vanished

Mr Peiti joined the publican on the drive back to Laura when they decided to stop at the popular fishing spot Kennedy Bend on the way.

He said both men had seen what looked like a three metre 'black croc' on the sand bar as soon as they pulled up at the river.

The crocodile then slid into the water while the pair separated to catch more fish - before Mr Darmody was mauled.

His friend said the angler was very wary - more than others - around crocodiles.

Mr Peiti added he and Mr Darmody had both fallen into croc-infested waters in the past before quickly getting back out.

Nearby campers recalled hearing screams and frantic splashing on the day before fears were raised that Mr Darmody had been taken by a crocodile.

Authorities believe Mr Darmody went to the water's edge to retrieve a fishing lure when he was snatched by the crocodile.

Crews including the police dive squad called off their search for the 65-year-old earlier this month after wildlife officers euthanised two crocodiles two days after the horror attack 1.5 kilometres upstream from where Mr Darmody was last seen.

Friends said Kevin Darmody (pictured) had a deep knowledge of fishing in dangerous waters and was aware of the risks

Human remains were found in one of the reptiles following a necropsy - a post-mortem examination of an animal - but both crocodiles are believed to be involved in the attack.

Mr Darmody, a publican in the rural town of Laura - about 75km from where he disappeared - was a keen angler who frequently documented his fishing trips on social media.

Friends said Mr Darmody, who was also affectionately known as 'Stumpy', had a deep knowledge of fishing in dangerous waters and was aware of the risks.

'He wasn't a tourist or a visitor to Cape York, he is or was a local, he knew the dangers, just bloody bad luck - in a split second you can be taken by a croc,' one person wrote on Facebook.

The keen angler frequently documented his fishing trips on social media while one post showed a series of pictures of a crocodile mauling.

Tributes flowed for Mr Darmody, who ran the Peninsula Hotel in Laura, with some describing him as a 'bloody top bloke' and a 'legend'.
The couple ran the cocaine operation from their home in Macclesfield, Cheshire

The Grade II-listed building where a middle class couple were on course to run a 60,000-a-year cocaine operation has been pictured.

Jordan Heeley, 31, and his girlfriend Alexandra Ditcham, 28, ran their operation from a 150,000 apartment inside the former Methodist Sunday school building in Macclesfield, Cheshire.

It comes after the couple, a law firm worker and social worker trainee, were jailed for 28 months each after a judge warned that having good jobs did not grant them 'special status.

They earned 13,000 in profit in just ten weeks by supplying friends who would use the cocaine at social gatherings.

After the couple admitted drug dealing, their lawyers urged a judge to impose suspended sentences, producing 23 glowing testimonials from fellow professionals calling for clemency.

The Grade II-listed former Methodist Sunday school (pictured) where a middle class couple were on course to run a 60,000-a-year cocaine operation

Alexandra Ditcham, 28, a social worker trainee, has been jailed for 28 months for her part in the operation

However, Judge Steven Everett gave them 28 months each, telling them: 'You are not special people.'

He said some young people had a 'devil-may-care' attitude to cocaine. He added: 'They might say, 'It's just drugs, lots of us do it, therefore it's not that serious' but in actual fact it is just the reverse. You were selling a dangerous drug. I see people who take cocaine, steal, rob and burgle just to fund their addiction for this terrible drug.'

Judge Everett said the couple knew that cocaine was responsible for 'a huge problem in our society'. Saying he took 'a serious view' of their actions, he added: 'It was not to fund an addiction or pay off debts, you wanted more money. You are not special people. You are two people who made the decision to sell this evil drug.'

Police raided the couple's two-bedroom apartment in Macclesfield, Cheshire, in April 2021 after being tipped off about 'drug activity' there, prosecutor Peter Hussey told Chester Crown Court.

Heeley was found by a kitchen worktop with empty snap bags and a digital scale. Details of drug deals starting at 20 were found on the couple's phones.

The flat was used to 'weigh out and bag up the drugs deals', Mr Hussey said, before the cocaine was supplied among 'a known circle of contacts'.

Heeley and Ditcham both pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine and money laundering.

Sentencing the couple, Judge Everett said: 'Whatever your background, whoever you are, if you sell this evil drug you can expect to go to prison and that is where you are going.'

Jordan Heeley, 31, a law firm worker, was also handed 28 months in jail for his part in the operation

Jordan Heeley, 31, (pictured) and his girlfriend were on course to make 60,000 a year in illicit sales to their dinner party set before being caught

Alexandra Ditcham, 28 (pictured), who was training to become a social worker, and her law firm worker boyfriend were told they were not 'special' due to good jobs
Kensington Palace has released a stunning behind-the-scenes video of the Prince and Princess of Wales at the King's Coronation last week.

William and Kate made headlines with their eye-catching outfits at the historic crowning of King Charles III.

Their children Prince George, nine, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five, also stole the show at the ceremony watched by millions around the world.

A video released by the Wales's official YouTube account provides a rare glimpse into their family life during the packed Coronation weekend.

The film captures the jubilant atmosphere of the celebration as it shows William and Kate meeting crowds of royal fans on the Mall outside Buckingham Palace the evening before the Coronation.

A stunning new video shows behind-the-scenes footage of the Waleses over the Coronation weekend

Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, four, get ready for the Coronation at Kensington Palace

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It then shows William and Kate getting ready at Kensington Palace along with Charlotte and Louis the following morning.

The royal couple can be seen wearing their stunning Royal Victorian Order Mantles, while Kate wowed with her white Alexander McQueen dress.

The family then leave the palace to travel to Westminster Abbey in a gold carriage, alongside thousands of armed forces personnel and Buckingham Palace household members.

William, Kate and their children are then spotted standing on the Buckingham Palace balcony along with other members of the Royal Family after the Coronation ceremony.

The royals and the tens of thousands of people gathered outside the palace were then treated to a flyover by the Red Arrows despite the poor weather.

The following day, the family can be seen in the film pitching in for the Big Help Out - a volunteering event held across the country to celebrate the King's years of public service.

Kate greets royal fans gathered on the Mall outside Buckingham Palace the day before the Coronation

The Princess of Wales prepares to leave Kensington Palace for the Coronation service at Westminster Abbey

William gets in the car to the Coronation wearing his ceremonial robes

The Waleses stand on the Buckingham Palace balcony with other members of the Royal Family following the King's Coronation

Members of the Royal Air Force march past Buckingham Palace as the King and Queen wave to the crowd

Prince Louis gives his father a hand with a digger during the Big Help Out the day after the Coronation

Prince William rehearses for his speech on stage at Windsor Castle ahead of the Coronation Concert

Prince William pictured at Windsor Castle for the Coronation Concert where he delivered a tribute to the King

Katy Perry performs at the Coronation Concert as she helps to round off the historic weekend

William told his father 'we are all so proud of you' at a speech at the concert at Windsor Castle

Prince Louis can be seen helping out with a digger while his brother George has a go at archery before the family join in a group photo with the other volunteers.

The video ends with clips taken at the Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle which starred Katy Perry, Lionel Ritchie and Take That before William makes a speech in honour of the King.

He told his father: 'We are all so proud of you.'

The wholesome footage marks a contrast with the Netflix series released by Harry and Meghan which sparked controversy last year.

The couple made a series of bombshell claims against the royals, including Harry saying that his family had not understood that Meghan needed protection against racist attacks.

Meghan also described how she was shocked by the formality of the Royal Family and described how she bowed when she met the Queen.

The documentary sparked a war of words between the Sussexes and the rest of the royals.

Although the programme claimed that members of the royal family declined to comment, Kensington Palace said they had only received an email from a third party which they were unable to verify with Harry and Meghan's company Archewell.

Harry travelled to the Coronation without Meghan from their home in Montecito, California last week.

The prince spent only 28 hours in the UK and is understood to have had only limited contact with his family members during his time there.

Following the end of the service at Westminster Abbey, Harry travelled straight to Heathrow where he boarded a flight back to the US for his son Archie's birthday.

The Prince and Princess of Wales commissioned London-based advertising filmmaker Will Warr to make the new behind-the-scenes film at the Coronation.

The new video received an overwhelmingly positive response from viewers on social media

Mr Warr is the owner and creative director of Detail Films, which largely produces branded films and creative campaigns for corporate companies.

He has worked with brands including Uber Eats, Red Bull, Miele, Bloom & Wild, Diageo, ergobaby, Puma and Holland Cooper and has worked with the Waleses before.

The video received an overwhelmingly positive response from Twitter users, with many thrilled to see the royals up close.

Many also complimented Mr Warr's work on the film, and others he has made for the Walses.

One royal fan said: 'Behind the scenes!! Love the light, love the camera angle, love the story it tells. Brilliant edits and music. Absolutely exquisitely done!'

Another said: 'Never change this new style please!!!! It's an amazing blend of public and private, highlighting also the people who interacted with.'

A user complimented the filmmaker's style, saying: 'Will Warr does an absolutely superb job on his videos.

'He's done videos for William and Catherine. Love the style and music choice.'

One viewer said: 'This is absolutely amazing!!'

While another said: 'Beautiful video, LOVE the behind the scene footage.'
Russian separatists in occupied Ukraine said they have been struck by the first of the UK's deadly Storm Shadow cruise missiles.

Ukraine's forces have reportedly used two of the UK-supplied Shadow Storm cruise missiles in an attack on its occupied eastern territories, the Kremlin-backed Luhansk People's Republic said.

This would be the first time that Ukraine's military has used the British long-range cruise missiles, which UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace earlier this week confirmed to the House of Commons would be supplied to Kyiv.

One strike reportedly hit a building plant used as a supply point and repair base by Russian armed forces. A second was said to have hit a former government building now used as a Russian barracks. There were casualties, reports said.

A fanatical pro-Putin politician was said to be wounded in the strike. Footage showed him bloodied as he was led in shock from the ruins.

Ukraine's forces have reportedly used two of the UK-supplied Shadow Storm cruise missiles in an attack on its occupied eastern territory in Luhansk

Russian State Duma MP Viktor Vodolatsky, 65, was reportedly injured by the Storm Shadow attack in Luhansk

This would be the first time that Ukraine's military have used the British Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles

The Russian separatist Luhansk People's Republic said in a statement released on their Telegram channel: 'According to updated information, on May 12, 2023, during a missile attack on the city of Lugansk the Ukrainian armed forces used two Storm Shadow cruise missiles (produced by the UK and France) and one ADM-160B MALD missile (produced by the US).'

The Ukraine military has not yet confirmed if they conducted strikes using the Storm Shadow missiles.

The missiles, jointly developed by the UK and France, has a firing range of more than 155 miles (250km) which means Kyiv would be able to strike deep into Russian-held territory in eastern Ukraine where the fiercest battles are ongoing.

One alleged Storm Shadow missile hit the former academy of the internal affairs ministry in Luhansk yesterday, now used as a barracks, reports said.

The second target in the strike was the former Polipak Machine Building Plant 100, reportedly used as a supply point and repair base by the Russian armed forces.

Smoke was seen pouring from a ruined building.

The head of the annexed Luhansk People's Republic [LPR], Putin-appointee Leonid Pasechnik, reported that six children were injured.

The supply of the Storm Shadow missiles by Britain was announced this week by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, and welcomed by Ukraine.

The missiles, which cost about 2.2million, will allow Ukraine to hit Russian troops and logistics hubs deep behind the front line in a major blow to Vladimir Putin.

Britain had received assurances from the Ukrainian government that these missiles would be used only within Ukrainian sovereign territory and not inside Russia, multiple senior Western officials said.

Ukraine has been asking for months for long-range missiles, but support provided by Britain and other allies such as the United States has previously been limited to shorter range weapons.

Following reports of the missile deal, Russia threatened Britain, saying it would require 'an adequate response from our military'.

A view shows an industrial building destroyed by a Ukrainian missile strike in Luhansk, May 12

Ukrainian armed forces reportedly deployed British-supplied long range Storm Shadow missiles in Luhansk yesterday

Smoke was seen pouring from a ruined building after Ukrainian armed forces reportedly deployed British-supplied long range Storm Shadow missiles in Luhansk yesterday

A view shows an industrial building destroyed, according to Russian-installed officials, by a Ukrainian missile strike in Luhansk

Russian State Duma MP Viktor Vodolatsky, 65, was reportedly injured by one of the strikes

In footage of one of the attacks, bloodied politician Viktor Vodolatsky, 65, was seen being led in shock from the ruins of a building after the hit in occupied Luhansk

Vodolatsky, a fanatical pro-Putin politician was wounded in the strike as footage showed him bloodied as he was wounded and led in shock from the ruins

In footage of one of the attacks, bloodied politician Viktor Vodolatsky, 65, was seen being led in shock from the ruins of a building after the hit in occupied Luhansk.

Close Putin ally Vodolatsky is a member of the main pro-Kremlin political party, United Russia.

Storm Shadow The Storm Shadow, also known as SCALP, is an air-to-ground missile that can hit fixed or stationary targets. Length: 16ft 9in Range: 350 miles Speed: 600mph Advertisement

He appeared to have suffered minor facial wounds.

Last month Ukraine accused him of 'spreading the occupation regime' in Luhansk on Kremlin orders.

The Ukrainian SBU secret service said he had been 'publicly supporting Russian aggression since the beginning of the full-scale invasion'.

He organised United Russia membership for 'local collaborators' and urged separatists to unify their laws with those of Russia, having arrived in Luhansk on the day Putin launched his war in February 2022.

He set up 'humanitarian centres' in Luhansk.

The SBU said: 'The main purpose of these enemy cells is to spread the Kremlin regime under the guise of distributing 'humanitarian aid' from the aggressor country among local residents.'

Vodolatsky is seen in a photograph with Putin and ex-Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.

The launch of the missiles was from the area of Kramatorsk, said LPR sources.

There was no initial verification of the LPR claim about UK and US missiles, nor on the 'wounded children'.
Lisa Wilkinson posted a selfie captioned 'some days are diamonds' a day after the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions made a surprising admission about her controversial Logies speech on Brittany Higgins.

Wilkinson faced heavy criticism after she won a Logie award last June for her 2021 interview which first aired the former politcal staffer's allegations that Bruce Lehrmann raped her in Parliament House in 2019.

In her speech which was broadcast nationally, Wilkinson appeared to side with Ms Higgins, saying she 'believed her'. Mr Lehrmann has always denied the allegations.

The speech led to the trial being delayed, with Wilkinson facing intense criticism for jeopardising the case.

Wilkinson has always maintained that ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold SC did not advise her against making the speech.

On the other hand, Mr Drumgold told an inquiry that he believed he had sufficiently warned Wilkinson against bringing any publicity to the trial.

However, on Friday, Mr Drumgold was accused of 'misleading' the public and the Chief Justice of the ACT about what happened during his meeting with Wilkinson after he admitted a procedural mistake.

And reacting, Wilkinson posted a selfie on Instagram on Saturday, with the words: 'Some days are diamond.'

The post was quickly inundated with messages from well-wishers.

Lisa Wilkinson posted a selfie on Instagram on Saturday which was captioned: 'Some days are diamond'

Wilkinson faced extreme criticism after she won an award for her interview where Ms Higgins first aired her allegations that Bruce Lehrmann raped her in Parliament House in 2019

During the inquiry on Friday, Mr Drumgold admitted failing to correct a file note he wrote following a meeting with Wilkinson and her Channel 10 lawyer in the lead-up to the TV awards last June.

He endured a lengthy cross-examination by high-profile barrister Sue Chrysanthou, acting for Wilkinson.

'To my mind, someone being told any publicity could give rise to a stay - particularly an experienced journalist sitting next to a media lawyer - would not arrive at any other possible conclusion than you shouldn't make the speech,' Mr Drumgold said on Friday.

'I am not the only source of information that Ms Wilkinson had. I knew that at the time. I am simply a prosecutor prosecuting a matter.

'I have done nothing but, from start of this matter, tell people not to talk about the matter.'

Ms Wilkinson won the award and gave her speech which generated intense media reporting about the case, resulting in ACT Supreme Court Chief Justice Lucy McCallum postponing proceedings to protect Mr Lehrmann's right to a fair trial.

She also experienced severe media criticism following the trial's delay, which included inaccurate reports about the chief justice's judgment.

Ms Chrysanthou asked Mr Drumgold why he did not take the opportunity to correct the record about Ms Wilkinson in open court.

'There was nothing but misreporting of this (case) and people associated with it ... every media outlet is misrepresenting this entire trial and all of the allegations, so at what point do I stop correcting the public record?' he replied.

Mr Drumgold said he did not think he was in a position to fix the reporting about Ms Wilkinson, but he conceded in hindsight he should have corrected the matter in court.

'I simply couldn't change the flow of the media, I couldn't make the media change their reporting,' he said.

Ms Chrysanthou told him 'the answer you just gave is illogical and irrational and contrary to human experience'. She then went on to suggest he somehow 'telepathically' knew what Wilkinson and the lawyer were thinking.

Note admission

The inquiry opened with Mr Drumgold insisting that his file note about discussions with Wilkinson and her lawyer was contemporaneous, meaning he made it immediately following the meeting.

However, under cross-examination, Mr Drumgold admitted that the note was not contemporaneous, but was actually made days after the meeting.

The note was actually penned about five days later - three hours before a hearing with all legal teams involved in the rape trial about the impact of Wilkinson's Logies speech and whether it would bias a jury.

It was handed to Chief Justice Lucy McCallum, who said in the ACT Supreme Court at the time that she believed it was contemporaneous and strongly criticised Wilkinson for her Logies speech.

Under cross-examination, Mr Drumgold eventually conceded he should have corrected the Chief Justice.

Ms Chrysanthou pointed out that Mr Drumgold's junior counsel during the trial, Skye Jerome, had a different recollection of the meeting with Wilkinson.

Ms Jerome recalled Wilkinson had read a significant portion of her Logies speech during the meeting, before Mr Drumgold cut her off and said 'I'm not a speech writer'.

Lisa Wilkinson faced extreme criticism after she won a Logie for her interview with Brittany Higgins, the former Liberal staffer who accused Bruce Mr Lehrmann of raping her in Parliament House in 2019. Wilkinson is pictured with Ms Higgins's partner David Sharaz

Wilkinson's lawyer Sue Chrysanthou SC submitted the ACT's Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold SC to a fiery round of cross-examination at a Board of Inquiry into the Bruce Lehrmann rape trial on Friday

During her Logies acceptance speech, which was broadcast nationally, Wilkinson appeared to side with Ms Higgins - saying she 'believed' her allegations. She did not mention the trial, Mr Lehrmann, any criminal charge or Parliament House in her speech.

Chief Justice McCallum, who was presiding over the ACT Supreme Court rape trial, moved the hearing from June to October amid fears Wilkinson's comments would bias a jury.

At the time, the Chief Justice said Wilkinson was warned against making public comments about the impending hearing. The public backlash was so severe Wilkinson left her job as host of The Project.

'Did you read their lips?'

Mr Drumgold has long-maintained he believed Wilkinson knew she should not mention Ms Higgins in her Logies speech because he told her 'any publicity could impact the trial'.

Mr Drumgold told the inquiry he formed that view because after he made that statement Wilkinson and her lawyer put their Microsoft Teams meeting on mute and had a private conversation.

'I was confident they knew she couldn't make that speech,' Mr Drumgold said.

Ms Chrysanthou: 'Did you read their lips?'

Mr Drumgold: 'No'.

Ms Chrysanthou: 'Then how could you have possibly made that conclusion?'

Mr Drumgold: 'Because an experienced journalist sitting next to a lawyer would have come to that conclusion.'

Ms Chrysanthou eventually said: 'The answer you just gave is illogical and irrational and contrary to human experience.'

Wilkinson's lawyer also quizzed Mr Drumgold about why he didn't correct the Chief Justice's belief that his file note was contemporaneous.

The ACT DPP, Shane Drumgold SC, is pictured during the Board of Inquiry in Canberra.

'Do you accept that the manner you conducted yourself in court that day, in the manner of those conversations, was unacceptable?' Ms Chrysanthou said.

'No, I don't accept that,' Mr Drumgold responded.

'There was sufficient warning in both our minds [his and Ms Jerome's] that Ms Wilkinson had sufficient warning. There was ample warning provided to Ms Wilkinson that she should not have made the speech.'

Ms Chrysanthou: 'What you say now about that cannot be true.'

Mr Drumgold: 'It is true.'

Ms Chrysanthou: 'That you somehow telepathically thought my client - having read out the substance of her speech to you - would have left that meeting knowing she could not make that speech?

Mr Drumgold: 'I'm saying I thought she shouldn't give a speech about this matter.'

Ms Chrysanthou referred to the court hearing where Justice McCallum slammed Wilkinson for failing to heed Mr Drumgold's warning that she shouldn't give the Logies speech.

Mr Drumgold claimed footage of Bruce Lehrmann (pictured) and Brittany Higgins 'disappeared'

'Her honour was handed the proofing note and was observing it - [in the court transcript] you say the speech was 'undesirable - the proofing notes can be open to interpretation',' she said.

Ms Chrysanthou then explained that proofing notes were normally used in criminal cases and were taken as contemporaneous notes: 'You're misleading the Chief Justice,' she said.

Mr Drumgold: 'Not intentionally.'

Ms Chrysanthou further submitted that Mr Drumgold caused the 'destruction' of Wilkinson in submitting the file note which he said was contemporaneous, but wasn't.

'In hindsight'

At the close of the cross-examination, Ms Chryanthou asked Mr Drumgold if he should have corrected the reports about Wilkinson. He replied: 'I should have corrected that, in hindsight.'

Earlier, Mr Drumgold said he thought there was a minute chance Wilkinson would actually win a Logie, but also conceded he didn't know the difference between a gold and a silver Logie or how many people watched the TV awards.

Wilkinson previously accused Mr Drumgold of breaching her trust and his duty as a legal officer, and misleading the Chief Justice in a submission released by the Board of inquiry on Thursday.

Pictured: Brittany Higgins (left) and Lisa Wilkinson (right)

Earlier this week, the Board of Inquiry revealed Wilkinson did not believe Mr Drumgold warned her that her speech could potentially jeopardise an impending court case.

Channel Ten lawyers contacted Mr Drumgold five times between June and December last year, begging him to clear Wilkinson of any wrongdoing in the public eye but he never did.

According to a series of documents released by the Board of Inquiry, Wilkinson blames Mr Drumgold for failing to clear her name.

Included in the documents supplied to the Board of Inquiry was a statement and a submission made on Wilkinson's behalf by Ms Chrysanthou.

The submission read: 'Ms Wilkinson wishes to ensure that in the ongoing interests of strong public interest journalism - the backbone upon which a strong, fair and democratic society is based.'

'Investigative journalists across the country should not be misrepresented by legal officers in whom they have placed their trust any opportunity to correct the public record when that trust is shown to have been misplaced.'

Brittany Higgins is pictured outside the ACT Supreme Court in October

Further, the submission alleged Mr Drumgold failed 'to afford procedural fairness to Ms Wilkinson' after the Chief Justice made incorrect comments saying the journalist was warned about giving her Logie's speech.

It also said Mr Drumgold repeatedly failed to publicly correct the record and called on the inquiry to investigate and report on the 'general conduct of the prosecution'.

According to the submission, Mr Drumgold told Channel Ten lawyers that he 'might say something in open court' to clear Wilkinsons's name in June, after her speech.

Failing that, lawyers for the network urged him to mention Wilkinson during his public address on December 2 last year, when he said the criminal charge against Mr Lehrmann had been dropped. He didn't.

The inquiry continues next week.
Four masked thugs have been charged with the murder of a teenage boy who was stabbed to death in a 'targeted attack'.

Scott Cordice, 29, Aaron Pattinson, 32, and Philip Solomon, aged 37, were charged with one count each of murder, grievous bodily harm with intent and conspiracy to commit robbery.

Marlon Cato, 49, was also charged with one count of assisting an offender in relation to the attack.

The victim, 17, was stabbed to death in a narrow alleyway in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, between 7pm and 7.30pm last Sunday.

Another 17-year-old boy was injured and taken to hospital but his wounds were not believed to be life-threatening.

Forensic tents were set up at the scene of the stabbing which left one dead and another injured last Sunday

The victim, 17, was stabbed to death in a narrow alleyway in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, between 7pm and 7.30pm last Sunday

Police and paramedics were called to Easton Street shortly before 7.30pm last Sunday evening but they were unable to save the knifed victim as he was declared dead at the scene.

Senior investigating officer, Detective Superintendent Kevin Brown, said the stabbing appeared to be a 'targeted attack'.

He said: 'We are in the very early stages of this investigation and details as to what has happened are currently very limited.

'The incident occurred between around 7pm and 7.30 pm close to the main car parks of Easton Street at a time when members of the public would have been using the car parks, attending the theatre or preparing for a night out in the town.

'It is therefore very important that anyone who was close to Easton Street at this time and saw something unusual or out of the ordinary or indeed knows anything about this incident gets in touch as soon as possible.

'Anyone who has any information or footage from dash-cams, doorbells or CCTV close to Easton Street is urged to make contact.

Thames Valley Police were called at approximately 7.30pm last Sunday following reports of a stabbing in the Easton Street area of the town

Another 17-year-old boy was injured and taken to hospital but his wounds were not believed to be life-threatening

He said at the time: 'This is a tragic incident in which a teenage boy has been killed and I know that it will cause a great deal of concern in the community.

'However, I would like to reassure everyone that we are carrying out a thorough investigation into what appears to be a targeted attack.'

Last week, Wycombe MP Steve Baker, said: 'This is a tragic incident and it's vital we leave space for the police to conduct their inquiries and, for that reason, I don't want to say much about this continuing inquiry.

'But my heart goes out to the young man's family and friends who I do not doubt will feel devastated.

'For the people of Wycombe, they should know that the police are closely investigating this and they have my complete confidence as they follow things up.'

It comes after three people were stabbed to death in separate incidents in east London over a period of less than eight hours on the eve of the coronation.

Senior investigating officer, Detective Superintendent Kevin Brown, said the stabbing appeared to be a 'targeted attack'

It comes after three people were stabbed to death in separate incidents in east London over a period of less than eight hours on the eve of the coronation

A 16-year-old was ambushed as he left school and stabbed to death, while murder investigations were also started after the killings of an 18-year-old and a man in his late 20s, the Metropolitan Police said.

In another incident, an 18-year-old man who has been named by police as Ben Moncrieff was killed in Bath, in Somerset, last Saturday.

Officers were called to the Southgate Street area of the city at around 3.30am where the victim was found critically injured and died at the scene.

Avon and Somerset Police said three people were arrested the same day, with two released without charge, while a 15-year-old suspect remained in custody after police were granted more time to question him over the incident.
The threats came after a group of parents spoke out at a recent school board meeting and critics have threatened to get them fired from their jobs

Parents in Virginia claimed they have been targeted with violent threats after speaking out against the school district's LGBT+ agenda.

Mother-of-three Alisha Brand said her critics threatened to 'curb stomp' and 'murder' her because her group Army of Parents is fighting for 'excellence in education, school safety, and parental rights.'

'They targeted me in a Facebook Group [Loudoun Love Warriors], and they said that they wanted to curb stomp me,' she told Fox and Friends on Friday.

Curb stomping is 'grabbing somebody by the back of the head, forcing their mouth open, pushing them down to the ground with their face on the cement, their mouth around the curb, and then somebody else stomping on the back of their head,' according to Brand.

'This is murder, it's a felony, and this is what I was threatened with by these activists who are tied to our political candidates,' the mother said. 'These are real threats. These are threats of death.'

Mother-of-three Alisha Brand said her critics threatened to 'curb stomp' and 'murder' her because her group Army of Parents is fighting for 'excellence in education, school safety, and parental rights.' She said: 'They targeted me in a Facebook Group [Loudoun Love Warriors], and they said that they wanted to curb stomp me'

Loudoun County Commonwealth's Attorney Buta Biberaj said in a statement for the school district: 'Violent threats are never acceptable and at times can be criminal. I personally condemn all violent language and my office will be investigating whether a crime was committed. Due to the possibility of a criminal investigation, I can not comment further at this time.'

The Loudoun Love Warriors, which appears to have been taken down, reportedly had association with Biberaj, County Supervisor Juli Briskman, School Board Chair Ian Serotkin, school board member Brenda Sheridan, school board member Atoosa Reaser, school board member Erika Ogedegbe, school board candidate Anne Donohue, sheriff candidate Craig Buckley, and Chair Phyllis Randall.

None of them have been accused of making the threats.

The threats came after a group of parents spoke out at a recent school board meeting. They threatened to find the parent's employer and get them fired, one parent said critics even 'referred me to the FBI, IRS, and DHS all because they don't like my opinion,' according to WJLA-TV.

'They're probably going to sit back and celebrate the fact that I'm unemployed. I'm having a hard time finding a job. And who knows what's next with the IRS and the FBI? I don't know. But they've done more than just put me out of a job. It's impacting my family, my kids,' Loudoun parent Scott Mineo told the outlet.

Parents who spoke up at the Loudoun school board meeting have been targeted in attacks on a Facebook group Loudoun Love Warriors, which appears to have been deleted

The group reportedly had ties to several officials and school board members

Mark Winn was attacked after saying at a December 2022meeting that '[LGBT] behaviors should never have been promoted, taught, or encouraged in the schools that you oversee.'

He received messages in the Facebook group, such as: 'Let's make him unemployable by love or by force' and 'Wish I had footage of every person who clapped for him and give them the same ousting that Winn is about to,' according to WJLA-TV.

'It shocked me,' Winn said.

Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears said the group was 'nothing but hate.'

'From what I'm understanding, if the reports are true, and I don't react to it as lieutenant governor, I react to it as a normal, sane human being, when you hear what this group is trying to do, they're trying to destroy lives,' she told WJLA-TV. 'They're going to make sure you definitely have loss of employment, you will possibly lose your life because they're talking about [disassemble] you, and they're also possibly going to shoot you.

Mark Winn (pictured) was attacked after saying at a December 2022 that '[LGBT] behaviors should never have been promoted, taught, or encouraged in the schools that you oversee.' He received messages in the Facebook group, such as: 'Let's make him unemployable by love or by force' and 'Wish I had footage of every person who clapped for him and give them the same ousting that Winn is about to'

'Now remember, this is the kind of group that says they're against guns, except I guess when they're the ones with the guns. So, folks, we've got to get a grip. We're destroying America from the inside. This is what our enemies do to us. This is not we what we do to ourselves.'

Brand not only wants an apology from the parents but has gone as far as seeking help from Ohio Republican Representative Jim Jordan, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, hoping he and his team will investigate the threats.

She also wants the House Judiciary Committee to enact legislation that will protect parents who speak out in public forums.

'This is a First Amendment right,' she told Fox and Friends.
Two Russian warplanes and two military helicopters appear to have been shot out of the sky today close to the border with Ukraine in suspected missile strikes.

Videos posted on Russian social media on Saturday appeared to show the fighter jets and helicopters being downed over the Bryansk region, bordering Ukraine.

Reports indicated a Su-34 supersonic fighter-bomber and a Su-35 single-seater fighter were downed.

Two Mi-8 helicopters were shot down, one over Klintsy, a town in Bryansk region, and the other close to Volkustichi village in Unechsky district, it was reported.

While some reports have disputed the number of planes and helicopters downed - instead saying there were three in total - the Mash and Baza media outlets, with links to the authorities, said that the total number of downed aircraft was four. They added that all had been returning from a combat mission.

Videos posted on Russian social media on Saturday showed a helicopter flying near Klintsy in Russia's Bryansk region, bordering Ukraine

Images posted by the Russian pro-war Telegram channel Voyenniy Osvedomitel showed wreckage in an agricultural field from an Mi-8 helicopter

War channels reported two warplanes and two helicopters, with at least four crew killed.

Russian reports say the pilot and navigator in the Su-34, which crashed in the village of Istrovka near Starodub, failed to eject and were killed.

Videos showed a missile hitting one Mi-8 helicopter which exploded, plunging to the earth in flames.

Crew on the helicopters were also killed, reports said.

In one of the pieces of footage, the helicopter appears to have been struck side-on as a gush of flames erupts through the rotorcraft leaving a trail of black smoke.

Some reports claimed the incident - which was said to have occurred around 40 miles (around 64km) from the Ukraine border - was a result of friendly fire after being struck by a Kremlin missile.

Earlier TASS cited an emergency services source saying: 'The Su-34 crashed near the Ukrainian border. The fate of those on board is being established..'

Telegram account Rybar claimed that two Russian helicopters and one Su-34 fighter jet had crashed in Bryansk region.

Videos posted on Russian social media on Saturday appeared to show the fighter jets and helicopters being downed over the Bryansk region, bordering Ukraine in suspected missile strikes

Reports indicated a Su-34 supersonic fighter-bomber and a Su-35 single-seater fighter were downed

Russian Su-35 fighter aircrafts are pictured. Two warplanes are reported to be downed

A Russian Air Force Su-34. War channels reported two warplanes and two helicopters, with at least four crew killed

But channel Ostorozhno Novosti reported that the second 'crashed helicopter' was in fact the Su-34.

One woman was injured on the ground.

It is not known what missiles were used.

But Ukraine has started deploying British-supplied Storm Shadow air to ground cruise missiles, with strikes in Russian-occupied Luhansk region on Friday, which were reported today.

The Russian media initially claimed that the downed helicopter in footage had suffered engine fire rather than being hit by a missile.

The strikes triggered fury from Russian pro-war pundits who allege Putin's high command has failed to properly prosecute the war.

Igor 'Strelkov Girkin - long a campaigner for all mobilisation and martial law - said sarcastically: 'Today's heavy losses by our aviation in the Bryansk region as a result of the actions of the enemy prompted some bloggers to a brilliant and completely unexpected idea that we must fight the enemy.

'Well, who would have thought?'

He blames the Kremlin for not declaring a full-scale war or putting Russian on a war footing.

Videos showed a missile hitting one Mi-8 helicopter which exploded, plunging to the earth in flames (file image of an Mi-8 helicopter)

Two Mi-8 helicopters were shot down, one over Klintsy, a town in Bryansk region (file image of Mi-8 helicopter)

Russian Telegram channel Military Informer said: 'According to preliminary information, the helicopters lost in the sky of the Bryansk region were Mi-8MTPR-1 electronic warfare helicopters with Rychag-AV active jamming stations installed on board.

'The Rychag-AV complexes were created to interfere with the guidance of air defence systems and enemy aircraft, preventing the use of anti-aircraft and aircraft missiles at a distance of more than 100 kilometres [62 miles].

'However, today the Mi-8MTPR-1s turned out to be too close to the border.'

The helicopters were assisting the Su-34 bomber for an operation over Chernihiv region in Ukraine, while the Su-35 fighter was providing cover.

The Russian warplanes and helicopters were shot down from Chernihiv region, reported Readovka.

Ukrainian official Anton Gerashchenko suggested that the four aircraft were downed by Russia's own air defence systems in a friendly fire incident.

Russian Telegram channel VChK also cited a source saying the planes may have been downed by air defences on the border.

There was no official statement from Russia clarifying what had happened.

This comes just a day after another Russian military helicopter crashed in Moscow-annexed Crimea during a training exercise.

Russia's defence ministry announced that the two pilots in the aircraft were killed following the incident on Friday.

The preliminary finding was it was due to mechanical failure, the statement said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting via videoconference in Moscow, Russia, Friday

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a joint press conference with Italy's Prime Minister in Rome today

'During a scheduled training flight in the Djankoi district in Crimea, an Mi-28 helicopter crashed,' it said, adding that the helicopter had not been carrying ammunition and there had been no damage on the ground.

'The two pilots are dead,' it said.

The Mi-28 is a multi-task military helicopter capable of staging devastating attacks.

Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and used it as a launchpad for military operation in Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia says it has repelled several drone or missile attacks in Crimea in recent days.

In August 2022, the Djankoi military base was devastated after explosions at a munitions depot that Russia said was due to sabotage.

Ukraine said in March that an explosion there had destroyed Russian Kalibr cruise missiles, a claim denied by Moscow.
DeSantis invoked conservative boogeyman George Soros in his remarks, something that many regard as anti-Semitic

Ron DeSantis has thrown his support behind the ex-Marine charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of homeless man Jordan Neely on a New York City subway train.

'We must defeat the Soros-Funded DAs, stop the Left's pro-criminal agenda, and take back the streets for law abiding citizens.

'We stand with Good Samaritans like Daniel Penny. Let's show this Marine America's got his back,' DeSantis tweeted Friday.

In his message, the prospective GOP candidate for the White House in 2024 posted a link to a crowdfunding page dedicated to raising money for Penny's legal fees. At the time of writing, that page has raised $900,000.

On Friday, Penny, 24, was freed pending trial hours after turning himself in at a police precinct and appearing in court to answer criminal charges. He did not enter a plea.

Bail bondsman Ira Judelson told DailyMail.com Penny was 'very quiet and nervous' and was 'respectful' as he was arrested and arraigned.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is expected to announce his run for the White House any day now, has thrown his support behind the ex-Marine accused of killing Jordan Neely

DeSantis was hit with mixed reaction to rowing in behind Penny, with some criticizing him for supporting vigilantism while others said it was a strong move.

Conservative blog RedState wrote in the wake of the governor's comments his remarks are 'another clear marker he is prepping a run for higher office, i.e., the Presidency, in either 2024 or 2028, most likely 2024.'

On Saturday, DeSantis is set to wade into Iowa's hand-to-hand politicking at a congressman's annual picnic and an Iowa Republican Party fundraiser.

It will be DeSantis' first trip to the early testing ground since the Florida legislature adjourned last week after spending months delivering the governor a conservative agenda that he's expected to tout once he announces his campaign.

RedState notes in its report that public statements such as the governor's remarks on Jordan Neely 'will play well with the conservative voter base. The question is how it will go over with the general public.'

Neely was a former subway performer who was renowned for his Michael Jackson impersonation, but in recent years he had fallen on hard times and was battling schizophrenia.

His death prompted protests, while others embraced Penny as a hero. His lawyers have said he was acting in self-defense. Lawyers for Neely's family said Neely wasn't harming anyone and didn't deserve to die.

Neely's mental health had deteriorated drastically in recent years, according to his family

Penny (left) will today hand himself into the NYPD and is due to be arraigned on a second degree manslaughter charge for putting Jordan Neely (right)

Bail bondsman Ira Judelson told DailyMail.com Penny was 'very quiet and nervous' and was 'respectful' as he was arrested and arraigned

Penny leaving Manhattan Criminal Court on Friday after being arraigned

Daniel Penny leaves Manhattan Criminal Court after posting a $100,000 bond. He was arraigned on a second degree manslaughter charge

Penny is put in the back of a police car in handcuffs

An autopsy ruled Neely's death a homicide due to compression of the neck. 'Jordan Neely should still be alive today,' Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.

Penny didn't speak to reporters. At a brief arraignment, Penny faced straight ahead, his hands cuffed.

He spoke softly, offering one-word answers to Judge Kevin McGrath as his lawyer, Steve Raiser, placed an arm around his shoulder.

If convicted, he could face up to 15 years in prison.

Ira Judelson, who has arranged bonds for famous cases in New York for decades, said: 'I don't know what was going on inside his head, but it seemed like he wanted to get this over with and have the case move on.'

According to Judelson, Penny is 'not flight risk'. He said: 'I've been doing this for 25 years and in my opinion he will answer to all his court dates and will be there.'

He added: 'I don't know what happened on that train. I can tell you Mr Penny will be in court.'

Under the bail terms, Penny's parents put up $10,000 in cash and guaranteed the other $90,000 if he were to flee.

Penny will have to report to Judelson once a week and has surrendered his passport. Judelson revealed Penny is due to graduate from a college in New York soon and wants to be an architect.

His parents were not in court under the advice of Judelson who sent a security guard to make sure Penny got through his first court appearance.

Judelson said: 'The court appearance went smoothly. Penny's life is a whirlwind right now. His name is all over the place'.

Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass said Neely had been making threats and 'scaring passengers' when Penny approached him from behind and placed him in a chokehold.

Penny 'continued to hold Mr. Neely in the chokehold for several minutes,' even after he stopped moving, Steinglass said.

According to witnesses on the subway, Neely had been threatening to kill someone because he wanted a ticket to jail where he would fed regularly

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg was under pressure from protesters to bring charges against the Marine

A freelance journalist who recorded Neely struggling to free himself, then lapsing into unconsciousness, said he had been shouting at passengers and begging for money aboard the train but had not gotten physical with anyone.

Penny pinned Neely to the floor of the subway car with the help of two other passengers and held him in a chokehold.

Neely's death has raised an uproar over many issues, including how the city treats people with mental illness, as well as crime, race and vigilantism.

Police questioned Penny, who is white, in the aftermath but released him without charges. Neely was black.

Thomas Kenniff, a lawyer for Penny, said he didn't mean to harm Neely and is dealing with the situation with the 'integrity and honor that is characteristic of who he is and characteristic of his honorable service in the United States Marine Corps.'

Donte Mills, a lawyer for Neely's family, disputed Penny's version of events, saying the veteran 'acted with indifference. He didn't care about Jordan, he cared about himself. And we can't let that stand.'

'Mr. Neely did not attack anyone.' Mills said at a news conference Friday. 'He did not touch anyone. He did not hit anyone. But he was choked to death.'

Neely's father, Andre Zachery, wept as another family lawyer, Lennon Edwards, recounted the last moments before Penny tackled Neely to the ground and put him in a chokehold. 'What did he think would happen?' Mills asked.

Neely, remembered by some commuters for his Michael Jackson impersonations, had been dealing with homelessness and mental illness in recent years, friends said.

He had been arrested multiple times and had recently pleaded guilty for assaulting a 67-year-old woman leaving a subway station in 2021.

Mills said Neely's outlook changed after his mother was killed by her boyfriend in 2007.

'No one on that train asked Jordan: 'What's wrong, how can I help you?' Mills said, urging New Yorkers in a similar situation: 'Don't attack. Don't choke. Don't kill.

'Don't take someone's life. Don't take someone's loved one from them because they're in a bad place.'

Roger Abrams, a community health representative, said he saw Neely on the subway a week before his death.

Neely was disheveled and told people he was hungry and in need of spare change. Abrams said he approached Neely and asked him why he no longer performs.

'I haven't been feeling well,' Abrams remembered Neely saying.

The Manhattan DA's office waited to file charges in part because prosecutors wanted to learn more about what happened aboard the train.

The delay helped fuel protests in the city. Some people climbed down to subway tracks, disrupting service and leading to arrests.

Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday that Neely's death shouldn't have happened.

A second-degree manslaughter conviction in New York requires a jury to find a person engaged in reckless conduct that created an unjustifiable risk of death, consciously disregarded that risk and acted in a way that grossly deviated from how a reasonable person would act in a similar situation.

A judge authorized Penny's release on $100,000 bond and ordered him to surrender his passport and not to leave New York without approval. Prosecutors said they are seeking a grand jury indictment. Penny is due back in court on July 17.
The controversial sale of a jewellery collection belonging to the widow of a Nazi Party member who made his fortune buying Jewish companies in Nazi Germany has sold for a world record of 158million.

The jewellery, belonging to the late Austrian billionaire Heidi Horten, was sold last week at a Christie's auction in Geneva, Switzerland, for a world-record public sale of 158million.

But the sale was slammed as 'indecent' by Jewish groups because of Mrs Horten's German husband Helmut Horten who made his fortune buying Jewish department stores at discounted prices during the Third Reich.

Described as 'one of the greatest jewellery collections', the first lot of necklaces, bracelets, earrings and tiaras sold for about 124million while the second reached around 34million.

The auction house defended the sale of the 700 pieces of jewellery, saying it couldn't 'erase' history and all profits would go to 'a foundation that supports philanthropic causes'.

The jewellery, belonging to the late Austrian billionaire Heidi Horten (pictured), was sold last week at a Christie's auction in Geneva, Switzerland, for a world-record public sale price of 158million.

Described as 'one of the greatest jewellery collections', the first lot of necklaces, bracelets, earrings and tiaras sold for about 124million

Mrs Horten died last year at the age of 81, shortly after opening a museum under her name in Vienna.

She derived her estimated fortune of 2.3billion from her late husband Mr Horten, who profited from the destruction of Jewish businesses in the 1930s and once announced a department store was under 'Aryan ownership' after his acquisition.

He made his first purchase of a Jewish department store from his employer in 1933, according to historian David De Jong.

And by 1937 Mr Horten was a member of the Nazi Party, having amassed a portfolio of ex-Jewish businesses bought at '65 per cent' of their value through coercion from himself or Nazi authorities.

Chairman of the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions Yonathan Arfi said: 'The sale is indecent in two ways.

'Not only did the funds that allowed the purchase of this jewellery come in part from the Ayranisation of Jewish property conducted by Nazi Germany, this sale is also to finance a foundation with the mission to safeguard the name of a former Nazi for posterity.'

Heidi Horten (left) who married German businessman and Nazi Helmut Horten (right) in 1966 when she was 19 and he was 50

She derived her estimated fortune of 2.3billion from her late husband Mr Horten, who profited from the destruction of Jewish businesses in the 1930s

All of the jewelry was purchased using money her husband Helmut made off the backs of Jews in the Holocaust

And by 1937 Mr Horten was a member of the Nazi Party, having amassed a portfolio of ex-Jewish businesses bought at '65 per cent' of their value

The auction house defended the sale of some 700 pieces of jewellery, saying it couldn't 'erase' history

Tens of thousands of Jewish-owned retail stores were 'aryanised' - meaning their values were depressed by boycott measures, propaganda attacks, and other pressures from the authorities in the 1930s.

Many Jewish people got no compensation and some received 'hidden payments', while most buyers - possibly like Mr Horten - 'profited' from persecution measures.

The controversy comes just months after a French court ordered Christie's London to return The Penitent Magdalene by Dutch artist Adriaen van der Werff to the heirs of its Jewish owner after it was discovered the 18th-century work was looted by Nazis.

The painting was originally owned by Lionel Hauser, an art collector and Jewish banker in Paris who reported in 1945 the Nazis confiscated his entire art collection  including The Penitent Magdalene  from his Paris home three years earlier.

The French government later included photographs of the stolen artwork in its official catalog of items looted by Nazis in the country.

But when Christie's sold the painting in 2005 for 92,000 its sale did not include a provenance history that mentioned Hauser's previous ownership.

Then in 2017 when the painting's current owner, an anonymous British collector, approached Christie's about selling the painting again its researchers discovered it once belonged to Mr Hauser.

Christie's legal team then contacted his heirs and offered to split the proceeds from the sale between the heirs and the current owner.

It refused, however, to turn over the painting to Mr Hauser's heirs, claiming there is a statute of limitations under British law since more than six years had passed since the painting was sold in 2005.

Hauser's family then sued Christie's London last June in Paris civil court, and in February a judge sided with them.

Christie's must now pay the family a 440 daily fine for any delays identifying the painting's current owner and location, as well as 8,800 in procedural fees.
An Oregon couple has been accused of squatting in a $1million New York City apartment near Central Park after the 98-year-old owner died.

Sheila Upjohn, 72, originally from Salem, Oregon, is being sued for allegedly illegally living in 46 West 95th Street with her husband Donald, 81, after Mary Etta Tanuma passed away, the New York Post reports.

The pair allegedly took up residence in the apartment when the retired fabric designer died aged 98 in April 2022.

At the time of her death she was paying a mere $1,800 per month. Studies show that the average rent on the Upper West Side is $4,500.

Upjohn's sister, Michelle Cassidy, told the Post the squatter and Tanuma were as close as family. Cassidy said that her sister, a trained nurse, cared for the elderly woman in the last years of her life.

But the executor of Tanuma's will slapped down the claim and said she had never heard of any agreement to pass over her home and belongings in her will.

Sheila Upjohn, 72, shown here lived on-and-off at the residence with Mary Etta Tanuma where she cared for the elderly lady

Cassidy claims that her sister even took Tanuma out of a nursing home during the Covid-19 pandemic which allowed her to live out her final days at home.

Cassidy was formerly Tanuma's next door neighbor and introduced her sister to the elderly woman.

'This is legit, a real thing. This isn't my sister moving in with her in the last year of her life to try to grift her,' Cassidy told the Post.

She went on to say that Tanuma left everything to Upjohn in her will because she had no other family. In that testament, Upjohn is referred to by Tanuma as 'my friend.'

As a result of the woman's death, Upjohn received 'furniture, paintings, jewelry, furnishings and household goods,' the Post reported.

The pair lived together 'on-and-off' since 1997.

Upjohn's landlord is furious that the carer and her husband have remained in the home after Tanuma's death as the current rent is only $1,800

In a letter, Upjohn asserted to the landlord that she was entitled to 'succeed' Tanuma as the tenant. Around this period, her husband, Donald Upjohn, moved in with her.

The landlord says in court filings that they have no right to be living there.

Tanuma meanwhile had been a resident there since the 1960s and died without any children. She was paying $1,800 per month.

The landlord wants the Upjohns to bay $3,600 in back rent and wants a judge to force them out for occupying the place.

While the woman who is listed as the executor of Tanuma's estate in court documents filed by Upjohn, Judith McGrath, told the Post that she's never heard of the deceased woman.

'New York City property owners face a continual challenge from tenants who unlawfully occupy apartments and refuse to vacate. This is a clear attempt to violate the property owners' rights and we are confident that we will prevail in court,' Michael Pensabene, the lawyer representing the landlord told the Post.
A hospital patient has been arrested after a woman was found dead in a seaside town yesterday.

Police have launched a murder investigation following the discovery of a 34-year-old's body in Bournemouth, Dorset.

Officers were called to the address just after midday on Friday when concerned paramedics required further assistance.

The woman, who currently remains unnamed, was pronounced dead at the scene while a man, 31, sustained 'serious injuries'.

Although the man was taken to hospital for further treatment, Dorset Police have confirmed he is now under arrest on suspicion of murder.

A 34-year-old woman was found dead at an address in Bournemouth, Dorset

Dorset Police officers were called to the scene just after midday on Friday

It is understood that the man and the victim are 'known to each other' but their relationship has not been confirmed.

Detective Inspector Mark Jenkins, of the Major Crime Investigation Team (MCIT), said: 'Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the woman at this extremely difficult time.

'A full investigation has been launched and a cordon is in place at the address while an examination of the scene is carried out.'

The force also confirmed that the victim's family have been informed of the incident.

Mr Jenkins continued: 'I am appealing to anyone who may have seen or heard anything in the Rosemount Road area around the relevant time to please come forward.

'There will be an increased police presence in the area while enquiries continue and I would urge anyone with any information or concerns to please speak to officers.'

MailOnline has approached Dorset Police for further comment.
At least two people have been killed and dozens more injured after a tornado wreaked havoc on a small Texas town.

The National Weather Service said the twister touched down around 4am in Laguna Heights, in the Rio Grande Valley.

The two deceased people were identified as an adult male, named locally as Robert Flores, and a female child.

The Post Isobel Police Department confirmed in a statement that multiple people have been injured. Port Isobel neighbors Laguna Heights.

'Crews are working to clear debris and downed power lines. At about 4 am, a tornado struck the Laguna Heights area. Multiple structures destroyed and injuries confirmed. Port Isabel Event Center is open for shelter,' the department said.

A tornado is believed to have touched down at 4am in a small Texas town close to the southern border

At least two people have been killed and 'dozens more' have been injured

The town is located 180 miles south of Corpus Christi

The department has shut down Highway 100 which provides access to Laguna Heights due to the damage

Officials have said that they are searching for more victims in the vicinity of the highway

The department has shut down Highway 100 which provides access to Laguna Heights due to the damage. Officials have said that they are searching for more victims in the vicinity of the highway.

The town is located 180 miles south of Corpus Christi.

The Salvation Army said in a statement that they have sent a team from Corpus Christi to aid with the situation in Laguna Heights.

Photos and videos posted on social media showed a massive emergency services response to the scene. The roofs of homes and buildings could be seen strewn across front yards and streets.

'It looks like a war zone. My brother's window blew in and hit him in the face, he is pretty shook up and his dog was so shaken as well. I cannot believe this happened. He has lost everything, his home, his belongings, but thank God he is alive,' a resident, Catherine Valdez, told Valley Central.

'Tell them to be very careful. It was 5:00 am when I picked up my brother. Debris and power lines down everywhere. I almost drove through a half way down power line,' she added.

This is just latest tornado to wallop a small town in the US.

Tornado damage near Cole, Oklahoma was evident as seen in this picture in which the roof of a barn was ripped off

Shocking images showed a roof torn off a grocery store in Noble, Oklahoma on Friday

Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana were battered with bad weather and at least 16 terrifying twisters on Thursday evening as bad weather rolls through the country's heartland

On Friday, stunning footage captured the moment a powerful tornado barreled towards a Nebraska highway, sweeping perilously close to moving cars.

The terrifying twister was one of at least two dozen tornadoes to rip through several states including Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Montana and Louisiana.

Video footage shows the massive weather system building near the Nebraska highway before edging closer to oncoming traffic.

The ominous spiraling twister can then be seen coming within inches of the highway as cars attempt to drive past.

Severe weather is forecast to batter the Great Plains and South into the weekend, as the storm front flattened buildings in its path.

Aerial video showed a supermarket roof was ripped off in Noble, Oklahoma, where at least four other businesses and homes were levelled by the storm.

The U.S. is by far the king of tornadoes and other severe storms.

'It really starts with kind of two things. Number one is the Gulf of Mexico. And number two is elevated terrain to the west,' said Victor Gensini, a Northern Illinois University meteorology professor.

Dry air from the West goes up over the Rockies and crashes into warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, and it's all brought together along a stormy jet stream, which leads to tornados.

The National Weather Service issued tornado watches across numerous counties in Nebraska and Kansas through Friday evening, while further severe weather warnings have been introduced from Missouri to Texas.

Wind gusts up to 75mph caused significant structural damage in several states, while the storm also saw large hail and torrential rainfall reported in numerous counties.

Much of the damage has been to rural areas of the Midwest, leading the National Weather Service to warn the full extent of the destruction may not be known until morning.
Just Stop Oil activists have joined forces with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in central London today as they claim Palestinians are among the 'most vulnerable' to the effects of climate change.

The eco-activists gathered in Parliament Square, before moving on to Whitehall past the Canadian Embassy, as the Met Police said they were 'engaging' with the procession.

Protesters could be seen holding their distinctive orange banners alongside the red, black, white and green of Palestinian flags.

But the group was also there to rally against the Government's controversial Public Order Act which they claim has 'criminalised protest'.

Others held placards reading 'UK criminalising protest like Putin' - while also condemning 'imperialism'.

Protesters could be seen holding their distinctive orange banners alongside the red, black, white and green of Palestinian flags

The group was also there to rally against the Government's controversial Public Order Act and some held placards reading 'UK criminalising protest like Putin'

The protest was organised with the support of the Stop the War Coalition, Palestinian Forum in Britain, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Muslim Association of Britain and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

The Met Police wrote on Twitter: 'We are assessing a Just Stop Oil March in Whitehall. Road closures are in place and police are on scene engaging with the procession #westminster.'

And in another post, it said: 'We are currently monitoring a march by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign through central London to Whitehall. Road closures are in place #westminster.'

A Just Stop Oil spokesman said: 'Palestinians are among the most vulnerable people on earth to the effects of climate collapse, and in the daily struggle to survive in an apartheid state, they have no capacity to protect themselves against what is coming.

'The Public Order Act has criminalised peaceful dissent. Anyone speaking up about the injustices wrought on Palestinians or calling out the corruption and criminality of the UK government, risks arrest.'

It comes after Just Stop Oil activists left commuters 'very angry' after they held a slow march in Camden Town, London, last week.

Just Stop Oil activists have joined forces with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in central London today as they claim Palestinians are among the 'most vulnerable' to the effects of climate change

The eco-activists gathered in Parliament Square, before moving on to Whitehall past the Canadian Embassy, as the Met Police said they were 'engaging' with the procession

The group held up banners reading 'Just Stop Oil' and walked slowly in front of vehicles from Delancey Street to Chalk Farm. The protest was observed by police but officers did not intervene.

Some members of the public argued with the protesters, accusing them of holding up children on their way to school.

One woman, 53, said: 'I am upset because my son has an appointment for over a month. Now, today, he is going to miss that appointment.

'They might not be able to see him now until next month. He needed to attend that office today.'
Priti Patel has told her fellow Tories that their party has 'not covered itself in glory' since ousting Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.

The former Home Secretary also claimed Mr Johnson was the Conservative Party's most electorally successful since Margaret Thatcher.

Speaking at the Conservative Democratic Organisation conference in Bournemouth, Ms Patel paid tribute to Mr Johnson, describing him as the 'man that got Brexit done' and praised him for delivering on the 'people's priority'.

She said: 'We haven't covered ourselves in glory, and in fact some parts of Westminster and colleagues have done a better job at damaging our party than the opposition, even the left-wing campaign groups, the civil service that you know, we all struggle with day in, day out.

'And even I'm afraid some of those in the media that want to distort and make life difficult for us.

Priti Patel told the Conservative Democratic Organisation conference that the Tory party had not covered itself 'in glory' since Boris Johnson's removal

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson pictured at the King's Coronation in Westminster Abbey last week

'We have seen, as discussed today, the ousting of a democratically elected, in fact our most electorally successful prime minister since Margaret Thatcher.'

The Conservative Democratic Organisation conference in Bournemouth is the first of its kind.

The group was set up following Mr Johnson's removal from office amid anger at the installation of Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister without membership approval.

The group is backed by Tory peer and donor Lord Cruddas and organised by Brexiteer David Campbell Bannerman.

Former cabinet ministers Nadine Dorries and Jacob Rees-Mogg are also taking part in the conference.

Mr Johnson is not expected to attend.

Boris Johnson has thanked the Conservative Democratic Organisation (CDO) in a video message for 'continuing to campaign for freedom and democracy'.

Appearing at the CDO conference in Bournemouth in a video, the Tory former prime minister said: 'Boris Johnson here to say a massive thank you to you for everything that you've done and continue to do for our great party, the Conservative Party.

'Thank you for everything you did to help us to get Brexit done and to win the biggest majority our party has won for years.'

He added: 'Thank you for continuing to campaign for freedom and democracy, campaigning against unnecessarily high taxation, against unnecessary regulation and of course, on the world stage, above all, campaigning for the democratic freedom of the people of Ukraine.

'Thank you for everything you do.'

Senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood, who represents Bournemouth East, recently hit out at his party colleagues for stoking division.

Former cabinet ministers Nadine Dorries (right) and Jacob Rees-Mogg are also taking part in the conference

The Conservative Democratic Organisation conference in Bournemouth is the first of its kind

The Defence Committee chairman wrote in The Times: 'A drag anchor of a right-wing caucus is in our ranks, and it has already written off any prospects of victory in 2024.

'As statecraft finally returns to No 10, guiding us into far calmer waters, less-than-subtle plots are afoot to shift our party to the right during the blame game that invariably follows electoral defeat.'

He criticised an excessive focus on tax cuts, 'Europebashing' and culture wars, warning: 'This is a recipe for disaster, as disloyal as it is reckless. It fails to recognise the fighting chance we have of winning.'

After giving a speech in central London, Sir Keir Starmer said: 'I have always said that among Sunak's weaknesses is that he didn't actually win a race to be leader of his party. The problem that gives him is that he doesn't have a mandate for change.

'The Tory party has been a divided party for a very long time.'

He said that unlike Labour, the Tories had failed to fix their 'fundamental differences', adding: 'It is two or three parties within one party. That sounds familiar, but we have dealt with it.'
A Kansas boy has to give up his emotional support pig due to a city ordinance that classifies the animal as livestock.

Owen Grigoreva, nine, of Newton, is feeling the weight of the ordinance as he and his family are preparing to give up his beloved potbelly pig, Ginger.

A Newton city ordinance classifies potbelly pigs as livestock, and therefore, does not allow them to live in normal residences. Despite the Grigoreva family never hearing a complaint about the pig or its smell, a neighbor still reported the service animal after seeing it in the family's yard.

Since then, Owen's mother Jessica had to go before the Newton City Commission to defend Ginger and hopefully keep her in the family.

'I had tears, I was really stressed out,' Owen told WIS News. 'Please let Ginger stay with us because she's a part of my family.'

Owen Grigoreva, nine, of Newton, is feeling the weight of the ordinance as he and his family are preparing to give up his potbelly pig, Ginger. A Newton city ordinance classifies potbelly pigs as livestock, and therefore, does not allow them to live in normal residences

'I had tears, I was really stressed out,' Owen said. 'Please let Ginger stay with us because she's a part of my family'

City officials are playing hard ball with the family, telling them they aren't willing to make an exception for Ginger as it would cause chaos for them when other residents sought exceptions.

Newton City Commissioner Clint McBroom said he sympathized with the family and even prayed about the decision, but ultimately couldn't budge on the ordinance.

'[I] tried to come up with a reasonable solution,' McBroom said, according to WIS News. He said he hopes the Grigoreva family can find a place for Ginger where they can go visit her.

'My heart hurts for you guys, it really does,' he told them at the meeting.

Mayor Leroy Koehn also supported the city commission, saying: 'I think for me at this time, we need to stay the course and not make any changes, but I do think we need to think about it going forward.'

A representative from the police department told WIS News that they would help the family find new accommodations for Ginger.

City officials are playing hard ball with the family, telling them they aren't willing to make an exception for Ginger as it would cause chaos for them when other residents sought exception

Jessica tried to argue at the meeting that Ginger shouldn't be considered livestock as the pig is not considered food and is much smaller than other pigs.

'Theyre not food. They dont get to be the size a regular hog does,' she said.

She also argued that they choose a pig as a support animal due to her son's allergies and a potbelly pig would fair better than a dog.

Newton resident Courtney Napier is support of the family keeping their animal and said it was 'reasonable and fair' as other towns like Wichita and Lawrence allowed them.

Another resident, who was not identified, said Ginger was a perfect opportunity for Newton to become open-minded.

'At a minimum, I think theres a lot of information we can learn about the pot-bellied pig before a definite decision,' the resident said.

The family has started a Change.org petition to help them save Ginger. It has gain more than 700 of the 1,000 signatures its searching for in two days.
If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





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A Banksy mural of a gymnast has been removed and put on display as the bomb-damaged building in Ukraine where he created it is being demolished.

Images show workers removing and transporting the part of the wall adorned with the artist's graffiti, which was cut out from a heavily damaged high-rise building in Irpin, a town just to the northwest of the capital Kyiv.

The mural depicts a ribbon-waving gymnast wearing a neck brace balancing on a hole made by a Russian shell.

The artwork is protected with plexiglass and appears to have been moved to another area of the city that is less damaged.

Demolition work has started on the residential building in Irpin. The town, along with Borodianka, also in Kyiv Oblast, and the capital, was hit hard by Russian shelling during the first month of the invasion.

People walk past a mural by British street artist Banksy installed for viewing at a new location after it was removed from a damaged building set to be demolished, in Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv (Kiev), Ukraine, on May 13, 2023

Images show workers unloading the mural, which was cut out from a heavily damaged residential building in Irpin

In Irpin alone, more than 1,060 buildings were damaged. Some 115 of them were completely destroyed, the United Nations Satellite Centre reported.

In April, Oleksandr Markushyn, the Mayor of Irpin, said that the work by the British artist will be removed from the building and preserved.

'We will decide later whether it [the graffiti  ed.] will be [left] in this place or moved. But we want to preserve this image painted by Banksy. An art installation will probably be set up outside the building. We will do everything possible to keep [the graffiti here],' he said on air during the national joint 24/7 newscast, according to Interfax-Ukraine.

Last month, Oleksandr Markushyn, Mayor of Irpin, said that the work by the British artist will be removed from the building and preserved

The mural depicts a ribbon-waving gymnast wearing a neck brace balancing on a hole made by a Russian shell

Workers dismount a part of a wall with the work of world-renowned graffiti artist Banksy from a residential building heavily damaged during Russia's attack in the town of Irpin, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine, on May 12, 2023

Workers finish installing a mural by British street artist Banksy at a new location after it was removed from a damaged building set to be demolished, in Irpin, outskirts of Kyiv (Kiev), Ukraine, on May 13, 2023

Workers transport a Banksy mural for preservation during the demolition of a residential building in Irpin near Kyiv, on May 12, 2023

The part of the wall with the graffiti created by British street artist Banksy that was cut out from a heavily damaged residential building after a Russian attack, stands after it was transported to a new location, on May 13, 2023 in Irpin, Ukraine

Artwork made by British street artist Banksy is seen on part of a wall of a building destroyed by fighting as the structure stands on a platform before it's presentation in the city park in Irpin, near Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, May 13, 2023

Earlier that month, Oksana Nechytailo, a member of Irpin City Council, reported on Facebook that the building in Irpin where Banksy created one of his Ukrainian works was to be demolished.

'The demolition of building 160/1 on Severynivska Street will begin on Tuesday, 18 April. After that, roughly two weeks later, the demolition of building 158 will begin,' she said at the time.

Read more: Ukrainians put Banksy mural on display as they demolish the building where he painted it In the piece, a female gymnast can be seen balancing on her hands on rubble at the bottom of a an apartment building in Borodyanka, which has been completely gutted by Russian shelling Advertisement

Nechytailo added: 'Don't worry about the painting by the world-famous artist Banksy which is on this building. The painting will be dismantled separately and preserved. This work of art is already a cultural asset of our neighbourhood.'

In November, Banksy confirmed to The Art Newspaper that he had created seven murals in various locations in Ukraine, including Kyiv, Irpin and Borodyanka.

He posted a video on November 17 showing the artworks, including the girl with the ribbon.

It also featured moving footage of daily life continuing in shell-damaged districts.

A few days earlier, the graffiti artist posted three images of a mural showing a gymnast performing a handstand in the wreckage left by Russian shelling, with the caption simply reading: 'Borodyanka, Ukraine'.

Murals sighted in and around Ukraine's capital had led to speculation that the artist was working in the war-torn country.

In December, the City Council of Irpin bestowed the title of its Honorary Citizen to Banksy.

The City Council website said: 'The artist Banksy left his graffiti on one of the houses ruined by ruscists in Irpin, thus drawing the world community's attention to the scale of the destruction of Irpin and perpetuating the history of Irpin's struggle and the idea of its revival with his creative work.'

A railway bridge that connected the once Russian-occupied towns of Irpin, Bucha and Borodyanka with Kyiv has now been rebuilt, providing a symbol of hope for communities affected by the conflict.

Banksy is one of the world's most famous artists, while managing to retain his anonymity.

His stencilled designs around Bristol in the early 1990s saw him rise to fame.

Examples of his work have appeared all over the world and the 'guerrilla street artist' has gained tens of millions of fans, including A-list celebrities.
Shocking footage shows the moment a Los Angeles store owner was brutally beaten and then pistol-whipped by armed robbers who made off with cash and jewelry.

Surveillance footage from KloudPusherz in downtown Los Angeles shows two hooded thieves entering the clothing store at around 4.49pm on Wednesday, armed with a semi-automatic handgun.

The two men could be seen pistol whipping, kicking, punching and dragging storeowner Franky Salerno across the floor before they made off with his cash and jewelry.

It was the second time in as many days Salerno had to deal with thieves, his girlfriend told KTLA, noting that he and his friend were actually waiting for the police to arrive so they could report a robbery the night before.

'Franky got assaulted on Wednesday, but he was there that day with his friend waiting for the police to come because his shop was broken into the night before,' Ivana Octaviani said. 'They took most of his merchandise.'

The two men could be seen pistol whipping, kicking, punching and dragging storeowner Franky Salerno across the floor before they made off with his cash and jewelry

Salerno is now in the intensive care unit after being attacked inside his store. He is suffering from fractures to his skull, eye socket, nose and hand

Octaviani said Salerno had tried to fight back, but was no match for the two men, who took his gold necklace, a Rolex watch and other jewelry.

They could be seen in the surveillance footage wrestling Salerno to the ground, and dragging him across the floor when he tried to fight back.

They then pistol-whipped him, punched him and kicked him several times in an effort to ensure he did not get back up.

When his friend, who has not been named, tried to intervene, the armed robbers then came after him.

Salerno is now in the Intensive Care Unit, suffering from fractures to his skull, eye socket, nose and hand, she said in a GoFundMe for his medical expenses.

Meanwhile, the two suspects fled the scene and remain at large.

They are both described as black males, one of whom was wearing a black face mask, a black hoodie with an 'X' emblazoned on the back and black pants.

The second suspect was wearing a blue and white striped hoodie with blue jeans.

The armed robbery came less than a week after a video posted online showed a man having his shirt torn off as he tries to get out of the center of the fight at The Grove mall.

He was then chased by four others who force him to the ground before throwing a barrage of punches and kicks towards him.

One woman watching the scene unfold can be heard saying: 'Oh my god. Where are the police? Where is security?'

Just before the short video ends, what looks to be two security guards appear on the scene in an attempt to bring the brawl to an end.

Octaviani says she is now fed up with the crime in Los Angeles, telling KTLA her friends in Indonesia are shocked by the incessant crime.

'All my friends in Indonesia, they're like, "What the hell's going on there?"' she said.

'Is this what we've become?' she asked. 'LA was one a great city. California was once a great state, but look at it now. What happened?'

She went on to say that she had recently moved to Arizona to escape the crime-ridden city, and was hoping her boyfriend would join her.

The video of the brawl was shared on platform Citizen, and shows one man having his shirt ripped from his back as he is attacked

Several celebrities have also announced their plans to escape from California, including former Happy Days star Scott Baio, who announced he placed his $3.85million Woodland Hills home on the market.

On Twitter, the conservative-leaning sitcom star said that he just doesn't feel secure in the Golden State anymore given the various issues under Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom.

'After 45 years, I'm making my way to finally 'exit stage right' from California,' he wrote.

He then cited the state's homelessness statistics, noting that 'it brings down property value. Also, no consequences for crime that is rampant, making things higher in price and its just not a safe place anymore.'

The Joanie Loves Chachi star tacked on the hashtag '#ImFree."

Scott Baio announced he is fleeing from California as he's placed his $3.85million home on the market, citing the state's disastrous homelessness and crime issues

Recent figures released by the LAPD show that there was over 2,100 incidents of violent crime last month alone in the city.

Of that figure, 1415 related to aggravated assaults, 629 were recorded as robberies, with 80 rape incidents and 23 homicides also recorded.

Last month's number of total violent was up 6 recorded incidents from the month before, with increases seen in assault, rape and robbery.

The number of arrests in the city also increased since the month previous, climbing from 4501 in March, to 5497 in April.
Marjorie Taylor Greene plans to lead a probe into whether sex workers Hunter Biden allegedly paid for were victims of human trafficking.

This comes amid the House Oversight Committee's continuing investigation into President Joe Biden's second son's dealings.

'Congresswoman Greene is very concerned about the possibility that the women being paid for prostitution by the President's son who were foreign nationals were human trafficked,' a committee spokesperson told DailyMail.com.

'She plans to lead a probe to determine if in fact they were human trafficked and if the Biden family has tried to intimidate them or cover the story up,' the spokesperson added.

'The Committee is also concerned that Hunter Biden used his professional corporation for non-business related expenditures and did not maintain proper books and records.

'We are looking into all aspects of how Owasco P.C. was used to conceal payments to and from foreign nationals,' the statement added.

Hunter Biden has been open about his struggles with drugs and alcohol. Photos found on his abandoned laptop document his battles

A spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee said that that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene plans to lead an investigation into the sex workers who consorted with Hunter

This week, House Republicans detailed what they say are concerning new findings about Biden's family and their finances.

The smoking gun, according to the GOP, is recently obtained financial records connected to Hunter, the president's brother James Biden and a growing number of associates who received millions of dollars in payments from foreign entities in China and Romania.

They suggest, without evidence, that the payments were part of a wide-ranging scheme to enrich themselves off the family name.

To help them get here, Congressional Republicans relied on more than 150 suspicious activity reports as a roadmap to follow what they call the Bidens' complicated financial money trail.

The confidential reports, called SARs for short, are often routine, with larger financial transactions automatically flagged to the government. The filing of a SARs report is not evidence on its own of misconduct.

Biden 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

But Rep. James Comer, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee leading the probe, said Wednesday that other types of financial records obtained through congressional subpoenas and lawsuits have now become the focus of their investigation.

The White House dismissed the whole investigation as 'yet another political stunt.'

'Congressman Comer has a history of playing fast and loose with the facts and spreading baseless innuendo while refusing to conduct his so-called 'investigations' with legitimacy,' White House spokesperson Ian Sams said in a statement.

That's not the only legal worry facing Hunter.

In April, 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 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.'

One of Hunter's steadfast supporters have consistently been his father.

In the president's May interview with MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle, Biden insisted: 'My son has done nothing wrong.'

Asked how the investigation impacts his presidency, Biden replied: 'First of all my son has done nothing wrong.

'I trust him, I have faith in him,' he said.

'And it impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him.'
Sunbed shops are flouting the law and letting in underage teenagers  with potentially catastrophic results for their health, a Mail on Sunday investigation reveals.

Our undercover team found tanning salons illegally turning a blind eye to under-18s, who are meant to be protected by strict laws because of the risk of skin cancer.

The disease kills six Britons every day and medical experts say youngsters are at particular risk.

Campaigners also say the problem is made worse because under-18s are vulnerable to targeted advertising campaigns on social media, which are on the rise.

Last night, MPs and campaigners were appalled at the MoS findings, and called on councils to rigorously enforce the ban on under-18s.

The MoS visited six tanning shops across the UK with Isabella Hicks, who turned 16 in February

The MoS approached 100 salons, seeking to book appointments for two teens, aged 16 and 18. We then visited six of the shops with a 16-year-old model

They say if current regulations fail to protect the youngsters, Ministers must consider an outright ban on sunbeds, similar to those imposed in Australia and Brazil.

The MoS approached 100 salons, seeking to book appointments for two teens, aged 16 and 18. We then visited six of the shops with a 16-year-old model. The salons were selected from a group that either failed to say they were asking for ID for the 18-year-old, or suggested they would let in the 16-year-old. We found:

More than half of the 100 salons did not say that the 18-year-old had to show ID;

Four out of six shops we visited allowed in our 16-year-old;

Sales assistants pushed discounts and bulk-buy deals that would allow her to use a sunbed every day;

The tanning trend is fuelled by hundreds of adverts targeting under-18s on the social media app TikTok.

More than 60,000 under-18s are thought to visit the UK's estimated 4,000 tanning salons, despite guidelines stating customers who look under 25 must be asked for proof-of-age ID.

The law banning salons from selling sunbed sessions to under-18s was introduced in 2011 because of growing concerns about the association between skin cancer and sunbeds. It says salons must take 'all reasonable steps' to enforce the age limit or face a fine of up to 20,000.

Our undercover team found tanning salons illegally turning a blind eye to under-18s, who are meant to be protected by strict laws because of the risk of skin cancer

'I'd rather die hot than live ugly' Teenagers are bombarded with TikTok videos promoting sunbeds within seconds of joining the platform Teenagers are bombarded with TikTok videos promoting sunbeds within seconds of joining the platform. An account set up by our reporter, who registered as a 14-year-old, was targeted by a salon after searching for tanning videos. Within 24 hours, the home page was showing videos posted by bronzed youngsters. Among them was 'Sunbed Boy', right, who puts up films of himself inside a salon despite claiming to be just 17. Other young users joke about their 'addiction' to sunbeds. One wrote: 'It's a problem but I'd rather die hot than live ugly.' Advertising watchdogs have ruled that salons are not allowed to encourage regular use or claim that sunbeds boost Vitamin D. But we found hundreds of videos from salons promoting their use to boost Vitamin D, remove acne and even cure depression. A TikTok spokesman said: 'All content that appears on TikTok must adhere to our guidelines, which do not allow medical misinformation. After reviewing the content in question, we removed any content found to violate those rules.' Advertisement

But hundreds of shops are advertising their business to teenagers on TikTok, with the youngsters following trends including #tantok, which promotes going to salons.

An account set up by the MoS reporter  who registered their date of birth as that of a 14-year-old  was targeted with a video from a sunbed salon within one minute of searching for #tantok videos.

The MoS visited six tanning shops across the UK with Isabella Hicks, who turned 16 in February. She was allowed access to use sunbeds at four salons without being challenged about her age. At no stage did she use them.

At Tantastic, in Maidstone, Kent, an assistant urged her to sign up to a deal to buy 'unlimited access' for 55, which would allow her to use a sunbed every day. 'You should do 20 minutes a day for a month,' she said. Guidelines recommend a maximum of three sessions per week. Isabella was taken through for a five-minute session, which cost 80p a minute. Not once was she challenged.

At Bronzin, also in Maidstone, Isabella was shown to a sunbed costing just 90p per minute. No staff member asked for her age. The salon has a TikTok account with nearly 100,000 likes, where it shares jokes about sunbed addiction.

Beauty Temple in Loughborough sold Isabella a five-minute sunbed session for 65p per minute. Again, staff did not ask how old she was, despite the salon being a member of The Sunbed Association

At Streatham Tanning in London, Isabella was asked her age but did not need to provide any proof. She gave a false date of birth on a form, pretending to be two years older.

Our reporting team also phoned 100 sunbed shops. The sales assistant at Beauty Temple in Loughborough, which we later visited, said 'of course' when asked if a 16-year-old could use a sunbed. Another salon, in Bermondsey, South London, said it was 'OK' for the 16-year-old to use a sunbed because their mother would be with them.

Two of the sunbed salons we visited complied correctly with the legal requirements.

Gillian Nuttall, founder of skin cancer charity Melanoma UK, said: 'The tanning salons that allowed your 16-year-old to pay for a sunbed are a disgrace and must be prosecuted. The Government must act now to ban tanning salons.'

Gary Lipman, chairman of The Sunbed Association, said there was 'no excuse' for knowingly allowing anyone under 18 to use a sunbed, but said what happened at Beauty Temple was 'an isolated incident involving a member of staff suffering with personal stress'.

Tory MP Paul Bristow, a member of the Commons health committee, said: 'If the law is being flouted like this, it is obvious many operators are putting making money above protecting young people.'

Martin Goodwin, director of Beauty Temple, said that all of the sunbeds operated by the company have now been closed following our investigation.

He added that the relevant staff member has left the company.

Sarah Smith, manager at Tantastic, said her understanding of the law was that clients did not need proof of ID.

She added: 'Staff must have thought she looked 18.'

Michelle Senior, manager of Bronzin, said she would 'check the camera' to watch our visit but did not send a formal comment.

The MoS was unable to reach the manager of Streatham Tanning, despite presenting the allegations to three staff members.
A man accused of murdering a mother-of-two was only recently released from jail after assaulting his ex-girlfriend as she held her baby.

Jacob Cloke, 29, died on Thursday after sustaining 'critical' gunshot injuries at a home in Dartford, Kent, where he took Hayley Burke hostage.

Ms Burke, 36, was shot during a stand-off with armed officers and police negotiators at her house, on Coronation Day and died in hospital two days later.

In 2021, Cloke was jailed for two years after violently attacking his ex-girlfriend by slapping her across the face and punching her in the ribs as she carried her baby.

At the time the court heard that Cloke told the victim 'If you call the police, I will put the baby in the ground.'

During the trial the jury was told how Cloke already had convictions for attacking a previous lover.

Jacob Cloke, 29, died on Thursday after sustaining 'critical' gunshot injuries at a home in Dartford, Kent, where he took Hayley Burke hostage.

Mother-of-two Hayley Burke, 36, was shot during a stand-off with armed officers and police negotiators at her house in Dartford, Kent, on Saturday afternoon

Police officers in Dartford last Saturday after the mother-of-two was rushed to hospital

Cloke was also reportedly facing a number of charges relating to abusing Ms Burke, including trying to strangle her over a row about a mobile phone, KentOnline reported.

The couple started dating in December 2020 and even became engaged, however things went downhill after Cloke went to prison.

The Ministry of Justice has been contacted for a comment.

Police were treating Cloke as the main suspect in the murder of Ms Burke, who loved ones described as 'the loudest friend in the group'.

Terry Beaton has been charged after allegedly being found with a revolver said to be linked to the murder of a mother-of-two who was taken hostage in her home.

He remains in custody and is due to appear at Woolwich Crown Court on June 8.

Witnesses said after a stand-off, which lasted about an hour, 'pandemonium' broke out and said the woman had been 'held hostage' by a man at the back of the property.

A woman who lives near where the hostage situation took place described the scene as like a terror attack.

She said: 'After many hours talking between the police and a man, I heard loud gun shot sounds and what seemed like six gun-shot sounds.

Hayley Burke died in hospital on Monday evening after she was shot on Saturday afternoon last week

'The scene was horrific. I have never seen anything like it around here. I thought it must be terrorist-related.'

She then discovered a double-glazed window had been shattered in a bedroom of her house and a 'bullet' was wedged inside the outer and inner pane.

The woman added: 'I stayed inside all day, as I was too frightened to go outside in the situation.

'It went on for hours. And then at about 4.30pm we saw a woman being given CPR outside a garage. We still had no idea what was going on.'

The incident happened while millions of television viewers were watching King Charles III's Coronation take place 16 miles away at Westminster Abbey.

After being called to the home at 12.40pm, police cordoned off Priory Road and told people to stay inside their homes before officers broke through the terraced home's front door, witnesses said.

After an hour-long stand-off, 'pandemonium' broke out and neighbours heard what sounded like two rounds of gunshots.

One woman, who did not want to be named, described events as 'chilling'.

No police weapons were fired during the stand-off.

One of Ms Burke's friends told KentLive: 'Hayley was the loudest friend in the group and never failed to have everyone laughing.

'Hayley loved her children with every inch of her heart. Everything she did was for her boys  they were her life.

'Hayley would do anything for anybody but wasn't afraid to tell you if you took the mick. She was so brutally honest  it was one of her best character traits.

'If you wanted an honest opinion you would always ask Hayley. Her space in our lives will never be filled. She didn't deserve any of this. She had so much love and life to give.'

One of Ms Burke's friends paid tribute, saying she was 'the loudest friend in the group'

Ms Burke died in hospital after she was shot while police engaged in a stand-off in Dartford

One couple who knew Ms Burke described her as a 'lovely woman'. The 46-year-old father, who did not want to be named, said: 'She used to work at my kid's school years ago.

'I've known her for years. She was a beautiful looking girl. It's awful, especially on our doorstep, it scared a lot of people around here. But it's terrible, this area has gone right downhill.'

And the mother, who said her children were outside when it happened, added: 'My son, 14 years old, recognised her and said 'she really helped me'. She always helped him and was never rude.'

Another neighbour, who wished to remain anonymous, said he had just come back from the Coronation in the capital to find the road blocked off.

He told KentLive: 'I couldn't get down from that end, and I went down to that end, and then I heard the shots, and police were telling everyone to get behind the walls. It was worrying'

'It was worrying because I hadn't heard what was going on. I just heard rumours from the neighbours. I just heard that someone died.'

An investigation into both deaths is now being led by the coroner.
Everyone who knew them marvelled at the strong bond between the four Dee sisters. If one of them needed guidance or support, another of the sisters was always ready to help. Often all four  Maia, 20, Keren, 19, Tali, 17, and 15-year-old Rina  convened in a bedroom at the family home, usually Maia's.

'We loved spending time together as a group, chatting about everything and anything,' recalls Tali. 'We always used to say we had each other's backs.'

They went shopping, hiking in the hills near their home, visited cafes and restaurants, and left affectionate notes for each other. Whenever one bought a new outfit, she posted a picture on their WhatsApp group, The Sisters, and waited for the verdicts to drop.

'It's so hard because when I look at it now, the group is half empty,' says Tali.

She is referring to the murders of Maia and Rina, killed instantly when Palestinian terrorists raked their Nissan Micra with Kalashnikov bullets as they drove to Tiberias on the shores of the Sea of Galilee for a family holiday.

SURVIVORS: Tali and Keren Dee, who lost sisters Maia and Rina and their mother Lucy in a terrorist attack

TRAGEDY: Leo and Lucy Dee with their children Keren, 19, left, Maia, 20 and Rina, 15, who were both killed in the attack, son Yehuda, 14, and Tali, 17

After the car crashed, the gunmen opened fire again, this time from close range.

Tali should have been in the car, which was driven by their mother Lucy, 48, but was feeling tired that morning, April 7, so chose the 'quieter option' of travelling with her father, Leo, 51, and 14-year-old brother Yehuda. They were 30 minutes ahead of Lucy's car when the attack happened.

Keren, meanwhile, who today is sitting beside Tali, was planning to join the family the following day. They are speaking at the family home in Efrat, a Jewish settlement in the West Bank nine miles south of Jerusalem, where the Dee family  all born in Britain  set up home after moving from Hertfordshire to Israel to build a new life in 2014.

Wondering aloud why their mother chose to take the circuitous route through the Jordan Valley, where the gunmen were waiting to ambush the first Israeli-registered car that passed, Tali says it was because Lucy, a nature lover, would have wanted to see the newly bloomed roadside flowers. Keren disagrees, saying she always took the quicker route unless instructed otherwise by sat-nav.

I was so happy and proud that she was able to save another person's life

Either way, they will never know because Lucy, the mainstay around whom the close-knit Dee family orbited, never regained consciousness, dying from her wounds three days later.

Five people later received organs donated by Lucy, including her heart.

At her sisters' funeral, Keren had implored them to wake up, not to let the family be cleaved apart. But in her heart she knew then that all hope was lost and, once seven, they became a family of four.

The murders, at a time of heightened tensions in Jerusalem and the West Bank, captured world attention and the attackers were later tracked and killed by Israeli security forces.

'Our mother was such a strong, exceptional woman,' says Keren. 'She meant everything to us and so did our sisters.' As she talks, relatives from England prepare lunch in a spacious kitchen filled with family pictures. 'Our mother wanted a big kitchen so we could all cook together, usually with the music on,' says Keren.

EMOTIONAL: Keren listens to her mother's heart beat in recipient Lital Valenci

Tali adds: 'We always came home to the smell of home-cooking and fresh bread. Every Friday all four of us would watch Great British Bake Off with her, and afterwards she would bake something having been inspired by the show.'

Tali recalls saying goodbye to her mother in hospital. 'I held her hand and gently rested my head on her chest and listened to her heart beat before they switched the machine off. Then, a week later, after her heart was donated, I heard it beating inside someone else. Incredible.'

I can't digest that it's over. It's impossible to put into words

Keren nods in agreement. If it is possible that something positive can emerge from what happened, it is this. 'She was such a giving person. This final act was so typical of her, so appropriate,' she says.

To armour themselves against the pain, they keep busy during the day. And the organ donations give them a sense of hope and pride, though it is hard to see beyond their desolation.

The recipient of Lucy's heart was Lital Valenci, 51, who had suffered from severe heart failure for five years.

'There is no greater deed than giving life to someone and Lucy Dee has done that for me,' she says. 'I was so moved when I learned who I was receiving a heart from, as I had read about what an incredible woman she was, with an exemplary family.

'I will forever be thankful to Lucy and her family that during the most tragic time of their lives, they thought to help others.

'That person is me and each day, I will live in thanks.'

During an emotional meeting with her donor's surviving daughters in hospital, Ms Valenci pressed a stethoscope to her chest and, as doctors and nurses looked on in tears, asked Keren: 'Can you hear her heart beat?'

I couldn't bear to think of someone else's family being broken up

Keren says of that moment: 'It was really like being with my mother again, being with part of her. And then you open your eyes and you realise that she's not there. But I was so happy and proud that she was able to save another person's life, someone who can hopefully go on living for a long time.

'It is incredible that, in a way, she could carry on living inside someone else.'

She adds: 'The doctor who did the transplant came up to me afterwards with tears in his eyes and said that all through the surgery he thought about what I said at the funeral about my mother.'

In her eulogy, Keren told mourners: 'I can't digest that it's over. It's impossible to put in words.'

She says now: 'The doctor told me that my words really pushed him to make the transplant work, to do his absolute best.' For her part, Tali says listening to the heart beat through the stethoscope 'made me think of saying goodbye to my mother.

The three surviving children of Lucy Dee, mourn by her body during her funeral at the Kfar Etzion settlement cemetery in the occupied West Bank, on April 11, 2023

At her sisters' funeral, Keren had implored them to wake up, not to let the family be cleaved apart. But in her heart she knew then that all hope was lost and, once seven, they became a family of four

'But then I thought about this woman and her partner and their four children.

'I couldn't bear to think of someone else's family being broken up like ours, so I was just so happy this donation could bring them all together, that they could go on living as a family.'

One of Lucy's kidneys saved the life of a 38-year-old Arab man from Nazareth, something the girls say would have made their mother proud. He gave the family a plaque inscribed with a prayer.

Leo Dee had studied chemical engineering at Cambridge University and worked in the City in private equity before training to be a rabbi. Lucy, an English teacher, studied Japanese at Oxford where the couple met.

Keren and Tali describe Rina, who helped run a youth club, as clever and mature beyond her years.

As the eldest, Maia's position in the family conferred instant responsibility and the sisters recall her as a role model dispensing wisdom from her bedroom.

Socially conscious like Rina, she tutored underprivileged children and helped at a summer camp that aimed to foster greater understanding between Jewish and Arab children. 'One of the things I liked doing with Maia was to get a coffee and go up to the mountains to a new spot I'd found and just talk about life,' says Keren.

Describing the day of the attack, Tali talks of how excited they were to be setting off on holiday before the journey's abrupt ending.

Sketchy early reports which suggested the car was a Kia and that the older woman involved was in her 30s had given them false hope.

But, within a few hours, that was replaced first by panicked disbelief, then dawning acceptance.

The plan had been for the two cars to meet at a beauty spot before setting off on the journey's final leg. There was a text exchange between Maia and Tali minutes before the attack. 'She asked where we were,' says Tali.

Later, a relative alerted Tali and her father to the news. Scouring the internet for reports, they spotted what they thought might be the family's green swimming bag in a picture from the scene but they couldn't be sure.

They thought the car looked similar, but, again, couldn't be certain. They doubled back and were met by a roadblock.

'There were ambulances and soldiers everywhere,' says Tali. 'We could see the car in the distance but we just didn't know for sure and they wouldn't let us through.'

There were tears and screaming and frantic phone calls. Keren was told to head to a hospital in Jerusalem where the injured woman was being airlifted.

Mourners attended the funeral of two British-Israeli sisters, Maia and Rina Dee, at a cemetery in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Kfar Etzion, Sunday, April 9, 2023

Lucy Dee, 45, a British-Israeli woman who died of her injuries three days after a suspected Palestinian gun attack, in which two of her daughters were also killed

At that stage, nobody knew her identity.

But as Keren sat and waited in the emergency room a close family friend, a paramedic, called to say that a helicopter carrying her mother would be landing at the hospital in the next two minutes.

'We are praying your mother is going to be OK,' she said.

Meanwhile, Tali, her father and brother were racing to the same hospital from the attack scene having had their worst fears confirmed. On the way, Tali rang her grandparents  her mother's parents  in England.

Numbed by shock, she was bluntly matter-of-fact and robotically beseeched them to come to Israel, saying: 'Maia and Rina are dead and mum is critical.'

At the hospital, Keren pleaded with medics to let her see her mother but 'they warned me that she was not in a good state and that it would not be good for me'.

I miss Lucy, Maia and Rina every minute of every day

Her sisters' funeral, the day after the murders, drew thousands of people. On the way, with Tali sitting in the car on her sister's knee, they saw thousands more lining streets outside their homes in Efrat. 'It was an incredible response,' says Tali.

Of Efrat in the Judean mountains, their father said in a recent interview: 'It's the Oxbridge of Israel's religious community. There are so many doctors, teachers, academics, rabbis and nurses here, educated people who want to contribute to the wider world.

'Something many don't appear to understand is that we live very closely with Palestinian Arabs. We live in peace with these lovely, decent Muslims.'

He wrote a book, Transforming The World, outlining his vision of how different races and religions can live in harmony while celebrating differences, and sees it as his mission to spread the message 'not just in Israel, but the whole world'.

His children, he says, were all taught to be independently minded.

He adds: 'Of course I miss Lucy, Maia and Rina every minute of every day, but the amazing things Keren, Tali and Yehuda are doing give me joy and satisfaction and are of great comfort at this time.'
Brenda from Bristol should look away now. Arriving back at Westminster following last weeks local elections, MPs thoughts were starting to turn to the General Election.

Not to the poll that Rishi Sunak is expected to call some time next year, but an election that many MPs expect in 2025, when Sir Keir Starmer  or his successor after a short time as PM  is likely to go to the country again in an attempt to stabilise their creaking coalition government.

This political theory behind the idea of a snap election  which would appal Brenda, who famously responded with horror when told of the 2017 General Election  comprises three parts.

The first is whats seen as the increasing inevitability of a hung Parliament. Following this months council elections, Starmer and his allies claimed they were on course for a healthy Commons majority. But very few of his own Labour MPs actually believe it.

In my patch, the results werent really that good, one Shadow Minister told me. We made some gains, but nothing spectacular. We should be performing better.

Penny came from nowhere to give Rishi a run for his money in leadership race. Now that Britain knows her, will the Lady with the Sword be the one to save the Tories?

Not to the poll that Rishi Sunak is expected to call some time next year, but an election that many MPs expect in 2025

Following this months council elections, Starmer and his allies claimed they were on course for a healthy Commons majority

Another Shadow Minister told me: We actually did better than I was expecting. But I never believed we could go from Opposition to a majority in one jump. Doing a Kinnock and then a Blair in one go was always going to be an uphill battle.

The second part relates to the stability of any subsequent minority Labour government.

Tory strategists are currently combing through obscure Lib Dem policy papers and speeches to uncover what could lie in wait for an unsuspecting electorate in the form of a new Lib/Lab pact. And Starmer and Sir Ed Davey became conspicuously evasive when probed on whether they would consider entering into a formal coalition.

But Lib Dem MPs Ive spoken to say they believe a Cameron / Clegg-style arrangement is unlikely. Ed Davey served in the 2010 coalition, one told me, and he doesnt want to risk a repeat of that. He might help prop up Labour, but hes not going to risk a repeat of 2015. That was a near-death experience.

If this is the case, Starmer would probably have to rely on a so-called Confidence and Supply deal similar to the one that saw the DUP supporting Theresa May after her disastrous 2017 election showing. And that, as May found to her cost, is no way of sustaining any government in power for an extended period. Hence the feeling there will be an Election in 2025.

In those circumstances, Keir would do a Wilson, a Shadow Minister told me  referencing Harold Wilsons decision as Labour PM to call an Election in October 1974 in which he secured a slender overall majority of just three seats.

One possible contender is Leader of the House Penny Mordaunt. Or, as she is now known globally, The Lady With The Sword, after her Amazonian performance as bearer of the Sword of State at the Coronation

Keir would probably wait a bit longer, probably a year. Pump a lot of money into the NHS, whack up the minimum wage, then go back to the country.

To some Shadow Ministers, the idea of a slender majority is a more worrying prospect than coalition government. One confided to me that they would rather be in a coalition with the Lib Dems than have a situation where Corbynista Labour MP John McDonnell and the Socialist Campaign Group get to hold the balance of power.

Meanwhile, others are also questioning whether Starmer would be the best man to lead Labour into any subsequent contest if he comes up short in the next Election.

At that moment, the Wes factor comes into play, one Labour MP told me  referring to the popular Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting. Wes has that star quality Keir lacks. And if Keir cant win an overall majority with the Tories in the state theyre in, when is he going to win? People will start thinking about a change.

But another Shadow Minister rubbishes the idea. If Keir gets us into power, hes safe. When he took over as leader, everyone thought it would take us at least ten years to get back into government. Theyll just be grateful he got us there, even if it is a bit messy.

For Conservative MPs, the prospect of a hung Parliament is starting to reshape their view of the future leadership of their own party.

Among Tory backbenchers, the mood has become fatalistic. Before the local elections, the narrowing of the polls gave them cause for hope. Now it has been almost completely extinguished.

Were finished, one Red Waller told me. Theres no way we can win from here. Watch. Over the next couple of months youll see a large number of my colleagues announcing theyre not standing again. But those who remain are beginning to turn their thoughts to Opposition. And, in particular, the identity of Rishi Sunaks successor.

Until last week, the assumption was that defeat would see the Conservative Party descend into civil war. A vicious period of score-settling would see the various Tory factions enacting vengeance for the crimes  real and imagined  committed during their decade and a half of power.

Im going to sit back and watch Suella [Braverman] and Kemi [Badenoch] fight it out, one Cabinet Minister told me. Then well see if theres anything left of the party thats worth saving.

But some Tory MPs are considering that a Labour-led coalition government  especially one relying on the creation of some unholy pacts with the Lib Dems, SNP or a Corbynite rump  could present an opportunity for change.

If this is the case, Starmer would probably have to rely on a so-called Confidence and Supply deal similar to the one that saw the DUP supporting Theresa May after her disastrous 2017 election showing

If Starmer gets a decent majority, well implode, one Tory told me. But if its a hung Parliament, and maybe another Election in 2025, we might just come to our senses. Itll certainly mean we take a more serious look at who leads us.

Braverman and Badenoch are both popular with the Tory grassroots, and currently viewed as frontrunners. But the prospect of a second General Election in such a short pace of time is concentrating Conservative minds.

One possible contender is Leader of the House Penny Mordaunt.

Or, as she is now known globally, The Lady With The Sword, after her Amazonian performance as bearer of the Sword of State at the Coronation.

The British people know who Penny is now, one admirer told me. And if you look at how she did in the last leadership election, she came from nowhere to give Rishi a run for his money.

Shes not a populist, but if the party decides it wants someone serious who could potentially take over as Prime Minister, shes up there.

Another of the serious candidates under consideration is Foreign Secretary James Cleverly. From the Right of the party, he came out for Boris Johnson when the former Tory leader was flirting with the idea of making a dramatic return last October.

But hes credited with patiently rebuilding relations with Britains international partners in the wake of Brexit, and was influential in the negotiation of the Windsor Agreement between the UK and the EU.

A ministerial colleague told me: James is one of the few people who is popular with all wings of the party. Hes close to Boris but hes trusted by Rishi.

If people are looking for someone to pull everyone together after the Election, hes in contention.

Theres still a way to go before then. Sunaks patient delivery of his five priorities could miraculously transform his political fortunes. Sir Keir Starmer could suddenly find a way of discovering, then channelling, his inner Tony Blair. Sir Ed Davey might decide to take a gamble on another spin of the coalition wheel.

But after the local election results, a 2025 General Election is now a very real prospect.

Another one? Yes Brenda, Im afraid so.
The DOJ has appealed a Florida judge's decision to block the Biden administration's plan to begin releasing migrants into the community in the wake of Title 42.

As the fallout from the expiration of the order continues, DailyMail.com obtained new photos showing dozens of migrants being apprehended by Border Patrol as they illegally cross into the US.

Biden's proposed 'paroles' were to be triggered when holding centers reach 125 percent capacity, or when authorities stop 7,000 migrants along the border in a day.

That plan was halted on Thursday night when US District Judge T. Kent Wetherell, a Donald Trump appointee, agreed with the argument from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' administration, which had filed suit in court, that the Biden plan was nearly identical to another Biden policy previously voided in federal court.

Throngs of migrants showed up at the southern border on Saturday as Title 42 expired

Border Patrol apprehend migrants after they crossed the border illegally into Sunland Park, New Mexico on May 13

The White House has accused Republicans, especially Gov. Ron DeSantis of sabotaging efforts to deal with the post Title 42 fallout

'The way we see that it's sabotage. It's pure and simple. That's how that reads to us,' White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at her daily press briefing on Friday

'The Department of Justice is going to fight it,' White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced Friday.

'Republican elected officials continue to play games here,' she said. 'They continue to have political stunts, and they don't want to solve this problem. They want to use it again as a as a campaign tool for them.'

In the case, the Justice Department said the new policy was a response to an emergency and being prevented from carrying it out 'could overwhelm the border and raise serious health and safety risks to noncitizens and immigration officials.'

Wetherell blocked the releases for two weeks and scheduled a May 19 hearing on whether to extend his order.

Title 42 allowed authorities to use a public health law to rapidly expel migrants crossing over the border, denying them the right to seek asylum. US officials turned away migrants more than 2.8 million times under the order.

New rules strip away that ability to simply expel asylum seekers, but add stricter consequences to those not going through official migratory channels. Migrants caught crossing illegally will not be allowed to return for five years and can face criminal prosecution if they do.

Biden's plan was to parole migrants from bulging migrant centers with a 60 day ticket to reappear in front of an immigration officer

Those 'paroles' were to be triggered when holding centers reach 125% capacity, or when authorities stop 7,000 migrants along the border in a day

Now as that plan was halted by a Florida judge, migrants continue to flood the country, the White House is dealing with a legal saga. The administration plans to appeal

The Biden administration has also set caps on the amount of migrants allowed to seek asylum.

At the same time, Biden is likely to continue American pressure on Mexico and other countries to make it harder for migrants to move north.

Mexico's Secretary of Foreign Affairs Marcelo Ebrard said they don't agree with the Biden administration's decision to continue to put up migratory barriers.

'Our position is the opposite, but we respect their (US) jurisdiction,' Ebrard said.

Yet in a news briefing on Friday, he announced Mexico would carry out speedier deportations, and that it would no longer give migrants papers to cross through Mexico.

Thousands of other migrants from across the Hemisphere are continuing in a scramble to reach the United States-Mexico border and request asylum.

They race, unsure what changing migratory rules and the end of a pandemic-era border restriction, Title 42, would mean for their chances at a new life in the U.S.

Confusion has rippled from the US-Mexico border to migrant routes across the Americas, as migrants scramble to understand complex and ever-changing policies. And while Title 42 has come to an end, the flow of migrants headed north has not.

In the case, the Justice Department said the new policy was a response to an emergency and being prevented from carrying it out 'could overwhelm the border and raise serious health and safety risks to noncitizens and immigration officials'

Title 42 allowed authorities to use a public health law to rapidly expel migrants crossing over the border, denying them the right to seek asylum

U.S. officials turned away migrants more than 2.8 million times under the order.

From the rolling mountains and jungles in Central America to the tops of trains roaring through Mexico, migrants from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, Colombia, Nicaragua, Ecuador and beyond push forward on their journeys.

The problem, say experts, is that while migration laws are changing, root causes pushing people to flee their countries in record numbers only stretch on.

'It doesn't appear to be the case that this is going to curb the push or pull factors for migration from Central America, South America and other parts of the world,' said Falko Ernst, senior analyst for International Crisis Group in Mexico, in an interview with the Associated Press.

'The incentives for people to flee and seek refuge in safer havens in the United States are still in place.'

Others, like 25-year-old migrant Gerardo Escobar left in search of a better future after struggling to make ends meet in Venezuela like Contreras' family.

Escobar trekked along train tracks Friday morning just outside Mexico City, with 60 other migrants, including families and small children. They hoped to climb aboard a train migrants have used for decades to carry them on their dangerous journey.

Escobar was among many to say he had no clue what the end of Title 42 would mean, and he didn't particularly care.

'My dream is to get a job, eat well, help my family in Venezuela,' he said. 'My dream is to move forward.'

New rules strip away that ability to simply expel asylum seekers, but add stricter consequences to those not going through official migratory channels

The Biden administration has also set caps on the amount of migrants allowed to seek asylum

Despite misinformation prompting a rush to the border last week, analysts and those providing refuge to migrants said that they don't expect new policies to radically stem the flow of migrants.

While the new rules likely won't act as a strong deterrent, Ebrard and the head of a migrant shelter in Guatemala said they saw a drop in the number of migrants they encountered immediately following the rush on the U.S. border. Though the shelter leader said numbers have been slowly picking up.

Still, migrants continued to make it across the U.S. border, even as the new rules were announced. At a cemetery near Roma, Texas, about 60 migrants who had crossed the Rio Bravo were waiting to be processed around midnight. They included a large group of Chinese migrants who huddled for cover under a driving rain.

Another member of the group, a Guatemalan who left her country to escape an abusive husband, crossed the river with her four-year-old son. With the rules changing, she was unsure if she'd qualify for any asylum help.

Ernst, of International Crisis Group, warned that such measures could make the already deadly journey even more dangerous.

'You'll see an increase in populations that remain vulnerable for criminal groups to prey on, to recruit from and make a profit from,' he said. 'It could just feed into the hands of these criminal groups.'

Meanwhile, Contreras continues trucking forward alongside many other migrants, even with no clear pathway forward and little information about what awaits them at the U.S. border.

It's worth it, she said, to give a better life to small children traveling with them.

'We've fought a lot for them (the kids),' she said. 'All we want is to be safe, a humble home where they can study, where they can eat well. We're not asking for much. We're just asking for peace and safety.'
Benefits staff were ordered to pay tens of millions of pounds to foreign criminals during the pandemic  despite suspecting fraud, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Senior civil servants told staff at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) who sounded the alert to make the payments, according to Government whistleblowers.

Investigators working for the department say benefits bosses operated a policy of 'blindly trusting' all applications at face value  including claims made using fake IDs by Romanian criminal gangs and fraudsters from other Eastern European countries.

Last week, the DWP admitted losing 6.4 billion to fraud in the past year, down from a record 6.5 billion in 2021/22. Almost 300 million of the latest total was committed from abroad  much of it suspected to involve organised crime.

The DWP blamed fraudsters 'taking advantage of temporary easements... during the pandemic to pay people who needed help'.

Senior civil servants told staff at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) who sounded the alert to make the payments, according to Government whistleblowers

Last week, the DWP admitted losing 6.4 billion to fraud in the past year, down from a record 6.5 billion in 2021/22

But in a report to the Commons Public Accounts Committee, whistleblowers said senior civil servants had undermined the payments system by deliberately ignoring checks.

One DWP investigator told MPs: 'Significant amounts of money were knowingly paid out incorrectly. I and others questioned the amount and reported our suspicions. The response centred on the belief that we could claw the money back once the pandemic was over.

'The DWP had a phrase they used, 'Trust and protect'  you were expected to accept everything at face value and trust the applicant.

'When I refused to make a payment, a supervisor would make the payment on my behalf. Amounts ranged from 900 to 3,000.

'Foreign nationals made lots of bogus claims. I had cases that were clearly fraudulent.' An executive officer at the DWP's Counter Fraud, Compliance and Debt team accused the department of 'utter mismanagement', adding: 'We had a problem with false or bogus applications from non-UK residents trying to take advantage of the pandemic.

'Lots of applications were received from Romanian nationals. I was told many may be linked to organised crime. It was a shambles. The department was in meltdown.' Last night, Tory MP Sir Robert Neill said: 'Fraud is not a victimless offence  everyone is hit by it, especially when it is public money.'

Crime expert Ali Hassan Ali, a former Met Police officer, said: 'Fraud gangs targeting Britain's benefits system are a growing industry in Romania. The DWP is using out-dated tools and practices to investigate fraudulent claims. This encourages gangs... they think Britain is an easy target.'

Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said: 'While we may be beginning to turn the tide on fraud, there is still much to do.'

The DWP said: 'Fraud teams are working hard to root out criminal activity, arresting fraudsters within serious and organised crime groups. This is backed by 900 million in our Fraud Plan, which will save the taxpayer 2.4 billion by 2025.'
An Islamic Jihad leader says that a ceasefire has been agreed with Israel but rocket fire continued after a deadline, leaving the deal in question.

The agreement was announced to end five days of heavy fighting, but both sides inflicted devastation on each other after the Egyptian-brokered deal went into effect at 10pm local time (7pm GMT).

Islamic Jihad leader Mohamad al-Hindi had told the Al Kahera Wal Nas channel that: 'This agreement has been reached thanks to continuous Egyptian effort. We appreciate this effort.

Shortly before the truce was to take hold, Israel reported a heavy burst of Palestinian rocket fire towards southern and central Israel, while Israel said it was striking targets inside Gaza.

After the 10pm deadline, Israel reported additional rocket fire, and Israeli media said warplanes were responding. There was no Israeli comment on the ceasefire announcement.

An Islamic Jihad leader says that a ceasefire has been agreed with Israel but rocket fire continued after a deadline leaving the deal in question

Palestinians inspect the damage of a house hit by the Israeli airstrikes at Beit Lahia on May 13

Palestinian groups respond by firing rockets and mortar shells from Gaza to Israel

Egypt frequently acts as a broker between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in Gaza.

A similar announcement last week by Egypt unravelled amid continued fighting.

The fighting has killed 33 Palestinians inside Gaza, including at least 13 civilians.

Two people were killed by rocket fire in Israel, including an 80-year-old Israeli woman and a Palestinian man from Gaza who had a permit to work in Israel.

The latest violence erupted on Tuesday when Israeli air strikes killed three senior Islamic Jihad commanders.

Israel said the air strikes were in response to a previous burst of rocket fire the previous week and that its attacks have been focused on Islamic Jihad targets.

But residents in Gaza said homes of people uninvolved in fighting had also been struck.

In a reminder of the combustible situation in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military raided the Balata refugee camp near the northern city of Nablus, sparking a firefight that killed two Palestinians.

Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system fires interceptors at rockets launched from the Gaza Strip

People inspect the damage in a graveyard hit by an Israeli air strike in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip

On Saturday, Palestinians ventured out to assess the damage wrought by Israeli warplanes and salvage whatever they could

In a separate incident near the northern city of Jenin, Israeli police said they shot and killed a suspected Palestinian assailant who ran towards soldiers wielding a knife.

Meanwhile, Israeli military earlier on Saturday bombed an apartment belonging to Islamic Jihad commander Mohammed Abu Al Atta, among other targets including rocket launchers, it said.

Islamic Jihad militants fired several barrages of rockets towards southern Israel, where tens of thousands of Israelis were instructed to remain close to safe rooms and bomb shelters.

Hundreds of residents near the border were evacuated to hotels further north.

Israel's military chief, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, said Israel had made 'significant achievements' throughout the fighting and said the army was ready to continue its campaign.

'We are prepared to continue the targeted strikes and striking in a precise and increasing manner,' he added.

The hostilities erupted on Tuesday when Israel targeted and killed three senior Islamic Jihad commanders who it said were responsible for firing rockets towards the country last week.

At least 10 civilians, including women, young children and uninvolved neighbours were killed in those initial strikes, which drew regional condemnation.

Over the past few days, Israel has conducted more air strikes, killing other senior Islamic Jihad commanders and destroying their command centres and rocket-launching sites.

Smoke and fire rise from an explosion following an Israeli airstrike on Khan Yunis

Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system fires interceptors at rockets launched from the Gaza Strip

On Saturday, Palestinians ventured out to assess the damage wrought by Israeli warplanes and salvage whatever they could.

One man carefully pulled documents out from under the rubble. Another carried away a mattress.

Four homes in densely populated residential neighbourhoods were reduced to dust in the pre-dawn attacks.

The Israeli military alleged the targeted homes belonged to or were used by Islamic Jihad militants.

The residents denied the army's claims and said they had no idea why their homes were targeted.

'We have no rocket-launching pads at all. This is a residential area,' said Awni Obaid, beside the debris of what was his three-storey house in the central town of Deir al-Balah.

The nearby house of his relative, Jehad Obaid, was also levelled.

He had been standing some hundred metres away when his apartment was bombed.

'I felt like vomiting because of the dust,' he said.

'This is extraordinary hatred. They claim they don't strike at children, but what we see is craziness, destruction.'

Most of the rockets have fallen inside Gaza, landed in open areas or been intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome aerial defence system

Islamic Jihad has retaliated by firing more than 1,200 rockets towards southern and central Israel, according to the military.

On Friday, the group escalated its assaults and fired rockets towards Jerusalem, setting off air raid sirens in the Israeli settlements south of the contested capital.

Most of the rockets have fallen inside Gaza, landed in open areas or been intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome aerial defence system.

But a rocket on Thursday penetrated missile defences and sliced through a house in the central city of Rehovot, killing an 80-year-old woman and wounding several others.

Hamas, the larger militant group that has fought four wars against Israel since seizing control of Gaza in 2007, has praised Islamic Jihad's strikes but remained on the sidelines, according to Israeli military officials, limiting the scope of the conflict.

As the de facto government held responsible for the abysmal conditions in the blockaded Gaza Strip, Hamas has recently tried to keep a lid on its conflict with Israel.

Islamic Jihad, on the other hand, a more ideological and unruly militant group wedded to violence, has taken the lead in the past few rounds of fighting with Israel.
A former Playboy model turned Italian princess who was evicted from the castle she spent the past decade restoring by her royal stepsons is still searching for a permanent home months later.

Her Royal Highness Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi, 73, had been granted the rights to the Casino dell' Aurora by her late husband, Prince Nicolo Boncompagni Ludovisi, in his will.

But her stepsons, Princes Bante, Ignazio and Francesco have argued that they have a rightful claim to a portion of the 32,000-square-foot Renaissance villa and its surrounding estate, which serves as the ancestral home of the Boncompagni Ludovisi clan.

They argued in an Italian court that the princess had damaged the world's most expensive property as she tried to restore it, and was charging tours of the estate.

A judge then issued an evacuation order in January, which was finally enforced with police arriving outside the palace gates on April 20, when she had just 30 minutes to collect all of her belongings.

The princess is now left homeless and penniless, while the status of her $533million home remains in limbo.

Making matters worse, the Ukrainian refugee family she had housed at the estate has once again found themselves homeless.

'It's been such a brutal ending to a beautiful story,' she said.

Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi, 73, has been evicted from the castle she spent the past decade restoring by her royal stepsons

The princess has said 'we had a wonderful life together' with Prince Nicolo

Princess Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi poses for a photograph outside Villa Aurora, a building that boasts Caravaggio's only ceiling mural

One of the entrances to the 32,000-square-foot Renaissance villa is pictured here

'It has been very Kafkaesque and deeply disorienting,' the princess, who was born in Texas and made a name for herself as a political operative, told the New York Post.

She said her assets have all been frozen, and she was ordered by an Italian court to pay her stepsons' legal bills.

The princess has also been left without her 16-year-old Mercedes Benz, after one of the princes claimed he had a rightful ownership of the car.

'I lost my home of 20years, my Ukrainian guests were thrown out on the street with no place to go, my dogs are traumatized and the custodian [judge] would not let me take my car,' she said.

'Bante has been very aggressive with me for no reason,' Rita said of her 52-year-old stepson.

'None of it had to happen this way,' she continued. 'I'm pretty easy to get along with.'

Rita is now staying at a villa loaned to her by Princess Maria Pia Ruspoli outside of Rome, but will soon be seeking shelter from another friend outside of Paris.

The Ukrainian refugee family that she took in following the Russian invasion last year, meanwhile, are staying in an apartment outside of Rome.

But the unit is only available for another week, 'and then the unknown,' Masha Bratashevska, a stylist from Kyiv, told the Post.

'All of our acquaintances are trying to help us find something to rent for several months, but to no avail.'

The princess has told how all of her assets have been frozen and even her car was seized

The princess was born Rita Carpenter in San Antonio, Texas in November 1949

Italian police stood in front of the villa as they forced the princess out on April 20

Her stepsons have argued that they have a rightful claim to a portion of the 32,000-square-foot Renaissance villa and its surrounding estate, which is the ancestral home of the Boncompagni Ludovisi clan. Francesco and Bante are pictured here

A court ruled that she allowed an exterior wall in the world's most expensive property to crumble - despite images showing it still standing

The mother-of-three told how her youngest children, Elisabetta, 7, and Vlad, 8, must now leave the apartment at 5am to make the trip to central Rome so that thy can attend their old school near the palace.

'The children still go to the local school,' Bratashevska explained. 'Stability, at least in some way, is extremely important now.'

Her eldest son, now 17, has returned to Ukraine to live with his father, whom he missed while he was bullied at school in Italy.

'Thanks to Rita, this place has become a second home for us, where we were able to calm down and restore normal life, especially [for] the children,' she said.

'The news of the eviction was absolutely stunning and shocking for us.'

After the eviction, the princess said, the children returned to the villa to collect their clothes and toys  before locking themselves up in a room and refusing to leave.

'Every time Vlad sees me he hands me coins,' she said. 'He said he wants to help me.

'It's been such a brutal ending to a beautiful story.'

The princess is pictured being ousted from her home of 20 years on April 20

Texas-born Princess Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi said it did not have to be this way

She decided to pose nude for Playboy in 1981, the same year she and a South Carolina congressman got divorced

The princess was born Rita Carpenter in San Antonio, Texas in November 1949.

Her father, C. Hunt Carpenter, was an insurance tycoon turned natural gas millionaire.

Living a life of privilege, Rita went on to become a Republican party official  only to marry Democratic Representative John Jenrette Jr. in 1976.

Rita is pictured on the cover of Playboy in 1984, three years after she first appeared in the magazine back in 1981

She later claimed that he was a serial cheater, and she decided to pose nude for Playboy in 1981, the same year she and Jenrette got divorced.

During that time, sometime in the 80s', when she appeared on the cover of Playboy, a scandal played out when she told the magazine that she and Jenrette had sex on the Capital steps during a break in an all-night House session.

But, in 2017 during an interview on 'CBS Sunday Morning,' she claimed it was simply a 'kiss,' asserting that 'we did not make love on the Capitol steps.'

Luviosi then met Prince Nicolo in the early 2000s, when on of his friends asked her to serve as his broker for a hotel he wanted to develop, and in 2009, she became his third wife. (The princes mother, Beneatta Barberini Colonna di Sciarra was his first).

Despite familial drama, the princess has said 'we had a wonderful life together,' devoting their time to renovating the villa, which was once the home of Julius Ceasar.

Together, they discovered 150,000 documents in a previously unfound archive at the property.

It has been turned into a digital archive by undergraduates, with highlights including detailed financial accounts for the Boncompagni and Ludovisi families, and 25 previously unknown letters of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

A formal collaboration with Rutgers University led to the creation of a course, with a focus on Gregory XIII Boncompagni (157285) and Gregory XV Ludovisi.

The villa is also home to the only mural that Caravaggio is known to have painted.

The Caravaggio ceiling graces a tiny room off a spiral staircase on the second floor, and was commissioned in 1597 by a diplomat and patron of the arts to decorate the ceiling of the small room being used as an alchemy workshop.

The 2.75-meter (9-foot) wide mural, which depicts Jupiter, Pluto and Neptune, is unusual: It's not a fresco, but rather oil paint on plaster.

Princess Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi shows to journalists her stunning Renaissance-era home

The Casino Boncompagni Ludovisi also known as Casino dell'Aurora. Pictured is the ornate ceiling showing the countries, with the side panels painted by Guercino, Paul Bril, Domenichino, Gian Battista Viola

Tucked away in a small room on the second floor, Jupiter, Neptune And Pluto (pictured) is the only ceiling painting by Caravaggio

But since Prince Nicolo died in 2018, his children have been arguing that the house, built in 1570, belongs to them, that their grandfather intended for them to inherit it and that their late father abused them and mismanaged his fortune.

They mounted a multi-pronged legal campaign to get control of the property so it can be sold, but attempts to lower the price to $353million still failed to shift it.

Rome Judge Miriam Iappelli issued an eviction order in January, accusing the princess of having violated a previous order forbidding her from conducting guided tours of the property.

Rita said the tours were necessary to raise money to maintain the villa. In addition, the judge found that the princess had failed to maintain the home in a 'good state of conservation' after an exterior wall allegedly crumbled.

But photos posted on social media show that a top piece of the wall appeared to have become dislodged, rather than the collapse of the structure entirely.

The princess has now retained six lawyers, and is scheduled to be back in court at the end of the month to once again fight eviction.

She has claimed she has been ousted due to her stepson's anti-American sentiment.

It has since been revealed that prince Bante is wanted in the United States for domestic violence charges.

The prince, who is married to Delphina Lapham  the daughter of journalist Lewis Lapham  was charged with domestic assault in Newport, Rhode Island in 2012.

He was accused of shoving his wife to the ground during an argument at the time, and when he was handcuffed he allegedly told police it was 'none of their business' and they would be 'arrested' in Italy.

The prince then fled the United States, but there is still an open warrant for his arrest.

'I have never, and never will commit a crime,' he told the Post. 'It is known throughout the world that American police are worse than dogs.'
Poland is on high alert after armed forced detected a suspected observation balloon in its airspace coming from the direction of Belarus.

The countrys Defence Minister shared on Twitter that the object was spotted at around 8:30pm on Friday and that subsequent monitoring was carried out.

However, the object disappeared from the radar at around 12:30am on Saturday near Rypin, a town in central Poland around 180 miles from the countrys border with Belarus.

It comes after two other invasions of Polands airspace since Russia invaded Ukraine, which boarders Poland, last February.

In November last year, two Polish men died when a missile landed in eastern Poland.

The incident is similar to that which happened over the US in February when an Chinese spy balloon was shot down

The balloon was recovered off the coast of Myrtyle Beach in South Carolina

Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon

The White House claimed Chinese balloons have crossed over dozens of countries over multiple continents.

The suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down off the coast in Surfside Beach, USA

Western officials have said they believe a Ukrainian air defence missile went astray, leading to the deaths of the two men, as Ukrainian air forces attempted to fight against the Russian invasion.

After the incident, Polish President Andrzej Duda said he had seen no evidence the missile was fire by Russia and that it was highly probably that the Soviet-era S-300 rocket came from Ukraine.

'Ukraine's defense was launching their missiles in various directions and it is highly probable that one of these missiles unfortunately fell on Polish territory,' Duda said at the time.

He that Russia bears ultimate responsibility for the strike because Putin began the war in Ukraine.

Another object landed on Polish territory in December, but was only discovered by chance last month by a member of the public who was riding a horse in a nearby forest.

Polish media outlets later reported that the object was a Russian KH-55 missile.

The incident is similar to that of the Chinese spy balloon, which passed over the US and caused concerns over national security in February.

The White House claimed Chinese balloons have crossed over dozens of countries over multiple continents.
Scott Baio and his wife are living in a condo while their new home is being built in Florida after ditching California for being overrun with homeless people and out-of-control crime.

Baio spent 45 years on the West Coast in Los Angeles before finally 'exiting stage right.'

He announced the move earlier this month, pointing to statistics that estimated around 70,000 homeless people live in Los Angeles County, with roughly 41,000 in the city alone.

Baio uprooted for Bradenton, Florida and is currently living in a condo with his wife Renee while they wait for their new home to be built.

Renee revealed the couple choose Bradenton for many reasons, including its proximity to Anna Maria Island and Siesta Key.

Scott Baio and his wife are living in a condo while their new home is being built in Florida

'I love the small town feel and values of Manatee County and I support mom-and-pop businesses and would like to keep them thriving,' she told the Herald-Tribune.

The Happy Days star said he has been 'forced out' of southern California after decades, saying that the state has become 'unlivable,' citing the homeless doing drugs on the sidewalk in the middle of the day, crime being 'out of control,' and 'graffiti on everything.'

The sitcom star, 62, said he has now moved to the west coast of Florida with his wife Renee Sloan and their daughter Bailey because they no longer felt safe in California.

Baio is the latest celebrity to escape from California due to the disastrous rise in homelessness and crime, with the star putting his $3.85million home in Woodland Hills, LA, on the market last month.

The conservative-leaning star told Fox News he has watched Southern California descend into a 'third-world country' in the last 45 years.

'Between the homeless defecating on the sidewalk, doing drugs on the sidewalk in the middle of the day, illegal aliens all over the place, law means nothing, crime is out of control, graffiti on everything... all of my tax dollars, I don't know what they go for,' Baio said last night.

He added: 'I'm afraid to go to the mall, my wife and kid are afraid to go to the mall. It's become an unlivable situation.

'I've been in California a very, very long time, and it's so sad to me. I've got family and I've got friends there, and I didn't want to leave, but I've been pretty much forced out.'

Scott Baio and his wife are living in a condo while their new home is being built in Florida

Baoi confirmed that he had moved to the west coast of Florida after he posted a photo of himself by a beach on Instagram with the caption: 'Living our best life in Florida.'

The actor lives in a gated community called Westchester County Estates in California, according to Realtor.com.

A 6,300-square foot property containing five bedrooms and 4.5 baths, it also contains a big ceiling, stone floors, a curved staircase, a great room, dining room and home office.

The outside includes a pool, spa, and loads of plantings and a no-build zone behind it.

Los Angeles' wealthiest residents are fleeing the city as Governor Gavin Newsom hikes taxes on the rich and the city crumbles under soaring crime rates - with actor Jim Carrey the latest A-lister to list his home for sale.

According to the LA Times, the state of California has lost over 500,000 residents between 2020 and 2022. It's the fourth largest decrease in the country in that time, behind New York, Illinois and Louisiana.

Not only are California lawmakers pushing legislation that would impose a new tax on the state's wealthiest residents, there's also a rising crime and homeless problem which has led these celebs to flee.

Baio cited the state's homelessness statistics, noting that 'it brings down property value'

Actor Mark Wahlberg has sold his longtime home in Los Angeles for just over $55million, more than $30million below the initial asking price, as he leaves in favor of Nevada in a quest to eventually build 'Hollywood 2.0' in Sin City.

With these celebrities all packing it in and heading for greener pastures, even more could flee with progressive Democrat assemblyman Alex Lee recently introducing a bill that would impose an extra annual 1.5 percent tax on residents - past and present - with a worldwide net worth above $1 billion, beginning in January 2024.

As early as 2026, the threshold for being taxed would decrease. Those with a worldwide net worth exceeding $50million would have to pay a 1 percent annual tax on wealth, while billionaires would still be taxed 1.5 percent.

Worldwide wealth includes diverse holdings such as farm assets, arts and other collectibles, as well as stocks and hedge fund interest.

California already taxes the wealthy more than most states, with the top one percent of earners accounting for about half of the state's income tax collections.

According to Forbes' 2022 World's Billionaires list, there are 186 billionaires living in California, down from 189 the year before, but far more than any other state.

In 2020, California had the greatest number of millionaire households in the US, with 1.14million households having one million or more in investible assets.

While some are fleeing Los Angeles for the rise in taxes, others are worried that the homelessness, poverty and crime are on the rise as well.

Baoi is the latest celebrity to escape from California due to the disastrous rise in homelessness and crime, with the star putting his $3.85million home in Woodland Hills, LA, on the market last month

According to SafeWise, the Golden State 'saw 4.4 violent crime incidents per 1,000 people - exceeding the national rate of 4.0.'

Homelessness, and especially homelessness with the added facet of severe drug addiction, presents a significant issue for many major metropolitan areas in the US right now.

Especially in Los Angeles and San Francisco, where the drug-addled homeless populations have all-but overtaken entire areas of the cities, making it hard for people to run businesses and parents to feel comfortable with their children walking to school.

Late last year, members of the Los Angeles City Council voted to stop homeless people from setting up their tents within 500 feet of schools in the city.

LA, like the rest of California, is struggling to come to grips with its homelessness problem.

Between 2010 and 2020, the state saw a 31 per cent rise in homelessness while the rest of the country experienced a drop of 18 per cent.

An estimated 40,000 people are homeless in the city, which has a population of nearly 4million people.
Rishi Sunak last night led a chorus of criticism over Labour plans to stop bosses from contacting staff outside office hours  and to enshrine in law the right to work from home.

The Prime Minister told The Mail on Sunday that while he was 'working night and day' for the country, 'Labour wouldn't even work weekends for the British public'.

The measures  already being dubbed a 'skivers' charter'  were condemned by leading business figures, who warned about the damage it would cause to an already struggling economy.

They are expected to form part of Labour's election manifesto as a 'new deal for working people', which would also include more flexible hours.

The 'right to switch off' is based on legislation in France, where companies with more than 50 workers have been obliged since 2017 to set out the hours when staff are not supposed to send or answer emails. Italy, Spain, Portugal and Belgium have followed suit.

The measures  already being dubbed a 'skivers' charter'  were condemned by leading business figures, who warned about the damage it would cause to an already struggling economy (File Photo)

Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner told the Financial Times that 'constant emails and calls outside of work should not be the norm' because they are 'harming the work-life balance for many'.

Last night, advertising tycoon Sir Martin Sorrell said: 'I find it unbelievable. I guess this will result in another blow to British productivity. I guess they believe this appeals to Gen Z voters [those under 30], but I'm not sure it will appeal to the whole electorate. In a service business, 24/7 availability for clients is essential. Opportunities and problems in businesses such as ours don't crop up conveniently during office hours.'

John Caudwell, founder of Phones 4U, said: 'Not only is it frightening but with all the challenges that we've got in life, with wars and the cost-of-living crisis, it's just so ridiculous. I can't believe it. I don't even know how it would work.

'It is completely beyond common sense to me. It's bizarre in the extreme. It's woke gone mad and I'm completely puzzled by it. If Labour have got nothing better to do than dream up legislation like that which is utterly destructive to society, to me that would make them utterly unelectable.'

Pictured: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks during Prime Minister's Questions, at the House of Commons in London, on May 10, 2023

Pictured: Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer with deputy leader Angela Rayner during their visit to Gillingham, Kent, on the eve of local elections polling day, on May 3, 2023

And writing in this newspaper, hotel tycoon Sir Rocco Forte called the plans 'a skivers' charter' that will 'cripple businesses'. Under Labour's plans, companies would also be expected to offer flexible working  including working from home and staggered hours  as the default option from the first day of employment, 'except where it is not reasonably feasible'.

It comes after Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said the Treasury would be able to slash the basic rate of income tax by 2p if Britons who left jobs during the pandemic returned to work.

In his interview, Mr Sunak said: 'Mel made an excellent point and the Chancellor in his Budget made the same point, which is we want to encourage people into work. Mel is working very hard to reform the system so that we can ensure that work always pays.'

Other policies being considered for the manifesto by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer include making it easier for workers to strike, a tax hike on private school fees and more onshore wind turbines.

Trade Minister Kevin Hollinrake said: 'If ever we needed further proof that the Labour Party is anti-business and can never be trusted with the economy, this is it.'

SIR ROCCO FORTE: Labour's plan to ban bosses calling staff at home amounts to a skivers' charter and is precisely the sort of measure that will cripple businesses

BY SIR ROCCO FORTE, CHAIRMAN OF ROCCO FORTE HOTELS

News of a policy initiative by the Labour Party is never calculated to be good for my blood pressure but the latest one proposing to give workers the 'right to switch off' sent it off the scale.

My company runs 14 hotels and resorts scattered around five countries in multiple time zones, and so the idea that I and my staff could confine our interactions to a rigid set of working hours is absurd.

As someone who prides himself on being a good employer, I am not going to bother anyone unnecessarily, but if a situation requires input from a person out of the office then it is perfectly reasonable to contact them outside normal hours.

And I practise what I preach. I make myself available to my colleagues 24/7.

Sir Rocco Forte (pictured): News of a policy initiative by the Labour Party is never calculated to be good for my blood pressure but the latest one proposing to give workers the 'right to switch off' sent it off the scale

Pictured: Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer making his speech to the Progressive Britain conference at Congress House on May 13, 2023

Sir Keir Starmer recently had the temerity to attack the Tory record on economic growth. But Labour's proposal to ban bosses from contacting employees during their evenings, weekends and holidays, is precisely the sort of measure that will cripple businesses by reducing their productivity and making them less competitive.

One of the reasons I am a Brexiteer is because I detested the way the EU was strangling commerce in red tape.

But Sir Keir's wish to enshrine in law a rule pioneered by the French, those lovers of the nanny state, would only make doing business harder, something the Gallic subsidiary of British pest-control firm Rentokil has learned to its cost.

In 2018, one of its workers was awarded 60,000 (52,725) after the company was found to have failed to respect 'le droit de la deconnexion' (the right to disconnect).

Together with Labour's proposal to make working from home a legal right, the right to switch off amounts to a skivers' charter.

After all, it's delusional to believe people at home work as diligently as those who turn up to the office. And what about those who can't work from home, such as plumbers, drivers and my hotel chefs?

As politicians, Starmer and his deputy Angela Rayner know only too well that the demands of the news cycle require them to make themselves freely available. Politicians can't work 9 to 5, why should they expect the rest of us to?
Prince Andrew will not move out of his 30 million home, Royal Lodge on the Windsor estate, putting him on collision course with King Charles.

The Duke of York is digging his heels in and refusing to vacate the 30-room mansion, his home for more than 20 years.

Charles has let it be known that Andrew should leave the house, where he lives with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, and downsize to Prince Harrys former home, Frogmore Cottage.

It is widely understood that Royal Lodge, once occupied by the Queen Mother, has been earmarked for Prince William and his family.

As first revealed in The Mail on Sunday, the King is cutting the annual 250,000 subsidy that the late Queen gave to Andrew  meaning he can no longer afford the upkeep for the mansion.

It is widely understood that Royal Lodge, once occupied by the Queen Mother, has been earmarked for Prince William and his family

Friends of the Yorks say Andrew, who was forced to step back as a front-line Royal because of his association with paedophile millionaire Jeffrey Epstein, is refusing to budge from Royal Lodge

Andrew is seeking face-to-face showdown talks with his brother.

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Friends of the Yorks say Andrew, who was forced to step back as a front-line Royal because of his association with paedophile millionaire Jeffrey Epstein, is refusing to budge from Royal Lodge. They say hes in low spirits and has become reclusive. One friend said: He is so fragile. Hes refusing to see anybody. This has been his family home for the past 20 years. Is it really sensible to kick him out?

Hes concerned that now the Coronation is over, the knives are out. Hes worried that the Royals might even turn off the utilities to get him out of there. But were dealing with human beings, not real estate.

With Andrew and Sarah living together, their daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, are regular visitors.

Another friend said: Eugenie is heavily pregnant and her parents expect to have the new grandchild there this summer.

Dont forget that Sarah has been the glue holding the family together through this nightmare.

It is understood that the Palace had initially said the Yorks must leave the property  which they lease  by September, but that the authorities now accept such a tight timetable is unrealistic.

As first revealed in The Mail on Sunday, the King is cutting the annual 250,000 subsidy that the late Queen gave to Andrew  meaning he can no longer afford the upkeep for the mansion

Frogmore Cottage, renovated to a high standard, became free after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan, left to live in California

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Frogmore Cottage, renovated to a high standard, became free after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan, left to live in California.

Negotiations over Royal Lodge which began under the reign of the late Queen  are continuing. Andrew is understood to be frustrated that talks are between officials instead of between brothers  and wants that to change.

Friends suggest that he might consider a compromise deal if Charles does the decent thing and talks to his brother face to face.

One said: If Charles wants Andrew to play ball and help the family through these difficult times, arent there better ways of going about it?

Why not do the decent thing, sit down and talk?

If they need the house for William, perhaps Andrew should be told. Perhaps William should invite his uncle for tea and explain.

Or why doesnt Charles invite his brother for a meeting and ask him if hed leave Royal Lodge to help his nephew and the future of the monarchy? And agree a schedule acceptable to both sides.

Is a little decency so difficult? There are real people at the heart of all this.

Hes just lost his mother. Who, straight after that, would want to be evicted by his brother?
Jeremy Bamber, who was convicted of murdering his family, claimed last night the 'endgame' was near in his 38-year battle to prove he was innocent of the White House Farm murders after a police watchdog ruled against the force that secured his conviction.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has concluded that Essex Police breached its statutory duty by not referring 29 serious complaints to the IOPC about how senior officers handled the case.

Bamber, 62, is serving a whole-life tariff for the murders of his adoptive parents Nevill and June Bamber, both 61, his adoptive sister Sheila Caffell, 28, and her six-year-old twins, Daniel and Nicholas. All were shot at White House Farm in Tolleshunt D'Arcy, Essex, on August 7, 1985.

Bamber has always said he is innocent and claims Sheila, who was a paranoid schizophrenic, carried out the murders before shooting herself.

He is the only whole-life prisoner in the British prison system to maintain his innocence.

Serial killer Jeremy Bamber claimed last night the 'endgame' was near in his 38-year battle to prove he was innocent of the White House Farm murders

Bamber, 62, is serving a whole-life tariff for the murders of his adoptive parents Nevill and June Bamber, both 61, his adoptive sister Sheila Caffell, 28, and her six-year-old twins, Daniel and Nicholas. All were shot at White House Farm in Tolleshunt D'Arcy, Essex, on August 7, 1985

Bamber says officers concealed evidence and tampered with the crime scene.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is looking at fresh evidence that was submitted by Bamber's lawyers last October.

In a letter to Bamber, seen by The Mail on Sunday, the IOPC said: 'Having considered the nature of your complaints, there are matters raised in relation to allegations that officers lied about evidence, altered witness statements, passed evidence to a third party, withheld and concealed evidence and tampered with a crime scene.

'These complaints could amount to allegations of serious corruption based on the wording alone, as defined by our Statutory Guidance.

'As such... your complaint falls within the mandatory referral criteria and therefore should have been referred to the IOPC for assessment following recording in the first instance.'

It is the first time that a major authority such as the IOPC has criticised Essex Police.

Bamber told The Mail on Sunday: 'It's going to be very difficult for the CCRC not to act very quickly once they have the IOPC report stating that Essex Police failed in their statutory duty. I think this is the endgame.'

Essex Police said it was a matter for the IOPC. The watchdog did not respond to a request to comment.
A teacher was encouraged to share his Christian beliefs at a seminar  then dismissed for 'hate speech'.

Ben Dybowski, 55, was urged to give his views during a training course delivered by a Left-wing charity to reduce 'unconscious bias' among teachers.

During the 'diversity and inclusion' discussion about how to avoid offending pupils, teaching assistant Mr Dybowski challenged the group over whether his Christian beliefs were considered discriminatory.

He told them that he believed marriage was between a man and a woman, that life began at conception and that he was opposed to some aspects of sharia law such as the stoning of men for homosexuality.

Next morning he said he was summoned before headmaster Marc Belli, then ejected from The Bishop of Llandaff Church in Wales school, near Cardiff.

He said this was despite Mr Belli saying privately he shared many of the same Christian values.

Ben Dybowski, 55, was urged to give his views during a training course delivered by a Left-wing charity to reduce 'unconscious bias' among teachers

READ MORE: Christian teacher jailed after refusing to use gender-neutral pronouns is told he will remain behind bars for Christmas after telling court he should not be punished for his views on 'transgenderism' Enoch Burke (pictured on September 5 being brought into the Bridewell Garda station in Garda custody) was arrested in September for breaching a court order not to teach at his Westmeath school, or be physically present there Advertisement

Last night, Mr Dybowski called his dismissal an attack on Christianity and 'an affront to freedom of speech and freedom of thought'.

He said of the seminar: 'We were told it was a safe space and encouraged to speak freely.'

Grandfather Mr Dybowski, who has taught for two decades, insists he never discussed his views with pupils and was always respectful of those with different opinions. The mandatory seminar was run by Diverse Cymru, which trains teachers on 'workforce diversity practice', 'unconscious bias' and 'trans, gender identity and gender expression awareness'.

It was given by policy manager Ele Hicks who describes herself as a 'bisexual activist and change champion' and is involved with the controversial charity Stonewall. More than 80 staff attended the event in the school's main assembly hall, but no pupils were present.

When the seminar was opened up to a question and answer session, Mr Dybowski asked whether his Christian beliefs  that marriage is between man and woman and that life begins at conception  were considered discriminatory.

He also asked whether it was a problem that certain aspects of Islam, such as parts of sharia law and the stoning to death of women for adultery, concerned him. 'I asked if a mere expression of someone's religious beliefs can be regarded as discrimination,' he said.

After his dismissal Mr Dybowski said he turned to Diverse Cymru for advice, but was allegedly told it could not help in individual cases.

During the heated meeting in which he was dismissed, Mr Dybowski claims Mr Belli said that while he was free to hold conservative Christian views, he could not express them as they went against school policy. Mr Belli previously faced criticism from parents after he installed 20,000 open plan, gender-neutral toilets.

Mr Dybowski started at the school through an agency last October.

Toby Young, general secretary of the Free Speech Union, said: 'The way Ben has been treated is outrageous. Had he been an employee of the school, not taken on through the agency, he'd have an open and shut case for unfair dismissal.

'My advice to Mr Belli is to apologise. Discrimination based on religion or belief breaches the Equality Act. Damages aren't capped and individuals can be held liable.'

Mr Dybowski fears his teaching career may be over after his employer referred his case to the Education Workforce Council, which regulates teachers in Wales. EWC investigations can take up to eight months. Last night, the EWC said it could not comment on individual cases. Teachers' son Mr Dybowski grew up in Poland but has lived in Britain for almost two decades. He said: 'I remember well the final decade of communism there, with all of the limits on liberty and free speech. Sadly, some things in Britain now remind me of that period.'

Mr Belli said Mr Dybowski was engaged through the agency on a daily basis to provide relief cover.

He added: 'His work did not come to an end due to his holding any particular religious beliefs or political views.

'This was a safeguarding issue, which the school moved promptly to address, and it is entirely proper that the school did so to prevent the risk of harm to the children entrusted to it.

'The school's actions were taken on the basis of evidence that Mr Dybowski was unwilling to comply with the law and policies of the school, as a result of his views.'

He added: 'Whatever views we may privately hold, when we choose to take on a position of trust, caring for the children of Christian and non-Christian families, we choose to take on certain responsibilities as to how we act.'
The far-right group previously clashed with Satanists at SatanCon last month

A large police presence escorted the extremists along the National Mall

Around 200 members of the Patriot Front descended on DC on Saturday

Far-right group Patriot Front took to the streets of DC to march towards the US Capitol in the latest appearance of the white nationalist front.

Approximately 200 people advanced along the National Mall on Saturday, flanked by police to keep the extremists separated from a small group of counter protestors.

According to its website, the white nationalist group claims its 'activism' is intended to assert 'cultural independence' founded in 'our European race'.

The Patriot Front made headlines last month when they descended on SatanCon in Boston, where the 'largest Satanic gathering in history' saw furious clashes between the far-right activists and religious zealots.

Around 200 members of white supremacy group Patriot Front descended on DC on Saturday, parading through the National Mall while flanked by police

According to its website, the white nationalist group claims its 'activism' is intended to assert 'cultural independence' founded in 'our European race'

The group donned tan khaki pants and navy shirts, completed with white masks and sunglasses to hide their identities.

A small number of counter protestors gathered nearby, while the white nationalists could be heard chanting: 'Life, liberty and victory'.

Large American flags, megaphones and shields were also present as members of the Patriot Front marched. It is unclear if the men were armed as they descended on Washington, and there are currently no reports of injuries or arrests.

The group was escorted through the National Mall by police to keep the extremists away from counter protestors, who screamed at the mask-wearing zealots while they paraded through the city.

After marching through the Capitol for around an hour, the men were seen putting American flags and shields into white U-Haul vans.

A large police presence then ushered the group to a nearby train station, where officers blocked off the entrance to the public to allow the group to enter the metro unimpeded.

In a video posted to Telegram, a Patriot Front member leaving the march said it was a 'good demonstration' and the militants 'stayed tight and stayed in formation'.

'Put simply, we'll be back,' he added in a chilling warning.

The group donned their usual attire of tan khaki pants and navy shirts, completed with white masks and sunglasses to hide their identities

Large American flags, megaphones and shields were seen heavily within the protest

The white nationalists could be heard chanting: 'Life, liberty and victory'

A small number of counter protestors were blocked by police

Saturday's appearance is the latest of several events the group have put on in DC, after they previously staged a counter march to run parallel to the 2022 'March for Life'.

It is unclear what spurred the extremists to march on the Capitol, however the group says its activism is fueled by a belief that 'America will be unshackled by tyrannical rule.'

A leader of the group previously stated on a podcast in July 2022 that the organization aims to 'make the men who will make the nation'.

'We're creating an organization that can become a legitimate body of rule making... our ideology demands that we stand up for something,' he added.

Members routinely graffiti and place stickers on structures across the nation, and it's claimed Massachusetts and Texas are the most commonly hit regions.

The extremist group previously descended on Boston to protest SatanCon, pictured on April 29, 2023

White nationalist group Patriot Front seen clashing with counter-protestors outside the event

The group regularly join other protest groups unannounced, and reportedly aim to avoid counter protests by holding events without permits or outside press.

When SatanCon got underway in Boston last month, the white nationalists joined furious religious protestors outside the event.

Billed as 'the largest Satanic gathering in history,' the summit was heavily disrupted by the demonstrations.

The Patriot Front members were seen brandishing crucifixes at the Satanists as they formed a blockade outside the conference.
Rishi Sunak was last night under mounting pressure to launch an urgent review into the 'unequal' extradition deal that has left a British tech tycoon facing 20 years in a US jail.

Former Justice Secretary Sir Robert Buckland led calls for the Prime Minister to act over the controversial agreement signed off by Tony Blair's Labour government in 2003.

Sir Robert and fellow Tory MP Will Wragg claimed the treaty  originally drawn up to deal with international terrorists  was now extending the reach of US company laws into Britain. And they warned it was having a 'chilling effect' on high-tech firms and entrepreneurs investing in Britain.

Their calls came as Dr Mike Lynch, founder of the Cambridge-based software firm Autonomy that was bought by US computing giant Hewlett-Packard in 2011, was this weekend languishing in a cell in California after being extradited over fraud charges related to the 9 billion deal.

His extradition stands in stark contrast to the case of US diplomat Anne Sacoolas, who killed teenager Harry Dunn in a road accident in 2019. US authorities refused a British request to extradite her and she was handed a suspended sentence by a judge at the Old Bailey while staying in her own country.

Rishi Sunak (pictured this week) was last night under mounting pressure to launch an urgent review into the 'unequal' extradition deal that has left a British tech tycoon facing 20 years in a US jail

Mike Lynch, founder of software firm Autonomy, could face 20 years in prison over fraud charges relating to the 9billion sale of his company to US firm Hewlett Packard in 2011

The US-UK extradition treaty was agreed in 2003 at the height of the 'war on terror', in a bid to target terrorists and international criminals. It was later enshrined in a UK law that came into force in 2007.

Critics, however, say the deal is one-sided and undermines UK sovereignty because, while the exact figures are unclear, more Britons appear to be extradited to the US than the other way around.

Sir Robert, who is a former Solicitor General, said the deal needed to be urgently reviewed.

'This was brought in by the Blair Government in a post-9/11 era and now it's being used in a way that was never envisaged,' he said. 'It will act as a brake on the development of high-tech and other businesses in the UK if they could fall under the remit of the US courts.

'Why would entrepreneurs invest here if suddenly they are drawn into American lawsuits?'

Former Shadow Home Secretary David Davis told the MoS he will attempt to amend the next appropriate Bill in the House of Commons to overturn the existing extradition terms. He vowed to table amendments to stop the extradition of those charged with non-violent crimes and to force the US authorities to present a case against those they are accusing in front of British courts.

Mr Davis said he believed the move would win strong support from senior fellow Tories.

Lynch, 57, was remanded in custody on Thursday by a judge in California after arriving on a commercial flight accompanied by US marshals

'Dr Lynch is the victim of an imbalanced treaty that allows gross miscarriages of justice to occur,' he said. 'If left unchanged, this situation will deter tech entrepreneurs from setting up in the UK.'

Tory MP Dominic Raab, who quit only last month as Justice Secretary, also voiced his concern about the Lynch case. 'The more we learn about this case, the more concerning it is and the greater the spotlight on the inadequacy of the safeguards in place,' he said.

And Hazel Grove MP Mr Wragg, chairman of the Commons Public Administration And Constitutional Affairs Committee, said: 'There must be an immediate review of the Blair-era agreement. I shall be writing to Ministers to ask for this.

'An unfair, unequal deal signed 20 years ago must be reviewed as soon as possible.'

Dr Lynch, once lauded as the UK's answer to Microsoft founder Bill Gates, fought extradition for four years, arguing that he ought to be tried in Britain.

He ran out of legal avenues last month and is believed to have agreed to travel to the US and face prosecution on the understanding that he would remain on bail.

However, Lynch has now been ordered by a US judge to pay an 80 million bond, hand over his passport and be placed under 24-hour armed guard  which he has to pay for  at a property in San Francisco. He will remain in custody until these bail conditions are met.

Dr Lynch, who is married and has two teenage children, pleaded not guilty to the 17 charges he faces. A trial date has yet to be set.

The aggressive pursuit of Dr Lynch by US authorities echoes the case of the so-called 'Natwest Three'  Giles Darby, David Bermingham and Gary Mulgrew  who were extradited to the US in 2006, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and were each sentenced to 37 months in prison.

Mr Bermingham said: 'The treaty was a gift to the US by Tony Blair in 2003, supposedly to help in the war against terror. It was the act of a craven and naive Government.

'Since then, successive UK Governments of all hues have lacked the spine to do what is necessary to fix the problem, despite being well aware what needs to be done.'
Vladimir Putin launched an attack on Ternopil in Ukraine just before the city's most famous residents Tvorchi performed at the Eurovision song contest.

Warehouses were targeted by Russian missile strikes and two people were injured, Ternopil Oblast Governor Volodymyr Trush confirmed.

It is reported that the warehouses that were hit and caught fire belonged to commercial enterprises and a religious organization.

Ten minutes before performing inside the Liverpool Arena, Tvorchi posted on Instagram citing reports of Ternopil in western Ukraine being attacked.

Tvorchi were also seen holding up a sign showing the name of their hometown while participating in the contest.

Russia launched an attack on Ternopil in Ukraine as the city's most famous residents Tvorchi performed at the Eurovision song contest

Warehouses were targeted by Russian missile strikes and two people were injured, Ternopil Oblast Governor Volodymyr Trush confirmed

Tvorchi were seen holding up a sign showing the name of their hometown

After performing 'Heart of Steel' - a song about troops who fought against Russian forces at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol - Tvorchi posted again saying: 'Ternopil is the name of our hometown, which was bombed by Russia while we sang on the Eurovision stage about our steel hearts, indomitability and will.

'This is a message for all cities of Ukraine that are shelled every day. Kharkiv, Dnipro, Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Uman, Sumy, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Kherson and all others.

'Europe, unite against evil for the sake of peace!'

Eurovision commentator Timur Miroshnichenko said: 'Well done, boys! For Ternopil, which is being bombed now, for Mariupol, which was bombed a year ago. For all the cities and people of our country!'

Mayor Serhiy Nadal wrote: 'It was at this time that our city was attacked by Russian missiles.

'Thank you, because your speech has become a symbol of not only the unity of the country, but of the whole world.'

Russia is yet to make any official comment.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Ruthless gangs that send illegal migrants to Britain on small boats from France have praised the Archbishop of Canterbury for his attack on the Government's flagship Bill on immigration.

The gangs, based at the migrant camp in Dunkirk  the biggest in northern France  told The Mail on Sunday that what Justin Welby said was 'good' as it meant more 'people will be able to go to England and not be sent to Rwanda'.

Gang members said they would wait to see if the Government's plan to send illegal migrants to central Africa will now be stopped. Archbishop Welby attacked the Illegal Migration Bill in the House of Lords on Wednesday, calling it 'morally unacceptable and politically impractical', adding that it risked causing 'great damage' to Britain's interests and reputation at home and abroad.

He was criticised in the UK for being 'out of touch', but was lauded by people smugglers in Dunkirk.

The gangs, based at the migrant camp in Dunkirk  the biggest in northern France  told The Mail on Sunday that what Justin Welby (pictured) said was 'good'

Gang members said they would wait to see if the Government's plan to send illegal migrants to central Africa will now be stopped

Archbishop Welby attacked the Illegal Migration Bill in the House of Lords on Wednesday, calling it 'morally unacceptable and politically impractical', adding that it risked causing 'great damage' to Britain's interests and reputation at home and abroad.

Aziz, 23, tried to take five friends to Dover on a dinghy last week, but was stopped by French police who cut up his inflatable boat.

The Iraqi, who claims to have two brothers in London, is planning another attempt. He added: 'What this man said was good. Nobody wants to go to Rwanda. I will kill to not go to Rwanda.'

Adam, 33, a Turkish Kurd and suspected gang member who runs a food stall in the camp, said: 'What this priest said is good. People in Rwanda are leaving for Europe.'
A former top civil servant who helped bring down Boris Johnson was lambasted last night after exposing the son of a prominent Tory as an MI6 spy.

Simon McDonald, the ex-head of the Foreign Office, named the son of a former Cabinet Minister as being among a group of MI6 officers he met in the early 90s.

The Mail on Sunday understands Lord McDonald's decision to name the individual in a book has infuriated Whitehall chiefs.

And in an extraordinary twist last night, it emerged he had not even sought permission from the Cabinet Office ahead of publication of his book, Leadership: Lessons From A Life In Diplomacy. All books by civil servants must be cleared by the Government.

The spy became one of Britain's most senior intelligence officials, but his MI6 career has never been officially confirmed. The MoS is not naming him.

Simon McDonald, the ex-head of the Foreign Office, named the son of a former Cabinet Minister as being among a group of MI6 officers he met in the early 90s

Only the identities of the heads of the three main intelligence agencies  MI5, MI6 and GCHQ  are publicly acknowledged by the Government, due to the risk that named spies will be targeted by terrorists or foreign intelligence agencies.

It is understood security officials have demanded changes to the forthcoming paperback edition of the book, while no further hardback copies are being printed.

Haus Publishing  the book's publisher  admitted that the named official complained directly to Lord McDonald, who apologised in writing and agreed the name will be removed when a new edition is printed in August.

It said Lord McDonald had included the official's name because it was in the public domain. Lord McDonald did not, however, warn the man that he intended to name him.

Tory MP Bob Seely, a member of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, said: 'He shouldn't have done it  he knows the rules and should have stuck to them.'

Only the identities of the heads of the three main intelligence agencies  MI5, MI6 and GCHQ  are publicly acknowledged by the Government. Pictured: MI6 in London

A senior Tory source said: 'This is utterly unacceptable. Revealing somebody to be a spy... puts at risk every agent or contact they developed during that time.'

A former ambassador added: 'I really can't recall any book by a retired senior diplomat that dumps from such a height on named former colleagues.'

Last July, Lord McDonald sparked a string of resignations that led to the downfall of former PM Boris Johnson.

He published a letter he'd sent to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner alleging No 10 did not tell the truth when it claimed Mr Johnson was unaware of previous complaints regarding the behaviour of former Tory MP Chris Pincher, who was accused of groping two men at a London club.
Rishi Sunak has vowed to secure as many barges 'as it takes' to house migrants as he tried to face down a revolt from the Right of the Tory Party.

In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, the Prime Minister dismissed criticisms of his immigration policy by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who said that the plan to send asylum seekers on to Rwanda was 'morally unacceptable'.

He also pledged to hold twice-weekly cross-governmental meetings to tackle the crisis, modelled on the way No 10 dealt with the Covid pandemic.

The Archbishop made his critical remarks during scrutiny of the new laws by the House of Lords  but Mr Sunak said that he would not wait for the Illegal Migration Bill to clear Parliament before taking action.

He said: 'I respectfully disagree with the Archbishop on this and I've spoken about it a lot. The number of illegal crossings last year was 45,000. That number has gone up four or five times in just a couple of years and it can't carry on like this.'

A giant barge, the Bibby Stockholm, which is designed to hold 500 migrants, arrived in Falmouth, Cornwall, last week (pictured)

A giant barge, the Bibby Stockholm, which is designed to hold 500 migrants, arrived in Falmouth, Cornwall, last week.

The Prime Minister said: 'I don't think it's right that the British taxpayers are forking out 5.5 million a day to house illegal asylum seekers, that hotels in their communities are being taken over for this use. So barges are a solution to that and we will do as many as it takes.

'We want to deliver that Bill and what I can also tell you is that I'm not waiting for that moment to happen. We are getting ready now. So, we have put in place a new government committee structure, a bit like how we ran things during the pandemic, where I chair meetings twice a week so that we can get everything ready so that from the moment that we have the green light we can crack on and deliver it.'

However, the Prime Minister's remarks came as members of the new grassroots Conservative Democratic Organisation (CDO) gathered in Bournemouth amid deep unease among many party members after this month's disastrous local election results for the Tories.

The CDO has been branded a 'bring back Boris' campaign and the gathering began with organisation president Lord Cruddas delivering a stinging condemnation of the way Boris Johnson was removed by Tory MPs at Westminster.

Rishi Sunak vowed to secure as many barges 'as it takes' to house migrants as he tried to face down a revolt from the Right of the Tory Party

He also hit out at the coup which saw Liz Truss ushered out of government in just 49 days and then replaced by Mr Sunak, who never received a mandate from the party membership.

And former Home Secretary Priti Patel hit out at 'the ousting' of Mr Johnson  'the most successful democratically elected Prime Minister since Margaret Thatcher'.

She also warned that the manner of Mr Johnson's ejection had 'broken that golden thread . . . between the bottom of the party and the top'.

She said that if leaders spent more time with the grassroots of the party 'they would be more in touch with the people and with our values . . . and perhaps if they did that, last week we would not have seen 1,000 of our friends and colleagues lose their seats in the local elections and dozens of councils fall out of Conservative control'.
Hard-pressed British families will pay as much for budget airlines this summer as they would for British Airways, a Mail on Sunday survey can reveal.

The rise of money-spinning add-ons  charging for bags, in particular  has meant that travelling with low-cost carriers such as easyJet and Ryanair is no longer the cheap option it once was.

Analysis for The Mail on Sunday has found that so-called budget airlines rake in as much as 80 per cent more per passenger from additional charges such as cabin bag allowances and seat bookings.

For a family of four jetting off to Corfu in the first week of the summer holidays, with bags and seats included, it will cost 2,148 with British Airways, 2,011 with easyJet and 2,638 with Ryanair.

A similar jaunt to Palma, Majorca, will cost 1,545 with BA, 2,499 at easyJet and 2,041 with Ryanair.

For a family of four jetting off to Corfu in the first week of the summer holidays, with bags and seats included, it will cost 2,638 with Ryanair

Analysis has found that so-called budget airlines rake in as much as 80 per cent more per passenger from additional charges

The flights were selected last Wednesday for a trip from July 22-29, and we selected flights from London airports, excluding Heathrow. Our analysis aimed for like-for-like trips, though some arrival and departure times differed.

The revelations have emerged just days after Tui chief executive Sebastian Ebel said that the golden age of ultra-cheap flights is over.

Increased fuel costs have already led to airlines hiking fares this year, which has coincided with passengers paying even more for so-called ancillary services, including baggage charges, seat selection fees and on-board food and drink.

EasyJet prioritised boosting its ancillary revenues during the pandemic to bring it closer in line to budget rivals such as Ryanair and WizzAir. This included a significant change to its cabin bag allowance in 2021, when easyJet started charging customers to bring even small suitcases on board.

Financial data shows that easyJet increased its ancillary revenue per seat by 77 per cent in just six years, with customers now spending 20.22 each in add-ons.

Ryanair has also cashed in, as its passengers now spend 19.60 each in add-ons, up from 12.90 in 2017. Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said: Some airlines have cynically moved to charging for basics such as cabin bags or for families to sit together, and this has proved a money-spinner. If you need luggage or to sit next to children, you may find it cheaper to fly with a better carrier that includes these basics in its standard fare.

Some specialists have said the option of add-ons allows choice, but market expert Gerald Khoo said: There has to be a balance with what people can put up with.

Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of travel agent group Advantage Travel, also called for greater transparency on prices. The trouble is that consumers think they will be paying 50 for a flight, but once you add the extras it doesnt leave a great taste, she said.

For a family of four jetting off to Corfu, with bags and seats included, it will cost 2,148 with British Airways

EasyJet defended its strategy and insisted that 50 per cent of its fares currently on sale are less than 50.

A spokesman said: Trying to compare prices for different times of the day or from different airports is not a meaningful comparison as these factors play a significant role in influencing demand. It said all of its extra charges are optional so customers have more control over the cost of their travel.

Ryanair and WizzAir were both contacted for comment.
Former President Donald Trump was forced to cancel his outdoor rally in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday, due to multiple Tornado warnings in a move he says was for the 'safety of patriots.'

'Unfortunately, due to the Tornado Warnings in Des Moines, we are forced to cancel today's outdoor Rally at the Lauridsen Amphitheater,' Trump said in a post to Truth Social, a few hours before the event.

'Stay tuned, we will reschedule soon. Be safe out there!'

The rally was set to run parallel with his potential-2024 rival Ron DeSantis' appearance in the early voting state, as the two men gear up for a heated rivalry if the Florida governor enters the race.

Former President Donald Trump was forced to cancel his outdoor rally in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday

The rally was postponed for the 'safety of patriots' as multiple tornado warnings were issued in the region

Before the rally was officially canceled, over 5,000 people were expected to attend the event.

'Tornado Watch in Iowa. For safety of our great Patriots, we have been asked to delay or cancel todays sold out Rally,' Trump posted to Truth Social when he postponed the rally.

'I am near the Palm Beach Airport, ready to go, but we are on hold because of the very bad weather in Iowa. Please Seek Shelter or Safe Haven!'

The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning in the Des Moines area on Saturday that is predicted to stay in effect until at least 7 pm.

Workers pictured dismantling structures at the rally after it was postponed due to inclement weather

Thousands of supporters were set to attend the rally to hear the former president speak

Attendees pictures waiting in line to enter the rally before it was ultimately cancelled

Earlier in the day, Ron DeSantis appeared to take a jab at Trump at a fundraising appearance in Sioux Center, Iowa, around 3 hours from where the former president's postponed rally was set to take place.

The Florida governor hit out at the GOP's recent electoral struggles that have often been blamed on the former president.

'There is no substitute for victory,' he said in a speech alongside Iowa Congressman Randy Feenstra.

'We must reject the culture of losing that has infected our party in recent years'.

DeSantis remains Trump's key rival in the 2024 presidential race, and he is widely expected to announce his campaign in the coming months.

After a strong re-election showing that propelled him above the former president in several polls, a resurgence from Trump has seen the Florida governor consistently trail by roughly 20 points in recent polls.

In an NBC poll last month, Trump earned 46 percent support from Republican primary voters, while DeSantis received 31 percent.

DeSantis' appearance at a fundraiser saw him tease a 2024 presidential platform to counter frontrunner Donald Trump's, where he warned that 'governing is not about entertaining'.

'Governing is not about building a brand or talking on social media and virtue signaling,' said DeSantis, who wore a blue button-down shirt without a tie or jacket. 'Its ultimately about winning and producing results.'

He then spoke of his willingness to embrace conservative cultural fights and said the 'time for excuses' for losing 'is over,' another apparent jab at the former president who still insists he won the 2020 presidential election.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his wife Casey, right, reacts to audience members during a fundraising picnic for U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, on Saturday

DeSantis pictured wearing an apron as he worked the room at a fundraiser in Sioux Center, Iowa on May 13, 2023

A 'Team DeSantis' bus seen outside a fundraiser near to a sign in support of the Florida governor's potential 2024 campaign

DeSantis has previously avoided directly criticizing Trump in his recent appearances, however he cited Trump's insistence he won the 2020 election in his remarks.

'If we get distracted, if we focus the election on the past or on other side issues, then I think the Democrats are going to beat us again,' he said.

A pro-DeSantis super PAC, Never Back Down, has hired Iowa staff and begun trying to organize support for the governor before a 2024 announcement.

The group announced Thursday that state Senate President Amy Sinclair and state House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl would endorse DeSantis' candidacy, if he throws his hat in the ring.

On Friday, the organization rolled out roughly three dozen more state lawmakers who would endorse him.

During DeSantis' appearance in Sioux Center, Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst were in attendance.

After his speech, DeSantis spent about 15 minutes shaking hands and making small talk with voters as he maneuvered through the large audience, trailed by reporters, TV cameras and a security detail.

He then dashed outdoors to pose with Reynolds and Feenstra while tending to burgers and pork chops at the grill.

Lyle and Sonia Remmerde of Rock Valley managed a handshake. She said DeSantis style comes across as 'normal.'

'One of the things when you compare Trump and DeSantis, I think DeSantis has - how do you say? - a much more smooth approach,' said Lyle Remmerde, 65. 'Hes less abrasive.'

His appearance in Iowa was his second visit to the state in two months, with the early voting state a common hotspot for presidential hopefuls.

Other candidates who have held rallies in the state in recent months includes former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, both of whom have announced their candidacy.

Former Vice-President Mike Pence and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott are among the leaders who have also hosted events in the state as they gear up for potential campaign announcements of their own.

Damage seen in Laguna Heights, Texas, on May 13, 2023, as a series of tornadoes rip through the American heartland

The National Weather Service issued multiple tornado watches for the Des Moines area in Iowa into Saturday evening

It comes as over two dozen tornadoes swept through the American heartland in recent days, stretching across numerous states including Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Montana and Louisiana.

At least two people were killed as a twister ripped through the small Texas town of Laguna Heights, while more than a dozen people were injured.

The National Weather Service issued multiple tornado watches for the Des Moines area in Iowa into Saturday evening, bringing winds up to 70mph and large hail.

The effect was in place until at least 7pm, leading to the cancellation of Trump's anticipated rally that would have been in the storm's path.
The Prince and Princess of Wales are 'rebranding' the Royal Family in a new era of social media and TikTok, an expert has claimed.

Brand and Culture expert Nick Ede believes that William and Kate have 'adopted' the media style of Harry and Meghan in new behind-the-scenes Coronation footage.

The film, released today, shows a rare glimpse into the couple's life amidst the historic crowning of King Charles and Queen Camilla last weekend.

It touches on numerous spellbinding highlights of the Coronation - from crowd meets at London's Mall to the concluding royal concert.

But with celebrations now over, Mr Ede claims that all eyes are on His Majesty's heirs who are tactfully seeking to show a 'more human side' to the family.

Prince William pictured at Windsor Castle for the Coronation Concert where he delivered a tribute to the King

READ MORE: Prince and Princess of Wales release slick behind-the-scenes Coronation footage A stunning new video shows behind-the-scenes footage over the weekend Advertisement

He told MailOnline: 'When Meghan and Harry were part of the Sussex royal brand they cleverly used social media to communicate, and I think that the Prince and Princess saw this trend as something they should adopt.

'However this is not a new phenomena for public figures, stats from Madonna, the Kardashians and all in between use it to communicate, so it was only a matter of time for when the Prince and Princess would adopt this clever strategy.

'I think they are doing the right thing creating these short films. They are interesting but also well made, visually engaging, and tell a story from a different angle. We are so used to short-form media with TikTok and Instagram that this is a great way of brand building.'

The video was shared by the Wales's official YouTube and Twitter account today, with credit given to videographer Will Warr who also captured their 10th anniversary.

In this way, Mr Ede suggests the couple are balancing consistency with modernism to 'keep the positive appeal of the Royal Family alive'.

He continued: 'The behind-the-scenes trend has been one that has been used by celebrities and public figures for many years and the Prince and Princess have realised that social media is a really great way of communicating to their fans, the media and their detractors too.

Pictured: The Princess of Wales preparing for the Coronation celebrations last weekend

Brand and Culture expert Nick Ede (pictured) believes that William and Kate have 'adopted' the media style of Harry and Meghan in new behind-the-scenes Coronation footage

'This way of offering an insight into their lives allows them to cleverly control the narrative but also show a more human side which for a long time the Royal Family has been criticised of not showing. Its a winning formula and one which will be received positively.'

Despite last week's celebrations, its release comes in the midst of alleged tensions between Harry and Meghan and the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Sources claim that Prince William still feels betrayed by his estranged brother, following the scandalous release of Spare earlier this year in addition to his tell-all Netflix documentary.

Even though both couple's are believed to have used media to promote their own interests, Mr Ede branded Harry and Meghan's film 'Americanised propaganda'.

'The Harry and Meghan piece was a glossy Americanised propaganda piece and in all reality all behind-the-scenes films are a way of creating more appeal and being more appealing. The significant difference is that the Prince and Princess of Wales are using film to communicate in a positive space,' he said.

Meanwhile, royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told MailOnline that William and Kate's video marks a 'brief record' in history with 'very genuine meaning'.

Despite last week's celebrations, the new video's release comes in the midst of alleged tensions between Harry and Meghan and the Prince and Princess of Wales

At Sunday's Coronation concert, the Prince of Wales shared his pride for King Charles adding, 'I commit myself to serve you all'

He said: 'The message that came across is his promise to serve and service was the theme of the weekend.

'William and Katherine are the world's most glamorous royals and the world's most in demand Royals.

'They also interact so well as a couple - it was a delightful compilation of one of the most memorable weekends in Royal history.'

At Sunday's Coronation concert, the Prince of Wales shared his pride for King Charles also adding, 'I commit myself to serve you all'.

It was this moment that Mr Fitzwilliams believes is central to the five-minute clip, highlighting the family's commitment to the public.

'They and their family are the future of the monarchy,' he continued.

'It's a brief record of a wonderful, happy and successful royal event that had a very genuine meaning.'
The would-be fraudsters used a voice clone of Benedict Cumberbatch

A film production company was targeted by fraudsters using a voice clone of Benedict Cumberbatch created by AI, the company revealed to DailyMail.com.

An eerily convincing Benedict Cumberbatch phoned the company to discuss a film deal, says Bob William, screenwriter and director at Peabody Films, a company based in Malaga, Spain.

The AI Cumberbatch was 100 percent the voice, says Mr William, adding that the company was convinced it was the real actor at first.

When 'Cumberbatch' and his agent refused to meet in-person, they realized the ruse, saving themselves from losing money.

But, many others have fallen for similar scams, as AI is opening the door for new tools that bad actors can use to steal money from unsuspecting people.

Technical staff at Peabody films realized the call came from Philadelphia (Peabody Films)

'At first, the email seemed like a dream come true. Benedict Cumberbatch had apparently read the script for our upcoming movie and was interested in discussing a potential role,' Mr William said.

As we read further, we couldn't believe our luck.

'Here was one of the most talented actors of our time, reaching out to us and showing interest in our project.

We were shocked and disappointed to discover that we had been the victim of an AI program posing as a famous actor.'

The director says its an example of the increasing sophistication of AI technology and its potential to deceive.

Mr William said they were initially emailed by someone claiming to be the Avengers star's agent, who then suggested setting up a call.

He realized it was a scam when the number he had called from seemed to have too many digits - and the fake Cumberbatch was also very reluctant to meet in person.

The technology to impersonate peoples voices is already here - and already being used by fraudsters.

Cybersecurity firm McAfee found that across the US, UK, France, Germany, Japan, Australia and India, ten percent of people have been targeted by an AI voice scam.

They show remarkable effectiveness too, with 78 percent of those reported to have been targeted losing money as a result.

Earlier this year, Microsoft researchers demonstrated a text-to-speech AI model which can synthesize anyones voice from a three-second audio sample.

The model, VALL-E, can preserve the speakers emotional tone, and can make the person say anything  with its creators suggesting it can be used to create audio content scripted by other AI models.

The fake Cumberbatch was 100 percent convincing, Mr William said.

It was the voice. No question about it, he continued.

'AI must have been the source. We thought at first it might be a voice actor playing a practical joke - but then it went on and they started asking for money. 

The company had several conversations with Cumberbatch, but then noticed some red flags, William says - including his reluctance to meet in person.

There were also some strange requests, such as asking us to pay a sign-up fee of 200,000 before even meeting us in person.

William says he challenged the fake agent about where he had seen the script for the upcoming movie, Emma, which had not been widely circulated.

The question was not even acknowledged.

When he called the real company switchboard, he asked for James Hayes - but was told that no one of that name worked for the company.

William says he believes he was targeted because, as a small production company, they would not have the resources to check the detail.

He says he will now notify the company the alleged agent claimed to come from  Conway VanGelder, and says he is considering reporting the attack to the police.

AI-generated fake images and audio are already being widely used in business fraud, said AI and fraud expert Alexey Khitrov, Founder and President at ID R&D, speaking to DailyMail.com.

He said, We've done a survey there with the enterprise participants. What we've seen is that 42 percent of them have seen the deep fakes being used in fraudulent attempts within their line of work. So it's real, it's there already.

Peabody Films is an independent production company founded by iconic British film director Barney Platts-Mills, known for award-winning films including Bronco Bullfrog and Private Road.

Since Platts-Mills death in 2021, the company has produced feature films including The Way We Are, The Way We Were, slated for release in 2024.
The rings are no older than 450 million years - less than a tenth of Saturn's age

A team of physicists studied space dust accumulating on the rings over 13 years

Saturn's ring's are a young age of only 400million years old  just a fraction of the 5billion years the planet has existed for.

An international team of physicists has the most compelling evidence to date that would pin the origins of the rings as coming about long after the planet formed 4.5 billion years ago, answering a question that has dogged scientists for centuries.

To reach their finding, the team of scientists looked to the constant deluge of space dust, or micrometeoroids, that build up in small layers throughout the solar system, including on the boulders of rock and ice that comprise Saturn's rings.

Led the University of Colorado, Boulder, scientists spent 13 years collecting a minuscule amount of dust while measuring the rate at which it accumulated on the planets rings, a process which they equated to telling the age of a house by running a finger along its surfaces.

Dr Kempf said: Think about the rings like the carpet in your house. If you have a clean carpet laid out, you just have to wait. Dust will settle on your carpet. The same is true for the rings.

The image of Saturn was taken by the Hubble Telescope

The 2004 Cassini mission, launched by NASA in collaboration with the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency to study Saturn and its rings, provided a unique opportunity for Dr Kempf and his fellow physicists.

The Cassini spacecraft, which spent 13 years orbiting Saturn, was outfitted with an instrument called the Cosmic Dust Analyzer  essentially a sophisticated bucket.

It could pick up particles as minuscule as a virus and investigate their electrical charge, size, chemical makeup, and their velocity through space.

From 2004 to 2017, the team collected a mere 163 dust grains that originated from outside Saturns immediate neighborhood; an infinitesimal amount, but it was enough.

Based on their calculations, published Friday in the journal Science Advances, the team concluded that Saturns rings have likely been accumulating dust for only several hundred million years.

The mystery surrounding Saturns rings has weight on astronomers for centuries.

The rings were first discovered by Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei in 1610 who used a telescope and noted the sixth planet from the sun had ears, or elongated bulges on either side of the planet.

His telescope was not nearly as powerful as those astronomers use today, but in the years that followed star gazers determined that those jug-handle-like outcroppings were actually rings. It wasnt until the 19th century that the material that makes up Saturns rings came into question.

Scottish mathematician James Clerk Maxwell set out to answer this question, having concluded that the rings could not possibly be made up of one solid element, but rather countless unconnected particles.

He proved mathematically that the force of gravity would break a thin body orbiting Saturn and predicted that the rings were composed of particles that floated around the planet.

For most of the 20th Century, it was believed that the rings likely formed at the same time as Saturn.

Dr Kempf said: In a way, we have closure on a question that started with James Clerk Maxwell.

And in an unexpected twist, the planets rings could be vanishing.

While theyre not expected to disappear completely for about 100 million years, they are losing material constantly.

Constant bombardment from micrometeorites and the suns radiation electrifies the particles that make up the rings, lining up with Saturns magnetic field and following its invisible path as it spirals around the planet.

But when the particles come too close to Saturns atmosphere, gravity sucks them in, creating a phenomenon that astronomers call ring rain.

Dr Kempf considers the fact that the Cassini spacecraft was able to capture the ephemeral features incredibly fortunate, though it does not answer the question of how those rings formed in the first place.

He said: If the rings are short-lived and dynamical, why are we seeing them now? Its too much luck.
A new Chief Twit has entered office.

Elon Musk confirmed that NBCUniversal ad executive Linda Yaccarino will become Twitter's new CEO on Friday.

The tech mogul also heralded a transformation of the company into X, Musk's long-cherished moniker for an 'everything app'.

'Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app,' Musk tweeted.

But how much of everything will X be? And why 'X' exactly? Here's what we know about Musk's X plans.

Elon Musk was interviewed by Linda Yaccarino at a marketing conference on April 18 and it's been speculated the meeting played an important role in her appointment

Musk announcement Yaccarino's appointment on Friday morning with a tweet which said: 'Looking forward to working with Linda to transform this platform into X, the everything app'

Musk has been fixated on the brand potential of X.com since at least the late 1990s, when he launched the site as an online banking start-up with co-founder Greg Kouri, a real estate developer and friend of his parents.

But Musk lost control of X.com once the start-up merged with its fierce e-payments rival Confinity in 2000  creating PayPal, and minting his fortune, in the process.

Back on July 5, 2017, Musk repurchased the X.com domain from PayPal, explaining it had 'great sentimental value' to him.

Clearly, of course, Musk also sees great monetary value in X, hoping the symbolic weight of the infinitely changeable mathematical variable will help him build the ultimate app for all modes of human interaction.

Payments

This time last year, at the All-in Summit, Musk waxed admiringly Tencent's WeChat, a colossal Chinese social media app that offers messaging and video chatting, video games, photo sharing, ride services, food delivery, banking, and shopping.

'If you're in China, you kind of live on WeChat,' Musk has said.

'It does everything  sort of like Twitter, plus PayPal, plus a whole bunch of things, and all rolled into one, with a great interface. It's really an excellent app, and we don't have anything like that outside of China.'

With recent expansions to payment features on Twitter, it's clear that Musk's vision for X.com is sure to be an American rival to WeChat offering a similar buffet of internet services and features.

Phone and video calls

Earlier this week, Musk tweeted that new features enabling voice and video chat via users' Twitter handles are currently in the works

Musk said Twitter users would soon be able to 'talk to people anywhere in the world without giving them your phone number.'

The move could help Twitter compete with its social media rival Meta, which offers video chat services via Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp to its billions of users across the globe.

This week, the billionaire unveiled that video and voice chat functions were 'coming soon'

Comparatively, Twitter had a reported 238 million monetizable daily users last July.

It's clear that Musk has been gunning for WhatsApp's market share, ever since the billionaire said the messaging service 'cannot be trusted' in response to claims by Foad Dabiri, Twitter's current director of engineering.

Dabiri had tweeted that WhatsApp had accessed his phone's microphone while he slept.

Broadcasting and newsletters

Under Musk, Twitter has already attempted to crowd into the paid newsletter space, sparring with market leader Substack and offering payment and subcription services to aspiring content creators.

But that's only one step in Musk's ambitions to expand Twitter as a media destination and not just a microblogging platform for discussing media elsewhere.

Although Musk has publicly stated that he did not ink a deal for former Fox News host Tucker Carlson to bring his show to Twitter, it's clear that he had been encouraging media figures to do so on their own funding and initiative.

Musk tweeted at ousted CNN host Don Lemon: 'Have you considered doing your show on this platform? Maybe worth a try. Audience is much bigger.'

Dating next?

Whether Musk was being serious or not, he has entertained his fans calls to add dating app features to the service, which YouTuber Steven Mark Ryan proposed as a solution to Musk's concerns over declining birthrates.

'Interesting idea,' Musk responded, 'maybe jobs too.'

The dating app pitch came from content creator Steven Mark Ryan, a YouTuber who posts videos on tech and finance news

The potential dating app, which the Twitter CEO deemed an 'interesting idea,' would use artificial intelligence to make matches instead of random swiping

Although other social sites, including Facebook, have taken a stab at entering the dating app space, none have made a dent in market behemoth Tinder, which boasts having created 55 billion matches within eight years.

By comparison, since launching in 2019, Facebook Dating claims it had created over 1.5 billion matches in 20 countries.

Arguably, there's no loftier, more difficult ambition than delivering 'everything.'

But that's exactly what X would have to achieve to succeed, crowding out rivals in multiple spaces, like dating apps, where market dynamics are already mature.

Sentimental value is one thing, but for X.com to rise again it'll have to be more than just a passion project.
The course has assisted more than 50,000 people over the past three decades

One woman has avoided flying for more than 20 years. Another has a panic attack whenever she gets on a plane. Several people say they have to drink alcohol to get through a flight.

Right now, they're sitting in a packed hotel auditorium in front of British Airways pilot Steve Allright, hoping that he - along with a psychologist - will help them overcome their extreme flying phobias for good.

I'm witnessing their progress as I join them on British Airways' Flying with Confidence course, an intensive day-long programme designed to help people conquer their fear of flying. Aside from feeling tense during turbulence, I don't fall into the category of a classic nervous flyer, but I'm here to find out how the programme at London's Heathrow Airport has assisted more than 50,000 people over the past three decades.

So acute was their fear that one previous attendee refused to go into department stores - seeing suitcases in the luggage section was too distressing. For others, simply the sight of the sign for Heathrow Airport on the M4 motorway could be an upsetting experience.

Taking a holistic approach to combatting anxiety around aviation, the course is divided into three stages. There's a technical session with pilots and crew, a psychology session and finally a short flight aboard a BA jet with a running commentary from Allright, a Dreamliner captain who has been flying for 32 years and managing the BA course for 30.

MailOnline Travel's Ailbhe MacMahon attends a British Airways Flying with Confidence course at London's Heathrow Airport. It's an intensive day-long programme designed to help people conquer their fear of flying

The course is divided into three stages - there's a technical session with pilots and crew, a psychology session and finally a short flight aboard a BA jet (above)

The day begins with registration in the hotel, beside Terminal 5. When I arrive, I see a tearful attendee being comforted by one of the programme's 30-strong team. Allright tells me that tears are common in the morning - just being inside an airport can be challenging for people.

There are more than 100 participants in the main auditorium, while some attendees have opted to do the 'Primary Plus' course, a more intimate session in groups of 10. We're introduced to the team that will be looking after us for the day, from A380 first officer Stuart Beech to recently retired captain Gordon Black.

Allright asks the auditorium: 'How many of you are air crash investigation enthusiasts?' Hands shoot up in the air, only for Allright to remark: 'Stop doing that.'

Laughter runs through the crowd.

Clicking through a presentation, Allright talks us through how you train to become a pilot, describing it as 'the most regulated profession on the planet'. We're told how intensive the training process for flight attendants is too - 'it's not all tea, coffee, chicken or beef,' one BA crew member says.

Ailbhe with Steve Allright, a Dreamliner captain who has been flying for 32 years and managing the BA course for 30

Above is the British Airways team that looks after attendees. Allright is pictured in the front row next to his daughter Holly and his wife Donna, who also work on the course

The team is hyper-aware of the concerns harboured by nervous flyers and goes to great lengths to address individual anxieties. The wings of the plane will not fall off, we're told. A segment hones in on normalising the noises we hear on a flight, such as the rumbling sound that can occur when the speed brakes are deployed.

There's a whole section on turbulence, outlining why it isn't a cause for concern so long as you have your seatbelt securely fastened. We repeat the mantra: 'Turbulence is uncomfortable but not dangerous.'

We pause for lunch, and there's an upbeat atmosphere as everyone shares their experiences of flying over plates of salad and chicken skewers.

It's reassuring meeting people who are more frightened than you, a woman tells me

From twenty-somethings to retirees, people of all ages are undertaking the course. Everyone's fear levels are different. I speak to a man who says he just wants to go on a summer holiday without dreading the flight there and back. One attendee is a BA Gold Club member who flies all over the world for work. Another person is anxious about flying because of their severe nut allergy - they worry about having an allergic reaction in the air. For many the claustrophobia of being on a plane is the issue.

One woman says she used to work as airport ground staff and only developed her nervousness around flying later in life. A second attendee is determined to face her fear because her son is moving to America and she wants to visit him, while a third is hoping to fly over to a newborn grandchild overseas. People seem to take strength from the solidarity of the experience. It's reassuring meeting people who are more frightened than you, a woman tells me.

Post lunch, Captain Nigel Willing and First Officer Rebecca Panther talk us through the flight we will be taking later in the afternoon, opening the floor up to questions.

'How concerned are you about birds?' one person asks, only for the pilots to reply: 'Not at all.' Frozen chickens and turkeys are put through planes' engines to test how they'll withstand a bird strike, they explain.

Then begins the psychology portion of the day with Dr Keith Stoll, who has been doing the course since 1989. To calm nerves, he teaches us a breathing technique to practice mid-flight - breathe out, and then breathe in while clenching our bum muscles.

Dr Stoll tells us that we need to focus on learning to handle the anxiety around flying. Don't give yourself a hard time about the fear, he tells us, but recognise and challenge your negative thoughts. Anxiety is normal, he says.

The segment ends with a meditative session in which we close our eyes and visualise the plane journey we're about to take. When we open our eyes again, it's time for the part that most people have been dreading. We're ushered over to the airport departures lounge for our flight, which will head towards Southampton before turning back. My airline ticket says we're flying from London to a 'fictitious point' and the destination on the departures board simply reads 'Heathrow'.

The afternoon is dedicated to a psychology session with Dr Keith Stoll (above), who has been doing the course since 1989

The BA flight heads towards Southampton before turning back. Above is the A320 ahead of take-off at Heathrow

Everyone piles on board the A320, taking their seats. Faces are solemn and there are a few tears. I'm told a couple of people decided against getting on the plane, but that's normal.

I overhear a woman in front of me telling her seatmate that she feels lost without her noise-cancelling headphones and sedatives. 'I've got no armour,' she says.

Allright narrates the entire take-off, guiding us through every little noise we hear, every motion we feel. He points out the 'barking dog' sound that the plane's hydraulic pump makes and identifies the increasing speeds we're travelling at. Every other sentence is interjected with the phrase 'everything is normal'.

When take-off is complete there's a burst of applause. Staff move around the plane to check in on people and soon the cabin fills with chatter. Celebratory shortbread biscuits are handed out.

Allright's commentary continues for landing, informing us when the autopilot is being disconnected and the landing gear deployed. As the plane touches the tarmac, more clapping reverberates through the cabin.

'My airline ticket says we're flying from London to a "fictitious point",' writes Ailbhe

Captain Allright with Captain Nigel Willing and First Officer Rebecca Panther in the cockpit

'The course is by no means a cure-all for a phobia of flying, but it successfully steers people in the direction of overcoming their fear,' says Ailbhe

The certificates that participants receive after completing the course

The relief is palpable.

Allright congratulates everyone and tells us there are three passengers onboard who haven't flown in more than 20 years. 'It really is the first day of a whole new chapter in your life,' he announces.

I can see the pride in people's faces as they disembark the plane. The woman who was crying at the start of the day is dry-eyed and met by her waiting partner in arrivals. Getting on the Tube back into central London I hear a pair of attendees talking about how much the course eased their nerves.

The course is by no means a cure-all for a phobia of flying, but it successfully steers people in the direction of overcoming their fear. Simply showing up takes a lot of bravery, but that bravery is rewarded tenfold.

British Airways runs Flying with Confidence courses in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, New York and Dubai. The next course with availability in London Heathrow is on July 8. Tickets are 385. Visit flyingwithconfidence.com/courses.
For the inside track on the best railway journeys in the world there is no greater authority than Mark Smith, creator of the acclaimed Man in Seat 61 website.

He used to be station manager at London's Charing Cross, Bridge and Cannon Street stations, but now runs his website, named after his favourite Eurostar seat, full time.

Here he reveals his favourite 10 railway journeys, from the Caledonian Sleeper to Switzerland's Bernina Express, and from the California Zephyr to New Zealand's Northern Explorer.

All aboard for bucket-list trips of a lifetime...

LONDON TO FORT WILLIAM BY CALEDONIAN SLEEPER

Mark describes the Caledonian Sleeper as 'the best train in Britain'. The picture immediately above shows it crossing the Allt Kinglass Viaduct on the West Highland Line

It's the train they call the Deerstalker. For me, it's the best train in Britain.

Knock back a whisky or two in the club car with some haggis, tatties' n neeps as the Caledonian Sleeper races north from London Euston on a busy six-track main line. Retire to your private sleeper - some with private shower and double bed  and wake to mountain streams and gnarled oak trees, deer bounding away from the train as it twists and turns at 40mph on the lonely single track to Fort William.

There's no early morning rush. You can linger over a cooked Scottish breakfast as the train toils over the bleak expanse of Rannoch Moor, summits near remote Corrour, passes the languid water of Loch Treig and the white running waters of Monessie Gorge before rolling into Fort William just before 10am, a few minutes' walk from the foot of Ben Nevis.

BERNINA EXPRESS

Pictured immediately above is the Bernina Express train negotiating the amazing 360ft-long Brusio spiral viaduct in Brusio, Switzerland

The Bernina Express is the most spectacular Swiss Alpine ride of them all - a four-hour narrow-gauge journey from Chur in Switzerland to Tirano in Italy on the 120-year-old Unesco-listed Rhatische Bahn.

The 144km (90-mile) route includes 55 tunnels and 196 bridges, gradients as steep as 1 in 7 and a summit at Ospizio Bernina 2,253 metres (7,391 feet) above sea level.

The train crosses the dramatic (and much-photographed) Landwasser Viaduct, skirts the Morteratsch Glacier and Lake Poschiavo, spirals around on itself to lose height at Brusio, and concludes with a traffic-stopping entry into Tirano on rails laid through the streets. An Italian regional train links Tirano with Milan along the eastern shore of Lake Como, making this a slow but incredibly scenic flight-free route from London, Paris and Zurich to Italy.

BELGRADE TO BAR

A mere 21 (18/$22) buys a ticket for a 476km (296-mile) 11-hour ride from the Serbian capital to Bar on the Adriatic. Pictured immediately above is the incredible section at Lutovo in Montenegro

The train crosses the Mala Rijeka Viaduct, 200 metres (660ft) above the Mala Rijeka river

A mere 21 (18/$22) buys a ticket for this 476km (296-mile) 11-hour ride from the Serbian capital to Bar on the Adriatic over a breath-taking railway completed in 1976 and opened by President Tito of Yugoslavia.

South of the Montenegrin border the train clings to rugged grey mountainsides hundreds of metres above narrow valleys.

It crosses the Mala Rijeka Viaduct 200 metres (660ft) above the Mala Rijeka river - the highest railway bridge in the world until 2001 when it ceded the title to a new bridge in China - before curving around to the far side of the valley.

After calling at Montenego's capital, Podgorica, the train crosses a causeway over beautiful Lake Skadar, past the ruined Lesendro fortress of 1843, and after a short run in view of the sunny Adriatic coast, it reaches Bar.

CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR

For sheer world-class all-American scenery, the California Zephyr is the United States' best train, period, says Mark

In the land where plane and automobile rule, U.S train operator Amtrak maintains a choice of three or four superb rail routes across America.

Amtrak's impressive double-deck Superliner trains feature spacious reclining seats, an observation lounge with a cafe on the lower deck, a dining car and private sleepers, some with private toilet and shower.

I've a soft spot for the Chicago-Los Angeles Southwest Chief, which runs through native American Navajo country and parallels Route 66 for much of the way, but for sheer world-class all-American scenery, the California Zephyr is the United States' best train, period.

The Zephyr's gleaming stainless-steel cars leave Chicago Union Station every afternoon at 2pm on an epic two-night 2,400-mile journey to San Francisco.

The train rumbles over the Mississippi from Illinois into Iowa and heads west across the vast open Nebraska farmland.

After breakfast next morning the train leaves Denver and scales the eastern flank of the Rockies, climbing steadily until the Mile High City becomes a dot below. Descending gradually through twisting Colorado canyons, the train is often just feet from the white waters of the Colorado River, groups of rafters saluting it in the traditional manner  by mooning.

Next come the beautiful, colourful, eerie buttes of Utah, and after dinner and a late-night stop at Salt Lake City the train reaches the Nevada desert.

On the final day the Zephyr enters California and heads through the fir-strewn Sierra Nevada mountains via the notorious Donner Pass, where the stranded Donner party resorted to cannibalism in the harsh winter of 1846.

Finally, the train descends to Sacramento and its terminus at Emeryville, a short bus ride over the Bay Bridge from downtown San Francisco.

THE CANADIAN

The Canadian takes passengers on a four-night journey from Toronto to Vancouver that takes in wide open prairies, the Rockies and beautiful forests. 'It's a true classic,' writes Mark

The Canadian is Canada's great trans-continental train, linking Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver twice a week, all year round. Denied funding for new equipment back in the 1990s, state-owned passenger operator VIA Rail rebuilt the original stainless steel cars from Canadian Pacific's 1954-55 Canadian, complete with streamlined dome cars, private sleepers, elegant diner and the famous 'bullet lounge' at the rear.

It's a true classic, with scenery to match.

On its four-night journey the train crosses the great Canadian shield from Toronto to just east of Winnipeg, a surprisingly beautiful and sparsely-populated area of forest, lakes and rocky outcrops. Next come the wide open prairies - big sky country - through Winnipeg and Edmonton. And finally, a ride through the awe-inspiring Canadian Rockies from Jasper to Vancouver along the Athabasca and Thompson rivers, past Mount Robson and the Yellowhead Pass.

The defining moment of a pre-pandemic westbound journey came some way east of Jasper.

I awoke on day four and lifted the blind, expecting mountains. Nothing but endless fir trees. Disappointed, I left my family asleep and headed for the dome car.

I poured myself a coffee, climbed the few steps into the dome and turned around. I gaped - and nearly dropped my coffee. Our stainless steel streamliner was heading through an avenue of fir trees straight for the towering eastern face of the Rocky Mountains, lit stunning pink and gold by the rising sun. If only you could bottle such moments

AUCKLAND TO WELLINGTON

The best train ride in New Zealand is from Auckland to Wellington on KiwiRail's Northern Explorer, says Mark

Tourists flock to the TranzAlpine train, a scenic south island ride from Christchurch to Greymouth.

Greywhere?

Scenic, yes, but in railway terms, a branch line.

For me, the best train ride in New Zealand is from Auckland to Wellington on KiwiRail's Northern Explorer, a 12-hour daytime run over the historic North Island Main Trunk Railway, the main line linking New Zealand's economic and political capitals.

Completed in 1908 with engineering feats such as the Raurimu Spiral, Makatote Viaduct and Turangarere Horseshoe curve, it passes almost every type of scenery, from gently rolling hills reminiscent of Tolkien's Middle-earth to thick rainforest, deep gorges, volcanoes and coastline  all best viewed with a glass of excellent New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc to hand, readily available from a well-stocked cafe-bar.

KOLKATA TO DARJEELING

A 'toy train' (above) on the Unesco-listed Darjeeling Himalayan Railway

A century ago, the best way to escape Kolkata's oppressive summer heat was to head for the hills. It still is.

Book an AC1 or AC2 air-conditioned sleeper on the overnight Darjeeling Mail from Kolkata's Sealdah station to New Jalpaiguri.

From NJP (as it's invariably known) a bus or jeep takes only four hours to cover the 55 miles up the hill cart road to Darjeeling. But in this case, slower is better: The 10am 'toy train' takes almost twice that time to travel up the winding two-foot-gauge track into the Himalayan foothills, but every twist and turn is a delight.

Hauled by a steam locomotive until only a decade or two ago, a diminutive diesel now takes charge of the daily run from NJP, but steam locos still ply the upper section of the Unesco-listed Darjeeling Himalayan Railway between Darjeeling and Ghum. Check in to the splendidly retro Windamere Hotel, a former boarding house for bachelor tea planters (or at least go there for afternoon tea) to taste the best tea in India.

THE SLOW TRAIN FROM THAZI

At the junction station of Thazi there's a hidden gem, says Mark - the branch line to Shwenyaung, which offers 'wonderful hill country views'

Myanmar (Burma) is not currently a recommended destination, but in better times I've ridden the British-built railway from Yangon to Mandalay past mock-Tudor signal boxes and classic red-and-white semaphore signals.

At the junction station of Thazi there's a hidden gem: The branch line to Shwenyaung, railhead for the beautiful Inle Lake, one of Burma's premier draws.

Sit back in your reclining Upper-Class seat (you'll probably have no choice, the recline mechanism will be broken) as the elderly train meanders through hills and forest on the winding single track, stopping at remote village stations where colourfully-clad vendors sell flowers and fruit through the carriage windows.

In several locations the train circles back on itself to gain height and at one point climbs a hillside on a series of switchbacks, shunting backwards and forwards. No air-conditioning here, just wide open windows and wonderful hill country views.

BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI

The train that crosses the River Kwai does so at a snail's pace, as tourists crowd every part of the structure

Two trains a day link Bangkok's Thonburi station with Kanchanaburi and Nam Tok.

A third-class ticket costs only 100 baht (2.50/$3.13) for this pleasant run, a cool breeze wafting in through open windows and vendors walking up and down the train selling soft drinks and succulent pomelo.

A few kilometres beyond Kan'buri, the train stops at River Kwai Bridge, then proceeds at a snail's pace across the infamous Bridge, hooting wildly at the many tourists crowding every part of the structure  they take a different view of health and safety here!

The train continues along the beautiful River Kwai (also Kwae) over the precarious cliff-hugging Wampo Viaduct to the end of the operational line at Nam Tok.

The history of the line is less pleasant, built by allied prisoners of war and Thai forced labour during WWII, under appalling conditions. It's well worth visiting the museum and memorial at Konyu Cutting, better known as Hellfire Pass, some 80km (50 miles) north of Kan'buri.

Strangely, the Bridge on the River Kwai doesn't (or didn't) cross the River Kwai.

Author Pierre Boulle knew that the 'death railway' ran parallel to the Kwai and assumed that the bridge near Kan'buri crossed the Kwai. He was wrong, it crossed the much larger Mae Khlong.

So when David Lean released his 1957 blockbuster and tourists flooded in expecting a Bridge on the River Kwai, it gave the Thai government something of a problem.

All they had was a Bridge on the Mae Khlong. Undeterred - and with admirable lateral thinking - they renamed the river. Since 1960, the Mae Khlong has been known as the Kwai Yai (Big Kwai) north of its confluence with the Kwai.

COLOMBO TO TEA COUNTRY

The train from Colombo to Sri Lanka's tea country snakes through hills with plantations on either side

The train ride from Colombo to the central highlands of Sri Lanka's tea country is a delight.

Resist the lure of a sealed air-conditioned first-class car on one of the modern Chinese-built 'blue trains', book a non-air-con second-class seat with opening windows, or best of all, a seat in the first-class observation car on an older train from which you can watch the line unfold behind you through the generous rearward-facing windows.

It's a steady climb up to Kandy and beyond on a broad-gauge single track, calling at country stations with old-fashioned signal boxes and signals that look so familiar to British eyes, give or take a palm tree or two.

The train is soon snaking through the hills, with tea plantations on either side. Alight at Nanuoya for the hill station of Nuwara Eliya, one of the best places to explore the region, visit a plantation and (of course) try Sri Lanka's excellent Ceylon tea.

For more from The Man in Seat 61 visit www.seat61.com.
Nearly 13 years after Hollywood powerhouse publicist Ronni Chasen was shot to death on her way home from a star-studded movie premiere, questions remain.

Chasen was driving alone along Sunset Boulevard around midnight, near the exclusive tree-lined neighborhood on Whittier Drive, when she was gunned down.

The 64-year-old had just attended the film Burlesque, starring Cher and Christina Aguilera, at the iconic Grauman's Chinese Theater, followed by the after party at the posh W Hollywood Hotel.

It was a celebratory night with friends, clients and colleagues.

As Chasen was driving her Mercedes Benz E350 towards her Westwood home, less than 10 miles away, she made a call to her office. It was around 12.22am.

Less than seven minutes later, Chasen would be shot four times, with one of the bullets striking her chest and piercing her heart.

The shots went through the passenger side window when Chasen stopped at a red light. After the shooting, Chasen's vehicle rolled through the stop sign and crashed into a concrete lamp post.

Beverly Hills Police were on the scene in minutes and she was taken to Cedars Sinai Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Hollywood powerhouse publicist Ronni Chasen, 64, was killed on November 16, 2010

After a two-week search, Beverly Hills Police Department zeroed in on Harold Martin Smith, 46, a person of interest in the case, after an anonymous tip was made to America's Most Wanted

After the shooting, Chasen's Mercedes rolled through a stop sign and knocked down a concrete lamp post along Sunset Boulevard and Whittier Drive

Ronni Chasen was born Veronica Cohen in Kingston, NY, and raised in the neighborhood of Riverdale in the Bronx and Manhattan's Washington Heights. She used the surname Chasen as a nod to the epic Hollywood hotspot Chasen's, the go-to-spot for Hollywood royalty during the 1950s and 1960s, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The power publicist represented some of Hollywood's A-list celebrities, including the late Natalie Wood, Michael Douglas, John Travolta, as well as composer Hanz Zimmer, Grammy winning artist Diane Warren, and movie producers Dick Zanuck and Irwin Winkler.

At the time of her death, her boutique firm, Chasen & Co., which specialized in Oscar campaigns for studios, had netted at least 150 Academy Award nominations.

Slumdog Millionaire and Hurt Locker were just two of the award-winning films she repped.

Over the years, she also worked on the marketing campaigns for Lolita, the Oscar-winning Driving Miss Daisy, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.

Other projects included Cocoon, the Rocky franchise, and Kevin Costner's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

Before Chasen became a publicist, she dabbled in acting. She worked at Rogers & Cowan and was named senior vice president of worldwide publicity at MGM/UA in 1993.

Ronni Chasen was born Veronica Cohen in Kingston, NY

Ronni Chasen in the early years

Rare photos of Ronni Chasen early in her career

Early in her career, Chasen worked at Rogers & Cowan and was named senior vice president of worldwide publicity at MGM/UA in 1993

Her violent death stunned family, friends and colleagues in the Hollywood community, and started a storm of conspiracy theories that ranged from murder-for-hire to rumored gambling debts in Chasen's family.

After a two-week search, Beverly Hills Police zeroed in on Harold Martin Smith, 46, a person of interest in the case, after an anonymous tip was made to America's Most Wanted.

Smith, a career criminal, served time for robbery and had a lengthy rap sheet that included arrests, felony burglary and other offenses, as per court documents, Fox News reported.

In 2007, he was released from prison and in 2014 discharged from parole.

Smith had been convicted and served nine years of an 11-year prison sentence for armed robbery in a Beverly Hills neighborhood near where Chasen was killed, Lieutenant Tony Lee of the Beverly Hills Police Department told TIME in a 2011 article.

'[Smith] held a woman at gunpoint when she was at her mailbox approximately 2.5 miles south [of the Chasen crime scene], on Doheny and Olympic,' Lee said.

'She got out of her car, and he pulled a gun on her, and we caught him.'

Smith, who was often seen around town riding a bicycle, worked at a Venice Beach bike shop. When police first revealed that Smith did not own a car and got around on his bicycle, many did not believe that he committed the crime, and cast doubt on the police investigation, the news outlet reported.

The graph shows Chasen's final drive near Sunset Boulevard and Whittier Drive. When Chasen stopped at a red light, four shots were fired through the passenger side window. After the shooting, Chasen's vehicle rolled through the stop sign and crashed into a concrete lamp post

But, in an interview with TIME Vivian Mayer, Ronni Chasen's best friend, spoke of the bicycle that Smith used.

'The police interviewed a lot of people, and this guy drove distances, major distances,' she said. 'I get in my car and turn on my ignition.. this guy rode his bike.'

She added: 'Death does not have to arrive on foot or by car; sometimes a cyclist can indeed be the perp.'

When police executed a search warrant and went to Smith's apartment, in the Harvey Apartment buildings, a dilapidated four-story block built in the 1930s that is covered with murals of Elvis Presley, The Beatles and Marilyn Monroe, Smith pulled out a 38 revolver and shot himself in the head.

After his suicide, police said Chasen's death was the result of a botched robbery, despite conflicting theories that it was triggered by road rage.

In July 2011, the Beverly Hills Police Department closed the case.

But many still wondered: Was this the whole story?

Years after Chasen's death, The Hollywood Reporter reviewed unreleased documents from the BHPD on the murder investigation. Upon examination of the documents and other evidence, the news outlet raised questions about the police department's core findings and how they came to their conclusion that Smith was their man.

It is unclear if the department presented the evidence to a prosecutor, though they were never required to, or to show proof to demonstrate they had caught the right person beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury.

Nor did they have to prove they were certain about how the murder was committed or whether multiple individuals were potentially involved.

When DailyMail.com contacted the Beverly Hills Police Department they did not return our request for comment.

Years later, unsealed documents shed new light on the investigation and what police called 'a substantial amount of circumstantial evidence' implicating Smith, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The bombshell report revealed there was no physical evidence placing Smith at the scene of Chasen's murder, which raised a litany of questions. For instance, Did the police get it wrong? Who would want to kill Ronni Chasen?

Is Harold Smith, a man who was never placed at the scene of the crime by DNA, solely responsible for her death?

Los Angeles Police Department detectives stand outside the Harvey Apartments on December 1, 2010 in Los Angeles, California

Beverly Police Chief Dave Snowden (left) and Beverly Hills Mayor Jimmy Delshad speak during a press conference about Chasen's death on December 8, 2010 in Beverly Hills, California

Beverly Hills Police Chief Dave Snowden, Sergeant Mike Pubckler of the Beverly Hills Police Department (pictured center) and Jimmy Delshad, Mayor of Beverly Hills, speak during a press conference on December 8, 2010

Once Upon a Crime in Hollywood, a new true crime podcast that launched last month, delves into unsolved crimes against the glamorous backdrop of Hollywood.

Kelly Hyman, the host, a child-star-turned-women's rights attorney, kicked off the first season by putting a new spotlight on The Ronni Chasen story.

Hyman told DailyMail.com that she chose Chasen's murder because it was the one story that had always 'haunted' her.

Once Upon a Crime in Hollywood, a new true crime podcast that launched last month, delves into unsolved crimes against the backdrop of Hollywood

'Growing up in Hollywood and working in the business, the idea of being murdered on your way home from a premiere at a red light in Bev Hills was so disturbing, and it always felt unresolved,' she said.

'I wanted to apply the skills I've gained as an attorney to Ronni's story in an attempt to shed light on what really happened to her. '

During the six-episode podcast, Hyman spoke with leading forensics experts, police investigators, prosecutors, journalists, some of Chasen's former clients, and Chasen's niece, Jill Gatsby, who believes the case should be re-opened.

The last episode, which aired on iHeart radio on May 1, tried to answer the 12 most burning questions.

Kelly Hyman, the host, a child-star-turned-women's rights attorney, kicked off the first season of the show by putting a new spotlight on The Ronni Chasen story

Chasen was on her way home from Grauman's Chinese Theater, where the movie premiere Burlesque was shown

A glimpse of the inside of the iconic theater and Los Angeles landmark

The posh W Hollywood Hotel, where the afterparty was held

Chasen's autopsy would later reveal that the beloved Hollywood publicist died from a gunshot to the heart.

When BHPD announced that the case had been officially closed, they revealed all the work that had gone into the investigation - analyzing 150,000 e-mails and texts, reviewing video and closed-circuit-TV footage that established Chasen's route the night of her murder, following up on thousands of tips, dissecting Chasen's financial documents and those of persons of interest in the case.

Detectives said they logged a total of 10,000 hours of time working on the case.

'We had a considerable amount of evidence indisputably pointing toward Harold Smith,' Lieutenant Tony Lee told TIME.

'We're 110% sure he committed the crime.'

Lee added that the single most important piece of evidence against Smith was the ballistics report, which showed that the gun used to kill Chasen was the same one he turned on himself when police went to his apartment building to question him.

'That's as solid of evidence as you can have,' he said.

Publicist Ronni Chasen (far right), producer Allan Carr and dancer and actress Chita Rivera attend the wrap party for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1978 in Los Angeles

Jeff Sanderson, Freida Pinto, Ronni Chasen and Dev Patel attend the Fox Searchlight Pictures Golden Globe Party at Craft on January 11, 2009 in Los Angeles, California

Director Danny Boyle (pictured left) and Ronni Chasen attend the Fox Searchlight Oscar Party at One Sunset February 22, 2009 in Beverly Hills, California

Chasen worked with John Travolta. This throwback photo was taken in the 1970s

Chasen with U2's Bono

Actor Jeff Bridges and Ronni Chasen at 20th Century Fox - Fox Searchlight Pictures Oscar Party on March 7, 2010

Chasen and actor Morgan Freeman pictured together at one of the many events that she attended

Chasen pictured with actor Djimon Hounsou, who won a best supporting actor Oscar for In America, one of her film clients

Chasen with Oprah Winfrey in this undated photo

But some disagreed with the BHPD final outcome of the case, which led to doubts about the veracity of the investigators' conclusions.

'I never thought they were thorough enough,' says Kathie Berlin, a close friend and former business partner of Chasen's.

'They had very few press conferences, and friends of [Chasen's] were on their case all the time to follow up on information they had. Nobody felt the security of, "This has been covered A to Z, and this is what happened."

'I think most of us have accepted that it was a random act, but was it that guy? I don't know. I don't know,' Berlin says.

Eight months after Chasen died, Vivian Mayer, Chasen's best friend, told TIME that she believed Smith was most likely the culprit.

'Ronni was in the wrong place at the wrong time, on a dark street where she was waiting for a light to turn, and a criminal was waiting in the dark for the next person alone in an expensive car. That's it,' Mayer said.

She added: 'I have reconciled it in my head based on the facts. But I will never reconcile it in my heart.'

Dianne Warren, one of Chasen's friends and clients, spent time with Chasen at the movie premiere and after party less than an hour before she was killed. She told the Hollywood Reporter days later.

'Me and Ronni were so excited,' she said. 'It was just the funnest night.'
Albert Square's latest addition has been leaving fellow EastEnders actors in stitches as the cheeky character insists on insulting Brian Conley during takes.

The newcomer has been causing chaos on set with his colourful language and often 'goes off script,' much to the amusement of his co-star.

Brazen bird, Jasper Parrott, will be making an appearance in Walford as Brian's character Rocky Cotton's beloved pet.

According to The Sun, the parrot, named after comedian Jasper Carrott, is set star at the heart of a bitter custody battle between Rocky and his estranged ex wife Jo.

A source told the publication: 'This parrot loves Brian. Its been hilarious to watch them between takes.'

Funny: Albert Square's latest addition has been leaving fellow EastEnders actors in stitches as the cheeky character insists on insulting Brian Conley (pictured) during takes

Chaos: Brazen bird, Jasper Parrott, will be making an appearance in Walford as Brian's character Rocky Cotton's beloved pet

They added: 'The bird has only just started filming, but on its first day on set it went off script with some colourful language which definitely could not be aired before the watershed.

'It spent much of the take telling Brian he was a w****r. Of course, these animal actors are consummate professionals, so it swiftly got back to work with its beak shut - but everyone was in stitches.'

EastEnders aired its Coronation special on Monday night and there was the usual drama plaguing the Square amid the festivities.

The latest instalment saw the residents of Walford will gather together to celebrate the crowning of King Charles III, just like those around the UK did over the weekend.

But the episode ended with a bang as Sonia Fowler (Natalie Cassidy) discovered her boyfriend Reiss Colwell's (Jonny Freeman) huge secret he has been hiding.

Viewers were aware before Sonia that Reiss is married, although few details about the situation have been revealed.

It's Sonia birthday on the day and Reiss pulled out all the stops when it came to treats however he ended up arriving late to the celebrations.

As Rocky (Brian Conley) contemplated telling Sonia about a mysterious phone call he overheard him taking, Reiss turned up, just in time for the coronation performance.

Drama: The parrot, named after comedian Jasper Carrott, is set star at the heart of a bitter custody battle between Rocky and his estranged ex wife Jo (Vicki Michelle as Jo)

However, when Rocky later demanded the truth from Reiss, Sonia walked in and overheard everything, demanding that Reiss get out of her life.

Reiss stammered as he tried to explain what had happened. He said: 'I am married her name is Debbie. She is a very special women'.

Natalie then chucked him out of the house as she called him a 'two-faced liar' as the rest of the residents of the Square watched on in shock in the middle of their street party.

Reiss arrived in Walford ahead of Dot Branning's funeral last year as her great-nephew.
Andy Allen touched down in Sydney on Thursday with his pregnant wife Alex Davey ahead of his fellow co-star Jock Zonfrillo's private funeral.

The MasterChef judge, 35, and Davey arrived at Sydney Domestic Airport as they prepared to mourn the Scottish-born chef - who is being farewelled in a 'top secret' service at a small Sydney chapel on Saturday morning.

Allen looked sombre as he made his way through the airport just 10 days after the tragic death of his co-star.

Zonfrillo was found dead at the age of 46 by police at a Melbourne hotel on May 1.

It is believed that he died by natural causes, with the coroner currently determining the exact cause.

MasterChef judge Andy Allen (pictured) has touched down in Sydney with his wife Alex

Allen kept is head down as he arrived into Sydney wearing a pair of black jeans, a white T-shirt and a black shirt.

He held a clothing bag in his hand as he walked with his wife Davey through the terminal.

She donned a long black dress, a pair of knee-high heeled black boots and she carried a cream coat.

The late chef's funeral has been kept firmly under wraps by his widow Lauren Fried.

They arrived into Sydney Domestic Airport on Thursday as the private funeral for Andy's MasterChef colleague Jock Zonfrillo takes place on Saturday

Andy, 35, looked sombre as he made his way through the airport just 10 days after the tragic death of Jock

Andy arrived into Sydney wearing a pair of black jeans, a white T-shirt and a black shirt

The recent widow, who shares children Alfie, three, and Isla, eight months, with her late husband, 46, sent out invitations for the Sydney interment earlier this week.

They were accompanied with strict instructions for family and celebrity friends to not reveal any details about the funeral, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

Fried also revealed to guests there would be no wake held after the burial, an attendee told the publication on Saturday.

Andy held a clothing bag in his hand as he walked with his wife Alex through the terminal

'The family just wants it to happen without any of the attention his death has attracted, which has understandably been overwhelming,' they said.

The funeral patron added: 'They're trying to keep it as personal as they can. It's critical they be given the space to do that.'

While Zonfrillo and his family resided in Melbourne during his role on MasterChef, Fried chose to host his funeral in Sydney.

She reportedly chose the location as she originally hails from Sydney, where her extended family is based, and it's where Zonfrillo first moved to from Glasgow 23 years ago.
George Burgess has allegedly caused strife with neighbours in Bondi after hosting several boisterous parties while flat-sitting.

The noisy gatherings, which take place in the luxury Beach House development on Campbell Parade, are said to go well into the morning hours, often ending at 7.30am.

However, what really sets off the permanent residents is the fire alarm, reported The Daily Telegraph on Saturday.

Some cheery guests allegedly slipped into the house party through the fire escape which set off alarms throughout the night.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Burgess, 31, for comment.

George Burgess, 31, (pictured) has allegedly caused strife with neighbours in Bondi after hosting several boisterous parties while flat-sitting. Pictured on set in costume for role in Land of Bad

It seems the former St George Illawarra Dragons prop has plenty to celebrate after his older brother Sam Burgess announced he's expecting a new baby soon.

He and his new girlfriend Lucy Graham announced her pregnancy just six months after taking their relationship public.

In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, the NRL great said: 'We are so excited and happy to be starting this new chapter together... Happy days.'

The noisy gatherings, which take place in the luxury Beach House development on Campbell Parade, are said to go until 7.30am. However, what really sets off the permanent residents is the fire alarm, reported The Daily Telegraph on Saturday. Pictured with wife Joanna

While it is Lucy's first child, Sam shares two children Poppy, four, and Billy, three, with his ex-wife Phoebe Burgess.

Friends say the couple are 'beyond excited' Sam is starting a new chapter with Lucy by his side.

'He's mad about Lucy. It's been a whirlwind but she is a fantastic woman. They get along so well. All of his friends are so thrilled to see how happy he makes her,' a close friend said.

Sam, who was born in West Yorkshire, England, and Lucy have had a long friendship and first met over 20 years ago as teenagers in the UK.
Rylan and Scott Mills were forced to be rescued by emergency services during Eurovision pandemonium in Liverpool on Friday.

The duo, who commented on the two semi finals, found themsleves trapped in crowds of fans following dinner near the M&S Arena ahead of Saturday's live final.

Rylan, 34, took to his Instagram to share updates with followers revealing Merseyside Water Rescue helped him and Scott, 50, onto a boat, only for the vessel to fail to get out of the dock.

The former X Factor star was then forced to hop into the back of the emergency services' car as they were escorted back to their hotel slowly through the masses of music fans.

Decked out in a high visibility jacket Rylan could be seen giving directions to the driver as Scott bemoaned: 'This is ridiculous'.

Help! Rylan and Scott Mills were forced to be rescued by emergency services during Eurovision pandemonium in Liverpool on Friday

Pose: Rylan, 34, took to his Instagram to share updates with followers revealing Merseyside Water Rescue helped the duo onto a boat, only for the vessel to fail to get out of the dock

The This Morning host then recalled the tale saying: 'Basically there has been no cars and we didn't realise the arena was all kicking out at the same time'.

'So Merseyside Water and Rescue have come to our aid and they put us on a boast, but we couldn't get out of the dock.

After being distracted by life saving equipment in the car he went on to say: 'So Merseyside Water Rescue have decided to take us back to out hotel which is very nice and they have given me a high vis to keep me warm'.

The host later shared a snap as he posed in the outfit before sharing a sweet thank you to the kind team.

Writing: 'Thanks to Merseyside Water Rescue for getting us home tonight. No cars.. you legends thanks for the hi vis x'.

The city is expected to welcome 100,000 visitors during the event with 180M watching the final from home.

Earlier in the day the UK's entry Mae Muller looked in great spirits as she took to the stage at the rehearsals.

The 25-year-old was quite literally flying the flag for her country as she skipped around while wrapped in the Union Jack.

Home time: The former X Factor star was then forced to hop into the back of the emergency services' car as he and Scott, 50, were escorted home slowly through the masses of music fans

Cheers: The host later shared a snap as he posed in the outfit before sharing a sweet thank you to the kind team

Pals: The duo commented on the competition's two semi finals

Mae, who had been struggling with her voice and was put on vocal rest this week, looked back to her best as she practiced her performance.

Speaking about feeling under pressure the songstress said: 'Sam Ryder winning, is hosting on behalf of Ukraine, going last'.

'Theyre all things I could get freaked out about. But theyre amazing experiences so Im gonna look at them in a positive way. I cant wait to get out here, its exciting'.

Discussing Liverpool hosting on behalf of war torn Ukraine she said: 'Eurovision is proof that us as human beings can come together and no matter what the outcome tomorrow night, I will look back on this with such a sense of pride.'

Mae looked incredible in a black jumpsuit complete with a sheer bodice and a pair of heeled boots.

Let's go! The UK's entry Mae Muller looked in great spirits as she took to the stage at the Eurovision rehearsals on Friday morning ahead of the live final

Entrant: The UK's entry, 25, was quite literally flying the flag for her country as she skipped around while wrapped in the Union Jack

Glam: The beaming star looked incredible in a black jumpsuit complete with a sheer bodice and a pair of heeled boots

She wore her raven tresses in loose beachy waves and opted for a light covering of make-up.

Mae was joined on stage by a choreographer who was seen giving her direction as she rehearsed for the upcoming performance.

Discussing her entry Mae said: 'I wrote the song a few days before I knew about Eurovision'.

She continued: 'So I revisited the song and I put my Eurovision hat and thought its a way to connect with the audience. How can I make an intimate moment with 200 million people and thats how'.

And speaking about herself an as LGBTQ ally she went on to say: 'Every show every tour I want it to feel like a safe space and I feel like thats what Eurovision is. I go to gay bars and gay clubs all the time and I have huge amounts of fun so its only right I return the favour'.
After a long and busy promotional push for her 'Pretty Baby' documentary, Brooke Shields has made her way to Thailand, where she's currently enjoying the spoils of her success.

On Friday the actress, model and proud mother of two took to Instagram and shared two photos, one of which caught her staring towards the heavens while cruising on a boat, and another showed an anchored vessel with six people aboard.

'Day off in Thailand,' she gushed in the caption, which could mean the visit is both business and pleasure.

In the cover photo, Shields is looking up to the sky decked out in a brown and black-patterned sun dress, with a glass of white wine in her right hand while holding on to a railing of the boat with her left.

Opting to go shoeless with her long brown locks blowing in the breeze, it's obvious the boat is speeding along the gorgeous water, as the white foam and ripples in the water indicate.

Soaking it in: Brooke Shields, 57, basked under the sun while taking a cruise on a boat in Thailand, following the success of her documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields

Both images give her 1.8 million Instagram fans and followers a glimpse at the lovely landscape the Southeast Asian country has to offer.

And any kind of relaxing down time for Shields is well-deserved, considering the two-part Hulu documentary, officially titled Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, now has the distinction of being the most-watched program out of all ABC News launches to ever debut on Hulu, according to Variety.

Following its April 3 premiere on the streaming service, ABC News reported that the documentary ranked number one in total hours streamed in its first week compared to all previous ABC News premieres on Hulu.

'Were thrilled with the overwhelmingly positive response to this riveting story that needed to be told and is striking a chord and resonating with audiences around the world,' ABC News president Kim Godwin said before thanking Shields 'for her courage' in telling her story, as well as the 'team who worked tirelessly on this project.'

The documentary focuses on such topics as the sexualization Shields faced as a child star in the 1970s and 80s, the relationship she had with her own mother, and Louis Malle's controversial film, Pretty Baby (1978), starring a then 12-year-old Shields.

Shields saw her star rise at age 12 with her leading role in Pretty Baby, which was written by Polly Platt, and also starred Keith Carradine and Susan Sarandon.

Set in 1917, the film focuses on a young girl being raised in a brothel in the Storyville red-light district of New Orleans by her Prostitute mother.

Although the film was mostly praised by critics, it set off a wave of controversy due to its depiction of child sexual exploitation and the on-screen nudity of Shields.

Shields maintained in later years that she 'did not experience any distress or humiliation' while shooting her nude scenes in the film.

Relaxing: Shields revealed she took advantage of a 'day off in Thailand' by enjoying the waters and landscape of the Southeast Asian country

Bonafide hit: Her trip to Thailand comes about five weeks after the premiere of Pretty Baby on Hulu, which has since been deemed a smashing success for the streamer and ABC

The Pretty Baby documentary focuses on such topics as the sexualization Shields faced as a child star in the 1970s and 80s, the relationship she had with her mother, and Louis Malle's controversial film, Pretty Baby (1978), starring a then 12-year-old Shields who had nude scenes; the actress and model is seen at the New York City premiere on March 29

Shields focuses much of her attention now on her family, including her daughters Rowan, 19, and Grier, 17, and husband Chris Henchy, 59.

Shields continued to work into her late teenage years and starred in several drama films in the 1980s, including The Blue Lagoon (1980) and Endless Love (1981), along with a number of high-profile marketing campaigns where she was the focal point.

In a bold move, Shields would end up putting her acting and modeling careers on hold in order to attend Princeton University, where she eventually earned a bachelor's degree in French literature from the Ivy League school in 1987.

In the 1990s, Shields returned to acting and appeared in minor roles in films, before eventually landing the lead role in the hit sitcom Suddenly Susan (1996-2000).

She has continued to take on film and television role consistently through the years, all while focusing on her family , including daughters Rowan, 19, and Grier, 17, that she shares with husband Chris Henchy, 59.
Barry Humphries' son Oscar insisted his family wasn't 'snubbing' the state of Victoria when they rejected the offer of a state funeral in Melbourne.

However, sources close to the comedian, 89, who was born in Kew, said he gave 'firm instructions' on his death bed to reject a Victorian state funeral if offered.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday, the satirist was still bitter about the Melbourne Comedy Festival 'cancelling' him for 'anti-trans' comments.

The annual festival, which Humphries co-founded in 1987, receives approximately $7million in funding through the state-funded Creative Victoria body.

The media personality was still disgruntled by the state's lack of intervention when he fell out with event organisers in 2019, leading to them dropping him from the festival entirely.

Barry Humphries' (right) son Oscar (left) insisted his family wasn't 'snubbing' Victoria when they rejected the offer of a state funeral in Melbourne. However, sources close to the comedian, 89, said otherwise

A furious email from Humphries after he fell out with Melbourne International Comedy Festival organisers recently emerged as the event was inundated with more backlash following his death.

The Aussie icon, best known for his roles as Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson, died in Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital surrounded by his family on April 22 following complications from hip surgery.

Humphries helped launch the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 1987 and had an award named after him at one stage before he fell out with organisers in 2019 over 'anti-trans' comments.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday, the satirist was still bitter about the Melbourne Comedy Festival 'cancelling' him for 'anti-trans' comments. Pictured is Premier of Victoria Daniel Andrews

A furious email from Humphries after he fell out with Melbourne International Comedy Festival organisers recently emerged as the event was inundated with more backlash following his death

Organisers dropped a major award in his honour following his comments made a year earlier about transgender people, including that it was a 'fashion' fad and that gender reassignment surgery was 'self-mutilation'.

As organisers of the festival tried to 'uncancel' the much-loved entertainer and announce plans for a 'fitting tribute', a scathing email emerged from Humphries about being banned by the festival he helped turn into one of the world's biggest comedy events.

The email was sent in October 2020 after Humphries signed a petition supporting Harry Potter author JK Rowling after she received death and rape threats from trans-activists.

Humphries wrote to petition organiser Graham Lineham and described the backlash against Rowling as a 'cowardly portrayal'.
The Broadway community was dealt a major blow on Friday when it was announced that the 2023 Tony Awards will not be televised on June 11

The Broadway community was dealt a major blow on Friday when it was announced that the 2023 Tony Awards will not be televised on June 11 with host Ariana DeBose.

The Tonys have become the latest awards ceremony to be impacted by the Writers Guild of America strike after the WGA rejected a waiver that would allow the Broadway League to proceed with the show, according to THR.

The league must now choose between two different paths forward: holding a non-televised presentation on June 11, or postponing the Tonys until the end of the strike.

THR reports that the collection of producers and theatre owners who make up the Broadway League favor the first option.

Meanwhile, the American Theater Wing that controls the Tony Awards is allegedly leaning toward the second option.

Another casualty: The Broadway community was dealt a major blow on Friday when it was announced that the 2023 Tony Awards will not be televised on June 11 with host Ariana DeBose; pictured at the 2022 Tony Awards

Not happening as planned: The Tonys have become the latest awards ceremony to be impacted by the Writers Guild of America strike after the WGA rejected a waiver that would allow the Broadway League to proceed with the show, according to THR

After hosting the 75th Tony Awards last year, DeBose was confirmed to return to helm the star-studded event, which serves to honor achievements in world of theater.

The actress issued a statement last month to express her enthusiasm for the then-scheduled awards show.

She stated via The Wrap: 'I was honored to serve as host last year and even more so to be asked back! So looking forward to celebrating this incredible season and the people who make the work happen.'

The Oscar winner was previously nominated for the 2018 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her work in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.

The Writers Guild of America strike is wrapping up its second week, after the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) failed to reach a deal by May 1, when the current three-year deal expired.

The writers are seeking better wages, with writer salaries dropping an estimated 23% over the past decade, while studio CEOs are raking in massive salaries.

The strike has already shut down every late night talk show such as CBS' Late Show with Stephen Colbert, NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live.

A number of scripted shows have also been shut down, most notably Netflix's Stranger Things, with series creators Matt and Ross Duffer revealing they won't go into production on the show's fifth and final season until the strike ends.

Two options: The league must now choose between two different paths forward  holding a non-televised presentation on June 11, or postponing the Tonys until the end of the strike; DeBose pictured onstage during the 2022 Tony Awards

What will they chose? THR reports that the collection of producers and theatre owners who make up the Broadway League favor the first option. Meanwhile, the American Theater Wing that controls the Tony Awards is allegedly leaning toward the second option

No end in sight: The Writers Guild of America strike is wrapping up its second week, after the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) failed to reach a deal by May 1, when the current three-year deal expired

The last writers strike in 2007/2008 lasted just over three months  100 days, to be exact.

However, given how far apart the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) are in their negotiations, this strike could very well last much, much longer.

In their petition to the WGA, the Broadway League expressed that the Tony Awards served to promote shows often left in dire financial straits by dwindling audience numbers.

Nominees for Best Play this year include Ain't No Mo', Between Riverside and Crazy, Cost of Living, Fat Ham, and Leopoldstadt.
Mama June Shannon and her loved ones had to learn how to manage their constantly changing lifestyles during the second episode of Mama June: Family Crisis' sixth season, which premiered on Friday.

During the episode, the 43-year-old reality television personality recovered from a debilitating medical emergency and subsequently established a connection with her mother-in-law despite being open about her troubled past.

The media figure's daughter Alana 'Honey Boo Boo' Thompson also tried to establish healthier eating habits for her family, while her older child Jessica introduced her loved ones to her new romantic partner.

The episode began with Shannon recovering from an unexplained medical crisis at a hospital in Alabama alongside her husband, Justin Stroud.

After asking about how she misled her children about her living situation, the media personality's spouse expressed that his relationship with them was 'built on lies' and that she had been 'making me look like the bad guy all the time.'

Making the most of it: Mama June Shannon and her loved ones had to learn how to manage their constantly changing lifestyles during the second episode of Mama June: Family Crisis' sixth season, which premiered on Friday

New faces: The media figure's daughter Alana 'Honey Boo Boo' Thompson tried to establish healthier eating habits for her family, while her older child Jessica introduced her loved ones to her new romantic partner

Lauryn 'Pumpkin' Shannon, 23, also had a FaceTime call with her mother, and commented that 'she looks like a crack addict who's been scratching her face' upon seeing her mother's damaged complexion.

Her husband, Josh Efird, later voiced his opinion about the Shannon family matriarch, and harshly commented that 'everybody who's attached to that woman is stuck in the past and will be forever.'

Alana, 17, added that 'she's lied about so much, how do we know she's not lying about this?'

Mama June was later diagnosed with partial complex seizures and instructed to continue her recovery at home.

After she was discharged from the hospital, Mama June and Stroud headed back to their residence in Alabama, and while resting, the former voiced her worries about leaving a bad impression on his mother, Mama Dukes.

The reality television personality, aware of her widely reported-on indiscretions, commented that 'now your mama is going to have that impression of, "oh, is she using drugs," or "oh, is she high? Is she going to get my son back on drugs?"'

Mama June went on to speak to her spouse about about her tense relationship with her own late mother, and they decided to attempt to maintain a close connection with Mama Dukes.

The media figure commented that 'I kind of want to get to know Justin's mom and Justin's mom to get to know me for me.'

The couple later invited Stroud's mother to dinner at an Italian restaurant, during which Mama June ordered the restaurant's most expensive bottle of 'morlet' in an attempt to impress her mother-in-law.

Medical care: The episode began with Shannon recovering from an unexplained medical crisis at a hospital in Alabama alongside her husband, Justin Stroud

Harsh: Lauryn 'Pumpkin' Shannon, 23, also had a FaceTime call with her mother, and commented that 'she looks like a crack addict who's been scratching her face' upon seeing her mother's damaged complexion

On the mend: Mama June was later diagnosed with partial complex seizures and instructed to continue her recovery at home

Life goes on: After she was discharged from the hospital, Mama June and Stroud headed back to their residence in Alabama, and while resting, the former voiced her worries about leaving a bad impression on his mother, Mama Dukes

Wining and dining: The couple later invited Stroud's mother to dinner at an Italian restaurant, during which Mama June ordered the restaurant's most expensive bottle of 'morlet' in an attempt to impress her mother-in-law

Approval: Mama Dukes asked about Shannon's past history with substance abuse, and after the latter spoke openly about her struggles, she spoke about how her relationship with her son had changed him for the better

Mama Dukes asked about Shannon's past history with substance abuse, and after the latter spoke openly about her struggles, she spoke about how her relationship with her son had changed him for the better.

Stroud's mother expressed that Mama June and her son were 'good for each other' and stated that she wanted to be a part of their upcoming wedding along with the rest of his family.

At the same time, Alana brought up the idea of cooking a healthy meal for the family after coming across a recipe for an eggplant-based dish on social media.

After she revealed her plans to the family, Pumpkin returned from a family trip to Costco, where she discussed her concerns about eating well with Josh.

She voiced her apprehension to the idea and admitted that, while 'it wouldn't hurt all of us to eat a few veggies...I don't need her going all out and s***.'

Alana went on to take her sister Jessica, 26, to a health food store to stock up on supplies for dinner, and the latter quipped that 'the only time I ever saw an eggplant was an emoji on my phone.'

During the trip, the former Dance Moms cast member commented that she was unsure about the store's white broccoli, although she was subsequently informed that she was purchasing cauliflower.

Jessica, who paid for the groceries, then asked if she could bring a friend to dinner, which Alana allowed, although she subsequently spoke to Pumpkin and the two tried to figure out who would be visiting the household later that evening.

Trying something new: At the same time, Alana brought up the idea of cooking a healthy meal for the family after coming across a recipe for an eggplant-based dish on social media

Foreign territory: Alana went on to take her sister Jessica, 26, to a health food store to stock up on supplies for dinner, and the latter quipped that 'the only time I ever saw an eggplant was an emoji on my phone'

Vitamins and minerals: During the trip, the former Dance Moms cast member commented that she was unsure about the store's white broccoli, although she was subsequently informed that she was purchasing cauliflower

Special guest: Jessica, who paid for the groceries, then asked if she could bring a friend to dinner, which Alana allowed, although she subsequently spoke to Pumpkin and the two tried to figure out who would be visiting the household later that evening

Better luck next time: The pair's efforts were met with a generally negative response from their loved ones, who were unsure of how to eat their dinner

Uncertain response: Jessica eventually arrived at the house and introduced her girlfriend Cheyanne to her family, although Pumpkin stormed off in the middle of the meal

The television personality's boyfriend Dralin Carswell, 22, also showed up to help her cook eggplant parmesan, although their time in the kitchen ultimately proved to be quite difficult.

The pair's efforts were met with a generally negative response from their loved ones, who were unsure of how to eat their dinner.

Jessica eventually arrived at the house and introduced her girlfriend Cheyanne to her family, although Pumpkin stormed off in the middle of the meal.

New episodes of Mama June: Family Crisis will be released every Tuesday through AMC's streaming service ALLBLK.
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Margot Robbie and Tom Ackerley are on the hunt for a home in Byron Bay, but first the notoriously private couple made a pitstop in Brisbane.

The Hollywood star, 32, and her British film producer husband, 33, kept things casual as they strolled through the airport with five suitcases.

Rugged up in a huge khaki parka jacket with the hem brushing the ground, the Wolf Of Wall Street star donned a white, cropped tank top and grey sweatpants.

With her blonde locks pulled back in a loose bun, the movie star then slipped into some sneakers before hiding her face behind a white face mask.

Meanwhile, her hunky partner sported matching brown sweats with white sneakers and a bright purple cap turned backwards as he pushed the bulk of the luggage.

Margot Robbie, 32, (right) and Tom Ackerley, 33, (left) are on the hunt for a home in Byron Bay, but first the notoriously private couple made a pitstop in Brisbane

The Hollywood star and her British film producer husband kept things casual as they strolled through the airport with five suitcases

It comes amidst reports that Robbie and Ackerley are searching for a permanent home in Byron Bay just a month before the release of her anticipated Barbie movie.

According to The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, fans spotted the duo leaving the infamous Rae's on Wategos before hitting the Lord Byron Distillery.

Finally, after a fun day with friends, the pair were seen at the luxury Cedar Hill home dubbed by real estate agents as Australia's most beautiful property.

Rugged up in a huge khaki parka jacket with a hem brushing the ground, the Wolf Of Wall Street star donned a white, cropped tank top and grey sweatpants

With her blonde locks pulled back in a loose bun, the movie star then slipped into some sneakers before hiding her face behind a white face mask

Meanwhile, her hunky partner sported matching brown sweats with white sneakers and a bright purple cap turned backwards as he pushed the bulk of the luggage

It comes amidst reports that Robbie and Ackerley are searching for a permanent home in Byron Bay just a month before the release of her anticipated Barbie movie

According to The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, fans spotted the duo leaving the infamous Rae's on Wategos before hitting the Lord Byron Distillery

Finally, after a fun day with friends, the pair were seen at the luxury Cedar Hill home (pictured) dubbed by real estate agents as Australia's most beautiful home

It's situated in the Newrybar area which actors Chris and Liam Hemsworth also call home

Robbie is pictured here wheeling one of her suitcases through the Brisbane Airport

It's situated in the Newrybar area which actors Chris and Liam Hemsworth also call home.

Their appearance comes after crew filming mega-budget movie Barbie were accused of filming homeless people in the background of a park scene  and not paying them.

The destitute bench dwellers were even discussed in radio chatter on the set about exactly where they were in relation to filming, DailyMail.com revealed in April.

Meanwhile, extras were paid to dress as homeless people to reinforce the scene, shot at Tongva Park opposite Santa Monica City Hall in California, which is notorious for its vagrancy problems.

Their appearance comes after crew filming mega-budget movie Barbie were accused of filming homeless people in the background of a park scene  and not paying them

The destitute bench dwellers were even discussed in radio chatter on the set about exactly where they were in relation to filming, DailyMail.com revealed in April
Cardi B got a jumpstart on her Mother's Day celebration seemingly at the urging of her four-year-old daughter Kulture.

On Friday, the 30-year-old superstar rapper took to her Instagram page and shared a few videos and photos of her 'Mother's Day Brunch', along with some quiet time she spent with her first born that included looking through a custom scrapbook that she made for her.

Included was a clip of the proud mom laying down and cuddling with her baby girl, which the Best Life star enhanced with a snippet of Madonna's song True Blue.

The social media frenzy began with Cardi sharing a selfie video of herself standing in front of a mirror in the living room of their home.

She appeared to be putting on the finishing touches to her ensemble of the day, which included a light lavender dress that hugged her famous curves from top to bottom and a pair of light green heels.

Her day: Cardi B highlighted some of her pre-Mother's Day festivities with her daughter Kulture on Friday in an Instagram post

Mommy's day: In addition to having a family brunch, Cardi was presented with a sweet scrapbook from her daughter Kulture (L)

Straight off the top of the opening clip, Cardi could be seen running her hands through her dark tresses, which were styled long and straight down over her chest to her waistline in the front and back.

Flashing a big beaming smile toward the camera, the New York City native was obviously touched by the gestures of her daughter for Mother's Day.

The Bodak Yellow MC also shared a photo of herself touching cheeks with Kulture while puckering up to give her a kiss.

Dressed in a white outfit with a gold star on the front and her hair pulled up into a bun, the thoughtful little girl also had a big smile on her face as she shared the moment with her mom.

During their brunch at a restaurant, Cardi (born Belcalis Marlenis Almanzar Cephus) took time to look through the custom book her daughter gave to her, which read on the front cover: 'Happy Mother's Day, Love Kulture.'

She flipped the cover to the first page, revealing a letter with a floral outline: 'Dear Mommy, Have a happy Mother's Day. I love you to the moon and back. Love Kulture.'

Voices from the brunch party could be heard in the background as she turned to the second page, which appeared to be a dark side silhouette of her daughter, with the headline: 'Mother's Day 2023.'

The clips ended with the proud mother of two yelling out, 'I love this,' to Kulture.

Later in the evening on Friday, Cardi took to her Instagram to share a video of Kulture laying on top of her that had Madonna's hit song True Blue playing along to their snuggle-fest.

'True love/You're the one I'm dreaming of/Your heart fits me like a glove/And I'm gonna be true blue, baby, I love you,' the Material Girl could be her singing in the catchy song, which was the third single from her True Blue (1986) album.

As her baby girl lay on top of her, Cardi once again couldn't resist puckering up and giving her more kisses.

At one point, Kulture began to shift around and then flash another sweet smile while her mommy showered her with affection.

Beauty preps: The superstar rapper ran her hands through her dark tresses in the mirror selfie before heading out to their family brunch

Thoughtful: During their brunch at a restaurant, Cardi (born Belcalis Marlenis Almanzar Cephus) took time to look through the custom book her daughter gave to her that read, 'Happy Mother's Day, Love Kulture,' on the cover

Adorable: Cardi flipped the cover to the first page, which revealed a letter with a floral outline: 'Dear Mommy, Have a happy Mother's Day. I love you to the moon and back. Love Kulture'

Sweet sentiment: The superstar rapper turned to the second page, which appeared to be a dark side silhouette of her daughter, with the headline: 'Mother's Day 2023'

Love-fest: The clips shot during the brunch ended with Cardi yelling out, 'I love this,' to Kulture

True Bluer: Later on Friday, Cardtook returned to Instagram and shared a video of Kulture laying on top of her that had Madonna's hit song True Blue playing along to their snuggle-fest

Hugs and kisses: As her baby girl lay on top of her, Cardi once again couldn't resist puckering up and giving her more kisses in the video

Cardi shares Kulture and her 20-month-old son Wave with her husband of more than five years, rapper Offset (born Kiari Kendrell Cephus), 31.

The campaign to make Mother's Day a recognized holiday in the United States began in 1905, when Anna Jarvis wanted to honor her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, after her death that year.

The modern holiday was first celebrated in 1907, when Anna Jarvis held the first Mother's Day service of worship at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia, according to International Mother's Day Shrine.

President Woodrow Wilson would go on to officially proclaimed the second Sunday each May as Mothers Day in 1914.
Nigella Lawson appears to have a favourite outfit as she was spotted wearing the exact same ensemble just a few days apart.

The celebrity cook, 63, was spotted walking the streets of Sydney on Friday as she grabbed some food before picking up a package at the post office.

Shielding her eyes with designer sunglasses, she was seen with her arms full of a brown paper bag and cardboard box.

She kept her look simple for the outing - wearing a blue and white polka-dot midi dress with puff sleeves and buttons down the front.

The English native completed her ensemble with a leather strap around her shoulder for her mobile phone.

Nigella Lawson, 63, appears to have a favourite outfit as she was spotted wearing the exact same ensemble just a few days apart. Pictured left on Tuesday, and right on Friday

Lawson let her brunette locks hang loose around her shoulders and highlighted her natural ageless beauty by going makeup free for the outing.

Nigella's day out comes after she shared her heartbreak over the loss of fellow culinary icon Jock Zonfrillo.

The MasterChef judge, who died April 30 at age 46, was laid to rest on Saturday in a private funeral surrounded by a small group of family and friends.

It is unclear if Nigella attended the service.

The celebrity cook was spotted walking the streets of Sydney on Friday as she grabbed some food before picking up a package at the post office

Shielding her eyes with designer sunglasses, she was seen with her arms full of a brown paper bag and cardboard box

'I can't stop thinking about Jock Zonfrillo's children, his family,' tweeted Nigella following the news of his death earlier this month.

'So many are plunged into deepest grief. My heart goes out to them. And I hope their wishes for privacy are respected.'

The beloved British chef later paid tribute to Zonfrillo on The Sunday Project: 'My heart breaks, as I'm sure everyone's does, for Jock's children.

'And his family and everyone who loved him of course. May his memory be a blessing.'

She kept her look simple for the outing - wearing a blue and white polka-dot midi dress with puff sleeves and buttons down the front

The English native completed her ensemble with a leather strap around her shoulder for her mobile phone
Lily-Rose Depp confirmed that she is in a new relationship with rapper 070 Shake on Thursday by posting a very romantic kiss pic to her Instagram Story.

The model-turned-actress, 23  who is currently gearing up for the premiere of her racy HBO show The Idol  locked lips with her girlfriend and wrote: '4 MONTHS W MY CRUSH.'

The daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis put her passion on full display with the loved-up snap, leading the rapper to reciprocate with a post of her own.

070 Shake  real name Danielle Balbuena, 25  took to her Instagram Story on Friday and posted a close-up selfie of their faces.

The pair were first publicly linked in February during Paris Fashion Week and their new romance has blossomed alongside the clandestine courtship between Lily's ex Timothee Chalamet, 27, and Kylie Jenner, 25.

New couple alert: Lily-Rose Depp (left, 23) confirmed that she is in a new relationship with rapper 070 Shake (right, 25) on Thursday by posting a very romantic kiss pic to her Instagram Story

Crushing: The model-turned-actress locked lips with her girlfriend and wrote, '4 MONTHS W MY CRUSH'

Lily-Rose dated the Oscar-nominated Lothario from 2018 to 2020 after meeting on the set of the Netflix period drama The King.

The former couple allegedly split because of 'business reasons,' blaming their breakup on busy schedules.

Both young stars are notoriously private when it comes to their personal lives, with Lily-Rose recently telling Drew Barrymore: 'I always learned the importance of privacy and valuing that and keeping things just for yourself.'

The up-and-coming actress has admittedly struggled with lifelong fame and is not exactly acclimating to it as she gets older.

In a recent interview with i-D, Lily-Rose confessed: 'The older I get, the weirder I become.'

Her new romance comes on the heels of Chalamet charming makeup mogul Kylie Jenner.

The Kardashians star's new dalliance with Timothee took the world by complete surprise, especially since the pair have reportedly been dating for months.

The pair met up for a secret date night in Los Angeles at Titos Taco stand, just days after she was seen parking in the driveway of his Beverly Hills home.

Up close and personal: 070 Shake  real name Danielle Balbuena  took to her Instagram Story on Friday and posted a close-up selfie of their faces

Former flame: Lily-Rose dated Timothee Chalamet, 27, from 2018 to 2020 after meeting on the set of the Netflix period drama The King. The former couple allegedly split because of 'business reasons,' blaming their breakup on busy schedules

Timothee's new love: Lily's new romance has blossomed alongside Timothee's clandestine courtship with makeup mogul Kylie Jenner, 25

To go along with her hot new love life, Lily-Rose has taken on the steamy part of Jocelyn  a fallen pop idol who sets out to reclaim her title as 'the sexiest pop star in America.'

Created by multiplatinum megastar Abel 'The Weeknd' Testfaye, HBO's The Idol will see Testfaye star alongside Lily-Rose, playing her character's controversial guru and the leader of a cult.

Referring to her success as a 'double-edged sword,' the young actress told Elle about the inevitable downside to pouring gasoline on her stardom with a flashy new role.

'I'm not here to give myself to the world to be eaten alive,' she said.
Julia Fox left caution to the wind as she stepped out in Los Angeles rocking another daring look on Friday.

The 33-year-old actress left caution to the wind as she opted to wear Diesel underwear in lieu of pants for a quick gas station run.

Fox  who recently wore an outfit constructed of CONDOMS  styled her risky bottoms with a tiny white crop top that read: 'high class white trash.'

She layered up with a trendy brown blazer and strolled towards the convenience store's entrance in a pair of furry white heels.

The Uncut Gems star also accessorized with futuristic shades, chunky silver earrings and her beautiful brunette hair was worn down.

Woah! Julia Fox left caution to the wind as she stepped out in Los Angeles rocking another daring look on Friday

Quite the choice: The 33-year-old actress left caution to the wind as she opted to wear Diesel underwear in lieu of pants for a quick gas station run

The performer has become well known for taking public fashion risks, whether it be barely-there looks or ghostly clown-inspired makeup.

However, Fox recently slammed fashion's biggest night during an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com.

She believes that the Met Gala - which is held annually in New York City and attended by the likes of Kim Kardashian and Blake Lively - has moved away from its roots and is now a show of overt nepotism.

'If it was about fashion I'd be there but it's not. It's about politics, privilege, who your parents are and how much money you make,' Fox stated.

She then stated that she wanted to serve as an inspiration for future designers looking to make radical decisions within their craft.

'I just want to tell people don't aspire to be like these people [who went to the Met] aspire to be yourself. There's a little boy or girl out there [who] will look at me and not be ashamed-fashion and art is about vision,' she said.

Fox also floated the idea of creating her own fashion-forward event that could potentially rival the Met Gala.

'I want to support fashion designers. Me and my friends are hoping to start our own gala and help funds disadvantaged people and single mothers,' she stated.

Fox  who recently wore an outfit constructed of CONDOMS  styled her risky bottoms with a tiny white crop top that read: 'high class white trash'

She layered up with a trendy brown blazer and strolled towards the convenience store's entrance in a pair of furry white heels

Risky business: The performer has become well known for taking public fashion risks, whether it be barely-there looks or ghostly clown-inspired makeup

Candid: However, Fox recently slammed fashion's biggest night during an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com. She believes that the Met Gala - which is held annually in New York City and attended by the likes of Kim Kardashian and Blake Lively - has moved away from its roots and is now a show of overt nepotism

Although she has been focused on expanding her sense of style in recent years, the influencer has also kept up with her acting career, which kicked off after Uncut Gems' 2019 release.

According to Deadline, Fox is currently set to appear in the comedy feature The Trainer, which had been in development for over a decade before she signed on as one of its cast members in March of last year.

The media outlet also reported that the movie would star Vito Schnabel, who also came up with its story, as well as Steven Van Zandt.

The Trainer's release date has not been revealed to the public as of yet.
Allison Holker had the oldest of her three young children by her side when she attended her first red carpet event since her husband Stephen 'tWitch' Boss died by suicide five months earlier.

On Friday, Holker and her daughter, Weslie Fowler, 14, attended the NAMI WLA Mental Health Gala at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles.

The pair were among the honorees at the National Alliance On Mental Illness (NAMI) event that's held in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month.

The invitation-only fundraiser gala featured a red carpet, cocktails, curated food delights, a reception, and surprise performances.

It features Hollywood's elite, entrepreneurs, and philanthropists in support of the organization's mission to build better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness, according to the organization's website.

Honorees: Allison Holker, 35, and daughter Weslie Fowler, 14, attended the annual Mental Health Gala of the National Alliance On Mental Illness Westside Los Angeles on Friday; they were among the honorees

Upon arriving, Holker and Fowler stepped onto the red carpet for a round of photos, where they snuggled up next to each other in their respective elegant black gowns.

Later in the evening the mother-daughter duo and the Move With Kindness Foundation received the Heart Of A Champion Award in honor of Stephen tWitch' Boss, who passed away from a self-inflicted gunshot on December 13 at the age of 40.

The Move With Kindness foundation 'aims to carry on the legacy of Stephen 'tWitch' Boss by spreading love and mental health awareness.'

During the gala, there was a special tribute to the life and legacy of Boss, who is best known to many fans as the always smiling and joyful DJ and executive producer of the Ellen DeGeneres Show.

In the days and weeks since he took his own life, many people have struggled to reconcile Boss' outward persona, which included his seemingly positive attitude and infectious smile, which in turn sparked a conversation about so-called high-functioning depression, as reported by NBC News.

Along with Weslie, whom Boss adopted after marrying her mother in 2013, the couple had two other children together: a daughter Zaia, three, and a son Maddox, seven.

In early May, Holker opened up about the 'shock' she felt over her late husband's suicide in an emotional interview, revealing how she and their children are coping with the loss of their 'Superman.'

Sitting down with the Today show's Hoda Kotb for her first TV interview since his death, Allison, 35, shared insights into her husband's mental health struggles, breaking down as she recalled how tWitch always wanted to 'be the strong one for everyone' and how that left him 'a little scared' to ask for help.

'He wanted to be the strong one for everyone and I think it was a little scary for him to think that he might need to ask for help,' she shared.

The Minnesota native, who's a dancer, choreographer, and actress, admitted that it 'breaks her heart' that she didn't 'see it coming,' adding that she 'feels sad' that her late husband was 'so there' for her and their kids while secretly battling his demons.

'I still feel like I'm like the rest of the world, where I'm still shocked,' she said.

Making a difference: Holker and her daughter, along with the Move With Kindness Foundation, received the Heart Of A Champion Award in honor of Stephen tWitch' Boss, who passed away from a self-inflicted gunshot on December 13 at the age of 40

Heartbreaking: Along with Weslie and his wife, Boss leaves behind a daughter Zaia, three, and son Maddox, seven; Boss's widow shared this photo four days earlier

Opening up: The mother of three shared about her 'shock' over her late husband's suicide in an emotional interview earlier in May

Insight: 'He wanted to be the strong one for everyone and I think it was a little scary for him to think that he might need to ask for help,' she shared during the interview

'No one's ready for that moment and there's no one that saw this coming. No one. And that also breaks my heart too. But I feel so sad that he was so there and we weren't in the knowing.'

'He was so much love and light. He really wanted to be everyone's Superman, he said that a lot. He could hold so much for people and I do think it was hard for him to process that at the end.'

Since the So You Think You Can Dance alum and Ellen DeGeneres co-host died his loved ones have grieved in private ever since.

Holker confessed that she initially asked herself whether she had missed any warning signs about her husband's struggles, saying: 'I did it a lot in the beginning. I eventually had to tell myself that I can't change anything that's happened.'

When asked during the interview by Kotb how she has remained so 'strong,' she admitted that she has no other choice, particularly when she's around the couple's three children.

'It's all for them, I don't really have any other choice but to be strong,' she said, before admitting: 'They still see me have my highs and lows because there's a lot of it.'

While Holker is still grieving the loss of her husband, who she described as a 'magical' person, she said that she's also trying to focus on the incredible memories that they made together during their 13-year relationship, explaining that she knows the pain she feels now is a sign of just how 'much love' they shared.

Confessional: Holker admitted that she 'feels sad' that her late husband was 'so there' for her and their kids while secretly battling his demons

Tragic: The So You Think You Can Dance and Ellen Show alum died by suicide at age 40 in December 2022; the couple are pictured in 2022

'Our love was magical and it was so real and I think that's the hardest part about all of this,' she explained.

'The way we loved was so big and I got 13 years with one of the most magical humans. I learned so much about love and gratitude.

Boss passed away inside a hotel room at the Oak Tree Inn in Encino, California, having checked in at 10:30am that day. His body was discovered the following day after he failed to check out of his room.

It was reported by TMZ that he left a suicide note in the hotel room alluding to the challenges he faced in the past and turned his phone to airplane mode before shooting himself dead.

Worried for her husband, Holker contacted Los Angeles police on Tuesday to report him missing, saying he had left without a word a day earlier and wasn't returning her calls, TMZ reported, citing law enforcement sources.

She insisted there had been no fight or dispute that precipitated his departure, just three days after their wedding anniversary, and said his lack of contact was extremely out of character.

While chatting with Today, the grieving widow said she still 'talks to him every night,' adding that she tells her kids to do the same because 'communication is key.'

'I talk to him every night. And it's different every night, sometimes it's just like, 'I took the kids to school.' Sometimes it's deeper, a little bit heavy,' she explained.

'If I'm feeling this much pain it's because I've had so much love. It's honestly something I wouldn't wish for anybody. It's really hard. But if I've learned anything, it's that communication is key. To us, Daddy is in the stars, so we can go outside and talk to him whenever we want, she revealed.

Holker recalled her young children asking her, 'When is daddy coming back?' and, 'Is daddy coming back when he's older?'

Bright light: 'He was so much love and light. He really wanted to be everyone's Superman, he said that a lot. He could hold so much for people and I do think it was hard for him to process that at the end,' Holker said of her late husband

Moving forward: While Holker grieves the loss of her husband, who she described as a 'magical' person, she says she trying to focus on the incredible memories they made together

But she tries to focus on the positive times they've had together, adding, 'We get to live in those great memories that we have. I do feel like he's with me. We know he's guiding us through every single day.'

Holker noted that Ellen DeGeneres has been 'a huge support system' for her since her husband's death, and that she and the talk show host 'talk about the fun memories we have about him.'

Following his passing late last year, the TV personality paid tribute to him online, calling him her 'family' and a 'pure love and light.'

The star said: 'I will miss him. Please send your love and support to Allison and his beautiful children - Weslie, Maddox, and Zaia.'

Allison added that she hoped by being honest about what he went through could 'bring awareness to mental health and open up conversations.'

'[I hope it] helps people to feel comfortable asking for that help. I really do want to make an impact on behalf of someone I love so much,' she concluded.

Supportive: Holker noted that Ellen DeGeneres has been 'a huge support system' for her since her husband's death five months ago

Keeping his memory alive: The Minnesota native explained that she and the talk show host 'talk about the fun memories we have about him'

Just a month prior to his passing, the beloved DJ had told the Jennifer Hudson Show that he and his wife were considering adding to their family, saying: 'I love the little babies, I love them. It's a constant conversation.'

The last video the dancer posted on social media showed him smiling and laughing with his family.

Jennifer Lopez, Questlove, and Michelle Obama were among the other famous names who honored the DJ following his passing.

Sharing a post on her Instagram page, Lopez wrote: 'tWtich was such a light and a beautiful soul. Shocked and deeply saddened. My heart breaks for @sir_twitch_alot, his wife and children. Sending you love and strength.'

Following his death, AHolker also released a statement to People gushing over his legacy.

'Stephen lit up every room he stepped into. He valued family, friends and community above all else and leading with love and light was everything to him,' the widow said, adding, 'To say he left a legacy would be an understatement, and his positive impact will continue to be felt.'
He was a fan favourite on MasterChef Australia's third season.

So it's no surprise that Hayden Quinn has paid a touching tribute to the popular cooking series.

In an interview with Yahoo! on Friday, the 36-year-old revealed that his breakout appearance in the hit show gave him a totally new life as a professional foodie.

Debuting on MasterChef in 2011, Hayden, who currently presents Taste of Australia for 10Play, had previously worked as a lifeguard and firefighter.

But his experience in the MasterChef kitchen ended up changing his life and career trajectory forever.

MasterChef Australia star Hayden Quinn has revealed how his role on the show completely changed his life

Debuting on MasterChef in 2011, Hayden previously worked as a lifeguard and firefighter before finding fame as a foodie

'I may have continued to be a lifeguard or a firefighter or worked in an office and loved food and loved cooking and done that on the weekend like most people do,' he said.

'But to be able to have opened that world up to be able to turn it into a career and a passion and something that I get to do every day and share with so many people is really special,' Hayden continued.

'It was interesting because there are a lot of opportunities that came off the back of MasterChef, especially in the world of food. I took those and ran with them and did different little cooking stints here and there, brushed up on my skills, and did this and that.'

Hayden made such an impact during the 2011 MasterChef contest that the hunky star returned to the franchise for an all-star season in 2012.

He returned once more to the ratings blockbuster for the Back To Win season in 2020.

Hayden announced his engagement to his model girlfriend, Jax Raynor (R) last December

Meanwhile, Hayden was a judge on Channel Nine's short-lived cooking competition Family Food Fight from 2017 to 2018. He also published two cookbooks.

His other credits include Hayden Quinns South Africa, a ten-part cooking series on SBS.

Hayden also fronted the ABC cooking series Surfing the Menu: The Next Generation, with Dan Churchill in 2016.

It comes after Hayden announced his engagement to his American model girlfriend, Jax Raynor, last December.

The couple shared their happy news on Christmas Eve, uploading a sweet photo of them posing with Champagne flutes in hand.

'Merry Christmas and Happy Engagement from us to all of you!!!' Hayden, 36, captioned the post. The couple began dating in 2016.

Hayden previously admitted that he wanted to propose earlier but the pandemic had made it 'tricky' to make their engagement plans official.

Raynor relocated from Los Angeles to Sydney in the second year of their relationship to be with the MasterChef star.
The Eurovision Song Contest will come to its climactic conclusion in Liverpool, England, this weekend as the world decides which glitter-laced performance deserves to win.

And while Australia may be on the other side of the world, fans from Down Under can vote on their favourite act if they're willing to endure the 5am wake-up.

The voting period will be announced during the grand final, so make sure to watch the live broadcast on SBS on Sunday 14 May at 5am (AEST.)

While European fans can vote via SMS and telephone, Aussie fans can only vote online via Eurovision's official voting partner Digame at www.esc.vote.

As per Eurovision's voting policy, fans can't vote for their own country. This means Australians viewers won't be be to vote for Aussie contestant Voyager.

Australians can vote in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 via Eurovision's official voting partner Digame at www.esc.vote - if they're willing to endure the 5am wake-up. (Pictured: Voyager performing at Eurovision)

Each voter is able to dole out 20 votes to one performer, or divide them between several acts.

It comes amid rumours this may be Australia's last year competing in Eurovision.

Australia has been allowed to compete in the iconic song contest for the past eight years thanks to a cross-continental arrangement between Australia's public broadcaster SBS and European Broadcasting Union (EBU.

It comes amid rumours this may be Australia's last year competing in Eurovision

However, this arrangement will come to an end this year, and it's unclear whether a new contract will be signed.

Speaking to ABC News this week, Australia's Eurovision creative director Paul Clarke said: 'At this stage, our future in the song contest is a live discussion, but it's no secret we love being part of Eurovision.'

Eurovision 2023 is being held in Liverpool and hosted by the UK on behalf of Ukraine, whose Kalush Orchestra claimed victory last year.

Booking.com is the Official Travel Partner of Eurovision, and has provided accomodation for thousands of fans who travelled to Liverpool to view the show live.

'Booking.com is proud to play a role in making it easier for millions of Eurovision fans to come together and celebrate Europe's most popular and diverse music event, demonstrating that unity comes in a variety of forms in both music and travel,' said Arjan Dijk, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Booking.com.

The full list of performers and the running order was confirmed after the last Semi Final by presenters Alesha Dixon, Hannah Waddingham and Julia Sanina

The full list of performers and the running order was confirmed after the last semi final by hosts Alesha Dixon, Hannah Waddingham and Julia Sanina.

Taking to the stage are Albania, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Switzerland, Poland, Serbia, France, Cyprus, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Estonia and Finland.

Also performing in the grand finals are Moldova, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Israel, Croatia, Norway, Germany and Lithuania.
Rachel Riley and her husband Pasha Kovalev were all smiles on Saturday as they took their daughters to the opening of Gabby on the Go, an interactive experience in Lakeside, London.

The Countdown presenter, who is mum to three-year-old Maven and Noah, two, looked effortlessly chic as she donned a pink stripy jumper and ripped denim jeans.

Her blonde tresses were styled in a half up bun and she looked happy and relaxed as she casually held Noah on her hip.

Former Strictly Come Dancing star Pasha, 43, wore a navy top with jeans, which he paired with red trainers.

Rachel, 36, gave her Instagram followers a glimpse of what went on throughout the morning and told them: 'We've been having a very fun morning. We've seen the cats, we've done some dancing, we've done some playing and it's been brilliant!'

All smiles: Countdown's Rachel Riley and husband Pasha Kovalev were all smiles on Saturday as they took their daughters Maven (pictured left) and Noah (pictured right) to the opening of Gabby on the Go

Happy families: Rachel, 36, and Pasha, 43, first met when she took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2013 and was paired with the pro

The couple were joined by former Strictly pros Ola and James Jordan who also attended the event with their daughter Ella, three.

Ola looked fashionable in a pair of beige trousers and baggy white jumper, under a cream padded gilet.

She added a cool edge to her look with some chunky cream boots and wore a face of elegant make-up.

Husband James wore a brown shearling jacket and brown trousers with brown boots.

The two families posed for a snap alongside Gabby, the star of the Netflix animated series.

The outing comes after Rachel, who has been Countdown's mathematician for 14 years, was left red-faced earlier this month when she was unable to solve a numerical problem.

Contestants were challenged to use the numbers selected to create a final number of 477, which none were able to do.

Rather than show off her skills and wow viewers on how to reach the exact number in a usually impressively quick time, Rachel was unable to do so and instead told the Channel 4 show's host, Colin Murray: 'You will have to come back to me Colin.'

Lucky in love: They surprised fans by tying the knot in an intimate ceremony six years later in Vegas and now share two little girls

Family outing: Former Strictly pros Ola and James Jordan also attended the Gabby on the Go event with their daughter Ella, three

TV blunder: Rachel has been Countdown's mathematician for 14 years and was left red-faced when she was unable to solve a numerical problem

Viewers quickly picked up on Rachel's gaffe with some fans claiming the sum was 'obvious'.

Colin 46, officially took over hosting duties from Anne Robinson, 78, earlier this year after she quit amid tensions with her co-stars.

Talking to The Mirror, he briefly addressed the much-published feud, saying that the atmosphere had changed following Anne's departure.

Colin stepped in for former presenter Anne Robinson last year and is said to be overjoyed at landing his dream job.
Claire Sweeney has admitted she regrets not being a part of Eurovision when she was younger.

She told MailOnline in a new interview that she had the 'perfect song' to enter with, saying: 'I look back with a bit of regret that I never entered it when I was younger.

'Because I had a song on my album called when you believe and that would early 2000s and that would have been perfect to enter.

'And I kind of feel like Ive missed out on being part of this family. I would have loved to have done it. Im a bit old now for it [to enter Eurovision].'

The Scouse Brookside actress, 52, is doing alternative coverage for Saturday's 2023 event on the BBC's red button.

'I would have loved to have done it': Claire Sweeney has admitted she regrets not doing Eurovision and said she had the 'perfect song' to enter the contest in the early 2000s

Coverage: The Scouse Brookside actress, 52, is doing alternative coverage for Saturday's 2023 event on the BBC's red button

Claire is hosting her alternative coverage alongside a man called Paul Quinn, who was chosen as her co-host after a search for the 'other voice of Liverpool'.

She said: 'Hes a Eurovision geek. He knows all the stats he knows everything. So we are the voices of Liverpool.

'With the BBC youve gotta be impartial. Theres so many things Id love to say. I could be honest but I dont know how honest I can be. Youve gotta be fair and I am fair.

The actress revealed that she loves the UK entrant for 2023, Mae Muller, as well as her number for the final I Wrote A Song.

She said: 'Mae Muller is fantastic shes brilliant. I think that song is fabulous. It really grows on you.'

The Scouse star, who was born in Walton, is very excited that Eurovision is being hosted in her home city.

She revealed: 'I feel Capital of Culture is quite instrumental in all of this because thats when the city was injected with a load of cash and regenerated and rejuvenated. It was kind as if we started preparing then for this.'

Team: Claire is hosting her alternative coverage alongside a man called Paul Quinn (centre), who was chosen as her co-host after a search for the 'other voice of Liverpool'

New role: The actress is absolutely delighted to be joining the Coronation Street cast as Evelyn's (Maureen Lipman) daughter Cassandra and Tyrone's biological mother

The mother-of-one also discussed the fact that she is very proud of where she is from and the celebrations happening on Saturday.

Claire said: 'Its the perfect time for Eurovision to happen here. Were a cultural city, were united by music, comedy, art. Liverpool is the perfect place to hold it.

'I couldnt be prouder. Ive always been proud of the city, I love it so much. Im just so proud of this city.

'Walking from the arena the other night along through the village past the river front, the police and security guards said we havent had a minutes trouble, everyones been brilliant. As they say in the song, all you need is love and thats what its been.

'Weve just been so inclusive, weve really embraced hosting Eurovision for Ukraine, the city is blue and yellow everywhere you go its a real homage. The city has stepped up. We stand shoulder to shoulder and we include everyone.'

She also praised Alesha Dixon's rap about Liverpool, describing it as 'brilliant' and 'amazing' as excitement built for Saturday's grand final.

Claire has been in showbusiness since 1991 after she landed her first major role in Brookside and since, the star has appeared in everything from Celebrity Big Brother to her most recent role in Coronation Street.

The actress is absolutely delighted to be joining the Coronation Street cast as Evelyn's (Maureen Lipman) daughter Cassandra and Tyrone's biological mother.

Co-star: Claire has had a busy week, and revealed that on Tuesday she went from filming Coronation Street with Maureen straight to Eurovision

Claire has had a busy week, and revealed that on Tuesday she went from filming Coronation Street with Maureen straight to Eurovision.

She admitted that they had been filming 'very heavy' scenes on it and to go and watch the semi-final of Eurovision after made it the 'most unbelievable day' in her career.

Claire said: 'I had a weird first day [on Tuesday] because I spent the whole day filming with Dame Maureen Lipman whos a masterclass in acting, we filmed very heavy scenes very dramatic scenes.

'Then I had to do a quick shower, a quick turnaround, get my makeup on and go to Eurovision. So it was from one extreme to another so I was there watching the semi final.

'It was the most unbelievable day in my career, and I cant believe its happened to me at the age of 52. Filming Corrie and then going to my hometown to watch Eurovision. It was just brilliant.'

She revealed that she had great fun starting work on the show and is excited for more filming.

Claire said: 'Ive only done a few days on it now, but it was a big epic for me because Im a massive fan of the show. My first day on the cobbles I couldnt believe it.'

The star also spoke about the possibility of a Brookside reboot as she makes her return to soaps.

Claire said: 'Its a big success on STV. Who knows? Stranger things have happened. Oh I dont know, my heads in Corrie at the moment so I dont know.'

Reprise? The star (pictured left in Brookside) also spoke about the possibility of a Brookside reboot as she makes her return to soaps

Son: She also revealed that her son Jaxon, with her ex-partner Daniel Reilly, does not 'get' what she does yet

She also revealed that her son Jaxon, with her ex-partner Daniel Reilly, does not 'get' what she does yet.

Claire said: 'Hes eight. He doesnt care. Hes obsessed with art, he loves music and his friends and he loves his life. Hes really kind. Hes a beautiful boy.'

Although she added that she would not discourage him from following in her footsteps if it makes him happy.

She said: 'This business has brought me a lot of joy. Im 52 and I still love what I do. I still get excited seeing the show. I still get excited and nervous. It still stimulates me.

'So if he can be as happy as I am doing what I do, thats all I want. You just want your kid to be happy. And if he wants to do it, great, I wouldnt stop him.

'As long as hes happy, I cant say I dont want to go him into the business because its brought me a lot of pleasure.

'Its afforded me to meet brilliant people, travel the world, be challenged when Im scared to do a show, and conquer my fears.'

She admitted that conquering her fears is something that she is still working on and it is sometimes tough.

Claire said: 'Its a funny thing because Im peri-menopausal so anxiety kicks in and you cant let the gremlin get you, and its hard sometimes. Its a battle and youre trying to keep yourself together.

'If I didnt love what I do I wouldnt do it. Thats what gets me through: the love of it. Because sometimes it can be scary and you think: "Ive gotta love it to do it."

'I will never be that person who goes: what am I worried about? I will always be grateful, I will never take it for-granted and I will never be complacent. I will always be a bit nervous and question myself.'

Royal meeting: Claire admitted that the industry makes her happy and has given her a lot of opportunities (pictured right meeting the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2005)

Friend: She has also praised Sheridan Smith for her interpretation of the actress in the new cast

Alongside the plethora of roles in her career, Claire has also starred as Shirley Valentine in the theatre production.

And now, she has praised Sheridan Smith for her interpretation of the actress in the new cast.

She said: 'I did Shirley Valentine just before lockdown and I remember getting a late night call of Sheridan going: how did you learn this, with all of the lines? But I think shes a quicker learner than me, and she was fabulous.

'She reached out because for anyone whos played Shirley Valentine, you feel like part of a little family because you know the learning that goes into it.

'I started learning 6 months before. Watching her do it I was like theres more, I forgot about that bit. Omg how did I learn all of that?

'Theres a moment that shows you how good she is: I was watching it, relieving it and then I forgot, I got transported and lost in Shirley Valentines story. Shes so good. Shes a star.

'Shes just got funny bones Sheridan. Not only is a great dramatic actress. It was almost had a stand up quality to it, with the accent that was flawless. Shes brilliant.'
The U.S. Air Force is having F-22 pilots test a new model DASH (Display and Sight Helmet) pilot helmet. The AV-2 helmet was developed by LIFT Airborne Technologies. The AV-2 was winner of a 2022 NGFW (Next Generation Fixed Wing Helmet) competition between three helmet manufacturers, including GENTEX, which has provided most of the DASH helmets for fighter pilots since the 1980s. DASH helmets are a big business with over a dozen separate markets for helmets. The AV-2 is for jet fighter pilots and is lighter, easier to use and can accommodate more new features. The air force contract is worth about $400 million.

Combat pilots dont all use the same DASH type helmet. Attack aircraft and helicopter pilots require helmets specialized for their jobs. The most demanding category is fighter pilots, who benefit the most from lighter, more expensive and more capable in general helmets. Not all fighter aircraft pilots use the same helmet. For example, F-35 pilots fly aircraft that behave differently than most fighters. This is particularly true for naval aviators operating from carriers. For example, in 2018 U.S. Navy finally got an upgrade to the F-35 version of the JHMCS (Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System) that fixed a serious problem that was only noticed once less experienced F-35 carrier pilots began using JHMCS during night carrier landings (night traps). Carrier pilots did not begin using the F-35s on carriers until 2014 and the pilots involved were veteran carrier pilots who found the F-35 JHMCS worked fine and these veteran carrier pilots adapted to it quickly. But once new carrier pilots, with less than a few dozen night traps, began flying the F-35C carrier version there were reports that at night some green light leaked from the JHMCS in such a way that it was difficult to see the landing lights on the carrier deck that pilots had to constantly check to make a successful night trap. For F-35C pilots with more than a few dozen night traps this was not considered a major problem but for novice F-35C pilots it was seen as a potentially fatal distraction, especially during night traps carried out in bad weather. Until the problem was fixed only carrier pilots with fifty or more night traps could perform night traps with the F-35C.

That problem has been fixed by using OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) displays in the JHMCS helmets in place of the older LED tech. The first of these OLED versions went to the F-35C pilots with fewer than 50 night traps and eventually, all F-35C pilots had them. OLED was a planned upgrade for JHMCS and aircraft flight instruments in general, but there was not a lot of urgency for the more powerful F-35 version of the JHMCS. This version had a lot more data available on the helmet visor and was used differently than other versions of JHMCS.

The LED light leak problem was one of the things noted as a minor problem to be fixed eventually, after a major advance in the design of these helmets appeared in 2012. This new version entered service as JHMCS II and, like JHMCS I, allowed the user to fire weapons at wherever their eyes are pointed, no matter what direction the helmet is pointed. This new version did everything the older version did but faster and with less effort by the pilot. Version II used better hardware and software to track the movement of the pilot's eyes. The new JHMCS was better balanced and much more comfortable to wear and use. The new version was more reliable and cheaper as well. Still, a JHMCS II costs about a million dollars. It's an expensive way to cover your head. The cost of JHMCS includes additional equipment to be installed in the cockpit, training and technical support.

The JHMCS also allows a pilot to see critical flight and navigation information displayed on their visor, sort of like a see-through computer monitor or Head-Up Display. This enables the pilot to look around more often without having to look down at cockpit displays or straight ahead at a HUD (Head-Up Display). This kind of freedom gives an experienced pilot an extra edge in finding enemy aircraft or targets and maneuvering to get into a better position for attacks. JHMCS is also useful for air to ground attacks.

Systems like JHMCS have been very effective but JHMCS II was lighter and easier to wear (weight was a major problem in the past), easier to use, and more reliable, especially if you don't bump into the canopy. The new AV-1 helmet is lighter still and more capable in general.

The Israelis firm Elbit took the lead in developing this technology and made many technical breakthroughs with their earlier DASH system. Elbit teamed up with American firms to develop and market JHMCS, which is largely an improved DASH system. This also led to the F-35s JGMCS and the current AV-2.

The first helmet mounted sights were developed in South Africa in the 1970s. The Russians noted this development when they lost several jet fighters in Angola to South African pilots using these helmets. The Russians went to work and five years later had one of their own. It proved very effective and scared NATO air forces when the Russian helmet was demonstrated by German fighter pilots from the former East German (the Germany's united in 1991) against experienced American F-16 pilots. Israel was the first Western air force to develop one of these helmets and is still a leader in the field.

Since the 1980s these helmets have come to handle more data and chores while also being easier to wear. But these helmets are still heavy. That's why the better balance of JHMCS II was important. Even so, shortly after September 11, 2001, the U.S. Air Force introduced a new neck muscle exercise machine in air force gyms frequented by fighter pilots. This was because the new helmets weighed 2 kg (4.3 pounds), which was about fifty percent more than a plain old helmet. That extra weight may not seem like much but when making a tight turn, the gravitational pull (or "Gs") makes the helmet feel like it weighs 17.3 kg (38 pounds). You need strong neck muscles to deal with that. For decades now fighter pilots have had to spend a lot of time building upper body strength in the gym, in order to be able to handle the G-forces. Otherwise, pilots can get groggy or even pass out in flight, as well as land with strained muscles. The AV-2 helmet weighs about 40 percent less than most current models.

Before helmet mounted displays and aiming systems were available, pilots had to keep checking instruments in the cockpit and use fixed targeting systems. Not having to keep looking at the cockpit displays saved valuable seconds in jet fighter combat that was often over in less than ten seconds. Repeated combat exercises (and actual combat) between pilots with the helmets and those without has made this unequivocal. Its been a revolutionary development in air combat.

In the air combat community, the innovation is recognized as real and, for those not using it, a deadly disadvantage. To make the most of tech like this you must allow your pilots to spend hundreds of hours in the air practicing with the helmets. This is one reason why China and Russia adopted the more expensive Western style of training pilots over the last few decades.

In 2015 U.S. again upgraded the JHMCS II "look and shoot" helmet displays used by F-35, F-15, F-16 and F-18 pilots. The F-35s also got the latest version (the U.S.Israeli HMDS, Helmet-Mounted Display System) included a new VR (Virtual Reality) feature. These new helmets can display graphics in real time and the VR feature enables the helmet display to show what is beneath the aircraft (via six infrared cameras on the fuselage beneath the cockpit) when the pilot looks down with this VR feature turned on. This can be very useful in combat, ground attack or simply landing. This feature proved particularly effective when operating at night. HMDS is also closely integrated with the very capable F-35 avionics and thus will enable the F-35 to be the first modern jet without a standard HUD (mounted above the cockpit instruments in front of the pilot).

Basic features of these "look and shoot" helmet displays include information displayed on the visor, and sensors in the helmet, which enables the pilot to look at the target (either another aircraft, or something on the ground) and fire a weapon (missile) that will go after the target being looked at. Recent upgrades allow the pilot to also put "head up display" (HUD) information on the helmet visor visual system. This is a big advantage in air combat, where it's always been a problem having to look down at some display or instrument reading, and take your eyes off the surrounding airspace. This makes it safer for pilots (especially when flying on the deck, at high speed) and in combat. Another recent enhancement allows each pilot to customize what information is shown on their helmet visor.

These helmets are one of the major, and little mentioned, revolutions in air combat. Enabling a pilot to look and shoot as well as keep their heads up more of the time and more quickly make decisions in air-to-air combat is a big deal. This dramatic change has not gotten much publicity because there has been such little air-to-air combat in the last few decades. But in realistic training exercises, the difference has been noted. This has been documented in detail (and classified) in the United States because since the 1970s, American combat pilots have done regular training in instrumented airspace, where every move by aircraft and decision by pilots is recorded. This provides all sorts of data on how the aircraft and pilot performance has evolved over the decades. The new helmets have turned out to be a major innovation in air combat.
Patti Newton has renewed her showbiz career as a way to cope with the loss of her beloved husband Bert, who died in October 2021 at the age of 83.

The 78-year-old says she's thrown herself into a featured role in the touring stage production of Mary Poppins.

Married to Bert for a staggering 47 years, Patti told the Herald Sun that doing the hit musical was one of 'best things' she could do for herself, because it helped her heal.

'I was told (after Berts death) that you will go one of two ways,' she said in an interview with the publication.

'You can either sit at home and mope,' she explained, or be somebody that 'looks forward to the future'.

Patti Newton has renewed her career as a way to cope with the loss of her beloved husband Bert, who died in October 2021 at the age of 83

The 78-year-old says she's thrown herself into a featured role in the touring stage production of Mary Poppins

Patti plays the character of Lady Bird in the famed stage show and has just finished a season of the musical in Brisbane.

She now plans to take to the stage with the role for a one week Melbourne season of Mary Poppins next month, with Adelaide and Perth to follow.

Patti also said doing the Brisbane shows was 'one of the best things I did, because it took me out of myself and helped me heal.'

She added: 'And I knew Bert would want me to do it, it was a good thing for me.'

Married to Bert for a staggering 47 years, Patti said that doing the hit musical was one of 'best things' she could do for herself, because it helped her heal

It comes after Patti opened up about her feelings about life without Bert earlier this week.

Describing Bert as 'irreplaceable', said she has no plans to ever date again.

She added that she doesn't believe in the old saying that 'time will heal all wounds' and thinks it 'gets worse' with grief.

'When you've had the best, why would you want second best,' she said during an interview on 2DAY FM's Hughesy, Ed & Erin breakfast show.

'He was it for me, I fell in love at a very young age and I've never looked at anyone else and never even kissed anyone else. He wasn't the first kiss, but after I fell in love with him, that was it.'

Patti laid her husband to rest in November 2021.

He had been receiving palliative care at a clinic in Melbourne at the time of his death.

Patti laid her husband to rest in November 2021. Pictured: The beloved showbiz couple in1992

He was hospitalised in March that year and underwent surgery on his leg in May. He needed surgery after his toe became infected before Christmas.

The infection was 'linked to his diabetes' and was threatening his life, with doctors telling him the surgery was a 'life or death decision'.

Doctors told Bert that if he kept the leg then he would have just 'months to live' rather than years if he chose to amputate.

Meanwhile, Patti told the Herald Sun she would be spending Mother's Day with her daughter Lauren and grandchildren: Sam, Eva, Lola, Monty, Perla and Alby.
Jonathan Majors is rumored to be dating Meagan Good, sources have shared with TMZ.

The insiders called the romance between the 33-year-old Creed III star  who could face a year in jail for assault  and 41-year-old Harlem actress 'fairly new.'

According to the media outlet, the two have been seeing each other 'over the course of the last several weeks.'

A witness also alleged that the two entertainers enjoyed a movie date at Alamo Drafthouse in Los Angeles last weekend.

It comes as the Lompoc, California-born star's criminal charge for an alleged altercation with ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari was upgraded to third-degree assault.

New couple? Jonathan Majors is dating Meagan Good , sources have shared with TMZ

Majors was accused of assaulting and strangling his ex in New York City in March. He was charged with misdemeanor assault and harassment. But that charge has now been 'adjusted,' his lawyer said.

He attended a court hearing via Zoom on Tuesday morning in regards to the status of his assault case - and it was there that a superseding complaint with a charge of third-degree assault was announced, Deadline reported.

This could see Majors be sent behind bars for up to a year if found guilty. He has previously denied all wrongdoing.

Judge Rachel S. Pauley also discussed a motion filed by Majors defense team that the prosecution has until May 23 to respond.

He will have to appear in court on June 13, otherwise he may be arrested, the judge said.

Pauley told the actor on Tuesday morning: 'I obviously dont want that to happen, so just stay in touch with your attorney.'

Following the hearing, his attorney Priya Chaudhry published a statement slamming Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg for 'fixing' the case in favor of the accuser.

She said that despite the alleged evidence that exonerates Majors, the case is continuing and the DA has changed the charge to fit the woman's 'new lies.'

Chaudhry said: 'We have provided the District Attorney with irrefutable evidence that the woman is lying, including video proof showing nothing happened, especially not where she claimed.'

Changing case: The charge against Majors has now been upgraded to third-degree assault; ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari pictured

Majors previously claimed that witness testimony and video evidence will prove his innocence amid the domestic violence allegations.

Chaudhry said that a driver for the beleaguered actor witnessed the altercation between the entertainer and his ex at around 1 a.m. on the day of the incident.

The driver witnessed the woman assault the actor while she was trying to steal his phone, Chaudhry said.

The attorney said that the driver will testify that they never witnessed the Marvel actor lay a hand on his ex-girlfriend 'in any way at any time, or even [raise] his voice' in their dispute.

The driver will also testify to seeing the woman 'hitting, scratching and attacking' Majors, who asked to pull the car over to exit after his ex got physical with him, Chaudhry said.

Majors' lawyer said that they have evidence to show that the woman's claims that her finger was broken and ear was lacerated was a 'complete lie,' pointing out video footage of the woman going to a nightclub in the wake of the altercation.

Only stills: Several images come from security footage from Loosies Nightclub between 1:55 am and 3:06 am on March 25 - shortly after Majors is said to have assaulted Jabbari during a cab ride to his Chelsea apartment

The texts that were sent from Majors' girlfriend to Jonathan after the alleged incident. The defense released the texts in a bid to prove his innocence last month

Chaudhry said that hours of video footage depict the woman drinking at the club in the wake of the incident, which conflicts with her claims that she suffered the aforementioned injuries at the hands of the actor.

The woman also sent the actor text messages accusing him of cheating on her and threatening to kill herself, Chaudhry said in legal docs.

Chaudhry said that in footage from the nightclub, the woman was seen frequently using her right hand, which she said the actor injured in the incident.

The attorney said in legal docs that the woman was seen styling her hair, rummaging through her purse, sifting through credit cards, and holding her phone and a champagne glass, proving her fitness amid the alleged injury to her hand.

In the court docs, Majors' legal team said that his ex-girlfriend was also seen taking shots and sipping champagne with friends, not appearing to be nursing any injuries.

End of an era: The LA native is 'still grieving, still hurt' but she's grown far more religious since her marriage to the 43-year-old Seventh-day Adventist preacher (pictured in 2019)

Meagan's dating history includes a marriage to film producer DeVon Franklin for 10 years until they split in December 2021, with the divorce finalized in June 2022.

Earlier this year she revealed her Harlem co-star Whoopi Goldberg was 'instrumental' in helping her with the split.

When asked what she has learned from the split during an interview on The View, Good began, 'I've learned a lot about myself. I've rediscovered myself in a lot of ways.'

'Also I gotta say again, Whoopi was very instrumental in that, because we had some really good conversations I needed to have that were illuminating for me and eye-opening for me,' Good said.
Elle Fanning revealed she lost a 'big' movie franchise role due to having a low follower count on Instagram while appearing on an episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast that aired Thursday.

The Emmy-nominated actress, 25, who recently wowed in a plunging silver gown at The Great premiere in Los Angeles, stopped by to talk about her career and the industry with host, Josh Horowitz.

At one point, the blonde beauty was asked if there was any 'pressure' to join franchises such as Marvel or Star Wars.

The star admitted that she didn't 'feel that way' but explained, 'it does something for people, but you also don't know if it's going to work sometimes, which is scary.'

Fanning, who notably starred in Disney's Maleficent franchise, recalled trying out for a big role, which she chose to not disclose, went on to recall a time that she 'didn't get a part' due to having a small social media presence.

Losing a role: Elle Fanning, 25, revealed she lost a 'big' movie franchise role due to have a low follower count on Instagram while appearing on an episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast that aired Thursday; seen in April in Beverly Hills

'Pressure': At one point, the blonde beauty was asked if there was any 'pressure' to join franchises such as Marvel or Star Wars

'It might not have just been this reason, but this was all the feedback that I heard, was because I didn't have enough Instagram followers at the time. So that was a little like...'

'That, I firmly don't believe in,' Fanning told the podcast host, and continued, 'It was for a bigger thing, a franchise thing.'

She explained that if the opportunity arose in the future that she wouldn't 'say no to those things. But I would have to have a meeting and really talk to see what it is.'

Elle then referenced to her The Great co-star, Nicholas Hoult, who had been in the running for the role of Batman, which eventually went to Robert Pattinson.

'I didn't have to go through what Nick did, you know, doing all that stuff...trying the suit on,' she noted.

However, the younger sister of actress, Dakota Fanning, emphasized the importance in having balance in what projects an individual undertakes.

'Because if you want to do your indie work, especially in producing now, I realize, well, there are scripts that I want to take a chance on and produce and they're small, but then you know you have to know, maybe it's about the experience.'

'But then, okay, if you have the backing of knowing that you have that thing, it does make you breathe better,' the Super 8 actress further explained to Josh.

Although she had lost out on the franchise role, Elle has been keeping busy with her successful Hulu series titled, The Great, with the third season having officially premiered on the streaming site on Friday.

Low followers: Elle recalled trying out for a big franchise, which she chose to not disclose, but stated she 'didn't get a part' due to having a small social media presence

'Feedback': She explained, 'It might not have just been this reason, but this was all the feedback that I heard, was because I didn't have enough Instagram followers at the time. So that was a little like...'

Opening up: 'That, I firmly don't believe in,' Fanning told the podcast host, and continued, 'It was for a bigger thing, a franchise thing'

The Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated series, created by Tony McNamara, additionally stars Nicholas Hoult, Sacha Dhawan, Phoebe Fox, and also Adam Godley.

The third season continues to follow Elle's character, Empress Catherine, and her husband, Peter III (Nicholas), with the 10-episode season concluding with shocking twists.

During an interview with Harper's Bazaar last month in April, the Cartier ambassador, who exuded an elegant, spring bride at the 2023 MET Gala earlier this month, opened up about portraying Catherine of the years.

'She takes risks, but she has to work herself up to it. Shes powerful, but not always the most powerful person in the room. She can be both scheming and naive. Shes a girl and a woman,' the star explained.

'Ive been playing Catherine in such formative years of my life. Ive grown as a woman alongside her.'

Aside from the Hulu show, Fanning has a number of other projects up her sleeve, such as starring alongside her sister, Dakota Fanning, in an adaptation of the novel titled, Nightingale, written by Kristin Hannah.

Successful series: Elle has been keeping busy with her successful Hulu series titled, The Great, with the third season having officially premiered on the streaming site on Friday

Embracing the role: 'Ive been playing Catherine in such formative years of my life. Ive grown as a woman alongside her,' Elle told Harper's Bazaar; seen at the 2023 MET Gala earlier this month in NYC

A team: 'We are a good team, because I'm more cynical about things. I'm a bit more of a snob,' she humorously added, expressing that Dakota, 'has to ground me a little bit'; the sisters seen in March in West Hollywood

The official premise follows, 'The lives of two sisters living in France are torn apart at the onset of World War II,' according to an IMDB synopsis. The project, however, has been pushed back since 2021 and is currently still in its pre-production stages.

While on the podcast, Elle, who split from boyfriend Max Minghella last month in April, discussed working with her sister, and stated, 'We are pretty much on the same page, I will say. But we can like, convince each other. We are pretty diplomatic.'

'We are a good team, because I'm more cynical about things. I'm a bit more of a snob,' she humorously added, expressing that Dakota, 'has to ground me a little bit. And then I'm like, "Oh God, you're right. Yes."'

In regards to The Nightingale project, the star hinted she felt, 'It was coming back around. And I think we both would want that to be the one, honestly. The script is so good. The book is so beloved. I'm hoping that does work.'
Denise Welch has reflected on how she gained two stone after giving up alcohol as she discussed her weight loss journey.

The Loose Women star, 64, recently marked 11 years of sobriety and has now looked back on how giving up alcohol has affected her life in a poignant post.

She took to Instagram on Saturday to candidly speak about how she gained 2 stone after her lifestyle change, saying she 'replaced one addiction with another'.

Denise shared two glowing swimsuit snaps of herself as she spoke about her weight loss journey and how she has 'changed her relationship with food'.

Alongside the pictures, she penned: '10 yrs ago today I started my @lighterlife journey. I lost 2 stone in 2 months and became a proud ambassador, a title I hold to this day.

Candid: Denise Welch has reflected on how she gained two stone after giving up alcohol as she discussed her weight loss journey

Poignant: The Loose Women star, 64, recently marked 11 years of sobriety and has now looked back on how giving up alcohol has affected her life in a poignant post

'I have seen @lighterlife change lives especially reversing type 2 diabetes.

'When I gave up alcohol I replaced one addiction with another, food and gained 2 stone.

'With the help of @lighterlife and their mentor and behavioural therapy approach I was able to change my relationship with food.

'The osteoarthritis in my knees improved by 90%. For more information the link is in my stories #ad.'

Her latest comments comes one month after Denise marked 11 years of sobriety in a candid Instagram post.

In March, the actress share two snaps of herself, taken over 11 years apart, as she spoke about how sobriety changed her life.

She admitted her 'disastrous' relationship with alcohol affected her relationship with her husband Lincoln Townley and the lives of her sons Louis, 22, and Matty, 34, who she shares with her ex Tim Healy.

The Coronation Street star went on to share that although going sober 'wasn't easy', it completed changed her life and the lives of her loved ones.

Opening up: She candidly spoke about how she gained 2 stone after her lifestyle change, saying she 'replaced one addiction with another'

Sobriety: Her latest comments comes one month after Denise marked 11 years of sobriety in a candid Instagram post

Alcohol: The Coronation Street actress shared that although going sober 'wasn't easy', it completed changed her life and the lives of her loved ones

In a poignant caption, she penned: '11 yrs sober today!!! Giving up my disastrous relationship with alcohol changed my life, my husband's life and my children's lives. Plus the lives of all who love me.

'It wasn't easy. Addiction is a cruel and frightening illness. But together @lincolntownley and I realised that we were destroying many lives including our own and we did it.

'I now have a wonderful marriage that is the foundation of my life. Our kids are happy and I hope those of you struggling find the strength to stop.

'If alcohol no longer makes you happy, if your drinking makes others lives miserable it's time to stop. There is help there if you need it.'

Denise and Lincoln tied the knot in July 2013 in Portugal, after becoming engaged in August 2012.

Lincoln previously credited his wife with helping him to become sober, leading him to become one of the country's most in-demand artists.

Speaking to The Mirror in June 2019, the London-born art sensation said of his other half: 'Drinking never brought anything good into my life except for Denise.'

Struggles: She admitted her 'disastrous' relationship with alcohol affected the lives of her sons Louis, 22, and Matty, 34, (both pictured in May 2015) who she shares with her ex Tim Healy

Romance: Denise's husband Lincoln Townley previously credited his wife with helping him to become sober, leading him to become one of the country's most in-demand artists

'We got to the point where we knew the best way to do it was to embrace sobriety together,' he added.

Addressing their joint journey into sobriety, he shared: 'We have known each other through a very dark time and we wanted to create something out of what we had. We're here and we're both very happy and that's the way it works for us.'

Lincoln added that it's 'not hard' to stay sober as the couple have plenty going on in their lives to keep them busy and focused.

Anyone battling similar issues can contact AA on 0800 917 7650 or email the helpline at help@aamail.org.
Vengaboys took to the stage for an energetic show at the Eurovision Village just hours ahead of the 2023 Song Contest and share their hopes to one day perform.

The Dutch Eurodance music group impressed crowds with a very upbeat performance in Liverpool on Saturday as they dressed in florescent outfits.

The group - made up of Kim Sasabone, Denise Post-Van Rijswijk, Robin Pors and Donny Latupeirissa - also told how they get asked to enter Eurovision 'all the time'.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Vengaboys confessed they send in Boom Boom to Eurovision 'every year' but always get rejected as they shared their hopes for next year.

They said: 'We get asked this all the time. We get asked every year by everyone but the people in charge. We would love to maybe next year, who knows?'

They still like to party! Vengaboys took to the stage for an energetic show at the Eurovision Village just hours ahead of the 2023 Song Contest and share their hopes to one day perform

Admitting they've tried to represent the Netherlands at Eurovision before, they went on: 'We tried it with Boom Boom. Every year we send in Boom Boom but they dont accept it.

'It has to be a new song. We need to write a new song thats a little bit naughty, and enter that in.'

Their comments came as they took to the stage to perform at the Eurovision village ahead of the hotly-anticipated Eurovision final at Liverpool's M&S Bank Arena.

Kim, 49, cut a trendy figure in a blue sequinned bodysuit, which she teamed with matching over-the-knee boots.

She slicked her brunette locks back into a sleek ponytail as she put on a very energetic display for the show.

Meanwhile, Denise, 44, put on a very vibrant display in a pink and orange jumpsuit embellished with bright yellow shoulder and waist pads.

She accessorised her ensemble with yellow heart hoop earrings and accentuated her features with lashings of mascara.

Robin, 45, dresses as a sailor in a white and navy costume while Donny put on an edgy look in a bright blue glitzy jumpsuit embellished with pink tassels.

Upbeat: The Dutch group impressed crowds with a very upbeat performance in Liverpool on Saturday as they dressed in florescent outfits (Denise Post-Van Rijswijk is pictured)

Plans: Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Vengaboys confessed they send in Boom Boom to Eurovision 'every year' but always get rejected (Kim Sasabone is pictured)

Vengaboys topped the 90s charts with dance anthems including Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!, We're Going to Ibiza, and We Like to Party.

They are marking their 25th anniversary this year, and made their return to the UK last month, just weeks ahead of their pre-Eurovision performance.

They are also set to perform at a slew of music festivals around the country, while they are also set to jet off to Dubai and Ibiza.

Throughout April until October, the band will be travelling across Scotland, Ireland and England for a slew of appearances - including Elgin's Macmoray Easter Festival, Brighton's Noughty 90s Festival and Butlins' 90s Reloaded in Somerset.

The Dutch group, who are known for their flamboyant fashion and beat-heavy hits, made their way across Australia on their 25th anniversary tour earlier this year.

The band were thrust into the limelight in 1998 when their hit We Like To Party peaked at number 1 in Belgium, before Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom topped the UK charts a year later.

After four albums, the group temporarily disbanded in 2002, as Denise then went on to welcome her first child, Jayden, during the hiatus.

Group: The group - made up of Kim Sasabone, Denise Post-Van Rijswijk, Robin Pors and Donny Latupeirissa - told how they get asked to enter Eurovision 'all the time'

Fame: The band were thrust into the limelight in 1998 when their hit We Like To Party p eaked at number 1 in Belgium, before Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom topped the UK charts a year later

The band then reunited in 2006, with Roy, who later embarked on a career as cabin crew at Dutch airline KLM, being replaced by Donny as he didn't return to the group.

Speaking previously on his decision to leave, Roy shared: 'I wanted to experience the world as myself, without any bodyguards, without any promotional people, without any record company people'.

The band released new singles in 2010 and 2013, before creating a Christmas album in November 2014.

They then supported Steps on their Party on the Dancefloor Tour in November and December 2017.
Doctor Who has revealed the titles for its three 60th anniversary specials and shared a brand new trailer featuring David Tennant and Catherine Tate.

The beloved BBC sci-fi series is returning in November 2023 with three specials to celebrate its 60th anniversary, with a whole host of familiar faces returning.

Now, Doctor Who has revealed the titles of the three anniversary episodes and given a glimpse at the drama-packed storylines which will feature in a tense trailer.

The brief 40-second clip showed David, 52, reprising his role as the Doctor while comedian Catherine, 53, once again joined him as fan-favourite Donna Noble.

It also featured newcomer Yasmin Finney as Rose and showed villain Neil Patrick Harris embodying The Toymaker as he faced-off with David.

Exciting: Doctor Who has revealed the titles for its three 60th anniversary specials and shared a brand new trailer featuring David Tennant and Catherine Tate

In between brief clips from the upcoming episodes, the three episode titles were confirmed to be - The Star Beast, Wild Blue Yonder and The Giggle.

The brief trailer kicked off with Donna asking David's 10th Doctor: 'Why did this face come back? To say goodbye?'

An orange explosion could then be seen in the sky as David said: 'I don't think that's a plane, it's a spaceship in trouble.'

He gave the warning to newcomer Rose - played by Heartstopper star Yasmin - who looked in awe as she stood alongside The Doctor.

The first special title, The Star Beast, then flashed up on screen followed by drama-filled scenes from the episode, featuring a metal insect-like creature with red eyes.

As 'redacted' and 'network error' warnings appeared in the trailer, a shocked Donna was heard asking the Doctor: 'Oh my God, where are we?'

With the time-travelling Time Lord then replying: 'I'm sorry Donna.'

The second title, Wild Blue Yonder, then flashed up before Neil's embodiment of the famous Toymaker villain debuted.

Return: The sci-fi series is returning in November 2023 with three specials to celebrate its 60th anniversary, with a whole host of familiar faces returning - including Catherine's Donna Noble

Tension: The trailer also featured newcomer Yasmin Finney as Rose and

Villain: The trailer also gave a glimpse at Neil Patrick Harris embodying formidable The Toymaker as he faced-off with David's 10th Doctor

As the Toymaker was seen dancing in circles sporting a tuxedo, the Doctor warned: 'He's here, driving you mad, laughing at the human race.'

The Doctor was then showed reluctantly dancing with the Toymaker, before the third special title, The Giggle, was revealed.

A final clip showed Donna prodding a small fluffy creature in the eye as it lay hidden behind an array of cuddly toys.

But when the animal suddenly moved, Donna yelled: 'What the hell?'

Rose also jumped in fright as it seems that she will be accompanying the Doctor and Donna on more than one adventure through space and time.

Alongside the trailer, a caption read: '#DoctorWho returns later this year for its 60th anniversary with three special episodes.

Special One: THE STAR BEAST. Special Two: WILD BLUE YONDER. Special Three: THE GIGGLE.'

Doctor Who returns in November 2023 with three special episodes to coincide with the show's 60th anniversary, with David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor.

The Fifteenth Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa, will then take control of the TARDIS alongside Millie Gibson as his new companion Ruby Sunday, with his first episode airing over the festive period next year.

In October, Jodie Whittaker stepped down from her role as The Doctor, replaced by returning star David for the upcoming anniversary episodes.

In Jodie's last episode, fans were given a glimpse of Ncuti's version of The Doctor as he was briefly featured in a teaser trailer along with David.

It was previously announced that the likes of Jinkx Monsoon and Jonathan Groff will be joining the cast for Ncuti's upcoming series of Doctor Who.

The Broadway star, 38, who is known for the crime series Mindhunter, was previously announced to be joining the science fiction series.

The BBC said he will play a 'mysterious and exciting' guest part where he will be 'jumping aboard the Tardis'.

New pictures show Jonathan wearing 1800s period fashion complete with a blue tailcoat, embroidered vest, dark pantaloons and light blue cravat.

Scary! The first special title, The Star Beast, then flashed up on screen followed by drama-filled scenes from the episode, featuring a metal insect-like creature with red eyes

Drama: The third special title, The Giggle, was revealed and a final clip showed Donna prodding a small fluffy creature in the eye as it lay hidden behind an array of cuddly toys

New cast: After the specials, the Fifteenth Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa, will take control of the TARDIS in 2024 alongside Millie Gibson as his new companion Ruby Sunday

Here he is! It was previously announced that Jonathan Groff will be joining the cast for Ncuti's upcoming series of Doctor Who and a first look picture was revealed earlier this week

He is shown appearing alongside Sex Education star Ncuti, who is set to take over as the Time Lord, and Coronation Street actress Millie, who is playing Ruby.

Ncuti, 30, is seen in the images dressed in a red waistcoat, cream pants and stockings with coiffed, tied-back hair, while Millie wears a yellow dress, white gloves and golden jewellery.

Teasing the new episode, the BBC said: 'Dress to impress and beware the duchess....'

The revamp of the long-running series sees Russell T Davies return as showrunner and drag queen Jinkx Monsoon star as the Doctor's 'most powerful enemy yet'.
Pamela Anderson met with fans at an in-store event for Frankies Bikinis in Venice Beach, California on Saturday.

After the event, she was spotted leaving the event wearing white jeans and a white t-shirt.

The Baywatch alum, 55, smiled for and waved at the assembled crowd and photographers.

She wore her trademark California blonde hair parted in the middle and straight and slipped a pair of black cat eye sunglasses onto her face.

The Playboy Playmate helped design a line of swimwear for the Malibu-based brand by designer Francesca Aiello.

Fan event: Pamela Anderson met with fans at an in-store event for Frankies Bikinis in Venice Beach, California on Saturday

The brand's Instagram account advertised Pamela's in-store appearance on Instagram.

'COME MEET PAM  this saturday (5.13) come shop the #pamxfrankies collection + meet @pamelaanderson at our abbot kinney pop up.'

'Arrive early to secure your spot in line!' the caption read. '1624 abbot kinney, venice, ca  11am - 12:30pm *please no outside memorabilia for signing.'

The Barb Wire actress announced her collab with the swimwear brand on April 27.

In an Instagram post, she shared a snap of her in her iconic red Baywatch-era one piece swimsuit.

'Its about time. I have been so excited to share this with you -Im horrible at keeping a secret. Time went so slowlyBut today after a long year -I can tell you All my favorite ideas and tricks of the trade -All mixed into my swimwear collaboration with @frankiesbikinis,' she wrote.

'A dream come true/ And who better to do this with than the sweetest girl from Paradise Cove (@francescaaiello). She grew up before my eyes, with my boys - our story is authentic and unique. Raw, fun & timeless Available May 4th,' she added.

Pam lived in Paradise Cove, Malibu with her sons Brandon, 26, and Dylan, 25.

An icon: She was spotted leaving the event wearing white jeans and a white t-shirt. The Baywatch alum, 55, smiled for and waved at the assembled crowd and photographers.

Designer: The Playboy Playmate helped design a line of swimwear for the Malibu-based brand Frankie's Bikinis by designer Francesca Aiello.

Resurgence: Pamela is experiencing somewhat of a career rebirth with the release of her memoir, Love, Pamela: A Memoir of Prose, Poetry, and Truth and her Netflix documentary Love, Pamela

Pamela is experiencing somewhat of a career rebirth with the release of her memoir, Love, Pamela: A Memoir of Prose, Poetry, and Truth and her Netflix documentary Love, Pamela.

She also played the role of Roxy Heart in Chicago on Broadway in 2022.

Later this month, the V.I.P. alum will team up with John Legend for the Business of Beauty Global Forum.

A press release for the event revealed that Pamela will have a conversation with Moj Mahdara, co-founder of industry partner BeautyUnited, a non-profit organization with a mission to mobilize the collective power and influence of the beauty and wellness industry as a force for good.
PE teacher Felix Clements will showcase his outstanding moves for the judges on Britain's Got Talent.

The kids' entertainer, 25, will show his sensational dance routine during Saturday night's episode.

Felix appeared to be already one of the crowd's favourites as he performed a contemporary piece to Lucy Spraggan's 'Balance'.

The teaser gave a glimpse of his performance as viewers were left amazed - with the heart-melting support of many kids in the crowd smiling and clapping for him.

The dancer said his inspiration for Saturday's performance came from 2008 BGT winner George Sampson.

Stunning performance: PE teacher Felix Clements will be showcasing his outstanding moves for the judges of Britain's Got Talent as he stunned in a new teaser

Moves: The kids' entertainer, 25, will show his sensational dance routine during Saturday night's episode

Contemporary: Felix appeared to be already one of the crowd's favourites as he performed a contemporary piece to Lucy Spraggan's 'Balance'

Felix, from Earley, started dancing around 11-years-old - when George became known on the talent show - and always dreamed rising to fame on BGT.

The BGT performer began showcasing in talent to the public more than a year later as he received a massive support by his schoolmates.

He never stopped sharpening his dance moves while studying to become a teacher - and occasionally joined street dance battles in Reading.

When Felix got a job as PE teacher at Woodcote Primary School in Berkshire - he didn't give up his passion and committed to create an after-school dance club of his own.

The turning point happened when he sent Britain's Got Talent the YouTube link to his performance as he danced to This City by Sam Fischer.

According to The Mirror he said: 'I was in a really good place with my job and I wanted to show the kids that they could really follow their dreams.

'And then BGT got back in touch to say they couldn't stop watching the YouTube!'

The kids' teacher also proved to be very humble as he said he can 'only hope' to have as much success as George Sampson and that he is a 'massive inspiration' to him.

Britain's Got Talent continues next Saturday on ITV at 8pm.

Kids' favourite: The teaser gave a glimpse of his performance as viewers were left amazed - with the heart-melting support of many kids in the crowd smiling and clapping for him

Inspiration: The dancer said his inspiration for Saturday's performance came from 2008 BGT winner George Sampson
Horror movie fans are finding themselves unable to get to the end of Soft & Quiet because of its terrifying plot.

The terrifying movie, which was originally released in 2022, arrived on Netflix this month.

Written and directed by Beth de Araujo, it has been described as 'intense' and 'daring'.

The twisting plot, starring Stefanie Estes, Olivia Luccardi, Eleaonore Pienta, and Dana Millican, follows an elementary school teacher who organized a mixer for white supremacist women.

However, a terrifying chain of events is unleashed when a mysterious person from her past re-enters her life.

The twisting plot of Netflix's Soft & Quiet follows an elementary school teacher who organized a mixer for white supremacist women

Soft & Quiet was originally released in 2022 but arrived on Netflix this month.

De Araujo has described the work as a 'timely American nightmare' - and it's left terrified viewers sharing their thoughts on the film on social media.

One posted: 'It's literally the only movie I have rented and then refused to finish. It's also the only movie I want to send to hell in the express lane.'

'We turned on soft&quiet and I did not think this movie was gonna be like this...I'm highly disturbed.'

Another recommended the watch, writing: 'Soft & Quiet is on Netflix today, and I can't recommend it highly enough.

'An incredibly daring film in both form and content, writer/director Beth de Araujo conceived of this real world horror story as a real time oner and knocks it out of the park.'

One viewer wanted to send the movie to 'hell in the express lane'

Another was more complimentary labelling it 'daring' in 'both form and content'

The latest scare comes after Netflix hosted the French horror series Marianne, that left viewers 'scared for their lives'.

Originally released in 2019, the petrifying series follows a fictional famous horror writer named Emma who returns to her hometown, only to realize the demons she dreamt of as a child are now terrorizing the real world.

One viewer was left in such a state they had to take their pet to the toilet with them: 'Marianne on Netflix is so freaking scary. Like I have to take Tinkerbell to the bathroom with me scary. For reals.'

Another wrote: 'Just finished watching Marianne on Netflix and it's the scariest thing I've ever watched in my whole f**king life.'

The series gained international popularity upon release but the show's creator said there wasn't a big enough fan base to pursue a second season.
India and Singapore are looking at new growth drivers to propel their relationship for the next decade, Indian High Commissioner to Singapore P Kumaran said on Thursday, asserting that the two countries have an active calendar of more than 20 bilateral mechanisms, dialogues and exercises being planned.

Speaking at the B20 India Conference on Resilient Supply Chains for Trade and Connectivity, Kumaran said that Singapore is an important partner for India and the relationship between the two countries is growing.

Singapore is a very special partner for India, and it is evident from the fact that this year, under its G20 Presidency, India has invited Singapore to be a guest country at the forum, he said.

We have an active calendar of more than 20 bilateral mechanisms, dialogues, and exercises. We are now looking at new growth drivers to propel the relationship for the next decade or more, he said in a keynote address at the conference.

Attended by Indian and Singaporean business communities, the conference aimed to deliberate on the next steps for resilient supply chains.

Singapore is Indias biggest trade partner in ASEAN and the 6th largest trade partner (2020-21) globally, with a share of 3.2 per cent of Indias overall trade. It is now directly connected to 15 Indian cities by eight airlines with more than 500 weekly flights both ways.

Kumaran pointed out that when the ministers of the two countries met last year at the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR) in New Delhi, they identified digital connectivity, Fintech, renewable energy, green economy, skill development and food security as significant areas of opportunity for collaboration in the coming years.

Stressing the importance of forging resilient supply chains and global cooperation, Kumaran underlined that the current scenario is one of an ever-changing trade landscape and external shocks, like geopolitical upheavals, pandemics, global economic slowdowns, fluctuating valuations of foreign currencies, and abrupt changes in policies by importing countries.

Adding that India is all set to host the 18th G20 Summit this year, Kumaran said, B20 is the most prominent engagement group of G20, and it is natural to expect that the recommendations arising out of it will be given utmost consideration by the G20 leadership.

India sees Global Value Chains (GVCs) as one of the key drivers for an economys sustainable growth and development, the High Commissioner said.

I am happy to note that B20, under Indias Presidency, has identified inclusive global value chains for resilient global trade and investment as a priority area for deliberations, he said. Emphasising that a resilient supply chain can withstand disruptions and adapt to changing circumstances, Kumaran said, therefore, these chains prioritise flexibility, redundancy, and diversification to mitigate risks and ensure continuity, as opposed to regular ones that have traditionally focused mainly on efficiency and cost.

He stressed that these new attributes are critical in todays globalised economy, as disruptions to supply chains can cause unacceptable delays, higher costs, and lost revenue for businesses.
Peace negotiations seemed promising earlier in the year but have stalled, mainly because the Shia rebels, the Yemen government and Saudi Arabia cannot agree on who should get what. There were brief ceasefire agreements that were renewed several times but by the end of 2022 progress had stalled and that has not changed in 2023. The rebels demanded large cash payments and other concessions if there was to be another ceasefire. The government refused. Some fighting resumed after the ceasefire expired, mainly in the usual war zones; Taiz province in the south and Marib in central Yemen. The fighting was low key and the Saudis did not resume their airstrikes, nor have the rebels resumed attacks against targets in Saudi Arabia or the UAE (United Arab Emirates). This turned out to be the result of direct negotiations between the rebels and the Saudis. This was the first time the rebels and Saudis worked out such a deal. Iranian influence on the Shia rebels is fading and many rebel factions were calling for some kind of peace deal and an end to a civil war that the rebels were losing. Factionalism among the rebels is something that the government and Saudis are unable to address.

The ceasefire negotiations did have some positive results, in addition to the reduced fighting plus halts to Saudi airstrikes and rebel missile attacks into Saudi Arabia. Commercial passenger and cargo flights were resumed in the rebel controlled airports. In February aid shipments resumed through the Red Sea port of Hodeida for the first time since 2016 with the arrival of the first general cargo ship which unloaded followed by the arrival and unloading of two more. The cargo delivery was made possible by the ongoing peace talks between the government and the Shia rebels. Bringing general cargo in via Hodeida was cheaper for customers in the northwest than the previous use of the southern port of Aden. This required sending the cargo north by truck.

There is still some fighting in the usual war zones; Taiz province in the south and Marib in central Yemen. The fighting is less intense than in the past. The Saudis continue to negotiate directly with the Shia rebels in order to keep the peace on the Saudi border. The peace in the Shia rebel north is partly the result of exhaustion after eight years of fighting and not much to show for it. Down south the Yemen government controls 80 percent of Yemen but has to deal with separatist southerners and Islamic terrorists. The STC (South Transitional Council) and many government troops spent the ceasefire period going after Islamic terrorist groups AQAP (Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula) and ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) in the south and east. A major reason for rebels agreeing to a ceasefire was a decline in Iranian support due to lack of funds plus unrest at home. The Iranian weapons, cash, advisors and smuggling network supercharged the Shia rebels, enabling them to keep fighting the more numerous and better armed force arrayed against them. Iran has been openly supporting the Shia rebels since 2014 and later admitted that less visible support had been supplied since 2011.

Eight years of civil war have revived the centuries old north-south divide. This was last mended in the 1990s. The possibility of a split has returned because the UAE (United Arab Emirates) has been in charge of security (and aid delivery) in the south since 2015 and supported formation of the STC. This group is composed of southern tribes that want autonomy but are willing to fight and defeat the Islamic terrorists as well as the Shia rebels first. Aidarous al Zubaidi, the STC leader, is seen as more popular in the south than any government official. The Saudis and the UAE do not agree on dividing Yemen once more but for the moment it is more convenient to support the STC and efforts to defeat the Iran backed Shia rebels.

Currently Iranian aid for the rebels is much reduced because the Iranians have their own problems at home and have switched to supplying the Russian forces in Ukraine. Based on interceptions by American and other warships in the naval blockade of rebel controlled coastline, but at a lower intensity and consisting mainly of infantry weapons rather that cruise and ballistic missiles used to attack Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are negotiating directly with the Iranians about the fighting in Yemen and how to reduce it. This is part of an effort, brokered by the Chinese, to improve relations between the Saudis and Iran and reduce the tensions in the Persian Gulf and Yemen.

Yemen was in bad shape economically before the civil war began in 2015. Since then, the situation has gotten much worse. There have been nearly 400,000 deaths, most of them caused by starvation and illness, not combat. The damage to infrastructure and lack of food led to an outbreak of cholera in 2016, which has made over two million people ill since then, killing about 4,000. Nearly fifteen percent of the population were driven from their homes. Nearly 20 million of the 24 million Yemenis have suffered hunger and/or poverty as a result of the war. Most Yemenis are exhausted by the years of privation and violence and are willing to accept peace on just about any terms.

April 17, 2023: The Red Cross, the UN, Saudi Arabia and the Shia rebels carried out a complex prisoner exchange over four days. Nearly a thousand prisoners held by the rebels and Saudi Arabia. The was made possible by months of Saudi peace talks with the Shia rebels. The Saudis and the Yemeni Shia have a long history. There are about nine million Shia in Yemen (40 percent of the population) and most belong, like the rebels, to the Zaidi sect that the Houthis dominate. In 2009 only a few hundred thousand Zaidi were up in arms against the government, and not all of them were actively resisting the advancing troops. The Houthi religious leaders, despite their disagreements with Iran over what form of Shia beliefs was superior, accepted Iranian offers of support in regaining self-rule for the Zaidi Shia in Yemen as well as the million Zaidi across the border in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudis created this division of Zaidi Shia in the early 1930s as they were establishing the borders for the new kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Before that the Zaidi in the mountains of northwest Yemen had maintained their independence for centuries. The Ottomans left the Zaidi alone as long as there was no interference with Turkish administration of Mecca, Medina and the Red Sea port that brought in pilgrims and cargo.

When the Ottoman Empire collapsed in 1918, the Zaidi created a Shia kingdom led by the Houthi religious and tribal leaders. That ended when the Saudi forces moved south in 1930 to establish the borders of their new kingdom. The Saudis recognized the hill country of what is now northwest Yemen as a good place to put the border. The Sunni majority in Saudi Arabia developed methods that made any Shia uprising, or cooperation with their Zaidi brethren on the other side of the new border, highly unlikely. The Yemen Zaidi lost their autonomy in 1962 as the rest of Yemen finally united as one country. Zaidi resistance to this local domination began small and grew to the point where the goal of full autonomy seemed much closer. What made it even more real were Iranian pledges to support that effort and reunite Yemeni Shia with the Zaidi trapped in Saudi Arabia since the 1930s.

The Iranians convinced many of the Shia Yemenis that getting their autonomy back should be non-negotiable because without that autonomy the Yemeni Shia will be vulnerable to retaliation from all the other Yemeni groups the Shia rebels have harmed during years of civil war. Its an impossible situation for the Saudis because the Iranians want to use Shia controlled areas in northern Yemen as a perpetual base for attacks on Saudi control of Mecca and Medina. The Iranians have also displayed a preference for violating any treaty they enter into and the Yemeni rebels do likewise.

Before the Iranians got involved, the Saudis avoided problems with the Zaidi Shia living in Saudi Arabia by making sure the Zaidi got a share of the oil wealth that had made all Saudis loyal to the kingdom. Some groups (tribes) were more loyal than others and that included Sunni tribes that were on the losing side during the war the Saud coalition fought to create the kingdom. Most Saudis are Sunni Moslems adhering to the very conservative Wahhabi form of Islam. Technically that meant any Shia were not acceptable. The Saudi family were Wahhabis but practical, which is why it became Saudi Arabia. The Saud royal family persuaded the Sunni to at least tolerate the Shia minority among them and much of the oil wealth went to rewarding those who went along with this policy. Down south this tolerance persuaded the Saudi Zaidi to keep the peace. As long as the Yemen Zaidi did likewise the Saudis tolerated Zaidi from both countries moving back and forth. The Houthi clan disagreed with that agreement and once the Houthi had Iranian support, they were powerful enough to exploit that tolerance in an effort to make the Zaidi autonomous once more. The Saudi Zaidi did not go along with this although many maintained a form of neutrality.
Indias Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday invited Japanese investors and business leaders to explore investment opportunities in the country, saying that New Delhi is easing a lot of restrictions and ensuring overall ease of doing business in its walk towards Amrit Kaal.

Indian government describes Amrit Kaal, as the 25-year period culminating in the centenary of the countrys independence.

Sitharaman is on a two-day official visit to Niigata, Japan, to attend a G7 meeting. India is an invitee to G 7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting.

Interacting with a group of investors and business leaders on the theme of Rising Investment Opportunities: Destination India, Sitharaman talked about the initiatives of the Indian government towards building India in Amrit Kaal.

She further said the Union Budget presented by her in February was prepared keeping in mind the needs of the next 25 years to help India become a developed nation by 2047.

Referring to Amrit Kaal, the finance minister said her governments focus is on on four Is.
Sri Lankan Airlines, the loss making national carrier of the island nation, has recorded losses of 163.58 billion Sri Lankan Rupees (approximately 4,000 crore INR) in 2022, more than three times it recorded in 2021, according to an official statement.

Sri Lankan Airlines in 2021 witnessed a loss in revenues of 49.7 billion Sri Lankan Rupees.

"The Sri Lankan Airlines in 2022 witnessed a loss of 168.58 billion Sri Lankan Rupees while the loss during 2021 stood at 49.7 billion," the statement from the national carrier said.

Sri Lankan Airlines is one of the 52 loss making state enterprises that the International Monetary Fund had recommended for restructuring whilst approving the near 3 billion dollar bail out facility mid March.

The airline in its history had only made profits between 1998 and 2008 the period of its management being vested in the Emirates Airlines.

Immediately after receiving the first tranche of the IMF bail out, the government set up the state owned enterprise restructuring unit (SRU) under the ministry of finance to divest the businesses that have been a burden on the economy.

The SRU was tasked with appointing reputed qualified consultancy firms to carry out the divestiture process of the state enterprises.

The Sri Lankan statement on losses came as the IMF staff team arrived on Thursday to check on Sri Lanka's progress on the reforms envisaged before its scheduled review in September.
The Pakistani establishment shows signs of desperation, fissures and hamhanded actions as Imran Khan pays for overestimating his strength

If there was any doubt on who the real McCoy is in Pakistan, then the reality just played out. Folks who ostensibly swear by Iman, taqwa, jihad fi sabilillah (A follower of none but Allah. Fear of Allah, Jihad for Allah) are seemingly fearful of a man they selected in 2018, but ejected in 2022 i.e., Imran Khan. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan had been baiting the Pakistani Army (establishment) since the time he was booted out and with the handover of the baton of Pakistani Army Chief from General Qamar Bajwa (Imrans original nemesis) to the relatively low-key, General Asim Munir, Imrans tirade was expected to cool down. It didnt, and Imran kept poking and provoking the establishment with barbs on its self-claimed neutrality. Everyone knows that the establishment was anything but neutral, but none expected the General Munir-led establishment to show its incorrigible instincts, so soon.

The first thing that the optics of Imran Khan getting bumped off in a personnel carrier of the Punjab Rangers confirms is that the change of baton to General Munir has not resulted in any change of sensibilities, but a continuation of the infamous maxim that States have an Army, but Pakistani Army has a State. General Asim Muneer, a Hafiz-e-Quran (completely memorized the Quran) is a chip-of-the-old-block who has taken over his predecessor General Qamar Bajwas battle with Imran Khan, in earnest. The Sword of Honour from Officers Training School in Mangla joined the Pakistani Army in the dark days of a fellow officer, General Zia-ul-Haq, who perhaps more than any Military dictator in Pakistan has contributed to the politicisation (even Shariaziation) of the Pakistani Army.

In an eerie similarity of dodgy charges, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who had been arrested by the establishment on charges of authorising the murder of a political opponent  now, Imran Khan has been arrested in a case that alleges that Imran and his wife obtained billions from a real estate firm! Not too many were convinced with the neutrality of the Pakistani Army in 1977, and seemingly a lot remain unconvinced of the Pakistani Armys innocence, in 2023!

Establishments murky ways can be gauged by the trigger for the recent escalation i.e., one Maj Gen Faisal Naseer DG (C) of ISI, infamous as Dirty Harry. As the second-in-command to DG-ISI, and one who handles internal security and counterintelligence-related matters, he has been directly accused along with the retired General Bajwa and current DG-ISI, Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum.

Imrans allegation of Maj Gen Faisal Naseer attempting to assassinate him are presumably more political and theatrical than realistic as if it were to be true, the cold brutality of the ISI would have knocked him off, long back. Establishment knows from history that a live enemy instead of a dead one is a better bet  a deposed and exiled Iskander Mirza (coup in 1958) and similarly banished Nawaz Sharif (coup in 1999) was less difficult to handle than the memory of a dead Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (hanged in 1978)! With Imran Khan ranting, railing and eventually getting under the skin of the establishment, irretrievably  the accompanying claims of the assassination attempt, were only par for the course.

Ongoing socio-economic morass has already discredited the civilian Pakistani dispensation beyond repair, and it was only left to the establishment to blunt Imran Khans mounting challenge, and it did so in an old-school way. But the establishment which has usually benefitted from doubt in flexing its strong-arm tactics against the various civilian governments in the past, may have just overplayed its hands, this time. For once, the public mood is not just deeply divided, but even more worryingly for Pakistan, so is the rank and file of the establishment, seemingly.

Unchecked rampage of the property of the establishment is suggestive of divides, within. Finally, the cost of politicizing the apolitical realm of the Armed Forces is coming home to roost, as the establishment shows signs of desperation, fissures, and ham-handed actions. For a nuclear-armed state, such a display of kneejerk and implosive instinct is fraught with incalculable risks.

However, what works in favour of the establishment is the invisible but sure hand of Washington DC, for they too, would rather deal with over-entitled though consistent Generals than with a temperamental and highly untrustworthy Taliban Khan, a sobriquet earned by Imran Khan. The Chinese dont have a preference, though they would be wary of anarchy given the investment made in China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Similarly, Arab Sheikhdoms too would prefer the Pakistan Military given their historic ties. This leaves Imran with the only option of igniting domestic passions and therefore for the establishment to go to any extent to douse the same, even if it means arresting him in an unwarranted manner.

The judiciary (especially the CJI) has been on the back foot for other reasons, so he too might not attempt to be too brave. This will leave Pakistan tense with multiple one-upmanship and showmanship between various stakeholders, but the establishment has made the first move and history suggests, may not be the last move. The establishment simply cannot afford to step down and lower the ante, and so it will go to any extent to clamp down dissonance against it hereinafter, even if it means stepping in formally. Imran had over-baited and the establishment bit back.

(The writer, a military veteran, is a former Lt Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Puducherry. The views expressed are personal)
The hidden nature of caste atrocities indicates that the problem is more pervasive and deeply rooted than official records may suggest!

Caste-based discrimination is a persistent problem deeply ingrained in Indian society. Addressing this complex issue requires a collective effort from various stakeholders, including the government, communities, and educational institutions. However, a significant challenge arises when individuals in positions of authority within these entities themselves believe in the caste system and engage in discriminatory practices.

Multiple reports highlight the prevalent issue of caste discrimination in rural schools, where generations of students have been subjected to such discrimination, even during activities like the mid-day meal program. Take the case of the government school located in Charson village in Bageshwar district in Uttarakhand. The principal of this school is accused by the locals of discriminating against students based on their caste. Recently, the principal faced allegations of severely beating an 11-year-old child belonging to the scheduled caste.

Manju Devi, the mother of the child, recounted her repeated visits to the school, where she pleaded with the principal to refrain from physically abusing her child and making derogatory comments about their caste. Despite her efforts, her child returned home on several occasions, sharing stories of being physically assaulted and humiliated due to their caste. "The government school in our village is the only viable option for my child's education, as we lack the means to afford private schooling. The prevalence of such discrimination within government institutions directly impacts the quality of education my child will receive," Manju expressed.

Her child was beaten up so much that she was forced to go to the police station and file a complaint against the principal. Following Manju's complaint, parents of many other children also came forward and lodged complaints against the discrimination faced by their children. Although the principal has refuted all the allegations, the gravity of the situation called for an administration-level investigation into the matter. Currently, the accused has been removed from her position of principal by the higher authorities.

Besides educational intuitions, the community has a bigger role in promoting this age-old discriminatory practice. 20 km away from Charson, lies Lamchula, a remote village, where caste discrimination is even more deeply rooted. The settlement of the entire village is divided based on upper and lower caste communities. Different sources of water have been reserved for both the lower and upper castes. Moreover, the right to worship has been taken away from the people belonging to lower castes, as they are not allowed to enter temples in the village. "During the fair held in our village during Janmashtami, Dalits are not allowed to enter inside the temple. They don't even have the right to worship. When offering is being distributed outside the temple, two lines are formed based on our caste," informed Dolly (name changed), a teenager from the village. Padam Ram, the village head, strongly condemns the discriminatory treatment of individuals from lower castes, particularly concerning their freedom to worship as they please. He expressed his dismay over the upper caste households maintaining separate utensils exclusively for visitors from lower castes. Padam Ram also highlighted the troubling prevalence of caste-based favouritism in political dynamics, emphasising the need to address caste politics and foster a more inclusive society. Regardless of education, caste takes precedence over everything else, revealing that society still grapples with deep-rooted casteism. Not only do Indian villages suffer from such discrimination, but even renowned institutions in metropolitan cities are making headlines for this very reason. A recent tragic incident at IIT Bombay, where a young boy from the Dalit community took his own life due to the unbearable humiliation he faced based on his caste, vividly illustrates the extreme and severe nature of this practice. In the period spanning from 2019 to 2021, India has witnessed a distressing 11 per cent surge in atrocities against Dalits. Recent data sourced from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reveals a notable escalation in recorded cases, with numbers escalating from 45,961 incidents in 2019 to 50,900 incidents in 2021. Notably, the state of Uttarakhand alone has experienced a staggering 35% increase in crimes targeting the Schedule Caste and Tribe communities over the past three years.

These cases represent only a fraction of the numerous caste-based atrocities occurring within society. It is important to acknowledge that many incidents go unreported, allowing the insidious roots of caste discrimination to further entrench themselves. The hidden nature of these atrocities highlights a concerning trend, indicating that the problem is more pervasive and deeply rooted than official records may suggest!

(The writer is a student of class 10 from Pothing village in Bageshwar in Uttarakhand. Charkha Features)
Setting aside the Varanasi District Court order that rejected a plea for scientific investigation of the shivling-like structure in the Gyanvapi mosque located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple, the Allahabad High Court on Friday ordered determination of the age of the structure using modern technology.

The HC directed the Varanasi district judge to proceed, in accordance with law, on the application by the Hindu worshippers for conducting a scientific probe of the shivling, paving the way for determining the age of the structure.

The order said no harm should be done to the structure, which the Hindu petitioners claim is a shivling. However, the mosque authorities say it is part of a fountain in the wazu khana, where ablutions are performed before namaz.

Justice Arvind Kumar Mishra passed the order on a revision petition filed by Laxmi Devi and three others challenging the Varanasi court order.

The high court had obtained a report from various institutions, including the IITs in Kanpur and Roorkee and Birbal Sahni Institute of Lucknow, before ordering for determination of the age of the structure.

The report says direct dating of the structure is not possible and the age can be ascertained with proxy dating of materials, which can correlate with the establishment of the lingam if there is any. This needs a thorough study of the materials surrounding the lingam, it adds.

The report also suggests the dating of some organic materials below the surface can ascertain the age but it needs to be established that they are related to the structure.

The court considered suggestions of Prof Javed N Malik of Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Kanpur.

Prof Malik suggested that to understand the buried material and structure it would be essential to undertake a detailed subsurface survey through Ground Penetrating Radar (GRP). This will be helpful towards identifying the remains of the ancient structures buried if any at the site, he added.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in its 52-page report had given the opinion that the age of the structure can be determined through scientific method without causing any harm to the structure. Its opinion was based on studies conducted by IIT Kanpur, IIT Roorkee, Birbal Sahni Institute, Lucknow, and one more educational institute.

Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain appearing for the revisionists argued that the district judge had passed the impugned order without any basis and it should have called for expert opinion from the ASI on whether carbon dating could be done without causing any harm.

Additional Advocate General MC Chaturvedi, assisted by Chief Standing Counsel Bipin Bihari Pandey, appeared for the State Government. He said, If carbon dating and nature of the structure can be determined without causing any harm to the structure then the State has no objection to it so that real nature of structure could be found.
As voting for urban local body polls in Uttar Pradesh concluded peacefully on Thursday, counting will be done on Saturday and results will be declared the same day.

The final phase of the civic polls drew 53 per cent vote turnout on Thursday, according to official figures, as the Samajwadi Party accused BJP supporters of indulging in malpractices, especially in Kannauj.

According to a press statement issued by the UP election commission, polling was held peacefully with 57 per cent in Gautam Buddh Nagar, 53.76 per cent in Etawah, 52.6 per cent turnout in Ayodhya, 50.49 per cent in Bareilly, 50.48 per cent in Aligarh, 45.52 per cent in Ghaziabad, and 42. 64 per cent in Kanpur till 5 pm.

Overall, the voting percentage in this phase is 53, said the statement.

The voting percentage in the first phase of urban body polls conducted on May 4 was 52. Polling will be held again in three wards in a Municipal committee in Bilhaur of Kanpur as some miscreants allegedly filled water in ballot boxes at these centres, according to the statement.

Officials also said that voters who lined up at the polling centres before 6 pm, were allowed to cast their votes.

Meanwhile, the main opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) though a series of tweets accused members of the ruling party of indulging in fake voting in the Gursahaiganj polling booth of Kannauj.
A day before the electoral fortunes of top leaders in Karnataka  Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai of the BJP, Congress heavyweights Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar and JD(S) HD Kumaraswamy, among many others  will be known on Saturday, both the ruling BJP and the Congress on Friday went into huddles and held strategy sessions on ways to keep the flock together.

While, Bommai expressed confidence that the BJP will cross the magic figure and the question of coalition talks with other political parties does not arise now, JD(S) leader and former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy expressed willingness to help-out in forming the Government in case of a hung Assembly in the State. Kumaraswamy, who was in Singapore, said his party has already received feelers from the Congress and the BJP.

A day ahead of the vote counting, Bommai met BJP veteran BS Yediyurappa, along with other party leaders, including Ministers Murugesh Nirani, Byrathi Basavaraj, party MP Lehar Singh Siroya and AT Ramaswamy, at the former chief ministers residence.

The counting will begin at 8 am in 36 centres across the State, and poll officials expect a clear picture about the outcome is likely to emerge by mid-day.

The BJP and the Congress leaders also considered reaching out to independent candidates who are likely to win, as most exit polls predicted a tight contest between the two parties.

Hectic parleys were on at Congress president M Mallikarjun Kharges residence here, with AICC general secretary and in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala, partys state unit chief DK Shivakumar and former Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara among others.
In a shocking incident, a three-year-old girl was strangled to death after being raped in a village under Bansdih Kotwali area of Ballia.

Reports said the victim of Bansdih went missing on Monday evening. Her family members launched a search for her but failed to trace her out. They then informed the local police about the mysterious disappearance of the girl.

On Wednesday, the girls body was found lying in the bushes outside the village. Circumstantial evidence suggested that she was strangled to dead after being raped.

Circle Officer of Bansdih, Shivnarayan Vais, said that a case would be registered on the basis of the post-mortem report.

Meanwhile in Chhibramau locality of Kannauj, a youth raped a girl, who had gone to feed the animals, at gunpoint on Wednesday evening. The victims father has filed a complaint with the police. The father of the victim girl claimed that he owned two houses in Chhibramau, one in which he lived with his wife and two children and the other in which he kept his cattle.

He said that on Wednesday, he went with his wife for some work and his daughter went to the other house to feed the cattle. He said that an unidentified miscreant suddenly entered the house and finding his daughter alone, he raped her and escaped.

The local police registered a case and sent the victim for medical examination.

Station House Officer of Chhibramau police station, Santosh, said they were trying to identify the accused.

Meanwhile in Balrampur, a minor girl was allegedly raped by a youth from her village in a forest area in the district, police said on Thursday.

The accused was arrested on Wednesday, the police said.

A police force was deployed in the village to maintain peace in view of tension in the wake of the alleged rape, Superintendent of Police Keshav Kumar said.

The 11-year-old girl was playing with her friends on Tuesday when the accused came on a motorcycle and offered her money to pluck some fruits, the police said. He then took the girl to a nearby forest where he allegedly raped her.

According to the police, when the girl did not return home after nightfall, her family members began a search and found her in the forest.

The police registered a case under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act based on the report lodged by the girls family and arrested the accused.

Kumar said the girl underwent a medical examination and was undergoing treatment.
As a part of its zero tolerance policy against crime and the mission to make Uttar Pradesh a crime-free state, the state government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has effectively pursued cases resulting in legal punishment to around 30,000 criminals in the last three years, setting a record of its own kind.

According to the latest statistics of the Directorate of Prosecution, the highest number of 10,520 criminals were convicted and punished by the courts under the Arms Act between the years 2020 and 2022.

Besides, 4,078 criminals were given punishment under the POCSO Act, 1,218 for their involvement in rape cases, 8,646 for crimes against women and children, 2,387 for murders, 1,152 for dowry deaths, 1,141 for robberies, and 279 in cow slaughter cases.

It is worth mentioning that the Uttar Pradesh Police have neutralised 184 miscreants in encounters so far while effective advocacy in court has resulted in the punishment of many other criminals.

Prosecution Directorates ADG Ashutosh Pandey said that in the last three years, effective lobbying in the court and 100 per cent testimony of witnesses had ensured punishment to the criminals.

There has been a significant increase in the number of criminals receiving punishments in recent years. In 2020, a total of 535 individuals were penalised, while in 2022, the number rose to 2,313, indicating a remarkable increase of 332 per cent. Similarly, in the cases of rape, 671 criminals were punished in 2022 against 177 in 2020, registering an increase of 280 per cent.

In the cases of crime against women and children in 2020, 1,048 criminals were punished while in 2022, the number shot up to 5,351, recording an increase of 411 per cent. In murder cases, 420 criminals were awarded punishment in 2020 while 1,180 criminals were punished in 2022, registering an increase of 181 per cent.

In dowry death cases, punishment was awarded to 182 criminals in 2020, which increased to 572 in 2022. Similarly, in robbery cases, 745 criminals were penalised in 2022 compared to 177 in 2020, resulting in a significant increase of 321 per cent. Notably, punishment in cow slaughter cases also saw an increase of 29 per cent.

However, in the last three years maximum punishment was given in Arms Act cases. A total of 6,373 criminals were punished under Arms Act in 2022 against 1,960 in 2020, 6373, a whopping increase of 225 per cent.

The Directorate of Prosecution was also honoured for performing well in the country on e-office and e-prosecution portals.

Pandey said that in 2021, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, on behalf of the National Crime Report Bureau under the ICJS system, had awarded Uttar Pradesh for prosecution work in the country. This award was also given to the Prosecution Directorate of Uttar Pradesh in the year 2022. Similarly, in the year 2022, the SKOCH Award was awarded for e-Prosecution.
Samajwadi Party national president and former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav, has accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of rigging the second phase of the urban local bodies polls and urged the State Election Commission of Uttar Pradesh to play its role effectively in ensuring free and fair elections.

The act of disrupting democratic processes is a blow to democracy. Complaints have been received about rigging from every polling station where voting took place today, Yadav said in a statement issued here on Thursday..

He said that the BJP government had deprived the people of basic amenities, leading to widespread anger towards the party.

Voters have shown strong support for the Samajwadi Party in order to defeat the BJP in the municipal elections. The BJP has not left any stone unturned in creating an atmosphere of fear and terror, using the anti-social elements, he said.

Yadav said that in Kannauj district, Muslim voters were beaten up and prevented from voting. There, a BJP MP was seen openly violating the model code of conduct. Complaints of booth capturing have also been received from there, he said.

The BJPs hunger for power has led them to use every possible tactic to win elections. They do not care about the Constitution of the country or democracy. This happened for the first time in the annals of history that police prevented voters from casting their votes. The ruling party has instilled fear in the hearts of villagers by deploying police force, he said.
MBABANE - Shouting the name of Jesus Christ saved the day for my family.

This is what Busisiwe Majola (55) had to say after she and her two children survived three hours of being held hostage by burglars at Ndzingeni .

Majola said she couldnt believe it when she woke up with a gun held against her forehead, last week Saturday at her homestead.

Ordeal

Relating her ordeal, Majola said that being a prayerful woman, when she opened her eyes and saw one man with a knife on the neck of her 12-year-old son and another with a gun on her head, she shouted the name of Jesus Christ aloud. I was shocked and scared for my children and pleaded with the three armed men to spare their lives and only kill me instead. As I was held at gunpoint, another came pushing my 17-year-old daughter into the room where we were.

Tied

They then took brown adhessive tape and tied our hands and feet and further wrapped our mouths to keep us quite, she said. Majola said she earns a living by buying and reselling clothes she purchases from Durban, South Africa. Narrating the fateful night, she said after the burglars tied up their hands and feet, they took ropes and tied them around each of the children necks and warned that that if she didnt show them where she had hidden the money she made from her business they would hang everyone from the roof rafters.

Out of fear, I showed them the safe where the money is always placed. After they realised that it was only E9 000, they then began assaulting us with open hands and kicks, demanding that I show them where I had hidden the rest of the money, said Majola. She said they further plugged in an iron and told her they would use it to burn her and the children if she did not show them the rest of the money. Their plan was to use the hot iron to taunt me until I tell them where I hid the rest of the money. For what I estimated to be 40 minutes or more, they struggled to turn on the iron and eventually decided to use other means to taunt me.

Threatened

They then took my 12-year-old son and pulled him by the rope, tied it around his neck and threatened to hang him. I couldnt control myself as I could picture my son being hanged to death. As I screamed, they continued to hang him on the rafters and when I saw my son gasping for breath, I just cried hysterically, telling them repeatedly that I had no more money, said a visibly shaken Majola. She said one of the burglars then showed compassion as he ordered that her son not be killed. Instead, he started talking about his own experience at the hands of burglars with his mother while he was five years old. He told us that he decided to be involved in armed robberies as a result of anger and revenge, since his mother was killed by armed robbers.

Killed

He said that the robbers only spared his life, but eventually killed the rest of his family members during a break-in. He said that he decided to be an armed robber due to anger, said Majola. The burglars ransacked the whole house looking for more money while they were tied for over three hours.

There was a disagreement between the burglars as another was demanding that we be all killed while the other pleaded that we shouldnt be killed. The big concern was we would identify them since they did not cover their faces, said Majola. The armed robbers are said to have finally left in the early morning hours, around 1.30am.

Immediately after they left, we tried to untie ourselves and raised the alarm, which our neighbours responded to, and immediately engaged the community police members. However the community police members were not able to catch them. I then reported the incident to the Royal Eswatini Police (REPS) in Piggs Peak, who came the following morning at around 6am to conduct their own investigations, said Majola.

Deputy Chief Police Information and Communication Officer, Nosipho Mnguni confirmed the incident and said investigations were currently ongoing.

Escalating

It is worth noting that armed robberies cases have been escalating recently and Ndzingeni is one of their hotspots. In most cases, people have been killed in armed robbers. Most recently in Fonteyn, a family was also held hostage for over six hours by armed men.
Bhopal Collector Ashish Singh inspected different areas of the state capital walking for about 5 hours in the scorching heat on Thursday.

The visit started near Rangmahal in New Market and ended at Karond Square. During this, 12 accident-prone black spots were found, which will be removed in 3 months. A plan has been made to widen the road in front of Bansal Hospital. There will also be a parking facility here. So that the people going towards Shahpura from Chuna Bhatti intersection do not have to get stuck in the jam.

After the inspection, it was decided that the Collector would review every week and inspect every 15 days.

The visit started from 10 a.m. near Rangmahal in New Market, ended at Karond Square at 3 p.m.

Officers of various departments were also present along with Collector Ashish Singh. A total of 12 black spots were revealed. They will be finished in the next three months. It will start within a month. Accidents happen on these black spots or there is a jam.

The collector said that there will be no new parking except premium parking. conduct police patrolling every two hours. Electric vehicles should be run from premium parking to New Market. So that people do not face any problem in commuting.

The rotary in TT Nagar should be improved. Tarun Pushkar trisection will be arranged. Left site will be cleared along with the divider. Two-way left turn arrangement will be done at Vyapam intersection.

The road in front of Bansal Hospital will be widened. Parking will also be arranged here. The shops which are obstructing the traffic at Annanagar intersection will be removed.

Collector gave instructions to remove encroachments wherever there is in the middle of Timber Market, Bhopal Talkies, Bharat Talkies, Nadra Bus Stand, Karond Crossroads.
A 25-year-old man, the brother of notorious shooter and close aide of slain gangster Tillu Tajpuriya, committed suicide by shooting himself at his house in Delhis Tajpur Kalan village only days after the latter was brutally murdered in Tihar prison. The deceased was identified as Mohit alias Bunty. According to police, the deceased had no criminal antecedents and worked as a farmer.

Mohit lived in a three-storey building with his parents, wife, three-year-old son and one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, they said. Police said they have not recovered any suicide note from the spot, adding that the reason that triggered him to take the extreme step is being ascertained.

After returning home with his family members on Thursday night, Mohit had a brief conversation of 3-4 minutes with them before going to his room on second floor. Soon after that the family heard a gun shot from Mohits room. They rushed to him and found his body lying in a pool of blood, a senior police officer said.

He was rushed to Satyawadi Raja Harish Chandra Hospital in Narela where he was declared brought dead, he said. Police were informed about the death by the hospital authorities. Enquiry revealed that Mohit had shot himself in head, he added.
Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan while addressing the 'Convocation Parade Ceremony' organized at BSF Meru Camp, Hazaribagh today said that Border Security Force (BSF) has a glorious history, we all are proud of it. He said that along with protecting the nation's borders, our brave soldiers are always alert and work tirelessly to control terrorism, smuggling and criminal activities etc. Their dedication to the nation and commitment to duty is an inspiration for all. He said that the Border Security Force has made a remarkable contribution in the 1971 war by showing its efficiency and courage. Salute to BSF for the commendable work done for the country.

Congratulating all the trainee sub-inspectors, the Governor said that you have got an important opportunity to protect and serve the motherland. Appreciating the parade displayed by these sub inspectors, he said that it reflects the hard work put in by you during the training. He said that the career you have chosen is challenging and respectable. The important responsibility of the security of the nation is on you. Expressing gratitude to the family members of BSF, he said that your cooperation is commendable.

Radhakrishnan said that the now recruited sub inspectors get the subsidiary and basic training of 51 weeks on each and every corner of the field training. All the sub inspectors have taken the oath of serving the Nation. All the officers will show the high standard of training during their duty.

The Governor further said that the duty of a jawan is full of challenges. This is the duty of every jawan to meet the challenges and save the country inside as well as the order of the country.

Commandant cum IG Inderjeet Singh Rana received the chief guest and the Governor took the salute of guard of honour.

The IG of Subsidiary Training Centre Daniel Adhikari welcomed the chief guest before the passing out parade. The vote of thanks was also given by him in the last of the programme.

The training of sub inspector started from 17th May 2022. A total of 70 sub inspectors were from Rajasthan state then Bihar 24, Haryana 12, Uttar Pradesh 6, Manipur 5, MP 4, Odisha, Delhi and TN three each , Maharastra, Punjab and Uttrakhand two each and Telangana, West Bengal and Kerla one each. The parade was headed by Hanuman Prasad Choudhary.

On the said occasion, Member of Legislative Assembly Manish Jaiswal, Deputy Inspector General of Police Hazaribagh Zone, Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police, Hazaribagh along with officers and jawans of BSF Meru Camp were present.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that social, economic and political empowerment of women is taking place in Madhya Pradesh. There was a time when girl child was considered a burden in the family, today she has become a boon. Ladli Laxmi Yojana has helped 44 lakh 90 thousand girls of the state to become millionaires. Under the Mukhyamantri Kanya Vivah Yojana, the government gets poor girls married. Women have been politically empowered by the 50 percent reservation in local body elections. Mukhya Mantri Ladli Bahna Yojana will make them financially empowered. Due to the provision of exemption in stamp duty to women, today 45 percent land is being registered in the name of women.

Chief Minister Chouhan attended the Ladli Bahna Sammelan at Sitamau in Mandsaur district today. He also distributed benefits to the beneficiaries under various schemes. Earlier, the Chief Minister duly performed bhoomi-pujan of Kayampur-Sitamau pressurized large micro-irrigation project costing Rs 2,374 crore at Jawanpura in the district. Chief Minister Chouhan announced voluntary holiday on the birthday of Todarmal ji, making Nahargarh a Nagar Panchayat and Kayampur a Tehsil.

Chouhan said that camps would be organized in every village and ward from May 16 under Mukhyamantri Jan-Seva Abhiyan-2, in which the public would get the benefit of 67 types of services on the spot. Their problems will be solved immediately. Chief Minister Chouhan instructed the administration that the applications received in the campaign and the pending applications of the CM Helpline should be disposed of by May 15.

Chouhan said that nowadays some people are trying to mislead the public by making fake schemes. People should stay away from such thugs and not fall in their trap. The previous government made farmers defaulters in the name of loan waiver. Our government is paying their interest amount so that they can get the benefit of the governments crop loan scheme at zero percent interest. Forms will be filled from May 14 to waive the interest of the farmers. The government has made a provision of Rs 2400 crore in the budget for this scheme.

Chouhan said that every poor person in the state is being given a land patta. So far, 60 to 70 thousand pattas have been distributed in the state under the Chief Ministers Residential Land Rights Scheme. For this, apart from government land, arrangements are also being made to purchase private land. Free ration, houses, medicines, gas connections etc. are being given to the poor in the state.

Chouhan said that the path of education for every child has been made easy in the state. CM Rise schools are being built for quality education to the children. The government is also paying the fees for higher education. Medical and engineering studies have also been started in the state in Hindi. In order to enable the children of government schools to go to the medical colleges, it has been decided to reserve 5 percent seats in the medical colleges for the children of government schools.

The Chief Minister said that our government is making such arrangements that every hand can get employment instead of giving lollipops of unemployment allowance. The recruitment process for one lakh government posts in the state will be completed by August 15. In order to enable the youths to get employment along with skill development, the Mukhya Mantri Kaushal Kamai Yojana will start from the month of June, in which an honorarium of Rs. 8,000 will be given per month. Our slogan is the one who earns will eat, the one who loots will go, the new era will come.

Chief Minister Shri Chouhan said that today Bhoomi Pujan has been performed for an irrigation project worth Rs. 2374 crore. This will irrigate 3 lakh acres of land in Mandsaur area. The water of Gandhi Sagar dam will reach each and every farm in the district. All round progress and development is our goal.

Chief Minister Shri Chouhan said that a campaign to change the lives of the people is going on in the state. The government is concerned about everyone including the farmers, the poor, the artisans and the youth. The era of new culture is beginning in the state, in which the public and the government are working together. He stressed on formation of Ladli Bahna Sena in every village, which would implement schemes related to women. He announced to give the amount of honorarium of Anganwadi workers, which was withheld by the previous government.

Water Resources Minister Shri Tulsiram Silawat said that sisters are needed in every pious work. Today, many years of hard work has been completed by awarding an important project. There has been a massive increase in the area under irrigation in the state. Presently irrigation is being done on 45 thousand hectare area, work is going on on new projects to increase it.

New and Renewable Energy Minister Shri Hardeep Singh Dang said that all-round development is taking place in every sector in the state. Chief Minister Shri Chouhan has today laid the foundation stone of Rs. 2374 crore Kayampur-Sitamau irrigation project. With this project, 1 lakh 12 thousand hectare land of 252 villages of the district will be irrigated. This will benefit 1 lakh 49 thousand 300 beneficiaries of nearby areas. The dream that the people of this region had seen is being fulfilled today.

Member of Parliament Shri Sudhir Gupta said that today I have got the opportunity to seek the blessings of mothers, sisters and daughters. Chambal water has reached the houses and fields and the dream of years has been fulfilled. Public representatives, farmers and a large number of sisters were present in the conference.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Thursday that it has arrested two more persons in the Rs 2,000 crore alleged liquor scam in Chhattisgarh.

Nitesh Purohit, promoter of Giriraj in Raipur city, and Trilok Singh Dhillon, a Bhilai-based liquor businessman, have been arrested for their role in the scam, the ED tweeted.

ED conducted searches and seized proceeds of crime worth Rs 28 crore. Further investigation is investigation, the ED said.

Besides, a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court has granted the custodial remand of the two till May 15, the agency said.

Also, the court has extended the custody of the Raipur Mayors brother, Anwar Dhebar, till May 15.

Anwar Dhebar was produced in the PMLA court on Wednesday after expiry of his four days' of custodial remand.
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha Police has frozen a Rs 1.22-crore an online trading App, Join Trade that was allegedly duping people using morphed photographs of Bollywood stars Akshay Kumar and Manish Paul in order to mislead and gain trust of the public.

During investigation of a case, the EOW came through an advertisement on internet about the app namely Join Trade  Financial Growth claiming to provide instant profit with minimal investment of money.

During the probe, it was found that the fraudulent app was downloadable from Google Play store and it had 1 lakh plus downloads. Powered and developed by Perfect Trade, the app claims to be a professional financial trading and wealth management platform with different investment schemes with minimal deposit of Rs 100 to maximum of Rs 20,000.

The amount can only be deposited through UPI IDs reflected in the app which keeps changing constantly each minute and such IDs were linked to saving and current accounts maintained in the name of shell companies or firms and individuals.

Layering was used for transaction of all ill-gotten money by transferring the bulk credit amount to further unknown accounts maintained in the name of firms/companies/persons. The EOW scrutinised five accounts that had a total transaction of Rs 18.67 crore, of which three accounts were maintained in names of big companies in Gujarat, Delhi and Rajasthan. All the accounts were maintained in banking majors including YES Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and IDFC First Bank.

The probe revealed that the accounts were operated by fraudsters mostly through internet banking. During the inquiry, a total amount of more than Rs 1.22 crore was frozen in the aforesaid bank accounts.

The EOW has also asked Google to remove the fraudulent app from its play store.
Delhi Universitys Hindu College is reconsidering its decision to suspend over 40 students with the administration looking into their applications on an urgent basis, principal Anju Srivastava said on Friday.

Srivastava has alleged that the suspended students were involved in vandalising the college properties and carried out financial fraud.

The North Campus colleges suspension decision drew widespread criticism from the students, who staged several protests on the premises, with those served notices alleging partiality on the part of the institute.

They (the students) have given us verbal apologies and written apologies. We will give students another chance to put forward their sides. We are open to discussion with them. I have asked the disciliplinary committee to look into each application separately on an urgent basis. The work has started. We will soon inform the students, Srivastava told agencies.
The Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneswar celebrated the National Technology Day 2023 on Thursday with students from various local colleges and universities. The programme included technology-related lectures by eminent guests, technology-related product displays and student interaction sessions on Swachhata.

The panel discussion included experts from the minerals and mining sector, dental materials as well as on various areas of life sciences. An innovation challenge was floated by the DBT-ILS Bio incubation centre with an idea to promote innovation-led entrepreneurship. The innovation challenge results were declared on the occasion.

The event was concluded with an address by Dr Rajeev Swain, Convenor of the Outreach Committee of ILS.
Bodhi Tree Inter-school Conclave

SBPS students gave exemplary performance in the 2nd Bodhi Tree Inter-school Critical Literary Conclave 2023. 28 schools from all over the country participated in the online conclave. Prajnashree Hota and Nishka Raj of Std. X were accorded with the first-runner up position in the Overall Delegation segment for Creative Writing Category. School Head Personnel & Admin., Dr. Pradip Varma, congratulated the student for their stupendous performance. Principal, Paramjit Kaur, appreciated the achievements of the students and encouraged more students to participate in such conclaves to hone their creativity.

SCS celebrates Mother's Day

Students of class II of Surendranath Centenary School celebrated Mother's Day on Thursday in the school auditorium .They made cards and paper flowers and presented the mothers on the occasion. They showed their gratitude and love by writing beautiful messages, each card was different and special in its own way. Heart-warming feelings filled the air with intimacy, gratitude, appreciation and acknowledgement. A welcome song "With a smile on our face" was sung by the toddlers. A skit was presented on 'My Super Hero Mom' followed by other activities like speech and dance. On this occasion Principal Smita Sinha inspired the children to inculcate values that can make every parent happy and content.
The Income Tax Department raided houses of former Champua MLA Sanatan Mahakud at various places on Thursday.

Officers of the department carried out simultaneous searches at the ex-legislators houses in Nambhira, Keonjhar, Joda, Champua and Uchabali in Keonjhar district and Sahid Nagar in Bhubaneswar.

The raids were carried out amid deployment of police personnel.

It was suspected that the raids were conducted to detect any alleged tax evasion by Mahakud.

Further details regarding the raids were awaited.

Notably, Mahakud had been elected to the State Legislative Assembly in 2014 as an Independent candidate.

Mahakud had made a fortune in iron business and was doing social works by forming Jagat Janani Seva Trust and was known as a mass leader.

Sources said there was an offer to Mahakud from the BJP to join the party, but there was no response from his side, for which he was a target for IT raid.
Astronomers find clues to source of fast radio bursts

Xinhua) 13:32, May 13, 2023

An aerial view of FAST. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING -- An international group of astronomers has conducted a 17-month-long study of a repeating fast radio burst (FRB) from a distant galaxy, revealing that it reversed its magnetic field twice, providing clues as to its origins.

The magnetic reversal may indicate that the FRB source orbits in a binary star system, and the companion star may be a black hole or a massive star, the scientists said in a paper published in the journal Science on Friday.

The brightest radio bursts known in the universe, FRBs are very short transients, only several milliseconds in duration. However, their precise origins are unclear and the subject of ongoing research.

Scientists from the National Astronomical Observatories under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with their overseas counterparts, targeted a repeating FRB, coded FRB 20190520B, which was discovered by the FAST telescope, or the "China Sky Eye."

The team monitored the FRB with telescopes located in Australia and the United States for 17 months, detecting hundreds of bursts from it. They found that the FRB's Faraday rotation measure -- an indicator of its magnetic field strength -- was highly variable and twice reversed direction.

Team member Feng Yi, from the research institute Zhejiang Lab, said, "This shows that there is an extreme reversal of the magnetic field around it, which means that FRB 20190520B may be in a binary star system, and the companion star of the binary system may be a black hole or a massive star."

Understanding such changes in the magnetized environment around FRBs is an important step forward and is expected to help further clarify their origins, said Feng.

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Wu Chaolan)
MBABANE  According to recent reports compiled during World Kidney Day in March, 200 people died in 12 months due to chronic kidney disease (CKD).

It was reported that these were often people who were on dialysis but struggle to afford the high cost of reaching facilities where the treatment is available. However, it has also been gathered that some patients can afford to travel to other countries such as South Africa (SA) for kidney transplants but this is expensive. Even those who can afford sometimes fail to get donors since the law in the neighbouring country does not allow the donation of organs to foreigners.

An earlier report obtained from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation for 2019 revealed that CKD is among the top 10 causes of death in Eswatini. Further, on World Kidney Day, it was reported that there are 298 people undergoing haemodialysis. However, the service is only available at Hlatikhulu, Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) and Mbabane Government hospitals. This makes it difficult for people living in rural areas to be assisted, resulting in them turning to non-effective herbal treatments.

Also, it was reported on World Kidney Day that about 34 emaSwati do dialysis at home.

The American Centres for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention describes it as a condition in which the kidneys are damaged and cannot filter blood as well as they should. Because of this, excess fluid and waste from blood remain in the body and may cause other health problems, such as heart disease and stroke.

Save

Though Eswatini can afford the expertise in terms of doctors and equipment to carry out kidney transplant and save hundreds of lives, this is not available in the country. This is because there is no legislation currently allowing medical experts to carry out organ transplants. Currently, The He- alth Bill of 2022 is still being debated and submissions are said to have been made regarding organ transplant. However, according to Khosi Fakudze of the Eswatini Kidney Foundation, many lives could be saved if kidney transplants could be done.

Donate

Fakudze also revealed that there were instances where emaSwati travelled to SA for a kidney transplant but it was a lengthy process. She said one had to find a relative who was willing to donate an organ. Also, she said the laws did not allow people above 60 to be donated organs. Fakudze said the South African law for transplants was tough so that people were protected from being trafficked and their body parts used. She said if the Health Bill was to be enacted, this would be a big benefit for people suffering from CKD. Fakudze said it was cheaper than dialysis or sending the patients to other countries for treatment.

Also, she said the important thing, for now, was to educate the public about organ transplant. She said many emaSwati had not been educated on organ transplant and that they did not know how this functioned. This should be done before the Bill is made into an Act, said Fakudze. She said organ transplant required what she referred to as a cadaver donor. She said a person whose body would be used as a cadaver donor needed to consent before their death that they would donate their body part to help someone.

For people who are HIV positive and taking antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, organ transplantation treatments may not be all that good news.

According to Fakudze, when an organ is transplanted into another person, the new organ could be rejected by the host body. She said this was because normally, a foreign body was usually rejected. Fakudze said this was the bodys immune system trying to remove a foreign body. She said for someone who was HIV positive, it would mean that this could be risky because one would have to have a very low immunity system to accept a donated body part. She said this was difficult for some who were already taking an immune booster. Meanwhile, very few African countries have the legislation to allow organ transplants. On the continent, only the Ivory Coast, South Africa, Seychelles, Sudan, Nigeria, Namibia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mauritius, and Tanzania do organ transplants.
The Supreme Court on Friday observed the Lieutenant Governor has to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers of the Delhi Government in nominating 10 aldermen to the MCD, a day after it substantially clipped the wings of the Centres point man in running day-to-day administration of the national capital.

The top court, which was hearing a petition filed by the AAP government challenging the nominations to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), meanwhile, permitted the counsel for the office of the lieutenant governor to withdraw the earlier reply in the wake of the SCs judgement holding that the LG has to act as per the aid and advice of the council of ministers.

A five-judge Constitution bench on Thursday held that the Delhi government has legislative and executive powers over all but three services  public order, police and land. Why dont you (Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain, appearing for the office of the LG) advice the LG that he cannot nominate members in the MCD. He has to act as per the aid and advice of the government, the CJI said.

The bench fixed the Delhi governments plea for hearing on May 16 and permitted the LGs office to file a fresh response to the petition. Earlier, the top court had said it will hear on May 8 the plea of the Delhi government challenging the power of the lieutenant governor to nominate members to the MCD.

In the petition filed through lawyer Shadan Farasat, the Arvind Kejriwal government has challenged the decision of the LG to nominate the members allegedly without the aid and advice of the council of ministers.

Besides seeking quashing of the nominations, the plea has sought a direction to the LGs office to nominate members to the MCD under Section 3(3)(b)(i) of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act..., in accordance with the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers.

This petition has been filed by the elected government of the NCT of Delhi seeking inter alia quashing of orders dated..., and consequent gazette notifications ..., whereby the Lieutenant Governor has illegally appointed 10 (ten) nominated members to the MCD on his own initiative, and not on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, the plea said. It said neither the DMC (Delhi Municipal Commission) Act nor any other provision of law says anywhere that such nomination is to be made by the administrator in his discretion.

This is the first time such a nomination has been made by the LG completely bypassing the elected government, thereby arrogating to an un-elected office a power that belongs to the duly elected government, it said.
Special Police Establishment of Lokayukta raided the house of Hema Meena, assistant engineer in-charge (Contractual Employee) in Madhya Pradesh Police Housing Corporation and property worth Rs 7 crore has been found in the raids.

In 13 years of service, she made 332% more property than his income. Her monthly salary is Rs 30000.

More than 100 dogs have been found in the farm. There are many expensive breed dogs among them. There is a machine worth Rs 2.5 lakh to make bread for them.

Twenty luxury cars were found parked in the big garage built in the bungalow. Hema, who is fond of luxurious life, portrayed herself as IPS officer and uses walkie-talkie to talk to bungalow staff. A jammer has been installed in her bungalow. This luxurious bungalow on 20000 square feet of land worth Rs 1 crore has been built by Hema in her father's name.

Land documents have been found in many villages of Bhopal, Raisen and Vidisha districts. Documents have also been recovered for the purchase of harvesters, paddy sowing machines, tractors and instruments used in farming.

Lokayukta SP Manu Vyas said that a complaint was received against Hema Meena for having possessed properties disproportionate to her income. A case has been registered under sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Action has been initiated by obtaining a search warrant from the Special Court Prevention of Corruption Act, Bhopal.

Apart from the Lokayukta team, a team of 50 people of revenue and animal husbandry is investigating. Documents have also been recovered from her office.

Hema is basically a resident of Chapna village of Raisen district. Since 2016, she is posted in the Police Housing Corporation. Prior to this she was posted in Kochi. Means Hema has been in the job for almost 13 years. According to his salary, he should have maximum assets of Rs 15 lakhs to Rs 18 lakhs, but in the initial investigation, he has got assets worth Rs 7 crore.

Hema divorced her husband. After this she joined the Police Housing Corporation and had good relations with a senior engineer after which her wealth increased exponentially.
Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday put to rest all speculations of his party joining a third front which is being spearheaded by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, Patnaik, when asked to clarify his position on Nitish Kumars move to raise a front against the BJP and his partys possibility of joining it, said, No, not as far as Im concerned not now.

On Tuesday, the Bihar CM had flown to Bhubaneswar to meet his best friend and ex- Union Cabinet colleague Naveen. Both leaders exchanged pleasantries and had their lunch together at Patnaiks residence.

Nitish Kumar said, We have very good friendship and relationship as old colleagues in the Atal Bihar Vajpayee Government at the Centre. Our bond is so strong there is no need to talk politics or about any alliance when we are meeting.

Kumars remark had fuelled speculations that Patnaik, who has been maintaining a principle of equidistance with regard to the BJP and the Congress, might join hands with the former.

To another query if his party would fight the 2014 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections alone, Patnaik CM said, That has always been our principle.

Patnaik, who is currently on a three-day trip to the national capital, dismissed the possibility of meeting any other political leaders this time.

During his interaction with PM Modi, he discussed early completion of the Sri Jagannath Airport in Puri.

The boundary wall work of the airport has been completed. Since the Biju Patnaik International Airport in Bhubaneswar is now experiencing traffic jams, I sought the PMs cooperation for early completion of the airport at Puri, said Patnaik.
The NDRF personnel from different part of countries who are under training at Disaster Management Institute Bhopal visited Poison Information center of AIIMS Bhopal.

They also got comprehensive training session on response expected during Chemical/ Industrial/emergency including mental health management during disasters. Prof. (Dr.)Ajai Singh, Executive Director AIIMS Bhopal who always encourages such type of training sessions at AIIMS Bhopal, permitted this visit of NDRF personnel.

The training session commenced with their welcome by Dr. Niranjan Sahoo, Assistant Professor at FMT. Col. Ajit Kumar Deputy Director (A) AIIMS Bhopal, delivered welcome address to them and emphasized the importance of effective emergency management and role of AIIMS Bhopal in such scenarios.

Dr. Raghvendra K Vidua, Additional Professor at FMT, provided valuable insights into the Poison Information Centre (PIC), highlighting its significance in chemical emergency scenarios. His informative session aimed to enhance the understanding of the participants regarding the basic functioning of Poison information Center at AIIMS Bhopal and how the information on management is conveyed to the treating physicians.

He also gave detailed analysis of total 472 calls related to poisoning cases received so far on to this center from various parts of country. Dr Afsar Mirza , senior resident demonstrated on the PIC system about the procedure for retrieving information on various poisons and how the calls are attended at PIC.Prof. (Dr.) Arneet Arora, Head of FMT, delivered a detailed discourse on Chemical Emergency Response. Dr. Arora's vast expertise and knowledge in the field contributed to a comprehensive understanding of the best practices and strategies required for effectively managing chemical emergencies.

The presentation was followed by a stimulating discussion, allowing participants to exchange ideas and gain further insights. The training program also addressed the critical aspect of mental health treatment in disasters, with a session conducted by Dr. Ashish Pakhare, Assistant Professor from the Department of Psychiatry at AIIMS Bhopal. Dr. Pakhare shed light on the psychological challenges faced by victims and responders during emergencies, emphasizing the importance of mental health support and psychological first aid in the aftermath of disasters.

The NDRF team found their visit very fruitful and lifetime learning experience .they requested the department of forensic medicine and toxicology for taking more of such type of training sessions as they found it very useful to them.

Dr Asit Acharya, Deputy Director of Disaster Management Institute Bhopal expressed need for more of such type of training session and a collaborative approach in handling disasters and emergencies and wish to have MOU with AIIMS Bhopal in this regard.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought an ATR (Action Taken Report) from the district Collector and SP of Gajapati district on the death of a pregnant minor student in the district.

The petitioner of the case Radhakanta Tripathy, a human rights activist and lawyer, moved the NHRC alleging that one minor Dalit girl, who was studying in class 8th of Jhirjira Ashram School, which is being run by the ST/SC Development Department in Gajapati, died on account of medical negligence on May 6, while she was undergoing treatment at the District Headquarters Hospital, in Paralakhemundi. She was unearthed four months pregnant. It is alleged that the school authorities did not inform the parents about her pregnancy earlier.

Tripathy contended that the death of pregnant student poses serious questions of violation of human rights and hence, sought intervention of the Commission inter-alia for legal action against the wrong doers, compensation to the bereaved family and proper counselling, mental care, regular medical check-up and focus on studies by the students in the State-run schools.

The NHRC sought for the reports within four weeks. The NHRC also forwarded a copy of the petition to the Chief Secretary and the DGP for information and further action.
With polling for the second phase of urban local bodies elections ending almost peacefully, the fates of the contestants were sealed in the ballot boxes.

The counting of votes will take place on Saturday.

In the second phase of elections in 38 districts of nine divisions of the state, polling for seven mayors and 581 corporators of municipal corporations, 95 nagar palika chairpersons, 2,520 nagar palika parishad members, 267 nagar panchayat chairpersons and 3,459 nagar panchayat members was completed peacefully with over 55 per cent polling reported in this phase, claimed State Election Commissioner Manoj Kumar here on Thursday evening.

Till 5.00 pm, 49.33 per cent polling was reported.

Kumar said in the second phase, polling was held for 6,929 posts of various bodies, in which more than 1,92,32,004 voters were eligible to exercise their franchise on Thursday at 19,618 polling centres. He said out of the total voters, 1,02,16,992 were men and 90,15,012 women.

Kumar said that arrangements for videography/CCTV/webcasting were made for continuous monitoring at very sensitive polling places. He said no untoward incident was reported from any district in the second phase of the urban local bodies elections.

The state election commissioner said that in the second phase of local bodies elections in the state, 49.33 per cent polling was reported from 38 districts till 5 pm on Thursday. He said 60.48 per cent polling was recorded in Amethi district, 57.08 per cent polling in Ambedkar Nagar, 49.98 per cent in Ayodhya, 46.02 per cent in Aligarh, 53.14 per cent in Azamgarh, 50.93 per cent in Etawah, 54.02 per cent in Etah, 58.01 per cent in Auraiya, 59.82 per cent in Kannauj, 62.28 per cent in Kanpur Dehat, 39.07 per cent in Kanpur Nagar, 57.31 per cent in Kasganj, 41.92 per cent in Ghaziabad, 50.27 per cent in Gautam Buddha Nagar, 51.02 per cent in Chitrakoot, 59.21 percent in Pilibhit, 49.98 per cent in Farrukhabad, 54.89 per cent in Budaun, 46.75 per cent in Bareilly, 58.41 per cent in Bulandshahr and 52.95 per cent Ballia.

Kumar said that 52.59 per cent polling was reported in Basti district, 62.72 per cent in Baghpat, 51.06 per in Banda, 50.92 per cent in Barabanki, 54.84 per cent in Bhadohi, 61.17 per cent in Mau, 45.59 per cent in Meerut, 8.41 per cent in Mahoba, 48.94 per cent in Mirzapur, 59.92 per cent in Shahjahanpur, 55.83 per cent in Sant Kabir Nagar, 54.61 per cent in Sultanpur, 54.24 per cent in Siddharthnagar, 49.54 per cent in Sonbhadra, 61.09 per cent in Hamirpur, 52.42 per cent in Hathras and 53.22 per cent in Hapur till 5 pm.

Reports said that Baghpat district led the chart with 53.96 per cent voter turnout till 3 pm. Hapur, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Kannauj were also among the districts that recorded over 50 per cent polling.

In a series of tweets, Samajwadi Party, the main opposition party, once again accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of indulging in fake voting in Gursahaiganj polling booth of Kannauj.

It also claimed that the husband of an Independent candidate in Kanpur's Ghatampur was shot and that Dalits and Other Backward Classes were denied voting rights.

The SP further alleged that Muslim voters at the Bholanath Dharamshala polling booth of Kannauj municipal council were assaulted by people of the ruling party and that the police remained mute spectators. There were reports of six fake voters being caught at a polling booth in Mau district.

Prominent among the early voters were Cooperatives Minister JPS Rathore and PWD Minister Jitin Prasada at Sudama Prasad Vidyalaya in Shahjahanpur. Speaker of UP Assembly Satish Mahana cast his vote in Kanpur Nagar and Minister of State (independent charge) for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Arun Kumar in Bareilly.

Union minister and Apna Dal (Sonelal) leader Anupriya Patel, who cast her vote in Mirzapur, said that efforts were on to ensure the progress of the district.

The BJP has fielded 10,758 candidates (out of whom 4,248 are women), the highest among all parties. The SP has fielded the second highest number of candidates, 5,231 (of whom 2,223 are women); followed by 3,787 (1,611 women) contestants by Bahujan Samaj Party. The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party have fielded 2,994 (1,395 women) and 2,447 (1,031 women) candidates respectively.

Over 66 per cent of the total candidates in both phases of the polls are independents.
Chhattisgarh Police on Thursday seized 4,268 litres of India Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) valued at Rs 42.10 lakhs in Narayanpur district. The police seized a truck near the Bakhrupara area following a tip that the contraband was hidden under onions, Narayanpur Additional Superintendent of Police Hemsagar Sidar told The Pioneer. The IMFL was packed in 523 cartons, Sidar said.
Governor Mangubhai Patel has said that Raj Bhavan is the responsibility of public welfare. With this spirit, he visited all the 52 districts of the state and sought information about the pain and suffering of the common people and the deprived sections. We have done provided them solutions and development.

Patel was addressing a seminar organized by Madhavrao Sapre Memorial Newspaper Museum Institute in Bhopal today on Dwivedi-Sapre era trends and concerns at Pt. Jhabarmall Sharma Auditorium. The Governor presented Dr. Harikrishna Dutt Shiksha Samman to Dr. Kripashankar Choubey and Mahesh Gupta Srijan Samman to Gaurav Awasthi. The book Gyan Tirth Sapre Museum and pictures were presented to the Governor in the programme.

Patel said that nature has given wonderful powers like speech and intellect to humans only for the sake of being of service to others. The need is to make the youth aware of their responsibility towards the nation and the society. He said that development with everyone, faith and efforts is the basis for the development of the nation. Appreciating the activities of the Sapre Museum during the Amrit period, he described it as a service project to connect future generations with the pride of the nation. He said that Acharya Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi, Karmayogi Madhav Rao Sapre gave intellectual leadership to the society in the first three decades of the 20th century. The initiative to acquaint the youth with his great contribution is a worthwhile effort. The seminar will accelerate the ideological flow of the role of Hindi as the thread of national integration.

Professor K. G Suresh, Vice Chancellor of Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication, Bhopal said that Acharya Dwivedi and Madhav Rao Sapre were contemporaries and Versatile personalities. They have left an indelible imprint on Indian culture. They have led the stream of contemporary literature. Their specialty was that they were the ideal of creativity of talents better than them in creative capacity. He said that such intellectual leadership is the need of the hour. He appreciated the efforts of Sapre Museum for connecting youth power with history and keeping alive the tradition of mutuality of literature and journalism.

Gaurav Awasthi, the Convenor of Acharya Smriti Silver Jubilee Festival, mentioned various milestones and memorable moments of the beginning and development of Acharya Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi Memorial Protection Campaign. He also spoke about the starting with the Dhyanakarshan-dharna in Rae Bareilly city in the year 1998, to the events of the units formation in the United States in the year 2021, on January 10. He told that efforts are acquaint the children with the memories of Acharya Dwivedi. Editor-in-Chief Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan Dr. Amita Dubey said that the institute is cooperating in the development of Hindi by honouring Hindi lovers and collaborating with Hindi-loving institutions. Sahitya Bharti and Balvani magazines are being published by the institute. 157 dedicated creators have been honoured by the institute. He recalled the occasion of Ramesh Chandra Shah of the state being honoured with the Bharat Bharatiya Samman.

Founder Coordinator Sapre Museum, Bhopal Vijay Dutt Shridhar threw light on the concept of the seminar. He told that Acharya Smriti Silver Jubilee Festival as an initiative to make his memories everlasting. He said that the Governor Mangubhai Patel has established an atmosphere of harmony in the state through communication of tribal consciousness.
The Delhi Government on Friday alleged that Services Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj has instructed Services Secretary Ashish More to present a file for the transfer of a new officer to the post of Secretary of Services Department. However, More unexpectedly left the Secretariat without notifying the Ministers office, rendering himself unreachable while his phone also remained switched off.

The Delhi Government claimed in a statement that More has refused to put up the file for appointment of a new officer (AK Singh, IAS) to replace him. Instead of putting up the file, he left the secretariat without informing the services ministers office, the statement added. The sources said More went on casual leave on Friday.

The Government said that possibly under the influence of the Central Government, the Special Secretary of the Services Department sent a communication to Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj, indicating that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notification dated May 21, 2015, has not yet been set aside. Along with this, the Services Secretary has not even initiated a file for posting a new officer. It has been brought to the attention of the Services Secretary that their failure to comply with the orders of the Supreme Court would potentially be considered contempt of court.

More was removed from his post on Thursday, hours after the Supreme Court gave the AAP dispensation control over the transfer and posting of officers in the city. The sources claimed that More was still not transferred as he was ordered to be removed from his post against the established procedure.

Even as the transfer of More has not been effected, the AAP government is ready for large-scale transfers of senior officers, including many principal secretaries and heads of departments. This will happen as soon as the present case is decided by the court, a top source in the Government claimed.

Soon after the SC verdict on Thursday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said a major reshuffle of officers in the city Government would be carried out in the coming days.
The Delhi Governments Tourism Department has proposed to hand over the Signature Bridge to the Public Works Department (PWD).

Built at a cost of `1,518.37 crore, the Wazirabad-East Delhi connecting bridge was thrown open to commuters in November 2018.

The tourism department will be handing over the signature bridge to PWD. The PWD maintains bridges and therefore we will be handing it over to them so that the department can ensure its upkeep. We have already made a request in March, the official said.

Talking about the proposal, he said that even in the past they have handed over bridges to PWD and this is a routine procedure.

They have deputed a team and after checking all the documents they will take over. We have already handed over the approaches to Signature Bridge  eastern and western approach to them, he said.

The cantilever spar cable-stayed bridge that connects Outer Ring Road with Karawal Nagar and Bhajanpura in northeast Delhi was built by the PWD.

It boasts of 127 strands of steel cables and is projected as Indias first asymmetrical cable-stayed bridge.

The work on the construction of its lifts and viewing gallery continued for more than a year.
TIMBUTINI  A 65-year-old womans house was petrol-bombed reportedly by unknown people around midnight on Thursday.

As a result, the elderly woman Mamane Simelane is currently left without a house, let alone clothing and food for both herself and her family. The damage caused by the fire is estimated to be over E100 000, including furniture, as well as household items and food, which was all gutted down by the fire. Narrating the incident, Simelane, who was found in a sombre state, shared that she was lucky to be alive as she was not in the main house which was reportedly burnt by the unknown people.

Coincidentally

The elderly woman revealed that she coincidentally decided to sleep in another house (endlini kagogo) within the family compound together with her grandchildren. Describing how this happened, Simelane attributed the power of God for protecting her. I just decided that we should all vacate from the main house and go to pray at kagogo. We went there, prayed and eventually slept there, she said. Simelane disclosed that one of her children alerted her that she heard someone walking outside the family home. Within moments, she said they heard a boisterous bang coming from the main house. Upon inspecting, the elderly woman said they discovered that it was from a petrol-bomb, which was supposedly thrown inside the house. She said everything started burning and they immediately called the police.

When she was asked who could possibly be behind the fire. Simelane said she was clueless, as she had not received any threats from anyone. However, she mentioned that there were some thugs who harassed her after the death of her son. The elderly woman who is a member of the Lutsango regiment and indvuna for Kwaluseni Lutsango said they were only left with their clothes.

Assist

She appealed to members of the public to assist her with any help they could offer; whether food, building material and clothes. She requested anyone willing to help to contact her on 7617 5948. Meanwhile, before long, a community member arrived at the home and offered a bag. It could not be established what the contents of the bag were. The elderly woman was seen sobbing uncontrollably and wiping her tears. Simelane was of the view that she could be attacked because she was a member of the Lutsango regiment. She maintained that this was because she was not involved in any conflict with anyone.

On the other hand, it should be noted that our sister publication, the Times daily, previously published a story about the same woman being taken to court by her two nephews. The two siblings being Siboniso Simelane and Colani Simelane reportedly approached the High Court, stopping their aunt from burying their cousin in their late fathers homestead. The court also interdicted the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Burial Mortuary from releasing Nkambules body. The national commissioner (NATCOM) of police was ordered to deploy police officers at Timbutini to maintain law and order and to ensure that the order was fully complied with. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed a report of a house that was petrol-bombed at Timbutini on Friday. She said police were still investigating the matter.
Activists of the Delhi BJPs women wing staged a protest near Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals residence in the Civil Lines area on Friday over the alleged gang rape of a woman at GB Pant Hospital in the national capital.

The 40-year-old woman, who worked at the Delhi government-run hospital, was allegedly sexually assaulted while on duty and died during treatment on May 7.

Addressing the protesters, Bidhuri said that the incident has exposed the anti-Dalit face of the Kejriwal government. The woman was brutally assaulted and hacked to death just like Nirbhaya.

The surprising thing is that till date Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has not even spoken a word of sympathy in this regard. He neither has shown any sympathy by visiting to the family nor sent any of his Ministers or MLAs, to meet the family, nor has he announced any financial help to the family.

No immediate reaction was available from the AAP over the BJPs protest and allegations against its leaders.

The Delhi BJPs Mahila Morcha vice-president Priya Bhardwaj accused the Kejriwal dispensation of being indifferent and insensitive over the matter and demanded the government provide compensation of Rs 1 crore and a job to the kin of the victim.

On Thursday, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva met the family of the victim and provided financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh.
As per the direction of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, evacuation of students of Uttar Pradesh, stranded in Manipur amid ongoing violence, is going on at a war footing as the government has so far brought back 130 students safely.

On Thursday, 32 students were brought back and 12 more students will be coming back on Friday. Earlier, on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Yogi government successfully managed to bring back 98 students by running a special campaign.

On Thursday, all 32 students landed at Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport in Lucknow. These students were studying in different educational institutions in Manipur and were evacuated from the violence-hit state on the instructions of the chief minister.

Relief Commissioner Prabhu Narain Singh said that most of the students had already been evacuated from Manipur. After bringing back 12 more students on Friday, there would be only 16 children left, out of which five had refused to return, while 11 students were coming back on their own.

The Uttar Pradesh government is ensuring the secure transportation of the stranded students back to their homes using luxury buses and cars. Special attention is being given to the well-being and comfort of all the students arriving from Manipur during this evacuation process, he added.

According to Singh, a 24x7 helpline 1070 has been set up by the state government and the Manipur government is also fully cooperating in the evacuation process.
Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan on Friday appeared before a special bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for a hearing on his bail plea in a graft case amid tight security as his party asked its supporters to converge near the court to express solidarity with him.

Khan, 70, arrived at the court shortly after 11:30 am local time and underwent the biometric identification process and other formalities.

A special division bench, comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz, took up the ex-premier's bail plea, the Dawn newspaper reported. The hearing was delayed for over two hours due to security reasons, media reported.

Dawn News reported that Imran's lawyers had filed four additional requests which urged the IHC to club all the cases against Imran and to direct authorities to provide details of the cases registered against him.

Khan was arrested from the premises of the IHC on Tuesday in the Al-Qadir Trust case after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) issued an arrest warrant against him.

His arrest by paramilitary Rangers sparked widespread protests across Pakistan, prompting the deployment of the Army here as well as in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces.

The IHC upheld his arrest but a three-member Supreme Court bench on Thursday declared his detention illegal and ordered his immediate release. The apex court directed police to keep him in the Supreme Court's protection and produce him before the high court at 11 am.

Footage aired on the television showed a large number of police and Rangers officials deployed outside the court premises and barbed wire placed in front of the gate.

Footage from outside the IHC also showed many lawyers shouting slogans expressing solidarity with him.

Meanwhile, Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party in a message asked his followers to reach at 10 am to the G-13 area, which is not far away from the IHC, implying that the party leader intends to make a speech.

Islamabad police late on Thursday issued a statement saying that Section 144, which bans public gatherings, was still imposed in the capital and requested political workers not to obstruct the legal process.

We request those giving calls for protests in Islamabad tomorrow not to cause disturbance of peace, it said in a tweet, adding that legal action would be taken against those inciting the public.

The Supreme Court also ordered the Islamabad Police to make proper arrangements for the security of the former premier.

On Friday, two senior leaders of Khan's party - including former federal minister Shireen Mazari - were arrested.

Imaan Hazir-Mazari, the daughter of Mazari and a lawyer, shared a video on Twitter that appeared to show plainclothes men forcefully entering her home to arrest the former minister.

Her arrest comes after a series of arrests of several other top PTI leaders, including Asad Umar, Fawad Chaudhry, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Ali Mohammad Khan, and Senator Ejaz Chaudhry.

All of these leaders other than Khan were arrested under section three of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO).

According to Khan's party, former Punjab health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid has also been arrested.

Khan has urged his followers to remain peaceful after two-days of massive violence that witnessed vandalism, arson and bloodshed, stoking concerns about a civil war in the country.

After the apex court intervention in the arrest case, a semblance of calm was restored in the country but permanent peace depends on the ultimate fate of Khan who faces scores of cases and runs from one court to another to secure bails.
Abbot Financial Management Inc. reduced its position in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS  Get Rating) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,145 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 875 shares during the quarter. Abbot Financial Management Inc.s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $1,543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aviva PLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 394,631 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $33,552,000 after purchasing an additional 33,848 shares during the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 100.6% during the 4th quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,404 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 3,212 shares during the last quarter. First National Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. First National Advisers LLC now owns 6,435 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $547,000 after acquiring an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 91.8% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 11,424 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $971,000 after acquiring an additional 5,467 shares during the last quarter. 83.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 24th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $95.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 20th. Credit Suisse Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, January 19th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 20th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $125.00 to $112.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight 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, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $95.34.

Morgan Stanley Stock Up 0.2 %

MS traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $82.78. 367,999 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,538,948. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.68. The businesss 50 day moving average is $87.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.82. Morgan Stanley has a fifty-two week low of $72.05 and a fifty-two week high of $100.99. The stock has a market cap of $138.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.20, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.34.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.03. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 11.35%. The firm had revenue of $14.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.06 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Morgan Stanley will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 1st will be paid a $0.775 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 28th. This represents a $3.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. Morgan Stanleys payout ratio is 53.26%.

Insider Transactions at Morgan Stanley

In other news, Director Thomas H. Glocer sold 4,535 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.11, for a total value of $395,043.85. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 98,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,546,362.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 24,556 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.23, for a total transaction of $2,412,135.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 190,440 shares in the company, valued at $18,706,921.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas H. Glocer sold 4,535 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.11, for a total transaction of $395,043.85. Following the transaction, the director now owns 98,110 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,546,362.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.26% of the companys stock.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

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Morgan Stanley operates as a global financial services company. The firm provides investment banking products and services to its clients and customers including corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. It operates through the following segments: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management.

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Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE  Get Rating) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report issued on Friday.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Mizuho decreased their price target on Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $180.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, April 24th. JMP Securities reiterated a buy rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities in a research report on Tuesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $198.00 to $166.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 4th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $162.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $176.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alexandria Real Estate Equities currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $164.00.

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Alexandria Real Estate Equities Price Performance

NYSE:ARE traded down $0.95 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $119.46. 798,497 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,038,115. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $124.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.67 billion, a PE ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.93. Alexandria Real Estate Equities has a 1-year low of $114.94 and a 1-year high of $172.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Insider Activity at Alexandria Real Estate Equities

Alexandria Real Estate Equities ( NYSE:ARE Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $2.15 by ($1.71). Alexandria Real Estate Equities had a return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 28.01%. The firm had revenue of $700.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $686.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. Alexandria Real Estate Equitiess revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Alexandria Real Estate Equities will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In other Alexandria Real Estate Equities news, Chairman Joel S. Marcus sold 7,500 shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.20, for a total value of $916,500.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 351,354 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $42,935,458.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alexandria Real Estate Equities

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 8.6% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 4,377 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $881,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 242.4% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,499 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $906,000 after purchasing an additional 3,185 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 14.4% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 4,753 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $957,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 11.7% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,903 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $1,187,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 7.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Alexandria Real Estate Equities

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Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc engages in the business of providing space for lease. The firm is also an owner, operator, and developer of life science, agrotechnology, and technology campuses in Greater Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, Maryland, and Research Triangle.

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Laurentian Bank of Canada (TSE:LB  Get Rating) had its price objective lowered by Barclays from C$36.00 to C$34.00 in a research report released on Tuesday, BayStreet.CA reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Cormark dropped their target price on shares of Laurentian Bank of Canada from C$45.00 to C$42.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. CSFB boosted their price objective on shares of Laurentian Bank of Canada from C$34.00 to C$35.00 in a report on Friday, February 17th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Laurentian Bank of Canada from C$39.00 to C$38.00 in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of C$40.36.

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Laurentian Bank of Canada Price Performance

LB opened at C$31.19 on Tuesday. Laurentian Bank of Canada has a fifty-two week low of C$28.23 and a fifty-two week high of C$43.32. The companys 50-day moving average is C$31.93 and its 200 day moving average is C$32.91. The firm has a market capitalization of C$1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.40, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.15.

Laurentian Bank of Canada Announces Dividend

Laurentian Bank of Canada ( TSE:LB Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 28th. The company reported C$1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of C$1.12 by C$0.03. Laurentian Bank of Canada had a net margin of 22.90% and a return on equity of 8.15%. The business had revenue of C$260.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$259.00 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Laurentian Bank of Canada will post 4.8914373 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 31st. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.90%. Laurentian Bank of Canadas dividend payout ratio is currently 37.78%.

About Laurentian Bank of Canada

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Laurentian Bank of Canada, together with its subsidiaries, provides various financial services to personal, business, and institutional customers in Canada and the United States. It operates through three segments: Personal Banking, Commercial Banking, and Capital Markets. The Personal Banking segment offers financial services, such as financial advisory services to financial intermediaries; and operates digital direct-to-customer platform to retail clients.

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China Eastern Airlines Co. Limited (OTCMKTS:CHEAF  Get Rating) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 556,000 shares, a decrease of 80.9% from the April 15th total of 2,912,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 0 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently  days.

China Eastern Airlines Stock Performance

OTCMKTS:CHEAF remained flat at $0.39 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $0.39. China Eastern Airlines has a 1 year low of $0.39 and a 1 year high of $0.39.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, HSBC raised shares of China Eastern Airlines from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Monday, April 3rd.

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Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY increased its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV  Get Rating) by 13.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,427 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 2,131 shares during the quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NYs holdings in AbbVie were worth $2,978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its holdings in AbbVie by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 14,439 shares of the companys stock worth $1,938,000 after acquiring an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp grew its holdings in AbbVie by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 4,505 shares of the companys stock valued at $728,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. purchased a new stake in AbbVie during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,486,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in AbbVie by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 10,608 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,714,000 after buying an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA grew its holdings in AbbVie by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 14,454 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,336,000 after buying an additional 2,654 shares in the last quarter. 67.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Transactions at AbbVie

In other news, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 25,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total transaction of $3,738,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 233,208 shares in the company, valued at $34,871,592.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other AbbVie news, EVP Jeffrey Ryan Stewart sold 53,125 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.28, for a total value of $8,089,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 60,941 shares of the companys stock, valued at $9,280,095.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Azita Saleki-Gerhardt sold 25,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total value of $3,738,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 233,208 shares of the companys stock, valued at $34,871,592.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 191,897 shares of company stock worth $29,455,233. Insiders own 0.26% of the companys stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AbbVie Stock Up 0.1 %

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ABBV. Atlantic Securities cut their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $157.00 to $154.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of AbbVie from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, April 14th. SVB Leerink raised shares of AbbVie from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and raised their target price for the company from $135.00 to $153.00 in a report on Friday, February 10th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of AbbVie from $155.00 to $160.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. Finally, Piper Jaffray Companies raised their price target on AbbVie from $157.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AbbVie has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $163.40.

ABBV traded up $0.19 on Friday, hitting $146.78. The company had a trading volume of 873,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,910,403. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $155.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.17. AbbVie Inc. has a 12-month low of $134.09 and a 12-month high of $168.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $258.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.58.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV  Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The company reported $2.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.02. AbbVie had a return on equity of 147.43% and a net margin of 13.37%. The company had revenue of $12.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.16 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that AbbVie Inc. will post 10.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AbbVie Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 13th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. AbbVies payout ratio is 139.95%.

About AbbVie

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AbbVie, Inc is a research-based biopharmaceutical company, which engages in the development and sale of pharmaceutical products. It focuses on treating conditions such as chronic autoimmune diseases in rheumatology, gastroenterology, and dermatology, oncology, including blood cancers, virology, hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), neurological disorders, such as Parkinsons, metabolic, comprising thyroid disease and complications associated with cystic fibrosis, pain associated with endometriosis, and other serious health conditions.

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Computer Modelling Group Ltd. (TSE:CMG  Get Rating) passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$6.37 and traded as high as C$7.38. Computer Modelling Group shares last traded at C$7.33, with a volume of 64,917 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Computer Modelling Group from C$5.00 to C$6.00 in a research note on Monday, March 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Computer Modelling Group from C$6.50 to C$7.50 in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Computer Modelling Group from C$6.00 to C$7.50 in a research note on Friday, February 10th.

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Computer Modelling Group Stock Down 0.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 76.33, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 2.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of C$7.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$6.37. The stock has a market capitalization of C$586.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.26.

Computer Modelling Group Dividend Announcement

Computer Modelling Group ( TSE:CMG Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 8th. The company reported C$0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$0.06 by C$0.02. Computer Modelling Group had a return on equity of 40.64% and a net margin of 26.97%. The firm had revenue of C$19.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$18.60 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Computer Modelling Group Ltd. will post 0.3240495 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 6th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. Computer Modelling Groups dividend payout ratio is currently 83.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kenneth Michael Dedeluk sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$7.10, for a total transaction of C$71,000.00. Insiders sold 24,500 shares of company stock worth $176,725 over the last three months. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Computer Modelling Group

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Computer Modelling Group Ltd., a computer software technology company, develops and licenses reservoir simulation software in Canada and internationally. The company offers CMOST-AI, an intelligent optimization and analysis tool that offers solution for reservoir by combining statistical analysis, machine learning, and non-biased data interpretation; IMEX, a black oil simulator that is used to model primary and secondary oil recovery processes in conventional and unconventional oil and gas reservoirs; GEM, an equation-of-state reservoir simulator for compositional, chemical, and unconventional reservoir modelling; STARS, a thermal and processes reservoir simulator for the modelling of steam, solvents, air, and chemical recovery processes; and CoFlow, a reservoir and production system modelling software that allows reservoir and production engineers to make informed decisions on large integrated oil and gas projects in Canada.

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Deutsche Post AG (OTCMKTS:DPSGY  Get Rating) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 700 shares, a decline of 95.5% from the April 15th total of 15,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 141,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.0 days.

Deutsche Post Price Performance

DPSGY traded down $0.22 on Friday, reaching $44.77. 49,974 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 77,835. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $45.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.28. Deutsche Post has a twelve month low of $28.66 and a twelve month high of $48.64.

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Deutsche Post (OTCMKTS:DPSGY  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 9th. The transportation company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Deutsche Post had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The business had revenue of $24.28 billion for the quarter. On average, analysts anticipate that Deutsche Post will post 3.5 EPS for the current year.

Deutsche Post Cuts Dividend

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $1.3989 per share. This represents a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 5th. Deutsche Posts dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC cut shares of Deutsche Post from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Deutsche Post from a neutral rating to an underweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Deutsche Post from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Deutsche Post presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $52.03.

Deutsche Post Company Profile

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Deutsche Post AG engages in the provision of mail and logistics services. It operates through the following business segments: Express, Global Forwarding & Freight, Supply Chain, eCommerce Solutions, and Post & Parcel Germany. The Express segment offers courier and express services to business customers.

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MBABANE - Ngete Ngasala Nasakha Live Letfu!

The above words were spoken by a registered voter at Nkhanini yesterday after spending only two minutes to complete the elections registration process. Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) opened the polls on Wednesday May 10, 2023, marking the official start of the 2023 National Elections for the 12th Parliament. The commission revealed that over 10 000 people registered in the first two days of the registration process.

It is worth noting that in the first two days of the 2018 voter registration process almost 8 000 had registered and a majority of that number were males. 2018 elections reports reflect that Sundays recorded low registration figures throughout the period with the exception of the first cut-off date in June 17, 2018, where it was at its peak.

EBC Spokesperson Mbonisi Bhembe confirmed that over 10 000 had registered when the polls closed on Thursday May 11, 2023 to mark the end of the second day of registration. The registration process started off with teething problems on Wednesday, resulting to some polling station closing while others opened after more than five hours of the projected starting time. Despite the issues, more voters registered in the first two day this year than the last election year.

Growing

Yes, it is true that over 10 000 people have already registered in the system and from the 10 000 people, there is over 1 000 people with disabilities that registered. We expect the numbers to continue growing by the end of next week, Bhembe said yesterday. He further encouraged the entire populace to visit all the available voter registration centres and register for the election. He said the nation needs to understand that the power to vote was their right and no one was in a position to exercise that right for them. He said the commission was expecting more people to cascade to the nearest voting stations in the next weeks before registration closed in the next 33 days.

It is difficult to divulge the numbers now, but what I can confirm is that the commission is expecting over 650 000 voters to have registered by the close of business on June 14 this year. If you are living with disabilities or need some clarifications, there are available officers at your convenience at the centres around the country, said Bhembe. In 2018, the commission had projected to register 650 000 eligible voters, based on the latest population census. At the end of the registration period, a total of 547 426 voters were registered, which was almost 84 per cent of the eligible voter population. The 2018 statistics also showed a considerable increase by 132 722 (14 per cent) of registrants from the 414 704 (70 per cent) registrants in the 2013 National Election. It was reported that in 2018, a highest number of registrants was recorded for the youth between the ages 18 and 35 years with 297 451 (54 per cent) registered voters. The youth was followed by the adults (36 - 59 years) with 190 939 (35 per cent) registrants, and the senior citizens with ages from 60 years and above were 59 036 (11 per cent).

Registered

Notably, 98 per cent of the 2018 registrants registered using personal identification numbers (PIN) and the remaining two per cent registered through these supervision of competent witness which was a plus to the credibility of voters list. This year, EBC introduced more registration centres and methods to attract more voters. Centres would be placed in malls around the country and there were reports of door-to-door registration. According to a full calendar released by EBC, voter registration began on the May 10 and will end in June 14. Validation of the voters roll and transfers will be over a months period between June 22, 2023 and July 12, 2023. In July 22, 2023 nomination of candidates will begin until August 22, 2023.

Primary elections will start on August 22, 2023 with a special voting and run till September 27, 2023. Secondary elections will be in September 29, 2023. New parliamentarians are expected to be in office by the end of October this year. The 11th Parliament has yet been recalled by His Majesty King Mswati III; however, they according to the Constitution, the King could dissolve the August House in the next two months. Eswatini News visited some of voters registration polls, yesterday discovered that the activity was slow in the morning and only picked up late in the afternoon, when people started coming back from work. This publication also discovered that almost all the voters registration polls in Ezulwini and Lobamba were not abuzz with people.

Some members of the public appealed to EBC to at least place banners which would help the voters locate the centres. However, the electorate along these areas visited, looked jovial as they registered for this years national elections. One of the already registered voters, who was found by the Eswatini News team at Nkhanini, Nkosinathi Victor Khumalo was happy to shows the SMS which he had received after completing the registration process which lasted for less than two minutes.

Supported

EBC has abolished the use of voter cards and replaced it with the use of national identification cards (IDs) which is supported by an SMS confirmation. After registering, a voter receives an SMS as compared to waiting for a printout of the voter card. The use of the ID cards has reduced the time spent by voters in the registration booth to two minutes. The registration process was conducted through the online platform for the first time in the 2018 elections and more than 90 per cent of the data was transmitted to the central server in real-time. The use of the national ID eliminated duplication in real-time, when the system was registering online. It also has a user audit trail to track fraudulent registration.

Some of the EBC officials found on most of the sites said there were internet glitches here and there in the beginning of the registration on Wednesday. It was gathered that the machine that was used for the registration process declared some people who were born in 1949, dead. Other officials disclosed that some elderly people were declared under aged by the same machine in most areas. One of the official acknowledged that these glitches were caused by the slow internet; however, by the end of business yesterday, everything was running smooth in most of the registration centres.

Commissioned

The voter registration is the first stage of the electoral process and this stage is usually commissioned by His Majesty through a writ, specifying the dates of the entire election process. The voters register is validated through a process which leads to the production of a final voters roll before the nomination process begins. The voter registration process is guided by the Registration Act, 2013, which states that there should be a single country-wide form of identification for voter registration. Registration to vote is done in person and registrants are required to produce one of the following documents: national identity card, passport and birth certificate. In the absence of these, voters are registered with the assistance of a competent witness. However, the latter applies only when one registers at communities.
Shares of Ediston Property Investment Company plc (LON:EPIC  Get Rating) crossed below its 50-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of GBX 64.76 ($0.82) and traded as low as GBX 62.40 ($0.79). Ediston Property Investment shares last traded at GBX 62.80 ($0.79), with a volume of 401,607 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Peel Hunt reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a GBX 80 ($1.01) target price on shares of Ediston Property Investment in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st.

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Ediston Property Investment Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 55.09, a quick ratio of 22.33 and a current ratio of 31.16. The firm has a market cap of 131.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 624.00 and a beta of 0.99. The companys fifty day moving average is GBX 64.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is GBX 64.03.

Ediston Property Investment Announces Dividend

Ediston Property Investment Company Profile

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 11th will be issued a GBX 0.42 ($0.01) dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 11th. This represents a yield of 0.64%. Ediston Property Investments dividend payout ratio is currently 5,000.00%.

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Ediston Property Investment Company plc a real estate investment trust externally managed by Ediston Properties Ltd. The firm invest in commercial property of United Kingdom. It was founded in 2014 and is based in Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

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Fibra Terrafina (OTCMKTS:CBAOF  Get Rating) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 436,900 shares, an increase of 61.1% from the April 15th total of 271,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 19,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 23.0 days.

Fibra Terrafina Price Performance

CBAOF stock remained flat at $1.81 during midday trading on Friday. The company had a trading volume of 879 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,113. The business has a fifty day moving average of $1.77 and a 200-day moving average of $1.60. Fibra Terrafina has a 12-month low of $1.23 and a 12-month high of $1.93.

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Fibra Terrafina Company Profile

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Terrafina is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the acquisition, development, and management of industrial real estate properties. Its portfolio includes distribution centers, warehouses, and light manufacturing properties located at Bajio and Northern Mexico. The company was founded on January 29, 2013 and is headquartered in Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico.

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First Mexican Gold Corp (CVE:FMG  Get Rating) traded down 2.5% on Friday . The stock traded as low as C$0.39 and last traded at C$0.40. 58,211 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 55% from the average session volume of 37,447 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.41.

First Mexican Gold Stock Down 2.5 %

The stock has a market capitalization of C$17.52 million and a PE ratio of -131.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average of C$0.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$0.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.62.

About First Mexican Gold

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First Mexican Gold Corp. through its subsidiary, Cornelius exploration S. de R.L. de C.V., engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties in Mexico. It explores for gold and silver deposits. The company holds interests in the Hilda Properties comprising the Hilda 30 property; the Hilda 37/38 property with two mining exploration concessions; and the Hilda 31/32 property with three mining exploration concessions comprising a total area of 1,350 hectares in the Yecora District, State of Sonora, Mexico.

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Shares of KraneShares MSCI China ESG Leaders Index ETF (NYSEARCA:KESG  Get Rating) dropped 2.3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $18.70 and last traded at $18.70. Approximately 1 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 100% from the average daily volume of 564 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.15.

KraneShares MSCI China ESG Leaders Index ETF Stock Performance

The businesss 50 day moving average is $19.24 and its 200 day moving average is $19.24. The company has a market capitalization of $3.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 0.35.

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Institutional Trading of KraneShares MSCI China ESG Leaders Index ETF

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. UBS Group AG raised its position in KraneShares MSCI China ESG Leaders Index ETF by 164.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,327 shares of the companys stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 1,446 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in KraneShares MSCI China ESG Leaders Index ETF by 30.5% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 14,759 shares of the companys stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 3,451 shares during the last quarter. OLD Mission Capital LLC purchased a new position in KraneShares MSCI China ESG Leaders Index ETF during the 4th quarter worth approximately $354,000. Finally, Flow Traders U.S. LLC raised its position in KraneShares MSCI China ESG Leaders Index ETF by 43.5% during the 3rd quarter. Flow Traders U.S. LLC now owns 90,139 shares of the companys stock worth $1,567,000 after buying an additional 27,343 shares during the last quarter.

KraneShares MSCI China ESG Leaders Index ETF Company Profile

The KraneShares MSCI China ESG Leaders Index ETF (KESG) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI China ESG Leaders 10\u002F40 index, a market-cap-weighted index of Chinese companies that have high environmental, social and governance ratings. KESG was launched on Jul 29, 2020 and is managed by KraneShares.

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Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Domestic Debt Fund, Inc. (NYSE:EDD  Get Rating) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 226,700 shares, a growth of 120.5% from the April 15th total of 102,800 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 184,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days.

Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Domestic Debt Fund Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE EDD traded down $0.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $4.69. 107,132 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 181,353. Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Domestic Debt Fund has a 1 year low of $3.84 and a 1 year high of $4.85. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $4.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.47.

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Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Domestic Debt Fund Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.82%.

Institutional Trading of Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Domestic Debt Fund

About Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Domestic Debt Fund

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ironsides Asset Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Domestic Debt Fund by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Ironsides Asset Advisors LLC now owns 19,995 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 2,529 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Domestic Debt Fund by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 167,230 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $751,000 after buying an additional 2,823 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Domestic Debt Fund by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 324,071 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $1,470,000 after buying an additional 3,003 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Domestic Debt Fund by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 76,857 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 3,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Domestic Debt Fund by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 17,067 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 3,137 shares in the last quarter.

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Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Domestic Debt Fund, Inc is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company. The companys primary objective is to seek a high level of current income. It also has a secondary investment objective of long-term capital appreciation. The company was founded on January 25, 2007 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

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PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund (NYSE:PCQ  Get Rating) shares crossed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $12.22 and traded as low as $9.89. PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund shares last traded at $9.95, with a volume of 60,151 shares trading hands.

PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund Stock Down 0.4 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.20.

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PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 11th will be issued a $0.036 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 10th. This represents a $0.43 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.39%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

About PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund during the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund by 69.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,675 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $152,000 after buying an additional 3,981 shares during the period. Finally, EWG Elevate Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund during the 4th quarter valued at $146,000.

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PIMCO California Municipal Income Fund is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Allianz Global Investors Fund Management LLC. It is co-managed by Pacific Investment Management Company LLC. The fund invests in fixed income markets of the United States. It seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors.

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Shares of PIMCO Corporate & Income Opportunity Fund (NYSE:PTY  Get Rating) crossed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $12.93 and traded as low as $12.80. PIMCO Corporate & Income Opportunity Fund shares last traded at $12.94, with a volume of 382,954 shares trading hands.

PIMCO Corporate & Income Opportunity Fund Stock Performance

The companys 50-day simple moving average is $12.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.93.

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PIMCO Corporate & Income Opportunity Fund Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 11th will be given a dividend of $0.119 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 10th. This represents a $1.43 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.41%. This is a positive change from PIMCO Corporate & Income Opportunity Funds previous monthly dividend of $0.12.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PIMCO Corporate & Income Opportunity Fund

About PIMCO Corporate & Income Opportunity Fund

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of PIMCO Corporate & Income Opportunity Fund in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. IFP Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of PIMCO Corporate & Income Opportunity Fund in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of PIMCO Corporate & Income Opportunity Fund in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of PIMCO Corporate & Income Opportunity Fund in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of PIMCO Corporate & Income Opportunity Fund in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 9.09% of the companys stock.

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PIMCO Corporate & Income Opportunity Fund is a closed-ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Allianz Global Investors Fund Management LLC. It is co-managed by Pacific Investment Management Company LLC. The fund invests in fixed income markets across the globe. It invests in corporate debt obligations rated in the lowest investment grade category Baa or BBB and in the highest non-investment grade category Ba or BB.

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JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Shell (LON:SHEL  Get Rating) in a research report report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a GBX 2,950 ($37.22) price target on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group set a GBX 3,000 ($37.85) price objective on shares of Shell in a research note on Monday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Shell from GBX 2,987 ($37.69) to GBX 2,854 ($36.01) in a research note on Thursday, March 30th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Shell from GBX 3,200 ($40.38) to GBX 3,100 ($39.12) and set a top pick rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 17th. Berenberg Bank lowered their price target on shares of Shell from GBX 3,000 ($37.85) to GBX 2,850 ($35.96) and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group reiterated a top pick rating on shares of Shell in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of GBX 2,875.82 ($36.29).

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Shell Stock Up 0.9 %

Shell stock opened at GBX 2,409 ($30.40) on Tuesday. Shell has a fifty-two week low of GBX 1,908.60 ($24.08) and a fifty-two week high of GBX 2,613.50 ($32.98). The stock has a market cap of 164.78 billion, a PE ratio of 549.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 0.62. The firms 50-day simple moving average is GBX 2,399.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 2,396.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 43.51, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Shell Dividend Announcement

Insider Activity

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 18th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 18th. This represents a yield of 0.99%. Shells dividend payout ratio is currently 2,217.09%.

In other news, insider Wael Sawan acquired 7,213 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of GBX 2,482 ($31.32) per share, for a total transaction of 179,026.66 ($225,901.15). 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Shell

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Shell plc operates as an energy and petrochemical company Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, the United States, and Rest of the Americas. The company operates through Integrated Gas, Upstream, Marketing, Chemicals and Products, and Renewables and Energy Solutions segments. It explores for and extracts crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids; markets and transports oil and gas; produces gas-to-liquids fuels and other products; and operates upstream and midstream infrastructure necessary to deliver gas to market.

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Barratt Developments plc (OTCMKTS:BTDPF  Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 13,500 shares, a decline of 54.1% from the April 15th total of 29,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 15.0 days.

Barratt Developments Stock Performance

OTCMKTS BTDPF remained flat at $6.18 during trading on Friday. 196 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,573. The firms fifty day moving average is $5.71 and its 200-day moving average is $5.31. Barratt Developments has a 52-week low of $3.65 and a 52-week high of $6.70.

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About Barratt Developments

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Barratt Developments Plc engages in the development of residential and non-residential properties mainly in the United Kingdom. It offers services in land, design, construction, and sales and marketing. The company was founded by Lawrence Arthur Barratt in 1958 and is headquartered in Coalville, the United Kingdom.

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Tesco PLC (OTCMKTS:TSCDY  Get Rating) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,200 shares, a drop of 93.9% from the April 15th total of 36,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 206,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on TSCDY. Barclays increased their target price on Tesco from GBX 310 ($3.91) to GBX 320 ($4.04) in a report on Friday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley raised Tesco from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, March 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Tesco from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Monday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Tesco from GBX 270 ($3.41) to GBX 290 ($3.66) in a research report on Tuesday, April 18th.

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Tesco Price Performance

Shares of Tesco stock remained flat at $10.23 on Friday. The stock had a trading volume of 37,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 202,570. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $9.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.96. Tesco has a fifty-two week low of $6.54 and a fifty-two week high of $10.75.

Tesco Increases Dividend

Tesco Company Profile

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 12th will be given a $0.2625 dividend. This is a boost from Tescos previous dividend of $0.13. This represents a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 11th.

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Tesco Plc engages in the retailing and retail banking. It operates through the following segments: UK and ROI, Central Europe, Asia, and Tesco Bank. The UK and ROI segment caters to the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The Central Europe segment covers the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.

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Oman and Etihad Rail Company, the developer and operator of the UAE-Oman Rail Network, has signed a MoU with Vale, one of the worlds largest mining companies, to explore utilizing rail to transport iron ore and its derivatives between the sultanate and the emirates, linking its complex in Sohar Port and Freezone to its planned mega-industrial unit in the UAE.

This agreement reflects the logistical importance that the project will provide to major international players in several different sectors, as they stand to benefit significantly from the competitive advantages and economic incentives of the project.

Vale, headquartered in Brazil, is one of the largest mining companies globally, operating in five continents and a leading producer of iron ore.

Vale supported the development of Brazil's railway network, which spans over 2,000 kilometers, and has been operating in Sohar Port and Freezone for 12 years. Its industrial complex in Sohar Port, established in 2011, is the largest industrial investment in the sultanate.

Under the terms of the agreement, both parties will work to develop integrated logistics solutions that connect Vales facility in Sohar Port and Freezone and transport the companys iron ore products and derivatives between the company's Sohar hub and various factories and distribution centers.

The MoU was signed by Ahmed Al Musawa Al Hashemi, CEO of the Oman and Etihad Rail Company, and Rogerio Nogueira, Director of Business Development at Vale, in the presence of Suhail bin Mohammed Faraj Faris Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure and Chairman of Oman and Etihad Rail Company, and Elaina Zugaib, Brazilian Ambassador to the UAE.

"The agreement is in line with our desire to continue to work on and establish strategic partnerships with major companies in UAE and Oman, supporting economic growth, continued development and investment in both countries," stated Al Mazrouei.

On the strategic deal, Al Hashemi said: "We are proud to partner with a leading international company like Vale, which has a long history and extensive global experience in the production of iron, utilizing rail as a primary means of transportation for its logistical operations."

"The MoU highlights the interest of potential users in utilizing the UAE-Oman Railway Network and benefiting from its fast, sustainable, reliable, and cost-effective services," he noted.

Nogueira said the agreement supports Vales plans to develop industrial complexes in the UAE and Oman to produce low-carbon products for the steelmaking industry.

"Vales partnership with Oman and Etihad Rail reinforces the regional logistics progress, which enables various economic and trade activities, and provides several benefits, including creating new job opportunities and providing high-quality transport solutions," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp. (OTCMKTS:TYCMY  Get Rating) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 100 shares, a drop of 85.7% from the April 15th total of 700 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.0 days.

Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Price Performance

Shares of OTCMKTS:TYCMY traded down C$1.00 during midday trading on Friday, reaching C$33.14. 693 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,631. Tingyi has a 1 year low of C$27.19 and a 1 year high of C$36.96. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of C$34.13.

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Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Company Profile

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Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp., an investment holding company, manufactures and sells instant noodles, beverages, and instant food products in the People's Republic of China. The company operates through Instant Noodles, Beverages, and Others segments. It offers ready-to-drink teas, juices, milk tea, bottled water, and carbonated soft drinks, as well as coffee drinks/functional drinks/probiotics.

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TODS S.p.A. (OTCMKTS:TODGF  Get Rating) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 60,500 shares, a growth of 44.0% from the April 15th total of 42,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 0 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently  days.

TODS Price Performance

TODS stock remained flat at $33.92 during midday trading on Friday. The companys 50 day moving average price is $33.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.92. TODS has a 52-week low of $33.92 and a 52-week high of $67.95.

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TODS Company Profile

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TOD'S S.p.A., together with its subsidiaries, creates, produces, and distributes shoes, leather goods and accessories, and apparel in Italy, rest of Europe, the Americas, Greater China, and internationally. The company distributes its products through directly operated single-brand stores (DOS), online, franchised stores, and independent multi-brand stores under the TOD'S, HOGAN, FAY, and ROGER VIVIER brands.

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Arlo Technologies (NYSE:ARLO  Get Rating) updated its second quarter 2023 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided EPS guidance of $0.01-$0.07 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $0.01. The company issued revenue guidance of $105.00 million-$115.00 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $102.48 million.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ARLO. BWS Financial boosted their price target on Arlo Technologies from $8.00 to $11.00 in a research report on Friday. Lake Street Capital boosted their price target on Arlo Technologies from $10.00 to $12.00 in a research report on Friday.

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Arlo Technologies Stock Performance

Arlo Technologies stock opened at $8.97 on Friday. Arlo Technologies has a one year low of $2.93 and a one year high of $9.31. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $6.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $814.36 million, a PE ratio of -14.02 and a beta of 1.64.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arlo Technologies

About Arlo Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARLO. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Arlo Technologies by 83.7% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,979 shares of the companys stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 2,269 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Arlo Technologies by 70.3% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 6,619 shares of the companys stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 2,732 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Arlo Technologies by 733.8% during the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 9,297 shares of the companys stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 8,182 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Arlo Technologies by 82.8% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 9,704 shares of the companys stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 4,395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank acquired a new position in Arlo Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth $77,000. 72.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Arlo Technologies, Inc engages in the provision and development of cloud infrastructure and mobile app for smart connected devices. It offers wire-free smart Wi-Fi and LTE-enabled cameras, advanced baby monitors, smart security lights, and audio doorbell. It operates through the following geographical segments: United States, Spain, Ireland, and Other Countries.

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ASUSTeK Computer Inc. (OTCMKTS:ASUUY  Get Rating) passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $49.08 and traded as low as $45.00. ASUSTeK Computer shares last traded at $45.00, with a volume of 256 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of ASUSTeK Computer from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, May 2nd.

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ASUSTeK Computer Price Performance

The stocks fifty day moving average price is $44.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.03.

ASUSTeK Computer Company Profile

ASUSTeK Computer Inc researches and develops, designs, manufactures, sells, and repairs computers, communications, and consumer electronic products in Taiwan, China, Singapore, Europe, the United States, and internationally. The company offers Internet information services; maintenance and operating services for information hardware; services information technology and communication products; and leases real estate property.

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Box, Inc. (NYSE:BOX  Get Rating) CFO Dylan C. Smith sold 13,000 shares of BOX stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.29, for a total transaction of $354,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,520,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,505,361. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

BOX Stock Performance

BOX opened at $26.51 on Friday. Box, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.31 and a 52-week high of $34.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of 530.20, a PEG ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 1.01. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $26.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.09.

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BOX (NYSE:BOX  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 1st. The software maker reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.04. BOX had a net margin of 2.70% and a negative return on equity of 2.53%. The firm had revenue of $256.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $256.29 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Box, Inc. will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Institutional Trading of BOX

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BOX shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of BOX from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 25th. Credit Suisse Group restated an outperform rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of BOX in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. KeyCorp boosted their price target on BOX from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on BOX from $39.00 to $37.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. Finally, JMP Securities restated a market outperform rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of BOX in a report on Thursday, March 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BOX has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $34.20.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in BOX by 36.7% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,319,000 shares of the software makers stock valued at $35,336,000 after buying an additional 354,300 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP bought a new position in shares of BOX in the first quarter valued at about $230,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in shares of BOX in the first quarter valued at about $26,085,000. Renaissance Group LLC raised its position in shares of BOX by 8.1% in the first quarter. Renaissance Group LLC now owns 65,921 shares of the software makers stock valued at $1,766,000 after purchasing an additional 4,965 shares during the period. Finally, RGM Capital LLC raised its position in shares of BOX by 27.9% in the first quarter. RGM Capital LLC now owns 4,998,881 shares of the software makers stock valued at $133,920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,090,814 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.67% of the companys stock.

BOX Company Profile

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Box, Inc engages in the provision of an enterprise content platform that enables organizations to securely manage enterprise content while allowing easy, secure access and sharing of this content from anywhere, on any device. Its products include cloud content management, IT and admin controls, Box Governance, Box Zones, Box Relay, Box Shuttle, and Box KeySafe.

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Coca-Cola HBC AG (LON:CCH  Get Rating) has been assigned an average recommendation of Moderate Buy from the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is GBX 2,452.50 ($30.95).

CCH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a buy rating and issued a GBX 2,800 ($35.33) target price on shares of Coca-Cola HBC in a report on Wednesday, March 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Coca-Cola HBC from GBX 2,580 ($32.56) to GBX 2,545 ($32.11) and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 4th. Barclays restated an overweight rating and set a GBX 2,700 ($34.07) price objective on shares of Coca-Cola HBC in a report on Tuesday, April 4th. Citigroup restated a neutral rating and set a GBX 2,270 ($28.64) price objective on shares of Coca-Cola HBC in a report on Tuesday, April 4th. Finally, Numis Securities restated an add rating and set a GBX 2,200 ($27.76) price objective on shares of Coca-Cola HBC in a report on Tuesday, February 14th.

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Insider Transactions at Coca-Cola HBC

In other Coca-Cola HBC news, insider Zoran Bogdanovic bought 206 shares of Coca-Cola HBC stock in a transaction on Friday, February 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of GBX 2,071 ($26.13) per share, with a total value of 4,266.26 ($5,383.29). In the last quarter, insiders bought 595 shares of company stock valued at $1,290,215 and sold 100,675 shares valued at $219,858,366. Corporate insiders own 46.86% of the companys stock.

Coca-Cola HBC Stock Performance

About Coca-Cola HBC

Shares of CCH stock opened at GBX 2,561 ($32.32) on Friday. The businesss 50-day moving average price is GBX 2,303.50 and its 200-day moving average price is GBX 2,094.92. Coca-Cola HBC has a 12 month low of GBX 1,660.50 ($20.95) and a 12 month high of GBX 2,581 ($32.57). The firm has a market capitalization of 9.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2,586.87, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 101.01.

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Coca-Cola HBC AG engages in the production, distribution, and sale of non-alcoholic ready-to-drink beverages worldwide. The company offers sparkling soft drinks, hydration drinks, juices, ready-to-drink tea, energy drinks, coffee, water, plant-based drinks, premium spirits and flavored alcoholic beverages, and snacks.

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East Africa Metals Inc. (CVE:EAM  Get Rating)s share price traded down 7.7% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as C$0.12 and last traded at C$0.12. 1,500 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 94% from the average session volume of 27,244 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.13.

East Africa Metals Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of C$23.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.83 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average of C$0.14 and a 200 day moving average of C$0.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.26.

About East Africa Metals

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East Africa Metals Inc, a mineral exploration company, focuses on the identification, acquisition, exploration, development, and sale of base and precious mineral resource properties in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the United Republic of Tanzania. The company primarily explores for gold, copper, silver, and zinc deposits.

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Clifford Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS  Get Rating) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 158,894 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 5,010 shares during the period. General Mills makes up 4.0% of Clifford Capital Partners LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Clifford Capital Partners LLCs holdings in General Mills were worth $13,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in General Mills by 0.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,625,506 shares of the companys stock worth $3,955,030,000 after purchasing an additional 360,830 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in General Mills by 0.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,852,150 shares of the companys stock worth $734,907,000 after purchasing an additional 75,902 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in General Mills by 4.3% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,173,166 shares of the companys stock worth $396,315,000 after purchasing an additional 211,645 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in General Mills by 3.1% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,431,688 shares of the companys stock worth $300,114,000 after purchasing an additional 131,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of General Mills by 42.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 3,547,188 shares of the companys stock valued at $297,432,000 after buying an additional 1,052,899 shares in the last quarter. 74.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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General Mills Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of GIS stock opened at $90.61 on Friday. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $85.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.22 billion, a PE ratio of 19.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.27. General Mills, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.94 and a fifty-two week high of $90.65.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

General Mills ( NYSE:GIS Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 23rd. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $5.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.97 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 24.51% and a net margin of 14.04%. General Millss revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on GIS shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on General Mills from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on General Mills from $84.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Friday, March 24th. StockNews.com raised General Mills from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on General Mills from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, March 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on General Mills from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $84.76.

Insider Activity at General Mills

In related news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 8,030 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.33, for a total value of $685,199.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 83,049 shares of the companys stock, valued at $7,086,571.17. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other General Mills news, insider Bethany C. Quam sold 21,734 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.86, for a total transaction of $1,866,081.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 47,560 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,083,501.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 8,030 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.33, for a total value of $685,199.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 83,049 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,086,571.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 48,281 shares of company stock valued at $4,207,997. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Mills Profile

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General Mills, Inc engages in the manufacture and marketing of branded consumer foods sold through retail stores. The firm operates through the following segments: North America Retail, Europe & Australia, Convenience Stores & Foodservice, Pet, and Asia & Latin America. The North America Retail segment includes grocery stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, natural food chains, drug, dollar and discount chains and e-commerce grocery providers.

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StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hudson Pacific Properties (NYSE:HPP  Get Rating) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on HPP. Citigroup cut their price target on Hudson Pacific Properties from $10.00 to $6.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Hudson Pacific Properties in a research note on Tuesday, March 21st. They issued a sell rating and a $5.50 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on 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. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Hudson Pacific Properties from $12.00 to $8.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Hudson Pacific Properties from $10.00 to $7.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $10.63.

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Hudson Pacific Properties Price Performance

NYSE HPP opened at $4.38 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a market cap of $617.10 million, a PE ratio of -11.23 and a beta of 1.09. Hudson Pacific Properties has a 52 week low of $4.30 and a 52 week high of $21.08. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $6.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.95.

Hudson Pacific Properties Announces Dividend

Hudson Pacific Properties ( NYSE:HPP Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 8th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $267.83 million. Research analysts predict that Hudson Pacific Properties will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 20th were issued 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 dividend yield of 22.83%. Hudson Pacific Propertiess dividend payout ratio is -256.40%.

Insider Activity at Hudson Pacific Properties

In related news, CIO Drew Gordon purchased 25,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $5.96 per share, with a total value of $149,000.00. Following the purchase, the executive now directly owns 116,958 shares of the companys stock, valued at $697,069.68. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CIO Drew Gordon purchased 25,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $5.96 per share, with a total value of $149,000.00. Following the purchase, the executive now directly owns 116,958 shares of the companys stock, valued at $697,069.68. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Arthur X. Suazo purchased 10,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $5.86 per share, for a total transaction of $58,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 three months, insiders have bought 38,975 shares of company stock valued at $232,523. Corporate insiders own 2.95% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hudson Pacific Properties

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HPP. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hudson Pacific Properties in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,976,000. Vert Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hudson Pacific Properties by 30.7% in the 1st quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 47,530 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $316,000 after buying an additional 11,170 shares during the last quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Hudson Pacific Properties by 111.6% in the 1st quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,528 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $156,000 after buying an additional 12,410 shares during the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its position in shares of Hudson Pacific Properties by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 358,765 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $2,384,000 after buying an additional 6,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in shares of Hudson Pacific Properties by 32.7% in the 1st quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 16,676 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 4,113 shares during the last quarter. 95.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Hudson Pacific Properties

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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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Somerville Kurt F decreased its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO  Get Rating) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,302 shares of the companys stock after selling 130 shares during the period. Somerville Kurt Fs holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S were worth $1,665,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVO. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 11,454,782 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,550,290,000 after purchasing an additional 524,276 shares during the period. Fayez Sarofim & Co grew its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 5,218,104 shares of the companys stock worth $519,878,000 after acquiring an additional 450,280 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 45.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,035,879 shares of the companys stock worth $559,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,571,747 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 33.0% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,815,936 shares of the companys stock worth $201,659,000 after acquiring an additional 450,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 1.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,814,576 shares of the companys stock worth $201,508,000 after buying an additional 21,370 shares during the period. 6.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Novo Nordisk A/S Stock Performance

Shares of Novo Nordisk A/S stock traded up $2.28 during trading on Friday, reaching $171.27. The companys stock had a trading volume of 1,092,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,429,670. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.86. The businesss fifty day moving average price is $158.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.82. The firm has a market cap of $387.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.48. Novo Nordisk A/S has a one year low of $95.02 and a one year high of $172.97.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

About Novo Nordisk A/S

Several brokerages have recently commented on NVO. StockNews.com began coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a strong-buy rating for the company. Credit Suisse Group raised Novo Nordisk A/S from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $383.33.

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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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Srinagar, May 13 (UNI) A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) was injured as the Army foiled an infiltration bid of militants near the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmirs Uri sector, officials said on Saturday.



They said the JCO received minor injuries during the exchange of fire in the Uri sector of Baramulla district.







Srinagar based defence spokesman Col Emron Musavi linked the latest infiltration bid as  yet another failed attempt by militants and abetted by Pakistan Army to "disrupt" the upcoming G20 meeting scheduled to be held in Srinagar later this month.







Col Musavi said an infiltration bid in the Uri sector was foiled by the Indian Army during early morning hours today.







A group of armed terrorists, while attempting to cross the Line of Control, were engaged in an exchange of fire with the alert troops resulting in a failed attempt to intrude into Kashmir Valley. A quadcopter flown by the Pakistan Army to aid the terrorists was also spotted across the Line of Control, and was fired at, causing it to withdraw, the spokesman said.







This desperate action by the terrorists, duly abetted by Pakistan Army, is yet another failed attempt to disrupt the G20 Summit and create disturbance in the Valley, he said.











Col Musavi said extensive search operations are underway in the densely forested area.



officials said.







Officials said the quadcopter issue definitely brings to fore the complicity between the terrorists and the Pak Army in providing due assistance during acts of infiltration.











Security apparatus across J&K is on a high alert ahead of the third G20 Tourism Working Group Meeting which will be held at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) on the banks of the Dal lake in Srinagar from May 22 to 24. There has been a spurt in gun battles in J&K in recent past















UNI MJR GNK
First Trust Advisors LP decreased its position in shares of Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD  Get Rating) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,017,156 shares of the oil and gas development companys stock after selling 106,684 shares during the quarter. Pioneer Natural Resources comprises about 0.5% of First Trust Advisors LPs investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.83% of Pioneer Natural Resources worth $460,635,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Pioneer Natural Resources by 2.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,283,043 shares of the oil and gas development companys stock worth $4,175,358,000 after acquiring an additional 511,005 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Pioneer Natural Resources by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,078,403 shares of the oil and gas development companys stock worth $1,532,686,000 after buying an additional 589,073 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Pioneer Natural Resources by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,568,917 shares of the oil and gas development companys stock worth $642,307,000 after buying an additional 51,444 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Pioneer Natural Resources by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,666,956 shares of the oil and gas development companys stock worth $360,947,000 after buying an additional 38,928 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Pioneer Natural Resources by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,574,072 shares of the oil and gas development companys stock worth $340,848,000 after buying an additional 116,054 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.75% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on PXD. Roth Capital reaffirmed a buy rating on shares of Pioneer Natural Resources in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Pioneer Natural Resources from $283.00 to $241.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 28th. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. raised Pioneer Natural Resources from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Monday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Pioneer Natural Resources from $286.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Pioneer Natural Resources from $229.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $259.45.

Pioneer Natural Resources Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:PXD traded down $2.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $204.78. The company had a trading volume of 1,626,739 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,489,133. Pioneer Natural Resources has a fifty-two week low of $177.26 and a fifty-two week high of $288.46. The businesss fifty day moving average is $208.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $224.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $47.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.42.

Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 26th. The oil and gas development company reported $5.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $4.90 by $0.31. Pioneer Natural Resources had a return on equity of 30.71% and a net margin of 31.15%. The company had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.74 earnings per share. Pioneer Natural Resourcess revenue was down 26.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Pioneer Natural Resources will post 21.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Pioneer Natural Resources Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, June 1st will be given a $3.34 dividend. This represents a $13.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.52%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 31st. Pioneer Natural Resourcess dividend payout ratio is presently 17.72%.

Pioneer Natural Resources Profile

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Pioneer Natural Resources Co operates as an independent oil and gas exploration and production company. The firm engages in hydrocarbon exploration in the Cline Shale. It focuses on the operation of the Permian Basin, Eagle Ford Shale, Rockies, and West Panhandle projects. The company was founded by Scott Douglas Sheffield on April 2, 1997, and is headquartered in Irving, TX.

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Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (NYSE:BAM  Get Rating) (TSE:BAM.A) by 73.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,455,054 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 34,236,154 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 3.02% of Brookfield Asset Management worth $357,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fortis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 2.8% during the third quarter. Fortis Advisors LLC now owns 8,250 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in Brookfield Asset Management by 0.5% in the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 55,610 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,274,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 1.0% during the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 26,295 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 3.2% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,307 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $340,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in shares of Brookfield Asset Management by 5.1% in the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 5,412 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the period.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Brookfield Asset Management

In other news, Director Multi-Strategy Mast Brookfield sold 24,744 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.96, for a total transaction of $295,938.24. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,104,923 shares of the companys stock, valued at $252,414,879.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.00% of the companys stock.

Brookfield Asset Management Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of BAM stock opened at $31.55 on Friday. Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. has a 52 week low of $26.76 and a 52 week high of $36.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $32.20 and a 200-day moving average of $34.64. The company has a market cap of $13.01 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72.

Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM  Get Rating) (TSE:BAM.A) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.30 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $958.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.81 billion. Analysts anticipate that Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Brookfield Asset Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 31st will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 30th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. Brookfield Asset Managements payout ratio is currently 80.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BAM shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Brookfield Asset Management in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Brookfield Asset Management to an underperform rating in a report on Tuesday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Brookfield Asset Management from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Brookfield Asset Management in a research report on Tuesday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $43.57.

Brookfield Asset Management Profile

(Get Rating)

Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. provides alternative asset management services. Its renewable power and transition business includes the ownership, operation, and development of hydroelectric, wind, solar, and energy transition power generating assets. The company's infrastructure business engages in the ownership, operation, and development of utilities, transport, midstream, data and sustainable resource assets.

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Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP  Get Rating) by 29.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 393,752 shares of the utilities providers stock after acquiring an additional 90,173 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.06% of CenterPoint Energy worth $11,811,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 137.5% in the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 950 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 176.7% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 891 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the period. Affiance Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH bought a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.28% of the companys stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other CenterPoint Energy news, Director Ted Pound sold 2,770 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.50, for a total transaction of $84,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 46,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,419,500.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Barry T. Smitherman sold 5,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.51, for a total value of $152,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,998.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ted Pound sold 2,770 shares of CenterPoint Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.50, for a total value of $84,485.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 46,541 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,419,500.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Performance

CNP stock opened at $30.05 on Friday. The businesss fifty day moving average is $29.63 and its 200-day moving average is $29.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The company has a market cap of $18.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.88. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.03 and a twelve month high of $33.50.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.97% and a net margin of 8.99%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 17th. CenterPoint Energys payout ratio is presently 60.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CNP shares. StockNews.com upgraded CenterPoint Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, April 20th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $33.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research report on Monday, March 6th. Guggenheim lowered CenterPoint Energy from a buy rating to a neutral rating and increased their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CenterPoint Energy has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $32.75.

About CenterPoint Energy

(Get Rating)

CenterPoint Energy, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the business of power generation and distribution. It operates through the following segments: CenterPoint Energy, Houston Electric, and CERC. The CenterPoint Energy segment consists of electric transmission and distribution services in the Texas gulf coast area in the ERCOT region and electric transmission and distribution services primarily to southwestern Indiana and includes power generation and wholesale power operations in the MISO region.

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Teranga Gold Co. (OTCMKTS:TGCDF  Get Rating)s share price traded up 0.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $9.90 and last traded at $9.75. 17,000 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 26% from the average session volume of 22,890 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.70.

Teranga Gold Trading Up 0.5 %

The firms 50-day moving average price is $9.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.75.

Teranga Gold Company Profile

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Teranga Gold Corporation engages in the exploration, development, production, and sale of gold in West Africa. The company's flagship project is the Sabodala gold mine covering an area of 291 square kilometers mine license and 629 square kilometers exploration land package located in the Republic of Senegal.

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Aviva PLC boosted its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY  Get Rating) by 11.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 164,779 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 16,710 shares during the period. Aviva PLC owned 0.08% of Hershey worth $38,158,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Hershey by 2,693.0% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,094,755 shares of the companys stock worth $237,156,000 after buying an additional 1,055,559 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Hershey by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 14,486,327 shares of the companys stock worth $3,193,800,000 after acquiring an additional 473,552 shares during the period. Axiom Investors LLC DE lifted its position in Hershey by 185.9% during the 3rd quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 621,923 shares of the companys stock worth $137,115,000 after acquiring an additional 404,423 shares during the period. Eaton Vance Management lifted its position in Hershey by 136.7% during the 1st quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 567,949 shares of the companys stock worth $123,034,000 after acquiring an additional 327,965 shares during the period. Finally, Scout Investments Inc. lifted its position in Hershey by 468.2% during the 4th quarter. Scout Investments Inc. now owns 344,271 shares of the companys stock worth $79,723,000 after acquiring an additional 283,676 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.17% of the companys stock.

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Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other news, CEO Michele Buck sold 14,251 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.95, for a total transaction of $3,433,778.45. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 153,443 shares in the company, valued at $36,972,090.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Charles R. Raup sold 1,512 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Monday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.83, for a total value of $376,230.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,900 shares in the company, valued at $4,702,887. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michele Buck sold 14,251 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.95, for a total value of $3,433,778.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 153,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,972,090.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,265 shares of company stock worth $13,376,871 over the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Hershey Stock Performance

HSY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Hershey from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, April 28th. Credit Suisse Group increased their target price on Hershey from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. 92 Resources reissued a maintains rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Hershey from $246.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Hershey from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Sunday, March 26th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $265.06.

Hershey stock opened at $274.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $257.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $240.38. The company has a market capitalization of $56.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.32, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.31. The Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $201.42 and a fifty-two week high of $276.88.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The company reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.29. Hershey had a return on equity of 57.99% and a net margin of 15.81%. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.53 earnings per share. Hersheys revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.036 per share. This represents a $4.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 18th. Hersheys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.24%.

Hershey Profile

(Get Rating)

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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Triasima Portfolio Management inc. increased its stake in shares of Valero Energy Co. (NYSE:VLO  Get Rating) by 2,523.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,230 shares of the oil and gas companys stock after acquiring an additional 2,145 shares during the quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc.s holdings in Valero Energy were worth $282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP bought a new position in shares of Valero Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 2,470.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 257 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 150.0% during the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 250 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Cambridge Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Valero Energy by 123.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 335 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. 79.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on VLO shares. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $169.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a report on Monday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Valero Energy from $135.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Friday, April 28th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Valero Energy from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $160.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. Tudor Pickering lowered shares of Valero Energy from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, April 17th. Finally, Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. downgraded shares of Valero Energy from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $153.71.

Valero Energy Trading Down 0.1 %

VLO stock opened at $110.52 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $125.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $129.44. Valero Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $96.93 and a fifty-two week high of $150.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.52. The firm has a market cap of $39.96 billion, a PE ratio of 3.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.66.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO  Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The oil and gas company reported $8.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $7.24 by $1.03. The firm had revenue of $36.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.88 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 7.86% and a return on equity of 55.32%. Valero Energys revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Valero Energy Co. will post 23.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 22nd. Valero Energys payout ratio is 11.59%.

Valero Energy Profile

(Get Rating)

Valero Energy Corp. engages in the manufacture and marketing of transportation fuels and other petrochemical products. It operates through the following business segments: Refining, Ethanol and Renewable Diesel. The Refining segment consists of refining operations, associated marketing activities, and logistics assets that support its refining operations.

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Japan-US-SKorea summit to be held on sidelines of G7 summit: 15 May 2023 | 1:00 PM Tokyo, May 15 (UNI) Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is planning to hold a trilateral meeting on security issues with US President Joe Biden and South Korean leader Yoon Suk-yeol on the sidelines of the G7 summit scheduled to take place in Hiroshima from May 19-21, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Monday. see more..

Cyclone Mocha leaves 5 dead in Myanmar 15 May 2023 | 12:55 PM Naypyidaw, May 15 (UNI) Five people died, and several were injured in Myanmar as a result of Cyclone Mocha, the Myanmar emergency services inform. see more..

Alliance led by Erdogan's party wins majority in Turkish parliament 15 May 2023 | 12:52 PM Istanbul, May 15 (UNI) The People's Alliance of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has secured the majority of seats in the parliament, the state-run TRT Haber broadcaster reported on Monday, citing preliminary results as all ballots in Turkey processed. see more..

Ukraine fired 3 storm shadow, 15 HIMARS missiles at LPR in past week 15 May 2023 | 12:49 PM Luhank, May 15 (UNI) Ukrainian troops have fired three Storm Shadow and 15 HIMARS missiles at the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) over the past week, the LPR representative office in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of issues related to Ukraine's war crimes (JCCC) said on Monday. see more..
Congress leaders and workers celebrate the party's win in Karnataka assembly election. (PTI)

Mangaluru: The unity mantra of the Congress along with the strong anti-incumbency and failure of BJP leaders in the state seems to have overthrown BJP and reinstated the Congress in the power in Karnataka after a gap of five years.

This is one of the major defeats of the BJP in recent years. Though the BJP was reduced to 40 seats in the 2013 election, it happened in the backdrop of the Lingayat leader BS Yediyurappa quitting the BJP to form his KJP and Sriramulu left to form his BSRC. In 2013, the BJP did not have a powerful Modi government in the Centre to draw support.

This time, however, the BJP suffered one of its miserable defeats in spite of sustained campaign by the popular Prime Minister Narendra Modi government and the presence of Yediyurappa and Sriramulu in the party.

Though there are various factors for the defeat, the strong ones seem to be the strong anti-incumbency, the failure of the BJP leadership in the state and the unity mantra of the Congress.

Unity:

The competition between KPCC chief DK Shivakumar and former CM Siddaramaiah to get into the CM chair was always seen as a major drawback of the Congress. It was thought that this would lead to a divide in the party. However, the Central leadership led by Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge succeeded in patching up this gap, especially in the last few months after the election was declared.

In every event he attended Rahul ensured that the unity of the party was displayed. Both Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah were seen campaigning together even in district-level yatras. Though these leaders expressed their wish to become CM when the media questioned them, there were no serious statements or plots against each other within the party. This is said to have helped the Congress a lot.

Candidate selection:

Though candidate selection had some trouble in a few constituencies, by and large, it went on smoothly. The first two lists had hardly any problem clearly indicating that the Congress was united in these segments. Even Congress leaders knew that infighting would cost them dearly and help the BJP. Thus, in the last few months, the Congress displayed unity not only at the state level but also in districts.

Guarantee Card:

The Guarantee Card too seems to have helped the party. The five promises of the party -- Griha Lakshmi, Griha Jyoti, Anna Bhagya, Yuva Nidhi, and free travel for women in government buses -- have helped the party, especially in the rural areas as it would ease the financial burden of the people to a great extent. However, the challenge before the Congress is on its implementation of these promises as it has to chalk out a proper plan to ensure they reach the people.

Anti-Incumbency:

The BJP faced one of the worst ever anti-incumbency in recent years. While BJP leaders failed to reach out to the people, the 40 percent commission allegation was one of the serious allegations against the BJP hurled by the Congress. The issue was frequently repeated in every campaign by all the leaders, especially Rahul Gandhi. This had a great impact on the people who had voted to power BJP thinking it to be a party with a clean image.

"Many leaders who were part of the government failed to understand the pulse of the people. Though there were many schemes, most of them were from the Centre. State BJP leaders were more dependent on Modi and the central government as they felt it would help them in image building. They frequently spoke about the central schemes and the central aid. Also, the large gap between the people and the leaders alienated the people," a leader said.

Instead of boosting their program, the state leaders continued to chant the double engine mantra. While they were hopeful of the state engine getting a boost from the Delhi Engine, many people felt that the state engine was in reality being dragged by the Central engine.

The state leaders hoped that the Modi magic would help the party in this election but failed. While many people still believe Modi is the best leader in the Centre, they seem to be unhappy with the weak leadership in the state and thus did not support the BJP.

After Yediyurappas exit from electoral politics, the BJP also failed to have a face as its state leader. While Bommai continued as the CM, the state BJP president and Chief Minister failed to reach out to the people.

Lingayats and quota

Interestingly the Lingayat voters too have supported the Congress in many places. Though the BJP made Yediyurappa and Bommai Chief Ministers and increased their reservation, the party failed to encash it.

While the Congress had to face the allegation of dividing the Lingayat community during the Siddaramaiah government, the Congress succeeded in wooing them back in many places. The Congress has succeeded in making a comeback in Kalyana Karnataka and Kittur Karnataka. The increase in SC/ST and internal reservation too seems to have failed in helping the BJP.

Ban on Bajrang Dal:

While the assurance to Ban on Bajrang Dal was seen as a major problem for Congress, the Congress has succeeded in achieving its aim.

"Many felt that this move would be seen as an anti-Hindu move and the party would suffer in several constituencies. The ban issue was a strategically thoughtout plan of the Congress. The main aim of the Congress was the Muslim votes that would otherwise go to the JD(S). The assurance is said to have helped in uniting the Muslims in support of the Congress in those constituencies where Muslims play a crucial role in the election," a leader said.

Rahul, Priyanka, and Kharge:

For Rahul, Priyanka Gandhi, and Mallikarjun Kharge, this election was crucial. This succeeded to a great extent to display their leadership. This election was a major challenge for Kharge as it was in his home state. For Rahul this was an important election to bring back the Congress in South India. The leaders planned a proper strategy and also placed proper persons in the proper place. Every campaign was properly planned and enforced.
United Nations, May 13 (UNI) A former executive for ByteDance, the parent company of the popular social media application TikTok, claims the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had access to all company data, including information stored in the United States, The New York Times reports, citing the ex-employee's lawsuit.



Yintao Yu, the head of engineering for ByteDance's US operations from August 2017 to November 2018, made the allegations as part of a wrongful dismissal suit filed on Friday in San Francisco Superior Court, the report said. The complaint alleges the CCP had a special unit of its members at ByteDance's offices in Beijing, referred to as the "Committee" that "guided how the company's advanced core Communist values" and had the controls to shut down the Chinese apps.



"The Committee maintains supreme access to all the company data, even data stored in the United States," the filing read, as quoted by the newspaper.



The ex-executive claims he was fired because he voiced concern over what he described as a "worldwide scheme" to steal and capitalize on content from rival social media companies, the newspaper said. Yu also alleges ByteDance "systematically created fabricated users" to boost engagement indicators.



The company reportedly said in a statement that it would "vigorously oppose what we believe are baseless claims and allegations in this complaint," noting that the plaintiff worked for them for less than a year and left office in 2018. The complaint seeks punitive damages, lost earnings and 220,000 shares of the company,



UNI/SPUTNIK AKS GNK
Farmers felicitate Chief Minister YS Jagan Jagan Mohan Reddy after receiving 'Dotted Lands' documents at Kavali in Sri Potti Sriramulu Nellore District on Friday. (Photo by arrangement)

ANANTAPUR: The decades-old Dotted Lands issue was settled on Friday as Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy lifted the ban of land worth Rs.20,000 crore.



Taking the land out of the prohibited list has come as a massive relief for 97,471 farmers across the state. The CM made the announcement after he formally launched the patta distribution programme at Kavali in Nellore district.

The CM launched the programme of de-notifying the Dotted Lands from the prohibited list. This would benefit 97, 471 farmer families across the state.

Addressing a public meeting at Kavali, the CM said the government would provide full rights to farmers owning 2, 06, 171 acres of dotted lands worth ` 20,000 crore. Farmers would now be able to sell and pledge these lands for their financial needs besides enjoying the other normal rights as landowners.

"The decision would permanently remove the dotted lands from the prohibited list of lands and restore full rights to farmers owing them," Jagan Redy announced.



He recalled that these farmers suffered a lot as they were not able to sell or pledge these lands during the TDP rule, which included them in Section 22 A (1)(e) in 2016.



"The YSRC governments initiative has permanently ended the dotted lands problems created during the British era wherein the then government put dots in the Pattadar column to end the confusion on their status as either government or private lands," he said.

The CM said his government has been implementing several programmes for the welfare of farmers. "It has distributed 3 lakh acres as RoFR pattas to 1. 28 lakh tribal families by allotting two acres each, besides removing 35,000 of conditional patta lands from the list of prohibited lands thereby benefiting 22,000 farmerfamilies and distributing 31 lakh house site pattas to women."



Permanently ending the land litigations across the state, the government has also taken up resurvey of lands after 100 years, by implementing the YSR Jagananna Saswatha Bhu Hakku and Bhu Raksha, the CM said, adding that the government has provided 7, 92, 238 permanent title deeds to farmers in 2000 villages in the first phase.



The second phase of the programme will be taken up from next month.

Jagan Reddy said the government has been investing huge amounts on education with a view to developing human resources and this would help the state become the torchbearer for the entire country. "In the next 15 years, all the youths including those becoming vehicle drivers would be able to speak fluently in English," he said.

"The pro-farmer government has been bringing in revolutionary changes in the agricultural sector also by introducing RBKs to help the farmers at every stage from sowing seeds to selling their agricultural produce for profitable prices, besides giving them input subsidies, supplying them free electricity, and providing them MSP for even non-MSP agricultural produce. The RBKs are purchasing even the soaked and colored paddy from the farmers," he observed.

Meanwhile , the Chief minister sanctioned Rs. 35 crore for transforming the Kavali Tank into a balancing reservoir, Rs.20 crore for building the Sangam Barrage and Kavali link canal, Rs.5 crore for widening the Kavali Trunk Road, and Rs.80 crore for providing infrastructure to Indiramma Colony 16th ward on par with Jagananna colony.
Published on: May 13, 2023 | Updated on: May 13, 2023

Early trends of Uttar Pradesh bye-elections showed Samajwadi Party and Apna Dal leading on one seat each in the counting of votes that began on Saturday AFP

Lucknow: Early trends of Uttar Pradesh bye-elections showed Samajwadi Party and Apna Dal leading on one seat each in the counting of votes that began on Saturday, according to Election Commission's latest data.

The assembly bye-elections were held in Suar and Chhanbey assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh.

As per the ECI's latest trend at 10.00 am, Samajwadi Party is leading in the Suar constituency and Apana Dal is leading in Chhanbey.

As per the officials, counting for the votes will start at 8.00 am and all the necessary arrangements were made for the same.

The ruling coalition partner Apna Dal (Sonelal) is contesting both seats.

Suar assembly seat in Rampur district was declared vacant on February 13 after a Moradabad court sentenced Abdullah Azam Khan, the son of senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, to two years in jail in a 15-year-old case.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge (PTI)

Bengaluru: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge termed the party's impressive performance in the Karnataka election as the victory of "Janata Janardhan". The Congress leader added that once the party High Command sends observers, other processes will follow. He confirmed that all newly-elected MLAs have been asked to come to Bengaluru in the evening.
Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao. (Photo: Twitter)

HYDERABAD: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Saturday said the state government would celebrate the Telangana Formation Day for 21 days, starting June 2, to celebrate a decade of statehood. A day would be set aside for those who gave up their lives for statehood.

"The celebrations must be held from the village level to the state capital for 21 days by organising programmes and events highlighting Telangana culture and traditions, on the occasion of completing a decade (of Telangana). On June 2, a grand celebration will kick off at the Secretariat and similar celebrations will take place in every district headquarters in the presence of respective ministers," the Chief Minister told a review meeting with senior officials of all departments at the Secretariat.

He said a Martyrs Day would be observed during the three week of celebrations, to recall those who sacrificed their lives for Telangana. People will pay tribute to the heroes of statehood in all villages and decorate shrines dedicated to them by lighting lamps.

Also on the agenda is the creation of a documentary on Telangana, before and after the formation of the state, which will be telecast in all villages. The CM was speaking at a review meeting with senior officials of all departments at the Secretariat.

Similarly, separate days have been allocated for power, water, welfare, agriculture, rural and urban development, revenue and womens day during the celebrations.

Rao hailed those who sacrificed their lives for a separate Telangana said that since the state was formed the government had topped the country for welfare schemes.

"Telangana has become a role model for other states in terms of development. We have brought a lot of changes by introducing policies which made the state the best. The Centre and other states have failed to concentrate on the agriculture sector, but Telangana gives top priority to farmers and agriculture," the Chief Minister said.
Telangana BJP president and MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar (Twitter)

HYDERABAD: BJP Telangana chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Saturday dismissed the prospect of the partys loss in Karnataka polls impacting its chances in the Telangana elections, attributing the Congress win to "JD(S), AIMIM and NDPI ensuring voters of a particular section were cast for the Congress."

Rejecting claims by Congress leaders that Telangana will see a repeat of Karnataka results, Sanjay said: "When elections are held in Telangana, it is certain that Congress, BRS, AIMIM and the communist parties will get together. In Karnataka, it was the Congress that started communalising the campaign, claiming it will implement four per cent reservation for minorities, that it will lift the ban on Popular Front of India, and ban Bajrang Dal. Today, after the results, some people are trying to spread misinformation about the BJP and belittle it."

Addressing reporters in Karimnagar, a day ahead of his annual Hindu Ekta Yatra, Sanjay said that although the BJP lost some seats in Karnataka, its vote share remained stable, at 36 per cent. Instead, the Congress vote share rose from 38 per cent in the last elections to 43 per cent this time around, while the JD(S) share fell from 20 per cent to 13 per cent.

He said that the Telangana people "understand the minority appeasement policies of the Congress" and the same would not work in the state. He said that the takeaway from the Karnataka elections is for Hindus to stay united to defeat such parties.

Sanjay said that the BJPs vote share has been steadily rising in Telangana, citing its win of 48 seats in GHMC polls compared to 4 seats in the election before that. He also cited the partys wins in Dubbak and Huzurabad, where Congress lost its security deposits.

"It is the BJP that has emerged as the sole alternative political force in Telangana to the BRS. And when elections are held, the BJP will win," he said.

Asked if the loss in Karnataka was a blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sanjay said, "It is the responsibility of senior leaders to campaign for their party candidates. That is what Modi did. On the other hand, during the GHMC Council elections, KTR did not even campaign for his party candidates."
The BRS, according to sources, had supported the JD(S) in the elections and had planned to help the party safeguard its legislators in the event of a hung Assembly. (File photo: Twitter/@MinisterKTR)

Hyderabad: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi is not perturbed by the outcome of the results in the Karnataka elections, partys working president and minister K.T. Rama Rao indicated. Both major players in Karnataka are direct rivals of the BRS in Telangana.

Posting on Twitter on Saturday after the BJP lost its southern bastion of Karnataka and the Congress registered an emphatic victory, Rama Rao said: "Just the way The Kerala Story failed to amuse people of Karnataka, similarly Karnataka election results will have NO bearing on Telangana. Thanks to the people of Karnataka for rejecting ugly and divisive politics (sic)."

Rama Rao also said: "Let Hyderabad and Bengaluru compete healthily for investments and creating infrastructure for the greater good of India. My best wishes to the new Congress Govt in Karnataka."

The BRS, according to sources, had supported the JD(S) in the elections and had planned to help the party safeguard its legislators in the event of a hung Assembly.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge with senior party leaders Randeep Singh Surjewala, Siddaramaiah, D.K. Shivakumar and K.C. Venugopal during celebrations after the party's win in Karnataka Assembly elections, in Bengaluru, Saturday, May 13, 2023. (Photo: PTI)

NEW DELHI: The BJPs unsparing efforts to retain its foothold in South India came to a crashing halt on Saturday, as the Congress virtually decimated the saffron forces in a hard-fought battle in Karnataka. Of the 224 Assembly berths, the Congress finally won in 137 constituencies while the BJP got only 65 seats, around 40 seats less than in the previous election. The JD(S) plan to be the joker in the pack completely failed, and the party could not touch even 20 seats.

It won only 19. The saffron partys Hindutva bouquet featuring the issues of hijab, halal and Tipu Sultan were decisively rejected, with voters focusing on issues ranging from corruption to infrastructure. Top Congress leaders will reach Karnataka on Sunday to decide who should be the new chief minister. Two Congress heavyweights are the leading contenders for the CMs post PCC chief D.K. Shivakumar and former chief minister Siddaramaiah.

The Congress' stupendous victory after promising to ban the Bajrang Dal and risking a consolidation of Hindu votes in the BJP's favour was seen as a major signal against the politics of polarisation. Trinamul Congress MP Mahua Moitra tweeted: "Thank you Karnataka. For choosing LPG over Bajrangbali ji." The call to ban the Bajrang Dal is believed to have prevented the split of Muslim votes between the JD(S) and the Congress. Sources revealed an overwhelming majority of the 13 per cent Muslim population in the state consolidated in favour of the Congress. With Karnataka slipping out of the BJPs hands, the saffron party now finds itself completely ousted from the southern India. The Karnataka polls saw a record turnout of 73.19 per cent.

The saffron rout was so severe that over 62 of the 72 new faces put up by the BJP, and nearly 10 state ministers, bit the dust. Even the mighty saffron charge led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a host of top BJP ministers and chief ministers failed to counter the prevailing anti-incumbency factor. With its 137 seats, the Congress got 57 seats more than it did in 2018, while the BJP lost nearly 40 Assembly berths.

This is a major electoral victory for the Congress after 2018, when it had won Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. Also, Karnataka is the second state after Himachal to fall into the Congress kitty in the last six months.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the Congress for its win in the Karnataka Assembly polls and wished the party all the best in its endeavour to fulfil the peoples aspirations. He also tweeted: "I thank all those who have supported us in the Karnataka elections. I appreciate the hard work of BJP karyakartas. We shall serve Karnataka with even more vigour in the times to come."

Speaking after the Karnataka victory, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said: "I am happy we contested the Karnataka polls without using hate, bad language. We fought the polls with love."

This particular election also saw the entire Gandhi clan -- Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Sonia Gandhi -- campaigning aggressively. The Congress victory may not only revive the party but also gave a fillip to the Opposition with several leaders, including from the JD(U), CPM, TMC and PDP, hailing it.

After its electoral humiliation, the knives are out within the BJP. Some angry local BJP leaders blamed one of the national general secretaries and accused him of "continuously undermining the state leadership". He was also blamed for removing the partys tallest Lingayat leader, B.S. Yediyurappa, and for "poor and biased ticket distribution". Some of these leaders rejoiced as the "protege" of this particular national general secretary, C.T. Ravi, lost from Chikmagalur constituency. The outgoing CM, Basavaraj Bommai, conceding defeat, said the party "will analyse the results".

Incidentally, the BJPs vote share also slipped from 36.22 in the last Assembly election to 35.7 per cent, according to Election Commission of India trends. The Congress vote share has gone up from 38.04 per cent to a possible 43 per cent. The worst-hit was the JD(S), as the partys vote share came down from 18.36 per cent to 13.3 per cent. This may possibly be the biggest vote share by any winning party in the last 34 years. In 1989, the Congress led by Veerendra Patil had secured 43.76 per cent of the vote share.

While the Karnataka results might not serve as an indicator to the 2024 general election, it could have an impact on the forthcoming Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, to be held by the end of the year. While the Congress is believed to be on a stronger wicket in Bhupesh Bhagel-led Chhattisgarh, the electoral battle in both Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan could be "close and intense", sources said.

Despite the BJPs all-out attempt to retain the state, the partys electoral arithmetic went completely haywire. The BJPs desperate attempts to consolidate the Lingayat vote bank did not pay off. The Congress made deep inroads into the Lingayat vote bank, a key support base of the BJP. The BJP also boasts of powerful Lingayat leaders like B.S. Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai, among others. Comprising 17 per cent of the states population, Lingayats dominate at least 78 constituencies.

For the state unit leaders, the BJP central leadership, particularly the "powerful general secretary", made the first blunder by going after Mr Yediyurappa and replacing him. This had upset a majority of Lingayats, a senior party functionary claimed. The state functionaries also noted that denying a ticket to Lingayat leader Jagadish Shettar also hurt the party. Even though Mr Shettar lost as a Congress candidate, the contention that a heavyweight Lingayat leader was "humiliated" by the BJP apparently "found traction".

The Congress also made forays in the Vokkaliga-dominated Old Mysuru region. Of 64 Assembly berths in the region, the Congress was leading in at least 35 seats. The Congress performance in both the Lingayat and Vokkaliga-dominated belts stunned the BJP. With Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge camping in the state, there was a massive Dalit consolidation in favour of the party. As BJP fumbled, the Congress cut across caste and community. Except coastal Karnataka, where the BJP held its own, the Congress wiped away all opposition from Old Mysuru, Central Karnataka, Hyderabad Karnataka and Mumbai Karnataka. The Congress also made huge inroads into the BJPs urban vote bank. In a head-on-head contest 65 per cent of Congress candidates trounced the BJP.

The BJPs campaign, which was more national than local, focusing mainly on the "double-engine sarkar", the "Centres welfare schemes", and "muscular Hindutva" failed to cut ice with Karnataka voters. The BJPs "Bajrangbali" pitch found no takers. The Congress rainbow caste calculus also proved more than a match for the BJPs much flaunted "social engineering".
Some TD leaders appreciated Pawan Kalyan for clarifying that he won't be insisting on the position of chief minister without having at least 30 to 40 seats of their own. (Representational Image)

Vijayawada: With Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan having expressed his intent to have an unconditional electoral pact with Telugu Desam, a section of TD is willing to accept the proposal, though it is yet to be officially announced, as it would be a mutually beneficial alliance.

TD leaders say that as they are having a common political rival in the YSRC, they want to forge a strong force of all like-minded parties to contain the might of the ruling party. However, they foresee difficulties at the time of allotment of seats as TD may have to sacrifice some seats to Jana Sena and vice-versa. Reportedly, in the interest of the alliance, they may zero in on candidates with the best winning prospects.

State general secretary of TD Gorantla Butchaiah Choudhary said, "As our aim is to dethrone Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Reddy from power, we will join forces with other political parties. Moreover, sharing of segments with other parties may not be a major issue as we all are working with a common objective-unseating the YSRC government."

Meanwhile, some TD leaders appreciated Pawan Kalyan for clarifying that he won't be insisting on the position of chief minister without having at least 30 to 40 seats of their own.

TD state president K. Atchannaidu said, "Though Pawan Kalyan has come clear on his position with regard to our alliance, we are yet to discuss the issue. Since it is a major policy decision, N. Chandrababu Naidu will take the final call on the issue and we will go by it."

On the other hand, BJP state chief Somu Veerraju said that they had informed the party national leadership about Pawan Kalyans decision and the partys central leadership would take a final decision on the issue.

However, political analysts say that the Jana Sena chief had intentionally expressed his intent on Friday as the top BJP leadership was preoccupied with the assessment on poll results in Karnataka, just to test their response. So far, the BJP top leadership is tight-lipped on the issue even as the Karnataka election results went in favour of the Congress.
Congress supporters celebrate the party's victory in the Karnataka state legislative assembly election in front of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) office in Bengaluru on May 13, 2023. (Photo: PTI)

HYDERABAD: Celebrations have begun in Karnataka after Congress proved its might in the Assembly elections 2023. Now, the latest we hear is that the INC wants to keep its flock together. Sources say that it's the return of resort politics in Karnataka. Even as party cadre can't stop shouting from the rooftops about how Congress snatched the state from the BJP, the Congress High Command is dreading the worst (read horse-trading).

Speculation is rife that Congress is all set to counter BJP by whisking off all the MLAs to a luxury resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru, in a bid to thwart any poaching attempts by the BJP.

Congress has reportedly booked a resort to house its MLAs. The Congress party chief is said to have summoned all the winning candidates to the capital city. DK Shivakumar is said to be in touch with the rebel leaders to prevent any dissent.

Given the track record of Karnataka MLAs defecting to rival parties for monetary gains, the Congress is wary and being extra-cautious in protecting its MLAs. The Congress High Command is said to have held a video-conference with the candidates on the same.

Meanwhile, BJP is said to be in talks with the JD(S). It would be interesting to watch the outcome of this high-voltage powerplay.
Senior BJP leader in the Northeast and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma Saturday said that Congress' win in Karnataka assembly polls will in no way affect BJP from returning to power for the third successive term at the Centre in 2024.

There is nothing new in Congress' win in Karnataka as it had been in power in the southern state before the 2014 general election when BJP came to power under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said. Sarma, who had campaigned extensively in Karnataka before the election, said that he had realised that BJP will not perform well in the state but its performance will in no way affect the party from returning to power at the Centre for the third successive term.

Track Karnataka poll results coverage here

"The opposition is taking this win as a straw to hold on to in the ocean, but it will have no impact in the future," he said at the sidelines of a function at Bihaguri in Assam's Sonitpur district. Assam Pradesh Congress President Bhupen Borah expressing happiness at the Karnataka poll outcome said, "The people of Assam will also show the BJP the door in the next elections".

In a jibe at the BJP, he said, "The prime minister even after getting Gandhi removed from the Lok Sabha could not stop Congress from winning the polls in Karnataka". Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as member of the Lok Sabha in March 2023 after a court convicted and sentenced him to prison for two years on the charge of criminal defamation for comments he made about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surname.

Borah told reporters that the BJP has lost in all constituencies where Sarma had campaigned. On the other hand Congress has won in all the 22 constituencies where party leader Rahul Gandhi had addressed meetings during his 'Bharat Jodo' programme. Members of Assam Association in Bengaluru, whom Sarma had met during his campaign, had called him during the day and told him that they had voted for the Congress, he claimed. The Assam Congress president said that he will himself visit Karnataka soon and meet the Assamese community there. T

he Congress headquarters in Guwahati erupted in celebration as news of the party's win poured in and party workers burst crackers and distributed sweets. There was, however, a scuffle with the police and a group of Congress workers outside the party headquarters when they tried to break a barricade to celebrate on the streets. The situation was soon brought under control, a police official said. The Congress has crossed the 113-seat mark in the Assembly elections, the majority required to form the government, in Karnataka for which counting of votes took place on Saturday. Election to the 224-member Assembly took place on Wednesday.
Journalists from Maldives visit UoH

Hyderabad, May 12 (UNI): A delegation of journalists/editors from Maldives visited the University of Hyderabad (UoH) here on Friday.



The visit has been organised by the Ministry of External Affairs, and coordinated by the Department of Information & Public Relations, Government of Telangana.

This visit is aimed at familiarizing the foreign media with different aspects of India relating to field visits highlighting Indias successes in the areas of renewable energy, Industry, defence, governance, IT services, Education and Pharmaceuticals.



UoH Vice Chancellor Prof. B J Rao, extended a warm welcome and gave a brief account of the academic and research facilities available at the University. Later on, a presentation on Internationalization and courses for International Students was given by Prof. Chetan Srivastava, Director  Office for International Affairs.



Prof. Samrat Sabat, Director  Research and Development gave an overview of the Research and Development Strengths of the university which is one of the Ten Public Institutions conferred with the Institution of Eminence status in 2019.



The delegation also visited the facilities at the Association for Scientific Pursuits in Innovative Research Enterprises (ASPIRE) - Bioincubators Nurturing Entrepreneurship for Scaling Technologies (BioNEST) and ASPIRE-TBI in the School of Life Sciences.

UNI KNR
Pakistani authorities have released 198 Indian fishermen, who were languishing at a jail here after being arrested for allegedly fishing illegally in the countrys waters, and handed them over to India at the Wagah border.

The fishermen were released from the Malir Jail in Karachi on Thursday evening.

Malir Jail superintendent Nazir Tunio said that they had released the first batch of Indian fishermen prisoners and two more batches would be released in June and July.

Also Read: Imran Khan back at Lahore residence after securing bail in many cases

We released 198 prisoners on Thursday while 200 and 100 more would be released later on, he said.

Tunio said that 200 Indian fishermen were to be released on Thursday from Malir jail but two of them died due to illness.

The two deceased fishermen included one Muhammad Zulfiqar who passed away on May 6 and Soma Deva who died on May 9 after prolonged illnesses.

Their bodies have been kept in the Edhi Foundation mortuary till they could be flown out to India.

Soma and his nephew were among a dozen Indian fishermen who were arrested at sea some four and half years ago and they were lodged in the Malir jail.

Soma was twice sent to the hospital for treatment.

Tunio said Zulfiqar died after a massive heart attack.

Faisal Edhi of the Edhi Welfare Trust, which arranged the transportation of the fishermen from Karachi to Lahore via train where they were handed over to Indian authorities at the Wagah border, said some of the Indian fishermen also looked unwell.

We do our best to make the journey back home of these Indian fishermen comfortable and easy. After all, most of them have been in jail for the last 4 to five years," he said.

Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum General Secretary Saeed Baloch said that under the agreement reached between the two governments, a second batch of 200 Indian fishermen would be released on June 2 and another 100 on July 3.

Baloch said he had a lot of sympathies for the Indian fishermen as the majority of them were just out for a livelihood and did not even realise it when they crossed territorial waters between the two countries.

The sad part is that some of them even end up spending 7 to 8 years in jail before they get a chance to return home, he said.

Fishermen Cooperative Society, Sindh administrator Zahid Ibrahim Bhatti said that some 200 Pakistani fishermen were lodged in Indian jails and hopefully they, too, would come home soon after the release of Indian fishermen.

Pakistan and India regularly arrest rival fishermen for violating the maritime boundary, which is poorly marked at some points.
A teenaged migrant Honduran boy who crossed into the United States without his family has died in US custody, US and Honduran officials said Friday.

Honduran Foreign Minister Enrique Reina identified the boy as 17-year-old Eduardo Maradiaga Espinoza, and said that he died in a refugee shelter in Safety Harbor, Florida.

The US Department of Health and Human Services, whose Office of Refugee Resettlement oversees the care and housing of unaccompanied migrant children, confirmed a death but gave no details.

The department "is deeply saddened by this tragic loss and our heart goes out to the family, with whom we are in touch," it said in a statement.

HHS said an investigation was underway into the death.

Also Read | US-Mexico border calm as new asylum rules take effect

CNN reported that HHS had informed Congress in a letter that the teen had been placed in the shelter on May 5 and died on Wednesday shortly after being taken from the shelter to a local hospital.

The death came in a week that thousands of migrants made last-ditch attempts to enter the United States before a major change in immigration rules went into effect, including tough new measures for people crossing the border illegally.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the death "devastating news."

"Our hearts go out to the family members," she said, adding that there is an ongoing medical investigation into what happened.

Reina acknowledged that the teen was one of the more than 10,000 Hondurans who have tried to enter the United States each month over the past year.

"This terrible incident highlights the importance of working together on bilateral migration issues and the situation of unaccompanied minors, to find solutions," he wrote.
BJP had something to cheer after a severe drubbing in the Karnataka assembly elections as the saffron party swept the Uttar Pradesh urban local body polls winning the Mayoral seats of all the 17 municipal corporations besides 90 posts of municipality chairman and over 600 wards.

BJP's alliance partner Apna Dal (AD) also won the two assembly by-polls at Chanbey and Suar seats in the state defeating its nearest rivals from the Samajwadi Party (SP). The AD wrested the Suar seat from the SP while it retained the Chanbey seat in Mirzapur district.

Also Read | ULB polls: BJP wins Ayodhya mayor election

BJP candidates won the Mayors' seat in Lucknow, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Meerut, Saharanpur, Ayodhya, Kanpur, Bareilly, Moradabad, Agra, Aligarh, Firozabad, Gorakhpur, Ghaziabad, Jhansi, Mathura and Shahjahanpur. In the last urban local body polls the BJP had won 14 Mayoral seats. The BSP, which had won two Mayoral seats in the last polls, drew a blank this time.

SP nominees managed to win 34 municipal chairman seats followed by the BSP, which won 24 seats, according to the official sources here. The SP and BSP won 128 and 72 wards respectively in the municipal corporations. BJP won 201 Nagar Panchayat chairman seats while the SP won 88 seats. The BSP managed to win 21 seats of Nagar Panchayat chairman, according to sources.

The saffron party's victory with its alliance partner in the two assembly by-polls assumes political significance as one of the seats, Suar, which the BJP ally AD wrested from the SP, was considered to be a stronghold of firebrand SP leader Azam Khan and was part of the Rampur Lok Sabha seat. The AD had fielded a Muslim candidate from the seat while the SP had given the ticket to Anuradha Chauhan.

''It's a victory of our government's crackdown against the mafia elements and welfare measures for every section of the society without any discrimination,'' state BJP leader Shalabh Mani Tripathi said.

SP president Akhilesh Yadav alleged that the BJP had misused official machinery in the polls. ''At many places the SP supporters were not allowed to vote'' alleged a senior SP leader here.

The saffron party has spearheaded its campaign with the slogan of 'triple engine sarkar' (governments at the centre, state and local bodies) and touted the developmental works undertaken by the Yogi Adityanath government in the state along with the 'Hindutva'.
Sinn Fein Vice President Michelle ONeill presents a Seamus Heaney poem signed by Joe Biden to the pupils of Anahorish Primary School.

While attending the dinner at Dublin Castle during the US President's visit O'Neill noticed the poem, which shares its name with the school, was printed on the menu and acted quickly to get it signed for the school.

Heaney attended Anahorish and its name to one of his famous works. The school sits just outside Derry in Antrim but is attended by many County Derry children.

Mid Ulster Sinn Fein Councillors Donal McPeake and Cllr Ian Milne attended the presentation along with Michelle O'Neill on Friday morning, 12 May.

Anahorish PS Principal Danny Quinn said the fact that O'Neill thought of the school and acted so quickly to get the poem signed was brilliant.

It's fabulous that she was thinking about the school while she was at the dinner.. It just shows you the good nature of Michelle.

And in the frame there's a photo of her while she's explaining to Joe Biden why she's getting him to sign it  that she's going to take it to Anahourish.

If I was there Id have been thinking of getting one of these signed just for myself but she was thinking about who she could share it with and that it would be lovely for us to have.

However, he said some of the children voiced one gripe they had with the US president.

They knew him because of the visit. They had seen him on TV. They were talking about seeing him here and there and they talked about him saying 'Mayo for Sam' and this was a wee bit controversial because they think Derry's going to win it. So they were saying that to her as well and there was a bit of craic with that.

He said ONeill also took the time to meet the children at the school.

She went round all the classes. We have the first holy communion tomorrow so she was in with the choir while they were practising. She was excellent with the children. She chatted away with them, asked them questions and she was very relaxed and down to Earth.

And it couldn't have come on a better day. We had a red and white day in the school today for Derry in the Ulster Final on Sunday. So she was here in the middle of all the red and white.

Mid Ulster Councillor Donal McPeake explained how Michelle got the poem signed.

At the recent presidential visit of Joe Biden - at the gala dinner in Dublin - On the front cover of the menu was the poem Anahorish by Seamus Heaney.

Michelle O'Neill noticed this  Anahorish is in her constituency: Mid Ulster  and she asked President Biden if he would sign a copy to the kids of Anahorish, which he duly did.

As we all know Biden is a big fan of Seamus Heaney  he has often quoted Seamus Heaney  so he knew all about the area, he said.

They were delighted. They all knew who Michelle was and they asked if they knew who the President of the United States is and they all knew who Joe Biden was, he added.
Local community groups, Parenting NI, which has a project base in Derry, and Ashes to Gold, based in Coleraine are two of five community groups in Northern Ireland, who are calling on local people to help them secure up to 70,000 of National Lottery funding by voting for them in this years The Peoples Projects.

Back after a three-year break, The National Lottery Community Fund and UTV have teamed up to give the public a chance to decide how National Lottery funding should be put to good use in their local area.

All five groups will have the opportunity to showcase their work from 15-18 May on UTV as they go head-to-head in a public vote in this years The Peoples Projects to help them make an extraordinary difference to their community.

If successful, The Empathy Tent project, run by Parenting NI in Derry, will provide a safe, welcoming space for men to talk and access support from others who have had similar experiences. The Empathy Tent will travel around Northern Ireland visiting community events, high streets and public spaces for easy access and to improve awareness of poor mental health.

The project GROW by Ashes to Gold, which is based in Coleraine, will develop an outdoor kitchen and run courses to teach the community to grow and cook their own food, save money and minimise food waste. Mindfulness walks will be included in the sessions to help people engage with nature.

They will campaign for votes against the Carers Matter project by Brain Injury Matters in Belfast, the Social Bytes project by Crisis Cafe in Newry and The UP! Programme by Replay Theatre Company in Belfast.

The three projects with the most public votes will receive grants of up to 70,000. This funding will help make a real difference to peoples lives, particularly in these difficult times. The runners up will be offered up to 10,000 towards their project.

Paul Sweeney, The National Lottery Community Funds NI Chair, said: We are proud to deliver vital funding to the heart of communities across Northern Ireland, particularly in these challenging times.

Thanks to National Lottery players, The Peoples Projects is a fantastic initiative that showcases the incredible efforts of truly inspirational and hard-working groups, each delivering life-changing support to help their communities.

We encourage the public to vote and have their say in how much-needed funding is used in their local area to make a difference to peoples lives.

Voting opens at 9am on Monday 15 May and closes at noon on Friday 26 May.

People can vote only once per region and will need an email address or mobile number to vote*.

Visit www.thepeoplesprojects.org.uk to vote, read the terms and conditions and see a full list of projects involved.
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Elon Musk has been in the news lately for varied reasons, be it his startup SpaceX launching the first private station or his Tesla having a braking defect in over 1.1 million cars in China. However, as the second richest man in the world the one thing that seized most attention was his recent takeover of Twitter.

Elon Musk acquired Twitter last year in October for a smashing $44 billion and was prompt with changing the management taking over as the CEO of the social media platform. He suggested that he didnt want Twitter to become an echo chamber for hate and divide. And when he was to find someone foolish enough to take the job he would resign as the CEO.

Also read: WhatsApp responds to reduce spam calls menace in India: Heres how

Musk recently put out a tweet that read, "Excited to announce that I've hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in ~6 weeks!"

Excited to announce that Ive hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in ~6 weeks!



My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2023

And since this information has circulated like a wildfire, making everyone guess who could be the next CEO of Twitter and how would the platform move further with its mission with Musks intervention in decision making as he suggested that, My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops.



According to Jason Benowitz, senior portfolio manager at CI Roosevelt, Musks C-level female officers namely; SpaceXs President Gwynne Shotwell and Teslas Robyn Denholm could be potential Twitter CEOs. In addition, there have been talks about certain names around the organisation and in the market for the role. Comcast NBCUniversal executive Linda Yaccarino, Former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, and Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki who has also been an intricate part of Musks Neuralink startup.

Also read: Truecaller to offer spam protection for WhatsApp calls: Why does it matter?

Lets just go down the memory lane post Musks Twitter takeover. Twitter after Musk is a tech arc in itself. There have multiple changes that Musk brought about after acquiring the social media platform. When he first took over the platform he tweeted, Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app.

Musk aims at making the application an inclusive conversing point for everything from news, food and payment. However, in the last few months Musk has majorly emphasised on the appearance of the platform and has currently changed the verification process, eliminated the content moderation rules and tweaked up the algorithm for making posts visible.

Now we are left to see how Musk adds his opinions in the decision making for and are Tesla investors going to intervene in his overbearing interest in Twitter. What are your thoughts about Twitters trajectory, let us know at editor@digit.in.

For more technology news, product reviews, sci-tech features and updates, keep reading Digit.in or head to our Google News page.
New Delhi/Stockholm, May 13 (UNI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is visiting Sweden, on Saturday joined ministers from the EU and Indo-Pacific countries for a group picture with the King of Sweden. Pakistan Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar is also there in the picture.



In a tweet, the EAM, who is in Sweden to participate in the second EU-Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum (EIPMF) as well as hold bilateral meetings with Swedish ministers, said:



Joined EU and Indo-Pacific colleagues at a group picture with His Majesty, King of Sweden.



Earlier, on his arrival in Stockholm from Dhaka, where he attended the Sixth Indian Ocean Conference, he said:



From Dhaka to Stockholm, but still discussing the Indo-Pacific.



Arrived in Sweden for the EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial.



On May 4-5, Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was in Goa, India, to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Foreign Ministers Meeting. EAM had welcomed him to the meeting as India is the host country. The two ministers were in the same room at the time of the ministerial, held in Panaji, Goa.



Later, EAM had hit out strongly against the Pakistan FM after the latter addressed a press conference there and also gave interviews to select media raising the Kashmir bogey and attacking the Modi government.



In Stockholm, EAM and the junior Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Khar, who has been Foreign Minister of her country previously, will share the room during the EU-Indo-Pacific Ministerial Meeting.



EAMs visit to Sweden, from May 13-15, is his first visit as EAM and it comes at a time when India and Sweden are celebrating 75 years of establishment of diplomatic relations.



Sweden currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.



In Sweden, EAM will participate in the second EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum (EIPMF). He will hold bilateral meetings with Foreign Ministers of several countries on the margins of EIPMF.



During his stay, he will call on the leadership in Sweden and meet with key Ministers. He will also participate in the inaugural session of the India Trilateral Forum (India, Europe and US) with his Swedish counterpart.



UNI RN
The Citizens Assembly on Drugs Use has been told of the vicious cycle of addiction, criminalisation and trauma.

The Assembly is holding its second weekend of meetings in Dublin Castle this Saturday and Sunday, when members are focusing on the lived experience of drugs use and its impact on individuals, families, frontline workers and communities.

The 99 members and independent chairman, former HSE chief Paul Reid, were scheduled to hear from a range of speakers during a series of four-panel discussions on Saturday.

Mr Reid said he expected the weekends discussions to be the most innovative, creative, brave, and courageous Citizens Assembly meeting ever.

The Assembly was shown a series of testimonies of anonymous individuals that was produced by advocacy group UISCE.

It included references of trauma from dysfunctional homes and sexual assault as well as discrimination in the criminal justice system and society.

During the first panel on the lived experience of individuals, the Assembly was told about how trauma can lead to addiction.

Gillian ODonnell, who was born with a substance abuse disorder, began using heroin by age 11.

Both my parents were people that had used drugs, she said. I was born addicted to heroin.

She spoke about the impact of criminalisation of drug use, which she said resulted in her losing her home and access to her children.

I was traumatised being in emergency accommodation, I was traumatised after losing my children so, you know, obviously, the addiction escalated.

I tried different drugs that I probably wouldnt have, you know.

It took a hold of me.

She advocated for a health-led approach to responding to addiction.

The systems are designed to be negative towards people that use drugs.

Theres no compassion, theres no love, theres no care.

At the same panel, Karl Ducque said he had experienced traumas very young while growing up in inner-city Dublin.

He began misusing solvents at the age of 11 and progressed into other drugs in his early teenage years.

When you take ecstasy, for every up theres a down.

And when youre coming down, heroin was around. I started taking heroin at about 15-16 years of age.

Mr Ducque also spoke of the internal stigma of drug use.

He said he has lost family members and friends to addiction, HIV and hepatitis C.

The amount of friends Ive lost, I really feel privileged to be sitting up here sharing my story.

He was critical of services for drug users and likened his youth work to firefighting: You feel like youre firefighting, constantly putting out fires and trying to be in the moment with a young person but theres nothing there long term for the people.

Sharon Connors said she had an early childhood trauma at the age of six and was kicked out of school aged 11.

I turned to cocaine, drink, benzos.

At first it was just a laugh, like, you know what I mean?

For years she was in denial about her addiction.

I was hurting and I didnt know how to deal with it.

Fionn Connolly-Sexton discussed drug use among young people, who he said are experiencing an immense of pressure.

In every friend group, I think nowadays there is somebody who uses some form of class A drug. It could be cocaine, it could be ecstasy, it could be MDMA.

He said his brother died of suicide on his 22nd birthday in 2015 after starting to use drugs in his teenage years while dealing with mental health difficulties.

And when you take something like liquid MDMA, which he took, it majorly imbalances your brain sometimes and if youve got a mental illness, that can really set you down a path of spiralling, and it can really set you down a path of bad mental health.

He called for better access to mental health services in response to addiction and drug misuse.

Separately, Mr Reid urged the public and interested parties to make submissions through the Assemblys online public consultation process.

The Assembly has received more than 350 submissions so far, which Mr Reid described as phenomenal.

This weekends meeting follows the opening of the Assembly last month, where members were given information on national and international drug policies as well as current drug-use trends.

On Sunday, the members will visit treatment centres and speak to staff and service users at Coolmine and Merchants Quay Ireland.
A domestic abuse survivor who became a ghost of her former self after years of trauma from living with her ex, losing more than four stone, becoming a drug addict, and nearly taking her own life, has said you may be broken, but nothing is broken forever as she releases a new book outlining the profound lessons her life has taught her so far.

Sam Pearce, 45, a self-publishing consultant and writer, met her ex  who she has chosen not to name, through a mutual friend while she was living in Toronto, Canada, in 2001.

At first, he was her knight in shining armour  he was funny, very attentive and perfect in every single way  and their relationship progressed rapidly.

However, gradually over time, after moving in with her, Sam said he commenced his programme of brainwashing and their relationship became a nightmare.

She said: Play fights would get a little bit out of hand, or he would snap at me for something, but always immediately after there was profound apology  Id never hurt you intentionally, or, I dont know my own strength  all of those typical excuses that you hear.

Eventually, Sam said the excuses just stopped and the physical, sexual, and psychological abuse continued, leading her to nearly take her own life on Valentines Day in 2003.

All she could hear was her exs voice that day, telling her nobody wants you, nobody cares and nobody would miss you.

However six months later, Sam said she suddenly snapped out of it; she walked out the door, told the police, and moved back to the UK.

Since then, she has transformed her life, meeting her now-husband Nathan, launching her own self-publishing business, SWATT Books, and releasing two books  the most recent being From Broken to Brave, which looks at Sams abusive relationship and the many turning points in her life.

While she has learned many lessons throughout her life, Sam said she has written this book to show that nothing is broken forever and your future is what you make it.

Whenever I look back on that period of my life, the sense of being completely alone, nobody understanding, and you being completely cut off from the rest of the world really, really stuck with me, and I know how frightening that can be, she said.

It was very much a case of wanting to let people know that it isnt really like that.

There are people out there who, no matter what, still care about you, and theres always help and support and theres always alternatives  youve just got to have the bravery to ask.

She added: No matter what your past is, no matter what youve experienced, no matter what disadvantages you may have  that is never ever going to dictate your future.

You may be broken, but nothing is broken forever.

Looking back now, Sam said the majority of her relationship with her ex is a blur due to the trauma she experienced, however she can recall certain aspects vividly.

She said her ex controlled almost every aspect of her life during their three-year relationship, from what she ate, her finances, where she worked, who she talked to, her body, and where she went, and he was very careful about chastising (her), making sure nothing was visible.

She explained that the majority of the torment was psychological to keep (her) passive and under control, but she was subjected to physical and sexual abuse as well.

My day-to-day existence was walking on eggshells, Sam said.

It was a case of, dont do anything to rock the boat.

Literally everything was on his terms or else, and I very quickly realised that or else is just not worth it.

This volatile state of living led to Sam becoming addicted to drugs, specifically cannabis.

She smoked up to 1oz of cannabis per week, approximately 28g, as this allowed her to mentally escape, and, towards the latter part of the relationship, she was almost never sober.

She lost so much weight that (she) was a ghost of who (she) knew, weighing six stone.

However, since the situation had evolved so gradually over time and her ex had built in this fear and told her everything is fine, everything is happy, Sam did not tell anyone and became a very good actress, keeping the truth hidden from her family and loved ones.

Its like putting a frog into boiling water versus putting a frog in cold water and increasing the temperature, Sam explained.

Thats very much the analogy that I think of when people ask me, Well, why didnt you leave?

I didnt realise what was happening until it was too late.

On Valentines Day in 2003, Sam said she was on the brink of suicide.

She said she felt totally isolated and utterly alone, and she kept hearing her exs voice in her head, saying: Youre only getting what you deserve and nobody would miss you.

Everything fell silent after this final thought and Sam said: I just remember seeing absolute blackness, and thinking, how inviting would that be? It would all stop.

Then I saw my mums face and I realised that no matter how Id gotten to where Id gotten, no matter how bad it was, I couldnt do that to her.

Just a few months later, Sam knew she needed to leave as she did not want to be trapped any longer.

She left the house before calling her parents, and she then went to the police station to file a report, which she said was the scariest thing (shes) ever done.

However, she knew her exs hold on her needed to be completely severed.

Something made me snap out of it one morning, and it was a case of, I need to get out or else it is going to cost me my life, whether by my own hand or his, she said.

After returning home to live with her parents, Sam said it took her months to leave the house, and her mother desperately tried to put some weight back on (her).

Despite the police in Canada taking Sams situation very seriously, she said no further action was taken, as they could not locate her ex.

However, with baby steps, and with the full support of her family and friends, she gradually started to feel safe again and venture out into the world.

She did not want her ex to have control over (her) anymore.

Sam, who now lives in Amesbury, has since gone on to start her own business called SWATT Books, which helps independent authors to self-publish, and she has not looked back since.

She said she has seen exceptional growth since its launch in January 2010 and has recently released her second book, From Broken to Brave.

The book delves into details of her abusive relationship, the loss of her identity, the courage to start a new life, and the lessons she has learned, and Sam said some of the sale proceeds will be donated to the domestic abuse organisation Refuge.

Through writing the book, which has been challenging but cathartic, Sam has been able to reflect on the positive aspects of her life, despite going through dark, traumatic and horrible experiences, and she hopes it can offer hope to those who may be facing challenges in their lives.

People have asked me, if you could go back in time, would you change anything? Sam said.

Despite the horrible experiences that Ive had, no, I wouldnt change anything because its made me who I am.

Its given me the lessons that Ive needed to be the person that I am right now and I wouldnt (want) to change that for anything.

It could have quite easily completely destroyed me but I seem to have this inbuilt resilience and I always seem to eventually pick myself up.

To find out more about SWATT Books, visit swatt-books.co.uk.
The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic OGorman, on Friday announced the allocation of 25,000 in Dormant Accounts funding to Dundalk Counselling Centre.

The funding is part of a 700,000 package allocated to 37 community and voluntary organisations nationwide to help increase counselling, psychotherapy and therapeutic services to children and young people experiencing social and economic disadvantage in communities around Ireland, and to help address unmet need and reduce waiting lists for community-based counselling services.

The aim of the fund is to increase counselling and psychotherapy and other therapy types (play, drama, art and creative therapy, bereavement support) to children and young people who are socially/economically disadvantaged and who without support cannot access these services.

Dundalk Counselling Centre was established in January 1982 initially in response to the distress caused by rampant unemployment at the time. The aim of the centre is to provide a professional, therapeutic counselling to all the community regardless of their social class, religious persuasion or race and with special emphasis on the socially deprived and disadvantaged, irrespective of their means.

Commenting on the 700k funding package on Friday, Minister OGorman said: "This measure will help to address improved accessibility and availability of counselling, psychotherapy, therapy services to disadvantaged children and young people around the country.

"Prevention and Early Intervention measures such as counselling, psychotherapy and therapeutic supports can improve the quality of childrens home lives and family relationships, increase educational attainment and support good mental health.
World Ocean Day is celebrated annually on 8 June and, with less than one month to go, Irish environmental charity Clean Coasts are asking volunteers in Louth to sign up to request a free clean-up kit and take action on the day.

In June 2023, Clean Coasts will be celebrating its 20th anniversary. Since 2003, Clean Coasts has been working with communities to help protect and care for Irelands waterways, coastline, seas, ocean and marine life.

For the past 20 years, Clean Coasts has been working to create tangible and immediate improvements to Irelands coastal environment, involving thousands of volunteers removing large quantities of marine litter from our coastline each year.

For this reason, the programme are looking forward to marking this milestone by doing something to protect the Irish coast and celebrating the amazing groups and volunteers around Ireland for the work they do all year round.

For 2023, the focus of World Ocean Day will be on the 30x30 campaign meaning that for us to create a healthy ocean with abundant wildlife and to stabilize our climate, its crucial that 30% of our planets lands, waters, and ocean are protected by the year 2030.

Marine litter has become a global problem for humans and marine life alike. For the past 20 years, Clean Coasts has been working with communities to tackle this issue.

Making sure litter is collected and disposed of properly at the source is vital for a cleaner ocean and a greener world for all of us to enjoy. Communities in County Louth have demonstrated their desire to be part of the solution by taking part in several beach cleaning calls to action.

Sinead McCoy, Coastal Communities Manager, speaking of the event said, "Happy 20th Birthday to the Clean Coasts community! Let's celebrate by working together to protect our coastlines and waterways.

"The Clean Coasts network has over 2000 groups working across Ireland to clean up Ireland coastline, beaches and waterways. Join us in our clean-up efforts and let's continue to make a positive impact and celebrate the incredible natural environment Irish has to offer."

The charity is asking everybody around Ireland to join their birthday celebrations and make a difference for our marine environment and wildlife. To request a kit, visit www.cleancoasts.org.

More about the initiative and events will be announced later this month.
Lahore, May 13 (UNI) Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday visited the Corps Commander House in Lahore that was vandalised by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protesters on May 9, and directed the Punjab government to move swiftly and arrest all those behind the violence within 72 hours.



"I have given law enforcement apparatus a target of 72 hours to arrest all those involved in facilitating, abetting and perpetrating the disgraceful incidents of arson, ransacking, sabotage and damaging public & private properties, the PM said after chairing a meeting at the Punjab Safe City Authority Headquarters in Lahore.



PM Sharif extended solidarity with the country's military leadership. He later also paid a visit to the Services Hospital to meet with the injured personnel.



The military officials residence, also known as Jinnah House, was attacked by violent protestors after the arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan in the Al Qadir trust case on May 9.



Sharif said that all available resources including technological and intelligence are being deployed to trace the perpetrators.



"Bringing these people to justice is a test case for the government. Their cases will be tried by the anti-terrorism courts," he said, adding that such kind of terrorism is unacceptable.



PM Shehbaz Sharif said that Jinnah House has been burnt down completely and the whole nation is in grief over it.



Terrible events in the history of Pakistan took place on May 9. Corps Commander House is the historic Jinnah House and seeing it [in such a condition] is disheartening, said the PM.



Slamming his predecessor Imran Khan, the PM said that the former prime minister and his mob are not less than anti-Pakistan elements.



Those involved in terrorist activities should be convicted as per the law, said the PM. He assured that the law will deal with the miscreants with an iron hand.



What the enemies could not do in 75 years, the PTI miscreants were able to do it. Government property was damaged under a plan, said the PM.



The premier also regretted that the martyrs memorial was also damaged and called for the trial to be held against the miscreants in anti-terrorism courts.



If anti-terrorism courts have to be opened at night to punish the criminals, then they should be opened, urged the PM and directed the police and the administration to immediately arrest the miscreants as the whole situation is unacceptable.



The premier in the meeting also directed Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar to increase the number of anti-terrorism courts.



After the PTI chief Imran Khan was taken into custody on Tuesday, protestors barged into the Jinnah House, which is the residence of Lahore corps commander, demanding the release of their leader.



Reacting to the vandalism by protestors, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said May 9 would go down in history as a "dark chapter".



Soon after [Khans arrest], there were organised attacks on army properties and installations and anti-army slogans were raised, the militarys media wing said.



The PTI, however, denied involvement in the violence that ensued terming ISPR statement against ground realities.



"We believe in achieving our goals by remaining peaceful, non-violent, and adhering to the Constitution and law. PTI has always discouraged deviance from the Constitution and law," a statement released by the party read.



Following the attack on the General Headquarters (GHQ) and ransacking of the Lahore Corps Commanders home, authorities have registered cases against senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders.



UNI RN
Two French citizens imprisoned in Iran have been freed, French authorities have said.

Benjamin Briere and Bernard Phelan, both of whom had been held in a prison in Mashhad, in north-east Iran, are heading to Paris, French foreign minister Catherine Colonna said.

Free at last, President Emmanuel Macron tweeted. Its a relief.

Mr Macron and the minister thanked all those who worked for their freedom.

Libres, enfin. Benjamin Briere et Bernard Phelan vont retrouver leurs proches. Cest un soulagement. Je salue leur liberation. Merci a tous ceux qui ont uvre a cette issue. Nous continuerons a agir pour le retour de nos compatriotes encore detenus en Iran.  Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) May 12, 2023

Ms Colonna spoke earlier with Iranian minister of foreign affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian.

Mr Briere, 37, was arrested three years ago, in May 2020 while touring, for taking photographs with a drone in an area where cameras were forbidden and asking questions on social media about Irans obligatory Islamic headscarf for women.

He was convicted of spying and sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison, then reportedly acquitted this year.

Irish-French national Mr Phelan, 64, was arrested seven months ago while visiting Iran for consulting activities for a tour company, according to French daily newspaper Le Parisien.

His arrest last October came as women and men took up the cause against obligatory headscarves following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini. Irans morality police had arrested her for wearing her headscarf too loosely.

Nearly a half-dozen other French citizens are thought to be held in Iranian prisons. Among them are Cecile Kohler, 37, and Chuck Paris, 69, who were arrested on May 7 2022, after meeting with protesting Iranian teachers and taking part in an anti-government rally.

France identified the two as a teachers union official and her partner on holiday in Iran.

In January 2022, Iranian justice officials ordered the re-imprisonment of Franco-Iranian academic Fariba Adelkhah, who was arrested in 2019.

Adelkhah had for a time been allowed to serve a five-year prison sentence under house arrest. She had been accused of propaganda against the Islamic Republics political system and collusion to undermine national security.

Her companion, academic Roland Marchal, was freed in 2020, a year after his arrest.

Other Europeans also remain imprisoned by Iran with occasional releases, widely viewed as part of a cynical and delicate bid for favours.
China's national project of millennial significance demonstrates historical foresight

13:52, May 13, 2023 By Bu Le ( People's Daily

Chinese President Xi Jinping (C) inspects the Xiong'an New Area scheme in Anxin county of Baoding city, north China's Hebei province, Feb 23, 2017. (Photo by Lan Hongguang/Xinhua)

Boasting a civilization spanning more than 5,000 years, China is home to many thousand-year-old cities. According to incomplete statistics, 30 cities in China were built over 2,000 years ago, and 142 cities have been officially designated as national historical and cultural cities.

The history of cities represents the evolution of human civilization, a truth that holds universally without exception. Then, in the 21st century today, can a country design and build a "city of future" with lasting importance for the millennium to come?

Impossible as it sounds, the miracle is happening in Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei province.

Six years ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the plan to set up Xiong'an New Area. "We will relieve Beijing of functions nonessential to its role as the capital and use this effort to drive the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region; and we will develop forward-looking plans and adopt high standards for building the Xiong'an New Area," he said.

Xiong'an New Area is a historical heritage for future generations. Xi call for "global vision, international standards, distinctive Chinese features, and future-oriented goals" in the planning and construction of Xiong'an New Area has served as an important guideline for the development of the area.

Xiong'an has caught global attention since its establishment.

Singaporean newspaper Lianhe Zaobao pointed out that Xiong'an New Area will shoulder the strategic mission of searching for a path to the great transformation of the Chinese nation.

British daily business newspaper Financial Times said that Xiong'an New Area boosts strong and clear anticipation of growth in northern China.

Relevant articles published on the website of the Associated Press noticed that Xiong'an New Area is established to alleviate Beijing's non-capital functions and promote the coordinated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, and bridge the economic disparity between the capital and the industrial and rural areas surrounding it.

Xiong'an New Area may provide an alternative development model and is expected to become a high-tech hub and a laboratory for intelligent city planning, according to an article published on the website of The Diplomat magazine based in Japan.

An article on the website of the British weekly newspaper The Economist quoted an official statement by China that the development of Xiong'an New Area is a "strategy crucial for the next millennium." However, it said that it would be unwise to bet all on the rise of Xiong'an, because "over the years China has tried to build numerous new cities, several of which have been costly failures."

It's assumed that it must take a long time for Xiong'an New Area to finally take shape, since its development is considered a national project of millennial significance. This is probably why discussions regarding Xiong'an cooled off gradually after it became a hot topic worldwide for a period.

For more than two years after China officially announced its plan to establish, nothing significant was built in the area except for some basic projects and temporary structures designed to ensure necessary operations.

However, a grand blueprint was being formed step by step.

More than 1,000 experts and over 200 teams from home and abroad, together with more than 2,500 professional and technical personnel, have participated in the formulation of the master plan for Xiong'an New Area.

To the surprise of the world, the "city of future" has experienced tremendous changes within a mere six years. It has been transformed from ground zero to an emerging modern city with neatly aligned new buildings, flat and wide streets, and ubiquitous greenery.

On May 10, 2023, Xi made an inspection tour of Xiong'an, which was his third visit to the new area, bringing the new area under the spotlight once again. From the media's focus on the inspection tour, major progress has been achieved in the development of Xiong'an.

The country has basically completed the top-level construction and development of Xiong'an, secured major progress in infrastructure construction, achieved initial results in relieving the non-capital functions of Beijing, improved the ecological environment management and protection of the Baiyangdian Lake in the new area, witnessed positive progress in deepening reform and opening up, gradually improved the conditions for the gathering of industrial and innovation elements, and promoted the relocation and resettlement work in an orderly manner.

The miraculous transformation of Xiong'an has aroused discussions, with many saying they have never before seen a plan for a city be formulated this way, which can take over Beijing's non-capital functions and pays so much attention to the inheritance of fine traditional culture.

They are also surprised by the integrated construction and planning that cover projects above and below ground as well as on online platforms, and such great efforts to improve the ecological environment of the Baiyangdian Lake.

These remarks bear testimony to the historical foresight of the Chinese leadership.

Over the past six years, new changes have taken place in Xiong'an day by day, and major progress has been achieved in the construction of the new area every year. A high-level modern city is sprouting up.

The miracle that is unfolding in Xiong'an has demonstrated that effective city design of "millennial significance" requires not only a well-established civilization, but historical foresight and remarkable wisdom of a country's leadership. Furthermore, the plan will only work when the government of the country has the resolve for continuous implementation.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, greets the residents while visiting a residential community in Rongdong District of the Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei province, May 10, 2023. (Photo by Yin Bogu/Xinhua)

Photo taken on Dec. 27, 2021 shows a train maintenance worker examining the external electronic display screen of a Fuxing bullet train. (Photo by Sun Lijun/People's Daily Online)

Photo shows the scenery of the newly upgraded Baiyangdian Lake scenic area in Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei Province, June 20, 2021. (Photo by Jiao Yunpeng/People's Daily Online)

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Wu Chaolan)
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Traffic calming measures are urgently needed near Goleen National School, according to a Cork County councillor.

Social Democrats councillor Ross OConnell put forward a motion at a recent meeting of West Cork Municipal District, held for the first time in Goleen village.

I brought a motion calling on the council to put in place adequate traffic calming road markings for Goleen National School, said Mr OConnell.

I have been working together with Goleen Parents Association to get this now for the past few months.

Frustratingly, many sat nav systems take traffic bound for Mizen Head and Barleycove Beach up this road by the school, instead of the safer south road past the old garda station.

This is of course putting the safety of school children, and the parents who collect them and drop them off, in jeopardy, as a large volume of traffic speeds past the school on an ongoing basis.

The road markings I called for are already in place at both Schull and Ballydehob national schools and I argued that there can be no good reason why we cant have them for Goleen," he added.

The good news in response to the motion is that the local area engineer has agreed that such road markings would be appropriate for the school and will put them in place once a contractor has been secured, Cllr O'Connell revealed.

Thank you to the engineers and to the other councillors for supporting this motion and making the journey west for the meeting, he concluded.
A sentencing judge said he was pushing community service in light of the widely reported overcrowding of Irish prisons.

Judge Colm Roberts made that known in a case where a man who was convicted for threatening behaviour under the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act faced the prospect of a jail term.

What put Alan Quilligan at risk was the fact that he was threatening towards random members of the public on the forecourt of a garage in Cork, and the fact that he had 122 previous convictions, including ten for the same offence of engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour.

I am pushing community service  especially with overcrowded prisons, Judge Colm Roberts said.

The judge told the 31-year-old he could do 120 hours of community service.

Judge Roberts explained to the young man that with community service, it was only possible if a defendant agreed and wanted to do it. Quilligan said he would do it.

Judge Roberts said the accused should work with his drink problem and indeed his difficulties with his temper when he is in contact with the probation service to see if he is found suitable for such work by the probation service.

Sgt. Ciaran Kelleher said Alan Quilligan of no fixed address came to the attention of gardai on January 10 when there were reports of a man acting aggressively towards members of the public at Circle K, Bandon Road.

Alan Quilligan was extremely irate and had a strong smell of intoxicating liquor from his breath. He failed to comply with gardai and refused to relax.

"He remained in an abusive manner, shouting insults and abuse randomly towards members of the public who were present.

Garda Emmet Long arrested Alan Quilligan and charged him with being drunk and a danger and engaging in threatening behaviour. He replied to each charge by telling Garda Long to f*** yourself, Sgt Kelleher said.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot wasn't here to make friends -- and that's her loss
Locals in the Wilton area have described as shocking the news that a man was shot in the area early on Friday morning.

Off Glasheen Road on Friday afternoon, members of the Garda Armed Support Unit were still interviewing local people about the early morning incident which left a 42-year-old man in hospital.

The incident occurred shortly after 5am on Friday as the man was walking to his car close to Wilton Manor apartments, which are located across the road from the Wilton Shopping Centre and the Wilton roundabout.

It is understood that the man, who is originally from the Blarney Street area of Corks northside, was shot in the abdomen but managed to get to his car, and drove himself to the emergency department of the nearby Cork University Hospital (CUH), where he collapsed before being rushed into surgery.

The man, who has been reported as being a father of three, was said to be in a stable condition on Friday afternoon and had yet to be interviewed by gardai.

It is not known whether the man was shot more than once, or how many people were involved in the incident.

Members of An Garda Siochana attend the scene of a shooting at Wilton Lawn, Wilton, Cork city, after a man was shot in the early hours of Friday morning between 5 and 5:45am. The man is in a stable condition in hospital. Picture: Cian O'Regan.

Neighbours who spoke with The Echo said they had heard either a screech of brakes or tyres some time after 5am.

One local person, who did not wish to be named, said he was awakened around half five by a scream of tyres, but he had heard no gunshots.

Another neighbour, who gave her name as Anne, said she had heard the sound of hard braking after five but had not heard gunshots.

Its a very quiet neighbourhood, and I had my window open last night and youd think youd hear a thing like gunshots but all I heard was the braking, she said.

Its just shocking to think that something so horrific could happen so close to your door. I hope the poor man is okay.

Local representatives similarly expressed their shock at such violence occurring in what they described as a quiet neighbourhood.

Fianna Fail councillor Colm Kelleher, said it was very disturbing to hear such news.

We would wish the man a speedy recovery and wish his family well at this difficult time, and obviously I would like to praise the members of the gardai, particularly the members of the armed response unit who attended the scene very quickly, Mr Kelleher said.

Fine Gael councillor Derry Canty said it was very sad to think of elderly people living nearby and waking up to such an event.

I would have huge praise for our gardai for all they do to keep us safe, and please God they will be successful in their investigations, Mr Canty said.

Fianna Fail councillor Fergal Dennehy said he hoped the injured man would make a full recovery.

I think this is a terrible thing to happen in our community and I would appeal to anyone who has any information to come forward and support the gardai, he said.

Independent councillor Thomas Moloney said it was a surprising and disappointing thing to hear in a mature and settled area.

We hope that the gardai are able to get a swift result, and I hope that people will support their investigation, he said.

Fine Gael councillor Garret Kelleher said he was glad to hear the injured man was in a stable condition.

I hope he makes a full recovery, and our thoughts are with his family, he said.

Members of the Garda Forensics Unit inspecting the scene of a shooting at Wilton Lawn, Wilton, Cork, after a man was shot in the early hours of Friday morning. The man is in a stable condition in hospital. Picture: Cian O'Regan.

In a statement to media, An Garda Siochana said they were investigating all of the circumstances relating to an incident at Glasheen Road, near the Maxol service station, in which a man with gunshot wounds presented himself at Cork University Hospital shortly after 5am on Friday morning.

No arrests have been made. An incident room has been established at Togher Garda station.

Gardai said they were appealing to anyone who was in the Wilton area of Cork city between 5am and 5.45am on Friday morning and who may have noticed anything unusual to contact investigating gardai.

Any road users with camera footage, including dash cam, are asked to make this footage available to investigating gardai.

A garda spokesperson said: Anyone with information is asked to contact Togher Garda Station on 021 4947120, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any garda station.
A fresh planning application has been lodged by CPR Properties Cork Limited seeking permission to maintain their use of the Marina Market site as a market/food emporium.

As reported in today's Irish Examiner, it is believed that CPR Properties Cork is applying for permission for the change of use from warehouse or distribution use to a market and food emporium at the site on Centre Park Road in the city.

It is understood the latest planning application aims to address concerns raised by Cork City Council in its decision to refuse the original application last year.

At the start of last year, CPR Properties Cork Limited lodged a planning application seeking permission to maintain their use of the site as a market/food emporium with a further request to expand the markets footprint, creating an event and function/gallery space as well as a coffee roasterie and a health and lifestyle store.

They also sought permission to construct a mezzanine to facilitate seating within the food emporium and the removal of nine car parking spaces to facilitate the provision of a parcel pickup depot.

CPR Properties Cork Limiteds application also included a request for permission to provide 44 bike parking spaces and a bike rental hub.

The planning statement accompanying the application last year asserted that Marina Market is a bustling addition to the currently underutilised Central Docklands.

A disused warehouse in [the] citys port area has been transformed into a thriving and vibrant food and craft market attracting people of all ages. Repurposing old industrial buildings in a similar way could breathe new life into urban communities, the statement contended.

However, the plans were turned down by Cork City Council last November with council planners citing public safety on Kennedy Quay and the markets proximity to a Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) site as key factors.

The council said it considered the road infrastructure on Kennedy Quay to be insufficient for the existing and proposed use which will generate increased pedestrian, cyclist, and vehicle volumes on Kennedy Quay over and above historical use.

Planners said they considered that would lead to an increased risk of pedestrian and vehicular conflict on Kennedy Quay that would be likely to endanger public safety by reason of traffic hazard and obstruction of road users and be detrimental to road safety.

They also said the proposed development falls almost entirely within the Middle Land Use Planning Zone of the neighbouring COMAH establishment Gouldings Chemicals Ltd and as such is located in an area where it is necessary to limit the risk of there being any serious danger to human health or the environment.

More than 30,000 signatures were gathered for an online petition to save the market following Cork City Councils initial refusal for permission.

CPR Properties Cork Limited subsequently lodged an appeal with An Bord Pleanala in December 2022, but that appeal has since been marked as invalid.

Despite these planning issues, it has been business as usual at the Marina Market which has been operating without planning permission since it opened in the former Southern Fruits Distribution Company Warehouse in 2020.

It has since expanded to become a popular destination in the city, employing over 300 people and attracting thousands of visitors each week.
AN independent councillor has expressed his opposition to any plans for Corks mental health services that would entail longer journeys for patients or isolate them from the community.

Councillor Liam Quaide has said he has particular concerns about aspects of a strategic capital plan for Corks adult mental health services.

Deputy Neasa Hourigan received correspondence from the HSE regarding the proposals, following a parliamentary question in the Dail.

Last Tuesday, Ms Hourigan asked how the plans, which have not been signed off on, could be in accordance with either the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities or the HSEs own Model of Care.

Proposals include building a 50-bed facility at St Stephens Campus for Cork, along with a new purpose-built 20-bed unit to replace St Catherines Unit in Cork City.

Provision would be made for a new St Michaels Unit: A purpose-built, 70-bed mental health acute admission unit.

Other suggestions include a purpose-built 36-bed Regional Psychiatric Intensive Care unit and Rehabilitation Unit in Cork City to incorporate the current Carraig Mor and Unit 3 St Stephens provision.

In summary, the plan intends to replace 239 beds that do not meet regulatory compliance standards with 194 Mental Health Commission (MHC) approved beds in newly built units, wrote Kevin Morrison, head of Cork Kerry Community Healthcare (CKCH) Mental Health Services.

There are no plans to relocate mental health services from St Stephens Hospital to St Michaels, responded a CKCH spokesperson to The Echo. The correspondence makes it clear that the plans listed were still in development, and not yet signed off.

St Stephens Hospital is the site for acute mental health admissions from the Kanturk, Mallow, Newmarket, Mitchelstown, Fermoy, and Charleville areas.

Mr Quaide has worked as a psychologist in the North Cork mental health services.

The HSEs plan is to relocate that acute service provision from St Stephens to the Mercy Hospital.

"This will impose extra travel and inconvenience on those North Cork families at a very difficult time.

"I know when this relocation was previously mooted around 2014, it was strongly opposed by ground level clinicians.

St Stephens Hospital, Glanmire, can be a sanctuary for people experiencing a mental health crisis who require short-term acute admission. The hospital is located in tranquil, spacious grounds.

However, St Stephens is not a suitable location for investment in long-stay facilities.

Government policy such as A Vision for Change emphasised the need to facilitate people with high dependency needs to integrate in community settings. And yet, the HSE are planning to invest heavily over the coming years in new long-stay facilities in St Stephens and St Finbarrs Hospitals, which are cut off from communities in medical campus locations.

What we actually need is a community residence for this client group of approximately ten placements each in the main East Cork towns of Cobh, Youghal and Midleton, just as we already have in Fermoy, Mallow, and Kanturk.

The HSE are committing to a new 10-bed residence in Midleton in response to the Owenacurra Centre campaign, but Im concerned about recent briefings that suggest they do not yet even have a site identified, nor capital funding secured for this project.

Ive written to Cork HSE management to seek a meeting on the Owenacurra Centre closure but also their plan to replace long-stay facilities on the grounds of St Stephens and St Finbarrs Hospitals. If this plan goes ahead it will mean that people with the highest level of mental health need in the Cork area will be living in hospital campus settings long-term, cut off from communities.

This plan is retrograde and at odds both with the HSEs own Model of Care for people with severe and enduring mental illness and with the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD).

The UNCRPD enshrines the right of people with severe and enduring mental illness to live in their community. Investing in long-stay facilities in St Stephens and St Finbarrs Hospitals would be a major misdirection of public money that I very much hope it can be reconsidered by the HSE Board, concluded Mr Quaide.
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.

From left to right: A wild banana plant, a Cavendish banana plant and a QCAV-4 banana plant. Queensland University of Technology

Theres a new banana in town, and its been genetically modified (GM). Scientists at Australias Queensland University of Technology (QUT) have developed the first GM banana in the world, a variety of Cavendish banana known as QCAV-4, designed to help save the species.

The GM version of the tropical fruit was engineered to withstand a fungus known as Panama Disease tropical race 4 (TR4), a threat to the $20 billion global banana industry, a press release from QUT said. The GM Cavendish has been submitted to the Australian government for regulatory approval.

QUT professor James Dale, who led the development of QCAV-4, and his team have been developing and growing the GM Cavendish variety for more than 20 years.

The devastating Panama Disease TR4 is caused by a soil-borne fungus that stays in the ground for more than 50 years, wiping out banana crops and destroying farms for generations, Dale said in the press release. It is a huge problem. It has devastated Cavendish plantations in many parts of the world and could cripple the Cavendish banana export industry worldwide.

If the new Cavendish banana variety is given the green light, it will become the first GM fruit approved for cultivation and consumption in Australia, reported The Guardian.

Dale estimates that there are between 300 and 1,000 types of bananas throughout the world, with the Cavendish variety making up about half of commercial production.

It has some disease resistance, its high yielding, it tastes pretty good and it travels well, Dale said, as The Guardian reported.

The team has been growing QCAV-4 bananas in field trials in Australias Northern Territory for more than six years and have found them to be highly resistant to TR4, the press release said.

About 95 per cent of Australias bananas are grown in Queensland, and Cavendish banana accounts for 97 per cent of production, Dale said in the press release. Apart from providing a genuine protection against Panama Disease TR4 for the worlds export industry, QCAV-4 is a safety net for Australias $1.3 billion industry, which includes protected employment for 18,000 Queenslanders involved in banana production.

TR4 has begun to get a foothold in South America after decimating the commercial Cavendish production in Asia.

Eighty-five per cent of the worlds export bananas come from south and central America, and the other 15% come from the Philippines, Dale said, as reported by The Guardian. The Philippines is already dramatically affected by TR4. Once it got to Colombia, and then Peru and now Venezuela, thats when the big exporters suddenly realised that this is really very serious.

The bioengineered version of the banana combined the Cavendish Grand Nain variety with a single gene  RGA2  from the southeast Asian banana Musa acuminata ssp malaccensis, according to the press release. The gene is already present but dormant in the Cavendish.

The regulatory authorities of the Australian Government, Food Standards Australia and New Zealand and the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator are currently assessing QCAV-4.

There are currently no plans to grow or sell QCAV-4 bananas to consumers in Australia, even if regulatory approval is successful.

If the disease gets going [in Australia] like it has in the Philippines weve got this banana in the back pocket and well be able to pull it out, said Leon Collins, chair of the Australian Banana Growers Council, as The Guardian reported.
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.

By Audrey Leonard, Staff Attorney, Columbia Riverkeeper

For more than 20 years, Columbia Riverkeeper has fought dirty fossil fuel infrastructure  and won. Together with firefighters, fishers, foresters, farmers, health professionals, educators, union leaders, and tribes, we stopped more than a dozen proposed fossil fuel facilities, ranging from coal exports to LNG terminals.

Because of our success, the fossil fuel industry has begun trying to expand existing infrastructure rather than build new facilities. Whats the difference? Existing infrastructure typically has some of the required permits, and regulators generally approve capacity expansions even where they might reject a new project. Industry often disguises expansion projects with terms like reliability, and without effective public notice. In many ways, halting a brand-new oil refinery is much easier than stopping an existing refinery from producing more oil.

In a changed landscape, watchdogs and advocates must adapt quickly to keep fossil fuels in the ground and out of our communities.

GTN Xpress Fracked Gas Expansion

A prime example is GTN Xpress  a proposal to increase the quantity of fracked gas flowing through the 1,354-mile interstate Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN) pipeline. The project would push more fracked gas through the existing pipeline by upgrading three existing compressor stations. Compressor stations are fracked gas-powered industrial facilities that control how much gas moves through the pipeline. More power and higher pressure means more gas flowing through the GTN pipeline.

Why is this a big deal? The amount of gas this would add to the pipeline would result in more than 3.47 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year  thats the equivalent of adding 754,000 cars to the road every year! Not only is GTN Xpress bad for the climate, its also a dirty deal for ratepayers and communities near the pipeline. If completed, ratepayers will be stuck fronting the bill for this expensive infrastructure upgrade. Nearby communities will see increased air pollution from the compressor stations, as well as face a heightened risk of explosion and fires in the event of an accident.

The company responsible for GTN Xpress is the same company behind the Keystone XL pipeline and the Keystone pipeline: TC Energy. Its goal? Pump more fracked gas into the Pacific Northwest, an area rapidly transitioning to renewable energy. Thankfully, Columbia Riverkeeper sounded the alarm early, and the project now faces a groundswell of opposition.

So far, more than 50 local and national organizations ranging from grassroots environmental groups to health professionals have opposed GTN Xpress. On top of that, the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission, the Attorneys General of Washington, Oregon, and California, Oregon Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, Washingtons Governor Jay Inslee, and State Representatives from Washington and Oregon have all urged the federal agency to deny the project.

Whats next? The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will approve or deny GTN Xpress as early as June 15, 2023. Were working to give FERC compelling reasons to deny the project and prevent harm to the climate and our communities.

GTN Xpress isnt the only example of fossil fuel infrastructure expansion. Weve seen this in the context of oil-by-rail terminals like Zenith and Global Partners, where old facilities were bought and re-purposed by new owners. These are some of the toughest fossil fuel projects to stop. But Columbia Riverkeeper is nimble and creative  we track project proposals and come up with effective strategies to fight back.

We cant do this ever-evolving work without support.

Oppose Gas Pipeline Expansion: Tell FERC No! Speak out in opposition to increasing the Pacific Northwests reliance on fracked gas. Act now!

Audrey Leonard (she/her) focuses on protecting the Columbia from fracked gas, oil-by-rail, and other fossil fuel infrastructure. A Midwesterner at heart, Audrey grew up on a farm in rural Indiana and strives to use that background to meet the unique challenges faced by people in rural areas.

She fell in love with the Pacific Northwest while attending Lewis & Clark Law School, where she was the Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Law, volunteered for the Northwest Environmental Defense Center, and worked for Earthrise Law Center. Audrey was previously a legal fellow for the Center for Food Safety, doing federal environmental litigation to fight the harms of industrial agriculture.
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Googles ongoing feud with Match Group over in-app payments has spilled over to India, with potentially significant ramifications for the search giant. According to a regulatory order seen by Reuters , Match, the parent company of Tinder and Hinge, joined a group of Indian startups this week to request that the Competition Commission of India investigate Googles User Choice Billing system . The CCI is the same regulatory body that last year barred the tech giant from requiring OEMs to bundle first-party Google apps and services with Android. The order, which the company began to reluctantly implement at the start of the year, also mandates Google to support third-party billing options.

In a complaint it made with the Alliance of Digital India Foundation, Match argues Googles new User Choice Billing system still imposes a high service fee between 11 and 26 percent on app developers. The company claims the cost of using the system means Google has not complied with the CCIs previous order. Per Reuters, the watchdog said Friday it was of the opinion that an inquiry needs to be made." The company now has four weeks to comply with an information request from the CCI. Google did not immediately respond to Engadgets comment request. When Match sued the company last year over its Play Store billing policies, Google accused it of carrying out a self-interested campaign to avoid paying for the significant value they receive from the Android and Play Store ecosystems.
Namrata R Ganneri writes:

On 12 April 2023, the University Grants Commission published its draft guidelines for incorporating Indian knowledge in higher education curricula. These guidelines, drafted in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 mandate to promote research and instruction in Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS), at all levels of education, by preparing and teaching new courses/programmes at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Students both at the undergraduate and postgraduate programmes are to gather at least 5% of their mandated credits from IKS courses. At least half of these credits are to be sourced from IKS courses related to the students major discipline of specialisation. Students of medicine, for instance, are expected to read a foundation course in Indian systems of medicine followed by another elective course on a similar theme in the subsequent semester. The model curricula appended in the guidelines, therefore enlist IKS foundational courses, presumably compulsory for all students, delineating contributions of early Indians in disciplines ranging from architecture, metallurgy, health sciences to fine arts and economy. What runs like a red thread through the guidelines is the emphasis on an uninterrupted knowledge tradition right into the 19th century (see, for instance, the injunction Highlight the continuity of the Indian astronomical tradition [1400 BCE19th century CE], p 22), the rupture sourced ostensibly to the introduction of Western education.

The guidelines picture an amalgamation of fundamental IKS concepts into modern textbooks as well as classroom-based teachinglearning activities. Indeed, the release was bookended by guidelines for training/orientation of faculty in IKS (first opened for comments in December 2022) uploaded on 13 April 2023 to facilitate a seamless integration of Indian traditional knowledge with modern subjects. However, one is unsure of the relationship envisaged with existing modern curricula since subjects like Indian music, Indian philosophy or even ayurveda, traditionally seen as part of the IKS, are denounced for teaching Western epistemologies and methodologies (p 8); seemingly tainted by non-Indian perspectives and in need of an overhaul. This, despite, by the now well-known understanding, that Western knowledge has long been permeated by non-Western knowledge streams, and these cultural exchanges stretch back to the period much before the West achieved relative dominance. Interestingly, the guidelines acknowledge and commend the spread (outflow, p 14) of science, technology, medical pharmacopoeia, and literature from ancient India to Asia and Europe from ancient to modern times, although the reverse/inflow remains unacknowledged. Non-Indian authors are conspicuously absent in the reading list appended to the 18 foundational courses and even in those of the three-odd elective courses. To cite an example, the course on Indian mathematics does not enlist Takao Hayashis essay Indian Mathematics (2003) which shows how mathematics came to be called ganita or Kim Plofkers Mathematics in India (2009) which maps the connections between mathematical traditions and other forms in learning in India from ancient to early modern period with an extensive examination of the Sanskrit sources. Indeed, while the reading lists prepared for teachers do have a few foreign authors, next to none could be spotted in the sample curricula prepared for students.

Learning the civilisational achievements of early Indians has been combined with a renewed emphasis on Indian languages, literature, and ancient Sanskrit texts. Substantially increased grants (`300.7 crore) in the 202324 budget for the promotion of Indian languages will potentially revivify language departments in universities and colleges, and resuscitate learning in Indian languages. One can think of the recent initiative of a state government enabling medical students to read from textbooks in Hindi (facilitated through specially prepared Hindi textbooks with medical terminology), and eventually acquire an MBBS degree in Hindi as a rightful attempt to play down the primacy of English and English language-centred learning in our higher education systems. The extension of this initiative in other fields of technical education, in some ways, will also be a simultaneous acknowledgement of the rich language heritage of this country.

IKS, by definition, envisages knowledge practices of tribal communities as part of the same unbroken Indian tradition. NEP committee member and vice chancellor of a central university commends the pan-Indianness of tribal knowledge systems in his myriad articles and lectures. IKS argues for sustained and complex dialogue and mutual enrichment between the shastras (the theories or systems) and the popular practices (loka paramapara) or the marga-desi interplay in the literature and arts. But have the myriad oral, but non-canonised knowledge traditions and languages of the multitudinous indigenous communities been effectively integrated into the IKS curricula? Incidentally, the collage on the cover page of the guidelines bears images of knowledge acquisition and dissemination in gurukul-style settings populated by rishis and (male) students, and one looks in vain for any other visuals of craft-based training. The injunction of a few immersive sessions render experiential aspects of IKS peripheral to learning available through texts, in the form of canonised and sanctified knowledge.

Finally, the current guidelines are one in a long line of initiatives at curricular overhaul, beginning with Central Board of Secondary Education textbooks on Indian Knowledge Traditions and Practices for Classes XI and XII first published and introduced as a pilot in 2013 and mainstreamed more recently, also chiming well with the 2018 IKS mandate in All India Council for Technical Education courses. Setting up of specialised IKS centres in what were hitherto seen as purely scientific spacessome institutes of technologyindicate what fleetingly looks like an add-and-stir approach to extolling the virtues of science in ancient India, however, is a definitive watershed in the cultural history of science in contemporary India.
Thongkholal Haokip writes:

A riot broke out in Manipur on 3 May 2023 after a tribal unity rally in Churachandpur concluded peacefully. The rally was organised by the All Tribal Students Union Manipur against the demand for the inclusion of the dominant Meitei community into the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list. The riot spread to Moreh and Imphal where, according to press reports, more than 60 people have been killed, over 40 churches and 1,700 houses incinerated, 20,000 people shifted to safer places while a few thousands still remain in relief camps, and 1,041 weapons looted from police stations and the Manipur police training centre, etc. This rally was organised after a single bench judge of Manipur High Court, on 19 April 2023, directed the Manipur government to submit a recommendation in reply to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. In response to a writ petition filed on 7 May 2023 by the Manipur Tribal Forum Delhi and a special leave permission filed by the chairman of the Hill Areas Committee in the Supreme Court regarding the violence in Manipur and the ST status demand, the Chief Justice of India observed that neither the Court nor the state have the power to add, subtract or modify the ST list. There was a systematic build-up leading to this violence in the past few months.

Tension has been escalating when the state government issued a special order on 7 November 2022 which set aside the orders passed in objection cases, excluding villages from the proposed ChurachandpurKhoupum Protected Forest in the 1970s and the early 1980s. With this order, 38 villages in Churachandpur district suddenly became encroachers in their ancestral lands. On 20 February 2023, K Songjang village was evicted, claiming that it newly came up in 2021. In fact, the village was destroyed in 1993 during the KukiNaga conflict and the village chief wanted to re-establish it after the Old Cachar Road was developed and is in the process of being converted into a national highway. Against this discontentment of the eviction drive, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF) organised peaceful protest rallies on 10 March 2023. Despite prohibitory orders, the rally was peaceful, except in Kangpokpi where clashes took place between the police and protesters. However, the chief minister of Manipur blamed insurgent groups operating in areas where the rallies were peaceful for creating disorder, and unsuccessfully attempted to withdraw the ceasefire agreement with them.

In April, there were attempts by the forest and revenue departments to conduct a joint survey in the disputed ChurachandpurKhoupum Protected Forest areas. The ITLF opposed the joint survey claiming that the village chiefs were not informed and it bypassed the village authorities.

This growing discontentment in the hills against the policies of the state government also saw a simultaneous radicalisation of a section of the politically dominant Meitei community. Radical groups such as Meitei Leepun and Arambai Tenggol were accused of recruiting volunteers, indoctrinating, and training them in self-defence.

Manipur has a history of violent ethnic conflicts and public protests are often held to vent out public anger. The protests turn violent in some cases but no counter-mobilisation had happened in the past. However, in the recent tribal solidarity rally, counter-blockades were organised even a day before the rally took place. When violence broke out in the ChurachandpurBishnupur border after the rally, there was no effective control by the police and it spread to other parts of the state. The timing of this violence is systematically planned. On 24 March 2023, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 was further removed from four police stations in the Imphal Valley, including Moirang and Nambol in Bishnupur district where the violence broke out, while the hill areas, including Churachandpur, were still placed under the category of disturbed areas. The chief minister made a public appeal for peace only after 18 hours after the riot broke out.

The political scientist, Paul Brass, terms this dramatic production of riots in Indian politics as institutionalised riots systems. During the preparation for these riots, there was a selective demonisation through inflammatory speeches in order to dehumanise the Kukis. The simmering tensions were continuously kept alive until the riots were activated when a mob desecrated the Anglo-Kuki War Centenary memorial gate through arson during the solidarity rally. This act of defiling an object that is held in high esteem by the Kukis is punishable under Section 3.1(t) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Now that the riots are under some semblance of control, official explanations will be galore that these riots are spontaneous, mass-based, and are impossible to control and prevent. There will be attempts to shift the responsibility of these riots from the authorities, politicians, and political parties to the police and the general public. The beneficiaries of these riots will be certain dominant sections of the current political establishment, which gains an unfair advantage by claiming to be so-called protectors of a particular community in Manipur. Political decentralisation is the only way to prevent such riots in the future.
My aim in this article is to offer a few personal observations and reflections on the multidimensional crisis Cuba is facing in the aftermath of COVID-19. These observations are based on my most recent visit to Cuba (12 to 28 June 2022). Regrettably it has taken me this long to write these reflections due to other pressing preoccupations.

Since 2005, I have visited Cuba several times, some of these visits have been with a group (mostly young Americans) of Cuba visitors under the leadership of Cliff Durand of the Radical Philosophy Association (RAP) based in Mexico. About five visits were organised by myself and my research team as part of a research project comparing the human development experience of Cuba and Kerala in India, two regions known for their high human development achievements despite low gross domestic product (GDP) growth and income (see Tharamangalam 2010 for a summary of this comparison. For my take on Cuban socialism, see Tharamangalam 2019). For this latest visit, the first in six years, I once again joined the RAP group, but before joining this group I also spent two productive days by myself in Havana, visiting, among others, two long-time friends and academic scholars, Alicia Acosta and Miguel Hernandez (both pseudonyms).
In the Punjab assembly elections 2022, the ascendance and projection of Charanjit Singh Channi, a Ramdassia Dalit,1 as the chief ministerial candidate by the Congress was broadly perceived as a masterstroke. With the Shiromani Akali Dal, led by the Badals, and its allies already in the dock because of the simmering discontent and anger emanating from the region against the farm bills, the electoral fray looked almost like a cakewalk for the reigning Congress. The Akalis, though, distanced from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and stitched up an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), but it was almost certain that they did not stand to retrieve their lost ground. The Congress, though, was marred with internal squabbling; still, they looked reasonably assured to regain the political helm of the state. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that made waves in the previous assembly elections remained largely subdued and not many on the ground expected them to do the miraculous work that they eventually did, winning 92 out of 117 assembly seats.

While Channis faultless impromptu bhangra performances at various events in the run-up to the election carried a stamp of authentic Punjabiyat, his gentle persona with a humble background and, more importantly, his Dalit status added up to what was seen as the best bet in the current scenario of Punjab politics. That the Dalits of Punjab statistically add up to roughly 33%the most in the country as far as their numerical prowess is concernedwas seen as a perfect recipe for a successful verdict. Channi also foregrounded his Dalit identity in his campaigns by visiting various deras, including the most influential and powerful, Dera Sachkhand Ballan near Jalandhar in the Doaba region, where he not just announced a bevy of highly ambitious government funded projects2 but also spent a night doing seva or sacred service at the dera in the company of the current dera chief, Sant Niranjan Das.3 It is to be noted that this is the dera that made headlines in 2009 when a visiting sant from the dera, Sant Ramanand, was shot dead in Vienna, Austria and Niranjan Das, the current chief, survived the murderous attack by certain fundamentalist forces. The dera then on became an epicentre of a movement to establish a new religion for the Ravidassias, which they eventually announced in 2010 at their annual congregation at Varanasi, the birth place of Guru Ravidas in Seer Govardhanpur, near Banaras Hindu University (Singh 2020).
Economists at HSBC have revised lower their forecast for the Australian Dollar (AUD) against the US Dollar (USD). The bank's year-end forecast for AUD/USD is now 0.72, "reflecting a more moderate upside despite improved risk sentiment."

The current AUD/USD exchange rate, for reference, is 0.6641 and so this new forecast would mean an 8.41% rise in today's price.

Australian Dollar: A Mixed Outlook Amid Multiple Challenges

The recent weakness in the US Dollar and improved risk sentiment have not translated into an expected uptick for the Australian Dollar.

The Australian currency's performance has been rather muted, mostly due to concerns over Australia's export sector, weakening terms of trade, and the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) dovish stance.

"A subdued outlook for Australias exports, weakening terms of trade, and a relatively dovish RBA explained the AUDs rather muted response to USD weakness and improved risk sentiment lately", says Paul Mackel, Global Head of FX Research at HSBC.

The AUD's performance could be largely affected by the broader economic landscape, especially the performance of China's economy and the RBA's policy stance. Mackel suggests that these factors might influence the AUD in both positive and negative ways.

"Meanwhile, a broader recovery in China is an upside risk, while the RBAs more balanced reaction function may turn into a tailwind later", he adds.

HSBC Downward Revision to 0.72 by End-2023, Yet Room for Modest Recovery in 2024

HSBC has revised its year-end forecast for the AUD/USD exchange rate downwards to 0.72. This reflects the complexities surrounding the AUD, including subdued export prospects and a less aggressive RBA.

Despite these challenges, Mackel still foresees a chance for a modest recovery of the AUD.

"We revise down our year-end forecast to 0.72, reflecting a more challenging outlook for the AUD despite improved risk sentiment and normalising market volatility", says Mackel.

Challenges Looming Over the AUD

The AUD's outlook is complicated by several factors.

The steel market, burdened by overproduction, alongside muted beginnings in China's property sector, are causing a downturn in Australia's commodity exports.

Simultaneously, China's limited capacity for outbound flights is hindering the resurgence of Australia's services exports.

The trajectory of commodity demand and investments tied to fossil fuels continues to be shrouded in uncertainty.

"The main challenge for the AUD is a subdued outlook for Chinas demand for Australias exports. An oversupplied steel market and subdued property new starts in China weigh on Australias commodity exports while low outbound flight capacity in China dampens the recovery of Australias services exports", Mackel explains.

While the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) less assertive policy approach may initially be perceived as detrimental to the AUD, Mackel proposes a potential shift in this perspective. As global central banks wrap up their cycles of monetary tightening, the RBA's measured policy response could transition into a boon for the AUD.

Currencies governed by central banks predicted to sustain their rates for an extended period might become more appealing to markets. In this context, the AUD could emerge as a leading contender.

"As we approach the end of the tightening cycle for major central banks, we think the RBAs balanced reaction function may actually turn into the AUDs strength. Markets should start to favour currencies whose central banks are expected to hold rates for longer  the AUD is an ideal candidate in this regard", Mackel points out.

Despite the challenges, there is still potential for a boost for the Aussie from a broadening recovery in China in the second half of 2023.

Mackel anticipates this recovery to positively influence the Australian Dollar by increasing the demand for Australia's exports and cushioning the impact of falling terms of trade. However, he also acknowledges the slow progress and existing obstacles that might lead to a rather muted outlook.

"Our view has been that as Chinas recovery broadens out in 2H23, it will benefit the AUD via a sustainable pick-up in demand for Australias exports and a cushion to Australias falling terms of trade", says Mackel.

The outlook for Australia's key exports including iron ore, coal, and services is complex. The analyst notes that the pickup in China's iron ore imports was more reflective of "improved expectations than a surge in real demand."

He further details the reasons for an expected persistence of weak demand in the near term, such as an oversupplied steel market, a potentially subdued property market, and increased use of electric arc furnace in steel production.

"With imports in April falling 10% m-o-m, we expect demand weakness to persist in the near term, for three main reasons: Despite strong steel production in 1Q, the steel market remains in an oversupplied state...", Mackel explains.

Additionally, the recovery of Australia's services exports, especially tourism, is expected to be a slow process.

This is due to limited outbound flight capacity in China, favouring of domestic destinations over international ones by Chinese residents, and seasonal factors in Australia's services exports.

"Chinas outbound flight capacity remains constrained, and has only reached 28% of the 2019 levels", he adds.

Mackel suggests that the RBA's less aggressive policy stance, which is currently seen as a weakness for the AUD, might prove to be a strength in the future.

As the tightening cycle for major central banks comes to an end, the market may begin to favour currencies from countries where central banks are expected to maintain rates for a longer period. In this context, the AUD could emerge as an ideal candidate.

"While another hike is certainly a risk, we want to emphasize that even if the RBA indeed hikes, it is unlikely to boost the AUD meaningfully", says Mackel.

Danske Bank: Go Short on the Australian Dollar

Antti Ilvonen, analyst at Danske Bank, takes a slightly contrasting stance.

The analyst believes that the market could be overlooking the inherent robustness of the US economy, particularly if the short-term adverse effects from the banking sector remain minimal.

Ilvonen sees the possibility of a near-term increase in the USD, which he suggests should be played against the AUD, given the waning support from relative rates and terms of trade.

"We think markets are underestimating the underlying strength of the US economy especially, if the near-term negative impact from banking sector remains modest. We see potential for a near-term uptick in USD, which we like to play vis-a-vis AUD, as support from relative rates and terms-of-trade is faltering," says Ilvonen.

"We recommend a tactical short position in AUD/USD spot with a time frame of 1-3M (spot ref 0.6775). We set a hard stop-loss of 0.6936 and soft target of 0.6528," he adds.
Astha Rajvanshi in Time:

Deepika Padukone never set out to take India to the world. She wanted the world to come to India. As the most popular actress in the worlds most populous country, shes often asked if shes going to move to Hollywood. My mission has always been to make a global impact while still being rooted in my country, she says on her home turf in Mumbai one humid morning in April, while on a break from shooting Indias first aerial-action film, Fighter. Its fitting that Padukones photo shoot for this story is happening inside Mehboob Studios, home to some of the most legendary movies made in Hindi-language cinema, from the seminal Oscar-nominated Mother India in 1957 to Padukones own Chennai Express in 2013.

The 37-year-old is now a legend in her own right. She has appeared in more than 30 films, won numerous awards, and generated nearly $350 million in global box-office revenues. Today, she is the highest-paid actress in India. Among her legions of fans and nearly 74 million followers on Instagram, Padukone is fondly called the Queen of Bollywood.

More here.
In the final days of San Antonios recent municipal election campaign, there were some anxious rumblings on the citys North Side.

Supporters of John Courage worried that the District 9 councilman might be collateral damage in the rancorous fight over Proposition A, a proposed charter amendment aimed at decriminalizing abortion and marijuana and expanding the citys cite-and-release program.

Like the great majority of voters in his district, Courage opposed Prop A.

In fact, he was so vehement in his opposition that he joined fellow North Side council reps Manny Pelaez and Clayton Perry in walking off the dais when the council went through the formality of putting it on the May 6 ballot.

Nonetheless, some political watchers looked at the heavy turnout in District 9 and saw potential trouble for Courage.

District 9 has long been the most conservative district in San Antonio. Its the only council district that Beto ORourke failed to win in both his 2018 challenge to Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and his 2022 attempt to unseat Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

A big turnout in District 9 meant conservative voters were coming out in force to vote against Prop A. The fear among some Courage loyalists was that those Prop A opponents also would cast their ballots for the councilmans chief opponent, unabashed conservative Republican Jarrett Lipman.

It turned out to be a false alarm.

Courages district did vote in large numbers (18 percent of all votes cast in council-district races came from District 9), but the councilman romped to an easy win, garnering more than 62 percent of the vote.

For the fourth consecutive election cycle, Courage, a lifelong Democrat, flourished in a Republican district. Along the way, he received more votes than anyone on the ballot not named Ron Nirenberg.

Courage, 72, said Thursday that he worried about the potential impact of the Prop A vote on his candidacy.

I think its always a concern when people who may not have had much of a history of voting in a municipal election come out in larger than expected numbers, because those same people may not have been paying much attention to whats been going on with city government, he said. They may not know any of the candidates very well.

A U.S. Air Force veteran and former teacher at Little Flower Catholic School, Courage had a string of unsuccessful election bids behind him before he pulled off his 2017 upset victory in District 9, including two congressional races against Lamar Smith, one Texas Senate contest against Donna Campbell and two attempts at City Council.

Courage outlasted his nine council opponents in 2017 through dogged work and an emphasis on nonpartisan issues.

Related: Could Courage prevail in District 9 runoff?

His go-to line was this simple question: Is there a Republican or Democratic way of filling in a pothole?

In subsequent election cycles, Courage fended off challenges from the political right through a dedication to constituent services and a willingness to explain his actions to voters.

I think it really was the good relationship I had with a lot of the leaders in District 9 that I feel like Ive earned over the years, he said. I think they rely on my office to be responsive. They rely on me to be there and offer a fair type of leadership.

Not too far one way or another, which kind of surprised some people. I think most of the people who went to vote knew about my service and felt like it was good and they wanted to see it continue.

An example of Courages commitment to constituent engagement has been his use of participatory budgeting, in which District 9 residents get to vote on their preferred community projects.

More from Gilbert Garcia: Sukh Kaur gets council campaign boost from Shea Serrano

Over his first three terms, Courage pushed for property tax relief and greater public-safety funding. He also advocated for CPS Energy to speed up its timetable to phase out coal, an idea that the utilitys board has embraced.

He wholeheartedly supported the citys 2017 move to equity-lens budgeting, even though it meant more infrastructure dollars for districts inside Loop 410 than for his own district, because he understood that it would be a first step in addressing historical inequities in San Antonio.

Courage said hes particularly proud of his push for affordable housing on the North Side.

Ive said to people all over our district that people deserve to be able to live near where they work, he said. They should be able to live, work and play in the same community.

At the end of his fourth term, this Democrat in a Republican district will be the longest-serving District 9 council member in the citys history.

Nobody saw it coming.

ggarcia@express-news.net
I am searching for information about Olaf Olson, who attempted to sexually assault a woman in the San Antonio area in 1913. She shot him in self-defense, and he died. Her name was Mary Wilson; she was arrested Feb. 9, 1913, and Sheriff John W. Tobin said she confessed. Wilson said the soldier threatened her, and she tried to flee to a friends home, but he followed her and grabbed her. Mary, a Black woman, told authorities it was self-defense (and) she was held without bail.

I am creating a speculative story that gives a possible narrative about what happened that night with Mary and Olaf and want to learn as much about the area, and especially the women, around them at the time.

Do you know when the homes in the Hood Street area got electricity? I know that by 1925 only about half of U.S. homes had electricity. I thought the chances of Mary Wilsons house having power were about 50-50 as well.

 Jen Ash

This question was forwarded with your knowledge by Jackie Davis, retired former director of the Fort Sam Houston Museum, who continues to provide volunteer research help there. Both Davis and museum curator Bryan Howard contributed their research toward this column.

As an author, youll be able to make several different narrative choices based on the sparseness of available facts. To date, no photographs of the principals have turned up, so they can be as glamorous or hard-bitten as you want to make them.

TRUE CRIME: Exploring 1937 murder mystery

Olaf Olsen (as the family name was spelled in the 1900 U.S. census), was born in 1882 in Norway, Mich., the second of five children of Ellen and Clement Olsen, an iron-ore miner. Both parents were immigrants from Norway, the country  where Olsen is the common spelling  to Norway, the town. At the time of the census, Olaf was 17 and had no listed occupation.

News accounts of the fatal shooting say that when Olsen died, he had served in the Army for 10 years, so he may have tried other work before enlisting. As a member of the 3rd Cavalry, Troop M, he served two years in the Philippine Islands during the Philippine-American War before the unit was ordered to Fort Sam in 1908.

Fort Sam Houston Museum

Since he was a cavalryman, Olsen would have been familiar with the post-adjacent neighborhood including Hood Street, which was close to the Cavalry Barracks and drill grounds and was where the shooting took place.

Mary Wilson is harder to pin down.

She may have been the 15-year-old daughter of another Mary Wilson, a laundress who had two other children at home and in school as of the 1900 census. Under Race on the form, all these Wilsons were identified as B for Black.

In this era, there were few occupations open to women and fewer still to Black women, the majority of whom were agricultural or domestic workers or who performed a personal service. Laundry was especially hard work with the daily handling of hot water, heavy clothes and caustic soaps, and it paid only a few dollars a week.

The Mary Wilson of this true-crime story rented 313 Hood St. from the 1910 through 1913 city directories, said Beth Standifird, San Antonio Conservation Society Foundation librarian. Wilson is represented as the sole occupant. No occupation is listed for her.

Fort Sam Houston Museum

The three-room house was built in 1897. Early occupants included owner Mrs. A. Murray, enough of a Fort Sam notable that her doings made the Post Gossip column in the San Antonio Light; and Denis Brown, a retired soldier who died there in 1903 and was buried in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.

Wilsons tenancy there was marked by a fire during the absence of the occupant, mistakenly identified by the Light, Feb. 7, 1911, as Mary Hill, a negress. Soldiers from the post broke open the front door and succeeded in holding the fire in check with buckets of water until the arrival of the fire department. The cause of the fire, which did $50 damage to the house and contents, remained unknown.

Well never know exactly what happened with the shooting, either.

Almost exactly two years after the fire, Feb. 9, 1913, Olsen met his death in Wilsons house. Mystery surrounds the killing of Sgt. O.F. Olsen, whose body, with a bullet wound on the right breast, was found at daybreak lying in the gutter, just outside 313 Hood St., says the Light, Feb. 19, 1913.

MILITARY HISTORY: Officer arrested for crazy Express letter

The shooting was the result of a general row in which several persons are said to be involved, and the single bullet had penetrated Olsens lung and killed him.

Neighborhood witnesses, including a soldier on guard duty at the nearby post entrance, reported hearing a disturbance around 2 a.m. and a gunshot at 3 a.m. Investigating officers found shattered windows, upset and broken furniture and bloodstains on the floor and down the front (porch) and steps, probably from Olsen either staggering or being dragged out to the street, where his body was discovered around 7 a.m. by the driver of a brewery wagon.

Fort Sam Houston Museum

Wilson presumably was one of the four Negro women said to have been present, along with two Mexican women and a soldier, in that Light article. The other Black women on the scene said they had already left the house by the time the row broke out.

Wilson was taken into custody, charged with Olsens murder and held without bail.

Although Wilson eventually signed a confession, she at first refused to admit the shooting had occurred in her house  and denie(d) all knowledge of any trouble there.

Eventually, Wilson stated that Olsen had been at her home that night and threatened her. When she tried to leave to go to a friends home, the soldier followed and caught hold of her. Believing he intended to do her bodily injury  she drew a revolver and shot him.

Olsens remains were sent home to Michigan for burial, according to The Current (Norway, Mich.), Feb. 22, 1913. Headlined Killed on the frontier, the story says Olsen met his death by gunshot wound, but no particulars were given.

The case against Wilson was dismissed Aug. 6, 1913, in criminal court. District Attorney W.C. Lunden said the state had insufficient evidence to prove that a crime had been committed since witnesses had upheld Wilsons claim of self-defense. She was freed and may have left town or changed her name, since she disappears from the city directories.

Was the light in the parlor that night from a flickering gaslight or oil lamp or a swaying, unshaded bulb? And was the porch illuminated when Olsen went down the steps?

STREET LIGHTING: San Antonio readers light not quite a match for famous fixtures

There is a good probability that Hood Street had electricity in 1913, said Catherine Nixon Cooke, author of Powering a City: How Energy and Big Dreams Transformed San Antonio, which includes the history of CPS Energy and its predecessors. In 1909, 2,200 (San Antonio) homes had electric lights, and the East Side, especially near Government Hill, was one of the first neighborhoods beyond downtown to have (electricity).

But if it would be better for your plot not to have electricity in that neighborhood, Cooke said, that is the timeframe when San Antonio really was in transition in terms of electric power, and it was pretty expensive. So maybe this small rental house with a single female tenant didnt have it yet  and maybe some other kind of open-flame lighting is what caused the houses 1911 mishap.

Another fire damaged the residence of two (unnamed) negro women at 313 Hood, says the Light, Dec. 26, 1916. While they were away from the house on Christmas Day, someone set fire to their beds. Though the damage was small, a few months later, the house apparently was torn down, since a classified advertisement gives its address for the sale of salvage lumber and 12 pairs of good shutters.
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A line of thunderstorms moved through San Antonio and across the South Central Texas region overnight, dumping up to 3 inches of rain and causing multiple road closures and power outages in the morning.

But by midday, the sun was shining through the cloud cover and drying up area roads. San Antonians took advantage of the break in weather, hitting the road to take care of shopping and other weekend activities.

Although more rain is on the way, the National Weather Service said the overnight storms were expected to be the worst of it.



As far as the widespread nature of it, it looked like last night was going to be the better shot for widespread amounts of rain, weather service meteorologist Eric Platt said Saturday afternoon.

Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News

Anywhere between 2 and 3 inches of rain fell throughout San Antonio from midnight Friday through 2 p.m. Saturday, according to the weather service. Rainfall counts were lower in the Hill Country, with most areas receiving 1 to 2 inches. Areas east near the towns of Cuero and Gonzalez reported 3 to 4 inches. The weather service said there were isolated reports of 6 inches.

In addition to the rain, there were over 6,900 lightning strikes, CPS Energy reported. Those strikes, combined with strong wind gusts, knocked down over 30 power lines, it said. At least 7,000 CPS customers lost power because of the outages. By the afternoon, CPS crews that had started working overnight had restored power to most of them, leaving about 160 outages affecting fewer than 700 customers, according to the utility's website.

FLOOD WARNINGS: New Braunfels, Comal County send mixed signals about flood sirens as heavy rains approach

The heavy rain also led to flooded roads, leading to calls for high-water rescues and prompting closures of as many as 22 low water crossings, according to Bexarflood.org. The Texas Department of Transportation also reported a handful of closures on the area's interstates in the morning hours.

Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News

There were 24 calls for high-water rescues or investigations Friday night and early Saturday morning, according to San Antonio Fire Department public information officer Joseph Arrington. Most of the calls were related to drivers being stuck in or blocked by standing water. No significant injuries or fatalities were reported.

By midday, about half of the low water crossings had been reopened.

BREAKING NEWS: News travels fast. Keep up with breaking email alerts

In South Texas, a tornado killed at least one person and hospitalized 10 others when it hit the unincorporated community of Laguna Heights near South Padre Island about 4 a.m.

The EF1 tornado caused damage to 40 to 60 homes, according to Cameron County Emergency Management Coordinator Tom Hushen.

An EF1 tornado has wind speeds of 86 to 110 mph, according to the weather service.

The area is about 20 miles northeast of the U.S.-Mexico border at Brownsville and is not prone to tornadic activity, although this spring has been active, weather service meteorologist Angelica Soria said.

Looking ahead, the forecast for the San Antonio area calls for a 60 percent chance of rain through Monday, dropping to 30 percent Monday night, according to the weather service's website. An additional 1 to 2 inches is expected.

The expectation of continued rainfall prompted the weather service to issue a river flood warning for the San Antonio River near Elmendorf through Sunday evening.

Staff writers Ricardo Delgado and Sig Christenson and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Several schools in South Texas were on high alert Friday as a text message that a group of teens were planning shootings at multiple campuses was shared via social media.

The threat  conveyed in a group chat  warned that three homies were planning to visit different schools in Del Rio, Uvalde and Eagle Pass. They threatened to make it a bigger event than the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde nearly one year ago.

READ ALSO: Uvalde families blast Texas GOP after two more mass shootings with AR-15-style rifles

San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District said that law enforcement has been working to investigate the text messages origins.

Unfortunately, as the anniversary of the Uvalde tragedy approaches, we will see more people wanting to scare and disrupt our schools, a statement from the district reads. Please know that we will not dismiss any threat and will ensure our teachers are vigilant and that your students are safe.

A message from Gary Patterson, interim superintendent of Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, shared a similar statement, saying that district is working closely with the Southwest Texas Fusion Center and Texas Department of Public Safety.

I truly regret having to send out these types of notices to our parents. However, it is critical that our parents are informed, even if it turns out to be a hoax, Patterson wrote. We cannot afford to take anything for granted. We expect social media threats to increase as we near our one-year date.

READ ALSO: Uvalde hires new assistant chief to help rebuild police force after school massacre

Both school districts said that whoever sent the messages will face criminal charges if found. They will also have increased patrols on campus.

Officials remind people that if they see something, say something.

Officials with the fusion center, which shares intelligence between law enforcement agencies to aid the response to terroristic activity, said they are aware of the threat and that the FBI and DPS are working with Del Rio police as the threat originated from that area.

READ ALSO: Uvalde superintendent responds to DPS troopers altercation with mother of Robb Elementary victim

Meanwhile, fears have been stoked as far as just west of San Antonio.

In Medina County, Sheriff Randy Brown said the threat was picked up by social media and spread like wildfire.

He said the threat sent a panic through four school districts in Medina Valley, Lytle, DHanis and Devine.

There was never a threat to that area, he said, adding that the department released a message to that effect via Facebook.
A Colorado man who fled to Houston in 2019 after the murder of a 31-year-old woman will serve life in prison after a jury convicted him of the fatal stabbing of a man whose car he took.

Abbas Abdal Abed, 47, was convicted by a jury earlier this month in the stabbing death of Abdulrahman Haris, 29, on Dec. 15, 2019. A state district judge sentenced him to life in prison late Thursday.

Before stabbing Haris, Abed was accused of killing 31-year-old Chelsea Anne Snider at an extended-stay hotel in the Denver suburb of Sheridan, the Harris County District Attorney's Office said in a news release. Snider died from blunt-force trauma and stab wounds, the release said.

The Colorado case is pending and the relationship between Abed and Snider is unclear, the DA's office's release said. According to media reports from Colorado, Abed worked as an Uber driver and Snide was a mother of three who had alleged substance-abuse issues.

After that slaying, Abed fled to Houston because he lived in the city in the past and knew several people, including Haris, the DA's office said The two men were both from Iraq and came to Houston around the same time. Haris settled here, and Abed moved elsewhere.

Prior to the killing, Haris gave Abed some cash and took him to the Wal-Mart at 9460 W. Sam Houston Parkway in southwest Houston, according to the DA's office. Haris was driving a gold Toyota Avalon when Abed stabbed him. Haris pulled over and ran out of the sedan while Abed took the vehicle.

Surveillance video showed Haris exiting the car in the Wal-Mart parking lot and running toward a group of people for help, the DA's office's release said. Haris had been stabbed in the neck and abdomen and later died from his injuries.

Abed was arrested about two weeks later by the Houston Police Department at a west Houston food pantry. The U.S. Marshals Service blanketed that part of town with photos of Abed due to him being wanted for the murder in Colorado. A security guard at the food bank recognized Abed from the flyers and called the police.

Houston is a big and diverse city, and someone on the run may think they can hide out here. But the cohesiveness of our community is our strength, and we will find and prosecute fugitives, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said. It is a tragedy that a young man lost his life because someone he barely knew was trying to escape any responsibility and accountability.
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San Antonio flood map and weather radar

Map: A look at CPS power outages and outages across Texas

NWS issues updates on river flooding warnings

The National Weather Service on Saturday afternoon canceled its flood warning for the Medina River at U.S. 281.

It also scaled back its warning for San Antonio River near Elmendorf. That warning is now in effect through Sunday evening. As of 1:30 p.m., the river was at 34.5 feet, half a foot below its flood stage, according to NWS. Its expected to crest at 39 feet late Saturday evening and then fall back below flood stage by late tomorrow morning.

Storms to continue through Monday

Isolated and scattered showers remain a possibility for the remainder of the day Saturday, according to the NWS. Additional thunderstorms are possible through Monday, though the weather service said it remains difficult to determine where they will occur and how many rounds of rain there will be.

Between 2-3 inches of rain fell throughout San Antonio from midnight Friday to 2 p.m. Saturday. Rainfall counts were lower in the Hill Country, with most areas receiving 1 to 2 inches. Areas east near the towns of Cuero and Gonzalez reported 3 to 4 inches. The weather service said there were isolated reports of 6 inches.

A flood watch still remains in effect through 8 p.m. Saturday.

Tornado kills one, injuries 10 on the Gulf Coast

At least one person was killed after a tornado struck the Gulf Coast town of Laguna Heights early Saturday, according to the Associated Press. At least 10 people were hospitalized, two of which are in critical condition. There are also reports of multiple minor injuries.

The tornado knocked down power lines and damaged between 40-60 homes, officials said. Investigators with the National Weather Service are looking to determine the exact wind and speed of the tornado.

Power still out for some San Antonio residents

Thirteen roads remain closed in Bexar County as of 1:30 p.m., most of them throughout the countys south and west.

CPS online outage map indicates 208 outages within its service area as of 1:30 p.m., affecting 1,884 customers. The 78254 zip code, which includes the southern portion of Helotes and areas to its south and west, sees the most amount of customers affected at 607.

A CPS tweet at 1:04 p.m. reported more than 30 reports of downed powerlines caused by over 6,900 lighting strikes and strong gusts of wind.

River flood warning issued for Medina River

The National Weather Service issued a river flood warning for Medina River at U.S. 281 from Saturday evening into Monday morning. On Saturday, the rivers flood stage was reading at 6.2 feet, but is forecasted to rise to 22.3 feet Sunday morning, the NWS said.

Medina River will fall below its flood stage by Sunday afternoon, the NWS said.

Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News

High-water rescues made last night

SAFD public information officer Joseph Arrington said there were 24 calls for high-water rescues or investigations last night and early this morning.

The specifics of individual calls are uncertain, but there are no current reports of significant injuries or fatalities, according to Arrington. Most calls involved drivers stuck in or blocked off by standing water.

Overnight lightning causes outages across the city, roads still closed

CPS Energy reports 257 active power outages, affecting over 5,400 people throughout San Antonio, as of 10:04 a.m.

CPS said in a tweet that it worked overnight into the morning to resolve outages caused by the storm. Over 6,900 lightning strikes were recorded overnight, causing multiple outages, CPS said.

The largest outages are in the 78210, 78223, 78238 and 78248 ZIP codes, CPS added.

There are currently 18 road closures throughout Bexar County as of 10.02 a.m., according to Bexar Countys flood tracker. Earlier this morning, as many as 22 low water crossings were closed while TxDOT reported four closures due to flooding, including two on U.S. 90.

TxDOT reports that the main lanes of U.S. 90 near General McMullen remained closed as of 8:10 a.m.

Flood warning issued for the San Antonio River

The National Weather Service issued a river flood warning for the San Antonio River near Elmendorf from 11 a.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Tuesday.

As of 7:30 a.m., NWS reports the river stage at 18.7 feet but expects the river to rise above the flood stage Saturday, reaching to 41.2 feet just after midnight.

A secondary rise to 36 feet is possible early Monday afternoon, before falling below flood stage Monday evening.

Thousands without power as storms continue across the San Antonio area

A line of strong thunderstorms moved through San Antonio and across South Central Texas overnight dumping anywhere between 1 to 3 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service.

The weather service predicts heavy rain in San Antonio and across much of South Central Texas through the weekend. A total of between 3 and 6 inches of rain is possible along the Interstate 35 corridor and west to the Rio Grande from tonight through Saturday.

As of 7:40 a.m., 7,302 CPS customers were without power.

The NWS said its difficult to pinpoint the exact timing and location of the next rounds of storms forecast for the area though the rains could cause flooding, especially in low-lying areas and low water crossings.

A flood watch remains in effect for all of Bexar County through tonight. Drivers should be wary of low water crossings and the NWS advises people not to drive through flooded areas.

There were 22 roads currently closed, including several portions of highways, according to TxDOT San Antonio and Bexar County.
A bill that would ban race-based hair discrimination in Texas workplaces, schools and housing policies is headed to the governor after the Senate approved the bill. Texas would become the latest state to enact the law in a movement that was inspired by the experiences of two students near Houston who were told to cut their hair or be disciplined.

Senators voted 29-1 Friday to send House Bill 567, by Democratic Rep. Rhetta Bowers of Rowlett, to Gov. Greg Abbott. A gubernatorial spokesperson did not immediately respond to an inquiry about whether the governor supports the bill.

The bill mostly cruised through the legislative track after not getting a full chamber vote in the House during the 87th legislative session in 2021. This year, a House committee sent it to the full chamber nearly unanimously before representatives in the lower chamber overwhelmingly sent it to the Senate in April.

Versions of the legislation, called the CROWN Act  an acronym for Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair  have been adopted throughout the country as well as in Harris County, the states most populous, and the city of Austin. In San Antonio, District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez has filed a proposal for the council to consider.

During a May 9 hearing before the Senates State Affairs Committee, a series of witnesses testified about how they had experienced the race-based hair discrimination that the bill seeks to prohibit in the states education, labor and property codes.

Adjoa B. Asamoah, who co-founded a coalition that champions the CROWN Act, told committee members she conceptualized the law in 2018 to tackle this type of discrimination. She said she had put in work for many years, even before the case of the young men near Houston drew the attention of mainstream media to the problem.

Preserving and protecting peoples civil, human and individual rights requires a thoughtful and intentional and collective approach, Asamoah testified. It impacts the upward mobility of individuals and families, and it has been the reason far too many children have missed school or had negative educational experiences.

Asamoah added, This issue warrants a legislative fix  the CROWN Act is exactly that.

Enacting the proposal would ensure that all students get a fair chance to be learning in a classroom and not be suspended because of how they wear their hair, State Board of Education member Aicha Davis, who represents Dallas and Tarrant counties, told the committee.

There are students who arent even able to enroll in a Texas (school system) because of their natural hair, Davis said. Please make sure another one of our students doesnt face this kind discrimination by passing the CROWN Act.

DeAndre Arnold and his cousin can attest to the impact the discrimination can have on school-age youth. The two were told by administrators at Barbers Hill Independent School District in Mont Belvieu, east of Houston, to cut their long locs or be disciplined.

Both refused and sued the school district over its dress code in a matter that is not yet resolved.

We have to show that theres no room in society for people that are unaccepting of others and demonize others for the way they tend to live their lives, Arnold, a junior at Louisiana State University, said in an interview earlier this year. Legislation like this kind of tells people, Its OK to be how you are; be happy who you are; be proud.
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The Texas House moved Friday to bar transgender care for minors, clearing a path for the state to join more than a dozen others in cracking down on access as part of a wave of conservative-led, anti-LGBTQ measures.

Senate Bill 14 would prohibit doctors from prescribing transition medications like puberty blockers or from performing surgeries on minors diagnosed with psychological distress about their gender identity. It passed easily, mostly along party lines, and is expected to get through the Senate, which already approved a similar version, en route to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk.

BACKGROUND: Texas Republicans likely have the votes to outlaw transgender care for minors

Republicans have questioned the research behind the interventions and warned that the risks are too high for parents to make what can amount to life-altering medical decisions for their children.

"Let's send a message to millions of Texans that in this building, we will protect Texas children," said Rep. Tony Tinderholt, an Arlington Republican.

The measure will need another, mostly ceremonial vote in the House before it moves on to the Senate and to Abbott, a Republican. The governor has not listed the ban as a priority this year but is still expected to sign it.

Friday's vote capped a remarkable turnaround from the last legislative session, in 2021, when the same measure failed to garner enough support among the chamber's more moderate Republicans. Since then, party leaders have targeted transgender issues nationally, and at least 18 GOP-led states have passed similar bans in recent months.

Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News

LGBTQ rights advocates have denounced the proposal as discriminatory and said it would endanger the mental and physical wellbeing of already-at-risk transgender youth. The decisions should be left to physicians and their patients and patients' families, they say.

Puberty blockers and hormone therapy are common treatments for transgender youth, while surgeries are extremely rare. Their use is supported by every major medical association in the U.S.

Democrats were able to delay two attempts at a vote earlier this month, but failed to force any eleventh-hour delays on Friday as the Republican majority moved quickly to take up the bill in advance of Mother's Day weekend. Republicans voted down 19 Democratic amendments, including one that would allow patients to go on the medications if they had five doctors approval, plus the sign-off of a newly created panel of experts.

EXPLAINED: What would SB14 mean for transgender Texas kids? Implications for hormone therapy, surgery and more.

"This legislation is creating a prison and encaging these people in them," said Rep. Christian Manuel, a Beaumont Democrat who is openly gay. "They are not asking you to stand with them at a parade. They are not asking you to change your religion. They're not asking you to agree with them. They're asking you to give them their parental rights."

On top of the restrictions, SB 14 would force the Texas Medical Board to revoke physician licenses to those who violate the ban, and it would prohibit taxpayer funds from being used for transgender health care or from going to any person or entity that provides or facilitates the treatment.

Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News

The ban on access would exempt people who are intersex or have precocious puberty or any genetic disorder or condition affecting their sex or gender.

Before the vote Friday, supporters of the legislation gathered inside the state Capitol wearing red shirts with the message, Save Texas Kids. Opponents gave speeches outside the House chamber, reading letters from transgender kids and their parents.

Rep. Josey Garcia, D-San Antonio, who is openly bisexual, told protesters that free countries dont ban human rights.

Weve literally gone to other countries to fight against the very human rights violations that were starting to witness on our own land, Garcia said about veterans like herself. This is an atrocity.

Houston Democratic state Rep. Shawn Thierry broke with her party and voted for the measure. In a speech to members, she compared the bill to age limits on tanning booths, tattoos and cigarettes.

These policies and regulations are in place because we recognize that children should be protected from actions and activities which are harmful, health risks or have lifelong consequences, she said. This same logic must also apply when approaching the very complex issue of treating gender dysphoria in children.

Recent public polling has shown that most Texans and Americans oppose transgender medical care that goes beyond counseling or therapy. A Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll last week found that 68 percent of Americans oppose the use of puberty blockers on 10- to 14-year-olds, and 58 percent oppose the use of hormone therapy. Critics have noted that the survey was done before most states enacted their bans.

CONTEXT: 41% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered suicide in 2022, new survey finds

Less than half said they personally knew someone who is transgender, the poll found, mirroring the results of polls in the 90s that asked the same about gay or lesbian people.

Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News

In April, the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin found that 58 percent of Texans support prohibiting doctors from providing gender-affirming care to minors.

Republican lawmakers have pushed several other measures this session that target the LGBTQ community, including bills to restrict transgender athletes from playing on teams that align with their gender identity, to prohibit children from attending drag shows and to limit what can be taught in schools on LGBTQ issues.

A study released this month from the Trevor Project, which works on suicide prevention for LGBTQ youth, found that half of transgender and nonbinary children in the U.S. seriously considered suicide in the past year. A third of LGBTQ youth said their mental health is poor all or most of the time, citing discriminatory policies and legislation.

Families of transgender children have been scrambling over the past year to pursue out-of-state care if they can afford it, or to move out of Texas altogether. Much of that began when Abbott ordered child welfare officials to begin investigating families that seek out the health care for child abuse. The policy is currently paused in the courts.

Unlike the Senate's version of SB 14, the House's allows underage patients who are currently using puberty blockers and other transition medications a period of time to wean off of them in a way that is safe and medically appropriate. House and Senate members would need to hash out any differences before the bill can officially head to the governor.

The ACLU of Texas, which opposes the measure, has said it is reviewing its options should SB 14 become law in Texas.

Our fight does not end when the Legislature gavels out, said Ash Hall, the groups policy and advocacy strategist on LGBTQIA+ rights, during a speech at the Capitol last week. If and when Gov. Abbott signs this bill, we are looking into every possible legal option for this fight moving forward.

taylor.goldenstein@houstonchronicle.com
Fairfield, MT (59436)

Today

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 44F. ESE winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 44F. ESE winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph.
William Harris in Jacobin:

One day in the mid-70s on an air force base in flattest, dullest Norfolk, England, an African-American airmen shared some of his deep Southern blues records with a young, white English boy named Ian Penman. The meeting was more or less random, occasioned by the drift and cloistered openness of Royal Air Force family life; the music, rough and transporting, was more or less transformational. Up until then, the great love of Penmans life was painting. Like many working-class teens in the punk and post-punk years, he appeared bound for art school. But suddenly music took the lead.

He found a record store run by a soul aficionado in the drowsy port town of Kings Lynn and fashioned a lifelong love for black American music, pop, and its subcultural tangents more generally. The sound of punk left him cold, but the cultures radicalism lured him. Before long hed given up on art school and begun writing for the popular music magazine that rode the postwar waves of succeeding rock styles to new heights: the New Musical Express or NME.

For some of the magazines historians and fans, Penmans entrance marked the beginning of its downfall: the papers finger slipping from post-punks pulse and embracing instead an overly intellectual navel-gazing. For others, he was the greatest writer from the magazines greatest era, the vanishing, too-good-to-be-true years in the early English 80s when socialist politics, French theory, and novel reveries in pop music all seemed to linger on the same corner, and to play off each other in the tossed-off pages of the same daring magazine.

More here.
Jamie Foxx has been out of hospital "for weeks".

Jamie Foxx is out of hospital following his health scare

The Oscar-winning star was hospitalised back in April because of a medical complication - but his daughter Corinne has taken to social media to reveal that he's now out of hospital.

Corinne, 29, wrote on Instagram: "My Dad has been out of the hospital for weeks, recuperating. (sic)"

Corinne revealed that the 55-year-old actor recently played a game of pickleball, and she also thanked fans for their support over recent weeks.

Speaking to fans via Instsgram, she said: "Thanks for everyone's prayers and support! We have an exciting work announcement coming next week too!"

Corinne made the comments following a recent wave of speculation about her dad's health.

Earlier this month, Jamie took to social media to thank fans for their support.

However, he didn't mention anything about leaving hospital.

The Hollywood star wrote on Instagram: "Appreciate all the love!!! Feeling blessed [prayer and heart emojis] (sic)"

Corinne also shared the post on her own Instagram page.

She captioned the post: "Thanks for the love!"

In April, Corinne announced that her dad was suffering from a medical complication.

However, little else has been shared about his health over recent weeks.

In a statement written on behalf of her family, Corinne explained: "We wanted to share that my father, Jamie Foxx, experienced a medical complication yesterday.

"Luckily, due to quick action and great care, he is already on his way to recovery. We know how beloved he is and appreciate your prayers. The family asks for privacy during this time."

Jamie suffered the issue while he was working on the Netflix movie 'Back in Action', which also stars Cameron Diaz and Glenn Close.

The actor was last seen on the set on April 10.
Haley Lu Richardson remembers "freaking out" during her first meeting with the Jonas Brothers.

Haley Lu Richardson is a huge fan of the Jonas Brothers

The 28-year-old actress stars in the group's 'Wings' music video, and Haley Lu admits that working with Nick, Joe and Kevin was a long-time ambition.

The 'White Lotus' star told PEOPLE: "The first time I met the Jonas Brothers was when I was 12, and somehow my parents finagled me into getting a meet and greet pass. I don't know how, but they did it.

"It was a dream come true. My mom came with me. I was at their concert in Irvine, and so we drove to California for this concert because I grew up in Arizona, and I waited in line for a couple of hours before their concert started.

"Then, I got to meet them and take a picture with them. I don't remember if they let me hug them, but I think I said hi and was just freaking out and peeing my pants.

"Unfortunately, I had braces and a unibrow, so that was not the hottest face of my life but, internally, it was a beautiful moment."

Haley Lu remains in awe of the brothers, and she's confessed to being overcome with emotion during a recent encounter in Las Vegas.

The actress shared: "I don't have braces and a full-on unibrow now but, weirdly, the picture that I took with them at their [recent Las] Vegas concert, I look so bad because I'm just smiling and crying so hard that my face is contorted.

"It almost looks painful because I'm so happy. I've yet to have a picture of me and them where I look actually really good."
Cambodia's apparel exports decreased by 25.17 per cent to $2,149.556 million in the first four months of 2023, accounting for 29.7 per cent of its total foreign income of $7,234.123 million during the period, according to general department of customs and excise (GDCE) under ministry of economy and finance. This represents a significant drop from last year when the country's apparel exports increased by 12.69 per cent to $9.035 billion.

During the period under review, Cambodia's exports of apparel and clothing accessories (knitted) (Chapter 61) were $1,394.829 million, 28.5 per cent lower than the exports worth $1,950.406 million during the corresponding period of 2022. The country's exports of apparel and clothing accessories (not knitted) (Chapter 62) dropped by 18.1 per cent to $754.727 million. In January-April 2022, the country exported apparel worth $922.059 million in this category. The decline in shipments reflects sluggish demand in the global market.

In April 2023, Cambodia's apparel exports declined by 32.65 per cent to $494.924 million compared to the shipment of $735.35 million in the corresponding month of 2022. The shipment of apparel and clothing accessories (knitted) slipped 31.8 per cent to $347.692 million from $510.021 million during the same period last year. The exports of apparel and clothing accessories (not knitted) dropped by 8 per cent to $147.232 million in April 2023.

Cambodia's apparel exports fell by 25.17 per cent to $2.149 billion in the first four months of 2023, making up 29.7 per cent of the country's total foreign income. This reflects a significant decrease from the previous year when apparel exports grew by 12.69 per cent. The exports of both knitted and non-knitted clothing accessories also saw declines.

As for imports, the country's knitted or crocheted fabric (Chapter 60) imports during January-April 2023 were valued at $825.029 million, 23 per cent lower than the imports worth $1,071.746 million in the same period of 2022. Manmade fibre (Chapter 55) imports declined by 17.4 per cent to $368.305 million, against $445.961 million in the same period of 2022. Cotton and cotton yarn (Chapter 52) imports slipped 0.7 per cent to reach $175.130 million during the period under review, compared to $176.411 million in the same period of 2022.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)
News About Priyanka Chopra: Priyanka Chopra is one of the most bold and outspoken actresses. She has never shied away from expressing her views and opinions about things, and she has been very frank about her personal life as well.

PeeCee recently discussed sex and relationships in an interview for her upcoming Hollywood film "Love Again," which also stars Sam Heughan. The actress went all candid and opened up about her sexual preference, spilling some beans on her sex life and relationships.

PRIYANKA CHOPRA'S SHOCKING REVELATIONS ON SEX AND RELATIONSHIPS

Global icon Priyanka Chopra Jonas recently graced the late night talk show "Watch What Happens With Andy Cohen," wherein she answered some provocative and juicy questions. The diva attended the show with her Love Again co-star Sam Heughan.

Both actors played the BFF test, where they were asked to react to having sex on the first date, to which Priyanka and Sam responded, saying, "It's fine by me." Further, when the host asked the stars what they would choose between giving up oral sex or cheese for the rest of their lives, the desi girl humorously replied, "I just like the positioning of oral sex with cheese."

Parineeti-Raghav Engagement: Priyanka Gets ANNOYED As Fans Push Security To Take Selfies With Her. Watch

On the other hand, Sam said he would give up cheese over oral sex. Both said that it is acceptable to provide a false number to someone when there is no romantic interest in that individual.

Moreover, when Priyanka Chopra and Sam Heughan were asked by the host if they approve of maintaining a close bond with an ex-partner while being in a new romantic relationship with someone else. While Priyanka expressed her disapproval and called it "not cool," Sam shared that it is "normal."

Lately, Priyanka Chopra has been making some explosive revelations about her personal life. In a new podcast, she revealed that during the shoot of Quantico, she was dating someone and stated that her Quantico co-stars hated her ex-boyfriend because she was "always crying" in that relationship. She also revealed that her Quantico co-star Graham Rogers had asked her to meet Nick Jonas at that time. She revealed it on Alex Cooper's podcast, Call Her Daddy.

Priyanka Chopra To Fly Down For Parineeti Chopra-Raghav Chadhas Engagement In Delhi? Heres What We Know

Priyanka, on the work front, was recently seen in the web series Citadel and is also making her Bollywood comeback with Alia Bhatt and Katrina Kaif in Farhan Akhtar's Jee Le Zaraa.
International Family Day 2023: Family is where life begins and love never ends. The bond between family members is unbreakable, and it is the foundation of our existence. This International Family Day, celebrate the joys and sorrows of family life with some of the best family drama web series out there. Whether it is laughter, tears, or just a reminder of the importance of family, these shows offer something for everyone.

From the chaos of a dysfunctional family to the heartwarming moments of a loving one, these shows will take you on an emotional rollercoaster that will leave you wanting more. So, grab your loved ones, and get ready for a binge session that celebrates the complexities and beauty of family life.

Happy Family: Conditions Apply

If you're looking for a light-hearted yet relatable watch, then you cannot miss Happy Family: Conditions Apply. The Prime Video series is for anyone who wants to experience the chaotic yet endearing dynamics of a multi-generational family. The series is a perfect mix of traditional and modern values, and showcases the dysfunctional yet lovable Dholakia family. With Ratna Pathak Shah, Raj Babbar, Atul Kulkarni and Ayesha Jhulka in lead roles, the series promises to tickle your funny bone with their high-spirited personalities and inimitable idiosyncrasies. It's a relatable story that shows how families can be complicated and yet, there is a bond that brings them together. With its hilarious situations and quirky characters, Happy Family is sure to bring a smile on your face and remind you that despite the chaos, there is nothing more important than family.

Superstar Papa

Immerse yourself in the captivating audio series Superstar Papa on Pocket FM this Family Day. Join Rahul, a college graduate whose life takes an unexpected turn when he encounters a 4-year-old girl who claims to be his daughter. This heartwarming and compelling story explores Rahul's journey as he faces the ultimate question: Will he accept her as his own? As you follow Rahul's transformation from zero to hero, you'll be enthralled by the challenges, sacrifices, and triumphs he experiences along the way. With its powerful narrative and relatable characters, Superstar Papa is a must-listen for everyone seeking an emotional and inspiring tale of love, family, and personal growth.

Gullak

This International Family Day, Gullak on SonyLiv is a must-watch for all those who want to experience a rollercoaster of emotions with their loved ones. With a relatable storyline and brilliant performances by the cast, the show will take you on a nostalgic journey of family dynamics and daily struggles of a middle-class household. The series revolves around the Mishra family, comprising Santosh and Shanti Mishra and their sons Anand 'Annu' Mishra and Aman Mishra and features Jameel Khan, Geetanjali Kulkarni, Vaibhav Raj Gupta and Harsh Mayar the lead roles, with Sunita Rajwar as their neighbor. The humorous anecdotes and heartwarming moments shared by the Mishra family will leave you with a sense of warmth and belonging. Gullak is not just a show, but a reflection of our own families, and how even in the midst of chaos, there is love and laughter.

Ghar Wapsi

Ghar Wapsi is a heartwarming family drama that explores the meaning of family and self-discovery. The series follows Shekhar, played by Vishal Vashishtha, who returns to his hometown of Indore after losing his job in Bengaluru. He hides this truth from his family and finds himself on a journey of self-discovery. The Dwivedis, a middle-class family of five, are portrayed with a loving mother, jovial father, reckless young brother, and chulbuli sister. However, things take a turn when Shekhar's truth is revealed, leading to chaos and turmoil in the family. As Shekhar reconnects with his family, he also rediscovers his entrepreneurial calling. Ghar Wapsi is a must-watch, this International Family Day for its relatable portrayal of family dynamics and emotional journey of self-discovery.

Goti Soda Season 3

Goti Soda Season 3 on ShemarooMe is a must-watch this International Family Day for anyone who loves a good family comedy. The series is centered around Praful, also known as Pappu, a simple man who just wants to enjoy his morning tea in peace. However, his dysfunctional family constantly creates chaos in his life. Season 3 delves even deeper into the troubles caused by his family and how he copes with them. With seasoned actor Sanjay Goradia in the lead and a talented supporting cast of popular Gujarati artists, the show promises to be a hilarious and heartwarming watch. If you're looking for a light-hearted and entertaining show to watch with your family, then Goti Soda Season 3 is the perfect choice.

Over Priced Pyaar

Brace yourself for an unforgettable Family Day celebration with an enthralling audio series that will leave you on the edge of your seat. Experience the captivating story of Akshay Oberoi, a wealthy heir living a double life as an ordinary man in his wife Roshni's family. Over Priced Pyaar on Pocket FM will immerse you in a world of secrets and deception. Will Roshni ever unravel the truth about Akshay, despite her relentless pursuit? Prepare for a rollercoaster ride of suspense, drama, and unexpected revelations.

The Great Indian Dysfunctional Family

Dive into the dysfunctional yet relatable world of The Great Indian Dysfunctional Family on ALTBalaji. Starring Kay Kay Menon and Barun Sobti in the lead roles, the show explores the complex relationships between two brothers and their families. Samar Ranaut, Vikram Ranaut's estranged brother, returns home with his wife after 8 years of being away from both the army and family. The show portrays an unusual family reunion that leads to heartbreaks, betrayals, and emotional breakdowns, challenging the trust in every relationship. The Great Indian Dysfunctional Family is a gripping drama that delves into the complicated dynamics of family and leaves you with a sense of realization about the importance of family bonds. With excellent performances and a captivating storyline, this show is a must-watch on International Family Day for those looking for a fresh and engaging family drama.
Anu Warns Sagar Not To Deceive Nadira: The audience's favourite show, Bigg Boss Malayalam season 5, is nearing its fiftieth day. The show goes through new developments to keep the audience excited. Now the show is going ahead with the twists in 'Love Tracks'. Last day, Nadira shocked the audience and revealed her love for Sagar. Nadira had already told Junaiz about this.

Bigg Boss Malayalam Season 5: Junaiz Confesses His LOVE For Cerena And Says He 'Didn't Want To Hide It'

Meanwhile, Junaiz has revealed his crush on Cerena to her best friend, Reneesha. In the previous episode, Cerena and Junaiz were seen in the bedroom area, where they were having a private talk. During the conversation, Junaiz confesses to Cerena that he loves her. She emphasised, though, that she has no such feelings for him.

While Nadira expressed her love for Sagar, she said that she doesn't force him to reciprocate the love, but she will continue to be the same. However, Sagar emphasised that she is special to him, but not in a romantic sense.

Bigg Boss Malayalam 5: New Captain In The Bigg Boss House, Will The 'Khal Nayak' Reign Over Others?

After that, Anu was seen discussing with Nadira about Sagar. She cautioned Nadira against losing and hurting herself. Later, Anu went to Sagar and asked him not to deceive Nadira and hurt her feelings. She also says that it will affect him badly.

Late at night, Sagar and Junaiz were seen talking about Nadira's passion for the latter. Junaiz asked Sagar to make it plain to Nadira that he has no desire to be romantically involved with her.

Jude Anthany Says Controversies Are Closed Chapters; Reveals About The OTT Release Of '2018'

Later, Junaiz, Sagar, and Nadira sat down together to talk about the same. Sagar and Nadira are annoyed as Junaiz misinterprets what they say during the chat. When Junaiz questioned Nadira about whether it was her game plan, Nadira said that it had hurt her feelings.
Kamal Haasan With Rahul Gandhi Photo Credit: Twitter

Veteran actor-producer-politician Kamal Haasan, who never dodges any question and is straightforward about his opinions whether politics or anything, has expressed happiness over the results of the Karnataka elections.

The actor, extended support to the Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, during his extensive walkathon event ahead of the general elections in Karnataka. The actor made it a point to show support by walking together with Rahul Gandhi, to show his support.

In light of the election results where Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP) lost to Indian National Congress (INC), Kamal Haasan took to his social media handles to congratulate Rahul Gandhi and compared him to Mahatma Gandhi, who walked his way into peoples' hearts.

Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan posted a picture of him with Rahul Gandhi clicked during the latter's Walkathon. He wrote a very long caption that reads, "Shri @RahulGandhi ji, Heartiest Congratulations for this significant victory!

Just as Gandhiji, you walked your way into peoples hearts and as he did you demonstrated that in your gentle way you can shake the powers of the world -with love and humility. Your credible and creditable approach, without bravado or chest thumping has ushered a breath of fresh air for the people.

You trusted the people of Karnataka to reject divisiveness, who in turn have unitedly reciprocated by placing their faith in you. Kudos for not just the victory but also for the manner of victory!" (sic)

Meanwhile, noted actor-producer Prakash Raj, who has worked towards sensitizing the people of Karnataka about negative aspects and impact of the NDA government earlier has also breathed a sigh of relief with Congress winning the elections.

He publicly mentioned actor Kichcha Sudeep that he expected better from an educated and responsible person like him, when Sudeep extended his support to the BJP party.

Kamal Haasan's Work Front

The veteran actor has been working with unprecedented enthusiasm after the tremendous success of Vikram. He is now filming for the much-awaited sequel of the movie Indian, titled Indian 2 under the direction of Shankar Shanmugam. The film stars Kajal Aggarwal, Rakul Preet Singh, and Siddharth among others as key characters.
Manobala's death: The demise of Tamil actor Manobala sent shockwaves across Tamil Nadu. Earlier this month, Manobala breathed his last after suffering a chest pain and liver-related ailments. Though it has been about two weeks since he passed away, news articles and throwback moments about him are keeping on coming.

Manobala's letter: Now, a handwritten letter of Manobala has surfaced online, in which he has penned an emotional message to his dear friend, Chithra Lakshmanan. The letter shows how they both were close friends and how Manobala shared his deep feelings with Chithra Lakshmanan.

Take a look at what he wrote in the letter: "Dear Chitra, we haven't talked much... and neither of us have crossed the limits. I don't know why. I entered the industry wanting to achieve something. But what is this Chitra, everything is stumbling, why is it like this? I don't understand anything in the world. Maybe it's my fault? I honestly don't know where I've gone wrong, Chithra. But it looks like we'll get there. The question is when?"

This letter is now making the rounds on social media as fans are sharing it from the fond memories that have associated with Manobala and the situation he was going through when he penned the letter. Manobala, who had a very bad habit of excessive smoking, had liver and lung related ailments for a long time.

After his demise, several fans and celebrities offered condolences to his family members. Actors Vijay and Udhayanidhi Stalin visited his residence and offered their homage to him. Other actors inclucing Bharathiraja, Ilaiyaraja, and Rajinikanth have also offered their condolences on social media. Manobala is survived by his wife Usha and son Harish. His son met the press and addressed the media following Manobala's death, saying that the demise was an unexpected one, and they all thought that he would recover.
Paruthiveeran Saravanan Divorce Issue: Paruthiveeran Saravanan's wife has filed a police complaint against the actor saying that he is living with another girl without giving her a divorce. She also said that the house belongs to her.

90s Hero Saravanan

Saravanan, who acted as a hero in many Tamil films in the 90s, later started acting in character roles. Aamir's Paruthiveeran was a breakthrough for Saravanan, who earlier played a prominent role in Suriya's Nandha after a long gap, directed by Bala.

Saravanan, who participated in Bigg Boss season 3, was evicted mid-way due to inappropriate comments he made on the show. His last year's film 'Gargi', garnered praise for his important role. Currently, he is acting in Jailer with Rajinikanth directed by Nelson Dhilipkumar.

Petition To Minister

In this situation, he approached Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises Department Tha Mo Anbarasan, filed a petition and sought help, saying that the car parking space allotted to him is being usurped in an apartment in Mughalivakkam area near Chennai and no action has been taken for six months on the complaint filed in Porur.

Saravanan's Wife Police Complaint

After this, Surya Sri, wife of actor Saravanan, filed a complaint in the chief secretariat in the chief minister's department. Later she met and spoke to the media. She mentioned that actor Saravanan asked his wife to move out of the house which they bought by selling her jewelery. She also said that Saravanan is living with another woman after Bigg Boss.

"He fell in love with me and married me. He had nothing before the Paruthiveeran. I earned and took care of him. He is currently living with another woman without giving me a divorce. He had no stake in the place of Mughalivakkam.

I bought the house in his name with the money I earned. That was my fault. I am paying EMI for this house loan. If I have any problem, Saravanan is the reason and now my life is not safe" says Surya Sri.
Tunisha Sharma Bhajanlal Studios Fire: The film studio named Bhajanlal Studios in Mumbai, which came into the news after television actress Tunisha Sharma was found dead in December 2022, was razed by fire on Friday night. The studio is situated on the city's outskirts in Maharashtra's Palghar district in Vasai.

A FIRE BROKE OUT AT BHAJANLAL STUDIOS WHERE TUNISHA SHARMA DIED

A massive fire broke out in Bhajanlal Studios on Saturday around 4 a.m., fire brigade officials said. The cause of the fire is not known yet. It was at Bhajanlal Studios that 21-year-old TV actress Tunisha Sharma was found hanging in a washroom on the sets of her TV serial Ali Baba: Dastaan-E-Kabul last December.

In December 2022, Tunisha was found dead on the sets of her show 'Ali Baba: Dastaan-E-Kabul', which is located at Bhajanlal Studios in Vasai. As per reports, she hung herself inside her makeup room. The fire spread like wildfire, causing huge damage to the sets and other property that were built at the studio, according to PTI.

Sheezan Khan Shares An Unseen Pic With Tunisha Sharma With An Emotinal Note; Says 'Tujhe Khone Ka Gham

It was a challenging task to control the fire, and it was only in the early hours of Saturday that the fire was finally extinguished. Fortunately, there have been no reports of injuries from the set. However, neither the studio owners nor the makers of 'Ali Baba: Dastaan-E-Kabul' have released an official statement yet.

TUNISHA SHARMA SUICIDE CASE

Soon after Tunisha Sharma was found dead on the sets, the actress was rushed to the hospital, where she was declared dead on arrival. Later, on the complaint of Tunsha's mother, her Ali Bab co-star and ex-boyfriend Sheezan Khan was arrested on the allegation of abetting the actress' suicide.

Tunisha's mother claimed that her daughter had caught Sheezan cheating on her and also stated that his family tried to convert her to Islam. As per reports, Tunisha was in depression after her separation from Sheezan, 15 days before her tragic demise.

'If She Was Alive...', Sheezan Khan Says He Misses Tunisha Sharma After Being Released From Jail On Bail

After spending two months in prison, Sheean was released on March 5 on bail. Sheezan will continue to fight the case. Currently, he is in South Africa to take part in the reality show 'Khatron Ke Khiladi 13'.
Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah Controversy: Jennifer Mistry, the Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah actress who accused the show's producer Asit Kumarr Modi and two others of sexual and mental harassment has now spoken out against Mandar Chandwadkar, the actor who plays the role of Atmaram Tukaram Bhide on the show.

The actress claims that Mandar, who recently refuted her co-star's claim of the set being "male chauvinist", will do anything to defend Modi and follow the producer's commands.

JENNIFER MISTRY ANGRY WITH TAARAK MEHTA KA OOLTAH CHASHMAH CO-ACTOR

In a new interview, the Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah actress criticized Mandar for supporting Modi and stated that as a man, he should not be supporting another man. She also shared that one of her co-stars on the show was shocked to learn of Mandar's support for Modi.

The actress told News18.com, "He (Mandar) is a male too. What will he say when he himself is a male? He will do whatever Asit Kumarr Modi will tell him. Anything. The co-star who called me yesterday also abused Mandar for over 45 minutes. 'Sa**a yeh kaise palat gaya'. I told him, 'I do not care'. Let him do whatever he wants to do. I do not care. Everyone knows why he is with Asit Kumarr Modi. He works only as per Asit Kumarr Modi."

EVERYTHING ABOUT TAARAK MEHTA KA OOLTAH CHASHMAH CONTROVERSY

After the actress accused Modi of sexual and mental harassment, he denied the allegations, calling them baseless. He stated in a statement that he will take legal action against the actress for trying to defame him as well as the show. As per the producer, since he terminated her services, she is making these baseless allegations.

The Mumbai police has launched an investigation, and an FIR will be filed after those named in the complaint record their statements.

The actress also mentioned that other co-stars asked her not to file a complaint as it could affect their livelihoods, but she replied, "Whatever is happening is because of the producer's action."

Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, which first aired in 2008, is one of the longest-running sitcoms in Indian television history.

Keep watching this space for more updates!
A New Partnership between Hellenic Defence Systems (EAS) and Global Aerospace and Technology company, Paramount Presents Game-Changer for Greek UAV Market

ATHENS, Greece, May 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Greek state defence company, Hellenic Defence Systems (EAS) and Paramount Industries Greece have signed a strategic partnership for the local production of next generation, long-range loitering munitions, in a significant move to embolden the Greek defence industry's indigenous manufacturing capabilities.





The joint statement, made on the first day of the Defence Exhibition in Athens (DEFEA 2023), comes at a time when the Greek industry is re-developing and enhancing its indigenous defence and aerospace capabilities.

The loitering munition system called 'IRIX' (the name Greek poet Homer used to describe hawks) is poised to make history as the first loitering munitions produced in Greece, while also establishing itself as one of the most advanced and long range loitering munitions produced in Europe.

The agreement provides for the manufacturing of internationally competitive long-range loitering munitions in Greece, that will serve both the Greek market and be available for export to international customers.

Hellenic Defence Systems (EAS), the leading Greek state defence company, serves as a strategic partner of some of the largest companies in the international defence industry, with a storied 140 years-strong tradition of designing, developing, manufacturing and supplying the Greek Armed Forces with NATO-type defense systems. The Hellenic Ministry of Finance is the main shareholder and the company is supervised by the Ministry of National Defence.

Nikolaos Kostopoulos, CEO of Hellenic Defence Systems (EAS) stated, "We are very excited to be going into production, in Greece, with one of the world's most advanced long-range loitering munitions. In Paramount we have found an ideal strategic partner, recognised as one of the pioneers in the loitering munitions industry.

"EAS and Paramount have jointly developed an innovative and advanced product, specifically designed for the Greek market, called IRIX. This is a light house project for the redevelopment and enhancement of the Greek defence industry, which we are immensely proud of."

IRIX is based on Paramount's highly-advanced N-Raven unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology. The N-Raven has been digitally designed with quick transfer of technology in mind, to enable governments to manufacture the loitering munitions trechnologies in their countries.

The partnership will include the transfer of technology and skills for the local co-production of IRIX and also EAS' ongoing participation in the continued research and development (R&D) of future upgrades for the IRIX system.

Steve Griessel, Paramount Global CEO stated: "We are privileged to be one of EAS' global partners of choice, leveraging our decades of unmanned aerial innovation and portable production expertise to jointly develop and produce the IRIX in Greece. At Paramount we believe that true partnerships and innovation mean that we design and produce technologically advanced, affordable and highly customisable solutions together with our partners."

The companies further announced that the involvement of other Greek companies in the supply chain for the production of the system will be encouraged, in order to achieve greater participation of, and autonomy for the Greek Defence Industry.

IRIX is a robust yet cost-effective unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and loitering munition system, designed to strengthen armed forces' aerial reconnaissance, engagement, and precision strike proficiencies, addressing modern-day requirements for both asymmetrical and symmetrical warfare operational capability. The platform offers operational commanders with real-time actionable intelligence and from it, the ability to strike high-value targets deep within enemy territory or to deny the enemy use of operationally essential terrain.

George Kyriakos, CEO of Paramount Industries Greece stated: "The role of loitering munitions on the modern battlefield has steadily increased, as seen in recent conflicts taking place all around the world. These socioeconomic ramifications have made ensuring security of supply of any nation's defence technologies and capabilities, a prerequisite to stability and growth.

"The partnership between Paramount Industries Greece and Hellenic Defence Systems will provide a powerful solution for the growing need for advanced and precise loitering munitions, enhancing Greece's defense capabilities as well as NATO and European defence capabilities. Importantly, also boosting our local industry and creating high tech opportunities and skilled jobs in the local market." he concluded.

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Hellenic Defence Systems (EAS)

Hellenic Defence Systems (EAS), is the leading Greek state defence company, serving as a strategic partner of some of the largest companies in the international defence industry, with a storied 140 years-strong tradition of designing, developing, manufacturing and supplying the Greek Armed Forces with NATO-type defense systems. The Hellenic Ministry of Finance is the main shareholder and the company is supervised by the Ministry of National Defence.

About Paramount

Paramount is a leading global aerospace and defence technology company with a 29-year track record of developing solutions in challenging environments. Paramount is committed to enabling governments to defend their countries, protect territorial sovereignty, and maintain peace and stability to support and protect their resources and citizens.

Paramount creates independent, indigenous defence industrial capability by establishing capabilities for governments through licensing its IP developed over 29 years, transferring technology to them, and implementing quick remote manufacturing in their countries.

The company has established its best-of-breed strategic partnership programme to further broaden its solutions to the governments with whom it partners. Paramount currently trades in 25 countries and has built defence capabilities in every continent of the globe.

For Press Inquiries: Nico De Klerk, Nico.DeKlerk@ParamountGroup.com, +27769810939; Sam Amsterdam, SamuelAmsterdam@GMail.com, +1 (202) 910-8349

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2075078/Paramount_JOINT_STATEMENT__%C2%A0Greek_Defence_Industry_Receives_Majo.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/joint-statement---greek-defence-industry-receives-major-boost-through-production-of-advanced-drone-technologies-in-greece-301822364.html
The Board of School Education Haryana (HBSE) is likely to announce Class 10 and Class 12 results 2023 soon. Reports suggest that the results are expected by Sunday, 14 May. The Haryana Board will release the results on their official website  bseh.org.in. However, there has not been any official confirmation on the result date and time yet.

The HBSE Class 12 result 2023 will be out for all three streams  arts, commerce and science. To access their Haryana Board 10th and 12th results, students will require their roll number and a few other details.

Candidates will have to secure a minimum of 33 percent marks in order to clear the HBSE board exam. In case they are not satisfied with the marks, they can give their answer sheets for re-evaluation.

Haryana HBSE Board 10th and 12th Result 2023: How to check

Step 1: Visit the official site of HBSE  bseh.org.in.

Step 2: On the homepage, click on HBSE Class 10 Result 2023 or HBSE Class 12 Result 2023 link.

Step 3: After a new window opens, key in the required credentials likes roll number and date of birth (DoB).

Step 4: The HBSE Class 10 or 12 Board Exam Results 2023 will be displayed on your screen.

Step 5: Check, download and take a printout of the result.

Alternatively, students can view their results through the Digilocker website/app or SMS.

The Haryana Board Class 10 and 12 results 2023 will have details like students name, roll number, registration number, stream, district, marks secured in practicals, marks obtained in theory papers, result status, CGPA (cumulative grade point average), subjects in which students have appeared/opted for the exams, total marks obtained, category of student and grade.

This year, more than 5 lakh candidates took the Haryana Board 10th and 12th examination. While the Class 10 exam was conducted between 27 February and 25 March, the Class 12 examination took place from 27 February to 28 March.

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A US judges ruling striking down a federal law that bans licenced federal firearms dealers from selling handguns to young adults under 21 is the latest example of how a landmark Supreme Court decision is transforming the legal landscape around firearms.

The ruling issued Wednesday by a federal judge in Virginia is just the beginning of whats likely to be a lengthy court battle over rules aimed at making it harder for 18- to 20-year-olds to get handguns.

The judges ruling wont go into effect until he issues a final order that would bar the government from enforcing the age limit. The Justice Department didnt immediately comment on the ruling but is likely to appeal and could ask for the final order to be put on hold while it does.

Also Read: A look at the worst mass shootings in the US this year

The judge cited the Supreme Courts June decision in a case called Bruen, which changed the test that courts had long used to evaluate gun laws. The ruling has opened the door to a wave of challenges from gun-rights activists and created turmoil in the courts as judges wrestle over what gun restrictions can remain on the books.

Heres a look at the Virginias judges ruling, the impact of the Supreme Courts Bruen decision and whats next:

What did the Supreme Court Bruen decision do?

In its Bruen decision, the Supreme Court struck down a New York gun law and ruled that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defence. The majority opinion authored by Justice Clarence Thomas also set new standards for courts to weigh challenges to firearm restrictions.

Before the ruling, courts generally took a two-step approach when examining gun restrictions, first looking at the constitutional text and history to see whether a regulation comes under the Second Amendment and then, if it does, looking at the governments justification for the restriction.



Thomas said the old standard was wrong and said courts should no longer consider whether the law serves public interests, like enhancing public safety. Governments that want to uphold a gun restriction must point to similar restrictions from history to show that the law is consistent with the countrys historical tradition of firearm regulation, the Supreme Court said.

What happened in the Virginia case?

US District Court Judge Robert Payne in Richmond said the government failed to prove that restrictions on the purchase of firearms by 18- to 20-year-olds is part of our Nations history and tradition. The former President George HW Bush-appointee said the government didnt present any evidence of such restrictions from the colonial era, Founding or Early Republic.

The lack of similar regulations from those time periods indicates that the Founders considered age-based regulations on the purchase of firearms to circumscribe the right to keep and bear arms confirmed by the Second Amendment, he wrote.

The case was brought by 20-year-old John Corey Fraser and other young adults who want to buy handguns from a licenced federal firearms dealer. Frasers lawyer, Elliott Harding, noted that 18- to 20-year-olds can already buy handguns from private sellers, a process that is completely unregulated.

The case is challenging the constitutionality of the Gun Control Act of 1968 and the associated regulations from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Gun control groups had urged the court to uphold the age restrictions, arguing they are constitutional even under the Supreme Courts Bruen ruling. They say Paynes ruling will put lives at risk, pointing to scientific literature that shows the brain continues to develop in the early 20s and that 18- to 20-year-olds are more impulsive than older adults.

There is a long, established historical pedigree for recognising the risk posed by certain subsets of armed individuals, The Giffords Law Centre to Prevent Gun Violence and another gun control group, Brady, wrote in court filings. Likewise, Congress has identified that armed 18-to-20-year-olds pose a greater risk to the community than does the rest of the population and accordingly has restricted 18-to-20-year-olds ability to purchase handguns.

What other laws are being challenged post-Bruen?

Gun-rights activists have been waging court battles across the US over things such as bans on the sale of on AR-15-style rifles and high-capacity magazines and possession of so-called ghost guns that can be nearly impossible for law enforcement officials to trace.

In some cases, judges looking at the same laws and same historical record have come down on different sides on whether they are constitutional under the Supreme Courts Bruen test. Several judges, for example, have upheld a federal law banning people under indictment for felonies from buying guns, while others have declared it unconstitutional.

A federal judge recently cited the high court decision in ruling against a Minnesota law prohibiting 18- to 20-year-olds from getting permits to carry handguns in public. A judge struck down a similar law last year on gun restrictions for young adults in Texas. The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals in March, however, upheld a Florida law passed after the mass shooting at Parklands Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that raised the legal age to buy a gun from 18 to 21.

Some judges have expressed frustration with the Bruen test and questioned whether judges are suited to be analysing history. In his decision, Payne used a footnote to lament what he sees as the challenges with the test, saying this court is staffed by lawyers who are neither trained nor experienced in making the nuanced historical analyses called for by Bruen.

There is a reason that historians attend years of demanding schooling and that their scholarship undergoes a rigorous peer-review process before publication, he wrote.

Also Read: Why: The one question haunting families in the US over mass shootings

The Supreme Court could soon decide whether to grant an emergency request to block an Illinois law signed in January that bans the sale of so-called assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Challengers of the law appealed to the high court after a federal judge in Chicago in February found the law to be constitutional under the Bruen test, and an appeals court also refused to put the law on hold.

The Justice Department also appealed to the Supreme Court after the New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in February  citing the Bruen decision  struck down a federal law prohibiting people who have domestic violence restraining orders against them from possessing guns.

Justice Department lawyers said their petition to the high court that the law fits squarely within the longstanding tradition of disarming dangerous individuals. The court has not yet said whether it will take up the case.

Other restrictions that judges have found to be unconstitutional in recent months include a federal law prohibiting people who use marijuana from owning firearms and a federal ban on possessing a gun with its serial number removed.

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Kingmaker! It became a buzzword ahead of the Karnataka Assembly election results as several exit polls predicted a hung assembly. Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy was the most sought-after man with both Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) trying to woo him. But now as counting progresses, a Congress win is definite  the Grand Old Party has hit the majority mark, the BJP is a far second and JD(S) seems to have suffered a setback.

What happens to HD Kumaraswamy?

Dont miss: Live updates of the Karnataka Election Results 2023 LIVE

The numbers

Congress is leading in 131 of the 224 seats  a party needs to win 113 to reach a majority mark and stake claim to form a government. The BJP is leading in 67 and the JD(S) in 22.

The JDS vote share seems to have taken a hit and early projections indicate that it might win fewer seats than it did in 2018, when it had secured 37 seats. It secured 20 per cent of the vote share in the last Assembly elections, which has plummeted this year.

Also read: Karnataka Results: Shivakumar or Siddaramaiah? Who will be Congress CM pick?

With Congress racing ahead, it is unlikely that the HD Devagowda-led party will be calling the shots. From possible kingmaker to a distant third, that is likely to hurt.

The BJP has seen a sharp dip in the seat count. In 2018, it emerged as the single-largest party winning 104 seats but now it is leading 67 seats. There hasnt been a big dip in the BJP vote share, according to a report by NDTV.

Congress has seen a gain in its vote share. The Grand Old Party seems to have benefited from the losses of the JDS.

Kumaraswamy leads, son trails

While Kumaraswamy is leading from the Channapatna constituency, his son Nikhil is trailing in Ramanagaram. The JDS scion was making his debut after the seat was vacated by his mother Anitha Kumaraswamy.

Right before the counting, the Kumaraswamy told media that the election results would become clear in the next two to three hours. Exit polls show that the two national parties will score in a big way. The exit polls have given 30-32 seats to JD(S). I am a small party, there is no demand for meI am hoping for a good development, he was quoted as saying by ANI, right before counting began.

He appears almost prophetic now, save for the seat count.

#WATCH | No one has contacted me till now. There is no demand for me, I am a small party says JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy, ahead of Karnataka election results. pic.twitter.com/0Mkbqdd7Tr  ANI (@ANI) May 13, 2023

Karnatakas voting pattern

Since 1985, Karnataka has voted against the incumbent government in almost every election. The only exception was 2004 and 2018 when Congress formed a government (only for a year) with a coalition with the JD(S),

No political party has been a part of the Karnataka government for two consecutive terms.

In the 2018 Assembly polls, the BJP won 104 seats while the Congress secured victory in 80 seats.



With inputs from agencies



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The Congress, crossing the halfway mark, has every reason to celebrate. They have wrested power from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a morale-boosting victory ahead of next years Lok Sabha elections. Amid this news, the Mallikarjun Kharge-led party has made special arrangements and asked all its MLAs to reach Bengaluru this evening from where they will be moved to resorts  either within the state or outside, depending on their final numbers.

Catch all the live updates from the Karnataka Assembly results HERE

We take a look the resort politics that the Congress is undertaking in Karnataka  from which resorts are being looked at, to why they want to move their MLAs.

Congress resort politics underway

As the early trends started showing a win for the Congress in the state, reports emerged that they would be moving their MLAs into resorts. A report by the Indian Express said that the party had booked rooms at the Shangri La hotel in Bengaluru and planned to camp there if they breach the 130-seats mark.

The second plan that the Congress has come up with in order to play it safe is to move their MLAs to neighbouring Tamil Nadu and keep them at a resort in Mahabalipuram.

These developments took place after DK Shivakumar had earlier on Friday refuted claims of moving MLAs. We are just doing our job. Lets wait for the results, the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief had said.

#WATCH | We are just doing our job. Lets wait for the results, says Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar after a party meeting ahead of Karnataka election results, Bengaluru #KarnatakaAssemblyElections2023 pic.twitter.com/deetcMQOfp  ANI (@ANI) May 12, 2023

Congress resort politics came after party legislator for Shivajinagar, Rizwan Arshad had expressed concern about BJP resorting to horsetrading. He said, The Congress party is confident of winning the Karnataka Assembly polls and of forming the government with an absolute majority. However, the ruling BJP is creating conspiracies to buy MLAs.

Political pundits overseeing the developments in the state said that Congress was taking this cautious move as they didnt want a repeat of what happened in the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections. The Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) had cobbled up an alliance then to form the government. However, it collapsed a year later when the Congress-JD(S) lost 17 of their MLAs, who resigned from the Assembly  after being holed up in a resort in Mumbai leading up to it  and switched sides to the BJP.

Full coverage of the Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023

Karnataka Assembly Election Results 2023: High-stakes contests in these seats are a must watch

Karnataka Assembly Election Results 2023: Who is leading, who is trailing?

Karnataka Results: Shivakumar or Siddaramaiah? Who will be Congress CM pick?

From kingmaker to distant third: How JD(S) suffered a big setback in Karnataka Assembly election

Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023: Why the southern state is a must-win for Congress

Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023: Beta, beti, bhai and biwi the nepo netas in the fray

History of resort politics

This move of moving MLAs to resorts isnt a new phenomenon or reserved to the state of Karnataka alone. India has been seeing resort politics since the 1980s. A look back at political history shows that perhaps the first example of resort politics was in 1982 in Haryana. The leader of Indian National Lok Dal-BJP coalition, Devi Lal took 48 MLAs and camped at a hotel in New Delhi. However, one of the MLAs escaped the hotel through a water pipe following which the Devi Lal coalition could not prove majority.

In 1983, Karnataka had its first brush with resort politics when Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegde, who led the Janata Party, took about 80 of his MLAs to a luxury resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru to protect them from what he called the Congress vultures. He was successful in winning the trust vote that took place later.

Tamil Nadus Sasikala also indulged in resort politics in 2017. After O Panneerselvam resigned as chief minister, she sent her loyal MLAs to Golden Bay resort near Chennai.

Rajasthan too saw resort politics in July 2020. When Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot showed signs of discontent, the Congress gathered its MLAs at the Fairmont Hotel in the state. At the end of it all, Ashok Gehlot remained the chief minister while Pilot was demoted from the post of deputy chief minister.

The most recent incident of resort politics was in Maharashtra when Shiv Senas Eknath Shinde rebelled against his own party and flew out MLAs loyal to him to Guwahati. The incident subsequently led to the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress alliance).

With inputs from agencies

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Its D-Day and all eyes have turned to Karnataka as votes for the southern state are being counted. At last count, the Congress was on course to wrest power in the state from its rival, the Bharatiya Janata Party. It seems that Karnataka is keeping up with history and has maintained its voting record since 1985 of not choosing an incumbent government into power.

This result will be a massive boost for the Congress, if early trends are to be believed. It will herald a new beginning for the Grand Old Party and also open the door for them in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Moreover, the Congress can take pride in the fact that they were able to breach BJPs lone southern citadel Karnataka.

Catch all the live updates from the Karnataka Assembly Election Results 2023 HERE

However, even as Congress begins to celebrate the news, the partys high command as a huge question looming. Who will they pick for chief minister? Will it be Siddaramaiah? Or will it be current Congress state chief and troubleshooter DK Shivakumar?

Siddaramaiah vs DK Shivakumar

All has not been well between the two senior most leaders  Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar  of the state unit of the Congress. Even as the votes were being counted on Saturday, the chasm between the two was evident when Siddaramaiahs son, Yathindra, said for the interest of Karnataka his father should become the chief minister.

We will do anything to keep BJP out of power In the interest of Karnataka, my father should become the chief minister, Yathindra Siddaramaiah said while speaking to news agency ANI. He further said that his father will win in the Varuna constituency with a huge margin.

Yathindra further added, As a son, definitely I would like to see him as a chief minister. But as a resident of the state, his last regime had a very good governance, this time also, if he becomes the chief minister, whatever corruption and misrule during the BJP rule will be corrected by him. In the interest of the state also, he should become the CM.

On the other hand, DK Shivakumar, the seven-time MLA and Vokkaliga strongman, has also expressed his ambitions of being chief minister. One of the richest politicians in the state, the 60-year-old leader had told the media on Friday, I have struggled for the party and all will support (me). I got the responsibility (of the KPCC chief) after Dinesh Gundu Rao quit following the bypoll losses (2019). I never slept after that and will not sleep. I have done what is necessary for the party all will support (me) and I will provide a good government.

This rivalry between the two strongmen isnt a new phenomenon. The two have been at ends with each other, but yet to the media, they have denied claims of a tussle. Even the party in the state has been divided into two  one backing Siddaramaiah and the other with Shivakumar.

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As of now, it seems that Siddaramaiah has the edge in the race to being chief minister, even though DK Shivakumar has strong ties with Rahul Gandhi. This is because Siddaramiah has more stature among party workers. Also, if it is a close verdict, Siddaramiah will be a more acceptable chief minister face to the other political parties. Shivakumar has made too many enemies in the opposition camp, a three-time Congress MLA was quoted as telling The Outlook.

Other sources speaking to Zee News also said that Siddaramiah would be the next chief minister if the Congress won in the state. They added that DK Shivakumar would be given a plum posting in the Cabinet and later taken on as chief minister.

One thing is certain that the decision between the two wont be easy to make for the party high command. While Shivakumar is considered as the organisations favourite; he has been a troubleshooter, Siddaramaiah is still considered as the partys most popular leader in the state and a crowd puller.

An outside choice

While the focus remains on DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, theres also a possibility of a third outside face for the post of chief minister.

According to Indian Express, sources within the party are looking at former Karnataka deputy chief minister G Parameshwara, a Dalit, as a third option if it has to align with the Janata Dal-Secular. However, neither the party nor him has spoken about him being a contender in the race for chief minister. In fact, on Friday, speaking to the media, he said, I will not comment on the post of CM as the high command will decide. If we keep commenting on the CM seat, it would be a problem.

Another choice, though very unlikely, is the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. His name as chief minister for the state began circulating when D K Shivakumar in April had said that he would be happy serving Kharge as chief minister.

Mallikarjun Kharge is my leader. He is my president. Kharge is 20 years my senior. We have to respect his seniority and sacrifices. In the event of him becoming CM of Karnataka, I am ready to work with him, Shivakumar had said then.

However, this is highly unlikely on account of his current responsibilities as the All India Congress Committee (AICC) chief. Kharge, incidentally, had been in contention for the top job in the state twice  once in 2008 sand later in 2013. In 2008, the Congress lost, but in 2013 when the party won, they chose to go with Siddaramaiah as it wanted an Other Backward Classes (OBC) face for the CMs post.

With inputs from agencies

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In Indias major and medium-sized states, the BJP has been victorious in numerous elections since 2014.

It has earned a reputation for being virtually invincible, even in areas that werent supposed to be advantageous for their political ideas.

Nevertheless, in recent years, the opposition has challenged the ruling party in Karnataka, a state with a long election history.

Currently, a variety of things are putting the invincibility of the centrally-placed ruling party into doubt.

However, recurring patterns in various elections since 1985 suggest that while winning is challenging, defending is even more challenging.

Lets take a closer look.

Also read: Karnataka Assembly Election Results 2023: Who is leading, who is trailing?

Karnatakas nightmare of the incumbent government

The electoral landscape is shaped by a variety of elements, such as local identity politics, economic growth, and voter sentiments.

As per the electoral trends, no incumbent government in Karnataka has been returned to power in the state since 1985.

From 1957 to 1982, the Congress party ruled the state without interruption with eight chief ministers holding office. Devraj Urs served as the final one.

However, the 1983 elections marked a dramatic change in the southern state as only 82 of the 224 seats in Congress remained. The partys vote share decreased from 44.2 per cent to 40.4 per cent.

The Janata party gained 95 seats, with a third of the vote in this assembly election, while the BJP secured only 18 seats. With the help of the BJP and other smaller parties, the Janata Party formed the states first non-Congress government, and elected Ramakrishna Hegde, a Brahmin from the Uttara Kannada district, as chief minister.

The party regained control in the 1985 assembly elections, winning 139 seats and increasing its vote share by 10.5 per cent points. Hegde, however, resigned as chief minister in 1988 as a result of a negative High Court decision in a case involving telephone tapping.

SR Bommai, a Lingayat chief from the Dharwad region, took charge of the state. However, on 21 April 1989, the state government was overthrown and Presidents Rule was imposed when Congress asserted that the Bommai government had lost its majority.

Following that, in a landmark decision came from the Supreme Court that profoundly affected state politics in India. The apex court ruled that it was unconstitutional to dissolve the state government before allowing the chief minister to demonstrate his majority on the House floor.

Although national elections for the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies had already been called, Bommai was unable to take office again because of the timing of the ruling.

1989 saw a significant return for the Congress party, which gained 178 seats, while the Janata Dal (the Janata Partys new incarnation) secured only 24 seats. Its vote share decreased dramatically, by 16.5 per cent points.

The Congress party did not, however, manage to put together a stable administration despite having a substantial majority. The frequent leadership transitions were to blame for this.

In 1989, Veerendra Patil, who had previously held the position of chief minister in the 1970s, retook office, however, only for 10 months before being succeeded by Bangarappa in 1990. Veerappa Moily, another backwards-class politician from the Dakshina Kannada district, succeeded Bangarappa after two years in 1992.

The grand-old party Congress suffered a crushing defeat in the 1994 elections with only 34 seats. As an incumbent, the party saw a massive decline in vote share of 16.8 per cent points.

However, Congress regained power in 1999 after it gained 132 seats in the assembly elections. The incumbent Janata Parivar fell from 115 to 28 and the Janata Dal (Secular) only managed to win ten seats, while the Janata Dal (United) secured 18 seats. This resulted in the political factions overall vote share falling to 24 per cent.

The BJP then joined forces with the JD(U) as part of the National Democratic Alliance, securing 44 seats and breaking the 20.7 per cent threshold for the first time.

In the upcoming 2004 elections, the Congress had joined forces with the JD(S) to form an unbalanced administration. Dharam Singh, an OBC member of Congress, was appointed chief minister, while an OBC member of the JD(S), Siddaramaiah served as deputy chief minister.

The leader of the JD(S), Kumaraswamy, covertly teamed up with the leader of the BJP, BS Yediyurappa, to overthrow the Dharam Singh administration, but this alliance only lasted for two years.

Kumaraswamy became the chief minister and Yediyurappa the deputy chief minister.

The following 2008 elections saw BJP becoming the single-largest party with 110 seats in the assembly. The saffron party, with the help of independent MLAs, formed the government and Yeddyurappa, a Lingayat politician from the Shivamogga district, was appointed chief minister.

In August 2011, the leader of the Vokkaliga from the Dakshina Kannada region, Sadananda Gowda, succeeded him. A different Lingayat leader from the Dharwad district named Jagadish Shettar followed Gowda in July 2012. In comparison to Congress, which increased from 65 to 80 seats, the JD(S) seat share decreased from 58 to 28.

2013 witnessed Congress coming back to power with a majority of 122 seats in the assembly elections that were held after five years. The partys vote share rose by 1.8 per cent points. This was a major setback for the BJP. With a 20.1 per cent vote compared to 19 per cent in 2008, the JD(S) gained the same number of seats as the BJP, i.e. 40.

With a vote share of around 20 per cent, the BJP, the incumbent party, lost 70 seats compared to 2008.

After Devraj Urs, Siddaramaiah was elected as the new chief minister and completed a full five-year tenure.

The 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections witnessed a heated rivalry between the Congress and the BJP. After obtaining 117 out of 224 seats, Congress and the JD(S) formed a coalition government. Congress won 80 seats (42 fewer than its 2013 total), while the BJP won 104 seats (improving its total from the 2013 election by 64 seats).

The coalition government was only in place for a short time when the BJP abruptly returned to power by manipulating defections from other parties.

Also read: Karnataka Results: Shivakumar or Siddaramaiah? Who will be Congress CM pick?

Summary

Karnataka has seen Congress rule for more than four decades of the seven decades after Independence, including a continuous 26-year period followed by four periods beginning in 1989.

In the recent assembly elections, the incumbent and opposition are once more involved in a bitter struggle.

It remains to be seen whether history will repeat itself.

With inputs from agencies

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Many have heard the name Prashant Kishor. In 2014, he was credited with helping Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to script a win that no one thought was possible. Its now 2023 and many thought the same about the Congress when it came to the Karnataka Assembly Elections. But the Grand Old Party had help from another Prashant Kishor and his name is Sunil Kanugolu.

The Congress has thumped the BJP in the southern state  at last count, the Mallikarjun Kharge-led party had won 135 seats with the saffron party trailing at 65 and the Janata Dal(Secular) winning just 20 seats. Part of this success should be attributed to the reclusive election strategist Sunil Kanugolu; in fact News18 has reported, In the run-up to the polls, the most common K factors being mentioned were Kittur and Kalyana Karnataka. However, the lesser-known Kanugolu is who helped the Congress recapture the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru.

Catch all the live updates from the Karnataka Assembly Election Results here

Lets take a better look at who is Kanugolu and how he helped Congress script a victory in Karnataka, snatching BJPs southern citadel.

Kanugolus early life

Not much is known about Sunil Kanugolu and that is by design. An introvert by nature, there are very details about his personal life.

The nearly 40-year-old Kanugolu was born in Karnatakas Ballari district and studied there till middle school. He later moved to Chennai till he left for the United States. He studied engineering as an under graduate. He also has two post graduate degrees  an MS in Finance and an MBA. He returned to India from the US in 2009.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has stated that Kanugolu has held the post of director in three companies  SR Independent Fisheries Private Limited, SR Naturo Foods Private Limited and Brainstorm Innovation and Research Private Limited (BSIR)  all of which have ceased to exist.

It is reported that he also worked as a consultant with McKinsey  from where he probably has got his habit of staying away from the public glare and also not sharing his personal views.

His aversion to public life is so staunch that a leading daily recently shared an image of his brother, passing it off as him. Even Congress leaders have commented on his intense need to stay to private, with one telling The Print, He is as elusive as Bagheera (the black panther from Rudyard Kiplings Mowgli stories), and leaves no trail.

News18 has reported that Kanugolu believes in taking the extra step help friends and according to his mates, hes a foodie; in fact, his friends call him a militant meat-eater.

Kanugolus brush with politics & Modi

Kanugolus brush with politics began long ago and he had approached Narendra Modi when he was chief minister of Gujarat. Kanugolu had shown Modi a presentation using data analytics on how to reach out to more voters.

According to reports, Kanugolu began working with Modi way before Prashant Kishor took charge of the 2014 campaign. But it was then that the two pollsters paths crossed and they worked together. He continued his BJP run even after Kishor split with the BJP, shifting to Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.

In October 2016, ahead of the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Kanugolu was tasked by the BJP to form an election consultancy firm that would rival Kishors. Kanugolu then with fellow strategist Himanshu Singh, and Gujarati businessman began the Association of Brilliant Minds (ABM).

Full coverage of the Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023

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Resort politics in Karnataka. Why Congress is likely to move its MLAs to hotels

Kanugolu in 2016 helped the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK) party and MK Stalin by designing the Namakku Naame campaign. However, it didnt translate into a victory for the DMK. Following this, he worked, according to Indian Express, closely with Amit Shah until February 2018 and helped the party in elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Karnataka. Incidentally, BJPs win in 2018 in the southern state was under his watchful eye.

In 2021, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul had a meeting with Kanugolu and employed his company, Mindshare Analytics, services. In May of 2022, then Congress president Sonia Gandhi named Kanugolu a member of the partys 2024 Lok Sabha election task force that also features veteran leaders such as P Chidambaram, Mukul Wasnik, Jairam Ramesh, K C Venugopal, Ajay Maken, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Randeep Singh Surjewala, who was the AICC leader in charge of Karnataka.

The Karnataka task

The Print reports that he was picked by the party to spearhead its election strategy and immediately went into work mode. He only interacted with a handful of Congress leaders, including party general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal and Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Surjewala who is also the in-charge for Karnataka.

When asked what he does exactly for the Congress, one leader said that his job comprised of ground listening and surveys. He worked tirelessly in the state, working 20 hours a day, seven days a week to stop the BJP in its tracks.

Many within the party also credit Kanugolu for strategising Rahul Gandhis Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir  which has been seen as one of the factors contributing to the partys win in the state. Several of the Bharat Jodo Yatras trending moments such as Rahul walking with farmers to slain journalist and activist Gauri Lankeshs mother was the brainchild of Kanugolu. Its indeed ironic that a man with no personal social media accounts knows what will click with people online.

He also is believed to have brought the two warring factions of the state unit led by DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah together.

Kanogolu has also been instrumental in Congress PayCM campaign. For the unaware, prior to the elections, the state had several PayCM posters displayed all over. When scanned, it directed the person to a website  40% Sarkara;  which alleged that the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government was charging 40 per cent commission on public works.

One would assume that hes overjoyed with the partys win in the state. But according to a News18 report, he has kept his emotions in check and exuded no ego.

Will Kanugolu be able to repeat his success in Karnataka in the 2024 general elections for the Grand Old Party? We shall keep an eye out.

With inputs from agencies

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Opposition leaders on Saturday lauded the Congress for its victory in Karnataka and thanked the people of the state, saying that this win has showed that Modi is not invincible.

Pro-poor promises and secular stance helped Congress to score the historic Karnataka victory. It urges them to learn necessary lessons and to be more responsible in national politics. Modi is never invincible. If all secular forces are united, 2024 will see the end of BJP Raj, said Communist Party of India (CPI) MP Binoy Viswam.

TMC MP Mahua Moitra tweeted, Thank you Karnataka. For choosing LPG over Bajrangbaliji.

CPI (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya also thanked the people of the state for the mandate.

"Thank you #Karnataka for giving such a fitting rebuff to not just the corrupt and non-performing Bommai regime but to the hate-filled and arrogant Modi-Shah-Yogi campaign. It has set the stage for the forthcoming elections and encouraged every defender of democracy across India," he said in a tweet.

Also Read

Shivakumar or Siddaramaiah? Who will be Congress CM pick?

From kingmaker to distant third: How JD(S) suffered a big setback in Karnataka Assembly election

National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah said there is "no way" the BJP will have the courage to "allow" Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir after its performance in the Karnataka polls.

Now there is no way BJP will have the courage to allow Assembly elections to take place in J&K any time soon #KarnatakaElectionResults  Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) May 13, 2023

"Now there is no way BJP will have the courage to allow Assembly elections to take place in Jammu and Kashmir any time soon #KarnatakaElectionResults," Abdullah, the vice president of the NC, said in a tweet.

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As the vote-counting process progressed on 13 May, the Congress seemed poised to win the fiercely fought Karnataka assembly election with at least 136 of the 224 constituencies.

The party attributes the stunning victory to the states alleged corruption, opposition to the BJPs divisive politics, its leader Rahul Gandhi, and especially to his Bharat Jodo Yatra.

The grand old party released a 49-second video clip from the yatra as soon as counting for the Karnataka election began at 8 am on Saturday. They wrote, Im invincible. Im so confident, Yeah, Im unstoppable today.

The 145-day yatra, led by now-disqualified MP Rahul Gandhi, travelling a distance of about 4,000 kilometres from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu to Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir, arrived in election-bound Karnataka on 30 September 2022.

Rahul Gandhi, a former president of the Congress, had many opportunities to interact with villagers during the yatra. He considered this march to be one of his most beautiful and profound experiences.

The yatra travelled through 75 districts in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab.

The yatra was put to the test for the first time in Karnataka.

Catch all the live updates from the Karnataka Assembly results HERE

Congress tally in areas visited by Rahul Gandhi during Bharat Jodo Yatra

During the yatra, Gandhi and other Congress leaders visited Chamarajanagar, Mysore, Mandya, Tumkur, Chitradurga, Bellary, and Raichur up to 23 October.

As per data by Network18, in Chamarajanagar district, the grand old party is in the lead in three of the four constituencies, while in Mysore, out of 11 seats, eight are now being held by Congress.

Five of the seven seats in Mandya are being held by the national party, and they have also secured six of the 11 seats up for election in Tumkur.

Six seats are available in Chitradurga, and five of them seats currently held by the Congress, while they won all five seats in Bellary.

There are seven seats in Raichur, and the Congress has won four of them or is currently in the lead.

At first, senior members of the Congress, including Gandhi, the general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh among others, insisted that the Bharat Jodo Yatra had nothing to do with any elections, whether they were parliamentary or assembly-based.

They did, however, changed their stance as soon as the Congress won the Himachal Pradesh assembly election. The party included BJY among the reasons for the victory.

The historic win of the BJP and the Congress setback in Gujarat was ignored by the party leaders. Rahul Gandhi spent a day campaigning in Gujarat and spoke at two electoral rallies, one each in Rajkot and Surat. He did not travel to Himachal Pradesh even once.

If the Congress leaders are to be believed, the effect of the Bharat Jodo Yatra is quite visible.

The influence of the march on foot in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Telangana, which hold elections later this year, is still to be determined.

Also read: Sunil Kanugolu, pollster as elusive as Bagheera who scripted Congress win

Congresss historic win in Karnataka

With a lead of 136 seats, the Congress looks poised to surpass the 120 seats Siddaramaiah, the partys previous chief minister, had predicted.

Chief Minister and BJP candidate Basavaraj Bommai has conceded defeat after learning that his party is only ahead in the 244-member legislature by more than 60 seats.

Sharing a report card on Twitter, Jairam Ramesh wrote that the yatra had a direct impact on the intense election. He shared a table comparing his partys performance in 20 assembly seats through which the Yatra passed.

While this is the direct impact of the #BharatJodoYatra in Karnataka, the intangible impact was uniting the party, reviving the cadre and shaping the narrative for the Karnataka elections. It was during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, from the many conversations @RahulGandhi had with the pic.twitter.com/r1JOWMoei3  Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) May 13, 2023

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who hails from Karnataka, termed it the victory of Janata Janardhana, as people have voted furiously against BJPs bad administration in the state. He said all the newly elected Congress legislators have been asked to reach Bengaluru by Saturday evening and the due process of government formation will be followed.

The visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and BJP leader JP Nadda, according to senior Congress politician and former chief minister Siddaramaiah, had little effect on Karnataka voters. He claimed that the victory is a springboard for the Lok Sabha elections the next year and urged the opposition to fight together with Rahul Gandhi as the PM candidate.

In response to the Assembly election results, his colleague DK Shivakumar, who, like Siddaramaiah, is rumoured to harbour chief ministerial ambitions, sobbed and praised the Gandhi family for placing their trust in him to run the state.

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, while attributing the victory to Bharat Jodo Yatra, wrote in Hindi that roughly translates, The atmosphere that was visible in Karnataka during Rahul Gandhis Bharat Jodo Yatra is clearly visible in the election results in Karnataka today.

He added, Karnataka has chosen the politics of development by rejecting communal politics. This will be repeated in the upcoming Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana assembly elections as well.

                                ,     ,            Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) May 13, 2023

Also read: Karnataka Results: Shivakumar or Siddaramaiah? Who will be Congress CM pick?

Congress resort-politics

As early polls in the state began to favour the Congress, there are reports that the party would be relocating their MLAs into resorts.

According to Indian Express, the party has booked rooms at Bengalurus Shangri La Hotel and intended to set up camp there if the limit of 130 seats was exceeded. While the second strategy is to relocate their MLAs to the nearby state of Tamil Nadu and lodge them there at a resort in Mahabalipuram in order to be secure.

Congress turned to politics after Rizwan Arshad, the partys representative for Shivajinagar, raised concern over the BJP using horsetrading. According to him, the Congress party is sure that it would win the Karnataka Assembly elections and form an absolute majority administration. However, the BJP, which is currently in power, is hatching plans to buy MLAs.

Political analysts monitoring the states happenings claimed that Congress was being careful since they didnt want the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections to end up the same way. To form the government at the time, the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) had forged an alliance.

The Congress-JD(S) lost 17 of their MLAs, who moved to the BJP and resigned from the Assembly after spending the prior months locked up in a resort in Mumbai, and the coalition collapsed a year later.

Also read: As Congress crosses majority mark in Karnataka, BJP has some reason to cheer in UP. Heres why

Congress and its promises to Karnataka

If elected to power in 2023, Congress pledged to implement five important pre-election promises, which include 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 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), Rs 3,000 every month for unemployed graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for unemployed diploma holders (both in the age group of 18-25) for two years (Yuva Nidhi), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti), according to News18.

With inputs from agencies

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Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai submitted his resignation to Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot, following BJPs defeat in the Assembly polls, the results of which were declared on Saturday.

The Governor has accepted the resignation, an official release said.

Speaking to reporters later, Bommai said: We respectfully accept the decision of the people. I take the responsibility of the defeat. This time despite getting more than 36 per cent votes, we have got less number of seats. Analysis is going on, but defeat is a defeat.

In the party, we will do a detailed analysis of the results, and rectify wherever required.

The Congress registered a thumping win in Karnataka ousting the BJP from the state following the Assembly polls.

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Congress will come to power on its own by winning over 120 seats in the 224-member Karnataka Legislative Assembly, said former chief minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday, and claimed the visits of BJP brass led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had no impact on the voters of the state.

The former CM was responding to his party surging ahead of the ruling BJP on a day when the votes polled for the May 10 elections in the state were being counted.

Siddaramaih said the visits of Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J P Nadda have had no impact on the voters of Karnataka.

Congress party will win by getting over 120 seats, it is still the initial stage, more rounds of counting have to be completed. So Congress will come to power by getting over 120 seats on its own strength, the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly told reporters.

I had been saying let Narendra Modi or Amit Shah or J P Nadda come how many ever times they want to the state (but) that will have no impact on the voters of Karnataka because people are fed up with BJP, their corruption, maladministration and their anti-people politics, he said.

People were also not happy with the saffron party since it did no developmental work. People wanted change, and they have given their verdict accordingly, he said.

Siddaramaiah, a leading contender for the chief ministers post, said in Varuna he is leading with 8,000 votes after about three rounds, and will win with an even bigger margin.

He said his opponent, Minister V Somanna will lose both in Varuna and in Chamarajanagara, the other seat from where the BJP candidate is contesting from, against Congress Puttarangashetty.

(With inputs from PTI)

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Buoyed up by the Karnataka election result trends, which point to an emphatic victory for his party, Congress Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh on Saturday said that they are going to form the government in that state and that the BJP stands erased in southern India.

Once again the Congress party is going to form its government in Karnataka. BJP stands wiped out from southern India, Singh told reporters here.

The BJP will be wiped out from central India as well after the Madhya Pradesh polls, which are due by year-end, said the former MP chief minister.

We are going to come up with such a huge majority in the MP Assembly elections this time that there wont be any room for manipulation (pulling down the government), he said.

The 2018 MP polls threw up a hung Assembly, with the Congress emerging as the largest party with 114 seats in the 230-member House. The BJP won 109 seats.

The Congress formed a coalition government under Kamal Nath, but it fell in March 2020 after several MLAs loyal to Jyotiraditya Scindia walked out and joined the BJP, paving the way for Shivraj Singh Chouhan to return as chief minister.

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Karnataka Election: Karnataka Congress DK Shivakumar said that the party will not be moving any of its MLAs to a resort until the election results are announced on Saturday.

The top leaders of the Congress held two crucial meetings on Thursday and Friday. After the meeting on Friday night, Shivakumar told media after attending the meeting that the party is not sending its MLAs to the resort but waiting for the results.

He said, We are just doing our job. Lets wait for the results,.

After a high-decibel campaign during which all three key players in the fray  the incumbent BJP, the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular)  went at each other and pulled out stops and heavyweight campaigners to woo voters, the verdict in the battle for the Karnataka Assembly now rests with the peoples court.

Also Read: Karnataka Election Results 2023 LIVE: BJP leading in 86 constituencies, suggest trends

The counting of votes has started at 8 am across 36 designated centres in the southern state, the Election Commission informed. While the campaign saw the BJP and the Congress trading fire over the promise in the latters manifesto to proscribe the Bajrang Dal, polling went off peacefully on May 10, with the eventual turnout recorded at a robust 73.29 per cent.

A party needs to win 113 seats to reach the majority mark and stake a claim to forming the government in Karnataka.

The key constituencies to watch out for on the result day are Varuna, Kanakapura, Shiggaon, Hubli-Darwad, Channapatna, Shikaripura, Chittapur, Ramanagara, and Chikmagalur.

The results in these seats could well sway the eventual outcome of the Assembly polls. Also, the Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities, accounting for 17 and 11 per cent of the states population, will also play a key role in deciding the eventual poll outcome.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is seeking a fresh mandate from the Shiggaon constituency from where he has won three consecutive terms in the Assembly.

There is also a lot of curiosity around the battle for the Varuna constituency where Congress stalwart and former chief minister Siddaramaiah is pitted against the BJPs V Somanna, a state minister and Dr. Bharathi Shankar of the JD(S).

The former CM is hopeful of continuing his winning streak in this seat since 2008.Another heavyweight candidate, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar is also eyeing a fresh term in the Kanakapura Assembly constituency.

A top Congress leader, who is believed to be vying for the chief ministers post this time, Shivakumar is in a direct contest against the BJPs Vokkaliga strongman and state Revenue Minister R Ashoka.

BJP turncoat and former chief minister Jagadish Shettar, who switched over to the Congress after being denied a ticket by the saffron party to contest the Hubli-Darwad West Assembly constituency, is up against BJPs Mahesh Tenginkai.

Though pitted against a formidable opponent, Shettar will have hopes of coming out tops in a state he has won a number of times. Channapatna is another key electoral battleground in Karnakata this year, with JD(S) leader and former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy in a direct contest against BJPs Yogeshwara and Congresss Gangadhar. Both his rivals are from the powerful Vokkaliga and are seen as formidable opponents.

In another key battle, BY Vijayendra, an electoral greenhorn, will hope to conjure a win from the Shikaripura constituency, which is considered a stronghold of his father and former CM BS Yediyurappa.Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharges son, Priyank Kharge, is contesting the Chittapur Assembly constituency. He was a former minister in the Siddaramaiah government.

In another battle that is expected to draw a lot of eyeballs, former prime minister HD Deve Gowdas grandson, Nikhil Kumaraswamy, is eyeing an electoral turnaround in the Ramanagara Assembly constituency, after a loss in the 2019 Assembly polls.

However, he is pitted against Congress veteran HA Iqbal Hussain and the BJPs Gowtham Gowda.Chikmagalur is also among the key electoral battlegrounds in Karnataka where the BJP is eyeing a win. The saffron party has fielded its national general secretary CT Ravi from this seat, who was talked up as a potential CM candidate by none other than party stalwart KS Eashwarappa.

A member of the Lingayat community, Ravi is yet to taste defeat in the Chikmagalur constituency since 2004. The BJP hopes to buck anti-incumbency riding on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who held a string of roadshows in the state ahead of the polls and even shared a personalised address, urging the people of Karnataka to vote back his party.

The Congress, on the other hand, is eyeing a turnaround in its electoral fortunes after a string of poll defeats, the latest of which came in the three Northeast states of Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland.

Significantly, Karnataka is the only southern state where the BJP is in power and winning the state will be the key to its plans of extending its electoral footprint in the south.

While the BJP pulled out its top guns, including PM Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the partys national president JP Nadda, the Congress, too, fielded its heavyweights  Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Kharge senior  putting their best foot forward in the battle for 224 Assembly constituencies.

In a major electoral gambit, the BJP fielded as many as 50 new faces while denying tickets to several prominent faces. Several of these leaders, including Shettar and former deputy CM Laxman Savadi, went into a sulk after being ignored and jumped to Congress.

Karnataka has never brought the incumbent back to power since 1985 and the BJP would be hoping to do a first as it bids to return in the southern state.

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As Congress trails ahead of BJP in Karnataka to reach the halfway mark, Sachin Pilot on Saturday attributed the trend to the issue of corruption raised by the grand old party during campaigning.

Catch all the live updates on Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023 here

The former Deputy Chief Ministers comments came during the third day of his Jan Sangharsh Yatra in Ajmers Zisani.

Congress has the majority. We will have a thumping victory. The slogan of 40 per cent commission government given by us, was accepted by the public. It was a major issue raised by us to defeat BJP. People accepted it and gave the majority to the Congress, Pilot told ANI.

The 40 per cent commission government is a jibe at the BJP used by Congress to accuse the party of several corruption charges under its tenure.

Meanwhile, as per the early trends of counting for the Karnataka assembly elections, the Congress party stood in a comfortable position to form the majority by crossing the halfway mark.

With inputs from agencies

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To ensure that JD(S) winnable candidates in Karnataka Assembly elections 2023 do not defect, party chief H D Deve Gowda is in constant touch with them.

A report by Deccan Herald quoted sources close to Gowda confirming that the party supremo has personally reached out to all the winnable candidates and sitting MLAs requesting not to desert JD(S).

He also assured all the winnable candidates would be given preference if the party forms the government after the Karnataka elections results 2023 are declared.

As per the report, Gowda reached out to winnable candidates on Thursday and Friday night.

Karnataka polls results 2023 trends show Congress leading in 110 seats, BJP in 71 and JD(S) in 23. To form a government in the state, a party should win 113 seats out of 224- member assembly.

Keep a watch

Gowda met with GT Deve Gowda, sitting MLA from Chamundeshwari, and has tasked him with keeping a watch over winnable candidates in the Mysuru region.

Check This: Karnataka Election Results 2023 LIVE: Congress crosses halfway mark in early trends

H D Revanna, son of JD(S) chief and Holenarsipur MLA, has been tasked to monitor the situation in Hassan district.

JD(S) takes precautionary measures

The Deccan Herald report quoted a senior JD(S) leader saying, We lost three MLAs to Operation Lotus in 2019. This time we have taken precautionary measures and Gowda himself contacted the winnable candidates.

JD(S) MLAs K Gopalaiah (Mahalakshmi Layout), H Vishwanath (Hunsur) and K C Narayana Gowda (K R Pet) defected to the BJP in 2019.

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As Congress inches toward victory in Karnataka and BJP concedes its defeat, Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai has said that the party will be rebuilt to make a comeback in the parliament.

We accept the verdict of the people of Karnataka with due respect. We will take this verdict in our stride. We will analyse and correct our fault lines and rebuild the party and come back during parliamentary elections, said on Twitter.

However, Bommai is leading in his constituency of Shiggaonwith 54.95 per cent votes and with a margin of over 35000 votes.

Taking full responsibility for the defeat, Bommai said, We accept the mandate given by the people of Karnataka. I take responsibility for this debacle.

When asked why BJP might lose the state, Bommai said, There are multiple reasons for this defeat. We will rectify them and come back.

Karnataka election results 2023 are being announced. The polling trends show Congress leading on 136 and BJP on 64 seats while JD(S) is winning on 19.

With inputs from agencies

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Congress has won the Karnataka elections 2023 and is all set to form the new government in the state. Amid this the Election Commission of India informed that more than 2.6 lakh voters who exercised their franchise in 10 May assembly polls used the none of the above or NOTA option.

As per the data available on ECIs website, Congress has won 118 of the 224 assembly seats in Karnataka and is leading on other 18, while the BJP has won 53 and is ahead in 11. The Janata Dal (Secular) has secured win in 18 and is leading in two.

As per the ECI, around 3.30 pm on the day of Karnataka polls 2023 (on 10 May), 2,59,278 (0.7 per cent) out of the nearly 3.84 crore people who came out to vote exercised the NOTA option.

The NOTA option on electronic voting machines (EVMs) was introduced in 2013 and it has its own symbol  a ballot paper with a black cross on it.

After a Supreme Court order in September 2013, the ECI had added the NOTA button on EVMs as the last option on the voting panel. Prior to the courts order, those not inclined to vote for any candidate had the option of registering their decision under Rule 49-O (elector deciding not to vote) of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961. But this compromised the secrecy of the voter.

The NOTA button on an EVM ensures secrecy of ballot.

The Supreme Court had, however, refused to direct the Election Commission to hold fresh polls if the majority of the electorate exercises the NOTA option while voting.

The NOTA symbol was designed by the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, for the poll panel. PTI NAB NAB ANB ANB</p>

With inputs from PTI

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With Congress winning a comfortable majority in Karnataka, All India Congress Committee President Mallikarjun Kharge termed the grand old partys performance in the southern state as a victory for Janata Janardhana.

Kharge added that the people of Karnataka have voted furiously against Bharatiya Janata Partys bad administration in the state. He also said that all newly-elected Congress legislators will be asked to reach Bengaluru by this evening.

He said, We have sent a message to everyone (newly elected persons) to come by this evening. They all will come here by this evening and once they come, they will be instructed on the due course. After that, the high command will send observers (and) after that the due processes (for government formation) will follow, he told reporters here.

People themselves have got up and supported us, they have voted for us furiously against the bad administration. This shows voters of Karnataka are awakened. Despite the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi), Home Minister (Amit Shah), dozens of Ministers, Chief Ministers of other states camping here, and despite manpower, money and muscle being used, people have unitedly voted for Congress, Kharge added.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai has conceded to BJPs defeat in the state. He said, Weve not been able to make the mark. Once the results come we will do a detailed analysis. As a national party, we will not only analyse but also see what deficiencies and gaps were left at various levels. We take this result in our stride.

Complimenting the Congress entire state leadership and party office bearers and workers, he said, Everyone has worked unitedly which has got us these results. People have also responded to it. Also, our guarantees have worked, as the poor and downtrodden have voted for us.

With inputs agencies

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The future of Karanatakas politics will be decided today as vote counting goes on. Early trends show Congress ahead of the BJP with leaders like DV Sadanand Gowda admitting that the battle of Karnataka is a tough fight.

Speaking to ANI, Gowda said, The counting has just started. After 2-3 hours, we will get an idea but that too will not be final as there is a tough fight in every seat and I do agree with this; I am not denying this. It will be a tough fight because our opponents have joined hands together.

Primary agenda of the BJP is good governance: BJP leader and former union minister DV Sadanand Gowda speaks about the #KarnatakaElectionResults2023. pic.twitter.com/pLxedJjKIp  ANI (@ANI) May 13, 2023

He added that as opposed to what appears between Congress and Janata Dal (Secular), the ground reality is entirely different.

Catch all the live updates on Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023 here

It is important to note here that both Congress and JD(S) have contested the Karnataka polls separately.

On the question of the BJPs move in the case of a hung assembly, Gowda said the party will decide only after the result is announced.

With inputs from agencies

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The future of Karanatakas politics will be decided today as vote counting goes on. Meanwhile, former Chief Minister and Hubballi-Dharwad Central Congress candidate Jagadish Shettar, reacting to charges hurled by Union Minister Prahlad Joshi on Shettar, asked if Prime Minister Narendra Modi should retire from politics owing to his age.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now 73. He was a four-time Gujarat chief minister and is serving as PM for the second term. Will he quit politics? In fact, I want him to continue as PM for another term. Similarly, I want to continue in politics till I enjoy the peoples support, he said.

Joshi accused Shettar of betraying BJP after enjoying plum posts in the party and the government. Pralhad Joshi is enjoying his fourth term as MP and is a Union minister. Will he retire from politics? he added.

Catch all the live updates on Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023 here

Shettar accused BJP of luring voters with money in parts of Hubballi-Dharwad. He said, according to Deccan Herald, Afraid of losing the election, the BJP distributed money among the voters. It is said, they paid Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 per vote in several slums. When I was in BJP, I did not indulge in such activities. I used to win elections without indulging in electoral malpractices.

Shettar is seeking re-election for the seventh time.

He added, Exit poll surveys have predicted my victory. The Congress will get a clear majority and form the government. The outcome of the 2023 polls will have a strong bearing on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and polls in other states.

Congress is currently leading in the southern state, the latest data from Election Commission shows.

The counting of votes began at 8 am today.

With inputs from agencies

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The Indian Army thwarted an infiltration bid by Pakistan-backed terrorists in the Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir during the early hours of Saturday.

During the operation, a quadcopter which had flown in from the Pakistan side of the Line of Control (LoC) was fired upon by the Indian Army, forcing it to withdraw.

An Indian Army officer was quoted as saying by news agency ANI that there was an exchange of fire between terrorists and Indian Army troops.

An infiltration bid by terrorists was foiled in the Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir, early morning today. There was an exchange of fire between terrorists and their own troops. Pakistan side tried to fly a quadcopter over the incident site but on being fired at by the Indian side it quickly withdrew, the official said.

Earlier on May 3, the Indian Army had foiled an infiltration bid in the Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir and eliminated two terrorists in an encounter.

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Karnataka Election 2023: Senior Congress leader Alka Lamba said on Saturday that the party has learnt a lesson from its defeats and is marching towards victory today.

Lamba said recording a win in the home state of party president Mallikarjun Kharge is a significant matter.

VIDEO | Karnataka Election Results 2023: I am happy that Congress has learnt a lesson from its defeat and is marching towards victory today, says Congress leader Alka Lamba. #KarnatakaResultsWithPTI pic.twitter.com/ESwYEcHiTb  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 13, 2023

Read Also: Karnataka Election Results 2023 LIVE: BJP leading in 86 constituencies, suggest trends

The exit polls which were out after voting ended on May 10 predicted a hung assembly with some showing Congress returning to power with a majority. Most of the exit polls had predicted that the BJP will fall short of the halfway mark, 113.

In such circumstances, the JD(S) can play the role of a kingmaker. However, JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy on Saturday said that he has not been contacted as yet for the formation of the government in case of a cliffhanger, adding that he is hoping for a good show.

VIDEO | Karnataka Election Results 2023: I am happy that Congress has learnt a lesson from its defeat and is marching towards victory today, says Congress leader Alka Lamba. #KarnatakaResultsWithPTI pic.twitter.com/ESwYEcHiTb  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 13, 2023

Earlier, Yathindra Siddaramaiah, Congress leader and son of former Karnataka chief minister S Siddaramaiah expressed confidence in gaining a majority in the state. He added that his party would do anything to oust BJP from power.

After a high-decibel campaign during which all three key players in the fray  the incumbent BJP, the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular)  went at each other and pulled out stops and heavyweight campaigners to woo voters, the verdict in the battle for the Karnataka Assembly now rests with the peoples court.

The counting of votes has started at 8 am across 36 designated centres in the southern state, the Election Commission informed. While the campaign saw the BJP and the Congress trading fire over the promise in the latters manifesto to proscribe the Bajrang Dal, polling went off peacefully on May 10, with the eventual turnout recorded at a robust 73.29 per cent.

A party needs to win 113 seats to reach the majority mark and stake a claim to forming the government in Karnataka.

The key constituencies to watch out for on the result day are Varuna, Kanakapura, Shiggaon, Hubli-Darwad, Channapatna, Shikaripura, Chittapur, Ramanagara, and Chikmagalur.

The results in these seats could well sway the eventual outcome of the Assembly polls. Also, the Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities, accounting for 17 and 11 per cent of the states population, will also play a key role in deciding the eventual poll outcome.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is seeking a fresh mandate from the Shiggaon constituency from where he has won three consecutive terms in the Assembly.

There is also a lot of curiosity around the battle for the Varuna constituency where Congress stalwart and former chief minister Siddaramaiah is pitted against the BJPs V Somanna, a state minister and Dr. Bharathi Shankar of the JD(S).

The former CM is hopeful of continuing his winning streak in this seat since 2008. Another heavyweight candidate, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar is also eyeing a fresh term in the Kanakapura Assembly constituency.

A top Congress leader, who is believed to be vying for the chief ministers post this time, Shivakumar is in a direct contest against the BJPs Vokkaliga strongman and state Revenue Minister R Ashoka.

BJP turncoat and former chief minister Jagadish Shettar, who switched over to the Congress after being denied a ticket by the saffron party to contest the Hubli-Darwad West Assembly constituency, is up against BJPs Mahesh Tenginkai.

Though pitted against a formidable opponent, Shettar will have hopes of coming out tops in a state he has won a number of times. Channapatna is another key electoral battleground in Karnakata this year, with JD(S) leader and former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy in a direct contest against BJPs Yogeshwara and Congresss Gangadhar. Both his rivals are from the powerful Vokkaliga and are seen as formidable opponents.

In another key battle, BY Vijayendra, an electoral greenhorn, will hope to conjure a win from the Shikaripura constituency, which is considered a stronghold of his father and former CM BS Yediyurappa. Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharges son, Priyank Kharge, is contesting the Chittapur Assembly constituency. He was a former minister in the Siddaramaiah government.

In another battle that is expected to draw a lot of eyeballs, former prime minister HD Deve Gowdas grandson, Nikhil Kumaraswamy, is eyeing an electoral turnaround in the Ramanagara Assembly constituency, after a loss in the 2019 Assembly polls.

However, he is pitted against Congress veteran HA Iqbal Hussain and the BJPs Gowtham Gowda. Chikmagalur is also among the key electoral battlegrounds in Karnataka where the BJP is eyeing a win. The saffron party has fielded its national general secretary CT Ravi from this seat, who was talked up as a potential CM candidate by none other than party stalwart KS Eashwarappa.

A member of the Lingayat community, Ravi is yet to taste defeat in the Chikmagalur constituency since 2004. The BJP hopes to buck anti-incumbency riding on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who held a string of roadshows in the state ahead of the polls and even shared a personalised address, urging the people of Karnataka to vote back his party.

The Congress, on the other hand, is eyeing a turnaround in its electoral fortunes after a string of poll defeats, the latest of which came in the three Northeast states of Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland.

Significantly, Karnataka is the only southern state where the BJP is in power and winning the state will be the key to its plans of extending its electoral footprint in the south.

VIDEO | Karnataka Election Results 2023: VIDEO | This is a message for the BJP to stick to issues that matter to the people, says Congress leader @Pawankhera. #KarnatakaResultsWithPTI pic.twitter.com/wKgeZ0GV7b  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 13, 2023

While the BJP pulled out its top guns, including PM Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the partys national president JP Nadda, the Congress, too, fielded its heavyweights  Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Kharge senior  putting their best foot forward in the battle for 224 Assembly constituencies.

In a major electoral gambit, the BJP fielded as many as 50 new faces while denying tickets to several prominent faces. Several of these leaders, including Shettar and former deputy CM Laxman Savadi, went into a sulk after being ignored and jumped to Congress.

Karnataka has never brought the incumbent back to power since 1985 and the BJP would be hoping to do a first as it bids to return in the southern state.

With inputs from agencies.

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The AAP-ruled Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has started identifying locations for establishing women-only pink parks in all wards across the city, Delhi Deputy Mayor Aaley Mohammad Iqbal has said.

Talking about the project, the AAP councillor Iqbal said that the idea is to give a more comfortable space to women in the city, besides providing several amenities.

Recently, in a meeting with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, I cited the example of a pink park in my ward (Chandni Mahal) in old Delhi and suggested that such parks can be set up in all wards, he told PTI.

My idea found resonance with the Chief Minister and later, in a meeting of the civic bodys Horticulture department, I proposed that each ward should have at least one such park, Iqbal said. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has 250 wards in its jurisdiction.

AAP councillor Iqbal said a pink park was set up on Mata Sundari Road as a pilot project and children aged up to 10 can accompany women visiting the parks. The same model will be replicated in other wards.

These pink parks will have toilets, CCTV cameras, gym facilities and graffiti on the walls to offer the women a comfortable horticultural space.

The Delhi deputy mayor said councillors will identify one park in their respective wards for conversion into pink parks.

Many councillors have been told to look for locations in their wards already. This initiative is to provide better and safer places for women in public parks and I am hopeful that even councillors from other parties will co-operate in achieving this vision, he told Press Trust of India.

A senior MCD official said the proposal Iqbal placed the proposal in a recent meeting of the Horticulture department but we will work on it if there is a demand for it from people of the wards.

A pink park sounds very good but we, as a civic body, cannot just restrict access to a large segment of the male population, which include elderly people too, who may not agree to a public park being restricted to be used by people of just one gender, he said.

We will work on it as and when we get a request from an area councillor. If there is a demand from the residents and the councillors who represent them make a proposal for such women-only parks, we will take it forward, the official said.

The MCD has about 15,000 parks under its jurisdiction. It also maintains some historic parks such as Subhas Park (set up over a century ago as Edward Park and renamed after Independence), Roshanara Bagh, Qudsiya Bagh, and several small parks in residential neighbourhoods Many parks and horticultural spaces in the city are also under the jurisdiction of the Delhi Development Authority, the city governments Public Works department and the Central Public Works Department.

The concept of parks meant only for women is not new to Delhi as Zenana Park and Parda Bagh existed from the colonial era.

Parda Bagh is a historic park in the Daryaganj area and we will also work on the betterment of our historic parks too, Iqbal said.

With inputs from agencies.

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Punjabs ruling party AAP Saturday dubbed its victory in the high-stakes Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll as historic, saying it is a stamp of people on the work done by the Bhagwant Mann government in the past one year.

AAP candidate Sushil Rinku won the Jalandhar parliamentary seat after defeating Congress Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary by a margin of 58,691 votes.

Rinku polled 3,02,279 votes while Chaudhary secured 2,43,588 votes, according to the Election Commission data.

Shiromani Akali Dal candidate Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi, who was also backed by the Mayawati-led BSP, was at the third spot while BJP nominee Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal was at the fourth spot.

Sukhi polled 1,58,445 while Atwal got 1,34,800 votes.

Opposition parties Congress, BJP and SAD accepted the mandate of the people and congratulated the AAP for its victory.

Addressing the media in Jalandhar after Rinkus win in the bypoll, Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said it is a historic victory of the AAP and thanked the people of Jalandhar parliamentary seat for reposing faith in them.

AAP registered a historic victory from Jalandhar bypoll, said Cheema, who was the partys election in-charge for the Jalandhar bypoll.

He also said voters of Jalandhar parliamentary constituency rejected the false propaganda spread by the opposition parties against the AAP government. When Rinku was fielded, then different parties leveled accusations and tried to play dirty politics over the issue but people of Jalandhar seat showered love to the AAP, he said.

Cheema said the guarantees which were promised by the AAP before the 2022 assembly polls, were being fulfilled by the Mann government. And this victory is a stamp of people on the same, he said.

We went to people with guarantees like giving free electricity, opening of mohalla clinics, schools of eminence and the people of Jalandhar seat put a stamp on them, said Cheema who was accompanied by ministers Harjot Singh, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal and Harbhajan Singh.

Winning candidate Sushil Rinku thanked voters of the Jalandhar parliamentary seat for making him victorious and said he will be working on pending projects like smart city, Jalandhar airport and Adampur flyover etc.

He further said his efforts will be to raise issues of Punjab in Parliament.</p><p> AAP MP Raghav Chadha also thanked the voters of Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat for the victory and said his party is now back in the Lok Sabha.

The AAP is back in the Lok Sabha! Congratulations to @AamAadmiParty s Sushil Kumar Rinku on winning the Jalandhar by-poll.Thank you, Jalandhar! Todays win reflects the strengthening of peoples faith in @ArvindKejriwal s leadership and @BhagwantManns pro-people governance said Chadha.

The Congress, which lost its citadel to the AAP, said it humbly accepts peoples mandate with Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring congratulating the AAP for its victory in the bypoll.

We humbly accept peoples mandate! I thank party workers, volunteers, supporters and the entire @INCPunjab leadership, for the hard work & efforts put in by them for the #JalandharByElection. I congratulate Sushil Rinku & AAP party for the victory. Senior Congress leader Partap Singh Baja thanked party workers and leaders for putting up a united show and said they will come back stronger in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

We humbly accept the verdict of people of Jalandhar. I thank all the @INCPunjab leaders and workers for putting a united show and fighting the election till the very end. Congratulations to @AAPPunjab and Sushil Rinku on the victory. We will come back stronger in 2024 LS Polls, Bajwa tweeted.

However, Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu while reacting to the bypoll, tweeted, Meanwhile the Jalandhar by-election In Punjab was a POLICE ACTION..

Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal also thanked voters of Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat and said his party accepts the mandate with humility. We thank the voters of #Jalandhar and accept the mandate with humility in the true democratic traditions of our party. We congratulate the winner Sushil Kumar Rinku & @AamAadmiParty and hope that they will live up to the voters expectations, said Badal.

I also thank all the leaders and workers of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) combine for working hard and putting up a brave fight against all odds including the might of two governments, the Centre and the state, he further said in his tweet.

Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma also said his party accepts the mandate of the people of Jalandhar parliamentary constituency.

We accept whatever mandate is given by the people in Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll. Congratulations to AAP candidate Sushil Rinku, Sharma said in a tweet.

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The Karnataka election results indicate that the Congress party is all set to form the government in the state. This kind of vigour and desire to win an election is unquestionably a positive omen for the party. After a long time, Congress showed such enthusiasm to campaign in an election. There is no doubt that this victory will give Congress an edge in national politics. In this election, after a long time, starting from the state leadership to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and the Gandhi family campaigned together. There are several reasons, like the wrong decision of the Bharatiya Janata Party in terms of ticket distribution, management of leadership, and infighting, that caused this result.

However, certain fault lines have emerged as a result of the election, and they speak volumes about the future direction of Congress. The Karnataka election campaign of the Congress revealed that the party has little to offer in terms of a vision centred on development. The manifesto of the Congress makes it obvious that the party is losing its originality and focusing on either appeasement-centred issues or populist measures. This is a crucial juncture for Congress to realise that this victory should not be treated as a stamp of approval for these fault lines.While appeasement of any community must be avoided in Indias current political context, there is no justification for engaging in populist politics without considering the ground realities of the state.

Focus on local issues

Despite attempts from the Gandhi family to focus on issues that are not related to Karnataka, the local leaders of the party have successfully kept the election grounded.The local organisation of the party attempted to keep the campaign focused on local issues such as corruption, unemployment, the advancement of women, and other issues, despite a number of internal disputes. Some of the initiatives, such as financial assistance for women and unemployed youth in the state, were also included in the congress. Although populist in nature, these decisions have ties to grassroots demands.

With the participation of the Gandhi family and national leaders, however, the entire narrative shifted. From Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge to Rahul, Priyanka, and Sonia Gandhi, the majority of their statements have been directed at the BJP. In a number of other states, including Gujarat, the party has attempted to pursue the same course by ignoring local concerns. It is not an effective strategy. Congress can only grow by remaining local and avoiding having all of Indian politics appear to be RSS vs. Congress or PM Modi vs. Congress. The party must realise that in the future, it will also need to keep its focus on the issues in the state elections. The clear winner here is the state leadership of the Karnataka Congress.

Avoid personal attacks on PM Modi

It was not at all remarkable that the Congress would ultimately resort to personal attacks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It has become the norm in Congress to use the harshest language when criticising the Prime Minister. And the election in Karnataka is not the first. In national politics, during Parliament sessions, and at every political rally, the Gandhi family and Congress leadership repeatedly emphasise the same message. During the Karnataka election campaign, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge attacked the Prime Minister by comparing him to a poisonous snake (he subsequently clarified, but the damage was done), Priyankas Cry PM remark, etc.

From the Chowkidar Chor Hai campaign during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to chants of Modi-Adani Bhai Bhai inside the parliament. It is essential for the Congress to recognise that these types of personal assaults against Prime Minister Modi have never benefited the party electorally. This is why this victory in Karnataka should not be seen as a success for such condemnable personal attacks. At the end of the elections, focus should be on local issues, and if the Congress believes that these mindless attacks against the PM are the reason behind its victory, then they are wrong. It is a good opportunity to realise that the Congress will need strong local leaders, narratives, and discourse to win elections.

Politics based on appeasement

The banning of any political or social organisation that engages in extremist activities is an essential measure, and every government, regardless of political ideology, should take the same action. If the Congress had not mentioned Bajrang Dal alongside the Popular Front of India, the political interpretation of the situation may have been different. The placement of PFI and Bajrang Dal on the same line is indicative of appeasement politics. Through this, the Congress hopes to appease Muslims, who may suffer from the PFIs ban and be delighted to see the name Bajrang Dal. If this is the future of political discourse in Congress, nothing could be more tragic.

It would be dangerous if the Congress believed that such attempts at appeasement had worked positively for the party and would continue to work, but it would only weaken the party further. Appeasement can bring some quick success, but it is a shambolic way of doing politics. Playing with the sentiments of the communities cannot be an acceptable way of playing politics, irrespective of the positive outcome. A great example of such politics and its effect is West Bengal under the leadership of CM Mamata Banerjee. The ruling Trinamool Congress has been winning elections after elections depending on their appeasement-centric politics, but today the state is suffering from massive law and order issues and communal conflict.

Way ahead

The Congress should also look into its position to be closer to the left-liberal ecosystem. The pertinent question should be whether the victory in Karnataka has anything to do with all these or is a state-centric phenomenon.Regardless of the victory in the Karnataka elections, Congress must recognise that these fault lines will ultimately destroy the party. The Congress is losing its originality as liberal ideology gains ground. Inviting liberals as visitors on the Bharat Jodo Yatra was another attempt by Rahul Gandhi to demonstrate his proximity to them. If Congress attempts to close its eyes and ignore the fact that Indias politics are changing and development is becoming the top priority, there is no room for appeasement in contemporary Indian politics.

The victory in Karnataka is commendable for Congress, but the future of the party will be dependent on whether it acknowledges these faultlines and tries to change its politics or not. This victory is a good start for Congress to work on state leadership and a state-centric political narrative. But if the party believes that this victory is nothing but acceptance by the people of these fault lines, like appeasement, then the future of the party will remain at stake.

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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Watched The Kerala Story and was immensely impressed with brilliant presentation of how extremely radical organisations such as the ISIS has recruited agents who send fighters and sex slaves for ISIS fighters in Syria.

None of my family members found the movie to be anti-Islam and they all agreed that the movie was against crime being perpetrated by vested interests who have been working for the ISIS. One wished that the movie could have avoided explicit sex scenes the way Kashmir Files did.

The module is simple. The fugitive on the run (a Muslim boy facing criminal charges) who can be guided to fight in the name of Jihad is the best recruit. A Hindu girl converted to Islam using guile is the best bet to go to Syria to become sex slaves. The maulanas acting as agents of the ISIS would not like a Muslim girl to go there. Strange! Or they know the fate and the outrage this may produce within the community.

I am aghast at the reaction of Muslims in India and those secularists who think the movie is against Muslims or Islam. One of my Muslim friends called it a propaganda movie. Entrapping gullible girls and recruiting them to become ISIS fighters is a crime of the worst order that needs condemnation from everyone. Every citizen must work against this and help the security agencies fight this new phenomenon.

This movie creates awareness and hence the decision by States to make it tax-free should be welcomed. Why should a State ban it or lie silent when radicals are demanding a ban. It should not become a victim of political gerrymandering to consolidate vote bank. Conversion is not banned but conversion using guile, deceit and ulterior motives is banned and falls within the purview of crime.

What has been depicted in The Kerala Story is crime against humanity and the way anti-India forces are trying to weaken the foundation of a secular state by imposing one way of thought and practices on others. It is one thing to believe in being a member of a supremacist religion, but it is another thing to extend this to show others in bad light or belittle others.

The movie has carefully avoided giving the counter arguments to those who claim their religion to be supremacist. What Fatima in the movie has said are the words often spoken by fugitive Zakir Naik who tried to poison Muslim youths by giving spurious arguments. One counter and the entire edifice falls to the ground and the radicals start talking of beheading (ser tan se Juda).

The talk about love-jihad should not surprise anyone. This first came as a phenomenon when Kerala Church spoke about this and not Hindus. The Syro-Malabar Church raised the issue in 2009 but it was buried as not-proved. The same Church strongly raised the issue in 2020 when it charged that Christian girls were being made victims of Love jihad and were being sent to ISIS.

The movie has used the ISIS module to depict the various stages of converting a non-Muslim girl into Islamic faith. Hijab is shown as a weapon that protects women from sinful eyes of men? As if all non-hijab wearing women are targets of sexual predators. The hijab argument is a threat to non-Muslim women that accept Islam or face the Islamic goons out on the streets to discipline them. The State has lost its power, more so in Kerala and West Bengal where members of a community can do whatever they want. The police would not act on the pretext of not getting sufficient evidence.

This movie should appeal to Muslims intellectuals to condemn such acts and not lie silent. They would anyway be silenced if they live in a Sharia governed State. This is their time to assert and save their liberty which Indias vibrant democracy gives them. Women as it is are the worst suffers in an ISIS ordained Sharia governed country. Muslim women in particular should watch this movie to know what would be their fate if India loses its secular character.

And this movie is a wake-up call to Hindus to learn their scriptures and the stories. All religions have some stories that may appear to be unreal or ludicrous. There is nothing to be ashamed of. Sanatan tradition is one of the oldest religions and it did not come against any form of worship since it had no role model. It evolved with better practices and made the Hindu way of life possible.

The problem is our thought leaders do not know much about other religions and the trends and the inconsistencies. Only when one knows them one can evaluate and find the virtues of ones own faith. One need not condemn others but one can definitely appreciate and strengthen a religion that has upheld dharma at all cost and has given primacy to individuals in fulfilment of his aspirations and participating in the evolution of society into a better entity.

The Indian theological tradition has always upheld religious discourses to evaluate what is good for human kind. Somewhere in the chase for money and power we seem to be losing this unique quality. Not abuses but logic, arguments and demonstrative examples are the virtues of Sanatan Dharm. Before calling Sanatan tradition archaic and traditional, one should read the Vedas and the Upanishads. The Bhagwat Geeta is the ultimate rational arguments that any religions can give to understand human beings and the reason for their existence.

Now that the social media has provided a unique platform that is open to all, a debate is possible. India has to adjust to the realities of various faiths existing together like a mosaic. India had the option to carve out a Hindu State during the Partition but true to the Sanatan Spirit, it opted for a secular State which has been its character since time immemorial. The radical Islamists should know that nobody would gain by their dubious design. People of all faiths must live together and tolerate each other. And if one really feels that one needs Sharia law one can always opt out and go to one such countries. Spare India!

The writer is the convener of the media relations department of the BJP and represents the party as a spokesperson on TV debates. He has authored the book Narendra Modi: The Game Changer. The views expressed are personal.

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At 10:30-11:00 am on the 13th of May, as the seventh to eighth rounds of counting was ongoing, the Congress party was clearly ahead in the Karnataka Assembly elections. The Karnataka electorate, true to form, was getting ready to change horses after the end of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) term in office. The BJP could not beat the anti-incumbency of a strong order, unlike in the minor disgruntlement in Gujarat.

The Congress was ahead by two seats beyond the halfway mark of 113, given that one person will exit to become the Speaker. However, for the stability of the incoming government, the Congress tally needed to be better than 120. As the counts progressed, the figures were achieved.

At 1:00 pm, Congress had 128 seats, a little later, 132, prompting a euphoric CM aspirant and probable Siddaramaiah, to address the press. He not only expressed pleasure at the results, beaming throughout as firecrackers were let off but waxed eloquent. He suggested this election was important as an indication that the people of India wanted the Modi government out at the Centre too. He said multiple rallies addressed by Prime Minister Modi were to no avail in Karnataka. With the Opposition unity, the BJP could be ousted at the Centre, and Rahul Gandhi could become the prime minister.

How all this  designed to please the Congress high command  will sit with other aspirants in the Opposition, is the question.

This figure of 132 seats won is just as well, as the Congress can now launch its government without any fear of defection or erosion of its majority for other reasons. The only way the Congress government in Karnataka could crumble now is if there was a major split due to internal rivalries, a possibility that the BJP could well look into, given its record.

The anti-incumbency affecting the BJP has restricted it to under 70 seats. The charges of rampant corruption and lack-lustre leadership have bitten deep, as has the partial abandonment of the critical Lingayat community. Apparently, certain Lingayat Mutts were angered by demands for commission as kickbacks from the monies paid to them by the BJP government.

A double engine sarkar with an incompetent, weak, corrupt, local engine, clearly does not work. With the media saying so for long in the lead-up to the elections, why did the BJP leadership choose to ignore this ground reality? They not only lost the support of some of the Lingayats, but also the tribals that had voted solidly for the BJP in 2018.

Party President JP Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah have to introspect and course correct. It is not enough to use the charismatic Prime Minister Modi at the penultimate moment to compensate for all local problems. In the end, it ends up embarrassing him too.

The forthcoming Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are all direct contests between the BJP and the Congress. The BJP is now seen as vulnerable, their strategies ineffective and in disarray. The Opposition can feel strengthened with the Congress as its national pivot, provided this can be sold to the regional satraps.

If the BJP is not able to reverse its losing streak in the remaining Assembly elections before the general elections of 2024, it may be in trouble. Even on a post-election basis, assuming the ultimate leadership issues are not solved in advance, the Opposition could come together to oust the BJP unless they win a majority of the seats. Can the BJP, perceived by many as arrogant, looking at two losses in a row after Himachal Pradesh, both in direct one-on-one battles with the Congress, learn from this one?

In both elections, the Congress stuck closely to local issues and offered well-designed incentives and SOPs for the people. These were apparently appreciated by the voters, most recently, the so-called five guarantees in Karnataka. BJP did not change its strategy in response. And with an increasingly remote high command, many of the BJPs core voters feel let down. They voted for a Hindutva-promoting party and not one that is increasingly wooing minorities with little result.

The past tells us that Assembly elections have often been decided on local considerations and national issues do not have much resonance. The same people generally vote differently in Lok Sabha elections, but is the Narendra Modi-led BJP going into elections in 2024 representing its core voter interests? Items such as the Uniform Civil Code are only promised at election time in state after state and then quietly shelved. Many seem to think Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh is doing a better job at what the core BJP voter expects, than the Modi-Shah combine at the Centre.

The loss of Karnataka is a loss of BJPs only gateway to the South of India, except for an NDA presence in Pondicherry, and the impact of this loss will be profound. With talk of a breakaway Republic of South India, possibly as a pressure tactic, Rahul Gandhis notions that India is a Union of States and mention of Karnatakas sovereignty by Sonia Gandhi in a recent speech, the implications can be ominous.

Things may have gone very differently with a strong BJP local leadership in Karnataka. For example, Uttar Pradesh had municipal local elections simultaneously, with the BJP sweeping them. The strength of the Yogi administration is cited as the main reason. And this is the Yogi governments second consecutive term in office.

The Basavraj Bommai administration in Karnataka, by way of contrast, displayed neither energy in the election campaign, nor administrative skill over his term. He came out to concede the election at about 12:30 pm. So why was Bommai, who has not performed, retained for the entire length of time? So many incumbents were replaced at the time of handing out party tickets for this election, so why not Bommai? Can Bommai, who is still in position, lead the Opposition for the years going forward which will see a general election in 2024?

The marginalisation and on-off usage of Lingayat patriarch BS Yediyurappa has also cost the BJP dearly, and not for the first time. LK Advani had also pushed out allegedly corrupt Yediyurappa in the first BJP term in Karnataka, resulting in the loss of the state. The introduction of Yediyurappas son to compensate for his absence in semi-retirement in this election did not pull the same weight with the voters.

Congress ultimately does not need to reach out to some of the 5-7 independents showing leads, in order to bolster their numbers. Nor does it need the help of the kingmaker JDS, which ended up with around 20 seats. However, all is not necessarily well.

There are extreme rivalries between the top Karnataka Congress leaders. One between former Chief Minister Siddaramiah and aspirant State Party President DK Shivakumar. Several other Congress leaders are there with ministerial ambitions they wont like to be done out of. One more incoming MLA from the tribal community, KH Muniyappa, wants to be a chief minister too. Dalit Congress Party President Mallikarjun Kharges name has also been put forward by DK Shivakumar as a possible CM contender.

In the end, the senior Siddaramaiah, who said this was his last election, will probably be chosen to lead the Congress government. DK Shivakumar, a lifelong Congressman, who is only 61, may have to wait his turn.

The writer is a Delhi-based political commentator. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.

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Eight or nine months ago, a senior journalist from Karnataka had told me about the deep rot in the Karnataka government. He leans towards Hindutva and is not a Congress or JD(S) apologist, so I took his criticism of the BJP seriously.

Soon after, when I brought up the grouses against the Karnataka government with a very senior BJP politician from the south, he said he was aware and the party needed to repair the damage.

Most BJP supporters I have met from Karnataka since  ordinary citizens as well as those in public life  have unequivocally said that the state party was corrupt and its leadership was limp.

Saturdays Karnataka verdict squarely reflects their disappointment.

The BJP must realise that after the coming of Narendra Modi and trailblazing success driven by performance, it can no longer live in the warmth of low expectations. Voters have set the bar much higher for the BJP than for other parties.

Here are five things the BJP seemed to have forgotten in its Karnataka campaign.

First, the party has to be clean. It cannot say, Look, the Congress and JD(S) are far more corrupt. Corruption became so casual in the officialdom under Basavaraj Bommai that the Congresss PayCM campaign connected directly with the people.

Also, the Bommai government did nothing to bring to book Congress politicians like DK Shivakumar, who are accused of massive corruption.

More than a pro-Congress, the Karnataka verdict has been to punish the BJP for reneging on its basic contract with the people.

Second, even in small states like Himachal Pradesh, absence of strong and dynamic local leaders is hurting the BJP. Having a strong high command but weak local leaders demolishes a big differentiator between the BJP and the Congress.

Today, Yogi Adityanath, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Shivraj Singh Chouhan can pull their parties on their own. But in many states, over-reliance on Modi and poor talent-spotting has marred the BJPs chances.

Third, it needs to be a lot more clear and assertive about Hindutva. Its core ideology cannot be a matter of shy subterfuge during elections. Like its spells out development goals, the BJP must be more upfront with its civilisational targets, even locally.

Fourth, the party has failed to shed its reliance on caste arithmetic despite its proclamations to the contrary. The breach of the traditionally saffron Lingagayat vote even in strongholds like Kittur shows that unless the BJP takes risk and breaks comfortable structures of the past, these will let it down sooner or later.

And fifth is that to be the party with a difference, the BJP needs to have another tide of new people and new ideas. Himachal and Karnataka losses are not to be taken lightly. They show that the old guard in any party do not give up power easily, but keep playing their sly games in the backdrop to remain relevant and extract favour for family and friends even if it means damaging the party.

Modi BJP, despite its monstrous size, is a lean, innovating, merit-rewarding and risk-taking machine. If power stagnates the BJPs thinking and it gets stuck in the muck, the partys own weight will bring it down.

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Conceding defeat in the Karnataka Assembly elections, outgoing Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday said that the BJP will take the results in its stride and plug the gaps for the Lok Sabha elections next year after a detailed analysis.

Weve not been able to make the mark. Once the results come we will do a detailed analysis. As a national party, we will not only analyse but also see what deficiencies and gaps were left at various levels. We take this result in our stride to come back in Lok Sabha elections, said Bommai.

#WATCH | In spite of a lot of efforts put in by PM & BJP workers, weve not been able to make the mark. Once the full results come well do a detailed analysis. We take this result in our stride to come back in Lok Sabha elections: Karnataka CM Bommai#KarnatakaElectionResults pic.twitter.com/ftNLsV5HHG  ANI (@ANI) May 13, 2023

He said despite a lot of efforts put in by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP workers, the party failed to give a desired result.

According to the latest trends available on the Election Commission website, the Congress is leading in 127 of the 224 assembly seats in the state, while the BJP is ahead in 68. The JD-S is leading in 22 seats.

Most exit polls had predicted a tight contest between the Congress and BJP. Several pollsters gave an edge to the Congress over the ruling BJP, while indicating the possibility of a hung Assembly.

With inputs from agencies

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Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Saturday said that the Karnataka election result is a mandate against PM Modi, Amit Shah and JP Nadda and called on all the non-BJP parties to unite in order to defeat the saffron party in the Lok Sabha election next year.

It is a mandate against Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and JP Nadda. PM came to Karnataka 20 times. No PM in the past campaigned like this, said the former Karnataka chief minister.

#WATCH | It is a mandate against Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and JP Nadda. PM came to Karnataka 20 times; No PM in the past campaigned like this: Congress leader Siddaramaiah on his partys victory in Karnataka elections pic.twitter.com/bNk1HMLk4y  ANI (@ANI) May 13, 2023

Calling on all the non-BJP parties to come together, he said the election result is a stepping stone to the Lok Sabha election.

Result of this election is a stepping stone to the Lok Sabha election. I hope all non-BJP parties come together and see that BJP is defeated and I also hope Rahul Gandhi may become PM of the country, added Siddaramaiah.

Terming it as a big victory for the Congress, Siddaramaiah said the party will cross the 130 mark in the state.

People of Karnataka wanted a change because they were fed up with the BJP government. BJP spent a lot of money on Operation Kamala. Padyatra of Rahul ji helped in enthusing cadre of party, he added.

According to the latest trends available on the Election Commission website, the Congress has won 10 seats and are leading in 126 seats of the 224 assembly seats in the state, while the BJP is leading on 60 seats and has won 4. The JD-S is leading on 19 seats and has won one.

Most exit polls had predicted a tight contest between the Congress and BJP. Several pollsters gave an edge to the Congress over the ruling BJP, while indicating the possibility of a hung Assembly.

With inputs from agencies

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With leads from the counting of votes for the Karnataka Assembly polls putting Congress way ahead of rival BJP, the grand old party laid the credit for the impending victory at former party president Rahul Gandhis door. It said the Congress leaders pan-India foot march which kicked off in September 2022 the Bharat Jodo Yatra had contributed to the big win.

Karnataka has displayed a 38-year-old trend where the ruling party has never returned to power for a second consecutive term.

Soon after the counting of votes began, the official Twitter account of the Congress party on Saturday morning posted a video montage of Gandhis pictures from the Bharat Jodo Yatra with the popular English song Unstoppable playing in the background.

Yeah, Im unstoppable today, Congress tweeted with Rahul Gandhis picture as the thumbnail of the video.

Im invincible Im so confident Yeah, Im unstoppable today  pic.twitter.com/WCfUqpNoIl  Congress (@INCIndia) May 13, 2023

Several Congress spokespersons appearing on various television channels have also been crediting the Congress leaders foot march for mobilising the workers on the ground in the southern state, saying it had played a vital role in the partys performance in this election.

Senior Congress leader and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot tweeted that the atmosphere during Gandhis Yatra in Karnataka was visible in the election results.

The atmosphere which was visible in Karnataka during Rahul Gandhis Bharat Jodo Yatra is clearly visible in the election results of Karnataka today. Under the leadership of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, Congress leaders did a great campaign. Karnataka has chosen the politics of development by rejecting communal politics. This will be repeated in the upcoming Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana assembly elections as well, he tweeted in Hindi.

                                ,     ,            Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) May 13, 2023

At present, Congress has a comfortable lead, shooting well past the halfway mark, the latest trends show. The ruling BJP is leading on 70-plus seats and HD Kumaraswamys JD(S) is ahead in over 25 seats.

The Congress has asked all its MLAs to reach Bengaluru, as leads began indicating a victory for the party. Congresss Siddaramaiah said he is sure of the party crossing the 120 mark. There are reports that the party has booked several resorts to keep its flock together. It prompted a jibe from the BJP, which said the Congress doesn't trust its MLAs.

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With the early trends of the Karnataka assembly election results that will be declared on Saturday, showing crucial leads for the Congress party, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has expressed confidence that the ruling BJP may still cross the magic number with a clear majority.

We are confident that we will win and cross the magic number. We have got the ground report from all the booths and the constituencies, he said.

On being asked about Congress having allegedly booked resorts to keep the flock together in one place, Bommai said the Congress will not get a majority and hence they are in touch with other parties. They have no confidence in their legislators, Bommai said,

The Karnataka CM said the BJP is confident of coming to power on its own, ruling out any coalition. Meanwhile, Bommai (BJP) himself, is leading in the Shiggaon constituency against Congress Pathan Yasir Ahmed Khan by 6,236 votes so far.

ALSO READ: Karnataka Election Results 2023 LIVE: Congress ahead in 74 seats, BJP ahead in 45: EC

At present, theres no question of any alliance as we are sure to get an absolute majority. Let the Congress leaders hold any meeting as they have the right to hold it, the Chief Minister said.

Karnataka saw a three-cornered contest, with a direct fight between the BJP, Congress and the JDS in most of the constituencies. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is in power in Delhi and Punjab, had also fielded some candidates for the assembly elections in the southern state this time round.

A number of exit polls have predicted a tight contest between the Congress and BJP in the assembly polls. A majority of them have also given an edge to the Congress over the ruling BJP, while indicating the possibility of a hung assembly in Karnataka.

Political forecasts indicate that HD Kumaraswamys JDS is likely to play kingmaker. The majority mark in the 224-seat assembly is 113 seats.

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Soon after a strong poll showing by the Congress in the Karnataka assembly election, veteran party leader P Chidambaram on Saturday congratulated the southern states people for a decisive verdict and said they had successfully rejected the money and muscle power of the so-called double engine government of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The Congress is ahead in 136 of the 224 assembly seats in the state and is set to get a clear majority, according to the latest trends on the Election Commissions website. The BJP was ahead in 63 seats and the Janata Dal (Secular) on only 22.

Warm congratulations and sincere thanks to the people of Karnataka for delivering a decisive verdict. This election was more than an election to a state assembly. It was about upholding the fundamental values of the Indian Constitution and stopping the damage done by supremacist theories, discrimination and prejudice, Chidambaram said on Twitter.

The people of Karnataka have stood up to the money and muscle power of the so-called double engine government of the BJP, the former Union minister said and added that they have shown a glorious path to the rest of the country.

Warm congratulations and sincere thanks to the people of Karnataka for delivering a decisive verdict This election was more than an election to a State Assembly. It was about upholding the fundamental values of the Indian Constitution and stopping the damage done by supremacist  P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) May 13, 2023

Karnataka, which is one of our more advanced states, can now forge ahead and occupy the top rank in economic development and human development indicators. My congratulations to the warriors of the KPCC who fought a valiant battle and emerged victorious, Chidambaram said.

KPCC president DK Shivakumar was in tears after trends indicated a landslide victory for the Congress in Karnataka. I credit my cadres and all my leaders, a visibly teary-eyed Shivakumar told reporters at his Sadashivanagar residence.

The Congress workers and the leaders have worked hard, he said. People have expressed faith in us. We have jointly worked under collective leadership, Shivalkumar said.

The Congress looks poised to win power in Karnataka, ousting the BJP from its only southern stronghold on Saturday, ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

As results from the May 10 elections made the BJPs defeat increasingly apparent, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai conceded defeat and said the party had not been able to make the mark despite of a lot of effort put in by everyone, including the prime minister and workers of the party.

The Congress is leading in 136 of the 224 assembly seats in the state, comfortably breaching the magic number of 113, while the BJP is at 64, according to the Election Commission website. The JD-S, which was hoping to play kingmaker, is leading in only 20 seats.

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New Delhi: Barely hours before the Karnataka assembly elections results were declared, the Congress has categorically denied reaching out to the HD Kumaraswamy-led JDS, amid emerging reports that the regional party may play a crucial role in the event of a hung assembly.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said his party would win a thumping majority and that it would decide its next move based on the numbers that the results are likely to throw up.

The numbers will tell us what to do, Kharge told television channels, questioned on the possibility of an Operation Lotus  the term used by the opposition to describe what they allege is the BJPs strategy of gaining power by inducing MLAs to switch sides. We will take a call after the results, he said.

Kharge denied that his party had been in negotiations with the JDS after a leader claimed the party had decided whom to tie up with. Nobody. We are reaching out to nobody, Kharge reiterated.

Exit polls have predicted a majority for the Congress in the polls that took place on Wednesday. However, a fractured verdict has not been ruled out, which leads to the possibility of the JDS playing kingmaker. In 2018, the BJP emerged as the single-largest party but fell short of a majority. The Congress and JDS formed a coalition government, which crashed only 14 months later after mass defections to the BJP.

On Thursday, a JDS leader claimed that the party had received feelers from both the Congress and the BJP and that a decision had been taken, which set off fierce rumours about a possible BJP-JDS tie-up.

Tanveer Ahmed made the comment and not former chief minister Kumaraswamy, who was in Singapore. The decision is done. Its taken. We will announce it to the public when it is the right time, Ahmed had said.

However, Karnataka JDS chief CM Ibrahim distanced himself and the partys stand from Ahmeds statement, saying he is not our spokesperson.

A large number of Congress leaders said they were confident of winning around 150 seats in the 224-member assembly in which 113 is the majority mark.

Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar said earlier that the Congress would form a government on its own and that he did not want to comment on the BJP tying up with the JDS.

No talks between the JDS and BJP. We will form the government on our own. Let them talk. I dont want to comment on their talk, he said.

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Senior Congress leader and former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday managed a landslide victory from the Varuna constituency, defeating his nearest rival by a margin of 46,006 votes and entering the state assembly for the ninth time.

The 75-year-old leader got 1,19,430 votes against 73,424 polled by his BJP rival and influential Lingayat leader V Somanna. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate was in third place with 1,075 votes, according to the Election Commissions website.

Five-time MLA and outgoing state Housing Minister Somanna was moved out of his Govindaraj Nagar constituency in Bengaluru for the first time to contest the Congress strongman head-on in his home turf.

In 2018, Siddaramaiah left the Varuna seat for his son S Yathindra and went on to contest from Chamundeshwari and Badami. While he lost in Chamundeshwari to JD(S) candidate G T Deve Gowda, he defeated the BJPs B Sriramulu by a slender margin of 1,996 votes in Badami.

Siddaramaiah represented the Chamundeshwari constituency in Mysuru in the Karnataka assembly five times  in 1983 as an Independent, in 1985 on a Janata Party ticket, in 1994 and 2004 for the Janata Dal, and in 2006 for the Congress by a lean margin of 257 votes.

In 2008, he shifted to Varuna which is also in the Mysuru region, and registered an easy victory that he repeated in 2013.

In another expected victory, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharges son Priyank Kharge on Saturday won from the Chittapur constituency in Karnataka by a margin of 13,638 votes, logging his third consecutive victory from the seat.

Priyank Kharge bagged 81,088 votes against 67,450 polled by his BJP rival Manikanta Rathod. Aam Aadmi Party candidate Jagadish S Sagar was in third place with 962 votes.

The Congress has won 100 of the 224 assembly seats in Karnataka so far and is leading in 36, while the BJP has won 45 and is ahead in 19, according to the latest trends on the Election Commission website. The Janata Dal (Secular) has bagged 16 seats so far and is leading in four.

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New Delhi: A day after JD(S) national spokesperson claimed that the party has already decided with whom they will form the government in the state as the exit polls predicted a hung Assembly, JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy on Saturday said that no one has contacted his party for alliance and that there was no demand for him.

No one has contacted me till now. There is no demand for me, I am a small party, said JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy, ahead of Karnataka election results.

#WATCH | No one has contacted me till now. There is no demand for me, I am a small party says JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy, ahead of Karnataka election results. pic.twitter.com/0Mkbqdd7Tr  ANI (@ANI) May 13, 2023

He said in the next 2-3 hours, it will become clear and he is hopeful that there will be some good development for his party.

Also read: Karnataka Election Results 2023 LIVE: BJP leading in 86 constituencies, suggest trends

Exit polls show that the two national parties will score in a big way. The exit polls have given 30-32 seats to JD(S). I am hoping for a good development, Kumaraswamy added.

Janata Dal (Secular) on Friday said that they have received feelers from both the Congress and the BJP and the party has already decided with whom it will be forming the government and, according to an NDTV report.

We will announce it to the public when the appropriate time comes, said JD(S) national spokesperson Tanveer Ahmed.

#WATCH | We have already decided with whom we are going to form the government. We will announce it to the public when the appropriate time comes: JD(S) national spokesperson Tanveer Ahmed pic.twitter.com/rVaZ6kxSvD  ANI (@ANI) May 12, 2023

Ahmed said there are certain programmes that the JD(S) would like to implement for the betterment of Karnataka and Kannadigas.
Historic Chinese city captures global attention as summit host

Xinhua) 09:20, May 13, 2023

* Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia during the Western Han Dynasty (around 202 BC-AD 25) with his envoys. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

* Rich historical sites of Xi'an bear the indelible imprints of China's profound traditional culture and time-honored civilization. The city offers an opportunity for both locals and international visitors to immerse themselves in the ancient splendor that dates back over a thousand years.

* The city's confident and inclusive culture has captivated global interest, evidenced by its hosting of prestigious international events such as the Silk Road International Film Festival, Silk Road International Exposition, and the upcoming China-Central Asia Summit.

XI'AN, May 12 (Xinhua) -- The opening of direct flights last month between northwest China's Xi'an and Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, brought good tidings for Ushurova Sofiya, as the 49-year-old Kazakh woman who lives in Xi'an frequently travels between the two countries.

"During my first trip to Xi'an in 2004, I had to first fly to Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and then take a train. It was really a time-consuming journey," recalled Sofiya.

This year Xi'an is hosting the China-Central Asia Summit scheduled on May 18 and 19.

Four direct passenger routes have been launched between Xi'an and Central Asia so far this year, including destinations such as Almaty, Bishkek, Tashkent and Astana. Transportation convenience has attracted an increasing number of foreigners like Sofiya to visit or stay in the ancient Chinese capital.

This aerial photo taken on April 25, 2023 shows a view of the Yongning Gate of the ancient city wall in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (Xinhua/Liu Xiao)

ANCIENT GLORY

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia during the Western Han Dynasty (around 202 BC-AD 25) with his envoys. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

During its heyday in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), when it was known as Chang'an, the city attracted a significant influx of foreign merchants, envoys, and students from various countries.

Home to a number of world-renowned historical sites, including the Bell Tower and the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, Xi'an evokes a nostalgic reflection of its glorious past. Several modern cultural blocks boasting a blend of shopping, dining and other recreational activities have been built based on historical heritages, which endow the metropolis with a unique charm.

This photo taken on May 1, 2023 shows a view of the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (Photo by Zou Jingyi/Xinhua)

Enthralled by its profound history and time-honored culture, Sofiya made the momentous decision to pursue her career at the School of Law, Xi'an Jiaotong University. With nearly two decades of residency in Xi'an and having married a local, Sofiya has acquired an extensive understanding of the city's notable historical landmarks.

"Xi'an boasts treasures like the Terracotta Warriors, the Bell Tower and the ancient city wall of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). I would like to show around these sites to my family and friends, and tell them the captivating historical tales. It is a vibrant city with rich history and a promising future," Sofiya said.

Xi'an is also hailed as a city of poetry. During the Tang Dynasty, numerous scholars and poets visited the then Chang'an, seeking literary discussions, camaraderie, and poetic indulgence.

Even today, remnants of that era can be found in Xi'an, with place names like Fanchuan and Qujiang, which frequently graced the verses of famous Tang poems.

This aerial photo taken on May 2, 2023 shows a night view of the Bell Tower in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (Xinhua/Liu Xiao)

These historical treasures have also influenced the design of subway stations in Xi'an, seamlessly blending the past and present. Li Qingke, a visitor from Shanghai, aptly remarked, "In Xi'an, the subway becomes a time tunnel, whisking us away to the splendors of ancient times."

Xi'an integrates the style of the ancient capital with modern life, retaining ancient charm and nostalgia, said Shang Ziqin, a famous cultural scholar from Shaanxi.

According to a citizen named Du Yuan, the rich historical sites of Xi'an bear the indelible imprints of China's profound traditional culture and time-honored civilization. The city offers an opportunity for both locals and international visitors to immerse themselves in the ancient splendor that dates back over a thousand years.

MODERN CHARM

Xi'an has admirably maintained and harnessed its rich historical and cultural heritage.

After years of preservation work, the ancient city wall of Xi'an, alongside the surrounding scenic area with lush greenery and clear moat water, has been integrated into the urban life of Xi'an and become a popular recreational and tourism destination.

For 36 years, the city wall has been illuminated by a spectacular lantern festival, which has become a hallmark Spring Festival celebration. Additionally, a variety of other cultural activities, including kite-making and Tang poetry recitals, are regularly held here, helping to preserve and celebrate the rich and vibrant traditions of Chinese culture.

In addition to historical sites, Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. The number of museums with free entry accounts for more than 95 percent. The city has one museum for every 88,200 people on average, placing it among the highest in the country.

This photo taken on March 30, 2021 shows staff members working at a workshop of the LONGi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd. in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (Xinhua/Liu Xiao)

Nowadays, people donning traditional Chinese costumes can be spotted on the streets of Xi'an, creating an immersive experience for tourists. As visitors wander through ancient structures, indulge in local delicacies, and witness street performances like acrobatics and lion dances, they are transported back in time to the vibrant streetscape reminiscent of the Tang Dynasty.

Over the past decade, the city has made significant strides in ecological preservation, leading to remarkable improvements in its environment. As a result, an increasing number of foreigners are drawn to the city, enticed by its favorable living conditions for both work and residence.

Mehad Mousa, who hails from Egypt, is pursuing her doctoral studies in literary translation at the Northwest University in Xi'an. She expressed profound admiration for the city's rich civilization, which has left a lasting impression on her.

"The locals in this city are truly delightful. They exhibit a genuine willingness to help. Undoubtedly, the city's extensive history and profound traditional culture have played a significant role in cultivating such amiable characteristics among its people," she said.

Staff members assemble new energy vehicles on the assembly line of BYD auto plant in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, April 20, 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Xiao)

Xi'an, known for its openness and inclusivity, has earned the endearing title of "second hometown" among numerous foreigners.

"Xi'an is a promising place for me," said Dev Raturi, a 48-year-old Indian who has lived here for years and runs an Indian restaurant. "As my business is good here, I have opened more restaurants all the way from Xi'an to Chengdu, Hangzhou and Changchun," he added.

PROMISING FUTURE

The city's confident and inclusive culture has captivated global interest, evidenced by its hosting of prestigious international events such as the Silk Road International Film Festival, Silk Road International Exposition, and the upcoming China-Central Asia Summit. The city's vibrant international scene continues to grow, expanding its "circle of friends" on an international scale. As of now, Xi'an has established 38 sister cities worldwide, further solidifying its global connections.

Sofiya said she believes the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) proposed by China in 2013 offers numerous opportunities to countries and peoples along the route. "Many Chinese companies hope to expand their presence in Central Asian countries and they turn to me for advice," said Sofiya, who is now a professor of international law.

Yuan Zhaohui (L) talks with a customs officer at the comprehensive bonded zone in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, June 3, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Xiao)

Chinese entrepreneur Yuan Zhaohui was one of them. In 2015, he founded Silkroad City Shop in Xi'an and has actively participated in cross-border trade with his Kazakhstan partners for a remarkable span of eight years. According to him, the China-Europe freight trains have significantly minimized the distance between nations, making the world appear smaller.

"The timing and the cost of logistics used to be two major problems in cross-border e-commerce services. But with the help of Chang'an trains, the delivery time has been shortened to two weeks from almost a month and the cost was cut by half," Yuan said.

In November 2013, the first Chang'an China-Europe freight train departed from Xi'an to Almaty in Kazakhstan. Since then, the number of Chang'an train trips has steadily increased, reaching an impressive total of 4,639 in 2022. At present, 17 routes of Chang'an trains connect Xi'an with Central Asia and Europe, including 45 countries and regions along the Belt and Road.

A China-Europe freight train loaded with raw materials of liquorice, a Chinese medicinal herb, which departed from Turkmenistan, arrives at Xi'an international port in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Aug. 31, 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Xiao)

Shaanxi is home to more than 100 higher education institutions, over 1,300 research institutes and millions of technical personnel concentrated in the city of Xi'an. Data shows that the number of high-tech enterprises in Xi'an has exceeded 7,000.

Five industrial clusters worth over 100 billion each have been established in the city in the fields of telecommunications, automobile, aerospace, high-end equipment as well as new materials and energy.

The city is also a shining example of new industries. In 2022, the output of new-energy vehicles in Xi'an passed the one million mark, topping the country with a share of 14.1 percent. It also leads the global market share of flash chips and monocrystalline modules.

In 2022, the per capita disposable income of residents in Xi'an exceeded 40,000 yuan (about 5,757 U.S. dollars).

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Wu Chaolan)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he had a productive meeting with Toshi Shiabata, the CEO of Japanese semiconductor firm Renesas Electronics and discussed various aspects of technology and innovation in the field of semiconductors.

The Japanese companys CEO called on PM Modi on Friday.

Replying to a tweet by Renesas Electronics, the Prime Minister tweeted, Had a productive meeting with Toshi Shibata, CEO of @RenesasGlobal. We discussed aspects relating to tech, innovation and Indias strides in the world of semiconductors.

Earlier, Renesas Electronics posted on Twitter that Toshi Shibata met the Indian Prime Minister to discuss the role of the semiconductor industry and how it contributes to Indias vision for a digital future.

Our CEO Toshi Shibata met with Indias PM @narendramodi to discuss the role that our industry plays & how we can contribute to Indias vision for a digital future. Were committed to enabling #semiconductor ecosystem and digital infrastructure in #India. @PMOIndia #digitalization, Renesas Electronics wrote on Twitter.

Earlier in March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met NXPs President and Chief Executive Officer Kurt Sievers. The two discussed the transformative landscape in the semiconductors and innovation world.

Happy to have met Mr Kurt Sievers, the CEO of @NXP and discuss the transformative landscape in the world of semiconductors and innovation. India is emerging as a key force in these sectors, powered by our talented youth, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted.

NXP Semiconductors NV is a Dutch semiconductor designer and manufacturer with headquarters in Eindhoven, Netherlands with locations throughout the globe.

In a bid to give a boost to semiconductor manufacturing in the country, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw announced in February this year that the government will come up with a program very soon to put the country on a good semiconductor journey for the next 10 years.

The government launched a programme called Semicon India Programme in December 2021 with an outlay of Rs 76,000 crore. The programme seeks to support the development of the semiconductors and the display manufacturing ecosystem in India.

The minister had apprised the parliamentary consultative committee in 2023 that several state governments like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are in talks with the companies to set up semiconductor manufacturing plants/fab complexes.

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In the abundantly resource-rich Bay of Bengal region, a Great Game is afoot. China is assisting the littoral nations in the Bay of Bengal to improve their maritime capabilities in addition to constructing naval stations in the broader Indian Ocean Region to expand the reach of its navy.

Recently, it supported Bangladesh in the construction of a submarine base for its Chinese-made submarines.

Half of all trade in the globe goes through the sea lanes that connect China, Japan, Korea, and the Middle East with the Middle East and Africa, which are located on top of the Bay of Bengal.

The area is crucial for the US strategy of a Free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific, which is a cover for containing Chinas ambitions.

Located between India on the east and Indonesia on the west, it is the largest bay in the world. Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar are coastal nations. Major powers from the East and the West (China, Japan, India, the US, and even Russia) are drawn to the region because of its importance in trade, diplomacy, and security.

India has been enhancing the military strength of the littoral nations because it views the Bay of Bengal as its immediate region of influence. However, China has outspent India in terms of purchasing power.

Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister of Bangladesh, opened BNS Sheikh Hasina, the nations first submarine station, which is situated in Coxs Bazaar.

Using Chinese assistance, the state-of-the-art submarine base was built in accordance with a deal signed in September 2019. Six submarines and eight naval vessels can berth in the submarine facility at once.

Bangladeshs prime minister noted that because his nation has two submarines, the facility will not only help Bangladesh secure its maritime resources but also the vessels traversing the Bay of Bengal. As a result, a Chinese submarine may one day dock at the base.

For India, the presence of Chinese-built submarines in the Bay of Bengal, in a way, makes it a very crowded water body as far as underwater activities are concerned. And it also legitimizes the Chinese presence in more ways than one. It complicates the underwater picture for India, Commodore (retd) Uday C. Bhaskar, Director of the Society for Policy Studies, was quoted as saying by the EurAsian Times.

Bangladesh, previously East Pakistan, which was formerly a part of British India, separated from the union in 1947. After a brief fight between the military forces of Pakistan and India, it was liberated in 1971.

Due to their common past and connections, India and Bangladesh have always had cordial ties. However, Xi Jinping, the first Chinese president to visit Bangladesh, did so in 2016 and brought presents with him.

Bangladesh later bought two pre-owned Type-035G Ming-class submarines. These submarines, which cost US$203 million to buy and are now known as BNS Nabajatra and Joyjatra in the Bangladesh Navy, exhibit typical Ming-class characteristics.

It can use heavyweight torpedoes like the Yu-3 and Yu-4. The submarine is capable of carrying either 32 naval mines or 14 torpedoes. Chinese copies of Western-origin technology, the submarines integrated sonar and electronic warfare suites.

India, the Asian behemoth that surrounds Bangladesh on three sides and has a sizable strategic interest in the Bay of Bengal, is not significantly threatened by the two submarines in the Bangladesh Navy. However, Chinese officials were on board the two submarines to train and acquaint the Bangladeshi crew with the equipment.

Chinese employees will also be required for maintenance and operational assistance at the submarine base. Concern is raised by its proximity to Indias Eastern Naval Command, where a nuclear submarine is being built on Indian soil.

Therefore, in a way, Chinas assistance to Bangladeshs navy in the Bay of Bengal will serve as a front for them to gather intelligence to support Chinese submarine activities in the area.

Importance of Bay of Bengal

With its borders spanning from Africa to Indonesia, the Bay of Bengal plays a crucial role in the Indian Ocean region. The Strait of Malacca, which links the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea, and the Bay of Bengal are two of the worlds most vital strategic chokepoints. The Bay of Bengal is snuggled between India, Myanmar, and Bangladesh.

Both China and India are cognizant of the Strait of Malaccas significance for their developing economies. As a result, both nations have increased their involvement with the coastal nations.

A fourth of the worlds population resides in the Bay of Bengal region, which has a combined GDP of USD 3 trillion. The industrialised countries offshore of labor-intensive activities has benefited the developing nations.

Its also thought that the Bay of Bengal has large gas reserves. The largest in Asia-Pacific, according to some estimations, Bangladesh has reserves worth 200 trillion cubic feet. The fourth-largest proven natural gas reserves in Asia-Pacific are found in Myanmar. Petrol is exported to China and Thailand.

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Chinas policy of economic coercion in its dealings abroad has been a matter of huge concern, and leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) countries are all set to discuss the issue. They are expected to release a larger joint statement next week, according to a US official familiar with the discussions, reported Reuters.

The statement will be released by leaders during the 19-21 May summit in Hiroshima, Japan. It is expected that the statement will be paired with a broader written proposal on how the seven advanced economies will work together to counter economic coercion from any country.

According to officials, the G7 statement will include a section specific to China. It will also have a list of concerns that include economic coercion and other behavior that we have seen specifically from the (Peoples Republic of China).

A separate economic security statement will speak more to tools used to counter coercive efforts from any countries responsible, including planning and coordination, the person said. In each case, the statements are to expected go further than prior statements by the G7, reported Reuters.

China has been the main focus of US President Joe Bidens foreign policy.

Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom are all part of the G7, and they are all closely tied economically to China. Beijing is the worlds biggest exporter and a key market for many of the G7 countries companies.

Last month, China called a statement by the G7 foreign ministers that touched on similar topics full of arrogance, prejudice against China, and lodged complaints with this years G7 host, Japan.

Under former US President Donald Trump, G7 statements often offered only a cursory mention of issues involving China. The Biden administration has pushed for more direct statements.

The joint statement issued by all the G7 leaders every year is intended to signal that the powerful countries are aligned on a range of political and economic issues.

Were not for decoupling the US and Chinese economy, we are for de-risking, we are for diversifying, said the US official, according to Reuters.

Negotiations over the precise language of the leaders joint declarations are still subject to diplomacy and adjustment before they are released during the summit.

Big test

The G7 meeting will be a test of how much the member countries can agree on a common approach to Beijing.

The China terms have been a major subject of the talks currently underway by G7 finance leaders in Niigata, Japan, where they have focused on reducing over-reliance of their countries supply chains on Chinese manufacturing, including by partnering with low- and middle-income countries.

Notably, some members of the G7 are skeptical about signing on to controls on outbound investment in China.

On Thursday, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that China had clearly used economic coercion with Australia and Lithuania.

Reuters reported that the US officials expect the Joe Biden to attend the two-day summit as planned, followed by trips to Papua New Guinea and Australia also aimed at shoring up Washingtons approach to the China-dominated Asia-Pacific region.

With inputs from agencies

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Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan has pledged that he will maintain good relations with the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir, once he comes to power, reported ARY News.

Khan said that he has never made disparaging remarks about Munir, and added that he swore to maintain a good relationship with the army commander, after coming to power.

He claimed that the army chief was being misinformed about him by others. He also said he had already sent the army chief a message, according to ARY News.

After reaching court, it came to my knowledge that people were killed. I had already warned about the consequences if I am arrested, said Imran Khan.

According to the PTI chief, people expressed their rage over his arrest. He acknowledged that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) personnel displayed a decent attitude while he was in their custody.

Khan earlier denied that a deal had been made during a meeting with President Dr Arif Alvi that had taken place the day before, according to ARY News.

The former prime minister told the journalists that President Alvi did not carry anyones message and that no agreement had been reached.

Imran Khan expressed gratitude to the court for upholding the Constitution, as the Islamabad High Court (IHC) prohibited authorities from detaining PTI Chairman Imran Khan in any caseseven those that are undisclosedregistered across the nation till Monday (May 15).

The PTI chief also said that when a crowd hits the streets without the supervision of a leader, it gets out of control.

He added that he had warned the government to not lead the country towards anarchy. I kept warning that if Pakistan becomes Sri Lanka, it will go out of everyones hands, Khan said, ARY News reported.

Notably, Imran Khan returned to his residence in Lahores Zaman Park in the wee hours on Saturday after two days of detention, reported Geo News. He was greeted all the way to Lahore by PTI supporters.

The arrest of Imran Khan at the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on 9 May triggered violent protests across the country. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court intervened, nullified his arrest, and ordered his release. Taking advantage of this ruling, Khan sought bail in multiple cases against him at the IHC, and he received a favourable outcome.

With inputs from agencies

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India is preparing an enormous connectivity project that would connect New Delhi to the Middle East in an effort to challenge Chinas influence in the Gulf.

According to media reports, Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had a meeting between National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and his US and UAE counterparts. The leaders talked on constructing a rail network to link the nations of the Middle East.

Through roads, railroads, and ports, the enormous connectivity project seeks to connect India and the Middle East. Over the past year, the I2U2 group meetings, which also include Israel, have produced the concept, according to Axios.

according to a report by Foreign Policy, given the significant commercial ties that the UAE and Israel share with China, the I2U2 group  a relatively new vehicle for US-India collaboration in the Middle East  was not intended to be a China-focused organisation.

Saudi Arabia and Israel dont have official diplomatic ties, therefore the latter isnt an official participant in the project, but its membership in I2U2 suggests it will play a part.

The connection initiative demonstrates how much India gains from the Abraham Accords, a deal made during the Trump administration that improved ties with Israel and some of its Arab neighbours. According to Foreign Policy, the agreement made it possible to form the I2U2 group, and discussions held there gave birth to the new effort.

The planned project sends a message that India and the US are prepared to extend their cooperation in opposing China outside of the Indo-Pacific region and into the Middle East.

Its clear that the Joe Biden administration of the US intends to use the connectivity project as a means to balance Chinas growing influence in the region.

Big boost for India

The connectivity initiative attempts to take advantage of Indias ability to supply infrastructure. Its past accomplishments include building Asias largest rail network and participating in international electricity-sharing agreements. Indian officials want to fight Chinas BRI by expanding their infrastructure presence in the Middle East with the new programme.

One analysis claims that, in the best-case scenario, India could one day gain from land and sea trade routes that connect Israel and the United Arab Emirates with Greeces Piraeus port and continue into Europe.

India wants to take part in a new multilateral initiative to counter Chinas expanding Middle East influence, which is being fueled by investments in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and a recent strategic deal with Iran. An important reconciliation agreement between Tehran and Riyadh was recently negotiated by Beijing, according to Foreign Policy.

Given its trading interests in the Middle East and the several million Indians who live there and bring money home via remittances, the Middle East is becoming an increasingly important region for India.

Additionally, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen recently paid a visit to New Delhi. He probably intended to meet with Indian interlocutors about the connectivity project, but he left early due to a crisis with Gaza.

According to Foreign Policy, Cohen stated in a statement issued prior to the visit that India can be crucial to enhancing regional stability in the Middle East.

Now that India holds the G-20 presidency, is experiencing rapid economic growth, and has surpassed China as the worlds most populous nation, it has the opportunity to expand its influence, commerce, and diplomacy outside the Indo-Pacific region. All of this can happen in a single year.

(With agency inputs)

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A prominent shoemaker enterprise in Vietnam, known for manufacturing footwear for globally recognized brands such as Nike and Adidas, has announced its intentions to downsize its workforce by laying off thousands employees owing to low demand.

The company attributes this decision to a decline in orders, primarily driven by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis in Europe and the United States, which has resulted in diminished purchasing power among global consumers.

PouYuen Vietnam, a subsidiary of Taiwan-based Pou Chen Group, has notified local authorities of its intention to lay off approximately 6,000 workers who hold permanent contracts, as reported by VNExpress.

This impending downsizing is expected to be the largest workforce reduction since PouYuens establishment in Ho Chi Minh City back in 1996, as highlighted by the state media outlet.

Being one of the largest employers in the commercial capital, PouYuen Vietnam currently employs around 50,000 individuals, making this upcoming layoff a significant event within the companys history.

In a similar move back in February, the company took the decision to lay off nearly 3,000 permanent employees, while an additional 3,000 temporary workers had their contracts not renewed.

A survey conducted by the labor department of Ho Chi Minh City revealed that one-third of production facilities in the city witnessed a decrease in workforce demand during the first quarter of this year.

Officials stated that the impact of the downturn was predominantly felt in industries such as shoes, clothing, construction, and food processing.

To mitigate the effects of the challenging situation, PouYuen had already implemented a measure of placing 20,000 of its workers on rotational paid leave last year.

According to data from the labor ministry, over 630,000 workers in Vietnam lost their jobs or experienced reduced working hours in the previous year.

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The Punjab police arrested 540 more leaders and members of the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Friday, Dawn reported.

The leaders and party workers were arrested in cases filed against them under the Anti-Terrorism Act across the province for carrying out attacks on the Corps Commander House in Lahore, public and private buildings,

There was a brief altercation between police officers and PTI employees on Thursday night. Police raided PTIs office on Jail Road to arrest party members listed as suspects in instances reported to several police stations, Dawn reported.

The party members reportedly threw stones at the police but retreated when more officers were requested to assist. Following reports that workers were congregating there in huge numbers to welcome PTI Chairman Imran Khan after court relief, the police presence was increased around his Zaman Park mansion on Friday evening.

Dr Usman Anwar, the chief of Punjab police, said in a statement released here on Friday that offenders responsible for attacks on police teams, critical infrastructure, and both public and private property did not merit pity.

These miscreants are being identified and traced through CCTV footage, video recordings and social media posts, he said, according to Dawn. After Fridays arrests, the number of detained leaders and supporters had risen to 2,790, the Punjab police said.

Imran Khan expressed gratitude to the court for upholding the Constitution, as the Islamabad High Court (IHC) prohibited authorities from detaining PTI Chairman Imran Khan in any caseseven those that are undisclosedregistered across the nation till Monday (May 15).

Notably, Imran Khan returned to his residence in Lahores Zaman Park in the wee hours on Saturday after two days of detention, reported Geo News. He was greeted all the way to Lahore by PTI supporters.

Imran took a road route to reach his Lahore residence, marking his return after a tumultuous period. The arrest of Imran Khan at the IHC on May 9 triggered violent protests across the country. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court intervened, nullified his arrest, and ordered his release.

With inputs from agencies.

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The external affairs minister in Papua New Guinea had to step back from his post in the cabinet over a controversy surrounding the expenditure of the commonwealth countrys official delegation at King Charles IIIs coronation.

As per reports, the resign came after Justin Tkatchenko and his daughter faced scrutiny for traveling with a delegation of at least ten officials to attend King Charles coronation, incurring expenses reportedly amounting to $1 million.

However, what acted as fuel to the fire, according to reports, was a video, Tkatchenkos daughter Savannah posted on TikTok showing her first-class plane journey and shopping spree in Singapore.

In response to the backlash, Tkatchenko referred to his daughters critics as primitive animals. His comments led to protests outside Parliament House in the capital city of Port Moresby on Friday.

Later, Tkatchenko announced his resignation by stating that he chose to stand aside after consulting with Prime Minister James Marape.

He emphasized the importance of clarifying the truth of the matter and rectifying any misinformation or falsehoods.

According to a Reuters report, government spokesman Bill Toraso clarified that ten members of staff, accompanied by ten guests, from the government of Papua New Guinea traveled to London.

Meanwhile, in a video that has since been deleted, Savannah documented her visit to luxurious fashion stores in Singapore and showcased her experience in the stunning first-class lounge while en route to London.

In response, Tkatchenko, speaking to Australias ABC, referred to his daughters critics as primitive animals who were irrelevant.

He stated, Shes absolutely traumatised by these primitive animals I call them primitive animals because they are Jealousy is a curse. And, you know, these people clearly show that they have got nothing to do in their lives other than to put down people that want to do something good for their country.

Later on, he apologized for his remarks, claiming that they were misunderstood and taken out of context. He clarified that his comments were directed solely at individuals who had made derogatory remarks about his daughter.

Prime Minister James Marape urged the people of Papua New Guinea to accept Tkatchenkos apology, stating in a released statement that he too found the comments offensive.

The resignation of Tkatchenko occurred ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis upcoming two-day visit to Papua New Guinea, scheduled to begin on May 21.

This visit will be followed by President Bidens arrival the following day, as confirmed by the White House. President Biden is expected to make a stopover in Port Moresby after attending the G7 Leaders Summit in Japan.

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A Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) Navy flotilla has been spotted in waters close to Japanese islands as tensions between China and Japan soar.

This action comes after what the official Chinese media portrayed as hostile remarks made by Japan regarding Taiwan.

The Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) Navy flotilla was spotted by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, according to a news release from Japans Ministry of Defence Joint Staff.

The Type 055 big destroyer Lhasa, a Type 052D destroyer, a Type 054A frigate, and a Type 903A thorough replenishment ship are all part of the fleet. On May 11, the ships were spotted travelling west between two islands in southern Japan.

According to the Japanese press release, the PLA Navy flotilla was first seen on April 30 when it crossed from the East China Sea through the Tsushima Strait and into the Sea of Japan.

On May 11, the Type 055 destroyer Lhasa (102), the Type 052D destroyer Guiyang (119), the Type 054A frigate Zaozhuang (542), and the Type 903A replenishment ship Taihu (889) all made their way across the waters between Smith Island in Japan and Tori-Shima in the west. MoD of Japan

The flotilla travelled from the Sea of Japan through the Soya Strait and into the West Pacific on May 5 and 6.

The flotillas recorded tracks, which are included with the Japanese news release, suggest that the Chinese naval ships may be circumnavigating Japan in a clockwise direction.

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Gaza City: The violence between Israel and Gaza continued on Friday, as Egyptian mediators made a new effort to put an end to the conflict, which has claimed dozens of lives  all but one of them Palestinian  over several days.

International requests for de-escalation of the violence have been made, with the European Union advocating for a immediate comprehensive ceasefire.

Israel announced it was striking Islamic Jihad targets in the densely populated Palestinian territory, while air strikes hit Gaza City, reported AFP.

Sirens warning of incoming fire meanwhile rang out in Israeli communities close to the border with the Gaza Strip, as well as in an Israeli settlement near Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank.

Violence broke out Tuesday when Israel killed three top members of the Islamic Jihad militant group, while subsequent strikes have killed at least three other senior figures.

A high-ranking commander, Iyad al-Hassani, was killed in a strike on a Gaza City apartment Friday, said a spokesman for the group.

Hours earlier, Islamic Jihad said the latest rocket fire was a response to the assassinations and the continued aggression against the Palestinian people.

The launches came after a rocket killed one civilian in the central Israeli city of Rehovot on Thursday night, according to AFP.

At least 33 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gazas health ministry, including militants but also children.

Daily life in the coastal territory, ruled by the Hamas militant group, has largely come to a standstill, while Israel has told its citizens near Gaza to stay close to bomb shelters.

In Gazas central Deir al-Balah area, farmer Belal Basher stood beside the ruins of the home he said was hit by multiple Israeli strikes.

Our situation is the same as that of any Palestinian citizen whose house is targeted and whose dream, built over the years, is destroyed, the 33-year-old told AFP.

Earlier, there had been cautious optimism a truce may be nearing, with an Islamic Jihad source saying a deal drawn up by Cairo had been circulated among the groups leadership.

But the source subsequently said Israel was disrupting Egypts efforts for a ceasefire.

Late Friday, a Palestinian source said Egypt had circulated a new ceasefire formula. The Palestinian side is going to study it, the source said, adding that Egypt was also waiting for Israels response.

Israeli public television meanwhile said an improved Egyptian ceasefire proposal had been handed to Israel.

Home seriously shaking

The decision to renew air strikes on Gaza this week was authorised by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who returned to power in December alongside extreme-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies.

The violence has wounded more than 110 people in Gaza, according to the latest health ministry toll.

Israels Magen David Adom emergency service has treated five people who were hit by shrapnel or glass, or suffered blast injuries from the rocket fire.

In Rehovot, 82-year-old resident Ran Lev said he was heading to the bomb shelter when the rocket which killed his neighbour hit.

The entire apartment was seriously shaking. All the photo frames fell, he said.

The United States, which along with the European Union has blacklisted Islamic Jihad and Hamas as terrorist groups, urged steps be taken to ensure that violence is reduced.

US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, in a call to Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, stressed the urgency of reaching a ceasefire agreement in order to prevent any further loss of civilian life, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

Morocco, which normalised relations with Israel in 2020, said it firmly condemns recent Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, which have left numerous casualties among innocent civilians, a foreign ministry source said.

In a televised address, the leader of Lebanons Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, Hassan Nasrallah, said the movement was in touch with the Palestinian factions and stood ready to provide all possible assistance within certain limits.

But if at any time the responsibility falls to us to take any step or steps, we will not hesitate, Nasrallah said.

In April, Palestinian militants based in southern Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold, fired more than 30 rockets into Israel after clashes inside Jerusalems flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque.

The Israeli military said it has hit 170 Islamic Jihad targets this week, while more than 860 rockets have been fired from Gaza.

Israel said a quarter of the rockets struck inside Gaza and killed four people, three of them children, an accusation Islamic Jihad and Hamas did not respond to when approached by AFP.

This weeks escalation is the worst since August, when 49 Gazans were killed in three days of fighting between Islamic Jihad and Israel.

That conflict followed multiple wars fought between Israel and Hamas since the group took control of Gaza in 2007.

With inputs from agencies

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Russia's President Vladimir Putin, left, and South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa at the first plenary session of the 2019 Russia-Africa Summit at the Sirius Park of Science and Art in Sochi, Russia, 24 October 2019.

document

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) has demarched the United States Ambassador to South Africa, Reuben E Brigety, and expressed the South African Government's utter displeasure with his conduct and statements made yesterday, alleging that South Africa sold weapons to Russia.

DIRCO finds this behaviour by the US ambassador to South Africa puzzling and at odds with the mutually beneficial and cordial relationship that exists between the United States of America and South Africa.

Following today's meeting, Ambassador Reuben E Brigety admitted that he crossed the line and apologised unreservedly to the Government and the people of South Africa.

South Africa is known globally for having one of the most stringent processes when selling arms to other countries. The process is managed by the National Convention Arms Control Committee (NCACC), which was created through an Act of Parliament, the National Conventional Arms Control Act 41 of 2002 (NCAC Act), and the Constitution.

DIRCO welcomes the decision by HE President Cyril Ramaphosa to appoint an independent inquiry to be chaired by a retired judge to look into the allegations made by the US ambassador to South Africa. This process will allow for facts to be established and for role players to be identified. Anyone found to have broken the law will face severe consequences.

South Africa calls on the US Embassy in Pretoria, to use established diplomatic channels of communication to convey any concerns or to seek clarity on any misunderstandings that may arise in the bilateral relationship.

ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND COOPERATION
Australian authorities have been left frustrated as Russian diplomats continue to refuse payment for a significant number of overdue traffic fines, including speeding, parking, and traffic violations that date back over 15 years.

Despite repeated requests from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) for diplomats to abide by local laws, they have reportedly not complied, resulting in a total outstanding amount of nearly $90,000 owed by the Russian embassy.

Documents obtained through a freedom of information request by Guardian Australia reveal DFATs ongoing pursuit of these fines, with the departments chief of protocol, Ian McConville, writing a letter to the Russian ambassador, Alexey Pavlovsky, in late 2022.

In a polite yet firm manner, McConville urged the ambassador to settle the fines, cautioning that the growing number of offenses could be made public under the Freedom of Information (FOI) laws.

McConvilles letter emphasized the significant concern of the Australian community regarding road safety, stating, We would also appreciate it if you could remind staff and their dependents of their responsibility under article 41.1 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations to respect Australias laws and regulations.

While foreign officials possess diplomatic immunity in Australia and cannot be prosecuted for traffic offenses or outstanding fines, road authorities have the power to issue demerit points and suspend licenses.

Additionally, DFAT has the authority to halt the transfer of vehicle registrations until the fines are settled.

According to the documents obtained, it appears that Russian diplomats in Australia currently have a higher number of outstanding fines compared to Saudi diplomats, who have previously drawn criticism from Canberra police due to their reckless driving patterns.

There has been no reaction from the Russian embassy, so far.

The records accessed by the Guardian indicate that the backlog of fines issued to Saudi diplomats has been resolved, either through payment or the withdrawal of infringements if the diplomats responsible have left the country.

An incident from 2018 was highlighted in which a Saudi diplomat, driving without a valid license, was reported to have exceeded the speed limit by reaching 135km/h near Parliament House at 2am.

He later attributed his behavior to a lack of antibiotics. At the time, the then-chief of protocol, Chris Cannan, expressed his dissatisfaction with the incident.

Regarding other countries, the FOI documents reveal that Nepal still has unresolved traffic infringements dating back to 2007, while Romania has accumulated dozens of infringements in recent years. Most embassies have only a few outstanding infringements.

The isue of diplomatic immunity has come under increased scrutiny, particularly following an incident in which the wife of a US government employee caused the death of a teenage boy in the UK by driving on the wrong side of the road.

The woman claimed diplomatic immunity on behalf of the US administration and subsequently left the country.

This led to the boys family launching a three-and-a-half-year campaign to ensure that she would face trial in a UK court.

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Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday arrived in Rome for meetings with the Italalian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Pope Francis in his first visit to Italy since Russias invasion of Ukraine, according to AFP.

Zelenskyy tweeted, Today in Rome, following his arrival at the military base of Romes Ciampino Airport shortly before 0830 GMT, where he was met by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

He added, Im meeting with President of Italy Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni and the Pope. An important visit for approaching victory of Ukraine!

Television images showed a long cortege of vehicles carrying the Ukrainian leader departing the airport, as security forces locked down large areas of the capital.

As Zelenskyy arrived in Rome, Germany announced a 2.7 billion euro weapons package for Kyiv including tanks, armoured vehicles and air-defence systems, reported AFP.

Despite a history of warm ties with Moscow, NATO and EU member Italy has sent weapons and money to help Kyiv since Russia invaded in February 2022, and backed Western sanctions against Russia.

Still, the issue of sending weapons to Kyiv remains politically sensitive in Italy and the government has never disclosed exactly what it has provided.

Meloni, who visited Kyiv in February, hosted Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in Rome last month, on the occasion of a conference on how Italian businesses could help rebuild the war-torn country.

It was not clear how long Zelenskyy would be in Rome, with speculation he could also be planning a trip to Germany this weekend.

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A significant upgrade to Guams missile defences is planned, strengthening US military installations there against potential Chinese and North Korean strikes.

According to USNI News, the Pentagon is starting the process of supplying Guam with a persistent missile defence system that offers 360-degree coverage against Chinese and North Korean missile threats.

The road-mobile AN/TPY-6 four-sided phased array radar for integrated air and missile defence, connected to a disassembled Aegis Ashore on the periphery, is mentioned in the USNI study.

Vice Admiral Jon Hill, director of the US Missile Defence Agency, told the Senate Armed Forces Committee that environmental reviews for more missile defence sites are in progress, according to the report. According to Hill, the buildings will be built to offer many layers of defence against simultaneous cruise, ballistic, manoeuvring, and hypersonic attack.

In a July 2021 article for The Warzone, Joseph Trevithick mentions that it could be feasible to add some of the Aegis Ashore system to the expansive Anderson Air Force Base. Trevithick also makes reference to the possibility of constructing an underground bunker near the southernmost point of Guam, with interceptor missiles being launched from openings in the hillside.

The Terminal High Altitude Air Defence (THAAD) system and neighbouring warships that are outfitted with Aegis will be complemented by the future Aegis Ashore site.

The sheer number of systems, though, could be problematic, according to researchers.

Guam has a perfect air and missile defence problem, writes Chris Gordon in a March 2023 article for Air & Space Forces Magazine. He cautions that integrating fragmented missile defence systems might not be successful against adversaries using a variety of cutting-edge weapons to exploit Guams defences, such as drones, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and hypersonic weapons.

Guams missile defence is problematic, according to Harry Harris, who points out in a July 2021 piece for Breaking Defence that unlinked systems and fixed sensor-to-shooter combinations threaten failure at first contact with an adversary carrying sophisticated missiles.

Harris adds that in order to resist hypersonic threats, tremendous sensor integration across multiple domains, including cyber and space, is required due to the sheer volume of missiles fired in a saturation attack.

Additionally, he claims that Aegis Ashore has very modest defences against low-flying cruise missiles, though an upgraded model has a cutting-edge command and control system to engage other platforms.

The DF-26, Chinas first ballistic missile with a 4,000-kilometer range to target Guam, and the Hwasong 14 and 15, both of which have a 4,500-kilometer range when shot at a normal trajectory, are examples of so-called Guam killer missiles used by China and North Korea.

China may now be able to place Guam within hypersonic attack range of its navy and air forces, in addition to hitting Guam with ballistic missiles.

The Shandong carrier battlegroup of China, which might have threatened US forces with air and ship-launched hypersonic missile attacks, was said to have come within 600 to 700 km of Guam by The Warzone last month.

The Shandong battlegroup may have been sent out to demonstrate Chinas ability to flank Taiwan from the south and prevent US forces stationed in the Philippines from receiving resupply and reinforcement from Guam in addition to posing a danger to Guam.

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Ahead of the scheduled International Arms Control Conference in The Hague next week, US President Joe Biden announced to destroy its last remaining chemical weapons by the fall of 2023.

We are on track to complete the destruction of our chemical weapons stockpile by this fall  a disarmament milestone that upholds the highest standards of transparency and public safety, Biden said in a statement posted on the White House website.

In a statement issued by the White House, it said that next week, the United States and fellow state parties will gather for the fifth review conference of the chemical weapons convention to review our progress and determine what more we must do to rid the world of chemical weapons.

As we work together toward our shared goal, the United States is leading by example. We are on track to complete the destruction of our chemical weapons stockpile by this falla disarmament milestone that upholds the highest standards of transparency and public safety, it said.

The US will continue to stand with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to prevent the stockpiling, production, and use of chemical weapons around the world. We should all work together to encourage the remaining nations to join the chemical weapons convention. The use of chemical weapons is never acceptable, and the world can be assured that the United States will not rest in this fight against impunity, it added.

Signatories to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which took effect in 1997, committed to disposing of all chemical munition stockpiles. Legally, the US is required to do so by the end of this year. The US pledged to destroy its last remaining chemical weapons stored in depots in Colorado and Kentucky by September 30, 2023.

Moscow and Beijing have repeatedly urged Washington to speed up the disposal process. Russia and China released a joint statement last month insisting that the US, as the only CWC member state that has not completed the destruction of its chemical weapons stockpiles.

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Germany on Saturday announced that it will provide Ukraine with additional military aid worth 2.7 billion euro ($3.0 billion). This is Berlins biggest package for Kyiv since Russias invasion. It also pledged further support for Ukraine as long as necessary.

Boris Pistorius, Germanys Defence Minister, said in a statement, We all hope for a rapid end to this terrible war by Russia against the Ukrainian people, but unfortunately this is not in sight.

This is why Germany will supply all the help that it can, for as long as necessary, he said, reported AFP.

What all is in the package?

Leopard 1 A5 Tanks

Berlin will provide 30 Leopard 1 A5 Tanks to Kyiv. First entering service in the 1960s, it is the forerunner of the more advanced Leopard 2, which is widely used by armies across Europe. It has a high first-round hit probability with all types of ammunition by day and night and under limited visibility conditions.

It also has high accuracy and stability of adjustment, along with short preparation time to open fire.

It is a 42-ton four-person tank with a modern 105-millimeter main gun. Its steel armor is just 2.75 inches thick on the front of the turret and less than half an inch thick on the sides and back of the hull.

Gepard anti-aircraft tank

Berlin will provide 15 Gepard anti-aircraft tanks. They are also called Cheetah. Its development began in the 1960s and entered the service in 1970s.

It has separate search and tracking radars, which are mounted at the front rear of the turret and the tracking radar mounted at the rear front of the turret. The radars offer 360-degree scanning. The maximum rate of fire for a single gun is 550 rounds per minute.

The Gepard uses two automatic cannons to take out aerial targets. It was the first heavy weapon that Germany sent to Ukraine.

Iris-T anti-aircraft systems

The IRIS-T version costs about 140 million ($136 million), and is extremely new. The system is manufactured by Diehl Defense, based in Uberlingen, southern Germany, and is meant to provide medium-range, high-altitude cover for small cities and armies.

Each system comprises three vehicles: a missile launcher, a radar, and a fire-control radar, with integrated logistics and support. The missiles, which use infrared imaging to identify targets, are said to have a range of 40 kilometers (25 miles) and a maximum altitude of 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) and come equipped with a radar with a range of 250 kilometers (155 miles). The missiles are also deployable 360 degrees around the launcher.

According to Diehl, the system is most effective as part of a layered air defense, in combination, for example, with the US-made Patriot PAC-3 missile defense system, which has a higher maximum altitude.

Reconnaissance drones

They are unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which are used for intelligence, surveillance, and target acquisition. Unlike unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), this type of system is not designed to carry aircraft ordnance such as missiles, ATGMs, or bombs for drone strikes. The main purpose is to provide battlefield intelligence.

With inputs from agencies

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Government on Thursday launched the 2023 Supplementary Immunization Campaign, describing it as the most cost effective and sure way of preventing vaccine preventable diseases in children.

Secretary for health, Dr Samson Mndolo, was speaking during the official launch of 2023 Supplementary Immunization Campaign held at Mtaya School Ground in Balaka.

The campaign which targets under-five children will run for seven days from 15th to 21st May, 2023 with vaccines delivered in all health facilities across the country.

Mndolo said the government through the Ministry of Health is committed to ensuring that infants, toddlers and of course children in general are protected from life threatening and disability causing illnesses.

"It is important that we work together to address these gaps and avoid catastrophic diseases. We must safeguard our health no matter the circumstances," he said.

He added that children are supposed to be vaccinated against different diseases and not just once but even several times in their lifetime.

Diseases like measles, polio, typhoid and diseases caused by Vitamin A deficiency are among diseases that are disabling and life-threatening, adding that Imagine a situation where we are not doing anything to prevent these diseases - the end result would be health facilities full of patients, he observed.

However, measles-rubella and polio vaccinations are targeting children who are nine months up to 59months while the Typhoid Conjugate vaccines are targeting children 9months to 14years of age.

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World Health Organization (WHO) Country Representative, Dr Neema Kimambo, assured communities that immunization remains safe and has proven to reduce illnesses, disability and death.

"Let us all support efforts to reach every child and communities with vaccines to ensure a healthier population for Malawi," she said.

According to her, the disease accounts between 128 000 and 161 000 deaths annually across the globe and disproportionately affects Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Malawi reported about 32, 747 cases and 435 deaths. Of these cases, 61% of cases and 65% of deaths from typhoid occur in children less than 15 years of age.

Also, she said, the country reports about 120 cases of intestinal perforations from typhoid.

Kimambo therefore reiterated her organization's continued support to the Ministry of Health to make sure that the routinisation is smooth.
The US envoy to South Africa accused Pretoria of sending arms to Russia to support its war in Ukraine, saying he's betting "his life" on the accuracy of the allegations. President Ramaphosa's office called for evidence.

South Africa's Foreign Ministry summoned the US ambassador to meet Friday over allegations he made a day earlier about the country supplying arms to Russia for its war in Ukraine.

South Africa's Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor will also speak with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken over the matter, ministry spokesman Clayson Monyela said in a statement.

The White House said they have consistently and strongly urged countries not to provide weapons for Russia's war.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the German government was taking the reports on the matter "very seriously."

The South African Foreign Ministry said later Friday in a statement that Washington's envoy to South Africa Reuben Brightey "admitted that he crossed a line" and "apologized unreservedly."

What were the concrete allegations made by the US?

Brigety said at a news conference Thursday that South Africa had loaded ammunitions onto a sanctioned Russian vessel at South Africa's naval base last year in December.

The ship, docked at the Simon's Town Naval Base near the city of Cape Town, then transported the arms to Russia, Brigety said.

"We (the US) are confident that weapons were loaded into that vessel and I would bet my life on the accuracy of that assertion," Brigety said.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, following the comments, said that an investigation into the matter was already underway.

The matter was being looked into before Brigety publicly accused Pretoria of sending arms to Russia, according to Ramaphosa, who called upon the US to prove the allegations.

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Ramaphosa's office said in a statement there was "no evidence" currently that arms were loaded onto the Russian vessel.

The South African Foreign Ministry said in a statement that there was "no record of an approved arms sale by the state to Russia related to the period/incident in question."

Putin speaks to Ramaphosa at his request, Kremlin says

Relatedly, the Kremlin said Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Ramaphosa at Pretoria's request.

According to a readout of the call provided by the Kremlin, Putin said he never "refused a diplomatic track" in resolving the conflict in Ukraine, which is in its 15th month.

Putin said he supported Ramaphosa's proposal to involve African leaders in talks regarding a peace plan for Ukraine, the Kremlin said.

Relations between South Africa and Russia

South Africa and Russia are longtime allies dating back to the fight against apartheid. Pretoria has not condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine, claiming neutrality in the war.

South Africa held joint military exercises with Russia and China in February this year that experts said broke with its neutral stance.

rm/wd (Reuters, AP)
Accidents occasioned by activities of heavy duty vehicles have failed to abate despite the construction of trailer parks along the Abuja, Niger, Kaduna and Kano roads as drivers have abandoned such facilities. Daily Trust Saturday reports that governments of Niger, Kaduna and Kano states had constructed trailer parks to dissuade articulated vehicle drivers from parking by the roadside in order to reduce accidents and other vices.

From Abuja to Kano, a distance of 427 kilometres (265 miles), trailers and fuel tankers are common sight on the highway.

They obstruct movements at the popular Kaduna road in Suleja, destroyed Suleja tollgate, Tafa, Jere, Maraban Jos, Dankande, Kwanar Dangora, Daka Tsalle, among others.

The drivers see such villages and semi-urban settlements as resting places, even as locals have established eateries, taverns, night clubs and restrooms.

Over the years, many people have been killed and properties worth billions of naira destroyed as a result of head-on collision by moving vehicles or infernos from fuel tankers that parked by the roadside.

Years or months after their 'completion', the multibillion naira worth trailer parks are yet to be fully put to use.

While authorities have continued to blame the drivers for the malice, the drivers on the other hand say most of the facilities are not habitable because they lack water, conveniences and security.

These danger zones have recorded several accidents, particularly at the Maraban Jos axis of the highway, due to incessant traffic congestion and indiscriminate parking of trailers and tankers.

Earlier this year, a tanker loaded with petrol went in flames at Jere junction on the highway and burnt dozens of shops and residential houses.

In January 2022, a ghastly motor accident along Dankande, on the outskirts of the Kaduna metropolis, consumed more than 13 people in a head-on collision between two tankers.

In 2017, three people lost their lives while 15 others sustained several injuries when a tanker loaded with petroleum lost control and crashed at Tafa, along the Abuja-Kaduna expressway.

In that incident, 17 houses, 12 shops and several fuel tankers parked along the highway were burnt.

However, Governor Nasir el-Rufai has decried the alarming loss of lives recorded on that section of the highway due to the indiscriminate parking of long vehicles.

This was why he initiated the construction of some trailer parks, especially at the identified red spots.

The Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria highway is the busiest road in the northern part of the country and connects seven states in the North West zone to the country's capital, Abuja.

Kano trailer park rots away

The park, located in Daka Tsalle, Bebeji Local Government Area, approximately seven kilometres away from Kano city, was started and completed in 2013 during the second tenure of Rabi'u Musa Kwankwaso as governor of the state and was thus named 'Kwankwasiyya Trailer Park.'

While the park has a space that can contain hundreds of trucks at a time, the drivers remain adamant in using it as they chose to stay away from what the then government called a 'modern parking area.'

The drivers instead line up their vehicles on the expressway due to what some of them described as "lack of access and absence of amenities inside the park."

Lawan Hassan, who is one of the truck drivers who frequent the Kano-Zaria expressway, said while parking by the roadside was dangerous, the drivers were allegedly not permitted to park inside the modern garage.

"Who gave us permission to park inside?" Hassan asked rhetorically, adding that once permission to start using the park was granted, they would start using it because most of them don't like parking by the roadside.

"It is closed. As a concerned driver, I give assurance that if the government said we should occupy this place now, before tomorrow you would be surprised at the number of vehicles you would see inside. Some of us spend days before going forward. I think it will be safer to have our vehicles inside the park.

"We started using the one in Abuja and Tafa even before their completion, the same thing with that of Mararrabar Jos in Kaduna built by El-Rufa'i because all requirements to make the parks functional were available," he said, pointing at the shut gates to the park.

Abdullahi Gaidam, another driver, who learnt how to handle minor mechanical challenges due to his vast experience of driving truck vehicles over the years, also agreed that it was risky to park by the roadside as one could not know the way and manner somebody would come driving.

"We know quite well that it is not safe to park by the roadside; and frankly, we don't enjoy that. I just parked here to do minor repairs and move on. I am travelling to Maiduguri. If it were a major repair, we would love to have a place like the park, at least for our safety," he said.

Lurwanu Kabiru, another truck driver who knew about the existence of the park, said he was not aware that it was secured for them to park their vehicles.

Kabiru had a horrible experience of parking by the roadside recently in a town called Kwanar Gafan, along the expressway. He said a driver, who was driving and feeling sleepy, ran out of the way and hit his truck, and which resulted in the death of one of his assistants.

"Wherever there is a park and I see someone parking by the roadside, I always question his sense of safety. If it is not necessary, I don't park by the roadside and sleep because for every vehicle passing by, I have to wake up suspecting that the incident will happen again. Chances are that when I am inside a park, no vehicle will run out of the road and hit me."

'Absence of amenities'

While a divisional police office was provided within reach to provide security for the park and the area as a whole, there are no amenities to ensure a hitch-free movement in and out of the park, Daily Trust Saturday observed.

A resident of the area who preferred to be anonymous said the park was built without providing a lane that trucks with long trailers could use to access the expressway easily while coming out from the park.

He said that without service lane, the articulated vehicles cause accidents or distract vehicles already at high speed on the expressway.

He said as the trailer park had been abandoned for a long time, some parts of the perimeter fencing of the park have started to fall.

Daily Trust Saturday further observed that although the park also has no proper landscaping, tarred roads and designated parking spaces, the complaint about service lane could no longer hold water as the road has been expanded recently by the federal government.

It now has enough shoulders and drainages on both sides.

But what remains sources of concern is that amenities like restaurants, public convenience and vehicle wash stands are lacking in inside.

Instead, locals in the area have improvised such "amenities" by the highway.

Auwal Musa Muhammad, the manager of a public convenience and truck washing points near the park said, "This carwash has been here before the park was built. I did not attempt relocating inside the park because they are not using it. Once they open it and it becomes functional I will also relocate if the government permits."

Muhammad said they collected between N2,500 and N3,000 to wash a truck. However, when it is dirty, they charge as much as N3,500 or N4,000.

"Honestly, when they park by the roadside, accidents happen. That building there is part of our public convenience and the driver of a vehicle lost control and hit it.

"There are many reasons the truck drivers abandoned the park. Apart from the poor arrangement, some of the drivers siphon fuel; and some are into drugs. They won't be comfortable inside the park because of security," he alleged.

While officials of the state Ministry of Housing and Transport who are the custodians of the park could not be reached for comment, a source who preferred anonymity said the project had been given to a company, BHK Habitat Limited to operate.

When contacted, the managing director, BHK Habitat Limited, Bashir Haruna Kassim, said the place was given to the company last year and the company had just concluded arrangements with the government to start operation.

"The government gave us the place just last year. It was given to the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and they abandoned it. This February, the government passed a law on the issue and election matters kicked in and we had to stop.

"We are going to keep up with the government now and see how we will can start the operation very soon," he said.

A Federal Road Safety (FRSC) official who spoke in confidence said it would require collective efforts by the state and local government areas concerned, officials of articulated and tanker unions, owners of such vehicles and the traditional institutions to solve the problem.

"You will be appalled when we give you the record of accidents recorded around such illegal parking areas. However, I want to assure you that adequate measures are being taken, especially now that the highway from Abuja to Kano has been reconstructed. It will not be business as usual," he said.

One year after, Tafa trailer park awaits facilities

It is more than a year since one of the truck parks located in Tafa town along the Abuja-Kaduna highway was commissioned to be used by articulated truck drivers that ply the highway.

The area under Kagarko Local Government in Kaduna State witnessed a number of accidents that led to casualties as a result of indiscriminate parking by truck drivers.

Two locations in opposite lanes within the community were earmarked for the trailer park, with each to serve for drivers heading toward the Abuja or Kaduna axis. While one of the sites located at Bakura community on the outskirts of Tafa town on the way to Kaduna was still in the initial stage, the second one on the way to Dikko junction was almost completed and had since been commissioned in December, 2021.

The two parks are being constructed by the Kaduna State Government and the federal government through the Ministry of Works and Housing.

Daily Trust Saturday visited one of the facilities which had been commissioned for use, where over 100 trucks were seen, with some of them undergoing some mechanical repairs or adjustment.

Most drivers spoken to lamented that the facility still lacked some critical supporting infrastructures.

A tanker driver, Muhammed Abdullahi from Tarauni Local Government Area of Kano State, said that since he discovered the facility about a year ago, he would always make a stopover there instead of packing along the highway within the community as he previously did.

"This gives me rest of mind as I don't expect any vehicle to hit my own or lose anything to the thieves," he said.

Abdullahi said he was expected to move to Lagos once he was through with some mechanical works on his vehicle.

He, however, lamented that the unavailability of a decent public convenience at the facility, as the two that have been constructed are yet to be properly put into use, and there's no water to run them.

Some officials of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), who were seen manning the entrance to the facility, said every truck driver paid N1,000 before being allowed in.

After that, nothing would be demanded from him, no matter how long his vehicle would remain here, one of the officials disclosed.

The official listed some of the infrastructures needed there to include running water, lodging, restaurants, fire service station, as well as befitting public conveniences. He said each of the N1,000 collected from a truck driver is shared between Kagarko Local Government and their union, with each taking N500.

He said the facility was expected to be leased out to a private company for better management within one week.

Daily Trust Saturday also learnt that while the inner fence situated between the facility and the surrounded undeveloped lands (forest) were already built, the one from the main road was yet to be attended to.

A survey by union officials indicated that only 25 per cent of truck drivers use the facility as their stopover in the area, while the rest still park on the main road.

According to them, most of the drivers heading toward the Kaduna axis are finding it difficult to drive into the facility that is situated opposite their moving lane.

A driver who was seen parking along the highway on his way to Kaduna said he could not use a turning point located far away from the trailer park to access the facility.

As such, he demanded for completion of the second trailer park that could serve trucks heading to Kaduna and in the alternative, a turning point be constructed around the existing trailer park that could make it easily accessible from both lanes.

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A source in the community disclosed that only drivers that work with companies like Dangote and BUA are manoeuvring their way into the park due to their companies' strategic supervision against the violators.

"There are cases where some drivers that park along the way have some of their goods like bags of sugar been stolen, and their company no longer take such neglect lightly; hence they always make sure they park within the trailer park," the source added.

Speaking in the same vein, an official of the National Union of Petroleum and National Gas (NUPENG) that manned the facility entrance had accused the government of failing to enforce the parking order in Tafa.

"You could no longer see such a thing at Maraban Jos where the outgoing state governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, had warned that any building owner that allowed a trailer park in front of his house or shop would have it demolished. Why can't we have such a directive in Tafa?" the official said.

Findings reveal that the Maraban Jos trailer park was established to reduce the illegal parking of vehicles along the busy Kaduna-Zaria highway.

Before its construction, trailers were parked on the side of the road leading to fatal accidents that claimed many lives and properties.

The government decided to construct the park meters away from the town to move the transporters off the road and ensure the safety and convenience of travelers, particularly the tanker drivers and villagers.

However, the transporters were forced to relocate to the park after El-Rufai banned illegal parking by the roadside a few years ago while the park construction was ongoing.

Earlier, the drivers had cited insecurity reasons as a major reason for their reluctance to move into the park, making the park less useful.

While the premises were made conducive for the vehicles, there are still other abandoned work within the park, such as the toilets and the second gate into the park, which are yet to be completed.

The drivers now use a single gate for both entry and exit, which is making it difficult as other trailers had to wait outside for others to go out before they go in.

The chairman of the trailer union at the park, Alhaji Yunusa, urged the government to complete the work, saying his members are not happy using a single gate as entry and exit.

"The police have agreed to handle the problem of illegal traders selling outside the park so as to discourage drivers from parking outside," he said.

An official of the consulting firm handling the park who didn't mention his name mentioned, said they had written to the authorities concerned about the need for a u-turn on the highway close to the Maraban Jos trailer park.

According to him, the u-turn will encourage drivers to utilise the park.

Calls to the managing director of the Kaduna Market Development Agency, Tamar Nandul, were unanswered and she was yet to reply to a text message sent to her seeking clarification on the development.
Guinea's opposition has also called for a investigation into this week's killing of seven protesters and accused security forces of using excessive force. It wants the military junta to hand back power to civilians.

On Wednesday, police in riot gear cracked down on demonstrators who threw rocks and burnt tires in the capital Conakry and other towns.

It was the latest in a series of protests against the military government that seized power in 2021 and has been slow to hand power back to civilians.

In a joint statement, opposition groups confirmed that at least seven people had been shot dead, and 32 others had suffered gunshot wounds.

They added that 56 arrests had been reported. The demonstrations were called by the Living Forces of Guinea (FVG), an alliance of political parties, trade unions and civil society groups. They are demanding talks with the junta to fast track a return to civilian rule, lifting a ban on demonstrations imposed last year, and releasing jailed activists.

But it remains unlikely that the military junta will hand back power to civilians any time soon.

Bumpy road to civilian rule

Guinean Prime Minister Bernard Gomou has voiced readiness for talks with the opposition.

"The government is trying to respond to the demands of all political and social movements while respecting legal procedures," Gomou said. "But some refuse to join the framework of inclusive dialogue."

As a result, Guinea's roadmap to civilian rule remains bumpy, and the opposition groups have vowed to continue anti-junta protests.

Gomou denied claims that the authorities had blocked talks. "These calls to demonstrate are truly regrettable, and those behind them are solely responsible," he said.

Protests gain momentum

This month, protests have been planned in the capital, Conakry, with more civil society groups vowing to join.

The National Front for the Defense of the Constitution -- an influential political coalition which is known by its French acronym, FNDC -- said the junta led by Colonel Mamady Dombouya is not committed to handing power to elected civilians.

"We must now use every means possible to force him [Doumbouya] out of power. We've been engaged in two months of negotiation and have yet to make progress," FNDC spokesperson Sekou Koundouno told DW.

"The junta has shown the people of Guinea, the international community and religious leaders that they've no respect for them. They only believe in the use of force," Koundouno added.

Authorities in Guinea proposed a two-year transition to democracy last October, down from a three year timeline earlier rejected by the regional bloc ECOWAS.

Activists released from detention

On the same day the protesters were shot dead, the junta released three anti-junta FNDC party leaders who had been imprisoned for several months.

The release of Ibrahima Diallo, Mamadou Billo Bah and Oumar Sylla who is also known as Fonike Mangue, was among the key demands from protesters.

Mangue and Diallo had been detained since July 2022, while Bah had been held since January 2023.

The court's reasons for releasing them were not immediately known.

In a statement, one of the lawyers representing the trio, Salifou Beavogui, criticized authorities' handling of the case and the fact that "citizens were deprived of their liberty without trial" for several months.

Salimou Fofana, a cousin of Oumar Sylla, welcomed the release of Mengue, who had been imprisoned for defending democracy and good governance.

"We are delighted to have him back. Honestly, we missed him," Fofana told DW. "I was supposed to go to work today, but I stayed with my cousin. We will always support him because it comforts us. He is doing a job not for himself, not for his family, but for the whole Guinean nation."

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There have been several protests in Guinea since the junta took power -- some of which have turned deadly following clashes with heavy-handed security forces.

The country's military government is one of several in West Africa that took power in a string of coups since 2020 and are now dragging their feet on election promises.

The junta has pledged to restore civilian rule after implementing government reforms.

The transition period was fixed at two years from January this year following pressure from the regional ECOWAS bloc, which has also had to deal with coups in Mali and Burkina Faso since 2020.

Abdoulaye Sadio Diallo in Conakry, Reuters and AFP contributed to this report

Edited by: Keith Walker
Mukami Kimathi, the wife of Kenyan freedom fighter Dedan Kimathi, has been eulogized for her role in championing the rights of fellow Mau Mau fighters during her lifetime.

Kenyan icon Mukami Kimathi, whose husband Dedan Kimathi led a bloody resistance against British colonial rule during the 1950s, will be buried in her rural town of Njabini, in Kenya's Nyandarua County on Saturday.

The state-sponsored ceremony will be led by Kenyan President William Ruto, who described Mukami as a "legendary fighter."

Ruto's predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta -- whose father Jomo Kenyatta was Kenya's founding president -- hailed Mukami as "a true patriot (who) never failed to play her role as a mentor and a leader worthy emulating."

"For those of us who had the privilege of interacting with her, we will forever cherish the moments we shared and thank God for having given us the opportunity to associate with such a great warrior," Kenyatta said in a statement.

Who was Mukami Kimathi?

Mukami -- a wife, a mother of eight daughters and two sons, and a freedom fighter -- was key in planning Kenya's independence struggle.

She coordinated the women when it came to oath administration, resource mobilization, positioning spies and supplying food to fighters in the forest during the Mau Mau uprising.

Mau Mau fighters, who were brutally targeted by British forces before independence, held her in very high regard and nicknamed her "The Wasp."

She went unseen by British soldiers as she conducted activities that sustained the struggle for independence.

Kimathi's death -- on May 4 in a Nairobi hospital -- comes at a time when Western nations are working to right the wrongs of Kenya's dark colonial past.

'Symbol of resistance'

Many have eulogized Mukami Kimathi as an icon.

"She has been the beacon of hope surrounding the freedom fighters and their descendants, we are therefore as a nation very saddened that we have lost our mother who has been ailing for a while," said Kenya's deputy president, Rigathi Gachagua, who also described her as a symbol of resilience and defiance to the oppression.

Kimathi's nephew, Charles Gitahi, told DW that Mukami had held the family together, she was God-fearing and showed them the way of Christ.

Locating Dedan Kimathi's remains

Mukami Kimathi died without seeing the remains of her husband, who was one of Kenya's only three self-styled field marshalls during the independence struggle.

He was executed by British soldiers on February 18, 1957.

The colonialists dumped his body in an unmarked grave at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison, presumably to stop Kenyans from turning the grave into a shrine.

For the last six decades of her life, Mukami Kimathi begged authorities in both Britain and Kenya to show her where the husband was buried -- without success.

Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga joined in the push.

"The last wish of Mama Mukami was that she would like the body of her husband to be exhumed from where it was buried in Kamiti prison and interred together with hers next to each other at their home in Njambini this was her wish," said Odinga.

Odinga's sentiments were echoed by former Mau Mau fighter Gitu Wa Kahengeri.

"We'd like the government to ensure that Kimathi's body, which was buried in an unmarked grave, be exhumed and the remains buried alongside the wife during her burial ceremony in Njambini Kinangop," Kahengeri said.

Many now want the British government to reveal the unmarked grave in which Dedan Kimathi was buried so that the family can finally give their father a decent send off.

Dedan Kimathi's son, Simon Maina, had earlier told DW that he would like to bury his father's remains in a dignified manner.

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Dedan's youngest daughter, Evalyne Wanjogu, described her mother's struggle to find closure on the whereabouts of her husbands remains as futile quest that ran for decades.

Evalyne pointed out that as soon as Kenya's first leader, Jomo Kenyatta, was sworn in, her mother reached out to him.

"Her first request for the remains of our father was in 1963, immediately after Jomo Kenyatta was sworn in as Prime Minister, our mum was the first person to ask Kenyatta to help us find the remains of our father but for one reason or another to which we cannot blame anyone it never happened," Evalyne said.

"It never happened in the second regime, in the third regime, the fourth regime it never happened."

Edited by: Keith Walker

While you're here: Every weekday, we host AfricaLink, a podcast packed with news, politics, culture and more. You can listen and follow AfricaLink wherever you get your podcasts.
Nairobi  President William Ruto has arrived at the home of Field Marshall Dedan Kimathi for the burial of his widow Mukami.

Ruto is accompanied by his Deputy Rigathi Gachagua.

Other leaders at the burial include Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi among other top government officials.

Opposition Chief Raila Odinga is also expected, the first time the two leaders will share a podium since the August 2022 elections.

Mukami died last Thurday at the Nairobi Hospital aged 101.

In his condolences, President Ruto said Mama Mukami was part of the history of Kenya's freedom.

"Mama Mukami Kimathi courageously withstood the brutality of colonial oppression, proudly wore the scars of battle, and bore the terrible losses of war with admirable fortitude."

The President praised her resilience even after her husband was executed by the colonial administration.

"After winning the war for independence, Mama Mukami was left behind to fend for her children in the absence of Field Marshall Kimathi. In her characteristic way, she also won this battle."

The President said Mukami's contribution did not end at Independence.

"Mukami Kimathi was a steadfast patriot and well-known champion for national unity who inspired many Kenyans of all ages to cherish our country and stand ready to defend our values, " he said in his tribute.

"On behalf of my family and the people of Kenya, I convey my condolences to the family of our departed heroine, Mukami Kimathi. May God rest her soul in everlasting peace."

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Until her death, Mukami has been advocating for the exhumation of the remains of her husband from Kamiti Maximum Prison to be buried at his home.

Dedan headed the feared Mau Mau rebellion and was executed half a century ago by the colonial authorities, prompting her later to appeal to the Kenyan government to exhume his body so he could be given a state funeral.

But successive governments tried and failed to locate his remains.

Official government records show that Kimathi was captured by the colonial administration in 1956 at Kahigaini in the Aberdare ranges and executed in 1957 in Kamiti Prison.

"I do not want to die before being shown the exact place where my husband was buried. I want to see the remains of my Kimathi before I go. I do not have long to live and this matter has been a thorn in my flesh," Mukami said in a recent media interview.
Presidential candidate of Labour Party in the 2023 general elections, Mr. Peter Obi, has expressed optimism that he would eventually become the president of Nigeria.

He also assured that he would accept the decision of the court in his petition against the declaration of the candidate of the APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as winner of the presidential election by INEC.

The former Anambra state governor however said he is not desperate in his quest to lead the country as president.

He spoke during the unveiling of a book titled; "Peter Obi: Many Voices, One Perspective" authored by three media professionals led by a renowned professor of Mass Communication, Stella Chinyere Okunna in Awka, Anambra State yesterday.

Obi emphasised the need for everyone to always stand for the truth in the quest to build a new Nigeria.

He said, "I'll always insist on what is right. When I was impeached as governor, people asked me to do this and that, I said no. I won't give money to do the wrong thing.

"Again, I had never met with Mammood Yakubu since he became the head of INEC. Although I was with him as the chairman in a committee, I didn't need to meet him because he has only one vote which he can cast to anyone.

"If he wants to do what is wrong, no problem. One day, this thing we are doing in this country will consume all of us.

He added, "I'm in this journey. Anyone that thinks I'm on transit is joking. I must be the president of this country. If it's not today, it will be tomorrow. I'm not in a hurry. I'm not desperate.

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"We must fix this country. I have only one passport. if anyone thinks that Peter Obi will run away, he is wasting his time.

"I'm in court now, whatever decision of the court, I'll respect it. I'm not going to riot after which we'll continue. But I know we're committed to the destiny of this nation, when it's God's time it'll happen."

Appreciating the Obidients for their understanding and perseverance, Obi said his softness and apologetic disposition remained the way to go and sign of discipline and responsibility.

"We're trying to build a new Nigeria and that new Nigeria must be ready to say sorry, even if they are right. We need to start thinking about what are we going to do to have a better country".

The Obi of Onitsha and chairman, Anambra State Traditional Rulers Council, Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe, described Obi as a man of destiny whose progress in life reflects the hand of God upon him.

Earlier, the lead editor of the book, Prof. Chinyere Stella Okunna, described the piece as capturing everything about the man, Peter Obi.

"We are not saying that Peter Obi is a saint. But he stands out in integrity. Nigeria is richly blessed if this man becomes president.

"Whatever we realise here will be channeled into the on-going litigation. I am hopeful that the litigation will end well; and the truth will come out," she said.

The event attracted traditional rulers, politicians, cabinet members during Obi's tenure as governor, his friends and admirers who donated various sums of money in support of the book launch.
How to Use ChatGPT-4 For Free: Popular Platforms Offering Access To Generative AI Latest Version Features oi -Alap Naik Desai

ChatGPT has taken the digital world by storm. The free version of the powerful Generative AI (Artificial Intelligence) chatbot is currently limited to ChatGPT v3. Meanwhile, OpenAI is offering paid access to ChatGPT-4.

OpenAI ChatGPT-4 is a highly advanced Generative AI platform that has been better trained using large language models. Gaining access to this cutting-edge technology can be expensive. However, there are platforms and methods that grant access to the ChatGPT chatbot without paying any subscription fees.

Use ChatGPT-3 Instead of ChatGPT-4

Microsoft-funded OpenAI released the ChatGPT chatbot back in November last year. It is based on the GPT-3 LLM (Large Language Model).

ChatGPT-3 is still free to use. Interested users merely need to create an account on OpenAI and start using the free version with GPT-3. This version might not be as powerful as ChatGPT-4, but it can still address most of the needs of basic users.

Microsoft Bing Search Is Based On ChatGPT-4

Microsoft has been actively incorporating ChatGPT in various products and services. In fact, even Google has started doing the same.

Microsoft has integrated ChatGPT-4 into its Bing AI chatbot. To use GPT-4 for free on Bing, follow these steps:

 Start the Microsoft Edge web browser and visit Bing's official site.

 Click on the "Chat" option at the top-left corner of the page.

 There's a Bing Chat extension to access Bing Chat on popular web browsers.

 Download the extension, visit the Bing website, and start using ChatGPT-4 powered by Bing.

Hugging Face Offers Open-Source Access To ChatGPT-4

HuggingFace is providing GPT-4 API access to its community for exploring the model. Essentially it is a free-to-use ChatGPT 4 bot.

While OpenAI hasn't even released 8K and 32K token options yet, HuggingFace offers a token limit of 4096 per user. To access ChatGPT-4 through Hugging Face simply head over to the website. There's a text box into which users can type their queries and click "Run" to get a response from the GPT-4 model.

Limited-Access Free Or Cheap Alternatives To Use ChatGPT-4

While ChatGPT-3 is free, ChatGPT-4 costs money. The price of a ChatGPT Plus subscription is $20 (approx. 1600) per month. However, there are a few ways interested users can pay a lot less to gain access to the latest AI chatbot.

Ora.sh is an online platform that allows users to create LLM apps using a convenient chat interface. The developer of the platform has restricted usage to 5 messages per day and requires users to create an account.

Nat Friedman, a former CEO of GitHub, has created a useful tool that can compare different LLM models. The tool helps users to compare ChatGPT-4 with other models or just explore the GPT-4 model. The Nat.dev platform limits users to ten queries per day.

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Realme Narzo N53 Camera Specs Confirmed Ahead of May 18 Launch News lekhaka -Subhrojit Mallick

Ahead of the May 18 launch, Realme has confirmed a key feature of the upcoming Realme Narzo N53 budget smartphone. Realme confirmed the camera resolution of the primary camera on the Narzo N53. Aside from the main sensor, there is one more rear camera on the Narzo N53, as seen on the teasers the company is promoting on its official handles.

The spec sheet of the upcoming smartphone is not out yet, but in an earlier teaser, Realme had said the Narzo N53 is going to be its slimmest phone yet. The company has also confirmed the colour variants, design and some key specifications.

Realme Narzo N53: Camera Specs Confirmed

Ahead of the official launch, Realme has confirmed the resolution of the primary camera on the Narzo N53. The smartphone will feature a 50MP primary camera, which will be one of the headlining features. There is a second camera, the purpose of which is yet to be confirmed, but it looks like it will simply be a depth sensor to assist in portrait shots.

Earlier, the company had confirmed the Narzo N53 wil be just 7.49mm thick yet pack a 5,000mAh battery with 33W fast charging support. Realme claimed the smartphone can charge to 50% in 34 minutes, with protections in place to prevent overheating.

Previously Confirmed Features

The design confirms a side-mounted fingerprint sensor while Realme has said the N53 will be available in 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. Whether there will be other variants is not confirmed yet.

The smartphone will be available on Amazon, where teasers are already running. Some reports claim the Narzo N53 is going to be Realme's most affordable 5G smartphone, even though the teasers or the company has not confirmed anything of that sort yet.

Last year, Realme said it was working on a cheap 5G phone aiming for that sub-Rs 10,000 price spot. While there is a chance that this could be the phone that was under works, experts believe the specs already confirmed will not make for such an affordable 5G phone. In all likelihood, the Narzo N53 could be priced between Rs 10,000 to Rs 13,000.

Realme is expected to reveal more details in the lead up to the launch. The launch will be an online event and will be streamed across Realme's social handles at 12PM on May 18.

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Abuja  The Presidency yesterday described as routine the movement of President Muhammadu Buhari from the official Presidential residence to the Glass House, both within the State House in Abuja.

This, it explained, is with a view to allowing the official residence to be prepared in readiness for its next occupier, the President-elect, Bola Tinubu.

Explaining the significance of the change of residence for the President, Special Assistant to the President on Digital Communication, Bashir Ahmad, said it was a routine of the transitional process that an out-going President vacates the official residence ahead of the inauguration, to give space for the preparation of the building for the in-coming President.

Ahmad, who spoke on telephone in Abuja, said he was aware of the development and was not surprised because it was part of the transition process.

He said: "Yes, I'm aware of that, but it is just following the laid down procedure. The standard rule is that in the run-up to the inauguration, the President will have to move into the Glass House, while the in-coming President stays at the Defense House. All of this is to prepare the State House for the new President.

"After the inauguration, the new President is expected to resume at the State House to start his tenure. It's not strange, that is the order of transition", he said.

The First Lady, Aisha Buhari, had Thursday disclosed in a video that she and her husband, President Buhari, had moved out of the official residence into the Glass House, after taking the in-coming First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, round the residence for familiarisation.

While guiding Mrs Tinubu round the residence in the video, the First Lady had also described the Glass House as a transitional home for the First Family, traditionally and called for the sustenance of the culture.

She said: "Today, I've taken the in-coming First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, round, she has seen the main house, we're now at the popular Glass House. Glass House is a transition home for the out-going President, I'm advising that the Glass House should maintain its tradition of being a transitional home for the out-going President.

"As I'm talking to you now, we're residing here with my husband, only two of us here. I think it has to remain so, as a norm of the institution and of the house."
Press release on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's meeting with Palestinian Authority Civil Affairs Minister and Secretary-General of the PLO Executive Committee Hussein Al-Sheikh

11 May 2023 20:43

903-11-05-2023

On May 11, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov received Palestinian Authority Civil Affairs Minister and Secretary-General of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Executive Committee Hussein Al-Sheikh.

During the meeting, the ministers engaged in a trust-based exchange of views on the status of the Middle East settlement, including the prospects for achieving progress in the Palestinian-Israeli negotiating process and ensuring Palestinian national unity.

Mr Lavrov reaffirmed Russia's willingness to continue facilitating efforts to strengthen the position of the Palestinian leading political forces and movements through the PLO platform.

The ministers also noted the invariable mutual desire to continue promoting traditional friendship between Russia and Palestine and their close interaction on international and regional issues.

On the same day, Special Presidential Representative for the Middle East and the African countries, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov held extensive consultations with Hussein Al-Sheikh.

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CSG 5 Hosts Tri-Lateral Meeting with Japan and Australia

US Navy

11 May 2023

From Commander, Task Force 70 / Carrier Strike Group 5 Public Affairs

YOKOSUKA, Japan -- Information Warfare Community (IWC) leaders from Commander, Task Force (CTF) 70, Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 5 hosted a tri-lateral meeting with officers from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) and Royal Australian Navy (RAN), May 8.

Information Warfare (IW) leaders from the three nation's maritime services met onboard the U.S. Navy's only forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) to discuss opportunities for engagement in the future.

Capt. INABA Yousuke, Commander of Fleet Intelligence Command, JMSDF said "This meeting is the first meeting with Australian Navy IW counterparts for the JMSDF operational/tactical level forces, and we would like to take this opportunity to deepen cooperation among the Trilateral Navy, the US, Japan and Australia in the field of IW."

Meetings like this serve to enhance interoperability and support future operational planning.

"Having these opportunities to exchange ideas and develop strong relationships are critical to ensure we can collaborate effectively in the information fight," said Capt. Errol Laumann, information warfare commander for CSG 5. "Facing the region's challenges requires constant innovation and adjustment, and by meeting regularly we make sure we can keep pace in this dynamic environment.

The last multinational naval event that involved these three countries was MALABAR 2022 hosted by JMSDF. That exercise involved navies from Australia, India, Japan, and the United States.

"Working closely with our American and Japanese friends is critical to the information and intelligence fight in this region," said Capt. Marcus Buttler, commander of RAN Information Warfare Forces. "So much of our operational planning and coordination in the future will benefit from our meeting and discussions."

The meeting involved discussion of ways to improve interoperability and mutual understanding between the navies in a wide variety of warfighting areas and specifically the areas where support from intelligence impacts these areas.

"CSG-5, JMSDF, and RAN are committed to the defense of a free and open Indo-Pacific and operate together across the warfighting spectrum," said Cmdr. Matthew Meyer, the lead intelligence officer for CSG 5. "Meetings like this are a great opportunity to establish a rapport with our partners and integrate our capabilities."

Carrier Strike Group 5 is forward deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations conducting operations in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific.

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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Canada's statement on escalation between Israel and Gaza

Global Affairs Canada

Statement

May 12, 2023 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada

Global Affairs Canada today issued the following statement:

"Canada is deeply concerned by the escalation between Israel and Gaza and stands firmly with the Israeli and Palestinian peoples in their right to live in peace, security, with dignity and without fear.

"We are saddened by the tragic loss of civilian lives in Gaza and Israel, including children in Gaza. All civilians must be protected and international law must be respected. Canada also condemns the firing of rockets into Israel and stands by Israel's right to defend its security from terrorist attacks, in accordance with human rights and international humanitarian law.

"Canada calls for calm and immediate de-escalation to prevent any further loss of civilian life. We urge all parties to refrain from actions that could escalate violence and undermine prospects for peace.

"Canada will continue to take a principled approach, in coordination with our international partners, to support a just and lasting peace."

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Arctic Council Statement on the Occasion of the Thirteenth Meeting of the Arctic Council

Global Affairs Canada

Statement

May 12, 2023 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada

In accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the Arctic Council, and in recognition of the objectives and commitments expressed in the Declaration on the Establishment of the Arctic Council and subsequent Ministerial Declarations, the Arctic States joined by the Permanent Participants met and issued the following statement.

[1] Recognizing the historic and unique role of the Arctic Council for constructive cooperation, stability and dialogue between people in the Arctic region;

[2] Acknowledging the commitment to work to safeguard and strengthen the Arctic Council;

[3] Recognizing the rights of Arctic Indigenous Peoples and the unique role of the Permanent Participants in the Arctic Council, their special relation to the Arctic and the importance of cross-border and people-to-people cooperation in the region;

[4] Recognizing the valuable work accomplished by the Arctic Council since the last Ministerial meeting, with special emphasis on progress achieved in defining the ways to implement the Strategic Plan (2021-2030);

[5] Recognizing that the work plans outlined in the Arctic Council Senior Arctic Officials' Report to Ministers adopted in Reykjavik in May 2021 along with the Reykjavik Ministerial Declaration and Arctic Council Strategic Plan (2021 - 2030), will form the basis for continuing Council activities for 2023-2025;

[6] Extending the 2022-2023 work plan of the Arctic Council Secretariat, including the Indigenous Peoples' Secretariat work plan, for the 2024-2025 period. Approving the Arctic Council Secretariat's and the Indigenous Peoples' Secretariat's budgets for the 2024-2025 period;

[7] Acknowledging the conclusion of the Russian Federation's second Chairmanship of the Arctic Council, and accepting Norway's offer to chair the Council in 2023-2025, and its offer to host the fourteenth meeting in 2025.

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May 12, 2023

Release

Make It Where You Need It: OSD Program Funds Technology to Enable Point-of-Need Manufacturing

The Office of the Secretary of Defense Manufacturing Technology Program (OSD ManTech) has announced the winners of the first-of-its-kind "Point of Need Challenge Pitch Event" for solutions to support forward-deployed forces in austere environments.

Held March 8-9 at the ARM Institute in Pittsburgh, Pa., the event showcased technologies generated by member companies of the Department of Defense Manufacturing Innovation Institutes (MIIs). DoD launched nine MIIs between 2012 and 2021, each focused on a particular critical technology, to help revitalize U.S. domestic manufacturing capability.

The challenge event featured 11 pitch presentations that had been selected from 63 concept papers submitted by the MIIs and reviewed by 72 DoD reviewers. The pitches, presented over a day and a half, were reviewed by a panel of 13 judges from the Military Services, Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), Defense Innovation Unit, OSD ManTech, and Joint Staff.

The panel recommended six projects from five MIIs for approval by the director of ManTech. The projects cover three challenges: the Warfighter Medical, Health, and Nutrition Challenge; the Staying in the Fight Challenge; and the Cyber Challenge. OSD ManTech will invest nearly $2.5 million, while industry partners will contribute nearly $700,000 in cost share.

The event started with a half-day forum of DoD perspectives from keynote speakers Brig. Gen. David Trybula, deputy commanding general of U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM); Dr. Karl Dahlhauser from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, and Capt. Tony Bannister from the Joint Staff J-4 Logistics directorate. Expert presentations followed from Col. Marchant Callis of the Army Sustainment Capabilities Development and Integration Directorate, Maj. Matt Audette from U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command, Lt. Col. Elisa Peters from DLA, and Mr. Shaun Verrinder from the Naval Surface Warfare Center Philadelphia Division.

The winners of the challenge are:

Portable Manufacturing Station for a Self-Administrable Injectable Applicator

MII: BioFab USA; Manchester, N.H.

Prime: DEKA Integrated Solutions; Manchester, N.H.

DEKA has developed a novel hollow-microneedle-based intradermal delivery applicator for self-administering therapeutic agents. Through the DoD grant, DEKA will further the development of a portable, ruggedized manufacturing station that can fill the required therapeutic agent at a forward operating base and then send the applicator forward to Warfighters to administer vaccines and other needed therapeutic agents. This portable manufacturing station enables the low-cost, quick, and effective administration of needed therapeutic agents for viruses, allergens, and emerging threats without the need for skilled medical personnel in the field. A less-ruggedized version of this same manufacturing station can be used in a just-in-time manufactured hub-and-spoke distribution system to serve civilian needs across the United States.

Austere nField Repair

MII: NextFlex; San Jose, Calif.

Prime: nScrypt; Orando, Fla.

Utilizing the nRugged tool, an integrated and ruggedized "factory in a box," the project employs additive electronics and mechanical part manufacturing to replace and repair damaged hardware at austere points of need. nScrypt will demonstrate four stages of functionality: fabricating a replacement electronic printed circuit board, repairing a damaged printed circuit board, 3D printing a replacement mechanical part, and manufacturing a customized biomedical brace.

Intrepid Expeditionary 3D Printer

MII: America Makes; Youngstown, Ohio

Prime: Craitor; San Diego, Calif.

The Intrepid Expeditionary 3D Printer can print critical parts in the field. This project, led by Craitor, will utilize current capabilities as the foundation to de-risk manufacturing at the point of need through established standards and procedures and to form a framework for future manufacturing ecosystems. The project will occur over five phases with the objective of improving the confidence of operators, reducing the risk for prime manufacturers, and ultimately increasing the investment in the digital ecosystem by existing original equipment manufacturers.

Securing the Digital Backbone with Corsha's Zero-Trust Platform for Machines

MII: ARM; Pittsburgh, Pa.

Prime: Corsha; Vienna, Va.

The Corsha platform manages cybersecurity challenges by addressing security limitations and providing zero-trust network access, even to legacy manufacturing equipment, thereby mitigating the risk of a security breach by implementing an additional, out-of-band layer of access control.

Demonstration of Use of Sciperio Austere Bioreactor to Produce Blood in a Forward Environment from CONUS Cryopreserved Starting Material

MII: BioFabUSA; Manchester, N.H.

Prime: Safi Biotherapeutics; Cambridge, Mass.

The ability to "manufacture" blood on demand and near the point of conflict eliminates both source and logistics concerns. This program leverages the current On-Demand Blood Program awarded to Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and demonstrates the ability to deliver cryopreserved blood precursor cells that transport in a fraction of the volume of blood bags (think 1,000 units in an ammo box), and expansion and manufacture of blood on-site in an austere-capable bioreactor.

Expeditionary Manufacturing Unit for Battlefield Repair and Readiness

MII: LIFT; Detroit, Mich.

Prime: SPEE3D; Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and Wilmington, Del.

SPEE3D's 3D Metal Printing Technology is an industry proven, military tested, expeditionary, all-in-one solution. The system uses existing cold spray technology to create complex 3D parts quickly. SPEE3D's technology has been demonstrated in operations in hot and hot-humid environments, including work with the United Kingdom and Australian militaries, the U.S. Navy Repair Technology Exercise 2022, and the U.S. Army's Project Convergence 2022. The project goal is to successfully 3D-print metal parts in a sub-freezing environment that are equivalent in quality to the same parts printed, on the same technology, in a lab environment.

Follow-on demonstrations of the projects are planned for November 2023 in a simulated cold weather environment, supported by Army DEVCOM.

The DoD ManTech Program comprises investment programs operated out of the U.S. Military Services, DLA, Missile Defense Agency, and OSD. The OSD ManTech office is responsible for administering the DoD ManTech Program and manages two investment portfolios: the Manufacturing Science and Technology Program, and the DoD MIIs. The charter of these public-private partnerships is to advance research and development to promote innovation while modernizing U.S. military capabilities; grow manufacturing ecosystems to enhance the Nation's competitiveness; and further education and workforce development for the jobs of the future.

About USD(R&E)

The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (USD(R&E) is the Chief Technology Officer of the Department of Defense. The USD(R&E) champions research, science, technology, engineering, and innovation to maintain the United States military's technological advantage. Learn more at www.cto.mil, follow us on Twitter @DoDCTO, or visit us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/ousdre.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3393674/

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Informal meeting of foreign affairs ministers (Gymnich): Press remarks by High Representative Josep Borrell at the press conference

European External Action Service (EEAS)

12.05.2023

Stockholm

EEAS Press Team

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Thank you, and thank to all of you for waiting so long.

You can imagine that it was not easy to discuss about the situation in Ukraine, plus our relations with China.

And I want to thank you, Tobias [Billstrom, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden], for your hospitality in this beautiful place and this sunny Sweden. Certainly, climate change is a reality. And it is good for you because it is such a beautiful day here in Sweden to talk about two important issues: Ukraine, Russia and China.

First, on Ukraine.

It is clear that Putin has no intention to abandon its objective to subjugate Ukraine, and he will continue bombing, attacking, destroying Ukraine. It is clear.

Now more than ever, the [Foreign Affairs] Ministers have agreed on stressing the importance of continuing supporting Ukraine.

It is - and it remains - our priority to continue supporting Ukraine and give Ukraine the means to defend itself and build [up] the necessary resilience to defeat Russia.

Over the last 15 months, we have been providing military support to Ukraine for about 15 billion. It is significant but more will have to come.

We have been fast in our response, but now we have to look a little bit further - in the medium term - on how to transform the instruments that we have developed to face the immediate threats and to provide ammunitions and military equipment into a long-term commitment to ensure Ukraine [wins] and to support Ukraine [with] humanitarian [means], financially and militarily.

We know that the accession to the European Union is our ultimate commitment to Ukraine, to the stability and prosperity of Ukraine. But in the meantime, we have to continue offering practical and concrete support. And I want to send a clear message to Putin: there is no, and [there] will not be, fatigue. We will continue supporting Ukraine as much as Ukraine needs, for as long as needed.

I think it is important to repeat some narrative. There is an aggressor, and an aggressed. Ukraine is a victim, and Russia is the aggressor. Russia does not want to stop fighting. And Ukraine cannot stop fighting. If it [Ukraine] wants to continue just existing as a nation, it cannot stop. Russia does not want [to stop], and Ukraine cannot stop.

Many people say they want peace. We do. And the ones who want peace more than anyone else, are the Ukrainians. The Ukrainians want peace, we want peace. But we want a capitulation. We do not want Ukraine to become the second Belarus. And that is why, President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy's Peace Formula, for us, today, right now, is the only comprehensive framework for a just, sustainable peace in Ukraine.

Tomorrow, we will continue the discussion with Foreign Minister [of Ukraine, Dmytro] Kuleba.

Then, after lunch, we had a long discussion that reflected our consensus on China.

I am happy - I think I can announce - that colleagues [Foreign Affairs Ministers] welcomed the paper that we presented, the summary of this paper and the letter that I addressed to them.

They agree on the basic lines of this recalibration of our strategy on China, considering the recent domestic evolution in China and the foreign policy trajectories.

We continue with a triptych because it reflects reality. It [China] is [a] rival, partner and competitor.

And there is a key word, which is 'engage'. We have to engage with China in many fronts, for many different issues, and at the same time, we have to compete with China and to decrease our dependencies when these dependencies become too big and so risky.

And in the last times [lately], the dimension of 'rival' [rivalry] has become more and more important, at the same time that the complexity of our relations with China has been increasing.

I cannot explain you four hours of discussions, but I can summarise it saying that with respect to China, we have an issue about values. We have a different political system. We understand differently what [are] human rights - individual and collective human rights. We have multi-party political systems and a free market economy. It means that our values on which we base the political system are different, and we have to deal with that.

Second, we have a problem on economic security. Our trade relations are very much unbalanced. They have to be balanced and dependencies have to be avoided. This is not a new slogan; de-risking is just a word. But behind this word, there is a lot of work that will take time to review our economic relation with China, not for decoupling, but to balance [it] in a fair way; balance and avoid excessive dependencies on some critical sectors.

We are not drifting toward protectionism; China and the European Union, we are both economic powerhouses. We have to put our relations in a balanced approach. The world needs that, and we will work on it.

And finally, on strategic security, there are two main issues: Taiwan and Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

On Taiwan, nothing new. Our position remains consistent with the 'One China policy'. We want to engage with China and with the United States on maintaining the status quo and de-escalating tensions in the Strait of Taiwan, which is so important for world trade, and, in particular, for us.

And on Ukraine, the European Union-China relations will not develop normally if China does not push Russia to withdraw from Ukraine.We call on China, as a Permanent member of the Security Council of the United Nations, to influence over Russia to stop this war, and to play a constructive role to achieve a just peace for Ukraine.

The paper I presented, thanks to the work of many people of the European External Action Service (EEAS), will be reviewed, will be perfectioned, in order to be used by the European Council at the next meeting, when the leaders will discuss about China.

Today, it has been a fruitful and positive discussion.

Thank you.

And last news. As a proof of unity among us, the Member States have agreed to support unanimously the candidature of Antonio Vitorino as Director-General of the International Organisation for Migration [IOM].

Q&A

Q. Regarding China, there are some different views on China among the Member States. Some are in the Belt and Road Initiative, some are not members of the Belt and Road Initiative. So, which are the main sticking points among the Member States when it comes to China? What do you actually mean with "de-risking the relation with China"? And also, could there be some kind of export restrictions towards China going forward?

A full answer to these three questions would be to repeat the four hours of discussion, and I am sure you will not resist it. I am sure that you [would] prefer a short answer.

First, a complex relationship like the one that we have with China unavoidably has different approaches because there are different interests. It is not the same thing for a big exporter to China, like it is the case of Germany, or countries that have almost no economic relationship. It is clear that we are in a different situation. But one thing is clear - and believe me - the 27 [Members States] are united behind the music of this text. Then, there will be some words that someone will be happy if it is changed for another one - nuance.

Second, third rank considerations. The paper has been considered a complete and solid approach to our relation with China. I have not seen any concrete disagreement. I am happy because I think it is a very solid basis for China [to] understand that the 27 [Member States] are united. Finished [is] the fourteen [state] group that was in a specific relationship with China - now there are 27 [Member States], only 27. The 27 together, behind this approach. Then, there are tonalities, certainly. A little bit more of that, a little bit less from that, maybe not so much - but [these are] second or third rank considerations.

[On] 'de-risking': when a dependency is too big, it is a risk. And a typical example is the dependency on the Russian gas. It was a risky dependency, and we made a strategic mistake on letting this dependency grow so big. Today, we have dependencies on China, with respect to the digital transformation, that are bigger than the ones we had with Russia on the hydrocarbons field. I am thinking of solar panels, critical [raw] materials, specific technologies. It is not a matter of considering a danger, but certainly, there is a risk when you depend too much on someone. Even if your market depends on a single client - imagine a firm that has only one client, it is a risky situation [and] you would prefer to have several. This is the case. If the word 'de-risking' has a negative feeling, use another one. Reducing excessive dependencies, that [is what it is] about. Can we think of restrictions? We want to avoid the circumvention of sanctions, and we want to avoid that Russia gets dual-use materials that could feed their war machine, and this is something valuable for everybody.

Q. What is the next step in putting together a new China policy? Do you want to have something in place, for example in time for the EU-China Summit later in the year? What form will that take? Will it be an update on the 2019 Strategy? High Representative, you keep saying that if the Chinese do not act positively on Russia, then the relationship cannot stay the same. What is going to happen if you do not have something productive from China on that front? Will we see an end to some of the engagements that are promoted in the paper, for example? Or what form does that change the relationship?

You know, life is complicated. If I do not like your behaviour, you cannot expect [us] to be good friends. It is as simple as that. I cannot go to concrete things because there is a matter of international relations, [which] will depend on many things that I cannot foresee today. But for us, it is so important that China understands that what is happening in Ukraine is an existential threat for us, and we expect that China will use its role and its responsibilities. If this is not the case, our relationship will not be so good.

And what are the next steps? To improve this paper, to incorporate what Member States have been considering, to produce a new paper and to present that to the leaders in order for the leaders at the European Council to take a clear stance on our relations with China.

Additionally, we continue working on the economic security proposal that is being worked together [between] the [European] Commission and the High Representative, and it should also be approved as a joint proposal before the next European Council - I hope. And then, we will continue working on the issues related to dual use of exports and with the critical raw materials act and the other things that have already been approved by the [European] Commission. I want to recall that I am also Vice-President of the [European] Commission so I take my part in it. And [we will] present it to the [European] Parliament and to the Council for its approval. But to finish this paper and to approve a joint proposal on economic security - these are the two immediate steps.

Q. I have a question on your discussion tomorrow with Minister [for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro] Kuleba. In your recent conversations, Kuleba has often expressed his dissatisfaction with the European Union. He said [that] the European Union acts too slow, be it on ammunition or on sanctions. What can you offer him concretely tomorrow? Are there any concrete commitments you can make, be it on sanctions, be it on more ammunition? What will you tell him, besides your strong words, that you just made again?

I understand, if we were in the situation of Minister Kuleba, if we were in the shoes of any Ukrainian soldier fighting in the front, I would be very demanding. I understand [him] perfectly. If I were in their critical situation, I would be very demanding, asking for more and asking for quicker answers. It is human.

But the concern that Minister Kuleba expressed about the agreement between Member States on 'Track 2' for [the] joint procurement of ammunition - this has been solved. We already have an agreement, and the work continues in order to implement it. And he knows that.

Minister Kuleba knows that we are doing everything we can according [in accordance] with our rules of procedure in order to support Ukraine. He knows that, and I thank his stimulus and I understand him.

Q. The Hungarian Foreign Minister [Peter Szijjarto] said, after the discussion this afternoon that the Hungarian government can hardly negotiate sanctions as long as Hungary's largest bank is on the Ukrainian list of international war sponsors. What is your comment on this? Do you see this as a problem?

We have not heard of these comments from the Hungarian Minister.

Q. He also criticised a "war atmosphere" in the room.

A war atmosphere? To tell the truth, I have not perceived a war atmosphere at all. I can understand that Hungary has concerns and it is not a secret that Hungary does not believe in the effectiveness of the sanctions, they say that every day. But there has been nothing new about that. But we are peaceful people.

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Informal meeting of foreign affairs ministers (Gymnich): Press remarks by High Representative Josep Borrell upon arrival

European External Action Service (EEAS)

12.05.2023

Stockholm

Strategic Communications

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Today, the meeting has two points [on the agenda]: Russia's aggression against Ukraine and recalibrating our relationship with China.

On the first issue, it is clear that we have to continue supporting Ukraine, and we have to do that in the long haul. Not just providing ammunition for tomorrow's fight, but looking in the medium term and preparing a multiannual support to Ukraine. Ukraine has to be sure that we will support it [them], not just in the everyday battle in the war, but in the long haul.

And Russia has to understand - Putin has to understand - that we will not fall. So, stop waiting for us to get tired. We will not. This is about Ukraine, to support [President of Ukraine, Volodymyr] Zelenskyy's peace plan and to make proposals in order to look for accountability - what kind of tribunal [can be used]. I, personally - and many Member States - will support the idea of an internationalised tribunal. We have to look for a solution that comes quickly. We need a solution [that is] practically implementable and ready-to-use.

China will be the big issue today. The [Foreign Affairs] Ministers have received a paper written by the High Representative's services to define a position of the European Union towards China.

This is foreign policy, and foreign policy is a matter of the [European] Council. We will prepare the discussions of the leaders at the European Council at the end of June .

In this paper, we recalibrate our position towards China from the three points of view.

[First], China being a partner: it is a partner. We exchange with China 2.7 billion a day - so forget about decoupling.

[Second], China is a competitor, certainly - [with] its economic growth, its technological capacity. It is a competitor. We have other competitors, not only China but China is an important competitor, not only a supplier of cheap goods.

And third, our systems - our political and economic systems - are different, completely different. We are multi-party democracies, they are a single party. We are market economies, the Chinese economy is being driven by the State, so we are very different.

And in the world, we are rivals, because we present our models to the rest of the world.

But we have to engage with China. I think the key words are 'engaging' and 'reducing dependencies'. Engaging and competing. Both things. The word 'engaging' has a lot of meanings.

It is impossible to try to solve the most important global challenges without a strong engagement with China. China is burning more coal than the rest of the world together. So, forget about solving the climate change without a strong engagement with China.

This is going to be the discussion with the Member States. The paper is a very calibrated in order to put in evidence the fact that we need more unity.

Europe has to be more united. If we want to be relevant on the emergence of China as a great power, the European Member States have to be more united and act in accordance with a common policy - and it is the task of the Foreign Affairs Ministers to build it.

Q&A

Q: What about Taiwan in this issue?

Taiwan is part of the strategic challenges that we have with China. With China, we have a problem of values - as I said before -, [with] different systems, different approaches to human rights. We have a problem of economic competition and economic security. And we have an issue of strategic security.

On strategic security, there are two main issues: Taiwan and the war of Russia against Ukraine. On Taiwan, we are at the same place that we have been always. Taiwan matters. We are following [the One] China Policy, and we want the de-escalation in the zone. What happens in Taiwan matters a lot to us.

Q: How could you combine this with China?

Well, this is what diplomacy does. The first thing to say is that we cannot have a normal relation with China if China does not use the strong influence that China has on Russia in order to stop this war.

The attitude of China towards the war in Ukraine is the second strategic security issue that we will discuss today.

Q: Are you afraid of China's reaction regarding what was announced on sanctions for Chinese firms circumventing the EU sanctions?

There is no decision taken. The Treaty does not talk about sanctions, it talks about restrictive measures. These are proposals for restrictive measures on the triangle trade between Europe, China and Russia.

There is no decision taken yet. [We have] not even started the discussion. The Member States will have to discuss that in the following days, and finally the Council will adopt a decision.

Q: Regarding the situation in Israel and Palestine, there have been statements from your side. Have there been any attempts by the European Union to actually intervene, to facilitate a ceasefire, or have you been only supporting Egyptian attempts or the Arab Ministers' attempts?

We are ready to do whatever [is] necessary and useful. I have been talking with my Egyptian colleagues and Emiratis. We are not launching a European initiative, there are already enough initiatives. What we have to do is to support the ones who are in the lead. The ones who are in the lead are the [Arab League] and the Arab countries.

Q: High Representative, a question on South Africa and the reports that they might be delivering weapons to Russia. How concerning is that? Does it mean that the European outreach to emerging economies is not working?

Certainly, it needs more engagement. One of the things that we have to discuss is how we [can] reach out more and better with edging countries: countries who voted at the United Nations against the [Russia] invasion [of Ukraine] but afterwards, they are not as strong as we would like [them] to be against the invasion. And there are countries who do not condemn the invasion in the United Nations.

So, yes, we have to engage more with people who are not exactly on the same position as us, and this is part of the paper.

About South Africa, I only have press news.

Q: The Turkish opposition is complaining about Russian interference in the elections. Are you concerned as well?

Well, the European Parliament has been voting about it. There is a resolution of the European Parliament that talks a lot about Russian interferences in elections, even in the country I know best. So, yes, certainly, it is a matter of concern.

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Sudan: Statement by the Spokesperson on the Declaration of Commitment to protect civilians

European External Action Service (EEAS)

12.05.2023

Strategic Communications

The European Union notes the signature overnight by the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces of a declaration of commitment to protect civilians three weeks into a conflict which has already cost the lives of around 600 civilians, 190 of whom were children. The EU appreciates the determined efforts of Saudi and American negotiators to broker the deal in Jeddah.

While the declaration refers to respect for the Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law, the European Union recalls that the protection of civilians and safe access for humanitarian assistance are already legally binding obligations and have been so since the beginning of the conflict. The value of the declaration will depend entirely on whether it is honoured by the parties and transforms the situation on the ground. The UN Human Rights Council highlighted yesterday the need for accountability and gave the UN High Commissioner's designated expert on Human Rights in Sudan a mandate to document all allegations of human rights violations and abuses, including those arising directly from the current conflict.

The Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces committed yesterday to scheduling discussions on a permanent cessation of hostilities. While all efforts to stop the fighting are welcome, a sustainable ceasefire, rather than a schedule for it, is an urgent and overdue imperative.

The European Union will continue to work with international and regional partners on a consolidated mediation platform that can deliver a ceasefire and a return to the civilian rule that the people of Sudan have been demanding since the revolution of 2019.



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Statement on the Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan

Government of Norway

News story | Date: 12/05/2023

'I welcome the Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan between Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces,' said Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt.

'This is an important first step in much needed negotiations. However, the parties' commitment to uphold international humanitarian and human rights law, and to respect the humanitarian principles, only becomes meaningful if it leads to actual changes on the ground.'

'The Parties must take concrete actions to ensure that international humanitarian and human rights law is fully respected and implemented. In particular, all feasible measures must be taken to ensure the protection of civilians against harm caused by military operations. The parties must also ensure full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to civilians in need of humanitarian assistance and protection, ' said Huitfeldt.

'The Sudanese people have suffered immensely since fighting broke out on 15 April and the country is in extreme duress. The Parties must therefore agree to a formal ceasefire as soon as possible. The international community will stand ready to support the implementation of a credible ceasefire, ' said Huitfeldt.

'Stopping the fighting will not by itself end the political crisis. Only an inclusive political process can deal with the fundamental questions now confronting the people and the state. The only sustainable solution is to re-establish the democratic transition, building on the achievements that have been reached since the 2019 Revolution, and respecting the aspirations of the Sudanese people. Norway remains committed to work with and for the people of Sudan. We will pursue this commitment in co-operation with regional actors and likeminded partners,' said Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt.



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A survey conducted by NOI Polls has revealed that only 17 per cent of the country's population has health insurance coverage in Nigeria.

The chief executive officer, NOI Polls Legal Department, Dr Chike Nwangwu, made the disclosure yesterday in Abuja during the health financing policy dialogue themed, 'Accelerating the Implementation of the NHIA Act to improve Health Insurance Coverage in Nigeria', organised by the Nigeria Health Watch, in collaboration with the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).

He said this suggested that health insurance had remained very low in Nigeria, adding that 75 per cent of those with coverage reported they were covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

He said the poll showed a high utilisation of public hospitals across the country as disclosed by 58 per cent of respondents. "In addition, while 36 per cent utilises private health care facilities, five per cent disclosed that they utilised both public and private health care facilities."

He said 80 per cent of the respondents disclosed that they paid out of pocket for health care services, irrespective of the health care facilities they visit.

The poll recommended that awareness of the NHIS is critical as only 51 per cent of respondents who pay out of pocket were aware of the Scheme.

The director-general of the National Health Insurance Authority, Prof Mohammed Sambo, said any effective policy on financing health care must ensure that the country takes a lead in putting health in the highest level of the agenda.

The managing director, Nigeria Health Watch, Vivianne Ihekweazu, said the government had a critical role to play in accelerating the NHIA Act implementation by providing adequate funding, strengthening governance structures and creating an enabling environment for the Scheme to thrive.
Unique Reserve Unit Supports the Active Component Globally

US Marine Corps News

12 May 2023 | Lance Cpl. Juan Diaz U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve

NEW ORLEANS -- This year, 14th Marine Regiment deployed small teams of Marines as a part of Force Artillery Headquarters detachment in support of multiple bilateral and joint training exercises.

According to Maj. Kyle Lynch, a fire support coordinator with 14th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, FAHQ is unique to 14th Marines, requiring them to augment a Marine Expeditionary Force to help control and coordinate countersurface-to-surface long-range fires. It supplies the supported MEF commander with a means to command and control both Marine and Army tube and rocket artillery.

"This year, the FAHQ has been involved in a couple of different [international] exercises to directly support various elements, one being the III [Marine Expeditionary Force] in [South] Korea," said Lynch.

As the Marine Corps continues to focus its efforts on Force Design 2030 and the Indo-Pacific area of responsibility, coordination of long-range fires is essential for success in potential future conflicts. The total force continues to refine the stand-in forces concept, and FAHQ is one way the Reserve Component is contributing to that effort.

FAHQ also supported the U.S. Navy's 6th Fleet, Naval Forces Africa, and Marine Forces Europe and Africa during African Lion, a multilateral, joint exercise in various countries in Africa. Based in Naples, Italy, FAHQ Marines were embedded in the maritime operations center and supported complex coordination of fires from afar.

Deployments for annual training outside of the continental United States in support of large training exercises, such as Freedom Shield and African Lion, are key for FAHQ and its Marines to maintain proficiency and expand their skillset.

"The FAHQ provides a center where fire supporters can come and hone their craft for extended periods of time and develop continuity in those billets," Lynch said.

He explained that FAHQ provides depth to the service by having a pool of capable fire supporters with a specific focus on long-range fires.

International exercises expose Marines with FAHQ to real-world processes and gives them experience beyond the tactical level. Training events involve coordination with multiple units and services, and often with multiple countries, to carry out long-range artillery fire, which will be key in potential future conflicts.

"These overseas training evolutions where we are embedded with active component counterparts or elements that are involved in real-world operations are incredibly important to help build the skillset and provide exciting opportunities to serve," said Lynch. "The ability of Reserve Marines to stay in that skillset for years is of value to the service, whereas the active component rotates quite often. Marines in the FAHQ can hone their skills for five-plus years at a time and really focus on their primary MOS on the next level."

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NATO's spearhead force deploys to Sardinia for Exercise Noble Jump

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

17 Apr. 2023 - 12 May. 2023

Last updated: 12 May. 2023

The NATO Response Force's quick-reaction unit, the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) has tested its deployment at short notice for the protection and defence of NATO's southern flank through Exercise Noble Jump 23.

Noble Jump 23 was held in Sardinia, Italy, from 17 April until 12 May 2023. It featured around 2,200 troops provided by seven NATO Allies, including Belgium, Czechia, Germany, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Norway, with logistical support provided by Italy, as host nation. Of those, more than 700 belonged to the German Army's Panzergrenadier Brigade 37, which leads the VJTF's land component for 2023. Various kinds of heavy military equipment were deployed, including Leopard 2 main battle tanks from Germany and Norway, CV 90 infantry fighting vehicles from the Netherlands, and German self-propelled howitzers.

Under the command of Allied Joint Force Command Naples, the troops conducted several activities of tactical training to ensure their readiness to respond to any threat.

The VJTF is part of the NATO Response Force, a multinational unit capable of countering threats on land, in the air and at sea with regular and Special Operations units. The NATO Response Force can also perform peace-support operations, protect critical infrastructure and support disaster relief efforts.

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Netanyahu launched Gaza aggression to divert attention away from Israeli crisis: Hezbollah chief

Iran Press TV

Friday, 12 May 2023 6:05 PM

Benjamin Netanyahu launched Israel's latest deadly campaign of bombardment and assassinations in the Gaza Strip in an attempt to divert attention away from the crisis in Israel, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah says.

But the Israeli prime minister's tactics have failed to get the desired results, the Hezbollah secretary-general added.

The chief of Lebanon's resistance movement made the remarks in a ceremony held in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh on Friday to commemorate the 7th anniversary of the martyrdom of Sayyed Mustafa Badr al-Deen, a military leader of Hezbollah and an advisor to the resistance movement's chief.

Nasrallah hailed Badr al-Deen as an "insightful commander" with deep knowledge and strategic mentality, saying he attained all "honorable medals" a resistance fighter could achieve.

The Hezbollah chief said Badr al-Deen's repeated calls for working under a unified banner manifested the unity of the Axis of Resistance.

Nasrallah offered his condolences to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad resistance movement over the martyrdom of its commanders in recent Israeli airstrikes.

"We all know Netanyahu is the one who initiated the aggression by assassinating three Islamic Jihad commanders from the al-Quds Brigades in the Strip and a number of women and children," Nasrallah said. "Netanyahu's motives behind the aggression were clear as he was trying to restore deterrence, flee the internal crisis, deal with divisions in his coalition cabinet and improve his political and electoral status."

"Netanyahu's calculations were a failure as he decided to target the Islamic Jihad movement and spare the rest of the factions, and create chaos within the resistance front," he added.

Islamic Jihad acted wisely after the assassination of the leaders in the al-Quds Brigades, Nasrallah said, adding that the Israeli enemy was waiting for a reaction from the movement and when its leadership resorted to calm, the enemy became confused.

Resistance in Gaza is powerful thanks to the unity between the Palestinian factions, Nasrallah said. "The unity of the Palestinian resistance factions has prevented the occupation from achieving its goals."

The secretary-general of Hezbollah also said it is unfortunate the international community remained silent and the United States prevented the UN Security Council from condemning Israel for killing women and children in Gaza.

"The battle of Gaza is important and its effects are not limited to the Strip, but to the entire region, and we are in constant contact with the leadership of the resistance in Gaza, and we will not hesitate to provide assistance at any time when duty calls," Nasrallah said.

The Israeli regime has been continuously bombarding the besieged Gaza Strip over the past four days, assassinating several resistance commanders and killing civilians, including women and children. In response, Palestinian resistance factions have launched retaliatory strikes toward Israeli cities and settlements, with the Israeli military saying nearly 1,000 rockets have so far been fired from the Strip.

'Syria changed neither its stance nor its strategy'

During his televised speech on Friday, Nasrallah touched on Syria's readmission to the Arab League after over a decade and commended as an "important step" Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's invitation to the Arab summit next week. "Syria remained in place and did not change its position or axis," the Hezbollah chief said. "All the positive developments in Syria took place with the blessings of the steadfastness of its leadership, army and people."

Underlining that the restoration of relations with Syria serves Lebanon's national interest, Nasrallah said, "Lebanon is called to restore ties with Syria, what are we waiting for?"

"What is required is the restoration of Lebanese relations with Syria," he said. "If Hezbollah had been in charge of taking the decision in Lebanon, relations with Syria would have been restored a long time ago."

Arab representatives in Cairo voted on Sunday to return Syria to the Arab League after a 12-year suspension, with all 13 of the 22 member states attending the session endorsing the decision. The Arab League had suspended the membership of Syria, one of the founding members, in November 2011, at the start of foreign-backed militancy in the country.

Nasrallah unveils pick in Lebanon's presidential vote

Elsewhere in his remarks, Nasrallah pointed to the presidential elections in Lebanon and said Hezbollah had chosen Christian politician and former Minister Suleiman Franjieh as the movement's nominee.

"We chose our candidate, and he is a natural and serious candidate, and our support for this nomination is not outside the Lebanese structure, and we do not impose our candidate on anyone, and let each party nominate any name."

"The caretaker government must continue to carry out its work within the limits of the constitution despite all the difficulties, and we are thankful for doing so."

Lebanon's presidency has seen stalemate several times since the 1975-1990 civil war. The country has also had only a caretaker government since May 2022.





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New Israeli airstrike kills 3 more people in Gaza; Palestinian death toll now at 33

Iran Press TV

Friday, 12 May 2023 2:33 PM

A new Israeli airstrike on the besieged Gaza Strip has left at least three Palestinians martyred and 10 others injured. The overall death toll now stands at 33.

The Israeli airstrike on Friday hit an apartment in Gaza City's al-Nasr neighborhood. Reports said a senior commander of Al-Quds Brigades was among those martyred in the attack. Al-Quds Brigades is the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad

Al-Quds Brigades announced the martyrdom of Commander Iyad Al-Abd Al-Hassani (Abu Anas) - a member of the Military Council and leader of the Brigades' operations unit.

Earlier in the day, Israeli warplanes bombed a house east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, completely destroying it.

Gaza's health ministry said the Israeli aggression has so far martyred 33 people, including six children and three women, and injured 111 others.

Islamic Jihad has vowed to strike targets deep inside Israel in response to the targeting of residential homes in Gaza.

The Israeli regime has been continuously bombarding the strip over the past four days, assassinating several resistance commanders in the besieged Gaza Strip.

In response, Palestinian resistance factions have launched retaliatory strikes toward Israeli cities and settlements.

The Israeli military says so far nearly 1,000 rockets have been fired from the strip.

On Friday, Palestinian resistance factions fired rockets toward al-Quds for the first time since the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza began on Tuesday.

Israeli towns near the Gaza border also came under renewed rocket fire.

On Thursday, an Israeli was killed and several others injured by Palestinian rocket fire in the Israeli city of Rehovot.

Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations have been working to broker a ceasefire.

Ihasan Attaya, a senior Islamic Jihad official, said the mediators "have been unable to provide us with any guarantees." Islamic Jihad demands that the regime cease its policy of targeted killings, Attaya said.

After more than a year of unrelenting Israeli violence that has killed over 140 Palestinians, the latest escalation has drawn international calls on Israel to stop its crimes.

The regime has grown more violent since Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power late last year as the head of an extremist far-right coalition cabinet.

The ongoing violence has been met with international calls for de-escalation, with the European Union pushing for an immediate ceasefire.

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Sudan's rival fighting forces sign agreement but no ceasefire

Iran Press TV

Friday, 12 May 2023 7:07 AM

Sudan's army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have signed an agreement to facilitate humanitarian aid to the conflict-ridden African country, which faces a severe food crisis following weeks-long military conflict.

Media reports said on Friday that the two rival military forces agreed to protect civilians but failed to reach a ceasefire deal.

Representatives of the sides, who are negotiating a peace deal in the Saudi port city of Jeddah, signed a declaration, agreeing that the army and special forces will "will take all precautions to spare any harm to civilians" and adopt "simple and rapid procedures for humanitarian relief operations in Sudan."

The Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan will guide the conduct of the two forces to enable the safe delivery of humanitarian assistance, the restoration of essential services, the withdrawal of forces from hospitals and clinics, and the respectful burial of the dead.

In addition, the two sides agreed not to interfere with the evacuation from the country and respect private and public property in Sudan.

They also agreed to refrain from recruiting teenagers into their units and using children in hostilities.

Peace negotiations began in Jeddah between representatives of the Sudanese armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces on May 6, 2023. The negotiating parties have described the Sudan conflict as an internal affair, urging foreign states not to interfere in Sudanese politics.

In the meantime, fighting goes on in Sudan as the power struggle continues between the army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who also heads the ruling Sovereignty Council, and the head of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, aka Hemedti, who is al-Burhan's deputy on the council.

On Thursday, clashes between rival military factions broke out in Halfaya, an entry point to the capital Khartoum, as residents heard warplanes circling over Khartoum and its adjoining cities of Bahri and Omdurman, but the fighting appeared calmer than on Wednesday.

Neither side seems to show its readiness to offer concessions to end the conflict that erupted suddenly last month, threatening to pitch Sudan into a civil war, exacerbating the hardships of Sudan's people and possibly triggering a humanitarian crisis of massive proportion with failing power and water, little food and a collapsing health system.

The World Health Organization has said more than 600 people have been killed and more than 5,000 injured since the fighting erupted last month.

An estimated 700,000 people have fled their homes with 150,000 fleeing to neighboring countries as refugees, according to UN figures.

Of the 45 million people who remained in Sudan, many face acute shortages of fuel, food, water and medical access.

Media sources said across the country 15.8 million people were reportedly in dire need of humanitarian assistance, making Sudan a country with one of the highest levels of people needing food to be delivered to them by international organizations.

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Rockets fired at al-Quds for first time as Israel keeps up strikes

Iran Press TV

Friday, 12 May 2023 6:11 AM

Israeli airstrikes have hit areas in the central and southern Gaza Strip, with no immediate reports of injuries.

Palestinian resistance fighters on Friday fired rockets towards al-Quds for the first time since Israel began its assassination of resistance commanders in the besieged Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

Rocket sirens sounded in the town of Beit Shemesh and elsewhere in the hills outside al-Quds, ending a 12-hour lull in fighting.

Israeli towns near the Gaza fence separating the besieged enclave from the occupied territories also came under renewed retaliatory rocket fire.

Shortly afterwards, Israel renewed airstrikes against the Gaza Strip. No injuries were reported in Friday's violence.

So far, 31 Palestinians, including six children and three women, have been killed in the Israeli attacks.

The latest victim is 36-year-old Alian Atta Alian Abuwadi who succumbed to injuries he sustained in northern Gaza on Thursday.

Earlier, a Palestinian man was killed in a drone strike in the northern sector of the besieged Gaza Strip. Palestinian official news agency Wafa, citing medical sources at Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia city, said the man was killed in the Ezbet Abd Roba neighborhood.

The development came only a few hours after the Palestinian resistance group Islamic Jihad announced the death of two of its military leaders in separate strikes carried out by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.

Ahmed Abu Daqqa, a senior commander of the al-Quds Brigades, the armed branch of the group, was assassinated near Khan Younis where four people were also wounded.

Earlier in the day, the Palestinian resistance group announced the death of Ali Ghali, the commander of its rocket launch unit.

The deaths of Ali Ghali and Ahmed Abu Daqqa brought to five the number of senior figures from the group killed since Israel began striking Gaza early on Tuesday. Two resistance fighters from a splinter group died in a separate strike on Thursday.

Gaza-based resistance groups have retaliated with salvos of rockets.

According to Hebrew media, one Israeli has been killed and nearly 60 others injured in rocket attacks carried out from the Gaza Strip in retaliation.

Gazan boy dies after panic attack

Meanwhile, a young Palestinian boy died of a panic attack after Israeli military aircraft pounded al-Remal neighborhood in the center of the Gaza Strip.

According to local sources, four-year-old Tamim Daoud went to bed on Monday night, eagerly awaiting his fifth birthday next month.

He was woken along with his family at 2 a.m. local time by the sound of Israeli strikes.

"My son Tamim was sleeping when an Israeli airstrike targeted a residential building near our home," Mohammed, the boy's father, said. "He woke up frightened and terrified."

The sound of the bombing was deafening. Windows had been shattered and the neighborhood was blasted apart.

Tamim wept heavily while his mother tried to soothe him back to sleep. According to his father, the boy grew short of breath, gasping desperately to take in air.

In the end, Tamim returned to sleep. But about five hours later, he began to struggle again. He experienced another panic attack.

"I rushed him to the hospital," his father said. "But his heart stopped functioning on the way there."

At the hospital, Tamim received medical treatment, but his heartbeat was very faint. "My son was admitted to the intensive care unit. The doctors told me that he died at dawn," Mohammed noted.

"My little son's heart could not bear the horror of the bombing," the father said.

On Thursday, the General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) strongly condemned "the barbaric military aggression" against the Gaza Strip, describing it as "a heinous crime and a flagrant violation of international law and humanitarian principles".

The organization held Israel fully responsible for the consequences of the escalation, saying its practices amounted to war crimes and constituted a threat to the security, peace, and stability of the region.

The OIC also called on the international community to shoulder its responsibilities and intervene urgently to stop the ongoing Israeli acts of aggression, provide international protection for Palestinians, and compel Israel to respect its obligations under international law.

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Cambodia's main opposition party may not appear on July ballots

Candlelight Party may get rejected because election officials won't recognize prior paperwork.

By RFA Khmer 2023.05.12 -- There's a growing possibility that Cambodia's main opposition Candlelight Party may not be allowed to compete in July's general elections after the Ministry of Interior is refusing to reissue a registration certificate.

If the Candlelight Party is barred from the July 23 vote, it almost certainly means that Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling Cambodia's People's Party will waltz to victory, continuing his iron grip on power since he became prime minister in 1985.

The snag appears to be over paperwork.

The Candlelight Party submitted its application, along with other parties, to run in the election on May 6, two days before the deadline, and the Interior Ministry has submitted a statement to the National Election Committee confirming the party's registration.

But the commission says it needs the more formal certificate dating back from 1998, when it first registered itself, Candlelight Party spokesman Kim Sou Phirith told Radio Free Asia on Friday.

That certificate, however, was lost when the offices of the Cambodia National Rescue Party - the previous main opposition party - were raided by government agents in 2017. The Candlelight Party, founded by Sam Rainsy in 1995, was a part of the opposition camp at that time.

And the Interior Ministry has refused to re-issue a registration certificate.

"There is no good news," said Kim Sou Phrith. "The Ministry of Interior has maintained that the statement the ministry issued is enough."

Harassing and threatening opponents

The crisis is the latest difficulty for the party as it attempts to recruit candidates and campaign for votes.

For months, party activists in the provinces have been monitored, harassed and threatened while top officials in Phnom Penh continue to face legal issues they say are politically motivated.

Going back to 2017, the CNRP was ordered disbanded by the Supreme Court later that year - another way that Hun Sen has tried to eliminate his political opponents.

After the party was dissolved, former CNRP members and others revived the Candlelight Party in 2021.

Interior Ministry officials have left it to the NEC and the party to work out whether the ministry's statement can be adequate verification, Kim Sou Phirith said.

"The NEC might think it is an independent organization, but the ministry has registered all the parties and the ministry has recognized us, so why is the NEC still denying us?" he said.

Party officials will again resubmit the statement to the NEC on Saturday, Kim Sou Phirith said.

If that doesn't work, he said they'll file an appeal to the Constitutional Council, a judicial body that examines election disputes, among other matters.

Right now, it's hard to predict whether the NEC will allow the party to register for the election, he said.

Pardons and defections

Meanwhile, King Norodom Sihamoni has pardoned nine opposition party activists after they apologized to Hun Sen and joined with the ruling Cambodian People's Party.

One of the activists is Kong Mas, a former CNRP activist who was convicted of treason and incitement after he supported Sam Rainsy's proposed repatriation in 2019. Sam Rainsy has lived in exile in France since 2015.

There have been a number of high-profile defections to the CPP in recent months as Hun Sen and others have sought to co-opt and silence opposition figures. Most defectors have been appointed to government posts.

Also this week, the king agreed to appoint a former U.S.-based political commentator to a government position. So Naro fled to the United States several years ago to seek political asylum after he had a dispute with several senior CPP officials.

"Samdech understood my injustice and he investigated the case," he told RFA, using an honorific for Hun Sen. "I was a victim and it was unfortunate. Samdech didn't know about it before, now he is responsible and took action to restore my position. I am happy to return to my old position."

So Naro said he will give advice to the prime minister but won't be working in any of the ministries.

"I am a U.S. citizen and a free citizen, no one can control me," he said. "I have met Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha. I know that Hun Sen has better qualities as a leader."

Finland-based political analyst Kim Sok said Hun Sen has been using all means to convince activists to defect to the CPP by intimidating and bribing them before the election. But he'll get rid of them when the CPP doesn't need them, he said.

"We should be vigilant against those who have jumped ship for their own benefit," he said.

The ruling party has been generous in giving government positions to defectors, party spokesman Sok Ey San said.

"The CPP doesn't care about any criticism about the appointment because this is the CPP's kindness," he said.

Translated by Samean Yun. Edited by Matt Reed 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 May 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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Cyclone Mocha barrels toward Myanmar and Bangladesh

Storm is similar in strength to 2008's Nargis, which killed nearly 140,000

By RFA Burmese, Kamran Reza Chowdhury in Dhaka, and Abdur Rahman and Sunil Barua in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, for BenarNews 2023.05.12 -- Potentially devastating Cyclone Mocha is expected to slam into the shared border region between Myanmar and Bangladesh on Sunday, putting hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced at risk.

Posting wind speeds of nearly 210 kilometers per hour (130 mph), the storm is similar in strength to Cyclone Nargis, which left nearly 140,000 people dead and missing in 2008, said Hla Tun, director of Myanmar's Department of Meteorology and Hydrology.

"It's very dangerous," he told Radio Free Asia.

Cyclone Mocha, which formed Thursday in the southern Bay of Bengal, caused heavy rains and coastal surge in western Myanmar's Rakhine state on Friday.

It is expected to affect areas stretching from Rakhine's Kyauk Phyu township in the east to Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh in the west - where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees live in makeshift camps.

As Mocha barreled towards that coast, Bangladesh's Meteorological Department on Friday night raised its danger level to eight on a scale of 10.

"We cannot stop the cyclone. But we are trying to reduce the extent of damage of the cyclone," said A.B. Tajul Islam, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee at the Disaster Management Ministry, told the RFA-affiliated BenarNews on Friday evening.

"The government has been trying to relocate people to the cyclone shelters, but it is not possible to shift all of the people," said Islam.

In Myanmar, the Irrawaddy Delta region and Rakhine coast can expect frequent strong winds and torrential downpours, while waves in the Bay of Bengal may reach heights of 4-5 meters (13-16 feet), weather officials said.

Evacuations have begun

Residents in the path of the storm have begun to evacuate.

About 800 people from four villages have been sheltering in a local monastery since May 8, said Than Htay, a resident of Rakhine's Pauk Taw township.

"When the storm hits, it will have been too late to run," he said.

On Friday, the International Rescue Committee warned in a statement that "over 850,000 refugees risk losing their homes and livelihoods" if the cyclone hits Cox's Bazar.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said it is "engaging with all relevant stakeholders to ensure timely and unimpeded access to those in need," noting that even before the cyclone hits, there are already about six million people in need of humanitarian assistance and 1.2 million people displaced across Rakhine state and Myanmar's northwest.

"Of particular worry is the situation facing 232,100 people who are displaced across Rakhine," it said in a flash update issued on Friday.

Inhabitants of Sittwe, the capital of the Rakhine state, and nearby villages are also evacuating, and state authorities and civil organizations have prepared emergency shelters, said Soe Min Aung, a resident of the city.

The Arakan Army, an ethnic Rakhine rebel group, is also evacuating residents from the coast and low-lying areas. The group's spokesman, Khaing Thu Kha, told reporters that more than 10,000 people had been relocated from 21 villages over the last two days, and are being provided with food and medical assistance.

Rohingya at risk

Thousands of Rohingya displaced by a Myanmar military crackdown in 2017 and living in camps in Myanmar have not been evacuated, officials said.

More than 140,000 are sheltering in refugee camps in Rakhine's Sittwe township.

These most vulnerable can only pray that the storm veers off course, said Kyaw Hla, a committee member of the Thae Chaung refugee camp in Rakhine state.

"If the storm actually hits here, we won't be able to withstand it," he said. "If that is the case, we will have to suffer. We will just have to try to survive all on our own."

Meanwhile, Bangladeshi government officials have instructed Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar - where 740,000 live in camps - to shelter in religious schools and schools operated by the NGO community, residents of the camps told RFA.

But they acknowledged that there is little they can do to prepare for the brunt of the cyclone.

"We are very worried - if the storm hits here, there will be many negative effects," said Ko Aung Myaing of the Kutupalong refugee camp.

Heavy rains will likely lead to landslides, destroying flimsy homes on the hillsides, he said. "The tents we have are not strong enough."

Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, Bangladesh's refugee relief and repatriation commissioner, told BenarNews that there were risks of landslides at some of the refugee camps.

"We have identified 500 families living at the camps in Teknaf who face the risk of landslides," he said.

Officials had not yet started to evacuate people from Cox's Bazar on Friday night, but were planning to start evacuations early on Saturday morning. At least 2,000 people had been evacuated from Saint Martin's island and had arrived in Teknaf, a sub-district of Cox's Bazar district, officials said.

Muhammad Shaheen Imran, the Cox's Bazar deputy commissioner told BenarNews that the government readied 576 cyclone shelters in the area that could accommodate up to 500,000 people.

Disaster risk management specialist Abdul Latif Khan told BenarNews that Mocha was likely to cause up to two meters (seven feet) of tidal surge in Teknaf, Cox's Bazar.

'Passing the days with anxiety'

Mohammad Alam, chairman of the Teknaf Leda Development Committee, told BenarNews that the authorities had been making public announcements to make people aware of the dangers of Mocha.

"The people living on hills at risky places have been asked to go to safer places. Pregnant women and children have been advised to take shelter at nearby schools and distribution centers inside the camps," Alam said.

"We are passing the days with anxiety," he said.

Translated by 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 May 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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Papua New Guinea foreign minister faces backlash over primitive animals comment

Foreign Minister Tkatchenko is stepping aside to allow an investigation into the incident.

By Harlyne Joku for BenarNews 2023.05.12 -- Papua New Guinea's foreign minister is facing an intense public backlash and calls to resign after he labeled critics of his daughter's ostentatious TikTok video from a taxpayer funded trip to the U.K. monarch's coronation as "primitive animals."

The furor over Australian-born Justin Tkatchenko's comments, which were made to Australia's state broadcaster ABC, is happening less than two weeks ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden's stopover in Papua New Guinea to meet leaders of Pacific island countries.

Tkatchenko's adult daughter Savannah accompanied him to the coronation of King Charles III in London last week. She posted a TikTok video of their luxury travel, since deleted, which triggered criticism in Papua New Guinea where poverty is widespread.

In an interview with the ABC on Wednesday about the social media onslaught, Tkatchenko said his daughter was "absolutely traumatized by these primitive animals." He added, "And I call them primitive animals because they are."

The comments were perceived as racist in the Melanesian nation of more than nine million people, where there was also anger at a local newspaper's estimate of the expense of sending a large delegation to the coronation.

On Friday, Tkatchenko said he would step aside as foreign minister while any investigations take place. He repeated his apology from the day before when he had said his comments were a reaction to "horrible threats of a sexual and violent nature" by internet trolls against his daughter and not directed at Papua New Guineans.

Prime Minister James Marape on Thursday said he had been offended by the primitive animals comment, but also urged the county to accept the apology and move on.

Savannah Tkatchenko's video showed her enjoying luxury travel, accommodation and high-end shops such as Hermes at Singapore Airport and doing her skincare routine on a flight to London.

"I've actually packed my whole life into these two big suitcases, I'm so proud of myself because I have so much stuff," she said as she strolled through an airport.

"So I'm traveling with my Dad and our first stop is Singapore and we checked into the first class lounge where we had some cosmos and some yummy food," she said.

"Then we did some shopping around Singapore Airport at Hermes and Louis Vuitton. Those of you that don't know, Singapore Airport shopping is honestly so elite."

Calls for the foreign minister's resignation have come from senior politicians such as the opposition leader and organizations including the country's Trade Union Congress.

"Justin deserves no mercy or forgiveness. He must be kicked out of this country. PM James Marape must act immediately," said PNG Trade Union Congress Acting General Secretary Anton Sekum.

Biden visit aims to counter Chinese influence

The rancor over a senior minister's comments comes ahead of landmark visits to Papua New Guinea later this month by Biden and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Papua New Guinea, the most populous Pacific Island country, is increasingly a focus of China-U.S. rivalry in the region and a U.S. push to counter Beijing's influence.

Like some other Pacific island nations, Papua New Guinea is trying to balance increased Chinese trade and investment and its traditional security relationships with countries such as Australia and the United States.

Tkatchenko earlier this month said he hopes a defense cooperation agreement with the United States will be signed during Biden's visit. Papua New Guinea is also working on completing a broad security agreement with Australia.

China's influence in the Pacific has burgeoned over several decades through increased trade, infrastructure investment and aid as it seeks to isolate Taiwan diplomatically and gain allies in international institutions. The Solomon Islands and Kiribati switched their diplomatic recognition to China from Taiwan in 2019.

Beijing signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands last year, alarming the U.S. and allies such as Australia who fear it could pave the way for a Chinese military presence in the region.

Marape's statement about Tkatchenko said Papua New Guinea's "national character" was being tested at a time when it would be in the spotlight because of Biden and Modi's visits.

"We must show the world that we can forgive those who offend us," he said.

"This will be a momentous and historic occasion, which should rally our nation together, and we should not let this issue stand in the way."

BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news service.

Story updated to note that Tkatchenko is stepping aside to allow an investigation.

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 May 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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The Azadi Briefing: Afghans Evacuated From Sudan Face Uncertain Fate Under Taliban

By Mustafa Sarwar May 12, 2023

The Key Issue

At least 120 Afghans were residing in Sudan when war erupted in the African country last month.

Forty-nine Afghans have been evacuated from Sudan to Saudi Arabia, from where they returned to Afghanistan on May 5, according to the Taliban.

Several dozen Afghans, including students and workers, remain trapped in Sudan, where clashes between warring generals have killed hundreds and uprooted hundreds of thousands of people.

Why It's Important: Since the Taliban seized power in 2021, hundreds of thousands of Afghans have fled the country to escape repression and the devastating economic and humanitarian crises.

Many Afghans who have returned in recent days to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan face an uncertain fate, including Mirwais Hamidi, who ran a restaurant in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

"About a year ago, I moved to Sudan and opened a restaurant there," he told Radio Azadi. "Five other [Afghans] were working there until the war broke out and we had to leave that country."

Khaled was studying medicine at the International University of Africa in Khartoum. "Unfortunately, the war is still going on," he told Radio Azadi. "I hope to be able to return to continue my studies."

What's Next: The Taliban-led government's ambassador to Saudi Arabia told Radio Azadi that efforts were under way to evacuate the remaining Afghans trapped in Sudan. But he said some Afghans are unwilling to leave Sudan.

The Taliban remains unrecognized by any country in the world, possibly complicating efforts to swiftly evacuate Afghans.

Mohammad Mossadegh, an Afghan who studied in Sudan, said he is in contact with several families and students who are still there. "Afghans who remained in Sudan are in good condition and were transferred to safe areas," he told Radio Azadi.

The Week's Best Stories

The Taliban has ordered all taxi drivers in Afghanistan to change the color of their vehicles from yellow to turquoise. The decision has angered taxi drivers and residents, who say the move is unnecessary, considering the more significant issues the country is facing.

A blacksmith in Kabul is building solar heaters as an affordable and environmentally friendly alternative to using fuels in poverty-stricken Afghanistan. Parabola-shaped solar heaters have grown in popularity as the country grapples with a chronic energy crisis.

What To Keep An Eye On

The United Nations has recently called on the Taliban to end corporal punishment in Afghanistan, including public executions, floggings, and stoning.

In a May 8 report, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said that "in the last six months alone, 274 men, 58 women, and two boys have been publicly flogged."

UNAMA said "corporal punishment is a violation of the [UN] Convention Against Torture & must cease."

The Taliban's Foreign Ministry said that "in the event of a conflict between international human rights law and Islamic law, the government is obliged to follow Islamic law."

Two days after the UNAMA report was released, a man and woman were public flogged in the northern province of Parwan, a local member of the Taliban told Radio Azadi.

Why It's Important: The Taliban has reintroduced corporal punishments in recent months, including the public flogging of men and women for crimes including theft, eloping from home, and committing adultery.

Taliban Supreme Leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada has ordered the group's courts to employ strict interpretations of Shari'a law, which prescribes punishment such as stoning, execution, amputation, and public lashings. The Taliban handed down similar punishments during its previous rule.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/azadi-briefing-afghans- evacuated-sudan-taliban/32408882.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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Abuja  Between January and March 2023, no fewer than 1,230 persons were killed, including 79 security personnel, and over 658 abductions took place across Nigeria.

This was contained in a report by a civil society organization, Global Rights, entitled: "1st Quarter Mass Atrocities Casualties Tracking Report" obtained by Saturday Vanguard in Abuja.

In what has been an unfortunate trend in the data collated in the first quarter of 2023, banditry remained the largest cause of violent deaths across the country with 29.27 percent (360 deaths) while an existing threat is the rise in extra-judicial killings and herdsmen related killings which constitute about 10.08 percent and 13.65 percent respectively with at least 124 and 168 deaths each.

According to the report, Boko-Haram/ISWAP-related atrocities constituted 22.11 percent (at least 272 deaths). Political killings mostly due to the recent 2023 General Elections claimed at least 7.72 percent constituting at least 95 deaths.

A further look into the report showed that secessionists' violent campaign mostly in the Southeast part of the country contributed 6.75 percent representing at least 83 deaths while cult clashes took 4.96 percent, which amounted to 61 deaths. Isolated attacks, mob attacks, armed robbery and communal clashes took the remaining 5.45 percent with a combined data of at least 67 deaths. This summary indicates an alarming increase in the activities of Boko-Haram/ISWAP in recent times, extra-judicial killings mostly perpetrated by security personnel and herdsmen activities by mostly Fulani herders.

According to the report, in the first quarter of 2023, 6.42 percent of all lives lost to violent killings were security personnel numbering at least 79 security operatives killed across Nigeria while the remaining 93.58 percent of lives lost violently are those of civilians numbering at least 1,151 deaths.

Data on the brazen killings of security operatives is further divided into para-military: Police was pegged at 54 deaths constituting 68.35 percent, NSCDC, 10 deaths representing 12.66 percent and Military, at least 15 deaths accounting for 18.99 percent. With 54 lives lost, Police lives lost in the first quarter of 2023 constituted the highest losses among security operatives.

North tops chart of violent incidents

In examining the disaggregated data on violent incidents in the first quarter of 2023, the report confirmed the popular opinion that each region of Nigeria is beguiled by a peculiar type of violent incident.

While there was slight overlap in certain cases, overwhelming evidence from the data collated suggests that more often than not, violent deaths in a particular region can be attributed to the brand of violence associated with the region.

Overall, more violent incidents were recorded in the Northern part of the country than the South. Of the 1,230 deaths recorded, there were at least 932 violent killings in the North representing 75.77 percent of the total killed; in contrast to the South where at least 298 were killed representing 24.23 percent of the recorded figure.

An in-depth breakdown of the data further reveals that Banditry and Boko-Haram/ISWAP are a form of terror up North that contributed the largest number of victims, with the North-Central suffering the heaviest number of casualties (at least 331 killed) due to mostly Herdsmen activities in Benue, Plateau and Nasarawa States.

While the Northeast had at least 312 casualties, the Northwest had 289 casualties. In the South, however, a combined 140 deaths in the Southeast were attributed mostly to violent secessionist activities, South-South had at least 88 killed while 70 were recorded killed in the Southwest.

Banditry and Boko-Haram/ISWAP evolving terror front in Nigeria

As revealed in the report, "banditry and Boko-Haram/ISWAP remained Nigeria's largest source of violent killings in the first quarter of 2023.

"The evolving security situation in the North is evidence of a failure in governance and a testament to the incompetence/inadequacy of Nigeria's current security architecture.

"The gradual rise of this new wave of banditry in Northern Nigeria can be traced to a few years back when observers and researchers in the country started sounding the alarm on the rising level of bandit attacks in the North-West.

At the time some reports from the North showed that banditry was deteriorating into a "complex national emergency" which could cause serious territorial problems, and they noted that the situation in the region (North-West) was reminiscent of the rise of the Boko Haram insurgency.

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Call to Action

From kidnappings and ransom demands, banditry has risen to become the premier cause of violent deaths across Nigeria while Boko-Haram/ISWAP continue to pose their own threat down North.

The situation requires immediate attention and collaborative efforts from all stakeholders to restore peace and stability in the affected regions.

For the first 3 months of the year 2023, bandits and Boko-Haram/ISWAP have killed more civilians than any other terror groups combined, making banditry the biggest threat to Nigerian lives in recent times.

While they may not operate as a united front or in the typical manner that violent extremist groups do, the facts prove that banditry is Nigeria's new face of terror.

Generally, there was a reduction in the number of lives lost to violent killings and abduction for ransom in the first quarter of 2023 compared to what was recorded in the previous years.
Extended Absence Of Turkmenistan's 'National Leader' Sparks Speculation

By Chris Rickleton May 12, 2023

Turkmenistan's Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov is a fan of setting obscure world records, and he is now at risk of breaking his own record for consecutive days absent from national news bulletins, recharging speculation around the enigmatic strongman's health.

Berdymukhammedov, 65, is no longer secretive Turkmenistan's president, having handed that role to his son, Serdar, last year.

But as of the beginning of this year, he has held a post that is seemingly even more powerful: chairing the People's Council that effectively oversees the work of the whole government -- his son included -- as well as assuming the new title of "national leader."

These self-promotions less than a year after stepping down from the presidency to make way for "young leaders" have underscored his role as the star of evening news programs, where he often eclipses the 41-year-old Serdar.

But ever since Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov was shown to be on a trip to Germany -- where he was not known to have any official engagements -- there has been an eerie lack of him.

There is a precedent for this from Berdymukhammedov's time as president, which lasted from 2006 until 2022.

In 2019, he was effectively absent from the news for a month between the first week of July and the first week of August of that year.

State media did at one point between those dates show him lecturing a government official about bus stops in the capital, Ashgabat, but at least part of that footage appeared to have been recycled.

This time, there has been no fresh Berdymukhammedov footage since a sequence apparently filmed in Germany on an unknown date and broadcast on the Watan Habarlary news program on April 29.

And before that, there had been no sign of the older Berdymukhamedov for more than a week, with footage of the autocrat shown chairing a session of the People's Council on April 20 -- another appearance that is hard to pin down.

Mission To Frankfurt

The April 29 state news broadcast informed viewers about Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov's trip "on behalf" of his son, during which he visited a German horse-breeding complex and "got acquainted with the peculiarities of keeping horses."

To be sure, this is not an area in which Berdymukhammedov senior should require much instruction.

He was awarded the title of "People's Horse Breeder" in 2015, and state propaganda regularly shows him riding, caring for, and authoring books about Turkmenistan's famed Akhal-Teke steeds.

Another mysterious element of the Germany visit was the sighting of Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov at the stables alongside the former president.

Turkmen state television on May 1 announced that Meredov, who is also deputy prime minister, had taken his annual leave and was entrusting his duties to deputy Vepa Khadjiev.

This is somewhat earlier than the summer vacations that most Turkmen officials traditionally take.

Flight data from the Flightradar24 website referred to by the Europe-based Chronicles of Turkmenistan certainly supports the idea that Berdymukhammedov made a trip to Germany.

The website's data showed the Boeing 777-200 (LR) aircraft used by Berdymukhammedov senior landing at Frankfurt airport on April 22 and returning to Ashgabat on April 28 -- the day before the news about his visit.

But was Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov inside the plane that returned from Germany? And, if yes, why has he still not made any public appearances, including on April 30 -- national Horse Day -- where his presence at equine festivities has come to be expected?

A government source speaking on condition of anonymity told RFE/RL's Turkmen Service that Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov and Meredov are still in Germany, where they are conducting unspecified meetings. RFE/RL is unable to corroborate this information with other sources.

Intriguingly, Turkmen state media reported on May 2 that a Turkmen government delegation had held talks with Deutsche Bank and another German bank, Commerzbank, as part of wider economic cooperation between the two countries.

The same state media report that referred to the Turkmen delegation's talks with German businesses referred to Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov's "recent" trip to that country as if it were a separate event, adding more details about the visit to the horse farm that was shown on state television.

The report said the former president had invited Turkmenistan's "German partners" to visit festivities marking the opening of Arkadag -- a new city whose name translates as "Protector" -- the senior Berdymukhammedov's official moniker.

Deutsche Bank is notable as a bank that Turkmenistan's first leader, Saparmurat Niyazov, was known to patronize.

As the transparency watchdog Global Witness wrote in a complaint more than a decade ago, Turkmenistan's central bank held "account number 949924500 at Deutsche Bank, Frankfurt," and used the bank to deposit vast sums from natural gas sales.

Yet "various reports from international financial institutions state that money from this account is solely controlled by Saparmurat Niyazov, the president of Turkmenistan," Global Witness added. Niyazov died suddenly in 2006, allowing then-Health Minister Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov to step up to the top job.

The Turkmen Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for information about Meredov and Berdymukhammedov's trip.

Back From The Dead

Whatever Berdymukhammedov senior was doing in Germany besides riding horses, the visit will inevitably increase speculation about his physical well-being.

By the standards set by heads of state in Central Asia, Berdymukhammedov was still a young man when he decided to resign the presidency after 15 years in the post in February of last year.

In the summer of 2019, his long disappearance prompted false reports of his death -- rumors that he banished in style by driving around the burning Darvaza gas crater known as the Gates Of Hell in the Karakum Desert.

But that did not put the matter to rest, and Serdar Berdymukhammedov's rise through the ranks of government assumed a new rapidity in the years that followed.

The country's hereditary succession should, in theory, have given Berdymukhammedov senior more leeway to disappear from public view for periods at a time, while also easing uncertainty around the leadership in the event that he were to die.

Just a week after Serdar Berdymukhammedov was elected in an opposition-free vote, his predecessor requested his permission for a holiday to indulge in his hobbies.

"I have been working in leadership positions for 40 years and have been involved in politics for 25 years. Due to the large amount of work during this time, I could not rest in full. I am therefore asking for a vacation from April 1," the Neutral Turkmenistan state newspaper quoted the older Berdymukhammedov as saying at the time, noting that the new president had granted the request.

But the ex-president reinvigorated the rumormongers by returning to public life with a vengeance later that year -- meeting with foreign heads of state, including Russia's Vladimir Putin-- and regularly touring the country's provinces, where residents were reportedly mobilized for extravagant displays of loyalty.

So overwhelming was his public dominance that a veteran Turkmen journalist interviewed anonymously for an RFE/RL report at the end of last year quipped: "People don't know which of the Berdymukhammedovs is really running the country, but whoever is in charge isn't doing a good job."

RFE/RL correspondents in Turkmenistan contacted for this report delivered a similar message from a country where the cost of living has soared as a result of sustained mismanagement under the Berdymukhammedovs.

"People are now preoccupied with their daily problems. Whether Gurbanguly exists or not, nobody cares. No one even mentions him," said one.

Turkmenistan was represented by President Serdar Berdymukhammedov during a last-minute May 9 visit to Moscow for Russia's tightly controlled, scaled-down Victory Day parade and again during talks with the leadership of Tajikistan in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, on May 10.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/turkmenistan-berdymukhammedov- extended-absence-mystery/32409351.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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GCC's Assistant Secretary for Political Affairs and Negotiations Meets with NATO's Deputy Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy

Saudi Press Agency

Manama, May 12, 2023, SPA -- The Assistant Secretary for Political Affairs and Negotiations of the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council for the Arab States (GCC) Dr. Abdulaziz Hamad Al-Owaishiq met yesterday with NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs and Security Policy Javier Colomina, on the sidelines of the fifth Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) Policy Advisory Group Meeting of (NATO) which is being held in the Bahraini capital, Manama.

The two sides reviewed the efforts undertaken by the alliance within the framework of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative to enhance regional and global security and stability, as well as a number of issues of common interest.

--SPA

16:45 LOCAL TIME 13:45 GMT

0023

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Tripartite Mechanism Welcomes the Initial Arrangement to Protect Civilians in Sudan

Saudi Press Agency

Jeddah, May 12, 2023, SPA -- The Tripartite Mechanism comprising the United Nations, the African Union and the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) welcomed the initial arrangement to protect civilians in Sudan.

In a joint press release today, the Tripartite Mechanism welcomed the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces signing in Jeddah city yesterday a declaration committing to protect civilians in Sudan, considering it as a first and important step towards alleviation of the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.

The Tripartite Mechanism called on the conflicting Sudanese parties to exert their utmost effort to immediately transfer this commitment to a tangible result on the ground.

--SPA

14:35 LOCAL TIME 11:35 GMT

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Sudan's Army, RSF Sign Agreement Committing to Avoid Injuring Civilians - Report

Sputnik News

20230512

KHARTOUM (Sputnik) - The Sudanese military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group for the first time signed an agreement in which they committed to do everything possible to avoid injuring civilians, media reported on Thursday.

This is the first agreement between the armed forces of Sudan and the RSF since the beginning of the conflict on April 15.

The agreement on preliminary principles was signed in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, the report said.

According to the agreement, the parties committed to refrain from any attacks that might result in injuries among civilians, to take all necessary precautions to avoid injuring civilians, to allow all civilians in Sudan to leave areas of hostilities combat and besieged districts, and to protect medical personnel and public institutions in Sudan.

On Sunday, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said that peace negotiations began in Jeddah on May 6 between the delegations of the Sudanese armed forces and RSF in order to reach an effective short-term ceasefire to facilitate humanitarian assistance.

On April 15, violent clashes broke out between the Sudanese regular armed forces and the RSF, with the epicenter located in Khartoum. The 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 parties have since introduced a number of temporary nationwide ceasefires, but the conflict has not been settled yet.

So far, around 604 people have died, and over 5,000 have been injured in clashes in Sudan, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.

 Sputnik

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Sudan requires a huge response as needs mount and rains loom

UNHCR - United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

12 May 2023

GENEVA -- As violence in Sudan continues for a fourth week, nearly 200,000 refugees and returnees have been forced to flee the country, with more crossing borders daily seeking safety. Additionally, hundreds of thousands have been internally displaced with many more confined to their homes, unable to access necessities.

The humanitarian response is challenging and costly, as refugees and returnees are arriving in remote border areas where services and infrastructure are scarce or non-existent and the host population was already suffering due to climate change and food scarcity. The coming rainy season will make logistics even harder as many roads will become impassable.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has deployed teams and, with partners, has rushed to deliver aid from the onset of the emergency using flexible funding from donors. A scaled-up response will require significant funding, however, and UN agencies and NGO partners will release further details on their requirements in the coming days.

Support from the private sector has been slow compared to other emergencies, despite the urgency and severity of the crisis for refugees and internally displaced. The situation is particularly critical because the humanitarian response in Sudan and neighboring Chad, South Sudan and Ethiopia was already significantly underfunded at the start of the fighting on 15 April - none of the UNHCR operations in these countries had funding covering more than 15 per cent of needs.

In Sudan, UNHCR teams continue delivering aid from dwindling stocks especially in the East and South, which have been less affected by fighting. Movements in-country are challenging and expensive in light of the security situation and fuel shortages, which increase transport costs. Among the displaced, it is estimated that over 83,000 refugees from other countries have moved from Khartoum and other urban areas into existing refugee camps. While registration, education and community-based protection continue there, services are stretched, and more support is needed for shelter, water and medicine. In Port Sudan, UNHCR has distributed blankets, plastic sheeting and other relief items with over 750 families receiving vital support since 7 May. In North Darfur, UNHCR distributed generators, tents, and other relief items to health facilities including a maternity hospital.

UNHCR welcomes the Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan signed yesterday, and we hope it will allow for much needed humanitarian assistance to be safely delivered and for essential services, like health care, water and electricity to be restored.

In Renk, South Sudan, relocation from the border is a priority to prevent more congestion, but transportation is limited. When the rains hit, the few roads to the border will be cut off. UNHCR has therefore established a new transit center, where new arrivals are given food, water, and accommodation in communal shelters. They also receive survival kits before moving onward. Clinics have been set up for medical screenings, emergency healthcare and referrals.

In Chad, another 30,000 refugees have been monitored arriving in recent days, bringing the total number moving from Sudan to Chad in recent weeks to 60,000. Almost 90 per cent of refugees are children and women, including many pregnant women. One-fifth of screened children between six and 59 months have been found to be acutely malnourished. Half of arrivals have family members still in Sudan wishing to join them in Chad. Some men have reportedly stayed back to guard property. Relocations from the border are due to start at the weekend. More than 3,000 refugee families have received relief items. Additional emergency relief items have been airlifted on two flights this week from UNHCR's warehouse in Dubai.

In Central African Republic lack of fuel and poor road conditions pose challenges bringing relief items close to the border. Hygiene kits, mosquito nets, kitchen sets and shelter items are being distributed to new arrivals. In Ethiopia, communal emergency shelters have been constructed in Metema, a main arrival point. Registration and protection activities as well as hot meals are being provided by UNHCR partners. In Egypt, UNHCR and partners are delivering water, food, wheelchairs, hygiene kits and sanitary items for new arrivals at the borders through the Egyptian Red Crescent. New arrivals have approached UNHCR in Cairo for registration and support. Registration has been accelerated so refugees can swiftly access assistance like health and education.

UNHCR calls for immediate financial support for all involved in the response to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe, prevent tensions over strained resources and support those forced to flee in a dignified manner as well as the host communities that receive them.

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Another Bitter Blow for Children in Sudan

UNICEF

This is a summary of what was said by UNICEF Spokesperson James Elder - to whom quoted text may be attributed - at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva

12 May 2023

Geneva, 12 May 2023 -- "The factory in Khartoum which produces therapeutic food for children in Sudan suffering the most dangerous form of malnutrition has been burnt down.

"The fire destroyed 14,500 cartons of Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF). This was set to be transported to locations for the life-saving treatment of 14,500 children.

"This is the darkest, most distinct illustration to date of how this conflict threatens the lives of children through multiple means. It is yet another bitter blow to Sudan's most vulnerable children.

"The SAMIL factory produced 60% of the RUTF used to treat children with Severe Acute Malnutrition in Sudan last year.

"The fire also resulted in the total destruction of the machinery of the factory, with total stoppage of the production. This will significantly affect the timely delivery of nutrition supplies to thousands of children.

"In overall response to the malnutrition crisis in Sudan, UNICEF currently has 34,000 cartons of RUTF in a shipment en route from France.

"An additional 81,000 cartons are ready to be sent from France at the end of this month.

"Somewhat miraculously - certainly heroically - 80% of Outpatient Therapeutic Programmes are currently operational in Sudan. This is testament to UNICEF's partners, and the health workers of Sudan.

"Despite such selfless efforts, conflict continues to prevent children from reaching treatment; conflict continues to destroy health facilities; and now conflict has destroyed a lifeline for Sudan's most vulnerable children."



#####



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Sudan's warring generals take 'important first step' on humanitarian protection

12 May 2023 - A declaration by Sudan's warring parties committing to protect civilians is an "important first step", after more than three weeks of heavy fighting, the UN's top official in the African nation said on Friday.

Volker Perthes - Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan and Head of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in the country (UNITAMS) - underscored that the rival military leaderships had agreed to respect international humanitarian and human rights law, and withdraw fighters from hospitals and medical facilities.

Mr. Perthes also noted that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had committed to continue their talks in the Saudi city of Jeddah on a potential ceasefire.

In a statement released by his Spokesperson, UN chief Antonio Guterres, welcomed the Declaration of Commitment to protect civilians and guarantee the safe passage of humanitarian aid:



"While humanitarian workers, most notably local partners, have continued to deliver in very difficult circumstances, the Secretary-General hopes this Declaration will ensure that the relief operation can scale up swiftly and safely to meet the needs of millions of people in Sudan", it said.

"He reiterates his call for an immediate ceasefire and expanded discussions to achieve a permanent cessation of hostilities."

Hope for continued ceasefire talks

Speaking to reporters in Geneva, via Zoom from Port Sudan where the UN and partners have established a coastal humanitarian hub, Mr. Perthes said that building on this first mutually signed declaration, the aim was to reach a ceasefire which would also be "mutually agreed", contrary to previous, unilaterally announced ceasefires.

His hope was that "within the next couple of days", the discussions in Jeddah under the auspices of Saudi and United States mediators would lead to such an agreement, lending it "more stability and more respect", and with clear provisions on the modalities related to the movement of troops and humanitarian pauses.

Commitments must be honoured

Mr. Perthes also expressed hope that the parties will "do what they can" to communicate down the chain of command that the humanitarian commitments agreed to in Jeddah must be honoured.

The agreement was welcomed by the "trilateral mechanism" composed of the United Nations, the African Union and the regional body known as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development in Eastern Africa (IGAD).

Over 200,000 have fled

Meanwhile, the number of people having fled Sudan has passed the 200,000 mark, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday.

A race against time is underway to provide those fleeing with relief aid before the coming rainy season makes logistics even harder. Funding shortfalls are compounding humanitarian challenges, as UNHCR's operations in neighbouring countries were only around 15 per cent funded before the conflict.

Lifeline for malnourished children destroyed

In another example of the conflict's disastrous effects for Sudan's most vulnerable, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday that a fire had devastated a factory in Khartoum producing ready to use therapeutic food for the treatment of children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

According to UNICEF, the equivalent of food for some 14,500 children was destroyed in the fire, along with machinery, compromising future production. The agency says that Sudan has one of the highest rates of malnutrition among children in the world, with more than three million children acutely malnourished.

UNICEF Spokesperson James Elder said that in overall response to the crisis, around 34,000 cartons of ready to use therapeutic food was on the way from France to Sudan.

He said the cause of the factory fire was as yet unknown.

Combatants warned of the consequences: Perthes

In an interview conducted in Arabic by the UN in Geneva with UNITAMS chief Volker Perthes on Friday, he said there had been warning signs before the outbreak of hostilities on 15 April, of a potential conflict between the rival militaries.

"We warned both sides of this possibility and this scenario", he said, and that if they began to fight, "the country and society will be destroyed."

He said both sides had perhaps thought the fighting would be brief, but now there was a realization that victory "is not easy" and would ultimately be a loss for "a large part of the country."

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SUBLANT Completes Exercise Agile Player 23

US Navy

12 May 2023

From Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Cameron Stoner

NORFOLK, Va. -- Multiple submarines under Submarine Force Atlantic's (SUBLANT) organizational structure participated in Exercise Agile Player 2023 (AP23).

Multiple submarines under Submarine Force Atlantic's (SUBLANT) organizational structure participated in Exercise Agile Player 2023 (AP23).

AP23 is a training exercise to assess warfighting readiness and build capacity for the joint force. Submarines from Norfolk, Virginia; Kings Bay, Georgia; Groton, Connecticut and Port Everglades, Florida deployed on short notice to demonstrate the capability, flexibility and lethality of the Submarine Force.

"Our Submarine Force warriors are the most lethal force in the world and exercises like Agile Player ensure they continue to be prepared to respond to any range of missions they may encounter in support of national security," said Vice Adm. William Houston, Commander, Submarine Forces. "The exercise also provides our Force the opportunity to improve our current doctrine, test new capabilities, and evolve our tactics to ensure the Navy's undersea superiority over strategic competitors."

AP23 increases the ability of anti-submarine warfare (ASW) platforms to respond rapidly in any high-intensity environment from both coasts with increased vigor and effectiveness.

"The Submarine Force continually holds exercises to ensure the undersea forces are ready to safely and efficiently conduct global combat operations on short notice," said SUBLANT's Director for Plans, Policy and International Engagement, Capt. Daniel Packer. "While our Sailors remain the foundation of our Force, they are equipped with and operate systems which are unmatched in their effectiveness, lethality and flexibility. These capabilities combined with our Sailors' knowledge from years of training and experience creates a Force that is incomparable and essential to deterring conflict."

The Submarine Force continually holds exercises to ensure the undersea forces are ready to safely and efficiently conduct global combat operations on short notice.

AP23 highlights the Submarine Force's ability to remain at a high state of readiness necessary to deliver a full range of undersea lethal effects when assigned global tasking in support of national security.

Submarine Forces execute the Department of the Navy's mission in and from the undersea domain. In addition to lending added capacity to naval forces, Submarine Forces, in particular, are expected to leverage those special advantages that come with undersea concealment to permit operational, deterrent and combat effects that the Navy and the nation could not otherwise achieve.

Submarine Forces and supporting organizations constitute the primary undersea arm of the Navy. Submarines and their crews remain the tip of the undersea spear.

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USS Milius (DDG 69) Conducts Port Visit in Saipan

US Navy

12 May 2023

From Commander, Task Force 71/Destroyer Squadron 15

SAIPAN, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands -- The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG 69) departed Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, after a scheduled port visit, May 12.

The port visit provided an opportunity for Milius to enjoy a much needed port visit and enjoy the culture, and represents the U.S. Navy's commitment to security presence in the Pacific.

"Visits like this prove the effectiveness of our surface force, to defend the homeland and meeting the challenges we face across the region with continued presence," said Capt. Walt Mainor, Commander, Task Force 71/Commodore, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15. "Our Sailors are focused on making a difference in our ability to support a free and open Indo-Pacific."

During the port visit, Milius Sailors had an opportunity to experience the hospitality, rich history and all that Saipan has to offer.

"Team Milius has been highly focused on operations in the Western Pacific over the past several months and this port visit was extremely rewarding for the crew," said Cmdr. Leif Gunderson, Milius' commanding officer. "The rich culture and history was greatly welcomed by the Sailors. We look forward to future visits to the beautiful island of Saipan!"

Arnold Palacios, governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, said it is was an honor to host the ship.

"We are very happy to welcome them because they've been out there protecting us," said Palacios. "Hopefully this is a nice port call and a nice break for the crew, and we would like to welcome them back again."

Milius is assigned to Commander, Task Force 71/Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15, the Navy's largest forward-deployed DESRON and the U.S. 7th Fleet's principal surface force.

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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Navy to Commission Guided-Missile Destroyer Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee

US Navy - Press Release

12 May 2023

WASHINGTON -- The Navy will commission its newest Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123), during a 10:00 a.m. EDT ceremony on Saturday, May 13, in Key West, Florida.

Rear Admiral Cynthia Kuehner, Commander, Naval Medical Forces Support Command and Director of the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps, will deliver the commissioning ceremony's principal address. Remarks will also be provided by the Honorable Donald Norcross, U.S. Representative, New Jersey's 1st District and member of the House Armed Services Committee; the Honorable Carlos Del Toro, Secretary of the Navy; Admiral Mike Gilday, Chief of Naval Operations; the Honorable Teri Johnston, mayor of Key West; and Ms. Kari Wilkinson, president of Huntington Ingalls Industries-Ingalls Shipbuilding division. The ship's sponsors, Ms. Louisa Dixon, Ms. Virginia Munford, and Ms. R. Pickett Wilson, will also be in attendance.

The ship's namesake, Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee, served as the second Superintendent of the Navy Nurse Corps in 1911, and was also the first woman recipient of the Navy Cross. When she entered naval service in 1908, she was one of the first 20 women, known as the "Sacred Twenty," to join the newly established Navy Nurse Corps and contributed her nursing skills to the Navy during the First World War. This is the second ship named after Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee. The first ship, USS Higbee (DD 806), was the first combat warship named after a female member of the U.S. Navy.

"Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee was ahead of her time, from being one of the first members of the Navy Nurse Corps, to being its second Superintendent, to being the first woman to earn the Navy Cross," said Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro. "I am confident that the crew who will sail USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee will continue to honor and embody her trailblazing legacy."

The ship will be the 72nd Arleigh Burke-class destroyer to be commissioned, with 17 additional ships currently under contract for the DDG 51 program. The ship is configured as a Flight IIA destroyer, which enables power projection and delivers quick reaction time, high firepower, and increased electronic countermeasures capability for anti-air warfare. The future USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee will be 509.5 feet long and 59 feet wide, with a displacement of 9,496 tons. It will be homeported in San Diego.

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Addis Ababa  The first-ever One African EXPO will be held in Addis Ababa, from May 20-30, 2023 in honor of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the African Union.

The One Africa Expo 2023 is set to be an unprecedented Business-to-Business (B2B) trade show, created specifically for African governments, private and public business sectors, global companies, and business professionals to showcase their products, services, expertise.

By providing a gateway to the global market, the OAE 2023 presents a unique opportunity to promote bilateral trade between Africa and the world.

This platform offers an exceptional visual experience of Africa, bringing together diverse industries ranging from mobility, cultural diversity, tourism, technology, green initiatives, agro-industries, financial services, and infrastructures, involving all 55 member states.

The One Africa Expo 2023 is a must-attend event for those seeking to explore and expand their business potential in Africa, while also contributing to the development of the continent's economic success.
SECNAV Names Navy's First-in-Class Expeditionary Medical Ship after National Naval Medical Center Bethesda

US Navy - Press Release

12 May 2023

Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) Carlos Del Toro announced USNS Bethesda (EMS 1) as the name for the lead ship in the new Expeditionary Medical Ship (EMS(X)) class of ships during his mental health awareness month video. EMS(X) will now be referred to as the Bethesda Class Expeditionary Medical Ship.

The naming is to honor and immortalize the history and community of healthcare professionals that make up Naval Support Activity Bethesda, who have saved and rehabilitated the lives of service members, veterans, civilians, their families, and even Presidents of the United States.

"For most in the armed services, the name 'Bethesda' is connected to the world-class medical center for healing that has served a countless number of service members since 1942," Del Toro said. "The real strength of our Navy and Marine Corps are our people, and if they are willing to sacrifice all for service, they deserve the best medical care available. This ship will honor the medical staff, who compassionately dedicate their time and expertise to take care of our service members. Bearing the name Bethesda will continue the legacy of life saving and medical innovation."

Former Assistant Secretary of the Navy (1913-1920) President Franklin Delano Roosevelt envisioned a Navy Medical Center and in 1937 Congress appropriated funds for construction of a new Naval Medical Center, with ground breaking on the site June 29, 1939, bringing to life what became the National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) and National Institutes of Health to Bethesda. Today, Naval Support Activity Bethesda is home to tenant commands such as Naval Medical Leader and Professional Development Command, Naval Medical Research Center, Navy Medical Support Command, Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command, and the Navy Dosimetry Center. In 2011, due to the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure decision, Bethesda National Naval Medical Center and Walter Reed Army Medical Center consolidated into the current Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, located on the grounds of the former National Military Medical Center, Bethesda.

Secretary Del Toro has also invited the 63rd Governor of Maryland Wes Moore's spouse, Dawn Moore to be the ship's sponsor. Mrs. Moore has ties to the military as a former military spouse and is also an advocate for Marylanders living with a disability.

"This first-in-class ship will be state-of-the-art and the Navy's first medical ship in 35 years," said Del Toro. "This ship, designed with more expeditious and direct access to diagnostic, specialty and hospital care, will allow for increased capabilities and health care. Just as the hospital at NSA Bethesda has served as a beacon of hope to those who entered its doorways, USNS Bethesda (EMS 1) will serve as a beacon to those in need around the world."

The Bethesda-class expeditionary medical ships are designed as a dedicated medical ship that optimizes hospital-level medical care in support of distributed maritime operations (DMO). The EMS will feature a shallow draft enabling greater reach and allowing direct access to shallow austere ports, while also providing a flight deck that accommodates military helicopters. This design provides a full range of medical capabilities including triage/critical care, three operating rooms, medical laboratory, radiological capability, blood bank, dental, mental health, OB/GYN and primary care, rapid stabilization and follow-on evacuation of multiple casualties and combat search and rescue including recovery at sea. The primary mission of the EMS as a high-speed forward deployed medical ship is to provide rapid responsive sea-based and near-shore hospital level critical care, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, non-combatant evacuation operations and special operations. The EMS is designed to respond and provide care at a more rapid pace than their predecessors, USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort, sailing at speeds of at least 30 knots with a range of 5,500 nautical miles at 24 knots.

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UN Refugee Agency Says 200,000 Have Fled Sudan

By VOA News May 12, 2023

The United Nations refugee agency said Friday that 200,000 people have fled the violence in Sudan, with 60,000 total having fled to neighboring Chad.

At a news briefing in Geneva, U.N. refugee agency spokeswoman Olga Sarrado said 30,000 have crossed into Chad in the past several days, with more people crossing borders daily.

Along with those fleeing the country, she noted that 700,000 people are displaced within Sudan, as reported Tuesday by the International Organization for Migration, or IOM.

The news comes the day after Sudan's warring parties signed a commitment allowing humanitarian assistance into the country.

However, there was no letup in the fighting Friday as the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces both issued statements accusing each other of harming civilians and ignoring humanitarian needs.

And with no agreement on a cease-fire, airstrikes and artillery pounded Khartoum.

"We were expecting that the [humanitarian] agreement would calm down the war, but we woke up to artillery fire and airstrikes," said Mohamed Abdallah, 39, living in Khartoum. Area residents also reported the sound of fighter jets overhead and heavy fighting in parts of Khartoum and its adjoining sister city of Bahri.

"I woke up to an airstrike (landing) nearby," said Waleed Adam, a resident living in the east of the capital.

Urban battlefield

Since fighting began in mid-April, the capital has become an urban battlefield, and deadly ethnic clashes have erupted in the western Darfur region, where gunfire and artillery rattled neighborhoods in the city of Geneina on Friday. Since mid-April, fighting between local militias has killed 450 people in Darfur.

Addressing Friday's news briefing via video link, the U.N. Special Representative for Sudan Volker Perthes said he expected talks on a cease-fire to continue Friday or Saturday. He said the most important part of the agreement was that the two sides committed to continue the talks.

Perthes said both sides have ignored every cease-fire agreement signed during the four weeks since the conflict began because both believe they can win, and they are trying to improve their positions. But now, he said, neither believes that victory would be quick.

Fire destroys food for children

Also speaking at the news conference, U.N. Children's Fund Spokesman James Elder said a factory in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, which produces therapeutic food for children suffering from the most dangerous form of malnutrition, has been burned down.

He said the fire destroyed 14,500 cartons of ready-to-use therapeutic food  enough to provide life-saving treatment for the same number of children for six to eight weeks.

Elder called it, "the darkest, most distinct illustration to date of how this conflict is threatening the lives of children through multiple means."

Humanitarian aid agreement

The agreement signed late Thursday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, by representatives of Sudan's army and the rival Rapid Support Forces is intended to ensure the protection of civilians, including "allowing safe passage for civilians to leave areas of active hostilities on a voluntary basis, in the direction they choose."

The agreement requires both sides to permit humanitarian assistance, to allow the restoration of electricity, water and other basic services, to withdraw security forces from hospitals and to arrange for "respectful burial" of the dead.

The Sudanese army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, is in a power struggle with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by General Mohamed Hamdam Dagalo.

The two generals are former allies who together orchestrated an October 2021 military coup that derailed a transition to civilian rule following the 2019 ouster of former president Omar al-Bashir.

Tensions between the generals have been growing over disagreements about how the RSF should be integrated in the army and who should oversee that process. The restructuring of the military was part of an effort to restore the country to civilian rule and end the political crisis sparked by the 2021 military coup.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.

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Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia Launch Project to Reopen Borders

By Ahmed Hussein May 12, 2023

A new project aims to reopen the official border crossings between Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, which have been partially or fully closed in recent years due to security issues.

Speaking Thursday in the border town of Mandera during the launch, Kenya's Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua said the project will improve socio-economic development between the three countries.

"Infrastructural development is silenced by armed conflicts, we must silence the gun for the industries to roar back, we must silence the violence for socio-economic prosperity," he said.

The U.K.-funded initiative dubbed "Deris Wanaag" in Somali, which translates to "Good Neighborliness," aims to find a lasting solution to the perennial insecurity and instability in the Horn of Africa nations.

Even though various border-crossing points have been officially closed at times over the last decade, militants, criminals and regular migrants still cross borders with little problem. Last year, the Somali militant group al-Shabab sent hundreds of fighters into Ethiopia before being pushed back by regional forces.

British High Commissioner to Kenya Jane Marriot said the project is a strategic investment for Kenya and the Horn of Africa region.

"You have numerous challenges together  drought, resource conflicts, armed proliferation, terrorism  but you also have so much that is good and positive together, and it is that we want this program to help bring on," she said.

Gachagua said the governments will implement measures to eradicate conflict, such as improving road and water infrastructure networks, as well as enhancing education.

The governments said they will tackle the root cause of terrorism through intelligence and putting greater manpower on the border to catch al-Shabab insurgents.

Kenya closed its official border posts with Somalia in 2012 to hinder al-Shabab's movements. The border closures included the Mandera border post as well as Lamu, Wajir and Garissa border crossings.

However, earlier this year Kenya announced it is reopening its border with Somalia and Ethiopia.

Somalia Minister for Security Mohamed Ahmed Sheikh said the project is timely and will effectively tackle cross-border insecurity challenges.

"And in that spirit of collective solidarity, there has never been a better time to forge common destiny and collectively participate in this project to tackle cross-border challenges," Sheikh said.

The project launch happened a day after a security compact was signed between Kenya and the United Kingdom on Wednesday.

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2 soldiers killed in fresh flareup between Azerbaijan, Armenia

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 13 May 2023 12:36 AM

Two soldiers have died from each side during a fresh flareup of tensions between neighboring Azerbaijan and Armenia ahead of planned talks between the leaders of the two countries.

The fatalities were caused on Friday amid crossfire between the two sides, as Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev prepare to discuss a Russia-brokered 2020 peace deal in Brussels on Sunday.

According to Armenia's defense ministry, the country's forces came under fire with drones, mortars, and small arms near the village of Sotk, close to the border. "In the wake of enemy fire, the Armenian side has one killed in action and one wounded," the ministry said.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan's defense ministry said its troops had repelled a drone attack by Armenian forces on the Azeri military's positions in the Kalbajar District. It later reported that one of its servicemen had been killed, but said the Azeri troops had controlled the situation.

Over the past 30 years, the two sides have engaged in two wars over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The region is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but has a primarily Armenian population that has resisted Azerbaijani rule since a separatist war there ended in 1994.

In 2020, the second Karabakh war broke out, killing more than 6,500 people on both sides during a six-week conflict. The war ended with the Moscow-mediated deal that saw Yerevan cede swathes of the Azerbaijani territory that it had been holding for several decades.

Last month, Azerbaijan set up a checkpoint on the only land route connecting Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh.

The controversial move contravened the peace deal, which specifies that the region must be under Russian control.



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Russo-Ukraine War - 12 May 2023 - Day 443

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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 on the night of 08-09 May 2023, the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet vessels launched eight SS-N-30a SAGARIS land attack cruise missiles (LACMs) against Ukraine. This was only the second use of Russian Navy LACMs reported since 09 March 2023.

Up to March 2023, the Russian Navy frequently launched SAGARIS. Russia likely temporarily suspended using these weapons because it wanted to rebuild its reserve stocks. In the short-term, Russia likely sees LACM as a key capability to strike deep into Ukraine to disrupt anticipated Ukrainian counter-offensives.

However, more strategically, Russia also sees conventional SAGARIS and other LACMs as having an important role in any hypothetical conflict with NATO. How to use these scarce and expensive weapons is one of the numerous dilemmas Russian commanders face because the war in Ukraine has gone on much longer than they originally planned for.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that during the day, Russian forces launched 4x missile and 26x air strikes, and conducted more than 20x MLRS attacks that caused damage to civilian infrastructure. Russian forces again used the S-300 SAMs to attack Kramatorsk and Zaporizhzhia. The threat of missile and air strikes remains high across Ukraine.

Russia continues to concentrate its main efforts on Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Mar'inka axes. 36x attacks took place on the specified axes during the day. Bakhmut and Mar'inka remain at the epicenter of hostilities.

Volyn' and Polissya axes: operational situation has not changed significantly; there are no signs of the formation of attack groupings.

Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna axes: Russia continues to maintain military presence in the areas bordering Ukraine. Volfyne (Sumy oblast); Chervona Zorya, Veterynarne, Hlyboke, Liptsi, Starytsia, Ohirtseve, Hatyshche, Vovchans'k, Nesterne, and Velikyi Burluk (Kharkiv oblast) came under mortar and artillery fire.

Kup'yans'k axis: Kam'ianka, Krasne Pershe, Mitrofanivka, Figolivka, Novomlynsk, Dvorichna, Zapadne, Kislivka, and Tabaivka (Kharkiv oblast) and Stelmakhivka (Luhansk oblast) were hit by Russian artillery and mortar fire during the day.

Lyman axis: Russian forces shelled various settlements along the contact line, including: Makiivka, Bilogorivka (Luhansk oblast); and Verkhn'okam'yans'ke and Spirne (Donetsk oblast).

Bakhmut axis: Russia continues to advance. The battle for Bakhmut continues. During the last day, Russian forces attempted to advance towards Orikhovo-Vasylivka, Hryhorivka, and Stupochki.

Russian occupiers carried out air strikes in the vicinities of Bohdanivka, Bakhmut and New York.

Fedorivka Druga, Orihovo-Vasylivka, Bohdanivka, Bakhmut, Ivanivs'ke, Chasiv Yar, Stupochki, Pivdenne, Torets'k, Druzhba, Sjeverne, and New York (Donetsk oblast) came under Russian fire.

Avdiivka axis: Russian forces carried out airstrikes in the vicinities of Avdiivka and Vodyane. Stepove, Avdiivka, Netaylove, and Pervomais'ke (Donetsk oblast) came under fire.

Mar'inka axis: Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled numerous Russian attacks in the vicinities of Mar'inka. Hostre, Heorghiivka, Maksimilianivka, Mar'inka, and Pobieda (Donetsk oblast) were subjects to Russian bombardment.

Shakhtars'ke axis: during the day, Russian forces did not conduct offensive operations. Russian aircraft delivered air strikes in the vicinities of Prechistivka and Velika Novosilka. Paraskoviivka, Kostyantynivka, Novomykhailivka, Vuhledar, Novoukrainka, and Prechistivka came under attack.

Zaporizhzhia and Kherson axes: Russian occupiers stayed on the defensive. Russian aircraft attacked Ukrainian positions in the vicinities of Novopil' (Donetsk oblast); Malynivka and Chervone (Zaporizhzhia oblast); as well as Kizomys (Kherson oblast).

Moreover, Russian occupiers shelled several Ukrainian settlements along the contact line, including: Vremivka and Novopil' (Donetsk oblast); Malynivka, Hulyaipole, Biloghirya, Novoandriivka, Novopavlivka, Mali Shcherbaki, and Kam'ians'ke (Zaporizhzhia oblast); Kozats'ke, Sadove, and Antonivka (Kherson oblast) and the city of Kherson.

In addition to replenishing units that have suffered losses, Russia makes efforts to generate new units. For instance, Russian military authorities have initiated formation of new motorized rifle brigade in Stavropol Kray (Southern Military District) to reinforce occupation forces operating in Ukraine. The vast majority of those who signed the contract have no motivation to participate in combat, while at the same time, the Russian invaders are eager to make money.

During the day, Ukrainian Air Force delivered 4x strikes on the concentrations of Russian troops and military equipment. Ukrainian missile and artillery troops attacked 3x concentrations of russian troops, 3x artillery systems, and 1x radio-electronic warfare station.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that in Kupyansk direction, the attacks, launched by aviation, as well as the artillery of the Zapad Group of Forces, have resulted in the neutralisation of the enemy units close to Dvurechnoye (Kharkov region), and Novosyolovskoye (Lugansk People's Republic).

In addition, the actions of sabotage and reconnaissance group were suppressed close to Kotlyarovka (Kharkov region).

The enemy losses were over 60 Ukrainian servicemen, one armoured fighting vehicle, two motor vehicles, two Grad MLRS, one U.S.-manufactured M109 Paladin artillery system, and one Akatsiya self-propelled artillery system.

In Krasny Liman direction, the attacks, laucnhed by Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, as well as artillery of the Tsentr Group of Forces, have resulted in neutralisation of AFU manpower and hardware close to Torskoye (Donetsk People's Republic).

Two sabotage and reconnaissance groups have been eliminated close to Chervonaya Dibrova and Kremennaya (Lugansk People's Republic).

The enemy losses were over 75 Ukrainian servicemen, three armoured fighting vehicles, three pickup trucks, one Akatsiya self-propelled artillery system, and one D-20 howitzer.

In the western part of Artyomovsk, the assault units continued the offensive to capture the city neighbourhoods.

The Airborne Troops are supporting them and suppressing AFU attempts to counterattack on the flanks.

The aviation have made 9 sorties close to Artyomovsk. The Group's artillery have performed 64 firing missions.

Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, as well as artillery of the Yug Group of Forces inflicted a fire damage on the enemy units close to Chasov Yar and Bogdanovka (Donetsk People's Republic).

In Soledar tactical direction, the enemy carried out offensive actions along the entire line of contact stretching over 95 kilometres.

The AFU launched 26 attacks involving more than 1,000 servicemen, up to 40 tanks and other military and special-purpose equipment.

All the attacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) have been repelled. There has been no breakthrough in the defence of Russian forces.

In Maloyilinovskoe direction, in order to improve the stability of the defence, units of the Yug Group of Forces have occupied the military line taking into account the advantageous conditions of Berkhovskoye reservoir.

The soldiers of the 4th and 200th motorised rifle brigades, Army aviation crews and other units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have shown their courage in repelling the enemy attacks.

The enemy losses were over 540 Ukrainian servicemen, eight tanks and more than 20 other armoured vehicles.

In Donetsk direction, the enemy losses were around 900 Ukrainian servicemen killed and wounded, more than 30 armoured vehicles, as well as seven motor vehicles, two D-30 howitzers and one U.K-manufactured L-118 howitzer.

Air defence facilities have shot down one AFU Su-27 fighter close to Chasov Yar (Donetsk People's Republic).

One artillery ammunition depot of 110th Mechanised Brigade of the AFU has been destroyed close to Avdeevka.

In South Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, the aviation and artillery operations of the Vostok Group of Forces have resulted in the neutralisation of the AFU units near Vodyanoye and Ugledar (Donetsk People's Republic).

The enemy losses were up to 110 Ukrainian servicemen, one tank, two motor vehicles and one Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system.

In Kherson direction, the enemy losses were up to 40 Ukrainian servicemen, one armoured fighting vehicle, three motor vehicles and one Akatsiya self-propelled artillery system.

Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, and Artillery of the Russian Group of Forces have engaged 72 AFU artillery units, manpower, and hardware in 102 areas during the day.

One storage of fuel for AFU hardware has been destroyed near Zaporozhye.

One U.S.-manufactured AN/TPQ-36 counterbattery warfare radar has been destroyed near Borovaya (Kharkov region).

One Ukrainian Zoopark-1 reconnaissance and firing control radar system has been destroyed close to Nikopol (Dnepropetrovsk region).

Air defence facilities have intercepted three HIMARS and Uragan rocket-propelled projectiles.

Air defence facilities have shot down 25 Ukrainian UAVs close to Krivosheevka, Kremennaya (Luhansk People's Republic), Belogorovka, Avdeevka, Chasov Yar (Donetsk People's Republic), Kamenskoye, Tokmak, Pologi (Zaporozhye region), Golaya Pristan and Zburyevka (Kherson region).

In total, 422 airplanes, 230 helicopters, 4,099 unmanned aerial vehicles, 421 air defence missile systems, 9,108 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,100 fighting vehicles equipped with MLRS, 4,796 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 10,141 units of special military vehicles have been destroyed since the beginning of the special military operation.





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Statement from the Minister of National Defence on the 65th Anniversary of the Creation of NORAD

National Defence

Statement

May 12, 2023 - Ottawa - National Defence/Canadian Armed Forces

The Minister of National Defence, the Honourable Anita Anand, issued the following statement today to recognize the 65th anniversary of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD):

"On this day in 1958, Canada and the United States formalized the North American Air Defense Command Agreement, leading to the creation of NORADaour bi-national military command tasked with protecting North American airspace.

"The collaboration between Canadians and Americans through NORAD is unique and unparalleled. During my visit to NORAD facilities last year with Prime Minister Trudeau and United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, I saw first-hand how Canadian and American armed forces members work hand-in-hand to defend North America and keep our citizens safe.

"This is a military relationship like no otheraone based on common values, friendship, and an unbreakable bond. Our two nations share the responsibility of monitoring and defending millions of square kilometres of airspace and coastline, protecting our citizens on both sides of the border. Over its 65-year history, NORAD has adapted to new threats, including receiving a maritime warning mission alongside its existing aerospace warning and control missions in 2006.

"Our partnership took on renewed relevance earlier this year when several unauthorized aerial objects were detected in North American airspace. NORAD tracked and monitored each of these objects, including the confirmed high-altitude surveillance balloon from the People's Republic of China. In addition, NORAD fighter aircraft took down an unidentified object flying over Yukon. This was the first time that NORAD was called upon to engage a target in North American airspace during its 65-year existence.

"In an era of geopolitical uncertainty and of evolving technology, NORAD's mission has become even more important. As we face new and emerging threats to the international rules that keep us safe, we must ensure that our binational military command remains effective and prepared to take on the threats of today and tomorrow.

"This is why Canada is investing $38.6 billion towards NORAD modernization over the next 20 years. We are committed to working closely with our United States partners to maximize the impact of these investments. Canada is also investing in a new fleet of 88 F-35 fighter jets to keep Canadians safe and contribute to NORAD operations.

"I sincerely thank members of the Canadian Armed Forces, as well as the United States military, for their continued partnership and dedication to safeguarding North America. For 65 years, we have shared the watch, and I know we will continue to accomplish great things together as we look towards the future."

-30-

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Exclusive: Anonymous official reveals details of Wang Yi's 10-hour-long meeting with Sullivan

Global Times

By Bai Yunyi and Liu Xin Published: May 12, 2023 06:10 PM Updated: May 12, 2023 10:14 PM

The meeting between China's top diplomat Wang Yi and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Vienna lasted for more than 10 hours with the two sides having "candid, in-depth, substantive and constructive" exchanges on major topics, including on bilateral relations, the Taiwan question, Asia-Pacific situation, and the Ukraine crisis, the Global Times has learned exclusively from a senior official familiar with the meeting.

Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, met with Sullivan in Vienna on Wednesday and Thursday.

The Chinese side emphasized that the Bali meeting between the Chinese and US top leaders was successful and constructive, and pointed out the direction for the development of China-US relations. However, the US side overreacted and abused force in the unmanned civilian airship incident and lessons must be learned from the incident, a senior Chinese official who is familiar with the meeting but asked for anonymity, told the Global Times on Friday.

During the meeting, the Chinese side also noted that the correct way for China and the US to get along is mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation. The overall China-US relationship cannot be simply defined by "competition" and the US cannot ask for communication and dialogue while harming China's interests, according to the senior official.

The Chinese side noted that what the US should do is to establish a correct understanding of China, prevent strategic misjudgments, abandon the Cold War mentality, stop containment and suppression, stop engaging in zero-sum games, return to rationality and pragmatism, and meet China halfway to promote the stabilization of China-US relations, the source said.

Wang Yi comprehensively expounded China's solemn position on the Taiwan question, emphasizing that the Taiwan question is the core of China's core interests, the bedrock of the political foundation of China-US relations, and the first redline that cannot be crossed, according to the source.

Wang also noted that the top priority at the moment is that the US should earnestly abide by the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-US joint communiquAs, and stop interfering in China's internal affairs.

The US side stated that the US' one-China policy has not changed and does not support "Taiwan independence," "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan," according to the source.

The anonymous senior official also unveiled that China also requires the US to remove unreasonable restrictions and obstruction on China-US people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and to work with China to carry out more exchanges between various sectors of the two countries and enhance mutual understanding between the peoples.

The two sides also exchanged views on the Ukraine issue. The Chinese side emphasized that China is not a party to the Ukraine crisis, and has always maintained an objective, fair and calm stance, actively promoting peace talks, and has been urging all parties not to add fuel to the fire. Complying with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and safeguarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be universally applicable without imposing double standards.

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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on May 12, 2023

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China

At the invitation of Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council Ding Xuexiang, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance of Singapore Lawrence Wong will visit China from May 13 to 17.

At the invitation of State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang, David Francis, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Sierra Leone, will pay an official visit to China from May 15 to 18.a

AFP: According to official reports, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs Wang Yi and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan held talks for over eight hours earlier this week, but the two sides only issued two short readouts. I have two questions. First, does this mean that the two sides failed to reach any agreement on key issues? Second, have the two sides talked about the possibility to have higher-level meetings during the G7 Summit to be held?

Wang Wenbin: We've put out a readout on this. On May 10 and 11 local time, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs Wang Yi and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met in Vienna, Austria. The two sides held candid, in-depth, substantive and constructive discussions on ways to remove obstacles in China-US relations and stabilize the relationship from deterioration. Director Wang fully elaborated on China's serious position on the Taiwan question. The two sides also exchanged views on the situation in the Asia-Pacific region, Ukraine and other international and regional issues of mutual interest. Both sides agreed to continue to make good use of this channel of strategic communication.

Xinhua News Agency: China announced the visit of Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. Could you share with us the program and China's expectations for the visit? How does China view the current China-Eritrea relations?

Eritrea is an important country in the Horn of Africa. China and Eritrea enjoy long-standing friendship. In 2022, President Xi Jinping and President Isaias Afwerki agreed to elevate our bilateral relations to a strategic partnership. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Eritrea. The two countries have deepened political mutual trust, achieved fruitful outcomes in practical cooperation and maintained close communication and coordination in international and regional affairs.

During President Isaias Afwerki's visit, President Xi Jinping will hold a welcome ceremony and banquet for him, and the two heads of state will hold talks. Premier Li Qiang will meet with President Isaias Afwerki. We believe that President Isaias Afwerki's visit will give a new boost to the all-round, in-depth growth of China-Eritrea relations and further advance our friendly cooperation.

TASS: The EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum will be held in Stockholm, Sweden on May 13. It is learned that inclusive green growth is on the agenda, along with Russia-related topics. Does State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang plan to attend the event?a

Wang Wenbin: The Asia-Pacific is a promising region for cooperation and development, not a chessboard for geopolitical contest. Any regional cooperation framework in the Asia-Pacific needs to follow the prevailing trend of peace and development in today's world, aim for greater mutual trust and cooperation among countries in the region and be open, transparent and inclusive. None of such frameworks should be based on the outdated Cold War mentality, draw ideological lines or drive up division and confrontation.

China News Service: A repatriation ceremony of Chinese ancient relics was held recently by Chinese and US officials in New York. Two stone-carved tomb beds dating back to the Northern Wei and Tang dynasties (386 AD - 907 AD) were returned to China. Do you have any comment?

Wang Wenbin: On the afternoon of May 9 local time, authorized by China's National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA), the Chinese Consulate-General in New York and the Manhattan District Attorney's Office in New York held a handover ceremony, during which the US handed to the Chinese government two important Chinese cultural relics which had been illegally transported overseas and seized in investigations. This marks the fifth repatriation of cultural relics to China in recent years from US government agencies and the latest cooperation in the field of cultural heritage between the two countries. As we have learned, following the ceremony, our colleagues have started organizing the transportation of the relics back to China.

China is committed to expanding intergovernmental cooperation on combating and preventing the smuggling of cultural relics, as part of a broader effort to preserve humanity's common cultural heritage. We stand ready to work with the US and other countries to step up exchanges and cooperation in the filed of cultural heritage preservation.

Reuters: Are you able to confirm whether China's Ambassador to France Lu Shaye will be recalled on May 15?

Wang Wenbin: That is not true.

People's Daily: We noted that the Europe-based think tank Bruegel said in a recently-published report that the Belt and Road Initiative has stood the test of multiple challenges over the past ten years and been widely applauded, especially by developing countries. Do you have any comment?

Wang Wenbin: We noted this report you mentioned. The report documents mainstream news coverage in nearly 150 countries and on this basis makes a quantitative analysis of the global attention to and sentiments towards the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). According to the report, the initiative is generally positively received in the world.

The BRI proposed by President Xi Jinping is well received among the world most importantly because it is an initiative of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits. China never imposes its will on other countries, nor does it slip any selfish geopolitical agenda into the initiative. As an open and inclusive international cooperation platform, the BRI aims not for a globalization that serves the interest of only few, but for global common development that is more inclusive, balanced and beneficial for all. Any lies and rumors to smear the BRI and slander China's cooperation with BRI partners will be debunked by these solid facts.a

China will host the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation later this year. Through this event, we hope to work together with the rest of the international community to take stock of what we've achieved and chart the course for the future, continue to elevate high-quality BRI cooperation and be a source of driving force and hope for world economic recovery and global sustainable development.

CCTV: China announced earlier that the Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Eurasian Affairs will visit Ukraine and other countries. Can you share more information with us?a

Wang Wenbin: Starting from May 15, Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Eurasian Affairs Li Hui will travel to Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany and Russia for communication on a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.

Since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis, China has held an objective and just position and actively promoted talks for peace. President Xi Jinping has put forward four principles, called for joint efforts in four areas and shared three observations on Ukraine, which outline China's fundamental approach to the issue. On this basis, China released its Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis, which reflects the above core ideas of China's stance and takes into account the legitimate concerns of all parties, and has thus received extensive understanding and recognition from the international community. This upcoming visit by the Chinese representative again reflects China's commitment to promoting peace talks and staying on the side of peace.

As the Ukraine crisis drags on and escalates, the world continues to experience the spillover effects of the crisis. The voices for ceasefire and deescalation are building in the international community. China will continue to play a constructive role and build more international consensus on ending hostilities, starting peace talks and preventing escalation of the situation, and help facilitate a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.

Reuters: Are you able to confirm that State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang will travel to Australia in July?

Wang Wenbin: China and Australia maintain contact and communication at all levels. As to your specific question, I have nothing to share.

Beijing Daily: Can you share more with us on the recent visit by State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang to France?

Wang Wenbin: On May 10 local time, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang held talks with French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna in Paris and also held consultations with her as the co-chairs of the China-France high-level dialogue on people-to-people exchange. During the visit, State Councilor Qin Gang met with Diplomatic Advisor to the French President Emmanuel Bonne and inaugurated the China House at the CitA Internationale Universitaire de Paris (CIUP).

State Councilor Qin Gang noted that President Emmanuel Macron's state visit to China is a complete success. The two presidents agreed to take the opportunity brought by the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2024 to fully resume exchanges and cooperation in areas of culture, education, science and technology, and take the bilateral relations to an even higher level. China is ready to work with France to follow through on the important common understandings reached by the two heads of state, accelerate the advancement of exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and work for continuous development of the close and enduring comprehensive strategic partnership between China and France.a

State Councilor Qin Gang noted that in a world of change and disorder, China and France, as time-honored countries with splendid civilizations, have the responsibility to promote mutual respect and inclusiveness between different cultures and civilizations, eliminate misgivings and bias, and sow the seed of peace in the heart of the people in the world. These were the very purpose of the Global Civilization Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping. The two sides need to make full use of the high-level dialogue on people-to-people exchange to further deepen people-to-people exchange between the two countries and enhance mutual understanding between the peoples. Priority areas for cooperation can include sports, education, language, science, technology, innovation and tourism.

State Councilor Qin Gang stressed that China has always regarded Europe as a comprehensive strategic partner, supported Europe in strengthening its strategic autonomy and playing an active role in the international arena, and stands for a China-Europe relationship which is not targeted at, subjugated to or controlled by any third party. China, France and the EU need to pursue win-win cooperation by expandingatwo-way opening up and build a more stable China-EU supply chain partnership of mutual trust.

Foreign Minister Colonna noted that France-China relations are of vital importance. The two heads of state have set the direction, and the two sides need to jointly work for greater development of bilateral relations. She suggested that the two sides fully restart cooperation mechanisms in various fields. France is ready to work with China to plan for events celebrating the 60th anniversary of bilateral relations. France attaches importance to its economic relations with China, believing that such relations are interdependent, mutually beneficial as well as complementary, open and transparent. France does not engage in bloc confrontation and holds that all countries should live in harmony and achieve common development. Noting that China plays an important role in the world's peace and stability, Colonna said France is willing to strengthen communication with China on major international and regional issues to seek more common ground.

China Daily:The PRC Is Not a Developing Country Act was passed in the US House not long ago, which "requires the Department of State to take actions to stop China from being classified as a developing country by international organizations". The US Congress introduced a resolution recently that opposes China's status as a developing country in the WTO. Some commentators have said such moves show that the US puts its domestic law above international law, revealing its real motive to keep China down. What's your response?a

Wang Wenbin: China is the world's largest developing country, a fact that is recognized by the world. The US wants to put a label on China that says "developed country". I'm afraid this simply will not stick on China.

China's status as a developing country is supported by concrete facts. China's per capita GDP in 2022 was US$12,741, or one-fifth of that of advanced economies and only one-sixth of that of the US. China's GNI ranked 68th and HDI 79th in the world in 2021, which is similar to other major developing countries.

China's status as a developing country also has a solid basis in international law. This status is recognized by WTO mechanisms and international agreements such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, and has been accepted by the vast majority of the members of the international community. This status should not be taken away from China.

Over the years, China has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America in the struggle for national liberation and supported each other in national development. We have together vividly demonstrated what "a friend in need is a friend indeed" means and have long been a community with a shared future. Instead of joining the Western "rich countries' club", China will always stand with fellow developing countries to work for our common rights and defend our common interests. As President Xi Jinping has pointed out, China will always be a member of the big family of developing countries.

I would also like to stress that it is China's legitimate and lawful right to defend our developing country status. China does not use the status as a shield to avoid international obligations or a stepping stone to special privileges. Instead, we have been contributing to world peace and development. From 2013 to 2021, China has contributed about 38.6% of world economic growth annually on average, higher than that of G7 countries combined. China was the first to realize the Millennium Development Goals and accounted for more than 70% of world poverty reduction. We have become the second largest contributor to the UN's regular budget and peacekeeping assessments. In the WTO, the special and differential treatment provisions for China provide far less favorable support than the average level of support enjoyed by developing countries.

The US does not get to decide whether China is a developing country. The US has come up with various false narratives to deny China's developing country status with the single objective to suppress and contain China's development, to shift responsibility on China, to sow discord between China and fellow developing countries, and to disrupt and stall the momentum of the collective rise of developing countries. But China and other developing countries will not fall into that trap. China will firmly defend its developing country status, deepen solidarity and cooperation with other developing countries, work for greater representation and say of developing countries in the international governance system and defend the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of developing countries.aa

Hubei Media Group: It was reported that Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed respectively at interviews that the two sides are discussing opening a NATO liaison office in Japan. Do you have any comment?

Wang Wenbin: NATO has publicly stated on many occasions that it remains a regional alliance and does not seek a geopolitical breakthrough. The Asia-Pacific lies beyond the geographical scope of the North Atlantic and has no need for a replica of NATO. However, we have seen NATO constantly strengthening ties with Asia-Pacific countries, and bent on going east into this region, interfering in regional affairs and inciting bloc confrontation. What is NATO really up to? This calls for high vigilance among countries in the world, particularly in the Asia-Pacific. We hope relevant parties will not undermine regional peace and stability only to pursue so-called geopolitical interests.

In the meantime, the rest of the world are looking closely at whether Japan really wants to spearhead NATO's extension into the Asia-Pacific. Asia is one of the most peaceful and stable regions in the world and a promising place for cooperation and development, not a wrestling ground for geopolitical contest. Given Japan's history of militarist aggression during the last century, Japan's military and security moves have been closely watched by its Asian neighbors and the international community. We urge Japan to draw lessons from history, stay committed to the path of peaceful development, and avoid doing things that could dismantle trust and affect peace and stability in this region.

CCTV: People familiar with the matter have told the media that G7 member states will announce joint actions to respond to economic coercion so as to send a message to China. What's China's comment?a

Wang Wenbin: If any country should be criticized for economic coercion, it should be the United States. The US has been overstretching the concept of national security, abusing export control and taking discriminatory and unfair measures against foreign companies. This seriously violates the principles of market economy and fair competition.

According to media reports, US government sanctions designations soared by 933% between 2000 and 2021. The Trump administration alone imposed more than 3,900 sanctions, or three per day on average within four years. More than 9,400 sanctions designations had come into effect in the US by fiscal year 2021. The US has slapped unilateral economic sanctions on nearly 40 countries, affecting nearly half of the world's population.

Not even G7 members have been spared from US economic coercion and bullying. Companies such as Toshiba from Japan, Siemens from Germany and Alstom from France, were all victims of US suppression. If the G7 Summit is to discuss response to economic coercion, perhaps it should first discuss what the US has done. As the G7 host, would Japan express some of those concerns to the US on behalf of the rest of the group who have been bullied by the US? Or at least speak a few words of the truth?

Instead of a perpetrator, China is a victim of US economic coercion. We have been firmly opposed to economic coercion by any country in the world and urge the G7 to embrace the trend of openness and inclusiveness in the world, stop forming exclusive blocs and not become complicit in any economic coercion.

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Hong Kong Newspaper Cuts Cartoonist 'Zunzi' After Officials Complain

By VOA News May 12, 2023

A Hong Kong newspaper has pulled a popular, decades-old political comic strip after government officials accused it of smearing the government's image and misleading the public.

The move is widely seen as another step in the erosion of freedom in Hong Kong under a controversial national security law.

Ming Pao, a respected Chinese-language newspaper, said Thursday it would stop publishing cartoons by Wong Kei-kwan, better known under his nom de plume "Zunzi," starting Sunday.

"Ming Pao thanks Zunzi for witnessing with us the changing times in the past 40 years," it said in a statement.

Wong's books have also been pulled from public libraries, local media reported.

A search of "Zunzi" on Hong Kong public library catalogues yielded no results Friday. The government department in charge of public libraries told Ming Pao that books are regularly inspected and those allegedly violating national security or Hong Kong law would be removed.

In his four-decade career, Wong, 68, is well-known for his satirical sketches, which lampoon political figures from the British colonial period to Chinese-rule era after the 1997 handover of sovereignty. His cartoons have been published in Ming Pao since 1983 and some also appeared in Apple Daily and Next magazine -- which folded after the national security law came into effect.

"This is the outcome of a gradual development of the situation - it is a mutual decision," Wong said in a carefully worded response. "To keep 'one country two systems' unchanged is harder than building a rocket in your backyard."

China had promised to keep Hong Kong's way of life unchanged for 50 years under the one country, two systems arrangement when the former British colony was handed back to its rule in 1997. But it has been widely criticized for eroding Hong Kong's freedom in its imposition of the national security law on Hong Kong.

Observers say they had feared for Wong, as his cartoons have been censored six times by government officials in the past six months -- including the police and the Security Bureau.

The latest criticism came from Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak, who called a cartoon strip of Wong's "distorting" and "unethical." His three-panel strip, published Tuesday, showed a man saying Hong Kong's community representatives will be chosen "as long as the leader finds them suitable" even if they do not pass their exams and health checks.

The strip followed last week's government announcement of reforms to the district council election that drastically reduce the number of elected seats to just one-fifth of all seats, with the rest to be either appointed by the government or selected by committees staffed by pro-establishment figures.

Hong Kong's security chief, Tang Ping-keung, said Thursday that Ming Pao editors had made a responsible decision to halt publishing "misleading" content that smeared the government.

Chung Kim-wah, a social scientist formerly with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and now living in exile in the U.K., said the authorities see Wong as a thorn in the side because his cartoons are "simple and easy to understand ... and often lampoon those in the position of power."

He said Hong Kong media outlets now have to self-censor or face closing down, noting that Ming Pao has already cut some columns by authors seen as politically sensitive.

The city's media outlets have long practiced self-censorship since its return to Chinese rule but press freedom has drastically deteriorated since the national security law was imposed by Beijing in 2020, after monthslong anti-government protests. Two influential pro-democracy outlets, the Apple Daily and Stand News, shut down after their assets were frozen by the police in 2021.

The national security law lays out penalties as severe as life imprisonment for crimes including secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces. The authorities have also invoked the colonial-era offense of sedition to prosecute government critics in recent years.

Veteran journalist and political commentator Johnny Lau said after politics, education and media, political pressure has now permeated the arts and cultural sector.

"This shows the weakness of the authorities," he said.

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The world's biggest chocolate producers are enjoying large profits while failing to pass on the benefits to cocoa farmers, many of whom are suffering falling incomes and worsening poverty, according to a report from the charity Oxfam.

The report was published ahead of World Fair Trade Day on May 13.

Falling incomes

The analysis focuses on Ghana, the world's second-largest producer of cocoa. The charity says farmer's incomes in the country have fallen since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

"An Oxfam survey of more than 400 cocoa farmers supplying chocolate corporations across Ghana found that their net incomes have fallen on average by 16 percent since 2020, with women's incomes falling by nearly 22 percent. Nine out of ten farmers said they are worse off since the pandemic," the report says.

The authors add that up to "90 percent of Ghanaian cocoa farmers do not earn a living income, meaning they cannot afford enough food or other basics such as clothing, housing and medical care. Many of the 800,000 farmers in the country survive on just $2 a day."

Several local and global factors have driven down farmers' wages, said Uwe Gneiting, a co-author of the Oxfam report.

"COVID, of course, was a big disruption. But then also the war in Ukraine and the resulting economic crisis, coupled with some more longer-term challenges, like the impacts of climate change and aging farms, which is a big issue in Ghana," Gneiting told VOA, adding that there are widespread social and environmental consequences.

"Lower incomes really have shown to facilitate the use of children on farms, so child labor, which is a big problem of course in Ghana and other cocoa producing countries. But also deforestation - that farmers are more likely to go out and cut down more trees and or to expand their farms and to make a living."

Bumper profits

At the same time, Oxfam says profits for the world's biggest chocolate firms have increased.

"The world's four largest public chocolate corporations, Hershey, Lindt & Sprungli, Mondelez and Nestle, have together made nearly $15 billion in profits from their confectionary divisions alone since the onset of the pandemic, up by an average 16 percent since 2020. They paid out on average more than their total net profits (113 percent) to shareholders between 2020 and 2022," the report said.

Oxfam also analyzed the wealth of the two biggest private chocolate corporations, Mars and Ferrero, which has risen by $39 billion since 2020, giving them a combined net worth of around $157 billion.

Ghana and Ivory Coast - the world's two biggest cocoa producers - signed a deal in 2021 to try to get a bigger share of the chocolate industry's profit. The two governments set a minimum market price or living income differential for cocoa and also insist on a premium payment - an extra sum of money paid directly to farmers per ton of cocoa.

But Oxfam says the payments have failed to meaningfully increase farmers' incomes.

Declining yields

"Oxfam analyzed the sustainability programs of ten of the top chocolate manufacturers and traders operating in Ghana... None of the programs achieved their stated goal of increasing cocoa production and, consequently, boosting farmer income. In fact, the crop yields of farmers in the corporations' supply chains declined by 25 percent between 2020 and 2022," the report said.

"Cocoa farmers surveyed by Oxfam said they are being paid a premium of $35 to $40 per ton of cocoa. The average cocoa farmer in Ghana produces about one ton of cocoa annually. They need to earn $2,600 more per year to get a living income," according to the Oxfam report.

The entire supply chain is unbalanced, argues author Uwe Gneiting.

"If you as a company are profitable, at the same time as the producers of your most critical raw material are falling deeper into poverty and there's something wrong with your business model," he told VOA.

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Response

In an email, Lindt & Sprungli told VOA it pays Ghanaian farmers a $60 per ton premium and has invested over $20 million in cocoa sustainability programs in 2021.

"The Lindt & Sprungli Farming Program aims to contribute to building resilient livelihoods for farmers, their families, and farming communities by taking a holistic approach to increasing farming household incomes. We are addressing this through a combination of measures," the email said.

Hershey told VOA in an email that the company "has had a long-term commitment to supporting increased incomes for cocoa farming households. We are investing in proven approaches such as cash transfers and village savings and loan associations, implementation of sustainable and regenerative farm management practices and creating greater access to education in cocoa growing communities."

Mondelez and Nestle did not respond to VOA requests for comment.
Background Press Call by a Senior Administration Official on National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's Meeting with PRC Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi

May 12, 2023

Via Teleconference

3:30 P.M. EDT

MODERATOR: Hi, everybody. And thank you for joining us on such short notice. I hope everyone is having a good afternoon.

Today we're going to have a quick call here on the National Security Advisor's meetings in Vienna. The call is going to be held under an embargo until the end of the call. It's attributable to a senior administration official.

For awareness but not for reporting, joining us on the call today is [senior administration official].

With that, I will hand it over to [senior administration official], because I know we are tight on time. Thanks.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks so much. Good to be with all of you today. Apologies for the sound quality. I'm on a plane making my way back to the U.S., and it's a little bit hit or miss on comms.

To kick off, the National Security Advisor met on May 10th and 11th with Politburo Member and Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi in Vienna. The National Security Advisor and Director Wang had more than eight hours of meetings over two days. The last such meeting in this channel was between Jake Sullivan and then-Director Yang Jiechi. That meeting took place June 13th, last year, in Luxembourg.

This meeting comes as the United States and PRC has sought to increase high-level engagement in order to maintain channels of communication and (inaudible) manage competition. Both sides agreed to maintain this channel between Director Wang and the National Security Advisor.

The National Security Adviser underscored that the United States and the PRC are in competition but that the U.S. does not seek conflict or confrontation. He raised specific issues in the bilateral relationship. He also raised concerns about detained American citizens, underscoring that this is a personal priority of President Biden.

He indicated that the United States stands ready to work with the PRC on issues of transnational concerns, such as counternarcotics. The two sides also discussed local and regional security issues, such as U.S. policy in the Indo-Pacific and other regions; the National Security Advisor's recent robust engagement with U.S. allies and partners a by the United States that is. The two sides discussed Russia's invasion of Ukraine and cross-Strait issues among other topics.

As with other conversations between President Biden and President Xi, he raised concerns about PRC a potential PRC military assistance to Russia. On cross-Strait issues, the National Security Advisor reiterated that the U.S. remains committed to our One China policy guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, Three CommuniquAs, and Six Assurances.

He indicated that the U.S. opposes unilateral changes to the status quo from either side, does not support Taiwan independence, and expects cross-Strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.

With that, I'll go ahead and turn it back to [moderator]. I'm happy to answer a few questions.

MODERATOR: All right, we'll go ahead and open it up to questions.

Q Hi. Thank you, guys, so much for doing this call, especially on your way back.

Three quick questions. Did Wang and National Security Advisor Sullivan agree to planning that would commence for Secretary of State's rescheduled visit to Beijing? Are those planning efforts underway after this meeting?

On counternarcotics, did China express any interest in actually engaging with the U.S. on tackling that challenge?

And then, you mentioned Ukraine. Was there any indication in this meeting that China is going to move forth with that lethal support to Russia that the Biden administration has warned that they were considering? Thank you.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks so much. On the visit question, you know, we didn't discuss dates. This meeting wasn't about scheduling. We do anticipate there'll be an engagement and visits in both directions over the coming months.

On counternarcotics, I'll not go into specifics of diplomatic conversations, but I will say that, you know, we raised our concern about the lack of communication on this issue and pressed working, constructive engagement.

On Ukraine, again, as has been done multiple times, including in the conversations between President Biden and President Xi, we reiterated concern should there be any military assistance going to Russia.

I'll leave it at that for now. Thanks.

Q Hi there. Thanks very much. I know you won't want to talk too specifically, but did you speak about crisis communications? And was there any progress made on the idea of having some kind of guaranteed crisis communications between the two governments at any level?

And then there's a report today that the State Department declined to impose sanctions after the balloon incident, both export controls on Huawei, as well as human rights sanctions over Uyghurs.

Can you comment on that? And in general, even if you can't comment on the specifics, are you trying to make any concessions in order to get these dialogues advancing? Thanks.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks. On the first one on crisis communications, you know, we've made no secret that we think maintaining channels of communication is particularly important in times of tension, that it's important to manage competition.

I think both sides see that a channel between Director Wang and the National Security Advisor is one means of managing that competition.

I think I'll also point to the PRC statement. I think you'll see that it also recognized the need to stabilize and manage competition as well, which we certainly found noteworthy and a departure from what we had seen in previous statements.

On the sanctions question, I will refer you back to State for any internal conversations or back and forth they've had on packages in particular. But I will say, we don't see dialogue as something that you get through concessions, right? This is important to manage competition. This is something that we see as critical to U.S. and PRC regardless of whether it's times of high tension or not, right? That should be a diplomatic communication should be a regular occurrence. We're not seeking to link that to anything else.

Over.

Q Hi. Thank you. Can you hear me?

MODERATOR: Yes, we can.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes.

Q Okay, great. Sorry about that. Yeah, a couple of questions. And apologies if you've actually mentioned this at the top. But was the issue of the spy balloon raised at all in the conversations? And then, did we also provide messaging on the kinds of actions that we're trying to galvanize at the upcoming G7 in terms of countering Chinese economic coercion?

And is there any progress on the a on President Biden speaking to President Xi? He mentioned that there was prog- a progress last night. If you can give more details on that, that would be great. Thank you.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I'm sorry, I couldn't hear that first one. It broke up just a little bit. Can you repeat the first question? I got the second one on G7, and I think the third one was on Biden and Xi's communication.

Q Correct. The first one was: Is the issue of the spy a did the issue of the spy balloon come up at all?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I think both sides recognized that that unfortunate incident led to a bit of pause in engagement. We're seeking (inaudible) beyond that and reestablishing just standard, normal channels of communications. But I'll leave other conversations in the diplomatic space and not get into specifics.

On G7 (inaudible), you know, I'd refer you to the G7 Ministerial Statement. I know negotiations are ongoing right now on the leaders level. So I'll a I'll leave it in those channels, but I'm not tracking that closely.

On the Biden-Xi call, certainly President Biden has made clear a number of times that he stands ready and willing to be speak to President Xi. They didn't get into specifics about any scheduling on that, but I think both sides recognize the importance of leader-level communication as a means of stabilizing the relationship and managing competition.

Over.

Q Hi, thanks for holding this call. I just wanted to, really quick, follow up on Blinken's meeting. Did the Chinese side express, you know, any specific things they wanted to happen before that meeting or any topics or barriers that they wanted to overcome before that would be possible?

And just on the Biden and Xi call, do you have any guidance on whether that would be expected to take place before a high-level meeting or after a high-level meeting in Beijing?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: You broke up just a bit, but I think the first question was: Were there any specific things to overcome before the meeting? Is that right?

Q Yes, that's right.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Okay. No, not at a not that I am aware of. Again, this is a channel that we've used on occasion. The last meeting was in June. I think both sides thought it would been useful to try to do another conversation at the National Security Advisor-Director level.

This is the first one, in fact, that the National Security Advisor has done with Director Wang since he took over the role. So I think useful from that perspective.

But again, no, nothing on specific things to overcome to have the meeting take place.

On the Biden-Xi call, which I think was your second question, I've got nothing for you on scheduling on that.

Q Hey there. Thank you. Did Jake bring up specific detainees by name, including Mark Swidan? I'm sorry if I'm mispronouncing his name. And secondly, was it difficult to set up this meeting? Relations have been so tense and there's been an absence of communications. Was it a how was it in setting up this meeting?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: On the detainee question, we raised, as we generally do, the specific date (inaudible) of concern.

I think, on setting up the meeting, you know, it's an interesting question. Oftentimes, you find the (inaudible) easier to meet in a third country than in either of our two. And, you know, this came together fairly quickly, as I assume you can tell from the lack of information about it in the press or in the news.

But I wouldn't say that it was particularly difficult to set up. I think both sides see the value in sort of this low-profile channel to handle some of the more complex issues in the bilateral relationship.

Over.

Q Yeah, hi. Good afternoon. Thanks. I just want to a first, two questions. First, I just want to revisit a I didn't hear your answer a I'm not sure it came out a about the prisoners. There are three prisoners that CEPA has said are unjustly detained in China. Did the names of those prisoners a were they actually raised in the meeting? Mark Swidan, Kai Li, and David Lin.

Second question is: Counternarcotics was brought up. The Chinese have, for more than two years, have said it's not their problem, that narcotics is an American problem, a social problem, political problem. Did they say that they're actually a did they indicate they're actually willing to change tact on that? Thank you.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks. On the counternarcotics side, you're right, we often hear that it's a demand side issue not a supply side. And that's certainly something we push back on hard.

From our side, a solution has got to both involve the supply and the demand side. And I think we've seen other countries express concern about that as well recently. This is not just a U.S.-China bilateral issue; this is a global issue.

On the unjustly detained, we raised the specific prisoners as we do in all meetings.

Over.

Q Thank you. I was wondering if you could please give us any color about the meeting. Previous meetings obviously have had different tenors. Could you describe how long each day it lasted, how many hours? Any sort of color that you could describe about how the conversations went.

And then back to the Biden-Xi call: Is there anything that the Chinese expressed that needed to happen first before the two leaders could speak again?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks, sure. On the sort of colors or dynamics in the meeting: This was over two days, partially just because of scheduling issues, to be honest, and both of us were coming from other countries. And so being able to meet somewhere, we did a bit on the day a the second half of the day, May 10th, and then first half of the day, May 11th. Overall, it was between about 8 to 10 hours. Of course, we managed to take a few breaks in between. So, trying to subtract those out, it's around a over eight hours of meetings and engagements.

Certainly, you know, when you do consecutive interpretation, which is what we generally do in meetings, you just recognize that reduces it by half the time for actual conversation between the two. So, just to help explain why that long stretch of time.

I'd say the conversations were really candid, substantive, and constructive. Of the a any meetings, I've sat in, both in Washington and in Beijing and, of course, in third-country locations, I'd say this is one of the more candid and constructive discussions that I've been a part of. We have some tough issues on both sides. There is no doubt of that. And in many cases, we're not going to change each other's minds; that's not what this is necessarily about.

But, you know, the hard work of diplomacy is trying to explain your position, what you're doing, how you see the relationship, how you see the global stage, and I think both sides were able to do that.

And again, I think we see this a we want to maintain those channels a and we see this as the first of what I hope are additional conversations in the future on a more regular basis.

You asked another question. In my jetlagged state, I did not write it down. Was it about preconditions? I think it was, so I'm going to go with preconditions.

You know, on the U.S. side, again, we really a we've pushed back anytime there's this idea of preconditions before there's a diplomatic conversation. For us, part of managing competition responsibly, part of stabilizing relationships is having those conversations regardless of what's going on, regardless of which actions are happening on either side. Right? This is not just about the U.S. taking action. This is also a when you talk about tension, it's also about actions the Chinese side is taking as well.

Over.

Q Hi, how are you? Thanks for doing this. Just to follow up on the spy balloon. So if I could a if you could just reaffirm: So is it a is this incident over for the Biden administration? Do you consider a do you guys put this behind you all and you're moving forward?

And also, did the Chinese raise or complain any of the current sanctions that are being implemented a any of the U.S. sanctions?

And just last, on Taiwan: Did Jake bring up or say that there would be any consequences in the event that China decides to invade Taiwan?

Thank you.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks. On the Taiwan question, you know, look, I think it's a we really focused on the fact that both sides have manage this issue that's over 40 years without conflict, and that's our goal going forward. That means cross-strait differences have to be resolved by peaceful means. That means we don't want to see a unilateral change in the status quo from either side a China or Taiwan.

And I think that's really about, you know, the depth of the conversation is focused on how do we manage this productively, recognizing that we a you know, both sides have very different views of many Taiwan-related issues.

One the first one, I'm sorry, my comms aren't great, you broke up just a little bit on that one.

Q On the spy balloon, does the Biden administration consider that incident, you know, behind them, you're moving forward? Are there a you know, will there be any consequences? Or is that a like I said, are you guys over that (inaudible)?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: On that, I think we made clear we're a where we stand in terms of the breach of sovereignty there. I think we've been clear on that from the very get-go.

But again, trying to look forward from here on, we've made clear we don't want to see this happen again, but how do we a how do we manage the other issues that are ongoing right now and manage the tension in the relationship that exists and try to find hopefully a few issues where there are some overlapping interests and we can potentially find a productive way to work together.

Over.

MODERATOR: Great. And that concludes our Q&A session here, so thank you all for taking the time to join the call and for bearing with us as we deal with that a little bit of audio trouble.

Thank you.

3:57 P.M. EDT

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North Korea cracks down on bribery in prisons

Wealthy inmates bribe prison officials to get out of hard labor and live in 'special cells.'

By Hyemin Son for RFA Korean 2023.05.12 -- North Korea is cracking down on prison officials who accept bribes from wealthy prisoners in exchange for preferential treatment while they are incarcerated, two former inmates in the country told Radio Free Asia.

Bribery and corruption are a way of life in North Korea because the average wage from government-assigned jobs is nowhere near enough to live on. For most people, it means they have to get a side gig or run their own businesses.

Police and government officials, however, can make their living by using the power of their position to extract bribes from the public.

In January 2021, the government established the Justice and Discipline Investigation departments. The two offices are tasked with auditing people in positions of authority to uncover any corruption and illegal behavior and report them to the Central Committee, the governing body of the ruling Korean Workers' Party.

In April, the two departments spent a week investigating correctional officers at Chungsan Prison in South Pyongan province, north of the capital Pyongyang, a woman sent to Chungsan in 2019 told RFA's Korean Service on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Special cell

"The inspection started when a prisoner who was released from the prison reported to the Central Committee that there was a 'special cell' in prison camp No.11 [Chungsan Prison]," she said.

The special cell is where rich prisoners who can afford to bribe the right officials are sent to do their time. They receive preferential treatment and are exempt from hard manual labor unlike most of their fellow inmates.

Those who can't afford to pay the bribe for the special cell can bribe their way into the cafeteria staff or livestock raising teams, according to the source.

This is advantageous because the government does not provide food, and the prisoners must cultivate it for the entire prison population. The cafeteria workers can sneak food away, whereas the livestock raising team can eat food intended for the animals.

In any case, the special cell is the preferred choice.

The source, who was imprisoned for accepting money sent by an escapee relative who had resettled in South Korea, said that several hundred U.S. dollars is all it costs to buy special cell privileges.

"If you give US$500 a year to a correctional bureau official, he will give a call to the prison you're going to to set you up," she said. "If you don't have a personal connection with a correctional official, then you can give $100 per month to the official in the prison to get into the special cell."

The source said she did not know how many people were in the special cell, but estimated that during her time in Chungsan, there were 20 inmates in the women's side of the prison.

"During the inspection, two provincial correctional department officials and the head of Chungsan Prison were fired for receiving bribes and giving special treatment to prisoners," she said.

Inmates also punished

Another source, who was released from Chungsan in April after serving a five-year sentence, told RFA that it was not only the prison officials who accepted bribes that got punished - the special cell inmates who bribed them were also in trouble.

"They are temporarily forbidden from family visits and they are also getting three years of hard labor tacked on to the backend of their sentences," she said.

As a result of the inspection, face-to-face family visits for prisoners will only be allowed once per six months. This is an abrupt change, as normal prisoners are allowed a visit every 15 days.

The second inmate said that new prisoners will also now be separated based on their occupation and crime. Executives, wholesalers and meth dealers are separated because they have experience moving large sums of money around on the outside and are more likely to be able to afford bribes.

"These measures appear to be aimed at eradicating the source of bribes to the prison officials, but I don't know if they will be effective," she said.

Translated by Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.

Copyright 1998-2016, 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 May 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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IRGC naval forces monitor Persian Gulf closely: Cmdr

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

May 12, 2023

Bushehr, IRNA -- Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy Alireza Tangsiri has underlined that the naval forces of the IRGC enjoy the highest level of preparedness and have complete control over the Persian Gulf in air, surface, and subsurface.

Tangsiri told reporters on Friday that the maritime traffic of the enemy is under the supervision of the IRGC Navy around the clock.

We evaluate the security in the Persian Gulf as positive and the waterway is in full security now, the commander argued.

The sophisticated military equipment utilized by the Iranian armed forces is manufactured domestically and enables the armed forces to have growing preparedness, he added.

4208**9417

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Iran retakes oil tanker after 5 years

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

May 12, 2023

Bandar Abbas, IRNA -- An Iranian oil tanker, which was seized by a foreign company five years ago, has been returned to the Islamic country in an operation by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

Iran's judicial official ordered the return of the oil tanker and the IRGCalong with the Ministry of Intelligence carried out an operation to implement the judicial order, said Mojtaba Ghahremani, an official of the judiciary of Hormuzgan province.

The Iranian security forces have recently discovered the presence of the 10,000-ton Purity oil tanker in the Persian Gulf, so they retook the vessel, which has been moved to the Assaluyeh port in southern Iran, Ghahramani said.

The Purity was illegally rented to a foreign individual with forfeited documents about five years ago and its Iranian owners were deprived of their interests, he added.

Through investigations made by security organizations, it became clear that the foreign company used the vessel for fuel trafficking, so on February 7, 2022, the prosecutor of Bandar Abba, in southern Iran, ordered the tanker to be confiscated. The vessel is now at Asaluyeh Port to be unloaded.

4208**9417

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Iran to receive 1st batch of Russian-made SU-35 jets next week

Iran Press TV

Friday, 12 May 2023 6:22 PM

Iran will receive the first batch of Russian SU-35 fighter jets next week, according to a report.

Tehran and Moscow have embarked on deepening cooperation amid massive Western sanctions. Iran and Russia have signed major deals in recent months to boost economic, trade, energy and military cooperation.

The news was broken by Iran's Persian-language media, which did not elaborate on the details of the shipment. The SU-35 is a fourth-generation fighter jet designed primarily for air superiority roles.

Over the past months, there have been media reports of Iran receiving the SU-35 planes from Russia.

Iran's permanent mission at the United Nations confirmed in March that the country had finalized a deal to purchase the aircraft. Iranian media reports at the time said 24 units of the plane were to be supplied to Iran.

Shahriar Heidari, a member of the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy commission, told Tasnim news agency in January that the jets were to arrive in the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 21.

Heidari said Iran will also receive air defense systems, missile systems and helicopters from Russia in the near future.

Iran has not acquired any new fighter aircraft in recent years, excluding a few Russian MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters it bought in the 1990s.

Besides the MiG-29, IRIAF mainly uses locally modified F-4 Phantom II, F-14 Tomcat, and F-5E/F Tiger II planes from the 1970s that the toppled US-backed Pahlavi regime received before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

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IRGC Navy at highest preparedness level, fully monitoring Persian Gulf: Top Iranian commander

Iran Press TV

Friday, 12 May 2023 4:21 PM

The commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy says his forces are currently at their highest level of preparedness and have complete control over the Persian Gulf in the air, surface, and subsurface area.

"The movement of the enemy's vessels in the Persian Gulf is under constant surveillance of the IRGC Navy," Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri told reporters in the southern Iranian port city of Bushehr on Friday.

He added that the strategic waterway of the Persian Gulf is in full security.

He emphasized that advanced important military equipment is domestically designed and manufactured in Iran, saying, "The Navy and Ground Forces of the IRGC and Army, as well as the [IRGC] Aerospace Division, have made great progress."

Tangsiri said, "With such equipment and capable forces, the preparedness level of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran is increasing day by day."

The Persian Gulf a spanning some 251,000 square kilometers a is bounded by the Arvand River in the north, which forms the frontier between Iran and Iraq, and the Strait of Hormuz in the south, linking the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and the Indian Ocean.

The strategic inland sea is an international trade route connecting the Middle East to Africa, India, and China.

A senior IRGC commander said earlier this month that there is no need for extra-regional forces to ensure the security of the Persian Gulf given that Iran and neighboring countries are cooperating to guarantee the security of the strategic waterway.

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Iranian oil tanker retaken in joint operation by IRGC Navy, Intel Ministry after 5 years

Iran Press TV

Friday, 12 May 2023 3:41 PM

An Iranian oil tanker, which was illegally seized by a foreign company five years ago, has been retaken in a joint operation by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy and Iran's Intelligence Ministry.

Mojtaba Qahremani, head of the Justice Department of Iran's southern province of Hormozgan, was cited by Tasnim news agency as saying on Friday that the 10,000-ton oil tanker Purity had returned to the country's territorial waters following a judicial order and a joint operation carried out by the IRGC Navy and Intelligence Ministry.

"The seized 10,000-ton oil tanker Purity had been illegally leased to a foreigner by falsifying documents since 2018 and its Iranian owners were deprived of the benefits of the oil tanker," Qahremani said.

The head of the Justice Department of Hormozgan Province added that it was discovered after investigations by security organizations that the foreign company used the vessel for fuel trafficking.

Stressing that the prosecutor of the provincial capital Bandar Abbas ordered the seizure of the oil vessel last February, Qahremani said, "Following a judicial order and close cooperation between the IRGC Navy and Intelligence Ministry, the oil tanker was finally identified and confiscated in the Persian Gulf waters earlier this month."

The vessel was reported to be at Iran's Assaluyeh Port on the westernmost coast of the Persian Gulf in order for its fuel consignments to be unloaded.

Forces from the first naval zone of the IRGC late in October seized a foreign tanker ship carrying 11 million liters of smuggled fuel in the Persian Gulf.

The Islamic Republic has vowed that the Persian Gulf would never be a safe place for smugglers. The IRGC's Navy has also foiled several attacks on Iranian and foreign tankers alike.

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Iran releases two French nationals on humanitarian grounds, out of goodwill: Foreign Ministry

Iran Press TV

Friday, 12 May 2023 2:55 PM

Iran says it has released two French citizens jailed in separate cases on humanitarian grounds and out of its goodwill.

The foreign individuals were jailed for charges of espionage, disseminating anti-government propaganda, and fanning unrest.

"Iran's Judiciary freed two French citizens, one of them also holds Irish nationality, as a sign of goodwill and in a humanitarian measure in line with relevant laws and regulations," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan'ani said on Friday.

He said the detained French citizens have been released in response to the French side's requests at various levels and the negotiations held between the two officials of the countries, including a phone conversation between Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his French counterpart Catherine Colonna earlier on Friday.

The individuals were jailed for charges of espionage, disseminating anti-government propaganda, and fanning unrest.

Earlier on Friday, France's President Emmanuel Macron announced the release of the two French citizens, Bernard Phelan and Benjamin Briere.

The French foreign minister also said Phelan, who also holds Irish nationality, and Briere were freed from their prison in the northeastern city of Mashhad and are "on their way to France".

French FM thanks Iran's humanitarian, trust-building move

In a phone call with her Iranian counterpart, the French foreign minister thanked Iran's humanitarian move to release the two detainees, describing it as an effective and confidence-building step in relations between Tehran and Paris.

Colonna said she held constructive talks with Amir-Abdollahian in Beijing early last month as she was accompanying President Macron during his state visit to China.

Pointing to the French president's idea of greater strategic independence of Europe, Colonna said Paris believes constructive talks would be the best solution to the problems and welcomes the continuation of constructive negotiations with Tehran.

The top French diplomat expressed her country's grave concern over the ongoing developments in Gaza and noted that Paris is pursuing strategies to swiftly release tension and end military conflicts.

The Israeli regime has been staging back-to-back aerial assaults against the blockaded Palestinian enclave since Tuesday. Nearly 30 Palestinians have been killed as a result of the incessant aggression.

The fatalities include civilians as well as several commanders of the Islamic Jihad resistance movement.

In his phone call with the French foreign minister, Amir-Abdollahian pointed to deep-rooted historical and cultural relations between Tehran and Paris and hailed France's "positive" move to adopt a "realistic approach" to Iran.

He said practical efforts to implement President Macron's strategic independence would be considered an effective step in the contemporary evolving world.

The top Iranian diplomat condemned the Israeli regime's war crimes in Gaza and emphasized that the Palestinian resistance is firmly determined and ready to defend the Palestinian people's rights.

"The developments in Palestine are definitely not in favor of the belligerent rulers of the Zionist regime," Amir-Abdollahian pointed out.

The Iranian foreign minister further hailed great efforts by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) to safeguard national security and fight Takfiri terrorism in the region.

"Known as the guardian of the country's security, the IRGC is our red line," he said.

He made the remarks after the Swedish Parliament on Wednesday voted in favor of designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization.

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Iranian Official Says 26 Security Officers Indicted For 'Bloody Friday' Massacre

By RFE/RL's Radio Farda May 12, 2023

The head of Iran's Armed Forces Judicial Organization has revealed that indictments have been issued for 26 individuals suspected of having links to the November 30 massacre in the southeastern Iranian city of Zahedan that saw at least 100 people killed.

The November 30 incident, a day that has become known as "Bloody Friday," was marked by widespread protests over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini and the alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl by a local police commander before direct gunfire from security forces mowed down dozens of people.

During a visit to Zahedan, Ahmadreza Pourkhaqan said charges have been filed against 11 security officers for shootings that resulted in death and injury. An additional 15 have been accused of abusing their professional positions.

The province of Sistan-Baluchistan, particularly the city of Zahedan, has been the epicenter of protests in Iran for months.

Last December, in an audio file leaked from a meeting of the Iranian pro-regime Coalition Council of Islamic Revolution Forces, the secretary of the council, Reza Davari, was recorded confessing to the "very egregious mistake" made by security forces during "Bloody Friday."

Molavi Abdolhamid, a spiritual leader for Iran's Sunni Muslim population, had previously said senior officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, were "responsible" for the killing of protesters during the massacre in Zahedan.

Anger over Amini's death in police custody on September 16 prompted thousands of Iranians to take to the streets nationwide to demand more freedoms and women's rights. The widespread unrest represents the biggest threat to the Islamic government since the 1979 revolution.

Her death, which officials blamed on a heart attack, touched off a wave of anti-government protests in cities across the country. The authorities have responded to the unrest with a harsh crackdown that rights groups say has killed more than 500 people, including 71 children.

Sunni Muslims make up the majority of the population in Sistan-Baluchistan Province in southeastern Iran, where Abdolhamid is based, but make up only about 10 percent of the population in Shi'a-dominated Iran overall.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda



Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-bloody-friday- zahedan-massacre-officers-indicted/32409306.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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Myanmar junta forces commit more atrocities, burn 19 civilians to death

The death toll could rise because the area is 'now like a battlefield,' ethnic armed group says.

By RFA Burmese 2023.05.12 -- Myanmar troops burned alive 19 civilians, including eight minors, on Wednesday, relatives of the dead, witnesses and a spokesman for the shadow government said, in the latest atrocity committed by junta soldiers in the country's civil war.

The attack came in the south-central Bago region, where junta troops were fighting ethnic Karen rebels and members of the People's Defense Force, a loose group of ordinary people who have taken up arms since the February 2021 military coup.

The slaughter came hours after remote mine attacks by rebels. Junta forces arrested people living in Nyaung Pin Thar village in Htantabin township and burned them to death around 5 p.m. on May 10, residents said.

Five members of the same family, including a 6-year-old, were killed, said a relative.

"The military junta forces just killed them like that," another villager said.

The initial count was 18 dead, but on Friday, the Karen National Union, the political wing of the Karen National Liberation Army, announced that another resident had been burned to death in Nyaung Pin Thar village of Htantabin township.

Junta forces are still near the village and the death toll could be higher because the area is now like a battlefield, the KNU's statement said.

The junta's military's 44th Battalion and units of 73rd, 599, 590 and 48 Light Infantry Divisions are operating the region and fighting with the KNU and its affiliate armed groups, according to the statement.

Another atrocity

The shadow National Unity Government, or NUG, and witnesses told Radio Free Asia that the victims ranged in age from 5 to 70 years old.

"They killed a total of 18 innocent villagers, 10 women and eight men," NUG spokesman Nay Phone Latt said, adding that most of the adults killed were over 50.

"This is yet another massacre committed by the military council," he said, referring to the junta which has ruled Myanmar with an iron fist since seizing power in a February 2021 coup.

The troops killed the villagers after a battle broke out between them and joint forces from the Karen National Liberation Army and the anti-junta People's Defense Force near Nyaung Pin Thar village, said a local militia member.

"We detonated landmines about 15 times and about 30 junta soldiers were killed," he said. "After that, the junta troops advanced to Nyaung Pin Thar village. More battles broke out there too."

"We only found out last night, after the battles ended, that they had killed the villagers," said a member of the local People's Defense Force, a loose grouping of ordinary people who have taken up arms to fight the military. "We found the bodies only this morning."

The 73rd and 36th infantry battalions based in Htantabin township raided other nearby villages including Nyaung Pin Thar and killed local villagers, he said.

He also said that during the battle, anti-regime forces killed about 20 junta soldiers and captured three officers.

RFA could not reach Bago region military junta spokesman Tin Oo or junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment.

Junta troops have conducted 64 mass killings across Myanmar between the Feb. 1, 2021 coup and mid-march 2023, resulting in the deaths of 766 people, according to the NUG's Ministry of Human Rights.

Translated by Myo Min Aung for RFA Burmese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin 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 May 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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Zanzibar  ZANZIBAR President Dr Hussein Mwinyi has said that his government is taking various measures to improve the health sector and workers welfare with the aim of increasing efficiency.

Addressing nurses here on Friday to commemorate the International Nurses Day, Dr Mwinyi said that his government is strengthening the health sector through budgetary improvement and construction of district and regional hospitals.

He said the isles government is also carrying out major renovation of health facilities in Unguja and Pemba.

The government through the Ministry of Health has started employing nurses to address the shortage of the professionals, pledging to employ more in the next financial year.

Dr Mwinyi further said that the government has also increased the number of employment posts for medical doctors and other workers in the health sector and facilitate training programme to upgrade their skills and increase efficiency.

He further said that the government is also working hard to purchase modern medical equipment, calling upon nurses and other health workers to support the government in its endeavour to provide better services to the citizens.

Dr Mwinyi called upon nurses and midwives to collaborate with other cadres in the sector in order to strengthen the provision of health services to citizens.

"In order to succeed in provision of better health services, the cooperation with other cadres such as medical doctors, pharmacists, laboratory technologists and attendants is a must and crucial," Dr Mwinyi said.

In a related development, Dr Mwinyi directed the Ministry of Health and other respective bodies to address the challenges raised by the nurses at the colourful event.

The nurses, through their leader, Ms Saida Kheri Hamad, said despite improved working environment lack of uniform, allowance, in-charge of supervision, shortage of nurses, and support for further studies have been frustrating them.

In response, President Mwinyi directed the Health ministry authorities led by Deputy Minister Mr Hassan Hafidh Khamis to allocate budget for allowances for nurses and supervisors, including availing uniforms because it is within their reach.

"Actually I had already advised to implement the nurses' prayers."

Dr Mwinyi also directed respective authorities to ensure nurses get scholarships for further studies, while the government struggles to further improve the working environment in all health facilities and hospitals.

He also promised to increase the number of nurses by employing new nurses in the next financial year.

"We appreciate the role played by the nurses, and thanks to the volunteers in the profession. I am happy to learn that nurses have been provided with guidelines, let us support them including providing them with opportunities for further education," he said.

Deputy Minister Mr Khamis praised the nurses for the good work and the President for his efforts in improving the health care services in the Islands of Unguja and Pemba,

According to the deputy minister, ordinary people in the Isles have been testifying acknowledging getting access to essential medicines and other services in hospitals.

He promised that the few unethical nurses, tarnishing the good image of the profession, will not be spared.

Zanzibar Nurse Association (ZANA) Chairperson, Dr Rukia Rajab also promised to take serious action against nurses who go against the professional ethics and code of conduct.

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She said that nurses are in a better position to contribute to the achievement of the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The theme for International Nurses Day 2023 is - "Our nurses, our future."

International Nurse Day is observed around the world annually on May 12, to honour the contribution of nurses to the society and acknowledge the role they play in the overall healthcare system.

Nurses play a crucial role in providing medical care and their role during Covid-19 has inspired humankind. The day also marks the birthday of Florence Nightingale.

Nightingale also known as "The Lady With the Lamp," was a British nurse, social reformer and statistician best known as the founder of modern nursing. She was the founder of St. Thomas's Hospital and the Nightingale Training School for Nurses in 1860.
Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova's comment on the confiscation of Konstantin Malofeyev's assets in the US

11 May 2023 20:47

904-11-05-2023

According to available information, the US Department of Justice recently completed the transfer of assets belonging to Russian entrepreneur Konstantin Malofeyev to the US Department of State. Earlier, they were blocked by an American bank and withdrawn by decision of the Joe Biden administration with the purpose of sending them to the pro-Nazi Kiev regime.

The ballyhoo staged by the US and other Western media is highly indicative in this context. Anti-Russia forces are using this move to demonstrate to the international community and primarily to business people what awaits those who do not want to follow in Washington's wake.

It is obvious to all those who are unwilling to obey US instructions that this is robbery for political reasons. Using illegal methods, the US authorities are confiscating the property of objectionable foreigners contrary to the fundamental principles that guarantee the inviolability of private property.

Moreover, in stealing other's property, the United States is simultaneously supporting Kiev's terrorist attacks. The attempts to conceal this shameful fact by saying that Malofeyev's assets will be spent "on Ukraine's recovery" are no more than a propaganda myth. Obviously, Ukraine will at best receive crumbs from these stolen assets, most of which will land in the US and in the pockets of its Kiev puppets.

We would like to hope that the international community and business people will draw the right conclusions from this story, at least about the true "reliability" of the US monetary and financial system and the US dollar as the world's reserve currency. These conclusions suggest themselves, considering that Washington does not even try to conceal that the Maloveyev case is far from the last one and intends to continue this flagrant practice of expropriating private funds.

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South Africa Denies Approving Arms Sale To Russia After U.S. Ambassador's Allegation

By RFE/RL May 12, 2023

The South African government did not approve any weapons shipments to Russia late last year, the country's communications minister said on May 12, one day after the U.S. ambassador to South Africa said he was confident that a Russian ship had picked up weapons at a South African port in December.

Mondli Gungubele, who chaired the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) when the alleged arms shipment to Russia took place, said that if weapons were loaded onto a vessel bound for Russia from South Africa, it was illegal and inappropriate.

"We didn't approve any arms to Russia.... It wasn't sanctioned or approved by us," Gungubele said on South African radio.

Clayson Monyela, a spokesman for South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), also denied there was an approved arms sale, saying on Twitter that the NCACC "has no record" of such a sale "related to the period/incident in question."

Neither Gungubele nor Monyela said whether an unapproved shipment had left South Africa.

U.S. Ambassador Reuben Brigety said on May 11 that Washington was confident a Russian vessel had uploaded weapons and ammunition from South Africa in December.

The weapons were loaded onto a Russian cargo ship that docked secretly at a naval base near Cape Town for three days and then transported to Russia, Brigety said, adding that the United States would like to see South Africa begin "practicing its nonalignment policy."

State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters that the United States has serious concerns about the docking of the ship, which was under U.S.-imposed sanctions. Washington has raised concerns about the weapons directly with multiple South African officials.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on May 12 declined to talk specifically on the South Africa matter but said "it's a serious issue."

The United States has consistently and strongly urged countries not to provide weapons for use in the war in Ukraine, he said.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's office said an inquiry led by a retired judge would look into the allegation.

The discussion of the alleged arms sale came as the Kremlin said on May 12 that Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to deepen ties with Ramaphosa after a phone call between the two presidents.

Putin told Ramaphosa that Moscow had never refused the "diplomatic track" to resolving the conflict in Ukraine, the Kremlin said.

Putin also said he supported Ramaphosa's proposal to involve African leaders in talks regarding a peace process for Ukraine, according to the Kremlin's readout of the call.

He also repeated an offer to deliver Russian grain and fertilizer free of charge to African countries.

Pretoria has faced a diplomatic dilemma since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Putin in March. Putin is due to attend a summit of the BRICS nations -- a bloc that groups Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa -- in South Africa in August.

South Africa, a member of the ICC, would be expected to arrest Putin if he steps foot in the country. South Africa last month described the international arrest warrant as a "spanner in the works" ahead of the summit.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/south-africa-russia-arms- shipment-ukraine/32409346.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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The Week In Russia: Theater Of War

By Steve Gutterman May 12, 2023

There's Red Square, and there's reality. Russian President Putin Vladimir Putin rehearsed grievances and repeated falsehoods at a Victory Day military parade as the war ground on in Ukraine. Farther from the Kremlin, the clampdown continued.

Here are some of the key developments in Russia over the past week and some of the takeaways going forward.

'A Real War'

Any military parade is probably more theater than reality -- a display of pomp, pride, and power that glosses over the pain, death, and deprivation of war.

But Putin's Victory Day address on Red Square on May 9, when Russia celebrates the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, seemed particularly detached from the facts of both that conflict decades ago and the war he has inflicted upon Ukraine -- the biggest war in Europe since 1945.

The parallels he drew between those wars were also badly flawed, observers of the annual event pointed out.

Whether the parade and his remarks served their purpose for Putin is another question. It's one that numerous analysts answered in the negative, saying they underscored his distortions of events past and present and gave additional exposure to the problems Russia is facing on the battlefield.

One major distortion came almost at the very start of the short speech, when he said that "a real war has once again been unleashed against our homeland."

This is false. Russia is the aggressor in the war in Ukraine, where Putin dramatically escalated a conflict that had persisted in the Donbas region since 2014 by launching a large-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.

Not Happening

Since then, there have been a number of artillery and drone attacks on Russian territory that Moscow has blamed on Kyiv. But these are minuscule compared to the Russian assault on Ukraine, where tens of thousands of civilians and combatants have been killed and millions of people driven from their homes. Russian forces control Crimea in its entirety, occupy parts of four other Ukrainian regions, and have laid waste to several cities and towns including Mariupol, a Sea of Azov port with a pre-invasion population of nearly half a million.

Putin's claim is false, but it fits in with a narrative he has turned to frequently as time has passed: that Russia is fighting not a war of aggression against Ukraine but rather a defensive effort against Western nations bent on tearing Russia apart. As he put it in the Red Square speech, "Their aim...is to achieve the collapse and destruction of our country."

This, too, is untrue. While plenty of people in the West would like to see what the domestic opposition describes in protest chants as "Russia without Putin," and some believe the war in Ukraine could bring that about, the prospect of Russia's disintegration or demise is a widely seen as a cause of concern, not enthusiasm, for the United States and many other governments.

Falsehoods aside, did this piece of military theater work for Putin?

As a show of strength, Russia's and his own, probably not.

The parade was modest compared to previous years in the Putin era. Fewer goose-stepping soldiers, fewer pieces of military equipment trundling across the square, and the absence of warplanes overhead might make sense when the country is fighting a war. But it may also have suggested that Russia's military -- built up over years in which Putin has warned the West to take notice -- needs everything it can get at the front and, after major losses in a war that Putin apparently hoped would be over in days or weeks but is now in its 15th month, has little to spare.

Prigozhin And Putin

The struggles on the battlefield and sharp disagreements among Russia's military leaders were on stark display in a series of angry video statements by Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the ostensibly private mercenary group Wagner, who accused top generals and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu of badly mishandling the war and particularly the bloody and protracted fighting over Bakhmut, a once-thriving city in the Donbas that is now the scene of horrors that seem out of place in this century -- or did before the Russian invasion last year.

In one video, Prigozhin stood before piles of corpses of what he said were Wagner soldiers and accused the generals of causing their deaths by withholding supplies of weapons and ammunition. In another, in a remark whose target he may have deliberately left vague, he came close to calling Putin a "prick."

Putin, addressing the parade from the grandstand near Lenin's tomb, was no doubt pleased that leaders from seven of the other 14 former Soviet republics attended -- up from zero in 2022. State TV made that clear by cutting to shots of them, one by one, during Putin's speech.

And the 70-year-old president "looked and sounded in good form, belying claims of his worsening health and imminent demise," author and analyst Mark Galeotti wrote in the Spectator shortly after the parade. He noted that Putin "exchanged remarks with...Shoigu, also bringing into question assertions of a rift between the two men."

"Yet there was also no escaping the way that the parade, for all its rousing tunes and geometric choreography, signaled a military locked in an unexpectedly tough war," Galeotti wrote. "Russia is a nation losing its international status, and its president has nothing to offer his people but false claims of victimhood."

The Immortal Regiment

Beyond Red Square, a different kind of parade was conspicuous in its absence. For years, Russians have held marches called the Immortal Regiment, walking the streets carrying signs with photographs of relatives who gave their lives or otherwise contributed to the Soviet war effort in World War II.

A grassroots initiative at first, the new tradition was swiftly appropriated by the state authorities under Putin, who over his years in power has become increasingly wary of what he cannot control, particularly when it involves large crowds of people in the streets.

This year, the Immortal Regiment marches were canceled. Security concerns were the official reason, but analysts say the Kremlin was concerned that Russians might carry portraits of men killed in the war in Ukraine and also, more simply, is afraid of large demonstrations.

"There is a fear that people will carry portraits of people who have been killed in Ukraine and the real casualty figures -- not the ones presented by the Defense Ministry -- will be visible," historian Ivan Kurilla told RFE/RL's Siberia.Realities. "That is the most likely reason. But more generally, the authorities are afraid of any mass demonstration by the people in public. The authorities are obviously afraid."

And in prisons, jails, and courts, the repression that Kremlin critics say is driven by that fear ground on.

Solitary

On May 11, imprisoned opposition leader Aleksei Navalny was sent to a punitive solitary confinementcell for the 15th time since August 2022, according to his Telegram channel.

Navalny said he was released from such a cell the previous evening but ordered back less than 14 hours later. He said he has spent 165 days in solitary confinement since he was jailed upon return to Russia in January 2021, after recovering in Germany from a near-fatal nerve-agent poisoning he blames on Putin.

The Telegram post came a day after the UN special rapporteur on torture, Alice Edwards, called on Russia to provide Navalny with "urgent and comprehensive" medical care amid reports that his health is deteriorating.

Edwards also cited the cases of three political supporters of Navalny who are also in detention -- Liliya Chanysheva, Vadim Ostanin, and Daniel Kholodny -- saying they should be released "without delay" if prompt, thorough, impartial investigations find that they "are being arbitrarily deprived of their liberty."

In the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg, popular former Mayor Yevgeny Roizman is being tried for his criticism of the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, under legislation signed by Putin days after it began. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted of discrediting the Russian military.

Roizman says he's being tried for calling the invasion of Ukraine what it is: the invasion of Ukraine. Russia officially calls the war a "special military operation," and officials including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov have falsely stated that Russia has not invaded Ukraine.

'Powerful, Beautiful Anti-War Poetry'

On May 4, police detained the director and author of Finist -- The Brave Falcon, a play about Russ ian women who married Muslim men and moved to Syria that won Russia's Golden Mask national theater award in 2002.

Director Yevgenia Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriichuk are accused of the justification of terrorism and have been sent to pretrial jail for at least two months while prosecutors assemble their case.

The accusation over the play is a pretext and Berkovich is really being prosecuted "for her powerful, beautiful anti-war poetry," Konstantin Sonin, a political economist and a professor at the University of Chicago, wrote on Twitter. "This is [about] her anti-war stance, her poetry, her bravery and independence."

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/week-in-russia-gutterman- theater-of-war/32408601.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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Press release on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's telephone conversation with Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud

12 May 2023 20:50

915-12-05-2023

On May 12, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke over the telephone with Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.

The foreign ministers of the two countries discussed topical issues of further strengthening the multifaceted Russian-Saudi relations. They paid particular attention to the practical implementation of the agreements reached as a result of bilateral contacts at the highest level.

The officials exchanged views in detail on key aspects of the regional and international agendas, with a focus on the situation in the Middle East and North Africa, including the Palestinian issue. They both spoke in favour of an expeditious comprehensive political settlement of the numerous crises in the region.

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Medvedev: Russia Using All Tools to Punish Those Responsible for Nord Stream Explosions

Sputnik News

20230512

ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) - Russia will continue using any available legal mechanisms to bring to justice those responsible for the Nord Stream explosions, although obtaining justice from international judicial bodies is unlikely, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday.

"We will, of course, continue to use all available legal mechanisms to bring perpetrators to justice, but the chances of achieving this on the platforms of international judicial bodies are slim," Medvedev said at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum.

He also noted that attempts were made to blame Russia for the blasts, while it was the country's rights that had been violated to a large extent.

"Contrary to the obvious facts, which point to the involvement of radical groups, European countries have conveniently forgotten their obligations under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Convention against Terrorist Bombings," Medvedev said.

The Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines - built to deliver gas under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany - were hit by explosions last September and rendered partially dysfunctional. The incident remains under investigation by Denmark, Germany and Sweden, as well as separately by Russia.

Russia considers the explosions at the two pipelines an act of international terrorism. There are no official results of the investigation yet, but Pulitzer Prize-winning US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published a report in February 2023, alleging the explosions had been organized by the United States with the support of Norway. Washington has denied any involvement in the incident.

In early March, German media disclosed details regarding the yacht allegedly linked to the sabotage on the Nord Stream pipelines. A Bavaria Cruiser 50 sailing yacht named Andromeda was rented by unknown people, with the e-mail used to rent it hinting at connections to Ukraine, the report said.

A Sputnik

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Medvedev: WW3 Will Have No Winners

Sputnik News

20230512

ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) - The planet is close to the World War Three but it will have no winners if unleashed, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday.

"It is obvious that a full-scale hybrid war has been unleashed against our country. Their [Ukraine's] American and European masters are heavily pumping our enemies with lethal weapons of all kinds ...in fact, they are leading the matter to a third world war, to a global catastrophe in which, as you know, there are no winners," Medvedev said in an address to the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum.

He noted that today the Russia is conducting a special military operation to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity and the security of millions of citizens.

A special military operation which Russia has been carrying out in Ukraine came in response to the request of the people's republics of Donetsk and Lugansk to protect their citizens amidst increased attacks from the Kiev regime.

After Russia's operation began, the United States and its allies ramped up their military support for Kiev.

A Sputnik

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Telephone conversation with President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa

Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with President of the Republic of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa at the South African side's initiative.

May 12, 2023

17:50

The presidents discussed topical issues of Russian-South African relations of strategic partnership. They expressed a desire to further step up mutually beneficial ties in various areas.

The presidents noted the importance of further close, bilateral coordination of positions during preparations for major multilateral events, in particular, the Second Russia-Africa Summit scheduled for July in St Petersburg and the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg in August under South Africa's Presidency.

During the discussion of global food security, Vladimir Putin reaffirmed Russia's willingness to supply needy African countries with substantial amounts of grain and fertiliser, including no-cost deliveries.

Having supported Cyril Ramaphosa's idea on the participation of a group of African leaders in discussing the prospects for settling the conflict in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin set forth his principled assessments of the destructive line pursued by the Kiev regime and its patrons. He noted that Russia has never refused to work on the diplomatic track.

It was agreed to continue contacts at various levels.

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South Africa Summons US Ambassador Over Russia Weapons Row

By Kate Bartlett May 12, 2023

A war of words is brewing between the U.S. and South Africa after the U.S. ambassador to the country said he would "bet his life" on U.S. intelligence that South African weapons were loaded onto a Russian vessel when it docked at a Cape Town naval base in December. The South African government hit back, saying that while it would investigate the matter, the U.S. ambassador's remarks had "undermined" the relationship between the two nations.

Pretoria summoned U.S. Ambassador Reuben Brigety on Friday, amid a diplomatic spat that has put relations between the two friendly nations at their lowest ebb in years.

After the meeting, South Africa issued a statement saying that Brigety "admitted that he crossed the line and apologized unreservedly to the government and the people of South Africa."

Brigety later said via Twitter: "I was grateful for the opportunity to speak with Foreign Minister Pandor this evening and correct any misimpressions left by my public remarks."

The demarche was issued after Brigety's extraordinarily strident comments to South African media on Thursday in which he said the U.S. had observed South African weapons being loaded onto a Russian vessel, the "Lady R," which docked at the port of Simon's Town in Cape Town between December 6 and December 8 last year.

He said it showed South Africa was not neutral on the Ukraine conflict as Pretoria has always claimed.

"The arming of Russia, by South Africa, with the vessel that landed in Simon's Town, is fundamentally unacceptable," he said. "We are confident that weapons were loaded onto that vessel, and I would bet my life on the accuracy of that assertion."

The South African government seemed caught by surprise by the ambassador's comments, responding hours later that they were setting up an independent investigation into the matter led by a retired judge.

But Vincent Magwenya, a spokesman for President Cyril Ramaphosa also hit back at Brigety's remarks, saying the U.S. and South Africa had already discussed the matter privately.

"It is, therefore, disappointing that the U.S. ambassador has adopted a counter-productive public posture that undermines the understanding reached on the matter," Magwenya said.

A spokesman for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation said Friday that minister Naledi Pandor would also be speaking to her U.S. counterpart, Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

However, Kobus Marais, shadow defense minister for South Africa's main opposition Democratic Alliance said the U.S. accusations were "deeply concerning."

"If these allegations are indeed true it would be a gross violation of South Africa's international obligations and a betrayal of the trust of our most important trade and investment allies," Marais said.

There have long been questions surrounding why the ship docked in Cape Town last year.

Despite western efforts to get Pretoria's support for Kyiv since the Russian invasion began last year, the South African government has maintained friendly relations with Moscow.

The country's foreign minister held bilateral talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier this year and - despite U.S. consternation - hosted Russian war ships in February for joint military exercises.

Steven Gruzd, a Russia expert at the South African Institute of International Affairs, told VOA that Pretoria could face economic fallout from its stance.

"South Africa is jeopardizing its access to the American market through something like the African Growth and Opportunity Act, those privileges would be revoked and then there would be real economic costs," he said.

South Africa also has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend a summit in the country in August, despite the fact there's an arrest warrant out for him by the International Criminal Court and Pretoria is a signatory to the court.

If he shows up, South Africa is legally obliged to arrest him. This has led to calls by some within the ruling party to look into restructuring the agreement with the ICC.

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Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Receives Phone Call from Russian Counterpart

Saudi Press Agency

Guatemala City, May 12, 2023, SPA -- Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, the Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs, received today a telephone call from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov.

During the call, the two top diplomats discussed the deeply-rooted Saudi-Russian relations and the latest regional and international developments of mutual concern.

Prince Faisal reiterated the Kingdom's support to efforts seeking a political solution to the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.

-- SPA

23:50 LOCAL TIME 20:50 GMT

0032

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Another Chinese drone partially circles Taiwan as 13 aircraft breach ADIZ

ROC Central News Agency

05/12/2023 01:01 PM

Taipei, May 12 (CNA)A total of 13 Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) between Thursday and Friday, including a CH-4 drone that flew around most of the island, according to Taiwan's defense ministry.

The flight path information released by the Ministry of National Defense (MND) showed the CH-4 drone flying in a clockwise direction off the coast of Taiwan, from north to east, then going south. It did not go up the west coast of the country, the path showed.

It was the third instance of China flying its People's Liberation Army (PLA) drones along the eastern boundary of Taiwan's ADIZ -- a region that is critical to the force preservation of Taiwan's military before and during a war -- after drones were detected in the region on April 28 and May 3 on slightly different flight paths, according to the MND.

An ADIZ zone is an area beyond a country's territorial airspace, within which identification, location, and air traffic control is required by the country, in the interest of its national security.

The Chinese CH-4 "Rainbow" is a large reconnaissance and combat drone, 8.5 meters long and 18 m wide, which China claims can fire air-to-ground missiles and fly at an altitude of 5,000 meters, making it difficult to bring down with the average anti-aircraft gun.

The other PLA aircraft that breached Taiwan's ADIZ between 6 a.m. Thursday and 6 a.m. Friday were two other drones -- a TB-001 and a BZK-005 -- two Sukhoi SU-30s, six J-10s, and one J-16, which are all fighter jets, and a Y-8 electronic warfare aircraft, according to the MND.

All of them, except the Y-8 and J-16, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, with the J-10s and SU-30s dabbling on the line before turning back, according to the flight paths.

The TB-001 and BZK-005 drones flew south and southeast of Taiwan in a counterclockwise direction, the flight paths showed.

In addition to the aircraft entering Taiwan's ADIZ, 19 other PLA planes and four vessels were seen in the airspace and waters around Taiwan during the 24-hour period from 6 a.m. Thursday, the MND said.

Taiwan's military dispatched aircraft and vessels to shadow the intruding hostiles and locked onto them with land-based missiles, the ministry said.

(By Sean Lin)

Enditem/pc

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Addis Abeba  On 18 February 2023, the TPLF celebrated the 48th anniversary of its foundation with various events held in Mekelle and other parts of the Tigray regional state. Photo: TPLF.

The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) declined to reinstate Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) registration as a political party on grounds that it is not supported by the electoral law.

In January 2021, NEBE cancelled TPLF's as a political party citing the party has engaged in armed violence against the government; it also prevented TPLF officials from operating on behalf of the party. In the same decision the board also requested the Federal Attorney General's office to investigate TPLF's movable and immovable assets and after the party's debts were paid off, for its remaining assets to be utilized for civic and voter education programs as per Proclamation number 1162/2019 article 99/3 of the Ethiopian Electoral, Political Parties Registration and Election's Code of Conduct Proclamation.

The Board said this morning that in a letter written last week, the TPLF requested it to reverse the decisions on the grounds that the war has ended with the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) signed between the government and the TPLF in Pretoria on 02 November last year.

However, the Board said that based on the request, it has investigated the matter in a meeting it held yesterday, and decided that "even though the armed violence that was the reason for the board's decision as stated in the party's letter no longer exists, there are no provisions in Proclamation number 1162/2019 to restore the legal personality to the party."

Instead, NEBE said that TPLF can acquire a legal personality and operate as a political party in accordance with Article 66 of Proclamation 1162/2019 and its subsequent provisions when it submits a re-registration request and the board approves the request based on the law.

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Furthermore, NEBE said that TPLF's request regarding its decision on the party's officials and its property were the outcome of the party's cancellation by the board, therefore not qualified to be requested as new. Subsequently, NEBE said it has rejected the request.

It is to be recalled that the House of Peoples Representatives (HoPR) during its 6th round, 2nd year, 1st special meeting held on 22 March has de-listed the terrorist designation of the TPLF by a majority vote, 61 against, and five abstentions.

Removing the terrorist designation of the party was included in the AU brokered CoHA which stipulated that as part of the implementation of the CoHA the federal government should "facilitate the lifting of the terrorist designation of the TPLF by the House of People's Representatives."

Getachew Reda, member of the TPLF's Executive Committee was already elected to lead the interim administration of the regional state, with 18 votes out of the 41 members of the TPLF's central Committee in a party election procedure held on 17 March.

Subsequently, on 23 March the Office Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ahmed said PM Abiy has "appointed" Getachew Reda as head of the Interim Regional Administration (IRA) of Tigray regional state. AS
Bill to establish international affairs unit under Legislature passes

ROC Central News Agency

05/12/2023 09:10 PM

Taipei, May 12 (CNA) An amendment bill to establish an international affairs department under the Legislature to promote parliamentary diplomacy passed on Friday.

According to the amendment bill of the Organic Act of the Legislative Yuan, the new department will be tasked with handling international exchanges and cooperation between the Legislature and its foreign counterparts.

The division will also assist individual lawmakers or lawmaker groups in engaging in international activities, the bill states.

Under the bill, the department will also be responsible for receiving foreign guests visiting the Legislature and hosting relevant activities.

According to a report sent to members of the Legislature's Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee, tasks related to international affairs within the Legislature are currently handled by the Secretariat.

However, the Secretariat has become unable to fulfill the increasing needs of the Legislature to promote parliamentary diplomacy and help "raise Taiwan's international standing" amid "geopolitical changes," the report said.

The report added that countries such as Japan, South Korea, the Czech Republic, France, and Germany had similar establishments within their parliaments to handle international affairs.

Lin Jih-jia (zaa), secretary general of the Legislature, told the judiciary committee at a hearing on Monday that the international affairs division would form a strategy to better help the Legislature operate in line with international circumstances and the national interest of the Republic of China, Taiwan's official name.

All four parties with seats in the Legislature have sponsored competing bills with regard to establishing an international affairs department, namely the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, the main opposition Kuomintang, the Taiwan People's Party, and the New Power Party.

At Monday's hearing, lawmakers across parties agreed upon a final version that has taken into consideration all the variations among the competing bills.

That final version was put through on the legislative floor on Friday without any objections.

(By Wang Yang-yu and Teng Pei-ju)

Enditem/ASG

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Kazakh President Says It's 'Absolutely Clear' That Taiwan Is Part Of China

By RFE/RL May 12, 2023

Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev said it is "absolutely clear" that Taiwan is a part of China as the Central Asian nation looks to build ties with its eastern neighbor.

"There should not be two Chinas. Taiwan is part of China. The principle of the territorial integrity of all countries is enshrined in the United Nations Charter and that must be respected," Toqaev said in an interview with China's CCTV television channel that was published on May 12.

"Therefore, I would like to stress again: It is absolutely clear for us that Taiwan is part of China. And we do not have any doubts about it," Toqaev added.

Answering a question about concerns in some parts of the world about the strengthening of ties between China and five former Soviet republics -- including Kazakhstan -- in Central Asia, Toqaev said: "There must be no concerns about that."

"Our intentions are open [and] sincere. The fact is that China is the world's second economy and, therefore, we must recognize China's role, and we have to build very good relations with your country," Toqaev said.

Toqaev's interview comes less than a week before China's two-day summit with the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The meeting focusing on strengthening economic and diplomatic ties will be held on May 18-19 in China's historic city of Xi'an on the ancient Silk Road.

China has invested billions of dollars to develop energy reserves in Central Asia.

In September last year, Chinese leader Xi Jingpin traveled to Kazakhstan on his first trip abroad since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

The five tightly controlled former Soviet republics were part of the Soviet Union before gaining independence in 1991 and have been traditionally in the sphere of Moscow's interests since the mid-19th century. Ties with China are on the rise, however, at a time when the Kremlin is also grooming its relations with Beijing as much of the West isolates it over Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Kazakhstan, which along with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan borders China's northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, has remained silent over accusations of human rights violations by Beijing targeting mostly Muslim, Turkic speaking Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other indigenous ethnic groups of the restive region.

With reporting by KazTAG, Tengrinews, Nur.kz, and Zakon.kz

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kazakhstan-taiwan- china-toqaev-xi/32409340.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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May 12, 2023

Release

Readout of Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen Hicks' Meeting With U.K. Permanent Under Secretary for the Ministry of Defence David Williams at the U.S.-UK Defense Dialogue

Pentagon Spokesman Eric Pahon provided the following readout:

Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen Hicks hosted the U.S.-UK Defense Dialogue today with her UK counterpart, Permanent Under Secretary for Defence Mr. David Williams, at the Pentagon. The two leaders discussed U.S. and UK strategic guidance, climate resiliency, Euro-Atlantic security, the AUKUS trilateral partnership, and force development.

The dialogue also included discussion of the U.S. National Defense Strategy and the UK Integrated Review Refresh, addressing the acute threat Russia poses - evidenced by its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine - as well as sustaining and strengthening deterrence, and the People's Republic of China as the United States' pacing challenge.

Deputy Secretary Hicks reiterated the priority that the U.S. Department of Defense places on close, continued collaboration with Allies and partners. She also emphasized the importance of these relationships to our collective ability to address shared security concerns. The two leaders also discussed efforts to increase defense industry production and implementation of the AUKUS trilateral partnership, to include export controls and information sharing.

The Deputy Secretary emphasized U.S. concerns over the profound impact climate change has on Department operations, and the need to consider increased climate resiliency for the U.S., our Allies, and our partners. She said she is proud of the work U.S. and UK teams have accomplished together, from sharing climate intelligence to best practices to build climate literacy across the total force, and information on climate wargaming techniques.

The two leaders committed to deepening the U.S.-UK special relationship, continuing to make progress toward addressing shared concerns, and said they look forward to convening the next Defense Dialogue in London.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3394527/

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China's special envoy to visit Ukraine and related countries to promote political solution to crisis

Global Times

Objective and just position as a responsible power highlighted

By GT staff reporters Published: May 12, 2023 04:07 PM

China's special envoy for Eurasian affairs Li Hui will visit Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany and Russia, starting on May 15, to communicate with all parties on a political solution to the Ukraine crisis, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced at a press conference on Friday.

Chinese experts said Li's upcoming visits demonstrate China's efforts to bring about a political settlement to the Ukraine crisis, showing China's objective and fair stance as a responsible power.

According to Wang, since the beginning of the crisis, China has held an objective and just position and actively promoted talks for peace. President Xi Jinping has put forward four principles, called for joint efforts in four areas and shared three observations on Ukraine, which outline China's fundamental approach to the issue. On this basis, China released its Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis, which reflects the above core ideas of China's stance and takes into account the legitimate concerns of all parties, receiving extensive understanding and recognition from the international community.

During a phone conversation on April 26, President Xi told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that China will send a special representative on Eurasian affairs to visit Ukraine and other countries to push for a political settlement to the crisis.

Li is a veteran diplomat and has been China's special envoy for Eurasian Affairs since 2019. He was previously Chinese ambassador to Kazakhstan from 1997 to 1999, and from 2009 to 2019 he served as China's ambassador to Russia, according to publicly available information.

Wang Wenbin said Li's upcoming visit reflects China's commitment to promoting peace talks and staying on the side of peace.

Wang noted that as the Ukraine crisis drags on and escalates, the world continues to experience the spillover effects of the crisis, with voices calling for a ceasefire and de-escalation in the international community.

China will continue to play a constructive role and build greater international consensus on ending hostilities, starting peace talks and preventing an escalation of the situation, and help facilitate a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis, said Wang.

Cui Heng, an assistant research fellow from the Center for Russian Studies of East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Friday that Li's Europe tour is aimed at implementing China's efforts to promote peace talks.

According to Cui, in the case of ongoing conflicts, even if there are people who want to talk with each other, under the influence of various forces, it is not convenient to have direct communication. In this case, a third party is needed to.

"Under such circumstances, no matter what the outcome is, China must do it and only China can do it... This shows China's responsibility as a major country," Cui said.

However, there are still some Western media that doubt China's neutrality, as Li's background of former ambassador to Russia indicates Li has "close ties" with Moscow, a claim that experts described as nit-picking.

It's absurd to believe that the special envoy's background as former ambassador to Moscow will lead to a biased position, Cui said.

Almost all Chinese ambassadors to Russia have worked in the Department of Eurasian Affairs, where diplomats may be dispatched to different countries according to their job requirements, Cui explained, noting that Ukrainian affairs also fall under the Eurasian Division. If history serves as a reference, ambassador Li may be dispatched to Ukraine as well.

Chinese diplomats are objective and impartial, not biased, Cui said, adding that if there is any "bias," then diplomats of all countries serve their own nations' interests first.

"If we follow this inference from some US and Western media, is the US ambassador to China pro-China? The suggestion apparently does not stand up to scrutiny," Cui added.

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Update 157 - IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine

International Atomic Energy Agency

41/2023

Vienna, Austria

12 May 2023

Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) still has enough essential staff for its current reduced level of operations, but the continued lack of maintenance personnel on-site could negatively impact nuclear safety and security and is not sustainable, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said today.

Europe's largest nuclear power plant (NPP) - located by the frontline - has seen a considerable reduction in staffing numbers since the armed conflict in Ukraine began nearly 15 months ago. Concerns about the difficult and challenging circumstances for plant personnel and their families have deepened further amid signs of a growing military presence and activity in the region.

"It is not sustainable to maintain this major nuclear power plant for extended periods with only essential staffing. The safety of the plant, even in a shutdown state, requires adequate maintenance of plant equipment, as well as other regular and important work. It is concerning that the established maintenance programme was not followed for many months now," Director General Grossi said.

Last week, IAEA experts at the ZNPP learnt that a voluntary evacuation of residents from the nearby town of Enerhodar - where most plant personnel live - had begun, creating further uncertainty about the staffing situation.

The IAEA team observed that there have been fewer staff on-site over the past week, but they were still able to confirm that essential personnel working in the main control rooms were available and present during each shift.

The IAEA experts were informed that the past week's reduced number of staff was due to the recent holiday period and the current situation in the region, with plant management adding that it remained a priority to have sufficient staff to meet all relevant regulatory requirements, including those for nuclear and industrial safety.

Director General Grossi expressed concern that the challenging staffing situation could affect the ZNPP's ability to properly maintain systems that are important for nuclear safety and security.

"In the medium and longer term, this is increasing the risk of a nuclear accident and its associated consequences for the population and the environment. There must be staff available to properly maintain the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant and to ensure it remains in a safe state at all times," he said.

The Director General - who has repeatedly expressed concern about the welfare of staff and their families and the potential impact on nuclear safety and security - said the IAEA team was closely monitoring developments and that the experts, in recent days, had visited Enerhodar, and also engaged with staff in the plant's reactor control rooms and elsewhere.

"There is little doubt that the plant is experiencing a very difficult staffing situation. As the plant's six reactors are all in a shutdown state - thereby requiring fewer operating staff - our assessment is that the current level of operating staff is sufficient, for now. But this is not a way to operate a major nuclear power plant safely, securely, and sustainably," he said.

The IAEA team at the ZNPP has also previously reported about a significant impact on the plant's maintenance capability due to reduced staff, absence of external contractors who performed part of the maintenance work in the past, and a lack of spare parts needed for the maintenance, including critical components.

Director General Grossi said he was increasingly concerned about nuclear safety and security in general at the ZNPP at a time of heightened speculation of future military operations in the area and elsewhere. The IAEA experts at the site have continued to hear shelling and gunfire.

"I remain engaged in intense negotiations with all the involved parties to secure the protection of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. Everybody would lose if there were a nuclear accident that could have serious consequences for human health and the environment in Ukraine and beyond. Protecting the plant should be a clear win-win for all sides. I will not give up until this has been achieved," Director General Grossi said.

Further underlining the nuclear safety and security risks, the ZNPP continues to rely on the only remaining functioning 750 kilovolt (kV) power line for the external electricity it needs for reactor cooling and other essential nuclear safety and security functions. Before the conflict, the plant had four such off-site power lines available. The last functioning back-up 330 kV power line that was damaged on the right bank of the Dnipro River on 1 March has still not been repaired.

The IAEA team continues to monitor the actions taken for restoring other sources of off-site power but has not had access to the nearby Zaporizhzhya Thermal Power Plant (ZTPP), despite assurances by Rosatom that this would be granted. The ZTPP operates its 330 kV open switchyard, through which back-up power has in the past been provided to the ZNPP. Director General Grossi underlined the importance of the IAEA gaining access to the ZTPP as soon as possible.

The IAEA experts also monitor the height of the Kakhovka Reservoir. The height of the reservoir has risen significantly over the past month and on 6 May it was at historically high levels of 17.12 metres, which had raised concerns that the high levels could adversely affect the plant. The height is currently 17.07 metres. The elevation of the ZNPP site is 22 metres, approximately five metres above the current height of the reservoir. The possible effects on the plant from flooding were analysed as part of stress tests conducted following the Fukushima Daiichi accident in 2011. Based on the conservative scenario of all upstream dams failing, the analysis demonstrated that the water levels could reach 19.6 metres, still below the site elevation. At water heights above 17.7 metres, water from the reservoir would flow directly into the cooling pond of ZNPP. This could adversely affect the quality of the cooling water but would not affect the nuclear safety of the plant.

In addition, if the height of the reservoir were to continue to rise to such a level that the Kakhovka Dam, located approximately 100 kilometres downstream from the ZNPP, was no longer able to retain water, then the water levels near ZNPP and the near-by town and villages would decrease. Nevertheless, the IAEA assesses that this reduction in water levels would not pose any immediate threat to nuclear safety and security, and would be similar to the situation reported in Update 145.

IAEA experts are also permanently present at Ukraine's other NPPs - Khmelnitsky, Rivne and South Ukraine - and the Chornobyl site, helping Ukraine maintain nuclear safety and security during the conflict. After several weeks of relative calm, our teams reported frequent air raid alarms earlier this week.

On 1 May, the 16th delivery of equipment to Ukraine took place as part of the IAEA's overall efforts to help maintain nuclear safety and security in Ukraine. It comprised IT equipment for the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Centre intended to strengthen its capability for radiation monitoring, storing of data as well as sharing of data internationally through the IAEA IRMIS (International Radiation Monitoring Information System) website. Also, 200 Portable Power Systems for the Public Health Centre of the Ministry of Health in Ukraine were delivered in order to compensate for the frequent power losses. The equipment was procured by the Agency using an extrabudgetary contribution from Australia.

On 5 May, the IAEA signed an agreement with France and Ukraine's Energoatom regarding support to Ukraine's NPPs. Through this agreement, Ukraine will receive the necessary spare parts for emergency diesel generators of the South Ukraine NPP. In case of loss of off-site power, the NPPs rely on their emergency diesel generators to provide power for their continued safe and secure operation until off-site power is restored. Therefore, the maintenance and functionality of the emergency diesel generators, including the availability of spare parts, is essential to ensure their proper functioning to prevent a nuclear accident due loss of off-site power.

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Minister of National Defence and Chief of Defence of Lithuania visit Lithuanian military instructors training Ukrainian troops in Germany

Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of National Defence

2023-05-12

International cooperation | Minister's news

On May 12 Minister of National Defence Arvydas AnuAauskas and Chief of Defence of Lithuania Lt Gen Valdemaras RupAys are visiting Lithuanian Armed Forces instructors providing training to Ukrainian military as part of the European Union Military Assistance Mission in Support of Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine) at the Special Training Command in Germany. The first team of instructors formed by the Lithuanian Armed Forces Infantry Brigade Griffin left for Germany to start the mission on April 11 and will return on May 14.

"Lithuanian military instructors have already provided training to over 1 thousand Ukrainian colleagues since the war was started, and at least another 1 thousand is expected to add by the end of this year. Training assistance is a vital part of our support to Ukraine, therefore we are considering increasing the training tempo as we map out the support over the long-term and to assign more personnel for the task," said Minister of National Defence A. AnuAauskas about further assistance to Ukraine.

The German-led multinational military training programme aims at strengthening military capacity of Ukraine so that is has a better ability to ensure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, and to protect the civilian population.

"Training the Ukrainians is our priority when it comes to international tasks. We are not only sharing knowledge that, I am certain, will be critical on the battlefield, but also learning from them. Including during joint tasks with one of our most important Allies, Germany. We will be looking for ways to increase and strengthen this training mission, especially from the perspective of a long-term assistance to Ukraine," said Chief of Defence Lt Gen V. RupAys.

At the Special Training Command in Germany, Lithuanian military instructors with colleagues from Belgium, Norway, Slovenia and Germany are training the Ukrainians in the areas of weapon handling, medicine and engineering, train different levels of units on offensive and defensive tasks in urban or forested areas.

The Lithuanian military instructors are providing training to Ukrainian troops as part of different bilateral and international initiatives, in total, approx. 50 training programmes.

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West supplies first long-range missiles to Ukraine, taunts South Africa

Iran Press TV

Friday, 12 May 2023 8:13 AM

Britain becomes the first country to start supplying Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles, giving Kiev the ability to attack inside Russia while the West's hunt for any weapons delivery to Moscow continues with South Africa being the latest accusee.

Ukraine has been asking for long-range missiles for months, but massive support from Britain and other allies such as the United States have previously been limited to shorter-range weapons.

British Defense Secretary Wallace said London was sending Shadow Storm missiles to Ukraine so they could be used domestically, meaning he had received assurances from Ukraine that they would not be used to target inside Russia.

Accusing Russia of deliberately targeting civilians, he claimed that Russia's actions had led to sending such systems to Ukraine.

The missiles "are now going into, or are in, the country itself", he said.

The Kremlin had previously warned that if Britain provides these missiles to Ukraine, it should expect "an adequate response from our army".

Russia has launched long-range missile attacks against Ukraine in recent days. It has already said that such attacks were designed to reduce the ability of Kiev in the war, rejecting any deliberate strikes on civilians.

US accusations against South Africa

The US ambassador to South Africa accused the country of secretly supplying Russia with weapons on Thursday, a charge that drew an angry rebuke from Pretoria.

Ambassador Reuben Brigety told media at a news conference that the United States believes weapons and ammunition were loaded onto a Russian cargo ship that docked at the Cape Town naval base in December.

"We are confident that weapons were loaded onto that vessel and I would bet my life on the accuracy of that assertion," Brigety said, according to a video of the remarks. "The arming of Russia by South Africa ... is fundamentally unacceptable."

In response to the allegations, President Ramaphosa's office hit back and called it "disappointing" that the US envoy had "adopted a counter-productive public posture".

"The Ambassador's remarks undermine the spirit of cooperation and partnership that characterised the recent engagements between US government officials and a South African official delegation," said Ramaphosa's spokesman Vincent Magwenya, in a Thursday statement.

He added, that while there is no evidence provided to support these allegations by the US, "the government has undertaken to institute an independent enquiry to be led by a retired judge."

Since the onset of the war, the US and the European Union have supplied Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars worth of weapons, including rocket systems, drones, armored vehicles, tanks, and communication systems despite Russia's repeated warnings that the Western military assistance will only prolong the war.

Zelensky: Ukraine needs time before counter-offensive

Ukraine was previously expected to launch a counteroffensive after six months of keeping its forces on the defensive, but Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that he still needed more time to plan a counter-offensive.

Speaking at his headquarters in Kiev, President Zelensky described the combat brigades, some of which were trained by NATO countries, and said the military still needed "some things," including armored vehicles that were "arriving in batches."

"With [what we already have] we can go forward, and, I think, be successful," he said. "But we'd lose a lot of people. I think that's unacceptable. So we need to wait. We still need a bit more time."

Meanwhile, Russian forces have strengthened their defenses along the frontline, which runs 145 kilometers from the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk to Zaporizhzhia and Kherson in the south.

Ukrainian officials have tried to dampen expectations of a breakthrough, both publicly and privately. Earlier this month, a senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the country's leaders "realized they had to succeed" but that the attack should not be seen as a "silver bullet" in the war, now in its 15th month.

Russia denies advances by Ukrainian forces along front line

Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense on Thursday rejected reports that Ukrainian forces had penetrated into various parts of the front line and said that the military situation was under control.

Moscow reacted after Russian military bloggers on the Telegram messaging app reported Ukrainian advances north and south of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, with some suggesting an expected counterattack by pro-Kiev forces has begun.

"Statements circulated by individual Telegram channels about 'defence breakthroughs' that took place in different areas along the line of military contact do not correspond to reality," the Russian defence ministry said in a Telegram post.

"The overall situation in the area of the special military operation is under control," it said in a statement, using the Kremlin's description of the war in Ukraine.

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Russia Acknowledges Retreat North Of Bakhmut After Major Advance Of Ukrainian Troops

By RFE/RL May 12, 2023

The Russian Defense Ministry has acknowledged its forces retreated from positions north of the city of Bakhmut in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region that for months has been the scene of heavy fighting.

Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said at a news briefing on May 12 that Russian forces had "occupied a new frontier" at the Berkhivske reservoir.

Konashenkov said Ukraine had launched an assault with more than 1,000 troops and up to 40 tanks after advancing the day before in the Soledar direction "along the entire line of contact" with a length of more than 95 kilometers.

The retreat allows Ukrainian troops to control the road to the town of Chasiv Yar, the only highway currently supplying Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut.

The gains, if confirmed, would be the biggest for Ukraine in six months. It is also unclear if the developments were part of a long-planned counteroffensive, which the head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on May 11 had already begun.

Prigozhin, Russian military bloggers, and the Ukrainian Army had previously reported about the retreat. Prigozhin acknowledged it in an audio message, saying that what Konashenkov described "unfortunately is called a rout and not a regrouping."

In a separate video message, he said the Ukrainians had seized high ground overlooking Bakhmut and opened the main highway leading into the city from the west. This could lead to the encirclement of his mercenaries inside the city, Prigozhin said.

There also were reports of Ukrainian advances to the south, suggesting a coordinated push by Kyiv to encircle Russian forces in Bakhmut.

Russian-installed officials in Luhansk on May 12 reported two powerful explosions in the city, which is far from Ukrainian positions. Photos published on Telegram showed a column of black smoke rising over the city.

Luhansk authorities said on Telegram that two Ukrainian-made Grom tactical missiles damaged or destroyed buildings at two disused factories and blew out the windows of five houses.

The Moscow-backed administrator of the Luhansk region, Leonid Pasechnik, said six children had been injured. Viktor Volodatsky, a member of the State Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament, was also injured, according to other officials.

There was no comment from the Ukrainian side, and the claims could not be independently verified.

Earlier on May 12, Kyiv claimed modest advances in the Bakhmut area. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said on Telegram that Ukrainian forces had advanced 2 kilometers without ceding any ground elsewhere to the Russians.

In turn, Russia's Defense Ministry said its troops had fought off several Ukrainian attempts to overrun their positions while pounding the Bakhmut-Avdiyivka-Maryinka front line that has seen the fiercest fighting over the past several months.

Neither side's claims could be independently verified.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed again to defeat the Russians and thanked everyone involved in driving them out of Ukrainian territory.

"The occupiers of Ukraine are already internally ready for defeat. They have already lost this war in their minds. We must put pressure on them daily so that their sense of defeat turns into their escape, their mistakes, their losses,"he said on May 12 on Twitter.

"We are preparing to add even more weapons for you, warriors, to have even more opportunities to defeat the Russian aggressor and restore peace. I'm thankful to everyone who helps Ukraine," he added.

Ukraine's preparations for a counteroffensive received an important boost on May 11 when Britain announced it was supplying long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, giving Kyiv the capability to hit Russian troops well behind front lines. Storm Shadow missiles have a range of more than 250 kilometers.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, RFE/RL's Russian Service, Reuters, AFP, BBC, and dpa

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/bakhmut-battle-moscow- ukraine-counteroffensive/32408348.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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'Panicking For Real': In Anticipation Of A Counteroffensive, Russia Moves Thousands Of People From Their Homes In Southern Ukraine

By Oleksandr Yankovskiy, Olena Badyuk May 12, 2023

"In the beginning, numerous children were taken away, and the parents who sent their kids to schools and kindergartens were receiving threats," a resident of Polohy, a Russian-occupied city in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhya region, told RFE/RL on condition of anonymity.

As Ukraine gears up for a long-anticipated counteroffensive, officials displaced from the Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions say Russia is forcibly removing civilians from occupied towns and settlements close to the front line in the south. Reports of what Russia calls evacuations are piling up.

The evacuation of 18 settlements in the occupied part of the Zaporizhzhya region was announced by the Russian-installed administrator, Yevhen Balytskiy, on May 5. In a video message, he said the decision is a "necessary security measure" due to the intensification of shelling and assured that "there is no panic."

Two days later, Balytskiy said that more than 1,600 people, including 660 children, had been moved to Berdyansk, a Russian-occupied port city farther south, on the Sea of Azov. He also promised a payment of 10,000 Russian rubles ($130) to those leaving.

Another representative of the occupation authorities in the Zaporizhzhya region, Volodymyr Rohov, said in his Telegram channel that the so-called "evacuation" was voluntary. He also said that the list of settlements from which the local population will be evacuated may expand.

The anonymous resident of Polohy, who didn't want her name published due to security concerns, said the children who were forced to leave Polohy -- some of them accompanied by their mothers, some not -- were promised to be settled in a vacation camp in Berdyansk.

"But not everyone got accommodated because these camps are filled with occupiers and [Russian] military personnel," she told News of Azov, a project of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service that covers the Sea of Azov coastal area of Ukraine.

According to her testimony, some people were eventually settled in dire conditions, without the provision of food that had been promised, and others were taken to the city of Rostov-on-Don and other places in Russia.

In addition to children, the woman said that members of the occupation authorities and people who collaborated with them had also left Polohy, as well as some teachers and doctors.

Polohy is on the front line south of Hulyaypole and southeast of Orikhiv, both

of which are controlled by Ukraine. The resident said that while some people were leaving the city, Russian military personnel were bringing in more equipment, building fortifications, and digging trenches -- signs of preparations for the expected counteroffensive.

"They have been dismantling the locomotive depot for several days. They take out the railway cars, cut them into pieces, and put that on their trucks and take it someplace in the fields, where they are digging them in to create makeshift bunkers," the woman said.

She said that people staying in Polohy were stockpiling water and food in anticipation of the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian Army while the Russian military is trying to intimidate them.

Given the ongoing hostilities and Russia's occupation of Ukrainian territory, RFE/RL was unable to obtain official confirmation of this testimony or independently verify it.

But statements by Ukrainian officials displaced from occupied cities and towns in the Zaporozhizhya and Kherson regions suggest that a substantial campaign of forced evacuations has begun.

'Forcibly Taking Children'

The displaced mayor of Polohy, Yuriy Konovalenko, said that residents of the city and surrounding district who have children began to receive messages about the so-called evacuation of mothers with children to occupied Berdyansk. All those who decide to stay must put their refusal in writing, he said.

The displaced chief of the Ukrainian military administration of the nearby Russian-controlled city of Tokmak, Oleksandr Chub, said children were ordered to come to schools with their belongings and documents. Schools, shops, the local market, pharmacies, and utility companies were closed that day, and doctors were not allowed to go home, he added.

Ivan Fedorov, the displaced mayor of Melitopol, a large Russian-held city in the Zaporizhzhya region, said the occupation authorities were planning to move about 70,000 residents from settlements along the front line. He said the occupation authorities were "forcibly taking children away" and that humanitarian conditions in some settlements had deteriorated, with medicines and other goods in short supply.

"They are hiding behind [the claim that they are] taking care of civilians, but in reality, in anticipation of a counteroffensive, they want to set up military bases there," Fedorov said.

The head of the Berdyansk city military administration, Viktoria Halitsyna, confirmed that the occupation authorities' representatives, collaborators, and children from the Zaporizhzhya region are being taken to Berdyansk.

She said that Russian military personnel have been arriving in the city along with civilians, accusing the soldiers of using them "as a human shield" for their military movements.

Occupation authorities have also announced evacuations from Enerhodar, the city on the south bank of the Dnieper River where workers from the nearby Russian-held Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant live.

On May 6, International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi said IAEA experts at the plant had "received information that the announced evacuation" of Enerhodar residents had started, according to an IAEA news release.

The IAEA experts were "closely monitoring the situation for any potential impact on nuclear safety and security," it said.

"The general situation in the area near the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant is becoming increasingly unpredictable and potentially dangerous. I'm extremely concerned about the very real nuclear safety and security risks facing the plant," the news release quoted Grossi as saying.

In a comment to News of Azov, the displaced mayor of Enerhodar, Dmytro Orlov, said that people were being moved out and that goods and services were getting scarce.

"They took out the equipment from the medical-sanitary unit, computer equipment, documentation, and the passport office, which they had on the premises of the plant; they took it all about a week ago. The Internet connection is not working anymore, and grocery stores and pharmacies are closed. There is a rush to buy food and basic necessities. Gas stations and ATMs are also empty," Orlov said.

Most of the locals who have been cooperating with the Russian occupation forces left Enerhodar even earlier, he said.

Meanwhile, reports said that in the occupied part of the Kherson region, Russian troops have been moving into the homes of locals who have left the area. According to the Center for National Resistance, a Ukrainian state agency monitoring the occupied territories, a unit of the Russian National Guard settled in the homes of Ukrainians who had been evacuated earlier from the town of Oleshky by the occupation authorities.

The displaced mayor of Oleshky, Yevhen Ryshchuk, claimed that panic was spreading among the Russian military personnel stationed in the town.

"We see that they have become more active, documents are being checked at checkpoints, more stuff is being taken away," Ryshchuk told News of Azov. "There are constant rotations, and each new rotation wants to steal something, to take something away. It is a fact they are in a great panic that there will soon be a counteroffensive by the Ukrainian Army."

Preparation For The 'Goodwill Gesture'

Oleksandr Kovalenko, a military and political observer of the Information Resistance group, a Ukrainian NGO countering Russian propaganda, told News of Azov that Russian forces in the occupied part of the Zaporizhzhya region were conducting the "first phase of preparation" for the "goodwill gesture" -- meaning a withdrawal in the face of a counteroffensive.

The phrase became popular in Ukraine following counteroffensives last year in which Ukrainian forces regained control over swaths of land in the east and south, including Kherson, the only regional capital that Russian forces had taken since the large-scale invasion in February 2022. In some cases, the Russian military said it was pulling back as a gesture of goodwill.

"In the first phase, they are taking medical personnel and the wounded out of the occupied territories, taking out medical equipment, that is, looting all hospitals, even pharmacies -- taking out the medicines that are there," Kovalenko said.

He predicted that Russia would soon start withdrawing artillery in case its troops are forced to retreat quickly, and then removing military communications systems.

"That will mean that the goodwill gesture will take place in one or two weeks," he said.

With expectations of a major spring counteroffensive making headlines around the world for weeks, Ukrainian officials have been trying to play down expectations. But Kovalenko said he believes the public discussion about a counteroffensive is demoralizing for Russian troops.

"Everyone is talking about it; everyone is coming up with theories about it. But no one knows 100 percent how it will happen, whether it will follow the scenario that many people assume, or whether it will be something so unique that no one is ready for it. That's why the Russians, I would say, are panicking for real," he said.

Written by Aleksander Palikot in Kyiv based on reporting by Oleksandr Yankovskiy and Olena Badyuk of RFE/RL's Crimea.Realities and News of Azov.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine- counteroffensive-russia-evacuations-panic- kherson-zaporizhzhya/32409162.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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Press release on Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin's participation in a high-level four-party meeting (Russia, TArkiye, Ukraine plus the UN) in Istanbul

12 May 2023 19:15

914-12-05-2023

On May 10-11, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin attended a high-level four-party meeting (Russia, TArkiye, Ukraine plus the UN) in Istanbul as a member of the Russian interdepartmental delegation.

The parties focused on the implementation of the package of agreements signed in Istanbul on July 22, 2022. They laid emphasis on the Black Sea Initiative on the export of Ukrainian grain, which expires on May 18. The parties conducted a detailed exchange of views on the current problems in the work of the Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) and the proposals by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on unblocking the Togliatti-Odessa Ammonia Pipeline.

Russian delegates confirmed that the exports of ammonia were supposed to begin simultaneously with the export of Ukrainian grain under both Istanbul agreements and without any preliminary conditions. Emphasising the interlinked character of the package agreements, the Russian participants noted the absence of progress in implementing the Russia-UN Memorandum on normalising domestic agricultural exports. They pointed to five systemic problems (bank payments, transport logistics and insurance, parts supplies, unblocking "frozen" assets and the ammonia pipeline). These obstacles continue preventing Russian agricultural exports from reaching global markets.

Russian delegates noted that commercial exports of Ukrainian grain (70 percent of which is fodder corn and feeder grain) mostly to the advanced countries are not of primary importance for ensuring global food security and reducing the threat of famine. To reach these goals, it is more important to normalise exports of Russian fertilisers and grain (70 percent of which is wheat), which are being complicated by Western unilateral blocking sanctions.

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Health Experts, yesterday, warned against discriminating and stigmatising people affected by Tuberculosis (TB), noting that this discourages them from coming out for treatment.

They made this known at a one-day training, in Lagos, for journalists on key concepts in Tuberculosis Prevention and Control, organised by the Institute of Human Virology (IHVN) in collaboration with Breakthrough Action-Nigeria (BA-N) and Lagos State Ministry of Health.

The training was aimed at increasing the knowledge of media personnel on TB control efforts in Nigeria and improving the quality of media reporting on the disease.

The Deputy Director and Programme Manager, Lagos State Tuberculosis, Leprosy, and Buruli Ulcer Control Programme, Dr. Olusola Sokoya, explained that TB is a chronic infectious disease transmitted through the air and caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis.

He stated that TB is one of the devastating diseases that have an impact on our health globally and the entire country at large.

He added that the treatment is providing free diagnosis and treatment to people with TB in various health facilities across the state.

According to him, "TB is a preventable and curable disease. It is not a death sentence. Once you are diagnosed with TB, you will receive treatment for free at any general hospitals, some public primary health care centers and some private hospitals."

Sokoya noted that Lagos state started the TB intervention programme in 2003 and that the state currently contributes 11 per cent of the national TB burden.

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He said there are numerous yet-to-be-identified cases of TB, while appealing to the media to sensitise members of the public on the need to get tested and treated for TB, as it is curable, compared to other ailments like hypertension, diabetes or malaria.

Senior Programme Officer II TB/RCCE, USAID Breakthrough Action-Nigeria, Dr. Joseph Edor listed some of the symptoms of TB including; night sweeats, coughing for more than two weeks, weight loss, fever, and hemoptysis (blood in cough).

He also explained that the risk factors for TB are germs which spread easily in overcrowded area, and that it is often common in areas with high population density.

He encouraged people to go for testing and chest X-rays in any of the public health facilities across the state, to reduce the spread of the airborne disease.

"Once you are treating TB, you won't take the drugs for life. It is just for six months. Once you start taking the treatment and medication, you will no longer be able to transmit TB after the first two weeks,"Edor stated.

The Lagos State Team Lead, USAID IHVN TB LON 3 Project, Dr. Babajide Kadiri, disclosed that children can also contract the disease, adding that TB in children under 15 years of age is a public health problem of social significance as it represents a recent transmission from an infectious adult.

He stressed the need for adults and children to go for treatment, as it is free and the disease is curable
Foreign Ministry statement on the UK's decision to transfer the Storm Shadow missile system to Ukraine

12 May 2023 17:52

911-12-05-2023



On May 11 of this year, the British Government officially reported that it would send Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine. The system has the ability to deliver long-range strikes with increased precision.

We qualify this as another extremely hostile move by London to further fill Ukraine with arms. This leads to a serious escalation of tensions in the zone of the special military operation. The transfer of long-range precision missiles to the Kiev regime graphically confirms the unprecedented level of Britain's involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.

Getting absorbed in geopolitics and trying to assert itself as NATO's informal leader on the Ukrainian track as Russia's implacable opponent, Britain is apparently prepared to cross any line and raise the conflict to a completely new level in terms of destruction and human loss.

Russia reserves the right to take any necessary measure to neutralise the threats that may be created through the use of British cruise missiles by Ukraine. All responsibility for the consequences of London's destructive activities rests with those who planned and made this reckless decision.



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Russian Defense Ministry Denies Reports About Ukrainian Counteroffensive

Sputnik News

20230512

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The statements made by military correspondents claiming that Ukrainian troops broke through Russian defense lines in the special military operation zone are not true, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

"The statements shared by individual telegram channels about 'defense breakthroughs' that took place in various parts of the contact line do not correspond to reality. As of 22.00 May 11, 2023 [19:00], no active operations are underway in the Kupyansk direction," the ministry said, adding that two Ukrainian attacks were repelled in the Lyman direction.

The ministry also said Russian troops are still engaged in fighting in the western part of Artemovsk, Maryinka and Avdeevka. Overall, the situation in the special military zone is "under control," according to the ministry.

Officials further stated that eight Ukrainian attacks and three reconnaissance efforts had been successfully shut down.

It was also outlined that while there were no ongoing operations at both the Kherson and Zaporozhye fronts, Russian forces were carrying out counterattacks against Ukrainian forces based in the direction of Malo-Ilyinovka. Officials were said to be using both air and artillery support to combat enemy targets.

Earlier unconfirmed statement had claimed that a Ukrainian operation had been underway along Russia's front lines despite past remarks from Ukraine's leadership that forces still needed additional time to prepare for such a move.

A Sputnik

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Attempts to circumvent sanctions should be defined as one of the gravest crimes against international law and peace - address of Ukraine's President

President of Ukraine

12 May 2023 - 18:19

Dear Ukrainians, I wish you health!

Today is a sanction day. Five sanctions packages have been approved, which we prepared very carefully these weeks in the NSDC, the Cabinet of Ministers, the Office, and our secret services.

The first is a package related to Zaporizhstal. We block the influence of the terrorist state on this company, which existed thanks to various front and offshore persons. The shares controlled by Russia through one of the systemic banks will be confiscated and will work for the sake of Ukraine and Ukrainians.

We won't leave any link of the terrorist state in Ukraine that it can use against our state, against our economy or against our people.

In addition, sanctions packages have been approved that continue our course to isolate and block the Russian defense industry.

Hundreds of individuals and legal entities of the terrorist state and those connected with Russia are becoming targets for global isolation. We are working very actively with our partners so that all those who actually produce this aggression, who give weapons, ammunition, equipment and technologies into the hands of terrorists - so that they are all crushed by the world.

I'm thankful to everyone who helps Ukraine put pressure on Russia for this war, as well as block the terrorist state's attempts to circumvent sanctions. I am sure this should be defined as one of the gravest crimes against international law and international peace - trying to circumvent sanctions introduced to limit the resources of aggression, or assisting in these efforts.

I held a meeting of Staff of Supreme Commander-in-Chief today. There were important reports by the commanders of task forces. I will especially note a report of General Syrsky and General Tarnavsky, commanders of the Khortytsia and Tavria air defense units, respectively. There was a report by Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhny, Minister of Defense Reznikov, and Minister for Strategic Industries Kamyshin.

What is important to understand now? The occupiers are already internally ready for defeat.

They have already lost this war in their minds. We must put pressure on them daily so that their sense of defeat turns into their escape, their mistakes, their losses.

I thank each and every one who destroys the enemy! I'm thankful to everyone who, despite any difficulties, returns our land to Ukraine! We are preparing to add even more weapons for you, warriors, to have even more opportunities to defeat the aggressor and restore peace.

I spoke today with British Prime Minister Sunak. Thank you, Rishi, for your continued support and the steps which make it clear to the world that the UK will always lead the way.

We discussed our current weapons cooperation, our next defense cooperation, and the diplomatic steps we must take together to bring our shared victory closer.

To guarantee: whoever is the aggressor against the free world, he will end up with the same disgrace as the Kremlin.

Glory to all our soldiers currently in battle, at combat posts and on combat missions! I thank everyone who trains our fighters! I thank everyone who treats and restores Ukrainian soldiers after injuries!

Glory to Ukraine!

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Latest in Ukraine: Wagner Group Chief Slams Russian Military, Says It Fled Bakhmut

By VOA News May 12, 2023

New developments:

In a video address Friday, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian soldiers "have already lost the war in their minds." He said Ukraine must pressure them further, so their sense of defeat turns into mistakes, losses and ultimate defeat.

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. assessment of Bakhmut is that the city remains contested territory.

The British Defense Ministry said Russia likely added up to 10,000 prisoners to those recruited to fight in Ukraine.

The founder of the Wagner Group paramilitary forces on Friday sharply criticized the Russian military, saying Russian troops abandoned the flank in and around the eastern city of Bakhmut, allowing Ukrainian troops to gain ground on all sides of the disputed city.

In a video released Friday, millionaire mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said, "The flanks are crumbling, the front is collapsing," around Bakhmut and the "desertion" of the area allowed Ukrainian forces take control of the Chasiv Yar-Bakhmut road, a key supply line Wagner forces had blocked.

Prigozhin again accused the defense ministry of withholding ammunition from the group, a claim denied earlier by the Russian Defense Ministry. He also mocked Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov's description of the withdrawal of Russian troops as "a tactical retreat."

Konashenkov had given a briefing earlier Friday in which he described Russian forces making advances and repelling Ukrainian forces, killing and wounding 900 troops in the Donetsk area.

Prigozhin said the attempts of the Defense Ministry to smooth over or sugarcoat the situation would lead to a great tragedy for Russia. He called on the ministry directly, saying that "you must stop lying immediately."

Ukrainian advances

Ukrainian military commanders have said this week that their troops have recaptured territory around Bakhmut. In a Telegram post on Friday, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar confirmed that Ukrainian forces were gaining ground near the city.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address Friday that he met with the country's top military commanders earlier in the day. He said that General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of ground forces, reported his troops "stopped the enemy and even pushed him back in some directions."

Zelenskyy also said that Russian troops are suffering from low morale.

"The occupiers are already mentally prepared for defeat. They have already lost this war in their minds," he said.

In Washington, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said that Bakhmut remains contested territory.

"Ukrainians have not given up their defense of Bakhmut and the Russians haven't given up their attempts to take Bakhmut," Kirby said.

"Every single day, the lines change back and forth. I mean, sometimes block by block," he said.

Counteroffensive and grain

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Friday there was no news to report on the status of restarting the grain deal that allows commodities to be shipped from Ukrainian ports to Africa and other areas with food shortages.

During his regular phone briefing with reporters, Peskov said talks in Istanbul involving Turkish, Russian, Ukrainian and United Nations officials continued, and there were no new decisions for an extension to the deal that is set to expire Wednesday.

Turkey said later Friday that the sides were nearing an agreement.

"We are heading toward an agreement on the extension of the grain deal," Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said in a statement.

Zelenskyy said in an interview Thursday with European broadcasters that Kyiv is delaying the start of the counteroffensive against Russia because it lacks enough Western weapons to succeed without suffering too many casualties.

Zelenskyy said it's possible that "we can go forward and be successful," the BBC reported.

"But we'd lose a lot of people. I think that's unacceptable," he was quoted as saying. "So, we need to wait. We still need a bit more time. ... In terms of equipment, not everything has arrived yet."

Ukraine's preparations for a counteroffensive received an important boost Thursday when Britain announced it was supplying long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, giving Kyiv the capability to hit Russian troops well behind the front lines.

British Defense Minister Ben Wallace confirmed to British lawmakers that the United Kingdom will donate Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine.

"The use of Storm Shadow will allow Ukraine to push back Russian forces based within Ukrainian sovereign territory," he said without specifying how many are being delivered.

Storm Shadow missiles, which have a range of more than 250 kilometers, would give Ukraine the capacity to strike deep behind Russian front lines a as far as Moscow-occupied Crimea.

British media reports said Kyiv had promised, though, not to use the missiles to strike inside Russia's territory.

The Kremlin threatened "appropriate" measures in response to London's move.

"It will demand an appropriate response from our military that will definitely make the decisions required in military terms," spokesperson Peskov told reporters.

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and the Agence France-Presse.

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US, EU, UK to Support Probe of Russian War Crimes Within Weeks

By Myroslava Gongadze May 12, 2023

Experts from the United States and several other countries will begin working with Ukrainian counterparts within weeks to collect evidence and identify individuals involved in Russia's invasion of Ukraine who can be prosecuted for the crime of aggression, a U.S. diplomat told VOA.

VOA was told this week that the work, to be conducted by the newly formed International Center for Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression, was given the go-ahead at a meeting in Warsaw of the year-old Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group, which comprises the United States, European Union and Britain.

"The United States will be sending the senior prosecutor; the other countries made various pledges," explained Beth Van Schaack, the State Department ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice, on the sidelines of the Warsaw meeting.

"The institution will be launched at the end of this month ... bringing together experts who will be working side by side with Ukrainian counterparts in order to lay the groundwork for the application of individual criminal responsibility for the crime of aggression committed in Ukraine," she said.

Hazel Cameron, head of department at the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office, told VOA the international partners are helping Ukraine collect evidence to ensure international justice in the future. Britain is already providing expertise and resources, including mobile units for collecting and documenting the evidence, she said.

"In the highest possible standards a justice has to be done and seen," she said.

The new center, to be based at The Hague, is an outgrowth of the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group that was launched in May 2022 to support the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine (OPG) in its investigation and prosecution of conflict-related crimes, according to a State Department website.

More than 80,000 cases registered

In more than a year since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the OPG has registered more than 80,000 cases of war crimes committed by members of Russia's forces.

In their Warsaw meetings Thursday and Friday, several speakers echoed sentiments expressed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a recent visit to The Hague, where he said impunity from prosecution "is the key that opens the door to aggression."

"If you look at any war, any war of aggression in history, they all have one thing in common: The perpetrators of the war didn't believe they would have to stand to answer for what they did," he said in the Dutch city, home to the International Criminal Court (ICC) which issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in March.

'Crimes against humanity'

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in his virtual address at this week's session, said Russian attacks against civilians in Ukraine, including the systematic torture and killings in active regions, are "intended to steal Ukraine's very future."

"These acts are part of the Kremlin's widespread and systematic attack against Ukrainian civilians. They constitute crimes against humanity. And they are still being committed today. The United States is committed to pursuing accountability for Russia's atrocities, including war crimes."

U.K. Secretary of State for Foreign Commonwealth Affairs James Cleverly said Russian crimes in Ukraine cannot be ignored. "It's clear that the scale of the accountability challenge is huge and responding requires a coordinated international approach on several fronts."

Russia has previously denied targeting civilians and has not responded to allegations that its forces committed atrocities or tortured Ukrainians, including a recent request by a U.N.-backed Human Rights Council commission.

While the effort to collect and document the evidence of Russian war crimes is taking shape, it is still unclear when and in what forum any future trials might take place.

"Everyone understands there is a gap in the international system of accountability," explained Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin on the sidelines of the Warsaw meetings.

He told VOA the ICC "has jurisdiction, but not in our case. The [U.N.] Security Council will never refer this case to the ICC while Russia is a member of the Security Council," where Moscow has veto power.

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NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES



VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 12, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Three Sixty Solar Ltd. (formerly Liberty One Lithium Corp.) (the Company) (VSOL: NEO) is pleased to announce a non-brokered private placement of a minimum of 1,587,301 and a maximum of 3,174,603 units of the Company ("Units") at a price of $0.63 per Unit (the "Offering"), for aggregate gross proceeds of a minimum of $1,000,000 up to a maximum of $2,000,000.

Each Unit will be comprised of one common share in the capital of the Company (a "Share") and one Share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to acquire one additional share (a "Warrant Share") at a price of $0.78 per Warrant Share for a period of 24 months from the closing date of the Offering.

In connection with the Offering, the Company may pay certain finders a cash commission equal to 7% of the aggregate gross proceeds raised from those purchasers introduced by such finder.

The Company intends to use the proceeds raised from the Offering for the procurement of sale of first commercial tower, vertical solar tower IP registration, research and development on second generation tower, business development and marketing, and general corporate purposes. The Offering may close in tranches. The Offering is expected to close on or before May 26, 2023, or such earlier or later date that the Company may determine. The Offering is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, receipt of all necessary approvals including the approval of the Cboe Canada.

The Offering is being completed pursuant to the listed issuer financing exemption under Part 5A of National Instrument 45-106 Prospectus Exemptions and therefore the securities issued in the Offering will not be subject to a hold period in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws. There will be an offering document related to the Offering that will be available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com and at https://threesixtysolar.com/. Prospective investors should read this offering document before making an investment decision.

The securities issued pursuant to the Offering have not, nor will they be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons in the absence of U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from the U.S. registration requirements. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.



About Three Sixty Solar Ltd.

Three Sixty Solar Ltd. is an all-Canadian enterprise which focuses on solar equipment supply to the global market. The companys premier product line is the patent pending SVS series commercial solar tower. According to Statistics MRC, the solar farm sector is set to grow to around $296 billion by 2028. Three Sixty Solars unique tower concept is a high density, clean energy solution that uses up to 90% less land space than conventional solar farms and can co-locate adjacent to homes, retail, agriculture, and industry, thus minimizing line loss and maximizing energy delivery in places where renewables have been difficult to install until now. In multi-tower applications, developers can utilize the spaces between towers to better leverage land assets through additional revenue generating activities. Designed to withstand major instances of extreme weather, Three Sixty Solar offers a clean energy solution with minimal environmental and habitat impact. Sign up to stay informed with news alerts from Three Sixty.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Three Sixty Solar Ltd.

Brian Roth

Brian Roth

Chief Executive Officer and Director

Forward-Looking Information Disclaimer

Certain statements included in this news 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 news 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. Any statements about Three Sixtys business plans and use of proceeds, the Companys ability to receive necessary regulatory and stock exchange approvals in connection therewith and the terms associated therewith. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions which are difficult to predict. 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, anticipated costs, and the ability to achieve its goals.

Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, failure to obtain regulatory approval, the continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions, changes in legislation and regulations, increase in operating costs, equipment failures, failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations, litigation, the loss of key directors, employees, advisors or consultants and fees charged by service providers. Forward-looking statements contained in this news 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 listing of the common shares of the Company upon completion of the Transaction will occur. 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 Companys forward-looking statements.

Neither the Cboe Canada nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in policies of Cboe Canada) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

CONTACT INFORMATION



Three Sixty Solar Ltd.

Investor Relations

Email: investors@threesixtysolar.com

Telephone: +1 (778) 383-6743


LONDON, UK, May 12, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Axion Trade, one of the leading prime brokerages, has recently announced the launch of Axion Mirror: its new copy trading app. The app is intended to offer retail investors a more attractive trading experience by providing them with access to a growing trend in the industry: Social trading. This new service enables traders to automatically copy the trades of successful traders around the world, allowing them to benefit from the experience and expertise of others.





To start enjoying the benefits of social trading, all traders have to do is download the Axion Mirror Mobile App on iOS or Android app store and link it to their MT4 trading account. Once they have done that, they can select the traders they wish to follow and copy their trades automatically. This allows traders to be more social, engaged, and in control of their trades by seeing how others are making decisions in the market.

"Axion Trade is excited to partner with Pelican Trading in developing our Axion Mirror," said a spokesperson from Axion Trade. "This partnership has allowed us to broaden our selection of traders to copy from, thanks to Pelican Trading's extensive network. We believe this new service will offer our clients a more engaging and profitable trading experience, and we look forward to continuing to work with Pelican Trading to enhance our offerings in the future."

Axion Trade's social trading app was developed in partnership with Pelican Trading, an award-winning fintech firm regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom. Pelican Trading provides innovative broker-neutral solutions that directly connect users with brokers and integrate trade execution and communication into a central network for traders. Pelican has also helped other FX brokers, such as AXI, ATFX Prime, Pepperstone, and AvaTrade, adopt copy trading technology.

"Pelican is delighted to be working with one of the leading FX brokers in the Asia Pacific region. At Pelican, our aim is to work with leading brands - and Axion Trade fits the bill. Our focus has been to provide the best-in-class software to support high-growth, high-quality broker clients and we feel this partnership is a perfect fit. We're very much looking forward to a long and expansive relationship with Axion Trade- who will be providing expert brokering and regional marketing expertise, coupled with our state of art copy trading technology solution,' said Mike Read, Global Director of Pelican Trading.

Furthermore, social trading typically results in either profitability or better risk management, both of which lead to an account that is more likely to stay open or be topped up. By adopting social trading, brokers can provide their clients with a more engaging, interactive, and profitable trading experience, leading to increased retention and loyalty.

In conclusion, Axion Trade's new social trading app is a significant development in the world of retail trading. By partnering with Pelican Trading and adopting innovative social trading technology, Axion Trade is offering its clients a more engaging, interactive, and profitable trading experience. With social trading becoming increasingly popular, Axion Trade's move to provide this service is a strategic decision that positions it as a market leader in the industry.

Media Contact

Brand: Axion Trade

Email: Oliver.Elmhirst@axiontrade.net

Website: https://axiontrade.net/

SOURCE: Axion Trade
Miami, Florida, May 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AirMatrix, an aerial traffic management software platform with offices in Miami and Toronto, has received advisory services and funding from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) to support a research and development project seeking to enhance cellular signal mapping capabilities from 400 up to 1,000 feet. This support will advance AirMatrix's mission of enabling drones and urban area mobility to scale safely and economically in complex airspace.

AirMatrix specializes in uncrewed traffic management (UTM) software that enables drones to operate safely and efficiently in complex airspace. The company's software allows for the creation of precise autonomous drone roads, ensuring city skies remain clear, safe, and under control. AirMatrix is also focused on urban aerial mobility, aiming to provide solutions for passenger-carrying drones operating at higher altitudes.

The project involves collecting telecommunications strength data up to new heights in the city of Calgary. The data is crucial for drone operators, who need to plan their flights with confidence. AirMatrix collects this data in real time and provides it to drone operators to help them make informed decisions.

Telecom providers, including low Earth orbit satellite companies and urban aerial mobility providers, will benefit from this research project. The project will provide valuable data up to 1,000 feet, which is essential for these new use cases. As a result, telecom providers will be able to optimize their network coverage and improve communication for these emerging technologies.

AirMatrix is committed to developing the technologies needed for drone pilots to go beyond the visual line of sight. The company is deploying systems in cities to give drone operators the necessary data sets required by regulators. Collaborations with Transport Canada and the FAA in the US will help AirMatrix set the standards when it comes to these data feeds.

AirMatrix focuses on airspace under 400 feet, as most countries require special permissions for airspace beyond 400 feet. By collecting data up to 1,000 feet, AirMatrix aims to set up the necessary infrastructure for passenger-carrying drones and drones carrying heavy payloads.

"The support from NRC IRAP will help us develop the technologies and data sets needed to enable drones and urban area mobility to scale safely and economically in complex airspace. We are excited to collaborate with Transport Canada and regulatory bodies in the US to help set the standards for these data feeds and to help build the necessary infrastructure to support higher airspace," says Bashir Khan, Founder and CEO of AirMatrix.

Media contact:

Name: Bashir Khan

Email: bashir@airmatrix.ca








Washington, D. C., May 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In remarks delivered to the 1,357 graduates of The Catholic University of America during a May 13, 2023, commencement ceremony held on its Washington, D.C. campus, University President Peter Kilpatrick urged the graduates to find success in life through trust and gratitude.

In his first Commencement address as Catholic Universitys president Kilpatrick told the graduates that by leaning into what you learned here as undergraduate or graduate students, and trusting in the education and formation you received here, you will find your way forward.

The division, disunity, and toxicity that characterizes our culture in 2023 will not be easy to navigate in a culture that believes truth is whatever I make of it, he said, encouraging the graduates to take a different path.

I wouldnt focus your time, attention, and energy on what the culture lacks. Your focus should be on who you are, and what you have to offer this world that desperately needs your light.

Being grateful is part of a life of happiness, he said, quoting a former Catholic University administrator: Be grateful for what you have, and do not worry about what you do not have.

Arthur C. Brooks, commencement speaker, author, Harvard social scientist, and happiness expert, expanded upon the importance of finding success, not through the right job but through an understanding of self and faith.

He said the wrong question to begin with is, What am I supposed to do to find a career that makes me happy? The first question to ask is Who am I?, adding that knowing oneself requires a process of discernment, of looking for deeper meaning.

Any amount of research shows that pursuing success  whether you count that in money, power, or prestige  usually leads to less happiness, he said. It turns out that a very good strategy for finding happiness in work is to strive for excellence and love.

He told the graduates that God is pure will to love the other, and you are made to do likewise. Work involves serving many others, from customers to colleagues, but dedicating your work to the good of others can make what might have been the most imperfect job into a perfect moral mission.

To conclude his remarks, Kilpatrick gave the example of one of his own favorite saints, St. Therese of Lisieux, also known as the Little Flower. Although a nobody by the secular norms of success in late 19th century France and someone who died of illness at age 24, she is widely recognized as one of the greatest saints of the last 200 yearsAll she did was live her life with gratitude, tremendous love, and excellence.

More information about the Commencement proceedings can be found here.

Honorary degrees: The University conferred five honorary degrees during the 2023 commencement. The recipients were Arthur Brooks; National Review Editor Kathryn J. Lopez, B.A. 1997; Thaddeus F. Aubry, Jr., B.A. 1966; Margaret (Peg) Harmon, director, Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona; and Leon A. LeBuffe, B.A. 1966, Ph.D. 1974. Aubry and LeBuffe were key founders of the Partnership Program, established in 1969 to provide scholarships for students of color in the Washington, D.C., area to attend Catholic University.

About: The Catholic University of America is the national university of the Catholic Church and the only higher education institution founded by the U.S. bishops. Established in 1887 as a papally chartered graduate and research center, the University comprises 12 schools and more than 30 research facilities and is home to approximately 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students.
Nairobi  President William Ruto and Azimio Leader Raila Odinga shook hands on Saturday in a rare meeting at the funeral of Mukami Kimathi after months of a political standoff.

Odinga arrived at the funeral in Njabini, Nyandarua County accompanied by former area MP Jeremiah Kioni and former Muranga County Governor Mwangi wa Iria.

Odinga said he had been very close to Mukami, and he would have to bid farewell to the freedom fighter.

She died on May 11 at the Nairobi Hospital aged 101.

"I cannot miss the funeral of Shujaa Mama Mukami wa Kimathi. We have been very close and I will be in Njabini for her final ceremony on earth," Odinga stated.

The funeral of the widow of the revered Mau Mau freedom fighter Dedan Kimathi was attended by top dignitaries including Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.

Odinga led street protests in April against the high cost of living and the presidential victory he claims was stolen from him, prompting the president to initiate talks through Parliament where they are spearheaded by MPs from both sides.
Sierra Metals Inc. (TSX: SMT) ("Sierra Metals" or the "Company") today issues a statement in response to recent communications materials issued by its shareholder Arias Resource Capital ("ARC"), including a news release ARC issued on May 9, 2023 (the "ARC News Release"). The Company acknowledges that it has also seen the circular issued by ARC on May 12, 2023 (the "ARC Circular") and plans to consider the contents and respond in due course.

The Company places a high value on the integrity of public disclosure, and as such, wishes to correct false or misleading statements made by ARC so that the Company's shareholders have access to accurate information.

ARC continues to publish graphics of the Sierra Metals share price with an arbitrary start date of March 2021. Had the share price data started in January 2021, the timeline could have made note of two additional events:

The Company announced a strategic review on January 8, 2021 at a time when ARC chairman Alberto Arias was chair of the Company's board of directors (the "Board"); this announcement suggested that a sale of the Company would be considered, which presumably created expectations of a potential sale, increasing the share price. On January 11, 2021 (the following trading day), the common shares of Sierra Metals (the "Shares") closed at CDN$4.87.

On January 20, 2021, Arias Resource Capital Fund L.P. (a fund over which Mr. Arias was the sole director of the general partner) announced that it had distributed 52,721,964 Shares to its underlying limited partners. By January 29, 2021, the Shares were trading at CDN$4.00. The decline of the Share price started that month as the limited partners presumably began to sell off a portion of their Shares. At the time the Company announced Mr. Arias ceasing to be on the Board in July 2021, the Shares were trading at CDN$3.58. The strategic review concluded in October 2021 without having identified a buyer for the Company or other strategic alternatives, even after the Company's valuation had fallen significantly from its peak at the start of the review process.

The ARC News Release indicates that "ARC's representatives left the Board in mid-2021". This statement insinuates that Mr. Arias voluntarily resigned from the Board. Like many statements from ARC, this is misleading.

At the Company's 2021 annual shareholders meeting which took place on June 10, 2021 (the "2021 Meeting"), Mr. Arias - with minimal notice to or engagement with the Board - attempted to unseat the then current Board by utilizing his significant voting power against all members of the Board unaffiliated with the ARC funds. Despite Mr. Arias having direction and/or control over approximately 27% of the outstanding Shares, the shareholders rallied against Mr. Arias' efforts. Excluding votes cast by Mr. Arias and the ARC funds (assuming all such Shares held by the foregoing were voted at the 2021 Meeting in favour of Mr. Arias), Mr. Arias received less than 18% support from the shareholders who voted at the 2021 Meeting and was ultimately forced to resign from the Board.

We believe that Mr. Arias' tactics at the 2021 Meeting are indicative of what Sierra shareholders may expect from Mr. Arias going forward. He did not engage with the Company or the Board to discuss his intention to vote off the non-ARC affiliated Board members at the 2021 Meeting until his votes were received shortly before such meeting. Had he been successful, Mr. Arias would have been in a position to replace those unaffiliated Board members with his own hand-picked nominees and to effectively take over the Company without paying a premium to shareholders.

The self-motivation of these actions is only further exemplified by Mr. Arias serving as chair of the Board's nomination committee at that time - a committee specifically responsible for reviewing the appropriate experience, skills and characteristics required of each existing and new board member. Mr. Arias did not communicate to the nomination committee or the Board any reservations about the qualifications of the proposed slate of directors that he intended to vote against. Instead, he attempted to surprise the Board and leave the Company without an appropriate slate of directors following the 2021 Meeting. These efforts were short-sighted and Mr. Arias was either in dereliction of his duty as chair of the nomination committee or his desire to vote off the unaffiliated directors was motivated by something other than acting in the best interests of the Company (a theme that, despite recent news releases from ARC to the contrary, we are continuing to see from Mr. Arias).

The Company believes today, as its shareholders affirmed in 2021, that control of 27% of the outstanding Shares does not entitle any individual to control of the Board.

ARC has referred to a "revolving suite of executives and directors" at Sierra Metals. However, since Mr. Arias was voted off the Board in 2021, the Company has made a single change to the CEO position with the appointment of Ernesto Balarezo as Interim CEO on November 28, 2022. In contrast, the Company had five different CEOs during the eight years Mr. Arias chaired the Board. We believe the regular turnover at the CEO position prior to 2021, at times sudden and unplanned, was disruptive to operations and the implementation of an effective long-term vision.

The ARC News Release continues to misrepresent the Company's financial situation, including the use of such inflammatory terms as "distress" and "bleeding". ARC once again fails to make any reference to the positive operational achievements and outlook disclosed in the Company's 2022 operating and financial results announced on March 29, 2023, or the Q1 2023 production results announced on April 25, 2023 - presumably because the favourable news does not support ARC's mischaracterizations. The Company looks forward to reporting its Q1 2023 financial results on May 15, 2023.

The Company is now working diligently to remedy decisions made and performance of the Company when it was under Mr. Arias' guidance. It is those decisions that are largely responsible for the current circumstances of the Company.

The only reference the ARC News Release makes to the recent operational improvements is a suggestion that these should not be considered an outcome of the ongoing strategic review, purportedly because they have been achieved by the Company itself rather than an outside financial advisor. To the contrary, operational improvements are fully within the mandate of the special committee of independent directors announced on October 18, 2022 (the "Special Committee"). As disclosed at that time, the Special Committee's mandate included, among other things, "exploring, reviewing and considering options to optimize the operations of the Company". As Mr. Arias knows or ought to know, optimizing operations is a core responsibility of the management team and board of any mining company.

ARC's decision to pursue a proxy contest coincides with Mr. Arias' attempts to quickly realize value from ARC's investment in Compania Minera Kolpa S.A. ("Kolpa") by having Sierra Metals merge with Kolpa. Mr. Arias' criticism of the Company's requirement to diligently and carefully consider the proposed Kolpa transaction and not rush the transaction through without due consideration is a clear indication of his desire to create value for ARC and Kolpa at the expense of the Company's due consideration of the transaction.

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, including information with respect to the Company's intention to report its Q1 2023 financial results on May 15, 2023. 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.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230512005425/en/

Contact

Securityholder Communications Advisor

Christine Carson

President & CEO

Carson Proxy Advisors

Tel: (416) 804-0825

Email: christine@carsonproxy.com

Media Relations

John Vincic

Principal

Oakstrom Advisors

Tel: (647) 402-6375

Email: john@oakstrom.com

Investor Relations

Raj Vyas

Vice-President, Corporate Controller and Corporate Secretary

Sierra Metals Inc.

Tel: (416) 366-7777

Email: info@sierrametals.com
President Muhammadu Buhari has presented letter of appointment to the Paramount Ruler of the Idoma Kingdom, His Royal Majesty ( HRM) Agaba'Idu, Dr Elaigwu Odogbo Obagaji John as the New Chancellor of the Federal University Otuoke, Bayelsa State.

The presentation was done on Friday, 12th May, 2023, at the Och'Idoma Palace Otukpo, according to a statement from Federal Ministry of Education.

Speaking during the presentation, Buhari, represented by the Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), Arc. Sonny Echono, stated that Och'Idoma's appointment was based on his enviable track records, leadership qualities and integrity.

Mr. President commended his commitment to the development of Education and the sustenance of peace and stability of the country.

Responding, Agaba'Idu Elaigwu Odogbo thanked the Federal Government for finding him worthy of the prestigious appointment, assuring the president of his total commitment in the discharge of his responsibilities.

While thanking Echono who is also a son of the Idoma Kingdom, for doing so much for Nigeria, particularly Benue State, he expressed appreciation to the Federal Government for the establishment of the National Open University of Nigeria study centre at Obagaji, Agatu LGA, and promised that he will continue to support the Buhari led Administration.

In her goodwill message, the wife of the Och'Idoma, Her Royal Majesty, Mrs Martha Elaigwu, the Agab'Anya K'Idoma, appreciated President Muhammadu Buhari for his love for the Idoma people and the rare privilege accorded the Och'Idoma, wishing him long life and God's guidance as he prepares to handover to the incoming administration.
its first store in 2001, the companys attention to design and customer satisfaction permeated the whole experience. The interior was adorned in slick wood and wrapped in glass to lure in potential shoppers; the laptops, desktops, iPads and iPhones were not just on display but available for trying out; visitors got free tutorials on how to operate their new Macs; and the customer service desk was dubbed the Genius Bar.The payoff was a windfall for the worlds largest tech company. It still is. At a time when brick-and-mortar retail companies are struggling to survive and redefine themselves, Apple generates more money per square foot than any retailer in the United States.Ariel Kennan worked for Apple in those early retail years, and she became a convert to what the company called service design. Apple Stores are incredibly designed experiences, she says, the look, the feel and how people interact with customers. Apple thought through all of this.Now Kennan is putting her Apple experience to work in a dramatically different context. She is in New York City, running the new Service Design Studio at the Mayors Office for Economic Opportunity. She is convinced that what worked to sell computers can work to make municipal government better at responding to fundamental human needs. Service design, Kennan says, is the holistic view on how a service is delivered. Its a human-centered research approach to figure out how all the people and all the services fit together.More simply put, the service design concept reimagines customer relations for both business and government. Its not a quest for efficiency, or for constant repetition of time-honored practices. Its focused on the end user, and on enticing customers who have varying degrees of knowledge and experience to interact with a service and stay long enough to fully engage. And heres the secret: The customer is not really supposed to notice.Service design makes use of emerging concepts in social science, especially data points and analytics, to come up with user-based service solutions. But it applies a healthy skepticism toward social science in its traditional form. Social scientists research the way people interact with a thing, Kennan says, but dont say how to improve the interactions between humans and those things.The service design effort in New York and elsewhere is getting major assistance from Citi, the financial giant, which is interested in finding the commonalities between delivering services in business and doing it in government. When it comes to the way services are created and delivered, says Marshall Sitten, vice president for communications and service design at Citi Community Development, they may have been created in a collaborative way, but over time, services became less adaptable and produced less value for the people who need them. Sitten is convinced that problem is solvable in a public as well as in a private realm. In his spare time, he teaches a service design graduate course at the School of Visual Arts.At the moment, bringing service design to government is mostly a New York City experiment. But that may not be true for long.Oakland, Calif., launched an official service design program this past January. Its seven-person team, also assisted by Citi Community Development, has upgraded a website that allows renters to challenge rent increases they consider unlawful. It is working on programs to better connect young people with summer job opportunities and is partnering with Citi on a program of financial empowerment for low- to moderate-income mothers and their families, especially women and families of color. The need to address the problems our residents are facing is mounting constantly, and the resources we have to deal with these problems are shrinking, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf says, adding that government was not designed to take risks and move quickly. She thinks service design might be a way to break out of that public culture of excessive caution and delay.Back in New York City, Kennan is thinking along the same lines. She came to the service design project in New York from Code for America, the nonprofit that pairs software developers in the private sector with municipalities that need their skills in solving a problem. She helped launch open data projects in both Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan.In 2014, Kennan joined the administration of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio as director of design and product for the citys newly launched Office of Economic Opportunity. The creation of a formal service design lab was still three years away. But Kennan and her colleagues set out to use service design ideas to reengineer a few very specific city initiatives. For starters, they wanted to help low-income residents with tax preparation, and especially to make sure they received the earned income tax credits they were entitled to. The team also initiated an open data project for the citys health and human services agency, and started Growing Up NYC, an online resource for parents seeking assistance in monitoring their childrens health.Another early task was working to improve Access NYC, the existing portal that was meant to connect city residents to social services. Access NYC had some of the same goals that service design advocates sought, but the system was clumsy and those seeking services often gave up before they got connected to the assistance they wanted. Access NYC needed an overhaul, Kennan says. The site was hard to use, saw drop-off in usage and had material that users didnt understand.In 2017, with the help of service design concepts, Access NYC relaunched. The directions on the site were made easier to interpret, content was presented in seven languages, the new website was made responsive for mobile users and a location finder was added to help residents connect to services close to their homes.relied heavily on data analytics, the service design groups next challenge required shoe leather. The citys homeless population was growing. New York, one of the few U.S. cities required by court order to house the homeless, was sheltering more than 60,000 people. Still, despite its vast network of shelters, the city had several thousand homeless men, women and children living on the street. The issue was connecting them to services.De Blasio dispatched Kennan and members of her team to figure out and then fix the problem. They rode subway lines to the far reaches of the city to contact homeless men and women. They conducted interviews and tracked each homeless clients progress through the system.From the interviews and the data collected, the service design team created a journey map, which tracked the experiences of those contacted by field workers. To the novice, a journey map is a series of dots and arrows. In this case, dots for the homeless clients, arrows for the social workers. The arrows indicate movement from one portion of the system to the next. Where two dots meet there is an interaction. Service designers look at those journey maps and try to find the best way to move clients through the system as efficiently as possible. You start from the angle of problem identification and as you do your discovery, Sitten says, you start identifying weak signals, patterns and then you have to synthesize that with the people you are working with.The process can seem mechanical, but its far from smooth. Running a service design project in public policy space usually means overcoming old civic and political habits. The clients frequently dont interact in the way all the modeling suggests. As Sitten puts it, People are messy. They do irrational things.The Service Design Teams rubric for measuring user experience is labeled as the 5 Es: Entice, Enter, Engage, Exit and Extend. The first E, Entice, measures how people come to learn about the service and what gets them interested. Enter examines the experience upon first entering a place -- in the case of homeless services, that might mean a conversation, but in other cases it could be a website or an app. Engage looks at the steps necessary to interact with the service and asks designers to think about how to keep users engaged. Exit measures how users feel when they leave the experience and whether it is clear to them that they are finished. And Extend probes ways the user might talk about the experience to others afterward.The team found that the crucial problem in delivering homeless services wasnt the one most observers expected. The outreach workers were blamed for the homelessness issues in New York, Kennan says, but they were not the issue. There were just not enough of them.When the analysis was done, Kennans group offered recommendations that the city has adopted. It more than doubled the number of outreach workers; shortened the time clients needed to be on the street before they qualified for assistance; stationed homeless outreach services inside libraries and hospitals; and intensified canvassing efforts across the city.In late 2016, the service design team next tackled a project aimed at delivering wireless internet service to the nations largest public housing complex. Queensbridge Houses is home to nearly 7,000 residents in 26 buildings spread over 50 acres near the East River in Queens. The low- to moderate-income residents in Queensbridge were paying exorbitant internet bills, in some cases more than $200 per month for bare bones access. Many relied on their cellphones to connect to the internet, or werent online at all. But installing Wi-Fi would only be the first obstacle. Teaching digital literacy to the scores of residents who were computer neophytes would be a bigger challenge.The service design team started with classes in digital literacy and quickly realized there was a unique opportunity before them. The digital newcomers were going to be logging on to the web for the first time, and that initial experience could shape their view of how useful the tool might be. Kennan reached out to the Queensbridge Tenants Association and worked with its members to create Queensbridge Connected, a web portal dedicated to news and information about life in the housing project.The design process was decidedly low tech. Residents were given blank pieces of paper and asked to illustrate what the website might look like, where the photos would go and how the navigation would work. A few weeks later, the design team came back with a touch screen display of a mocked-up website based on what the community had suggested and asked for feedback. There is a difference, Sitten says, when you invite a group into a room and there is the notion of participation and involvement and engagement.After a few changes, Queensbridge Connected was launched. The website lists events, connects residents with job training and classes at the local library, and provides mundane but important information about parking restrictions on a given day.By 2017, with several successful projects under its belt, it was time for service design to grow. The practice had shown to many in city government that it had the potential to transform service delivery across a metropolis of more than 8 million residents.But to do that, service design needed scale, which meant it needed money.Thats where Citi came in. Its Community Development unit backs projects that promote financial inclusion and economic empowerment. Last October, with funding from the group and support from the Mayors Fund to Advance New York City, the Service Design Studio officially came into existence.So far, the design team is small and its office simply decorated. Five people occupy a conference room in Brooklyn. One table and a 10-foot-tall cork board constitute the furnishings. But the goals are ambitious: to persuade the city to think more broadly about how to design a wide array of services it must provide. The Service Design Studio website is a public-facing toolkit that offers every city employee and any interested resident some of the keys to service design -- reviewing evidence, talking to the people most impacted by a given service, connecting the dots between whats needed and whats working, followed by experimentation and then more discussion.When you apply service design with great intention, says Sitten, you get a service that not only reflects the needs of the people who are using the services. You change the culture.
AngloGold Ashanti to voluntarily delist from Australian Securities Exchange

Business Desk Report Business News May - 12 - 2023 , 13:52

AngloGold Ashanti Limited has requested and received formal approval from the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) to be removed from the official list of ASX pursuant to ASX Listing rules.

The company expects that the delisting will occur on June 27 2023.

A release issued by the company said its CHESS Depositary Interests (CDIs) are expected to be suspended and cease to trade on the ASX at the close of trade on Friday June 23, 2023, two business days before the delisting.

Following the Delisting from the ASX, the Companys ordinary shares (Shares) will continue to be traded in South Africa on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), in the US on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and in Ghana on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE).

Reasons for delisting

The company in the release said it was seeking removal from the ASX due to the ongoing low trading frequency and low volumes of its securities traded on the ASX compared to that of, in particular, the JSE and NYSE.

It noted that as of Friday May 5, 2023, the Shares represented by the CDIs held on the Australian register had declined to approximately 4.1 per cent of the company's total issued share capital, and represent less than 0.1 per cent of the year-to-date average daily trading value of the Companys equity securities across all exchanges.

The Company believes that the administrative and compliance obligations and costs associated with maintaining the ASX listing are no longer in the best interests of its shareholders as a whole, the release stated.

Delisting conditions

The release further indicated that ASX had provided its approval for the Company to be removed from the official list of ASX subject to the company complying with certain conditions..

It said the company would May 15, 2023 send a letter to each CDI Holder (CDI Communication) which sets out, in a form and substance satisfactory to ASX, an overview of the delisting process, as well as a timetable and options to CDI Holders

The Company is not required to obtain security holder approval for the Delisting.
Court dismisses Ato Essiens renegotiation terms

Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson May - 12 - 2023 , 12:17

William Ato Essien, the Founder of the defunct Capital Bank, has failed to convince the High Court in Accra to allow him to renegotiate the terms of a GH60 million restitution to the state.

The court, presided over by Justice Eric Kyei Baffour, a Justice of the Court of Appeal, sitting as a High Court judge, yesterday dismissed a motion by Essien seeking to renegotiate the terms of the settlement, as well as for the court to suspend any action that could result in his imprisonment.

Delivering his ruling, Justice Kyei Baffour held that the motion by the convict had no merit and subsequently dismissed it.

Agreement

On December 13, last year, Essien pleaded guilty to 16 counts of stealing and money laundering and was accordingly convicted of stealing and dissipating over GH90 million of liquidity support given to the Capital Bank by the Bank of Ghana (BoG).

However, the convict avoided a custodial sentence after the court accepted an agreement between him and the Attorney-General (A-G) for him (Essien) to pay the GH90 million as restitution to the state.

The agreement was pursuant to Section 35 of the Courts Act, 1993 (Act 459), which allows accused persons standing trial for causing financial loss to the state to pay the money and possibly avoid a custodial sentence.

Essien paid GH30 million of the amount and per the agreement as adopted by the court, was ordered to pay the remaining GH60 million in three installments with the first instalment on or before April 28, 2023, the second on or before August 31, 2023, and the last instalment on or before December 15, 2023.

In conformity with Section 35(7) of Act 459, Justice Kyei Baffour ruled that Essien would be imprisoned if he missed any of the payment schedules.

The convict missed the April 28, deadline, a situation that necessitated the A-G to file a motion urging the court to jail him.

Part payment

In court yesterday, a Deputy A-G, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, informed the court that instead of paying the GH20 million on April 28, Essien rather paid GH4 million on Monday, May 10.

Counsel for Essien, Thaddeus Sory, also assured the court that his client had a cheque of GH1million ready to give to the state to bring the payment to GH5 million.

The motion by the A-G seeking the imprisonment of Essien, which was scheduled for yesterday, was not heard by the court because the convict was yet to serve the A-G with his affidavit in opposition to the motion.

The court, therefore, decided to rather hear a motion by Essien urging it to suspend any proceedings that could lead to his imprisonment and also allow him to renegotiate the terms of the agreement.

Motion

Moving the motion, Mr Sory argued that his client had demonstrated good faith to pay the money but was unable to meet the deadlines due to genuine difficulties.

Counsel argued that jailing his client would be counterproductive and further defeat the purpose of Section 35 of Act 459 which was for the state to recover the money.

He, therefore, urged the court not to adopt a literal approach to interpret Section 35 (7) of Act 459 and jail his client but to adopt a purposive approach to ensure that the money was recovered.

There is a commitment to pay and that is an indication that we will achieve the purpose of Section 35 of Act 459, counsel argued.

In response, Mr Tuah-Yeboah opposed the motion and urged the court to dismiss it, describing it as one that would set a dangerous precedent in the application of Section 35 of Act 459.

In his ruling, Justice Kyei Baffour disagreed with Mr Sory and held that the words of Section 35 were clear and concise and did not require any sort of purposive interpretation.

Hearing continues on May 17, 2023 for the court to rule an application by the A-G for the court to imprison Essien over his failure to meet the payment deadline.
Police arrest Takoradi radio station manager for alleged stealing

Doreen Hammond May - 12 - 2023 , 22:23

The General Manager of a private radio station in Takoradi, Godfred Mpusu also known as Nyankonto was Friday afternoon arrested by the police for allegedly stealing GH23,500 belonging to the station.

According to Inspector Iddi Abass of the Police Intelligence Unit in Takoradi, the Chief Executive Officer of the radio station, Mr Percy Boamah, made a report to the police that from December 2022 to February 2023, Mpusu collected various sums of money which totalled the said amount.

He said Mr Boamah gave Mpusu the money to pay the salaries of employees, for rent and to repair the tower mast of the station.

Inspector Abass said Mpusu was said to have started giving one excuse after the other to the employees as to why he could not pay them their salaries including telling them that he had a problem with the bank account and that his mother was sick.

He said, Mpusu also created an emergency situation that the mast of the station was about to fall if money was not sent for repairs but did not repair the said mast when he received the money.

Inspector Abass said after two months when he had still not paid them, the employees reported the matter to Mr Boamah who was surprised that the employees had not been paid.

He said attempts to get Mpusu to pay the salaries proved futile as he continued with the excuses.

He was also said to have started playing hide and seek with the CEO which caused him to report the matter to the police.

Inspector Abass said the police had to lay ambush for him to arrest him to help in their investigations.
President Akufo-Addo lauds nurses for hard work, sacrifices

Doreen Andoh & Yaa Kuffour Senyah May - 13 - 2023 , 00:01

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has commended nurses for their hard work and sacrifices towards the improvement of healthcare in the country.

He said nurses were critical for the building of a robust healthcare system and national development, and as such they needed to be commended.

Launching this years International Nurses Day in Accra yesterday, the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, said the President was particularly impressed by the sacrificial spirit they displayed nationwide, putting themselves up as frontline workers in the fight against the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.

Indeed, you deserve the presidential honour for distinguished service given to all health workers nationwide as part of the countrys 66th Independence Day celebration, she said.

Day

The global theme for the commemoration is Our nurses, our future while the local commemoration was held on the theme our nurses and midwives our future.

Marked around the world every May 12, the day is to celebrate and honour nurses for their immense service to humanity while reflecting on their challenges for redress.

It is also to celebrate the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.

Mrs Osei-Opare said indeed a healthy population drove productivity, and that commemoration was an opportunity to reflect on the roles and needs of nurses and midwives.

She said research showed that the global nursing shortage was declining, however, WHO data showed that in the case of Ghana, more nurses and midwives were needed due to the high attrition rate, mostly caused by the search for greener pastures, among others.

In line with this worrying trend, a more strategic approach towards training and maintaining nurses would help to prepare adequately for any potential pandemic.

I therefore task the association to urgently sensitise and re-orient it members to the need to remain committed to serving Ghanaians.

It is an established fact that the wealth of a nation is dependent on the health of its citizens, government is therefore, committed to expanding healthcare infrastructure locally and also to providing the needed resources for the needed output, she said.

Challenges

The President of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association, Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo, said in celebrating nurses and midwives, their challenges should also be looked at urgently.

She said logistical challenge was a major challenge to delivering quality healthcare services.

She said, locally, nurses lacked modern equipment to care for patients adequately, adding that the continuous use of obsolete equipment and limited supply of medicines and other consumables put the lives of patients at risk.

Mrs Ofori-Ampofo mentioned other challenges to include poor working conditions for nurses, low salaries, allowances in arrears and unemployed newly qualified nurses as the other challenges.

She said two and half years on, the book and research allowances of nurse educators had not been implemented.

She appealed to the ministry to fastrack the implementation because the association had presented a detailed data on nurse educators who qualified for that allowance.

She also mentioned that nurses had challenges with study leave and promotion.

Nurses

For example, the post-basic nurses who have specialised in ophthalmic nursing; ear, nose and throat (ENT) and others have complained over the period about their inability to progress because of the excuse that there needed to be vacancies before they could be promoted and so on.

I think that at any point in time, there can be only one head of nursing services but they can still receive that promotion to facilitate an improvement in their conditions of service to make life easier for professionals.

The Chairperson for the occasion, the Omanhene of Essikado Traditional Area, Nana Kobina Nketsia, said nurses played a tremendous role in the lives of humans, and that every true nurse was not daunted by challenges.

In a speech read on his behalf, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, applauded nurses and midwives for their role in helping to abate COVID-19 locally and globally.

That is an indication that their challenges need to be looked at critically.
Stakeholders demand sustainable natural resources management

Emelia Ennin Abbey, Kester Aburam Korankye & Timothy Ngnenbe May - 13 - 2023 , 06:44

After decades of suffering the negative impact of unsound exploitation of the countrys natural resources, the time has come for collective action to protect the natural endowments from further destruction.

This can be achieved by collectively tackling the root causes of illegalities in the mining, forestry and land sectors.

This was the collective resolve of hundreds of stakeholders who converged on the Kempinski Gold Coast Hotel in Accra for the maiden natural resource management dialogue organised by the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), in partnership with the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.

The dialogue brought together experts, policy makers, industry players and a section of the public.

Opening the dialogue, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo assured Ghanaians that the government remained committed to putting in place measures to address bottlenecks in the management of the countrys natural resources to ensure that there was value retention.

Consequently, the President indicated that plans were underway to ban the export of minerals in their raw form as a measure to promote value addition.

Again, he called on all stakeholders to support the government's resolve to halt illegal mining activities in the country.

In his opening remarks, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, gave an assurance that the government remained committed to building a robust local content regime to ensure that the exploitation of natural resources benefited the country.

He also stressed the need for all stakeholders to work hand in hand to help deal with drivers of illegalities in the land, mining and forest sectors.

Protect state lands

On managing the countrys land resources, stakeholders resolved that bold decisions must be made to deploy all of the countrys powers to enforce the regulations on land usage.

A consultant of land administration, Professor Wordworth Odame Larbi, who led the discussion on land management, said there was the urgent need to address the persistent encroachment on state lands.

He said although there was no data on the exact amount of state lands that had been encroached upon by individuals, it had been established that large tracts of lands acquired by the state had been occupied illegally.

To address the illegal occupation of state lands, the discussants agreed that the beneficiary state institutions, whose lands were encroached upon, must take steps to protect them, including taking legal action.

They also resolved that there was the need for the government to invest in taking inventory of all state lands to know the exact size of land available to the state and help to protect them.

Prof. Larbi said: It is key that we have the inventory to begin the discussion of protecting state lands.

With regard to state lands which had already been encroached upon, the discussants suggested that the government must grant amnesty to all individuals already occupying state lands and encourage them to come forward to regularise their ownership of the lands and secure a land title.

He said the regularisation of lands which had already been encroached upon would generate revenue for the government while addressing illegal occupation of state lands.

Sustainable forest

To promote sustainability of the forest, the discussants said the citizenry should see themselves as stewards of natural resources and the forest as an asset.

"We must stop degradation. The forest takes a long time to be restored to optimal level or state. We also need better land-use conflict management," the leader of the discussion, Prof. Dan Frimpong-Ofori, said.

At the end of the discussion, the participants agreed on on-boarding of the communities to contribute towards sustainability and awareness creation of the destruction of the forest and the benefits of sustainability.

Forest destruction impacts the climate negatively, and when we conserve the forest, it improves the climate," Prof. Frimpong-Ofori said.

They advocated the need for empirical data to show the cost of the loss of the forest and data on the value for keeping the forest and the benefits derived from non-timber forest products.
All legal barriers cleared for NDC primaries  Jean Mensa

Graphic.com.gh Politics May - 13 - 2023 , 00:22

All legal barriers have been removed and the way is now clear for the Electoral Commission to supervise the National Democratic Congress presidential and parliamentary primaries on Saturday, May 13, 2023.

In a press statement Friday night, signed and issued by the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mrs Jean Mensa, the commission said the move followed the discontinuance of the Application for Interlocutory Injunction by Dr. Kwabena Duffuor and Edgar Asamoah Boateng that sought to restrain the Commission from conducting the NDC primaries.

The EC on Thursday told the NDC to deal with all legal issues before it would supervise the elections followed the law suit by Dr Kwabena Duffuor, one of the flagbearer aspirants in the race.

Dr Duffuor was challenging discrepancies in the photo album of delegates to be used for voting on Saturday.

The party itself says it will no longer use the photo album for the polls.
NDC primaries: Mahama stands tall in NDC presidential primary

Samuel Duodu Politics May - 13 - 2023 , 09:02

If the results of the 2019 presidential primary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) are anything to go by, then former President John Dramani Mahama who is seeking re-election to lead the party for the 2024 general election is in a pole position to win the contest for the flagbearership.

Former President Mahama, who was the flag bearer of the NDC in 2012, 2016 and 2020 presidential elections will have a sole contender in the race, a former Chief Executive of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, Kojo Bonsu. after the withdrawal of a former Finance Minister, Dr Kwabena Duffuor from the race.

Dr Duffuor announced his decision to withdraw from the presidential primary at a news confernce held at his Institue of Fiscal Studies at the Airport Residential area in Accra yesterdays night.

He cited lack of tranparency and fairness in the polls as his reasons.

Mr Mahama, if he gets the nod from the delegates of the party, will be the Presidential candidate for a third time, after winning the 2012 general election and losing the 2016 and 2020 presidential polls.

Statistics

Mr Mahama in the party's 2019 presidential primary secured an overwhelming 213,487 votes representing 95.23 per cent of the total valid votes cast with the other six contenders managing about four per cent.

The other aspirants in that contest were Professor Joshua Alabi, who obtained 3,404 votes, representing 1.52 per cent; Alban Bagbin, the current Speaker of Parliament who polled 2,301 votes, representing 1.03 per cent; Goosie Tanoh who secured 2,091 votes, representing 0.93 per cent; Ekwow Spio Garbah, 1,447 votes, representing 0.65 per cent; Sylvester Mensah, 934 votes, representing 0.42 per cent and Nurudeen Iddrisu, 520 votes, representing 0..23 per cent.

Will todays presidential primary follow the same pattern after he had toured the length and breadth of the country to sell his message to the partys delegates as to why he was the right candidate to be voted for to lead the party in the 2024 general election?

A recent report of the United Kingdom (UK)-based Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) indicated that the NDC stood the chance of winning the 2024 general election with a fresh candidate such as the former Finance Minister, Dr Duffuor.

If their prediction is anything to go by, then the contest for the flagbearership would be an interesting one.

However, that fine opportunity appears to have been lost even before the election today.

Dr Duffuors action of taking the NDC to court to restrain the party from holding their primaries due to what he claimed were discrepancies in the voters register, coupled with his last-minute withdrawal from the contest according to some political watchers should rather help deepen the internal democracy of the party.

Delegates

Some delegates the Daily Graphic interacted with yesterday after the announcement of the withdrawal of the case said they were going for former President Mahama.

These included some of the delegates who claimed to have bought into Dr Duffuors message of empowering the grassroots to build a strong party to recapture power in 2024.

According to them, their love and support for the former Finance Minister had been dimmed by his decision to resort to the courts instead of employing the internal mechanism of the party to resolve the matter.

However, the action by Dr Duffuor to ensure transparency and fairness in the internal elections of the party should not be seen as a move to derail the forward march of the NDC to reclaim power in the 2024 general election, but rather to help deepen the internal democracy of the party.
NDC goes to the polls today

Daniel Kenu and Samuel Duodu Politics May - 13 - 2023 , 00:58

After days of uncertainty and tense moments, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) goes to the polls today to elect a flag bearer and parliamentary candidates for the 2024 general election.

This follows the withdrawal of the injunction case filed by one of the three flag bearer aspirants, Dr Kwabena Duffuor.

However, Dr Duffuor did not only withdraw the case, but also pulled out of the presidential primary, leaving the contest now in a two-man race between former President John Dramani Mahama and former Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly Chief Executive, Kojo Bonsu.

In withdrawing from the elections, the former Minister of Finance yesterday evening in a press conference explained that his decision was based on his grievances with the processes leading to the partys upcoming primaries; especially

the voters register.

He said the exercise had been marred by a lot of irregularities; which had not been resolved by the leadership of the party.

He, therefore, announced that he would no longer vie for the flagbearership of the NDC. However, he would still keep in touch with the grass roots.

As at this time, the party has begun distributing the ballot papers to the various regions and constituencies without our involvement. I wish to reiterate my commitment to the party and grass roots however, my concern that the party is not ready to conduct free and fair elections is evident for all of us to see.

Taking part in such an event will be akin to knowing drinking from a poisoned calabash. After consulting with my support base nationwide, I have been left with no choice but to withdraw as I cannot contest in an election blatantly flawed with irregularities regardless of all my effort to draw attention to the same, Dr Duffour said.

Court action

This came hours after Dr Duffour withdrew the suit he had filed against the NDC following what he said were some discrepancies his team had identified in the partys voters register to be used for the exercise.

Last Monday, he dragged the party to court, praying that the election should not be held until a complete register was delivered to his camp and the two other presidential aspirants at least five weeks ahead of the election.

The writ said a sizeable number of the eligible voters had no photographs exhibited on the voters register, making it impossible to conduct any meaningful verification exercise on those affected.

He also alleged that the number of constituencies on the hard drive given to his representatives was 220 as against 228 constituencies.

The litany of allegations also included the fact that there were inaccuracies that rendered the photo album unviable for a free, fair and credible election, and that an exceptional list of 74,799 people had been created to take part in the election, while 3,910 eligible voters in the 220 constituencies had been disenfranchised.

However, when the court sat yesterday, his counsel, Opoku Amponsah, said he had instructions from his client to discontinue the case.

The discussions came up this morning for which reason I could file the necessary processes, he told the court.

The judge, Mariam Afful, subsequently struck out the application as withdrawn.

Election

Consequently, the elections are expected to go ahead this morning across the country.

The Electoral Commission (EC), which initially declined to supervise the polls due to the injunction process served on the body, has agreed to conduct the polls.

The Chairperson of the EC, Jean Mensa, who made this known to the Daily Graphic, said the commission would go ahead to supervise and conduct the election.

Otherwise, the NDC stated at a news conference yesterday that it would resort to an internal mechanism to conduct today's election, if the EC declined to supervise it.

The presidential primary will take place in 275 out of the 276 constituencies initially earmarked for the polls except in the Manhyia South Constituency, which will not vote in the parliamentary primaries too.

The parliamentary primaries will, however, be held in 212 constituencies, with 16 put on hold, and 47 going unopposed.

The head of the Elections Committee of NDC, Kakra Essamuah, told the Daily Graphic that a total of 356,624 delegates of the party were expected to vote in the election.

Delegates

They comprise branch, constituency, regional and national executive, former national executive, sitting Members of Parliament (MPs), former MPs and government appointees, NDC-appointed Article 71 Office Holders, and metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives that served under the partys government.

The rest are NDC-appointed former deputy and ministers of state, former Ambassadors and High Commissioners, former Members of the Council of State, presidential staffers who fall under Article 71 of the Constitution, foreign chapters and members of the NDC Professional Forum.

Some 692 aspirants are contesting the parliamentary primaries, and three in the presidential primary.

With Dr Duffuors withdrawal, the two remaining flag bearer aspirants are a former Chief Executive of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, Kojo Bonsu, and former President John Dramani Mahama.

According to the breakdown, 259 constituencies will fully participate in both the presidential and parliamentary primaries.

Sixteen constituencies will participate in only the presidential and not the parliamentary, while Manhyia South would not take part in the election at all due to some internal dispute.
The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has said it is targeting one million children for digital birth registration in Kano State this year.

The UNICEF chief field officer in Kano, Rahama Rihood Mohammed Farah, disclosed this during a meeting with Kano stakeholders on digital birth registration in Kano.

Represented by Michael Banda, he said birth registration had been given great priority in the sustainable development goals, describing registration of children under the age of five as a major tool in protecting children and their rights.

He noted that though Nigeria has made progress in birth registration, a lot needed to be done in ensuring that children under five were being registered.

"According to the multiple indicator cluster survey (MICS) 2021, only 33 percent of these registered children have a birth certificate," he said.
'Good riddance to...' - Sam George on Duffuor's withdrawal

Benjamin Xornam Glover Politics May - 13 - 2023 , 10:16

"Good riddance to ..." was the response by Sam Nartey George the Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram who is seeking re-election in the ongoing primary when he was asked about what he makes of Dr Kwabena Duffuor's withdrawal from the presidential primary.

"I told you that Kwabena Duffuor was not in this race to contest John Mahama, you remember? I told you that he was contesting against spoilt ballots. Spoilt ballots have beaten Kwabena Duffuor, too badly," he told journalists who are in the Ningo Prampram contesting covering the primaries.

Related: Duffuor on why he pulled out of NDC presidential primary [VIDEO]

A contender in the Ningo Prampram Constituency primary, Micheal Kwetey Tetteh is hinting of a undesirable outcome should 16 delegates from two branches be prevented from voting.

The High Court in Tema, has ordered the NDC to allow some 16 delegates to partake in the primaries in the Ningo-Prampram constituency.

These individuals are executives from two branches in the constituency who were not sworn in following the partys branch elections.

As a result, they were also not added to the constituencys delegates list, thus leaving them out of today's primaries.

The aggrieved executives, led by Jonas Tetteh Obinya, Mattew Ayiku, Mathias Narh, Emmanuel Tawiah and Joshua Tetteh dragged the party to court to compel the party and the constituency executives to swear them in before the upcoming primaries.

The court presided over Emmanuel Ankamah, a Court of Appeal judge, sitting as an additional High Court Judge ordered the party to not only add their names to the delegates list but also swear them in to enable them partake in the election.

Speaking to journalists on Saturday, Mr Tetteh said, "where even the two that has been sworn in as ordered by the court will be prevented to vote. This election will not end well, I am assuring you," he said.

Mr Tetteh was optimistic of his chances at winning the ticket to represent the NDC in parliament this time round having missed out at the last primary with seven votes to Sam Nartey George.

more to follow...
NDC Primaries: Voting underway

Graphic Reporters Politics May - 13 - 2023 , 09:51

After days of uncertainty and tense moments, delegates of the main opposition political party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) are voting today to elect a flag bearer and parliamentary candidates for the 2024 general election.

Our correspondents are monitoring the elections from various polling stations across the country.

Ningo

From Ningo, Benjamin Xornam Glover reports that voting is underway at the New Ningo Basic B Primary School park in the Ningo-Prampram Constituency, where two aspirants are contesting the ticket to represent the NDC in Parliament.

The race for the seat is a two-horse race between the incumbent Samuel Nartey George, and Micheal Kwetey Tetteh.

In all 1,714 delegates from 197 branches are expected to vote in the exercise

Voting started an hour late due to logistical arrangements.

Over 80 police personnel have been deployed to keep law and order.

The incumbent MP, Sam George was optimistic of his chances in the polls.

Fate of 16 delegates in Ningo Prampram

A contender in the Ningo Prampram Constituency primary, Micheal Kwetey Tetteh is hinting of a undesirable outcome should 16 delegates from two branches be prevented from voting.

The High Court in Tema, has ordered the NDC to allow some 16 delegates to partake in the primaries in the Ningo-Prampram constituency.

These individuals are executives from two branches in the constituency who were not sworn in following the partys branch elections.

As a result, they were also not added to the constituencys delegates list, thus leaving them out of today's primaries.

The aggrieved executives, led by Jonas Tetteh Obinya, Mattew Ayiku, Mathias Narh, Emmanuel Tawiah and Joshua Tetteh dragged the party to court to compel the party and the constituency executives to swear them in before the upcoming primaries.

The court presided over Emmanuel Ankamah, a Court of Appeal judge, sitting as an additional High Court Judge ordered the party to not only add their names to the delegates list but also swear them in to enable them partake in the election.

Speaking to journalists on Saturday, Mr Tetteh said, "where even the two that has been sworn in as ordered by the court will be prevented to vote. This election will not end well, I am assuring you," he said.

Mr Tetteh was optimistic of his chances at winning the ticket to represent the NDC in parliament this time round having missed out at the last primary with seven votes to Sam Nartey George.

Ho

From Ho in the Volta Region, Alberto Mario Noretti reports that voting started at OLA SHS in Ho at 10:32 am.

In all, 2270 delegates are expected to take part in the voting which is expected to end by 4pm.

Meanwhile, vehicles and humans are competing for space at the entrance of the venue.

The polling centre at the OLA SHS in Ho. PICTURE BY ALBERTO MARIO NORETTI

From Wa, Emmanuel Modey reports that voting started at 9 am.

For the Presidential, there are 1,855 ballot papers made available and 2,000 for the Parliamentary elections. There are a total of 1,837 delegates for the elections.

Security is tight and only those who are with accreditation cards are allowed to enter, no drumming or noise is also permitted to ensure that there is discipline around the voting centre which is at Wa Technical Institute.

According to the Director of the Electoral Commission, Ben Alaglo, in a bid to ease the elections process there are two election centres both manned by EC staff.

Mr Alaglo said that elections shall end at 4 pm after which the ballots will be counted and only the results of the Parliamentary will be declared at the centre.

He said that the Presidential result will be announced and forwarded to Accra to be added to the national results and declared by the Returning Officer.

The Wa voting centre at Wa Technical Institute. PICTURES BY EMMANUEL MODEY

Talensi

From the Talensi Constituency, which is one of the hotspots in the Upper East Region, Gilbert Mawuli Agbey reports that voting was yet to commence as of 10:30am.

Constituency executives were setting up the place for voting to commence at the Tongo Junior High School.

A total of eight aspirants, the highest in the entire region, are contesting in the primary in the constituency.

Delegates were already at the venue as of 10:30am and were waiting patiently to take part in the election.

Some of the delegates urged the party leadership to fast-track the process to prevent the voting from running into the night.

In the Talensi constituency, executives were setting up the place for voting to commence at the Tongo Junior High School as of 10:30am. PICTURES BY GILBERT MAWULI AGBEY.

Chiana-Paga

Also, in the Chiana-Paga constituency, information gathered indicated that voting was also yet to commence as of 10:30am as officials of the Electoral Commission were yet to arrive at the Sirigu Catholic Social Centre where the election was being held.

However, checks in other constituencies in the Upper East Region indicated that voting was underway.

A.BA Fuseini faces fierce contest from four others

Mohammed Fugu reports from the Sagnarigu constituency in the Northern Region, which is one of the hotspots that, the incumbent Member of Parliament, A.B.A Fuseini is facing a fierce contest by four other contenders.

They are Attah Issah, an accountant at the NDC headquarters, Abdul Majeed Alhassan, Yakubu Ahmed and Dr Hamza Bukari Zakaria.

Even before the election, tension has been brewing in the constituency with the various aspirants criss-crossing each other in their campaign activities.

Since the inception of the constituency in 2012, A.B.A Fuseini has been the MP for the area.

However, he is facing stiff competition from the other contenders who are said to be staunch members and financiers of the party.

As of 9:40 am, voting was about to the start at the West African Examination Council (WEAC) hall, centre for the Sagnarigu constituency elections.

About 1,329 delegates including branch, constituency executives and past executives are expected to cast their votes.

Checks by Graphic Online indicated that voting was about to start in other constituencies across the Northern Region.

Officials of the Electoral Commission (EC) in the region said all electoral materials have been dispatched to the various constituencies to ensure smooth elections.

I am confident of resounding victory - A.B.A Fuseini

Mohammed Fugu reports that the incumbent MP for Sagnarigu, A.B.A. Fuseini says he is confident of a resounding victory at the close of polls.

Alhaji Fuseini who is bidding for his 4th term in Parliament, said he had been tried and tested by the people while his performance was evident across the constituency.

Speaking to the media after casting his vote, he said "The delegates are aware of my good works and I believe they will give me another opportunity to lead the party to victory in 2024".

In the Sagnarigu constituency in the Northern Region, which is one of the hotspots that, the incumbent Member of Parliament, A.B.A Fuseini is facing a fierce contest by four other contenders. PICTURES BY MOHAMMED FUGU

Sunyani

From Sunyani, Biiya Mukusah Ali reports the National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Aseidu Nketiah was at the Sunyani East Constituency election centre at the Jubilee Park at 7:40am.

He was at the centre to monitor the constituency and other constituencies in the Bono Region and assess readiness.

There is a court injunction on the Sunyani West Constituency Parliamentary primary, as one of the candidates, Evelyn Akantoa, has filed suit following her disqualification from the contest.

The parliamentary primary, which is currently on hold was supposed to be an acclamation to confirm Milicent Amankwaa Yeboah as she is the only candidate in the race.

The Presidential primary in that constituency is ongoing at the constituency voting centre.

The election at the rest of the constituencies are underway.

Four incumbent Members of Parliament (MPs) in the Bono Region entered the race as unopposed and will be declared as representatives of the NDC for the 2024 elections.

They are Ahmed Ibrahim for Banda, Fredrick Yaw Ahenkwah for Jaman North, Williams Offori-Dateh for Jaman South and Seidu Haruna for Wenchi.

Two incumbents namely: Sulamana Adams for Tain and Vincent Oppong Asamoah for Dormaa West are facing stiff contests by other contestants.

In all 13, 693 delegates from 12 constituencies are expected to cast their votes in the region.

In the Sunyani East constituency, voting started at about 9am, shortly after Mr Nketiah had left to other constituencies.

Said Mubarak, a businessman, who contested in the 2016 and 2020 primaries but lost is now contesting with Kwabena Yeboah-Asuamah, a legal practitioner, who is contesting for the first time.

National Chairman of NDC, Johnson Aseidu Nketiah at the Sunyani East Constituency election centre at the Jubilee Park. PICTURE BY BIIYA MUKASAH ALI

From Ablekuma South in Greater Accra, Daniel Kenu reported that voting underway was underway smoothly in the presidential primary.

In the parliamentary, the incumbent MP, Alfred Oko Vanderpuje is going unopposed.

Sekondi

From Sekondi, George Folley, reports that, voting started at 8. 35 am.

In all a total of 852 delegates are to choose between Nyamekye Blay Armah and a United States based businessman, Samuel Bissah, otherwise known as Jubidu.

Speaking to Graphic Online, the Sekondi constituency communication officer of the NDC, Kwamena Thompson said he was happy that voting smooth.

Over 2,000 NDC delegates in Bortianor-Ngleshie-Amanfro voting

From the Zaytun Sports Complex park in the Bortianor-Ngleshie-Amanfro constituency, Vincent Amenuveve reports that about 2,035 delegates turned out in their numbers to vote.

The delegates who had formed a long queue at the park waiting patiently for their turn to vote are from the six Electoral areas or wards in the constituency - Amanfro, Galilea, Tuba, Kokrobite, Bortianor and Akwasa. Voting started at 8:00am.

When contacted, the NDC Election Director for the constituency, Abass Abdulai told Graphic Online that four parliamentary aspirants were contesting. They are Felix Akwetey Okle, Senyo Tsagli, Leslie Anim and a former parliamentary candidate in the 2020 general elections, Alexander Akuoko.

Cape Coast

From Cape Coast, Shirley Asiedu-Addo and Francisca Eshun reports that voting in Cape Coast North started around 8:45 am at the WAEC offices in Cape Coast.

The Metropolitan Director of the Electoral Commission, Richard Asenso Boakye is supervising the election.

The enthusiasm among delegates was very high at the electoral grounds.

A total 1090 delegates are expected to cast their votes in the Cape Coast North constituency.

The centre has two polling centres, A and B to make for easy voting.

The 2020 running mate of the NDC, Prof Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman was at the polling centre at 10:36am to cast her vote and to monitor how the election was ongoing.

A former deputy minister of Interior, Kobby Acheampong also voted at the centre.

Prof Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman pleaded with the delegates to let peace prevail before and after the election.

She assured them that they are going to win the upcoming elections in 2024.

Kwesi Walker, the NDC constituency chairman for Cape Coast North urged all delegates to vote in peace.

Prof Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman casting her ballot at Cape Coast North

Ayawaso West Wuogon

Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson reports from Ayawaso West Wuogon voting was ongoing smoothly at the Ghana Meteorological Agency Head office at Mempeasem, the voting centre with a high voter turnout.

The Electoral Officer in charge, Lydia Agyiri, told Graphic Online that as of 2:25 pm, 1,062 delegates out of the total number of 1,891 registered delegates had voted.

However, unlike most constituencies,todays election at the Ayawaso West Wuogon constituency by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is only to choose the Presidential candidate and not a parliamentary candidate.

No parliamentary elections at Ayawaso West Wuogon

The NDC constituency Chairman for Ayawaso West Wuogon, Bismark Abor-Ayittey, told Graphic Online that the party had decided to put on hold the elections to select a parliamentary candidate for the constituency because more work needed to be done.

All constituencies have unique dynamics and this constituency dynamics suggest that the party must do more work before elections for parliamentary candidates are held, he said.

When asked when that work will be completed to pave way for elections to select the NDC parliamentary candidate, Mr Abor-Ayittey said that would depend on the partys hierarchy at the national level.

But the partys hierarchy are mindful of the times that we are in and I believe that they will do the needful, he added

Two nasty incidents nearly mar NDC primary at Koforidua

From Koforidua, in the Eastern Region Haruna Yussif Wunpini, reports that two nasty incidents nearly disrupted the voting process.

The first incident occurred when the Eastern Regional Youth Organiser of the NDC, Richard Ettornam Nyarko punched the mouth of the New Juaben South Constituency Youth Organiser, Dennis Mensah Akorli.

It took the intervention of the police personnel at GNAT Hall to restore calm after which the constituency Youth Organiser, Mr Akorli who sustained a cut on his mouth with blood oozing had to be taken away by the police.

The second incident involved the Constituency Organiser of the party, Ahmed Tijani Maikano and a delegate, Atta Suleiman who was busily campaigning for his candidate, Eric Yeboah Wadie.

Mr Maikano knocked the delegate, Mr Suleiman's chest after which the two were separated.

That however did not stop the voting process.

Mr Suleiman who was knocked in the chest by Maikano told Graphic Online that he was seriously campaigning for his candidate, Mr Wadie only to be knocked by Maikano.

According to him, all delegates could not belong to only one candidate hence his decision to campaign for Mr Wadie.

In all, 1571 delegates were casting their votes at the time of the two incidents.

At the nearby New Juaben North Constituency voting however went on smoothly and peacefully without any incidents.

A total of 856 delegates were also casting their votes to elect a parliamentary and presidential candidates ahead of the 2024 general elections.

My data speaks for me - Dr Zenator Rawlings confident of victory

Dickson Worlanyo Dotse reports that the MP for Korle Klottey, Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings has said she will retain her position because people know what she had accomplished for the constituency.

That, she said, coupled with her teams passion, dedication and hard work for the constituency were the reason people consistently kept voting for her in the general elections.

It speaks to something positive in terms of the way people have voted for me. And I think in some ways it speaks to the work that I have been able to put in and I pray for the opportunity to do more, Dr Agyemang-Rawlings said.

Speaking at the voting grounds at the AMA offices next to the Tema Station the Incumbent stated that she was going to win with or without her late fathers influence adding she was not entertaining any thought of defeat.

My father wasnt here in 2020 but I won the general election. You can only speak to the data and the data shows that in 2016 I beat the NPP candidate by a margin of over 4000 and in 2020 that appreciated to over 8000 that speaks to a lot, she said.

As of 6am, all four polling stations had been set up by the Electoral Commission.

Voting commenced a few minutes after 8am and moved on smoothly.

According to the Municipal Director of Elections, Linda Abban, 2,006 delegates were expected to vote.

It included 29 executives, six former ministers and deputy ministers, and 1,971 other delegates.

Others contending Dr Zenator Agyeman-Rawlings for her office are Meredith Naa Odarkai Lamptey Addy and Nii John Alfonso Coleman.

more to follow...
Ningo Prampram: Voting resumes with 16 delegates barred from voting

Benjamin Xornam Glover Politics May - 13 - 2023 , 15:20

Voting resumed after a brief halt at Ningo Prampram in Greater Accra following a disagreement over the eligibility of some 16 delegates.

The polling exercise which was moving smoothly was halted at about 2:30 pm as some voters from two branches who have secured a court order to vote where prevented from voting.

This led to confusion forcing the EC officials to halt the process while the police took position to protect the ballot boxes.

While Micheal Kwetey Tetteh, a contender in the Ningo Prampram primary who was spotted brandishing a court order and his supporters were insisting that the 16 delegates should be allowed to vote, Sam George and his supporters stood their grounds that those delegates would not be allowed to vote.

A contender in the Ningo Prampram Constituency primary, Micheal Kwetey Tetteh earlier hinted of a undesirable outcome should 16 delegates from two branches be prevented from voting.

The High Court in Tema, on Friday ordered the NDC to allow some 16 delegates to partake in the primaries in the Ningo-Prampram constituency.

These individuals are executives from two branches in the constituency who were not sworn in following the partys branch elections.

As a result, they were also not added to the constituencys delegates list, thus leaving them out of today's primaries.

The aggrieved executives, led by Jonas Tetteh Obinya, Mattew Ayiku, Mathias Narh, Emmanuel Tawiah and Joshua Tetteh dragged the party to court to compel the party and the constituency executives to swear them in before the upcoming primaries.

The court presided over Emmanuel Ankamah, a Court of Appeal judge, sitting as an additional High Court Judge ordered the party to not only add their names to the delegates list but also swear them in to enable them partake in the election.

Speaking to journalists on Saturday, Mr Tetteh said, "where even the two that has been sworn in as ordered by the court will be prevented to vote. This election will not end well, I am assuring you," he said.

Mr Tetteh was optimistic of his chances at winning the ticket to represent the NDC in parliament this time round having missed out at the last primary with seven votes to Sam Nartey George.

16 cannot vote

Voting resumed after a brief intervention by the Deputy Tema Regional Police Commander, DCOP Laar Baman.

With the two contenders it was agreed that the 16 people be barred from voting.

This was after a phone call was placed to the General Secretary of the NDC, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey.

Mr Micheal Kwetey Tetteh told Graphic Online that the General Secretary of the party informed them that although the 16 delegates were sworn in line with the court order, it was agreed that for this election, no new names should be included in the register.

Fifi Kwetey's intervention in Ningo Prampram

Graphic Online's Zadok Kwame Gyesi who is moving around monitoring the elections in the Greater Accra Region interviewed Fifi Kwetey ane he confirmed that the 16 people cannot vote.

Ningo Prampram: Voting resumes with 16 delegates barred from voting https://t.co/JeaUnw88nx pic.twitter.com/TLkVSCosJP  GraphicOnline (@Graphicgh) May 13, 2023

more to follow...
President Muhammadu Buhari and his family have moved into the Glass House at the State House Abuja ahead of the inauguration of the president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The First Lady, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, disclosed this via a video shared on her official Instagram page after taking the incoming First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, around the State House.

Mrs Buhari, who introduced Senator Tinubu to the various areas of the house, spoke on the history and significance of each edifice during the tour of the Villa.

The first lady, who said the Glass House had served as a transitional abode for the outgoing president and their spouse during the transition period, implored the coming government to maintain the practice of having the outgoing president and his spouse reside in the Glass House till transitions are over as it provides a symbolic and literal space for the outgoing president and gives opportunity for the incoming president to fully take charge.

In her reaction after completing the tour, Senator Tinubu lauded Mrs Buhari for the magnanimity of her gesture.

"I have gone around. She has magnanimously shown me around the house. And graciously explained a lot of things to me which is quite a short time and overwhelming for me to grasp.

"But, I believe God will help me to be able to make an impactful contribution to the nation," she said.
. To hold perm secs, heads of MDAs accountable

Abia Government's silence over the alleged ongoing mass looting of Government property has become a source of worry to the Governor-elect, Dr Alex Otti.

otti's close confidant and Leader of his team in the Handover Joint Committee,

Rev. Fr. Christian Anokwuru, who disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Umuahia, expressed shock that the outgoing administration would look the other way while such criminality would be going on.

He, advised Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, to guard against such criminality as they would be held accountable by the incoming administration for any looted Government asset under their watch.

"The Permanent Secretaries and Directors should know that it is their responsibility to protect the properties because these commissioners and aides to the governor are government appointees, who are also leaving on May 29.

"So, failure of heads of these MDAs to act means they will be held responsible to give an account of their inventories," Anokwuru said.

The cleric said, "it is unthinkable and hard to believe that government can look away and watch its properties being looted".

According to him, Government's failure to either deny, condemn or warm against the alleged criminal act seemed to reinforce the allegation.

"The allegation causes some concern because the government seems to be silent about it and no official statement made countering it.

"But I wouldn't want to believe that government can allow such to happen, I want to believe that it is a rumour.

"I know there are entitlements, like consumables, cars, which top officials go home with but carting away fixed items and government properties is a crime and unacceptable."

The cleric also decried the alleged employment racketeering currently going on in MDAs.

He wondered why an outgoing administration that was finding it difficult to pay salaries on the excuse of paucity of funds would embark on mass recruitment on the eve of the inauguration of a new Government.

Rev. Anokwuru warned that Otti's earlier promise not to engage in probe of his predecessors so as not to be distracted, should not be taken for granted.

"This is sheer wickedness, insensitivity and deliberate intention to place a burden against the governor-elect, who has assured the people that he will not lay off workers.

"We are telling the government to desist from taking such actions, what is happening is a red alert.

"I think they are capitalising on Otti's early statement that he is not going to sack workers.

"We call for caution and the need to apply morality".

Rev. Anokwuru who said that the Governor-elect was in a hurry to develop the state, however, expressed frustration over the delays by the outgoing administration to make available its handover note to enable Otti to understudy it ahead of his swearing-in.

"It is expected that the outgoing administration ought to avail the governor-elect with the handover documents early enough to enable him to study the content before May 29.

"The administration has only few weeks in office so by now the handover documents, covering the government's activities from 2015 to April 2023, ought to have been ready.

"Unfortunately, the government committee appears to be more preoccupied with preparations for the swearing-in ceremony rather than the documents.

"And, if the government insists that the handover documents would only be made available on May 29, it means the governor-elect has to take another period of time to study them.

"This is the only factor that will likely impede or slow down the pace with which the governor-elect had prepared to take off.

"For us from the governor-elect, we are not getting the maximum cooperation we were promised by the government."

According to the Otti's Team Leader, the reluctance of the outgoing Government is at variance with its earlier promises when it was represented by the Deputy Governor, Dr Ude Oko Chukwu at the Inauguration of the joint committee.

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He said that the Deputy Governor had on behalf of his principal, promised that Government would not hesitate to provide the incoming Government with all it needed, including all necessary documents to enable it to take off smoothly.

"We are asking to be exposed to the documents, and inventories from the inception of this government to at least, the month of April.

"Whatever they have from the end of April to May 29 could be captured in a footnote or addendum.

"I want to say that it has not been smooth and easy for us nominated by the governor-elect to interface with the government team," Anokwuru said.

He said Otti's appointments would be based on merit and equity.

"From the body language of Dr Alex Otti, it is clear that he is ready for governance.

And immediately he is sworn in, all appointments will begin to take place without unnecessary delay."

" I'm confident that appointments will be made based on merit, competence, integrity, fairness and equity. "
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Korean Movie | 2017

 Comedy  Drama

Directed by Chang You-jeong ()

Written by  Chang You-jeong ()  Heo Seong-hye ()

102min | Release date in South Korea: 2017/11/02

Synopsis

Seok-bong is a lecturer on Korean history and he dreams of being Indiana Jones. His life goal is to find a national treasure and do to that he doesn't mind falling into debt to purchase the appropriate equipment. His brother, Joo-bong is the team manager of an architectural company who dreams of migrating to Germany, the land of fairness. He has a reputation for his work abilities but he's a weakling. These two brothers haven't seen each other in years but they return home to Andong at the news that their father passed away.



On their way down, they accidentally hit Aurora, an employee from the cultural center. This secretive looking girl doesn't remember anything after the accident.



The brothers use their father's funeral as an excuse to execute their own plans, but they face the truth about their family.
Nairobi  The Kenyan government will launch an official search for the body of Mau Mau freedom fighter Dedan Kimathi who was executed by the colonial powers and buried at the Kamiti Maximum prison in 1957.

The assurance was given Saturday by President William Ruto during the burial of the independence hero's widow, Mukami, who died last week aged 101.

During the funeral of Mukami, the president assured that the government will launch an official search of her husband's remains which are believed to have been buried at the Kamiti Maximum prison by colonial masters who executed him in 1957.

"I have listened to the pleas from the family and I am giving an assurance today that the government will launch this search because Kimathi deserves a dignified burial having fought for the independence of this country," the president said.

This fulfils the wish of the late Mukami, who had wished to have her husband exhumed for a decent burial.

Kimathi was captured in 1956 and executed in 1957 by the British government which colonised Kenya.

His body is believed to have been buried at the Kamiti Maximum prison where he was detained.

"Kimathi fought for the independence of this country yet he was buried with chains in his hands," Ruto said, "we will look for his body and ensure he is buried as a hero."

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, in his speech at the funeral of Mukami, said several Mau Mau elders knows where Kimathi was buried and are willing to help in the search.

Similar calls had been made by Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria among other Central Kenya leaders.

Mukami's burial provided an opportunity for Ruto and Raila to meet and share a podium for the first time since the August 9, 2022 elections.

The funeral in Njabini was also attended by dozens of top Kenya Kwanza leaders who took on the Opposition leader-telling him to accept defeat and stop demonstrations.

"Odinga is someone I know very well and that is why I was able to defeat him despite the support he had from my predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta and the system," Ruto said, speaking after Odinga had addressed the mourners in which he gave his brief history with the president.

"Just like Odinga has said, he has told us the need to speak the truth and be told as much, that is why I also want to tell him to always speak the truth and accept the truth. The elections ended and the winner was declared," he told him on the face.

Odinga had earlier addressed mourners, in which his address focussed on the need for the truth, asking the Executive to be ready and willing to be told the truth.

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"We must speak truth to power don't be threatened or intimidated. What are you threatened over? We as Azimio are not mad we can sit down and reach an agreement," said Odinga, "I have worked with Ruto for a long time and when he speaks I just look. I know that he will calm down."

The Azimio leader equally said the bi-partisan talks, formed by the two opposing sides must succeed in earnest to resolve the issues on the table to avoid further oppressing Kenyans through taxes.

"We have had his (president) people and my people sit down and talk and if they reach an agreement that's fine. The cost of living has increased and we are telling you not to increase the taxes. Don't increase more taxes, the donkey is tired. I will tell you the truth," Odinga noted.

President Ruto in a quick rejoinder at the funeral accepted the fact that the cost of living is high, but reminded the former Prime Minister that it is not as high as it was during the former regime of Uhuru Kenyatta.

"When you look at the price of Unga today, it has come down to Sh170 from Sh230 in the former regime of the handshake," Ruto said.

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua who also spoke at the funeral welcomed Odinga to the club of "truthful men."

"The former prime minister has said we must tell each other the truth, I also want to tell him the truth because the election is over and he lost and we won," he said, "that is the truth that he must accept so as to stop mobilising unnecessary demonstrations that hurt the economy."

That was the same message to Odinga from Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and Water Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome.
"Finland cannot survive without international professionals in the social and healthcare sector.

The shortage of professionals in the social and healthcare sector in Finland demands the recruitment of international workers and students. However, it must be done ethically and sustainably, says Elina Juntunen , CEO and Rector of the Diaconia University of Applied Sciences.

However, promoting international education and workforce-based immigration must be carried out through common, clear, and ethically sustainable national guidelines and recommendations," said Juntunen.

There are opportunities for sustainable action, such as by developing cooperation between universities.

"The previous degrees and skills of international students should be recognized quickly and effectively in Finland. Education should advance the student in their career and life. Earning trust with international students requires a commitment to equity in their rights and support for them and their families," Juntunen continued.

Ethically sustainable recruitment means, among other things, ensuring adequate support for professionals and their families in resources designed for international student and workforce recruitment. Ethically sustainable recruitment also considers the families of international professionals.

"In recruiting international students and their financing, emphasis should be placed on efficient language education and support for personal and family integration," Juntunen explained.

It is also important that newcomers can work in their field of study. For example, if a nurse with a strong educational background and work experience comes to Finland, it is appropriate that they can work in their field of study here as well.

"Sustainable financing channels must be found for them to qualify directly for jobs that match their training, such as through strong language education," Juntunen added.

The Diaconia University of Applied Sciences has responded to this need by training nurses from outside the EU to work as nurses in Finland with a separate qualification course.

HT
A group of Kenyan nursing students who were offered the opportunity to study overseas in Finland at Edusampo in Lappeenranta are now facing the risk of abrupt deportation due to confusion surrounding the payment of fees. These 15 students were allegedly assured financial support by the Nandi County government, but the promises made have not been fulfilled, leaving the students struggling to make ends meet.

The financial burden has become so significant that they are now facing the possibility of being forced to return to Kenya before completing their educational program. Edusampo has recently announced that the studies will be terminated on May 17. Unfortunately, if their studies are abruptly halted next week, they will be left with a significant gap, missing out on approximately one-third of the credits required to attain their practical nursing qualifications.

Helsinki Times spoke to the students affected by the issue who stated that Edusampo Oy, Suomi International Consultants (Suinco) and Nandi County were the parties involved in the agreement. However, they did not have access to the contract itself to preserve privacy. Instead, they relied on verbal information provided by SuInCo Ltd and Nandi County when enrolling in the educational program. Students have requested anonymity for the article claiming that they have been subjected to stressful conditions recently after their identities were disclosed.

One student, who chose to remain anonymous, shared their experience, saying, "I saw a poster being circulated on social media offering an opportunity to be sponsored to study for a degree overseas. I saw this as a great way to build my professional career as there are limits in Kenya and a lack of employment opportunities for young people like myself. I applied and got it, and as they say, 'the rest is history!' I was told at the time that all costs will be covered by Nandi County."

Another student described the shock and devastation upon receiving the news of the termination of services from the school. "I could not believe what I was being told, and I felt that my whole career had come to an end right there. I felt empty and didn't know what to say. I wanted to ask for help, but I couldn't," the student lamented.

According to Terhi Toikkanen, CEO of Edusampo, the first deadline to make the payment was on December 1, 2022. The deadline has been extended thrice since then and the last deadline was on May 6. The agreement between Edusampo and Nandi County indicated that the county would cover all tuition fees, travel expenses, and living costs for the students. "We have the document signed by the County Secretary of Nandi and the CEO of Suinco where they have mentioned in their own words that the county is paying for everything and the students do not have to pay for anything," Toikkanen told Helsinki Times adding that approximately 100,000 euros, still is outstanding.

Confusion over payments

The overseas education project began a year ago when a delegation led by the Nandi Governor visited Edusampo in Finland. After several months of preparation, an agreement was signed between Edusampo and the Kenyan government. The understanding was that the Nandi County Government, using funds allocated to all 47 counties, would cover the students' expenses throughout their program in Finland, which was scheduled to last for one year.

The students faced challenges with paperwork upon arrival in Finland. They were asked to meet with Finnish Police border staff, causing additional stress and confusion. Despite their efforts to resolve the issue and repeated attempts to contact Nandi County, the students were left in limbo.

During the process of flying to Finland from Kenya, we were instructed to pay for accommodation, health insurance, and visa fees through SuInCo Ltd and Nandi County. This was unexpected as we were initially informed that Nandi County would cover all expenses as part of their sponsorship. Despite my confusion, I paid the fees to SuInCo Ltd and obtained the necessary paperwork to enter Finland and settle in Lappeenranta. However, upon arrival at Helsinki Airport, all students, including myself, encountered difficulties with the border police, who almost prevented us from entering Finland, the student explained. Students have claimed that there were 25 of them initially but 10 students were denied permits in Kenya due to their inability to provide the required paperwork for university fee payments.

For my family back in Kenya, for them, I have to pull myself together but its hard not to cry and ask why these people did this to us poor students. Suinco and Nandi County have destroyed everything we had and have taken everything from us, we have nothing now. Why has Kenyan Government allowed this to happen and why has nobody gone to court because this is a scam and will happen to other people. Where are my rights, where is my justice, where is my voice in Kenya? the student said.

What lies ahead?

Edusampo, however, is reluctant to send the students back to Kenya, especially since two-thirds of their studies have already been completed. The institution is actively engaged in discussions with local health authorities to explore job options for the students. "We do not want to send them back. We are in talks with the local health authorities, and they will be conducting interviews with the students for potential job opportunities," Toikkanen stated, emphasizing their commitment to finding a solution.

However, concerns remain regarding the response from the Nandi County government in addressing the crisis. Toikkanen expressed dissatisfaction with the government's proposal to Edusampo to have the parents sign an agreement to pay the fees directly to Edusampo. "This is not a legal solution. As an institution, we are not permitted to accept payments from individual students. We will be consulting with lawyers to determine the appropriate legal action, she added.

The ongoing efforts of the local health authorities to find suitable employment for the students are crucial in determining their future course. The potential for securing jobs would enable the students to continue their studies as regular students.

Education export programmes

The incident comes days after the uproar over non-payment of fees for nurses of Uasin Gishu county which led to their deportation risks. In 2022, 65 Kenyan nurses arrived in Finland for specialized training at Laurea University of Applied Sciences, expecting a one-year program. However, they discovered that the studies would last two and a half years. Despite initial deposits made by parents, universities claimed non-payment of fees, putting the students at risk of deportation. The amount paid in Kenya only covered half of the first year, and the students believed the province would cover the expenses. Now, their families were asked to pay, leaving the students feeling deceived and uncertain about their future job prospects.

A total of 139 aspiring nurses and physiotherapists from Kenya have come to Finland through the existing contracts between Kenyan county governments and Finnish universities. These agreements were facilitated under the government education export program known as Education Finland, overseen by the Finnish National Agency for Education.

Kenya has been also facilitating education programmes with different countries like U.S., UK, Canada and Australia. Apart from Finland, Nandi County recently started that Work, Study and Live in Canada program for the May/September on January 9. In addition to this, Kenyas education ministry announced fully paid scholarships for Kenyan students to study undergraduate degree programs in Slovakia on April 18. Kenya Airlift Program initiative supports have sent several Kenyans to United States to pursue affordable education and funding for IT-related master's programmes.

The ongoing controversy surrounding Nandi County students at Edusampo has brought attention to the lack of transparency in education export deals. However, the students remain hopeful that this situation does not stigmatize all Kenyans, but instead directs attention to the individuals responsible for misconduct. What hurts even more is the implied stigma, suggesting that all Kenyans are involved in fraud. It's as if they're saying the entire country is fraudulent. Imagine if I were to say Finland is a fraud; it would offend you because you're Finnish and not a fraudster, right? I'm unsure if using the term "fraud" in this way is grammatically correct or appropriate. Perhaps it's due to cultural differences or stereotypes. But the emotions I've experienced since then are unforgettable. Am I not human, just like you? the student remarked.

Sonali Telang - HT
Mills River begins to consider proposed budget

The Town Council in Mills River on Thursday evening began considering a proposed budget for 2023-2024 that lowers its overall tax rate by one cent.

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Under the $9,468,711 budget proposal Town Manager Daniel Cobb presented to council, the towns property tax rate will decrease from 19 cents per $100 of valuation to 18 cents per $100 of valuation, with the amount of the tax rate set aside for Mills River Fire and Rescue going from 11 cents to 10 cents. The amount of the tax rate going to the town will remain at the 8 cents the town currently receives.

The proposed budget is an increase of $3,726,201 over the towns current adjusted budget of $5,742,510.

Much of the increase in the proposed budget, Cobb said, is due to capital projects.

Were making some very long-term investments, he said. These are going to become public property for generations.

The proposed budget includes $3,356,500 for capital projects and $6,215,600 in the towns operating budget. Funds from the American Rescue Plan account for $2 million of the proposed capital budget, Cobb said.

Of the $2 million in ARP funds, $1.5 million will go toward the $2 million the town is spending to buy 68 acres adjacent to the town hall. The property currently includes a dairy. The remaining $500,000 for the property will come from savings, Cobb said. The town does not yet have definite plans for the property.

The remaining $500,000 in ARP money will go toward funding Farmland Preservation. The town plans to partner with a land trust to help purchase conservation easements from farmers who want to protect their land from development.

Other capital projects in the proposed budget include creating a managed meadow and green space on 19 acres the town owns.

About 15 acres of the property will be used for a managed meadow that will involve removing invasive species and growing a combination of native species and grasses. The remaining four acres will be a greenspace.

Mills River also plans to hire a consultant to help the town update its zoning ordinance, Cobb said.

Cobb said he recommended keeping the towns tax rate essentially the same for 2023-2024 because the town intends to expand its services. The towns park is in need of more maintenance and more personnel, he said.

Property values in Mills River increased by almost 34 percent after a recent reappraisal that saw values increase by an average of 48 percent countywide.

In response to the increase in property values, Henderson County is considering a budget that lowers its tax rate 23 percent from 56.1 cents per $100 of valuation to 43.1 cents per $100 of valuation.

Fletcher is considering lowering its tax rate from 34 cents per $100 valuation to 28 cents per $100 valuation. Property values in Fletcher increased under the recent reappraisal by 43 percent.

Mills Rivers town council is considering holding another meeting on the budget later this month and is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the budget on June 8.
?????? Estamos comprometidos con el ambiente!

? La presidenta Dina Boluarte participo en la implementacion de las campanas #PeruLimpio #ChuyaChuyaPeru y la #GranCruzadaVerde, en Manchay, realizadas por el @MinamPeru, en donde se plantaron arboles en esta zona, a fin de promover pic.twitter.com/Ge9GIndWPC
La presidenta Dina Boluarte sostuvo una reunion de trabajo con alcaldes de Apurimac y Ayacucho, para afianzar proyectos en educacion, infraestructura agraria, salud, saneamiento basico, carreteras, entre otros, en favor del desarrollo de estas regiones. pic.twitter.com/bJBxaB7K62
??El Ministerio Publico notifico a las autoridades de Estados Unidos la entrega temporal de Joran Van Der Sloot, para afrontar el proceso que se le sigue por los delitos de extorsion y estafa en agravio de Elizabeth Ann Holloway. pic.twitter.com/KcEY2Qcbs9
YEREVAN, MAY 13, ARMENPRESS. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan had a telephone conversation with Dereck Hogan, acting US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, ARMENPRESS was informed from MFA Armenia.

The interlocutors discussed issues of regional stability and security.

Minister Mirzoyan presented the situation created as a result of the provocative and aggressive actions of the Azerbaijani armed forces against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia during the last days, emphasizing that they are aimed at disrupting the efforts aimed at continuing the peace negotiations.

The sides exchanged thoughts on the need to address the rights and security of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, the normalization of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations.
Almost 12,000 people have received support from the Hotlines professional counselors during the first year, You've made me feel heard and that there's hope for me."

Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) celebrates the first anniversary of the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline. Since its launch on Mothers Day 2022, the hotlines professional counselors have provided emotional support, resources, and referrals to almost 12,000 pregnant and postpartum individuals who struggled with mental health concerns, and their loved ones.

Additionally, HRSA is introducing an updated toll-free number for the Hotline: 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262). The former number (1-833-9-HELP-4-MOMS or 1-833-943-5746) will continue to work for another year.

"Every mother or mother-to-be, across our nation, should have access to the help and support they need to be healthy. This hotline is one way our Administration is prioritizing maternal health and wellness, said Vice President Kamala Harris."

The first year of this hotline service marks a significant milestone in people having immediate access to mental health support and community-based resources during and after pregnancy, said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. The hotline is key method that the Biden-Harris Administration is strengthening both maternal health and mental health.

Being pregnant or caring for a child can bring many new challenges and the Maternal Mental Health Hotline is here to help, said HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson. The hotline is available 24/7, via call or text, to make reaching out and getting help as easy as possible for mothers and their families. I urge any mom who is struggling or feeling alone to call or text 1-833-TLC-MAMA to get the help and support you deserve.

The National Maternal Mental Health Hotline provides 24/7, free, confidential emotional support, resources and referrals before, during, and after pregnancy. The hotline is accessible by phone or text in English and Spanish and offers interpreter services in more than 60 languages. Hotline counselors include licensed health care providers such as nurses or doctors, licensed mental health clinicians, certified doulas or childbirth educators, and certified peer support specialists.

During the first year:

Hotline counselors responded to nearly 12,000 calls (70%) and texts (30%).

The majority of individuals contacting the hotline were seeking help for themselves (76%), while 5% of individuals were calling on behalf of someone else, like a family member or friend.

The top reasons for reaching out to the hotline were, 1) feeling overwhelmed, 2) depression, and 3) anxiety.

The average speed to answer was below 30 seconds (telephone calls 23 seconds, texts 16 seconds).

One caller stated, I suddenly dont feel like Im drowning. Im going to be okay. I hope people understand that it does help. Another caller shared, You've made me feel heard and that there's hope for me."

HRSA encourages all community-based providers, including health care and social service providers, early childhood and family support workers, and faith-based organizations, to help spread the word about the new number, 1-833-TLC-MAMA. New promotional materials are available for download or print order.

Expecting and new parents who feel overwhelmed or are experiencing depression and anxiety, as well as their loved ones, should reach out to the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline at 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262) for support and resources. Help is just a phone call or text away.

The National Maternal Mental Health Hotline is not intended as an emergency response line. Individuals in imminent danger of harm to self or others should call 911. Individuals in mental health crisis should continue to contact the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.

For more information on the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline, visit: https://mchb.hrsa.gov/national-maternal-mental-health-hotline.
Who is a Pakistani writer? Sabyn Javeri thought when asked to put together an anthology of essays by Pakistani women writers. She was thinking about who has the right to call herself a Pakistani writer in this age of mass displacement. Ways of Being: Creative Non-Fiction by Pakistani Women, a collection of 15 personal essays, has an impressive roster. Each woman responds to Javeris question beyond geography, delineating what it means to be a Pakistani writer. These are essays about writing and migration, yes, but what makes them most compelling is their personal explorations of distinctive threads of the political and cultural fabric of Pakistan. School girls in Peshawar, Pakistan in April 1979. (Arnaud de Wildenberg/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

193pp, 450; Women Unlimited

In the finest essay in this anthology, Humera Afridi tells the story of her ancestral village in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, formerly the North West Frontier Province  and of her tattoo, a large dot on the back of her hand, which she got from an Afghan refugee.

During a visit to her grandmothers in 1987, Afridi noticed that the Afghan pawinda (gypsy refugees)  who had a history of migrating temporarily to the Frontier to escape the harsh winters of Afghanistan  had now crossed the border and settled in camps in Babri Banda where most people were related by blood or marriage. The influx of the refugees, Afridi writes, revived its fiercely proud warrior tradition as well as its aeons-old code of conduct  Pushtunwali  emphasizing honor, sanctuary and hospitality. Afridi, who was 16 and growing up in the UAE, a hungry teenager searching for an identity, I grasped at the story of their migration and read my own into it: warrior by blood, transplanted unwillingly, fighting obscurity. But their stories have diverged over the years. After 9/11, the Pawinda and local men went to Afghanistan to fight the Americans. Theres a strong Taliban presence in the restive region. Afridi cannot visit. She lives in New York. In Babri Banda, she would be considered a traitor for straying into the heart of the enemy. The romance of the lawless Frontier has turned sour, she writes. This powerful essay, filled with evocative details, reads like a film.

Another excellent essay is a tender portrait of the mother-daughter relationship, Taymiya R Zaman pores over her mothers diary from the 1960s. A mother is the first archive, the most primary of sources, Zaman, a historian, writes. It takes her years to go over the text  Riffat started keeping a diary at 16, and although the entries grew sparse, she kept it for a decade. But her mother, as mothers do, dismisses the whole project. Shes not Jinnah, she says, shes just an ordinary person and her stories arent important. She does not like her daughters interpretation of who she was, she denies the blossoming feminism in the pages altogether. She does not think Zaman has the right to interpret words that do not belong to her. I am caught between two archives, Riffats diary, and the living woman who disagrees with how I read her text. To her, the diary is a fragment of the past she would have thrown away, Zaman writes. But she keeps asking questions and her mother tells her stories, and so she pieces together a short story of her mothers life.

No two essays are alike really even when themes overlap, most are rooted in the specificity of their experiences. There is however, a recurring, surprisingly overt, name dropping  many of these writers make their family credentials very clear even when they have no bearing on the scope or subject of their essays. In her introduction, Javeri writes, very few of us have the luxury to be rooted in one place, but there was barely an acknowledgment of the rare privilege of feeling at home in multiple places, of holding two passports.

Kamila Shamsie writes about the anxiety of renewing her British visa and eventually gaining dual citizenship after the UK abolished the Writers, Artists and Composers visa category in 2011  but it felt more about the irritation of it all. It was only at the citizenship ceremony, looking at an Iraqi man who did not appear affluent, did she realize the luxury of having another home to return to. Her mother, Muneeza Shamsie, writes about her time as a young student in a private boarding school in England in the 1950s. Last year, celebrating seven decades of Queen Elizabeth IIs reign, BBC Arts and The Reading Agency created a list of 70 books from the Commonwealth. Among them was Attia Hosains 1961 autobiographical Partition novel Sunlight on a Broken Column. Hosain was Muneezas aunt and when she shared this with her English teacher in Sussex, She smirked, What is this novel that you and your sister keep talking about? Ive never heard of it! She writes about studying history in Britain, specifically 1857, and not telling anyone that her ancestors had been executed by the British. Its a great essay but so filled with names of her famous family and friends, its hard to keep track.

Editor of the volume, Sabyn Javeri

Some of the essays are political acts. Sadia Khatri writes about reclaiming public spaces in Karachi, mapping a city with my feet could undo my fear of it. Uzma Aslam Khan writes about Sabeen Mahmud, a social activist who was murdered in 2015, and Balochistan, the largest and poorest province but the richest in natural resources, which sees itself more as a colony than part of Pakistan. Mahmud ran a cultural centre in Karachi where she hosted an event for Baloch activists. Mahmuds friend Bina Shah (while mentioning her) writes about red lines, which is the term used by journalists and activists in our lingo, in Pakistan, for things you dont say, at least in writing. In 1989, as a schoolgirl, she had sided with her classmates who thought Salman Rushdies Satanic Verses blasphemous. The students at the Karachi American School, she says, were overwhelmingly in favour of the fatwa (condemning Rushdie to death). She writes about the stifling she has experienced since then. When Rushdie was stabbed last year in New York, the shock had become familiar to her. Theres always a sharp intake of breath, the bracing of the body against the news, and then an attempt to understand, intellectually, what feels viscerally like a personal assault. She has confronted the feelings of her teenaged self and engages with the red line every day, even in the writing of this essay The red line, if you cross it, becomes the noose around your neck.

Anthologies are tricky because a single poor-ish entry can put the reader off the whole thing. But when done well, theyre a portal to a whole world of literature and knowledge. Ways of Being  even though some of the essays meander, are underdeveloped, or show-offing  is an excellent collection.

Saudamini Jain is an independent journalist. She lives in New Delhi.
Art of Giving (AOG) is a philosophy of life that aspires to promote happiness and peace in the world. It starts on the premise that it is a basic human desire and nature to seek happiness and peace. But in the course of material pursuits, sometimes human beings as the most evolved characters lose this intrinsic habit and get jaundiced by self-interests. It is solely for this reason that AOG should be consciously practised so that there is proliferation of peace and happiness in the world. It is an attempt to heal the world and create a sea-change by spreading the message of Hope and Harmony transcending borders, castes, creed, nationality strengthened by the bonds of humanity.

Giving is a selfless and helpful action motivated by the desire to help another person without the expectation of any reward or even an avoidance of punishment in return. It is a natural instinct in humans, which if practiced can help create a society where peace and compassion takes centre stage. It is through practicing these principles of AOG, that society can create a space of sustainable co-existence. This informs the origin, evolution and growth of AOG.

We have empowered about two million lives through quality education and empowerment. In fact, I started giving and sacrificing at the age of five, when I was penniless. This selfless giving throughout my life culminated in Art of Giving to give to the world a philosophical and action-oriented framework to experience the joy of giving on 17 May 2013, and since then AOG has become a civic movement- a volunteer-based campaign to make people aware of the art of giving. My experiences of deprivation taught me the true transformative power of giving, and it was from these experiences that the Art of Giving was born with a deep desire to help those who are less fortunate and spread peace, joy, and harmony in the world. The real objective of AOG is not just to give money or materialistic support to the ones who need but to help someone with dignity, not charity and bringing joy to their lives. One cannot deny the power of patient hearing and sweet words that can give solace in a crisis.

Art of Giving took the form of a trust, an NGO, that works on the cause of promoting positivity, kindness and compassion and expressing gratitude to the ones who give. In a world, where there is immense pain, misery and deprivation, yet plethora of wealth and riches, Art of Giving provides a platform to connect the ones who need it and one who have enough to give but do not get a right way to contribute. Art of Giving provides a trustworthy platform for people to give with discernment and encourage the habit of giving. It has been proven scientifically too, that when we give, we are in the state of happiness. More and more people worldwide are joining the movement to spread the message of peace & happiness in the world.

For the last nine years, Art of Giving community, consisting of well-wishers and those inspired by it, celebrate 17 May as International Day of Art of Giving on themes like Society, Spirituality, Humanity and to unite the three through art of giving in 2014, Kompassion: The Garment Bank to donate old recyclable clothes and other material to the needy in 2015, Connecting with the World and Self through practice of gratitude in 2016, Cyclothon to spread a message of healthy living and green future in 2017.

Post the year 2017, the family of Art of Giving rose from thousands to millions with the introduction of community contribution for community building. The numbers grew exponentially and so did the volunteers. Since then AOG has been what it was always meant to be: by the public, of the public and for the public. In 2018, Pyaar Bhara Pack was a huge success. Over 20 million meals were distributed. In 2019, Bag of Happiness united people together by gifting happiness kits to the students. Struggling during the pandemic, in 2020 the theme was AOG Fights Corona to acknowledge the COVID warriors and help victims. In 2021, the theme was My Mother My Hero wherein the AOG community wrote gratitude letters to mothers, the givers. In 2022, Hope, Happiness and Harmony was the theme to connect and support each other through simple acts of love, compassion, empathy, kindness and gratitude. This year, in the decade of Art of Giving the theme is Helping the Help.

With over 20 million followers and 1.5 million members, the AOG family has grown exponentially. The conveners from over 300 locations in 120 countries across the globe, all states in India and all panchayats and blocks of Odisha work throughout the year for spreading the message of Art of Giving and Volunteerism. Through social media, AOG has touched around 10 million lives and with a huge follower base that interacts virtually, and aims to unite the world by the spirit of giving.

Every day, AOG strives to make this world a better place. AOG works on numerous humanitarian projects and service initiatives including: disaster relief, sustainable rural development, empowerment of women, environmental sustainability, healthcare camps and democracy promotion. The young, dynamic, and committed volunteers are charged with the mission of harnessing the power of love and compassion to make a large-scale social impact.

Art of Giving is not a new concept; it has been practiced for centuries. Needless to say, charity is an important tenet of every religion, because compassion is essential for spiritual life. In Indian scriptures, 'daan' or charity occupies a very prominent place. Every religion preaches the same ideology of philanthropy, be it the Quran's sadaqa or zakat, Buddhism's charity to the needy; Jainism's charity of offering food, saving lives of others in danger, distributing medicine and spreading knowledge; Judaism's Tzedakah meaning justice or righteousness to denote charity; Christianity's expression of charity as an essential component of faith and Zoroastrianism that considers poverty and suffering as an affliction of evil; hence it is the duty of every individual to fight this evil.

The Art of Giving community has brought a fresh perspective to the concept of giving back to society. The organization's philosophy of giving without expecting anything in return has touched numerous lives and has inspired millions to join the cause. The International Day of Art of Giving serves as a reminder to all of us that we can make a positive difference in someone's life through simple acts of kindness, love, and gratitude. The Art of Giving community is a shining example of how one person's actions can have a ripple effect and change the world for the better.

Disclaimer: This article is a promotional feature and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same.
Bengaluru, May 13, 2023: Tally Solutions, a pioneer in the software products industry, delivering business management solutions for small and medium businesses (SMBs) for over three decades recently 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.

Since launch, the initiative has received tremendous response from MSMEs across the country from the metros as well as tier 2 and 3 towns. In response to overwhelming interest, the deadline for businesses to nominate themselves for the 3rd edition of MSME Honours has been extended, providing them with a few additional days.

All businesses with a turnover of less than INR 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 https://tallysolutions.com/msme-honours by 20th May.



Hindustan Times, Indias leading media publication, has been onboarded as a media partner for this edition of MSME honours. DBS Bank has joined the initiative as a preferred banking partner.

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, 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

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.

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

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

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, Ms. 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 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. Tallys 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.

About Tally Solutions

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.

Disclaimer: This article is a promotional feature and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky imposed new sanctions against Russian enterprises on Friday, he wrote in his Telegram channel.

May 13, 2023, 12:04 Zelensky introduces new package of sanctions against Russian companies, including airlines

STEPANAKERT, MAY 13, ARTSAKHPRESS: "Today brings another round of sanctions. With my decree, I put restrictive measures on the property of Russian companies in Ukraine, as well as the property of Ukrainian economic entities affiliated with them," he wrote.

At the same time, he underlined that the package of sanctions included companies linked to Ukrainian opposition figure Viktor Medvedchuk as well as other sanctioned individuals - "founders, managers, and beneficiaries of pro-Russian companies with significant assets in Ukraine."

According to Zelensky's decree, which was published on the official website, sanctions were imposed for a term of ten years on 212 legal entities and 37 individuals - nationals of the Russian Federation, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Germany, Cyprus, and Latvia.
Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha party candidate from Bellary City constituency Aruna Lakshmi is at the second spot in Karnataka Assembly Elections with 30,023 votes which form 29.66 percent of votes until now, as per data by Election Commision of India. The Reddy family of Bellary have the highest number of family members in fray.

Nara Bharath Reddy of the Indian National Congress (INC) was running at the first spot with 42.48 percentage of votes constituting of 42,997 votes.

Janata Dal (Secular) leader Anil H Lad won only 0.4 percent of votes comprising up to 407 votes.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader G Somasekhara Reddy received 24,500 votes with 24.2 percent of the total votes.

The Reddy family of Bellary have the highest number of family members in fray. Four family members contested. Bellary City nominee and MLA Gali Somashekar Reddy and his elder brother of Harapanahalli MLA Gali Karunakara Reddy were contesting from the constituency. Another brother, former minister and mining baron, Gali Janardhana Reddy, resigned from the BJP and formed the Kalyana Rajya Pragati Party. Janardhana contested from Gangavathi and his wife Aruna Lakshmi from Bellary city. I am ready to contest against my brother, Somashekara had said earlier this year.

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Janata Dals (Secular) leader and the grandson of former PM Devegowda, Nikhil Kumaraswamy, who was running for the Ramanagara constituency, was at the second spot with 47,891 votes with 39.5 percentage on Saturday. The actor turned politician contested as a Lok Sabha member in 2019 from the Mandya constituency and lost to Sumalatha Ambareesh who contested as an independent candidate. (File)

Congress leader HA Iqbal Hussain was leading in the Ramanagara constituency with 61,353 votes which formed a percentage of 50.61.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Gautam Marilingegowda was at the third spot in the run with 7.18 votes constituting upto 8,701 votes.

As this was his first assembly election, a huge number of supporters and the party members were seen attending the nomination rally of Kumaraswamy.

The actor turned politician contested as a Lok Sabha member in 2019 from the Mandya constituency and lost to Sumalatha Ambareesh who contested as an independent candidate. This time, he was allotted the Ramanagara constituency in assembly polls, from where his mother is currently an MLA.

In 2018, HD Kumaraswamy contested from Ramanagara and Channapatna in old Mysuru region and won at both places. He later vacated Ramanagara seat for his wife Anita Kumaraswamy. This time Kumaraswamy was contesting only from Channapatna and his son was fielded from Ramanagara. His wife was not contesting in assembly elections.

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Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) faced an overall loss in Karnataka, it saw a victory in the Udupi assembly constituency as its candidate, Yashpal Suvarna, who called for no hijab in educational institutions, won. Suvarna secured a total of 97,079 votes, with a vote-share of 58.5 per cent. He defeated Congress' candidate, Prasadraj Kanchan, by nearly 33,000 votes, data on the Election Commission of India (ECI) website said. Yashpal Suvarna had bagged a BJP ticket over sitting MLA Raghupati Bhat.(ANI)

Called the poster boy of the hijab row, Suvarna had bagged a BJP ticket over sitting MLA Raghupati Bhat. Although Bhat had said he was deeply pained by the treatment meted out to him by the party, he had expressed support for Suvarna and called him "my boy".

READ | Karnataka assembly election 2023: Constituency-wise full list of winning candidates from BJP, Cong, JDS

A political science expert had earlier told Hindustan Times that the saffron party selected its candidates with a major focus on caste. Kokkarne Surendranath Shetty, former head of the political science department at Mangaluru University, said, Lets take the example of Udupi, the sitting MLA (Raghupathi Bhat) who is Brahmin was replaced by Yashpal Suvarna, who is a Mugaveera leader. Almost all seats have been allotted by both parties on caste and religious lines than ideology.

Suvarna was the BJP's national general secretary of the Backward Classes Morcha, and also the vice-chairman of the Udupi Government Pre-University College Development Committee. He played a key role in the hijab ban movement, which dominated political discourse in Karnataka last year.

He had called female Muslim students who had approached the Karnataka High Court's intervention on dress code barring hijab (headscarves) in educational institutions as "anti-national" and members of a terrorist organization."

READ | Karnataka Assembly Election Results 2023 LIVE: BJP full list of winning candidates

"What should we expect from them for the country when these girl students call the judgments of learned judges politically motivated and against the law?" Suvarna asked, "They've only demonstrated that they're anti-national."

The southern state later saw several incidents of communal flare-ups, killings and issues including halal, azan, textbook row and Love Jihad, setting the stage for controversies. Suvarna was also in the news for pushing towards Savarkar's bust statue to be erected in Udupi after a PFI member filed a police complaint objecting to a banner in the same place.
Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai won from the Shiggaon seat in the state's Haveri district as counting of votes for the 2023 Assembly election continues. According to the ECI website, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader emerged victorious by a margin of 54,020 votes. Congress' Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan stood second with 64,038 votes.



In 2018, the Shiggaon seat was one of 104 won by the BJP - it was won by Bommai - which fell agonisingly short of the majority mark of 113 in the 224-seat Assembly. The Congress' Sayed Azeempeer Khadri was second and an independent candidate, Somanna Urf Swamiling Bevinamarad, finished third. Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.(Basavaraj S Bommai twitter)

Karnataka voted Wednesday in a single phase in the first big election of 2023.

The ruling BJP is looking to break a 38-year jinx - the southern state has not voted an incumbent government back to power since 1985.

The Congress is looking for revenge after rebel MLAs destabilised the government it formed with the JDS after the 2018 election.

The JDS is not expected to make major gains compared to last year with most exit polls handing them around 30 seats only but they could play a key role.

Both the Congress and the BJP have expressed confidence that they will secure a majority on their own and can, therefore, form the next government without help from the JDS.

Ex-chief minister HD Kumaraswamy's party, meanwhile, believes it will hold the keys to the kingdom since exit polls predict a hung Assembly with an edge for the Congress.

Either way, if there is no clear winner, the JDS will see its stock rise for a third successive election as will Kumaraswamy's claims of being 'kingmaker' and chief minister for a third time.

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As the counting of votes in the Karnataka Assembly Elections begins, the Congress party voices confidence in gaining a majority. Congress leader and son of former CM Siddaramaiah, Yathindra Siddaramaiah said on Saturday that it is necessary to keep the BJP out of power and the Congress party would do anything for that. In the 2018 assembly elections, Yathindra fought from the bastion of Varuna and won, while his father contested from Chamundeshwari and lost. (Twitter/ANI)

We are confident we are going to get a majority. I think we won't be needing any party's alliance. But in case, if we don't get a majority, our Delhi and state leaders will decide what will be the next actionWhether they are already in talks with other parties or Independents, I don't know about that, because I am a small player in the party but whatever call the leaders take, we will follow it, Yathindra said.

He further took a jibe at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saying, For the interest of the state, it is necessary to keep the BJP out of power. For that, we will do anything.

Speaking about his father Siddaramaiah becoming the Chief Minister, Yathindra said, As a son, I would love to see him as a CM but also as a citizen of the State, I think the last regime had done very good governance and this time also if he becomes the chief minister whatever the corruption and misruled that the BJP government had given will be corrected by him. So, in the interest of the state also, I think he should become the CM.

Yathindra left medicine and joined politics in 2018 after the death of his elder brother Rakesh Siddaramaiah who had largely been seen as the former chief ministers political heir first. In the 2018 assembly elections, Yathindra fought from the bastion of Varuna and won, while his father contested from Chamundeshwari and lost. With his father now contesting the elections, Yathindra professes confidence in a Congress win, but says he is unclear about his own future.

Karnataka recorded a turnout of 73.19% voters, with the exit polls - which were published on Wednesday evening - predicting mixed results, giving Congress an edge over the BJP. Some of them even hinted at a hung assembly in Karnataka, raising questions on whether a coalition government could be formed this time around as well.

Speaking to media, Janata Dal Secular (JDS) leader HD Kumaraswamy said on Saturday, In the next 2-3 hours, it will become clear. Exit polls show that the two national parties will score in a big way. The exit polls have given 30-32 seats to JD(S). I am a small party, there is no demand for me...I am hoping for a good development.

Two-time former MLA Kumaraswamy had declared that JD(S) was open to a post-poll alliance with either the Congress or the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whichever agreed to his list of conditions, principal among which was that he return as chief minister with a free hand.

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As many as 198 fishermenmostly from Gujaratcrossed over to India via the Attari-Wagah border on Saturday morning. These fishermen were arrested and sent to Malir Jail in Karachi, Pakistan, for allegedly illegally entering in the Pakistan territorial water. The fishermen are part of the 500 Indian prisoners  499 fishermen and one civilian  who were to be released and repatriated by Pakistan by July 3 this year (HT Photo)

The fishermen are part of the 500 Indian prisoners  499 fishermen and one civilian  who were to be released and repatriated by Pakistan by July 3 this year. The Pakistani rangers had started handing over the fishermen to their Indian counterparts after 12 am. All of them had crossed into India at 5 m, said Punjab Polices Attari border protocol officer, Arun Pal.

After being repatriated, the fishermen stayed at Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC)-run Guru Tegh Bahadar Sarai in Amritsar. Led by Manjit Singh Bhoma, chairman of Dharam Parchar Wing (Punjab) of the DSGMC, functionaries of the gurdwara body facilitated them here.

Magzi (40) of Gujarat, who spent three years and three months in Pakistan after being caught there, seemed not happy after his release. Magzi has lost his friend Soma Devi during their incarceration in the Pakistan jail.

I and Soma were trying to catch fish in the open sea when our boat was veered off into the Pakistan waters due to the force of wind. Five more fishermen were in our boat. Our boat was confiscated by Pakistani guards and we were arrested. In jail, Soma Devi had died, he said.

He further said sometimes the officials in the jail didnt provide adequate food to them. Soma was father of three daughters and two sons. Soma used to tell me that he wanted to return home, for he had to marry his daughters, he added.

According to Magzi, Soma had died on the night of April 28. I have brought Somas cloths, which will be given to his family members. Soma used to tell me if he would die, the cloths should be given to his children, he added.

Among the 198 fishermen released, there is also a father-son duo. Gujarats Jaiwan Jaun (40) and his 19-year-old son Jitesh have returned India after spending around four years in the Pakistani jail. Jaiwan said, I have a son Jitesh and a daughter. My son is elder and he is weak in studies. He often used to go with me for fishing. I and my son were making ends meet of our family with fishing, but one day were arrested by the Pakistani guards. There are many heart wrenching stories of the fishermen. One of them was engaged, but his marriage pact was broken due to his arrest.

Pakistan and India regularly arrest rival fishermen for violating the maritime boundary, which is poorly marked at some points.

The two deceased fishermen included one Muhammad Zulfiqar who passed away on May 6 and Soma Deva who died on May 9 after prolonged illnesses. Their bodies have been kept in the Edhi Foundation mortuary till they could be flown out to India.
As Aam Aadmi Party breached the Congress stronghold in Punjab with its candidate Sushil Rinku defeating his nearest rival and the grand old partys nominee Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll by a margin of 58,691 votes, partys national convener Arvind Kejriwal hailed the victory as historic and said it is peoples recognition of the good work done by chief minister Bhagwant Mann and his government in Punjab. The win gives the ruling AAP in Punjab and Delhi its only member in the Lok Sabha. (ANI Photo)

The win gives the ruling AAP in Punjab and Delhi its only member in the Lok Sabha. The AAP has not had a member in the lower house since its defeat in Sangrur bypoll last year, though it has 10 members in the Rajya Sabha.

Its an unprecedented victory because of the Mann governments good work. Our party candidate is winning from the seat which was a Congress stronghold for the last 50 years, Kejriwal said in a press conference at the party headquarters in Delhi.

The Jalandhar seat fell vacant following the death of Karamjit Kaurs husband and Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary in January. The much-needed victory has also come as a shot in the arm for the Aam Aadmi Party as the bypoll was being seen as a litmus test for the Arvind Kejriwal-led outfit which had faced a drubbing in the Sangrur Lok Sabha bypoll last year, just three months after it stormed to power in Punjab in March 2022.

We do of politics of work and seek votes from people for our work, and people have put a stamp on Bhagwant Mann governments work saying we are with you... This is a big message, the Delhi chief minister said.

Mann, who was with Kejriwal, said the bypoll result is the peoples positive stamp on the work done by his government in the state so far.

The election result has increased our responsibility and my confidence. We will work much harder for the development of Punjab, Mann said, hoping that AAP will win all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab next year.

Taking on his rivals Mann said, Good luck to those, who abused us and made objectionable comments against us. Now, they also must realise that people do not pay attention to such things. People want good education for their children, jobs for their children, free treatment to elderly.

Instead of the politics of mudslinging, we should talk about development. I hope those who have lost will change their line and agenda in the coming days, Mann added.

Cheema, who was the AAPs election in-charge for the bypoll, said it was the partys first victory after it was recognised as a national party last month.

People voted on the basis of Mohalla Clinics, Schools of Eminence, 300 units of free electricity and corruption-free governance provided by the AAP government, Cheema said.

Kejriwal said his party, despite an AAP wave during the 2022 assembly polls in Punjab, could win four out of the nine assembly segments in Jalandhar and the rest were won by the Congress.

It was considered as Congress partys stronghold as we could win only four assembly seats out of nine assembly segments (in Jalandhar parliamentary seat) during (AAPs) wave (last year). Today, we won seven on nine assembly segments, he added.
The Aam Aadmi Partys Sushil Kumar Rinku, 47, on Saturday recorded a landslide victory by winning the Jalandhar Lok Sabha byelection by 58,691 votes after he polled 3,02,279 votes. Aam Aadmi Party candidate Sushil Kumar Rinku (garlanded) with wife Sunita Rani and supporters after winning the Jalandhar Lok Sabha byelection on Saturday. (HT Photo)

Congress candidate Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary got 2,43,588 votes, while the SAD-BSP candidate, Dr Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi, polled 1,58,445 votes and came third. Bharatiya Janta Party candidate Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal got 1,34,800 votes and secured the last spot. Atwal lost his security deposit, too.

Also read: Jalandhar LS bypoll: AAPs unprecedented victory says Kejriwal over Rinkus win

Jalandhar recorded 54.7% polling on May 10.

This is the victory of people. They have come to know that only the AAP can understand their pain and bring Punjab back on track. I thank the party leadership, including party supremo Arvind Kejriwal and (Punjab chief minister) Bhagwant Mann for reposing faith in me, Rinku said after coming out of the counting centre.

The AAP vote share skyrocketed to 34.05% this time from 0.31% in the 2019 general election.

The Congress vote share dropped to 27.44% from 40.12% in 2019.

The SAD-BSP tie-up got 17.85% of the vote share, while in 2019, the SADs share was 27.45%, while the BSPs was 3.49%.

However, the BJPs vote share went up to 15.19% from 9.63% in 2019.

The byelection was necessitated after sitting Congress MP Santokh Chaudhary died due to a heart attack while taking part in the Punjab leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on January 14.

Aam Aadmi Party workers celebrating the victory of Sushil Kumar Rinku in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha byelection on Saturday. (PTI Photo)

What worked for AAP

With its winning performance, the ruling AAP has not only breached the Congress-dominated citadel but its nominee Rinku, a key Dalit leader, has emerged as a force to reckon with in the Doaba region.

Rinku, a former Congress MLA, switched to the AAP on April 27, a day after which he was declared the AAP candidate.

The Lok Sabha byelection was a litmus test for the ruling party, especially after it lost the Sangrur parliamentary bypoll three months after coming to power in 2022.

Banking on its performance of 14 months and countering the anti-incumbency wave projected by the opposition, the ruling AAP went all out and carried out an extensive campaign led by Bhagwant Mann since the announcement of the elections.

The whole responsibility of managing the campaign was assigned to the partys key Dalit face and Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema. Delhi chief minister and party supremo Kejriwal held roadshows in all nine assembly segments besides addressing a key rally in Jalandhar central segment.

The campaign revolved around the AAPs populist agenda, including providing free 300 units of electricity, employment to 28,496 people in the first year of its tenure, opening of mohalla clinics and developments in the education sector.

The AAPs strong stance against corrupt leaders and their activities, especially against former Congress ministers, went in its favour. AAP leaders focused on how the leaders of traditional parties siphoned off post-matric scholarship meant for Dalit students besides halting welfare schemes meant for Scheduled Castes.

VOTES POLLED

Winner: Sushil Kumar Rinku (AAP): 3,02,279

Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary (Congress): 2,43,588

Dr Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi (SAD-BSP): 1,58,445

Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal (BJP): 1,34,800

Vote share

Party Name 2023 (byelection) 2019

AAP 34.05% 0.31%

Congress 40.12% 27.44%

SAD-BSP 17.85% 30.94%

BJP 15.19% 9.63%

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Hundreds of thalassaemia patients and caregivers attended the one-day seminar and awareness program Aasha ki Kiran, organised by department of clinical haematology, haemato-oncology and bone marrow (stem cell) transplantation, at Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMC). Attendees during the thallasaemia awareness camp at CMC in Ludhiana on Saturday. (HT Photo)

The attendees, hailing from various states, including Punjab, Haryana and Bihar, shared their experiences of living the disease. The program aimed to give hope, optimism and confidence to the patients and their family members to tackle the disease.

Sharing her experience, Ritu Gogia, 28, of Patiala, said, Back in 2009, I was the first patient to undergo stem cell transplant at CMC. As a 13-year-old, I was frightened. But when I look back now, its like the doctors gave me a new life, one free from blood transfusions that used to haunt me every 15 days.

Notably, the department of clinical haematology at CMC was established in 2007 and the transplant program started in 2008. So far, the institution has performed over 246 transplants, with 96 of the for thalassaemia patients.

Thalassaemia is a genetic disorder that requires lifelong blood transfusions. An estimated 10,000 children are born every year in India with thalassaemia major and need stem cell transplants, said Dr M Joseph John, department head.

CMC also held a camp where attendees could get human leukocyte antingen (HLA) samples, the test to detect thalassemia, tested free of cost. During the event, experts emphasised on early diagnosis timely detection and transplant reduces the fatality risk significantly.

CMC director Dr William Bhatti welcomed the guest of honour for the occasion, Dr Praveen Sobti. Talking about thalassemia treatment at CMC, Dr Sobti said that results here were at par with the best centres in India and abroad.

Ministry of health and family welfare, in collaboration with Coal Indias corporate social responsibility, fund thalassaemia treatment across India under the hematopoietic stem cell transplantation programme Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojna. Patients aged less than 12 get an aid of 10 lakh for stem cell transplant.
Out of the 49,037 cases of various categories that were taken up during the National Lok Adalat on Saturday, 36,815 were settled amicably. National Lok Adalat in progress at a district court in Ludhiana on Saturday. (Manish/Ht)

Lok adalats were held in district and sub-divisional courts. The lok adalat, consisting 28 benches under the supervision of district and sessions judge Munish Singal, focused on resolving a diverse range of cases, including traffic violations, revenue disputes, matrimonial issues and financial cases. Singal is also the chairperson of district legal services authority.

Justice Singal visited all benches of the lok adalat during the proceedings. He first visited the court of chief judicial magistrate Radhika Puri, where a class 10 student was appealing for mercy against his challan of 25,000 for under-age driving. The violator was given a chance to settle the challan with a fine of 1,000.

As the courts were overwhelmed because of a high turn-up of people, Singal instructed the officials to prioritise the elderly, women and children.

During Singals visit to additional principal judge family court, Rajvinder Singh, he advised the couples there to reunite and forgive small mistakes made by each other. Out of the 104 matrimonial disputes that were taken up in the court of Rajvinder Singh, 79 were disposed of.

The cases taken up for hearing included criminal compoundable cases, cases under Section 138 of Negotiable Instruments Act, money recovery cases, motor accidents claims tribunal cases, matrimonial disputes, land acquisition cases pending before various civil courts, electricity and water bill disputes, service matters related to pay and allowances, retirement benefit cases and revenue cases.
Our family has experienced many touching revelations while visiting area cemeteries searching for the graves of our ancestors. These prompts from the grave seem to tell us they want us to find them. I can only share the emotion we feel when this happens. I wonder how many of you have had similar situations. Here are several examples.

My cousin Pamela English and her husband, Bernie, recently traveled to Oneida County to find the Westmoreland Union New Cemetery where our Walker and Wellar graves are located. Pam has worked tirelessly for years to chronicle the English history of our family. She has spent hours on the computer and ancestry websites searching our heritage. She even has located and corresponded with relatives across the pond." The timing is perfect too, for England held the coronation of King Charles III this week, and we of English descent are excited to be able to see this part of history.

After an hour on the Thruway, my cousins found the old cemetery. It was large, with several gravel roads and grassy entrances. Pam moaned, "It is so big, it will take hours to find therm. Bernie turned the car into the third driveway a few feet off the road, and suddenly Pam exclaimed, Look! There it is!

Bernie turned to her in shock, and said, I believe. He was often bemused by her psychic experiences.

I should write a book about my own experiences. My first happened at Dry Creek Cemetery with Millie Redmund in the 1970s, high on the hill in Moravia. I was a volunteer at the Cayuga-Owasco Lakes Historical Society, answering requests for folks researching their heritage. We were looking for an ancestor of Pat White in Australia. After searching all around the old cemetery, Millie announced she was standing on something hard. She was standing on the gravestone we were looking for. It was buried under 6 inches of compost that had built up over the years. He wanted to be found.

I was with Harvey Bell of Find a Grave in Selover Cemetery in Niles, and we uncovered the gravestone of my great grandfather's twin brother who died of the fever during the Civil War in New Bern, North Carolina. Cornelius Wilson Mattoon was 19 years old. When we cleared the leaves off the stone lying flat on the ground, it said "Died April 23, 1865." Harvey and I looked at each other. It was April 23, 2021. He wanted to be found.

My most recent encounter was with Dorothy Wickenden at Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn. Dorothy was in Auburn doing research for her second book, The Agitators. The Seward House Museum staff had contacted me if we could arrange a private tour. As a trustee of the cemetery, I was glad to show her the history and talk about the people buried there. On my tours, I share that not everyone is rich and famous. I include many of these people too.

It was a beautiful day, and we had passed the Seward graves and were on our way down the hill to the chapel. Dorothy reminded me, Laurel, dont forget, we are looking for my grandparents' graves, the Woodruffs.

We were standing in front of the Adams family crypt built into the hill. Julia Willis was their housekeeper for years, and her grave is inside the wrought iron grate with the simple stone to the side. The family honored her memory by placing her just inside the wrought iron fence.

Dorothy was looking at this, and the mourning doves were calling and cooing softly in the distance while we stood there.

Suddenly, I took her shoulders and gently turned her around, facing in the opposite direction. There, in front of us across the way, was the long line of Woodruff graves. She exclaimed in delight and went over to tell me who each one was. I did not need to research or look them up or find out where they were buried. They wanted to be found.

Years ago, my daughter and I walked up the hill in Fleming to the old Galpin Hill Cemetery. I was distressed to see the damage done by the youth who held parties there. They had toppled some stones, painted some with pink and purple fluorescent spray paint. The words formed in my mind as we walked around  what the old pioneers buried there would say of the destruction.

"The Ballad of Galpin Hill"

Two towering pines mark my grave, deep in Galpins ground.

Giant leaves drift down from the ancient oak,

Caressing broken name stones,

scattered all around.

Long ago a wagon made the climb,

High up Galpins Hill.

It carried me in a plain pine box,

The mourners hushed and still.

They said a prayer, and turned away,

And left me there that day.

A sad disgrace has come to us.

On Galpin Hill forlorn,

For now ye come with your noise machines,

and ride o'er our bones!

Ye come by night, ye come by day

And even paint our stones!

Some time ago, a gentle woman came

Alone to Galpins Hill

With sure skill she worked and worked,

To clear the brush away.

We watched and wondered as she worked,

Is our memory cherished still?

The endless seasons come and go,

So strong to Galpin Hill

And Mother Natures ancient lessons

Teach and work their will;

For the wind will wail for us,

The rain will weep our tears.

The snow will come and cover us,

As we wait out the years.

If 'er ye climb up Galpins Hill,

Do so with love and care.

Think of this spot, man and time forgot,

Our grief will greet you there.
The last-minute push by Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) to garner votes in the Jalandhar parliament segment as a tribute to party patriarch Parkash Singh Badal, who passed away last month, has not yielded desired results. Akali Dal and its alliance partner Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) were pushed to the number three position behind the victorious Aam Aami Party (AAP) and runners-up Congress. SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal has made an emotional appeal to the voters and said that each vote for the SAD-BJP alliance will be a true tribute to Akali patriarch (HT File Photo)

Two days before the poll campaign ended on May 8, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal made an emotional appeal to the voters and said that each vote for the SAD-BJP alliance will be a true tribute to Akali patriarch Parkash Singh Badal seems to have not found many takers so as to pull up partys electoral fortunes.

However, what comes as consolation for SAD is the fact that its ahead of its former ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The alliance polled 1,58,445 votes, 23,645 more than the saffron party candidate.

Experts say it was an aggressive campaign by the ruling party which dwarfed all the contenders.

For SAD-BSP some respect has been restored with the number three position, as the victorious candidate comes from the AAP, which has government in the state and number two Congress has its stronghold in Jalandhar, said Jagrup Singh Sekhon, former head of political science department of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. He adds that populist steps taken in the state by the AAP government, such as free power and Mohalla clinics, also contributed to its victory. Director of institute of development communication, Chandigarh, Pramod Kumar termed the results of the four cornered contest as a start of revival of SAD.

Out of 8.87 lakh votes polled, 17% votes were polled in favour of the alliance. In all nine constituencies, falling in the parliament segment, the SAD-BSP alliance bagged the number two position in Kartarpur and Nakodar segments.

SAD hoped to boost up its political stocks which had witnessed a steep fall in the 2017 assembly elections and further plummeted in the state polls in 2022 when it could only win three seats in the 117-member assembly.

The party banked on its most tangible Dalit face Dr Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi as its candidate for the byelection of March 10, who is also sitting MLA from Banga.

The alliance, especially, the SAD managed to pull its cadre out for campaigning, with party president Sukhbir Singh Badal and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia taking centre stage in the poll campaign. The partys plan to focus on the rural areas also seems to have not worked.

We lost crucial campaign time due to Badal Saabs (Parkash Singh Badal) death. Moreover, its a Congress stronghold who were able to put up a fight, said SAD spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema.

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A team of Samrala police officials nabbed nine truck drivers and two scrap dealers for allegedly stealing scrap and recovered seven quintals of iron from their possession. The accused in police custody in Ludhiana on Saturday. (HT Photo)

Special teams formed by the police conducted raids in the late hours of Friday.

The arrested truck drivers have been identified as Ravinder Singh, Sakattar Singh, Karan Masih, Najar Singh, Sanjeev Kumar, Bikramjit Singh, Jagpreet Singh, Mohan Lal and Himmat Singh. The arrested scrap dealers have been identified as Jeet Ram and Tehal Chand of Naulari Kalan village in Samrala have been arrested while their associate Lakha Ram is absconding.

Addressing a press conference on Saturday, deputy superintendent of police (Samrala) Waryam Singh said that police had received the information that some of the truck drivers who transport scrap from factories to different places steal the scrap in connivance with the scrap dealers near Dhilwan village.

Police said that the gang had been operating for the last several months. He said that police have recovered the scrap which was sold to the dealers by the truck drivers. He added that a case has been registered under relevant Sections of the Indian Penal Code and more truck drivers and dealers will be arrested in the case.
Over 18 months after a senior citizen couple was robbed of 5.5 lakh and jewellery at their house in Sector 4, Mansa Devi Complex, police have arrested four Nepalese nationals, including their former domestic help, for the crime. The accused have been identified as Gopal, alias Khagrend Sarki, 35, presently staying in Gurugram; Karan Bahadur, 30, and Asman Singh, 32, both presently staying in Ludhiana; and Tek Bahadur, 22, all hailing from Nepal. (HT Photo)

The accused have been identified as Gopal, alias Khagrend Sarki, 35, presently staying in Gurugram; Karan Bahadur, 30, and Asman Singh, 32, both presently staying in Ludhiana; and Tek Bahadur, 22.

Police said Karan had been working at the victims house for around two weeks before the dacoity. He conspired with others to rob the couple, they added.

On November 20, 2021, the complainant, Anu Walia, 65, was feeding milk to her grandson while her husband was asleep in another room, and her son and daughter-in-law were out for work.

Around 3.30 pm, three masked men entered their house. One of them was holding a rod, another had a sharp-edged weapon and the third one broke the leg of one of the stools to use it as a weapon.

As soon they entered the house, they started hitting her husband and threatened to kill her and the child. Fearing for their lives, she quietly sat in a corner. The accused then proceeded to loot 5.5 lakh cash, 10 diamond rings, 3-4 gold sets and other jewellery items.

A case under Sections 392 (robbery), 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery), 395 (dacoity), 450 (house-trespass) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) was registered at the Mansa Devi Complex police station in this regard.

On May 12, the crime branch, Sector 26, Panchkula, arrested the accused from Gurugram. They were produced before a court on Saturday and sent to judicial custody.
From a municipal councillor to Jalandhars member parliament Sushil Kumar Rinku on Saturday emerged as the new Dalit face in Doaba politics. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) party candidate Sushil Kumar Rinku during celebartions after his win in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha byelection in Jalandhar on Saturday. (ANI)

In his political career, starting from 2002 as a municipal councillor to a member of the legislative assembly (MLA) in 2017, Rinku remained a staunch Congress worker till March 2023 when he jumped ship to join Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Within hours of joining, he was declared the partys candidate for the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll.

Till March 26, Rinku was campaigning in favour of Congress due to his long-standing association with former Congress MP Mahinder Singh Kaypee and present Congress MLA Rana Gurjeet Singh.

Winning the bypoll with a thumping margin of 58,691 votes, Rinku spoke to HT about challenges and key priorities.

Was this election challenging for you?

I have been into politics for the past two decades and have taken every election, be it of councillor or MLA and now MP, very seriously. Moreover, I took this bypoll as a challenge to breach Congress stronghold, and I managed to do it with a huge margin.

What factors go in your favour?

The result is the outcome of the AAP governments performance in the past 14 months. The pro-people decisions, be it free electricity and the opening of Mohalla clinics, all went in our favour. People brought AAP into power with a huge mandate in 2022, and people have now validated that they made the right choice.

What challenges have you faced after joining AAP?

There are no major challenges, as I always believed the party is supreme not a political face. It is the charisma of AAP that worked in Jalandhar. From party supremo and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann and the partys other leaders and workers everyone contributed to my win. They stood by me throughout the campaigning to ensure my victory.

Was it tough to go against Congress which hadnt lost an election in this parliamentary constituency since 1999?

It is not only a victory based on the performance of AAP but also an end to the dynasty politics being propagated in Jalandhar for decades by the Congress. The Chaudhary family had ruled the Doaba politics for decades.

What will be your priorities in the coming months?

The coming 11 months are crucial as I will take up key Jalandhar issues, be it the completion of the smart city project, implementation of Central welfare schemes and other key development projects which got halted due to political and administrative ignorance.

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My mother says that when we speak to someone and mention that our kids trouble us, for instance, when we at times say of babies that s/he kept crying the entire night and didnt let us sleep even for a minute isnt that an injustice to the kids? Parents need to ensure that children are nurtured and encouraged, whatever the situation. (HT File)

I adore her for this question; for the implicit message is that children themselves are feeling either too overwhelmed or too troubled  and putting it the other way round affects their emotional state. Thats borderline selfish as the focus is solely only on oneself. Further, since it has already been proven (with emergence of new fields like neuro-linguistic programming) that words do exert a tremendous power over us, why not reframe our sentences to allow space and acceptance - both for kids and our own selves?

And so, recently when I had some disruptive students in my class, I told myself that its a learning phase both for them, and my own self. And when I was about to blame a particular person (for a certain behaviour), I paused and reflected on why the action had even irked me (since it was only their own personas reflection and probably had nothing to do with me)Here, it is also worth mentioning that we often erroneously take things personally. Despite some major commonalities within all humans, each individual has a very different script of talking, thinking, acting and behaving. Reminds me of a poem Reunion that often gets found on various social media. It goes like this:

The heartthrob of the school,

is a man grim and somber.

That lanky little girl,

is now a weightlifter.

The topper of the class,

is a happy homemaker.

Back bencher of the lot,

is a serial entrepreneur.

The flamboyant fashionista,

became a dreaded lawyer.

Oft ignored average Joe,

turned a well-known writer.

The one who failed math paper,

is a fashion designer,

& one who often got to stand outside class,

is a respected army officer.

The reunion taught me how,

people come with many layers,

and told me why we should never,

judge a book by its cover.

Nothing needs to be said regarding the poem, it is one for self-contemplation of a creation. But yes, if one finds a particular thing irritating/unpleasant, they can try to just pause, reset and restart. When one pauses, they find a breather that filters out the impulsive and less-civilised thoughts, conclusions, and/or words. When they reset, its a reminder that their behaviour is theirs to choose and in a way, they reclaim their own power to react or not react. Third, when one restarts, they come out more refined and polished in view of the efforts put into and the consequences of the first two steps. A word for women here, take these three steps as if you are adjusting your crowns! For not everyone knows everyone elses struggle, you have got to pat your back yourself! Our buckets of self-esteem have to be first filled by our own selves the outer world can only then add, in whatever form, to these buckets

Lastly, one often finds themselves wishing, during conversations, that a particular person faring very well in life, or a one not so much, going to great lengths to ensure that our kids always fall in the former category. Please know that each flower blooms differently. And as a famous saying goes in the context of schooling and parenting, Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. We simply need to ensure that children are nurtured and encouraged, whatever the situation.

reemaban@gmail.com

(The writer is a Jagadhri-based freelance contributor.)
The salience of words in the diversity of human expression and their power to draw the larger picture by connecting the dots of seemingly disparate subjects remains a truism. Mohali-based birder and ecology thinker, Prof Gurpartap Singh, was deeply moved by pictures of wheat stubble burning. He penned down a poem in Punjabi and inscribed it on a burning image, as if an epitaph for a lonely pyre of an unclaimed, ravaged widow. Amit Sharmas photo of wheat stubble inferno. (HT Photo)

It happens every year, but no one seems to care. The farmers, panchayats, government and people seem unconcerned. It seems as if this is something normal. This apparent apathy stirred me. The poem is themed after popular references from the Gurbani and Ardaas. I have invoked the spirit of Guru Nanak Dev by referring to his popular sayings. The stark difference in our approach to sacrilege of religious texts (which venerate the air, water and earth) and apathy to stubble burning has been touched upon, Singh told this writer.

Singh kindly agreed to translate his poem for Wildbuzz readers: Oh, why have you set the great mother earth afire? Didnt you feel any pity, seeing the earth burning and smouldering, in a situation dire? Forgetting the spiritual guide, the air, what a blunder have you perpetrated, and, By poisoning the air, what a sin have you committed! The father-like water is already on the verge of death, And still you arent awakened and still not satisfied. Sayeth Baba Nanak, the rulers are lions and officials are dogs; even today, nobody woke them up from their slumber, sleeping like logs. People have been protesting, the disrespect to religious books. But none has opposed the disrespect to earth, howsoever bad it looks. O, the reverents beseeching God for wisdom, open your eyes now; Come to your senses, the Messenger of death is very near now.

An Indian Roofed turtle in the aquarium. (PHOTO: PARAMNOOR S ANTAAL)

Bad luck for native turtles

The aquarium trade is exerting a double blow on our wetlands. On the one hand, unwanted alien fishes are released into water bodies surreptitiously such as the Amazonian sailfin catfishes discovered in the Sukhna lake and very recently the North American Alligator gar fish from the Dal Lake, Srinagar! Another alien species, the Red-eared slider turtle, which is popular in the Indian pet trade, is regularly released into wetlands. These non-native species are proven threats to Indian turtles and fishes.

On the other hand, native turtles are poached from wetlands and sold to the aquarium trade. The most popular wild species for aquariums is the Indian Roofed turtle, which is otherwise accorded the highest immunity (at par with tigers) under Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022. This turtle is listed under the Punjab Biodiversity Act (PBA) as one of the States 13 Notified Threatened Species of fauna and flora, described as on the verge of extinction by the PBA and earmarked for special conservation actions.

Last week, veterinary student and bird photographer, Paramnoor S Antaal, wandered into the sumptuous environs of the Sharma Sweets & Fast Foods, Putlighar, Amritsar. His keen eyes, while roving over the aquarium fishes maintained in the sweets shop, observed two turtles also in the mix of goldfishes and mini-sharks.

Antaal brought the matter to the notice of the Forest department and the turtles were seized. However, DFO (Territorial), Amritsar, Rajesh Gulati, was cagey when asked by this writer as to whether legal action had been initiated against the aquarium owner and the poacher who had been robbing wetlands of wild turtles.

Male turtles are more colourful and are about a third of a females size. Males are preferred for the illegal aquarium trade as they are easier to maintain. This turtle species is also easily sourced from the wilderness by poachers. Aquarium owners keep turtles for display purposes and sometimes for cultural / religious sentiments believing that turtles bring good luck, Shailendra Singh, director, Turtle Survival Alliance, India, told this writer.

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The drivers of a truck and a trailer were burnt to death in Rajasthans Barmer district following a head-on collision, which took place at Sindhari Mega highway, police said. (HT Photo)

Police said the collision between the truck and the oil tanker was so severe that it immediately caught fire, and the drivers had no time to get away from their vehicles.

One more person was injured in the incident and was taken to a nearby government hospital for treatment, station house officer, Sindhari police station, Surendra Kumar said.

Also Read: Ludhiana: Farmer dies, 2 injured after truck rams into tractor

Police have identified the deceased as Om Singh, a resident of Chohtan village and Rakesh Meena, a resident of Bilwara village. The injured was identified as Devi Singh.

Primafacie investigation suggests that an extra diesel tank which was illegally installed in both vehicles led to the fire incident, said police.

According to the police, to save money as fuel prices in Rajasthan are much higher compared to nearby states like Gujarat and Punjab, drivers attach extra fuel tanks to their vehicles and this has led to several such incidents in the past as well.

Police said while the trailer carrying refined oil was going to Panipat from Gujarat, the truck was going to Gudamalani town from Balotra, and the incident took place on the Sindhari Mega highway near Paylakallan village.

The incident led to a huge traffic jam on both sides of the road and was cleared after two hours, said police.
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday said the Congress partys victory in the Karnataka assembly elections against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is peoples reply to those who do politics in the name of religion. Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot (File Photo)

Referring to the defamation case against Congress leader and former Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi in which he lost his position as a member of the parliament, Gehlot said, By making an issue of the speech given by Rahul Gandhi in Karnataka itself, the BJP leader got him falsely sued. Today the people of Karnataka have given their answer, said Gehlot.

Under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi (Congress chairperson), Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress chief), Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, Congress leaders did a great campaign, he added.

Also Read: As BJP limps behind Congress, Ashok Gehlot says this will repeat in next elections

Voting for the Karnataka assembly elections was held on May 10 and the counting of votes is underway. Congress has so far won 107 seats and is leading on 29 more.

Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who has been a constant critic of the PM Modi-led government said that his partys victory is the peoples strength over crony capitalism.

Addressing newspersons, Gehlot on Saturday said the people understood that the BJP toppled the elected governments in Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh through horse-trading, and a failed attempt in Rajasthan. In Rajasthan, their conspiracy could not succeed but they left no stone unturned, he added.

Now PM Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah should understand that the way they are provoking people in the name of religion and asking to press the button taking Bajrang Balis name is a crime, said Gehlot.

During a gathering on May 4, PM Modi had urged the people of Karnataka to say Jai Bajrangbali when they cast their vote to punish the Congress for its culture of abuse, as the BJP stepped up attack on the opposition party over its election manifesto promise of banning the Bajrang Dal.

Also read: Election commission should ban prime ministers campaigning in Karnataka: Gehlot

The Congress manifesto for Karnataka polls included a ban on organisations such as the Popular Front of India (PFI) and the Bajrang Dal.

Against Modis remark, Gehlot had demanded that the Election Commission (EC) should place a ban on PM Modis campaigning in Karnataka for his religious statements.

BJP MLA and spokesperson Ram Lal Sharma said the BJP does not indulge in politics of religion. He said Gehlots allegations are baseless and politically motivated. We accept peoples mandate in Karnataka, he added.

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Bettering its 2017 performance, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) wrested the Aligarh mayor seat from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and continued its dominion over Agra, where it has not lost since 1989. In Agra, the BJP faced a tough battle with the BSPs Lata Valmiki leading the counting for a better part of the day. However, the BJP candidate won the latter counting rounds and maintained the victory margin till the end. (For representation)

The party also won Firozabad and Mathura-Vrindavan, where municipal elections were held for the second time.

Aligarh, one of the only two places where the BJP had suffered a defeat last time, is all set to welcome its new mayor Prashant Singhal, who won by a massive margin of over 50,000 after 26 rounds of counting on Saturday.

Singhal, whose nomination came rather as a surprise for his reputation of being more an industrialist than a politician, was up against the SPs Jamirullah Khana two-time MLA from Kol in Aligarhwho came a distant second in the poll contest and the BSPs Salman Shaid, a recent addition to the party from the SP (Samajwadi Party).

In Agra, the BJP faced a tough battle with the BSPs Lata Valmiki leading the counting for a better part of the day. However, the BJP candidate won the latter counting rounds and maintained the victory margin till the end.

Agra, a reserved seat a woman from the scheduled caste community, will now welcome its third woman mayor Hemlata Diwakar. Baby Rani Maurya and Anjula Mahour were both from the BJP. While Maurya is now a cabinet minister in the Yogi government, Mahour is the Hathras MLA.

The new Agra mayor had won the Agra MLA seat but was denied a ticket in the last years assembly election.
Lucknow: The BJPs spectacular victory in the urban local body elections and assembly by-polls couldnt have come at a better time, for these triumphs cushioned the impact of the Karnataka loss to the Congress, allowing the BJP to keep the cadres motivated in the most populous state ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The campaigns by chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who held more than 50 rallies across the state for these polls, helped BJP candidates, especially on mayoral seats. (Pic for representation)

The BJP also won in several minority-dominated areas for the first time  its win in Suar assembly seat in Muslim-dominated Rampur in the assembly by-poll, for instance, meant Samajwadi Partys third straight loss to the BJP in its bastion.

Party leaders admitted that such forays in Muslim-dominated localities showcased the partys growing acceptance among pasmanda (backward) Muslims who had been among the beneficiaries of the Modi-Yogi governments welfare schemes.

This time, 395 Muslims were given tickets in civic polls. These included places where the BJP never contested earlier and in all such places, either the party candidates have won or fared well. The data is still being collated but in places like Gopamau, Hardoi, Aligarh-Moradabads Dharampur, Amroha, Ghosi seat in Mau and Qazipura seat in Ballia, our candidates have won for the first time while in Azamgarhs Mubarakpur and Raje Sultanpur in Ambedkarnagar we have done well, especially if we consider that either we never contested here earlier or didnt do well , said UP governments minorities minister Danish Azad Ansari.

All this means Muslims are becoming aware that while others used them as vote banks, the MY or the Modi-Yogi factor helped them by connecting them with government welfare schemes. If one doesnt close eyes to reality, one would be able to see how poor Muslims have now become MY fans, said Ansari, a pasmanda himself.

The campaigns by chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who held more than 50 rallies across the state for these polls, helped BJP candidates, especially on mayoral seats.

Yogi ji addressed three to four rallies on an average and while our political opponents preferred to cool their heels in air-conditioned chambers, the chief ministers campaigning along with that of senior BJP leaders made a huge impact, said UP BJP spokesman Manish Shukla.

By late evening, the results had started firming up. Apart from winning all 17 mayoral seats, a record 84 nagar palika parishad chairmens posts were won by party candidates. As many as 812 corporators had won on BJP ticket against SPs 191 and 187 nagar panchayat chairmen.

These wins actually mean a lot as these results coincided with Karnataka developments. UP is one state where the party cant afford to falter and thankfully, while Karnataka didnt go our way, UP wins have ensured that the winning momentum continues, a senior BJP leader said.

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AUBURN  For Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay, there is one story that captured Gary Finch's many qualities.

Finch, the longtime Auburn-area state assemblyman who died on May 5, was interviewed by the New York Times for a story about Russia preventing the delivery of Chobani yogurt to U.S. athletes competing in the 2014 Winter Olympics.

The Greek yogurt blockade affected Chobani, a popular brand with a plant in Finch's district. Regarding Russia, he told The New York Times reporter that "whatever they choose to bring to the table to have some conflict over, we, of course will win." And, he added, "we will have our yogurt at the end of the day."

Barclay, who eulogized Finch at his funeral held Friday at St. Mary's Church in Auburn, believes the quote highlighted Finch's intelligence, love of community and sense of humor.

Hundreds attended the funeral for Finch, a longtime public servant who represented the Auburn area in the state Assembly for more than decades. He was also a successful businessman, having owned and operated Brew-Finch Funeral Homes for more than 40 years.

"He didn't do any of these things for the personal glory or for recognition," Barclay said. "He did it because he loved the Auburn community and he wanted to have a positive impact, which he certainly did."

Finch was also remembered for being a family man. Barclay said his former colleague was blessed by a wonderful family, especially his wife, Marcia, and their children, Amy and Greg. One story shared by Barclay is when Finch dressed up as Robin to partner with his grandson's Batman.

The service also featured a homily from Rev. Louis Vasile, who has been friends with Finch since they attended Mount Carmel High School. They were part of the same graduating class at the now-defunct Catholic school.

Vasile, who called Finch "our brother, our best friend," told attendees about his recovery from a broken hip. After his surgery, he was transferred to The Commons on St. Anthony in Auburn. It was there he was informed that his neighbor would be Finch, who was also at the facility.

Vasile admitted that, over the years, they "never had that time" to spend together. But because of his hip surgery, he said he spent 19 days with Finch.

"I know all the stories," he joked. "I know all the secrets."

There was a recurring theme throughout the service  that Finch, above all, was a good man.

Barclay considered him a "true friend," but realized he was more than that. He was a confidante, a mentor and political adviser, he said.

There were other tributes to Finch in the days since his passing. Former Gov. George Pataki called him a "truly wonderful man." Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a Democrat, said the Auburn-area Republican was "the nicest guy." Others called him a legend and a statesman.

"These words and praises most definitely describe Gary Finch," Barclay said.

Gallery: Hundreds attend the funeral service for former NYS Assemblyman Gary Finch in Auburn
BJP's Mangalesh Srivastav has defeated Samajwadi Party's Kajal Nishad by around 67,00 votes for the mayoral seat in Gorakhpur nagar nigam. Srivastava received 214,983 votes, while SP candidate and actress-politician Kajal Nishad secured 147,957 votes. After the announcement of the final results, Kajal Nishad created a ruckus, alleging electoral malpractice, and demanded a recount. BJP candidate Mangalesh Srivastav and SP candidate Kajal Nishad.(sourced)

SP candidate Kajal Nishad claimed that the administration has inflated the vote count by adding 1.5 lakh votes more than the actual number of votes polled. The counting process has been halted, and the declaration of the election result is pending. The administration is trying to persuade and explain to Kajal Nishad, as well as the candidates from BSP, Congress, and AAP.

The mayoral election in Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath's home constituency was primarily between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP). Mangalesh Srivastav, an experienced member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), was chosen as the BJP candidate for the mayoral election. Originally hailing from Maharajganj district, he received his early education at Saraswati Shishu Mandir. He completed his MBBS and MD (Pathology) from Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College in Kanpur. Presently, he serves as the Vice President of Saraswati Shishu Mandir and Saraswati Shiksha Samiti. Additionally, he has actively participated in various social initiatives associated with the Gorakhnath Temple.

Kajal Nishad, the mayoral candidate for the Samajwadi Party, is a professional actress. While she was born in Kutch, Gujarat, her family currently resides in Mumbai. Kajal was previously involved with the Congress party in Mumbai and was nominated as a candidate from the Gorakhpur Rural Assembly constituency during the 2012 assembly elections. Although she did not emerge victorious, she continued her involvement in politics. In 2021, Kajal met Abu Azmi, a Samajwadi Party legislator in Mumbai, who suggested she meets Akhilesh Yadav, the national president of the Samajwadi Party and former UP Chief Minister. Following their meeting, Kajal expressed her desire to join the Samajwadi Party.

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A dozen Rotary Club members, who got trapped in a lift of a hotel in Civil Lines, were rescued after an effort of over one-and-a-half hours on Saturday morning, police said. The hotel staff called police when they failed to rescue those trapped inside the lift. (For Representation)

The rescue operation was carried out under guidance of Prayagraj police commissioner Ramit Sharma and chief fire officer (CFO) RK Pandey. The trapped ones, who were feeling suffocated and exhausted after the rescue operation, were given primary treatment.

CFO Pandey said the Rotary Club members were going down from the upper floor to the ground floor through the lift after a meeting. However, the lift developed a fault and got stuck between the ground floor and basement.

The hotel staff called police when they failed to rescue those trapped inside the lift. Firefighters were called to the spot who provided air, water and juice etc to the trapped people through the space between the lift and the basement.

Technical experts from another hotel somehow opened the door. The firefighters then pushed a chair inside the lift. The trapped people climbed the chair and were pulled up by the rescue team, the CFO added. Police officials said the hotel staff claimed that the lift developed the snag due to overload.
The Supreme Court on Friday granted relief to suspended Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Aditya Kumar and directed the Bihar government not to take coercive action until further orders. The suspended officer is facing charges of corruption and criminal conspiracy in a liquor prohibition case (Representative Photo)

The suspended officer is facing charges of corruption and criminal conspiracy in a liquor prohibition case during his tenure as Gaya senior superintended of police (SSP).

Hearing the plea filed by advocate Mukul Rohogi on behalf of Aditya Kumar, a Supreme Court bench of justices Krishna Murari and PV Sanjay Kumar said that no coercive action shall be taken against Aditya Kumar.

Also Read: HC refuses pre-arrest bail to ICICI banker who siphoned off 18.94 cr

Considering the facts and circumstances, no coercive action shall be taken against the petitioner in the meantime, read the apex court order.

A first information report (FIR) by Bihars economic offences was registered against Aditya and four others on charges of cheating, impersonation, extortion and other offences in October last year based on the statement of deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Bhaskar Ranjan.

According to the FIR, the IPS officer, co-accused, Abhishek Agrawal alias Abhishek Bhopalika and others attached a plan to dupe the then director general of police (DGP) Sanjiv Kumar Singhal in the name of the then chief justice of Patna high court to drop a corruption case against him.

Earlier, the single bench of Patna high court rejected the anticipatory bail petition of Aditya Kumar. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, as well as, the fact that there is ample evidence against the petitioner (Kumar) in the form of electronic evidence also, which not only discloses but also establishes the connivance, collusion and active participation of the petitioner as a mastermind, who got the plan executed through co-accused Abhishek Agrawal alias Abhishek Bhopalika, I am not inclined to enlarge the petitioner on anticipatory bail, read the order issued by justice Anjani Kumar Sharan on March 21.

Also Read: High court rejects arrest shield for Bihar IPS officer on the run, Aditya Kumar

The IPS officer later moved Supreme Court and filed a special leave petition.

On Friday, the Apex court issued notice responding to a plea by Aditya Kumar and granted him protection from arrest.

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Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday lauded the electoral performances of the Bharatiya Janata Party and it ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) in the bypolls to Suar and Chhanbey seat and the municipal elections.



The mandate in the civic polls is due to efficient administration, development and safety in the state, Adityanath said. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath along with deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak and others during the press conference on BJP massive victory in Local bodies election on Saturday.(Deepak Gupta/HT Photo)

In 2017, BJP won 60 seats but this year we've won more than double seats in urban local body polls, Adityanath said.



UP municipal election results LIVE updates



Our ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) won both the Suar and Chanbe by-polls and defeated the Samajwadi Party. I thank the voters for giving us the opportunity in the urban local body elections and by-elections. I want to assure the people that the UP government will continue to work for their development and security, the CM added.

The mandate in the civic polls is due to efficient administration, development and safety in the state, Adityanath added.



The BJP pocketed ten municipal corporations in the recently concluded civic elections. It won the mayoral seats in Ayodhya, Prayagraj, Shahjahanpur, Aligarh, Gorakhpur and Moradabad as the counting progresses.



The urban local body polls were held in two phases -- on May 4 and May 11 -- to elect 17 mayors, and 1,401 corporators. As many as 19 corporators were elected unopposed, the state election commission said.

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The stage is set for the counting of votes for the 2023 Uttar Pradesh Urban Local Body (ULB) elections held in two phases. The voters of the urban areas in Uttar Pradesh exercised their franchise on May 4 and May 11 to elect their representatives at different levels of the ULBs: Municipal Corporation or Nagar Nigam; Municipal Council or Nagar Palika Parishad; and Nagar Panchayat. UP urban local body election 2023: Women voters show ink-marked fingers after casting their votes for the Civic Body elections at Makanpur village, in Ghaziabad.(ANI)

The ULBs are responsible for the governance and administration of cities and towns. Each entity operates at a specific scale and has varying degrees of administrative and financial powers.

There were 83,378 candidates in the fray for 14,522 posts in this year's UP civic polls, according to the State Election Commission. Seventeen mayors and 1,401 corporators will be elected after the results are declared on Saturday. As many as 19 corporators have already been elected unopposed. The civic polls, or nikay chunav, will also elect 198 chairpersons and 5,260 members of Nagar Palika Parishads. For Nagar Panchayats, the fate of 542 chairpersons and 7,104 members will be decided.

The counting of votes will start at 8am.

The results of the UP civic elections would also determine the political standing of leaders tasked with campaign duties as most of the political parties deployed senior functionaries and veterans to gain an upper hand.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and his deputies Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak campaigned extensively for the BJP candidates. State BJP president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary and former Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma also held election meetings for party candidates. Samajwadi Party chief and former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav held roadshows. Mainpuri MP Dimple Yadav also campaigned for party candidates.

While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would be eyeing a repeat of, or even better, its 2017 performance, the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, and Congress would be hoping to regain the lost ground.

The campaign also saw symbolic efforts of opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, with Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (SP-RLD) parties backing the Congress-supported candidate on the Mathura seat.

What happened in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh ULB polls

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the dominant force, securing an impressive victory across various local bodies. The party's success was attributed to the appeal of its development agenda, as well as the wave of support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership. The BJP's victory in the ULB polls cemented its position in Uttar Pradesh's political landscape and propelled it to subsequent triumphs in subsequent state and national elections.

Meerut and Aligarh had BSP mayors in 2017, while the BJP ruled the rest civic bodies.

Shahjahanpur will elect its mayor for the first time this year as the city became a municipal corporation in 2018, a year after the last civil polls were held in Uttar Pradesh.

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Assam police have seized drugs worth 1,430 cores and arrested 9,309 suspected drug traffickers since May 2021, state director general of police (DGP) GP Singh informed on Twitter recently. Assam director general of police (DGP) GP Singh (Twitter/@ANI)

As per the information provided by Singh, drugs worth over 1,430.22 crore were seized in Assam with the registration of 5,580 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and 9,309 suspected drug traffickers have been arrested since 2021, including 26 habitual traffickers.

Amongst the other seizures of narcotics, police recovered 239 kgs of heroin, 71,902 kgs ganja, 283 kgs opium, 98.68 lakh psychotropic tablets, 4.78 lakh cough syrup bottles, 214 kgs cannabis, and 40 kgs cocaine, according to the DGP.

Also Read: Three minors among eight arrested in major extortion bust in Delhi

The police also destroyed the cultivation of opium on over 400 acres of land and the cultivation of cannabis on nearly 20 acres of land in various districts, the DGP informed.

Singh thanked Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for this success. Under the leadership of Honble CM Shri @himantabiswa Sir, @assampolice launched & is continuing with its massive crackdown on the drug trafficking menace. We remain committed to completely dismantling the drug trafficking networks, Singh wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

Talking to HT on Saturday, Singh said, We are relentless in our pursuit of reducing the drug menace by going in for supply reduction in conjunction with the government of Assam strategy of demand reduction and harm reduction.

However, netizens claimed that more than 50% of cases registered under NDPS are false. Responding to the claims by DGP, a Guwahati resident said, Out of these 9,309 arrested traffickers, more than 50% were false cases registered. Police blindly rely on their informers who themselves are habitual addicts/offenders. These addict sources inform the police to catch only those with whom they have a personal vendetta.

Responding to this, Singh said, Since you seem to have so much information, please let us know about actual drug traffickers so that we can arrest them and bring them to law.

Also Read: Six, including 4 foreigners held for duping Gurugram woman of 8.85 lakh

On Tuesday, CM Sarma spoke about the activities of his government in the last two years and that they had to launch a war against drugs to control the supply and consumption because the network is large.

The amount of seizures and the number of arrests show how serious the issue is. It also reflects our efforts which will continue till we achieve the goal of drugs-free Assam, said Sarma.

Apart from seizures and arrests, Assam police are also spreading awareness, especially amongst the young generation, launching the Drugs Free Assam mobile application was one of those initiatives, said the DGP.
The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha scored its sixth bypoll victory after 2019 assembly election as party candidate Deepali Das trounced the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)s Tankadhar Tripathy by over 48,000 votes in Jharsuguda Assembly bypoll, the results of which were declared on Saturday. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik-led BJD had fielded former health minister Naba Das daughter Deepali Das as the partys candidate for Jharsuguda assembly bypoll. (ANI File Photo)

Das, the 26-year-old daughter of former Odisha health minister Naba Das, secured a total of 1,07,003 votes while Tripathy managed to poll 58,384 votes in his favour. Congress candidate Tarun Pandey got 4,473 votes. An MBA from EU Business School in Barcelona, Das is the youngest-ever MLA of Odisha.

The bypoll was necessitated following the murder of Naba Das by an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of police in January. ASI Gopal Das had shot dead the minister from a close range at Brajarajnagar town of Jharsuguda on January 29 when the latter was stepping out of his car to address a meeting. The bullet pierced the ministers heart and he was declared dead 10 hours later at a hospital in Bhubaneswar. The mystery over the motive of the murder continues to endure even as a CID probe is underway.

It is due to the love and blessings of the people that I have been able to win the election with a huge margin. I will meet chief minister Naveen Patnaik soon. I will fulfil the commitment made to the people. I will also fulfil the dreams of my late father Naba Das, said Das.

Targeting the BJP after the results, Patnaik said, Single engine or double engine is not important. From peoples point of view, governance is important. Pro-peoples governance always wins. Those who insult people of Odisha by calling lawlessness are working against our state.

Senior BJD leader Prasanna Acharya said, The results were expected as the voters had already decided to bless the BJD candidate Dipali Das. The credit goes to the voters of Jharsuguda for their matured decision and the efforts of our workers.

State BJP president Manmohan Samal said the party will review the bypoll results and try to fix the loopholes and improve its performance in coming elections.

After the results were declared, a BJP worker was reportedly stabbed in Sunamala village under Sadar Block. The victim was admitted to the District Headquarters Hospital.

The Jharsuguda win would be the BJDs 6th bypoll victory after the 2019 assembly polls. Earlier, the party won the Assembly bypolls held in Bijepur, Balasore, Tirtol, Pipili and Brajarajnagar constituencies. It, however, lost to the BJP in Dhamnagar assembly bypoll.
LUCKNOW After a disastrous defeat in the assembly polls last year, Congress on Saturday failed to open its account in the mayoral polls and the by-elections. Arguably, the only saving grace for the grand old party was that a few of its candidates managed to leave behind their SP and BSP counterparts and emerged as the first runner-up. Congress on Saturday failed to open its account in the mayoral polls and the by-elections. (HT Photo)

In some good news for the Congress, its candidate won post of Raebarelis nagar palika parishad chairman. Congress Shatrughan Sonkar defeated the BJPs Shalini Kannaujia for the position. However, out of nine nagar panchayat chairperson seats in the district, five went to the BJP and only one to Congress. The remaining three were clinched by the independents. Meanwhile, in Amethi, one of the nagar palika parishad chairperson seats went to the Congress and the other to the BJP. Congress Manisha won the Jais seat while BJPs Reshmi secured the Gauriganj seat.

Even Congress leaders admitted that the party did not bring its A game to the table as none of its senior leaders campaigned ahead of the civic polls. Its candidate Mohammad Rizwan lost only by a margin of 3,643 votes securing 1,17,832 (40.86%) votes in Moradabad. BSPs Mohammed Yamin and SPs Sayed Raisuddin got 13,447 votes respectively. In the newly-constituted municipal corporation of Shahjahanpur, Congress Nikhat Iqbal got 50,484 (30.44%) votes while SPs Mala Rathore and BSPs Shagufta Anzum got 20,155 and 5,545 votes respectively.

In Mathura, Congress candidate remained at the third position despite supporting two candidates. Congress election symbol was allotted to Shyam Sunder Upadhyay Bittu. The party, however, extended support to one Raj Kumar Rawat as well. While Shyam Sunder Upadhyay secured 35,173 votes, Rawat also pocketed over 30,000 votes. Upadhyay was the second runner-up. He was preceded by BSPs Raza Mohtesham Ahmed, who stood second with 35,191 votes. In Kanpur Nagar too, Congress candidate Asha Vikas Awasthi remained at third place.

Significantly, this was the first electoral test for the team formed by Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president Brijlal Khabri. Our team was not fully constituted. We always said that the Congress will perform better than the previous urban local body elections in the state and we will achieve that. We hope to put forth a better performance on the posts of corporators, chairmen and the members in urban local bodies than the previous elections, said Khabri.

Notably, voting in 760 urban local bodies was held in two phases for 14,684 posts in 17 nagar ngams, 199 nagar palika parishads, and 544 nagar panchayats.

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Religious preacher from Madhya Pradesh, Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, also known as Bageshwar Baba, the 20-something godman who has of late remained in the news for various reasons, arrived in Bihars capital Patna on Saturday morning and was received at the airport by a large number of supporters and prominent BJP leaders like union minister Giriraj Singh and Manoj Tiwari. Union ministers Ashwini Kumar Choubey and Giriraj Singh, BJP MPs Ravishankar Prasad, Ramkripal Yadav and others at Dhirendra Shastris programme at Naubatpur on Saturday. (Santosh Kumar/HT)

While Tiwari, a Lok Sabha member from Delhi, chose to drive Bageshwar Babas car, Singh lashed out at the ruling Mahagathbandhan in Bihar for opposing the godmans visit to appease its own vote bank.

What wrong has the Baba done in advocating a Hindu Rashtra? Where will the Hindus go if they do not find a voice in their own homeland? The Hindus account for 80 per cent of the population and with the changes in demography, they stare at a grim future, Giriraj Singh said.

Shastri will be camping at Taret village in Naubatpur block in Patna district, where he will hold a religious programme till May 17.

On Saturday evening, top BJP leaders from Bihar, including union minister Ashwini Choubey, state BJP chief Samrat Choudhary and union minister Giriraj Singh were present at Taret in attendance for the religious event.

Several RJD leaders had opposed Shastris programme in Bihar, saying he would face punitive action in case he tries to make any provocative statements and hurt religious feelings.

State RJD chief Jagdanand Singh and environment and forest minister Tej Pratap Yadav too had slammed Shastri.

Tej Pratap Yadav had threatened to gherao the godman upon arrival at the airport while education minister Chandra Shekhar has warned that strict action will be taken if Bageshwar Baba said anything that was considered detrimental to social peace.

Meanwhile, the district administration has deployed heavy security in and around Taret village.

Earlier in the day, BJP leaders, including state unit president Samrat Chaudhary, former union minister Ravishankar Prasad, Giriraj Singh and others, watched a special screening of The Kerala Story in Patna but avoided commenting on the results in Karnataka where Congress was set for a decisive victory in assembly polls.

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Upbeat after the Karnataka assembly poll results, leaders of the ruling alliance in Bihar, the Mahagahtbandhan, which also comprises the Congress, on Saturday said it was the beginning of the end of BJP in India. Celebrations at the Bihar Congress office in Patna after the Karnataka win. (Santosh Kumar/HT)

They used all tricks, tried to fan the religious frenzy and more importantly, honourable PM campaigned, but everything failed in front of corruption of BJP government. Karnataka has become BJP-mukt (free of BJP), the ruling Janata Dal United national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh said in a tweet in Hindi.

The people of Karnataka were fed up with the corrupt rule of the BJP. Even God is angry with his name being dragged into electoral politics. The Prime Minister himself was trying to polarize votes by starting his election addresses with the praise of Bajrang Bali, said Bihars finance minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, also from the JD-U, a party to which chief minister Nitish Kumar belongs.

CM Kumar also congratulated the Congress in a tweet in Hindi.

The historic Sadaqat Ashram premises in Patna, which has served as the state Congress headquarters for decades, wore a festive look after a long time, with party workers beating drums and sharing sweets, as trends predicted a thumping majority for the party in the southern state.

State Congress president and Rajya Sabha member Akhilesh Prasad Singh hailed Rahul Gandhis Bharat Jodo Yatra for the Karnataka victory. Before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, it was a litmus test of the mood of the people, who have voted against the Prime Ministers dictatorial policies, he said.

The results have shown that Bajrang Bali got angry with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and blessed the Congress. BJPs attempt to brazen out corruption by polarizing voters along religious lines backfired, said Congress MLC Prem Chandra Mishra.

He asserted that the BJP, which is poised for a humiliating loss in Karnataka, should get ready for playing the role of the opposition party after the Lok Sabha polls next year. It plays the role of the opposition well. But flounders whenever it comes to power.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), also a part of the ruling alliance in Bihar, reacted on similar lines. Like Lal Krishna Advani, they forgot Lord Ram, due to which Bajrang Bali got angry and using his mace, he has destroyed the egoistic opportunism of BJP, said RJD spokesperson Chittaranjan Gagan. Karnataka assembly elections have started the process of BJPs downfall, he said.

Meanwhile, BJP leaders, including state unit president Samrat Chaudhary, former union minister Ravishankar Prasad, union minister Giriraj Singh and others, who watched a special screening of The Kerala Story in Patna on Saturday, avoided commenting on the results.

Political observers feel the Karnataka result will not only boost the morale of the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar but will also strengthen also for chief ministers Nitish Kumars opposition unity bid.

Nawal Kishore Chowdhary, a social scientist, said, Nitishs opposition unity mission will also get a shot in arm. It is possible that more regional parties join his initiative. The results are going to have an impact on the stature and role of Nitish Kumar.

However, some others apprehend some tension in governance in Bihar. From being a passive follower in governance, Congress can demand a dominant role and a greater share in governance. One can also see projection of a Congress leader as the leader of opposition unity, said Gyanendra Yadav, associate professor of sociology at College of Commerce in Bihars capital.

A section of JD(U) leaders also apprehend some headache in seat distribution. Nitish Kumar may have to compromise on the distribution of seats, said one of the, who didnt want to be named.

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David Tarala has worked on East Hill for 42 years.

The owner of Bee Line Wheel Alignment, tucked behind Seminary Avenue at the bottom of the titular slope, once thought the bustling corridor of old brick low-rises was one of the best areas of Auburn.

Now he thinks it's one of the worst.

That's largely because of the two smoke shops and the unlicensed cannabis dispensary that have opened on East Hill over the last 18 months. Tarala told The Citizen he's had the door of his business kicked in and been called "every name in the book" by customers of the shops, who regularly park in front of his garages. He's also frustrated because the city, he feels, hasn't done a thing to help.

"I go to City Council and all they do is roll their eyes. I've given up. Nobody's helping us. But the city's got to step up and take care of this," Tarala said. "I know New York state is in a gray area (with cannabis sales), but if you do not have a license for a business, you should not be open. The hair salons need a license. I need a license for an auto repair facility. If I don't have it, I can't do it."

But Auburn city officials  recognizing the problems that come with the shops, legal and otherwise  say they are trying to help East Hill.

For the two smoke shops, Auburn Express Jr. Smoke Shop at 4 E. Genesee St. and Blue Smoke and More at 30 E. Genesee St., the city is working with the Cayuga County Health Department to enforce their tobacco license requirements. The department has fined and suspended the county licenses of many shops as they've proliferated recently, including locations of Auburn Express at 33 Columbus St. and 104 Grant Ave. for selling illegal flavored vapes and selling tobacco to minors. The department attempted to suspend Auburn Express' state license as well, but discovered it had expired. The county is now considering amendments to its laws covering tobacco sales that would "enhance some of the enforcement mechanisms," Chief Assistant County Attorney Rich Graham told The Citizen in March.

Blue Smoke, meanwhile, has not been fined nor faced suspension of its county or state tobacco licenses, which are both active.

Blue Smoke owner Rawid Alrashi and Auburn Express owner Alae (Adam) Albadeh did not respond to requests for comment by The Citizen.

A city ordinance passed this winter classifies unlicensed businesses like Auburn Express as public nuisances, giving the city's Nuisance Abatement Committee authority over them, Corporation Counsel Nate Garland told The Citizen. The ordinance followed a six-month moratorium on new smoke shops passed by City Council last June, and an effort by the city's code enforcement office to eliminate the bright LED signage in some of their windows. East Hill business owners interviewed by The Citizen said the signage is indeed no longer as much of an issue as it was when the two shops opened there.

Still, Garland wishes the city could do more about smoke shops  particularly when it comes to cannabis.

Though legal to possess since New York passed the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act two years ago, cannabis requires a license to sell. That applies to shops like Blue Smoke and Auburn Express, which are widely suspected of selling it in addition to tobacco. Police seized cannabis from a similar business, the now-closed Auburn Smoke Shop at 67 Franklin St., during a February 2022 raid.

The raid followed five police calls to the shop over the previous six months, according to a city database. The same database shows that, since the opening of the East Hill shops, there have been four police calls to Blue Smoke, six to Auburn Express and four to I'm Stuck, a Wayne County-based "consulting and marketing firm" that opened a location at 9 E. Genesee St. on East Hill in January.

The cannabis license requirement also applies to I'm Stuck. But, exploiting a loophole, the business charges for consultations about cannabis products instead of the products themselves, which technically makes them gifts. The state Office of Cannabis Management disagrees, and has sent I'm Stuck owner David Tulley several cease-and-desist letters. The state has lacked the means to punish "gray market" shops like Tulley's any more forcefully until this week, when legislation attached to the new state budget agreement provided the office with $16 million in funds and new enforcement tools.

The fine for unlicensed retail possession of cannabis, for instance, will jump from $500 to $7,500.

"I was shocked how lenient the penalty was," Garland said. "But to allow for all good things the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act contemplates, the state has to kill the gray market."

The state budget agreement will make it easier for landlords to evict unlicensed dispensaries as well.

The landlords of East Hill's three new shops were criticized by Tarala, Wendy Goldman of The Liberty Store and Matt Bartolotta of Angelo's Pizza. According to Cayuga County property records, the landlords are Brendan Grillo's BMG Capital Inc. at 4 E. Genesee St.; Sam and Laurie Buttaro, of Weedsport, at 30 E. Genesee St.; and Capflow Capital LLC at 9 E. Genesee St. Tarala called them "slumlords," while Bartolotta was more diplomatic. He said the landlords should take more responsibility for their properties and more interest in the people who do business there.

Grillo  who sold 9 E. Genesee to Capflow in October  and Sam Buttaro did not respond to requests for comment by The Citizen. Capflow Capital LLC could not be reached for comment.

Bartolotta, however, declined to criticize the shops themselves. They're business owners just like he is, he told The Citizen.

"They're trying to put food on the table," he said. "I've never walked into a smoke shop before, so I don't know what they sell, but they do cater to a crowd that needs that product."

Stephanie DeVito, executive director of the Auburn Downtown Business Improvement District, feels the same way.

The shops represent people's livelihoods, DeVito told The Citizen, and that should be respected. But, she continued, she also has to respect the frustrations their fellow East Hill business owners have shared with her. They include foot traffic, loitering and foul language on the sidewalks, which are regularly used by families. Some business owners have even asked DeVito about relocating, she said.

"I'm having to play musical chairs," she said. "It's a huge concern of mine. We don't want them leaving because they're being affected by another business in a negative way."

DeVito added that her counterparts at several downtown business districts in New York are dealing with similar problems from new smoke shops. But she believes they can coexist with other businesses, citing Evolve CBD at 12 South St. as an example of "a good neighbor." It will just take the owners of the shops and their landlords working with the community to find what she called "the right fit."

As the eastern gateway to downtown Auburn, it's important that East Hill makes a good impression, DeVito said.

Instead, Goldman believes the area's new shops create "a negative vibe" there. The longtime operator of The Liberty Store with her husband, Marty, recalled seeing large knives displayed in the windows of Auburn Express when it first opened across the street. Unlike Bartolotta and DeVito, Goldman questioned the legitimacy of the businesses as well, given that two of them lack state licenses.

"I'm not convinced they're totally up and up," she told The Citizen. "I'm not sure how so many in one area can do that much business."

Tulley, who has defended the legitimacy of his business by arguing that it doesn't break any laws, told The Citizen that I'm Stuck is "trying to be as neighborly as possible."

The shop's staff is told to park in the nearby lots, Tulley said, and not on the streets. He also said some East Hill businesses have welcomed him and the customers I'm Stuck brings to the area.

"I apologize if we're bringing more business to downtown than they're accustomed to, but I believe that's the point of business," Tulley said of his critics. "Downtowns are dying across America, but we're trying to revitalize and bring people back to those areas. I'm sorry we're not bringing in 'the right type of customer,' but I would hope that every type of person is allowed to be downtown."
A 25-year-old lady Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable allegedly died by suicide in the railway quarters under Mujahidpur police station in Bihars Bhagalpur Friday evening, officials said. Preliminary investigations revealed that she had marital dispute with her husband and in-laws. The father of the deceased constable alleged that her husband used to torture her. (Representative Image)

City deputy superintendent of police (SP) Ajay Kumar Choudhary said the deceased constable was a resident of Jharkhand and had been posted in Bhagalpur for three years. Police will probe the incident from all angles, he said.

RPF inspector Randheer Kumar said, Her husband gave a distress call to RPF officials to save her and till we reached her quarters, it was too late. We rushed her to the Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical college and hospital where the doctors declared her brought dead.

On the other hand, the father of the deceased constable, who reached Bhagalpur late Friday evening, alleged that her husband used to torture her. He used to torture her which led to her end,he alleged and demanded stringent punishment to the husband. He alleged that his daughter was married saying that the groom was an engineer but it came out to be untrue.

The husband, also a resident of Jharkhand, has been absconding since the incident.

Police said that the constable had serious altercation with her husband over phone just before she took the extreme step. They said said her husband called RPF officials soon after she disconnected the phone, and urged to save her. Police have seized the mobile phone of the deceased.

If you need support or know someone who does, please reach out to your nearest mental health specialist.

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Set up food outlets at selected spots Food stalls near MIT College in Kothrud. (HT FILE PHOTO)

One possible solution could be to establish designated areas for food outlets near college campuses. These areas should be strategically located away from residential areas to minimise disturbances to citizens. Also, there should be certain rules and regulations for food outlets, such as limiting the hours of operation and ensuring that they comply with noise pollution standards. These steps would help to reduce the impact on residents while still allowing students to enjoy their free time. Local authorities can work with college administration to encourage students to use public transportation or carpooling to reduce traffic congestion around the food outlets. There can also be an open forum for giving space for open dialogue and feedback between residents and students to help address concerns and come up with mutually agreeable solutions. This could involve setting up community forums or establishing feedback mechanisms such as suggestion boxes.

Dewang Goswami

Build designated pedestrian streets

As a student, it is inevitable that we will travel to places to have some time for ourselves and explore these spaces we are studying at the same time. This is specially for those who are not localites. As students, we never mean to bring the traffic to a halt, but parking of private vehicles and autorickshaws at the same time causes congestion on narrow roads of the city. Having more designated pedestrian streets and not just popular corners of the city could be a solution. Instead of allowing vendors near bars, cafes and restaurants near Koregoan Park and Symbiosis street areas, more adjustments and facilities need to come up for a better solution instead of stopping students to travel and try the delicacies of a new city.

Garima Ranjan

Run legal food stalls

While we encourage local vendors, it should be in alliance with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to grant permissions with valid parking areas. Vendors come under the purview of PMC and the civic authorities need to be proactively monitoring such places and take necessary actions as residents should not be impacted due to such vendors. Its been observed that garbage collection/disposal is also not done properly and is also questionable and ource of environmental hazards. Authorities should address these issues.

Aditya Patil Kumar

Disallow stalls on footpaths

Let the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) allocate a few khau gallies not on footpaths, but at corner places near college campuses. They should be allocated a small space per vendor, say 6x4, wherein hygiene is maintained as these vendors do not need a lot of space to set up shop. PMC has the capacity to rent out these places. They should allocate these places in such a way that noise, traffic and land can be minimised.

Rachna Aggarwal

Fine traffic violators

Youngsters and students cannot be stopped from exploring street foods and street shops. They will go out and explore. To find an adjustment point, the authorities should have dedicated parking spots for smooth traffic flow. Traffic police should monitor these spaces and fine traffic violators. Designated spots should be given to vendors to set up their businesses and specific corners should be designated for khau gallies. Hence, there will not be any clusters on footpaths.

Shital Jadhav

Give time slots to run outlets

The vendor problem comes under the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and they should look into the matter of khau gallies. Designated space should be given to run businesses on streets. As citizens also visit these stalls apart from students, parking spots and timings should be given by authorities for different areas within the city. Khau gallies are not just outside universities, but near residential areas also and should be run under rules and regulations to ensure it is not a public inconvenience.

Shriya Menkudle
The notification to exclude the Phursungi and Uruli Devachi villages from the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and establish a separate municipal council for these two villages has received over 6,500 objections and suggestion. Considering this, a hearing is scheduled to begin on May 15, and the final report will be submitted to the state government. The Maharastra government on March 31 announced the decision to form the separate municipal council for Uruli Devachi and Phursungi. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

The Maharastra government on March 31 announced the decision to form the separate municipal council for Uruli Devachi and Phursungi.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ujwal Keskar said, We opposed the state governments decision, even though our party is ruling at the state level. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde took this decision to rehabilitate former minister of state Vijay Shivtare. This is a political decision and will not benefit the citizens. It will create a negative impact on the development of these two places.

Considering that over 6,500 objections are received, we request the district collector to conduct the hearing himself, instead of appointing an additional collector or deputy collector level officer, added Keskar.

Officers from district collectors office, requesting anonymity said, Usually in such cases, the district collector appoints a junior officer to hear objections and prepare the report. The report gets submitted in his name. Collector cannot spend a lot of time on hearings, as the number of objections is over 6,500.
The Pimpri-Chinchwad police on Saturday morning arrested four of the seven accused against whom a first information report (FIR) has been filed in connection with the broad daylight firing at 48-year-old businessman-activist Kishor Aware in Pune district. Kishor Aware was on his way back home when he was shot at by a group of men. After firing bullets, the attackers allegedly beat up Aware and stabbed him multiple times, leading to his death at a hospital while undergoing treatment. (HT PHOTO)

Aware was shot at and attacked with choppers by suspects near the Talegaon Dabhade municipal council in Pune district at around 1.45 pm on Friday.

The crime branch unit 5 of Pimpri-Chinchwad police arrested the fifth suspect Shrinivas Venkatswami Shedgal from Varale Phata near Talegaon Dabhade in the evening.

The arrested have been identified Pravin alias Raghu Dhotre, Adesh Dhotre, Shyam Nigadkar and Sandeep More.

Police have also booked Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA from Maval Sunil Shelke, his brother Sudhakar Shelke, local resident Sandeep Garade and four others for murder, criminal conspiracy, and other charges.

Kakasaheb Dole, deputy police commissioner, Pimpri-Chinchwad, said, As per the complaint filed by the victims mother Sulochana Aware, we have registered a case against the accused.

While the police officials claimed that the arrested were involved in carrying out the murder, the FIR states that the act was carried out at the behest of the legislator, who has denied the allegations.

The first four arrested have been produced in court and granted police custody till May 20, said Dole.

Sunil told media that the police action against him is to malign his political career. I am ready to cooperate with the police who should also probe those responsible for defaming me, he said.

Aware was on his way back home when he was shot at by a group of men. After firing bullets, the attackers allegedly beat up Aware and stabbed him multiple times, leading to his death at a hospital while undergoing treatment. Many eyewitnesses reportedly saw the attackers flee the scene.

Aware was a prominent businessman and activist in Talegaon area known for social work and philanthropy. He had been critical of Sunil and his brother Sudhakar in the past, alleging corruption and wrongdoings by the MLA and his associates.

The complainant alleged that the accused had threatened and harassed Aware in the past and were behind his murder.

In her complaint, Sulochana said, My son had raised voice several times against their wrongdoings. Sunil was angry with my son as he posed challenge to his political dominance. My son had many times said that his life is in danger.

According to the FIR, on May 12 at around 1:40 pm, Sunil, Sudhakar and Sandeep as a part of old enmity hatched a plan and through their accomplice Shyam and three others murdered Aware. The FIR has been registered at Talegaon Dabhade police station under Sections 302, 120(b) of the IPC and Sections 3/25, 4/25 of the Arms Act and other relevant sections.

The accused Shyam Arun Nigdkar (46) hails from Dolasnath Ali, Talegaon Dabhade; Pravin alias Raghunath Sambhaji Dhotre (32) from Nane village in Maval tehsil; Adesh Vitthal Dhotre (28) from Nane village; Sandeep Vitthal More alias Nanya from Akurdi and Shrinivas Venkatswami Shedgal (41) of Varale Phata near Talegaon Dabhade hails from Renigunta from Andhra Pradesh.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is not invincible. In the 57 state elections it has contested since May 2014, it has lost 29 (including the 2023 Karnataka polls). That isnt a sign of invincibility. Nor is the fact that in the 28 where it did form the government after the elections, it had a majority of its own only in 12 and was the single largest party in 18. Sure, the party now has a presence (often a vocal one heavily amplified by social media) in places where it once did not. And sure, it competes hard, throwing everything it has at the elections. But it has lost 29 state elections since May 2014. PREMIUM As Opposition parties brainstorm after the favourable Karnataka verdict, the question they face is this: Why cant they defeat the BJP in national polls? (ANI)

As Opposition parties brainstorm after the favourable Karnataka verdict, the question they face is this: Why cant they defeat the BJP in national polls? To refine that further, they would need to ask: How is it that the BJP wins national elections even in states where it has recently lost assembly polls? For instance, in 2018, the Congress won in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh in state elections; just a few months later, it won just three of the 65 Lok Sabha seats in the three states and the BJP won 62. The lazy explanation is that people vote differently in state and national elections. This is true to some extent  the more local an election, the more tactical voters get  but it isnt the complete story. A second explanation is Brand Narendra Modi. Again, this helps to an extent  Modi is the tallest political leader in India, and his presence is a big contributor to the conglomerate premium the BJP enjoys at the national level  but it isnt the complete story either. The complete story has a third, and necessary factor  because parliamentary constituencies are larger than assembly ones (much larger, in fact), and because the BJP competes hard even at the AC level, it has an advantage in national elections, especially if it faces a fragmented Opposition. Together, the three explain why the BJP wins national elections, and what its political rivals need to do to take it on in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

But first, what explains the BJPs loss in a state it considers its stronghold in the South? There were many factors  the reduced stature of BS Yediyurappa; anti-incumbency; the Congresss success in consolidating the anti-BJP vote (at 43.1%, its vote share was the highest since 1989)  but there is a simple explanation: The BJPs national leaders, including Modi, who transforms from PM to campaigner-in-chief in poll season, lost to the Congresss local leaders, Siddaramaiah and, to some extent, DK Shivakumar.

To return to the larger question  what should the BJPs rivals do to take it on in 2024? And, more importantly, do they have what it takes to do this?

On the first aspect, the Opposition is at a clear disadvantage. Between welfarism and Hindutva, the BJP has a potent narrative, and both details of beneficiaries as well as an effective communication engine to push its ideological agenda. Hindutva keeps the partys core supporters happy; welfarism eats into the support of other parties; and together, the two appeal to voters looking beyond local concerns. Regional parties, which win state elections against the BJP, stumble when it comes to this; and the BJPs only pan-Indian rival, the Congress, doesnt, as yet, have a narrative thats strong enough (no, we-stand-against-everything-the-BJP-stands-for isnt good enough). On the second, the Opposition parties are, again, at a definite disadvantage. Neither the Congress, nor any other party, has a leader as popular as Modi. The PM is a big part of the conglomerate premium the BJP enjoys. In business lingo, this is the stock-market premium a conglomerate enjoys. It is clear that at the local level, the BJP benefits from the presence of Modi (and also the national achievements of the BJP, something the party touts as a double-engine advantage). In contrast, the Congress, the only national alternative, appears to suffer a conglomerate discount. It will be easier for Opposition parties to work on the first aspect ahead of 2024, than it will be for them to work on the second.

Which is why the third aspect is critical. There are two strands to this  the first is an arrangement between Opposition parties to ensure their votes do not fragment, which is easier said than done; the second is the nuts and bolts of the election machinery, an area where the BJP, at least since 2014, has enjoyed a clear edge, but also one where others are beginning to catch up. Opposition parties may celebrate Karnataka as a rare win over the BJP, but as the data at the beginning of this piece shows, that isnt really the case, which may also explain why the BJP has been pushing the boundaries of the federal system of governance. The real challenge for them is at the national level  and there, no easy answers are available.
The Congress scored an emphatic victory in Karnataka in a crucial election with the strong performance giving it momentum to take on the BJP in the assembly polls later this year and giving a boost to its preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Karnataka is set for a big fight between the BJP, Congress and the JD(S) parties.

The victory is significant for Congress for the margin of its success and the coherence of its efforts. The Congress ran an effective campaign built around its "five guarantees" and sought to keep the focus on local issues and "failings" of the BJP government in the southern state.

The Congress has won 135 seats in Karnataka and is leading in one, well past the majority mark of 113. The BJP won 65 seats, according to the latest trends on the Election Commission's website.

Karnataka: Full list of winning candidates from the 224 constituencies

Sl No Constituency Winner Party 1 Nippani Jolle Shashikala Annasaheb BJP 2 Chikkodi-Sadalga Ganesh Prakash Hukkeri INC 3 Athani Laxman Sangappa Savadi INC 4 Kagwad Bharamgouda Alagouda Kage INC 5 Kudachi (SC) Mahendra Kallappa Tammannavar INC 6 Raybag (SC) Aihole Duryodhan Mahalingappa BJP 7 Hukkeri Katti Nikhil Umesh BJP 8 Arabhavi Balachandra Laxmanrao Jarkiholi BJP 9 Gokak Jarkiholi Ramesh Laxmanrao BJP 10 Yemkanmardi (ST) Satish Laxmanrao Jarkiholi INC 11 Belgaum Uttar Asif Sait INC 12 Belgaum Dakshin Abhay Patil BJP 13 Belgaum Rural Laxmi R. Hebbalkar INC 14 Khanapur Vithal Somanna Halagekar BJP 15 Kittur Babasaheb Patil INC 16 Bailhongal Koujalagi Mahantesh Shivanand INC 17 Saundatti Yellamma Vishwas Vasant Vaidya INC 18 Ramdurg Ashok Mahadevappa Pattan INC 19 Mudhol (SC) Ramappa Timmapur INC 20 Terdal Siddu Savadi BJP 21 Jamkhandi Jagadeesh Shivayya Gudagunti BJP 22 Bilgi J. T. Patil INC 23 Badami B. B. Chimmanakatti INC 24 Bagalkot Meti Hullappa Yamanappa INC 25 Hungund Kashappanavara Vijayanand Shivashankrapaa INC 26 Muddebihal Channabasavaraj INC 27 Devara Hippargi Bhimanagouda Basanagouda Patil JD(S) 28 Basavana Bagevadi Shivanand Patil INC 29 Babaleshwar M. B. Patil INC 30 Bijapur City Basanagouda R Patil BJP 31 Nagthan (SC) Katakadhond Vitthal Dondiba INC 32 Indi Yashavantaraygoud Vittalagoud Patil INC 33 Sindgi Ashok Mallappa Managuli INC 34 Afzalpur M.Y. Patil INC 35 Jewargi Ajay Dharam Singh INC 36 Shorapur (ST) Raja Venkatappa Naik INC 37 Shahapur Sharanabasappa Darshanapur INC 38 Yadgir Channareddy Patil Tunnur INC 39 Gurmitkal Sharana Gowda Kandakur JD(S) 40 Chittapur (SC) Priyank Kharge INC 41 Sedam Sharanprakash Rudrappa Patil INC 42 Chincholi (SC) Avinash Umesh Jadhav BJP 43 Gulbarga Rural (SC) Basawaraj Mattimudu BJP 44 Gulbarga Dakshin Allamprabhu Patil INC 45 Gulbarga Uttar Kaneez Fatima INC 46 Aland Bhojaraj INC 47 Basavakalyan Sharanu Salagar BJP 48 Homnabad Siddu Patil BJP 49 Bidar South Shailendra Beldale BJP 50 Bidar Rahim Khan INC 51 Bhalki Eshwar Khandre INC 52 Aurad (SC) Prabhu B Chavan BJP 53 Raichur Rural (ST) Basanagouda Daddal INC 54 Raichur Shivaraj Patil BJP 55 Manvi (ST) G. Hampayya Nayak Sahukar Ballatagi INC 56 Devadurga (ST) Karemma G.Nayaka JD(S) 57 Lingsugur (SC) Manappa D Vajjal BJP 58 Sindhanur Hampanagouda Badarli INC 59 Maski (ST) Basan Gouda Turvihal INC 60 Kushtagi Doddanagouda Hanamagouda Patil BJP 61 Kanakagiri (SC) Tangadagi Shivaraj Sangappa INC 62 Gangawati G Janardhan Reddy KRPP 63 Yelburga Basavaraj Rayareddi INC 64 Koppal K. Raghavendra Basavaraj Hitnal INC 65 Shirahatti (SC) Chandru Lamani BJP 66 Gadag H. K. Patil INC 67 Ron Gurupadagouda Sanganagouda Patil INC 68 Nargund C C Patil BJP 69 Navalgund N H Konaraddi INC 70 Kundgol M R Patil BJP 71 Dharwad Vinay Kulkarni INC 72 Hubli-Dharwad-East (SC) Abbayya Prasad INC 73 Hubli-Dharwad Central Mahesh Tenginakai BJP 74 Hubli-Dharwad- West Arvind Bellad BJP 75 Kalghatgi Santosh S. Lad INC 76 Haliyal Despande Raghunath INC 77 Karwar Satish Krishna Sail INC 78 Kumta Dinakar Keshav Shetty BJP 79 Bhatkal Mankal Vaidya INC 80 Sirsi Bhimanna T Naik INC 81 Yellapur Andalagi Veerabhadragouda Shivanagoud Patil INC 82 Hangal Mane Shrinivas INC 83 Shiggaon Basavaraj Bommai BJP 84 Haveri (SC) Rudrappa Manappa Lamani INC 85 Byadgi Basavaraj Neelappa Shivannanavar INC 86 Hirekerur Banakar U B INC 87 Ranebennur Prakash . K . Koliwad INC 88 Hadagali (SC) Krishna Nayaka BJP 89 Hagaribommanahalli (SC) Nemi Raja Naik K JD(S) 90 Vijayanagara H.R. Gaviyappa INC 91 Kampli (ST) J.N. Ganesh INC 92 Siruguppa (ST) B. M. Nagaraja INC 93 Bellary (ST) B. Nagendra INC 94 Bellary City Nara Bharath Reddy INC 95 Sandur (ST) E Tukaram INC 96 Kudligi (ST) Srinivas NT INC 97 Molakalmuru (ST) N Y Gopalakrishna INC 98 Challakere (ST) T. Raghumurthy INC 99 Chitradurga K. C. Veerendra Puppy INC 100 Hiriyur D. Sudhakar INC 101 Hosadurga B.G. Govindappa INC 102 Holalkere (SC) M. Chandrappa BJP 103 Jagalur (ST) B Devendrappa INC 104 Harapanahalli Latha Mallikarjun Independent 105 Harihar B.P. Harish BJP 106 Davanagere North S.S. Mallikarjun INC 107 Davanagere South Shamanur Shivashankarappa INC 108 Mayakonda (SC) K.S. Basavanthappa INC 109 Channagiri Basavaraju V. Shivaganga INC 110 Honnali D.G. Shanthana Gowda INC 111 Shimoga Rural (SC) Sharada Puryanaik JD(S) 112 Bhadravathi B.K. Sangameshwara INC 113 Shimoga Channabasappa BJP 114 Tirthahalli Araga Jnanendra BJP 115 Shikaripura Vijayendra Yediyurappa BJP 116 Sorab Madhu Bangarappa INC 117 Sagar Gopala Krishna Beluru INC 118 Byndoor Gururaj Shetty Gantihole BJP 119 Kundapura A Kiran Kumar Kodgi BJP 120 Udupi Yashpal A Suvarna BJP 121 Kapu Gurme Suresh Shetty BJP 122 Karkal V. Sunill Kumar BJP 123 Sringeri T.D. Rajegowda INC 124 Mudigere (SC) Nayana Motamma INC 125 Chikmagalur H D Thammaiah INC 126 Tarikere G.H. Srinivasa INC 127 Kadur Anand K.S INC 128 Chikkanayakanahalli C B Suresh Baabu JD(S) 129 Tiptur K Shadakshari INC 130 Turuvekere MT Krishnappa 131 Kunigal H.D. Ranganath INC 132 Tumkur City B Suresh Gowda BJP 133 Tumkur Rural B Suresh Gowda BJP 134 Koratagere (SC) G. Parameshwara INC 135 Gubbi Srinivas INC 136 Sira T.B. Jayachandra INC 137 Pavagada (SC) H.V. Venkatesh INC 138 Madhugiri Kyathasandra N. Rajanna INC 139 Gauribidanur Puttaswamy Gowda Independent 140 Bagepalli S.N. Subba Reddy INC 141 Chikkaballapur Pradeep Eshwar INC 142 Sidlaghatta B.N Ravikumar JD(S) 143 Chintamani M.C. Sudhakar INC 144 Srinivaspur G.K. Venkatashivareddy JD(S) 145 Mulbagal (SC) Samruddhi V Manjunath JD(S) 146 Kolar Gold Field (SC) Roopa Kala M INC 147 Bangarapet (SC) S.N. Narayanaswamy K.M INC 148 Kolar Kothur G. Manjunatha INC 149 Malur K.Y. Nanjegowda INC 150 Yelahanka S.R. Vishwanath BJP 151 K.R. Pura B. A. Basavaraja BJP 152 Byatarayanapura Krishna Byregowda INC 153 Yeshvanthapura S.T Somashekar BJP 154 Rajarajeshwarinagar Munirathna BJP 155 Dasarahalli S Muniraju BJP 156 Mahalakshmi Layout K. Gopalaiah BJP 157 Malleshwaram Dr Ashwath Narayan C N BJP 158 Hebbal B.S Suresh INC 159 Pulakeshinagar (SC) A.C Srinivasa INC 160 Sarvagnanagar Kelachandra Joseph George INC 161 C.V. Raman Nagar (SC) S. Raghu BJP 162 Shivajinagar Rizwan Arshad INC 163 Shantinagar N.A. Haris INC 164 Gandhi Nagar Dinesh Gundurao INC 165 Rajaji Nagar Suresh Kumar BJP 166 Govindraj Nagar Priyakrishna INC 167 Vijayanagar M. Krishnamppa INC 168 Chamrajpet B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan INC 169 Chickpet Uday B Garudachar BJP 170 Basavanagudi Ravi Subramanya L.A. BJP 171 Padmanaba Nagar R. Ashoka BJP 172 B.T.M. Layout Ramalinga Reddy INC 173 Jayanagar C K Ramamurthy BJP 174 Mahadevapura (SC) Manjula Aravind Limbavali BJP 175 Bommanahalli Sathish Reddy M BJP 176 Bangalore South M Krishnappa BJP 177 Anekal (SC) B. Shivanna INC 178 Hosakote Sharath Bachegowda INC 179 Devanahalli (SC) K.H. Muniyappa INC 180 Doddaballapur Dheeraj Muniraj BJP 181 Nelamangala (SC) N Srinivas INC 182 Magadi H.C. Balakrishna INC 183 Ramanagaram H A Iqbal Hussain INC 184 Kanakapura D.K. Shivakumar INC 185 Channapatna H. D. Kumaraswamy JD(S) 186 Malavalli (SC) P.M. Narendraswamy INC 187 Maddur Udaya K M INC 188 Melukote Darshan Puttannaiah SKP 189 Mandya Ravikumar Gowda INC 190 Shrirangapattana A. B. Ramesha Bandisiddegowda INC 191 Nagamangala Shreenivasaiah N INC 192 Krishnarajapet H. T. Manju JD(S) 193 Shravanabelagola C. N. Balakrishna JD(S) 194 Arsikere K.M. Shivalingegowda INC 195 Belur H K Suresh BJP 196 Hassan Swaroop Prakash JD(S) 197 Holenarasipur H D Revanna JD(S) 198 Arkalgud A Manju JD(S) 199 Sakaleshpur (SC) Cement Manju BJP 200 Belthangady Harish Poonja BJP 201 Moodabidri Umanatha Kotian BJP 202 Mangalore City North Bharath Shetty Y BJP 203 Mangalore City South D Vedavyasa Kamath BJP 204 Mangalore U.T. Khader Fareed INC 205 Bantval Rajesh Naik U BJP 206 Puttur Ashok Kumar Rai INC 207 Sullia (SC) Bhagirathi Murulya BJP 208 Madikeri Mantar Gowda INC 209 Virajpet A S Ponnanna INC 210 Piriyapatna K Venkatesh INC 211 Krishnarajanagara Ravishankar D. INC 212 Hunsur G.D. Harish Gowda JD(S) 213 Heggadadevankote (ST) Anil Chikkamadhu INC 214 Nanjangud (SC) Darshan Dhruvyanarayana INC 215 Chamundeshwari G.T. Devegowda JD(S) 216 Krishnaraja T.S Srivathsa BJP 217 Chamaraja K. Harish Gowda INC 218 Narasimharaja Tanveer Sait INC 219 Varuna Siddaramaiah INC 220 T.Narasipur (SC) H. C. Mahadevappa INC 221 Hanur M.R Manjunath JD(S) 222 Kollegal (SC) A.R. Krishnamurthy INC 223 Chamarajanagar C. Puttarangashetty INC 224 Gundlupet H.M. Ganesh Prasad INC

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Adarsh Gourav makes his return to the audio series format after lending his voice to the adaptation of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman, with the new series Desi Down Under. It is a coming-of-age, immersive 9-episode Audible Original series set on the shores of Sydney. (Also read: Prajakta Koli talks about her new Audible series Desi Down Under and that one lifesaving skill she wants to learn) Adarsh Gourav stars in Audible's Desi Down Under.

Written by Indian-Aussie screenwriter Mithila Gupta, Desi Down Under follows three hopeful 20 year-olds from Mangalore who cross the ocean to learn surf-lifesaving skills at the Coogee Beach in Australia.

Adarsh Gourav was with Hindustan Times to talk about working on the series with co-stars Prajakta Koli and Taaruk Raina, the ways in which he relates to his character Deven and why he never wants to feel settled as an artist.

What picked up your interest first about Audible's Desi Down Under?

I thought it was a fantastic story about these friends and the ups and downs that go through in their lives after choosing to undergo a lifesaving training. Even in terms of the story it was very refreshing to be working on something that starts off on a really light note and then goes on to this sort of self-discovery space and then culminates in the end where you know these characters understand who they truly are and what they represent, and what they want from their lives. It was a very beautiful story that I connected with. Then of course you have such brilliant co-stars as Prajakta (Koli) and Taaruk (Raina) and having the opportunity to work with Mantra (Mugdh)- who is an absolute legend... so all these factors just combined together and compelled me to take this chance.

I was just going to ask you about the process of collaboration that went into the recording of Desi Down Under.

Yeah, the format is really different than working on cinema. Taaruk I have known for a while, he has been a friend. But Prajakta I had never before this but when I did meet her for the first time it felt like I had known her for years. She was so giving as a person and it was so refreshing to meet her... we instantly connected and vibed. The idea is just to have fun you know, the idea is to just go inside your studio and react off your co-actors and we were lucky in the sense that me and Prajakta got to do a lot our scenes together inside the same studio. Because when you are reacting off to the recording of your co-actor, its very different than doing it with them live. The smallest of actions you know could have sort of affect you in a way that you wouldn't expect. Those small improvisations that really make the scene come out alive. So, that's how we recorded this, in a studio in Andheri.

Tell us a little about your character Deven from Desi Down Under.

So my character Deven is from Mangalore. He really, really wants to be a lifeguard. He has dealt with some childhood trauma and its something that really haunts him. So, part of the reason why he wants to go to Australia is to get away from all the trauma that he associates his town with, and to sort of go on this self-discovery. Deven is somebody who is very emotional, who wears his emotions on his sleeve. He also has a thing for his childhood best friend Meenu which sort of gets addressed through the course of the show. He's very passionate, very driven- he's the one who pulls this plan together of going to Australia. I see a lot of similarities between me and Deven in terms of the passion we share about what we want to do and about our careers.

What do you like the most about experimenting with the audio-series format?

I think just the challenge of working in a new format you know. It makes you feel alive as an artist, to sort of constantly be challenged, constantly be pushed as an actor and to sort of keep searching and looking and not ever feel settled. I hate that feeling. I always want to be on my toes, I always want to be on the edge of my seat. Working on a new format makes you feel that.

Desi Down Under is your second show with Audible India after Sandman. How was the experience working with them again?

It was beautiful. I think its such a beautiful story and to work with Audible is always a pleasure because its like home. The shows that they make are so universal and they deal with all kinds of emotions. They are making shows across different genres so I am really excited for all the content that they are backing and I hope that I get to do this more frequently with them.
New parents Gauahar Khan and Zaid Darbar took their baby boy home on Saturday evening. The couple welcomed their first child on May 10. Several photos and videos from paparazzi have arrived online as the family of three officially made their first public appearance together. Also read: Gauahar Khan, Zaid Darbar blessed with baby boy, celebs congratulate them Gauahar Khan and Zaid Darbar welcomed a baby boy. (Photos: Varinder Chawla)(Varinder Chawla)

In a video, Gauahar is seen walking out of the hospital with her baby. The little one was wrapped in a white cloth as the actor held him close and smiled for the cameras. She joined Zaid and thanked the media as all of them congratulated them.

The couple sported their off-duty looks. While Gauahar wore green pants with a white t-shirt, Zaid opted for a black t-shirt with beige pants. The actor gave birth to her child at Lilavati Hospital And Research Centre in Mumbai.

The baby was born on May 10. Sharing the update, Gauahar posted on Instagram, Allahumma baarik fihi. She also shared an announcement picture of her son's arrival which read, It's a Boy. As Salaam U Alaikum beautiful world, says our bundle of joy. Arrived 10th of May 2023 to make us realise what happiness truly means. Our blessed boy thanks everyone for their love and prayers. Grateful and giggling parents, Gauahar and Zaid.

Gauahar got married to actor Zaid Darbar in December 2020. They announced the news of Gauahar's pregnancy in December last year. The couple shared a musical video on social media. It read, One became two when Z met G and now the adventure continues as we soon become three! Gauahar & Darbar + 1, In Sha Allah seeking all your prayers and blessings in this new journey.

They recently hosted a baby shower in Mumbai with their friends and family. Celebrities like Gautam Rode and Pankhuri Awasthy, and Gauahar's co-workers Raghu and Rajeev were spotted at the venue. Others included Zaid's brother Awez Darbar, Mahhi Vij, Preeti Simoes and Niti Simoes.

Gauahar was last seen in The Most Eligible Singles. It marked her Netflix debut as she turned host for the show. She shot for it during her pregnancy.

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Actor Kamal Haasan took to Twitter and penned down a note for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after the party's massive win in Karnataka. Kamal posted a photo of himself with Rahul Gandhi from his Bharat Jodo Yatra and cited an example of Mahatma Gandhi. Election results are being declared today and Congress is set for a comfortable win in the state. Also read: Kamal Haasan says he walked with Rahul Gandhi at Bharat Jodo Yatra Kamal Haasan praised Rahul Gandhi after Karnataka election results.

On the occasion, Kamal wrote, Shri @RahulGandhi ji, Heartiest Congratulations for this significant victory! Just as Gandhiji, you walked your way into people's hearts and as he did you demonstrated that in your gentle way you can shake the powers of the world -with love and humility. Your credible and creditable approach, without bravado or chest thumping has ushered a breath of fresh air for the people.

You trusted the people of Karnataka to reject divisiveness, who in turn have unitedly reciprocated by placing their faith in you. Kudos for not just the victory but also for the manner of victory, he also added.

In a media interaction at the Congress party headquarter in New Delhi, Rahul Gandhi thanked the people of Karnataka and said, On one hand, there was the strength of crony capitalism and on the other, there was the power of the poor people. Strength lost to power.

In the Karnataka fight, hatred or abuse were not Congress' weapons. We fought for the issues of the people, he also added.

Currently, Congress is winning or leading in 136 out of 224 assembly seats, which is above the magic figure of 113. The party's win marks BJP's exit from the state. Karnataka voted in a single phase. It recorded a 73.19 percent voter turnout, according to the state's chief electoral officer.

Kamal Haasan has been extending support to Rahul Gandhi even before the elections. The actor had joined Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in New Delhi. The two walked together and later Kamal tweeted pictures featuring Rahul Gandhi by his side. He had written, "Walking to connect the legacy of our glorious past with our bright future @RahulGandhi @maiamofficial #BharatJodoYatra #MakkalNeedhiMaiam. Besides him, several other actors were also seen joining the Congress leader during his walk.

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Actor Parineeti Chopra and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Raghav Chadha got engaged on May 13. From visuals of the engagement venue  Kapurthala House in Connaught Place  to Parineeti's cousin, actor Priyanka Chopra slaying as a guest, here are all the highlights.

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Hero MotoCorp has announced its new partner in Costa Rica - Motosport SA - as the company is all set to expand operations in Central America. Motosport SA comes with over two decades of experience in the motorcycle industry with a sales, service, and parts network across the country. It will also offer promotional and financial schemes. The company will be an exclusive distributor of Hero motorcycles and scooters in Costa Rica.

Hero MotoCorp plans to retail a number of models in Costa Rica from its lineup. This includes the Hero Xpulse 200 Advance and Hero Hunk 160R with refreshed styling, which is the XPulse 200 off-roader and Xtreme 160R sold in India. The companys product portfolio also includes the Hero Xpulse 200T, Hunk 160 and Dash 125 scooter.

Also Read : Hero MotoCorp clocks profit in Q4 FY2023, plans to expand EV business across India

While Hero MotoCorp already has its presence in Costa Rica, the next phase of expansion involves coming up with new showrooms in key regions including Heredia, Cartago, Liberia and Nicoya. The phase-wise expansion plans have begun with the first exclusive Hero store opening up in Uruca, an important industrial and commercial area in San Jose. The company store will display 13 motorcycles across different segments and will also house spare parts and workshop areas. The next two stores will open in Alajuela and Paseo Colon areas, the company has announced.

Hero MotoCorp has opened its first exclusive store in Costa Rica with four more planned to open soon

Also check these Bikes Find more Bikes Hero Glamour 124.7 cc 70,716 - 84,200 *Ex-showroom price Add to compare Check latest offers Explore your Vehicle Check vehicle details Check Insurance & PUCC due date Powered by: UPCOMING Hero Xtreme160s 163 cc | Petrol | Manual 1.08 Lakhs *Expected Price View Details UPCOMING Hero Emaestro 1 Lakhs *Expected Price View Details Hero Destini 125 124.6 cc 66,700 - 78,900 *Ex-showroom price Add to compare Check latest offers Hero Hf Deluxe 97.2 cc 47,385 - 63,425 *Ex-showroom price Add to compare Check latest offers Hero Xpulse 200 199.6 cc 1.13 - 1.21 Lakhs* *Ex-showroom price Add to compare Check latest offers

Speaking on expanding presence in Costa Rica, Sanjay Bhan, Head - Global Business, Hero MotoCorp said, We are delighted to collaborate with an experienced and reputed organisation such as Motosport SA in Costa Rica. With their expertise in the motorcycle market, Motosport is the ideal partner for Hero MotoCorp as we introduce our technologically-advanced and globally benchmarked products and services here. Our immediate focus is to develop a robust and widespread sales, service and spare parts network across the entire country. We expect our new range of motorcycles and scooters to excite the customers."

Also Read : Hero Splendor to Honda Activa: These are the best-selling two-wheelers in India

Luis Perez, General Manager, Motosport SA said, We are extremely happy to partner with the worlds largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters, Hero MotoCorp. They are a globally renowned brand and we are confident that customers will appreciate Hero products. We are an established company in the Costa Rica market and our experience and expertise in the market will enable growing the business. The first objective is to enhance our presence, increase recall amongst the customers and popularize the priority products. We look forward to an enduring and highly successful relationship with Hero MotoCorp."

Central America is an emerging market much like India; hence, small-capacity motorcycles and scooters are also quite popular there. Moreover, customers in both markets have an affinity for offerings that offer low cost of ownership, are stylish and offer decent performance for the price. The Hero motorcycle and scooter range is made in India and exported to Costa Rica.

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Actor Prakash Raj took to Twitter to celebrate the result of the Karnataka election. Recently, Kamal Haasan had also tweeted congratulating Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Election results were declared on Saturday and Congress won the state assembly elections by the biggest vote share after 34 years. Also read: Kamal Haasan hails Rahul Gandhi after Karnataka win: 'Just as Gandhiji you walked your way into peoples hearts' Prakash Raj tweeted after Karnataka election results.

Prakash Raj wrote in a tweet, Thank you Karnataka for Kicking OUT Hatred and Bigotry ..The Emperor is NAKED. He also wrote, as per Google translation, Kudos to the self-righteous Kannadigas who banished hatredhypocrisy..the naked emperor.

On Saturday, Congress won Karnataka, which was the only state in the region under BJP. By evening, Congress crossed the 113-seat mark in the Karnataka assembly elections, the majority required to form a government. The counting of votes took place on Saturday. Elections for the 224-member assembly took place on Wednesday.

Earlier, Kamal Haasan celebrated the election outcome with a congratulatory post for Rahul Gandhi. He wrote, "Shri @RahulGandhi ji, Heartiest Congratulations for this significant victory! Just as Gandhiji, you walked your way into people's hearts and as he did you demonstrated that in your gentle way you can shake the powers of the world -with love and humility. Your credible and creditable approach, without bravado or chest thumping has ushered a breath of fresh air for the people.

You trusted the people of Karnataka to reject divisiveness, who in turn have unitedly reciprocated by placing their faith in you. Kudos for not just the victory but also for the manner of victory, he also added.

Ahead of the election, Prakash Raj had tweeted asking Kannada actor Kichcha Sudeep to get ready to answer the people of Karnataka. Kichcha Sudeep had joined the BJP election campaign. Prakash had tweeted, "Dear Sudeep.. as an artist loved by everyone one.. I had expected you to be the voice of the people. But you have chosen to color yourself with a political party .. WELL .. Get ready to answer ..every question a citizen will ask YOU and YOUR party.

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Actor Shehnaaz Gill has travelled to Thailand and shared glimpses from Phuket. Taking to Instagram Stories on Saturday, Shehnaaz gave her fans a view of how she began her weekend. In a picture, Shehnaaz was seen in a black outfit. She also opted for dark sunglasses. (Also Read | Shehnaaz Gill buys a new house post Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan release, thanks fans for their love and support) Shehnaaz Gill travelled to Thailand and started her trip with 'pet puja'.

In the first photo, Shehnaaz rested her face on one of her hands and smiled for the camera. She sat at a table laden with several dishes including pizza, pasta, soup, salad, wraps and coconut water among others.

A woman sat next to Shehnaaz, in the restaurant, taking a bite from her food. Along with the picture, she wrote, "Made it to Phuket and first up-pet puja (eating)." She geo-tagged the location as a resort in Phuket.

Shehnaaz also posted a photo of her room giving a view of how she was welcomed. A handwritten note was kept on a glass table. Next to it, a tray featuring Shehnaaz's face sat with several deserts placed on it. The words 'Welcome Shehnaaz to Pullman Panwa' were also written on it. A bunch of flowers was also kept in a vase on the table. Shehnaaz captioned the post, "Thank you for the warm welcome!"

Shehnaaz gave her fans a view of how she began her weekend.

Shehnaaz also gave a peek at her bed on which two elephants made out of towels were kept. Her picture and several flower petals were also kept on the bed. The words 'Welcome to Pullman Panwa' were also designed on the bedsheet.

Shehnaaz made her Bollywood debut with Salman Khan's Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan. A Salman Khan Film (SKF) production, Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan also features Venkatesh Daggubati, Pooja Hegde, Jagapathi Babu, Bhumika Chawla, Vijender Singh, Abhimanyu Singh, Raghav Juyal, Siddharth Nigam, Jassie Gill, Palak Tiwari, Vinali Bhatnagar and Rohini Hattangadi. The film, directed by Farhad Samji, hit the theatres last month.

Recently, Shehnaaz spoke about being body-shamed during her stint on Bigg Boss and that motivated her to work on her personality. I changed myself, worked on myself. When people gave me good advice, I followed it and improved. I lost weight as I would hear a lot of comments on Bigg Boss about being fat and was body-shamed... Then I changed my style as people would think I could only wear salwar-suit. I broke all these preconceived notions and would continue to do so moving forward," she told news agency PTI.

Shehnaaz rose to fame after featuring in the 13th season of the reality show Bigg Boss hosted by Salman. She is known for Punjabi movies such as Kala Shah Kala and Honsla Rakh.

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Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri has extended his support to the writers' strike in Hollywood, over a week after the protests began in the US. Taking to Twitter on Saturday, Vivek posted a bunch of pictures of several people protesting with banners. Vivek also penned a note comparing writers in Bollywood and Hollywood. (Also Read | Vivek Agnihotri asks Mamata Banerjee for withdrawal of her comments on The Kashmir Files, sends legal notice) Vivek Agnihotri shared a tweet supporting the writers' strike in Hollywood.

Vivek wrote, "In Hollywood writers are on a strike. Have you ever seen any filmmaker or a Star of Bollywood ever even mention their writers name? Do you even know who are the writers of biggest hits like Pathan or Bhool Bhulaiya or any other hit for that matter? Thats the sad story of Bollywood. But real."

Reacting to the post, actor Gulshan Devaiah wrote, "Dear good sir, dont remember see you touring with your writers or your excellent research team, while campaigning for your releases. Start the change at home and then society shall follow." He also added, "I certainly dont hate him, but Im an idiot .. always been one."

A person on Twitter wrote, "Who are the writers of your movies?" Another Twitter user asked, "Does anyone know Saurabh Pandey? Does the poster of Kashmir Files have his name?" A tweet read, "Writers are the most underpaid talent in the industry! And taken for granted the most." "I agree with you. Writers are the backbone of any film industry and they deserve more recognition and respect. Bollywood should learn from Hollywood and value their writers more," said a fan.

More than 11,000 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) began the strike last week, claiming they aren't paid fairly in the streaming era."Though we negotiated intent on making a fair deal ... the studios' responses to our proposals have been wholly insufficient, given the existential crisis writers are facing. They have closed the door on their labour force and opened the door to writing as an entirely freelance profession. No such deal could ever be contemplated by this membership," a part of the statement read as cited by news agency ANI.

The Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP), which is negotiating on behalf of studio management, responded by saying it was willing to improve on its offer but was not willing to meet some of the union's demands.

Fans will see Vivek's next directorial The Vaccine War later this year. It revolves around India's contributions to the race to produce a Covid-19 vaccine during the pandemic. Helmed by Vivek, The Vaccine War is all set to hit the theatres on Independence Day 2023 in 11 languages. The film stars Anupam Kher, Nana Patekar, Sapthami Gowda and Pallavi Joshi among others.

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Jamie Foxx's fans can breathe a sigh of relief - the actor is reportedly doing much better after a recent health scare. The 55-year-old star's daughter, Corinne Foxx, shared the news on her Instagram story, saying that her father has been out of the hospital for weeks. Jamie Foxx arrives at the premiere of "Spider-Man: No Way Home" at the Regency Village Theater on Monday, Dec. 13, 2021, in Los Angeles.(Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Corinne shared the story after reports surfaced online that Foxx's condition had worsened and his loved ones were preparing for the worst. She quickly debunked the rumors, writing, "Sad to see how the media runs wild. My dad has been out of the hospital for weeks, recuperating. In fact, he was playing pickleball yesterday! Thanks for everyone's prayers and support."

Foxx's mysterious medical complication occurred on April 11, prompting the Foxx family to issue a statement thanking fans for their support and asking for privacy. The statement read, "Luckily, due to quick action and great care, he is already on his way to recovery."

While the family has not disclosed the nature of Foxx's health issue, many of his friends and fans have speculated on social media. Some have speculated that Foxx may have suffered a heart attack, while others have suggested that he may have had a stroke.

Despite the mystery surrounding his health, Foxx's famous friends have been quick to show their support. Keenan Thompson commented on Foxx's first public statement since the incident, writing, "Yesssss!!!! Take all the time you need bro!!!!" Halle Berry also showed her love, simply writing, "Love you, Jamie."

Foxx, whose real name is Eric Marlon Bishop, has had a successful career in Hollywood, winning an Oscar for Best Actor in 2005 for his portrayal of Ray Charles in "Ray." He has also appeared in films like "Django Unchained," "Dream Girls," and "Collateral," for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Fans of the actor can look forward to an exciting work announcement from Foxx and his daughter, set to be revealed next week. In the meantime, Foxx will continue to recuperate and focus on his health.
The 1968 edition of the Cannes Film Festival had to pull its curtains down when Francois Truffaut and other important directors protested against holding the 12-day event in the face of serious strikes by workers and students. This year's festival, set to roll on May 16, will also be against a backdrop of social unrest. Apart from the pension agitations and the US writers' strike, there has been a lot of drama. Also read: Anushka Sharma to make her Cannes Film Festival debut Johnny Depp-starrer Jeanne de Barry directed by Maiwenn is the opening film at the 2023 Cannes International Film Festival.

The opening film, Johnny Depp's Jeanne de Barry in which he plays King Louis XV, has raised a controversy. There has been criticism about giving this slot to the movie. Depp's legal battles against his former wife, Amber Heard, is the pivotal issue. Depp won on three counts and was awarded more than $10 million in damages. Heard got $2 million on one count. But the court cases were messy affairs, and besides this the Jeanne de Barry's director, Maiwenn, was sued by a top French journalist for reportedly attacking him in a posh restaurant.

The Festival General-Delegate. Thierry Fremaux, told Variety, It was not a controversial choice. If Johnny Depp had been banned from working it would have been different, but thats not the case. We only know one thing, its the justice system and I think he won the legal case.

Fremaux also said a complaint of assault against Maiwenn by high-profile journalist Edwy Plenel would not affect the films participation at Cannes. This has nothing to do with the Festival, especially since we learned of the existence of this complaint after announcing Jeanne du Barry at the opening of Cannes.

And, then the addition of Catherine Corsini's Homecoming in competition sparked yet another controversy. Reports of on-set harassment of crew members were hotly denied by her. The director was also accused of using minors without relevant approvals.

These have now died down, but once the Festival begins, they are bound to resurface.

Again, Woody Allen's new work, a crime romance, Coup de Chance, would not be part of the Festival. This may be because he too has been in the midst of terrible controversies.

In a interview with Le Figaro, Fremaux said that, despite seeing it, he had not selected Allens new work, a French-language crime romance called Coup de Chance, in part because we know that if his movie is shown at Cannes, the controversy would take over, against his films, against the other movies. However, Fremaux said the film was not a candidate.

Allen has been a Cannes regular. In 2016, he screened his period comedy, Cafe Society. Despite, a wide and marvellous basket of work, he has had problems. Following the allegations by his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, that he sexually abused her, his deal with Amazon collapsed in 2018. He was to have directed four movies for them.

His memoir, Apropos of Nothing, was dropped by Hachette publishers, but was picked by Arcade later in 2020. Allen has consistently denied this allegation.

Another controversial helmer, Roman Polanski's new title, The Palace, set on New Years Eve in 1999, and starring Fanny Ardant, John Cleese and German actor Oliver Masucci, will also not be at Cannes this year. He was last seen at the Festival with his erotic drama Venus in Fur.

But a much larger question is whether the threats to darken Cannes during the Festival by the electricity workers protesting against the French law that has raised the retirement age from 60 to 62 will hit the Festival. The Festival says that plans are in place to counter this.

Finally, stars like Juliette Binoche, Marion Cotillard and Isabelle Adjani would use the Red Carpet to talk about women's freedom in Iran, and Tehran's refusal to let director Mohammad Rasoulof to travel to Cannes. He was to have been part of the Un Certain Regard.
Jennifer Mistry Bansiwal recently said that she quit Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah in March and alleged that producer Asit Modi sexually harassed her. Now, the actor has lashed out against her co-star Mandar Chandwadkar, who plays Atmaram Tukaram Bhide on the show. She slammed him for supporting Asit Modi and also revealed why he was doing so. Also read: Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah's Jennifer Mistry accuses Asit Modi of sexual harassment Jennifer Mistry was seen on Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah.

Jennifer recently alleged that there have been multiple incidents when producer Asit Modi tried to flirt with her and 'made sexual advances'. She has now spoken about one of her co-stars supporting Asit and said she couldn't care less about him.

He (Mandar Chandwadkar) is a male too. What will he say when he himself is a male? He will do whatever Asit Kumarr Modi will tell him. Anything. The co-star who called me yesterday also abused Mandar for over 45 minutes. Sa*** yeh kaise palat gaya (How did he flip). I told him, I do not care. Let him do whatever he wants to do. I do not care. Everyone knows why he is with Asit Kumarr Modi. He works only as per Asit Kumarr Modi," Jennifer Mistry said in an interview with News18 Showsha.

When asked if any of her other co-stars have contacted her after her allegations against Asit Modi, Jennifer said, A couple of them (her other co-stars) called a few days ago. When I told them that I have filed a complaint, they were stunned. Arey kya hai (What is the matter), aisa mat karo (Don't do this), itne logo ka pet chalta hai (So many people's livelihood gets impacted). I told them I am not doing anything. I am not interested in the show going off-air. 200 people work there. Whatever is happening is because of the producers action. Only one of my co-stars contacted me yesterday (May 11). I do not want to name him. He was shocked. I spoke to him for 1.5 hours. He kept on telling me that I have done the right thing."

Earlier, responding to the allegations made by Jennifer, project head of Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah Sohil Ramani had spoken to Hindustan Times, and said that the production house terminated Jennifer's contract three months ago. She has been working with us for 15 years, shooting mein bohot saare utar chadhav hote hai (there are many ups and downs during a shoot). We have ignored her characteristics such as creating rifts among others, coming two hours late for shoot, creating misunderstandings. We have a lot of evidence against her," he said.

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On December 1, 2022, India took over the G20 presidency from Indonesia, and stands to hold it till November 30, 2023. The enthusiasm revolving around the presidency and the level of engagement of member countries is unprecedented. The whole country is celebrating, and that is evident from the fact that 200 meetings in over 50 cities across 32 different workstreams is planned and undergoing. Of Indias G20 priorities, three focal areas are-accelerated, inclusive and resilient growth by promising labour rights and secure labour welfare; progress on the Sustainable Development Goals; and women-led development. Gender justice has been considered as fundamental to sustainable and socially just economic growth by G20. All these goals can be realised if the insecurity of the vulnerable is reduced and the safety net around them is enhanced. Crime of human trafficking (FOR REPRESENTATION PURPOSE)

Human trafficking, one of the worst forms of human rights violations, holds the potential of jeopardising the realisation of the goals set. Human trafficking is nothing but exploitation of vulnerability, and mostly of those who expose their vulnerability. Human trafficking, as an organised crime, is growing at a rapid pace. No country, irrespective of whether they are part of G20 or not, can claim to be trafficking free. Trafficking is a manifestation of greed, the need to dominate over others, and exploitation.

As the United Nations data says, still around 70% of the victims of trafficking are women and children. So, the gender justice, which is an important commitment of G20, would get an impetus if the human trafficking bill is passed. This government has shown the will and sincere commitment to bring about gender justice, by promulgating the Transgender Act, 2019, which has revolutionised the mainstreaming of transgender persons, and helped them access justice.

Across the globe, combating human trafficking was considered to be in the realm of the criminal justice system. Even in India, office memos were issued from ministry of home affairs, and the only institutionalised set up to combat trafficking was anti-human trafficking units, which was under police. The clear mandate was to organise raids to free the victims from the clutches of traffickers, and then finally reintegrate them into the community, preferably at the place from where they were trafficked. Primarily, prosecution dominated the action package of the government.

Actually, there are two ways of containing the menace of trafficking. One is to improve the social safety net around the vulnerable, and the second is to focus more on the perpetrator, in both the areas of prevention and prosecution. As the understanding of the subject grew, it was realised that prevention is a vital aspect, because a trafficked victim suffers more psychological damage than the physical, and healing psychological issues needs proficient intervention, which is largely missing in the system. So, prevention is often better than the limited cure available. Prevention requires addressing the factors causing vulnerability, which lie mainly in social inequities and that can be taken care of only by the social justice system. The government has acknowledged this paradigm shift and that is the reason why the bill is tabled by the women and child development ministry instead of the ministry of home affairs.

The modus operandi of the trafficker is to frighten victims. He scouts and spots victims who expose their vulnerability, then convinces them that they deserve better. He then lures them with the false pretence of a better life elsewhere, recruits them and begins the cycle of exploitation. If there is a strong safety net is created by the social justice system at the place of origin, where the traffickers scout and spot the victims, then the chances of them getting trafficked are reduced. A robust social justice system can also ensure a role reversal, wherein the traffickers can be scouted and spotted at the place of origin, and handed over to criminal justice system, thereby breaking the trafficking network. If human trafficking bill is passed then it will set the tone for all governments in the federal structure to galvanise their resources and take proactive steps for prevention, protection and prosecution. The bill is promising as it has highlighted many more dimensions of trafficking, than originally available in UN Palermo protocol definition of 2000 or the definition given under Section 370 IPC. It is high time that the long awaited human trafficking bill becomes an Act. This will give more teeth to the agencies working against human trafficking, and also help fulfil the commitment of G20.

This article is authored by Veerendra Mishra, Assistant Inspector General (AIG), SISF, Madhya Pradesh Police and advisor.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday won the by-election to the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat in Punjab, giving the party its only member in the lower house of Parliament. Jalandhar: Newly elected AAP MP Sushil Kumar Rinku greets supporters as he celebrates his win the Jalandhar seat by-election, in Jalandhar, Saturday, May 13, 2023. (PTI Photo) (PTI05_13_2023_000183B) (PTI)

In assembly bypolls, Apna Dal (Sonelal) won the two seats in Uttar Pradesh, while the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the United Democratic Party (UDP) bagged a seat each in Odisha and Meghalaya, respectively.

The bypolls to the lone Lok Sabha seat, and four assembly constituencies across three states were held on May 10, along with the elections to 224-member Karnataka assembly.

In Jalandhar, AAP candidate Sushil Kumar Rinku (47) defeated his Congress rival Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary by 58,691 votes. A prominent Dalit leader and former Congress MLA, Rinku switched to the AAP on April 27 and was declared as the party candidate a day later. Rinku polled 302,279 votes or 34.05% of the total vote share, marginally improving (by 0.31%) the partys tally in the constituency from the 2019 general elections.

This is the peoples victory. They have come to know that only the AAP can understand their pain and bring Punjab back on track, Rinku told reporters after the results were announced. I thank the party leadership, including party supremo Arvind Kejriwal and (Punjab chief minister) Bhagwant Mann for reposing faith in me.

The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of sitting Congress lawmaker Santokh Chaudhary, who died due to a heart attack while taking part in the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by party leader Rahul Gandhi on January 14.

AAP national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the victory was an outcome of the Bhagwant Mann governments good work in Punjab.

We do politics of work and seek votes from people for our work, and people have put a stamp on Bhagwant Mann governments work saying we are with you... This is a big message, Kejriwal said in Delhi.

Ever since the AAPs defeat in the Sangrur parliamentary bypoll last year, the party did not have a Lok Sabha MP. The Sangrur seat fell vacant after Bhagwant Mann resigned as an MP after being elected to the Punjab assembly.

In Uttar Pradesh, bypolls were held in Suar and Chhanbey (Scheduled Caste) seats, both of which were won by the Apna Dal (Sonelal), an ally of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state.

Shafeek Ahmed Ansari of the Apna Dal (S) defeated Samajwadi Partys Anuradha Chauhan by a margin of 8,724 votes in the Suar assembly bypoll, which was necessitated following the disqualification of senior SP leader Azam Khans son Abdullah Azam Khan in February after his conviction and two-year sentencing in a 15-year-old case.

In Chhanbey (SC) assembly seat, Apna Dal (S) candidate Rinki Kol defeated SPs Kirti Kol by 9,587 votes. The seat fell vacant following the death of sitting Apna Dal (S) MLA Rahul Prakash Kol in February.

In Odisha, the ruling BJD led by chief minister Naveen Patnaik retained the Jharsuguda assembly seat with its candidate Dipali Das defeating Tankadhar Tripathy of the BJP by 48,721 votes. The bypoll was necessitated due to the assassination of states health minister Naba Kisore Das, the father of Dipali, in January.

Though I lost my father, I got the father-like blessings and support from Naveen Patnaik ji, Dipali Das said after winning.

In Meghalaya, Synshar Kupar Roy Lyngdoh Thabah of the UDP beat Samlin Malngiang of the National Peoples Party (NPP) by 3,422 votes to win the Sohiong bypoll in East Khasi Hills.

The seat was vacant after voting was adjourned due to the death of UDP candidate HDR Lyngdoh ahead of the assembly elections on February 27.
The Congresss seat tally of 136 is the highest in Karnataka since the 1989 elections. It is an increase of 56 from the number of assembly constituencies (ACs) won by the party in 2018. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Janata Dal (Secular) or JD (S) have seen a fall of 40 A and 17 ACs respectively from their 2018 numbers. These headline numbers notwithstanding, how did results in individual ACs change in these elections? This is an important question to judge anti-incumbency both at the state and local level. Here is what an HT analysis shows. Congresss seat tally of 136 is the highest in Karnataka since the 1989 elections (File Photo)

112 out of the 224 ACs which went to polls have not elected the incumbent party in these elections. This number was 130 in 2018. The 2013 elections are not exactly comparable because there was a big split in the BJP. A party-wise break-up of the 112 ACs which did not elect the incumbent party in 2023 shows that 62 of these were held by the BJP, 29 by the JD(S) and 21 by the Congress. In 2018, it was the Congress which was at the receiving end of voters not choosing the incumbent party as 73 ACs held by the Congress in 2013 did not elect a Congress MLA in 2018.

Chart 1: Party-wise number of ACs which did not elect incumbent party Chart 2: Region-wise breakup of Congress 2023 wins by 2018 winners

The other interesting question to look at the break-up of the Congress tally of 136 ACs? Only 59 of them (43%) are ACs which the Congress won in 2018. 39% of ACs won by the Congress in 2023 were won by the BJP in 2018 and another 16% of them were with the JD(S). To be sure, these trends are not the same in all parts of the state. For example, in Bombay Karnataka, Central Karnataka, and Coastal Karnataka, the BJPs contribution to the Congress seat tally is higher than the overall figure for the state. On the other hand, in Southern Karnataka, almost half of the Congress victories have been wrested from the JD(S), much higher than the overall figure for the state. This is largely in keeping with the fact that most of JD (S)s MLAs come from the southern Karnataka region.

A similar breakup of Congress wins by the reservation status of ACs shows that retaining ACs it had won in 2018 is the biggest contributor to its tally in seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes (STs) while defeating the incumbent is the biggest contributor in its tally among seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs).

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Headline numbers for the Congress, both in terms of seat share and vote share, suggest that it has registered a big victory in the Karnataka elections. But headline numbers need not tell us the entire story about close contests at the assembly constituency (AC) level. Here is what an HT analysis of the results shows. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge with former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar during celebrations after the party's win in the Karnataka assembly elections, in Bengaluru on Saturday. (PTI)

Median victory margin in the 2023 assembly elections is 9.1% of the total votes polled. This number was 9% in 2018 and 9.8% in 2013. This shows that on an overall basis, these elections were as closely contested as they have been in the recent past.

See Chart 1: Median victory margin in Karnataka

To be sure, the election results show that the share of ACs where the counting really went down to the wire (a victory margin up to just 2% of the total votes polled) have seen a small increase. On the other hand, the share of ACs which saw victory margins of more than 10% have also seen an increase.

What does a party-wise classification of victory margin tell us?

A comparison shows that the Congresss share of seats won in the most closely contested seats has slightly come down between 2018 and 2023 elections whereas it increased in the highest victory margin group. The Congress won 31 ACs with a victory margin of less than 5% in 2023, marginally down from 32 ACs it won with a similar margin in 2018. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 25 ACs with a margin of less than 5% in 2023, up from 19 ACs it won in 2018. The Janata Dal (Secular), which won 28 ACs with a margin of more than 5% in 2018, has come down to 14 ACs in 2023. These numbers suggest that the Congress victories have come with bigger margins than that of the BJP and the JD(S), a fact also seen in median victory margins for the three parties. It is 7.8% for the BJP, 8% for the JD(S) and 10.9% for the Congress in these elections.

See Chart 2: Relative seat shares of parties by victory margins
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates will be delivering the commencement address and receiving an honorary doctorate degree at Northern Arizona University today  Saturday, May 13 at 3 p.m. in the Walkup Skydome. It will be live-streamed and can be viewed below.

It is our privilege to recognize Bill Gates for his pioneering work in science and technology and his longstanding thought leadership and philanthropic commitment to creating a world where every person has the opportunity to live a healthy, life and live up to their full potential, NAU President Jose Luis Cruz Rivera said in a press release. As NAU advances its mission to deliver equitable postsecondary value, we are honored to have the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as we seek to ensure that the talent and aspirations of people in Arizona and beyond are met with the opportunity to realize economic mobility and social impact  shaping a brighter future for themselves and the communities they represent.

Gates founded Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend Paul Allen and led the company to become the worldwide leader in business and personal software and services. In 2008, he transitioned to focus full-time on the Gates Foundations work to expand opportunity to save and improve the lives of the worlds most disadvantaged people. In partnership with Melinda French Gates, as co-chair, Gates shapes and approves foundation strategies and sets the overall direction of the organization. Through the foundation, he has spent more than 20 years working on global health and development issues including maternal, newborn and child health; agricultural development; water sanitation and hygiene practices; pandemic prevention and disease eradication; and much more. Through his private office, Gates Ventures, he pursues work in Alzheimers research and other health care issues, interdisciplinary education, and technology. At Breakthrough Energy, Gates is putting his experience as an innovator and problem-solver to work to address climate change by supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs, big thinkers, and clean technologies. In 2010, Gates, Melinda French Gates and Warren Buffett founded the Giving Pledge, an effort to encourage the wealthiest families and individuals to commit publicly more than half of their wealth to philanthropic causes and charitable organizations during their lifetime or in their will.

"Later this week, Ill be heading to Northern Arizona University to commend the graduates of the College of Engineering, Informatics, and Applied Sciences and the College of the Environment, Forestry, and Natural Sciences  and share a few other words of advice  in person," Gates said on his blog. "I dont give commencement speeches often, but Im excited to be giving one at NAU because something remarkable and all too rare is happening in Flagstaff: The school is redefining the value of a college degree."
The army on Saturday claimed to have foiled another attempt to disrupt the G20 summit and create disturbance in the Kashmir valley by stopping an infiltration bid on the Line of Control in north Kashmirs Uri sector. Kaman Post in Uri sector along the LoC in Baramullah district.

The army said a quadcopter was flown by Pakistan army to provide cover to the infiltrators. A group of armed terrorists, while attempting to cross the Line of Control, were engaged in an exchange of fire with the alert troops, resulting in a failed attempt to intrude into Kashmir Valley, a defence spokesman said. A quadcopter flown by the Pakistan Army to aid the terrorists was also spotted across the Line of Control, and was fired at, causing it to withdraw.

Also read | Terror-funding case: NIA carries out raids at 11 locations in Kashmir

The action by the terrorists, abetted by Pakistan Army, was yet another failed attempt to disrupt the G20 summit and create disturbance in the valley. Extensive search operations are underway in the densely forested area, the spokesman said.

In past two weeks, army and police in joint operations have killed five militants in north Kashmir, including two infiltrators. On Saturday, a Lashkar-e-Taiba militant from Kulgam was killed in a gunfight in Karhama village in Baramulla district.

On Thursday, two militants from south Kashmir were killed in another shoot out with security forces in the Kreeri area of Baramulla. Both the slain militants were locals belonging to south Kashmirs Shopian district. They had joined militant ranks in March.Two infiltrators were also gunned down near the LoC in the frontier district of Kupwara at Machil sector on Wednesday.

Due to security alerts in view of the G20 meeting, security forces are getting a lot of inputs that resulted in the killings of three militants in north Kashmir, Amod Nagpore, senior superintendent of police, Baramulla, recently told reporters. Officials have been holding meetings to ensure security during the G20 meetings, which will be held in Srinagar, Gulmarg and Pahalgam.

Police and army have stepped up operations in north Kashmir ahead of G20 tourism working group summit, which will be held from May 22 to 24 in Srinagar. The army is conducting night domination operations in rural Kashmir and have launched search and cordon operations at various places on daily basis.
A sharp increase in strike rate and vote share -- that is the impact of the Bharat Jodo yatra in Karnataka. The 2023 Karnataka elections are the first in a state which was covered in the 146 days long Bharat Jodo Yatra led by the former Congress president Rahul Gandhi. The Yatra travelled 511km in Karnataka over 22 days between Gundlupet constituency and Raichur Rural constituency. Here is what a data analysis of the results tells us about the marchs impact on the Congresss performance in these elections. To be sure, there could be other factors responsible for the better strike rate and higher vote share in constituencies through which the march passed, and correlation isnt causation. Rahul Gandhi during Bharat Jodo Yatra with DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, in Chitradurga. (Congress Twitter)

Congress strike rate shows a massive increase in ACs covered by the Yatra

The Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi and the Congress Party traveled through 21 assembly constituencies in Karnataka. The march did not focus on Congress strongholds but instead traveled through constituencies that the BJP won in 2018, spending time in 12 won by the BJP, 5 by the Congress, and 4 by JD(S) in 2018. The Congress leadership viewed the Yatra as a way to unite the country, but it also energized the local party cadre. The Congress won 16 of the 21 ACs that the Yatra passed through, up from 5 in 2018. This figure includes Melukote where Congress did not contest but supported Darshan Puttannaiah from Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha. In terms of strike rate  seats won as a share of seats contested  the Congress has improved from 24% in 2018 to 76% in 2023 in these ACs. The Congresss strike rate in the remaining 203 ACs has also increased -- from 37% to 59%.

Did the Yatra result in a vote share advantage for the Congress?

Overall, the Congress won 43% of the votes. Its vote shares were highest in the Bombay Karnataka and Hyderabad Karnataka regions. Its vote share in this election was 2.9% higher in constituencies that the Bharat Jodo Yatra passed through compared to those that it did not. And when comparing the yatra constituencies to 28 bordering constituencies that did not have the Yatra pass through, the differential in vote share was 2.5% . This suggests that the Bharat Jodo Yatra may have mobilised party workers and voters for the party. Because the Congress did not focus on its strongholds in their Yatra, it ended up making inroads. In absolute terms, in the 21 constituencies that the yatra passed through, the Congress vote share increased by 10 percentage points on average. The highest increase was in Molakalmuru where the Congress vote share increased from 22% to 54%.

Chart giving median vote share of Congress in ACs covered and not-covered by BJY in 2008, 2013, 2018 and 2023

Resuf Ahmed is a Ph.D. Candidate in Economics at HEC Lausanne, Currently Visiting: Stanford University. Feyaad Allie is Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at Stanford University, Incoming Post-Doc and Assistant Professor of Government at Harvard University
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ministers JC Madhuswamy, B Sriramalu, Murugesh Nirani and Ramesh Jarkiholi were trailing as the counting of around 38 million votes polled for the 224-member Karnataka assembly was underway on Saturday. Counting of votes underway in Hubballi. (PTI)

The Congress was leading on 82 seats with a vote share of 44.4%, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI) website at 9:44am. The BJP was ahead on 52 seats with a vote share of 37.4% and Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) on 16 seats (10.5% vote share).

Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai looked set to retain his Shiggaon assembly seat while JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy was leading in the Channapatna constituency.

Bommai, who offered prayers at a temple in Hubballi, insisted the BJP will get an absolute majority and provide a stable government and all-inclusive development .

Congress leader Syed Naseer Hussain said there will be a clear mandate for the Congress. I am expecting a landslide victory for the party.

The BJP hoped to retain power in the only southern state it has ruled since 2019 even as exit polls suggested Congress has an edge following the polling on Wednesday when Karnataka recorded its the highest voter turnout ever. The state has voted out the incumbent over last three decades.

Two of the three states Congress rules on its own are due to go to the polls this year. If it wins Karnataka, it will be its biggest assembly election victory since December 2018 even as it returned to power in Himachal Pradesh last year.
New Delhi Neither its promise of development through a double engine government nor its strong Hindutva push could help the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) retain power in Karnataka as it managed to win just 64 seats, down from 104 in 2018, despite a high-voltage campaign that included rallies and roadshows by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several top ministers. BJP supporters during a roadshow of BJP president JP Nadda ahead of Karnataka assembly elections in Bengaluru, (PTI File Photo)

For the party, which was bullish that it would turn a 27-year cycle of anti-incumbency into pro-incumbency, Saturdays defeat is a blow that could put paid to plans of expanding the partys footprint in the southern states. Karnataka, after all, is the only state in the region where the BJP has a significant cadre on the ground, and has been in power before.

Also Read: What the Karnataka results mean for 2024 Lok Sabha polls

Senior party leaders attributed the defeat to multiple factors -- discontent against the state government, changing the chief minister midway through his term, pushing an ideological agenda instead of local issues -- and admitted that a perception of corruption and administrative deficiencies overshadowed the partys campaign blitz.

The Yeddy factor

A senior state party leader said that one dominant factor in the partys defeat was its decision to replace as chief minister Lingayat strongman BS Yediyurappa -- who virtually built the state unit from the ground up -- with Basavaraj Bommai two years ahead of the polls.

The inability of the party paraphernalia to communicate to the people the work that was done and the changes it brought to peoples lives worked against us. Then, of course, was the inability to successfully build ties with other castes, such as the Vokkaligas (11%), the Kurbas (9%), and upsetting the Lingayats by changing the CM, the leader said, asking not to be named.

Also Read: Three key takeaways from the Karnataka results

The decision to change the CM stemmed from the hope that it would buck anti-incumbency against the BJP, like it had done in Gujarat and Uttarakhand. But in Karnataka, the decision evoked resentment among the powerful Lingayat community that makes up 17% of the vote bank, and has sided with the BJP over the past few election cycles. In 2013, too, the BJP lost after the Lingayats chose to back Yediyurappa when he broke away from the party and floated his own Karnataka Janatha Paksha (KJP).

Although Bommai is a Lingayat too, he does not have the kind of hold that Yediyurappa has over the community. To make things worse, charges of corruption and administrative lapses on Bommais watch gave the Congress enough ammunition to train its guns at the BJP.

Bommai was unable to tackle the corruption allegations. His elevation to the top post, though he himself had a clean record, made matters worse for the party because he paled in comparison to Yediyurappa, said a second leader on condition of anonymity.

The decision to usher in a generational shift by giving tickets to 72 new faces and dropping senior leaders such as former chief minister Jagadish Shetter and former deputy CM Laxman Savadi, was also not supported by a section of the party cadre. There was a message that the old guard had been unceremoniously dropped, the second leader said.

To be sure, Prime Minister Modi and the senior BJP leadership later reinforced that the elections were being fought under the leadership of Yediyurappa, who is now a member of the partys parliamentary board. The message, however, did not fully translate into votes on the ground, the leaders cited above said.

Social engineering attempt

Given the centrality of caste in the states polity, the partys social engineering strategy of bringing together diverse groups also failed to enthuse voters. The BJP fielded 47 Vokkaligas, 68 Lingayats; 37 Scheduled Caste, and 18 Scheduled Tribe candidates in the elections.

While it somewhat retained the support of the Lingayats, its attempts to woo Vokkaligas, known to sway election outcome in about 40-plus seats of the 224-member assembly, were less successful, leaders aware of the internal dynamics said.

Though the party inducted Vokkaliga faces such as D Sudhakar, who was made health minister, and HT Somashekar and V Gopalaiah, and gave larger roles to leaders such as Lok Sabha MP Shobha Karandlaje, party general secretary CT Ravi, and state minister CN Ashwath Narayan, the community still chose the JD(S) and the Congress over it, these leaders added.

The BJP was hoping that while it will continue to be the party of choice for the Lingayats, and the rejig in internal reservation will play a key role in drawing support from the SC, ST and OBCs castes that are divided among all three parties, the first leader quoted above said.

To counter the Congresss Ahinda coalition of Alpasankhyataru (minorities), Hindulidavaru (backward classes) and Dalitaru (Dalit) communities, the BJP came up with the Libra --Lingayat plus Brahamins  model by rejigging reservation quotas. Though the state governments decision of scrapping 4% reservation for Muslims and redistributing it among the Vokkaligas and Lingayats, and increasing the percentage of reservation for STs from 3% to 7%; and for SCs from 15% to 17%, dominated the poll narrative, it could not be converted into votes.

Inability to counter charges

The Congresss catchy PayCM campaign to target the government on corruption caught the BJP on the wrong foot, and graft complaints from various sections -- from government contractors to seers -- caught the publics pulse. The BJPs attempts to turn the tables on the Congress by alleging that the state will be turned into an ATM for the Gandhi family if it comes to power, could not tilt the scales in its favour.

So, when the opposition cornered the government on rising prices of fuel and essentials, job losses and tanking economy after Covid, the BJP raised the pitch on interfaith marriages, religious conversions, Savarkar yatras, and recasting Tipu Sultan as anti-Hindu.

In the coastal belt, the sentiments are pro-Hindutva. But the partys attempts to coalesce the Hindu vote bank to counter the consolidation of Muslims in support of the Congress in other parts of the state was flawed. In the rural areas, particularly, there was very little support for issues such as (ban on) halal and hijab. Only the reference to Bajrang Bali towards the end of the campaign (in response to the Congress hinting at a ban on the Bajrang Dal) drew some support, said a third leader.

Asked why the party kept pushing hard on issues that polarised voters along religious lines, the leader said the BJP saw a sliver of opportunity that it could convert the anger against the government into a bigger narrative about internal security and appeasement policies of the Congress.

When the Congress said they will ban Bajrang Dal and equated them with PFI, which has terror links, the party felt it was necessary to send out a message that it will not allow appeasement politics. Whether it was wrong is debatable, he added.

Experts said it was a case of getting too many things wrong for the BJP, and principal among them was the belief that there is a pan-Karnataka acceptance for the Hindutva agenda and on the partys reliance on national leaders.

This is a vote for political stability as after a long time a party has been given a clear mandate. The election also shows that the BJP needs to revisit its over-dependance on PM Modis popularity, and on raising national issues instead of local ones, SY Surendra Kumar, professor of political science at the Bangalore University, said.

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BENGALURU: Incumbent chief minister Basavaraj Bommai conceded defeat four hours into the counting of votes as the Congress dealt a humiliating defeat to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka on Saturday, a change state Congress president DK Shivakumar said he delivered as promised to the (Congress) high command. Karnataka election result: Supporters of Congress candidate UT Kader celebrate their leader's lead in the Karnataka Assembly polls, on the vote counting day on Saturday (PTI)

FULL COVERAGE | Karnataka Assembly election

Bommai, who was also the BJPs presumptive chief minister, declined to comment on a barrage of questions on the partys performance. We will do a detailed analysis once the complete results come. As a national party, we will not only analyse, but also see the deficiencies and gaps at various levels. We take this result in our stride and will come back stronger in the (2024) Lok Sabha elections, the 63-year-old veteran politician said.

Here are five reasons that contributed to the BJPs defeat.

The narrative: Corruption

The Congresss spirited campaign against the BJP that focused on corruption appeared to have had some traction with the voters. The Congress had been running PayCM and 40% Sarkara (referring to the contractors association president D Kempannas charge that the BJP government took a 40% cut in projects) campaigns since late 2022 after the suicide of a contractor in April last year. The Lokayukta investigation which led to the arrest of BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa and his son in a bribery case served to reinforce the Congress campaign and hurt the BJPs image on the corruption plank.

The history: Anti-incumbency

To be sure, the BJP did start with a disadvantage. The BJP has been in power since 2019 after an unlikely coalition government formed by the Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular under HD Kumaraswamy collapsed after a bunch of lawmakers resigned. And Karnataka has never voted the incumbent party to power since 1985. The BJP did try to break the jinx with a blitzkrieg by Prime Minister Modi to shore up its prospects and fight anti-incumbency.

Issues: Reservation and polarisation

The Basavaraj Bommai-led governments move to scrap the 4% reservation for Muslims in the 2B category of the Other Backward Castes (OBC) in government employment and education, and distribute it equally among the two dominant communities, Vokkaliga and Lingayat castes, was another campaign point for the opposition. The state governments last-minute decision on internal reservation among the Scheduled Castes community also drew ire from a section of the community. In contrast, the Congress pledged to work for marginalised caste groups and raise the quantum of reservations to 75%, restore minority reservations and increase reservations for Lingayats,

And prices

The rise in costs of essential commodities such as fuel and cooking gas, and unemployement became a focal point for the opposition Congress and JD(S) to mobilise support amongst the poor and middle class.

The opposition campaign did lead the BJP to try to neutralise its impact among voters by promising three free cooking gas cylinders to BPL families every year, setting up Atal Aahara Kendras to provide subsided food, and half a litre of free Nandini milk to BPL families every day and 5 kg rice through monthly ration kits

Exit of the veterans

The BJPs attempt to effect a generational change by denying tickets to a raft of old-guard leaders including former chief minister Jagdish Shettar and former deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi gave the Congress an opportunity to project the BJP as an anti-Lingayat party. Shettar, who was fielded by the Congress from Hubli-Dharwad-Central-73 is losing the seat to the BJP by a huge margin but Savadi, also fielded by the Congress, looks set to retain the seat.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday swept the urban local body (ULB) elections in Uttar Pradesh, winning all 17 mayoral seats, in a result that reaffirms chief minister Yogi Adityanaths firm grip over the states politics, according to the state election commission (SEC). Chief minister Yogi Adityanath celebrates the partys victory at BJP headquarters in Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday. (Deepak Gupta/HT Photo)

The ruling party bettered its performance from 2017 ULB polls, when it won 14 of the 16 mayoral seats. This time, however, 17 mayoral seats were up for grabs, with Shahjahanpur being the new entrant after it became a municipal corporation in 2018, and the BJP won all of them, according to the state election commission (SEC).

This is for the first time that the party has won all mayoral seats in Uttar Pradesh, Adityanath told reporters at the BJP headquarters in Lucknow.

The mayoral seats won by the BJP are: Varanasi, Ayodhya, Vrindavan-Mathura, Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Kanpur, Jhansi, Bareilly, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Prayagraj, Agra, Aligarh, Firozabad, Meerut, Ghaziabad and Shahjahanpur.

In 2017, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had won mayoral polls in Meerut and Aligarh.

Though the results came as a setback for opposition parties such as the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) alliance, as well as the BSP and the Congress, they did manage to win several nagar palika parishad (municipal councils) and nagar panchayat (town councils) seats.

Voting for all 760 local bodies was held in two phases on May 4 and May 11 with little over 52% of the 43.2 million eligible voters exercising their franchise. The 760 ULBs include 17 municipal corporations, 199 municipal councils and 544 town councils.

According to the state poll body, the BJP won 812 corporators seat out of the total 1,420, followed by the Samajwadi Party (SP) that won 191. The BSP won 85, the Congress 77 while the remaining seats were won by other smaller parties and independents.

Of the 199 posts of municipal council chairperson posts on the offer, the BJP won 84, followed by SP (34), BSP (14) and the Congress four. Smaller regional parties and independents won the remaining seats. Similarly, the BJP won 187 of the 544 nagar panchayat chairperson posts, with the SP coming a distant second with 77, followed by the BSP 37 and the Congress 13, the SEC said.

The party will double and triple its performance vis-a-vis 2017 civic elections in nagar palikas, parishads and nagar panchayats, too, Adityanath said even as the voting continued late into the night, attributing the partys victory to the good governance of the double-engine government and development under Prime Minister Narendra Modis leadership.

The opposition Samajwadi Party (SP), meanwhile, accused the BJP of deliberately delaying the counting process.

The BJP is using all kinds of tricks to win the elections in UP. It is deliberately delaying the counting process where its candidates seem to be losingIt is pressurizing polling officials for recounting at its preferred seats, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav tweeted in Hindi. The BJP is winning due to faulty counting and not because of the voting.

According to the SEC data, 83,378 candidates were in the fray for 14,684 posts across various categories in the state.

Yogi Adityanath has proved his mettle once again in the Uttar Pradesh municipal elections as BJP is set to sweep it, said SK Pandey, a political scientist. Maintaining its dominance in UP politics right from Lok Sabha to the Vidhan Sabha and now municipal elections, the BJP has made its presence felt in the Hindi heartland.

In the ULB polls, the BJP fielded the maximum 10,758 candidates (including 4,248 women), followed by the Samajwadi Party with 5,231 candidates (2,223 women), BSP 3,787 (1,611 women). The Congress and the AAP fielded 2,994 (1,395 women) and 2,447 (1,031 women) candidates, respectively.

A total of 35,102 women (or 42% of the total candidates) are in the fray for various posts in the urban local bodies, which is far more than the 33% minimum mandated reservation for women guaranteed under the Constitution.

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Sops for individual beneficiaries helped the Congress cut across caste barriers and sweep the elections in Karnataka, the only southern state where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was in power. This electoral success, according to two senior Congress leaders, may now prompt the party to take similar populist measures ahead of elections in five states. Congress leaders celebrate after the win in Bengaluru on Saturday. (PTI)

Years after its NYAY scheme  aimed to cater to the poorest of the poor  failed to lure voters in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress fine-tuned its welfare strategies and broadened the approach to target key constituencies such as farmers, women and young voters.

The Congresss sops for the Karnataka polls were 200 units of free power per month under the Gruha Jyothi scheme, Yuva Nidhi monthly allowances of 3,000 to graduates and 1,500 to diploma holders for two years, 2,000 cash incentive under the Gruha Lakshmi scheme for every woman head of a household and free ride for women in public buses, besides 10 kg of free rice for poor.

The party also promised 10 lakh insurance coverage for fishermen, and a 25 subsidy on every litre of diesel for fishermen, to woo Mogaveeras and other fishing communities in the BJPs traditional stronghold of coastal Karnataka.

The welfare schemes, former Congress Rajya Sabha member BK Hariprasad claimed, are planned to tackle specific problems faced by households. The Gruha Lakshmischeme will help women to meet rising expenses on cooking gas and food items. The Yuva Nidhi will help young unemployed people sustain for two years. The free power scheme will be of great help to farmers and all poor families.

Congress general secretary for communications Jairam Ramesh said: The BJP had made its election campaign a referendum on the Prime Minister and on the state getting his ashirwaad (blessing). The Congress party fought these elections on local issues of livelihood and food security, price rise, farmer distress, electricity supply, joblessness, and corruption.

The electoral sops also proved to be lucrative amid a raging debate over freebies. Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had criticised such schemes, saying people are pained when their taxes are used for free revadi (a type of sweet), while defending the governments poverty alleviation schemes such as PM Awas or Ujjwala Yojana.

Last year, the Election Commission had written to all recognised political parties, seeking their suggestions on a proposal to amend the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and requiring them to furnish details of financial implications of promises made in election manifestos.

Congress leaders said sops will remain a key part of their outreach. The party also realised the importance of creating individual beneficiaries  something that the BJP has done through its federal schemes such as Ujjwala, Saubhagya, Nal se Jal and PM Awas schemes, providing basic services for the first time to a large section of the population. In its 10 years of UPA government, the party pushed legislation-based rights and brought bills such as the Right to Education and the Right to Information. Now, the party is focused on creating direct beneficiaries.

For the Himachal Pradesh election, the Congress had proposed the reinstatement of the Old Pension Scheme as government employees constitute 3.37% of the states population, according to 2018 data of the state administration.

Sops will remain a key part of our outreach. In Madhya Pradesh, where elections are due later this year, the Congress state unit has already announced a Nari Samman Yojana if it comes to power, a senior Congress leader said, seeking anonymity.
Two days before the curtains came down on a frenetic election campaign in Karnataka, Congress social media handles began rolling out a video. The Congress ended up winning 137 of Karnatakas 244 seats (Twitter Photo)

On two comfortable chairs sat the partys two pre-eminent state strongmen; the two claimants to the post of Chief Minister (CM); the men on whose shoulders the campaign rested  Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar.

The video was carefully constructed. The leaders spoke to each other about the rigours of the campaign, of an infection on Siddaramaiahs arm, of a near helicopter crash that Shivakumar survived. They spoke of their confidence and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)s fragility; of CM Basavraj Bommais inefficiency; and of the insult to the BJPs Lingayat leaders, including BS Yediyurappa. At one point, Siddaramaiah underlined the entire tenor of the Congress campaign. The BJP doesnt talk of local issues. We make promises for the people, he said.

In many ways, the video encapsulated the efficiency of the Congress campaign, and the obstacles they had overcome in their successful quest for an outright majority in the assembly elections. Here sat two men with unbridled aspirations to the top post, but who, for the campaign at least, had either realised or been made to realise that there would be no spoils if their internal squabbles sank the ship.

The video also underlined the localisation of the Congress campaign, with leaders rarely speaking about national issues as their pitch remained centred around five key promises  free electricity, free foodgrain, an unemployment stipend, monetary benefits to housewives, and free bus travel for women. It helped that CM Bommais government was hobbled by allegations of inefficiency, but the creation of a slogan around 40% sarkaara, a reference to alleged cuts taken by middlemen, and the PayCM campaign drove the point home .

Only once did the Congress find itself talking about an issue that seemed to reverberate nationally, when its manifesto promised to ban the Bajrang Dal. Even that was calibrated carefully for, as the results show, it helped the Congress consolidate the Muslim vote in a state where the BJP has pushed the communal envelope. But the Congress made sure that its campaign didnt get stuck in the familiar communal binary that has hobbled its prospects in parts of north India. Instead, along with Muslims, the Congress was acutely conscious of winning over Hindu social groups, particularly backward classes and Dalits.

But Congress has often had its messaging and coalition right on paper. In Karnataka, the difference was that made the party took this directly to the people. Its leaders criss-crossed the state, issued front page advertisements on their promises, social media handles worked round the clock and the Bharat Jodo Yatra helped in giving the organisation an early start and boosting morale.

With its success in Karnataka, the Congress may have found a template going forward, if not nationally then in other states. It leveraged the strengths of its two primary local leaders  the mass, rustic appeal of Siddaramaiah who moulded himself as a man of the poor and the nous of party president Shivakumar who displayed impressive organisational abilities.

The campaign was aided by national leaders such as Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, who, for the most part, stuck to local issues. The presence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and his local roots helped. He spoke in Kannada, attacked the Prime Minister, and juxtaposed himself as Karnatakas bhumiputra, just as Narendra Modi was the son of the soil in Gujarat. Kharges Dalit identity bolstered the Congresss social coalition.

With less than a year to go for the 2024 parliamentary elections, the win  and the emphatic nature of it  is undoubtedly a fillip for the Congress. It gives them a fourth state, arguably the most significant politically and economically, where it is in power. The Congress also returns to power on its own in South India after years.

But a key challenge for the Congress begins now. Go back to December 2018, where six months before a national election, the party wrested three major states from the BJP  Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The conditions were similar. These too had powerful Congress regional leaders who drove the campaign and kept their differences aside for the duration of the campaign. But their ambition and the inability of the central leadership to mediate and execute a workable compromise meant that these experiments cracked. Jyotiraditya Scindia left with a clutch of state legislators causing the Kamal Nath government to fall in MP. Sachin Pilot is on a march through Rajasthan in an open rebellion against Ashok Gehlots government. And tensions between Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and TS Singhdeo may come back to haunt the party later this year in elections.

If the Congress does however navigate its way efficiently through these leadership choices like it did during the campaign, it opens a window for the 2024 elections in a state where the BJP won 25 of the 28 seats (and supported an independent who also won, taking its tally to 26), reducing the Congress to one solitary seat. To be sure, by itself, this result does not mean that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unpopular. In fact, without his campaign blitzkrieg during the last two weeks, the results could well have been worse for the BJP. On the ground, voter after voter made a key, clear separation. The Congress in the state; Modi at the centre.

But the five promises the Congress has made have the potential to build on a narrative that the partys primary concern is the poor, including the assurance that the Congress government was committed to social justice, and would look to increase reservations to 75%. As the party celebrated on Saturday, a triumphant Rahul Gandhi appeared before television screens and said that the party would implement its five primary promises in the first cabinet meeting. Run an efficient government, keep infighting to a minimum, and deliver on promises, and the Congress may have a good chance of increasing its Lok Sabha tally in 2024.

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The Congress appears to be leading the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Karnataka assembly elections as of 11.25am, according to statistics published by the Election Commission of India (ECI). A counting booth in Karnatakas Hubballi on Saturday. (PTI)

The Congress is leading in 118 assembly constituencies (ACs) while the BJP is leading in 73. The third main party, the Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S), is leading in 25 ACs. The halfway mark in the Karnataka assembly is 113.

Do these seat tallies mean that the Congresss majority in Karnataka assembly is sealed?

An HT analysis of ECI numbers suggests that the Congress will emerge as the biggest party, though it is still not clear whether the party will cross the majority mark. Heres why.

AC-wise results compiled by HT show that over a third (39%) of the votes have been counted so far, though results have not been declared for any seat. This means there is still some room for ACs to swing from one party to another. However, such trends rarely reverse so sharply with so many votes already counted.

To be sure, ACs where parties are leading with a large margin (more than 10%) are less likely to swing than ACs where the margin is small (2%). It is highly unlikely that the trends will change in the constituencies where the margin is 5% or more.

Currently, there are 28 ACs where the margin is less than 2% of total votes in the AC, 36 ACs where the margin is 2%-5%, 43 ACs where the margin is 5%-10%, and 117 ACs where the margin is more than 10%. The ACs, where the margin is less than 2%, are the most likely to swing to another party and the ACs where the margin is more than 10% are the least likely to swing.

What are the margins for different parties right now? The Congress is leading with a very small margin (less than 2% of total votes) in 10 ACs and with a small margin (2%-5%) in 15. In 19 ACs, the Congress margin is a significant 5%-10% and it has a large margin of more than 10% in 74 ACs.

The BJP is leading with less than 2% margin and 2%-5% margin in 8 and 15 ACs. It has a 5%-10% margin in 18 ACs and more than 10% margin in 32 ACs.

The JD(S) is leading with less than 2% margin in 4 ACs, with a 2%-5% margin in 8 ACs, with a 5%--10% margin in 5 ACs, and with more than 10% margin in 8 ACs.

The data analysis implies that the final results may not be dramatically different from the present trends.

In Karnataka, the Congress has already started celebrating the results with senior party leaders, including former chief minister Siddaramaiah claiming victory. All senior party leaders are likely to assemble at the state party office this afternoon.

The BJP on the other hand, has been guarded in its response, saying it will wait for more votes to be counted. However, state party leaders, including chief minister Basavaraj Bommai have met with senior leaders to analyse the trends so far.

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With initial trends showing a clear edge for the Congress in Karnataka, the only question remains is whether it gets past the 113-seat majority mark in the 224-seat state assembly on its own. Celebrations at the Congress headquarters in Delhi on Saturday. (PTI)

Data from the Election Commission of Indias (ECI) website shows that the Congress has a vote share of around 44.5%, significantly higher than 38% during the previous elections in 2018, when it won 80 seats.

To be sure, the BJPs vote share has, at the time of publishing, not dipped from the 2018 level of about 36%. It won 104 in those polls, but was pipped to the state assembly after the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) stitched together a post-poll alliance.

The Congress edged the BJP in vote shares, even if not in seat share, in 2018, despite being outplayed by the JD(S) in the Old Mysuru region.

The key victim so far, then, appears to be the JD(S), with the contest sharpening into a bipolar one. The vote share of the party, led by former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, has dropped to just about 10%, nearly half of its 18% share in 2018.

Trends show the party holding on to its traditional seats in the Old Mysuru region, but failing to find traction anywhere else in the state.

To be sure, only about 10% of the roughly 38 million votes polled in the state have been counted so far. So, the numbers are sure to change over the next few hours.

While the Congress has done reasonably well in almost all regions of the state, it has performed much better in the northern parts, which is home to the partys national president Mallikarjun Kharge.

The party seems to be ahead even in the Lingayat dominated Central and Mumbai-Karnataka regions, an indication that it was able to break the saffron partys stronghold over the Lingayat vote bank.

Of all the regions, trends show that the BJP is ahead in Coastal Karnataka, which sends only 21 MLAs to the state assembly. However, the Congress performance still appears to be slightly better than most exit polls predicted.

The India Today-MyAxis exit poll predicted 122-140 seats for the Congress and 62-80 for the BJP.

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PEACE LUTHERAN CHURCH May 14  3430 N. Fourth St., 3430 N. Fourth St., Flagstaff. 928-526-9578. 10-11 a.m., We invite you to join the family of Peace Lutheran Church (LCMS) on Sunday at 10:00am for in person blended service (Combined Liturgical, hymnal based and Praise Worship) with Holy Communion. Pastor William Weiss Jr. (Pastor Bill) will be presiding. The service will be live streamed on our website (peacelutheranflagstaff.org) and on YouTube. Fellowship and refreshments are available before the worship service beginning 9:15am. https://go.evvnt.com/1723678-0.

LIVING CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH May 14  500 W. Riordan Road, 500 W. Riordan Road, Flagstaff. 928-526-8595. 10-11 a.m., We invite all to celebrate with us God's love and presence in our lives and be God's hands in the world. We are intentionally inclusive. We worship through music, teaching, prayer, and the sacraments each Sunday at 10 a.m., at the Campus Ministry Center located on the NAU campus or join us online. Join Rev. Kurt Fangmeier for the Sixth Sunday of Easter! Jesus does not abandon his followers. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus comes to abide with his disciples of every generation. As Pentecost draws near, we are reminded that the risen Christ dwells in us as the Spirit of truth. We receive this Spirit in baptism and pray that in our gathering around the Lords table the Spirit will transform us to be the body of the risen Christ in the world. We will learn more with our Reading of Acts 17:22-31 (Pauls message to the Athenians) Psalm 66:8-20 (Bless our God, you peoples; let the sound of praise be heard) and Reading 1 Peter 3:13-22(The days of Noah, a sign of baptism), together with the Gospel John 14:15-21 (Christ our advocate). https://go.evvnt.com/1722867-0.

BEACON UU SUNDAY SERVICE: Pushing Pandora Back in Her Box and the Loss of Rights for Girls May 14  Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 510 N. Leroux St., Flagstaff. (928) 779-4492. 10-11 a.m., ALL ARE WELCOME! You BELONG at Beacon. Spiritually open and intentionally inclusive since 1958. Every day we see news articles restricting choices for young women and especially young women who are part of the transgendered community. We will talk about the forces behind these restrictions and where we can take action and find hope. Rev. Linda Ochi, preaching, with Worship Associate Kim Angelo. Music from Andrez Alcazar and Austin Shaw. Looking ahead: May 21, 2023: Our annual flower ceremony, this year marking the 100th anniversary of the first one enacted by Norbert Capek in Prague. Bring a flower and plan to take a flower during the ceremony. Rev. Robin will preach - Watch me flower, Carry Me and the Beacon choir will sing. Budget town hall after the service. May 28, 2023: Memorial weekend service. Rev. Robin will preach - Chasing Immortality: Would You Want to live forever? This is Andrezs last service with us so please come and wish him well on his journey. We will also build a memorial altar during the service, so please bring a photo or memento that represents a loved one who has passed. https://go.evvnt.com/1722662-0.

Flagstaff Federated Community Church Please join us for in person services Sundays at 10 a.m. We are located at 400 W Aspen Ave. on the corner of Aspen and Sitgreaves in Downtown Flagstaff. All are welcome to our services. For more information about Flagstaff Federated Community Church please call our office at 928-774-7383, Mon  Thurs 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Church of the Resurrection Sunday Church Services 740 W. University Heights Drive S., 740 W. University Heights Drive S., Flagstaff. 928-853-8522. 10-11:30 a.m., Church of the Resurrection Presbyterian Church in America (PCA): We invite you to join us for worship at 10 a.m. on Sundays at 740 W. University Heights Drive South. Please feel free to contact us for information on our mid-week gatherings and for more information on our church. You can find us at www.cor-pca.org and www.facebook.com/CORFlagstaff or we can be reached at corflagstaff@gmail.com and (928) 699-2715.

Leupp Nazarene Church The church, near mile post 13 or Navajo Route 15, has been holding services by teleconferences and doing drive-up meetings. For information, call pastor Farrell Begay at 928-853-5321. Teleconference number: 1-7170275-8940 with access code 3204224#. Services are 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sundays and 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays.

Christian Science Society of Flagstaff 619 W. Birch Ave. Bible Lesson services every Sunday 10-11am (Zoom option: https://zoom.us/j/369812794). Testimony Meetings every Wednesday: 5:30-6:30pm (Zoom option: https://zoom.us/j/971672834). Zoom password: CSS.
The Congress appears to have made inroads in the Bharatiya Janata Partys traditional stronghold of the Bombay Karnataka sub-region, even as it reaffirmed its grip over the Hyderabad region, an indication that the votes within the Lingayat community, which has traditionally sided with the BJP, may have splintered. Lingayat leader Jagadish Shettar switched to the Congress after being denied a BJP ticket. (PTI)

Votes within the community appear to have fractured despite the BJP government enhancing reservation for Lingayats by two percentage points, in what was one of the partys flagship moves in the run-up to the May 10 elections.

Lingayats constitute about 17% of Karnatakas population and hold sway in between 90 and 100 of the states 224 constituencies. The community has propelled the BJP to power in the state in the past, largely driven by the influence of former chief minister and senior leader BS Yediyurappa, a venerated Lingayat leader.

Experts outlined two key reasons for this likely shift. First, the BJP removing Yediyurappa as chief minister in 2021 and replacing him with Bommai (another senior Lingayat leader), and second, the party denying tickets to two senior Lingayat leaders  former CM Jagadish Shettar and deputy CM Laxman Savadi, both of whom eventually contested on Congress tickets.

In the Bombay Karnataka sub-region, which sends 50 MLAs to the 224-member house, the Congress snatched 33 seats, nearly double its 2018 tally of 17.

The BJP, conversely, sharply ceded ground to the Congress, with its count nearly halving from 30 in 2018 to 16 this time.

The Congress improved its tally in the Hyderabad Karnataka region, the home turf of party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, as well, with its seat share rising from 20 in 2018 to 26 this year.

Again, the Congress appeared to eat into the BJPs votes, with the latters tally falling to 10 this year, from 17 in 2018.

Experts said the BJP stamping its retirement rule on Yediyurappa in 2021 stoked discontentment within the Lingayat electorate.

The Panchamasali Lingayats, the most backward in the community, were particularly displeased with the BJP, said experts.

The partys decision to sideline the Lingayat strongman by asking him to step down as the chief minister a year into his term may have triggered a backlash from the community, political analyst Chambi Puranik said.

The exit of two major Lingayat faces, Shettar and Savadi, is also likely to have played a role in the communitys shifting allegiance, Puranik added.

To be sure, Shettar lost to the BJPs Mahesh Tenginkai in Hubballi-Dharwad Central constituency, securing 60,775 votes against his rivals 95,064.

Savadi, though, swept the Athani seat, winning 131,404 votes, against BJPs Mahesh Kumathalli, who got 55,282.

Puranik also said the delay in enhancing reservations for Lingayats and the Karnataka government later informing the Supreme Court that the decision was on hold did not go down well with the community.

They (Lingayats) felt cheated and the Congress played well on this sentiment, he said.
The Congress, which registered its biggest assembly poll win in nearly five years on Saturday and comfortably crossed the halfway mark in Karnataka, has also made inroads into Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)s strongholds of Dharwad and Uttara Kannada. It won four of the seven seats in Dharwad and four of the six seats in Uttara Kannada. Congress workers celebrate the partys victory in Karnataka. (HT PHOTO)

Jagadish Shettar, who defected from the BJP before the polls, lost the Hubballi-Dharwad Central seat to first-time contestant Mahesh Tenginkai, a fellow Lingayat.

Congress managed to wrest the Dharwad seat. Vinay Kulkarni, who was banned from entering the district due to a murder case registered against him, defeated BJPs Amrut Desai by a margin of over 18,000 votes.

The Congress also won Kalghatagi and Navalgund seats defeating the BJP. It retained the Hubli-Dharwad East seat.

The Hubballi-Dharwad region has been a stronghold of the BJP since the 1990s when the party championed the opening of the Idgah Maidan (Muslim prayer ground) there for functions of all communities. Six people were killed when police fired at a gathering when former Union minister Uma Bharati tried to forcibly hoist the national flag defying prohibitive orders at the prayer ground in 1994.

Shettar won his first election amid the BJPs campaign for the opening of the prayer ground. The BJP wrested the Dharwad Lok Sabha seat from Congress in the 1990s and has held it since.

In Uttara Kannada, Congress wrested Karwar, Sirsi, and Bhatkal seats from the BJP. It retained the Haliyal seat. The Congress lost the Yellapur seat to the BJP. The Janata Dal (Secular) won the remaining Kumta seat.

The BJP, among other reasons, appears to have lost ground due to anger among fisherpeople, who have held protests against port projects on the Karnataka coast.

The defeat of the BJP has given us hope that we will be able to oppose the projects. In coastal Karnataka wherever there were protests against the Sagarmala port projects, the BJP has lost...fishermen voted against the BJP even as [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi campaigned there..., said activist Vikas Tandel.
The Congresss charismatic local leadership and a compelling narrative of welfare and anti-corruption propelled the party to its biggest assembly election win in nearly five years on Saturday, when it comfortably crossed the halfway mark in Karnataka, won the largest vote and seat share in a generation, and firmly shut the door on the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) gateway to southern India. Congress supporters celebrate the party's victory in the Karnataka assembly elections, in Bengaluru on Saturday. (ANI)

The Congress won 136 of the states 224 assembly seats, the first time in a decade that a party has crossed the halfway mark in the state. The BJP was outgunned, winning 65 seats and facing reverses in five of the six main regions of the state. The third player in the state, Janata Dal (Secular), slumped to just 19 seats, with members of the partys first family also losing their traditional strongholds, raising questions about the partys political relevance in years to come.

The Congresss emphatic victory is the first in a big state since December 2018, and gives the party its fourth state, and at 43%, its vote share is the highest in Karnataka since 1989, when the Ahinda (minorities, Dalits and backwards) coalition was a key ingredient of its support base. Not surprisingly, it was the Ahinda factor that was at play again, reflected in the partys five guarantees  200 units of free power, monthly assistance to women and young people, free bus rides for women, and free rice for poor families  and personified in socialist leader Siddaramaiah, 76, who was one of its principal campaigners.

The result of this election is a stepping stone to the Lok Sabha election, Siddaramaiah said. The people of Karnataka wanted a change because they were fed up with the BJP government.

The party dramatically improved its performance in every region in the state, sweeping the Bombay Karnataka and central Karnataka regions, felling the JD(S) fortress in the Old Mysuru region, and giving the BJP a neck-and-neck fight in Bengaluru, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi held two roadshows in a last-minute campaign blitz before polling day. Even in coastal Karnataka  the only part of the state where the ruling party was able to hold off the Congresss onslaught  the party made inroads, winning the Madikeri and Virajpet seats for the first time in 20 years. Its vote share in every region was in excess of 40%.

This is a victory for the cadres, said an emotional Shivakumar, the state party chief, breaking down on live television. He won his Kanakapura seat with a margin of more than 100,000.

One of Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, 60, will be the states next chief minister, with the former considered to be the front-runner.

It was also a personal victory for Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, who hails from Karnataka and was one of the faces of the campaign. In the Hyderabad Karnataka region, where Kharge hails from, the Congress won26 of the 40 seats on offer (the BJP won 10) and 46.4% of the votes, the highest across regions.

Those who wanted to make Congress Mukt Bharat (Congress-free India) spoke many things against us but today one thing has come true and that is BJP Mukt Dakshin Bharat (BJP free South India), Kharge said.

Rahul Gandhis Bharat Jodo Yatra spent 22days in Karnataka and passed through21of the states constituencies. The party won 16of these, suggesting that despite Gandhis and the partys insistence that the march was apolitical, it may be contributing some political dividend. We promised the state five things, and within the first cabinet meeting, we will make these promises a reality, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi told reporters in New Delhi.

The BJPs gamble of generational change and hardline Hindutva came a cropper.

The verdict came as a shock to the party which was hoping to buck a three-decade-old political tradition of the incumbent being voted out. The partys vote share dipped from 36.4%in 2018 to 36%, and its seats plunged from 104 to 65. It lost ground in almost every region of the state, including in the central Karnataka and Mumbai Karnataka areas where its traditional Lingayat base appeared to have fragmented and its gamble of retiring former chief minister BS Yediyurappa and banking on a hardline Hindutva strategy backfired. At least 14 sitting ministers lost their elections and as did some leaders who led the charge for Hindutva issues, such as CT Ravi from Chikkamagaluru.

...I take responsibility for this debacle. There are multiple reasons for this. We will find out all the reasons and strengthen the party once again for Parliament elections, said Basavaraj Bommai.

But worse news was in store for the JD(S). The regional party that nursed aspirations of playing kingmaker in a close election lost its pockets of influence in the northern and central parts of the state and shrunk in the south. With 19 seats and 13.3%vote share, this was the partys worst showing since its first election in 1999, a far cry from 2018 when HD Kumaraswamy became chief minister with support from the Congress after winning 37 seats.

The scale of the partys decline was made clear by the loss of family borough Ramanagaram from where Kumaraswamys son, Nikhil Kumaraswamy contested. The former CM himself won by nearly 16,000 votes from Channapatna. Almost every community other than the one party patriarch and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda hails from, the Vokkaligas, appeared to have abandoned the party, a phenomenon analysts credited to the partys public and cynical pursuit of power instead of focussing on its traditional strengths, farmer welfare and rural populations.

I accept defeat and victory with equanimity. However, this defeat is not final, my struggle will not stop, I will always be with the people. I thank the people who have blessed our party, Kumaraswamy said.

Coming less than a year before the 2024 general elections, the victory in Karnataka is a morale booster for the Congress, which gains a resource-rich state and the confidence to take on the BJP in head-to-head contests. In 157seats where the national parties were in direct fights, the Congress won 104and the BJP 53. The party will take heart in its strong local campaign headlined by its two tallest local leaders, its pithy campaign slogans of 40% sarkara and Pay CM that painted the Basavaraj Bommai government as corrupt and struck a public chord, and its programme of five promises that married key constituencies of young people, women, unemployed and poor people. This helped the party stitch together a rainbow coalition that won over rural and urban voters alike  the party won 46urban seats and 63rural seats  and revive its alliance of backwards, Muslims and Dalits, or Ahinda, for the first time in half-a-century. Even its late-season gambit of likening the Bajrang Dal to the banned Popular Front of India appeared to have clicked, with massive Muslim consolidation behind the Congress in coastal and southern Karnataka regions.

With at least five other assembly elections to go this year, in addition to the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress will attempt to replicate its successful strategy of grassroots mobilisation, compelling local issues, and promoting regional satraps to take on the BJP. Siddaramaiah made a similar national pitch when he asked opposition parties to unite across the country. I hope all non-BJP parties come together and see that the BJP is defeated. I also hope Rahul Gandhi becomes Prime Minister of the country, Siddaramaiah said.

The victory will also boost the partys stock in a national Opposition formation and help it stave off prospective challengers such as the Aam Aadmi Party and Trinamool Congress in the opposition space.

The Congress triumph in Karnataka is a shot in the arm for a party starved of electoral wins. Act 1 was winning the election, but dont underestimate the importance of Act 2: the Congress high command will need to be enormously clever to satisfy the demands of the partys notoriously factionalised state unit, said Milan Vaishnav, senior fellow and director, South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, DC.

For the BJP, the weight of history  trying to overturn a 45-year trend of voting out the incumbent  ended up being too much. The party made a string of missteps, beginning with the removal of Yediyurappa, who built the party in the state, in 2021 and replacing him with Bommai. A strategy that had worked for the party in states such as Gujarat and Uttarakhand backfired in Karnataka as Bommais government was saddled with allegations of corruption and bribery, especially after a contractor died by suicide and named a senior BJP minister. Nor did Bommais enthusiastic acceptance of some of the more hardline aspects of the partys Hindutva pitch work.

In its campaign, the party tried to effect a generational change but this triggered rebellion. In a state where the BJP has traditionally accommodated various shades of Hinduism and a multitude of sects and mutts, the harder edge to its campaign didnt click anywhere except in the coastal Karnataka region where religious polarisation has a decades-old history. The party tweaked the reservation matrix but to little avail, and was also unable to find a response to the Congresss aggressive campaign on corruption, and has now lost its toehold in the south.

Karnataka has defeated the BJPs politics of centralisation and polarisation, and its model of exclusionary development. In the process, the idea of Karnataka has won, said A Narayana, a political analyst.

For sometime now, it has been clear that Karnatakas would be the Congress election to lose. That it didnt has implications both for it and for the battle for 2024.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi termed the Karnataka win as the victory of the people's strength over crony capitalism. Addressing the workers at the party headquarters in New Delhi, Rahul Gandhi thanked the people of Karnataka and said hate lost to love and this will happen in all other states. The promises by the party will be fulfilled in the first Cabinet meeting of the new government."On one hand, there was the strength of crony capitalism and on the other, there was the power of the poor people. Strength lost to power," Rahul Gandhi said. Rahul Gandhi said the promises will be fulfilled in the first cabinet meeting of the new government.

5 crucial factors that impacted the BJP in Karnataka elections

In the Karnataka fight, hatred or abuse were not Congress' weapons. We fought for the issues of the people, Rahul Gandhi said. "Karnataka mein nafrat ki bazaar bandh hui, mohabbat ki dukanein khuli," Rahul Gandhi said in his first response on Saturday.

'Love triumphed' is Rahul Gandhi's first reaction to Karnataka mandate.

Karnataka votes BJP out and comes to Congress fold.

As the Congress is all set to wrest the southern state from the BJP, the victory is being credited to Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra. And as Rahul Gandhi referred to 'mohabbat ki dukan' in his first speech after the counting began at 8am, he also made a reference to the yatra which, as Congress said, was to spread love against hatred.

Both DK Shivakumar, the Karnataka Congress chief, and former chief minister Siidaramaiah -- who steered the Congress campaigning to this resounding victory -- credited Rahul Gandhi. Siddaramaiah even said the Karnataka results should unite the opposition parties against the BJP and he hoped Rahul Gandhi becomes the Prime Minister in 2024.

As the results are being declared, Congress is set for a comfortable win in the southern state which will also mark BJP's exit from the southern part of India. The Congress has been winning or leading in 136 out of 224 assembly seats way above the magic number of 113.

What's next for the Congress in Karnataka?

The party will now have to do a balancing act and placate both Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar -- the two top contenders for the CM post. Siddaramaiah, a formidable force in Karnataka, was the chief minister from 2013 to 2018.

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The death toll in Manipur following the recent clashes in the State has gone up to 71 according to Security Advisor to Manipur Government Kuldeep Singh. An exchange of fire between Manipur Commandos and militants was also reported in the state leaving six of the Commandos injured and one dead. (File)

Speaking to ANI, Singh on Friday said, "Death figure is now approximately 71..."

"Yesterday there was an exchange of fire between Manipur commandos and militants. Six commandos got injured and one of them got killed," Kuldeep Singh said on Friday.

Singh further said that three PWD labourers were also found dead in a vehicle in the Churachandpur area. He said the exact cause behind the incident was yet to be ascertained.

"Three bodies of PWD labourers along with a vehicle in which they were commuting recovered from a 300-metre-deep trench in the Churachandpur area. However, it is being ascertained whether they met with an accident or got killed," Singh added.

Earlier, several locals went missing after being attacked by unidentified people while they had gone to collect some stuff from their burnt houses. An exchange of fire between Manipur Commandos and militants was also reported in the state leaving six of the Commandos injured and one dead, Singh further added.

Read Here | After the violence: A Myanmar twist as Manipur searches for its own

"Yesterday, there was an exchange of fire between Manipur commandos and militants in which six of the commandos got injured and one died," Singh told ANI.

Kuldeep Singh further said that in another incident in Torbung village at the border of Bishnupur and Churachandpur where 11 people had gone to collect some items from their burnt house came under attack by militants.

Eight of those who were attacked managed to flee and reached the BSF camp while three are still missing, he stated.

"A massive search operation was launched by Assam Rifles, BSF and CRPF was launched to find them out but we are not able to find them yet," said Singh.

Singh claimed that the situation has improved in the state and following the curfew relaxation has also been extended to seven hours. "Situation in Manipur has improved quite a lot and because of that curfew relaxation has also been extended to 7 hours now. Displaced people living in different camps have been reduced to a bare minimum...Approx 45,000 have been transported to different places... There are no extra flights operating and no stranded passengers at the airport as well," Singh said.

A curfew was imposed on May 3 after violence broke out in the State. The State government clamped down on the use of the Internet and mobile phones to ensure the spread of panic and false information is curtailed. Amid the demand of the Meitei for Scheduled Tribe status, a rally was organised by the All Tribals Students Union (ATSU) Manipur on May 3, which later turned violent.

As per latest figures, close to 71 people lost their lives while more than 230 were injured and close to 1700 houses were burnt down during the violence in Manipur.
Early trends during the counting of votes across 224 seats in Karnataka on Saturday morning indicate that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) showed the Congress taking a decisive lead, past the 113-seat halfway mark, banking on its strategy of raising local corruption issues and providing social justice as an alternative during a pitched campaign. EVMs in a Karnataka strong room. (PTI)

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), its key opponent and the incumbent party in the state, appeared to claw back some of the losses in the phase of the counting process, though it remained well beyond the magic number, and less than the 104 seats it won in 2018.

The Janata Dal (Secular), which often plays kingmaker in the southern state and is fighting for relevance in these elections, got off to a slow start, with most trends showing numbers well below the 37 seats it bagged during the last elections.

To be sure, these are extremely early trends, with just a fraction of the votes counted. The numbers likely to firm up over the next couple of hours.

A few electoral constants have characterised the Karnataka elections over the past few decades.

For one, the BJP has never secured a majority in the Karnataka assembly polls.

Secondly, after 1985, no ruling party has secured a majority in the subsequent assembly polls.

Crucially, electors in Karnataka exhibit separate patterns in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. For instance, in 1985, when Ramakrishna Hedge of the Janata Party won with a decisive majority, less than a year after voters gave the Congress a clean sweep in the state.

The BJP had two clear strategies in this election.

First, its campaign revolved around the personality and charisma of its central leaders, with the party trying to cement its Lingayat vote through former chief minister BS Yediyurappa and his predecessor and incumbent Basvaraj Bommai.

Ever since the BJP came to power in the state after the collapse of the Congress-JDS coalition government in 2019, it has tried to set the political agenda in the state.

However, initial successes notwithstanding, the state government appeared to be on the backfoot. Chief minister Bommai, who was elevated to the position after the BJP imposed its retirement rule on Yediyurappa in 2021, failed to assert himself, leading to factionalism within the party and cliques emerging within the government. This, consequently, kept the state government from expanding the cabinet and reshuffling portfolios.

Such was the fear of factionalism that the party retained a bulk of the sitting MLAs and retired a few veterans such as former CM Jagadish Shettar, who rebelled and is now contesting on a Congress ticket.

From the partys campaign strategy, it appeared that the BJP central leadership realised anti-incumbency and tried to place Bommai government record on the back-burner and focussed on its central government.

So much so that the campaign hovered around Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah with all state leaders except Yediyurappa being in the background.

The BJP also failed to counter the Congress 40% commission government charge effectively for months. It only responded when Prime Minister Narendra Modi countered this with a charge that the corruption in the Congress was 85%.

Further, a cascade of corruption charges appeared to dent what little defence the state leadership tried to provide. For instance, the BJP was on the defensive when the son of a BJP MLA was caught by the Lokayukta in a case of seeking monetary favours for a contract. The party was not able to even suspend the MLA, though he was denied a ticket.

If that was not enough a tweet by the state government on agreement with a Taiwan based IT company establishing its unit in Bengaluru will create many jobs, was contradicted by the said company through a statement saying no decision had been taken. However, the same company confirmed an agreement in neighbouring Telangana.

The Congress was able to reap most political dividends from the Amul-Nandini controversy, as the campaign began to take shape.

Most milk producers for Amul are in the Old Mysuru and Central Karnataka regions, which have been JD (S) and BJP strongholds respectively. The trends show that the issue had some impact there.

The BJPs bid to make the denial of 4% reservation to the Muslims a poll issue also did not work as the party would have expected with the state government assuring the Supreme Court that the withdrawal of the quota for Muslims would not be implemented for the moment. This raised questions on the partys campaign to raise 4% reservations for Lingayats and Vokkaligas. Also, increasing reservations just a week before the elections were announced on March 29 appears to have cast some doubts among the electorate whether the party was serious about increasing the reservation benefit.

From the early trends, it appears that the BJP is doing better than most opinion polls but lower than what the exit polls predicted. The party is hinging on getting close to 80 seats and for the Congress it appears it will cross the majority mark.

Both the Congress and the BJP have refrained from announcing a chief ministerial candidate on account of their unique internal compulsions.

The Congress, which appears to be heading towards becoming the largest party may have a challenge to choose as chief minister candidate as both former CM Siddaramaiah, a Kuruba, and state Congress chief DK Shivakumar, a Vokkaliga, are strong contenders for the position.

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Victory of politics to unite India: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Karnataka election results Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday lauded the people of Karnataka for the grand old party's success in the assembly election, calling it a victory of politics to unite India. Read more Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi (Twitter Photo)

Three key takeaways from the Karnataka results

The Congress has pulled off a convincing victory in the Karnataka assembly elections winning 135 assembly constituencies (ACs) out of the total 224. Read more

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Those who breed exotic species protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and listed in Appendix 1 of Schedule IV of the Wildlife Protection Act 2022 can now obtain Breeders of Species Licence under the Breeders of Species Licence Rules, 2023 notified on April 24 by the Union environment ministry. There are strict import rules for endangered exotic animals and plants in India. (WWF India)

Appendix 1 of Schedule IV of the Wildlife Protection Act 2022 has species of various bears and pandas such as the Red Panda, various species of dogs, wolves, cats, apes, chimpanzees, gibbons, lemurs, squirrels, armadillos, various birds including Hornbills, Macaws, Parakeets, Owls, various reptiles among others. Appendix 1 of Schedule IV are endangered exotic animals and plants and import rules are stricter for them.

The Wildlife Protection Act 2022 seeks better implementation of CITES. It proposes to rationalise and amend the schedules that list out wildlife species to ensure better care of seized animals and disposal of seized wildlife parts and products. India is a party to the CITES, which requires that appropriate measures are taken to enforce the provisions of the convention.

Any person who is engaged in breeding in captivity or artificially propagating a scheduled specimen listed in Appendix I of Schedule IV shall, within a period of 90 days of the commencement of the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022, make an application to the Chief Wild Life Warden for the breeders license, the notification states. Any person who intends to engage in breeding in captivity or artificially propagating a scheduled specimen listed in Appendix I or renewal of Licence shall make an application to the Chief Wild Life Warden. Every such application shall be accompanied with a fee of 25,000 through electronic mode or in the form of demand draft drawn on any bank in India in favour of the Chief Wild Life Warden payable at the place where the office of Chief Wild Life Warden is situated.

The Chief Wild Life Warden can authorise Deputy Conservator of Forests to endorse the application, and on receipt of the application the authorised officer can scrutinise the application as expeditiously as possible--If on scrutiny, the application is found to be in order, it shall be registered and given serial number; If the application on scrutiny is found to be defective, the same shall be returned to the applicant for rectifying the defects and resubmitting the corrected application within 15 days from the date of its receipt. The rules also specify the process of verifying these applications. Every person to whom a licence under these rules has been granted shall maintain record of stock in case of artificially propagated specimen. The Chief Wild Life Warden or the Deputy Conservator of Forests concerned having jurisdiction over the area as and when required, may call for record for inspection from the person to whom the Licence has been granted. The notification also lays down the process for cancellation of license of breeders.

Captive breeding of exotic species protected under CITES was not regulated in the Indian laws until the recent amendment to the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act 2022. This notification laid down the procedure to be followed for regulation of breeding of exotic species under CITES Appendix I and trade in them.

Article VII of the CITES states that species included in Appendix I, when bred in captivity (animals) or propagated artificially (plants) for commercial purposes are deemed to be specimens of species included in Appendix II. Thus, this notification may facilitate an increase in breeding of such species for export and commercial purposes, said Debadityo Sinha, Lead- Climate & Ecosystems, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.

Captive breeding can act as a conservation tool only if it is used to restock a species whose population has collapsed in the wild, but the habitat is still intact. It does not help when habitat loss is the primary cause behind the collapse of a species, as is the case in India. The best way to conserve a species is by safeguarding its natural habitat. Captive breeding is the last resort and never an elixir for life, said Anish Andheria, CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Trust.

Also, to legitimise breeding of native wild animals in captivity can put tremendous pressure on its wild counterparts from the ever-present threat of illegal wildlife trade, especially, when we dont have regulatory mechanisms in place, Andheria added.

I only hope this doesnt empower the powerful, rich hobbyists and breeders and private zoos. Some rich and famous already have these exotic animals with them. CITES has to be enforced stringently at the border level. It should not be used as license to breed exotic animals. Rich can easily pay a fee of 25,000 to breed them. We have to be very careful otherwise this compliance with CITES will turn into a disaster as you cannot release these animals into the wild later, said a researcher who declined to be named.

According to Wildlife Protection Act 2022, whenever a Scientific Authority is of the opinion that the export of specimens of such species requires to be limited in order to maintain that species throughout its range at a level consistent with its role in the ecosystems in which it occurs and well above the level at which that species might become eligible for inclusion in Appendix I of the Convention, it shall advise the Management Authority to take such appropriate measures to limit the grant of export permits for specimens of that species as the Scientific Authority may deem necessary for said purpose.

An import permit for a specimen of a species listed in Appendix I of Schedule IV shall not be granted unless (a) the Management Authority is satisfied that the specimen concerned will not be used for primarily commercial purposes; (b) the Scientific Authority has advised that the import will be for purposes which are not detrimental to the survival of the species; and (c) the Scientific Authority is satisfied that the proposed recipient of a living specimen is suitably equipped to house and care for it.

While introducing the Wildlife Protection (Amendment) Bill 2022 in Lok Sabha, Union environment minister, Bhupender Yadav had said the amendment has been introduced to meet Indias obligations under CITES.

India is a member of CITES. The pace at which wildlife resources and species are being lost, this agreement was made to address that. In India illegal trade in wildlife is regulated under the Customs Act, Exim policy, Directorate General of Foreign Trade and the Wildlife Protection Act. CITES made a provision for separate regulation for illegal trade in wildlife. The UPA (the United Progressive Alliance government) did not complete their assurance under CITES. But we (the National Democratic Alliance government) are doing it now. Lok Sabha passed it and now I expect this bill to be passed by Rajya Sabha also, Yadav had said.
At least 2,500 kg drugs, suspected to be methamphetamine and estimated to be around 12,000 crore, were seized from a large vessel near the Kerala coast in a joint operation by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Indian Navy, the anti-drug agency said on Saturday. At least 2,500 kg drugs, suspected to be methamphetamine were seized from Kerala coast (Twitter Photo)

A Pakistani national was detained in connection with the drug bust after the vessel was intercepted in Indian waters in the Indian Ocean, NCB said in a statement. The recovered contraband along with the suspect was brought to the Mattancherry Wharf in Cochin on Saturday, said NCB officials, adding the agency has begun a probe to identify the receivers of the consignment.

The agency termed it the largest seizure of methamphetamine in the country, with officials saying the drug was seized from a mother ship. According to NCB, a mother ship is a large vessel carrying huge quantities of narcotics for distribution to receiving boats along the route.

The statement further said that the source of the drug was the Death Cresent. NCB identifies regions in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran as a death crescent because most of the contraband smuggled into the country comes from these three countries.

The agency said that while working with the navys intelligence wing, officials came across an input about a mother ship carrying a large quantity of methamphetamine from the Makran coast around Pakistan and Iran.

Continuous intelligence collection and analysis resulted in the identification of a highly probable route that the mother ship would take for distribution of contraband, said an NCB spokesperson. Accordingly, these details were shared with Indian Navy and a naval ship was deployed in the vicinity.

Based on this input, the spokesperson added, A large vessel was intercepted by the navy and 134 sacks of suspected methamphetamine were recovered from the ship.

After the vessel was intercepted, the Pakistani national tried to flee on a speed boat, but Indian Navy officials intercepted it, NCB officials said, adding they are questioning the suspect. The drugs were concealed in rice bags purportedly of a Pakistan-based rice company, the officials said.

NCBs deputy director general (operations) Sanjay Kumar Singh said the case was busted as part of Operation Samudragupt, launched by the agency in January 2022.

The primary objective of the operation was to collect actionable inputs which could lead to interception of ships carrying narcotics contraband, Singh said. For this task, the team exchanged and gathered information from drug law enforcement agencies such as DRI, ATS Gujarat etc. and intelligence agencies such as Intelligence Wing of Indian Navy, NTRO.

As part of the operation, NCB has in the past recovered drugs from the coast of Gujarat in February 2022 and another in October 2022. In both cases, officials found the source of drugs to be in Afghanistan and Baluchistan.

Operation Samudragupt is part of the Union governments plan to make India drug-free by 2047. Union home minister Amit Shah in an interview with HT on May 3 said the government has intensified its campaign against cartels smuggling contraband drugs into the country by setting into motion a multi-pronged strategy to combat the trafficking and abuse of drugs.

Instead of isolated cases, the government and the agencies are approaching these from top to bottom and bottom to top, the minister had said. For instance, if we recover a packet of drug from a child, it is not an isolated case, but we investigate where the drug entered the country from, the entire network is investigated, he said. Same way, when drugs are confiscated at the port or airport or the border then we investigate where it was bound for.

As part of the operation, NCB has recovered around 3,200 kg of methamphetamine, 500kg of heroin and 529 kg of hashish so far. The NCB has also shared intelligence with Sri Lankan navy and Maldives police and ensured the recovery of 286 kg heroin and 128 kg methamphetamine by the two countries in March this year.
PHOENIX  Paramedics summoned to an Arizona retirement community last summer found an 80-year-old woman slumped inside her mobile home, enveloped in the suffocating 99-degree heat she suffered for days after her air conditioner broke down. Efforts to revive her failed, and her death was ruled environmental heat exposure aggravated by heart disease and diabetes.

In Americas hottest big metro, older people like the Sun Lakes mobile home resident accounted for most of the 77 people who died last summer in broiling heat inside their homes, almost all without air conditioning. Now, the heat dangers long known in greater Phoenix are becoming familiar nationwide as global warming creates new challenges to protect the aged.

From the Pacific Northwest to Chicago to North Carolina, health clinics, utilities and local governments are being tested to keep older people safe when temperatures soar. Theyre adopting rules for disconnecting electricity, mandating when to switch on communal air conditioning and improving communication with at-risk people living alone.

Situated in the Sonoran Desert, Phoenix and its suburbs are ground zero for heat-associated deaths in the U.S. Such fatalities are so common that Arizonas largest county keeps a weekly online tally during the six-month hot season from May through October. Temperatures this year were already hitting the high 90s the first week of April.

A warming world

Phoenix really is the model for what well be seeing in other places, said researcher Jennifer Ailshire, a native of the desert city now at the University of Southern California's Leonard Davis School of Gerontology where she studies how environmental factors affect health and aging. The world is changing rapidly and I fear we are not acting fast enough to teach people how harmful rising temperatures can be."

A 2021 study estimated more than a third of U.S. heat deaths each year can be attributed to human-caused global warming. It found more than 1,100 deaths a year from climate change-caused heat in some 200 U.S. cities, many in the East and Midwest, where people often dont have air conditioning or are not acclimated to hot weather. Another study showed that in coming decades dangerous heat will hit much of the world at least three times as hard as climate change worsens.

Isolated and vulnerable, the heat victims last year during Maricopa County's deadliest summer on record included a couple in their 80s without known relatives, an 83-year-old woman with dementia living alone after her husband entered hospice care and a 62-year-old Rwandan refugee whose air conditioner broke down.

While most of the county's confirmed 378 heat-associated deaths were outdoors, those who died indoors were especially vulnerable because of isolation, mobility issues or medical problems as outside summertime highs hit 115 degrees.

Older people of color, with a greater tendency for chronic conditions like diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure are especially at risk.

In Chicago, three African American women in their 60s and 70s died in spring 2022 when the centrally controlled heating in their housing complex remained on and the air conditioning was off despite unseasonable 90-degree weather in mid-May.

An undetermined number of older people died during the summer of 2021 when an unexpected heat wave swept across the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Canada reported that coroners confirmed more than 600 people died from the heat in neighboring British Columbia.

Checking on older people

Many U.S. cities, including Phoenix, have plans to protect people during heat waves, opening cooling centers and distributing bottled water.

But many older people need personalized attention, said Dr. Aaron Bernstein, who directs the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

If you are elderly and sick you are unlikely to get into an Uber or bus to get to a cooling center, said Bernstein, who vividly recalls a 1995 heat wave that killed 739 mostly older people in Chicago, his hometown. So many were socially isolated and at tremendous risk.

Sociologist Eric M. Klinenberg, who wrote about the catastrophe in his book Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago, has noted social contacts can protect older people during disasters.

Older people are more prone to live alone," he said, "and they are the most likely to die.

That's true of all extreme weather.

When Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana in 2005, around half of the 1,000 people killed were 75 or older, most of them drowned when their homes flooded.

Chicago encourages residents to check on older relatives and neighbors on hot days and city workers visit people's home. But last year's deaths at a Chicago apartment house shows more is needed.

Community health clinics can help

Bernstein's center is working with relief organization Americares to help community health clinics prepare vulnerable patients for heat waves and other extreme weather.

A "climate resilience tool kit" includes tips like making sure patients have wall thermometers and know how to check weather forecasts on a smart phone. Patients learn simple ways to beat the heat, like taking a shower or sponge bath to cool off and drinking plenty of water.

Alexis Hodges, a family nurse practitioner at the Community Care Clinic of Dare in coastal North Carolina, said rising temperatures can cause renal failure in patients with kidney problems and exacerbate dehydration from medications like diuretics.

Hodges contributed to the climate kit from a region that experiences all the weather events it covers: extreme heat, hurricanes, flooding and wildfires.

At the nonprofit Mountain Park Health centers that annually serve 100,000 patients in greater Phoenix, nurse practitioner Anthony Carano has written numerous letters to utility companies for low-income patients with chronic conditions, asking them not to turn off power despite missed payments.

This is such an at-risk population, Carano said of the overwhelmingly Latino patient population that suffer from diabetes and other ailments aggravated by warm weather. About one-tenth of the patients are 60 and older.

Francisca Canes, a 77-year-old patient visiting for back pain, said she's fortunate to live with two daughters who take care of her during hot spells. In the summertime, she stays in shape by joining several women friends at 4 a.m. most mornings for a 4-mile walk.

Air conditioner replacement and repair

Maricopa County in April used federal funds to to allocate another $10 million to its air conditioner replacement and repair program for people who qualify, brining total funding to $13.65 million. In greater Phoenix and several rural Arizona counties, older low-income people can apply for free repair or replacement of air conditioners through a separate non-profit program.

The Healthy Homes Air Conditioning Program run by the nonprofit Foundation for Senior Living last summer ensured about 30 people got new air conditioners or repairs and helped others with home improvements.

Priority goes to older people, those with disabilities and families with very small children, who are also vulnerable to the heat. A person living alone must earn $27,180 or less, said Laura Simone, program coordinator for FSL Home Improvements.

The program recently installed energy efficient windows in the 1930s home of 81-year-old widow Socorro Silvas.

I am so grateful they are taking care of low-income people like me, said Silvas, who got her air conditioner in the middle of a sweltering summer several years ago through a program run by Tolleson, a suburb west of Phoenix.

Utility companies can also help protect vulnerable people by halting power disconnections during hot periods.

In Arizona, air conditioning is a matter of life and death, especially if you are older, said Dana Kennedy, the state director of AARP, which has fought for stricter regulations preventing summertime power cutoffs.

Stricter regulations

New rules for Arizona utilities were adopted after 72-year-old Stephanie Pullman died in August 2018 at her Phoenix area home as outside temperatures reached 107 degrees.

The medical examiner's office said Pullman died from environmental heat exposure combined with cardiovascular disease after her power was shut off over a $176.84. debt.

The Arizona agency that regulates utilities now bans electricity cutoffs for nonpayment during the hottest months.

After the three Chicago women died last year, residential buildings for older people in the city now must provide air-conditioned common areas and administrators no longer have to keep centrally controlled heat on during unseasonably warm weather. The Illinois state Senate recently passed legislation requiring that all affordable housing have air-conditioning operating when the temperature is 80 degrees (26.6 C) or higher and must be operable by residents.

Kennedy said mobile homes are especially dangerous as high temperatures transform them into a hot metal containers.

A lot are not insulated, said Kennedy, who has advised an Arizona State University group working to make mobile homes safer with more surrounding shade and on-site cooling centers. These heat deaths truly are heartbreaking. But in many cases we can help prevent them.
At least 2,500 kg drugs, suspected to be methamphetamine and estimated to be around 12,000 crore, was seized from a large vessel near the Kerala coast in a joint operation by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Indian Navy, the anti-drug agency said on Saturday. The agency termed it the largest seizure of methamphetamine in the country, with officials saying the drug was seized from a mother ship. (HT Photo)

A Pakistani national was detained in connection with the drug bust after the vessel was intercepted in Indian waters in the Indian Ocean, NCB said in a statement. The recovered contraband along with the suspect were brought to the Mattancherry Wharf in Cochin on Saturday, said NCB officials, adding the agency has begun a probe to identify the receivers of the consignment.

The agency termed it the largest seizure of methamphetamine in the country, with officials saying the drug was seized from a mother ship. According to NCB, a mother ship is a large vessel carrying huge quantities of narcotics for distribution to receiving boats along the route.

The statement further said that the source of the drug was the Death Cresent. NCB identifies regions in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran as a death crescent because most of the contraband smuggled into the country come from these three countries.

The agency said that while working with the navys intelligence wing, officials came across an input about a mother ship carrying a large quantity of methamphetamine from the Makran coast around Pakistan and Iran.

Continuous intelligence collection and analysis resulted in identification of a highly probable route that the mother ship would take for distribution of contraband, said an NCB spokesperson. Accordingly, these details were shared with Indian Navy and a naval ship was deployed in the vicinity.

Based on this input, the spokesperson added, a large vessel was intercepted by the navy and 134 sacks of suspected methamphetamine were recovered from the ship.

After the vessel was intercepted, the Pakistani national tried to flee on a speed boat, but Indian Navy officials intercepted it, NCB officials said, adding they are questioning the suspect. The drugs were concealed in rice bags purportedly of a Pakistan-based rice company, the officials said.

NCBs deputy director general (operations) Sanjay Kumar Singh said the case was busted as part of Operation Samudragupt, launched by the agency in January 2022.

The primary objective of the operation was to collect actionable inputs which could lead to interception of ships carrying narcotics contraband, Singh said. For this task, the team exchanged and gathered information from drug law enforcement agencies such as DRI, ATS Gujarat etc. and intelligence agencies such as Intelligence Wing of Indian Navy, NTRO.

As part of the operation, NCB has in the past recovered drugs from coast of Gujarat in February 2022 and another in October 2022. In both cases, officials found the source of drugs to be in Afghanistan and Baluchistan.

The operation Samudragupt is part of the Union governments plan to make India drug-free by 2047. Union home minister Amit Shah in an interview to HT on May 3 said the government has intensified its campaign against cartels smuggling contraband drugs into the country by setting into motion a multi-pronged strategy to combat the trafficking and abuse of drugs.

Instead of isolated cases, the government and the agencies are approaching these from top to bottom and bottom to top, the minister had said. For instance, if we recover a packet of drug from a child, it is not an isolated case, but we investigate where the drug entered the country from, the entire network is investigated, he said. Same way, when drugs are confiscated at the port or airport or the border then we investigate where it was bound for.

As part of the operation, NCB has recovered around 3,200 kg methamphetamine, 500kg heroin and 529 kg of hashish so far. The NCB has also shared intelligence with Sri Lankan navy and Maldives police and ensured the recovery of 286 kg heroin and 128 kg methamphetamine by the two countries in March this year.
The Indian Army troops foiled an infiltration bid in the Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir in the early hours of Saturday, forcing the quadcopter flown by Pakistan to withdraw, an Army source told ANI. Earlier on May 3, Indian Army foiled an infiltration bid in J-K's Kupwara and eliminated two terrorists in an encounter. (File)

As per the source, there was an exchange of fire between terrorists and Indian Army troops.

"An infiltration bid by terrorists was foiled in the Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir, early morning today. There was an exchange of fire between terrorists and their own troops. Pakistan side tried to fly a quadcopter over the incident site but on being fired at by the Indian side it quickly withdrew," the source said.

Earlier on May 3, Indian Army foiled an infiltration bid in J-K's Kupwara and eliminated two terrorists in an encounter.
On Wednesday, minutes after he cast his vote, two-time chief minister (CM) HD Kumaraswamy beseeched the people of Karnataka to vote for his Janata Dal (Secular), or JD(S). His party would be king, he said. The two governments led by HD Kumaraswamy collapsed under the weight of their internal contradictions (PTI fILE pHOTO)

The subtext was inescapable. The term kingmaker has long endured in Indian politics, used to define political parties that leverage their weight in an assembly that has no clear majority; no government can be formed without them. In its 24-year history since former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda broke away from the Janata Dal to form his own political party, ostensibly in opposition to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the JD(S) seemed to have mastered the art. So much so that despite having seats far fewer than the majority mark, Kumaraswamy has risen to be CM twice  once in alliance with the BJP and once with the Congress.

Cut to 2023, and the chinks in this strategy that hinge on the weakness of the mandate have been exposed. The Congress has swept Karnataka, flying past the halfway mark. The JD(S) has lost its vote share, its seat share, and arguably its political relevance.

The JD(S) campaign in Karnataka was framed around three central principles. First, an attempted expansion beyond its core areas in Old Mysuru, through a 100-day yatra helmed by Kumaraswamy and the ageing Deve Gowda, and headlined by a slew of promises to farmers. Second, a consolidation of its loyal Vokkaliga base which has been helmed by Gowda for five decades. And third, the influence of the family with multiple members fighting in their respective bastions.

The first and second principle failed  the party not only lost ground in northern and central Karnataka, but both the BJP and the Congress made inroads into the Vokkaliga bastions of Old Mysuru. Even more alarmingly for what is a family-run outfit, the third principle didnt work either. The influence of the family in the region is wavering. HD Revanna only won Holenarasipur, the seat that has the village of Hardanahalli where Deve Gowda grew up, by less than 3,000 votes. Nikhil Kumaraswamy, Deve Gowdas grandson, lost from Ramnagara, another family bastion in Mandya.

Overall, the JD(S) fell to its lowest seat tally of 19 since 1999 when the fledgling party first fought elections, falling from 37 in 2018. Its vote share dipped by five percentage points.

Born out of these three limited principles, the JD(S) campaign suffered from the fatal flaw of failing to capture Karnatakas aspirations. For a state that is quickly urbanising and is the centre of Indias information technology push, the JD(S) has nothing to offer. For a state that yearned for a diverse leadership, it only has family to offer. For a state yearning for political stability, it could only offer the best case scenario of it being in government as the head of an unstable coalition. As recent history has shown, both Kumaraswamy-led governments collapsed under the weight of their internal contradictions. Voters didnt forget.

In many ways, the party now stares at an existential crossroads. The emotional centre of the party has always been Deve Gowda, the man who rose from a village in Hassan to be the only Kannadiga prime minister in Indian political history. These elections displayed his frailty and his age; he had to be helped to the voting booth on Wednesday. He called these his last elections, and they most likely are. In his absence, Kumaraswamy and Revanna have failed to create the same connection with farmers, the partys core base. In the absence of this direct connect, they have often been labelled power brokers. And the third generation in Nikhil Kumaraswamy has now lost both a parliamentary and now an assembly election.

Fundamentally, the JD(S) finds itself reduced to a party that only has influence in extremely limited pockets of southern Karnataka, and even there, only among a shrinking base of Vokkaligas. The Muslims have coalesced around the Congress. In its Old Mysuru bastions, the Congress and the BJP will both be circling its Vokkaliga votebase. For the BJP, the Vokkaligas present an opportunity to expand their social coalition beyond the miffed Lingayats. In DK Shivakumar, the Congress have a Vokkaliga leader who could even be chief minister, if not now then in a few years. JD(S) only has 19 seats and no positions in government to offer to its legislators, who may well be susceptible to influence from the BJP or the Congress.

To be sure, the epitaph of the JD(S) has been written before; indeed it is written every five years. In fact, there was a moment on Saturday morning, where the elections appeared to closer than the eventual results, and the JD(S) seemed to be well in play. But it is also clear that the JD(S) needs a reset. While a national party may well woo it in the future again, JD(S) needs to break out of its image of a kingmaker. It needs to broaden its base beyond just one caste and just one region. Whether it can do it without Deve Gowda at the helm is a key question that confronts the first family of the JD(S). Their political relevance, or irrelevance, in 2024 and beyond hinges on the answer.

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Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, contesting against BJPs V Somanna and Bharathi Shankar of the JD(S) in the Varuna constituency, is leading in the Karnataka assembly elections as per the Election Commissions website. Congress leader Siddaramaiah reacts as the party leads in Karnataka Assembly polls on the vote counting day, in Mysuru.(PTI)

The Congress stalwart currently has 45,075 votes while state minister Somanna has 26,049 votes according to the Election Commission (EC) trends at 12.40 pm of the votes polled.

Follow Karnataka assembly election results LIVE here

Siddaramaiah had won from the constituency in 2008 and 2013, but opted to contest from Badami and Chamundeshwari in 2008, winning only in Badami. In the 2018 Karnataka polls, the BJP's Lingayat strongman Somanna had won from Govindaraja Nagar, his pocketborough in Bengaluru.

Siddaramaiah had announced that this will be his last election while casting his vote on Thursday. Adding that he wont be retiring from politics, he expressed confidence in Congress' win and said, "There is a tremendous response from the voters. I will get more than 60 per cent of the votes.

As the Opposition Congress marched ahead in 127 seats on Saturday, the DK Shivakumar-led party made a strong comeback in the BJPs sole southern citadel Karnataka. The party shot past the magic mark of 113 by mid-morning, while the BJP was leading in 67 seats.

Reacting to Congress huge victory, veteran leader Siddaramaiah said, We told that even if PM Modi comes nothing will work and see that has happened. We are leading in 120 seats. As we expected we will get the majority."

Notably, Siddaramaiah was Karnataka deputy CM in 1994 as part of a Janata Dal government. After a rift with JD(S) leader HD Deve Gowda, he was expelled from the party in 2004. He later joined the Congress in 2008 and became the CM following the 2013 elections.

Earlier in the day, Siddaramaiahs son Yathindra said his father should be made the chief minister in the interest of the state as his last regime saw good governance. Siddaramaiah junior also reiterated that the party will do anything to ensure that BJP does not come back to power.

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After the Congress's resounding victory in the Karnataka assembly election 2023, the party has released a report card highlighting the party's "impact" from the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi. Congress communication chief Jairam Ramesh shared a comparative analysis table showcasing the party's performance in 20 assembly constituencies that were covered during the padyatra. Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar with Rahul Gandhi during the party's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'. (PTI file)

According to the list, the Congress, which secured five out of the 20 seats in the 2018 assembly elections, experienced significant growth in 2023 and was leading in 15 seats as of 4pm. In contrast, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which previously won nine out of these 20 seats, was leading in just two. The Janata Dal (Secular), victorious in six seats before, was leading in three.

Also Read: Karnataka Election Results LIVE Updates

While this is the direct impact of the #BharatJodoYatra in Karnataka, the intangible impact was uniting the party, reviving the cadre and shaping the narrative for the Karnataka elections. It was during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, from the many conversations @RahulGandhi had with the people of Karnataka, that the Guarantees and the promises in our manifesto were discussed and finalised, Ramesh tweeted.

The Rahul Gandhi-led 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' had entered Karnataka on September 30 last year at Gundlupet in Chamarajanagara district. It passed through Chamarajanagara, Mysuru, Mandya, Tumkur, Chitradurga, Bellary and Raichur, traversing a distance of over 500 km in about 22 days in the state.

The Congress crossed the 113-seat mark in the assembly election, the majority required to form the government, in Karnataka. According to the Election Commission website, the party won 122 seats and was leading in 14 constituencies.

The BJP won 56 seats and was ahead in eight segments. The JD(S) emerged victorious in 18 seats and was leading in two constituencies.

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The outcome of the Karnataka assembly elections on Saturday was hailed by the Bihars Mahaghatbandhan (Grand Alliance) with party leaders extending wishes to the Congress party for their resounding victory with CM Nitish Kumar leading the charge with his wishes. Supporters during Congress partys celebrations after their win in the Karnataka assembly elections. (PTI photo)

Congratulations to Indian National Congress for the victory and getting absolute majority in Karnataka assembly polls, CM Kumar wrote.

The results have given hope to the GA spearheaded by chief minister Nitish Kumar, to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Also Read: Karnataka: Cong makes inroads into BJPs strongholds of Dharwad, Uttara Kannada

JD (U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh also criticised the BJP.

They used all tricks, tried to fan the religious frenzy and more importantly honourable PM campaigned against the prestige of PMs post but everything failed in front of corruption of BJP government. Karnataka has become BJP-Mukt, said Rajiv Ranjan Singh.

Bihars finance minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary also hit out at the BJP.

The people of Karnataka were fed up with the corrupt rule of the BJP and apart from this, even God is angry with his name being dragged into electoral politics. The Prime Minister himself was trying to polarize votes by starting his election addresses, Chaudhary said.

Congress leaders in the state were ecstatic at the outcome of the Karnataka polls.

State Congress president and Rajya Sabha MP Akhilesh Prasad Singh said that this is the victory of the people of Karnataka and also the positive result of Rahul Gandhis Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, it was a litmus test of the mood of the people, in which the people voted against the countrys Prime Ministers dictatorial policies, he said.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) also mocked the BJP after their loss.

Karnataka assembly elections have started the process of BJPs downfall, which is a trailer for Lok Sabha elections to be held in 2024, said RJDs spokesperson Chittaranjan Gagan.

BJP leaders in the state were yet to comment on the results.

Morale booster for Nitish Kumars unity move

The Karnataka result has come as a morale booster not only for the Grand Alliance in Bihar but also for chief minister Kumars opposition unity bid.

The initiative of the chief minister Nitish Kumar to unite the opposition parties is progressing successfully and now the people of the whole country are realizing that the mutual understanding and unity of the opposition parties can easily stop the return of the BJP to the Centre, Chaudhary said.

However, a few sections of JD(U) leaders felt it could be a sticking point in GA over seat distribution.

Nitish Kumar may have to compromise on the distribution of seats, said a JD (U) leader on condition of anonymity.

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The counting of around 38 million votes polled for the 224-member Karnataka assembly began on Saturday with very early trends showing the Congress was leading. According to NDTV, Congress was leading on 91 seats, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 74, Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) 19. India Today reported the BJP was ahead on 86 seats, Congress 99, and JD(S) 19 Around 38 million votes were polled for the 224-member Karnataka assembly. (ANI)

The BJP hoped to retain power in the only southern state it has ruled since 2019 even as the exit polls suggested Congress has an edge following the polling on Wednesday when Karnataka recorded its the highest voter turnout ever. The state has voted out the incumbent over last three decades.

Two of the three states Congress rules on its own are due to go to the polls this year. If it wins Karnataka, it will be its biggest assembly election victory since December 2018 even as it returned to power in Himachal Pradesh last year.

Hours before the counting commenced, three major parties Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) went into a huddle. JD(S) hopes to emerge as a kingmaker like it did in 2018.

BJP minister R Ashoka on Friday said his party will cross the half-way mark and also has an alternative plan if that did not happen.

HT on Saturday reported that the BJP has requested the leadership for Union home minister Amit Shah to fly to Bengaluru on Saturday evening if no partys gets a majority amid a sense that would be the case.

The Congress strategy focusses on keeping its lawmakers together after the election results are declared. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge met the partys general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, state unit chief D K Shivakumar and former deputy chief minister G Parameshwara at his residence to discuss their strategy on Friday.

HT reported that Congress legislators will stay at a resort until the government is formed. Exit polls have projected Congress will emerge as as the single-largest party. But the party is preparing to deal with a hung assembly and have sent feelers to JD(S).

Congress leader Priyank Kharge said operation lotus or poaching of lawmakers by the BJP to form the government originated and was mastered in Karnataka. So, we have to be careful and we have to keep our flock together.

Congress lawmaker Satish Jarkiholi on Friday said JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy was in favour of the Congress forming the government. even as he insited there would not be a hung assembly.

BJP lawmaker MP Renukacharya said that an alliance with the JD(S) could not be ruled out.

The JD(S) largely focussed on retaining its stronghold of Old Mysuru and safeguarding its traditional vote base, the Vokkaligas.

Karnataka JD(S) president CM Ibrahim said they have not decided on an alliance with any party.

The counting on Saturday began with postal ballots. There are nearly 18,000-20,000 postal ballots for Bengaluru. Following that, Electronic Voting Machines will be opened.
The Congress was leading on 63 seats with a vote share of 45.4% as the counting of around 38 million votes polled for the 224-member Karnataka assembly was underway, according to the Election Commission of India ECI) website at 9:30am. The BJP was ahead on 42 seats with a vote share of 38.2% and Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) on nine seats (8.7% vote share). EVMs and VVPATs being sealed and secured at a polling booth in Bengaluru. (ANI)

Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj S Bommai, who offered prayers at a temple in Hubballi, insisted the BJP will get an absolute majority and provide a stable government and all-inclusive development .

Congress leader Syed Naseer Hussain said there will be a clear mandate for the Congress. I am expecting a landslide victory for the party.

The BJP hoped to retain power in the only southern state it has ruled since 2019 even as exit polls suggested Congress has an edge following the polling on Wednesday when Karnataka recorded its the highest voter turnout ever. The state has voted out the incumbent over last three decades.

Two of the three states Congress rules on its own are due to go to the polls this year. If it wins Karnataka, it will be its biggest assembly election victory since December 2018 even as it returned to power in Himachal Pradesh last year.
More than an hour-and-a-half after counting in the Karnataka assembly elections, early trends indicate that the Janata Dal (Secular) is leading in 19 seats, even as the Congress leads 95 seats and the BJP 61. HT Image

Exit polls predicted a close contest between the Congress and the BJP, even though most pollsters gave the edge to the former, with the JD(S) likely to play kingmaker.

The majority mark in the 224-seat assembly is 113. The Election Commission of Indias website had, as of this story being published, released trends for 180 seats.

In the keenly watched Old Mysuru region, the bastion of the JD(S), early trends suggest that the Congress has taken the lead.

The BJPs CP Yogeshwara is leading in the Channapatna seat against former chief minister and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy, who won the same contest in 2018, by a margin of 21,530 votes.

In Hassan constituency, JD(S) candidate HP Swaroop leads by 100 votes against BJPs Preetham Gowda.

In Kolar, JD(S) candidate CMR Shrinath leads, while the Congress and BJP candidates trail.

JDS candidate HD Revanna took the lead against Congress Shreyas M Patil from the Holenarasipura constituency.

Meanwhile, amid reports of the BJP and Congress approaching the JD(S) for a post-poll alliance in the event of a hung assembly, Kumaraswamy on Saturday said neither party contacted him.

I dont have much hope after the exit polls. I will accept the peoples mandate. The leaders of the Congress are already prepared. It was said we might win 15-20 seats. What demands can I keep, then? Lets wait and see, he said.
Karnataka voted on May 10 to elect its next government and Saturday will determine if the ruling BJP reverses the trend of the state voting out its incumbent government, while the Congress will hope to win its first major state since December 2018, when it ousted its arch-rival from power in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Bengaluru: People wait in queues at a polling station to cast their votes for Karnataka Assembly elections, in Bengaluru, Wednesday, May 10, 2023. (PTI)

How to track counting of votes?

The counting of votes for all 224 assembly constituencies will commence at 8 am. Minute-by-minute updates of who all are leading/trailing in their respective constituencies will be available on the official website of the Election Commission of India (ECI). The initial trends will begin trickling in around 10 am, and the final results are expected later in the day.

What happened on voting day?

Karnataka, the only state in the south where the BJP has held power, saw a turnout of around 72%; the previous assembly poll, in 2018, too, witnessed around 72% of eligible voters exercising their right to vote.

Who is likely to win?

Exit polls that followed the close of polling predicted a hung assembly, with most giving an edge to the Congress. The BJP is expected to finish as the runner-up, and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda's JDS is likely to be third, allowing it to be the kingmaker, should the need arise.

It must be noted, however, that exit polls have often got it wrong.

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Xem them

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Tin bai cuoi cung

Khong con du lieu e load
With more than a third of the votes in Karnataka counted, the Congresss 118-seat lead appears tenuous and underlines the importance of smaller parties and independent candidates in the final equation. Congress leaders and workers celebrate at the party office in Bengaluru. (PTI)

Support from independents and other parties will also help the party avoid banking on the Janata Dal (Secular), with which it formed an eventually failed post-poll alliance in 2018.

The halfway mark in the 224-seat Karnataka election is 113.

Data from the Election Commission of Indias (ECI) website shows seven candidates beyond the three major parties  the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the JD(S)  leading in their seats.

Five of them are independent candidates and one each belongs to the local Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha (KRPP) and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha (SKP) parties, respectively.

Of the independents, at least three (two of whom were candidates who split from the BJP after being denied tickets) are likely to support the Congress.

In Afzalpur, the BJP rebel Nitin Guttedar leads Congresss MY Patil. Similarly, the BJP rebel Hoodivijay Kumar leads from the Malur seat. However, to be sure, the contest on this seat is still extremely tight, with 25,730 votes for Kumar so far, marginally ahead of BJP candidate KS Manjunathagowda (24,752 votes).

In Gauribidanur, independent candidate KH Puttaswamy, a former Congress member, is well ahead of his rivals.Latha Mallikarjun finds herself ahead in Harpanahalli, though she has not announced whom she will support.

To be sure, most often, independents side with the party likely to form the government in the state.

Mining baron G Janardhan Reddy is leading from Gangawati while his wife Galli Aruna is trailing from Bellari City. Reddy has already announced his support for Congress leader Siddaramaiah and floated his own party (KRPP) before the elections.

In Melukote, Darshan Puttenkiah of Sarvodaya Karnataka Party, which is in alliance with the Congress, is leading. In Nippani, Uttam Patil of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is ahead of his rivals.
NEW DELHI: For the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the outcome of the Karnataka assembly election has underlined the importance of strong state leadership and a political narrative that can override anti-incumbency and administrative lapses that fuel public anger. Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel with Union ministers Bhagwanth Khuba and Rajeev Chandrasekhar at the party election media centre in Bengaluru, (PTI File Photo)

On Saturday, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai and Karnataka BJP president Nalin Kateel took responsibility for the partys defeat in the state, but senior party leaders who spoke on condition of anonymity said the decision to center the election campaign around national issues was flawed as was the call to rely heavily on national leaders.

The PM (Narendra Modi) is the most popular face of the BJP and acts as a force multiplier, but in the state elections, we are increasingly relying on him and union ministers instead of strengthening the local leadership. The other mistake was not tackling the local issues that the Opposition used to their advantage, said a senior party leader.

BJP leaders are also divided over the choice of Basavaraj Bommai as chief minister to replace BS Yediyurappa, the partys most formidable leader in the state.

The leader pointed to the partys experience in Himachal Pradesh where it attempted to steer the election campaign to broader issues and lost since it was confronted with the Congress which promised sops such as free units of electricity and reverting to the old pension scheme.

A section of party leaders in Karnataka, however, complained that party did overlook senior leaders and ignore feedback from the party and RSS cadre. When the tickets were decided, and several old hands dropped, there was unrest within the party unit. Many leaders felt that the central leadership, particularly, national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhoshs writ ran large, said a second leader.

Former CM Jagadish Shettar who was denied a ticket publicly blamed Santhosh and said he pushed for his protege Mahesh Tenginkai to contest from the Hubballi-Dharwad seat.

There has been simmering discontent against Kateel; and many leaders in the state wanted the central leadership to replace him ahead of the elections. They feel Santhosh vetoed that suggestion as well, the second leader said.

Even though the central leadership tried to scotch differences in the state unit, Saturdays results have again shone light on the bickering among leaders who disagreed on various issues including the political discourse.

A section of party leaders was not in favour of attempts to polarise. They did not approve of leaders such as CT Ravi, BC Nagesh stoking controversies with their comments about wearing hijab and love jihad. They felt such issues would fail to mobilise the Hindu votebank as hardline Hindutva does not resonate in the state, the first leader said.

Political commentator and SY Surendra Kumar who teaches at the Bangalore University said the party erred in attempting to whip up sentiments by stoking ideological issues and shuffling leaders around. They sidelined senior leaders; they made senior leaders contest elections from seats that are not their turf, for example revenue minister, R Ashok was pitted against DK Shivakumar in Kanakpura and V Sommna was moved from Govindarajanagar seat in Bengaluru to Varuna and Chamarajanagar, he said.

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The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has lost control of Karnataka - the only southern state it had - to the Congress after a 2023 Assembly election billed as a close race turned into a rout. Most exit polls predicted a hung Assembly; only three - India Today-Axis My India, News24-Today's Chanakya and Times-Now ETG - predicted an outright Congress win. The Congress' performance today - its first state win since Himachal Pradesh last year - suggests the saffron camp could have a tough fight in next year's Lok Sabha election. Former chief minister Siddaramaiah and Congress state chief DK Shivakumar. (HT file photo)

According to EC data at 6.15 pm the Congress has won 123 seats - well past the majority mark of 113 seats in the 224-member Karnataka Assembly - and is leading in 13 others. The BJP has won 58 - a massive drop from the 104 it won in the 2018 election - and is leading in six.

Also Read: Karnataka Election Results 2023 LIVE Updates

The Janata Dal (Secular) - which fancied itself a 'kingmaker' after talk of a hung Assembly - has won 19 and is leading in one seat. Regional parties and an independent make up the rest.

Key takeaways from Karnataka election results 2023

1. This is only Congress second time ousting the BJP from power in a state election in a decade. Last year, it wrested control of Himachal Pradesh.

2. Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai conceded the BJP had not been able to make a mark. Bommai, contested from the Shiggaon constituency, won against Congress's Pathan Yasirahmedkhan.

3. Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar, who defended his Kanakapura seat from a challenge from the BJP's R Ashoka, broke down while reacting to the election results and gave credit to the Gandhi family for reposing their faith in his leadership in the state. With tears rolling down his cheeks, the former minister thanked the party cadres and leaders for the victory.

4. Congress stalwart Siddaramaiah has won from the Varuna constituency. He was pitted against the BJP's V Somanna. Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar are widely seen as the leading candidates for the chief minister's post and their strong individual performances will make the high command's job that much harder.

5. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's son Priyank Kharge, who was pitted against BJP's Manikanta Rathod from the Chittapur constituency, won by a margin of 13,640 votes.

6. In Channapatna, Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy defeated the BJP's CP Yogeshwara. Kumaraswamy had set tongues wagging after voting this week about the possibility of supporting either the Congress or the BJP in the case of a hung Assembly.

7. Former CM BS Yediyurappa's son BY Vijayendra contested and won from his father's stronghold of Shikaripura. He beat an independent candidate - SP Nagarajagowda - by over 11,000 votes.

8. The Congress hailed the Bharat Jodo Yatra's role for its success in the polls and said in the clash of narratives between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the yatra, the cross-country foot march is a "clear winner". The Rahul Gandhi-led 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' entered Karnataka on September 30 at Gundlupet in Chamarajanagara district. It passed through Chamarajanagara, Mysuru, Mandya, Tumkur, Chitradurga, Bellary and Raichur, traversing a distance of over 500 km in about 22 days in the state.

9. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi termed the Karnataka win as the victory of the people's strength over crony capitalism. He thanked the people of Karnataka and said hate lost to love and this will happen in all other states.

10. BJP turncoat Jagadish Shettar, who contested on a Congress ticket, was defeated in the Hubli-Dharwad Central constituency. Shettar called it quits with the BJP in April after being denied a ticket from the party. He lost to the BJP's Mahesh Tenginakai by more than 34,000 votes.

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The Bharatiya Janata Party candidate CK Ramamurthy was declared winner in Bengaluru's Jayanagar constituency, defeating Congress rival Sowmya Reddy by narrowest margin of 16 votes. The result came after a recount amid protests by the Congress in the seat.



Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar accused the election commission officials of trying to distort the result of Sowmya Reddy, the Congress candidate from Bengaluru's Jayanagar assembly constituency.



The Congress candidate of Jayanagar Assembly Constituency Mrs. Sowmya Reddy has won but protested against the action of the election officials who tried to distort the result on the pretext of recount, Shivakumar said, tweeting a picture of him seated with state working president Ramalinga Reddy. Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar.(Twitter/DK Shivakumar)

Shivakumar and Ramalinga Reddy among other office bearers staged a demonstration in protest against the electoral body's order.



ALSO READ: Congress's BJP-mukt Dakshin Bharat barb after thumping Karnataka victory. 10 points



Earlier, the poll panel ordered recounting of postal ballots in Jayanagar where Reddy is in close contest with BJP's CK Ramamurthy.

An EC official said the recounting of postal ballots was ordered following an appeal by Ramamurthy. Of the total 224 seats in Karnataka, Jayanagar is the only segment where the result has not yet come out.



(With PTI inputs)

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Bharatiya Janata Party veteran BS Yediyurappa on Saturday said the party respects the mandate of the people and it will introspect about the setback, this as the Congress was leading in 135 out of 224 seats in the Karnataka election. Former Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa urged the BJP workers not to be panicked about the Karnataka election results.(Twitter/ANI)

Victory and defeat aren't new to BJP. Party workers need not be panicked by these results. We will introspect about the party's setback. I respectfully accept this verdict, the former chief minister told reporters.



Karnataka election results: LIVE Coverage



According to the Election Commission, the Congress has raced past the majority mark as per the latest trends. The Bharatiya Janata Party, which ruled the state for four years, is set to be voted out.

Yediyurappa, or BSY as he is popularly called, had served as the chief minister for first two years since the BJP came to power in 2019 following the collapse of the Congress-JDS coalition government. He had stepped down in 2021, paving way for Basavaraj Bommai to take over as the chief minister.



Earlier, Bommai conceded defeat and said the BJP had not been able to make a mark. We have not been able to make the mark. The Congress has done it successfully Once the results come we will do a detailed analysis. As a national party, we will not only analyse but also see what deficiencies and gaps were left at various levels. We take this result in our stride, the Karnataka chief minister said.

In the 2018 election, the BJP had emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats but had fallen short of the majority mark of 113. The Congress had won 80 while the Janata Dal (Secular) had bagged 37. There was also one independent member, while the BSP and Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party (KPJP) had one seat each.

The Congress and JDS came together to forge an alliance and formed the government. But BSY had staked claim and formed the government. He resigned from the post within three days ahead of a trust vote as the BJP was unable to get the numbers.



HD Kumaraswamy was sworn in as the CM after Congress-JDS formed the government. But the coalition government collapsed in little over a year following resignation of 17 coalition legislators.

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A defiant HD Kumaraswamy tweeted shortly after ex-ally the Congress claimed a remarkable win in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly election, insisting 'this defeat is not final... my struggle will not stop... I will always be with the people'. The Janata Dal (Secular) leader - a two-time former Karnataka chief minister and hoping for a third stint in the post after exit polls suggested his party could be a 'kingmaker' - also congratulated the incoming government. Ex-Karnataka chief minister and Janata Dal (Secular) chief HD Kumaraswamy at a party event in Bengaluru, on Friday, April 14, 2023. (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak)

"I welcome the mandate of the people of the state. In a democratic system (the people's) mandate is final. I accept defeat and victory with equanimity. However, this defeat is not final, my struggle will not stop, I will always be with the people," he tweeted in Kannada.

"Defeat and victory are not new to me or (my) family. Earlier HD Deve Gowda (his father and an ex-prime minister), HD Revanna and I also lost. When we won, we served people with commitment. In the coming days, I will become involved building the party," he said.

The JDS leader is narrowly ahead in his constituency of Channapatna; he has around 34,000 votes as 2 pm compared to around 30,000 for the Bharatiya Janata Party's CP Yogeshwara.

Kumaraswamy - whose comment Wednesday and Friday about being ready to deal with either the BJP or the Congress in the event of a hung Assembly sparked speculation - closed with an appeal to the former party to 'respond to people's demands'.

"Good luck to the new government... I hope (they) respond to people's demands. My gratitude to the workers, leaders and candidates (of the JDS) who worked day and night on behalf of the party in this election. No one should panic for any reason..." he signed off.

READ | JDS walks back 'decision taken' claim on alliance with Cong or BJP

Exit polls gave the JDS little to no chance at forming the government on its own merit; they were predicted to win fewer than 30 seats in the 224-member Assembly that has the majority mark set at 113. That prediction is likely to hold as the party has less than 25 leads at 1.45 pm.

For the Congress, state boss DK Shivakumar and ex-chief minister Siddaramaiah have both spoken after outgoing chief minister Basavaraj Bommai conceded defeat. Bommai acknowledged the BJP had 'failed'.

READ | 'I delivered': DK Shivakumar's emotional message after Cong's win

Shivakumar broke down in front of reporters as he recalled party boss Sonia Gandhi's visit while he was in Delhi's Tihar Jail for two months on money laundering charges in 2020. He also reminded the party's senior leadership he had 'delivered' on his vow to win Karnataka.

That last message is being seen as significant given the jostling between himself and Siddarmaiah over who will be the chief minister.

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The Opposition Congress on Saturday seemed to be on course to breach the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's lone southern citadel Karnataka, with DK Shivakumar-led the party in the state leading in 122 seats. Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai, Congress leader DK Shivakumar and JDS HD Kumaraswamy.

Buoyed by the initial trends, the Congress said the message given to the BJP was to stick to public issues that matter, even as the saffron party expressed hope of securing the simple majority mark of 113.

The opposition party marched ahead establishing a lead in 122 constituencies, while the BJP was leading in 71 seats, according to the latest Election Commission (EC) trends of counting of votes polled in the Karnataka assembly elections.

The former prime minister HD Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular) is leading in 30 segments, and others in five seats. Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai (Shiggaon) and DK Shivakumar (Kanakapura) were leading in their respective seats.

Former CM Jagadish Shettar, who quit the BJP after being denied to contest in the May 10 election for the 224-member assembly, was trailing in Hubballi-Dharwad Central. He was fielded there by the Congress.

JD(S) leader and another former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy was leading in Channapatna against BJP's CP Yogeshwara.

Shivakumar was ahead of his BJP rival, state minister R Ashoka. Congress leader Pavan Khera said, "This is the message for the BJP that please stick to issues that matter to everyday life of people and don't try and divide India."

Reacting to the development, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh tweeted, As the results firm up in Karnataka it is now certain that the Congress has won and the PM has lost. The BJP had made its election campaign a referendum on the PM and on the state getting his 'ashirwaad'. That has been decisively rejected!

The Congress party fought these elections on LOCAL issues of livelihood and food security, price rise, farmer distress, electricity supply, joblessness, and corruption. The PM injected divisiveness and attempted polarisation. The vote in Karnataka is for an engine in Bengaluru that will combine economic growth with social harmony, he added.

In the morning, the BJP took an early lead in a neck-and-neck contest against the Congress as the counting of votes for Karnataka elections came in.

At 8.26, the BJP was leading in 86 seats, while the Congress was ahead on 76 seats in the 244-member assembly. The Janata Dal (Secular) was leading in 20 seats.

The counting is being held at 36 centres across the state, in which 2,615 candidates are in the fray.

"The counting of votes will start at 8am across 36 designated centres in the southern state," the Election Commission said before the counting.

A clear picture of the result is likely to emerge by noon. The magic figure is 113 seats.

Also Read: Full coverage on Karnataka assembly election

This assembly election carried much significance as it was held almost a year before the 2024 general elections. The election witnessed an aggressive battle between the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, and the JD(S).

According to the Election Commission (EC), Karnataka recorded a 73.19 per cent voter turnout in the May 10 assembly elections, the highest-ever voter turnout in the southern state.

Polling was held across 58,545 polling stations to elect the members in the 224-seat Karnataka Legislative Assembly. The majority mark needed to form the government is 113.

Earlier on Friday, Bommai exuded confidence in the BJP return to power in Karnataka. Shivakumar also met with party president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence in Bengaluru and held discussions on the party's strategy once the results are declared.

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Conceding defeat in the Karnataka assembly election, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday said the Bharatiya Janata Party has not been able to make the mark, while the Congress did it successfully. Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai. (PTI)

Bommai's reaction comes even as the Congress was striding forward with leads in 128 seats, while the BJP was ahead in 66 in Karnataka, according to Election Commission of India trends, as votes were counted on Saturday for an election widely seen as a litmus test for both parties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

We have not been able to make the mark. The Congress has done it successfully Once the results come we will do a detailed analysis. As a national party, we will not only analyse but also see what deficiencies and gaps were left at various levels. We take this result in our stride, the Karnataka chief minister told reporters.

With a much-needed victory tantalisingly close in the crucial southern state, early celebrations broke out at the opposition Congress headquarters in Bengaluru and Delhi. BJP leaders, hoping to break a 38-year jinx of Karnataka not voting an incumbent to power, looked at a possible loss but waited till counting ended to analyse why and how.

Congress workers and leaders, desperately looking to reverse its electoral fortunes and position itself as the main opposition player in 2024, were jubilant.

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The Congress wrested control of the crucial Karnataka from the Bharatiya Janata Party in the assembly election, boosting its prospects ahead of the Lok Sabha elections due next year. The Congress ended up winning 135 of Karnataka's 244 seats - a record in terms of both seats and vote share. The BJP could only win 66 seats and HD Kumaraswamy's Janata Dal (Secular) 19 seats. Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge being felicitated by party leaders DK Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, KC Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala on the party's victory in the Karnataka assembly elections on Saturday. (Mallikarjun Kharge Twitter)

The results are expected to energise the largely divided opposition that is banking on forming a united front to challenge Narendra Modi in next year's general election in which he will seek to extend his prime ministership for a third consecutive term.

Accompanied by state Congress president DK Shivakumar, veteran leader Siddaramaiah and AICC in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala at a victory ceremony on Saturday evening, Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge said, Those who wanted to make 'Congress Mukt Bharat' (Congress-free India) spoke many things against us but today one thing has come true and that is 'BJP Mukt Dakshin Bharat' (BJP free South India)."

Also Read: Karnataka Election Results LIVE

Modi has congratulated the Congress for its win. He also thanked BJP workers for working hard on the party's campaign.

Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar are widely seen as the leading candidates for the chief minister's post and their strong individual performances will make the high command's job that much harder.

Top updates on the Karnataka election results 2023

1. Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, DK Shivakumar, and former Union minister KH Muniyappa are among the key leaders who have been declared victorious in the assembly election.

2. This is only the Congresss second time ousting the BJP from power in a state election in a decade. Last year, it wrested control of Himachal Pradesh.

3. Shivakumar, who defended his Kanakapura seat from a challenge from the BJP's R Ashoka, broke down while reacting to the election results and gave credit to the Gandhi family for reposing their faith in his leadership in the state.

4. Congress stalwart Siddaramaiah won from the Varuna constituency. He was pitted against the BJP's V Somanna.

5. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's son Priyank Kharge, who was pitted against BJP's Manikanta Rathod from the Chittapur constituency, won by a margin of 13,640 votes.

6. In Channapatna, Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy defeated the BJP's CP Yogeshwara. Kumaraswamy had set tongues wagging after voting this week about the possibility of supporting either the Congress or the BJP in the case of a hung assembly.

7. Former CM BS Yediyurappa's son BY Vijayendra contested and won from his father's stronghold of Shikaripura. He beat an independent candidate - SP Nagarajagowda - by over 11,000 votes.

8. Eight Congress turncoats who joined the BJP and helped it form the government in 2019, lost in the elections. As many as 13 Congress and three JD(S) MLAs had resigned from the Karnataka assembly in 2019 thus bringing down the 14-month-old coalition government of the Congress and the JD(S) led by HD Kumaraswamy.

9. As many as 14 ministers of the outgoing Bommai-led BJP government lost the Karnataka election. They are: Govinda Karjol (Mudhol), J C Madhuswamy (Chikkanayakanahalli), B C Patil (Hirekerur), Shankar Patil Munena Koppa (Navalgund), Halappa Achar (Yelburga) and B Sriramulu (Ballari), K Sudhakar (Chikkaballapur), B C Nagesh (Tiptur), Murugesha Nirani (Bilgi), B C Patil (Hirekerur) and M T B Nagaraj (Hoskote). Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, a BJP leader, also lost the Sirsi seat.

10. Thanking the voters, Surjewala said Karnataka has created history and has shown a new life for democracy not only for the people of the state but for the entire country. This is a victory of every Kannadiga, Surjewala said. Karnataka has given a new mantra to save democracy. It's a pathway to save democracy and constitution across India, he added.

(With inputs from agencies)

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The battle for Karnataka began at 8 am with the Bharatiya Janata Party looking to retain control of the state in the face of (what exit polls believe will be) a strong challenge from the Congress in the first big election of 2023. Also in the fray is the Janata Dal (Secular) but ex-chief minister HD Kumaraswamy's party is not expected to win enough seats to challenge the BJP or the Congress. On voting day Karnataka recorded a 73.19 per cent voter turnout, according to the state's Chief Electoral Officer. (PTI)

Karnataka voted in a single phase Wednesday. The majority mark in the 224-member Assembly is 113. Exit polls suggest this will be a close race - one that will see the Congress emerge as the single-largest party but not, unfortunately, with enough to cross that all-important 113-seat mark.

READ | Follow Karnataka Election results LIVE here

On voting day Karnataka recorded a 73.19 per cent voter turnout, according to the state's Chief Electoral Officer. In the 2018 election Karnataka recorded a 72.44 per cent voter turnout.

Chikkaballapura district recorded the highest voting percentage with 85.56 per cent and the lowest of 52.33 per cent was in state capital Bengaluru's southern division, which is held by the BJP's M Krishnappa. Voting was 'largely peaceful', election officers said, although there was some violence.

In the 2018 election the BJP emerged as the single-largest party with 104 seats but were beaten to the post by the Congress and JDS, who won 80 and 37 seats, respectively. A Congress-JDS post-poll alliance kept the BJP out but a year later rebel MLAs caused the coalition government to fall.

What do the exit polls say?

The Congress is confident of a (very) good show; state unit boss DK Shivakumar, a chief minister aspirant, has predicted it will win over 140 seats. The good news for the opposition party is that exit polls largely agree they will do better than they did in 2018, when the party won 80 seats.

The bad news is that few of the exit polls give the Congress an outright majority; only India Today-My Axis India, Times Now-ETG and News24-Today's Chanakya predicting a minimum haul of or past 113.

The rest predict a hung Assembly but the Congress is still expected to beat the BJP; ABP News-CVoter, India TV-CNX and Zee News-Matrize all give them a minimum of over 100 seats.

At the other end of the spectrum are News Nation-CGS and Suvarna News-Jan Ki Baat, which predict an outright BJP win and a hung Assembly with an advantage to the saffron party, respectively.

In all of these polls the JDS is a distant third; its best predicted return is courtesy Zee News-Matrize and Republic TV-P-Marq, with the surveys giving them 25-33 and 24-32 seats, respectively.

JDS as 'kingmaker'

Much of the speculation on Friday was about the JDS and a possible post-poll alliance with either the BJP or the Congress. Kumaraswamy set the ball rolling (a day earlier) by referring to his party as the 'king' - an apparently clear indication he expects a coalition with the JDS to be the only viable path to power for the two larger parties. En route to Singapore yesterday he told the Deccan Herald his party would win 50 seats and that 'this time I will go with the party that agrees to fulfil my conditions'.

Talk of a JDS open to talks was also fuelled by comments from JDS leader Tanveer Ahmed, who told news agency ANI and broadcaster NDTV a 'decision' - on whether to support the BJP or the Congress - had been made and that this decision would be announced at an appropriate time.

Ahmed's comments were vehemently denied by his party; state unit boss CM Ibrahim said his colleague was no longer a party spokesperson and described him harshly as 'nothing'.

Both the BJP and the Congress have dismissed any talk of a deal with the JDS. The Congress, in fact, went so far as to declare itself the winner even before votes are counted.

The importance of the Karnataka election

This is the first major election of the year (Nagaland, Tripura and Meghalaya voted in February) with Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana - where chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao is eager to establish himself as a national force - to follow.

Also scheduled to vote is Mizoram.

These are widely seen as the second 'semi-final' to next year's Lok Sabha election; the first was last year and the BJP can claim to have won that after retaining control of Goa, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. The only upsets were in Himachal Pradesh (Congress beat BJP) and Punjab, where the Aam Aadmi Party secured a statement win over the Congress.

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'I delivered...' - an emotional Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar's message to his party Saturday morning shortly after the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party conceded defeat in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly election. "I assured Sonia Gandhiji, Rahul Gandhiji and Priyanka Gandhiji, and (Congress boss) Mallikarjun Khargeji I will deliver Karnataka to the fold..." he said. Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar addresses a public meeting at Madikeri on Monday (ANI File) (DK Shivakumar Twitter)

DKS, as the Congress' troubleshooter is popularly known, broke down and cried as he recalled Sonia Gandhi's visit while in jail on money-laundering charges.

READ | DK Shivakumar gets emotional as he recalls Sonia Gandhi's jail visit

The Congress on Saturday scripted a remarkable win in Karnataka - a state that has voted out the incumbent government in every election since 1985.

At 2.30 pm the party had leads in over 119 seats and wins in 16.

Shivakumar, 60, is set to retain his stronghold of Kanakapura by a crushing margin and maintain his record; he has not lost since his first poll win in 1989.

A BJP confident of retaining power after a high-wattage campaign featuring prime minister Narendra Modi, union home minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath fell apart after taking an early lead.

Karnataka election results LIVE | Rampant Congress leads in over 130 seats

Shivakumar and ex-chief minister Siddaramaiah have been the focal point of the party's Karnataka campaign - its first win since Himachal Pradesh last year.

The Congress in power here after the 2018 election - on the back of a post-poll alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular) - but that fell after rebel MLAs defected.

Back then the Congress-JDS government had just 117 seats - four over the majority mark - leaving it vulnerable to an upset. This time it is likely to be a more stable force with likely over 125 lawmakers in its camp.

READ | 'Unstoppable' Cong, Rahul Gandhi celebrate as party wins K'taka

The win - coming after Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' - is seen as a step in the right direction as the opposition plots the BJP's defeat in 2024.

Congress' next headache

Once the joy of victory ebbs, the Congress must take a massive decision - whom to appoint as the new chief minister. There are really only two options - Shivakumar or Siddaramaiah - and the two leaders' camps are not likely to take defeat in this race very lightly, setting up a future problem for the Congress.

On Siddaramaiah's side is age; the 75-year-old has made it known this will be his last electoral action - a statement some see as an emotional push to the Congress' high command to rule in his favour. After the party's win the ex-CM told reporters 'this is a victory for a secular party' and praised Rahul Gandhi.

READ | After K'taka win, Siddaramaiah wants Rahul Gandhi to be PM in 2024

"I hope all non-BJP parties come together and see that BJP is defeated and I also hope Rahul Gandhi may become the PM of the country," he said.

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As the Congress crossed the half-way mark in the early leads in the Karnataka Assembly Elections, the party office in Delhi on Saturday saw fireworks and laddoos were distributed outside Delhi and Bengaluru officers to celebrate the early trends. Congress leaders were seen distributing and eating laddoos. A Congress leader was also seen dressed as lord Hanuman outside the party's Delhi office. (Twitter/ANI)

Videos showed Congress party workers celebrating with fireworks outside the All India Congress Committee (AICC) office in Delhi.

Sweets were also distributed outside the office of state Congress chief DK Shivakumar. Congress leader & former CM Siddaramaiah was seen giving a thumbs up as the party led in 114 constituencies, while the BJP was leading in 73 seats, as per the latest Election Commission (EC) trends of counting of votes.

Party workers danced and performs dance form Bhangra as dhol played outside Congress headquarters in Delhi.

Posters with pictures of Party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi with words Karnataka Vijay written were put up outside Congress' Delhi office.

Congress leaders were seen distributing and eating laddoos. A Congress leader was also seen dressed as lord Hanuman outside the party's Delhi office.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi was seen praying at a temple in Shimla on Saturday morning before the counting of votes began.

Party leader Pavan Khera said, "This is the message for the BJP that please stick to issues that matter to everyday life of people and don't try and divide India."

The former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal is leading in 30 segments, and others in five seats. Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai (Shiggaon) and DK Shivakumar (Kanakapura) were leading in their respective seats.

In the morning, the BJP took an early lead in a neck-and-neck contest against the Congress as the counting of votes for Karnataka elections came in.

This assembly election carried much significance since it was held almost a year before the 2024 general elections. The election witnessed an aggressive battle between the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, and the JD(S).

According to the EC, Karnataka recorded a 73.19 per cent voter turnout in the May 10 assembly elections, the highest-ever voter turnout in the southern state.

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The Congress has pulled off a convincing victory in the Karnataka assembly elections winning 135 assembly constituencies (ACs) out of the total 224. The Congresss vote share is 43%, the highest it has had in the state since the 1989 assembly elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which had emerged as the single largest party in the 2018 elections has finished 70short of the Congresss tally this time. The Janata Dal (Secular) or JD (S) has recorded its worst ever performance in terms of vote share since its electoral debut in 1999. Is there a bigger message from the Karnataka elections apart from these summary statistics? Congress workers celebrate. (PTI)

Here are three things that are worth highlighting.

The return of Ahinda

With 135 ACs and 43%vote share, this is the best ever election result for the Congress in the state since 1989. How did the Congress achieve this? One plausible explanation is the resurrection of the Ahinda (a Kannada acronym for Alpasankhyataru or minorities, Hindulidavaru or backward classes, and Dalitaru or Dalits). This was a strategy created and perfected by Congress leader Devraj Urs in the 1970s as a way to counter the influence of Lingayats and Vokkaligas, the two dominant communities in the state.

Is there a statistical basis to the theory that the Congresss 2023 victory is based on a resurrection of the Ahinda coalition? The easy answer is to look at social-group wise support from India Today-AXIS exit poll numbers which accurately predicted the overall vote share of the Congress. The Congress has a massive vote share among Ahinda communities.

A region-wise analysis of vote shares further underlines this fact. Central Karnataka and southern Karnataka are considered to be the biggest strongholds of the Lingayats and Vokkaligas. In both these regions, the Congress has made gains without anything to suggest that the Lingayats or the Vokkaligas have deserted the BJP or the JD(S) in a big way. This is a clear indication that the non-Lingayat non-Vokkaliga voter has shifted to the Congress from these two parties.

See Chart 1: AXIS caste-wise support numbers

Limits of Hindutva

From the politics around banning hijabs in schools to evoking Bajrang Bali in the campaign, the BJP made a big pitch for Hindutva to contain the Congress in these elections. The results show that the strategy might have backfired instead of working. Three factors can be listed in support of this argument. One, the Congress has gained in terms of vote share in every subregion of the state. Two, the BJP has lost vote share even in coastal Karnataka which has always seen a high level of communal polarisation. Three, and this is the most telling stat for the BJP in these elections, is that while an aggressive Hindutva pitch can help the BJP gain some ground in regions where it has historically been weak, it is not enough to retain the voters who make the difference between victory and defeat. This is best seen by AC-wise change in vote share of the BJP between 2018 and 2023. While the BJP has gained vote share in ACs where it had a less than 40% vote share, its vote share has decreased in ACs where it had a vote share higher than 40% in 2018.

See Chart 2: Change in BJP seat share

Economic pain was key in driving anti-incumbency

In addition to its Ahinda plank, the Congress also a host of economic promises aimed at providing relief to the poor. Its five guarantees included cash transfers for women and unemployed, free food grains and subsidised electricity and LPG cylinders. One way to check whether these promises have worked is to compare the Congresss seat share with the per capita GSDP of every sub-region. The Congresss subregion-wise seat share is the highest in the poorest regions of the state. This evidence of economic pain among the poor translating into political anger will worry the BJP the most, for it could easily play out at the national level.

See Chart 3: Congress subregion wise relative seat share with share of top 20%

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Ex  Karnataka CM and the Congress candidate from Hubballi  Dharwad Central, Jagadish Shettar has lost the election, according to the final numbers of of the Election Commission. The six time MLA only managed to get the vote share of 36.31 per cent and he lost to BJP's Mahesh Tenginakai. Former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar.

The EC numbers suggested that BJP's Mahesh Tenginkai won with a majority of roughly 35000 votes. This came as a set back to the senior Lingayat leader, who anticipated a win on the Congress ticket. Jagadish Shettar, who was one of the BJPs prominent leaders in Karnataka and also a face of Lingayat community in the Hubballi Dharwad region left the party after he was denied a ticket. However, the Congress party invited him and offered a ticket.

Also Read - Karnataka Election Results 2023 LIVE: Congress leads over BJP in early trends

According to the Election Commission website, the Congress was leading 137 seats as of 3pm. It requires 113 seats in the 224-member assembly to form the government in the state. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on the other hand, was leading 62 seats.

The counting is being held at 36 centres across the state, in which 2,615 candidates are in the fray. The counting of votes has started at 8am across 36 designated centres in the southern state," the Election Commission said. A clear picture of the result is likely to emerge a few hours later from now. The magic figure to form the government in Karnataka is 113 seats. The state also saw a voter turnout of 73.16 per cent on Wednesday polling.
The Indian Army has deployed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and helicopters to keep an eye on sensitive areas across Manipur as authorities work to restore normalcy in the violence-hit state. Army's Eastern Command officials said that Lieutenant General RP Kalita met with prominent local community leaders at Manipur's Mantripukhri to defuse tensions.(AP File Photo)

Indian Army's Spear Corps on Friday shared about the ongoing efforts and about the deployment of UAVs and helicopters for Aerial Surveillance.

"Approximately 130 columns on the ground, UAVs and helicopters for Aerial Surveillance working relentlessly to restore normalcy. The escorted move of the remaining approx 6000 persons is underway. Round-the-clock aerial surveillance continues," Indian Army said in a tweet while sharing a video captured through a UAV during aerial surveillance.

Army's Eastern Command officials said that Lieutenant General RP Kalita met with prominent local community leaders at Manipur's Mantripukhri to defuse tensions.

"...He urged them to build mutual trust and kinship in the restore normalcy larger interest of Manipur," the Eastern Command said in a tweet.

Security officials said that the situation has improved in the state and following the same curfew relaxation has also been extended to 7 hours.

"Situation in Manipur has improved quite a lot and because of that curfew relaxation has also been extended to 7 hours now. Displaced people living in different camps have been reduced to a bare minimum...Approx 45,000 have been transported to different places... There are no extra flights operating and no stranded passengers at the airport as well," Kuldeep Singh, Manipur Security Advisor said while speaking to ANI.

A curfew was imposed on May 3 after violence broke out in the State. The State government also clamped down on the use of the Internet and mobile phones to ensure the spread of panic and false information could be curtailed. Amid the demand of the Meitei people for ST status, a rally was organised by the All Tribals Students Union (ATSU) Manipur on May 3, which later turned violent.

As per the official figures, close to 60 people lost their lives while more than 230 were injured and close to 1700 houses were burnt down during the violence in Manipur.
'In next 2-3 hours...': JDS' HD Kumaraswamy plays it cool before counting Hours before the counting for the Karnataka Assembly Elections begins, ex-Karnataka chief minister and Janata Dal Secular leader HD Kumaraswamy said on Saturday that JD(S) was a small party and he was only looking for development. Read here Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy.(PTI)

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For the first time since 2008, a Muslim has failed to win on a Janata Dal (S) ticket -- the party has a strong presence on Old Mysuru region, which has about 11% Muslim population -- indicating one of the interesting sub-strands of the Karnataka election results, a consolidation of Muslim votes in the region in favour of the Congress. Muslim students wearing burqas and hijabs protest outside the Shivamogga district collectors office on February 17, 2022. (HT file)

Political experts said that Muslims appeared to have consolidated in favour of the Congress, especially in the Old Mysuru region at the cost of Janata Dal (Secular), which usually banks on VM (Vokkaliga-Muslim) factor to win big in the region. The JD (S) was the only party, which openly spoke against the hijab ban and halal issue.

Karnataka Assembly election result: Full coverage link here

In the Old Mysuru region, along with the Vokkaliga votes, Muslim votes have moved to the Congress from the JD(S). Even though the JD(S) had taken a strong stand against hijab issue hoping to get more Muslim votes, the vote bank has rallied behind the Congress fearing JD(S) might join hands with the BJP, said the political analyst A Narayana.

Also Read: Impact of Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra in Karnataka? Here's Congress report card

Indeed, while nineof the 15 Muslim candidates fielded by the Congress in Karnataka won, none of the 22 fielded by the JD(S) did. In 2018, of the seven Muslim candidates who won, five were from the Congress and two from the JD (S). In that election, 25 Muslim candidates were given tickets by the two parties, 17 by the Congress and 8 by the JD (S). The BJP did not field any Muslim candidates in 2018 and 2023.

Political analysts and party workers say Muslim votes matter in about 65 of the 224 constituencies in the state. An analysis of the election data showed that the Congress was able to win almost half of the 65 assembly seats where Muslims matter. According to Census 2011, the latest available, Muslims account for almost 13% of the states population.

In coastal Karnataka, the BJP won 12 of the 19 seats as compared to 16 in 2018. The Congress won five seats as compared to three in 2018 and the JD (S) won one. Of the 15 Congress Muslim candidates, only three were fielded from coastal Karnataka.

The Basavaraj Bommai headed BJP government in Karnataka introduced a slew of measures, which were seen as targeting the Muslim community. In 2022, the government banned Hijab in the pre-university colleges across the state, leading to protests in coastal Karnataka districts such as Udupi, which the BJP swept by winning all the five seats.

But Karnataka Education Minister and BJP leader BC Nagesh, who had enforced the Hijab ban and had urged an economic boycott of Muslims , lost from the Tiptur assembly constituency in Tumkur district.

In 2022, the BJP government passed laws against religious conversion and transportation of cattle in the state. Some BJP leaders also called for a ban on Halal meat in the state.

The BJP governments decision to scrap 4% reservation for Muslims under the other backward classes category was seen as another onslaught on the minority population even though Bommai justified it saying reservation was not allowed for religious lines under the Constitution and that the community could get the benefit of reservation under the 10% quota for economically weaker sections. The matter was challenged in the Supreme Court where the state made a tactical retreat and announced that it would not implement the decision. The Congress has promised to restore the quota.

The Congress manifestor promised to ban organisations such as Popular Front of India and Bajrang Dal . PFI has already been banned by the Indian government, and the partys invocation of the RSS affiliate Bajrang Dal did not go down well with the BJP with even Prime Minister Narendra Modi lashing out at it. The move, Congress leaders say, was thought ot.

Before making the manifesto promise on Bajrang Dal, we calculated that the Hindu consolidation will not happen for the BJP. The reason was our surveys showing that BJPs polarisation plank had peaked in 2018 assembly elections. So, Bajrang Dal was a gamble which has worked for us, said a senior Congress leader who asked not to be named.

Although on Saturday there was no data available to gauge the Muslim consolidation in favour of the Congress, the India Today-Axis My India exit polls on Wednesday suggested that there would 10% increase in the Muslim votes for the Congress and results suggest a similar trend. Axis had projected 122-140 seats for the Congress. The Congress won 136.

In Old Mysuru, which falls in southern region of Karnataka having, 46 seats, the Congress won 29, the JD (S) 11 and the BJP 5. In 2018, the Congress won 11 and JD (S) 25. The BJP won 9.

Similarly, its success in constituencies in Bombay Karnataka where Muslims can influence the decision,helped the Congress win more seats in the region (17) than the BJP . This time, the Congress won 33 and BJP 16. In 2018, the BJP won 30 of the 50 seats in this region. The Congress party is the only true secular party that cares for all communities. That is reason all communities including the Muslims have rallied behind us, Congress leader MB Patil said.

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Narendra Modi The Karnataka election result is a reminder that even for Narendra Modi, the non-Hindi speaking parts of the country remain a challenge, especially in local contests against strong local leadership. (PTI File Photo/PIB)

The Congresss campaign in Karnataka had many faces -- Siddaramaiah, D K Shivakumar, Mallikarjun Kharge, even Rahul Gandhi. In contrast, the Bharatiya Janata Partys had only one -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Read | Big guns fire as Karnataka poll campaign ends

The partys humbling defeat on Saturday is a clear indication that there are limits to Modis ability to turn things around, time and again, for the party. As Modi criss-crossed the state, the BJP attempted to turn the election around on his personal appeal, with BJP president JP Nadda even calling on voters to ensure that the connection between the state and the affection of the Prime Minister endured. The last time Modi campaigned as hard and as intensively as he did in Karnataka, and lost, was in West Bengal in 2021. Like that loss, the Karnataka one too is unlikely to damage him or his appeal in a significant manner -- voices are already being heard on how Parliamentary elections are different, and how poorly the BJP would have done had the state leadership run the campaign -- but it is a reminder that even for Narendra Modi, the non-Hindi speaking parts of the country remain a challenge, especially in local contests against strong local leadership.

Karnataka Assembly Election 2023: Full Coverage

Siddaramaiah

Perhaps the biggest undisputed winner on counting day is the old Karnataka warhorse Siddaramaiah. His long career (he is now 76) has seen many highs, but most have come with caveats. His crowning moment before this victory was the Congresss triumph in 2013, when it won 122 seats in the assembly, but the caveat was that the BJPs votes were split by an angry B S Yediyurappa.

Read | Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah: Allies on campaign trail, contenders for CMs chair

In 2018, he had to stomach H D Kumaraswamy of the JD(S) becoming CM of a joint JD(S)-Congress coalition, despite his party having less than half the number of seats of the Congress; in 2005, Siddaramiah, once widely seen as HD Deve Gowdas protege, walked out of the JD(S) over differences with Kumaraswamy. Since 2018, though, Siddaramaiah, has emerged stronger, with his seniority, stature, and appeal to backward classes making him the biggest mass leader in the state. He has also worked hard to rebuild the Ahinda coalition -- a grouping of Muslims, backward classes and Dalits- and, over the past few months, overseen a campaign that has seen the Muslims and communities coalesce around the Congress. His presence blunted the BJPs attempt to turn this into a national-presidential style election centred around Modi.

B S Yediyurappa

The last three years have been tumultuous for former chief minister BS Yediyurappa. But even in a thumping loss for his party, Yediyurappa may have cemented his position as the BJPs only mass leader in the state. Indeed, the BJPs central leadership would appear to have forgotten, or at the least taken for granted, the reason why the party managed to establish a beachhead in the South in Karnataka -- the presence of Yediyurappa, the tallest leader of the states most dominant community, the Lingayats, but also an old-style politician whose appeal cuts across caste and community barriers. In 2021, Yediyurappa controversially stepped aside (or was made to step aside) for BS Bommai , and since then, the party has lurched from one damaging controversy to the other. The BJP attempted a reboot ahead of the elections, with Modi reaching out to the former Chief Minister, but the damage was done. Yediyurappa did campaign for the party (and perhaps ensured former Chief Minister turned rebel Jagdish Shettars defeat), but it was clear his heart wasnt in it.

Mallikarjun Kharge

Mallikarjun Kharge, 80, took over as Congress president in October 2022 in a time of tumult. There were many that questioned his authority, called him a rubber stamp, and pointed to his age, suggesting that he was perhaps past his best-by date. Two months later, he led the Congress into the first assembly election cycle under him, wresting Himachal Pradesh from the BJP, but being comprehensively defeated in BJP stronghold Gujarat. Karnataka , his home state, was to be the big test of his mettle. Kharge campaigned across the state, reiterating the Congress promises, spoke in his native Kannada, managed the simmering tension between Chief Ministerial probables DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, even directly attacked Modi, a strategy that usually fails. His tone and tenor made it clear that if Modi was the son of the soil in Gujarat, he, a Dalit, was the bhumiputra from Karnataka. In the end, as he faced the cameras on Friday after the partys resounding win, Kharge has cemented his standing, in the state, and in his own party.

HD Deve Gowda

For former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, 89, Saturdays results come as a devastating blow and perhaps indicate the growing irrelevance of the political party he has nurtured since 1999, helping it punch above its weight in Karnataka politics. For two decades, Deve Gowda has seen his son HD Kumaraswamy appointed Chief Minister twice in the past two decades, leveraging the JD(S) numbers in a hung assembly. This time too, party and some analysts toted out the old line about being kingmaker, but it was clear voters had enough of kingmakers and preferred kings instead. The party has lost ground everywhere, including in its stronghold , southern Karnataka. Worse, Nikhil Kumaraswamy, Deve Gowdas grandson lost from Ramnagaram, the family borough. Gowda called this his last election in an emotional appeal for votes.The voters appear to have made sure it is just that.
Reacting to the Karnataka election result 2023, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said now the BJP will not have the courage to allow an election in J&K any time soon. The Union Territory is scheduled to go to the polls in 2023 or next year first time after the former state was converted into a UT in 2019. Another J&K leader PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said the Karnataka results have shown a ray of hope. Omar Abdullah's tongue-in-cheek reaction to Karnataka assembly election results

"The BJP tried its best to communalise the situation as is their habit. They even brought Bajrangbali, religion, Hindu-Muslim to the discourse. The prime minister tried to take the discourse on religious lines. Despite that, people kept these issues on the sidelines and chose the issue of development on which the Congress ran its campaign," the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said. Both Mufti and Omar Abdullah joined Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra, which is being credited for the resounding victory of the party in Karnataka.

"It is good news because the general elections are to take place the next year," Mufti said. "I hope people across the country will also reject communal politics and vote for the country's development and prosperity," Mufti said.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor congratulated the party workers in Karnataka and reminded them that it is not time for complacency. "Proud of my colleagues of@INCKarnataka for their outstanding work on the ground, responsiveness to local issues & commitment to resist the politics of polarisation. Now its time for celebration but not for complacency. We have the results we worked for; now we must deliver results for the people of Karnataka!" Tharoor tweeted.

Opposition leaders across the country hailed the Karnataka results as a decisive mandate against the BJP.

Basavaraj Bommai took full responsibility for BJP's defeat in the state and said there will be a detailed analysis of BJP's performance in every constituency once the results are out.

"I accept my loss in the assembly elections. I wholeheartedly thank @BJP4Chikmagalur Karyakartas and the people of Chikkamagaluru for their support to me all these years. I congratulate all the winning candidates and wish them the very best in the coming days," BJP's heavyweight candidate CT Ravi tweeted accepting defeat.

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A high-powered panel comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury met on Saturday to decide the name of next director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), with Karnataka director general of police (DGP) Praveen Sood being the frontrunner, people familiar with the development said. HT Image

The meeting was called as current CBI director Subodh Kumar Jaiswals fixed two-year tenure is coming to an end on May 25.

During the meeting, names of three senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officers  Sood (from 1986 batch), DGP Madhya Pradesh Sudhir Saxena (1987 batch) and an officer of the UT cadre from 1987 batch were discussed.

However, Chowdhury is learnt to have dissented in writing on the names, and asked why an officer from the minority community or a woman wasnt even on the shortlist, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Sood being senior most officer in 1986 and 1987 batch officers is the front runner for the CBI chiefs post, this person added, asking not to be named.

It is not clear if the government has considered extending Jaiswals tenure by another year as the law allows the Centre to give CBI directors and Enforcement Directorate (ED) chiefs three years extension, a matter which is pending with the Supreme Court.

Jaiswal took over the reins of the CBI on May 26, 2021. He was the Maharashtra DGP before joining the central agency. During his two-year tenure, one of the key cases investigated by CBI is that concerning the Delhi excise policy 2021-22, in which former deputy chief minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia was arrested by the agency on February 26 while chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was questioned.

The agency also arrested former ICICI Bank chief executive Chanda Kochhar in December 2022 in a loans kickback case involving Videocon Groups Venugopal Dhoot.

Besides the name of the new CBI chief, the high-powered panel on Saturday also discussed the appointments of the Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) and member, Lokpal.

A second person familiar with the matter said that the government wants to extend the tenure of current CVC, PK Srivastava but that Chowdhury has dissented on that as well.
They began their political journeys in starkly different ways. Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar have emerged as the top contenders for the post of Karnataka CM. (File Photo)

Siddaramaiah rose through the ranks of local politics before entering the assembly in 1983. He then made his way into the Janata Party, the Janata Dal, its splinter Janata Dal (Secular), and finally to the Congress. By the time he joined the Congress party in 2005, he had already held senior portfolios in the state government, including the finance ministry and the deputy chief ministership.

In contrast, DK Shivakumar has remained a lifelong Congressman, beginning his foray in politics as a 27-year-old whiz kid of sorts in 1989 to the battle-hardened troubleshooter and arguably the Congresss tallest organisational man in the country. The current Karnataka party unit chief also held important portfolios but his real political acumen lies in rescuing the party when its in trouble  be it the government of then chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh in Maharashtra, the Rajya Sabha election of stalwart Ahmed Patel or hosting Congress lawmakers at his resort to stave off poaching attempts.

Also read | How the Congress won Karnataka

On Saturday, the two men  the mass leader and the behind-the-scenes handler, the socialist satrap with a welfare-focussed outreach and the backroom strongman with the resources and political nous to steer the campaign ship  came together to deliver the Congress its biggest victory in the state in three decades.

And while speculation swirled about who will become the next chief minister of one of Indias most-important states  to be sure, the 76-year-old Siddaramaiah is considered the front runner ahead of the 60-year-old Shivakumar  there was no doubt that the two men had overcome obstacles both internal and external in their successful quest for an elusive majority, all the while remaining careful to keep their disagreements, if any, out of the public purview.

This was not easy, especially in a state where the rivalling ambitions of the two men is often a matter of public discussion. The first big test came in December 2022, six months before the elections, when the Congress decided it wanted to kick off campaigning for the Karnataka elections early.

The party proposed bus tours by senior leaders across the state; as the states two tallest leaders, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, were to travel in two separate buses. But the announcement sent tongues wagging. The BJP was quick to pounce on the opportunity, saying the party couldnt even make the two share a bus, let alone power. Alarmed, the Congress backtracked. In the end, the two leaders decided to travel a small distance in the same bus, before embarking on their separate routes. It was a symbolic gesture, but one that generated a viral moment, enough for the Congress to bury speculation of a rift.

That image of bonhomie stuck throughout the campaign, as the two leaders made public attempts to be seen as genial with each other, sometimes hugging on stage, appearing on photographs and advertisements together, and even starring in a carefully shot video where they exchanged warm greetings and candid exchanges about life on the campaign trail.

This (election result in Karnataka) will be a stepping stone for the Congresss victory in 2024. The Congress won because of the relentless work of our workers and leaders, Siddaramaiah said, flanked by supporters, and hoped that party leader Rahul Gandhi would become the prime minister in the 2024 general elections. Addressing reporters, he repeatedly said, This is my last election. I will retire from electoral politics after this. Siddaramaiah also made it a point to mention Shivakumar as one of the architects of the victory.

The younger man was far more emotional. I delivered, said Shivakumar in a touching message to his party on Saturday morning shortly after the results. The teary eyed Congress leader added, I had promised Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge that I will deliver the state to their fold. When these BJP people put me in jail, I remember Sonia Gandhi came to meet me there. Such is the faith the party, the Gandhi family and the whole country bestowed on me, he said. Shivakumar, like his senior colleague, ensured he took Siddaramaihs name as part of his vote of thanks.

The two leaders complement each others strengths.

Siddaramaiah was the partys popular face who hailed from the backward Kuruba community and helped stitch together a remarkable coalition of backwards, minorities and Dalits, known as Ahinda. His record of welfare outreach during his previous term also endeared him to the poor, as did his oratory and wide experience in campaigning.

In contrast, Shivakumar was the partys principal troubleshooter and its chief organisation man who smoothed every kink in the campaign and helped run the best-managed Congress show in years. He hails from the influential Vokkaliga community, and helped deliver impressive results in the southern Karnataka region. He was also instrumental in crafting an aggressive anti-corruption campaign by utilising the services of the state contractors association and coining terms such as PayCM and 40% Sarkara that struck a public chord.

Kharge himself acknowledged their contribution, saying the state unit had shown the country how to defeat the BJP.

Now, all eyes are a meeting of all Congress legislators on Sunday evening. Both leaders have remained amicable and say the party will decide. Siddaramaiah has an advantage over DK (Shivakumar) because of his seniority and age. His declaration that he will retire from electoral politics will also go in his favour. Moreover, DK, who is 60, has age on his side, said a senior Congress leader, who was not willing to be named. There was also speculation about an arrangement where Siddaramaiah could take over, and then step aside for Shivakumar towards the end of his term.

So, election done, the two architects of the victory will meet with other party colleagues on Sunday, to sort out the leadership issue -- ideally, for the Congress, without a tussle.

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The Congress will fulfil its poll promises made in Karnataka in the first Cabinet meeting itself, former party chief Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday as he congratulated the people of the state for helping it win the assembly elections. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at Congress headquarters in Delhi on Saturday. (PTI)

We promised the state five things, and within the first Cabinet meeting, we will make these promises a reality, Gandhi told reporters outside the Congress headquarters in Delhi, referring to the schemes such as Gruha Jyoti, Gruha Lakshmi, Yuva Nidhi, Shakti, and Anna Bhagya included in the partys Karnataka poll manifesto.

Gandhi asserted that the Congress had won the poll campaign with the message of love, and reiterated the shops of love slogan that he made famous during his Bharat Jodo Yatra campaign. Today, the people of Karnataka have triumphed. The shops of hate have been shut and the shops of love opened, he said.

Congress fought this fight with love and not hatred. Congress leaders did not resort to using hateful terms in the campaign, he added.

Extending his gratitude to the Congress workers and leaders in the state, Gandhi said, In the Karnataka polls, on one side was crony capitalism, and on the other the commitment of the workers.

According to the Election Commission website, the Congress was leading 137 seats as of 3pm. It requires 113 seats in the 224-member assembly to form the government in the state. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on the other hand, was leading 62 seats.

Gandhi said the Gruha Jyoti scheme that promises to give 200 units free electricity to every household in Karnataka, is aimed to help Kannadigas fight the onslaught of price rise and save up for essentials such as food, education for children, and healthcare.

The Gruha Lakshmi scheme that promises 2,000 per month to each woman head of the family would benefit 1.5 crore housewives in the state, he said.

The Yuva Nidhi sceme will provide 3,000 every month to unemployed youth with graduation degrees for two years, and 1,500 every month to those unemployed young people with a diploma.

Anna Bhagya scheme will give 10 kg free rice to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families, while Shakti scheme will provide free travel to women in regular KSRTC/ BMTC buses.
NEW DELHI: Member nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) support the adoption of Indian digital public infrastructure such as Aadhaar, Unified Payments Interface, DigiLocker and CoWin, electronics and information technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Saturday. Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a statement that SCO member states unanimously adopted Indias proposal for developing Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) as the right way for deploying digital technology (PTI)

Thec met today and unanimously adopted Indias proposal for developing Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) as the right way for deploying digital technology among member states, Vaishnaw said in a statement after chairing the meeting.

The SCO grouping includes Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and India.

DPI is important from the perspective of making sure that technology is democratized, Vaishnaw said. There was also a need felt for interoperability between different systems being developed by the member states and the body recognized the need for setting up an organization for setting common standards for interoperability of digital systems among member states, he said.

Approximately 74 billion UPI transactions worth 125.94 lakh crore were conducted in 2022, National Payments Cooperation of India data show. In 2021, the UPI platform handled more than 38 billion transactions, amounting to 71.54 lakh crore. Using CoWin, Indias Covid-19 vaccination app, 2.2 billion doses have been administered so far.

I would urge all fellow members of SCO to assess, evaluate and adopt India Stack and benefit from this digital public infrastructure, Vaishnaw said.

India Stack, which details these digital assets, is a set of open APIs and digital public goods that aim to unlock the economic primitives of identity, data, and payments at population scale. Although the name of this project bears the word India, the vision of India Stack is not limited to one country; it can be applied to any nation, be it a developed one or an emerging one. The government has previously asserted that several nations have shown an interest in India Stack.

India also shared with SCO member states about investing $3 billion to take mobile connectivity to villages in remote areas and $5 billion to bring broadband connectivity to all 250 thousand village council, the ministry statement said.

One of the key outcomes of the India Stack is UPI, which has transformed the payments system in India, pushing the financial inclusion metric by 5% compounded annual growth rate, according to Kazim Rizvi, founder of the Dialogue, a technology think tank.

The export of UPI to other countries has grown significantly, with the international arm of NPCI partnering with countries such as the UK, the UAE, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Bhutan, Nepal, etc., Rizvi added. The recent signature by SCO member states to adopt Indias proposal for developing digital public infrastructure as the way forward for deploying digital technologies in members is a significant recognition of Indias efforts towards having digitally inclusive growth at the global scale.
The remarkable Congress triumph in Karnataka is a huge accomplishment for a party that has struggled to find political success in the past decade. The Congress ran a disciplined campaign. It beefed up its organisational muscle. It tapped into local disenchantment against the incumbent. It had a strong and unified local leadership. The partys national leaders stepped in to help but did not hijack the campaign. The Congress made the right promises. It offered stability to a state that has witnessed frequent changes in government. And it put together a wide social coalition, a reminder of the days when the Congress was indeed an umbrella party. The win helps boost the morale of Congress workers on the ground. (PTI photo)

The Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) defeat in the state must count as one of the more embarrassing episodes in its otherwise sparkling recent electoral record. To form a government in 2019, it had won over defectors with inducements. The origin of the regime determined its subsequent nature and reputation where rent-seeking was prioritised. It went into polls with an unpopular government. It relied excessively on communal polarisation as a way to neutralise governance deficits. It alienated established leaders but was unable to present credible new faces. Its national general secretary in charge of organisation, BL Santhosh, delegated from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to help the BJP, became a partisan political player in his home state, exacerbating internal divisions. Its social coalition was limited both in terms of religion and caste. Its appeal among women shrank. And the state unit put all its eggs in Prime Minister Narendra Modis basket for a miracle, turning a blind eye to the post-2018 trend where voters have made a distinction between state and national elections.

Also Read: Smaller parties, independents to the fore amid Congs slim lead

The big question, however, is what the results mean for 2024. To suggest that it has no meaning, and will have no impact, is wrong.

This is especially true in the case of the Congress. The win helps boost the morale of workers on the ground who are so accustomed to defeat that they often give up before the battle commences. It also gives the party the opportunity to raise resources in a context where the Congress is in power in only three other states. Even if the victory was due to the combined efforts of Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar, it helps burnish Rahul Gandhis reputation for Karnataka is one state where the Bharat Jodo Yatra appears to have had an electoral impact. It also raises the Congresss profile within the larger national opposition and may make some other parties, who have been highly doubtful of the partys political judgment and abilities, more amenable to the idea of working together. And if the Congress, which won just one Lok Sabha seat from Karnataka in 2019, can improve its tally even marginally next year, it will help.

For the BJP, the setback is an opportunity to go back to drawing board to understand why it was unable to expand its social coalition and why poorer voters and women, in particular, stayed away despite its welfare schemes. In 2019, the party won 26 of the states 28 Lok Sabha seats. Repeating the performance may have just got tougher, especially if the Congress government over the next year is able to sustain its social coalition and deliver on its promises. Saturdays results will also play a role in how the BJP selects its candidates for the 2024 polls in the state.

But as tempting as it may be for the Congress and the BJPs critics, it will be analytically incorrect and politically unwise to impose a larger national meaning to the Karnataka verdict for two reasons.

The first is obvious. Broadly speaking, after the first three years of the Narendra Modi government, where voters bought the idea of a double engine sarkar, state and national elections have followed their own, often divergent, trajectories.

Go back to 2018 and the most powerful image after the Karnataka elections was of all opposition leaders sharing the stage in Bengaluru to celebrate HD Kumaraswamys elevation as chief minister; in 2019, the BJP swept the state.

The same year, in December, the Congress formed the government in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan; four months later, the BJP won 62 out of 65 seats in the three states put together.

Anecdotal evidence from the ground in Karnataka suggests that even this time around, voters have been clear in their preferences  Siddaramaiah for Bengaluru, Modi for Delhi.

If the Congress thinks their success will automatically translate into an improved performance, let alone an outright win, next year in the state, they better think again.

The second reason to be cautious about extrapolating Karnatakas results to the national stage is that the conditions in the state were very different from the conditions that exist politically at the national level for both parties.

In Bengaluru, the BJP had an unpopular government with a weak leader; in Delhi, by all accounts, its government remains popular, and its leader remains strong with high approval ratings. In Karnataka, Dalits, tribals and other backward classes (OBCs) were substantially with the Congress; in a majority of the states where the BJP draws its Lok Sabha strength from, the party seems to enjoy the support of precisely these subaltern social groups.

In these state elections, the Congress won over women voters in larger numbers; on the national stage, especially in the states of north, west, central and eastern India, a combination of faith in Modis intent and welfare schemes has shifted the women vote to the BJP.

In Karnataka, the BJPs internal fractures played a role in hampering the campaign; nationally, when the election is about Modi, the internal fractures get largely subsumed. And in Karnataka, the issue of corruption hurt the BJPs reputation substantially; nationally, despite the allegations around crony capitalism, there is much greater faith in Modis integrity than his critics would like to admit.

In Karnataka, the Congress could project a strong and rooted local leadership; nationally, Rahul Gandhi has been unable to become that face for the Opposition.

In Karnataka, the Congress could localise issues down to the assembly segment and it worked; in Lok Sabha polls, the strategy of fighting 543 different elections based on local candidates and local issues was tried in 2019 and it miserably failed, a larger national message and national leadership is essential. And in Karnataka, the Congress could bank on the fact that except in the coastal belt, the politics of Hindutva has limited appeal historically; in many other parts of the country, the politics of Hindutva today has greater traction than ever before. Put it all together and there is no Karnataka model for the Congress to easily replicate in 2024.

But it is important to understand and respect a state election in its own right. India is a union of states, state governments have their own constitutional rights, and they draw their own democratic legitimacy from their voters.

The real importance of Karnatakas verdict does not lie in what it may translate into in 2024. It lies in the fact that Indias electoral democracy provides enough space to all parties to compete, where even a weaker opposition party can score a win over a more powerful rival. It lies in the fact that Indian federalism is robust and the political sensibility in a state can vary from what may appear to be the national mood. It lies in the fact that voters have shown that they will not hesitate to punish governments that dont serve their constitutional and popular mandates, and reward political parties that can articulate and aggregate the concerns of citizens in an effective manner. And in that sense, Karnatakas importance lies in ensuring that no party can take its political dominance for granted and Indian democracy retains its vitality.

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From kingmaker to a bit player, the decline in the fortunes of the Janata Dal (Secular), led by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, has been nothing short of dramatic. The partys tally in the assembly polls has tumbled to 20 seats from 37 won in 2018, compounded by a sharp fall of five percentage points in vote share from 18.3% to 13.3%, leading to its worst electoral performance since 2004. The party saw its worst electoral performance since 2004. (HT file image)

The JD(S) campaigned vigorously, claiming that it would be the kingmaker in Karnataka and HD Kumaraswamy would become chief minister. Several opinion and exit polls had projected a hung assembly, which could have led to the partys crucial role in forming a government.

The results on Saturday showed its electoral strategy did not work, with experts saying voters, including from the partys vote bank of Vokkaligas, preferred the Congress as it had a chance to form a stable government on its own. The JD(S), as a result, put up a poor show even in its bastions.

Also Read:Just wait and watch: Ex-PM Devegowda on upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections

Accepting the partys defeat, Kumaraswamy said, In a democratic system, the peoples mandate is final. I accept defeat and victory with equanimity. My struggle will continue.

Its biggest defeat came in Mandya district, where the party had won all seven seats in 2018. This year, it could retain only two. In Hassan, the home district of Dewe Gowda, the party could win five seats in 2023 compared to seven in 2018.

Of the three contesting members of the Dewe Gowda family, two sons, H D Kumaraswamy and H D Revanna, won, but grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy lost from the stronghold of Ramanagara to Congress leader Iqbal Hussain. In the Vokkaliga belt of Old Mysuru region, the party could win only 14 of the total 59 seats. In 2018, it had won 29 seats.

This is a major decline and the JD (S) is facing its worst crisis in 20 years, political analyst Sandeep Shastri said. In fact, the Bharatiya Janata Party getting more votes in the Old Mysuru region benefitted the Congress at the cost of JD (S).

The competition in old Mysore saw the JD(S) sliding to the advantage of the Congress. While thr BJP increased its vote share in old Mysore, JD(S) seats fell as the Congress increased its vote share, Shastri said.

The drubbing for the JD(S) was also a result of the party failing to get good number of seats outside the Old Mysuru region. In 2018, the party had got 11 seats outside the region. This time, the number shrunk to only one and that too in the Vokkaliga dominated constituency in Bengaluru.

A combination of anti-incumbency against sitting JD(S) MLAs, too much importance to the family and a lack of support from the Muslim community were the main reasons for the partys downfall, experts and party workers said. But the most important factor was the shift of Vokkaliga votes away from the party.

The vote share of Congress in Karnataka assembly polls went below 34% only once in 1994 when the vote share fell to 24%. On Saturday, the party showed a vote share of about 43%, winning 136 seats and a majority. The BJP won 65 seats.

If you want to answer the question whether Vokkaliga voters have moved away from the JD(S), the vote share explains it. If Congress has increased its vote share by 9% from its base, the anti-incumbency vote generally gives 1-2% votes. The rest is 7% and Vokkaligas account for around 12% of the votes in the region. This shows that a good chunk of Vokkaliaga votes moved to the Congress, said a JD(S) leader who didnt want to be named.

One of the reasons for this shift was anti-incumbency.

Nyame Gowda, a former government employee from Mandya, said people were unhappy with the Gowda family and its MLAs. Even before the election and after the election, one thing people were talking about was how Kumaraswamy took away several projects from the various constituencies when he was chief minister after his son lost the Lok Sabha election. There was anger and it has resulted in negative votes, he said.

In JD(S)s blueprint for the 2023 polls, Muslims featured prominently. The party made CM Ibrahim party chief and even took a stand during the hijab issue to appeal to Muslim voters. But the Congress has swept the Muslim votes. Not only have they prevented the shift of Muslim votes, JD(S) Muslim voters have moved to the Congress as the latter was the seen as the party capable of putting the BJP on check, said Shastri.

The outcome of the election also presents a leadership conundrum for the party. HD Deve Gowda is ageing and may not be active in the next election. HD Kumaraswamy also has some medical complications. The party now doesnt have a third layer of leadership, said political observer A Narayana. Nikhil Kumaraswamy has lost both Lok Sabha and assembly elections. Because the party is family centric, they have not allowed any leader to grow up the rank either. This will be a real concern for the party.

The family centric structure of JD(S), too, played a role in its defeat. Many leaders within the party felt alienated from the family, Narayana added. People of Mandya and Ramanagaram are known for rejecting one party over such issues and they did.

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Trinamool national spokesperson Saket Gokhale who spent the last 4.5 months in the Ahmedabad Central Jail in a crowdfunding case on Saturday made an advanced appeal to all those who will win in the 242 assembly constituencies in Karnataka where the counting is going on. The appeal is: don't sell out to BJP. Trinamool spokesperson Saket Gokhale has a message for those who will be elected as MLAs in Karnataka.

"If its a hung assembly, dont sell out to BJP. Having been jailed by ED, let me tell you that even prison is more bearable than joining a party of monsters. Remember the people who voted for you & do the right thing," Saket Gokhale tweeted.

Karnataka counting LIVE updates: Follow here

Granted bail by a special court on May 6, as Saket walked out of the jail, he targetted the BJP government in Gujarat for imprisoning him. In a long Twitter thread posted on Friday, Saket reiterated his innocence and his faith in the judiciary. "Of the 1700 people that crowdfunded me between 2019-20, a complaint of Rs. 500 by ONE donor (incidentally a Gujarat Govt official) was used to charge me with money laundering. Sadly for the BJP, these months of imprisonment didnt break me like they wanted. m confident of my innocence & have immense faith in our judiciary which I trust will give me justice. I have done my work with the greatest dedication through all these years. And Ill continue to do the work Ive always done with the same spirit," he wrote.

Karnataka Congress sending MLAs to resort? DK Shivakumar responds

Recounting his ordeal, Saket wrote he was arrested 3 time in December by Gujarat Police in a span of 20 days. "That Gujarat Police would book someone who has never been to Gujarat isnt surprising since that state is BJPs laboratory for persecution," he wrote.

'No demand for me... a small party': JDS' Kumaraswamy plays down alliance buzz

Message to Karnataka MLAs

Karnataka is seeing a neck-and-neck fight between the Congress and the BJP with JD(S) likely to play a significant role in deciding the winner. As the counting proceeds, trading of MLAs, and resort politics are expected to follow. Congress's Siddaramaiah has reportedly spoken to 10 Independent candidates for support, while JD(S) said it has not yet been approached by any party. Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar said they will not be moving their MLAs to resort before the result is clear.

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The union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Saturday stressed on the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on global health infrastructure and emphasised the need for enhanced robustness, inclusivity, and responsiveness while maintaining the central role of the World Health Organisation (WHO). He was speaking at the G7 health ministers meeting on Global Health Architecture in Nagasaki, Japan. (Dr Mansukh Mandaviya | Twitter)

He was speaking at the G7 health ministers meeting on Global Health Architecture in Nagasaki, Japan.

When it comes to managing any health emergency, any countrys national health system is heavily dependent on the global health system, he said in his address.

The G7 health ministers meeting was held on Saturday to discuss the global health challenges and ways to ensure preparedness, prevention and response to future health emergencies.

Also Read: At G20, Health minister says interest shown in this scheme

Health ministers of the G7 countries and Outreach 4 countries -- India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand -- who were invited to the meeting were present.

Mandaviya cautioned against fragmented and siloed efforts in addressing the challenges faced by the world and underlined the need for collaborative efforts to ensure global health security including a specific focus on promoting health equity.

He noted that while multiple global efforts are underway, there is a need to ensure the convergence of these ongoing initiatives.

He added that these have collectively prioritised health emergency preparedness, access to medical countermeasures and digital health to achieve universal health coverage and innovation.

Mandaviya also emphasised the role of digital solutions and the use of technology in ensuring continuity of care amidst multiple challenges posed by the pandemic.

Bridging digital divide through promotion of digital public goods to support health service delivery is critical to ensure that fruits of technology are made available to all and to aid and augment health response capacities, he said.

On Indias G20 presidency, Mandaviya informed that priority has been given towards building consensus for converging global efforts to address any health emergencies and ensure the availability of medical countermeasures to all the countries during any health emergency, with a specific focus on affordability and ensuring equitable availability.

He also voiced his concern on the high level of global inequity in access to medical countermeasures by highlighting that the Covid-19 vaccination programme started in December 2020, but even after two years, only 34% of the population in low-and-middle-income countries has access tom the vaccination, compared to 73% in high-income countries as of April 2023.
In the assembly bypolls held for Chhanbey seat in Uttar Pradesh, Rinki Kol of the Apna Dal(Sonelal) party emerged as the winner with a margin of over 9,000 votes against her closest rival, Keerti Kol of the Samajwadi Party. Apna Dal (Sonelal) candidate Rinki Singh Koil shows victory sign after filing her nomination on April 20 for Chhanbey Assembly seat bypoll.(PTI)

Initially, the electoral battle for the Chhanbey assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh was a closely fought one, with early trends indicating a tight contest between Rinki Kol and her SP rival.

However, as the day progressed, Rinki Kol began to pull ahead, eventually winning the bypoll with a comfortable margin of 9,585 votes.

The Chhanbey bypoll was held on May 10, along with the Suar seat, and was necessitated by the demise of Apna Dal (Sonelal) MLA Rahul Kol.

The by-election for the Chhanbey assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh witnessed a unique political battle between the spouses of two former lawmakers.

Apna Dal (Sonelal) party, an ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh, fielded Rinki Kol, the wife of the deceased MLA Rahul Kol, while Kirti Kol, the daughter of former legislator Bhai Lal Kol, contested on behalf of the Samajwadi Party, making it a bahu vs beti narrative.

The bypoll witnessed a total of eight contenders, and the constituency had around 3.65 lakh eligible voters.

(With PTI inputs)

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On any given work day, Ray wakes up, brews coffee, smokes a cigarette, and then takes a hit of pot before sitting down to morning Zoom meetings. Yeah, maybe my eyes are red, but no one can see that on Zoom, says Ray, a West Coast executive, who typically continues to take a puff of marijuana hourly while on the job  all the long tail of a methamphetamine addiction that he developed during pandemic lockdowns. (Also read: The open questions of hybrid working) A May 2022 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta estimates that the number of working age Americans (25 to 54 years old) with substance use disorders has risen by 23% since pre-pandemic, to 27 million.(Pixabay)

If I get really tired, I can just go lay down, says the executive, who is disclosing only his middle name for fear of damage to his career. Now I can use in ways that I never before imagined.

Data suggest there could be millions in the workforce like Ray.

A May 2022 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta estimates that the number of working age Americans (25 to 54 years old) with substance use disorders has risen by 23% since pre-pandemic, to 27 million. A figure that's about one in six of people who were employed around the time of the study. Its caused a 9% to 26% drop in labor force participation that Karen Kopecky, one of the authors of the report, says continues today.

Drug recovery firm Sierra Tucson concluded from a November 2021 survey that about 20% of US workers admitted to using recreational drugs while working remotely, and also to being under the influence during virtual meetings. Digital recovery clinic Quit Genius found in August 2022 that one in five believe that substance use has affected their work performance, also according to a survey.

Bloomberg spoke with a half dozen addiction specialists who treat mostly employed patients. All say that their treatment programs are over-enrolled in the wake of the pandemic, fueled by extended remote or hybrid arrangements that offer a dangerous triad: steady paychecks, proximity to drugs and alcohol out of view from co-workers, and incentive to maintain day-to-day functionality. As a result, undetected drug habits flourished and are only now coming to light as more companies require workers to return to the office.

The last thing to go is the work, says Indra Cidambi, medical director of New Jersey-based Center for Network Therapy. Employees think its a temporary phase, and that theyll get back to work and everything will be alright. They call and say, Am I an addict? I cant be  it was never an issue.

Employers antennae are up. Random workplace drug testing rose 37% from 2021 to 2022, according to a survey by screening company First Advantage.

To be sure, hiding substance use from the boss has been around as long as there have been bosses. But pre-pandemic, most excesses were limited to after hours.

With people working remotely, there might be a more mixed pattern, said Daniel Angres, medical director at Chicagos Positive Sobriety Institute, a clinic for professionals and physicians. In industries that have safety measures like drug testing and access to therapists, like health care, he sees less misuse  defined as using in ways counter to medical guidelines while negatively impacting health and functioning.

We see it in particular where there are fewer safeguards built in, such as in the fields of technology, finance and law, said Angres.

Rays workday weed use is an improvement from 2020, when he said he was regularly using crystal methamphetamine. I didnt have to be anywhere, money was coming in, and no one was holding my feet to the fire on projects because the world was ending. Which is a perfect storm for someone with substance abuse issues, he says.

Fearing a tailspin, he said he enrolled in a harm reduction program and moved to a new state, away from his dealers and drug-using friends, and was stable by the end of 2020. His goal was to minimize damage to his health, wellbeing and employment, without banning all substance use.

But rather than staying predominantly sober, Ray found himself acquiring marijuana on dog walks and smoking hourly. Even so, he was able to get hired full-time in a managerial communications role. Im living off the residual career benefits from my completely sober years, he says.

Employment now continues surprisingly long into severe addiction. Cidambi frequently sees patients self-medicating to succeed at work.

During the pandemic they had to perform whether they were feeling good or not, so they sought out whatever pills they could get to help manage their base workloads, and that was a disaster, she said. Access to medical care waned. They were not given the medications they needed, so they were seeking out pills from friends.

Few of her patients perceive themselves as addicts. Theres huge denial. Because of their years at a company and good reputations, their addictions went completely unnoticed until their employers said, You need to come back to the office. It was a rude awakening. Those in-office days brought on shakes, hangovers and withdrawal symptoms. Thats when they seek out detox.Substance misuse has many triggers. But hybrid work, Angres says, telescopes five-to-10 year downward spirals down to months, partially by removing an important social impediment to substance or other addictive tendencies: ample time around healthy people.

It really is so much about relationships, and thats why emphasizing family and a healthy workplace is so critical. A lot of that has been compromised, he says.

Accidental overdose deaths from fentanyl have further exposed abuse by high-functioning workers. One dramatic example: When one drug dealer delivered cocaine to three Manhattan professionals  a financial trading executive, a social worker and a lawyer  as they worked in March 2021, all three died from fetanyl overdoses.

Researchers now use fentanyl death data to estimate workday drug consumption. Its highlighting that people who appear to be living very functional lives with apparent professional success are abusing high quantities of cocaine on a regular basis, said Warren Zysman, longtime clinical director of Employee Assistance Resources Services, an outpatient treatment program in Smithtown, New York. If cocaine wasnt laced with fentanyl, we probably wouldnt know.

Fentanyl, a cheap opioid that was once substituted for heroin, is common in street-bought pressed pills (powder that dealers press into pills), and experts estimate that one in 20 bags of cocaine in US East Coast cities is laced with fentanyl. Its particularly deadly to people who have not developed a tolerance.

As for whats driving workers to imbibe substances on the clock, addiction physicians say that workday misuse is frequently triggered by real-time professional stress alongside underlying depression or anxiety.

A lot of people start using drugs because it makes them feel better, says Zysman. At least 80% of the time, they have some sort of co-occurring mental health issue. Other common triggers, he says, are boredom, isolation and fears about the future.

Amphetamines, which are popular for spurring workday focus, are used by 80% of Zysmans professional patients. Patients often begin on prescription stimulants, and transition to street dealers.

Then they discover that crack cocaine can be cheaper than pills. Zysman recently treated a manager in his forties with a pacemaker defibrillator following heart attacks. People dont realize that when you use crack cocaine and amphetamines, it ages your organs and really does a number on your heart. Its like putting your body in neutral and slamming on the gas.

Cidambi is currently seeing workplace benzodiazepine abuse that spirals into other substances.

They take a couple Xanax to cope. Then they cant sleep at night, so they take marijuana edibles at night, to sleep. And thats when they have a night cap of drinking. And then its a mess to wake up for work, so some do a line of coke just to perk themselves up, she says.

Though back-to-office mandates are unpopular for many reasons, addiction experts note that resistance consistently comes from millions of addicted employees.

They are dragging their feet because they know theyre not in the same shape that they were in prior to the pandemic, and theyre trying to get a handle on their substance misuse, says substance counselor Patrick Krill, an former practicing attorney who co-authored a national study of lawyers and substance misuse. Thats a very real phenomenon right now.Krill counsels law firms to build cultures where managers check in regularly, and employees feel comfortable accessing counseling. Suspected substance misuse is best addressed supportively and empathetically by people trained to do so.

As for Ray, he has returned to sobriety during work hours.

I had gotten so used to smoking pot all the time with work, he said. He now works with a therapist to wean himself off weed, and smoking it is verboten, because its fast-acting. The rule is that after 6pm, I can have whatever pot edibles I want, with the goal of eventually stopping altogether. For me, its about creating boundaries so I cant impulsively go get stoned in the middle of the day.

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Actor couple Kiara Advani and Sidharth Malhotra took a flight out of Mumbai on Friday. The paparazzi clicked the couple at the airport dressed in comfy yet stylish ensembles. They shared the videos of the couple arriving at the airport on social media. The snippets garnered comments from Sidharth and Kiara's fans, who called them 'made for each other'. Read our download on the couple's airport-ready outfits and see their clip below. Kira Advani and Sidharth Malhotra serve couple fashion goals at the airport.

Kiara Advani and Sidharth Malhotra at the airport

Kiara Advani and Sidharth Malhotra chose stylish, comfy outfits for their flight out of Mumbai on Friday. The paparazzi video shows the couple arriving at the airport, posing for the media, and sharing a fun moment with them as they called Sidharth and Kiara 'bhaiya bhabhi'(Brother and sister-in-law). The video garnered several likes and comments from their fans. One wrote, "So cute made for each other." Another commented, "Bhaiya Bhabhi rocks." A fan remarked, "Couple goals." Watch the post below.

Kiara chose a neutral-coloured ensemble featuring a tank top, matching jacket and jogger pants. While the blouse has a round neckline and fitted silhouette, the jacket comes with notch lapel collars, full-length sleeves, cropped hem, belted designs, and a figure-skimming silhouette.

Kiara completed the outfit with white-coloured baggy jogger pants featuring a high-rise waist and cinched hem. In the end, Kiara styled the ensemble with a top handle bag, chunky white shoes, aviator sunglasses, open locks, and a no-makeup look.

Sidharth complemented his wife in a stylish ensemble featuring a light blue-coloured collared denim shirt, a classic white tee, and baggy white joggers with contrasting black stripes on the side. He carried a Prada backpack with the ensemble. Lastly, tinted sunglasses, a backswept hairdo, a clean-shaven face, and chunky lace-up sneakers gave a finishing touch to his airport-ready look.
Actor Priyanka Chopra is enjoying the success of her recently-released Prime video series Citadel with Richard Madden. The star's rom-com Love Again with Sam Heughan was released in theatres. During the promotions of both projects, Priyanka displayed her fashion tour de force and delighted fans with back-to-back magnificent looks. Now, her stylist Rebecca Corbin-Murray has released pictures of a new look Priyanka donned while stepping out in New York City, and it will equally leave you swooning. It shows the star in sizzling red-coloured separates. Keep scrolling to read our download on the ensemble. Priyanka Chopra steps out in NYC in a sizzling red outfit and killer boots. (Instagram)

Priyanka Chopra's steal-worthy red outfit

On Saturday, Priyanka Chopra's stylist took to Instagram to share pictures of the actor in the sizzling red ensemble with the caption, "Episode 4 is out!!! @citadelonprime." The post shows Priyanka stepping out in New York City, dressed in a cropped blouse, a mermaid-styled skirt, and killer boots. Her coordinated outfit is from the shelves of the clothing label Patou. She styled it with jewels from Bulgari (Priyanka is the global ambassador for the label). Fans loved the sartorial moment and flooded the comments section with compliments. Check out Priyanka's photos and what her fans commented below.

Priyanka's sizzling red cropped blouse and skirt come in a textured ruched fabric that hugged the star's frame to accentuate her enviable curves. While the sleeveless top features a round neckline fitted bust and midriff-baring hem, the skirt has a high-rise waist and a ruffled silk-satin attachment on the hem to give it a mermaid-like silhouette.

Priyanka wore the ensemble with striking accessories, including killer red high-heel boots featuring a front lace-up design, sleek gold bracelets, statement rings, dainty hoop earrings, and black tinted broad sunglasses.

Lastly, Priyanka chose feathered brows, nude mauve lip shade, rouged cheekbones, light contouring, a dewy base, and shimmering highlighter for the glam picks. Centre-parted open wavy locks gave the finishing touch to the ensemble.
Sixty-five per cent of 500 doctor-mothers surveyed in key metropolitan and Tier-2 cities experience burnout while striving to balance their personal and professional lives, a new study has found. The study, conducted by Gurugram-based Pristyn Care and Lybrate Data, said 41 per cent of the doctor-moms have experienced workplace discrimination for "being a doctor and a mother". Sixty-five per cent of 500 doctor-mothers surveyed in key metropolitan and Tier-2 cities experience burnout. (Unsplash)

The study was conducted in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kanpur, Chandigarh, Patna, Kochi and Vijayawada.

An average of 63 per cent of the doctors work eight to 12 hours daily, impacting their ability to achieve satisfactory work-life harmony. Over 50 per cent of these professionals struggle to find time for self-care, it said.

To address these issues, 61 per cent of the respondents prefer flexible work hours while around 20 per cent emphasise the importance of mental health support.

Dr Garima Sawhney, co-founder and gynaecologist at Pristyn Care, said, "The study aims to understand how doctor-moms navigate their personal and professional lives. We considered their work hours, preferences for scheduling, self-care practices and perspectives on HR policies.

"An overwhelming 80 per cent of the participants say workplaces should provide targeted support and resources specifically tailored for doctor-moms."

With the COVID-19 pandemic amplifying the challenges faced by healthcare practitioners, family support has emerged as a vital pillar in the careers of successful doctors, the study said.
Mother's Day is almost here, and children around the world must be planning something or the other for their moms. From surprising them with a nice dinner in a restaurant to buying them extravagant presents, many people wish to do the best for their mothers on this day. However, have you ever wondered what your mom might actually want from you? Recently, a woman shared her true feelings about celebrating Mother's Day, and many people agreed with her. Punjabi mom's rant on Mothers Day.(Instagram/@Sonia Khatri)

In a video shared by Instagram user Sonia Khatri, she says she doesn't want any surprise gift. She does not wish for any Gucci or Prada. "Please do the things that will actually give me happiness. Wake up around 6 am and not 12 pm. Also, you have to make food for full day," said Khatri in the video. She further says that her children should not use social media full day and not order food from outside. Check out her full rant below:

Watch the video here:

This post was shared just one day ago. Since being shared, it has been liked over 3,000 times. Many have even shared comments on the post.

Check out a few reactions below:

An individual wrote, "Very true, applies to my children also." A second added, "Too good." A third posted, "You are right, sister. I agree." "Wowww, I am with you, dear," expressed a fourth.
A truce between Israel and the militant Islamic Jihad group officially came into effect late on Saturday night, with an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire agreement meant to end the worst episode of cross-border fire since a 10-day war in 2021. Palestinians and supporters of the Islamic Jihad militant group celebrate in the street after Palestenian factions and Israel reached a ceasefire agreement in Gaza City.(AFP)

As fighting tapered off, streets in Gaza that had largely been deserted filled with Palestinians. Some people cheered and honked car horns while others headed to the homes of people killed in the fighting to show their respect.

"In light of the agreement of the Palestinian and the Israeli side, Egypt announces a ceasefire between the Palestinian and the Israeli sides has been reached," a text of the agreement seen by Reuters read.

"The two sides will abide by the ceasefire which will include an end to targeting civilians, house demolition, an end to targeting individuals immediately when the ceasefire goes into effect," it said.

Israel's national security adviser thanked Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for Cairo's efforts, a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

"Quiet will be met with quiet and if Israel will be attacked or threatened, it shall continue to do what it must in order to defend itself," the statement said.

Islamic Jihad also confirmed the agreement. "We declare our acceptance of the Egyptian announcement and we will abide by it as long as the occupation (Israel) abides by it," the group's spokesman, Dawoud Shehab, said.

Even as the truce was being finalised, the two sides kept up firing, with air raid sirens sounding as far as Tel Aviv's suburbs and Israel's military announcing it had hit Islamic Jihad targets in response to rocket fire.

Though happy about news of the truce, some Gaza residents, weary of repeated flare-ups, feared that another round of fighting would erupt before long. "We want the truce to be based on principles, not like in the past when after a calm (truce) people died," said resident Munir Marouf, 43.

Israel launched the latest round of airstrikes in the early hours of Tuesday, announcing that it was targeting Islamic Jihad commanders who had planned attacks in Israel.

In response, the Iranian-backed group fired more than 1,000 rockets, sending Israelis fleeing into bomb shelters.

During the five days of the campaign, Israel killed six senior Islamic Jihad commanders and destroyed a number of military installations.

At least 10 civilians, including women and children, were also killed in Gaza during the fighting, and two people - an Israeli woman and a Palestinian labourer - were killed by Palestinian rocket fire in Israel.

Islamic Jihad spurns coexistence with Israel and preaches its destruction. Top ministers of Israel's religious nationalist government rule out any state sought by Palestinians in territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.
Amid reports of disunity among the ranks of the Pakistan army, Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Maj-Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry on Friday refuted allegations of imposition of martial law in the country, reported Geo News. There are reports coming in from Pakistan that several Brigadier, Colonel and Major level officers of the Pakistan Army have been sacked because they refused to open fire at PTI protestors and Imran Khan supporters. (AFP/File)

"I want to say very clearly that General Asim Munir and the army's leadership wholeheartedly support democracy and will continue to do so. The imposition of martial law is out of the question," said Chaudhry.

This comes after an almost four-day political turmoil erupted due to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan's arrest, in which army's installations were also targeted, reported Geo News.

"The army chief and the army's senior leadership completely believe in democracy," the military's top spokesperson said.

There are reports coming in from Pakistan that several Brigadier, Colonel and Major level officers of the Pakistan Army have been sacked because they refused to open fire at PTI protestors and Imran Khan supporters.

Read Here | Bilawal Bhutto apprehensive of martial law in Pakistan: Report

Meanwhile, in a video, Imran launched a direct attack on Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir and blamed him for creating chaos in the country.

"I am not against the institution but today the Pakistan Army is getting maligned because of one man - The Pakistan Army Chief," said Imran.

He criticised the military while his supporters raised the stakes by attacking military targets -- torching the residence of the corps commander in Lahore and attacking the entrance to the army's headquarters in Rawalpindi, reported Geo News.

In response to the reports which were circulating that army officers have resigned due to the ongoing chaos, the spokesperson snubbed these speculations as well.

"Despite all-out efforts of internal miscreants and external enemies, the army remains united under Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir," Maj Gen Chaudhry said.

"The dreams of creating division within the army will remain dreams. Neither anyone has resigned nor disobeyed any order," the army's spokesperson added.

Violent protests took place following Khan's arrest, in which nearly a dozen people were killed and several injured. The law enforcement agencies then began a crackdown on PTI, arresting scores of workers and top leaders.

After the supporters attacked army installations, the ISPR said that May 9, 2023 -- the day when chaos gripped the nation following Khan's arrest -- would go down in history as a "dark chapter," reported Geo News.

The ISPR called the PTI leaders "hypocrites" for inciting their workers against the armed forces on the one hand, and praising the military -- in a bid to overshadow their criticism -- on the other.

The unrest in the country has come to a halt for now as the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has provided blanket relief to Khan and barred authorities from arresting the PTI chief till Monday morning (May 15), after which, the government said it could arrest him, "if need be".

In response to Khan's fresh salvo against the army chief, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the PTI chairman's latest statement against Gen Munir depicted his "cheap mentality" towards the armed forces, reported Geo News.

"His statement proves that he is the mastermind of May 9 events," the premier said in a statement, criticising Khan's "baseless" allegations against a senior army official for planning to have him assassinated.
The Group of Seven (G7) rich nations is set to agree on establishing a new program to distribute vaccines to developing countries at next week's summit of leaders, Japan's Yomiuri newspaper said on Saturday. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in a group picture with his The Group of Seven health ministers counterparts during the inaugural session of the G7 Health Ministers' Meeting, in Nagasaki on Saturday. (Mansukh Mandaviya Twitter)

In addition to the G7, G20 nations such as India and international groups such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank will participate, it added, citing Japanese government sources.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the COVAX facility, backed by WHO and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), delivered nearly 2 billion doses of coronavirus vaccine to emerging countries.

However, COVAX faced setbacks in ensuring equitable access, as wealthy nations prioritised shots for their citizens while insufficient storage facilities in poorer nations caused supply delays and disposal of millions of close-to-expiry doses.

The new program aims to pool rainy-day funds for vaccine production and purchases, as well as investment in low-temperature storages and training of health workers to prepare for the next global pandemic, the paper said.

Japan, this year's chair of the G7 meetings, looks to build support from emerging nations on wide-ranging issues such as supply chains, food security and climate change to counter the growing influence of China and Russia.

Saturday's meeting of G7 finance ministers agreed to offer aid to low- and middle-income countries to help increase their role in supply chains for energy-related products.

The G7 grouping of Britain, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, is considering whether to issue a statement on global pandemic response at the May 19-21 summit in Japan's city of Hiroshima, the Yomiuri said.

Details of the new vaccine program are to be discussed at the G20 Summit in India in September, it added.
Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) countries are set to discuss concern about China's use of "economic coercion" in its dealings abroad as part of their larger joint statement next week, according to a US official familiar with the discussions. Under Biden's predecessor, President Donald Trump, G7 statements often offered only a cursory mention of issues involving China. The Biden administration has pushed for more direct statements. (File)

The statement, a likely component of the overall communique that will be released by leaders during the May 19-21 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, is expected to be paired with a broader written proposal on how the seven advanced economies will work together to counter "economic coercion" from any country.

The main G7 statement is set to include "a section specific to China" with a list of concerns that include "economic coercion and other behavior that we have seen specifically from the [People's Republic of China]," the official said on Friday.

A separate "economic security statement will speak more to tools" used to counter coercive efforts from any countries responsible, including planning and coordination, the person said. In each case, the statements are to expected go further than prior statements by the G7.

US President Joe Biden has made China a focus of his foreign policy, working to keep the tense and competitive relationship from veering into one of open conflict, including over self-ruled Taiwan.

The G7, which also includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, is closely tied economically to China, the world's biggest exporter and a key market for many of the seven countries' companies.

Last month, China called a statement by the G7 foreign ministers that touched on similar topics "full of arrogance, prejudice against China," and lodged complaints with this year's G7 host, Japan.

Under Biden's predecessor, President Donald Trump, G7 statements often offered only a cursory mention of issues involving China. The Biden administration has pushed for more direct statements.

The joint statement issued by all the G7 leaders every year is intended to signal that the powerful countries are aligned on a range of political and economic issues.

G7 members will also hold out the prospect of further cooperation with China on areas like climate.

"We're not for decoupling the US and Chinese economy, we are for de-risking, we are for diversifying," said the US official. "That principle is very unifying."

Negotiations over the precise language of the leaders' joint declarations are still subject to diplomacy and adjustment before they are released during summit.

China tests G7 alliance

The G7 meeting will be a test of how much the members, all rich democracies, can agree on a common approach to China, the world's second largest economy.

The China terms have been a major subject of the talks currently underway by G7 finance leaders in Niigata, Japan, where they have focused on reducing "over-reliance" of their countries' supply chains on Chinese manufacturing, including by partnering with low- and middle-income countries.

Also Read: G7 pledges to quit fossil fuels faster without a new deadline

"The US wants to get something hard on paper down in terms of agreement and the other countries are interested, but they're not as interested in putting specifics down on paper on these various instruments and economic statecraft tools," said Josh Lipsky, senior director of the Atlantic Council's GeoEconomics Center.

In particular, some G7 members are skeptical about signing on to controls on outbound investment in China.

The policies are being drafted partly to help deny China's military access to tools it could use to gain technological superiority, and many in the Biden administration see them as complementary to export controls restricting access to some semiconductors that have the same goal.

"Of course, each member of the G7 is to some extent going to carve their own path on China and yet there are also a set of kind of principles that unite the G7 in a common approach to China," said the US official.

Traveling for the G7 finance meeting in Japan, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday that China had clearly used economic coercion with Australia and Lithuania.

Hanging over the meeting was a lack of progress in resolving the US debt ceiling stalemate. A scheduled meeting on Friday between Biden and top lawmakers was postponed until early next week as Biden's Democrats and Republicans seek a compromise to avoid a catastrophic default.

US officials, nonetheless, expect the president to attend the two-day summit as planned, followed by trips to Papua New Guinea and Australia also aimed at shoring up Washington's approach to the China-dominated Asia-Pacific region.
Germany on Saturday announced 2.7 billion euro ($3.0 billion) of military aid to Ukraine, its biggest such package yet since Russia's invasion, and pledged further support for Kyiv for as long as necessary. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, left, shakes hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, as French President Emmanuel Macron smiles at the Mariyinsky Palace in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, June 16, 2022. (AP)

The package will include 30 Leopard 1 tanks, 15 Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, over 200 reconnaissance drones and four Iris-T anti-aircraft systems, according to a defence ministry statement.

"We all wish for a speedy end to this terrible and illegal war.... Unfortunately, this is not yet foreseeable. Therefore, Germany will provide any help it can - as long as it takes," German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said.

"Thank you to our allies," Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, wrote in a post on Telegram confirming the package.

Ukraine has pressed its allies for long-range weapons, jets and ammunition before a counteroffensive expected in coming weeks or months. Saturday's German package also included 18 howitzers.

Germany was initially reluctant to provide heavy arms to Ukraine to help it counter Russia's invasion, fearing it might escalate the fight. But in January Berlin agreed to send Leopard tanks and said it would work with allies to send more.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan returned to his residence in Lahore's Zaman Park in the wee hours on Saturday after two days of detention, reported Geo News. Supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan greet their leader upon is arrival at his home in Lahore, Pakistan, early Saturday, May 13, 2023. (AP)

He was greeted all the way to Lahore by PTI supporters. Imran took a road route to reach his Lahore residence, marking his return after a tumultuous period.

During his journey to Lahore, the former premier revealed that the Inspector General of Islamabad police made extensive efforts to prevent him from leaving for Lahore. For a duration of three hours, he kept him waiting, claiming that it was highly perilous to venture outside, reported Geo News.

"By persuading him that we would inform the entire Pakistani nation about his act of kidnapping and forcefully detaining us, we managed to secure our release," Khan stated. "Under pressure, he eventually permitted our departure," he added.

"After finally setting out, we discovered that the roads were devoid of any traffic and that the perceived danger was non-existent," he remarked.

After being granted bail, Khan remained within the premises of the IHC for several hours, waiting for the written order to avoid potential re-arrest by the police upon his departure.

However, a police officer informed him that higher authorities had issued orders not to allow him to leave the IHC building, reported Geo News.

Frustrated with the situation, Khan threatened to announce his next course of action if the routes in Islamabad were not opened within 15 minutes. Thankfully, senior police officers intervened and resolved the deadlock, allowing Khan to finally leave the court premises.

His arrest on corruption charges earlier this week led to violent clashes, but the Supreme Court of Pakistan subsequently declared the arrest illegal - a verdict criticised by the leaders of the ruling coalition of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), reported Geo News.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has given him a two-week bail period, offering protection from arrest in any other case until Monday, including charges related to the violent riots that erupted following his initial detention.

The bail was granted in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case, and the court ordered authorities to refrain from arresting Khan until May 17 in any new case.

Furthermore, he obtained bail until May 22 in the Zille Shah murder case, while another bench barred his arrest until May 15 in three terrorism cases, reported Geo News.

The arrest of Imran Khan at the IHC on May 9 triggered violent protests across the country. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court intervened, nullified his arrest, and ordered his release. Taking advantage of this ruling, Khan sought bail in multiple cases against him at the IHC, and he received a favourable outcome.
Palestinian militants in Gaza resumed rocket fire on Israel early on Saturday after Israeli aircraft bombed Islamic Jihad targets in the enclave overnight, as fighting entered a fifth day. Smoke rises above buildings in Gaza city following an Israeli air strike.(AFP)

Egypt has been trying to mediate a truce to the flare-up, which has so far left at least 33 Palestinians and one Israeli dead.

The violence extends more than a year of resurgent Israeli-Palestinian violence that has killed more than 140 Palestinians and at least 19 Israelis and foreigners since January.

The military said it struck Islamic Jihad command centres and rocket launchers in its pre-dawn operations. Grainy black and white aerial footage it released showed explosions and clouds of smoke rising from bombed sites.

A few hours later Gaza militants fired rockets, setting off sirens and sending Israelis in border communities running to bomb shelters. There were no reports of casualties.

Six top Islamic Jihad commanders have been killed since Tuesday, when Israeli forces launched a campaign against the group, saying it was planning attacks.

Islamic Jihad, the largest armed group in Gaza after the ruling Islamist Hamas, has since fired almost 1,000 rockets, some deep into Israel. One woman was killed on Thursday when an apartment was struck by a rocket in a Tel Aviv suburb.

At least four women and six children have died in densely populated Gaza, an impoverished coastal territory blockaded by Israel and Egypt since 2007. Israel says four Palestinians were killed by misfired Gaza rockets, which Islamic Jihad has denied.

Islamic Jihad spurns coexistence with Israel and preaches its destruction. Top ministers of Israel's religious nationalist government rule out any state sought by Palestinians in territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell; Editing by William Mallard)
China's new cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-6 is packed with experimental payloads weighing over 700 kilograms, including samples and devices for stem cell research.

The country will perform human stem cell experiments aboard the Tiangong space station for the first time, to study the impacts of a microgravity environment on human reproduction, according to scientists.

The planned experiments include the effects of the space microgravity environment on stem cell lineage differentiation, and the 3D growth and tissue construction of stem cells, said Cang Huaixing, a chief researcher for the station's scientific experiments, at the Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

They were designed by scientists from Tsinghua University and the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology under the CAS.

Cang said the experiments will be carried out inside the Wentian lab module and see embryonic stem cells that are differentiated into primitive germ cells, egg-like and sperm-like stem cells, and hematopoietic stem cells.

He added that the changes of the germ stem cells in the space microgravity environment will be observed and studied.

Just as taikonauts experience bone and muscle loss, the space environment also affects cells, especially the stem cells, said Cang, indicating that the in-orbit experiments can help answer the question of how microgravity affects human reproduction.

Stem cells can self-renew or multiply while maintaining the potential to develop into other types of cells. They can become cells of the blood, heart, bones, skin, muscle, brain or other body organs. They can also be used as tools for treating several diseases.

One of the goals of China's manned space program is to search for possible habitable planets, Cang said. "The space environment has microgravity and high radiation, so how to travel, survive and have children in such an environment is the main task of our research."

The stem cell samples are stored in special boxes, each containing about 3 ml of the solution containing cells.

The experiments will require at least 72 sample boxes for in-orbit tests, ground comparison tests and backup uses, Cang said.

The in-orbit tests will last six to 12 days. Before being packed into the cargo craft, the samples need to be stored at suitable temperatures and pH levels on the ground. At the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, scientists are working overtime to keep the cells alive by constantly changing nutrient solutions and supplementing them with carbon dioxide.

The Tianzhou-6 mission is the first spaceflight after China's crewed space station program entered the stage of application and development. The cargo craft will deliver a total of 98 experiment-related items with a weight of 714 kilograms. "It is the cargo vessel with the most and heaviest experimental payloads since the construction of the Tiangong space station," said Liu Wei, designer of the cargo craft's application system, at the Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization under the CAS.

For the first time, the reliability tests of components will be conducted outside the Wentian module, and the space radiation biological experiments outside the Mengtian module, Liu noted.



Source(s): Xinhua News Agency
An unidentified object that entered Polish airspace from the direction of Belarus was probably an observation balloon, the defence ministry said on Saturday on Twitter. An observational balloon.(AP/Representational)

Poland's territorial defence forces were deployed to search for the object, with which radar contact was lost near the town of Rypin, the ministry said, without specifying when the incident occurred.
The New South Wales (NSW) police have released images to seek help from the public to catch the accused of the BAPS Swaminarayan temple, which was found vandalised in Australia's Sydney a week ago, The Australia Today reported. Screengrabs from CCTV footage.(Twitter)

Authorities at the temple in Western Sydney's Rosehill suburb said they found unwanted graffiti on the structure's front wall and a so-called 'Khalistan flag' hanging on its gate, a week ago, on May 5.

The inquiry conducted by NSW police detectives revealed that the incident took place between 1 am and 2 am early Friday morning, reported The Australia Today.

After the initial probe, the NSW police have released an image of a vehicle last spotted plying on Virginia Street toward James Ruse Drive, Rosehill, in the wee hours of Friday morning.

They think the passengers in the car might know anything that could help the investigation, or even have dashcam footage.

Superintendent Sheridan Waldau, the Cumberland Commander, expressed the hope that someone in the neighbourhood may have some information that could aid in identifying the suspect or the vehicle.

Waldau said, "We are also hopeful that the person, or the occupants of the car, will contact detectives as we believe they could have information crucial to the investigation."

A second image that was released by NSW Police is thought to be of a person who was seen in the vicinity of the temple at or around the same time as the first.

The person's face in the image is with a mask. He is seen wearing dark clothing, and a beanie. It is yet to be ascertained if the individual in the picture is related to the car in the other image.

Superintendent Waldau added, "NSW Police works closely with members of a widely-diverse community in western Sydney, and it's disappointing that actions such as these can cause unnecessary distress."

"Police rely on the support of the local community to provide information so it can be investigated, but it's important to know that information provided will be treated with the strictest confidence," she also said.

The NSW Police have also released a contact number, urging the citizens to contact Granville Police Station upon receiving any information regarding the case. One can either call on 1800 333 000 or can send an email to http://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au, The Australia Today reported.

Notably, the temple vandalisation episode came almost two months after temples in Melbourne and Brisbane were vandalised by pro-Khalistan supporters.

Earlier this year too, there were reports of temple vandalisation in Australia. Three temples in Melbourne and two in Brisbane were vandalised by Khalistan supporters.

The latest episode of temple vandalisation by anti-social elements comes days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to attend in-person the Quad Leaders' Summit scheduled on May 24 in Sydney. Indian Australian Diaspora Foundation will host a grand community reception in honour of PM Modi a day ahead of the QUAD Leaders' Summit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier raised concerns with his Australian counterpart, to which he assured that the safety of the Indian community is a special priority.

In the US and Canada too, the pro-Khalistan supporters had attempted on various occasions to vandalise temples and Indian diplomatic installations after police in India lodged a manhunt on radicalist Amritpal Singh.
Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani arrived in Kandahar on Friday and met with Taliban officials, reported Tolo News. Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani (File)

He met with Afghanistan's Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund, the spokesman of the Taliban Zabiullah Mujahid said on Twitter.

"In this meeting, the Prime Minister of that country emphasized on strengthening the relations and increasing the level of trust between the two countries, as well as practical cooperation in the educational, health and economic fields of Afghanistan," he tweeted.

The Qatari delegation also included the head of the Qatari State Security (Intelligence Service) Abdullah Al-Khulaifi.

Mujahid said they discussed cooperation in strengthening relations and trust, and working together in the education, health and economic sectors, reported Tolo News.

"Qatar's further cooperation with the people of Afghanistan was emphasized.

At the same time, the heartfelt message of the Emir of Qatar was appreciated and that country was encouraged to play a greater role in building more trust between the countries and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," tweeted Mujahid.

Notably, Qatar facilitated discussions between the Islamic Emirate and the US government that resulted in a peace deal on February 29 of 2020.

Qatar has longstanding ties with the Taliban. While this approach is criticized by some, others benefit from the country's contacts. Qatar's main interest is to cement its position as a regional mediator.

The relationship between Qatar and the Taliban is anything but new. As early as 2013, Qatar allowed the Taliban to open an office in Doha, with the support of the US administration under Barack Obama.

At the time, Washington was looking for a neutral place to negotiate with the Islamist militia in order to prepare for the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, reported DW News.

Since 2018, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who is one of the founding members of the Taliban, has led its representation in Qatar.
Senior military commanders from Quad member countries, including Indias chief of defence staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan, will meet in Sunnylands in California to attend a high-profile meeting on Indo-Pacific Security on May 15-17 in a clear indication that the grouping is now taking security cooperation to the next level before the Quad Summit in Sydney on May 24. File Photo of QUAD summit in Tokyo.

Among other invitees to the meeting hosted by Admiral John C Aquilino, Commander, US Indo-Pacific Command, are: General Yoshihide Yoshida, chief of Staff, joint staff, Japanese self-defence forces and General Angus Campbell, chief of defence force, Australia.

A vice-admiral rank representative of the UK chief of defence staff is also likely to attend, given that Australia, the UK and the US have their own grouping, Aukus, whose focus overlaps with that of Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue). This is General Chauhans first visit to the US.

Also read | Quad has positive agenda for sovereign Indo-Pacific: Australian envoy to India

Quad Malabar naval exercises are scheduled off the coast of Sydney in August this year and the apex meeting of military commanders of this grouping next week is seen as both a game-changer  Quad leaders have treaded carefully on the issue of military co-operation until now  and an effective response to the aggressive challenge posed by Chinese in the Indo-Pacific. Although Chinese President Xi Jinping in presence of then US President Barack Obama in September 2015 had said that Beijing did not intend to pursue militarization of contested Spratly Islands, the PLA has done just the contrary by militarizing the entire South China Sea with the world waiting for the promised Asian Pivot by the US.

India, after the 2020 PLA aggressions in East Ladakh is convinced that China has no intentions of resolving the boundary issue bilaterally and is putting pressure on India in the Eastern sector particularly in the Siliguri corridor. It is in this background that India has decided to take help from multilateral platforms such as QUAD to rein in the rampant aggression of the PLA on the land as well as the Indo-Pacific, a senior official in Indias security establishment said on condition of anonymity. China has been choking India through a string-of-pearls, seaports in the Indian Ocean and using access denial in the Pacific and Far Pacific including South China Sea.

Already, India, Japan, and Australia have deepened defense co-operation by sharing US-made military platforms such as the P 8I anti-submarine aircraft, C 130 J Hercules, C-17 heavy lift transporters, and Chinook helicopters.

The Quad CDS level dialogue in Sunnylands, where Obama hosted Xi in 2013, is expected to take things to the next level, and perhaps indicates that India has fully exited the Cold War mindset and the resident suspicion involved in dealing with like-minded powers such as the US, Japan, and Australia apart from strategic partner France.

With China sending no less than 53 surveillance and survey ships to the Indian Ocean between 2017 and 2021 (numbers since then are still being toted up) and the numbers continuing to climb, India faces a serious challenge from the PLA Navy in the Indian Ocean Region, especially with Beijing establishing new ports in Cambodia and long-term plans to make Hambantota a dual use seaport India is also reviewing the contents of the leaked memo titled Pakistans Difficult Choices penned by Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar to the countrys Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif advocating real strategic partnership with China and avoiding any appearance of appeasing the west (read US).

National interest is paramount for the Narendra Modi government and Quad is a platform for all like minded democratic countries to join hands to counter the Indo-Pacific challenge without sacrificing Indias strategic autonomy. The speed at which China is growing economically and militarily with President Xi holding leverage against 148 countries through Belt Road Initiative (BRI), India has been forced by Beijing to seek multilateral Quad help with Japan and Australia in the same boat, said a former Indian foreign secretary who asked not to be named.

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Six terrorists were gunned down and an equal number of soldiers lost their lives in an operation to clear a building complex from the grip of militants in Pakistan's Balochistan province on Saturday, according to an official statement. Representational image. (AFP)

The complex was cleared a day after the terrorists attacked a Frontier Constabulary camp in Muslim Bagh and when forces retaliated they holed up in the complex, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

"In the operation six terrorists were killed and an equal number of soldiers lost their lives," the statement said.

The ISPR said its security forces had already killed two terrorists earlier when they attacked the FC camp and six of them holed up in the building complex where they were families.
The US military will work to bolster the defensive posture in the Gulf region following Iran's seizure and harassment of commercial shipping vessels in recent months, US officials said on Friday. The US Navy's Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet said it was working with regional allies to increase the rotation of ships and aircraft patrolling around the Strait of Hormuz. (File)

In the past two years, Iran has harassed, attacked or interfered with the navigational rights of 15 internationally flagged commercial vessels, officials said.

"The Department of Defense will be making a series of moves to bolster our defensive posture in the Arabian Gulf," White House spokesperson John Kirby told a news briefing.

Kirby added that in the coming weeks there would be an attempt to "increase coordination and interoperability" with allies in the Strait of Hormuz.

The US Navy's Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet said it was working with regional allies to increase the rotation of ships and aircraft patrolling around the Strait of Hormuz.

"Iran's unwarranted, irresponsible and unlawful seizure and harassment of merchant vessels must stop," the Fifth Fleet's commander, Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, said in a statement.

A spokesperson from the US military's Florida-based Central Command, which oversees American forces in the Middle East, said the United States was discussing options with regional partners.

"Any decisions about force posture will be made after consulting with our allies and will be consistent with the collective desire to ensure the safety and freedom of navigation for all nation," the spokesperson said.

The moves come after Iran seized a second oil tanker in a week in Gulf waters earlier this month, and the State Department called for its release in the latest escalation in a series of actions against commercial vessels in Gulf waters since 2019.

The US Navy said on May 3 the Panama-flagged oil tanker Niovi was seized by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy while passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Days earlier, Iran had seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman.

Kirby said the United States strongly condemns actions that threaten and interfere with commercial shipping, and will not allow foreign powers to jeopardize navigating Middle East waterways.

About a fifth of the world's crude oil and oil products passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point between Iran and Oman, according to data from analytics firm Vortexa.
A Billings man is facing charges of stealing several guns from a local pawn shop.

Savas Christian Lewis Howard, 26, pleaded not guilty earlier this week in U.S. District Court to charges of theft from a federal firearm licensee, possession of stolen firearms and prohibited person in possession of a firearm.

In a separate investigation, according to court documents, Howard is suspected of supplying the firearm used to wound a Great Falls police office in a shootout earlier this year.

At around midnight on April 14 the Billings Police Department responded to a burglary at Western Pawnbrokers on Montana Avenue, according to court documents. The pawn shop, authorized by the federal government to sell firearms, reported seven guns stolen.

An agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives reviewed security footage showing a man breaking through the front door to the shop, smashing the glass to a firearms display and leaving with the guns through the back door.

An agent with the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation identified the suspect in the security footage as Howard, according to court documents, after the ATF sent the suspects description to various law enforcement agencies. A witness in an investigation of an exchange of gunfire in Great Falls allegedly named Howard as the man who gave a gun to 37-year-old Jacob Kain Bradley. Bradley is suspected of using that gun in March of this year to shoot and injure Senior Police Officer Tanner Lee with the Great Falls Police Department, the Great Falls Tribune reported.

Troopers with the Montana Highway Patrol arrested Howard the same day as the burglary. He was carrying a backpack, court documents said, which agents were granted a warrant to search. Inside the bag was a 9mm pistol, one of the seven firearms allegedly stolen.

From 2018 through 2019, BPDs Street Crimes Unit seized an average of 70 firearms every year, according to the departments annual reports. Over the next three years, that average jumped to around 119 weapons seized or recovered a year. Last year, gun seizures by the SCU reached a five-year peak with 153 guns, at least 28 of which were reported stolen.

Meanwhile, weapons offenses, including shots fired within the city limits and prohibited persons in possession of firearms, have gone from 55 in 2020 to 165 the following year. Reports of weapons discharged in the city limits went from 31 in 2020 to around 120 for the next two years. Gunfire has killed five people in Billings so far this year.

Howard was arraigned in federal court May 10 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Cavan, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorneys Office. If convicted of possession of stolen firearms or being a prohibited person in possession of firearms, he could be sentenced up to 10 years in prison. At the time of Howards arrest in April, court documents said, he had felony warrants for his arrest out of Missoula.

The ATF traced just over 5,000 crime guns in the state from 2017-2021, according to the bureaus National Firearms Commerce and Trafficking Assessment published in February. Nearly 1,000 of those guns were recovered in Billings.

The ATF maintains an anonymous hotline for reporting gun trafficking. Reports of suspected gun trafficking can be made to the bureau at atf.gov/atf-tips, or by calling 1-888-283-8477.
A pursuit between a Stillwater County deputy and a man in an apparently stolen pickup truck Thursday ended with truck driver fatally crashing south of Columbus.

The name of the truck driver has yet to be determined, according to a statement from Stillwater County Sheriff Charles Kem published Friday, and the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation has been assigned to investigate the crash.

On Thursday, Kem said, SCSO received a report of a vehicle stolen from a property Stockade Road in Sweet Grass County. In a report from the Montana Highway Patrol, the vehicle was described as a Ford F350. A SCSO deputy passed the pickup truck late that night as it was driving north on Montana Highway 78, between Absarokee and Columbus.

The deputy turned around and activated his emergency lights once he was close to the pickup truck, Kem said. The driver did not stop for the deputy and went off the highway at Whitebird Creek Road. The truck overturned and its driver, who according to MHP was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected. First responders pronounced him dead at the scene.

Because Stillwater County Law Enforcement was attempting to make a traffic stop at the time of the accident, Kem said, the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation was contacted to conduct the death investigation, per office policy.

Park County will be conducting the coroner investigation, Kem said, while the Montana State Medical Examiner in Billings will be performing the autopsy. Once completed, a coroners report will identify the pickup truck driver and give an official cause of death, while the autopsy report will offer more comprehensive details on what specifically led to his death. Kem said it is unknown when the autopsy will be complete.
Hundreds of United Airlines pilots marched up and down JFK Boulevard near George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Friday, carrying signs expressing concerns about their contracts, which haven't been updated since 2019.

"This is to vent our frustration at the slow pace of negotiations," said United pilot Capt. Michael Wilson, who has flown for the airline for 17 years and was serving as local spokesman for the pilots, who conducted informational pickets across the country. The action wasn't expected to interrupt United flights.

While compensation and benefits are always considerations in this context, Wilson said, the airline's pilots are particularly worried about scheduling rules that upset what they call "quality of work life."

"This is about having some ability to balance your work life and your personal life," he said, noting that pilots often don't know their schedule for a month until midway through the one preceding it and sometimes have their holidays and vacations disrupted by last-minute scheduling changes.

In addition to the Houston demonstration  which included some flight attendants and Teamsters in solidarity  several thousand pilots simultaneously picketed at United hubs in Chicago; Denver; Washington, D.C.; San Francisco; Los Angeles; Newark, N.J.; Las Vegas; Orlando, Fla.; and Cleveland, Ohio.

United pilots are represented by the Air Line Pilots Association International, which represents more than 69,000 pilots at United and 38 other airlines in the United States and Canada.

Under the federal Railway Labor Act, which covers all U.S.-based airlines, employees have collective bargaining agreements that become amendable and remain in effect during negotiations rather than expiring like traditional labor contracts. If the negotiations were to stall, federal mediators would get involved, but neither United nor its pilots see that as an imminent prospect.

Related: Thousands of Houstonians turn out for what may be the largest job fair in United's history

The airline, headquartered in Chicago, said it is confident that negotiations will bring a settlement.

"Were continuing to work with the Air Line Pilots Association on the industry-leading deal we have put on the table for our world-class pilots," said a spokeperson, adding: "All United flights will operate as planned while our pilots exercise their right to distribute information and picket while off-duty."

The United pilots' action comes a day after Southwest Airlines pilots said they had voted to authorize a strike after more than three years of contract talks with the Dallas-based carrier. Earlier this month, American Airlines pilots said they also had voted to authorize a walkout. Neither action is expected to lead to a strike because under U.S. law, airline workers can't legally walk off the job unless federal mediators decide that further negotiations are pointless. Even then, the president and Congress can block a strike. The unions believe such votes, however, give them leverage in contract talks.

United, meanwhile, continues to expand operations and is hoping to fill 50,000 additional jobs across the country by 2026, including 2,100 in Houston this year alone. The carrier last week held what executives described as the largest job fair in the airline's history at the Hilton Houston North near Bush.

Those growth plans, Wilson said, point to the need for productive negotiations.

"United, Delta, American, Southwest, all these major airlines are competing for the same pool of applicants," he said. "We want the best applicants to come to us."

United's passengers, Wilson added, are the pilots' priority: "When you show up to fly, we want you to know that our only concern that day is operating that aircraft safely, in a manner that gets you from wherever you're going to where you want to be."
The University of Houston is transitioning technology departments that had been based on its main campus to the Cullen College of Engineering at UH's Sugar Land campus.

The transition is occuring through the merger of UH's colleges of technology and engineering and is expected to take two years. The consolidation will improve access to a broader range of undergraduate and graduate-level programs and reduce duplication, according to the university.

UH also expects the change to provide faculty members with better access to interdisciplinary grants, leading to more patents, technology transfer and new products.

"It is during this two-year transition phase that the questions related to internal operations will be worked out by the two units," UH spokesman Chris Stipes said.

The merger became effective March 1.

The departments that are moving  information and logistics technology, human development and consumer sciences, construction management and engineering technology  will form the technology division within Cullen College of Engineering.

Departments within the college of engineering will continue to be the Brookshire Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department and the programs for biomedical, industrial, mechanical, petroleum, civil and environmetal and the electrical and computer engineering.

The merger did not change where students enrolled in the current semester take classes, said Stipes.

The college of engineering, which now has more than 200 faculty members and more than 2,000 graduate students, will serve the university's main campus and its locations in Sugar Land and Katy, university president Renu Khator said in February.

The transition of technology programs to UH at Sugar Land, which started before the merger, will continue except in situations where a programs home needs to be on the main campus," she said at the time.

Free, WiFi-equipped shuttles run daily between the main campus and the Sugar Land campus. Students may download the UH GO app to track shuttles.

If a student or staff member has a main campus parking permit, they can use it at the Sugar Land campus at no additional cost.

The Sugar Land buildings have capabilities for livestreaming in case a student is unable to attend courses at UH at Sugar Land.

The merger will not impact the current graduate or undergraduate tuition fees.

juhi.varma@houstonchronicle.com
BOSTON (AP)  A Boston man worked with Chinese government officials over roughly a four-year period to keep tabs on Chinese activists and dissidents in the area who were calling for pro-democracy reforms in the communist nation, federal prosecutors said Friday.

Litang Liang, 63, a U.S. citizen who lives in Boston's Brighton neighborhood, was charged with conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government and acting as an agent of a foreign government without notice to the U.S. attorney general, the U.S. attorney's office in Boston said.

Liang, who was arrested Tuesday, was released Thursday on $25,000 bond with electronic monitoring after pleading not guilty, according to court documents. He also surrendered his passport and was ordered not to leave Massachusetts or have any contact with Chinese government officials.

An email seeking comment was left with his attorney.

Liang is accused of providing the PRC government with information on Boston-area individuals and organizations; organizing a counterprotest in the United States against pro-democracy dissidents; providing photographs of and information about U.S.-based dissidents to PRC government officials; and providing the names of potential recruits to the PRCs Ministry of Public Security, according to court documents.

PRC is the People's Republic of China.

The goal was to covertly advance the PRC governments goals and agenda within the United States, according to the indictment.

China has been accused in other cases of trying to interfere with activists in the U.S. critical of Beijing.

Last month, two men were accused by U.S. authorities of helping establish a secret police station in New York City on behalf of the Chinese government, and about three dozen officers with Chinas national police force were charged with using social media to harass dissidents inside the United States.

Liang's cooperation with the Chinese government started in 2018 and lasted until at least last year, prosecutors said.

In one case, according to prosecutors, Liang sent a Chinese government official photos and videos of a student activist he believed was responsible for destroying Chinese flags during a 2018 protest in Bostons Chinatown neighborhood.

Liang organized an event in Boston in 2018 that was attended by at least two Chinese government officials, one of whom asked Liang for the name of a person who attended and worked for an elected Boston official. Liang provided the name as requested, authorities said. Court documents did not name the elected official.

Liang also provided video of a dissident attending the Boston Stands with Hong Kong march in August 2019 and the following month sent photographs of dissidents in front of the Boston Public Library to a Chinese government official, calling them a bunch of clowns trying to cause trouble, prosecutors said.

Liang had contacts with high-ranking Chinese diplomats in the United States, the Ministry of Public Security, and the United Front Work Department, which reports directly to the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party to further party goals, prosecutors said. He also visited China in September, where he attended events to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the modern Chinese state.

The Boston man is also accused of providing Chinese government officials with the names and professional affiliations of two people in the Boston area for possible recruitment by Chinas Ministry of Public Security, prosecutors said.

Liang is due back in court on July 6.
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Darius Lewis quietly wept alone in a jury box as he waited Friday for his public defender.

Two days prior, Harris County authorities charged him with manslaughter in the death of a 28-year-old mother of three, Bethany Mefford, who was asleep when a stray bullet pierced the bedroom wall of her Humble-area apartment and killed her. Lewis, also 28, fired the gun in an apparent attempt to ward off catalytic converter thieves, according to court documents.

More from Nicole Hensley: Houston ISD student's 3D-printed gun could have worked if fired, prosecutors say

The court appointed Damon Parrish II, of the Harris County Public Defenders Office, to represent him. He arrived and handed his client a box of tissues. Lewis quickly wiped his face.

Nearly a dozen of Parrishs colleagues then flocked to the 177th District Court, some to comfort Lewis and others to escort him out of the courtroom to shield him from a lone television camera in the hallway. He posted a $75,000 bond on Thursday and remains free pending trial.

He feels very sorry for anyone who passed away, but he is taking the case very seriously and is very distraught by this situation, Parrish said.

The shooting happened around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday when Lewis said he discovered two people trying to steal his vehicles catalytic converter in the 14000 block of Woodland Hills Drive. None of those individuals were believed to be armed but have since been charged with burglary of a vehicle, according to authorities.

Lewis told Harris County deputies dispatched to the apartment complex, where Lewis girlfriend lives, that he asked the would-be thieves to leave. He then alleged that he fired the gun into the ground to scare them off, according to authorities.

A Harris County prosecutor disputed Lewis account and said a witness in a parked car saw Lewis fire at the thieves, who were running away, from across the parking lot.

Investigators found multiple shell casings  one of which likely came from a round that struck Mefford, the prosecutor said.

Around sunrise, Meffords boyfriend discovered she had been fatally shot and called police. Lewis was then detained.

The manslaughter charge against Lewis is unlikely to be upgraded because he intended to fire at the thieves, rather than the woman, the prosecutor told the judge.

The prosecutor took exception to Judge Robert Johnson's ruling that Lewis qualified for indigent defense. Financial affidavits he filled out in court Friday and after his arrest contradicted each other. The earlier document said he worked full time as a dog breeder, lived at an apartment and that he had some money.

More from Nicole Hensley: Authorities focus on robbery suspect as grand jury no-bills man accused in Arlene Alvarez's death

The later document, which Lewis swore to in court, described him as unemployed, lacking money and couch surfing, because he no longer had a stable home.

Parrish explained that Lewis had lost the apartment he lived at with his girlfriend at the same complex. The management evicted the couple after the shooting. Lewis spent his remaining money to secure his freedom, the lawyer continued.

The judge allowed Parrish to continue as Lewis lawyer.

The prosecutor outlined Lewis juvenile and adult criminal history  which included one felony and three misdemeanor convictions. After the felony conviction as an adult, Lewis served seven months jail for a low-level drug offense because he had violated a deferred adjudication agreement.

The judge ordered Lewis to abide by a curfew and not return to the apartment complex where the shooting happened.
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A Colorado murder suspect who fled to Houston has been sentenced to life in prison, officials said.

Abbas Abdal Abed, 47, was charged in connection to the fatal stabbing of Abdulrahman Haris, 29, on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2019, according to authorities.

We dont want Abbas Abed walking the same streets as our families, friends or our children ever again, said Assistant District Attorney Catherine Johnson. He is scary as hell.

MORE ON LOCAL: Man shot 'numerous times' while walking along bridge

Abed was convicted of Haris murder earlier this month and his sentencing was postponed a week due to scheduling conflicts, officials said.

State District Judge Teiva Bell sentenced him to life late Thursday, authorities said.

Before Haris death, Abed had been charged with murdering 31-year-old Chelsea Anne Snider at an extended-stay hotel in Sheridan, a Denver suburb, according to official documents.

According to officials, at the time of her death Abed was working as an Uber driver and Snider was a mother of three who struggled with substance abuse.

She died from stab wounds and blunt-force trauma, according to court documents. Authorities said their relationship to one another is unclear.

After Sniders murder, Abed fled to Houston, where he had previously lived and knew Haris.

Houston is a diverse city and someone on the run may think they can hide out here. But the cohesiveness of our community is our strength, and we will find and prosecute fugitives, said Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg. It is a tragedy that a young man lost his life because someone he barely knew was trying to escape any responsibility and accountability.

MORE ON LOCAL: 1 man dead, another injured after being shot near Houston park

According to reports, the two had moved to Houston around the same time, both from Iraq.

Reportedly, the stabbing occurred when Haris gave Abed money and was taking him to Walmart at 9460 West Sam Houston Parkway in southwest Houston in a gold Toyota Avalon.

Authorities said that in the car, Abed stabbed Haris in the parking lot.

Surveillance video caught footage of Haris running out of the car headed towards a group of people to seek help as Abed drove off in the car.

Officials said Haris was stabbed in the neck and abdomen and later died from his wounds.

Abed was arrested two weeks after the stabbing at a food pantry in west Houston.

According to authorities, a security guard at the food bank recognized him from flyers that were displayed around the area from the U.S. Marshal Service and called the police.

Abed must serve 30 years before being eligible for parole.

The murder case in Colorado is still pending.
A trial for a Billings man accused of murdering a man outside of a local bar stretched into its sixth day Friday and is expected to continue well into next week.

Deandre Laron Gulley, 43, has been charged in Yellowstone County District Court with deliberate homicide, assault with a weapon and criminal endangerment. His trial came more than four years after a man was shot and killed near the entrance to the now shuttered Lees Saloon in the South Side. Gulley has been in custody at the Yellowstone County jail since his arrest in 2020.

Patrons at Lees Saloon drifted in and out of the bars parking lot near closing time on April 6, 2019, as detailed by court documents and security footage shown at the trial. Then, gunfire erupted, and those outside the bar scattered. When first responders arrived, they found one man hit in the leg. Another man, 24-year-old Shane Nez Perce, was shot twice in the back. Medical staff at St. Vincent Healthcare pronounced him dead about 45 minutes after he was shot.

The shooting ignited an investigation on the part of multiple detectives with the Billings Police Department, who gathered information from witnesses, forensic evidence from the multiple bullet casings at the scene and hazy surveillance footage from a security camera outside the bar.

What could be seen in the infrared footage was several people standing outside of Lees in the minutes before the shots were fired. A fight broke out that ended with someone being punched and knocked to the ground. Two others, later identified as suspects in the shooting, helped the injured person off the ground and into the parking lot. The two then go around a corner and out of the view of the camera.

Moments later, one of the suspects appeared back in the frame, pacing back and forth. Footage then showed the suspect firing multiple rounds, then running north into an alleyway bordering Lees Saloon. Yellowstone County prosecutors are alleging Gulley was the shooter.

While detectives received conflicting statements from witnesses regarding who specifically fired the shots that killed Nez Perce, according to court documents, they were consistently told who the who assisted the punched man to his feet: Gulley and Gregory Richard Boyd. Gulley and Boyd came out of Lees, court documents said, and became angry after seeing the man, who was later identified as a relative of the two, knocked out. A witness said the two helped the man get into the back seat of a vehicle. One of the two then came back to the entrance of the bar and started shooting.

One witnesses, court documents said, named Boyd as the shooter. Another witnessed said it was Gulley.

An arrest warrant was issued for Boyd, who was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals in California in April 2019. A warrant for Gulley followed in December of that year, and he was booked into Yellowstone County Detention Facility in March 2020.

When county attorneys initially filed criminal charges in connection to the shooting, the Gazette previously reported, they charged both men with deliberate homicide, assault with a weapon and criminal endangerment. Boyd eventually reached a plea agreement with prosecutors in which he admitted to one count of tampering with evidence, saying he deleted footage from a security camera outside of his South Side home the morning of Nez Perces death.

Gulley has consistently denied the accusations of killing Nez Perce and injuring another man in the shooting. About a month before his trial, attorneys representing Gulley attempted to have the case against him dismissed on the grounds that the United States Parole Office would not give them access to information produced by parole officers involved in the investigation into the shooting. District Judge Michael G. Moses, who is overseeing the trial, denied the motion to dismiss.

Going into the trail, defense attorneys Alisha Rapkoch and Greg Rapkoch are arguing that the charges against Gulley are a case of mistaken identity. They are also taking issue, according to court documents, with the apparent destruction of evidence on the part of BPD. Namely, video recordings of officers interacting with witnesses, showing witnesses photographs and other evidence, and conducting portions of interviews not captured on the handheld audio recorders.

There appears to be no dispute that these videos once existed, that the government permitted them to be destroyed, and that detectives made a deliberate choice to preserve some videos but not others, defense attorneys wrote in their trail brief.

If convicted of deliberate homicide, Gulley could spend the rest of his life in prison. BPD investigated five homicides in 2019, according to department records. In the years since, murder cases for BPD have tripled on average, rising to 22 in 2020. Last year ended with 17 homicides investigated by BPD.
A 44-year-old man was arrested Thursday after being accused of stabbing his wife to death inside her home in south Houston, police said.

Ausencio Garcia was charged with murder after officers found Julia Picazo Carranza, 40, dead around 5:45 p.m. Wednesday in her home at 14100 Del Papa, the Houston Police Department said in a news release.

Bellville Police Department

Picazo Carranza suffered multiple stab wounds and died in the home, the release said.

Garcia was named as a suspect after HPD detectives spoke to witnesses and gathered additional information. He was arrested Thursday after he took police on a chase in Bellville.

According to a Bellville police Facebook post, Garcia attempted to abduct a woman at a 7-Eleven before the high-speed chase ensued.

"The female victim was walking to her vehicle. The male subject pulled up, got out of his truck, and grabbed her," the post said. "He was unsuccessful."

Once Garcia saw incoming Bellville police cruisers, he quickly jumped into his vehicle and began driving away, the post said. The pursuit continued through Bellville, and then onto State Highway 36 North. The chase ended on Kenney Hall Road, with Garcia's vehicle coming to a stop.

As officers approached Garcia's vehicle, he was seen snorting large amounts of what's believed to be cocaine, according to the post.

Garcia was taken from the scene to a hospital to be treated for his possible narcotic reaction. He was initially identified as Jesus Duarte Ramirez, 45, but police discovered his actual name later on.

In addition to murder, Garcia is being charged with attempted kidnapping, evading arrest and tampering with evidence.

Garcia will remain in custody in Bellville until he's eventually taken to the Harris County Jail.
Harris County has rerouted roughly 15,000 young people arrested for nonviolent, misdemeanors to less punitive programs in the past six years, a move District Attorney Kim Ogg said Friday is aimed at driving down youth incarcerations.

Nearly two-thirds of minors referred to the department have been sent to rehabilitative educational programs, instead of incarceration over that time, according to the District Attorneys Office. Before diversion programs, about 220 children were held in the Harris County Juvenile Detention Center, Ogg said. Around 130 kids from ages 10 to 16 are incarcerated in the jail, according to Executive Director at Harris County Juvenile Probation Henry Gonzales.

In 2017, at the start of this administration, our juvenile detention facilities were full, Ogg said during a presentation Friday. One of my goals as the district attorney  was to stop the school-to-prison pipeline where we could.

EDUCATION: Some predominantly Black, high-needs HISD schools discipline nearly half of students, data shows

Nearly 40 percent of all juvenile arrests occurred at schools, said Harris County Juvenile Division Chief John Jordan.

We realized we were charging kids too much, he said. The system was broken. Seventy percent of all cases that were arrested and went through the court were misdemeanors and 30 percent were felonies. Our priorities were off.

His department worked with local school district police to rethink the way student cases were handled to reduce the number of arrests, he said.

Instead of arresting our kids in school, they can start protecting our kids in schools, Jordan said of school officers.

Between 2010 and 2019, more than 42,000 children became involved with the Harris County juvenile justice system, according to an analysis of data by the Texas Policy Lab.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE: Her sons death at Harris County jail led to 11 firings. Years later, she still waits for justice.

The Houston Chronicle reported in 2018 that since 2014, Texas courts sent about 800 kids ages 10 to 17 to state juvenile prisons. In Harris County, the number of youth sent to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department ballooned from 101 in 2014 to 199 in 2018. Two Harris County judges sent more than one-fifth of all kids to state juvenile prisons in 2017.

The same year, the Chronicle reported that the U.S. Department of Justice was quietly probing the countys troubled juvenile justice system.

The Texas Tribune reported in 2018 that there was an average of close to 300 children in the juvenile detention center each day, forcing some kids to sleep in common areas or be held in a separate building.

More recently statewide, the ability of TJJD to meet childrens constitutional rights has been called into question.



In 2021, the Justice Department announced it opened a statewide investigation into the conditions at several TJJD facilities to determine whether children are protected from physical and sexual abuse by staff and alleged excessive use of isolation.

In 2022, a letter from the interim executive director of the TJJD said that staffing levels were so grim that the agency could no longer incarcerate more youth.

Through several community-based deferral programs, Ogg said her office has made strides in reducing the number of incarcerated youth in the county. According to Ogg, nearly 63 percent of all cases referred to her office in 2022 were diverted away from the justice system.

These children are now sitting in classrooms instead of jail cells, she said.

Harvey Clemons Jr., chair of the Center for Urban Transformation, a Fifth Ward nonprofit that helps families overcome inequity, said the diversion program is about public safety.

Its about making sure that the students and the youth that have made bad judgment will not be marred the rest of their lives because they got into the system, he said. We need innovative thinking and a way to deal with an arcane court system that throws everybody in one spot and then has people plead out that dont need to plead out. But they plead out because theyre tired of being in jail  and they dont have the money to get out.

Clemons said the nonprofit he chairs aims to find the causes for why children become involved with the criminal justice system.

If you can get to the root cause, we can change a life, we can change a family and we can make our society and our city a better place to live in, he said.
Tim Bristow

A 21-year-old man was shot "numerous times" Saturday morning while walking along a bridge that crosses the bayou, police said.

The shooting occurred around 1 a.m. in the 5900 block of Brock, Houston police Lt. Ronnie Willkens said. Police became involved once dispatch received a 911 call from someone who told them the victim was shot along the bridge while with a friend, he said.
Tim Bristow

A man was mistakenly taken to a psychiatric hospital by his friends Saturday morning after the ex-boyfriend of a girl he met fatally shot him in west Houston, police said.

The man, 22, was shot around 3 a.m. in the 6300 block of Beverly Hill, Houston police Lt. Ronnie Willkens said. The victim was shot in his torso after getting into an altercation with the ex-boyfriend of a girl he'd met, he said.
Robert Balli

One man is dead and another is in critical condition after being shot multiple times and crashing their vehicle into a tree Friday night near Lincoln Park in northwest Houston, police said.

Houston police officers responded to a shooting around 10:42 p.m. and found the two wounded men in a car in the 9400 block of Maxroy, Lt. Ronnie Willkens said.
Shell Chemicals is facing its second lawsuit brought by three contractors who say they were injured by a fire that broke out in a volatile unit at its Deer Park plant on May 5, burning for three days and sending a column of black smoke over neighboring communities.

The complaint, filed in Harris County District Court Thursday, said the company was aware of the risk of a fire and failed to warn workers. It said the blaze erupted after flammable hydrocarbons leaked during maintenance that involved a heat exchange between heavy gas oils.

"According to reports, one of (Shell's) employees, an 'operator,' was seen running from the area known as 'OP2,' at which time a massive flash fire and explosion occurred," the plaintiffs' petition said.

Elizabeth Conley/Staff photographer

The lawsuit by contractors Adrian Calvario, Jose Lopez and Christian Martinez follows an initial suit from fellow contractor Cristobal Jasso that was submitted to the court late Monday.

FIRST IN COURT: Contractor files first lawsuit against Shell over Deer Park fire

The new lawsuit is seeking more than $1 million in damages for each worker, alleging Shell is liable for gross negligence and for the workers' physical impairment, mental anguish and loss of wages.

It is unclear if Calvario, Lopez and Martinez are among the nine contractors Shell said were taken to the hospital on May 5 and later released. A spokesman for Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner, the firm representing the workers, said all three had received medical care for their injuries.

The spokesman said the firm could submit additional filings against Shell on behalf of dozens more plaintiffs in the coming days, including people who were involved in the incident and bystanders.

A news release from the plaintiffs' firm said that employees and contractors were exposed to harmful hydrocarbons from the fire and "had to flee for their lives" while "they sustained ankle, knee, back, shoulder, and neck injuries all the while choking on chemical fumes."

FIRE FEARS: How harmful was that thick, black smoke from the Shell Deer Park fire?

Shell spokeswoman Natalie Gunnell said the company is aware of the new lawsuit, but declined to comment on pending litigation.

"We intend to work the full discovery process and go to trial," said Benny Agosto Jr., lead attorney for the plaintiffs. "These workers were put in harm's way because of yet another oil and gas company's greed and prioritizing profits over worker safety."

Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer

Company and state representatives said last week's fire at the Shell plant, which manufactures the base chemicals that end up in products such as plastic, paint and detergent, had posed "no danger to the nearby community."

Agosto's firm also represents more than 3,000 plaintiffs in an ongoing case against Intercontinental Terminals Co., whose Deer Park facility near the Shell plant was the site of a days-long petrochemical fire in 2019 that left elevated levels of benzene in the air for weeks.

rebekah.ward@houstonchronicle.com
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The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a border security bill that would resume border wall construction, reinstate Trump-era immigration policies and block the majority of migrants from entering the United States by restricting asylum.

With the pandemic-era policy Title 42 ending this week, the country's border and immigration policies have been at the center focus of state and national politicians, federal judges, human rights organizations and beyond.

Here's what to know about the House GOP immigration bill:

Why did the House pass an immigration bill?

The Republican party, which controls the U.S. House, wanted to make its stance clear on immigration as the bill's passage coincides with the expiration of Title 42.

The bill passed by a razor-thin margin of 219-213. Along with sending a message, the bill fulfills campaign pledges made by Republicans who vowed to, "crackdown on what they deemed a crisis at the U.S.- Mexico border," the Chronicle's Benjamin Wermund reports.

What is in the bill?

If the bill passed by the U.S. House becomes law, it would:

Direct Customs and Border Protection to hire more agents and authorize $9,000 bonuses.

Send $100 million to local law enforcement in counties along the border.

Reinstate a Trump-era rule requiring asylum-seekers, many from South America, Central America and the Caribbean, to wait in Mexico instead of the U.S.

Further restrict who can claim asylum and how they can do it.

Significantly restrict who could be paroled into the U.S.

Restart the detention of migrant families and increase detention capacity.

Lengthen the time unaccompanied children can be held, from three days to 30.

Commission a national strategy for dealing with Mexican Not drug cartels.

What is the bill's chance of passing the Senate?

The bill has no chance in the Democratic-led Senate without any major changes.

What are the reactions to the bill?

The legislation was largely praised by Republicans, except for a few.

Houston Congressman Dan Crenshaw said the bill had, "glaring problems" because it initially did not target drug cartels. U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, also called the legislation "too restrictive" for legal asylum-seekers.

Still, the legislation narrowly passed the House.

Every House Democrat opposed the bill and the White House said President Joe Biden would veto the bill if it ever made it to his desk.

"While we welcome Congress engagement on meaningful steps to address immigration and the challenges at the border, this bill would make things worse, not better, the White House Office of Management and Budget said in a statement. Because this bill does very little to actually increase border security while doing a great deal to trample on the nations core values and international obligations, it should be rejected.
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)  Kentuckys secretary of state has won bipartisan praise during his first term in office for expanding voter access during the COVID-19 pandemic and overseeing elections that have been free of widespread problems.

That record still hasnt paved a clear path to reelection for Republican Michael Adams. He now must persuade primary voters who have been bombarded for years with false claims about rigged elections.

He faces one challenger in Tuesdays GOP primary who has promoted debunked election claims and another who favors pulling Kentucky out of a multistate effort designed to detect voter fraud, an effort being pushed by conspiracy theorists in conservative states.

The battle for Kentucky's top elections post follows similar campaigns during last year's midterm elections, when candidates who denied the results of the 2020 election won GOP primaries in numerous states. A handful of them went on to win the office in deeply Republican states, but each of those candidates lost in the closely contested swing states that typically decide presidential elections.

Adams, a lawyer, soundly defeated Steve Knipper in the primary four years ago. Knipper, who has questioned the result of the 2020 presidential election, is back for another run along with another Republican, Allen Maricle, a former state representative and television station executive. The winner will face Democrat Buddy Wheatley, a former state representative who recently lost reelection. He is unopposed in his primary.

Adams earned praise from both parties for increasing voting opportunities and allowing mail-in ballots in the 2020 elections during the pandemic. He has raised significantly more campaign cash than his two opponents. But he said the political landscape has shifted dramatically for secretary of state races around the country, namely because of a wave of conspiracy theories and false allegations after the 2020 presidential race.

This job has gotten a lot more high-profile than it used to be, Adams said. And I think the big question in this election is, which direction are we going to go in?"

Adams, 47, has had harsh words for election skeptics, calling them cranks and kooks who shouldn't be in charge of Kentucky's election process.

State and local election officials continue to grapple with the fallout from former President Donald Trumps false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. The lies he continues to tell, including during a televised town hall, earlier this week, not only undermine confidence in elections, particularly among Republicans, but have led to harassment and death threats against election officials and their staff.

Reviews in multiple states, including ones controlled by Republicans, have shown there was no widespread fraud or manipulation of voting machines. Dozens of judges, including several nominated by Trump, also rejected his claims.

Knipper, 52, won the GOP nomination for secretary of state in 2015 before losing to Democratic incumbent Alison Grimes in the general election. The former city council member from a small town across the Ohio River from Cincinnati was a staffer under former Lt. Gov. Jenean Hampton, but was fired by former Republican Gov. Matt Bevin.

Knipper and a former colleague of his in the lieutenant governor's office who also was swept out by Bevin, Adrienne Southworth, have been touring the state together alleging  without evidence  election fraud in the 2019 governors race won by Democrat Andy Beshear and in the 2020 presidential election.

Knipper said he has raised more money and enjoyed more support from the public than during his previous two races, and is running television ads for the first time.

Ive had enthusiasm, but I have never had this much enthusiasm behind me," he said.

Maricle has campaigned on his experience in the Kentucky Legislature, saying he is the only candidate who has a voting record on election legislation. That includes support for a bill in the 1990s that allowed voters who were in line at the time of poll closings to remain in line and finish voting.

Maricle, 60, is critical of Knipper's election skepticism, saying Knipper has provided no evidence.

Hes said these elections have been stolen through the machines  prove it, Maricle said.

But Maricle also has campaigned on moving the state out of a multistate system intended to combat voter fraud. He said he is taking a cue from other Republican secretaries of state critical of it and said it is not doing a good enough job helping states clear their voter rolls.

"Its flawed, he said. You have nine Republican states in the last 90 days do away with that system.

Knipper has also sought to capitalize on the issue, which has divided Republican state election officials. In a March release, he urged supporters to call on Adams to withdraw Kentucky from the bipartisan effort, which has found itself in the crosshairs of conspiracy theories fueled by Trumps false claims.

In the release, Knipper repeated claims that the Electronic Registration Information Center, a voluntary system known as ERIC, was funded by George Soros, the billionaire investor and philanthropist who has long been the subject of conspiracy theories. While ERIC received initial funding from the nonpartisan Pew Charitable Trusts, that money was separate from the money provided to Pew by a Soros-affiliated organization that went to an unrelated effort, according to ERICs executive director, Shane Hamlin.

Knipper's stance on the ERIC system won him the vote of Dae Combs, a 63-year-old Louisville resident who visited an early voting location on Thursday.

Im just concerned that it would be easily manipulated, Combs said. Im not saying thats what happened, but I just think there needs to be more investigation into it.

Combs said she doesn't question the results of the 2020 election despite her support of Knipper.

Biden "is our president and we kind of go with the system. This is our system, its the best system in the world, but I do think there is room to look at things and not just take things at face value.

Louisiana has left a group of states using the ERIC system after a series of online posts early last year questioning its funding and purpose. Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia subsequently provided notice that they, too, would leave. Texas has said it's working on an alternative effort and is unlikely to stay. Kentucky is among six Republican-led states that have so far remained.

Judy Davenport, who was voting in Louisville on her 62nd birthday, said her vote for Adams was influenced by Knippers election skepticsm.

Im not an election denier, she said.

___

Cassidy reported from Atlanta.

___

Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about APs democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Nothing truly prepares you for motherhood, for that moment when you see your first child for the first time. My perspective on life changed on the day that the first of my three children was born. I felt transcendent love and purpose, coupled with tremendous responsibility and concern.

I want to raise my three daughters in a world where they feel safe, respected and empowered to become the very best version of themselves. Every mother deserves to live in that world, and every child deserves that opportunity.

Now, as the first mother elected in her own right to Harris County's highest governing body, I think of our children in every action I take. And I know that for all the joy being a mother brings, being a mom is incredibly challenging  especially for mothers in Harris County.

We have the largest medical complex in the world, yet the maternal mortality rate in Harris County is higher than the rate in Texas and the United States. Approximately 105,000 low-income children in Harris County with working parents have few or no affordable childcare options in their area. And when our children are at school (or at any public place, for that matter), we worry about the possibility of gun violence, the leading cause of death for children in the United States since 2020.

We must do better for the mothers and children of Harris County, and we have the tools to do so.

Public safety is my top priority. As a mom and as someone who has been the victim of crime multiple times, I never want my daughters  or any of our children  to be victimized.

We must take a holistic approach to public safety that looks at the criminal justice system as an interdependent system, keeping all people safe while protecting everyones constitutional rights. I recently led the passage of a justice and safety package at Commissioners Court. The Court also funded the new Womens Empowerment Center, a jail for low-to-medium security female inmates to help them get the job training and treatment they need before they return home to their families. Nearly 80 percent of women who are incarcerated are mothers.

Commissioners Court is also working to create safer spaces in which our children will grow up, play and thrive. With the Clean Streets, Safe Neighborhoods initiative, we are investing $25 million toward reducing neighborhood blight and revitalizing our communities.

And even though we teach our children to look both ways before crossing the street, we know that our roads are some of the most dangerous for both pedestrians and motorists. We have joined the nationwide initiative Vision Zero, which aims to reach zero annual traffic deaths or severe injuries by 2030.

We have dedicated $7.7 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to establish the Maternal and Child Health Program, with a special focus on Black mothers. Their mortality rate is more than twice as high as the rate for any other group in Harris Ccounty, and more than three times the national rate for all mothers.

We also are investing in sustainable infrastructure with the next 25 to 100 years in mind. As a county, we must be more forward-thinking, especially in fighting climate change, improving mobility, and decreasing flood risk.



We owe this to our children.

Lesley Briones is commissioner of Harris County Precinct 4.
North Dakota's capital is becoming a city not just of state government but also of state champion trees.

Nine new entries were made this year to the North Dakota Register of Champion Trees, including four in Bismarck -- a river birch, littleleaf linden, common honeylocust and apricot. That brings the city's total to nine.

The register is a list of the largest of various types of native and non-native trees in the state. Its patterned after the National Big Tree Program sponsored by the American Forests conservation nonprofit. The NDSU-North Dakota Forest Service updates the state list yearly, and a champion tree stays on the list until its dethroned.

The four Bismarck trees that were crowned this year were thanks to the efforts of Duane Elness. He's been staying with a family member in the city, though he hails from Cavalier -- a northeastern North Dakota community where he has a plot with two other state champs.

"I like trees," Elness said of his retirement hobby. "I spent a lot of my life in the woods, and you just gradually get to know trees."

Elness grew up on a farm near Sterling. He worked most of his life as a lawyer, but his last job was as a soil conservation technician, which took him to rural areas with lots of trees.

He's been searching for champion trees the past five years, and said it's kind of addicting.

"You get one (listed), and you think it would be nice to have two," he said, adding that there are a number of other trees he'd like to measure if he can get to them.

Elness has found and nominated 13 of the 86 trees on the state champion list. State Forest Service Outreach and Education Manager Beth Hill calls Elness "a rockstar, and the main reason why we see so many champions this year."

"Some of the species we had this year are not commonly grown in North Dakota, so the fact that one was nominated and there was no existing competition in our register meant that it had a good chance of getting on the register," Hill said. "But that just is a great way to show the diversity of trees that can be grown in North Dakota, and they can do well."

Temple trees

One example is the champion apricot tree and the second-place apricot tree that Elness measured outside the Simchat Torah Beit Midrash synagogue in Bismarck.

The temple at 703 N. Fifth St. was built in 1930 by the Jewish congregation in Bismarck. Noted horticulturalist Oscar H. Will -- who started the first nursery in North Dakota -- planted the apricot trees that same year to see if they would grow in the state's climate, according to organization officials. Fruit trees also are important in the Jewish faith.

Regional Director Vicky Bemman said Israelites planted fruit trees "for the fruit for them to eat, so they would always have food. It's also symbolic -- we are to produce fruit in our lives."

The state champion apricot tree is about 33  feet tall, with a circumference of 8 feet and an average crown spread of just over 29 feet.

Capital champs

The other champion trees crowned in Bismarck this year are:

A river birch owned by Michele Stockert at 101 N. First St. It's 50 feet tall, with a circumference of 4 feet 8 inches and and average crown spread of about 54  feet.

A littleleaf linden owned by Arlan Scholl of the Bismarck-Mandan Elks Lodge, 900 S. Washington St. It's 47 feet tall, with a circumference of 8 feet 3.25 inches and an average crown spread of 45 feet.

A common honeylocust owned by Sharon Fischer at 108 W. Reno Ave. It's 64 feet tall, with a circumference of 7 feet 9 inches and an average crown spread of about 50  feet.

Other Bismarck champions crowned in previous years:

Green ash, 1910 Laforest Ave., owned by Alecia Fedorenko.

Horse chestnut, 1418 Porter Ave., owned by Peter Feist.

Amur maple, 530 E. Capital Ave., owned by Glaser Properties.

Sycamore, 905 N. 12th St., owned by the city.

Red oak, 920 Arthur Drive, owned by Jim Fuglie and Lillian Crook.

Other new champs

Other new champion trees crowned around the state this year included a northern pin oak and a bitternut hickory on the Cavalier plot owned by Elness, a slippery elm south of Valley City, a yellow birch north of Cavalier, and a cottonwood owned by Paul Dede on a farmstead in Cass County.

The cottonwood also is considered the largest tree in North Dakota, according to the Forest Service. It's 123 feet tall, with a circumference of 29 feet 3 inches and an average crown spread of 77 feet 2 inches.

Elness said the two champions that he owns "are not big trees yet."

"But I want them to be on the list because those species weren't on the list," he said. "It's important for people to know that those species do grow in North Dakota. We need more diversity in planting trees."

The North Dakota Register of Champion Trees, with photos, is at bit.ly/3nLvY8l. The Forest Service asks that people who wish to visit a champion tree on private property first obtain permission from the landowner.

For information on how to nominate a champion tree, contact Hill at beth.hill@ndsu.edu.
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John Staber atop the No. 1 Lake Amphibian with the crew who helped put her together in River Ranch, Fla., in February 2011. They are Bill Greenwald, left, John Werner, Barbara Fioravanti, Judy Staber and Peter Nelson.

John Staber Receives Wright Brothers Award

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.  John H. Staber of Old Chatham, N.Y., is to receive the Federal Aviation Administration Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award this Saturday.

This is to commemorate his more than 50 years of accident-free flying and devoting much of his career to teaching others.

The presentation will be made at noon by Adina M. Papp, FAA Safety Team Program manager, at the Walter J. Koladza Airport located on Route 71.

While he is certified to fly most Beech, Cessna and Piper light aircraft, Staber has also specialized in maintaining and teaching the art of seaplane flying in Lake Amphibians.

He received his private pilot license in December 1963 at the Great Barrington airport and, over the next few years, added on a Commercial Pilot Certificate, instrument rating, instructor rating, multi-engine land rating and seaplane rating.

In 1999, he found parts from an early Lake Amphibian near Cleveland and brought the contents home to Old Chatham. With the help of flying friends, he assembled, painted and restored the old Amphibian discovering, to his delight, that it was Serial Number One.

The plane was reassembled finally in 2010 and flown from the Great Barrington airport. The following year, she flew to Florida for a Lake Amphibian Fly-In.

Staber has flown all over the United States and much of Canada and has accumulated more than 6,200 hours, most of which was done teaching others to fly in Lake Amphibians. He is a director of the Lake Amphibian Club, whose purpose is to make the owners of the amphibians safer pilots.

He retired from flying in November 2021 after 58 years.
Turtles Must be Left in the Wild

Bringing home a native Vermont wild turtle to keep as a pet is illegal because it can be harmful for the individual animal and local turtle populations.

MONTPELIER, Vt.  The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department says keeping native turtles as pets is prohibited because it can harm the turtle and pose threats to wild turtle populations.

"Capturing a wild turtle and keeping it as a pet, even if only for a short time, is detrimental to that individual turtle and also to Vermont's turtle populations as a whole," said Vermont Fish and Wildlife herpetologist Luke Groff. "Releasing captured turtles back into the wild comes with risks as well."

Groff said the risks include introducing diseases or disrupting the genetics of wild populations.

"Adult turtles often have well-defined home ranges and know exactly where to find shelter, food and mates. Turtles released in unfamiliar habitats are likely to be disoriented and stressed, and they may attempt to return home, potentially causing them to cross roads and be struck by vehicles."

Groff said taking a turtle out of the wild means removing its reproductive contribution to the population.

"Turtles are slow to develop, especially those living at northern latitudes where the growing season is short," he said. "Many of Vermont's turtle species do not reproduce until they are at least 10 years of age. Older, sexually mature females are critically important to the long-term persistence of some Vermont turtle populations. The loss of even a couple mature females from some populations may have serious consequences."

Some common species you are likely to see include the painted turtle and snapping turtle. The wood turtle, spotted turtle and spiny softshell are rare in Vermont, and the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department urges you to report sightings of these species to the Vermont Reptile and Amphibian Atlas

If you see some of Vermont's native turtles, Groff said, "Feel free to take a photo home with you, but support Vermont's turtles by leaving them in the wild.
Berkshire Conservation District Healthy Soils

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  The Berkshire Conservation District announced the receipt of grant funding from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA), Division of Conservation Services, Healthy Soils Program to increase the use of no-till seeding methods along with soil testing by farmers throughout western Massachusetts.

The District purchased an Esch 12' no-till seeder which they have been renting to area farmers since 2019.

With this funding, the District is now able to waive the per-acre fee as well as the cost of soil testing. Applicants agree to a multi-year agreement involving annual soil testing and no-till planting. This approach prioritizes soil health and protects soil and water resources from the impacts of climate change by helping to reduce soil erosion, conserve water, improve soil health and decrease carbon release.

The Berkshire Conservation District is collaborating with the Hampton/Hampshire Conservation District, which recently purchased a 5'6" no-till drill, to offer two sizes of no-till drills to farmers in western Massachusetts making the program more accessible to farmers of large and small acreage.

"Farmers are excited to have access to new pieces of equipment that can seed fields faster and more efficiently. The Berkshire Conservation District has the ability to listen closely to what is needed and respond directly, building relationships with the agricultural community that will contribute to more resilient farming practices," said Ambrose Clausen, the District's Healthy Soils/No-Till Program Coordinator.

Other District programs focus on increasing and improving habitats for pollinators, including helping Berkshire towns pass Pollinator-Friendly Community resolutions, financial incentives for farmers to add pollinator habitat on their farms and our fall Native Plant Sale. More information on all programs can be found at berkshireconservation.org/programs.

The Berkshire Conservation District is a state-mandated agency whose mission is to support local agriculture and environmental sustainability in Berkshire County through education in cooperation with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Dr. Jennifer Michaels, medical director for the Brien Center, talks about the toll of the pandemic on the nation's mental health as well as on the center's ability to provide treatment services.

Brien Center Talk Highlights Mental Health Effects of COVID



Brien Center CEO Christine MacBeth stands in front of posters highlighting the center's history.

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  The COVID-19 pandemic had immediate and lasting effects on mental health and on providers.



During a community conversation titled "The Impact of the Pandemic on Mental Health and How to Manage Moving Forward," professionals from the Brien Center highlighted ways to heal from the stress and trauma of a global pandemic.

The organization provides a wide array of services ranging from behavioral health and emergency services to family mental health and substances abuse disorders. It works with community programs and offers personal counseling and residential treatment.

Its work was disrupted at the very start of the pandemic, forcing its medical professionals, therapists and clinicians to revamp how to deliver services during the crisis.

"I can tell you that when I started in my role, I never thought that I would have to manage or figure out how to successfully manage a pandemic and still provide services but we did that," CEO Christine Macbeth said.



"And a matter of fact, for 100 years we have been providing face-to-face services and when I say weeks, I literally mean weeks that we very quickly moved to a telehealth model of care, if you will. We invested significantly in upgrading our IT system, bought new laptops and phones so our clinicians could keep virtual appointments with their clients. However, that said, remember we still have residential programs and we had well over 100 people living in our residential programs at the time and we still do and our residential staff is nothing less than heroic during that period."



From January through June 2019, 11 percent of adults in the United States reported symptoms of anxiety and depression. That number skyrocketed to nearly 34 percent as the pandemic took hold in May 2020.



Similarly, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control data showed that 37 percent of youth experienced poor mental health during COVID-19 and 44 percent experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in the past 12 months.



Macbeth pointed out that there has been a dramatic increase in the need for mental health services in the last three years and that, finally, state officials have begun to recognize the "significant, chronic underfunding" for community-based behavioral health providers.



During the pandemic, 20 percent of health-care workers left the field because of a mixture of occupational stress and pay.



Medical Director Dr. Jennifer Michaels said the community and the health care system also needs to be healed.



"Twenty percent of our staff at the Brien Center are no longer there. We lost most of our therapists and yet we're supposed to do the same work, even more, with less staff," she said.



"So we need more staff and to attract more staff, we need to pay them well so they want to work, and we need to also create programs like advocacy, loan forgiveness for doing this kind of work is imperative. Right now, a nurse working at the Brien Center could make a third as much as somebody who is a traveling nurse or working in a union or a different group somewhere else."



Last week, the World Health Organization ended the emergency status for COVID-19 and, on Thursday, masks were no longer required at Berkshire Health Systems' facilities. Also last week, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy released an advisory calling on the public health crisis of loneliness, isolation, and lack of connection in our country.



"The physical health consequences of poor or insufficient connection include a 29 percent increased risk of heart disease, a 32 percent increased risk of stroke, and a 50 percent increased risk of developing dementia for older adults. Additionally, lacking social connection increases risk of premature death by more than 60 percent," it reads.
Idaho "mom" Lori Vallow was found guilty of killing two of her children todayand of conspiring to kill her husband's first wife.

The jury in Boise unanimously reached its decision. Vallow was charged with murder, conspiracy and grand theft in the deaths of Joshua "JJ" Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16. She stood next to her attorneys as the verdict was read and remained silent. Joshua and Tylee vanished in September 2019. Their disappearance sparked a monthslong search that ended in June 2020 when police found their remains on a property belonging to Vallow's fifth and current husband, Chad Daybell.

The cold sharp edge of America's quasi-Christian culture, with its "fifth and current" husbands and its pure, unleavened evil:
Getting a call from a potential employer abroad is thrilling and nerve-wracking at the same time. Because now that youve managed to be called in for that coveted job interview, you certainly want to say and do all the right things to increase your chances of securing your dream nursing job abroad.

To help you ace your nursing job interview with an overseas employer, TrueProfile.io, the go-to career platform for Filipino healthcare professionals looking for job opportunities abroad, is sharing these valuable tips and interview advice.

Research the organization

Part of acing your nursing interview is understanding the job well, so research is integral.

If youre applying for a role at an organization, look at their mission and vision statements, and the skills and qualities they value. It can also be helpful to read the latest news and developments relevant to your prospective employer. This way, your answers will be more relevant to current developments surrounding the organization you are applying to.

Prepare for your virtual interview

Your potential overseas employer will most likely set up a video call for your job interview. So to avoid any issues, be sure to go online earlier than your scheduled appointment. This will give you enough time to troubleshoot possible technical difficulties such as connection or software problems. Opt for a quiet place with good lighting and free of any obstruction or clutter so your interviewer can see you clearly.

Be aware of your body language Practice proper interview etiquette

In every interview, whether its face-to-face or virtual, body language and eye contact are just as essential as the words we say. Having the right posture will make you look friendlier and more confident of yourself. On the flipside, slouching and crossing your arms or legs may make you look tired and uninterested. So during your online interview, sit up straight with your head up and your shoulders back. Be sure your camera is perched at eye level so you can look directly into the webcam to better establish eye contact with the interviewer instead of staring down on the screen. During the interview, dont be hasty with your answers. Give yourself a moment to process the question and answer it as truthfully as possible in a clear and concise manner.

Research interview questions

Familiarize yourself with the most common nursing questions and answers such as why did you decide to become a nurse? Why do you want to work for this organization? and what are some of the biggest challenges or issues that nurses face today. Prepare answers for each question based on your experiences, work history or training. Be specific and concrete with your answers and provide examples where possible.

Interviewers appreciate when youre engaged and curious. Come to the interview with questions to ask the hiring manager. A good tip is to ask questions that would require more than a yes/no answer and questions that cant be found through research.

Follow up with an email

After the interview, send your interviewer or potential employer a quick email to thank them for their time and show your interest in the role. Reiterate the key qualities that would make you the right candidate for the role.

Your knowledge and skills matter

You can have better chances of securing an interview for overseas work if you have the right skills and experience. Prove your skills, knowledge, and training through your fully verified education and work credentials by registering for free on TrueProfile.io at https://sso.trueprofile.io/register. Members can create a free Digital CV to get headhunted by employers overseas, access international job opportunities and enjoy fast and efficient verification services.

You can be one of the thousands of Filipino healthcare professionals to use TrueProfile.io to secure your dream job abroad - from the first job application to overseas relocation and professional development.

Your potential employers would want to know if you have the right skills and experience. So be ready with fully verified education and work credentials to prove your skills, knowledge, and training.

To help you do this, register for free with TrueProfile.io at https://sso.trueprofile.io/register. Members can create a free Digital CV to get headhunted by employers overseas, access international job opportunities and enjoy fast and efficient verification services.

You can be one of the thousands of Filipino healthcare professionals to use TrueProfile.io to secure your dream job abroad - from the first job application to overseas relocation and professional development.
The Group of Seven (G7) finance leaders set up a new supply chain initiative as they vowed to provide more support for Ukraine in a show of unity against Russias war.

The aid for Ukraine through early 2024 was nudged up to $44bn in a move that enabled the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to approve $15.6bn of support over four years, Bloomberg reported.

We call for an immediate end of Russias illegal war against Ukraine, which would clear one of the biggest uncertainties over the global economic outlook, they said in a joint statement.
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The missing girlfriend of a British teenager murdered in Thailand has been found dead.

Officers discovered the body of Suraphltchaya Khamsa, 16, in a shallow grave in woodland around three miles from where her boyfriend Woramet Ben Taota was found on 7 May.

Her body was identified by her parents and grandparents from the braces on her teeth and the jewellery she had been wearing.

Police are continuing to interrogate convicted sex offender Chaiwat Boongarin, 44, who allegedly admitted killing Woramet but denies murdering Suraphltchaya, whose nickname was Ping Pong.

He is likely to face the death penalty if convicted of either or both killings.

Police Major General Mongkol Sampawapol, commander of Lampang Provincial Police, said: Police received intelligence gathered from the search operation about the location of the body.

The suspect who admitted to killing the boy denies killing the girl. He says that somebody else attacked her and buried her body in the woods.

We suspect that the suspect is responsible for both murders. However, police will also continue investigating the deaths to check if anybody else was involved.

The female victims body is now being sent to hospital for an autopsy to find traces of rape or sexual assault, because the suspect has a history of these crimes.

There were signs of bruising on her face and it is expected that she was hit with a solid object until she died.

Suraphltchaya and Woramet were last seen together riding a motorcycle on Saturday evening, 6 May, after visiting her grandfather earlier in the afternoon.

Woramet was found dead the next morning with severe head wounds. His body had been dumped in woodland but had not been buried. His phone and cash from his wallet were missing.

A police search for Suraphltchaya and another girl Yam, 16, who he was said to be seeing, followed as investigators tried to piece together what happened.

Mr Chaiwat was later identified from CCTV riding a black Honda motorcycle around the area at the time of Woramets death. He later tried to hide the vehicle in a friends shed before changing to a new bike.

Police said Mr Chaiwat admitted killing Woramet, saying his motive was revenge for a drug deal in which the youngster had stolen tablets from him.

However, Mr Chaiwat continually refused to give any details about the disappearance of Woramets girlfriend, who was believed to have been with him when he died.

Earlier this week, Woramets father Steven Graham, 60, from Eastbourne, East Sussex, confronted the alleged killer during a chaotic crime reconstruction on Wednesday.

He yelled, Look me in the eye, you cowards and May you rot in hell at the alleged murderer while he was being taken on a perp walk or crime reconstruction, which will form evidence for the prosecution.

The businessman, who travelled from his home to Thailand, said: It was dreadful to see [Boongarin], just ghastly.
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Actor Chris Fountain has shared footage from the hospital following his heart surgery.

The former Coronation Street and Hollyoaks star was admitted for an operation on his heart, months after suffering a mini-stroke.

On social media, he updated his followers with posts to his Instagram stories on Friday (12 May).

Im back, baby, Fountain, 35, said to the camera while laying in his hospital bed.

Still feeling a little bit woozy, my groin is rather sore. But Ive finally been allowed to eat and drink, but the cheese sandwich didnt quite do it.

He added that his mother, who was in the room with him, would be going to find him something more substantial to eat before signing off.

Later, he shared a video originally posted by Dutch musical theatre actor Martijn Vogel that explains the procedure that had been performed on him.

Fountains surgery was to address a patent foramen ovale (PFO), which is described by the NHS as a hole between the left and right atria (upper chambers) of the heart.

People with this condition are at a higher risk of stroke. If a PFO does not fix itself, the surgery to treat it consists of inserting a catheter with a closure device through the femoral vein in the leg up to the heart, where the device is left to close up the flap.

Chris Fountain (Instagram / Chris Fountain)

In a later video, Fountain is seen walking around the hospital. Back on my feet, theyve cleared me to walk a little bit, he said.

What a day! To be honest, I was really quite nervous when I went into the anaesthetist room, it all became very real.

He concluded on a positive note, telling fans that the outlook looks good so far after tests were run to check that the device is in the right place and working, and not leaking.

The actor starred in more than 300 episodes of the long-running ITV soap, Coronation Street, from 2011 to 2013. He was fired after videos of him rapping about rape were discovered on YouTube.

Since then, Fountain has addressed the impact that his firing has had on his life.
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Made in Chelsea star Millie Mackintosh has claimed her friendship with Meghan Markle abruptly ended after the Duchess of Sussexs romance with Prince Harry went public.

The reality star, 33, recently shared details about her former friendship with the duchess in an episode of her Mumlemmas podcast on 10 May, where she claimed she had been ghosted by the then-Suits actor once she began dating the royal.

The mother of two revealed that she became friends with Meghan around eight years ago, when the pair met at a hotel opening in Istanbul, Turkey. I was a fan, I watched Suits, Mackintosh told podcast co-host Charlie Boud. We met at the bar and we were both ordering a drink at the same time and just started chatting. We got on really well, we got on like a house on fire.

According to Mackintosh, the pair initially clicked over their marital troubles. The TV personality was married to British rapper Professor Green at the time, while Meghan had split from her first husband Trevor Engelson in 2013 after two years of marriage.

The women stayed in touch, and Mackintosh eventually gave Meghan her little black book of favourite spots and contacts when the actor visited the United Kingdom. When she would come to London, she didnt know London very well or know that many people, Mackintosh said, adding that the two would go out for brunch or attend yoga classes together.

The last time Mackintosh said she saw Meghan was in September 2016, when the two were pictured together during a girls weekend at Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire. What I thought was going to be a day of yoga and chilling ended up being rose and margaritas in the pool, she said, adding that she and Markle had a really fun afternoon.

It was during that trip that Meghan admitted she had been messaging Prince Harry after the two were introduced by a friend, according to Mackintosh.I didnt ask too much of it, didnt really think too much of it at the time, Mackintosh recalled. If only I had known.

When news of Prince Harry and Meghan Markles relationship broke in the press just one month later, Mackintosh decided to reach out to Meghan amid the intense media attention. I messaged her and just said: Hey, hope youre okay. Thinking of you, she recalled.

However, Mackintosh claimed the duchess sent back a really abrupt response that was unlike any of our communication before. While she didnt disclose the message she received from Meghan, Mackintosh said that she felt like [Meghan] kind of told me to f*** off, basically.

She cut me dead. I never heard from her again, she added.

The former reality TV star went on to describe her thought process behind the message she allegedly received from Meghan, saying: My take on it is thatshes like, Im going to be royal now, I dont need Millie in my life.

Mackintosh explained how the media attention surrounding her short-lived friendship with Meghan was total bollocks, as tabloids claimed she had introduced the duke and duchess and was planning the royal wedding. At the time, honestly, it was quite hurtful, she added. Looking back, I do remember when they got married. I was a bit like, feels a bit s*** because she ghosted me.

Meghan and Prince Harry began dating in July 2016, after they were reportedly introduced by mutual friend and Soho House consultant Markus Anderson. In their six-part Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, the two detailed how they kept their romance secret from the public  from their first date in London to an impromptu trip to Botswana, Africa.

In the first episode of Harry & Meghan, which was released in December 2022, Meghan recalled that Harry was late to their date, which almost put her off  but the prince won her over after he arrived as a hot, sweaty red ball of mess who was genuinely so embarrassed and late.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex also detailed their last night of freedom before news of their relationship broke to the world. The pair decided to pull the pin on the fun grenade and go out in costumes to a Halloween party in Toronto with Harrys cousin, Princess Eugenie, her then-boyfriend, Jack Brooksbank, and Meghans friend, Marcus. She recalled Harry saying at the time: Well, if its gonna come out tomorrow, lets go have fun tonight.

The two were married in May 2018 in a fairytale wedding ceremony at St Georges Chapel at Windsor Castle. But the media attention surrounding the couple soon worsened, as they later claimed that Buckingham Palace was briefing the press against them by leaking and planting negative stories about Meghan to distract from less favourable coverage about other royals.

In 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced they were stepping down from the royal family and relocating to the United States. Since then, theyve gone on to raise their two children  Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet  at their home in Montecito, California.

Last week, Prince Harry returned to the United Kingdom for the coronation of his father, King Charles III, and stepmother, Queen Camilla.

The Independent has contacted a representative for the Duchess of Sussex for contact.
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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 40,177 active Covid cases on 3 May, part of a steady seven-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 latest update from 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 11.7 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.

How long do Covid symptoms last?

While the symptoms of the virus can vary depending on the strain, the length of time people have it remains similar.

As to how long the symptoms last, the NHS explains: Most people with coronavirus or symptoms of Covid-19 feel better within a few weeks.

You may be able to look after yourself at home while you recover.

While youre ill, ask a friend, family member or neighbour to check up on you. Arrange a regular call or talk through a doorway (not face to face) so they can check how youre doing.

It offers guidance on how to cope with specific symptoms that might be causing discomfort while you recuperate here.
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Pakistans former Prime Minister Imran Khan was to return to court on Friday to hear whether he will be shielded from renewed arrest or taken back into custody  a decision that put Pakistans government and legions of Khan supporters on edge after days of violent confrontations.

The popular 70-year-old opposition leader will appear before the same court from which he had been dragged and arrested on Tuesday. The arrest had triggered nationwide protests in which his supporters attacked military installations, burned vehicles, and ambulances and looted general stores in various parts of the country. The violence drew condemnation from the government.

Fridays court session is part of complex legal maneuvers.

On Thursday, Pakistans Supreme Court had declared that Khans arrest was unlawful, but then asked the Islamabad High Court  a lower court  to reconsider its initial decision to uphold the arrest.

The Supreme Court said it would respect Fridays ruling by the Islamabad court.

The government said it would quickly arrest Khan if the Islamabad High Court upheld its earlier order. Khan was arrested on Tuesday by the National Accountability Bureau in connection with graft charges.

This week's violence left at least 10 Khan supporters dead. Dozens of protesters and more than 200 police officers were injured. Protesters torched trucks, cars and police vehicles and blocked highways.

It echoed unrest that followed the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto during an election rally. Her supporters at the time, outraged by her killing, rampaged for days across Pakistan.

Khan, who was ousted as prime minister last year and leads the opposition, faces more than legal 100 cases, most involving allegations that he incited to violence, and threatened police and government officials. He also faces at least three graft cases. A new terrorism charge was filed against him Thursday for allegedly inciting his followers to violence after his arrest.

Under Pakistan's legal system, a defendant can seek protection from arrest in court hearings. Khan is vulnerable to arrests because he has not obtained such protection in all of the cases against him.

Following the Supreme Court's release order Thursday, Khan spent a night at a government guest house in Islamabad, where he met with his family members and friends. The country's President Arif Alvi also had a meeting with him.

Alvi has been trying to defuse tension between Khan and Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif's government to avoid escalation in the country which is accustomed to military takeovers, political crises and violence.

Since Tuesday, protesters have been clashing with police, who have arrested nearly 3,000 supporters from Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party. They include Khan's deputies who have been jailed.

After Khan was freed Thursday, Sharif's government criticized Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial for giving Khan a reprieve. It alleged Khan was involved in corruption and therefore should not have been freed.

Sharif's government accused the chief justice of bias.

Khan was ousted in April 2022 through no-confidence in the parliament. He claims his removal was part of a plot by the United States, Sharif and the military  a charge all three have denied.
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Rishi Sunak has rejected criticism of his Governments plan to tackle small boat crossings as he indicated ministers would use as many barges as it takes to resolve the issue.

The Governments Illegal Migration Bill came under attack during the week, after the Archbishop of Canterbury weighed in to label ministers plans morally unacceptable and politically impractical.

The Prime Minister, in an interview with the Mail on Sunday only days after a difficult set of local elections, defended his stop the boats strategy as well as plans to house migrants on barges.

The Bibby Stockholm barge arrived in Falmouth, Cornwall, earlier this week, where it will undergo an assessment and refurbishment.

The vessel, which will house around 500 migrants, is then expected to be moved into position at Portland Port in Dorset in the next few weeks.

Mr Sunak, speaking to the newspaper, said: Barges are a solution and we will do as many as it takes.

Asked about Justin Welbys remarks in the Lords, he said: I respectfully disagree with the Archbishop on this and Ive spoken about it a lot.

The number of illegal crossings last year was 45,000. That number has gone up four or five times in just a couple of years and it cant carry on like this.

I dont think its right that the British taxpayers are forking out 5.5 million a day to house illegal asylum seekers, that hotels in their communities are being taken over for this use. So barges are a solution to that and we will do as many as it takes.

The Prime Minister said that he had put in place a new committee structure, modelled on the Covid-19 pandemic response in government, to tackle the issue.

We want to deliver that Bill and what I can tell you is that Im not waiting for that moment to happen. We are getting ready now.

So, we have put in place a new government committee structure, a bit like how we ran things during the pandemic, where I chair meetings twice a week so that we can get everything ready so that from the moment we have the green light we can crack on and deliver it.

In the same interview, the Prime Minister responded to the concerns of Tory Brexiteers, who have been angered by the ditching of the Governments promise to complete a post-Brexit bonfire of remaining EU-era laws by the end of the year.

Some of those concerns were raised at the Conservative Democratic Organisation conference in Bournemouth over the weekend, with a backlash to the decision from pro-Brexit Conservative MPs in Westminster.

I voted for Brexit, I campaigned for Brexit, I believe in Brexit and when I was Chancellor I started to deliver some benefits of Brexit, he told the paper.

What I can tell you is what I delivered as Chancellor was quite significant. I am someone who doesnt just talk about things, Im someone who delivers things.
Rest in peace, E3. We hardly knew ya. With the legendary event dead for the foreseeable future (and probably forever, if we're being real), more and more companies have been falling back on their own livestreamed events. In that vein, Devolver Digital, publisher of such renowned games as Hotline Miami and Cult of the Lamb, has confirmed that they will be hosting another of their trademark chaos-filled Devolver Directs this coming June.

Yes we're doing a Devolver Direct in June.



More information soon.  Devolver Digital (@devolverdigital) May 10, 2023

The Devolver Digital presentations have always stood above their peers by explicitly poking fun at the gaming industry (and indulging in a few wholesale murders). I can't wait to see what they have cooking up for this year, especially since they're no longer beholden to E3
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A police officer has been suspended after a video emerged showing a man being repeatedly punched in the head as he was arrested, North Wales Police confirmed.

The incident happened on Wednesday during the arrest of a 34-year-old man from the Pensyflog area of Porthmadog, after officers were called to a domestic incident.

Concerned bystanders filmed the interaction and videos show the man being pinned face-down on the ground by a male and female police officer before a male officer appears to punch him nine times in the side of the head.

The incident was caught on camera and shared on social media (Twitter)

Just beforehand, a man is heard shouting: Stop resisting. In separate footage, blood is seen on the suspects face as he is placed in a police van.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has launched a full investigation into the incident.

The man who was being arrested has been released on bail, North Wales Police said.

IOPC director David Ford said: Footage on social media, capturing part of the interaction between police officers and the arrested man has, understandably, attracted significant interest and public concern.

The police watchdog and local force are investigating the incident (Twitter)

It is important that we thoroughly and independently investigate the whole incident, in order to establish whether the level of force used during the arrest was reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances.

North Wales Police said due to the investigation by the IOPC, they are unable to provide any further information.
An NHS doctor has described worrying scenes in Gaza as hundreds of cancer patients go for days without treatment due to ongoing fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant groups.

Nick Maynard, a consultant surgeon for Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, travelled to the Palestinian city for three days of keyhole surgeries on cancer patients along with fellow NHS doctor Bijendran Patel, from the Royal London Hospital, at the end of last week.

The two doctors had planned to work Monday to Wednesday, performing operations on patients in Gaza, but were only able to work for a day before fighting broke out.
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Martin Lewis has issued a warning to pensioners who could miss out on a 301 payment from the government.

The consumer champion shared the advice on Wednesday's Good Morning Britain, where Mr Lewis helps viewers navigate the cost of living crisis in his Wallet Wednesdays segment.

He warned that around a million people have just over two weeks to access a Pension Credit benefit from the Department for Work and Pensions.

Pension Credit is a top-up benefit that helps those of state pension age who are not getting enough income. Now, I've long been saying there are one million pensioners in the UK eligible for it who do not claim it. It's an absolute tragedy, Mr Lewis told viewers.

They've paid into the system for all of their lives and they're not getting this important top-up.

He added that it is a really crucial time to be accessing these payments.

While the current Cost of Living payment has already started being paid out and for most people the eligibility period is over, Pension Credit can be backdated, so what this means is if you are eligible you will get that 301 and you've got until the 19 May in order to claim.

Simply by claiming Pension Credit, even if you're only entitled to a small amount, you will get the 301.

The warning comes as more than seven million households across the UK will have received a 301 cost-of-living payment by the end of Wednesday, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has said.

The payments are part of a package of wider government support announced to tackle the cost of living in 2023-24, including a further 300 payment for eligible families in autumn 2023, with a payment of 299 in spring 2024.

Mel Stride, work and pensions secretary, said: Paying more than seven million households 301 in a little over a week underlines our commitment to ensure those on the lowest income are protected from the worst of rising prices and give them peace of mind.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: We know the impact that rising prices are having on families, which is why we are providing significant support to millions through these direct cash payments.

People will be eligible for the 301 cost-of-living payment if they have been entitled to a payment for certain benefits between 16 January and 15 February 2023, including, for example, universal credit, pension credit and child tax credit.
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An elderly woman hit by a police motorcade escorting the Duchess of Edinburgh is in a coma, her family have said.

Helen Holland, 81, from Essex, was visiting her older sister in London on Wednesday when she was struck by the motorbike at a junction in Earls Court at around 3.21pm, according to her relatives.

Her son Martin Holland and his wife Lisa-Marie said they were shocked and sickened at her extensive injuries.

She is being well cared for by the NHS who we must thank deeply for their help in keeping her alive, they told the BBC.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct has launched an investigation into the accident, while the Metropolitan Police department that investigates officers conduct has been informed, as is routine.

The family is calling for a thorough investigation, BBC News At Ten presenter Clive Myrie reported on Friday.

Duchess Sophie, who was being escorted through west London when the collision occurred, said on Thursday that her heartfelt thoughts and prayers were with Ms Holland, from Birchanger, and her family.

A short statement issued by Buckingham Palace said the duchess, who is married to the Kings brother Prince Edward, is grateful for the swift response by the emergency services and will keep abreast of developments.

The crash came days after the duchess attended the coronation (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Further comment at this time would not be appropriate while the incident is being investigated, the palace statement added.

The crash took place at the junction of West Cromwell Road and Warwick Road. At a crossing, one local resident who witnessed the aftermath described it as a nightmare.

Shes lucky to be alive at all, Martin Hennessy, 62, who lives yards away from the scene, told the Daily Mirror. The road is a nightmare. Weve warned the council about it. There have been three people killed here.

When you get to the junction you have to step out to see if anything is coming, thats when she was hit, the retired antiques dealer said. I came out to walk the dogs and thats when I saw this thoroughfare. Shed been thrown across the road and the ambulance were treating her.

The accident took place in Earls Court (Google Maps)

Paramedics from the London Ambulance Service and Londons Air Ambulance both attended the scene on Wednesday.

The collision took place days after the Duchess, 58, celebrated the coronation over the weekend with the Duke of Edinburgh and other royals.

Sophie, formerly the Countess of Wessex, married Prince Edward in 1999. In March, the King handed him the Duke of Edinburgh title which previously belonged to their late father, Prince Philip.

Having grown very close to the late Queen Elizabeth II, the former public relations professionals position in the royal family has become increasingly important since the departure of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
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A Ukrainian pianist who fled her home with just her young daughter and a suitcase is to use her instrument as a weapon to showcase the unbreakable spirit of her country over a year later at a Eurovision event.

Daria Golovchenko, who is in her 30s and seeking full-time employment as a pianist, fled her home in Kherson in April 2022 with her then two-year-old  three-year old  daughter Sophia, before arriving in the UK later that same month to stay with her host  Rachel Balen, a retired university lecturer.

Just over a year later, she is to perform a set of Ukrainian pieces as well as classic hits including Hit the Road Jack at a Eurovision event at the Piece Hall in Halifax on Saturday May 13  the same day as the song contests grand final  in a bid to showcase Ukrainian culture.

Its a big opportunity to show and represent our culture through our music at this event, Ms Golovchenko, who is based in Holmfirth, near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, told the PA news agency.

I will play some Ukrainian music, with one piece composed by a Ukrainian composer who is in Lviv, and some other more recognisable songs.

This time is very important for Ukrainians because before the war, not a lot of people understood who was Ukrainian  and Ukraine is a beautiful country with a lot of talented people and it is not the time to hide, but to speak about our Ukrainian culture.

And I can speak about it through music.

As the war in her country continues, Ms Golovchenko said she wants people to continue standing with Ukrainians.

(The Russians) destroy our cities, our lives, but they cant destroy our spirit, she said.

I fight here with music, my weapon is music.

Ms Golovchenko opened up about leaving Kherson, describing it as the most difficult decision of my life.

She added: I could only bring one bag and it was very difficult to decide what to bring.

Leaving was the most difficult decision of my life and finding a driver to get us out was hard.

My father had a car but he could not drive because it was too dangerous and we had to pay crazy money for a driver  you could buy a ticket to Australia for the price we paid  and it was just from Kherson to Odessa, which is not a long distance.

From Odessa, the pianist travelled many hours on a train to Lviv, arriving in the early hours of the morning, without any food and having to sleep on a tiny mattress on the floor of a train station, before being driven to Poland by a friend and eventually reaching her host at the end of April 2022.

Ms Golovchenko and Ms Balen were paired together via a local support group called Holme Valley Homes for Ukraine, with the fact that Ms Balen had a piano being of huge importance for Ms Golovchenko, especially since she has struggled finding employment as a pianist in the UK.

Daria has been to job centres, but they arent really geared up for helping musicians to find work, Ms Balen said.

She gets universal credit, but it is not really enough to cover rent.

Ms Balen added that her grandparents fled Zhytomyr in the 1900s, which was part of the Russian empire at the time, because they were Jewish, and got to the UK without money thanks to the kindness of strangers.

People helped them as they made their journey  Im repaying the help my grandparents had because it is what many Ukrainians are having to do now.

Ms Golovchenkos interest in the piano began at the age of five, where she would pretend she was playing by drawing keys on a piece of paper.

My parents didnt have a piano, so my teacher drew keys on an A4 paper and one year, I practised only using that.

And I played in a concert on a real piano after practising on paper.

Her parents managed to purchase a piano when she was six, and from there she went on to study classical piano at the Conservatoire in Kharkiv.

The performance could have been scuppered because of the lack of a keyboard, but Ms Golovchenko managed to borrow a full-size, weighted Casio keyboard in the nick of time, thanks to a Facebook appeal.

Ms Balen added that this was just one of the difficulties when you leave your life.

(Daria) could only bring one suitcase and her daughter, she could not bring a piano, she couldnt bring any music and her priority was finding somewhere safe.

Its taken Daria about a year to get to a place where she is able to play the piano properly, and its good in a way that this Eurovision opportunity has come for her a year after she has arrived because it has taken her a year to recover from the trauma of escaping Ukraine.

It has significance bigger than Eurovision, its kind of saying shes back as a musician.

Although she is not in Liverpool in the week the Eurovision contest takes place, Ms Golovchenko has been to the city in the run-up to the song contest.

It was maybe one month before and they already had Ukrainian menus in restaurants, they put Ukrainian slogans for welcome in cafes, she said.

Now, when I watch the news, I can see that they have a Ukrainian village and everywhere there is Ukrainian food, Ukrainian musicians, Ukrainians chefs  a lot of Ukrainian culture everywhere.

Its so nice, it makes me so happy.
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Labour is prepared for a dirty and nasty campaign ahead of next years general election, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

It comes as the Labour leader claimed his project of reforming the party in the aftermath of the Corbyn era is an on steroids version of Sir Tony Blairs symbolic rewriting of Clause Four.

Sir Keir used a speech at the Progressive Britain Conference in central London to offer his vision for Labour in the aftermath of its local elections success, but also acknowledged that the party faced a hard road ahead if it is to take power after the next general election.

In a questions and answers session, he said: I have always known it is going to get dirty and nasty. That is the nature of our politics.

We cant complain. It isnt pleasant, but we have to get on with it.

But he said Labour should look forward to the challenge: This is the bit where we get to talk about the future of the country, with hope.

The Labour leader was greeted with a standing ovation as he arrived on stage, where he delivered a speech that focused on the pitch his party needs to make to working class voters ahead of an expected election in 2024.

But he also stressed the scale of the challenge facing his party  if it can enter Government for the first time since 2010.

Weve been drifting away from working people for a long time  and thats unforgivable. Thats why I say this project goes further and deeper than New Labours rewriting of Clause Four.

We must understand that there are precious things in our way of life, in our environment, in our communities that it is our responsibility to protect and preserve, to pass on to future generations Sir Keir Starmer, Labour leader

This is about rolling up our sleeves, changing our entire culture.

Its our DNA.

And with the levels of cynicism in our politics, the let-down, the drifting away, the disconnect, our collapse in Scotland, the loss of the red wall, this task is ongoing, difficult and enormous.

It is, if you like, Clause Four on steroids. And the results last week show our work is beginning to pay off.

The reference to Sir Tonys momentous 1995 decision to ditch the partys constitutional commitment to common ownership of the means of production came as Sir Keir also stressed the need to ensure stability for the country.

I dont think the language of stability comes naturally to progressive politics, he told the audience.

Somebody has got to stand up for the things that make this country great and it isn't going to be the Tories Sir Keir Starmer

We must understand that there are precious things in our way of life, in our environment, in our communities that it is our responsibility to protect and preserve, to pass on to future generations.

If that sounds conservative, then let me tell you: I dont care.

Somebody has got to stand up for the things that make this country great and it isnt going to be the Tories.

Sir Keirs comments sparked a fresh attack from the SNP as First Minister Humza Yousaf branded Labour a replica of the Conservatives.

Whether it is the blue Tories or red Tories in Number 10, they will continue policies that are harming Scotland. We need independence to protect our people, he tweeted.
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The Prince and Princess of Wales have released a video documenting their role in the Kings coronation weekend.

The five-minute film, produced by filmmaker Will Warr, opens with the couple on the balcony at Buckingham Palace on Saturday, before showing them on a surprise walkabout in Windsor on Sunday and at a public engagement.

The behind-the-scenes video also shows Kate at home with her children Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte before leaving for the coronation ceremony, as well as shots of the family taking part in the Big Help Out with a scout group.

Louis, five, who is known for his usually animated behaviour, is shown in the film looking quite serious, while his eight-year-old sister Charlotte is beaming and playful.

Shots of Westminster Abbey are played alongside Williams homage to his father, one of the most moving parts of last weekends ceremony.

The film ends with Williams address to crowds at the coronation concert at Windsor Castle.

Warr, a videographer from Brixton in south London, previously made a clip posted by the prince and princess to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary in 2021.

He posted on Instagram: An honour and a privilege to have been asked to capture behind the scenes at the Kings Coronation last weekend for @princeandprincessofwales.

A rare and exciting opportunity to be at the heart of the celebrations and to be a part of this historic weekend.
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Sir Keir Starmer has been advised to change his mobile number as he has been getting too much unsolicited advice.

A senior Labour official told The Sunday Times that people are popping up from 20 years ago telling him what they think.

Sir Keir is understood to receive counsel from Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, though officials said the former prime ministers would be given the current Labour leaders new mobile number if he were to change it.

Mr Blair, an official is cited as saying, tends to push very Blairite issues like technology and modernity, while Mr Brown wants to be involved in big projects.

The former PM has also given advice to Rishi Sunak, a Tory source told the paper. At events marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, the prime minister was seen speaking to Mr Blair.

They had a nice chat and compared notes on prime ministers questions, the source said. Asked if the chat extended to giving advice, they said: There was a bit of that, yes.

At Wednesdays Prime Ministers Questions, Mr Sunak used a quote from Mr Blair against the serving opposition leader, saying: The right honourable gentleman can be as cocky as he likes about the local elections; come a general election, policy counts.

Si Keir aides told the paper that Sir Keir seeks the advice of Mr Brown frequently.

Last December, Mr Brown unveiled a mammoth set of proposals for changing Britains constitution to give more power to English regions and revise the devolution settlements for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Starmer with Blair and Brown at the Kings proclamation last September (Getty)

He was working on commission from Sir Keir, though the Labour leader stopped short of endorsing the reform package.

One aide is cited as saying the process was classic Gordon, adding: We would be on the Zoom calls with him and people would say, This bit has to go, and Gordon would say, Yes, yes, and when the paper came back it was 50 pages longer.

On Friday, Sir Keir echoed Mr Blair by dubbing a plan to reform Labour as Clause 4 on steroids, a reference to the former prime ministers pivotal fight with his party to ditch a commitment to public ownership of industry.

British politics has a long tradition of former prime ministers making their views known to the party leaders who follow them  and not always behind closed doors.

Margaret Thatcher was something of a thorn in John Majors side. Having announced her intention on stepping down as prime minister to be a backseat driver, she went on to share her advice in public, criticising her successors key Europe policy.

Mr Sunak is reported to have frequent private conversations with Theresa May, though this has not stopped her from airing her opposition to his policies, including the governments controversial plans to tackle small boat crossings.
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Priti Patel has accused Rishi Sunak of overseeing a managed decline of the Conservative Party following a dire showing at the local elections which saw the Tories lose more than 1,000 councillors.

The former home secretary will be the keynote speaker at Saturdays conference Conservative Democratic Organisation (CDO), where she is set to admonish those in power and control in our party.

The CDO was set up by supporters of Boris Johnson after he was ousted from office following a rebellion led by cabinet members, including then chancellor Rishi Sunak, that eventually led to his place in No 10.

Speaking about the groups first conference in Bournemouth, the former home secretary told the i newspaper that the idea of giving Tory members a say was very topical at the moment after a gaping hole was left in the party following significant losses in the local elections.

Ms Patel said that none of the councillors who lost have been reached out to, or have heard a mea culpa apology for the party.

She added that if we carry on with managed decline there wont be a future for conservative values and beliefs.

She is also expected to take a further swipe at the prime minister for not going out there meeting people, which she claimed had cost them critical seats.

Former home secretary Priti Patel criticises Tory leadership following huge losses in local elections (PA)

Her comments come as senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood, who represents Bournemouth East, hit out at his colleagues for stoking division in the party.

The defence committee chairman wrote in The Times: A drag anchor of a right-wing caucus is in our ranks, and it has already written off any prospects of victory in 2024.

As statecraft finally returns to No 10, guiding us into far calmer waters, less-than-subtle plots are afoot to shift our party to the right during the blame game that invariably follows electoral defeat.

The Conservative Democratic Organisation was set up by supporters of Boris Johnson following his removal from office (PA)

He criticised an excessive focus on tax cuts, Europe bashing and culture wars, warning: This is a recipe for disaster, as disloyal as it is reckless. It fails to recognise the fighting chance we have of winning.

Speaking after giving a speech in central London, Sir Keir Starmer, said, unlike Labour, the Tories had failed to fix their fundamental differences, adding: It is two or three parties within one party. That sounds familiar, but we have dealt with it.

I have always said that among Sunaks weaknesses is that he didnt actually win a race to be leader of his party. The problem that gives him is that he doesnt have a mandate for change.

The Tory party has been a divided party for a very long time.

The CDO has repeatedly insisted it is not focused on bringing back Mr Johnson, but several of his most prominent backers are speakers at the conference, including former cabinet ministers Nadine Dorries and Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Members are expected to debate a seven-point plan for regaining control of the party. This includes making changes to the way leaders are installed, following the groups disapproval of Mr Sunaks rise as Tory leader, without membership approval, following the downfall of Liz Truss.

The gathering, which includes a gala dinner, is described as being for like-minded patriots who ... want to save our party and our country.

Mr Johnson is not expected to attend.
As Route 66 approaches its 100th anniversary in 2026, several states are investing in much-needed upgrades for the historic highway. Illinois and Oklahoma are kicking down millions of dollars to preserve and promote the beloved "Main Street of America." These upgrades include adding electric vehicle charging stations, creating cyclist-friendly roads, and improving signage. The goal is to make Route 66 safer and more enjoyable for future generations. (Neatorama)

Some Route 66 history from Smithsonian Magazine:

Approved in November 1926 and fully paved by 1938, Route 66 linked a variety of small- and mid-sized towns from the Midwest to the West Coast. During the Dust Bowl period of the 1930s, it served as the main path west toward California and Arizona for hundreds of thousands of out-of-work farmers and down-on-their-luck families living in Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

To that end, it also played a starring role in John Steinbeck's 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath,which followed a fictional family as they ventured west. A film adaption of the book, which came out in 1940, further memorialized Route 66's role in American history. Then, in 1946, Nat King Cole recorded Bobby Troup's song "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66," which featured lyrics that described various towns along the route. A "Route 66" TV series also ran in the early 1960s.

Over time, however, as more and more Americans took to the road, the federal government began building larger, more robust interstates that eventually rendered the old Route 66 largely obsolete. It was officially decertified in 1985. Still, many people held on to nostalgic affection for the historic route and tried to preserve it.
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Weeks after her son was sentenced to life in prison for stabbing his classmate to death, Aiden Fuccis mother has been hit with her own sentence of 30 days in jail.

Crystal Smith was charged with evidence tampering for washing her sons bloody jeans after he stabbed 13-year-old Tristyn Bailey 114 times on Mothers Day two years ago in Florida.

On Friday, 38-year-old Smith changed her plea from not guilty to no contest on the third-degree felony charge, which carried a maximum sentence of five years.

Under a plea agreement, she was sentenced to five years probation and 30 days in the St Johns County Jail, with credit for one day already served, WJXT reported.

Fucci was 14 years old when he murdered Tristyn, whose body was found in the woods near his home south of Jacksonville.

He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in February and was sentenced to life on 24 March. His sentence can be reviewed after he spends 25 years behind bars.

Smith was present when Fucci was first questioned by investigators at their home after Tristyn was reported missing.

Aiden Fucci (left) was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Tristyn Bailey (right) (AP/Bailey family)

Police say surveillance video captured Smith scrubbing blood out of Fuccis jeans after he was taken into custody.

The mother also urged her son to tell the investigators that he was wearing khakis on the night of the stabbing instead of the jeans, and to find his story and stick with it in an interrogation room.

By pleading no contest, Smith did not dispute nor admit to the charges, but her plea will be treated as a criminal conviction.

Tristyns mother Stacy Bailey faced down Smith with a victim impact statement at Fridays hearing - which came two days before the two-year anniversary of the killing.

I will also pray that you will reflect upon your actions while you are without your children on this Mothers Day, Ms Bailey said.
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A Texas woman was killed by a stray bullet when her neighbour opened fire on people breaking into vehicles.

The family of Bethany Mefford, 28, has called the Wednesday shooting that led to her death a senseless crime. Mefford, a mother of three, was sleeping inside her apartment complex in the Houston suburb of Humble when she was struck by gunfire around 2.30am.

Her boyfriend, who was in bed with her and their youngest child, only realised she was unresponsive when the alarm went off at 6am, according to local news station KHOU 11.

Mefford was shot in the head by a bullet that had been fired hours earlier by Darius Lewis, according to the Harris County Sheriffs Office.

Mr Lewis, who is being held on a $75,000 bond on manslaughter charges, told authorities that he fired his gun into the ground to scare away burglars breaking into vehicles at the complex. He then fired again because they were not moving fast enough for him, an affidavit for his arrest stated.

It is a horrible thing to have happened to someone thats laying in their bed, not causing anybody any problems because Bethany never would, Lana Higinbotham, Meffords aunt, told the Associated Press.

And to just be taken in your sleep, taken away from your family that loves you more than life, its a senseless crime.

Ms Higinbotham said her niece had moved with her parents from Pennsylvania to Texas years ago. She had recently been hired by an oil drilling company.

It was a great opportunity for them, the grieving aunt told the AP. They took it with open arms. As for now, its been wonderful, until this.

The use and role of guns in Texas have been under scrutiny recently amid changes in state law and two recent mass shootings in which 13 people were killed.

Ms Higinbotham said that while she supports gun rights, she believes it is important owners are responsible.

This image provided by the Harris County Sheriffs Office shows Darius Lewis (Harris County Sheriff's Office)

Everybody that I know is very self-conscious and very careful with their weapons, she said. I live in Pennsylvania, which is a far cry from Texas. Like it just seems that down there theyre a little less caring as to where theyre pointing or where theyre not even aiming and then just pulling the trigger.

Texas has some of the most lax gun laws in the country. Most adults are allowed to carry a handgun in a holster both openly and concealed, without a permit. Private firearm dealers in the Lone Star State are not required to conduct background checks before selling, despite three-fourths of Texas supporting such measures, according to Texas Gun Sense
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The father of Kaylee Goncalves, one of the four University of Idaho students fatally stabbed to death by alleged killer Bryan Kohberger, has issued a stark warning to him ahead of a preliminary hearing scheduled for 26 June.

Mr Kohberger was arrested on charges of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary in the attack on Kaylee, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Ethan Chapin, 20, and Xana Kernodle, 20.

The four students were found stabbed to death in their beds on 13 November 2022, at an off-campus house in the city of Moscow, home to the university.

Mr Kohberger was arrested on 30 December at his parents home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania.

The latest development in the case is the release of new documents relating to the search of Mr Kohbergers apartment near Washington State University, a short distance across the state line from Moscow, where he was pursuing a PhD.

A 166-page report on the search containing details of the items seized was obtained by The New York Times . These included possible hair strands, a computer, two stains that may be blood, and other items.

On Friday, Steve Goncalves, Kaylees father told ABC News: I cant wait to see the evidence And then Im gonna bring it.

And hes gonna realize that this... is the family thats gonna make sure he doesnt get away with it, he added.

Kaylees mother Kristi Goncalves said the family had given a lot of thought as to whether there was any connection between their daughter and her alleged killer.

Weve talked as a family, you know, weve done a lot of research on whats out there... None of it makes sense, she told ABC News .

Describing her reaction when she saw Mr Kohberger for the first time at an initial court appearance, she said: I was completely overwhelmed. I actually almost thought I was gonna pass out.

My daughter saw him face-to-face and in a very different light than we saw him, sitting there, looking very meek, she said.

Mr Goncalves has been especially vocal about seeking justice and was frustrated with the early pace of the investigation.

The family launched a Facebook page for people to send in tips and other information.

Ms Goncalves said that it is important for her family to united and strong ahead of Junes preliminary hearing.

Ive never been to a preliminary trial before.  I have no idea what to expect, I have no idea what were going to hear.  But I know that Ive got my son, and my daughter will be there, and my sister, and my husband, she told ABC News, admitting that she will try and avoid the courtroom during any graphic testimony.

Im not going to scar myself, Ms Goncalves said. I have visions of my own that, you know, I have to deal with.

Mr Goncalves has also revealed that members of his family have been in touch with the two surviving roommates.

Its good to make sure that everybody going through this has somebody there to help them.

Mr Kohberger is yet to enter a plea but a former attorney for him has said he is eager to be exonerated.
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The grandparents of Joshua JJ Vallow sent a powerful message to his mother Lori Vallow after she was convicted of all charges in the murders of the seven-year-old boy, his sister Tylee Ryan, 16, and Chad Daybells first wife Tammy.

JJs grandparents Larry and Kay Woodcock choked up with emotion as they spoke to reporters outside Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, on Friday after the verdict in the doomsday cult moms trial was read out.

My final message for Lori, said Mr Woodcock, before breaking into the song The partys over  a song that he and JJ used to sing together.

Turn out the lights, the partys over. They say that all good things must end, he sang.

He then paused and addressed Vallow, saying: Lori it ended.

JJs uncle Gerry Vallow also chimed in: They got the b**ch.

Mr Woodcock vowed that the conviction of the mother-of-three is not the end of this as the family would return to face her at her sentencing in around 90 days time.

They will also continue to fight for justice as Mr Daybell is due to stand trial over the three murders next year and Vallow is also awaiting trial for conspiracy to murder her fourth husband  JJs father  Charles Vallow in a separate trial in Arizona.

Guys we got two more trials, two more, he said.

The next trial is Chad. I look forward to being back in this courthouse again.

The Woodcocks have attended every day of the trial of the woman now convicted of their seven-year-old grandsons murder, listening to harrowing testimony of the little boys last hours alive and seeing graphic photos of his remains buried on Mr Daybells property.

Larry Woodcock hugs an attendee after the verdict was read (AP)

It was Larry and Kay who raised the alarm about JJ and Tylee back in September 2019 when the mother-of-three moved them from Arizona to Rexburg, Idaho, and they couldnt get in touch with their grandson.

Nine months later in June 2020, JJ and Tylees remains were found in shallow graves on Mr Daybells property.

After the trial stalled for almost three years in the courts, Vallow was finally held to account on Friday.

The jury took almost seven hours to find Vallow guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and grand theft over the deaths of Tylee and JJ.

She was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of Mr Daybells first wife Tammy, 49.

Dressed in a black suit, with her blonde hair down in waves around her shoulders, Vallow stood between her two attorneys as the verdict was read out.

She showed no reaction as she learned that the jury had returned a verdict of guilty on all charges.

Speaking outside court, Mr Woodcock moved between sorrow and relief as he paid tribute to the three victims and questioned how Vallow could ahve done what she did.

Speaking directly to his murdered grandson, he sobbed: JJ, I love you. Papa wishes you were here in other circumstances. Tylee, papa loves you.

Tammy, I never met you. Tammy you are part of our lives. I am sorry for what happened to you, my heart hurts for these three. This is what this has been all about from the very get go.

It started with two children missing. I stood up and I said where are the children, where are the children, where are the children? Give us back our children.

To Vallow, he questioned: Why Lori? Why Lori? Why? For power, sex and greed? For what? For what?

Mr Woodcock thanked all the jurors, meticulous prosecutors and all law enforcement officials who worked on the case.

I want to personally thank and I want to personally hug every one of those jurors, said Mr Woodcock.

What they want through what they saw is mindboggling. I hope that no one ever has to go through this. I hope that nobody ever has to see or hear the details of what hapened to JJ, to Tylee and to Tammy.

Choking back tears, he acknowledged that some of the images people have seen in this case... maybe some people will never unsee.

Ms Woodcock also praised the amazing law enforcement on the case and said that now they hope to be able to put JJ and Tylee to rest and do right by them.

Love always wins, she said.

Lori Vallow Daybell talks with her lawyers before the jurys verdict is read at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho (AP)

JJ and Tylee vanished without a trace back in September 2019, with their mother refusing to reveal their whereabouts to both authorities and the childrens desperate family members.

One month later, Tammy  an otherwise healthy 49-year-old  also died suddenly. Her death was initially ruled natural causes.

This bizarre spate of disappearances and death came just months after Vallows fourth husband Charles was shot dead by Vallows brother Alex Cox in Arizona in July 2019.

With Vallows children and both of their spouses then out of the way, she and Mr Daybell embarked on a new life together  flying to Hawaii to get married in a fairytale wedding on the beach.

But, with months passing since the last signs of life of Vallows children, concerns continued to grow, prompting authorities to exhume Tammys body. A subsequent autopsy revealed that she had died by asphyxiation.

In June 2020  nine months after they were last seen alive  Tylee and JJs remains were found buried on the grounds of Mr Daybells property in Rexburg, Idaho.

JJ, who had autism, had been smothered with a plastic bag taped over his face, his little body still dressed in a pair of red pyjamas. Tylees cause of death meanwhile has been impossible to establish as the teenagers dismembered, charred bones and body parts were found scattered in the ground on Mr Daybells pet cemetery.

Over six weeks, jurors in Ada County Court heard harrowing details about the doomsday moms path of deadly destruction and were shown graphic images of the murdered childrens remains.

The state called over 60 witnesses to lay out its case that Vallow was motivated by both her doomsday cult beliefs but also lust for Mr Daybell and financial greed when she conspired with him and her brother Cox to kill the three victims.

In a bombshell move  that may now have proven fatal  the defence shocked the court on Tuesday when Vallows attorneys announced that they would not present any defence case or call any witnesses, paving the way for closing arguments to begin earlier than anticipated.

During closing arguments on Thursday, prosecutors argued that Ms Vallow had been driven by money, power and sex to kill the three victims.

Ms Vallow and Mr Daybell met at a religious conference in October 2018 when they were both married and began an affair.

As their romance grew, so too did their cult beliefs and conspiracy to kill.

Jurors heard how the doomsday couple believed that they were on a religious mission to gather the 144,000 and that there was a rating system of light and dark for the spirits of the people around them.

In the weeks and months before the murders, Ms Vallow allegedly told friends that JJ and Tylee had become demons.

Prosecutors said that Ms Vallow used these beliefs to justify the murders of her children and love rival.

Tylee Ryan and Joshua JJ Vallow (Family handout)

The state argued that the murders were premeditated and planned  pointing to evidence including the stash of burner phones the three alleged accomplices had, Coxs practice at a shooting range prior to a botched attempt on Tammys life and a deliberate plan for Ms Vallow to be in Hawaii at the time of Tammys murder.

Days before each child was killed, Ms Vallow then allegedly altered their Social Security payments so that the money would be paid directly into her account.

Prosecutor Rob Wood told jurors that Ms Vallow was the ringleader of the murderous plot, and that she groomed and manipulated both Mr Daybell and Cox to commit the murders.

Ms Vallow was the one common thread tying all the suspects and killings together, he said.

Meanwhile, in the defences closing statement, Ms Vallows attorneys flipped the narrative, arguing that  instead of being the leader  Ms Vallow was the follower of her new lover Mr Daybell.

In what marked the first time Ms Vallow has turned on her lover in the almost three years for the case to go to trial, her attorney Jim Archibald sought to paint her as a hardworking good mom whose life suddenly unraveled when she met Mr Daybell.

One year after meeting Chad, four people are dead, said Mr Archibald.

Vallows alleged co-conspirators are yet to face justice over the killings.

Mr Daybell was due to stand trial with Vallow but the cases were severed weeks before her day in court.

He is now due to stand trial in 2024 over the three murders.

Meanwhile, the third person accused by state prosecutors as a co-conspirator in the case wont ever be have his day in court.

On 11 December 2019  hours after Tammys body was exhumed  Cox died suddenly at the age of 51. His death was also ruled natural causes, with indications of a blood clot wedged in the arteries of his lungs. However the overdose drug Narcan was also found in his system.

Vallows own legal troubles are also far from over as she is still facing trial in Arizona on charges of conspiring with Cox to murder Charles Vallow.
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Lori Vallow was silent when authorities demanded to know where her missing children JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan were.

She wouldnt speak when their remains were found  Tylee hacked to pieces and burned, JJ still in his red pyjamas  in shallow graves on her new husband Chad Daybells property.

She refused to give any answers when confronted by her distraught surviving child, sister and other loved ones as they begged her to tell them the truth in heartbreaking jailhouse phone calls.

She even continued to stay quiet over the next three years as she was hit with new charges for the murders of her fourth husband Charles Vallow and Mr Daybells first wife Tammy Daybell, spent time in a psychiatric facility and had her case severed from her alleged co-conspirator.

And now, even as she stares down the prospect of spending the rest of her life behind bars, she is still silent.

This week, during her high-profile murder trial, the 49-year-old shocked the court when she not only declined to take the stand to testify in her own defence  but refused to entertain putting on any defence case at all.

In a final bid to save herself from life in prison, Vallows attorneys (in what many are mulling may have been a revolt against their client) turned on her lover, fellow cult member and alleged accomplice Mr Daybell in closing arguments  arguing that she was under his control but that she was not involved in any of the murders.

But it wasnt enough.

On Friday (12 May), Vallow was convicted of all charges.

The jury took less than seven hours to find her guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and grand theft over the deaths of Tylee and JJ. She was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of Mr Daybells first wife Tammy, 49.

Dressed in a black suit, with her blonde hair down in waves around her shoulders, Vallow once again said nothing as she learned that she would likely be spending the rest of her life behind bars.

But given her silence, its perhaps unsurprising.

Lori Vallow Daybell stands and listens as the jury's verdict is read (AP)

When jurors retired for deliberations, the only story they had about what happened to little JJ, 7, teenager Tylee, 16, and mother-of-five Tammy was the one laid out by the state of Idaho.

And it was a horrifying story at that  one involving a warped plot to kill off almost everyone around the doomsday cult couple.

Money, power, and sex  thats what this case is about, prosecutors said in both opening and closing statements.

Over 27 days of trial, prosecutors laid out their case that Vallow conspired with Mr Daybell and her brother Alex Cox to murder JJ, Tylee and Tammy  driven by her doomsday cult beliefs, her lust to be with Mr Daybell and greed.

The trio allegedly spent months orchestrating a plot whereby they justified their plans to kill by claiming that the victims were demons or dark spirits.

Then, after brutally murdering the two children and mother-of-five, Vallow looked her concerned family, friends and authorities in the eye, refusing to reveal where her son and daughter were.

Instead, she and Mr Daybell began a new life together, swanning off to Hawaii to get married in what appeared to be every inch the perfect fairytale romance.

This photo of Tylee Ryan and her brother Joshua JJ Vallow with their uncle Alex Cox was taken days before they were killed (Handout)

Doomsday cult beliefs

Over a dramatic month-long trial, jurors heard how bizarre cult beliefs lie at the centre of the case against Ms Vallow.

Jurors heard how the deadly saga began when Vallow  a member of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints  and Mr Daybell  an LDS member and self-published doomsday books author  embarked on a romance.

After speaking for some time, they eventually met in person at a religious conference in October 2018 while they were both married and prosecutors say their love affair, cult beliefs  and murderous plans  all grew from there.

Vallow and Mr Daybell believed that they were on a religious mission to gather the 144,000 and 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.

Prosecutors alleged that these beliefs were used to justify the murders of those around them.

In the weeks and months leading up to the murders, Vallow told friends that her children and fourth husband Charles Vallow had become demons or dark spirits  some of them bearing names.

In February 2019, Vallow allegedly told a friend that she believed Charles was possessed by demon called Ned Schneider and that he was already dead with the demon using his body as a host.

Two days before Charles was murdered, Vallow texted her niece Melani Boudreaux: They have an elaborate plan... This week will change everything.

Two days later, in July 2019, Cox shot Charles dead at Vallows home in Arizona in what was claimed to be self defence at the time. (Now, Vallow is facing murder charges in Arizona.)

Chad Daybell is set to face his own trial for the murders (Post Register)

Then, in September 2019, Vallow allegedly told another friend that JJ and Tylee had been taken over by dark spirits and that JJ would say things like I love Satan. Tylee was possessed by a demon named Hillary and had to be freed, Vallow told another friend.

Text messages between Vallow and Mr Daybell also reveal her complaining about being tired of taking care of demons while referring to her children.

We r both so tired of taking care of demons, she wrote in a bombshell text in August. We are weary. Please ask the Lord to take them.

Jurors also heard how the couple discussed inflicting pain on the children, giving them a reason to scream and also spoke about the so-called death percentages of Tylee and JJ.

In the defences closing statement, Vallows attorneys argued that Ms Vallow was only a follower of her new lover Mr Daybell and was under his control and the craziness of his cult beliefs.

Conspiracy and greed

Prosecutors alleged that  as well as the cult beliefs  greed also drove the three alleged accomplices to conspire to kill the victims.

And based on text messages, internet searches, financial records and witness testimony presented in court, the murders were months in the making.

Internet searches revealed that Vallow shopped for life insurance policies for her children in July 2019  two months before they were murdered.

That same month, her Gmail account also searched for how to sell a service dog  like the one JJ, who had autism, was using at the time.

In the months leading up to the murders, jurors heard that Vallow also made several suspicious changes to Social Security payments meant for Tylee and JJ.

It was a pattern where Vallow altered the payments to go directly to her and then the respective child wound up dead days later.

Even after the deaths of JJ and Tylee, prosecutors say Vallow continued to collect the Social Security payments.

Mr Daybell, meanwhile, also made a life insurance claim for Tammy just days after she died.

The doomsday couple was also planning for their new  spouse-less and child-less  life together in other ways, jurors heard.

In August 2019  while Tammy was still alive  Vallow searched for malachite wedding rings. She then bought a pair on 2 October 2019  days before Tammy was killed  and wedding photos show her and Mr Daybell wearing matching rings.

Chad and Tammy Daybell before her death in October 2019 (Facebook)

Brutal murders

The most harrowing and disturbing part of the trial came as jurors learned harrowing details of the childrens murders and saw graphic photos of the state of their remains.

Tylee was last seen alive on 8 September 2019 when she, JJ, Cox and Vallow went on a trip to Yellowstone National Park. A photo of the teenager at the park marks her last proof of life.

The next day, Mr Daybell sent a chilling text message to Tammy claiming he had shot a raccoon and buried it in the pet cemetery on the grounds of their property in Rexburg  the same location where Tylees remains would be found months later.

Days later on 22 September, JJ was last seen alive at his mothers apartment. A photo taken that night showed the little boy sitting on a sofa dressed in a matching set of red pyjamas.

Vallows former friend David Warwick testified that he saw JJ that night when he and his wife Melanie Gibb were staying with her for the weekend. The next morning, JJ was gone.

When he asked about the boys whereabouts, Vallow allegedly told him that JJ had an episode and knocked over a picture of Christ.

It wasnt until 9 June 2020 that the childrens remains were discovered on Mr Daybells property  JJs body buried in a shallow grave close to a tree and Tylees remains close to a fire pit in the pet cemetery.

Graphic photos revealed that JJ was still wearing his red pyjamas and a pull-up nighttime diaper.

His arms were wrapped in duct tape and his head was wrapped in plastic bags with thick layers of duct tape over his mouth.

Autopsy findings showed that the little boy had the date rape drug GHB in his system when he was smothered to death with the plastic bags. He also had scratch marks on his neck suggesting he was awake and fought for his life to get the bag off his head.

Jurors heard that Coxs fingerprints were found on the plastic bag.

Tylees body meanwhile was so badly burned that an autopsy to determine her cause of death was impossible with jurors hearing gruesome testimony of how search teams found pieces of bone, charred flesh, just globs of flesh belonging to the 16-year-old.

Investigators are seen digging up the bodies of JJ and Tylee in June 2020 (Post Register no sales no mags)

Before her remains were dispersed on the grounds, the killer or killers had brutally attempted to dismember her body with a pickaxe which was found at the Daybell home, with Tylees DNA found on both the pickaxe and on a shovel.

Despite the efforts to hack at the teenagers body, the killer did not appear to manage to dismember her and her burned body parts were scattered in the grounds.

While all horrifying, perhaps the most damning evidence tying Vallow alone to the murders was the discovery of a hair.

DNA analyst Keeley Coleman testified that a single hair had been found on the duct tape used to wrap the plastic bag around little JJs head. That hair belonged to Vallow.

Jurors heard that the chances of finding a match were one in 71 billion.

A search of Vallows home in November 2019  when the children were reported missing  also uncovered a trove of concerning items including several guns, ammunition, empty magazines, silencers, Army-grade knives and Hazmat-style suits. Meanwhile, JJs toys and prescription medication were found in black trash bags and Tylees in a storage unit.

Just one month after the children were last seen alive, Tammy was also murdered.

Jurors heard how the healthy 49-year-old died suddenly on 19 October 2019, with a chilling 911 call revealing Mr Daybell bluntly saying shes clearly dead. At the time, Mr Daybell declined an autopsy and her death was ruled natural causes.

Tammys sister Samantha Gwilliam told the court that she sensed things didnt add up as her sister was perfectly healthy when she saw her two weeks earlier.

Jurors also heard how 10 days before her death, Tammy had been shot at by a masked man on the driveway of her home.

Two separate witnesses had testified that Mr Daybell had a dream or vision that his wife would die before she turned 50.

When Tammys death was tied to the disappearance of the children, her body was exhumed and an autopsy revealed she died of asphyxiation.

Cox allegedly raised concerns about being made the fall guy for her death by the doomsday couple.

One day after he made that comment  on 11 December 2019  Cox also died suddenly at the age of 51. His death was also ruled natural causes, however the overdose drug Narcan was also found in his system.

Silence and secrecy

In the aftermath of the murders, Vallow showed no concern for her children and refused to reveal what had happened to them.

Despite repeatedly being confronted by family members and authorities, she made a series of lies about where they were.

In one instance, she allegedly told police that JJ had gone to see Frozen 2 with Ms Gibb and had asked her to take photos of random children to show to authorities.

In another instance, she allegedly threatened to kill another friend, cut her up and then bury her remains in a place nobody would ever find when she questioned her about the missing children.

Following the June 2020 discovery of the bodies, Vallow showed no signs of her surprise at their deaths.

Video shows the moment Lori Vallow was served with court documents over her missing kids (FOX 10/ screenshot)

Instead, in one jailhouse phone call with her sister, she appeared to confess that she was aware the children were dead all along.

In the 24 June 2020 call, a distraught Summer Shiflet accuses her sibling of throwing her murdered children away like garbage and questions how she could have gone to Hawaii and married Mr Daybell in a fairytale wedding on the beach knowing that her children were dead and buried in a pet cemetery.

You were dancing on a beach with a smile on your face taking wedding photos, she shouts.

At this point of the call  where she repeatedly dodges questions about what she knew  Vallow appears to unwittingly slip up.

Yeah, months later, she says of the gap between the deaths and her wedding.

In both this call and a distressing call with her eldest son Colby Ryan, Vallow continues to give no account as to what happened even in the face of confrontation from some of her closest family members.

While the remains of her children lay buried on Mr Daybells property, the couple headed to Hawaii where they got married on the beach on 5 November 2019.

They were still there two months later relaxing by a pool when Vallow was served with court papers demanding that she present her children to authorities.

Shocking video, taken in January 2020, captured the bikini-clad mother-of-three sunbathing by a pool with Mr Daybell in Hawaii when she was confronted about JJ and Tylees whereabouts.

There was no effort to argue against the official. No explanation for where the children might actually be. No concern for their safety.

Instead  true to form  Vallow simply asked: Do you need something from me?
 Close Lori Vallow trial: Cult mom convicted of murders of children and Chad Daybells wife

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Doomsday cult mom Lori Vallow has been found guilty of the first-degree murder of her two children and conspiracy to murder her husband Chad Daybells late wife.

The jury of seven men and five women reached a verdict at around 11.45am on Friday after nearly seven hours of deliberations at the Ada County Courthouse, Boise, Idaho.

Vallow, 49, was found guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy, and grand theft over the deaths of her daughter Tylee Ryan, 16, son Joshua JJ Vallow, 7, and Tammy Daybell, 49.

Tylee and JJ were last seen in September 2019. In June 2020, their remains were found buried on the Daybell property. Tammy died one month after their disappearance in October 2019.

Over six weeks, prosecutors argued that Vallow conspired with Mr Daybell and her brother Alex Cox to kill the three victims, motivated by greed and their doomsday cult beliefs.

Following the verdict, the Maricopa County Attorneys Office announced that they have submitted a request to extradite Vallow to Arizona, where she is facing charges of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of her previous husband Charles Vallow and the attempted murder of Brandon Boudreaux, who was married to her niece.
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Cult mom Lori Vallow has been convicted of murdering her two youngest children and conspiring to murder her new husband Chad Daybells first wife in a shocking doomsday plot that has horrified the nation for the last three years.

The 49-year-old mother-of-three was found guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and grand theft over the deaths of her daughter Tylee Ryan, 16, and son Joshua JJ Vallow, 7, in Ada County Court in Boise, Idaho, on Friday.

She was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of Mr Daybells first wife Tammy, 49.

Follow our live blog for all the latest updates on the Lori Vallow verdict

Dressed in a black suit, with her blonde hair down in waves around her shoulders, Vallow stood between her two attorneys as the verdict was read out.

She showed no reaction or glimmer of emotion as she learned that the jury had returned a verdict of guilty on all six charges  paving the way for a lifetime behind bars.

She will be sentenced in around 90 days time.

After the verdict was read out, JJs grandparents Larry and Kay Woodcock choked up with emotion as they spoke to reporters outside the courthouse and sent a powerful message to their grandsons killer.

My final message for Lori, said Mr Woodcock, before breaking into the song The partys over  a song that he and JJ used to sing together.

Turn out the lights, the partys over. They say that all good things must end, he sang.

He then paused and addressed Vallow, saying: Lori it ended.

JJs uncle Gerry Vallow also chimed in: They got the b**ch.

Lori Vallow Daybell smiles as she talks with her lawyers before the jurys verdict is read (AP)

Mr Woodcock vowed that the conviction of the mother-of-three is not the end of this as the family would return to face her at her sentencing in around 90 days time and that they will also continue to fight for justice as Mr Daybell is due to stand trial next year and Vallow is awaiting trial over Charles Vallows murder in Arizona.

The Woodcocks  who raised the alarm about the missing children back in 2019  have attended every day of the trial of the woman now convicted of their seven-year-old grandsons murder, listening to harrowing testimony of the little boys last hours alive and seeing graphic photos of his remains buried on Mr Daybells property.

Speaking directly to his murdered grandson, Mr Woodcock sobbed: JJ, I love you. Papa wishes you were here in other circumstances. Tylee, papa loves you.

Tammy, I never met you. Tammy you are part of our lives. I am sorry for what happened to you, my heart hurts for these three. This is what this has been all about from the very get go.

It started with two children missing. I stood up and I said where are the children, where are the children, where are the children? Give us back our children.

To Vallow, he questioned: Why Lori? Why Lori? Why? For power, sex and greed? For what? For what?

Mr Woodcock thanked all the jurors, meticulous prosecutors and all law enforcement officials who worked on the case as he acknowledged that some of the images people have seen in this case... maybe some people will never unsee.

Prosecutors also welcomed the verdict and vowed that they are committed to pursuing justice for Tylee Ryan, JJ Vallow and Tammy Daybell.

Lori Vallow Daybell stands and listens as the jury's verdict is read (AP)

We are very pleased with the jurys verdict, and we want to thank them, as well as the alternates, for their service over last six weeks during this trial, the statement read.

Given the pending case against the co-defendant, we are unable to conduct any additional interviews or discuss further details of this matter. We want to assure each of you that we remain committed to pursuing justice for Tylee Ryan, JJ Vallow and Tammy Daybell.

We also want to express sincere appreciation to the many members of law enforcement and the community who tirelessly worked together to hold Lori Vallow Daybell accountable.

JJ and Tylee vanished without a trace back in September 2019, with their mother refusing to reveal their whereabouts to both authorities and the childrens desperate family members.

One month later, Tammy  an otherwise healthy 49-year-old  also died suddenly. Her death was initially ruled natural causes.

This bizarre spate of disappearances and death came just months after Vallows fourth husband Charles Vallow was shot dead by Vallows brother Alex Cox in Arizona in July 2019.

With Vallows children and both of their spouses then out of the way, she and Mr Daybell embarked on a new life together  flying to Hawaii to get married in a fairytale wedding on the beach.

But, with months passing since the last signs of life of Vallows children, concerns continued to grow, prompting authorities to exhume Tammys body. A subsequent autopsy revealed that she had died by asphyxiation.

In June 2020  nine months after they were last seen alive  Tylee and JJs remains were found buried on the grounds of Mr Daybells property in Rexburg, Idaho.

JJ, who had autism, had been smothered with a plastic bag taped over his face, his little body still dressed in a pair of red pyjamas. Tylees cause of death meanwhile has been impossible to establish as the teenagers dismembered, charred bones and body parts were found scattered in the ground on Mr Daybells pet cemetery.

Larry Woodcock hugs an attendee after the verdict was read (AP)

Jurors in Ada County Court in Boise, Idaho, took almost seven hours to find Vallow guilty on all charges over the three murders after a grueling six-week trial where the panel heard harrowing details about the doomsday moms path of deadly destruction and were shown graphic images of the murdered childrens remains.

The state called over 60 witnesses to lay out its case that Vallow was motivated by both her doomsday cult beliefs but also lust for Mr Daybell and financial greed when she conspired with him and her brother Cox to kill the three victims.

In a bombshell move  that may now have proven fatal  the defence shocked the court on Tuesday when Vallows attorneys announced that they would not present any defence case or call any witnesses, paving the way for closing arguments to begin earlier than anticipated.

During closing arguments on Thursday, prosecutors argued that Ms Vallow had been driven by money, power and sex to kill the three victims.

Ms Vallow and Mr Daybell met at a religious conference in October 2018 when they were both married and began an affair.

As their romance grew, so too did their cult beliefs and conspiracy to kill.

Jurors heard how the doomsday couple believed that they were on a religious mission to gather the 144,000 and that there was a rating system of light and dark for the spirits of the people around them.

In the weeks and months before the murders, Ms Vallow allegedly told friends that JJ and Tylee had become demons.

Prosecutors said that Ms Vallow used these beliefs to justify the murders of her children and love rival.

The state argued that the murders were premeditated and planned  pointing to evidence including the stash of burner phones the three alleged accomplices had, Coxs practice at a shooting range prior to a botched attempt on Tammys life and a deliberate plan for Ms Vallow to be in Hawaii at the time of Tammys murder.

Days before each child was killed, Ms Vallow then allegedly altered their Social Security payments so that the money would be paid directly into her account.

Tylee Ryan and Joshua JJ Vallow (Family handout)

Prosecutor Rob Wood told jurors that Ms Vallow was the ringleader of the murderous plot, and that she groomed and manipulated both Mr Daybell and Cox to commit the murders.

They used religion as a tool to manipulate others. Lori manipulated Alex Cox through religion, he said.

She manipulated Chad through emotional and sexual control.

Ms Vallow was the one common thread tying all the suspects and killings together, he said.

Meanwhile, in the defences closing statement, Ms Vallows attorneys flipped the narrative, arguing that  instead of being the leader  Ms Vallow was the follower of her new lover Mr Daybell.

In what marked the first time Ms Vallow has turned on her lover in the almost three years for the case to go to trial, her attorney Jim Archibald sought to paint her as a hardworking good mom whose life suddenly unraveled when she met Mr Daybell.

One year after meeting Chad, four people are dead, said Mr Archibald.

The defence attorney argued that Ms Vallow was under the control of the doomsday author, under the spell of the craziness of his cult beliefs.

The defence attorney went on to blame the murders of Tylee and JJ squarely on Mr Daybell and Cox saying that there was no evidence placing Ms Vallow on the scene of the three murders or on Mr Daybells property when the children were buried there.

Ultimately, the panel of 12 jurors disagreed and found the evidence showed, beyond reasonable doubt, that Vallow murdered her children and conspired to murder her love rival.

Vallows alleged co-conspirators are yet to face justice over the killings.

Chad and Tammy Daybell before her death in October 2019 (Facebook)

Mr Daybell was due to stand trial with Vallow but the cases were severed weeks before her day in court.

He is now due to stand trial in 2024 over the three murders.

Meanwhile, the third person accused by state prosecutors as a co-conspirator in the case wont ever be have his day in court.

On 11 December 2019  hours after Tammys body was exhumed  Cox died suddenly at the age of 51. His death was also ruled natural causes, with indications of a blood clot wedged in the arteries of his lungs. However the overdose drug Narcan was also found in his system.

Vallows own legal troubles are also far from over as she is still facing trial in Arizona on charges of conspiring with Cox to murder Charles Vallow.
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The Maricopa County Attorneys Office in Arizona has announced that in addition to pursuing charges against Lori Vallow over the murder of her fourth husband Charles Vallow, they also plan to prosecute her in the attempted murder of Brandon Boudreaux.

On Friday, Vallow was found guilty on all six charges at her trial for the murder of her children Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow, and for her role in the conspiracy to murder her current husbands late wife Tammy Daybell.

In July 2019, two months before the murders of the children, Mr Vallow was shot dead by his wifes brother Alex Cox at their home in Chandler, Arizona. He claimed he shot his brother-in-law in self-defence.

The preponderance of evidence at Vallows trial in Boise, Idaho, suggests that his death was the first step in a wider plot by Vallow and her current husband Chad Daybell to rid their lives of obstacles as they termed their spouses and her children, as the court heard in text messages entered into evidence.

Mr Boudreaux was married to Vallows niece Melani Pawlowski (she remarried in November 2019 to Ian Pawlowski, who testified at Vallows trial). Melani was very close to Vallow and believed in many of the same bizarre doomsday prophecies espoused by her and Mr Daybell.

This ultimately ended her marriage to Mr Boudreaux with whom she shared custody of their five children. From evidence heard at Vallows trial it is apparent that he too was considered and obstacle and  in their beliefs  a dark spirit had possessed him.

Google location data showed Alex Cox travelling to and from Gilbert, Arizona, from Idaho in early October 2019. On 2 October an attempt was made on the life of Mr Boudreaux when he was shot at after returning home from the gym one morning having dropped off the children at school and with Ms Pawlowski.

The shots were fired from the back window of a grey Jeep Wrangler that had had its back spare tire removed. Video footage from a storage facility in Idaho showed Mr Cox and Vallow placing the spare tire on a storage facility the day before he drove south to Maricopa County and then taking it back out a few days later.

In a statement to Justin Lum of Fox 10 Phoenix, the Maricopa County Attorneys Office says it has reviewed submitted charges for matters involving Lori Vallow that occurred in Chandler, Arizona on 11 July 2019  Charles Vallows death  and Gilbert, Arizona on 2 October 2 2019  the attempt on Mr Boudreaxs life.

MCAO has made the state of Idaho aware of our intent to prosecute the defendant in Arizona for charges stemming from these submittals. After the defendant is sentenced and transferred to the Idaho Department of Corrections, at the request [of] MCAO, the extradition process will begin.

It continues: The extradition can take from several weeks to several months. Because this is a pending matter, this office will not provide any further comment, including any charging decisions made by this office.

Mr Boudreaux gave heartbreaking testimony at Vallows trial about the end of his marriage to Ms Pawlowski and broke down as he recalled having to be the person who identified JJ Vallows remains.

Questions linger over Ms Pawlowskis involvement in the attempt on her former husbands life. She was present in court in Boise for Vallows trial as her husband testified, but did not take the stand herself much to the surprise of those closely watching the case.

Other women  Zulena Pastenes and Melanie Gibb  who were close to Vallow and involved in the strange rituals she conducted as part of their shared beliefs about the second coming did testify.
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A Texas woman was fatally shot by her boyfriend after getting an abortion against his wishes, police say.

Harold Thompson, 22, was jailed on a murder charge on Wednesday after his deadly confrontation with 26-year-old Gabriella Gonzalez in a Dallas parking lot.

Surveillance video allegedly shows Mr Thompson attempting to put Gonzalez in a chokehold before she shrugs him off and the couple continue walking, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Mr Thompson then pulls out a gun and shoots Gonzalez in the head. After she falls to the ground, Mr Thompson shoots her multiple times and then runs away, the affidavit states.

The night before, Gonzalez had returned from a trip to Colorado to get an abortion.

It is believed that the suspect was the father of the child, the affidavit said. The suspect did not want (Gonzalez) to get an abortion.

Texas banned abortions after roughly six weeks of pregnancy in September 2021. But nearly all abortions have been halted in Texas since Roe v. Wade was overturned last summer, except in cases of medical emergency.

Gabriella Gonzalez, 26, was allegedly shot dead by her boyfriend Harold Thompson after she got an abortion (Family handout)

Mr Thompson was arrested hours after the shooting. He is being held at Dallas County Jail without bond and court records do not list an attorney for him.

Gonzalezs sister Mileny Rubio was at the scene and heard the shooting.

I heard gunshots and immediately knew it was her and when I looked back, it was her. She was on the floor, Ms Rubio told NBC5. I was in shock. I couldnt touch her. I couldnt move. My body froze. I just called my mom and I couldnt even explain to her.

Another witness said she saw Mr Thompson trying to choke Gonzalez but couldnt call police because she did not have her cell phone.

Ms Rubio alleged that the family knew Mr Thompson was abusive toward Gonzalez and that the couple recently ended a four-month relationship.

I knew she wasnt OK but we couldnt help, we didnt know how, Ms Rubio said.

Prior to the shooting, Mr Thompson was facing charges for assaulting a family member who accused him of choking her in March.

The affidavit from that arrest does not specifically name Gonzalez as the person who was assaulted. However, it states that the victim told police that Mr Thompson beat her up multiple times throughout the entirety of their relationship and that Mr Thompson told police the woman was pregnant with his child at that time.

The woman reiterated that she is scared of the suspect because he had made threats to harm her family and her children, according to the affidavit.

Gonzalezs mother confirmed that the family filed the March report and said Dallas Police never followed up with them.

I looked at her beaten, he no longer let her talk to anyone, he took everything from her, the mother told NBC5 in Spanish. He took his phone, he managed everything for her. She was scared.

Associated Press contributed to this report
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Two people died and more than 40 others contracted a possible foodborne illness after eating at a sushi restaurant in Montana.

Sixty-four-year-old Donna Ventura and 74-year-old William Lewis died after dining on 17 April at the now-closed Daves Sushi restaurant in Bozeman. The victims ordered the special roll, which contained salmon and morel mushrooms, local news station KBZK reported.

Following an investigation by the FDA and the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, it was determined that the morel mushrooms served at the restaurant were cultivated in China, shipped to a distributor in California, and then sent to multiple states. At this time, no other states have reported outbreaks.

Ventura was taken to the Bozeman Health Deaconess Regional Medical Center on the day she ate at the restaurant after collapsing at her home. She went into cardiac arrest and experienced organ failure, ultimately dying 13 days after dining at Daves Sushi.

Venturas husband has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the restaurant, which plans to reopen later in May.

Meanwhile, Lewis died the morning after his visit to the establishment.

The restaurant was closed on 21 April after receiving several complaints that customers had experienced food poisoning.

We understand that several of our customers who dined with us on Monday, April 17, 2023 became ill, the restaurant said in a statement at the time. We believe that the common ingredient that may have been consumed was FDA-approved, cultured, morel mushrooms used in Mondays special roll.

Earlier this month, the Gallatin City-County Health Department said that three other individuals had experienced severe symptoms and had to be treated at the hospital. An 18 April inspection found the restaurant had four violations.

An investigation is underway to officially determine what caused the deaths, although health officials have noted that it may be impossible to do so with certainty.

Authorities have said the restaurant has cooperated with the investigation. The establishment also said it hired a sanitarian consultant to evaluate the circumstances surrounding the outbreak.

The Independent has reached out to Daves Sushi and the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.
When someone emerged from the woods behind their home and tried to abduct his 8-year-old sister, hunting mushrooms in their yard, a 13-year-old boy in Alpena Township, Michigan, used his slingshot to help her fend him off. The alleged attacker, 17, was found hiding nearby with "obvious wounds" inflicted by the weapon.

During an interview with detectives, police allege the suspect admitted that he planned on severely beating the child. The suspect was lodged at the Alpena County Jail and was arraigned Thursday on one count of attempted kidnapping/child enticement, one count of attempted assault to do great bodily harm less than murder, and one count of assault and battery. Despite being a juvenile, the suspect is being charged as an adult. His identity has not been released publicly and bond was set at $150,000 cash surety.He is due back in court on May 17, for a probable cause conference.

I always wanted a slingshot when I was a kid and I never did get one! I vaguely recall that we called them catapults on our side of the pond.
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation has raided a condo owned by two Russian businessmen at one of the three Trump Towers on Sunny Isles Beach in Florida.

A squad of FBI agents, assisted by local police, carried out the raid on Thursday morning at the luxury beachfront high-rise, The Miami Herald reports.

The target of the search, Unit 4102, is owned by a shell company, MIC-USA LLC, which is controlled by Oleg Sergeyevich Patsulya and Agunda Konstantinovna Makeeva, according to state records.

On Friday, a spokesperson for the FBIs Miami field office said the bureau was conducting court-ordered law enforcement activity in the vicinity of that location.

No other information was provided and neither of the businessmen responded to the outlets request for comment.

Mr Patsulyas wife, Rosa Pereira, who is also listed on the corporate paperwork for the shell company, told the Herald she was aware of the raid.

I cant talk about it, she told the paper. The lawyer [for my husband] said not to talk to anyone. ... I have no idea what its about.

Donald Trump licensed his name to the Trump Towers condo project in Sunny Isles Beach, north of Miami Beach and south of Hollywood, Florida.

The Herald notes that it has been dubbed Little Moscow by locals because of the large number of Russian expatriates who have made it their home.

Following Russias invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, there were concerns of a backlash against the affluent community as the US government pursued sanctions against Russian oligarchs, many of whom have hidden their wealth in South Florida real estate.

The former president signed the licensing deal with the developers of the three 45-floor towers before he took office to help with the promotion of the project.

According to county property records, the 41st-floor, three-bedroom, three-bathroom residence at the centre of the raid was purchased for $1.65m a decade ago.

Mr Patsulya and Mr Makeeva were sued by BAC Florida Bank in 2020 for allegedly defaulting on the $975,000 mortgage on the property.

The dispute was resolved and the condo is still owned by the two Russians.
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Watch as Joe Biden delivers the commencement speech at Howard University in Washington DC for the class of 2023 graduation ceremony on Saturday, 13 May.

Howard University is vice president Kamala Harris's alma mater, where she received a degree in political science and economics.

The US president will receive the honorary Doctor of Letters from the university

Mr Biden is the seventh sitting US president to deliver the keynote address at the university's commencement convocation.

Dr Wayne Frederick, president of Howard University, said it was an "honor" to welcome Mr Biden to the ceremony.

"This honorary Doctor of Letters is much deserved for his years of transformational service as US Senator, vice president, and now as President of the United States. We are excited to receive the President as this years distinguished guest and recognize him for his relentless work uplifting our communities that have been historically left behind," Dr Frederick said.

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Voters in Thailand head to the polls on Sunday touted as a pivotal chance for change, eight years after incumbent Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha first came to power in a 2014 coup and is now running against the daughter of the politician who is the military's top nemesis.

The opposition Pheu Thai Party, headed by Paetongtarn Shinawatra, is widely predicted to win at least a healthy plurality of the seats in the 500-member lower House.

But who heads the next government won't by decided by Sunday's vote alone. The prime minister will be selected in July in a joint session of the House and the 250-seat Senate. The winner must secure at least 376 votes and no party is likely to do that on its own.

Pheu Thai won the most seats in the last election in 2019, but its archrival, the military-backed Palang Pracharath Party, succeeded in cobbling together a coalition with Prayuth as prime minister. It relied on unanimous support from the Senate, whose members share the militarys conservative outlook and were appointed by the military government after Prayuth's coup.

Prayuth is running for reelection, although the military this year has split its support between two parties. Prayuth is backed by the United Thai Nation Party; his deputy prime minister, Prawit Wongsuwan, another former general, is the standard bearer for Palang Pracharath.

Prayuth has been blamed for a stuttering economy, shortcomings in addressing the pandemic and thwarting democratic reforms, a particular sore point with younger voters.

The increased youth vote and general awareness of the damage caused by military rule are key factors likely to determine the results of this election, said Tyrell Haberkorn, a Thai studies specialist at the University of Wisconsin. After nine years of military rule, people are ready for a change, even those who were not interested in rocking the boat before.

Pheu Thai is the latest in a string of parties linked to populist billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted as prime minister by an army coup in 2006. Paetongtarn Shinawatra is his daughter. Her aunt, Yingluck Shinawatra, who became prime minister in 2011, was toppled in the coup led by Prayuth.

Pheu Thai and Paetongtarn, the most popular of the partys three registered candidates for prime minister, are strides ahead of the competition in the opinion polls. But there is no sign that the countrys military-backed conservative establishment has warmed to them.

I think the conservative-royalist side, underpinning the military, the monarchy, their backs are against the wall. Change is coming and they have to find a way to deal with it, said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Bangkoks Chulalongkorn University.

That means Pheu Thai will have to tread carefully after Sundays election in choosing possible coalition partners.

The Move Forward Party is polling second and is its ideological bedfellow in seeking to clip the militarys wings. But its outspoken support for minor reforms of the monarchy is unacceptable to most conservatives to whom the institution is sacrosanct, and scares off other possible coalition partners.

Many believe that Pheu Thai might look in the other direction for a partner, by cutting a deal with the Palang Pracharath Party and its leader, Prawit, who is less associated with the 2014 coup and the hard line Prayuth has pursued.
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A far-right Christian nationalist campaign amplifying conspiracy theories and political violence in a message wrapped in biblical prophecy has arrived at one of Donald Trumps signature properties.

The ReAwaken America Tour has launched a three-day event at Trump National Doral Miami resort this weekend, featuring far-right personalities and Trump-supporting pastors for a conference that draws from tent-revival preaching and trafficks in far-right conspiracy theories and antidemocratic attacks.

The tour, created by Covid-19 conspiracy theorist Clay Clark and supported by one-time Trump administration official and prominent QAnon figure Michael Flynn, has held more than 20 conferences in more than a dozen states over the last two years. The events often draw from or are hosted by megachurches with large congregations.

In that same time, a coalition of Christian leaders with Faithful America, Christians Against Christian Nationalism and Faith in Public Life Action have warned their congregations about the dangers posed by ReAwaken events and the broader threats to faith communities and democracy from Christian nationalist campaigns.

Tens of thousands of Christians  including leadership with the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America  also have signed petitions and statements rejecting Christian nationalist ideologies and the ReAwaken America Tour.

The groups also launched mobile billboards on boats and cars in Miami and around Doral warning against what faith leaders and clergy have characterised as the ReAwaken America Tours noxious twist of faith used to attack democracy.

Christians across the country are sick of seeing our faith hijacked and abused by Christian nationalist leaders for their extremist political agenda of hatred and division, the Rev Nathan Empsall, executive director of Faithful America, said during a press conference in Florida on 12 May.

Faith leaders and clergy with a coalition of groups opposed to Christian nationalism launched a billboard campaign near Donald Trumps Doral resort in Miami, which is hosting the ReAwaken America Tour. These images were provided to The Independent by Faithful America. (Faithful America)

The toxic blend of baptisms and comparisons of Trump as a Christlike figure, alongside rampant denial of the outcome of the 2020 presidential election and antisemitic QAnon conspiracy mongering further risks inciting political violence, he said.

Among the speakers at the Trump Doral event are political operative Roger Stone and prominent election conspiracy theorists Mike Lindell and Sidney Powell.

Before the event began, far-right personalities Scott McKay and Charlie Ward were struck from the lineup following reports that highlighted their histories of antisemitic statements.

Eric Trump told CNN that the organizers pulled the speakers from the event at his request.

As The Independent previously reported, Mr McKay has previously said that Hitler was actually fighting the same people we are trying to put down today, a reference to the antisemitic conspiracy theory that Jewish people control the worlds banks, and has suggested that Jewish people plotted the terrorist attacks on September 11 and the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln, William McKinley, and John F Kennedy.

Mr Ward also has denied the Holocaust and suggested that Jewish people were behind viral outbreaks.

Speakers at a Pastors for Trump event at Trump Doral have laced scripture and prayer into their political speeches, labeling the election as a spiritual war and using violent and militaristic language, according to Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee, Christians Against Christian Nationalism.

They claimed to have heard prophesies that Donald Trump will be elected again and encouraged the crowd that they were put into this moment in time to ensure that that happens at whatever price. This violent rhetoric is incredibly irresponsible and dangerous, she said on 12 May.

The Rev Jennifer Butler with Faith in Public Life Action warned that Christian nationalism not only is fuelling Mr Trumps 2024 ambitions but legislation across the country, from threats to abortion rights to policies that restrict LGBT+ people and ballot access.

We must reclaim our faith and write a new vision for our communities based on love, justice and respect for human dignity, she added.
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Donald Trump has been forced to cancel his rally scheduled for Saturday evening in Iowa due to expected severe weather and a tornado threat.

By mid-afternoon, a tornado watch was in effect from the eastern side of the state to the western side with De Moines at the centre.

At 3.30pm ET the former president posted on Truth Social: Tornado Watch in Iowa. For safety of our great Patriots, we have been asked to delay or cancel todays sold out Rally.

He added: I am near the Palm Beach Airport, ready to go, but we are on hold because of the very bad weather in Iowa. Please Seek Shelter or Safe Haven!

Mr Trumps next post, 15 minutes later, read: Unfortunately, due to the Tornado Warnings in Des Moines, we are forced to cancel todays outdoor Rally at the Lauridsen Amphitheater. Stay tuned, we will reschedule soon. Be safe out there!

The former president was due to share the spotlight with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in Iowa on Saturday, providing a chance to sway influential conservative activists and contrast their campaign styles in Republicans leadoff voting state.

Mr DeSantis, expected to announce his 2024 presidential campaign any day, is set to wade into Iowas hand-to-hand politicking at a congressmans annual picnic and an Iowa Republican Party fundraiser, while Mr Trump, a candidate since November, hoped to show strength with an outdoor rally with supporters.

Although the two men will be hours away from each other, the split-screen moment in Iowa is a first for the two national Republican powerhouses. Its an early preview of a match-up between the former president, well ahead of his party rivals in early national polls, and Mr DeSantis, who is viewed widely as his strongest potential challenger.

It will be Mr DeSantis first trip to the early testing ground since the Florida legislature adjourned last week after spending months delivering the governor a conservative agenda that hes expected to tout once he announces his campaign.

Mr Trump, meanwhile, will be returning to the comfort of the campaign stage after a tumultuous week. On Tuesday, a civil jury in New York found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming advice columnist E Jean Carroll and awarded her $5m.

A day later, during a contentious CNN town hall, he repeatedly insulted Ms Carroll, reasserted lies about his 2020 election loss and minimised the violence at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.

Associated Press contributed to this report
 Close Trump calls Jan 6 a beautiful day during CNN town hall

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Donald Trump posted an oddly phrased Mothers Day message attacking the parents of his main foes on Sunday, as he rushed to stick it to the Radical Left Fascists.

While other former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama took the opportunity to shower praise on their wives, Mr Trump failed to give a mention to Melania, mother to his youngest son Barron.

Happy Mothers Day to ALL, in particular the Mothers, Wives and Lovers of the Radical Left Fascists, Marxists, and Communists who are doing everything within their power to destroy and obliterate our once great Country, he wrote on Truth Social.

Please make these complete Lunatics and Maniacs Kinder, Gentler, Softer and, most importantly, Smarter, so that we can, quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!

Earlier Mr Trump was criticised for his last-minute decision to cancel a rally in Iowa citing tornado warnings, while his potential Republican nomination rival Ron DeSantis continued his voter outreach in the state.

One GOP strategist speculated on CNN that Mr Trump feared he would draw a smaller crowd than Mr DeSantis.
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Tucker Carlson discussed trying to steer the overall direction of Fox News in a more pro-Trump direction and threatening colleagues who didnt go along with his vision following the 2020 election, according to text messages obtained as part of the now-settled Dominion Voting Systems defamation case against the network.

In the 19 November 2020 messages, obtained by The Daily Beast, Carlson reportedly responds to a message from producer Justin Wells regarding a story viewed as critical of Mr Trump, which featured references to the growing number of coronavirus cases nationwide and the ongoing upheaval over President Trumps refusal to concede the election to President-elect Joe Biden.

Were not going to succeed if this continues, Carlson allegedly said in the messages. The brand will be too damaged. We should jump on a couple of examples just to send a clear message. Lets start with this one. Can we find out who did this?

Im happy to start threatening people individually, he added. Its too much. And again, it will hurt us badly if we let it continue.

At the time, parts of the Fox News audience were in revolt after the conservative network accurately called certain early election results for Joe Biden.

The Independent has contacted Carlson for comment.

The alleged texts are the latest revelation from the Dominion suit, which Fox settled for $787.5m last month, and come as Carlson is planning his post-Fox future.

The wildly popular news commentator abruptly left Fox in April following the settlement. Fox News hasnt explicitly described the reason for the split, but network execs were reportedly dismayed by Carlsons criticisms of Fox leadership, and by racist and misogynistic comments revealed in private text messages.

Carlson announced this week he would relaunch a version of his show on Twitter.

The move means Carlson could forgo at least $25m from Fox Corp related to a non-compete clause in his previous contract, Puck News reports.

On Tuesday, commentator reportedly sent an aggressive letter to senior Fox News leaders on accusing the outlet of breaching his contract by allegedly leaking his private communications as part of an adverse employment action against him, and by settling with Dominion in a way that harmed Carlsons reputation and future business prospects, Axios reports.
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Foreign ministers from the European Union and Indo-Pacific region are to gather for talks in Stockholm on Saturday, 13 May.

Around 60 ministers are meeting for the second EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum with the aim of strengthening the nations' partnership.

Later on Saturday morning, the ministers will host a forum in which they will hold three roundtable discussions.

Representatives will discuss building more sustainable and inclusive prosperity together, pursuing green opportunities, and the evolving security landscape in the Indo-Pacific.

Last year, the EU announced that it was "stepping up its strategic engagement with the vital Indo-Pacific region," citing the region's "growing economic, demographic, and political weight" as shaping "rules-based international order" and addressing global challenges.

The union also pledged to work together with the Indo-Pacific region to promote a green and sustainable post-Covid socio-economic recovery.

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A hunt is underway in Poland for a mystery object, believed to be a spy balloon, that was spotted in the sky.

The object entered Polish airspace from the direction of Belarus  but radar contact was lost some 180 miles west of the border, the countrys defence ministry said.

With Russias war in Ukraine raging across its border, Nato member Poland is on high alert for infractions of its airspace, and national security is a key issue ahead of a general election later this year.
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Ukraine was under fire from Russian missiles on Saturday as the Eurovision Song Contest took place, including the university hometown of the Ukrainian act Tvorchi, the British ambassador said.

Meanwhile, this Eurovision night Ukraine is under another Russian missile attack, Dame Melinda Simmons tweeted.

Reminder that the reason why (Ukraine) could not host this event is because (Russia) continues to invade and the people of (Ukraine) live in continuing danger.

Ukrainian officials said missiles hitTernopil, a city in western Ukraine several hundred miles from the frontlines of the Russian invasion.

Ternopil Oblast governor Volodymyr Trush reported that warehouses belonging to commercial enterprises and a religious organisation caught fire. He said two civilians were in hospital with shrapnel injuries and burns as a result of the attack.

The governor wrote on Telegram: I ask all residents of Ternopil Oblast not to be near the place of fire under any circumstances. I remind you - the curfew continues!

Serhii Nadal, Mayor of Ternopil, asked residents to stay in a safe place until the air-raid alert ceases.

Praising Ukraines entrants in the song contest, Dame Melinda said: Tvorchi (definitely) win the prize for graphics. The staging was brilliant.

And poignant as their university home town of Ternopil was targeted by (Russian) missiles this eve.

The electronic duo, made up of producer Andrii Hutsuliak and Nigeria-raised vocalist Jeffery Kenny, are hoping to defend the title after Kalush Orchestra swept to victory last year on a wave of public support.

Ukraine entrant Tvorchi entertain the crowd (Aaron Chown/PA) (PA Wire)

Their song Heart Of Steel, inspired by the bravery of the Ukrainian people, drew cheers from the audience at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool after it featured lyrics in both English and Ukrainian.

At the end of their performance, the pair held their fists in the air as acts from other nations were also seen waving the blue and yellow flag of Ukraine.

Jeffrey Kenny and Andrii Hutsuliak, members of the Tvorchi duo, pose for a portrait in the central Ukrainian railway station on April 28, 2023 in Kyiv, Ukraine (Getty Images)

Bookmakers have predicted Tvorchi will perform well with the voting public but they face stiff competition from runaway favourites Sweden and Finland.

This years competition marks the first time the UK has hosted a final in 25 years. It was decided that Liverpool would host after 2022s winning country Ukraine said it would be unable to, due to the ongoing invasion by Russia.

Saturday saw several developments on the battlefield in Ukraine. After Russia admitted it had retreated from parts of Bakhmut, Ukraine said its troops were advancing on the key city from two directions.

Meanwhile, independent Russian news outlet Kommersant reported that four Russian military aircraft were shot down in home territory.

Kommersant said on its website that the Su-34 fighter-bomber, Su-35 fighter and two Mi-8 helicopters had made up a raiding party, and had been shot down almost simultaneously in an ambush in the Bryansk region, adjoining northeast Ukraine.

The Russian state news agency Tass said a Russian Su-34 warplane had crashed in that region but did not specify a cause.
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Britain is set to advance its support of Ukraines military with the provision of ultra-long range Shadow Storm cruise missiles.

The Ministry of Defence announced the transfer on Thursday to boost Kyivs forces in the event of a Russian spring counteroffensive.

Defence secretary Ben Wallace did not say how many of the UKs 700-1,000 missiles would be sent. The rockets are thought to cost 2 million each and the announcement came hours after Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky appealed for more western help as his country pushes to defeat Russia by the end of the year.

A statement from the department on Friday said: Since Russias invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, bilateral military assistance has been stepped up, with many allies for the first time supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine.

The UK has committed 4.6 billion in arms, the second in the world behind the US ($37.6 billion), and is also hosting a training programme with the aim of training 30,000 new and existing Ukrainian personnel by the end of 2023.

The announcement of the cruise missiles is the latest that Britain has pledged to support Ukraine as the war rages on. Here is what else has been given so far. All information was taken from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and was correct as of May 12.

Anti-tank missiles

Six-hundred Brimstone anti-tank missiles were pledged as part of a package in January 2023 (The Washington Post/Getty)

Six-hundred Brimstone anti-tank missiles were pledged as part of a package in January 2023 and by the end of March the total number of such weapons was at 3,615.

This is a mixture of next-generation light anti-tank weapons, which have a range of up to 600 metres and weigh just 12.5 kilograms and Javelin anti-tank missiles, which have double the range but are twice as heavy.

The Brimstone 1 missiles are typically used for firing on tanks, artillery units and landing craft and typically shot from aircraft, although they are being shot in Ukraine from modified trucks.

Defence missiles

UK has sent Starstreak anti-air missile systems, among other weapons (PA)

At the NATO and G7 leaders meeting on March 24, Rishi Sunak announced a further 6,000 defensive missiles would be provided, including the Starstreak air defence system, which had been under consideration. These are semi-automatic anti-air missiles that travel at more than three times the speed of sound (3,100mph).

The amount of defensive lethal aid being provided would therefore more than double to be in excess of 10,000 missiles.

Artillery guns

(REUTERS)

As part of this latest package of assistance, a further 18 howitzer artillery guns and hundreds of additional aerial drones will also be donated

Armoured fighting vehicles

HMS Westminster firing Harpoon missiles at ex-USS Boone (MoD/Crown Copyright/PA) (PA Media)

Following a visit to Kyiv by the prime minister, Downing Street also confirmed on April 9 that the UK would provide Ukraine with 120 armoured vehicles and new Harpoon anti-ship missile systems. At the end of April that was followed up with the gifting of several Stormer armoured vehicles fitted with anti-air missile launchers.

Antistructure munitions

Antistructure munitions were also included in the January 2023 bundle. These are shoulder-launched weapons capable of destroying buildings or bunkers.

M270 long-range multiple launch rocket systems

In June 2022, the MOD confirmed that it would provide Ukraine with three M270 multiple-launch rocket systems, and associated munitions. The M270 can strike targets up to 80km away with precision and is expected to offer a significant boost in capability for the Ukrainian forces.

Artillery shells

In April, the MOD confirmed that the UK is set to provide more than 300,000 artillery shells to Ukraine during 2023.

Tanks

Ukrainian pilots are to be trained by the UK to fly sophisticated Nato fighter planes in the latest show of support for Volodymyr Zelenskys forces (Ben Birchall/PA) (PA Wire)

On January 14 the UK became one of the first allies to announce it would give main battle tanks to Ukraine. Described as the start of a gear change in the UKs support a squadron of 14 Challenger II tanks, thousands of rounds of munitions, and associated armoured recovery and repair vehicles would be sent to Ukraine over the coming weeks.

In addition, hundreds of additional armoured vehicles, including the Bulldog armoured personnel carrier, have been pledged.

Also being used are the 12.7-tonne caterpillar-tracked Stormer HVM tanks used as mobile firing platforms for Starstreak missiles.

Self-propelled artillery

As part of the January 2023 announcements, which the MOD called the most significant package of combat power to date, 30 AS-90 self-propelled guns were pledged.

Cruise missiles

In May, the government announced that it would provide Ukraine with Storm Shadow missiles, which are a long-range precision strike capability. The UK is the first country to provide Ukraine with missiles with a range sufficient to strike targets anywhere in the country.

Light anti-armour weapons

The Ministry of Defence confirmed in January that, in addition to the existing support being provided, the UK would provide a new security assistance package to increase Ukraines defensive capabilities, including the provision of light, anti-armour weapons.

Air defence systems

Last October, the MOD confirmed that it would donate hundreds more air defence missiles to Ukraine to protect against Russian missile strikes and to protect critical national infrastructure after Russia launched a series of drone and missile attacks against civilian targets. Seventy will be AMRAAM rockets, for use with the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) being provided by the United States. The AMRAAM rockets are the first capability pledged by the UK capable of shooting down cruise missiles.

As part of this latest package of assistance, a further 18 howitzer artillery guns and hundreds of additional aerial drones will also be donated. During a visit to Kyiv on 19 November, the prime minister announced a major new package of air defence support. The UK will provide 125 anti-aircraft guns and counter-drone technology, including radars and anti-drone electronic warfare capability.

Non-lethal aid

The UK has also provided over 200,000 items of non-lethal aid, including unmanned aerial systems, body armour, helmets, night vision equipment, mine detection equipment, medical equipment and winter clothing.

In November 2022, the MOD confirmed that the first of three retired Sea King search and rescue helicopters had been delivered to Ukraine.

Drones are also being deployed to deliver medical supplies, food and ammunition to frontline troops when other (manned) means might prove too conspicuous and likely to draw Russian fire and therefore too dangerous.

These heavy-duty models can carry a 68kg load as far as 43 miles, spending 36 minutes in the air at any one stretch.
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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky met Pope Francis in the Vatican, after Italy pledged its full support for Kyiv in its defence against the Russian invasion.

It is a great honour, Mr Zelensky said, putting his hand to his heart and bowing his head as he greeted the 86-year-old Pope, who stood with a cane.

In a 40-minute meeting, Mr Zelensky asked the Pope to back Kyivs peace plan, and the pontiff indicated the Catholic state would help in the repatriation of Ukrainian children taken by Russians.

In a written statement, the Vatican said the two men spoke about Ukraines humanitarian and political situation provoked by the war going on. The pope assured his constant prayer, paid witness to by his many public appeals and by his continued invoking of the Lord for peace, since February of last year.

Both agreed on the need to continue humanitarian efforts to help the population. The pope underlined in particular the urgent need for humanitarian gestures toward the most fragile persons, innocent victims of the conflict, the statement said.

The president gave his host a bulletproof vest that had been used by a Ukrainian soldier and later painted with an image of the Madonna.

The pope has a standing invitation from Mr Zelensky to visit Kyiv but has said previously that he also wants to visit Moscow as part of the same peace mission.

Mr Zelensky earlier met Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, who condemned Russias brutal and unjust aggression, pledged Italys support for Ukraine for as long as is necessary, and urged Russia to immediately withdraw.

You cant achieve peace through a surrender, she said at a joint press conference. It would be a very grave precedent for all nations of the world.

She emphasised Italys support for Ukraines membership of the European Union and the intensification of a partnership with Nato.

Pope Francis and Zelensky shake hands following a private audience in the Vatican (AFP/Getty)

Ms Meloni backs military and other aid for Ukraine, but while her far-right Brothers of Italy party champions the principle of national sovereignty, she has had to contend with leaders of two coalition partners who have openly professed their admiration for Vladimir Putin.

Mr Zelensky will head to Germany on Sunday, after Berlin announced 2.7bn (2.4bn) of military aid to Ukraine, its biggest such package yet, and pledged further support for Kyiv for as long as necessary.

Smoke rises on the site of a helicopter crash in the town of Klintsy in Bryansk (Reuters)

The Ukrainian president and his team have been vigorously promoting Kyivs 10-point peace plan and urging world leaders to hold a Global Peace Summit based on the proposals.

It calls for restoring Ukraines territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities, and the restoration of Ukraines state borders. Mr Zelensky has repeatedly said the plan is not open to negotiations.

After Moscow acknowledged on Friday that its forces had fallen back north of Ukraines battlefield city of Bakhmut, Britains Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Russian troops had likely withdrawn in bad order.

The MoD said Russias 72nd Separate Motor Rifle Brigade, established last Autumn, was dogged with allegations of poor morale and limited combat effectiveness and its deployment to Bakhmut reflected a severe shortage of credible combat units on Moscows part.

Zelensky and Meloni at Chigi Palace in Rome (EPA)

Elsewhere, Moscow based news outlet Kommersant reported that two Russian fighter jets and two military helicopters had been shot down on Saturday close to the Ukrainian border, in what would be a spectacular coup for Kyiv if confirmed.

Kommersant, a respected, independent business-focused daily, said on its website that the Su-34 fighter-bomber, Su-35 fighter and two Mi-8 helicopters had made up a raiding party, and had been shot down almost simultaneously in an ambush in the Bryansk region, adjoining northeast Ukraine.

Russias state-owned Tass news agency reported that an SU-34 and a helicopter crashed in the region.

Meanwhile, South Africas presidential security adviser said his country was actively non-aligned in Russias war against Ukraine, after US allegations that it had supplied weapons to Moscow led to a diplomatic crisis this week.

Reuters contributed to this report
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One of the pioneers of artificial intelligence has warned the government is not safeguarding against the dangers posed by future super-intelligent machines.

Professor Stuart Russell told The Times ministers were favouring a light touch on the burgeoning AI industry, despite warnings from civil servants it could create an existential threat.

A former adviser to both Downing Street and the White House, Prof Russell is a co-author of the most widely used AI textbook and lectures on computer science at the University of California, Berkeley.

He told The Times a system similar to ChatGPT  which has passed exams and can compose prose  could form part of a super-intelligence machine which could not be controlled.

How do you maintain power over entities more powerful than you  forever? he asked. If you dont have an answer, then stop doing the research. Its as simple as that.

The stakes couldnt be higher: if we dont control our own civilisation, we have no say in whether we continue to exist.

In March, he co-signed an open letter with Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak warning of the out-of-control race going on at AI labs.

The letter warned the labs were developing ever more powerful digital minds that no one, not even their creators, can understand, predict or reliably control.

Prof Russell has worked for the UN on a system to monitor the nuclear test-ban treaty and was asked to work with the Government earlier this year.

The Foreign Office  talked to a lot of people and they concluded that loss of control was a plausible and extremely high-significance outcome, he said.

And then the government came out with a regulatory approach that says: Nothing to see here well welcome the AI industry as if we were talking about making cars or something like that.

He said making changes to the technical foundations of AI to add necessary safeguards would take time that we may not have.

I think we got something wrong right at the beginning, where we were so enthralled by the notion of understanding and creating intelligence, we didnt think about what that intelligence was going to be for, he said.

We've sort of got the message and we're scrambling around trying to figure out what to do Professor Stuart Russell

Unless its only purpose is to be a benefit to humans, you are actually creating a competitor  and that would be obviously a stupid thing to do.

We dont want systems that imitate human behaviour youre basically training it to have human-like goals and to pursue those goals.

You can only imagine how disastrous it would be to have really capable systems that were pursuing those kinds of goals.

He said there were signs of politicians becoming aware of the risks.

Weve sort of got the message and were scrambling around trying to figure out what to do, he said. Thats what it feels like right now.

The government has launched the AI Foundation Model Taskforce which it says will lay the foundations for the safe use of foundation models across the economy and ensure the UK is at the forefront of this pivotal AI technology.
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Beaches, elephants, tea plantations, curries, sacred rituals, colourful ceremonies, and warmly welcoming people: Sri Lanka is south Asia in miniature. Hailed as the Pearl of the Indian Ocean and the Teardrop of India, this ancient island nation has long been celebrated  and coveted  for its abundant landscapes, strategic significance, and rare beauty.

Thankfully, despite years of unrest and strife, Sri Lankas past is remarkably well preserved. From Victorian-era colonial clubs to centuries-old Buddhist temples, layer after layer of Sri Lankan history is within reach. Its natural heritage is rich, too. Ten national parks provide sanctuary for sloth bears to sambars, leopards to lorises, and of course plenty of elephants. For such a small island (roughly the size of Ireland), the diversity here is striking  you can climb mist-robed mountains, surf silvery shores, trek through abundant jungle, all in the same day.

Sri Lankas cities have that frenetic, cheerful chaos common to Asian cities, whether its Colombos colonial grandeur or Kandys exalted lakeside lifestyle. Either way, the coasts serenity is never far, with some of the finest beaches in the world ready to embrace you: champagne-coloured sand, palms in regal repose, and the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean.

Current travel restrictions and entry requirements

The Department of Immigration and Emmigration has introduced an online embarkation form, which will replace the paper embarkation card. Foreign nationals can complete the online form three days prior to arrival in Sri Lanka. The service is free of charge. All visitors are advised to apply online for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to enter Sri Lanka; you can apply for on the ETA website. This can be done upon arrival, but its much simpler to do in advance.

All Covid-19 requirements have been lifted for entering Sri Lanka.

As entry requirements are liable to change, check before any travel for updates.

Colombo might be crowded but it also offers history, culture, and excellent food (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Best time to go

It depends on what youre looking for. Thanks to its dual monsoon pattern, December-April tends to be best for beaches and wildlife excursions on the south and west of the island, while the dry months of May-September unlock access to the north and east.

Read more on Asia travel:

Each side has its pick of stunning locations, and if you want to see both (without getting drenched) then September-October and April are the shoulder seasons for you, offering cooler temperatures, fewer tourists and excellent hiking opportunities. April coincides with the local new tear celebrations, so be wary of increased congestion on the transport networks.

Top cities and regions

Kandy

Kandy is Sri Lankas beating heart: Holy town, hilltop enclave, and spiritual centre. Sri Lankas ancient customs and natural beauty come together here, with temples, shrines and palaces reflected in the glassy surface of the lake, hugged by hills as green as any youll ever see. Take the Main Line train from Colombo, wind your way up the mountains, and enjoy one of the worlds most celebrated railway rides. Kandy is where Sri Lankas kings resided, and its easy to see why; today, the entirety of Kandy is a Unesco World Heritage site.

Despite the crowds, be sure to visit the Temple of the Sacred Tooth, Sri Lankas greatest religious relic, and said to be from the Buddhas own mouth. While you cant see the tooth itself  only the case is on display  the temple itself is beautiful, with many chambers, galleries and artefacts. Go in the evening to witness the prayers and the candlelight. Further along the train line is Ella, where the British plantation owners once resided, and home to Ella Rock, whose summit is a challenging but reasonable hike (threefour hours).

Mountains and tea plantations surround Kandy (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Galle

Whitewashed, manicured, and orderly, Galle feels like a prestigious Mediterranean seaside resort. No wonder: it was founded by the Portuguese and expanded by the Dutch. Galles architecture and atmosphere have a distinctly European feel, from the prim and proper lighthouse to the austere Protestant churches. Gone are the laid-back surfer vibes of Weligama and Marisa, replaced by well-to-do couples, fashionable boutiques, and candlelit dinners.

Explore the well-preserved fort by daylight before taking a stroll down the tranquil lanes and avenues of the town itself. The seafood food is spectacular, the bars plentiful, and the nights balmy and untroubled. Just dont expect much nightlife.

Colombo

Crowded, frenetic, and choked up, Colombo used to be dismissed as merely the place from which to fly in and out. But Colombo has history, culture and excellent food.

If youre keen on colonial history, the city boasts some of the best-preserved architecture from anywhere in the former British Empire. If not, there are plenty of temples, museums, and shrines besides. Hop on a tuk-tuk and explore an anthology of Sri Lankas past: the mind-melting stripes of Jami Ul-Alfar mosque; the statues of the Gangaramaya (Vihara) Buddhist temple; and St Anthonys Shrine, a Catholic church illuminated at night. Gathering these cultural riches is the Colombo National Museum, the biggest in Sri Lanka and featuring over 100,000 artefacts.

Galle remains a colonial-era showstopper (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Anuradhapura and Sigiriya

The ancient city of Anuradhapura was abandoned in the 13th century, and was overgrown by jungle until the 19th century. Since then, it has flourished as a site for both Buddhist pilgrims and tourists, who flock to see the shrines and relics. One of the most visited is a sacred pipal tree, planted in 245BC from a cutting of the Bo tree, under which its said the Buddha attained enlightenment. Its recognised as the oldest cultivated tree in the world.

Even more iconic are the Dagobas, the wide-domed Buddhist temples that dominate the city. Ruwanwelisaya, the oldest and the grandest, can get crowded. Instead, go wherever the ceremonies are taking place. Outside of the city lies Mihintale, a hilltop where the first Buddhist monastery is said to have converted a Sri Lankan king and his hunting party. The view from the peak of the hills is spectacular, but go at sunrise rather than sunset, or prepare to huddle among couples.

Just over an hour away is Sigiriya, a rock formation featuring an ancient fortress. Its another Unesco site, and possibly the single most popular attraction in the country. Although entry is a little pricey (24 for foreign visitors), its worth it. Youll see ancient frescoes, the centuries-old Mirror Wall, and the enormous  scarcely-believable  lions paws guarding the summit (the remains of what was originally a towering stone lion). Its 350-odd metres to the summit, so wear your exercise gear and prepare to sweat.

Arugam Bay and Kumana National Park

Sri Lanka isnt short of beaches. The crescent-moon sands of Arugam Bay are among the best. While Weligama, Mirissa, and Hikkaduwa have more of a party vibe, Arugam Bays tranquil beauty is better suited to relaxing. Pitched on the unspoilt east coast, the waves are best between May and October  when the rest of Sri Lanka is beset by monsoon rains and ocean currents. Arugam Bays thatched huts and sleepy shoreline is one of the finest places to get away from it all. The waves at Main Point are some of the best in Sri Lanka.

When youre ready to explore again, hail a tuk-tuk and head to Kumana National Park. Unlike Yala, its famous neighbour, Kumana National Park retains much more of its wilderness  less zoo, more sanctuary. Its especially good for bird spotting, with hundreds of species nesting there. A guide is included with entry, which means you cant tour the park alone, but theyre such good spotters that it makes for a much better experience.

Kumana National Park sees animals roam free (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Best under-the-radar destinations

Jaffna

Until recently, the north of Sri Lanka was scarcely visited due to the 25-year civil war, with the Tamil-controlled northern regions engulfed in conflict. With the war long since over, travellers are returning to Jaffna, the biggest city in the north and previously completely inaccessible.

India is the cultural force here, not the Singhalese of Sri Lanka, and you immediately sense the difference. Language, food, atmosphere are all south Indian; Tamil rather than Sinhalese, masala dhosa rather than kottu roti, Shiva rather than Buddha. The biggest Hindu temple in Sri Lanka, Nallur Kandaswamy, is as vibrant and impressive as any in India, and if youre hazy about the differences between Hinduism and Buddhism, exploring Nallur Kandaswamy after being in the south will sharpen you up.

Jaffnas fort is smaller than Galles but is much less crowded, and especially beautiful at sunset. And fewer tourists means the locals are less accustomed to dealing with foreigners, though no less welcoming.

Wilpattu National Park

Its Sri Lankas biggest national park, dominating the north-west coast, but Wilpattu has an undiscovered, secretive feel. While more popular national parks have Disneyfied the wildlife experience, with viewing stations, zoo-like enclosures, and money-making animal encounters, Wilpattu is wilderness proper.

If you want to pat an elephant and get a hundred likes for it, stick to Yala; if you want to lose yourself in dense woodland  quietly sighting a spotted deer, sloth bear or leopard  then Wilpattu is unsurpassed. Check into one of the forest lodges in the park, stick your jodhpurs on and experience a traditional safari game drive around the park.

The tower of Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil, a temple in Jaffna, is ornately carved (Getty Images)

Trincomalee

Given the sheer beauty of its glittering bay, its a wonder that Trincomalee isnt better-known. Head over to the north-east coast and dip into a miniature world all of its own: tropical beaches bunched together like ripe fruit, shrines where the centuries peel away to reveal age-old rituals, and lagoon water as clear as crushed crystal. Half a dozen of Trincomalees beaches could make a strong claim for best on the island. Crack open a coconut, kick off your sandals, and luxuriate in the sunshine. When youre ready to amble, theres a colonial-era fort, historic temples, and rocky outcrops where you can spot blue whales.

Best things to do

Take the train deep into the tea plantations

Whatever else you get up to in Sri Lanka, make absolutely sure that you take the Main Line train from Colombo to Kandy, and then from Kandy all the way to Ella. It takes eight hours or more, but this is one of those journeys thats worth savouring. The train climbs inland from the coast, cutting through rock, farmland and jungle. Youll travel across mountains veiled in mist, hillsides carpeted with tea leaves, and imposing brick-arched bridges from another era. If you fancy a cocktail and a party, stay on until at Ella; if you want a cup of tea and tranquillity, get off at Nuwara Eliyah.

Get a taste of surf culture

Surfing can be tough, physically draining, and utterly, blissfully exhausting. Getting on a board is daunting, especially when surrounded by confident surfers strutting about, so find a school thats right for you. Although Weligama is the surf hotspot, there are less crowded (and much prettier) places to learn all along the south coast, such as Mirissa, Ahangama, or Unawatuna, which are also great for beginners.

While you can surf just for the day, it takes some getting used to, so if you have the time check into a surf camp for a few days. Plunging into the sea every morning, feeling the pump and force of the waves, and collapsing on the sands in happy fatigue afterwards is a rewarding, nourishing, and vital experience  especially if you combine it with some yoga. Plus, there is no appetite quite like the one worked up on a surfboard, so when you finally sit down for your coconut curry itll taste even better.

Sri Lankas Main Line is considered to be one of Asias most scenic train journeys (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Get up close to wildlife

Many conservation projects in Sri Lanka are preserving wildlife sustainably while also giving you unparalleled access. Since the early 1990s, numbers of elephants, leopards, and other endangered species have risen considerably, and sustainable tourism has helped. The Smithsonian Primate Research Station, near Polonnaruwa, is the oldest of its kind in the world and Bundalas flamingo-filled wetlands are a Unesco biosphere reserve. The safaris in the national parks  Wilpattu, Udawalawe, and Wasgamuwa  rival almost anything in Africa.

Read more on wildlife travel

Getting around

Travelling by train isnt just convenient, its also a quintessential journey through Sri Lankas history and a window unto its landscapes. Its also very cheap, with even longer journeys available for less than 2,000 rupees (around 5).

For short journeys, it has to be tuk-tuk. Individually decorated, stubbornly persistent and formidably cheap, travelling by tuk-tuk quickly becomes addictive. Its not always comfortable, especially if you squeeze three or more into the backseat, but its a great way to chat to locals and get the wind in your hair. Agree the fee in advance, especially in tourist areas, but remember the country is suffering from a fuel crisis  if you can afford to fork out an extra hundred rupees, do it.

Otherwise, when you need that 6am ride to the airport or that drive down from the mountains to the coast, book a taxi. Many tuk-tuk drivers also have cars, so ask ahead about a taxi service. Roads are generally well maintained and safe, but driving can be erratic.

How to get there

Sri Lankan Airways offer direct flights between London and Colombo. Other airlines offer stopovers, often in Doha or Dubai.

Money-saving tip

Travel and food are cheap in Sri Lanka, but accommodation is comparatively expensive. Alcohol is pricey, too  this is a conservative island, and the drinking culture is much less raucous here than in the rest of south-east Asia. Theres no real hostel culture either, so the best value are the guesthouses, which are often family-run and very friendly. If you want the full-on luxury experience, Sri Lanka offers an enviable abundance of Western opulence  at Western prices, so book in advance.

Tipping isnt expected, but haggling very much is. Friendly negotiation is part of the transaction here, so get stuck in.

FAQs

Whats the weather like?

Thanks to its ocean winds, Sri Lanka is tropical and enjoyably warm most of the year round, with coastal temperatures averaging around 28C and upland areas averaging between 16-20C. The island experiences a dual monsoon, affecting one side of the island at a time. The south-western region and central highlands receive most of the islands rainfall, whilst the north and the east experience a distinct dry season from May to September. Take a jacket  the evenings can get chilly.

What time zone is it in?

Sri Lanka Standard Time, GMT+5:30

What currency do I need?

The Sri Lankan rupee. You cant get hold of these outside the country, so youll need to exchange or withdraw some after arrival. Exchanging at the airport will be more expensive, but its also a reliable 24/7 service and a good place to set yourself up for the next few days. Although card payments are growing increasingly popular, most small shops, local restaurants and markets still arent set up for it, so make sure you always have cash on you.

What language is spoken?

The primary language of Sri Lanka is Sinhala, although in the north Tamil is widely spoken. Youll find English spoken by many, particularly as the language of commerce.

What plug sockets are used?

Types D and G. Plug type D is the plug which has three round pins in a triangular pattern; type G is what is used in the UK.

Read more on the best winter sun hotels
A motorist led police on a 145mph chase through North Yorkshire just minutes after being banned from driving.

Jason Ryder, of Evenwood, Bishop Auckland, was disqualified from driving for 12 months after being convicted of drug driving in March 2023 at Harrogate Magistrates Court.

However, the 45-year-old got into a black Audi A3 and drove off as soon as he left the court building.

He then led police on a chase along Yorkshire roads, driving at speeds of up to 145mph.

Ryder pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified, dangerous driving and failing to stop, and was sentenced to 10 months in jail.

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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, in Rome ahead of talks with Pope Francis at the Vatican, has received assurances from Italian leaders of continued military and other aid as his country fights to liberate itself from Russias military invasion launched last year.

The pontiff recently said that the Vatican has launched a behind-the-scenes initiative to try to end the war, which broke out in February 2022.

Mr Zelensky arrived at a military airfield and was met by Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani, before being whisked off to meetings with president Sergio Mattarella and premier Giorgia Meloni.

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Volodymyr Zelensky met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday 13 May, spending 40 minutes in the pontiffs study discussing the war in Ukraine.

The trip marked the first time Mr Zelensky has met the Pope since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In a Vatican statement, the Pope said he has prayed constantly for Ukraine, as is clear by his frequent public appeals for peace.

During their meeting, the two agreed on the need to continue humanitarian efforts to help the Ukrainian population struggling to survive the war.

Click here to sign up for our newsletters.
Hundreds of migrants who waited for days for a chance to apply for asylum were seen on Friday (12 May) huddled between two border walls separating Tijuana, Mexico from San Diego, US, many of them with little food.

Many who were waiting to be processed at the US border held their phones through the gaps of a 30ft fence in an effort to charge them.

Pandemic-related asylum restrictions that expelled migrants millions of times have ended in a shift that threatens to put a historic strain on Americas beleaguered immigration system.

The expired rule, known as Title 42, has been in place since March 2020.

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Cryptocurrencies are most likely to be held by people aged 18-34

Under-35s are nearly as likely to rely on friends and family for investment advice as they are to consult a broker or financial adviser, and twice as likely to own cryptocurrency as other age groups.

A new survey by the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland (BPFI) found that nearly a third of people in the younger age cohort used informal sources to help steer their money management.

That proportion was nearly as high as those who would go to an adviser or an investment firm, at 38pc and 35pc respectively. Almost a quarter used social media for guidance.

By contrast, people over the age of 55 were half as likely to consult their acquaintances for financial wisdom as the younger generation, and barely went online for money advice at all.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, cryptocurrencies are most likely to be held by people aged 18-34, with 16pc in that group owning the digital assets. Across the survey population, just 8pc had any crypto investments.

The results reveal a stark generational divide that mirrors relative wealth distribution between the generations and also reveals the impact fintech is having on younger adults.

Todays survey results point to generational differences in investment behaviour among consumers in Ireland, said BPFI chief executive Brian Hayes.

As investment options continue to diversify it is important to make informed decisions, understand the product and monitor its progress. In the digital era, there are multiple sources of advice and information which can be helpful, but consumers should consider balancing this with professional advice.

The survey, which was carried out by research firm Amarach, will be cause for concern at the Central Bank, where regulators have been grappling with how to regulate the fast-growing cryptocurrency industry.

Governor Gabriel Makhlouf, a vocal sceptic of unbacked digital blockchain assets like bitcoin, has pledged to crack down on irresponsible marketing of crypto, especially through social media influencers.

He has vowed, in concert with the European Parliament and European Central Bank, to hold crypto firms to the same standards of governance, risk management and customer protection as other finance businesses.

Notwithstanding their embrace of novel assets in the digital world, young investors still characterise themselves as cautious in their financial decision making.

The BPFI found that nearly four in five people across all age groups said they were either conservative or very conservative.
The New Yorker archive has a fascinating interview with French serial fraudster Frederic Bourdin and the Texas family he fooled into believing he was their missing relative. (Netflix show The Imposteralso covers this unlikely-but-true story). The trick is to mix truth and lies, Bourdin revealed. He liked to keep things simple, so when it came to choosing a new alias, he always picked names that had an association for him.

Nicholas Alahverdian, an American wanted on charges of fraud, sexual assault and rape, seems to have started from similar principles. He kept variants of his first name through many cycles of surname, until later changing his name to Arthur and alternating some of the surnames he used before. According to the police, Alahverdian became Nicholas Rossi from Rhode Island, who later morphed into Irishman Arthur Knight.

In 2020, Nicholas Rossi, a childrens rights campaigner who had written about his time in care, announced he was terminally ill. Many gushing online obituaries soon followed. Yet a week earlier, Arthur Knight, supposed survivor of a difficult institutional childhood in Dublin, got married in the UK. In December 2021, Knight was arrested while on a ventilator in a Covid-19 hospital ward. Last year, a Scottish court ruled that Rossi and Knight were one and the same man. He is in custody in Edinburgh, awaiting potential extradition to the US.

BBC journalist Jane MacSorley first heard the story in 2021, and her excellent podcast I Am Not Nicholas (BBC Studios) is the culmination of a year-long investigation. (Nicholas Alahverdian was also the subject of theIndo Daily podcast on Tuesday May 2nd.)

MacSorley begins by turning up announced at the building where Knight lives, saying, I love door-knocking you just dont know how theyre going to react!. She finds Arthur and wife Miranda, and gets herself invited for dinner. Within the course of that single evening, MacSorley goes from being fairly confident that Knight is faking his identity and really is Rossi, to believing the police have made a terrible mistake: Knight doesnt have the same arm tattoos as Rossi, claims to have never visited America, and his Bristol-born wife vouches for his identity.

But doubts soon set in. Knight gets the date of the 7/7 London bombings wrong, despite claiming he was there. He tells MacSorley he spent his childhood in Ireland, but becomes strangely vague when asked to recall details of his life here. MacSorleys commentary on her interviews with him is often hilarious: Arthur is a millennial and from the way hes talking, youd think he grew up in the days of horse and cartits almost like his memories come from a 1970s tourist board advert! She also interviews Miranda, to try and discover who she really is: victim, dupe, or loyal wife of an alleged fugitive?

Whether interviewing a victim or getting annoyed with herself about her own reactions, MacSorley comes across as disarmingly honest and sincere.

Chilling, compulsive listening.
A former Buffalo school bus driver arrested last month and accused of threatening a student on his bus was arraigned Friday on an indictment charging him with second- and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, according to the Erie County District Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors said 67-year-old Michael Askew of Cheektowaga faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison if convicted on the highest charge against him.

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 order," against Askew from Erie County District Administrative Judge Kevin M. Carter.

Buffalo Police SWAT officers conducted a search at Askew's Woodridge Avenue home after obtaining the order. They reported finding an illegal rifle with a pistol grip and detachable magazine inside of the residence. Three handguns, legally owned by Askew, were also temporarily seized by police under the protection order.

Askew was arraigned before Erie County Court Judge James Bargnesi and is scheduled to return to court on June 1 for a pre-trial conference. He remains free on bail.

He was previously charged by police with three counts of endangering the welfare of a child for the alleged threats on the school bus. Askew, who was fired from his bus driver position, is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday on those misdemeanor counts in Buffalo City Court.

He faces a maximum one-year jail sentence on each of those on counts if convicted.
Steve Averill, who helped shape U2s visual identity, has reminded us in his podcast series of the importance of art in music. Here are 10 of the best designers and some of their finest creations

For more than four decades, Steve Averill was a pivotal part of the wider U2 family. The musician and designer gave the band their name and helped shape their visual identity from their early days right up to world domination and beyond. The Dubliner  aka Steve Rapid, co-founder of the Radiators from Space  was the brains behind artwork for adored albums such as The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby.

Now, Averill tells the story of his work with U2 in a fascinating podcast series, U2-Y. Taking the form of an anything goes conversation with his musician son, Gareth, its a must-listen for anyone with a love of design and a fascination with Irelands most famous band.

Joshua Tree by U2 (Steve Averill)

Averill stepped away from working directly with U2 in 2015  his former colleague Shaughn McGrath is their go-to art director now  but his relationship with the group was one of the longest in music history. The podcast offers a reminder of the importance many acts place on their visual side, even in an era where album artwork is often reduced to postage stamp size on our mobile phones.

Here are 10 design visionaries  and the album artwork that bears their legacy.

Charlie Parker with Strings by Charlie Parker (David Stone Martin)

David Stone Martin

Something of a godfather of album cover design, the US art director was at his creative zenith in the 1950s when working with jazz luminaries such as Lester Young, Oscar Peterson and Billie Holiday. He illustrated in the region of 400 album covers, most of whom featured his distinct line drawings often featuring one or two dominant colours. His clean and distinctive aesthetic would come to define jazz art covers for years. There are numerous classics among the covers, with the playful design of Charlie Parker With Strings a favourite among artwork aficionados.

Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles (Peter Blake & Jann Haworth)

Peter Blake & Jann Haworth

Its one of pops great dilemmas: whats the best Beatles album of them all? Many will plump for Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band  it certainly has the most striking artwork. The collage of 58 people on its cover has often been imitated. It was created by Peter Blake and his then wife, the feminist artist Jann Haworth. Although Blake has delivered album artwork for everyone from Paul Weller to Oasis, he recently said his work on Sgt Pepper was a cross I bear, an albatross I have to deal with.

Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen (John Berg)

John Berg

The American designer was, according his New York Times obituary, midwife to some of the most emblematic album covers of the late 20th century. He certainly was.

Bridge Over Troubled Waters by Simon & Garfunkel (John Berg)

It was Berg who created the brilliant gatefold cover of Bruce Springsteens Born to Run and chose an evocative, grainy portrait of Simon and Garfunkel for their huge-selling Bridge Over Troubled Wateralbum. Berg joined Columbia Records art department in 1961 and is credited with overseeing the artwork for staggering 5,000 albums.

Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd (Storm Thorgerson)

Storm Thorgerson

The Englishman was chief among the art directors at the Hipgnosis design agency that was responsible for the artwork for some of the biggest-selling albums of the 1970s. Although he continued to work with the likes of the Cranberries and the Mars Volta until his death in 2013, Thorgerson is best remembered for the stunning covers he created for Pink Floyd. Dark Side of the Moon may be his most famous, but his highly original vision for that bands albums Wish You Were Here andAnimals ensure their iconic status.

The self-titled The Velvet Underground & Nico (Andy Warhol)

Andy Warhol

Perhaps the most celebrated painter of the 20th century  alongside Picasso and Dali, of course  the New Yorker needs little introduction. He loved the idea of having his work seen by the largest possible audience and the canvas provided by the vinyl LP excited him. He took on several commissions in the late 1960s and early 70s with two albums, in particular, demonstrating how much fun could be had, assuming record companies ponied up the cash.

There was the peel it and see banana on the Velvet Underground and Nico and a functional zip on early pressings of the Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers.

Chinatown by Thin Lizzy (Jim Fitzpatrick)

Jim Fitzpatrick

The Irish artist has long been celebrated for his iconic 1968 poster of Che Guevara, but its his work with Thin Lizzy that demonstrates how perfect his art has been in the golden age of vinyl. Fan favouriteJailbreakand Black Rosefeature striking Fitzpatrick paintings, and his trademark intricate, Celtic-inspired work is all over Johnny the Fox. And its on vinyl rather than any other format that the artistic wonders of Vagabonds of the Western World and Chinatown really come into their own.

This Year's Model by Elvis Costello and The Attractions (Barney Bubbles)

Barney Bubbles

In his podcast, Steve Averill expresses his admiration for the work of this gifted English art director who was just 41 when he took his own life in 1983. Bubbles  real name Colin Fulcher  created remarkable sleeve designs for bands such as Hawkwind, but its his work with Elvis Costello (most notably on the This Years Modeland Armed Forces) and Ian Dury in the late 1970s that would prove inspirational for many designers who came after. Interestingly, it was Bubbles who designed the NME logo that is still used today.

Closer by Joy Division (Peter Saville and Martyn Atkins)

Peter Saville

Few visual designers are as associated with a single record label as the Manchester native is with that citys Factory Records. Saville was there from the start, designing posters and nightclub flyers for the label before turning out great artwork for Joy Division and New Order, including the loss-making cover for Blue Monday, Britains best-selling 12-inch single ever. A keen sense of the importance of typography is evident in his work from that period.

Doolittle by Pixies (Vaughan Oliver)

Vaughan Oliver

If Peter Saville and Factory Records go hand in hand, then the same, surely, can be said of the late Vaughan Oliver and another great indie, 4AD. His distinct visual aesthetic is especially apparent on albums from Pixies, the Breeders and Cocteau Twins. Record sleeves are ephemeral, he once said, and I always wanted to make them more than that. He certainly succeeded. His Pixies collaboration brilliantly captures that bands sense of playfulness and mystery.

Currents by Tame Impala (Robert Beatty)

Robert Beatty

Although sales of vinyl albums have increased significantly over the past few years, album artwork tends not to get the attention it deserves now. Stanley Donwoods singular work with Radiohead, for instance, doesnt shine on your phone in nearly the same way that it does when holding the 12-inch of Hail to the ThieforIn Rainbows. But that doesnt mean there arent outstanding art directors continuing to push the boundaries and Robert Beatty is leading the charge. The US designer is responsible for Tame Impalas Currents artwork as well as the stunning aged portrait on the Weeknd on last years Dawn FM.
Drivetime is mostly about the serious side of life but theres a bit of fun to be found there too, like a look at the Americanisation of Irish speech

Last week, Sarah McInerney ruled herself out of contention for the Late Late Show. Tellys loss is Radio 1s gain, I guess: McInerney and Cormac O hEadhra have forged a fairly good partnership in the two-years-and-change theyve been co-hosting Drivetime(Mon-Fri, 4.30pm).

Often a set-up like this will pair opposite personality types  good cop/bad cop or whatever. Here, we dont really have that; McInerney and O hEadhra arent radically different in presentation style. Both are serious when needed, have a bit of a sense of humour when appropriate, are happy to ask awkward questions when required.

Both also, in my opinion, have that current affairs broadcaster habit of badgering the interviewee at times, going in too hard, being unreasonable to a degree; the sort of performance that feels like the presenter is demonstrating how tough they are to industry peers or news nerds on Twitter, rather than getting at the truth.

It doesnt happen all the time, but it does happen. Personally, I dont like it  too much of a performative, look at how cleverly I skewer my opponent university debate feel to it. That said, lots of people do like this style of interviewing, so fair enough.

In any case, this weeks show had a good range of topics, from oh-so-serious to, well, quite fun. In the former category, things such as Niall Collins, marriage pre-nups, Russian ships in Irish waters and how we should spend an expected  can this be right?  65bn budget surplus.

Your humble correspondent particularly enjoyed bits on Eurovision, lateness, learning to swim as an adult and, especially, the rise of Americanisms in Ireland (nosed on a piece by Tanya Sweeney in this paper).

As O hEadhra put it in his intro, Forget Ma or Mam, it seems all young people nowadays say Mom. As Americanisms become more common in our daily conversation, why are millennials and Gen Z sounding so different?

I blame the internet, for this and pretty much everything else thats bad in modern life. But what does an expert think? Dr Elaine Vaughan, lecturer in Applied Linguistics at the University of Limerick, said: One theory is that we have so much exposure to different types of English, via media and mobility, that its changing the words we use and how we sound.

It may not be as drastic as we think; Vaughan pointed out that people tend to notice things that irritate them: Reaching out in emails doesnt sound normal to me and Im not mad about it  but to other people, its perfectly normal.

O hEadhra aired one listener text which was so incendiary, you could practically hear the exclamation marks: Im fed up to the back-teeth of American pronunciation! Look up a dictionary for the correct pronunciations of words!!

The show also spoke to one Diarmuid Furlong, possessor of a marvellous title: former president of the Irish branch of the Eurovision Fanclub. He was in the Canaries, savouring the atmosphere in ex-pat bars showing the event on TV  Liverpool, the venue for the grand final, being mind-bogglingly expensive.

Enjoy it, O hEadhra urged ahead of Irelands semi-final. Given that Wild Youth crashed out, that may have been over-optimistic.
In this extract from his new book, But What Can I Do?, the former spin doctor shares how he deals with his lifelong anxiety but why he doesnt regret a notorious TV outburst about the Iraq War

It will probably not have escaped your notice that two of the last four UK prime ministers, David Cameron and Boris Johnson, went to the same school, Eton. What you may not know is that Eton has produced three times as many prime ministers as the Labour Party has in its entire 120-year-plus history. Heres another interesting fact. Five of the six people who put together David Camerons 2015 election manifesto  the one promising that referendum that would settle the arguments on Europe once and for all  went to Eton (the sixth went to St Pauls, another private school), as did Jacob Rees-Mogg (of course), Kwasi Kwarteng, Prince William and the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar described protests in Dublin city centre as malign opportunismOpposing groups demonstrated at a camp on Upper Sandwith Street which was then destroyed overnight

Aftermath scenes on Dublin's Sandwith Street today, where a group of people confronted asylum seekers who were sleeping rough Photo: Fergal Phillips   Fergal Phillips

Mr Varadkar described the protests that took place as "malign opportunism".

A homeless man by his tent as gardai engage with marchers outside the International Protection Office in Dublin on Saturday. Photo: Niall Carson/PA   PA

There were heated confrontations between anti-immigrant protesters and gardai at a makeshift camp near an international protection office in Dublin this afternoon.

It is the third say of clashes at such camps, following confrontations at a nearby smaller encampment of asylum seekers on Thursday and Friday.

Hundreds of protesters had attended a demonstration at Custom House Quay after lunch today opposing forthcoming hate speech laws. Among those in attendance were members of right-wing groups including the Irish Freedom Party, which also opposes asylum seekers.

Afterwards, a small group broke away and marched towards an international protection office near Mount Street, where dozens of tents are lined up on the street outside and in an adjacent laneway.

As protesters marched through the laneway there was an angry clash with a man staying in one of the tents, and Gardai had to intervene.

The protesters eventually returned to the front of the international protection office and were involved in hostile confrontations with gardai, before the crowd eventually dissipated.

Members of the Garda Public Order Unit and seven garda vehicles were also called in to support gardai who had been observing the march from the Custom House.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar today condemned the violent scenes at a makeshift camp for asylum seekers in Dublin city centre on Friday night.

The encampment was destroyed and partially burnt after anti-immigrant protesters had earlier clashed with left-wing counterdemonstrators who tried to prevent them from gaining access to the camp in the Pearse Street area.

There are currently several hundred homeless asylum seekers sleeping rough in Dublin after the State ran out of space to accommodate them.

A tented encampment on Mount Street is now being occupied by several dozen asylum seekers, while a smaller number had been staying nearby in a laneway off nearby Upper Sandwith Street, which had been targeted by anti-immigrant activists on Thursday and Friday evening.

There were clashes between anti- and pro-immigrant demonstrators on both Thursday and Friday.

Separately, a rally by right-wing groups opposing incoming hate speech laws, including the Irish Freedom Party, which also opposes asylum seekers, is taking place this afternoon in Dublin.

Mr Varadkar described the protests that took place on Friday night as "malign opportunism" that cannot be tolerated, in a statement issued to Independent.ie on Saturday.

I condemn this violence unreservedly. It is malign opportunism. A tiny minority of people are clearly determined to make capital out of a difficult situation. The gardai are carrying out an investigation. We cannot tolerate actions such as this," Mr Varadkar said.

Aftermath scenes on Dublin's Sandwith Street today, where a group of people confronted asylum seekers who were sleeping rough Photo: Fergal Phillips   Fergal Phillips

There was a significant garda presence in place to police the situation which lasted several hours, with one man being arrested.

Members of An Garda Siochana formed a line and stood between the two groups in an attempt to separate them, and they eventually dispersed.

However, video later emerged online purporting to show a group of Irish men dismantling the makeshift shelters that had been used by the asylum seekers.

Emergency services were also alerted to a fire at the site.

Scenes from Sandwith Street following confrontation involving asylum seekers sleeping rough

A garda spokesperson said as the groups involved dispersed, some furniture and wooden pallets were set alight in a nearby lane way.

No one was injured, the spokesperson said.

A man, aged in his 30s, was arrested under the Public Order Act during the demonstration.

It is understood that the man was arrested after he refuse to move along and refused to give gardai his name when asked.

He has since been charged to appear before Dublin District Court later this month.

On Twitter, Justice Minister Simon Harris said: "Utterly appalling & unacceptable scenes in Sandwith Street last night. Everyone in this country has a right to be safe. The right to protest is never a right to endanger or intimidate."

A spokesperson for the Department of Equality and Integration said it is working intensively to secure further accommodation.

The Department deplores any violent incidents or intimidation towards international protection applicants, and officials are liaising with An Garda Siochana on the matter, the spokesperson said.

The Department hopes to deliver significant capacity in the coming weeks to alleviate the shortages being experienced presently. In the meantime, work is also ongoing to increase support for those who are without accommodation.

There had been a protest called against the presence of the refugees camping at the back of the derelict St Andrews Court flats between Pearse Street and Holles Street.

Far-right activists do not want the refugees in the area and along with some local people have been displaying anti-immigration hostility and intimidation in recent days towards the asylum seekers, who have nowhere to go.

It is believed around 10 people were living at the makeshift camp.

Aftermath scenes on Dublin's Sandwith Street today Photo: Fergal Phillips   Fergal Phillips

It is understood that gardai were well aware of the planned protests on Friday and a major policing plan was in place.

Around 150 people were involved in protesting, it is understood.

Sources say that gardai were monitoring social media and were prepared for the demonstration, which was widely discussed online ahead of time.

A source said local people had been whipped up by anti-immigration activists, including members of the far right.

Some local people were infiltrated from elements who dont live anywhere near here, to go out and protest against these people and even intimidate them and display violence, the source said.

In fairness to these refugees, they have nowhere to go because there is no accommodation being provided for them. It is very unfortunate situation. Gardai were well aware that there would be a protest and a policing plan was already in place, which swung into action.

A video posted to social media appeared to show the entire encampment destroyed. A post on the Ireland Against Fascism feed read: The end result of the destruction of the asylum seekers encampment tonight on Sandwith Street, Dublin 2.
EXCLUSIVE | Gerry The Monk Hutch gave gardai 48 hours to talk to him before he fled to Spain  weeks after Regency attack

Hutch spoke to gardai about pal Noel Kingsize Duggans murder  but they didnt ask about David ByrneThe Monk had received a Garda Information Message warning him of a threat to his life

Hutch has not been warned of any threat to his life since his acquittal for the murder of David Byrne. Photo: Mark Condren

Ali Bracken Sat 13 May 2023 at 16:50






The Irish Times is reviewing its editorial processes after it removed an opinion article that claimed using fake tan was racist over concerns that it may not have been genuine.

In a statement issued on Saturday by Conor Goodman, the newspapers deputy editor, it said the article has been removed from its website and a review has been initiated.

The articles text was deleted on Friday evening, shortly after the Sunday Independent contacted the newspaper and asked it to respond to claims from Twitter and Reddit users that alleged that the article and the photograph of its author may have been generated using artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

The opinion piece was published on Thursday under the headline Irish womens obsession with fake tan is problematic and claimed to be authored by Adriana Acosta-Cortez, who was said to be a 29-year-old Ecuardorian healthcare administrator living in North Dublin.

The opinion piece claimed that Irish women wearing fake tan were experiencing a fleeting taste of a more exotic identity, with none of the obstacles people of colour face.

The article contained a photograph that was said to be of Acosta-Cortez, who appeared to have blue hair.

In the article it was claimed that wearing fake tan was a painful mockery, as those women can return to their normal colour free from the systemic discrimination that people of colour face daily.

The article suggested using fake tan was racist.

By engaging in fake tanning culture, we run the risk of devaluing the authentic experiences of individuals with naturally high melanin content, reducing their identity to a mere fashion accessory, it said. To my Irish sisters, I would ask you to consider the implications of your choices and to question the societal norms that guide them.

The opinion piece immediately generated heated debate online with many dismissing it as woke or ragebait. Prompted by the article, Newstalk carried a debate on the use of fake tan on its Andrea Gilligan lunchtime show. However, a number of Twitter and Reddit users focussed on the photograph of the author and claimed that it was an AI generated image. Others questioned if the text was also generated by an AI programme such as ChatGPT.

Late on Friday afternoon the Sunday Independent approached The Irish Times to ask if it was aware that people were questioning the authenticity of the article.

Within minutes the article was removed. A note said the text of this article has been removed pending checks.

The Irish Times has since deleted all its social media posts that promoted the article.

A Twitter account claiming to be Adriana Acosta-Cortez, and bearing the same profile picture as the byline picture of a woman with blue hair used with the Irish Times article, was set up February 2021. However, it only contains posts from May 11, the day The Irish Times published the fake tan article.

The owner of the account did not respond to Sunday Independent questions, and this newspaper was unable to confirm whether the Twitter account owner was in fact behind the fake tan article. The Twitter accounts profile claimed Acosta-Cortez was a cat mom.

A controversial alt-right glossary article published by The Irish Times in 2017 described how people described as blue hair were regarded by people on the alt-right as being an aggressive, unpleasant feminist with brightly coloured hair, usually depicted as being overweight.

It also said that a cat lady was an older, less aggressive version of a blue hair.
Thousands of daily no-shows and shortage of testers adding to the problem

Several NCT centres are offering test dates eight months from now as their earliest available slots. Photo: Getty Images   Getty Images

Motorists are being offered dates as far away as next year when they try to book an NCT (National Car Test).

Last February, the National Car Testing Service (NCTS) had promised to clear the current backlog and return to normal waiting times by June, with vehicles to be inspected within 12 days of a booking.

Junior minister Jack Chambers has said the matter should be addressed urgently, but the waiting time for tests shows no sign of improvement. The Irish Independent found several test centres offering January 2024 as the earliest available date.

Others showed dates in December, while many more offered appointments in November.

Despite NCT firm Applus recruiting new testing staff from as far away as the Philippines and increasing the number of vehicles tested, the frustration of logging on to the NCTS website and finding long waiting times remains.

A spokesman for An Garda Siochana said gardai are aware of the delays and are taking this into consideration when checking motorists NCT discs.

Applus claims it is now over the busiest part of the year. It says the number of vehicles overdue their NCT has peaked and waiting times are starting to decline.

A spokeswoman said Applus had to source accommodation for the Filipino workers, who are being housed as close as possible to test centres.

NCTS are still increasing capacity through the provision of overtime to provide cover for leave and additional shifts for staff, she said.

Recruitment is still ongoing, and so far in 2023 we have recruited 24 vehicle inspectors who are now in the NCT test centres.

There are a further 34 inspectors in training, who will begin testing vehicles in the coming weeks. Thirty of these came from the Philippines.

An additional cohort of approximately 20 vehicle inspectors will arrive next week from the Philippines to commence their NCT training, and they will be testing in June.

The spokeswoman said the automotive sector is no different from other industries struggling with a chronic shortage of qualified mechanics in Ireland.

Many are ageing out of the trade and many more have taken advantage of opportunities to use their transferrable skills in non-automotive sectors, specifically the semi-conductor and pharmaceutical sectors, she said.

What to do if you can't get a suitable appointment at your NCT centre

We are actively running recruitment campaigns within Ireland, and we have also attempted to recruit directly through agencies across Europe, but without success. This is the reason why we have had to recruit outside of Ireland and Europe.

Applus was awarded the 10-year contract to carry out NCT tests in 2020 by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) after a request for tenders. The contract is believed to be worth around 650m.

The RSA now holds weekly meetings with Mr Chambers, who is minister of state for transport, to assess how the backlog in testing is being handled.

Mr Chambers said the delays being experienced are a cause of huge frustration to many motorists and need to be addressed urgently.

We are engaging with the RSA on reviewing its areas of operations so that some of the issues that have arisen in recent months are not repeated, he told theIrish Independent. There is a necessity to improve the booking system on the website, and my department has reflected that to the RSA.

The NCT booking system is managed and operated by Applus, under contract to the RSA.

The RSA estimates that the 12-day target of waiting time for an appointment will be restored by July.

I believe the RSA is exploring all available options at this point.

The key issue which needs to be addressed is the number of testers and the number of tests carried out each week.

One aspect affecting test rates is people not showing up for appointments, according to Applus.

Unfortunately, we are still experiencing high levels of no-shows, with over 2,500 customer no-shows per week, along with a further 1,000 late cancellations, the spokeswoman said.

As you can imagine, this is severely impacting the business and our ability to offer these appointments to other customers.

We are therefore asking customers, if they know in advance that they will not be able to make their NCT appointment, to let us know as soon as possible so that those appointments could be offered to those on the waiting list.

They can cancel through our call centre on 01 413 5992 or online.

Applus has been criticised for cancelling appointments, meaning drivers have to reschedule through no fault of their own.

We do unfortunately from time to time have to cancel appointments. These are primarily down to issues affecting our day-to-day operations, the spokeswoman said.

We try our best not to cancel appointments, but unfortunately, like other businesses, we have operational issues that occur that are outside of our control.

We are therefore left with no alternative. In such instances, we ask the customers to contact us as soon as possible to arrange a new appointment and we do our best to prioritise them.

A spokesman for An Garda Siochana said: Where a motorist is detected driving a vehicle without a valid NCT certificate and without any date of re-examination or evidence that the vehicle has been placed on the priority waiting list, the driver may be prosecuted for not having a valid NCT certificate.

They are also liable to have their vehicle seized.

Where a vehicle is detected without a valid NCT certificate but the driver is able to produce evidence of a date for a test having been scheduled, or that the vehicle has been placed on the priority waiting list, the member of An Garda Siochana will take this into consideration when deciding on the appropriate course of action.

The Applus spokeswoman added: We do understand that some customers who go online may only see appointments for mid-to-late 2023.

However, if they require an earlier appointment than those available online, we are asking them to go on www.ncts.ie and place themselves on the priority list.

The majority of customers who use the priority list receive an appointment within four weeks.

The early months of every year are the busiest time for the NCT as vehicles fall due on the anniversary of their registration.

We are now over the busiest part of the year. The number of vehicles overdue for their NCT has peaked and waiting times are starting to decline.

Quarter one, 2023, saw the second-highest throughput in a single quarter in the 23-year history of the NCTS. Over 100,000 more inspections were carried out compared to the same quarter in 2022.

We are still targeting a much-improved service in terms of availability of appointments by the start of quarter three.
Nina Mishchenko and her son Andriy (13) were forced to flee their home in Kyiv in late February 2022. They now live in Citywest Hotel in Dublin

Andriy and I recently went to a meeting for parents and a tour of the secondary school he will start in September. The parents were shown all the classrooms, where teachers and senior students talked about the subjects that children can expect to learn and answered all questions. It was clear that everyone is trying to find an approach to teaching that will make learning interesting for children.

I like the Irish approach; that the school cares about the childrens happiness.

Ukrainians are used to the main marker of a childs education being grades and exams. Many Ukrainian parents in Ireland are worried about their childrens education and think that they need to study more. The Ukrainian school programme is heavier. According to research by Ukrainian Action in Ireland, 56pc of Ukrainian children study in two schools  at an Irish secondary and online at a Ukrainian one, but children studying in just one school are happier than those studying in two.

Andriys Ukrainian friend Yevhen, who lives with his mother Olena near Drogheda, studies this way. He takes all the high-level subjects in an Irish school, studies online at a Ukrainian school and completes all the assignments and tests there, and also has additional online maths and Ukrainian language classes. We decided on a different path because Andriys main task now is to improve his English and adapt to his new environment. But Yevhen will give Andriy some of his school books.

In Ukraine, secondary school begins in the fifth year of study, while in Ireland it starts two years later. I think its good for children this way because they become more aware and responsible in the 7th grade. I remember my 5th and 6th grade being the most challenging from a psychological point of view.

It seemed to me that one of the main tasks of our recent school visit was to reassure parents about their childs transition to secondary school. The staff explained that all children have two key problems: relationship and organisational issues. Typical issues for first-year students are homework, missing class materials and making new friends. Some issues may also become problems over time: absenteeism, lateness and uniform standards. However, the school will try to support the children and make the adaptation process as smooth as possible.

I can see that Andriy is going through a challenging time, but as a teenager, he tries not to show it. But, of course, he is thinking about making new friends in school because he feels that his English is not very fluent. He doesnt know if there will be other Ukrainian kids in school, but he hopes so. He also noticed that the library doesnt have any books in Ukrainian, so he suggested bringing some.

Parents of secondary school students are also expected to support their children. Our task is to attend parent-teacher meetings and other events, sign the journal weekly, monitor homework and behaviour. But the main role of parents is to develop positive routines around sleep, nutrition, rest, movement and encouragement. These are good tasks for us.
The pupils in 4th, 5th and 6th classes in Scoil Naomh Aine, Rathgarogue are up to speed with European cultures having participated in the Blue Star Programme.

Their work was celebrated at a Europe Day celebration at the school recently, attended by Ambassador of Cyprus to Ireland, Charis Christodoulidou.

This programme teaches primary school pupils about European cultures and the European Union through creative activities and projects which complement the national primary curriculum. The programme concluded with an epic Europe Day celebration.

In preparation for the Europe Day celebration, the children wrote letters to local representatives and TDs in January, inviting them to visit the school to talk to the children all about their roles and involvement in Europe.

"The pupils were thrilled with the number of VIPs who were able to accept their invitation. We were honoured to welcome Minister of State James Browne TD, Charis Christodoulidou, Verona Murphy TD, Cllr Bridin Murphy, Cllr Pat Barden and Cllr John Fleming to our school, said Rathgarogue principal Anne Marie O'Neill.

Our Student Council played the important role of welcoming our dignitaries and parents to our school. A number of our pupils made some speeches to explain what the programme entailed. This was followed by questions from the children who wanted to hear all about our VIPs jobs. The visitors were impressed with the childrens European projects on display in their classrooms. Students also prepared a native dish from their country for others to taste.

"In the Halla Mor we had lots of beautiful art work inspired by European landmarks and artists on display. To conclude students played Ode to Joy which is the European Anthem on Tin Whistle. Well done to all the pupils, their parents and teachers for all their preparation for making Europe Day such an enjoyable and successful event for all.
A West Seneca School Board candidate who ran for state Assembly last fall has a social media account that includes posts comparing President Joe Biden to Hitler, criticizing Pride Month as "disgusting" and calling for the abolition of the FBI.

"Im not anti-Semitic, Im not anti-gay. I just want to be clear on that," Sandra Magnano told The Buffalo News this week. "Ive been meaning to take down this stupid Truth Social thing."

Magnano, who has been a registered nurse for four decades, is one of eight candidates vying for three seats on the West Seneca School Board.

Also running are Lorene Barulich, Laura Sokol-Scott, John Barrett, Jennifer Kus, Frank Zappia, Trek Fulater and Sarah Piwowarczyk. The West Seneca Teachers Association has endorsed Sokol-Scott, Fulater and Piwowarczyk.

Magnano ran unsuccessfully in November for state Assembly on the Republican and Conservative lines against incumbent Assemblyman Patrick B. Burke.

The News asked her about several anti-Semitic and anti-Biden posts she reposted last year on her Truth Social account.

A company owned by former President Donald J. Trump launched the media platform in February 2022. Repostings are called "ReTruthings."

She replied "Yes it is!" last year to a tweet asking: "Is pride month over yet? Because I think we're all tired of seeing drag shows and naked pride parades being exposed to our children. It's disgusting."

Magnano said Wednesday that when she was running for Assembly last year, the LGBTQ community "attacked me all the time."

Gender identity, book bans shape crowded race for Orchard Park School Board The issues have spilled over in the race for three board seats next week, and prompted some students to form Students Protecting Education, a nonprofit group that promotes diverse, inclusive and equitable education for all students.

"Im not against the LGBTQ community at all," she said. "I have some dear friends, that you know, before my husband died, we were at their weddings."

Another "ReTruthed" post compared Biden saying "MAGA voters are the cause of our problems," with Hitler saying "The JEWS are the cause of our problems."

Another showed a photo of Biden and called him "Pedo Hitler," while another included the words "Sieg Heil!!! Fuhrer Biden accompanying a photo of Biden. Another compared the FBI to the Nazi SS and Soviet KGB.

Magnano said she is "anything but" anti-Semitic, but she is concerned about things friends in the law enforcement community have told her about law enforcement.

"I dont know why I did that," she said. "Shame on me for doing that. But I am not anti-Semitic at all."

Magnano also shared a post with a photo of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection that said, "We the people demand Trump be declared the rightful winner of the 2020 election."

She said she believes that Biden is the president, but disagrees with some of his policies.

"I'm not a fan of the current president," she said, but she added, "he is the president."

Another post she shared referred to Biden with a derogatory term for developmentally challenged people.

"That was wrong on my part. If I did retweet that, I apologize for that," Magnano said.

She told The News she should not be on Truth Social, and called it silly.

Mangano, the mother of three children, said in an ad on her Facebook page that she will make creating a safe environment for children her top goal should she win a school board seat.

She also expressed concerns about some books in school libraries that she said are extreme and graphic.

"Parents should have rights regarding their children," she said. "I believe there should be transparency with what is being taught in schools."

Magnano also aims to help manage district finances wisely.

"I know I can do a good job," she said.
Two Wexford businesses have achieved success through the SuperValu Food Academy which is celebrating 10 years of supporting Irish food and drinks producers.

The leading grocery retailer has sold an estimated 230 million worth of Food Academy products in its stories over the past decade, supporting 1,500 jobs through the programme which benefits local communities and the national economy.

Two Wexford businesses  Mor Taste and NUTORIOUS - took part in the 2023 Food Academy programme, a tailored business development initiative for early to mid-stage producers, which is supported by SuperValu, Bord Bia and the Local Enterprise Office.

Mor Taste, founded by Felix Oster, produce low-sugar, all natural flavoured jams and spreads by hand from their kitchen in Killinick, County Wexford. The company won the Blas na hEireann Gold Award in 2022.

NUTORIOUS, founded by Una Sinnott, is a small food business producing 100% natural nutty and seedy snacks. All the products are gluten free, wheat and dairy free and are made in Knockbrandon, Gorey.

More than 1,000 local Irish food producers have completed the Food Academy programme since its inception in 2013 with products from over 300 Food Academy participants regularly stocked in SuperValu stores across the country, including Mor Taste and NUTORIOUS.

The initiative provides training in food safety, market research, branding, marketing, finance, sustainability, and business development through a range of dedicated workshops. Food Academy producers also have the opportunity to feature their products on SuperValu shelves nationwide, giving them real, tangible opportunities for growth in the market.

The SuperValu milestone anniversary comes as new research by Bord Bia and Behaviour & Attitudes Ltd (B&A) reveals that 90% of consumers choose to buy locally produced food, with more than 2 in 3 (68%) buying this category at least weekly.

The main driver for purchasing locally produced food is a desire to support the local economy and jobs, followed by the belief that locally produced food is fresher, better quality and good for the environment.

This year, 23 new Food Academy entrants are launching a wide variety of products including naturally leavened sourdough bread, low sugar fruit jam, organic micro-greens and eggs, as well as products utilising spent grain to make protein snacks and used coffee grinds to create a tan-removing soap.

SuperValu managing director Ian Allen described the Food Academy programme as a fantastic collaboration between the company, Bord Bia and the Local Enterprise Office, which enhances and supports the growth of Irelands food and drink sector.

"At SuperValu, we are passionate about food and supporting the development of Irish food and drink producers in local communities across Ireland - having proudly done so since 1968. The Food Academy programme is a fantastic opportunity for small businesses to gain direct access to leading expertise to help them on every step of their journey - from start-up producer to securing their products on supermarket shelves.
Former Coronation Street star Chris Fountain said he is back on his feet after surgery (Ian West/PA)   Ian West

Former Coronation Street actor Chris Fountain has said he is back on his feet after undergoing surgery following a mini-stroke last year.

The 35-year-old, who played Weatherfields Tommy Duckworth in the long-running soap, said he was still aching and sore and had been really quite nervous before the operation.

Last year, Fountain revealed he had suffered a Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA)  known as a mini-stroke  after a blood clot lodged in his brain.

He told the Daily Mirror the incident had left him speaking like a toddler and he had spent five days in hospital in London.

A post on his Instagram story on Friday showed the actor walking slowly round a hospital in a medical gown.

Yes guys, back on my feet. Theyve cleared me to walk a little bit, he said.

(My) groin is hurting a bit, just like sore and aching, but Im glad to be out of bed because my legs were starting to go numb  what a day.

He continued: I have to be honest I was really quite nervous when I went into the anaesthetists room. It all became very real.

But it was really nice when I started to go to sleep, it felt lovely.

Chris Fountain revealed he had suffered a Transient Ischaemic Attack  known as a mini-stroke  after a blood clot lodged in his brain (Ian West/PA)   Ian West

Fountain added that he had some tests, saying: They came to do some echocardiograms just to check the device is in the right place and working and not leaking and all that.

So far so good.

Earlier he had posted updates for his fans to his Instagram story showing him arriving at the hospital with his mother, and immediately after the surgery where he said he felt woozy.

Speaking to the Mirror in October 2022, Fountain said he had broken down in tears when doctors informed him he had suffered a TIA.

After several days of tests at a specialist stroke unit at the Royal London Hospital, medics determined the actor had a hole in his heart which had caused the blood clot to travel to his brain, triggering the stroke.
Rishi Sunak is disappointed by the decision of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to block Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky from addressing the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest.

The body, which produces the event, said on Thursday night that it had declined Mr Zelenskys request to speak on Saturday over fears it could politicise the contest.

He had wanted to make an unannounced video appearance and had been expected to implore the global audience of millions to continue backing his country in its fight to repel Russian invaders.

The EBU said Mr Zelensky had laudable intentions but regrettably his request was against the rules.

On Friday, the Prime Ministers official spokesman said: The Prime Minister believes it would be fitting for President Zelensky to address the event and were disappointed by the decision from the European Broadcasting Union.

The values and freedoms that President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine are fighting for are not political, theyre fundamental, and Eurovision themselves recognised that last year when they rightly suspended Russias participation from the competition.

There are no plans to intervene and ask organisers to change their mind, Downing Street suggested.

In a statement ahead of the Eurovision final, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said our hearts will be with people in Ukraine who are fighting for their sovereignty and survival.

She added: If there was any justice this final would be taking place in Kyiv, but we are honoured in the UK to be able to host this event on their behalf and to welcome legions of fans and media.

2023 Ukraine entrant Tvorchi (Aaron Chown/PA)   Aaron Chown

Former prime minister Boris Johnson said it would have been right to hear from Mr Zelensky during the final.

Writing on Twitter, he added: There is only one reason the contest is not in Ukraine and that is because of Putins illegal war.

Mr Zelensky later thanked the UK for hosting as he expressed his gratitude for the donation of Storm Shadow long-range precision missiles in a conversation with Mr Sunak.

A Downing Street spokesman said: President Zelensky thanked the Prime Minister for Liverpools role in hosting tomorrows Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Ukraine.

The Prime Minister said he was proud the UK could do this for the Ukrainian people and looked forward to the day that the contest could be held on Ukrainian soil once again.

Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram said he would be speaking with both the Ukrainian ambassador and the mayor of Lviv, who are both in the city for the final, to discuss what we can do to provide a platform for Mr Zelesnky.

In its statement on Thursday, the EBU noted that 11 Ukrainian artists, including last years winners Kalush Orchestra, are performing and 37 locations from around Ukraine are being shown.

The BBC has said the broadcast of this years contest is expected to be watched by more than 160 million viewers worldwide.

On Friday, BBC Eurovision commentators Rylan Clark and Scott Mills stressed the contest is non-political.

Clark said: At the end of the day we are commentators so we dont get involved in show format. I just think Eurovision, people say it is political  votes here, votes there.

From being on the inside it is the least political experience you could ever have, actually.

Radio DJ Mills added: People always ask, Do you think it is political?. It really isnt. It is a song contest.

Clark continued: It is a song contest and that is what we are here to say.

The pair, who provided TV commentary for the two semi-finals this week and will host radio coverage of the grand final, also stressed that as last years winner, Ukraine and its culture were being celebrated across Liverpool throughout the event.

BBC commentator Rylan Clark (Ian West/PA)   Ian West

Clark said: Ukraine, this is their party in our country.

We always said that we would be true to that because they were the winner and I think it is very visible in the city, added Mills.

BBC director general Tim Davie told the Eurovisioncast podcast that he understood the EBU decision as the history of the contest has not been a platform for political statement.

Mr Davie also said: This country, Ukraine, is the victim of an aggressor.

This war is something that we all feel deeply is wrong and if you watch the broadcast, I dont think youll have any doubt that this is a celebration across Europe, for freedom, for democracy, and its quite right we do that.

They spoke at the British Music Experience on the Liverpool waterfront, where Zoe Ball hosted a special edition of her BBC Radio 2 breakfast show which featured guests including last years UK entrant Sam Ryder and The Fizz, featuring members of former Eurovision winners Bucks Fizz.

Claire McColgan, director of Culture Liverpool, told Times Radio it would have been fantastic to hear from Mr Zelensky, especially for the people from Ukraine who have come here wishing it was at home.

Kalush Orchestra (Yui Mok/PA)   Yui Mok

Kalush Orchestra piper Tymofii Muzychuk told the PA news agency Mr Zelensky would have only wanted to thank the British people for hosting the contest.

He said: Actually we think that President Zelensky would have wanted to thank all the British people for doing this and, as we can see, Britain took this very responsibly, the UK. And so actually I think it would have been nice for him to talk.

Kalush Orchestra won last years contest but, owing to the Russian invasion of the country, hosting duties were awarded to the runner-up, the UK.

Mr Zelensky said earlier this week that he would have preferred Eurovision to take place in a neighbouring country.

Speaking to the BBC, he said: I have great respect for the United Kingdom and its society. It is an amazing country.

From the very start my opinion has been that if we cant host Eurovision it should take place in one of the countries that share a border with us, such as Slovakia, Poland or any other country which our people can reach easily. Something nearby.

It comes after the full line-up of the grand final was revealed following the second knockout round on Thursday night.

(PA Graphics)

After 16 countries competed, the 10 remaining spots went to Poland, Australia, Cyprus, Albania, Estonia, Belgium, Austria, Lithuania, Armenia and Slovenia.

The 10 countries that qualified from Tuesdays semi-final were Croatia, Moldova, Switzerland, Finland, Czechia, Israel, Portugal, Sweden, Serbia and Norway.

They will join the so-called big five nations  the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain  who each get a free pass because of their financial contributions to the event, along with last years winners Ukraine.

The final is expected to draw a large TV audience after Thursdays semi-final was watched by an average of 2.4 million viewers with a peak audience of 3.4 million.

The Eurovision grand final on Saturday will air live on BBC One.
Pakistans former prime minister Imran Khan, centre, arrives at court in Islamabad, Pakistan, where he was granted bail of two weeks. Photo: AP Photo/Anjum Naveed   AP

A Pakistani court ordered former prime minister Imran Khans release on bail for two weeks, his lawyer said yesterday, after his arrest in a land fraud case ignited deadly protests and a tussle with the military.
Britain

Rebekah Vardy claims she was sexually abused and Jehovahs Witness church tried to cover it up
Inspirational youngster Tobias Weller has said his coronation weekend spent partying with the Prime Minister and the US first lady is still sinking in as he prepares for the biggest fundraising day of his year.
The Indo Daily: What he did to our sons was horrific  Kathleen Chada on killer husband
Image Credit: PIB

New Delhi: In two separate operations conducted this week, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 23.34 kg of smuggled foreign gold valued at Rs. 14.43 crore through Chennai International Airport and foiled an attempt to smuggle foreign gold into the country.

The operation was conducted on 8th May 2023, the DRI officers developed intelligence that a passenger, who arrived at Chennai international airport from Dubai through Colombo, was carrying huge quantities of foreign-origin smuggled gold and was on his way to his residence in Chennai.

He was intercepted while he was getting down from an auto-rickshaw near his residence. Examination of the person led to the recovery of gold in paste form concealed in various kneecaps worn by him and in specially made pouches in his pants. After extraction, 13.28 kg of gold totally valued at 8.28 crore was recovered and seized.

In another operation conducted on 11th May 2023, the DRI officers intercepted a Sri Lankan national arriving from Colombo at Chennai International Airport. On examination of the hand baggage of the passenger, gold in paste form was found concealed inside 8 chocolate packets. Melting of the paste resulted in the recovery of gold weighing 10.06 kg valued at Rs 6.15 crore.

Both persons have been arrested and remanded to judicial custody.
Image Credit: Pixabay

Kolkata: Pune-headquartered IT services multinational company Vinsys is also working towards an initial public offering (IPO) that it aims to complete within the current calendar year.

Currently, Vinsys operates in eight countries, including the UAE, Oman, Malaysia, Singapore, Nigeria, Kenya, the UK, and the US with a team of over 800 professionals certified by major tech companies and institutions, including IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, Autodesk, and Cisco, among others.

As Vinsys marks its 25th year is actively seeking inorganic growth opportunities to expand its reach in new markets, including the US and UK while continuing to consolidate its position in the Middle East. The company plans to open a new corporate office and training centre in Saudi Arabia before the end of Q2FY24. It is in talks with mid-size companies in similar lines of business in the mentioned regions, the company said in a statement.

Founded by Vikrant Patil, Vinsys commenced operations as a boutique training centre for a few IT clients and gradually grew into India's second-largest corporate training firm.

However, the company's success is more accurately reflected in its global ambitions, particularly in the Middle East, where it became the largest corporate training player in the region through customised offerings and a series of acquisitions over the past decade.

Vinsys Founder & CEO Vikrant Patil said, We entered into a nascent industry, enabling us to offer clients customised modules as needed. In time, the company has ramped up its operations and invested in world-class training rooms and facilities with the sustained support of its clients, including global IT majors in Pune.

The company offers customised courses for critical sectors such as BFSI, Telecom, and Government departments, where training for IT and processes is essential.

Having trained over 1 million professionals worldwide, Vinsys is looking to double its growth through acquisitions in the coming months, particularly in corporate training and digital learning platforms, the statement said.

With ongoing global uncertainty, Vinsys sees an opportunity to scale its operations and has firmed up its fundraising plans.

The company has appointed merchant bankers and legal firms for the purpose of fundraising. For the year ended March 31, 2023, Vinsys achieved a revenue of Rs. 157.30 crores and a net profit of Rs. 16.02 crores.
Image: Pixabay

Kohima-based organisation  The Entrepreneurs Associates (tEA) -disbursed interest-free loans to 20 women street vendors in the Nagaland city to give them a chance to receive stress-free finances during a period post the COVID-19 pandemic.

Supported by Caring Friends Mumbai, the loans were handed over to beneficiaries during a event held at its head office on Monday. So far, zero Interest or interest-free loans have been disbursed to nearly 1000 women along with a few of its partners, reports East Mojo.

Introducing the Uplifting Women Street Vendors Program under which the loans are provided, tEAs CEO Neichute Doulo said that the organisation was committed to serve the interest of women, especially local vendors, who he feels have been greatly contributing to the local economy, the newspaper reported.

Speaking to the gathering of nearly 60 women, Neichute told East Mojo that with an experience of over two decades in the field of local entrepreneurship, tEA was aware of the difficulties that women vendors continually face.

The CEO said that to scale and grow their businesses, women vendors must learn to save 20% of their earnings.
The echoes of shock, grief and anger are still resounding a year later. We all know where we were that Saturday afternoon on May 14, 2022, when the unthinkable news started to spread across the region.

Ten mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends and neighbors had been gunned down in a racist massacre at the Tops supermarket on Jefferson Avenue. A 19-year-old white supremacist killed them because they were Black.

Is it any wonder that the pain is still so searing and that healing still seems so far in the distance?

But we should take heart. As Buffalo  particularly East Buffalo  looks to the future and begins to reinvent a community that has suffered grievous harm through the racial inequities of decades, shining examples of resilience appear before us.

The stories of the family members whose loved ones were killed that day have been recounted locally and nationally. Yes, they are grieving. But they are also taking up work that will honor those they have lost and help lift up a wounded community.

 Mark Talley, whose 62-year-old mother, Geraldine Talley, was killed, has launched a nonprofit, Agents for Advocacy, to fight injustice and promote socioeconomic equity in Buffalo.

 Pearl Youngs family is planning to build a permanent food pantry and soup kitchen on Leroy Avenue with the help of Good Samaritan Church.

 Wayne Jones, who lost his 65-year-old mom, Celestine Chaney, is working on a nonprofit organization to support children whose parents are killed as a result of violent crime.

 Damone Mapps maintains empty city-owned lots in his neighborhood in honor of his aunt, Kat Massey, who was involved in up to 20 community groups.

 Garnell Whitfield Jr. and his brother, Raymond Whitfield, have launched the nonprofit Pursuit of tRuth to fight white supremacy in honor of their murdered mother, Ruth Whitfield.

 And at Canisius College, a memorial scholarship will be named for Lt. Aaron Salter, the security guard who challenged a gunman in the face of certain death. The scholarship is being set up with the help of his fellow retired police officers.

There are doubtless many other ways in which family and friends of the murdered 10 are turning their grief and anger into positive change. These are the examples we should all follow.

Every neighborhood in Buffalo offers opportunities for volunteer services, whether in the areas of beautification, childrens activities, food pantries, help for the homeless or assistance for the elderly.

Through solidarity, hard work and  yes  love, Buffalonians can lift up an entire community. Theres never been a time when such fellowship was more urgently needed.

Indeed, these are very troubling times. Ten days after Buffalos May 14 massacre, a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, claimed 19 students and two teachers. More such events followed, bringing the 2022 total of mass shootings  traditionally defined as the intentional killing or wounding of four or more victims with gunfire in a single incident  to 42, with 252 people killed, 10 of them in Buffalo.

The relentless march of senseless tragedies is sounding even louder this year. Over the first four months and six days of 2023, 115 people have died in 22 mass killings  an average of one mass killing a week. The figures come from a tracking project that was started in 2006 by the Associated Press and Northeastern University, with USA Today. Requiring that four or more people are killed in each event, it has more conservative criteria than the Gun Violence Archive tracker, which lists a total of 201 mass shootings to date for 2023.

Whatever set of data is used, the numbers are devastating. Few experts would deny that lax gun laws and a proliferation of firearms contribute to the United States ignobly high standing worldwide in homicides by firearms. Its current rate of 6.3 deaths per 100,000, as reported by the Center for Disease Control, easily exceeds the rates in developed nations like Canada (2.1 per 100,000) and Australia (1.0), France (2.7), Germany (0.9) and Spain (0.6) (2023 Pew Research figures).

Sadly, it seems no amount of tragedies and statistics can make a dent in this countrys obsession with untrammeled gun ownership. In New York, at least, sensible restrictions, background checks and red flag laws help stem the tide.

Western New Yorkers should be thankful for these sane policies.

They should also be grateful for the inspiration provided by the May 14 families, who are heroically working through tragedy to find hope.

Its a mission worth joining.

  

Whats your opinion? Send it to us at lettertoeditor@buffnews.com. Letters should be a maximum of 300 words and must convey an opinion. The column does not print poetry, announcements of community events or thank you letters. A writer or household may appear only once every 30 days. All letters are subject to fact-checking and editing.
Image Credit: tweeted by @RenesasGlobal

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said he met Toshi Shibata, the CEO of Japanese semiconductor manufacturer Renesas Electronics Corporation and had a productive meeting with him where the two discussed aspects relating to tech, innovation and Indias strides in the world of semiconductors.

In a tweet, the PM said, Had a productive meeting with Mr. Toshi Shibata, CEO of @RenesasGlobal. We discussed aspects relating to tech, innovation and Indias strides in the world of semiconductors.

The meeting was held on Saturday

The Japanese firm said in a tweet, that during the meeting, they discussed how the firm can contribute to Indias vision for a digital future.

Our CEO Toshi Shibata met with Indias PM @narendramodi to discuss the role that our industry plays & how we can contribute to Indias vision for a digital future. Were committed to enabling #semiconductor ecosystem and digital infrastructure in #India. @PMOIndia #digitalization.

Had a productive meeting with Mr. Toshi Shibata, CEO of @RenesasGlobal. We discussed aspects relating to tech, innovation and Indias strides in the world of semiconductors. https://t.co/6eJRtkzcZ0  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 12, 2023

In an effort to enhance semiconductor manufacturing in India, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw unveiled plans in February of this year to introduce a program aimed at propelling the country's semiconductor industry forward over the next decade.

In December 2021, the government initiated the Semicon India Programme, allocating Rs 76,000 crore for its implementation. The program is designed to bolster the growth of the semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem in India.

In 2023, Vaishnaw informed the parliamentary consultative committee that numerous state governments, including Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu, are engaging in discussions with companies to establish semiconductor manufacturing plants or fab complexes.
Image:  UNICEF/Rashad Wajahat Lateef/  NOAA/NASA Satellite imagery of Cyclone Mocha on Friday.

Dhaka: Bangladesh, a nation that has faced the brunt of several cyclones in the past, has evacuated over 50,000 people to safe shelters as Cyclone Mocha has intensified into an extremely severe cyclonic storm over the east central Bay of Bengal.

The move has been taken as the maritime port of Cox's Bazar has been asked to hoist great danger signal no 10 lowering the previous great danger signal no 8, reports Dhaka Tribune.

According to reports, the evacuated people were shifted from Cox's Bazar's Nazirartek, Samitypara, Maheshkhali's Dhalghata, Sonadia, Ghoribhanga and Kutubjom, Teknaf, Baharchhara and St Martin's Island till 2.30pm on Saturday.

Additional District Administration of Cox's Bazar Bibhishan Kanti Das told Dhaka Tribune that the people have taken shelter in 576 cyclone centres from Saturday 8am to 2:30pm to be safe from the extremely severe cyclonic storm Mocha.

We have opened the shelters since morning, he said

The people of the coastal areas have started coming in. Many more people will also come hopefully. However, it is not possible to say exactly how many people will take refuge, said the official.

Some parts of Bangladesh have started experiencing rain since Friday due to the effect of the cyclone.

Samsul Alam, who sought refuge in the Cox's Bazar deputy commissioner's office, told Dhaka Tribune: "Our homes are on the seashore. They could be washed away at any time. To save our lives, we arrived here early. Only Allah knows the outcome of this cyclone. May he protect us."

Meanwhile, the administration has prepared over 1,000 shelters in the Chittagong district for the cyclone which is predicted to hit the country.

Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina said her government is ready to tackle the situation:

Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina said her government has taken all preparations to tackle the cyclone Mocha.

"Cyclone Mocha is coming. We've kept ready the cyclone centres and taken all types of preparations to tackle it," she was quoted as saying by Dhaka Tribune while addressing the inaugural ceremony of the 60th convention of the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB) as chief guest on IEB premises here.

UN working to handle crisis:

UN agencies spent Friday buckling down with communities across Bangladesh and Myanmar, bracing for Cyclone Mocha, which is expected to hit the region by the weekend.

The very severe cyclonic storm is quickly strengthening in the Bay of Bengal, threatening the region with violent winds, flooding, and landslides that could potentially affect hundreds of thousands of the worlds most vulnerable people, said Clare Nullis, of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

The agencys regional specialized meteorological centre in New Delhi forecast that Mocha would move towards coastal Bangladesh and Myanmar. The storm would further intensify until landfall, between Coxs Bazar in Bangladesh and Kyaukpyu in Myanmar by midday Sunday.

Nearly one million Rohingya refugees in Coxs Bazar camps are preparing for the worst. In 2022, they escaped devastation from the Bay of Bengal cyclone Sitrang, which nonetheless killed 35 people, displaced over 20,000, and caused over $35 million in damages in other parts of the country.

Volunteers on standby

Right now, Cyclone Mocha is headed straight for the camps in Bangladesh, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Speaking from Coxs Bazar, the agencys deputy chief of mission, Nihan Erdogan, said Bangladesh has a massive preparedness plan in place, of which IOM is a partner.

We have trained 100 refugee volunteers in each camp on cyclone preparedness and the flag warning system in 17 IOM-managed camps, she said. Emergency shelter materials and hygiene kits are readily available, and personal protective gear has been provided to all volunteers.

We have to alert and assist our fellow community members so they are prepared to respond and protect themselves and others should the weather conditions worsen when the cyclone reaches our camps, said one of the refugee volunteers, who are disseminating awareness-raising messages and responding to community requests around the clock.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has at the ready 40 ambulances and 33 mobile medical teams on standby at Coxs Bazar, agencys spokesperson Margaret Harris said.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has prepositioned some 230 tons of dry food and 24.5 tons of fortified biscuits, as aid agencies stand ready to provide 50,000 daily hot meals, if needed, said Olga Sarrado, spokesperson for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).

We fear the impact of the storm with significant rainfall with landslides and flooding of camps near the sea, she said. Access to the camps may be impeded, while power supplies and mobile phone towers might be damaged.

The agency is carrying out emergency preparedness in the refugee camps in Coxs Bazar and on the island of Bhasan Char, working with local authorities and its humanitarian partners.

Ready, in case of need, are such shelter materials as tarpaulin, rope, and floor mats along with 11 million aqua tabs, 60,000 jerrycans, and 300,000 soaps. Some 50 to 100 patients are being relocated to a hospital in Coxs Bazar, while most other patients have been sent home.

The agency is also working with the Bhasan Char authorities to ensure humanitarian partners and sectors remain alert and that refugees are kept informed. With more than 1,000 volunteers, six medical teams, and two ambulances on standby, preparations include 53 cyclone shelters and food provisions for the 30,000 Rohingya refugees living on the island, for 15 days.

Prevention in Myanmar

Jens Laerke, of the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA), said local communities in Myanmar were urgently preparing for the cyclones arrival. Myanmars humanitarian emergency response preparedness plan had been activated nationwide earlier this week, he said.

Humanitarian organizations, especially in Rakhine, had pre-positioned personnel and supplies wherever possible. Across Rakhine and the northwest, six million people need humanitarian assistance, and 1.2 million people are displaced, he said.

OCHA is working to ensure that responders would have timely and unimpeded access to those in need, he said, cautioning that the $764 million UN humanitarian response plan for Myanmar was only 10 per cent funded.

In addition, 500,000 inter-agency emergency health kits and 500,000 water purification tablets had been mobilized to Myanmars Ministry of Health Central Medical Storage Department, WHO said.

Reducing disaster risks

Extreme weather hazards will occur more frequently due to climate change in the years ahead, IOM warned.

The linkages between climate change, migration, and displacement are increasingly pressing worldwide, the agency said, calling on governments to implement sustainable climate adaptation, preparedness, and disaster risk reduction measures to avert, mitigate, and address displacement linked to climate disasters and strengthen peoples resilience.
Image Credit: Wikipedia

Jammu&Kashmir/IBNS: The Jammu and Kashmir Policy Institute has proposed that hosting the G20 summit in the region would be a bold move and an opportunity to showcase its potential on a global scale.

The independent think-tank, based in Srinagar, stated that despite opposition from China and Pakistan, India has chosen Srinagar as the venue for the G20 Tourism Working Group meeting scheduled from May 22 to 24, reported The Economic Times.

This is the first time in 70 years that Jammu and Kashmir will host an international event like the G20, and the occasion offers a chance to exhibit its market prospects, ecotourism ventures, and cultural assets to leading nations across the globe.

The symposium or discussion groups held in Srinagar as part of the G20 would represent a major geopolitical blow to Pakistan, which has hardened its stance on Jammu and Kashmir following the revocation of Articles 370 and 35-A and the division of the former state into two separate Union Territories in 2019.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Official Spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi, stated during the weekly media briefing that G20 meetings are being organized in all parts of India, including Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, as they are an integral part of India.

India's decision to host the G20 summit in Jammu and Kashmir is a significant strategic assertion to the international community, primarily to Beijing and Islamabad.

The Jammu and Kashmir Policy Institute reported that the G20 summit offers an opportunity for the administration to strengthen the benefits that it claims resulted from repealing Article 370. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha declared that the summit in Jammu and Kashmir would convey a message of peace and civility to the rest of the world.

Pakistan has objected to India's course of action and has allegedly asked its allied countries, including China, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, to blacklist and stop showing support for the conference.

China has echoed Pakistan's objections, saying it rejects India's intention to host the G20 leader's meeting in the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

However, by hosting the meeting in Jammu and Kashmir, India has asserted its claim to the Indian Himalayas and made it clear that it will not tolerate forced occupation.

It will be challenging for Islamabad to persuade numerous other advanced nations to abandon the idea of holding the summit, as Pakistan is not a member of the G20.

Several corporate leaders, expats, businessmen, and diplomats from Middle Eastern countries have visited Jammu and Kashmir in the past few months to explore investment opportunities in the UT.

The G20 summit has the potential to have a significant impact on the world and, therefore, the Jammu and Kashmir economy. Actions taken at the symposium can influence market mechanisms, the balance of trade, and fiscal measures, all of which have a lasting effect.

Furthermore, the G20 summit can be an opportunity for Western democracies to collaborate in addressing global financial dilemmas, which will ultimately improve Jammu and Kashmir's status.

The University of Kashmir (KU) is among the 15 institutions in the country chosen to host Youth-20 and Civil -20 events that are being organised in connection with India's G20 Presidency, according to the Jammu and Kashmir Policy Institute.

With the G20 summit, Kashmir will have a bigger presence on the global platform and be able to shape significant international economic and commercial decisions.

The involvement of locals in the summit, including representatives from the corporate sector, political sphere, scholars, and the community, could ensure its success.
Image Credit: UNI

Bengaluru/IBNS: The Congress is planning to move its Karnataka MLA-elects to Tamil Nadu to thwart any alleged poaching as the grand old party is smelling a victory, media reports said.

Arrangements have also been made to move all MLA-elects to Bengaluru by evening.

Reportedly, the Congress is in touch with Tamil Nadu's ruling party DMK.

As per the latest trends, the Congress is leading in 124 seats, four more than the figure which is required to form the government.

The BJP, which had failed to get the single majority even in the last elections, is leading in 69 seats.

The Janata Dal Secular, which is leading in 24 seats, could become the kingmaker if the Congress or any party fails to cobble up the required numbers.
Image Credit: Facebook/INC

Bengaluru/IBNS: The beleaguered Congress is all set to form the next government in Karnataka giving a jolt to the country's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) exactly a year ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections.

The results for the May 10 elections indicate the Congress is comfortably returning to power driving away a possibility of the grand old party tying up with the JDS to cobble up the numbers in case of a hung assembly.

As per the latest poll results trends, the Congress is leading in 138 seats, 25 more than the majority mark 113.

The BJP, which had failed to get the majority even in the 2018 elections, ended up winning only 62 seats, leaving 20 for the JDS and 4 for Others.

Congress strongman DK Shivakumar, who led the party's Karnataka campaign, turned emotional in his victory address to the media.

"Credit goes to my party cadres and workers. They have worked hard... It was a collective leadership," Shivakumar, who is the front runner to become the new Chief Minister along with Siddaramaiah, said.

Though the BJP had failed to get a full majority in 2018 in Karnataka, where the country's 'Silicon Valley' Bengaluru is located, the saffron party returned to power with various switch overs from the Congress and JDS in 2021.

To avoid any desertions, the Congress is cautious this time as it has asked all MLA-elects to reach Bengaluru by evening. The party is also planning to fly all MLA-elects to opposition-ruled Tamil Nadu, which is run by the regional satrap DMK.

Meanwhile, Karnataka's outgoing Chief Minister and BJP leader, Basavaraj Bommai, accepted defeat and said, "In spite of a lot of efforts put in by PM and BJP workers, we've not been able to make the mark.
Image Credit: Twitter/Mallikarjun Kharge

New Delhi: Expressing gratitude to the people of Karnataka for the party's massive win in Assembly polls, the Congress on Saturday said it will form a transparent, accountable, people -friendly and welfare oriented government.

"This is truly the victory of the people of Karnataka. They have voted for their progressive future, their welfare and social justice. We thank them for putting their trust in us, " said jubilant Kharge on Karnataka election results.

Crediting the party leaders and workers for the party's big win, he said , "All our Karnataka Congress party workers, state leaders and office bearers on the ground worked extremely hard to ensure this victory."

He added, "The collective leadership of the Congress party including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi made it possible."

"A transparent, accountable, people friendly and welfare oriented government will be formed by the Congress party (in Karnataka)," Kharge said.

The Congress president also assured that the party shall implement the 'five guarantees' promised by it in its manifesto.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi while talking to the reporters at the party headquarters, congratulated the people of Karnataka and party leaders, and said , "This is the victory of Karnataka."

In a veiled attack on the BJP, the former Congress chief said, "In Karnataka elections, on one side was the power of 'crony capitalists', while on the other side was the strength of the people. The strength of the poor has defeated the power of the capitalists."

The same will happen in other states also, he opined.

"Congress stood by the people and raised their issues.

We fought with love. The market of 'hatred' has closed in Karnataka and the shop of love has opened," elated Rahul said.

He also said that the five guarantees as promised will be fulfilled at the first sitting of the state Cabinet.

Elated over party's performance, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took to the micro blogging site and expressed her gratitude to the people of Karnataka for reposing faith on the party, and termed it "historic".

"This is the victory of politics that unites the country.The Congress party will work diligently to implement the guarantees promised to the people of Karnataka," Vadra said.

Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala in a tweet said, "Karnataka voted for Progress! Karnataka voted for Prosperity! Karnataka voted for Swabhimana!

The young and the old, the poor and the middle class, everyone has trusted the Congress and given us a big majority."

Earlier, Congress general secretary in-charge Communications Jairam Ramesh in a tweet wrote, "As the results firm up in Karnataka it is now certain that the Congress has won and the PM has lost. The BJP had made its election campaign a referendum on the PM and on the state getting his 'ashirwaad'. That has been decisively rejected."

Taking a swipe at the PM, the MP said , "The PM injected 'divisiveness' and attempted 'polarisation'. The vote in Karnataka is for an engine in Bengaluru that will combine economic growth with social harmony."

He said the Congress party fought the Karnataka elections on local issues of livelihood and food security, price rise, farmer distress, electricity supply, joblessness, and corruption.

(With UNI inputs)
Bhagwant Singh Mann

Chandigarh/New Delhi: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Saturday said Aam Aadmi Party candidate Sushil Kumar Rinku's win was people's stamp on his government's works during the last 14 months.

Mann, along with AAP's national convener and New Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, addressing media said the party does not believe in the religion, castes-base politics and its issues were always education, health and infrastructure.

He congratulated party volunteers and said with the win, he felt his responsibility has increased.

Commenting on the opposition's politics, Mr Mann said he would like to congratulate them also who came up with objectionable allegations and personal attacks. He said there was a time when one would get votes by alleging anything. Now, people are more concerned with issues like health and education.

Apparently, he was hinting at the allegations of sexual misconduct on one of his ministers by the opposition including the Congress.

Replying to a query regarding the party's defeat in Sangrur LS by-elections last year, he said the party took that in the right spirit and tried to analyse its mistakes and correct the same.

He said the party would try to win all the 13 Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 general elections.

Kejriwal termed the victory 'historic' and said the Jalandhar LS seat was considered a Congress stronghold as in the last 60 years, the party has been ruling it for 50 years. He said that the party only believes in doing politics of development.

AAP leader congratulated the people of Jalandhar and said in assembly elections held last year, even though the party had won 92 seats in the state, the party could register a win at only four assembly seats of Jalandhar parliamentary seat. Five went to the Congress, so this was an unprecedented win.

He said they have defeated dynastic politics of Congress and BJP. While Congress had fielded Karamjeet Kaur Chaudhary, wife of late MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary, BJP had fielded Inder Iqbal Singh, son of Charanjit Singh Atwal. Both left the SAD to join BJP only last month.

Kejriwal said in 2014, the AAP had won 4 LS seats. In 2019 it was reduced to a single seat of Sangrur. In by-elections last year, the party lost that seat too so with Jalandhar win, the party made a comeback in the Lok Sabha and hoped to increase the Lok Sabha presence in 2024.

(With UNI inputs)
image: PIB

The US government has said it is looking forward to Indian PM Narendra Modi's upcoming visit to the country and said both countries share an important partnership.

Vedant Patel, Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the US Department of State, said during a press conference on Thursday: "We very much look forward to hosting Prime Minister Modi and members of the Indian Government at this next upcoming state visit. Im not going to get ahead of whats going to be discussed, but we have an important partnership with India, and we look forward to continuing to take steps to deepen that."

"And this next state visit will be an immense opportunity to talk about a number of shared priorities, including addressing the climate crisis, addressing trade issues, deepening our security cooperation, and a number of other areas as well," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on an Official State Visit to the United States of America, which will include a state dinner on June 22, 2023, following an invitation from President Joseph Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, officials said on Wednesday.

"The visit will underscore the growing importance of the strategic partnership between India and the United States as the two nations collaborate across numerous sectors," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
Image:NSW Police Force Twitter page

Sydney: Detectives, who are investigating the vandalism of a Hindu temple in Australia's Rosehill, recently released images of the suspect behind the incident.

New South Wales (NSW) police said they are hoping the release of images will generate help from the public.

Officers attached to Cumberland Police Area Command were called to the building on Eleanor Street about 9am on Friday 5 May 2023, after paint was found sprayed outside.

"Subsequent inquiries revealed the incident occurred between 1am and 2am early Friday morning," read the police statement.

Following inquiries, detectives have released an image of a vehicle last seen travelling on Virginia Street toward James Ruse Drive, Rosehill, in the early hours of Friday morning.

They believe the occupants of the vehicle may have information which could assist investigators, or even possibly dashcam vision.

Detectives investigating the vandalism of a temple in Rosehill last week are hoping the release of images will generate help from the public.



The incident occurred between 1am & 2am on Friday 5 May.



More info: https://t.co/zuuVGk2CtQ pic.twitter.com/u99FDfHfVu  NSW Police Force (@nswpolice) May 13, 2023

A second image is of a person recorded as being in the vicinity of the temple about the same time.

The person depicted is dressed in dark clothing, wearing a dark beanie and a face mask.

Its not known if the person depicted has any connection with the vehicle depicted in the other image.

Cumberland Commander, Superintendent Sheridan Waldau, said she hoped the community may have information which could help investigators identify the person or the car.

We are also hopeful that the person, or the occupants of the car, will contact detectives as we believe they could have information crucial to the investigation, Supt Waldau said.

NSW Police works closely with members of a widely-diverse community in western Sydney, and its disappointing that actions such as these can cause unnecessary distress.

Police rely on the support of the local community to provide information so it can be investigated, but its important to know that information provided will be treated with the strictest confidence, she said.
Bengaluru: BJPs Karnataka defeat had been anticipated by the political observers and perhaps also the loss of seats compared to the 2018 assembly polls as a direct and immediate effect of the resentment of the Lingayats, the single largest community accounting for the states 17 percent population.

It all started with the stepping down of prominent Lingayat leader BS Yediyurappa as the Chief Minister and fuelled by the refusal of tickets to others lingayat leaders--Jagdish Shettar and Laxman Savad, all belonging to the powerful community.

According to media reports, the Lingayat support can affect at least 85 seats in the 224-seat assembly.

With 136 seats, comfortably over 113 needed to form the government, Congress raised its tally by 55 seats, while BJP with 65 seats lost 39 seats in the 2023 elections in the southern state.

Lingayats, who are traditionally Congress supporters, shifted their loyalty to the BJP in the 80s when Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi suddenly removed Lingayat Chief Minister Veerendra Patil. This helped the BJP to make inroads into the Karnataka.

Media reports said that top Congress leaders had noted that the Lingayat community was extremely disappointed when Yediyurappa was forced to resign in July 2021 during his fourth term due to a series of corruption allegations against him. Being the most prominent leader of the community, his departure from office was perceived as a major show of disrespect by the party.

A gathering of 500 influential Lingayat sadhus had assembled to stage a protest, and one among them had cautioned that the consequences would be "irreversible."

Meanwhile, 67-year-old Lingayat leader Jagdish Shettar also claimed that his exit from BJP will cost BJP 23-25 seats as he resigned from the primary membership of the BJP after he was denied a ticket to contest in the Karnataka assembly election from the Hubli-Dharwad (Central) constituency, which he had represented in the previous Assembly.

Reports said that a sadhu from the community even said that even the mutts are having to pay a 30 percent commission to the government, highlighting the BJPs diminishing support among the community.

The resentment ran so deep that additional provisions for job and education reservations were insufficient to alleviate it.

In March, the ruling BJP eliminated the four percent reservation for Muslims under the Other Backward Classes category and redistributed it among the Lingayats, Vokkaligas, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes. The Lingayat community received the largest portion, amounting to 7 percent, in an attempt to regain their support.
News / National

by Edson Mapani

Germany based Konrad Adenauer Foundation in a collaborative effort with its Zimbabwean office and KAS Programme on Energy Security and Climate Change based in Nairobi is set to launch a publication entitled, "Media Perception on Climate Change in Sub-Saharan Africa," on May 18 in Harare.

In a press statement The Konrad Adenauer Foundation said it was a firm believer in the involvement of a multiplicity of actors in its quest for a greener future and that the media play a crucial role to achieve that."The Konrad Adenauer Foundation has been working on Climate Change and Policy in Zimbabwe with support from the Climate Change Department under the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry and other development partners. The foundation is a strong believer in multi-sectoral approach to solving the climate change crises both locally and beyond. The foundation believes that amongst a coalition of actors, the media could play a fundamental role in the fight towards a greener future and that is why it supported the research on "Media Perceptions on Climate Change in Sub-Saharan Africa".Speaking ahead of the launch, the Resident Director of Konrad Adenauer Foundation Mrs. Anna Hoffman added that, "This launch brings together two critical sectors in which we are actively involved in Zimbabwe. The foundation has been working in both Climate Change and Energy policy space and the Media Sector in Zimbabwe. We remain committed to partnering with government and non-state actors in both sectors.The Minister of Information and Publicity and Broadcasting Services Honourable Monica Mutsvagwa and Germany Ambassador His Excellecy Udo Volvz will officiate the launch.
UNI

Kyiv: Air raid warnings have been declared in multiple Ukrainian regions overnight, according to air raid data from the countrys Ministry of Digital Transformation.

Earlier in the night, air raid warnings were in effect in the Ukrainian regions of Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kirovohrad, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Sumy, Poltava and Vinnytsia, as well as the Ukraine-controlled parts of Kherson region. Air raid sirens also sounded in the Kiev region and the capital city itself.

Early on Saturday morning, air raid alerts were issued in the regions of Zhytomyr, Rivne, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil and Chernivtsi, the ministrys online map showed. Khmelnytskyi authorities said on Telegram that explosions were heard in the region.

Earlier in the night, the Kiev authorities said that air defense systems were activated in the Kiev region.

Air raid sirens went off in the Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, as well as the Ukraine-controlled parts of Zaporizhzhia region and the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) shortly before midnight.

Precision strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure have been carried out by Russia since October 10 (two days after the terrorist attack on the Crimean Bridge).

In February, the head of Ukrainian power grid operator Ukrenergo said that direct damage to Ukraine's energy infrastructure caused by Russian strikes may amount to hundreds of millions of dollars, with economic losses ranging in billions.

(With UNI inputs)
Image: Pixabay

Paris: French police have banned five demonstrations that far-right groups planned to stage in Paris over the weekend, a week after a similar rally sparked a heated public debate.

"The police prefecture prohibits several events organized in Paris for Saturday, May 13, and Sunday, May 14, 2023," the statement read.

The order bans a march called by Place d'Armes to protest worsening living conditions, a demonstration organized by French Action under the motto "France in danger," and rallies in tribute to Jeanne dArc by The Nationalists, Thinking About France, and French Action.

Police cited a risk of public order crimes, incitement of hatred, threats to national cohesion and controversy sparked by a demonstration held by the neo-Nazi May 9 Committee as the reasons for the ban.

Hundreds of black-clad demonstrators poured into the streets of Paris last Saturday to commemorate the death of French ultranationalist Sebastien Deyzieu in 1994. Interior Minister Gerard Darmanin said he had told police chiefs to prevent such rallies from happening again.

(With UNI inputs)
Image: Imran Khan Facebook page

Islamabad: The District and Sessions Court of Islamabad on Saturday dismissed as inadmissible a petition alleging that the marriage of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supremo Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi was illegal.

The case was heard by Civil Judge Nasr Minullah, with Advocate Raja Rizwan Abbasi representing the petitioner.

During the hearing, the petitioners lawyer argued that the marriage during Iddat is illegal, and as per the law, Bushra Bibi was in Iddat in January 2018 and was divorced in November of the same year.

The lawyer questioned the legality of the marriage, asking why the marriage took place again, a report said.

Rizwan Abbasi told the court that the "fraud" started from Bani Gala and the marriage took place in Lahore.

To which the judge contended that if the marriage took place in Lahore, how does this court have jurisdiction?

The lawyer replied that the cleric who performed the Nikah was from Islamabad.

In the end, the court reserved its verdict and later ruled that the plea against Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi is beyond the jurisdiction of the court, and thus inadmissible.

In 2018, Imran Khan tied the knot with Bushra Bibi after she divorced her former husband Khawar Farid Maneka.

Iddat is the period a woman must observe after the death of her husband or after a divorce, during which she may not marry another man.

Last month, during hearing in the case, the nikahkhwan, who solemnized the marriage of Imran Khan, told the Islamabad District and Sessions Court that according to the PTI chief, there was a prediction that if he married Bushra Bibi, he would become the prime minister.

Mufti Muhammad Saeed Khan, the nikahkhwan, recorded his statement with the district and sessions court in April.

The Mufti claimed that Imran contacted him over the phone on January 1, 2018, asking him to solemnize his marriage with Bushra Bibi.

The PTI chief took him to a house in DHA Lahore where a woman identified herself as Bushra Bibis sister, Saeed claimed, and said he asked the woman if Bushra Bibis nikah could be solemnized as per Shariah.

He told the court that the woman told him that all the conditions of the Shariah for Bushra Bibis marriage were fulfilled.

On the womans assurance, Mufti Saeed solemnized the nikah on January 1, 2018. After marriage, Imran and Bushra Bibi started living together in Islamabad.

Saeed further claimed Imran Khan contacted him again in February that year, requesting him to conduct another nikah with Bushra on the pretext that the first time her iddat had not been completed.

Mufti Saeed said Imran Khan claimed Bushra bibi was divorced in November 2017 and that after marrying Bushra, there was a prediction that he would become the prime minister.

Imran Khan himself said the first nikah was illegal, Mufti Saeed claimed.

(With UNI inputs)
Image: Pixabay

Islamabad: A 50-year-old Hindu man, who was identified as Amlakh Bheel, was decapitated in Shahdadpur area of Pakistan by a suspected group of Muslim community people.

Local media reports say that he was beheaded after he allegedly protested against the eve-teasing of his daughter Reshma Bheel, reports ANI.

The victims relatives informed that the victim had threatened to file a police complaint against those youth with the help of someone he knew in the Pakistan Darawar Ittehad (PDI), a Pak Hindu organization leading the protests against abduction and forced conversion of Hindu girls in Pakistan, especially in Sindh and Punjab provinces, the Indian news agency reported quoting Pakistan Untold.

Police have registered a complaint in connection with the incident.

However, no arrest has been made so far.
Huma Qureshi recently attended the screening of Sonakshi Sinhas latest web series Dahaad. But her appearance at the event caught the attention of Television actor Pankit Thakker for a very negative reason.

According to reports, the actress has been slammed for going braless at the event.

web screen grab

Huma Qureshi's Braless Look Slammed

Dill Mill Gayye actor Pankit Thakker has strongly criticized Huma Qureshi's braless look calling it an act of 'indecency' and 'inappropriate for a public event.

During a conversation with Spotboye, Pankit Thakker opined that Huma Qureshis outfit at the screening of Sonakshi Sinha's web series Dahaad was 'not in good taste.'

web screen grab

"As a celebrity in the Indian film industry, I have witnessed many fashion moments on and off the red carpet. Recently, two actresses caught my attention at a public event - Huma Qureshi and Sonakshi Sinha. While both the actresses looked stunning in their own styles, it was Huma Qureshi's braless look that I found not in good taste, especially in a conservative society like India," the actor was quoted as saying by the media outlet.





The actor further said that on the contrary, Huma Qureshi's braless look was not in line with the conservative Indian ideology.

"It was indecent and inappropriate attire for a public event, especially considering the moral values and modesty held by Indian culture. Dressing in such a way sends out an impression of being rebellious and disrespectful to the traditional Indian values," he added.

Pankit Lauds Sonakshi Sinhas Choice Of Fashion

On the other hand, Pankit went on to laud Sonakshi Sinhas choice of fashion.

He said, While it is important to embrace modern fashion, it is equally essential to do so in a way that is respectful towards Indian cultural norms. Sonakshi Sinha's dressing at the event is a testament to this fact, and Huma Qureshi could take heed from this example to dress appropriately and be a role model that young people can look up to.





Huma Qureshi wore a printed dress with a plunging neckline that caught the actor's attention at the screening of Dahaad.

Meanwhile, Sonakshi Sinha's crime-thriller web series Dahaad is helmed by Reema Kagti and Ruchika Oberoi. Vijay Varma, Gulshan Deviah, and Sohum Shah also star in Sonakshi Sinha's web series among others. Dahaad is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

(For more news and updates from the world of celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment, and let us know your thoughts on this story in the comments below.)
Get ready to be whisked away into a digital storm of spirited discussion as Starbucks unleashes its latest advertisement, commanding the spotlight and igniting a chorus of praise and intense criticism throughout social media.

The coffee titan finds itself in the eye of a tumultuous controversy as diverse voices clash head-on, debating the audacious nature of its message.

Reuters

The coffee giant found itself amid controversy following the release of an advertisement on May 10th centered around inclusivity and transgender rights.

Long Beach City College

The ad, intended to promote a message of acceptance, faced significant backlash on social media platforms, with numerous individuals expressing anger and claiming their sentiments were offensive. The hashtag #BoycottStarbucks swiftly gained traction on Twitter, becoming a trending topic.



In the ad, a transgender woman reunites with her long-lost father in a vibrant and bustling Starbucks outlet.

A woman named Arpit, now identifying as Arpita, shares a close bond with her mother, who joins her at a Starbucks outlet. However, her father is still grappling with accepting her new identity. The ad begins with the parents eagerly waiting at Starbucks.

The father, visibly uneasy, dials Arpita's number, still saved as "Arpit." Finally, Arpita walks in and warmly embraces her parents. Her father then proceeds to the cafe counter to order their coffee.

Arpita is pleasantly surprised when the Starbucks barista announces, "Three cold coffees for Arpita."

This heartfelt moment reveals her father's acceptance as he chooses "Arpita" as the name to be written on the coffee cup, aligning with Starbucks' cherished tradition.

"Beta, you are still my child. Only a letter has been added to your name," the father tells her. Starbucks India echoes a message of acceptance and love, tweeting, "Your name defines who you are - whether it's Arpit or Arpita. At Starbucks, we love and accept you for who you are. Because being yourself means everything to us," accompanied by the hashtag #ItStartsWithYourName.

Watch the ad here:

The ad sparked various reactions on the internet.

Your name defines who you are - whether it's Arpit or Arpita. At Starbucks, we love and accept you for who you are. Because being yourself means everything to us. #ItStartsWithYourName.  pic.twitter.com/DKNGhKZ1Hg  Starbucks India (@StarbucksIndia) May 10, 2023

Communications strategy consultant Karthik Srinivasan tweeted, "To see something inclusive and non-judgmental in these days of polarizing communications and weaponized hate... is genuinely welcome."



The replies to this tweet truly depict the rot in Indian society. Anything, even with a modicum of love, is hated. https://t.co/QmbnnqF41P  Pooja  (@Pooja_Chaudhuri) May 11, 2023

Have you ever wondered why ads on trans issue always show Arpit turning Arpita and never or very rearely Arpita becoming Arpit? Guess, why? https://t.co/aGINJ157D1  Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) May 12, 2023

Twitter user Sanjeev Verma posted, "Initiatives like this will help rid our heavily prejudiced world of transphobia. Bravo."

However, another segment of the internet targeted Starbucks for the ad.

Starbucks can't protect their own transgender employees against blatant discrimination, but instead choose to sack them. Repeated incidents showcasing it's not a safe working environment for them.

Such advertisements are produced every once in a while to whitewash their image. https://t.co/xgQzAZlBdL pic.twitter.com/UDrlbQ0jwB  Kushal (@kushfehmi) May 11, 2023

Indian-American writer Sadanand Dhume labeled it "a large dose of extremist American gender ideology." Another user tweeted, "Starbucks brings woke to India by the trans campaign."

What's wrong with you @StarbucksIndia ? Focus on your core business and stay away from all this unnecessary wokeist balderdash you are trying to push here in India.

Zabardasti udta teer lene ka shauk ho gaya hai then be prepared for the pain. #GoWokeGoBroke. https://t.co/VSjJzVDKBO  bithika (@bithika11) May 11, 2023

It's worth noting that Starbucks is not the first brand in India to face backlash for an advertisement. In 2020, the famous jewelry brand Tanishq encountered significant social media trolling over an ad featuring an interfaith baby shower, leading to its removal.

In 2021, ethnic wear brand FabIndia faced calls for a boycott from a social media section for its "Jashn-E-Riwaaz" festive collection.

As the Supreme Court of India continues its deliberation on petitions seeking legal recognition for same-sex marriage, the Central government has disclosed that three states have expressed their opposition to the proposed measure.



(For the latest trending stories, keep reading Indiatimes)


In a courtroom drama that captivated the globe, Lori Vallow Daybell, known as the "Doomsday Mom," was pronounced guilty of murder and conspiracy on Friday.

The shocking case centered around a bizarre cult plot that led to the deaths of her two children and her husband's first wife.

The 49-year-old Vallow Daybell maintained an emotionless demeanor as the verdict was delivered seven hours after the jury commenced deliberations.

Even before her fate was sealed, she smiled and chatted with her attorney, adding an eerie twist to the already chilling proceedings.

In addition to murder and conspiracy charges, Vallow Daybell was also found guilty of multiple counts of grand theft by deception and grand theft, revealing a web of deceit that extended beyond the tragic loss of lives.

Prosecutors painted Vallow Daybell as an aspiring cultist with sinister motives of "money, power, and sex" throughout the emotionally charged six-week trial. Their narrative pointed to her alleged involvement in the murders of her 16-year-old daughter Tylee Ryan and her son Joshua "J.J." Vallow, in September 2019.

Tylee wrote this about you #LoriVallow and you killed her anyway. Rot in hell. pic.twitter.com/aVz8WoF2wn   (@jenbo_29) May 12, 2023

The grim discovery of the children's remains occurred in the backyard of Vallow Daybell's third husband, Chad Daybell, a doomsday author, in June 2020.

Today is a good day! My former sister-in-law, #LoriVallow, was convicted of all charges. Justice wont bring back my niece, Tylee Ryan, her little brother, JJ Vallow, or Chad Daybells first wife, Tammy Daybell, but it lightens the load a bit. (1/4) pic.twitter.com/vZWolMWfSk  Annie Cushing (@AnnieCushing) May 12, 2023

The shocking revelations did not end there. Vallow Daybell also faced accusations of conspiring with Chad to kill his first wife, Tammy Daybell, who mysteriously passed away at their Salem home on October 19, 2019.

The courtroom was subjected to the distressing sight of graphic images depicting the children's remains. According to the prosecution, Vallow Daybell committed the heinous acts to free her and Chad from the restrictions of their previous relationships so they could start a new life.

Text messages presented as evidence revealed the couple's sinister intentions to inflict pain upon Tylee, J.J., and even Vallow Daybell's older son.

Larry & Kay will have justice and peace for Mother's Day Weekend 

May #GodBless & comfort you until the battle continues for next evil ba*tard



#LoriVallowDaybellTrial #LoriVallow #LoriVallowverdict pic.twitter.com/4J0jX1Ykbr  Mia & Her 2ndThoughts (@Angels_Dwell) May 12, 2023

The defense, led by attorney Jim Archibold, countered by suggesting that Chad had manipulated Vallow Daybell through his apocalyptic teachings, painting her as a victim rather than a willing participant.

The shocking trial exposed the dark underbelly of a cult-like dynamic and revealed the devastating consequences it brought upon innocent lives. As the gavel fell on the guilty verdict, the nation grappled with the chilling reality of "Doomsday Mom's" actions and the tragic aftermath of a twisted plot.

"She wanted to be with Chad. They were obviously having an affair. But Lori had no plan to kill her kids," Archibold told the court.

Vallow's grandfather, Larry Woodcock, arrived at court wearing a t-shirt that proudly proclaimed him the "World's Greatest Papa."

Finally. Lori Vallow-Daybell is guilty on all counts. We are ready for the next 2 cases. These are Americans grandparents  RIP Tammy, JJ, Tylee pic.twitter.com/7SXrL5gK0S  Leslie Rumsey (@RumseyLeslie) May 12, 2023





Fighting back tears, he expressed his sorrow, saying, "I'm not the world's greatest papa... but I hope I was the world's greatest papa to J.J. and Tylee."

Tearing up, Larry said Im not be the worlds greatest papa but I hope I was the worlds greatest papa to JJ and Tylee. pic.twitter.com/5rPyQ42Y9G  Pretty Lies & Alibis (@PrettyLiesAlibi) May 12, 2023

Larry and his wife, Kay, were seen embracing each other in tears after Vallow Daybell exited the courtroom.

We are relieved and grateful that justice has been served with the guilty verdict in Tammys tragic murder. While this cannot bring Tammy, JJ, and Tylee back, we are glad that the justice system has done its job in holding the responsible person accountable for her actions. pic.twitter.com/TlkUNftWLj  Tammy Douglas Daybell Foundation (@TDD_Foundation) May 12, 2023

Larry led reporters in an unexpected rendition of "We Will Rock You" outside the courthouse before addressing their questions. Overwhelmed with emotions, he stated, "For once in my life, I'm kinda at a loss for words. I want to personally thank and I want to hug every one of those jurors personally. What they went through and what they saw was mind-boggling."

Larry Woodcock speaks after #LoriVallow is convicted on all charges. #LoriVallowTrial pic.twitter.com/mFuhtqxtCK  Annie Elise x 10 to LIFE (@_10toLIFE) May 12, 2023

Larry expressed his anticipation for Chad Daybell's trial and, when asked if he had a final message for Vallow Daybell, he replied, "Turn out the lights. The party's over," implying that justice would be served.

In a statement released shortly after the courtroom was adjourned, the Madison and Fremont County prosecutors expressed their satisfaction with the jury's decision, stating they were "very pleased."

They reassured the public of their commitment to seeking justice for Tylee Ryan, J.J. Vallow, and Tammy Daybell.

However, they refrained from providing further comments due to the pending charges against Chad.

(For the latest trending stories, keep reading Indiatimes)
An Ondo State High Court has sentenced 61-year-old pastor, Famakinwa Ajayi, to 18 years imprisonment for defiling and impregnating a 16-year-old girl.

Ajayi, who is a member of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ayede Ogbese, in Akure North council area, was charged to court on a two (2)-counts charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a child, contrary to Section 31(1)of the Childs Rights Law of Ondo State and sexual abuse and exploitation contrary to Section 32 (1).

Information Nigeria learnt that the victim subsequently gave birth for the defendant

The suit marked, AK/195C/2021, was filed on behalf of the Ondo State government by Helen Falowo, Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, Ondo State Ministry of Justice.

The judge, Yemi Fasanmi, while delivering the judgement, discharged and acquitted the defendant on Count 2 but found him guilty on Count 1 and proceeded to convict and sentence him to 18 years imprisonment.

READ ALSO: Tenant Beats Up Landlady Over Electricity Bill

The defendant was also alleged to have raped the victim at the market square where he took her on the pretext of delivering her from demonic spirits.

He continued in this dastardly act unabashedly till the innocent minor became pregnant in October 2021, the court said.

Ajayi, however confessed to have slept with the victim once in his living room before he was charged to court.

Meanwhile, upon being briefed of the incident by the Ayede Ogbese Women Vanguard of the town, a renowned women human rights activist, Olori Olufunmilayo Nejo-Oluyede, took in the victim, sent her back to school and agreed to sponsor her education forthwith

Olori Olufunmilayo Nejo-Oluyede, also, empowered the victims mother in a small business to enable her cater for the needs of the baby, whom she affectionately christened Peter.

Before then, the victim had dropped out of school and had resorted to hawking pure water on the Ayede Ogbese Akure-Owo highway, alongside her mother.
President Muhammadu Buhari has saluted former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (retd.), for the wisdom of setting up the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in 1973.

The scheme came into implementation after the Civil War of 19671970 as part of a post-war policy formulated to reconcile and integrate young Nigerians across all regions of the country.

According to Mr. President in a statement on Friday made available by Femi Adesina, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Buhari congratulated the former Head of State and all directors-general of the corps, past and present, for inspiring and sustaining a 50-year legacy.

I commend the former Head of State, past and present Directors General of the Corps, academic institutions, and the Nigerian Army for inspiring and sustaining a 50-year legacy and also providing an enabling environment for the success of the scheme, he said.

READ MORE: NYSC Asks Married Prospective Corpers To Redeploy To Husbands State Of Residence

President Buhari added that the scheme has truly achieved the goal of national integration, by providing opportunities for cross-cultural interactions and establishing a bridge for improved understanding of various individual and ethnic identities.

He noted that the scheme has underscored the bottom line of the common values of fairness, justice, peace and unity.

The NYSC scheme remains one the strongest ideals of nation building, institutionally encouraging inter-cultural and inter-religious marriages, resettling of people of various tribes in different parts of the country.

Exploration of entrepreneurship and business opportunities in places, among citizens, and enabling a new culture of oneness, brotherliness and neighbourliness, Buhari stated.

He affirmed that the scheme should be sustained, with a constant reminder of its history, structure and purpose, adding that it should not be undermined for any reason.
News / National

by Mandla Ndlovu

The City of Harare has unearthed massive structural and environmental irregularities which are in breach of City by-laws at 49 on Cork in Avondale Harare.The posh neighbourhood of Avondale has been turned into a den of tuckshops and irregular structures which are substandard and not fit for the Avondale Zone.It is reported that 49 on Cork which was a restaurant has been turned into a mini mall with over 20 shops crammed into what was the former restaurant.The design and architecture did not have council approval and the whole place is a sham alleged one tenant who refused to be named.Contacted for comment a space sales lady acting on behalf of the owners of 49 on Cork said she could not comment on the allegations levelled against the building and its owners.Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Commission ZACC and the City of Harare are working hand in hand to bring the culprits to book and restore order in Avondale.
The Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, on Friday, expressed confidence in his chances of ruling Nigeria as president.

Recall that the Labour Party presidential candidate came third in the 2023 presidential election, said this at the presentation of a book entitled: Peter Obi: Many voices, one Perspectives, in Awka, Anambra State capital, on Friday.

Obi said: Anyone who thinks Im on transit is wasting his time. Let me tell you, I must be the president of this country. Im sure of that. If it is not today, it must be tomorrow.

Other people who want to be, should come and tell us what they want to do, and how to do it. This is my country, I dont have dual citizenship. If anyone thinks I am going to run away from Nigeria, they are lying.

I have three engagements in Anambra and Lagos today. I will be speaking in Lagos tonight. We will not leave Nigeria. I am not in a hurry to become the president, but I know it must happen.

READ MORE: Peter Obi Blasts Obidients, Says Attacks On Adeboye Most Unacceptable

For three years I was in court in Anambra to reclaim my governorship, just to challenge the process. Many people tried to discourage me, but I said even if the entire four years tenure elapsed for us to prove a point and correct the process, I will be fulfilled.

I was in an event yesterday in Abuja, and it was World Food Organisation. I listened to report that stated that Nigeria will face intense hunger in years to come.

It is Nigeria that will face hunger, not Peter Obi. The report listed Borno, Adamawa and Yobe as the states that will be worse hit, but those three states put together are five times larger in land mass of Israel, yet Egypt exports food, but Nigeria cannot feed itself.

So we must cultivate a habit of doing the right thing. If we dont do the right thing, it will consume us some day.

I must be the president of this country; if not today, it will be next time. Im not desperate; Im not in a hurry. Im committed to cause of better Nigeria, he said.

Obi also said he would respect the decision of the court in the ongoing electoral dispute.

We are peaceful, we are not going to quarrel with any politician. Dont be discourage about my apologies to people. As youth, we cannot fight our fathers, even when we are right.

We are not going to riot . I am in Nigeria; I dont not have dual citizenship; I will not run away; we must be here to right the wrong in the country, he stated.

Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Afred Achebe, Catholic bishop of Awka diocese, Most Rev. Paulinus Ezeokafor, were among dignitaries at the event.
The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) on Friday said it would appeal an order of perpetual injunction granted by Justice James Omotosho of a Federal High Court in Abuja restraining it from imposing fines on broadcast stations in the country.

NBCs response comes after Wednesdays ruling by Justice James Omotosho which was contained in a statement signed by its Director General, Balarabe Shehu Illelah.

Omotosho, while ruling on a suit filed by Incorporated Media Rights Agenda, declared that NBC was not a Court and had no power to impose fines as punishment on broadcast stations.

READ ALSO: NBC Has No Power To Fine Broadcast Stations  Court Rules

He had made the pronouncement while ruling on a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1386/2021, filed against the NBC by the Incorporated Trustees of Media Rights Agenda.

Justice Omotosho set aside a fine of N500,000 each imposed by NBC on 45 broadcast stations on March 1,2019.

He said that the NBC Code, which gives the commission the power to impose sanction on broadcast stations, was in conflict with Section 6 of the 1999 Constitution that vested judicial powers in the court of law.

Omotosho held that the court would not sit idle and watch a body imposing fine arbitrarily without recourse to the law.

He agreed with the plaintiff that the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, being a subsidiary legislation that empowers an administrative body such as the NBC to enforce its provisions, cannot confer judicial powers on the commission to impose criminal sanctions or penalties such as fines.

The action of the respondent qualifies as excessiveness, he held.

But the NBC Director General, Balarabe Shehu Ilelah, in its first official statement on the judgement, said the organisation would appeal the verdict.

He said, The attention of the National Broadcasting Corporation has been drawn to a ruling by the Federal High Court, Abuja nullifying the powers of the commission to impose fines on broadcast stations that violate the provisions of the National Broadcasting Code.

In view of the foregoing, the commission has applied for a Certified True Copy of the judgment. It is global best practice and the ethics of the legal profession, that no party to a suit can freely comment on a judgement it has not seen or read.

The commission will appeal against the judgment when found to be in conflict with previous judgements of the court which empowers the commission to regulate broadcasting in Nigeria.

Reacting to the court judgment, the Nigerian Guild of Editors, in a statement by its President, Mustapha Isah, and General Secretary, Dr Iyobosa Uwugiaren, saluted the MRA for mustering the courage to test the draconian NBC Act.

The NGE said the judgment vindicated the position of the editors that NBC could not appropriate the constitutional responsibility of the judicial arm of government.

Justice Omotoshos ruling on Wednesday vindicated our consistent position over the years that the NBC cannot be the accuser, the investigator and the judge on matters relating to alleged breach of the Broadcast Code.

Our position has always been that an independent body or institution should be the one to examine any perceived infraction by the broadcast stations, which should be given the opportunity to defend themselves.

The court is right in its ruling by saying that it would not sit idle and watch a body imposing fine arbitrarily without recourse to the law, the NGE said.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arraigned High Priest Nnodu Azuka Kenrick, the founder and General Overseer of Seraphic and Sabbath Assembly, and two others before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos State, for drug trafficking.

The High Priest, his co-defendants Udezuka Udoka and Oyoyo Mary Obasi, were arraigned before Justice Akintayo Aluko, on Friday, May 12, 2023, on a count-charge of conspiracy and unlawful possession of the hard drugs.

The High Priest was also arraigned on fourth count-charge of conspiracy, unlawful export of 14.90 kilograms of Cannabis Sativa and Methamphetamine and procuring both Udoka and Oyoyo to unlawfully export the drugs, the duo were arraigned on all the count charge of conspiracy, unlawful export of the drug.

READ ALSO: NDLEA Intercepts Skunk, Indian Hemp In Lagos, Ogun

The prosecutor, Mr. Abu Ibrahim told the court that they committed the offences with one Chisom, now at large, on February 9, 2023.

Mr. Ibrahim told the court that all the defendants were arrested with the drugs at the NAHCO Export Shed, a Customs Point of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja-Lagos.

He told the court that the offences contravened sections 14 (b); 21 (2)(d) and 20 (1)(a) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap. N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and punishable under Sections 11 (b) and 20(2)(a) of the same Act.

All the defendants pleaded guilty to the charges.

Following their guilty plea, the prosecutor after reviewing the fact of the matter, through an exhibit keeper, Fredrick Atoni, urged the court to convict and sentence the defendants in accordance with the sections of the NDLEA Act they were charged with.

But the defendants lawyer, Chief Benson Ndakara, expressed rude shock over the defendants guilty plea, saying that he was taken by surprise with their change of mind, after dissipating extra energy and time to prepare and file their various bail applications.

Chief Ndakara however, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy in sentencing the defendants, on the ground that they are first time offenders without any record of previous conviction.

Justice Aluko after taking submissions of parties convicted all the defendants as charged, and ordered that they be remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS) till when he will pronounce their sentence on the charge.

See photo below:
A professor with the Edo State University, Musa Muhibi, has said that Nigeria requires a minimum of 1.8 million units of blood per year to meet the blood transfusion need of its citizens.

Muhibi, a professor of Haematology at the university revealed this while delivering the 7th Inaugural lecture series of the University titled The Cycle in Blood Safety: Being Efficient, Selfish and Effectively Generous.

The don, who is the Dean of the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, said that the rate of blood donation in Nigeria is low, noting that only 10 per cent donates blood voluntarily.

He said the majority of blood donations come from families of patients, some of whom are not adequately screened for infections and other health conditions.

READ ALSO: I Mix HIV Blood With Zobo Drinks  Woman Calls Radio Station To Confess

He said that the demand for blood transfusion is high in Nigeria, as the country has one of the highest maternal mortality rates globally and increased prevalence of diseases such as malaria which require blood transfusion.

Speaking at the event he also added, Unfortunately, the country has one of lowest voluntary blood donation rates globally, with only 10 per cent of blood supply coming from voluntary donors. 60 per cent comes from family replacement donors, while 30 per cent comes from paid blood donors.

Therefore, strategies aimed at promoting voluntary blood donation are needed in Nigeria to increase the availability of safe blood and meet the high demand for blood transfusion, he said.

Furthermore, blood transfusion is a crucial aspect of healthcare services, particularly in emergencies and during medical procedures like surgeries.

The don highlighted factors affecting voluntary blood donation in Nigeria to fear of needles, lack of trust in the healthcare system, inadequate awareness, and cultural and religious beliefs.

He, however, called for public awareness and education campaigns on the importance of blood donation and the benefits of voluntary donation.

Earlier, the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Emmanuel Aluyor said the lecture became imperative as it highlights the importance of promoting voluntary blood donation and a sustainable blood transfusion system in the country.

The VC commended the Medical Laboratory Science Department of the university for the second inaugural lecturer this year and also for having a 100 per cent pass rate in their professional examinations.
Nigerias former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, says the performances of Nigerian leaders during his prime were much better than leaders of now, adding that Nigerians then, made right choices then.

While speaking during the National Daily Awards in Lagos State, Obasanjo as keynote speaker, noted that even though politics was ranging then like the country is experiencing today, they were determined to ensure they chose the right leaders who made the right decisions for the country.

In fact, in making choices of leaders, I will say Nigerians of post-independence make the right choices of leaders. We all know that if your choice is right, the performance and consequences will be right, he said.

He recalled the opinion of world leaders about Nigeria immediately after independence but regretted that the country is not living up to that expectation.

When the then Prime Minister went to the United Nations post-independence, the world referred to Nigeria as a giant in the sun, not even a giant of Africa.

But the question is, have we lived up to that? If we have not, the question is why? Are there certain qualities that leaders in the post-independence era had that are absent in leadership today? We talk about values, have our values changed? What is Nigeria today, and what is the Nigeria we want? How do we get the Nigeria we want?

READ ALSO: Save Nigeria From Looming Danger Waiting To Happen  Obasanjo Tells Buhari As He Faults INEC

Over a long period of my life in peacemaking and mediation, I have come to realize that peace, security, and stability are essential ingredients for the development and growth of any country. Without justice, equity, and fairness, no country can attain greatness.

When you look at us individually, there is something unique about Nigerians. Wherever they go, they excel individually. Today, when you look globally, Nigerians are doing great things individually. Its time for us to unite and take the country to where its supposed to be.

If we fail to do so, then our existence is useless. We need to make a difference so that we can leave behind a better society.
The Ajagun Ode of the Ode community, Oba Adewale Sunday Boboye, has been sentenced to ten years imprisonment by an Osi Magistrate Court in the Akure North council area of Ondo state for forcibly destroying food crops and palm trees.

It was gathered that the trial Magistrate, Mrs Bukola Ojo, sentenced the convict to 10 years after founding him guilty of the charges preferred against him.

Police Prosecutor, Sergeant Ajiboye Babatunde however, said the convict, and others at large on September 20, 2022, at about 3:00 pm at the Pastorate and laity of The Apostolic Church Nigeria, along Ado Ekiti Road Igoba, Akure North conspired to commit Felony to wit: malicious damage.

Babatunde alleged that the convict unlawfully demolished the perimeter fence of the pastorate and laity of the Church, valued at about one million naira, demolished the Palm trees and food crops valued at about five million and also demolished the signpost of the church.

READ MORE: Suspected Cultists Kill Three In Ondo Community

He added that the convict, when arrested, could not give a satisfactory account to the police.

Babatunde called four witnesses to testify in court and asked the court to punish him accordingly so as to serve as a deterrent to others who might indulge in a similar act.

But the convict, through his defence counsel, Adeola Kayode, denied the allegations levelled against him. He urged the court to temper justice with mercy.

Delivering judgement, Magistrate Ojo, convicted and sentenced the accused to prison for a period of two years in count one with an option of fine of N20,000.

Magistrate Ojo said that On count two and three, the defendant is sentenced to two years imprisonment each with no option of fine and another one year jail term with an option of fine of N10,000.

On count five, the defendant is sentenced to an imprisonment for a period of two years with no option of fine while on count six, the defendant is sentenced to an imprisonment for a period of one year with an option of fine of N20,000.

The court, thereafter awarded the sum of N5 million naira as compensation to the complainant for the damage of the perimeter fence, palm trees and other crops.

Magistrate Ojo, however noted that if the convict pays the compensation, the imprisonment would be vacated. She added that the imprisonment was to run concurrently.

The defendants insisted that the Agreement and the Survey Plan of Juwon Semudara was not genuine and even if so, the land purportedly conveyed therein is at Kurugbene and cannot convey land at Kofawe, a separate and distinct community. Three other cases relating to land at Kofawe being claimed by the same Claimant were also consolidated.

In the 19 page judgment delivered by Justice Temitope M. Adedipe, the court observed that all the parties agreed that Kurugbene and Kofawe are separate and distinct communities which the Claimant and his witnesses confirmed in evidence.
No fewer than three suspected car thieves have been paraded alongside other seven suspects in Ibadan, Oyo State.

It was gathered that Akodu Sunday, (Male) aged 53, Daramola Adegboyega, (Male) aged 50 and Kolawole Babatunde, (Male) aged 36 were on Friday paraded at the Oyo State Police Command Headquarters, Eleyele Ibadan.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP. Adewale Osifeso disclosed this while addressing journalists about their arrest, on behalf of the state commissioner of Police CP. Adebowale Williams.

He said, On 6TH May, 2023 at about 0500hrs, three members of a criminal syndicate who specialize in removing exotic cars from where they are parked by unsuspecting members of the public went Arola Street, Apete area and removed a Toyota Corolla Car (Wine Color) with Registration Numbers LMD 237 AA from where it was parked by its owner.

READ MORE: Instagram Cloth Vendor Found Dead In Ibadan Hotel

However, as soon as the hoodlums were moving the car away from the street, the owner sighted them and quickly engaged a Commercial Driver who drove a Nissan Micra Car to give them a hot chase and in the process, the stolen Toyota Corolla Car has intercepted at Ajibode area Ibadan and the kingpin of the criminal gang who later identified himself as Akodu Sunday was apprehended and handed over to the police at Apete Division.

Upon interview at the Monitoring Unit, the suspect voluntarily confessed to the crime and series of similar criminal activities he had masterminded with his fleeing syndicate members.

Further discreet investigation later led to the arrest of the two fleeing syndicate members; Daramola Adegboyega and Kolawole Babatunde in their respective hideouts and they equally confessed to have participated in the criminal activity.

Investigation continues as updates would be provided accordingly, please. He said.

However, thirteen keys were recovered from the suspects .
Nollywood actress, Ufuoma McDermott, has taken to social media to celebrate her 20 years journey in the Nollywood industry.

The thespian in a post via Instagram on Friday also narrated how she met veteran Nigerian filmmaker and producer, Zeb Ejiro.

According to her, she had envisaged going to Hollywood anytime she considers acting, however, things turned out differently.

The Delta state-born actress said she swallowed her pride and called Ejiro after bragging she would not join Nollywood and one month after the call, she made her debut in acting.

READ ALSO: Simi To Join Alicia Keys On Keys To The Summer Tour

Ufuoma added that she is thankful to Zeb and everyone who has contributed to her sojourn in the film industry.

She wrote: In October 2022, I met Zeb Ejiro at the office of a big brand manager. I was excited as I grew up watching almost everything he had produced and directed. He in turn stated that I would do well acting in Nigerian films. I took offense and said Sir, when I decide to start acting, Ill go straight to Hollywood. He handed me his card and responded calmly but clearly, Please remember me when you get there.

2023, I had finished my year abroad at the French village Badagry but due to the just concluded AUU strike, I couldnt resume my final year as my mates in other disciplines had not finished their 3rd year. There was no modeling or ushering jobs to keep me busy.

I swallowed my pride and picked Zeb Ejiros card. A month after that call; 20 years ago, I started in my first Nollywood production, produced and directed by Zeb Ejiro. I celebrate Zev and every single person who has contributed to this journey of my sojourn as an actor, writer, producer and director.

Its been 20 years In bravery & fears I havent gotten here alone. Many people have sown, I have been hurt Others, Ive hurt.

I have learnt lessons from situations & persons. Still on this journey, I pray my path be sunny. This heart is grateful. This girl is thankful
A 25-year-old woman, Rahma Sulaiman is currently remanded at the Kano State police custody for allegedly faking the kidnap of her own six years old daughter, Hafsat Kabiru and demanding a ransom of N3 million from her husband, Kabiru Shehu to regain freedom.

Also, another 45-year-old woman, Zainab Rabiu, was arrested for arranging the kidnap of her younger brother, Almustapha Bashir and demanding a ransom of N20 million but after a series of negotiations later settled for N5.1 million.

Mohammed Usaini Gumel, the States Commissioner of Police, confirmed the arrests while parading the women alongside 14 other suspects of kidnapping and a drug dealer at the Bompai police headquarters.

The commissioner said, On 08/05/2023, a report was received from one Kabiru Shehu of Sharada Quarters, Kano Municipal LGA that his divorced wife, Rahma Sulaiman, 25-years-old informed him that his 6 years old daughter with the name as Hafsat Kabiru, was missing, and that unknown persons called her through her mobile phone demanding the sum of N3,000,000 as ransom.

READ ALSO: Police Parade Suspected Three Car Thieves With 13 Master Keys In Ibadan

In a follow-up investigation, the victim was rescued in Madobi LGA. The divorced wife was arrested and confessed to having planned, took her daughter to a hideout and demanded the ransom, he said.

In a related development, the Police Commissioner said, Sometimes in 04/04/2023, we received a report from a resident of Kofar Ruwa Quarters, Dala LGA, Kano State that his son, one Almustapha Bashir, 6 years old was kidnapped and a ransom of N20,000,000 was demanded which they settled at N5,150,000:00).

In a follow-up of the investigation, the victim was rescued unhurt and the following suspects were arrested, Zainab Rabiu, 45 years old of Gwammaja Quarters, a masterminder and an aunt to the victim that organized and arranged the Kidnapping. Others were Abdurrashid Saidu, 27 years, Hassan Abdullahi, 24 years old and Ahmed Saleh, 25 years old, all of Sheka Quarters Kano. All suspects confessed to the crime and will be charged to court upon completion of the investigation, CP Gumel said.

Gumel said nemesis caught up with some suspects who in an attempt to kidnap the victims that resisted, shot dead their own colleague.

The victims, according him were rushed to Tofa General Hospital, where they were treated and discharged.
Police on the scene at 23rd and Mifflin Streets in South Philadelphia, where an 11-year-old girl along with a man and a woman were shot Friday night. Read more

An 11-year-old girl was shot Friday night in a triple shooting in South Philadelphia, the second night in a row a child was among the shooting victims in the city.

Police said Fridays shooting occurred just before 8 p.m. on the 1900 block of South 23rd Street, where the girl was shot in the right leg and taken to Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, where she was reported in stable condition.

A 22-year-old man shot in the right thigh and a 55-year-old woman shot in the left arm were taken to Methodist Hospital in stable condition, police said.

No arrests were made.

On Thursday, shortly before 6 p.m., a shooting on the 5900 block of North 21st Street in East Germantown killed a 17-year-old boy, later identified as Nazeem Rains, who was shot in the face and pronounced dead at Einstein Medical Center.

Three other victims  ages 7, 15, and 16  were also transported there, where police said they were all in stable condition. The 7-year-old was shot once in the upper thigh. The 15-year-old boy was shot twice in the head and twice in the back. The 16-year-old boy was also shot once, in the right shoulder, police said.

Rains was the 13th child under the age of 18 to die in a shooting in Philadelphia this year. In total, about 70 kids have been shot.

No arrests had been made.
News / National

by Staff reporter

SOME youths in Bulawayo doubt that elections will better their lives, citing failed promises by politicians and the government over the years.A survey by Southern Eye Weekender showed that there is general disinterest in the upcoming elections among the youth in the city.Joseph Sibanda, a youth from Nkulumane, said he did not even register to vote."Given a chance, I will not even consider registering to vote. People have been voting for years now but what has changed? Nothing has changed, so whether we vote or not, nothing will change the situation in Zimbabwe," Sibanda said.Melisa Siziba said election rigging was a turn-off."The truth is that leaders in Zimbabwe always disappoint us in terms of service delivery and the worst part is that no matter how much we vote, they never go out of power. They would rather kill us to remain in power," Siziba said."Take the late former President, Robert Mugabe, he was in power for 37 years but never improved the situation in Zimbabwe. Rather he gave land and property to his children when he was alive, instead of fixing the country."Sandisiwe Nyathi said: "We have learnt to hustle and we no longer care about voting for change. There is nothing like voting for change in Zimbabwe because the ruling party Zanu-PF always rigs, so it is hard to trust the process anymore."Zanu-PF Bulawayo provincial spokesperson Archibold Chiponda said:"The reason they do not want to vote is because the youth are concentrating on urban areas which are being run poorlyby the opposition party, unfortunately, as for the mechanism the ruling party has put in place to try and increase youth participation.""If you look at the messages Zanu-PF is pushing right now, such as drug abuse, these are some of the behaviours that promote apathy in youth, when someone is abusing drugs then they do not have time to vote."CCC Bulawayo spokesperson, Swithern Chirowodza, said he was out of office when contacted for comment. He promised to respond.The youth represent over 60% of the country's population and about 44% of the total voters.In 2018, about 43% of the registered voters were 35 years and below, meaning the youth vote played a decisive role in the poll outcome.Mbuso Fuzwayo, a Bulawayo-based commentator, said lack of interest in electoral processes by the youth results from lack of civic education on elections."The other reason is the issue of civic education; it is usually done towards elections. The whole idea is not to wait for every five years to talk about elections but to also link elections to service delivery, national development, and explain what not registering to vote means," Fuzwayo said.Another commentator Effie Ncube added: "It is important that the government conducts itself in a way that will give young people the reason to want to vote. Without that, they will not be participating for a long time."They are disappointed, disappointed by the politics that is not responding to their bread and butter priorities."
A 14-year-old boy was shot and killed on the Market-Frankford Line at SEPTA's 52nd Street station on Saturday afternoon. Read more

A 14-year-old boy was shot and killed Saturday afternoon on a SEPTA Market-Frankford Line platform in West Philadelphia, police said, marking the third straight day that a child under 18 was shot in the city.

According to police, the teen was on the westbound platform at SEPTAs station at 52nd and Market Streets when he was shot once in the chest and once in the left arm just after 2 p.m. He was taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

No arrest had been made.

SEPTA police are helping Philadelphia police, including reviewing security video from the train and the platform, in an effort to identify who shot the teen, said spokesperson Andrew Busch, providing no further details of the shooting. He urged anyone with information to contact police.

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Police had no new information Saturday on a triple shooting about 8 p.m. Friday during which an 11-year-old girl was shot in the right leg on the 1900 block of South 23rd Street in South Philadelphia. Also shot were a 22-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman. All were reported hospitalized in stable condition and no arrests were reported.

That followed a quadruple shooting in East Germantown about 6 p.m. Thursday that killed 17-year-old Nazeem Rains, who was shot in the face and pronounced dead at Einstein Medical Center.

Three other victims of the shooting on the 5900 block of North 21st Street  ages 7, 15, and 16  were hospitalized in stable condition with gunshot wounds to the thigh, head and back, and right shoulder, respectively, police said.

Saturdays victim, who was not identified, was the 14th child under the age of 18 to die in a shooting in Philadelphia this year. In total, about 70 kids have been shot.

 READ MORE: SEPTA names a new police chief amid concerns of transit system crime

Last month, a 16-year-old boy was shot in the face while sitting on the steps of the 52nd Street SEPTA station, at that time one of at least four shootings on or near the transit system in less than four weeks.

On Friday, SEPTA named a new chief for the Transit Police as the transportation system grapples with staff shortages and surging crime rates.
Nasir Sadat bought a home in North Philadelphia and was renovating it when he was shot and killed in the street outside of his property in 2019. On Friday, a Philadelphia grand jury sentenced his killer, Keith Phillips, 31, to life in prison without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder.

We commend the jury for their attention and consideration of all the evidence which led to the only possible conclusion: Keith Phillips is a cold-blooded killer, Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry said. The evidence presented at trial showed that Phillips shot and killed Sadat for hire. I am proud of the hard work of our investigators and prosecutors, and our law enforcement partners, which today ensured that this very dangerous individual will be off the streets of Philadelphia and the citizens will be safe from him.

According to prosecutors, Phillips was a paid hitman who received $4,500 from a local drug dealer to kill Sadat. However, Sadat, who was 37 years old at the time, was not the only victim  former Philadelphia Sheriff Jewell Williams son, Jewell Williams Jr., was also shot that day on the street outside of Sadats property and survived. Both men were transported to Temple University Hospital, where Sadat was pronounced dead.

Jurors were shown video evidence of Phillips on July 5, 2019, arriving at a location in North Philadelphia close to where Sadat and Williams Jr. were wounded and fled the scene of the crime on a bike while holding a gun in hand. Cell phone data also confirmed that Phillips was at the scene of the shooting.

After the shooting, Phillips messaged a friend on Instagram telling them that he had just drilled someone and previously posted about being a killer, bragging of killing up to 20 people on his social media account. Additionally, police were able to identify Phillips by the clothes he was wearing the day of the crime which he was seen wearing in other posts on his social media, according to authorities.
For Toby Maloney, a James Beard nomination for his cocktail book, The Bartenders Manifesto, is a win for the whole team behind it.

The restaurant industry is a team sport, you dont do anything alone, he said. Its an amalgamation of many peoples works, and the book is very similar to that. Im the author but there is no chance I could have done it without my co-author and the people at Clarkson Potter.

The Bartenders Manifesto: How to Think, Drink, and Create Cocktails Like a Pro, co-authored by Emma Janzen, was nominated for the James Beard beverages with recipes category on April 26, joining Friday Saturday Sunday, Amanda Shulman of Her Place Supper Club, and other Philly-area nominees. Maloney is no stranger to James Beard Awards, with a 2015 win under his belt for outstanding bar program at The Violet Hour cocktail bar in Chicagos Wicker Park neighborhood.

Its an amazing accomplishment to create something that comes out at the top  I dont know how many cocktail books were released in 2022, but to be one of the few that was tapped for this particular award feels really great, he said.

Maloneys book offers advice for every level of cocktail enthusiast, from home bartender to seasoned professional. But its more advanced than your average bar book. Two thirds of the book focuses on how to create your own cocktail using recipes from all of the bartenders at The Violet Hour to show how their minds work.

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The people I was trying to reach were not the I dont know how to do anything beginners but somebody whos been around the block for a little bit and has a decent grasp of the basics, he said. Theres a bunch of amazing cocktail 101 books out there and we might be the next part of the evolution after youve done that.

Whats next

Maloney moved to Philly and began a cocktail residency at Hop Sing Laundromat in Chinatown in late January, early February, where he makes drinks and answers questions for the eight seats at the bar that often fill up for two to three turns on Fridays and Saturdays.

Part of the residency is research for Maloneys prequel book.

It really is research to figure out what I want to write about, he said. Doing this thing where I get to make any drink I want, its kind of showing me what Im most interested in and helping me hone in where the direction of this [second] book will go.

Toby Maloney with Emma Janzen and the bartenders of The Violet Hour, Clarkson Potter $30.23, bookshop.org
Accompanied by Philadelphia police Friday evening, officials from the city's Departments of Health and Licenses and Inspections shut down Stoned Pizza, a cannabis dining concept that operated on the southwest corner of Fifth and Bainbridge Streets, in the former home of Olly and Gigi Pizza, since earlier this month. Read more

Philadelphia authorities say they have shut down a Queen Village pizzeria that puts cannabis in its food and beverages.

A joint inspection conducted by the citys Licenses and Inspections and Health Departments on Friday evening found that Stoned Pizzeria  a New York City-based pizza chain that opened a location earlier in May at Fifth and Bainbridge Streets  lacked a business license and health certificate.

Three uniformed police officers accompanied inspectors as they examined the business, which is guarded by a security guard. Stoned was attempting to fulfill to-go orders while the inspection occurred, including one that had a pre-rolled joint, per an Inquirer reporter at the scene.

The restaurant was instructed to cease operations as of 6:35 p.m. Friday, but general manager Luke Wetherhold offered conflicting information about the entity that had taken over the former location of adjoining restaurants Olly and Gigi.

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First, Wetherhold claimed that the business wasnt a restaurant at all, but a fully operational event space called South Street Events. Then, he claimed nothing was operating at all.

We havent opened yet, so how could we get shut down? he said.

Wetherhold told inspectors that South Street Events was owned by Chris Barrett, the same man who launched Stoned Pizza in 2017. Barrett  who goes by the nickname Pizza Pusha online  operates three Stoned locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn, apparently with little pushback.

New York legalized marijuana in 2021, but dispensaries and other cannabis concepts have been slow to open, beleaguered by licensing issues and high start-up costs. The sale and possession of marijuana is still illegal in Pennsylvania, but was decriminalized in Philadelphia in 2014, meaning that small amounts of weed will not result in a criminal offense.

 READ MORE: How do Phillys marijuana laws work?

Barrett could not be immediately reached for comment.

It was not clear Friday night what steps the restaurant could attempt to reopen.

Word had been spreading through Queen Village over the last few weeks about the business, which operates behind thick gray curtains.

Cait Allen, president of the Queen Village Neighborhood Association, said she learned about Stoned in a whisper-down-the lane manner from neighbors who had walked past the storefront, confused about the activity coming from what they assumed was a set of closed restaurants.

Stoneds Philadelphia location, like its others, operates like a speakeasy: Theres no sign outside, and customers are texted the address after paying for reservations by using the app. Inside, the pizzeria is decorated with an Instagrammable neon sign that reads Either light up or leave me alone, a mural of drawn hearts and the restaurants name capped by a SEPTA logo, and wooden tables lit with candles. The soundtrack thumps with decades-old Eminem, 2Pac, Jay-Z, and 50 Cent.

Allen said her concerns with the restaurant are twofold: The flouting of the rules is what really concerns me ... but I also want to encourage bars and restaurants that attract residents, not tourists. Residents are not attracted to cannabis businesses.

Allen said she contacted the South Street Headhouse District and various city officials, including District 1 Councilmember Mark Squilla, to elevate her concerns about Stoned.

Together, she said, the Queen Village Neighborhood Association, the Headhouse District, the Society Hill Neighborhood Association, and Bella Vista Neighborhood Association have asked for a change to South Streets zoning overlay that would ban smoking lounges such as cigar bars, hookah bars  and presumably pot pizza shops  from opening. A hearing on the ban is set for next week.

Based on its social media and a visit by an Inquirer reporter, Stoned offers the same experience in Philadelphia as it does in New York: a fixed-price meal at $120 a person that includes pizza, salad, lollipop chicken, garlic knots, cannoli, sorbet, and sodas  all of which then get an addition of oils containing THC, the mind-altering ingredient in cannabis.

All guests must be 21 or over, per Stoneds website, which also advertises that a variety of edibles, concentrates, and flower [are] available for purchase upon arrival, including fruit chews and a $150 cigar-sized spliff called the Godfather.

Waiters can describe the amount of THC in each item, which ranges from 25mg in a garlic knot to 40mg in each slice of thick-crusted rectangular pizza. Customers may eat and drink all they want in their 2-hour stay but cant take out leftovers.

Collingswood cannabis hopes also dashed

Barrett, 49  the owner and Pizza Pusha  wrote on his website that he experienced a light bulb moment during a cannabis dinner in California in 2015.

In 2016, he said, he threw his first cannabis dinner at a townhouse and offered guests a late-night snack of cannabis-infused pizza.

Since then, Barrett has claimed his pizza parties and restaurants have never been shut down by law enforcement, even when they were operating illegally.

Ive never been hiding, Barrett told Vice in 2019. Theyre going to get me for pizza?

Last summer, Barrett raised eyebrows when he posted a since-deleted Instagram photo with a caption that stated his aspirations to open a Stoned on Haddon Avenue in Collingswood, Camden County, just over the Ben Franklin Bridge from Philadelphia.

He told the website NJPen.com that he did not intend to open a restaurant, per se, calling it a private events space with ticketed access. He then told the publication that his goal was to become the In-N-Out Burger of cannabis pizza up and down the East Coast.

The Collingswood idea seemed to have faded. Barrett again took to Instagram in June 2022 writing, Collingswood City Officials do not want us in their city after Mayor Jim Maley said that current zoning law generally prohibits cannabis-related businesses from operating on Haddon Avenue.
A 22-year-old man accused of fatally shooting a fellow 46-year-old canvasser in East Germantown will not face charges, prosecutors say. Read more

Prosecutors will not charge a 22-year-old man accused of fatally shooting a 46-year-old in East Germantown on Monday afternoon while both were canvassing for a political group. Authorities say the shooting was in self-defense.

Jane Roh, a spokesperson for District Attorney Larry Krasner, said Friday that both their office and the Police Department were in agreement about what happened between two paid canvassers for the progressive group One PA.

This is nonetheless a tragic loss of life, Roh said. We extend our deepest condolences to the loved ones of the decedent.

Meanwhile, family members of the victim, Eddie Brokenbough, were distraught to learn the father of 10 had been shot, and doubted police accounts of the shooting.

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Reports spread that Brokenbough, who was shot once in the armpit and rushed from the 2000 block of Church Lane to a nearby hospital, had pulled a gun on the 22-year-old canvasser, causing the younger man to shoot in what he told police was self-defense.

Both men knew each other, police said, and the shooting stemmed from an argument, possibly over an existing dispute.

One PA has said guns are not permitted in its offices or during canvassing, and it has temporarily suspended its canvassing efforts.

The group is an independent expenditure committee that can raise and spend money to boost candidates but is prohibited from directly coordinating with them. This year, the group knocked on doors to promote mayoral candidate Helen Gym and a slate of left-leaning City Council candidates.

Brokenbough was not legally permitted to carry a firearm because of charges in a 2012 shooting, court records show. He was a paid temporary canvasser for OnePA on and off since 2021, the group said. The 22-year-old shooter has been employed by the group since last year.

A spokesperson for OnePA said Tuesday that it complies with laws prohibiting background checks on employees and wouldnt discuss Brokenboughs background during the investigation.

One PA Executive Director Steve Paul said following the shooting that the organization was heartbroken, and our condolences and sympathy are with their family.

Staff writers Sean Collins Walsh and Anna Orso contributed.
Helen Gyms campaign on Saturday reached a resolution with the union that represents Philadelphia stagehands after the union publicly blasted the mayoral candidate for planning a rally Sunday with former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders at a venue that is not unionized.

Michael Barnes, president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 8  which endorsed Gyms opponent Jeff Brown for mayor  said in a statement that he spoke with Gym and that she offered to assist the union in resolving its dispute with the venue, the Franklin Music Hall in the citys Callowhill section.

Details were not disclosed.

Barnes said neither his union nor the Building Trades and Construction Council, its umbrella union, would stage any sort of protest activity at the rally. A picket would have been problematic for Gym, Sanders, and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), all progressives who have built their political identities around workers rights.

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We reiterate that our public request to move her rally to a unionized performance venue was genuine and absolutely not a political stunt, Barnes said. We appreciated Ms. Gyms outreach and candor.

But news of the detente did not come before other unions backing Gyms rivals piled on.

On Saturday morning, the regional carpenters union and the Service Employees International Union 32BJ released a joint statement condemning Gym for not moving the rally to a venue that has a unionized workforce. Both unions are backing Cherelle Parker for mayor.

SEIU 32BJs involvement was notable because it often backs candidates from the left wing of the Democratic Party who are politically aligned with Gym and Sanders.

A spokesperson for the carpenters said Saturday morning that the union was considering picketing. But the plans were scuttled once Barnes said IATSE was satisfied.

Frank Mahoney, a spokesperson for the regional carpenters union, said in a statement that a resolution is what the carpenters union was calling for, adding: Our collective voice made positive change for working people.

On Friday, Gyms campaign manager Brendan McPhillips said in a statement that the situation was an attempt to distract from the fact that Philadelphians are rallying around the only progressive candidate in the race for mayor. He said her record on labor is clear.

Gym is endorsed by the teachers union, a municipal workers union, and the union that represents hotel workers.

Her campaign declined to comment further Saturday.

A poll conducted last week showed Gym, Parker, and Rebecca Rhynhart topping the field of contenders in a tight race for the Democratic nomination. The nominee will be heavily favored to win the November general election, given Philadelphias heavily Democratic electorate.

Staff writer Sean Collins Walsh contributed to this article.
Hili Chakhansuri, right, is seen here with her husband, Hari Heerekar, and their baby son, Muhammad Chakhansuri Heerekar. She was evacuated from Afghanistan and spent months living on a military base in South Jersey with thousands of other newcomers who were brought here as Kabul fell to the Taliban. Read more

Cathryn Miller-Wilson has worked in immigration long enough to know when a crisis is walking toward her.

And right now the director of HIAS Pennsylvania hears the sound of moving feet  a slow-motion calamity that could dramatically affect the lives of some 76,000 Afghan evacuees who were brought to the United States when their country fell to the Taliban in August 2021.

Those newcomers  including about 800 who were resettled in the Philadelphia area  face the prospect of mass unemployment, with their work authorizations set to expire this summer. They have found work across industries, as cashiers, in warehouses, even helping fellow evacuees in immigration agencies.

This is a huge, looming crisis, said Miller-Wilson, whose agency supports low-income immigrants in building new lives. Nobody seems to be doing anything about it.

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If August seems distant, six months away, she said, then consider the glacial pace of the nations immigration apparatus. For Afghan war allies, the problem lies in how the Biden administration brought them and their families into the country.

Politicians, government officials, and news reporters commonly describe the evacuees as refugees. While they fit the U.N. definition  someone who crossed an international border to escape violence or crisis in their homeland  almost none are legally designated as refugees.

Thats a specific immigration status, one that comes with benefits and privileges, including the ability to live here permanently and to seek U.S. citizenship.

Instead, almost all the Afghans were admitted under whats called humanitarian parole, which is a permission to enter the country, not an immigration status. Its temporary. It provides no automatic path to permanent residency or citizenship.

Instead, Congress tied Afghans permission to work to their humanitarian parole. The idea was that evacuees would apply for asylum, and that designation would confer the right to live and work in the United States and to seek citizenship.

But applications for asylum have exploded  a record 1.6 million cases as of December 2022, according to the Transactional Records Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. The wait time for a typical asylum case to be heard is nearly five years.

Every Afghan client of HIAS Pennsylvania has filed for asylum, and none of the 26 has received a ruling, Miller-Wilson said.

Hili Chakhansuri knows what thats like for fellow evacuees. The former Afghanistan government official and diplomat spent months living with thousands of other arrivals in South Jersey at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, one of the military bases where newcomers were temporarily housed.

She received asylum, she said, after being able to enlist the help of an immigration attorney. But shes heard from more than a hundred Afghans around the country who have no asylum and now face the expiration of their parole and work permits.

They are confused and concerned about what to do, she said.

In Afghanistan, Chakhansuri worked as an officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, putting her at risk of harm from the Taliban. Last year she relocated to Los Angeles, married, and gave birth to a baby boy. She and her husband started the Salaam Family Foundation to teach English online to Afghan girls in Afghanistan, where they are barred from education.

She tries to help other Afghan evacuees, whose skills can vary widely. Many know little English and dont have money to hire immigration lawyers. Even with money, figuring out the application system can be daunting.

Most of these refugees are not familiar about how to file asylum or hire attorneys, she said, and the fees for attorneys are high.

The Philadelphia region stood at the center of what was the largest evacuation since the Vietnam War, undertaken as Kabul fell to the Taliban.

Philadelphia International Airport served as the nations main arrival point, welcoming more than 30,000 Afghans. About 11,000 lived on the grounds of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

Resettlements roughly doubled the size of the local Afghan community to 1,500 people, many of whom live near family or friends in Northeast Philadelphia.

We are so concerned that if their status expires, theyll lose their jobs, said Mustafa Babak, executive director of the Afghan American Foundation, a national advocacy-and-research organization. It will undo so much work by the American people and the private sector in the past year and a half.

The foundation is pushing for extensions on employment and immigration parole, to buy time to find permanent fixes, he said. It needs more help from the Biden administration for that to happen.

Afghans were brought here, Babak said. There has to be clarity and intentional effort to show that the administration cares about them. That has been missing largely.

It goes the other way too, he said. Keeping people employed means they contribute to their communities and to the economy.

The International Rescue Committee estimated that newly arrived Afghans paid more than $189 million in taxes in their first year of employment, working in industries that include retail trade, food services, manufacturing, and warehousing.

Their skills run the gamut. Some speak excellent English, having served as translators for U.S. forces.

Some hold multiple college degrees, while others never went to school. Many are traumatized, and nearly everyone left family members behind.

All were promised expedited asylum. And now they need help.

The government thought everyone would have asylum by the time the two years is up, and now thats not happening, Miller-Wilson said. Its a real crisis.
A lot has happened in the mayors race since this boards endorsement in early April. The Tuesday primary has become the most expensive election in Philadelphia history, an unprecedented number of community forums have tested and honed the candidates message, and two well-regarded and highly qualified contenders left the field.

Our recommendation remains the same: Rebecca Rhynhart is the best choice to lead.

Considering that less than 10% of the $31 million already spent on this race has been used to promote the former city controllers candidacy, Rhynharts first-place position in the Committee of Seventys independent poll  in both first preference and ranked choice results  is remarkable. Its a testament to the strength of her ideas and policy proposals.

It also shows that while money is important in running a winning campaign, it isnt everything.

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Allan Domb, who has poured more than $10 million of his own money into the race, does not seem to be changing enough hearts and minds in his favor. Meanwhile, money is the source of many of Jeff Browns problems.

Before running for mayor, Brown had a good reputation as a businessman who had succeeded in establishing grocery stores in food deserts and reintegrating the formerly incarcerated into lawful society and stable employment. Today, many people spend more time thinking about how many of his generous acts end up benefiting himself.

Brown has also run afoul of the citys Ethics Board. While most outside PACs  which allow for unlimited contributions and anonymous donors  were formed this spring, the once and former front-runner was allegedly busy raising funds for his PAC last summer, leading to a charge of illegal coordination. Too often, allegations of campaign financing violations dont emerge until voters have already cast their ballots. The Ethics Board should be commended for acting swiftly.

 READ MORE: Phillys onerous tax system is a job killer. Heres what the mayoral candidates say theyll do about it. | Editorial

Helen Gym and Cherelle Parker have also benefited from big spending by outside groups. Progressive organizations and teachers unions have placed nearly $1 million behind Gym, while the building trades unions have already put over $1 million behind Parker.

Thats not the only big outside support these candidates have. Gym has lined up national politicians and celebrities behind her campaign. Parker has the backing of local elected officials, including Mayor Jim Kenneys vote, if not his endorsement.

Since the supposedly Madrid-bound Kenney, Parkers fellow politicians, most members of the building trades, and Jane Fonda and Mark Ruffalo wont have to spend the next four years living as an ordinary resident in Philadelphia, voters should value their opinions accordingly.

In an election where public safety is the top concern for residents, Rhynhart is the only candidate who has offered the balanced, empathetic, pragmatic approach the city needs to reduce violence.

While Parker has promised to ramp up stop-and-frisk, or at least what she calls constitutional stop-and-frisk, Rhynhart has been steadfast in her refusal to double down on a policy that she calls racist and unconstitutional and which disproportionately impacts people of color.

Like Gym, Rhynhart wants to invest in neighborhoods that have been left behind. Her work as city controller demonstrated clear inequities in service provision by neighborhood and linked gun violence to redlining. Making disinvested neighborhoods whole is the right thing to do, and over time will reduce gun violence in the city. But Philadelphia also needs solutions that will work now. Rhynhart has offered them.

Unlike Gym, who has been endorsed by prison abolitionist groups, Rhynhart is more willing to talk about law enforcements role in preventing crime. Specifically, she wants to emulate cities that have successfully reduced homicides. That means intervening with the small number of young men and teenage boys most likely to shoot or be shot. As Maria Quinones Sanchez has said, we already know who they are. These young people would then be offered a path out, not just a job, but therapy and other assistance as well.

 READ MORE: In their plans to reduce crime, a window into the mayoral candidates views on public safety | Editorial

Rhynharts balanced approach, offering both compassion and accountability, is what the city needs. Even Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw, in response to Rhynharts damning 85-page review of her department, called the controllers work thorough.

Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 president John McNesby was less impressed. Thats another point in Rhynharts favor. The FOPs consistent advocacy for people who do not belong in law enforcement helps drive gun violence by removing accountability and disrupting community relations.

Rhynhart also has made better calls on education. Parker, despite her own classroom experience, has not crafted a quality education plan. While this board recognizes her track record of wrangling funds from Harrisburg, Parkers proposal for mandatory year-round schooling lacks the necessary specifics, including a cost estimate.

Considering the School Districts multibillion-dollar maintenance backlog and lack of air-conditioned buildings, it makes little sense to get more funding only to spend it on new unproven programs. This proposal seems more like a plan to keep kids inside and out of the way. Detaining all the citys children isnt the right approach to public safety or education.

Gym has made education a centerpiece of her campaign, leaning into her experience teaching for nearly five years at Lowell Elementary. Throughout her career as an activist and elected official, Gym has often found herself standing with Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president Jerry Jordan and other education advocates, seeking funding to improve school facilities and restore needed support staff such as nurses and counselors. Yet when asked for details on how to pay for her $10 billion plan to modernize facilities, Gym and her campaign stumbled.

 READ MORE: Mayoral candidates need real plans to fix the citys troubled schools | Editorial

Once again, Rhynhart brings a balanced approach. Like all the leading candidates, Rhynhart wants to modernize Philadelphias schools and will seek as much funding from state and federal partners as possible. She identifies education as the citys second most important issue, after public safety. Unlike Gym, however, Rhynhart has shown her work and been transparent about how she intends to keep her promises.

Rhynhart may not be as dynamic an orator as the other leading women in this race, but she will have no trouble putting her ideas to work.

From the first day she entered electoral politics, with a challenge against Democratic Party stalwart Alan Butkovitz in 2017, Rhynhart has been unafraid to take on all comers. As controller, she audited the Philadelphia Parking Authority, the Police Department, and even councilmember-aligned groups like the Germantown Special Services District. These audits may not have won her any powerful political allies, but they uncovered the type of waste, fraud, and self-dealing that has held back our city for decades.

Philadelphia is at a crossroads  wracked by gun violence, failing schools, and economic challenges. Philadelphians are tired of the stagnant malaise the city seems stuck in, but finding the right leader to move forward is crucial. That leader must have the courage, empathy, and experience necessary to deliver.

That leader is Rebecca Rhynhart.

Editors Note: An earlier version of this editorial misstated the length of Helen Gyms tenure as a teacher at Lowell Elementary.
News / National

by Staff reporter

A Zimbabwe Republic Police officer stationed at Rhodesville police station in Harare has been dragged to court facing charges of extorting US$3,000 from a Chinese national she accused of illegal foreign currency deals.Primrose Tarumbiswa, 35, appeared at the Harare Magistrates' court Friday facing extortion.She was granted ZW$50,000 bail by magistrate Dennis Mangosi.Her colleague, one Constable Muchongwe and four other accomplices are reportedly on the run.The complainant was identified as Xie Haiyan, 36.According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), on 9 May 2023 at around 12pm, Tarumbiswa called Haiyan on his phone requesting to meet him.She reportedly told him she wanted to order some stuff from China.Haiyan, it is further alleged, then sent her his location.The two later met around 5pm at Haiyan offices.Tarumbiswa, who was driving a sky-blue vehicle, reportedly called Haiyan to join her in the car."Immediately, five other accused persons approached and confronted the complainant," prosecutors said."They introduced themselves as police officers and accused the complainant for illegally dealing in foreign currency."It is further alleged that Tarumbiswa then informed Haiyan that he was under arrest before they took him into another vehicle.Court was told they drove him away claiming they were taking him to Harare Central police station."Along the way, the accused demanded US$20,000 for his release," prosecutors said."They then handcuffed him and threatened him with detention if the complainant did not give them the cash."Complainant counted cash amounting to US$3,000 which he took from a ray bag which he was carrying and handed over the cash to one of the accused persons."The accused then made a U-turn and dropped the complainant near his workplace before driving away."Haiyan later narrated the incident to his business partner, one Courage Moyo who helped him file a police at Harare Central.Investigations were carried out by detectives leading to Tarumbiswa's arrest.
Ralph Waldo Emerson famously said: Life is a journey, not a destination. What if we applied a similar belief to holidaying, and tried to enjoy travelling  or the journey  as well as our final destination?

While Id heard a lot about the convenience of travelling by ferry, it is not something I had ever done  until now.

As someone who has never experienced a proper crossing, a 29-hour journey from Rosslare to Bilbao, Spain was most definitely throwing me in the deep end when it comes to ferry travel. Brittany Ferries new ship, Salamanca, would dock in the beautiful Basque region by Thursday lunchtime, after setting off from Wexford early on Wednesday morning. The more I thought about it, a chilled day onboard a boat and a good nights sleep seemed like a great way to spend my travel time before exploring a new part of Spain.

For this trip, I would be leaving my car at the port and experiencing the ferry as a passenger on foot. While launching Salamanca in 2022, Brittany Ferries announced that it would be accepting passengers on foot and bike for the first time ever on the Rosslare-Bilbao route, which departs from Wexford twice a week (Wednesday morning and Friday night). The ship is also the first LNG-powered ferry to serve Ireland and promises lower emissions and a smoother voyage.

Plaza Mayor, aboard the Salamanca

With my large suitcase in tow, I checked in to Rosslares Euro port on Wednesday morning. Whittling down my wardrobe to a couple of outfits for a holiday is one of my more dreaded tasks so with no restrictions on luggage, I was going to make the most of it. As a group of passengers on foot, we were brought directly onto the ferry by bus. Rather amusingly, our luggage was ahead of us  being towed by a tractor. How Irish, we thought.

Unsure of what to expect, I was pleasantly surprised when we got to Salamancas reception area. The spacious seventh deck was bright with a large, contemporary lounge area.

While we waited for our cabins to be ready, we tucked into breakfast in the C-Club premium lounge, which is free for those with a cabin in Commodore class. The impressive lounge offers panoramic views over the front of the ferry as well as a buffet that is topped up throughout the day. Other options for food and drink onboard include the main bar, Plaza Mayor; Restaurant Azul and Taberna de Tapas, which are open to all passengers.

Taberna de Tapas, aboard the Salamanca

By 8.30am, as I made myself a delicious cappuccino, we were on the move. Sat back and relaxing in the lounge, we watched the waves go by as we drifted away from the Irish coast. Later in the day conditions were less calm and it seemed we were rather unlucky with the weather for our late-March crossing. Our journey both ways was a little rough and as one of the unlucky passengers who experienced some seasickness, I spent a lot of my time hunkering down in the cabin  which was not a bad place to be.

CHOPPY WATERS AND VIVID SUNSETS

There are 343 cabins onboard, all en-suite, and 22 are pet-friendly. Options for travelling with a pet also include the ferrys kennel. My private two-berth cabin had a TV (with plenty of channels and movie options) and a shower, so it was well-equipped for an afternoon of laying low. If youre prone to motion sickness, I would recommend bringing seasickness tablets such as Kwells and taking one before departure.

Out of a large group of 13, two or three of us felt seasick  so if youre typically OK on boats, it shouldnt be much of a concern. Plus, in the summer months, such rough conditions at sea are less likely.

Braving the choppy conditions, I emerged from my comfy cabin for dinner in the busy Restaurant Azul which offered a wide range of options for starters, mains, and desserts  and because this is a French ship  there was plenty of great wine to choose from too. While I was still a little queasy, other passengers were certainly making the most of the facilities and were more than happy to sit in the main bar well into the night.

The next morning brought much calmer conditions and after a lazy start and a big breakfast, we arrived in Bilbao rested and ready for our trip. Essentially a floating hotel, the Salamanca was certainly a change from the fast-paced haze of going through a hot and busy airport. It was a trip of firsts and after testing ferry travel, it was time to discover an area of Spain I had never been to.

Maeve Lee stands against the San Sebastian sunset

San Sebastian

Fresh off the ferry, we headed one hour from Bilbao  and 30 minutes down the road from France  to our first destination: The picturesque San Sebastian.

In the heart of the city, our accommodation was the four-star cinema-themed Zinema 7. After checking in, our tour guide Ana Rodriguez from the Basque Country Tourist Guide Association quickly whisked us away to make it down to San Sebastians most famous beach: Playa de la Concha. We walked briskly through the stunning city streets, peering inside beautiful boutiques and jam-packed restaurants as we hurried past. But there was one sight that stopped us in our tracks: the sunset. Ive seen a lot of sunsets, but the red and orange hues over Playa de la Concha in San Sebastian beat them all.

Later, we set off on what felt like an Irish country road to the family-run Altzuet. Here, we sat on large wooden benches while plate after plate of tasty traditional cuisine was placed in front of us. Each cider house in the region serves the same simple, traditional menu. As for the cider: Txotx (pronounced choach) is your signal that a new barrel of cider is ready to taste. At first, we were all a bit shy about approaching the busy barrel but after a couple of goes, we were like locals. Capturing your cider as it shoots out of the tap is a skill and a tricky one to describe. My advice? Give it a go  and avoid wearing open-toed shoes.

Rioja

I couldnt think of a better way to spend a Friday than with a trip through the rolling hills of Rioja. Taking in the stunning sights on our way, and many bodegas (wineries) lining the roads, we arrived at Bodegas Amador Garcia in the village of Banos de Ebro less than two hours later. Nestled in the mountains, the bodega is family-run, and we were brought on a tour by brother and sister, Rosa and Indigo Garcia.

After an afternoon of tasting delicious wine in the Spanish sun and great, traditional food, we walked out of the winery feeling very merry and with more wine than we could carry. It was at this moment we realised one of the great benefits of ferry travel: We could take home as much wonderful wine as our heart desired (or that our driver could fit in his bus).

With some great bottles of red, white, and rose priced at as little as 6, we just couldnt resist bringing a slice of Rioja home.

Outside the Guggenheim, Bilbao

Bilbao

After being wowed by San Sebastian and the Rioja wine region, I told myself that it was unlikely that Bilbao would be as impressive.

But I was proven wrong. While each area brought something different, Bilbao has a level of edginess that San Sebastian and Laguradia do not. Perched right beside the Guggenheim Museum, the four-star Vincci Hotel provided stunning views of our new destination. The city has plenty to explore with a mix of old and new along with lots of great shops, cafes, and Pintxo bars  each one better than the last.

However, after a quick check-in, I was itching to get back to our hotel. Vincci Hotel was modern, bright and beautiful, but the outdoor terrace was the star of the show. Overlooking the Estuary of Bilbao, the views from here were just as terrific during the night as during the day. A 4 glass of wine overlooking the city lights was the ideal end to our trip and the perfect place to plan my return to Basque Country.

Next time, Ill bring the car  and pack plenty of Kwells.

Maeve was a guest of Brittany Ferries and the Basque Country Tourism Board. For more information see:

Ferry prices: From 329 each way for a car+ 2, including four-berth ensuite cabin and from 417 each way for a car+ 2, including two-berth en-suite Club cabin.
Bernard Phelan, the Irish man who was detained in an Iranian prison since last year, has returned home to Ireland.

The 64-year-old from Clonmel was arrested in Iran seven months ago over allegations of national security-related crimes  which he denies.

Mr Phelan was met off the plane by his family yesterday.

A statement posted online today by Mr Phelan's family said: "Bernard is home! He arrived yesterday with Benjamin, was met off the plane by his family Roland & Caroline & spoke to his Dad.

"Today, he starts the journey of recovery.

"Thank you to everyone involved in making yesterday happen. Such joy to be able to hug him once again!"

Bernard is home! He arrived yesterday with Benjamin, was met off the plane by his family Roland & Caroline & spoke to his Dad.

Today, he starts the journey of recovery.

Thank you to everyone involved in making yesterday happen. Such joy to be able to hug him once again! (1/3) pic.twitter.com/N2rQJ0WZtQ  Release Bernard Phelan (@ReleaseBernard) May 13, 2023

Yesterday, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin confirmed Mr Phelans release.

It followed an earlier tweet by the Iranian Embassy in Dublin that confirmed Mr Phelan - a dual Irish-French citizen - had been freed.

Mr Martins statement said: The last seven months have been a very difficult ordeal for Bernard and for his family and I am pleased and relieved that this is now at an end.

I also welcome the release of Benjamin Briere, a French national who was imprisoned with Bernard in Mashhad prison."

He thanked all of those who have worked tirelessly for Mr Phelan's release including the French government and French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna as well as the Consular team in Dublin, the diplomats in Tehran, and the Ambassador in Turkey accredited to Iran.

I spoke to the Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, yesterday and I acknowledge the assistance of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in relation to Mr Phelans release," Mr Martin added.

I have continually stressed the urgency of Mr Phelans release on humanitarian grounds. This case has been a key priority for me throughout my time as Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs.

I look forward to Bernards imminent arrival back home.

Mr Phelan's sister Caroline also issued a statement yesterday saying: "We received confirmation of Bernard's release today and cannot express how relieved we are.

So many people have been involved in making this moment happen and we want to thank everybody. Bernard has been held captive for over 200 days, so at this time we gratefully ask that he is given the time and space needed to recover.

President Michael D Higgins issued another statement on Friday afternoon, saying: "May I thank all of those, on all sides, who have worked to secure this positive outcome for Bernard Phelan and his family.

"Mr Phelans release will come as a particular relief to Bernards father, Vincent, with whom I have been in correspondence, and to all of his family and friends who have worked with such dignity to secure his return home.

"As President of Ireland, I strongly welcome his release by the Iranian authorities, after what I know has been a very distressing time.

Mr Phelan who suffers with a heart condition, was arrested on October 3, while travelling in Mashhad in the northeast of Iran.

The Paris-based travel consultant was a regular visitor to the country and worked closely with an Iranian tour operation called Adventure Iran, according to his family.

He has been living in France for 30 years.

At the time of his arrest, there were riots around Iran over the death of a 22-year-old woman, Masha Amini, who died after she was arrested for allegedly not wearing the hijab  in accordance with government standards.

Riots erupted across the country and Mr Phelan was accused by police of taking photos of a burnt mosque and two photos of police.

He was also accused of sending photos to the The Guardian newspaper and taking two small pieces of 900-year-old pottery from a village he had visited.

His health deteriorated in prison - he went on hunger strike and had a brief spell in hospital.

His family has been highlighting his plight and urging the Government to intervene.
A sentencing judge said he was pushing community service in light of the widely reported overcrowding of Irish prisons.

Judge Colm Roberts made that known in a case where a man who was convicted for threatening behaviour under the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act faced the prospect of a jail term.

What put Alan Quilligan at risk was the fact that he was threatening towards random members of the public on the forecourt of a garage in Cork, and the fact that he had 122 previous convictions, including ten for the same offence of engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour.

I am pushing community service  especially with overcrowded prisons, Judge Colm Roberts said.

The judge told the 31-year-old he could do 120 hours of community service. Judge Roberts explained to the young man that with community service, it was only possible if a defendant agreed and wanted to do it. Quilligan said he would do it.

Judge Roberts said the accused should work on his drinking problem and difficulties with his temper when he is in contact with the probation service to see if he is found suitable for such work by the probation service.

Sgt Ciaran Kelleher said Alan Quilligan, of no fixed address, came to the attention of gardai on January 10 when there were reports of a man acting aggressively towards members of the public at Circle K, Bandon Road.

Alan Quilligan was extremely irate and had a strong smell of intoxicating liquor from his breath. He failed to comply with gardai and refused to relax. He remained in an abusive manner, shouting insults and abuse randomly towards members of the public who were present.

Garda Emmet Long arrested Alan Quilligan and charged him with being drunk and a danger, and engaging in threatening behaviour. He replied to each charge by telling Garda Long to fuck yourself, Sgt Kelleher said.
Over the last week or so, Fine Gael has been telling us weve never had it so good, and in one respect they may well be right. Among those patting themselves on the back was junior minister Neale Richmond who pointed out that unemployment, at a rate of 3.9%, is at its lowest level since 2001.

Currently in Ireland, we have record low unemployment, 2.57m people at work  the most in the history of the state, tax receipts of 24.1bn over the past 12 months, and forecasts for our economy to grow by 4.9% this year, the highest of any EU country, he said.

Those are spectacular figures, well worth a pat on the back. Why then do so many in the country feel like applying the pressure six yards south on the partys anatomy for a kick up the rear end?

First off, credit where it is due. Some claim that the rude health of the jobs and tax elements of the economy have precious little to do with government and is simply the result of global winds. This would be entirely unfair. Since soon after taking the reins of power in 2011, Enda Kennys government put huge emphasis on creating the conditions in which jobs would become available.

In 2012, the Action Plan for Jobs, which included 270 measures to be taken, was launched. The unemployment rate was 15% at the time, the fifth highest in the EU. The foreword to the plan stated that getting Ireland back to work is the all-consuming obsession of every cabinet minister at a time when we have never seen more people unemployed.

So it was that huge drive and resources were put behind the plan over the following years, including producing quarterly reports on progress. In February 2013, Kenny announced at the quarterly review that he was pleased to report that we have delivered 249 of the 270 actions, demonstrating the strong commitment that this government has to addressing the fundamental challenge for this country.

The only problem was this drive was completely absent in other vital aspects of governing. The following September, a conference was told that the country was facing a shortage of housing in key areas. The revelation came from the head of management assets at Nama, John Mulcahy.

Watch this space  there is a housing issue for sure, Mulcahy said. He also said he was confident that Nama would pay off all the debts it had incurred from buying bad property loans by 2020.

I wont stick my neck out and say well cruise it, but well get there, he said.

No alarm bells went off. Here was a man who knew his onions saying that a housing shortage was on the way. Despite that, his main focus  handed down from his political masters  was expedient repayment of the debt incurred by Nama. Nobody in government called him in to tell him to cool his jets on the repayment and see where Namas vast resource of housing could be deployed in order to alleviate any shortages. Nobody in government stopped to wonder whether there was the possibility that housing provision in a recovering economy might become a major issue.

The only solution that Kennys government could think of at the time was the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) for those in need of social housing and inviting in funds to build unaffordable apartments. Sorted. There was no suggestion of any appetite for an Action Plan on Housing.

By that stage, people like Peter McVerry were also pointing toward a future where homelessness was likely to increase. Yet all the elbow grease was applied elsewhere.

Not only that, but the government of the day had no interest in changing the paradigm in which housing was provided irrespective of the spectacular crash of a few years earlier.

One obvious example of how the government saw housing into the future was the decision in 2014 to axe the 80% windfall tax on rezoned land which had been brought in by the previous administration. The tax had been introduced in 2009 by the Green party coalition partner as a measure to ensure that future planning, and house building, would not be driven by the spectacular profits that accrued from rezoned land. The system, as it had been for decades, meant that land was one of the major outsized costs in the price of a house.

Five years later, under pressure from the Construction Industry Federation, Kennys government reversed the measure just to ensure that all the old principles would once again apply to the delivery of housing. This strategy of allowing policy to be dictated primarily by landowners and developers was to continue over the years that followed while the crisis deepened.

As time passed by, the jobs boom got boomier while the housing crisis got worse. Development to the greatest extent was still the preserve of the market. In 2017, the Oireachtas declared housing to be an emergency. Despite that, nothing was really done to reflect the seriousness of the situation. Since then, weve had two emergencies, the pandemic, and Ukraine, both of which elicited the kind of responses which were required. Not so, housing. The rest is recent history of muddling along, making interventions in the market, some of which were successful, but most simply exacerbated the problem.

The result is that we are now living in a country whose headline economy statistics is the envy of our peers.

Finding a job is not difficult, but earning enough to pay exorbitant rent or saving to buy a home is a major drag on young lives in particular.

The social contract, to that extent, is broken. And its not just the young who are bearing the burden.

Just this week, a report from the older peoples group Alone and the housing agency Threshold found that 40% of older renters expect to stay in such accommodation for the rest of their lives as there are few alternatives. Emergency homeless hubs, designed as a temporary solution until something permanent can be found, will, the report says, be needed as a place where some will have to see out their days.

Certainly, the current government is aware of the enormity of the housing emergency and is attempting to rectify it, albeit largely within the old paradigm which insists that the market will ultimately sort things out. They are playing catch-up but there is so much catching up to be done that it is difficult to see how serious inroads can be made in the short term.

So well done Fine Gael on the jobs front. But the next election is going to be all about how the party, with some input latterly from Fianna Fail, has fashioned a state in which the basic need to have a place to call home is beyond the reach of so many.
It can be easy to view the pervasive culture that shunned women when they were at their most vulnerable as very clear-cut.

Ireland, in our not-too-distant past, was a place where Church and State governed through fear, fed off peoples shame, and colluded to ostracise those who didnt follow a strict set of social rules.

It was a cruel and heartless country that placed the clergy in an untouchable and unchallengeable position.

And so, when Fr Andy Farrells name was mentioned in a documentary currently airing in cinemas around the country, my stomach did a nauseous flip.

Fr Farrell was the man who restored our beautiful French gothic-style church, created a new parish centre, was instrumental in the development of a community nursing home, and was involved in meals on wheels.

He was the man on the altar when I made my confirmation.

But now Fr Farrell was being revealed on screen as a man who personally escorted at least one young woman to mother and baby home  literally driving her out of her community at a time when she most needed family support.

Unlike written accounts and reports, which committed to paper can be very black and white, people are nuanced and multifaceted.

We all have elements of good and bad within us.

While not excusing the wrongs that were inflicted, it does perhaps explain why society allowed a system that sent women away in shame to persist as long as it did.

The film Pray for Our Sinners tells the incredible story of married couple Mary and Paddy Randles, who as GPs in Navan, Co Meath, stood up against the accepted norms of corporal punishment in schools and who took many women destined for mother and baby institutions into their own family home.

A scene from Pray For Our Sinners based on the story of two GPs who took many women destined for mother and baby institutions into their family home.

Their fight against an empire designated to punishing girls, came at significant personal and professional expense.

The powerful documentary by Sinead OShea features the story of Betty who, at the age of 18, was rescued from Sean Ross Abbey by the Randles.

The personal testimony of the survivors of mother and baby homes screams its way out from the pages of the Commission of Investigation published in early 2021.

Those who were sent to Sean Ross, in Roscrea, Co Tipperary, spoke of being constantly hungry during their time there and recounted being alone and unsupported as they gave birth.

They actually tied me, because I was in pain, I thought I am going to die, one woman told the Commission.

It was absolutely horrific, but anyhow once it is over and I was told I suppose, this will teach you, offer it up for the sins you committed and all that.

Humiliation and shame

A second mother who was sent to Sean Ross recalled how she was forced to go down on my knees to publicly apologise to a nun. This was just another part of the humiliation and shame she was subjected to every day.

Another survivor told of how incoming and outgoing letters were censored.

She wrote to her aunt complaining about the food and one of the nuns read her letter in the dining room and then made her eat it.

How could Fr Farrell, the charismatic man who did so much good and was so well got in the parishes he served in, have bundled a heavily pregnant teenager off to such an institution?

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, OShea herself asked: When you look back you just go, wow, why did we accept all of that? It was really that idea of a goldfish that doesnt know its swimming in water.

It was a system that was so total, it was completely impenetrable.

Maggie Lyng, who was adopted through St Patricks Guild Adoption Society, also knew Fr Farrell.

He was the priest she asked to marry her and as a carer working in the nursing home he was instrumental in establishing, she looked after him in his final years.

Fr Farrell wouldnt have been any way unusual in his parish, he wouldnt have been different in Dun Laoghaire or Kinsale, I mean any priest would have been the man who the mothers would have brought their fallen daughters to or the daughters themselves ended up on the door.

He was no more or no less different to priests in any parish in Ireland at that time.

He was a good man, but a bad man, There are complexities to the issues.

Institutions including mother and baby homes, Magdalene laundries, and industrial schools continued to exist even when people, and more importantly, the State, knew that the treatment of those who were condemned to them was unacceptable.

But standing up against such practices must have been seen as almost impossible in many cases when it meant going against the powerful parish priest who was supporting the community in other ways.

Consequences for speaking up

People undoubtedly remained silent as they also knew there would be consequences for speaking up.

For Paddy Randles, confronting the local priest about the appalling level of physical violence being doled out on schoolchildren resulted in patients deserting his practice overnight.

The couple received letters warning them to leave Navan, were called out from the pulpit at Mass, and were forced to move their children to schools in Dublin.

This was a route that clearly would not have been an option for most.

We were all so scared of each other, OShea said of this time in Irelands history.

It was this contagious fear.

"The State was too poor to finance a lot of things, so they were outsourcing everything to the Church, and then the Church got to insist on their way of doing things.

The revelations contained in the film about Fr Farrell are now seen as a missed opportunity for Lyng, who was born in a baby home in Temple Hill in Dublin and who only learned in 2012 after years of battling for her information that her birth name was in fact Alison Gallagher.

If I had known, I would have the opportunity to ask him about bringing girls to mother and baby homes, she said this week.

Perhaps he and other members of the clergy believed they were providing a social service?

Perhaps they thought they were protecting young women from scandal and stigmatisation?

Perhaps they believed that girls who fell pregnant outside of wedlock needed to be punished?

Maybe clerics blindly accepted it as the way it was.

But did they have any niggle of their wrongdoing, did they in later years regret their personal involvement in what ultimately was needless suffering and pain that split families up? We cannot know.

Questions remain unanswered

The Church has never answered these questions. As an organisation, it continues to try to wash its hands of a system that it operated with the full support of the State.

Up until very recently, adoptees, including Lyng, were denied access to their only birth certs and other personal information.

The religious congregations that operated mother and baby homes continue to drag their heels on contributing to a redress scheme for those who gave birth or were born in such institutions.

More than two years after the final report of the Commission of Investigation, we have no indication of what amount, if any, these orders will contribute to the 800m redress scheme.

In this context, it is easy to see the Church as a callous entity that continues to prioritise self-preservation over any sort of atonement.

But the people within these orders were often not so black and white.
The border between the US and Mexico was relatively calm on Friday, offering few signs of the chaos that was feared following a rush by worried migrants to enter the US before the end of pandemic-related immigration restrictions.

Less than 24 hours after the rules known as Title 42 were lifted, migrants and government officials were still assessing the effect of the change and the new regulations adopted by President Joe Bidens administration to stabilise the region.

We did not see any substantial increase in immigration this morning, said Blas Nunez-Neto, assistant secretary for border and immigration policy at the Department of Homeland Security. He said the agency did not have specific numbers.

Migrants along the border continued to wade into the Rio Grande to take their chances getting into the US while defying officials shouting for them to turn back.

Texas National Guard members stand along a stretch of razor wire as migrants try to cross into the United States on the banks of the Rio Grande (Fernando Llano/AP)

Others hunched over mobile phones trying to access an appointment-scheduling app that is a centrepiece of the new system. Migrants with appointments walked across a bridge hoping for a new life. And lawsuits sought to stop some of the measures.

The Biden administration has said the revamped system is designed to crack down on illegal crossings and to offer a new legal pathway for migrants who often pay thousands of dollars to smugglers to get them to the border.

On Friday, Mr Biden commended Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez for his countrys collaboration with the US and Canada to establish migration hubs in Latin America where asylum seekers will be able to apply for refuge.

Migrants are now essentially barred from seeking asylum in the US if they did not first apply online or seek protection in the countries they travelled through. Families allowed in as their immigration cases progress will face curfews and GPS monitoring.

The legal pathways touted by the administration consist of a programme that permits up to 30,000 people a month from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter if they apply online with a financial sponsor and enter through an airport.

Venezuelan migrant Said Jose wipes his tears while looking for his girlfriend who he was separated from while in detention, at the Sacred Heart Church shelter in El Paso, Texas (Andres Leighton/AP)

About 100 processing centres are opening in Guatemala, Colombia and elsewhere for migrants to apply to go to the US, Spain or Canada. Up to 1,000 can enter daily through land crossings with Mexico if they snag an appointment on the app.

If it works, the system could fundamentally alter how migrants come to the southern border. But Mr Biden, who is running for re-election, faces withering criticism from migrant advocates, who say he is abandoning more humanitarian methods, and from Republicans, who claim he is soft on border security.

The lull in border crossings follows a recent surge of crossings by migrants in hopes of being allowed to stay in the United States before the Title 42 restrictions expired.

Title 42 had been in place since March 2020. It allowed border officials to quickly return asylum seekers back over the border on grounds of preventing the spread of Covid-19. The US has declared the national emergency over, ending the restrictions.

While Title 42 prevented many from seeking asylum, it carried no legal consequences, encouraging repeat attempts. After Thursday, migrants face being barred from entering the US for five years and possible criminal prosecution.
By Alexandra Valencia

QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador's military will launch special-forces operations nationally in a bid to counter groups and individuals who commit terrorism in the country, Defense Minister Luis Lara said on Friday.

Ecuador's security council declared terrorism a threat to the South American country's security late on Thursday, urging the implementation of measures to combat criminal groups.

The security council also requested that President Guillermo Lasso issue a decree authorizing the use of lethal force by security forces to combat organized criminal groups.

Lasso, a conservative former banker, has struggled to stem rising crime and violence on Ecuador's streets and in prisons, which the government attributes to conflicts over territory and power between drug-trafficking gangs.

"In operations against terrorism, we won't hesitate to put into practice all the experience, capacity and professionalism of our soldiers, because it's time to say 'enough' to these criminals and their allies," Lara told journalists.

The government is working to identify criminal groups that are committing terrorism, he added.

Ecuador's police will support the military operations, Lara said. So far, troops have been carrying out operations to seize illegally owned weapons, the minister added.

Earlier this month, armed assailants attacked fishermen in the border city of Esmeraldas, killing nine people. On Thursday, a soldier was killed by unknown individuals who opened fire on the vehicle in which he travelled.

Lasso recently announced reforms to a decree to allow civilians to carry weapons for self-defense.

Ecuador's National Assembly, which is in the middle of holding an impeachment process against Lasso for alleged embezzlement, is debating constitutional reform that would allow the military to patrol streets without a state of emergency being declared.

Lasso denies the embezzlement allegations.

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia in Quito; Writing by Oliver Griffin; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
A leader of the Islamic Jihad militant group in Gaza says a ceasefire has been reached with Israel to end five days of heavy fighting.

Mohamad al-Hindi told the Al Kahera Wal Nas channel that the Egyptian-brokered deal would go into effect at 10pm local time (1900 GMT).
Florida governor Ron DeSantis has sought to weaken former president Donald Trumps grip on the Republican Party as its leading presidential prospects collided in battleground Iowa.

Mr DeSantis, expected to announce his 2024 presidential campaign any day, made little effort to connect with voters one-on-one at a picnic fundraiser in Sioux Centre as several hundred conservatives ate hamburgers.

He focused instead on a formal speech promoting his willingness to embrace conservative cultural fights and sprinkled his remarks with indirect jabs at Mr Trump.

Governing is not about entertaining. Governing is not about building a brand or talking on social media and virtue signalling, said Mr DeSantis, who wore a blue shirt without a tie or jacket.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis greets audience members during a fundraising picnic for US Representative Randy Feenstra in Sioux Centre, Iowa (Charlie Neibergall/AP)

Its ultimately about winning and producing results.

Mr Trump, a candidate since November, had hoped to demonstrate his political strength with a large outdoor rally in Des Moines, the capital, later in the day but he cancelled the event due to a tornado warning.

Although Mr Trump and Mr DeSantis were scheduled to be hundreds of miles apart, the split-screen moment in the Republican Partys lead-off primary state offered an early preview of the match-up between the two Republican powerhouses.

Mr Trump is well ahead of his rivals in early national polls while Mr DeSantis is viewed widely as the strongest potential challenger.

Mr Trump was hoping to return to the comfort of the campaign stage after a tumultuous week.

On Tuesday, a civil jury in New York found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming advice columnist E Jean Carroll and awarded her five million dollars.

A day later, during a contentious CNN town hall, he repeatedly insulted Ms Carroll, reasserted lies about his 2020 election loss and minimised the violence at the US Capitol on January 6 2021.

Mr DeSantis has burnished his reputation as a conservative governor willing to push hard for conservative policies and even take on a political fight with Disney, which he highlighted in Sioux Centre.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis kisses his wife Casey after speaking at a fundraising picnic for US Representative Randy Feenstra in Sioux Centre, Iowa (Charlie Neibergall/AP)

But so far, he has not shown the same zest for taking on Mr Trump, who has been almost singularly focused on tearing down Mr DeSantis for months.

Mr DeSantis devoted much of his remarks to his embrace of conservative cultural priorities, including his opposition to diversity and equity programmes in public schools and laws aimed at curtailing transgender rights.

But, in another indirect jab at Mr Trump, he highlighted the Republican Partys recent string of electoral losses.

He did not say it explicitly, but the party has struggled in every national election since Mr Trumps 2016 victory.

We must reject the culture of losing that has impacted our party in recent years. The time for excuses is over, Mr DeSantis said.

If we get distracted, if we focus the election on the past or on other side issues, then I think the Democrats are going to beat us again.

It is uncertain whether Mr DeSantiss political successes in Florida can be replicated on the national stage.

Even before he formally enters the race, he is already facing questions about his ability to court donors and woo voters.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis poses for a photo with audience members in Sioux Centre, Iowa (Charlie Neibergall/AP)

The Iowa visit, his second in two months, was expected to help address concerns about his sometimes awkward personal appeal as he met with Republican officials, donors and volunteers, all under the glare of the national media.

But Mr DeSantis devoted little time for selfies or handshakes in Sioux Centre, where more than 600 people had gathered to see him at an event billed as a family picnic for US Representative Randy Feenstra.

After his speech, Mr DeSantis raced through the crowd and ignored reporters.

Instead of making small talk with voters, as presidential candidates have done in Iowa for decades, Mr DeSantis left most of the politicking to his allied super political action committee, which had set up a table where prospective supporters for his yet-to-be-announced presidential campaign could sign up.

The road outside the museum was flanked with DeSantis 2024 campaign signs.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump was set to headline an evening rally expected to draw several thousand people at an outdoor amphitheatre in Des Moines Water Works Park.

The former presidents aides said the Des Moines event was in the works before Mr DeSantiss plans were made public, and they hope a large crowd draws comparisons to the scale of their respective events.

At least for Mr Trump, their emerging rivalry has turned increasingly personal.

Former president Donald Trump (Evan Vucci/AP)

Mr DeSantis has largely ignored Mr Trumps jabs, which have included suggesting impropriety with young girls as a teacher decades ago, questioning his sexuality and calling him Ron DeSanctimonious.

Mr Trumps campaign began airing an ad mocking Mr DeSantis for yoking himself to the former president in 2018 when he ran for governor, even using some Trump catchphrases as a nod to his supporters in Florida.

Mr Trumps super PAC, MAGA Inc, has also aired spots highlighting Mr DeSantiss votes to cut Social Security and Medicare and raise the retirement age.

The group even targeted Mr DeSantiss snacking habits, running an ad that called for him to keep his pudding fingers off those benefits.

That was a reference to a report in The Daily Beast that the governor ate chocolate pudding with his fingers instead of a spoon on a plane several years ago.

Mr DeSantis has said he does not remember doing that.

The pro-DeSantis super PAC, Never Back Down, has hired Iowa staff and begun trying to organise support for the governor before a 2024 announcement.

The group announced on Thursday that state senate president Amy Sinclair and state house majority leader Matt Windschitl would endorse Mr DeSantiss candidacy.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis speaks in Sioux Centre, Iowa (Charlie Neibergall/AP)

On Friday, it rolled out roughly three dozen more state legislators who would endorse him.

During Mr DeSantiss appearance in Sioux Centre, governor Kim Reynolds and Iowa Senator Joni Ernst were in attendance.

The super PAC has also been providing a more forceful response to Mr Trump, suggesting that he should leave Florida if he is unhappy with Mr DeSantiss governance, accusing Mr Trump of not sufficiently supporting gun rights and siding with liberal Democrats.
Burma Myanmar Junta Massacres 18 Bago Villagers, Including Five Children

Charred bodies in Nyaung Pin Thar village, Htantabin Township, Bago Region, after the junta massacre. / Htantabin People's Defense Force

Myanmar junta troops killed and incinerated 18 villagers, including five children, in Htantabin Township, Bago Region, on Wednesday.

The victims included two five-year-olds, a seven-year-old, nine-year-old, 15-year-old and a man and woman in their seventies.

The killings followed heavy junta losses in attacks by the Karen National Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Karen National Union, and resistance groups near the village on Wednesday.

After the attacks, the troops raided Nyaung Pin Thar village and tortured anyone they found, according to residents.

A villager told The Irrawaddy her sister, sister-in-law and niece were killed.

She said she missed the attack because she was traveling to a hospital.

She said her neighbor, U Kyaw Thein, 55, was killed.

He heard troops were taking his mother. He begged them and said she was paralyzed and could not leave with them, so they took U Kyaw Thein instead. He was also among those killed, the woman said.

Ko Toe and his family escaped to a neighboring village. He said the troops killed those detained after interrogation and torture. They were beheaded and incinerated, he said.

Villagers said some detainees were burned alive. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports.

Photo and video seen by The Irrawaddy showed charred remains and unburned body parts and organs.

This is one of the most inhumane acts by the fascist military, Htantabin Peoples Defense Forces statement said.

The Nyaung Pin Thar massacre is the second largest in Bago Region since the 2021 coup after 80 people were killed on April 9, 2021, in a crackdown on peaceful protesters in Bago city.

The civilian National Unity Government by March recorded 64 junta massacres across Myanmar, in which at least 766 people were killed.

Nyaung Pin Thar massacre victims:

Females

Daw Khin Yee, 68

Ma Than Than Swe, 35

Ma Thu Zar, 40

Daw Chut Ti, 58

Daw Tin San, 53

Daw Khin Ohn, 55

Daw Tin Ohn, 53

Ma Than Than Wai, 28

Ma Ju Ju May, 25

Ma Thet Hnin San, five

Males

Maung Moe Wathan, 15

Maung Moe Wai Yangon, seven

Maung Thet Paing Hein, five

Maung Satt Paing Hein, nine

U Win Myaing, 70

Ko Zaw Moe Aung, 40

U Toe Toe, 53

U Kyaw Thein, 55
Burma Pa-O Council Blames Myanmar Junta Allies for Attack on Diplomatic Convoy

Damage to the convoy traveling to a displacement camp in Hsi Hseng to provide humanitarian aid after Sundays attack.

The Pa-O National Federal Council (PNFC) says the May 7 attack on an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) aid convoy was carried out by the junta-affiliated Pa-O National Organization (PNO).

The humanitarian aid convoy included two Singaporean and Indonesian embassy staff, three officials from the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management and Pa-O National Liberation Organization (PNLO) liaison officers when an unidentified armed group attacked.

The convoy retreated to Taunggyi, the Shan State capital. No one was injured.

The attack took place in PNO territory and it was alleged on social media that the PNLO was behind the ambush. The PNLO denied the allegations saying it arranged the trip, its staff were in the convoy and the aid was due to be delivered to its office.

The PNFC said witness statements, including from Pa-O residents who saw the attack, suggested the PNO carried out the attack.

The council, which represents the Pa-O community, called for a probe by ASEAN and the international community.

It warned that the junta was trying to spark conflicts within the Karenni and Pa-O communities.

The civilian National Unity Government (NUG) on Monday denounced the attack on a humanitarian convoy and said it will investigate the incident.

On Wednesday a statement by the ASEAN heads of state condemned the attack and said that the perpetrators must be held accountable.

The PNFC said on Thursday that the terrorist regime is unwilling to provide humanitarian assistance to people in need and will not help those in need.

Unless we stop the juntas violence, we will be unable to effectively deliver humanitarian assistance, it said.

The NUG, Karen National Union, Karenni National Progressive Party and Chin National Front issued a joint statement on Wednesday urging ASEAN to help establish an inclusive humanitarian forum to deliver aid through a variety of channels while the junta blocks assistance.
Burma Thousands Flee Homes as Cyclone Mocha Nears Myanmars Coast

Sittwe residents leave their homes for shelter.

Hundreds of thousands of Rakhine citizens have left their homes before Cyclone Mocha, which is currently above the Bay of Bengal, is due to hit the state near Sittwe on Sunday afternoon.

Wind speeds of up to 185km per hour are being forecast by the World Meteorology Organization.

Red-level disaster warnings have been issued for Sittwe, Kyaukphyu, Maungdaw, Rathedaung, Myebon, Pauktaw and Munaung townships by Myanmars junta with similar warnings from the civilian National Unity Government.

Arakan Army (AA) spokesman Khaing Thu Kha said it has evacuated around 102,000 Rakhine residents since Wednesday, providing healthcare and food. He called on international organizations to assist after the storm as there were limits to the AAs capacity.

Around 75 percent of residents of Sittwe Township, which has a population of more than 100,000, have left their homes, according to writer Wai Hin Aung, who has assisted the process.

Approximately 15,000 people from Sittwe and nearby villages have been sheltering in monasteries on Arr Jate hill in the town.

Wai Hin Aung said there was an urgent need for food, medicine and toilets.

No international organization has contacted us, he told the Irrawaddy.

Around 2,000 villagers from coastal Rathedaung Township have been sheltering in monasteries and schools in Sayti Pyin village, according to volunteer U Aye Aung.

The Arakan Army warned residents to move and people are still entering our village because we are inland, he told The Irrawaddy.

A Pauktaw Township resident said the AA was using boats to evacuate the elderly and children and distribute food.
Junta Watch Junta Watch: Magic Ritual Fails to Deter Cyclone; Dictator Vows Agri-Reform as Soldiers Torch Fields; and More

Min Aung Hlaing tests a gun during his visit to Russia in 2021.

Junta seeks help from dragons to divert cyclone

Junta officials have again demonstrated their level of intelligence by performing a magical ritual to feed dragons to divert the impending cyclone.

Under the guidance of pro-regime Buddhist monk U Pawara Theikdi (aka Aung Zay Sayadaw), Ayeyarwady Region chief minister U Tin Maung Win, Southwestern Command chief Brigadier-General Kyi Khaing, and Pamawaddi naval base commander Brig-Gen Tin Maung Than gathered at Cape Negrais (Mawatinzun) in Ayeyarwady Regions Pathein Township on Monday to conduct the dragon-feeding rite.

Ayeyarwady Region was hardest hit when Cyclone Nargis battered Myanmar in May 2008.

The monks and junta officials recited a mantra 37 times while pointing their fingers in the direction where the storm was brewing.

Their absurd undertaking failed, however, as the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System on Thursday issued a red alert for tropical cyclone Mocha, warning that more than 2 million people in Rakhine State, and Magwe and Sagaing regions were at risk.

In 2008, Cyclone Nargis left at least 138,000 dead and missing in Myanmar, in the countrys worst natural disaster on record.

Min Aung Hlaing harvests farce

Despite the Food and Agriculture Organization warning in early May that Myanmar is among the worlds top 10 food-insecure countries, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing told a meeting on boosting agricultural productivity in Naypyitaw on Wednesday that the countrys COVID- and coup-hit economy will grow by leaps and bounds if the agricultural sector is reformed.

The agriculture industry has struggled since the coup, as farmers across the country  including the agricultural heartlands of Sagaing and Magwe  have fled as junta troops torch their homes and fields.

People going hungry in many parts of the country are at risk of further suffering as the regime blocks deliveries of humanitarian aid.

Despite Min Aung Hlaings bombast, Myanmar is now ranked sixth on the FAOs list of countries facing severe food insecurity, after Congo, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Yemen.

Gun control, junta style

On Thursday, Min Aung Hlaing signed a law into effect prescribing the death sentence for stealing or attempting to steal, unlawfully selling, transferring, or destroying state-owned weapons and ammunition.

The laws enactment follows the juntas offer of cash rewards to resistance fighters who defect to the Myanmar military along with their weapons. Earlier, the regime offered amnesty to people who surrendered their illicit firearms, promising not to check how the weapons were acquired.

The latest move aims to curb the spread of arms amid the ongoing defection of junta soldiers and police to the resistance side, as well as escalating attacks and seizure of weapons from junta bases by resistance forces.

In late January, the regime responded to increased killings of retired military officials and informants by issuing a policy allowing it to provide guns to military supporters.
On Friday, bomb threats led to the evacuation of several schools.

City of Hollywood police said threats were received at Attucks Middle School and South Broward High School.

The lockdown at Attucks Middle School was lifted after an investigation, but police remained on campus for the day and students at South Broward were temporarily evacuated as a precaution.

Coral Springs Police reported the school board received several bomb threats, which caused the evacuation of Coral Glades High School, NBC 6 South Florida reported.

The Broward Sheriff's Office reportedly received a bomb threat alert at Blanche Ely High School in Pompano Beach causing the BSOs Threat Management and Bomb Squad Units to respond and the school was placed on lockdown.

Police said the threats do not appear to be credible.
Theres a possibility of severe weather in the Flint Hills and to the east of that Friday afternoon and into the evening, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Christian Williams.

If there is a storm, its probably going to be severe, the Wichita meteorologist said.

Early Friday morning, the severe weather was thought to be just east of Wichita but has since moved further east. The possible threat of severe weather comes the day after forecasters had thought the Wichita area could see tornadoes, egg-sized hail and damaging winds up to 70 mph.

But the severe weather didnt hit anywhere in the Wichita area.

Williams said they think a combination of factors kept severe weather from hitting the Wichita area. Morning storms in the Oklahoma City area moved cooler weather to the Wichita area, preventing a cooler front from hitting what was expected to be warmer air here, he said. The collision of the warmer and cooler air can lead to severe weather.

Additionally, he said, the storms in the Oklahoma City area prevented moisture from around the Red River in Texas from moving into the area. The Oklahoma City area did see its expected severe weather, with tornadoes damaging multiple buildings, according to KFOR, which said Friday morning no injuries had been reported.

Western Kansas did see the severe weather that was forecast.

NWS Goodland science and operations officer Jeremy Martin said all but one of the tornadoes in the state hit their coverage area. The other tornado hit a few miles north of Ryus in Grant County. It lasted less than a couple of minutes.

There have been no reports of any injuries, he said.

Martin said NWS officials are surveying the tornadoes and damage Friday with hopes of having a report in the afternoon or evening. He estimates there were at least 10 tornadoes, with the bulk of them in Wallace County, where the most damage happened.

In Wallace County, Weskan Schools had its roof damaged, making the K-12 building unusable for now, according to Sheriff Marshall Unruh. The roughly 100 students will finish the final days of the school year remotely, he said.

Additionally, he said, a scoreboard was knocked over and newly purchased bleachers from a fundraiser were also heavily damaged. The bleachers were supposed to be used for Saturdays graduation ceremony, which has now been moved to a church.

Around town, about 10 to 15 homes had damage. Some had structure damage but are still livable, he said, adding the other damage around town ranged from vehicles, roofs and broken windows to uprooted trees.
The border between the U.S. and Mexico is relatively calm, offering few signs of the chaos that had been feared following a rush by worried migrants to enter the U.S. before the end of pandemic-related immigration restrictions
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.
Since ALLO Communications came to Columbus, Eastern Nebraska General Manager Dave Miller said, they've been operating out of two separate spaces, a warehouse on one end of town, and a customer service office on the other. Now, they're all under one roof.

"What we've done is we've consolidated our storefront and our warehouse in this building which was really the goal from day one," Miller said.

At a "housewarming party" of sorts and a Business After Hours event with the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce, ALLO welcomed the community into their new space, at 3620 23rd St., to see the combined warehouse, office space and customer service office.

"This will serve us really well, we can help customers from our storefront and our trucks and techs can come and get equipment, it really makes it convenient," Miller said.

Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce President Dawson Brunswick said a definite benefit to the new space is a permanent home for their local customer service. Brunswick said that, of the area providers, ALLO is the only one offering fiber for residential with a physical office where people can go and talk to a customer service representative, which is important to their business.

"ALLO is our only member that does residential service (for fiber) in Columbus," Brunswick said. "If you have an issue with your internet, you're dealing with someone in Columbus when you walk in that door."

Miller went on to say that ALLO was excited to move into the area from the beginning because they saw an opportunity for competition in a fast-growing community.

"Of the 17 communities we have in Nebraska, which is everything we have from Kearney to Omaha, Columbus is the fastest-growing community out of all of those, so it's super exciting to see," Miller said. "What that tells us is a couple of things. One, we love to come into a community and compete with those already in it. Two, it's all about having local ALLO folks live in Columbus, be part of Columbus."

Aside from the customer service end of things, Miller said, having a larger storefront is convenient for events such as Business After Hours and having a large parking area for staff and customers will be a huge plus.

"It's cost-effective for us, for one. Two, the location here is great because we have ample parking, we always look for that, we've got room to be able to do events where the community can come in," Miller said. "The back of the building is ideal for us as far as warehouse and inventory space, trucks can come in, load up in the morning and head out."

At the event, Mayor Jim Bulkley spoke briefly about what it was like to have infrastructure like this expanding in the area and what the future of that expansion may look like some day.

Chris Christensen, senior manager for field services, said that he has high hopes for said expansion based on what he's seen in the relatively short time ALLO has been in town.

"We've got a lot of room for growth, for bringing on new people. Columbus has been a fast-growing community for us and this is a great opportunity to bring in more folks in a lot of space to work," Christensen said.

During the chamber's Business After Hours event, questions were raised about what exactly the future might look like, including coverage across the Loup and Platte Rivers, which requires them to build along bridges. Bulkley said that, when all the construction along 23rd Street is complete, the city can look further into moving that infrastructure across the river(s) but for now, they're just trying to finish the projects they have ongoing.
At a dinnerware party in 1951, two unsuspecting teenagers met, sparking what would become a large family and a long-lasting legacy of trust and commitment between Irvin and Juanita Mueller, 17 and 16 at the time.

"A family would host neighbors and my parents were invited to the neighbors' dinner, I went along and she helped her parents prepare," Irvin said. "Two young people out of all these adults, we met at this dinner."

Neither are sure what exactly drew them to each other in the first place, only that something did. Irvin believes it was divine intervention.

"I have no idea except it was God's plan. I can't give you a good explanation at all," Irvin said. "It just kind of seemed to melt or mold together."

The pair married on May 28, 1953 and shortly after doing so, Irvin, who was in the Army, went to Germany during the end of the Korean War.

"For one month, we soldiered for survival. After that, it was by the book," Irvin said. "I was attached to a chemical smoke company, we could set up 10 generators upwind of Columbus, make smoke and hide the city. Then Radar came along and made us obsolete."

Juanita said that one thing they abided by all this time that she believes made things work is honesty.

"Always tell the truth, no matter how bad it is, it'll work out. If you catch up later, you'll get in trouble and you're stuck with it," Juanita said.

She went to Wayne State after they married and got a two-year degree and teaching certificate, teaching at three rural schools for one year each. She also sold real estate for five or six years, she said, when he had come back from the Army. Then she took care of their five children while they ran a farm until the late 1980s. That was when things took a turn, Irvin said, and the economic policies of the time forced him to get out of the business.

"We lost our farm is why we got out (of the farming business)," Irvin said. "A friend knew of our plight, he called me up on a Sunday morning and, if I was interested, a family had just lost their son and would like someone to manage the farm so I continued to farm for them, harvested his crop and two of mine, traded them in for cash."

Irvin then worked managing a hog unit near Magnolia, Iowa. He and a couple other men would work on site as floating managers and if a manager had to leave for some reason, they would step in. One of the other men described the group as "the highest-paid power-washers in the unit," he joked.

The couple have also been very active in the community over the years, according to their son, Randy Mueller, owner of Star Escape Rooms. Between Grace Lutheran Church in Platte Center and their children's school, they kept busy.

"(He was) church chairman at one point. Mom was, if you had a funeral, she would organize and do the food. Dad was Lakeview school board president from 1977 into the '80s," Randy said. "She was a Sunday school teacher as well."

Irvin joked that a lot of their positions at the church weren't exactly elected, rather they took the jobs because they were there and able to do them. Sunday school in particular, he joked, was because they were dropping the kids off anyway.

"Grace wasn't that big of a church. If you presented yourself, you had a job," Irvin said.

Now, Irvin and Juanita spend time together everyday at Emerald Nursing and Rehab, where Juanita is currently staying. Two of their five children still live in the area while three have moved to Nevada, Texas and Florida. Between their five children, Irvin said, they have 12 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
Lancaster County's chief deputy sheriff struck a 9-year-old cyclist while driving his Dodge Ram pickup truck in northwest Lincoln on Wednesday night, according to police.

Ben Houchin, who has worked for the sheriff's office since 1993 and was named the chief deputy in 2020, told Lincoln Police investigators he looked down for a "split second" to change his radio station at around 8:15 p.m. Wednesday, when he crashed into the girl, according to the crash report filed in the incident.

Lincoln Fire and Rescue crews took the 9-year-old to a local hospital with serious, but not life-threatening, injuries, Lincoln Police Investigator Nicholas Vest said in the crash report. Her status was unclear Friday morning.

Houchin was driving his Ram 1500 eastbound on West Jennifer Street when he glanced down at his radio as he proceeded through the road's intersection with Northwest Eighth Street on Wednesday, crashing into the girl, who was riding her bike south on Eighth Street, according to the crash report.

There are no stop signs on either side of the three-way intersection.

The chief deputy told investigators the girl came out of nowhere and that he never saw her, Vest said in the report.

Police don't suspect drugs or alcohol played a role in the crash, Lincoln Police Chief Teresa Ewins said Friday. Investigators did not test Houchin for either drugs or alcohol, according to the crash report.

Houchin told investigators he was driving around 20 mph in the moments before the crash. The posted speed limit on West Jennifer is 25 mph.

Police have not cited the chief deputy, Ewins said. The Police Department is investigating the crash and the sheriff's office has launched an internal investigation into Houchin, the police chief said.

Both Houchin and the girl live in the neighborhood, according to the crash report. The report also said the girl was not wearing a helmet.

Houchin did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
Before a Lancaster County judge sent a Texas man to prison Thursday for filming sex with a Lincoln teenager in 2022, a prosecutor chastised the 21-year-old for his "lies, deceit and manipulation" that hung over the case before and after he filmed the girl.

In front of a crowded court gallery Thursday afternoon, Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Julie Mruz described an escalating series of lies that took Jose L. Martinez from a then-17-year-old girl's social media inbox to a local motel room last April, where the Laredo man repeatedly filmed sexual acts with the teen.

Mruz said Martinez initially lied about his real name and how old he was when the two began an online relationship and later, after the girl ended things with the 21-year-old, he used fake phone numbers to harass her.

At times, Mruz said, Martinez demanded the girl not shower without FaceTiming him and required her to send nude photos of herself.

He would become enraged, the prosecutor said, if the girl didn't answer his phone calls  even when she was at school or work.

"(The girl) was subject to brainwashing by Mr. Martinez and his manipulation," Mruz said. "She not only consistently was sending him money, but was also convinced by him to self-harm."

Mruz said the girl finally escaped the "nightmare" in April 2022, ending her relationship with Martinez after he'd spent two weeks at a local motel, where he took explicit photos and videos of the girl  adding to a collection of hundreds of nude images he'd compiled of the teen.

But after she ended her relationship with Martinez, he threatened to "expose" the teen by sharing the images online.

Eventually, Martinez followed through, sending a photo of the girl he had taken in the motel to one of the girl's classmates while continuing to send harassing texts to the 17-year-old, Lincoln Police Investigator Ben Pflanz said in the affidavit for Martinez's arrest.

The girl's mother reported the incident to police, prompting a monthslong investigation by the Police Department's Special Victims Unit that yielded felony criminal charges against Martinez in August 2022.

But even after Martinez was arrested in Iowa that month and charged in Lancaster County with generation of child pornography, Mruz said Martinez has continued to reach out to the girl.

"It is crystal clear to the state ... that he still has zero remorse for his actions, despite his words in court today," Mruz said. "His behavior has affected (the girl) and her family. And he just simply doesn't care."

Martinez pleaded guilty in March to attempted generation of child pornography as part of a plea deal.

Martinez's attorney, Darik Von Loh, said little at the 21-year-old's sentencing hearing Thursday, instead pointing to a letter he penned to Judge John A. Colborn in defense of his client.

"I just would ask that Mr. Martinez be given a lenient sentence," Von Loh said. "I believe that the circumstances surrounding this case do not warrant any kind of lengthy jail sentence, judge."

Martinez, too, was brief when given a chance to speak at the hearing.

"I apologize to the victim and her mother," he said, "and everything else is in the letter, your honor."

In her comments, Mruz indicated that Martinez had asked for a five-year prison term in his letter to the court. The prosecutor asked for a "lengthy" sentence and a no-contact order preventing Martinez from communicating further with the teen.

Colborn ultimately sided with the state, sentencing Martinez to 20 to 30 years in prison  an order that drew muted celebration and some tears from supporters of the victim in the courtroom.

Martinez, who was given credit for 233 days served, will be eligible for parole in 2032.
Reports of street gangs looting and assaulting civilians have emerged amid the ongoing fighting in Sudan since April 15, especially in Khartoum and two nearby towns.

These gangs, known as Niqez, have been wreaking havoc in Sudan since the 2003 armed conflict in Darfur, reemerging during periods of instability.

Both conflicting parties in Sudan are now taking measures to arrest and publicly shame gang members to improve their image among civilians.

Videos and images showing RSF fighters arresting and publicly humiliating members of the Niqez gang in Khartoum have been circulating on social media since late April.

However, eyewitnesses to the looting in and around Khartoum claim that the RSF themselves are looting banks, shops, and hospitals before leaving the way for gangs and civilians.

The same forces later intervene at the same site to arrest looters, including members of street gangs. The groups are not organized, and any street gang in Sudan may be called Niqez in reference to their brawling attitude and knives.

They attack people randomly, sometimes walking around with small blades in their hands during the day in the street. For civilians, these gangs are a kind of political terror tool, appearing and disappearing suddenly when the city is going through a wave of protest or chaos.

The Sudanese Central Bank assures that its customers deposits have not been affected by the looting.
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A federal judge in Florida, in a late Thursday order, granted the states emergency request to temporarily halt a new Biden administration policy to release from federal custody some immigrants who enter the country without prior authorization.

The order from U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell II, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, came just hours before the expiration of the pandemic-era public health policy known as Title 42 that allowed immigration authorities to immediately expel migrants without considering their asylum claims.

Wetherell said the new administration policy, outlined in a May 10 memo from U.S. Customs and Border Protection Chief Raul Ortiz, was nearly identical to one the judge invalidated in another case in March. The federal governments appeal in that case is ongoing.

The Court sees nothing materially different about the new policy or the parties arguments that would compel a different result with respect to the policy challenged in this case, Wetherell wrote Thursday.

Absent another ruling, his order will expire in two weeks.

The new Biden administration policy would allow migrants who meet certain conditions and are not deemed national security threats to be released from overcrowded CBP facilities. Migrants at such facilities would have 60 days to schedule an immigration hearing.

The policy would take effect only at holding facilities where migrants are in custody on average for 60 hours or longer. Eight of nine CBP sectors already meet that threshold, meaning its impact would be widespread and immediate, Wetherell wrote.

The judge added that the end of the automatic expulsion under Title 42 would likely produce a surge in migrants crossing the border.

Numbers of arriving immigrants at the Southwest border remained high Friday but did not spike when Title 42 expired at midnight, Blas Nunez-Neto, the U.S. Department of Homeland Securitys assistant secretary for border and immigration policy, told reporters on a video call Friday.

DeSantis urges border shutdown

At a news conference in Fort Myers, Florida, on Friday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, said the ruling should prompt contemplation by the Biden administration.

Maybe it will cause them to look internally and say, Maybe we should start doing our job and actually protecting the American people for a change, because they have not been willing to do that and, in fact, you now see more people than ever are prepared to storm across, he said.

DeSantis, a potential candidate for the Republican presidential nomination next year, offered to send workers from Florida to construct a border wall.

The border should be shut down, he said. I mean, this is ridiculous, whats going on. You shut it down. You do need to construct a wall.

He added that anyone crossing the border without authorization should be immediately expelled.

We also need to just have a policy: If you come across the border illegally, you get sent back, the governor continued. You dont get a notice to appear for a trial in two years. What kind of a deterrent is that? It doesnt work.

Administration blasts Florida ruling

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement would add thousands more beds as Title 42 ends and Wetherells order blocks a potential aid to overcrowding.

She also criticized Floridas actions, calling the lawsuit sabotage, and slammed other Republican officials whose actions she said were counterproductive to an immigration solution.

Pure and simple, this is sabotage, she said.

What were seeing from Republican officials is completely shameful, because its political play.

Nunez-Neto called the order a harmful ruling that would hamper CBPs operations.

The order will result in unsafe overcrowding at CBP facilities and undercut our ability to efficiently process and remove migrants, which will risk creating dangerous conditions for Border Patrol agents, as well as non-citizens in our custody, Nunez-Neto said. Republican and Democratic administrations alike have used this parole authority to protect the safety and security of migrants and the workforce.

The administration would comply with the order but was reviewing its next steps, he said, indicating an appeal was possible.

Nunez-Neto and Jean-Pierre called for Congress to address immigration.

The Florida suit, and others from conservative groups and left-leaning organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union, really clearly demonstrate just how fundamentally broken our immigration system is, Nunez-Neto added.

We are clear-eyed that without bipartisan congressional action, we will continue to face these challenges on our border, he said. We invite Republicans and Democrats on the Hill to come together and work with us to once and for all address the underlying issues in our immigration system that are pulling so many migrants to the border.

Jennifer Shutt contributed to this report.
From our special correspondent in Spain  An early scorching heatwave across Spain has worsened the impact of the countrys long-term drought, causing unprecedented damage to the countrys crops.

As farmers grow desperate for irrigation, the governments plan to limit the rerouting of water from the nations longest river the Tagus for agricultural purposes lies at the centre of a heated debate.

reports. The mathematics of drought are extremely simple for Ricardo Ferri, a Spanish farmer from the Valencian community: after 100 days without rain, he has lost 100% of his crops. The earth on his 55-hectare property is deeply desiccated.

Wheat plants are only a quarter of the size they should be theyve basically stopped growing since the last rainfall in early February. Its as if time has been suspended.

Wherever you look, the soil is completely dry, there is not a single drop of humidity! Its the first time Ive lost everything because of the drought  Its the same for all cereal farmers in this area, Ferri told .

The problem is far from being limited to this single region. The Coordinator of Farmers and Ranchers Organisations (COAG) warned in mid-April that the countrys long-term drought was causing irreversible losses to more than 5 million hectares of crops in Andalusia (south), Extremadura (east), Castilla-La Mancha (centre), and Murcia (south-east).

Cereals such as wheat and barley are the worst impacted because a drastic shortage of water in spring means that the grain will not be harvested in summer even if rain returns.

Farmers like Ferri have written the harvest off completely, hoping to get some emergency aid to cope with the financial fallout. Drought now affects 60% of the Spanish countryside. Even crops known for their adaptation to a dry climate, such as nuts and olives, are now being threatened.

My almond trees have already begun to shed some of their fruits because the tree has to save water for its own survival, said Ferri. Their long-term prospects are not good either. Spain and the Mediterranean as a whole are expected to be one of the fastest warming regions of the world in coming years, according to climate experts.

Im not a scientist, I dont know how much of this is linked to global warming. But Ive seen with my own eyes that we are now going from winter to summer without transition. Here you can have zero degrees, and a week later, its nearly 30 degrees, said Ferri. I dont want to give up and sell the farm, but if I get more years like this, I will have no other choice.

As the drought intensifies, irrigation has become more vital than ever to Spanish farmers. Its effects on the landscape are spectacular. About 120 kilometres south of Alcoy, the surroundings of Murcia are covered with lush green plantations of lemon trees. It feels a world apart from Ferris dried-up cereal fields.

All that you see here didnt exist in my grand-parents days, Rogelio Rios, a 52 year-old farmer, told from a hill overlooking his estate. The region then looked like Africa. Yield was low, and agriculture limited to cereals, olives, almonds and a few fruits like melons. Back then, we had to live with the uncertainty of rainfall.

Its only with modern irrigation and the inauguration in 1979 of a large water transfer network bringing water from the Tagus river that this part of Spain overcame poverty. Murcia and the neighbouring provinces of Almeria and Alicante now provide a large part of the fresh agricultural products found on supermarket shelves across Europe.

Modern technology has given local farmers a sense of confidence that they would be able to limit the damages caused by droughts. They believe they can mostly carry on as usualdespite scepticism from environmental groups over the sustainability of such an intensive model of fruit production.

I am more afraid of politicians cutting the Tagus-Segura Trasvase (the Spanish name for the water transfer network of 300 kilometres of canals, tunnels, and reservoirs) than of global warming, said Rios. We can always adapt to harsher climate conditions. But without water, we are nothing!.

But in Castilla-La Mancha, a central region extending east and south of Madrid, the governments plan to reduce the amount of water transferred from the Tagus to Murcia has been warmly welcomed.

We have been sacrificed for the profits of another region, Ricardo Ortega, the owner of a boating company on a reservoir fed by the Tagus river, told . The artificial lake water, created in the 1950s, is now several dozen metres below where it was. Once know as Madrids beach, it has became a sad place where several tourist activities, such as fishing, have almost disappeared.

Tensions over water rerouting between different regions are reaching boiling point as Spain prepares for regional and local elections on May 28.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in Rome where he will be meeting with Pope Francis and Italian leaders.

The German defence ministry has announced a new weapons package for Ukraine worth 2.7 billion ($2.97 billion), which reportedly is the largest for the country since the invasion by Russia last year. Follow s live blog for all the latest developments. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).

10:11am: Germany announces 2.7 billion weapons package for UkraineGermany is preparing a new weapons package for Ukraine worth 2.7 billion euros ($2.97 billion), the defence ministry said Saturday.The weapons will include tanks, armoured vehicles and air-defence systems.

We all hope for a rapid end to this terrible war by Russia against the Ukrainian people, but unfortunately this is not in sight, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said in a statement.

The package will include 30 additional Leopard-1 tanks, Marder armoured vehicles, air-defence systems and surveillance drones, the ministry said.

Der Spiegel magazine reported that it would be Germanys largest since the outbreak of the war.

Germany last year provided military support worth 2 billion and had earmarked sending aid worth 2.2 billion for this year.

9:50am: Zelensky to meet Pope Francis at the VaticanUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in Rome where he will meet with Pope Francis and Italian leaders on Saturday, the Vatican said.Zelensky will hold midday meetings with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who staunchly backs military and other aid for Ukraine, and with President Sergio Mattarella.

Zelenskys exact schedule wasnt being publicly announced because of security concerns, and the Vatican only confirmed a papal meeting shortly before the Ukrainian presidents arrival in Rome.

Italian state television reported that, as part of protective measures, a no-fly zone was ordered for Rome skies and police sharpshooters were strategically placed on high buildings.

Key developments from Friday, May 12: Moscow acknowledged on Friday that its forces had fallen back north of Ukraines battlefield city of Bakhmut after a new Ukrainian offensive, a retreat that the head of Russias Wagner mercenaries called a rout.

The rare acknowledgement of a battlefield setback came after Ukraine said its forces had made significant advances around the embattled eastern city, which has been the epicentre of fighting with Russia for months.

Russian-installed officials said on Friday missiles fired by Ukrainian forces had injured six children and a Russian parliamentarian and damaged two disused factories in eastern Luhansk regions main city, about 100km (60 miles) behind the front lines.

The Ukrainian military said in a daily update that Russia was focusing its efforts near Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka. The enemy carried out 36 attacks in these directions in the last 24 hours.

South Africas foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday the US ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, had admitted that he crossed a line and apologised unreservedly after he said a Russian ship had picked up weapons in South Africa last year, causing a diplomatic uproar on Thursday.

Following the US ambassadors statements, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he would appoint an independent inquiry to look into the allegations.

Reuters
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Prominent Leaders Arbitrarily Arrested; Party Headquarters Shut Down

( Human Rights Watch )  (Tunis)  Tunisian authorities have intensified their attack on opponents of President Kais Saieds 2021 power grab, moving to neutralize the countrys largest political party, Ennahda, Human Rights Watch said today.

Since December 2022, the Tunisian government has arrested at least 17 current or former members of the party, including its leader, and shut its offices across the country. The authorities should immediately release all those arbitrarily detained and end restrictions on freedom of association and assembly.

The arrests have continued following a wave in mid-February that targeted figures of various political affiliations, bringing the number of public figures deemed critical of Saied behind bars to at least 30. Most have been accused of conspiring against state security. The Ennahda-linked detainees include four former ministers and several former parliament members. The party President and former speaker of parliament Rached Ghannouchi and two party vice presidents, Ali Laarayedh and Nourredine Bhiri, are among them. None has been formally charged.

After demonizing the Ennahda Party and making serious accusations without proof, President Saieds authorities have moved to effectively dismantle it, said Salsabil Chellali, Tunisia director at Human Rights Watch. Tunisian authorities latest tactic to muzzle critical voices consists of tossing around conspiracy charges left and right against all those who challenge the presidents increasingly authoritarian bent.

The authorities have accused most of the detainees of conspiracy against state security without clarifying the criminal acts that constitute the alleged conspiracy.

Seven Ennahda-related cases for which Human Rights Watch has been able to get additional information show the political nature of the arrests, the reliance on flimsy evidence, and disregard for due-process rights. At least four of these cases amount to barring peaceful expression.

Founded in 1981, Ennahda  formerly the Islamic Tendency Movement  was legalized only in 2011, after a popular uprising ousted the longtime authoritarian President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali. Ennahda played a central role in all government coalitions until 2019.

Ennahda President Ghannouchi has been a prominent opponent of Saieds one-man-rule that followed his seizure of extraordinary powers on July 25, 2021. On April 17, plainclothes officers arrested Ghannouchi at his home. They did not show an arrest warrant, one of his lawyers told Human Rights Watch.

On April 20, an investigative judge issued a detention warrant for Ghannouchi on charges of attempting to change the nature of the state and conspiring against internal state security, crimes for which a death sentence is possible. The accusations are based on a warning by Ghannouchi on April 15 during a meeting that alienating opposition political movements, including Ennahda and the left, was a project for civil war.

How Tunisias democratic revolution turned into autocratic rule | DW News

Over the past 18 months, Ghannouchi, 81, has been questioned in relation to 19 different investigations, his lawyer Mokhtar Jemai said in a radio interview.

The police closed Ennahdas headquarters in Tunis on April 18, without presenting any court decision or formal document, another lawyer said. Security forces have prevented members from accessing the offices of the party across the country, the lawyer said.

The same day, the authorities shut the Tunis headquarters of a party known as the Tunisia Will Movement, which hosted activities of the National Salvation Front (NSF), an opposition coalition cofounded by Ennahda.

An unverified Interior Ministry memorandum invoking the state of emergency  which has continuously been extended since 2015  ordering the closure of Ennahdas offices and banning their meetings across the country, as well as the NSFs gatherings in Tunis, has circulated online.

The two Ennahda vice presidents, Laarayedh and Bhiri, are being held in Mornaguia prison. Laarayedh, 67, a former interior and prime minister, is facing prosecution for decisions he made in office between 2011 and 2014 that allegedly failed to combat fundamentalism and Islamic extremist violence in the necessary way. He has been held since December 19, without being brought before a judge.

Former Justice Minister Bhiri was arrested on February 13 for attempting to change the nature of the state, his lawyer, Amine Bouker, told Human Rights Watch, for a Facebook post urging, Tunisians to demonstrate against Saied on January 14, the anniversary of Ben Alis ouster. Bhiris lawyers said he did not write or post the call.

Said Ferjani, another Ennahda leader who was in the Parliament dissolved by Saied in March 2022, was arrested in Tunis on February 27 as part of an investigation into the digital content production company Instalingo, one of his lawyers said. The state prosecutor has accused the company, whose customers include Arabic-speaking media organizations critical of Saied, of inciting violence and slandering Saied.

Ferjani is accused of money laundering, attempting to change the nature of the state, undermining external State security, and inciting violence, among other charges  including under the 2015 Anti-Terrorist law  some of which are punishable by death. An investigative judge questioned Ferjani on March 1 about his relationships and finances. His family and lawyer told Human Rights Watch that he has no link with the company. He is in Sousse prison and he has not been further questioned by a judge.

At least two other Ennahda members are detained in the Instalingo case: the former Investment Minister Riadh Bettaieb, his lawyer told Human Rights Watch, and Ghannouchi, who was placed under a detention warrant in this case on May 9.

Mohamed Mzoughi, Ennahdas head of public relations in the city of Beja, was arrested on March 9. The following day, Mohamed Saleh Bouallagui, Ennahdas general secretary in Beja, was arrested. They remain in detention, accused of conspiracy against state security including through contacts with a foreign power, insulting the president and terrorism-related charges for their alleged role in managing social media pages critical of Saieds rule, their lawyers said.

Documents filed by the state prosecutor indicate that Bouallagui and Mzoughi are being investigated under the 2015 Anti-Terrorist law for offenses punishable by up to 20 years in prison, including membership in a terrorist organization, using the Tunisian territory to commit terrorist offenses, providing weapons and money laundering. They are also being investigated under articles of the Penal Code and article 86 of the Telecommunications Code. The investigative judge last questioned Mzoughi on March 24 and Bouallagui on March 28.

Mohamed Ben Salem, a former Ennahda leader and former minister of agriculture, was arrested on March 3, without a warrant, in the southeastern town of Bir Lahmar. He is being investigated for forming an organization aiming to prepare and commit the crime of illegally leaving the Tunisian territory under article 42 of law 1975-40 on Travel Documents and holding sums of money in foreign currency, under articles of the foreign exchange code.

Ben Salem has not been questioned by a judge since his detention. However, the financial crimes police unit interrogated him on April 12 in a separate investigation into alleged corruption.

Four other people are detained in relation to the cases against Ben Salem, including former Ennahda parliament member, Ahmed Laamari, his lawyer told Human Rights Watch.

Ben Salem, detained in Sfax prison, has lost his ability to walk and suffered two strokes since his arrest, his lawyer, Abdelwahhab Maatar, told Human Rights Watch. He has had a heart condition and chronic diseases for years, his family said.

Ruling by decree, Saied has systematically undermined judicial independence, raising fair trial concerns for these and other people accused after they criticized him. In February 2022, Saied dissolved the High Judicial Council, which was mandated to guarantee the independence of the judiciary, and appointed a temporary body over which he has broad control. In June 2022, he granted himself the authority to unilaterally dismiss magistrates and fired 57. The authorities have refused to comply with an administrative court order to reinstate 49 of them.

Under international law, a suspect should be held in pretrial detention only in exceptional circumstances when the court provides reasons for holding them that are compelling, individualized, and subject to periodic review and appeal. Pretrial detention is only to be imposed as an exception under article 84 of Tunisias Criminal Procedure Code.

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Tunisia is a party, protects the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, association, and assembly. Tunisia is also bound under the ICCPR and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights to respect the right to a fair trial.

The Tunisian authorities should stop their reprisal against Ennahda and other opponents and release all those jailed in the absence of credible evidence of crimes, Chellali said.

Via Human Rights Watch
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Ann Arbor (Informed Comment)  A new study commissioned by the UK private electric utility Drax and carried out by professors at Imperial College London has confirmed that in the first quarter of this year, wind turbines in Britain generated more electricity than did fossil gas plants. This is the first time the UK got more electricity from a renewable source than from gas, and it could mark a major turning point.

Just about one third (32.4%) of the United Kingdoms electricity was sourced from wind power during Q1, while fossil gas only generated 31.7%

Britain got so much power from wind in those three months that it could have charged 300 million Teslas.

Drax quotes one of its power station plant directors, Bruce Heppenstall, as saying, This is a remarkable achievement for the UK, and it comes at a vital time when cutting the use of foreign gas is critical to our national energy security.

This quote helps provide some context for why it is so important that British wind outdid imported fossil gas. This development comes in the midst of the Ukraine War, which has caused a huge spike in fossil gas prices that has hurt the pocketbook of every European this winter. Without wind power, Britain would have seen even bigger outlays for fossil gas. The UK banned Russian gas imports as of the first of this year.

Britain gets 50% of its fossil gas from its own North Sea fields, but imports the rest from Norway, the US and Qatar, among other countries. Russia used to be a supplier, but PM Rishi Sunak has stopped imports from Moscow, which nowadays often come with political strings attached.

Article continues after bonus IC video

World Second Largest Offshore Wind Farm UK

Over all, 42% of British electricity derived from renewable sources.The United States gets only 23% of its electricity from renewables.

Wind power in the UK has already killed coal, which has dwindled to insignificance in the British grid after having dominated it for over a century. Could fossil gas be its next victim?

Drax quotes Professor Iain Staffel, the lead author of the study, as saying wind out-supplying gas for the first time is a genuine milestone event, and shows what can be achieved when governments create a good environment for investors in clean technology.

The UK has 28 gigawatts of wind power now, 14 gigs onshore and 14 gigs offshore. It wants 50 gigawatts from offshore wind alone by 2050.

But it is estimated that Britain already has 99.8 gigawatts of offshore wind power in the pipeline, across 130 projects.

In other words, fossil gas will go on shrinking as a source of electricity for the U.K.
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Clean Energy Wire / Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung

( Clean Energy Wire )  Germany installed 128 new wind turbines with a total capacity of 0.6 gigawatts (GW) between January and April 2023, an increase in the growth rate of 46 percent compared to the same period in the year before, according to figures by the Fachagentur Windenergie. Licenses for new installations increased even faster, as the greenlighting of 324 new turbines with a total capacity of 1.7 GW meant an increase of 61 percent compared to 2022.

About 28,500 turbines were in operation across Germany as of March 2023, with a combined capacity of 58.5 GW. Nearly 8,000 of these installations have been in operation for more than 20 years, meaning they no longer receive a guaranteed remuneration through Germanys Renewable Energy Act (EEG).

Most new installations were built in northern Germany, while southern German states fell back even further than in the past years. In southern economic powerhouse state Bavaria, where wind power expansion has been particularly slow due to controversial minimum distance rules, conservative state premier Markus Soder of the Christian Socialist Union (CSU) announced the founding of a state-owned wind power agency.

Dubbed Bayernwind, it is supposed to ensure a faster roll-out of new turbines, especially in woodlands, newspaper Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung reported.

Article continues after bonus IC video

Mercedes Benz Wind Farms

Onshore wind power is Germanys most important renewable power source and is supposed to reach a capacity of 115 GW by 2030 as part of the governments plan to source 80 percent of electricity from renewables by the end of the decade.

The technologys expansion has been slowed down by regulatory hurdles, slow licensing procedures and lawsuits filed by local interest groups trying to prevent construction in their neighbourhood.

Via Clean Energy Wire

Published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0) .
Nebraska lawmakers moved forward on a bill cutting the states top income tax rate by nearly one-third Thursday, after jettisoning some other proposed income tax changes.

State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of the Omaha area, the Revenue Committee chairwoman, offered the amendment to narrow LB754, saying the the state cannot afford all of the income tax cuts that had been packaged into the measure earlier.

But she said the slimmed-down bill would still return money to taxpayers and make the state more competitive in attracting people and businesses. It would provide about $3.3 billion worth of income tax cuts over six years.

This plan by the governor is huge and it will touch every Nebraskan, she said.

Lawmakers approved her amendment before advancing LB754 to the last of three rounds of consideration on a 37-4 vote. Linehan had introduced LB754 on behalf of Gov. Jim Pillen. It represents one piece of his tax cut and school aid plan.

As advanced Thursday, the bill would cut Nebraskas top individual and corporate income tax rate to 3.99% over six years, speed up full exemption of Social Security benefits, exempt some federal government pensions and offer tax credits for limited numbers of low-income parents and child care providers.

The changes would reduce state revenues by nearly $379 million during the next two years, down from the $558 million price tag on the first-round version of the bill.

Critics of the measure, however, questioned whether Nebraska will be able to afford the income tax cuts provided under LB754, along with a package of property tax cuts, in future years.

Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln pointed to signs of potential weakness in the states economy. She called for adding some triggers to the bill, which would halt progression of future tax cuts unless certain fiscal targets are met.

Why do we want to kick the can down the road and tie the hands of future legislators? she asked.

Others criticized the bill for giving the bulk of the tax cuts to wealthier Nebraskans. Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln said the lowest-paid Nebraskans would end up with an average of $5 in tax cuts under the bill. He also said that an estimated 83% of the corporate tax cuts would go to non-Nebraska residents.

As advanced, LB754 would ratchet down the top rate for individual and corporate income taxes to 3.99% by 2027, bringing down the rate paid by taxpayers in the top two individual tax brackets and both corporate brackets.

The top individual rate is 6.64% this year, and the top corporate rate is 7.25%. Both are slated to drop to 5.84% by 2027 under a law passed last year.

At least half of Nebraska income tax filers could save money with the 3.99% tax rate, but the package would offer little for Nebraskans in the middle- to lower-income tax brackets.

Limited numbers of low-income parents and child care providers could benefit from another provision of the bill. That provision would allow up to $15 million a year of tax credits for parents with children in child care  enough to help 15,000 children at most.

It also would offer $2.5 million a year in credits for people who donate to child care programs and another $7.5 million in credits for child care programs and child care workers. The first-round version of LB754 would have allowed $10 million for each of those two credits.

Other components of LB754 would make Social Security benefits fully exempt from income taxes by next year  one year earlier than under current law  and make benefits paid by the Federal Employees Retirement System or the Civil Service Retirement System exempt as well.

Linehans amendment dropped provisions that would have affected smaller groups of taxpayers, including one that would have benefited people who itemize deductions on their federal income tax returns and who hit the federal cap on deducting state and local taxes. Another would have exempted nonresidents from paying Nebraska income taxes on work done while in the state for 15 or fewer days in a year.

Meet the Nebraska state senators making laws in 2023
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Illinois HB 4654 is a bill requiring physicians to undergo cultural competency training focusing on caring for patients who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and two-spirit LGBTQ2S+, or questioning LGBTQ+. This training is critical for ensuring that all patients receive the best possible care, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity in the state of Illinois. Even though the bill has been dead since January of this year, hardly any momentum has developed to bring it back to life.

The LGBTQ+ community faces unique challenges when it comes to accessing health care. Studies have shown that LGBTQ+ individuals are more likely to experience discrimination, stigma, and bias when seeking health care services. This can lead to a lack of trust in health care providers and a reluctance to seek care, which can have profound consequences for their health.

Moreover, many health care providers lack the knowledge and skills to provide culturally competent care to LGBTQ+ patients. This can lead to miscommunication, misunderstandings, and a failure to provide appropriate care. It is critical that physicians receive cultural competency training that includes education on the unique health needs and concerns of LGBTQ+ patients.

The benefits of cultural competency training for physicians are clear. It can help to reduce health disparities among LGBTIQ+ patients, improve patient satisfaction, and increase access to care. It can also help build trust and rapport between patients and providers, leading to better health outcomes.

Several studies have shown that cultural competency training improves health care providers attitudes toward LGBTQ+ patients, increases their knowledge of LGBTQ+ health issues, and improves their ability to provide appropriate care. One study found an association between positive interactions with LGBTQ+ faculty, trainees, and patients and reduced bias among medical students. Such interactions also were associated with feeling more qualified to care for LGBTQ+ patients.

Illinois HB 4654 is a major step towards improving health care for LGBTQ+ individuals. By requiring physicians to undergo cultural competency training, we can ensure that all patients receive the best possible care, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. This training will provide physicians with the knowledge and skills they need to provide culturally competent care to LGBTQ+ patients, including how to communicate effectively, provide appropriate referrals, and address the unique health needs of this population.

Illinois HB 4654 is also an important step towards promoting equity and social justice. LGBTQ+ individuals have long been marginalized and discriminated against, and ensuring that they receive the best possible health care is an important step towards addressing this injustice. By requiring cultural competency training for physicians, we can promote greater understanding, acceptance, and inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community, and help to break down barriers to care.

Finally, it is important to note that Illinois HB 4654 is not just a good policy, it is also the right thing to do. As a society, we have a moral obligation to ensure that all individuals receive the health care they need to live healthy and fulfilling lives. By passing this bill, we will be taking a key step towards achieving this goal.

In conclusion, Illinois HB 4654 is a critical piece of legislation that has the potential to transform health care for LGBTQ+ individuals. By requiring physicians to undergo cultural competency training, we can ensure that all patients receive the best possible care, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. This training will promote greater equity and social justice and help to build trust and rapport between patients and providers. By passing this bill, we will be taking a crucial step towards creating a more inclusive and equitable health care system for all. The bill must be brought back up in the Illinois House and voted upon immediately.

Michael Pessman is a gerontologist.
A 61-year-old man running for School Board in Rapid City's Area 4 apologized for posting tweets calling for the execution of Democrats and saying he was "ready to die" taking them out.

Local businessman and Marine veteran Gerald Alvin Harvey II replied to a post from Barbara Lee, a California Democrat and then-candidate for House, on Twitter June 13, 2019, writing: "There will BE ANOTJER[sic] CIVIL WAR...AND EVER[sic] DEMOCRAT WILL BE EXICUTED[sic]..YOU HAVE F***ED MY COUNTRY UP ENOUGH. IM READY AND WILLING TO DIE TAKING OUT EVIL DEMOCRATS FOR MY VOUNTRY[sic] AND MY President..." That same day, also in response to Lee, Harvey wrote: "THERE WILL BE ANOTHER CIVIL WAR AND ALL OF YOU EVIL DEMOCRATS WILL BE EXICUTED[sic].. GO MAKE YOU EVIL C**TS."

Harvey admitted to the Journal during a nearly hour long phone call Wednesday night that he wrote those tweets and "was probably drinking" at the time. Harvey initially denied making the posts and said he was "not that radical," but after discussing the content of his Facebook page, Harvey admitted to making the posts.

"I'll apologize for that. I was probably in pain like I said, alright, because they don't give you no pain pills," he said. "And I probably had like two drinks or something. I was probably pissed off. I was exercising my first amendment right of freedom of speech."

Harvey is the only candidate so far in the 2023 school election cycle to have a political action committee (PAC) formed against him. The "We Can Do Better Than Gerald Harvey" PAC was formally incorporated Wednesday to prevent Harvey's election. PAC Chair and local attorney Kyle Krause told the Journal, Rapid City needs candidates who are able to work cooperatively and not be fighting a culture war.

Harvey's social media posts originally attracted the PAC's attention.

"If there's a conspiracy theory that exists, Gerald Harvey has probably posted about it on his Facebook page," Krause said.

Krause said he doesn't hold out much hope Harvey will withdraw from the election, and reiterated "someone who's threatening to execute people over political views" isn't "someone who has the temperament to bring people together on the school board."

Harvey also has a history of legal issues.

In 2015, a woman obtained two previous protective orders against Harvey in Pennington County, according to court records. A temporary protection order request was dismissed in October 2015 for lack of sufficient evidence, while a permanent protective order was granted in December of that year and allowed to expire seven months later. Harvey said he never hit her, but that he was yelling.

When asked if there were any domestic abuse cases filed against him, Harvey said he had "a domestic thing" with a separate woman "about 35 years ago," where he slapped her. He followed by saying he doesn't believe hitting women is right, but that he grew up "in a different time."

"Why did I do it? I slapped her. She, uh...whatever. I lost control," Harvey said.

Harvey's court record shows a 2014 charge with three counts of making threatening or harassing calls in Pennington County. Those charges were later dismissed. California court records show he pleaded "no contest" to hit-and-run and resisting or obstructing a peace officer in 2005 in El Dorado County.

The Journal called multiple times and left a voicemail with Harvey Thursday afternoon and Friday morning to ask about his criminal history and the political action committee formed against him, but Harvey did not respond by Friday at noon.

During the call with the Journal, Harvey expressed his desire to get rid of the Department of Education; put reading, writing and arithmetic back in schools; and get rid of the gender pronouns, calling transgenderism a mental illness and characterizing it as child abuse. He advocated for teaching patriotism in schools.

Harvey espoused a number of false conspiracy theories, like the belief that the government is poisoning citizens through "chem trails", there are dangerous preservatives in children's food, and he believes the 2020 election was stolen.

"How can it be a conspiracy theory when all the conspiracy theorists are right? It's not a theory; that s**t's poison," he said. "Why would they do that? Why would they spend billions of dollars of our taxpayer dollars and put chemicals in the sky?"

As of Friday morning, Harvey had not deleted any of the tweets from his account. He posted on Facebook Wednesday following his phone call with the Journal that he "repents" for the "very angry" thoughts he posted.

"I repent," he wrote. "It was brought to my attention tonight that I posted some very angry thought[sic] on my twitter back in 2019? I repent."

Area 4 covers most of Rapid City's north side from roughly North Street to the Meade County line and west of LaCrosse Street. The Rapid City Area Schools Board of Education election is set for Tuesday, June 6. Harvey is running against Amy Sazue, Walter Swan Jr., and Karen Woods for the seat.
Ifac, Irelands farming, food, and agribusiness professional services firm, is advising company directors in Kilkenny to revisit Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs) following favourable changes to this option.

Before January 1, 2023, an employer contribution paid to an employees PRSA was a Benefit in Kind for income tax purposes for that employee. The employer contribution was treated for the employee (director) as if it were a personal PRSA contribution and so the employees tax relief was limited by the age-related % limits and the 115,000 earnings limit in respect of all personal pension contributions.

Section 22 of the Finance Act 2022 has added contributions to a Personal Retirement Savings Account to a list of employer-funded benefits which are exempt from an income tax BIK charge in the hands of an employee. This gives employer PRSA contributions the same BIK exemption as employer contributions to an occupational pension scheme.

The latest change has opened new opportunities for company directors to make much larger tax-free employer contributions to PRSAs than was previously permitted.

Under an occupational scheme, Company Directors are restricted by Revenue rules regarding salary and service levels, and tax relief for employers on large contributions may need to be spread.

These individuals can now extract cash tax-free from their companies into PRSAs by way of employer pension contributions and the only limit is the standard fund threshold of 2 million.

We have recently witnessed the lavish coronation of the new King in the UK, said Martin Glennon, Head of ifac Financial Planning.

With far less fanfare, and initially some confusion, we may have witnessed the crowning of the new king of pension options in Ireland - the Personal Retirement Savings Account (PRSA).

Consideration should of course be given to the cash flow situation and the long-term plans for the company. Once cash has been contributed to the pension it cannot be reversed.

Other things to consider

 An employment contract and salary are required, but there is no minimum to the salary level.

 Tax relief on employer contributions can be claimed in the year it is paid.

 Option for all PAYE employees.

 Salary sacrifice must be considered

Many company directors will already be funding for their retirement using an occupational pension scheme, often referred to as an executive pension arrangement, and those schemes will allow more than enough scope for the contributions they wish to make for their retirement. However, some company directors will see the new PRSA changes as advantageous. This is likely to be the case for those on low salaries with little or no scope to fund under an occupational pension scheme and those on larger salaries who have large profits which they want to extract now and obtain tax relief immediately.

Like Charles, the PRSA has stepped from the shadows to take the crown. The restrictions on occupational pension schemes can be bypassed by accessing the PRSA, which makes this, in my view, the new king of pension products for company directors, said Martin.

To speak to a financial planning specialist, contact the local ifac office or visit www.ifac.ie.
Great news for Kilkenny today (Friday) as a team from Kilkenny Youthreach has been announced as one of the national award winners at The B!G Idea Showcase!

The Youthreach & CTC Climate Change winner was Team YR - Kilkenny Youthreach, who proposed an app that would use augmented reality to educate primary school students about the impacts of climate change in their local environment.

They will progress to a B!G Idea accelerator in September, where they can develop their idea further with industry experts.

Powerful problem solvers and creative critical thinkers - students from across Ireland have learned one of the most in-demand skills in the world, as teams from Carlow, Offaly and Kilkenny have won the top prizes in Irelands national creative thinking programme The Big Idea.

Team Community Cara from Borris Vocational School won the overall award having journeyed through the 14-week problem-solving programme, exploring the issue of hidden poverty and developing a solution with potential for real social impact. They developed an idea for an app to support people living in poverty in Ireland to help connect them with local support.

The standard of projects submitted this year in the Youthreach and Community Training Centre (CTC) pilot programme was outstanding and in recognition of the innovation shown across this programme two additional Big Idea national prizes were awarded.



Powerful problem solvers and creative critical thinkers - students from across Ireland have learned one of the most in-demand skills in the world, as teams from Carlow, Offaly and Kilkenny have won the top prizes in Irelands national creative thinking programme The Big Idea.

Team Community Cara from Borris Vocational School won the overall award having journeyed through the 14-week problem-solving programme, exploring the issue of hidden poverty and developing a solution with potential for real social impact. They developed an idea for an app to support people living in poverty in Ireland to help connect them with local support.

The standard of projects submitted this year in the Youthreach and Community Training Centre (CTC) pilot programme was outstanding and in recognition of the innovation shown across this programme two additional Big Idea national prizes were awarded.

The Youthreach & CTC Climate Change winner was Team YR - Kilkenny Youthreach, who designed an app that would use augmented reality to educate primary school students about the impacts of climate change in their local environment.

The Youthreach & CTC Mental Health Award was won by Team HopOut from Tullamore Community Training Centre in Offaly, who proposed a community hub promoted by a drinks coaster with a QR code to help support younger men with their mental health.

The winners were announced today (Friday, 12 May) at the end-of-year online Big Showcase for the multi-award-winning programme.

The Big Idea is delivered through the Leaving Cert Applied (LCA) and Transition Year (TY) programmes, as well as an expanded pilot Youthreach and Community Training Centre (CTC) programme. It was delivered across 22 counties this year, with a successful pilot programme trialled in Northern Ireland.

Students were tasked with working through the four Ds of the creative process  discover, define, develop and deliver - focusing on solutions for issues they identified as major stressors in their lives. These were mental health, climate change, hidden poverty, displaced people, and diversity and inclusion, all aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With the help of hundreds of Big Idea mentors from a range of sectors, they develop a digital experience, product, service, space or place, or a tech solution to tackle that issue.

Founder and CEO of The Big Idea, Kim Mackenzie-Doyle says the winners were selected by judges based on the recognition and celebration of their journey through the creative Big Idea process, in addition to their innovative and inspiring ideas which have potential for real social impact.

A massive congratulations to all of the students across the 22 counties who have journeyed through the 2023 programme. They have learned transformative creative skills and thanks to the help of our industry mentors, they can continue to think big and use creative thinking to solve problems and develop solutions  whether in life, college or work.

The award-winning product designer who founded Irelands creative thinking programme, The Big Idea in 2021 says it is more than just an educational programme, its a movement to elevate the national skill base and democratise the worlds most in-demand skill - creative thinking.

Kim says the programme is brought to life by the Creativity Champions, teachers, staff, facilitators and coordinators who bring the Big Idea to life across classrooms and workshops across Ireland.

They create a safe space for students and learners to experience creativity in action. They empower young people to find their voice and share their Big Ideas.

Since the programme launched in 2021, it has already reached 6,500 learners, supported by over 750 industry mentors globally to help unlock valuable industry knowledge to help build the confidence and problem-solving skills of young people.

The winners, along with a selection of Big Ideas from the programme will go on to take part in a Big Idea accelerator in September. The Big Exhibition which includes every project submitted this year is now live at thebigidea.ie, where schools and mentors can also sign up for the next term.
Stacker cited data from the Washington Post's Fatal Force Database to look at the rate of fatal police shootings per state in the U.S. since 2015.
OTTAWA, May 12 (Reuters) - The Bank of Canada (BoC) said on Friday that it has picked long-time central bank executive Rhys Mendes to serve as deputy governor from July, filling a vacancy that will be created by Deputy Governor Paul Beaudry's departure.

As deputy governor, effective July 17, Mendes will oversee the BoC's economic and financial research as well as its analysis of international economic developments, according to a statement from the central bank.

Mendes, who joined the bank in 2004, has been on secondment to Canada's finance ministry since 2021, where he was serving as assistant deputy minister.

"We will benefit greatly from his experience and expertise in economic modelling, monetary policy framework design, and international policy issues," BoC Governor Tiff Macklem said in the statement.

Mendes has a B.A. in economics from York University, and an MA and PhD in economics from the University of Toronto. At the bank, he has held positions including managing director of economic and financial research and managing director of international economic analysis.

Last month, the bank said Deputy Governor Beaudry will leave at the end of July to return to academia, after an over four-year stint during which the bank dealt with challenges tied to the COVID-19 pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine.
Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

A steady rain this morning. Showers continuing this afternoon. High 58F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall may reach one inch..

Tonight

Cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 52F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

Cloudy with periods of rain. High 58F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall may reach one inch..

Tonight

Cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 52F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
This time of year can be a big gift-giving moment, with Mothers Day, Fathers Day, graduations, weddings and more. And whatever the occasion, if the recipient enjoys spending time in the kitchen, then food and kitchen-related gifts are a natural place to start.

More and more of us are shopping and cooking with an eye toward sustainability and eco-consciousness. So here are some cooking gifts and tips that fit that bill:

You can start by doing a little homework on the company youre purchasing from. That job has been done for you if the company has gotten a B Corp certification. It shows that a business is meeting high standards in supporting a variety of community and environmental markers, with measurable metrics. The certification lasts three years before needing to be renewed.

Another accreditation to look for is 1% for the Planet, which means the company has committed to donate 1% of annual sales to environmental causes, and is transparent in its efforts to operate sustainably. Climate Neutral is an organization that measure carbon accountability.

Beyond such designations, visit a companys website and see what they have to say about their practices and how the product was made. Customers are increasingly demanding transparency and accountability in companies they buy from.

FoodPantry staples like olive oil are a great present. Companies like Bona Furtuna are paying attention to nurturing their regions biodiversity. Their farm is fertilized entirely with organic matter, including compost created through the production of their olive oils. California Olive Ranch has committed to transparency and sustainable practices in both growing and packaging.

Brightland partners with small, family-run olive farms in California that grow without pesticides or chemicals and pay fair wages to farmworkers. The brand is helping to convert land use from water- and chemical-intensive crops to drought-resistant, low-impact olive production.

McEvoy Ranch has a wide range of flavor-infused olive oils and likewise aims to create a self-sufficient and balanced ecosystem. That includes tending orchards in accordance with organic regulations, and converting all ranch waste products, including spent olives, into compost that then nurtures the soil.

Buying meat and fish in a responsible way has become important to many of us. Luckily, there are companies like ButcherBox, which makes use of the whole animal. ButcherBox delivers grass-fed beef, free-range organic chicken, humanely raised pork and wild-caught seafood to your door. Crowd Cow, Porter Road and Good Chop are similar options, with no added hormones or antibiotics.

Awareness of how fragile our oceans have become has been heightened. Organizations like SeaChoice and the Monterey Bay Aquariums Seafood Watch are good places to start investigating the sustainability of a particular kind of fish.

Think about buying a gift box or perhaps a monthly subscription to a company verified by one of these organizations. Vital Choice Wild Seafood & Organics says all its fish and shellfish are vetted and approved by a reputable third-party sustainability organization. Their orders are shipped with dry ice in corrugated cardboard boxes that are fitted with thermal liners made from recycled denim, which can then be recycled again. Offerings include a Wild Fish Monthly Subscription.

If youd like to reduce food waste and also save money, consider another cool subscription gift: Misfits Market, which delivers produce and other healthy foods saved from going to waste.

How about a gift basket? Clif Family offers assortments of their small-production organic wines and specialty foods inspired by the flavors of Napa Valley, with a mission of bringing high quality with the lowest impact to the planet. Think honeys, wines, preserves and nuts. Frog Hollow Farm has lovely gift boxes filled with fresh fruits, sun-dried fruits, fruit spreads and more.

Or buy some pretty reusable jars and package up an assortment of granolas. Check out One Degree Organics from Canada (their motto is all ingredients from farmers we know) and Grandy Organics, made in small batches in a solar powered factory in Maine.

KITCHEN GOODS

There are companies producing beautiful and functional cookware and tabletop items with a focus on sustainability.

Tag Home Decor uses natural and sustainable materials in many of their products, such as a handwoven sustainable jute rug and upcycled, salvaged-cotton kitchen rug made on traditional pit looms. It cozies up a space and provides cushioning for a tired cooks feet. They also have a hand-crafted, onyx-marble board made from natural stone.

Goodee works with artisans who exclusively use naturally occurring materials, and works to enable them to earn a sustainable living through their crafts. The company offers many items for cooking and dining, including lovely Oaxaca-made tumblers using locally sourced recycled glass and alternative energy. Theres also a beautiful pepper grinder made from sustainably sourced teak wood.

Loopy Products makes products from upcycled agricultural waste; their sustainable coffee mug, made with waste from coffee manufacturing, was a Global Innovation Award Finalist at the Inspired Home Show this year. Their coffee, flour and tea storage containers are an eco-friendly way to store staples.

For the cook who wants to compost, theres the very affordable Bamboozle compost bin. The filtered lid helps to absorb any smells caused from off-gassing. Its made from biodegradable bamboo fiber and dishwasher safe.

Need items for a little basket of eco-friendly items for a kitchen refresh? Consider botanically infused papers from The Fresh Glow Co,. which are designed to keep foods fresher longer, and are organic and compostable.

Everyone can use a spiffy new portable drink container. Klean Kanteen makes a ton of them, and the company a long-standing B Corp. and is certified by Climate Neutral (a carbon-accountability designation). Their products are made with 90% post-consumer recycled stainless steel, which results in a significant reduction in steel greenhouse gases.

Dish towels are always in short supply in an avid cooks kitchen, and are a smart, reusable alternative to paper towels. Tag makes textured dish cloths in lots of colors, so you can add a bright spot to cleaning up. Atelier Saucier makes lovely table linens, all sustainably sourced, rescued or repurposed.

Material Kitchens reBoards are BPA-free cutting boards made of kitchen plastic scraps and renewable sugar cane. They come in a variety of beautiful colors.

Sustainability means different things to different people, but these days its easier than ever to shop with purpose and give gifts with meaning.
Kerrville, TX (78028)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 83F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 66F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.
2017 GMC Acadia crossover SUVs are revealed at the 2016 North American International Auto Show in January 2016 in Detroit, Michigan.
Argos Resources Ltd (LON:ARG  Get Rating) shares crossed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of GBX 1.27 ($0.02) and traded as low as GBX 0.51 ($0.01). Argos Resources shares last traded at GBX 0.63 ($0.01), with a volume of 1,128,786 shares changing hands.

Argos Resources Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of 1.41 million, a P/E ratio of -11.20 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 1.07 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 1.27.

About Argos Resources

(Get Rating)

Argos Resources Ltd engages in the exploration of oil and gas properties in the Falkland Islands. It holds a 100% interest in license PL001 covering an area of approximately 1,126 square kilometers located in the North Falkland Basin. The company was founded in 1995 and is based in Stanley, the Falkland Islands.

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Berkeley Energia Limited (LON:BKY  Get Rating)s stock price passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 19.13 ($0.24) and traded as low as GBX 19 ($0.24). Berkeley Energia shares last traded at GBX 19 ($0.24), with a volume of 53,900 shares changing hands.

Berkeley Energia Stock Performance

The stocks 50-day simple moving average is GBX 20.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 19.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2,657.10, a quick ratio of 35.87 and a current ratio of 58.75. The company has a market capitalization of 89.16 million, a PE ratio of 211.11 and a beta of 3.38.

Berkeley Energia Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Berkeley Energia Limited engages in the exploration and development of uranium properties in Spain. It primarily holds interest in the Salamanca project located in western Spain. The company was formerly known as Berkeley Energy Limited and changed its name to Berkeley Energia Limited in November 2015.

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Nuveen Credit Strategies Income Fund (NYSE:JQC  Get Rating) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 129,200 shares, a growth of 118.6% from the April 15th total of 59,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 459,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.3 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nuveen Credit Strategies Income Fund

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Nuveen Credit Strategies Income Fund by 17.7% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,525,374 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $7,795,000 after purchasing an additional 229,159 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Nuveen Credit Strategies Income Fund by 23.0% in the first quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 181,879 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $929,000 after purchasing an additional 34,025 shares in the last quarter. HRT Financial LP purchased a new position in shares of Nuveen Credit Strategies Income Fund in the first quarter worth about $79,000. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Nuveen Credit Strategies Income Fund by 337.3% in the first quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 381,131 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $1,948,000 after purchasing an additional 293,974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Nuveen Credit Strategies Income Fund by 93.6% in the first quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 43,890 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 21,222 shares in the last quarter.

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Nuveen Credit Strategies Income Fund Stock Performance

NYSE JQC traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $4.95. 344,590 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 506,778. Nuveen Credit Strategies Income Fund has a 1 year low of $4.87 and a 1 year high of $5.68. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $5.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.16.

Nuveen Credit Strategies Income Fund Dividend Announcement

Nuveen Credit Strategies Income Fund Company Profile

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.047 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 12th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.39%.

(Get Rating)

Nuveen Credit Strategies Income Fund is a closed-ended balanced mutual fund launched by Nuveen Investments, Inc The fund is managed by Symphony Asset Management, LLC. It invests in the fixed income and public equity markets of the United States. The fund invests in senior secured and second lien loans, preferred securities, convertible securities and related instruments.

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Venture Visionary Partners LLC cut its holdings in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO  Get Rating) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 202,670 shares of the companys stock after selling 7,980 shares during the quarter. Coca-Cola accounts for 0.9% of Venture Visionary Partners LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Venture Visionary Partners LLCs holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $12,892,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KO. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in Coca-Cola in the first quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 16.7% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 12,227 shares of the companys stock valued at $758,000 after acquiring an additional 1,754 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 41.4% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 149,275 shares of the companys stock valued at $9,255,000 after acquiring an additional 43,680 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 385.3% during the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 19,032 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,180,000 after acquiring an additional 15,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Coca-Cola by 11.9% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,840,557 shares of the companys stock valued at $176,115,000 after acquiring an additional 301,804 shares in the last quarter. 68.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

KO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $69.00 price objective on Coca-Cola in a report on Tuesday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Coca-Cola from $61.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $67.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola Stock Down 0.1 %

In other news, CEO James Quincey sold 34,875 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.32, for a total value of $2,103,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 351,737 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $21,216,775.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website . In other Coca-Cola news, SVP Nancy Quan sold 74,000 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.71, for a total transaction of $4,344,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 219,790 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $12,903,870.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink . Also, CEO James Quincey sold 34,875 shares of Coca-Cola stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.32, for a total value of $2,103,660.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 351,737 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $21,216,775.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 558,398 shares of company stock valued at $35,011,051. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Coca-Cola stock traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $63.79. The company had a trading volume of 2,056,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,807,254. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $62.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.63. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $54.01 and a 12 month high of $66.38. The company has a market capitalization of $275.86 billion, a PE ratio of 28.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.54.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 24th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.78 billion. Coca-Cola had a return on equity of 42.96% and a net margin of 22.69%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 15th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. Coca-Colas dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.70%.

About Coca-Cola

(Get Rating)

The Coca-Cola Co engages in the manufacturing and marketing of non-alcoholic beverages. It operates through the following segments: Europe, Middle East and Africa, Latin America, North America, Asia Pacific, Global Ventures, and Bottling Investments. The company was founded by Asa Griggs Candler on May 8, 1886 and is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.

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Atb Cap Markets downgraded shares of PHX Energy Services (TSE:PHX  Get Rating) from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, PriceTargets.com reports. Atb Cap Markets also issued estimates for PHX Energy Services Q2 2023 earnings at $0.23 EPS, Q3 2023 earnings at $0.23 EPS, Q4 2023 earnings at $0.24 EPS, FY2023 earnings at $1.13 EPS, Q1 2024 earnings at $0.25 EPS, Q2 2024 earnings at $0.20 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $0.31 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $0.32 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $1.08 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.34 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $1.33 EPS.

Separately, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of PHX Energy Services from C$12.00 to C$11.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 1st.

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PHX Energy Services Price Performance

Shares of TSE:PHX opened at C$6.49 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of C$330.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.55 and a beta of 2.27. PHX Energy Services has a one year low of C$3.94 and a one year high of C$8.93. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of C$6.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$7.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.28, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.81.

PHX Energy Services Increases Dividend

PHX Energy Services ( TSE:PHX Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 28th. The company reported C$0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$0.29 by C$0.10. The business had revenue of C$157.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$157.00 million. PHX Energy Services had a net margin of 5.55% and a return on equity of 28.47%. On average, analysts predict that PHX Energy Services will post 1.4261603 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 30th. This is an increase from PHX Energy Servicess previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.24%. PHX Energy Servicess payout ratio is presently 69.77%.

About PHX Energy Services

(Get Rating)

PHX Energy Services Corp. provides horizontal and directional drilling technology and services to oil and natural gas exploration and development, and production companies in Canada, the United States, Russia, Albania, and the Middle East. It offers Velocity Real-Time System, a ground-breaking technology that offers downhole guidance systems; Atlas Motors, a high-performance drilling motors; PowerDrive Orbit RSS, a rotary steerable system; P-360 Positive Pulse MWD System, a measurement while drilling (MWD) tool; and E-360 EM MWD System, an MWD tool that transmits electric signals through geological formations.

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bebe stores, inc. (OTCMKTS:BEBE  Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 300 shares, a decline of 25.0% from the April 15th total of 400 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 38,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.0 days.

bebe stores Trading Down 13.2 %

OTCMKTS:BEBE traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $2.99. 34,811 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,977. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.78. bebe stores has a 1 year low of $2.56 and a 1 year high of $8.99.

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bebe stores Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 17th were issued a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.67%.

bebe stores Company Profile

bebe stores, inc. engages in the provision of chic and contemporary fashion merchandise. It offers its products under bebe brand. The company was founded by Manny Mashouf in June 1976 and is headquartered in Brisbane, CA.

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A Lacomb area home is destroyed but no one was injured after a manufactured residence burned Friday afternoon, May 12, east of Lebanon.

Someone reported a fire at about 2:42 p.m. where a residence was burning at 33611 Ford Mill Road. Firefighters found flames and a single-section manufactured house collapsed into itself at the property about 13 miles from Lebanon.

Responders fully extinguished the fire after about 30 minutes, according to a Lebanon Fire District news release. No one was inside the residence.

But the homes structure was destroyed.

Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Albany Democrat-Herald.

Lebanon Fire District sent 10 fire and rescue trucks with 23 firefighters.

The district did not state how the fire started but in its news release recommended watching outdoor fires and keeping water on hand to prevent flames from spreading to structures.

Lebanon Fire would like to remind everyone to provide plenty of distance from structures when having outdoor fires or when backyard burning, the release states.
SOS (NYSE:SOS  Get Rating) and Netcapital (OTCMKTS:NCPL  Get Rating) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, risk and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares SOS and Netcapitals net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

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Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets SOS N/A N/A N/A Netcapital 33.83% 8.71% 7.41%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares SOS and Netcapitals gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio SOS $306.01 million 0.12 -$49.25 million N/A N/A Netcapital $7.22 million 1.39 $3.50 million $0.52 3.17

Insider & Institutional Ownership

Netcapital has lower revenue, but higher earnings than SOS.

0.9% of SOS shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 16.2% of Netcapital shares are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of SOS shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.0% of Netcapital shares are held by company 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for SOS and Netcapital, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score SOS 0 0 0 0 N/A Netcapital 0 0 0 0 N/A

Summary

Netcapital beats SOS on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SOS

(Get Rating)

SOS Ltd. is a holding company, which provides marketing data, technology and solutions to the emergency rescue services in China. It focuses on the research and development of big data, cloud computing, Internet of Things, block chain and artificial intelligence. The firm created a SOS cloud emergency rescue service software as a service (SaaS) platform with three major product categories, including basic cloud (medical rescue card, car rescue card, financial rescue card, mutual assistance rescue card), cooperative cloud (information rescue center, intelligent big data, intelligent software and hardware), and information cloud. The company was founded by Zheng Yu Wang and Andrew Mason in 2001 and is headquartered in Qingdao, China.

About Netcapital

(Get Rating)

Netcapital, Inc. is a fintech company which engages in the provision of financial solutions. The firms platform allows private companies to raise capital online and provides private equity investment opportunities to investors. The company was founded by Sean F. Lee in April 1984 and is headquartered in Boston, MA.

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Ethernity Networks Ltd. (LON:ENET  Get Rating) dropped 50.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as GBX 2.80 ($0.04) and last traded at GBX 3.08 ($0.04). Approximately 3,584,984 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 737% from the average daily volume of 428,412 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 6.25 ($0.08).

Ethernity Networks Trading Down 9.1 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 6.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 8.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.12, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market capitalization of 2.91 million, a P/E ratio of -35.00 and a beta of 1.60.

Ethernity Networks Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Ethernity Networks Ltd. provides technology solutions for telecom, mobile, security, and data center markets in Asia, Europe, Israel, and the United States. The company develops and delivers data processing technology and solutions for carrier Ethernet switching, including broadband access, mobile backhaul, carrier Ethernet demarcation, and data centers.

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First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO  Get Rating) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,114,436 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 277,841 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LPs holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $325,336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of KO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Coca-Cola by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 363,258,425 shares of the companys stock valued at $20,349,737,000 after buying an additional 3,864,004 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Coca-Cola by 1.7% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 301,952,085 shares of the companys stock valued at $16,915,357,000 after purchasing an additional 4,994,047 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Coca-Cola by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 171,570,198 shares of the companys stock worth $9,685,693,000 after purchasing an additional 885,816 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Coca-Cola by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 51,570,921 shares of the companys stock worth $3,197,397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301,902 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Coca-Cola by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 41,213,079 shares of the companys stock worth $2,308,758,000 after purchasing an additional 462,803 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.74% of the companys stock.

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Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Quincey sold 34,875 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.32, for a total value of $2,103,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 351,737 shares of the companys stock, valued at $21,216,775.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Nancy Quan sold 74,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.71, for a total transaction of $4,344,540.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 219,790 shares in the company, valued at $12,903,870.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Quincey sold 34,875 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.32, for a total transaction of $2,103,660.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 351,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,216,775.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 558,398 shares of company stock valued at $35,011,051. Insiders own 1.00% of the companys stock.

Coca-Cola Price Performance

NYSE:KO traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $64.11. The company had a trading volume of 8,740,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,882,577. The Coca-Cola Company has a 52-week low of $54.01 and a 52-week high of $66.38. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $62.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.68. The company has a market capitalization of $277.25 billion, a PE ratio of 28.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 24th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.78 billion. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 22.69% and a return on equity of 42.96%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Coca-Cola Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 15th. Coca-Colas dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 80.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on KO shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 25th. Barclays raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $72.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Coca-Cola from $61.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Coca-Cola from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Saturday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $69.00 price target on Coca-Cola in a research note on Tuesday, February 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $67.80.

Coca-Cola Profile

(Get Rating)

The Coca-Cola Co engages in the manufacturing and marketing of non-alcoholic beverages. It operates through the following segments: Europe, Middle East and Africa, Latin America, North America, Asia Pacific, Global Ventures, and Bottling Investments. The company was founded by Asa Griggs Candler on May 8, 1886 and is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.

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Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE:PEB  Get Rating) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a sell rating to a hold rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on PEB. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Pebblebrook Hotel Trust from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Pebblebrook Hotel Trust from $17.00 to $14.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Pebblebrook Hotel Trust from $15.00 to $16.50 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. 92 Resources restated a maintains rating on shares of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Pebblebrook Hotel Trust from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $17.70.

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Pebblebrook Hotel Trust Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of PEB traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $14.20. 1,740,315 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,667,498. Pebblebrook Hotel Trust has a 1-year low of $12.37 and a 1-year high of $24.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of -36.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.85. The business has a 50 day moving average of $14.04 and a 200 day moving average of $14.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust ( NYSE:PEB Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 21st. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.34) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.52). The company had revenue of $319.61 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $309.55 million. Pebblebrook Hotel Trust had a negative net margin of 0.73% and a negative return on equity of 0.34%. The businesss revenue was up 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.06 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Pebblebrook Hotel Trust will post 1.62 EPS for the current year.

In other Pebblebrook Hotel Trust news, CEO Jon E. Bortz purchased 14,865 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $14.93 per share, for a total transaction of $221,934.45. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 1,039,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,526,707.31. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Jon E. Bortz bought 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 22nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $12.95 per share, for a total transaction of $142,450.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,122,102 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $14,531,220.90. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jon E. Bortz bought 14,865 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $14.93 per share, with a total value of $221,934.45. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,039,967 shares in the company, valued at $15,526,707.31. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 39,865 shares of company stock valued at $555,064 in the last three months. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pebblebrook Hotel Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PEB. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in Pebblebrook Hotel Trust by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 48,151 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,179,000 after acquiring an additional 4,591 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can boosted its stake in shares of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 176,918 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $4,475,000 after buying an additional 6,388 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,551,178 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $478,613,000 after buying an additional 226,216 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 30,800 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $754,000 after buying an additional 1,607 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust in the 1st quarter valued at about $237,000.

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust Company Profile

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Pebblebrook Hotel Trust is a real estate investment trust, engages in investments and acquisitions in hotel properties. Its hotels are located in markets like Atlanta, Georgia, Boston, Massachusetts, Chicago, Illinois, Key West, Miami and Naples, Florida, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco, California, Nashville, Tennessee, New York, New York, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington.

Further Reading

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Veolia Environnement SA (OTCMKTS:VEOEY  Get Rating) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 65,900 shares, an increase of 43.9% from the April 15th total of 45,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 118,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.6 days.

Veolia Environnement Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of OTCMKTS VEOEY traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $15.05. The stock had a trading volume of 80,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 103,432. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $15.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.19. Veolia Environnement has a fifty-two week low of $9.20 and a fifty-two week high of $16.50.

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Veolia Environnement Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 8th will be paid a $0.4677 dividend. This is a boost from Veolia Environnements previous dividend of $0.41. This represents a dividend yield of 5.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 5th.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

About Veolia Environnement

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VEOEY shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Veolia Environnement from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Veolia Environnement from an underweight rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 25th.

(Get Rating)

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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Barclays downgraded shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE:TD  Get Rating) (NYSE:TD) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report released on Tuesday, BayStreet.CA reports. Barclays currently has C$83.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of C$101.00.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Fundamental Research set a C$104.14 price target on Toronto-Dominion Bank and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 14th. National Bankshares decreased their target price on Toronto-Dominion Bank from C$102.00 to C$98.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Scotiabank raised shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank from C$91.00 to C$85.00 in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank from C$110.00 to C$95.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given 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 C$96.76.

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Toronto-Dominion Bank Price Performance

Shares of TD opened at C$82.33 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of C$150.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.84. Toronto-Dominion Bank has a 1-year low of C$76.40 and a 1-year high of C$97.13. The firms 50 day simple moving average is C$81.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$86.70.

Toronto-Dominion Bank Announces Dividend

Toronto-Dominion Bank ( TSE:TD Get Rating ) (NYSE:TD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 2nd. The company reported C$2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$2.16 by C$0.07. The firm had revenue of C$12.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of C$12.12 billion. Toronto-Dominion Bank had a net margin of 31.78% and a return on equity of 14.29%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Toronto-Dominion Bank will post 8.6199575 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 6th were issued a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 5th. Toronto-Dominion Banks dividend payout ratio is presently 46.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Senior Officer Riaz Ahmed sold 37,832 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$89.01, for a total transaction of C$3,367,426.32. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Toronto-Dominion Bank Company Profile

(Get Rating)

The Toronto-Dominion Bank, together with its subsidiaries, provides various financial products and services in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It operates through Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking, U.S. Retail, Wealth Management and Insurance, and Wholesale Banking segments. The company offers personal deposits, such as checking, savings, and investment products; financing, investment, cash management, international trade, and day-to-day banking services to businesses; and financing options to customers at point of sale for automotive and recreational vehicle purchases.

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New Delhi [India], May 13 (ANI): The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) has secured the second position among 66 ministries in the highly influential Data Governance Quality Index (DGQI) assessment for 2022-2023 (Q3).

The Ministry has achieved a score of 4.7 out of 5, further highlighting the Ministry's commitment to excellence in data governance.

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Conducted by the Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO), NITI Aayog, the DGQI survey aims to measure the maturity level of administrative data systems and their use in the decision-making of various Ministries and Departments on the implementation of Central Sector Schemes (CS) and Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS).

It also identifies reforms to reach the frontier of seamless data exchange and its synergistic use within the ministry, while defining clear pathways to achieve these goals.

Also Read | Bihar Shocker: Man Shot At by Cop For Not Wearing Helmet in Nalanda, Dies in Hospital.

The DGQI assessment encompasses six pivotal themes, including Data Generation, Data Quality, Use of Technology, Data Analysis, Use and Dissemination, Data Security and HR Capacity, and Case Studies.

"The effort of DMEO, Niti Aayog, to bring out such a report card of the Ministries / Departments is highly appreciable. It will immensely help improve the implementation framework of government policies, schemes, and programs to achieve the desired goals," said Union Minister for ports Sarbananda Sonowal. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 13 (ANI/NewsVoir): Ozone Forum of India, a common platform created for doctors and patients alike for the beneficial effects of Ozone Therapy, launched its first book called 'Clinical Ozone Therapy' at the 12th Annual Conference - 'Ozone Therapy an Integrated Approach' which was held in Mumbai. The two-day conference saw Ramesh Chauhan, Chairman of Bisleri International, Dr Mili Shah, President - Ozone Forum of India, along with esteemed guests - Dr K Satya Lakshmi, Director - National Institute of Naturopathy, Dr D.R. Kaarthikeyan - Former Director (CBI), and Dr Maria Emilia Gadelha Serra, Founder and President of the Brazilian Society of Medical Ozone Therapy, unveiling the book.

Therapy Supports the Following Health Conditions

Also Read | Drunk Passenger Creates Ruckus at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata, Arrested.

- Chronic infections due to viruses, bacteria, fungi and other germs.- Non-healing wounds and ulcers, diabetic ulcers, surgical wound infections.- Circulatory disorders.- Skin conditions like eczema, infections, bedsores, ulcers- Gynaecological infection.- Ear Nose Throat (ENT) infections, Sinus infections, Bronchitis- Arthritis, Rheumatism, Backaches, Spondylitis.- Help in cancer as supportive treatment to other mainline treatments- Liver diseases, cirrhosis, hepatitis- Brain disorders, Parkinson's, Memory Impairments

The book - Clinical Ozone Therapy draws light on usage of ozone therapy in different disease management. It comprises various benefits of ozone therapy along with applications of ozone in skin disorders, infectious diseases, cancer, diabetes mellitus, respiratory diseases, circulatory disorders, COVID-19, thyroid disorders and many more. The book is written by Dr Mili Shah, President, OFI, Dr Jignasha Captain, Director, OFI and Dr Pradeep MK Nair, Consultant-Research OFI.

Also Read | Karnataka Election Results 2023 Latest News Updates: Congress Crosses Majority Mark by Securing Lead on 114 Seats.

Commenting on the event and the launch of the book, Dr Mili Shah, President of Ozone Forum of India & Trustee of Bisleri Charitable Trust, said, "Ozone Therapy has been in existence for over a century and has been practiced in India since 2003. Ozone therapy is a holistic treatment that empowers your body to heal itself naturally. This therapy has effectively prevented and managed various acute and chronic diseases. By organizing workshops and annual conferences, we aim to spread maximum awareness about ozone therapy as a healing alternative and encourage more people to resort to the treatment. We have trained more than 2600 doctors from diverse medical fields treating lakhs of patients of different diseases."

Ozone therapy is a safe, simple and painless alternative medicinal therapy that has multiple benefits. Ozone is a very powerful germicidal, anti-inflammatory, oxidative-stress reducing and stress relieving agent which when administered through this therapy in the body, converts into Oxygen "O2" (the most important element required by our bodies) and nascent oxygen "O". The benefits of pure Oxygen in our body need not be elaborated, while the effect of the nascent oxygen "O", can easily be summarized as a powerful energetic molecule that readily attacks disease causing micro-organisms, while NOT harming any human cells. This helps in treatment of many diseases and allows the human body to improve regeneration of good cells for healing, enhancing its immunological response. The essence of ozone therapy is addressing the root cause of the disease which are usually oxidative stress and lack of circulation.

To undertake ozone therapy, ozone cannot be given directly through the nose like oxygen. Instead, precisely measured quantities of ozone gas are administered through the rectum as an enema passed through the vagina, eardrums, mixed in blood or saline infusions. Ozone gas and ozonized oils are also applied over the affected parts and ulcers for quick healing. Each treatment takes a few minutes, and no anesthesia is required, aiding the patient to be cheerful throughout the treatment.

The annual conference organized by the Ozone Forum of India is to emphasize use of ozone therapy as integrated approach. It empowers doctors with a revolutionary approach to healing people - not just treating diseases - using a unique tool called person-centred diagnosis.

This story has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)

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Bengaluru, May 13 (PTI) The Congress improved its vote share by more than four per cent across different regions of Karnataka in the Assembly elections, taking its tally of seats beyond the 130-mark.

The results for the May 10 polls were declared on Saturday with the Congress emerging on top as it won 135 seats and was leading in one seat.

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While the party's vote share jumped by more than four per cent, the JD(S) saw a sharp fall of more than five per cent, according to Election Commission data on the Assembly elections.

In the 2018 elections, the Congress garnered a vote share of 38.04 per cent, followed by the BJP (36.22 per cent) and the JD(S) with 18.36 per cent.

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In the just-concluded polls, Congress' vote share zoomed to 42.88 per cent; that of JD(S) dropped to 13.29 per cent. BJP's vote share was 36 per cent.

The Congress bagged 135 seats, the BJP 65 and the JD(S) 19 in the elections.

According to reports, the Congress improved its tally in 'Kittur Karnataka' region by winning 33 out of 50 seats.

In 'Kalyana Karnataka' region, the party won 26 out of 41 seats, compared to 20 last time, while BJP's tally came down from 17 to 10 in this region.

In the Vokkaliga-dominated Old Mysuru region in south Karnataka, the grand old party won 37 out of the 59 segments. While JD(S) tally came down to 14 from 29 in 2018, the BJP is down to six from nine.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Bengaluru, May 13 (PTI) The Congress crossed the 113-seat mark in the Assembly elections, the majority required to form the government, in Karnataka.

According to the Election Commission website, the party won 119 seats and was leading in 17 constituencies.

Also Read | India To Wage Diplomatic Campaign To Reclaim Koh-i-Noor Diamond From Britain, Says Report.

On the other hand, the BJP won 55 seats and was ahead in 9 segments. The JD(S) emerged victorious in 18 seats and was leading in two constituencies.

Two independents, one candidate each from 'Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha' and 'Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha' won.

Also Read | Jalandhar By-Election Result 2023: AAP Candidate Sushil Rinku Wins Punjab Lok Sabha Bypoll By Defeating Congress Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary By a Margin of 58,691 Votes.

Elections to the 224-member Assembly took place on Wednesday.

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New Delhi [India], May 13 (ANI): Congress is on its way to scoring an emphatic victory in Karnataka polls, winning three seats and gaining the lead in 129 others as party leaders thanked the voters for their support.

The BJP is leading in 66 seats and Janata Dal-Secular in 22, according to the latest trends from Election Commission.

Also Read | ABP News-C Voter Exit Poll for Lok Sabha Elections 2024: BJP Projected To Get Vote Share of 46% in Karnataka.

Independents are ahead on two seats and Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha on one each. Independents are ahead on four seats and Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha on one each.

In terms of vote share, Congress got 43 per cent, BJP 36 per cent and JD(S) 13.2 per cent.

Also Read | Karnataka To Get New CM: DK Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, Mallikarjun Kharge  Who Will Be Next Chief Minister? List of Probable Congress Candidates.

Congress workers broke into celebrations in Karnataka and the party headquarters in Delhi.

Voting for the 224-member Karnataka assembly was held on May 10 and counting of votes began at 8 am on Saturday.

Congress workers distributed sweets with some dancing to the tune of drums.

Party workers also celebrated at the residence of Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakaumar in Bengaluru.

At the party office in Delhi, party workers burst crackers to celebrate the anticipated victory.

The fiercely contested election that saw high-pitch campaigns from the political parties is crucial for both BJP and Congress (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chandigarh, May 13 (PTI) AAP candidate Sushil Rinku is inching towards victory in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll with a margin of more than 48,000 votes over his nearest rival and Congress nominee Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary, according to the latest trends.

Out of 8.87 lakh votes polled, counting of more than 7.10 lakh votes has been completed so far, the trends on the Election Commission website showed.

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Aam Aadmi Party supporters were already in celebratory mood in Jalandhar as they were confident of victory of their candidate Rinku.

Rinku has so far polled 2,43,285 votes, while Chaudhary has secured 1,94,805 votes.

Also Read | Karnataka Assembly Election Results 2023: BJP's Gamble Fails, Minister V Somanna Trails in Chamarajanagar and Varuna Seats.

BJP nominee Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal was at the third spot, while Shiromani Akali Dal candidate Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi, who is also backed by the Mayawati-led BSP, was at the fourth third spot, the trends showed.

Atwal so far polled 1,20,913 votes and Sukhi 1,13,534 votes.

The bypoll, voting for which was held on May 10, was necessitated following the death of Karamjit Kaur's husband and Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary in January.

Nineteen candidates contested the bypoll, which recorded a voter turnout of 54.70 per cent. The turnout was well below the 63.04 per cent recorded in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The ruling AAP is hoping to mark its presence in the Lok Sabha by registering a victory in the bypoll. A win will be a boost for the party, which had faced a drubbing in the Lok Sabha bypoll in Sangrur, just three months after it stormed to power in March 2022.

The bypoll is also being seen as a test of the Bhagwant Mann-led government, which has been promoting its schemes to provide free electricity and jobs to the youths, and regularise services of contractual employees and open mohalla clinics among others.

The Congress is looking to retain Jalandhar -- considered to be a traditional stronghold for the party -- where it has remained undefeated seat since 1999.

The stakes are also high for the BJP and the SAD. The two parties were allies in Punjab before the SAD broke off ties over the now-repealed farm laws in 2020.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kupwara (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], May 13 (ANI): With the arrest of 4 smugglers, Jammu and Kashmir Police claimed on Saturday to have busted an interstate terror module.

The police informed further that 8 kilograms of Heroin were seized during a joint operation with the Army in the Tregam area of Kupwara district.

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Speaking to ANI, senior superintendent of police, (SSP), Kupwara, Youghal Manhas said, "It was an interstate terror module. We arrested 4 smugglers and about 8 kilograms of heroin and Rs 5 lakhs in cash were recovered during the joint operation with the Army. More arrests are likely in this connection in the coming days. Further details will be shared in due course of time."

Kupwara Police said preliminary investigations revealed that the narcotic consignment had been sent by terrorist handlers from Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) -- Manzoor Ahmad Mir and Asad Mir.

Also Read | Mumbai Reports 28 COVID-19 Cases, Zero Deaths in Past 24 Hours.

They added that the handlers, who hail from Jumagund in Kupwara, crossed over into Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) in the early 1990s to join terrorist ranks.

"Both Manzoor and Asad, over a period of time, become terrorist handlers of LeT, acting as launching commanders besides pushing narcotics and weapons to sustain terrorist activities in J&K," the police added in its statement.

The accused were identified as Yousuf Bokra from Rashanpora, Kralpora, Showkat Ahmad Khatana from Meliyal, Kupwara; Maroof Ahmad Mir from Jumagad, Kupwara and Laba Masih from Awaan Ramdas Ajnala, Punjab, Kupwara police said.

Acting on a tip-off, a joint search operation was launched by Kupwara Police along with a local army unit at Zurhama in the Trehgam police station area.

A case under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and UA(P) Act has been registered in the matter at Trehgam police station. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Bengaluru, May 13: As Congress gained an absolute majority in Karnataka assembly elections on Saturday, party president Mallikarjun Kharge held a meeting with top leaders of the party from the State.

Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar and former chief minister Siddaramaiah were present at the meeting held at Kharge's residence. DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah also felicitated Kharge as Congress sweeps the Karnataka polls. Siddaramaiah CM Tattoo on Mans Chest As Congress Wins Karnataka Assembly Election 2023 (Watch Video).

Pertinent to mention, the Karnataka election was a major victory for Congress after Kharge assumed as party president earlier this year. Congress won an absolute majority in Karnataka on Saturday with the party crossing the halfway mark of 113 seats in the 224-member assembly. Karnataka Assembly Election Results 2023: Congress Candidate DK Shivakumar Leading From Kanakapura Vidhan Sabha Constituency, BJP's R Ashoka Trailing.

According to the latest trends of the Election Commission of India, Congress has won 131 seats and is leading in five more seats. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won 61 seats and is leading on four others.

Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) has won 19 seats. Independents have won two seats while Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha have won one seat each.The Congress maintained a lead from the morning when counting began for the assembly seats in the fiercely contested election.

Notably, Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar defeated JDS candidate B Nagaraju in the Kanakapura constituency by 1,22,392 votes. Former deputy chief minister and Congress leader G Parameshwara defeated JDS PR Sudhakar Lal by 14,347 votes. Congress general secretary, Communications Jairam Ramesh said people rejected BJP in Karnataka.

"The whole election campaign was about the issues of Karnataka. We did not make it a national election, we made this election for Vidhan Sabha. Congress' win is PM Modi's decisive defeat. This is because except for PM Modi, there was no other face. The issues we raised were related to the state. But BJP made the election campaign like a referendum for PM Modi. JP Nadda said that if you give a vote to Congress PM Modi's blessings will not be with you. The campaigning by PM Modi was totally rejected by the people of Karnataka," Jairam Ramesh told ANI.

Congress' HD Thammaiah defeated BJP's CT Ravi in Chikmagalur, by a margin of 5,926 votes. Congress leader Suresh Baabu defeated State Minister and BJP candidate JC Madhu Swamy in Chikkanayakanahall by a margin of 10,042 votes. In Chikkaballapur seat, Congress' Pradeep Eshwar defeated State Minister and BJP candidate K Sudhakar by a margin of 10,642 votes.

Former union minister and Congress leader AK Antony said, "The clear message is that it is a victory of secular forces against hate politics. The national message is if the secular voters can unite, they can easily throw out the Modi government in 2024 election."

"In one of the speeches in Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi made a light comment. Only for that, a national leader who got elected by more than 4 lakh votes was disqualified from Lok Sabha and thrown out of his house. Karnataka's people did not like it," he added.

Congress' BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan defeated former Bengaluru Police Commissioner and BJP candidate Bhaskar Rao, by a margin of 53,953 votes, in Chamrajpet.

Karnataka went to the polls on May 10 for the 224-member state assembly and saw a record polling of 72.68 per cent. A party needs 113 seats to get the majority.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Manguera and Mandarria are the names of the men that prison authorities brought to Yeilis Perez Cruz's cell at 100th and Aldabo on the third day of her imprisonment and who, she claims, raped her.

"They did it several times and I am sure that many of the July 11 girls who passed through there also suffered the same thing, because that was one of the first attacks they committed against us," she stated in an interview with DIARIO DE CUBA.

She also stated that, both at 100 and Aldabo and in Villa Marista violations of all the prisoners? rights are "constant" and "inhumane."

"These people have no scruples, no feelings, they are devils, they are led by a diabolical dictatorship and they themselves have become devils. If I remember correctly, the name of the one who took those two to my cell was Abel, who, when I arrived at 100 and Aldabo, had the rank of captain, and while I was there they promoted him to major."

Abel is the same name mentioned by another young woman arrested during the July 11 protests in Havana: Gabriela Zequeira Hernandez.

"They were on top of me for more than three hours in the most disgusting way. I don't know if they were officers or inmates. From cell to cell you could hear: 'Have they already introduced you to Mandarria?" Perez Cruz complained as soon as she arrived in the United States in statements to Marti Noticias.

The activist told this newspaper that the order to attack her in this way came "directly" from the investigating official in charge of her, named Freyre. "He played with me, with my mother's and my father's minds. While I was in prison they showed me videos of my daughter walking down the street and told me that the same thing that was happening to me could happen to my daughter, and that they could do nothing to stop it," she says now, now under US protection.

Despite these experiences, the bitter memories that still disturb her, and the fact that she is still separated from her mother and daughter, she insists that she will do everything in her power "to recover." With her family still in Cuba, they continue to receive threats of all kinds from State Security. "While I am free, they want to continue pressuring me to silence me, but they will not succeed," she said.

"My war is not over yet because there are hundreds of political prisoners in Cuba and I will continue condemning this and fighting against this diabolical dictatorship in Cuba. For the moment I am going to regain my strength. I still have other health battles to win. But it is 'Down with the dictatorship! every day', it is 'Homeland, Life and Freedom! for my Cuban people'," she concluded.

Unfortunately, this testimony is not unique. There are signs, and a pattern of violence that recurs in the experiences of other prisoners, indicating that sexual abuse is perpetrated in Cuban prisons in a systematic way.

On July 11, when Gabriela Zequeira Hernandez was detained by the Cuban police, she repeated over and over again: "I'm a minor, I'm a minor. No one listened to her. The Cuban police, upon arresting her in the midst of the protests, made her undress and bend over. They also asked her to put her finger in her vagina, although she repeated: "I'm a minor, I'm a minor."

Her complaint was ignored and she was placed under arrest in the prison at 100 and Aldabo, regardless of the fact that she was 17 years old, No news of her arrest was given to her mother. In that prison she was blackmailed into informing on people she did not know as participants in the march, and was threatened with rape and sexual abuse.

"Major Abel came in and told me that he was going to look for me, to go see Manguera and Mandarria," Zequeira told Cubanet after her release.

On condition of anonymity, a 32-year-old woman, now on parole, agreed to tell this newspaper what she experienced at the 100 y Aldabo prison in May 2021. She explained that the first thing that happened to her when she arrived at the prison was that, although she had her period, they refused to give her compresses for the bleeding. "I was like that for three days, bleeding and bleeding without being able to put anything on. To top it off, there was no water, I don't even want to think about that."

The abuse of this young woman did not stop there: "Five days later an officer came to pick me up to take me to another cell, where I was left alone for about half an hour until an officer opened the door and two men raped me for at least two hours straight. They told me that this was what happened for being so rebellious and not wanting to do all the political activities they organized there."

There is also the case of Cuban activist Diasniurka Salcedo Verdecia, who reported at the end of 2020 that two agents of the political police sexually abused her during an arrest.

"I was mistreated in the worst way a human being can be mistreated. When I say mistreated, I mean it (...) All women know what I mean when I say that I was mistreated by two men: sexually and in the most brutal way," she reported in a harrowing statement, which she later deleted, on her Facebook wall.

The Torture in Cuba report, turned out by several civil society organizations, states that several people released from prison after 11-J reported "acts of torture and mistreatment," including 152 reports of "threats of sexual abuse."
Latur, May 13 (PTI) Police in Maharashtra's Latur district have arrested four men for allegedly assaulting five boys and a girl, all aged between 16 and 17 years, an official said.

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The incident took place at Udgir last month and the arrests were made on the complaint of one of the boys, he said.

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While a group of people, including two former corporators, have alleged that the police have implicated the accused in a false case, the Vishva Hindu Parishad gave a memorandum to the district collector on May 11, demanding action against the alleged assaulters.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Bhubaneswar, May 13 (PTI) BJD president and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Saturday made a veiled attack on the BJP, which lost the Karnataka Assembly poll, and said it is good governance and not a 'double engine' government that can help a party win election.

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Patnaik chose to make the comment at the celebration by BJD, the party he heads, after its candidate's win at the Jharsuguda by-poll on Saturday.

Refraining from naming any party, Patnaik said, Single engine or double engine does not matter. From people's point of view, governance is important. Good governance and pro-people governance always win.

BJP had made 'double engine' (BJP government at the state and the Centre) its slogan in Karnataka.

Patnaik's veiled criticism of the 'double engine' government is considered politically important as the opposition BJP has for long lured the people of Odisha with accelerated development if they voted the party to power in the state. Statements in support of it had been made in the past in the state by both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Patnaik's comment came after his long silence on the BJP slogan, which takes center stage in all Assembly elections. The saffron party's drubbing in Karnataka appears to have provided him the opportunity to speak out against it.

Patnaik has helmed the state since 2000 after quitting the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and parted ways with BJP in 2009.

His comment came two days after his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Thursday. After the meeting, he reaffirmed his party's policy to go it alone and maintain equidistance both from BJP and the Congress, at least before the simultaneous Lok Sabha and Odisha Assembly poll in 2024.

The meeting with the prime minister in the national capital took place barely 48 hours after Patnaik's meeting with his old friend Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar, who visited him.

Patnaik, when asked had said there is no possibility of a Third Front as far as he was concerned and that BJD will contest the elections next year without any national ambition.

On Saturday BJD candidate, 26-year-old Dipali Das trounced rival BJP candidate Tankadhar Tripathy by a margin of over 48,000 votes in Jharsuguda, where the by-poll was held after her father Naba Kishore Das, who was a minister in the Naveen Patnaik cabinet, was killed.

Reacting to Pataik's statement, the president of BJP in Odisha Manmohan Samal said, The chief minister is now talking about good governance in the state. Everybody knows how the government functions in Odisha.

"He (Patnaik) is also speaking of double engine' as he is aware that BJP will form the government next time," he claimed.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Rampur/Mirzapur (UP), May 13 (PTI) The ruling BJP-led coalition on Saturday ended Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan's over four-decade dominance in Rampur with its ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) winning the Suar assembly by-election by a margin of 8,724 votes.

The BJP ally also retained Chhanbey (SC) seat in Mirzapur district by trouncing the SP rival by over 9,500 votes. Both the bypolls were held on May 10.

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Shafeek Ahmed Ansari of the Anupriya Patel-headed Apna Dal (Sonelal) secured a little over 50 per cent of the total votes polled in the Suar bypoll, according to the Election Commission website.

Ansari polled 68,630 votes and his nearest-rival and SP nominee Anuradha Chauhan bagged 59,906 votes. More than 1.35 lakh votes were polled in the by-election.

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The Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress did not field candidates on the seat.

Ansari said his win is a result of the collective effort and hardwork of BJP and Apna Dal (Sonelal) workers.

With this victory, the ruling coalition ended Azam Khan's over four-decade hold in the Muslim-dominated Rampur district. Azam Khan and his family watched the poll outcome on TV at their Jail Road residence.

Of the five assembly constituencies under Rampur Lok Sabha seat, Bilaspur, Rampur and Milak (SC) are held by the BJP. Chamraua is held by SP and Suar has been clinched by BJP's ally Apna Dal (Sonelal).

The Rampur parliamentary constituency, also a stronghold of Azam Khan, was won by the BJP.

SP's Muslim face from the days of Mulayam Singh Yadav, Azam Khan remained undefeated in Rampur Sadar assembly seat since 1980 irrespective of the party in power.

In November 2022, Azam Khan's name was removed from the electoral roll in Rampur after he was convicted in a 2019 hate speech case. As a result, he could not cast his vote in the by-election in Suar.

In February 2023, his son Abdullah Azam Khan's name was struck off the electoral roll after his disqualification from the assembly. A Moradabad court had sentenced him to two years in jail in a 15-year-old case.

Referring to his son's disqualification as MLA from Suar, which necessitated the bypoll, Azam Khan had claimed that there was "no one who can defeat him."

Campaigning for the SP candidate, he had asserted she will win the election. "If there is any injustice (in terms of poll results), it will be a deceit," he had said.

He also took potshots at Apna Dal (Sonelal), saying, "The candidate who has come with a plate (referring to the party's cup-plate symbol), he is with those who want to give a knife to your (next) generation."

Reacting to Azam Khan's claims, BJP MLA from Rampur Akash Saxena said after the poll results came out, "Azam Khan has lost his mental balance, hence he is speaking like this."

Saxena asserted Azam Khan was "getting the punishment for his deeds".

"The person who has no right to cast his vote, that person after seeing the mandate of the people, should leave the country, and should not stay here. The politics of hatred will not work here. Azam Khan had always worked to create rift between Hindus and Muslims," Saxena told PTI.

In the assembly election last year, Abdullah Khan defeated Apna Dal (Sonelal)'s Haidar Ali Khan in Suar.

In Mirzapur's Chhanbey, Apna Dal (Sonelal) candidate Rinki Kol defeated SP's Kirti Kol by a margin of 9,587 votes. While Rinki Kol polled 76,203 votes, Kirti Kol bagged 66,616 votes.

The Apna Dal (Sonelal) candidate secured 46.7 per cent vote share, while the SP candidates got 40.82 per cent, according to the Election Commission.

Congress candidate Ajay Kumar could muster only 1.56 per cent of the votes, a little more than the NOTA share, which stood at 1.51 per cent.

The BSP did not field any candidates from the seat. In all, eight candidates were in the fray.

The total votes polled in Chhanbey was over 1.63 lakh, according to the Election Commission website.

Apna Dal (Sonelal) chief and Union minister Anupriya Patel is the MP from Mirzapur.

The Chhanbey seat fell vacant following the death of sitting Apna Dal (Sonelal) MLA Rahul Prakash Kol in February.

Though the bypoll results would not impact the BJP government in UP as it enjoys more than two-thirds majority, it is considered important for political parties ahead of the 2024 general election as the state sends the highest 80 members to Lok Sabha.

Rajesh Srivastava, the spokesperson of the UP unit of the Apna Dal (Sonelal), gave credit for the win to party president Anupriya Patel.

"(Rampur), which was once the fortress of Azam Khan, has now become a stronghold of the Apna Dal (Sonelal)," he said.

With these wins, the tally of Apna Dal (Sonelal) in UP Legislative Assembly has risen to 13 MLAs.

In the 403-member assembly, the BJP has 255 MLAs, and its ally Nishad Party has six legislators.

The SP has 109 MLAs while its ally Rashtriya Lok Dal has nine.

The Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party has six MLAs, the Congress and the Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik) have two each. And the BSP has one member in the assembly.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Lucknow, May 13: Early trends of Uttar Pradesh bye-elections showed Samajwadi Party and Apna Dal leading on one seat each in the counting of votes that began on Saturday, according to Election Commission's latest data. The assembly bye-elections were held in Suar and Chhanbey assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh. Suar, Chhanbey By-Elections 2023 Results Live News Updates.

As per the ECI's latest trend at 10.00 am, Samajwadi Party is leading in the Suar constituency and Apana Dal is leading in Chhanbey. As per the officials, counting for the votes will start at 8.00 am and all the necessary arrangements were made for the same. UP Nagar Nikay Chunav 2023 Results Latest News Update.

The ruling coalition partner Apna Dal (Sonelal) is contesting both seats.

Suar assembly seat in Rampur district was declared vacant on February 13 after a Moradabad court sentenced Abdullah Azam Khan, the son of senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, to two years in jail in a 15-year-old case.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kabul [Afghanistan], May 13 (ANI): In order to support Afghanistan amid the ongoing crisis, Turkmenistan has sent 125 tons of humanitarian aid including medicine, medical supplies, food and textile products to the country, Khaama Press reported.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan announced on Thursday the aid being sent to Afghanistan, the people who are living under miserable conditions and are denied basic rights under the hardline regime of the Taliban.

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Earlier on Sunday, Serdar Berdimuhamedov, the president of Turkmenistan, signed a decree directing the Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov Charitable Fund to provide children and impoverished Afghan families with humanitarian aid. In the meantime, the ministry has announced that on May 15 a team of medical specialists would travel to Afghanistan and offer consultation services at a maternity hospital in Turgundi village of western Herat province, Khaama Press reported.

The humanitarian contribution is intended to support Afghan families in need and to fortify friendly and fraternal connections between the countries.

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Under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, women and children face significant obstacles related to a lack of resources and access to healthcare. According to Khaama Press, Afghanistan under the Taliban has had the highest maternal mortality rate in the world.

In addition, after seizing control of Afghanistan, the Taliban forbade women from pursuing secondary and higher education as well as employment in the public or private sector, which had a detrimental effect on the nation's healthcare industry.

In Afghanistan, poverty and hunger have significantly increased since the Taliban retook control of the country in August 2021.

Afghanistan was the world's biggest and worst humanitarian disaster at the beginning of the year. Both in terms of quantity and intensity, this signifies a drastic decline.

Humanitarian organisations have repeatedly urged the international world to continue to stand in solidarity with the Afghan people and assist them during these trying times.

Aid organisations and humanitarian organisations have remained committed to continuing to provide their life-saving support to the people of Afghanistan in 2023, despite the restrictions imposed by the Taliban de facto government, particularly on women and girls. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
London, May 13 (PTI) S Jaishankar arrived in Stockholm on Saturday on his first visit as the External Affairs Minister to Sweden to participate in the second EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum (EIPMF).

During his three-day visit to Stockholm, the minister will address the EIPMF and also hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit.

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He is also scheduled to attend the inaugural session of the India Trilateral Forum involving India, Europe and the US with his Swedish counterpart Tobias Billstrom.

"From Dhaka to Stockholm, but still discussing the Indo-Pacific. Arrived in Sweden for the EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial," Jaishankar tweeted.

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"Nice to see FM of Singapore @VivianBala at the EU-Indo-Pacific Ministeria," he said.

This will be his first visit as EAM and comes at a time when India and Sweden are celebrating 75 years of establishment of diplomatic relations, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said.

Sweden currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the minister is expected to discuss India-EU relations during his visit, at the conclusion of which he will depart for Brussels to continue the exchange.

In Brussels, he will attend the first ministerial meeting of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council along with Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs & Food & Public Distribution and Textiles Piyush Goyal and Minister of Railways, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Jaishankar arrived in Sweden from Bangladesh where he addressed the 6th Indian Ocean Conference on Friday.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Guatemala City, May 13 (AP) A Guatemalan newspaper known for hard-hitting investigations of government corruption and whose founder is currently on trial, announced Friday that it will shut down.

El Periodico had stopped its print edition in November, but had continued to publish as a digital outlet.

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Jose Ruben Zamora is on trial for money laundering and other charges, allegations he has said were trumped up to silence an independent media outlet that has been critical of President Alejandro Giammattei's administration.

El Periodico will cease to publish May 15, the news outlet said in a statement.

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Prosecutors accuse Zamora of money laundering related to a deposit of about $30,000 he asked someone else to make for him. Zamora's relatives have said it was a donation from a supporter to cover the day-to-day costs of the paper after advertising fell off under government pressure. Zamora has said he didn't deposit the money in the newspaper's account because the donor didn't want to be identified.

In addition to Zamora, nine other journalists and columnists from El Periodico are under investigation for alleged obstruction of justice.

Our team resisted 287 days of persecution, political and economic pressure, El Periodico said in reference to the time since Zamora was jailed last year.

The Guatemalan Association of Journalists and human rights activists have called the case a politically motivated campaign against Zamora because of his anti-corruption efforts.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday the announcement comes after 10 months of judicial harassment of the newspaper, its founder and journalists.

The Guatemalan government is responsible for this situation, Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ programme director, said. (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Beirut, May 13 (AP) Lebanon's foreign minister spoke on Saturday with his counterpart in the United Arab Emirates following the death of a Lebanese citizen while in custody in the oil-rich Gulf nation, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Lebanon's Foreign Ministry said in a short statement that Lebanon's ambassador to the UAE, Fouad Dandan, spoke by telephone with the wife and brother of the late Ghazi Ezzedine, 55. The envoy later received a signed letter from the family saying the man died as a result of heart problems.

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Ezzedine's death had earlier raised questions about his possible mistreatment by authorities in the UAE.

Earlier this week, a committee of family members of Lebanese citizens detained in the UAE, including the man who died earlier this month, alleged in a statement that Ezzedine had died as a result of being tortured.

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The foreign ministry statement said UAE's Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan told his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bouhabib that Ezzedine's family can leave the UAE or stay if they want.

The statement did not say whether the family will be allowed to take the man's body for burial in Lebanon following reports that they were prevented from do so.

Sima Watling, a researcher with Amnesty International focusing on the Arab Gulf country, told The Associated Press on Friday that according to Ezzedine's family, he had been arrested on March 22 along with eight other people, including two of his brothers, on unknown charges.

Ezzedine died on May 4, she said. His family was only notified several days later, when his son was asked by authorities to come to the cemetery and identify the body, she added. Ezzedine's son was only permitted to see his father's face, while his body was kept covered.

UAE authorities denied the family's request to bring him back to Lebanon for burial, Watling said. The two brothers who were detained along with him were subsequently released from detention but banned from leaving the country.

UAE authorities have detained dozens of Lebanese, mostly Shiites, in the past over alleged links to the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The UAE, like other Gulf Cooperation Council members, considers Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

In 2019, the UAE sentenced one Lebanese national to life in prison and two to ten years in prison on charges of links to Hezbollah.(AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Rawalpindi [Pakistan], May 13 (ANI): Two terrorists and two soldiers were killed in a terrorist attack on a Frontier Constabulary (FC) camp in Balochistan's Muslim Bagh town, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Friday, reported Dawn.

The military's media wing said that a "group of terrorists attacked an FC camp in the Muslim Bagh area in northern Balochistan".

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The statement said that an operation by the security forces was "underway to capture the terrorists who have been cornered into a building complex" while a heavy exchange of fire was also taking place, reported Dawn.

The ISPR further said, "Commander 12 Corps is supervising the security forces operations being conducted at Muslim Bagh area in Balochistan where terrorists have been cornered."

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Since the talks with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) broke down in November last year, the outfit has intensified its attacks, particularly targeting the police in KP and areas bordering Afghanistan.

Over the past few months, the law and order situation in the country has worsened, with terrorist groups executing attacks with near impunity across the country, reported Dawn.

Earlier this month, experts at a discussion warned that the TTP was forging a nexus with Baloch separatists and local militant groups based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan -- a development that will likely exacerbate the already precarious security situation in the country.

On April 1, four soldiers were killed in a terrorist attack along the Pak-Iran border in the Jalgai sector of Balochistan's Kech district, reported Dawn.

On March 10, five terrorists were killed by security forces in intelligence-based operations (IBO) carried out in North and South Waziristan. On March 8, six terrorists were killed by security forces in an IBO in North Waziristan's Datta Khel general area.

According to statistics released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based think-tank, January 2023 remained one of the deadliest months since July 2018, as 134 people lost their lives -- a 139 per cent spike -- and 254 received injuries in at least 44 militant attacks across the country, reported Dawn. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi [India], May 13 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he had a productive meeting with Toshi Shiabata, the CEO of Japanese semiconductor firm Renesas Electronics and discussed various aspects of technology and innovation in the field of semiconductors.

The Japanese company's CEO called on PM Modi on Friday.

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Replying to a tweet by Renesas Electronics, the Prime Minister tweeted, "Had a productive meeting with Mr Toshi Shibata, CEO of @RenesasGlobal. We discussed aspects relating to tech, innovation and India's strides in the world of semiconductors."

Earlier, Renesas Electronics posted on Twitter that Toshi Shibata met the Indian Prime Minister to discuss the role of the semiconductor industry and how it contributes to India's vision for a digital future.

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"Our CEO Toshi Shibata met with India's PM @narendramodi to discuss the role that our industry plays & how we can contribute to India's vision for a digital future. We're committed to enabling #semiconductor ecosystem and digital infrastructure in #India. @PMOIndia #digitalization," Renesas Electronics wrote on Twitter.

Earlier in March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met NXP's President and Chief Executive Officer Kurt Sievers. The two discussed the transformative landscape in the semiconductors and innovation world.

"Happy to have met Mr Kurt Sievers, the CEO of @NXP and discuss the transformative landscape in the world of semiconductors and innovation. India is emerging as a key force in these sectors, powered by our talented youth," Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted.

NXP Semiconductors NV is a Dutch semiconductor designer and manufacturer with headquarters in Eindhoven, Netherlands with locations throughout the globe.

In a bid to give a boost to semiconductor manufacturing in the country, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw announced in February this year that the government will come up with a program very soon to put the country on a good semiconductor journey for the next 10 years.

The government launched a programme called Semicon India Programme in December 2021 with an outlay of Rs 76,000 crore. The programme seeks to support the development of the semiconductors and the display manufacturing ecosystem in India.

The minister had apprised the parliamentary consultative committee in 2023 that several state governments like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are in talks with the companies to set up semiconductor manufacturing plants/fab complexes. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Abu Dhabi [UAE], May 13 (ANI/WAM): The Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA), a subsidiary of the PureHealth Group - the UAE's largest integrated healthcare platform - has announced the launch of the 9th International Nursing and Midwifery Conference, known also as SINMC.

The event invites a network of nurses and midwives to discuss and debate the healthcare topics of the day, utilising innovation, technology, and critical thinking.

Also Read | US-Based YouTuber Trevor Daniel Jacob Who Crashed His Plane To Gain Online Views Faces 20 Years in Prison (Watch Video).

The conference, which is taking place at the CONRAD Abu Dhabi Etihad Towers on May 13 and 14 is being held under the theme "Shaping the Future of Healthcare through Innovation, Technology and Evidence-Based Practice," and aims to explore, create, and implement innovative healthcare systems that prioritize the well-being of patients and healthcare providers.

The event is expected to witness the attendance of more than 500 delegates.

Also Read | Cyclone Mocha: Bangladesh Issues High Alert As Approaching Cyclonic Storm Turns 'Very Dangerous'.

In line with the commitment of the conference steering committee to deliver the highest standards of scientific content, the event has an extensive scientific programme, which includes topics that are of interest to all nurses, nursing students, and others who are interested in healthcare more generally.

Its programme is packed with the latest research, trends, and priorities in nursing and theories on the future of healthcare.

The committee has collaborated with several national and international organisations to bring together a unique educational experience that covers the most important and current issues related to this field.

The meeting will welcome many world-class experts, in addition to an elite group of eminent local speakers, covering a broad range of topics, state-of-the-art lectures, and interactive sessions that enhances the exchange of knowledge, experience, and best practices.

Muayyad Mohammad Hussein, Corporate Nursing Director at SEHA, said, "We are thrilled to welcome healthcare professionals from around the world to attend SINMC. This event is not only a platform for knowledge exchange and innovation in nursing but a celebration of the dedication and compassion that nurses bring to their practice. By participating in SINMC, nurses will have the unique opportunity to not only enhance their clinical expertise but improve their social and emotional skills."

"The conference programme is designed to address the holistic needs of nurses, providing sessions and workshops that focus on communication, empathy, teamwork, and self-care. These essential skills are vital for building strong relationships with patients, colleagues, and the healthcare team, ultimately leading to better patient outcomes and more fulfilling nursing practice. Additionally, the Ihsan Award winners will be announced during the opening ceremony of the conference."

The Ihsan Awards are designed to recognise the remarkable contributions of nurses, midwives, and allied health, and their unwavering commitment to providing exceptional care and contributions. ''The nursing profession must examine its role, processes, and knowledge against emerging ethical frameworks that explore the opportunities and risks that AI and similar innovations bring while advocating for patient involvement in AI development and application."

Shaikha Juma Al Shamisi, Conference Chairperson and Director of Nursing - Al Ain Hospital, said, "Nurses play a critical role in delivering primary care to patients, and it is vital that we provide them with a forum of learning to ensure that we are up to date with challenges facing healthcare. The conference serves as a platform for nurses to share their expertise and insights and foster nursing leadership. Through engaging discussions, collaborative sessions, and thought-provoking presentations, the conference aims to empower nurses to take on leadership roles within their organisations and make a meaningful impact on the healthcare landscape. We firmly believe that nursing leadership is crucial in shaping the future of healthcare and driving positive change." (ANI/WAM)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Islamabad [Pakistan], May 13 (ANI): At least four workers were killed due to the spread of hazardous gas in an oil well in Multan City of Pakistan, ARY News reported on Saturday.

The incident occurred in an oil well at Bahawalpur Road in Multan of Punjab province.

Also Read | Afghanistan: Four Farmers Killed, Five Injured Over Poppy Field Dispute in Badakhshan.

According to ARY News, the four workers died due to toxic gas spreading when the well of a private oil mill on Bahawalpur Road was being cleaned.

Rescue officials said that a person who went down to clean the well became unconscious. In order to rescue the unconscious person, the others went down to the well but all four fell unconscious and lost their lives due to toxic gas.

Also Read | Imran Khan, Former Pakistan PM, Back at His Lahore Residence After Securing Bail in Several Cases (Watch Video).

The four workers' bodies were removed and sent to the hospital, and the police began their investigation by filing a report on the occurrence.

The investigation of the case is underway. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Dubai [UAE], May 13 (ANI/WAM): The UAE presented to the UN's Human Rights Council (HRC) its legislative ecosystem, which regulates the local labour market, provides social security and ensures decent working conditions to UAE workers in line with the Paris Principles.

Several UAE federal and local government entities as well as civil society organisations constituted the delegation for the country's fourth Human Rights Report at HRC in Geneva.

Also Read | Afghanistan: Four Farmers Killed, Five Injured Over Poppy Field Dispute in Badakhshan.

"In the past few years, the UAE has updated its legislations governing private sector employment relationships. A transparent contractual policy for workers in the UAE was developed and implemented, in which it holds recruitment agencies responsible for informing foreign workers of their employment rights, terms and conditions before leaving their countries," Shayma Al Awadhi, Acting Assistant Undersecretary for Communication and International Relations at the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) said.

"It has also been prohibited charging these workers any recruitment fees and dealing with any unlicenced recruitment agencies or agents in the UAE or abroad."

Also Read | Imran Khan, Former Pakistan PM, Back at His Lahore Residence After Securing Bail in Several Cases (Watch Video).

"The new labour legislations include clear legal provisions that define and prohibit discrimination on all grounds as defined in international conventions. The legislations also ban any form of violence against workers as well as sexual harassment in the workplace; granting them the right to immediately terminate their employment relationship without compromising their rights if they were violated," she added.

"MoHRE has provided workers across all professional levels with multiple channels to submit legal inquiries and receive their complaints in more than 20 languages. Support is provided to workers, alongside reconciliation with employers to settle disputes amicably; if such settlements were not possible, they would be referred to the judiciary."

Al Awadhi pointed out the UAE's "advanced technological infrastructure, which contributed to developing online and smart systems used in inspections and proactive monitoring."

"These include a system that recognises risk factors through which priority is given to inspecting high-risk establishments, as well as the Wages Protection System (WPS), which supports the financial stability and mental wellbeing of workers and their families," she said.

"MoHRE is responsible for examining the compliance of private sector establishments and their workers' accomodations with the conditions set by legislation that guarantees the rights of workers to decent working conditions and housing.

"We have also introduced an Unemployment Insurance Scheme, which covers workers in the UAE - citizens and residents alike. The Scheme provides a temporary financial income for those who lost their jobs according to specific conditions.

"Another insurance system has also been developed for workers' unpaid remunerations, including late wages and compensation for work injuries." (ANI/WAM)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Tokyo, May 13: As connected cars become mainstream globally, Toyota has issued an apology after it discovered that millions of customers' partial data was made public "due to misconfiguration of the Cloud environment" for a decade. The automaker said it will notify nearly 2.15 million customers in Japan whose personal and vehicle information were left exposed on the web from November 6, 2013 to April 17, 2023.

The exposed data includes registered email addresses, vehicle-unique chassis and navigation terminal numbers, the location of vehicles and what time they were there, and videos from the vehicle's "drive recorder". Toyota Urban Cruiser Icon SUV Global Debut Imminent; To Rival the Likes of Hyundai Creta.

"After the discovery of this matter, we have implemented measures to block access from the outside, but we are continuing to conduct investigations including all cloud environments. We apologise for causing great inconvenience and concern to our customers and related parties.

The company is individually sending an apology and notification to the registered email address for customers whose in-vehicle terminal ID, chassis number, vehicle location information, and time may have been leaked.

"In addition, we will set up a dedicated call centre to answer questions and concerns from customers," said the Japanese giant. The company said that the main reason for this incident was insufficient explanation and thoroughness of rules for data handling.

"This time, customer information that may have been viewed from the outside will not identify the customer based on this data alone, even if accessed from the outside," it said in a statement. Toyota SUVs for India: From FRONX-Based SUV-Coupe to Next-Gen Fortuner, Find Key Details of 3 Upcoming Models From the Japanese Auto Major.

Since the discovery of this matter, "we have not confirmed any secondary use of customer information on the Internet by a third party, or whether or not there are any copies remaining, regarding customer information that may have been viewed from the outside".

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 13, 2023 11:34 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Brazil's Supreme Court ordered the investigation into Google and Telegram executives after the firms campaigned against a bill that would curtail online disinformation.The Supreme Court of Brazil ordered a probe into Google and Telegram, which are accused of leading an "abusive campaign" that opposes a proposed internet regulation bill.

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The court's decision came after the tech firms campaigned against what critics claim is a "censorship bill."

Also Read | Karnataka To Get New CM: DK Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, Mallikarjun Kharge  Who Will Be Next Chief Minister? List of Probable Congress Candidates.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the federal police to launch an investigation into the two companies and their executives.

Justice Moraes has given 60 days for the probe to take place and has asked the police to take statements from everyone responsible for the campaign at both companies.

Why is the bill controversial?

The bill was first introduced in 2020 to curb online disinformation and is currently subject to a voting round in the lower house of Congress.

The bill gained more importance this year, after ex-president Jair Bolsonaro's supporters stormed Brasilia in January, allegedly after being provoked by fake news about fraudulent elections.

While supporters of the bill have hailed it as a much-needed measure against online extremism, Bolsonaro's supporters allege that it would create an Orwellian "Truth Ministry" to censor citizens' opinions.

The bill would hold the tech companies responsible for identifying and reporting illegal content. It also aims to penalize any failure by the tech firms to do so.

How did Google, Telegram irk the court?

The court's decision to launch a probe of Google and Telegram was based on a request by Lower House Speaker Arthur Lira who said, tech companies have used "all sorts of tricks in a sordid campaign of disinformation, manipulation and intimidation, taking advantage of their hegemonic position in the market."

On its site, Google warned that the bill "seriously threatens free speech," while Telegram sent out messages to more than 40 million users in Brazil that called the bill an "attack on democracy."

Both the tech platforms received backlash from the Supreme Court, which also ordered them to remove the posts.

mf/rc (AFP, Reuters)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 13, 2023 01:40 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
New Delhi, May 13: A fire broke out early Saturday on the fifth floor of Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital in northeast Delhi's Shastri Park area, officials said. According to fire officials, a fireman suffered minor injuries in the incident.

The fire department received information regarding the fire at 12.16 am, following which eight fire tenders were rushed to the spot. Furniture, AC, false ceiling in the meeting room on the fifth floor of the hospital caught fire, but no other casualty was reported, a senior fire official said, adding that the flames were doused within an hour. Delhi Fire: Massive Blaze Erupts at Factory Near Moti Nagar Police Station in Karampura, Dousing Operation Underway (Watch Video).

During the firefighting operation, Sumit, a fireman, suffered hand injury and was given first aid at the hospital, the officials said. Delhi Fire Services Says They Received Call About Tilting of Building in Shakarpur.

In another incident, a printing press shop caught fire in Lodhi Colony area around 7.40 am. The fire was controlled by 10 am with the help of eight fire tenders, the officials added.
Mumbai, May 13: In a major operation, multiple station houses of Mumbai Police in collaboration with the Department of Telecom have busted a huge racket of 2,197 fake mobile SIM cards issued in single names and arrested 13 people, top officials said here on Saturday. The Mumbai Police probe is part of a nationwide campaign by the DoT which has detected and cancelled at least 30 lakh (3 million) such fake cards that were in operation.

Joint Commissioner of Police Satyanarayan Chaudhary said that the DoT had tipped off the Mumbai Police on several suspicious SIM cards in operation with the help of their supercomputers, and investigations were launched simultaneously by five police stations. Manish Kashyap Bihar Migrants Fake News Case: Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi Issues Clarification on Fake NSA Action Information Against YouTuber.

They are V.P. Road, Malabar Hill, D.B. Marg, Sahar, and Bangurnagar police stations, which formed multiple teams to investigate the locations from where such fake SIM cards on single identity were issued. Everything in India To Be Closed for 10 Days? PIB Fact Check Debunks Fake Claim.

These unauthorised SIM cards are used by fake call centres, bookies, cyber-criminals, sex-racketeers, and others indulging in nefarious activities, police said. Chaudhary said that during the probe, five cases have been registered in Mumbai and 13 accused have been arrested so far.

Besides, there are an estimated 62 people in Mumbai alone, in whose names a staggering 8,500 SIM cards have been issued by mobile companies using their photos. In most cases, hundreds of fake SIMs were cleared using one person's photos clicked from different angles, which were then sold out to unauthorised persons who used them for various illegal activities, the probe revealed.

During the probe, the sleuths detected and raided a fake call centre in Mira Road, Thane, from where they seized 52 fake SIMs. V.P. Road Police nabbed one Vishal Shinde, in whose name there are 378 SIM cards, while D.B. Marge Police have arrested one Abdul Shaikh having 190 SIM cards with his picture on the documents.

The Malabar Hill Police have swooped on the alleged mastermind, one Abdul Mansoori, who had issued 685 SIMs under his photo. Chaudhary said that as per the DoT, Mumbai has over 30,000 fake SIMs in operation, which are now being investigated. The DoT has already found around 3 million such fake SIMs being operated all over India, which have now been stopped, he added.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 13, 2023 09:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
New Delhi, May 13: Over 2.6 lakh voters who exercised their franchise in the May 10 Karnataka assembly polls used the 'none of the above' or NOTA option, according to Election Commission figures. According to figures available around 3.30 pm, 2,59,278 (0.7 per cent) out of the nearly 3.84 crore people who came out to vote on Wednesday exercised the NOTA option. DK Shivakumar or Siddaramaiah - Who Will Be New Karnataka CM? Now Focus on Who Will Become Chief Minister After Congress Sweeps State in Assembly Elections 2023.

The NOTA option on electronic voting machines (EVMs) was introduced in 2013 and it has its own symbol -- a ballot paper with a black cross on it. After a Supreme Court order in September 2013, the Election Commission had added the NOTA button on EVMs as the last option on the voting panel.

Prior to the apex court's order, those not inclined to vote for any candidate had the option of registering their decision under Rule 49-O (elector deciding not to vote) of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961. But this compromised the secrecy of the voter. Karnataka Assembly Election Results 2023 Live News Updates.

The NOTA button on an EVM ensures secrecy of ballot. The Supreme Court had, however, refused to direct the Election Commission to hold fresh polls if the majority of the electorate exercises the NOTA option while voting. The NOTA symbol was designed by the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, for the poll panel.
Bengaluru, May 13: The counting of votes for Karnataka Assembly Election Result 2023 is underway, and Congress has crossed the majority mark and has turned up as the largest party in the state. The grand old party is leading on 130 seats in Karnataka Assembly Election 2023. The party has succeeded in restricting the ruling BJP to under 70 seats. The Karnataka Assembly Election 2023 was interesting, considering its significance ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha Election. Now that Congress has crossed the majority mark, all eyes are on whom the grand old party names as the Chief Minister of Karnataka. Former CM Siddaramaiah, State President DK Shivakumar, and Jagadish Shettar are among those who would be given the responsibility to lead the Karnataka government.

Now, the party has an uphill task to choose one from the list amid the suspense over the name of the head of the state. Here are the top contenders for the chief ministerial post. DK Shivakumar Greets Congress Workers Outside His Bengaluru Residence As Party Races Ahead of BJP in Karnataka Assembly Election Results 2023 (Watch Video).

Who Will Be New CM of Karnataka?

Mallikarjun Kharge

Mallikarjun Kharge's name in the Karnataka CM might surprise many as he is currently serving as the National President of the Congress. However, the party may still consider Kharge to diffuse the apparent rivalry and fight for the CM post. A Dalit leader with over 52 years of political experience, the 80-year-old won his first Assembly seat in 1972. He served as minister in all Congress governments in the state since 1976. Karnataka Election Results 2023 Latest News Updates: Congress Crosses Majority Mark by Securing Lead on 114 Seats.

Kharge's name came up as a CM contender thrice  1999, 2004 and 2013. However, he missed out every time. Recently, when Kharge was asked about him being in a race to become Karnataka CM, he said, "When I am in capacity to appoint CM, why're you saying that I should become (CM)? You want to little down my position."

Siddaramaiah

The 75-year-old Congress leader could be the party's top choice for the new Karnataka CM. Hailing from Siddaramanahundi in Mysuru district and a former chief minister, who served from 2013 to 2018, was one of the two Karnataka CMs who completed the five-year term. The veteran leader has years of parliamentary experience and is a master when it comes to dealing with legislators. However, decisions taken during his tenure and the party losing seats under his watch in the 2018 assembly election could go against him.

DK Shivakumar

The Karnataka Congress president has an image of a dashing politician, and he is the party's go-to man to shelter Congress legislators from other states in times of crises. Having been MLA for eight terms, this is the best time for the 60-year-old to become chief minister. He is a quintessential loyalist of the Congress party, and the high command knows that Shivakumar can be relied upon to raise funds for fighting elections in other states and the coming Lok Sabha polls.

The only thing that could go against Shivakumar is that he has spent 104 days in jail and is on the radar of CBI, ED, and the IT department. The party might consider this factor while naming Shivakumar as the new Karnataka CM.

Jagadish Shettar

The former Karnataka CM jumped the ship from BJP to Congress just ahead of the polls when the party denied him a ticket. Having served as the 15th chief minister of Karnataka, the party might approve his name for the CM post.

G Parameshwara

Senior Congress leader, G Parameshwara, is contesting from his traditional constituency of Koratagere in Tumakuru district for the 2023 Karnataka assembly election. Considered the Congress's representative for Dalits in Karnataka, G Parameshwara is a veteran politician. He has previously held the position of deputy CM in the state.

The high-voltage campaign for election to the Karnataka Assembly came to an end on May 8, while the polling was conducted on May 10. The grand old party released the manifesto for Karnataka Assembly Election 2023 on May 2. It reiterates the give guarantees of the party - Gruha Jyothi (electricity), Gruha Lakshmi (2,000 every month to women heads of families), Anna Bhagya (food grains to BPL families), Yuvanidhi ( unemployment support) and Shakti (free travel for women under State buses). A day before the polling, all Congress candidates signed a "solemn pledge" on Tuesday to deliver on the "five guarantees" promised by the party to the people of the state if voted to power.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 13, 2023 01:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Islamabad, May 13: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said the country's democracy is hanging by a thread and added that the judiciary can only save the democracy in Pakistan.

In his address to the nation, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan said, "Today, our democracy is hanging by a thread and the judiciary can save it." "This mafia is going all out in attacking the judiciary, so I first ask the nation to stand with our judiciary and Constitution." Imran Khan Pledges To Maintain Good Relations With Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir.

Coming down hard on Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif for targeting Supreme Court and the Chief Justice during his tenure as Pakistan PM, Imran said, "When Nawaz Sharif came to power by a 3-2 majority, he came to know that judiciary was in its way, he attacked Supreme Court and targeted the Chief Justice with sticks." Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif Criticises Imran Khan for Levelling Allegations Against Army Chief Asim Munir.

"Nawaz Sharif destroyed an independent judiciary [in the past] and when an independent judiciary is destroyed, your independence goes with because the judiciary protects your fundamental rights," he said.

Imran also expressed gratitude to the judiciary for saving him from going to jail. He added, "I am also thankful to the public that came out the ones who were peaceful because my supporters, voters and workers have always remained peaceful in our 27 years of politics."

The PTI chairman said as many as 145 cases have been registered against him, adding that they were "bogus cases." He claimed that there was a plan to kill him in 2022 and he has the names of those involved in it. On the civilian protests and rioting that gripped Pakistan after his arrest, the former prime minister said vandalism is not his philosophy.

"I know that a plan was devised to kill me [last year]. I know the names of all the actors involved in it, from top to bottom. I know who gave the green ahead. I know who gave the green light to the person..and colluding with them were two civilians - Shehbaz Sharif and Rana Sanaullah," Imran said. "When I was shot, shouldn't there have been vandalism? Why didn't it happen then? Because this is not my philosophy," he added.

He added that Section 144 was imposed when an election rally was planned in March. He said those who want elections don't need anarchy. PTI chairman said, "All of you have to understand that people who want elections don't need anarchy. And those who fear they will be destroyed in elections ...they want anarchy." In his address, Khan spoke about the police raid at his residence in Lahore.

"On March 18, when I went to the magistrate's court in Islamabad. When I reached the toll plaza in Islamabad, they attacked my house in Lahore with an armoured car. They broke the gate with an armoured vehicle without the decision of the Lahore High Court," Imran said.

"The Lahore High Court's decision was that only two people can come to my house with the search warrant. 45 policemen broke in, looted the house and beat people and Bushra begum was alone at the house," he added.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Editors Note: Lehighvalleylive.com is offering a benefit to subscribers: Click the photo gallery to see if we photographed your favorite prom-goer, and get free, print-quality downloads - as well as the option to purchase keepsakes at half the price.

Bethlehem Catholic High School seniors celebrated their prom at the Blue Grillhouse Friday night. Contributing photographer Tim Wynkoop was there to capture some of the students as they arrived for the prom.

Lehighvalleylive.com will be sending photographers to proms throughout the Lehigh Valley and Warren County this season. Our full coverage of proms across the region can be found at lehighvalleylive.com/prom.

Check out the gallery above to see everyone dressed up for a night to celebrate.

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Saed Hindash may be reached at shindash@lehighvalleylive.com.
Pennsylvania State Police cited a truck driver who drove into the center median from Route 33 South and struck an occupied tractor, according to a news release.

Both the tractor operator and the driver of a truck that was directly in front of the tractor suffered suspected minor injuries, state police at Belfast said in the release.

The collision occurred about 10:30 a.m. Thursday near mile-marker 7 in Palmer Township.

The driver of a 2000 Kenworth L70 was in the left lane of Route 33 South when it entered the median and hit the parked 2008 John Deere M-8, according to police. The tractor then struck the 2020 Ford W5H parked immediately in front. All three vehicles came to rest in the center median of the four-lane highway.

The tractor operator, a 44-year-old man from Bel Air, Maryland, was lifted to safety by Trooper Antonio Stauffer and was conscious and alert when taken by Suburban EMS to St. Lukes Hospital in Bethlehem Township, police said.

A 28-year-old Bellmawr, New Jersey, man identified as the Ford driver was limping at the scene but declined transport to the hospital, according to police.

The Kenworth driver, a 57-year-old man from Spring Brook Township in Pennsylvanias Lackawanna County, was not injured, police said; he was cited for a traffic violation pertaining to roads laned for traffic.

Both trucks were driven from the scene, while the tractor was towed.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
Editors Note: Lehighvalleylive.com is offering a benefit to subscribers: Click the photo gallery to see if we photographed your favorite prom-goer, and get free, print-quality downloads - as well as the option to purchase keepsakes at half the price.

Southern Lehigh High School students celebrated their prom at Centennial Catering and Conference in Center Valley Friday. Contributing photographer Chris Shipley was there to capture a few of the students as they arrived for the prom.

Lehighvalleylive.com will be sending photographers to proms throughout the Lehigh Valley and Warren County this season. Our full coverage of proms across the region can be found at lehighvalleylive.com/prom.

Check out the gallery above to see everyone dressed up for a night to celebrate.

SHARE YOUR PROM PHOTOS

Dont forget to tag @lehighvalleylive in your Instagram photos and @lehighvalley on Twitter - we just might highlight the best pics!

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Saed Hindash may be reached at shindash@lehighvalleylive.com.
Filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy often means the end for a company.

A good example is the former Bon-Ton store at the Colonial Park Mall in Lower Paxton Township  its sign still on the building  the last reminder of the former department store chain.

But bankruptcy isnt always the death knell for a business. Quite the contrary. Sitting at the other end of the Colonial Park Mall is Boscovs. Fifteen years after the retailer filed for bankruptcy, the company isnt just surviving, its thriving.

Boscovs strategy seems simple enough: be fiscally responsible, dont take on debt, fill in the void in certain retail areas, advertise, dont expand too fast, offer good value, provide a broad assortment, rely on longtime customers and above all else, offer something that is harder to find these days  good customer service.

For the 105-year-old department store chain, that strategy seems to be working.

Boscovs CEO Jim Boscov said the Reading-based company is expected to make $1.2 billion this year and has zero debt. Being fiscally responsible might be what allowed it to survive the long closure during the pandemic in 2020.

We have no debt so we could survive being closed for three months and continue to pay healthcare for our co-workers, Boscov said. We have good relationships with our vendors so that even when other companies were struggling to get inventory on the shelves, we were OK.

Boscov said he was never worried that the retail chain wouldnt survive.

Every morning I met with a core group of people and we dealt with the problems of the day, but at no point did I worry that we werent going to survive, he said. People look at me and they think how is that possible? That was never going to be an option. We had money in the bank and we had liquidity so that we could survive for an extended period of time.

Boscov talks a lot about customer service and personal connections. And he practices what he preaches. He tries to visit a store each week if possible to talk to employees. Last year he visited 38 of the companys 49 stores.

On a recent Friday morning in April, he visited the Colonial Park Mall. The furniture section doubled as a meeting space as he talked to about 30 employees.

One of the main reasons for this particular visit was to dispel rumors that the 37-year-old store at the struggling mall is closing. He wanted to tell them in person that the store will remain open rather than just send a note.

Were going to be here for the next 100 years, he told the employees and then joked, Im probably not going to be here that whole time.

He also informed the employees that he recently found out the mall has a buyer  Stonewall Capital.

Heres the good news, you have a prospective purchaser whos really good, he said, adding that the store is doing very well even as the mall struggles.

Boscov's at the York Galleria Mall. July 30, 2020. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com

Socks have become the new ties

In an ever-changing retail world, Boscov said the company continues to learn and evolve but takes its time to make decisions, adding that the company is always looking for new opportunities.

I think thats what retailing is, he said. You look at areas that need to be improved.

After Toys R Us closed in 2018, many retailers, including Boscovs, put extra focus on the toy business during the holiday shopping season but Boscov said its something they focus on all year long.

Kids have birthdays every month of the year and birthday parties every month of the year, he said. So if you have toys only in November and December, youre missing out on something.

READ MORE: Maryland company agrees to purchase Colonial Park Mall

At one time, the maternity category was dominated by Destination Maternity, a leased department. Then in 2019, the company went bankrupt.

We said were good at this stuff  this retailing stuff, Boscov said. Lets send our buyers out into the market and build our own department and offer a better assortment, offer greater value, and watch this grow. Its a great challenge for our buying division. Theyre doing a good job. Were going to continue to be better there.

The company is increasing its stock of womens dress shoes to target that market and has hired a buyer to grow that area.

In ladies shoes, we are the comfort and walking capital of the world, he said. We are. But were selling so many wonderful dresses for social [events] and we have wonderful handbags but we didnt have a big enough assortment of dress shoes.

The increase in dress clothes is something that seemed unthinkable a few years ago when many people were working from home and not going to social events.

But Boscov said that has changed dramatically in the last year.

Dresses just went through the roof  same thing with mens suits, he said.

The pandemic did change the way customers shopped for a while. Boscov said e-commerce jumped about 5 percent but has since settled back down.

Home decor, furniture, mattresses, draperies, and shower curtain sales increased when people were spending a lot more time at home but those sales have since decreased.

Boscov said that people have become more casual. Ties are out. Socks are in.

Socks have become the new ties, he said. So if you look at our sock department, its much bigger, much more flamboyant  socks have become a source of expression.

Wait a minute, let me post this

Boscovs is making changes. Tailoring, restaurants, and catering are out of its stores. Self-checkouts are getting a try. Wi-Fi is being added.

About 14 Boscov stores this year will experiment with self-checkouts, but Boscov said this is for customers who prefer self-checkout and will not replace employees.

Boscov said an interaction with a customer showed him why adding Wi-Fi to the companys stores is important.

There was a woman in her 40s that came in, he said. She had two teenage kids. She said I havent been in the store before I cant believe what Boscovs has. You have all the stuff my kids are going to other stores for and youve got it at half the price.

And at the end of the day I went to see her, he said. She said I have to show you this. She showed me pictures of her haul  $700 worth of stuff. She said I cant wait to tell my friends. Wait a minute, let me post this. She couldnt post it because we had no Wi-Fi. It made the case very clearly to me [that] we need to [fix that] so Ive been talking to IT.

Shoppers at the Boscov's department store in Camp Hill. Black Friday shoppers descend upon stores for retail deals, November 27, 2020. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com

Reaching the customer

This year, Boscovs is planning to open its 50th store, in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Boscov rattles off the media companies in the area  three newspapers, two television stations, and a number of radio stations  and said he visited most outlets in one day, adding that its a self-contained market where the company should do very well.

Our ability to advertise within a market is one of the things that leads to our success, he said.

Boscov said the company reaches customers differently than before, sending out more ads by mail as newspaper subscriptions have decreased. And it sends emails with links so customers can page through the insert.

Boscovs has been strategically slower in the area of digital marketing.

We are doing more advertising online but were being careful and were learning about it, Boscov said. A lot of companies just jump to digital marketing like crazy. They put a fortune into it without any proof that it was working. Im a little different. I want to experiment with things but I want to test and measure. As we find that it works then well do it.

Boscov said he isnt on social media, but the company has increased its social media presence.

The Boscov's store at the Colonial Park Mall. August 12, 2019. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com

Our stores become a destination

In recent years the so-called retail apocalypse has gutted many malls. Boscov is so familiar with dying malls that when he talked to employees at the Colonial Park Mall store he explained the different phases of dying malls and gives an example of each phase based on the retailers experience.

He said at first when malls began to struggle, there were concerns. But the company is not as worried anymore because theyve learned that Boscovs is enough of a draw to survive on its own, even when a mall disappears.

Our stores become a destination, he said.

He pointed to a Boscovs store in New Jersey as an example.

Our Atlantic City store does very, very well at a mall that disappeared, he said, adding he has never moved a store because of a poor-performing mall.

Boscovs department store at the Camp Hill Shopping Center. March 10, 2022. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com

I dont believe that you hand them a handbook

Boscovs was founded in 1918 by Jim Boscovs grandfather, Solomon Boscov. Jim Boscov worked for almost two decades under his uncle, Albert Boscov, before leaving to start his own business. He returned years later when Albert Boscov came out of retirement to save the business after it filed for bankruptcy.

In 2008, Albert Boscov and his family bought Boscovs assets out of bankruptcy court for $300 million that included $200 million in bank financing, $60 million of the familys savings and a $43.7 million loan from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. The loan was backed by the state and six Pennsylvania counties.

Boscov, 73, has been CEO since 2015. He said the business, with its headquarters in Reading, is 100% family owned and will stay that way.

Boscov said the company doesnt plan to expand rapidly but will open an additional store each year. In addition to Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the chain has stores in New York, Delaware, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Ohio.

Boscov said its important to evaluate a location and make sure the company is with a mall or developer it is comfortable with and in a market where the store can be successful.

He added that teaching the culture of the company to new employees in new markets is very important. The retailer sends 150 people from its existing stores to help out for three to four weeks at the new outlet.

We hire about 200-250 people to work in a new store but they have no idea what a Boscovs is, he said. And I dont believe that you hand them a handbook and [say] go read this, this is what Boscovs is. I believe you have to work side by side with somebody.

Boscov said that at the end of the day, nothing replaces the personal service the company provides.

Its the relationships that they [the employees] establish with the customers that you cant find anymore, he said.

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More:

Boscovs CEO commits to Harrisburg-area location even as mall struggles: No question about it

Boscovs plans to open 50th store even as its rivals are disappearing
Legislation expanding where consumers can purchase readyto-drink beverages saw approval from a Pennsylvania Senate committee on Wednesday, moving to the full chamber for consideration.

The Republican-controlled Law and Justice Committee advanced legislation from Sen. Mike Regan, R-York, expanding where consumers can purchase RTDs, commonly called canned cocktails, to include spaces not operated by state stores.

Under current law, only the state liquor system can sell canned cocktails.

Regan, who chairs the legislative committee, said his proposal  letting state, grocery, and convenience stores, beer distributors, and local bars sell canned cocktails  would simply expand options to buy the products and open additional avenues to import them into Pennsylvania, telling lawmakers he doesnt think the expansion would impact the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Boards sales.

As we implement this, I think its important for the LCB to be a partner, Regan said before Wednesdays 6-5 vote.

Regan first tacked on amendment language expanding canned cocktails sales in June 2021 to a bill that would have made cocktails to-go  which served as a lifeline for bars and restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic  a permanent feature statewide.

Then-Gov. Tom Wolf, however, opposed the addition and said he would veto the bill. Regans proposal also drew criticism from UFCW Local 1776, the union representing workers in the state liquor system.

Changes to the existing system are highly contested, with some worrying expansion could cut into state revenue from the PLCB and threaten UFCW jobs in the system.

As previously reported by the Capital-Star, Regans brother-in-law Frank Sourbeer serves as president of Wilsbach Distributors, a Harrisburg-area beer distributor, and would stand to benefit from the private sales of canned cocktails. Sourbeer also co-chaired Regans first Senate campaign and is a political donor.

Though all four Democratic lawmakers voted against the measure on Wednesday, they did note a willingness to compromise, asking to be a part of future conversations with the PLCB about the bill.

Im told that we had a hearing in 2021, and since then it feels like the [state] stores have made a lot of progress, state Sen. Christine Tartaglione, D-Philadelphia, said. Id be interested in hearing their perspective before we land anywhere on how we consider the future of how we sell these products.
The U.S. Commerce Department on Friday launched the application process for cities to receive a total of $500 million in grants to become technology hubs.

The $500 million is part of a $10 billion authorization from last years CHIPS and Science Act to stimulate investments in new technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing and biotech. Its an attempt to expand tech investment that is largely concentrated around a few U.S. cities  Austin, Texas; Boston; New York; San Francisco; and Seattle  to the rest of the country.

This is about taking these places on the edge of glory to being world leaders, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told The Associated Press. My job is to enhance Americas competitiveness.

U.S. Rep. Susan Wild on Friday said she was making the case for Pennsylvanias 7th Congressional District covering the Lehigh Valley to host one of the 20 Tech Hubs being funded through this first Notice of Funding Opportunity under the program. Wild, a third-term Democrat representing the district, had outlined the idea behind the Regional Technology and Innovation Hub Program in legislation introduced in July 2021 and which was then merged into the CHIPS and Science Act passed last summer.

Since I introduced this legislation in 2021, I have been a polite but squeaky wheel with the Department of Commerce, because I think there is nowhere better for a Tech Hub to be located than in Pennsylvanias Seventh Congressional District, Wild said in a news release.

Pennsylvania Seven is uniquely situated to be designated as such a Tech Hub thanks to the integration and collaboration already present between our academic sector  our many colleges and universities and technical schools and community colleges  our workforce development programs, our nonprofit AND business community, and of course our geographic proximity to major metropolitan areas and ability to drive goods to most of the Eastern seaboard in a single day, she stated.

The Biden administration has made it a priority to set an industrial strategy of directing government investment into computer chips, clean energy and a range of other technologies. Officials say that being leaders in those fields will foster economic and national security, reflecting a belief that the best way to compete against Chinas ascendance will come from building internal strength.

The tech hubs are meant to build up areas that already have major research specialties but lack the access to financing that could fuel stronger growth and business formation in those fields. Pockets of the U.S. already have leading-edge tech such as medical devices in Minnesota, robotics in Pittsburgh and agricultural technology in Fresno, California. But the challenge has been finding ways to boost those fields so that government investment leads to more support from private capital.

To qualify for the tech hub money, each applicant will need a partnership that includes one or more companies, a state development agency, worker training programs, a university and state and local government leaders. Roughly 20 cities are expected to be designated as tech hubs with 10 eventually receiving funding.

President Joe Biden hopes to broaden the funding over time, requesting in his budget proposal that Congress appropriate another $4 billion for it over the next two years. Raimondo said that she expects a large number of applications from across the political spectrum.

The tech hubs program ties into a political message that Biden has delivered in speeches. The Democratic president has said that people should not feel forced to leave their hometowns to find good jobs nor should opportunity cluster in just a few parts of the country while other regions struggle.

You shouldnt have to move to Silicon Valley if youre a scientist with a great idea, Raimondo said.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

The Associated Press and supervising reporter Kurt Bresswein contributed to this report. Reach him at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
A man who was holding over 1 million worth cocaine and heroin at his home will be sentenced next week.

John Reeves (58) of Birches Road, Wedgewood, Sandyford pleaded guilty to one count of possessing cocaine and diamorphine for sale or supply at the same address on October 20, 2022.

Garda Shane Donovan told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Thursday, May 11 that gardai obtained a search warrant and searched the property on October 20 last.

During the search, a pink suitcase, containing eight small blocks of a brown substance and seven blocks of white powder, was found in the attic. These were later identified as heroin and cocaine respectively.

Each of the eight blocks of heroin weighed approximately half a kilo, while each of the seven blocks of cocaine weighed around 1kg. The heroin had an estimated value of around 560,000 while the cocaine was valued at approximately 490,000.

Reeves later went voluntarily to a garda station and said he knew the suitcase contained drugs, but didn't know what type. He said he took possession of the suitcase in a shopping centre car park.

Reeves told gardai he had addiction issues and financial difficulties, which included a drugs debt. He took responsibility for the drugs and told gardai his family were not involved.

Reeves has no previous convictions and has not come to negative garda attention since this incident.

Garda Donovan agreed with Michael Bowman SC, defending, that Reeves told gardai he thought he was holding cannabis, and became ill when told what type of drugs had been in the suitcase. He agreed that the father-of-two develop a drug problem following the death of his son some years ago.

Reeves completed drugs treatment, but relapsed following the breakdown of his relationship. He and his wife had separated and Reeves was not living in the house at the offence and had been staying with a friend.

The garda witness accepted that Reeves would have had no control over the nature or quantity of drugs he was asked to hold to reduce a drugs debt of 3,000. He also agreed that Reeves was afraid for his family and himself.

The court heard that Reeves hid the drugs in the attic without the knowledge of his family. Gda Donovan accepted that Reeves's account seemed genuine and he was ashamed of his actions, but felt he had no other choice.

He also agreed that no evidence of drug dealing had been found in the house and Reeves had no interest in the drugs.

Mr Bowman said his client made a catastrophic error of judgement. His client has been in custody, having not taken up bail as he accepts the inevitability of a prison sentence.

Defence counsel said his client has taken steps to deal with his addiction issues. Clean urine analysis was handed to the court.

A letter from Reeves was read to the court in which he apologised to the court, gardai and others for his actions. A number of testimonials were also handed into the court.

Mr Bowman said his client is doing well in custody and is an enhanced prisoner. He has engaged with psychological services in prison and volunteers as a listener with the Samaritans. A governor's report and urine analysis were also handed into the court.

Mr Bowman submitted to Judge Martina Baxter that his client's role was at the lower end of the scale. Mr Bowman asked the judge to take into consideration his client's early guilty plea, his work history and the fact he took responsibility for the drugs.

Reeves worked in construction and faced financial difficulties following the economic downturn, the court heard. Judge Martina Baxter adjourned the case to May 18 for finalisation.
The High Court has dismissed a tenant's appeal against a finding by the Residential Tenancies Board that the landlord of a property in Galway was entitled to terminate the tenancy.

The appeal, which was dismissed by Mr Justice Garrett Simons, was brought by Regina Fitzpatrick who claimed that the board should not upheld the validity of the notice to terminate her tenancy after the landlord Sinead Brett had said she would no longer accept rent in the form of a Housing Assistance Payment (HAP).

In his decision the judge noted that the landlord's indication was given after the notice of termination of the tenancy of a house located at Roscaoin, Roscam, in Galway had been given.

The Residential Tenancies Board RTB, is a public body that regulates the housing rental sector. Its remit includes resolving disputes between tenants and landlords.

In his ruling Mr Justice Simons said that the gravamen of the action against the RTB, where the landlord was a notice party was that discriminated against under the 2000 Equal Status Act.

It was claimed that the act prevents discrimination in the provision of accommodation on the grounds that a person is in receipt of the housing assistance payment. It was also argued that the RTB is required under the 2014 Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act to take action to eliminate discrimination.

The court noted that Ms Fitzpatrick, who had represented herself in the matter, was one of two tenants of Ms Brett's property.

In 2017 she entered into a tenancy agreement where the rent payable was 1,470 per month, and a security deposit of 1,300 was paid.

In early August 2021 a warning letter was sent to Ms Fitzpatrick over arrears of rent of over 4,200 were due and owing at that time.

The judge noted that Ms Fitzpatrick had apologised for this and had said that intend to pay the arrears once she was paid an inheritance, she was due to get.

On August 31st, 2021, notice of termination of the 2017 agreement was served. The matter went to adjudication before the RTB, which in early 2022 found in favour of the landlord.

Ms Fitzpatrick appealed that decision to a tribunal of the RTB.

In March 2022 the landlord said in a WhatsApp message to Ms Fitzpatrick that she would no longer be accepting rent in the form of the HAP.

In June 2022 an RTB tribunal upheld the early decision in favour of the landlord. Ms Fitzpatrick appealed the tribunal's decision on a point of law to the High Court.

Mr Justice Simons, who said that it was "difficult to identity the precise point of law relied on" by Ms Fitzpatrick in the appeal, said the application should be set aside for several reasons.

These including that the argument raised by the tenant the appeal had not been raised before the RTB's tribunal, and therefore could not be considered by the High Court, the judge said.

An appeal against an RTB tribunal's decision can only be made on a point of law arising from the determination under appeal, the judge said.

The judge said that the tenancy had validly come to an end in September 2021 and the landlord's decision not to accept HAP payments was communicated in March 2022.

It would not have been open to the tribunal to consider the events of March 2022, the judge added.

Mr Justice Simons said that he had also refused a request made to the court by a friend of the application to adjourn the case, when it came before him earlier this month.

Ms Fitzpatrick the court said had sought a three-month adjournment on medical grounds.

The judge said after considering the matter, and in the interests of justice he refused the adjournment. The only evidence put before the court in support of the adjournment was a report from Ms Fitzpatrick's GP which he said did not express address the issue if her medical condition affected the tenant's ability to participate in legal proceedings.
Laois might be the most landlocked county in Ireland but it does have rivers that could bring litter and pollution to the sea which is why the Irish environmental charity Clean Coast want local people to get on board for a big clean up on World Ocean Day and Clean Coasts 20th anniversary.

World Ocean Day is celebrated annually on 8 June and, with less than one month to go, Irish environmental charity Clean Coasts are asking volunteers in Laois to sign up to request a free clean-up kit and take action on the day.

Clean Coasts explained why inland counties like Laois can contribute to helping.

They say statistics show that one of the main causes of marine litter is litter dropped in towns and cities, which makes its way to our coast through our waterway, carried by the wind, etc.

For this reason, it says people in Laois can make a difference for our ocean, by tackling marine litter at its source, and picking up litter from local parks, streets, estates, rivers or lakes.

Since 2003, Clean Coasts says has been working with communities to help protect and care for Irelands waterways, coastline, seas, ocean and marine life.

For the past 20 years, Clean Coasts says has been working to create tangible and immediate improvements to Irelands coastal environment, involving thousands of volunteers removing large quantities of marine litter from our coastline each year.

For this reason, the programme are looking forward to marking this milestone by doing something to protect the Irish coast and celebrating the amazing groups and volunteers around Ireland for the work they do all year round.

For 2023, the focus of World Ocean Day will be on the 30x30 campaign meaning that for us to create a healthy ocean with abundant wildlife and to stabilize our climate, its crucial that 30% of our planets lands, waters, and ocean are protected by the year 2030.

Marine litter has become a global problem for humans and marine life alike. For the past 20 years, Clean Coasts has been working with communities to tackle this issue.

Making sure litter is collected and disposed of properly at the source is vital for a cleaner ocean and a greener world for all of us to enjoy. Communities in Laois have demonstrated their desire to be part of the solution by taking part in several beach cleaning calls to action.

Sinead McCoy, Coastal Communities Manager, speaking of the event said: 70% of litter in our ocean comes from activities, this litter comes from actions at the coast and throughout our country. Litter from towns and cities easily get into waterways and stream or get caught on the wind and travel out the coast and become marine litter. So wherever you are in the country we can all have an incredibly positive effect on our natural environment and coast by cleaning up our local spaces.

"We were incredibly inspired by the 50 community groups in Laois that registered for the National Spring Clean and removed 4.7 tonnes of litter from the county. These volunteers and groups have a genuinely positive impact on our natural environment and our oceans' health, she said.

The charity is asking everybody around Ireland to join their birthday celebrations and make a difference for our marine environment and wildlife. To request a kit, visit www.cleancoasts.org

More about the initiative and events will be announced later this month.
It all most seems to have come out of nowhere but we are starting to see some less well known (in Ireland anyway) motor brands from China entering the Irish market.

Many will know that the famous British brand MG is now owned by the Chinese and they are producing a rather good bunch of new EVs one of which, the MG4 I road tested on these pages recently.

Another Chinese motor company BYD (Build Your Dreams) has just launched here with an EV SUV called the BYD ATTO 3. I have not driven this one yet but it looks quite good despite the somewhat unusual manufacturer and model name.

I recently attended the launch of another Chinese brand called GWM (Great Wall Motor). Their car also boasts an unusual name and is called the ORA FUNKY CAT.

The ORA FUNKY CAT is a brand new EV and I have driven it and I must say its really quite enticing. They pitch the car as an emotive addition to your lifestyle and not just a mode of transport. It boasts huge amount of standard kit some of which you would not see on the likes of a top of the range German premium brand car.

Prices for the ORA FUNKY CAT start at 31,995 and its impressive array of standard kit from the entry model up includes, facial and voice recognition, electric seats, power folding mirrors, 360 degree surround camera, wireless charging , adaptive cruise control, 18 inch alloy wheels, a host of safety kit highlights of which are rear traffic cross alert and brake, and traffic jam assist, ( It won a 5 star NCAP safety rating).

Move onto the higher spec model and you add goodies such as opening panoramic roof, power tailgate, massaging front seats, ventilated and heated seats, a heated steering wheel and even auto park assist. Frankly I do not know of any other manufacturer that has a model with such a specification at this price point.

There are two versions to choose from, the 300 PRO with a 48kWh battery and a claimed range of 31 km or the 400 PRO+ with a 63kWh battery and a claimed range of 420km.

Now I always exercise a note of caution on EV quoted ranges. They never achieve the claimed! Also remember claimed ranges are from a 100% charge and we are told to only charge to 80% to preserve battery life (its also tedious to get the last 20% charge into the batteries as the charging process slows) so straight away take 20% off claimed ranges!

So it's well kitted put, it looks cool and dare I say funky it has a 5 star NCAP safety rating so whats not to like? At this point I cannot find much that dod not appeal. I drove the new ORA FUNKY CAT (yes they have the name in capitals) and I must say it drove rather well.

I took it on a test route of about 50km of country in county Meath and it rides and handles nicely, its quiet and it feels much larger inside than its compact exterior dimensions might suggest.

With facial recognition you just jump in and go (once its set to recognise you of course), no key thats it just drive. All your personal settings restored via facial recognition also and of course there can be more than one drive set up.

So until I take a longer and more comprehensive test drive I can at least for now say that the new ORA FUNKY CAT merits closer inspection if you are in the market for a compact, superbly equipped EV.
The Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise recently honoured and celebrated midwives and the crucial care contribution to women and babies to mark International Day of the Midwife.

This year's international theme was 'Together again - from evidence to reality which honours the efforts of midwives towards meaningful change in the profession.

The hospital said midwives and student midwives gathered in Portlaoise on Monday, May 8 to hear and share service improvements showcasing the innovative and patient-centred service. In focus were improvements across midwifery-led care, antenatal education and patient craft, breastfeeding support and the important role and impact of a midwife.

Midwives were also treated to a free coffee from the Rambling Bean Company and offered a range of free holistic therapies by local professionals, many of whom had delivered babies at Portlaoise maternity services.

Aine Hurley, a Portlaoise Holistic Therapy, had two babies in Portlaoise hospital. She offered short massage and reflexology to the midwives at the event and spoke afterwards.

I had my two children at Portlaoise Hospital and felt very much supported on both occasions. The midwives in Portlaoise were kind, considerate and patient as I tried to navigate becoming a first-time mum and also on my second baby when I struggled with breastfeeding and was provided with the support of a lactation consultant. I wanted to be involved in International Day of the Midwife to say thank you, she said.

Siobhan Flynn, Clinical Midwife Manager 2, spoke about her reasons for becoming a midwife.

I chose to be a midwife during my nursing training after seeing my first birth as a student which was absolutely awe-inspiring. While training I saw Midwives empowering women to motherhood and parenthood, from fertility, to conception, through all of their pregnancy journeys, whether they be straightforward or extremely complicated and extremely challenging. And to just be with the women through whatever her journey brought makes it all worthwhile, she said.

Ita Kinsella is the Director of Midwifery at Portlaoise Hospital.

"We are the people we are caring for and this has to underpin our commitment to building a service that truly places women at the centre of everything. This is critical to how we are delivering and developing our services for the women who are choosing Portlaoise Hospital to give birth.

"The presentations today demonstrate the evidence to reality showcasing the innovative and woman-centred service improvements across our maternity services. I am very proud of all that has been achieved by our midwives. The future is very bright," she said.

PICTURED: Angela Dunne, National Women & Infants Programme, Ita Kinsella, Director of Midwifery, Midwife Hannah Shanahan with baby Rossa, Midwife Laura Grant with baby Freddy and Aine Lynch, Director of Nursing and Midwifery for the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group.

Aine Lynch, Group Director of Nursing and Midwifery for the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group attended the conference.

International Day of the Midwife is an important day  a chance to celebrate the profession and to acknowledge the exceptional good practice, service improvements and the great leadership driving these improvements.

"We had a great opportunity to listen to presentations by passionate midwives who have huge pride in their work and a strong vision for midwifery-led care. Thank you to all the Midwives in our service," she said.

Angela Dunne, National Lead Midwife in the HSE National Women and Infants Health Programme.

International Day of the Midwife is a great opportunity to say how exceptionally proud we are of how our maternity services have risen to unprecedented challenges by adapting services and adopting new technologies to ensure women and babies continue to receive high-quality safe care.

"It is my pleasure to be here and to hear about the positive developments and commitment to delivering a maternity service with women and families firmly at the centre of service improvement," she said.

A statement added that a series of presentations on the day led by the midwives showcased examples of good practice, and shared innovative ways of addressing and combatting the challenges faced by midwives.

These included recent developments in midwifery-led care, antenatal education and parent craft, breastfeeding, developments in the Special care baby unit (scubu), ambulatory gynaecology and promoting midwifery as a career choice.

Every year since 1992 on 5 May the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) leads a day of global recognition and celebration of the work of midwives which is observed by more than 50 nations and co-ordinated by the ICM in partnership with its member organisations
Cowboys and Heroes is returning this June Bank Holiday (2nd to the 5th of June) with another incredible weekend of Ireland's biggest names in Country Music at Drumcoura City Ranch.



Attracting thousands of Cowboys and Cowgirls from all over Ireland and the world, Cowboys and Heroes will feature Ireland's top country acts, including Derek Ryan, Mike Denver, The Whislin Donkeys, Robert Mizzell, Johnny Brady, Stuart Moyles, Paul Kelly, All Folked Up, The Tumbling Paddies and many more!



Cowboys and Heroes is unique in Ireland for providing Country Music with a full festival experience, complete with on-site accommodation, camping, glamping, an American car show, a Western horse show, line dancing, 5 bars, themed restaurants, and the largest indoor arena in the region!

Pictured is Johnny Brady who will be performing at Cowboys and heroes over the June Bank Holiday weekend



This all takes place within the 50 acre ranch at Drumcoura City. There are multiple competitions and prizes over the weekend with 1,000 up for grab in the jiving competition, Country Star singing contest and the all new Western Barrel racing.

The Barrel racing is set to be a spectacle as the first live Rodeo event at an Irish Festival. There are even spot prizes for the best dressed Cowboy and Cowgirl at the show!



The action packed 4 day event includes a family day on Monday, the 5th of June. There will be face painters, amusement rides, a magic show, pony rides, a kids tractor run and music by Paul Kelly, Mono, Sean Magee along with All Folked Up.



You can pay whatever you like on the gate on this family fun day out, with all proceeds going to Make a Wish Ireland.



With huge demand for tickets, accommodation can be difficult to come by but there is amble camping grounds for tents, campervans and caravans offered by a neighbouring land owner.



There is no need to book, just arrive and pay on the day.

For weekend tickets go to www.cowboysandheroes.ie, day tickets are sold at the gate.
For over five months, 80 giant masts have risen from the waters off Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique, west of France). These offshore wind turbines are the first in France and are set to provide 20% of the department's annual electricity consumption. The government's ambition is to increase the share of renewable energy in electricity production to 40% by 2030.

Jean-Yves Pradillon is training the future project managers of these wind farms. He is in charge of the specialized master's degree in marine renewable energy at the Ecole Nationale Superieure de Techniques Avancees in the western port city of Brest, which just opened enrollment for the 2023-2024 academic year.

So far, the 12 places available to train project managers for future offshore wind farms have not been filled very easily. This year, he hopes that applications will pour in. A few weeks ago, during the engineering school's open house, a discussion with a student from Mines de Paris, who had come especially to find out about this training, made him smile. "She wanted to work in the offshore wind sector," he explained. "Our master's program trains students in several types of marine energy, but offshore wind energy is taking the lion's share. For young engineers, it's a very nice challenge, because there's everything to do, everything to build."

Vacancies

The offshore wind energy sector is in fact an almost blank page. France has been lagging behind for a long time and seems determined to close the gap with its European neighbors. After the opening of the offshore wind farm off Saint-Nazaire on September 22, 2022, three other projects are due to open in the next two years. The country has high ambitions: about 40 gigawatts are to be installed by 2050, or about 50 wind farms. "The sector is in full development," said Michel Gioria, general delegate of France Energie Eolienne (FEE), the organization that represents companies in the sector. "In 2020, it represented 1,600 jobs; in 2022, there were 6,000, and by 2030, there will be nearly 15,000. So attractiveness to young people is a crucial issue."

The need for manpower is already being felt. According to FEE figures, between onshore and offshore wind power, 1,000 positions are currently available in France. From maintenance manager to site coordinator to environmental study manager, the profiles being sought after are varied. To meet this shortage, some companies are even creating their own training courses, like the manufacturer Siemens Gamesa, which launched a paid technician training course in Brittany, in partnership with local employment agencies.

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Abdulhamid Chaban, 34, from Aleppo, Syria, at his attorneys office in Paris on April 13, 2022. JULIEN DANIEL/MYOP FOR LE MONDE

This is a historic victory for supporters of the French judiciary's universal jurisdiction. The Court of Cassation (France's highest court of appeals) confirmed on Friday, May 12, a decision that would allow French courts to prosecute foreign perpetrators of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed outside of France on foreign nationals. "The court recognizes the universal jurisdiction of the French justice system in two cases concerning such acts committed in Syria," the Court of Cassation said in a statement, issuing two rulings specifying the conditions under which the French judiciary has jurisdiction.

The Court of Cassation ruled on appeals filed by two Syrians who claimed they should not have been prosecuted. The first appeal was filed by Abdulhamid Chaban, a former soldier arrested in France and charged with complicity in crimes against humanity in February 2019, and the second appeal was filed by Majdi Nema, a former spokesman for the Syrian rebel group Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam), who is charged with torture and war crimes. Jaysh al-Islam is suspected of abducting, detaining and torturing human rights lawyer Razan Zaitouneh, co-founder of the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, along with her husband Wael Hamada and their colleagues Samira al-Khalil and Nazem al-Hammadi.

In November 2021, the Court of Cassation ruled that French judicial authorities lacked jurisdiction for crimes against humanity in the Chaban case, citing the "dual criminality" rule provided for in a law dating August 9, 2010, which enshrines universal jurisdiction in French law. According to this principle, crimes against humanity and war crimes must be recognized in the country of origin of a suspect that France intends to prosecute. However, these crimes do not exist in Syria and the country never ratified the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court that defines both crimes. Interviewed by Le Monde, Chaban formally denies participating in any crimes against humanity.

This ruling proved to be a momentous event for the judicial world and human rights organizations. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) filed a complaint, which returned the case to the Court of Cassation.

Defining the issue

In the case of Nema, who was arrested while on a studying trip to Marseille in January 2020, the Paris Court of Appeal upheld his indictment in April 2022, ruling that Syrian law provided "by equivalence" for several war crimes and offenses defined in the French penal code. This "rebellion" ruling contradicted the Court of Cassation's interpretation in Chaban's case.

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Oguzhan Ugur on the set of his show "Open Mic," broadcast on the YouTube channel BaBaLa TV. BABALA TV

An ordinary theater stage, a portrait of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (founder of the Republic of Turkey) in the background, a moderator in an invariably black outfit and a guest sitting in a large armchair under the spotlight, in front of a packed crowd: The set-up of the program "Open Mic," hosted by YouTuber Oguzhan Ugur, could not be more simple. The 39-year-old former scriptwriter and actor moderates a freewheeling exchange between the audience and a political figure for several hours, all filmed by a dozen cameras. Without notes, the politicians are challenged to answer all the questions, and to be accountable to an audience ready to "battle it out."

"By what means did you become a teacher in the establishments of the cemaat [the brotherhood of Fethullah Gulen, accused of being behind the July 15, 2016 coup attempt]?" a young veiled woman asks former Prime Minister and former Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. He tenses up and denies any link with the religious leader in exile in the United States  who has become the sworn enemy of Ankara  before being flustered by the question of another participant, a young man who presses the microphone on his phone to play a recording of Davutoglu's voice praising Gulen. Widespread laughter and thunderous applause break out in the room.

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In a highly polarized society, plagued by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's authoritarianism, Ugur's show offers a public debate free of censorship and puts politics back at the center of discussions. It's a breath of fresh air in a media environment saturated by government communication. Anonymous people take turns at the microphone. Questions come one after another with a level of irreverence and editorial freedom that would make the most seasoned pundits jealous.

Millions of views

"We were prosecuted for inciting hatred," said the presenter, whose only known opinions are Kemalism and freedom of expression. The hottest political program of the moment, which he created, makes and breaks reputations in a few hours. The appearance of Baris Atay, MP for the Workers' Party of Turkey (TIP), sparked renewed interest in the small party, which recorded 10,000 additional members in the weeks following the show, an increase of nearly 30%.

Conversely, presidential candidate Muharrem Ince of the Memleket (Homeland) party  who withdrew from the election on Thursday, May 11  saw his popularity ratings plummet following his appearance on the show in April. According to opinion polls by the KONDA polling institute, he is said to have fallen from 10% to 2.2% of voting intentions in the space of a month.

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PLANS for a new public bathroom in Bruff have been flushed down the toilet after Limerick councillors learnt the cost.

Cllr PJ Carey put down a motion at a Cappamore-Kilmallock Municipal District meeting that a suitable location be found and possible funding avenues identified for a public toilet in Bruff, possibly on Crawford Street.

In reply, a council official said the current cost of installation and maintaining an automated public toilet facility is in the order of 40,000 per annum.

The cost of such a facility would have to be sourced via the existing council budget and, if approved, would result in funding being reallocated from other essential council services such as the maintenance of roads, housing, parts etc, read the response.

Cllr Carey said he didnt realise it would be 40,000 a year. It is expensive, he said.

Cllr Mike Donegan made the point that there is an automated public toilet in Newcastle West and in the city but none in the Cappamore-Kilmallock Municipal District.

Cathaoirleach John Egan said he was not in favour of it. It costs too much, he commented.

Cllr Ger Mitchell said families and children can be at the play area in Hospital for two or three hours.

Where do they go (to the bathroom)? Its a necessity for families, said Cllr Mitchell.

Returning to Bruff, Cllr Donegan said the population has gone way up with the arrival of Ukrainians.

Some may not be confident enough to use one of the pubs, said Cllr Donegan.

Cllr Egan proposed the idea that a toilet in a community building be made available to the public.

Brian Kennedy, director of transport and mobility, said they are not in a position to fund an automated public toilet in Bruff at the moment.

He said if it was a one-off cost they might be able to fund it but it is a commitment for years.

The meeting heard the public toilets in Kilmallock have been closed due to issues with the roof. There have been problems with anti-social behaviour.
Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky has arrived in Rome for talks with Italian officials and Pope Francis, who has said the Vatican has launched a behind-the-scenes initiative to try to end the war launched last year by Russia.

Mr Zelensky arrived at a military airfield at Romes Ciampino airport, state broadcaster RAI reported. Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani was on hand to greet him, the ANSA news agency said.

Today in Rome, Mr Zelensky tweeted. Im meeting with President of Italy Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister of Italy @GiorgiaMeloni and the Pope @Pontifex. An important visit for approaching victory of Ukraine!

Today in Rome. I'm meeting with President of Italy Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister of Italy @GiorgiaMeloni and the Pope @Pontifex. An important visit for approaching victory of Ukraine!    (@ZelenskyyUa) May 13, 2023

The meeting with Mr Mattarella at the presidential Quirinale Palace is the first official appointment of what is expected to be a visit of several hours in the Italian capital.

The Ukrainian leaders exact schedule was not publicly announced because of security concerns, and the Vatican only confirmed a papal meeting shortly before the Ukrainian presidents arrival in Rome.

Italian state television reported that as part of protective measures, a no-fly zone was ordered for Rome skies and armed police were strategically placed on high buildings.

Ms Meloni met Mr Zelenskyy in Kyiv shortly before the anniversary of Russias full-scale invasion on February 24 2022.

Francis, who is eager for peace, last met the Ukrainian leader in 2020, and makes frequent pleas on behalf of Ukraines martyred people.

The Pope told reporters at the end of April that the Vatican was involved in a behind-the-scene peace mission but gave no details.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine has confirmed such an initiative.
With the recent closures of many financial institutions in the country, Cois Sionna Desmond Credit Union have stepped up to provide a service that so many in the local community deserve.

Cois Sionna Desmond Credit Union are now operating out of 11 offices in West Limerick / North Kerry providing vital services to the community such as Loans, Current Accounts, Debit Cards, Online Service, Mobile Apps and much more.

Currently Cois Sionna Desmond Credit Union employ 43 staff with 11 Board of Directors and 4 Board Oversight members that work on a voluntary basis to ensure the smooth running of Cois Sionna Desmond Credit Union.

Speaking about Cois Sionna Desmond Credit Union, Bernie O Dea, CEO said, As a fully functioned credit union we are providing a service that meets the needs of the locality. This has become more evident in recent years as we are continuously topping the poll for Customer Service experience in the CXi report.

"This is a huge endorsement of the excellent customer experience we offer our members on a daily basis through face to face engagement in our offices, and through our online and digital offerings.

"In a year which has seen Ulster Bank and KBC withdraw from the Irish market, more and more consumers are realising the importance of excellent service from a financial provider with a social ethos. We put our members needs at the heart of everything we do, and we will always be there for them.

"Its no coincidence that weve seen a significant increase in the number of consumers who have switched their bank accounts to our credit union since the beginning of the year. The results from the CXi report speak for themselves and it is a testament to the dedication and the hard work of staff and volunteer directors in Cois Sionna Desmond Credit Union and in every credit union in Ireland.

Bernie continued: "As a financial provider Cois Sionna Desmond Credit Union has everything a member could want from a Bank. The recent introduction of our Current Accounts and Debit Card facility shows how we have grown in recent years along with the recent Mortgage offering to members.
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Two months after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, the lenders depositors in the Cayman Islands have been left out in the cold.
NEW DELHI: Union power and new and renewable energy minister R.K. Singh on Saturday urged industry leaders to set targets for going green and take advantage of the provisions of the Green Energy Open Access Rules to get green power at reasonable rates, while also contributing to a greener and sustainable environment.

The minister was charging a meeting with industry stakeholders to discuss issues related to the green energy open access rules. The meeting, held in hybrid mode, had over 500 participants attending virtually and 50 present physically.

The Green Energy Open Access Rules, 2022 are a major step towards India going green and cutting emissions by 45% in line with Indias updated NDC target for 2030. It will also help bring down power costs significantly," Singh said.

The minister also asked stakeholders to inform the government if the Green Energy Open Access Rules were not being followed in letter and spirit so that the government could take up the issue with the concerned agencies and take penal actions if required.

The government had notified the Electricity (Promoting Renewable Energy Through Green Energy Open Access) Rules, 2022 last year to accelerate Indias renewable energy programmes.

The green energy open access rules promote the generation, purchase and consumption of green energy, including energy from waste-to-energy plants. Any consumer can access Green Open Access, and the limit of Open Access Transaction has been reduced from 1 MW to 100 kW for green energy to enable small consumers to purchase renewable power through open access.

According to the ministry, consumers are entitled to demand the supply of green power from distribution companies and the discoms would be obligated to procure and supply green power to eligible consumers. Approval for Green Open Access is to be granted in 15 days or else it will be deemed to have been granted.

The Ministry of Power has already notified the Grid Controller of India Ltd as Central Nodal Agency which operates the Green Open Access Registry portal, which is the single window portal to register and apply for the Green Energy Open Access. All information related to approvals, rejections, revisions, curtailment etc. is made available to the respective participants through the web-based GOAR portal, which acts as a central registry.
New Delhi: The first Ministerial meeting of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) is scheduled to be held in Brussels on 16 May. The meeting will be co-chaired by external affairs minister S Jaishankar, commerce and minister Piyush Goyal and communications and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

The TTC was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen during the latters visit to India in April last year, it said.

Subsequently both sides established three working groups under the TTC.

The first working group is on strategic technologies, digital governance and digital connectivity. The second one is on green and clean energy technologies and the third one is on trade, investment and resilient value chains.

According to the statement, both sides have maintained continuous engagement within working groups at various levels, and meetings of the three working groups have taken place, leading up to the ministerial meeting in Brussels.

The meeting is expected to strengthen the economic and technological ties between India and the European Union. It is also likely to focus on ways to enhance trade and investment between the two regions, particularly in the areas of strategic technologies, digital connectivity, and green energy.

India and the EU have been working towards enhancing their bilateral relationship, and the TTC is seen as a significant step in this direction. The ministerial meeting in Brussels is expected to take the cooperation to new heights.
Reacting to Janata Dal (Secular) national spokesperson Tanveer Ahmed's remark that they have already decided which party to support in forming the government in Karnataka, state Congress president DK Shivakumar on Friday said 'let them take their own call.'

Talking to ANI, Shivakumar said he does not know what JD(S) has decided and added that it's their internal party matter so let them take their own call.

"I do not know about JD(S), it's their party, their internal decision. Let them take their own call in the interest of their party or national leadership. I do not want to get involved in that or comment about it. Their leaders have also travelled the length and breadth of Karnataka. Maybe they believe that they have a chance in the state. Let the people decide", the Congress chief said.

On exit poll results, Shivakumar said that the exit polls have their own theory and all of them change or come out differently.

"Exit polls have their own theory. All may change or come out differently. I don't go by those samples. My sample size is very high and in that, I believe we will have a comfortable majority", Shivakumar said.

The Congress further said, "I don't have any backup plan, my only plan is that the Congress party will come to power in Karnataka."

Earlier today, the Janata Dal (Secular) national spokesperson Tanveer Ahmed said that they have already decided which party they would support in forming the government after the results are declared.

Speaking to ANI, Ahmed said, "We have already decided with whom we are going to form the government. We will announce it to the public when the appropriate time comes."

JD(S) spokesperson mentioned that they have certain programs for the betterment of people of the Karnataka. He said that they know who is capable of working for issues such as women empowerment, farmers, education, employment and much more.

Congress is expected to have a clear edge in Karnataka in the assembly elections held on Wednesday with four exit polls giving it a full majority and some predicting a hung assembly with an advantage to the party.

A few exit polls also said that BJP is ahead in the sweepstakes to form the government.

According to India Today-Axis My India exit poll, Congress is poised to win a comfortable majority with 122-140 seats, BJP will get 62-80 seats, JD(S) 20-25 and others 0-3 seats.

A party needs 113 seats for a majority in the 224-member Karnataka assembly.

The voting for the assembly elections ended on Wednesday with a 69.95 voter turnout. The counting of the votes will be held on May 13.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.
Voting for Karnataka assembly polls 2023 concluded on Wednesday evening and three exit poll agencies predict a hung Assembly, while others indicate a slight advantage for the Congress with HD Kumaraswamy's Janata Dal (Secular) playing a key role.

However, all five exit polls predict a clear majority for the Congress in the 224-seat Assembly, where 113 seats are needed for a majority.

Heres what exit polls predict:

India Today-Axis My India projected Congress to win a clear majority in the Karnataka Assembly elections with 122-140 seats out of 224. BJP is predicted to win 62-80 constituencies, while JD(S) may secure 20-25 seats.

News 24-Today's Chanakya forecasts 120 seats for Congress, while India TV-CNX predicts a majority for Congress with the BJP falling short. Times Now-ETG projects a clear Congress majority with 113 seats.

ABP-CVoter, Republic TV- P MARQ and TV9 Bharatvarsh predict a hung Assembly and Congress emerging as the single-largest party. As per ABP-CVoter, Congress is expected to win 100-112 seats while BJP may win 83-95 seats. Republic TV-P MARQ predicts Congress to win 94-108 seats and BJP to win 85-100 seats.

What Congress and BJP predict?

While Congress party said that it is confident that it will win with a full majority, BJP has ridiculed the exit poll predictions.

Shivakumar, who was the Congress candidate from Kanakapura constituency, said the poll outcome would decisively be in favour of his party and there will be no such situation, which might warrant them to consider post-poll alliances.

Speaking to ANI on Wednesday, the Congress MLA said, My first reaction (to the exit-poll projections) is that I don't believe these numbers. I stand by my assessment, that we will win more than 146 seats. People are knowledgeable and educated and have voted considering the larger interests of the state. The double engine has failed in Karnataka. Such a situation (which might prompt the Congress to go into a post-poll alliance) will not arise."

However, dismissing the exit poll predictions, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said, Exit polls are exit polls, they cant be 100% correct. information on the ground is that we are going to get a complete majority and form the government. I think we should wait till May 13."

The voting in Karnataka Assembly election 2023 was held on Wednesday and the result for the three-cornered contest between the ruling BJP, the Congress and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda's JD(S)will be announced on Saturday, 13 May.
India is planning an ambitious connectivity project that aims to link New Delhi to the Middle East. The project is being seen as an effort by India to counter China's growing influence in the Gulf region.

According to Axios, the idea of the connectivity project linking Middle Eastern countries to India through roads, rails, and seaports emerged after a meeting of the I2U2 group which includes Israel as its member states.

During the meeting, India's National Security Adviser, Ajit Doval, met with his counterparts from the US and UAE, with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in attendance. The leaders discussed a joint infrastructure project that connects the Middle Eastern countries via a rail network.

I2U2 is a result of a Trump-era agreement called the Abraham Accords. The Abraham Accords led to the normalization of relations between Israel and many Arab countries and allowed for the creation of the I2U2 group.

Notably, India has a great track record as an infrastructure provider. India boasts of the world's largest rail system in Asia while contributing. to cross-border electricity-sharing arrangements

Saudi Arabia is not a formal part of the I2U2 group due to the country not having formal relations with Israel. However, the presence of the Saudi Crown Prince suggests the country will play an active role in curbing China's influence in the Middle East using the new initiative.

Why does this connectivity project matter?

The Middle East has become an increasingly important region for India in recent times. India retains trade interests in the region, while millions of Indians work there and send remittances home.

Reportedly, India also wants to push back against China's growing influence in the region owing to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) investments in the region along with a recent strategic agreement with Iran. China also recently mediated a reconciliation deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

In the best-case scenario, India also has the potential to reap advantages from both land and sea trade pathways that span from Israel and the UAE to Greece's Piraeus harbour and beyond into Europe.
The Indian Army has deployed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and helicopters to keep an eye on sensitive areas across Manipur as authorities work to restore normalcy in the violence-hit state, according to the news agency ANI.

On Friday, Indian Army's Spear Corps shared about the ongoing efforts and about the deployment of UAVs and helicopters for Aerial Surveillance.

Taking to Twitter, Indian Army said, Approximately 130 columns on the ground, UAVs and helicopters for Aerial Surveillance working relentlessly to restore normalcy. The escorted move of the remaining approx 6000 persons is underway. Round-the-clock aerial surveillance continues."

Army's Eastern Command officials said that Lieutenant General RP Kalita met with prominent local community leaders at Manipur's Mantripukhri to defuse tensions.

"...He urged them to build mutual trust and kinship in the restore normalcy larger interest of Manipur," the Eastern Command said in a tweet.

Security officials said that the situation has improved in the state and following the same curfew relaxation has also been extended to 7 hours.

Speaking to ANI, Kuldeep Singh, Manipur Security Advisor said that the situation in Manipur has improved quite a lot and because of that curfew relaxation has also been extended to 7 hours now.

Displaced people living in different camps have been reduced to a bare minimum...Approx 45,000 have been transported to different places... There are no extra flights operating and no stranded passengers at the airport as well," Singh added.

A curfew was imposed on May 3 after violence broke out in Manipur. The State government also clamped down on the use of the Internet and mobile phones to ensure the spread of panic and false information could be curtailed. Amid the demand of the Meitei people for ST status, a rally was organized by the All Tribals Students Union (ATSU) Manipur on May 3, which later turned violent.

As per the official figures, close to 60 people lost their lives while more than 230 were injured, and close to 1700 houses were burnt down during the violence in Manipur.

(With ANI inputs)
The counting of votes began for 12 civic body polls and bye-elections to two assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh. The civic body polls were held in 17 municipal corporations across the state, including the recently formed Shahjahanpur municipal corporation. While the bye-elections were held in Suar and Chhanbey assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh.

According to News18's exit poll projection, the BJP is poised to secure victories in a minimum of 10 municipal corporations, while Akhilesh Yadav's SP and Mayawati's BSP are projected to win at least one nagar nigam each. The exit poll further predicts a tight race in five constituencies. Here is the update on counting of votes:

Initial trends showed that the BJP is in the lead in 16 seats, while Congress is leading in only one seat. But, as per details, BJP has swept all 17 mayoral seats.

BJP candidates emerged victorious in Saharanpur and Ayodhya. Ajay Kumar Singh, the BJP's nominee, won the mayoral election in Saharanpur with a comfortable margin of over 6,000 votes. Meanwhile, in Ayodhya, BJP candidate Mahant Girish Pati Tripathi emerged victorious as the city's new mayor.

In Prayagraj, results of the 100 seats of corporators have been declared. BJP has won 56, Samajwadi Party 16, independents 19, Congress 4, AIMIM 2, BSP 2 and NISHAD Party 1.

BJP candidate Ganesh Kesarwani elected mayor of Prayagraj. Kesarwani elected mayor of Prayagraj after defeating his nearest rival by a margin of 1,29,389 votes.

AIMIM wins two seats in the Municipal elections of Prayagraj.

Result of Kanpur Nagar Nigam wards:

Ward 35: SP's Bablu Yadav wins

Ward 33: BJP's Ghanshyam Gupta wins

Ward 64 (Sarvodaya Nagar): BJP's Neeraj Bajpai wins

Ward 70 (Karrahi): BJP's Santosh Sahu wins

Ward 86 (Kakadeo) BJP candidate Kamlesh Trivedi wins

Ward 85: Congress's Amandeep Singh wins

Ward 69: Independent candidate Arvind Yadav wins

Ward 78: BJP's Yashpal Singh wins

Ward 35: SP's Bablu Yadav wins Ward 33: BJP's Ghanshyam Gupta wins Ward 64 (Sarvodaya Nagar): BJP's Neeraj Bajpai wins Ward 70 (Karrahi): BJP's Santosh Sahu wins Ward 86 (Kakadeo) BJP candidate Kamlesh Trivedi wins Ward 85: Congress's Amandeep Singh wins Ward 69: Independent candidate Arvind Yadav wins Ward 78: BJP's Yashpal Singh wins As of 1pm, the outcome of 34 out of 60 seats in the Ayodhya Municipal Corporation election has been declared. The BJP candidates have emerged victorious in 16 seats, while the SP candidates have won eight seats. Furthermore, eight independent candidates have also secured wins in the election. Notably, many of these independent candidates were former BJP members who contested the election as independents.

The BJP is dominating in the local body elections in Lucknow, with their candidates leading on 70 out of 110 wards after the eighth round of vote counting. In the results that have been announced so far, the BJP has won 12 seats, while the SP has won one. Moreover, after ten rounds of vote counting, Sushma Kharkhwal, the BJP candidate, is also leading the race for the position of Mayor with a lead of 41,000 votes.

Winners so far:

Malati Yadav (BJP) - Won from Rafi Ahmad Kidwai Ward in Zone 4 with a lead of 2,766 votes.

Arun Rai (BJP) - Won from Chinhat Pratham Ward in Zone 4 with a lead of 1,683 votes.

Sushil Tiwari Pammee (BJP) - Won from Lal Kuan Ward in Zone 1 with a lead of 275 votes.

Rajesh Singh Gabbar (BJP) - Won from Paper Mill Colony Ward with a lead of 5,040 votes.

Pramod Singh Rajan (BJP) - Won from Nishatganj, Kalvin College Ward with a lead of approximately 1,800 votes.

Vinod Yadav (BJP) - Won from New Haiderganj Tritiya Ward in Zone 6 with a lead of 576 votes.

Arun Tiwari (BJP) - Won from Rajiv Gandhi Second Ward with a lead of 3,747 votes.

Rani Kanaujiya (BJP) - Won from Daulatganj Ward in Zone 6 with a lead of 431 votes.

Girish Gupta (BJP) - Won from Baseratganj-Ganeshganj Ward in Zone 1 with a lead of around 500 votes.

Rajiv Dikshit (BJP) - Emerged victorious from Rajendra Nagar Ward in Zone 2.

Rajni Yadav (SP) - Won from Raja Bijli Passi Ward in Zone 8 with a lead of 1,738 votes.

Ashish Kumar Hiteshi (BJP) - Won from Babu Banarsi Das Ward in Zone 1.

Mukesh Singh (BJP) - Won from Maulviganj Ward in Zone 1.

Malati Yadav (BJP) - Won from Rafi Ahmad Kidwai Ward in Zone 4 with a lead of 2,766 votes. Arun Rai (BJP) - Won from Chinhat Pratham Ward in Zone 4 with a lead of 1,683 votes. Sushil Tiwari Pammee (BJP) - Won from Lal Kuan Ward in Zone 1 with a lead of 275 votes. Rajesh Singh Gabbar (BJP) - Won from Paper Mill Colony Ward with a lead of 5,040 votes. Pramod Singh Rajan (BJP) - Won from Nishatganj, Kalvin College Ward with a lead of approximately 1,800 votes. Vinod Yadav (BJP) - Won from New Haiderganj Tritiya Ward in Zone 6 with a lead of 576 votes. Arun Tiwari (BJP) - Won from Rajiv Gandhi Second Ward with a lead of 3,747 votes. Rani Kanaujiya (BJP) - Won from Daulatganj Ward in Zone 6 with a lead of 431 votes. Girish Gupta (BJP) - Won from Baseratganj-Ganeshganj Ward in Zone 1 with a lead of around 500 votes. Rajiv Dikshit (BJP) - Emerged victorious from Rajendra Nagar Ward in Zone 2. Rajni Yadav (SP) - Won from Raja Bijli Passi Ward in Zone 8 with a lead of 1,738 votes. Ashish Kumar Hiteshi (BJP) - Won from Babu Banarsi Das Ward in Zone 1. Mukesh Singh (BJP) - Won from Maulviganj Ward in Zone 1. Prayagraj municipal election

BJP candidate Ganesh Kesarwani is leading with 18,427 votes for Prayagraj mayor seat after the third round of counting.

BJP: 33,976 votes

SP: 15,549 votes

BSP: 5,731 votes

Congress: 4,996 votes

AAP: 1,578 votes

AIMIM: 3,568 votes

BJP candidate Ganesh Kesarwani is leading with 18,427 votes for Prayagraj mayor seat after the third round of counting. BJP: 33,976 votes SP: 15,549 votes BSP: 5,731 votes Congress: 4,996 votes AAP: 1,578 votes AIMIM: 3,568 votes Results declared for 10 wards in Kanpur

Out of 10 wards, BJP won in seven wards, SP won in two wards, and an independent candidate won in one seat.

Ward 06 - Bhannana Purwa

Winner: Gudiya (BJP) - 3288 votes

Runner-up: Poonam Nigam (SP) - 1306 votes

Margin: 1982 votes

Total Votes: 6798

Ward 11 - Safipur

Winner: Vijay Laxmi Yadav (Independent) - 3942 votes

Runner-up: Reena (BJP) - 3407 votes

Margin: 535 votes

Total Votes: 8538

Ward 16 - Juhi

Winner: Vidya Devi (BJP) - 2361 votes

Runner-up: Rashmi Shah (Congress) - 1738 votes

Margin: 623 votes

Total Votes: 6737

Ward 21 - Khadepur

Winner: Dhirendra Kumar (BJP) - 3149 votes

Runner-up: Ramchandra Verma (Independent) - 983 votes

Margin: 2166 votes

Total Votes: 10734

Ward 26 - Gandhi Gram

Winner: Narottam Kumar (BJP) - 4055 votes

Runner-up: Lavkush (Independent) - 2957 votes

Margin: 1098 votes

Total Votes: 9297

Ward 61 - Tilak Nagar (Result may be modified)

Winner: Arun Kumar Garg (BJP) - 2076 votes

Runner-up: Kamal Shukla Baby (Congress) - 1398 votes

Margin: 678 votes

Total Votes: 4030

Ward 71 - Sisamau Dakshini

Winner: Liyaqat Ali (SP) - 3716 votes

Runner-up: Dr. Mohak Gupta (BJP) - 841 votes

Margin: 2875 votes

Total Votes: 6147

Ward 76 - Harvansh Mohal

Winner: Kaushik Bajpai (SP) - 2413 votes

Runner-up: Amit Malhotra (Independent) - 2366 votes

Margin: 47 votes

Total Votes: 6497

Ward 81 - Kaushalpuri

Winner: Ashumendra Pratap Singh (BJP) - 4107 votes

Runner-up: Rakesh Sahu (Congress) - 2931 votes

Margin: 1176 votes

Total Votes: 9457

Ward 86 - Kakadev

Winner: Kamlesh Tripathi (BJP) - 3044 votes

Runner-up: Chandransh Singh (SP) - 2085 votes

Margin: 959 votes

Total Votes: 6267

Out of 10 wards, BJP won in seven wards, SP won in two wards, and an independent candidate won in one seat. Winner: Gudiya (BJP) - 3288 votes Runner-up: Poonam Nigam (SP) - 1306 votes Margin: 1982 votes Total Votes: 6798 Winner: Vijay Laxmi Yadav (Independent) - 3942 votes Runner-up: Reena (BJP) - 3407 votes Margin: 535 votes Total Votes: 8538 Winner: Vidya Devi (BJP) - 2361 votes Runner-up: Rashmi Shah (Congress) - 1738 votes Margin: 623 votes Total Votes: 6737 Winner: Dhirendra Kumar (BJP) - 3149 votes Runner-up: Ramchandra Verma (Independent) - 983 votes Margin: 2166 votes Total Votes: 10734 Winner: Narottam Kumar (BJP) - 4055 votes Runner-up: Lavkush (Independent) - 2957 votes Margin: 1098 votes Total Votes: 9297 Ward 61 - Tilak Nagar (Result may be modified) Winner: Arun Kumar Garg (BJP) - 2076 votes Runner-up: Kamal Shukla Baby (Congress) - 1398 votes Margin: 678 votes Total Votes: 4030 Winner: Liyaqat Ali (SP) - 3716 votes Runner-up: Dr. Mohak Gupta (BJP) - 841 votes Margin: 2875 votes Total Votes: 6147 Winner: Kaushik Bajpai (SP) - 2413 votes Runner-up: Amit Malhotra (Independent) - 2366 votes Margin: 47 votes Total Votes: 6497 Winner: Ashumendra Pratap Singh (BJP) - 4107 votes Runner-up: Rakesh Sahu (Congress) - 2931 votes Margin: 1176 votes Total Votes: 9457 Winner: Kamlesh Tripathi (BJP) - 3044 votes Runner-up: Chandransh Singh (SP) - 2085 votes Margin: 959 votes Total Votes: 6267 Meerut municipal election live updates

Sudha Rani, who is the sister of State Minister Dinesh Khatik, is currently behind independent candidate Arun Kumar by a margin of 1500 votes in the race for the Hastinapur Nagar Panchayat.

Sudha Rani, who is the sister of State Minister Dinesh Khatik, is currently behind independent candidate Arun Kumar by a margin of 1500 votes in the race for the Hastinapur Nagar Panchayat. Saharanpur Nagar Nigam chunav results live updates:

Party Candidate Votes received

BJP Ajay Kumar 107,909

BSP Khadija Masood 67,997

SP Noor Hasan 12,074

Cong Pradeep Verma 4,059

BJP Ajay Kumar 107,909 BSP Khadija Masood 67,997 SP Noor Hasan 12,074 Cong Pradeep Verma 4,059 Update on Gorakhpur Mayor seat after eighth round of counting

The BJP candidate is in the lead with 28,416 votes. Mangalesh Srivastava from BJP received 73,968 votes, while Kajal Nishad from Samajwadi Party is in second place with 45,552 votes. Naval Nathani from Bahujan Samaj Party is far behind in third place with 10,343 votes.

The BJP candidate is in the lead with 28,416 votes. Mangalesh Srivastava from BJP received 73,968 votes, while Kajal Nishad from Samajwadi Party is in second place with 45,552 votes. Naval Nathani from Bahujan Samaj Party is far behind in third place with 10,343 votes. BJP candidates are leading in 70 seats in Lucknow

BJP candidate Malti Yadav has won from Ward 4 with 2,766 votes. Arun Rai of BJP has emerged victorious from Chinhaat Pratham Ward with 1,683 votes.

Ashish Kumar Hiteshi, the BJP candidate, has won from Ward 57.

Mukesh Singh of BJP has been declared the winner from Ward 95, Maulvi Ganj.

Vinod Yadav of BJP has won from Ward 20, New Haidarganj, in Zone 6 with a lead of 576 votes.

BJP candidate Promod Singh Rajan has won from Colvin College Nishatganj Ward with a lead of around 1,800 votes.

Arun Tiwari of BJP has won from Rajiv Gandhi Dvitiya Ward with a lead of 3,747 votes.

Rani Kanaujiya of BJP has won from Ward 94, Daulatganj, in Zone 6 with a lead of 431 votes.

Rajesh Singh Gabbar of BJP has won from Paper Mill Colony Ward with a lead of 5,040 votes.

BJP candidate Malti Yadav has won from Ward 4 with 2,766 votes. Arun Rai of BJP has emerged victorious from Chinhaat Pratham Ward with 1,683 votes. Ashish Kumar Hiteshi, the BJP candidate, has won from Ward 57. Mukesh Singh of BJP has been declared the winner from Ward 95, Maulvi Ganj. Vinod Yadav of BJP has won from Ward 20, New Haidarganj, in Zone 6 with a lead of 576 votes. BJP candidate Promod Singh Rajan has won from Colvin College Nishatganj Ward with a lead of around 1,800 votes. Arun Tiwari of BJP has won from Rajiv Gandhi Dvitiya Ward with a lead of 3,747 votes. Rani Kanaujiya of BJP has won from Ward 94, Daulatganj, in Zone 6 with a lead of 431 votes. Rajesh Singh Gabbar of BJP has won from Paper Mill Colony Ward with a lead of 5,040 votes. Lucknow municipal election

Sushma Kharkwal, the BJP candidate, is leading the election with a significant margin of over 41,000 votes, leaving behind Vandana Mishra of the Samajwadi Party who is in the second position with 55,637 votes. The third position is secured by Shahin Bano of the Bahujan Samaj Party with 12,882 votes. Anju Bhatt of the Aam Aadmi Party is in the fourth position with 6,053 votes, and Sangita Jaiswal, the Congress candidate, is in the fifth position with a mere 1,400 votes.

Sushma Kharkwal, the BJP candidate, is leading the election with a significant margin of over 41,000 votes, leaving behind Vandana Mishra of the Samajwadi Party who is in the second position with 55,637 votes. The third position is secured by Shahin Bano of the Bahujan Samaj Party with 12,882 votes. Anju Bhatt of the Aam Aadmi Party is in the fourth position with 6,053 votes, and Sangita Jaiswal, the Congress candidate, is in the fifth position with a mere 1,400 votes. Jhansi Nagar Nigam results: BJP wins mayor seat

Bihari Lal Arya, representing the BJP party, has emerged victorious in the mayoral election of Jhansi with a whopping 83,548 votes, which is the largest margin of victory for BJP in this seat till date. Arvind Kumar Bablu, the Congress candidate, secured the second position with 39,903 votes. Throughout the counting process, the BJP candidate maintained a strong lead, which only increased with each subsequent round of counting.

Bihari Lal Arya, representing the BJP party, has emerged victorious in the mayoral election of Jhansi with a whopping 83,548 votes, which is the largest margin of victory for BJP in this seat till date. Arvind Kumar Bablu, the Congress candidate, secured the second position with 39,903 votes. Throughout the counting process, the BJP candidate maintained a strong lead, which only increased with each subsequent round of counting. Pratapgarh Nagar Nikay Election Results

BJP candidate leading in Pratapgarh's Belha Nagar Palika Parishad

BJP candidate leading in Pratapgarh's Belha Nagar Palika Parishad AIMIM candidate leads in Sambhal municipal council

AIMIM candidate is leading in Sambhal Nagar Palika Parishad with a margin of 2,922 votes.

AIMIM: 5,074 votes

BSP: 2,152 votes

BJP: 2,072 votes

Independent: 2,518 votes

SP: 968 votes

AIMIM candidate is leading in Sambhal Nagar Palika Parishad with a margin of 2,922 votes. AIMIM: 5,074 votes BSP: 2,152 votes BJP: 2,072 votes Independent: 2,518 votes SP: 968 votes Shahjahanpur mayor Seat

BJP: 28,770 votes

Congress: 10,421 votes

BJP is leading by 18,349 votes.

BJP: 28,770 votes Congress: 10,421 votes BJP is leading by 18,349 votes. BJP maintains lead in Bareilly Nagar Nigam

Latest trend after five rounds of vote counting

BJP: 44,764 votes

SP-backed Independent: 25,057 votes

BJP is leading by 19,707 votes.

Tension erupted during the ballot counting at Booth No. 149 in Deoria Nagar Palika Parishad, when an independent candidate's representative accused the supervisor of tampering with a bundle of ballots assigned to their candidate. This accusation led other representatives to join in the protest. To defuse the situation, SDM Saurav Singh and CO Shriyash Tripathi arrived at the location, and the supervisor was removed from the counting duty. Amit Modanwal, the husband of the independent candidate, alleged that the counting process was being deliberately manipulated and demanded an impartial and just counting process from the district administration. The situation was eventually resolved peacefully.

As per live updates on the Aligarh municipal election, the BJP candidate has pulled ahead in the race for the mayor post, with an increased lead after the fifth round of counting. The current vote count stands at 45,565 for BJP, 29,212 for SP, and 14,466 for BSP. BJP's lead currently stands at 16,353 votes.

The live updates on the Haapur municipal election indicate that Rakesh Bajrangi of the BJP is leading in the Gadhmukteshwar Municipal Council after the completion of the first round of vote counting. The current vote tally stands at 3,361 for BJP, 2,644 for SP, 477 for BSP, and 174 for Congress.

As per live updates on the Siddharthnagar municipal election, Govind Madhav, the candidate from the BJP, is currently leading in the race for the municipal council. Madhav has secured 1,677 votes so far, while the BSP candidate has secured 1,227 votes, the SP candidate has secured 628 votes, and the Congress candidate has secured 54 votes. Independent candidate Sanju Singh has secured 1,517 votes.

The latest updates on the Ayodhya municipal election indicate that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading in the race for the Mayor position with 33,964 votes. The Samajwadi Party (SP) has secured 14,313 votes, while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has secured 6,013 votes, and the Congress has secured 1,601 votes. In total, 67,237 votes have been counted so far.

After the first round of vote counting in the Shahjahanpur Nagar Nigam mayor seat election, the BJP candidate Archana Verma is leading with 5,983 votes. The Congress candidate Nikhat Iqbal is in second place with 2,223 votes while SP's Mala Rathore received 1,633 votes, putting her in third place.

The BSP candidate Shagufta Anjum received 468 votes, while the Aam Aadmi Party's Suman Verma and Rashtriya Samaj Paksh candidate Meera received 212 and 33 votes, respectively. Two independent candidates received 73 and 37 votes, respectively.

The NOTA option secured sixth place with 98 votes. In total, there were 10,764 votes counted after the first round of voting on Saturday morning at around 9:30am.

Lata Valmiki, who is the candidate from BSP, is currently in the lead for the mayoral position in the Agra municipal corporation election.

For Aligarh Nagar Nigam, the candidate from BJP is currently ahead in the race for the mayor position in Aligarh, with 10,289 votes, against the closest contender from Samajwadi Party who has received 4,692 votes so far. Congress is currently in third place with 3,230 votes.

Sarita Devi, an independent candidate, has won the Utraula Municipal Council elections by securing 92 votes in Ward number 1. Meanwhile, the candidate from BJP, Durga Prasad Gupta, has emerged as the winner in Ward number 22.

Following the counting Lucknow police have enhanced the security at all the counting centres and restricted the entry of Phones or any kind of weapon inside the counting centre, said a senior police official on Friday.

"The counting of votes for the municipal elections will be held on Saturday. In this regard, elaborate security arrangements have been made by the Lucknow Police at all the counting centres. Phone or any type of weapon is not allowed to be taken to the counting centre by the counting agent and the candidate. Liquor shops will remain closed tomorrow," said Aparna Rajat Kaushik, DCP Central Lucknow.

UP had voted for civic body polls in two phases -- on May 4 and May 11. The results will decide the fate of 83,378 candidates who are in the fray for 14,522 posts. In the first phase, voting was held in 37 districts of 9 divisions and 10 municipal corporations. In 10 municipal corporations, voting is held in 830 wards, 9,699 polling places and 2,658 polling stations are set up in Municipal Corporations.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had left no stone unturned while campaigning for party candidates and conducted around 50 rallies, 28 rallies and conferences in the first phase and 22 in the second phase.

For now, UP had 16 municipal corporations, out of which 14 had BJP mayors.

The counting of votes for the Suar and Chhanbey assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh will also take place on Saturday.

Rampur's Suar assembly constituency fell vacant after Samajwadi Party leader Abdullah Azam Khan was sentenced to two years' imprisonment in a 15-year-old case.

The Suar seat promises to be a tough fight between the Samajwadi Party and the BJP's alliance partner Apna Dal (S). While the Samajwadi Party had fielded Anuradha Chauhan from the Suar constituency, the Apna Dal (S) fielded Shafeek Ahmed Ansari. Neither the Congress nor the BSP had fielded any candidates from the constituency. The ruling coalition partner Apna Dal (Sonelal) contested from both seats.

Suar assembly seat in Rampur district was declared vacant on February 13 after a Moradabad court sentenced Abdullah Azam Khan, the son of senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, to two years in jail in a 15-year-old case.

(With inputs from ANI)
A day after former prime minister Imran Khan's supporters opted violence, Pakistan Army chief General Syed Asim Munir on Saturday warned that the armed forces would not tolerate any further attacks on the country's key installations.

General Syed Asim Munir even vowed to bring to justice those responsible for the recent acts of vandalism.

Since the city witnessed some of the worst incidents of violence including an attack on the building of state-run Radio Pakistan, Gen Munir visited Corps Headquarters in Peshawar for the first time.

ALSO READ: Pakistan faces another lost decade as the Army takes on Imran Khan

The army chief was given a detailed briefing on the prevailing security situation and ongoing counter-terrorism efforts, said the army statement.

Addressing the officers of the Corps, General Munir said, Armed Forces will not tolerate any further attempt of violating the sanctity and security of its installations or vandalism and resolved to bring to justice all the planners, abetters, instigators and executors of vandalism on the Black Day of 9th May."

On 9 May, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party's chief and former PM Imran Khan was arrested, before being let off on bail by the Islamabad High Court on Friday.

Gen Munir also sensitised about the challenges of information warfare and efforts to create misperceptions and highlighted a concerted effort is being made maliciously by inimical elements to target the Armed Forces.

We shall continue with our endeavours of peace and stability and there will be no room for spoilers of the process," he said.

On arrival, the Army chief was received by Corps Commander Peshawar, Lt Gen Hassan Azhar Hayat.

With PTI inputs.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy asked Pope Francis on Saturday to back Kyiv's peace plan, and the pope indicated the Vatican would help in the repatriation of Ukrainian children taken by Russians.

"It is a great honour," Zelenskiy told Francis, putting his hand to his heart and bowing his head as he greeted the 86-year-old pope, who stood with a cane.

Earlier on Saturday, Zelenskiy met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who promised full military and financial backing for Ukraine and reiterated support for its EU membership bid.

Zelenskiy, who was visiting Rome for the first time since the war began, spoke with the pope for 40 minutes and presented him with a bulletproof vest that had been used by a Ukrainian soldier and later painted with an image of the Madonna.

A Vatican statement said that in their private talks, Zelenskiy and the pope discussed "humanitarian gestures", which a Vatican source said was a reference to the Vatican's willingness to help with the repatriation of Ukrainian children.

ALSO READ: Ukraine Used U.K. Missiles to Strike Russian-Controlled Territory, Russia Claims

Kyiv estimates nearly 19,500 children have been taken to Russia or Russian-occupied Crimea since February 2022, in what it condemns as illegal deportations.

"We must make every effort to return them home," Zelenskiy said in a Tweet afterwards, saying he had discussed it with the pope.

Zelenskiy also said he asked the pope to "join" Kyiv's 10-point peace plan.

It calls for restoring Ukraine's territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities, and the restoration of Ukraine's state borders. Zelenskiy has repeatedly said the plan is not open to negotiation.

At the start of the war, the pope tried to take a balanced approach in hopes of being a mediator but later began forcefully condemning Russia's actions, comparing them to some of the worst crimes against Ukraine during the Soviet era.

"I asked (the pope) to condemn Russian crimes in Ukraine. Because there can be no equality between the victim and the aggressor," Zelenskiy said in his Tweet.

Returning from a trip to Hungary on April 30, Francis made an intriguing but puzzling comment about the Vatican being involved in a mission to try to end the war. "There is a mission in course now but it is not yet public. When it is public, I will reveal it," he told reporters during his flight home.

But the Vatican statement made no mention of any such mission and later in an Italian television interview Zelenskiy appeared to rule out a mediation outside of Kyiv's own peace plan. "Putin only kills. We don't need a mediation with him," he said.

PLEAS FOR PEACE

Francis has pleaded for peace practically on a weekly basis, and has repeatedly expressed a wish to act as a broker between Kyiv and Moscow by visiting both capitals. His offer has so far failed to produce any breakthrough.

Earlier, both Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella reiterated Italy's full support for Ukraine in terms of military, financial, humanitarian and reconstruction aid in the short and long term.

At a news conference, Meloni condemned Russia's "brutal and unjust aggression", pledged Italy's support for Ukraine for "as long as is necessary" and urged Russia to immediately withdraw.

"You can't achieve peace through a surrender," she said. "It would be a very grave precedent for all nations of the world."

She emphasised Italy's support for Ukraine's membership of the European Union and the "intensification" of a partnership with NATO.

As he headed to the presidential palace, Zelenskiy's motorcade passed by small groups of people holding Ukrainian flags. One person held up a sign condemning Russia.

Zelenskiy flew to Rome on an Italian government plane that was escorted over Italian airspace by fighter jets.

He is due to visit Berlin on Sunday, German government sources told Reuters on Saturday.
Gov. Kay Ivey has awarded a $250,000 grant to pave the way for one of the worlds largest providers of commercial and industrial electrical distribution equipment to open a facility in Elba and create 50 jobs.

The Community Development Block Grant to the city of Elba will provide the groundwork needed for Sunbelt Solomon Services to locate in an existing building at 2450 Industrial Boulevard.

I join the city of Elba in welcoming Sunbelt Solomon Services and its investment in local jobs, Ivey said. I am pleased to award these grant funds to lay the groundwork for the companys new permanent home in Elba. Sunbelt Solomons decision to locate in Elba is a good fit for both the company and the community, and I look forward to its long-term presence and contributions to the Wiregrass economy.

CDBG funds will be used to provide clearing and demolition services required for Sunbelt Solomon to refurbish and move into the existing building.

Sunbelt Solomon is investing $5 million in the building, where it will repair and recycle electrical transformers. The company has been working out of an incubator building in nearby Enterprise until the Elba facility is able to begin production.

The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is administering the grant from funds made available by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

ADECA is pleased to play a role in helping to bring in a company that will provide good jobs and be a good corporate addition to Elba and Coffee County, ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell said.

Ivey notified Mayor Tom Maddox that the grant had been approved.

ADECA administers an array of programs supporting law enforcement and traffic safety, economic development, energy conservation, water resource management and recreation development.
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Two people have been arrested for attempting to transport two migrants to San Antonio, according to the U.S. Border Patrol.

Anel Garza, 32, and Jesus Alberto Fernandez, 31, were charged with smuggling of persons for pecuniary benefit and smuggling of persons younger than 18 years old.
An event to present the book "Mision consular en Laredo" by Juan Carlos Mendoza Sanchez, Consul General of Mexico in Laredo, which reflects the reality of the border with the complex interdependence of relations between Mexico and the United States, coupled with consular activities, was held at TAMIU's Sue & Radcliffe Killam Library Colonnade on Friday, May 5.

The event was organized by Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico-San Antonio, the TAMIU Office of Global Initiatives and the General Consulate of Mexico in Laredo.

The book, published by UNAM-San Antonio Biblioteca Arte & Cultura, has a foreword by Paula de Gortari and the editor is Miguel Garcia Audelo.

During the presentation of the book, De Gortari, Garcia Audelo and the historian Dr. Federico Schaffler were present.

"Mision consular en Laredo" is made up of independent texts -- arranged by subject and in chronological order -- that have been published in English and Spanish in different print media in Mexico and the United States. The book comprises seven parts including: Remembering history; Binational culture; Gender issues; Migration and protection of Mexicans; Arms trafficking; Dos Laredos Cooperation and Consular Diplomacy.

Malena Charur/Laredo Morning Times

Maria Eugenia Calderon-Porter welcomed the attendees and said that it was a pleasure to host this event.

"We are proud to host the presentation of the book 'Mision consular en Laredo,' written by Ambassador Juan Carlos Mendoza Sanchez, Consul General of Mexico in Laredo, Texas," Calderon-Porter said. "It is a pleasure to have a book that talks about the trajectory of the consular mission in Laredo, but that in turn captures the history and relevance of Laredo in binational relations."

Mendoza Sanchez spoke of his interest in the history of Laredo and Nuevo Laredo when he first arrived in the city.

One of the things that caught my attention the most when I got here about Nuevo Laredo, and something that you can see in the article 'Happy Birthday Nuevo Laredo,' is that the City of Nuevo Laredo was founded 16 days after the exchange of ratifications of the Treaty Guadalupe-Hidalgo in Queretaro, he said.

Mendoza Sanchez said that the idea of compiling these essays in a book arose from a talk with De Gortari, who is the director of UNAM-San Antonio.

We talked about the importance of publishing materials about the reality of the border, he said. My first thought was to write a book with the topics covered in the different publications. But when I began to systematize the information, I realized that it would probably have more historical value to compile the articles I had written about the border and the consular activities under my responsibility, because they are brief, well documented and reflect the reality of the moment in which they were written.

Most of those articles were published in the Laredo Morning Times.

Sanchez Mendoza said that the book is a compilation of articles organized into thematic chapters and in the chronological order in which they were published; some in Spanish and others, the minority, in English.

I prepared an introduction that explains the purpose of the book and the way it is organized. This allows the reader to easily and simply understand the binational problem that is being addressed, he said. Since it is not a book on a specific subject, I would say that it is a multi-thematic approach where the complex interdependence between Mexico and the United States is highlighted at all times.

Regarding the title and the cover, Mendoza Sanchez said that the first alludes to the functions of the consulate and the second to try to highlight an identity for Laredo.

The articles -- on different fundamental topics in the United States-Mexico relationship -- included in the publication were written as part of the functions that I have been assigned as Consul General of Mexico in Laredo, he said. Also, the editor asked for a short title. The title 'Consular Mission in Laredo' is not only a true reflection of the content but also addressed that technical editing issue.

Sanchez Mendoza said that in his articles he has insisted on trying to strengthen the identity of this border.

Los Dos Laredos is the most Mexican of all the borders along the United States because they are the same families. It is a single community, he said. I have made an effort to to strengthen this part of the identity because the first line of defense is the border, and people who do not know their history are condemned to repeat the mistakes of the past."

Sanchez Mendoza considers that Laredo does not have an identity, nor does it have an element that is an icon of the city.

In my opinion, the distinctive elements used in many places are the bridge that symbolizes commerce and the San Agustin Cathedral, which is the most colorful cultural heritage. Precisely for this reason, we incorporated the monument of the World Trade Bridge and the cathedral on the cover," he said.

Although the book is aimed at any public, Sanchez Mendoza said that the text will be useful for students looking for information on the border of the Dos Laredos and be of great importance for local audiences.

The topics addressed in this book are personal opinions, however, each one of them contains hard data that supports the arguments presented, he said. But the idea of this publication is to reach all audiences on this border. It is essential that these local audiences are aware of the issues and the impacts they have on their daily lives, because the commercial growth that is coming will influence their lives for years to come.

Mendoza Sanchez said that the materials presented are a result of his stay as Mexican consul for almost four years.

They were written throughout that period. I would say that they are photographs that show the reality of this border during that period, he said.

Some of the challenges he faced in writing the articles stemmed from the controversial issues.

Because it is a compilation of articles, the challenges are faced depending on the situation and the topic, he said. There are issues like gun trafficking that bother many people in Texas and the United States. There, the challenge is to present the issue in a manner that is respectful of internal affairs, focusing the arguments on the negative impacts it has for Mexico. Precisely, for this reason, the chapter on this subject is the smallest of all.

"On this issue, Mexico does not seek to prohibit weapons because that freedom is a central part of the way of life of Americans. What it asks is that their irresponsible commercialization be avoided and that the United States cooperate to prevent their illegal export to Mexico, in the same way that Mexico cooperates with the United States to combat drug trafficking to the United States.

He added that the only thing that is asked for is reciprocity.

This illicit arms trafficking from the United States to Mexico is what allows criminal organizations to generate violence in different areas of Mexico, he said. In addition, by fueling the firepower of criminal organizations, it helps fuel the drug and migrant smuggling that plagues the United States.

He added that one of his satisfactions when creating this text lies in having the possibility of contributing to solving daily problems in the various issues of the bilateral relationship at the local level.

Many consular actions solve problems for individuals, companies, organizations and even local governments, he said. Here there is great will for collective actions for the benefit of the community of Los Dos Laredos. The Consulate would not be successful without all the support and strategic partnerships it builds daily. Contributing to community welfare is undoubtedly a great satisfaction."

He thinks that his book contributes to the historical memory of the General Consulate of Mexico in Laredo, but also to the historical memory of two cities that are sisters, neighbors and strategic partners.

This book also shows how important it is for a consul to work as a team with all the local actors, to build synergies on binational issues that require binational solutions at the local level, he said. For the readers, it constitutes an honest testimony of the importance of binational issues that have a direct impact on the daily life of the inhabitants of the Dos Laredos. Although the perspective is Mexican, on almost every page the reader will find references to the importance of bilateral relations and cooperation to prevent daily and recurring problems from becoming crises.

The book is for sale on Amazon for a promotional cost of $8, and it will later be published on the UNAM-San Antonio website.

Mendoza Sanchez invited the Laredo community to read the book to get a better look on binational issues during the last four years.

I invite Laredoans to read it so that they have information and hard facts about the importance that this region has for Mexico and for the United States, he said.
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BOISE, Idaho (AP)  Idaho mother Lori Vallow Daybell was convicted Friday in the murders of her two youngest children and a romantic rival, a verdict that culminates a three-year investigation that included bizarre claims that her son and daughter were zombies and she was a goddess sent to usher in the Biblical apocalypse.

For the victims' family members, the verdict is only a temporary balm: Vallow Daybell must be sentenced, and her fifth husband, Chad Daybell, is awaiting trial on the same murder charges. Vallow Daybell herself is also facing another murder trial in Arizona  this one on a charge of conspiring to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow.

This isnt the end. Ninety days from today, we will be in Fremont County for Vallow Daybell's sentencing, said Larry Woodcock, the grandfather of the youngest victim. And I will say, Why, Lori? Why?

Prosecutors in the case described Vallow Daybell as a power-hungry manipulator who would kill her two youngest children for money, while the defense team said she was a normally protective mother who fell under the romantic sway of a wannabe cult leader.

The jurors sided with the prosecution, convicting Vallow Daybell of conspiring to commit the murders of 7-year-old Joshua JJ Vallow, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, and Tammy Daybell. She was also convicted of grand theft as well as first-degree murder of the two children, a charge that indicates a more direct role in the crimes.

JJ's grandparents, Larry and Kay Woodcock, held an emotional news conference after the conviction. When they first stepped outside court, the crowd of onlookers who had gathered to support the family and watch the verdict cheered. Some began singing, We Will Rock You  JJ's favorite song.

JJ, I love you. Papa wishes you were here," Larry Woodcock said, choking up as he used the name JJ used to call him. "Tylee, Papa loves you. Tammy, I never met you, but you are part of our life. I am sorry for what happened.

Asked if he had a message for Vallow Daybell, Woodcock recited the lyrics to a Willie Nelson song.

Turn off the lights, the party's over. They say that all good things must end," he sang, before returning to speaking. Lori, it ended.

He also thanked the jurors, noting that the graphic evidence they had to view was mindboggling, and something that could never be unseen.

The Tammy Douglas Daybell Foundation, created by her family members a year after her death, wrote in a press release that the verdict would bring some measure of closure for everyone. Tammy Daybell was a school librarian, and the foundation works to raise money for libraries and literacy programs in Idaho and Utah.

We love you Tammy. You will never be forgotten, the foundation wrote in a Twitter post. The road is long, but we're grateful this chapter is closed.

Prosecutors said they were not able to comment on the verdict because of pending charges against Chad Daybell. In a statement, they thanked jurors for their service and said they remain committed to pursuing justice for Tylee Ryan, JJ Vallow and Tammy Daybell.

Vallow Daybell wanted the victims' money, so she used sex and power to manipulate her brother and her lover into carrying out the crimes, Madison County Prosecutor Rob Wood told jurors during closing arguments.

 Money, power and sex, Wood said, reprising the arguments his team made at the start of the trial. He claimed Vallow Daybell considered the three victims nothing more than obstacles to her goals.

What does justice for these victims require? It requires a conviction on each and every count, Wood said.

Defense attorney Jim Archibald countered that there was no evidence tying his client to the killings, but plenty showing she was a loving, protective mother whose life took a sharp turn when she met her fifth husband, Chad Daybell, and fell for the weird apocalyptic religious claims of a cult leader. He suggested that Daybell and Vallow Daybell's brother, Alex Cox, were responsible for the deaths.

Daybell told her they had been married in several previous lives and she was a sexual goddess who was supposed to help him save the world by gathering 144,000 followers so Jesus could return, Archibald said.

At times, the testimony in the case has been heartbreaking  such as when Vallow Daybells only surviving child, Colby Ryan, accused her of murdering his siblings in a recorded jailhouse phone call.

Other testimony has been strange, such as when Vallow Daybells former friend Melanie Gibb testified that Vallow Daybell believed people in her life had been taken over by evil spirits and turned into zombies  including JJ and Tylee. Four of the people the defendant described as zombies were later killed or shot at, according to the testimony.

It has also been gruesome, such as when law enforcement officers testified about finding JJ and Tylees remains buried in Chad Daybells yard.

Tylees body was burned beyond recognition. Her body was dismembered in such a grotesque and extreme manner, that the medical examiner couldnt determine the cause of death, Wood said.

JJ Vallows voice was silenced forever by a strip of duct tape over his mouth, Wood said. A white plastic bag was placed over his head, and secured with duct tape around and around from his forehead to his chin.

Tammy Daybell's death was first reported as being from natural causes, after Chad Daybell told authorities she died in her sleep and had recently been coughing, vomiting and suffering occasional shaking fits. Investigators grew suspicious when Chad Daybell married Vallow Daybell just two weeks later, and eventually they had Tammy Daybell's remains exhumed. An autopsy showed she was asphyxiated.

The case began in July 2019, when Vallow Daybell's then-husband, Charles Vallow, was shot and killed by her brother, Alex Cox, at his home in a Phoenix suburb. The husband and wife were estranged, and Cox told police he acted in self defense. He was never charged in the case and died later that year of what authorities determined were natural causes.

Vallow Daybell was already in a relationship with Chad Daybell, and so moved to Idaho with her kids and brother to be closer to him.

The children were last seen alive in September of 2019. Police discovered they were missing a month later after an extended family member became worried. Their bodies were found the following summer.
Welcome to beautiful and historic Ringgold, Georgia, known for so many wonderful things. including the fact that at one point it was known as the wedding capital of the world.
A Trooper with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agencys Highway Patrol Division rescued a motorist from a creek in western Houston County Friday morning.

According to an ALEA news release, Senior Trooper Spencer Adkinson was investigating a traffic crash on U.S. 84 near the 201 mile marker in Houston County at approximately 7:05 a.m. when another vehicle not involved in the crash approached the scene, left the roadway and entered into Bear Creek.

Immediately, Adkinson jumped into the creek and removed the driver from the vehicle, as the vehicle had already begun submerging.

Deputy Sheriff Dusty Oswalt with the Houston County Sheriffs Office also arrived on the scene and assisted Adkinson with getting the driver safely onto the creeks bank. The driver was transported to Southeast Health Medical Center for treatment. Nothing further is available at this time.

The Highway Patrol Division is asking individuals that may have also assisted in the rescue effort to contact the Dothan Highway Patrol Post at 334-983-4587 and talk to ALEA Sgt. Tracey McCord.
A former porter in a top five star hotel who fell foul of a chronic drugs habit has been jailed for eight months after carrying out a string of theft and criminal damage offences in Longford town.

Thirty-six-year-old Mark Kelly, of Camlin Mews, Longford, pleaded guilty at last weeks sitting of Longford District Court to carrying out five incidents of shoplifting and two further episodes of criminal damage at various retail outlets in the county town between March 25 and April 16 this year.

Presiding Judge John Brennan was told father of four Mr Kelly had, until recently, been working as a porter in the luxurious Co Clare resort of Dromoland Castle before returning to Longford following the deaths of both his parents during a relatively short space of time.

It was during that period, the court heard that Mr Kelly succumbed to a heroin addiction he had previously managed to keep on top of.Sgt Mark Mahon, in outlining the States case, said the first incident to be reported to gardai came on March 25 when Mr Kelly entered Taipan Restaurant, a Chinese and Thai eatery at 57 Dublin Street during the early hours of March 25.

He said the accused broke into the second floor premises via a bathroom in the ladies toilet before proceeding to open a till.

It was revealed that once inside, Mr Kelly snatched four AIB money bags containing various amounts of coinage totalling 200.

Hours later, Mr Kelly attempted to prise open a parking car meter, causing 600 worth of damage in the process.

The following night, the Longford man returned to Taipan Restaurant by again breaking through a window.

On this occasion, the window was damaged, resulting in a 200 repair bill while Mr Kelly escaped with just two cans of coke and a solitary 2 coin.

CCTV later taken and observed from the scene identified Mr Kelly with the accused later admitting to gardai in interview as to his culpability.

Just two days later, Mr Kelly was again identified and this time apprehended by security staff shortly after 2pm at Dunnes Stores, Dublin Road, Longford when attempting to steal a number of items underneath his jacket.

A further shoplifting offence committed by Mr Kelly took place at Lloyds Pharmacy, 2 Longford Shopping Centre on April 12.

That incident, the court heard, led to the theft of two bottles of perfume, worth a combined 70.

On a date unknown between March 24 and April 10 at Crossan Electrical Car Park, Main Street, Longford, Mr Kelly was identified on CCTV damaging two parking meters to the value of over 5,700.

Sgt Mahon said Mr Kelly had 33 previous convictions to his name, 31 of which were for theft related offences. He said the most recent theft offence came at Longford District Court in January 2021 for an offence some two years earlier.

That offence, the court heard was taken into consideration alongside half a dozen other theft matters.

One of the six charges, it was confirmed led to the handing down of a six month prison sentence, suspended for a period of 12 months.

In defence, John Quinn, handed in a psychiatric report as he told how the case presented before him on behalf of his client was a particularly "sorrowful" one."

He said: Mark had been doing extremely well, noting that in the past he had been a chronic drug addict.

He said his client had been making a life for himself and his partner, who had recently given birth to two sets of twins, but explained how personal anguish brought about by the loss of both his parents led to him returning to Longford and slipping back into old habits.

"Unfortunately, he relapsed and got back on the heroin which led to all these incidents," he said.

"He had bettered himself considerably and has a partner down in Dromoland Castle where they have two sets of twins.

"Both are in gainful employment and are very well regarded in that particular hotel and hopefully after completing his sentencing, he hopes to go back down there."

Mr Quinn said it was nothing short of a "travesty" for Mr Kelly that his former past should once again resurface at a time when he was going through such personal hardship with the loss of both his parents.

In a bid to demonstrate his sincerity to the court, Judge Brennan heard how Mr Kelly was anxious to enter into a rigid addiction treatment programme to try and put paid to his dependency problems once and for all.

Judge Brennan replied, saying while he appreciated that sense of perspective, he said the retailers affected by Mr Kelly's actions had suffered significant financial loss as a consequence.

"All I can say is that he has been a very sick man," interjected Mr Quinn.

Mr Kelly, who sat motionless for much of last Tuesday's sentencing hearing, had been in custody since April 18, it emerged.

Judge Brennan, who rose for a number of minutes to read a victim impact statement from the owners of Taipan Restaurant, said he had been taken aback by the strength of its contents.

"It is a very strongly worded victim impact statement and refers to other businesspeople in Longford," he said.

"There is a rash of incidents and lawbreaking which brings matters up to a serious level."

Judge Brennan said given the knock on effects episodes of such a nature have on a business' day to day costs and likely affect break-ins have on insurance premiums, "a message needed to be sent out on behalf of the business community".

He said the court was cognisant of Mr Kelly's early guilty pleas as well as how all of the offences before the court came with the same underlying current of addiction issues as being a primary catalyst.

Judge Brennan also said he was conscious Mr Kelly's offending had been exacerbated while other "stronger parties" lurked in the background.

He consequently sentenced Mr Kelly to eight months in prison for the first Taipan Restaurant trespass charge.

A further eight month sentence was also handed down for the Lloyds Pharmacy theft, a term which he ordered to be served consecutively.

The entire duration of that term was suspended for 12 months on the proviso Mr Kelly follow all guidelines given to him on behalf of the probation service within seven days of his release from prison.

He was also instructed to commence and complete any course, including those for addiction purposes as directed by the probation services.
The British Embassy in Madrid, in response to the Bulletin revealing that the Spanish DGT traffic department is refusing to accept UK paper driving licences to exchange for Spanish licences in Mallorca and elsewhere in Spain has swung into action and has told the Bulletin that it will be bringing the matter up with the Spanish authorities on Monday because, under the latest deal, paper licences are valid.



A British Embassy Madrid spokesperson told the Bulletin: UK Nationals who hold a valid paper UK licence without a photo are eligible to exchange it for a Spanish one.

We are raising this with the Spanish.

The DVLA in the UK told the Bulletin last week that it is aware of the problem, having received numerous complaints, and confirmed that paper licences are valid are should be accepted in Spain as part of the exchange deal.

It appears there has been a breakdown in communication or something has got lost in translation and it remains to be seen if the Embassy will provide a document for people being told that paper licences are not valid to prove that in fact they are so they can exchange their licences during this current and last window of opportunity.
Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) chairman and resident representative Silvestre Bello III on Saturday allayed concerns about the safety of Filipinos in Taiwan amid brewing tensions with mainland China.

Bello said the Philippine government, through MECO, was looking after the welfare and well-being of the Filipino expatriates in Taiwan.

So we would like to assure you, everyone. Ill take this opportunity to inform you in Taiwan everything is normal and, if in the remote possibility na magkaroon ng emergency situation, for example

earthquake, mga lindol o even war, preparado po ang Taiwan government not only in protecting their own people but even the Filipinos, especially our workers, Bello said in a media forum in Quezon City.

According to Bello, the National Police Agency of Taiwan has assured him of the protection and security of the Filipinos in the island nation.

I met with the Director General together with the head of the Home Civilian Defense of Taiwan and they assured us na iyong ating mga kababayan ay protektado nila, Bello said.

Quoting Taiwanese security officials, Bello said there were 89,000 shelters that can accommodate more than the total population of Taiwan.

Ganoon kapreparado iyong ating mga kasama sa Taiwan and they really treasure our OFWs kasi sila, according to them, are the best in their manufacturing industry, he said.

Bello also noted that 90 percent of the factories in Taiwan have Filipino workers.

He said roughly 160,000 OFWs are in factories and all the rest are highly skilled teachers, farmers, and workers in the hospitality industry.

So, huwag po kayong mag-alala everything is normal, our OFWs there are safe and there is no danger of what you call confrontation between China and Taiwan, he said.

Last week, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. raised the need to continue developing cooperation on an international scale to resolve heightening tensions in Taiwan.

In his post-visit report before leaving Washington D.C., the President said there was a need to fix the arrangements, our alliances, so that they conform to the needs of the day. And that again, comes back again to that process of evolution.

The Chief Executive reiterated the administrations foreign policy that the Philippines shall continue to be a friend to all, and an enemy of none.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) last month said no Filipino in Taiwan is seeking government help for repatriation as of yet amid the current cross-strait tensions.

The DFA also reassured the public that contingency plans have been in place in areas where there is a high concentration of Filipino workers, including Taiwan.

MECO is the duly designated instrumentality to promote and protect Philippine interests in Taiwan and is authorized and conferred with authority to perform functions usually carried out by Philippine foreign missions but of a non-political, non-security in nature.

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Motorbike drivers travel under a downpour in Go Vap District, HCMC, May 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Dinh Van

The rainy season is likely to start in the Mekong Delta and Ho Chi Minh City in mid-May, meteorologists have said.

Ho Chi Minh City received its first rains, after going through a string of hot and sunny days, on May 8.

Since then, the city has continued to experience cloudy days and showers in several areas.

Le Thi Xuan Lan, former deputy head of the Southern Regional Hydro-Meteorological Center's forecast department, told Vietnam News Agency that the rainy season would arrive in southern Vietnam in the middle this month.

It will start first in the Mekong Delta and Ho Chi Minh City, she said.

The typical weather of the rainy season in the southern region is sunny during the day and rain in the afternoon until the evening or even throughout the night. Sometimes it rains all day.

During the monsoon season, which normally lasts until November, the temperature remains high, especially during the day.

A report by the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting on Friday said in the next three days, southern Vietnam will receive rains and strong winds in several areas in the afternoon and evening.

The highest temperatures in the southeast, home to HCMC, Dong Nai and Binh Duong, are forecast at 30-33 degrees Celsius while in the Mekong Delta, the mercury will stay at peaks of 29-32 degrees.

Between May 14 and 22, the region will likely see more heavy rains in the afternoons and evenings.

The center said last week that this year's total rainfall would be lower than average due to El Nino, a recurring climate pattern caused by changes in water temperature in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) called for adequate reproductive health care in the Philippines as the country marks Mothers Day today, citing how around six to seven Filipino women die during pregnancy and childbirth due to the unavailability, inaccessibility, unaffordability, or poor quality of sexual and reproductive health services.

In a press statement, UNFPA Country Representative Dr. Leila Saiji Joudane said maternal deaths globally had increased during the past two years.

Around six to seven Filipino women die daily due to childbirth.

During emergencies, when access to maternal health services is disrupted, more women die during pregnancy and childbirth. Women die because sexual and reproductive health services are unavailable, inaccessible, unaffordable, or of poor quality, Joudane said.

Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the UN body noted that 1,458 women died of maternal causes in 2019, which went up to 2,478 in 2021.

Joudane noted that 14 percent of Filipino pregnant women do not get regular check-ups and other necessary medical care needed during pregnancy.

For every 1,300 women and girls of reproductive age, there is only one public health midwife One in ten women do not give birth in health facilities or receive assistance from skilled healthcare personnel during childbirth, the UNFPA official said.

This Mothers Day, let us uphold the right of all people  especially mothers  to reach the highest possible standard of health. Timely health care for pregnant women can make the difference between life and death. No woman should die giving life, Joudane added.

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Dear Annie: Ive been chatting with a guy online for a few weeks now  nothing serious, just light, getting to know you conversations, with some flirtation sprinkled in.

Well, today, he decided to randomly mention that I reminded him of another woman hed been talking to, who he ended up having an amazing sexual connection with, though they didnt end up seriously dating.

I found this to be way out of left field and pretty offensive. Yes, we were just casually chatting online and hadnt even met in real life yet, but I believe that there still should be some basic sense of decorum. Am I crazy?

Im a very open person, but this just seemed wrong to me. I did let him know, politely as I could, that I felt that his comment was unnecessary and not something I needed to know. He responded with an LOL and that hed be sure to never be honest with me again.

Was I overreacting? Should I give him another chance?

 Peeved in Portsmouth

Dear Peeved: This proud peacock wasted no time putting his sleazy colors on full display  and thank goodness. You didnt even have to waste a date on him. Now that hes shown you who he is, believe him, block him and move on.

Dear Annie: I read with interest the letter from Dawn W. about the disproportionate number of persons with learning disabilities who drop out of school. The other horrifying reality is that a disproportionate number of people with learning disabilities enter our nations prison system. Nearly 40% of all prisoners have one type of disability, many of which are learning disabilities.

While I agree with her point of view and most of her recommendations, as well as your suggestions, she did not mention many options that parents have access to within the public school system. Additionally, FAPE is short for Free and Appropriate Public Education NOT Free Access to Public Education, as you stated. Big difference! Parents, persons with disabilities and advocates have fought long and hard for this specific language to be included in the IDEA law.

As an educator with over 40 years of experience, these are some options that I recommend parents consider when working with their local public school:

 Once the psychological evaluation has been completed, attend an Individual Education Plan meeting to make sure that your child is eligible for special education services, under your state guidelines.

 Ask questions to make sure that you understand the evaluation results as they are explained to you.

 Request an advocate to attend the IEP meeting with you. Advocates are available upon request through the public school district or state Protection and Advocacy organization.

 At the IEP meeting, if your child is eligible for special education services, make sure to advocate for the full range of appropriate educational services, including specialized instruction in the least restrictive environment, counseling and mental health services, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech-language therapy and assistive technology, School personnel should explain why your child is or is not eligible for each of the services available.

As a dedicated and consistent reader of your column, I always appreciate the variety and breadth of topics you address. Thanks for the opportunity to share information.

 Wyoming Strong

Dear Wyoming: I truly appreciate your expertise, and I apologize for the error regarding FAPE. Thank you for taking the time to write.

How Can I Forgive My Cheating Partner? is out now! Annie Lanes second anthology  featuring favorite columns on marriage, infidelity, communication and reconciliation  is available as a paperback and e-book. Visit http://www.creatorspublishing.com for more information. Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2023 CREATORS.COM
Five people were arrested after three individuals were stabbed during a fight outside Brockton High School Friday, according to news outlets.

The fight broke out on the schools softball field after classes were dismissed Friday afternoon. Two teenagers were hospitalized, and a third person checked himself into the hospital later that day. All suffered stab wounds and are expected to recover, WBZ reported.

Along with the three people who were stabbed on the softball field, a fourth person, who is accused of being involved in the original stabbing at the school, was stabbed during a fight at Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton less than an hour later, according to WBZ.

Five people were arrested in connection with the stabbings at the school and hospital, WCVB reported.

Two of the victims are students at the school. The two stabbings are believed to be related, Brockton police told WCVB.
A scholarship has been set up by the family of Sidney Mae Olson, the 5-year-old Andover girl who was killed by a tractor-trailer while she was on a crosswalk Monday.

All donations to the Sidney Mae Olson Rainbow Scholarship Fund, which was established by the girls parents, will go to SHED Childrens Campus. Located on the grounds of the Phillips Academy in Andover, the nonprofit offers preschool and kindergarten services as well as other school programs. The organizations website says it is committed to creating a welcoming environment for children, families & staff that values all, regardless of gender identity, age, race and ethnicity, disability, socioeconomic status, religion, and sexual orientation.

Sidney was in the Springboard to Kindergarten program at the SHED school. She was known for building bonds across groups and wanted nothing more than for people to come together in shared experiences  in nature, in the classroom, anywhere, according to the website for the scholarship. The fund aims to support her legacy, letting love live on in her memory, the site notes.

In that spirit of inclusion, we hope this fund provides opportunity to children who might not otherwise have it  and that it adds rich diversity to the SHED community for years to come, the Olson family says on the site.

The site goes on to describe how Sidney memorably asked for a rainbow birthday party because its everyones favorite colors.

We love you, Sidney, the Olson family says on the site. Now. Forever. And always in our wildest dreams.

Sidney was on a scooter in the crosswalk at the intersection of Elm Street and Main Street in Andover on Tuesday when she was hit by a 2015 freight liner and killed, according to Massachusetts State Police. She and a family member were headed to an art class in Andover, the Olson family said in a statement they issued through the Essex District Attorneys Office.

Police said Sidney was then taken to Lawrence General Hospital, where she died from her injuries.

A woman and two other children were also in the crosswalk when Sidney was hit. Authorities did not immediately disclose to the public whether they were injured as well.

Read more: GoFundMe set up for family businesses destroyed in fire in Worcester

An ongoing investigation will determine if any charges will be filed in connection with Sidneys death, according to the district attorneys office.

In their statement, the Olson family, who noted they are longtime residents of the neighborhood, called for action from the town, noting [t]he intersection has long been considered dangerous.

While were not engineers, we also know our community can do better, the familys statement read. We hope the town makes fast changes to that and other high-traffic intersections so no one has to experience the pain we feel right now.

Sidneys family described her as a bright-eyed, energetic girl with springy curls. The girl was known for her soft-spoken curiosity, and her budding ability to deescalate conflict and find common ground in groups, at the school, their statement read.

According to the Olson family, Sidney liked to pick flowers, loved sea animals and knew all the lyrics to numerous Taylor Swift songs.

On the site for the scholarship fund are the following lyrics from Swifts song Wildest Dreams: Say youll remember me / Standing in a nice dress / Staring at the sunset, babe / Red lips and rosy cheeks / Say youll see me again / Even if its just in your wildest dreams.

MassLive reporter Irene Rotondo contributed to this report.
Living in rural Northern Nevada offers many opportunities to explore the great outdoors, whether its hiking in the mountains or fishing in the rivers. However, its important to remember that nature can be unpredictable and potentially dangerous. By taking a few precautions and being aware of potential risks, you can stay safe while enjoying all that the outdoors has to offer.

First and foremost, its important to be prepared for the weather. Northern Nevada is known for its extreme temperatures, ranging from scorching hot summers to frigid winters. When planning outdoor activities, be sure to check the weather forecast and dress appropriately. This may mean wearing layers that can be easily added or removed, bringing a hat and sunscreen for sun protection, or packing a waterproof jacket in case of rain.

Another important aspect of staying safe outdoors is being aware of potential wildlife encounters. Northern Nevada is home to a variety of animals, including bears, mountain lions, and rattlesnakes. While these animals are generally not aggressive toward humans, its important to be aware of their presence and know how to react if you do encounter them.

If youre hiking in bear or mountain lion country, its recommended that you carry bear spray and make noise to alert any potential predators to your presence. If you encounter a bear or mountain lion, the best course of action is to slowly back away and avoid making direct eye contact. In the case of a rattlesnake encounter, give the snake plenty of space and avoid provoking it.

Water safety is also an important consideration when spending time outdoors in rural Northern Nevada. The area is home to many rivers and lakes, which can be great for swimming, fishing, and boating. However, its important to be aware of potential dangers, such as strong currents and underwater hazards.

When swimming or boating, be sure to wear a life jacket and stay within designated areas. Its also important to be aware of the depth and clarity of the water, as submerged rocks and other hazards may not be visible from the surface. When fishing, be sure to follow all state and local regulations, and avoid fishing in areas with fast-moving currents or deep drop-offs.

It is also important to be security-minded as well. Be alert to surroundings. Your tool for your personal safety is your alertness and intuition. Whether you find a single one or a group of people within your range of the steps, you might take a quick look at their movement and faces. If you find the inference that indicates you as their target or you get there to follow up  take your safe direction quickly towards single isolation or a crowd to increase your protection.

Its important to be prepared for emergencies. When spending time outdoors in rural areas, its possible that you may encounter situations where medical attention is required. Be sure to carry a first-aid kit and know basic first-aid techniques. Its also a good idea to carry a map and compass, and to let someone know your itinerary before heading out.

In addition, its important to have a plan in case of emergencies, such as getting lost or injured. This may include carrying a whistle or signaling device, and knowing how to build a fire for warmth and signaling purposes. Its also a good idea to know how to create basic shelter using natural materials.

Staying safe outdoors in rural Northern Nevada requires a combination of preparation, awareness, and common sense. By being aware of potential weather, wildlife, and water hazards, and by being prepared for emergencies, you can enjoy all that the outdoors has to offer while staying safe and secure. Remember to always follow local regulations and guidelines, and to be respectful of the natural environment. With a little planning and caution, you can have a safe and enjoyable time exploring the great outdoors of rural Northern Nevada.

A good online resource is 100 Personal Safety Tips, How to Increase Your Personal Protection.

And remember, get outside, its good for everyone!
Why should you drive to Clinton to walk out across the top of a giant dam? Because you can.

The Wachusett Dam, the massive granite structure built by immigrant laborers to hold back the waters of the mighty Nashua River just so some poor folks in Boston could enjoy clean drinking water, will be open to the public Saturday, May 13.

The walkway is open with rangers on hand from 2 to 5 p.m.

The Department of Conservation and Recreation opens the walkway atop the dam for just a few hours twice a year, although the sprawling grounds around it are open from sunrise to sunset daily. If you cant make Saturdays event, keep an eye out for another in the fall.

But if youre considering going and wondering just how interesting standing on top of the dam could be, rest assured, there are a lot of other dam things to do while youre there.

Here are 10 things you can do while visiting the dam.

The Wachusett Reservoir in Clinton at sunset, Sept. 7, 2019. (Noah R. Bombard)

10. Take some dam photos

Yes, the joke never gets old (and brace yourself, Im not done yet). But seriously, whether youre on the dam walkway or not, the area is a hugely popular photo spot for everything from sunsets to selfies. Cars line Route 70 on nice nights as people watch that giant glowing orb sink below the water-framed horizon. The lighting is awesome for photos.

The west side of the Wachusett Reservoir has a trail that runs along the water for miles, offering scenic views. (Noah R. Bombard)

9. Go for a dam walk

The dam is just an entry point to a vast area of grassy hills and trails. If youre up for the 190-some stairs down to the bottom, theres a nice paved stroll down River Road, which is the only portion thats left of a road that used to run past the dam and into the now-flooded reservoir. Youll walk along Mill Pond, which is fed by water flowing under the dam (theres a huge system of pipes under the ground that feed it that is mind-boggling to think was built around 1900).

If thats too easy, hike another 150 or so steps up the other side to a trail that runs for miles along the reservoir with scenic vistas of the mighty Wachusett. Go far enough and youll pass Cemetery Island. Nope, no one is buried there anymore. They were all dug up and moved across town in what was surely a horrifying experience for all.

Central Park

8. Go downtown

In case youre wondering what direction it is in, theres a big Downtown Clinton sign at the dam this weekend pointing you the right way.

Clinton is your classic American mill town and has been experiencing a revitalization in the past few years with a revamped downtown and new shops and places to eat. Look for parking on the street or one of the municipal parking lots.

And if the dam is a Worcester County treasure, the towns Central Park isnt far behind. Established in 1852, this is the kind of public park you wish your town had (we see what youre doing over there, Bolton). Featuring a gorgeous cast iron fountain and plenty of room to throw down a blanket, have a picnic or toss a ball or frisbee around (double check signs to see if ball throwing is currently in or out).

Peppermint ice cream and a walnut-topped sundae at Rota-Spring Farm.

7. Go get some ice cream

The secret got out a long time ago. The once-hidden gem of creamy deliciousness that is Rota Springs Farm is well known across the region and just across the other side of the reservoir in Sterling. You can watch the herd of cows as you partake of their bounty (please tip the workers, not the cows). The place can really fill up on a nice day.

Pro tip: Signs say to form a line at each window but people dont read signs and tend to form one or two giant lines. See an open window? Walk right up to it. Youre just following the rules after all. Another pro tip: Cant decide which flavor to order? Its ice cream. Just put it in your mouth and enjoy.

Despite the large crowds, owner David Rotas crew of ice cream scoopers tend to move things along pretty steadily. There are also goats in the back. If the goats are gone, please dont ask what happened to them in front of your kids.

If you want somewhere quieter, scoot over to neighboring Bolton Orchards, which has ice cream out back and rarely has a line (well, up until I wrote this anyway). And theres Kimball Farm in Lancaster and Michaels Bridge Diner, which now has an ice cream window.

The Museum or Russian Icons in Clinton, Massachusetts (Google).

6. Visit the Museum of Russian Icons

Downtown Clinton is also home to a museum. The Museum of Russian Icons is open Thursday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Peruse three floors of galleries in a beautiful old mill building. You might be surprised just how interesting an entire museum devoted to religious icons could be.

The Holder Memorial building in Clinton, Mass. (Noah R. Bombard)

5. Visit the Holder Memorial

If you head to Clinton early on Saturday, you can visit the Holder Memorial building in Clinton, which is home to the Clinton Historical Society. The building is a bit of a museum of its own with tons of historical photos of the area. And if youre lucky, you can listen to some of the home-spun wisdom of Terrance Ingano, director of the Clinton Historical Society.

Its only open Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon, but if you hit the Holder, then get lunch downtown, then head to the dam at noon, youve got a day.

4. Go to the brewery

The Sterling Street Brewery is located just a little bit out of the downtown area on the way to Sterling. It opens at noon on Saturdays and theres often a food truck and live music as well.

Mill Pond below the Wachusett Dam. There is no public boat launch here, but you can put in further down the river if you now where to look. (Noah R. Bombard)

3. Go paddle down the river

Although you cant swim or boat in the Wachusett Reservoir (you can look, just dont look too intensely), there are places nearby down the Nashua River where you can launch a kayak or canoe.

The Nashua River Watershed Association has a list of launch sites with a few nearby in Lancaster, Sterling and Harvard.

The Central Mass. Rail Trail in West Boylston. (Noah R. Bombard)

2. Hit the Central Mass. Rail Trail

Whether you bike it, walk it, run it, or push your kid in a stroller down it, the Central Mass. Rail Trail runs nearby the Wachusett Reservoir. In fact, a group is working to bring the trail right through an old train tunnel above the dam. But if you head over to West Boylston you can catch one of the entry points.

The old stone church in West Boylston is a monument to a section of the town that was demolished to make way for the Wachusett Reservoir. (Noah R. Bombard)

1. Visit the old stone church

While visiting the Wachusett Reservoir, you can get a real sense of the towns that had to give up portions of their communities for the project by visiting the old stone church along Route 140 in West Boylston. Ironically, the church was built in 1891, less than a decade before the valley would be flooded to make way for the reservoir. Homes, factories, roads and railways were moved for the project. But the old stone church is still there by the waters edge  gutted today and a reminder of what was lost.

Rauscher Farm in Clinton at the end of Clamshell Pond Road. (Noah R. Bombard)

BONUS: Discover Raucher Farm

What was the very last farm in Clinton is now an incredibly gorgeous public space that is still largely undiscovered by people outside of Clinton.

At the end of Clamshell Pond Road, youll find Rauscher Farm, which was purchased by the townsfolk of Clinton and now is home to trails that wrap around Clamshell Pond as well as the mowed paths through the farm fields. There are currently two swans on the pond as of this writing (well, OK, yesterday).

Double bonus: Through the farm, you can also access the other part of the Mass. Central Rail Trail that is currently disconnected from the rest. Its a quiet, beautiful walk above wetlands in one area and, if youre lucky, youll catch sight of an otter swimming below the trail.
Six and a half hours: Thats the length of time it took firefighters to battle the blaze that broke out at a retail building in the Newton Square neighborhood of Worcester earlier this month.

By the time the three-alarm fire was fully extinguished in the pre-dawn hours of May 2, it had left two Worcester firefighters with minor injuries and leveled the building at 812 Pleasant St. The structure was deemed a total loss by officials, and the two businesses inside, Worcester Flower Shop and U-Home Decor, were destroyed.

Now, efforts are underway to raise money for the families who owned and operated the stores, which were part of a three-business strip mall. A GoFundMe page, set up Friday, seeks to raise $25,000 for the owners, whose livelihoods were severely impacted by the May 1 blaze.

The goal of this fundraiser is to provide some immediate funding for these two families, the GoFundMe page states. With their establishments now a total loss, both sets of owners lost their entire source of income ~ and insurance will likely cover only a small percentage of their business loss.

Set up by a user named Newton Square Community, the verified GoFundMe page had raised $620 as of Saturday afternoon. The site notes, Both store owners are distraught not only for their own losses, but also because they are currently unable to continue serving their loyal customers and neighborhood friends.

In the wake of the fire, Worcester City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj, who represents the citys District 5, where the blaze took place, said she has been in contact with the two businesses leveled between May 1 and 2. She noted the owners of the the stores are all devastated seeing their dreams pulverize in a matter of hours.

Read more: Worcester City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj offers support to businesses lost in fire

I spoke to the Pleasant Street building owner and the two business owners today, Haxhiaj said on Facebook on May 2. The whole building is a total loss and being demolished. The Worcester Fire Department did an incredible job. No lives lost, and some injuries. Folks will be OK.

In a more recent Facebook post made Saturday morning, Haxhiaj shared the GoFundMe page, noting [t]he two businesses are struggling and the future is very uncertain.

They have lost their income, inventory, and all theyve built through hard work, the city councilor said.

Please support, share and encourage others to wrap our arms around them, she added.

Two Worcester firefighters were taken to the hospital with minor injuries after battling a structure fire that destroyed a retail business building on Monday, May 1. (Ryan Mancini, MassLive)

The GoFundMe page details how Edwin Ramirez and Julia Portillo, who have two children under the age of 10 years old, opened Worcester Flower Shop four years ago. Their store quickly grew and became a neighborhood favorite.

However, with the fire breaking out just weeks before the start of their busiest season, Ramirez and Portillo had to refund all flowers pre-ordered ahead of Mothers Day, graduations and weddings, according to the GoFundMe page.

Edison and Clareabel Quinones, whose family includes four children, opened U-Home Decor in July 2022. Locals in the neighborhood similarly grew to quickly like the store, which specialized in making and restoring furniture, the GoFundMe page details. The shop also stocked home accessories in different design styles.

Edwin and Edison both express their extreme appreciation for the much-needed community support thus far and going forward as they consider if restarting their businesses will be a possibility, the GoFundMe page states.

MassLive reporter Ryan Mancini contributed to this report.
A Westport hairdresser working at the Eurovision has said Liverpool is 'buzzing ahead of tonights final.

For the past week, Kate Murtagh has had the privilege of styling hair for Irish entrants Wild Youth plus several over Eurovision acts.

Ms Murtagh, who owns and operates the K-Club on Westports Bridge Street, was selected to work at the song contest through her work as an educator with the Moroccanoil beauty brand.

Speaking to The Mayo News during a rare break from styling hair, Ms Murtagh described her experience as exciting and very new.

Liverpool is buzzing. Even we were here on Sunday and we went around town and the whole city is just vibing over the Eurovision. There is a great atmosphere everywhere, she said.

As well as dolling up the acts for the televised events, Kate and others have been flat to the mat with two daily rehearsals in between the semi-finals and finals.

She described working at the big event as hard work but great fun.

You are seeing so much every day. [It is] fast paced, emotional at times for everyone, people taking part and the hairdressers. Youre kind of nervous to make sure you get their hair done right. They are nervous and anxious that theyre going on stage to represent their country as well.

Even a few years ago I wouldnt have believed that Id be doing something like this, added Murtagh, who hails from Cloghan in the Quay area of Westport.

Youre doing hair and you get stuck into doing hair and next minute you see people walking past, just about to go onstage and everyones cheering and youre like God, where am I? Its been fabulous, great fun. Hard work but great fun.

Ms Murtagh admitted there was an air of disappointment in the Irish camp when Wild Youth failed to qualify for the semi-finals.

She said that the group were lovely to work with prior to their exiting the competition on Tuesday night.

They were delighted to kind of hear Irish accents and have a chat with different people about places that they knew. They were lovely. Good craic. I heard they kept everyone going, even the other countries were singing their praises, how much fun they were to work with backstage.

When their work was finished, the hairdressers all got to sit back in the Liverpool Arena and watch the live performances.

[It is] amazing. The whole production, the lights, its so much bigger in real life than watching it on telly, said Ms Murtagh.

The whole atmosphere and every country, the put on such a show with the background, with dancers, lights, its amazing. It really is. You wouldnt believe the work that goes into it.
ELKO  In the middle of Brooklyn, New York, an Iowa native and U.S. Marine Corps veteran is busy completing assignments toward his degree in social science at Great Basin College in Elko.

More than a decade ago it would have been unthinkable for someone surrounded by hundreds of learning institutions to enroll at a school two thousand miles away in what could be considered the Wild West.

But Zachary Stamp, a 30-year-old born and raised in Waterloo, Iowa, is proving that no matter where you live its never too late to establish new goals to improve your situation.

A junior working on a four-year degree in social science, and president of the Student Government Association, Stamp will be in Elko to deliver a speech at Great Basin Colleges outdoor commencement ceremony starting at 10 a.m. May 20.

It will be his second visit to the area within the past year, underscoring his unique situation as a student who has settled into his home at GBC as he works toward earning his degree.

I discovered GBC when I was looking for online college programs in the winter of 2020, right before the pandemic, Stamp recalled. I was working full time as an EMT and I wanted to be able to continue that while pursuing my education. Of all the online college programs available, GBC was definitely the best choice.

Stamp saw pictures of the beautiful Elko campus and learned about the different students and activities at GBC. He also noticed a difference when speaking to GBCs admissions department from other schools he contacted for information.

GBCs staff were by far the most helpful and friendly. Even more so than programs in New York City, he added.

Although New Yorkers have a reputation of being mean, Stamp explained that theyre just busy. However, he said he noticed GBCs faculty and staff seemed to always respond quickly to his questions and showed an interest in him and his goals.

Feeling a sense of community and having a great feeling about the school, Stamp decided to enroll at GBC.

Great Basin College was warm and inviting from the start, he continued. [They were] really making me believe that I could achieve my goals with their help.

That was the support Stamp needed to help him develop his goals toward working with veterans dealing with mental health issues. Having struggled in high school, he said he was unmotivated to attend college after graduation.

At the time, he decided to enlist in the military. Stamp said amid the pressure of trying to decide what to do with your life at that age the choice ultimately helped him figure out his career path several years later.

Starting his first semester in January 2020, Stamp was working as an EMT in New York City when the pandemic began. Calls frequently became Covid-19-related before we knew what Covid was.

In March, his shifts extended from 10 hours to 14 hours. Twelve-hour shifts became double shifts due to the sheer amount of people requiring our help.

Online classes at GBC continued that semester, which was a huge relief to Stamp, allowing him to switch his focus to something else after a long day.

To say it was stressful would be an understatement, he recalled. Being able to concentrate on anything besides Covid during that time was a huge relief. The professors were extremely helpful and understanding.

Observing that GBCs online learning was set up for success, Stamp said there werent any hiccups or difficulties as he continued his studies the rest of the semester.

He gave a shout out to the faculty for checking in on me and making sure I was doing OK during that time!

Student life

Stamp lives in Brooklyn with his wife, two cats and a tortoise. He currently works as a substance abuse counselor with veterans, and has found ways to stay connected with GBC despite the distance.

During his second semester he was elected as an SGA senator. I felt like I needed a more communal aspect to supplement my college experience, and I wanted to be part of an organization that strived to make things better.

Understanding that nearly all students were involved in distance learning, Stamp remembered how the SGA organized events such as an online open mic for participants to perform music, poetry and comedy.

He also recalled SGAs partnership with the colleges Phi Theta Kappa honor society to raise money and donations for foodbanks in the area. Since Im based in Brooklyn, I was able to do a satellite version where we were able to fill up the entire community fridge!

We managed to put on a lot of online events to help the student body stay connected during our time in isolation.

After serving as vice president, he was elected SGA president in the fall of 2021 and decided to use his experience to advocate for online and non-traditional students such as himself.

Admittedly a very social person, Stamp said he realized there were some challenges to staying connected with other students, whether they lived out-of-state or were apart due to the pandemic. But he believed it was important to try to stay involved within the community.

The fact that we could help those that needed it the most during the pandemic across the country, and even internationally, helped me realize we all have the opportunity to do good even when the world is turned upside down.

Through his experiences at GBC, Stamp said he observed that there isnt much difference between students who attend from far away or those who live close to the campus.

Being an online student isnt the same as being an in-person student, but I think that very similar skill sets are required to succeed, he explained. The most important thing that I have found is that the college experience is what you make of it.

I wanted to interact with my fellow students, faculty and professors, he continued. But I felt like most college students were feeling isolated during the pandemic, regardless of online/in-person status.

Amid the chaos during the pandemic, Stamp was learning what college classroom expectations were like and he credited his professors for teaching him to think and write critically.

Taking a humanities course, Stamp said instructor Susanne Bentley went above and beyond to help me learn the importance of critical thinking, specifically when it came to writing about my passion for helping veterans struggling with addiction and PTSD.

It was the first time in college where I was really tested on forming and articulating my opinion rather than just memorizing and repeating information.

Elko  a second home

Stamp has visited Elko once since enrolling at GBC. He attended the Board of Regents meeting on campus last fall, and said he was reminded of my hometown, which I loved, and still do.

He met GBC President Joyce Helens, Vice President of Student and Academic Affairs Jake Hinton-Rivera, faculty, staff, students and the folks of Elko.

Everyone was really nice, Stamp recalled Honestly, I felt more connected to the faculty at GBC than I did with the faculty at a lot of the schools in NYC, even in person. Any time Ive ever interacted with anyone at GBC, I never feel like Im being an inconvenience.

Stamp has also felt a connection to other students who  like him  are from someplace else and are now proud to call Elko home.

Returning to the area for GBCs graduation next Saturday on the Elko campus and traveling to Winnemucca for ceremonies later that afternoon, Stamp said he is looking forward to another visit.

I have really fallen in love with Elko, and all of Nevada, he said. I think theres something special going on there and Im grateful to be part of it.

Beyond graduation

Stamp will finish his degree within the next year and is excited about what the future holds for him.

Reaching back to his experiences in the military and dealing with PTSD and addiction, Stamp said he wants to help other veterans with their mental health treatment and open a mental health practice after he is finished with school.

Being open and honest about my own struggles with PTSD and addiction helps break down the stigma surrounding these issues that veterans face on a regular basis, he said.

He plans to continue his education with a masters degree and PhD in clinical psychology, researching MDMA studies and the impact of using psychedelic medicine to treat major depression, anxiety and addictions to smoking.

Stamp said he sees an opportunity where psychedelics could treat veterans and others who suffer with PTSD and addiction. I believe the future of psychiatric care is in psychedelics.

As someone who was searching for his purpose in life and how to achieve his goals  even if they were still being developed  Stamp said finding GBC was unexpected but key in setting him on the path of success.

College is a fantastic place to find who you are. I started with a vague idea of what I wanted to do, and with the help of my professors and staff I was able to flesh that dream out into a goal.

He advises students to take an active role in their life to find their passion and not be afraid to ask for help along the way. I dont think its anyones job to tell you what to do, but its your job to find out and ask for help when you need it. The cavalry isnt coming, but you are the cavalry for the world. We live in a time where we can no longer afford to hold back our potential and what we are able to give to the world.

Its an unlikely journey for such a veteran find a college in rural Nevada that gives him the tools to reach his goals and help others just like him.

If you would have asked me 10 years ago where I was going to be in my life, I dont think that living in the most densely populated city in North America while attending school in the Wild West would have been my answer. But I found my community, and that never wouldve happened if I didnt reach out.
by Steve Ellwanger , May 12, 2023

Iconic Colorado beer brand Coors Banquet is marking this years 150th anniversary with a new global campaign called Start Your Legacy thats tied to an initiative to help small-business owners.

To support the campaign, Coors Banquet has released a commercial featuring the voice of actor Cole Hauserwho plays cowboy Rip Wheeler in the Coors-sponsored television series Yellowstone.

The spot opens on a grainy image of snow-capped mountains and cuts to a roaring river as Hauser says, The same Rocky Mountain water. The same brewing tradition that started 150 years ago in Golden, Colorado.

Images of Coors Banquet in the hands of rock stars, smugglers, cowboys and presidents play throughout as Hauser tells viewers that compromise isnt part of the Coors Banquet legacy.

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What do you want to go down in history for?

Starting this week, the brand is inviting legal-age consumers to go online and share their small-business aspirations as part of the Coors Banquet Legacy Fund until May 24.

Winning criteria include potential small businesses that make a positive impact in the community.

A panel of qualified judges will determine which 15 entrepreneurs will each receive $15,000.

We understand how tough it can be to get the support to start a passion project or business, so we want to give a kickstart to legacies in the making, Coors Banquet senior marketing manager Tracey Bien Schenck said in a news release.

The Coors Banquet 150th anniversary will be celebrated at a live event in Coors Banquets birthplace of Golden, Colorado with live music performances.
by Ray Schultz , May 12, 2023

Adobes Firefly, a family of generative AI models, is being integrated with Googles Bard, an experimental AI service. The announcement was made at I/O 2023.

Firefly allows users to produce content variations built on Adobe Stock images that have been deemed safe for commercial use and to change the image components while generating variations for email, mobile, web and other channels.

Firefly will become the premiere generative AI partner for Bard in the coming months, powering text-to-image capabilities, Adobe says.

In the first month since Fireflys beta launch, Adobes creators used it to generate more than 70 million images with text-to-image, vector re-coloring and text effect capabilities.

Adobe has also expanded its Content Authenticity initiative.

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This response to the Firefly beta demonstrates the power and potential of generative AI to inspire more people to create and the strong demand for a creator-centric, commercially viable approach, says Ely Greenfield, CTO, digital media at Adobe. Were empowering millions more people to use Firefly for creative inspiration and design and share standout content with Adobe Express through this integration with Bard by Google.

Greenfield adds, "Generative AI has captured the world's attention and changed how we think about collaboration and productivity," says Sissie Hsiao, vice president and general manager of assistant and Bard at Google. The partnership with Adobe will provide users with the power to bring their creative ideas to life, quickly and easily  directly in Bard," Greenfield says.

Adobe is also expanding its Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI). It will the CAIs open-source Content Credentials technology to bring transparency to images generated through this integration.

At this critical moment in history, as generative AI becomes more powerful and prevalent than ever, people need a way to tell whats behind the content theyre consuming, says Dana Rao, general counsel and chief trust officer at Adobe. Content Credentials will enable creators to tell their stories authentically, while providing easy-to-use tools to verify how a piece of content was created and modified.

The CAI now has 1,000 members, Adobe says.

One cautionary note has come from Yair Adato, co-founder and CEO of Bria, a generative AI visuals company.

Adato calls for an ethical attribution model that compensates creators appropriately while allowing the use of a substantial number of images to achieve the desired output quality.

Adato also states that the partnership shows that it is challenging for a single company to acquire enough licensed data for effective machine training.
by Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, May 12, 2023

Omnicom Media Group has named Michael Solomon CEO of PHD USA, effective June 1. Solomon, takes on the new role following three years as the agencys Chief Operating Officer. He succeeds Catherine Sullivan, who has held the title since 2020, and is stepping down to return to the sales side of the business.

Solomon joined PHD in 2020 following 16 years with sibling agency OMD. He is credited for helping brands like Bacardi and Clorox to make the shift from traditional advertiser to data-driven, digital first marketer.

advertisement advertisement At PHD Solomon helped redefine organizational priorities as the industry adapted to post-pandemic investment and cultural realities. Concurrent with his agency remit, he also led Omnicom Media Groups Black Leadership Network, driving D&I and multicultural initiatives, while advocating for more inclusive investment strategies to increase diverse-owned medias share of advertising spend.

Mikes record of leading iconic brands through transformation agendas, building talented teams and never straying too far from the work, will assure PHD USA continues to be a valuable and trusted strategic partner to our clients, said PHD Worldwide CEO Philippa Brown.

Prior to joining PHD as CEO, Sullivan was Chief Investment Officer for Omnicom Media Group North America and is credited with building OMGs digital-and-audience-first investment practice. In 2018, she launched OMGs Partners Summit, an annual three-day media marketplace where the industrys top networks, platforms and publishers present customized offers to Omnicom clients.

Prior to joining OMG in 2016, Sullivan spent two decades in senior positions at Disney and NBC.

Commenting on her departure, OMG North America CEO Ralph Pardo says, Catherine led the evolution of PHD USAs model and talent during an unprecedented time of disruption within the industry...We are grateful for her many contributions to the company and look forward to watching her continued success in our industry.
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Cognitive Flexibility Unveiled

Role of Social Environment in Decision-Making

The 'Open Information' Pendulum Can Swing the Opposite Way Too

The effects of sociocultural changes on epistemic thinking across three generations in Romania - (https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0281785)

The researchers found that following the collapse of Romania's authoritarian communist regime in 1989, the rapid increase in education and technology use and the transition from a single, government-controlled source of information to diverse sources had a strong effect on the way people, particularly younger generations, thought about and determined truthfulness, a process known as "epistemic thinking."to multiplist thinking, the belief that more than one claim could be right  it's just a matter of opinion.Finally, evaluativist thinking posits that assertions can be evaluated in terms of both logic and evidence."Whether we are monitoring various news sources or scrolling through a busy Twitter feed, we are constantly encountering diverse viewpoints about topics ranging from politics to films," said the study's first author, Amalia Ionescu, a doctoral student in psychology at UCLA. "Some of these topics carry infinitely more weight than others, but ultimately, we are using the same sort of mechanism when deciding how to make sense of contrasting viewpoints."In the U.S., developmental psychology research has shown that children typically think in absolutist terms, then progress to multiplist thinking and sometimes, particularly with a relatively high level of education and exposure to various experiences and points of view, emerge as evaluativist adults.The study authors hypothesized that in a society ruled by an authoritarian government, with strict control over information, limited education, and little exposure to the outside world,Conversely, in an open, democratic society, there would likely be a higher occurrence of evaluativist thinking.To test this, they focused on Romania, which in the late 1940s became communist and aligned itself with the Soviet Union. Beginning in 1965, under the authoritarian leadership of Nicolae Ceausescu, Romania became increasingly repressive and isolated.After Ceausescu was overthrown in 1989, the country quickly moved toward democracy, embraced a market economy, and joined the European Union. Today, Romanians have a developing education system and open access to technology, social media, consumer goods, and travel.How, the researchers asked, may this transition have affected Romanians' epistemic thinking?Focusing on three age cohorts  those born after the democratic revolution (18-30 years old), those who spent their late adolescence and early adulthood under the authoritarian regime (45-59), and those who spent at least 45 years under the authoritarian regime (75 and older)  the authors presented respondents with scenarios in which two characters had contrasting views.They then asked the respondents: Which character is right? Or are both of them right? Why?They found that there was ain middle age rather than at an earlier period of life.The vast majority of those 75 or older tended to read or listen to the news and instantly take it as truth, "possibly because for most of their lives, they had only one TV program to watch, and all books, news, movies, and music were under communist censorship," said co-author Raluca Furdui, a master's student at Romania's West University of Timisoara. "They learned to respect the authority of the teachers in schools, and some never even had the chance to go to high school."In contrast," Furdui said, "we, the youngest generation in our study  currently between 18 and 30  were challenged by our teachers to express our opinions, think critically, and check information."The researchers found thatwhich also had the highest education levels. Lower levels of both formal education and social media use predicted higher levels of absolutist thinking and lower levels of evaluativism.The study authors concluded that theand a person's epistemic thinking style will change little later in adulthood."We found that the social environment produced by a combination of democracy and a market economy more frequently led people to abandon the assumption that there is one right answer and to evaluate multiple possibilities  when one was born into this environment or when it was experienced in the first 25 years of life" rather than in middle age or beyond, said co-author Patricia Greenfield, a UCLA distinguished professor of psychology. "We found that there is indeed a sensitive developmental period for acquiring cultural ways of thinking."The authors also said they believe their findings can help explain why unfettered access to information, social media, and a plethora of personal opinions can sometimes lead in the opposite direction  toward absolutist thinking and authoritarian politics."Along with the rise of the internet and social media, there has been, in the United States, a rise in the importance of personal opinion, along with a decline in the importance of agreed-upon facts," Greenfield said.And while the trend toward increasing sources of information and opinions in Romania has been associated with the democratization and opening up of society, in the U.S., the indiscriminate application of the principle that"In Romania, the transition from authoritarianism to democracy was related to a decline in absolute thinking and a rise in evaluation as a form of thought," said co-author Michael Weinstock, an associate professor of education at Israel's Ben Gurion University of the Negev. "But based on our research, one would predict that the opposite change in the environment  towards more authoritarianism  would lead to the opposite direction of change towards more absolutist thinking."Changes in the authoritarian direction happened in the U.S. under the Trump administration, the study authors said, and have recently been happening in other countries around the world.Source: Eurekalert
Original documents will be archived "so we are not erasing the history of the existence of this language, said state Sen. Dallas Harris, who is sponsoring legislation to ease redaction of racist covenants in legal documents. (Photo: Trevor Bexon / Nevada Current)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

History researchers at UNR estimate Washoe County alone has at least 11,000 racist covenants, legal property documents that once restricted anyone not white from purchasing or living in the home.

While the covenants, a relic of the Jim Crow era, are unconstitutional and unenforceable, Democratic state Sen. Dallas Harris is proposing a way to redact the racist language from documents.

Senate Bill 368, which was heard Friday in the Assembly Judiciary Committee, would allow for a petition to be filed with district court to remove the language. The judge would then issue a court order to county recorders to redact the language from future documents.

The county recorder would keep the original instrument as a public record for historical purposes according to the bill.

The original document will stand, Harris said. This will be just for documents moving forward so we are not erasing the history of the existence of this language.

The bill unanimously passed out of the Senate on April 19.

At Fridays hearing, Harris introduced a conceptual amendment to allocate $150,000 to UNR and UNLV to aid in researching and identifying racist covenants in the state.

Jacob Dorman, a UNR history professor who is part of a team currently researching documents, said while the team estimates there are 11,000 property deeds with racist covenants in Washoe County alone, they are still working to identify all of them.

It takes quite a bite of research to find these documents, he said.

While no data was presented on how many are estimated to be in Clark County, Democratic Assemblywoman Shondra Summers-Armstrong said when she purchased her home she discovered one.

When we bought the land in 1997, we found we had restrictive covenants, she said. Its quite startling to read the language and quite offensive.

SB 368 builds on legislative efforts in 2019 from Harris and then-state Sen. Julia Ratti, who introduced legislation that allowed homeowners to disavow racist covenants in their legal documents.

Kent Ervin, a UNR professor, said the issue came to light when he purchased his Reno home in 2015 and read the fineprint in the legal documents.

The covenant started out sounding quaint, he said. We cant make moonshine. We cant run a funeral parlor. Then I read the property can only be owned and occupied by white people. Obviously offensive. Even though such restrictions are long illegal, we still had to sign the covenant to close the sale.

Ervin said he worked with Ratti and Harris to find a legislative fix but the bill turned out to be insufficient.

Where we ended up was a document you could essentially file that would be recorded with your other housing documents lodging, essentially, your displeasure with the language, Harris said of the 2019 bill.

She said only about 19 have been filed in Washoe County since the bill was passed.

Its not the type of participation I hoped for, Harris said. I thought we could do better. There has to be a way to get this language out of these documents. Its not operable and frankly offensive, its still there.

In addition to a homeowner filing a petition with the court, under SB 368 Harris said HOAs and other groups, such as the UNR researchers, could also file a petition. Homeowners would be notified and have a chance to object.

Harris and the researchers speaking Friday said its important not to erase the documents completely.

I find history is important to preserve and not just erase but redact them and amend them and ensure history is not erased, said Fernando Melendez, a student working with the UNR research team. Failing to preserve the documents would be a terrible loss of the historical record, depriving future Nevadans of understanding Nevada and all its past.

The committee took no action on the legislation.
Any attempt of playing the Taiwan card and using Taiwan to contain China will be rejected by the international community and not succeed, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on May 10, 2023.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a statement on May 9 saying that the US strongly encourages the WHO to invite Taiwan to participate as an observer at this years World Health Assembly (WHA) meeting.

We once again urge the US to adhere to the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-US joint communiques, observe international law and the basic norms governing international relations, act on the US leaders assurances of not supporting Taiwan independence and not supporting two Chinas or one China, one Taiwan, stop hyping up issues related to Taiwan using the WHA, spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a daily news briefing when answering a relevant query.

Wang said that the one-China principle has the overwhelming support of the international community and represents the trend of the world. This is not to be denied, nor can it be held back.
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The Four Lakes Task Force will provide an update to the Midland County Board of Commissioners at the board's regular meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the County Services Building.

Dave Kepler, president of Four Lakes Task Force, will provide a progress update as the three-year anniversary of the May 2020 dam failures approaches later in the week.

The Four Lakes Task Force is a nonprofit organization serving Midland and Gladwin counties to administer and oversee the maintenance and operations of Secord, Smallwood, Wixom and Sanford lakes and their corresponding dams.

In other business, the board will consider an agreement with Consumers Energy to create a 20-foot easement on South Cedar Street near the intersection with West Railway Street in the Village of Sanford. The easement would allow for the installation of a power pole on the west side of Cedar Street to allow for electricity at Porte Park.

Photo Provided

The board will also consider the approval of a Whistleblowers Protection Act. The policy would provide a means for county employees to report a violation or suspected violation of federal, state or local law, rule or regulation without reprisal.

The absence of a whistleblower policy became known during a State of Michigan audit of the Midland County Health Department family planning program, which receives federal funds and is required to have such a policy on record.

The board will also decide on a revision to the countys Equal Opportunity Employment and Non-Discrimination policy that would add sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, in accordance with the state legislatures recent amendment to the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.

Other business

The board will also consider:

 An amendment to the Community Corrections grant agreement and to the Comprehensive Agreement with the Michigan Health and Human Services Department.

 A revision to the countys travel expenses reimbursement policy.

 Requests to increase the Full-time Equivalence for the Pre-Trial Specialist and Community Health Nurse positions.

 Approval of Administrator/Controller Bridgette Gransden's 2023-2024 goals and evaluation tool in preparation for her upcoming performance evaluation at the June 20 meeting.

 The appointment of Jeremy Rosenbrock, Tim Lapham and Roger Mahoney to the Midland County Peer Review Committee.
Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the United Nations, addresses the UN General Assemblys high-level meeting on May 11. (Photo: VNA)

He made the appeal while addressing the UN General Assemblys high-level meeting themed Accelerating the achievement of the SDGs in middle-income countries (MICs), with a focus on the environmental dimension, held in New York on May 11.



In his remarks, Giang affirmed that multilateralism, international solidarity, peace, and stability form an important basis for sustainable development in MICs.



To resolve such challenges as climate change and food and energy insecurity, he held that at the national level, MICs need to enhance their resilience and effectively mobilise domestic resources to develop, while capitalising on science, technology, and innovation for green, sustainable, and smart development.



International cooperation is also critically important to promoting global and national efforts, the diplomat noted, urging developed countries to carry out their commitments on financial and technical support, technology transfer, and capacity building for MICs.



An overview of the meeting (Photo: VNA)

Meanwhile, MICs should also step up cooperation, policy dialogue, and experience sharing via existing cooperation mechanisms with developed nations, he added.

The ambassador also highlighted Vietnams efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, commitment to achieving the target of net zero emissions by 2050, and recent establishment of the Just Energy Transition Partnership.



At the meeting, President of the UN General Assembly Csaba Korosi noted MICs have a crucial role to play in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, but they are facing numerous difficulties and challenges due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic crisis, and climate change.



Representatives of many countries pointed out specific difficulties and challenges facing MICs and stressed the necessity for financial and technical assistance from UN agencies, development partners, and international financial institutions.



They also shared their countries lessons and experience in realising the SDGs, assessed the role of the UNs development system in helping MICs, and discussed the building of sustainable development indexes that include economic, environmental, and social dimensions./.
MANISTEE COUNTY  The Manistee County Council on Aging is set to host a number of events and other activities aimed at keeping older residents healthy, happy and active.

Here is a list of what is planned for the week of May 15 and beyond.

Congregate meals

The congregate meal site at the Wagoner Community Center is serving lunch Monday through Friday at noon. Please remember to call and reserve your lunch by noon the day before.

The congregate meal site in Wellston serves lunches on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The Onekama meal site at the Farr Center is currently closed. The Marilla meal site serves lunches Wednesday at noon, and the Pleasant Valley Community Center in Arcadia serves meals Tuesdays and Fridays at 12:30. The meal site in Maple Grove Township serves meals Thursdays at noon.

Please keep in mind that the menu is subject to change, as certain food shortages can affect the kitchen.

Food bank

The senior center food bank takes place on the third Friday of the month from 9-11 a.m. Seniors from Manistee County who are 60 years of age and older are eligible to participate. If you are picking up for another senior, be sure you have a proxy note, along with their name, address, birth date and household information. Monetary and non-perishable food item donations are always appreciated. Next food bank is Friday, May 19, 9-11 a.m., 260 St. Mary's Parkway.

Emergency food assistance

If you are a Manistee County senior and are in need of emergency food assistance, please call the senior center at 231-723-6477 and speak to a staff member. We have an emergency food pantry that we use to help prevent food insecurity in our senior population during these times.

Senior nutrition menu Monday: Chicken ala king, peas & carrots, spring blend vegetables, dried cranberries, biscuit Tuesday: Cheeseburger on a bun, potato coins, mixed vegetables, fresh apple slices Wednesday: Chili, steamed corn, wax beans, fruit cocktail, corn bread Thursday: Oven roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, sliced carrots, cranberry sauce, garlic toast Friday: Spanish rice, refried beans, stewed tomatoes, pineapple tidbits, roll Menus are subject to change. See More Collapse

Senior reimbursement program

The MCCOA has a program designed to help seniors remain independent, by reimbursing qualifying expenses. If you are a senior from Manistee County, you could receive reimbursement for payments you have made for house cleaning, yard work, snow removal services.

For current clients in the Senior Reimbursement Program, please take note, all receipts must be current, no more than 30 days old. Income requirements apply. New clients must fill out a registration form.

Please mail all receipts to 260 St. Mary's Parkway, Manistee, MI 49660. Please call the senior center at 231- 723-6477 ext. 214, for more information. Once a senior has moved out of their home, they are no longer qualified for the reimbursement program.

Exercise opportunities

Sit and Get Fit Tuesday & Thursday at 10 a.m. at the Wagoner Community Center, Monday and Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. at the Farr Center in Onekama.

Tai Chi Monday, Wednesday, Fri. 9 a.m. Indoor walking group, during business hours, Monday through Friday, Chair Yoga Tuesdays at 3:30 p.m. Zumba Gold Wednesdays at 3 p.m. Pound Fitness class Thursdays at 3:45 p.m. All classes are free to all seniors, and donations accepted for those under 60.

Dementia support group

The dementia support group will meet the second Thursday of the month. The group is a supportive, friendly gathering for caregivers, family members or anyone interested in learning more about and supporting our senior dementia community. The next meeting will be June 8 at 3 p.m. Contact Jacki Krolczyk at 231-883-1341 for more information.

Parkinson's support group

The Parkinson's support group meets at 11 a.m. on the third Thursday of each month. The next support group meeting will be on May 18 at the Wagoner Community Center. Please call Marcia Holbrook at 614-937-4442 for more information.

Upcoming events

May 15

9 a.m. Tai Chi

10:15 a.m. You Gotta Have Art

10 a.m. Dominoes

11 a.m. Monday Management with Alzheimer's Association

10 a.m. Reflexology (by appointment)

1 p.m. Pinochle

1 p.m. Mah Jongg

1 p.m. Chair Massage (by appointment)

May 16

10 a.m. Sit & Get Fit

11 a.m. Music with John Pomeroy

11 a.m. Cooking for One

12:30 p.m. Bridge

1 p.m. Pinochle

2 p.m. Knit & Crochet circle

3:30 p.m. Chair Yoga

May 17

9 a.m. Tai Chi

10:30 a.m. TOPS

11 a.m. Fun Bingo

Noon Nutritional Bingo in Marilla

12:30 p.m. Crossing Lake Michigan in a Bathtub

1 p.m. Sign Language

3 p.m. Zumba Gold

May 18

8:30 a.m. Navigating with Netters

10 a.m. Cribbage

11 a.m. Parkinson's Support Group

1 p.m. Chess

4 p.m. Pound Fit class

May 19

9 a.m. Tai Chi

9-11 a.m. Senior Food Bank

1 p.m. Comedy day with Leanne Morgan

1 p.m. Euchre

May 21
Japanese and South Korean officials held hourslong talks into early Saturday and agreed on a visit later this month by South Korean experts to the Fukushima nuclear plant before it begins the controversial release of treated but radioactive water into the sea. The safety of the water is a major sticking point as the two sides work to improve long-strained ties.

Discussions were held Friday in Seoul and online, in which the Japanese government also provided an update on the status of the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Officials are preparing to release the water, saying it's an unavoidable step for the decommissioning process.

Japan's Foreign Ministry, after a nearly 12-hour meeting that ran past midnight, issued a statement early Saturday saying the two sides agreed to have a four-day visit by a South Korean delegation to Japan that includes a Fukushima nuclear plant tour, and that further details, including its program need to be finalized.

The government and the plants operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, say the water release will begin between spring and summer and take decades to finish.

A massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi plants cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt and release large amounts of radiation. Water used to cool the three damaged reactor cores, which remain highly radioactive, leaks into the basements of the reactor buildings and is collected, treated and stored in about 1,000 tanks that now cover much of the plant.

The government and TEPCO say the tanks must be removed to make room to build facilities for the plants decommissioning and to minimize the risk of leaks in case of another major disaster. The tanks are expected to reach their capacity of 1.37 million tons in early 2024.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, during his May 7-8 visit to Seoul for a summit with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, announced that Japan would receive a team of experts at the plant later in May to address South Korea's concerns in a show of his desire to further improve relations.

South Koreas Foreign Ministry said Saturday the two sides held in-depth discussions on what the South Korean experts would see and do at the plant and that further consultations were planned to finalize the details.

Seoul wants to send some 20 government experts to visit the Fukushima Daiichi plant on May 23-24, although the groups actual size will be determined after further talks with Japan, Park Ku-yeon, first vice minister of South Koreas Office for Government Policy Coordination, said Friday.

Park said the plant visit is aimed at reviewing the safety of the entire ocean discharge process, including Japan's water treatment facility and its operation and technologies to measure contamination levels in treated water.

Asked whether Seoul would consider lifting its import ban on seafood from Fukushima if it determines Japans water release plan is safe, Park replied absolutely not, citing South Korean public concerns and a need for deeper investigations into the environmental impact of the 2011 disaster.

Japanese officials said the Korean delegation's plant visit is not an inspection and does not involve a safety assessment, review or evaluation of the water discharge plan, because it's already under review by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Japan has been assisted by the IAEA for credibility and transparency.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Thursday the visit would not affect the timing of a planned release of the water and that Japan continues to provide explanations about safety measures to aid understanding.

Japanese officials say the water will be safely filtered to below releasable levels by international standards and further diluted by large amounts of seawater before release, making it harmless to human health or marine life.

The plan has faced fierce protests from local fishing communities concerned about safety and reputational damage. Neighboring countries, including South Korea, China and the Pacific Island nations, have also raised safety concerns. South Korea and China ban food imports from around Fukushima and describe the water as contaminated" instead of treated despite the Japanese government's repeated protests.

Some scientists say the impact of long-term, low-dose exposure to tritium and other radionuclides on the environment and humans is still unknown and the release should be delayed.

Historical disputes have strained ties between Tokyo and Seoul  most recently over the compensation of wartime Korean forced laborers during Japan's 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula. But their relationship has thawed rapidly since March, when Yoon's government announced a local fund to compensate some of the former laborers. Tokyo and Seoul, under pressure from Washington, share a sense of urgency to mend ties amid growing security threats in the region.

___

Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.
MANISTEE -- Over the course of the past half century Rick Pepera has had a front row perspective to Manistee's downtown district through the places of his employment.

It was a journey which had its origins even before he graduated from Manistee High School in 1976 and came to a conclusion last month when retired from Jackpine Business Center.

Pepera was a familiar face to most people over the years on River Street and said he has enjoyed serving the Manistee community in many different positions.

"I think it was a case where I was born with sales and service in my blood," said Pepera. "Just being downtown around all the action and activities gave me the drive to get into the heart of the retail world."

Pepera said his parents set a great example in terms of a work ethic and helping others. When he put that inspiration to work in downtown businesses, it was something that hooked him for his entire working career.

"My parents were always helping people out, and I realized at a young age that doing that makes you feel good about yourself," he said. "The variety of retail business was never boring and is changing all the time. It keeps sparking your interest, so I never pursued other careers."

Looking at his career is like taking walk down Manistee River Streets memory lane in terms of former businesses where he worked including some that no longer exist.

As a 14 year old, Pepera started working in 1971-72 when he would pedal his bike from Bar Lake on weekends and summer days filling coolers and cleaning around the Northside Bar on Monroe Street.

"What that did for me was bring me into town more and I started out hanging out downtown," said Pepera. "I met Bill and Carol Dunckel who were super nice and the new owners of the Western Auto Store on River Street, who offered me a job."

Pepera laughs and says the wages he got kind of dates how old he is now.

"I was paid 50 cents to assemble a 20-inch bike and $1 for a 10-speed one," said Pepera. "They sold a variety of products like fishing, automotive, stereos and hardware."

His next stop was right across the street at the Hobby Toy store in 1975, when owner Bob Burnett asked Pepera to come work for him.

I assembled and repaired bikes and it was a unique store that sold bikes, models, train sets, games and more, said Pepera. The owner decided to open up Sea Dog Coney Island there serving Detroit-style coney dogs, sandwiches and soups, but it was only open for about a year and most people dont even remember it.

Hobby Toy was then sold to Joe and Cathy Monday who kept him on, but a year later after graduating from high school Pepera moved on to a new endeavor.

I got to know Ben Franklin store manager John Smith from many visits to the Rex Grille for coffee or lunch, and he encouraged me to apply for the assistant manager job, said Pepera.

Ben Franklin was part of a seven-store chain and in 1977 he was transferred to Rogers City where he worked under another longtime Manistee retail person, Glen Hayden. In 1979 he came back to Manistee for a six-month training session in Ludington before becoming the manager of the Manistee Ben Franklin store.

He said during that time he got the opportunity to know many of the other people operating businesses downtown when they would take coffee breaks at the Rex Grille or Woolworths.

There were so many hard-working owners back then putting in the time and energy to keep their businesses running, said Pepera. People like Jim Snyder (Snyders Shoes), Dean Thompson (Thompsons Mens Wear), Bill Moore (Bill Moores Mens Clothing), Dave Carlson (The Jean House) and Dave Badlemante (Gambles). I picked up a lot of knowledge from, so many entrepreneurs, and made great friendships.

Pepera stayed at Ben Franklin until 1982 when they wanted to transfer him to an Indiana store, but he didnt feel it was the right time.

I remember being at a downtown merchant meeting and telling Manistee News Advocate advertising manager Ron Steinberg about my dilemma, said Pepera. He called the next day and asked me to sell advertising, and it turned out to be an interesting job.

He stayed there for two years until another opportunity came up at a furniture store, Comfort Center Manistee.

They were one of my accounts at the News Advocate, and I met manager Pete Barra and went to work out there doing deliveries, sales and service on furniture, mattresses and water beds, said Pepera. After about a year or so, I moved into the manager position and remained there until 1996.

That was when he moved back to a position in downtown Manistee to Jackpine Business Center, where he remained until a month ago.

I was, of course, in the sales department and found out quickly how hard this job was going to be, he said, Product knowledge is the key to sales, and learning about office supplies, computers, office equipment, printing and furniture all at once is challenging.

He said the great connections Jackpine had with the business community made his job a fun experience.

I enjoyed going out and visiting customers and understanding how their business functioned to make it easier for me to get them the products and services they needed in a timely manner, said Pepera. Selling is much more than products, its building friendships that last a lifetime.

Pepera said for many years small town downtowns were the heart of retail shopping of all kinds, but times have changed.

The River Street of today has a whole new challenge of figuring out how to get to the consumer, he said. Specialty stores, restaurants and customer service is where we are now. Competition is worldwide, so you have to find out what the new customers wants, needs and buying habits to fill those spots with your products and services.

He plans to remain in Manistee in his retirement and hopes to keep seeing all the customers he served over the years. He also plans to tackle his wifes to do list and other projects.

I plan to enjoy every day that comes my way and doing some part-time work, playing the drums with the music group Rock Supply, taking bike rides and spending time with the grandkids, he said.
MANISTEE  River Street in downtown Manistee could experience a big change in the coming months  temporarily, at least.

Marc Miller, director of economic development for the Manistee Area Chamber of Commerce and Manistee Downtown Development Authority point person, said during a DDA meeting Wednesday considerations are being made to bring two-way traffic to River Street east of Maple Street.

Miller said the intention is to allow motorists impacted by the future detour necessitated by the upcoming rehabilitation of the U.S. 31 bridge to have easy access to downtown businesses.

"We've been scoping that out, working with (civil engineering firm) Fleis and VandenBrink, (public works director) Jeff Mikula, and I've contacted Spicer (Group) as well just to talk through what might be needed," Miller said.

The alteration would have three basic components, according to Miller.

"We need to have somebody tell us where to put signs so that's communicated, we need to purchase and put up those signs and then we need to stripe the street," he said. "The city does that before July 4 anyway so it might be possible to get a little help with that."

Bill Gambill, city manager, said an emergency traffic order would have to be approved by Josh Glass, Manistee City Police Department chief.

"We just need to come up with a proposal  expense of all the items that we need, make sure that it's a safe environment," Gambill said.

Miller said the traffic order is still in the discussion phase.

"We have had some conversations about what it would take to make that traffic order and what impacts it would have in downtown to be concerned about," he said. "We are in the middle of those discussions but it is very possible that we can do this for the detour. ... It would be a trial run. It might be something that people will appreciate and maybe that can go into the streetscape plan conversation as well and maybe be a permanent thing."

Bruce Allen, DDA member, expressed some skepticism about the idea.

"There's a part of me that says this is the worst possible time to experiment with this, with that bridge closure, because we have unaddressed problems," he said. "Boats and RVs going through downtown  I watch this all the time and it gets a thousand times worse when August rolls around. What's going to happen when it's not just one-way, but two-way traffic?

"... If (Fleis and VandenBrink) says this is the way to take care of that, that's great  I'm listening," Allen continued. "But, we have an unaddressed problem here, which is getting appropriate traffic and for them to know where to park."

Kyle Mosher, DDA chair, pointed out that River Street is not part of the planned detour route.

"There is an existing (Michigan Department of Transportation) detour for the construction," Mosher said. "This would be 100% separate from that and ... obviously there needs to be  I hate to say the word study, but essentially be a study. So more will be forthcoming whether or not it's even possible, and then a decision can be made."

Miller said a lot of legwork is being done to ensure two-way traffic on that stretch of River Street would be feasible.

"It isn't just a 'make it happen' kind of move. There has to be education and notification according to the traffic experts," he said. "I just want to put out that we're moving toward that as a possibility. We'll have some updates in the future."
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EL PASO, Texas (AP)  The border between the U.S. and Mexico was relatively calm Friday, offering few signs of the chaos that was feared following a rush by worried migrants to enter the U.S. before the end of pandemic-related immigration restrictions.

Less than 24 hours after the rules known as Title 42 were lifted, migrants and government officials were still assessing the effect of the change and the new regulations adopted by President Joe Biden's administration to stabilize the region.

We did not see any substantial increase in immigration this morning, said Blas Nunez-Neto assistant secretary for border and immigration policy at the Department of Homeland Security. He said the agency did not have specific numbers.

Migrants along the border continued to wade into the Rio Grande to take their chances getting into the U.S. while defying officials shouting for them to turn back. Others hunched over cellphones trying to access an appointment-scheduling app that that is a centerpiece of the new system. Migrants with appointments walked across a bridge hoping for a new life. And lawsuits sought to stop some of the measures.

The Biden administration has said the revamped system is designed to crack down on illegal crossings and to offer a new legal pathway for migrants who often pay thousands of dollars to smugglers to get them to the border. On Friday, Biden commended Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez for his countrys collaboration with the U.S. and Canada to establish migration hubs in Latin America where asylum seekers will be able to apply for refuge.

Migrants are now essentially barred from seeking asylum in the U.S. if they did not first apply online or seek protection in the countries they traveled through. Families allowed in as their immigration cases progress will face curfews and GPS monitoring.

Across the river from El Paso in Ciudad Juarez, many migrants watched their cellphones in hopes of getting a coveted appointment to seek entry. The application to register to enter the U.S. had changed, and some were explaining to others how to use it. Most were resigned to wait.

I hope its a little better and that the appointments are streamlined a little more, said Yeremy Depablos, 21, a Venezuelan traveling with seven cousins who has been waiting in the city for a month. Fearing deportation, Depablos did not want to cross illegally. We have to do it the legal way.

The legal pathways touted by the administration consist of a program that permits up to 30,000 people a month from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter if they apply online with a financial sponsor and enter through an airport.

About 100 processing centers are opening in Guatemala, Colombia and elsewhere for migrants to apply to go to the U.S., Spain or Canada. Up to 1,000 can enter daily through land crossings with Mexico if they snag an appointment on the app.

If it works, the system could fundamentally alter how migrants come to the southern border. But Biden, who is running for reelection, faces withering criticism from migrant advocates, who say he's abandoning more humanitarian methods, and from Republicans, who claim he's soft on border security.

At the Chaparral port of entry in Tijuana on Friday, a few migrants approached U.S. authorities after not being able to access the appointment app. One of them, a Salvadoran man named Jairo, said he was fleeing death threats back home.

We are truly afraid, said Jairo who was traveling with his partner and their 3-year-old son and declined to share his last name. We cant remain any longer in Mexico and we cant go back to Guatemala or El Salvador. If the U.S. cant take us, we hope they can direct us to another country that can.

Farther east, small groups of Haitian migrants with appointments to request asylum crossed the Gateway International Bridge connecting Matamoros, Mexico, with Brownsville, Texas. They crossed with the assistance of a nongovernmental organization, passing the usual commuter traffic of students and workers lined up on the bridge's pedestrian path.

In downtown El Paso, a few dozen migrants lingered outside Sacred Heart Catholic Church and shelter where as recently as Tuesday nearly 2,000 migrants were camped. Faith leaders in the city are striving to provide shelter, legal advice and prayer for migrants as they navigate new restrictions.

The Rev. Daniel Mora said most of the migrants took heed of flyers distributed this week by U.S. immigration authorities offering a last chance to submit to processing and left. El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said that 1,800 migrants turned themselves over to Customs and Border Protection on Thursday.

Melissa Lopez, executive director for Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services at El Paso, said many migrants have been willing to follow the legal pathway created by the federal government, but there is also fear about deportation and possible criminal penalties for people who cross the border illegally.

Ruben Garcia, director of the Annunciation House shelter in El Paso and coordinator for a regional network on migrant shelters, said he fears that migrants passing through Mexico may be diverted by smugglers away from cities with humanitarian infrastructure toward remote, desolate stretches of the border. He said thousands of migrants are currently passing through two U.S. immigration processing centers in El Paso, amid uncertainty about ensuing deportations and monitored releases.

The lull in border crossings follows a recent surge of crossings by migrants in hopes of being allowed to stay in the United States before the Title 42 restrictions expired.

Title 42 had been in place since March 2020. It allowed border officials to quickly return asylum seekers back over the border on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. The U.S. has declared the national emergency over, ending the restrictions.

While Title 42 prevented many from seeking asylum, it carried no legal consequences, encouraging repeat attempts. After Thursday, migrants face being barred from entering the U.S. for five years and possible criminal prosecution.

Border holding facilities were already far beyond capacity in the run-up to Title 42's expiration. Officials had orders to release migrants with a notice to report to an immigration office if overcrowding and other factors became critical.

But late Thursday, a federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump temporarily halted the administrations plans to release people into the U.S. and set a court date on whether to extend the ruling. Customs and Border Protection said it would comply, but called it a harmful ruling that will result in unsafe overcrowding.

Other parts of the administration's immigration plan were also in legal peril.

Advocacy groups including the ACLU sued the administration on its new asylum rules minutes before they took effect. Their lawsuit alleges the administration policy is no different than one adopted by Trump, which was rejected by the same court.

The Biden administration says its rule is different, arguing that its not an outright ban but imposes a higher burden of proof to get asylum and that it pairs restrictions with other newly opened legal pathways.

ACLU National Political Director Maribel Hernandez Rivera said many new required steps were unrealistic.

Asylum is not something you schedule when you are fleeing for your life," she said.

___

Gonzalez reported from Brownsville, Texas, and Spagat from Tijuana, Mexico. Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Rebecca Santana in Washington; Christopher Sherman in Mexico City; Julie Watson and Suman Naishadham in Tijuana, Mexico; Gerardo Carrillo in Matamoros, Mexico; Maria Verza in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; Gisela Salomon in Miami; and Morgan Lee in Santa Fe, New Mexico contributed to this report.
SEATTLE (AP)  The city of Seattle will pay $2.3 million to settle a lawsuit brought by employees who helped reveal that thousands of then-Mayor Jenny Durkans text messages had been deleted in 2020 amid protests over George Floyds death at the hands of Minneapolis police.

The terms of the citys settlement with Stacy Irwin and Kimberly Ferreiro were finalized this week and released to The Seattle Times through a public disclosure request Friday, the newspaper reported.

After their whistleblower complaint in 2021, further scrutiny showed that texts of other top officials also were not retained from that period in 2020 when police used tear gas against Black Lives Matter protest crowds and temporarily vacated a police precinct during weeks of demonstrations. Protesters also temporarily occupied a small area of the city known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone.

The $2.3 million payout is in addition to nearly $800,000 spent by the city to defend the case.

Irwin and Ferreiro said they were mistreated as public-records officers in Durkan's office for objecting to how the office was handling requests by reporters and others for records, including Durkans texts, according to their lawsuit. They said they were subjected to scorn, ridicule, abuse and hostility  and the demand to perform illegal acts.

They were compelled to resign rather than continue to endure the hostile work environment, according to their lawsuit.

The agreement says the settlement isnt an admission of wrongdoing and prohibits the parties from talking publicly about the settlement amount.

Irwin said she is relieved to end a dark chapter" in her life, but remains upset about having to rebuild her career and disturbed by what happened.

Theres been no accountability, she said. These officials basically got away with it and the taxpayers are paying.

Ferreiro described the mayors office as a pressure cooker and said the experience drove her to move out of Washington. She views the settlement as a win for whistleblowers, but remains a loss for Seattle residents because some questions about the city officials' actions will never be answered."

Deputy City Attorney Scott Lindsay said in an email that the city attorneys office is "pleased we were able to resolve this matter.

Durkan didnt return a request for comment from the newspaper.

Irwin and Ferreiro became whistleblowers when they told the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission about the mayors office mishandling public records requests. An investigation by the ethics commission determined that the mayors legal counsel, Michelle Chen, had violated the state Public Records Act by using narrow interpretations of certain requests to exclude Durkans missing texts.

An attorney for Chen called the investigation unfair, among other things arguing it failed to account for the involvement of others.

Texts and other communications about public business by local elected officials must be kept for at least two years, under state law. Anyone who willfully destroys a public record thats supposed to be kept is guilty of a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.

Durkans office initially cited an unknown technology issue behind the missing messages. A city-commissioned forensic report later found that Durkans phone was likely changed in July 2020 to delete texts automatically after 30 days and was also set to delete texts stored in the cloud.

Other officials with missing 2020 texts included then-police Chief Carmen Best and fire Chief Harold Scoggins, among others. Over 27,000 texts were deleted from Bests phone, while phones used by Scoggins and others were reset in October 2020, a forensic report found.

Last summer, then-King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg asked Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall to investigate the deletion of Durkans texts and those of other city leaders. Cole-Tindalls office has yet to announce any results.
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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP)  Israel and the Islamic Jihad militant group in the Gaza Strip agreed to an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire late Saturday, seeking to halt five days of intense fighting that killed 33 Palestinians, including at least 13 civilians. Two people in Israel were killed by rocket fire.

The tenuous cease-fire appeared to take effect just after 10 p.m., with a last-minute burst of rocket fire and Israeli airstrikes stretching several minutes past the deadline announced by Egypt. Late Saturday, Israel reported additional incoming fire and said it was again striking in Gaza. But the calm appeared to be quickly restored.

While the calm appeared to bring a sense of relief to Gazas more than 2 million people and hundreds of thousands of Israelis who had been largely confined to bomb shelters in recent days, the agreement did nothing to address the underlying issues that have fueled numerous rounds of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip over the years.

In Gaza, Islamic Jihad spokesman Tareq Selmi said Israel had agreed to halt its policy of targeted strikes on the groups leaders. Any stupidity or assassination by the occupation will be met with a response and the Zionist enemy bears the responsibility, he said.

But in a statement thanking Egypt for its mediation efforts, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's national security adviser, Tzachi Nanegbi, said that quiet would be answered with quiet and Israel would do everything that it needs to in order to defend itself.

Tensions could quickly resume next week when Israel holds a contentious march through a main Palestinian thoroughfare in Jerusalem's Old City.

Still, as the truce took hold, the deafening whooshes of outgoing rockets and booms of Israeli airstrikes were replaced by the honking of cars in Gaza. Streets that had been desolate in recent days quickly teemed with people reveling in the ceasefire, waving Palestinian flags and flashing victory signs from speeding vehicles. Amid the celebration, a fruit vendor used a loudspeaker, enthusiastically promoting his supply of bananas.

The latest violence erupted Tuesday when Israeli airstrikes killed three senior Islamic Jihad commanders. Israel said the airstrikes were in response to a burst of rocket fire the previous week and that its attacks have been focused on Islamic Jihad targets. But residents in Gaza said homes of people uninvolved in fighting also had been struck.

At least 10 civilians, including women, young children and uninvolved neighbors were killed in those initial strikes, which drew regional condemnation.

Over the past few days, Israel has conducted more airstrikes, killing other senior Islamic Jihad commanders and destroying their command centers and rocket-launching sites. But the airstrikes showed no signs of stopping the rocket fire, prompting Islamic Jihad to declare victory.

Israel reported over 1,200 launches throughout the fighting, with some rockets reaching as far as the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem areas. Israel said about a quarter of the rockets were misfired and landed in Gaza, while most of the rest were either intercepted or landed in open areas. But an 80-year-old woman and a Palestinian laborer who was working inside Israel were killed by rocket fire. A Palestinian human rights group said three people, including two children, were killed in Gaza by errant rockets.

It was the latest in a long series of battles between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza since the Islamic militant group Hamas seized control of the seaside territory in 2007. Israel and Hamas have fought four wars, and there have been numerous smaller flareups as well.

Saturday's deal did not address many of the many of the causes of the repeated fighting, including Israel's ongoing blockade of Gaza, the large arsenals of weapons possessed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad and Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians claim all three areas for a future state. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but Hamas subsequently overran the territory and expelled forces loyal to the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority.

Israel and Egypt have maintained a blockade over Gaza in what Israel says is a policy aimed at preventing Hamas from arming. The Palestinians and international rights groups say the policy, which restricts the movement of people and goods in and out of Gaza, amount to collective punishment.

The Palestinian Authority, which governs semi-autonomous parts of the West Bank, said Gaza's main cargo crossing with Israel would open Sunday. Hamas government warned on Saturday that if the crossing doesnt open, the lone power plant in Gaza will stop, further deepening a power crisis.

The more powerful Hamas has praised Islamic Jihads strikes but remained on the sidelines during the latest round of fighting, limiting the scope of the conflict. As the de facto government held responsible for the abysmal conditions in the blockaded Gaza Strip, Hamas has recently tried to keep a lid on its conflict with Israel. Islamic Jihad, on the other hand, a more ideological and unruly militant group wedded to violence, has taken the lead in the past few rounds of fighting with Israel.

In a reminder of the combustible situation in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military raided the Balata refugee camp near the northern city of Nablus, sparking a firefight that killed two Palestinians. In a separate incident near the northern city of Jenin, Israeli police said they shot and killed a suspected Palestinian assailant who ran toward soldiers wielding a knife.

Israeli-Palestinian fighting has surged in the West Bank under Israels most right-wing government in history. Since the start of the year, 111 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, at least half of them affiliated with militant groups, according to a tally by The Associated Press. In that time, 20 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks on Israelis.

The truce could be further tested on Thursday when Israeli nationalists plan their annual Jerusalem Day march through the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City. The march, meant to celebrate Israel's capture of the Old City and its Jewish holy sites in 1967, is a frequent source of friction and helped spark an 11-day war with Hamas in 2021.

On Saturday, Palestinians in Gaza ventured out to assess the damage wrought by Israeli warplanes and salvage whatever they could from four destroyed homes in a densely populated neighborhood. Residents denied the army's claims that it had attacked Islamic Jihad targets.

We have no rocket launching pads at all. This is a residential area, said Awni Obaid, beside the debris of what was his three-story house in the central town of Deir al-Balah.

The nearby house of his relative, Jehad Obaid, was also leveled.

I felt like vomiting because of the dust, he said. "This is extraordinary hatred. They claim they dont strike at children, but what we see is craziness, destruction.

___

Federman reported from Jerusalem.
STAMFORD  In the mid 20th century, before Stamford bulldozed much of its downtown to make way for large office buildings, the neighborhood was home to people and businesses.

Roads that now exist in old maps, memories and photos alone, like Cottage Street, had single-family homes. On today's Bell Street, New York City-style brownstones sat next to dozens of parking spots.

Then, according to a 1994 estimate, close to 75 percent of downtown was demolished for an urban redevelopment project that encouraged redevelopment of the former longtime neighborhoods.

Today, the office building boom that replaced the residential areas is evident in the 30-acre block that binds Atlantic Street, Broad Street, Greyrock Place and Tresser Boulevard. According to land use consulting firm Redniss & Mead, the block contains about 2 million square feet of commercial space  including the Stamford Town Center mall and Landmark Square complex  but little housing.

In recent decades, however, the downtown pendulum has been swinging back toward residential buildings. This time around, it's rental housing  and most of what gets built is expensive to live in.

Take the Atlantic and Broad Street block.

An eight-story, 228-unit apartment building, approved in July 2021, is under construction at Broad and Greyrock. The Zoning Board is also multiple hearings into discussion on a proposal that would put 198 luxury apartments next door across the intersection of Broad and Gay streets. And another application awaiting the board's consideration would supplant a Landmark Square office building with 400 new high-end apartments in a 320-foot skyscraper.

Christian Abraham/Hearst Connecticut Media

Head southwest and that same trend is happening near Washington Boulevard, north of Interstate 95.

In March, the Zoning Board approved 471 apartments for two empty lots adjacent to the Rippowam River. The board gave the green light to a 423-foot residential tower for 677 Washington Blvd. in February 2021, but crews have yet to break ground on the development.

A shift in the real estate market

Stamford's past two city planners say that downtown's ongoing shift from office buildings to apartments reflect a changing real estate market.

During urban redevelopment, housing was thought to be less of a profitable investment for developers than commercial office space, former Land Use Bureau Chief Robin Stein said. Meanwhile, commercial office space in Stamford skyrocketed from about 371,000 square feet in 1960 to approximately 16.4 million in 2000, according to real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield.

"In the '70s and '80s, people were not enamored  unless they were in New York City  with living in large apartment buildings. But that changed pretty much nationwide and in Stamford as well," Stein said.

Office demand slowed in the following decades, a shift only accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. As of last year, the city's overall office vacancy rate hovered around 28 percent.

In fact, two recent Zoning Board proposals  the Clinton Avenue plan and the Broad Street proposal  were actually once thought to be the sites of future mixed-use or commercial office buildings, Stein said.

Christian Abraham/Hearst Connecticut Media

The impact of residential development on Downtown Stamford has been "dramatic," Stein said.

"When I first started working in Stamford in the mid-to-late '70s and office buildings were starting to be built ... my story was that after 5 p.m., you could shoot a cannon down any sidewalk in downtown and not hit anybody. And you could count the restaurants downtown on the fingers of one hand  and the good restaurants if you cut off a couple of fingers. That was about it."

Now "we have restaurants, we have bars ... we have life downtown," Stein said.

The housing taking office buildings' space is expensive

The idea of housing's return to downtown was central to the vision described by consultants on March 7, when pitching the Landmark Square redevelopment to the Planning Board.

But who is able to live downtown is starkly different from the pre-urban renewal days. According to a 1979 New York Times article, the urban redevelopment project displaced about "1,200 mostly poor families and 400 mom and pop stores."

Now, much of what ends up being built downtown gets marketed as luxury apartments. And the rents exceed what many working-class residents can afford.

In large part, the expensive high-rises are the result of a housing shortage across Connecticut, Land Use Bureau Chief Ralph Blessing said. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Connecticut needs at least 89,000 more homes for extremely low income renters. Housing is typically considered affordable if a household spends up to a third of their income on housing costs.

There is some affordable housing in today's downtown.

Two of three St. Johns towers remain on Tresser Boulevard, though one was demolished to make way for The Smyth, another high-rise. Franklin Apartments, a deeply affordable complex north of Broad Street, was completed in August 2019, providing housing for about 125 people. And officials continue to add affordable units through the city's Below Market Rate program, which allots 10 percent of units in any new multi-family development with 10 or more units for people making a maximum of 50 percent of the area median income.

Stamford's percentage of affordable housing stock exceeds that of surrounding lower Fairfield County municipalities. As of last year, about 15.71 percent of the city's housing stock could be deemed affordable, compared with 2.91 percent in New Canaan and 5.42 percent in Greenwich.

"The general issue is that there is not enough supply for the demand," Blessing said. "Prices go down if there is more supply, but since we are unable to meet the demand, the prices stay high."

Tyler Sizemore/Hearst Connecticut Media

In addition, the vast majority of Stamford is zoned for single-family homes, meaning that new multifamily housing can only be built in certain parts of the city, such as downtown and the South End.

"The housing market is so tight, what developers are going to build is what they can get the most money for," Blessing said. "We make it so difficult to build non-luxury apartments anywhere else, what theyre going to do is build luxury apartments (downtown) because theyre making a lot of money with it and they can build it."

Office conversions are contentious outside downtown

Officials said office vacancies are easier to fill in the central business corridor than in other neighborhoods. Underused office buildings exist in other Stamford neighborhoods as well, but plans to reclaim the aging corporate parks as housing has ignited fiery debates about the future of the city.

Last year, after neighbors filed a petition to stop Zoning Board approval for a policy change that would have permitted some residential construction in former office parks without explicit approval, the Board of Representatives struck down the change. Talks about similar conversions have ignited similar debates.

Still, Land Use Bureau officials have said that they hope the projects come to fruition. In fact, a conversion in the Cove neighborhood received Zoning Board approval earlier this week.

At its Monday night meeting, the board approved plans to turn Seaview House Marina into a low-density apartment complex with 52 units, despite concerns that the area was prone to flooding from neighbors and the state.

The seven-story building overlooking Westcott Cove had been largely vacant and out of compliance with some environmental regulations. The reconstituted project brings the building into compliance but will not include any affordable units after the developers petitioned to contribute about $10.7 million to Stamford's Affordable Housing Trust Fund in lieu of including 40 below-market-rate apartments in the floor plans.

"It turns a largely unused office building into much needed housing ... I hope we see more projects which convert underused office buildings into additional housing for Stamford, Zoning Board Chair David Stein said Wednesday.

Includes prior reporting by Veronica Del Valle.
The PM spoke highly of the IMO Secretary Generals first visit to Vietnam, and thanked the United Nations (UN), notably the IMO  the UN specialised agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine and atmospheric pollution by ships, for their valuable contributions and support to Vietnam.



Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (right) receives International Maritime Organisation Secretary General Kitack Lim on May 12. (Photo: VNA)

The Vietnamese Government hopes that the IMO will continue to be a pioneering international organisation in promoting maritime cooperation between Vietnam and other member countries, PM Pham Minh Chinh noted.



With a coastline of over 3,000km and many deep-water ports, Vietnam has great potential to promote the maritime industry, he said, attributing the sectors strong development over the past years to the IMOs support.



PM Pham Minh Chinh called on the organisation and the Secretary General to maintain their assistance to Vietnam in raising its maritime capacity and turning such potential into advantages, thus practically contributing to national socio-economic development, and promoting peace, stability, cooperation and development in the world.



He also called for their assistance in building and perfecting the maritime legal system, and joining and implementing relevant international treaties in order to ensure navigation safety, security and freedom and protect the maritime environment.



In reply, Lim expressed his admiration for and congratulated Vietnam on its development achievements in various spheres.



He also commended the countrys vision, resolve, efforts and solutions in achieving the target of net zero emissions by 2050, and suggested Vietnam further share its experience, cooperate with other member countries, and work together with the IMO in realising commitments to emission reduction and sustainable maritime development.



PM Pham Minh Chinh also briefed his guest on Vietnams advantages in renewable energy development, saying the country boasts huge potential for wind and solar energy, biomass electricity and hydrogen, among others.



He suggested the IMO roll out policies in support of developing countries, including Vietnam, in devising maritime development strategies and planning schemes, building and consolidating institutions, applying technologies, and personnel training.



Lim agreed with the PMs proposals, pledging that the IMO will work to materialise them, especially in personnel training./.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP)  Democratic Minnesota senators held firm despite only a one-vote majority Friday to pass gun control legislation strongly supported by the governor that would align the battleground state with others nationally that have taken steps to keep guns out of the hands of people in crisis and criminals.

The proposals include a red flag law that would allow authorities to ask courts for extreme risk protection orders to temporarily take guns away from people deemed to be an imminent threat to others or themselves. The provision is part of a broad public safety budget bill that also contains expanded background checks for gun transfers.

The bill passed 34-33 on a party-line vote late Friday after around nine hours of debate.

What we are going to be providing  finally  is a path forward for families and law enforcement who know that someone's exhibiting signs of crisis and danger," said Democratic Sen. Rob Latz of St. Louis Park, chairman of the Senate public safety committee. "And it will give them lawful tools to separate people in crisis from the firearms that are around them.

Nineteen other states have some kind of red flag laws, Latz noted at a news conference, including several red states.

Across the country, a few cracks have been opening up in the pattern of Republican-controlled states loosening gun laws while Democratic states like Minnesota tighten them. GOP Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee wants to call a special session to pass what he has avoided calling a red flag law, calling it a toxic political label. And two Republicans in a Texas legislative committee broke ranks to back raising the age for buying semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21. But its far too soon to say the GOP is changing direction even amid a record-setting pace for mass killings in the U.S.

Some of Minnesota's rural Democratic senators had long been on the fence. But a key moment came Wednesday when one of them, Sen. Grant Hauschild of Hermantown, announced that he would support the overall bill. The two gun measures were not part of the public safety budget bill that the Senate passed earlier. But they were added Wednesday in the House-Senate conference committee that negotiated the final version, providing some political cover to holdouts by wrapping them into a much bigger public safety package.

Senators from the Republican minority decried several non-firearms provisions that were added to the public safety bill in conference committee that weren't in the original Senate-passed version of the bill.

Democrats who have a more comfortable majority in the Minnesota House scheduled the package for debate late Friday night on the presumption that the Senate would pass it first, but postponed the debate until Saturday. The House had already passed the gun measures as part of its original public safety bill. Democratic Gov. Tim Walz has repeatedly said he will sign the legislation.

The package also includes tougher restrictions on the use by police of no-knock warrants. While it stops short of a ban, it allows only very limited exceptions.

GOP leaders objected to how the final version of the 522-page bill wasn't posted until around 2:30 a.m. Friday. Members can vote only up or down on a conference committee report. They can't amend it. And Republicans were upset at their voices being shut out of shaping the final version, which they oppose on Second Amendment and other grounds.

This bill is actually what bad legislating looks like, Republican House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth of Cold Spring said at a separate news conference. Democrats have full control, but a very small margin.

The Minnesota Legislature is rushing to complete work on the major budget bills of the session before the May 22 adjournment deadline. Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman of Brooklyn Park told reporters Thursday that she wants to adjourn early  either next Thursday night or early next Friday morning. Senate Democratic leaders, however, have not agreed to that.
FAYETTEVILLE, North Carolina -- Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stood before the graduating students of Fayetteville State University on Saturday, the first Black person to lead the Pentagon speaking to the latest class at a historically Black college.

Among the graduates to hear Austin's commencement address were 17 about to become newly minted second lieutenants from the North Carolina university's ROTC program. The day before, Austin visited with soldiers at nearby Fort Bragg, which in June will strip its Confederate name and wipe away a shadow of its racist past when it becomes Fort Liberty.

Austin's message was about service and diversity, and it was personal.

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"I grew up in Georgia in the time of Jim Crow. Our local public high school had long been all white," Austin said in his speech. "And one of my sisters and I were among the first Black students to integrate it.

"Those were pretty ugly days," he said. "And the first year was especially tough."

Military service "deepens our democracy," he told the graduates. But other public service is crucial, Austin said, such as the teachers, school leaders and public officials who stood up for him as a child when the U.S. was still "painfully segregated" -- years after the Supreme Court had struck down the "separate but equal" doctrine.

"I still remember their quiet resolve and civic spirit, and they taught me that service means standing firm on the American principle that all people are created equal," he said.

Austin, now retired from service, is a West Point graduate with a stellar 41-year career in the military that included heading U.S. Central Command. He was also tapped by President Joe Biden's administration, which has focused on making the federal government -- and the Pentagon -- more diverse, to run the Pentagon.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of President Harry Truman integrating the military, a decision in 1948 that finally gave Black troops and others from racial minorities equal treatment.

Few have the authority, resume and position to deliver that message like Austin. FSU students are 80% from racial minorities, and 70% female.

And Austin's visit comes at a time when the services are struggling to meet recruiting goals and looking to attract a young, more diverse generation to enlist. For decades, the military has been a true melting pot, but the services are more than ever seeking inclusion as a selling point.

On Friday, the defense secretary met with 16 Army and 19 Air Force ROTC cadets at the university.

"We've got some great future airmen here, probably some Space Force Guardians in the crowd," Austin told the group during a meeting on campus. "Some future soldiers in the crowd as well. That's all pretty exciting."

The Army said earlier this month that it will not hit its recruiting goal of 65,000 active-duty troops for the year, after falling short 15,000 soldiers last year. The Air Force said in March it will likely miss its annual recruiting goals by 10%.

But the efforts by Austin and others to foster diversity in the ranks have also sparked controversy and blowback from Republicans, who have lumped the issue together with other policy objectives such as rooting out extremism and easing climate change as "woke."

It is part of a "pernicious ideology" that hurts the military's ability to fight wars, the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C., said in a recently released report.

Still, Austin's appearance and speech at FSU served as a sign of changing times as much as the military's hopes of expanding its recruitment pool.

Fort Bragg, where the defense secretary met 82nd Airborne Division special operators that he once commanded, is about to be no more -- at least in name.

In early June, it will become the latest Army installation to be renamed through an act of Congress that will remove references to Confederates who fought for southern slavery during the Civil War. Fort Bragg's namesake, Gen. Braxton Bragg, was a slave owner and military leader with a minimal record of success. The base was originally named Camp Bragg in 1918.

The renaming turns the page on an earlier era where pockets of the U.S. sought to glorify the South's secession.

Austin never mentioned the change, but it still seemed to hang over his trip to Fort Bragg and FSU, and his speech about diversity and past American racism. Earlier this week, the Army renamed Fort Hood to Fort Cavazos to honor a Hispanic war hero, and it renamed Fort Benning after Hal Moore, the legendary Vietnam commander, and Julia Moore, his wife and an advocate for military families.

"I know that the road forward may seem steep. I know that many of you see the distance between where America is and what America should be, and what America can be," Austin told the university graduates. "But to make America's promise real, our democracy needs you."

-- Travis Tritten can be reached at travis.tritten@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @Travis_Tritten.

Related: Pentagon Critics Blame Diversity Policies and Fitness Standards for Recruiting Woes
BERLIN (AP)  Germany will provide Ukraine with additional military aid worth more than 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition, the government said Saturday.

The announcement came as preparations were underway in Berlin for a possible first visit to Germany by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy since Russia invaded his country last year.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that Berlin wants to show with the latest package of arms that Germany is serious in its support for Ukraine.

Germany will provide all the help it can, as long as it takes, he said.

While Zelenskyy's visit on Sunday has yet to be officially confirmed, it would be a sign that relations between Ukraine and Germany have improved markedly after a rocky patch.

Kyiv has long been suspicious of Germany's reliance on Russian energy and support for the Nord Stream gas pipelines circumventing Ukraine, defended by then Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Her successor, Olaf Scholz, agreed to phase out Russian energy imports after the invasion but initially hesitated to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons, fearing Germany could be drawn into the conflict.

With Washington, Warsaw and London more overtly supportive of Ukraine's efforts to defend itself, Berlin got the cold diplomatic shoulder from Kyiv.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was disinvited from Ukraine last year, prompting annoyance in Germany, which pointed out that it has given considerable financial aid to Kyiv and taken in more than a million Ukrainian refugees. Scholz eventually visited Kyiv with French President Emmanuel Macron and other leaders in June.

Though slow to provide military aid, Germany has since become one of the biggest suppliers of arms to Ukraine, crucially giving the green light for deliveries of modern battle tanks like its own Leopard 1 and 2, along with sophisticated anti-aircraft systems needed to fend off drone and missile attacks.

The new military aid package, first reported by German weekly Der Spiegel, includes 30 Leopard 1 A5 tanks, 20 Marder armored personnel carriers, more than 100 combat vehicles, 18 self-propelled Howitzers, 200 reconnaissance drones, four IRIS-T SLM anti-aircraft systems and other air defense equipment. It comes after Ukrainian military commanders said their troops recaptured more territory from Russian forces near the eastern city of Bakhmut amid speculation about a possible counteroffensive by Kyiv.

The Ukrainian president would be arriving from Rome, where he was meeting Saturday with Pope Francis and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni.

Berlin police confirmed last week that they are preparing for a possible visit by Zelenskyy and have imposed a security cordon throughout much of the capital's government district Sunday.

After meeting Scholz and other senior officials at the chancellery, the two leaders are expected to fly to the western city of Aachen, where Zelenskyy would receive the International Charlemagne Prize awarded to him and the people of Ukraine. Organizers say the award recognizes that their resistance against Russia's invasion is a defense "not just of the sovereignty of their country and the life of its citizens, but also of Europe and European values.

Zelenskyy last visited Berlin in July 2021. He also attended the Munich Security Conference the following February, days before Russia launched its full-scale attack on Ukraine.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP)  South Africa's foreign ministry summoned the U.S. ambassador to a meeting Friday over allegations he made a day earlier that the country had provided Russia with arms and ammunition for its war in Ukraine.

Amid the diplomatic fallout over the allegations, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor also planned to speak with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the ministry's spokesperson said on Twitter.

The committee that regulates arms exports in South Africa has no record of an approved arms sale by the state to Russia related to the period/incident in question, spokesperson Clayson Monyela tweeted. If any crimes were committed, the law will take its course.

U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety alleged during a news conference Thursday that weapons and ammunition were secretly loaded onto a Russian cargo ship at the Simons Town naval base in December and then transported to Russia, Brigety said.

We (the U.S.) are confident that weapons were loaded into that vessel, and I would bet my life on the accuracy of that assertion, Brigety said. He called South Africa's arming" of Russia fundamentally unacceptable.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed an investigation was underway into the December visit by the Russian cargo ship Lady R. Before Brigety went public, U.S. and South African officials had agreed behind the scenes that the investigation should be allowed to play out and would incorporate any evidence U.S. intelligence officials shared, Ramaphosa said.

South Africa could be in breach of international law, if it provided arms to Russia. The president's office said in a statement there was no evidence currently that weapons or ammunition were loaded onto the ship at the Simon's Town base or anywhere in South Africa.

The Associated Press has independently verified that the Lady R was at the South African naval base from Dec. 6-8, as Brigety claimed. A review of records by the AP has also shown that the Lady R is tied to a company that was sanctioned by the U.S. for transporting weapons for the Russian government and aiding its war effort.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the situation would likely get discussed at a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Stockholm on Friday. Baerbock noted they were dealing with only allegations so far, but said weapons exports to Russia would be an extension of a war of aggression in violation of international law, and so we take all reports very, very seriously.

South Africa's own arms control laws stipulate that the country will not trade in conventional arms with states engaged in repression, aggression or terrorism.

Ramaphosas office criticized Brigety on Thursday for making the allegations public. Monyela said the South African government would issue a demarche against the ambassador for his allegations, a diplomatic term that refers to a formal complaint.

The episode could seriously strain the relationship between the U.S. and one of its key African partners, although Monyela said in his Twitter post that South Africa values the relations we have with the United States of America. They're cordial, strong and mutually beneficial.

South Africa's position on the war on Ukraine has troubled the U.S. and other Western nations since Africa's most developed country abstained last year in a United Nations vote condemning Russia's invasion. South Africa stated it would take a neutral stance on the war and called for a diplomatic solution to end the fighting.

Critics said that South Africa had effectively sided with Russia after it hosted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for talks in January and allowed Russian and Chinese warships to use its waters for joint naval drills off its east coast in February. The exercises coincided with the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The South African government has also indicated it would be unwilling to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he visits, as expected, for a meeting of leaders of the BRICS economic bloc in August despite the International Criminal Court issuing an arrest warrant for him.

South Africa is a signatory to the international court and is obliged to arrest Putin if he sets foot on its territory.

South Africa has a historical relationship with Russia due to the former Soviet Union's support for the ruling African National Congress when it was a liberation movement fighting to end the apartheid regime of segregation that oppressed the country's Black majority.
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP)  Cyprus is working together with Irish and U.S. military experts to help train two groups of Ukrainian personnel in clearing an untold number of unmarked minefields in their homeland, the island nation's defense minister said Friday.

Replying to an Associated Press query, Minister Michalis Georgallas said a first group of 24 Ukrainians was currently undergoing training in Cypriot military installations, with another group expected to arrive next month.

The training was under the auspices of a European Union Military Assistance Mission (EUMAM Ukraine) that was launched last October to meet Ukraines calls for support, he said.

As the situation on the ground in Ukraine now stands, a 5,000-strong team of demining experts would need at least 30 years to clear all mines from unmarked minefields across the front lines, Georgallas said.

He said Cypriot officers are also taking part in training of Ukrainian personnel in Germany.

Cyprus has much experience in demining as many thousands of the deadly munitions remain. The mines are a vestige of defenses set up in the wake of the 1974 Turkish invasion triggered by a coup that aimed to unite Cyprus with Greece.

The United Nations have for years assisted in demining efforts, particularly inside a buffer zone it controls that separates a breakaway, Turkish Cypriot north and an internationally recognized, Greek Cypriot south.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv was delaying its long-awaited counteroffensive against Russias occupying forces because it lacked enough Western weapons to succeed without taking too many casualties.

A Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russias more than 14-month-old invasion has been expected since warmer weather improved battlefield conditions. But Zelenskyy told European broadcasters in an interview aired Thursday that a counteroffensive now would result in too many casualties and that would be unacceptable.

The Ukrainian president said more time was needed since not everything has arrived yet in terms of equipment.

Ukraines troops are receiving Western training, as well as advanced weapons, as they gear up for an assault.

Cyprus has said it won't transfer its Soviet-era tanks, armored personnel carriers and anti-aircraft missile batteries to Ukraine because it continues to face off against 35,000 Turkish troops deployed in the north.
NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue (R) and Secretary General of the Cuban Women's Union Teresa Maria Amarelle Boue. (Photo: VNA)

The top legislator said Teresa Maria Amarelle Boues visit contributes to strengthening the traditional, special friendship between the two Parties, States and peoples.



It takes place at the time when Vietnam and Cuba are celebrating the 60th founding anniversary of the Cuban Committee for Solidarity with South Vietnam - the predecessor of the current Cuba - Vietnam Friendship Association (September 25, 1963-2023), and the 50th anniversary of Cuban leader Fidel Castro Ruzs first visit to Vietnam and the liberated zone in the South of Vietnam (September 1973), he continued.

NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue recalled his deep impressions during his recent official visit to the Caribbean nation, and shared difficulties facing Cuba, especially those caused by the embargo, the COVID-19 pandemic and fires in 2022.



The Vietnamese State and people always accompany the Cuban Party, State and people and will do the utmost to support them, he pledged.



The host also congratulated Cuba on its achievements in the cause of national development, and promoting gender equality and womens progress.



For her part, Teresa Maria Amarelle Boue, who is also a deputy of the National Assembly of People's Power of Cuba, said her visit aims to learn about Vietnams policies and laws, and learn from the countrys experience in promoting womens progress.



On behalf of Cuban people and women, she thanked Vietnam for supporting the implementation of projects and providing technical consultations over the past time.



NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue spoke highly of Cuban womens role and the operation of the CUW, as well as cooperation between the CUW and the Vietnam Womens Union with two agreements for the 2018-2022 and 2022-2027 periods.



Enhancing cooperation and experience exchange between the two unions plays an important role in the present context, he stressed.



The Vietnamese leader asked the guest to convey his wishes and regards to General Raul Castro Ruz; First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel; Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz; and President of the National Assembly of People's Power Esteban Lazo Hernandez.



He also used the occasion to extend his invitations to the Cuban friendship female parliamentarians' group to soon visit Vietnam, and Cuban representatives to attend the ninth Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Forum of Young Parliamentarians in Hanoi slated for September./.
The Red Sox plan to select the contract of infielder Pablo Reyes, reports Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). Corner infielder Bobby Dalbec will be optioned to Triple-A Worcester in a corresponding active roster move, reports Christopher Smith of MassLive. Boston already had an opening on the 40-man roster after losing Zack Littell on waivers.

Reyes has played the 2023 campaign in the As system. The utilityman signed a minor league contract with Oakland and started the year with their top affiliate in Las Vegas. The Red Sox acquired him for cash this morning. Its unclear whether Reyes deal with the As contained an upward mobility clause that required them to make him available if another team offered an immediate roster spot or whether Oakland made the deal out of courtesy. In either case, the 29-year-old returns to the majors for whatll be a fifth season in six years.

A native of the Dominican Republic, Reyes began his career in the Pirates system. He reached the majors with Pittsburgh in 2018 and tallied a personal-high 157 plate appearances the following season. He was suspended for the entire 2020 campaign after failing a performance-enhancing drug test and Pittsburgh cut him loose at the end of that year. Reyes signed a minor league deal with the Brewers and cracked the MLB roster early in 2021. Hed appear in 59 games over the next two seasons.

Between Pittsburgh and Milwaukee, the right-handed hitting Reyes has a .238/.307/.361 batting line over 323 big league plate appearances. He owns a solid .273/.342/.440 slash in just under 1300 trips to the plate at the Triple-A level. That includes a .257/.385/.351 start over 21 games for the Aviators in 2023. Hes long shown solid plate discipline and contact skills without much power.

Reyes is out of minor league option years. Boston will have to keep him on the MLB roster or make him available to other teams via waivers. He brings a fair bit of flexibility to Alex Coras bench. Hes logged ample minor league work at both middle infield positions, third base and in left and center field. The bulk of his time  just over 3000 innings  has been spent at the keystone. Hell add some middle infield depth behind the current starting duo of Enmanuel Valdez and Enrique Hernandez.

As for Dalbec, he heads back to Triple-A after a brief recall from the minors. Hes appeared in just seven MLB games this year after topping 100 contests in each of the preceding two seasons. The right-handed hitter owns a solid .238/.374/.475 line over 23 games with Worcester but hes striking out almost 40% of the time at the Triple-A level.
The White Sox announced this afternoon that veteran reliever Alex Colome has gone unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment earlier in the week. Hes been sent outright to Triple-A Charlotte, though hell have the right to decline that assignment and elect minor league free agency.

Colomes second stint with the White Sox proved brief. He signed a minor league deal in April and was selected onto the major league roster during the first week of May. He came out of the bullpen four times, surrendering four runs (two earned) in three innings. Colome walked three and only picked up two strikeouts before being DFA.

That brief look marked the 11th consecutive season in which Colome reached the highest level. The right-hander pitched 47 frames for the Rockies last season, allowing a career-worst 5.74 ERA with a modest 14.9% strikeout rate. Before last season, Colome had consistently overcome middling strikeout numbers to keep runs off the board at a quality clip, largely on the strength of strong ground-ball numbers.

The 34-year-old signed a minor league deal with the Nationals over the winter. He spent Spring Training with Washington and was granted his release after being informed he wouldnt break camp. Hed logged eight innings for Charlotte after signing with Chicago prior to his call-up. He allowed three runs with seven strikeouts and four free passes. Hell now decide whether to head back to Charlotte or to explore other opportunities (likely of the minor league variety) in free agency.
ANN ARBOR, MI -- Grizzly Peak Brewing Co. has been bringing beer and casual vibes to downtown Ann Arbor for nearly 30 years.

For those who havent been there before, General Manager Maura Zakem describes it as a traditional brew pub that offers a lighter and brighter, approach. The longstanding neighborhood bar began serving craft beer to Ann Arbor in 1995 and has kept some loyal, regular customers.

I credit that to the staff that works here, Zakem said. The bartenders make genuine connections with all of the guests that sit at their bar, and thats what keeps people coming back.

Read more: Weekend wine bar now available at The Cellar by Grizzly Peak

The pub also tries to keep customers coming back with its menu items, Zakem said.

We want to provide new fresh items that keep people interested, she said. So the current iteration of the menu has a lot of brighter, fresher and colorful items as opposed to, sort of, the things we used to have.

One of the pubs most iconic dishes is its cheddar ale soup, Zakem said, adding that people specifically come to Grizzly Peak for it. The dish is made with one of the pubs house beers, sharp cheddar and fresh thyme and is served with peppered pretzel croutons.

The recipe hasnt changed since it was first put on the menu and its something well never get rid of, she said. Its rich, creamy, comforting and definitely a signature item.

Another top-selling menu item is the smash burger, Zakem said, adding its so simple, but so good. The burger is two smashed beef patties, American cheese, lettuce, tomato and a house made chimichurri aioli served on a challah roll.

Grizzly Peak also brews and serves beer that cannot be found anywhere else, Zakem said. The pubs brewer has been working there more than 20 years and is behind creating the classic beer options its known for.

Customers can typically find a few house beers available all year, including a lager called Victors Gold, an amber ale called Steelhead Red, an American style IPA called Urban Warbear and an English style IPA called Sheerwater Burton IPA. There are also typically four or five seasonal taps available.

For non-beer lovers, there are cocktail options to choose from.

Customers can find a special drink list all Mothers Day weekend, Zakem said, with both alcoholic and non-alcoholic options. One of these drinks is a Clover Club cocktail made with gin, raspberry syrup, lemon and dry vermouth.

The pub is also highlighting its 2023 Womens Day beer called Iron Goddess for Mothers Day. Customers can try the pubs house-made hop soda made with sparkling water and fresh hops if theyre looking for a non-alcoholic option instead.

Grizzly Peak, 120 W. Washington St., is open noon to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and noon to midnight Friday and Saturday. Find it online, on social media or by phone at 734-741-7325.

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YPSILANTI, MI -- When Kirk Moore began looking to change jobs after 25 years in his police department, Ypsilanti kept drawing him in.

Ypsilanti kept popping up, he said, adding he was encouraged after watching several government meetings. They were very optimistic about (Ypsilantis) future, and it was apparent that they were full of pride.

It stuck out, and so he applied.

Moore joined Ypsilantis police force as its newest chief late last month, officially taking the helm on Thursday, April 20. He is the citys first new, permanent police chief in more than nine years after former Chief Tony DeGiusti, who had served as the chief since 2014, retired in August 2022.

When you have a community thats willing to be engaged and willing to put their time into making their community better, its really an opportunity for a police chief to build a very cohesive relationship with the community and bring them into what were doing, he said.

Originally from New Orleans, Moore went to school in Nashville and has spent the past 25 years of his 32-year career as a captain for the Henderson Police Department in Nevada. He has two sons ages 21 and 22, one of whom is currently in the police academy.

Although he is just three weeks into his tenure, Moore said he is working to increase transparency and staffing.

I believe in transparency

The Ypsilanti Police Department has long struggled with transparency issues, with residents questioning why they dont hear about major events like homicides. In recent years, city officials put pressure on the department to increase communication about events.

Read more: Another crime we will never hear about: Ypsilanti police under pressure to increase transparency

Moore wants to change that, he said.

The community has every right to know whats occurring and how it impacts their ability to live a normal life, he said.

In addition to hosting events like Talk Shop With A Cop and working closely with the Ypsilanti Police Advisory Council (YPAC), Moore plans to launch a report card program and increase accessibility to police data. He also has brought on a communications manager.

The report card program, which is set to launch in the next few months, will allow residents to provide feedback after any interaction with an officer. Metrics created in tandem with YPAC will eventually output a report card for the department based on community feedback, Moore said.

You should be able to engage with the department almost at the click of a button, Moore said.

He also standardized the release of information when someone dies or is killed, as well as the system to track how many deaths there are in a year.

We want to make sure that we are completely transparent and accountable and responsible, Moore said. To me, transparency is synonymous with responsibility.

Staffing is a main concern

In his slew of one-on-one meetings in recent weeks  he wants to meet with everyone in the department individually, Moore said  one concern has consistently risen to the surface: staffing.

That has literally been a topic in almost every discussion Ive had, he said.

A new recruitment team and several upcoming training graduates have put the department on track to fill five of its seven vacancies, Moore said. Operating understaffed means no room for sick leave and creates mandatory overtime, which can put stress on officers, he said.

By filling those vacancies, it would allow me to do a realistic assessment about manpower, Moore said. Weve been running short.

Despite staffing struggles, people have spoken highly of the officers still there, according to the new chief.

Everyone has spoken about the grit of the individuals that work at this police department, Moore said. Theyre committed and, even though some of the challenges and the shortages, they understand how important it is to provide that service to the community.

Moore plans to invest in leadership training, alongside other skills, for the department, which he said skews young.

My most senior officer may be at the six- or seven-year mark. Thats very young for police organization, it really is, Moore said. Its imperative that my supervision be in the mode of teaching.

Despite the challenge ahead, Moore already feels welcome in the community, he said. But, he added, he asks the community for patience as the department transitions.

Come on his journey with this, and watch as we transform this community in our relationship with the community, Moore said.

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ANN ARBOR, MI -- A group of moms announced their Mothers Day wish during a rally in Ann Arbor on Saturday, May 13.

This Mothers Day, we dont want cards. We dont want flowers. We want Congress to reinstate the assault weapons ban, was the motto of Washtenaw Countys Moms Demand Action rally at the Ann Arbor Federal Building on Saturday -- Mothers Day eve.

Established in 2012, Moms Demand Action is a grassroots movement with chapters in every state working to end gun violence. On Saturday, the group joined its sister movement Students Demand Action for a Day of Action, demanding Congress reinstate the Federal Assault Weapons ban of 1994.

The ban, which kept certain semi-automatic weapons like the AR-15 from being manufactured or sold for civilian use, was not renewed by Congress in 2004 and was never reinstated.

Theres arguments  that assault weapons make up a small percentage of gun violence. But, I argue that they totally wreak havoc upon communities, and they have been the weapon of choice in 10 out of 17 of the deadliest mass shootings since 2012, Michigan chapter lead Celeste Kanpurwala said.

So, while we have a lot of work to do and handguns are certainly responsible for more gun deaths, I would say that assault weapons and assault rifles are responsible for so much devastation  and we can do better.

Attendees march during a Moms Demand Action rally at Ann Arbor Federal Building, 200 E. Liberty St., on Saturday, May 13, 2023. Those who attended the Mothers Day Eve rally advocated against gun violence.Grace Tucker | MLive.com

After a short march down East Liberty street, attendees gathered on the steps of the Ann Arbor Federal Building for a series of speeches from leaders, beginning with Washtenaw County chief prosecutor Eli Savit.

AR-15s were designed for the military. Period. Their designer, Eugene Stoner, never owned one himself as he never intended them to make it into the hands of civilians, Kanpurwala said, asking the crowd to call on their legislators to reinstate the ban and stand up to the powerful gun lobby.

The Ann Arbor rally was one of several Moms Demand Action rallies taking place across the state Saturday. The movements Michigan chapter has 15 local groups. Volunteers in Grand Rapids, Royal Oak, Pontiac, Detroit, Grosse Pointe and Ferndale all hosted demonstrations Saturday.

Moms Demand Action was founded by Shannon Watts, a mother of five and former communications executive who pivoted her career toward challenging gun violence after the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012. The movement is housed under Everytown for Gun Safety, a large gun violence prevention organization with nearly 10 million supporters.

The leaders of Huron High Schools Students Demand Action chapter -- Audrey Hargett, Katie Winkler and Selene Koremenos-Tsebelis -- also spoke at Saturdays rally.

Huron High School students (from left) Audrey Hargett, Katie Winkler, and Selene Koremenos-Tsebelis address the crowd on behalf of Students Demand Action during a Moms Demand Action rally at Ann Arbor Federal Building, 200 E. Liberty St., on Saturday, May 13, 2023. Those who attended the Mothers Day Eve rally advocated against gun violence.Grace Tucker | MLive.com

Koremenos-Tsebelis explained why they were motivated to launch a chapter at their school.

It began as the kind of thing where (gun violence) was far away, and it happened once or twice, and it was scary, but then people moved on. And then, it got closer and closer and closer, until it was people we know, she said. At some point last year, Katie and I were like Enough is enough.

Michigans chapter of Moms Demand Action has worked for 10 years to boost legislative regulations of gun purchases and usage. Its latest victory: Standing alongside Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on April 13 as she signed into law two gun safety bills enforcing secure storage and background checks.

Red flag laws are also making their way through the Legislature, which would permit the removal of firearms from people who exhibit a risk to themselves or others.

Moving forward, Kanpurwala said the Michigan chapter is prioritizing red flag laws and legislation that prohibits gun usage by domestic abusers and in sensitive places like schools or polling locations.

People can learn more about Moms Demand Action here and Students Demand Action here.

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FLINT, MI  Over 81 years ago, a group of military mothers met at the Durant Hotel in Flint for the inaugural meeting of the Blue Star Mothers of America.

While the Flint chapter no longer exists among the 200 plus locations across the United States, local military and veteran family members are working to bring one back to the city.

Blue Star Mothers, an organization made up of women with children or family members who are serving active duty, guard, reserves or loved ones who are veterans. However, anyone in the community can join as an associate member, even if they are not directly connected to someone in the military.

Among other duties, members get together to send care packages to deployed soldiers, attend military and veteran events, make weekly phone calls to veterans and hold clean up days in the community.

We not only support our deployed soldiers, but we also support our veterans because the war doesnt always stop when they come home, Stacy Breithaupt, President of the Midland County Blue Star Mothers and Second VP of Blue Star Mothers of Michigan, said. And then we also support each other, as  our sons and daughters go off to different places and get deployed.

The Flint chapter was in danger of closing in 2012 due to lack of leadership and members and ultimately shut down after 2015.

Now, Breithaupt, a Grand Blanc/Burton native and veteran who recently returned to Michigan, is interested in bringing the Blue Star Mothers back to the city with help from her mom Patty Jarvis, Midland Countys Blue to Gold Liaison, and a few friends who are also military parents.

We got together and decided that it would be a good thing to have a chapter in Flint  because we do have a (Veterans Association) there and there are people deploying still, Breithaupt said. We can support those soldiers that are deployed and the veterans that are home now. Theres not one there, and its where we all started, so wed like to bring it back.

In order to charter a new chapter, Breithaupt said the group needs five executive board members: a president, vice president, treasurer, financial secretary and a recording secretary.

Once the board is solidified and the charter process is complete, the group can begin meeting, fundraising and participating in veteran events.

Blue Star Mothers also support Gold Star Mothers. While Blue Star Mothers have children who are active duty or veterans, Gold Star Mothers have lost a soldier during deployment.

We support our Gold Star moms, and so we do those kinds of ceremonies and dedications, Breithaupt said. If something horrible happens, we represent those families with a Gold Star banner.

Breithaupt said bringing a Blue Star Mothers chapter back to Flint would increase support spaces in the community for military members, veterans and their families.

We just feel the military and veterans need people they can speak to, Breithaupt said. War doesnt end when these soldiers come home, so its important to be able to be involved and recognize those people that need just someone to talk to sometimes or somebody to hang out with at an event or whatever. We just try to bring all of that hope and patriotism  back.

Carrie Wagner, Interim Director for the Genesee County Department of Veterans Services, said although she has not heard of the Blue Star Mothers attempting to return to Flint, she supports the organization.

We would love to partner with them to get the word out, Wagner said. We want to reach every corner of Genesee County to let people know where (Veterans Services) are and what were here for.

If the Flint chapter is reinstated, Breithaupt said she will transfer from the Midland Chapter.

Im not sure if it will be called the Flint chapter or if it will be called the Genesee County Chapter, Breithaupt said. Either way, its an underserved area at this point, so were trying to change that.

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FLINT, MI -- Mayor Sheldon Neeley has issued an executive order, designating an employee parking garage beneath City Hall as off-limits to the public because of recent threats of physical violence and intimidation against city officials.

Neeley announced the order on Friday, May 12, four days after a Flint City Council meeting in which 9th Ward Councilwoman Eva Worthing received a police escort to her vehicle and 4th Ward Councilwoman Judy Priestley said she didnt feel really safe and reported that audience members followed her as she walked to her vehicle.

The mayor told MLive-The Flint Journal that the order is in response to threats made against council members after they met at the Genesee County administration building on Monday, May 8.

Worthing, Priestley and council President Allie Herkenroder walked out of that meeting, which was marred by bitter bickering among council members and heckling by the audience.

This is the first of several forthcoming actions to ensure the safety of council members and city employees, Neeley said in a statement. Several upcoming council meetings will take place in the dome at City Hall, and we want to be proactive about ensuring the safety of everyone in attendance.

The City Council is meeting outside its chambers -- at the county building and the dome -- during the renovation of the chambers.

The city announced the new executive order in a news release, which says the mayor has the authority to determine the use of space within City Hall and within city boundaries.

But 6th Ward Councilwoman Tonya Burns said Neeleys new order isnt necessary and said the meeting Monday grew out of order because it was poorly run by 2nd Ward Councilwoman Ladel Lewis.

The council debate during its Special Affairs meeting stretched for more than four hours and members who remained never dealt with any business on the regular meeting agenda because the county building closed for the evening at 9:30 p.m.

Lewis warned one audience member at the meeting about possible removal and declared there was chaos in the chamber before calling a recess after Priestley, Herkenroder and Lewis left the meeting.

If you put nine people (together) youre going to have disagreements, Burns said. Sometimes you have to work through the difficulties.

Burns said theres no history of threats being made in the city parking garage and said audience members were coming and going from the county parking area, not following council members.

Neeleys order designates the city parking garage as a non-public area and says it can only be used by only city employees and their passengers.

Anyone who isnt authorized to be in the garage is loitering, a violation of city ordinance, and could be arrested and prosecuted, the citys announcement says.

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NEWAYGO COUNTY, MI -- A hit-and-run crash between a truck and a quad left one person in the hospital and two in jail Friday afternoon, police said.

At about 12:35 p.m. May 12, deputies from the Newaygo County Sheriffs Office responded to a crash between a truck and an ATV on South Bagley Avenue near West 128th Street in Ashland Township -- southern Newaygo County.

A pickup truck had been heading northbound on South Bagley Avenue when the driver lost control, went off the roadway and hit an ATV being driven by an 85-year-old Grant man, according to a news release from the sheriffs office.

While on their way to the scene, police learned the truck driver had fled the crash site.

The 85-year-old was found suffering from injuries at the scene and taken to Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids for treatment, police said.

Deputies searched the area and found the truck crashed and abandoned in the woods nearby. The area was searched using multiple K-9 units.

The search led police to find a 50-year-old man -- also of Grant -- hiding in the woods. He later admitted to driving the truck, police said, and was taken into custody and lodged at the Newaygo County Jail on numerous charges.

A 38-year-old woman from Grand Rapids was also found hiding and lodged at the Newaygo County Jail on an outstanding warrant. She was later identified as the passenger of the pickup truck, police said.

The crash is still under investigation, police said. Deputies were assisted at the scene by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Michigan State Police, Grant-Ashland Fire Department, Life EMS, Jerrys Towing and Newaygo County Central Dispatch.

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GRAND RAPIDS, MI  Hankering for a New Orleans style seafood boil or a Maine lobster roll? Head over to Beacon Corner Bar in Grand Rapids for all your seafood needs.

Beacon Corner Bar, which opened at the end of 2021, is located at 38 Fulton St. W and owned by Cindy and Dan Schneider, the owners of San Chez Bistro and Roam.

The main focus is casual but really good food, said Beacon Corner Bar General Manager Ana Padilla. The space is very light so we open the doors and its great. Its like a New Orleans feeling, its very fun. If you want to wear sandals, go ahead.

Padilla said one of the restaurants best sellers are the oysters, served on the half-shell with mignonette and lemon for market price.

Were known for oysters, she said. When somebody comes in and theyve never tried oysters, this is the perfect spot. Theyre fresh and its hard to keep up with all the orders.

The Beacon Corner Bar menu includes appetizers, soups and salads, handheld sandwiches, entrees and desserts. But the star of the menu is the build-your-own seafood boil.

Each boil comes with potatoes, onions and corn in a homemade broil broth with biscuits. Choose from crab, shrimp, clams, mussels, sausage, artichoke hearts and mini lobster, along with seasonal specialties.

We start off with our own homemade vegetable broth and then the spices are things like Old Bay seasoning, smoked paprika, Spanish paprika, lemon pepper and garlic and onion, said Sous Chef Susan Dorsey. I think the most popular choice is the shrimp and the andouille sausage.

Dorsey said other popular seafood boil options are the crab legs and specialties like Argentina red shrimp and crawfish. A half-pound of shrimp in the seafood boil runs $18 and a half-pound of sausage is $15. All seafood boils are served with a bib and gloves and boils are 15% off on Tuesdays.

If youre not in the mood to get messy with a seafood boil, try the lobster roll sandwich, served either Maine style or Connecticut style for $30.

The Maine style lobster roll is served on a toasted New England bun with lightly dressed butter-poached lobster, celery and fresh lemon. A Connecticut sytle lobster roll is served on a toasted New England bun with warm butter-poached lobster and fries.

Weve even had guests from Maine come in and give us the seal of approval on our lobster roll, Padilla said. Its the real deal.

Or, try the scallop linguine for $25, made with seared scallops, roasted artichokes, capers and a lemon cream sauce on top of linguine noodles.

Related: New seafood restaurant opens in downtown Grand Rapids

For folks not fond of seafood, Beacon Corner Bar offers fried chicken and pastrami sandwiches, along with a smash burger and chicken tender basket. The restaurant also offers a walleye basket ($16) or a coconut shrimp basket ($12), both served with fries and your choice of sauce.

The bar at Beacon is fully stocked, with specialty cocktails, mocktails, beer and wine. Try the Sea is for Cucumber cocktail, made with house-infused cucumber hibiscus tequila and agave sour with a salt and pepper rim for $12.

Padilla said the restaurant just fired up its slushie machine for frozen margaritas and other summertime signature cocktails. One of the most popular cocktails is the Freakbeat for the Beet Freak, made with a beet and sage-infused tequila, triple sec, sour and a salt rim for $12.

Make sure to save room for the Key Lime pie, one of Padillas personal favorite menu items for $12 a slice. The citrus Key Lime pie is topped with fresh whipped cream and candied lime.

Its really delicious, Padilla said. It has a good balance of tartness and the candied lime on top is great.

Beacon Corner Bar is open 2-9 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 11 a.m.-7 p.m. on Sunday. A full menu is available online at beaconcornerbar.com/menu and the restaurant can be reached at 616-383-3800.

Want more Grand Rapids-area news? Bookmark the local Grand Rapids news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Grand Rapids daily newsletter.

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The USAID Competitive Economy Program for Ukraine announced a grant program to create and support associations of enterprises into export alliances with a total funding of $1.5 million, the press service of the Ministry of Economy reported on Friday.

"Grant support for export alliances will strengthen the potential of Ukrainian enterprises, push them to unite for the common goal of conquering new markets," Natalia Petrova, USAID project manager, said.

The program provides for the provision of about 15 grants with a volume of $35,000 to $150,000. Applications will be accepted until September 30, 2023. Given the significant interest, the acceptance and consideration of applications will take place in stages on June 30 and September 30, 2023.

The Ministry of Economy added that the purpose of the grant program is to support enterprises seeking to jointly promote their products on international markets. The initiative is being implemented in partnership with the Entrepreneurship and Export Promotion Office and the national project Diia.Business.

As the press service clarified, the priority sectors for grant support are information technology, engineering, manufacturing, as well as creative industries and services. However, this USAID program is open to applications to support other eligible sectors.

The USAID Competitive Economy Program for Ukraine supports start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) to increase their competitiveness in the domestic market of Ukraine and in international markets, helps develop a simplified and transparent business climate, and provides Ukrainian companies with opportunities to take advantage of international trade. The key tool for implementing the USAID program is a national-scale grant program with a budget of $12.5 million for 2018-2023.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Nearly 10,000 people took to the streets of Grand Rapids Saturday morning, May 13 for the 46th Amway River Bank Run.

The 25K run began at 8:30 a.m. on Ottawa Avenue and headed north toward Michigan Street, with the finish line on Monroe Avenue. It is the largest 25K running race in the U.S. The event this year is presented by Amway, Fifth Third Bank and Spectrum Health.

RELATED: See race winners, complete results from the Amway River Bank Run 2023

Here are our top 17 favorite photos from the 2023 Amway Riverbank Run:

Scenes from the Amway Riverbank Run on Saturday, May 13, 2023. (Drew Travis | MLive.com)Drew Travis | atravis@mlive.com

Scenes from the Amway Riverbank Run on Saturday, May 13, 2023. (Drew Travis | MLive.com)Drew Travis | atravis@mlive.com

Scenes from the Amway Riverbank Run on Saturday, May 13, 2023. (Drew Travis | MLive.com)Drew Travis | atravis@mlive.com

Scenes from the Amway Riverbank Run on Saturday, May 13, 2023. (Drew Travis | MLive.com)Drew Travis | atravis@mlive.com

Scenes from the Amway Riverbank Run on Saturday, May 13, 2023. (Drew Travis | MLive.com)Drew Travis | atravis@mlive.com

Scenes from the Amway Riverbank Run on Saturday, May 13, 2023. (Drew Travis | MLive.com)Drew Travis | atravis@mlive.com

Scenes from the Amway Riverbank Run on Saturday, May 13, 2023. (Drew Travis | MLive.com)Drew Travis | atravis@mlive.com

Scenes from the Amway Riverbank Run on Saturday, May 13, 2023. (Drew Travis | MLive.com)Drew Travis | atravis@mlive.com

Scenes from the Amway Riverbank Run on Saturday, May 13, 2023. (Drew Travis | MLive.com)Drew Travis | atravis@mlive.com

Scenes from the Amway Riverbank Run on Saturday, May 13, 2023. (Drew Travis | MLive.com)Drew Travis | atravis@mlive.com

Scenes from the Amway Riverbank Run on Saturday, May 13, 2023. (Drew Travis | MLive.com)Drew Travis | atravis@mlive.com

Scenes from the Amway Riverbank Run on Saturday, May 13, 2023. (Drew Travis | MLive.com)Drew Travis | atravis@mlive.com

Scenes from the Amway Riverbank Run on Saturday, May 13, 2023. (Drew Travis | MLive.com)Drew Travis | atravis@mlive.com

25K racers run over the Michigan Street Bridge during the Amway River Bank Run in downtown Grand Rapids on Saturday, May 13, 2023. (Cory Morse | MLive.com) Cory Morse | MLive.com

5K racers run over the Michigan Street Bridge during the Amway River Bank Run in downtown Grand Rapids on Saturday, May 13, 2023. (Cory Morse | MLive.com) Cory Morse | MLive.com

25K racers, including Jacob Thomson (12), Leonard Korir (1), Brian Shrader (19) and Joel Reichow (16), run over the Michigan Street Bridge during the Amway River Bank Run in downtown Grand Rapids on Saturday, May 13, 2023. (Cory Morse | MLive.com) Cory Morse | MLive.com

To view the gallery, click here.

Scenes from the Amway Riverbank Run on Saturday, May 13, 2023. (Drew Travis | MLive.com)Drew Travis | atravis@mlive.com

Runners, as well as family and friends, can look up run times here.

Want more Grand Rapids-area news? Bookmark the local Grand Rapids news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Grand Rapids daily newsletter.

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GRAND RAPIDS, MI  Prom dresses can be expensive, and the hefty cost of buying a dress can prevent many teens from being able to participate in the beloved tradition of attending their high school prom.

But thanks to donations from the Grand Rapids community, over 200 teens received a beautiful dress  free of charge  that they could rock at their high school prom this spring.

The Grand Rapids Public Schools Foundation collected hundreds of donated prom dresses this spring and distributed them to GRPS students during three dress giveaway events in April. The events took place at Ottawa Hills High School, University Preparatory Academy, and Union High School.

Stephanie Andrews, president and CEO of the GRPS Foundation, said the effort was a heart-warming opportunity to remove a costly barrier for girls who might not have gone to prom this year because they didnt think they could afford a dress.

Girls who never even thought that was accessible to them, to attend their school dance, all of a sudden are excited and cant wait to go, she said. The girls will call their moms and say, Mom, guess what, I have a dress! Can I go?

Just watching an opportunity take shape right before your eyes is really cool.

The foundation first began collecting dresses ahead of homecoming earlier this year. The dresses were so well-received that the foundation decided to collect them again for prom, according to GRPS. The foundation ended up collecting over 320 dresses this year in total.

Andrews said the foundation relied mostly on word-of-mouth to seek donations from women in the Grand Rapids community, rather than advertising a request for donated dresses from other schools.

We really wanted our girls to know they are valued and loved, and we didnt want this to be a situation where were giving from one school district to another, she said. It was really just a variety of women in the community who stepped up and looked in their own closets or asked their friends to help us uncover dresses that really give us a second chance.

At the dress giveaway events in April, GRPS teens had the opportunity to browse through the selection and try on dresses to find the perfect fit.

Of the districts 13,787 students, 10,720 or 77.7% are considered economically disadvantaged, according to 2022-23 state data.

Kimberley Williams, president of the Grand Rapids Board of Education, was among the volunteers who helped to distribute the dresses at Grand Rapids University Preparatory Academy. She said it was humbling to help so many girls feel beautiful with a new dress.

I was able to help a young lady try on a dress and style it a little bit and she was just so happy, she said, in a statement from the district. Its important to me that our scholars see people who care about them giving them something to make their prom experience special.

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GRAND RAPIDS, MI  Family and friends of Patrick Lyoya gathered on a rainy Saturday morning in front of his headstone, remembering the 26-year-old Congolese refugee slain by Grand Rapids police and renewing calls for justice.

We have to find the justice for Patrick. Everybody knows how Patricks life was taken away, and today theyre doing everything they can to drop off the case, Patrick Lyoyas father, Peter Lyoya, said through interpreter Israel Siku.

Im asking everybody to stand up, to stand up really with power and force to get justice for Patrick.

The Saturday, May 13, memorial gathering for Patrick Lyoya at Resurrection Cemetery in Wyoming comes a little more than a year after Patrick Lyoya was fatally shot in the back of the head April 4, 2022, by now-former Grand Rapids police officer Christopher Schurr.

The fatal shooting happened during a struggle after Schurr pulled Patrick Lyoya over.

Patrick Lyoyas parents, siblings and children were in attendance at the memorial, as was national civil rights attorney Ben Crump. Crump did not give remarks but led a prayer.

Crump and co-counsel Ven Johnson, who was also in attendance, are representing the family in a $100 million federal lawsuit filed against Schurr and the city of Grand Rapids.

Schurr is awaiting trial on a second-degree murder charge. While the trial was initially scheduled for March 13, Schurrs defense team was successful in pushing back the trial to Oct. 24 so they could gather more information.

The defense team tried to delay the trial even further while the Michigan Court of Appeals determines if Schurr, 32, was properly bound over for trial on the second-degree murder charge, which is a potential life offense.

However, that delay was denied. The review by the Court of Appeals sought by Schurrs lawyers is still pending.

Related: Judge denies stay of trial for ex-police officer in motorist Patrick Lyoyas killing

Peter Lyoya expressed concern that his son wouldnt get justice, that Schurr would walk free. He noted how his son was dead and buried while Schurr, out on bond, continues to enjoy life. He questioned if justice would come quicker if his son was white.

The family is asking people to come out for a rally for Patrick Lyoya from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 20, at Kalamazoo Avenue SE and Evergreen Street SE.

Patrick was killed without any reason, and today theyre trying to do everything to dismiss the case, Peter Lyoya said. Im asking for everybody to come together. I dont have the power, I dont have the strength without you guys. My family doesnt have the strength without you guys. Im asking for everybody to stand up and to fight for the justice for Patrick.

Peter Lyoya thanked the community for rallying around his family following Patrick Lyoyas death and asked that they share that same support to the next person whose loved one is killed by police violence.

Rev. Sean Holland, pastor of the Epicenter of Worship Church and co-lead with Black Lives Matter Lansing, called for people to show up and demand justice from the courts and to call on city commissioners, the mayor and presiding judge for justice.

They are expecting us to forget, Holland said. In America, when injustice happens, they say to us, Let the courts work. The courts have never worked for us. They say, Dont make too much noise. You want to be good citizens. But until we get justice, we will not be good citizens.

For more MLive coverage in Lyoyas death, go here.

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GRAND RAPIDS, MI  The Colors of the Community vendor pop-up next week will feature around 50 minority-owned Grand Rapids businesses, highlighting the areas diversity.

The event, sponsored by Rende Progress Capital, is designed to create a platform for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) who own businesses to share their story, products, and services with the community, organizers say.

The event will be held Thursday, May 18 at the Goei Center, 818 Butterworth St. SW, from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. The community is invited to come out and shop local.

Shoppers are encouraged to engage with business owners, buy their products, enjoy live music, a cash bar and food trucks.

Rende Progress Capital (RPC) is a racial equity fund that invests in Grand Rapids, Kent County and Muskegon businesses run by excluded entrepreneurs of color, according to a press release. RPC is paying for the venue and the marketing team to support the entrepreneurs who dont have the funds to market their businesses to the Grand Rapids community.

CQ Huynh, co-founder of RPC, said the event is just scraping the surface of the BIPOC businesses the Grand Rapids area has to offer with the thousands of BIPOC businesses that exist in West Michigan.

Huynh said the group is hoping the event brings in as much as $20,000 for the businesses from products sold.

This is just exposure and marketing, so people know about this, Huynh said. It takes a lot more work to have a deeper representation for BIPOC businesses to have an opportunity. Thats what were doing with this pop-up is to really expose BIPOC businesses and for underrepresented businesses to enter into opportunities.

Kylie Martolock, event and venue manager at the Goei Center, said the entire front showroom of the center will be filled with booth spaces, where people can mill around. She said she expects a great turnout for the event and wants the Goei Center to be considered a place that is inviting to all community members.

We love giving back to the community Its just so important to be inclusive, and to have all sorts of events that include everyone from our community, Martolock said.

Julius Rogers, owner of Justice 4 All, LLC, calls it a social justice apparel company, with its main purpose to provoke conversation on social topics of race. For example, one shirt for the pop-up event was a shirt that he says outlines the redlining map in Grand Rapids and meant to start a conversation about discriminatory practices in financial services and the disparity that exists across cities.

The takeaway that I truly hope that anybody gets from any of the thingsthat Im presenting is some level of knowledge and just insight for a deeper understanding of social issues in general, said Rogers, who spoke about the drastic disparity between BIPOC businesses and their white counterparts.

Rogers believes this pop-up is intentional work, giving the businesses the space to authentically show up and show off their work.

Its unique to step into a space that is not a number one, predominantly white space, but also a space that is intentionally made for and constructed for people of color in general, Rogers said. Its a unique experience to be able to set up a shop showcase and show off products and services with other like-minded leaders, entrepreneurs and individuals andat the end of the day have equitable opportunities to thrive.

Event Planner for Colors of the Community Phalesha Kyes said events like the pop-up encourages our community to really harness their spending power and to be intentional about their spending power to promote and support local entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of color.

She said the first BIPOC event pop-up at the Goei Center last November had low attendance because of a snowstorm but became a productive networking event.

Kyes said the local vendors have stories and interests in common and are working for more representation on the small business scene in Grand Rapids, emphasizing the idea of collaboration over competition in the BIPOC business community.

When you have that many voices together, I think its just so powerful to say theres a lot of us out here and theres enough room and enough resources and enough money and enough customers to go around, Kyes said.

Want more Grand Rapids-area news? Bookmark the local Grand Rapids news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Grand Rapids daily newsletter.

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KALAMAZOO, MI -- The air quality in part of Kalamazoo is considered hazardous, according to a new state investigation.

The Michigan Department of Human Services (MDHHS) report broke the news Monday, May 8, as it examined the levels of pollution around the Graphic Packaging International paper mill and city wastewater treatment plan on Kalamazoos Northside.

The report confirmed what residents have feared for years: The chemicals are concentrated enough to cause long-term health problems.

Here are 10 takeaways from the 142-page health consultation report.

1. Toxins are more than 10x higher than the benchmark

Air concentrations of hydrogen sulfide gas next to Graphic Packaging International and the Kalamazoo Wastewater Reclamation Plant present a public health hazard, the state found after examining 33 months of data.

Consistently breathing in levels of hydrogen sulfide exceeding 1.4 parts per billion can lead to chronic health problems. One of the main issues is an increased risk of nasal irritation that does not go away once the person stops breathing in the gas, the state health department said.

Concentrations of gas throughout the communities next to the industrial facilities regularly exceed 1.4 parts per billion, MDHHS said.

For example, the average level was about 19 parts per billion for the year of 2020 at a sensor at Gull and Riverview.

2. Children are more likely to be exposed

The report lays out what they high pollution levels mean for the areas youngest residents.

Children are more likely to be exposed to environmental contaminants due to their unique behaviors: they are more likely to play outdoors, where air contaminants are more prevalent, and play or sit in dirt or soil; and they are more likely to put objects or their hands in their mouth that may have been contaminated by the environment, the report states.

Children also breathe more air per pound of body weight than adults, and their shorter height makes them more likely to be exposed to chemicals in the air that accumulate near the ground.

Childrens bodies are also less able to break down and remove toxic substances compared to adults. Toxic exposures that happen during critical growth stages can permanently damage developing children, the report says.

DeAnn Winfield's granddaughter Maya Lachey (Center), 6, rides on a carousel at the park across from Winfields home in the Northside of Kalamazoo on Tuesday, July 27, 2021. Winfields concern is with the safety of her family and the community, hoping that there will be a better future for them. (Photo by Carlin Stiehl | MLive.com) Carlin Stiehl | MLive.com

3. No one checked for formaldehyde

Elevated levels of formaldehyde were found on the property of the city wastewater treatment plant, but no measurements were taken for the dangerous chemical in residential areas nearby.

This was listed as one of several limitations of the state health consultation.

Related: Drone sniffs out toxic chemicals above Kalamazoo wastewater treatment plant

The report focused on hydrogen sulfide, the foul smelling toxic gas that comes from the wastewater plant and Graphic Packaging.

MDHHS recommends further monitoring and sampling for formaldehyde and other volatile organic compounds in the area.

4. Other pollutants were found

The report also mentions that 60 unique volatile organic compounds were measured.

Of those, 12 volatile organic compounds are known to be emitted by Graphic Packaging. Those chemicals are: 2-butanone (methyl ethyl ketone), 2-ethyl-1-hexanol, acetaldehyde, benzene, n-butane, carbon disulfide, hexane, n-pentane, propene/propylene, toluene, vinyl acetate, m- & p-xylene.

5. Town hall set to discuss the pollution

A town hall is scheduled to allow citizens to ask questions and get answers from state health and environmental officials.

At 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 18, there will be a town hall at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, 120 Roberson St., in Kalamazoo. Call 800-648-6942 with questions.

A flyer for a community townhall focused on odor and air quality in Kalamazoo neighborhoods north of downtown.

An additional availability session goes from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 24 at the Urban Alliance in Kalamazoo.

6. The air is particularly bad for people with asthma

The report explores the relationship between air quality and asthma in the community.

The asthma rate is higher in ZIP codes that include neighborhoods near the industrial sources, but not high enough to be statistically significant, the MDHHS report states.

Heres how adult asthma prevalence in these areas compares to the state average:

ZIP codes 49001, 49006 and 49008: 14.8% asthma rate

ZIP codes 49004, 49007 and 49048: 13.4% asthma rate

Statewide average: 11.0% asthma rate

The asthma study used grouped ZIP codes, and an independent health expert has questioned the results, saying expanding to a larger area could lead to a missed signal.

More research is needed to determine if there is a relationship between asthma cases and the air quality, the report states.

However, air quality is known to be a factor in respiratory diseases.

Portrait of DeAnn Winfield at her home in the Northside of Kalamazoo on Tuesday, July 27, 2021. Winfield contracted asthma which she attributes to the air pollution put out by Graphic Packaging International down the street from her house. (Photo by Carlin Stiehl | MLive.com)Carlin Stiehl | MLive.com

7. Stay indoors if pollution bothers you

The MDHHS report says people should stay indoors if they have existing respiratory problems or sensitivity to odors. They should also avoid outdoor exercise or physical exertion when an environmental odor is present, the report states.

For community members with existing respiratory problems or sensitivity to odors, stay indoors and avoid outdoor physical activity when environmental odors are noticeable, the report says.

Residents are not satisfied with that answer.

They expect us to stop living our life? resident DeAnn Winfield said upon reading the recommendations.

8. Whats next?

MDHHS will develop a community engagement and outreach plan to notify Kalamazoo residents of the findings. This plan could include public notification, town halls and listening sessions.

The city of Kalamazoo is working on a project to reroute the wastewater coming from Graphic Packaging and going to the wastewater treatment plant, in an effort to reduce hydrogen sulfide production. The company is working on a project of its own, ordered by state environmental regulators, meant to reduce the creation of hydrogen sulfide.

9. The report does not consider 20 parts per billion

Twenty parts per billion -- a different standard the state used in the past when considering hydrogen sulfide in Kalamazoo -- was not mentioned in the MDHHS report. In October, state officials said 20 parts per billion was a metric used to determine health risk.

Thats also the Centers for Disease Control intermediate benchmark, meaning 20 parts per billion should not be exceeded for any time periods between 15 to 364 days.

Monthly averages of the gas have regularly been above 20 parts per billion in Kalamazoo. State health officials chose not to include any analysis of this level in the report.

City of Kalamazoo data on hydrogen sulfide levels found in the air at the corner of Gull Road and Riverview Drive. Data from September 2019 to March 2022 is 1-minute data averaged by month. Data from April 2022 to September 2022 is 15-minute sample data averaged by month.

The city sensor at Gull and Riverview, shown above, has been over 20 parts per billion several times.

Asked why they did not use 20 parts per billion, MDHHS officials said they decided to focus on the long-term exposure benchmark, 1.4 parts per billion.

10. What leaders are saying

MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette reached out to a number of officials to ask for comment. The city and county made brief statements after being asked. There has been little public acknowledgement of the report.

Vice Mayor Don Cooney was one who commented, saying the states recommendations are very disappointing.

Sen. Sean McCann sent a statement when asked by MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette, and the office of Rep. Julie Rogers responded they would draft a statement.

The state health study confirms this problem persists, McCann said.

My office participates in the city of Kalamazoos Odor Task Force, which is working to address this matter and I support the efforts of the city, EGLE, DHHS, EPA and other stakeholders to resolve the situation, McCann said.

The multi-agency odor task force has met in non-public meetings for years in an attempt to address to odor issue.

Mayor David Anderson sent a statement when asked by MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette.

The City Commission and administration share the communitys concerns, Anderson said. This issue remains a priority for the city of Kalamazoo which will continue to work toward mitigating and attempting to eliminate this problem.

A graphic by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services shows some facts about hydrogen sulfide. The graphic was released with the air quality study in Kalamazoo.

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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ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, MI  A man with a knife broke into a rural home late Friday near Three Rivers and was shot by the homeowner.

Michigan State Police say the intruder, who was shot in the thigh, is in stable condition.

The incident was reported around 10 p.m. Friday, May 12, in the 60000 block of Maple Road in Constantine Township, about nine miles southwest of Three Rivers.

The homeowner told police a man with a knife entered their home, resulting in the homeowner shooting the intruder, Michigan State Police said.

State troopers arrived to find the man laying outside of the home with a gunshot wound to the upper thigh.

Troopers provided medical care until EMS crews arrived and transported him to Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Indiana, where he underwent surgery and is in stable condition.

The incident remains under investigation.

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ALLEGAN COUNTY, MI -- A slight drizzle didnt stop more than 100 people from attending the return of the West Michigan Strongman Competition in Hopkins on Saturday, May 13.

The event, hosted by the Hopkins Downtown Development Authority, included four mens and two womens weight classes. There were 10 male competitors and two female competitors.

Competitions included:

The agricultural relay, with an arm-over-arm wagon pull, a corn bag load and an uphill round bale push

An overhead log press

A deadlift

A Hercules hold

An industrial relay, with a cylinder carry, uphill propane tank walk and downhill tire flip.

The unique outdoor event was free to attend and incorporated many products made in West Michigan.

Hopkins is a small town in West Michigan between Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids.

This was the second year for the West Michigan Strongman Competition event. Area leaders wanted to bring something new to the area, said Charles Ybema of the Downtown Development Authority.

We were looking for a community event to do something different, something unique and something that we can showcase the community pride that we have here, Ybema said.

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Want more Kalamazoo-area news? Bookmark the local Kalamazoo news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Kalamazoo daily newsletter.
SPRING LAKE, MI  Serving everything from three meals a day to pastries to fresh baked bread, Village Baker has been a one-stop shop in Spring Lake for anything and everything you can eat since 2011.

Village Baker, located at 617 E Savidge St., is a multifaceted cafe with a pastry chef on hand, serving all-American breakfasts, salads and sandwiches for lunch and fresh pizzas for dinner from its pizzeria.

Douglas Burton and his wife, Katy, are the new owners of the Village Baker. Sara Rathburn and her husband, Oran Rankin, handed off the retail bakery, restaurant and community meeting place they developed over 11 years. Burton had been their executive chef since 2017.

Within his first two weeks in that position, he said there should be a restaurant like Village Baker everywhere, encapsulating the small town feel.

With this small town market appeal, Village Baker has its own grocery store stock, sending loaves of bread to grocery stores around West Michigan.

Its people in the community (who made the food) and you dont have to go through a big grocery store just to get your high quality items, Burton said.

Burton believes that it is important for the community to have a place where they can get any meal they want and bring them into a meeting place in this already tight knit community.

Burton said Village Baker more casual than formal, with calming jazz in the background of the dining room and an outdoor patio.

Breakfast is the most busy at the restaurant, so make sure to get reservations to pick up the popular fresh buttermilk pancakes or the sourdough cinnamon rolls.

The Lobster Cobb Benedict is one of the many breakfast items that Village Baker serves. (Photo provided by Todd Johnson)

If Burton had to pick the restaurants most popular item, it would be the Bavarian-style German pretzels, an item that he believes built the place. Two pretzels and a side of beer cheese costs $8.

We bake them fresh every day and we sell a lot, Burton said. In the summertime, we will sell in the thousands per day.

Some of the newest items on the menu have been flying out of the kitchen, like grain bowls. Village Baker offers Mediterranean, wild rice, Israeli, Aztec and a Farro black rice blend grain bowls, each for $12.

Burton said even if you are too full from your meal, no one is able to resist the dessert case, which offers options like chocolate cheesecake ($5.50), bread pudding ($5) and tiramisu ($5.50).

Village Baker is open 7 a.m.- 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and Saturday; 7 a.m.- 9 p.m. Friday; and 8 a.m.- 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. The restaurant is closed Monday. Full menu options are available online at villagebaker.us. Contact the restaurant at 616-935-7312 or inquiries@villagebaker.us.

Want more Grand Rapids-area news? Bookmark the local Grand Rapids news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Grand Rapids daily newsletter.

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CARROLLTON TWP., MI  The body of a man missing from the Saginaw area was recovered from the Saginaw River on Friday, May 12.

The Saginaw County Sheriffs Department recovered a mans body from the river in Carrollton Township just before 7 p.m. Friday. Police responded to a report of someone floating in the river near Mapleridge Road and Kent Street.

Undersheriff Mike Gomez told MLive/Saginaw News that identification on the mans body confirmed the person to be Robert Lee Rodgers Jr., who has been missing since the early hours of May 6.

Related: Search for missing Bridgeport Township man includes sweep of Saginaw River

Rodgers, 30, went missing in Bridgeport Township around 2 a.m. on May 6. He was last seen in the area of South Hamilton and the Rust Avenue Bridge in Saginaw, according to his family. Police have been searching for Rodgers since, including a sweep of the Saginaw River by the sheriffs department dive team.

Saginaw Police Chief Robert Ruth previously told MLive/Saginaw News that a shoe matching the description of shoes Rodgers wore was found close to the riverside trail near the YMCA of Saginaw, which neighbors the Rust Avenue Bridge.

Rodgers was last seen wearing black pants and a white T-shirt on top of a black hoodie that featured an image of a teddy bear.

More from MLive:

Saginaw-area police honored with Officer of the Year and other awards

Blue Star Mothers working to bring chapter back to Flint

Intruder shot after breaking into rural home near Three Rivers
In the eyes of Luke Londo, its long overdue for Michigan to ditch the practice of conversion therapy.

Im hard pressed to think of another sort of treatment that is unanimously condemned by the entire medical community that operates without impunity in the state of Michigan, said Londo, a member of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission. But  here we are.

Conversion therapy is the practice of trying to force a person, sometimes physically, to change their gender or sexual identity. Its also perfectly legal in the state of Michigan, bar a few cities that have independently enacted banning ordinances.

The therapy has long been used against members of the LGBTQ community, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry notes these practices result in an increased risk of suicide, self-loathing, anxiety, substance abuse and depression.

Statistics from The Trevor Project, a nonprofit dedicated to LGBTQ suicide prevention, estimate that 10% of Michigans LGBT youth have reported being threatened with the possibility of conversion therapy as of 2022. Another 5% reported theyd already been subjected to it.

RELATED: Michigan man indicted after making YouTube threats against Biden, Whitmer, LGBTQ+ people

Its part of why Londo, a member of the LGBTQ community himself, is pushing hard for the state to rectify that. As part of his role on the Civil Rights Commission, he introduced a resolution supporting a ban on the practice of conversion therapy for minors in Michigan.

Though the resolution passed in April, its non-binding and can do little other than attempt to compel Lansing to act legislatively on the matter.

Sources close to the issue, however, say lawmakers are listening, and bills are imminently expected on the issue. Democrats have twice moved to ban the practice: Once for minors specifically in 2021, but also the practice as a whole in 2019. In both cases, the bills never received a hearing.

Its likely renewed legislative efforts would mirror past attempts, barring mental health professionals from practicing conversion therapy on minors while instituting disciplinary and licensing sanctions for violating the act.

I would love to prohibit the practice outright, Londo said, however, theres really nothing precluding an adult, fully informed, from seeking out this practice, despite it being roundly condemned.

RELATED: Gay pride month proclaimed in Grand Haven following approval of LGBTQ fest

Twenty-one states, plus the District of Columbia, have already enacted bans on administering conversion therapy to minors. Four others, including Michigan, have banned using state or federal funding to support conversion therapy efforts on minors.

But Michigan has no such state-level ban on the practice of conversion therapy, despite efforts on the local level. Eight cities independently enacted their own ban on the practice according to the Movement Advancement Project, a non-profit think tank based in Colorado.

With Democrats at the wheel now, controlling both the House and Senate, third time may charm according to advocates like Erin Knott, executive director with LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Michigan.

Knott said other states that have banned conversion therapy have done so with bipartisan support, suggesting there was no reason for Michigan to not be among them.

What were looking for is a strong piece of legislation that would prevent state-licensed mental health providers from engaging in conversion therapy with minors, she said. It would curb these harmful practices, protect families from predatory therapists, and help ensure the health and safety of our youth.

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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has imposed sanctions against the daughter of former Minister of Defense Lebedev, head of Frunze plant Volodymyr Lukyanenko and his son, former MP Andriy Derkach and the nominal owners of the energy company VS Energy, according to the presidential decree, published on Friday evening.

In addition, sanctions were imposed against the son of well-known Russian businessman Vadim Giner, Olga and Irina Babakova.

"Another sanctions package for today. By the decree, I imposed restrictive measures on the property of Russian companies in Ukraine and the property of Ukrainian economic entities affiliated with them," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram on Friday.

"Sometimes even critical infrastructure facilities and key strategic enterprises were under their control. Today we are overcoming these risks. Sanctions have also been imposed on companies affiliated with Medvedchuk and other sanctioned persons, founders, managers, beneficiaries of pro-Russian companies with significant assets in Ukraine," the president said.
FLINT, MI  High fashion took the spotlight as about 70 Flint students rolled into downtown Flint for the high schools 2023 prom on Friday, May 12.

Students from both Flint Southwestern Classical Academy and the Accelerated Learning Academy strutted up Kearsley Street in their most dapper suits and colorful dresses, shining bright in the heart of the city.
MLive this week released a new four-part Michigan Crime Stories podcast series named Christmas Eve Cannibal, which further explores the case of 25-year-old Kevin Bacon, a Swartz Creek man who was murdered and cannibalized after meeting a man on a hookup app for sex.

Related: The hairstylist, the chemist and a descent into cannibalism

The series explores the death, court case and how mental illness transformed Mark D. Latunski, a successful chemist, from a gentle family man with a wife and four children into a convicted murderer and cannibal.

The series includes an interview with Latunskis ex-wife, Emily Latunski, 47, who has never before spoken with media about the case.

Related: The secretive, sexual subculture of cannibalism at center of Michigan murder

Emily Latunski shares her experience watching helplessly as her former husband struggled with mental health issues that caused severe ongoing delusions and paranoia, ripping apart the family and causing his children ongoing pain.

This is not who their dad was, Emily Latunski said. He absolutely loved them.

The person he was then would be horrified at the person he is now.

Related: Cannibal killing reveals flaws in mental health safety net

Michigan Crime Stories is available on most popular podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Please listen and subscribe.

Previous seasons of Michigan Crime Stories investigated the suspicious disappearance and death of 13-year-old Breanna Sharp, and a mythical strain of Michigan marijuana known as Pinconning Paralyzer.

Michigan Crime Stories: Christmas Eve Cannibal episode links are below:
Kid Rock, who is set to be part of a new Dolly Parton project, is scheduled for tour stops in Detroit this July.

Kid Rock and his No Snowflakes tour with will make stops July 14-15 in Detroit and July 29 in Youngstown, Ohio and fans can already find tickets for under $30 for some shows at Stubhub, Vividseats and Ticketmaster.

No stranger to controversy, Rock recently inserted himself in the Bud Light controversy after he was filmed shooting cases of beer after Anheuser-Busch partnered with a transgender TikTok influencer.

Dolly Partons new album, Rockstar will be released November 17 and features a host of rock stars including Kid Rock, Sting, Miley Cyrus and many others. Catch the song Either Or (feat. Kid Rock) when the album drops.

Kid Rock will be joined by Grand Fund Railroad during the July 14 and July 15 performances in Detroit. (Mlive.com).

Detroit -- Friday July 14 at 7:30pm Little Caesars Arena

Stubhub

Vividseats

Ticketmaster

Detroit -- Saturday July 15 at 7:30pm Little Caesars Arena, MI

Stubhub

Vividseats

Ticketmaster

Youngstown -- Saturday Jul 29 at 7:00pm Wean Park, OH

Stubhub

Vividseats

Ticketmaster
Michigan State just lost the highest-rated player in its next recruiting class.

Jamari Howard, a 2024 four-star cornerback from Westland Hialeah High School in Florida, announced his decommitment from the Spartans via social media on Saturday. He had been committed to Michigan State since September.

Howard, 6-foot-2 and 175 pounds, is listed as the No. 12 cornerback and No. 104 player in the 2024 class, according to 247Sports Composite. He has about 30 offers, including Alabama, Florida State, Miami and Florida.

Howard was honest when recently asked what it would take to change his commitment from Michigan State.

Bring a big NIL deal, he told 247Sports earlier this month.

Michigan State is now down to just three players committed to its 2024 class in four-star cornerback Jaylen Thompson from Tennessee, three-star offensive lineman Andrew Dennis from Mount Pleasant and three-star offensive lineman Logan Bennett from Baltimore.

Howard is the second player to decommit from Michigan States 2024 recruiting class in the last two months, following four-star wide receiver Nicholas Marsh from River Rouge High School.

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Michigan State 4-star linebacker Jordan Hall makes strong early impression

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Former Michigan State WR transferring to Miami (Ohio)
Afia Schwarzenegger has said people in higher authority employ social media commentators to insult or level false accusations against their rivals, a scheme she wishes to disassociate herself from.

In an Instagram post on May 10, she sounded a warning to faceless personalities who are quick to reach out to her to tarnish the reputation of others through her social media platforms.

The famous actress threatened to expose persons who move about denting the image of innocent Ghanaians adding that she is not into that kind of dirty job.

"The only time some people remember my number is when they are looking for someone to do their dirty work for them...Be very careful, or I shall call you out," she declared.

Afia Schwar is known to be one of the country's outspoken media personalities with a substantial social media following. She is famed for her outspoken nature and viral comic videos.

"Look for me when you are sharing money or don't call me at all. You people think say we fool eehhh...mtchewwwww," she wrote.

Check out the post below:


Ghanaian actress and social critic, Lydia Forson, has mocked Ghanaian politicians over their lavish spending on election campaigns despite constantly lamenting that the country lacks resources.

In a tweet on Wednesday, Forson questioned why politicians would spend millions of cedis to win power and fix a broke country.

The country is broke, but people are spending millions to come into power to fix it. Such beautiful charity, her tweet on Wednesday, May 10, read.

Forsons comments come as the two major political parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), gear up for primaries to elect parliamentary and presidential candidates ahead of the 2024 general elections.

The elections are typically characterized by excessive spending, with candidates doling out money, gifts, and other items to woo delegates.

Critics argue that the funds spent on elections could be better used to fund developmental projects given that the politicians claim to be seeking power to develop the country.

Miss Forson, who is known for calling out societal ills, appears to share in this view.

She noted in her tweet that she finds it ironic and hypocritical that politicians would pump so much money into getting elected when they claim the reason for running is to fix Ghanas struggling economy.

The lavish nature of election spending in Ghana has been a long-standing concern, with many calling for campaign finance laws to regulate funding and make the process more transparent.

However, others argue that regulating campaign financing could infringe on freedoms of speech and expression.
In a groundbreaking meeting held at the Jubilee House in Accra, the organizers of the Africa Monologue Challenge and the Diaspora Affairs, Office of the President came together to discuss tourism promotion in Ghana and the long-term vision of the organizers in creating a Pan-African Union of Creatives. The meeting was a testament to the importance of cultural exchange and economic development, as well as the power of collaboration between different organizations.

The Africa Monologue Challenge is an annual event that showcases the talents of African creatives, with a particular focus on monologues. The event attracts participants from across the continent and the diaspora, making it a truly Pan-African event. The Diaspora Affairs, Office of the President is responsible for promoting the interests of the African diaspora and fostering connections between Africa and its diaspora communities.

The AMC team assured the Office of the President of their commitment to working together with different Africans and African organizations, including the Africa Union and the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), to develop the continent. They emphasized the importance of involving the diaspora community in the development agenda of Africa, noting that as the 6th region of the continent, the Diaspora must play a significant role in Africa's development.

Mr. Awuah expressed the interest of the Office of the President in the initiatives of the group and promised his office's support towards all the wonderful ideas they intend to roll out in the coming months.

As part of his office's support for the Africa Monologue Challenge, Mr. Awuah promised to assist the Diaspora finalist in the Africa Monologue Challenge to be able to come to Ghana to participate in the competition. This move, he said, will go a long way in promoting the African culture to the rest of the world and cementing Ghana's position as a leader in cultural tourism.

"Let's broaden our focus on tourism promotion in the country and encourage Ghanaians to visit various tourism sites. With the Monologue finalists coming to Ghana, we have a great opportunity to showcase the wonderful tourist attractions in the Volta, Central, Brong and Ahafo, Northern, Ashanti, and Eastern regions. Let's include these places in their itinerary to highlight the vast tourism attractions we have to the rest of the world," he emphasized.

He further instructed his office to formalize the entire discussion by documenting everything in writing and signing it to solidify their support.

According to the Executive Director of the African Chamber of Content Producers, Dwomoh-Doyen Benjamin, the Pan-African Union of Creatives is a unique initiative that seeks to harness the talents of African creatives and use their content to promote various sectors of the African economy. The initiative is expected to create opportunities for African creatives to showcase their talent, promote African culture, and contribute to the economic development of the continent. He also mentioned the Chambers plan to use the Maiden Africa Image Conference to initiate the conversation on the Africa rebranding agenda.

Mr. Fred Amugi, an esteemed member of the creative industry and a member of the group, expressed his concern regarding the inadequate networking opportunities available to artists of similar exposure levels in African countries. He emphasized the need to establish a stronger bond among compatriots in Africa and the Diaspora, along with several other creatives across the continent. Mr. Amugi disclosed that among other things, the team is actively working towards bridging this gap. He encouraged the Diaspora affairs community to come in their numbers at the National Theatre on the 27th May 2023 to witness a true Pan-African moment.

Other members of the group present at the meeting were, Mr. Mawuko Kuadzi, CEO of MK Casting; Mr. Einstein Baah Ntim, Head of Diaspora Engagement at the Office of the President; and Ms. Esther Kumawu, Executive Assistant at MK Casting. Other Sponsors and partners of the group are the National Film Authority and the Ghana Tourism Authority.

In conclusion, the meeting between the organizers of the Africa Monologue Challenge and the Diaspora Affairs, Office of the President at the Jubilee House Accra was a resounding success. With the support of the Office of the President, the AMC with its associated projects is well positioned to bring about positive change across the African continent.
12.05.2023 LISTEN

The 10-year-old British-Ghanaian author, artist and philanthropist, Sarah Afia Kittoe has made a commitment to refurbish the school library of the St. Pauls Methodist Basic School in Tema, Ghana.

Sarah, who has authored three books, made the promise on her recent visit to Ghana with her family to share her story of resilience, purpose, can-do, friendship and family values as contained in her three books with kids in Ghana.

The two-week-long tour took her to almost all the leading media platforms in the country for interviews about her books. The media platforms including GTV Breakfast Show, JoyPrime, GHOne, MetroTV, GBC Women Affairs, Sweet Melodies, CitiTV as well as the Joy Learning Channel.

Through those visits, little Sarah met some the biggest media personalities in Ghana  including Doreen Andoh, Kafui Dey, Samson Lardy Ayenini, Akusika Acquaye, Afia Amankwah Tamakloe, Lantam Papa Anko and others.

As part of the tour, Sarah and her family paid a visit to the St. Pauls Methodist Basic School in Tema, which happens to be her dad, Albert Kwamena Kittoes alma mater. She donated copies of her books to the school and also interacted with the pupils, during which she read portions of the books to them and also interviewed them about their passions in life.

Sarah also encouraged her fellow kids to be firm and resolute about what they want to be in the future and work at it with passion, saying that you can do anything once you put your mind to it and work at it.

While in the school, she visited the library and according to her she was depressed by the state of the library and the kind of books on the shelves.

Little Sarah was visibly worried about the state of the school library

According to little Sarah, based on the kind of library she is used to back in the UK, she noticed the library at St. Pauls Methodist Basic School looked congested in terms of the setting, and the books on the shelves were very few and most of them were not relevant for the pupils.

Sarah said she did not see how any kid could find such an environment a fun place to learn so she told her parents that she wants to organize a fundraiser back in the UK and add some of the proceeds from the sale of her books to help refurbish the library of her dads alma mater on her next visit to Ghana.

Sarahs dad, Albert Kittoe said he was not surprised that her daughter wants to do something about the school library because he was also depressed by the state of the library and he knew that was going to trigger Sarahs philanthropic spirit.

Already, Sarah has been donating all the proceeds from the sale of her books to two charities in the UK  CenterPoint, which takes care of challenged youth, and the Croydon Methodist Church Wednesday Drop-in where needy people in society go for free groceries, toiletries and some stipends every Wednesday.

But regarding the refurbishment of the library, Sarah plans to reach out to various institutions in the UK to help her raise funds to get the job done on her next visit to Ghana. Indeed, she is starting the fundraiser from Thursday, May 11, 2023.

Meanwhile, during her visit to Ghana, Sarah said she had some fascinating experiences for the first time in her life and those experiences have given her more ideas for her books in the future.

Sarah plucks avocado from a tree, and takes a trotro ride with Uncle Sam for the first time ever

Some of her first-time experiences were  a ride in a trotro, seeing fowls and goats moving around everywhere, finding mango, orange and avocado trees everywhere (including homes and offices) as if she was on a farm, plucking mangoes and avocados herself, hearing the honking of car horns everywhere, and seeing mini trucks (aboboyaa) overloaded with rubbish with people dangerously sitting on it.

Sarah also spoke about how terrifying it was when she saw a wall gecko and a cockroach in her room for the first time ever, and also about waking up for the first time to the early morning cock crow.

Going from Ghana, little Sarah, who says she loves to travel, has quite a tight travel itinerary over the next few months to attend the biggest book festivals around the world to promote her books.

The new publishers of her books have converted all three books in A4 size and have scheduled her to travel to China, Germany, New York, Mexico and her home in London and participate in the worlds biggest book festivals.

It is not clear when Sarah will return to Ghana, but she is likely to return soon, particularly because of the school library project. She is also passionate about meeting more of her age mates in Ghana on her next visit and also to visit and donate to more charities in the country as she does in the UK.

Albert and Nozipho Kittoe, Sarahs parents

Her parents, Albert an Nozipho Kittoe said they are beside themselves with awe about Sarahs drive to write, illustrate her own books and also by her passion for the needy.

They however noted that she is still a child and they intend to allow her to enjoy her childhood to the fullest in spite of her achievements at this early age.
Were ready to win election 2024  Asiedu Nketiah

National Democratic Congress (NDC) says the outcome of its Presidential and Parliamentary primaries on Saturday gives a clear indication that the party has what it takes to win the 2024 election.

National Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah says the calibre of individuals elected shows the NDC is hungry for victory.

Read more...

Mahama to deliver acceptance speech in Tamale on Monday after winning NDCs flagbearer election

Former President, John Dramani Mahama says he is humbled by the overwhelming vote of confidence reposed in him by the party at the end of its presidential primaries.

As reported by Modernghana News on Sunday dawn, Mahama is the flagbearer elect of the NDC and will lead the party into the 2024 general elections.

Read more...

Former President, John Dramani Mahama

NDC primaries: Ragga retains Cape Coast North

Dr. Kwamena Minta Nyarku, Cape Coast North Member of Parliament has emerged winner in a keenly contested NDC Primaries in his constituency.

In a contest where four other people competed against him in the NDC parliamentary primary held at the premises of the West African Examination Council at Mempeasem, Dr. Kwamena Minta Nyarku pulled 568 votes to emerge winner.

Read more...

NDC primaries: Sanja Nanja retained for Atebubu-Amantin constituency

The Atebubu-Amantin constituency of the opposition National Democratic Congress last Saturday elected Hon. Sanja Nanja the incumbent Member of Parliament as its Parliamentary candidate for the 2024 general elections.

He was elected at the NDC primaries at which it also gave ex-President John Dramani Mahama a 96.2% endorsement as flagbearer for the upcoming elections.

Read more...

HON. SANJA NANJA

NDC primaries: Ahanta West elects first woman parliamentary candidate for 2024

Ahanta West constituency of the National Democratic Congress have elected Mavis Kuukua Bissue as the parliamentary candidate in the parliamentary elections held on Saturday 13th May 2023.

She beats the 2020 parliamentary candidate Dr Emmanuel Okumi Andoh with 137 votes difference. Dr Emmanuel Okumi Andoh pulled 668 of the total valid votes cast representing 45.1% whereas his contender mavis kuukua Bissue had 805 representing 54. 4% of the valid votes.

Read more...

Im humbled by overwhelming confidence reposed in me  Mahama

Flagbearer-elect of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has extended his deepest appreciation to delegates and supporters of the NDC for reposing their confidence in him by voting for him to lead the party into the 2024 general elections.

In a live telecast on his Facebook page to the rank and file of the party, Mr. Mahama thanked his competitors and called for unity among the winners and losers of the parliamentary primaries to work toward securing victory from the New Patriotic Party.

Read more...

Don't vote skirt and blouseDominic Ayine to constituents

Dr Dominic Akuritenga Ayine, incumbent MP for the Bolgatanga East Constituency has advised his constituents to avoid skirt and blouse voting.

That, he said could become inimical to the fortunes of the party in the area.

Read more...

Election 2024: We can rely on you  Asiedu Nketia applauds Police for professional work

The opposition National Democratic Congress(NDC) says it can rely on the Ghana Police Service for security in the lead-up to the 2024 general elections.

In a remark after the partys primaries on Saturday dawn, the National Chairman of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia who appeared satisfied with the police handling of security in the partys internal polls said: We can rely on your professionalism when we approach the next elections

Read more...

NDC primaries: Dzudzorli Gakpe retains Keta parliamentary slot

Kwame Dzudzorli Gakpe, the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) of Keta, has retained his position as the parliamentary candidate to contest the 2024 general election on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress.

He polled 486 votes to beat other aspirants.

Dr Senanu Kwasi Djokoto gathered 329 votes for the second position, whilst Dr Emmanuel Kojo Jones-Mensah polled 265 votes.

Read more...

NDC contest has repositioned party for power in 2024James Agalga

Mr James Agalga, the Parliamentary Candidate-elect for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Builsa North Constituency of the Upper East Region, says the contest among aspirants in the just ended primaries has reactivated and repositioned the Party for power in 2024.

He, therefore, urged Party delegates and supporters to close their ranks and focus on the elections in 2024, as there was no individual winner or loser in the just ended primaries.

Read more...

NDC primaries: Elikplim Akurugu wins Dome Kwabenya

The 2020 Parliamentary candidate for the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Elikplim Akurugu will again represent the party in the Dome Kwabenya constituency in the 2024 polls.

This follows her victory in the Saturday, 13 May 2023 Presidential and Parliamentary primaries.

Read more...

Were probing cash spraying parliamentary aspirant for Ejura Sekyedumase  Police

The Ghana Police Service has said it is investigating a viral video in which Madam Juliana Kinang-Wassan, one of the NDC Parliamentary aspirants for the Ejura Sekyedumase Constituency, is seen spraying money at delegates during the elections at Ejura Sekyedumase, in the Ashanti Region on Saturday, 13th May 2023.

The Police noted that a dedicated legal team is currently scrutinising her conduct in the video to establish whether there are elements of election-related crime to warrant Police intervention or otherwise.

Read more...

List: Winners of the 2023 NDC parliamentary primary election

Check the winners of the 2023 NDC parliamentary primary election in their respective constituencies.

See below:



Read more...

NDC primaries: Former GMA General Secretary Titus Beyuo wins Lambussie-Kani slot

Former General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Dr Titus Beyuo, has won the parliamentary primaries of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Lambussie-Karni Constituency of the Upper West Region.

The NDC elected its presidential and Parliamentary candidates on Saturday, May 13.

Read more...

NDC primaries: We've exceeded our target for Mahama, the masses have spoken out loudly  Aide

The Spokesperson of former President John Dramani Mahama, Joyce Bawah Mogtari has said the camp of Mr Mahama has exceeded its target in the presidential primaries of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) .

Mr Mahama was contested by former Mayor of Kumasi Kojo Bonsu. Former Finance Minister Dr Kwabena withdrew from the race on Friday, May 12, just a day to the election day Saturday, May 13.

Read more...

NDC Primaries: Muntaka retains Asawase

Member of Parliament for the Asawase Constituency in the Ashanti Region, Mubarak Mohammed Muntaka, has been retained by National Democratic Congress delegates.

Muntaka faced a stiff contest from Masawudu Mubarick.

Read more...

Ghana opposition chooses ex-president Mahama for 2024 race

Ghana's largest opposition party chose the country's ex-president John Dramani Mahama as its flagbearer Sunday for the 2024 presidential election.

Delegates of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) voted in primaries on Saturday through Sunday to choose a candidate for both the presidential and parliamentary polls.

Read more...

Former Ghanaian president John Mahama has won opposition party primaries ahead of the 2024 election. By PIUS UTOMI EKPEI (AFP)

OFFICIAL: Mahama declared flagbearer elect of NDC with 98.9% of total vote cast

The Electoral Commission (EC) has announced the results of the presidential elections of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The largest opposition party on Saturday, May 13, held its Parliamentary and Presidential elections to elect leaders for the 2024 general elections.

Read more...

John Dramani Mahama

NDC primaries: Mahamas victory is just the beginning of our work to save the country - Fifi Kwetey

General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Fifi Fiavi Kwetey has congratulated John Dramani Mahama for emerging as the winner of the presidential primaries of the party.

In an address after the former President was declared winner of the flagbearer elections with a massive 98.9% of the total vote cast, the party General Secretary stressed that this is just the beginning of the partys agenda to save Ghana from the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Read more...

NDC General Secretary, Fifi Fiavi Kwetey
According to history 200 years ago, in the year 1828, the Asantehene at that time, Otumfuo Osei Bonsu massed up a frightening gigantic imperial Army of 200,000 foot soldiers to invade Jaman, which led to a war called the Adinkra War by historians.

When Otumfuo got to Berekum, on his way to Jaman, he picked up more troops under the command of General Diawuo, son of Berekumhene. The war lasted three years, during which Asante firmly subjugated Jaman.

Jaman, even today, is very big. In those days Jaman covered well over 500 villages and Berekum soldiers were based in the Awasu capital, called Dwenem. After the war, Dwenemhene sent a message that General Diawuo had put his sister, Nana Amoah, in the family way. This caused the Berekumhene to send soldiers to bring the woman over.

200 years on, the family that Nana Amoah came to start in Berekum is today over 2,000, spread in over twelve villages in Berekum, with yours truly as the current Head Of Family.

Just before Christmas 2022, I remember that I was in the High Court premises in Accra when I had a message that the Head of Family of Nana Amoah back home in Dwenem, 93 year old Daniel Takyi, had crossed the river of death, with two main death bed wishes.

First, that his dead body should not be put in the mortuary for even one night, so immediately he passed on, permission was sought from the current Dwenemhene and he was interred that very night at the Royal Mausoleum in Dwenem.

His second wish was that the next Head of Family must come from one of Nana Amoah's grandchildren in Berekum. After series of consultations and postponements, we finally selected Nana Kwadwo Gyan as the new Head of the Nana Amoah Royal family, called Beankra family of Dwenem.

The grand royal farewell for Daniel Takyi was fixed for Saturday 6th May 2023, the very day King Charles III had his coronation in London.

At exactly 12 noon on Saturday 6th May 2023, a four car convoy carrying about 75 members of the Nana Amoah Royal Family in Berekum left my house, passed through my birthplace, Jinjini, the Fetentaa and entered Major Boakye Gyan's hometown, Baabianeha which translates as 'Everywhere is here!'

We entered the Jaman South District Capital, Drobo, which was full of busy people and carried on, across three communities, before entering the Awasu capital Dwenem.

A one big dual carriage street community, like Anyinam in the Eastern Region, Dwenem has a rough population of about 30,000 people. Their buildings were all in very neat rows that stretch far, both left and right.

The funeral took place at the forecourt of the imposing Presby Church, astride the main road. I counted as many as 24 canopies with chairs all occupied and several mourners seated under the shade of the Presby Church.

One good legacy of the COVID-19 Pandemic is that previously when you went to a funeral, you had to go around shaking hands with those in the front row. Now, thanks to COVID-19, you just walk by waving, like a Parliamentary candidate waving to crowds at a rally.

In my capacity as Head of Family from Berekum, I was given a very coveted chair to sit on and all the special dignitaries at the funeral did not wave but shook our hands.

They had a very correct loudspeaker, beaming proceedings to all and playing very popular tunes that brought mourners to the vast open funeral grounds to dance.

In fact at one point I was confused by the powerful exotic dressing of the women  is this at a funeral in Accra, Kumasi or Berekum? Reader, where am I?

As I looked on staring at the captivating dancing steps of the excited mourners, I wondered quietly  so are these people bothered about Galamsey, Aisha Huang, IMF, Professor Boateng's report, and all those Accra booklong problems?

Suddenly I heard the announcement  Captain retired Honourable Doctor Nana (Oh my God, why all these meaningless titles?) then he started playing some song then he stopped abruptly, and again announced that he made a mistake, and my song is now coming m'atwen Awurade Anin whereupon several women poured unto the dancing ground.

Reader, I looked at my wrist watch  5pm  just now? I had been seated for four hours.

At one point, I received a call from my father in law's daughter, Gloria, and closed my eyes as I talked briefly only to open them to see the Honourable MCE for Jaman South and his entourage of NPP Executives standing in front of me  they wanted to say goodbye to leave for yet another funeral elsewhere.

As a climax to the funeral, Nana Kwadwo Gyan, the customary successor as Head of Family who we had brought from Berekum in a dazzling funeral cloth, was introduced to the gathering and he went ahead saying thank you to everybody.

It was now 6pm and we rose up, leaving the DJ to continue playing music for the youth to do their own thing.

The Royal funeral in Dwenem was over.

Written by Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey
New military aid package from Germany to include 30 Leopards, four Iris-Ts, 200 reconnaissance drones - Yermak

Germany has announced a new package of military assistance to Ukraine for EUR2.7 billion, Head of the President's Office of Ukraine Andriy Yermak said.

"It is preliminary known that the package will include 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles; 30 Leopard tanks; four IRIS-T SLM air defense systems; 200 reconnaissance UAVs; 100 armored vehicles; 100 logistics support vehicles; 15 Gepards; a large amount of ammunition," Yermak wrote on Telegram on Saturday.

The deputy head of the President's Office thanked the allies for the assistance provided.
The head of Dr. Kwabena Duffuors 2024 Security Detail, James Agbey is demanding the dismissal of Joyce Bawah Mogtari from the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

This follows an alleged social media post by the Aide of former President John Dramani Mahama which accused the people of Ashanti of always causing problems.

It is always the Ashantis! Always causing problems with their unnecessary egos. This defeatist approach wont work. John Mahama is NDC and NDC is John Mahama, the post said.

Taking offense to the alleged post, James Agbey from the camp of Dr. Kwabena Duffuor has issued a press release describing Joyce Bawah Mogtari as tribalistic.

The head of Dr. Kwabena Duffuors security detail insists that the leadership of the NDC must crack the whip and sack Mrs Mogtari immediately.

I am by this public statement calling on the National Executive Committee of the NDC to sack Joyce Bawah Mogtari from the party for bringing the name of the party into disrepute.

This is a woman who together with her husband have been feeding fat on the party. She was a minister of state while the husband occupied the CEO position of the Food and Drugs Board. Now, both husband and wife still want to continue to eat with both hands and so they are out there engaging in tribal sentimentalism, James Agbey said in his release.

He added, It is a tragedy that in AD 2023, ethinic politics and the hatred for the Ashantis has re-entered the NDC mainstream politics through a toxic amalgam of spillover from vilification of Dr. Kwabena Duffuor.

Surely, the NDC can do better than this, and recognise the fact that Joyce Bawa is a liability, and that she deserves to be sacked from the party.

Meanwhile, Joyce Bawah Mogtari has reacted to the alleged tribalistic comment. According to her, she never made such a post about Ashantis.

Kindly ignore this uncultured disinformation, she said in a post on Twitter.
12.05.2023 LISTEN

Ghanas external creditors have finally reached an agreement on Financing Assurances for the country, Modernghana News can report.

This is expected to pave the way for a board-level agreement from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the $3 billion credit facility for Ghana.

In a post on Twitter confirming that the Paris Club has granted Financing Assurances for the country, the Ministry of Finance said it is grateful to all bilateral partners for the role played in making this possible.

The Paris Club has today established the OCC (co-chaired by China & France). With the granting of Financing Assurances, Ghana is now ready to go to the IMF Board. Thank you to all our bilateral partners for helping us reach this significant milestone! #ResolvingTogether, part of a post on the Twitter page of the Ministry of Finance said.

This comes as good news for the government and the entire country as it will help in the revival of the Ghanaian economy.

Since last year, the country has been faced with an economic crisis that has worsened Ghanaians with harsh living conditions.

With the country unable to service its debt, securing Financing Assurances from external creditors for the IMF bailout is going to be crucial in the bid to revive the economy.
12.05.2023 LISTEN

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) is determined to proceed with its presidential and parliamentary primaries on Saturday, May 13, even if the Electoral Commission (EC) fail to show up.

General Secretary of the party Fiifi Kwetey announced during a press conference on Friday that the party's Election Directorate would take full control over the conduct of the elections if the EC refuses to show up.

"The election directorate of the NDC will take full charge of the elections if the EC is unable to be present to conduct this primary," Kwetey said.

"We will ensure that the election directorate will be in charge, he added.

The EC had earlier announced that it would not supervise the elections until after the determination of the injunction case filed at the High Court by flagbearer aspirant Dr. Kwabena Duffuor.

However, the NDC has since resolved its differences with Dr. Duffuor, clearing the way for the primaries to proceed.

But a second injunction from Edgar Asamoah Boateng, claiming errors in the delegates' register for the Abuakwa North constituency, has cast doubt on whether the elections will be held.

In response to the second injunction, General Secretary Fiifi Kwetey held a press conference at the party's headquarters in Accra to reassure the public that the elections would commence around 2 as planned.

"I can assure you that all the logistical preparations have been done in order for voting to take place across the country tomorrow," he said.

Over 356,000 delegates are expected to cast their vote in the exercise on Saturday, May 13.
13.05.2023 LISTEN

An Accra High Court has rejected a request from convicted William Ato Essien to suspend the imposition of a custodial sentence and an opportunity to renegotiate with the State.

The founder of the defunct Capital Bank was on December 13, last year, convicted and ordered to pay GHS60 million to the State after entering into an agreement with the State under Section 35 of the Court's Act 1993, Act 459.

Having failed to fulfil the orders of the court to pay the first instalment of GHS20 million by the April 28 deadline, the State filed a motion for the court to impose a custodial sentence on him.

However, Ato Essien through his lawyer Thaddeus Sory, moved a motion for the court to suspend the imposition of a custodial sentence and to allow him time to renegotiate with the state due to certain difficulties.

But the request was rejected by the court presided over by Justice Eric Kyei Baffour, a Justice of the Court of Appeal, sitting as an additional High Court judge.

Mr Thaddeus Sory, Counsel for the convict, moving the application prayed for two main orders.

Firstly, he said, they wanted an order, suspending any action of imposition of a custodial sentence on the applicant and secondly, for leave to renegotiate in terms of payments agreed on between applicant and the State.

The Counsel argued that the application was premised on the judgment of the court delivered on December 13, 2023, and the terms which were clearly based on Section 35(7) of the Courts Act1993, Act459.

He said their first contention was that the applicant conceded the plain words of Section 35(7) but having regard to the present circumstances, an application of such provision on its literal term would lead to an absurdity and would not leave to serve the statute.

Mr Sory said, the purpose of Section 35 was to allow the State to make a recovery when it had suffered loss and that was what resulted in the settlement between the State and the applicant.

He contended that the applicant had demonstrated good faith by making a settlement of one-third of the settlement amount.

We have deposed to genuine difficulties to have met the timelines for which the applicant is committed to make those payments, he said.

He said, the convict had also affirmed his commitment to continue to make those payments and that another Cheque of GHc1 million was ready to be paid in addition to the GHc4 million already paid.

We are urging the court that if a literal representation is placed on the provision of section 35(7), it will not only defeat the purpose but also create an absurdity which was not created by the Section. Counsel said.

Mr Sory asked that if the court imposed a custodial sentence on the applicant, what would become of the amount already paid?

We are also urging on the court that, we have attached an agreement on inflows expected by which the applicant will comply with the terms, he said.

The Counsel said the instance proceedings were geared toward executing the judgment of the court which convicted the accused person.

He, therefore, prayed the court to have a look at their application and deliver a reasoned ruling on the matter especially that we have drawn the court's attention to the provisions.

Mr Tuah Yeboah, the Deputy Attorney General, who led the State, opposed the request.

He said, We opposed to this application and relied on the application filed on May 10.

The Deputy AG said the State was not interested in renegotiating with the convict.

He argued that the crux of the application was that the court should read into section 35(7) of the court act.

We say that there is no basis for such an invitation to the court for the court to read words into section 35(7), he said.

According to the Deputy AG, Section 35(7) is as clear as daylight and has no ambiguity.

He contended that the court did not even have the discretion to vary the original terms in the agreement and therefore cannot read any words into Section 35(7) because there is no discretion.

Mr Tuah Yeboah said there was the use of shall which is mandatory for the court to proceed to deliver a custodial sentence.

The AG argued that Counsel for the convict had argued and deferred to the spirit behind or rationale for section 35(7).

We are submitting that the entire Section 35 is a Special Grace or dispensation to an accused person and for that matter, an accused person must not deviate from the agreed terms, he added.

He argued that an accused person must respect the sanctity of his own agreement and that's the spirit behind Section 35.

He said in this case, the convict had breached his own agreement and he had come to the end of the road.

He said the invitation to the court to stay proceedings and grant leave to the convict to renegotiate with the prosecution was a dangerous invitation and must be declined by the court.

He said, the grant of the application would rather send a dangerous signal to other persons that they could come to the court agreed on specific terms and come back for an extension.

The Deputy AG said the State is not interested in renegotiation with the accused and it will serve no purpose to stay pro.

The AG said Counsel had already indicated an amount paid and the consequences of the sentence into prison custody. When it comes to mitigation of sentence, the court may take into consideration the amount paid.

He said the application was a dangerous invitation and must be declined by the honourable court.

The AG said Counsel has already indicated an amount paid and the consequences of the sentence into prison custody. When it comes to mitigation of sentence, the court may take into consideration the amount paid.

Justice Kyei Baffour after hearing the submissions, said, I have read the motion by the convict applicant for an order of the court to suspend any act and or proceedings leading to the imposition of a custodial sentence on the convict as well as the further order that he seeks for a renegotiation of the terms of settlement that was accepted and adopted by the court under Section 35 of the courts army-993, act459.

I have also read the affidavit in opposition through the application. I have carefully considered the submission from learned counsel Sory for the convict and that is the honourable Deputy Attorney General.

Justice Kyei Baffour said, being a convict before the court, I think 'mens rea' is the requirement in a criminal trial before conviction.

He said the stage at which the parties were now was one for the considerations for the imposition of a custodial sentence and I do not think that the claim for the court on the Men's Rea is well lived, and We have gone beyond that.

The Judge said he do not find it necessary to exhaustively agree to the amount paid by the convict and what should happen.

For the reason expressed Supra, I find no merit in this application and accordingly dismissed same, he said.

The Court, therefore adjourned the case to May 17, 2023, for the motion filed by the State for him to be committed to jail to be moved.

GNA
13.05.2023 LISTEN

The Private Health Facilities Association of Ghana on the occasion of International Nurses Day have appealed to government to consider posting nurses to their facilities to improve healthcare delivery.

The Association believe difficulties on the part of the private health providers to attract well-trained nurse to work at their health facilities is impacting negatively on quality healthcare in Ghana.

National President of the Association, Dr Kwame Boaben-Frimpong in an exclusive interview with this reporter on Friday May 12, 2023 said most of the nurses only work with them when they have no job offer from the Central government.

He added that immediately government give clearance for their postings, they stop working with the private facilities making it difficult for them to operate.

"We are ready to collaborate with government to solve this problem, what we are saying is that there are many of our facilities ready to employ these nurses who are chasing government for employment.

"Government should post them to our facilities and we will ready collaborate with the state to ensure the nurses are well paid," he said.

Dr Frimpong however applauded the collective dedication and hardwork of nurses and midwives across the country.

Your effort, sacrifice and your dedication is immeasurable. We as private health providers, very much appreciate your hard work and will continue to provide the support that we can to make your burden lighter, he said.
The National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia has described Dr. Kwabena Duffuor as a true statement after he withdrew his court injunction against the partys primaries this weekend.

The former Governor of the Bank of Ghana on Tuesday secured an interlocutory injunction from court to stop the NDC and the Electoral Commission from proceeding with the election scheduled to be held on Saturday, May 13.

His injunction sought to draw the attention of the NDC election committee to anomalies in the photo album of delegates for it to be addressed before the primaries.

In the heat of things, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor on Friday withdrew the injunction case.

Addressing a press conference after the withdrawal, NDC National Chairman Asiedu Nketia said the move by the flagbearer hopeful is proof of his strong love for the NDC party.

I want to take this opportunity to congratulate Dr. Duffuor for good showmanship of statesmanship and the love for the party by withdrawing this case and resorting to the internal processes of the party, to seek resolutions to problems that have emanated in this process, Asiedu Nketia shared.

With the development on Friday, all is now set for the NDC to hold its Parliamentary and Presidential primaries tomorrow.

In the flagbearer election, former President John Dramani Mahama is facing competition from Dr. Kwabena Duffuor and former Kumasi Mayor Kojo Bonsu.
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has announced that this year's ban on drumming and noisemaking commences from Monday, May 15 to Thursday, June 15, 2023.

A statement signed on behalf of the Chief Executive of the Assembly by Mr Gilbert Nii Ankrah, the Head of the Public Affairs, said the AMA has therefore, set the following guidelines in the interest of peace, harmony and national security.

It said during the period of the ban, churches were expected to carry out their activities within their premises and refrain from the use of musical instruments and that positioning of loudspeakers outside the premises of churches, mosques and pubs were banned, while roadside evangelists were to cease their activities during the period.

Religious bodies and the Traditional Authorities must show respect for one another and restrain their followers from making derogatory and inflammatory remarks about the beliefs and practices of one another, the statement said.

It stated that other guidelines by the Ga Traditional Council include a ban on funeral rites and their related activities.

The statement said apart from an identifiable task force that consisted of AMA personnel, the Ghana Police Service and representatives from the Traditional Councils with tags, no other person or group of persons should be seen or found enforcing the abatement of noise in the metropolis.

By this notice, we entreat all persons, towns and villages within the Ga Traditional Area to cooperate and comply with the directive accordingly during this period, it urged.

GNA
The European Union has committed nine million euros to support The Gambia's transitional justice process, in a new partnership with the UN and national government, the presidency announced at a conference Friday.

The government last year committed to implementing recommendations made by a truth commission, known as the TRRC, which probed alleged crimes committed by the state under ex-dictator Yahya Jammeh's 22-year rule.

But it has said it lacks the financial resources to do so.

A spokeswoman for the presidency on Friday announced the funding commitment at a conference for stakeholders and donors.

The partnership was unveiled by President Adama Barrow, the head of the EU's delegation to The Gambia, Corrado Pampaloni, and representatives of the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

"The Government understands the importance of holding accountable all those responsible for human rights violations, as well as providing reparations and support to the victims", President Barrow said in a speech.

"We will strive tirelessly to make sure that justice is served and that the rights and dignity of the victims are upheld."

He said a partnership platform had been established to "streamline donor support and avoid duplication of efforts".

The UNDP will provide technical support.

Jammeh held sway over the small West African state for more than two decades until he was unexpectedly defeated in presidential elections in December 2016 by political newcomer Barrow, who was re-elected in 2021.

The TRRC found evidence of widespread extrajudicial killings, torture, enforced disappearances, witch hunts and other human rights abuses during his regime.

Jammeh was forced into exile in early 2017 after his shock electoral defeat and a six-week crisis that led to military intervention by other West African states.

Barrow's government last year accepted recommendations to prosecute Jammeh himself for a swathe of crimes, from raping a beauty queen to using death squads.

Jammeh remains in exile in Equatorial Guinea, which has no extradition treaty with The Gambia.
13.05.2023 LISTEN

Aspiring Presidential Hopeful of the National Democratic Congress, NDC, Dr Kwabena Duffuor has pulled out from the Presidential race of the party after withdrawing his case against the party from the court.

The NDC delegates across the country will Saturday vote to elect Presidential and Parliamentary Primaries.

According to him, his decision to pull out from the race was based on advice from his campaign team bothering on discrepancies in the photo album furnished by the leadership of the NDC overseeing the presidential primaries.

In a statement, he noted that After that, I have engaged with the team working for my bid in the elections, and have communicated my decision to withdraw from the contest to lead the NDC in the 2024 presidential election.

He examined that As a result, I want to take this opportunity to inform the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and my supporters of my decision to withdraw from the contest.

I want to thank the teeming supporters who believe in my message and stood behind me. I want to assure them that my decision is for the good of the party and to assure them of my unflinching support for the victory of the NDC in the 2024 elections. I wish the party well, and I wish all parliamentary aspirants the very best in tomorrows elections, he stated.

The former Minister for Finance, Dr Duffuor, and Kojo Bonsu, former Mayor of Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly are contesting former President John Mahama, who is showing up for the third time.

Dr Duffuor on Friday filed for a discontinuance of the writ he filed against the Saturday, May 13, 2023, presidential primaries.

Dr Duffuor on Tuesday, May 9, filed an interlocutory injunction to bar the NDC and the Electoral Commission from holding the primaries pending the production of a complete photo album register and the delivery of same to him at least five weeks ahead of the election.

According to the plaintiff, data from only 220 out of the 275 constituencies had been verified. An exceptional list of 74,799 he adds has been created which cannot also be verified because of scanty information.

For no credible reason, 3,910 eligible voters at the 220 constituencies have been disenfranchised, Dr Duffuor's writ read in parts.

Dr Duffuor had earlier complained of some discrepancies in the party's voter register and called on the National Executive of the party to postpone the upcoming primaries, but the party stated that the primaries will proceed accordingly.

As a result of the suit, the Electoral Commission (EC) announced that it will not supervise the upcoming primaries until all outstanding legal disputes were resolved.

-DGN online
The Electoral Commission (EC) says it is ready to supervise the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Presidential and Parliamentary Primaries following the discontinuation of an injunction on the elections.

A statement signed and issued by Mrs Jean Mensa, Chairperson of the Commission, said following the discontinuance of the Application for Injunction seeking to restrain the EC from conducting the NDC Primaries by the applicants, namely Dr. Kwabena Duffuor and M.r Edgar Asamoah Boateng, all legal barriers had been removed.

It added that the way was now clear for them to supervise the conduct of the NDC Primaries slated for Saturday May 13, 2023.

The statement said the Commission had held meetings with the leadership of the NDC earlier to finalise modalities for the conduct of the elections and that arrangements were being put in place to ensure a credible and transparent election.

GNA
Both chambers of the Swiss parliament voted to amend the Federal Act on War Material, which will allow military equipment to be transferred to Ukraine in the future, Euronews reports.

"Until now, weapons and ammunition purchased abroad could not be transferred to countries involved in armed conflicts. Due to the legal situation, Switzerland refused Germany, among other things, permission to supply ammunition for the German Gepard tank," the report says.

At the same time, the publication notes that the EU countries want to supply ammunition to Ukraine, but their own stocks are being depleted. In addition, some of the weapons and ammunition that were purchased several years ago in Switzerland have not yet been delivered to Ukraine.
Despite two interlocutory injunction applications by Dr. Kwabena Duffour and Mr. Edgar Boateng to postpone the primaries, the NDC has finally been cleared to proceed with the much-awaited presidential and parliamentary elections this Saturday, 13 May 2023.

Comrades of the Germany Chapter as well as many other comrades across the globe were highly concerned about the decisions taken to injunct the primaries. Such actions have the potential of dwarfing the bright chances for the NDC Party in the 2024 general elections. Luckily, the Party has crossed the last hurdle to go ahead with the primaries as planned.

It is our wish that all presidential and parliamentary candidates as well as delegates to comport themselves and ensure an incident-free event this Saturday.

This is a family contest among comrades to elect competent and winnable candidates to capture both the presidential seat as well as parliamentary majority come 7 January 2025.

Ghanaians are yearning for the NDC to come back to power to rescue them from this reckless, insensitive, and wicked Akufu-Addo-Bawumia-led government. Therefore, the NDC cannot fail Ghanaians in this regard!

We urge the rank and file of the Party to seek unity of purpose and work hard for a resounding victory in 2024.

Our Chapter wishes the NDC Party peaceful presidential and parliamentary Primaries.

Eye Zu, Eye Za

Long live Germany Chapter

Long live the NDC Party

Long live Ghana.

Sgd

Comrade Daniel Dake

Chairman, NDC Germany Chapter
Could some Ghanaian University lecturers be so childish in their reasoning? No wonder that Ghana is wobbling in socio-politico-economic stagnation. With such lecturers tutoring our students, can we expect anything better from the students when they complete their education and come out into public life?

There were these two University lecturers passed by Peace FM to wish the host of the Kookrokoo morning show programme, Mr Kwami Sefa Kayi, good morning, on Thursday, 11 May 2023.

When the programme presenter sought their views on the application for interlocutory injunction against the NDC presidential and parliamentary elections to be held today, Saturday, 13 May 2023, because of detected numerous irregularities and accuracies in the compilation of their photo album for the election, one of the lecturers exhibited his utter childishness.

He mocked Dr Kwabena Duffour by casting an insinuation, thus, S wo nntumi wo nnema a wo se wo kahyire nny, translated into English as  If you cant carry your load, you claim your buffer of cloth is not good.

He continued by saying, the results of the pending NDC presidential primaries are obvious and anyone knows who will win. If, Dr Kwabena Duffour, had any grievances, why did he not bring them up much earlier but waited until the eleventh hour? He said this teasingly.

I am very sorry to hear a whole Ghanaian University lecturer usually held in high esteem reason as such and so childishly.

Does the fact of waiting until that time to take the necessary legal steps for NDC to correct the detected mistakes make him an object of laughter? Had he earlier not complained to the NDC Election Committee or whatever they call them to rectify the anomalies but which they had not bothered to, known rogues and breachers of the laws as usual?

Did the lecturer expect Dr Duffour to let NDC continue to hold the elections amid all the established irregularities and inaccuracies that negate the essence and credibility of the elections because of time factor and money already spent?

When could we get NDC to behave responsibly if we allowed them to get away with blue murder because of time constraints? Did they not go to court after the declaration of the 2020 presidential election results, same knowing within their heart of hearts that they had genuinely lost the election? Did they not waste the courts time and cost the nation a lot of money for nothing?

What the highest level of corrupt reasoning and exhibition of utter stupidity by a Ghanaian University lecturer!

I would love to meet some of his students to assess their level of critical thinking.

Anyway, I would like to see Dr Duffour to not only withdraw from the NDC presidential primaries election but to completely resign from the NDC as he has no future belonging in that political party overflowing with lawless empty heads infatuated with committing criminal acts with impunity.

My country Ghana is fucked with people like John Dramani Mahama, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah and Sammy Gyamfi aspiring to be leaders to instruct and manage the citizens and the country.

Na wahara ooo!

Rockson Adofo

Saturday, 13 May 2023
All is set for the Akan NDC parliamentary and presidential primaries as election materials have arrived with officials from the Electoral Commission (EC) present.

The EC officials, led by Mr Justice Odame Frimpong, the Kadjebi District Electoral Officer, arrived at 0730 hours to oversee the voting process at the Dodi-Papase Senior High Technical School.

Present are Mr Emmanuel Klu, the Akan NDC Director of Elections,

45 police personnel, led by Superintendent Gyan-Mante Frempong, the Kadjebi District Police Commander, some Immigration Officers and delegates.

Mr Klu told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that they were ready for the polls, but only waiting for the EC officials to set up the voting booths for the elections to start.

Some 1,060 delegates from 39 wards are expected to cast their ballots.

Three contestants: Mr Yao Gomado, the incumbent Akan Member of Parliament (MP), Nana Nyarko Emmanuel Dabo, an Entrepreneur, and Ahmed Muniru, a Businessman, are contesting the NDC parliamentary slot for the general election in 2024.

None of the candidates was around as at the time of filing this report at 0804 hours.

GNA
African mining giant, Engineers & Planners has signed a $230m Caterpillar equipment financing with the Mansour Group of Dubai and Egypt.

The list of equipment under this facility include, 50 units of CAT 785, 30 units of CAT 777, 5 units of CAT 992K, 20 units of CAT D9R. Other equipment includes Water Bowsers, Fuel Bowsers, Motor Graders and Backhoes.

This agreement signed between the mining giant owned by Business Mogul, Ibrahim Mahama and Caterpillar is significant in changing the face of mining in Ghana and the Sub Sahara Africa.

E&P is a wholly Indigenous Ghanaian owned mining and construction contracting company headquartered in Accra, Ghana. Since its inception in 1997, E&P has successfully completed world class projects including road construction, mining projects, tailings dam construction, landfill site construction, leach pads construction, land reclamation amongst others.

E&P has the capacity, experience and expertise to deliver on major hard rock mining projects. E&P has executed mining projects both in Ghana and in Liberia. Over the past 25 years E&P has gained considerable experience in hard rock mining. E&P is currently engaged in hard rock contract mining for Gold Fields Ghana Limiteds world class mine in Tarkwa, and Abosso Goldfields Limited in Damang.

Between January 2010 and May 2014, E&P also undertook hard rock mining for Golden Star (Wassa) Limited. Most recently Abosso Goldfields Limited requested E&P to take over the Damang Complex Pit as the main mining contractor. The latest project for E&P is the Cardinal Namdini Mines in Bolgatanga.
13.05.2023 LISTEN

The US-Bangladesh relations have taken a positive turn after Bangladeshi Minister of Foreign Affairs AK Abdul Momen visited Washington, D.C. and met his US counterpart Antony Blinken on April 10, 2023. This meeting comes after a series of trips by high-ranking US officials to Bangladesh and the hosting of bilateral dialogues and joint military exercises over the previous year that indicate a positive turn in US-Bangladeshi relations. Additionally, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas successful visit to the US has further strengthened the ties between the two nations.

Overview of Bangladesh-US relations

Since its independence in 1971, Bangladesh and the US have usually maintained extensive political, economic, military, cultural, and humanitarian relations with each other. While Dhaka has carefully pursued a non-aligned and relatively well-balanced foreign policy during and after the Cold War, it has sometimes demonstrated a tilt in its foreign policy towards the US. On its part, Washington has maintained cordial relations with both the military dictatorships in Dhaka in the late 1970s and 1980s and the democratic governments in the post-1990 period. So far, Dhaka and Washington have held eight partnership dialogues and eight security dialogues to bolster their political and security ties.

Bangladeshs Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas visit to the United States has resulted in several agreements and commitments, including support for future development projects. The visit has showcased the progress and potential of the country in various sectors, and the meetings and events during the visit demonstrated a significant diplomatic effort towards strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries. The following paragraphs will discuss some of the key outcomes of the visit.

Cooperation under the framework of Indo-Pacific strategy

The US wants to see its presence in the Indo-Pacific on a larger scale and wants Bangladesh as a partner in the region. As a host country of the recent Indian Ocean Conference, Bangladesh has proved again it really wants work together with all the stakeholders. that it really the overarching goal of Bangladeshs recent Indo-Pacific Outlook is to enhance countrys ties with the USA and West, engagement in this region, accelerates economic growth, and addresses common issues shared by the other nations. For instance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh had announced a fresh Indo-Pacific Outlook to highlight Bangladeshs geopolitical standpoint on the region as well as its objectives to move forward as a nonalignment foreign policy. In other words, Bangladesh will likely to clarify on its own stance in the Indo-Pacific region through Indo-Pacific Outlook to take the position of regional leader, rather joining any political bloc. Bangladeshs Indo-Pacific outlook hews closely to that of the USA. Bangladesh also orients its Indo-Pacific outlook on the economic core, while security remains subservient to economic interests.

In this way, USA-Bangladesh relations would reach a new level. Bangladesh could gain trust from the US government because USA is an active member of the Indo-Pacific alliance. It aims to strengthening regional economic cooperation, guaranteeing the security of maritime commerce, combating climate change, investment opportunities and introducing new strategic alliances with other countries. Through upholding norms of international order, the freedom of trade and commerce, prosperity and the sovereign equality of all countries, their outlook aims to help advance the goal of an open, free and fair Indo-Pacific region. In addition, Bangladesh aspires to boost economy through increasing investment and trade; particularly in the areas of public investment and technological networking. The past years witnessed a flurry of USA delegation to Bangladesh and heralded a new epoch of bilateral partnership. In such context, the visit foregrounded the issues of Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) to the spotlight. Against this backdrop, the issue of prioritizing Indo-Pacific Strategy in the bilateral ties of Bangladesh and United Sates has been underscored. The visit had widely been framed as a historical conjuncture to solidify strategic engagement.

Trends of US-Bangladesh relations

Bangladeshi citizens neednt spark any new controversy and worry based on the recent human rights report. US-Bangladesh bilateral relations wouldnt affect. This is not the first time the US produces a study like this in recent years. There isnt much of a difference between those and the latest report. Many hoped that the Biden administration was going to impose more sanctions on Bangladesh government. But US hasnt imposed new sanctions on Bangladesh. Bangladesh has recently had the US-Bangladesh Partnership dialogue, Donald Lu, Victoria Nulands recent Bangladesh visits, the praiseworthy comments of the President Joe Biden regarding US willingness to engage with the current Bangladesh regime.

Increasing cooperation among the countries can be easily identified through several dialogues and joint training programs that have taken place in the last two years. Bangladesh and the US held the Partnership Dialogue and Security Dialogue in 2022 after a pause due to the pandemic. The dialogues are annual arrangements between the countries and have taken place every year since 2012. The US Navy also attended Bangladeshs International Fleet Review in December 2022.

Joe Bidens comment is very important in this regard. It is clear that Joe Biden has keen interest in engaging, cooperating with the Hasina regime in Bangladesh. US president Joe Biden said Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina has set an example of compassion and generosity for the world. In his letter to Sheikh Hasina wishing the great Independence Day, he wished for the progress and development of Bangladesh. In the letter, the US president said, Bangladesh has opened its borders and welcomed nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees.

BD PM seeks US partnership to build smart Bangladesh

During her virtual meeting with US Senators, Prime Minister Hasina highlighted the importance of a long-term partnership between Bangladesh and the United States to build a smart Bangladesh.

Bangladesh has enormous potential in technology, and the Prime Minister requested the United States to provide support in this sector.

The Prime Minister emphasized the need to increase global competitiveness and expand the export base to achieve the goal of becoming a developing country by 2026. During a business roundtable held at the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington DC, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed Bangladeshs desire for a long-term and fruitful partnership with the United States. She said, We shall need support to increase our global competitiveness and expand the export base. I am optimistic that the United States would become our long-term productive partner in this challenging venture through trade, investment, technology transfer, and by creating a smooth and predictable supply chain for mutual benefits.

Special economic zones for US investors

During a meeting with US businessmen, Prime Minister Hasina offered special economic zones to encourage investment in Bangladesh. She invited US investors to explore opportunities in the country and called for greater US investment in the countrys infrastructure and other sectors. The prime minister urged the US business community to explore opportunities and make investments in Bangladesh, citing the countrys vibrant and high-potential sectors, including renewable energy, shipbuilding, automobile, pharmaceuticals, and ICT. She reiterated her previous offer of a special economic zone exclusively for US investors. She said, I invite you to invest in our many vibrant and high-potential sectors.

Economic ties

The US had been the topmost provider of economic assistance to Bangladesh in its initial years, and currently, the US is the largest source of foreign direct investment for Bangladesh. The US is the single largest destination of Bangladeshi exports, and it is Bangladeshs 3rd largest trading partner. Export of Ready-Made Garments (RMG) products and remittances constitute the backbone of Bangladeshs rapidly growing economy, and since Bangladesh has a positive balance of payments with the US, its partnership with the US is crucial to its continued socio-economic development.

Security and military ties

Dhaka and Washington have cooperated closely on the security and military fronts. Washington has provided Dhaka with considerable military aid, helped the latter in bolstering its border and maritime security, assisted it in equipping and upgrading its UN peacekeeping contingents, and conducted a number of joint military exercises with it on a regular basis. Moreover, US-Bangladeshi cultural relations are strong and multifaceted, exemplified by regular cultural exchanges, joint cultural programs, and the presence of nearly 800,000 Bangladeshi immigrants in the US.

Humanitarian assistance

The US has been a very important partner for Bangladesh in terms of humanitarian assistance. During the Covid pandemic, Bangladesh had been the largest recipient of US vaccine donations, receiving more than 100 million doses that comprise more than 70% of all vaccine donations to the country. Moreover, Washington has provided Dhaka with nearly $2.1 billion since 2017 to manage the 1.2 million Rohingya refugees currently residing in south-eastern Bangladesh.

Areas of friction

There also exist some areas of friction in the US-Bangladesh relations. Washington has expressed its reservations about the fairness of elections in Bangladesh, the human rights records of Bangladeshi security agencies, and the conditions of media freedom and labour rights in the country. On the other hand, Dhaka is seeking from the US the reinstatement of GSP facilities for itself, the removal of sanctions on Bangladeshi security force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), the extradition of Rashed Chowdhury (a former Bangladeshi military officer involved in the assassination of Bangladeshs founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman), and the increased involvement of the US in the repatriation of Rohingya refugees.

Non-interference in Bangladeshs internal affairs

US Ambassadors Comment on Bangladeshs Internal Affairs Shocked Countrymen. USA is countrys development partner. The USA-Bangladesh ties are eternal. Bangladeshi people like UK. The ambassadors of America, Britain, and Canada talk directly about the internal affairs of Bangladesh. The expectations of Bangladeshi people from all our development partners including their representatives in Dhaka not to interfere in its own internal affairs. As they should respect its own values, choices.

Bangladesh-US ties amidst global and regional transformations

The growing importance that the US is attaching to Bangladesh has to be understood in the context of global and regional transformations. Bangladesh is a rising power in South Asia, and its strategic location, population, and economy make it an important player in the region. Moreover, the US is seeking to maintain its strategic presence in the Indo-Pacific region as part of its broader strategy to counterbalance Chinas growing influence in the region. Bangladesh is an important partner for the US in this context, as it shares a border with India, which is a critical player in the region, and is also a member of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation ( BIMSTEC ) and the Indian Ocean Rim Association ( IORA ).

In conclusion, US-Bangladeshi relations are on a positive track, as evidenced by the recent high-level visits, joint exercises, and dialogue mechanisms. While there are some areas of friction in the relationship, the growing strategic importance of Bangladesh and the USs interest in maintaining its strategic presence in the Indo-Pacific region are likely to drive the relationship forward in the coming years.

Consolidating Ties in Post-LDC Era

As Bangladesh is poised to graduate from the LDC, cooperation in the realm of investment, ease of doing business, higher education, intellectual property protection, taxation, and pharmaceutical needs to be reassessed. In the post-LDC scenario, the USA needs to ensure a trading agreement to harmonize trade procedures between the two countries by signing new and more favorable trade pacts. Given Bangladeshs comparative advantage in the global supply chain due to cheap and affordable products, the USA can harness this by maintaining undiminished linkages even in the post-LDC era.

Bangladesh needs more US investment

The bilateral relationship between USA and Bangladesh is rooted in favorable of investment and trade relationship that enables both economies to thrive. Bangladesh had witnessed remarkable infrastructural advancement and mushrooming economic zone and increasing benefits granted to foreign industries point to the conducive business environment in Bangladesh. Given Bangladeshs market comprising a colossal 170 million people, and due to its relative proximity to both South and South-East Asia, the United States can tap into Bangladeshs market through the inflow of investments. This can aid Bangladeshs development trajectory since the infusion of investment results in a set of macro-economic dividends for the nascent developing country. The historic ties between Bangladesh and USA rest on common values and mutual interests. Through enhancing economic and trade cooperation, the mutual partnership can be further amplified.

Take a comprehensive approach

As global geopolitics verges on the critical junction, and as Bangladesh thrives economically  the USA needs to reorient its stance towards Bangladesh. A reset in bilateral ties needs a broadening and deepening of partnership on a gamut of bilateral issues in the friendly spirit.

Moreover, a reset in bilateral relations is necessary, to take account of the global strategic shifts and economic ascent of Bangladesh. Harnessing the fruits of bilateral partnership needs frequent engagement and enhancing the people-to-people ties between two countries. The bilateral ties need to explore the functional issues and through frequent bilateral engagement, a booming bilateral partnership will materialize.

By Indrajit Kumar

An educator, Op-ed columnist, international affairs analyst and freelance researcher.
13.05.2023 LISTEN

Bangladesh will likely allow India to set up a 116-200 kilometer power transmission corridor connecting India's northeastern states, also known as the seven sisters. In return, India may allow Bangladesh to import power from Nepal and Bhutan using its transmission line, which has been under negotiation for years.

Technical data from the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) indicates that the capacity of the Bharamara-Baharampur transmission line is expected to increase from 2,400 MW to 3,200 MW soon. But Bangladesh imports 900-940 MW of electricity from India's Baharampur to Bheramara. Considering the unutilized 2,040 MW grid line between Bangladesh and India, the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) proposed finalizing the existing grid to supply imported electricity from the GUKUL project in Nepal last year. In response, Indian NVVN stated that an agreement for additional power supply to Bangladesh using the Indian grid line could only be signed after finalizing the new transmission corridor between the two countries. According to India's Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, the Indian authority can make cross-border trade where India is involved. There is a specific provision of a tripartite agreement that allows the Indian authority to sign the framework of bilateral agreements between the government of India and the governments of the respective neighboring countries. In other words, Bangladesh and Nepal must sign bilateral agreements for cross-border electricity trade with India.

Bangladesh permitted the 21st Joint Steering Committee's meeting with India on power sector cooperation. At the meeting, it was agreed that a tripartite power purchase agreement (PPA) would be concluded soon between Nepal, India, and Bangladesh to facilitate the transfer of 500MW of cross-border electricity from Nepal's 900MW Upper Karnali hydropower project. The Joint Steering Committee also discussed implementing a hydropower project in Bhutan through a tripartite investment between Bangladesh, Bhutan, and India. Nepal has an estimated hydropower potential of around 80,000MW, but the country can only produce around 2,000MW. Since 2019, Nepal has been exporting power to India at six Indian rupees per unit. Bangladesh imports 1,160MW of power from India through the Baharampur-Bheramara and Tripura-Cumilla cross-border grid lines. Bangladesh aims to increase the share of imported electricity in its energy mix up to 40% by 2041 when the total generation capacity will reach 60,000MW.

The main reason behind establishing the power transmission lines

The northeastern region is India's main hub for increasing its renewable energy capacity. India needs to tap the unexplored natural resources of its Northeast. This region has a potential of 33,100 MW of hydropower. Still, it is untapped because of the low electricity demand, while the absence of a power grid hinders the supply of excess electricity to its western parts. Electricity transmission from northeastern India to western parts of India requires a corridor through Bangladesh due to geo-political boundaries.

India and Bangladesh want to substantially increase their share of renewable energy in the upcoming years. The Indian government has set an ambitious plan to generate 500GW from non-fossil energy-based sources by 2030, meeting 50 percent of energy requirements from renewables. Likewise, Bangladesh wants to increase the share of renewable energy in the country's power mix to around 40 percent by 2050 from less than three percent now.

Bangladesh has the potential to offer multiple electricity corridors for transmission. Arunachal Pradesh alone has a 50,000 MW of hydroelectricity potential. According to Indian North Eastern Electric Power Cooperation, the Indian North Eastern Region has the potential of about 58,971 MW of power, almost 40 percent of India's total hydropower potential. India plans to explore all hydropower potentials in Arunachal Pradesh and other northeastern states. India has a total potential of 145,320 MW hydropower, but only 45,399.22 MW of the quantum was being tapped. But India needs to spend a huge amount of money to transmit hydropower from India's northeastern to northwestern region. But the geographical barrier has constrained India from untapping its potential. Eighteen projects above the capacity of 25 MW were now under construction across Northeast in 2019.

This is why India wants to build power transmission lines for using the power corridor of Bangladesh to reduce the cost. In 2021, Bangladesh showed interest in the power corridor and expected to get 20 to 25 percent of the hydropower to be transmitted through the high-voltage gridline passing through its territory. The transmission line with the capacity of 6,000MW in Bangladesh land maybe 100km in length if it is built in Boropukuria and 200km if it is installed in Jamalpur, while a substation would be built in each route. Two possible routes of the transmission line are  from Asam's Bonga through Baropukuria (Dinajpur) or Jamalpur to Bihar's Punia and from Asam's Silchar via Meghna Ghat-Bheramara to West Bengal. There can be such high-capacity interconnectors in Tripura-Comilla, Bongaigaon (Assam)-Jamalpur/Dinajpur-Purnea (Bihar), Silchar (Assam), and Fenchuganj.

A win-win for both

This deal will be fruitful only if India finally allows a power corridor to Bangladesh to import electricity from Nepal. Along with getting the corridor, Bangladesh needs to ensure that it gets a fair share of electricity from India in return of establishing those transmission lines. Because,India can achieve its untapped opportunities of hydropower from the northeastern region by establishing power transmission lines over Bangladesh, both Bangladesh and India should come forward to enhance their energy security based on reciprocity and enhance South Asian regional cooperation.

By Safowan Hossain Khan

Safowan Hossain Khan is a researcher specializing in South Asian Affairs with a particular focus on the India-Bangladesh relations. He is a Senior Research Fellow of University of London.
Private legal practitioner, Kwame Jantuah has opined that Dr. Kwabena Duffuor has made a good move by pulling out of the flagbearer race of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The former Bank of Ghana Governor on Friday night announced that he will no longer contest the presidential primaries of the opposition party held today.

He argued that he cannot contest an election blatantly fraught with irregularities.

My concerns that the party is not ready to conduct free and fair election is evident for all to see. Taking part in such would be akin to knowingly drinking from a poisoned calabash. After consulting with my support base nationwide, I have been left with no choice but to withdraw from the Presidential election as I cannot contest in an election which is blatantly fraught with irregularities regardless of all my efforts to draw attention to same, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor said.

Speaking to Asaase Radio this morning, Kwame Jantuah shared the view that the decision by Dr. Duffuor is a strategic one that will help his presidential ambition when he decides to come back in 2028 to contest the NDC flagbearer election.

If Dr. Duffuor is dropping out to come back in 2028, then hes being very strategic, the private legal practitioner said.

Despite what came as a setback early in the week when Dr. Kwabena Duffuor secured a court injunction to stop the NDC from holding the primaries today, it is going ahead as planned.

The flagbearer race is now between former President John Dramani Mahama and former Kumasi Mayor Kojo Bonsu.
According to Fadipedia, angelism is the manner of being holy but moderate, considerate but stern, tolerant and forgiving! Aaaaah, finally, my dear party, the NPP, is being presented with a candidate whose leadership is an inevitability, in shaa ALLAH; one, who has the elements of angelism intertwined in his knit and fabric; one who can force his heart and nerve and sinew!

Dr Mahmoudu Bawumia, is the man who makes manifest the definition of angelism, and loves Ghanaians to a fault!

You see, this man possesses traits that are quite unique, and wears them as an epaulette on his shoulder just as a General in an army would, proudly! I will be unravelling the beautiful surprises of this mans ways, but for now, he has a message of sanguinity and love for all who care to listen, appreciate, and take heed!

First, his respect for women is legendary. He does not need to be praised for this at all because he sees in every woman a mother, his mother! On occasions such as mothers day, he has never been frugal with giving credit to women who have impacted his personality, fashioning him according to the ebbs and tides of lifes lessons which come like the sea waves slapping the shore rather shyly, etching its effects on the wet sand! He says hope is a prayer we cannot abandon, at least not by women who form the mothers and carers of civilisation.

Dr Bawumia worked tirelessly, burning the midnight oil as he tried to right the wrongs of former President John Mahama. Since then, he has been at the forefront of turning the economy around, which he did, but for the sudden attack by Covid-19. Truth be told, this particular virus was a notch worse than its sister NDC, but, ultimately, they had the same thing in common: destruction of life, property, and the national coffers!

In fact, Dr Bawumia has maintained such a sanguine attitude towards the economy and our general well-being! He however has a message that we all should wear like a badge of honour on our sleeves, and that is that no matter what happens in the flagbearership campaign and elections, once he wins the bid to lead the NPP, in shaa ALLAH, his doors will remain open to all who did and did not vote for him.

That is the man of peace that some people are fighting. Dont be fooled that ministers and MPs who are openly campaigning for him will ditch him at the last hour. That is the figment of some peoples imagination that is violating their minds in a very unholy fashion. Let them drool over their misconception, conceptualism of a baseless dream and intoxicating nonentity-ism (another word explained by Fadipedia as benign insignificance)!

I want to give glad tidings to all who are considering declaring and voting for Dr Bawumia! He has the ability to forgive and put behind him all that can disrupt our unity. We may spar here and there, after all we are humans in a tug-of-war, if you like, in the matter of internal elections. Beyond this, there is no reason why we cannot bond as a fraternity that is doing GODs bid to alleviate the living standards of all Ghanaians!

Dr Bawumia will lend you a listening ear and take the opinion of every concerned citizen seriously. He is a true Ghanaian, religious in his determination to make Ghana work, reason why he embarked on digitalisation and digitisation of the economy! Oh, and yes, he is no religious bigot. While he is Muslim by faith, he is tolerant of other faiths, having been an active member of the Methodist Boys Brigade, which he enjoys being close to until this very day! 7

Go for Bawumia and let the sun continue to shine on Ghana!
The Chinese have taken advantage of Africa's weak judicial system and its friendly populace to penetrate African nations in quest of precious gems and stones, including gold and diamonds. This is a global problem, not just an unresolved issue in Ghana. Everyone accuses them of destroying the ecosystems, waterways, and the environment of Africa, but did the Chinese illegal miners suddenly come from another planet to invade Africa?

Ghanaian leaders, including politicians and chiefs, enabled the Chinese who are currently destroying the country. These Chinese have access to resources in Ghana that they are illegally mining, and those who have permitted them to do so receive a share of the profits. "When a rope is being pulled and it stops in the middle, then you should know that something is holding on to it at its end." Thats a Ghanaian proverb.



The Attorney General, Godfred Dame, and Paul Adom-Ochere are responsible for the widespread corruption and crime within Akufo Addo's government. Since they were both appointed by the president and feared losing their positions, they both support and defend the presidents immoralities.

The main issue in Ghana has been illegal mining, which has been difficult to combat since the law makes it difficult to bring perpetrators to justice and, more crucially, because those in positions of authority sometimes participate in the malpractices. Fighting any form of corruption in Ghana has proven fruitless because many elected officials, journalists, and judges support it because they have been appointed by the ruling party. Corrupt behavior will decline if it is denounced.



Since Nana Akufo Addo appointed Paul Adom-Otchere to lead the airport facilities, he has consistently defended the president's crimes and as a result, the fight against corruption in the country hasn't advanced. Imagine that yesterday the country's attorney general arrived to defend the president's offenses related to his involvement in illicit mining. According to Godfred Dame, Ghanaians shouldn't take Prof. Frimpong Boateng's report on the presidents involvement in illegal mining seriously.

Therefore, if you are an intelligent person in Ghana, you should question why Akufo Addo completely ignored a report Prof. Boateng submitted to him in 2021, about the destruction of the nation through illegal mining, but the Attorney General will denounce it when Kevin Taylor, the host of "Loud Silence TV," takes it seriously enough to broadcast it. Meanwhile, Al Jazeera, the international media, has exposed the same president for engaging in unlawful gold trading, named Gold Mafia.

In a news article by ModernGhana with the headline "Goaso: Illegal miners shoot lady's private part, injure seven others," I didn't blame those responsible for that crime. I hold all of the NPP politicians accountable, including the president, Nana Akufo Addo, and the local chiefs. The president is in charge of everything that happens in his country and since he cant handle everything, he appointed ministers to assist him. Therefore; if the president claims that he is unaware that illicit Chinese miners are operating in the country, that means he is incompetent.



An intelligent, wise, and alert leader must be on guard and aware of his surroundings, or terrorists or coup plotters can simply enter the country and overturn the government. Therefore, if Akufo Addo is unaware that certain Ghanaians have been hired with guns to guard unlicensed Chinese miners in the nation, this demonstrates Ghana is under an uncaring and incompetent leader, and I am not surprised that the nation has submerged, despite its abundant riches.

Illegal mining has decimated Ghana as a nation, due to corruption or greed, and many children are currently born with malformations in the country's severely afflicted mining areas. A pathologist claims that "Babies in the "Galamsey" area are being born without their private parts and with only one eye, and that "Children between the ages of 12 and 15 are dying of hypertension-related diseases." Since illicit mining has a severe impact, these malformations or deformities may last a very long time.

I don't feel at ease when I read such depressing news; instead, I become enraged with people like Paul Adom-Otchere and Godfred Dame. The country would be in much better shape today if they had taken their positions seriously and refrained from defending the atrocities of the NPP or Akufo Addo. It is not because Akufo Addo appointed them; hence they must defend his crimes to keep their jobs, that is utter nonsense.



I want to take this opportunity to remind IGP George Dampare, Paul Adom-Otchere, Godred Dame, Bawumia, Alan Kyerematen, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, and everyone else working for Akufo Addo's government that they allowed Chinese illegal miners to wreck our nation. Since no African has ever been able to do that in any region of China, I will place the blame on them and not the illegal miners.
The campaign team of former president John Dramani Mahama say they are confident of securing 99.9% of the votes in the presidential primaries of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Deputy spokesperson of the team, Beatrice Annan said the rousing welcome the team received in all the 275 constituencies they visited has strengthened and solidified their belief of an overwhelming victory in the flagbearership race of the party today, May 13.

Speaking on Eyewitness News on Citi FM, Ms. Annan said though it is obvious that the delegates are calling for former president Mahama, the team and the NDC party will not be complacent.

We in the NDC are not complacent, and we are committed to working hard until the last ballot paper is counted and as much as we recognise that this is no contest, we expect a 99.9 percent victory.

This is not the first time Mahama is contesting the flagbearer race, and we are confident of securing 99 percent of the votes. Many of the constituencies we visited revealed that there was no competition for us because the mood we get is that this contest was not necessary in the first place.

She added that the 2024 elections will be won in every polling station and so it is important that we go to all the constituencies. People are hungry for change and the many teaming young of this country want a change.

The presidential and parliamentary primaries of the NDC were in limbo as one of the presidential aspirants, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor secured an injunction against the polls until agreeing to withdraw it on Friday afternoon paving the way for the elections to be held today, Saturday, May 13.

-citinewsroom
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had a telephone conversation, discussed preparations for a counteroffensive, subsequent arms deliveries, and the creation of the Special Tribunal.

"I spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to agree on further arms transfers, our cooperation with the Global South and the creation of the Special Tribunal. I emphasized the importance of providing Ukraine with F-16s and the necessary steps to begin training Ukrainian pilots," Kuleba wrote on Twitter.

"Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. The two discussed ongoing preparations for Ukraines counteroffensive, including how contributions from international partners can support its success. Secretary Blinken noted Ukraines sovereignty is vital to peace and security in Europe and reiterated the U.S. commitment to holding Russia to account, underscoring President Bidens pledge to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes," said the website of the U.S. Department of State.
US President Joe Biden has invited the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, as state guest on 22 June as Washington pulls out all the stops to strengthen trade and security ties with the world's largest democracy.

Modi will be the third world leader invited for a state visit during Biden's tenure, following French President Emmanuel Macron in 2022 and the South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in April.

Modi's Hindu nationalist government said it was attaching utmost importance to the two-day trip, which will be his maiden state visit to the US since coming to power in 2014.

His previous trips to meet Barack Obama and Donald Trump were not classified as state visits to the US, which denied him a visa in 2005 for not doing enough to stem anti-Moslem riots three years earlier in Gujarat when he was chief minister of the Indian state.

Sweet spot

It is a very important development, said Satish Chandra, a former deputy national security advisor.

The India/US relationship is at a happy spot and this visit will only increase the depth of the relationship, the high-ranking diplomat told RFI.

The foreign ministry in Delhi said preparations were on for the ceremonial trip. "It will underscore the growing importance of the strategic partnership between India and the US.

Biden and Modi may also bump into each other four times between 19 May and 20 June when they travel separately to Australia, Japan and Papua New Guinea.

The leaders will have the opportunity to review strong bilateral cooperation in various areas of mutual interest, including technology, trade, industry, education, research, clean energy, defence, security, healthcare, and deepening people-to-people connections, Delhi said.

The US emerged as India's biggest trading partner at 118 billion euros in the financial year ending 31 March, pushing China to the second spot.

American military trade with India rose from near zero in 2008 to more than 18 billion euros in 2020, according to the US Department of State.

Officials said Modi will kick off his trip attending the International Yoga Day event on 21 June outside the UN headquarters in New York.

He will then dash off to Washington for a 21-gun salute at the White House followed by a state dinner hosted by Biden and the US First Lady.

Russian frost

But some analysts believed India's refusal to criticise Russia for waging war on Ukraine and importing steeply-discounted oil from Moscow ignoring US sanctions could weigh on the talks.

But others such as Chandra argued the issue may not cloud the talks since Washington was sympathetic to energy-deficient India's desperate oil needs.

Now the understanding is very clear in the US that they need India more than India needs them and that they are benefitting enormously from this relationship, Chandra said.

They do recognise India has a very old relationship with Russia and it is important for India to have this relationship.

India  the world's largest arms importer  has bought nearly half of its military hardware from Russia.

Modi also tried very hard to mend ties with China but China has its own agenda and they will not change and neither will Pakistan, added Chandra, a former Indian ambassador in Islamabad.

India has fought three wars with Pakistan and one with China since its 1947 independence.

Delhi and Washington hope the bilateral summit may also tone up Quad  a security grouping set up in 2007 by Australia, India, Japan and the United States to keep China's rising influence in check.

They would discuss opportunities to expand and consolidate the Quad engagement, the government in Delhi said without naming China as a threat.

Indian households keenly await the outcome of Modi's trip to the US, which is on track to issue more than one million visas to Indians.

The number of Indian students in the US rose 19 percent in the past fiscal year with the South Asian nation overtaking China to become the top recipient of US student visas.

They are as solid bed partners as one can possibly get, a Delhi-based Western diplomat said.
Private legal practitioner, Kwame Jantuah has indicated that now that Dr. Kwabena Duffuor is no longer contesting the flagbearer elections of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama automatically wins the election.

According to Mr. Jantuah, it is good that the former President is returning to lead the NDC in the 2024 general election.

Speaking to Asaase Radio, he said it will give John Dramani Mahama a good chance to defend his time as president.

I dont know whos going to win on the NPP side but where the NDC is concerned, its automatic that John Mahama is going hands down.

For me, in some weird way, its good that Pres Mahama is coming  hell have to defend his time as president. For the NPP if the presumptive leader is Dr. Bawumia, he will also have to defend his governments time in power, Kwame Jantuah said.

The flagbearer election of the NDC is happening today, Saturday, May 13.

Dr. Kwabena Duffuor pulled out of the contest last night, insisting that he cannot contest in an election that is blatantly fraught with irregularities.

My concerns that the party is not ready to conduct free and fair election is evident for all to see. Taking part in such would be akin to knowingly drinking from a poisoned calabash. After consulting with my support base nationwide, I have been left with no choice but to withdraw from the Presidential election as I cannot contest in an election which is blatantly fraught with irregularities regardless of all my efforts to draw attention to same, the former Bank of Ghana Governor said.

The flagbearer contest of the NDC is now between John Dramani Mahama and former Kumasi Mayor Kojo Bonsu.
This week on The Sound Kitchen you'll hear the answer to the question about the CFDT trade union and Macron's pension reform. You'll meet Paul Myers  who is our new Listeners Corner host - and get happy with Ollia Horton's Happy Moment. All that, and the new quiz question, too, so click on the Play button above and enjoy!

Hello everyone! Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday  here on our website, or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll hear the winner's names announced and the week's quiz question, along with all the other ingredients you've grown accustomed to: your letters and essays, On This Day, quirky facts and news, interviews, and great music  so be sure and listen every week.

Erwan and I are busy cooking up special shows with your musical requests, so get them in! Send your musical requests to [email protected] Tell us why you like the piece of music, too  it makes it more interesting for us all!

Be sure you check out our wonderful podcasts!

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Another idea for your students: Br. Gerald Muller, my beloved music teacher from St Edward's University in Austin, Texas, has been writing books for young adults in his retirement  and they are free! There is a volume of biographies of painters and musicians called Gentle Giants, and an excellent biography of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, too. They are also a good way to help you improve your English - that's how I worked on my French, reading books which were meant for young readers  and I guarantee you, it's a good method for improving your language skills. To get Br. Gerald's free books, click here.

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This week's quiz: On 15 April, I asked you a question about an article by RFI English journalist Amanda Morrow:  French unions rally protesters after pension reform talks end in failure . You were to tell us what Cyril Chabanier, the leader of the moderate CFTC union, had to say about the reform.

The answer is, as Amanda wrote:  They (meaning all of France's trade unions) had been pushing for the complete withdrawal of the reform bill, which Cyril Chabanier, leader of the CFTC union said was "unfair and brutal".

In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question, suggested by Father Steven Wara from Bamenda, Cameroon: Do you have a religious faith? What inspires you to adhere to and stay with it?

The winners are: Shahanaj Parvin, who's the p resident of the Nilshagor RFI Fan Club in Nilphamari, Bangladesh. Shahanaj is also the winner of this week's bonus question.

Congr atulations, Shahanaj !

Also on the list of lucky winners this week are Asifa Shaheen, who's a member of the RFI Listeners Club in Sheikhupura City, Pakistan, and RFI Listeners Club members Karuna Kanta Pal from West Bengal, India; Ekena Begum from Odisha, India, and Mogire Machuki from Kissi, Kenya.

Congratulations winners!

Here's the music you heard on this week's programme: The Spanish Dance No. 1 from Manuel de Falla's opera La Vida Breve, performed by Itzhak Perlman and Samuel Sanders; Cha-cha-cha No. 2 by Xavier Cugat, performed by Cugat and his orchestra;  The Flight of the Bumblebee by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; The Cakewalk from Children's Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer;  Happy by Pharrell Williams, and L et's Call This by Thelonius Monk, performed by Monk, Joe Gordon, and Harold Land.

Do you have a musical request? Send it to [email protected]

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The National Democratic Congress (NDC) is targeting 80 per cent voter turn out in its primaries at Krowor in the Greater Accra Region.

Mr Kwaku Narh, NDC Director of Elections at Krowor told the Ghana News Agency that the Party was confident that about 80 per cent of delegates would have voted by close of day.

Voting is underway in a calm and relaxed atmosphere at the Saint Francis Preparatory School at Nungua, where the primaries are been held under the supervision of the Electoral Commission with the support of the Krowor Constituency Elections Committee.

Voting commenced at about 0710 hours on Saturday.

The Ghana News Agency gathered that voting materials arrived at the voting Centre about 05:30 hours.

A total of 2,129 delegates drawn from 15 Wards are expected to cast their ballots.

To speed up the process, three voting centres have been created.

About 30 police officers have been deployed at the Centre to maintain law and order.

Delegates without accreditation are not allowed to enter the voting area.

Mr Narh said the Elections Committee was thus far impressed with the ECs work.

We anticipated the challenges so we started engaging the EC since yesterday. We have been collaborating with them and they have done extremely well. Mr Narh said.

He said the committee had put in place adequate measures and had engaged all the aspirants on the electoral guidelines to avoid disagreements on the election day.

Voting is expected to close at 1600hours.

Five aspirants are seeking to lead the NDC in the Krowor Constituency for the 2024 parliamentary elections.

The aspirants are Agnes Naa Momo Lartey; Dorcas Naa Korley; Daniel Alabi; Enoch Bortey Borquaye Manison, and Edgar Nii Kpakpo Addo.

GNA
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is predicted to face his toughest re-election challenge yet this weekend. Amid growing concerns over voter security, opposition and non-governmental organisations are stepping up efforts to ensure a fair poll.

It's busy in the Istanbul office of the non-partisan election monitoring group Turkiye Gonulluleri.

Staff are recruiting volunteers to make sure they have enough people to cover Turkey's general elections on 14 May.

"Now, in 81 cities, we are organizing the system in each voting area," explains Ayce Yucel, one of the group's coordinators.

"We have a Turkiye Gonulluleri person in each school. We need at least 200,000 people. At the moment, we haven't reached that point yet."

Yucel confidently predicts they will achieve their monitor target by election day.

The group trains monitors through telephone support, online videos, Zoom and face-to-face meetings. The monitors learn how to collect voting numbers at polling stations and to collate those figures to check the official results are accurate.

Like many of the volunteers, Damla, who only wanted to be identified by her first name, is a student and is determined that every vote should count.

"As a young person, I cannot live the way I want, I cannot live the way I desire, and that is why I want to protect my vote and ballot box as a duty here because there are many security gaps," she said.

Nationwide operation

Opinion polls indicate an increasingly tight presidential and parliamentary election.

The government says all steps have been taken to ensure a fair vote, with videos from the state election board promising every ballot will count.

Despite this, monitoring groups say there are still concerns about voter security.

In response, Turkiye Gonulluleri has recruited a team of lawyers who will also help monitor the vote.

Volunteers are also being sent to Turkey's earthquake-struck Hatay region.

"Those who remained here have concerns, saying, 'I wonder if our votes will be stolen. I wonder if there will be someone who will protect our votes'," explains Tamer Baglan, Turkiye Gonulluleri's provincial coordinator for Hatay.

"As volunteers, we are doing whatever we can to ensure that the election is held in a fair way. We currently have nearly 1,000 volunteers here. We've allocated them to voting stations," he added.

Mass arrests

But alarm bells are ringing in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish region in the south-east, where the state has a powerful presence after decades of fighting with separatists.

At a press conference last Thursday in Diyarbakir, Turkey's largest Kurdish-majority city, human rights groups condemned the arrests under anti-terror laws of over 200 people, including lawyers, journalists and members of civil society.

"When we look at the investigation files, we see that journalists are being investigated for their journalistic activities, lawyers for their professional activities, civil society organisations for their democratic actions and activities," declared Abdullah Zeytun, head of the Diyarbakir branch of the Human Rights Association.

"The timing of the arrests is meaningful because all these people are actively involved in observing the election process  [they are] people who'll identify and prevent voting violations that might occur during this process or will report on these violations," he said.

The government dismisses such concerns, insisting the judiciary is independent.

But Sorgul Aytek Avsar, the parliamentary candidate in Diyarbakir for the main pro-Kurdish Green Left Party, says that the arrests are fueling fears for election night.

"Pressure has increased so much that people don't care about fear anymore; as they say, the knife is to the bone," she said. "People came together in a few hours after the arrests, thousands of them came together and protested. They showed that they would not accept it.

"I think this showed that people strengthened their resolve for the election. I think it showed that people are really ready to protect their ballot boxes."

Memories of 2019 vote

Election monitor groups working with political parties played a crucial role in helping to ensure that votes were fairly counted in a hotly contested Istanbul mayoral election in 2019.

That poll resulted in Erdogan's party losing its decades-long domination of the city.

Ayce Yucel was part of those monitoring efforts and said that the memory of that success motivates her for the forthcoming polls.

"Instead of thinking everything is going to be bad, you have to go to your school or wherever you are voting and follow what people are doing. That's the main idea, actually," Yucel said.

As parties step up their campaigns, some observers say the role of election monitors could prove pivotal to the outcome of Sunday's polls.
Mr. John Dramani Mahama has reacted to the withdrawal of former Finance Minister Dr Kwabena Duffuor from the presidential race of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Mr Mahama who is also contesting told journalists after casting his ballot on Saturday, May 12 that his withdrawal at the last minute does not change anything, I just voted, there are many delegates going to vote, the result will still be what it is and I expect it to be a landslide.

He added There is no disunity in the party, absolutely not, One contender was dissatisfied with the process, it doesnt mean there is disunity in the party. NDC is a family and all of them are part of that family, as long as they are willing to come together and let us work toward 2024 I dont think there is any problem, the party will make overtures.

Dr Kwabena Duffuor withdrew from the NDC Presidential primaries while addressing a press conference in Accra on Friday May 12, just a day to the elections.

He saidAt the meeting chaired by the former speaker of parliament, Rt Hori Edward Doe Adjaho, all stakeholders at the meeting agreed that the Party Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketia would immediately set up a technical team comprising the technical representatives from the 3 presidential aspirants and the party's election committee to determine how soon the irregularities with the voters register could be resolved in readiness for the Presidential primaries. The technical committee was to subsequently submit a report to parties after this had been determined As I speak with you, our technical team is currently at the Party headquarters to undertake this activity.

However, despite the assurances given to myself and my team by the Chairman of the party, the executives of the party, in a complete and unacceptable breach of faith, went ahead to convene a press conference announcing that the elections would go ahead tomorrow, without having resolved the concerns surrounding the voters register as decided at the meeting of the Council of Elders

Dr. Duffuor added that My concerns that the party is not ready to conduct free and fair election is evident for all to see. Taking part in such would be akin to knowingly drinking from a poisoned calabash. After consulting with my support base nationwide, I have been left with no choice but to withdraw from the Presidential election as I cannot contest in an election which is blatantly fraught with irregularities regardless of all my efforts to draw attention to same.

Dr Duffuor filed an injunction application against the primaries but withdrew it from the court.

The plaintiff avers that the partial delivery of the Photo Album to his representatives on 4th May 2023 was in itself out of time considering the magnitude of the verification exercise required of them before the internal elections of 13th May 2023, portions of the application said.

The campaign team Dr Duffuor earlier demanded postponement of the May 13 Presidential Primaries over what it describes as a flawed register.

-citinewsroom
private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has said President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo resurrected the career of John Dramani Mahama after the former President was defeated in the 2016 general elections.

Mr Kpebu explained that Mr Mahama was was booted out of office on the back of corruption and mismanagement of the economy. However, President Akufo-Addo has done far more than what John Mahama was accused of doing thereby resurrecting Mahamas career.

Martin Kpebu said these when commending former Finance Minister Dr Kwabena Duffuor for giving John Mahama a run for his money in the campaign ahead of the ongoing presidential and parliamentary primaries even though he withdrew from the race last minute.

Speaking on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, May 13, he said from where I sit Duffuor was giving John Mahama a run for his money, and that was good.

I am analyzing from the books and from what I see, those on the grounds will analyze what they see on the ground, let us not underestimate the importance of debate so Dr Duffuor was debating John Mahama that look, it is not just that you can come back and do what you were doing.

This is the man we booted out and we thought corruption was over but Akufio-Addo came and single-handedly resurrected him because he came to do worst, this is something that we will grapple with for a long time in our history.

After we had said Mahama was so terrible in all respects in terms of economic management, corruption and everything, we booted him out and Akufo-Addo comes to resurrect him so Duffuor giving him a challenge was good because it will tell Mahama that he should not just take it for granted that it is all just smooth sailing and automatically come back to the office. I placed a lot of premium on what Duffuor was doing, it helps our democracy so it is not exactly good that he had to withdraw because they wouldnt meet his concerns, I think next time he should be patient especially because we still had some time to the general elections.

Dr Kwabena Duffuor withdrew from the NDC Presidential primaries.

At a press conference in Accra on Friday May 12, just a day to the elections, he saidAt the meeting chaired by the former speaker of parliament, Rt Hori Edward Doe Adjaho, all stakeholders at the meeting agreed that the Party Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketia would immediately set up a technical team comprising the technical representatives from the 3 presidential aspirants and the party's election committee to determine how soon the irregularities with the voters register could be resolved in readiness for the Presidential primaries. The technical committee was to subsequently submit a report to parties after this had been determined As I speak with you, our technical team is currently at the Party headquarters to undertake this activity.

However, despite the assurances given to myself and my team by the Chairman of the party, the executives of the party, in a complete and unacceptable breach of faith, went ahead to convene a press conference announcing that the elections would go ahead tomorrow, without having resolved the concerns surrounding the voters register as decided at the meeting of the Council of Elders

Dr. Duffuor added that My concerns that the party is not ready to conduct free and fair election is evident for all to see. Taking part in such would be akin to knowingly drinking from a poisoned calabash. After consulting with my support base nationwide, I have been left with no choice but to withdraw from the Presidential election as I cannot contest in an election which is blatantly fraught with irregularities regardless of all my efforts to draw attention to same.

Dr Duffuor filed an injunction application against the primaries but withdrew it from the court.

The plaintiff avers that the partial delivery of the Photo Album to his representatives on 4th May 2023 was in itself out of time considering the magnitude of the verification exercise required of them before the internal elections of 13th May 2023, portions of the application said.

The campaign team Dr Duffuor earlier demanded postponement of the May 13 Presidential Primaries over what it describes as a flawed register.

-3news.com
13.05.2023 LISTEN

Flowery words are oftentimes appropriate but then, they are generally not the fulcrum main messages. Whichever way, the message must not be lost on the altar of flowery languages. Without mincing words, tourism has become the worlds phenomenal finance garnering centre that every serious government must look for in its search for a legitimate means of shoring up its revenue base. So, no matter what, old and new governments must look for the means of securing succor from the tourism sector. The opposite, so to say, is to leave it aside and live in regret thereafter.

The history of Osun State is that its blessed with industrialists but, perhaps, overconfidence has been the bane of its little industrialization. For example, Osun is so industrialized that, whether anybody likes it or not, we have the Akara Osu industry. Ditto for Dodo Ikire industry and others. But, it is rather unfortunate that their lifespans have always started and ended by the roadside, decades after their discovery. Why? Successive governments have never deemed it fit to pay for thinkers whod have helped these industries go global! No enabling environment and no level playing field! Access to finance and technology has been consistently absent; and the level of collaboration between the rulers and the ruled - and thats where it exists at all - has been touchingly unpromising.

Above reminds one of Soba Oyeleke, a US-based Nigerian entrepreneur and philanthropist. The chairman of the small-but-mighty, fully-loaded, Hawaiian-style Aloha Hotel & Resort Facilities in Osogbo, Osun State, has co-founded and coordinated several community organizations in the US, including The African American Umoja Fest; Odunde Fest; and The Nigerian Community Organization of Washington State. He was the writer, director and producer of the Yoruba folklore play, Shango - The Legend Continues, which was successfully performed at the popular Moore Theater in Seattle, Washington, and the Broadway Theater in Tacoma, Washington. An expert in Tourism and Hospitality Management, the Ororuwo, Osun State-born thespian was recently appointed as president of the Diaspora Solution Group (DSGN), a social welfare organization, based in America.

Well, this piece is not so much about Oyeleke and his accomplishments, particularly, in the tourism sector. Rather, it is much more about the Nigerian system which derives pleasure in sacrificing her best on the altar of greed and corruption. From Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, to Olumirin Waterfalls in Erin-Ijesa; and from the Kiriji Memorial Battlefield in Igbajo and Imesi-Ile, to Jalumi War Mortals in Inisha, Oyeleke has visited most of the centres of tourist attractions, especially, in Osun and he has written position papers on what needs to be done to make the sector not only attractive but also profitable. Like others before him, he has made spirited efforts to invite the government to buy into his ideas but the closer he moves towards the government, the more the government runs away; and it is as if there are some extraterrestrial forces at work.

Without doubt, there are many Soba Oyelekes of Nigerias descent - specialists and success stories in their chosen vocations across the globe - but, rather than encourage them to come back and invest in the country, Nigerias handlers prefer wasting her resources on inanities. Remember Barth Nnaji and the Aba Power Project! Remember Bola Tinubu and the Enron Power Project! In the 1980s, Osogbo Steel Rolling Mills Company and Nigeria Machine Tools Limited, Osogbo, were the pride of Africa. Today, a visit to these facilities will attract teardrops. The former Divisional Teacher Training College (DTTC) in Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State is another tragic episode in Nigerias improvidence. If not well-managed, the crisis currently rocking the facility is capable of setting neighbours against neighbours.

Who is in charge of Tourism in Osun State? For the state government to be taken seriously, theres a dire need for his or her undivided attention and pragmatic response. This becomes imperative because good policies in Tourism will not only help grow the economy in the right direction but also battle unemployment, get infrastructural development right and tame rural-urban exodus. It shouldnt be about jamboree conferences and seminars that end up achieving nothing but about real thinkers who can help proffer cutting-edge solutions to the hydra-headed challenges being faced by the sector.

A meaningful response to the business initiatives of the likes of Oyeleke will serve as a morale booster to intending investors. It will also add value to Africans who may be eyeing Nigeria for investment opportunities. Most importantly, it will portray the government as being responsible and forward-thinking, separated from the limitations of old. So, it behooves the Osun government to shake off the old narrative and turn a new leaf. With the right political will, Governor Ademola Adeleke will help present Osun as an investor-friendly state as well as launder Nigerias image in the comity of nations. Imole Osun is a new slogan in town! One can only hope hed come as the man in charge, one who is prepared to make the Tourism Sector work.

When we say support, we are not talking about the priorities, responsibilities and rights of the state as being merely aired on the radio or television networks. We are also not talking about partnership-biased or politics-infested propaganda that will lie dead as it comes; thus explains its eventual failure. It is not a flash-in-a-lifetime but a meaningful, quantifiable, consistent, solid-enough, public-initiated and state legislation-driven initiative that welcomes all and embraces all ideas. It shouldnt be esoteric but all-encompassing. After all, no wealth is common until its made common. Ask them in the United Kingdom and theyll all have fine stories to tell! We also need to ask former Governor Kayode Fayemi how he has turned Ikogosi Warm Springs and other centres of tourist attraction in Ekiti State to success stories.

All told, this should also be a clarion call to the government - even the Federal Government - to do a compulsive, thorough analysis of its revenue generation modules, which was what Tinubu did in Lagos. The former governor wanted to know how many people were taxpayers. As a thoroughbred professional, it wasnt a difficult venture at all. He sent touts among touts and government workers among government workers: give me your figures! At the end of the day, Tinubu was able to calibrate their findings through which the system was digitized. It is on record that Nigerias president-elect didnt look for a shortcut. Today, the Centre of Excellence is better for it!

What are we saying? If a foolish man will help the government do exploits, why not go to the foolish man so as to make it impossible for the wise ones to cheat the government? Take, for example, there are technicians who very well understand what to do with DisCO meters that they wont work properly. They are out there! They must live! They must eat! They must also service their industry! So, no one can force them out of the state! Interestingly, we are in a peculiar society where cheating the government is considered legitimate. This is one of the many troubles facing the Tourism Sector in Nigeria! Otherwise, how can an investor be interested in dredging, say, Lake 264 with a view to turning it into a source of employment opportunity for Nigerias teeming youths but hes being met with stiff resistance from those who have taken corruption as a profession? Unfortunately, the state government is there, pleasingly looking the other way!

May the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace in Osun State!

KOMOLAFE wrote in from Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State, Nigeria ( [email protected] )
When Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is sworn in as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the 29th of May 2023 he will have his work cut out for him: not only will he be inheriting morally and financially bankrupt nation questions will, continually, be asked about his checkered past and his ability to run the country.

How old is he really? What are his true educational qualifications? Does he really have dual-nationality? Whats the true source of his mega-wealth? Also, questions will be asked about whether hes medically-fit to run the country and the continual questions about his alleged drug smuggling/peddling convictions in the United States about three decades ago.

He may not have been everybodys best choice for the job but he allegedly won the election fair and square, something that has already been confirmed by INEC and congratulatory messages have been pouring in from World Leaders across the globe. If you elect even a goat to be your President the intentional community will respect that as your choice as being the best you have to offer.

Nigeria is in shambles and despite the efforts of his predecessor, and fellow APC compatriot, Mohammadu Buhari, who was in power from 2015, things are still going downhill with seemingly no light at the end of the tunnel. Are we going to see the emergence of a Super-Hero Tinubu whos going to come in guns blazing tackling corruption, cronyism, insecurity and consigning all the nations woes to the dustbin or is he just going to engage himself with doing Naija-politics  turning a blind eye to all thats going on, pardon all his corrupt mates while he sits out his term  like his predecessor.

The nation is fed up of leaders giving excuses for their incompetence. Recently Femi Adeshina, defending his boss, claimed Buhari was ..not aware of promises made to Nigerians by support groups in 2015... A good excuse to cover up incompetence but when you send out your supporters to canvas for votes dont they read and have a copy of the [agreed] party manifesto? They could have easily have sent out Basketmouth or Mr Macaroni to tell a few jokes if they couldnt tell the truth!

President Tinubu is in whether anybody likes it or not and everybody will be watching what he gets up to. I dont want to sound like a Prophet of Doom here but APC winning a third consecutive Presidential term is pushing the country in the direction of being a one-party state: PDP is in trouble leadership-wise and unless they can bring in a suitable candidate to rival Atiku Abubakar they are dead in the water. Peter Obis Labour Party movement still has a long way to go to break the APC/PDP domination. And this is not good for development since the same party manifesto will just be re-cycled over and over again. To dispel the notion of the country turning into a one-party state is he (Tinubu) going to sack all current Buhari-appointed ministers and political appointees and appoint fresh new ones or is he just going to re-cycle the old and re-appoint them?

Then there is the question of his health. Being the leader of a nation, anywhere in the world, is a 24/7/365 job and it can take its toll even on the fittest of men (- and women). Tinubus true state of health has always been a subject of debate and he hasnt come clean about it. During his tenure as President, Buhari was notoriously famous for going AWOL, on numerous occasions, on medical-check-up trips to the UK that King Charles, jokingly, once asked him if he had a house in London. Will incoming President Tinubu, a known perennial health-check-up tourist in the London medical circles, also be running the country from the UK? And will he be flying to the UK frequently in his own private jet or the Presidential jet?

The there is the question of him going-youth. The Youths of Nigeria, predominantly the under-35s, have always been excluded from the affairs of state almost as if they dont exist. How is he going to connect with them in an effort to make his tenure more youth-friendly? At the end of the day its their future nation he will be managing. All these old Babas seem to forget that one day theyll pass and the young people [ they are ignoring today] will inherit the mess they have left behind.

And about his checkered past? Well, we all tell the odd fib or white-lie or two (-or few!) from time to time, so now hes going to be President perhaps hell tell us all as it is before we read about it in his unauthorized biography!

Follow me on Twitter: @Archangel641 or visit http://www.archangel641.blogspot.co.uk
Officials of the Electoral Commission (EC) supervising the voting process at the Adentan Constituency in the ongoing presidential and parliamentary primaries of the National Democratic Congress have rejected a fake delegates list smuggled in by an unknown person.

Citi News Akosua Otchere reported from the De Youngsters International School that some delegates monitoring the process prompted the EC officials that the list was not an official one from the party.

In a viral video, the EC official is seen explaining to police officers that the list is fake and not part of the official documents given to the EC by the NDC.

According to Akosua, the police officers at the polling station are trying to fish out the delegate who smuggled in the unofficial list after seizing it from the EC official.

Incumbent MP for Adentan Constituency Adamu Ramadan is being keenly contested by former Gender Minister, Nana Oye Bampoe Addo, and Linda Aasibi Awuni.

In a related development, two people have been arrested at the New Ningo D/A Basic School B polling station in the Ningo-Prampram constituency for attempting to disrupt the voting process.

Citi News' Philip Lartey reported that the police swiftly intervened and arrested the two individuals to prevent the situation from escalating.

According to him, the individuals were attempting to convince delegates who had arrived at the polling station to vote for their preferred candidate.

citinewsroom
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 13. On May 12, the official opening ceremony of the "Year of Shusha  the cultural capital of the Turkic World  2023" was held in the Azerbaijani city of Shusha with the joint organizational support of the Ministry of Culture and TURKSOY, Trend reports.

The event, organized in accordance with the decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev dated December 6, 2022 on measures related to the declaration of the city of Shusha as the "Cultural Capital of the Turkic world" for 2023, was attended by representatives of the state, delegations of member countries of the International Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY), heads of Turkic cooperation organizations and others.

First, the guests got acquainted with the "Cooking and Crafts" corner, organized in front of the GARABAG SPA & RESORT hotel.

Speaking at the event, Azerbaijani Minister of Culture Adil Karimli said that this year is full of important historical events for Azerbaijan and the Turkic world.

The minister noted that the 100th anniversary of the founder of independent Azerbaijan, the national leader of the Azerbaijani people, and one of the irreplaceable leaders of the Turkic world, Heydar Aliyev, is celebrated with great solemnity, and in this regard, 2023 has been declared the "Year of Heydar Aliyev" in Azerbaijan.

The city of Shusha, which is the cultural capital of Azerbaijan, was chosen as the "Cultural Capital of the Turkic World" for this year, and the 100th anniversary of Turkiye and the 30th anniversary of the creation of TURKSOY are being celebrated with great solemnity in the Turkic world.

The minister highlighted that Shusha and the whole of Karabakh are experiencing a period of revival. Despite the short period of time that has passed since Victory Day was celebrated on November 8, intensive work is being carried out under the direct leadership of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on the comprehensive restoration and reconstruction of the cities, villages, historical and cultural monuments, destroyed forests and the entire residential infrastructure. The historical and cultural image of the city of Shusha is being restored, cultural life is being revived in Shusha.

Karimli also noted that the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, headed by the First Vice President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva, conducts various local and international cultural events in Shusha, large-scale work to restore the country's cultural heritage.

According to him, the First Turkic World Cultural Forum is expected to be held in Shusha within the framework of the Permanent Council of Ministers of Culture scheduled for October.

"Shusha has entered history with a number of innovations in our culture and classical music. I am sure that the Forum, which will be held in the city of Shusha, will open new horizons in the development of cultural ties for the transformation of the 21st century into the Turkic century and will become one of our strongest common platforms."

Special Representative of the President of Azerbaijan in the Shusha district, Aydin Karimov, said that he was glad to see everyone in the fortress city.

"I welcome each of you in the year of the "Cultural Capital of the Turkic World". This year is full of significant events for Azerbaijan and the Turkic world. The 100th anniversary of the birth of great leader Heydar Aliyev is being solemnly celebrated in our country. The year 2023 has been declared the "Year of Heydar Aliyev" in Azerbaijan. In this context, a large number of events have been held in the city of Shusha, as well as in other parts of our country," he said.

Karimov said that the announcement of the city of Shusha as the cultural capital is an expression of the great respect of the Turkic world for this city.

"Shusha is of great importance not only for Azerbaijan but also for the entire Turkic world. This event is another confirmation of this. From now on, many bright and memorable events will be held in our Shusha," he added.

Speaking at the event, Secretary General of TURKSOY Sultan Raev said that these lands are the cradle of art and music and the birthplace of Khurshidbanu Natavan (poet), Najaf bey Vazirov (playwright), Uzeyir Hajibeyov (composer) and many other luminaries of art.

"Since Shusha has been declared the "Cultural Capital of the Turkic world," we are waiting for rich and memorable programs in this city, which looks very much like the atmosphere of Victory, joy and rebirth, he said.

After the city of Shusha was declared the cultural capital, a joint action plan was prepared with the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan in accordance with the Action Plan of the Cabinet of Ministers.

Raev said that the opening of the Korkut Ata Turkic World Film Festival will be held in Shusha, saying that the closing ceremony of the current event is scheduled for November.

"At the closing ceremony, the relay of the "Cultural Capital of the Turkic World" in 2024 will be handed over to the city of Anau in Turkmenistan," he added.

Secretary General TURKSOY noted that the planned program in Shusha will be more memorable than the events held so far within the framework of the "Cultural Capital of the Turkic World" project.

"This magnificent city is a spiritual center, a source of pride not only for Azerbaijan but also for the entire Turkic world. In my opinion, Shusha is the heart of Azerbaijan. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of TURKSOY. We intend to use this opportunity to present this historic city, which was occupied for as many years as the TURKSOY organization exists, and destroyed by barbarians, and is now free as the cradle of culture, art and music for both the Turkic world and the whole world," the secretary-general added.

Congratulating all the participants on the announcement of the city of Shusha as the cultural capital, Secretary General of TURKSOY Kubanychbek Omuraliyev said that as a result of the independent, consistent and resolute policy pursued in recent years, Azerbaijan has strengthened its authority among the countries of the world and has become one of the leading states in the region.

He emphasized that the liberation of Azerbaijani lands from Armenian occupation as a result of the 44-day Patriotic War (Second Karabakh War) not only became a source of pride for Azerbaijan, the Turkic states and peoples in general, but also gave impetus to the further strengthening of Turkic unity.

Omuraliev expressed confidence that interesting events will be held in Shusha and called on creative figures from all Turkic-speaking countries to take an active part in them.

Saying that Shusha is the crown of Azerbaijan, the People's Artist of Azerbaijan Polad Bulbuloglu called the fortress city the singing heart of Azerbaijan.

Stressing the importance of the Khari Bulbul International Musical Festival, organized these days in Shusha, Bulbuloglu noted that this music festival united and brought together fraternal Turkic peoples.

Speaking about the historical path traversed by TURKSOY over the past 30 years, Bulbuloglu highlighted the support provided by great leader Heydar Aliyev to the development of this organization.

Highly appreciating the work done by the organization to preserve and popularize the cultural heritage of the Turkic people, he congratulated everyone on the opening of the ceremony

At the event, Secretary General of TURKSOY Sultan Raev on behalf of the organization presented memorable gifts to Adil Karimli, Aydin Karimov, Polad Bulbuloglu and Kubanychbek Omuraliev.

People's Writer, Chairperson of the Azerbaijan Writers Union Anar Rzayev said that TURKSOY is one of the organizations playing the greatest role in the rapprochement and cultural unification of the Turkic peoples, and said that the Union of Writers of Azerbaijan has established a diploma named after the outstanding Azerbaijani poet Bakhtiyar Vahabzadeh.

This diploma is awarded to those who contribute to the strengthening of brotherhood and relations between the Turkic peoples. Anar, by the decision of the union, presented the award to Raev.

Then the guests were presented with a concert program, in which musical and folklore ensembles from the countries of the Turkic world took part.

On March 31, 2022, in the city of Bursa of Turkiye, by the decision of the Permanent Council of Ministers of Culture of the TURKSOY member countries, the city of Shusha, the ancient cradle of mugham art, was declared the "Cultural Capital of the Turkic World" for 2023.

The foundation of the "Cultural Capital of the Turkic World" project was laid in 2010 at the 10th Summit of the Heads of the Turkic Speaking States, held in Turkiye's Istanbul.

According to their common decision, every year one city of the Turkic world is declared as the "cultural capital".

Over the years, the cities of Astana (2012, Kazakhstan), Eskisehir (2013, Turkiye), Kazan (2014, Tatarstan  Russia), Merv (2015, Turkmenistan), Shaki (2016, Azerbaijan), Turkestan (2017, Kazakhstan), Kastamonu (2018, Turkey), Osh (2019, Kyrgyzstan), Khiva (2020, Uzbekistan) and Bursa (2022, Turkiye) have been declared the "cultural capital of the Turkic world".

Azerbaijan's Shusha is the 11th city of the Turkic world, which became the capital of the year of the Turkic world.
The Delegates of the Sefwi Wiawso constituency in the Western-North Region have threatened to boycott the ongoing presidential and parliamentary primaries if a GH40-per-person transportation stipend allocated to them by flag bearer aspirant John Mahama, is not released by the constituency executives.

"Former President John Mahama gave us GH40 and the constituency executives just want to take the money and if they dont release that money, we are not going to vote," threatened one of the delegates.

The party's regional secretary, Mr George Ofori Danquah, however, denied the allegation.

It is the party that supports the delegates transport but God being so good, former President Mahama eased the situation by seeding an amount of GH40 for every delegate.

"So, yesterday, we met with the constituency leadership and agreed that the amount given by the party will not be sufficient, so, we agreed that the GH40 be added to the constituency budget to be given as transport and per the budget, everything is in order, and, so, I dont see why they are saying they are to be given cash at hand.

Mr Mahama, a former president, is in the flag bearer race with former Kumasi mayor Kojo Bonsu.

A third aspirant, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, has boycotted the primaries citing "blatant irregularities".

The former finance minister said all his attempts to save the situation came to nought and, so, had no choice than to withdraw from the Saturday, 13 May 2023 polls.

 classfmonline.com
13.05.2023 LISTEN

I have spent the past week enthralled by TV pictures of the annual Winneba Deer-Catching Festival, that takes place in the Central Region town of Simpa, capital of the Efutu people, at the beginning of May each year.

Known in Fanti as Aboakyer, the Festival is held in honour of the ancestral spirit of the Efutu people, whose power guided them safely from their original home in Western Sudan (in the neighbourhood of Timbuktu) from where they migrated to their present habitat hundreds of years ago.

Their migration was due to the exigencies of the time (which could include warfare and natural disasters (such as drought and the resultant famine it caused).

That the people still believe strongly in the salvation that Penkye Otu provided them on their long journey and their attempt to establish a new home in a strange environment, was evident from the zeal with which they danced through the streets of Winneba during the festival.

One was reminded by the deeds of the people on the streets of Winneba of the fact that the people, originally, needed to be extremely valiant in spirit because, in the past, the animal to be captured alive was  LEOPARD! Your probably have heard of this animal, known locally as OSEBO or ETWIE! No-one with any brains in his skull plays with that animal.

So, it was very impressive to watch the inherited lack of fear with which thousands of men, women and even adolescent children, voluntarily donned white or red clothing and trooped behind the Asafo Companies (Tuafo and Dentsifo) into the deep bush, in search of live animals. Okay, it was now a deer instead of a leopard. But what about snakes in the way? Thorns lying in wait for bare feet and ankles?

No fears: their objective was to capture a live deer and present it to Penkye Otu to tell the deity that they have not forgotten the protection what it gave their ancestors, which enabled Winneba to live, thrive and prosper to this day. And they would do that at any cost and prove to Penkye Otu  through their vigorous dancing and fierce war songs n-- that they were worthy of the continued protection of the deity, in the coming years. Because they were -- and ARE  a grateful people.

If you are able to go to www.Youtube.com on the Internet, and search for Winneba Aboakyer 2023, I assure you that you will ble3ss the day you bought a good computer or smart phone. Although some of the footage you will come across was shot by amateurs, you cannot help but join the people you see on the screen in enjoying the joyous atmosphere and the varying sights they encountered and how each was dealt with.

To me, the greatest spectacle of all was to see so many men and women, as well as boys and girls, FEARLESSLY enter a wide lagoon that separates the two sectors of the wilderness in which the deer have their habitat.

Wading through it may have had a te34rrifying effect on some people who live in the hinterlands pf Ghana. But not these coasters. They waded through it without the slightest hesitation, and turned the whole experience into a game of you dare me, I dare you! Forwards and forwards they moved, till they entered the deep forest.

The sound of horns, whistles, gongongs and drums filled the air. Yells (some of them false alarms) were often heard before the deer got caught and was carried shoulder-high to the ancestral grounds and the durbar ground of Winneba.

.I still w2onsder: So, in reality, were they not afraid of the lagoon? Suppose parts of it were deeper than was assumed. There were some dugout canoes on the surface. Didn't that indicate that some parts of the lagoon were quite deep?

Ho! If such fears entered their minds, they did not show it. It was forward, forward all the way.

The thought that occurred to me, as I watched it all, was this: in almost every town and village in Ghana, there is such a festival. The Asantes have their Akwasidae. .

The Akyems have their Ohum and Odwira.

.And so on.

These ancestral festivals are a MEMENTO to the valour and wisdom adhibited by the people's ancestors that enabled their societies to survive until now.

Whitemen's powerful guns could not wipe them out. When the men were deserted by courage  as during the Yaa Asantewaa War  the women took over.

They fought in their thousands. And they died in their thousands. But if you killed a thousand, a thousand would come to replace them. Yet today, the rivers and water-bodies that sustained their lives are in danger of being destroyed. But unlike the people of old, we have nowhere else to go to!

Burkina Faso? Togo? Mali? Niger?

As-our people say, If y7ou haven't gone to someone else's dwelling place, it would sound attractive to you. But go there and see!

We have nowhere else to go to. But how can we safeguard what we have? Without water, there will be NO people here. Only graves.

Watch this space, as we discuss in full frankness, how we can save Ghana from the extinction with which galamsey indisputably threatens her..
Member of Parliament for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu is making a strong case for John Dramani Mahama to be given the nod to represent the party in the 2024 general elections.

Speaking to the delegates in his constituency during todays nationwide parliamentary and presidential primaries being held by the party, the former Minority Leader said the former President is the only candidate with the capacity to lead the party to victory.

Probably without prejudice to the voting rights of delegates, it may appear unanimous in the constituency in the choice of the flagbearer. You know the chosen one. It is his time. It is his time to end his [Nana Akufo-Addos] governance and end the sufferings of Ghanaians, he urged the delegates.

Haruna Iddrisu is the NDCs parliamentary candidate-elect for the Tamale South constituency by virtue of the fact that, he went unopposed.

John Dramani Mahama is in a two-horse race with a former Mayor of Kumasi, Kojo Bonsu after one of the aspirants Dr. Kwabena Duffuor pulled out on May 13.

He has already said he is expecting a landslide victory at the end of the exercise.

Mr. Mahama, widely regarded as the party's prospective flagbearer, stated this after casting his vote in Bole Bamboi.

Nana Akufo-Addo is a monumental and legendary failure in Ghana. In our democracy, this is the first time the country is going through excruciating and unprecedented hardship throughout history. So, John Dramani will prevail, so you know what to do, Haruna Iddrisu added.

 Citi Newsroom
Some supporters of Muntaka Mubarak and his contender, Masawudu Mubarick got into a scuffle that was swiftly curtailed by personnel of the Ghana Police Service.

The intervention of the police officers prevented the confusion from escalating.

Supporters of Muntaka alleged that some supporters of Masawudu Mubarick booed at the incumbent Asawase MP who was leaving the centre after casting his ballot.

The allegation resulted in a brief free for all fight between the supporters.

Calm has however been restored following the invention by the police.

Delegates are meanwhile arriving at the centre to cast their votes.

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A stalwart of the opposition National Democratic Congress, Kofi Totobi Quakyi, has described the withdrawal of Dr. Kwabena Duffuor from the flagbearer race as unfortunate.

The former Minister for Information under the erstwhile Jerry John Rawlings administration called on the rank and file of the party to unite and work hard for victory ahead of the 2024 general elections.

Mr Totobi Quakyi who was speaking at the Gyandu Park in Sekondi in the Western Region said he would have wished Dr. Duffuor had not withdrawn from the race.

He added that despite the controversies that heralded the primaries, it is important for the party members to stick together to ensure that the party defeats the NPP in the 2024 elections.

We would have wished that the candidate who withdrew would have stayed on to fight in the interest of democracy, but it is his personal decision, but that personal decision should not be an affront to the collective or the masses of our supporters.

Former Finance Minister Dr. Kwabena Duffuor on Friday pulled out of the NDC flagbearership race.

Addressing a press conference Friday evening, Dr. Duffuor accused the leadership of the party of breaching the agreement and assurance given to the three presidential aspirants to resolve the issues raised about the register before Saturday's polls.

At the meeting chaired by the former Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho, all stakeholders at the meeting agreed that the Party Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah would immediately set up a technical team comprising the technical representatives from the 3 presidential aspirants and the party's election committee to determine how soon the irregularities with the voters register could be resolved in readiness for the Presidential primaries.

Dr. Duffuor added that My concerns that the party is not ready to conduct a free and fair election is evident for all to see. Taking part in such would be akin to knowingly drinking from a poisoned calabash.

After consulting with my support base nationwide, I have been left with no choice but to withdraw from the Presidential election as I cannot contest in an election which is blatantly fraught with irregularities regardless of all my efforts to draw attention to same.

 Citi Newsroom
Around 200,000 people have been displaced due to flash flooding in central Somalia, a regional official told AFP on Saturday, as the Shabelle River burst its banks and submerged roads.

Inhabitants of Beledweyne town in Hiran region were forced out of their homes as heavy rainfall caused water levels to rise sharply, with residents carrying their belongings on top of their heads as they waded through flooded streets in search of refuge.

"Some 200,000 people are now displaced due to the Shabelle River flash floods in Beledweyne town and the number may increase anytime. It is a preliminary figure now," said Ali Osman Hussein, deputy governor for social affairs in Hiran region.

"We are doing all we can to help those who are affected," he told AFP.

The region's deputy governor Hassan Ibrahim Abdulle said on Friday that "three people were killed by the floods".

The disaster comes on the heels of a record drought that has left millions of Somalis on the brink of famine, with the troubled nation also battling an Islamist insurgency for decades.

Residents told AFP they were forced to abandon their homes in the middle of the night earlier this week as water gushed through the streets and into buildings.

Fartun Ali -- not her real name -- said it was her fifth time fleeing flash flooding in Beledweyne.

"Whenever the river breaks the banks, we flee," the 35-year-old mother of eight told AFP.

Extreme weather

Another resident Iman Badal Omar said he was relieved to escape with his life.

"All we could do was to evacuate and save our children. We did not take any of our belongings," he told AFP.

East and central Africa often suffers from extreme weather during the rainy seasons.

Earlier this month, 135 people were killed and more than 9,000 left homeless after heavy rains lashed Rwanda, triggering floods and landslides in several parts of the hilly nation.

More than 400 people lost their lives due to torrential downpours, floods and landslides last week in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Experts say extreme weather events are happening with increased frequency and intensity due to climate change. By Hassan Ali ELMI (AFP)

Experts say extreme weather events are happening with increased frequency and intensity due to climate change -- and Africa, which contributes the least to global warming, is bearing the brunt.

In May 2020, at least 65 people died in Rwanda as heavy rains pounded the region, while at least 194 deaths were reported in Kenya.

At the end of 2019, at least 265 people died and tens of thousands were displaced during two months of relentless rainfall in several countries in East Africa.

The extreme downpours affected close to two million people and washed away tens of thousands of livestock in Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
A man, believed to be in his early 30s was on Saturday evening arrested for allegedly attacking a police officer at the polling centre for the Krowor Constituency primaries of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The police had earlier arrested a man who jumped a barricade into the restricted area where counting of ballots was progressing.

His arrest appeared to have infuriated some observers at the polling centre some of whom demanded the release of the offender.

The Ghana News Agency gathered that while two police officers escorted the offender out of the polling centre, another man, who appeared livid over the arrest  attacked one of the police officers.

The man was quickly clamped down by some officers at the Centre, handcuffed, and whisked away.

Counting of ballots was ongoing as of the time of filing this report (18:20 hours).

Five aspirants are seeking to lead the NDC in the Krowor Constituency for the 2024 parliamentary elections.

The aspirants are: Agnes Naa Momo Lartey; Dorcas Naa Korley; Daniel Alabi; Enoch Bortey Borquaye Manison, and Edgar Nii Kpakpo Addo.

GNA
Kojo Bonsu, a former Kumasi Mayor and contender in the National Democracy Congress (NDC) presidential primaries has conceded defeat.

He has extended a congratulatory message to his contender, former President John Dramani Mahama.

The polls, which were held on Saturday, May 13, has seen Mr. Mahama garnering over 90% of the votes in almost every constituency, affirming his position as the frontrunner in the race, though not over yet.

In a social media post, Mr. Kojo Bonsu expressed his congratulations to Mahama on his landslide victory, saying, "I have placed a call to H.E John Dramani Mahama to congratulate him for the landslide victory.

According to him, Regardless of the outcome of this elections, I'll continue to serve the NDC party. Thank you."

Mahama's victory in the NDC presidential primaries will be a significant milestone for him and the party as he is seen as a strong candidate who can lead the NDC to victory in the 2024 presidential race.

The NDC is hoping to regain control of the government after losing to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the 2016 and 2020 elections.
Shares of Croda International Plc (LON:CRDA  Get Rating) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 6,768.74 ($85.41) and traded as high as GBX 6,790 ($85.68). Croda International shares last traded at GBX 6,782 ($85.58), with a volume of 125,411 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CRDA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a buy rating and set a GBX 8,200 ($103.47) price target on shares of Croda International in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Numis Securities reissued a hold rating and issued a GBX 8,700 ($109.78) price objective on shares of Croda International in a research report on Monday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a buy rating on shares of Croda International in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an underweight rating and issued a GBX 6,200 ($78.23) price objective on shares of Croda International in a research report on Wednesday, March 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of GBX 7,920 ($99.94).

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Croda International Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 25.33, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a current ratio of 2.38. The firm has a market cap of 9.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,467.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 96.44 and a beta of 0.63. The firms fifty day moving average price is GBX 6,637.96 and its 200 day moving average price is GBX 6,769.32.

Croda International Increases Dividend

Insider Buying and Selling

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 27th will be paid a dividend of GBX 61 ($0.77) per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 27th. This is a positive change from Croda Internationals previous dividend of $47.00. Croda Internationals payout ratio is 2,322.58%.

In other Croda International news, insider Steve Foots sold 14,851 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 6,921 ($87.33), for a total transaction of 1,027,837.71 ($1,296,956.10). In related news, insider Steve Foots sold 14,851 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 6,921 ($87.33), for a total transaction of 1,027,837.71 ($1,296,956.10). Also, insider Jez K. Maiden sold 7,500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 6,484 ($81.82), for a total transaction of 486,300 ($613,627.76). 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Croda International Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Croda International Plc creates, makes, and sells specialty chemicals in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, North America, Asia, and Latin America. It operates through four segments: Consumer Care, Life Sciences, Performance Technologies, and Industrial Chemicals. The company offers adhesives; crop protection additives and adjuvants, seed enhancement and animal health chemicals, chemical bio-stimulants, and specialty additives for agricultural films; and lubricant additives, coatings and polymers, vehicle cleaning chemicals, and products for automotive textiles and fibers, as well as specialty additives for plastics, and battery and catalyst industries.

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Nomad Foods (NYSE:NOMD  Get Rating) updated its FY 2023 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided EPS guidance of $1.63-$1.66 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $1.68. The company issued revenue guidance of -.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Nomad Foods from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $21.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Sunday, February 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Nomad Foods from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Friday. Credit Suisse Group reiterated a neutral rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Nomad Foods in a research report on Monday, February 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Nomad Foods from $21.00 to $24.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Nomad Foods from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Saturday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Nomad Foods has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $22.67.

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Nomad Foods Trading Down 2.4 %

Nomad Foods stock traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $18.24. 714,712 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 616,438. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The firms 50 day moving average price is $18.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 0.74. Nomad Foods has a 52-week low of $12.50 and a 52-week high of $21.45.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nomad Foods

Nomad Foods ( NYSE:NOMD Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $766.03 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $788.13 million. Nomad Foods had a return on equity of 11.77% and a net margin of 8.49%. On average, analysts anticipate that Nomad Foods will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Nomad Foods by 117.5% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,897 shares of the companys stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,025 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC bought a new position in Nomad Foods during the 3rd quarter valued at about $66,000. State of Wyoming lifted its stake in Nomad Foods by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 9,221 shares of the companys stock valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404 shares during the period. American Trust bought a new position in shares of Nomad Foods in the 4th quarter worth approximately $191,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Nomad Foods in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $229,000. Institutional investors own 78.54% of the companys stock.

About Nomad Foods

(Get Rating)

Nomad Foods Ltd. operates as a holding company, which manufactures and sells frozen foods for human consumption. The firm offers its products under the brands LUTOSA, la Cocinera, Birds Eye, Iglo, and Findus. The company was founded by Noam Gottesman and Sir Martin E. Franklin on April 1, 2014 and is headquartered in Middlesex, the United Kingdom.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 13. The International Military Cooperation Department of Azerbaijans Ministry of Defense has held a briefing for foreign military attaches accredited in the country and representatives of international organizations, Trend reports via the ministry.

According to the ministry, the departments head, Major-General Huseyn Mahmudov, who spoke at the briefing, informed in detail the military representatives of foreign countries about the deliberate provocation of the Armenian side, during which, starting from the evening of May 10, units of the Armenian armed forces from the positions in the Zod direction of the Basarkechar region intensively, using various types of small arms, fired on opposite positions of the Azerbaijan Army.

Mahmudov said that on May 11 and 12, in order to expand their provocations and further aggravate the situation, the Armenian armed forces, using large-caliber guns, mortars, and then D-30 howitzers, shelled the positions of the Azerbaijan Army.

He noted that the Armenian armed forces from various directions using strike UAVs also attacked several positions of the Azerbaijan Army in the Kalbajar district.

The foreign representatives were shown footage of the Armenian armed forces provocations.

After answering the questions of interest to the representatives, they were shown the remains of the UAVs.
Oarsman Capital Inc. decreased its stake in shares of CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS  Get Rating) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,560 shares of the pharmacy operators stock after selling 283 shares during the period. Oarsman Capital Inc.s holdings in CVS Health were worth $1,730,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 115,934,841 shares of the pharmacy operators stock worth $11,056,706,000 after buying an additional 1,726,512 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,699,284 shares of the pharmacy operators stock worth $1,184,085,000 after buying an additional 134,457 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,271,819 shares of the pharmacy operators stock worth $863,392,000 after buying an additional 574,495 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,706,023 shares of the pharmacy operators stock valued at $809,052,000 after purchasing an additional 671,235 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in CVS Health by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,770,066 shares of the pharmacy operators stock valued at $550,291,000 after purchasing an additional 63,102 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.29% of the companys stock.

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CVS Health Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of CVS stock traded down $0.41 on Friday, hitting $68.56. The stock had a trading volume of 2,520,352 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,979,002. The business has a 50 day moving average of $74.62 and a 200 day moving average of $86.74. The stock has a market cap of $87.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.67. CVS Health Co. has a 12-month low of $68.10 and a 12-month high of $107.26.

CVS Health Dividend Announcement

CVS Health ( NYSE:CVS Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 3rd. The pharmacy operator reported $2.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.13. CVS Health had a net margin of 1.20% and a return on equity of 15.75%. The business had revenue of $85.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that CVS Health Co. will post 8.61 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 21st were issued a dividend of $0.605 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 20th. This represents a $2.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. CVS Healths dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. 92 Resources reissued a maintains rating on shares of CVS Health in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of CVS Health from $130.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, February 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of CVS Health from $107.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of CVS Health from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of CVS Health from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, May 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $110.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CVS Health news, CEO Karen S. Lynch bought 14,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $69.75 per share, for a total transaction of $976,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 431,392 shares of the companys stock, valued at $30,089,592. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

CVS Health Company Profile

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CVS Health Corp. is a health solutions company, which engages in the provision of healthcare services. It operates through the following segments: Pharmacy Services, Retail or Long-Term Care, Health Care Benefits, and Corporate and Other. The Pharmacy Services segment focuses on the pharmacy benefit management solutions.

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Schulhoff & Co. Inc. trimmed its position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS  Get Rating) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,140 shares of the transportation companys stock after selling 660 shares during the quarter. United Parcel Service accounts for 2.1% of Schulhoff & Co. Inc.s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Schulhoff & Co. Inc.s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $4,544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in United Parcel Service by 0.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,099,021 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $10,839,176,000 after acquiring an additional 601,166 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in United Parcel Service by 0.6% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,273,417 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $1,988,777,000 after acquiring an additional 54,401 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in United Parcel Service by 2.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,163,287 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $892,858,000 after acquiring an additional 93,463 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in United Parcel Service by 2.7% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,103,236 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $501,354,000 after acquiring an additional 82,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in United Parcel Service by 7.2% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,653,108 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $428,583,000 after acquiring an additional 179,296 shares in the last quarter. 58.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling at United Parcel Service

In other United Parcel Service news, 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 transaction of $2,604,164.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Norman M. Brothers, Jr. sold 20,724 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.26, for a total transaction of $3,777,156.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $2,604,164.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 54,341 shares of company stock valued at $9,848,061. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the companys stock.

United Parcel Service Trading Down 0.6 %

UPS stock traded down $1.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $169.20. The company had a trading volume of 235,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,167,024. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 52 week low of $154.87 and a 52 week high of $209.39. The company has a market cap of $145.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.77, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $185.33 and a 200 day moving average of $181.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS  Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The transportation company reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.01. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 10.90% and a return on equity of 57.68%. The business had revenue of $22.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.05 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was down 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 10.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 31st that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the transportation company to buy up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the companys management believes its stock is undervalued.

United Parcel Service Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.62 per share. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th. United Parcel Services dividend payout ratio is 52.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on UPS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $220.00 to $214.00 in a research report on Monday, March 20th. Melius began coverage on shares of United Parcel Service in a research report on Monday, March 27th. They set an overweight rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $185.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $219.00 to $212.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $193.58.

United Parcel Service Company Profile

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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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Tate & Lyle plc (LON:TATE  Get Rating)s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 760.74 ($9.60) and traded as high as GBX 820.50 ($10.35). Tate & Lyle shares last traded at GBX 813.50 ($10.26), with a volume of 1,043,263 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on TATE shares. Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a buy rating and set a GBX 940 ($11.86) target price on shares of Tate & Lyle in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Tate & Lyle from GBX 890 ($11.23) to GBX 970 ($12.24) and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Tate & Lyle from GBX 800 ($10.09) to GBX 810 ($10.22) and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Finally, Numis Securities reiterated a buy rating and issued a GBX 975 ($12.30) price target on shares of Tate & Lyle in a report on Monday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of GBX 909 ($11.47).

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Tate & Lyle Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of GBX 796.02 and a 200 day moving average of GBX 761.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 65.22, a current ratio of 2.64 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market cap of 3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4,817.65, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.45.

Tate & Lyle Company Profile

Tate & Lyle PLC, together with its subsidiaries, provides ingredients and solutions to the food, beverage, and other industries in the United States, the United Kingdom, other European countries, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Food & Beverage Solutions, Sucralose, and Primary Products.

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Toyota Industries Co. (OTCMKTS:TYIDY  Get Rating) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 100 shares, a decline of 98.6% from the April 15th total of 7,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 31,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Toyota Industries from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, March 23rd. Citigroup cut shares of Toyota Industries from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, March 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Toyota Industries in a research report on Monday, April 10th. They issued a neutral rating for the company.

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Toyota Industries Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Toyota Industries stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $59.21. The companys stock had a trading volume of 3,917 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,879. Toyota Industries has a 52 week low of $46.83 and a 52 week high of $66.55. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $56.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.16.

Toyota Industries Company Profile

Toyota Industries Corp. engages in the manufacture and sale of automobiles and industrial machines. It operates through the following segments: Automobile, Materials Handling Equipment, Textile Machinery, and Others. The Automobile segment includes vehicles, engines, car air-conditioning compressors, and car electronics.

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Water Intelligence plc (LON:WATR  Get Rating)s share price crossed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 556.43 ($7.02) and traded as low as GBX 426.40 ($5.38). Water Intelligence shares last traded at GBX 440 ($5.55), with a volume of 26,722 shares.

Water Intelligence Price Performance

The company has a market cap of 87.48 million, a P/E ratio of 2,999.99, a P/E/G ratio of -1.23 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 38.35, a quick ratio of 2.17 and a current ratio of 2.21. The firms fifty day moving average is GBX 441.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is GBX 555.69.

About Water Intelligence

(Get Rating)

Water Intelligence plc provides leak detection and remediation services for potable and non-potable water in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and internationally. The company operates through Franchise Royalty Income, Franchise-Related Activities, US Corporate Operated Locations, and International Corporate Operated Locations segments.

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Aguia Resources Limited (CVE:AGRL  Get Rating) shares traded down 7.1% on Friday . The company traded as low as C$0.13 and last traded at C$0.13. 361,698 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 14% from the average session volume of 418,301 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.14.

Aguia Resources Trading Down 7.1 %

The firms 50-day moving average is C$0.13 and its 200 day moving average is C$0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of C$24.14 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.00.

Aguia Resources Company Profile

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Aguia Resources Limited engages in the exploration and development of mineral resource projects in Brazil. Its flagship Rio Grande phosphate assets include the Tres Estradas, Joca Tavares, Porteira carbonatite, and Cerro Preto deposits located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil. Aguia Resources Limited was incorporated in 2007 and is based in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

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American Business Bank (OTCMKTS:AMBZ  Get Rating)s stock price crossed below its 50-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $34.39 and traded as low as $29.55. American Business Bank shares last traded at $30.00, with a volume of 6,888 shares.

American Business Bank Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $33.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $265.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 0.77.

American Business Bank Company Profile

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American Business Bank engages in the provision of financial services. Its services include deposit services, treasury management, credit services, consulting and referral services, personalized banking, and international banking. The company was founded by Robert F. Schack, Robin C. Paterson, Trent D.

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Armstrong World Industries (NYSE:AWI  Get Rating) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Friday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Armstrong World Industries from $77.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Armstrong World Industries from $97.00 to $86.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 12th. Credit Suisse Group reissued an outperform rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Armstrong World Industries in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Armstrong World Industries from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Armstrong World Industries from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $83.63.

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Armstrong World Industries Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of AWI stock traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $65.46. 285,108 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 378,883. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.18. Armstrong World Industries has a one year low of $64.94 and a one year high of $94.94. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $69.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.11.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Armstrong World Industries ( NYSE:AWI Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The construction company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. Armstrong World Industries had a net margin of 16.32% and a return on equity of 41.94%. The business had revenue of $310.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $310.86 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.02 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Armstrong World Industries will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Armstrong World Industries during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Armstrong World Industries during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Armstrong World Industries by 32.3% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,029 shares of the construction companys stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Armstrong World Industries by 89.9% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,272 shares of the construction companys stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 602 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Armstrong World Industries in the first quarter worth approximately $124,000.

About Armstrong World Industries

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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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Avantor, Inc. (NYSE:AVTR  Get Rating) has earned a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from the eighteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $28.75.

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. 888 reiterated a maintains rating on shares of Avantor in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Avantor from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, February 6th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Avantor from $30.00 to $27.00 in a report on Sunday, April 30th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Avantor from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Avantor from $25.00 to $22.00 in a report on Monday, May 1st.

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Avantor Stock Performance

Shares of AVTR opened at $20.24 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.82 and a 200-day moving average of $21.63. Avantor has a one year low of $17.91 and a one year high of $33.48. The company has a market cap of $13.66 billion, a PE ratio of 22.00 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Insider Activity at Avantor

Avantor ( NYSE:AVTR Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 28th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.77 billion. Avantor had a net margin of 8.41% and a return on equity of 18.81%. Avantors quarterly revenue was down 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Avantor will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current year.

In related news, EVP Gerard Brophy sold 3,914 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $97,850.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 108,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,717,875. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Avantor news, EVP Christophe Couturier sold 1,498 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.18, for a total transaction of $31,727.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 98,650 shares in the company, valued at $2,089,407. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Gerard Brophy sold 3,914 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $97,850.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 108,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,717,875. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,490 shares of company stock worth $204,188 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.50% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Systematic Financial Management LP acquired a new position in Avantor during the first quarter worth $168,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Avantor during the first quarter valued at about $13,022,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its position in Avantor by 6.0% during the first quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 4,574,442 shares of the companys stock valued at $96,704,000 after buying an additional 256,989 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in Avantor by 35.3% during the first quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 41,231 shares of the companys stock worth $872,000 after purchasing an additional 10,760 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new position in Avantor during the first quarter worth about $302,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.80% of the companys stock.

About Avantor

(Get Rating)

Avantor, Inc engages in providing mission critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education and government, and advanced technologies and applied materials industries. It sells materials, equipment, instrumentation, and offers specialty procurement. The firm operates through the following segments: the Americas, Europe, and AMEA.

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Shares of Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust plc (LON:BGEU  Get Rating) were up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as GBX 94.48 ($1.19) and last traded at GBX 94 ($1.19). Approximately 1,091,231 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 42% from the average daily volume of 769,525 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 93.60 ($1.18).

Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.93, a current ratio of 4.20 and a quick ratio of 4.20. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is GBX 93.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 92.22. The company has a market capitalization of 337.07 million, a P/E ratio of -140.30 and a beta of 1.01.

Baillie Gifford European Growth Trust Company Profile

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The European Investment Trust plc is a closed ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Edinburgh Partners AIFM Limited. The fund is co-managed by Edinburgh Partners Limited. It invests in public equity markets of Europe, excluding the United Kingdom. The fund seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 13. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on amending the "Regulations on the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan", approved by decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated June 6, 2018 No. 119, Trend reports.

According to the decree, the minister of culture will have four deputies, while the position of the first deputy minister of culture has been abolished.
BlackRock Greater Europe Investment Trust plc (LON:BRGE  Get Rating) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as GBX 548 ($6.91) and last traded at GBX 546 ($6.89), with a volume of 47902 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 539 ($6.80).

BlackRock Greater Europe Investment Trust Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 526.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of GBX 503.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of 549.44 million, a P/E ratio of -273.37 and a beta of 0.99.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Paola Subacchi acquired 1,083 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 544 ($6.86) per share, for a total transaction of 5,891.52 ($7,434.09). Corporate insiders own 10.41% of the companys stock.

About BlackRock Greater Europe Investment Trust

BlackRock Greater Europe Investment Trust plc is a closed-ended equity mutual fund launched by BlackRock Fund Managers Limited. It is managed by BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited. The fund invests in the public equity markets of Europe, excluding the United Kingdom. It seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors.

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BT Group  CLASS A (LON:BT.A  Get Rating)s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 133.66 ($1.69) and traded as high as GBX 155.65 ($1.96). BT Group  CLASS A shares last traded at GBX 152.55 ($1.92), with a volume of 16,695,848 shares.

BT Group  CLASS A Trading Down 0.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 150.73. The firms 50-day simple moving average is GBX 149.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 133.85. The stock has a market capitalization of 15.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 896.47, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.71.

BT Group  CLASS A Company Profile

(Get Rating)

BT Group plc provides communications services worldwide. Its Consumer segment sells telephones, baby monitors, and Wi-Fi extenders through high street retailers, online BT Shop, and Website BT.com; and offers home phone, copper and fiber broadband, TV, and mobile services in various packages. The company's EE segment offers 2G, 3G, and 4G mobile network services; broadband, fixed-voice, and TV services; and postpaid and prepaid plans, and emergency services network.

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Shares of Buzzi Unicem S.p.A. (OTCMKTS:BZZUY  Get Rating) crossed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of $11.94 and traded as high as $12.30. Buzzi Unicem shares last traded at $12.30, with a volume of 614 shares trading hands.

Buzzi Unicem Stock Performance

The companys 50-day simple moving average is $11.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.57.

Buzzi Unicem Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Buzzi Unicem SpA engages in the production and sale of cement, ready-mix concrete and natural aggregates. The firms geographical segment Central Europe consists of Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands; Eastern Europe covers Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine and Russia. The company was founded in September 1999 and is headquartered in Casale Monferrato, Italy.

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Chunghwa Telecom (NYSE:CHT  Get Rating) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

Chunghwa Telecom Stock Performance

CHT stock traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $40.45. The companys stock had a trading volume of 50,406 shares, compared to its average volume of 120,486. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $39.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Chunghwa Telecom has a 1 year low of $32.90 and a 1 year high of $44.16. The stock has a market cap of $31.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.60 and a beta of 0.13.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. OLD Mission Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Chunghwa Telecom by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. OLD Mission Capital LLC now owns 43,039 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $1,575,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Chunghwa Telecom by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 6,665 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Chunghwa Telecom by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 3,268 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Chunghwa Telecom by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 21,093 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $943,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CAPROCK Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Chunghwa Telecom by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. CAPROCK Group Inc. now owns 6,597 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 454 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 2.19% of the companys stock.

About Chunghwa Telecom

Chunghwa Telecom Co, Ltd. engages in the provision of integrated telecommunication services. It offers domestic & international fixed communication, mobile communication, broadband, Internet services. The Company also provides information and communication technology services; and innovative technology services such as Internet of things and artificial intelligence.

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Cincinnati Financial Corp lifted its holdings in The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL  Get Rating) by 25.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 263,500 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 53,000 shares during the period. Estee Lauder Companies makes up approximately 1.6% of Cincinnati Financial Corps portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Cincinnati Financial Corp owned approximately 0.07% of Estee Lauder Companies worth $65,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EL. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Estee Lauder Companies by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc. now owns 1,356 shares of the companys stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Estee Lauder Companies by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the companys stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Estee Lauder Companies by 52.6% during the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 116 shares of the companys stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Estee Lauder Companies by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 3,365 shares of the companys stock valued at $835,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Estee Lauder Companies by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV now owns 3,824 shares of the companys stock valued at $861,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. 55.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Transactions at Estee Lauder Companies

In other news, EVP Carl P. Haney sold 9,741 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.90, for a total transaction of $2,473,239.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,773 shares in the company, valued at $1,211,864.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 12.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Estee Lauder Companies Trading Down 1.3 %

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Credit Suisse Group boosted their target price on Estee Lauder Companies from $215.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Cowen initiated coverage on Estee Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, March 14th. They issued a buy rating and a $280.00 target price on the stock. 22nd Century Group reiterated a maintains rating on shares of Estee Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Estee Lauder Companies from $290.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Estee Lauder Companies in a research note on Tuesday, March 14th. They issued an outperform rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Estee Lauder Companies presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $264.21.

NYSE EL traded down $2.64 during trading on Friday, hitting $199.15. 4,015,753 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,694,580. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $237.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $240.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. has a 12-month low of $186.47 and a 12-month high of $284.45. The firm has a market cap of $71.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.16, a PEG ratio of 6.62 and a beta of 1.01.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.04). Estee Lauder Companies had a net margin of 6.88% and a return on equity of 23.99%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. will post 3.35 EPS for the current year.

Estee Lauder Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 30th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Estee Lauder Companiess dividend payout ratio is currently 87.71%.

About Estee Lauder Companies

(Get Rating)

The Estee Lauder Companies, Inc engages in the manufacture of skin care, makeup, fragrance and hair care products. It sells products under the following brand names: Estee Lauder, Clinique, Origins, MAC, Bobbi Brown, La Mer, Jo Malone London, Aveda and Too Faced. Its channels consist of department stores, multi-brand retailers, upscale perfumeries and pharmacies, and prestige salons and spas.

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Denali Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO  Get Rating) by 90.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,143 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 19,700 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLCs holdings in CNO Financial Group were worth $49,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 365.6% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 1,676 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,316 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of CNO Financial Group by 250.3% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,310 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of CNO Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CNO. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of CNO Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of CNO Financial Group from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of CNO Financial Group from $28.00 to $24.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of CNO Financial Group from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of CNO Financial Group from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $25.25.

CNO Financial Group Trading Down 1.0 %

CNO stock opened at $21.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 0.19. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $22.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.94. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.56 and a 52 week high of $26.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a PE ratio of 8.64 and a beta of 1.12.

CNO Financial Group (NYSE:CNO  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.14). CNO Financial Group had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 16.21%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $926.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. The companys revenue was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CNO Financial Group, Inc. will post 2.78 earnings per share for the current year.

CNO Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 9th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 8th. This is an increase from CNO Financial Groups previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. CNO Financial Groups dividend payout ratio is 24.69%.

Insider Activity at CNO Financial Group

In other CNO Financial Group news, insider Scott L. Goldberg sold 3,648 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.50, for a total transaction of $82,080.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 157,378 shares in the company, valued at $3,541,005. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other CNO Financial Group news, EVP Matthew J. Zimpfer sold 4,188 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.03, for a total transaction of $109,013.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 261,471 shares in the company, valued at $6,806,090.13. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Scott L. Goldberg sold 3,648 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.50, for a total transaction of $82,080.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 157,378 shares in the company, valued at $3,541,005. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,144 shares of company stock worth $276,605. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the companys stock.

CNO Financial Group Company Profile

(Get Rating)

CNO Financial Group, Inc is an insurance holding company, which engages in developing, marketing, and administering health insurance, annuity, individual life insurance and other insurance products. It operates through the following segments: Bankers Life, Washington National, and Colonial Penn. The Bankers Life segment markets and distributes medicare supplement insurance, interest-sensitive life insurance, traditional life insurance, fixed annuities and long-term care insurance products to the middle-income senior market through a dedicated field force of career agents and sales managers supported by a network of community-based sales offices.

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Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN  Get Rating) had its price objective decreased by Bank of America from $67.00 to $60.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, The Fly reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on DVN. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Devon Energy from $80.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 14th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Devon Energy from $79.00 to $72.00 and set a positive rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Devon Energy from $70.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Devon Energy from $70.00 to $59.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Devon Energy from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $70.68.

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Devon Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:DVN opened at $47.52 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.53. Devon Energy has a 1 year low of $44.03 and a 1 year high of $79.40. The company has a market capitalization of $31.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.15 and a beta of 2.34.

Devon Energy Cuts Dividend

Devon Energy ( NYSE:DVN Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 8th. The energy company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.82 billion. Devon Energy had a return on equity of 52.20% and a net margin of 31.38%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Devon Energy will post 6.5 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.06%. Devon Energys dividend payout ratio is currently 31.41%.

Insider Transactions at Devon Energy

In other news, EVP Dennis C. Cameron sold 7,179 shares of Devon Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.77, for a total value of $393,193.83. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 262,498 shares in the company, valued at $14,377,015.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Devon Energy news, Director John E. Bethancourt purchased 3,765 shares of Devon Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $53.06 per share, for a total transaction of $199,770.90. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 94,669 shares in the company, valued at $5,023,137.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Dennis C. Cameron sold 7,179 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.77, for a total value of $393,193.83. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 262,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,377,015.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.80% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new position in shares of Devon Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Devon Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Devon Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Devon Energy by 16,633.3% during the 1st quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 502 shares of the energy companys stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the period. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Devon Energy by 115.0% during the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the energy companys stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.08% of the companys stock.

Devon Energy Company 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.

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Ensign Energy Services (OTCMKTS:ESVIF  Get Rating) had its price target cut by TD Securities from C$6.00 to C$5.50 in a research note released on Tuesday, The Fly reports.

Separately, CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Ensign Energy Services from C$4.75 to C$5.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 17th.

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Ensign Energy Services Stock Down 1.3 %

OTCMKTS ESVIF opened at $1.49 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $2.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.50. Ensign Energy Services has a 52 week low of $1.46 and a 52 week high of $3.90.

About Ensign Energy Services

Ensign Energy Services, Inc engages in the provision oilfield services to the crude oil and natural gas industries. It operates through the following geographical segments: Canada, United States, and International. Its services include drilling, directional drilling, and well servicing. The company was founded on March 31, 1987 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

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Shares of Evolent Health, Inc. (NYSE:EVH  Get Rating) have earned a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $47.00.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EVH shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Evolent Health in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a sell rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $44.00 price target on shares of Evolent Health in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. Cowen increased their price target on Evolent Health from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, January 30th. BTIG Research increased their price target on Evolent Health from $40.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. Finally, Stephens started coverage on Evolent Health in a research note on Tuesday, April 11th. They set an overweight rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company.

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Evolent Health Stock Performance

Shares of EVH stock opened at $35.24 on Friday. Evolent Health has a 12-month low of $21.83 and a 12-month high of $39.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -92.74 and a beta of 1.55. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Insider Activity

Evolent Health ( NYSE:EVH Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 22nd. The technology company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $382.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $373.68 million. Evolent Health had a negative net margin of 2.28% and a positive return on equity of 7.77%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Evolent Health will post 0.21 EPS for the current year.

In other news, Director Frank J. Williams sold 110,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.29, for a total value of $3,991,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 819,812 shares in the company, valued at $29,750,977.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Seth Blackley sold 73,928 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.42, for a total transaction of $2,544,601.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 878,066 shares in the company, valued at $30,223,031.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frank J. Williams sold 110,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.29, for a total value of $3,991,900.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 819,812 shares of the companys stock, valued at $29,750,977.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 494,284 shares of company stock worth $16,995,655 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 4.20% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of Evolent Health

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Evolent Health by 9.7% during the third quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,136,785 shares of the technology companys stock worth $40,845,000 after acquiring an additional 100,206 shares in the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Evolent Health during the third quarter worth $2,411,000. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in Evolent Health by 34.8% during the third quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 157,309 shares of the technology companys stock worth $5,654,000 after buying an additional 40,590 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its position in Evolent Health by 43.6% during the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 27,081 shares of the technology companys stock worth $973,000 after buying an additional 8,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Evolent Health by 885.8% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 374,244 shares of the technology companys stock worth $13,446,000 after buying an additional 336,281 shares during the last quarter. 93.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Evolent Health Company Profile

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Evolent Health, Inc engages in the provision of healthcare delivery and payment services. It deals with population health management, health plan and third party administration, network performance and pharmacy benefit management, risk adjustment, analytics and performance improvement, and technology and electronic medical record integration.

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Shares of Fastly, Inc. (NYSE:FSLY  Get Rating) have been given an average recommendation of Hold by the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $16.00.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FSLY shares. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price target on Fastly from $9.50 to $11.50 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Fastly from $6.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley raised Fastly from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and lifted their price target for the company from $12.00 to $18.00 in a report on Thursday, April 20th. William Blair reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Fastly in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded shares of Fastly from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the company from $8.50 to $17.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 16th.

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Fastly Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FSLY opened at $12.97 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.28, a current ratio of 5.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firms 50-day moving average price is $15.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.84. Fastly has a 52-week low of $7.15 and a 52-week high of $18.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.26 and a beta of 1.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

Fastly ( NYSE:FSLY Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.09. Fastly had a negative net margin of 38.22% and a negative return on equity of 20.22%. The firm had revenue of $119.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $114.39 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Fastly will post -1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

In other Fastly news, insider Artur Bergman sold 11,163 shares of Fastly stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.95, for a total value of $178,049.85. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,530,360 shares in the company, valued at $104,159,242. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Artur Bergman sold 11,163 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.95, for a total value of $178,049.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,530,360 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $104,159,242. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Brett Shirk sold 3,943 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.93, for a total transaction of $54,925.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 224,097 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,121,671.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 268,788 shares of company stock worth $4,081,063. 8.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fastly

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Money Concepts Capital Corp boosted its stake in Fastly by 5,390.9% in the 3rd quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 46,618 shares of the companys stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 45,769 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastly by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 16,066 shares of the companys stock valued at $132,000 after buying an additional 1,127 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Fastly by 1,066.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 143,314 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,313,000 after buying an additional 131,030 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fastly during the 3rd quarter valued at $106,000. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fastly by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 46,443 shares of the companys stock valued at $425,000 after buying an additional 7,405 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.74% of the companys stock.

Fastly Company Profile

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Fastly, Inc provides real-time content delivery network services. It offers edge compute, edge delivery, edge security, edge applications like load balancing and image optimization, video on demand, and managed edge delivery. The company was founded by Artur Bergman, Tyler McMullen, Simon Wistow, and Gil Penchina in March 2011 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 13. Deputy Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan - Commander of the Ground Forces, Lieutenant-General Anvar Afandiyev met with a delegation headed by the rector of the National Defense University of the Republic of Turkiye, Professor Erhan Afyoncu, Trend reports via the Ministry of Defense.

According to the ministry, Afandiyev greeted the guests and expressed gladness to see them in Azerbaijan.

The deputy minister emphasized that the bilateral military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkiye is based on friendship and brotherhood.

At the meeting, an exchange of views took place on the further expansion of military education in the framework of joint cooperation with the fraternal country, as well as on a number of other issues of mutual interest.

Then the guests were briefed on the history of the establishment of the command of the Ground Forces and the main areas of activity.

In conclusion, the Turkish delegation, which arrived at the Control Center of the Ground Forces, was provided with information about the center.

Previously, the delegation visited Azerbaijans liberated territories and the Azerbaijan Army Units stationed there.
FIBRA Prologis (OTCMKTS:FBBPF  Get Rating)s stock price fell 1.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $3.29 and last traded at $3.29. 5,759 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the average session volume of 5,979 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.34.

FIBRA Prologis Stock Down 1.4 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $3.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.17.

About FIBRA Prologis

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Prologis Property Mexico SA de CV is a real estate company. It is engaged in the real estate investment trusts and administration of Class A logistics properties in Mexico. The firm operates through the following geographical segments: Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana, Reynosa, and Juarez.

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JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated their underweight rating on shares of GSK (LON:GSK  Get Rating) in a report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Credit Suisse Group restated a neutral rating and set a GBX 1,510 ($19.05) target price on shares of GSK in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a buy rating and set a GBX 1,700 ($21.45) target price on shares of GSK in a report on Thursday, April 27th. UBS Group set a GBX 1,245 ($15.71) price target on GSK in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a GBX 1,575 ($19.87) price target on GSK in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a GBX 2,000 ($25.24) price target on GSK in a report on Monday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of GBX 1,573.33 ($19.85).

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GSK Stock Performance

GSK stock opened at GBX 1,470.20 ($18.55) on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 184.80, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of GBX 1,450.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of GBX 1,436.40. GSK has a 52-week low of GBX 1,280.92 ($16.16) and a 52-week high of GBX 2,280.50 ($28.78). The firm has a market capitalization of 59.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,374.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.28.

GSK Increases Dividend

Insider Transactions at GSK

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 18th will be given a dividend of GBX 14 ($0.18) per share. This is a positive change from GSKs previous dividend of $13.75. This represents a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 18th. GSKs payout ratio is presently 5,700.93%.

In related news, insider Iain Mackay bought 200 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 1,493 ($18.84) per share, for a total transaction of 2,986 ($3,767.82). In other news, insider Emma Walmsley sold 28,576 shares of GSK stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 1,487 ($18.76), for a total transaction of 424,925.12 ($536,183.12). Also, insider Iain Mackay acquired 200 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of GBX 1,493 ($18.84) per share, for a total transaction of 2,986 ($3,767.82). In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 2,309 shares of company stock worth $3,249,586. 1.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

GSK Company Profile

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GSK plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the creation, discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of pharmaceutical products, vaccines, over-the-counter medicines, and health-related consumer products in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Pharmaceuticals, Pharmaceuticals R&D, Vaccines, and Consumer Healthcare.

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Kuehne + Nagel International AG (OTCMKTS:KHNGY  Get Rating) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,400 shares, a decline of 68.0% from the April 15th total of 7,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 9,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. HSBC downgraded Kuehne + Nagel International from a hold rating to a reduce rating in a research report on Monday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Kuehne + Nagel International from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Kuehne + Nagel International from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. BNP Paribas downgraded Kuehne + Nagel International from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, January 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Kuehne + Nagel International from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $280.00.

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Kuehne + Nagel International Trading Up 0.6 %

OTCMKTS KHNGY traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $58.66. 1,261 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,471. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $57.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Kuehne + Nagel International has a 52 week low of $39.39 and a 52 week high of $61.61. The stock has a market cap of $35.42 billion, a PE ratio of 14.52 and a beta of 0.91.

Kuehne + Nagel International Increases Dividend

About Kuehne + Nagel International

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.9891 per share. This is a boost from Kuehne + Nagel Internationals previous dividend of $1.31. This represents a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 11th. Kuehne + Nagel Internationals payout ratio is presently 31.19%.

(Get Rating)

Kuhne + Nagel International AG engages in the provision of logistic services. It operates through the following segments: Sea Logistics, Air Logistics, Road Logistics, and Contract Logistics. The company was founded by August Kuehne and Friedrich Nagel in 1890 and is headquartered in Schindellegi, Switzerland.

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Shares of Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII  Get Rating) have received a consensus rating of Hold from the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $261.58.

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Oppenheimer started coverage on Lennox International in a research note on Monday, March 27th. They set a market perform rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Lennox International from $279.00 to $272.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on Lennox International from $248.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Friday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Lennox International from $300.00 to $283.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Lennox International in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating on the stock.

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Lennox International Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:LII opened at $288.91 on Friday. Lennox International has a 52-week low of $182.85 and a 52-week high of $291.80. The business has a fifty day moving average of $256.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $254.44. The stock has a market cap of $10.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.13, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.92.

Lennox International Dividend Announcement

Lennox International ( NYSE:LII Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The construction company reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.42 by $0.41. Lennox International had a negative return on equity of 200.13% and a net margin of 10.76%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.36 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Lennox International will post 15.2 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 31st were issued a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 30th. Lennox Internationals dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Daniel M. Sessa sold 2,419 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.09, for a total transaction of $696,889.71. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,749,711.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Chris Kosel sold 300 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.99, for a total transaction of $84,897.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,146 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $607,296.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel M. Sessa sold 2,419 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.09, for a total transaction of $696,889.71. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,256 shares in the company, valued at $12,749,711.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,579 shares of company stock valued at $2,078,502. Insiders own 2.83% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lennox International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in shares of Lennox International by 204.5% during the first quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 13,104 shares of the construction companys stock worth $3,293,000 after acquiring an additional 8,800 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC raised its position in shares of Lennox International by 151.5% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 27,644 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $6,946,000 after purchasing an additional 16,653 shares in the last quarter. Carmignac Gestion boosted its stake in shares of Lennox International by 79.1% during the 1st quarter. Carmignac Gestion now owns 1,967 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $494,000 after buying an additional 869 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its position in shares of Lennox International by 23.1% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 1,454 shares of the construction companys stock worth $365,000 after buying an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lennox International in the first quarter worth $188,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.99% of the companys stock.

About Lennox International

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Lennox International, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of products for heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration. It operates through the following business segments: Residential Heating & Cooling, Commercial Heating & Cooling, and Refrigeration. The Residential Heating & Cooling segment manufactures and markets furnaces, air conditioners, heat pumps, packaged heating and cooling systems, equipment, and accessories.

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Long Road Investment Counsel LLC lessened its stake in shares of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Incorporated (NYSE:RBA  Get Rating) (TSE:RBA) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 57,940 shares of the business services providers stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers comprises approximately 1.7% of Long Road Investment Counsel LLCs holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Long Road Investment Counsel LLCs holdings in Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers were worth $3,351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of RBA. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers during the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers by 176.7% in the 4th quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 855 shares of the business services providers stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA boosted its position in shares of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers by 41.2% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 1,114 shares of the business services providers stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,285 shares of the business services providers stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gulf International Bank UK Ltd boosted its position in shares of Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers by 46.1% in the 4th quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 1,490 shares of the business services providers stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.09% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on RBA shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers from $66.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, March 20th. StockNews.com started coverage on Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Raymond James raised their price objective on Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 24th. National Bankshares raised their price objective on Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Finally, OTR Global upgraded Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers to a positive rating in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $61.14.

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Stock Performance

Shares of RBA stock opened at $53.29 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The business has a fifty day moving average of $56.47 and a 200 day moving average of $57.84. Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Incorporated has a 1 year low of $48.72 and a 1 year high of $72.73.

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (NYSE:RBA  Get Rating) (TSE:RBA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $443.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $430.21 million. Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers had a return on equity of 25.58% and a net margin of 18.44%. The companys revenue was up 23.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Incorporated will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 26th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Ritchie Bros. Auctioneerss payout ratio is currently 110.20%.

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Company Profile

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Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, Inc is an industrial auctioneer, which engages in the sale of equipment to on-site and online bidders. It operates through the following segments: Auctions and Marketplaces, Ritchie Bros. Financial Services and Mascus. The Auctions and Marketplaces segment consists of live on site auctions, online auctions and marketplaces, and brokerage service.

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Shore Capital reiterated their house stock rating on shares of Macfarlane Group (LON:MACF  Get Rating) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports.

Macfarlane Group Trading Down 0.4 %

LON:MACF opened at GBX 111.50 ($1.41) on Tuesday. Macfarlane Group has a one year low of GBX 85.20 ($1.08) and a one year high of GBX 126.50 ($1.60). The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 41.23, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The companys 50-day simple moving average is GBX 106.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is GBX 105.17. The firm has a market capitalization of 176.55 million, a P/E ratio of 1,115.00 and a beta of 0.84.

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Macfarlane Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 11th will be issued a dividend of GBX 2.52 ($0.03) per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.38%. This is a boost from Macfarlane Groups previous dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 11th. Macfarlane Groups payout ratio is presently 3,000.00%.

About Macfarlane Group

Macfarlane Group PLC, through its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and distributes protective packaging products to businesses. The company operates through Packaging Distribution and Manufacturing Operations segments. The Packaging Distribution segment distributes packaging materials; and supplies storage and warehousing services in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Europe.

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MAI Capital Management increased its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO  Get Rating) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,975 shares of the utilities providers stock after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the quarter. MAI Capital Managements holdings in Southern were worth $1,212,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Prudential PLC grew its position in Southern by 23.4% during the 1st quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 19,438 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $1,409,000 after purchasing an additional 3,689 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in Southern by 33.5% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,727 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Southern by 63.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,902 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Southern by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 49,925 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $3,621,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Southern by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 907,132 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $65,776,000 after purchasing an additional 239,325 shares during the last quarter. 61.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO opened at $73.35 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $58.85 and a 12 month high of $80.57. The stock has a market cap of $79.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.66, a PEG ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 0.51. The companys 50 day moving average is $70.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Southern Increases Dividend

Southern ( NYSE:SO Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $6.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 11.53% and a return on equity of 10.78%. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. This is a boost from Southerns previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Southerns dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. VNET Group reissued a maintains rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, April 28th. Credit Suisse Group raised their price target on shares of Southern from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 in a report on Monday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Southern from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 20th. Finally, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM reaffirmed a maintains rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, April 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $73.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Thomas A. Fanning sold 50,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total transaction of $3,758,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 847,592 shares in the company, valued at $63,705,014.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 9,491 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.03, for a total value of $712,109.73. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 36,119 shares in the company, valued at $2,710,008.57. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas A. Fanning sold 50,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total transaction of $3,758,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 847,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,705,014.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,199 shares of company stock worth $6,974,908 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.37% of the companys stock.

Southern Company Profile

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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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Nordic American Tankers (NYSE:NAT  Get Rating) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Friday.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the stock. B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Nordic American Tankers from $5.00 to $5.50 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Nordic American Tankers from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $5.25.

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Nordic American Tankers Stock Performance

Shares of NAT stock traded down $0.08 on Friday, reaching $3.56. The stock had a trading volume of 1,614,229 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,172,159. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firms 50-day moving average is $3.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $743.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.33 and a beta of 0.09. Nordic American Tankers has a 12 month low of $1.80 and a 12 month high of $4.65.

Institutional Trading of Nordic American Tankers

Nordic American Tankers ( NYSE:NAT Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The shipping company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.05). Nordic American Tankers had a net margin of 8.95% and a return on equity of 2.96%. The firm had revenue of $71.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $83.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.12) earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Nordic American Tankers will post 0.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,429,743 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $30,517,000 after acquiring an additional 543,609 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 7,464,144 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $22,840,000 after acquiring an additional 2,225,910 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,792,916 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $20,786,000 after acquiring an additional 57,089 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 77.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,327,573 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $25,057,000 after acquiring an additional 2,756,627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Nordic American Tankers by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,369,776 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $7,245,000 after acquiring an additional 9,194 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.41% of the companys stock.

Nordic American Tankers Company Profile

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Nordic American Tankers Ltd. operates as an international tanker company. It owns and operates Suezmax crude oil tankers. The company was founded by Herbjorn Hansson on June 12, 1995 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.

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Shares of Nuveen Mortgage and Income Fund (NYSE:JLS  Get Rating) crossed below its 50 day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of $16.01 and traded as low as $15.90. Nuveen Mortgage and Income Fund shares last traded at $15.97, with a volume of 8,017 shares changing hands.

Nuveen Mortgage and Income Fund Price Performance

The firms 50-day moving average is $15.98 and its 200 day moving average is $16.22.

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Nuveen Mortgage and Income Fund Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.123 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 12th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nuveen Mortgage and Income Fund

Nuveen Mortgage and Income Fund Company Profile

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Almitas Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nuveen Mortgage and Income Fund by 15,794.6% in the 3rd quarter. Almitas Capital LLC now owns 52,929 shares of the companys stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 52,596 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nuveen Mortgage and Income Fund by 163.4% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 82,431 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,334,000 after purchasing an additional 51,139 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV purchased a new position in shares of Nuveen Mortgage and Income Fund in the 4th quarter valued at about $429,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nuveen Mortgage and Income Fund by 21.0% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 152,310 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,431,000 after purchasing an additional 26,419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Matisse Capital increased its holdings in shares of Nuveen Mortgage and Income Fund by 36.3% in the 3rd quarter. Matisse Capital now owns 84,000 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 22,355 shares in the last quarter.

(Get Rating)

Nuveen Mortgage and Income Fund is a closed-ended fixed income mutual fund launched by Nuveen Investments, Inc The fund is co-managed by Nuveen Fund Advisors LLC, Nuveen Asset Management, LLC, and Wellington Management Company LLP. It invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. The fund invests in undervalued mortgage-backed securities consisting primarily of non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities and commercial mortgage-backed securities with a favorable total return potential.

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Pinion Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF (BATS:USMV  Get Rating) by 71.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,553 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 10,201 shares during the quarter. iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF accounts for 1.7% of Pinion Investment Advisors LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Pinion Investment Advisors LLCs holdings in iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF were worth $1,770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cowa LLC acquired a new position in shares of iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp acquired a new position in shares of iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Luken Investment Analytics LLC acquired a new position in shares of iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF in the 4th quarter worth $31,000.

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iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of BATS USMV traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $73.46. The company had a trading volume of 1,614,362 shares. The stock has a market cap of $29.16 billion, a PE ratio of 20.17 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $72.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.41. iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF has a 1-year low of $47.44 and a 1-year high of $55.45.

About iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF

The iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF (USMV) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI USA Minimum Volatility (USD) index. The fund tracks an index of US-listed firms selected and weighted to create a low-volatility portfolio subject to various constraints. USMV was launched on Oct 18, 2011 and is managed by BlackRock.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 13. The farewell ceremony for Azerbaijani Army serviceman Mahammad Garayev killed following a recent provocation of Armenian armed forces has been held in Azerbaijans Gabala city, Trend reports.

The ceremony was held in his native house.

Garayev was buried in the citys cemetery No1.

The funeral was attended by relatives and friends of the martyr, representatives of the Ministry of Defense and the executive power and residents of the Gabala district.

On the evening of May 10, units of the Armenian armed forces, using various types of small arms, have committed a deliberate provocation against the positions of the Azerbaijani army in the direction of Zod settlement. As a result of target fire, serviceman of Azerbaijani army Muslim Mahmudlu was seriously wounded in the head.

Starting from the morning of May 11, the Armenian troops making the situation even more tense, from the positions in the direction of Zod settlement have carried out mortar shelling against the Azerbaijan Army's opposite positions, following which Azerbaijani serviceman of the extra active military service of the Azerbaijani army Orkhan Novruzalizade.

On the evening of May 12, as a result of the ongoing provocation of the Armenian armed forces, Mahammad Garayev was also killed.
Pinion Investment Advisors LLC cut its position in Invesco Senior Loan ETF (NYSEARCA:BKLN  Get Rating) by 22.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 48,287 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 13,870 shares during the quarter. Invesco Senior Loan ETF accounts for 0.9% of Pinion Investment Advisors LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Pinion Investment Advisors LLCs holdings in Invesco Senior Loan ETF were worth $991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wright Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Invesco Senior Loan ETF in the 4th quarter valued at about $165,320,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Invesco Senior Loan ETF by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,516,472 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $151,758,000 after purchasing an additional 645,740 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in Invesco Senior Loan ETF by 112.5% during the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,286,923 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $93,327,000 after purchasing an additional 2,269,823 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in Invesco Senior Loan ETF by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 3,788,110 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $76,482,000 after purchasing an additional 63,426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in Invesco Senior Loan ETF by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 3,542,990 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $77,131,000 after purchasing an additional 191,207 shares during the last quarter.

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Invesco Senior Loan ETF Stock Performance

BKLN stock remained flat at $20.78 during mid-day trading on Friday. The companys stock had a trading volume of 2,598,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,310,141. Invesco Senior Loan ETF has a fifty-two week low of $20.06 and a fifty-two week high of $21.49. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.87.

About Invesco Senior Loan ETF

The Invesco Senior Loan ETF (BKLN) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in high yield fixed income. The fund tracks a market-value-weighted index of senior loans issued by banks to corporations. BKLN was launched on Mar 3, 2011 and is managed by Invesco.

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Bank of America cut shares of Radian Group (NYSE:RDN  Get Rating) from a buy rating to an underperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Compass Point raised Radian Group from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $29.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Radian Group from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Friday, February 10th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Radian Group in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Finally, Roth Capital reissued a buy rating on shares of Radian Group in a research report on Thursday, February 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $24.64.

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Radian Group Stock Down 0.4 %

RDN stock opened at $24.89 on Tuesday. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $22.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.09. Radian Group has a fifty-two week low of $17.83 and a fifty-two week high of $25.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.15.

Radian Group Increases Dividend

Radian Group ( NYSE:RDN Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 3rd. The insurance provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $310.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.37 million. Radian Group had a return on equity of 19.90% and a net margin of 59.55%. Radian Groups revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Radian Group will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 24th. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. This is a boost from Radian Groups previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Radian Groups payout ratio is currently 20.74%.

Insider Transactions at Radian Group

In other Radian Group news, insider Derek Brummer sold 12,475 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.97, for a total value of $311,500.75. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 141,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,533,629.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Radian Group news, insider Derek Brummer sold 12,475 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.97, for a total value of $311,500.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 141,515 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,533,629.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward J. Hoffman sold 9,990 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.61, for a total transaction of $215,883.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 118,534 shares in the company, valued at $2,561,519.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 90,595 shares of company stock valued at $2,077,889 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.58% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Radian Group by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 18,972 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 2,445 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Radian Group by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 56,712 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $1,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,548 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Radian Group by 0.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,488,800 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $33,067,000 after buying an additional 6,479 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Radian Group by 57.0% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 94,871 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $2,107,000 after buying an additional 34,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its holdings in shares of Radian Group by 854.0% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 96,124 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $2,271,000 after buying an additional 86,048 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.37% of the companys stock.

About Radian Group

(Get Rating)

Radian Group, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of mortgage insurance, risk management products, and real estate services to financial institutions. It operates through the Mortgage and Real Estate segments. The Mortgage segment offers credit-related insurance coverage, as well as other credit risk management solutions to mortgage lending institutions and mortgage credit investors.

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Renold plc (LON:RNO  Get Rating) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as GBX 31.80 ($0.40) and last traded at GBX 30 ($0.38), with a volume of 1198762 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 29.60 ($0.37).

Renold Trading Up 3.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 192.16. The companys fifty day moving average is GBX 26.59 and its 200-day moving average is GBX 24.64. The firm has a market capitalization of 69.88 million, a P/E ratio of 775.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.10 and a beta of 1.01.

Renold Company Profile

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Renold plc manufactures and sells high precision engineered power transmission products in the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the United States, Australasia, China, India, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Chain and Torque Transmission. It offers standard, welded steel, and draw bench conveyor chains, as well as conveyor and trident chains for theme parks; and bucket elevator, escalator, heavy duty drag, and waste water treatment chains, as well as standard attachments and screen chains.

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Anglo American Platinum Limited (OTCMKTS:ANGPY  Get Rating) saw a significant decline in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 91,800 shares, a decline of 52.3% from the April 15th total of 192,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 77,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ANGPY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Investec raised Anglo American Platinum from a sell rating to a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 4th. HSBC cut Anglo American Platinum from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday.

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Anglo American Platinum Stock Performance

Shares of ANGPY traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $9.75. 99,066 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 48,767. The firms fifty day moving average is $9.60 and its 200-day moving average is $12.27. Anglo American Platinum has a 1 year low of $8.17 and a 1 year high of $18.43.

Anglo American Platinum Cuts Dividend

About Anglo American Platinum

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.2275 per share. This represents a yield of 9.67%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 30th.

(Get Rating)

Anglo American Platinum Ltd. is a holding company, which engages in the supply of platinum group metals. The firm specializes in mined, recycled, and traded metal which include palladium, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium, and osmium. The company was founded on July 13, 1946 and is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa.

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Banco Comercial Portugues, S.A. (OTCMKTS:BPCGF  Get Rating) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,344,500 shares, a decline of 47.2% from the April 15th total of 6,335,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 0 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently  days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Banco Comercial Portugues from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 29th.

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Banco Comercial Portugues Price Performance

Shares of Banco Comercial Portugues stock remained flat at $0.22 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $0.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $0.18. Banco Comercial Portugues has a one year low of $0.12 and a one year high of $0.23.

Banco Comercial Portugues Company Profile

Banco Comercial Portugues SA engages in the provision of banking and financial services. It operates through the following segments: Retail Banking; Companies, Corporate, and Investment Banking; Private Banking; Foreign Business; and Other. The Retail Banking segment consists of Retail Network of Millenium bcp (Portugal), retail recovery division, and Banco ActivoBank.

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Eaton Vance Municipal Income Trust (NYSE:EVN  Get Rating) saw a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 13,500 shares, an increase of 21.6% from the April 15th total of 11,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 94,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.1 days.

Eaton Vance Municipal Income Trust Price Performance

Shares of EVN opened at $9.97 on Friday. Eaton Vance Municipal Income Trust has a twelve month low of $9.34 and a twelve month high of $12.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $10.02 and a 200 day moving average of $10.09.

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Eaton Vance Municipal Income Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.041 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 10th. This represents a $0.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.93%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eaton Vance Municipal Income Trust

About Eaton Vance Municipal Income Trust

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Eaton Vance Municipal Income Trust by 12.9% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 247,960 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $2,936,000 after purchasing an additional 28,415 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Eaton Vance Municipal Income Trust by 3.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 111,996 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $1,326,000 after acquiring an additional 3,554 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Eaton Vance Municipal Income Trust during the first quarter worth $136,000. HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eaton Vance Municipal Income Trust in the first quarter worth about $135,000. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Eaton Vance Municipal Income Trust by 5.1% in the first quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 407,405 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $4,824,000 after purchasing an additional 19,805 shares during the last quarter.

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Eaton Vance Municipal Income Trust is a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company. Its investment objective is to provide current income exempt from regular federal income tax. The company was founded on January 29, 1999 and is headquartered in Boston, MA.

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Tsingtao Brewery Company Limited (OTCMKTS:TSGTF  Get Rating) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 19,000 shares, a decrease of 94.2% from the April 15th total of 327,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.9 days.

Tsingtao Brewery Trading Down 1.3 %

Tsingtao Brewery stock traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $9.33. The company had a trading volume of 2,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,761. Tsingtao Brewery has a 12-month low of $6.78 and a 12-month high of $10.89. The companys fifty day moving average is $10.28 and its 200-day moving average is $9.68.

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Tsingtao Brewery Company Profile

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Tsingtao Brewery Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production, distribution, wholesale, and retail sale of beer products worldwide. It operates through seven segments: Shandong Region; South China Region; North China Region; East China Region; Southeast China Region; Hong Kong, Macau and Other Overseas Region; and Finance Company.

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Skeena Resources Limited (TSE:SKE  Get Rating) was down 4.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as C$9.06 and last traded at C$9.10. Approximately 119,427 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 15% from the average daily volume of 140,299 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$9.49.

Skeena Resources Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of C$686.58 million, a P/E ratio of -7.04 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50 day moving average price of C$8.45 and a 200 day moving average price of C$7.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.60.

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Skeena Resources (TSE:SKE  Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 22nd. The company reported C($0.22) EPS for the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Skeena Resources Limited will post -0.4862973 EPS for the current year.

About Skeena Resources

Skeena Resources Limited explores and develops mineral properties in Canada. The company explores for gold, silver, copper, and other precious metal deposits. It holds 100% interests in the Snip gold mine comprising one mining lease and four mineral tenures that covers an area of approximately 1,932 hectares; and the Eskay Creek gold mine that consists of eight mineral leases, two surface leases, and various unpatented mining claims, which total 6,151 hectares located in British Columbia, Canada.

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Sowell Financial Services LLC trimmed its stake in Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEARCA:VWO  Get Rating) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,244 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 1,104 shares during the quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLCs holdings in Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF were worth $2,426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Albion Financial Group UT grew its position in Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF by 39.5% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 907 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF by 2.7% during the third quarter. Tiemann Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,183 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Accel Wealth Management raised its holdings in Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF by 63.3% in the 4th quarter. Accel Wealth Management now owns 722 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Colorado Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Colorado Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,514 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ifrah Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ifrah Financial Services Inc. now owns 21,569 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $787,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter.

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Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF Price Performance

VWO stock opened at $39.61 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.00 and a beta of 0.69. Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF has a 1-year low of $34.88 and a 1-year high of $44.28. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $39.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.92.

Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF Profile

The Fund seeks to track the performance of the FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index, that measures the return of stocks issued by companies located in emerging market countries.

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Squarespace (NYSE:SQSP  Get Rating) had its price objective boosted by Mizuho from $26.00 to $28.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning, The Fly reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Squarespace from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Squarespace from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Squarespace from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, March 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Squarespace from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Squarespace in a research note on Tuesday, April 11th. They issued a neutral rating and a $34.00 price objective for the company. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $31.33.

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Squarespace Stock Up 0.0 %

SQSP stock opened at $28.09 on Wednesday. Squarespace has a twelve month low of $16.86 and a twelve month high of $33.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.84 and a beta of 0.32. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $29.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Squarespace

Squarespace ( NYSE:SQSP Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 7th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $228.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $222.35 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Squarespace will post 0.16 EPS for the current year.

In other Squarespace news, Director Jonathan D. Klein sold 28,446 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total transaction of $768,042.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 745,440 shares of the companys stock, valued at $20,126,880. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Jonathan D. Klein sold 28,446 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total transaction of $768,042.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 745,440 shares in the company, valued at $20,126,880. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Courtenay Oconnor sold 21,801 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.14, for a total transaction of $504,475.14. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 38,216 shares in the company, valued at approximately $884,318.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 104,005 shares of company stock valued at $2,739,035. 45.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Squarespace

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in Squarespace by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 48,519 shares of the companys stock worth $1,541,000 after buying an additional 604 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Squarespace by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,628 shares of the companys stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 712 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Squarespace by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 9,266 shares of the companys stock worth $198,000 after buying an additional 1,122 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Squarespace by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 15,113 shares of the companys stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 1,210 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Squarespace by 2,128.1% in the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,270 shares of the companys stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,213 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.90% of the companys stock.

About Squarespace

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Squarespace, Inc operates platform for businesses and independent creators to build online presence, grow their brands, and manage their businesses across the internet. Its suite of integrated products enables users to manage their projects and businesses through websites, domains, e-commerce, marketing tools, and scheduling, as well as tools for managing a social media presence.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 13. The 7th meeting of the Joint Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation between the governments of Azerbaijan and Romania will be held in Bucharest, co-chairman of the commission from the Azerbaijani side, Minister of Labour and Social Protection of Population Sahil Babayev said, the ministry told Trend.

According to the ministry, Babayev met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Romania to Azerbaijan Vasile Soare.

During the meeting, it was highlighted that Azerbaijani-Romanian relations are constantly developing and today are at the level of strategic partnership.

Some 61 documents have been signed that serve to expand bilateral cooperation.

Moreover, the sides discussed the growth of the trade turnover by 2.4 times between the two countries last year, which is another indicator of the development of economic ties.

The activity of the commission between the governments of both countries, which contributes to the expansion of cooperation in various fields, was also mentioned.

The sides exchanged views on bilateral cooperation, discussed preparations for the next meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission..
Bank of Hawaii Co. (NYSE:BOH  Get Rating) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors acquired 4,618 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 854% compared to the typical volume of 484 put options.

Insider Activity at Bank of Hawaii

In related news, Director Alicia E. Moy purchased 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $47.90 per share, with a total value of $201,180.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $502,087.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.11% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Hawaii

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BOH. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Bank of Hawaii by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,977,581 shares of the banks stock valued at $302,774,000 after buying an additional 49,163 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of Hawaii by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,457,029 shares of the banks stock worth $127,962,000 after purchasing an additional 139,133 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Bank of Hawaii by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,777,119 shares of the banks stock worth $149,136,000 after purchasing an additional 174,889 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of Hawaii by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 978,924 shares of the banks stock worth $75,925,000 after purchasing an additional 82,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Bank of Hawaii by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 912,961 shares of the banks stock worth $47,544,000 after purchasing an additional 12,768 shares during the last quarter. 74.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Bank of Hawaii Stock Down 4.1 %

BOH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Bank of Hawaii from $76.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, March 20th. Compass Point cut shares of Bank of Hawaii from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $71.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 24th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Bank of Hawaii in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a sell rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Bank of Hawaii from $83.00 to $60.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of Bank of Hawaii from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Hawaii presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $66.25.

BOH traded down $1.45 during trading on Friday, hitting $33.56. The company had a trading volume of 4,208,788 shares, compared to its average volume of 611,561. The company has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of 5.88, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.97. Bank of Hawaii has a one year low of $30.83 and a one year high of $85.45. The firms 50-day moving average price is $51.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Bank of Hawaii (NYSE:BOH  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 24th. The bank reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $229.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $177.67 million. Bank of Hawaii had a net margin of 26.90% and a return on equity of 19.01%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bank of Hawaii will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Hawaii Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 31st will be given a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 30th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.34%. Bank of Hawaiis dividend payout ratio is currently 52.83%.

About Bank of Hawaii

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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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StockNews.com cut shares of inTEST (NYSEAMERICAN:INTT  Get Rating) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. EF Hutton Acquisition Co. I assumed coverage on shares of inTEST in a research report on Wednesday, March 8th. They set a buy rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. TheStreet upgraded shares of inTEST from a c+ rating to a b rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Lake Street Capital lifted their price objective on shares of inTEST from $19.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Monday, May 8th.

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inTEST Price Performance

INTT opened at $20.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $229.28 million, a PE ratio of 21.02 and a beta of 1.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.23. inTEST has a 1 year low of $6.07 and a 1 year high of $23.54. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $17.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.91.

Institutional Trading of inTEST

inTEST ( NYSEAMERICAN:INTT Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 3rd. The semiconductor company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $32.41 million for the quarter. inTEST had a net margin of 8.58% and a return on equity of 20.78%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that inTEST will post 0.9 EPS for the current year.

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of inTEST by 489,800.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,899 shares of the semiconductor companys stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 4,898 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of inTEST by 28.4% in the first quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,748 shares of the semiconductor companys stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 829 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in inTEST by 329.8% in the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 2,579 shares of the semiconductor companys stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 1,979 shares during the period. Barclays PLC acquired a new position in inTEST in the first quarter worth $154,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in inTEST in the first quarter worth $161,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 48.87% of the companys stock.

About inTEST

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inTEST Corp. engages in the supply of precision-engineered solutions for manufacturing and testing across a wide range of markets including automotive, defense, aerospace, electronics, fiber optic, machining, medical, telecom, and semiconductors. It operates through the Thermal Products and Electromechanical Solutions (EMS) business segments.

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Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd. (OTCMKTS:TYTMF  Get Rating) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 138,100 shares, a drop of 52.4% from the April 15th total of 290,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 0 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently  days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Tokyo Tatemono from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report on Monday, May 1st.

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Tokyo Tatemono Stock Performance

TYTMF remained flat at $12.27 on Friday. Tokyo Tatemono has a twelve month low of $12.27 and a twelve month high of $12.27.

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Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its holdings in shares of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT  Get Rating) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,237 shares of the information technology services providers stock after purchasing an additional 3,572 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina owned approximately 0.05% of Gartner worth $14,534,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Gartner by 145.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,227,844 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $616,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,318,892 shares during the last quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Gartner in the 3rd quarter worth about $145,262,000. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Gartner by 254.0% in the 3rd quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 492,201 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $136,187,000 after buying an additional 353,146 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Gartner by 20.3% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,029,738 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $603,766,000 after buying an additional 342,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE lifted its stake in Gartner by 103.0% in the 3rd quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 653,014 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $180,682,000 after purchasing an additional 331,369 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.86% of the companys stock.

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Gartner Stock Performance

Shares of IT stock opened at $310.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.19, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $312.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $327.45. The stock has a market cap of $24.56 billion, a PE ratio of 26.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.28. Gartner, Inc. has a 1 year low of $221.39 and a 1 year high of $358.25.

Insider Activity at Gartner

Gartner ( NYSE:IT Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 2nd. The information technology services provider reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. Gartner had a return on equity of 772.55% and a net margin of 16.56%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Gartner, Inc. will post 10.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In other Gartner news, EVP Yvonne Genovese sold 1,327 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.14, for a total transaction of $396,958.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Gartner news, EVP Joseph P. Beck sold 3,471 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.16, for a total transaction of $1,215,405.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,999 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,501,249.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Yvonne Genovese sold 1,327 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.14, for a total transaction of $396,958.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,941 shares of company stock worth $8,611,320. 3.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on IT shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Gartner from $358.00 to $366.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Gartner from $387.00 to $380.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Gartner in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Gartner from $357.00 to $337.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gartner presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $357.86.

About Gartner

(Get Rating)

Gartner, Inc is a research and advisory company, which equips business leaders with insights, advice, and tools that help build organizations. It operates through the following segments: Research, Consulting, and Conferences. The Research segment provides executives with objective insights and advice through reports, briefings, proprietary tools, access to the firm?s research experts, peer networking services, and membership programs.

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Tsakos Energy Navigation (NYSE:TNP  Get Rating) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued on Friday.

TNP has been the topic of a number of other reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of Tsakos Energy Navigation from a c+ rating to a b rating in a report on Thursday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Tsakos Energy Navigation from $26.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 7th.

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Tsakos Energy Navigation Price Performance

Shares of TNP stock traded down $0.34 on Friday, hitting $17.03. 208,149 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 390,803. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.49. The firm has a market cap of $502.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.09. Tsakos Energy Navigation has a 52 week low of $8.40 and a 52 week high of $24.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.32.

Institutional Trading of Tsakos Energy Navigation

Tsakos Energy Navigation ( NYSE:TNP Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 16th. The shipping company reported $3.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $224.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $225.00 million. Tsakos Energy Navigation had a return on equity of 28.46% and a net margin of 23.74%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Tsakos Energy Navigation will post 9.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TNP. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in shares of Tsakos Energy Navigation by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 21,109 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its holdings in Tsakos Energy Navigation by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 4,000 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. bought a new position in Tsakos Energy Navigation during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Tsakos Energy Navigation by 100.9% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,182 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in Tsakos Energy Navigation by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 33,295 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 2,619 shares during the last quarter. 36.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Tsakos Energy Navigation

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Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd. engages in the provision of seaborne crude oil and petroleum product transportation services. Its activities include the operation of crude tankers, product tankers, and liquefied natural gas carriers. The company was founded by Nikolas P. Tsakos and Michael Gordon Jolliffee in July 1993 and is headquartered in Athens, Greece.

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StockNews.com upgraded shares of United States Cellular (NYSE:USM  Get Rating) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday.

Separately, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on United States Cellular from $37.00 to $24.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, United States Cellular presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $22.67.

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United States Cellular Price Performance

USM opened at $15.16 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $20.57 and a 200-day moving average of $22.06. The company has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -189.50 and a beta of 0.66. United States Cellular has a 1-year low of $14.67 and a 1-year high of $32.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

United States Cellular ( NYSE:USM Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 5th. The Wireless communications provider reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.03). United States Cellular had a negative net margin of 0.14% and a negative return on equity of 0.13%. The business had revenue of $986.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. The firms revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that United States Cellular will post 0.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In other news, EVP Michael Irizarry sold 18,826 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.15, for a total value of $416,995.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,825 shares of the companys stock, valued at $416,973.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.23% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United States Cellular

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake in shares of United States Cellular by 4.2% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 1,258,127 shares of the Wireless communications providers stock valued at $26,081,000 after purchasing an additional 50,361 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in United States Cellular by 67.8% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 31,358 shares of the Wireless communications providers stock worth $650,000 after acquiring an additional 12,667 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in United States Cellular during the first quarter worth $358,000. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of United States Cellular by 896.6% in the first quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 8,710 shares of the Wireless communications providers stock valued at $181,000 after buying an additional 7,836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its stake in shares of United States Cellular by 5.3% in the first quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 38,396 shares of the Wireless communications providers stock valued at $796,000 after buying an additional 1,916 shares in the last quarter. 15.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

United States Cellular Company Profile

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United States Cellular Corp. engages in the provision of wireless telecommunication services. Its products include smartphones, tablets, vehicle routers, and accessories. It offers Internet plans, prepaid and postpaid plans, and roaming services. The company was founded by Leroy T. Carlson in 1983 and is headquartered in Chicago, IL.

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Venture Visionary Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR  Get Rating) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,641 shares of the conglomerates stock after buying an additional 583 shares during the period. Venture Visionary Partners LLCs holdings in Danaher were worth $2,028,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. My Personal CFO LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Private Ocean LLC raised its position in Danaher by 1,485.7% in the 4th quarter. Private Ocean LLC now owns 111 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Bellwether Advisors LLC raised its position in Danaher by 157.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 134 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new position in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners bought a new stake in Danaher in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.26% of the companys stock.

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Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Jose-Carlos Gutierrez-Ramos sold 500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.19, for a total transaction of $121,095.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,529 shares in the company, valued at $1,823,448.51. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Georgeann Couchara sold 695 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.27, for a total transaction of $170,462.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,565 shares in the company, valued at $383,847.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jose-Carlos Gutierrez-Ramos sold 500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.19, for a total transaction of $121,095.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,529 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,823,448.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,619 shares of company stock valued at $3,568,741 over the last three months. Insiders own 11.10% of the companys stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Danaher Stock Down 1.5 %

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DHR. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Danaher from $325.00 to $300.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. William Blair reaffirmed an outperform rating on shares of Danaher in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Danaher from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lifted their target price for the company from $275.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 18th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Danaher currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $294.06.

Shares of Danaher stock opened at $227.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.75 billion, a PE ratio of 24.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.80. Danaher Co. has a 52-week low of $226.70 and a 52-week high of $303.82. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $245.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $255.94.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 25th. The conglomerate reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.10. Danaher had a net margin of 22.40% and a return on equity of 16.70%. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $7.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.76 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Danaher Co. will post 9.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Danaher Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 29th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Danahers payout ratio is 11.64%.

Danaher Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Danaher Corp. engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of professional, medical, industrial, and commercial products and services. It operates through the following segments: Biotechnology, Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environmental and Applied Solutions. The Biotechnology segment includes the bioprocessing and discovery and medical businesses and offers a range of tools, consumables, and services.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DHR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR  Get Rating).

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Wilmar International Limited (OTCMKTS:WLMIY  Get Rating) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,900 shares, a decrease of 36.7% from the April 15th total of 3,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.1 days.

Wilmar International Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of OTCMKTS WLMIY traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $29.70. 528 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,990. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 1.09. Wilmar International has a 52-week low of $24.13 and a 52-week high of $32.42. The companys 50-day moving average is $30.41 and its 200-day moving average is $29.94.

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Wilmar International Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.7719 per share. This represents a yield of 3.74%. This is a boost from Wilmar Internationals previous dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 26th.

About Wilmar International

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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The triumph of Congress in Karnataka Election 2023 not only boosts the party's morale for the Lok Sabha elections next year, but also has broken a prevailing trend against landslide victories in the state, shows data. The results show that Congress has won or is leading in 135 out of the 224 Assembly seats. This is for the first time since 1989, that a party has bagged a landslide victory in Karnataka, with its seat share crossing 60 percent. Landslide victories, which lead to a single party or alliance dominating the political landscape, are not unusual in state assembly elections. In fact, five of the last 10 Assembly elections across India, other than this one in Karnataka, have thrown up such results. However, in this southern state, such election results are a rare occurrence. Historical data reveal why. There is no universally accepted definition for what constitutes a landslide victory in an election. But for the purpose of this analysis, we have considered a party winning more than 60 percent of the seats in an election as a landslide victory. An analysis of historical election records sourced from the Trivedi Centre for Political Data at the Ashoka University shows that till this election, no single party or alliance had secured a landslide victory in Karnataka in the last 33 years. The last time a single party completely dominated an Assembly election in the state was 1989, when the Congress won 178 seats. In fact, in the four elections that have taken place in the state in this millennium (not counting the latest one), only one  the 2013 election, in which the Congress party secured 122 seats  saw a party winning more than 50 percent of the seats. The six regions of Karnataka For political and electoral analysis, Karnataka can be divided into six regions: Mumbai Karnataka (Kittur Karnataka), Hyderabad Karnataka (Kalyana Karnataka), Central Karnataka, Coastal Karnataka, Old Mysuru and Bengaluru. The difference in voting trends between these regions is one of the main factors behind political parties failing to secure huge victories in the state Assembly elections. In the 2018 election, the BJP dominated in Mumbai Karnataka, Central Karnataka and Coastal Karnataka. Meanwhile, Bengaluru and Hyderabad Karnataka stood with the Congress, and the Old Mysuru region gave most seats to the JD(S). The Karnataka Election Results 2023 shows that Congress has dominated in all regions except Coastal Karnataka, which has traditionally been a bastion of the BJP. Considering that Coastal Karnataka is smaller than the other regions, not being able to dominate there need not necessarily prevent a party from getting itself a thumping victory in the state overall. In fact, the Congress' win this time has similarities to the victory of the Janata Party in the 1985 Assembly election, in which it failed to dominate Coastal Karnataka, but still secured more than 62 percent of the seats in the State Assembly. The last two times Karnataka saw all of its regions giving most seats to a single party was in 1989, and then in 2013. On both occasions, it was to the Congress. The fact that 1989 was the last time a party secured a landslide victory, and that 2013 was the closest any party came close to the 60 percent mark till now in this millennium, clearly shows the relation between the region-wise split in voting trends and the lack of thumping victories in the state. However, with the triumphant victory of Congress this time, it remains to be seen whether Karnataka has finally gotten rid of its aversion against landslide victories.
The Congress is heading for a landslide win in Karnataka, as votes continued to be counted for the 224-member assembly on May 13 afternoon. The party was ahead in more than 130 seats, way past the half-way mark of 112. Talking to media, senior party leader Siddaramaiah, who is the frontrunner to be the chief minister, called it a big victory and a vote against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and the BJPs divisive politics. "People have rejected divisive politics. Newly elected MLAs will make a decision and based on their decision, the high command will decide on the CM," said Siddaramaiah. The people of Karnataka were fed up with the BJP government and wanted a change, the former chief minister said. He claimed that the BJP won the previous election through "Operation Kamala," a term often used by opposition parties for the alleged BJP tactic of poaching opposition MLAs to form a government. "No relevance of Modi in KarantakaEven if Shah and Modi come, it will make no difference. This is a warning sign for the BJP and Narendra Modi. People of India will vote against the BJP in 2024," he said. Siddaramaiah credited Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra for energising the Congress cadre. The victory in Karnataka would be a stepping stone for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and was a warning sign for Modi, he said. The PM campaigned in Karnataka 20 times, which was unprecedented, but failed to yield results, he said. The BJP leaders talked about introspection and regrouping as the party stared at a crushing defeat. Outgoing chief minister Basavraj Bommai while conceding the election said the party would examine the issues and strive to win back peoples trust.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 11. Upfront spending of around $600 billion is required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the oil and gas industry by 60 percent until 2030, Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in his article, Trend reports.

"Emissions from oil and gas operations alone account for a considerable chunk of the global total. Taking oil and gas out of the ground, processing it and delivering it to consumers accounts for almost 1 percent of global energy-related emissions  thats more than all the emissions produced by the United States or twice the emissions of the entire European Union. Our latest report shows how the oil and gas industry can reduce these emissions by 60 percent between now and 2030. This would require upfront spending of around $600 billion  much less than the trillions of dollars the industry accrued last year off the back of record high energy prices," he said.

According to the executive director, those oil and gas companies that have so far announced plans to reduce emissions from their operations, in fact, account for less than half of world production.

And many of the commitments made are vague or lack clear strategies to achieve them, especially for the crucial period between now and 2030, Birol said, noting that more ambitious targets, concrete plans and strong accountability are needed to achieve significant reductions in the oil and gas industry and beyond.

"The industry can and should reinvest some of those profits to help the world reach net zero emissions and keep the goal of limiting global temperatures to 1.5 C within sight. The oil and gas industry today has the technologies, resources and expertise to cut emissions from its operations dramatically  and at relatively little cost," he added.
A resurgent Congress party is poised to secure a simple majority in Karnataka and is on track to wrest power from the BJP, marking a morale-boosting triumph before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections next year. According to the latest electoral trends, the party led by M. Mallikarjun Kharge was leading in 119 constituencies, well above the required 113 seats for a majority in the 224-member House. The Karnataka Assembly elections took place on May 10. The BJP, which won 104 seats in the previous Assembly elections, was leading in 74 segments, while the JD(S) led by former Chief Minister H.D. Deve Gowda was ahead in 24 constituencies. Other parties were leading in seven segments. Congress is a natural choice Governments have changed in Karnataka after every election since 1985 and so Congress is the natural choice of the voters this time. Since 2020, 17 states went to polls (beginning and including the Bihar assembly election), of which 13 governments got re-elected. Government changed only in four states i.e. Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and most recently in Himachal Pradesh. Of the 13 states where governments got re-elected, in ten states BJP was the ruling party either on its own or with a coalition partner. The other three states were West Bengal, Delhi and Kerala where Trinamool Congress, AAP and LDF retained power. Regional vs the national The political battle in Karnataka is between the Congress, BJP and JD(S), but the electoral battle is being contested between the regional vs the national. During the Karnataka elections, the BJP relied heavily on national narratives and leaders to create a sense of nationalistic fervor among voters. While this strategy could have played to their advantage, it may not have been as effective in capturing the subtleties of local issues and concerns. The Congress, however, focused on regional issues and utilised local leaders to resonate better with the local population. The party's use of local leaders also helped to establish a sense of trust and familiarity with voters. Corruption During the election campaign, both the Congress and the BJP had raised concerns regarding corruption. The Congress had leveled allegations against the ruling BJP government, labeling it as a "40 percent commission government". The BJP had, on the other hand, brought up former Indian Prime Minister and Congress leader Rajiv Gandhi's "85 percent commission" remark, claiming that only fifteen paise out of every rupee sent by his government reached the people. Along with corruption, putting up a united front, the promise of free rice, power, and employment dole are among the factors that contributed to the party's good performance.
Karnataka Elections 2023: Counting of votes polled for the May 10 Karnataka Assembly polls, which witnessed a fierce fight between archrivals BJP and the Congress, will be taken up today as parties including the JD(S) wait with bated breath to know the outcome as hung assembly is a possibility. The electoral fortunes of top leaders-- Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai of the BJP, Congress heavyweights Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar and JD(S)' HD Kumaraswamy, among many others will be known on Saturday. Catch all the latest updates on Karnataka results here The counting will begin at 8 am in 36 centres across the state, and poll officials expect a clear picture about the outcome is likely to emerge by mid-day. Elaborate security arrangements have been made across the State, especially in and around the counting centres, to avoid any untoward incidents, official sources said. The State registered a "record" turnout of 73.19 per cent in the voting on May 10, to elect representatives to the 224 member Assembly. With most exit polls predicting a tight contest between the Congress and BJP, leaders of the two parties seem "jittery" over the outcome, while the JD(S) appears to be expecting a hung verdict, which would enable it to play a role in government formation. Most pollsters have given an edge to the Congress over the ruling BJP, while also indicating the possibility of a hung Assembly in the state. Having banked on the Modi juggernaut, the ruling BJP is looking to break a 38-year-old poll jinx where the people have never voted the incumbent party to power, while the Congress is hoping for a morale booster victory to give it a much-needed elbow room and momentum to position itself as the main opposition player in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. It also remains to be seen whether former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda-led JD(S) will emerge as a "kingmaker" or a "king" by holding the key to government formation, in the event of a hung verdict, as it has done in the past. Like it has been the trend for about the last two decades, Karnataka witnessed a three-cornered contest, with a direct fight between the said parties in most of the constituencies. The Aam Aadmi Party(AAP), which is in power in Delhi and Punjab, has also fielded its candidates. Also there were some smaller parties in the fray in a few constituencies. "A government with full majority" was the strong pitch of the leaders of all the political parties during the high-decibel, no holds barred campaigning that ended on Monday, as they stressed on getting a clear mandate to form a strong and stable government, unlike what happened after the 2018 polls. The BJP had then emerged as the single largest party by winning 104 seats, followed by Congress with 80 seats and JD(S) 37. There was also one independent member, while the BSP and Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party (KPJP) got one legislator each elected. In the 2018 elections, the Congress garnered a vote-share of 38.04 per cent, followed by the BJP (36.22 per cent) and the JD(S) (18.36 per cent). With no party getting a clear majority at the time and as Congress and JD(S) were trying to forge an alliance, B S Yediyurappa of the BJP, which was the single largest party, staked claim and formed the government. However, it was dissolved within three days, ahead of a trust vote, as the saffron party strongman was unable to muster the required numbers. Subsequently, the Congress-JD(S) alliance formed the government with Kumaraswamy as CM, but the wobbly dispensation collapsed in 14 months, triggered by the resignation of 17 ruling coalition legislators and their subsquent defection to the BJP. This enabled the BJP's return to power. In the bypolls held subsequently in 2019, the ruling party won 12 out of 15 seats. In the outgoing Assembly, the ruling BJP has 116 MLAs, followed by the Congress 69, JD(S) 29, BSP one, independents two, speaker one and vacant six (following deaths and resignations to join other parties ahead of the polls). Congress will win at least 141 seats, form majority govt in Karnataka: State party chief D K Shivakumar Congress state president D K Shivakumar junked the exit poll results in which the party, though it gains the highest number of seats, has to contend with a hung Assembly. He insisted that the party will win at least 141 seats and form a majority government. There was a wave in favour of the Congress, Shivakumar said, a day ahead of Saturday's counting of votes of the Assembly election. He also ruled out the possibility of return of 'resort politics' saying that "era ended 25 years ago". "I don't trust exit polls. I have trust in 141 seats. Our sample size is much bigger. Exit poll sample size is small. There is a major wave in favour of the Congress," Shivakumar told. Stating that the exit poll results fluctuate by 20 seats, the Congress state chief said the number he has given will only increase and not decrease. "I am not disputing the exit polls showing results in our favour. I thank them but we will get a clear majority. This is my firm belief," he insisted. Explaining the reason behind his confidence of getting 141 seats, Shivakumar said he has been on the ground and has done his homework well. According to Shivakumar, who is a Congress candidate from Kanakapura constituency, the verdict will be in favour of the Congress despite the money spent by the BJP and their big leaders campaigning in the election. "Whatever money the BJP people have splurged, whichever big leaders may have campaigned and toiled here, yet the ballot is stronger than the bullet," Shivakumar said. He also ruled out the possibility of a hung assembly and said the voters did not get scared of money and the misuse of the 'double-engine BJP government'. "I am confident that by 1 pm tomorrow, the verdict will be out. There will be no hung assembly, he added. Regarding JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamys statement that he was ready for a coalition government, Shivakumar said he does not know what Kumaraswamy said. "HDK was saying his party will get absolute majority. He said this to instill confidence among his party workers. It is his calculation," the Congress state president said. He also appealed to JD(S) workers not to "waste their career" and instead to join the Congress. "I am not the one to get retired. So long as I am alive and healthy, I will continue to fight and will be with the people," he said. When asked whether he has learnt about any effort to contact winnable candidates, Shivakumar said it is natural because everyone wants to be in the ruling party. Regarding the possibility of 'resort politics' in the event of a hung Assembly, he claimed that "resort politics ended 25 years ago itself, where all the political parties used to bring people together and displayed their unity". He was referring to events after elections in the past wherein MLAs were corralled into resorts to prevent horse trading by rival political parties. "The BJP people have said that whatever number (of seats) they get, they will form the government. Now it seems to be their illusion," he said. Shivakumar dismissed speculations about distribution of power even before the election results are announced. "Our line is the same as what our party national president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi say." Regarding BJP Minister R Ashokas statement that in the event of a hung Assembly, the BJP "will retain the cup (form the government)", Shivakumar said, "Let him keep the cup." Congress general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala also expressed optimism about the party's prospects. "As far as predictions are concerned, I would like to say that we are deeply humbled and with a sense of humility while thanking the people of Karnataka for reposing faith in us. Let us wait till tomorrow. The results will be out. It will be clear. Then we will make a detailed comment," Surjewala said. To a question on the BJP leaders saying their party will get a majority and is working on a backup plan with the JD(S), the Congress leader said, "At least one thing is clear; the BJP has admitted defeat. Once they have admitted defeat, I think your predictions are correct."
The Congress, on May 13 afternoon, was on course to win the legislative assembly election in Karnataka, defeating the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The results are significant for the Congress because it will only be the second state  after Himachal Pradesh in December  which it won on its own majority in the last four years since the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP came back to power at the Centre in 2019. Later this year, three electorally significant states  BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan  will go to polls. Congress leaders and political experts feel that Saturdays result could boost the morale of party workers and leaders in the three states. That set of winter elections will come close on the heels of the Lok Sabha elections early next year. On May 13, in Karnataka, Siddaramaiah, the Congresss main face of the campaign and former chief minister, told reporters that the party was confident of winning more than 120 seats and it will get a majority. The state has 224 assembly seats. Siddaramaiah, who was on course to comfortably win his Varuna seat, is likely to take over as the next chief minister. For LIVE updates click here Ahead of the final results, a visibly emotional DK Shivakumar, president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, told reporters on May 13 afternoon: I credit my party workers and leaders for this win. People have shown their faith in us and this was a collective leadershipworking together has led to this success. There is only one support and that is for the Congress. How will it be a morale-booster for Cong? The Congress is now looking to build upon its performance in Karnataka, which alone accounts for 28 Lok Sabha seats. The party is currently in power on its own in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh. It is part of the ruling alliance in Bihar, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu. Party leaders say that Saturdays result will motivate workers and supporters to continue to put their faith in the Congress. This will have a huge impact nationally. A win in Karnataka shows that public sentiment is in our favour. The result will motivate not just party workers in the three upcoming state elections but also the voters in general to support us, PL Punia, senior party leader and former Rajya Sabha member, told Moneycontrol. Like Karnataka, the Congress has a strong standing in all the three states which go to polls this year. I would say similar conditions exist. We are confident that voters will continue to support us, he added. In 2018, the Congress had lost Karnataka. Six months later, it had won all the three states  Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. In Madhya Pradesh, however, its government lost the majority in March 2020 and it paved the way for the BJP to wrest power. The three states are politically significant as they all see a direct contest between national rivals BJP and the Congress. Political experts say while Karnatakas result will not have any direct impact on elections in the three north Indian states, it could help boost the morale of both workers and leaders of the Congress. The last few years have not been electorally good for the Congress. Karnatakas win will be the second successive one for the Congress party after Himachal Pradesh last year. It will boost the morale of party leaders and workers, Sanjay Kumar, professor at the New Delhi-based Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), told Moneycontrol. Read more on our Karnataka Election Results coverage here It sets the stage for upcoming elections in a way the workers will be enthusiastic. But we should not equate this result with elections due later this year. Those states are, by and large, in the Hindi heartland and the Congress in Karnataka is not the same as it is in other states. In Karnataka, it has always had a very strong presence, he added. The three state elections are often seen as a semi-final for the Lok Sabha elections, which will take place just a few months later. The states are electorally crucial because they account for 65 of the total 543 Lok Sabha seats. However, despite a good performance of the Congress in the three state elections in 2018, it did not translate well for it in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Out of the 65 seats, BJP won 61, leaving very little for the Congress. All eyes will now be on the campaign that the Congress party runs in these three states. In both Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka, the Congress defeated the BJP-led governments. The contest can be more challenging when it defends its incumbent governments in two out of three states Ashok Gehlot-led Rajasthan and Bhupesh Baghel-led Chhattisgarh.
Considered a stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Kittur Karnataka (earlier Bombay Karnataka) made a volte face with overwhelming support for the Indian National Congress, which has swept the region. Belgaum district became the cynosure of all eyes with Congress wresting a majority of seats and turning the tables in three more constituencies and increasing its tally from eight to 11 seats in the district, which sends the second-largest number of MLAS to the State Assembly after Bengaluru Urban. No wonder the winter session of Karnataka Assembly is held in Belgaum every year. The crucial region, which opens a migrant labour corridor with three of Maharashtras districts, forms a key part of Kittur Karnataka, and the caste politics, personal clout and farmers fury, have all played a major role in the outcome of the 18 seats. While BJP retained the crucial seats in neighbouring Hubli-Dharwad with incumbent Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai winning the Shiggaon seat, former CM Jagadish Shettar, who switched sides to Congress failed to carry home the Lingayat vote base and lost to his former understudy Mahesh Tenginkai. In the run-up to the Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023, many high-profile national leaders of the saffron party, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, flocked to the sugarcane bowl of Karnataka, which had very high stakes, but the people preferred Congress in 37 seats, a whopping 17 seats more than they won in 2018. BJP could retain only 18 of the 33 sitting MLAs. Kittur Karnataka was part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency before Independence. It shares a border with Maharashtra and is the corridor of migrant labourers during the sugarcane season. It was a stronghold of BJP as the party won maximum seats here in 2008 and 2018. The only exception was 2013 owing to the BS Yediyurappa split, but now Congress makes a comeback in the region which has high numbers of Muslim population. In Gokak, Ramesh Jarkiholi, who switched from Congress to BJP and was the mastermind behind Operation Kamala which floored the HD Kumaraswamy government, retained the seat with a decent margin over Congress rookie candidate Mahantesh Kadadi. The 63-year-old Rameshs victory in Gokak, for the seventh time in a row and for the second time under the BJP banner, clearly indicates his charisma in a constituency which he has been representing since 1999. For the 42-year-old Mahantesh, it has been a baptism by fire, though he was impressive in some pockets. Ramesh had first won the seat on a Congress ticket in 1999 and has since then held on to it, despite switching to the saffron camp. In the neighbouring Arabhavi constituency, which has also been a traditional Jarkiholi stronghold, the status quo will be maintained with Bhalachandra Jarkiholi winning for the fifth time for the BJP. Belgaum Rural has been another constituency which had been in the spotlight. Congress incumbent MLA Laxmi Hebbalkar, a close confidant of Congress chief DK Shivakumar, won over BJPs Nagesh Mannolkar. In the 2018 assembly polls, Hebbalkar had won the constituency which has 2.57 lakh voters. The closely contested battle saw Laxmi taking a decisive lead. Independent candidate RM Chougule has been the surprise package here as he is perched third, winning a significant number of votes. The scenario in Athani was very interesting. Laxman Savadi, the BJP MLC who switched to the Congress camp after being denied an assembly seat, won against BJPs sitting MLA Mahesh Iranagoud Kumatalli. It is interesting to note the role reversals for both the candidates. In 2018, Sawadi, the former Deputy Chief Minister of the State, had contested on a BJP ticket while Mahesh was with Congress before he crossed over to BJP in 2019 along with Ramesh Jarkiholi. Out of the 56 seats in the seven districts, Congress won 37 (20 in 2018), BJP 18 (33) and JDS 1(2). Kittur Karnataka consists of Uttara Kannada, Belgaum, Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Dharwad, Haveri and Gadag.
Ironically on a day when a significant electoral outcome was celebrated among sections as a victory of secularism over communalism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi invoked secularism in his speech at Gandhinagar. I understand that true secularism is where there is no discrimination (of caste, creed or religion). For those who talk about social justice, I think there is no social justice greater than working for the happiness and convenience of all, for 100 percent of their rights. Yes, this is the path on which we are walking, he was quoted saying. Modis summoning of secularism was interesting considering that the BJP has disparaged and ground to dust the word. The Congresss manifesto for the Karnataka elections promised to ban the Bajrang Dal as well as the Popular Front of India for provoking communal enmity and hatred. The Union home ministry has already proscribed the PFI. Hindutva Didnt Work But the Congresss promise came as electoral fodder to the BJP which equated the impending ban on the Bajrang Dal as an assault on Hanuman or Bajrangbali. In one of his last roadshows, PM Modi spoke at length about the Bajrang Dal and Bajrangbali as one entity. Confronted with a rout in the Karnataka elections, the BJPs claim that Modis blitzkrieg had changed the flow of electioneering by turning peoples mood in the BJPs favour stands contested. The Congress was panned for raking up a faith-based issue amid a campaign that focused on local issues impinging largely on the lives of the poor and the less well-off. It appeared at one point that issues such as price rise and unemployment would be overwhelmed by Bajrangbali. Read more on our Karnataka Election Results coverage here However, the outcome exposed the limitations of pursuing a faith-driven agenda meant to polarise the communities. A defining feature of the Basavaraj Bommai dispensation was the adoption of policies and moves designed to foster Hindutva. Whether it was a ban on the hijab worn in schools and colleges, the attacks on hijab-wearing students forcing many of them to forsake their studies, the resurrection of old and nearly-forgotten temple-mosque disputes, the crackdown on shops selling meat and poultry during Hindu festivals and finally equating the call for a ban on Bajrang Dal with outlawing Hanuman himself, the CM spared no effort to promote the Hindutva programme. At one point, it appeared as though Karnataka was competing with Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh for a position as a premier Hindutva state. That outlook was not endorsed by voters. The BJP will have to introspect on why voters in the states to the south of the Vindhyas continue to draw a line between religion and politics. Karnataka, like Tamil Nadu, is deeply religious. It was among the early supporters of the call for a Ram temple at Ayodhya and never failed to send contingents of kar sevaks when the occasion demanded. Yet come an election, livelihood issues took precedence over faith. Perils Of Undercutting Leaders That explains the significance and salience of the veteran leader BS Yediyurappa, the architect of the BJP in Karnataka. He consciously cultivated his image as a leader of the peasants and made farming the centrepiece of his governance in his tenure as the chief minister. Bengaluru and its IT cachet notwithstanding, Karnataka is largely a rural state and farmer-friendly budgets of the kind Yediyurappa passed when he was the CM went a long way in consolidating the BJPs presence in the villages. With the benefit of hindsight, the BJP might ask itself if it was prudent to replace Yediyurappa mid-stream as the CM with Bommai, who quit the Janata Dal (United) in 2008 to join the party. The BJPs rationale was it had replaced one leader from the dominant Lingayat community with another so there was no collateral. It did not realise that by then Yediyurappa had transcended his Lingayat provenance and was perceived in broader terms as a leader of the farmers across castes. It is not easy for any party to make a leader but easy to unmake them, as Indira Gandhi did at the height of her power and glory but at an enormous cost to the Congress. Its a template a party can adopt only on peril. Karnataka should offer a salutary lesson to the BJP on the disadvantages of over-centralisation. There are important state elections at the end of the year and the BJP has muddied the waters in at least one, Rajasthan. State leaders command a big premium in Rajasthan. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat dominated the BJP for decades but when he was replaced, the transition happened seamlessly because Vasundhara Raje was promoted and projected as a state leader with Delhis unqualified backing. The present BJP dispensation is ambiguous over retaining Vasundhara, cherry picks alternate names but has still not mustered the courage to bring one of them upfront because Vasundhara has made it clear that on the ground she matters. Likewise in Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan might not be a favourite of Delhi but he is the only recognisable and acceptable leader in the state that also goes to polls in December. Caste equations doubtless influence voting but these factors kick in when there are leaders who carry castes and communities with them. Radhika Ramaseshan is a senior journalist and columnist. She was the political editor at The Telegraph. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.
Karnataka braces for results as counting of the high-voltage election commences at 8 am on May 13. With 224 assembly seats up for grabs, political parties have left no stone unturned in their efforts to woo voters. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is seeking a second term on the basis of its development record, while the opposition Congress is pledging a corruption-free administration. Catch all the action and latest updates of the election on Moneycontrol's LIVE blog, here Given the significant implications, the outcome of each constituency will play a pivotal role in determining the overall election result. Here is a rundown of the top candidates vying for victory in this high-stakes electoral contest: Basavaraj Bommai from Shiggaon (BJP): The current chief minister, the senior leader of the BJP, and son of former Karnataka Chief Minister SR Bommai is running for re-election in the Shiggaon constituency against Congress candidate Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan. The 61-year-old Lingayat leader hails from North Karnataka and took office as the CM of Karnataka on July 27, 2021, following the resignation of BS Yediyurappa. Also Read: Party-hoppers prove that power is the only constant, ideologies can be traded overnight Bommai has previously represented Shiggaon thrice since 2008. He started his political career with the Janata Dal (United) before leaving the party and joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2008. Notably, he also served as the minister of water resources and cooperation in the Karnataka government. D K Shivakumar from Kanakapura (Congress): Shivakumar, 60, is the incumbent MLA from Kanakapura and the state Congress president. His opponent in the upcoming election is R Ashoka, the current revenue minister of the BJP. Kanakapura was once a stronghold of the JD(S). Shivakumar has been elected as a legislator seven times and has held significant ministerial positions in Congress-led state governments. During the JD(S)-Congress government, which collapsed in 2019, he served as the Minister of Irrigation. The constituency has elected him in the last three Karnataka assembly elections in 2008, 2013 and 2018 Moreover, Shivakumar is a skilled strategist and is known as the Congress troubleshooter in times of crisis. He is recognised for playing a vital role in the formation of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in Karnataka after the 2018 elections. Siddaramaiah from Varuna (Congress): The former chief minister, is contesting what may be his last election from the Varuna constituency, where his son Yathindra Siddaramaiah was elected in the previous assembly polls in 2018. Aged 75, he is facing off against V Somanna, the BJP's housing minister. Previously, Siddaramaiah had contested from the Chamundeshwari constituency in Mysuru district, where he had won as an MLA five times but had lost twice. He started his political career in 1983 by winning from Chamundeshwari on a Lok Dal party ticket and then joined the Janata Party, which merged with other parties to become the Janata Dal in 1988. After the Janata Dal split into two factions, he joined the Janata Dal (Secular), headed by Deve Gowda and became the president of the party's state unit. However, he was expelled from the party in 2005, when Deve Gowda's son HD Kumaraswamy was gaining prominence. Siddaramaiah then joined the Congress in 2006 with his supporters. Read more: How dynastic politics killed a promising regional party HD Kumaraswamy from Channapatna (JDS): The son of former Prime Minister and JD(S) leader HD Deve Gowda, is vying for the Channapatna seat in the assembly elections. The contest in this constituency is expected to be fierce, as he is up against BJP's CP Yogeshwara. The constituency has a total of 2,17,606 voters, with Muslims comprising 42.96 percent and Hindus comprising 55.66 percent of the voters. Kumaraswamy's political career began with his successful election to the Lok Sabha from Bangalore Rural in 1996. However, he was unsuccessful in his bid for the Lok Sabha seat from Kanakapura in 1998. In 2004, he contested for the Legislative Assembly from Ramnagar and won, becoming an MLA for the first time. He also served as the chief minister of Karnataka from 2006 to 2007, after forming an alliance with the BJP without his father's approval. In the 2018 assembly elections, he was the chief ministerial candidate for the JD(S) and formed a coalition government with the Congress party. However, he resigned after 14 months following a revolt by his own party MLAs. BY Vijayendra from Shikaripura (BJP): The son of former chief minister of Karnataka BS Yediyurappa, is contesting from Shikaripura, a constituency that has been represented by his father eight times in the Karnataka Assembly. Vijayendra, who is also the BJP's state vice-president, is contesting against Congress candidate Goni Malatesh and Janata Dal (S) candidate Sudhakar Shetty. In July 2020, Vijayendra was appointed as the BJP vice-president. He had earlier been named the BJP youth wing general secretary, but was denied a party ticket to contest from Varuna in Mysuru district at the last minute before the May 2018 Assembly polls. Vijayendra's role in securing BJP's victory in the K R Pet and Sira Assembly segments has earned him credit and increased his standing within the party. CT Ravi from Chikmagalur (BJP): one of the prominent faces of the BJP in Karnataka, CT Ravi, rose through the ranks to become the national general secretary. He is a four-time MLA from the Chikmagalur assembly constituency and is contesting from his bastion in the 2023 Karnataka election. CT Ravi is known for his aggressive style of politics and has a strong support base in the coastal districts of Karnataka.
Clearly, the campaign blitzkrieg by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) top brass of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who made majority of his 20 forays in the State to the region, Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath, et al, focusing on a national, sometimes divisive, agenda did not have any decisive impact on the Karnataka electorate of the Old Mysore region, with the State voting as one for a stable government, fed up with Operation Kamala repeats. Dominated by the Vokkaliga community, the region includes Mysuru, Mandya, Hassan, Ramanagara, Chamarajanagar, Chikkaballapur, Kolar and Kodagu districts, among others. The Vokkaligas comprise nearly 50 percent of the electorate in the constituency, a majority of whom are farmers, and includes the urban pockets of Mysore city, and Mandya, Hassan and Madikeri towns. Congress strategy works These territories that were under the erstwhile princely state of Mysore, stretching through the southern parts of Karnataka, now called the Old Mysore region, comprise 61 seats after the 2018 delimination exercise, spread from Bengaluru (Rural) to Chamarajanagar districts. JD(S) this time failed to hold on its traditional Vokkaliga support in full and Muslims clearly appear to have voted as a bloc for the Congress. The Congress, apart from the AHINDA (OBCs, Dalits, and Muslims) votes it depends on, have also secured support from a section of Vokkaligas, Lingayats and other forward communities in the region. The support of the Vokkaliga community had hitherto helped JD(S) play the role of a disruptive king maker in the past elections. Emboldened by the inroads it has made in the regions with its victories in two constituencies of Mysore city and Kodagu, and Chikkamagalur and K.R. Pete in Mandya, BJP, in an apparent bid at countering an anticipated blowback from Lingayats, had made robust efforts at garnering the Vokkaliga votes with Yogi Adityanath et al pushed into service. Mandya MP Sumalatha, who won as an Independent, supporting the BJP was showcased. But these efforts have clearly not proved enough for the saffron party. Nikhil loses again For the JD(S), that has its numbers down and therein no role in Government formation, it is a bundle of both good and bad stories. Former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy retained the Channapatna in Bangalore Rural seat by a margin of around 13, 000 votes while his brother HD Revanna won the Holenarasipur (Hassan) seat defeating Congress Sherya S Patel by a slender margin of 3,000 votes. But it was tough luck for Nikhil Kumaraswamy, the son of HD Kumaraswamy and grandson of former prime minister and JD(S) chief Deve Gowda, who lost Ramanagara constituency to HA Iqbal Hussain of Congress by a margin of over 10,000 votes. He had made an unsuccessful effort in the last Lok Sabha elections contesting from Mandya. But, another family of father and son duo of the party were more successful with GT Deve Gowda, the Siddaramaiah 2018 slayer, winning yet against from Chamundeshwari (Mysore District) and his son GD Harish Gowda winning for the party from Hunsur (Mysore District). The party also wrested the prestigious Hassan seat from BJP with Swaroop Prakash defeating sitting MLA Preetham J Gowda of BJP by a margin of around 8,000 votes. BJP fails to Finish Siddaramaiah Congress workers rejoiced over the victories of KPCC President D K Shivakumar and former chief minister Siddaramaiah, not to mention the clear majority the party had secured. Rock of Kanakapura DK Shivakumar, the seven-time MLA from the constituency, defeated B Nagaraju of JD(S) by a whopping margin, polling 1,42,156 to B Nagarajus 20,561. At Varuna (Mysore District), BJP failed in its operation Finish Siddaramaiah, despite a personal push by Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah himself, all efforts at causing a caste polarisation, and the PM delivering an attack on the Congress at Nanjangud and accused it of trying to divide the country. Siddaramaiah staved off the challenge from Housing Minister V Somanna, polling 1,19,816 votes to the BJP candidates 73,653. Somanna lost from the neighbouring Chamarajnagar constituency too, losing out to sitting MLA Puttaranga Shetty of the Congress by a margin of around 7, 000 votes. In Mysore city, the Congress wrested the Chamaraja seat from the BJP, with its candidate K. Harish Gowda defeating sitting MLA L Nagendra by a margin of around 3,000 votes. Congress Tanveer Sait retained the Narasimharaja seat, helped by the split of votes between BJPs Sandesh Swamy and Abdul Majeed of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI). And no damage appeared to have been done to the BJP in the Krishnaraja constituency even though sitting MLA Ramadas was denied the ticket, with partys T.S. Srivathsa retaining the seat defeating M.K. Somashekar by a margin of over 7,000 votes. Kodagu shows BJP the door In one of the major upsets of the 2023 elections, two first-time Congress candidates, A S Ponnanna (Virajpet) and Mantar Gowda (Madikeri), have ended the BJPs 20-year run in Kodagu, which was a stronghold of the saffron party. Madikeri voted for Dr. Mantar Gowda of the Congress, ousting sitting MLA Appachu Ranjan of the BJP. Dr. Gowda polled 84,879 as against Appachu Ranjans 80,477. In the districts second constituency Virajpet, Ajjikuttira Subbaiah Ponnanna, son of the mercurial political figure Ajjikutira Kariappa Subbaiah of the Congress polled 83, 791 votes to oust sitting BJP MLA K G Bopaiah who polled 79, 500 votes. The people of Kodagu have voted wisely and in favour of development. Kodagu, considered the bastion of the BJP, showed its sitting legislators the door, says Roy David of Kushalnagar. In another major upset for the BJP, C T Ravi, current National General Secretary of BJP, and a four-time legislator from the Chikmagalur Constituency was defeated by his former aide and Congresss HD Thammaiah by a margin of nearly 7,000 votes.
Opposition leaders on Saturday lauded the Congress for its victory in Karnataka and thanked the people of the state, saying that this win has showed that "Modi is not invincible". "Pro-poor promises and secular stance helped Congress to score the historic Karnataka victory. It urges them to learn necessary lessons and to be more responsible in national politics. Modi is never invincible. If all secular forces are united, 2024 will see the end of BJP Raj," said Communist Party of India (CPI) MP Binoy Viswam. TMC MP Mahua Moitra tweeted, "Thank you Karnataka. For choosing LPG over Bajrangbaliji." CPI (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya also thanked the people of the state for the mandate. "Thank you #Karnataka for giving such a fitting rebuff to not just the corrupt and non-performing Bommai regime but to the hate-filled and arrogant Modi-Shah-Yogi campaign. It has set the stage for the forthcoming elections and encouraged every defender of democracy across India," he said in a tweet.

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Kalyana Karnataka, previously Hyderabad Karnataka, has once again proved that it is a bellwether region and voted for the Congress, which kept its crucial seats and increased the tally from the region as the Grand Old Party made a strong comeback in the Karnataka assembly elections. Keeping its 38-year tradition of throwing out the incumbent based on issues such as corruption and instability, the people of Karnataka restored the Congress, which gained a comfortable majority in the assembly. Kalyana Karnataka, which has 40 seats in seven districts, increased the tally of the Congress from 21 in 2018 to 26, while the BJP lost five of its sitting MLAs as its tally came down from 15 to 10, and the Janata Dal (Secular) lost a seat in the region from four to three. One stalwart of the Bharatiya Janata Party who took a beating was former minister B Sreeramulu, who lost from Ballari Rural to three-time MLA B Nagendra, 52, of the Congress. And Gali Janardhan Reddy opened his account in Gangawati, winning the first seat for his new party Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha after severing ties with the BJP last month. Job factor Despite its rejigged name, the former Hyderabad-Karnataka region is the most underdeveloped region in the country but it has improved over the past few years in terms of development indicators such as girl-child dropouts, child marriages, maternal mortality ratio and the infant mortality rate. While four of the seven districts in the region voted in a similar pattern, the Congress made gains in Ballari, Raichur, Kalaburgi, Yadgir, Koppala compared to 2018 results and lost a two seats in Bidar, and one seat in Vijayanagar. While a vicious cycle of severe drought, unemployment and poverty may have rendered it the most underdeveloped region, in a couple of crucial constituencies such as Chittapur, it was the unemployment plank that favoured Congress candidate Priyank Kharge. Priyank Kharge, the son of Congress party president Mallikarjun Kharge, said the main issues that dominated the campaign this time were unemployment and corruption. Unlike the popular belief that youth are in favour of the saffron party, most of the youngsters are worried about their future. Lack of jobs is a big issue and they are looking to the Congress, said Kharge Jr. I have been vocal about the scams and have been fighting RSS and BJP for many years. So in the last eight months, they have targeted me but I am thankful that I have the blessings of the people. Hyderabad-Karnataka was renamed Kalyana Karnataka in 2019 but the special status granted to it through Article 371 (J) for reservation in education and recruitment is yet to show results. A BJP bastion in 2008, the Congress began to regain more than 50 percent of the seats in the previous two assembly elections. Though North Karnataka, including Kittur Karnataka, has a sizable population of Lingayats compared with other regions of the state, they are almost matched by the combined numbers of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Muslims. Mallikarjun Kharge is a popular leader from this region, but he lost to his trusted lieutenant Umesh Gopaldev Jadhav, who switched to the BJP, from Gulbarga in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. However, Priyank continues to fly the Congress flag high in the area, winning from Chittapur, a seat reserved for the SC community, for the third time. Caste-based equations, based on the reported voting patterns, did not change much. The much-hyped switch of Lingayat voters following the shift of former chief minister Jagadish Shettar and others from the BJP to the Congress, did not happen as the Hindutva-based cadre stuck to party colours and was not swayed by the charisma of the candidates. And the minority, muslim and backward classes stayed with Congress.
On the eve of the Karnataka assembly elections on May 10, heavy rainfall lashed the city, flooding several areas of South Bengaluru. By Bengaluru standards, the rain did little damage; just five houses were flooded. Compare that to the damage done by the incessant rainfall that pounded the Karnataka capital in September, inundating at least 400 houses in North Bengaluru, including luxury apartment whose residents may have never imagined such misery when they paid the fancy prices demanded by developers. Even so, the May 9 burst of rain served as a reminder to political parties of the lofty promises they had held out to residents of the city to improve civic amenities and stop Bengalurus ceaseless, unplanned growth. For example, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has pledged to launch a mission to reclaim rajakaluves, or storm-water drains, to create new drainage systems, connect missing links and desilt existing drains. The Congress party has promised to set up water treatment plants at storm-water drains. Urban experts say a political divide has prevented the city from strengthening its municipal corporations. Additionally, the absence of a wetland policy and a defunct State Finance Commission (SFC) has led to corporations relying on property tax to generate funds. Strengthening local corporations According to officials of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the civic body has completed more than 70 percent of the work on the removal of encroachments on storm-water drains. Yet parts of Bengaluru continue to be waterloged after sporadic rainfall. Srinivas Alavilli, former head of civic participation at the Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, an NGO, said the 28 MLAs from across Bengaluru come from different political backgrounds and lack a common platform to engage in a conversation on strong policymaking. "In 2021, the (Basavaraj) Bommai government bought BBMP Act (conferring independence on the civic body). That is, today they recognize that Bengaluru needs special remedies. However, these are not transformative changes," Alavilli said. For BBMP, the highest source of revenue is property tax. Alavilli said. As of February 10, 2023, BBMP collected about Rs 3,050 crore (including cesses) in property taxes. Previously, a senior BBMP official told Moneycontrol, "The total target for property tax collection for this year will be Rs 4,189 crore. About 26 percent, or Rs 1,089 crore, will be collected in addition as cesses." Apart from the state grants and property tax, BBMP does not receive share of other taxes for example roads. However, BBMP earns through providing about 15 services like transfer of khata and related services, birth and death certificates, issuing commercial licenses for properties, occupancy certificates, permission for film shoots etc. "A way of strengthening the local bodies is by proper fund allocation. The Karnataka State Finance Commission that is responsible for the distribution of funds between the urban local bodies, panchayats and villages has been defunct for several years," he noted. The new government needs to look at strong policymaking to empower such committees so that taxes paid by the citizens can be streamlined, he added. Experts say Bengaluru lacks a Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC), a constitutional body responsible for preparing a vision document on the future of the city. "We need a planning committee that can coordinate between the local municipal bodies like BBMP, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), and Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) under one umbrella. This will also provide a forum for the new MLAs to come together and debate," Alavilli said. Most importantly, experts say the city needs a Revised Master Plan (RMP). "The Karnataka High Court has already struck down the RMP 2031, and we need an RMP within at least a year to control the explosive real estate growth in the city," Alavilli said. Wetland policy Experts say Bengaluru is located on an undulated (rising and falling) terrain. The water bodies are a lifeline for the city and also act as a sink in case of surface runoff. A census report released by the Ministry of Jal Shakti last month said that out of all water bodies in Karnataka, 21.7 percent (5,874) are in use while the remaining 78.3 percent (21,139) are not in use on account of having dried up, siltation, salinity and been damaged beyond repair. "Ahead of elections, the political bodies pledges for transformation without a plan. However, the plan is already there in state water policies that still remain on paper. The new government should focus on the implementation of these policies," Sandeep Anirudhan, an environmentalist, said. For example, he said, the Wetland Rules 2017 (under Environment Protection Act) have not been acted on by the state government. The policy directs the government to set up a State Wetland Authority to notify, protect and revive all wetlands, such as ponds, lakes and storm-water drains. "A water policy draft commissioned by the state government has been gathering dust at the Karnataka Knowledge Commission since 2019. If adopted, it would redirect actions towards more holistic water and infrastructural management in the state," Anidurdhan added. Unplanned development Several political bodies pledged to increase the Floor Area Ratio across the city, but civil activists think such arbitrary promises will lead to more slipshod development in Bengaluru. Floor area ratio is the ratio of a building's total floor area to the size of the piece of land upon which it is built. It is often used as one of the regulations in city planning. "If we suddenly increase the FAR ratio in an area, more development will take place leading to an explosion in population. However, this will also put more pressure on the land, especially the drainage system in the area that was built for a certain capacity," Anil Kalgi, a civil activist, cautioned. For example, he said, the 40 Feet Road in Indiranagar and Majestic areas were classic examples where increased FAR has led to more congestion and infrastructural failures such as floods. Kalgi added the new government needs to set up a committee that can look at such FAR regulations while considering the ecological parameters in Bengaluru areas.
Xi calls for making Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region pioneer in pursuing Chinese modernization

Xinhua) 09:11, May 13, 2023

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, presides over a meeting on promoting the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, in Shijiazhuang, north China's Hebei Province, May 12, 2023. On Thursday and Friday, Xi inspected Hebei Province and presided over a meeting on promoting the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

SHIJIAZHUANG, May 12 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping has called for efforts to reach new heights in the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and to make it a pioneer and example in pursuing Chinese modernization.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks as he inspected Hebei Province and presided over a meeting on promoting the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

On Thursday and Friday, Xi went to the cities of Cangzhou and Shijiazhuang, where he visited the countryside and places including a port and a research institute.

On Thursday morning, Xi visited Cangzhou City, where he learned about the cultivation of crops that are tolerant of drought and high alkalinity at a wheat field.

Xi stressed the need to prioritize the comprehensive use of saline-alkali land, leverage the key role of scientific and technological innovation, expand the cultivation area of suitable crops and develop the intensive processing of farm products.

Later in the day, Xi visited a coal port area of Huanghua Port.

Xi noted the unique locational advantages and convenient shipping conditions of Hebei Province, underscoring the need to upgrade Hebei's ports and optimize their functional layout to play a bigger role in promoting coordinated regional economic development and developing a modern industrial system.

Xi urged the development of Huanghua Port into a modern hub port with multiple functions.

On Friday morning, Xi visited a research institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation in Shijiazhuang City. He entered a workshop to observe the chip production process, stressing the need for new breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields.

Xi encouraged researchers to achieve consistent progress in grasping cutting-edge technologies and developing more technological and engineering equipment and projects of great significance.

Later, Xi visited the planning exhibition hall of a biomedical industry park, where he emphasized the importance of strengthening basic research and scientific innovation capacity to keep the lifeline of the biomedical industry firmly in China's own hands.

To achieve this, he called for more research and development of medicines that fit into the genetic and physical characteristics of the Chinese population.

On Friday afternoon, Xi chaired a meeting on promoting the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

During the meeting, he called on Hebei to focus on the primary task of high-quality development and the strategic task of creating a new development pattern to accelerate building the province into an economic powerhouse with a sound environment.

Since the 19th CPC National Congress in 2017, new and remarkable progress has been achieved in the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, especially in the Xiong'an New Area, Xi said.

It has been proven that the CPC Central Committee's major regional development strategies meet the need for the country's high-quality development in the new era, he said, describing the strategies as effective channels for advancing Chinese modernization.

Xi called for solid and orderly efforts to relieve Beijing of functions non-essential to its role as the national capital, urging the planning for the relocation to Xiong'an of another batch of the headquarters of centrally-administered state-owned enterprises in Beijing as well as their subsidiary companies and units of innovation operation.

Work should be done to restrain Beijing's functions non-essential to its role as the national capital from increasing, Xi said.

He called for more progress in developing both the Beijing municipal administrative center and Xiong'an to effectively rid Beijing of "big city malaise."

Xi said the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, with a number of first-rate colleges and universities and abundant high-end research talent, has a solid foundation of innovation.

The region should play an exemplary role in achieving greater self-reliance and strength in science and technology, he said, calling for accelerated efforts to build Beijing into a major hub for independent and original innovation.

Xi stressed the necessity of reinforcing the principal role of enterprises in innovation and cultivating a group of leading innovative enterprises with international competitiveness that hold independent intellectual property rights.

Xi urged efforts to consolidate and enlarge the foundation of the real economy, stressing that strategic emerging industries such as integrated circuit, cyber security, biomedicine, power equipment and emergency response equipment should be the first priority. He also called for efforts to build world-class advanced manufacturing industrial clusters.

The coordinated development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region should ultimately improve the people's wellbeing and promote common prosperity, Xi said, adding that constant efforts should be made to enhance the people's sense of fulfillment, happiness and security.

Xi stressed the need to promote key ecological conservation and restoration projects such as the sand control belts in northern China and major ecological projects such as the building of ecological shields.

Xi urged efforts to further accelerate the development of transportation and other infrastructure, as well as efforts to advance intra-regional coordination.

Beijing's edge in scientific and technological innovation should be combined with Tianjin's strength in advanced manufacturing research and development, Xi said, calling for strengthening joint efforts to achieve breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields.

Xi urged efforts to help eligible areas in Hebei absorb the scientific and technological spillovers from Beijing and Tianjin as well as the transfer of industries. He also called for building the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region into a national pacesetter in opening-up.

Xi stressed the need to further enhance the political and organizational role of Party organizations at various levels to provide a strong guarantee for the coordinated development of the region.

Premier Li Qiang and Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, both members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, attended the meeting. Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, accompanied Xi in the inspection trip and attended the meeting.

In his remarks, Li Qiang urged efforts to advance the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region more effectively and efficiently, focus on relieving Beijing of functions non-essential to its role as the national capital, and ensure notable results will be achieved in landmark projects in the process.

Ding Xuexiang called for persistent endeavor to prevent and control air pollution and bring the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to a new level.

The blind development of energy-intensive projects with high emissions and backward production capacity must be curbed, said Ding. He also urged redoubled efforts in developing new and clean energy and preventing and controlling pollution.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, presides over a meeting on promoting the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, in Shijiazhuang, north China's Hebei Province, May 12, 2023. On Thursday and Friday, Xi inspected Hebei Province and presided over a meeting on promoting the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, learns about the cultivation of crops tolerant of drought and alkalinity in a wheat field in Cangzhou, north China's Hebei Province, May 11, 2023. Xi on Thursday visited the city of Cangzhou in north China's Hebei Province. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, learns about the cultivation of crops tolerant of drought and alkalinity in a wheat field in Cangzhou, north China's Hebei Province, May 11, 2023. Xi on Thursday visited the city of Cangzhou in north China's Hebei Province. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, learns about the cultivation of crops tolerant of drought and alkalinity in a wheat field in Cangzhou, north China's Hebei Province, May 11, 2023. Xi on Thursday visited the city of Cangzhou in north China's Hebei Province. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits a coal port to learn about its operation and development planning in Cangzhou, north China's Hebei Province, May 11, 2023. Xi on Thursday visited the city of Cangzhou in north China's Hebei Province. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits a coal port to learn about its operation and development planning in Cangzhou, north China's Hebei Province, May 11, 2023. Xi on Thursday visited the city of Cangzhou in north China's Hebei Province. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits a research institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation in Shijiazhuang, north China's Hebei Province, May 12, 2023. On Thursday and Friday, Xi inspected Hebei Province and presided over a meeting on promoting the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits a workshop of a research institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation in Shijiazhuang, north China's Hebei Province, May 12, 2023. On Thursday and Friday, Xi inspected Hebei Province and presided over a meeting on promoting the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits the planning exhibition hall of a biomedical industry park in Shijiazhuang, north China's Hebei Province, May 12, 2023. On Thursday and Friday, Xi inspected Hebei Province and presided over a meeting on promoting the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, talks with researchers while visiting a research institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation in Shijiazhuang, north China's Hebei Province, May 12, 2023. On Thursday and Friday, Xi inspected Hebei Province and presided over a meeting on promoting the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Wu Chaolan)
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Amid mercury soaring high over election results, Karnataka has raised the power tariff by 70 paise per unit, in one of the steepest hikes in a decade. Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) gave the green light to the 70-paise tariff hike on May 12. Out of the 70 paise, 57 paise will be recovered through fixed charges, and the remaining 13 paise will be recovered as energy charges. To bridge the approved revenue gap of Rs 4,457.12 crore, the commission has approved an average increase in consumer tariff by 70 paise per unit in all categories, which accounts for an overall increase of 8.31 percent," a KERC order said. The revised tariff is effective from April 1, 2023. It may be recalled that electricity supply companies (Escoms) had demanded a hike of Rs 1.39 per unit to bridge the revenue deficit of Rs 8,951.20 crore for FY24. The commission, in its press release, stated that the revision was necessitated due to a 13 percent increase in power purchase cost, caused by the rise in the cost of coal and transportation, a revision of pay and allowance of employees by 20 percent, a 30 percent increase in interest and finance charges, and a 15 percent increase in depreciation. Relief for industries and commercial establishments, EV charging units Under the Discounted Energy Rate Scheme (DERS), to encourage industries and commercial establishments to consume more power, the KERC has approved reductions in energy charges from Rs 6 to Rs 5 per unit. "The scheme, which was applicable to HT consumers, is now extended to LT industries and LT commercial installations with a sanctioned load of 50 KW and above," it said. To encourage the use of electric vehicles, tariff for EV charging stations have been reduced from Rs 5 per unit to Rs 4.5 per unit. The rebate for micro and small industries of 50 paise per unit will be continued for one more year. The rebate of 30 paise per unit will be continued for all rural customers, it said. As part of tariff rationalisation and simplification, urban and rural categories are merged into one category, and a rebate of 30 paise per unit is allowed for all rural consumers.
Motilal Oswal's research report on Godrej Consumer Godrej Consumer (GCPL)s consolidated revenue and gross profit was in line, while EBITDA was marginally higher than our estimates. The company delivered a strong volume growth of ~13% YoY in the India branded business. Importantly, EBITDA grew ~32% YoY despite a ~21% YoY rise in consolidated ad-spends. Outlook on the margin is getting better, led by decreasing input costs and cost-saving initiatives. The management also reiterated its strategy, wherein it would concentrate on category development activities, simplification of business, and focus on people & planet along with profitability. Healthy pace of earnings (mid-20s CAGR on EBITDA and PAT over FY23- FY25E) is likely to be led by: a) superior growth in highly profitable markets, such as India and Indonesia; b) focus on profitability in Africa; and c) continuing working capital improvement in the overseas business. Outlook We reiterate our BUY rating with a TP of INR1,130 (based on SoTP valuation: 55x domestic business, 25x Indonesia business, 15x GAUM, other business and RCCL). For all recommendations report, click here Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Godrej Consumer - 12 -05 - 2023 -moti

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When hunger strikes at 2 am, who do you reach out to for ordering food online? Swiggy or Zomato have become buzzwords for hunger and late-night cravings. But now there's another option  ONDC, a new player gradually gaining ground in the field of online meal delivery. ONDC, a platform funded by the government, is all set to challenge Swiggy and Zomatos hegemony. What is ONDC? ONDC stands for Open Network for Digital Commerce. The platform went live in Beta format in September last year and is currently available in around 180 cities. The network includes various small and large-scale e-commerce players and is designed to challenge the market dominance of large players such as Amazon and Flipkart in India. ONDC offers a number of services such as "Sell on ONDC/Create a Seller Experience", "Create a Buyer Experience", "Provide Software as Service", "Provide Other Services" and "Buy on ONDC". Though it does not have its own app for food ordering, customers can order food through partner apps like Paytm, Magicpin and others. Apart from food, the platform also delivers groceries, home decor, cleaning essentials, etc. According to a press statement issued by ONDC, its main aim is to dramatically increase e-commerce penetration in the country by enabling population-scale inclusion of all types and sizes of sellers. "By facilitating scalable and cost-effective e-commerce through the open protocol, ONDC will empower startups to grow collaboratively," ONDC stated. The platform has already gained popularity with transactions clocking at 10,000 orders a day. According to Nandan Nilekani, Infosys cofounder and now a member of ONDC advisory counsel as ONDC onboards more and more customers, it has the potential to disrupt not just food delivery but also all kinds of e-commerce in India. There is palpable excitement on the restaurant front, too. ONDC will change the entire ball game. Since its a direct link between businesses and consumers, restaurants such as ours will be much relieved from the high commissions that were being charged so far. It will also be super convenient for both restaurants and consumer in terms of dealing with any food complaints and delivery issue since the direct link will manifest a quicker response that was otherwise going through a big loop of intermediary chains. It will mainly benefit restaurants like us who are running a self-owned fleet as we will be able to make a good use of our fleet to serve customers over the ONDC platform, says Debaditya Choudhary, managing director, Chowman chain of restaurants. The group which owns 29 Chowman outlets across Kolkata, Bengaluru and Delhi NCR is all set to onboard the platform. How to order on ONDC? All you have to do is go on the ONDC website and click on the tap which says Shop on ONDC. Subsequently, a number of partner apps such as Paytm, Mystore, Pincode and Magicpin will spring up on the screen. You can click on the partner app and select from the categories of food and groceries online. Put your address, place your order and pay online. Or you could simply open the Paytm app on your phone and click on search and search for ONDC. You will see numerous stores and restaurants that you can order from. Click on the food you want to order, add the address, place your order and pay online. You can even track the order to see the status of the delivery. Is ordering on ONDC cheaper than on Zomato & Swiggy? ONDC has been making waves in the industry with its promise of providing cheaper food to customers. Social media is abuzz with screen shots of price differentials of food ordered from popular food-delivery platforms such as Swiggy and Zomato versus ONDC which is ranging up to 60 per cent. At least, for now! I have been ordering from the platform and its a much better deal than Swiggy and Zomato. The app is very easy to use and the food reaches on time, says Bengaluru resident Sudha Iyer. So, what makes food cheaper on ONDC as compared to Swiggy and Zomato? While Swiggy and Zomato charge a 25-30 per cent commission from restaurants on every order, ONDC charges only 2-4 per cent per order. So, the lower commission makes orders through ONDC a better proposition for restaurants and ultimately cheaper for consumers. Additionally, ONDC offers a flat discount of Rs 50 while ordering. However, industry experts say it may be too early to rejoice. According to ONDC chief T Koshy, the platform will provide limited support for a period of time to the network participants to give a jumpstart to the network. This means the discounting will be a short-term strategy to get users on board and get them hooked to the system. Remember, ONDC is a privately owned company which has raised over Rs 180 crore from multiple investors such as the State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, BSE Investments, and NSDL. So, they do have investors to answer to. The platform has now revised their discounting strategy and added some T&C after witnessing daily transactions increase from 100 to 10,000 a day. The Rs 50 discount on Paytm is capped at 2,000 orders per day. So, if your order happens to be order number 2,001 for the day, youll be out of luck. Also, the Rs 75 incentive on delivery will be capped as soon as a particular restaurant makes up Rs 3,750 worth of deliveries for the day. Beyond that, youll see a delivery-fee pop up. So, the deep discounts that we see now could slowly vanish and prices could go up on ONDC, too. Wait and watch According to industry watchers it may be too early to write off Swiggy and Zomato. While ONDC is still in its initial days, the other two giants have built a strong network and a loyal base of customers in the online food business. There have also been a few complaints regarding the ordering process on ONDC, including erroneous orders and late deliveries. Additionally, there is currently no customer service representative to connect everything together because this experience is split among several businesses. Zomato and Swiggy have a huge advantage over there as they control the end-to-end experience. Will ONDC be a game changer in the food delivery landscape in India? Can it disrupt the online food delivery eco-system? Only time will tell. For now, this food tech platform is definitely creating a storm in the e-commerce industry just like UPI did. Deliver the goods Mumbai hotels have come up with their own online platform for food delivery  Waayu, which promises to be 15 to 20 per cent cheaper than other aggregators. Waayu is founded by tech entrepreneurs Anirudha Kotgire and Mandar Lande and has the support of Mumbai-based Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHAR) and other industry bodies. It is a software as a service (SaaS) platform that connects customers with more than 1,000 Mumbai restaurants, including Bhagat Tarachand, Mahesh Lunch Home, Banana Leaf, Shiv Sagar, Guru Kripa, Kirti Mahal, Persian Darbar and Ladu Samrat. The food delivery app is said to address the issues faced by restaurants and customers with existing online food delivery services, such as high commissions, unfair rankings, biased reviews, and poor quality and support.
In March, UNESCO released its World Water Development Report 2023. Painting a grim picture, it stated that 2.4 billion people in urban areas (up to half of the global urban population) will face water scarcity by 2050. India is projected to be the most severely affected. As per the report, around 80 percent of people living under water stress currently are in Asia, particularly in northeast China, India and Pakistan. Vampiric overconsumption and overdevelopment, unsustainable water use, pollution and unchecked global warming are draining humanitys lifeblood, drop by drop, said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, while talking about the report. To better understand water stress in the country and plan for conservation in areas affected, the government of India conducted the first-ever water census. Released this month, the report offers statistics on parameters such as the number of water bodies in the country, their condition, status of use, storage capacity, and status of filling up of storage and encroachment. How did we fare? Is the situation dire, and are we prepared enough for the future? Lets find out. Troubled waters Being a tropical country that experiences extremely hot summers, it is no surprise that India has immense water needs. But what makes the situation exceptional is that our country is home to 18 percent of the worlds population and only 4 percent of its water resources. As the population increases, the per capita availability of water reduces. For instance, as per data presented in the Parliament in March this year, the per capita water availability in 2001 was assessed to be 1,816 cubic metres. It reduced to 1,486 cubic metres in 2021 and is expected to decline further to 1,367 by 2031. Climate change exacerbates this problem. It increases the frequency and intensity of floods, heatwaves and droughts, putting additional pressures on the existing water resources. It also makes the monsoon erratic - India relies heavily on its monsoon. The monsoon accounts for around 70 percent of the country's annual rainfall. It irrigates 60 percent of our net sown area. It is also essential to maintain an optimum level of storage in 140 reservoirs, as per the Central Water Commission. The distribution of seasonal rains has been of great concern, with several parts of the country remaining rain deficient in the last five years. And with the El Nino fear looming large this year, 2023 too could see an impacted monsoon season. The likelihood of El Nino is increasing and its probability of becoming a dominant category during the monsoon is growing large. El-Nino return may presage a weaker monsoon, private weather agency Skymet said in a statement. Breaking ground This, in turn, increases the reliance of rural and urban populations on groundwater. As per the parliamentary standing committee on water resources, groundwater provides 80 percent of Indias rural drinking water, 50 percent of urban drinking water and nearly two-thirds of irrigation needs. It is crucial to secure food and water for future generations. But, as per the World Bank, India is the worlds largest extractor of groundwater, accounting for 244.92 billion cubic metres of annual extraction. We are extracting more groundwater than the US and China combined. As a result, as many as 256 of 700 districts in India have reported critical or over-exploited groundwater levels, according to the Central Ground Water Board data (from 2017). Other water bodies are growing toxic too. Every day, almost 40 million litres of wastewater enters rivers and other water bodies with only a tiny fraction adequately treated. It is little wonder then that 70 percent of surface water in India is unfit for consumption. We are already feeling the crunch. According to a 2019 report of the Niti Ayog, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Chennai have been facing serious water scarcity since 2018. Every drop counts The government has been making efforts to address water issues via state and national initiatives. It provides assistance via the Jal Jeevan Mission (providing tap water connection to every rural household), Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (providing tap water connection to every urban household in statutory towns) and Jal Shakti Abhiyan (saving and conserving rainwater). As of May 2023, over 61 percent of rural households have been connected with tap water. Over 80 percent of urban households have water facilities on premises. To make more decisions, however, it needs dependable data. This is where the water body census helps. For instance, as per the report, 83.7 percent water bodies are in use; the remaining are non-functional on account of drying up, silting or construction. Additionally, 1.6 percent of water bodies have suffered encroachment. It also tells us that Maharashtra leads when it comes to building water bodies under water conservation schemes. At the same time, almost 93 percent of water bodies in the state are in the form of check dams, which means rural populations depend heavily on these water-conservation schemes. Access to such data can help in the prevention of pollution, rejuvenation of water bodies, and further conservation efforts, where needed. In the end, however, a greater resolve and more collaboration among all stakeholders is needed to help manage this impending crisis and mitigate its effects, for everyone, everywhere, in the country. How you can help Turning off your tap while you brush your teeth can save 6 litres of water per minute. Every minute you spend in the shower uses up to 17 litres of water. Set a timer on your phone to shorten showers. Washing a full machine load of clothes uses less water than 2 half-loads. An estimated one-third of all food produced globally is lost or goes to waste. Reduce your food wastage to reduce demand on agriculture, which is one of the biggest water consumers. Water outdoor plants early in the morning or around sunset to stop water from immediately evaporating. You can also ditch the automatic sprinkler and water plants manually to cut usage by 33 percent. Opt for a modern dual-flush, which uses 6 litres  or 4 with a reduced flush. It is much less than the 13 litres used by the old-style single flush.
The AAP on Saturday breached the Congress stronghold in Punjab as its candidate Sushil Rinku defeated his nearest-rival and the grand old party's nominee Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary in Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll by a margin of 58,691 votes. The win gives the ruling party in Punjab and Delhi its only member in Lok Sabha. The Aam Aadmi Party has not had a member in the lower house since its defeat in Sangrur bypoll last year. The Sangrur parliamentary seat fell vacant after Bhagwant Mann resigned as MP on being elected to Punjab Assembly. The AAP currently has 10 members in Rajya Sabha. Celebrations broke out following Rinku's victory with AAP leaders and supporters dancing to the tunes of 'dhols' and bursting firecrackers and distributing sweets. AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal hailed the victory as "historic" and said it's people's recognition of the good work done by Chief Minister Mann and his government in Punjab. "It's an unprecedented victory because of the Mann government's good work. Our party candidate has won from the seat which was a Congress stronghold for the last 50 years," he told a press conference at the party headquarters in Delhi. The Jalandhar (reserved) seat fell vacant following the death of Karamjit Kaur's husband and Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary in January. "We do not do politics of religion or caste. We do politics of work and seek votes from the people for our work. People of Jalandhar have put a stamp on Bhagwant Mann government's work saying 'we are with you'. This is a big message. This also reflects the mood of Punjab," Kejriwal said. He said the Punjab government solved the problems created by the "wrong decisions" of the previous Congress government. This, he added, created a positive atmosphere. Mann, who was with Kejriwal, said the bypoll result is people's "positive stamp" on his government's work. "The election result has increased our responsibility and my confidence. We will work much harder for the development of Punjab," he said, hoping that AAP will win all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab next year. Mann also took on his rivals, saying, Good luck to those, who abused us and made objectionable comments against us. Now they also must realised that people do not pay attention to such things. People want good education for their children, jobs for their children, free treatment to elderly, he said. Instead of the politics of mudslinging, we should talk about development. I hope those who are lost will change their line and agenda in the coming days, he added. Rinku, who joined AAP after quitting Congress in the run up to the bypoll, polled 3,02,279 votes while Chaudhary secured 2,43,588 votes, according to the Election Commission data. Shiromani Akali Dal candidate Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi, who was backed by the Mayawati-led BSP, was at the third position; BJP nominee Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal came fourth. Sukhi polled 1,58,445, while Atwal got 1,34,800 votes. Gurjant Singh, the candidate of the Simranjit Singh Mann-led Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), which won Sangrur Lok Sabha seat last year, secured just 20,366 votes. The AAP got a vote share of 34.05 per cent, followed by Congress (27.44 per cent), SAD (17.85 per cent) and BJP (15.19 per cent). Kejriwal said people have defeated "dynasty politics" by defeating the BJP and the Congress. As many as 6,661 voters opted for None of the Above (NOTA) option. There were a total of 16.21 lakh eligible voters, of which 8.87 lakh people exercised their franchise. Counting of votes for the bypoll held on May 10 began at 8 am. The AAP candidate consistently maintained a lead over his rivals since the start of the counting. Nineteen candidates contested the bypoll, which recorded a voter turnout of 54.70 per cent. The turnout was well below the 63.04 per cent recorded in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. With the win, the AAP has caused a major upset to the Congress, which remained undefeated on the seat since 1999. It's also a shot in the arm for AAP after a drubbing in Sangrur last year, just three months after it stormed to power in March 2022. Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheem described the victory as historic. He said it showed the people of Jalandhar have rejected the "false propaganda" of the opposition. Cheema, who was AAP's election in-charge for the bypoll, said it was the party's first victory after it was recognised as a national party last month. Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring conceded his party's defeat, saying, We humbly accept people's mandate". We humbly accept people's mandate! I thank party workers, volunteers, supporters and the entire @INCPunjab leadership, for the hard work & efforts put in by them for the #JalandharByElection. I congratulate Sushil Rinku & AAP party for the victory. SAD chief Sukhbir Badal also thanked voters and said his party accepts the mandate with humility. We thank the voters of #Jalandhar and accept the mandate with humility in the true democratic traditions of our party. We congratulate the winner Sushil Kumar Rinku & @AamAadmiParty and hope that they will live up to the voters' expectations, said Badal. The bypoll was seen as a test of the Mann government's policies of providing free electricity and jobs, regularising services of contractual employees, action against corruption and opening mohalla clinics. The stakes were high for the BJP and the SAD, who severed their alliance over the now-repealed farm laws in 2020.
United Democratic Party candidate Synshar Kupar Roy Thabah on Saturday won the Sohiong assembly seat in Meghalaya, defeating his NPP nominee by over 3,400 votes, an election official said. The election was held on May 10, as voting was adjourned due to the death of UDP candidate HDR Lyngdoh ahead of the assembly polls on February 27. With the win, UDP's strength in the 60-member House increased to 12. The NPP has 28 MLAs. "UDP candidate Synshar Kupar Roy Lyngdoh has won by 3,422 votes against Samlin Malngiang of the National Peoples' Party," Chief Electoral Officer F R Kharkongor told PTI. Synshar polled over 16,600 votes, while Samlin secured more than 13,200 votes, he said.

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A class 12 student from Uttar Pradesh, who battled memory loss after a serious road accident, has scored above 90% in the CBSE board examinations. Nivedita Chaudhary, 19, beat the odds to score high after losing her father in the 2014 accident, which also left her crippled for life, the Times of India reported. Chaudhary suffered a severe head injury and slipped into a coma for a month following the accident. She was in bed for almost a year, and  nine years down the line  still cant walk without assistance. But Chaudhary did not compromise on completing her education and, on Friday, the student of Army Public School in Meerut scored 90.4% in her class 12 CBSE exams. I want to pursue fashion designing, said Chaudhary, who needed the assistance of a writer to take the exams. The 19-year-old credits her mother for her success in the milestone examinations. As Chaudhary battled short-term memory loss after her head injury, her mother Nalini would tell her stories related to her school subjects to help her remember her lessons. I took upon myself the mission to restore Niveditas life, says Nalini, who left her job as a teacher to take up an assistant accountant's job in place of her husband Vishal Chaudhary after his death. The job offered lower pay, but Nalini says she took it up because she needed additional leaves and wanted to be close to her daughter.

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A 39-year-old Bengaluru-based woman was cheated of valuables and cash by a man in the national capital she connected with on a matrimonial website, police said on Wednesday. According to the FIR lodged in the matter, the woman, an airline employee, got in touch with one Anshul Jain through a matrimonial website 15 days ago. Jain introduced himself as a businessman in the national capital region (NCR) and called her to Delhi, proposing to introduce her to his family at a wedding function, the victim said in her complaint. The accused also asked her to bring dresses and jewellery appropriate for the occasion, she said in the police complaint. On Sunday, she was received by Jain at the Delhi airport, had food in the Aerocity food court and left the place in his car, the woman said in the complaint. After around half a kilometre, Jain told the woman that something seemed wrong in the car tyre. No sooner than she got down to check the tyres, the accused sped away with her valuables, the woman alleged. She claimed that 300 grams of jewellery, Rs 15,000 cash, a mobile phone, three ATM cards and a bag were stolen from her. The police said a case has been registered and an investigation is on.

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A 69-year-old Bengaluru woman died midair while returning home from the United States. Sources at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru said that the woman had boarded an Air India flight (AI176) from San Francisco, which was the longest direct flight of the airline from the US to Bengaluru- with her son on Tuesday, a report in The Times of India said. There was a medical emergency midair around 11pm on Wednesday. The crew provided all assistance, but the passenger died on board, an Air India official at the airport said. The woman had raised a complain of feeling uneasy on the flight and as per sources, died due to natural causes. The pilots had alerted the airport officials before the flight landed at around 7:30am on Thursday. As per airport sources, the woman's body was taken in an ambulance to the airport hospital, before it was transferred to a government hospital for an autopsy. A similar incident had occurred in 2021, when a passenger had died onboard an Air India flight which was returning to Delhi from Newark in the United States. The deceased passenger was from the US and was travelling with his wife. The medical emergency on the flight caused a delay of more than three hours. Also read: Air India passenger bitten by scorpion onboard. What airline said

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A child in Australia died after suffering from a mosquito-borne disorder, causing health authorities to warn the public to take protection from these bites. The toddler died in a hospital located in the Big Rivers region south of Darwin last Saturday after being bitten by a mosquito which led to the child being diagnosed with "Murray Valley encephalitis". The virus is rare and has also caused two more deaths in 2023, leaving health officials in the Northern Territory worried. Crucially, no effective treatment has been found yet and the virus can also cause a serious brain infection. "Murray Valley encephalitis (MVE) is an uncommon but potentially fatal disease that occurs after being bitten by a mosquito carrying the MVE virus. It is the most serious mosquito-borne disease that occurs in the Northern Territory (NT)," the Northern Territory health authority said. "The early symptoms include headache, fever, nausea and vomiting, and muscle aches, which can progress to drowsiness, confusion, seizures or fits (especially in young children) and in severe cases delirium and coma," the authority added. One of the precautionary measures against the virus is to wear long trousers and shirts particularly during dawn and dusk. Additionally, public can also use an insect repellent. "This year for some reason there's more MVE virus in the environment () but mosquito numbers haven't been any higher, they have been rather low," Nina Kurucz of Northern Territory's Health's medical entomology reportedly told NT News. "People who haven't been exposed or live in an area where the virus is endemic are more vulnerable, for example young kids," she added. Also read: Plane forced to make emergency landing after brawling passengers smash window

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A Reddit user has shared how her sisters parked car caught fire and burnt down her garage, as well as parts of her house, in a shocking incident. According to the now-viral Reddit post, the Hyundai Palisade was parked in the garage when it caught fire and burnt the structure down. The flames soon spread towards the house and forced the family to evacuate to save their lives. The fire travelled the length of the house in the roof and most of the ceiling has collapsed, the Reddit user who posted about the incident revealed. The garage wall is adjacent to the house. The fire entered the roof space and travelled via heater ducts to other areas. Once into the roof space of the house, it travelled all along end to end, the Reddit user explained. It was stopped internally before it travelled too far but the whole roof structure is damaged and some parts collapsing. Anything the fire didnt get the water from the fire brigade did, so the whole house is trashed in the end. A picture taken after the fire subsided shows the garage burnt to ashes while two cars parked inside were completely destroyed. Luckily, the family was able to escape unharmed. My sisters new Hyundai Palisade caught fire while parked in her garage. Now they dont have a home. by u/jaxond24 in pics It is not clear where in Australia the incident occurred. In August 2022, thousands of Hyundai Palisade vehicles were recalled by the company due to a trailer hitch issue that caused the vehicles to catch fire while parked or in use. The recalled vehicles were manufactured between 2020 and 2022. However, in this instance, the Hyundai Palisade was of the 2023 model, which does not have any reported trailer hitch issues.
Indian food and Indian movies are arguably the two best ways to experience the country. While Indian cuisine is globally appreciated with its balance, complexity and depth of flavours, Indian movies are renowned for their vibrant cinematography, larger-than-life storylines and, of course, their famous song-and-dance sequences. Little wonder, then, that diplomats in the country turn to these two art forms when they want a taste of India. This afternoon, the US ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, visited Maharashtra Bhawan in Delhi to try some Maharashtrian delicacies. Garcetti got to taste kokum ka sherbet, vada pav, sago, bharli vangi and saoji mutton, among other dishes. He finished off his incredible meal with sol kadhi and puran poli before declaring, so my fourth course is going to be a nap. From the bustling streets of LA to the colorful lanes of Delhi, my love of great food continues. I'm at Maharashtra Bhawan, eager to explore the fascinating flavors of India. Join me on this journey as I sample the essence of India, one state at a time. Where should I go next? pic.twitter.com/v0pywhG8DV  U.S. Ambassador Eric Garcetti (@USAmbIndia) May 13, 2023 Garcetti wrapped up his video by asking for suggestions on what to eat in Gujarat and Maharashtra. Meanwhile, the British High Commissioner to India, Alex Ellis, also found a way to experience Indian culture through movies. Ellis recently asked his Twitter followers to recommend movies he could watch to improve his Hindi  and suggestions came in droves. The British diplomat finally shortlisted Sholay, Chupke Chupke and Gangs of Wasseypur to begin his foray into the vast world of Hindi cinema. This afternoon, he shared a tweet revealing he has watched Gangs of Wasseypur. Part 3 of  through - the Gangs of Wasseypur. I liked it! Very good music, powerful central characters and especially useful for extending my vocabulary, including this key word... pic.twitter.com/Q0fgfkUfF5  Alex Ellis (@AlexWEllis) May 13, 2023 I liked it! Very good music, powerful central characters and especially useful for extending my vocabulary, including this key word... wrote Ellis alongside a screenshot from the film. The word he referred to? Badla  which is the Hindi word for revenge.
Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan reached his residence here Saturday early morning after a prolonged standoff with authorities in Islamabad during which he was made to stay in the court premises over the provision of security to him despite being granted bail in a number of cases. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday granted him protective bail for two weeks in a corruption case and barred the authorities from arresting the former Pakistan prime minister in any case registered anywhere in the country until Monday. Three different benches of the IHC granted relief to the 70-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief who was escorted to the court amid tight security. Before his departure for Lahore after securing blanket bails from the IHC in a number of cases related to treason and violence and one related to the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case in which he was arrested early this week, Khan was allegedly made to stay more than three hours in the court by the Islamabad police on the security details. He left the court premises after a protracted standoff with authorities. Upon reaching his Zaman Park residence here, Khan was greeted by a number of jubilant PTI workers who showered rose petals on his vehicle, danced to the tune of drums and conducted massive fireworks. They also chanted slogans in favour of Khan and against the ruling PML-N-led coalition. The PTI released a video of Khan entering the house where his sisters and other family members welcomed him and inquired about his health. Khan, who is demanding snap general elections, is facing over 120 cases across the country. "Islamabad Inspector General of Police (IG) Akbar Nasir tried his best to retain me at the capital's high court. They did not let us leave for three hours, saying that it's dangerous outside," the PTI chief said in a video message from his vehicle in which he was travelling back to Lahore. He said he told the IG that he would tell the entire Pakistan that he was kidnapping him and upon this he let him go. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah had earlier declared that the government might take Khan into protective custody which made the PTI chief and his associates skeptical about the IG's action. The Islamabad police also issued a statement saying providing security was a bilateral matter where the cooperation of the subject was required. "Imran Khan did not cooperate with us for security arrangements, thus he is responsible for his actions. If anything happens to him (Khan) the state institutions will not be responsible," it said. The arrest of Khan on Tuesday by the Pakistan Rangers at the IHC premises in a corruption case triggered unrest in Pakistan that continued till Friday in which scores of people were killed and dozens of military and state installations were destroyed by the protesters. For the first time in Pakistan's history that the protesters stormed into the army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi and also torched a corps commander's house in Lahore. Police put the death toll in violent clashes to 10 while Khan's party claims 40 of its workers lost their lives in the firing by security personnel.
Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan has blamed Army chief General Asim Munir for his "abduction" on May 9 and distanced himself from the violence across the country after his dramatic arrest from a court here. He expressed these views during an informal chat with media persons on the premises of Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday, the Dawn newspaper reported on Saturday. In a major relief to Khan, the IHC on Friday granted him protective bail for two weeks in a corruption case and barred the authorities from arresting the former Pakistan prime minister in any case registered anywhere in the country until Monday. Three different benches of the IHC granted relief to the 70-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief who was escorted to the court amid tight security. While talking to a BBC correspondent during the break time, Khan said: "It's not the security agencies. It's one man, the Army chief. There is no democracy in the Army. The Army is getting maligned with what is happening," he replied when asked about the impression that security agencies were against him whereas the judiciary was favouring him. "And he [the Army chief] is worried that if I come to power, I will de-notify him...All this is happening is direct orders from him. He is the one who is convinced that if I win, he will be de-notified," alleged Khan. Khan was arrested by paramilitary Rangers from the Islamabad High Court while he was undergoing a biometric process before a court hearing. The Rangers, which operate under the Interior Ministry, are usually commanded by officers on secondment from the Pakistan Army. The ex-premier also talked about the "victimisation" of his party by the government, alleging that "5,000 people have been arrested during the last one year". He said he had survived two assassination attempts and had only called for an investigation, regretting that his demand had been rejected. When another journalist asked Khan about getting relief from the Supreme Court which had never been provided to any other politician, the PTI chief said how it could be called a relief when he was still sitting in the court. "I am sitting in the Islamabad High Court. They had no justification to arrest me. I was abducted. They showed me a warrant for the first time after taking me to jail. This happens only where there is a law of the jungle and where the Army abducts [people]," he said. "Where is the law? Where are the police? It seems that martial law has been declared [in the country]," he said. Reiterating his position which he took in the Supreme Court on Thursday evening, Khan said he was totally unaware of the developments which took place after his arrest and claimed that he had learnt that 40 people had lost their lives during the two-day protests. Khan also alleged that he was tortured and hit by a baton on his head at the time of his arrest. He, however, described his treatment while he was in the custody of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as "fair". Khan said that what happened after his arrest was beyond his control. "How could I be blamed for those incidents that happened while I was in custody?" he wondered while responding to his critics who were blaming him for violent protests and damage to private and public property during the countrywide agitation. Separately, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took Khan to task for targeting the Army chief. "This is the same mindset that falsely accused patriotic army officers of their murders, and spun false stories of ciphers and foreign conspiracies. This is anti-nationalism and the manifestation of the real ambitions of the terrorist masterminds," he said. Khan was ousted from power in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China and Afghanistan. Sharif also said that the statement is an admission that what happened on May 9 happened at the behest of Khan. Sharif also blamed Khan for the desecration of martyrs' and martyrs' memorials and the attack on sensitive installations and buildings. The Prime Minister said that Khan's issue with General Munir is that as the ISI chief, he came to know the corruption of Khan, his wife and others. On Friday, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said that the army is united despite internal miscreants and external enemies. "The dream of dividing the Pakistan Army will remain a dream, the Army is united under the leadership of Army Chief General Asim Munir and will remain united," the military spokesman said.
Twitters next leader is a well-connected media executive whose deep ties to Madison Avenue could help lure advertisers back to the platform at a critical time. Linda Yaccarino is leaving her job as head of global advertising at NBCUniversal to take the chief executive officer role at Twitter. She will work closely with owner Elon Musk, who will be both chief technology officer and executive chairman. She will helm a company mired in multiple crises  many of them spurred by Musk himself. Musk fired or lost about 75% of Twitter employees since his October takeover, including most of those who had deep relationships in sales and partnerships, which Yaccarino will now need to repair. The company has also faced an advertiser exodus, triggered in part by Musks erratic content moderation decisions and his own tweets. Yaccarino joined Comcast Corp.s NBCUniversal in 2011 after nearly two decades at Turner, home of cable channels like TNT and TBS. At NBC, she helped launch the ad-supported streaming service Peacock, oversaw live events like the Super Bowl and Olympic Games, and forged partnerships with tech companies including Snapchat, YouTube and Twitter. Shes perhaps best known for leading the TV industrys push for new ways to measure viewers. Yaccarino was highly critical of Nielsen, whose ratings have long formed the basis for TV ad deals, for not counting all the people who watched NBCs shows online. In recent years, Yaccarino took the unusual step of bringing together competitors in the media industry to discuss alternatives. She has been ahead of the curve really in measurement and marketing effectiveness, said Michael Kassan, the chief executive officer of the marketing and media consulting firm Medialink. Kassan said Yaccarino is extraordinarily well-respected in the industry and has amazing brand and agency relationships. During his tenure, Musk slashed thousands of jobs, scaled back the companys content moderation and allowed accounts previously banned for breaking rules to return. A controversial subscription service plan, Twitter Blue, has been flailing, drawing less than 1% of the user base. Twitter needs to boost sales in order to repay $12.5 billion in debt the company took on when Musk bought it. Annual interest is expected to exceed $1.2 billion. Despite a slight uptick in daily users since early 2022, Twitters revenue has fallen by 50% since October as a result of a massive decline in advertising, Musk said in March. Shes probably just what Elon needs to establish trust among advertisers, said Martin Sorrell, who founded WPP plc, one of the worlds largest advertising companies. Dave Campanelli, chief investment officer at Horizon Media, said Yaccarino was very, very tough in negotiations but also listened to advertisers needs. Shell bring a level of understanding of the ad space and what it takes to bring advertisers back to the platform, he said. Media-industry peers say it was an open secret that Yaccarino wanted the CEO job at NBCUniversal, previously helmed by Jeff Shell. Some in the industry suspect Shells departure last month influenced Yaccarinos decision to leave, and some speculate that Yaccarinos top lieutenant, Krishan Bhatia, could join her at Twitter. Yaccarino has been described as trustworthy and empathic by those who know her personally. Shes also known to be image-conscious and careful about how she comes off in public, acquaintances say. Twitter users are already dissecting Yaccarinos politics and behavior on the platform to try to understand what kind of content moderation decisions she might stand behind  and whether she will align with Musk in his embrace of right-wing provocateurs that were suspended under Twitters previous leadership for breaking rules or spreading misinformation. In 2018, she was named by then-President Donald Trump to the Presidents Council on Sport, Fitness and Nutrition. On Twitter, she is following many people in Trumps orbit, including previously banned accounts, though its unclear whether she runs her own profile. Among the far right, she is already facing backlash for serving on a World Economic Forum task force and associating with a pro-vaccination advertising campaign. While at NBC, Yaccarino oversaw the integration of sales teams for Telemundo and became a big advocate for multicultural programming, according to Steven Wolfe Pereira, chief business officer at 3Pas Studios, who has known Yaccarino for years. While Musk has publicly mocked diversity efforts at Twitter, Pereira said Yaccarino has been a champion on such measures and doesnt back down during business negotiations. She is not a wallflower. They would call her the Velvet Hammer, Pereira said. Shes tough, but shes fair. One of Yaccarinos first challenges will be a new show on Twitter from fired Fox News host Tucker Carlson, whose incendiary remarks led advertisers to steer clear of him on cable. Another will be handling her mercurial, unpredictable new boss. He seemed to catch Yaccarino off guard Thursday when he said in a tweet that he had chosen a new CEO who would begin in six weeks, without naming her. During an advertising conference last month in Miami, Yaccarino pushed Musk on his plans for making the platform more comfortable for brands. At one point, she candidly asked Musk whether he felt he had derisked the site enough to assure advertisers that their campaigns arent going to land in awful hateful places. Yaccarino told Musk on stage: Are there days where I see some of your tweets and wish I could say, Stop helping the situation? She nodded her head as she said it. There are very few people who wouldnt be just seen as a figurehead CEO of Twitter and Linda Yaccarino is one of them, said Mike Proulx, who leads Forresters chief marketing officer research team. Shes a well-respected force in the industry whose credibility with advertisers speaks for itself.
Pakistan's Army has ruled out the possibility of imposing martial law in the country amidst the political turmoil and deteriorating law and order situation following the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan, saying Army chief General Asim Munir and the entire military leadership believe in democracy. The remarks of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry came after an almost four-day political turmoil erupted due to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Khan's arrest, in which Army's installations, including the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, were also targeted. "There is no question of imposing martial law in the country," he told Geo News, adding that Army chief General Asim Munir and the entire military leadership along with him believe in democracy. The Army remains Pakistan's most powerful institution, having ruled it directly for close to half its 75-year history through three coups. Chaudhry stressed that the Army's unity is unwavering and will persist, serving as a pillar of stability and security for the nation. He also rejected social media rumours about resignations by top Army officers or anyone disobeying the military discipline. "No one in the Army has resigned and no one has disobeyed any order," the military spokesman said on Friday. He also rejected the impression of division within the army in the wake of attacks on military facilities during protests following the arrest of Khan. "Despite the internal and external propaganda, the army is united and will remain," he said. Major General Chaudhry further said that the army is united despite internal miscreants and external enemies. "The dream of dividing the Pakistan Army will remain a dream, the Army is united under the leadership of Army Chief General Asim Munir and will remain united." He called upon the public and media to rely on verified information from official sources rather than giving credence to unfounded speculation. The Army has come under scanner after showing no response when the rioters ransacked the residence of Corps Commander Lahore after Khan was arrested on May 9. At least 10 people have been killed in the violence that erupted after Khan's dramatic arrest by the paramilitary Rangers from the Islamabad High Court on Tuesday. The unrest in the country has come to a halt for now as the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has provided blanket relief to Khan and barred authorities from arresting the PTI chief till Monday morning. Khan has been highly critical of the alleged role of the establishment, especially that of former Army chief General (retired) Qamar Javed Bajwa, in bringing down his government in April 2022. Before his retirement, Gen Bajwa said that the Pakistan Army will remain apolitical.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held talks with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday, saying it was a great honor to meet with the pontiff, who has previously offered to do what he can to try to end the war launched by Russia's invasion of Ukraine a year ago. Zelenskyy held his hand of his heart as the pope, using a cane, came to greet him before ushering the Ukrainian into a papal studio near the Vatican's audience call. "Thank you for your visit,'' Francis said, as their 40-minute-long meeting began. In a written statement, the Vatican said the two men spoke about Ukraine's "humanitarian and political situation provoked by the war going on.'' "The pope assured his constant prayer, paid witness to by his many public appeals and by his continued invoking of the Lord for peace, since February of last year,'' the Vatican said, a reference to the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, by Russia's military. Both agreed on the need to continue humanitarian efforts to help the population. The pope underlined in particular the urgent need for humanitarian gestures toward the most fragile persons, innocent victims of the conflict," the statement said. Last month, Ukraines prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, met with Francis at the Vatican and said he asked the pontiff to help Ukraine get back children illegally taken to Russia during the invasion. Saturday's communique from the Vatican made no mention of that, and there were no immediate details from Zelenskyy's side about his meeting with the pontiff. Ahead of Zelenskyy's arrival in late afternoon, police moved tourists to one side of St. Peter's Square so the Ukrainian president's motorcade could speed across the vast cobblestone space. Earlier in the day, Zelenskyy met with Italian officials after his morning flight to Rome. He received pledges of both open-ended military and financial support as well as stronger backing for Ukraine's cherished aim to join the European Union. The message is clear and simple, Meloni said, flanked by Zelenskyy as the two briefed reporters after their meeting at her office, which lasted more than an hour. "The future of Ukraine is a future of peace and freedom. And it's the future of Europe, a future of peace and freedom, for which there are no other possible solutions.'' Meloni, who had met with Zelenskyy in Ukraine in February, just ahead of the anniversary of the invasion, renewed her pledge to champion Ukraine's EU ambitions, saying Ukraine was moving ahead with required reforms despite the war. The premier, who staunchly backs military aid for Ukraine, said Italy would back the country 360 degrees for all the time necessary and beyond. But while her far-right Brothers of Italy party champions the principle of national sovereignty, Meloni has had to contend with leaders of two coalition partners who for years have openly professed their admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Coalition ally Silvio Berlusconi, a former premier, has boasted of his friendship with Putin, while another government ally, League leader Matteo Salvini, has questioned the value of economic sanctions against Russia. Zelenskyy began his official meetings by calling on Italian President Sergio Mattarella at the presidential Quirinale Palace. We are fully at your side,? Mattarella told Zelenskyy as he welcomed him. Later, after their meeting, presidential palace sources said Mattarella assured his guest that Italy would continue supporting Ukraine militarily and financially, as well as with reconstruction and humanitarian aid, in both the short and long term. Since the war began, Italy has furnished about 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in military and financial aid, as well as humanitarian assistance. Zelenskyy is believed to be heading to Berlin next for what would be his first visit to Germany since the war began. The exact schedule hadn't been publicly announced because of security concerns. Italian state radio reported that as part of protective measures, a no-fly zone was ordered for the skies over Rome and police sharpshooters were strategically placed on high buildings. Francis had previously met with Zelenskyy in 2020. At the end of April, flying back to Rome from a trip to Hungary, Francis told reporters on the plane that the Vatican was involved in a behind-the-scene peace mission but gave no details. Neither Russia nor Ukraine has confirmed such an initiative. He has said he would like to go to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, if such a visit could be coupled with one to Moscow, in hopes a papal pilgrimage could further the cause of peace. The German government, meanwhile, said it was providing Ukraine with additional military aid worth more than 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Berlin wanted to show with the latest package of arms that Germany is serious in its support for Ukraine. Germany will provide all the help it can, as long as it takes, he said.
Turks vote on May 14 in an election seen as one of the most consequential in Turkey's modern history, with President Tayyip Erdogan facing the biggest political challenge of his two-decade rule. Here is a guide to the election, the presidential candidates, and the political alliances vying for power: THE ELECTION Turks will be electing both a president and parliament for a five-year term. To win the presidency in the first round, a candidate must obtain more than 50% of ballots cast. If no candidate secures more than half the votes, a May 28 runoff will be held between the two leading candidates Erdogan and opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu. The powers of the presidency were broadened in 2017 when a referendum narrowly approved switching Turkey from a parliamentary to a presidential system. This abolished the post of prime minister and made the president head of government. Voters will also elect 600 members of parliament. They are elected by party-list proportional representation in 87 districts. Turkish elections are typically monitored by hundreds of thousands of volunteers across the country. Political parties will also have observers. POLLING More than 64 million Turks are eligible to vote, including more than 6 million first-time voters. There are 3.4 million voters overseas, who completed voting by May 9. Voters in Turkey will cast ballots at 190,736 polling stations. Polls will open at 0800 a.m. (0500 GMT) and close at 0500 p.m. (1400 GMT) on May 14. Turnout in Turkish elections is generally high. In 2018, nearly 87% of eligible voters cast ballots. The sale of alcohol is banned on the day of the election. RESULTS The High Election Board (YSK) said that on election day, in line with election law, news, forecasts and commentaries about the vote are banned until 6 pm (1300 GMT). Reports on some aspects of the election are then allowed, but media are only free to report on election results from 9 pm (1800 GMT), which will roll in from across Turkey. The YSK may decide to lift the embargo on such reporting before 9 pm if it regards that as necessary. By late on Sunday there could be a clear indication of the presidential election result. THE CANDIDATES: PRESIDENT TAYYIP ERDOGAN More than 20 years after Erdogan and his AK Party (AKP) came to power, he hopes to extend his tenure as modern Turkey's longest serving ruler. He won in the first round in 2018 with 52.6% of the vote. Polls currently show support roughly around 44-45%. KEMAL KILICDAROGLU Kilicdaroglu is the joint presidential candidate of the six-party main opposition alliance. He is chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP), which was established by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk - the founder of modern Turkey. Polls show his support is near the critical 50% threshold. SINAN OGAN Ogan was a former lawmaker with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), an ally of Erdogan's AK Party. Polls currently show him lagging far behind. POLITICAL ALLIANCES Turkey has many political parties which have coalesced into several electoral alliances. The main ones are: THE PEOPLE'S ALLIANCE The People's Alliance was formed ahead of the 2018 election by Erdogan's AKP and the MHP, and won both the presidential and parliamentary votes. Since then, it has been joined by the New Welfare Party of Fatih Erbakan, the son of Erdogan's mentor Necmettin Erbakan, as well as the right-wing Great Unity Party. THE NATION ALLIANCE The main opposition bloc, the Nation Alliance backs Kilicdaroglu for president. Formed ahead of the 2018 election, it initially comprised the CHP, the center-right IYI Party, the Islamist Felicity (Saadet) Party and the Democrat Party (DP). In 2019 municipal elections it shocked Erdogan by defeating AKP mayoral candidates in Ankara and Istanbul - a post Erdogan held in the 1990s and which his AKP had controlled for nearly two decades. Two parties founded by former Erdogan allies later joined the alliance: the Deva (Remedy) Party formed by Ali Babacan, who left the AKP due to differences over its direction, and the Future Party of Ahmet Davutoglu, a former prime minister who was also once an AKP member. THE LABOUR AND FREEDOM ALLIANCE This alliance is led by the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), currently parliament's third biggest and seen as a potential kingmaker in the election. The HDP is not fielding a presidential candidate and has not explicitly endorsed someone, but has said it will carry out its "responsibility against the one-man rule". The HDP's cooperation with the opposition in the 2019 local elections helped defeat the AKP in major cities. The Workers Party of Turkey (TIP) joined the alliance after emerging as a vocal opposition figure in the aftermath of the Feb. 6 earthquakes. The alliance also includes the Green Left Party (YSP), under whose banner HDP candidates will run to circumvent its potential closure due to a lawsuit.
The outcome of the national election in Turkey on May 14 will have global significance as President Tayyip Recep Erdogan, who has been in control of the country in various capacities for 20 years, seeks a fresh mandate. The election for a new parliament will also be held on the same day. The implications of the elections will be felt not only in the country but beyond  in Russia, the US, the European Union and West Asia. Turkey occupies a unique geographical position, lying partly in Europe and partly in Asia, acting as both a barrier and bridge between the two continents. With a predominantly Muslim population of 86 million, Turkey is also a key member of NATO and boasts the third-largest army in the US-led military coalition. Turkeys strategic importance lies not only as a security provider in Europe and the seas of Somalia and the Mediterranean, but also because it controls the Bosporus. The Bosporus is one of the most important straits in the world, connecting the Black Sea and the Dardanelles Strait, through which ships from Russia and Ukraine enter the Mediterranean Sea. The outcome of the Turkish presidential election could impact the war in Ukraine, where Russias offensive has put Ukrainian forces on the defensive. President Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have developed a strong bond and Moscow is considered one of the main backers of Ankara, helping the country to tide over its current economic crisis. Opposition challenge But Erdogan faces the most serious challenge of his political career from the oppositions Kemal Kilicdaroglu. Liberal sections in the West believe if Erdogan is defeated, the elections will demonstrate that the erosion of democracies worldwide in recent years can be reversed and even firmly entrenched strongmen can be thrown out of power. Should he emerge victorious, Erdogan and his sense of invincibility will reach new highs, said Alper Coskun, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. He said Turkey will be in dire need of foreign financial flows and Erdogan will have to conduct foreign policy within the constraints of that reality. But relations with the US and European countries will remain transactional and vulnerable to circumstantial crises, he added. Russia will be among the countries that will be worst-affected if Erdogan loses. On April 27, Turkeys first civilian nuclear plant, built by Russia at a cost of $20 billion, was inaugurated, signifying their flourishing energy and economic ties forged over decades. Turkey also benefits from Russias cheap oil and gas. The 69-year-old Erdogans anti-Western rhetoric has served Moscows interests by undermining NATO unity and undercutting Western sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Russia transferred billions of dollars to projects in Turkiye to help the country prop up its economy during the crisis. Putin's investment in Erdogan could fall flat if Kilicdaroglu, 74, a former bureaucrat who ran the country's social security agency, comes out on top. Kilicdaroglu has said he will rebuild relations with Europe and the US that were strained under Erdogan. It could also lead to a quick nod from Turkey for Swedens entry into the NATOa decision that Erdogan has held back for months. Though many observers believe Erdogans defeat will not be good for Putin, it is also widely believed that his successor will have to maintain strong and cordial relations with Russia because of the countrys dependence on Moscow for its economy and energy. Moreover, Putin would also like to woo Kilicdaroglu, if he wins. The Russian president would want to ensure that his indifference does not push him further into the western camp. Common cause Since Erdogan became prime minister in 2003, during Putin's first presidential term, the two have developed a good working relationship, although they have been at odds on many occasions. When Turkey shot down a Russian warplane in 2015, Putin described it as a stab in the back. The two have also differed on Russias invasion of Ukraine and Erdogan has supplied Kyiv with lethal drones. But Erdogan and Putin have often found common cause in challenging a world order dominated by the US. Erdogan enjoyed wide popularity as prime minister in the 2000s when he led a booming economy. But his stock has fallen drastically in recent months because of his repressive measures against opponents and a falling economy. Following a 2016 coup attempt that he blamed on a US-based cleric, Erdogan reached an agreement with Putin to purchase a Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile system, triggering US defence industry sanctions. Indias relations with Turkey have often been strained because of its pro-Pakistan tilt on Kashmir and other issues. In recent months, though, both sides have tried to mend bilateral ties and look for cooperation in areas of mutual interest. Turkey is also a member of the G20. Indications suggest that whoever comes to power will try to strengthen relations with India by separating it from Turkey's ties with Pakistan. Even if Erdogan is returned to power, neither the US nor the Europeans will be able to ignore him. Turkeys strategic importance for the stability of this crucial region will be much sought, especially as the Ukraine war shows no early signs of ending.
Noting that Iran and Iraq have two gas export contracts in place, the Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji says that the two neighboring countries have agreed to extend the contracts in the next five years, Trend reports citing IRNA.

Owji, who is on a visit to the Iraqi capital Baghdad, made the announcement on Saturday after a meeting with Iraq's Minister of Electricity Ziad Ali Fazel.

He said one of the outcomes of his Iraq trip was to work out a mechanism for extension of the current gas export agreements with the Arab countrys Ministry of Electricity.

Iran is currently supplying gas to power plants in the Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Basra under two separate contracts, the official said.

Based on an agreement signed earlier this week, Iran and Iraq will be able to extend the current gas export deals within the next five years and after carrying out expert reviews, Owji said.

The Iranian and Iraqi authorities signed a major agreement on oil, gas, and petrochemical cooperation in Baghdad on Thursday.
April 30, 2022

Media Are Now Whitewashing Nazis They Had Previously Condemned

Recently the New York Times, like many other 'western' outlets, has changed its language when reporting about the fascist Ukrainian Asov Battalion.

What was once "a Ukrainian neo-Nazi paramilitary organization" which even the FBI said is notorious for its association with neo-Nazi ideology was first relabeled as merely "far right" before it became a normal "unit in the Ukrainian military".

New Zealand Massacre Highlights Global Reach of White Extremism - Mar 15 2019 - New York Times

Scrawled on his rifle was a white nationalist credo popularized by the American domestic terrorist and neo-Nazi David Lane. On his flak jacket was a symbol commonly used by the Azov Battalion, a Ukrainian neo-Nazi paramilitary organization.

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We Once Fought Jihadists. Now We Battle White Supremacists. - Feb 11 2020 - New York Times

Defenders of the Ukrainian Azov Battalion, which the F.B.I. calls a paramilitary unit notorious for its association with neo-Nazi ideology, accuse us of being part of a Kremlin campaign to demonize the group.

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Why Vladimir Putin Invokes Nazis to Justify His Invasion of Ukraine - Mar 17 2022 - New York Times

Facebook last week said it was making an exception to its anti-extremism policies to allow praise for Ukraines far-right Azov Battalion military unit, strictly in the context of defending Ukraine, or in their role as part of the Ukraine National Guard.

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From Battered Mariupol Steel Plant, Fighters Share Desperate Videos to Push Out Story - Apr 29 2022 - New York Times

These scenes are from videos shared online in recent days by the Azov regiment, a unit in the Ukrainian military, which says they were taken in the mazelike bunkers beneath the sprawling Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine.

It is not that Azov has de-radicalized over time. It has in fact grown more extreme.

Azov has infiltrated other organizations, especially some units of the Ukrainian regular military, the national guard, the police and the internal secret security organization SBU. Azov is by far not the only fascist (para-)military organization in Ukraine. There is the Aidar battalion, the Right Sector militia, Dnipro-1 and 2 regiments, the C-14 'youth' organization of the fascist Svoboda party as well as a dozen other such organization.

These groups are not only not prohibited as they should be but get encouraged and partially financed by the Ukrainian government. Many of these militia have been integrated into the National Guard of Ukraine under the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The infiltration of the security services and government has dangerous consequences for the Ukrainian public.

Over the years many 'western' media have correctly reported on the Ukrainian fascists. Here is an incomplete collection (h/t Antispin):

Next to those and many more media reports there are some detailed ones from various organization which document the war crimes Azov and groups like it have committed in Ukraine. In 2015 the Foundation for the Study of Democracy published a report about the War crimes of the armed forces and security forces of Ukraine: torture and inhumane treatment. In 2018 the Human Rights Platform "Uspishna Varta" wrote in a report about the Ministry of Internal Affairs and General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine:

The existence of paramilitary groups within a number of far-right parties and nationalist organizations, which is expressly prohibited by Article 37 of the Constitution of Ukraine, is of high concern. As a part of the party "National Corpus" (earlier  "Azov") the paramilitary division "National Druzhina" operates, which held a public march in the center of Kiev in February 2018. The activities of this organization are not only not suppressed by representatives of law enforcement bodies, but are openly encouraged by the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. 28% of all violations of political rights and freedoms recorded by the human rights platform "Uspishna Varta" in April-August 2018 involved right-wing radical organizations, primarily C14, as well as "National Druzhina", "Bratstvo", "Right Sector", etc. The OHCHR documented 22 cases of discrimination, hate speech, and/or violence directed at persons belonging to minorities or those holding alternative, special social, or political opinions between 16 February and 15 May. At the same time, in 21 cases violence was committed by members of ultra-right groups, who appear to have acted with impunity. The police and the State Prosecutor's office did not prevent acts of violence, did not properly characterize them as hate crimes, did not effectively investigate discriminatory crimes, and did not prosecute the perpetrators, which violates the right to equally not be discriminated against in view of the law and leads to an atmosphere of impunity and a lack of justice for victims.

All this is well know. Over the years 'western' media have warned of growing fascism in Ukraine. While fascist parties get few votes in Ukraine they are in fact very powerful. They own the streets, have the guns and kill politicians who do not do what Azov and other fascist groups say. They can act with impunity.

Amnesty International has documented some of the crimes committed by fascist groups in Ukraine:

Human Rights Watch has a long list of reports on Ukraine. While some blame eastern separatists and Russia, many others point to violence from the fascist far-right.

Currently a main Azov unit is sitting in the basement of the Azovstal metalworks in Mariupol surrounded by Russian troops. It claims to have civilian hostages and refuse to surrender. To whitewash them now just because they have gotten themselves into this situation - as the NYT obviously does - is not justified.

Update:

As one commentator snarks:

#Putin's latest failure:

Western media's de-nazification of #Ukraine much faster and more thorough than #Russia's 

Posted by b on April 30, 2022 at 14:58 UTC | Permalink

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October 05, 2022

Media Hide Fascist Ideology Of Ukrainian Militia Which Visit Congress

'Western' media continue to denazify Ukraine by pretending that the Nazi formations in that country, which they had long decried, are now a harmless collection of celebrities.

One could follow those changes along various pieces in the New York Times:

Mar 15 2019:

On his flak jacket was a symbol commonly used by the Azov Battalion, a Ukrainian neo-Nazi paramilitary organization.

Feb 11 2020:

Defenders of the Ukrainian Azov Battalion, which the F.B.I. calls a paramilitary unit notorious for its association with neo-Nazi ideology, accuse us of being part of a Kremlin campaign to demonize the group.

Mar 17 2022:

Facebook last week said it was making an exception to its anti-extremism policies to allow praise for Ukraines far-right Azov Battalion military unit, strictly in the context of defending Ukraine, or in their role as part of the Ukraine National Guard.

Apr 29 2022:

These scenes are from videos shared online in recent days by the Azov regiment, a unit in the Ukrainian military, which says they were taken in the mazelike bunkers beneath the sprawling Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine.

As I had written previously:

What was once "a Ukrainian neo-Nazi paramilitary organization" which even the FBI said is notorious for its association with neo-Nazi ideology was first relabeled as merely "far right" before it became a normal "unit in the Ukrainian military".

Today the New York Times topped that evolution by turning a Ukrainian government press release into a tear dripping story about the reunion of freed Azov losers with their families:

Released Azov commanders have an emotional reunion with family members in Turkey.

Commanders of Ukraines celebrated Azov Battalion have held an emotional reunion with their families in Turkey, Ukrainian officials said, honoring the fighters released from Russian confinement last month as part of the largest prisoner swap since the start of the war. Among the 215 Ukrainian prisoners of war released in the exchange were 108 members of the Azov Battalion. The groups defense of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol  the southern port city decimated by Russian forces in the first months of the war  has become a powerful symbol of the suffering inflicted by Russia and the resistance mounted by Ukraine. Under the terms of the swap, the commanders of the battalion must remain in Turkey  which brokered the exchange  until the war ends. After months of waiting, they were reunited with family members on Monday, according to a statement from the office of President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and photographs distributed by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service. There are many emotions, Ukraines first lady, Olena Zelenska, who attended the meeting, said in a post on Telegram. The road to this moment was long and difficult. Finally they were able to hug.

...

Ms. Zelenska said she gave the Azov Battalion members thanks from Ukraine, from the president and all the people for whom they are fighting.

How can anyone working at the New York Times not be ashamed of this whitewash of a deeply fascists organization.

The NYT is far from the only 'western' media doing this. I was easy to find some 40 stories in main stream media which between 2014 and April 2022 which critically discussed the 'controversial' Nazi ideology of Azov and other Ukrainian militia. Then the coverage abruptly changed turning those fascist groups into harmless patriots.

Others have done similar analyses:

In order to get a better sense of how Canadian medias approach to reporting on the Azov Regiment (formerly the Azov Battalion) has changed over the years, we searched for every mention of the group in the archives of the Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, and National Post. We also searched through the CBC News website, as well as some of their broadcasts. All of the 90 unique mentions we found (as of August 10) were compiled, with the description of Azov provided in said article or broadcast being noted for comparison. We found that these news outlets (and the wire services much of their coverage relied upon) went from directly acknowledging Azovs neo-Nazi ideology to suggesting that the group is merely controversial or has a checkered past. Some reports included no qualifiers at all, and simply presented the group as just another Ukrainian military unit fighting against Russia.

It is not just the media but also politicians who have done a U-turn from condemning Azov and other Nazi groups to welcoming them as guests in Washington DC.

On March 27 2018 The Hill reported:

Congress bans arms to Ukraine militia linked to neo-Nazis

A little-noticed provision in the 2,232-page government spending bill passed last week bans U.S. arms from going to a controversial ultranationalist militia in Ukraine that has openly accepted neo-Nazis into its ranks. House-passed spending bills for the past three years have included a ban on U.S. aid to Ukraine from going to the Azov Battalion, but the provision was stripped out before final passage each year. This year, though, the $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill signed into law last week stipulates that none of the funds made available by this act may be used to provide arms, training or other assistance to the Azov Battalion. White supremacy and neo-Nazism are unacceptable and have no place in our world, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), an outspoken critic of providing lethal aid to Ukraine, said in a statement to The Hill on Tuesday. I am very pleased that the recently passed omnibus prevents the U.S. from providing arms and training assistance to the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion fighting in Ukraine.

A year later that language was again stripped from the omnibus spending bill.

Three years on and the very same Nazis are greeted by prominent members of Congress:

California Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff, who pushed the Trump-Russia hoax as hard as anyone, invited neo-Nazis serving in Ukraines Azov Battalion to the U.S. Capitol and met with them on Monday. The American Left is openly aligning itself with Nazis while painting its domestic political opposition as Nazis who present a danger to democracy, Sean Adl-Tabatabai noted in a Sept. 27 News Punch analysis. How quickly they seem to forget. Just three years ago, 40 U.S. senators signed a letter demanding that the Azov Battalion be added to a list of terrorist organizations.

...

When it was reported that the Azov Battalion was in the thick of the fight against Russias invasion this year, however, Democrats and their legacy media allies treated them more as heroes than terrorists, critics say.

...

During their visit, the Ukrainian soldiers reportedly thanked the U.S. Congress for the billions in aid it has approved thus far  and then asked for more.

There is whole series of pictures of Democrat congressmen and senators meeting such groups posted by Daria Kaleniuk, the assistant director of a Ukrainian activist group called Anti-Corruption Action Centre. The Anti Corruption Action Center is a U.S. government financed non-government organization in Kiev. Together with Ukraine's controversial National Anti-corruption Bureau it is a political enforcer which accuses anyone in Ukraine of 'corruption' as soon as they divert from the U.S. dictated line. Back in July it even took on Zelenski:

[M]any political experts and anti-corruption activists viewed the removal of Ivan Bakanov, head of Ukraines state intelligence service, the SBU, and Iryna Venediktova, the countrys prosecutor general, by presidential decree as Zelenskyy taking advantage of extraordinary wartime authority to consolidate his own power. Its not a move to do the right thing. Its a move to gain more control over our top law enforcement bodies, Tetiana Shevchuk, a lawyer and activist at the Kyiv-based Anti-Corruption Action Center, said in an interview.

The U.S. financed Anti-Corruption Action Center is now promoting the visits of fascists to the center of U.S. power. Democrats are welcoming them. Their hate of anything Russia allows them to ally with even the worst people one can think of while main stream media provide cover for those people's hateful ideology.

Posted by b on October 5, 2022 at 8:45 UTC | Permalink

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Saudi Arabias Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan discussed bilateral ties with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, during a phone call on Saturday, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, Trend reports citing Al Arabiya.

They also discussed the next measures pertaining to the China-brokered deal that restored diplomatic relations between the Kingdom and Iran, the report added.

Saudi Arabia severed ties with Iran in 2016 following an attack by pro-regime protesters on Saudi Arabias embassy in Tehran and consulate in Mashhad.

The decision to re-establish ties came after talks that took place between March 6 and March 10 in Beijing which saw the signing of a trilateral agreement between China, Saudi Arabia and Iran.
May 13, 2023

Regime Change Watch

Tomorrow there will be elections in Turkey and Thailand. In both countries the U.S. would like to see the current opposition win.

Recent pieces in the New York Times leave no doubt about that.

A Crucial Question in Thailands Election: Can You Criticize the King?

Liberal voters have intensified their scrutiny of the Thai monarchy in recent years. Conservatives have responded with a campaign to defend the institution at all costs.

An Erdogan Loss in Turkey Would Stir Relief in the West and Anxiety in Moscow

European leaders would be delighted to have an easier Turkey, while Russia could lose an important economic and diplomatic partnership should the Turkish leader lose power in Sundays elections.

Polls in both countries seem to be between all over the place and tight but my hunch is that the incumbents have a good chance to win.

If the results are to the favor of the current governments the U.S. may well use its well honed color revolution schemes to change the outcomes.

It has done so before, not only in Turkey and Thailand, but also in many other countries.

For a long time, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has plotted "peaceful evolution" and "color revolutions" as well as spying activities around the world. Although details about these operations have always been murky, a new report released by China's National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center and Chinese cybersecurity company 360 on Thursday unveiled the main technical means the CIA has used to scheme and promote unrest around the world.

...

For decades, the CIA has overthrown or attempted to overthrow at least 50 legitimate governments abroad (the CIA has only recognized seven of these instances), causing turmoil in related countries. Whether it is the "color revolution" in Ukraine in 2014, the "sunflower revolution" in Taiwan island, China, or the "saffron revolution" in Myanmar in 2007, the "green revolution" in Iran in 2009, and other attempted "color revolutions" -- the US intelligence agencies are behind them all, according to the report. The US' leading position in technologies of telecommunication and on-site command has provided unprecedented possibilities for the US intelligence community to launch "color revolutions" abroad. The report released by the National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center and 360 disclosed five methods commonly used by the CIA.

...

We therefore need to keep an eye open for new regime change attempts.

Posted by b on May 13, 2023 at 16:31 UTC | Permalink

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May 13, 2023 They Are Propagandizing For Nazis But Won't Tell You That At the start of the recent war in Ukraine 'western' media changed their mind about Ukrainian Nazi groups. What they had condemned over years in their headlines and pieces was first whitewashed and, when was not enough, simply eliminated from the context. As example I had pointed to the changing headlines and descriptions of the fascist Azov militia in the pages of the New York Times. Mar 15 2019: On his flak jacket was a symbol commonly used by the Azov Battalion, a Ukrainian neo-Nazi paramilitary organization. Feb 11 2020: Defenders of the Ukrainian Azov Battalion, which the F.B.I. calls a paramilitary unit notorious for its association with neo-Nazi ideology, accuse us of being part of a Kremlin campaign to demonize the group. Mar 17 2022: Facebook last week said it was making an exception to its anti-extremism policies to allow praise for Ukraines far-right Azov Battalion military unit, strictly in the context of defending Ukraine, or in their role as part of the Ukraine National Guard. Apr 29 2022: These scenes are from videos shared online in recent days by the Azov regiment, a unit in the Ukrainian military, which says they were taken in the mazelike bunkers beneath the sprawling Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine. As I had written previously: What was once "a Ukrainian neo-Nazi paramilitary organization" which even the FBI said is notorious for its association with neo-Nazi ideology was first relabeled as merely "far right" before it became a normal "unit in the Ukrainian military". In yesterday's report about some dubious Ukrainian military success near Bakhmut the Times has taken its next step which is to avoid mentioning Azov at all: May 12 2023: Videos released on Friday by Ukraines 3rd Separate Assault Brigade showed soldiers piling out of armored personnel carriers and assaulting a Russian trench. Forward, forward! a soldier yelled in the video, filmed on a helmet camera. The soldiers dived for cover as Russian fighters threw a hand grenade, then ran forward and threw their own grenade into a Russian bunker. The video could not be independently verified. When one throws "Ukraines 3rd Separate Assault Brigade" into a web search engine one is likely to be pointed to Wikipedia which then reveals the complete name of that military unit: The 3rd Separate Assault Brigade Azov (Ukrainian: 3-    ) is a brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces formed in 2022. ...

History The brigade, which was established in November 2022, emerged from the Azov Special Operations Forces (SSO) and initially comprised veterans of the Azov Regiment. Since than its a fully operational combat unit within the Ukrainian Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. During the war Azov has grown through active recruiting from "the Azov Battalion, a Ukrainian neo-Nazi paramilitary organization" into the Azov Regiment and, after losing in Mariupol, into a brigade size unit. Another paragraph in yesterday's NYT report demonstrates that, despite claims to contrary, the ideology of the Azov militia has not changed at all: The defensive phase of the battle for Bakhmut is ending, said Andriy Biletsky, who has ultimate command of the brigade, among other units in the Ukrainian Army. Now, he said, Ukraine would ramp up the pressure on the Russians from the north and south. Who is this Andriy Biletsky? Well, you will not learn that from the current New York Times which leaves his title and position undefined. Which again leads me to Wikipedia: Andriy Yevheniyovych Biletsky is a Ukrainian far-right politician. He is the leader of political party National Corps. He was the first commander of the volunteer militia Azov Battalion, which he founded in 2014, and a co-founder of the nationalist movement Social-National Assembly. Reading further we can also learn about Biletsky's political views: In 2010, Biletsky said that the Ukrainian nation's mission is to "lead the white races of the world in a final crusade...against Semite-led Untermenschen". There is more to learn about Andriy Biletsky's ideology: In addition to the supremacy of the white race, Biletsky claimed to defend the West, to want the destruction of democracy in Europe, the destruction of capitalism and of the Zionist international, which would be replaced by Nazocracy, which are his own words. As a historian, Biletsky, in addition to the conspiracy theory that was very much a part of his rhetoric, was also committed to revisionism, rewriting the history of the Ukrainian people, whose roots, according to him, lay in the Scythian civilisation, which he linked to the Cossacks, in an attempt to erase the real origin of the Kiev Rus. Going much further than the Nazis, he went so far as to declare that the latter had not taken into account the need to racially cleanse the population, including the Aryan population, in order to eradicate degenerate subjects, such as alcoholism, drug addiction and others. His idea was to take into account the biological character of each family. Going much further than American eugenics, he proposed the total and literal cleansing of the race, stating that the Ukrainian national culture was derived from the people, not from their history, religion, heritage, or language. He even declared that the historical mission of the Ukrainian nation at this critical moment is to lead the white peoples of the world in the last crusade for its existence, and to fight against the sub-humanity led by the Semites. Reading more about him reveals that Biletsky has not only theorized Nazi ideology but has over years committed violent acts against various of the 'enemies' it designates. He had been arrested and jailed for those crimes several times. The Wayback machine has a copy of a booklet (in Russian) with various of his writings. In 2005, for example, he wrote about "What is Ukraine" (pg 17, 18) (machine translation): The nationalists' view of Ukraine is definitely a view into the past and present, and the project of the future - Great Ukraine. Our Ukraine has an area of 945 thousand km2 (i.e., 343 thousand km2 more than today's than today's), inhabited by 60 million people, mostly Ukrainians. These 343 thousand kilometers of land were taken away from the Ukrainian nation in the past: the Kuban and nation: the Kuban and Eastern Slobozhanshchyna (now under Muscovy), Kholmshchyna and Podlasie (under Poland), Beresteyshchyna (under Belarus), Transnistria (under Moldova), Marmoroshchyna (under Romania), Presov region (under Slovakia), Western Transcarpathia (under Hungary). All of these lands, together with modern Ukraine, make up indivisible united Ukraine, which we have no right to trade or nor give up. However, Ukraine is not just a piece of territory in the center of Europe, outlined by the settlement of the Ukrainian nation, it is an absolutely unique alloy, an ethno-geographical organism. Those are a lot of wars that will need to be waged for that 'project of the future' ... I have found no information about Biletsky current official position though the way the NY Times describes him - "who has ultimate command of the brigade, among other units in the Ukrainian Army" - one must assume that he is now a high ranking military officer. From directly describing the ideology of Azov as 'neo-Nazi' the New York Times has moved over several station into avoiding its mentioning. It quotes its leader without identifying him and without giving any context. But it will happily describe the pre-produced propaganda videos his neo-Nazis send to their press contacts. Posted by b on May 13, 2023 at 15:53 UTC | Permalink Comments
May 13, 2023

Ukraine Open Thread 2023-114

Only for news & views directly related to the Ukraine conflict.

The current open thread for other issues is here.

Please stick to the topic. Contribute facts. Do not attack other commentators.

Posted by b on May 13, 2023 at 15:59 UTC | Permalink

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Drilling activity slowed for a second week, led by a decline in natural gas rigs that was the steepest in seven years.

Oilfield services firm Baker Hughes said Friday the US rig count it has released weekly since 1944 sank 17 rigs  the steepest decline since June 2020  to 731, the lowest since last June. The count is still 17 rigs or 2% over the 714 counted last year.

The number of rigs drilling for crude oil dropped two to 586, the lowest since last June but 23 more than the 563 rigs drilling for crude last May. The number of rigs drilling for natural gas fell 16 rigs, the biggest weekly drop since February 2016, to 141, the lowest since last April and eight rigs lower than the 149 drilling for natural gas last year.

Texas dropped two rigs to 366, still 21 more than the 345 at work statewide a year ago. New Mexico added one rig for 108. Alaska (1), Louisiana (4), North Dakota (1), Ohio (1), Oklahoma (3), Pennsylvania (2), West Virginia (1) and Wyoming (4) joined Texas as producing states to see declines. Colorado (1) and Utah (1) joined New Mexico as producing states to see an increase.

The Permian Basin lost three rigs, dropping to 353 for the week, still 18 more than 335 at work around the region last year. No major producing basin saw an increase in the rig count and the Haynesville led declines by dropping five rigs for the week.

Lea County, New Mexico, was the most active county in the Permian, leaping five rigs  the biggest gain of the week  to 54 rigs. Eddy County, New Mexico, was right behind with 53 rigs, down three  the steepest decline of the week.

Reeves County dropped one rig for 43, while Martin County added a rig for 42. Midland County also added a rig for 33 rigs at work within county lines for the week. Loving County reported 26 rigs for a third week. Upton County had 15 rigs, down two. Howard and Ward counties each reported 12 rigs, down one for Howard and unchanged for Ward. Andrews County lost one rig for 11 and Reagan County reported 10 rigs for a third week.

Chaves County, New Mexico, Crane County and Hockley County saw no activity this week with each losing the one rig at work within their counties. Gaines County saw renewed activity with one rig active in the county.

Enverus Foundations, part of the energy-focused Software as a Service firm Enverus, said its US rig count rig count only reached as high as 786 during the week ended May 10, down by eight rigs from the previous weeks high point. The count is down 5%, or 43 rigs, in the last month and down 2% year over year.

Among major plays, the Permian dropped three rigs to 342. The Gulf Coast had the largest decline, six rigs, to hit 89. The Appalachia slid by two to 51, and the DJ Basin lost a rig to land at 17. Only two plays did not see a decline in rigs. The Anadarko and Williston basins both each added one rig to reach 63 and 39, respectively.
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LAGUNA HEIGHTS, Texas (AP)  One person was killed and a curfew was imposed after a powerful tornado tore through a community near the southern tip of Texas before dawn Saturday, damaging dozens of residences and knocking down power lines, authorities said.

At least 10 others were hospitalized, including two people who were listed in critical condition, said Tom Hushen, the emergency management coordinator for Cameron County. Many residents also suffered cuts and bruises.

A nighttime curfew for those 17 and under was issued by Eddie Trevino Jr., the Cameron County judge, and is expected to end May 16 to mitigate the effects of this public health and safety emergency. The order also forbids non-residents of Laguna Heights from entering its residential areas.

The tornado hit at about 4 a.m. as most people were in their homes asleep in the unincorporated community of Laguna Heights, located on the mainland across from South Padre Island, off the Gulf of Mexico. The county has among the highest poverty rates in Texas and is dotted with substandard housing.

There was no advance warning. Instead, the first warning of a tornado went out at the same time it was touching ground, said Barry Goldsmith, a warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Brownsville.

With hurricanes we have the benefit of getting some advance warning; we know its probably on its way, Trevino said during a Saturday press conference. With a tornado, like Barry mentioned, its not a common scenario unless we have a hurricane/tropical cyclone in the area. So, we didnt have the benefit of a warning."

"The hour didnt help, Trevino added.

Roberto Flores, 42, died after being basically crushed as a result of the damage to his mobile home," Trevino said.

The storm was clocked with wind speeds of 86-110 mph (138-177 kph) and was categorized as an EF1 tornado, according to the weather service. It lasted only about two to four minutes but it ravaged the area.

As many as 60 homes were damaged. The county judge signed a disaster declaration, and a temporary shelter in the nearby city of Port Isabel was providing help to 38 people.

Apparently it went straight through that community, said county sheriff Eric Garza. Individuals dont want to leave their houses because theyre afraid that somebody will go in there and start stealing stuff.

Garza said his department is helping provide security for the area.

Laguna Heights is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of the U.S.-Mexico border at Brownsville and is not prone to having tornados, although this spring has been active, said weather service meteorologist Angelica Soria. The area is also gearing up for the start of hurricane season.

The Texas tornado follows an outbreak of dozens of twisters in Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado that caused damage but no reported deaths.

___

Gonzalez reported from McAllen, Texas, and Miller reported from Oklahoma City.
ISTANBUL (AP)  Turkish politicians held their final rallies on the last hours of campaigning before Saturday, the eve of pivotal presidential and parliamentary elections that could significantly shape the NATO member's future, before a so-called propaganda ban went into effect.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is facing the toughest challenge ever in his two decades of power, spoke at three neighborhood rallies in Istanbul, Turkeys biggest city.

His main challenger is Kemal Kilicdaroglu of the pro-secular, center-left CHP (the Republican Peoples Party), who is the joint candidate of six opposition parties. He held his final rally in the capital, Ankara, on Friday in the pouring rain. On Saturday, he and some of his supporters visited the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey and of the CHP.

On Friday, Erdogan dismissed speculation that he wouldn't cede power if he lost, calling the question very ridiculous. In an interview with more than a dozen Turkish broadcasters, Erdogan said he came to power through democracy and would act in line with the democratic process.

If our nation decides to make such a different decision, we will do exactly whats required by democracy and theres nothing else to do, he said.

Erdogan said Saturday that he viewed the elections as a celebration of democracy for our countrys future. He showcased his government's defense and infrastructure investments and aired videos trying to undermine his opponent as incapable of leading Turkey, while claiming he was colluding with terror groups. He also argued the opposition was pro-LGBTQ and therefore anti-family in a now regular targeting of LGBTQ people in Turkey.

The oppositions campaign was continued by Istanbul's popular mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, who held final rallies in the city to call on people to vote for Kilicdaroglu. As in previous elections, mainstream media coverage of campaign events remained unequal, with Erdogan's rallies getting constant live airtime.

On Friday, Kilicdaroglu asked tens of thousands gathered to hear his final speech to go vote on Sunday to change Turkeys destiny. He said he was ready to bring democracy to Turkey, a major criticism of Erdogan who has cracked down on dissent in recent years and concentrated most powers of the state in his hands.

We will show the whole world that our beautiful country is one that can bring democracy through democratic means, he said. Though Kilicdaroglu and his party have lost all past presidential and parliamentary elections since he took the helm of the party in 2010, opinion polls have showed he has a slight lead over Erdogan.

Voter turnout in Turkey is traditionally strong, showing continued belief in this type of civic participation in a country where freedom of expression and assembly have been suppressed.

If no presidential candidate secures more than 50% of the vote, a runoff election will be held on May 28. Turkey will also be electing parliamentarians to its 600-seat assembly Sunday.

Turkeys Supreme Electoral Board said it decided that votes cast for another presidential candidate, Muharrem Ince, who pulled out of the race this week would be counted as valid and that his withdrawal would not be considered until a potential second round. Analysts had predicted Ince voters would shift to Kilicdaroglu.
Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip and Israel agreed on a ceasefire beginning at 10 p.m. local time, Egypts Extra News TV channel reported on Saturday, Trend reports citing TASS.

According to it, the agreement was reached with active mediation by Cairo.
FILE PHOTO: A United States Postal Service (USPS) mailbox is seen in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., May 9, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo
Bees are a welcome site in our gardens. Without the help of bees  and other pollinators  pollinating many of our plants, we wouldnt be able to enjoy myriad flowers, fruits, and vegetables we have in our landscapes.

Despite all their benefits, one bee species may not always be a welcome sight, particularly around decks and eaves: carpenter bees.

Carpenter bee or bumble bee?

Eastern carpenter bees (Xylocopa virginica) are often confused for bumble bees because they are similar in size (3/4 to 7/8 inch) and appearance. However, carpenter bees have bare, shiny abdomens, while bumble bees abdomens are hairy.

In addition to their appearance, carpenter and bumble bees nests also differ. Bumble bees are social insects that build their nests in existing cavities, often in the ground. Meanwhile, carpenter bees are typically solitary and build their nests above ground in wood.

Carpenter bee life cycle

Carpenter bees will over winter in tunnels as young adults. They will emerge and mate in the spring. Afterward, the females will either enlarge existing tunnels or begin to build new tunnels. If a female starts constructing a new tunnel, she chews a nearly perfect circle about  inch in diameter. She will tunnel straight into the wood before making a 90-degree turn and burrowing with the grain of the wood.

Females will lay eggs in the tunnels, and each egg will be sealed off into individual chambers using a mixture of wood pulp and saliva. The eggs will hatch, and the larvae will feed and pupate; new adults will emerge in August or September.

They will feed and then go back into the tunnels to overwinter.

Whats the problem?

Carpenter bees get a bad name because they build their nests in wood, often in outdoor wood structures such as decks or the eaves of homes. They prefer soft woods like pine, fir, redwood, and cedar. Unlike termites, they do not feed on the wood, they are simply excavating it to create a nest.

Typically, carpenter bee holes dont cause serious damage; it is primarily cosmetic. Occasionally, if the tunnels get large enough (used for several years), or if multiple nests are built in the same piece of wood (over several years), it may compromise the integrity of the wood, and it will need to be replaced.

What can be done?

Before carpenter bees become a problem, you can deter nesting by painting or varnishing exposed wood. Carpenter bees find painted surfaces less attractive than raw wood. If wood has been damaged, it can be replaced with painted wood or a non-wood substitute (composite, vinyl, aluminum, etc.).

If you feel you need to get rid of existing carpenter bees, insecticides can be used. The best time to treat is in the spring when bees are first being observed. Individual tunnel openings can be treated with an insecticidal spray or dust. Make sure to read and follow all label directions.

A week or so after treatment, the holes should be plugged and painted to prevent them from being used again.

Male carpenter bees can be a nuisance in the spring. They will establish territories near nests and flowers and aggressively defend their territory from intruders, whether it be other male carpenter bees, pets, or people. Fortunately, male bees lack a sting and are not capable of stinging.
Five west-central Illinois residents are among employees honored with 2023 Distinguished Service Awards from Lincoln Land Community College.

They were recognized Wednesday during a ceremony in Springfield.

Elizabeth Conrady of Palmyra, an instructor of agriculture, was presented with effective teaching practices credentials from the Association of College and University Educators.

Susan Rush of Jacksonville, an education services representative, was honored for retiring after 11 years of service.

Honored for 25 years of service were Lyndsey Craigmiles-Brooks of White Hall, an administrative assistant for LLCC-Medical District, and John Paul Henry of New Berlin, a professor of math.

Lisa Avendano of Virden, a writing center specialist, was recognized for 20 years of service.
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NEW BERLIN  New Berlin High School choir students will have the somewhat foreign experience of performing with a nationally known rock band in front of a 7,000-plus audience.

The choir was selected to perform "I Want to Know What Love Is" with Foreigner on Tuesday at the Bank of Springfield Center after winning an online competition through radio station WNNS-FM in Springfield.

The choir that will perform is a mix of 25 junior high and high school students, choir director Melissa Charneski said.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these kids," Charneski said. "To be on the stage with the band is something that doesn't happen every day."

New Berlin defeated Pawnee in the final round of the contest with roughly 810 votes out of about 1,400.

For the competition, each choir recorded a video of it performing and uploaded it online for people to watch and vote on. The New Berlin choir performed Foreigner's "Cold As Ice" as its song.

The students have been practicing the song they will perform with the band since they were announced as the winners earlier this month.

Junior Asya Litherland said she and her family are big fans of Foreigner.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I'm so excited." Litherland said. "Being up there with a famous rock band and feeling what they feel will be amazing."

Foreigner, founded in 1976 by Mick Jones, is known for such hits as I Want to Know What Love Is, Cold as Ice and Hot Blooded, among others. Each of its first six studio albums and a 1982 best-of set went platinum  or better  and the band landed 14 top 20 singles on Billboards Hot 100 charts, according to Billboard.com.

Sophomore Paige Nation said she is excited to perform with the band.

"I'm a big fan of Foreigner, have been for a long time," Nation said. "They are an amazing band."

Nation never expected to be able to perform on a large stage, she said.

"This is a chance for us to see what it's like to be a big artist and really see what we can do and accomplish," Nation said.

The students will in the audience, watching the concert until the end, when they will be invited on stage.

"We will do a run through with the band before the show and that'll be it," Charneski said. "They will stay and watch the entire show, see how things operate."

Charneski hopes the students have fun and really enjoy the experience, she said.

"The biggest take-away for the students will be to perform on stage in front of an audience of thousands of people," Charneski said. "I want them to soak it all in and really enjoy it."

In addition to having students perform on the stage with the band, Foreigner also is donating $500 to New Berlin's choir program.
When a massive dust storm wreaked havoc on Interstate 55 in early May, the scenes were reminiscent of the dust storms of the 1930s when millions of tons of topsoil flew east because of powerful winds and severe drought.

While there are similarities between the two events, it's highly unlikely the central United States will ever experience the same extended high-level winds that carried an estimated 350 million tons of soil from the Great Plains to the eastern seaboard in May 1934.

Dust storms reentered the public conscience after seven people died and 37 were injured May 1 in a massive crash during a dust storm that closed both lanes of Interstate 55 between Farmersville and Divernon. The same section of I-55 was closed for several hours May 2 because of high winds and low visibility.

So, was this dust storm an anomaly or a sign of things to come?

"It was an unfortunate event  kind of a perfect storm with a dry spring, wind out of that direction and the ability of that soil to be picked up. If we had an inch of rain the day prior, none of that would have happened," said University of Illinois Extension State Master Naturalist Duane Friend of Jacksonville.

"Dust storms don't occur very often in Illinois, but with the windy and dry conditions we have had this spring, some areas have seen the top few inches of soil dry out, making it easier for winds to pick up soil particles, especially when winds gust to more than 50 mph," Friend said.

"The winds weren't associated with thunderstorms; just straight-line winds and it stirred up dust. It was unfortunate where it occurred," said Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford.

"That part of Illinois is particularly flat without major windbreaks. Hedgerows have been taken down, so the wind can run for miles without hitting obstructions. This was nothing unusual  this happens every five or six years," Ford said.

Ford said all the right ingredients were present when the winds came, and the event had nothing to do with climate change. In fact, Ford said, because of climate change, April has become wetter in Illinois.

"We can attach to climate change the fact springs are wetter and the chance for isolated areas of unusually heavy rain can occur. We have dry Aprils off and on, and April and May are windy parts of the year," Ford said.

"Look at some of the things that have happened. Chatham got eight inches of rain on Sunday. Chances of any place getting isolated heavy rain is how things are changing because of climate," Ford said.

"Historical trends show it's less likely we get a dry period in April and May. But even with a wetter climate, we can still get these kinds of events. Nothing tells us this is something that will become more frequent," Ford said.

"In the 1960s and 1970s, when farmers moldboard plowed, we had dust storms every spring. They were common where I grew up in southern Mason County," Friend said.

"When we got into conservation tillage and left more residue on the ground, those dust storms went away. With conservation tillage, these events have become rarer, and people are not used to seeing dust storms anymore, which is why what happened May 1 is unusual," Friend said.

Friend said there are no numbers available for how many farmers practice conservation tillage, which leaves residue on the field, but the great majority practice it. The move toward conservation tillage was an economic maneuver and reduction of dust storms was a side benefit.

"It takes a lot of time and horsepower to plow. Even with conservation tillage, a farmer can cover more acreage quicker and reduce the potential for erosion. With no-till and cover crops, it takes things to a higher level. Moldboard plowing is almost unheard of anymore," Friend said.

"There is no real comparison of the 1930s dust storms and today's dust storms. The same ingredients were present in both events  loose and dry soil with high winds create dust storms. The 1930s was unparalleled with several years of drought," Ford said.

"Agricultural practices now, compared to what they were in the 1930s, are vastly different. There has been adoption of responsible ag practices. There is not as much deep tillage, there are crop rotation practices and cover crops," Ford said.

"That is especially true out west in Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma because that was where the problems were worst in the 1930s. So, the event we had was not as severe because there were better ag practices," Ford said.

On the safety side, Ford said there are studies that show deaths due to blowing dust are underreported.

That assertion is supported by the fact the Illinois State Patrol does not have statistics related to dust-storm deaths. However, there have been six crash reports statewide since 2021 carrying the weather code "blowing sand/soil/dirt," according to Josh Korando, a member of the state police public information office.

"As opposed to tornadoes, there is not a great record of dust storms. I can tell you how many people died in tornadoes year by year, but not those due to blowing dust," Ford said.

"Dust storms that reduce driving visibility to zero are a rare occurrence in Illinois," Korando said. "The ISP has been in communication with the Illinois Department of Agriculture in an attempt to learn more about why this occurred in this particular area on I-55."

Korando said if drivers encounter a dust storm, they should slow down, turn on their headlights and hazard lights, and try to get off the highway.

"If you are not at an exit, try to get off to the side of the road. Trying to remain as visible as possible and out of harm's way is the key," Korando said.

Ironically, the rich and productive soil Illinois farmers enjoy today was made possible thousands of years ago by raging dust storms.

"Right after the last Ice Age ended about 14,000 years ago, huge long-lasting dust storms covered much of the Midwest. Large amounts of sediment had been deposited in the Illinois and Mississippi river valleys from torrential floods from the ice melt. When the sediment dried out, this fine, floury textured material, called loess, blew out from the river valleys," Friend said.

"Dunes 25 feet or higher next to the valleys were created. Blowing out for hundreds of miles, more distant areas were covered with two to four feet of this material. After several millennia, this wind-blown loess became the incredibly productive prairie soil we have today," Friend said.

In the meantime, Ford said there is work that needs to be done to understand what happened from a weather and climate standpoint on May 1.

"I will be reviewing what happened and how unusual it was along with doing background research into some of our more notorious dust storms. We want to see if we can determine what led to this and the factors that made it happen," said Ford, who hopes to finish the study by the end of the year.
Incoming rocket sirens are sounding in towns close to the border with the Gaza Strip, an hour and 12 minutes into a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Trend reports citing The Times of Israel.

The alerts go off in Nirim and Ein Hashlosha.

There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage in the attack.
Jacksonville Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Malkye A.L. Haynes, 19, homeless, was arrested at 6:52 p.m. Thursday in the 400 block of West College Avenue on a charge of criminal damage to property and two counts of resisting or obstructing a peace officer. The criminal damage charge was related to an April 17 report of a window being busted out in the 300 block of South Fayette Street.

 Shawna M. Werries, 32, and Steven R. Holder, 32, both of 1180 N. Diamond St., were arrested on disorderly conduct charges at 12:07 p.m. Thursday in the 900 block of South Main Street. They were accused of following a person's vehicle and trying to start an altercation.

 A 16-year-old boy was arrested at 8:19 a.m. Thursday on a charge of aggravated battery involving a teacher or school employee after police said he pushed a teacher at Garrison School, 936 W. Michigan Ave.
One-third of employees admit to quiet quitting their jobs, but the number is likely much higher. A new study finds more than three-quarters of all workers are hedging their workplace bets.

Quiet quitting, which gained momentum on social media and beyond, refers to doing the bare minimum at work instead of going above and beyond.

The practice is reverberating through the workplace loud and clear as employees clock in less than 40 hours a week, call in sick more frequently, or start the workday hungover.

About 78% of employees have taken actions that constitute quiet quitting, according to a survey of 1,000 full-time workers commissioned by Real Estate Witch.

Employees who quiet quit are typically unhappy and underappreciated at work. Although 86% of employees care about their company, 39% think their company doesn't care about them.

They may not be wrong. Nearly half (43%) of workers said they worked harder in the past year, but of those, 29% weren't recognized or rewarded for their efforts, according to Real Estate Witch.

That directly leads to 55% of workers coming to the conclusion that hard work will not help them get ahead in today's workplace. They may be less likely to work extra hours or take on extra tasks as a result.

Employees who don't feel appreciated may find it challenging to stay motivated at work.

"Self-motivation is essential, but the employee can only feel motivated once the company takes a few steps," claims Varsha Parmar, an HR manager with more than four years of experience in IT recruitment.

Management style may be responsible for unmotivated workers. About 57% of full-time employees said their managers are to blame for their lack of effort.

Omer Usanmaz, CEO and co-founder of Qooper Mentoring & Learning Software, believes open and authentic communication with employees can help inspire them to work hard.

"Listen to employees' suggestions and input, value their well-being, and create a positive, healthy work environment," he points out.

With more duties and responsibilities, burnt-out managers may also turn to quiet quitting instead of resigning, but as leaders, they bear the responsibility of creating a nurturing and motivating environment for their employees, Usanmaz says.

Quiet quitting can be costly and disruptive. If large segments of the workforce quiet quit, it could negatively affect a company's performance and lead to layoffs. To incentivize workers and prevent potential problems, greater flexibility could be the answer.

Liam Liu, chief marketing officer at ParcelPanel, says, "One way of motivating my workforce is by allowing employees to exercise flexibility - hybrid work schedules, four-day workweeks, and part-time employment for the willing."

The workforce is dominated by millennials and Gen Z, who value their mental health, work-life balance, and remote work that allows them to move homes or travel more easily. For many, a job is just a way to pay the bills.

Only 45% of millennials and 33% of Gen Z said their job is a core part of their identity, compared to 56% of boomers. Companies that understand and appreciate this are more likely to create an environment without quiet quitters.

The location where employees work is increasingly important as well. Although working from home eliminates commutes and allows for a more casual work environment, face-to-face time in the office could improve the negative sentiment employees feel toward managers and employers.

Surprisingly, according to Real Estate Witch, 40% of employees who work in an office said it's their ideal workplace setting. Going into the office delineates work life and home life, and having conversations with managers without a screen could create a sense of camaraderie.

Data shows that employees who work in an office are 19% less likely to say their employer doesn't care about them and 14% less likely to feel stressed at work.

Still, workers have different needs and varying responsibilities outside of work. If needed, employers should be open to changing employees' work schedules and evaluating what type of setting creates the happiest, most productive workers.

Prioritizing office work while also giving employees ownership over their hours could be a winning combination. This gives employees a voice, which could motivate them to work at their full capacity.
Nicole Watson has cleared one more hurdle in her quest to become Super Mom.

The Woodson mother of three had to wait until noon Friday to find out she still is in contention for the title of Super Mom, a nationwide contest operated by colossal.org as part of a fundraising campaign for Children's Miracle Network. She finished first in her group.

The competition is being conducted in waves and Watson's latest win puts her in the quarterfinal round, she said. Voting in this round begins at noon Monday and will continue through May 25. The top vote-getter in the quarterfinal round will advance to the semifinals.

The winner of the title Super Mom 2023 gets $20,000, a two-page feature in Woman's World magazine, and a weekend trip to Palm Springs, California. Watson said she would donate any prize money back to Children's Miracle Network.

"This is so cool that all of this money is being raised for the kids," Watson said. "I'm excited to be as far in as I am. People from around here have been supportive, but I have votes from New Mexico, New York and California, too."

Watson is a supply supervisor at Jacksonville Correctional Center, where she has worked for 24 years; she also serves as a captain for Woodson Fire Department; is an EMT for Murrayville-Woodson EMS; and is an active volunteer for several other organizations.

Watson and her husband, Cameron, have three children, Tanner, 24; Kendyl, 20; and Finn, 17.

Those who want to support Watson can vote on Facebook by searching for "Super Mom competition" or going to bit.ly/42jRtLY.
Turkiye may take steps toward making a constitutional amendment to change the 50%+1 vote requirement in presidential polls after Sunday's elections, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday, Trend reports citing Daily Sabah.

"A step could be taken regarding this matter. It requires a constitutional amendment and we may take action after the elections," the president said, in response to a question about if he would be interested in changing the law that requires candidates to receive over 50% of the vote, which forced political parties to forge alliances.

On June 24, 2018, Turkiye officially switched its administrative structure through an election and embraced the presidential system, leaving the parliamentary system behind.

Erdogan also said Turkiye has favorable relations with both the United States and Russia.

Turkiye is "friends with America and Russia and those who are spiteful toward us in the West," Erdogan said during a live broadcast with several Turkish television channels ahead of Sunday's presidential and parliamentary elections.

Erdogan's remarks came a day after Kemal Kilicdaroglu, joint candidate for the six-party opposition Nation Alliance, on Thursday accused Russia of being behind video content allegedly discrediting candidates for the presidency in the upcoming May 14 elections.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Friday rejected accusations, saying there can be no question of any interference of Russia in the Turkish elections, and "those who spread such rumors are liars."

Russia values ties with Turkiye because it takes "a very responsible, sovereign and thoughtful position," he added.

In Turkiye, the presidential and parliamentary elections will take place on May 14.

On the presidential ballot, voters will choose between Erdogan, Kilicdaroglu and Sinan Ogan. Muharrem Ince, another presidential contender, withdrew from the race on Thursday.

When asked about criticism that he would not leave office following an opposition election win, Erdogan said that he would consider any result that comes out of the ballot box as "legitimate."

Earlier on Friday, Erdogan blasted Kilicdaroglu over his remarks on Russia.

Kilicdaroglu "is attacking (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and Russia," Erdogan told a youth event in Istanbul.

Recalling a 2019 interview by U.S. President Joe Biden who said the U.S. could support opposition elements in Turkiye to change the tide of political developments, Erdogan said: "But you are helpless, a loser."

"But when you attack Putin now, I'm sorry, I won't accept it," he said.

"Because our relations with Russia are not behind our relations with the U.S. at the moment," he said, adding that Turkiye's foreign trade volume with Russia is more than the U.S.
Pakistani army says raid on militants in southwest leaves 7 troops, 6 militants, civilian dead View Photo

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP)  A raid on militants in Pakistans southwest in response to an earlier attack on soldiers left seven troops, six militants and a civilian dead, the army said Saturday.

The operation continued for two days after a group of militants attacked a camp of soldiers in the Qila Saifullah district of northern Balochistan province early Friday. The militants also held hostage three families, including women and children, at the residential area of the army camp, the army said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for that attack.

A statement by the militarys media wing said seven soldiers, six militants and a civilian were killed in the ensuing raid. A woman was also wounded during the operation.

The  operation involved a hostage rescue operation as well to save three families on a residential block. The terrorists did not even spare children of their horrendous approach, it said.

The army said intelligence follow-up was in progress to trace the militants connections and arrest their facilitators.
Zelenskyy meets Pope Francis at Vatican and seeks backing for Ukraines peace plan View Photo

ROME (AP)  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had private talks with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday, later saying he sought support for Ukraines peace plan from the pontiff, who in the past has offered to try to help end the full-scale war launched by Russia a year ago.

Zelenskyy held his hand over his heart and said it was a great honor to meet with the pope. Francis, using a cane for his knee problem, came to greet the Ukrainian president before ushering him into a papal studio near the Vaticans audience hall.

In a tweet after the 40-minute audience, Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to Francis for his personal attention to the tragedy of millions of Ukrainians. He said he spoke with the pontiff about the tens of thousands of deported (Ukrainian) children. We must make every effort to return them home.

Last month, Ukraines prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, asked the pope to help get children returned from Russia to Ukraine. But the Vaticans statement Saturday made no mention of the request.

Instead, the Vatican said the two men spoke about Ukraines humanitarian and political situation provoked by the ongoing war.

The pope assured his constant prayer, paid witness to by his many public appeals and by his continued invoking of the Lord for peace, since February of last year, the Vatican said, a reference to the Russian invasion that began Feb. 24, 2022.

The meeting came as Russias defense ministry said Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles delivered to Ukraine by the United Kingdom this week damaged unspecified civilian enterprises in Luhansk province in Ukraines far east. Luhansk authorities separately said another missile strike hit the regional capital, wounding an elderly woman.

Two Russian Mi-8 helicopters and an Su-34 fighter-bomber crashed Saturday in the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, state news agency Tass and a Telegram channel close to the Russian defense ministry reported; the newspaper Kommersant cited reports of two fighter planes crashing. The causes of the crashes were not immediately disclosed, but concern in Bryansk is growing about cross-border attacks from Ukraine.

Some Ukrainian units continue to push forward near Bakhmut, the commander of Ukraines land forces said Saturday, just a day after Ukrainian commanders said their troops recaptured territory at the scene of the wars longest and bloodiest battle. Our soldiers are moving forward in some sectors of the front, and the enemy is losing equipment and manpower, Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Telegram.

Zelenskyy also said that he asked the pope to condemn Russian crimes in Ukraine because there can be no equality between the victim and the aggressor.

I also talked about our Peace Formula as the only effective algorithm for achieving a just peace, Zelenskyy said. Later, in an interview on Italian state TV, the Ukrainian leader said the pope knows my position. The war is in Ukraine, that is why it has to be Ukraines plan to bring peace.

Zelenskyys 10-point plan would establish a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes. It would also create a European-Atlantic security architecture with guarantees for Ukraine, restore Ukraines damaged power infrastructure and ensure safety around Europes largest nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia.

Earlier in the day, Zelenskyy received from Italian officials pledges of open-ended military and financial support as well as stronger backing for Ukraines cherished aim to join the European Union.

The message is clear and simple, Premier Giorgia Meloni said after a meeting with Zelenskyy that lasted more than an hour. The future of Ukraine is a future of peace and freedom. And its the future of Europe, a future of peace and freedom, for which there are no other possible solutions.

The premier, who staunchly supports military aid for Ukraine, said Italy would back the country 360 degrees for all the time necessary and beyond.

Separately, Italian President Sergio Mattarella told Zelenskyy, We are fully at your side, Mattarella told Zelenskyy as he welcomed him. Later, presidential palace sources said Mattarella assured his guest that Italy would continue to support Ukraine militarily and financially, as well as with reconstruction and humanitarian aid.

Since the war began, Italy has contributed about 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in military and financial aid, as well as humanitarian assistance.

Zelenskyy is believed to be heading to Berlin next for what would be his first visit to Germany since the war began. The exact schedule was not publicly announced because of security concerns.

At the end of April, Francis told reporters that the Vatican was involved in a behind-the-scene peace mission but gave no details. Neither Russia nor Ukraine has confirmed such an initiative.

He has said he would like to go to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, if such a visit could be coupled with one to Moscow, in hopes a papal pilgrimage could further the cause of peace.

There has been speculation about whether the Vatican could play some mediating role. But in the Italian TV interview on Saturday, Zelenskyy indicated mediation in general would be impossible. You cant mediate with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, he said.

The German government, meanwhile, said it was providing Ukraine with additional military aid worth more than 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Berlin wanted to show with the latest package of arms that Germany is serious in its support for Ukraine.

Germany will provide all the help it can, as long as it takes, he said.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

 Officials in the Ternopil region about 350 kilometers (220 miles) west of Kyiv on Saturday night reported a strike on an industrial area. No casualities or other details were immediately stated.

 Russian shelling on Saturday killed two civilians, including a 15-year-old girl, and wounded 10 more in Kostyantynivka, a city less than 30 kilometers (18 miles) west of Bakhmut, the regional prosecutors office said.

 Russian forces on Friday and overnight resumed their shelling of Ukraines northeastern Kharkiv region, killing a civilian, local governor Oleh Syniehubov said. Four civilians were killed over the same period in Donetsk province in the east, said governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.

 A massive Russian barrage overnight damaged an energy facility in Ukraines western Khmelnytskyi region, but didnt affect the power supply, according to the Ukrainian energy ministry,

___

Frank Jordans in Berlin, Joanna Kozlowska in London, and Nicole Winfield and Gianfranco Stara in Rome contributed to this report.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

By FRANCES DEMILIO

Associated Press
GUATEMALA CITY (AP)  A Guatemalan newspaper known for hard-hitting investigations of government corruption and whose founder is currently on trial, announced Friday that it will shut down.

El Periodico had stopped its print edition in November, but had continued to publish as a digital outlet.

Jose Ruben Zamora is on trial for money laundering and other charges, allegations he has said were trumped up to silence an independent media outlet that has been critical of President Alejandro Giammatteis administration.

El Periodico will cease to publish May 15, the news outlet said in a statement.

Prosecutors accuse Zamora of money laundering related to a deposit of about $30,000 he asked someone else to make for him. Zamoras relatives have said it was a donation from a supporter to cover the day-to-day costs of the paper after advertising fell off under government pressure. Zamora has said he didnt deposit the money in the newspapers account because the donor didnt want to be identified.

In addition to Zamora, nine other journalists and columnists from El Periodico are under investigation for alleged obstruction of justice.

Our team resisted 287 days of persecution, political and economic pressure, El Periodico said in reference to the time since Zamora was jailed last year.

The Guatemalan Association of Journalists and human rights activists have called the case a politically motivated campaign against Zamora because of his anti-corruption efforts.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday the announcement comes after 10 months of judicial harassment of the newspaper, its founder and journalists.

The Guatemalan government is responsible for this situation, Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJ program director said.

By SONIA PEREZ D.

Associated Press
Shelby Lynn Bernice Craig missing juvenile View Photo

San Andreas, CA  Missing juvenile Shelby Lynn Bernice Craig was found safe in Idaho.

This morning, Craig was located by the Kootenai (Cou-ta-knee) County Sheriffs Office. Calaveras County Sheriffs investigators reached out to them after detectives used investigative resources to track Craig to a location in that state.

Craig was reported missing on Saturday (5/6/23) evening, and investigators reported that she might have been interacting online with an adult male in Nevada, as earlier reported here. Sheriffs spokesperson Lt. Greg Stark detailed that she actually went missing from her San Andreas home on Friday night and was last seen around 9 p.m. He added that Craig was picked up by a male individual and fled with him to Idaho. He was not identified, and it is unclear whether he was taken into custody.

Craig is currently in the custody of child protective services in Kootenai County while awaiting transportation back to San Andreas, where she will be reunited with her family and loved ones. Lt. Stark added, The many aspects of this case and the persons involved in it are still under investigation. No further information will be released.
DeSantis in Iowa warns of GOP culture of losing as weather sidelines Trumps event in the state

DeSantis in Iowa warns of GOP culture of losing as weather sidelines Trumps event in the state View Photo

SIOUX CENTER, Iowa (AP)  Decrying a Republican culture of losing, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sought Saturday to weaken former President Donald Trumps grip on the GOP as tornado warnings interrupted a collision of leading presidential prospects in battleground Iowa.

DeSantis, expected to announce his 2024 presidential campaign any day, briefly flipped burgers and pork chops at an afternoon picnic fundraiser in Sioux Center that drew hundred of conservatives to the northwest corner of the state. From the podium, the 44-year-old governor highlighted his eagerness to embrace conservative cultural fights and sprinkled his remarks with indirect jabs at Trump.

Governing is not about entertaining. Governing is not about building a brand or talking on social media and virtue signaling, said DeSantis, who wore a blue button-down shirt without a tie or jacket. Its ultimately about winning and producing results.

Trump, a candidate since November, had hoped to demonstrate his political strength with a large outdoor rally in Des Moines, the capital, later in the day. He canceled the appearance hours before its scheduled start time due to a tornado warning.

Roughly 200 supporters had already gathered at the venue.

I feel like its still Trumps time, said Robert Bushard, 76, who said he drove about four hours from St. Paul, Minnesota to see the former president. Of DeSantis, he said, Hed be a good president after Trump.

Republican primary voters across the nation are sizing up DeSantis and Trump, two Republican powerhouses who are among a half dozen GOP candidates already in the race or expected to announce imminently. Trump is well ahead of his rivals in early national polls, while DeSantis is viewed widely as the strongest potential challenger.

Trump was hoping to return to the comfort of the campaign stage after a tumultuous week.

On Tuesday, a civil jury in New York found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming advice columnist E. Jean Carroll and awarded her $5 million. A day later, during a contentious CNN town hall, he repeatedly insulted Carroll, reasserted lies about his 2020 election loss and minimized the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

DeSantis has burnished his reputation as a conservative governor willing to push hard for conservative policies and even take on a political fight with Disney, which he highlighted in Sioux Center. But so far, he hasnt shown the same zest for taking on Trump, who has been almost singularly focused on tearing down DeSantis for months.

On Saturday, DeSantis avoided Trumps legal entanglements or his falsehoods about the 2020 election, instead highlighting the GOPs recent string of electoral losses. The Republican Party has struggled in every national election since Trumps 2016 victory.

We must reject the culture of losing that has impacted our party in recent years. The time for excuses is over, DeSantis said. If we get distracted, if we focus the election on the past or on other side issues, then I think the Democrats are going to beat us again.

Its uncertain whether DeSantis political successes in Florida can be replicated on the national stage.

Even before he formally enters the race, hes already facing questions about his ability to court donors and woo voters.

The Iowa visit, his second in two months, was expected to help address concerns about his sometimes awkward personal appeal as he met with Republican officials, donors and volunteers, all under the glare of the national media. But DeSantis devoted little time  at least compared with most of the GOPs other White House contenders  for selfies or handshakes in Sioux Center, where more than 600 people had gathered to see him at an event billed as a family picnic for U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra.

DeSantis left most of the politicking to his allied super political action committee, which had set up a table where prospective supporters for his yet-to-be-announced presidential campaign could sign up.

The road outside the museum was flanked with DeSantis 2024 campaign signs.

Trumps team had expected more than 5,000 to attend the rally at an outdoor amphitheater in downtown Des Moines for the purpose of collecting information on would-be supporters and encouraging them to commit to Trump.

Trumps 2024 Iowa campaign, unlike his rag-tag 2016 second-place Iowa effort, is putting together a more disciplined, data-driven operation. The Saturday event was aimed at encouraging attendees to sign up with the campaign on a website so the campaign could maintain contact with them, keep them posted on how and where to caucus, and recruit campaign volunteers.

In a social media post, Trump promised to reschedule the event. Shortly afterward, the campaign released a list of endorsements from more than 150 Iowa elected officials and activists across all of the states 99 counties.

And as they compete for support, the emerging rivalry with DeSantis has turned increasingly personal.

DeSantis has largely ignored Trumps most egregious jabs, which have included suggesting impropriety with young girls as a teacher decades ago, questioning his sexuality and calling him Ron DeSanctimonious.

Trumps campaign began airing an ad mocking DeSantis for yoking himself to the former president in 2018 when he ran for governor, even using some Trump catchphrases as a nod to his supporters in Florida.

Trumps super PAC, MAGA Inc., also has aired spots highlighting DeSantis votes to cut Social Security and Medicare and raise the retirement age. The group even targeted DeSantis snacking habits, running an ad that called for him to keep his pudding fingers off those benefits. That was a reference to a report in The Daily Beast that the governor ate chocolate pudding with his fingers instead of a spoon on a plane several years ago.

DeSantis has said he does not remember doing that.

At the same time, the pro-DeSantis super PAC, Never Back Down, has hired Iowa staff and begun trying to organize support for the governor before a 2024 announcement. The group announced Thursday that state Senate President Amy Sinclair and state House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl would endorse DeSantis candidacy. On Friday, it rolled out roughly three dozen more state lawmakers who would endorse him.

Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst attended DeSantis Sioux Center appearance.

After his speech, he spent about 15 minutes shaking hands and making small talk with voters as he maneuvered through the large audience, trailed by reporters, TV cameras and a security detail. He then dashed outdoors to pose with Reynolds and Feenstra while tending to burgers and pork chops at the grill.

Lyle and Sonia Remmerde of Rock Valley managed a handshake. She said DeSantis style comes across as normal.

One of the things when you compare Trump and DeSantis, I think DeSantis has  how do you say?  a much more smooth approach, said Lyle Remmerde, 65. Hes less abrasive.

___

Price reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Peoples reported from New York.

By THOMAS BEAUMONT and MICHELLE L. PRICE

Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  On Friday, Elon Musk announced that NBC Universal's Linda Yaccarino will serve as the new CEO of Twitter. Yaccarino is a longtime advertising executive credited with integrating and digitizing ad sales at NBCU. Her challenge now will be to woo back advertisers that have fled Twitter since Musk acquired it last year for $44 billion.

Since taking ownership, Musk has fired thousands of Twitter employees, largely scrapped the trust-and-safety team responsible for keeping the site free of hate speech, harassment and misinformation, and blamed others  particularly mainstream media organizations, which he views as untrustworthy competitors to Twitter for ad dollars  for exaggerating Twitter's problems.

In April, the two met for an on-stage conversation at a marketing convention in Miami Beach, Florida. Here are some highlights of their conversation:

MUSK AND YACCARINO SPAR OVER CONTENT MODERATION

The Miami discussion was cordial, although both participants drew some distinct lines in the sand. On a few occasions, Yaccarino steered the conversation toward issues of content moderation and the apparent proliferation of hate speech and extremism since Musk took over the platform. She couched her questions in the context of whether Musk could help advertisers feel more welcome on the platform.

At one point, she asked if Musk was willing to let advertisers influence his vision for Twitter, explaining that it would help them get more excited about investing more money  "product development, ad safety, content moderation  that's what the influence is."

Musk shut her down. Its totally cool to say that you want to have your advertising appear in certain places in Twitter and not in other places, but it is not cool to to try to say what Twitter will do," he said. And if that means losing advertising dollars, we lose it. But freedom of speech is paramount.

MUSK REPEATS: NO SPECIAL INFLUENCE FOR ADVERTISERS

Yaccarino returned to the issue a few moments later when she asked Musk if he planned to reinstate the company's influence council, a once-regular meeting with marketing executives from several of Twitter's major advertisers. Musk again demurred.

I would be worried about creating a backlash among the public, he said. Because if the public thinks that their views are being determined by, you know, a small number of (marketing executives) in America, they will be, I think, upset about that."

Musk went on to acknowledge that feedback is important, and suggested Twitter should aim for a sensible middle ground that ensures the public has a voice while advertisers focus on the ordinary work of improving sales and the perception of their brands.

PRESSING ELON ON HIS OWN TWEETS

Musk didn't pass up the opportunity to sell the assembled marketers a new plan to solve Twitter's problems with objectionable tweets, which the company had announced the day before. Musk called the policy freedom of speech but not freedom of reach," describing it as a way to limit the visibility of hate speech and similar problems without actually removing rule-breaking tweets.

Yaccarino took a swing. Does it apply to your tweets? Musk has a history of posting misinformation and occasionally offensive tweets, often in the early morning hours.

Musk acknowledged that it does, adding that his tweets can also be tagged with community notes that provide additional context to tweets. He added that his tweets receive no special boosts from Twitter.

Will you agree to be more specific and not tweet after 3 a.m.?" Yaccarino asked.

I will aspire to tweet less after 3 a.m., Musk replied.

___

This story has been edited to correct Linda Yaccarino's name.
VATICAN CITY (AP)  Scaffolding in a niche of the Vatican Museums Round Hall conceal from view the work of restorers who are removing centuries of grime from the largest known bronze statue of the ancient world: the gilded Hercules Mastai Righetti.

For more than 150 years, the four-meter-tall (13-foot-tall) figure of the half-human Roman god of strength has stood in that niche, barely garnering notice among other antiquities because of the dark coating it had acquired.

But it was only after removing a layer of wax and other material from a 19th-century restoration that Vatican experts understood the statue's true splendor as one of the most significant gilded statues of its time. Museum-goers will be able to see its grandeur for themselves once the restoration is finished, which is expected in December.

The original gilding is exceptionally well-preserved, especially for the consistency and homogeneity, Vatican Museum restorer Alice Baltera said.

The discovery of the colossal bronze statue in 1864 during work on a bankers villa near Rome's Campo dei Fiori square made global headlines.

Visitors drawn to the ancient wonder at the time included Pope Pius IX, who later added the work to the papal collection. The statue depicting Hercules after he finished his labors had the last names of the pope  Mastai  and of the banker, Pietro Righetti, added to its title.

The statue has been variously dated from the end of the first to the beginning of the third centuries. Even in its day, the towering Hercules was treated with reverence.

The inscription FCS accompanying the statue on a slab of travertine marble indicates it was struck by lightning, according to Claudia Valeri, curator of the Vatican Museums department of Greek and Roman antiquities. As a result, it was buried in a marble shrine according to Roman rites that saw lightning as an expression of divine forces.

FCS stands for "fulgur conditum summanium, a Latin phrase meaning Here is buried a Summanian thunderbolt. Summanus was the ancient Roman god of nocturnal thunder. The ancient Romans believed that not only was any object stricken imbued with divinity, but also the spot where it was hit and buried.

"It is said that sometimes being struck by lightning generates love but also eternity, Vatican Museums archaeologist Giandomenico Spinola said. The Hercules Mastai Righetti got his eternity  because having been struck by lightning, it was considered a sacred object, which preserved it until about 150 years ago.

The burial protected the gilding, but also caused dirt to build up on the statue, which Baltera said is very delicate and painstaking to remove. The only way is to work precisely with special magnifying glasses, removing all the small encrustations one by one, she said.

The work to remove the wax and other materials that were applied during the 19th-century restoration is complete. Going forward, restorers plan to make fresh casts out of resin to replace the plaster patches that covered missing pieces, including on part of the nape of the neck and the pubis.

The most astonishing finding to emerge during the preliminary phase of the restoration was the skill with which the smelters fused mercury to gold, making the gilded surface more enduring.

The history of this work is told by its gilding.  It is one of the most compact and solid gildings found to date, said Ulderico Santamaria, a University of Tuscia professor who is head of the Vatican Museums' scientific research laboratory.
DALLAS (AP)  A man who didn't want his girlfriend to get an abortion fatally shot her during a confrontation in a Dallas parking lot, police said.

He was jailed on a murder charge as of Friday.

Texas banned abortions after roughly six weeks of pregnancy in September 2021. But nearly all abortions have been halted in Texas since Roe v. Wade was overturned last summer, except in cases of medical emergency.

Gabriella Gonzalez, 26, was with her boyfriend, 22-year-old Harold Thompson, on Wednesday when he tried to put her in a chokehold, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. She had returned the night before from Colorado, where she had gone to get an abortion.

It is believed that the suspect was the father of the child, the affidavit said. The suspect did not want (Gonzalez) to get an abortion.

Surveillance video from the parking lot shows Gonzalez shrugs him off, police said, and the two continue walking. Thompson then pulls out a gun and shoots Gonzalez in the head. She falls to the ground and Thompson shoots her multiple times before running away, the affidavit said.

Thompson was arrested later Wednesday and is being held in the Dallas County Jail without bond. Court records did not list an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

Gonzalezs sister was at the scene and heard the shooting, police said. Another witness saw Thompson try to choke Gonzalez but couldn't call police because she did not have her cell phone.

At the time of the shooting, Thompson had been charged with assault of a family member, who accused him of choking her in March.

The affidavit from March does not specifically name Gonzalez as the person who was assaulted. But it does say the woman told police that Thompson beat her up multiple times throughout the entirety of their relationship and that Thompson told police the woman was pregnant with his child at that time.

The woman reiterated that she is scared of the suspect because he had made threats to harm her family and her children, according to the affidavit.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on May 13 that he views the elections as a democracy celebration for our countrys future, in his election message, Trend reports citing Hurriyet Daily News.

Meanwhile, Erdogan on May 12 defended Russia's Vladimir Putin from allegations of meddling in Turkey's crucial weekend election.

Erdogan's rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu on Thursday accused unnamed Russian actors of spreading "deep fakes" and other disinformation aimed at swaying the outcome of Sunday's vote.

The Kremlin "strongly" denied the allegation and Erdogan stood up for Putin at a televised campaign appearance on Friday.

"Mr. Kemal is attacking Russia, Mr. Putin. If you attack Putin, I will not be okay with that," Erdogan said.

"Our relations with Russia are no less important than those with the United States."

Erdogan has maintained good working relations with Putin.

Erdogan also dismissed speculation that he wouldn't cede power if he lost by calling the question very ridiculous. He said he came to power through democracy and would act in line with the democratic process.

If our nation decides to make such a different decision, we will do exactly whats required by democracy and theres nothing else to do, he said.
May 1

A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported on May 1 at the 900 block of W. 5th St. No injuries were reported.

A burglary was reported on May 1 at the 400 block of Elm St.

A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported on May 1 at the 900 block of N. Quincy St. No injuries were noted.

An abandoned vehicle was reported on May 1 at the 400 block of N. Date St.

Fraud was reported at the 600 block of W. 28th St. A citizen filed a report at the police station.

A crash was reported at the 2600 block of N. Columbia on May 1. Vehicle damage was noted but there were no injuries.

A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported on May 1 at the 3200 block of Olton Road.

An assault was reported at the 1600 block of Oakland St. An 11-year-old individual was arrested and charged with assault causing bodily injury, family violence.

Police arrested 34-year-old Nicholas David Gonzalez on May 1 at the 600 block of W. 24th St. He was charged with possession of a controlled substance, which is a felony. He was also found to have some active warrants for charges including failure to appear/bail jumping, public intoxication and possession of drug paraphernalia.

A 34-year-old man was arrested on May 1 at the 900 block of Cedar St. for an active warrant. The warrant was for a charge of fighting with another.

May 2

Police arrested a 25-year-old man on May 2 at the 2400 block of Dimmitt Road during a callout regarding a theft. He was found to have multiple active warrants including charges for a probation violation for intoxicated assault with a vehicle causing serious bodily injury and two charges for assault causing bodily injury, family violence. The man was also charged with resisting arrest, search or transportation and for theft.

A 32-year-old woman was arrested on May 2 at the 1300 block of W. 11th St. for a warrant service. The woman was found to have multiple active warrants including charges for expiring drivers license, unrestrained child under 5 years old, failure to appear/bail jumping and assault causing bodily injury.

A hit-and-run crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported on May 2 at the 2600 block of Dimmitt Road. The incident was noted to have been in a parking lot at the location.

An assault was reported at the 300 block of Ash St. on May 2. Police arrested 41-year-old Michael Cardenas Torres. He was charged with injury to a child/elderly/disabled with intentional bodily injury, which is a felony.

A crash resulting in an injury was reported on May 2 at the 4200 block of Dimmitt Road. The injured parties were transported to Covenant Hospital Plainview by EMS.

May 3

A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported on May 3 at the 2400 block of W. 5th St.

Officers responded to an assault at the 900 block of W. 28th St. on May 3. A 32-year-old woman was charged with assault causing bodily injury, family violence.

A theft was reported at the 900 block of W. 28th St. on May 3.

A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at the 3500 block of Olton Road.

Police arrested a 22-year-old man on May 3 at the 1700 block of W. 16th St. during a traffic stop. The man was charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon and with possession of marijuana.

Police arrested a 35-year-old man on May 3 at the 1200 block of E. 5th St. during a traffic stop. The individual was charged with driving with an invalid license with previous conviction/suspension without financial resolution.

Theft from a vehicle was reported on May 3 at the 1400 block of Floydada St.

May 4

Three individuals were arrested on May 4 at the 2000 block of Joliet St. during a traffic stop. During a search of the vehicle, officers found methamphetamines. Police arrested 53-year-old Danny Hernandez, 40-year-old Marselino Asencio Jr. and 50-year-old Manuel Cansino Jr. They were each charged with one count of possession of a controlled substance, which is a felony.

May 5

Criminal mischief was reported on May 5 at the 2500 block of Itasca St.

Identity theft was reported on May 5 at the 900 block of W. 28th St.

A crash was reported on May 5 at the 2200 block of W. 20th St. Vehicle damage was reported.

May 6

A 29-year-old man was arrested on May 6 at the 600 block of Quincy St. during a traffic stop. The driver was found to have an active warrant for bail jumping, failure to appear.

A crash resulting in damage to private property was reported on May 6 at the 600 block of S. Broadway.

Plainview police arrested 23-year-old Jimmy Ray Griego on May 6 at the 100 block of W. 9th St. He was charged with criminal trespass and with possession of a controlled substance, which is a felony.

Officers helped the Hale County Sheriffs Office with a response regarding a suspected drunk driver at the 1900 block of S. Columbia.

Theft of a phone was reported on May 6 at the 1400 block of W. 5th St.

Police arrested a 47-year-old man was arrested at the 3700 block of Olton Road during a traffic stop. He was charged with driving with an invalid license with a previous conviction/suspension without financial resolution. He was also found to have three active warrants with charges for display of expired license plates/expired registration insignia, expired drivers license and failure to appear/bail jumping.

May 7

Criminal mischief was reported at the 1400 block of Wayland on May 7. Damaged property was reported.

A crash with injury was reported at the intersection of Kermit and Olton Road on May 7.

A traffic stop was conducted at the 400 block of W. 5th St. Officers arrested a 51-year-old man and charged him with driving with an invalid license with previous conviction/suspension without financial resolution.

Officers arrested a 42-year-old woman at the 400 block of Beech St. during a traffic stop. She was charged with driving with an invalid license with previous conviction/suspension without financial resolution. She was also found to have an active warrant for driving with an invalid license.

May 8

Theft from a building was reported at the 900 block of W. 28th St. on May 8.

Police were dispatched to the 800 block of Milwaukee on May 8 in reference to theft.

Two people were arrested on May 8 at the 1000 block of N. I-27 for active warrants. A 41-year-old man and a 56-year-old woman were found to have warrants for an open container, failure to appear/bail jumping and for theft of property.

A burglary was reported on May 8 at the 1600 block of Lexington St.

May 9

A stolen vehicle was reported on May 9 at the 600 block of Milwaukee. A 52-year-old man was charged with driving while intoxicated.

Theft from a yard was reported on May 9 at the 600 block of Xenia.

A 38-year-old man was arrested on May 9 at the 900 block of N. Broadway for an active warrant for harassment.

A crash with injury was reported at the 3400 block of Olton Road. The crash involved a motorcycle. The crash victim was airlifted to Lubbock Hospital.

Police arrested 32-year-old Rolando Larralde Jr. on May 9 at the 600 block of W. 18th St. for an active felony warrant for a probation revocation for driving while intoxicated, third or more offense. He was also charged with possession of a controlled substance, which is also a felony.

A terroristic threat was reported at the 900 block of N. Broadway on May 9.

A weapons offense was noted at the 700 block of W. 28th St. on May 9. No arrests are indicated.

May 10

A stolen vehicle was reported at the 600 block of N. I-27 on May 10.

A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported on May 10 at the 2600 block of Olton Road.

Police responded to a report of forgery on May 10 at the 900 block of N. Broadway.

Police arrested a 35-year-old man on May 10 at the 1600 block of Lexington St. Officers were initially dispatched to the location in reference to a disturbance. The man was charged with assault causing bodily injury, family violence.

Shoplifting was reported at the 4000 block of W. 15th St. on May 10.

Theft was reported on May 10 at the 900 block of Portland. Officers noted a stolen jack.
STOCKHOLM (AP)  Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi expressed concern Saturday about Russian and Chinese military cooperation in Asia and said the security situation in Europe could not be separated from that in the Indo-Pacific region since Moscows full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking at a meeting of European and Indo-Pacific foreign ministers in Sweden, Hayashi said Russias war in Ukraine had shaken the very foundation of the international order and must face a united response by the international community.

Otherwise, similar challenges will arise in other regions and the existing order which has underpinned our peace and prosperity could be fundamentally overturned, Hayashi said.

Japan firmly backs Ukraine in the war but China says it remains neutral while declaring a no limits relationship with Moscow and blaming the U.S. and NATO for provoking the conflict. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, in March at the same time as Chinese President Xi Jinping met Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Hayashi accused Beijing of continuing and intensifying its unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East and South China seas by force and increasing its military activities around Taiwan.

In addition, China and Russia are strengthening their military collaboration, including joint flights of their bombers and joint naval exercises in the vicinity of Japan, Hayahshi said.

China, which claims most of the South China Sea as well as Japanese-held islands in the East China Sea, says it has the right to defend its sovereignty and development interests.

Hayashi also warned that North Korea was escalating provocations in the region by conducting ballistic missile launches with a frequency and in a manner that are unprecedented.

He joined dozens of ministers from the European Union and the Indo-Pacific region for the meeting just north of the Swedish capital. China was not invited to the talks.

Since the aggression of Russia to Ukraine, the security situation here in Europe and the security situation in the Pacific are not separable," Hayashi said as he arrived.

Some of the Indo-Pacific countries, including India and Pakistan, have called for an end to the Ukraine war but stopped short of condemning Russia for it.

We all try and address it in our own different ways, Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said. I think a lesson a country like Pakistan has learned is that percolation of conflict is never the answer; that we want an end to hostilities, an end to conflict, so people can go back to building lives rather than destroying more lives.

Most EU countries have provided military support to Ukraine and the bloc has imposed sanctions on Russia. Asked whether the EU was hoping to convince Indo-Pacific countries to align with the bloc's stance on the conflict, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said, We don't want to convince anyone. We just want to share our analysis of the causes and consequences of the war.

He dismissed a question about whether it was possible to have a meaningful dialogue with the Indo-Pacific countries without China, saying the EU had plenty of other opportunities to talk to Beijing.

We can perfectly discuss the Indo-Pacific without China," Borrell said. It doesnt mean we neglect China. It doesnt mean we want to substitute China. I dont see where the problem is.
A CHAKOHWA woman who spends most of her time quenching her thirst with the wise waters while her children are unattended has vowed never to quit the habit as she claims that beer is the basis of her relationship with her hubby.

This emerged at the Mutare Magistrates Civil Court where Patricia Mudimu was applying for a protection order against her husband, Nathel Zingana, whom she accuses of solving maritl disputes with fists.

Mudimu said her husband also accuses her of having extr-maritl ffirs.

He does not know how to solve misunderstandings. He is always heavy-handed. Police officers at Chakohwa Police Station now know me because I am a regular visitor there as I file abuse cases against him.

I am tired of being his punching bag. He accuses me of infidelity just because I spend some of my days at the beer hall enjoying with my friends, said Mudimu.

She said her husband also vents his anger on the children.

He labels me a woman of loose morals in the presence of our children. He sometimes beats up the children to show his rage, she said.

In response, Zingana said his wife was being economic with the truth.

He said Mudimu wanted to use the protection order to stop him from questioning her over her beer binges.

She is lying. She is hardly at home. When I return home from work at 8pm, the children will be alone most of the times. There will be no food for the kids to eat. I have to prepare the food while she enjoys herself at the bar.

I am now being ridiculed in the community for mrrying a l00se woman. Whenever we have a misunderstanding, she rushes to the police to file a report against me. I l0ve my wife, but she should stop drinking beer and stay at home like a good wife, said Zingana.

He also said at one time he saw his wife fighting with a x worker at the bar after the latter had called her a pr0stitute.

I had to stop her from fighting the x worker. They were drinking together and the x worker told her that she was lying that she was mrried. She accused my wife of looking for clients in the bar, just like her. Imagine a woman you paid lobola for being involved in bar brawls over men? It is very embarrassing, he said.

Zingana also said he once called his wife at 10pm while she was at the bar, but she ignored his calls and later switched off her phone.

On one occasion, I got home at 8pm and cooked for the kids. I later gathered that Mudimu was enjoying herself at Chakohwa Business Centre and I drove there, only to see her drinking with her friends.

As l was hunting her down, I called her and she checked her phone, frowned and ignored the call. After a while, I called her again and she switched off the phone. I ended up leaving her there as I was avoiding a confrontation.

She left home lying that I had assaulted her. I begged her to come back home for the sake of the kids, but she said she will not come back before she gets a protection order against me. She wants to use the protection order to stop me from asking about her whereabouts, said Zingana.

He also blamed Mudimus friends for her wayward behaviour.

However, Mudimu said Zingana does not want her to be at the bar as he has a girlfrind there.

He knows I love beer a lot and I would trade nothing for it. For him to say that I should quit beer is just unacceptable because beer is the basis of our relati0nship. We used to drink together and he is my mentor.

Now that he is realising that I am now a grandmaster of this game, he wants me to quit. He has a girlfrind at the bar and that is why he wants me not to set foot there.

I am drinking heavily these days due to stress. If I do not drown my sorrows in beer, I will end up killing myself. I caught my husband red-handed at a lodge with my best friend. The woman I share my problems with is the one who backstabbed me, so I will not quit beer. He should accept me the way I am, said Mudimu.

Mutare magistrate, Mr Xavier Chipato granted the protection order in Mudimus favour.

 Manica Post

Breaking News via Email
A 28-year-old man from Matopo, Matabeleland South province was arrested for abandoning his injured donkey on the side of the road.

Justin Maphosa appeared in court charged with abandoning an injured animal under Section 3(1) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

He was remanded out of custody on $20,000 bail and his case was adjourned to May 12.

The abandoned donkey was discovered by Claire Einhorn Julie, director of the Matabeleland Animal Rescue and Equine Sanctuary (MARES), following a tip-off.

Claire reported the matter to police, leading to Maphosas arrest. The donkey is now receiving treatment at MARES.

MARES has previously conducted campaigns in Matabeleland to educate people on proper animal care and use of harnesses.

This case could set a precedent for when and how animal organizations can bring cases to help end animal suffering.

Zimbabwe recently joined the rest of the world in celebrating World Donkey Day on May 8 to recognize the donkeys characteristics and role in human society.

The day aims to spread information about donkeys and how they impact lives.

Breaking News via Email
What made these prehistoric thunder beasts so big? National Geographic

A Mutation Turned Ants Into Parasites in One Generation Quanta

Climate

El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion National Weather Service Climate Prediction Service, NOAA. Synopsis: A transition from ENSO-neutral is expected in the next couple of months, with a greater than 90% chance of El Nino persisting into the Northern Hemisphere winter.

#COVID19

Auto Claim Severity Up 35% over Pre-Pandemic Rates  LexisNexis Report Insurance Industry. Motorists are driving like the roads are still empty. I wonder why. Tis a mystery!

China?

Migrant Workers Are Staying Closer to Home, and Thats a Problem Caixin Global

Myanmar

India

Africa

Mineral-rich central Africa becomes focal point in US-China tug of war South China Morning Post

Syraqistan

European Disunion

The G7 struggles to find unity over Chinas economic bullying FT (PU). Rahm Emanuel, a man who could start a diplomatic incident in an empty room. Ouch!

Dear Old Blighty

Coronation day arrests transform the profile of UK republicans FT

New Not-So-Cold War

Biden Administration

The ultimate Blob blind spot Robert Wright, Nonzero Newsletter

Spook Country

Bidens CIA Assist in the 2020 Presidential Election Kimberly Strassel, WSJ. The deck: The agency, not only retirees, turns out to have worked on the Hunter excuse letter. Granted, Strassel on the WSJ Op-Ed page, but a coherent narrative. Based on the House Judiciary interim report on Hunters laptop (dear Hunter), which looks like its worth a read.

2024

B-a-a-a-a-d Banks

The Bezzle

Digital Watch

Healthcare

Can the health insurance system handle massive Medicaid reductions? The Hill

Gunz

Texas School Picture Day Photographer Expands Offerings To Include Memorial Posters The Onion

Sports Desk

Robo-umps have arrived  and theyre not far from landing at Target Field Star Tribune (Chuck L). Now the catchers will have to figure out how to game the bots.

Zeitgeist Watch

I feel sorry for sex London Review of Books. Clickbait headline from the LRB (!!), but interesting: [O]rdinary affects are public feelings that begin and end in broad circulation, but they are also the stuff that seemingly intimate lives are made of. Worth a read.

Guillotine Watch

Class Warfare

When Deadly Steamboat Races Enthralled America Smithsonian

Antidote du jour (via):

Good kitty!

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Yves here. Reading about the struggles to control Afghanistan among the Taliban, IS, and Al Quaeda leads me to ask a dumb question: is Afghanistan properly a country? Just because it is a region of the world that has evaded sustained foreign control does not mean it has the makings of a country, as in enough cohesiveness on key axes (social and legal practices, citizens with bureaucratic skills, respect for law, as opposed to custom) to have a central government able to exercise power. My understanding is that much of the Middle East operates on a tribal/clientele-ist basis, which makes it hard for more modern authority structures to operate. This article gives me the impression that absent the rise of a personality or very tight group that can find a basis for unifying (and at least cautiously) modernizing Afghanistan, its going to remain a warlord-dominated hot mess.

By John P. Ruehl, an Australian-American journalist living in Washington, D.C. He is a contributing editor to Strategic Policy and a contributor to several other foreign affairs publications. His book, Budget Superpower: How Russia Challenges the West With an Economy Smaller Than Texas, was published in December 2022. Produced by Globetrotter

On April 25, 2023, U.S. officials confirmed that the Taliban had killed the head of the Islamic State (IS) cell operating in Afghanistan. Though his identity has not been revealed, the IS leader is believed to have masterminded the 2021 Kabul airport attack that killed 170 Afghan civilians and 13 U.S. military personnel.

His assassination marks the latest escalation of violence between the Taliban and IS in Afghanistan this year. Several senior Taliban officials were killed or targeted in March 2023 by IS, while several IS leaders in Afghanistan were killed by the Taliban in January and February.

The Taliban, a loose Pashtun-centric political movement active across Afghanistan and Pakistan, previously ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. The U.S. withdrawal and ensuing collapse of the Afghan government in 2021 allowed the Taliban to re-establish their rule over the country, but they have been prevented from gaining full control thanks to IS, which has existed in the country since 2014.

Initially, many Taliban members were supportive of ISs ability to seize territory and challenge U.S. and Western forces in Syria and Iraq in 2013 and 2014. Yet despite their common U.S. and Western enemies and shared hardline Sunni interpretation of Islam, the Talibans animosity arose after IS began to establish itself on Afghan territory and attract Afghans to its cause.

At the time, Taliban forces had failed to make territorial gains and had recently begun another round of negotiations with the U.S. government. The Taliban had also traditionally suppressed the Salafist brand of Islam in eastern Afghanistan in favor of Hanafi Islam, making ISs Salafist leanings attractive to many Afghans in the region. There was also significant division across the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban leadership, further allowing IS to poach members.

Several high-ranking members switched allegiance to IS in 2014, which also found support from smaller regional militant groups. But of significant importance was ISs ability to attract disillusioned members of its rival, Al Qaeda, to its ranks. Disagreements over policies, tactics, and leadership caused Al Qaeda to disavow IS in 2014, and they have competed for dominance over the global jihadist movement since. The Talibans close relationship with Al Qaeda only made IS more resolute in challenging them in Afghanistan.

In January 2015, IS announced its vision to create the province of Khorasan, which would include much of Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, and is part of ISs effort to establish a global caliphate. The group began to expand more rapidly across Afghanistan while accusing the Taliban of being filthy nationalists and neglecting Islam in favor of their ethnic and national base.

As clashes between the Taliban and Islamic State in Khorasan (IS-K) intensified in 2015, the Talibans then-leader, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, wrote a letter to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi urging him to abandon recruitment in Afghanistan and insisting the war against the United States should be led by the Taliban. But it failed to dissuade the IS leadership, who were also aided in part by the Afghan Armys initial decision to avoid fighting IS to focus on the Taliban.

As IS emerged as a serious threat to Afghanistans stability, however, both Afghan and U.S.-led international forces increasingly came to focus on the group in the country. IS targeting of religious minorities also brought it into further conflict with parts of the Afghan population. Despite an initial expansion, IS lost significant territory and fighters from 2015 to 2018, while from 2019 to 2020 many of its fighters and leaders surrendered to authorities.

The Taliban, in comparison, had steadily increased its influence in Afghanistan, convincing the Afghan and U.S. governments to commit to talks to end the war. The Doha Agreement in 2020 put forth a withdrawal timeline for foreign soldiers, saw thousands of Afghan and Taliban soldiers released in a prisoner swap, and the Taliban pledged to prevent terrorist groups from operating in Afghanistan. IS denounced the agreement, accusing the Taliban of deviating from jihad to please their U.S. masters.

But suggestions of ISs demise in Afghanistan by then-Afghan President Ashraf Ghani proved short-lived, particularly as Afghanistan was engulfed by the power vacuum caused by the U.S.s departure. ISs numbers were also bolstered by thousands of prisoners who escaped or were freed from Afghanistans prisons.

While ISs estimated 4,000 members in Afghanistan as of 2023 pale in comparison to the Talibans roughly 80,000 troops, its guerilla warfare campaign, similar to the one used effectively by the Taliban against U.S. forces, has made it a formidable opponent in parts of the country. By the end of 2021, the group had killed or injured more people in Afghanistan than any other country, and clashes between the Taliban and IS are common occurrences.

On top of attracting more members to ISs ranks, the Taliban fears IS will erase what little legitimacy it has as a governing force by keeping Afghanistan unstable. The Talibans leadership remains plagued by division and lacks any international recognition. The Taliban is also now fighting IS-K largely alone and without the high-tech weaponry and air support enjoyed by the previous Afghan government forces. And having been beaten back in Syria and Iraq, Afghanistan provides IS-K one of the few places where it can expand, causing the group to double down in the country.

To shore up their position, the Taliban leadership has sought to engage with other governments. Saudi Arabia and Qatar are cautiously cooperating with the Taliban, while Pakistan, which has a complex history of working with the Taliban, continues to conduct dialogue with them. The Taliban is also courting India, China, and Russia, which seek to stabilize the country and potentially exploit Afghanistans estimated $1 to $3 trillion in mineral wealth.

Pressure is on the Taliban to get results. Chinese and Russian citizens and infrastructure in Afghanistan have been targeted by IS, drawing criticism. And though the Taliban has said it will not allow its territory to be used to attack its neighbors, IS has already tested this in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

The Talibans ongoing cooperation with Al Qaeda (exemplified by the assassination of Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri in a U.S. drone strike in Kabul in 2022) continues to dissuade Western cooperation, coupled with the Talibans crackdown on womens freedom in Afghanistan. Reversing their more radical policies could in turn instigate more defections to IS.

Having fought the Taliban for two decades, a rapprochement with the Taliban would be a difficult sell to Western audiences. But having already worked with the Taliban to evacuate its citizens in August, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley stated the possibility of coordinating with the Taliban to defeat IS in 2021. Nick Carter, his British counterpart, expressed a similar sentiment as well. U.S. officials have also stated that they do not support organized violent opposition to the Taliban.

With the Afghan government disbanded (many members have joined the Taliban or IS) and the weaknesses associated with the National Resistance Front, there is little viable opposition that Western forces can support. Yet The U.S. over-the-horizon approach to ignoring the Taliban to deal with IS and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan has its own consequencesa drone strike intended for the mastermind behind the 2021 Kabul Airport attack instead ended up killing 10 Afghan civilians, including seven children.

Nonetheless, the Talibans assassination of the individual responsible in April 2023 may encourage soft coordination and informal diplomacy with other countries, including the U.S. Yet because the Taliban remains dependent on cooperation with extremist groups like Al Qaeda, its formal international isolation risks becoming long-term.

Providing a haven for groups like Al Qaeda and promoting a strict interpretation of Shariah law is also a double-edged sword. These conditions helped IS establish itself in Afghanistan, aided further by the poverty and lack of basic services in many parts of the country. IS will continue to attempt to weaken the Taliban militarily, exploit its divisions, and erode its claims to have restored peace and stability to Afghanistan.

Afghanistans instability since the 1970s remains ongoing, and the country continues to be a hotbed of regional concern, great power rivalry, and ideological clashes. While most foreign governments view IS as a greater threat, this may not be enough for the Taliban to end its vulnerable isolation and help Afghanistan achieve peace and stability.
US leader Joe Biden has said that by the fall of 2023 the country will eliminate its stockpiles of chemical weapons. He said the United States was leading by example, working together toward our common goal, Trend reports citing The Eastern Hearld.

According to him, the administration is ready to fully complete the process of eliminating chemical weapons. His statement was made ahead of the Fifth Review Conference of States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention.

We are on track to complete the process of eliminating our stockpiles of chemical weapons by this fall  an important disarmament step that meets the highest standards of transparency and public safety, TASS said.
(Natural News) The family of President Joe Biden and its business associates received more than $10 million from foreign nationals  including from China  while Biden served as vice president under the Obama administration. These payments were believed to have stemmed from the Bidens attempts to peddle influence.

This is according to the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, which recently released a memorandum summarizing findings to date regarding corruption within the Biden family. (Related: Hunter Biden, other members of Biden family received MILLIONS from business associate linked to CCP.)

Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer of Kentucky noted that investigators examined thousands of bank records and legal documents depicting how nearly two dozen limited liability corporations established by members of Bidens family received payments from private clients, corporations and foreign governments, including China and Romania.

Biden family members and business associates created a web of over 20 companies  most were limited liability companies formed during Joe Bidens vice presidency, read the committee memorandum. Bank records show the Biden family, their business associates and their companies received over $10 million from foreign nationals companies. The Committee has identified payments to Biden family members from foreign companies while Joe Biden served as vice president and after he left office.

The committee added that these companies were formed and headquartered mostly either in Delaware or Washington, D.C. and their paperwork was handled with the help of Rob Walker and James Gilliar, two of the main business partners of presidential son Hunter Biden.

Additional evidence has uncovered links between Jim Biden, the presidents brother, and Hunter with multiple foreign governments, government officials, celebrities and state-controlled corporations, not just in China and Romania but also in Russia, Ukraine and several other nations.

The committee has uncovered evidence indicative of influence peddling and financial deception warranting further investigation and legislative solutions, the memorandum read.

Biden family most corrupt presidential family in history

Comer noted that his investigation has found that no other presidential family comes even close to the level of corruption of Bidens own family.

From a historical standpoint, weve never seen a presidential family receive these sums of money from adversaries around the world, said Comer.

I dont think anyone in America whos watching C-SPAN or any other network covering this would think that its just a coincidence that nine Biden family members have received money for this influence-peddling scheme, he added.

White House spokesman Ian Sams claimed that Comer did not provide any evidence of wrongdoing during his committees investigation.

House Republicans have shown no evidence of any policy decisions influenced by anything other than U.S. national interests, Sams added. Theyre really just microwaving old debunked stuff.

While the investigation has not turned up any direct links between Biden and the allegations of corrupt activities, Comer said he believes Biden is directly involved in some way.

We believe that the president has been involved in this from the very beginning, obviously. Were going to continue to look, said Comer. What we cited today and what were updating you with today results from [just] four banks. We believe there are 12 banks. So, right now, you could say that were in the beginning stages of this investigation.

House Republicans further noted that the goal of their investigation is to address any deficiencies in ethics and potential breaches in disclosure laws. They added that this investigation will hopefully help strengthen financial reporting requirements for the family members of senior elected officials, as well as lead to evaluations and potential amendments to the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering laws.

Learn more about the corruption in President Joe Bidens family at BidenCrimeFamily.news.

Watch this clip from Fox Business featuring Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee discussing how America has been corrupted by the Biden crime family.

This video is from the News Clips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Survey: 75% of people in Joe Bidens America believe the countrys economy is GETTING WORSE.

The American economy cannot afford another four years of a Biden presidency.

Ex-CIA chief: Biden operative Antony Blinken is behind the contrived intel letter discrediting Hunter Biden laptop story.

Corporate America helped raise nearly $62 million for Bidens inauguration.

Biden lies again, says $1 million in payments to family from Hunter associate not true though bank records say otherwise.

Sources include:

NTD.com

FoxNews.com

CBSNews.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) The Gateway Pundit previously reported that at least 8 people died Saturday, including the shooter, following a mass shooting at the Allen Premium Outlet mall in Allen, Texas. The mainstream media is desperate to pin the tragedy by an Hispanic sociopath on white supremacy.

(Article republished from TheGatewayPundit.com)

The Gateway Pundit reported the feds are allegedly investigating whether shooter Mauricio Garcia expressed interest in white supremacy. Over the weekend, The Washington Post even floated the idea that the Hispanic shooter may have had Neo-Nazi beliefs.

In a concerning move, the Deep State is building the narrative of Hispanic shooter Garcia being a neo-Nazi white supremacist by leaking details of an ongoing murder investigation to The New York Times, Bellingcat and other media outlets.

Bellingcat is the notorious go-to website for the British intelligence agencies. Bellingcat, and others, are sharing information and evidence in real-time, evidence that has, in some cases, been redacted. Further, several documents are placed on the floor with the same carpet background in what looks to be the collection and cataloging of evidence.

Aric Toler from Bellingcat stated, It is unclear how the investigators cited by The NY Times learned about this (the Russian) account, but it is likely that they searched Garcias home computer or phone and found this account.

It is clear, however, from the grade of evidence that WaPo/NYT/Bellingcat are getting near real-time access to highly sensitive details about an active murder investigation and were provided raw crime scene alleged evidence for the purpose of narrative engineering.

How do reporters have near real-time access to details of an on-going murder investigation?

Is it a Deep State leak to manufacture and push the narrative they want? We certainly have seen this before in recent history with the 51 experts signing the garbage Hunter Biden laptop letter and the entire Trump-Russia narrative that was created by Democrats, the media, and anti-Trump deep state liars.

Probably done posting in this thread, but in summary:

The Allen shooter was obviously a white supremacist / neo-Nazi. He was basically announcing that he was going to do a mass shooting for months beforehand, and planned his target weeks in advance.  Aric Toler (@AricToler) May 8, 2023

Additionally, there are questions regarding the photos used by Toler and the origin of the information.

XRVision reports that some of the images published by Toler, that purport to show that Mauricio Garcia had a Nazi affiliation, have been repurposed from a non-related May 6, 2022 New York Post article by Hannah Sparks titled Nazi-themed wedding celebrating Hitlers reign, vegetarianism condemned.

Toler is also trying to link Garcia to TimCast and LibsofTikTok. The account features photos of Latinos wearing/posing with Neo-Nazi symbols.

Additional questions have been raised about the genesis of Tolers evidence.

These questions are worth asking of the Allen, Texas shooter and the recent revelations about him. This is not a comprehensive list of questions, or points.  Why was the shooter misidentified several times?

 The shooter wasnt white.

 How were his neo-Nazi affiliations  Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) May 8, 2023

The alleged shooters alleged profile claims that he was inspired by Libs of TikTok. Between this and the Tim Pool references, this thing is suspect. Where is his Twitter account? Why was he using a Russian social media site to write was essentially a diary to zero followers? pic.twitter.com/2L7w4ZWjPk  Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) May 8, 2023

Read more at: TheGatewayPundit.com
(Natural News) Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk announced on Thursday, May 1, that he will be stepping down as chief executive officer of Twitter within six weeks. On Friday, May 12, he named globalist WEF participant Linda Yaccarino as his replacement.

Musk said he will transition to being the executive chair of Twitter as well as being chief technology officer, overseeing products, software and systems operations.

The announcement came several months after Musk pledged in December 2022 to step down as the head of Twitter as soon as he found someone foolish enough to take the job. (Related: Twitter yielding to more government CENSORSHIP demands under Musk leadership.)

This also came less than a year after Musk officially acquired Twitter in October 2022 for $44 billion, after which the billionaire instituted major changes that made the companys stock prices and advertising revenue suffer greatly.

Following the announcement, Teslas shares jumped by over two percent and have shown signs that they are continuing to climb in after-hours trading on New York stock exchanges, strongly suggesting that investors are pleased that Musk is stepping back from being the public face of the social media platform.

Musk, who also runs the electric car company Tesla and private spacefaring firm SpaceX, did not immediately disclose the identity of the incoming chief executive. But he hinted that his replacement is a woman, tweeting: She will be starting in ~6 weeks!

From Outkick.com: ELON MUSKS NEW TWITTER CEO LINDA YACCARINO IS A VACCINE-PUSHING, PRO MASK-WEARING, WEF GLOBALIST

According to Linda Yaccarinos LinkedIn page as well as her OWN TWEETS, she is a vaccine-mandating, pro mask-wearing globalist who is just as bad as it sounds.

Her first red flag is that she is a member of the World Economic Forum (WEF). She is the Executive Chairwoman of the WEFs Taskforce on Future of Work and their Media Initiative.

The WEF are the people who run the world, and no, thats not a conspiracy theory. Even Elon Musk himself tweeted his concerns about the WEF  and then he went and hired one of their top executives to be the new CEO of Twitter.

On the WEF website, they talk about The Great Reset, which is probably one of the scariest things weve ever seen  it encourages a new social contract that they want humans to abide to.

Drawing from the vision and vast expertise of the leaders engaged across the Forums communities, the Great Reset initiative has a set of dimensions to build a new social contract that honours the dignity of every human being, the World Economic Forum boasts.

The WEF sets precedent, makes recommendations, and actively encourages governments from across the world to follow their orders. In the early days of the pandemic, the WEF, along with the World Health Organization (WHO), were able to get nearly every single country in the world to go on lockdown within days. Thats the type of power and influence they have over sovereign nations.

The WEF is also the group that is encouraging people to EAT BUGS because of climate change concerns. You dont have to believe me, you can also read that on their website.

Find more stories about Musks latest activities at ElonMuskWatch.com.

Watch this video of Martin Brodel reacting to the news that Elon Musk wants Linda Yaccarino to be Twitters new CEO.

This video is from the Martin Brodel channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Musk drops bombshell interview with Tucker Carlson, says feds had full access to all Twitter accounts, including private messages.

Big Tech companies like Facebook and Twitter overwhelmingly infiltrated with federal agents posing as employees.

Twitters open source code shows US government is able to easily RIG the recommendation algorithm.

Study: Twitter censorship INCREASED after Elon Musk takeover despite his free speech commitment.

Censorship industrial complex  Latest Twitter Files dump reveals incestuous self-appointed truth squad involving NGOs, govt., media.

Sources include:

CNBC.com

ThePostMillennial.com

ABCNews.go.com

WSJ.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Hunter Bidens sketchy business dealings have been under investigation for years. The Biden family is suspected of using their positions of influence as a financial tool, trading their ability to affect American policy for financial gain in their business dealings.

(Article by Heather Allen republished from 100PercentFedUp.com)

Now, Hunter Bidens business dealings with Biden political donor Nicolas Rohatyn are being investigated. Rohatyn is the founder and CEO of The Rohatyn Group, a private equity firm.

The company websites description of Nicolas Rohatyn says he is a Partner and serves as Chief Executive Officer, overseeing the overall strategy and management of the firm. He is a member of TRGs Executive Committee and is based in New York.

Rohatyn Group Website

The Rohatyn Groups website boasts that the firm used its contacts to build its company;

After building JP Morgans emerging markets business, Mr. Rohatyn and the firms other founding partners saw an opportunity to leverage their unique combination of knowledge, skills, and contacts to provide specialized expertise in emerging markets. The firm has since grown to become a fully diversified asset manager.

The site also says Rohatyn operated in 18 different countries;

TRGs headquarters in New York is home to the majority of our Public Markets team, with equity analysts also based in Hanoi, Cairo, Istanbul, Mexico City, and Bangkok. Professionals in Buenos Aires, London, Sao Paulo, Lima, New Delhi, Mumbai, Johannesburg, and Nairobi are responsible for our private equity and credit deal sourcing, due diligence, and portfolio company management. Professionals in Boston, Rotorua, Darwin, San Jose (Costa Rica), and Montevideo are focused on forestry and farmland investment strategies. Certain advisory affiliates of TRG also have an office in Mexico City.

The situation is being looked into because emails show Rohatyn met with Biden and visited the White House several times during Joe Bidens time as Vice-President in the Obama administration. Hunters now-defunct Rosemont Seneca Partners (RSP) was overseeing Rohatyn hedge fund accounts at the time.

Eric Schwerin was the president of RSP during the time when the business relationship between Hunter and Rohatyn began. And numerous emails between Schwerin and Hunter reveal a coordinated effort to bring Rohatyn to the White House.

Can we invite Nick Rohatyn to the Mexico Lunch? Evan said we may have some spots. Thoughts? Schwerin asked Hunter, referring to Evan Ryan, who was Bidens personal assistant at the time and now works as the White House cabinet secretary. Ryan is also Antony Blinkens wife.

Yes, Hunter replied regarding inviting Rohatyn to the Mexico State Dinner at the White House, which was held on May 19, 2010.

As an aside, Schwerin also mentioned seeing if Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim was invited, noting that if he was not on the list, he should be at least invited to attend.

It seems plausible that the guest lists for events were made according to financially viable business opportunities for Hunter and Joe Biden rather than to facilitate official White House business. The Republican-controlled House Oversight Committee has done a deep dive over the past 100 days into Hunter and Joes business dealing and has stated that an avalanche of evidence showing the Biden familys corruption will be exposed this week.

Republican Representative James Comer told the DOJ not to indict Hunter Biden until the House Oversight Committee can share their in-depth investigation Wednesday. Comer stated that he believed the information coming out through the committees investigation revealed the corruption in the Biden family. He also noted that the DOJ and IRS were not digging into the evidence or attempting to get to the bottom of what took place between the Bidens and their international relationships.

Biden went on MSNBC to respond to the allegations against Hunter by defending his deadbeat son. Biden said his presidency is impacted by his pride in his son while maintaining that he has done nothing wrong.

Joe Biden on the allegations of corruption against his deadbeat son, Hunter: My sons done nothing wrong. I trust him, I have faith in him, and it impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him. pic.twitter.com/zWh4kwY4K0  RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 6, 2023

Read more at: 100PercentFedUp.com
(Natural News) The development of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine is littered with red flags, according to the Medical Rebel Dr. Lee Merritt. She expounded on these red flags during the May 3 episode of Merritt Medical Hour on Brighteon.TV.

The first red flag she saw was the spending of nearly $60 billion for mRNA technology research. According to the former Navy physician and surgeon, the research produced only two eye treatments in 2018. The said mRNA treatment cost about a million dollars per dose when it first came out, but eventually dropped to under $30 after just 18 months.

The second red flag, according to Merritt, was Pfizer lying to Americans about it having 11 manufacturing lines to produce the COVID-19 vaccine. Assuming they started production the day after they were given the approval via the emergency use authorization, Merritt said Pfizer would have to churn out 18.5 doses per second 24/7, with no holidays or downtime. But given the highly technical and serious quality control issues, this was a bigger red flag.

Merritt continued that the third and biggest red flag is the fact that research in mRNA is still ongoing worldwide. Researchers had been touting mRNAs potential as a treatment for various diseases in places like Africa. However, mRNA wont work in developing nations as they do not possess the infrastructure to keep the vaccines cold for long.

According to the Merritt Medical Hour host, the vaccines were often chilled to -80 C. This made them a bad choice for nations with hot climates. (Related: The shocking reason why Pfizers coronavirus vaccine requires storage at -70C  because it contains experimental nanotech components that have NEVER been used in vaccines before)

Merritt: Theres no RNA at all in the vaccine

The Brighteon.TV host told viewers that the sub-zero freezing method was necessary to prevent the mRNA in the vaccine from degrading. She continued that the degradation of mRNA depends on the type of medium  whether it is in blood, plasma, lipid nanoparticle (LNP) or in some other material.

The half-life is considered the time at which you can only find half of whats remaining. So, 50 percent is degraded. And the half-life of this stuff  depending on the time and all the things I just mentioned  is from 3.5 minutes to 16.5 hours. Thats what I found, Merritt said.

She also expressed belief that there is no RNA in the vaccine. Merritt cited the findings of independent laboratories that conducted tests on the vaccine, and found no genetic material whatsoever. According to her, the damage-causing component of the vaccines can be traced to the LNP.

The LNP contains multiple ingredients, such as positively-charged cationic lipids. She said the cationic lipid surrounded by a nanoparticle coating is toxic due to the graphene oxide it contains. Merritt pointed out that graphene oxide is the ultimate electron transport device that people have used.

Follow Vaccines.news for more news about the COVID mRNA vaccine.

Watch the May 3 episode of the Merritt Medical Hour below. Tune in to the Merritt Medical Hour every Wednesday at 7-8 p.m. and Saturday at 2-3 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

More related stories:

Horrifying study reveals mRNA vaccine nanoparticles are circulated throughout the entire body: Brain, heart, liver, ovaries, testes and more.

Reprogramming Females: Sterilization of most US girls and women is the next phase for mRNA vaccine technology.

COVID-19 vaccine sheds graphene-like substance that causes cellular damage and blood clots in the unvaccinated, warns doctor.

Top 8 GUILTY ADMISSIONS by the CDC, FDA, Fauci, top immunologists about how ineffective, experimental and unsafe COVID-19 vaccines really are.

Fully vaccinated individuals are SHEDDING GRAPHENE and infecting the unvaccinated, causing serious health complications.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

DrLeeMerritt.com
(Natural News) A cluster of monkeypox cases has emerged in Chicago just as the World Health Organization (WHO) is declaring the health emergency over.

A dozen confirmed cases and one probable case of monkeypox were reported in the nations third-biggest city in the period from April 17 to May 5. In all of these cases, the virus was spread through sexual contact. Nine of the infections were noted in men who were fully vaccinated against the virus.

Although none of the infected individuals were hospitalized, the city is nevertheless warning of a resurgence of monkeypox. The illness grabbed a lot of headlines last year when it started spreading rapidly among gay and bisexual men in Europe and the U.S.; its rise coincided with gay pride celebrations in many cities. Cases peaked in August before tapering off, largely due to greater awareness. So far, just over 30,000 Americans have been diagnosed with monkeypox.

In the Chicago uptick, officials are worried about the disease spreading undetected among individuals, including those who are vaccinated. The men who are infected have an average age of 34, and a third of them also have HIV. Some of the men involved had recently traveled to places like Mexico, New York City and New Orleans.

Chicago Commissioner of Public Health Dr. Allison Arwady announced that cases have been rising in the Windy City. Speaking on Facebook Live, she said: Most weeks we didnt see a single mpox case, maybe one or two in a higher week. But just these last couple of weeks we saw two, then five, now another six coming in.

Officials have been issuing warnings recently about the potential for a resurgence this summer as hundreds of thousands of individuals head to gay pride festivities throughout the nation. So far, however, there has not been an uptick beyond the one in Chicago.

A total of 62 cases were reported in the two-week period from April 26 to May 10, with most of them being in Texas, followed closely by Illinois. Other cases were reported in Louisiana, California, New York, Florida, Oregon and Alabama. However, officials from Texas said that at least 17 of those cases were actually from last year and were only just now being added to the CDCs count.

WHO declares monkeypox health emergency over

The WHO recently declared an end to the international emergency declared over the virus last July, when Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus overruled an expert committee in issuing the designation. Some believe that he may have been acting out of an abundance of caution due to criticism over how the WHO responded to COVID in its early days.

However, he now says that the outbreak is largely under control, declaring: We now see steady progress in controlling the outbreak based on the lessons of HIV and working closely with the most affected communities.

Im pleased to declare that the mpox is no longer a global health emergency, he added.

Monkeypox, which is now sometimes referred to as mpox in an attempt to destigmatize it, has long been present in certain areas of western and central Africa, where individuals are infected by wild animals. However, it was not responsible for major outbreaks until epidemics started popping up around the world last May.

The disease is marked by a telltale rash accompanied by headache, fever, swollen lymph nodes and muscle pain. It can only be spread through close physical contact with someone who is infected, or contact with their bedding or clothing, and it generally responds well to antivirals. However, it can take around a month to recover from the virus.

Despite being relatively mild in most people, it wont be surprising if officials and pharmaceutical companies use the Chicago uptick and the impending summer gay pride festivals as a reason to try to push vaccines on people.

Sources for this article include:

DailyMail.co.uk

Edition.CNN.com
(Natural News) The mayors of New York City (NYC) and Chicago are anticipating a surge of illegal immigrants to flood their already-strained cities after the pandemic-era Title 42 mandate expired Thursday, May 11.

First announced in March 2020 amid the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Title 42 allowed for the speedy deportation of illegal aliens on the basis of preventing the spread of communicable diseases such as COVID-19.

Authorities in Chicago have been forced to house illegal aliens in public buildings and even police stations, according to Bloomberg. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she had taken measures to respond to a surge of new arrivals since last month, culminating in her declaration of a state of emergency on May 9.

The new arrivals she pertained to include 48 people bused to the city by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, part of his plan to make the Biden administration aware of the need for border security. Weve reached a breaking point in our response to our humanitarian crisis, lamented Lightfoot, who is set to step down to give way to Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson. (Related: Texas to ship thousands more illegals to sanctuary cities like NYC as Title 42 ends.)

The outgoing mayor called for more aid from both the federal and state governments. While waiting for those to arrive, the emergency declaration Lightfoot signed frees her administration to move around emergency funds. It also allows her to call in the Illinois National Guard, though she clarified that the measure isnt needed for now.

Several volunteers have called on both Lightfoot and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker to provide meals, medical attention, showers and transportation to the illegal immigrants at the police stations.

In response, Lightfoot remarked that her office is trying to move them out as expeditiously as [they] possibly can. She continued: Thats why we have been saying now for quite some time  we dont have any more space.

Influx of illegals collapsing the Big Apple

Over at the Big Apple, NYC Mayor Eric Adams lamented that the illegal aliens  with most camping out in cheap hotels and bus terminals  are putting more pressure on the citys already-strained budget. He called on Washington, D.C. to better coordinate response efforts and speed up federal financial assistance and work permissions for migrants.

Just like Lightfoot, Adams signed an emergency executive order (EEO) in anticipation of the surge in illegals. His May 10 EEO suspended the citys right-to-shelter rules that immediately find private rooms for asylum seekers. This is not a decision taken lightly, said a statement from the NYC mayors office.

In recent days, weve seen upwards of 500 people arrive each day, and we expect those number to grow significantly as Title 42 lifts, the statement pointed out. With over 130 emergency sites and eight humanitarian relief centers already opened, we have reached our limit.

Adams himself became a vocal critic of President Joe Bidens open border policies. His recent criticism was directed at both the Republicans at the federal capital and the White House for refusing to address the influx of illegal aliens collapsing NYC.

It is the irresponsibility of the [GOP] in Washington, [D.C.] for refusing to do real immigration reform, and its the irresponsibility of the White House for not addressing this problem.

But Adams paid a huge price for his criticism of Bidens policies, as the president re-election campaign struck off the NYC mayors name from its roster of advisers. According to a POLITICO report, the mayors name no longer appears on a list of 50 prominent Democrats released by the Biden campaign team.

One of Adams aides confirmed the development to POLITICO, telling the outlet that the relationship between Biden and the NYC mayor has soured. The aide continued: Thats almost certainly what happened.

Visit InvasionUSA.news for more stories about Americas migrant crisis.

Watch this Russia Today report about illegal aliens gathering at the southern border to await the lifting of Title 42.

This video is from the SecureLife channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Outgoing Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot pleads with Texas Gov. Abbott to stop sending illegal migrants to her sanctuary city.

El Paso mayor declares state of emergency as city braces for influx of illegal aliens once Title 42 expires.

NYC Mayor declares emergency over migrants, 12 months after campaigning for more migrants.

As end of Title 42 looms, 90,000 illegals rush to Americas southern border over 10-day period.

Thousands of migrants set to flood the US once Title 42 expires this week.

Sources include:

Bloomberg.com

News.Yahoo.com

CBSNews.com

Breitbart.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) For the first time in many years, a truly honorable candidate is running for president as a Democrat, and his name is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The Health Ranger had the unique opportunity to speak with Kennedy recently about what he stands for, and how he is shaking up the Democrat Party in much the same way that Donald Trump shook up the Republican Party.

While many, including the Health Ranger, still do not agree with every single one of Kennedys positions, the guy deserves a lot of credit for sticking to his guns and bucking his party on numerous issues that are near and dear to his heart.

One of those issues is medical freedom. Since the beginning, Kennedy has opposed Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines, warning that they are dangerous and unnecessary. He also supports free and fair elections that are won not through cheating but through honesty.

Like Trump, Kennedy is not your typical politician. His beliefs are his own, and he is choosing not to back down from them, even if they do not align with the Democrat Party establishment.

Also like Trump, Kennedy has support from voters on both sides of the aisle. And if his message is able to get out without media censorship, Kennedys chances of winning the White House in 2024 will only continue to increase.

Im getting an outpouring of support among independents, among Republicans, among conservatives, and also in the Democratic Party, Kennedy told the Health Ranger  be sure to watch the full interview below.

The polls have come out  and they have me now at 20 or 21 percent among Democrats who are likely to vote, so thats strong. And actually our private, in-house polling is showing us even stronger among Democrats, but really strong among independents and Republicans, which have not been publicly polled.

(Related: Check out our earlier announcement about Kennedys initial announcement about his run for president in 2024.)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. cares about protecting the environment so we can all enjoy it

Kennedy and the Health Ranger also discussed other issues such as border security, election integrity, Americas energy supply and the stability of the energy grid, as well as the fractured nature of todays society.

Concerning the climate, Kennedy also spoke at length about how he balances the issue of pollution and the environment, revealing his sincere care and concern about protecting our natural resources.

On this particular issue, Kennedy believes that carbon does cause climate change and global warming, which might not go over so well among conservatives who have largely come to the conclusion that man-made climate change is a farce.

We have reported at length on this issue as well, revealing that carbon is good for the environment, helping to produce more greening.

However, where Kennedy differs is in his approach to dealing with what he believes is true concerning climate change. Instead of the forced green tyranny his party is promoting, Kennedy says his focus is on dealing with damaging pollution.

Im not going to insist that anybody else believe that, Kennedy explained about his personal views on climate change.

Ive said for 40 years that my focus is on the toxic impacts to communities  protecting habitat, to me, is the most important thing, Kennedy further expounded, speaking about all the work he has done with commercial fisheries over the years.

Habitats actually stabilize the climate in so many ways that were learning today, and theres nothing more important than that.

Be sure to watch the full interview above and also check out Kennedys campaign website to learn more about his positions.

More news coverage about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. can be found at VoteDemocrat.news.

Sources for this article include:

Brighteon.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) The federal government doled out more than $23 billion in taxpayer-funded Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) aid to the nations top 20 nonprofit hospitals.

This is according to a report compiled by Open The Books, an Illinois-based research nonprofit that compiles and publicizes spending by all levels of government in the United States. (Related: America spent $11 TRILLION on COVID-19 but nearly NOTHING on compensating those injured by the vaccines.)

According to the report, the 20 largest nonprofit hospitals in the country saw their cumulative net assets soar to $324.3 billion in 2021 from $200.6 billion in 2018. This represents a 62 percent increase in collective net assets. Furthermore, from 2018 to 2021, the total profits and revenues of these 20 hospitals also surged.

The biggest recipient of federal COVID-19 funding is CommonSpirit Health, formerly Dignity Health until early 2019, located in San Francisco. This hospital alone received $3.6 billion. Its net assets soared from $8.4 billion in 2018 to $21.9 billion by the end of 2021, and its CEO compensation also soared to $17.4 million by the end of that year.

Without naming which institutions, Open The Books noted that only two providers have begun repaying the government for the COVID-19 aid they received. These two institutions have only partially repaid the government.

Despite these massive taxpayer-funded investments into these nonprofit hospitals, the overall health of Americans actually declined.

American life expectancy during this period sharply declined by a staggering 2.5 years  while comparable country averages rebounded from a COVID-related drop in 2021, the United States continued declining in life expectancy, the report found.

Furthermore, Open The Books lamented the fact that healthcare costs are still astronomically high, with the average American family spending $22,463 in health insurance premiums in 2022 while not taking into account the spending made on out-of-pocket costs like co-pays and deductibles.

Nonprofit hospitals make billions and dont reinvest into communities

Another report examining the finances of 1,773 nonprofit hospitals in the U.S., notes that more than three-quarters do not significantly reinvest their earnings into the communities they serve despite the millions or billions they save on costs in the form of tax breaks.

This is according to the Lown Institute, a Massachusetts-based think tank, which identified over 1,350 nonprofit hospitals that have fair share deficits. This means the value of their community investments is not equal to the value of their tax breaks.

The combined deficits of these nonprofit hospitals totaled $14.2 billion in 2020  the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lown Institute noted that this deficit would have been enough to fully relieve 18 million of the approximately 100 million Americans with a medical debt of what they owe, or to keep open 600 rural hospitals at risk of closure.

Americans desperately need hospitals to use their billions in tax breaks as intended  to promote health while relieving the problems of medical debt and access to care, said Lown Institute President Dr. Vikas Saini. These are charitable organizations and they should do a better job at prioritizing social responsibility over profitability.

Two of the hospitals in Lown Institutes list of biggest offenders were also some of the biggest recipients of federal COVID-19 aid.

Northwestern Memorial Hospital had a fair share deficit of over $97 million. Its parent health network, Northwestern Medicine, received $419 million in federal COVID-19 aid, with over $18 million of that going directly to Northwestern Memorial.

The Indiana University Health University Hospital had a fair share deficit of $136 million. Its parent health network, IU Health, received $726 million in federal COVID-19 aid, with around $135 million going directly to University Hospital.

By far the biggest offender is UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside, which had a fair share deficit of $246 million. Its parent health network, UPMC-University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Group, received $1.4 billion in federal COVID-19 aid, with over $56 million going directly to Shadyside.

In exchange for being exempted from paying most federal, state and local taxes, nonprofit hospitals are supposed to provide the communities they serve free or discounted healthcare and medical outreach programs like substance abuse treatment programs and programs to support affordable housing and access to healthy foods.

Learn more about the state of American health care and health systems at HealthCoverage.news.

Watch this episode of The Truth Expedition discussing the deadly hospital protocols that lead to more people succumbing to COVID-19.

This video is from the channel The Truth Expedition on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Hospitals became DEATH and MURDER facilities during COVID, facts show.

Health care today means HIGHER costs and WORSE outcomes.

Hospitals are suppressing effective COVID treatments, says Dr. Chuck Thurston  Brighteon.TV.

Americans continue to suffer as hospitals refuse to be transparent about their prices.

Life insurance payouts hit record high of $100 billion in 2021  the first full year of mass COVID-19 vaccination.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

OpenTheBooks.com

HealthcareFinanceNews.com

LownHospitalsIndex.org

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Biological warfare epidemiologist Dr. Meryl Nass has warned that the World Health Organizations (WHO) One Health concept will put animals and ecosystems on the same level as humans.

In an interview with the independent media organization Bright Light News in Brussels, Belgium, the board-certified internist and anthrax expert said under the direction of the WHOs Pandemic Treaty and proposed changes to the International Health Regulations (IHR), the United Nations specialized health agency would be given centralized powers superseding those of its 194 member states sovereign governments.

Nass explained that under One Health, animals and the environment would be given equal status with humans.

One of the methods that are being used for the WHO to gain more power is a concept that was rolled out in Davos in 2012 at the World Economic Forum. This concept states that human health cannot be looked at in isolation. But instead, we must consider the health of animals, plants, the environment, water systems or ecosystems together, Nass noted.

In this connection, doctors are not allowed to look at health anymore. Instead, we need ecologists and veterinarians, pathologists, etcetera to be involved. Now, do you think the WHO is going to elevate animals to the status of humans? No, its going to lower humans to the status of animals.

She added that WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus would be able to declare pandemics at the mere threat of a public health emergency of international concern. He can also call for a world lockdown for declared climate change emergencies. (Related: World Health Organization continues to put mad scientists in charge of global health, promoting medical fascism.)

Congress passes law that seeks to develop a national One Health Framework

In December 2022, Congress passed and enacted into law a bill supported by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). The bill seeks to develop a national One Health Framework that will coordinate federal activities in combating zoonotic disease outbreaks and advance public health preparedness.

The One Health language passed is taken from another bill, the Advancing Emergency Preparedness Through One Health Act (HR 2061/S 681), and directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to work with other relevant federal departments and agencies to develop the national framework.

The One Health legislation passed by Congress will help strengthen the nations preparedness for diseases that can spread between animals and humans, AVMA President Lori Teller said. We have all witnessed the significant threat that zoonotic diseases pose to our society. With animals, humans, and the environment being more interconnected than ever, the AVMA applauds Congress for taking this crucial step forward in fully implementing a One Health Framework so we can better protect public health.

The passage of the legislation was lauded by Dr. Bruce Kaplan, co-founder of the One Health Initiative.

Passage of this long-overdue One Health Framework provision by the Congress is heartening and I am delighted, said Kaplan. However, my fervent hope is, as Winston Churchill said, Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.'

The law mandates relevant federal agencies to submit a proposed framework to Congress within a year. The AVMA said it will work with lawmakers and federal agencies on the implementation of the legislation.

Check out MedicalTyranny.com for more news on the globalist health agencies efforts to take world control.

Watch the video clip of Bright Light News interview with Dr. Meryl Nass below.

This video is from the What is happening channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

World Health Organization positioning to become global health dictator while masses are distracted with lab leaks.

World Health Organizations pandemic treaty spells DOOM for democracy.

EU politician condemns World Health Organization treaty for bypassing the rule of the people.

UN whistleblower says World Health Organization is tip of the spear for global tyranny.

YouTube announces it will certify medical information in cahoots with the World Health Organization.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

BrightLightNews.com

AVMA.org 1

AVMA.org 2
The United Nations and several world countries, including the United States, have praised Egypts efforts in mediating a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza on Saturday, which brought nearly five days of deadly fighting to an end.
Washington's power brokers love playing chicken. But the rest of the world will watch in dread Tuesday when President Joe Biden and Republican leaders meet to negotiate the US debt ceiling -- praying that one side finally blinks.
By IANS

SAN FRANCISCO: Streaming giant Netflix is reportedly slashing its spending by $300 million this year, including related to hiring.

According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, one of the reasons behind the spending cut is that Netflix delayed its plans to crack down on password sharing from the first quarter to the second quarter this year.

It means that the revenue Netflix expected from the move is now shifted toward the second half of the year, the report said.

"The company urged staff earlier this month to be sensible with their spending, including in relation to hiring, but noted that there would not be a hiring freeze or additional layoffs," the report added.

The streaming company launched its crackdown on password sharing in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain earlier this year.

Netflix is finally set to crack down on password sharing in the US this summer.

Netflix originally planned to roll out "paid sharing" in the US during the first quarter this year. The company will now introduce the feature on or before June 30. It will allow up to two extra members per account, and its fee per extra user varies by country.

The sharing plans are available to members using Standard ($15.49 a month) and Premium ($19.99 a month) subscriptions.

The company launched a new ad-supported plan called 'Basic with Ads' last November. The tier costs $6.99 per month.

Netflix is also upgrading its ad-supported plan in terms of streaming quality and concurrent streams. In an effort to lower costs, Netflix also conducted job cuts last year.

SAN FRANCISCO: Streaming giant Netflix is reportedly slashing its spending by $300 million this year, including related to hiring. According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, one of the reasons behind the spending cut is that Netflix delayed its plans to crack down on password sharing from the first quarter to the second quarter this year. It means that the revenue Netflix expected from the move is now shifted toward the second half of the year, the report said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "The company urged staff earlier this month to be sensible with their spending, including in relation to hiring, but noted that there would not be a hiring freeze or additional layoffs," the report added. The streaming company launched its crackdown on password sharing in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain earlier this year. Netflix is finally set to crack down on password sharing in the US this summer. Netflix originally planned to roll out "paid sharing" in the US during the first quarter this year. The company will now introduce the feature on or before June 30. It will allow up to two extra members per account, and its fee per extra user varies by country. The sharing plans are available to members using Standard ($15.49 a month) and Premium ($19.99 a month) subscriptions. The company launched a new ad-supported plan called 'Basic with Ads' last November. The tier costs $6.99 per month. Netflix is also upgrading its ad-supported plan in terms of streaming quality and concurrent streams. In an effort to lower costs, Netflix also conducted job cuts last year.
The National Dialogues board of trustees urged all parties and entities to pave the way for a democratic atmosphere for a multi-candidate presidential elections next year.

In a statement on Monday, the National Dialogues board of trustees called all on these parties to "continue their positive efforts toward creating a democratic atmosphere for multi-candidate presidential elections.

The board hailed President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisis quick response to its previous proposal of renewing legislation that stipulates full judicial supervision over elections and referendums.

Egypt is scheduled to hold its next presidential elections in mid-2024, six years after El-Sisi won a second term in a landslide victory against his sole contender, Ghad Party chairman Moussa Mostafa Moussa.

National dialogue further demands

Moreover, the board said it looks forward to the presidents use of his constitutional powers to pardon more prisoners who received sentences over the coming period.

The board added that it hopes that the Presidential Pardon Committee, reactivated by El-Sisi in April 2022, will intensify its legal efforts to release those who are still being held in detention without trial.

Additionally, the board called for continued support for the National Dialogue and urged all parties to give the dialogue appropriate time to manifest specific proposals on political, economic, and social issues, which will be submitted to the president.

The National Dialogue, initiated by the president last year, kicked off on Wednesday with the participation of several political forces  including the opposition.

The dialogue also witnessed the participation of civil society groups, professional and labour unions, as well as public figures, and is scheduled to continue its public sessions over the coming week.

In a recorded speech at the opening session, the president emphasized his support for the dialogue and promised to "provide all means necessary to ensure its success and activate its outcomes within a framework of democracy and effective political practice."

First week sessions

The board of trustees scheduled public discussions for the dialogues political, economic and social tracks on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday respectively, which will take place at the Cairo International Convention Center in Nasr City.

The political track will hold four sessions on Sunday to discuss topics such as the parliamentary electoral system, eliminating all forms of discrimination, and the challenges facing cooperatives.

Meanwhile, the economic track will hold four sessions on Tuesday to discuss social protection programmes, formulating Egypts tourist map and means of stimulating all forms of tourism investments.

In addition, on Thursday, the social track's sessions will focus on issues of guardianship and national identity.

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Rubi Chakravarti By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: My idea of fun isnt partying till youre blue in the face, shopping till Im dropping or working till I explode! Restraint is the key. Grand openings with grotesquely expensive invitations (some with bottles of fine wine/liquor) stupefy me! Why would total strangers invite you to their massive bars/clubs/restaurants and promise all and sundry a good time? Their public relations partners go into overdrive, sussing out numbers and blitzing you with messages urging you to come and helpfully supply you with hashtags! Totally taking for granted that you (a total stranger) will post your shenanigans on social media and tag seamless-Seema or hottie-pototie or whatever hashtag the team gives you!

I understand that doing-stuff or scratching a friends back is kosher. But the bevy of strangers who assume that you will give them publicity is in my books: making someone else do the job that you are hired to do. Bigger and bigger sharks have entered this arena and they in turn, are employed because of their social contacts! Many young uns get wined and dined (gratis) quite expeditiously nowadays!

Call me a dinosaur (I have been referred to as T-Rex by some uncharitable people!), but I like being invited the old -fashioned way. Friends and acquaintances send you an invitation to save the date, followed by an invitation and/or a phone call. Pleasantries are exchanged (no one is too busy for that), and commitments are given. One knows one will bump into friends and the ambiance will reek of bonhomie, good food, ambrosia and conversations. That is where we enjoy taking photographs of having a great time, posting about a fabulous event that has painstaking been put together, join in the raucous celebration of an entrepreneurial venture of yet another known person, be it a new restaurant/pub/bar, and then blitz it to the world. There has to be a cut-off point. Either one knows or has a relationship with the person or the said stranger does their own blitzkrieg! Sounds harsh? You betcha!

I received one such polite invitation from Arjun Pandalai to an Art-Rendezvous, Conversations and more of the famed artist-king, Raja Ravi Varma. His works were showcased under the auspices of the RRV Heritage Foundation to honour his 175th birth anniversary. The elegant ballroom of the Taj West End was filled to capacity with adoring fans and artists alike. There was an informative tete-a-tete by an expert panel comprising the Rajas great grand-niece and Gitanjali Maini, whose art foundation is the most prolific in keeping Raja Ravi Varmas art in focus and alive. In keeping with the Rajas homeland, the most delicious food from Gods own country was served. Twas a truly beautiful evening.

I formed an almost instant, easy connection with the Israel Consulate-General, Tammy Ben-Haim. Perhaps because I had a close friendship with her predecessor, my first meeting with Tammy was without filters. She and her deputy Limor, are both steel magnolias yet, easy-going, friendly and non-fussy. Their 75th Independence Day celebration was a blast! Again consuls from different parts of the world mingled and mixed. Friends who hadnt connected for ages were there. A warm and friendly ambiance with great table and pours only contributed to a feeling of bonhomie on a gentle drizzle-soaked night.

Can anyone ask for more?

(The writers views are her own)

BENGALURU: My idea of fun isnt partying till youre blue in the face, shopping till Im dropping or working till I explode! Restraint is the key. Grand openings with grotesquely expensive invitations (some with bottles of fine wine/liquor) stupefy me! Why would total strangers invite you to their massive bars/clubs/restaurants and promise all and sundry a good time? Their public relations partners go into overdrive, sussing out numbers and blitzing you with messages urging you to come and helpfully supply you with hashtags! Totally taking for granted that you (a total stranger) will post your shenanigans on social media and tag seamless-Seema or hottie-pototie or whatever hashtag the team gives you! I understand that doing-stuff or scratching a friends back is kosher. But the bevy of strangers who assume that you will give them publicity is in my books: making someone else do the job that you are hired to do. Bigger and bigger sharks have entered this arena and they in turn, are employed because of their social contacts! Many young uns get wined and dined (gratis) quite expeditiously nowadays! Call me a dinosaur (I have been referred to as T-Rex by some uncharitable people!), but I like being invited the old -fashioned way. Friends and acquaintances send you an invitation to save the date, followed by an invitation and/or a phone call. Pleasantries are exchanged (no one is too busy for that), and commitments are given. One knows one will bump into friends and the ambiance will reek of bonhomie, good food, ambrosia and conversations. That is where we enjoy taking photographs of having a great time, posting about a fabulous event that has painstaking been put together, join in the raucous celebration of an entrepreneurial venture of yet another known person, be it a new restaurant/pub/bar, and then blitz it to the world. There has to be a cut-off point. Either one knows or has a relationship with the person or the said stranger does their own blitzkrieg! Sounds harsh? You betcha!googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); I received one such polite invitation from Arjun Pandalai to an Art-Rendezvous, Conversations and more of the famed artist-king, Raja Ravi Varma. His works were showcased under the auspices of the RRV Heritage Foundation to honour his 175th birth anniversary. The elegant ballroom of the Taj West End was filled to capacity with adoring fans and artists alike. There was an informative tete-a-tete by an expert panel comprising the Rajas great grand-niece and Gitanjali Maini, whose art foundation is the most prolific in keeping Raja Ravi Varmas art in focus and alive. In keeping with the Rajas homeland, the most delicious food from Gods own country was served. Twas a truly beautiful evening. I formed an almost instant, easy connection with the Israel Consulate-General, Tammy Ben-Haim. Perhaps because I had a close friendship with her predecessor, my first meeting with Tammy was without filters. She and her deputy Limor, are both steel magnolias yet, easy-going, friendly and non-fussy. Their 75th Independence Day celebration was a blast! Again consuls from different parts of the world mingled and mixed. Friends who hadnt connected for ages were there. A warm and friendly ambiance with great table and pours only contributed to a feeling of bonhomie on a gentle drizzle-soaked night. Can anyone ask for more? (The writers views are her own)
By Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: Along expected lines, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) retained the Jharsuguda Assembly seat with a big margin of 48,721 votes by trouncing its nearest rival the BJP.

BJD nominee Deepali Das, daughter of slain former minister Naba Kishore Das, secured 1,07,198 votes as against 58,477 votes cornered by BJP candidate Tankadhar Tripathy. Congress candidate Tarun Pandey lost the deposit as he could manage to bag only 4496 votes.

The BJD candidate was leading from the first round and continued her dominance till the final round of the counting making it amply clear that the BJD is still the favourite among the voters.

While the BJD secured 60.93 per cent votes, BJP polled 33.24 per cent votes. The vote share of Congress dropped to 2.56 per cent.

By securing 8,578 more votes than what her late father, a popular leader and a three-time MLA, had polled in the 2019 elections, Deepali proved the opposition's calculation of making the deteriorating law and order situation a major poll plank wrong.

Though Tankadhar got 5,556 more votes than that of the BJP's nominee in the last assembly elections, he failed to stop the BJD juggernaut. Congress lost over 14,000 votes. Interestingly, 2073 votes went in favour of NOTA.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik spoke to Deepali over the phone and congratulated her for the resounding victory.

In response to her victory, Deepali said that this was possible due to the love of the voters to her father and the blessings of her father and the Chief Minister.

Dubbing the Chief Minister as a father figure, Deepali said she will continue all the developmental work her father had initiated.

BJP candidate Tankadhar said there was a fight between 'parishram' (hard work) and 'paisa' (money) in the by-poll and the former was defeated by the latter.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan conceded defeat in the Jharsuguda by-election and congratulated Deepali on her victory. He, however, thanked the voters for supporting the BJP and pushing the party's vote share up.

The by-election was necessitated following the sensational murder of the former Heath Minister Naba Kishore Das by an ASI of police on duty.

BHUBANESWAR: Along expected lines, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) retained the Jharsuguda Assembly seat with a big margin of 48,721 votes by trouncing its nearest rival the BJP. BJD nominee Deepali Das, daughter of slain former minister Naba Kishore Das, secured 1,07,198 votes as against 58,477 votes cornered by BJP candidate Tankadhar Tripathy. Congress candidate Tarun Pandey lost the deposit as he could manage to bag only 4496 votes. #JharsugudaBypollResult: BJD's Deepali Das wins, defeats rival Tankadhar Tripathy of BJP by 48,619 vote margin | #Odisha@NewIndianXpress @santwana99 @Siba_TNIE pic.twitter.com/7Wf5gQKo1Zgoogletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); });  TNIE Odisha (@XpressOdisha) May 13, 2023 The BJD candidate was leading from the first round and continued her dominance till the final round of the counting making it amply clear that the BJD is still the favourite among the voters. While the BJD secured 60.93 per cent votes, BJP polled 33.24 per cent votes. The vote share of Congress dropped to 2.56 per cent. By securing 8,578 more votes than what her late father, a popular leader and a three-time MLA, had polled in the 2019 elections, Deepali proved the opposition's calculation of making the deteriorating law and order situation a major poll plank wrong. Though Tankadhar got 5,556 more votes than that of the BJP's nominee in the last assembly elections, he failed to stop the BJD juggernaut. Congress lost over 14,000 votes. Interestingly, 2073 votes went in favour of NOTA. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik spoke to Deepali over the phone and congratulated her for the resounding victory. In response to her victory, Deepali said that this was possible due to the love of the voters to her father and the blessings of her father and the Chief Minister. Dubbing the Chief Minister as a father figure, Deepali said she will continue all the developmental work her father had initiated. BJP candidate Tankadhar said there was a fight between 'parishram' (hard work) and 'paisa' (money) in the by-poll and the former was defeated by the latter. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan conceded defeat in the Jharsuguda by-election and congratulated Deepali on her victory. He, however, thanked the voters for supporting the BJP and pushing the party's vote share up. The by-election was necessitated following the sensational murder of the former Heath Minister Naba Kishore Das by an ASI of police on duty.
Ashish Srivastava By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: In a first, the AIIMS doctors will get trained in practising international standards of patient safety and quality care at a renowned medical institute in Singapore to achieve the goal of zero avoidable harm. The training will be used to formulate safety protocols in the hospital, which after its successful implementation, will also be emulated in other public healthcare institutes, sources said.

Officials said that the initiative is being led by the World Health Organization (WHO), which has taken the Duke-NUS (Institute of Patient Safety & Quality - IPSQ) onboard for it. Department of Pediatrics and Pediatric Surgery will be the first to take part in the initiative. The training will include a study tour, workshops and visits to Singapore hospitals and facilities, a senior official said.

The move has come after a meeting with the officials from WHO-South East Asia which was held recently. The initiative was proposed in the meeting. The WHO is willing to organize onsite visits of the experts and staff of the institute. The representatives also proposed a study tour and workshop in patient safety, a senior official said.

However, the ultimate goal is to establish niche guidelines in patient safety and quality care tailored according to different diseases, wards and ICUs, he added. Officials informed that two panels have been set up in this regard which will formulate guidelines based on international standards, monitor their implementation and audit if any avoidable harm in terms of death or damage has occurred during the treatment.

A Core Committee for Patient Safety and Quality is being constituted for the implementation of advanced patient safety and quality initiatives across various departments in the Institute, according to an office memorandum issued by the institute. Besides, a Patient Safety & Quality Secretariat is being constituted which will coordinate the implementation of advanced Patient Safety and Quality measures in various departments across the institute, it added.

Avoidable harm is an umbrella term used to describe harm patients get during hospitalization due to an unsafe environment to reduce hospital-acquired infection and illnesses, human error by healthcare providers and not providing care as per standard protocols among others.

Mission zero avoidable harm

AIIMS medicos, staff to get training in patient safety and quality care at Singapore hospitals

The learning will be used in formulating SOPs, and guidelines back in the institute

Committees will monitor the implementation of the guidelines and audit the cases

WHO will support training and stabling manuals regarding patient safety and care at par with international standards

NEW DELHI: In a first, the AIIMS doctors will get trained in practising international standards of patient safety and quality care at a renowned medical institute in Singapore to achieve the goal of zero avoidable harm. The training will be used to formulate safety protocols in the hospital, which after its successful implementation, will also be emulated in other public healthcare institutes, sources said. Officials said that the initiative is being led by the World Health Organization (WHO), which has taken the Duke-NUS (Institute of Patient Safety & Quality - IPSQ) onboard for it. Department of Pediatrics and Pediatric Surgery will be the first to take part in the initiative. The training will include a study tour, workshops and visits to Singapore hospitals and facilities, a senior official said. The move has come after a meeting with the officials from WHO-South East Asia which was held recently. The initiative was proposed in the meeting. The WHO is willing to organize onsite visits of the experts and staff of the institute. The representatives also proposed a study tour and workshop in patient safety, a senior official said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); However, the ultimate goal is to establish niche guidelines in patient safety and quality care tailored according to different diseases, wards and ICUs, he added. Officials informed that two panels have been set up in this regard which will formulate guidelines based on international standards, monitor their implementation and audit if any avoidable harm in terms of death or damage has occurred during the treatment. A Core Committee for Patient Safety and Quality is being constituted for the implementation of advanced patient safety and quality initiatives across various departments in the Institute, according to an office memorandum issued by the institute. Besides, a Patient Safety & Quality Secretariat is being constituted which will coordinate the implementation of advanced Patient Safety and Quality measures in various departments across the institute, it added. Avoidable harm is an umbrella term used to describe harm patients get during hospitalization due to an unsafe environment to reduce hospital-acquired infection and illnesses, human error by healthcare providers and not providing care as per standard protocols among others. Mission zero avoidable harm AIIMS medicos, staff to get training in patient safety and quality care at Singapore hospitals The learning will be used in formulating SOPs, and guidelines back in the institute Committees will monitor the implementation of the guidelines and audit the cases WHO will support training and stabling manuals regarding patient safety and care at par with international standards
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday sought replies from the West Bengal and Tamil Nadu governments on a plea of the producers of "The Kerala Story" that the movie is not being shown in theatres in these two states.

While West Bengal has banned the movie after three days of its screening in theatres, Tamil Nadu has not banned the film but the exhibitors have withdrawn from cinema halls owing to security concerns.

A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha questioned the West Bengal government saying the film is being screened in the rest of the country without any problem and there appears to be no reason for the ban.

"Movie is running in the rest of the country including in states having similar demographic composition and nothing has happened. This has nothing to do with the artistic value of the film. If people do not like the movie, they will not watch the movie," the bench told senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the West Bengal government.

Singhvi said according to intelligence inputs, there may be a situation of law-and-order problem, and peace among different communities may be breached.

He said that the state has the power under section 6 of the West Bengal Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1954 and opposed the grant of the stay of the order.

"This court has asked petitioners who filed petitions on the movie to approach the high court for relief. Now, this petitioner has approached this court, kindly direct them to approach the High Court. Also, we have received several intelligence inputs indicating a breach of public order", he said, adding that no stay be granted without giving an opportunity to the state to file its reply.

Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for producers of the movie, said that in West Bengal the movie was screened for three days before it was banned.

The bench told Singhvi that it is issuing notice to the West Bengal government and will not stay the order (banning screening of the movie), without giving an opportunity to the state.

The bench also asked the Tamil Nadu government to specify measures taken to provide adequate security to theatres screening the film.

"The state government cannot say that it will look the other way when theatres are attacked and chairs are being burnt," the bench told advocate Amit Anand Tiwari, appearing for Tamil Nadu government, after he submitted that there is no ban on the movie.

Salve said there is de facto ban in Tamil Nadu as theatres screening the movie are being threatened and they have dropped the screenings.

"For West Bengal, we are seeking quashing of the ban order," he said.

"We are issuing notices to both the states and they may file their response by Wednesday," the bench said.

"The Kerala Story", starring Adah Sharma, was released in cinemas on May 5. Directed by Sudipto Sen, the film claims women from Kerala were forced to convert to Islam and recruited by the terror group Islamic State (IS). On May 10, the top court had agreed to hear a plea by the producers of the controversial multilingual film 'The Kerala Story' against the West Bengal government's ban on screening of the movie after the makers said they are "losing money every day".

On May 8, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ordered an immediate ban on the screening of the film in the state to avoid "any incident of hatred and violence", a senior state government official had said.

The top court had posted for May 15 a separate plea against the Kerala High Court order refusing to stay the release of the movie and the fresh plea would also be heard on that day.

On May 5, the high court refused to stay the release of the movie and said the trailer does not contain anything offensive to any particular community as a whole.

The high court had noted the producers' submission that they do not intend to retain an "offending teaser" which contained a statement that "32,000 women" from Kerala were converted and joined a terrorist organisation.

It said the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has examined the movie and found it suitable for public exhibition.

The high court had also noted that the producers have published a disclaimer along with the movie which specifically says it is fictionalised and a dramatised version of events and that the film doesn't claim accuracy or factuality of historic events.

"In view of the disclaimer also, we are not inclined to pass an interim order restraining the respondents from exhibiting the film as such. In view of the above and taking into consideration the statement made by the producer that the producer does not intend to retain the offending teaser in their social media handles, no further orders are necessary in this petition at this stage," the high court had said.

It was hearing a batch of petitions which sought to set aside the certificate for public display given to the movie by the censor board among other pleas including banning it.

The petitions before the high court had contended that the movie "falsely portrayed" certain facts which had resulted in "insulting" the people of Kerala, and sought a stay on the movie's impending release.

On May 4, the apex court refused to entertain for a third time a plea challenging the CBFC certification granted to the movie, saying courts must be very careful while staying exhibition of films.

It had observed that producers have invested money in the film and actors have dedicated their labour, and it is for the market to decide if the movie is not up to the mark.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday sought replies from the West Bengal and Tamil Nadu governments on a plea of the producers of "The Kerala Story" that the movie is not being shown in theatres in these two states. While West Bengal has banned the movie after three days of its screening in theatres, Tamil Nadu has not banned the film but the exhibitors have withdrawn from cinema halls owing to security concerns. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha questioned the West Bengal government saying the film is being screened in the rest of the country without any problem and there appears to be no reason for the ban.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "Movie is running in the rest of the country including in states having similar demographic composition and nothing has happened. This has nothing to do with the artistic value of the film. If people do not like the movie, they will not watch the movie," the bench told senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the West Bengal government. Singhvi said according to intelligence inputs, there may be a situation of law-and-order problem, and peace among different communities may be breached. He said that the state has the power under section 6 of the West Bengal Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1954 and opposed the grant of the stay of the order. "This court has asked petitioners who filed petitions on the movie to approach the high court for relief. Now, this petitioner has approached this court, kindly direct them to approach the High Court. Also, we have received several intelligence inputs indicating a breach of public order", he said, adding that no stay be granted without giving an opportunity to the state to file its reply. Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for producers of the movie, said that in West Bengal the movie was screened for three days before it was banned. The bench told Singhvi that it is issuing notice to the West Bengal government and will not stay the order (banning screening of the movie), without giving an opportunity to the state. The bench also asked the Tamil Nadu government to specify measures taken to provide adequate security to theatres screening the film. "The state government cannot say that it will look the other way when theatres are attacked and chairs are being burnt," the bench told advocate Amit Anand Tiwari, appearing for Tamil Nadu government, after he submitted that there is no ban on the movie. Salve said there is de facto ban in Tamil Nadu as theatres screening the movie are being threatened and they have dropped the screenings. "For West Bengal, we are seeking quashing of the ban order," he said. "We are issuing notices to both the states and they may file their response by Wednesday," the bench said. "The Kerala Story", starring Adah Sharma, was released in cinemas on May 5. Directed by Sudipto Sen, the film claims women from Kerala were forced to convert to Islam and recruited by the terror group Islamic State (IS). On May 10, the top court had agreed to hear a plea by the producers of the controversial multilingual film 'The Kerala Story' against the West Bengal government's ban on screening of the movie after the makers said they are "losing money every day". On May 8, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ordered an immediate ban on the screening of the film in the state to avoid "any incident of hatred and violence", a senior state government official had said. The top court had posted for May 15 a separate plea against the Kerala High Court order refusing to stay the release of the movie and the fresh plea would also be heard on that day. On May 5, the high court refused to stay the release of the movie and said the trailer does not contain anything offensive to any particular community as a whole. The high court had noted the producers' submission that they do not intend to retain an "offending teaser" which contained a statement that "32,000 women" from Kerala were converted and joined a terrorist organisation. It said the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has examined the movie and found it suitable for public exhibition. The high court had also noted that the producers have published a disclaimer along with the movie which specifically says it is fictionalised and a dramatised version of events and that the film doesn't claim accuracy or factuality of historic events. "In view of the disclaimer also, we are not inclined to pass an interim order restraining the respondents from exhibiting the film as such. In view of the above and taking into consideration the statement made by the producer that the producer does not intend to retain the offending teaser in their social media handles, no further orders are necessary in this petition at this stage," the high court had said. It was hearing a batch of petitions which sought to set aside the certificate for public display given to the movie by the censor board among other pleas including banning it. The petitions before the high court had contended that the movie "falsely portrayed" certain facts which had resulted in "insulting" the people of Kerala, and sought a stay on the movie's impending release. On May 4, the apex court refused to entertain for a third time a plea challenging the CBFC certification granted to the movie, saying courts must be very careful while staying exhibition of films. It had observed that producers have invested money in the film and actors have dedicated their labour, and it is for the market to decide if the movie is not up to the mark.
By PTI

THRISSUR: 24-year-old Jyotsna Padmanabhan is a woman who always yearned to conduct pujas at her ancestral temple since her childhood. Archana Kumari is her homemaker-mother who has knowingly or unknowingly learnt the basics of tantric lessons through her daughter.

The duo is silently creating history by shattering the glass ceiling of centuries-old male dominance in priesthood and tantric rituals in Kerala.

Both the women have been donning the role of priests at a temple in the central Kerala district of Thrissur and performing tantric rituals in neighbouring shrines and other venues for some time, which is normally considered a male bastion.

'Out of pure devotion'

But this 47-year-old mother and her daughter do not want to term their priesthood as a gender equality initiative or as an attempt to break gender stereotypes existing in society.

Belonging to an ancient Brahmin family, Tharanellur Thekkiniyedathu Mana at Kattur in Irinjalakuda, Jyotsna and Archana said in unison that they entered the world of priesthood out of their pure devotion and not to prove any point in the society.

A double post-graduate in Vedanta and Sahitya (Sanskrit), Jyotsna said she had started learning tantra since she was seven years old, and the dream to don the role of a priest began even before that.

"I have grown up seeing my father Padmanabhan Namboothiripad conduct pujas and tantric rituals. So, a dream to learn this has budded in my mind since I was very young," she told PTI.

She said even before she came to know that it was not something women usually do, the desire grew in her mind. "When I expressed my wish to my father, he did not oppose it. As he felt it was genuine, he extended all the support," the woman priest said.

And, that no ancient texts or traditions have barred women from performing the tantric rituals or chanting mantras, she explained.

Initiation at seven

A senior Brahmin priest initiated her into the world of tantra at the age of seven.

Jyotsna held the tantric installation of Goddess Bhadrakali at the Painkannykavu Sree Krishna Temple, the ancestral shrine of their family where her father is the chief priest. She has been serving at the shrine and performing daily rituals whenever possible.

FROM OUR ARCHIVES | 22 trained women priests in Kerala ready to perform poojas

The young woman has been performing tantric rituals, and installations and reinstallations (of idols) in other temples too for the last several years.

"Pujas in other temples are not done just for the sake of it. I am doing it whenever my father asks me to do so. Sometimes, he cannot go there, and then he directs me to go and perform the rituals," she said.

Asked whether there was any objection from the patriarchal Brahmin community against the entry of women into the priesthood, Jyotsna said in the traditional community families, women used to do "thevaram", "nedyam", and other such rituals.

"Performing puja in a temple may be a new thing. But as women used to conduct other rituals in traditional families, no one has felt any difference in what we are doing," she said.

Mother follows daughter

When the daughter started learning the pujas and the tantric lessons, mother Archana Kumari, who had been a homemaker so far, also wanted to follow suit.

"Jyotsna used to discuss at home in detail the lessons she learnt. Listening to the mantras she used to chant and seeing the mudras (symbolic hand gestures) of tantric rituals, knowingly or unknowingly I have imbibed the basics. An intense desire to learn more has grown in my mind," the mother told PTI.

The woman said her husband has been very supportive of her decision to learn the rituals and mantras and had no objection to her performing the daily pujas at their family temple.

For the past few years, Archana has also been performing tantric rituals and conducting installation and reinstallation rituals at nearby temples as per the requests of the respective shrine management.

FROM OUR ARCHIVES | TN's first female Odhuvar wants to get her job back

Though it is tough to manage time to balance the duties of a homemaker as well as a priest, the woman said she is happy and content to fulfil her responsibilities. During the time of menstruation, both these women would stay away from the priestly duties.

If anyone asked this mother-daughter duo what they have to say to the women who would like to enter the priesthood, they would advise that it should not be done to break gender stereotypes.

"I have not entered the world of pujas and mantras intending to prove anything as I am a woman. I have come because of my intense devotion and passion. This is not an area to prove gender equality," Jyotsna added.

Jyotsna has completed her two postgraduate degrees from the Kanchi and Madras Universities respectively.

THRISSUR: 24-year-old Jyotsna Padmanabhan is a woman who always yearned to conduct pujas at her ancestral temple since her childhood. Archana Kumari is her homemaker-mother who has knowingly or unknowingly learnt the basics of tantric lessons through her daughter. The duo is silently creating history by shattering the glass ceiling of centuries-old male dominance in priesthood and tantric rituals in Kerala. Both the women have been donning the role of priests at a temple in the central Kerala district of Thrissur and performing tantric rituals in neighbouring shrines and other venues for some time, which is normally considered a male bastion.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); 'Out of pure devotion' But this 47-year-old mother and her daughter do not want to term their priesthood as a gender equality initiative or as an attempt to break gender stereotypes existing in society. Belonging to an ancient Brahmin family, Tharanellur Thekkiniyedathu Mana at Kattur in Irinjalakuda, Jyotsna and Archana said in unison that they entered the world of priesthood out of their pure devotion and not to prove any point in the society. A double post-graduate in Vedanta and Sahitya (Sanskrit), Jyotsna said she had started learning tantra since she was seven years old, and the dream to don the role of a priest began even before that. "I have grown up seeing my father Padmanabhan Namboothiripad conduct pujas and tantric rituals. So, a dream to learn this has budded in my mind since I was very young," she told PTI. She said even before she came to know that it was not something women usually do, the desire grew in her mind. "When I expressed my wish to my father, he did not oppose it. As he felt it was genuine, he extended all the support," the woman priest said. And, that no ancient texts or traditions have barred women from performing the tantric rituals or chanting mantras, she explained. Initiation at seven A senior Brahmin priest initiated her into the world of tantra at the age of seven. Jyotsna held the tantric installation of Goddess Bhadrakali at the Painkannykavu Sree Krishna Temple, the ancestral shrine of their family where her father is the chief priest. She has been serving at the shrine and performing daily rituals whenever possible. FROM OUR ARCHIVES | 22 trained women priests in Kerala ready to perform poojas The young woman has been performing tantric rituals, and installations and reinstallations (of idols) in other temples too for the last several years. "Pujas in other temples are not done just for the sake of it. I am doing it whenever my father asks me to do so. Sometimes, he cannot go there, and then he directs me to go and perform the rituals," she said. Asked whether there was any objection from the patriarchal Brahmin community against the entry of women into the priesthood, Jyotsna said in the traditional community families, women used to do "thevaram", "nedyam", and other such rituals. "Performing puja in a temple may be a new thing. But as women used to conduct other rituals in traditional families, no one has felt any difference in what we are doing," she said. Mother follows daughter When the daughter started learning the pujas and the tantric lessons, mother Archana Kumari, who had been a homemaker so far, also wanted to follow suit. "Jyotsna used to discuss at home in detail the lessons she learnt. Listening to the mantras she used to chant and seeing the mudras (symbolic hand gestures) of tantric rituals, knowingly or unknowingly I have imbibed the basics. An intense desire to learn more has grown in my mind," the mother told PTI. The woman said her husband has been very supportive of her decision to learn the rituals and mantras and had no objection to her performing the daily pujas at their family temple. For the past few years, Archana has also been performing tantric rituals and conducting installation and reinstallation rituals at nearby temples as per the requests of the respective shrine management. FROM OUR ARCHIVES | TN's first female Odhuvar wants to get her job back Though it is tough to manage time to balance the duties of a homemaker as well as a priest, the woman said she is happy and content to fulfil her responsibilities. During the time of menstruation, both these women would stay away from the priestly duties. If anyone asked this mother-daughter duo what they have to say to the women who would like to enter the priesthood, they would advise that it should not be done to break gender stereotypes. "I have not entered the world of pujas and mantras intending to prove anything as I am a woman. I have come because of my intense devotion and passion. This is not an area to prove gender equality," Jyotsna added. Jyotsna has completed her two postgraduate degrees from the Kanchi and Madras Universities respectively.
By Associated Press

NEW YORK: The pioneering mommy blogger Heather Armstrong, who laid bare her struggles as a parent and her battles with depression and alcoholism on her site Dooce.com and on social media, has died at 47.

Armstrongs boyfriend, Pete Ashdown, told The Associated Press that he found her Tuesday night at their Salt Lake City home.

She had two children with her former husband and business partner, Jon Armstrong, began Dooce in 2001 and built it into a lucrative career. She was one of the first and most popular mommy bloggers, writing frankly about her children, relationships and other challenges at a time that personal blogs were on the rise.

She parlayed her successes with the blog, on Instagram and elsewhere into book deals, putting out a memoir in 2009, It Sucked and then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown and a Much Needed Margarita.

That year, Armstrong appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and was on the Forbes list of the most influential women in media.

In 2012, the Armstrongs announced they were separating. They divorced later that year. She began dating Ashdown, a former US senate candidate, nearly six years ago. They lived together with Armstrongs children, 19-year-old Leta and 13-year-old Marlo. He has three children from a previous marriage who spent time in their home as well.

Ashdown said Armstrong died by suicide. He told the AP that she had been sober for more than 18 months, and recently had a relapse. He did not provide further details.

Armstrong didnt hold back on Instagram and Dooce, the latter a name that arose from her inability to quickly spell dude during online chats. Her raw, unapologetic posts on everything from pregnancy and breastfeeding to homework and carpooling were often infused with curses. As her popularity grew, so too did the barbs of critics, who accused her of bad parenting and worse.

One of her posts on Dooce spoke of a previous victory over drinking.

On October 8th, 2021 I celebrated six months of sobriety by myself on the floor next to my bed feeling as if I were a wounded animal who wanted to be left alone to die, Armstrong wrote. There was no one in my life who could possibly comprehend how symbolic a victory it was for me, albeit ... one fraught with tears and sobbing so violent that at one point I thought my body would split in two. The grief submerged me in tidal waves of pain. For a few hours I found it hard to breathe.

She went on: Sobriety was not some mystery I had to solve. It was simply looking at all my wounds and learning how to live with them.

In her memoir, she described how her blog began as a way to share her thoughts on pop culture with faraway friends. Within a year, her audience grew from a few friends to thousands of strangers around the world, she wrote.

More and more, Armstrong said, she found herself writing about her personal life and, eventually, an office job for a tech start-up, and how much I wanted to strangle my boss, often using words and phrases that would embarrass a sailor.

Her employer found the site and fired her, she wrote. She took it down but started back up again six months later, writing about her new husband, Armstrong, and how unemployment had forced them to move from Los Angeles to her mothers basement in Utah.

She was soon pregnant. The pregnancy offered an endless trove of content, she wrote, but I truly believed that I would give it all up once I had the baby.

She didnt, going on to chronicle her highs and lows as a new mother.

I dont think I would have survived it had I not offered up my story and reached out to bridge the loneliness, she wrote.

At its peak, Dooce had more than 8 million monthly readers, a healthy following that allowed her to monetize her online presence.

Armstrong was raised in Memphis, Tennessee, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but left the faith after graduating from Brigham Young University and moving to Los Angeles. She suffered chronic depression for much of her life but wasnt diagnosed and treated until college, according to her book.

In 2017, after the unraveling of her marriage, the internet star dubbed the queen of the mommy bloggers by The New York Times Magazine took a tumble in popularity as social media came into its own.

Her depression grew worse, leading her to enroll in a clinical trial at the University of Utahs Neuropsychiatric Institute. She was put in a chemically induced coma for 15 minutes at a time for 10 sessions.

I was feeling like life was not meant to be lived, Armstrong told Vox. When you are that desperate, you will try anything. I thought my kids deserved to have a happy, healthy mother, and I needed to know that I had tried all options to be that for them.

In 2019, she wrote her third book, The Valedictorian of Being Dead: The True Story of Dying Ten Times to Live, about her experiences with the treatment.

I want people with depression to feel like they are seen, she told Vox.

Armstrong attributed, in part, some of her past emotional spirals to sharing her life online for so long.

The hate was very, very scary and very, very hard to live through, she said in the interview. It gets inside your head and eats away at your brain. It became untenable.

Discussing suicides can be triggering for some. However, suicides are preventable. In case you feel distressed by the content or know someone in distress, call Sneha Foundation - 04424640050 (available 24x7).

NEW YORK: The pioneering mommy blogger Heather Armstrong, who laid bare her struggles as a parent and her battles with depression and alcoholism on her site Dooce.com and on social media, has died at 47. Armstrongs boyfriend, Pete Ashdown, told The Associated Press that he found her Tuesday night at their Salt Lake City home. She had two children with her former husband and business partner, Jon Armstrong, began Dooce in 2001 and built it into a lucrative career. She was one of the first and most popular mommy bloggers, writing frankly about her children, relationships and other challenges at a time that personal blogs were on the rise.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); She parlayed her successes with the blog, on Instagram and elsewhere into book deals, putting out a memoir in 2009, It Sucked and then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown and a Much Needed Margarita. That year, Armstrong appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and was on the Forbes list of the most influential women in media. In 2012, the Armstrongs announced they were separating. They divorced later that year. She began dating Ashdown, a former US senate candidate, nearly six years ago. They lived together with Armstrongs children, 19-year-old Leta and 13-year-old Marlo. He has three children from a previous marriage who spent time in their home as well. Ashdown said Armstrong died by suicide. He told the AP that she had been sober for more than 18 months, and recently had a relapse. He did not provide further details. Armstrong didnt hold back on Instagram and Dooce, the latter a name that arose from her inability to quickly spell dude during online chats. Her raw, unapologetic posts on everything from pregnancy and breastfeeding to homework and carpooling were often infused with curses. As her popularity grew, so too did the barbs of critics, who accused her of bad parenting and worse. One of her posts on Dooce spoke of a previous victory over drinking. On October 8th, 2021 I celebrated six months of sobriety by myself on the floor next to my bed feeling as if I were a wounded animal who wanted to be left alone to die, Armstrong wrote. There was no one in my life who could possibly comprehend how symbolic a victory it was for me, albeit ... one fraught with tears and sobbing so violent that at one point I thought my body would split in two. The grief submerged me in tidal waves of pain. For a few hours I found it hard to breathe. She went on: Sobriety was not some mystery I had to solve. It was simply looking at all my wounds and learning how to live with them. In her memoir, she described how her blog began as a way to share her thoughts on pop culture with faraway friends. Within a year, her audience grew from a few friends to thousands of strangers around the world, she wrote. More and more, Armstrong said, she found herself writing about her personal life and, eventually, an office job for a tech start-up, and how much I wanted to strangle my boss, often using words and phrases that would embarrass a sailor. Her employer found the site and fired her, she wrote. She took it down but started back up again six months later, writing about her new husband, Armstrong, and how unemployment had forced them to move from Los Angeles to her mothers basement in Utah. She was soon pregnant. The pregnancy offered an endless trove of content, she wrote, but I truly believed that I would give it all up once I had the baby. She didnt, going on to chronicle her highs and lows as a new mother. I dont think I would have survived it had I not offered up my story and reached out to bridge the loneliness, she wrote. At its peak, Dooce had more than 8 million monthly readers, a healthy following that allowed her to monetize her online presence. Armstrong was raised in Memphis, Tennessee, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but left the faith after graduating from Brigham Young University and moving to Los Angeles. She suffered chronic depression for much of her life but wasnt diagnosed and treated until college, according to her book. In 2017, after the unraveling of her marriage, the internet star dubbed the queen of the mommy bloggers by The New York Times Magazine took a tumble in popularity as social media came into its own. Her depression grew worse, leading her to enroll in a clinical trial at the University of Utahs Neuropsychiatric Institute. She was put in a chemically induced coma for 15 minutes at a time for 10 sessions. I was feeling like life was not meant to be lived, Armstrong told Vox. When you are that desperate, you will try anything. I thought my kids deserved to have a happy, healthy mother, and I needed to know that I had tried all options to be that for them. In 2019, she wrote her third book, The Valedictorian of Being Dead: The True Story of Dying Ten Times to Live, about her experiences with the treatment. I want people with depression to feel like they are seen, she told Vox. Armstrong attributed, in part, some of her past emotional spirals to sharing her life online for so long. The hate was very, very scary and very, very hard to live through, she said in the interview. It gets inside your head and eats away at your brain. It became untenable. Discussing suicides can be triggering for some. However, suicides are preventable. In case you feel distressed by the content or know someone in distress, call Sneha Foundation - 04424640050 (available 24x7).
Rajesh Kumar Thakur By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: BJP National President JP Nadda on Friday slammed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for imposing a ban on the film The Kerala Story" and alleged that democracy is in a coma in Bengal. He claimed a state of lawlessness in West Bengal and alleged that the state machinery under Banerjee has crumbled.

Nadda was addressing a gathering after unveiling a book titled "Democracy in Coma-Silenced Voice of Women Victims in West Bengal" at an event here.

Going hammer and tongs against the TMC- government in Bengal, Nadda said the film has nothing to do with any religion or any state."One of the champions of democracy, Mamata Banerjee has banned it in West Bengal and there is nothing left in the name of democracy in West Bengal. It is indeed a democracy in a coma in the state," he charged.

All activities and initiatives taken by the TMC government are intended to see that opposition is silenced, he said. But, the incidents, which are taking place in the state, are extremely worrisome and painful, he said. I feel it is very serious. Society, in general, should take these issues forward among the people, he added.

Referring to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) data, Nadda said crime against women in West Bengal stands at 74.6 per cent and the state is also among the top when it comes to cases of acid attacks. West Bengal is first in the cases of heinous crimes against women in the age group of 18-30.

Talking about the book, he said, "These are not stories, but factual incidents have been quoted in the book. I was the first victim, the first attack was carried out on me when I had gone to Diamond Harbour," he said.

The BJP leader alleged that the situation in the state is "very painful".Yet, there is a need to bring change in Bengal which is possible with the strength of the people, he added."We do not talk about revenge. We talk about change. There is a need to bring change there and we can do it with your strength," he told the audience.



NEW DELHI: BJP National President JP Nadda on Friday slammed West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for imposing a ban on the film The Kerala Story" and alleged that democracy is in a coma in Bengal. He claimed a state of lawlessness in West Bengal and alleged that the state machinery under Banerjee has crumbled. Nadda was addressing a gathering after unveiling a book titled "Democracy in Coma-Silenced Voice of Women Victims in West Bengal" at an event here. Going hammer and tongs against the TMC- government in Bengal, Nadda said the film has nothing to do with any religion or any state."One of the champions of democracy, Mamata Banerjee has banned it in West Bengal and there is nothing left in the name of democracy in West Bengal. It is indeed a democracy in a coma in the state," he charged.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); All activities and initiatives taken by the TMC government are intended to see that opposition is silenced, he said. But, the incidents, which are taking place in the state, are extremely worrisome and painful, he said. I feel it is very serious. Society, in general, should take these issues forward among the people, he added. Referring to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) data, Nadda said crime against women in West Bengal stands at 74.6 per cent and the state is also among the top when it comes to cases of acid attacks. West Bengal is first in the cases of heinous crimes against women in the age group of 18-30. Talking about the book, he said, "These are not stories, but factual incidents have been quoted in the book. I was the first victim, the first attack was carried out on me when I had gone to Diamond Harbour," he said. The BJP leader alleged that the situation in the state is "very painful".Yet, there is a need to bring change in Bengal which is possible with the strength of the people, he added."We do not talk about revenge. We talk about change. There is a need to bring change there and we can do it with your strength," he told the audience.
Amitabh Mattoo By

As Pakistan appears to descend into chaos after the arrest of the former prime minister and leader of the Tehreek-e-Insaaf party, Imran Khan, and we have yet to recover from the shenanigans in Goa of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari (BBZ), the foreign minister, it is not just nostalgia that makes you look back at sobering times. There are lessons to be learnt from the past.

In May 1997, when the two newly elected prime ministers of India and Pakistan, Inder Kumar Gujral and Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, met on the fringes of the SAARC summit at Male, the world was watching. Both leaders knew and understood that there was no quick fix to bilateral relations, no magic mantra, but that they must, in some fashion, address public expectations from their meeting.

Sharif, true to his pragmatic style, broke the ice. In chaste Punjabi, he told the Indian prime minister, "I know you can never give me Kashmir; I also know I cannot take it by force. But let us keep talking." In turn, Gujral responded, echoing the poet Ali Sardar Jafri, "Guftgu band na ho, baat se baat chale (let us continue this conversation; let this dialogue never end)."

Contrast this with the recent performance of BBZ during and after the meeting of the council of foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Goa. Through his interventions, press briefings and select interviews, he virtually closed the door on the resumption of bilateral dialogue, and -- in response -- Dr S Jaishankar, the Indian External Affairs Minister, locked it and threw the keys away.

India's diplomatic relations with Pakistan have reached a new abyss at a time when the so-called 'land of the pure' has transformed into an unadulterated mess. In the process, three contemporary myths about Pakistan and its leadership were busted.

First, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was an idealistic, urbane leader, inheritor of the legacy of the Bhuttos and out to carve out a niche for himself, and articulate a more 'enlightened' approach towards India. The reality is BBZ is more Zardari than Bhutto and is a creature of the more orthodox and narrow-minded sections of the establishment.

For all his failings, BBZ's Nana, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (ZAB), exercised a razor-sharp intellect. ZAB's charm was legendary, witnessed not just at Shimla in his summit meeting with Indira Gandhi. But even at his dramatic worst, as foreign minister, in his dialogue with Sardar Swaran Singh (who maintained a beatific smile even when grievously provoked), ZAB was thoughtful and forward-looking. Benazir Bhutto (until the Pakistan Army cut her wings) reached out to Rajiv Gandhi on Siachen and other issues and treated his emissaries -- including but not only Ambassador Ronen Sen -- with warmth and gracious hospitality.

In contrast, young Bilawal appeared impetuous, immature, and almost an upstart wanting to grandstand rather than have a serious conversation. His behaviour does not even meet the standards of an inebriated post-dinner squabble at Christ Church Oxford's junior common room -- the alma mater of BBZ -- leave alone the polemics of an Oxford Union debate. BBZ was interested in only addressing a domestic constituency and had little agency or political gravitas to move beyond the script.

The second myth was that the Pakistan Army had bought into normalising relations with India. Based on the widespread 'leaks' which suggested that the secret talks the Indian NSA, Ajit Kumar Doval, and his confidante, the R&AW chief, Samant Goel, had with erstwhile Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa and the ISI head, Faiz Hameed, had yielded concrete results. This included a ceasefire at the LOC that has been sustained since 2021, and the possibility of Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting Pakistan later that year. With the departure of Bajwa, and the lack of 'control and confidence' of the current chief, Syed Asim Munir Ahmed Shah, this change in perception within the leadership of the forces seems to have been 'erased', at least for now. The Army is potentially dealing with a civil war within its frontiers and dissension within its ranks.

Finally, the belief that Pakistan's collapsing economy, its grave internal political strife marked by the groundswell in favour of Imran Khan, the robust revival of the TTP and the alienation of the Kabul regime would induce a greater sense of rationality in Islamabad, vis-a-vis India, has proven wrong.

A large section in Pakistan still believes that enmity with India is the only cement for national consolidation and that the Kashmir cause is worth fighting for until, sadly, the last Kashmiri.

Ironically, it has also been clear, for some years now, that India's MEA has been unable to comprehend the complexities of a changing Pakistan. India will realise too late, my friend, the scientist, Pervez Hoodbhoy, had warned two decades ago that it now has a "nuclear Somalia" as its neighbour. Robust if differentiated, focused but flexible multi-track responses must now define India's policy towards Pakistan's fragile and fragmented political and social structure.

India's policy has not succeeded because, while remaining a prisoner of past dogmas, it has been unable to respond to Pakistan's multiple political and social forces that need to be first understood and then addressed. There is a process of deep churning within Pakistans multiple "societies", which translates into schizophrenic responses on key identity issues.

As we know, the strategic community in India has traditionally been overwhelmingly supporting a policy of aggressively countering Pakistan. These are the Subedars. Only a minority, the Saudagars, have wanted to ignore and benignly neglect Islamabad or integrate it economically. A microscopic few, however, want New Delhi to be proactive in promoting peace, even to the extent of making unilateral concessions. These are the Sufis. But these strands cannot afford to remain in opposition to one another today. What is needed is for the Subedars, the Saudagars and the Sufis to come together and shape a new Pakistan policy.

India must build strong defensive and offensive capabilities to deter "asymmetric" attacks by non-state actors within Pakistan that the Pakistani establishment backs. At the end of the day, nuclear weapons will only deter nuclear weapons and, at best, a full-scale conventional war. Pakistan needs to feel -- in letter and spirit -- the costs of exporting terrorism. India must also weaken, delegitimise and isolate those who are enemies of an India-friendly Pakistan and, by implication, of a stable subcontinent.

Amitabh Mattoo is Professor, International Studies at JNU, and Honorary Professor, University of Melbourne. Founded & chaired the Chaophraya Track II dialogue with Pakistan.

As Pakistan appears to descend into chaos after the arrest of the former prime minister and leader of the Tehreek-e-Insaaf party, Imran Khan, and we have yet to recover from the shenanigans in Goa of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari (BBZ), the foreign minister, it is not just nostalgia that makes you look back at sobering times. There are lessons to be learnt from the past. In May 1997, when the two newly elected prime ministers of India and Pakistan, Inder Kumar Gujral and Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, met on the fringes of the SAARC summit at Male, the world was watching. Both leaders knew and understood that there was no quick fix to bilateral relations, no magic mantra, but that they must, in some fashion, address public expectations from their meeting. Sharif, true to his pragmatic style, broke the ice. In chaste Punjabi, he told the Indian prime minister, "I know you can never give me Kashmir; I also know I cannot take it by force. But let us keep talking." In turn, Gujral responded, echoing the poet Ali Sardar Jafri, "Guftgu band na ho, baat se baat chale (let us continue this conversation; let this dialogue never end)."googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Contrast this with the recent performance of BBZ during and after the meeting of the council of foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Goa. Through his interventions, press briefings and select interviews, he virtually closed the door on the resumption of bilateral dialogue, and -- in response -- Dr S Jaishankar, the Indian External Affairs Minister, locked it and threw the keys away. India's diplomatic relations with Pakistan have reached a new abyss at a time when the so-called 'land of the pure' has transformed into an unadulterated mess. In the process, three contemporary myths about Pakistan and its leadership were busted. First, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was an idealistic, urbane leader, inheritor of the legacy of the Bhuttos and out to carve out a niche for himself, and articulate a more 'enlightened' approach towards India. The reality is BBZ is more Zardari than Bhutto and is a creature of the more orthodox and narrow-minded sections of the establishment. For all his failings, BBZ's Nana, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (ZAB), exercised a razor-sharp intellect. ZAB's charm was legendary, witnessed not just at Shimla in his summit meeting with Indira Gandhi. But even at his dramatic worst, as foreign minister, in his dialogue with Sardar Swaran Singh (who maintained a beatific smile even when grievously provoked), ZAB was thoughtful and forward-looking. Benazir Bhutto (until the Pakistan Army cut her wings) reached out to Rajiv Gandhi on Siachen and other issues and treated his emissaries -- including but not only Ambassador Ronen Sen -- with warmth and gracious hospitality. In contrast, young Bilawal appeared impetuous, immature, and almost an upstart wanting to grandstand rather than have a serious conversation. His behaviour does not even meet the standards of an inebriated post-dinner squabble at Christ Church Oxford's junior common room -- the alma mater of BBZ -- leave alone the polemics of an Oxford Union debate. BBZ was interested in only addressing a domestic constituency and had little agency or political gravitas to move beyond the script. The second myth was that the Pakistan Army had bought into normalising relations with India. Based on the widespread 'leaks' which suggested that the secret talks the Indian NSA, Ajit Kumar Doval, and his confidante, the R&AW chief, Samant Goel, had with erstwhile Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa and the ISI head, Faiz Hameed, had yielded concrete results. This included a ceasefire at the LOC that has been sustained since 2021, and the possibility of Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting Pakistan later that year. With the departure of Bajwa, and the lack of 'control and confidence' of the current chief, Syed Asim Munir Ahmed Shah, this change in perception within the leadership of the forces seems to have been 'erased', at least for now. The Army is potentially dealing with a civil war within its frontiers and dissension within its ranks. Finally, the belief that Pakistan's collapsing economy, its grave internal political strife marked by the groundswell in favour of Imran Khan, the robust revival of the TTP and the alienation of the Kabul regime would induce a greater sense of rationality in Islamabad, vis-a-vis India, has proven wrong. A large section in Pakistan still believes that enmity with India is the only cement for national consolidation and that the Kashmir cause is worth fighting for until, sadly, the last Kashmiri. Ironically, it has also been clear, for some years now, that India's MEA has been unable to comprehend the complexities of a changing Pakistan. India will realise too late, my friend, the scientist, Pervez Hoodbhoy, had warned two decades ago that it now has a "nuclear Somalia" as its neighbour. Robust if differentiated, focused but flexible multi-track responses must now define India's policy towards Pakistan's fragile and fragmented political and social structure. India's policy has not succeeded because, while remaining a prisoner of past dogmas, it has been unable to respond to Pakistan's multiple political and social forces that need to be first understood and then addressed. There is a process of deep churning within Pakistans multiple "societies", which translates into schizophrenic responses on key identity issues. As we know, the strategic community in India has traditionally been overwhelmingly supporting a policy of aggressively countering Pakistan. These are the Subedars. Only a minority, the Saudagars, have wanted to ignore and benignly neglect Islamabad or integrate it economically. A microscopic few, however, want New Delhi to be proactive in promoting peace, even to the extent of making unilateral concessions. These are the Sufis. But these strands cannot afford to remain in opposition to one another today. What is needed is for the Subedars, the Saudagars and the Sufis to come together and shape a new Pakistan policy. India must build strong defensive and offensive capabilities to deter "asymmetric" attacks by non-state actors within Pakistan that the Pakistani establishment backs. At the end of the day, nuclear weapons will only deter nuclear weapons and, at best, a full-scale conventional war. Pakistan needs to feel -- in letter and spirit -- the costs of exporting terrorism. India must also weaken, delegitimise and isolate those who are enemies of an India-friendly Pakistan and, by implication, of a stable subcontinent. Amitabh Mattoo is Professor, International Studies at JNU, and Honorary Professor, University of Melbourne. Founded & chaired the Chaophraya Track II dialogue with Pakistan.
Sajjan Kumar By

One phrase that overwhelmed the analytical matrix of the 2023 Karnataka Assembly election happens to be 'the politics south of the Vindhyas' -- a metaphor signifying a mood for change. However, while the analytical claims for the change seem plausible, the underlying reason for the same does not. Hence, it is pertinent to contextualise the political dynamics of Karnataka in its proper perspective to draw the right inference, the electoral outcome notwithstanding.

First, let's consider the prevailing institutional, organisational and leadership factors in the state. The Congress had a head start because of the anti-incumbency against the BJP government. Two, the Congress has a powerful regional anchor, Siddaramaiah, who has been employing his persona to translate the anti-incumbency sentiment into a vote against the BJP. Three, the state BJP is divided into three incommensurable factions, each working at cross-purposes until recently. Lastly, the incumbent chief minister, Basavaraj Bommai, doesn't have the charisma of his predecessor B S Yediyurappa. Hence, the saffron party has pinned its hopes on the Modi factor, which is visible in the blitzkrieg campaign by the prime minister.

Nevertheless, Karnataka is an outlier and almost a misfit vis-a-vis the loaded meaning of the phrase, 'the politics south of the Vindhyas'. Unlike the other southern states, Karnataka neither had intense language-based politics nor a history of film stars calling the shots in the political arena, as has been the case in Tamil Nadu and undivided Andhra Pradesh.

In fact, the state has provided top leaders to both the Congress and the BJP.

Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge hails from Karnataka, and the role of state Congress president D K Shivakumar as a managerial person has been significant in the Congress' national affairs since Ahmed Patel's days.

Similarly, in the BJP, one of the most active and assertive national general secretaries (organisation) hitherto, BL Santhosh, and the national president of the BJP Yuva Morcha and MP from the Bengaluru South Lok Sabha constituency, Tejasvi Surya, who is constantly in the national news, hail from Karnataka. Augmenting the state's centrality in the pan-Indian organisational strength of the Hindutva discourse is the presence of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) general secretary, Dattatreya Hosabale, who also hails from Karnataka.

ALSO READ | Karnataka polls: Belittling gift of democracy, first-time voters sell their votes in Mysuru

Collectively, this matrix of leadership in the pan-Indian role in both national parties and the state's history easily circumvents the cliched regional political fault line employed as 'south of the Vindhyas'. In fact, it can reasonably be inferred that barring few specificities, Karnataka defies the logic of incommensurable regional distinctiveness, which in turn, places the state more in sync across the Vindhyas rather than the other way around.

Commonsensically, this positive interplay of Karnataka and the national political dynamics should have worked in favour of the BJP. Yet, the ground narrative suggests an edge to the Congress. Understanding this discrepancy requires a slight conceptual shift in the nature of the electoral narratives and their resonance with the people. While the BJP attempted to synchronise the local and national narratives, as was the case with allocating a 4% reservation earmarked for the Muslims to the Vokkaligas and Lingayats, and its promise of implementing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) along with the discourse of Hindutva, the Congress effectively customised its strategy to give leverage to the local issues around governance deficit and corruption.

Barring the last leg of the campaign led by Prime Minister Modi, the Congress managed to set the agenda around local issues like the Amul-Nandini controversy, 40% commission government, anti-Hindi narrative, among others, which BJP kept on responding to.

Hence, except in the coastal region which accounts for 19 Assembly seats, the caste identity overwhelmingly dominated the religious identity in other areas. Further, the Congress appears to have done a better job in the caste matrix. Not only did the Grand Old Party court senior Lingayat leaders, but it also managed to placate the Vokkaliga voters. The Congress' outreach to the Vokkaliga community is relevant as the latter felt antagonised in the 2018 Assembly election due to then Congress CM Siddaramaiah's attempt to win solely on account of the Ahinda support base, sidelining the two dominant communities of the state, which ultimately led to the party's defeat in 2018. The Vokkaligas appear to have responded to the Congress' overtures.

ALSO READ | Videos of 'fake-voters' in Vijayapura go viral

However, the conducive ground ambience for the Congress met with an organisationally determined BJP, wherein the national leadership and local cadres made colossal efforts to neutralise the anti-incumbency mood. While the PM led from the front, the local cadres went for massive public outreach. In fact, the party appears to have acquired little more ground among a section of the Left Dalits and the Ahinda youth base. Nevertheless, a combination of factors -- like factional infighting in the BJP, the consequent rebellion that could not be managed, the weakness of the state BJP leadership, the meek counter-response to corruption charges, and the centrality of the local narratives -- created a starting point of asymmetry against the BJP, which the party could not turnaround effectively. The Congress, to its credit, synchronised efforts to cash in on the opportunity.

While the exact verdict would be out on May 13, there are two big takeaways from the nature of electoral campaigns the BJP, the Congress and the JD(S) employed in Karnataka. The ability to hold onto the local narrative vis-a-vis the national helps opposition parties in Assembly elections. However, extrapolating the same to the general election and attributing the outcome to regional exceptionalism would be an analytical blunder.

Sajjan Kumar is a political analyst associated with PRACCIS, Delhi-based research institution. He can be reached at sajjanjnu@gmail.com.

One phrase that overwhelmed the analytical matrix of the 2023 Karnataka Assembly election happens to be 'the politics south of the Vindhyas' -- a metaphor signifying a mood for change. However, while the analytical claims for the change seem plausible, the underlying reason for the same does not. Hence, it is pertinent to contextualise the political dynamics of Karnataka in its proper perspective to draw the right inference, the electoral outcome notwithstanding. First, let's consider the prevailing institutional, organisational and leadership factors in the state. The Congress had a head start because of the anti-incumbency against the BJP government. Two, the Congress has a powerful regional anchor, Siddaramaiah, who has been employing his persona to translate the anti-incumbency sentiment into a vote against the BJP. Three, the state BJP is divided into three incommensurable factions, each working at cross-purposes until recently. Lastly, the incumbent chief minister, Basavaraj Bommai, doesn't have the charisma of his predecessor B S Yediyurappa. Hence, the saffron party has pinned its hopes on the Modi factor, which is visible in the blitzkrieg campaign by the prime minister. Nevertheless, Karnataka is an outlier and almost a misfit vis-a-vis the loaded meaning of the phrase, 'the politics south of the Vindhyas'. Unlike the other southern states, Karnataka neither had intense language-based politics nor a history of film stars calling the shots in the political arena, as has been the case in Tamil Nadu and undivided Andhra Pradesh.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); In fact, the state has provided top leaders to both the Congress and the BJP. Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge hails from Karnataka, and the role of state Congress president D K Shivakumar as a managerial person has been significant in the Congress' national affairs since Ahmed Patel's days. Similarly, in the BJP, one of the most active and assertive national general secretaries (organisation) hitherto, BL Santhosh, and the national president of the BJP Yuva Morcha and MP from the Bengaluru South Lok Sabha constituency, Tejasvi Surya, who is constantly in the national news, hail from Karnataka. Augmenting the state's centrality in the pan-Indian organisational strength of the Hindutva discourse is the presence of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) general secretary, Dattatreya Hosabale, who also hails from Karnataka. ALSO READ | Karnataka polls: Belittling gift of democracy, first-time voters sell their votes in Mysuru Collectively, this matrix of leadership in the pan-Indian role in both national parties and the state's history easily circumvents the cliched regional political fault line employed as 'south of the Vindhyas'. In fact, it can reasonably be inferred that barring few specificities, Karnataka defies the logic of incommensurable regional distinctiveness, which in turn, places the state more in sync across the Vindhyas rather than the other way around. Commonsensically, this positive interplay of Karnataka and the national political dynamics should have worked in favour of the BJP. Yet, the ground narrative suggests an edge to the Congress. Understanding this discrepancy requires a slight conceptual shift in the nature of the electoral narratives and their resonance with the people. While the BJP attempted to synchronise the local and national narratives, as was the case with allocating a 4% reservation earmarked for the Muslims to the Vokkaligas and Lingayats, and its promise of implementing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) along with the discourse of Hindutva, the Congress effectively customised its strategy to give leverage to the local issues around governance deficit and corruption. Barring the last leg of the campaign led by Prime Minister Modi, the Congress managed to set the agenda around local issues like the Amul-Nandini controversy, 40% commission government, anti-Hindi narrative, among others, which BJP kept on responding to. Hence, except in the coastal region which accounts for 19 Assembly seats, the caste identity overwhelmingly dominated the religious identity in other areas. Further, the Congress appears to have done a better job in the caste matrix. Not only did the Grand Old Party court senior Lingayat leaders, but it also managed to placate the Vokkaliga voters. The Congress' outreach to the Vokkaliga community is relevant as the latter felt antagonised in the 2018 Assembly election due to then Congress CM Siddaramaiah's attempt to win solely on account of the Ahinda support base, sidelining the two dominant communities of the state, which ultimately led to the party's defeat in 2018. The Vokkaligas appear to have responded to the Congress' overtures. ALSO READ | Videos of 'fake-voters' in Vijayapura go viral However, the conducive ground ambience for the Congress met with an organisationally determined BJP, wherein the national leadership and local cadres made colossal efforts to neutralise the anti-incumbency mood. While the PM led from the front, the local cadres went for massive public outreach. In fact, the party appears to have acquired little more ground among a section of the Left Dalits and the Ahinda youth base. Nevertheless, a combination of factors -- like factional infighting in the BJP, the consequent rebellion that could not be managed, the weakness of the state BJP leadership, the meek counter-response to corruption charges, and the centrality of the local narratives -- created a starting point of asymmetry against the BJP, which the party could not turnaround effectively. The Congress, to its credit, synchronised efforts to cash in on the opportunity. While the exact verdict would be out on May 13, there are two big takeaways from the nature of electoral campaigns the BJP, the Congress and the JD(S) employed in Karnataka. The ability to hold onto the local narrative vis-a-vis the national helps opposition parties in Assembly elections. However, extrapolating the same to the general election and attributing the outcome to regional exceptionalism would be an analytical blunder. Sajjan Kumar is a political analyst associated with PRACCIS, Delhi-based research institution. He can be reached at sajjanjnu@gmail.com.
Kajal Basu By

If there is anything that the recent ultraviolence in Manipur has highlighted, it is what a byzantine and knotted mess the entire issue of tribe and caste has become. Aside from those of demonstrably autochthonous origin, who deserves the Scheduled Tribe status? Do all tribes deserve the perks of being scheduled? Can Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Scheduled Caste (SC) statuses be invested in a single social entity? Must an ST identify as Hindu to get SC status? Most perplexing of all, who deserves the Other Backward Class (OBC) status, which is vexedly loosely defined?

There are seven Scheduled Castes in Manipur and 34 Scheduled Tribes. Although the Meitei have SC and OBC status, they are not among the STand they have been agitating for a presence in that category for years.

But the demands unapologetically straightforward economic and not tribal basis leaves observers both perplexed and uneasy. The Meitei call for ST status has everything to do with the fact that they, who constitute 53% of the population of the state, are by law required to restrict themselves to living on 10% of Manipurs landmass, the Valley, while the rest 90% is designated for the hill tribes. The Meitei cannot buy property in the hills, but the hill tribes can buy property anywhere in the state. (It is another matter that the overwhelming legislative power and economic pelf of the Meitei ensures the containment of the tribes to the hills.)

In short, the violence in Manipur was all about the buying of land and righteousness about Lebensraum. The other benefits of an ST statusreservation in services, admission to educational institutions, scholarships and fellowships, concessional loans from the National Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation, etcare incidental. The Meitei not only have predominant economic heft but also 40 of the 60 seats (or two-thirds) in the state Assembly.

All the seven SCs in Manipur are distributed among the Meitei, who are predominantly Hindu (Vaishnav Brahmins, or Bamons). Muslim (Pangal) constitute 8.4%, and about 1.06% are Christian.

In Manipur, the Meitei (who include the Meitei Brahmin, Meitei/Meetei Sanamahi, Rajkumar, Nepalese-origin Badi, Damai, Gainay, Kami, Sarki, Telis, and the Muslim Pangal) were given OBC status in 1991, except for just over 3% who were given SC status. In all, there are 177 OBCs in Manipur.

One side of the problem is that the Meitei community wants ST status for all its 34 constituent tribes, even those who are SC and OBC. The other side is that the extant STs in Manipurthe 34 cognate tribes of the Kuki-Zomi and the Nagado not want the tribally heterogeneous Meitei, a community rather than a monoethnic tribe, marked as a single tribe.

But the Meitei are hardly alone in wanting an extra slice of the affirmative-action cake that the government apportions between the three demographics of the SC, the ST, and the OBC.

The OBC Nishad in Uttar Pradesh have been asking to be included in the SC list; after the Supreme Court in 2015 removed Jats from the Central list of OBCs on the grounds that politically organised communities cannot be included in it, Jats in many states have been demanding to be reincluded in the list; the Kurmis of West Bengal, classified as OBCs, are seeking reclassification as ST; and the OBC Dhangar in Maharashtra have been demanding insertion in the ST list. This has led Maharashtras Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, which propagates the welfare of tribal communities across India, to file a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court disputing the wisdom of giving ST status to a significant 13% of the states population.

The Meitei, on their part, comprise more than half of Manipurs population. In Assam, six communitiesKoch-Rajbongshi, Tai-Ahom, Chutia, Matak, Moran, and the Tea Tribes (all OBCs who comprise a third of the population of the state)have been demanding ST status. Ranged against them are the existing nine STsMising, Bodo, Karbi, Kuki, Dimasa, Deori, Tiwa, Sonowal Kachari, and Ravaprotesting that the STs would then comprise more than half the state, whittling down the benefits and privileges the STs share among themselves under Article 46 of the Constitution.

In Manipur, too, the hill tribals argue that giving the Meitei ST status would granularise their entitlements to vanishingly little.

While the Constitution itself mentions no identifiers for ST categorisation, the 1965 Lokur Committee recommended five criteria for identification: primitive traits, distinct culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact with the larger community, and backwardness. These criteria are accepted as a writ by the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs. The Meitei fit none of these requirements.

The term OBC is a misnomer, in that it has come to be predicated less on classan economic signifier ubiquitised by Marxian thoughtand more on caste. OBCs are today castes that fall between the three higher varnas and the Dalits (SC) and Adivasis (ST). Its a vast demographic that has fallen prey to politicians, the politicoeconomics of reservations, and its own sense of deservingness (and even meritoriousness).

Marc Galanter wrote in his Who are the Other Backward Classes - An Introduction to a Constitutional Puzzle: The Other Backward Classes for whom preferential treatment is authorised are not defined in the Constitution, nor is any exclusive method or agency for their designation provided.  At the time of Independence, the term Backward Classes had a less fixed and definite reference. It had been around for some time, but it had a variety of referents, it had shifted rapidly in meaning and had come to mean different things in different places.

The ST and the SC carry unmistakable sociohistorical markers; the OBC have always been difficult to pin down. What are the odds of the ST now becoming just as fluid in form and content?

Kajal Basu

Veteran journalist

(kajalrbasu@gmail.com)

If there is anything that the recent ultraviolence in Manipur has highlighted, it is what a byzantine and knotted mess the entire issue of tribe and caste has become. Aside from those of demonstrably autochthonous origin, who deserves the Scheduled Tribe status? Do all tribes deserve the perks of being scheduled? Can Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Scheduled Caste (SC) statuses be invested in a single social entity? Must an ST identify as Hindu to get SC status? Most perplexing of all, who deserves the Other Backward Class (OBC) status, which is vexedly loosely defined? There are seven Scheduled Castes in Manipur and 34 Scheduled Tribes. Although the Meitei have SC and OBC status, they are not among the STand they have been agitating for a presence in that category for years. But the demands unapologetically straightforward economic and not tribal basis leaves observers both perplexed and uneasy. The Meitei call for ST status has everything to do with the fact that they, who constitute 53% of the population of the state, are by law required to restrict themselves to living on 10% of Manipurs landmass, the Valley, while the rest 90% is designated for the hill tribes. The Meitei cannot buy property in the hills, but the hill tribes can buy property anywhere in the state. (It is another matter that the overwhelming legislative power and economic pelf of the Meitei ensures the containment of the tribes to the hills.) googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); In short, the violence in Manipur was all about the buying of land and righteousness about Lebensraum. The other benefits of an ST statusreservation in services, admission to educational institutions, scholarships and fellowships, concessional loans from the National Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation, etcare incidental. The Meitei not only have predominant economic heft but also 40 of the 60 seats (or two-thirds) in the state Assembly. All the seven SCs in Manipur are distributed among the Meitei, who are predominantly Hindu (Vaishnav Brahmins, or Bamons). Muslim (Pangal) constitute 8.4%, and about 1.06% are Christian. In Manipur, the Meitei (who include the Meitei Brahmin, Meitei/Meetei Sanamahi, Rajkumar, Nepalese-origin Badi, Damai, Gainay, Kami, Sarki, Telis, and the Muslim Pangal) were given OBC status in 1991, except for just over 3% who were given SC status. In all, there are 177 OBCs in Manipur. One side of the problem is that the Meitei community wants ST status for all its 34 constituent tribes, even those who are SC and OBC. The other side is that the extant STs in Manipurthe 34 cognate tribes of the Kuki-Zomi and the Nagado not want the tribally heterogeneous Meitei, a community rather than a monoethnic tribe, marked as a single tribe. But the Meitei are hardly alone in wanting an extra slice of the affirmative-action cake that the government apportions between the three demographics of the SC, the ST, and the OBC. The OBC Nishad in Uttar Pradesh have been asking to be included in the SC list; after the Supreme Court in 2015 removed Jats from the Central list of OBCs on the grounds that politically organised communities cannot be included in it, Jats in many states have been demanding to be reincluded in the list; the Kurmis of West Bengal, classified as OBCs, are seeking reclassification as ST; and the OBC Dhangar in Maharashtra have been demanding insertion in the ST list. This has led Maharashtras Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, which propagates the welfare of tribal communities across India, to file a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court disputing the wisdom of giving ST status to a significant 13% of the states population. The Meitei, on their part, comprise more than half of Manipurs population. In Assam, six communitiesKoch-Rajbongshi, Tai-Ahom, Chutia, Matak, Moran, and the Tea Tribes (all OBCs who comprise a third of the population of the state)have been demanding ST status. Ranged against them are the existing nine STsMising, Bodo, Karbi, Kuki, Dimasa, Deori, Tiwa, Sonowal Kachari, and Ravaprotesting that the STs would then comprise more than half the state, whittling down the benefits and privileges the STs share among themselves under Article 46 of the Constitution. In Manipur, too, the hill tribals argue that giving the Meitei ST status would granularise their entitlements to vanishingly little. While the Constitution itself mentions no identifiers for ST categorisation, the 1965 Lokur Committee recommended five criteria for identification: primitive traits, distinct culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact with the larger community, and backwardness. These criteria are accepted as a writ by the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs. The Meitei fit none of these requirements. The term OBC is a misnomer, in that it has come to be predicated less on classan economic signifier ubiquitised by Marxian thoughtand more on caste. OBCs are today castes that fall between the three higher varnas and the Dalits (SC) and Adivasis (ST). Its a vast demographic that has fallen prey to politicians, the politicoeconomics of reservations, and its own sense of deservingness (and even meritoriousness). Marc Galanter wrote in his Who are the Other Backward Classes - An Introduction to a Constitutional Puzzle: The Other Backward Classes for whom preferential treatment is authorised are not defined in the Constitution, nor is any exclusive method or agency for their designation provided.  At the time of Independence, the term Backward Classes had a less fixed and definite reference. It had been around for some time, but it had a variety of referents, it had shifted rapidly in meaning and had come to mean different things in different places. The ST and the SC carry unmistakable sociohistorical markers; the OBC have always been difficult to pin down. What are the odds of the ST now becoming just as fluid in form and content? Kajal Basu Veteran journalist (kajalrbasu@gmail.com)
The National Dialogue will not vote on issues and proposals will be submitted to President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, General Coordinator of the dialogue Diaa Rashwan said on Wednesday.

During an extended meeting with foreign and Arab correspondents, Rashwan indicated that the National Dialogue is not an alternative to state institutions  like the parliament or the government  and it cannot dictate what state institutions ought to do.

The dialogue will propose legislations or executive decisions which will be submitted to the president to take the necessary actions, whether by presenting them to the House of Representatives, or by issuing executive decisions in their regard, Rashwan said.

Among the correspondents who attended the three-hour meeting were those of Reuters, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Financial Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post.

No red lines

According to the dialogue bylaws, all outcomes  whether reached by consensus or not  will be submitted to the president, without using a voting mechanism and, therefore, there will be no majority or minority in all discussions within the national dialogue.

There are no red lines for the views, discussions or issues that will be presented by all participants in the National Dialogue, the general coordinator said.

The long-awaited National Dialogue kicked off on 3 May with several political forces, civil society groups, professional and labour unions, and public figures participating to discuss key political, economic, and social issues.

No timeline

The general coordinator stated that there is no specific timeline for the National Dialogue, stressing that the process will proceed until discussions on various tracks are finalized.

The timeline depends on the participants in the dialogue themselves. Proposals will be submitted to the president once an agreement is reached an any one issue, he said.

Rashwan cited the example of sending a proposal to the president for full judicial supervision of the general elections in Egypt.

In March, the Board of Trustees of the National Dialogue called for the renewal of the 10-year legislation which regulates the work of the National Election Authority in order to renew judicial supervision over all elections and referendums  set to expire in January 2024.

In response, El-Sisi directed the government to study the proposal made by the board of trustees to renew legislation that stipulates full judicial supervision over elections and referendums.

Pre-trial detention

The general coordinator explained that political forces sent a list of over 1,000 pretrial detainees to be considered by the prosecution for release after the president's call for dialogue in April 2022.

Since then, more than 1,400 pre-trial detainees have been released, and 17 others who have been sentenced have received presidential pardons, Rashwan said. He added that now some of those who were released from prisons actively participate in the dialogue and contribute to building bridges of communication between various political forces.

Rashwan previously said that only a few of its members of the Civil Democratic Movement  a bloc including 12 opposition parties and groups  remain in prison, with the exception of one or two including activist Ahmed Douma.

On the eve of the inauguration of the dialogue, the general coordinator stressed that the issue of pre-trial detention would be uppermost in the human rights discussions agenda during the dialogues sessions.

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By Express News Service

NELLORE: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy released over 2 lakh acres of land from the British eras revenue records category of dotted lands to accord rights to 97,471 farmers in Kavali in Nellore district on Friday.

Addressing a public meeting after launching the programme, the Chief Minister said that the government would provide ownership to farmers owning 2,06, 171 acres of dotted lands worth Rs 20,000 crore. Farmers will be able to sell and pledge these lands for their financial needs, besides enjoying other rights as land owners. The initiative will permanently remove the concept of dotted lands from the prohibited list of lands, Reddy stated.

The lands were categorised and left like that over 100 years ago in the revenue records or register resettlement register (RSR) by the colonial British government without any clarity on ownership, whether private or public. Due to this dubious designation, farmers cultivating these lands for decades together were suffering owing to lack of ownership, registration and mutation, including not being able to transact them for sale and security.

The CM noted that the erstwhile TDP government had issued a memo banning registrations under category 22 A.YSRC governments initiative has permanently ended the confusion regarding the dotted lands, wherein the then government used to put dots in the pattadar column, the CM added.

Elaborating that his government has been implementing several programmes for the welfare of the farmers, Reddy said,As many as 3 lakh acres of land have been distributed as RoFR pattas to 1. 28 lakh tribal families and housing sites to 31 lakh women.

To put an end to land litigations across the State, the government has also taken up re-survey of lands by implementing the YSR Jagananna Saswatha Bhu Hakku and Bhu Raksha, stated the Chief Minister. The government has provided 7, 92, 238 permanent title deeds to farmers in 2,000 villages in the first phase. The second phase of the programme will be taken up from the next month, he said.

Coming down heavily on TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, Jagan Mohan Reddy said the opposition leader has been creating a false narrative by roping in fake economists and constitutional experts to mislead people through debates using his friendly media.

Some suspended chartered accountants are masquerading as economists and constitutional experts at the behest of Chandrababu Naidu and his foster son Pawan Kalyan and are participating in debates to spread false messages about the welfare programmes, the CM alleged.

Unleashing his artillery of allegations, Reddy said that Naidu cheated every section of the society during his tenure as Chief Minister with the support of Pawan Kalyan. If Naidu comes to power again, he will stop all welfare schemes and loot the public money, said the Chief Minister adding that the latters friendly media has been aiding him in the same way as demons helped Ravanasura.

Naidu is unable to digest the fact that government has decided to distribute house sites to the poor in the R5 zone, he said. Asking people not to believe in vicious campaign by Naidu, Reddy warned that the poor would be driven out if TDP comes to power again. If you feel you have benefitted from the welfare schemes, you should become a YSRC soldier and teach a fitting lesson to Naidu in the next elections, he appealed to the people.

NELLORE: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy released over 2 lakh acres of land from the British eras revenue records category of dotted lands to accord rights to 97,471 farmers in Kavali in Nellore district on Friday. Addressing a public meeting after launching the programme, the Chief Minister said that the government would provide ownership to farmers owning 2,06, 171 acres of dotted lands worth Rs 20,000 crore. Farmers will be able to sell and pledge these lands for their financial needs, besides enjoying other rights as land owners. The initiative will permanently remove the concept of dotted lands from the prohibited list of lands, Reddy stated. The lands were categorised and left like that over 100 years ago in the revenue records or register resettlement register (RSR) by the colonial British government without any clarity on ownership, whether private or public. Due to this dubious designation, farmers cultivating these lands for decades together were suffering owing to lack of ownership, registration and mutation, including not being able to transact them for sale and security.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The CM noted that the erstwhile TDP government had issued a memo banning registrations under category 22 A.YSRC governments initiative has permanently ended the confusion regarding the dotted lands, wherein the then government used to put dots in the pattadar column, the CM added. Elaborating that his government has been implementing several programmes for the welfare of the farmers, Reddy said,As many as 3 lakh acres of land have been distributed as RoFR pattas to 1. 28 lakh tribal families and housing sites to 31 lakh women. To put an end to land litigations across the State, the government has also taken up re-survey of lands by implementing the YSR Jagananna Saswatha Bhu Hakku and Bhu Raksha, stated the Chief Minister. The government has provided 7, 92, 238 permanent title deeds to farmers in 2,000 villages in the first phase. The second phase of the programme will be taken up from the next month, he said. Coming down heavily on TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, Jagan Mohan Reddy said the opposition leader has been creating a false narrative by roping in fake economists and constitutional experts to mislead people through debates using his friendly media. Some suspended chartered accountants are masquerading as economists and constitutional experts at the behest of Chandrababu Naidu and his foster son Pawan Kalyan and are participating in debates to spread false messages about the welfare programmes, the CM alleged. Unleashing his artillery of allegations, Reddy said that Naidu cheated every section of the society during his tenure as Chief Minister with the support of Pawan Kalyan. If Naidu comes to power again, he will stop all welfare schemes and loot the public money, said the Chief Minister adding that the latters friendly media has been aiding him in the same way as demons helped Ravanasura. Naidu is unable to digest the fact that government has decided to distribute house sites to the poor in the R5 zone, he said. Asking people not to believe in vicious campaign by Naidu, Reddy warned that the poor would be driven out if TDP comes to power again. If you feel you have benefitted from the welfare schemes, you should become a YSRC soldier and teach a fitting lesson to Naidu in the next elections, he appealed to the people.
By Online Desk

BENGALURU: The Congress easily crossed the 113-seat mark in the Assembly elections, the majority required to form the government, in Karnataka for which counting of votes took place on Saturday.

The election was widely seen as a litmus test for both parties ahead of the 2024 parliamentary polls.

The Congress won over 130 seats, more than double that of the BJP, which was unable to break a 38-year jinx of Karnataka not voting an incumbent to power. BJP leaders said they would wait till counting ended to analyse why and how they lost.

The JD(S), which had been hoping to emerge as the kingmaker, ended up with nearly 20 seats.

Celebrations broke out at the opposition Congress headquarters in Bengaluru and Delhi.

Congress workers and leaders, desperately looking to reverse their electoral fortunes and position the party as the main opposition player in 2024, were jubilant.

"We will come back with a heavy majority. This is a message for the BJP. Please stick to issues that matter to the everyday lives of India and don't try to divide India," the party's Pawan Khera said in Delhi.

Congress leader Siddaramaiah reacts as the party leads in Assembly polls in the early trends on the vote counting day, in Mysuru, Saturday, May 13, 2023. (Photo | PTI)

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai conceded defeat and said that the BJP will come back victorious in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Bommai said that once the results will be out a detailed analysis will be done to analyse the gaps that were left at various levels.

"The Bharat Jodo Yatra made a lot of difference," said the Congress's Shama Mohammed, referring to the Kanyakumari to Kashmir campaign headed by Rahul Gandhi who walked some 3,000 km over three months.

Hoping for a win that would make his party a key player come government formation, JD-S leader and also former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy visited the Shri Basaveshwara Gayatri temple to offer prayers.

WATCH |





Counting for the elections - which witnessed a record turnout of 73.19 per cent - began at 8 am across 36 centres.

Elaborate security arrangements were made across the state, particularly in and around the counting centres, to avoid any untoward incidents, official sources said.

Most exit polls had predicted a tight contest between the Congress and BJP.

Several pollsters gave an edge to the Congress over the ruling BJP, while indicating the possibility of a hung assembly.

"A government with a full majority" was the strong pitch of leaders of all political parties during the high-decibel, no-holds-barred campaigning that ended on Monday.

The stress was on a clear mandate to form a strong and stable government, unlike in 2018 when BJP emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats.

The Congress had 80 seats and JD-S 37.

There was also one independent member, while the BSP and Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party (KPJP) had one seat each.

With no party getting a clear majority, the Congress and JD-S tried to forge an alliance.

ALSO WATCH |

BJP's B S Yediyurappa staked a claim and formed the government.

However, it was dissolved within three days, ahead of a trust vote, as the saffron party strongman was unable to muster the numbers.

Subsequently, the Congress and JD-S alliance formed the government with Kumaraswamy as chief minister.

But the wobbly dispensation collapsed in 14 months, triggered by the resignation of 17 ruling coalition legislators who then defected to the BJP.

This enabled the BJP's return to power.

In the outgoing Assembly, the ruling BJP has 116 MLAs, followed by the Congress 69, JD-S 29, BSP one, independents two, speaker one and vacant six (following deaths and resignations to join other parties ahead of the polls).

(With inputs from PTI, ANI)

BENGALURU: The Congress easily crossed the 113-seat mark in the Assembly elections, the majority required to form the government, in Karnataka for which counting of votes took place on Saturday. The election was widely seen as a litmus test for both parties ahead of the 2024 parliamentary polls. The Congress won over 130 seats, more than double that of the BJP, which was unable to break a 38-year jinx of Karnataka not voting an incumbent to power. BJP leaders said they would wait till counting ended to analyse why and how they lost.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The JD(S), which had been hoping to emerge as the kingmaker, ended up with nearly 20 seats. Celebrations broke out at the opposition Congress headquarters in Bengaluru and Delhi. Congress workers and leaders, desperately looking to reverse their electoral fortunes and position the party as the main opposition player in 2024, were jubilant. "We will come back with a heavy majority. This is a message for the BJP. Please stick to issues that matter to the everyday lives of India and don't try to divide India," the party's Pawan Khera said in Delhi. Congress leader Siddaramaiah reacts as the party leads in Assembly polls in the early trends on the vote counting day, in Mysuru, Saturday, May 13, 2023. (Photo | PTI) Meanwhile, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai conceded defeat and said that the BJP will come back victorious in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Bommai said that once the results will be out a detailed analysis will be done to analyse the gaps that were left at various levels. "The Bharat Jodo Yatra made a lot of difference," said the Congress's Shama Mohammed, referring to the Kanyakumari to Kashmir campaign headed by Rahul Gandhi who walked some 3,000 km over three months. Hoping for a win that would make his party a key player come government formation, JD-S leader and also former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy visited the Shri Basaveshwara Gayatri temple to offer prayers. WATCH | Counting for the elections - which witnessed a record turnout of 73.19 per cent - began at 8 am across 36 centres. Elaborate security arrangements were made across the state, particularly in and around the counting centres, to avoid any untoward incidents, official sources said. Most exit polls had predicted a tight contest between the Congress and BJP. Several pollsters gave an edge to the Congress over the ruling BJP, while indicating the possibility of a hung assembly. "A government with a full majority" was the strong pitch of leaders of all political parties during the high-decibel, no-holds-barred campaigning that ended on Monday. The stress was on a clear mandate to form a strong and stable government, unlike in 2018 when BJP emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats. The Congress had 80 seats and JD-S 37. There was also one independent member, while the BSP and Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party (KPJP) had one seat each. With no party getting a clear majority, the Congress and JD-S tried to forge an alliance. ALSO WATCH | BJP's B S Yediyurappa staked a claim and formed the government. However, it was dissolved within three days, ahead of a trust vote, as the saffron party strongman was unable to muster the numbers. Subsequently, the Congress and JD-S alliance formed the government with Kumaraswamy as chief minister. But the wobbly dispensation collapsed in 14 months, triggered by the resignation of 17 ruling coalition legislators who then defected to the BJP. This enabled the BJP's return to power. In the outgoing Assembly, the ruling BJP has 116 MLAs, followed by the Congress 69, JD-S 29, BSP one, independents two, speaker one and vacant six (following deaths and resignations to join other parties ahead of the polls). (With inputs from PTI, ANI)
By Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: An ITI student of Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering and Technology (CIPET), Mancheswar Industrial Estate here, allegedly died by suicide in his hostel room on Thursday evening.Police sources said the 17-year-old belonged to Nandipada area in Keonjhar district and had taken admission in the institute last year. He was a student of electrical division and was sharing room with two classmates. The boy allegedly took the extreme step by hanging from the ceiling fan by using a towel while his roommates were away.

Police said though no note was recovered from the spot, the deceaseds mobile phone was seized as part of the investigation. A case under section 304 of the IPC has been registered and further investigation is underway, said DCP Prateek Singh.

The deceaseds family members meanwhile alleged that he was beaten up by one of his teachers after which he ended his life. The male teacher accused of beating the boy was questioned but later let off.The teacher denied the allegations levelled against him and and the exact cause of the boys death can be ascertained after thorough inquiry, said an officer of Mancheswar police station.

BHUBANESWAR: An ITI student of Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering and Technology (CIPET), Mancheswar Industrial Estate here, allegedly died by suicide in his hostel room on Thursday evening.Police sources said the 17-year-old belonged to Nandipada area in Keonjhar district and had taken admission in the institute last year. He was a student of electrical division and was sharing room with two classmates. The boy allegedly took the extreme step by hanging from the ceiling fan by using a towel while his roommates were away. Police said though no note was recovered from the spot, the deceaseds mobile phone was seized as part of the investigation. A case under section 304 of the IPC has been registered and further investigation is underway, said DCP Prateek Singh. The deceaseds family members meanwhile alleged that he was beaten up by one of his teachers after which he ended his life. The male teacher accused of beating the boy was questioned but later let off.The teacher denied the allegations levelled against him and and the exact cause of the boys death can be ascertained after thorough inquiry, said an officer of Mancheswar police station.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); });
By Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: In a sudden political development, Speaker of Odisha Assembly Bikram Keshari Arukha, and two ministers of state - Sameer Ranjan Das and Srikant Sahu, tendered their resignation setting off speculation on an imminent reshuffle in the Naveen Patnaik ministry ahead of the 2024 elections. The concessions have taken everyone by surprise as they came at a time when the chief minister is on a visit to New Delhi. Naveen will return on Saturday though no more resignations are expected.

However, an immediate ministerial reshuffle is not possible as Governor Ganeshi Lal is out of state on a visit to Haryana. He will be back only on May 22. BJD sources though hinted that the Governor might cut short his visit and return early. There will be more clarity after the CMs return, they said.

Arukhas resignation as Speaker has significant political implications for the BJD. He is expected to be reinducted into the ministry and given the task of strengthening the party organisation in Ganjam, Naveens home district. Sources said the BJD organisation in Ganjam has become directionless since the last several months because of the illness of former Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro.

Besides, in the recent months, there has been a re-emergence of former minister and strongman Pradeep Panigrahy in the political arena. Panigrahy had been expelled from BJD over corruption charges. He has started targeting the BJD by touring different places of the district. However, the Speaker stated he resigned from the post for personal reasons. I have discharged my duty as the Speaker with honesty and sincerity. I will work with all commitment any work assigned to me by the organisation or government, he said.

Arukha is a five-time MLA from Bhanjanagar constituency in Ganjam district. He had taken over as Speaker during the cabinet reshuffle in June last year.Minister of state for Labour and Employees State Insurance Srikant Sahu also represents Ganjam district from Soroda constituency. In the recent months, he has been embroiled in a case of sexual misconduct, charges of which were brought by a BJD woman office-bearer. While the issue died down, it has caused much embarrassment to the party. Sahu, however, said he resigned to concentrate on organisation work.

Similarly, minister of state for School and Mass Education Sameer Ranjan Das was caught in a controversy over the alleged suicide of a Zilla Parishad member Dharmendra Sahu of Puri district. In the recently held bypoll to the ZP zone, the BJD candidate lost to BJP. Observers said this may have led to the resignation of Das.

BHUBANESWAR: In a sudden political development, Speaker of Odisha Assembly Bikram Keshari Arukha, and two ministers of state - Sameer Ranjan Das and Srikant Sahu, tendered their resignation setting off speculation on an imminent reshuffle in the Naveen Patnaik ministry ahead of the 2024 elections. The concessions have taken everyone by surprise as they came at a time when the chief minister is on a visit to New Delhi. Naveen will return on Saturday though no more resignations are expected. However, an immediate ministerial reshuffle is not possible as Governor Ganeshi Lal is out of state on a visit to Haryana. He will be back only on May 22. BJD sources though hinted that the Governor might cut short his visit and return early. There will be more clarity after the CMs return, they said. Arukhas resignation as Speaker has significant political implications for the BJD. He is expected to be reinducted into the ministry and given the task of strengthening the party organisation in Ganjam, Naveens home district. Sources said the BJD organisation in Ganjam has become directionless since the last several months because of the illness of former Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Besides, in the recent months, there has been a re-emergence of former minister and strongman Pradeep Panigrahy in the political arena. Panigrahy had been expelled from BJD over corruption charges. He has started targeting the BJD by touring different places of the district. However, the Speaker stated he resigned from the post for personal reasons. I have discharged my duty as the Speaker with honesty and sincerity. I will work with all commitment any work assigned to me by the organisation or government, he said. Arukha is a five-time MLA from Bhanjanagar constituency in Ganjam district. He had taken over as Speaker during the cabinet reshuffle in June last year.Minister of state for Labour and Employees State Insurance Srikant Sahu also represents Ganjam district from Soroda constituency. In the recent months, he has been embroiled in a case of sexual misconduct, charges of which were brought by a BJD woman office-bearer. While the issue died down, it has caused much embarrassment to the party. Sahu, however, said he resigned to concentrate on organisation work. Similarly, minister of state for School and Mass Education Sameer Ranjan Das was caught in a controversy over the alleged suicide of a Zilla Parishad member Dharmendra Sahu of Puri district. In the recently held bypoll to the ZP zone, the BJD candidate lost to BJP. Observers said this may have led to the resignation of Das.
By Express News Service

DHARMAPURI: Warning people not to disturb or tease wild animals, the forest department imposed a penalty of Rs 10,000 on a tourist who tried to record a video with a wild elephant.

On Thursday, a viral video showed a man (a tourist) stepping out of his car and standing in front of a wild tusker. Upon noticing the man, the tusker started trumpting in a threatening manner and even attempted to charge at him. The man then proceeded to kneel in front of the animal and started praying. Vehicles passing by noticed the mans actions and sounded their horn which distracted the elephant from attacking him.

On Friday, Pennagaram forest Ranger GK Murugan conducted an investigation and identified the man as K Murugesan (55) of Mekkalanthittu village and imposed penalty of Rs 10,000 on him under Wildlife Protection Act.

Speaking to TNIE, Murugan said, Tourists must respect the forest and the animals in it. The action of this one man could have cost him his life and threatened others. At present a large number of elephants are camped in the forest areas close to Hogenakkal.

We urge tourists to exercise extreme caution when they encounter elephants. Please do not sound your vehicle horns or take selfies. In the nighttime, if drivers notice elephant movement, cut off the lights and move only after the elephants have walked into the forest area. Elephants are usually triggered by the slightest threat so people must be cautious, he said.



DHARMAPURI: Warning people not to disturb or tease wild animals, the forest department imposed a penalty of Rs 10,000 on a tourist who tried to record a video with a wild elephant. On Thursday, a viral video showed a man (a tourist) stepping out of his car and standing in front of a wild tusker. Upon noticing the man, the tusker started trumpting in a threatening manner and even attempted to charge at him. The man then proceeded to kneel in front of the animal and started praying. Vehicles passing by noticed the mans actions and sounded their horn which distracted the elephant from attacking him. On Friday, Pennagaram forest Ranger GK Murugan conducted an investigation and identified the man as K Murugesan (55) of Mekkalanthittu village and imposed penalty of Rs 10,000 on him under Wildlife Protection Act.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Speaking to TNIE, Murugan said, Tourists must respect the forest and the animals in it. The action of this one man could have cost him his life and threatened others. At present a large number of elephants are camped in the forest areas close to Hogenakkal. We urge tourists to exercise extreme caution when they encounter elephants. Please do not sound your vehicle horns or take selfies. In the nighttime, if drivers notice elephant movement, cut off the lights and move only after the elephants have walked into the forest area. Elephants are usually triggered by the slightest threat so people must be cautious, he said.
By PTI

BEIJING: China is sending a special envoy to Ukraine and Russia starting next week in an effort to help reach a political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, its Foreign Ministry said Friday.

Li Hui, who is China's special representative for Eurasian affairs and a former ambassador to Moscow, will also visit Poland, France and Germany, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said.

China says it remains neutral over Russia's war in Ukraine but has declared it has a "no limits" relationship with Moscow and blames the US and NATO for provoking the conflict.

Beijing has put forward a peace plan for Ukraine that has been largely dismissed by the country's supporters, who say a resolution can only come when Russia ceases its attacks and withdraws its troops from Ukrainian territory.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last month, setting the stage for the diplomatic push.

"The visit of the Chinese representative to relevant countries expresses China's commitment to promoting peace and negotiations," Wang said at a daily briefing Friday.

China wishes to prevent an "escalation of the situation," Wang said. Li's visits are to begin next week but his detailed schedule has not been released.

Beijing has previously avoided involvement in conflicts between other countries but appears to be trying to assert itself as a global diplomatic force after arranging talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran in March that led them to restore diplomatic relations after a seven-year break.

China has friendly relations with Moscow as well as economic leverage as the biggest buyer of Russian oil and gas after the United States and its allies cut off most purchases.

Beijing, which sees Moscow as a diplomatic partner in opposing US domination of global affairs, has refused to criticise the invasion and used its status as one of five permanent UN Security Council members to deflect diplomatic attacks on Russia.

Wang also confirmed that the ruling Communist Party's top diplomat, Wang Yi, and US national security adviser Jake Sullivan held talks on Wednesday and Thursday in Vienna, Austria.

Wang said the two sides had "candid, in-depth, substantive, and constructive discussions" on stabilizing and improving bilateral relations.

China-US relations are at a historical low and nosedived in February after the US shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that had flown across Canada and the United States.

The incident led to the postponement of a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing which has yet to be rescheduled.

BEIJING: China is sending a special envoy to Ukraine and Russia starting next week in an effort to help reach a political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, its Foreign Ministry said Friday. Li Hui, who is China's special representative for Eurasian affairs and a former ambassador to Moscow, will also visit Poland, France and Germany, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said. China says it remains neutral over Russia's war in Ukraine but has declared it has a "no limits" relationship with Moscow and blames the US and NATO for provoking the conflict.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Beijing has put forward a peace plan for Ukraine that has been largely dismissed by the country's supporters, who say a resolution can only come when Russia ceases its attacks and withdraws its troops from Ukrainian territory. Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last month, setting the stage for the diplomatic push. "The visit of the Chinese representative to relevant countries expresses China's commitment to promoting peace and negotiations," Wang said at a daily briefing Friday. China wishes to prevent an "escalation of the situation," Wang said. Li's visits are to begin next week but his detailed schedule has not been released. Beijing has previously avoided involvement in conflicts between other countries but appears to be trying to assert itself as a global diplomatic force after arranging talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran in March that led them to restore diplomatic relations after a seven-year break. China has friendly relations with Moscow as well as economic leverage as the biggest buyer of Russian oil and gas after the United States and its allies cut off most purchases. Beijing, which sees Moscow as a diplomatic partner in opposing US domination of global affairs, has refused to criticise the invasion and used its status as one of five permanent UN Security Council members to deflect diplomatic attacks on Russia. Wang also confirmed that the ruling Communist Party's top diplomat, Wang Yi, and US national security adviser Jake Sullivan held talks on Wednesday and Thursday in Vienna, Austria. Wang said the two sides had "candid, in-depth, substantive, and constructive discussions" on stabilizing and improving bilateral relations. China-US relations are at a historical low and nosedived in February after the US shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that had flown across Canada and the United States. The incident led to the postponement of a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing which has yet to be rescheduled.
Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has announced the upcoming opening of Hyatt Centric Cairo West, which will be the country's first art hotel.

The hotel, set to open in early 2024, will have 283 rooms and will be located in the Pyramids Heights area, part of the ongoing redevelopment of the area surrounding the Grand Egyptian Museum.

An art hotel incorporates art into its design and guest experience, including paintings, sculptures, hanging figures and distinctive architectural features.

The privately owned company AlDau Development signed the contract with Hyatt Hotels to develop the hotel, which covers an area of 27,000 square metres and has attracted investments worth one billion Egyptian pounds.

The signing ceremony was attended by Giza Governor Ahmed Rashed and Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa, who spoke about the National Tourism Development Strategy.

The strategy aims to grow Egypts tourism revenues by 25 to 30 percent annually.

Issa, in a previous statement, said that Egypt aims to host 25-30 million tourists by 2028, and has been working on expanding the capacity of its hotels to 14-15 million tourists per year.

He emphasized the need to double the number of hotel rooms, provide affordable air travel and diversify tourist products to attract the target number of tourists.

Egypt has recently eased tourist visa requirements for several countries including China, Iran, India, Turkey, Morocco and Algeria in an attempt to boost tourism.

The sector is a key source of hard currency for the country.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact on the country's tourism sector, with the number of visitors dropping from 13.1 million in 2019 to 3.7 million in 2020.

However, the sector has been recovering over the last two years, with the number of tourists increasing to eight million in 2021 and 11.7 million in 2022.

Egypt expects the tally in 2023 to reach 15 million.

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Videomax launches consumer electronic brand Skyball, plans to invest Rs 100 cr in 3 years

New Delhi, May 12: Homegrown firm Videomax International (VMI) on Friday announced the launch of its electronic brand Skyball and committed to invest Rs 100 crore in the brand's growth over the next three years.

Videomax launches consumer electronic brand Skyball, plans to invest Rs 100 cr in 3 years

"We are delighted to introduce Skyball, our latest consumer electronics brand, which will revolutionise the smart accessories market in India," Sandeep Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director of VMI and Skyball, said, adding, "At VMI, we are dedicated to delivering innovation, quality, and customer satisfaction, and Skyball embodies these values."Skyball's first range of products will bring home audio products, which will be launched later this month. According to a statement from the company, the home audio portfolio will feature party speakers, tower speakers, Bluetooth speakers, soundbars, and more.With seamless connectivity, long-battery life, these audio products will offer customers the best-in-class music streaming experience possible, it added.The company said Skyball also plans to expand its portfolio in the wearables category with the launch of its smartwatches in June 2023 with an initial concentration on online platforms, followed by a pan-India expansion into offline stores. The firm claimed that these smartwatches will include the latest technology and health-centric features, such as fitness tracking, heart rate monitoring, and more.According to the statement, the home audio category is projected to account for 30 to 40 per cent of the total revenue, while 60 per cent of the revenue is expected to come from the smart accessories business. Smartwatches and neckbands are expected to be the primary contributors to the smart accessories category, it added.ANI12 May 2023

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Meghalaya CM meets Jyotiraditya Scindia, proposes centre for an international airport, heliports

New Delhi, May 12: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma met Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and discussed various aviation-related matters and potentials in the northeastern state.

Meghalaya CM meets Jyotiraditya Scindia, proposes centre for an international airport, heliports

CM Sangma put forward proposals to establish heliports in the capital city of Shillong and Tura in the Garo Hills region and to set up an international airport in Meghalaya.He also urged the civil aviation minister to operationalize the Baljek Airport in Tura."These proposals are aimed at boosting our State's tourism potential and economic growth through air connectivity," Sangma tweeted after meeting Scindia.Meghalaya currently has an operational airport on the outskirts of Shillong, and flights regularly fly in and out for various destinations in the northeast and in other parts of India.ANI12 May 2023

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Warring parties in Sudan sign agreement to avoid harming civilians

Riyadh, May 12: The Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have signed a preliminary agreement in the Saudi port city of Jeddah to avoid harming civilians, a news channel reported.

Warring parties in Sudan sign agreement to avoid harming civilians

The warring parties stressed that the interests of the Sudanese people are a priority, agreeing to allow all civilians to leave the besieged areas, the Al Arabiya news channel reported late Thursday.The agreement affirmed Sudan's sovereignty and unity and welcomed the mediation efforts of other countries. It also called for a stop to all attacks that would harm civilians, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the Al Arabiya report.The two parties began talks on Saturday in Jeddah over reaching a cease-fire to facilitate emergency humanitarian assistance to the conflict-ravaged country.On Thursday, Saudi Arabia sent its fourth relief plane to Port Sudan, carrying more than 10 tons of food and medical materials, among other relief items, the Saudi Press Agency reported.Sudan has been witnessing deadly armed clashes between the Sudanese army and the RSF in the capital city of Khartoum and other areas since April 15, with the two sides accusing each other of initiating the conflict.The deadly clashes have left at least 550 people dead and 4,926 others wounded, according to the figures released by the Sudanese health ministry in early May.IANS12 May 2023

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Yogi and his ministers watch The Kerala Story

Lucknow, May 12: UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday watched a special show of 'The Kerala Story' film along with his cabinet ministers at the Lok Bhawan in Lucknow.

Yogi and his ministers watch 'The Kerala Story'

After watching the film, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya told reporters that the Congress party was playing appeasement politics. He stated that it is because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that India is getting an opportunity to watch movies like 'The Kerala Story', and 'Kashmir Files'.Maurya said, "This movie must be shown in all parts of the country.""The ban on 'The Kerala Story' in West Bengal must be revoked and, in the future, the truth regarding West Bengal will also come out," he said.Earlier, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had met the team of the recently released film 'The Kerala Story' in Lucknow.On May 9, the chief minister had declared the film tax-free in the state. "The Kerala Story to be made tax-free in Uttar Pradesh," he had tweeted.Previously, Madhya Pradesh had made the movie tax-free in the state on May 6.'The Kerala Story' is based on the 'mass conversion' of young Hindu women in Kerala and their involvement in terrorist activities.IANS12 May 2023

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MG Motor announces 5-year business roadmap for India: Indianizing operations is the key focus

Gurugram, May 12: MG Motor India, an iconic British automobile brand with a rich 99-year heritage, today announced its strategic 5-year business roadmap to Indianize the business operations for sustainable growth and meaningful impact on the society.

MG Motor announces 5-year business roadmap for India: Indianizing operations is the key focus

The key initiatives that would constitute this are localization and bringing in the latest technology and indigenising it as well; increasing Indian shareholding over the next 2-4 years; enhancing local sourcing and manufacturing across its operations by 2028 through an extensive series of programs including exploring cell manufacturing and clean hydrogen-cell technology through owned or third-party facilities; expanding production capacity with a second plant in Gujarat; introducing a broader range of electric vehicles (EVs); and unveiling new product offerings.MG Motor India also aims to invest more than Rs 5,000 cr and have a total of 20,000 workforce--both direct as well as indirect--by 2028. As part of its growth plan, MG Motor India plans to establish a second manufacturing facility in Gujarat, significantly increasing the combined production output from the current 1,20,000 to 3,00,000 vehicles (including both plants' capacity). The company intends to launch 4-5 new cars, mostly EV models, and achieve 65-75 per cent of its sales from the EV portfolio by 2028. To support the widespread adoption of electric vehicles, MG Motor India will strengthen local manufacturing of EV components and establish a battery assembly unit in Gujarat. Emphasizing its commitment and contribution to India's mission to become a major manufacturing hub, MG Motor India will invest in advanced clean technologies, including hydrogen fuel cells and cell manufacturing, as well as bolster local manufacturing of EV parts through JVs or third-party manufacturing.Rajeev Chaba, the CEO Emeritus of MG Motor India, further underscored the India roadmap and said, MG India's unwavering dedication to India is deeply ingrained in our ethos. As we pave the way for our next phase of sustainable growth, we have outlined a clear roadmap and vision for 2028. Our growth strategy is centred around strengthening localization, aligning more closely with the government's 'Make in India' initiative while innovatively augmenting our promise consistently, and diligently meeting the evolving needs of the market.Chaba further emphasized the company's commitment to making a positive impact on society, saying, At MG Motor India, we are resolute in our commitment to fostering meaningful change. We are dedicated to investing in our talented workforce and nurturing the young talent of India through initiatives like the MG Nurture program. Under this, we envision collaborating with 50 institutes to train 1,00,000 students on the latest technologies such as EV, connected cars and ADAS systems.In addition, Chaba highlighted the company's focus on promoting gender diversity, stating, We recognize the immense value of diversity. We have achieved a 37 per cent gender diversity within our workforce, and we are aiming for a 50 per cent diversity across various roles within our organization. The company aims to develop 1,00,000 students under its MG Nurture program who shall be trained in EV, ADAS, and Connected Car technologies. The trained and skilled talent will be future-ready in order to cater to the increased demands of manufacturing next-generation cars.This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article.ANI12 May 2023

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An affordable Term Plan to enable protection for all

New Delhi, May 12: Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, one of India's leading private life insurers, has introduced Bajaj Allianz Life Group Term Life - A Non-linked Non-Participating Group Term Insurance Plan, an affordable protection plan exclusively for the customers of India Post Payments Bank.

An affordable Term Plan to enable protection for all

The product allows customers to start their insurance protection by paying small amounts for an adequate life cover, thereby providing for long term financial security of their loved ones.Furthermore, on the death of the life assured, who typically is the breadwinner of the family, Bajaj Allianz Life Group Term Life offers the nominee to receive a lump-sum to cover any immediate expenses and also regular monthly income payout to the family over a period of 5, 7 or 10 years.Dheeraj Sehgal, Chief Distribution Officer & Head - Institutional Business, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, said, As Life Goals enabler we are keen to be able to provide all our customers unique products to help them financially secure their families. Our partnership with India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) helps us fulfil our vision to respond to customers' needs from across the country. Our latest product is unique as it is designed to help families, who bank with IPPB, cope up with the financial shortfall they may face with the death of the breadwinner. I'm confident that it's low premium and high cover will attract more customers to protect their families, and ensure their life goals are on track despite their absence.Gursharan Rai Bansal, Chief General Manager & Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, India Post Payments Bank, said, Life insurance is one of the most essential financial products for customers to have a hassle-free journey to fulfil their financial and life goals.India Post Payments Bank has been instrumental in distributing insurance to underprivileged sections through various savings, protection and annuity products. In line with Government's mission of financial inclusion, we are committed to expand Life Insurance offerings to our customers through the new Group Term Life Insurance from Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Limited. It has unique advantage of providing affordable life insurance to customers and helps fulfill immediate & long-term financial needs of the family in event of untimely death of their bread earner. With the help of our deep and robust network of banking access points, Gramin Dak Sevaks and Postmen, this will help in penetration of Life Insurance to the last mile and enable customers to manage their Financial and Life goals in an all-inclusive manner. Key features of Bajaj Allianz Life Group Term Plan- As part of the income benefit option, the nominee can receive part of their sum assured as a lumpsum amount, and remaining amount will be paid as monthly installment over the chosen payout period- No medicals required, subject to satisfactory declaration of Good Health- Affordable premium amountThis story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article.ANI12 May 2023

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Over 18K people enter Ethiopia from Sudan: UN

Addis Ababa, May 12: The number of people arriving in Ethiopia due to the ongoing situation in Sudan has surpassed 18,000, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has said.

Over 18K people enter Ethiopia from Sudan: UN

"People arriving from Sudan to Ethiopia via the Metema border town have now reached more than 18,000," the UNOCHA said in its latest situation update issued on Thursday, adding that more than 440 people till now have entered Ethiopia via the Kurmuk border crossing point in Ethiopia's Benishangul Gumuz region.According to the agency, new arrivals have been reported at the Pagak/Bubieyr border crossing in Ethiopia's Gambella region for the first time since the conflict began in Sudan.UNOCHA figures showed that the arrivals are from 60 nationalities, and the largest group are Ethiopians, Sudanese and Turkish, Xinhua news agency reported.The UNOCHA earlier announced that shelter and reception areas are under construction for those who need relocation, and further medical support would be provided.Sudan has witnessed deadly armed clashes between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in the capital city of Khartoum and other areas since April 15, with the two sides accusing each other of initiating the conflict.IANS13 May 2023

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Ring-fenced amount of Rs 200 cr be set apart for waste management: Uttrakhand Govt to NGT

New Delhi, May 12: The Uttrakhand Government through its Chief Secretary has informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that a ring-fenced amount of Rs 200 crores for urban solid and sewage management be set apart for the purpose of a solid as well as liquid waste management in the state.

Ring-fenced amount of Rs 200 cr be set apart for waste management: Uttrakhand Govt to NGT

"Ring-fenced amount of atleast Rs 200 crores be set apart in terms of a statement of the Chief Secretary, Uttrakhand which has been taken on record and such funds be kept as "non-lapsable", the Tribunal noted.Legacy waste at nine sites and at other sites be remediated without further delay and quantify remediated legacy waste indicating that no legacy waste is remaining and reported in the next compliance report. Immediate efforts be made for ensuring connectivity with existing Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) and proposed STPs, said the tribunal.The bench headed by Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel in an order passed on May 11, 2023, said, "We hope in the light of interaction with the Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand will take further measures in the matter by innovative approach and stringent monitoring, ensuring that gaps in solid and liquid waste generation and treatment are bridged at the earliest, shortening the proposed timelines, adopting alternative/interim measures to the extent and wherever found viable."The tribunal further directed that restoration plans need to be executed at the earliest simultaneously in all districts, cities, towns and villages in a time-bound manner without further delay."Compliance be ensured by Chief Secretary," the tribunal said, adding, "The Chief Secretary, Uttrakhand may take further remedial measures to ensure compliance of Solid Waste Management Rules considering the statutory timelines to be sacrosanct as already directed by this Tribunal judgment. Similarly, the timelines for ensuring the setting up of necessary sewage management systems have to be accepted as rigid timelines in view of the judgment of the Supreme Court."Tribunal further said that the Chief Secretary may set up a centralized single window mechanism for planning, capacity building and monitoring of waste management at the state level and district level and state-level monitoring mechanisms be set up under the chief secretary and district level monitoring mechanism under the district magistrate for monthly review starting from June 1."Plastic waste and construction and demolition waste processing plants be set up ensuring that bio-medical, hazardous and E-waste are not co-mingled and treated with solid waste. Immediate efforts be made for ensuring connectivity with STPs and proposed STPs," the Tribunal further directed.The tribunal further expressed 'hope' that in the light of interaction with the Chief Secretary, the State will take further measures in the matter by an innovative approach and stringent monitoring, ensuring that legacy waste, as well as unprocessed waste and liquid waste generation and treatment, are bridged at the earliest, shortening the proposed timelines, adopting alternative and interim measures to the extent and wherever found viable.Earlier, while awarded Environment Compensation in several states, the NGT had said that award of compensation has become necessary under section 15 of the NGT Act to remedy the continuing damage to the environment and to comply with directions of the Supreme Court requiring this Tribunal to monitor enforcement of norms for solid and liquid waste management.Moreover, without fixing the quantified liability necessary for restoration, the mere passing of orders has not shown any tangible results in the last several years (for solid waste management) and five years (for liquid waste management), even after the expiry of statutory/laid down timelines. Continuing damage is required to be prevented in future and past damage is to be restored, said the bench.ANI13 May 2023

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The most violent confrontation in months between Israel and Palestinian resistance factions continued for a third straight day on Friday, as Israeli warplanes struck targets in the Gaza Strip and Palestinian resistance factions fired more rockets at Israel and hopes of securing a truce faded.

Two Palestinians were killed on Friday and at least five others were injured in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a residential apartment in al-Nasser neighborhood to the west of Gaza city, reported by the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Earlier on Friday, a Palestinian man died from critical injuries sustained in an Israeli airstrike on the northern Gaza Strip, according to medical sources at Indonesia Hospital. The 38-year-old was injured during the israeli airstrike on Thursday night that killed another man aged 22.

Sirens warning of incoming fire meanwhile rang out in Israeli communities close to the border with the Gaza Strip, as well as blaring in an Israeli settlement near Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank.

Islamic Jihad has retaliated to Israel attacks with over 800 rockets fire toward densely populated parts of Israel. The resistance movement said the latest rocket fire, seen by AFP journalists, was a "response to the assassinations and the continued aggression against the Palestinian people". It came after a rocket killed one civilian in the central Israeli city of Rehovot the night before.

Violence broke out very late on Wednesday when Israel killed 21 Palestinians, among them children and women while saying it was trageting three top members of the Islamic Jihad militant group. Subsequent strikes have killed two other senior figures.

On Thursday night, Israeli fighter jets targeted a location near the electric power plant to the north of Nuseirat refugee camp, killing one and injuring several others, including critical injuries, and causing a power outage that left the area in darkness.

Gaza residents reported explosions in farms near the southern city of Rafah. A burst of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip sent air raid sirens wailing near Israel's southern border Friday, breaking a 12-hour lull that had raised hopes that Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations could soon be able to broker a cease-fire.

The ongoing Israeli airstrikes against the besieged Gaza Strip, have resulted in the deaths of 31 Palestinians, at least 19 of them were children, according to the United Nations. Over 95 Palestinians were also injured, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported.

Israeli bombs and shells have destroyed 47 housing units, and damaged 19 so badly they were uninhabitable, leaving 165 Palestinians homeless, Gazas housing ministry reported. In addition, nearly 300 homes sustained some damage.

Daily life in the coastal territory, ruled by Hamas, has largely come to a standstill, while Israel has told its citizens near Gaza to stay close to bomb shelters.

Home 'seriously shaking'

In Gaza's central Deir al-Balah area, farmer Belal Basher stood beside the ruins of the home he said was hit by multiple Israeli strikes.

"Our situation is the same as that of any Palestinian citizen whose house is targeted and whose dream, built over the years, is destroyed," the 33-year-old told AFP.

Palestinians on Friday surveyed the wreckage wrought by the fighting.

The dream that we built for our children, for our sons, has ended, said Belal Bashir, a Palestinian living in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, whose family home was reduced to a heap of rubble in an airstrike late Thursday. He and his family would have been killed in the thundering explosion if they hadnt ran outside when they heard shouting, he said.

We were shocked that our house was targeted, he added as he pulled his young childrens dolls and blankets from a bomb crater.

The decision to renew air strikes on Gaza this week was authorized by Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who returned to power in December alongside extreme-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies.

In Lebanon, rallies were held in solidarity with Gaza in multiple refugee camps hosting Palestinians.

"Resisters, strike Tel Aviv," protesters chanted in Saida, home to the country's largest refugee camp, according to an AFP photographer.

This week's escalation is the worst since August, when 49 Gazans were killed in three days of fighting between the resistance movement Jihad and Israel.

That conflict followed multiple wars fought between Israel and Hamas since the group took control of Gaza in 2007.

An Israeli blockade imposed since then has made it impossible for the vast majority of 2.3 million residents to leave Gaza, where poverty and unemployment are rife.

Ramping up diploatic efforts

The civilians deaths have drawn condemnation from the Arab world and concern from the United States and Europe. In its past four wars against Gaza, Israel has repeatedly faced accusations of war crimes due to the high civilian death tolls and its use of heavy weapons against the crowded enclave.

Hamas, the de facto civilian government in Gaza, has sought to maintain its truce with Israel while attempting to keep abysmal living conditions in the blockaded enclave from spiraling since a devastating 11-day war in 2021 that killed over 260 Palestinians. The resistance group, which control Gaza since 2007, has sat out this round of fighting  as it did a similar burst of violence last summer.

Both sides had seemed on the brink of a cease-fire before the eruption of Thursday's violence. Friday's relative calm boosted hopes of progress.

Hamas officials told local media that Egypt was ramping up its diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting through intensive contacts with both Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Jihad figures have sent mixed signals about the cease-fire talks. Senior official Ihsan Attaya complained early Friday that the mediators have been unable to provide us with any guarantees. A sticking point has been Jihad's demands that Israel cease its policy of targeted killings, Attaya said.

Jihad political bureau member Mohamad al-Hindi sounded more optimistic. From Cairo, where he traveled Thursday to hash out the details of a possible truce, he told media that he hoped both sides would reach a cease-fire agreement and honor it today.

The airstrikes and rockets have shifted the focus of conflict back to Gaza after months of surging violence in the occupied West Bank under Israel's most right-wing government in history.

Israel has been carrying out near-nightly arrest raids in the West Bank that have killed 109 Palestinians so far this year  the highest such death toll in two decades. At least half of the dead are affiliated with militant groups, according to a tally by The Associated Press. At least 20 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks targeting Israelis during that time.

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Nurses celebrated in May for International Nurses Month

New Delhi, May 12: As International Nurses Month begins this May, is proud to stand alongside nurses as essential healthcare providers in all forms of care, specifically nurses. International Nurses Month is an annual celebration of the hard work and dedication of nurses worldwide, and it is a time to recognize the important role they play in healthcare. This year's theme, You Make a Difference, honors nurses' positive impact on everyone's lives.

Nurses celebrated in May for International Nurses Month

"International Nurses Month is an opportunity for us to show our support and appreciation for the incredible work that nurses do every day," said Rohah Jain, President of Human BioSciences. "Without nurses who share knowledge, mentor new nurses and advocate for their patients, people in all communities would suffer."Wound care nurses have specialized training, and are specifically designed to promote faster healing times and reduce the risk of infection in patients with wounds. Collagen requires less frequent , which significantly impacts hands-on nursing time. With shortages in nursing staff plaguing healthcare, simplifying care benefits nurses and patients.Human BioSciences is committed to supporting nurses in India by providing them with the resources they need to deliver the highest quality care to their patients. Application videos for all , including CollatekA Collagen Gel, SkinTempA II Collagen Sheets, and MedifilA II Collagen Particles are available on the website. is available to address common patient questions as an excellent place for nurses to send their patients and families as a resource to relieve some burden.For supplies and purchasing information contact india-info@humanbiosciences.comHuman Biosciences, Inc. is a global biotechnology company specializing in for . founded HBS in 1990 with Kollagena technology pioneering advanced wound care with native non-hydrolyzed Type -1 bovine collagen in its purest form with three delivery modes with , and . HBS continues engineering breakthroughs daily with innovative new product development, , and distribution products globally with facilities in USA and India.For more information, visitFor media queries, please contactThis story has been provided by ATK. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/ATK)ANI13 May 2023

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Ali Fazal to join Vin Diesel, Jason Momoa at Fast X international premiere in Rome

Mumbai, May 12: Actor Ali Fazal is all set to attend the grand international premiere of the upcoming action film 'Fast X' in Rome alongside stars Vin Diesel and Jason Momoa.

Ali Fazal to join Vin Diesel, Jason Momoa at 'Fast X' international premiere in Rome

The premiere is taking place on May 11 in the Italian capital.Speaking of this Ali said, "I am thrilled to be attending the international premiere of Fast X in Rome, and it is an honor to have been invited as part of my past involvement with the franchise. This is where it all began for me when it comes to my work globally, and I am grateful for the opportunities that this franchise has given me. I am excited to reunite with the cast and crew, and I look forward to seeing what's in store this time of the action magic that they have created ."The actor made his international debut with the mega-action film 'Furious 7', the 7th installment of the franchise. He has been invited to attend the premiere as part of his past involvement with the franchise.Since his international debut, Ali has made headlines with his performances in major international films, including his titular lead in 'Victoria and Abdul' alongside Dame Judi Dench and 'Death on the Nile' alongside Gal Gadot.Ali will soon be flying off to the US, where he will be promoting his next big Hollywood release, 'Kandahar' with Gerard Butler.Helmed by Ric Roman Waugh, the film star popular Scottish actor Gerard Butler, Navid Negahban, Ali Fazal, Travis Fimmel and Elnaaz Norouzi in lead roles. The film is all set to hit the theatres on May 26, 2023.The film's description reads, "Tom Harris (Gerard Butler), an undercover CIA operative, is stuck deep in hostile territory in Afghanistan. After his mission is exposed, he must fight his way out, alongside his Afghan translator, to an extraction point in Kandahar, all whilst avoiding elite enemy forces and foreign spies tasked with hunting them down."He will also be seen in 'The Underbug', 'Girls will be Girls', 'Metro In Dino', and in another Hollywood film 'Afghan Dreamers'.ANI13 May 2023

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Emraan Hashmi exudes uber-cool vibes in casual outfit

Mumbai, May 12: Emraan Hashmi known as the hottest and most handsome-looking star of the bollywood industry, knows how to beat the heat this summer with easy and breezy outfits.

Emraan Hashmi exudes uber-cool vibes in casual outfit

On Friday, The 'Selfiee' actor took to Instagram and shared a picture where he can be seen posing towards the camera, clad in cool casual clothes, with his hands crossed.Along with the post, he wrote, "Expression says A whole lot of Intensity, a bit of "I don't give an F*#K", and a dash of caffeine withdrawal."The 'Murder' star was seen wearing a white t-shirt with beige cargo pants. He just looked cool and just rocked the outfit amazingly. Short hair looks and a beautifully shaped beard did the trick and made the 44-year-old actor look pretty boyish. He has maintained himself in a sassy-toned figure and has impressed many of his fans with his lover boy image.As soon as he dropped the post, Emraan's fans bombarded the comment section with cute comments.A user wrote, "Handsome Hunk."Another fan commented, "Jawline so sharp, angutha kat gaya while scrolling."Meanwhile, on the work front, Emraan was last seen in a family entertainer film 'Selfiee' alongside Akshay Kumar, Nushrratt Bharuccha and Diana Penty. The film has been helmed by Raj Mehta.Emraan will be next seen in YRF's Tiger 3, as the antagonist, which will see him in a negative role opposite Salman Khan.ANI13 May 2023

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Exim Bank logs Rs 1,556 cr net in FY23

Chennai, May 12: The Export Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) on Friday said it closed FY23 with an after tax profit of Rs 1,556 crore.

Exim Bank logs Rs 1,556 cr net in FY23

According to Exim Bank, the company closed FY23 with a net profit of Rs 1,556 crore up from Rs 738 crore logged during FY22.During the year under review, the bank had sanctioned loans aggregating Rs 79,764 crore to enhance export capabilities of Indian companies and support development priorities of partner countries.The Bank has a portfolio of 303 Government of India-supported Lines of Credit (LOCs) with credit commitments aggregating $ 31.85 billion, which are at various stages of implementation.With ever expanding reach, the LOCs have gained momentum in stimulating economic growth across 68 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Oceania and the CIS region.During FY23, the Bank supported 37 new contracts valued over $ 1 billion. On behalf of the Government of India, the Bank sanctioned seven LOCs, aggregating $670.32 million, to support export of projects, goods, and services from India.Last fiscal, the Exim Bank provided support of Rs 72,521 crore to Indian companies to build export capacity and boost export competitiveness under the Commercial Business.Further, the Bank supported 75 project export contracts valued at Rs 43,421 crore under its commercial portfolio, in 37 countries.The bank said it had also provided aggregate overseas investment finance of Rs 67,082 crore to support 671 Joint Ventures/Wholly Owned Subsidiaries, set up by 495 Indian companies in 78 countries.During FY23, Exim Bank had raised aggregate resources of Rs 52,156 crore, including foreign currency resources of $ 3.47 billion.The bank opened the international markets for Indian issuers with a benchmark sized Sustainability Bond of $1 billion in January 2023, under its Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) Framework.Proceeds of the bond are being used towards projects such as renewable energy, clean transportation, access to essential services and basic infrastructure, affordable housing, water and waste management, the bank said.IANS13 May 2023

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Himachal CM Sukhu launches Him Data Portal for better deliverance of services

Shimla, May 12: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Friday said that the need of the hour is that all the state government agencies should collaborate, connect, and respond to the needs of the public more efficiently by accessing accurate and real-time data.

Himachal CM Sukhu launches 'Him Data Portal' for better deliverance of services

He was addressing a conference organised by the Bharti Institute of Public Policy of the Indian School of Business (ISB) on governance and technology at Mohali.The Chief Minister also launched the 'Him Data Portal' a common digital platform to integrate data of all organisations for the deliverance of welfare schemes and to better serve the public."From July 2023, the Himachal Pradesh government would start the Him Parivar project which will give a special digital identity to the people of the State. This will strengthen the state's benefit delivery systems through Him Pulse which will support and enhance the capacity of Him Parivar in linking digital identity to the delivery of benefits to the targeted population," said Sukhu.He said that information about essential facilities like ration cards, family registers, electricity, drinking water etc would be available with a single click through the Him Parivar Project.He said that the people associated with the Him Pariyojna project would get information about various welfare schemes easily."I believe that the simple off-the-shelf connection will not only save the time of the public but will also bring in more efficiency in the working of the Government besides transparency, which is the sole motto of my Governance," he said, adding that this will largely benefit the targeted sections.Sukhu further added that the most important component of a welfare State is 'Good Governance' with better administration and giving practical shape to the overall development in a phased manner.He said that the aim of the state government was to provide basic facilities down to the last man and for this, it was necessary to have accurate digital data of the services and the beneficiaries."The Him Data Portal will bring valuable data from multiple domains together of various departments thereby helping in visualizing patterns, gaps, opportunities and connections cohesively, which would result in strengthening efficiencies in governance. Besides, it will assist in giving operators insights into critical parts of a transaction, smart recovery process and connected system outages to benefit both the government and the public," Sukhu said."In the very first budget our government emphasized adopting state-of-the-art data collection and research techniques so that available resources could be better utilized," said the Chief Minister.He said that in the next 10 years, Himachal would be the most prosperous state of the country. This collaboration will go a long way in facilitating in improving the socio-economic prosperity of the state.The Indian School of Business, as a knowledge partner, would help in making the Himachal Data Portal more useful. The state government and the Indian School of Business would work together in the fields of education, information technology, forests and governance.Sukhu also invited the Indian School of Business to set up a Center for Policy Research in Himachal PradeshHimachal Pradesh Tourism Development Board Chairman, Raghuveer Singh Bali said that the wide political experience of the Himachal Chief Minister would give new heights to the development of Himachal Pradesh through digital technology. This collaboration will go a long way in facilitating in improving the socio-economic prosperity of the State as well.Chief Advisor, Information Technology and Innovation, Gokul Butail said that the most important asset of the 21st century is data and the timely collection of correct information.He said that Chief Minister is working to make Himachal an exemplary state of the country by using innovation and information technology."As data integration creates a pathway toward the unification of systems that also improves overall efficiency it also saves time which is an obvious benefit to data integration as users eliminate search time and manual errors arising from data transfer and manipulation," he said while giving detailed information about Him Parivar Project.Secretary of Information Technology, Himachal Pradesh Abhishek Jain, said that the Indian School of Business in collaboration with the state government would be beneficial for the people by saving their time and money.He said that access to the right data in policymaking is an important factor in the successful implementation of schemes.Professor Madan Pilutla, Dean, of Bharti Institute of Public Policy, said that with the use of information technology and information available on the HIM Data Portal, people would be able to get benefits at the right time in a real sense.Professor Ashwani Chatre, Director of Bharti Institute of Public Policy, gave detailed information about access to data in Himachal and its benefits to the people.He said that Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's initiative to benefit the public through information technology is praiseworthy.Policy Director, of Bharti Institute of Public Policy Dr Arushi Jain, welcomed the dignitaries present and briefed them about the theme of the conference including the HIM Data Portal.Principal Private Secretary to Chief Minister, Vivek Bhatia, Himachal Pradesh Director Information Technology, Mukesh Repaswal, academicians from the Indian School of Business, other researchers and students of the Institute were present on the occasion.ANI13 May 2023

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Ministry of Economy, Presight to enhance UAEs attractiveness to FDI and support private sector partnership

Dubai, May 12: The Ministry of Economy (MoE) has signed a Memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Presight, a data analytics company powered by artificial intelligence, to drive Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) into new sectors within the UAE.

Ministry of Economy, Presight to enhance UAE's attractiveness to FDI and support private sector partnership

The initiative will help attract foreign companies to expand and invest in the UAE's markets and support the partnership with the private sector. The signing took place on the sidelines of the 12th Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) 2023, which was held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.The MoU was signed by Juma Al Kait, Assistant Undersecretary of Foreign Trade at the Ministry of Economy; and Dr. Adel Al Sharji, COO of Presight.Under the terms of the MoU, Presight will work with the Ministry of Economy to attract foreign direct investments to new sectors in the UAE by deploying big data, analytics and artificial intelligence in education, healthcare, infrastructure and financial services. The focus on attracting leading AI companies is expected to create a pipeline of promising AI companies and technologies, driving M and A activity in the sector.Commenting on the MoU, Al Kait said, "Thanks to the directives and vision of its wise leadership, the UAE now has a more competitive and flexible investment environment, made possible by the launch of forward-looking economic and investment policies and legislation. The country's increasing economic openness to the world has contributed to developing the investment and business environment in line with international best practices. This, in turn, has boosted FDI inflows to the country in line with the 'We the UAE 2031' vision that aims to double the GDP to reach AED3 trillion by 2031."He added that this cooperation will strengthen the government's partnership with the private sector and promote promising investment opportunities to accelerate the national FDI agenda, thus solidifying the UAE's position as a leading global destination for investment and business.Al Kait noted that the UAE is a regional and global leader in the FDI sector, which contributed to strengthening its position as a global hub for trade and investment. The UAE attracted US$20.7 billion in FDI in 2021, up 4 per cent from 2020 to rank first in West Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. Besides, FDI inflows to the UAE are expected to reach USD22 billion in 2022, accounting for 4.3 per cent of the GDP of the national economy, according to the Institute of International Finance's report.Dr Al Sharji, in turn, said, "Our partnership aims to identify and promote promising investment opportunities in emerging sectors, which will attract foreign investment and solidify the UAE's position as a global investment and business hub. Together, we are confident in our ability to unlock new opportunities for growth and prosperity and chart a path towards a prosperous future for the UAE."The MoU highlights the government's focus on attracting AI companies as part of its broader strategy to diversify the UAE's economy and create new economic sectors. In equal measure, these efforts are expected to support attracting talent into the UAE, contributing to the growth of a vibrant and dynamic AI ecosystem.Presight is a UAE company listed on the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange, and its majority shares are owned by the G42 Group in Abu Dhabi. (ANI/WAM)ANI13 May 2023

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SC upholds interview criteria for designation of senior advocates, issues fresh guidelines

New Delhi, May 12: The Supreme Court on Friday issued fresh guidelines relating to the process for designation of senior advocates and upheld the interview criteria for it and recommended diversity, particularly with respect to gender and first-generation lawyers.

SC upholds interview criteria for designation of senior advocates, issues fresh guidelines

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Aravind Kumar said they have upheld interview criteria as it would enable a more holistic assessment."We believe that an interview process would allow for a more personal and in-depth examination of the candidate. An interview also enables a more holistic assessment, particularly as the Senior Advocate designation is an honour conferred to exceptional advocates. A Senior Advocate is also required to be very articulate and precise within a given timeframe, which values that can be easily assessed during an interview," the top court said.The court said that they have sought to make the interview process more workable and thus restricted the number of interviews to the appropriate amount as deemed feasible by the Permanent Committee."It is in this spirit that we have sought to make the interview process more workable. We have thus restricted the number of interviews to the appropriate amount as deemed feasible by the Permanent Committee, keeping in mind the number of Senior Advocates to be designated at a given time," the top court said."We also believe that due consideration should be given in the interest of diversity, particularly with respect to gender and first-generation lawyers. This would encourage meritorious advocates who will come into the field knowing that there is scope to rise to the top," the top court said.The court further added that the profession has seen a paradigm shift over a period of time, particularly with the advent of newer law schools such as National Law Universities."The profession has seen a paradigm shift over a period of time, particularly with the advent of newer law schools such as National Law Universities. The legal profession is no longer considered as a family profession. Instead, there are newer entrants from all parts of the country and with different backgrounds. Such newcomers must be encouraged," the top court said.The court also said that voting by secret ballot should not be a norm."This designation has always been held to be an honour conferred. While it is alleged that voting by secret ballot may not always subserve the interests of transparency, in practice, judges may be reluctant to put forth their views openly. This is especially the case where the comments of a judge can have a deleterious effect on the advocate's practice," the top court said."Thus, we find merit in the contention that voting by secret ballot should not be the rule but clearly an exception. In case it has to be resorted to, the reasons for the same should be recorded," the top court said.The court was dealing with a petition by Senior Advocate Indira Jaisingh relating to the criteria for the designation of senior advocates in courts.ANI13 May 2023

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Jaishankar meets Nepals Foreign Minister for first time during Dhaka visit

Dhaka, May 12: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Nepal's new Foreign Minister NP Saud for the first time and discussed energy, connectivity, and enduring people-to-people ties between both countries.

Jaishankar meets Nepal's Foreign Minister for first time during Dhaka visit

"A good first meeting with FM N.P. Saud of Nepal. Congratulated him on his new responsibility. Discussed further steps in our steadily expanding partnership. Spoke about energy, connectivity, and our enduring people-to-people ties," Jaishankar said in a tweet.Jaishankar is currently on a two-day visit to Bangladesh where he is attending the 6th Indian Ocean Conference.During his Dhaka visit, Jaishankar called on Bangladeshi Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina in the capital on Thursday. Jaishankar is on a two-day visit to Bangladesh till May 12. After that, he will visit Belgium and Sweden."Honoured to call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh. Conveyed personal greetings and warm regards of PM @narendramodi. The guidance and vision of our leaders continue to strengthen India-Bangladesh Maitri," Jaishankar tweeted.External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reached Dhaka on Thursday afternoon. EAM was welcomed by the Foreign Minister Affairs Minister of Bangladesh Md. Shahriar Alam. Jaishankar is on a three-nation tour during which he will visit Bangladesh, Sweden and Belgium."Reached Dhaka. Thank Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh @MdShahriarAlam for the warm welcome. Look forward to meeting colleagues and friends from across the world at the Indian Ocean Conference," Jaishankar tweeted upon reaching Bangladesh.From Bangladesh, Jaishankar will travel to Sweden. This will be his first visit as EAM to the Nordic country and comes at a time when India and Sweden are celebrating 75 years of establishing diplomatic relations. Sweden currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.According to a Ministry of External Affairs release, Jaishankar will participate in the second EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum (EIPMF) in Sweden.He will hold bilateral meetings with foreign ministers of several countries on the margins of EIPMF.During his stay, he will call on leadership in Sweden and meet with key ministers.He will also participate in the inaugural session of the India Trilateral Forum (India, Europe and the US) with his Swedish counterpart.In the last leg of the visit, EAM will visit Brussels for bilateral engagements with Belgian and EU officials. He will also attend the first Ministerial Meeting of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council along with Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and Minister of Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw.The TTC Ministerial Meeting is scheduled to be held on May 16.ANI13 May 2023

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S.Korea, Britain sign letter of intent to establish strategic development partnership

Seoul, May 12: South Korea and Britain on Friday signed a letter of intent (LOI) to establish a bilateral strategic development partnership, Seoul's foreign ministry said.

S.Korea, Britain sign letter of intent to establish strategic development partnership

The LOI was signed by Seoul's Second Vice Foreign Minister Lee Do-hoon, First Vice Finance Minister Bang Ki-sun and Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Britain's minister of state for the Indo-Pacific, at the ministry in Seoul.The letter calls for the establishment of a bilateral strategic development partnership in the Indo-Pacific based on shared values of freedom, democracy, rule of law and human rights, Yonhap news agency reported.The two sides also agreed to explore joint cooperation measures with a focus on the areas of digital, climate, environment, public health, private sector collaboration and women, according to the ministry.IANS13 May 2023

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Rare Assamese journals and books to be digitized

Guwahati, May 12: A community project, 'Digitizing Asom' has been launched aiming at the digitization of rare Assamese journals and books published between 1813 and 1970, for public use.

Rare Assamese journals and books to be digitized

The launching ceremony was attended by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday evening.An initiative of the Nanda Talukdar Foundation and supported by the Assam Jatiya Bidyalay Educational iamp; Socio-Economic Trust, this project is going to digitize every possible rare Assamese language book and journal, regardless of their location, and making them available to the public for posterity through a dedicated website.In the first phase of the project, journals published between 1840 and 1970 have been included encompassing 3071 editions of as many as 161 journals with a total of 2,45,680 pages. The second phase of the project, under process, shall cover books published between 1813 and 1962.Sarma said that launch of this project would prove decisive in conferring the world of Assamese literature its rightful exalted status in days to come. Referring to the 19th century as the era that led to a new dawn for Assamese literature, he credited literary stalwarts such as Lakshminath Bezbaruah, Chandra Kumar Agarwala and Hemchandra Goswami for its forward march."The 20th century brought with itself greater avenues for growth of Assamese literature," Sarma added.Referring to the 21st century as the "digital era", he said digitizing rare Assamese literary works would go a long way in preserving such remarkable works for ages."The coming generations would be able to appreciate the works of literary gems in the Assamese language through such initiatives. I appeal to members of the general public in possession of such rare works to come forward so that all books can be digitized," he said.IANS13 May 2023

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Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy is making a trip to Rome and he will meet with Pope Francis and Italian leaders on Saturday, the Vatican said.

Zelenskyy will hold midday meetings with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, who staunchly backs the military and other aid for Ukraine and President Sergio Mattarella.

Zelenskyys exact schedule wasnt being publicly announced because of security concerns, and the Vatican only confirmed a papal meeting shortly before the Ukrainian president's expected arrival in Rome.

Italian state television reported that as part of protective measures, a no-fly zone was ordered for Rome skies and police sharpshooters were strategically placed on high buildings.

Meloni met with Zelenskyy in Kyiv shortly before the anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.

Francis, eager for peace, last met with the Ukrainian leader in 2020.

The pontiff makes frequent impassioned pleas on behalf of Ukraine's martyred" people, in his words.

At the end of April, flying back to Rome from a trip to Hungary, Francis told reporters on the plane that the Vatican was involved in a behind-the-scene peace mission but gave no details. Neither Russia nor Ukraine has confirmed such an initiative.

The German government, meanwhile, said it was providing Ukraine with additional military aid worth more than 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition.

The announcement Saturday came as preparations were underway in Berlin for a possible first visit to Germany by Zelenskyy since Russia invaded his country last year.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Berlin wants to show with the latest package of arms that Germany is serious in its support for Ukraine.

Germany will provide all the help it can, as long as it takes, he said.

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MP CM Chouhan flags off ambulance facilities for animals

Bhopal, May 12: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday inaugurated a Gau-raksha Sankalp Sammelan (Cow-Protection Resolution Conference) and flagged off ambulance facilities for the animals in the state.

MP CM Chouhan flags off ambulance facilities for animals

CM Chouhan flagged off 406 veterinary ambulances for urban areas and development blocks in the state at Lal Parade ground in the state capital Bhopal.On the occasion CM Chouhan said, "The day has come when ambulances will be available not only for humans but also for treatment of Gau-mata and other animals. A veterinarian and assistants will be available in the ambulance. A toll free number '1962' has been issued for the treatment of animals during an emergency."Taking a sick animal to the hospital was a big problem. Now with the arrival of these ambulances, the veterinary hospital itself will be available at the door of the cattle rearer, Chouhan said.He added, "The slaughter of cow progeny has been banned in the state. There is a provision of imprisonment for 7 years for those killing cows and imprisonment for illegal transportation. Vehicles involved in illegal transportation of cattle will be confiscated."Cows are necessary for natural farming. A monthly aid of Rs 900 will be given to the farmers for rearing cows who will be doing natural farming. The instalment of the scheme will be issued to 22 000 farmers this month. Tribal people will be provided 90 percent subsidy on buying cows for cow rearing. The state government is also making efforts to make the business of cow dung, cow urine and other cow products profitable, the chief minister said, adding that a project making CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) from cow dung is going on in Jabalpur.The CM said, "A policy will be made to use natural paint made in Gau-shalas (cowsheds) at Panchayat level in government buildings in rural areas. This will encourage the business of cow dung and cow urine. Eight Gau-Sadans and two Gau-Vansh Vanya Vihar will be developed in the state. The responsibility of their operation will be handed over to the Gau-Sevak Sanstha. A suitable policy will be made to ensure that registered cow shelters do not face the problem of electricity bill and this does not create any hindrance in the service of cows. The amount will be re-fixed for adequate arrangement of straw in the Gaushalas."CM Chouhan appealed to the farmers to cooperate in arranging straw by not burning crop stubble.The state government is also considering developing big gaushalas instead of opening gaushala in every Gram Panchayat in the state. A big gaushala will be developed for 4 to 5 gram panchayats, which will make their management also easier. Primarily, such gaushalas will be developed as models at some places in the state. Any organisation can take the responsibility of the arrangements of these gaushalas and they will be provided financial assistance by the state government, the CM added.He further said, "The gaushalas with which the lands are attached and there are encroachments on it, they will be made encroachment free immediately. For quick resolution of the problems of gaushalas and their better management, the responsibility will be assigned to the Additional Collector level officer at the district level."ANI13 May 2023

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India-backed port opens in Myanmar in answer to Chinas corridor project

Naypyidaw, May 12: A new port in Myanmar built with assistance from New Delhi has begun to receive container ships as both India and China seek closer economic ties with the Southeast Asian country Myanmar, Nikkei Asia reported.

India-backed port opens in Myanmar in answer to China's corridor project

The first cargo vessel from the Indian metropolis of Kolkata arrived Tuesday at Sittwe Port in Myanmar's Rakhine state. Officials from India and Myanmar's military government attended the port's inauguration ceremony.Sittwe Port forms a link in India's Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, a sea lane connecting Kolkata in eastern India to Sittwe on Myanmar's western coast. From there, the corridor traces an inland route through Myanmar via the Kaladan River and a highway, crossing into northeastern India, Asia Nikkei reported.Ahead of the ceremony, Indian shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal hailed the port as "unlocking [India's] northeast for Southeast Asia."The two countries shook hands on the USD 484 million Kaladan project in 2008. New Delhi is providing support across the board, Asia Nikkei reported.New Delhi sees the new Kaladan project as a way to connect isolated northeastern India to the Indian Ocean, providing a catalyst for economic growth.The region is linked to the rest of India by only the narrow Siliguri Corridor, a bottleneck squeezed by neighbouring countries with China looming to the north. Northeast India has witnessed ethnic conflict as well as deadly border clashes between Indian and Chinese troops, Asia Nikkei reported.While India has called for the return to civilian rule in Myanmar, New Delhi has maintained a close relationship with the military government since it took control in 2021 and has distanced itself from Western sanctions. Myanmar shares a border with India, and the two countries need to cooperate in responding to cross-border militant groups and other challenges, said a diplomatic source, Asia Nikkei reported.China also seeks access to the Indian Ocean through Myanmar.Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang met on May 2 with Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who leads Myanmar's military government. Qin said Beijing will accelerate the development of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, which has logistics and industrial infrastructure projects connecting China to the Indian Ocean, Asia Nikkei reported.China plans a large port and an industrial zone in Kyaukpyu, a town in Rakhine state.Though Sittwe Port has opened, construction on other parts of the Kaladan transport corridor including highways has been stalled by fighting between Myanmar's military and pro-democracy factions.The Indian Council of World Affairs, a think tank linked to India's foreign ministry, convened a meeting in April between government officials and experts from Myanmar's neighbouring countries. The forum invited representatives from Myanmar's military government as well, Asia Nikkei reported.These discussions were initiated by Thailand, and then India hosted the follow-up round. The meetings provide an unofficial forum for stakeholders to exchange opinions in pursuit of a resolution.ANI13 May 2023

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US opens embassy in Tonga in new move against China

Washington, May 12: The US opened an embassy in the Pacific island nation of Tonga, the latest move to broaden its presence in the region to counter China as it is increasing its influence in recent years, CNN reported.

US opens embassy in Tonga in new move against China

"We are pleased to announce the United States officially opened the US Embassy in Nuku'alofa on May 9, 2023, less than one year after Vice President Harris announced at a meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum that we would begin discussions with Tonga regarding establishing an embassy," US State Department said in the statement."This opening symbolizes the renewal of our relationship and underlines the strength of our commitment to our bilateral relations, to the people of Tonga, and to our partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region," the statement added.According to CNN, the announcement came the same day the White House confirmed President Joe Biden will travel to Papua New Guinea during a trip to the Indo-Pacific region later this month, marking the first visit of a sitting US President to the Pacific country.US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller described the Tonga embassy opening as symbolizing "the renewal of our relationship and underlines the strength of our commitment to our bilateral relations, to the people of Tonga, and to our partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region."Tonga is a nation of 171 islands in the South Pacific about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand, according to the CIA's World Fact Book.The embassy in the Tongan capital Nuku'alofa is the second that Washington has opened in the Pacific islands this year, following the reopening of one in the Solomon Islands in February, CNN reported.The country is considered upper-income for Pacific Island nations, but much of its wealth comes from remittances from the overseas diaspora, according to the CIA, which also notes it is seeing "rapidly growing Chinese infrastructure investments."That is the kind of influence from Beijing the Biden administration is trying to offset by opening the embassy in Nuku'alofa and in the other Pacific island nations, reported CNN.ANI13 May 2023

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Iran, Oman agree to start space cooperation

Tehran, May 12: Iran and Oman have agreed to start cooperation in the space sector, media reported.

Iran, Oman agree to start space cooperation

The issue was discussed in a meeting between Iranian Minister of Information and Communications Technology Isa Zarepour and Omani Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology Saeed bin Hamoud al-Maawali in Tehran, the report said on Thursday.Speaking at the meeting, the Iranian Minister said his country is capable of building remote sensing and communications satellites for launch into low Earth orbits and can cooperate with Oman in this area, the official news agency IRNA reportedHe added that over the past two years, cooperation between the two countries has been enhanced, noting that following the recent visit by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Muscat, the cooperation has taken a better form, Xinhua news agency reported.The two Ministers also agreed to begin cooperation in the fields of data transit and postal services, the report added.The Omani Minister, for his part, said there are numerous areas for cooperation between the two countries in the fields of communications and information technology, noting that the field of modern technologies is another important area for bilateral cooperation.The national post companies of the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding at the end of the meeting, IRNA said.Iran has in recent years built a number of satellites. In August 2022, the country successfully launched the Khayyam satellite into space from the Baikonur space station in Kazakhstan by Russia's Soyuz satellite carrier rocket.IANS13 May 2023

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US President Biden meets Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, reaffirms close ties

Washington, May 13: US President Joe Biden held a bilateral meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday (local time) to reaffirm the close partnership between the two nations.

US President Biden meets Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, reaffirms close ties

"President Biden held a bilateral meeting with President Sanchez of Spain to reaffirm the close partnership between our nations," tweeted The White House.Both leaders discussed issues of strategic relevance ranging from the war in Ukraine to trade and immigration.But efforts by the US and Spain to cooperate on asylum processing loomed large over the discussion as the Biden administration rolls out new immigration measures now that COVID-19 immigration restrictions have ended, reported The Washington Post.Biden commended Sanchez for his country's collaboration with the United States and Canada to establish migration hubs in Latin America where asylum seekers fleeing poverty and violence in their home countries can apply for protection.The new efforts are designed to crack down on illegal border crossings while opening legal pathways to give migrants incentives to apply for asylum online where they are, instead of making the dangerous journey to the border, reported The Washington Post."We're both facing the challenges of migration in the Western Hemisphere," Biden told Sanchez at the start of the Oval Office meeting.The coronavirus restrictions, known as Title 42, were a Trump administration endeavour that went into effect in March 2020 amid the global pandemic. Title 42 allowed border officials to turn away migrants to help stop the spread of COVID-19. But there were concerns the policies were put into place merely to keep people out.While Title 42 was used to deny asylum more than 2.8 million times, it carried no legal consequences, which encouraged repeat attempts by migrants to enter the U.S. The public health emergency officially ended on Thursday night and with it the restrictions.Russia's invasion of Ukraine was also high on the agenda for Biden and Sanchez, two NATO allies, reported The Washington Post.Sanchez told reporters following the meeting that he and Biden discussed their countries' continuing efforts to support Ukraine as Russia's invasion grinds on.Sanchez recently met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, both of whom have put forward ideas to end the conflict, reported The Washington Post.White House officials have dismissed China's 12-point peace plan, and called on Beijing to use its influence to urge Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war.Sanchez said that Spain, which will assume the rotating presidency of the European Council in July, is committed to a "lasting and just peace" to resolve the Ukraine crisis. He made clear that he sides with Biden and other Western allies in condemning Russian aggression."Make no mistake, in this war there is an aggressor and victim," Sanchez said. "And in this war the aggressor is President Putin."ANI13 May 2023

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Parties heading toward extension of Black Sea grain deal: Turkey

Ankara, May 13: Negotiations to extend a Black Sea Grain Initiative were nearing an agreement after two days of talks in Istanbul between Ukrainian, Russian, Turkish and UN officials, Turkey's Defence Minister Hulusi Akar has said.

Parties heading toward extension of Black Sea grain deal: Turkey

"As part of the first information received, the meeting in Istanbul was positive. We are heading toward an agreement on the extension of the grain deal," Akar said in a statement on Friday.The Turkish minister noted that Turkey has commercial vessels in Ukrainian ports and the parties also have reached a framework agreement for the safe return of six ships to Turkey, Xinhua news agency reported.A quadrilateral meeting was held in Istanbul on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss the future of the initiative, which allows the export of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products from Black Sea ports.The Black Sea Grain Initiative was signed separately by Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul with Turkey and the United Nations on July 22, 2022. Initially in effect for 120 days, the deal was extended in mid-November 2022 for another 120 days until March 18, 2023. At that point, Russia only agreed to extend the deal for 60 days until May 18, 2023.The memorandum of understanding between Russia and the United Nations on the facilitation of exports of Russian food and fertiliser is a parallel agreement with the Black Sea Grain Initiative.While the exports of Ukrainian grain have made strides, Russia has constantly expressed displeasure with the lack of progress in the facilitation of exports of Russian food and fertiliser.IANS13 May 2023

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China ups ante ahead of G7 summit, sails naval flotilla around Japan

Tokyo, May 13: Ahead of the G7 Summit in Japan, Chinese warships sailed around Japan in a display of military power, reported CNN.

China ups ante ahead of G7 summit, sails naval flotilla around Japan

Chinese naval flotilla led by a powerful destroyer has been on a 12-day circumnavigation of Japan's main islands and it comes as leaders of the Group of Seven prepare to meet in Japan beginning May 19.Japan's Defense Ministry on Thursday released a map showing the Type 055 guided missile destroyer Lhasa, one of the People's Liberation Army Navy's most powerful warships, leading a four-ship flotilla that also included a smaller destroyer, a frigate and a supply ship on the clockwise circumnavigation.The Japanese map shows the voyage began on April 30 in the Tsushima Strait between South Korea and Japan, progressed through the Tsugaru Strait at the northern tip of Hokkaido on May 5 and 6 and then was in the Izu island chain south of Tokyo on Thursday, reported CNN.China's state-run Global Times linked the flotilla's journey to "Japan's recent provocative remarks" about Taiwan, the democratically ruled island over which the Chinese Communist Party claims sovereignty despite never having ruled it."While the voyage is likely a routine PLA Navy far sea exercise that does not violate any international law or target any third party, it could be seen as a strong message to Japan," the Global Times report said, citing Chinese experts.Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in an interview with Nikkei Asia on Wednesday that "the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait is critical not just for our country, but for the whole international community."Chinese naval flotillas have performed circumnavigations of Japan in the past - most notably when a Chinese-Russian flotilla of 10 ships did so in October 2021 - and analysts say more can be expected as the PLA Navy more frequently flexes its muscles outside China's nearby waters, reported CNN.ANI13 May 2023

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Srinagar Deputy Commissioner visits Narayan Mutt Tulsibagh to assess measures for restoration of temple architecture

Srinagar, May 12: The Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Srinagar, Mohammad Aijaz Asad on Friday visited Narayan Temple in Tulsi Bagh area, to assess measures for its restoration, revival, preservation and maintenance of architecture and heritage.

Srinagar Deputy Commissioner visits Narayan Mutt Tulsibagh to assess measures for restoration of temple architecture

During the visit, the Deputy Commissioner was accompanied by the Chief Planning Officer, Deputy Director, Culture Department, Executive Engineer R and B, Tehsildars South and other Officers of concerned Departments.On the occasion, the DC along with Officers took an onsite inspection of the required upgradation, renovation, and repair works and asked the concerned Officers to prepare a DPR regarding the same by May 14, 2023, so that works related to restoration, revival, preservation and maintenance of architecture and heritage of the temple are taken up at the earliest.The DC also asked them to incorporate the works related to the upgradation and augmentation of the drainage system of the temple in the ongoing drainage network project to overcome the waterlogging issue at the premises of the religious place.The DC also asked for submitting a proposal for landscaping at the premises besides face-lifting of the main entrance and pathway to the temple.The DC also asked to prepare a DPR for Khatamband Ceiling inside the Temple with visible impact while maintaining the architecture and heritage of Kashmir.He further asked them to incorporate all necessary repairs and face-lifting works in the project to give an aesthetic look to the temple.During the visit, the members of the Managing Body of the Temple apprised the DC about the renovation measures required to be taken up.ANI13 May 2023

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Govt to launch a campaign to convert scale of Uttar Pradesh to skill: CM Yogi

Lucknow, May 12: While addressing students of Lucknow University during their convocation ceremony at Lok Bhavan on Friday, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that the state government is launching a big campaign to convert the 'scale' of the state into 'skill'.

Govt to launch a campaign to convert 'scale' of Uttar Pradesh to 'skill': CM Yogi

As part of the launch of this campaign, an MoU has been signed with Tata Technology for the upgradation and modernization of more than 150 ITIs in the state as a significant step towards achieving this goal, CM Yogi said.Speaking on occasion, the CM said, "The infrastructure development, setting up of laboratories, and introduction of new courses with futuristic programs will provide the necessary resources and opportunities for the youth to develop their skills. 35,000 youth will take training every year in this initiative is a testament to the government's commitment to skilling the youth of the state."CM Yogi further said, "This will not only contribute to the development of the country but will also create a skilled workforce that can teach new youth and continue the cycle of skill development.""Uttar Pradesh is taking steps to combine the talent of its youth with technology and training to drive development in the state", CM said.The Chief Minister went on to say that the programs for artificial intelligence, the internet of things, big data, and coding and programming futuristic skills are essential in preparing the youth for the jobs of the future. By connecting the youth with these programs, the state can create a skilled workforce that can attract more investments and businesses, leading to more job and employment possibilities for the youth, he stated."The state has received investment proposals worth Rs 35 crore through the Global Investors Summit in the state and is working on getting them on the ground. This is a significant opportunity to create jobs and employment for the youth of the state", said CM Yogi.He further stated that the Samsung Innovation Campus program can play a huge role in preparing the youth for the jobs of the future and contributing to the state's development. "It is encouraging to see that our government recognized the importance of this program and distributed certificates to the students who have completed the program", he said.He said that the youth who completed their training at the Samsung Innovation Campus were given full-time project work, instilling confidence in them. This confidence is essential for the youth to believe in a bright future for themselves and the state, he added.Assuring the youth, he also said that the double-engine government is fully committed to providing employment and jobs to them along with development.The Chief Minister stated that the government is making significant efforts to make the youth of the state technically competent."The distribution of tablets and smartphones to two crore youth, especially students studying in universities and colleges. This is the biggest campaign regarding technology in the whole country, and so far 20 lakh youths have already been associated with this program. For this, a separate provision has been made in the budget", he added.The CM attended the convocation ceremony of Lucknow University under the Samsung Innovation Campus in the auditorium of Lok Bhavan on Friday. He also distributed certificates to 383 students on this occasion.ANI13 May 2023

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Study finds how some motor neuron disease, dementia patients share rare genetic defects

Washington, May 13: According to a new study, some persons with motor neuron disease (MND) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) share the same rare genetic diseases that cause other neurodegenerative illnesses.

Study finds how some motor neuron disease, dementia patients share rare genetic defects

Researchers from Macquarie University's MND Research Centre and The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research discovered abnormalities in the genomes of some people with sporadic MND and FTD.The neurons, or motor nerves, that connect the brain and spinal cord to the muscles die as a result of MND. These are the cells that control our movement, breathing, and swallowing. The disease worsens and eventually kills.FTD also causes neuronal death in a portion of the brain, resulting in a variety of progressive symptoms such as memory loss, strange conduct, personality changes, and communication difficulties. It is the same type of dementia that recently struck star Bruce Willis, and, unlike older-onset dementia, it primarily affects those under the age of 65.The majority of cases in both diseases - about 90 per cent in the case of MND and 60-70 per cent in FTD - are sporadic, with the rest occurring in families.These gene defects, known as short tandem repeat expansions, are the cause of more than 20 neurodegenerative diseases including spinocerebellar ataxias and myotonic dystrophy. This Australian study has been the most comprehensive assessment of these gene defects in MND and FTD patients worldwide.Macquarie University Postdoctoral Research Fellow Dr Lyndal Henden says the findings were a surprise."We found almost 18 per cent of sporadic MND and FTD patients carried a DNA repeat expansion thought to be involved in other degenerative diseases," she said."Finding this genetic connection between MND and FTD offers a fresh opportunity to uncover common risk factors for neuron death, and it will have implications for understanding both diseases."Macquarie University Associate Professor Kelly Williams directed the study, and says the team suspected there could be some overlap with other diseases, but not to such an extent."This suggests shared risk factors among these diseases, shared mechanisms that cause nerves to die - and perhaps shared therapeutic strategies in the future," she said."While the causes of sporadic MND and FTD remain unknown, this is an important step in a long-term effort to identify the risk factors for developing one of these diseases."ANI13 May 2023

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Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad has launched phase II of the EU-funded SwitchMed Project to accelerate the implementation of Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) and promote the circular economy and blue Economy in the country.

The launch ceremony, which was held at the Semiramis InterContinental Hotel in Cairo, was attended by representaives of the implementing partners.

These included Sylvie Fontaine, the Environment and Climate Change Project Officer at the European Commission; Elisa Tonda, the Chief Resources and Markets Branch and Luc Reuter Programme Officer at the UNEP; and Hossam Allam, the Regional Programme Director for Sustainable Growth at the Centre for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE).

Also attending were Tarek El-Araby, CEO of the Waste Management Regulatory Authority and Hossam Abdel Karim, the Chairman of the Blue Economy National Committee and the Suez Canal Authority.

The UNCTAD defines a circular economy as an economy which entails markets that give incentives to reusing products, rather than scrapping them and then extracting new resources. In such an economy, all forms of waste, such as clothes, scrap metal and obsolete electronics, are returned to the economy or used more efficiently.

Meanwhile, the European Commission defines a blue economy as "all economic activities related to oceans, seas and coasts. It covers a wide range of interlinked established and emerging sectors."

The SwitchMed Egypt Project is executed by the Centre for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE) and the Ministry of Environment in collaboration with UNEP.

The second phase will comprise: supporting the Waste Management Law No. 202 of 2020 and its regulations; supporting the Single Use Plastic Bags (SUPB) strategy and action plan; supporting two National Roundtables on Sustainable Consumption and Production; and supporting developing a National Blue Economy action plan.

In her opening speech, Fouad stressed Egypt's commitment to implement circular economy applications, the main solution to waste issues that have preoccupied governments.

"Egypt is creating a supportive climate through procedures, regulations and laws to limit plastic bag use," said Fouad.

The minister stressed that phase two, based on circular and blue economies, constitutes one of sustainable development's most critical goals.

She noted that the waste management law restricts single-use plastic bags for the first time, promoting reusable alternatives.

Fontaine expressed optimism that participants include stakeholders, stating "it's an excellent start! Different views will create win-win concepts."

Tonda underlined the opportunities in addressing plastic pollution: "We see new economic opportunities... creating a new economy, not destroying an old one."

Allam stated: SwitchMed Egypt is a success story."

The upcoming phase continues past cooperation among project partners, behind developing Egypt's Sustainable Consumption and Production National Action Plan and demonstration projects reducing single-use plastic bags, he added.

"We dreamed of a law managing Egypt's waste predicament," said Allam.

"SwitchMed I paved the way for realizing that dream, and we're enthusiastic to resume progress towards law application and implementation."

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The best gifts for mom this Mothers Day

New Delhi, May 13: Mother's Day is an opportunity to acknowledge what they do for us every day and giver her affection. It can be difficult to find the ideal present for someone who seems to have everything. These presents and experiences, make the most important woman in your life feel all the more special on Mother's Day.

The best gifts for mom this Mother's Day

Expressing gratitude with a flavourful feastTreat your mother to a luxurious bonding brunch at the Delhi Pavillion, Sheraton, New Delhi. The dishes are prepared with the finest ingredients, bursts of flavours and aromas with every bite.The joy on her face as she indulges in a delectable feast crafted for her is sure to be priceless.Help your mother capture beautiful memories with easeMothers love their families and the precious moments they spend with their loved ones. The Nikon Zfc is a perfect gift for your mother to seal the memories she can cherish forever. With its retro design, the camera exudes an old-world charm that will make her fall in love with it instantly. Based on the Z-mount system, it comes with a 20.9-megapixel sensor, which produces high-quality images with stunning details. The camera also features a variable-angle LCD touchscreen display, which makes it easy to frame shots from different angles.The Gift of HealthShow your mother how much you care about her well-being by giving her the best gift - the gift of good health. Ranging from immunity-boosting vitamins and minerals to mood-enhancing supplements and probiotics for gut health, bring to her Vestige Prime Concentrated Mineral Drops (CMD), that would support her overall health and vitality. Anatural sea mineral supplement extracted from The Great Salt Lake of Utah, CMD contains the full spectrum of the mineralsrequired by the human body.A gazebo dining experience by the Ghats of YamunaCreate an extraordinary dining experience for your mother by the Ghats of Yamuna inher own private gazebo. Come together to celebrate memorable moments of togetherness with a four-course Table D'Hote menu and curated indulgences making for a truly memorable Mother's Day celebration.(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)IANS13 May 2023

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BJP sweeps municipal polls in Uttar Pradesh, wins all 17 mayoral seats

Lucknow, May 13: In a major shot in the arm for Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's government, the Bharatiya Janata Party swept the Uttar Pradesh urban local body polls winning the Mayoral seats of all the 17 municipal corporations besides 90 posts of municipality chairman and over 600 wards.

BJP sweeps municipal polls in Uttar Pradesh, wins all 17 mayoral seats

"In 2017, BJP won 60 seats but this year we've won more than double the seats in urban local body polls," Yogi said."Our ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) won both the Suar and Chanbe by-polls and defeated the Samajwadi Party. I thank the voters for giving us the opportunity in the urban local body elections and by-elections. I want to assure the people that the UP government will continue to work for their development and security," he added.The BJP candidates also won from Meerut and Aligarh, which the party had lost during the last civic bodies elections.Besides, BJP's Archana Verma was elected as the first mayor of Shajahanpur, which went to polls for the first time this year after becoming a municipal corporation.It is noteworthy that Chief Minister Yogi had fervently appealed to the people to vote for the BJP candidates to add the third engine to the double-engine government in the state during his marathon campaigning.Out of the 17 mayoral candidates fielded by the BJP, 14 were new while the party had placed bets on the outgoing mayors in Kanpur, Bareilly and Moradabad.The party won all 17 seats as people voted for the developmental works being carried out by the Yogi Government.Four BJP candidates achieved the distinction of becoming mayors for the second time.While Pramila Pandey from Kanpur, Vinod Agarwal from Moradabad and Umesh Gautam Anwarat from Bareilly became the mayor for the second time in a row, Harikant Ahluwalia has been the mayor of Meerut earlier also.BJP's Bihari Lal was the first to win in Jhansi. He got a total of 123503 votes. Other candidates who contested the election lost even their deposits.CM Yogi Adityanath held 50 rallies to campaign for BJP candidates in the municipal elections.The Chief Minister held public meetings in 10 municipal corporation areas falling under 9 divisions.Yogi Adityanath held a total of 28 rallies in the first phase, which included participating in a rally cum conference at four places in Gorakhpur, three in Lucknow and two in Varanasi.held on May 11 for seven municipal corporations of nine divisions.CM Yogi held 22 rallies and public meetings twice in Ayodhya.ANI13 May 2023

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Dave Hinton is editor of The News-Gazette's Our County section and former editor of the Rantoul Press. He can be reached at dhinton@news-gazette.com.
Bicycles left behind on the University of Illinois campus in 2022 after students left are stored in one of the round barns on St. Marys Road, Urbana. They all have to be accounted for and their owners contacted if possible before the UI can get rid of them.
Egyptian public and private and universities started on Saturday accepting transfer applications online from Egyptian students who are returning from Sudan as well as Ukraine and Russia.

Private universities will be accepting transfer applications from students returning from these three countries until October, according to statement released by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

The decision applies to students who were enrolled in universities that are accredited by Egypts Supreme Council of Universities (SCU) in the academic years 2021/2022 and 2022/2023, according to the higher education ministry.

However, students in universities which are not accredited by the SCU will sit for placement exams.

Egyptian students returning from these three countries need to present proof of residence and academic transcripts to complete transfer procedures and complete graduation requirements.

Students who were enrolled in preparatory years in SCU-accredited universities in these three countries can transfer as first year students in equivalent universities in Egypt.

However, students who were enrolled in SCU-accredited universities in these three countries for less than a semester would have to apply for admissions as freshmen in equivalent universities in Egypt.

Students who were enrolled in universities that are not accredited by the SCU have to apply for admission to Egyptian universities based Thanaweya Amma grades, according to the higher education ministry.

Thanaweya Amma

In late April, the Ministry of Education postponed all Thanawaya Amma exams for Egyptians who were living in the country.

However, the education ministry said it would allow Thanaweya Amma students returning from Sudan to sit for final exams in August instead of July as per national scheduling.

Egypt has evacuated thousands of Egyptian students who were studying in Sudan since the start of fighting in that country in mid-April.

Last year, Egypt reintegrated hundreds of students who returned from Ukraine after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war in February of 2022.

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Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun this morning followed by mostly cloudy skies and a few showers this afternoon. High around 75F. Winds E at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 54F. Winds ENE at 10 to 20 mph.
Experts have called for further scrutiny of a new Pfizer vaccine given during pregnancy to prevent respiratory infection in infants, after trials of a similar GSK vaccine were stopped after a rise in preterm birth and infant deaths.

Pfizer says its vaccine is safe and effective, but experts contacted as part of an investigation published by The BMJ today, say Pfizer's trial data should be reviewed in light of the signal for preterm births seen in GSK's trial.

Pfizer's maternal RSV vaccine aims to protect infants from severe illness caused by the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). RSV is very common but can be fatal, especially in young children. In 2019, an estimated 3.6% of all deaths worldwide in children aged 1-6 months were due to RSV, with 97% of these deaths occurring in low and middle-income countries.

The vaccine has not yet been approved for use, but a decision by the US Food and Drug Administration is expected by August. The European Medicines Agency is also set to make a decision about the vaccine later this year.

In February 2022, GSK halted vaccination in its phase 3 trials of its maternal RSV vaccine after finding an increased risk of preterm birth in vaccinated mothers, mainly in low and middle-income countries.

Pfizer published the results of an interim analysis of its phase 3 trial last month, saying that the vaccine was effective against medically attended severe RSV in children and that no safety concerns were identified.

And while the difference in preterm births in the Pfizer trials was not statistically significant, the results have raised concerns about a possible increase in preterm births, and now experts are calling for further analyses of the data and post-approval monitoring of the vaccine should the FDA approve it.

"My interpretation of all these data is that there may be a safety signal for preterm births that should be followed up on," said Klaus Uberla, director of the Virological Institute of the University Hospital Erlangen and member of the RSV working group of the Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO), which develops national recommendations for the use of licensed vaccines in Germany.

And a scientist at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said the Pfizer data should be analyzed using more sensitive measures such as average birth weight and subgroup analyses to detect possible signals.

Meanwhile, Cody Meissner, professor of pediatrics and medicine at the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine and consultant in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s maternal RSV working group, predicts that possible adverse effects such as premature births will be "closely monitored" in assessment programs by FDA and CDC. "We need a safe vaccine," he added.

Pfizer did not respond when asked about a possible increase in preterm births associated with its vaccine, but told The BMJ that "no imbalance of neonatal deaths was observed" in its phase 3 trial.

In a linked editorial, researchers point to challenges for RSV vaccine development and the main approaches to protection currently being pursued.

They argue that, while the burden of illness caused by RSV is substantial worldwide, it is particularly important that new vaccines and other prevention strategies are available to infants in low and middle-income countries, where the greatest illness and deaths occur.

And they say further research is urgently needed "to identify the best prevention strategies for low and middle-income countries, where affordability is paramount and timing of administration is complicated by the lack of predictable seasonal RSV epidemics."
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday said a special 100 days campaign will be launched under which banks trace and settle their top 100 deposits in every district of the country.

The banks will commence the campaign from June 1, 2023.

Balances in savings/current accounts which are not operated for 10 years, or term deposits not claimed within 10 years from date of maturity are classified as unclaimed deposits.

(SBI Tops In Unclaimed Deposits, PNB At Second; Rs 35,012 Cr Transferred By PSBs To RBI)

These amounts are transferred by banks to Depositor Education and Awareness" (DEA) Fund maintained by the Reserve Bank of India.

The Reserve Bank of India today announced a 100 Days 100 Pays campaign for banks to trace and settle the top 100 unclaimed deposits of every bank in every district of the country within 100 days," the central bank said in a statement.

This measure, it added, will complement the ongoing efforts and initiatives by the Reserve Bank to reduce the quantum of unclaimed deposits in the banking system and return such deposits to their rightful owners/claimants.

Recently, the RBI has also announced the setting up of a centralised web portal for public to search unclaimed deposits across multiple banks.

The Reserve Bank, from time to time, through its public awareness initiatives, has been encouraging members of public to identify and approach the bank concerned for claiming such deposits.

The unclaimed deposits are transferred by banks to Depositor Education and Awareness" (DEA) Fund maintained by the central bank.

The issues related to unclaimed deposits were also discussed during the meeting of the high-powered Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) headed by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman earlier this week.

Nirmala Sitharaman had underlined the need of launching a drive to help people get their unclaimed deposits in banks and other financial institutions.

About Rs 35,000 crore unclaimed deposits as of February 2023 were transferred to the Reserve Bank by public sector banks in respect of deposits, which have not been operated for 10 years or more.

These unclaimed deposits belong to 10.24 crore accounts transferred to the RBI as of the end of February 2023.

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State Bank of India (SBI) tops the chart of unclaimed deposits worth Rs 8,086 crore followed by Punjab National Bank Rs 5,340 crore, Canara Bank Rs 4,558 crore and Bank of Baroda Rs 3,904 crore.

(With PTI inputs)
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) declared the class 12th result yesterday, May 12. The son of a farmer, Deep Singh Bhadauria from Bhind, Madhya Pradesh has made his parents proud by becoming the district topper. A student of City Central School, Deep secured the first position in the district with 97.4 per cent marks. Now his dream is to crack the UPSC civil services exam and become an IAS officer to serve the country.

Brijraj Singh, the father of Deep, says that the financial condition of their house has not been too good. But he was teaching his son by working very hard. Looking at the financial condition of the house, Deep also worked really hard and finally brought laurels to his father by becoming the district topper.

Also read| CBSE Class 12 Result 2023: Re-evaluation, Verification From May 16, Supplementary Exams in July

Deep said that he used to study at home for 5 to 6 hours every day. Along with that, he had more than 95 per cent attendance in the school. It is the result of hard work that today he could achieve this position in the examination.

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Principal of Central School, PK Sharma told that Deep Singh Bhadauria has made the school very proud by becoming the district topper. The school management wished the child a bright future.

In 2023, the overall pass percentage of CBSE class 12th students stood at 87.33 per cent while in 2022, it was pegged at 97.71 per cent. This year, there is a drop in the overall results by 5.38 per cent. In class 12th, girls have again outperformed boys as the overall pass percentage of girls stood at 90.68 per cent while the boys scored 84.67 per cent. Trivandrum became the best-performing district in the country with 99.91 per cent followed by Bengaluru, Chennai, West Delhi, Chandigarh, and Delhi East. A total of 16,96,770 appeared for the Class 12 examination this year.
CISCE ICSE Result 2023 LIVE Updates: The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) is expected to release the class 10 and 12 board results 2023 soon. As per reports, it is expected to be out today. Once declared, students can check their ISC class 12 and ICSE class 10 results 2023 online on the official website by entering their course code, index number, and candidate UID along with the captcha code. The results will be made available at cisce.org, and results.cisce.org.

Apart from the official websites, students can also get their ISC and ICSE 2023 results via SMS and Digilocker. To pass Read More
The Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education (MPBSE) class 10th and 12th results 2023 will likely be released between May 20 and 25, as per reports. However, an official confirmation is awaited. After the release of the result, students will be able to check their MP Board 10th, and 12th results 2023 by visiting the official websites at mpbse.nic.in, and mpresults.nic.in. To check the result, students must keep their admit cards handy. Candidates need to enter their roll number and date of birth to check their online mark sheet.

This year, about 19 lakh students appeared for the MP board exams, as per reports. The result is expected to be declared by the state school education minister Inder Singh Parmar in a press conference to be organised by the board officials. MPBSE conducted the class 10 exams 2023 from March 1 to March 27, while the class 12 exams were held from March 2 to April 5.

To pass the exam, students have to score a minimum of 33 per cent marks in every subject. As per MPBSEs marking provision, the candidates are evaluated out of 100 marks in each subject. While 80 marks are awarded on the basis of theory paper, the rest 20 are given on the basis of performance in project work or practical conducted during the academic year.

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In the year 2022, the pass percentage of the MP board class 12th result was 72.72 per cent. The result for boys was 69.94 per cent and the result for girls was 75.64 per cent. The pass percentage of class 10th was recorded at 59.54 per cent. About 9 lakh students took the 12th exams this year and nearly 10 lakh appeared for class 10 board exams.

A few days ago, the MP Board invited proposals from online portals till May 11 to release the results on the official website. Interested Portals may submit their proposals latest by 11/05/2023 through post addressing Secretary, Board of Secondary Education, Shivaji Nagar, Bhopal. Please note that for publication of results Lump sum amount of Rs. 90,000 (Ninety Thousand only) shall be payable to the Board by D.D./NEFT and shall also sign an agreement with the Board, read the official notice.
The Combined State/Upper Subordinate Services Examination (PCS) preliminary exam 2023 will be held by the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) on May 14. The admit card has been released on the commissions official website. The recruitment drive will fill 173 posts in the UPPSC.

The Saharanpur administration has made all required arrangements for the UPPSC PCS 2023 exam. The administration is dedicated to completing the PCS exam under the watchful eye of CATV cameras.

According to Nodal Officer and ADM (E) Archana Dwivedi, the PCS preliminary examination (2023) will be administered in a relaxed setting, as promised by the administration. Voice recorders and CCTV cameras will be used to record this exam. Dwivedi notified that the exam will take place in two shifts. Papers will be held in the first shift from 9.30 am to 11.30 am and in the second shift between 2.30 pm and 4.30 pm.

A total of 29 locations in the region have been chosen to host the PCS test in Saharanpur. Approximately 13,595 applicants from various districts will take the test at these centres. The Additional District Magistrate has stated that each exam venue will be thoroughly monitored by the police and administration. To ensure a fair and organised PCS exam, preparations have been made. It is not permitted to open any photos or cybercafes close to the examination centres.

Candidates must show up at the examination centre an hour before the start of the PCS paper, according to ADM Archana Dwivedi. During the examination, the coronavirus guidelines will be observed. A water bottle can also be brought to the examination hall in addition to the admit card. It is forbidden to bring any electronic items, including cell phones, to the examination hall.

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Archana Dwivedi revealed the districts examination centers, where the PCS preliminary examination will take place.

Some of the schools include Asha Modern School Chandra Nagar, Saraswati Vihar Senior Secondary School Delhi Road, St. Marys School Chilkana Road, Dayawati Modern Inter College, JV Jain Inter College Kalsia, BD Bajoria Inter College, Guru Nanak Boys Inter College Gandhi Park, SAM Inter College Ghantaghar, JBS Girls Inter College Raiwala, Government Inter College Nehru Market, Mission Compound K BHS Inter College Mission Compound, and Dayawati Modern Inter College Malhipur Road.
For the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the battle for supremacy in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll had not only become a prestige issue but almost survivalist and the victory of its candidate has restored its presence in the Lok Sabha.

Party pick Sushil Kumar Rinku scored an impressive win and wrested the seat from the Congress with a margin of 58,947. The partys lone seat in Lok Sabha (Sangrur) during the present term of Parliament was lost in a bypoll last year. The seat was represented by Bhagwant Mann, who had stepped down after becoming Punjabs chief minister. After the shock defeat in Sangrur, which came just a few months after its spectacular win in the assembly polls, the party had been pushed to a must-win situation.

The party had gone all out for a win. Both Mann and party convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal had carried out several rounds of roadshows. Not only this, every minister was given responsibility to manage voters in 10 villages each. Turning the Jalandhar bypoll into a prestige battle, almost all party MLAs and ministers remained stationed in Jalandhar. One minister each was made in charge of one of the nine assembly segments.

At the grassroots level, municipal councillors and sarpanchs were roped in to mobilise voters on the day of the poll. The voter turnout also suggested that while the AAP managed to bring out its voters, other parties failed to enthuse them. It was almost like it was working like the BJP bringing in panna pramukhs to get voters out, commented a leader.

What also worked in the partys favour was the 300 units of free power to domestic consumers and filling up of long-standing vacancies in the government sector. The party managed to set aside an opposition onslaught over the Latifpura incident in Jalandhar, video leak and complaint of sexual misconduct by a minister and by a local party leader in Moga. The party also managed to negate the adverse publicity triggered by the blasts in Amritsar on poll eve.

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Analysts believe that the party top leadership reaching out to significant deras in a reserved constituency also worked to its advantage. The deras command a huge sway over the electorate in the region. Ours was a focused campaign and we knew our performance in the last few years should speak for itself. There is a groundswell of support for us and thats what is reflected in this huge win, said minister and poll in charge for the constituency, Harpal Cheema.

The AAP also managed to shrug off the image of a Delhi-controlled party during the campaign. While the strategy for the polls was worked out by Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak, he chose to remain in the background making it look like a local leadership campaign. The local leaders were at the forefront and they were the ones connecting to the voters. The charge of the opposition was completely dented, commented a leader.
With adding a third engine" to its double-engine" government, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday registered a thumping victory in the high-voltage Uttar Pradesh urban local body (ULB) elections as the BJP won the mayoral polls in all 17 municipal corporations and set a record. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath thanked people and congratulated BJP workers for the massive victory.

Taking to Twitter, Adityanath said in Hindi, Hearty congratulations to all the dedicated and hardworking workers of the BJP and the people of Uttar Pradesh, who love good governance, on the massive victory of the BJP in the Uttar Pradesh municipal elections. This massive victory reflects the successful guidance of respected Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji and immense public faith in the pro-people, developmental and all-inclusive policies of the double-engine government."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated Adityanath, BJP candidates and workers for the clean sweep in the polls and said the partys victory conveys peoples support for the states unprecedented" development.

Many congratulations to all the workers and candidates of @BJP4UP for this grand victory in the civic elections. This success expresses the support of people for the unprecedented development taking place in the state under the leadership of @myogiadityanath ji," PM Modi tweeted.

Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and other BJP leaders also congratulated Adityanath and party workers for the victory.

Highlights of ULB Poll Results

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The urban local body elections were conducted in two phases  on May 4 and May 11  to elect 17 mayors and 1,401 corporators. Nineteen corporators were elected unopposed, as per the UP Election Commission.

In Ayodhya, BJP candidate Girish Pati Tripathi won the mayoral polls by defeating Samajwadi Party (SP) Ashish by a margin of 35,638 votes. Tripathi bagged 77,494 votes.

In Prayagraj, Umesh Chandra Ganesh Kesarwani won more than 2.35 lakh votes and defeated SPs Ajay Kumar Srivastava, who got over 1.06 lakh votes.

In Ghaziabad, the BJP candidate Sunita Dayal bagged 3,50,905 votes to defeat BSPs Nisara Khan, who got only 63,249 votes.

The voting was also held to elect 198 chairpersons and 5,260 members of nagar palika parishads, 542 chairpersons of nagar panchayats and 7,104 members of nagar panchayats.

In all, 162 public representatives were elected unopposed, while there were as many as 83,378 candidates in the poll fray for 14,522 posts.

In the previous urban local bodies polls held in 2017, there were three phases and the overall voter turnout was 53 per cent. The BJP had won 14 out of 16 municipal corporations, while the remaining Meerut and Aligarh were won by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

(with inputs from PTI)
An Egyptian-mediated ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip came into effect at 10pm local time (1900 GMT) on Saturday evening, ending five days of Israeli aggression on the strip.

Minutes after the ceasefire came into effect, cautious calm set after five days of round-the-clock Israeli airstrikes which were met hundreds of rockets fired by palestinian militants into Israel.

The deal includes abiding by ceasefire, an end to the targeting of civilians and cessation of the demolition of Palestinian homes, according to the Egyptian Al-Qahera TV station which broke the news.

The Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip started on Tuesday, with airstrikes killing 34 Palestinians, including women and children, and wounding more than 147, according to Palestinian health officials.

The airstrikes also damaged 940 buildings, according to Palestinian Hamas officials who spoke to Reuters.

This agreement has been reached thanks to continuous Egyptian effort, which we appreciate, said Mohamad al-Hindi, a leader of the Islamic Jihad group in Gaza.

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) extended its thanks to Egypt for its "great role" in reaching the ceasefire, and also expressed appreciation for the efforts made by other international parties.

"We welcome the de-escalation agreement and the cessation of aggression on the Gaza Strip," said Hussein Al-Sheikh, the secretary-general of the PLO's executive committee.

On the other side, Israel's National Security Adviser Tsahi Hanegbi "thanked Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and expressed the State of Israel's appreciation for Egypt's vigorous efforts to bring about a ceasefire," according to a statement released from the Israeli prime minister's office.

Hanegbi said Israel's response to the Egyptian initiative means "quiet will be answered by quiet, and if Israel is attacked or be threatened it will continue to do everything it needs to do in order to defend itself."

In the last two years, Egypt mediated ceasefires between Israel and Palestinian factions during similar episodes of fighting in Gaza.

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With the Congress poised to win the Karnataka elections, state party chief DK Shivakumar on Saturday got emotional, thanking all leaders and recalling the time when Congress leader Sonia Gandhi came to meet him in Tihar jail when he was arrested on money-laundering charges.

ALSO READ | Karnataka Assembly Election Result 2023 LIVE HERE

At 12:35pm, the saffron party was leading on 69 seats, way less than the majority mark of 113 in the 224-seat Karnataka Assembly. The Congress was leading on 125 seats, while the JDS was leading on 25.

Conceding the Bharatiya Janata Partys defeat in Karnataka elections 2023, outgoing Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday said the party will introspect and bounce back in time for 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Shivakumar, meanwhile, got emotional. The party cadre and all the leaders have worked hard. People have reposed faith in us. The leaders have supported us. It is collective leadership. We have worked jointly. The day I took the oath I had said joining together is the beginning, keeping together is progress. working together is success."

#WATCH | Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar gets emotional on his party's comfortable victory in state Assembly elections pic.twitter.com/ANaqVMXgFr ANI (@ANI) May 13, 2023

I had assured Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge that I will deliver in Karnataka. I can never forget the day when Sonia Gandhi came to meet me in jail. I was put in jail by the BJP The confidence the Gandhi family and the Congress showed in me. I thank all leaders, including Siddaramaiah, all MLAs, party officers, general secretaries, he said as he broke down

I will go to Ramanagara to collect my certificate and then come to party office and address you all. I have lots of things to tell.

ALSO READ | K for Karnataka & Kanogulu: Meet the Reclusive Election Strategist Who Ensured Victory for Congress

Meanwhile, for the Congress, the real battle begins now as it faces the tough task of deciding its chief minister. So far, there are two top contenders  former chief minister and old warhorse Siddaramaiah and state Congress chief and trouble-shooter DK Shivakumar.

The comparison to Rajasthan cannot be missed when Sachin Pilot was the state Congress chief for almost four years and took the credit for the partys win.

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I'm invincibleI'm so confident Yeah, I'm unstoppable today  pic.twitter.com/WCfUqpNoIl  Congress (@INCIndia) May 13, 2023

However, Ashok Gehlot was the former chief minister and the party felt he had the support of majority MLAs and should be made the CM with Pilot as his deputy.
With Congress set to win the Karnataka Elections 2023, a happy Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi, congratulated the party leaders and thanked the people of the state on Saturday, and said hate politics defeated, love has won in the state.

Karnataka Election Results 2023 Live

We fought this battle with love and affection. The people of Karnataka told us, this country loves love. The market of hatred has closed in Karnataka and the shop of love has opened, said Rahul Gandhi, as latest results of the Karnataka assembly polls show the Congress inching for a clean sweep, predicted to cross the majority mark of 113 seats out of the 224 in the assembly.

Rahul Gandhi, whose Bharat Jodo Yatra had gained prominence as it entered Karnataka, assured the people that the party will fulfil the five guarantees promised by it.

The 3,570-km Bharat Jodo Yatra started on September 7, 2022 in Kanyakumari and ended in Srinagar on January 30, where the former Congress president interacted with locals and party workers.

The Congress had announced the first promise for the people of Karnataka in January to help Kannadigas fight price rise, and save up for food, healthcare and education of their children under Gruha Jyoti Yojane.

The party announced Gruha Lakshmi Yojane scheme for each housewife with Rs 2,000 per month as allowance. The scheme is expected to benefit 1.5 crore housewives allotted as head woman of the family.

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The Anna Bhagya programme will provide 10 kg free rice to families below poverty line in the state, while Congress Yuva Nidhi will provide Rs 3,000 per month allowance to unemployed youth with graduation degree for two years, and Rs 1,500 per month to those with diploma and undergraduation degree.

The party will see a tough triangular battle for the post of chief minister among Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar and Mallikarjun Kharge.
BS Yediyurappa, the man who made the lotus bloom in southern Indias Karnataka, is very upset. Saddled with the responsibility of ensuring at least 125 seats in favour of the BJP, he can only look on with despair as the party was reduced to a mere 65 on Saturday.

The loss of the BJP is an indication of Yediyurappas walk into the Karnataka sunset. A photograph of the senior BJP leader taken the night before counting day speaks volumes of his disappointment, though he tried to maintain a brave face until the end.

My target is to ensure that the BJP wins not just the assembly elections, but also sends maximum MPs to the Parliament, Yediyurappa had told News18 confidently, but he seemed to have failed in his first assignment.

Known to be a hot-blooded and bold leader who had in 2008 taken oath as chief minister in the name of the farmers of Karnataka, Yediyurappa is famous for taking a stand on issues he truly believes in. However, he is faced with dejection and complete helplessness with the results.

He had charged up the party workers to work hard for success this time. Despite his ailing health, he ensured that he travelled the length and breadth of the state. Unfortunately, the voters had another plan in mind and we accept their decision with humility, said a senior BJP leader close to Yediyurappa.

Being the only chief minister who has served Karnataka four times, he unfortunately did not complete a single term as his political career was marked by fallout with the BJP, controversies, and corruption charges. Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yediyurappa even decided to alter the spelling of his name for numerological reasons, by dropping the letter d and adding an i.

The changes to Yediyurappa, however, are not limited to his name. According to political experts and BJP leaders, he has transformed into a more composed and experienced politician over the years. He is known to be a fierce and passionate BJP leader who was determined to set his party apart from the Congress.

In 2008, when the BJP won 110 seats  three short of a majority  Yediyurappa took the bold call of engineering defections or Operation Kamala and lured two JD(S), one Congress and a few Independent MLAs to bring the party to power and form a stable government.

He did this without even consulting the party high command  a decision that only he could have made. In 2019, when the BJP fell short of the magic figure of 113 in the 224-member assembly, despite winning 105 seats, a confident, persistent, and astute Yediyurappa struck once again and engineered defections of 17 MLAs from the Congress and JD(S).

He then proudly occupied the chief ministers seat only to be asked to step down by the party high command. Though Yediyurappa told News18 that he resigned of his own free will, the damage had been done to the BJPs image for mishandling a political stalwart like him.

Bitter clashes later led to his exit from BJP and he challenged BJP with his Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) in the 2013 assembly elections, which resulted in BJP losing to Congress. Yediyurappa returned to power in 2014 and gave the much-needed momentum to the BJP, which won 17 of 28 Lok Sabha seats and improved its tally to 26 in 2019. However, he couldnt pull off another Operation Kamala in the 2018 assembly polls and resigned within three days of taking oath as chief minister as the Congress and JD(S) staked claim as a coalition.

There were times when Yediyurappas relationship was strained with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, so much so that he was made to wait nearly 22 months before he was given clearance to appoint his cabinet of ministers in 2019. He not only held four cabinet meetings where he was the only minister in attendance but also flew to Delhi several times and was denied meetings with Shah and Modi.

Though his term in 2008 was largely tainted by corruption, he continued to display his fighting spirit despite a major fallout with the party leadership which led to him floating his party. In the ensuing election, the BJP was harmed badly and BSYs party won six seats, a rare feat for a first-time political outfit.

Former Karnataka Legislative Council chairman DH Shankaramurthy had earlier told this reporter that though BSYs political career had been dotted with challenges, he knew how to come out of them successfully.

Yediyurappa loves challenges. He plans methodically and ensures the situation turns in his favour. Though he was known to be a man with a short temper initially, he has turned into anm astute politician over the years," said another BJP leader on the condition of anonymity.

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Throughout his career, Yediyurappa focused on building a pro-farmer, pro-poor image for BJP in Karnataka, with his campaigns aimed at helping farmers, bonded labourers, and small landholders. His last stint in office saw him take oath in the name of farmers while sporting a green shawl, which made him stand out from the rest of the BJP politicians. However, his career was also marked by the need to fend off adversaries within the party.

Yediyurappas zeal and hard work earned him an unquestionable position in the BJP and the hearts of the people of Karnataka. He will always be remembered for his efforts to help farmers and communities including the Muslims who felt that despite the fact he was a BJP leader with deep roots in the RSS, he had always treated them with respect.
Constituency No.135 Gubbi () is an Assembly/Vidhan Sabha seat in Southern Karnataka region ( ) and Tumkur () district of Karnataka. Gubbi is part of Tumkur (General) Lok Sabha/Parliamentary constituency. This seat is categorised as: Rural.Refer to the live updating election results tables on this page for the latest Gubbi election result and you can click here for compact election results of Gubbi and all other seats in Karnataka. Go here for detailed electoral analysis and data of 135. Gubbi Assembly constituency in Karnataka.

Demographic profile:

Gubbi Assembly constituency has an estimated Scheduled Caste population of 16.91% and an estimated Scheduled Tribe population of 8.12%, according to the report of the Delimitation Commission of 2008. The estimated literacy level of the district in which this constituency falls in is 75.14%, according the Census of India, 2011.

In the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections, there were a total of 1,80,373 eligible electors in the constituency, of which 90,917 were male and 89,437 female and 19 registered voters were of the third gender.

The electorate gender ratio in Gubbi in 2023 is 984 female voters for every 1,000 male voters.

In the 2018 Assembly polls, there were a total of 1,80,373 eligible electors, of which 92,134 were male, 90,749 female and 19 electors of the third gender.

In the 2013 Karnataka Assembly elections, there were a total of 1,67,900 eligible electors, of which 85,285 were male, 82,600 female and 15 voters of the third gender.

In the 2008 Assembly polls, there were a total of 1,54,375 eligible electors, of which 78,970 were male, 75,405 female and 0 electors of the third gender.

The number of service voters in Gubbi in 2018 was 41. In 2013, there were 44 service voters registered in the constituency and 46 in 2008.

Past winners / MLAs:

In the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections, S R Srinivas (Vasu) of JDS won in this seat defeating G N Bettaswamy of KJP by a margin of 9,081 which was 5.84% of the total votes cast for the seat. JDS had a vote share of 35.76% in 2018 in this seat.

In 2013, S R Shrinivas (Vasu) of JDS emerged victorious in this seat beating G.N. Bettaswamy of KJP by a margin of 7,244 votes which was 5.19% of the total votes polled in the constituency. JDS had a vote share of 42.09% in the seat.

In the 2008 elections, S R Srinivas [ Vasu ] of JDS won this seat beating C.V.Mahadevaiah of BJP by a margin of 14,672 votes which was 11.81% of the total votes polled in the constituency. JDS had a vote share of 42.11% in the seat.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP got the most number of votes in the 135. Gubbi Assembly segment of the 19. Tumkur Lok Sabha constituency. G. S. Basavaraj of BJP won the Tumkur Parliament seat defeating H. D. Devegowda of JDS.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP got the most votes in this Assembly segment and INC won the Tumkur Parliament seat.

In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, BJP got the most votes in this Assembly segment and BJP won the TumkurLok Sabha seat.

Number of contestants:

A total of 10 candidates contested in the 2023 elections from this seat. In 2018, there were 14 contestants in the fray for this seat and 14 in the 2013 Assembly polls and 6 in 2009.

Contesting candidates in Gubbi:

The candidates contesting in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections from Gubbi are: Veereshaprasad R (Gubbi Veeranna) (IND); Srinivas T V (IND); Shivanna (BSP); S R Srinivas (Vasu) (INC); S D Dilipkumar (BJP); Praveen Gowda Chelur (KRS); Prabhuswamy B S (AAP); Nagaraju B S (JDS); H H Giriyappa (IND); Dr Bhavana R Giridhar (IND)..

Voter turnout:

According to Election Commission of India data, in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections, the estimated voter turnout in this seat was 88.92%. In 2018 this seat registered a turnout of 84.99%, while it was 83.22% in 2013 and 80.46% in 2008. The estimated turnout in 2023 is 3.93000000000001% compared to the 2018 turnout.

Poll dates:

Gubbi went to the polls on May 10, 2023 in the Karnataka Assembly elections 2023. The counting of votes is on Saturday, May 13, 2023.

Extent of Gubbi constituency:

Assembly constituency No.135. Gubbi comprises of the following areas of Tumkur district of Karnataka:

A total of 5 Assembly constituencies in the state of Karnataka border Gubbi constituency, which are: Chiknayakanhalli, Sira, Tumkur Rural, Turuvekere, Tiptur. This constituency shares an inter-state border with .

Map location of Gubbi:

The geographic coordinates of Gubbi is: 132335.2"N 765123.0"E.

Education, criminal cases, assets and liabilities of candidates contesting from Gubbi

List of candidates contesting from Gubbi Assembly seat in the 2023 Karnataka state Assembly elections and their election affidavit data, as collated and analysed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR):

Candidate name: Veereshaprasad R (Gubbi Veeranna)

Party: IND

Profession: Business

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: 10th Pass

Age: 45

Total assets: Rs 1.4 crore

Liabilities: Rs 2 lakh

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 16.1 lakh

Immovable assets:Rs 1.3 crore

Self income: Rs 0

Total income: Rs 0

Candidate name: Srinivas T V

Party: IND

Profession: Labour

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: 5th Pass

Age: 36

Total assets: Rs 15000

Liabilities: Rs 0

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 15000

Immovable assets:Rs 0

Self income: Rs 0

Total income: Rs 0

Candidate name: Shivanna

Party: BSP

Profession: Agriculture and Fair Price Shop,

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: 12th Pass

Age: 54

Total assets: Rs 0

Liabilities: Rs 0

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 0

Immovable assets:Rs 0

Self income: Rs 0

Total income: Rs 0

Candidate name: S R Srinivas (Vasu)

Party: INC

Profession: Business, Agriculture

Number of criminal cases: 1

Education: Graduate

Age: 60

Total assets: Rs 17.3 crore

Liabilities: Rs 6.3 crore

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 5.4 crore

Immovable assets:Rs 11.9 crore

Self income: Rs 39.5 lakh

Total income: Rs 64.9 lakh

Candidate name: S D Dilipkumar

Party: BJP

Profession: Bairava Stone Craser Patnership

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: Graduate Professional

Age: 65

Total assets: Rs 40.8 crore

Liabilities: Rs 12.1 crore

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 12.9 crore

Immovable assets:Rs 27.8 crore

Self income: Rs 7.4 lakh

Total income: Rs 19.6 lakh

Candidate name: Praveen Gowda Chelur

Party: KRS

Profession: Lawyer and Social Service

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: Graduate Professional

Age: 34

Total assets: Rs 13.7 lakh

Liabilities: Rs 0

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 13.7 lakh

Immovable assets:Rs 0

Self income: Rs 0

Total income: Rs 7.9 lakh

Candidate name: Prabhuswamy B S

Party: AAP

Profession: Self Employee

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: Graduate

Age: 49

Total assets: Rs 5.5 crore

Liabilities: Rs 90 lakh

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 29.9 lakh

Immovable assets:Rs 5.3 crore

Self income: Rs 6.3 lakh

Total income: Rs 6.3 lakh

Candidate name: Nagaraju B S

Party: JDS

Profession: Industrialist

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: 10th Pass

Age: 47

Total assets: Rs 63 crore

Liabilities: Rs 27.5 crore

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 25.2 crore

Immovable assets:Rs 37.8 crore

Self income: Rs 2.4 crore

Total income: Rs 3.5 crore

Candidate name: H H Giriyappa

Party: IND

Profession: Lawyer

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: Graduate Professional

Age: 53

Total assets: Rs 37.1 lakh

Liabilities: Rs 5 lakh

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 2.1 lakh

Immovable assets:Rs 35 lakh

Self income: Rs 0

Total income: Rs 0

Candidate name: Dr Bhavana R Giridhar

Party: IND

Profession: Doctor

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: Post Graduate

Age: 52

Total assets: Rs 11.3 crore

Liabilities: Rs 3.3 crore

Gender: Female

Moveable assets: Rs 1.3 crore

Immovable assets:Rs 10 crore

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Self income: Rs 20.6 lakh

Total income: Rs 51.7 lakh.
#ResultsWithNews18: 'High command can't impose a CM candidate. If the majority of the MLAs want a #Dalit CM then the High command won't go against it' Former Chief Minister of #Karnataka Veerappa Moily in an #exclusive conversation with @harishupadhya pic.twitter.com/yhmV4HHUPo  News18 (@CNNnews18) May 13, 2023

If the majority of the Karnataka Congress MLAs want a Dalit chief minister, then the high command wont go against this, veteran leader from the party and former CM of the state M Veerappa Moily told CNN-News18 in an exclusive conversation on Saturday.

With the assembly election results firmly in favour of the Congress, his statement adds to the curiosity around the only remaining contest of interest: who will be the partys chief ministerial choice? While there is a strong buzz in favour of former CM Siddaramaiah, Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumars name is also still doing the rounds.

The party high command cannot impose a chief ministerial candidate, Moily told CNN-News18. He also lauded Shivakumar who worked without sleep for the last three years.

Making a Dalit leader the Karnataka CM has been a much-deliberated issue within the Congress. Senior leaders such as G Parameshwara, who himself comes from the community, have rued that Dalits have not been given an opportunity to become the chief minister.

Parameshwara, set to be a six-time MLA following his victory from Koratagere on Saturday, earlier said that the party high command will decide on the next CM after winning the election, adding that given an opportunity, he is ready.

We dont appoint chief minister on the basis of ones caste; whoever is capable in the given situation, whoever has the capability to fulfill the partys mission and its principles, based on that, the CM will be chosen, not on the basis of whether someone is a Dalit or from other castes, the former deputy chief minister said, responding to a question on the possibility of a Dalit CM if the Congress comes to power.

Asked about his chief ministerial aspiration, he said: Why am I doing politics? To come to powereveryone has aspirations, about 10 people have aspirations in our party, Im also one among them."

Apart from apparent frontrunners Siddaramaiah, who is from the Kuruba caste, and Shivakumar, who is a Vokkaliga leader, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharges name has also come up in discussions within the party amid speculation that a Dalit CM could be picked in Karnataka ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

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Dalits form around 17% of Karnatakas population.

Moily was recently also in the news over his statement on the Congresss Bajrang Dal ban promise. He said theres no question of outlawing the outfit if it plays by the rule book and behaves itself, even as his partys manifesto proposing a ban came under fire from the BJP during campaigning for the Karnataka polls.
Two months ago, dozens of Congress ticket aspirants were waiting in the lobby of Bengalurus famed, 150-year-old Taj West End hotel to plead for their Assembly tickets. AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala was staying there.

A spectacled, bearded man in his early 40s, with unkempt hair and rolled up sleeves, parked his old car and casually walked through the lobby of the hotel to meet Surjewala without attracting attention of those waiting. This was Sunil Kanugolu, Congresss chief election strategist, who was going to decide their fate.

ALSO READ | Karnataka Assembly Election Result 2023 LIVE HERE

It is his style. No airs, no media, no photos, no big talk, no hangers-on, almost a recluse, Kanugolu has emerged as one of the most influential figures in the Congress, directly advising AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi on matters of elections.

On Saturday, after the Congress win in the most important state of Karnataka, Kanugolu, not a man of exuberance, kept his emotions in check and received the congratulatory messages with a polite thank you, nodding his head. There was not even a trace of ego.

It was his best performance because he made a switch from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to the Congress last year, shocking the saffron party leadership in New Delhi. He even joined the Congress as its strategy department head, starting his work with his home state of Karnataka. He had to win this election to silence his detractors and occupy a much larger role in the days to come.

BHARAT JODO TO DKS-SIDDARAMAIAH UNITY

When Kanugolu joined the Congress, the election preparations were underway, but it was directionless, with different factions fighting for a bigger say. With full backing of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, he took ownership of the elections and assembled a team of poll experts to dislodge the BJP government in Karnataka.

An alarmed chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, who personally owes a lot to Kanugolu, tried his best to get him back into the BJPs fold. But he declined the request and made it clear that he believes in the Congresss ideology.

He is also credited with strategising Rahul Gandhis Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.

ALSO READ | Opposites Attract Power? Siddaramaiah, DKS & Their Love-Hate Relationship in Ktaka Congress

He even brought the two factions led by Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar together to present a unified vision for the Karnataka Congress.

WORKED 20 HOURS A DAY, 7 DAYS A WEEK TO STOP BJP

According to him, he worked 20 hours a day, seven days a week to stop the BJP in its tracks. Being a recluse helped him immensely, as he could avoid the temptation of being heard or seen in public.

It has always helped me. My style is simple. We have to win. I need no publicity or laurels. Those who matter know who I am. I am not worried about the others, he said.

A man of principles and integrity, he can withstand any situation and is known to be fair in his judgement.

With this spectacular win, Kanugolu has climbed up the ranks in the party and will play a bigger role in the Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan Assembly elections due in winter this year.

If he wins some of them, he will ride into the Parliamentary elections with a powerful strategy to counter the Modi-centric BJP.

NATIVE OF BELLARY

Kanugolu is a native of Bellary in Karnataka. He hails from a well-known family there. Born and brought up in Chennai, he did his higher studies from the USA and was with a global management consulting firm McKinsey.

After returning to India, he got involved in political strategies in Gujarat and led the Association of Billion Minds (ABM). He was also one of the key strategists for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Kanugolu handled the highly successful BJP campaign in the UP Assembly polls in early 2017.

He was associated with MK Stalin and oversaw its Namakku Naame (We are for Ourselves) campaign during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The DMK-led alliance won 38 of the total 39 Parliament seats in that election.

After his one-time colleague Prashant Kishor of IPAC joined the DMK camp to strategise the campaign, he left the Stalin camp and moved to Bengaluru.

Speaking to News18, Kanugolu expressed his desire to take a break from the routine election strategies for some time. But, then TN CM EPS persuaded him to advise him on government policies and elections. With his work, EPS could win 75 seats in the 2021 TN Assembly elections.

I'm invincibleI'm so confident Yeah, I'm unstoppable today  pic.twitter.com/WCfUqpNoIl  Congress (@INCIndia) May 13, 2023

CLIMBING UP THE LADDER

Kanugolu, an introvert, listens more and talks less. A sharp planner and executor, he is ruthless when it comes to work.

Last year, a leading English newspaper had carried a picture of his brother, thinking it was Kanugolu !

A man of culture, he believes in long-lasting relationships and walks the extra mile to help his friends in need. A foodie, whom his close friends jokingly call a militant meat-eater, Kanugolu loves carefree evenings with them. He also stays away from political skullduggery and lobbying for anyone. A man of few words with lot of experience, knowledge and achievements, Kanugolu has come a long way in just 10 years.

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ALSO READ | 3D Effects for Karnataka Polls: Congress Chief Kharge Adds New Dimension to DKS-Siddaramaiah Story

In the run-up to the polls, the most common K factors being mentioned were Kittur and Kalyana Karnataka. However, the lesser-known Kanugolu is who helped the Congress recapture the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru.
A highly localised campaign keeping state leaders DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah in the front has propelled the Congress towards a clear majority in Karnataka elections, but party leader Rahul Gandhis Bharat Jodo yatra seems to have played a key role in at least 36 seats.

Led by Rahul Gandhi, the 145-day yatra, that covered around 4,000 km from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, had entered poll-bound Karnataka on September 30, 2022. Till October 23, Rahul Gandhi and other party leaders who joined the yatra covered seven districts of the state  Chamarajanagar, Mysore, Mandya, Tumkur, Chitradurga, Bellary and Raichur.

These seven districts account for 51 of the 224 constituencies in the Karnataka Assembly, of which the Congress has won or is leading in 36.

Here is a break-up of the constituencies covered by Rahul Gandhis Bharat Jodo yatra and the Congress tally in these areas in Karnataka election results:

In Chamarajanagar district, there are a total of four constituencies of which the Congress has won or is leading in 3

Mysore accounts for 11 seats and the Congress has won or is leading in eight of these

In Mandya, Congress is leading in or has won five of the seven seats

Tumkur has a total of 11 seats and the Congress has won or is leading in six

Total seats in Chitradurga are six, while the Congress is leading in or has won five

In Bellary, the Congress is set for a sweep of all five seats

In Raichur, there are a total of seven seats and the Congress has won or is leading in four of these

News18 had covered the Karnataka leg of Rahul Gandhis Bharat Jodo Yatra last year in a six-part special series.

In the 2023 elections, the Congress had announced five key pre-poll guarantees and said it would give them a stamp of approval in the maiden Cabinet meeting if voted to power.

These include 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 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), Rs 3,000 every month for unemployed graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for unemployed diploma holders (both in the age group of 18-25) for two years (Yuva Nidhi), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti).

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who hails from Karnataka, termed it the victory of Janata Janardhana", as people have voted furiously" against BJPs bad administration" in the state.

He said all the newly elected Congress legislators have been asked reach Bengaluru by Saturday evening and the due process of government formation will be followed.

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Senior Congress leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah said the visits of PM Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda have had no impact on the voters of Karnataka. He added that the victory is a stepping stone for the Lok Sabha elections next year, and urged the opposition to put up a united fight with Rahul Gandhi as the PM candidate.

His colleague DK Shivakumar, who like Siddaramaiah is said to be nursing chief ministerial ambitions, broke down while reacting to the Assembly elections results and gave credit to the Gandhi family for reposing their faith in his leadership in the state.
As Congress scores big in the Karnataka election, senior leader Siddaramaiah expressed confidence that the party would surpass the 130 mark. He attributed the victory to the people of Karnataka, who sought a change due to their dissatisfaction with the BJP government in the state.

When asked about who would be the CM face, Siddaramaiah said the decision rests on elected MLAs and the party high command.

Despite the BJPs heavy spending on Operation Kamala, Rahul Gandhis padyatra also played a crucial role in motivating our party workers," Siddaramaiah added.

The Congress leader further stated that the support of Lingayats, Vokkaligas, and Brahmins, who view the Congress as a secular party, contributed to their success.

This mandate is a message to Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, and JP Nadda. The Prime Minister visited Karnataka 20 times, which is unprecedented," Siddaramaiah commented on his partys victory in the Karnataka elections.

He also emphasized that the results of this election serve as a stepping stone" for the upcoming Lok Sabha election. I hope all non-BJP parties join forces to ensure the defeat of the BJP, and I also hope Rahul Gandhi becomes the Prime Minister of the country," Siddaramaiah added.

DK Shivakumar Gets Emotional

An emotional Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar broke down on Saturday while reacting to the Assembly elections results and gave credit to the Gandhi family for reposing their faith in his leadership in the State.

With tears rolling down his cheeks, the former Minister thanked the party cadres and leaders for the victory.

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He also said that he had told the party high command that he will ensure the partys victory in the Karnataka Assembly elections.

I give credit to party cadres and all the leaders for the partys victory. People have reposed faith in us and the leaders supported us. It is a collective leadership and we have worked jointly," Shivakumar said, his voice choking.
The ruling BRS on Saturday said the Karnataka lection results will not have any bearing on Telangana while thanking the people for rejecting ugly and divisive politics.

However, the state unit of Congress asserted that it would replicate its performance in Telangana in the coming elections.

BRS Working President and Minister K T Rama Rao wished the Congress party in Karnataka which is set to form government in the southern state.

According to the Election Commission website, the Congress has established a clear lead by winning 107 seats and was ahead in 29 others.

Just the way The Kerala Story failed to amuse people of Karnataka, similarly Karnataka election results will have NO bearing on Telangana.

Thanks to the people of Karnataka for rejecting ugly & divisive politics. Let Hyderabad and Bengaluru compete healthily for investments & creating infrastructure for the greater good of India.

My best wishes to the new Congress Govt in Karnataka, KTR tweeted.

BRS sources had earlier said the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao-led party was extending support to the JD(S) in Karnataka Assembly elections and chose not to field any candidate in the May 10 polls as its friendly party is in the fray.

Elated over Congress victory in Karnataka, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president and MP A Revanth Reddy today expressed confidence that his party would achieve similar victories in Telangana and later in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Congress leaders and workers burst into celebrations at Gandhi Bhavan here, the party headquarters in Telangana, following the success of their party in the neighbouring state.

The results of Karnataka today would be repeated in Telangana tomorrow. Later, Congress flag would fly high on the Red Fort," Revanth Reddy told reporters after visiting a Hanuman temple here.

He claimed that Karnataka poll results would trigger a tsunami of change in national politics.

The failure of JD(S) in Karnataka elections is a defeat for Telangana CM, he added.

Telangana Assembly elections are scheduled to be held later this year.

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The Congress has been fighting tooth and nail to come to back power in Telangana.

Apart for holding various mass contact programmes by individual leaders, the party recently held a public rally attended by AICC General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
The Bajrang Dal controversy was seen as a faux pas by the Congress during the Karnataka election campaign, but it does not seem to have helped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the results. Instead, the controversy seems to have consolidated the Muslim voters, even in the Old Mysore region, behind the Congress.

The Congress swept the Southern Karnataka region by leading in around 30 of the 49 seats here, while the JDS was reduced to around 14 seats in its erstwhile stronghold. The BJP could win only five seats here. This was a complete turnaround from 2018, when the JDS had won 24 seats, the Congress 16 and the BJP 9.

ALSO READ | Karnataka Assembly Election Result 2023 LIVE HERE

In the Old Mysore region, traditionally, the Vokaliggas have voted for the JDS, while the Muslim votes have been divided between the JDS and Congress. This time, however, it seems the Muslim voters in Old Mysore consolidated behind the Congress, like in other regions of the state, handing the party a gain of 14 seats.

RESERVATION & SIDDA FROM VARUNA

Multiple factors seem to have worked for the Congress. One was the promise to restore the 4% Muslim reservation if it came to power, after the BJP tried to scrap it, but the Supreme Court stayed the decision.

ALSO READ | K for Karnataka & Kanogulu: Meet the Reclusive Election Strategist Who Ensured Victory for Congress

The second reason was the CM contender of the Congress, Siddaramaiah, contesting from Varuna in Old Mysore region and pitching that the region will be sending a CM to Bengaluru. Muslims have considered Siddaramaiah as their leader in the state.

CONSOLIDATING MUSLIM VOTES

But a vital factor that drew Muslims in Old Mysore fully towards the Congress was the promise in its manifesto released on May 2 to ban the Bajrang Dal outfit.

Congress leaders say although the BJP milked the Bajrang Dal point to attack them on the grounds of appeasement and the Congress risked offending some of its Hindu voters who were voting for it on caste lines, the point worked wonders in the Southern Karnataka region among the Muslim electorate.

#WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins his address at the public rally in Tumakuru by chanting "Bharat Mata ki Jai" and "Bajrang Bali ki Jai"#KarnatakaAssemblyElection pic.twitter.com/CRvxMP1RVZ ANI (@ANI) May 5, 2023

The JDS lost its loyal Muslim vote bank to the Congress, which was able to win a big number of around 30 seats here. A comprehensive win in Old Mysore was crucial for the Congress as not only did it gain more seats here, but was able to reduce the seats won earlier by both the JDS and BJP.

The BJP made Bajrang Bali its theme in the last week of its campaign, but it did not help the party as the card did not work in the state which has clearly voted on local issues.

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ALSO READ | PM Modi Begins Ktaka Rally with Bajrang Bali Ki Jai Chant After Cong Promises to Ban Bajrang Dal

Far from a faux pas, the issue proved to be a masterstroke for the Congress in the Old Mysore region, where the Muslim voters who have never been fully behind the Congress, also supported it unitedly.
Constituency No.138 Madhugiri () is an Assembly/Vidhan Sabha seat in Southern Karnataka region ( ) and Tumkur () district of Karnataka. Madhugiri is part of Tumkur (General) Lok Sabha/Parliamentary constituency. This seat is categorised as: Rural.Refer to the live updating election results tables on this page for the latest Madhugiri election result and you can click here for compact election results of Madhugiri and all other seats in Karnataka. Go here for detailed electoral analysis and data of 138. Madhugiri Assembly constituency in Karnataka.

Demographic profile:

Madhugiri Assembly constituency has an estimated Scheduled Caste population of 22.54% and an estimated Scheduled Tribe population of 12.08%, according to the report of the Delimitation Commission of 2008. The estimated literacy level of the district in which this constituency falls in is 75.14%, according the Census of India, 2011.

In the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections, there were a total of 1,90,297 eligible electors in the constituency, of which 96,529 were male and 93,765 female and 3 registered voters were of the third gender.

The electorate gender ratio in Madhugiri in 2023 is 971 female voters for every 1,000 male voters.

In the 2018 Assembly polls, there were a total of 1,90,297 eligible electors, of which 97,835 were male, 95,516 female and 3 electors of the third gender.

In the 2013 Karnataka Assembly elections, there were a total of 1,82,550 eligible electors, of which 93,137 were male, 89,409 female and 4 voters of the third gender.

In the 2008 Assembly polls, there were a total of 1,64,750 eligible electors, of which 83,820 were male, 80,930 female and 0 electors of the third gender.

The number of service voters in Madhugiri in 2018 was 81. In 2013, there were 56 service voters registered in the constituency and 36 in 2008.

Past winners / MLAs:

In the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections, M V Veerabhadraiah of JDS won in this seat defeating Kyathasandra N.Rajanna of JDS by a margin of 18,574 which was 11.19% of the total votes cast for the seat. JDS had a vote share of 53.31% in 2018 in this seat.

In 2013, Kyatasandra N Rajanna of INC emerged victorious in this seat beating M.V.Veerabhadraiah of JDS by a margin of 14,427 votes which was 9.79% of the total votes polled in the constituency. INC had a vote share of 50.97% in the seat.

In the 2008 elections, Gowri Shankar D C of JDS won this seat beating Kyatasandra N. Rajanna of INC by a margin of 563 votes which was 0.46% of the total votes polled in the constituency. JDS had a vote share of 42.01% in the seat.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP got the most number of votes in the 138. Madhugiri Assembly segment of the 19. Tumkur Lok Sabha constituency. G. S. Basavaraj of BJP won the Tumkur Parliament seat defeating H. D. Devegowda of JDS.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, INC got the most votes in this Assembly segment and INC won the Tumkur Parliament seat.

In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, JDS got the most votes in this Assembly segment and BJP won the TumkurLok Sabha seat.

Number of contestants:

A total of 12 candidates contested in the 2023 elections from this seat. In 2018, there were 15 contestants in the fray for this seat and 22 in the 2013 Assembly polls and 17 in 2009.

Contesting candidates in Madhugiri:

The candidates contesting in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections from Madhugiri are: Venkatesha (JMBP); Syed Muzaamil Pashaa (AAP); Ranganatha R S (LS); N Madhu (BSP); Mudduraju G (UPP); M V Veerabhadraiah (JDS); Lakshminarayanappa (IND); L C Nagaraja (BJP); Kyathasandra N Rajanna (INC); Jayanth D C (KRS); G H Maruthi (IND); Dhanush Kumar B K (IND)..

Voter turnout:

According to Election Commission of India data, in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections, the estimated voter turnout in this seat was 85.76%. In 2018 this seat registered a turnout of 85.93%, while it was 80.72% in 2013 and 75.18% in 2008. The estimated turnout in 2023 is -0.170000000000002% compared to the 2018 turnout.

Poll dates:

Madhugiri went to the polls on May 10, 2023 in the Karnataka Assembly elections 2023. The counting of votes is on Saturday, May 13, 2023.

Extent of Madhugiri constituency:

Assembly constituency No.138. Madhugiri comprises of the following areas of Tumkur district of Karnataka:

A total of 3 Assembly constituencies in the state of Karnataka border Madhugiri constituency, which are: Sira, Gauribidanur, Koratagere. This constituency shares an inter-state border with Sri Sathya Sai District of Andhra Pradesh.

Map location of Madhugiri:

The geographic coordinates of Madhugiri is: 134354.1"N 771350.9"E.

Education, criminal cases, assets and liabilities of candidates contesting from Madhugiri

List of candidates contesting from Madhugiri Assembly seat in the 2023 Karnataka state Assembly elections and their election affidavit data, as collated and analysed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR):

Candidate name: Venkatesha

Party: JMBP

Profession: Business

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: 10th Pass

Age: 43

Total assets: Rs 3.5 lakh

Liabilities: Rs 4.8 lakh

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 3.5 lakh

Immovable assets:Rs 0

Self income: Rs 0

Total income: Rs 0

Candidate name: Syed Muzaamil Pashaa

Party: AAP

Profession: Business

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: Others

Age: 38

Total assets: Rs 88.7 lakh

Liabilities: Rs 8.9 lakh

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 18.7 lakh

Immovable assets:Rs 70 lakh

Self income: Rs 4.2 lakh

Total income: Rs 11 lakh

Candidate name: Ranganatha R S

Party: LS

Profession: Tax Consultant

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: Graduate

Age: 32

Total assets: Rs 24.9 lakh

Liabilities: Rs 9.9 lakh

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 13.9 lakh

Immovable assets:Rs 11 lakh

Self income: Rs 5 lakh

Total income: Rs 9.9 lakh

Candidate name: N Madhu

Party: BSP

Profession: Charted Accountant Profession

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: Others

Age: 45

Total assets: Rs 14.1 crore

Liabilities: Rs 7.9 crore

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 3.9 crore

Immovable assets:Rs 10.2 crore

Self income: Rs 5 lakh

Total income: Rs 9.5 lakh

Candidate name: Mudduraju G

Party: UPP

Profession: Driver and Agriculture

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: 10th Pass

Age: 38

Total assets: Rs 3.7 lakh

Liabilities: Rs 80000

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 3.7 lakh

Immovable assets:Rs 0

Self income: Rs 0

Total income: Rs 0

Candidate name: M V Veerabhadraiah

Party: JDS

Profession: Retired Govt. Employee

Number of criminal cases: 2

Education: Post Graduate

Age: 68

Total assets: Rs 47.2 crore

Liabilities: Rs 19.1 crore

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 12.4 crore

Immovable assets:Rs 34.8 crore

Self income: Rs 40.8 lakh

Total income: Rs 66.8 lakh

Candidate name: Lakshminarayanappa

Party: IND

Profession: Agriculture

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: Illiterate

Age: 69

Total assets: Rs 5.1 lakh

Liabilities: Rs 50000

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 12500

Immovable assets:Rs 5 lakh

Self income: Rs 0

Total income: Rs 0

Candidate name: L C Nagaraja

Party: BJP

Profession: Assistant Commissioner (Revenue) now Resigned the Job, Agriculture, Business and Rental Income

Number of criminal cases: 5

Education: Post Graduate

Age: 56

Total assets: Rs 87.2 crore

Liabilities: Rs 33.2 crore

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 10.1 crore

Immovable assets:Rs 77 crore

Self income: Rs 27.6 lakh

Total income: Rs 42.1 lakh

Candidate name: Kyathasandra N Rajanna

Party: INC

Profession: Advocate and Agriculturist

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: Graduate Professional

Age: 72

Total assets: Rs 35.1 crore

Liabilities: Rs 12.7 crore

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 14.5 crore

Immovable assets:Rs 20.6 crore

Self income: Rs 19.8 lakh

Total income: Rs 60.1 lakh

Candidate name: Jayanth D C

Party: KRS

Profession: Self Employee

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: Graduate Professional

Age: 38

Total assets: Rs 19.9 lakh

Liabilities: Rs 0

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 9.9 lakh

Immovable assets:Rs 10 lakh

Self income: Rs 0

Total income: Rs 0

Candidate name: G H Maruthi

Party: IND

Profession: Self employment

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: 12th Pass

Age: 37

Total assets: Rs 15.9 lakh

Liabilities: Rs 5 lakh

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 85000

Immovable assets:Rs 15 lakh

Self income: Rs 0

Total income: Rs 0

Candidate name: Dhanush Kumar B K

Party: IND

Profession: Driver

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: Others

Age: 27

Total assets: Rs 5 lakh

Liabilities: Rs 0

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 5 lakh

Immovable assets:Rs 0

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Self income: Rs 0

Total income: Rs 0.
BJP candidate Manjula S has won the Mahadevpura Assembly seat with a margin of over 40,000 votes defeating Congress H Nagesh.

Constituency No.174 Mahadevapura () is an Assembly/Vidhan Sabha seat in Bengaluru region () and Bengaluru Urban ( ) district of Karnataka Mahadevapura is part of Bangalore Central (General) Lok Sabha/Parliamentary constituency. This seat is categorised as Semi-Urban. Refer to the live updating election results tables on this page for the latest Mahadevapura election result and you can click here for compact election results of Mahadevapura and all other seats in Karnataka. Go here for detailed electoral analysis and data of 174. Mahadevapura Assembly constituency in Karnataka.

Demographic profile:

Mahadevapura Assembly constituency has an estimated Scheduled Caste population of 22.25% and an estimated Scheduled Tribe population of 1.11%, according to the report of the Delimitation Commission of 2008. The estimated literacy level of the district in which this constituency falls is 87.67%, according to the Census of India, 2011.

In the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections, there were a total of 4,70,918 eligible electors in the constituency, of which 2,56,286 were male and 2,14,483 female and 149 registered voters were of the third gender.

The electorate gender ratio in Mahadevapura in 2023 is 837 female voters for every 1,000 male voters.

In the 2018 Assembly polls, there were a total of 4,70,918 eligible electors, of which 2,74,221 were male, 2,30,513 female and 156 electors of the third gender.

In the 2013 Karnataka Assembly elections, there were a total of 3,68,511 eligible electors, of which 1,98,911 were male, 1,69,482 female and 118 voters of the third gender.

In the 2008 Assembly polls, there were a total of 2,75,355 eligible electors, of which 1,47,545 were male, 1,27,810 female and 0 electors of the third gender.

The number of service voters in Mahadevapura in 2018 was 40. In 2013, there were 100 service voters registered in the constituency and 56 in 2008.

Past winners / MLAs:

In the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections, Aravind Limbavali of BJP won in this seat defeating A C Srinivasa of INC by a margin of 17,784 which was 6.25% of the total votes cast for the seat. BJP had a vote share of 49.83% in 2018 in this seat.

In 2013, Arvind Limbavali of BJP emerged victorious in this seat beating A.C.Srinivas of INC by a margin of 6,149 votes which was 2.71% of the total votes polled in the constituency. BJP had a vote share of 48.62% in the seat.

In the 2008 elections, Aravind Limbavali of BJP won this seat beating B.Shivanna of INC by a margin of 13,358 votes which was 9.12% of the total votes polled in the constituency. BJP had a vote share of 52.16% in the seat.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP got the most number of votes in the 174. Mahadevapura Assembly segment of the 25. Bangalore central Lok Sabha constituency. P. C. Mohan of BJP won the Bangalore central Parliament seat defeating Rizwan Arshad of INC.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP got the most votes in this Assembly segment and BJP won the Bangalore central Parliament seat.

In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, BJP got the most votes in this Assembly segment and BJP won the Bangalore centralLok Sabha seat.

Number of contestants:

A total of 15 candidates contested in the 2023 elections from this seat. In 2018, there were 15 contestants in the fray for this seat and 10 in the 2013 Assembly polls and 14 in 2009.

Contesting candidates in Mahadevapura:

The candidates contesting in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections from Mahadevapura are: Yallappa (IND); Shivaji R Lamani (KRS); S M Krishna (IND); Ravi J (IND); R Manikumar (IND); Puttappa (IND); Prasad K C (BSP); Nataraj D N (IND); Nagaraj R (UPP); Manjula S (BJP); H Nagesh (INC); Gopalakrishna M V (JDU); C R Nataraj (AAP); Bharathraj J (IND); Anand Kumar N (IND)..

Voter turnout:

According to Election Commission of India data, in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections, the estimated voter turnout in this seat was 55.04%. In 2018 this seat registered a turnout of 56.34%, while it was 61.54% in 2013 and 53.17% in 2008. The estimated turnout in 2023 is -1.3% compared to the 2018 turnout.

Poll dates:

Mahadevapura went to the polls on May 10, 2023 in the Karnataka Assembly elections 2023. The counting of votes is on Saturday, May 13, 2023.

Extent of Mahadevapura constituency:

Assembly constituency No.174. Mahadevapura comprises of the following areas of Bengaluru Urban district of Karnataka:

A total of 7 Assembly constituencies in the state of Karnataka border Mahadevapura constituency, which are: Byatarayanapura, Devanahalli, Hosakote, Anekal, Bommanahalli, CV Raman Nagar, KR Pura. This constituency shares an inter-state border with .

Map location of Mahadevapura:

The geographic coordinates of Mahadevapura is: 125653.2"N 774238.9"E.

Education, criminal cases, assets and liabilities of candidates contesting from Mahadevapura

List of candidates contesting from Mahadevapura Assembly seat in the 2023 Karnataka state Assembly elections and their election affidavit data, as collated and analysed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR):

Candidate name: Yallappa

Party: IND

Profession: Vegetable Seller

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: 8th Pass

Age: 43

Total assets: Rs 2.7 lakh

Liabilities: Rs 50000

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 2.7 lakh

Immovable assets:Rs 0

Self income: Rs 0

Total income: Rs 0

Candidate name: Shivaji R Lamani

Party: KRS

Profession: Self employment

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: 10th Pass

Age: 35

Total assets: Rs 4.2 crore

Liabilities: Rs 64.4 lakh

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 1.8 crore

Immovable assets:Rs 2.4 crore

Self income: Rs 12.5 lakh

Total income: Rs 12.5 lakh

Candidate name: S M Krishna

Party: IND

Profession: New Paper Editor & Publisher & Printer

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: 10th Pass

Age: 58

Total assets: Rs 61.7 lakh

Liabilities: Rs 8 lakh

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 1.7 lakh

Immovable assets:Rs 60 lakh

Self income: Rs 0

Total income: Rs 0

Candidate name: Ravi J

Party: IND

Profession: Real Estate and Business

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: 8th Pass

Age: 46

Total assets: Rs 2.4 crore

Liabilities: Rs 0

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 16.9 lakh

Immovable assets:Rs 2.3 crore

Self income: Rs 0

Total income: Rs 0

Candidate name: R Manikumar

Party: IND

Profession: Business and Social Worker

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: 10th Pass

Age: 29

Total assets: Rs 95000

Liabilities: Rs 3 lakh

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 95000

Immovable assets:Rs 0

Self income: Rs 0

Total income: Rs 0

Candidate name: Puttappa

Party: IND

Profession: Cooli

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: Others

Age: 50

Total assets: Rs 8.5 lakh

Liabilities: Rs 4 lakh

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 8.5 lakh

Immovable assets:Rs 0

Self income: Rs 0

Total income: Rs 0

Candidate name: Prasad K C

Party: BSP

Profession: Lawyer work

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: Graduate Professional

Age: 49

Total assets: Rs 33.7 lakh

Liabilities: Rs 1.3 lakh

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 3.7 lakh

Immovable assets:Rs 30 lakh

Self income: Rs 0

Total income: Rs 0

Candidate name: Nataraj D N

Party: IND

Profession: Business and Social Worker

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: 10th Pass

Age: 44

Total assets: Rs 60000

Liabilities: Rs 80000

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 60000

Immovable assets:Rs 0

Self income: Rs 0

Total income: Rs 0

Candidate name: Nagaraj R

Party: UPP

Profession: Private company

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: 10th Pass

Age: 36

Total assets: Rs 5.7 lakh

Liabilities: Rs 4.3 lakh

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 5.7 lakh

Immovable assets:Rs 0

Self income: Rs 3.9 lakh

Total income: Rs 3.9 lakh

Candidate name: Manjula S

Party: BJP

Profession: Business & Social Worker

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: 12th Pass

Age: 48

Total assets: Rs 53 crore

Liabilities: Rs 18.3 crore

Gender: Female

Moveable assets: Rs 20 crore

Immovable assets:Rs 33 crore

Self income: Rs 1.1 crore

Total income: Rs 1.7 crore

Candidate name: H Nagesh

Party: INC

Profession: Politician

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: Graduate Professional

Age: 65

Total assets: Rs 31.8 crore

Liabilities: Rs 4.2 crore

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 2.7 crore

Immovable assets:Rs 29.1 crore

Self income: Rs 50 lakh

Total income: Rs 59.5 lakh

Candidate name: Gopalakrishna M V

Party: JDU

Profession: Social Service

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: Graduate

Age: 49

Total assets: Rs 1.1 crore

Liabilities: Rs 28 lakh

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 8.6 lakh

Immovable assets:Rs 1 crore

Self income: Rs 0

Total income: Rs 0

Candidate name: C R Nataraj

Party: AAP

Profession: Advocate, Self Employed

Number of criminal cases: 1

Education: Graduate Professional

Age: 47

Total assets: Rs 10 crore

Liabilities: Rs 1 crore

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 55.8 lakh

Immovable assets:Rs 9.4 crore

Self income: Rs 8.9 lakh

Total income: Rs 14.7 lakh

Candidate name: Bharathraj J

Party: IND

Profession: Advocate

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: Graduate Professional

Age: 38

Total assets: Rs 1.1 crore

Liabilities: Rs 20.5 lakh

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 67.2 lakh

Immovable assets:Rs 45 lakh

Self income: Rs 0

Total income: Rs 0

Candidate name: Anand Kumar N

Party: IND

Profession: IT Professional

Number of criminal cases: 0

Education: Graduate

Age: 36

Total assets: Rs 5.2 lakh

Liabilities: Rs 11.5 lakh

Gender: Male

Moveable assets: Rs 5.2 lakh

Immovable assets:Rs 0

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Self income: Rs 10.4 lakh

Total income: Rs 10.4 lakh.
Of all six regions, in the Mumbai/Kittur Karnataka, the Congress on Saturday received a substantial boost as it reversed the tally of the last assembly elections in 2018. Of the total 50 seats, the Congress had an edge in 33 constituencies, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading in 16 seats till 3 pm.

In the region, the Congress is soaring with around 44 % vote share, up by almost five-six per cent and 17 seats compared to the 2018 assembly elections, while the BJPs vote share nosedived to around 38-39% and its seats went down by 14.

ALSO READ | Karnataka Assembly Election Result 2023 LIVE HERE

Apart from the high-profile defection of leaders such as Jagadish Shettar and Laxman Savadi, a rainbow coalition of Dalits, tribals and Muslims formed by the Congress against the consolidation of Lingayat votes for the BJP worked. An absolute concentration of Dalit, tribal and Muslim votes helped the Congress breach the Lingayat stronghold of the BJP, political analysts told News18.

Senior Congress leaders also admitted that the tribal, Dalit and Muslim coalition worked for them and the split in Lingayat community made it stronger.

Corruption, unpopularity, anti-people decisions  all worked against the BJP. But we did not appeal for a caste-specific vote base. However, the poor and oppressed, including tribals, Dalits and Muslims, voted for us. The Lingayat community members also voted for us in the region," said Ramalinga Reddy, KPCC working president and the states ex-home minister.

Congratulations to the Congress Party for their victory in the Karnataka Assembly polls. My best wishes to them in fulfilling peoples aspirations. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 13, 2023

THE KEY FACTORS

There are multiple factors that made an absolute political flip in the Kittur region happen. Of the several crucial factors that worked in favour of the Congress, a very significant one is the rainbow coalition of tribal, Dalits and Muslims. They solidly consolidated in support of the Congress. The BJP has been winning in the region for many elections now. The region, where the Lingayat community is seen to be the most dominant and deciding factor, remained a BJP fort until now," said Sandeep Shastri, a senior political analyst and national coordinator, Lokniti Network.

The departure of a tall Lingayat leader, Jagadish Shettar and the optics also made an impact on the Lingayat voters. So the Lingayat votes also did not consolidate in favour of the BJP like it did in the past elections. And apart from all these -specific equations, the anti-incumbency and unpopularity of state government played a very important role, which should not be ignored," he added.

I'm invincibleI'm so confident Yeah, I'm unstoppable today  pic.twitter.com/WCfUqpNoIl  Congress (@INCIndia) May 13, 2023

Prof. Muzaffar H. Assadi, acting vice-chancellor of University of Mysore and a political analyst, said that the governments decision to abolish 2B reservation worked against the BJP.

Raking up issues such as hijab or halal alienated a specific chunk of Muslim voters the party had in the region. The Muslims voted for PM Modi in the past election, but with all these anti-Islam issues, the community consolidated against the BJP. The decision of abolishing 2B reservation pushed them further away. The state governments move to cancel reservations for Muslims under 2B of Other Backward Classes (OBC) category and bringing them to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota caused resentment."

ALSO READ | Houseful or Flop Show: How the Kar-Nataka Ended for 15 Key Candidates | DKS, Sidda to Bommai, Savadi & Shettar

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In fact, the Lingayat community that used to vote in bulk for the BJP was also splintered after Shettar defected.

There was a feeling of dejection among the community as they saw it like their leaders being mistreated," he added.
In stark contrast to the Karnataka lection results on Saturday, the Urban Local Body elections in Uttar Pradesh arent likely to offer any thrills, with the BJP heavily tipped to sail through as it has done in elections past in the state.

The BJP hasnt faced any electoral challenges in Uttar Pradesh since the Modi juggernaut swept through the country in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The 2017 and 2022 Assembly elections as well as the 2019 Lok Sabha elections further cemented the saffron hold on the state.

With strong organisation, the party has also dominated local body polls, including Panchayat elections.

Polling had taken place on May 10, along with Karnataka elections, for 17 mayoral seats and 1,420 corporators across various municipal corporations in Uttar Pradesh Urban Local Body elections. Votes were also cast for 199 seats of chairman of different Nagar Palika Parishads and 5,327 members in them. Around 550 Nagar Panchayat chairpersons and 7,178 members in them are also elected through these polls.

In all, around 83,372 candidates contested the Urban Local Body polls. Among them, the focus is on the mayor seats in 17 corporations across major urban centres like Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Bareilly, Meerut, Prayagraj and Gorakhpur.

The BJP has also been helped by a fractured opposition. The Samajwadi Party, BSP and Congress all contested the elections. With the BSP giving strong representation to Muslim candidates in ticket distribution, the SP may suffer a split in its vote base.

The election saw Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath leading the partys campaign with around 50 rallies in 13 cities. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav was a distant second in the campaign blitzkrieg. Among other key opposition leaders, BSP chief Mayawati did not hold a single rally, while there were no visits to the state by Congress general secretary incharge for UP Priyanka Gandhi who chose to focus on Karnataka.

The BJPs pitch has been good governance model of the Yogi Adityanath government, with action against the mafia being a big talking point.

The ULB elections were held in the wake of two major incidents in Prayagraj  the killing of Umesh Pal who was a key witness in the 2005 murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal, and the unprecedented crackdown on the clout of mafia don-turned-politician Atiq Ahmads group said to be responsible for Umesh Pals murder.

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The next big turn came when Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were shot dead in full public view while in police custody.

Amid these developments, the BJP amplified its pitch on law and order, hoping the CMs mitti mein mila denge warning for gangsters made on the floor of the Assembly resonated with the voters.
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Nagar Panchayat and 98 Chairman seats in Nagar Palika Parishad.

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath thanked people and congratulated BJP workers on Saturday on the partys massive victory in the urban local body polls and for forming a triple-engine government in the state. Hearty congratulations to all the dedicated and hardworking workers of the BJP and the people of Uttar Pradesh, who love good governance, on the massive victory of the BJP in the Uttar Pradesh municipal elections, Adityanath said in a tweet in Hindi. This massive victory reflects the successful guidance of respected Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji and immense public faith in the pro-people, developmental and all-inclusive policies of the double-engine government, he added.

In Nagar Panchayat Elections, the results of total 544 posts show that BJP is leading on 204, SP on 171, BSP on 51, Congress on 44 and others on 74 seats.

The UP civic polls were held in two phases for 14,864 posts across 760 urban local bodies (ULBs) across all 75 districts in the state. Security arrangements have been tightened around 353 centres across the state for the counting of votes, which fall alongside Karnataka assembly results. These municipal elections hold significance for all major political parties, as the results are seen as a key litmus test for them ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Among political parties, the ruling BJP has fielded the highest number of candidates, followed by the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

The voting for the first phase of UP Municipal Elections 2023 took place on May 4 in 37 districts for 388 municipal corporations and their 7204 wards, while the second phase of voting was concluded on May 11 for posts across 760 local bodies.

Todays results will decide the fates of 83,000 candidates, contesting for 14,684 posts of mayors, corporators, nagar palika chairpersons, members and nagar panchayat chairpersons and members across 760 local urban bodies, including 17 nagar nigams, 199 nagar palika parishads and 544 nagar panchayats (semi-urban local urban bodies).

As many as 85 candidates in the first phase and 77 candidates in the second phase have already been declared elected unopposed. In both phases, over 55,600 of the total contestants in the fray are independents, who account for close to 67 per cent of the total strength of candidates.

Apart from that, the state election commissions (SEC) data shows that 35,102 women contested the polls for different posts and their share in the total number of candidates comes above 42 per cent, which is far more than the minimum 33 per cent reservation provided to women under the Constitution.

The BJP has fielded 10,758 candidates (including 4,248 women), the highest among all parties. The Samajwadi Party has fielded the second-highest number of candidates  5,231 (2,223 women), followed by the BSPs 3,787 (1,611 women). The Congress and AAP have fielded 2,994 (1,395 women) and 2,447 (1,031 women) candidates, respectively.

More than 46 percent of the candidates fielded by the Congress are women and this appears to be higher than that of all other main political players. Among BJP candidates, 39.48 per cent are women, which is lower than that of the BSP (42.54%), the SP (42.49%) and AAP (42%).
It seems that the Fast and Furious movie series may not be concluding as soon as expected. According to Vin Diesel, Universal Pictures has altered its original plan for the finale. The upcoming film Fast X was marketed as the start of the conclusion to the franchise, with the original plan being to divide the ending into two films, Fast X and the eleventh instalment. However, after the studio saw the first part of Fast X, they asked if it could be turned into a trilogy, which implies that a surprise twelfth Fast and Furious film may be in the works.

At the recent world premiere of Fast X in Rome, Vin Diesel revealed that the studio asked if Fast X could be a two-parter, and after they saw the first part, they asked if it could be turned into a trilogy. Without giving away too much I can say this. Going into making this movie, the studio asked if this could be a two-parter. And after the studio saw this part one, they said, Could you make Fast X the finale, a trilogy? So, um" Diesel said and kept silent. Vin Diesel did not give away any more details, but his co-star Michelle Rodriguez added that there are three acts in any story." Universal has not made any official statement regarding more Fast and Furious films beyond the eleventh instalment.

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Vin Diesel had previously expressed his belief that the ending of the Fast & Furious saga will be a suitable and poignant farewell to the character Brian OConner, played by the late actor Paul Walker. Walker had passed away during the filming of Fast & Furious 7 in 2013, and the studio had opted not to write off his character at the time. Vin Diesel praised the studios decision as bold and admirable and stated that he couldnt envision the saga concluding without properly bidding farewell to Brian OConner. However, he refrained from giving away any spoilers about the finale.

Fast X, directed by Louis Leterrier, boasts an impressive cast, including Tyrese Gibson, Charlize Theron, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, Ludacris, and Nathalie Emmanuel. The film will also feature Brie Larson from Captain Marvel and Daniela Melchior from The Suicide Squad. Jason Momoa, who played Aquaman, will portray the new villain in the franchise, Dante Reyes, the son of the antagonist from Fast Five. Fast X is set for release on May 19, and fans are eagerly anticipating the latest instalment in the popular franchise.
Actor Siddharth Jadhav is a leading actor in the Marathi film industry. He was in London shooting for his upcoming film, Kairee. While on his work trip, the actor took the opportunity to visit Dr BR Ambedkars house in London. Ambedkar is regarded as an icon in India, and his ideas and thoughts have had a great global impact. The actor took a tour inside the house and shared pictures of the beautifully decorated interiors on Instagram, referring to the idol as, My Bhimraya" in the caption.

He took a picturein front of Babasaheb Ambedkars statue. Siddharth Jadhav also uploaded a picture of himself in front of a little home-built library. The actor shared a still of the street where this house is located.

The Maharashtra government purchased Ambedkar House in the affluent Primrose Hill neighbourhood of London and converted it into a museum. Dr. Ambedkar resided in this home from 1921 to 1922 as he pursued his post-graduate studies at the London School of Economics.

BR Ambedkar was a social reformer, philosopher and architect of the Indian Constitution. He dedicated his whole life to serving the public.

Siddharth Jadhavs fans were extremely excited to see the house. Many commented, paying their respect to the Dr Ambedkar by saying Jai Bhim.

Siddharth Jadhav will act in Shantanu Rodes Marathi film Kairee. He shared his look from the film, giving his fans complete rockstar vibes in a punk costume and highlighted hair. Siddharth will be seen in the film alongside Shashank Ketkar and Saili Sanjeev. The cast and crew wrapped up shooting recently, and the film is slated to release on September 14 this year.

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Siddharth Jadhav was seen in the Ranveer Singh starrer Cirkus in 2022. He is popularly referred to as the comic hero in the Marathi film industry. He has also played significant roles in commercially acclaimed Bollywood films like Golmaal: Fun Unlimited, Golmaal Returns, and Simmba, among others.
Television series Pandian Stores is one of the most watched daily soaps on Vijay TV. On the TRP charts, Pandian Stores has maintained its position among top television shows over the years. The daily soap has now completed 1,200 episodes, which is not an easy feat to achieve considering the intense competition in the television industry.

After reaching the milestone of 1,200 episodes, the cast and crew celebrated it with a cake-cutting ceremony on the set. Fans have been sending the team best wishes on social media for their achievement.

This show has now become a turning point in the career of its actors and directors. Shivashekhar, the director of the show, expressed his happiness for the new milestone this serial has achieved. The complete journey of this serial has given life to my career, he added.

Actor Venkat Ranganathan too expressed his delight over the milestone. He said that he is thankful for the opportunity to be associated with Pandian Stores. He also thanked the director Shivashekhar and David Charlie. Talking about the same, Hema Rajkumar, the actress of the show said that she feels proud to be part of the show.

Pandian Stores premiered in October 2018. Sheela, Shanthi Williams, STP Rosary, David Solomon Raja, Meena Sellamuthu, Sumangali, Venkat Subha, and Sri Vidhya Shankar are playing the lead roles in the television series. The serial also features Stalin Muthu, Sujitha, Venkat Ranganathan, Hema Raj, Kumaran Thangarajan, and Lavanyaa in pivotal roles.

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The story revolves around four brothers and their families. The married older brother raises the younger brothers with the help of his wife. In their hometown, the brothers own and operate a supermarket named Pandian Stores. The protagonist Dhanam is responsible for keeping the family united after the marriage of brothers.

The show has been running successfully for nearly five years and it has garnered a huge fan following over the years.
Hina Khan, who is known for her role in the popular show Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, recently visited a physiotherapist recommended by late actor Sidharth Shukla during her stint on the reality show Bigg Boss. She took to her Instagram stories and shared pictures.

In the picture, we cannot see the actress but the door of the clinic. Hina also thanked late actor Siddharth Shukla for suggesting the physiotherapist to her and wrote, Thank you my friend for introducing me to your therapist in BB. Miss u siddharthshukla (heart emoticon)." The physiotherapist also reshared the picture on their handle.

The actresss emotional post touched the hearts of her fans and followers, many of whom shared their memories of Sidharth. Sidharth Shukla, who passed away in September 2021, was a popular television actor and winner of Bigg Boss 13. He was known for his charismatic personality, infectious smile, and warm-hearted nature. Hina Khan, who was also a contestant on the show, shared a close bond with Sidharth, and the two often shared light-hearted moments on screen.

Recently, the actress was trolled for her ultra-glamorous outfit. Netizens were not impressed by her look. One user wrote, Whats the point of performing Umrah?" Another one said, You just did Umrah and its Ramadan too." Sad to see this photo shoot after Umrah! You are doing Umrah for a flex," a third user commented.

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Hina was also brutally trolled for her alleged photoshoot" at Mecca. Reacting to the same, Hina took to her Instagram handle and slammed the trollers.

On the work front, Hina Khan made her acting debut in Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai which made her a household name. After quitting the show, Hina featured in several shows including Bigg Boss and Khatron Ke Khiladi. Hina also graced the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival twice.
The Indian Army has foiled an infiltration bid along the Line of Control in Uri sector in the early morning of Saturday, Army sources have said.

A group of armed terrorists, while attempting to cross the Line of Control, were engaged in an exchange of fire with the alert troops resulting in a failed attempt to intrude into Kashmir Valley," the Army had said in a statement.

The search operation in the area was in progress to check for recoveries after the exchange of fire between terrorists and the Army.

Soon after the exchange, the Pakistan side flew a Quadcopter in the area which was fired at by the Army.

Exchange of fire between terrorists and own troops. Post the firing, the Pakistan side tried to fly a Quadcopter as well over the incident site but on being fired at from own side quickly withdrew, they said.

The Army sources say this shows the complicity between the terrorists and the Pakistan army.

The Quadcopter issue definitely brings to fore the complicity between the terrorists and the Pak Army in providing due assistance during acts of infiltration, sources said.

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With that melting of snow and passes opening up, terrorists make attempts to infiltrate. Security forces are already in alert to foil any such attempts ahead of G20 meeting in Srinagar. Extensive search operations are underway in the densely forested area," the Army stated.

Threats have already been issue by terror outfits to G20 following which security forces are on the toes to ensure all goes well.
Israeli air strikes battered Gaza and militants fired rockets again on Saturday, as deadly fighting resumed after a night of relative calm despite efforts to secure a truce.

A Palestinian source said a new ceasefire proposal was circulated late Friday by Egypt, which has been mediating between the two sides, after a previous bid fell through.

Israel's anti-aircraft defences went into action Saturday after a barrage of rocket fire from Gaza during the funeral of Islamic Jihad military commander Iyad al-Hassani, who was killed the previous day in an Israel strike, AFP reporters said.

The Islamic Jihad said its fighters were pursuing "missile strikes on Israeli cities" in revenge for Israeli "assassinations" of their commanders and strikes on inhabited regions.

Palestinians in the crowded Gaza Strip sheltered indoors as the fighting raged, with streets empty and only a few shops and pharmacies open.

The exchange of fire came after the Palestinian health ministry reported the death of two men aged 19 and 32 in an Israeli army raid on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus.

The Israeli army claims it was a "counterterrorism" operation targeting operatives who had been planning attacks on soldiers.

"Armed gunmen fired at the forces, who responded with riot dispersal means and live fire," the army claimed. "Two of the terrorists were targeted."

The Fatah movement said the two men killed in the raid were members of a closely affiliated armed wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.

"Honourable agreement"

The current bout of violence erupted on Tuesday when Israeli strikes on Gaza killed at least 13 Palestinians, including four children and four women, and left 20 others injured, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

Israel says the attacks targeted three leading Islamic Jihad members. Three other senior figures from the Palestinian militant group were killed in later strikes.

They are among at least 33 Palestinian lives lost in the fighting, the health ministry added, including children.

There has been one fatality on Israeli territory: an elderly woman who rescue services said was killed on Thursday night when a rocket struck the central city of Rehovot.

On Saturday, sirens warning of incoming fire sounded throughout the day in Israeli communities close to the border with Gaza.

Egypt, a historic mediator between Israel and Gaza's factions, has been working on bringing an end to the fighting, the worst in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since an August flare-up that killed nearly 50 Palestinians.

A Palestinian source on Friday said Gaza factions were studying Cairo's new ceasefire formula, while Israeli public television said an "improved" truce proposal had been handed to Israel.

There had been cautious optimism a truce may be nearing, but an Islamic Jihad source said Israel was "disrupting Egypt's efforts for a ceasefire," while the United States on its part urged steps be "taken to ensure that violence is reduced".

Islamic Jihad said it had been seeking "an honourable agreement that reflects the interests of the Palestinian people and the resistance".

Civilian lives

US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, in a call to Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, "stressed the urgency of reaching a ceasefire agreement in order to prevent any further loss of civilian life", the State Department said.

Morocco, which normalised relations with Israel in 2020, said it "firmly condemns recent Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, which have left numerous casualties among innocent civilians".

Gaza, a coastal enclave with a population of about 2.3 Palestinians, has been plagued by poverty and unemployment since a blockade imposed by Israel in 2007 when the Palestinian movement Hamas took over.

The territory has since been the site of numerous wars between militant groups and Israel, including the fighting in August 2022 in which 19 children were among the 49 killed, according to the United Nations.

The conflict has escalated since veteran leader Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power late last year, heading a coalition with extreme right and ultra-Orthodox parties.

The army said nearly 1,100 rockets had been fired from Gaza towards Israel in the current fighting, including 300 intercepted by its air defences.

Israelis living in areas bordering the Palestinian territory have been told to stay close to bomb shelters.

Israel has also been shaken by its biggest domestic political crisis in decades, as mass protests have flared against plans to reform the justice system that have been spearheaded by Netanyahu, who is also battling corruption charges in court.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online

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The Archaeological Survey of Indias upgraded exhibition hall is likely to be inaugurated on May 18 on the International Museum Day. This year the exhibition will be displayed without the wooden sleeper that was used for the protective wall of ancient Pataliputra. The Bihar government has not responded to ASIs request for loan of the same for display, a senior ASI official said.

The ASI (Patna circle) had sent two letters to the Art, Culture and Youth Affairs department of Bihar government requesting the wooden sleeper- found during excavation nearly hundred years back  for its exhibition hall in the last three months. The exhibition hall has been upgraded in view of a visit of G-20 delegates here next month.

Superintending Archaeologist, ASI Patna Circle, Goutami Bhattacharya told PTI that, In my last letter to the Secretary, Art Culture and Youth Affairs Department of Bihar government on April 20, I had requested for possession of wooden sleeper for ASIs exhibition hall at Kumhrar in Patna. Prior to this, I had also written for the same on February 2.

The department concerned did not respond to our request for the loan of the wooden sleeper. We dont have any options. It now seems that the exhibition hall will be inaugurated without it." In view of a visit of G20 delegates to Bihar in June, the ASI has upgraded its exhibition hall in Patna. This exhibition hall has a new set-up focusing on the history and archaeology of the ancient city of Pataliputra, she said.

Bhattacharya said: We requested the Bihar government to provide us one wooden sleeper that was used for the protective wall of ancient Pataliputra on loan for display at the exhibition. Kumhrar is the area of Patna, where remains of the ancient city of Pataliputra were excavated by the ASI after 1912.

It is our understanding that wooden sleepers, which formed part of the wooden palisade found from the excavation at centrally protected sites under ASI Patna circle like Bulandibagh, Sandalpur etc after 1912, are kept in the store of Patna Museum".

These sleepers are neither accessioned nor displayed, neither in Patna Museum nor in Bihar Museum. Therefore, it is our earnest request that your good self may loan one such sleeper to ASI (Patna Circle) for display in the refurbished exhibition hall at Kumhrar," Bhattacharya had written in the earlier letter. Bulandhi Bagh is thought to have been part of the Maurya royal palace in Pataliputra.

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Reacting to this, Bandana Preyashi, Secretary (Art, Culture and Youth Affairs department, Boihar government) told PTI, We are examining the proposal/request of the ASI (Patna circle)".

Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Maurya Empire, who had brought small kingdoms of India together under one rule for the first time, made Patliputra its capital and allowed political stability in this region. The city prospered under the Mauryan empire, and Megasthenes, the ambassador of Greek ruler Seleucus I Nicator in the court of Chandragupta Maurya, resided there and left a detailed account of its splendour, Bhattacharya said.
A high-level committee to select the CBI director that comprises the prime minister, the Chief Justice of India and the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha is likely to meet on Saturday evening, sources said.

The committee may select the next Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chief or give an extension to incumbent Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, whose fixed two-year tenure ends on May 25.

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Jaiswal, a 1985-batch IPS officer from the Maharashtra cadre and former commissioner of the Mumbai Police, had taken over the reins of the CBI on May 26, 2021.

The CBI director is selected by a high-level committee comprising the prime minister, chief justice of India and the Lok Sabhas leader of opposition for a fixed tenure of two years. The tenure can be extended up to five years.
As many as 13 persons were arrested in Mumbai over last three days for activating SIM cards with the help of fake documents, police said on Saturday. Police also seized 2,197 SIM cards from their possession besides four laptops and 60 mobile phones, said an official. Raids were conducted in the jurisdictions of V P Road, D N Nagar, Malabar Hill, Sahar and Bangur Nagar police stations during the operation, he said. Those arrested included SIM card sellers, agents and call centre owners who used such SIM cards. Mumbai police took action after receiving information about these practises from the Department of Telecom (DoT), the official said.

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The accused obtained and activated SIM cards by using forged Aadhaar cards and other identity documents and used these mobile numbers for personal gains, the official said.

All the arrested persons have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including cheating and forgery, and more arrests are likely, he added.
India is planning a repatriation campaign for artefacts dating back to the colonial era, including the controversial Kohinoor diamond and other idols and sculptures in museums across the UK, according to a British media report on Saturday.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper claims the issue is among the priorities of the Narendra Modi-led government, with it likely to spill over into diplomatic and trade talks between the two countries.

While the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is said to be leading efforts to reclaim objects trafficked out of the country since independence, officials in New Delhi are believed to be coordinating with diplomats in London to make formal requests to institutions holding artefacts seized as spoils of war or collected by enthusiasts during colonial rule.

The long work of repatriation will begin with what is considered the easiest targets, small museums and private collectors, who may be more willing to voluntarily hand over Indian artefacts, and then efforts will turn to larger institutions and Royal collections, the newspaper report said.

Senior officials in New Delhi believe that such historical artefacts can reinforce a strong national cultural identity, with Lily Pandeya, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, quoted as saying: Antiquities have both physical and intangible value, they are part of the continuity of cultural heritage, of community and national identity. artefacts, you are robbing this value, and breaking the continuity of knowledge and community.

The Kohinoor, also known as Koh-i-Noor or mountain of light in Persian, was in the spotlight at last weeks Coronation with Queen Camilla averting a diplomatic row by choosing alternative diamonds for her consorts crown.

The 105-carat diamond was held by rulers in India before landing in the hands of the East India Company from Maharaja Ranjit Singhs treasury and then being presented to Queen Victoria following the annexation of Punjab.

The return of such a historically significant artefact would be deeply symbolic, according to ministerial circles in New Delhi, and there is understood to be a political will to achieve such a symbolic post-colonial victory, the report said.

The British Museum could face claims for its collection of Hindu statues and the Amaravati Marbles, which were taken from a Buddhist stupa by civil servant Sir Walter Elliot and the Victoria and Albert Museums Indian collection could also be subject to claims.

The newspaper describes this drive to reclaim Indian artefacts as a reckoning with the countrys colonial past, with Secretary for the Indian Ministry of Culture Govind Mohan being quoted as saying that returning antiquities would form a key part of Indias policy-making.

It is of huge importance to the government. The thrust of this effort to repatriate Indias artefacts comes from the personal commitment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has made it a major priority, the newspaper quoted Mohan as saying.

There have been other cultural trends in recent years toward repatriation, with Greece seeking the Elgin Marbles and Nigeria the Benin Bronzes.

Last year, Glasgow Life  a charitable organisation which runs the Scottish citys museums  signed an agreement with the Indian government to repatriate seven stolen artefacts to India.

Most of these objects were removed from temples and shrines in different states in northern India during the 19th century, while one was purchased following a theft from the owner.

All seven artefacts were gifted to Glasgows collections, according to Glasgow Life.

In New Delhi, a senior official of the ASI said concerted efforts are being made to repatriate artefacts from out of the country.

Since Independence, 251 artefacts have been brought back to India, and 238 of these have been repatriated since 238," ASI spokesperson Vasant Swarnkar said.

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Besides, about 100 artefacts are in the process of being repatriated, from countries including the UK, and the US," he told PTI.

Antiquities in India are governed by The Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972, which state that it shall not be lawful for any person, other than the Central Government or any authority or agency authorised by the Central Government in this behalf, to export any antiquity or art treasure".
The Embassy of India in The Hague, in partnership with the Netherlands government, organised a G20 Beach Cleanup at the citys famous Scheveningen beach and collected 240 kgs of marine litter including 5,410 cigarette butts.

Addressing marine litter is one of the focus areas under Indias G20 Presidency and the beach cleanup drive in The Hague on Friday formed part of the global initiative to bring attention to the problem of marine litter and the need to work together towards sustainable development of oceans.

Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of the Netherlands Reenat Sandhu highlighted the powerful message behind the theme of Indias G20 Presidency  One Earth, One Family, One Future.

The embassy said in a statement that the ambassador emphasised the importance of Mission LiFE  Lifestyle For Environment and the need to adopt sustainable and environment-friendly lifestyles.

Underscoring Indias sustained efforts to mitigate marine litter, Sandhu highlighted the mega beach cleanup campaign held in India last year where 75 beaches were cleaned over a period of 75 days.

The government of the Netherlands was represented by Afke van Rijn, Director General and Vice-Minister for Environment at the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure & Water Management.

Rijn appreciated Indias commitment to promoting international cooperation in addressing challenges of environmental pollution and climate change and pointed to the efforts by the Netherlands government to combat plastic litter at the national level.

The event was also supported by the Municipality of The Hague and representing the City was Deputy Mayor Hilbert Bredemeijer, who spoke about some of the unique initiatives taken in The Hague to address marine pollution.

Two civil society organisations in the Netherlands working on raising awareness of marine litter in the North Sea  the Stichting Noordzee and TrashUre Hunt were also part of the campaign.

A Waste-to-Art open-air exhibition, showcasing art objects made from trash collected at the beach, was also mounted, which was visited by several hundreds of people at Scheveningen Beach.

Ambassadors and diplomatic colleagues from other G20 countries and invited countries also participated in the beach cleanup, with the Indian High Commission in London planning a Beach Cleanup at the famous Brighton Beach in southern England on May 21.

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It will coincide with the Indian Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change organising a beach cleaning drive involving delegations from various G20 members and guest countries in Mumbai, on the sidelines of the G20 meetings on the environment.

The initiative is designed to draw global attention to the need to combat coastal and marine pollution and the role of citizens and their participation in preventing and cleaning up marine litter.
A 30-year-old man with a criminal past has been arrested for robbing, assaulting and molesting a woman passenger between Mumbai and Thane on a long-distance train, an official said on Saturday.

The complainant boarded a train at Kundapur in Karnataka nd was on her way to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai when she was targeted, he said.

The accused entered the train when it stopped at Thane station, 34 km from Mumbai, on Friday morning. As the train started moving, he grabbed the jewellery of a passenger in the womens compartment, the official said.

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The accused assaulted and molested the woman before snatching away her jewellery. He jumped off the train when it slowed down near Kanjurmarg, he said.

Acting on a complaint by the woman, the Government Railway Police tracked down the accused and arrested him at night from Navi Mumbai, the official said, adding that he has past criminal records.
The Narcotics Control Bureau on Saturday made the largest ever" drugs seizure of 2,500 kg of high-purity" methamphetamine, priced worth Rs 15,000 crore, off the Kerala coast. A Pakistani national was detained in the joint raid by the drugs agency and the Indian Navy, officials said. The seizure was part of Operation Samudragupt targeting maritime drug trafficking originating from Afghanistan.

According to NCB, the methamphetamine has been sourced from the Death Crescent and is valued at Rs 15,000 crore in Indian waters. This is the first time an Indian agency has intercepted a mother ship" carrying drugs.

2,500 kg methamphetamine was seized off the Kerala coast in a joint operation by NCB and Indian Navy. This is the largest ever seizure by any drug enforcement agency in India. The market value of the drugs is around Rs 15,000 crore and the consignment was caught in Indian waters; it was heading for Sri Lanka. A total of three boats were apprehended, and two managed to escape under the cover of darkness," NCBs deputy director-general Sanjay Singh told CNN-News18.

The NCB suspects the boat to be of Pakistani origin. Officials said this was the third major seizure via the southern route over the past year and a half.

How did this seizure take place?

According to a press release, the NCB and the intelligence wing of the navy got inputs about the movement of a mother ship carrying a massive quantity of methamphetamine from the Makran coast. Mother ships are big sea-going vessels carrying large quantities of contraband for distribution to receiving vessels on the route.

The press release stated that the agencies mobilised their assets and kept a close watch over the inputs. The continuous intelligence collection and analysis resulted in identification of a highly probable route to be taken by the mother ship. The details of this were shared with the navy following which it deployed a ship in the vicinity, it said.

Based on these inputs, the navy intercepted a large sea-going vessel and recovered 134 sacks of narcotics. The seizure and a Pakistani national were brought to the Mattancherry wharf in Cochin and handed over to the NCB, which said it initiated a seizure procedure and found that all the packets contained methamphetamine.

What is Operation Samudragupt?

Operation Samudragupt was launched in January 2022 by the NCB director-general in view of the threat to national security from maritime drug trafficking of heroin and other narcotics in the Indian Ocean Region. The primary objective of the operation was to collect actionable inputs, which could identify ships carrying the contraband.

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A press release said the joint operations team exchanged and gathered information from drug law enforcement agencies such as Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Gujarat anti-terror squad, intelligence wing of the Indian Navy among others. Earlier, under the operation, agencies seized 529 kg hashish, 221 kg of methamphetamine and 13 kg heroin in the high seas off the Gujarat coast, all sourced from Balochistan and Afghanistan, in February 2022. The operations team also intercepted an Iranian boat off the Kerala coast October 2022 from which a total of 200 kg high-grade heroin sourced from Afghanistan was seized while six Iranian drug traffickers were arrested.

The NCB said apart from these operations, the agency also shared real-time actionable information with Sri Lanka and Maldives, which resulted in seizure of 286 kg heroin and 128 kg methamphetamine as well as the arrest of 19 drug traffickers in two operations conducted by the Sri Lankan Navy in December 2022 and April 2023. A total of 4 kg heroin was also seized by Maldivian police in March 2023 along with the arrest of 5 traffickers, the agency said.
Pakistani authorities have released 198 Indian fishermen, who were languishing at a jail here after being arrested for allegedly fishing illegally in the countrys waters, and handed them over to India at the Wagah border. The fishermen were released from the Malir Jail in Karachi on Thursday evening.

Malir Jail superintendent Nazir Tunio said that they had released the first batch of Indian fishermen prisoners and two more batches would be released in June and July.

We released 198 prisoners on Thursday while 200 and 100 more would be released later on, he said.

Tunio said that 200 Indian fishermen were to be released on Thursday from Malir jail but two of them died due to illness.

The two deceased fishermen included one Muhammad Zulfiqar who passed away on May 6 and Soma Deva who died on May 9 after prolonged illnesses.

Their bodies have been kept in the Edhi Foundation mortuary till they could be flown out to India.

Soma and his nephew were among a dozen Indian fishermen who were arrested at sea some four and half years ago and they were lodged in the Malir jail.

Soma was twice sent to the hospital for treatment.

Tunio said Zulfiqar died after a massive heart attack.

Faisal Edhi of the Edhi Welfare Trust, which arranged the transportation of the fishermen from Karachi to Lahore via train where they were handed over to Indian authorities at the Wagah border, said some of the Indian fishermen also looked unwell.

We do our best to make the journey back home of these Indian fishermen comfortable and easy. After all, most of them have been in jail for the last 4 to five years," he said.

Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum General Secretary Saeed Baloch said that under the agreement reached between the two governments, a second batch of 200 Indian fishermen would be released on June 2 and another 100 on July 3.

Baloch said he had a lot of sympathies for the Indian fishermen as the majority of them were just out for a livelihood and did not even realise it when they crossed territorial waters between the two countries.

The sad part is that some of them even end up spending 7 to 8 years in jail before they get a chance to return home, he said.

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Fishermen Cooperative Society, Sindh administrator Zahid Ibrahim Bhatti said that some 200 Pakistani fishermen were lodged in Indian jails and hopefully they, too, would come home soon after the release of Indian fishermen.

Pakistan and India regularly arrest rival fishermen for violating the maritime boundary, which is poorly marked at some points.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar urged retired bureaucrats on Saturday to use their position to counter false and anti-India narratives that seek to tarnish the image of the countrys constitutional institutions.

Addressing the gathering at a book release event here, Dhankhar also said democratic governance poses its own unique challenges. He exhorted civil servants to exhibit an unwavering and steadfast commitment to the rule of law and the Constitution.

Political ingratiation of officials with the ruling dispensation in some parts of the country is severely straining the sublimity of federalism. This calls for systemic focus by all concerned, he said without elaborating.

The vice president said retired civil servants are eminently positioned to neutralise and antidote false and anti-national narratives seeking to unjustifiably taint and tarnish Indias constitutional institutions and democratic values.

They are a reservoir of talent, experience and know what is best for the nation. They always speak their minds by analysing the false narratives from a position of strength, he said regarding retired civil servants at the event largely attended by serving and retired bureaucrats.

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The vice president noted that Indias governance model, with its focus on transparency, accountability, digitisation, innovation and entrepreneurship, is the envy of the world.

Empowerment and upliftment of vulnerable sections have been effected with successful schemes, ensuring that even the most marginalised citizens have access to essential services, he said.
A World Bank team, led by Vice President for South Asia Region Martin Raiser, held discussions with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and expressed interest in projects that the state plans to implement to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

After the meeting, Raiser said Kerala was urbanising rapidly, and this will create more challenges in the future due to the rising level of carbon emissions, particularly from the transport sector.

So, one of the areas in which Kerala wants to make further progress is to green its transport system, Raiser told PTI.

He said the state should tap renewable energy resources to meet its energy needs.

It has a lot of potential for solar, the World Bank official said.

Raiser said during his meeting with the chief minister and some of his Cabinet colleagues, he emphasised the need for implementing e-mobility by adopting electric and fuel cell-based electric vehicles for developing a green eco-system in the state.

He, however, admitted that it was not an easy task.

Speaking about his teams meeting with Vijayan, the official said it was a positive one as the projects that the World Bank has undertaken in Kerala were being implemented well.

I didnt have any major concerns to raise with the chief minister, he said.

Raiser said the World Banks Resilient Kerala Programme to support the states preparedness against natural disasters, climate change impacts, disease outbreaks, and pandemics was progressing well.

It clears a number of areas, including the development of forecasting models and translating those into local planning instruments to make sure that local communities can make use of the scientific information to reduce the risk exposure that they face, he said.

He expressed happiness over the progress the state has made in dealing with zoonotic diseases like Nipah.

I am happy to tell you that Kerala is the most advanced state in India in terms of trying to really create a cross-sectoral local surveillance infrastructure so that new diseases when they arrive, can be very quickly detected, Raiser said.

The World Bank team also discussed with the chief minister the project under preparation to look at the impact that climate change has on agriculture production, and how farmers can adopt more climate-resilient agricultural practices while at the same time, use such opportunities to increase productivity and, as a result, create more jobs in the agribusiness sector.

According to Raiser, the ageing population is going to be one of the major concerns of the states health sector.

The population rate in Kerala is very low. The fertility rate is very low. It has a good health system. But the health system needs to adjust to the fact that people are getting older. This is something we talked about, he said.

Meanwhile, the Chief Ministers Office said the World Bank representatives expressed interest in the various projects that Kerala plans to implement to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

In the meeting held today with the chief minister, the representatives of the World Bank assured that there will be possibilities of cooperation in various projects that Kerala intends to implement with a long-term vision, a CMO statement said.

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It said the World Bank has expressed interest in six priority projects, including power generation through floating solar power plants, green hydrogen valleys at Kochi and Vizhinjam and a green hydrogen production-consumption-export centre at Kochi.

The team was in Kerala for the last three days to review various development programmes being implemented in the state as part of the Rebuild Kerala initiative.
The U.S. turned the page on pandemic-era immigration restrictions with relative calm at its border with Mexico as migrants adapted to strict new rules aimed at discouraging illegal crossings and awaited the promise of new legal pathways for entering the country.

A full day after the rules known as Title 42 were lifted, migrants and government officials on Friday were still assessing the effects of a switch to new regulations adopted by President Joe Bidens administration in hope of stabilizing the Southwest border region and undercutting smugglers who charge migrants to get there.

Migrants are now essentially barred from seeking asylum in the U.S. if they did not first apply online or seek protection in the countries they traveled through.

Families allowed in as their immigration cases progress will face curfews and GPS monitoring. And for those expelled from the U.S., they can now be barred from entering the country for five years and face possible criminal prosecution.

Across the river from El Paso, Texas, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, many migrants watched their cellphones in hopes of getting a coveted appointment to seek entry. The official app to register to enter the U.S. underwent changes this week, as it offers appointments for migrants to enter through land crossings.

Many migrants in northern Mexico resigned themselves to waiting for an appointment rather than approaching the border without authorization.

I hope its a little better and that the appointments are streamlined a little more, said Yeremy Depablos, 21, a Venezuelan traveling with seven cousins who has been waiting in Ciudad Juarez for a month. Fearing deportation, Depablos did not want to cross illegally. We have to do it the legal way.

The U.S. Homeland Security Department said it has not witnessed any substantial increase in immigration.

But in southern Mexico, migrants including children still flocked to railways at Huehuetoca on Friday, desperate to clamor aboard freight trains heading north toward the U.S.

The legal pathways touted by the Biden administration consist of a program that permits up to 30,000 people a month from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter if they apply online with a financial sponsor and enter through an airport.

About 100 processing centers are opening in Guatemala, Colombia and elsewhere for migrants to apply to go to the U.S., Spain or Canada. Up to 1,000 can enter daily through land crossings with Mexico if they snag an appointment on the app.

If it works, the system could fundamentally alter how migrants come to the southern border. But Biden, who is running for reelection, faces withering criticism from migrant advocates, who say hes abandoning more humanitarian methods, and from Republicans, who claim hes soft on border security. Two legal challenges already loom over the new asylum restrictions.

Title 42 was initiated in March 2020 and allowed border officials to quickly return asylum seekers back over the border on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. But with the national emergency officially over, the restrictions have ended.

While Title 42 prevented many from seeking asylum, it carried no legal consequences for expulsion like those under the new rules.

In El Paso on Friday, a few dozen migrants lingered outside Sacred Heart Catholic Church and shelter, on streets where nearly 2,000 migrants were camped as recently as Tuesday.

The Rev. Daniel Mora said most of the migrants took heed of flyers distributed by U.S. immigration authorities offering a last chance to submit to processing and left. El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said that 1,800 migrants turned themselves over to Customs and Border Protection on Thursday.

Melissa Lopez, executive director for Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services at El Paso, said many migrants have been willing to follow the legal pathway created by the federal government, but there is also fear about deportation and possible criminal penalties for people who cross the border illegally.

Border holding facilities in the U.S. were already far beyond capacity in the run-up to Title 42s expiration.

In Florida, a federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump has temporarily halted the administrations plans to release people into the U.S.

Customs and Border Protection said it would comply, but called it a harmful ruling that will result in unsafe overcrowding at migrant processing and detention facilities.

A court date has been scheduled on whether to extend the ruling.

Migrant-rights groups also sued the Biden administration on allegations that its new policy is no different than one adopted by Trump  and rejected by the same court.

The Biden administration says its policy is different, arguing that its not an outright ban but imposes a higher burden of proof to get asylum and that it pairs restrictions with other newly opened legal pathways.

At the Chaparral port of entry in Tijuana on Friday, a few migrants approached U.S. authorities after not being able to access the appointment app. One of them, a Salvadoran man named Jairo, said he was fleeing death threats back home.

We are truly afraid, said Jairo who was traveling with his partner and their 3-year-old son and declined to share his last name. We cant remain any longer in Mexico and we cant go back to Guatemala or El Salvador. If the U.S. cant take us, we hope they can direct us to another country that can.

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Cannes 2023: From May 16 to 27, LOreal Paris will mark its 26th year as the Festival de Cannes official makeup partner. The LOreal Paris Lights on Women Award is presented by the cosmetics company that places a strong emphasis on womens empowerment, scientific advancement, and French luxury

Academy Award-winner, jury member, and LOreal Paris ambassador Kate Winslet will once again announce the 2023 laureate on May 26, at the Cinema de Demain dinner. This award, created to honour women in film, recognises one promising female short-film director from among the official Cannes Short Films selection, a category created with La Cinef.

I look forward to returning to Festival de Cannes as a global spokesperson for LOreal Paris," Aishwarya Rai Bachchan says in honour of the 76th edition of the festival. " I have been honoured with the privilege of experiencing female artists showcase their talent on a global platform of this stature. The brands unwavering dedication to empower women has been a constant throughout its illustrious history, and this years theme serves yet another impactful step in that direction. It has always been a pleasure to celebrate my long-standing association with the brand and the values it upholds."

View this post on Instagram A post shared by AishwaryaRaiBachchan (@aishwaryaraibachchan_arb)

Anushka Sharma said, I am looking forward to represent LOreal Paris at the Cannes red carpet. I firmly believe that women must embrace their individuality with sheer confidence, and I feel truly aligned with the brands key principles. This years theme, Walk Your Worth, couldnt be more appropriate as it highlights the value of recognising and commemorating oneself. Im happy to be a part of this progressive change towards inclusivity and to support millions of women all over the world to value and appreciate themselves. Together, lets celebrate self-worth in all its glory!"

ALSO READ: Anushka Sharmas Glam Recap Prior to to Her Big Cannes Debut This Year

Aditi Rao Hydari, added, I am elated to be a part of this years Festival De Cannes as LOreal Paris spokesperson. It has truly been a privilege to have been associated with a brand that has always led the path to women empowerment and has worked towards enabling women to be confident and growth-oriented in every aspect of their lives. This years theme of Walk Your Worth truly aligns with what the brand stands for, encouraging women across the globe to accept themselves and walk their worth with confidence."

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View this post on Instagram A post shared by Aditi Rao Hydari (@aditiraohydari)

The brand, which enjoys a special relationship with the actress ambassadors who represent the companys principles, stands for the cinematic empowerment of women. As the official cosmetics partner of the Festival de Cannes, it encourages ambassadors, actors, and actresses to bring this vision of empowered beauty on the red carpet. The new season of beauty and innovation is showcased from the opening to the closing ceremonies, showcasing the new looks for the brand produced by 30 international makeup artists under the artistic direction of Global Makeup Artist Val Garland.
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY 2023 GOOGLE DOODLE: Google Doodle celebrated Mothers Day on Sunday, May 14 with adorable animated animal family throwback pics with mom over the years. The internet giant also shared the behind-the-scenes process for hand-crafted clay artwork by Doodler Celine You. In the past, Google has created Mothers Day doodles featuring animals, flowers, and heartwarming images of mothers and their children. Some past Mothers Day Google Doodles have included animations and interactive elements.

Mothers Day celebrates the important role that mothers and mother figures play in our lives. Mothers are often the ones who provide us with love, support, and guidance throughout our lives, and Mothers Day provides an opportunity to express our gratitude and appreciation for all that they do.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY 2023: CHECK OUT TODAYS GOOGLE DOODLE HERE

GOOGLE DOODLE 2023: BEHIND-THE-SCENES PROCESS FOR HAND-CRAFTED CLAY ARTWORK

Mothers Day also serves as a reminder of the sacrifices that mothers make for their children, and the many challenges that they face in raising and caring for their families. It is a day to honor the hard work and dedication of mothers, and to celebrate the bond between mothers and their children.

ALSO READ: Mothers Day 2023: History, Significance, Quotes and How to Celebrate

In addition, Mothers Day has historical and cultural significance, as it has been celebrated for over a century and has become an important tradition in many countries around the world. It provides an opportunity for families to come together and celebrate the special relationship between mothers and their children, and to recognize the important contributions that mothers make to society as a whole.

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Mothers Day was first celebrated in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother, Ann Jarvis, a peace activist who had cared for wounded soldiers during the Civil War. Anna Jarvis then campaigned for a national holiday to honor all mothers, and in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating Mothers Day as a national holiday.

Today, people celebrate Mothers Day by spending time with their mothers or mother figures, giving them gifts or cards, and expressing their love and gratitude.
Dolly Singh, a content producer and social media influencer, will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. She claims that she has at last crossed off a significant item from her bucket list.

Later this month, she will go to the French Riviera, where she will attend official film screenings at the venerable Grand Lumiere Theatre and walk the red carpet. Along with her cultural explorations, her four-day itinerary will include meals at Chez Albane, La Mome Plage, Silencio Club, Fred lecailler, and Majestic Le Paradisio.

Dolly states, The Cannes Film Festival has been an important platform for Indian artists to showcase their talent on the international stage. Over the years Indian talent has not only brought Indian cinema to the world stage but has also helped to break down cultural barriers and promote cross-cultural exchange."

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dolly Singh (@dollysingh)

She added: Today I am honoured to be contributing in my own unique way to this exchange and making my debut this year at the festival. From making candles in a small town of Nainital to walking the red carpet at Cannes, Im truly grateful and excited for this opportunity. This was a long-standing dream and Ive finally ticked an important milestone off my bucket list."

Dolly, a Nainital native, has established herself as one of the nations most recognised content creators by creating her own Dollyverse, which has cute little characters like Raju Ki Mummy, South Delhi Girl, Guddi Bhabhi, Zeenat, and Shree.

ALSO READ: Anushka Sharma and Aditi Rao Hydari Will Make Their Cannes Debut at Cannes 2023 for LOreal Paris

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Singh was always focused on building a name for himself in the fashion industry as he was growing up. She chose to pursue her Masters in fashion from NIFT after earning her bachelors degree in political science. Her own content producing adventure began with the show Spill The Sass," in which she discussed reasonably priced clothing.

The Cannes Film Festival 2023 will begin on May 16 and end on May 27.
Manish Malhotra, arrived at the Kapurthala House in New Delhi wearing a black kurta, a basic black blazer and white trousers. He spent some time posing for photos in front of the venue but opted to withhold information regarding what Parineeti Chopra will wear on her engagement day. Though he said that the it was fabulous to have designed the costume for Parineetis big day.

Parineeti Chopra has been frequently spotted at the home and studio of Manish Malhotra over the past few months. And right now, there are numerous whispers circulating that the actress has decided with certainty to choose Manish Malhotra for her special day.

Today, in a a traditional ceremony at Connaught Place, politician Raghav Chadha and actor Parineeti Chopra are all set to get engaged. The couple will dress in clothing that match in hue for the evening event. Chopra will be seen wearing a subdued Indian attire made by couturier Manish Malhotra, while Raghav Chadha will wear a minimalist achkan created by his maternal uncle, fashion designer Pawan Sachdeva.

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ALSO READ: Parineeti Chopra - Raghav Chadha Engagement: Couple to Wear Outfits by These Designers on Their Big Day

According to rumours, Parineeti and Raghav were classmates at the London School of Economics and have been close friends ever since. Additionally, Parineeti and Raghav follow one another on Instagram.
World Migratory Bird Day is a day for all bird lovers to come together and pledge for the survival of migratory birds for generations to come. This bi-annual global event aims to raise awareness about the importance of migratory birds and their conservation. The Secretariat of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) and the Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) started it in 2006.

The event is celebrated around the world and typically takes place on the second Saturday in May and in October each year. This year, the day will be marked on May 13, heres all you need to know about the day:

World Migratory Bird Day 2023: Theme

This years World Migratory Bird Day campaign will have a new focus on water and its significance for migratory birds. According to the announcement on the official website, water is crucial for life on Earth, and most migratory birds rely on aquatic ecosystems throughout their life cycles.

They use rivers, lakes, wetlands, ponds, marshes, and streams for feeding, drinking, nesting, and resting during their long journeys. However, aquatic ecosystems and migratory birds are increasingly under threat worldwide due to the escalating human demand for water, pollution, and climate change.

The upcoming campaign aims to raise awareness about the importance of water for migratory birds and the need to take specific actions to safeguard water resources and aquatic ecosystems.

World Migratory Bird Day 2023: History

World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) is a global campaign that aims to raise awareness about the importance of migratory birds and the need to conserve them. The AEWA and CMS Secretariats launched the campaign in 2006.

The idea of designating a day for migratory birds began in the United States in 1993 with the International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD), which was successfully celebrated in the western hemisphere.

In 2005, the AEWA Secretariat introduced the Migratory Waterbird Days (MWD) in Africa, Europe, and parts of Asia to address the lack of a similar event for the rest of the world. The MWD was well-received in the African-Eurasian region, prompting the decision to expand it to a global commemorative day celebrating all migratory birds.

The first WMBD was launched on the weekend of April 8-9, 2006 in Kenya. The central event at the launch - called WINGS - was attended by international personalities from the worlds of art, business and conservation. Since then, WMBD has been celebrated annually and has been growing in popularity each year. The global campaign continues to be organized centrally from Bonn, Germany by the CMS and AEWA Secretariats.

In 2018, the IMBD and WMBD campaigns were formally united in a bid to strengthen global recognition and appreciation of migratory birds and highlight the urgent need for their conservation.

The new joint campaign adopted the single name of World Migratory Bird Day" and major events to celebrate the day are organized twice a year, on the second Saturday in May and in October. The campaign has been successful in bringing attention to the plight of migratory birds and encouraging action to protect them and their habitats.

World Migratory Bird Day 2023: Significance

World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) is an annual global campaign that aims to raise awareness about the importance of migratory birds and their conservation. The campaign highlights the ecological importance of migratory birds, the threats they face, and the need to take action to protect them.

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Migratory birds play a vital role in maintaining the balance of nature and the functioning of ecosystems around the world. They also provide important cultural and economic benefits to many communities. WMBD provides an opportunity for individuals, organizations, and governments to come together and take action to protect migratory birds and their habitats.

It encourages people to learn more about migratory birds, their migration routes, and the challenges they face. By raising awareness and taking action to protect migratory birds, we can help to ensure their survival for generations to come.
Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor welcomed their first daughter Raha in November last year and since then the couple has been enjoying the parenthood phase to the fullest. There have been times when the actress has shared cute things about her daughter and recently she revealed her father-daughters favourite place in the house.

A few days ago, Alia shared a black-and-white picture of Ranbir Kapoor with his daughter which was loved by her fans. And now in an interview, she said, It is Rahas favourite spot in the house because there is a lot of peace and greenery there. I would say it is her favourite spot as my husband keeps taking her there and making her sit there. He sits next to her and talks to her while she is looking at the greenery and breeze, so it was a moment and they do this every day but I got super artistic (that day).

Take a look at the photo here:

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alia Bhatt  (@aliaabhatt)

She recently also shared the cutest thing which Raha does when she feeds her. The Rocky Aur Rani Ke Prem Kahani actress said, My daughter started touching my face. I think thats the best thing thats happened to me this past week. Because now when Im feeding her, she just takes a minute, looks up at me and starts touching my face. Its like a romantic moment between the two of us. And its literally the best thing thats ever happened to me in my life.

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The couple has a strict policy for shutterbugs regarding their daughters photo. They have requested not to click her pictures.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Alia Bhatt will next be seen in Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani with Ranveer Singh. Helmed by Karan Johar, the film also stars Jaya Bachchan, Shabana Azmi and Dharmendra in pivotal roles. The film is all set to release on July 28, 2023. She will also be making her Hollywood debut in Heart Of Stone, where she would be sharing screen space with Gal Gadot.
Actress Devoleena Bhattacharjee shared her thoughts on the film The Kerala Story" in a tweet. She responded to a post about a woman who reportedly broke up with her boyfriend after watching the movie. Directed by Sudipto Sen, the film has been a subject of discussion since its trailer was released last month. Devoleena, who tied the knot with her gym trainer, Shanawaz Shaikh, last year, disclosed that she had watched the film with him and he appreciated" it.

Taking to Twitter, Devoleena wrote, Its not always like that. My husband is a Muslim and came with me to watch the movie and he appreciated it. He neither took it as an offence nor he felt it was against his religion. And I feel thats how every Indian should be like. She used the hashtag The Kerala Story. Check out the tweet here:

Its not always like that. My husband is a muslim & came with me to watch the movie & he appreciated it. He neither took it as an offence nor he felt it was against his religion. And i feel thats how every indian should be like. #TheKeralaStory https://t.co/Qr0NSd87X1 Devoleena Bhattacharjee (@Devoleena_23) May 13, 2023

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The tweet she responded to, read, She replied to a post which read, My colleagues friend Nidhi had an interfaith affair. She casually asked her boyfriend to watch Kerala Story. He not only refused but also abused her & accused her of being Islamophobic. She got scared & asked her bf why is he being so rude & how can she be Islamophobic when she is dating a Muslim. Her bf replied if she is not Islamophobic then she should convert to Islam & marry him. She agreed. But, she still wanted to see the movie. So, she went to watch the movie with my friend. Right after the movie, she called her bf & broke up. This is the impact Kerala Story is having on society. This is why they want to ban the movie. Everybody is waking up (sic)."

The Kerala Story stars Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Siddhi Idnani and Sonia Balani in lead roles. It revolves around the stories of Hindu women from Kerala who were converted to Islam and trafficked to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Popular television star Pankit Thakker, best known for his role in Dill Mill Gayye, slammed Huma Qureshis recent look. Earlier this week, Huma attended the premiere of Sonakshi Sinhas Dahaad wearing a revealing body-fitting dress. While the outfit pushed Huma out of her comfort zone, Pankit called the look indecent.

Speaking with SpotboyE, Pankit Thakker said, As a celebrity in the Indian film industry, I have witnessed many fashion moments on and off the red carpet. Recently, two actresses caught my attention at a public event - Huma Qureshi and Sonakshi Sinha. While both the actresses looked stunning in their own styles, it was Huma Qureshis braless look that I found not in good taste, especially in a conservative society like India.

Contrarily, Huma Qureshis braless appearance showed an excessive display of skin which was not in line with the conservative Indian ideology. It was indecent and inappropriate attire for a public event, especially considering the moral values and modesty held by Indian culture. Dressing in such a way sends out an impression of being rebellious and disrespectful to the traditional Indian values, he added.

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The actor praised Sonakshis look. While it is important to embrace modern fashion, it is equally essential to do so in a way that is respectful towards Indian cultural norms. Sonakshi Sinhas dressing at the event is a testament to this fact, and Huma Qureshi could take heed from this example to dress appropriately and be a role model that young people can look up to, he said.

On the work front, Huma was last seen in Monica, O My Darling, playing the titular role of Monica. She has Tarla, based on the popular cook Tarla Dalals life, and Pooja Meri Jaan in the pipeline.
Karishma Tannas social media is a treat for her fans. Each time she drops a picture or a video, she leaves everyone completely stunned. On Saturday morning too, the Baal Veer actress took to her Instagram handle to share a couple of photos from her recent Maldives vacation. And guess what? The clicks are now setting fire to social media.

In the pictures, Karishma Tanna can be seen posing on a beach in a colourful printed swimsuit. She accessorised her look with silver loop earrings and also wore a few bracelets in her hand. Karishma also held a jute bag as she posed sexily for the camera. In the caption of her post, Karishma simply dropped a red heart emoji. Check out here:

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Karishma Tanna Bangera (@karishmaktanna)

Here are some more pictures from Karishma Tannas Maldives Vacation:

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Karishma Tanna Bangera (@karishmaktanna)

Soon after the pictures were shared online, fans rushed to the comments section to compliment their favourite actress. While a user called her hottie, another fan tagged Karishma as gorgeous. You are a most beautiful and humble person in this world really I m ur very big fan," one of the fans wrote.

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Karishma Tanna is a popular name in the showbiz industry. She made her television debut with Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and later appeared in several shows including Baal Veer, Quyamat Ki Raat, Naagin, and Bullets among others. Karishma has also participated in several reality shows including Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa and Khatron Ke Khiladi. She was also the winner of the eighth season of Bigg Boss.

Next, Karishma Tanna will be seen in the Netflix series Scoop, which will release on June 2. The show is based on the life of a crime reporter.
Actress Preity Zinta is currently putting up in her hometown Shimla. The actress is visiting the city with her husband Gene Goodenough, their kids Jai and Gia and is making the most of her stay, away from the frenetic pace and chaos of everyday life. She recently shared a couple of pictures of herself trying to light a traditional Chula used in the hills.

Sharing the photos, she wrote, Re living old memories & making new ones. All the action revolves around the kitchen in pahadi homes. Here Im trying to light the fire & bring the rarely used old school chulha to life. She tagged Somewhere In The Mountains in the location.

In the photos, Preity was seen donning a salwar suit. She also wore a sweater and had her head covered with a scarf. She was seen sitting next to the Chulha while trying to light the fire and cook.

Fans on seeing the pictures, lauded the actress for her simplicity. One of them wrote, This is so so true maam  Everything revolves around the kitchen in pahadi homes  Its so good to see you like this You have always taken pride in your roots wherever in the world you go maam That makes us so proud. And one more thing for me to be proud of is being your super junior from CJM Shimla. We look up to you, in the comments section.

Born in Shimla district, Preity currently resides in the US but recently returned to India during the Indian Premier League season. During her visit, she and her family visited the Hateshwari Mata temple located in Shimla.

Sharing a post about her visit on Instagram, she wrote, When I was a little girl I often visited the Hateshwari Mata temple in Hatkoti, Shimla - Himachal Pradesh. This temple has played a big role in my childhood & Ive always felt very connected to it. Now that Im a mother its only natural that the first temple my kids visited was this incredible & ancient temple. Heres a sneak peek of our visit."

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She added, Im sure Jai & Gia will not remember this trip so we will have to come back again because mother will call me again. Jai Ma Durga - Jai Mahisasurmardini. If any of you get a chance to visit do not miss it. Its magical, mysterious & stunning beautiful & yes you can thank me later.
Air strikes pummelled Khartoum Saturday, with representatives of Sudan's warring factions meeting in Saudi Arabia for talks to prevent a "humanitarian catastrophe" as the fighting entered a fifth week.

A witness in west Khartoum reported army air strikes on paramilitary forces, as brutal urban warfare continued in Sudan's densely-populated capital.

More than 750 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced since fighting erupted on April 15 between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy turned rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Over half a million people have fled Khartoum alone, according to the UN, with hospitals there shelled and rampant looting reported as residents suffer chronic shortages of food, electricity and medicine.

Representatives of both generals have been in the Saudi city of Jeddah for a week, for talks intended "to protect Sudan from any escalation that will lead to a humanitarian catastrophe", a Saudi diplomat said on condition of anonymity, adding that Burhan had been invited to attend the Arab League summit planned to take place in Jeddah on May 19.

"Houses shaking"

Envoys in Jeddah agreed on Thursday to "affirm our commitment to ensure that civilians are protected".

However the deal, dubbed the Jeddah Declaration, did not amount to a truce and the situation on the ground appeared unchanged.

In the capital's twin city of Omdurman, "houses are shaking from the force of explosions", a witness told AFP Saturday, reporting armed clashes.

Thursday's deal commits both sides to let in badly needed humanitarian assistance and also calls for the restoration of water, electricity and other basic services.

The shortages have been felt even in areas removed from the fighting.

According to Moussa Hassan, a resident of Kassala, "prices have skyrocketed" in the city 400 kilometres (250 miles) east of the capital, as tens of thousands fleeing Khartoum transit through.

"Local authorities have declared a state of emergency" in a bid to ration essentials and prevent price gouging, Hassan told AFP.

Sudan launched on Saturday a plea for humanitarian assistance from the international community, including the United Nations, the African Union, and other regional organisations.

The government committed to "dedicating the port and airports of Port Sudan" on the Red Sea, Dongola airport in the country's north and Wadi Seidna air base near the capital "to receive aid".

Civilians and aid groups have repeatedly pleaded for humanitarian corridors to secure vital assistance, as aid agencies have been systematically looted and at least 18 humanitarian workers killed.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres expressed hopes the Jeddah deal would "ensure that the relief operation can scale up swiftly and safely to meet the needs of millions of people in Sudan", where a third of the population relied on aid even before the current conflict.

Guterres also reiterated "his call for an immediate ceasefire and expanded discussions to achieve a permanent cessation of hostilities", in a Friday statement.

"Quite far apart"

Hopes for a ceasefire remain dim after multiple truces were violated in past weeks. US officials have described the talks as difficult, with one official saying the two sides were "quite far apart".

But the Saudi diplomat said there had been "a positive response" and there was "a good spirit from the two parties".

The diplomat nonetheless declined to comment on whether the two camps met directly.

For Aly Verjee, Sudan researcher at Sweden's University of Gothenburg, "it is not surprising that the Jeddah Declaration is weak".

"Initial agreements usually are," he told AFP. "The mediators are still in the public honeymoon phase... this explains the claims of optimism, even when there is little evidence to justify such views."

On the ground, both sides have continued to trade gunfire and accusations, each blaming the other for attacking infrastructure and civilians.

"We keep hearing that there will be a truce, but then you go out in the street and there are bullets everywhere," Sudanese citizen Wahag Gafar told AFP after a gruelling journey to the border with Egypt, where over 60,000 have fled the fighting.

Almost 200,000 people have escaped Sudan, in addition to hundreds of thousands who have been displaced inside the country, the UN said Friday.

The exodus has seen Sudanese rush to neighbouring Chad, South Sudan and Ethiopia, where the UN refugee agency warned that its operations were "already significantly underfunded".

*This story was edited by Ahram Online

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Priyanka Chopra is super happy for her cousin Parineeti Chopra who got engaged with AAP leader Raghav Chadha in New Delhi on Saturday. Raghav and Parineeti made the announcement of their engagement on their Instagram pages, posting several photos from the ceremony.

Everything I prayed for .. She said yes! wrote the 34-year-old Rajya Sabha MP. The ceremony, held at the Central Delhis Kapurthala House, was attended by families, close friends and a bunch of political leaders including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Parineetis cousin, film star Priyanka Chopra Jonas was also present at the ceremony.

Soon after the ceremony, Priyanka took to her Instagram account to congratulate the couple alongside a series of new photos from the engagement. Priyanka wrote: Congratulations Tisha and Raghav Cannot wait for the wedding! So happy for you both and the families. So fun to catch up with the fam!"

Parineeti Chopra and Raghav Chadha were rumoured to be dating for a few months now. They were snapped together on several occasions. However, they never confirmed the news of their relationship. Parineeti often fielded the wedding questions with a blush. Rumours of the AAP MP and Parineetis wedding started in March after they were spotted together in Mumbai. The duo reached Delhi on Tuesday for the engagement.

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Fashion designer Manish Malhotra, who also arrived in the national capital in the morning, was seen dressed in a black and white kurta pyjama with jacket for the function. Manish apparently designed Parineeti and Raghavs engagement outfits.

On the eve of their engagement, Parineeti Chopras Mumbai home and Raghav Chadhas government residence in Delhi were decorated with lights and flowers.
Priyanka Chopra is not going to miss Parineeti Chopras engagement! The international actress was spotted making her way to India, via London, on Friday night to attend Parineetis engagement with AAP minister Raghav Chadha. A photo of Priyanka travelling solo in London has surfaced online, confirming that she is headed home. In the photo, Priyanka was seen posing with a fan in the airport.

It was reported on Friday that Priyanka will be making the short trip home for Parineetis special day. A source told Hindustan Times, It will be a short trip for Priyanka. She has kept her work aside just to be there for the occasion and be there for her sister. She will be reaching Delhi on the 13th morning. Her husband Nick Jonas is not expected to accompany her, and it is yet to be seen if she brings her daughter, Malti as a surprise for the family.

Priyankas mother Madhu Chopra had confirmed the news of Parineetis engagement. Speaking with Pinkvilla, Madhu sent her good wishes to Parineeti and Raghav. I am very happy for Parineeti and Raghav. With all our blessings, she said.

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Even though Parineeti and Raghav have not issued any official statement regarding their relationship or engagement as of now, several media reports claim that they will exchange rings in New Delhi on May 13. The two are likely to get engaged in a traditional ceremony that will be held at Kapurthala House in Connaught Place. They have reportedly planned to wear matching outfits for their engagement ceremony. Raghav has chosen a simple achkan, specially crafted by his maternal uncle, fashion designer Pawan Sachdeva. On the other hand, Parineeti will wear an elegant traditional ensemble by Manish Malhotra.

The rumours of Parineetis engagement started making headlines after she was spotted with Raghav Chadha on various occasions. Reportedly, Parineeti and Raghav studied together at the London School of Economics and have been friends for a long time now.
Bollywood star Parineeti Chopra and AAP leader Raghav Chadha on Saturday made their first official public appearance as a couple hours after their engagement. The duo got engaged in a private ceremony attended by family members and political leaders.

The ceremony took place at the Central Delhis Kapurthala House and was attended by around 150 guests, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Parineetis cousin, film star Priyanka Chopra Jonas. Soon after announcing the news of their engagement on social media, Parineeti Chopra and Raghav Chadha stepped out to pose for the paparazzi stationed outside their engagement venue.

Parineeti Chopra stunned in a gorgeous all-white salwar suit, while Raghav looked handsome in a matching kurta pajama. Raghav held Parineeti close as they posed for the paparazzi. In a video, shared by celebrity photographer Viral Bhayani on Instagram, Raghav couldnt take his eyes off Parineeti, even as the paparazzi teased him by calling him jiju".

Soon after the ceremony, Priyanka Chopra also took to her Instagram account to congratulate the couple alongside a series of new photos from their engagement. Priyanka wrote: Congratulations Tisha and Raghav Cannot wait for the wedding! So happy for you both and the families. So fun to catch up with the fam!"

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Parineeti Chopra and Raghav Chadha were rumoured to be dating for a few months now. They were snapped together on several occasions. However, they never confirmed the news of their relationship. Parineeti often fielded the wedding questions with a blush. Rumours of the AAP MP and Parineetis wedding started in March after they were spotted together in Mumbai. The duo reached Delhi on Tuesday for the engagement.
Rashmika Mandanna is one of the most loved actresses who never fails to disappoint all with her adorable social media posts. On Friday night too, the Pushpa actress took to her Instagram handle and dropped a cute picture in which she was seen posing with a Naruto toy. Rashmika kissed the toy as she took a closeup selfie of herself.

Naruto is a young ninja in popular Japanese series. In the caption of her post, Rashmika tagged Naruto as her forever lover and dropped several heart emojis. Check out Rashmika Mandannas post here:

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Rashmika Mandanna (@rashmika_mandanna)

Soon after Rashmika shared the picture online, fans rushed to the comment section to shower love on their favourite actress. Posting pictures without filters and makeup .that shows how confident youre with yourself," one of the fans wrote. Another user dragged in Rashmikas rumoured boyfriend Vijay Deverakonda and called them the best couple in the world.

For the unversed, Rashmika Mandanna and Vijay Deverakondas relationship rumours often make headlines. The two starred together in movies like Geetha Govindam and Dear Comrade. However, they also have always maintained that they are just friends.

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Besides this, recently, it was also reported that Rashmika Mandanna is dating Telugu actor Sreenivas Bellamkonda. However, in an exclusive interview with News18 Showsha, Sreenivas clarified that the reports are baseless and added that they are just good friends. For some reason, Im someone who doesnt want people to talk about anything else happening in my life other than the movies I do. And this isnt in regard to this particular rumour only, he told us.

On the work front, Rashmika Mandanna will soon be seen in Pushpa 2 opposite Allu Arjun. She also has Animal with Ranbir Kapoor in her pipeline. Besides this, it is also being said that Rashmika will romance Shahid Kapoor in another Bollywood movie, an official announcement regarding which has now been made so far.
Vidyut Jammwal is a successful actor today but there was a time when he had no work at all. In a recent interview, the IB71 actor opened up about being unemployed in the past and recalled how he had no work when he initially shifted to Mumbai.

I am not from Mumbai. When I shifted to Mumbai, I faced unemployment, just like others. I was only at home. How much will one even exercise? How much can one roam around with friends? Because I have seen all that, I do not get tired of working today. Thats how it should be," the actor told India.com.

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Vidyut is often hailed for his action stunts in films. During the interaction, he also talked about the same. The actor shared that whenever he is not confident about performing a stunt, he believes in people who trust him and goes ahead to give his best. A lot of times theres a pressure. As an actor, when I perform stunts, people think that I can easily do it. But at the same time, I feel that I might not be able to do it. In such a case, I trust those people around and go ahead," he said.

Vidyut Jammwal made his Bollywood debut with Force in 2011 which also starred John Abraham. Later, he featured in several films including Commando-A One Man Army, Khuda Haafiz, Khuda Haafiz: Chapter 2  Agni Pariksha, Junglee, Sanak, The Power and Baadshaho among others. Vidyut was most recently seen in the spy-thriller IB71 along with Anupam Kher and Vishal Jethwa in key roles. The film is directed by national award winner Sankalp Reddy whereas it is produced by Vidyut Jammwal & Abbas Sayyed, co-produced by Aditya Shastri, Aditya Chowksey and Shiv Chanana. It was released in theatres on May 12 and gained mixed reviews from all.
The year 2022 can be termed as the year of conflict. Russias invasion of Ukraine prompted the US and Europe to rearm and push Russia and the US back into Cold War competition. In the Indo-Pacific, China and the US are facing each other with increasing hostility and suspicion, and some analysts fear a war over Taiwan. These dangers prompted President Joe Biden to declare that the world is at risk of annihilation for the first time since the Cuban missile crisis.

However, while conflict is now on the doorstep of Europe, it has been a dominant theme as far as large parts of the world are concerned, with wars raging in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan and particularly India, which is facing a collusive threat from both Pakistan and China as well as battling a proxy war. In a speech from Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the 2020s are the most dangerous decade since the end of World War II.

Differing Perspectives

One of the fallouts of the Ukrainian War is how differently much of the world, apart from the West, sees not only the war in Ukraine but also the broader global landscape. Shortly after the start of the war, President Biden had stated, The democracies of the world are revitalized with purpose and unity found in months that wed once taken years to accomplish. However, a year later it is evident that its not all black and white.

Governments and people across much of the world have not been convinced by the free world rhetoric propounded by the West in view of the Western double standards based on the past on issues most important to them. They are also suffering the fallouts of mounting costs of the prolonged war and sharpening geopolitical tensions. Their focus on the future includes dangers, as well as new opportunities, the war and the broader return of great-power conflict present for both individual countries and their regions.

Most are understandably more concerned about their climate vulnerability, access to advanced technology and capital, and their need for better infrastructure, health care, and education systems. They are also concerned with the rise in food fertiliser and fuel prices. The increasing global instability, both political and financial, is a threat to tackling such challenges. Todays world is a complex network of interconnections where trade, technology, migration, and the internet are bringing humans together as never before.

Shivshankar Menon, while writing in Foreign Affairs, stated clearly: Alienated and resentful, many developing countries see the war in Ukraine and the Wests rivalry with China as distracting from urgent issues such as debt, climate change, and the effects of the pandemic.

The US is in a weak position to defend global norms after the presidency of Donald Trump, which saw contempt for global rules and practices in areas as diverse as the climate, human rights, and nuclear non-proliferation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a speech on the first anniversary of the start of the war with Russia, declared that Ukraine has united the world. While the war has certainly united the West, it has left the world divided. And the rift as per David Miliband will only widen if Western countries fail to address its root causes.

Anatol Lieven, writing about Ukrainian nationalism after a recent visit to Kyviv, remarked how Ukrainian history intended to show Ukraine as both the true heir of early medieval Rus and permanently and innately European, while Russians are portrayed as innately and permanently cruel Asiatic savages. Statements like this are unlikely to garner support.

Concerns of Global South

Countries in the Global South are being viewed as fence sitters refusing to take sides in the war in Ukraine. Many in the West are questioning this stand and are unable to understand the reasons which have dictated this position. Speculations range from neutrality out of economic interests to ideological alignments with Moscow or even a lack of morals. But could it be that there is now a greater self-assurance existing with regard to their own strategic autonomy and an unwillingness to be drawn into a conflict between Russia and the US? They, therefore, seek to pursue their own interests and values within international institutions and contest Western understandings of legitimacy and fairness.

Countries need to maintain relations with all major powers. Managing a multipolar world entails keeping the channels of communication open with all the players and keeping all their options open for maximum flexibility. Therefore, countries are pursuing this strategy because they see the future division of global power as uncertain and wish to avoid commitments that will be hard to fulfil. Countries need to quickly adapt their foreign policies to unpredictable circumstances.

Many countries in the Global South find it difficult to accept Western claims of a rules-based order when the US and its allies frequently violate the rulescommitting atrocities in their various wars. There is also apparent hypocrisy in the US framing its conflict with Beijing and Moscow as a battle between democracy and autocracy as the US continues to selectively back authoritarian governments when and where it serves its interests. The West, however, routinely deals with violent autocracies to advance its own interests. The US is improving ties with Venezuela to get more oil. Europe is signing energy contracts with repressive Arab Gulf regimes, though the West claims that its foreign policy is guided by human rights and democracy.

In a series of UN votes since the Ukraine war broke out, around 40 countries representing nearly 50 percent of the worlds population have regularly abstained or voted against motions condemning the Russian invasion. 58 countries abstained from a vote, in April 2022, to expel Russia from the UN Human Rights Council. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, two-thirds of the worlds population live in countries that are officially neutral or supportive of Russia. There is no doubt anger at perceived Western double standards and stalled reform efforts in the international system.

Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva has described the invasion as a mistake, but he has also given credence to the argument that Russia has been wronged. Zelensky is as responsible as Putin for the war, his statement that highlights global ambivalence about the conflict.

In order to improve relations with developing countries and manage the evolving global order, the West must take the concerns of the Global South on climate change, trade, and much else, seriously.

Multi Polarity

Many in the West associate a multipolar world order with conflict and instability, preferring a dominant US, as was the case after the collapse of the Soviet Union. However, that view may not hold true amongst all nations where the prevailing narrative is that multipolarity could serve as a stable foundation for international order in the 21st century.

Part of this reasoning is backed by recent events. The post-Cold War unipolar moment witnessed wars in Afghanistan, the Balkans, and Iraq. US hegemony was unchecked, and they imposed their will in certain countries like Libya or let peripheral regional conflicts fester memories of bipolarity are no better. That was then. Today, the US power seems much diminished. They have suffered failed interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq and a deepening political polarisation under President Donald Trump.

Status of Russia

Russia may be on the path to accelerating its long-term decline, but it remains a major force to reckon with in the foreseeable future and a necessary player in negotiating an end to the war. Russia is still a global power of consequencewith a military footprint that extends across continents and a United Nations Security Council veto. Most countries in the Global South also see a total Russian defeat as undesirable, visualising that a broken Russia could result in a power vacuum which could destabilise countries beyond Europe.

Some analysts are talking about an impending implosion due to the combination of the strains of the war and its effect on Russian society but the likelihood of disintegration of central authority seems remote presently, as the Russian people are known to have the ability to stand up to hardship. The Western view may be right that Russia is violating human rights in Ukraine, but Western powers have also carried out similarly violent, unjust, and undemocratic interventions from Vietnam to Iraq.

Indias relationship with Russia has deep roots stretching back to the Cold War, and the ties between both countries are special and privileged. Russia accounts for roughly 60 percent of Indias defence equipment, and over the years, Russia has supplied India with many advanced weapons. Today, Russia is also a major source of Indias crude requirements. Another reason is the growing closeness of ties between China and Russia. The worry is that isolating Moscow would just push it closer to China.

The View from India

As India prepares to hold the G20 summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi writes about catalysing a new mindset within humanity, helping the world move beyond greed and confrontation, and cultivating a universal sense of one-ness. The theme being One Earth, One Family, One Future. Rather than war and rivalry, the prime minister declared the greatest challenges humanity faces today are climate change, terrorism, and pandemicsissues that can be solved not by fighting each other, but only by acting together.

India is not promoting Western calls for Russias isolation. It feels that it needs to strengthen itself and address the worlds shared challenges, and has the right to work with everyone. This perspective isnt unique to India. Much of the Global South is wary of being dragged into siding with the US against China or Russia. And they have watched rich and powerful states disregard these views and preferences in pursuit of their geopolitical interests. Neutrality is nothing new. We are not pro-Russian, nor for that matter are we pro-American, is what Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had said, We are pro-Indian.

In January, Prime Minister Modi said that all developing states had encountered similar challenges in the last three years, such as rising prices for fuel, fertiliser, and food as well as increasing geopolitical tensions that have affected their economies. Developing countries desire a globalisation that does not create climate crisis or debt crisis. He also called for fundamental reforms to major international organisations, including the UN Security Council and international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, so that they will better represent the global South.

But the West still remains Indias most important trading partner, the major source of capital and technology including defence technology, and the preferred destination for the Indian diaspora. India is seen as aligning more towards the US in view of the expansionism of China and membership of the QUAD is reflective of this.

Conclusion

French President Macron had said, I am struck by how we have lost the trust of the Global South. He is right. Or as David Miliband writing in Foreign Policy has stated, War in Ukraine has allowed the West to rediscover its strength and sense of purpose. But the conflict should also help Western governments confront their weaknesses and missteps. These need to be addressed not dismissed.

The truth remains that whatever the merits of arguments regarding Ukraine, geopolitics, and the international system, the leadership in most countries cannot afford to disregard the core interests of their countries and the challenges faced by them. If unaddressed, these will become a source of even greater challenge and disorder in the years ahead, no matter what happens on the battlefields in Ukraine. The gulf in perceptions is dangerous for the world facing enormous global risks.

The author is an Army veteran. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
Eight or nine months ago, a senior journalist from Karnataka ad told me about the deep rot in the Karnataka government. He leans towards Hindutva and is not a Congress or JD(S) apologist, so I took his criticism of the BJP seriously. Soon after, when I brought up the grouses against the Karnataka government with a very senior BJP politician from the south, he said he was aware and the party needed to repair the damage.

Most BJP supporters I have met from Karnataka since  ordinary citizens as well as those in public life  have unequivocally said that the state party was corrupt and its leadership was limp. Saturdays Karnataka verdict squarely reflects their disappointment.

The BJP must realise that after the coming of Narendra Modi and trailblazing success driven by performance, it can no longer live in the warmth of low expectations. Voters have set the bar much higher for the BJP than for other parties.

Here are five things the BJP seemed to have forgotten in its Karnataka campaign

First, the party has to be clean. It cannot say, Look, the Congress and JD(S) are far more corrupt. Corruption became so casual in the officialdom under Basavaraj Bommai that the Congress PayCM campaign connected directly with the people. Also, the Bommai government did nothing to bring to book Congress politicians like DK Shivakumar, who are accused of massive corruption. More than a pro-Congress, the Karnataka verdict has been to punish the BJP for reneging on its basic contract with the people.

Second, even in small states like Himachal Pradesh, the absence of strong and dynamic local leaders is hurting the BJP. Having a strong high command but weak local leaders demolishes a big differentiator between the BJP and the Congress. Today, Yogi Adityanath, Himanta Biswa Sarma, and Shivraj Singh Chouhan can pull their parties on their own. But in many states, over-reliance on Modi and poor talent spotting has marred the BJPs chances.

Third, it needs to be a lot more clear and assertive about Hindutva. Its core ideology cannot be a matter of shy subterfuge during elections. Like its spells out development goals, the BJP must be more upfront with its civilisational targets, even locally.

Fourth, the party has failed to shed its reliance on caste arithmetic despite its proclamations to the contrary. The breach of the traditionally saffron Lingagayat vote even in strongholds like Kittur shows that unless the BJP takes risks and breaks comfortable structures of the past, these will let it down sooner or later.

And fifth is that to be the party with a difference, the BJP needs to have another tide of new people and new ideas. Himachal and Karnataka losses are not to be taken lightly. They show that the old guard in any party does not give up power easily, but keeps playing their sly games in the backdrop to remain relevant and extract favour for family and friends even if it means damaging the party.

Modi BJP, despite its monstrous size, is a lean, innovative, merit-rewarding and risk-taking machine. If power stagnates the BJPs thinking and it gets stuck in the muck, the partys own weight will bring it down.

Abhijit Majumder is a senior journalist. Views expressed are personal.
At 10:30-11:00 am on the 13th of May, as the seventh to eighth rounds of counting was ongoing, the Congress party was clearly ahead in the Karnataka ssembly elections. The Karnataka electorate, true to form, was getting ready to change horses after the end of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) term in office. The BJP could not beat the anti-incumbency of a strong order, unlike in the minor disgruntlement in Gujarat.

The Congress was ahead by two seats beyond the halfway mark of 113, given that one person will exit to become the Speaker. However, for the stability of the incoming government, the Congress tally needed to be better than 120. As the counts progressed, the figures were achieved.

At 1:00 pm, Congress had 128 seats, a little later, 132, prompting a euphoric CM aspirant and probable Siddaramaiah, to address the press. He not only expressed pleasure at the results, beaming throughout as firecrackers were let off but waxed eloquent. He suggested this election was important as an indication that the people of India wanted the Modi government out at the Centre too. He said multiple rallies addressed by Prime Minister Modi were to no avail in Karnataka. With the Opposition unity, the BJP could be ousted at the Centre, and Rahul Gandhi could become the prime minister.

How all this  designed to please the Congress high command  will sit with other aspirants in the Opposition, is the question.

This figure of 132 seats won is just as well, as the Congress can now launch its government without any fear of defection or erosion of its majority for other reasons. The only way the Congress government in Karnataka could crumble now is if there was a major split due to internal rivalries, a possibility that the BJP could well look into, given its record.

The anti-incumbency affecting the BJP has restricted it to under 70 seats. The charges of rampant corruption and lack-lustre leadership have bitten deep, as has the partial abandonment of the critical Lingayat community. Apparently, certain Lingayat Mutts were angered by demands for commission as kickbacks from the monies paid to them by the BJP government.

A double engine sarkar with an incompetent, weak, corrupt, local engine, clearly does not work. With the media saying so for long in the lead-up to the elections, why did the BJP leadership choose to ignore this ground reality? They not only lost the support of some of the Lingayats, but also the tribals that had voted solidly for the BJP in 2018.

Party President JP Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah have to introspect and course correct. It is not enough to use the charismatic Prime Minister Modi at the penultimate moment to compensate for all local problems. In the end, it ends up embarrassing him too.

The forthcoming Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are all direct contests between the BJP and the Congress. The BJP is now seen as vulnerable, their strategies ineffective and in disarray. The Opposition can feel strengthened with the Congress as its national pivot, provided this can be sold to the regional satraps.

If the BJP is not able to reverse its losing streak in the remaining Assembly elections before the general elections of 2024, it may be in trouble. Even on a post-election basis, assuming the ultimate leadership issues are not solved in advance, the Opposition could come together to oust the BJP unless they win a majority of the seats. Can the BJP, perceived by many as arrogant, looking at two losses in a row after Himachal Pradesh, both in direct one-on-one battles with the Congress, learn from this one?

In both elections, the Congress stuck closely to local issues and offered well-designed incentives and SOPs for the people. These were apparently appreciated by the voters, most recently, the so-called five guarantees in Karnataka. BJP did not change its strategy in response. And with an increasingly remote high command, many of the BJPs core voters feel let down. They voted for a Hindutva-promoting party and not one that is increasingly wooing minorities with little result.

The past tells us that Assembly elections have often been decided on local considerations and national issues do not have much resonance. The same people generally vote differently in Lok Sabha elections, but is the Narendra Modi-led BJP going into elections in 2024 representing its core voter interests? Items such as the Uniform Civil Code are only promised at election time in state after state and then quietly shelved. Many seem to think Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh is doing a better job at what the core BJP voter expects, than the Modi-Shah combine at the Centre.

The loss of Karnataka is a loss of BJPs only gateway to the South of India, except for an NDA presence in Pondicherry, and the impact of this loss will be profound. With talk of a breakaway Republic of South India, possibly as a pressure tactic, Rahul Gandhis notions that India is a Union of States and mention of Karnatakas sovereignty by Sonia Gandhi in a recent speech, the implications can be ominous.

Things may have gone very differently with a strong BJP local leadership in Karnataka. For example, Uttar Pradesh had municipal local elections simultaneously, with the BJP sweeping them. The strength of the Yogi administration is cited as the main reason. And this is the Yogi governments second consecutive term in office.

The Basavraj Bommai administration in Karnataka, by way of contrast, displayed neither energy and charisma in the election campaign, nor administrative skill over his term. He came out to concede the election at about 12:30 pm. So why was Bommai, who has not performed, retained for the entire length of time? So many incumbents were replaced at the time of handing out party tickets for this election, so why not Bommai? Can Bommai, who is still in position, lead the Opposition for the years going forward which will see a general election in 2024?

The marginalisation and on-off usage of Lingayat patriarch BS Yediyurappa has also cost the BJP dearly, and not for the first time. LK Advani had also pushed out allegedly corrupt Yediyurappa in the first BJP term in Karnataka, resulting in the loss of the state. The introduction of Yediyurappas son to compensate for his absence in semi-retirement in this election did not pull the same weight with the voters.

Congress ultimately does not need to reach out to some of the 5-7 independents showing leads, in order to bolster their numbers. Nor does it need the help of the kingmaker JDS, which ended up with around 20 seats. However, all is not necessarily well.

There are extreme rivalries between the top Karnataka Congress leaders. One between former Chief Minister Siddaramiah and aspirant State Party President DK Shivakumar. Several other Congress leaders are there with ministerial ambitions they wont like to be done out of. One more incoming MLA from the tribal community, KH Muniyappa, wants to be a chief minister too. Dalit Congress Party President Mallikarjun Kharges name has also been put forward by DK Shivakumar as a possible CM contender.

In the end, the senior Siddaramaiah, who said this was his last election, will probably be chosen to lead the Congress government. DK Shivakumar, a lifelong Congressman, who is only 61, may have to wait his turn.

The writer is a Delhi-based political commentator. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
Many politicians, communist leaders, and their supporters have long taken humanity and human rights for granted. A mindset that feeds on the ruin of others for selfish reasons. This poisonous mentality has claimed the lives of countless people, including children and women. Worse, those who promote and sustain these inhumane practices present themselves as protectors of mankind. A few of the worst humanitarian issues happening in large parts of the world are the exploitation and nearly extinction of minorities (Hindus including Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Christians) in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, ISIS ruthlessness in bringing Islamic state rule all over the world, exploitation of minorities in China by the Communist Party of China, North Koreas communist-based dictatorship, Boko Haram, conversion rackets and many other such inhumane activities.

Who is directly or indirectly sponsoring these inhumane activities? Is it not sponsored throughout the years by economic powerhouses like the US, the Chinese government, a few European countries, and countries such as Turkey? Worse, these countries are questioning human rights in India, where minorities are treated fairly and with overwhelming support from the majority, i.e. the Hindus, but the selfish and power-oriented agendas of many politicians and communist followers, nationally and internationally, have rendered human rights into inhuman rights. The repercussions of such a mindset and functioning are disastrous, as seen by Love Jihad," Land Jihad," terrorism, and an ideology that seeks to convert the entire globe to one faith. Is it true that the act of love jihad is increasingly being used as a shorthand for a purported conversion strategy for motives ranging from recruiting into Islamic terror organisations and sex trafficking to changing Indias demography?

The purpose of The Kashmir Files or The Kerala Story is not to poison peoples minds and cause unrest in society, but to raise awareness and allow the international community to be aware of the worst reality and take timely action before this kind of terrorism spreads its wings in every part of the world. We are grateful to the high and supreme courts for their decision to allow the film to be released. This should not be viewed just as a religious problem, but rather as an attack on humanity by certain political classes, conversion mafias and many followers of communism.

Communists should watch The Kerala Story and listen to the girl named Gitanjali" when she questioned her communist parents why they hadnt taught her about Sanatana Dharma, numerous ceremonies, and cultural traditions when she realised the trap and ruined her life in Love Jihad." The communists must recognise the distinction between Dharma and religion. Though we must respect all religions, Sanatana Dharma principles must be instilled in children so that they are not misled in the name of God and destroy their lives. Hinduness or Sanatana is a dharma that never forces people to worship a certain deity and accepts even atheists entirely. In contrast, some faiths believe that their path is the only way and that everyone must follow it or face punishment from their god. True peace will only exist if experts from these religions appreciate all faiths and teach their communities to respect diversity, culture, and traditions. Can detractors of Sanatana Dharma establish that Bharat targeted any country and took the land, and resources, destroyed culture and worshipping places, converted religion, and plundered vast wealth? However, this has been happening for many centuries with our magnificent nation, and Sanatana adherents have never retaliated to grab or loot. However, many political leaders and communists have continued to target Sanatana Dharma out of hatred, and whatever we are experiencing in Kashmir, Kerala or other parts is only the result of this mindset.

The human rights commission, judiciary, and citizens of America, a few European nations, and China should question why they do not follow human rights principles in their own country and even destroy other countries by arming and ammunitioning antisocial elements, providing massive financial and military support, and exploiting the natural resources of other nations? How come the American administration forgets their countrys black-and-white disaster when they question human rights in India? It is Bharat and its prime minister, who are staunch followers of Sanatana Dharma, who have saved thousands of refugees from war-torn Syria, Yemen, and Sudan without seeing their religion and country. This is the essence of humanity.

If we remain silent in the face of crimes committed against our brothers and sisters, Afghanistan, Kashmir, and Kerala are only the tip of the iceberg; in the near future, humanity will be entirely decimated, and terrorists will govern the globe. Many Indian politicians, communists, and foreign-funded activists must recognise that their short-term goal of gaining power and accumulating wealth by any means will ultimately destroy their future generations if they continue to support anti-social elements and harbour a deep hatred for Sanatana Dharma. Because of this sort of thinking and animosity, our forefathers have already paid a high price in terms of culture, money, and resources, as well as developing a slave mindset.

As responsible citizens, we must focus on, follow, and apply the following points:

Teach and practice cultural and dharmic traditions to youngsters, and help them grasp the scientific, spiritual, and global good attitude that underpins these activities and worship. Put pressure on governments to include the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Bhagavad Gita in school curricula as soon as feasible. Do not support any political party, NGO, or other social organisation that opposes the concept of Great Bharat. Instill in your children the value of nation first following great culture and self last.

Let mankind triumph according to dharma, and religious fanaticism disappear.

The writer is a commentator on politico-cultural subjects. Views expressed are personal.
The much-awaited Karnataka ssembly election 2023 results are on the expected lines. The victory is a shot in the arm for the struggling Congress party and is bound to boost the morale of the party workers ahead of the Assembly polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, which will be held later this year. More importantly, Opposition unity talks will gain momentum in a big way. Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) leader, Nitish Kumar, has already met a few Opposition leaders in his efforts to stitch together an anti-BJP alliance.

Can a united Opposition deny a third term to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2024?

Politics is the art of the possible and anything can happen within a year, but the Congress victory in Karnataka is no guarantee that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) can be prevented from winning a third successive term. There is also no guarantee that the BJP could face defeat in 2024 even if the Congress again manages to win Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

As of now, there are only unanswered questions:

Can the Opposition leaders put behind their egos, differences and ambitions to form a pre-poll block? Or can any Opposition alliance only be a post-poll arrangement depending on numbers? Will Congress be the axis of any pre-poll Opposition unity? And  the all-important question  who will be the prime ministerial candidate of the joint Opposition? Will it be Mamata Banerjee, Rahul Gandhi or Nitish Kumar? Or could it be Sharad Pawar who emerges as a compromise candidate?

There are no easy answers. In the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections, the BJP emerged as the single largest party and fell short of a majority. But that did not prevent the saffron party from sweeping the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The Congress that had won 80 seats in 2018 could win only one Lok Sabha seat.

But what happened in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in 2019 was shocking. In the winter of 2018, the Congress:

Won Chhattisgarh Assembly polls comfortably

Secured a simple majority in Rajasthan with the support of six BSP MLAs

Dislodged the BJP in a tight race in Madhya Pradesh

In five months, all those gains were wiped out. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Congress could win only two seats in Chhattisgarh, just one in MP, and it could not win a single seat in Rajasthan.

By now, its more or less clear from all accounts that state elections are largely fought on local issues and the popularity of regional leaders plays a major role in the outcome. A case in point being Mamata Banerjee and Naveen Patnaik, who remain formidable in their home turfs. But in the general elections, the equation can change quickly, if not always, and in all the states. At the same time, theres no pan-India pattern of split voting either.

The nationalistic fervour post-Balakot strike and Modis strongman image are the two primary reasons generally attributed to the BJPs emphatic 2019 victory. That may have been the case in Northern India and Gujarat but the same cannot be said about all of India  especially the South. In Andhra Pradesh, Jagan Mohan Reddys party and in Tamil Nadu, M K Stalin-led DMK alliance had made a clean sweep of Lok Sabha polls. K Chandrashekar Raos (KCR) party had managed to win more than half of the parliamentary seats in Telangana. In Kerala, the BJP couldnt win a single seat. Karnataka was the sole exception.

In Odisha, Patnaiks BJD once again won a landslide in the Assembly elections held simultaneously with the general elections but its Lok Sabha tally came down to 12 seats. The 2019 Lok Sabha elections dealt a big blow to Banerjees TMC as the BJP secured 18 out of 39 seats in Bengal, up from two in 2014. The 2019 Odisha results had generated a lot of chatter about split voting. But thats difficult to establish since Patnaiks party had won 20 out of 21 seats in 2014, despite the Modi wave. In Karnataka, the BJP has a strong presence but South India remains a big worry for the ruling party.

After the 2019 general elections, two significant developments have taken place in the Opposition camp. The first is the coming together of polar opposites such as the Shiv Sena, Sharad Pawars NCP and the Congress to form a government in Maharashtra. The dalliance lasted only two and half years till the Sena rebels, led by current Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, split the party. Despite court and Election Commission setbacks, ground reports suggest that Uddhav Thackeray still enjoys popular support, whose real test will be the next elections.

The other big shift was in Bihar where Nitish Kumar, true to his wont, ditched the BJP. He joined hands with Lalu Yadavs RJD to recreate the Mahagathbandhan that had defeated the BJP in the 2015 Bihar Assembly elections. This will be the first Lok Sabha test for the Mahagathbandhan in a state that majorly votes on caste lines. The outcomes in Bihar and Maharashtra that send 88 Lok Sabha MPs together can have a significant bearing on Opposition unity.

But not everyone is as enthusiastic about joining the oust Modi campaign. Patnaik, whose party has no national ambition, made it clear once again that he wont join any front, a day after meeting Nitish Kumar in Bhubaneswar. Whether or not Jagan Reddy will be inclined to do so could depend on his rival Chandrababu Naidus next move. The strains in Opposition unity are already visible on issues like the Congress demand for Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Adani controversy.

Who will be the Oppositions PM candidate also remains a vexed issue. After the Congress lost the last two Lok Sabha elections under Rahul Gandhi, the regional satraps see him as more of a liability. Assuming the TMC and the DMK go on to sweep the 2024 elections, why would they hand the PMs seat to Pawar?

Its not the first time the Opposition leaders have embarked on attempting to create a grand alliance as an alternative to the BJP. Banerjee and KCR have both tried and failed before. Now, Nitish Kumar is giving it a shot. But without an active Congress role and an emphatic Congress performance, it could turn out to be a futile exercise as numbers would be difficult to add up. Also, the Congress is yet to set its own house in order in Rajasthan where the Sachin Pilot question remains unresolved and Jyotiraditya Scindias departure has weakened the party in Madhya Pradesh.

Plus, there is no clear sign of any anti-incumbency against the Modi government at the Centre and his popularity, by all accounts, remains intact. There is no reason to disbelieve that the BJP will sweep Uttar Pradesh yet again where its Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath enjoys massive public support. The Karnataka win may not mean much unless the Opposition scores big victories in more than one North Indian state. Despite the Karnataka loss, Modi remains in pole position as far as the 2024 race is concerned.

N C Satpathy is senior editor at CNN-News18. Views expressed are personal.
Egypt signed on Tuesday a new United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework Agreement (UNSDCF 2023-2027) with the United Nations to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

The signing ceremony was attended by Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly; UN Resident Coordinator in Egypt Elena Panova; and representatives from development organizations, specialized UN agencies, ministers, and officials.

During the ceremony, PM Madbouly asserted that the signing is a culmination of Egypts and the UNs developmental relations over the years, highlighting Egypts role as one of the founders of the organization in 1945.

For her part, Panova said "I am happy to report that we mobilized the UN system to come on board. Twenty-six UN entities based in Egypt have jointly worked on this Cooperation Framework and will sign it today. We will see seven additional UN agencies  that have not participated in the last Framework  joining other agencies under this years agreement.

In 2018, Egypt had signed a five-year partnership agreement (2018-2022) with the UN under the United Nations Partnership Development Framework (UNPDF).

The UNPDF was fully aligned with Egypts Vision 2030 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Panova stressed that the UN General Assembly Resolution has identified the Cooperation Framework as the most critical instrument for planning and implementing UN development activities at the country level."

The Framework unpacks the three dimensions of Sustainable Development, including the social, economic, and environmental dimensions. It includes a dedicated outcome area on the empowerment of women and girls and a new priority area on transparency, good governance, and the rule of law.

Egypt has begun implementing an economic reform programme with the support of its development partners, Madbouly affirmed, citing Egypts programmes alignment with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as UN affiliated national strategies.

The reform programme included several social protection measures targeting groups that are most in need, Madbouly said, citing the expansion of Egypts cash transfer programme Takaful and Karama (Solidarity and Dignity) which already provides support to millions of families.

The government has also increased pensions and wages; adopted tax exemption for low-income citizens; and provided various forms of support for basic goods and services, the prime minister added.

Furthermore, Madbouly asserted that Egypt is aware of the challenges that still exist, stressing the unprecedented shocks received by the Egyptian and global economy due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian Crisis.

In response to these shocks, he said, the government took swift and decisive measures to stimulate economic activity as well as strengthen social protection programmes.

Madbouly emphasized the importance of the African continent, highlighting that it comprises 71 percent of the world's least developed countries, which requires more collaborative international efforts and multilateral projects to strengthen its private sector, human capital, and infrastructure.

For her part, Panova said "We sign this Cooperation Framework at a crucial moment for Africa, and for Egypt."

She noted that the African continent, particularly Egypt, is currently experiencing a series of interrelated crises that jeopardize hard-won development gains for both present and future generations.

The United Nations Sustainable Group website states that the UNSDCF represents the UN development systems collective offer to support countries in addressing key Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) priorities and gaps. It begins and ends with an analysis of the national development landscape and SDG priorities, including through the lens of the imperative to leave no one behind.

According to the UNSDCF document, the framework also provides guidance to UN Country Teams (UNCTs) as they plan, finance, deliver and evaluate their support to countries in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), typically over a five-year cycle.

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The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Friday ordered an inquiry into the alleged non-compliance by Google related to the CCI order regarding the Play Store user choice billing policy.

The order was in response to the Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) submission with the Indian market regulator on Google not complying with the CCI directions and introducing user choice billing (UCB) which is unfair, irrational and discriminatory".

The CCI had penalised Google for indulging in unfair practices and directed the company to follow certain corrective measures regarding the same.

The CCI in October had imposed a penalty of Rs 936.44 crore on Google for abusing its dominant position with respect to its Play Store policies.

The ADIF reached out to the CCI over the non-compliance by Google and in response, the CCI has not only stated that an enquiry needs to be made against the compliance by Google" but has also directed Google to file a detailed response to a set of queries mentioned in the order, including information on its processes and internal policies regarding data sharing, data-steering provisions, UCB policy".

The tech-giant has been provided with 4 weeks to provide its responses to the queries.

Google in January introduced various changes in its Play Store policies and introduced user choice billing as reforms in compliance with the directives of CCI.

The changes, however, were not compliant with the order, according to the ADIF.

The ADIFs spokesperson had slammed the changes and termed them irrational, unfair and discriminatory" in nature.

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ADIF also maintained that the changes will not be beneficial in any manner and will only hurt the startup ecosystem in the long run.

In another Android case, Google has paid the entire penalty amount of Rs 1,337.76 crore imposed by the CCI.
It is common for the police force to track suspects with the help of guard dogs, but have you ever heard of cows being credited for successful search operations? The Boone Police Department in North Carolina in the US was assisted by a cow to track a man who fled during a traffic stop. After a heated drive chase, the accused, Joshua Russel, apparently abandoned his vehicle and ran on foot. The police officers failed to see where the man fled in an undeveloped area. When officers began searching the area, they received unexpected assistance from local cows who directly led them to Joshuas hiding spot. Why the cow helped the search force remains unclear, but officers assume it could have been because the animals were annoyed by the trespasser.

Apparently, cows do not want suspected criminals loitering in their pasture and quickly assisted our officers by leading them directly to where the suspect was hiding. The cows communicated with the officers as best they could and finally just had the officers follow them to the suspects location. In addition to thanking our officers and deputies for putting themselves in harms way; obviously, we want to express our gratitude to the cows for their assistance, the Town of Boone Police Department wrote in a Facebook post.

After receiving the unexpected assistance, authorities have begun to assess if bovines can help in crime fighting. Theyve begun examining the possibilities of forming a Bovine Tracking Unit in the department. But this requires considering a set of factors including:

How adaptable are cows to a variety of police work or can they just find hiding suspects?

Are cows more cost-effective than K-9 dogs?

How will we transport cows to the scenes, and is this compatible with the Towns sustainability goals in terms of the types of vehicles needed obviously there are methane issues.

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Cost of training, vet care, ballistic vests, etc.?

The 34-year-old suspect was charged with one count of eluding arrest, driving with a revoked license, and disorderly conduct. He was taken to a magistrate court where a bond was set for $20,000 (approximately Rs 16 lakh). He will appear before a local court on June 28.
Landlords generally dont visit their tenants often as long as rent is paid on time. One such landlord in the United Kingdom found the corpse of a pensioner living in his house six years after the tenants death. The landlord discovered the body of the tenant while he visited the property to check the gas connection.

Robert Alton was 76 when he died in May 2017, but his body was only found on March 9 this year inside the landlords Bolton, UK flat. The landlord belongs to the Bolton at Home housing company, which has more than 18 thousand homes across the city.

Manchester Evening News reported that the CEO of Bolton at Home Noel Sharpee said that it was completely unacceptable that this had happened. Robert unfortunately has no traceable relatives and his rent was paid via housing benefits which led to the owner not suspecting the death of the elderly.

Sharpe said, Everyone at Bolton at Home has been deeply shocked by this and we realise it will concern and upset people to learn his body remained undiscovered for such a long time. Its completely unacceptable to us that something like this has happened, and weve taken action to reduce the risk of it happening again.

She then revealed that they made several attempts to contact Robert over the years to arrange for gas safety checks.

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Sharpe further said that they could have done more to check on Roberts welfare. The open verdict was recorded by Coroner Peter Sigee.

Altons death has not been treated as suspicious by Greater Manchester Police. Sharpe revealed that the companys procedures changed in July 2022 and they now immediately begin the process of trying to access their homes via a warrant in case they cannot contact the people living in the house. This change is what led to the gas check in Roberts house and his body being subsequently found rotting.
Using dozens of cameras set up throughout Swedens massive forests, weeks-long live broadcasts of elk and other wild animals, or just as often not much at all, have captured Swedish audiences hearts. As three elks timidly approach a lake on screen, comments next to the live feed flood in. Go on!", Jump in!", Theyre beautiful!" people write before the elk eventually turn back and move away.

Its a typical scene from the programme Den Stora Algvandringen" (The Great Elk Migration"), another example of so-called slow TV", where things are just left to happen at their own pace and are an antidote to the stress of everyday life.

The genre was originally initiated in 2009 in Norway with the broadcast of a seven-hour recording from a camera attached to a train travelling through the snowy countryside.

Aired for a few weeks each spring by public broadcaster SVT on TV and online, Den Stora Algvandringen" attracts a large community that watches and comments on the animals every move.

Moose (elks) are called the kings of the forest," Ingvar Persson, a regular viewer, told AFP.

There are over 300,000 of them in Sweden.

Popular

They are a very special symbol for Swedish people," the 61-year-old added.

A hunter in his spare time, Persson said he enjoys the slow and natural pace of the show.

Its kind of relaxing and also fascinating Most of the time you spend in a forest there wont be that much happening.

Its basically wind blowing and you are waiting for something hopefully showing up. You might think that a day spent waiting would be a day lost but its not," Persson said.

Launched five years ago, the production has been a major success in the Scandinavian country, with viewers logging a combined 12 million hours in 2022. The latest broadcasts started on April 23 and 2023 looks to be a record year.

I had no idea it would be this popular," producer Johan Erhag said.

On all the social media, everything is very stressed. Theres a lot of music in programmes. Theres a lot of speaking. And this is the totally opposite way," Erhag explained.

Not like Disney

We cant decide what happens We dont want to do a Disney programme where everything is perfect. I mean, this is nature, anything can happen. And we really want to show what it is like," he added.

The video feed is monitored in real time from a control room lined with screens.

Teams work shifts day and night to offer alternating viewpoints from 30 cameras  some of which can be controlled remotely  scattered around the Kullberg region in the centre of the country.

In the spring, the region is known to be a popular route for large mammals heading to new pastures.

Even if its not a motion forward, there are still many things to look at and it still communicates this feeling of nature," Anders Lindberg, a columnist for Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, told AFP.

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Its a form of meditation, which I think for many people is something that they need in their lives, and something they lack for example in big cities like Stockholm," he added.

Its TV, its show business and its quite good show business. I think this could be exported to other countries also. The whole concept of sitting and watching nothing happening for hours and hours could be quite healthy for more people than us".
At least one helicopter crashed on Saturday in a southern Russian region bordering Ukraine, local authorities said, with one official saying Moscow has lost four aircraft.

In a terse statement on messaging app Telegram, Alexander Bogomaz, the governor of the Bryansk region in southern Russia, said a helicopter crashed in the town of Klintsy.

He did not say what happened to the crew but added that a woman suffered injuries and was hospitalised.

Five houses have been damaged," he said, without elaborating on the reason behind the crash.

But in a conflicting statement, Vladimir Rogov, a Moscow-installed official in the Russian-controlled part of Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine, said that four Russian aircraft had been shot out of the sky: two MI-8 helicopters, an SU-35 fighter jet and an SU-34 fighter bomber.

He said that the crew of the helicopters and the SU-34 had died.

He did not provide further details.

Footage of several Russian aircraft crashing in the region of Bryansk has been circulating on Russian social media. One video shows a helicopter apparently being hit and catching fire.

There was no immediate comment from the Russian defence ministry.

Russians are very upset today," Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on social media.

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We can understand them: minus two fighter jets and minus two helicopters."

Western allies have delivered increasingly powerful weapons to Ukraine, and Britain this week announced it would send Storm Shadow missiles, becoming the first country to send longer-range arms to Kyiv.
Daniel Penny, a former US marine, who placed homeless busker Jordan Neely in a fatal chokehold on the New York subway was arraigned on charges of manslaughter.

The 24-year-old is being accused of killing the 30-year-old on May 1. The former marine, who is currently a student, did not enter a plea. Pennys lawyers have argued that their client did not know that the action would lead to the buskers death.

The homeless man allegedly reacted violently after he entered a train car in the New York City subway (aka metro rail) and whipped his shirt around saying he was fed up of being hungry and thirsty. There were eyewitnesses who perceived Neelys actions to be violent.

Shortly after, Penny came in and put Neely in a chokehold and held him in that position for more than 2 minutes, with two other people helping him restrain Neely, who was flailing his arms about in order to free himself.

There were eyewitnesses who perceived Neelys actions to be violent but there were also eyewitnesses who felt that Penny pinning him down with that chokehold for such a long duration of time was also excessive.

The entire event was recorded on their phone by freelance journalist Juan Alberto Vazquez, who also said that Neely threatened people but did not attack anyone.

The New York City chief medical examiner ruled that Neelys death resulted from compression of the neck and ruled it a homicide.

Penny appeared at the Manhattan Criminal Court on Friday but was later released on $100,000 (80,000) in cash bail. He has been directed to return to court on July 17 and turn over his passport and seek permission to cross state lines.

Penny was questioned by the police on the day of the incident and then later released.

The footage of the altercation has led to protests in several American cities and the Manhattan district attorneys office has launched a probe.

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Penny faces a count of second-degree manslaughter and 15 years behind bars if he is convicted. The jury has to find that Penny engaged in behaviour which created an unjustifiable risk of death, the BBC said.

(with inputs from the BBC)
Germany plans to phase out its Tiger combat helicopters by 2038 and replace the fleet over time with H145M light military helicopters, built  like the Tiger  by Airbus, the defence ministry said on Saturday.

The decision had been expected as Germany effectively withdrew from a multinational programme to modernise the helicopters years ago while France and Spain in 2022 agreed to participate. Berlin has repeatedly complained about the Tigers low availability for operations due to technical problems.

A German Defence Ministry spokesperson said the Tiger fleet would be phased out by 2038 unless further measures were taken, confirming a report by Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

The ministry had looked into different scenarios and decided that the MkIII programme to modernise the helicopters carried too many risks with regard to cost and timely execution to take part in it, she added.

Instead of keeping the Tiger alive, the ministry plans to purchase H145M light military helicopters from Airbus to be able to fulfil its commitments to NATO in the future, she said, without giving details on numbers and costs.

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The ministry plans to present a deal to parliaments budget committee for approval by the end of the year, according to the spokesperson.
Italy's leaders promised on Saturday full military and financial backing for Ukraine and reiterated support for its EU membership bid as President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Rome for the first time since the war began.

Zelensky met President Sergio Mattarella and then Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni before he was due to head to the Vatican for talks with Pope Francis, who said in late April the Holy See is involved in a peace mission to end the war with Russia.

Both Mattarella and Meloni reiterated Italy's full support for Ukraine in terms of military, financial, humanitarian, and reconstruction aid in the short and long term.

At a news conference after her meeting with Zelensky, Meloni condemned Russia's "brutal and unjust aggression," pledged Italy's support for Ukraine for "as long as is necessary," and urged Russia to immediately withdraw.

"You can't achieve peace through a surrender," she said, echoing a previous comment by Mattarella. "It would be a very grave precedent for all nations of the world".

She emphasised Italy's support for Ukraine's membership of the European Union and the "intensification" of a partnership with NATO.

As he headed to the presidential palace, Zelensky's motorcade passed by small groups of people holding Ukrainian flags. One person held up a sign condemning Russia.

Zelensky flew to Rome on an Italian government plane that was escorted over Italian airspace by fighter jets. He was due to be received in Berlin on Sunday.

INTRIGUING PAPAL MISSION

The meeting with the pope is expected to be the most significant part of Zelensky's time in Italy. He previously met the pope at the Vatican in 2020 and the two have had several phone conversations since the war began.

At the start of the war, the pope tried to take a balanced approach in hopes of being a mediator but later began forcefully condemning Russia's actions, comparing them to some of the worst crimes against Ukraine during the Soviet era.

Returning from a trip to Hungary on April 30, Francis made an intriguing but puzzling comment about the Vatican being involved in a mission to try to end the war. "There is a mission in course now but it is not yet public. When it is public, I will reveal it," he told reporters during his flight home.

Francis met this week with Russia's outgoing ambassador to the Vatican, Alexander Avdeyev, and the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero reported that the Vatican may have given the envoy a letter for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Francis has pleaded for peace practically on a weekly basis and has repeatedly expressed a wish to act as a broker between Kyiv and Moscow. His offer has so far failed to produce any breakthrough.

The pope has a standing invitation from Zelensky to visit Kyiv but the pope has said previously that he also wants to visit Moscow as part of the same peace mission.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal met the pope at the Vatican on April 27 and said he had discussed a "peace formula" put forward by Zelenskiy.

Zelensky and his team have been vigorously promoting Kyiv's 10-point peace plan and urging world leaders to hold a Global Peace Summit based on the proposals.

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It calls for restoring Ukraine's territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities, and the restoration of Ukraine's state borders. Zelensky has repeatedly said the plan is not open to negotiations.

The pope has said the Vatican is willing to do "all that is humanly possible" to help the repatriation of Ukrainian children. Kyiv estimates nearly 19,500 children have been taken to Russia or Russian-occupied Crimea since February 2022, in what it condemns as illegal deportations.
The Pakistan government as of Friday night has lifted restrictions on social media platforms and restored mobile data services, the Dawn reported. The government earlier said that mobile internet will remain suspended until it arrests miscreants responsible for the unrest, referring indirectly to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) cadres.

The services were suspended following the arrest of PTI chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan on May 9 and were restored on May 12 around 10pm.

After Khan received his bail from the Islamabad High Court, the interior ministry led by minister Rana Sanaullah, withdrew the advisory issued on May 9 to suspend mobile data service and social media platforms, including Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, Dawn said citing a spokesperson from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.

It will take some time to arrest the miscreants who set fire to peoples houses and the internet services might remain blocked till then, Sanaullah said earlier, signalling that the government was not in the mood to restore social media platforms and mobile data services.

The government itself faced pressure from several quarters to restore internet connectivity, the Dawn said. The Dawn itself took out an editorial piece titled Hello world! The internet is blocked in Pakistan again, but we are publishing this using a VPN criticising the government for suspending internet access.

The Dawn further said the information technology and telecommunications minister also approached Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directly with an appeal to restore internet connectivity.

Global mobile network body GSMA also urged Pakistan to restore mobile data service and its head for the Asia-Pacific region also wrote to the countrys IT ministry highlighting the harm to businesses and how it dented Pakistans reputation in terms of economy and foreign investment.

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The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, and is concerned about the impact that the current restrictions are having on citizens and businesses in Pakistan, Julian Gorman wrote in the letter.

In todays digital societies individuals and businesses rely on connectivity for their livelihoods and access to essential services and information, prolonged restrictions can also have far-reaching effects on citizens health, education, social and economic welfare, he further added.
The UN envoy for Sudan on Friday welcomed a deal between the countrys warring generals promising safe passage to civilians fleeing the conflict and protection for humanitarian operations in the East African nation.

The envoy, Volker Perthes, said the agreement was an important first step toward a cease-fire to the fighting which is about to enter its fourth week.

The Sudanese military and the countrys paramilitary, the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, signed a pact late Thursday vowing to alleviate humanitarian suffering across the country, although a truce remains elusive.

Both sides also agreed to refrain from attacks likely to harm civilians. The violence has already killed over 600 people, including civilians, according to the UN health agency.

UN chief @antonioguterres hopes the 1st brokered agreement by warring military leaders in #Sudan on civilian protection will also help scale up the aid operation there:https://t.co/5LxRJOeWA0 pic.twitter.com/c8ta95RMIc UN News (@UN_News_Centre) May 12, 2023

The most important element is that both sides commit to continue talks, Perthes said during an online UN news conference from his office in Port Sudan. International efforts to turn the deal into a cease-fire have already started, he added.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the agreement, which outlines a series of shared pledges and promises to facilitate humanitarian action in order to meet the needs of civilians. The deal signing-ceremony, brokered by the United Sates and Saudi Arabia, was aired by Saudi state media in the early hours of Friday morning. Neither the military nor the RSF immediately issued statements acknowledging Thursdays pact.

It does not provide any detail on how the agreed-on humanitarian promises would be upheld by troops on the ground. Previously, both sides agreed to several short cease-fires, since the fighting broke out on April 15, but all have been violated.

In a post on Twitter, Amjad Farid, a Sudan analyst and former aid to the countrys prime minister, said the deal is unlikely to bring any real change on the ground. Other commentators expressed similar scepticism.

It is composed of texts that are already in the international humanitarian law and treaties related to the treatment of civilians in times of war, Farid wrote.

Despite the signing, residents in Khartoum said fighting continued throughout Friday morning.

I woke up to an airstrike (landing) nearby, said Waleed Adam, a resident living in the east of the capital.

Over the past weeks, the fighting has turned the capital Khartoum into an urban battlefield, and triggered deadly ethnic clashes in the western Darfur region. Around 200,000 people have fled the country, said UNHCR spokeswoman Olga Sarrado, who was also present at Fridays news conference.

The US State Department late Thursday said talks in Jeddah will now focus on arranging an effective cease-fire of up to approximately 10 days. The UN and several rights groups have accused both sides  the military, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo  of numerous human rights violations.

The army has been accused of indiscriminately bombing civilian areas, while the RSF has been condemned for widespread looting, abusing residents, and turning civilian homes into operational bases. Both continue to level blame at each other for the violations.

Perthes, who has received death threats and calls to resign, said he is committed to staying in Port Sudan and overseeing the humanitarian effort taking place in the coastal city. He described those who threatened him as marginal extremists and said that there is a wide appreciation of UN efforts in Sudan.

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the signing of the agreement, which could boost relief operations for millions of Sudanese in need, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

The UN chief reiterated his call for a halt in fighting but the organisation would continue to deliver humanitarian aid, ceasefire or not, Dujarric said.
From Al-Ahram Weekly archives: Fifty years of dispossession 1948-1998

Having just returned from a trip to attend an academic conference at Bir Zeit University on the West Bank it has seemed to me important to report on what, after an absence from Palestine of about six months, I saw and was impressed with. In the immediate aftermath of the Wye agreement I encountered no enthusiasm or surprise, just a kind of resigned but doubtless simmering anger that so many of our rights as a people had once again been handed away. If there were to be prizes for unpopularity surely Arafat's supine team of negotiators must rank very high on the list.

The notion that the CIA was to be the arbiter in matters of dispute between the Palestinian Authority and Netanyahu's government struck everyone I spoke to as perhaps the final irony. As for the established political class, its notables, middle-aged functionaries and the like, there was a great sense of indifference expressed by literally everyone I spoke to, as there was with all the political parties and currents. The landscape was dotted with new settlements, especially the hilltops; while I was there General Sharon had enjoined the settlers to seize what they could and of course, with the Israeli army to help them, they did.

The most striking physical change observed since I was there was the increase in the number and size of the by-passing roads, which are to be seen everywhere I went, cutting through the West Bank and the Jerusalem area, surrounding, punctuating, and of course destroying Palestinian land. The idea behind them is clear to see: to inhibit, if not actually to totally prevent the emergence of any Palestinian polity, despite Arafat's repeated threats to declare statehood. Most people greet his announcements about declaring statehood with considerable, albeit bitter, mirth.

Where there is considerable room for optimism is in the fact that institutions in civil society -- those that have little to do directly with the Authority or the Israeli occupation -- press on despite the grim encirclement all round. I have in mind one of these, Bir Zeit University, where I and a large number of academic participants spent the better part of a week deeply involved in research papers, discussions and lively exchange on the subject of Palestinian landscape, a topic of extraordinary interest given the history of many invading civilisations in Palestine of which the Zionist is the latest, the ugliest physically and the most invasive. What struck me is that if there is any hope for the future it is in such national institutions as Bir Zeit which under tremendous pressures and remarkable odds still functions, often brilliantly and always sensibly.

Founded in l924 as a girls' boarding school, the institution has always been associated with the Nasir family, whose senior member Butros Nasir and his sister Nabiha were the school's founders and earliest mentors. I remember Butros from my childhood: one of my aunts was his cousin and we knew the family -- they in the village of Bir Zeit, about ten kilometres from Ramallah, we in Jerusalem -- quite well.

Butros was a civil servant who later became foreign minister of Jordan in l960. His oldest son Hanna, an AUB graduate and Purdue PhD in physics is now president. In l926 Bir Zeit School became a coeducational secondary school which some of my cousins attended, and whom I recall visiting as a child in the mid-1940s. Between l952 and 1960 a freshman year was added to the school: thus, students could get one additional year of university along with the four secondary school years; this was followed between 1962 and 1967 with the addition of a second (or sophomore) university year.

Five years after the Israeli occupation of 1967, during the graduation ceremonies of 1972, Hanna Nasir announced that Bir Zeit would become a university, i.e. an institution offering a four year course leading to the BA. The next day a member of the Israeli military authorities visited him and was told that such an intention was "illegal" and tried to restrict the institution from implementing it. A whole series of threats from the Israeli military followed the announcement. In l974 Nasir himself was deported for "incitement against the security of Israel", a ludicrously inappropriate charge, but one entirely in keeping with Israel's policy against the emergence of any Palestinian civil life. Blindfolded, he was summarily taken to the Lebanese border, from which he went to Amman and remained there in exile until l994.

Gaby Baramki, a professor of chemistry, ran the University, while Hanna directed it from Jordan. When the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem tried to intervene with the Israeli authorities he wasn't allowed to see Nasir's file. And to bring matters up to date the university was entirely closed under General Yitzhak Rabin's orders between l988 and l992, the intifada years. No other occupation regime in history declared war against educational institutions except Israel's: and still the country is celebrated for its "benign" occupation, which continues apace during the "peace process".

The sheer survival of Bir Zeit is of course one of the many stories of Palestinian resistance against outright Israeli oppression. In my opinion, that survival acquires added importance in the present because the political horizons are so bleak, and therefore the development of civil institutions, whose purpose is Palestinian development, the preservation of a vibrant national culture and identity, and the continued deepening of roots in the land of Palestine, is of the first importance as well as a safeguard against the fate of turning Palestinians into Red Indians being prepared for us by the US and Israel and to a great extent also by our uncomprehending and corrupt leadership whose main goal is its own survival and personal prosperity.

Bir Zeit has expanded as a university over the past twenty years. It now has a student body of about 4,000 men and women from all parts of the West Bank and, when they are allowed to travel there, from Gaza. In addition to the BA, the university offers MAs in international studies, education, economics, modern Arabic studies, water engineering, law and health education. Its curriculum is an entirely liberal and secular one, even though a simmering dispute between those ideals and some of the Islamist students on the campus continues. What I have found admirable is that Bir Zeit, which is one of eight universities on the West Bank and Gaza, sees itself, and is seen by others, as the national Palestinian university. This is by no means to denigrate or lessen the importance of Al-Najah in Nablus, for instance, or any of the Gaza universities: it is to say, however, that Bir Zeit alone has both the national and international reputation of representing Palestinian national life through education.

Not that its life isn't a hard one. Bir Zeit is in Area B, which means that Israeli roadblocks can and often do interdict students and faculty coming from Ramallah, and elsewhere in Area A. Occasionally Israeli soldiers make their way onto the campus, and make arrests, break a few bones, then leave. Yet the university's physical setting is more impressive every time I see it. A large number of handsome white stone buildings dot the gently rolling hillsides just above the village of Bir Zeit; there is a campus of quite substantial size, the land donated to the university by the Nasir family, all of the buildings the result of donations from wealthy Palestinian expatriates.

Thus our conference, for instance, took place in Kamal Nasir Hall -- the university's main auditorium built in memory of Kamal Nasir, a poet and PLO spokesman assassinated in Beirut in l973 by an Israeli hit-team headed, it is widely believed, by none other than Ehud Barak, the present head of the Labor Party -- whose main benefactors are Abdel-Mohsin and Leila Qattan, a remarkable (and remarkably successful) couple who have used their considerable wealth to benefit their people in quite unprecedented ways. Such buildings as the new library, the engineering school, the recent college of business are similarly the gifts of wealthy diaspora Palestinians, who have turned to Bir Zeit the way many years ago prominent diaspora Jews promoted and funded the Hebrew University, well before Israel's establishment in l948.

Despite acts of individual generosity, Bir Zeit's graduates are very far from wealthy, and so the budgetary problems are immense. Bir Zeit has an annual budget of twelve million dollars, a little over half comes from tuition and from the Palestinian Authority; the rest has to be raised, mostly by Hanna Nasir, with results that are mixed. At least several times in the past few years there hasn't been money for faculty salaries, and library acquisitions have dropped to near zero (1,000 new books in the past three years). Life is hard, as much because the confinements and dispossessions imposed by Israel on Palestinians are hard, as because with no Palestinian state as yet in existence, the local and regional economy is in terrible shape, with most Palestinians in dire financial straits, donations to universities are given low priority.

Still, what is very impressive is that on campus at Bir Zeit there is an open and free exchange of ideas and opinions that simply doesn't exist anywhere else in the Arab world. Nasir and his colleagues are understandably proud of this, and very anxious to preserve it. Criticism of individuals and policies thrives, as does a boisterous debate between adherents of different political parties. When Arafat's Authority arrested some students two years ago, Bir Zeit took the Authority to court and got the students released. One hears a lot of complaining at the university, but the amazing thing from my point of view is that as an institution it thrives despite a large number of odds and innumerable obstacles. One reason why this is so, I think, is that even though the Nasir family founded it and is still involved in running it, Bir Zeit is not a family institution but in the minds of everyone associated with it as student, administrator or faculty, it is a public, national one. There is little of this sort of sentiment and activity in the Arab world except for such places as the American University of Beirut which, after all, is an American not a national or Arab institution. Bir Zeit's Board of Trustees is made up of 16 individuals from the West Bank and Gaza; their problems as Palestinians are also the university's. Many of the territories' most prominent names, from Hanan Ashrawi to Ali Jarbawi and Ibrahim Abu-Lughod, three of the best-known Palestinian intellectuals, are associated with Bir Zeit and so it has been quite natural that the Israelis have viewed the place as threatening to their interests as occupiers.

Certainly in my opinion one of the university's main problems has been its isolation from the Arab world of which it is in culture and history a part. The languages of instruction are Arabic (mainly) and some English, but very few non-Palestinian Arabs have come to the West Bank, using the fact that they have to have Israeli visas as a pretext for not appearing. Egyptians can come via a permit from the PA, and that strikes me as an excellent way out of the whole problem of normalisation with Israel which few Egyptian writers and artists are willing to compromise. All the Bir Zeit people I spoke to said that in the current state of demoralisation they regard support by Arab academics and intellectuals as very important indeed. I could not agree more, and have stated my position to Egyptians when on a very brief visit to Egypt after my trip to Palestine.

In any event, Bir Zeit University strikes me as uniquely placed to constitute one of the foundation stones of Palestinian civil society as it tries to strengthen itself against the Israeli onslaught and the abortive peace process. That so many people in and out of Palestine regard it as a significant element in that society-in-the-making is a sure sign that collectively Palestinian life goes on, the obstacles and hardships notwithstanding. Bir Zeit, and institutions like it, have to be seen as part of the longer view of our history, which the seriousness and acuteness of the present crisis tend to obscure. Without these institutions our political life and survival would be virtually non-existent.

*This article was first published in Al-Ahram Weeklys special pages commemorating 50 years of Al-Nakba, the Palestinian catastrophe when Israel was created on 15 May 1948. These pages, published in 1998, were part of a year-long series of articles documenting the history and nature of the Arab-Israeli struggle, as well as that of Palestinian dispossession and exile.

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Pakistan Army on Friday said reports of martial law imposition are untrue and the army continues to support democracy and does so in a wholehearted manner. Top army official director general major general Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry told GeoNews that imposition of martial law is out of the question.

I want to say very clearly that General Asim Munir and the armys leadership wholeheartedly support democracy and will continue to do so. The imposition of martial law is out of the question. The army chief and the armys senior leadership completely believe in democracy, Chaudhry was quoted as saying by news agency GeoNews.

He further added that under the leadership of Pakistan chief of army staff general Asim Munir the armed forces are united despite the efforts made to hurt peace by internal miscreants and external enemies.

Chaudhry said that no army officers tendered their resignation due to the ongoing chaos. He said that dreams of dividing the Pakistan Army will remain dreams.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers, incensed by the remarks made by their head, former prime minister Imran Khan, torched the residence of the corps commander in Lahore and attacked the armys headquarters in Rawalpindi.

More than a dozen people were killed and several others were injured as PTI cadres clashed with Pakistani army and police in all major cities of Pakistan.

The law enforcement agencies cracked down in retaliation, arrested over a thousand people and arrested major leaders of the party.

The army accused PTI of doing what the eternal enemy could not do in 75 years, an indirect reference to India. They said that May 9, 2023 will be remembered in history as a dark chapter".

The Inter Services Public Relations Pakistan (ISPR) said PTI leaders are hypocrites for inciting their cadres against the Pakistan military but at the same time praising the institution to avoid criticism.

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For the moment, the turmoil in the nation has subsided as the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has granted complete relief to Khan and prohibited the authorities from detaining the PTI leader until Monday morning (May 15). The government has stated that it may apprehend him if necessary" after that.

Imran Khan accused the army of facilitating his assassination attempt in November.
From the Rio Grande Valley in Texas to San Diego and Tijuana, many migrants gathered along sections of the U.S.-Mexico border questioned when or whether they would cross into the United States to seek asylum once pandemic-related restrictions known as Title 42 ended.

Some migrants who had traveled from Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru and Central America feared it could be harder for them to stay on U.S. soil with the restrictions lifted.

Here are some of the stories from along the 1,950-mile (3,140-kilometer) international boundary:

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Ludin, a Honduran man who asked that his last name not be used out of fear for his safety and that of his family, arrived Friday at Tijuanas El Chaparral port of entry with his pregnant wife and 5-year-old son.

He stood just feet from U.S. soil, conflicted over how to proceed.

Do you think we can cross and ask for asylum? he asked.

He said he had been trying to use an app that border officials created for people to request asylum in the U.S.  CBP One  every day for weeks, repeatedly uploading his case information and photos including scars on his body from being shot nine times during a 2021 robbery. One large scar snakes down his neck from an operation to remove one of the bullets that struck him.

The app never worked for him, only displaying an error screen or saying no more slots for applicants were available.

Blaine Bookey, an immigration lawyer helping people at the crossing, said U.S. officials were telling asylum-seekers at the port to keep trying the app.

There seems to be no option right now for people to ask for asylum if they dont have an appointment through the CBP app, she said.

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Some migrants were arriving at the border after months of travel.

Jesus Bravo and his wife, Jhohan Miperasa, arrived in Matamoros across the border from Brownsville, Texas, with infant twin daughters who were born along the way.

They had left their native Venezuela nine months earlier, crossed the treacherous Darien Gap dividing Colombia and Panama, then stopped in Panama where the girls were born.

On Friday, they stepped off a bus, pushed the babies in a double stroller across the city and headed straight to the banks of the Rio Grande.

I am tired of the app, they never reply, they never give me an appointment, said Bravo, 23. So I have to cross through the river, like everybody else.

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Aylin Guevara, 45, hurried her steps the evening before as she walked through the scorching desert of Ciudad Juarez toward the border.

She was accompanied by her two children, ages 16 and 5, and her husband. The family fled their coastal city in Colombia after receiving death threats, and hoped to seek refuge in the U.S.

After spending the previous night in a hotel, they were eager to get to the border, to get in and go with the help of God and baby Jesus, Guevara said.

But when they arrived with just hours to go before the end of Title 42, a U.S. immigration officer said they could not pass.

Not anymore, its over, he told them in a firm voice, instructing them to go to bridges 10 miles (16 kilometers) to their left or right.

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Jose Manuel Bueno was among the last people sent back to Ciudad Juarez late Thursday under Title 42.

The 28-year-old Venezuelan said he didnt know the exact whereabouts of his pregnant wife and three children, who were in custody in the U.S. Bueno said he was earlier advised to use the app, but he decided it would be better to cross the border and turn himself in.

They didnt have to split my family, Bueno insisted. I have my childrens birth certificates.

Bueno set up camp for the night next to a bridge with about a dozen other men after they charged their cellphones from a connection in the street.

Its the safest place now, he said.

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Diana Rodas, an elementary school teacher from Colombia, spent the night shivering with her two daughters, ages 7 and 13, sleeping on the ground between two towering border walls dividing San Diego and Tijuana. The girls cried all night.

At about 2 a.m. Friday, U.S. agents took away between 15 and 20 families with children under age 2 who had been among the hundreds sleeping under plastic tarps and blankets.

We never expected all this, said Rodas, who fled her homeland after her life was threatened. She feared deportation but wanted to stay optimistic. Hope is the last thing that goes.

The hundreds of migrants, mostly families, sat in two dozen rows between the border walls while Border Patrol agents walked by and decided who would be processed.

When some were selected, those left behind cheered.

One woman yelled Suerte! or Good luck! as those chosen were loaded into a Border Patrol van.

Gloria Inigo of Peru said she hoped she, her husband and their daughters, ages 5 and 8, would be next. They crossed the border Wednesday before the rules changed.

I have faith, Inigo said.

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Authorities in the remote desert community of Yuma, Arizona, expressed alarm after the average daily number of migrant arrivals grew this week from 300 to 1,000.

Mayor Doug Nicholls asked for the federal government to declare a national disaster so Federal Emergency Management Agency resources and National Guard troops could be rushed to his and other small border communities.

Most migrants are transported to shelters operated by nonprofit organizations farther away from the border, but border officials will release them into communities if enough transportation isnt available. Nicholls said officials told him they would release 141 people in Yuma County on Friday.

The question keeps coming up: What now? Ive been asking that question for two years, with no answers, Nicholls said. We are at a situation weve never been at before.

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Venezuelan Dayana Ybarra and her husband crossed two weeks ago through a gap in the wall near El Paso because they feared it would be much harder after Title 42 expired.

They were apprehended. She was detained for three days and her husband for nine.

On Friday, they were waiting at the Sacred Heart shelter in El Paso hoping to raise the money necessary to get to North Carolina, where she has two brothers and a court date in two months.

The couple left their three children behind.

Its because of them she and her husband decided to take the risk, Ybarra said.

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On a stretch of border wall in Tijuana, migrants asked passersby for blankets, food and water as the sun set over a steep hill.

Gerson Aguilera, 41, got to Tijuana around 4 p.m. with his three kids and wife to try to cross and ask for asylum. From Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Aguilera said he and his family fled after organized criminals started demanding he pay twice the extortion money he was already paying of 2,000 Honduran lempira (roughly $81) a week.

Its very hard. For a payment, they will kill you, Aguilera said with tears in his eyes.

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The owner of a welding shop, Aguilera said he left his home once before in 2020 because of threats, but returned when things calmed down. That wasnt an option anymore.

We ask that God helps us, Aguilar said.
Turkiyes strongman President Recep Tayyip Erdogan this week termed the May 14 elections as the fight of his life signalling that the opposition unity under rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu poses a significant challenge to his electoral ambitions.

Erdogan has ruled Turkiye for at least a decade as its President and has been its prime minister from 2002 to 2014. He is a veteran politician and also served as mayor Istanbul from 1994 to 1998.

He was also jailed in 1998 and when he emerged from prison, he formed the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in 2001.

Erdogans policy has been to build growth through construction projects, strengthening infrastructure and taking similar measures but the twin earthquakes that struck this February hurt that reputation.

Erdogan was also heralded as a reformer because of loosening the militarys grip on the country, Al Jazeera said in a report. It also said that his stance on rights of women and minorities and Turkiye joining the European Union under his leadership also heralded his image as a liberal.

But since the failed coup of 2016, when US-based Fethullah Gulen allegedly orchestrated his downfall only to fail, the 69-year-old leader started to crack down on dissent and concentrate all power into his own hands.

He also clamped down on opposition but the Turkish public, as pictures from international news media agencies and social media outlets suggest, still continue to support him - at least a million people attended his rally in Istanbul.

However, as mentioned above his response to the February 6 earthquakes and worsening cost-of-living crisis has hurt his image and strengthened the chances of Kemal Kilicdaroglu aka Turkiyes Mahatma Gandhi.

Kilicdaroglu is a soft-spoken leader but he has been able to unite the opposition parties under one banner. He is the face of the opposition and Erdogans competition for Sundays polls.

His centre-left Cumhuriyet Halk Party (CHP) is now seen as a challenge to Erdogans authoritarian rule.

Here are some of the key things to know as Turkiye heads to polls this Sunday:

When Does Polling Begin?

The Turkish elections will be held on May 14, with more than 64 million eligible voters, including over 6 million first-time voters and 3.4 million voters overseas who have already cast their ballots.

Polling stations, numbering 190,736, will open at 8.00 am (local time) and close at 5.00 pm (local time), according to Reuters.

Turnout is typically high in Turkiye, with nearly 87% of eligible voters casting ballots in the 2018 elections.

When Are the Results?

According to the election law, the High Election Board (YSK) has imposed a ban on news, forecasts, and commentaries related to the election until 6 pm (local time) on election day.

After 6 pm (local time) , certain aspects of the election may be reported, but media outlets can only report on election results from 9 pm (local time) onwards, which will be announced from various regions of Turkiye, according to Reuters.

However, if the YSK deems it necessary, it may lift the embargo on reporting before 9 pm (local time).

The presidential election result may become apparent by late Sunday.

Who Are The Main Contenders?

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, aims to become the longest-serving leader in modern Turkiye by winning another term. He secured his victory in the 2018 elections first round, with 52.6% of the vote. However, recent polls indicate that his current support level is around 44-45%, according to Reuters.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the Republican Peoples Party (CHP) and the joint presidential candidate of the six-party main opposition alliance, is approaching the crucial 50% support threshold according to current polls. The CHP was founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkiye.

Another contender, Sinan Ogan, is significantly behind in the polls. He previously served as a parliamentarian for the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which is an ally of Erdogans AK Party.

Which Are the Main Parties and Alliances?

The Peoples Alliance - The AKP and the MHP formed the Peoples Alliance before the 2018 election, which won both the presidential and parliamentary votes. Since then, the Great Unity Party and the New Welfare Party, led by Fatih Erbakan, son of Erdogans mentor Necmettin Erbakan, have also joined the right-wing coalition.

The Nation Alliance - The Nation Alliance, comprising the CHP, IYI Party, Felicity Party and Democrat Party, supports Kemal Kilicdaroglu for president. In the 2019 municipal elections, it surprised Erdogan by defeating AKP mayoral candidates in Ankara and Istanbul, which the AKP had controlled for almost 20 years, according to Reuters. Later, two parties founded by former Erdogan allies joined the alliance: the Deva Party led by Ali Babacan and the Future Party led by Ahmet Davutoglu.

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The Labour and Freedom Alliance - Led by the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), the Democracy Alliance could play a kingmakers role in the election. The HDP is the third largest party in parliament and helped defeat the AKP in major cities in the 2019 local elections by cooperating with the opposition, according to Reuters. It has pledged to oppose Erdogans one-man rule. The Workers Party of Turkiye (TIP), a vocal opposition figure after the February 6 earthquakes and the Green Left Party (YSP) are also part of the alliance.

(with inputs from BBC, Anadolu Agency and VOA)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had thanked Pope Francis during a meeting in the Vatican Saturday for focusing on the plight of millions of Ukrainians after the Russian invasion.

I am very grateful to him for his personal attention to the tragedy of millions of Ukrainians," Zelensky said on Telegram, adding that they had also discussed the fate of tens of thousands of children" Kyiv says were deported to Russia.

We must do everything to bring them home," he added.

Zelensky also said he had raised with the pope a Ukrainian peace plan Kyiv has promoted for several months but which Moscow has repeatedly dismissed.

He said he had asked for Pope Francis support for such an initiative.

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Zelenskys visit to the Vatican came during his first trip to Italy since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Earlier, he met Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella.
Revered by Muslims, Christians and Jews, this beautiful city is holy and cursed, drowned in blood yet still magnificent. Last year, the Arab ministers of information designated 26 September as Jerusalem Day. Rashid Khalidi* unravels modern myths and ancient passions in his search to locate the united heart of this torn and worshiped place

From Al-Ahram Weekly archives: Fifty years of dispossession 1948-1998*

Issue: 1 - 7 October 1998

The idea that Jerusalem constitutes the exclusive property of one party, which has privileged rights there, is an old one. In ancient times, and many, many other times during its more than 40 centuries of history, Jerusalem has been conquered, and then treated as if it belonged to the conqueror alone. Each time, of course, the arguments used to justify such behaviour went far beyond the simple conqueror's claim that might-makes-right. Most frequently, religious justifications were utilised to give a patina of legitimacy to such appropriations, and to the attendant dispossessions which went with them.

Quite often, such forcible takeovers were accompanied by wholesale slaughter, while at other times, the indigenous population was expelled or subjugated by that of the conqueror.

While somewhat barbaric, at least this old-fashioned approach had the merit of simplicity. The spirit in which old-time conquerors approached this matter was generally refreshingly straight-forward: "Jerusalem used to belong to them, we took it because of divine favour, and now it is ours to do with exactly as we please." The religious arguments in which this argument from brute force was usually clothed in fact generally mattered far less than the brute force involved, which was the nub of the matter. Thus, while there was a fair share of hypocrisy and cant in the old approach, it generally relied in essence on the sword, sometimes quite unashamedly.

I mention this ancient history not because I plan to focus on tales of Jebusites and Israelites, but rather because we are constantly told that there are special, privileged and exclusive Israeli claims to Jerusalem today because of the ancient attachment to it of the Jewish religious tradition. This is an argument which carries enormous force, since followers of all three of the monotheistic faiths which grew out of the Abrahamic heritage revere this tradition, both in general and as it applies to Jerusalem.

But in fact, the ancient, enduring and indisputable attachment to Jerusalem of the Jewish religious tradition is today exploited to cloak what is at base no more than the old, brutal legitimation-by-conquest approach. We must remember that what is being argued by those who do this is NOT that this ancient and enduring religious attachment justifies a modern religious attachment, or freedom of worship for Jews in Jerusalem today. What is being claimed is that this attachment takes precedence over all others, and that it is more ancient, more sacred, and more important than whatever others may feel for the Holy City. This in turn is used to justify exclusive Israeli sovereignty and control over the entire city today, both its Jewish and Arab sectors, and including its Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy places.

What is at work here is particularly insidious because it is so subtle. Since no believing Christian or Muslim could possibly deny the Jewish affiliation to Jerusalem without denying a central tenet of his or her faith, this indisputable Jewish religious connection is employed to serve two purposes. The first is to make plausible a seamless continuity between the enduring centuries-old spiritual yearning for Jerusalem among Jews the world over, and the secular political purposes and rapacious nationalist ambitions in today's Jerusalem of the modern nation-state of Israel. The second is to delegitimise the political claims of others by projecting a relatively recent political connection with Jerusalem three thousand years back in time.

Thus, it is argued, while Christians of Muslims can claim two thousand or one thousand four hundred years of continuous attachment to Jerusalem respectively (and indeed the continuous nature and the intensity of these attachments are sometimes called into doubt), Jews can claim three thousand. Then -- and note the sophisticated bait and switch technique which operates here -- it is first claimed that this ancient Jewish religious attachment is in fact nothing other than an early variant of modern-day ntionalism; it is then assumed that David and Solomon were nothing other than very early prime ministers of a very early state of Israel; it is thereupon assumed that the sources whereby we know what we know of Jerusalem in the time of David and Solomon are genuine historical sources rather than accounts of religious traditions, myths and beliefs compiled over 500 years after their time; all of this is then tarted up with the results of generations of biblical and nationalistically driven archaeology which has taken these historically questionable biblical texts as its underground road-map; next, a couple of thousand years of intervening history are conveniently forgotten; and, voila, we have the modern myth whereby the only legitimate claim to Jerusalem is that of the modern Israeli nation-state.

All of this serves to obscure a very important fact: this is that the ancient Jewish connection with Jerusalem has profound meaning for both Christians and Muslims. For Christians and Muslims, this connection has been fully incorporated into their central religious narratives in such a way that to argue, as some do, for the exclusivity of these attachments is in fact to misunderstand the beliefs of others. Thus in the Christian Bible, the Old Testament is an integral part of the Scriptural under girding of faith -- and it is thus not just the Passion of Jesus which causes Christians to venerate Jerusalem, but also the traditions and beliefs which Christians share with Jews about the city.

Similarly, Muslims believe in the Jewish connection with Jerusalem as an integral part of God's messages to mankind; they see the biblical prophets, without exception, as among their prophets and venerate them all, notably David and Solomon, and it is not simply the night journey of the Prophet Muhammad to Jerusalem described in Sura 17 of the Quran which causes them to venerate the city. What is at issue therefore is not the Jewish claim to Jerusalem: that claim is in fact endorsed and upheld by all believers in the Abrahamic tradition; it is rather the exclusivity of that claim, and its present utilisation for political purposes.

all of this leads directly to the crucial matter at issue, which is that just as modern Israeli nationalism has been constructed in part through a reweaving in nationalist political terms of Biblical and other narratives, so has modern Palestinian nationalism been constructed in part on the basis of these same Biblical, and related Quranic narratives. What is at issue is not refutation or advocacy of any of these nationalist claims. Nationalism after all is a matter of belief, and sometimes quite irrational belief. As the historian Eric Hobsbawm puts it, "No serious historian of nations and nationalism can be a committed political nationalist... nationalism requires too much belief in what is patently untrue."

Rather, what we should be trying to do, if we are serious about looking for a solution for Jerusalem, is to avoid denigrating the claims of others. We must recognise that these claims, both the national claims, and the religious ones on which they are in part based, exist, and have a power which cannot be denied. Put more bluntly, we can not tell others what they believe, or what they should believe. We must recognise further that these claims must be reconciled in some fashion if there is ever to be a resolution of the conflict which has Jerusalem as its core.

This conflict simply cannot be resolved on a basis of might-makes-right, nor can it be done by attempting to privilege one of two national claims, or one religious tradition among three, or one archaeological stratum in a city which has at least 21 known major strata. It simply will not do to pretend that Jerusalem has three thousand years of history -- back to the time of King David in other words -- when in fact the archaeologists agree that it has been in existence for well over four thousand years. Similarly, it will not do to ignore, and indeed to actually undermine, the Arab-Muslim structures which make up the physical fabric of the Old City of Jerusalem in an obsessive search for the remains of structures from 2000 or 3000 years ago.

If the conflict is to be resolved, those who search for a real solution in Jerusalem will have to find a formula for sharing this holy city in ways which give real empowerment and the full exercise of political rights to all of those who live there or look to Jerusalem as their capital, without infringing on the rights of others. This formula at the same time will have to give all believers in the faiths of the Abrahamic tradition a sense that they are free to worship without coercion, and are not doing so on sufferance.

This is a tall order, and it will not be easy to do, but it is not impossible. It can be done without redividing Jerusalem. But those who do it must take also into account the cold hard fact that all the windy rhetoric about "reunification" notwithstanding, this city includes two national communities which have been in conflict with one another for over five generations now, and that one has subjugated the other. For this reason they are rigidly segregated from one another in virtually every significant aspect of their existence, and are likely to continue in this fashion for at least some time into the future.

What is crucial, however, is that the veil of cant and deceit which envelops discussion of this question, especially in the United States and Israel, be lifted: the fact is that asserting the primacy of one religious tradition in effect demeans the others; the fact is tat asserting the absolute primacy of one nationality in practice means the subjugation of the other. This is not to say that believing Jews or Christians or Muslims should not regard their affiliation with Jerusalem as special, unique an distinct; each group will naturally and necessarily do so. It is rather the assertion that their affiliation gives them the right to primacy in the here and now which is dangerous. Similarly, no one could expect either Palestinians or Israelis to cease to regard Jerusalem as the supreme focus of their national aspirations. They will continue to do so whatever we do. Rather, these aspirations have to be realised in such a way that their realisation does not prevent the realisation of the legitimate aspirations of others.

Like religion, nationalism can be an uncompromising and elemental force which is singularly unamenable to such reasoned arguments. It is the task of those who seek a mutually acceptable resolution of the conflict over Jerusalem to resist these uncompromising and elemental tendencies in religion and nationalism, and to challenge the exclusivist political claims which they engender. What this means on one side is to resist a new exclusivism regarding Jerusalem which is associated with some voices in the Islamic, Arab and Palestinian communities.

Important though these voices are, they probably represent a minority, whether in Palestine or in the Arab-American community, where a majority seems committed to some form of sharing in Jerusalem.

What this means on the other side is far more difficult. For it involves a willingness to stand up to an apparent consensus calling for exclusive Israeli control over Jerusalem. This consensus is not in fact as monolithic as it may seem, but it is intimidating and even terrifying to some who would defy it, whether in the US Congress, or in the Christian and Jewish communities in North America and Europe. Indeed the only reason that the partisans of this exclusivist approach to Jerusalem can claim tha they represent a consensus is that this issue has not yet been openly debated. If this issue involved in a resolution of the dispute over Jerusalem were dispassionately laid before most people, Muslims, Christians or Jews, it might be easier than many expect to arrive at a consensus for a shared rather than an exclusivist solution. It is imperative that we arrive at such a consensus, for an exclusivist solution -- whatever the religious or other justification in which it might be dressed up -- is at bottom based on the bayonet and the barbaric argument that might-makes-right, and cannot possibly lead to peace or justice.

I will not dwell on how important a just resolution of the issue of Jerusalem is to the achievement of an overall Middle East peace settlement.

Of course, there is the possibility that I am being wildly naive in saying all of this. Perhaps we have not progressed since the days of the Jebusites. Perhaps mankind has not reached a stage where the idea of sharing can prevail.

I prefer to take a somewhat more optimistic view, and to believe that we have progressed past the era of the caveman, and of our warlike ancestors and others who have fought over Jerusalem for centuries, in doing so sometimes wading in the blood of their opponents, and sometimes operating less dramatically with legal writs and bulldozers.

If I am right, and if a compromise solution is possible, it will be one which, while it respects the three different religious traditions which give Jerusalem its sanctity, and the two national claims which today envelop it, will privilege none of them, but will rather enable all to share jointly in the wonders of this magnificent, beautiful, great, holy and cursed city, Jerusalem.

* The writer is professor of history at the University of Chicago. The above article appeared in a special issue of Jusoor: The Arab American Journal of of Cultural Exchange entitled The Open Veins of Jerusalem, Maryland, 1998.

* This article was first published in Al-Ahram Weeklys special pages commemorating 50 years of Al-Nakba, the Palestinian catastrophe when Israel was created on 15 May 1948. These pages, published in 1998, were part of a year-long series of articles documenting the history and nature of the Arab-Israeli struggle, as well as that of Palestinian dispossession and exile.

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The Supreme Court ruled Thursday in favor of a transgender Guatemalan woman who is fighting deportation on the grounds that she would face persecution if returned to her native country. The court's unanimous decision in favor of Estrella Santos-Zacaria gives her another chance to argue that immigration officials were wrong to reject her bid to remain in the United States, per the AP. Lawyers for Santos-Zacaria, now in her mid-30s, said she first fled to the US after being raped as a young teenager and threatened with death because of her gender identity in a country that has targeted the LGBTQ community. But a US immigration judge found that she did not make a strong enough case that she would face persecution if sent back to Guatemala.

The issue at the Supreme Court was more technical, whether federal immigration law was flexible enough to allow her another day in court. The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled against her on that point, but other appellate courts had ruled in favor of immigrants on the same issue. The Supreme Court ruled in an opinion by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson that the 5th Circuit was wrong. After leaving Guatemala as a teenager, Santos-Zacaria had once before made it to the United States, but her stay was brief and she was deported in 2008, Jackson wrote. Ten years later, she again entered the US and was quickly taken into custody by immigration authorities.

Santos-Zacaria had testified that she was raped by a neighbor in the small town in which she was born and that townspeople said they would kill her because of her gender identity and her attraction to men. She spent most of her time between 2008 and 2018 in Mexico, but decided to try to return to the US after a Mexican gang also raped and assaulted her. The State Department has found that Guatemala has done little to protect LGBTQ people and that transgender women are subject to frequent threats of violence. Legal experts say the opinion represents "huge progress" in that it uses Santos-Zacaria's preferred pronouns and chosen name, as Yahoo points out. It also uses the term "non-citizen" rather than "illegal alien," per the outlet. All of the justices signed on. (Read more US Supreme Court stories.)
A man who didn't want his girlfriend to get an abortion fatally shot her during a confrontation in a Dallas parking lot, police said. He was jailed on a murder charge as of Friday. Gabriella Gonzalez, 26, was with her boyfriend, 22-year-old Harold Thompson, on Wednesday when he tried to put her in a chokehold, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. She'd returned the night before from Colorado, where she'd gone to get an abortion. Texas banned abortions after roughly six weeks of pregnancy in September 2021, but nearly all abortions have been halted in Texas since Roe v. Wade was overturned last summer, except in cases of medical emergency.

"It is believed that the suspect was the father of the child," the affidavit said, per the AP. "The suspect did not want [Gonzalez] to get an abortion." Surveillance video from the parking lot shows Gonzalez "shrugs him off," police said, and the two continue walking. Thompson then pulls out a gun and shoots Gonzalez in the head. She falls to the ground and Thompson shoots her multiple times before running away, the affidavit said. Gonzalez's sister was at the scene and heard the shooting, police said. Another witness saw Thompson try to choke Gonzalez but couldn't call police because she didn't have her cellphone.

At the time of the shooting, Thompson had been charged with assault of a family member, who accused him of choking her in March. The affidavit from March doesn't specifically name Gonzalez as the person who was assaulted, but it does say the woman told police that Thompson "beat her up multiple times throughout the entirety of their relationship" and that Thompson told police the woman was pregnant with his child at that time. The woman "reiterated that she is scared of the suspect because he had made threats to harm her family and her children," according to the affidavit. Thompson was arrested later Wednesday and is being held in the Dallas County Jail without bond.

(Read more abortion stories.)
Israel and the Islamic Jihad militant group in the Gaza Strip agreed to an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire late Saturday, ending five days of intense fighting that left 33 Palestinians, including at least 13 civilians dead. Two people in Israel were killed by rocket fire. The cease-fire took effect just after 10pm, the AP reports, with a last-minute burst of rocket fire and Israeli airstrikes stretching several minutes past the deadline announced by Egypt. While the calm brought a sense of relief to Gaza's more than 2 million people and hundreds of thousands of Israelis who had been confined to bomb shelters in recent days, the agreement did nothing to address the underlying issues that have fueled numerous rounds of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip.

Tensions could quickly resume next week when Israel holds a contentious march through a main Palestinian thoroughfare in Jerusalem's Old City. Still, as the truce took hold, the deafening whooshes of outgoing rockets and booms of Israeli airstrikes was replaced by the honking of cars in Gaza. Streets that had been desolate in recent days quickly teemed with people reveling in the cease-fire, waving Palestinian flags and flashing victory signs from speeding vehicles. Amid the celebration, a fruit vendor used a loudspeaker, enthusiastically promoting his supply of bananas. Islamic Jihad leader Mohamad al-Hindi expressed appreciation for Egypt's effort on the deal. There was no immediate Israeli comment on the cease-fire announcement.

The latest violence erupted Tuesday when Israeli airstrikes killed three senior Islamic Jihad commanders. Israel said that the airstrikes were in response to a previous burst of rocket fire the previous week and that its attacks have been focused on Islamic Jihad targets. But residents in Gaza said homes of people uninvolved in fighting also had been struck. Earlier Saturday, the Israeli military bombed an apartment belonging to Islamic Jihad commander Mohammed Abu Al Atta, among other targets including rocket launchers, it said. Islamic Jihad militants fired several barrages of rockets toward southern Israel, where tens of thousands of Israelis were instructed to remain close to safe rooms and bomb shelters. Hundreds of residents near the border were evacuated to hotels farther north.

(Read more Israel stories.)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky went to Rome on Saturday to make a direct appeal to the pope to support his government's approach to achieving peaceafter finding Francis' proposals unsettling. While there, Zelensky also met with Italy's president and prime minister, who offered enthusiastic backing. "We bet on the victory of Ukraine," said Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni after their meeting, per the New York Times. "Our support will be at 360 degrees for all the time necessary, and beyond." When Zelensky arrived, President Sergio Mattarella told him, "We are fully at your side." Italy has donated military and financial aid totaling more than $1 billion since the war began, per the AP, in addition to humanitarian aid.

Ukraine has been frustrated by Pope Francis' refusal to offer an explicit condemnation of Russia's invasion. Zelensky said he asked him to do that when they talked Saturday, per the Wall Street Journal, "because there can be no equality between the victim and the aggressor." In his tweet later, Zelensky added: "I also talked about our Peace Formula as the only effective algorithm for achieving a just peace. I proposed joining its implementation." The pope has tried to keep from leaning much to one side or the other, apparently so he could serve as a go-between in peace talks. Ukrainian officials don't see that as helpful in their effort to drive Russia out or in achieving a lasting peace. The Vatican backs a cease-fire that wouldn't necessarily result in ending Russia's occupation in the east and south.

"We don't need an intermediary between Ukraine and the aggressor that occupied our territory," Zelensky said later on Italian TV. "We need an action plan for a just peace in Ukraine." A statement from the Vatican said the pope and the president discussed humanitarian and political issues in Ukraine but didn't say anything about a peace plan. The gifts exchanged before their talk may have signaled their perspectives: the pope gave Zelensky a bronze olive branch, while the president presented Francis with an icon of the Virgin Mary painted on body armor that was dented by Russian bullets. (Read more Russia-Ukraine war stories.)
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The European Union delegation to Egypt celebrated Europe Day in Cairo on 10 May alongside a number of Egyptian officials, with both sides stressing the strength of their relations.

Attendees included Egyptian ministers, governors, members of parliament and journalists, as well as Arab and European officials and diplomats.

Ambassador Christian Berger, head of the EU delegation, said during the ceremony that the past twelve months have seen a strong Egypt-EU relationship, including the agreement on the Partnership Priorities which will guide the relationship between both sides for the next seven years.

He also pointed to the signing of a number of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) on energy and hydrogen cooperation.

"I would like to extend my thanks to Egypt for helping us meet our needs in energy security," Berger said.

He disclosed that following up on the most recent UN Climate Change Conference (COP27), food security, and migration are important topics of cooperation with Egypt.

Berger stated that the 2023 European Year of Skills would give new momentum to lifelong learning, empowering people and companies to contribute to the green and digital transitions, supporting innovation and competitiveness.

"This is a great opportunity to focus on developing skills, boost social inclusion and growth, working, in particular, with youth and women," he expressed.

Berger also indicated that the European Union is a major source of official development aid and humanitarian aid. They provide 30 percent of global climate finance, and have made a concrete commitment to work jointly on high-quality investments and connectivity. They are also committed to working on debt relief inside the G20 and with the Global Gateway, he added.

Berger pointed to comments in 1950, five years after the end of WWII, by Frances then-Foreign Minister Robert Schuman, who said that world peace cannot be safeguarded without creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it.

His words ring true and timely today, Berger said, adding "one year ago, we all had hoped that the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, an independent and sovereign state, would end soon."

Europe Day, which is celebrated on 9 May by the EU, marks the founding of the Council of Europe in 1949.

EU-Egypt relations

During the Europe Day celebration, Soha Gendy, Egypt's minister of emigration and expatriates affairs, stressed the depth of the Egyptian-European relations. She called them a model for distinguished bilateral relations, saying cooperation is constantly being strengthened, especially in the economic field and other issues of common interest.

Egypt and the European Union share interests in common and distinct files, including in immigration, trade exchange issues, development, investment and culture, as well as in many other fields, she added.

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Russian cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov visited Egypt this week to mark the 80th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Egypt and Russia and to promote Russian-African cooperation.

During a press conference at Russian Cultural Centre in Cairo, the 39-year old cosmonaut said he was ecstatic to realize his dream of seeing the Great Pyramids of Giza.

I used to see the Pyramids - and the High Dam - during my space flights from above, but I have finally visited them in person, Kud-Sverchkov.

Egypt is full of history, monuments and ancient civilization," he added.

Russia is looking forward to cooperation with Africa in the field of space. Egypt, with its size and international standing, is able to play a strong role in supporting and developing Russian-Egyptian-African cooperation.

Kud-Sverchkov also described during the press conference some of his experiences in space.

I trained for 10 years before he I was assigned to my first major venture into space, explained Kud-Sverchkov, who graduated with honours in 2006 from Moscow State Technical University with a degree specializing in rocket engineering.

The Soyuz MS-17 mission in 2020, which lasted for 186 days, was an experience that changed the course of my life, he added.

In May 2020, Kud-Sverchkov was assigned to ISS Expedition 63/64 as a flight engineer, launching aboard Soyuz MS-17 on 14 October 2020 alongside Russian cosmonaut Sergey Ryzhikov, commander of the Soyuz MS spacecraft, and NASA astronaut Kathleen Rubins.[6]

The Soyuz MS-17 followed a 2-orbit rendezvous and docking procedure to dock with the Rassvet module of the ISS 3 hours and 3 minutes after launch.

It was the first time a crew reached the ISS in less than 4 orbits and approximately 6 hours.[7]

After the Soyuz MS-17 mission, Kud-Sverchkov compiled a pioneering childrens book on the history of space travel.

'A Future Together'

The delegation of the Russian journalists that accompanied Kud-Sverchkov included veteran TASS news agency journalists Andrey Sitov and Irina Mandrykina.

Sitov pointed that he is promoting a project during his visit to the country, which is titled, "Egypt-Africa - We Start a Future Together".

"We wanted to attract attention to the project through accompanying the famous Russian cosmonaut on his trip to Egypt, he said.

"Africa has many natural resources and treasures; the project aims to reinforce the opportunities of cooperation between Africa and Russia in economic, trade exchange and business, Sitov said.

I visited many African countries such as Tanzania, Ethiopia and South Africa. I wanted to understand how to help Africans achieve food security as well as explore ways to cooperate with African countries in the field of space" he explained.

Sitov said he would be part of a Russian delegation that is participating in the Russia-Africa Summit, which will be held in July 2023 in St. Petersburg, Russia.

On Wednesday, the Russian journalists took part in a round-table discussion that was organized by the Association of Graduates of Russian and Soviet Universities, led by Sherif Gad.

The round table explored Russian accomplishments in the field of space and the prospects of Egyptian-Russian cooperation in the field.

During the event, Mandrykina explained that the printed press in Russia faces the same problems faced by the printed press in the world since there is growing interest in the electronic press.

The electronic press is more lucrative but any prestigious newspaper must keep a printed copy," she asserted.

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AFP | Nairobi

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

A Kenyan lion believed to have been the worlds oldest in the wild has died after being speared by herders, wildlife officials said on Friday.

Loonkito, an iconic 19-year-old male lion, was speared to death by Maasai morans (warriors) after straying into a livestock pen in the outskirts of the famed Amboseli National Park, Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) spokesman Paul Jinaro told AFP.

It was an old lion that had issues... getting prey on its own and livestock is easy prey, Jinaro said. A normal lion would go for wildlife inside the park.

African lions typically have a lifespan of up to 18 years in the wild, according to the conservation group Cats for Africa. KWS in 2021 described Loonkito as a legendary big cat warrior who had defended his territory for over a decade.

Conservation group Lion Guardians eulogised Loonkito as a symbol of resilience and coexistence. It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of the passing of Loonkito (2004 - 2023), the oldest male lion in our ecosystem and possibly in Africa, the non-profit said on Facebook.
Enfield Police Department / Contributed Photo

ENFIELD  A local man who police say nearly ran over trick-or-treaters with his car in 2021 was re-arrested this week after authorities said they discovered several guns and a "whole bunch" of drugs in his home.

Robert Corey, 21, was arrested Friday and charged with several drug and gun offenses, including possession of a stolen firearm, possession of an assault weapon and operation of a drug factory in connection to the raid, Enfield police said. Corey was issued a $1.5 million surety bond and another $1 million bond for an incident that occurred when officers responded to his home earlier in the day, according to police.
Connecticut State Police / Contributed Photo

STAMFORD  Four Philadelphia residents were killed early Saturday morning after an SUV collided with a tractor-trailer on Interstate 95, state police said.

The two-vehicle crash took place around 3 a.m. on the interstates northbound lanes near exit 8 while the tractor-trailer was traveling in the center lane at a low rate of speed due to heavy traffic, according to a crash report from the Connecticut State Police.
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NEW HAVEN  A large basement fire caused "extensive damage" to a multifamily home on Ann Street early Saturday, displacing three people, a fire official said.

The New Haven Fire Department responded to a reported blaze at 52 Ann St. around 2:40 a.m. Saturday, according to Assistant Chief Dan Coughlin. Crews encountered "heavy fire" at the residence, and a second alarm was called in due to the conditions, Coughlin said.
STORRS  Family members of a local woman who disappeared in Japan a month ago say they have returned to the possibility that she may have fallen victim to a crime.

"We cant help but to circle back to the possibility that Pattie is the victim of a crime," the family wrote in a May 10 update on a GoFundMe page that has raised more than $190,000 for the search. To date, an extensive search by several rescue teams has failed to yield any clues.

Patricia "Pattie" Wu-Murad, a Storrs resident, vanished while hiking along the Kohechi route of the Kumano Kodo trail more than a month ago. The millennium-old route follows an ancient pilgrimage path across Japan's rugged Kii Peninsula.

Wu-Murad's sister-in-law, Julie Murad-Caruso, described her as an experienced hiker who had previously completed tough treks in South and North America.

"We were told there are no suspects, but were also told theres no evidence or clues of Pattie ever being on the trail," the family wrote in the update. "Both are equal possibilities until this mystery is solved."

Wu-Murad was last seen checking out of a guesthouse in Osaka around 7 a.m. on April 10 and was reported missing to local authorities around 8:15 p.m. when she failed to check into a second guesthouse about 11 miles down the trail, according to the GoFundMe page. Her daughter, Murphy Murad, previously said she should have arrived within seven to 10 hours of starting out.

Local police mounted a search but called it off 72 hours later after dozens of people, a helicopter and a drone came up empty. Family members began raising money to hire private search-and-rescue crews; volunteer groups have also aided in the search.

The family wrote in an earlier update that they were told that three people were captured on camera running on the trail near Wu-Murad's guesthouse around 8 a.m. the day she disappeared. But the three individuals reported that they never saw Wu-Murad on the trail.

"This has led many people to believe the likelihood she made it onto the correct trail is significantly lower than we originally thought," the family wrote.

Family members said they had also discovered multiple white banners reading "Kohechi Trail" that were hung from trees on a path directly across from the actual Kohechi Route, which Wu-Murad intended to hike. Trail maintenance workers subsequently removed the banners, according to the family.

Family members said on May 10 that they are still working with the FBI to collect Wu-Murad's cellphone data and last known location. According to the family, drone footage collected to detect any colors Wu-Murad was last seen wearing before she vanished is still being processed.

The family said they are also considering sending another search and rescue team from the U.S. because of "the loss in momentum ever since we decided to leave."

"We are doing everything we can," the family said. "We are still looking for answers."
NEW HAVEN  Police Officer Diane Gonzalez will be honored in Washington, D.C., tonight as part of a ceremony for fallen members of law enforcement.

Gonzalez died in January 2022 after suffering a traumatic brain injury and falling into a coma following an on-duty crash in 2008.

Every spring, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, the nonprofit organization that built and maintains the memorial, honors officers killed in the line of duty the year before by chiseling their names into the memorial's curving, 304-foot-long limestone walls. Located in the 400 block of E Street Northwest, the memorial sits close to attractions such as the National Portrait Gallery and the International Spy Museum.

While the actual engraving process is completed beforehand, formal induction comes when the names are read aloud during a candlelight vigil on May 13. This years vigil, the 35th annual, is scheduled to take place at Washingtons National Mall starting at 8 tonight and last about two hours, according to NLEOMF.

Gonzalez's family and former colleagues remembered her as a caring, family-oriented woman who carried herself with self-confidence and a smile. In fact, she often wore a yellow smiley face pin on her uniform, colleagues said.

Gonzalez enjoyed being creative, as she would regularly organize parties and do arts and crafts, according to her daughter, Diane Mora. She also delighted in family, Mora said. She had three children and adopted her niece and nephew after her sister died.

Stephie Van Wilgen said she was Gonzalezs partner on the force for 13 years. They met in the academy, she said, then went on to work together on the midnight shift in Fair Haven.

In the midst of the job, whether it was mundane  a lonely person calling 911, looking to talk with someone  or dangerous  a firearm peeking out from under someones leg during a traffic stop  Gonzalez always had her back, and demonstrated uncommon care for people, Van Wilgen said.

She would do anything for anybody. She was what New Haven police want" in an officer, Van Wilgen said. All the cops loved Diane; everybody loved Diane.

Tonights candlelight vigil will also recognize Bristol police Lt. Dustin DeMonte and Sgt. Alex Hamzy, who were shot to death on the night of Oct. 12 as they responded to a reported domestic dispute at a home on Redstone Hill Road, according to a report. The event will be livestreamed on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, according to NLEOMF. The ceremony takes place as the country marks the beginning of National Police Week, May 14-20.
The World Health Organization said that the global outbreak of mpox, which initially baffled experts when the smallpox-related disease spread to more than 100 countries last year, is no longer an international emergency.

Last July, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared mpox, also known as monkeypox, to be an extraordinary situation that qualified as a global crisis. In doing so, he overruled WHOs expert committee, which didnt recommend the emergency designation.

Tedros said the novel way mpox was infecting people, via sexual contact in many countries that had never before identified cases, raised numerous concerns that warranted more attention; nearly all cases were in men who were gay, bisexual or had sex with other men. It was the biggest-ever outbreak of mpox.

He said at a media briefing on Thursday that his expert committee had concluded that the recent dramatic decline in cases, with about 90% fewer cases in the last three months, was no longer an acute concern.

We now see steady progress in controlling the outbreak based on the lessons of HIV and working closely with the most affected communities, Tedros said. Im pleased to declare that the mpox is no longer a global health emergency. He added that the feared backlash against the communities most affected by the outbreak has largely not materialized.

The announcement Thursday comes after WHO downgraded COVID-19 last week, when it said the worst part of the pandemic was over and that the coronavirus should be managed like other respiratory diseases.

Mpox has been established in parts of central and west Africa for decades, where people are mainly infected by animals like wild rodents. But the disease wasnt known to spark big outbreaks beyond the continent or to spread easily among people until last May, when dozens of epidemics emerged in Europe, North America and elsewhere.

Mpox most often causes symptoms including a rash, fever, headache, muscle pain and swollen lymph nodes. The skin lesions can last up to a month and the disease is spread via close physical contact with an infected patient or their clothing or bedsheets. Most people dont need medical treatment to recover.

Scientists ultimately concluded that the unprecedented outbreak was tied to sex among gay and bisexual men at raves in Spain and Belgium, marking a significant departure from the mpoxs typical pattern of spread in Africa, where outbreaks havent spilled across borders.

Shortly after Tedros classified monkeypox as a global emergency last year, the epidemics in Europe and North America declined, and there were no signs of widespread transmission beyond men who were gay, bisexual or had sex with other men. European health authorities said that 98% of mpox patients are men and of those, 96% are men who have sex with men.

Mpox vaccines in rich countries were quickly rolled out and reports of severe illness were relatively rare. Cases have since slowed to a trickle in Europe and North America. To date, WHO says there have been more than 87,000 cases and 140 deaths worldwide. Still, in the last week, WHO said cases spiked by 64% compared to the previous week, with most cases in the Americas and the Western Pacific.

The U.S. has reported the biggest outbreak, with more than 30,000 cases. This week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control said that it was investigating a recent surge in cases around the country, including Chicago. Scientists have previously warned mpox could become entrenched as a new sexually transmitted disease, as authorities said its spread could continue indefinitely in certain populations.

In central and west Africa, mpox cases are continuing to rise, mainly driven by a spike in Congo. WHO said there has been about a 7% jump in new infections in the last two weeks, and Tedros said the routes of transmission were still not well understood. Cases have also been reported in the Central African Republic, Nigeria, Liberia and Ghana.

While rich countries including Britain, the U.S. and Germany rushed to vaccinate their at-risk populations after the mpox outbreak emerged, Africa didnt receive its first big shipment of vaccines until last December.

WHO emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan criticized the global community for its failure to support the effort to contain the epidemic last year.

Not one dollar was received from donors to support this response, he said. He said that WHO had financed such efforts itself and acknowledged that some donors may have directly supported affected countries. I was quite stunned to think that we could not get any funding for mpox.

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Ben Lambert / Hearst Connecticut Media

NEW HAVEN  A fire tore through an apartment building in the Fair Haven neighborhood Saturday, displacing 17 people, officials said.

Firefighters responded shortly after 2:45 p.m. to 272 Lombard St. after a fire broke out in the three-story multi-family residence, according to New Haven Emergency Operations Director Rick Fontana.
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DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP)  Volunteers in Bangladeshs coastal districts were using loudspeakers to urge people to seek shelter on Saturday as the delta nation braced for an extremely severe cyclone, which is expected to slam ashore in Bangladesh and Myanmar in the next 24 hours.

U.N. agencies and aid workers prepositioned tons of dry food and dozens of ambulances with mobile medical teams in sprawling refugee camps with more than 1 million Rohingya who fled persecution in Myanmar.

The camps at Cox's Bazar are in the path of Cyclone Mocha, which was closing in on the coast of southeastern Bangladesh and Myanmar with wind speeds of up to 220 kilometers (135 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 240 kph (150 mph), the Indian Meteorological Department said. It's projected to make landfall on Sunday between Coxs Bazar in Bangladesh and Kyaukpyu in Myanmar.

Bangladesh, with more than 160 million people, has prepared more than 1,500 cyclone shelters. The navy said it's keeping ready 21 ships, maritime patrol aircraft and helicopters for rescue and relief operations.

In Myanmar, rains and winds were picking up since Friday and prompted more than 10,000 people in villages around Sittwe in Rakhine state to seek shelter in sturdy buildings including monasteries, temples and schools, said Lin Lin, the chairman of the Myittar Yaung Chi charity foundation.

Currently, about 20 places have been arranged for people to stay in Sittwe. But because there were more people than we expected, there was not enough food for the next day. We are still trying to get it, he said.

Speaking from Coxs Bazar across the border in Bangladesh, the International Organization of Migration's deputy chief of mission, Nihan Erdogan, said Bangladesh put in place a massive preparedness plan.

He said his agency had trained 100 volunteers in each of the 17 refugee camps on how to alert rescuers using flag warning signals when heavy rains, floods and strong winds lash the region. Emergency shelter materials and hygiene kits are readily available, and personal protective gear has been provided to all volunteers."

The World Health Organization put 40 ambulances and 33 mobile medical teams on standby at Coxs Bazar, the agencys spokesperson Margaret Harris said.

Authorities in Bangladesh said heavy rains from the cyclone could trigger landslides in Chattogram and Cox's Bazar and three other hilly districts  Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachhari.

Bangladesh, which is prone to natural disasters such as floods and cyclones, issued the highest danger signal for Coxs Bazar. The Bangladesh Meteorological Department warned the cyclone could cause severe damage to the lives and properties in eight coastal districts.

Mizanur Rahman, director general of the Department of the Disaster Management, said they asked the local authorities in 20 districts and sub-districts to make swift preparations. He said they were particularly concerned about a small coral island called Saint Martins in the Bay of Bengal, where efforts were underway to protect thousands of inhabitants.

Myanmar said in its weather bulletin that the cyclone was moving toward the coast of Rakhine state near Sittwe, which was put under the highest weather alert.

The World Food Program said it prepositioned enough food to cover the needs of more than 400,000 people in Rakhine and neighboring areas for one month.

We are preparing for the worst, while hoping for the best. Cyclone Mocha is heading to areas burdened by conflict, poverty, and weak community resilience, said WFPs Myanmar deputy director, Sheela Matthew. Many of the people most likely to be affected are already reliant on regular humanitarian assistance from WFP. They simply cannot afford another disaster.

In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar with a storm surge that devastated populated areas around the Irrawaddy River Delta. At least 138,000 people died and tens of thousands of homes and other buildings were washed away.

Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune city, said cyclones in the Bay of Bengal are becoming more intense more quickly, in part because of climate change.

The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported on Friday that thousands of people living along the western coast of Rakhine state were evacuated.

Both Indian and Bangladesh authorities said they were expecting heavy to very heavy rainfall in Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Andaman Sea, parts of Indias remote northeast, and across Bangladesh from Saturday night.

Climate scientists say cyclones can now retain their energy for many days, such as Cyclone Amphan in eastern India in 2020, which continued to travel over land as a strong cyclone and caused extensive devastation. As long as oceans are warm and winds are favorable, cyclones will retain their intensity for a longer period, Koll said.

Cyclones are among the most devastating natural disasters in the world, especially if they affect densely populated coastal regions in South Asia.

___

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about APs climate initiative at https://www.ap.org/press-releases/2022/ap-announces-sweeping-climate-journalism-initiative. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Sunday is Mothers Day.

If your mother is still living, I hope you have plans to honour and celebrate her in some special way. Im thankful that I still have my mother. She turns 97 this summer.

Each Mothers Day is extra special when your loved one gets to that age.

We are all tempted to think that our own mother is the best. The truth is every mother is special and unique in the eyes of her children. In a sense every mother is the best.

Here are three words to think about as you prepare for Sunday.

Sacrifice

We can all think of examples from our childhood when our mothers sacrificed for us. Not quite enough food or dessert to go around the table? Guess who quietly goes without? As a child you hardly notice. As we grow older, hopefully, we do.

I remember years ago reading a biography called My Big Father. It was the story of a poor family in Turkey in which the son decided to become a Christ-follower. Thats not an easy thing to do when most of your compatriots follow a different religion.

However, its a story about his mother that stands out in my mind. The son had a serious kidney disease and needed a new kidney. The doctor asked his uneducated mother if she wanted to donate a kidney. Without hesitation she said yes. The mother then asked the doctor who would care for her son after she died. The doctor assured her she was not going to die because she had two kidneys. She thought she only had one.

Honour

We all have a great opportunity on Sunday to honour our moms. Perhaps it will take the form of a card or phone call or gift or flowers or a personal visit. If your mother has already passed on, it may mean a visit to a cemetery to put fresh flowers on her grave site and say a prayer of thanksgiving for her life.

In my last church, we had a childrens program called The Sonshine Club. We spell the word Sonshine that way to point the children to Jesus, the Son of God. Over the years weve taught these precious boys and girls the Ten Commandments using their fingers. Most adults cant remember all 10 and they certainly cant say them in order. Can you? If not, youre welcome to club. They accept over-agers.

Anyhow, when we come to commandment No. 5 we have the children show us five fingers. Then as we count our fingers we say together, Honour your father and mother. Get it? Five fingers; five words. Then we talk about what that looks like.

The children give glowing examples of turning off the TV when mom calls supper. Or taking out the trash when dad asks the first time. Us leaders start feeling pretty good. Its getting through, we think. Then we have some cookies and juice and (in the winter) head out to the rink for a skate. Then mom or dad shows up and shouts, Time to go! and the child  skates off in the opposite direction. Oh well, we sigh, Well try again next time.

Care

When I was young, my mother was my primary caregiver. So was my father but he worked every day at a Welland plant and my mom was the one at home waiting for me when I got off the bus. How was your day? Did you eat all your lunch? Do you have much homework tonight?

Now as I approach my senior years and my mother lives out her sunset years, Ive noticed the roles have been reversed. How was your night, Mom? What are your blood sugar numbers? Are you warm enough?

One of the most touching scenes in Scripture takes place when Jesus was hanging on the cross suffering excruciating (literally out of the cross) physical and spiritual pain. At the foot of the cross is his mother, Mary, and his disciple, John. Jesus looks at his mother and says, Dear woman, here is your son. Then he looks at John and says, Here is your mother. The next line reads, From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. (John 19:26-27)

Even on the cross, carrying and paying for the amassed sins of humanity (which included mine and yours), Jesus thinks of his mother and cares for her future needs. What an example to follow.

Join me in prayer and make it your own:

Thank You, Lord, for my mother and all she means to me. Help me to follow your example and honour and care for her today, tomorrow and all the days to come. In Jesus name, Amen.

Rob Weatherby is a retired pastor

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As one of the citys many cultural communities, the earliest records of Wellands Jewish community begin circa 1909, when Albert Many arrived in Crowland to establish his grocery business.

In the space of the next few years, there were enough families that had settled in the area to form a minyan, a quorum of 10 adults (usually male) older than age 13, for worship. Some prominent members and families at the time were Henry Shapiro, Joseph Solomon, Joe and Paul Adelman, Frank and Sam Fishman, Issie and Morris Semel, Sam Sugarman and the Gibbs, Blugerman and Shaletzky families. The majority of the community lived in Crowland at the time.

However, there was no dedicated place of worship available to them.

In 1914, a building was bought on Fifth Street and converted into a synagogue, which was subsequently dedicated in 1917, signalling a proper start to Jewish communal life in town. A shochet, someone who is officially certified as competent to kill cattle and poultry in the manner prescribed by Jewish law, was retained, a ritual bath was built next to the synagogue, and a plot of land to house what would become the oldest Jewish cemetery in Niagara, Anshe Yosher Jewish Niagara Cemetery at 812 Lyons Creek Rd., was obtained circa 1919.

With the advent of the First World War and with the later shift into the 1920s, the community experienced change as some families left and newcomers arrived, emigrating from different parts of Europe. Most became retail merchants. The late 1920s and 30s brought another wave of Jewish immigrants, this time a younger and more progressive group.

Circa 1928, part-time Hebrew teachers first began to appear, hired to educate Jewish children  a position that later became full time. A room at Central School in Welland was loaned to the community by the Welland Board of Education, while the adults held meetings in the synagogue, along with community-hosted outings and picnics to celebrate Jewish culture.

The 1940s saw an emergence of the first generation of Jewish Canadians, and the looming threat of the Second World War. The number of Jewish families living in Crowland had gradually dwindled, until in 1942 a decision was made to sell the synagogue, and acquire a new building, which turned out to be the Italian-Canadian Club on Garner Avenue. This became the new centre for the community through the war years, serving not only as the synagogue, but also as a Hebrew school, cultural centre and hall all in one, with the congregation comprising 35 to 40 families.

In 1944, the community was formally incorporated as Welland Hebrew Congregation (Congregation Anshe Yosher), with its primary duties being to provide for the communitys religious, educational and welfare needs.

Following the Second World War, many more Jewish families came to settle in the North Ward of the city, but with progress also came adversity. In February 1953, the synagogue on Garner Avenue suddenly and shockingly burned down, prompting the congregation to construct a new synagogue and cultural centre, as seen in 1958 in the photo.

Welland architect Norman Kearns designed the building, and by 1955, Anshe Yosher Synagogue and Centre opened at 72 Summit Ave. A simply decorated brick structure, it afforded space for worship, a basement hall and a Hebrew school for 30 children. In the synagogues sanctuary, the Torah ark was set against a subtle projecting curve legible on the exterior. Much like its predecessors, Anshe Yosher continued to serve the community for more than 28 years as the hub of Jewish communal life and learning in Welland.

In the 1970s, the number of attendants began to decline as many families once more moved away, many to Toronto and other cities, and by 1983, the building was sold to a different religious organization, with Maranatha Bible Church taking over the premises, followed by Welland Church of Christ in the 1990s. The proceeds and ritual objects were reportedly sent to Israel to help another congregation establish its synagogue, and some of Anshe Yoshers items were moved to St. Catharines Reform Temple Tikvah.

The building itself lasted until 2006, at which point it was demolished, to be replaced by housing, bringing a close to the reminder of another chapter in the cultural history of Welland.

All information is courtesy of Welland Museum and Welland Public Library archives.

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While a career in corporate finance is not exactly Hollywood exciting, Brian Lynch has found a way to light up his life in retirement. The 70-year-old helped launch a doggy daycare in his neighbourhood, is an active volunteer for several charities focused on animals and children, and has acquired a diploma in baking. And he drives a vehicle full of character: a 1991 Nissan Figaro.

Brian Lynch explains how this came to be:

My wife and I were renting a home in Clifton, Ireland in 2016. At one point, we attended a horse show and saw a car just like this one parked on the street. Id never seen one in my life. Everything about it caught my attention.

Im sure my wife rolled her eyes at the time, but, when I announced that I was going to get one for myself, she knew  knowing me  that I was going to make good on that promise. It was the 1991 Nissan Figaro and it had to be mine.

When we returned to Canada I couldnt find one easily in the country, so I worked with a company in Japan to source one. They found one in the Toyko area, put it on a ship and the ship line went bankrupt. So it just sat there, sadly, off the coast of Vancouver. Two-and-a-half whole years later, we were reunited.

I think driving the Figaro home with my wife in 2019, after all that anticipation, is still my best memory with the car  that and taking the rest of my family out for a drive in it. One by one of course, because I can only get one passenger in it at a time.

As anyone can see, its a tiny vehicle and its extremely impractical. Its got a back seat, but you could barely fit a chimpanzee back there. The trunk is even smaller. So its really become a fair-weather car for us. We take it out every May  in fact, we just took it out of storage a week ago  and take it on day trips or overnights to places like Stratford or Elora.

I suppose the joy of it is that its so unique and a little bit quirky  kind of like me.

Buying it is one of the many fun things that Ive done in my retirement. I own a Vespa. I got my baking diploma at George Brown College . The people who know me best know that buying something like this is kind of par for the course. My kids will say, Ya, my dads got a car thats an answer to a Jeopardy question  that makes sense.

Its definitely the colour, along with the size, that attracts the most attention. These Figaros only ever came in four colours  and each was connected to one of the four seasons of the year. Ive got Emerald Green which is for Spring, which adds to why I always love bringing it out around this time. I didnt have a choice in the colour I got, but if I had, I would have picked this one.

I dont know what its like to be famous, but Ill go to a summer event and Ill park this car and its guaranteed that at least 20 people are going to approach me with questions. I wouldnt say I got the car for attention, but its unavoidable. Thats become part of the fun.

Where its from is a mystery to most.

One thing thats interesting about the car: it has very little badging on it. It doesnt say Figaro very robustly, so people will often ask if its an English or Italian car. Its rare that people guess its Japanese. They were built as part of what was called the Back to the Future campaign. They wanted to build a retro-looking car that was dependable and not too fancy, mechanically because they wanted people to actually drive it and wanted it to last. Youll see there are these scallop shells that are reflected throughout which was a theme of these vehicles. They really are beautiful inside and out.

You wont find many quite like it.

This car has a unique history in that Nissan only made 8,000 of them originally, but there was such an enormous demand that they upped that to 20,000. In fact, they had orders for over 100,000 of them, so they had to create a lottery in Japan. That meant you had a one-in-five chance of owning this car. And, for all its flash, its quite well made. Its a four-cylinder, but its a turbocharged engine, so its fairly efficient. You wouldnt want to take it on a trip to Montreal. But any day trips and the like  its a lot of fun to drive, and I take it out on the highway all the time.

NOTE: Do you love your car? Tell us why in a few sentences! Email us at wheels@thestar.ca and put Why I Love My Car in the subject line

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Untether AI is a very rare breed among the many AI outfits springing up over the past decade.

For starters, it is Canadian in a field dominated by American companies, but it also isnt trying to build the next ChatGPT.

Instead, Untether, headquartered in Toronto, produces the grey matter needed to run any AI program  specialized computer chips. Thanks to the ubiquity of AI, these chips are needed everywhere. One notable place is under the hood of GMs autonomous vehicles.

Last year, Untether AI announced a partnership with the auto giant to produce AI perception systems that are used to help autonomous vehicles find their way around without human assistance.

But the future of AI chip design goes far beyond Untether. Tech superpowers like the U.S., Taiwan and China are pushing the boundaries of chip design in what appears to be the 21st centurys space race  or, arguably, the nuclear arms race. About 90 per cent of the semiconductor world outsources its productions, and the largest factories tend to be found on either side of the new Cold War.

Untether AIs contribution to todays chip industry is described as energy-efficient, yet affordable. With AI set to dominate computing over the next five years, electricity consumption by the industry will go through the roof.

A low-footprint chip capable of handling the most advanced AIs operations without melting into a shiny puddle is, in Untether AI CEO Arun Iyengars view, essential to lightening the load.

Are there fundamental differences between the chips people have in their cars, and the chips your company is designing?

There are all sorts of chips, just like there are all sorts of books. If you want to learn Russian, you wouldnt pick up an English dictionary. From a silicon perspective, you need to figure out where and what youre using a chip for. So the answer is, yes, you end up using different types of chips in a lot of different types of scenarios.

We are actually very, very different than other chip makers. Were one of maybe three Canadian chip companies that were founded here. Startups also typically try not to do simple things. Weve taken on a very big, complex thing. What we focus on is artificial intelligence usage. In artificial intelligence, there are two components: actually coming up with a model, and then you use a model. Were on the use side of the equation. That could mean autonomous vehicles or smart cities or smart retail, or robotics. Those are all good examples of applying a trained model.

Why are there so few Canadian chip companies?

Canadas got great AI talent on the software side. If you close your eyes in downtown Toronto and throw a rock, youll probably hit an AI shop thats doing software  and thats great. But AI is the one discipline thats going to change the way hardware and software work together. It used to be that when you designed something for the internet, you didnt really care about the underlying hardware. You could use anyones processor  anyone being Intel.

AI is different. You need specialized hardware to run it. So I think whats happened, in Canada, is that everybodys focused on software. The hardware has been an afterthought. These companies think a company somewhere else is going to make the hardware, and theyll just use the hardware because they think Canada doesnt have that capability here.

We really thought it was silly for a company to be based anywhere except in the hub of AI software land. Theres a lot of usage that happens right here.

How do your AI chips differ from whats already on the market? Are they more resistant to heat? Are they faster?

Now youre getting into why were in existence, which is the right question. Companies like Nvidia and AMD and Intel make graphics processing units or GPUs. They are typically used for AI today. GPUs are designed with a technique called Von Neumann architecture  a really powerful, old-school architecture thats worked very well for the semiconductor world from the 1950s, up until now.

Its called a load and store architecture, which basically means you have memory outside the chip, you have processing inside the chip, and you have a very long, narrow connection connecting the two. Its kind of like the Don Valley Parkway when it gets clogged. You just sit there, burning energy. And you end up with a very low utilization when it comes to AI.

If AI is deployed using this general purpose Von Neumann architecture, you end up with a hidden energy crisis. It will actually take away the ability to deploy AI, and make it available to the global population. Itll be more for the elite.

Whats this energy crisis?

Youve heard of ChatGPT? Running ChatGPT for a month, using traditional chip technology, consumes the same energy as powering a town of 175,000 people every month. Nobody talks about that, because ChatGPT is amazing. Its awesome. But this is a problem. This is the crisis thats in front of us if we dont have a more efficient way of deploying artificial intelligence.

Thats where we come in. We basically blow up the Von Neumann architecture and come up with a completely different means of putting memory and data processing right next to each other, so the data movement  and energy consumption  is minimized drastically. It moves such a tiny distance that we cant even measure it with our naked eyes. But in traditional Von Neumann architecture, 90 per cent of the energy going into that chip is moving the data. We take that to pretty much zero.

Youve worked in the U.S., and now youre in Canada. Are there any major differences between the AI sector in both countries?

When I joined the company, the idea of a chip company in Canada made no sense to me. To me, a chip company needed to be in the U.S. because, guess what, thats where Silicon Valley is, and we should be in the land of silicon. So I thought maybe Id have the software team in Canada and move the hardware side into Silicon Valley. Its easier to find software engineers in the Toronto area because it is a hotbed for a lot of good AI talent. Its not as straightforward to find hardware talent.

Very shortly, I realized moving the company to the U.S. made no sense because the talent I found here, and continue to find here, is amazing. I am also seeing people that spend time in the U.S. saying they want to come back to Canada because that is where they are from.

Were creating those opportunities for them. Were giving them the chance to work in a cutting-edge company working on silicon, which would be the equivalent of what Id be doing in a startup in Silicon Valley. Thats been a huge magnet, if you will, for people to say: Wow, this is pretty cool. When they actually come in  and these are people that have worked at companies like Google  they think what were creating is very, very interesting technology.

The Biden administration is really interested in setting up semiconductor fabricators in places like Ohio. What kind of impact would it have on the AI sector if we did that here?

That would be the Canadian government basically saying that semiconductors are going to be the backbone of everything we do. And if we dont own the supply chain, were at the mercy of somebody else. It would be great. The three Canadian chip startups I talked about earlier would probably grow to 30 the day it gets announced, and would probably be 300 when the factory actually started functioning.

There are some massive chip makers in the semiconductor arms race, like Nvidia. How do you keep up with a giant like that if youre a startup in Canada?

The way we answer that question is not necessarily through saying: Let me tell you how were better. Its: Let me show you how were better. Ill give you an example. We work with a smart retail customer that was looking at a way to bring in more cameras into a store and be able to capture theft, or whatever the case may be.

What they found is that they were limited to a certain number of cameras with their existing chip. For the same amount of power they were using, we could add six times the capacity of their cameras. All of sudden, every aisle could have a camera  and not just for theft deterrence. You could just come by, wave your card, and a store could know what a customer has already picked. These are use cases that customers could not do with their existing implementation.

Are there any supports youd like to see from the federal government to make the AI space better in Canada?

I think a lot of it starts from universities, and the Canadian university system is really, really good. We get a lot of really good talent coming out of the University of Toronto and the University of Waterloo. On the semiconductor side, you need to be certain that it is critical to the countrys success.

If you have that as your DNA, which is something the U.S. has really moved toward, and something China did about five years ago, then your policies would change automatically. I wouldnt have to pick the one thing I need. Recognize that semiconductors are going to be the DNA of progress.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Brennan Doherty is a former staff reporter for Star Calgary and the Stars 24-hour radio room in Toronto. He is now a freelance contributor.

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Shoukry spoke during a joint presser of the Munich Group  which also includes Germany, France, and Jordan  on Thursday in Berlin, referring to the foreign double standards concerning the right to self-defence amid the military escalation between Palestine and Israel.

German Foreign Affairs Minister Annalena Baerbock said Israel has the right to self-defence, adding, however, that Israel "has to" maintain proportionality in its reaction.

French Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna seconded Baerbock concerning the proportionality in reaction but added that in no case should civilians be killed.

Air strikes by the Israeli army since Tuesday have killed 25 people in Gaza, a death tally that comprises fighters and civilians, including children, said officials in the blockaded Palestinian enclave, according to AFP.

In response, Shoukry said rights are complete and indivisible.

No party has rights that exceed the rights of others. Entering the cycle of violence is linked to those who initiate violence, he added.

The right of the Palestinian people to establish their own state must be respected and be acted upon, the Egyptian top diplomat said.

Also, there is certainly a right to self-defense, but it is an indivisible right as it is granted to both parties, but this is what we seek to avoid in order not to enter into a vicious circle of reciprocal violence that does not lead to the interest of both parties and exacerbates the issue, Shoukry noted.

Direct talks needed

The Egyptian foreign minister stressed that an open dialogue between the Palestinians and Israelis is necessary to resolve the conflict.

He noted that the recent meetings in Aqaba and Sharm El-Sheikh, which brought together Palestinian and Israeli officials, represented progress in terms of implementing direct negotiations.

Shoukry added that common ground was reached in these recent meetings on issues such as a cessation of Israeli military operations, refraining from taking unilateral steps, and ending Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes and construction of illegal settlements.

Still, he stressed, agreement on the mechanisms of implementing the outcomes of these meetings remains a paramount goal.

Shoukry added that it is imperative that the Palestinian side address issues surrounding militant groups in the occupied territories to ensure peace and stability.

Egypt will continue to work within the framework of the Munich group to achieve progress on the issue, noted Shoukry while the groups role in addressing the crisis.

He stressed that Egypt bears a special responsibility in safeguarding the rights of the Palestinian people and will continue to play its role as a mediator to resolve the conflict.

Finally, Shoukry reaffirmed Egypt's firm stance on the necessity of a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders and Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state as the way to end the conflict.

The Munich Group was formed in 2020 as a quadripartite mechanism between Egypt, Jordan, Germany and France to mediate toward reaching a resolution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This group meeting was called in April by German, the German foreign minister in response to the marked rise in violence in the occupied territories in renecent months, especially after the re-election of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in December 2022.
A tattered recipe stashed in a Ziploc bag and a kind group of strangers on the internet helped a Montreal woman unlock an old family story and share a special moment with her nonna.

When Natasha Contardi posted a photo of that Italian recipe on Reddit, requesting help to decipher its instructions, she expected few replies  let alone the overwhelming response she ended up receiving.

Contardi, who lives in Montreal, had found the decades-old recipe card among a stash kept by her 88-year-old grandmother, or nonna as she calls her.

She was immediately drawn to it: brown, torn along the edges yet delicate and beautifully handwritten in Italian cursive, with its swooping letters gracefully connecting to each other.

I was trying to read it and figure out what it was, and I could get a handful of words from it because my Italian is passable, Contardi told the Star.

She knew the recipe wasnt written by her nonna, who doesnt use cursive. She also could recognize the words for certain ingredients, like almonds, chocolate and cinnamon. But the actual dish and its origins remained a mystery.

When Contardi asked her nonna, who lives with mild dementia, she couldnt find an answer. I was trying to prompt her, to give her little hints to remember it, and that didnt work, she said.

So, running out of options but keen to learn what the recipe was, Contardi turned to Reddit.

She posted pictures of the recipe on the subreddit Old_Recipes. Within hours, she received dozens of responses from strangers, offering their translations and analysis of the recipe.

Literally, my jaw dropped, Contardi said of Reddit response. Usually when I share something on social media, it gets ignored.

Together, users were able to identify the dish as serpentone, a sweet dessert filled with dried fruits and seeds, and curled to look like a snake. One user, a pastry chef and food historian, noted the recipe likely originated from Umbria.

It all started to make sense for Contardi, as her nonna came from Pergola, a municipality in central Italy just outside of Umbria.

Contardis nonna remembered the dish and the story behind it instantly when her granddaughter presented her with the new details crowdsourced from Reddit.

That was when the final piece of the puzzle fell into place.

I was sitting across the table from her and I said, Nonna, could it be serpentone? and her face just lit up and she was like, Oh, yes, thats good. Rosa used to make that. recalled Contardi.

Rosa, 91, is her nonnas sister-in-law. She grew up at a cattle farm down the road from where Contardis nonna lived.

My nonna met her husband when she was very young, Contardi explained on Reddit after she learned the full story. He had to walk past her home with the cows every day to take them to the water to drink.

During that grandmother-granddaughter conversation, which lasted about an hour, Contardis nonna would go on to explain how Rosa taught her most of the recipes the family still cooks today.

Food, Contardi stressed, plays a huge role in her family. Truly, food is the love language of my family. Every year for every occasion, we cram everybody into (nonnas) tiny kitchen and everybody has a job  even the toddlers, she said.

That kitchen is a space Contardi knows well. She recalled how she spent days there as a kid during summer vacations, cooking with her family.

All these years later, she continues to frequently cook and bake with her nonna, who lives with arthritis and needs help in the kitchen.

As her nonna grows older, Contardi said moments like this one, shared over the serpentone recipe, are incredibly special.

It was just so beautiful, she said, because we dont often have times like this with her anymore.

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EL PASO, Texas (AP)  The U.S.-Mexico border was relatively calm as the U.S. ended its pandemic-era immigration restrictions and migrants adapted to new asylum rules and legal pathways meant to discourage illegal crossings.

A full day after the rules known as Title 42 were lifted, migrants and government officials on Friday were still assessing the effects of new regulations adopted by President Joe Bidens administration in hope of stabilizing the Southwest border region and undercutting smugglers who charge migrants to get there.

Migrants are now essentially barred from seeking asylum in the U.S. if they did not first apply online or seek protection in the countries they traveled through. Families allowed in as their immigration cases progress will face curfews and GPS monitoring. Those expelled can now be barred from reentry for five years and face possible criminal prosecution.

Across the river from El Paso, Texas, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, many migrants watched their cellphones in hopes of getting a coveted appointment to seek entry. The official app to register to enter the United States underwent changes this week, as it offers appointments for migrants to enter through land crossings.

Many migrants in northern Mexico resigned themselves to waiting for an appointment rather than approaching the border without authorization.

I hope its a little better and that the appointments are streamlined a little more, said Yeremy Depablos, 21, a Venezuelan traveling with seven cousins who has been waiting in Ciudad Juarez for a month. Fearing deportation, Depablos did not want to cross illegally. We have to do it the legal way.

The U.S. Homeland Security Department said it has not witnessed any substantial increase in immigration.

But in southern Mexico, migrants including children still flocked to railways at Huehuetoca on Friday, desperate to clamor aboard freight trains heading north toward the U.S.

The legal pathways touted by the Biden administration consist of a program that permits up to 30,000 people a month from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter if they apply online with a financial sponsor and enter through an airport.

About 100 processing centers are opening in Guatemala, Colombia and elsewhere for migrants to apply to go to the U.S., Spain or Canada. Up to 1,000 can enter daily through land crossings with Mexico if they secure an appointment on the app.

If it works, the system could fundamentally alter how migrants come to the southern border. But Biden, who is running for reelection, faces withering criticism from migrant advocates, who say hes abandoning more humanitarian methods, and from Republicans, who claim hes soft on border security. Two legal challenges already loom over the new asylum restrictions.

Title 42 was initiated in March 2020 and allowed border officials to quickly deport asylum seekers on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. But with the national emergency officially over, the restrictions have ended.

While Title 42 prevented many from seeking asylum, it carried no legal consequences for expulsion like those under the new rules.

In El Paso on Friday, a few dozen migrants lingered outside Sacred Heart Catholic Church and shelter, on streets where nearly 2,000 migrants were camped as recently as Tuesday.

The Rev. Daniel Mora said most of the migrants took heed of flyers distributed by U.S. immigration authorities offering a last chance to submit to processing and left. El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said that 1,800 migrants turned themselves over to Customs and Border Protection on Thursday.

Melissa Lopez, executive director for Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services at El Paso, said many migrants have been willing to follow the legal pathway created by the federal government, but there are fears about deportation and possible criminal penalties for crossing the border illegally.

Border holding facilities in the U.S. were already far beyond capacity in the run-up to Title 42s expiration.

In Florida, a federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump has temporarily halted the administrations plans to release people into the U.S.

Customs and Border Protection said it would comply, but called it a harmful ruling that will result in unsafe overcrowding at migrant processing and detention facilities.

A court date has been scheduled on whether to extend the ruling.

Migrant-rights groups also sued the Biden administration on allegations that its new policy is no different than one adopted by Trump  and rejected by the same court.

The Biden administration says its policy is different, arguing that its not an outright ban but imposes a higher burden of proof to get asylum and that it pairs restrictions with newly opened legal pathways.

At the Chaparral port of entry in Tijuana on Friday, a few migrants approached U.S. authorities after not being able to access the appointment app. One of them, a Salvadoran man named Jairo, said he was fleeing death threats back home.

We are truly afraid, said Jairo who was traveling with his partner and their 3-year-old son and declined to share his last name. We cant remain any longer in Mexico and we cant go back to Guatemala or El Salvador. If the U.S. cant take us, we hope they can direct us to another country that can.

___

Gonzalez reported from Brownsville, Texas; Spagat reported from Tijuana, Mexico. Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Rebecca Santana in Washington; Gisela Salomon in Miami; Christopher Sherman in Mexico City; Gerardo Carrillo in Matamoros, Mexico; Maria Verza in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; Julie Watson in Tijuana; Morgan Lee in Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Suman Naishadham in Tijuana, Mexico contributed to this report.

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MONTREALSince Pierre Poilievre secured a first-ballot leadership victory last fall, peace has broken out on the Conservative caucus front.

Those of his MPs who harbour doubts about their latest leaders bare-knuckled approach to politics have so far been discreet.

Some of them want to protect their chances to be appointed to a future Conservative cabinet. Others are planning to go quietly into the night once their current term in Parliament is up.

With polls showing he has a fighting chance to lead the party back to power in the next election and money pouring in to party coffers, no one wants to rock the boat.

But outside the parliamentary bubble, the picture is less rosy.

By all indications, uniting Canadas conservative movement in time for the next election remains very much a work in progress.

For instance, these days Poilievre and his team are making a virtue of necessity by bragging about the fact they are keeping their distance from the many premiers who at least nominally should be their top allies.

Doug Ford is keeping his distance

That task is undoubtedly made easier by the fact that the likes of Doug Ford, Francois Legault and Blaine Higgs are not lining up at the federal leaders doorstep.

Meanwhile on the ground, conservatives are once again going to war against each other.

In the Ontario riding of Oxford, a normally safe CPC seat soon to be in play in a byelection, a messy nomination battle has led the outgoing Conservative MP to switch sides.

When a date is set to fill his vacant seat, Dave MacKenzie  a 19-year House of Commons veteran  will be campaigning for the Liberals.

Another vacant riding is about to become the scene of a battle between Poilievres Conservatives and Maxime Bernier and his breakaway Peoples Party of Canada.

For his third attempt to enter the House under his new partys label, Bernier has set his sight on the Manitoba seat of Portage-Lisgar. In 2021, the Peoples party earned its best score  22 per cent  in this deep-blue riding.

Poilievre must win this byelection

Berniers move was greeted with consternation in some Conservative quarters. Poilievre certainly cannot afford to walk away wounded from his first engagement against the leader of the fledgling Peoples party. He needs a decisive win on his right-wing rival.

But the challenge also amounts to an opportunity to relegate Bernier and his party to the distant margins of the conservative movement once and for all.

After all, it is not as if Poilievre did not have a strong hand to bring to the Portage-Lisgar table.

The anti-vaccine movement provided Bernier with impetus in the 2021 election, but it has lost a lot of steam now that COVID-related restrictions have been wound down.

For many of its supporters, the prospect of running Justin Trudeau out of office now resonates more loudly than the echoes of the pandemic. Thats a goal that is well out of Berniers reach.

And then, in contrast with Erin OToole in the 2021 campaign, Poilievre has accumulated political capital with the anti-vax constituency and those of its members who occupied the federal capital last year.

The battle against Bernier is clearly his to lose.

A new conservative party?

That still leaves another challenge to conservative unity in the shape of another breakaway party, hailing, this time, from the progressive flank of the movement.

By Sept. 20, a group of Conservative activists will decide whether to launch what they describe as a new centrist federal party.

The Centre Ice Canadians have set their sights on what they believe to be a large contingent of voters uncomfortable with both the left-leaning Liberal turn under Justin Trudeau and Poilievres scorched earth approach to policy.

It is far from clear that the crowded federal scene offers enough room for such a party to take hold. But the existence of the group and its quest for a more centrist alternative to the Liberals feeds the narrative that Poilievre is too extreme a leader to offer those fatigued with Trudeau a safe harbour.

In a general election campaign, friendly fire along those lines could do as much or more damage to Poilievres Conservatives than any Liberal attack ad.

A word in closing: it was Fred DeLorey, the Conservative 2021 election campaign manager, who put both Berniers byelection bid and the prospect of a breakaway party on the left flank of the conservative movement squarely on the radar this week. He did this through two much-noticed Substack columns.

DeLorey earned his stripes as a strategist under Stephen Harper. He is the kind of insider who would normally not need a public platform to deliver his partys leadership team a message.

The fact that he did suggests  as many Conservatives are privately lamenting  that listening to the drums that are beating outside their bunker is not a virtue Poilievre and his palace guard cultivate.

Chantal Hebert is an Montreal-based freelance contributing columnist covering politics for the Star. Reach her via email: chantalh28@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter: @ChantalHbert

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The Abuja division of the Nigerian Court of Appeal, the venue of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) hearing, was a bustling hive of activity during the week as opposition parties began their legal journey to overturn the election of the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

Just to provide a little background, you'd recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate winner of the February 25 election to the disagreement of his main rivals, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party.

The duo and three other political parties namely the Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) approached the PEPT where they submitted petitions detailing their argument on why Tinubu's victory should be nullified.

On Monday, May 8, 2023, proceedings eventually served off at the tribunal and here are some interesting developments that were recorded after the first week of sitting.

AA and APP withdrew petitions against Tinubu

Things really got off to a good start for the President-elect right on the first day of proceedings as one of the petitioners, the Action Alliance party, surprisingly informed the tribunal of its intention to withdraw its petition without stating any explanation.

Similarly, counsel to the APP, Obed Agu, also informed the tribunal of the party's decision to withdraw its case against Tinubu on the third day of sitting. The announcement prompted the presiding justice, Justice Haruna Tsammani, to dismiss APP's case in a brief ruling.

Obi and Atiku's appearances in court

On the opening day of the hearing, Obi showed up in court amid cheers from his supporters online. The Labour Party candidate was pictured in the courtroom exchanging pleasantries with his legal representatives and party faithful.

He went back again for a second time on Wednesday but a mild drama ensued after a photo surfaced online showing Obi and an APC Chieftain, Ade Omole, in court.

Footages from the court later revealed that while Obi was being cheered by supporters as he made his entry, Omole, who was already seated before the former's arrival, looked unimpressed as he maintained a straight face while the former governor tried to locate a seat near him.

Like Obi, the PDP presidential candidate also graced the tribunal on Thursday accompanied by supporters and well-wishers alike. Atiku appeared on the day the tribunal had fixed to hear his plea that proceedings should be televised.

Atiku and Obi's requests for proceedings to be televised

Another development that caught the eyes at the tribunal was the arguments put forward by Atiku and Obi asking the tribunal to allow subsequent proceedings to be televised live to Nigerians and the global audience who have taken interest in Nigeria's electoral process.

In separate motions filed by their lawyers, the duo argued that the electorate in the 36 states of the Federation who participated in the just concluded presidential polls deserve to be kept up to date with events at the tribunal.

Obi's lawyers ask for an adjournment

In what may have come as a surprise to some people, lawyers representing the Labour Party candidate asked the court to defer further proceedings on their petition against Tinubu to another date.

Having informed counsels to the APC, Tinubu, and INEC that they needed more time to file and exchange necessary legal documents, Obi's lawyer at the resumed hearing on Thursday immediately asked the court to adjourn the case.

After listening to all the parties involved in the matter, Justice Tsammani-led's five-member panel acceded to the adjournment request and fixed May 17 for the continuation of the hearing.

Obi was caught napping.... or not

Away from the matters of petitions, a photo surfaced online on the first day of sitting, showing Obi taking a power nap in court - or otherwise - before proceedings commenced.

Although from the still image, it can be deduced that the 61-year-old politician had dozed off but his supporters accused their ruling party counterparts of misrepresentation arguing that Obi actually lowered his gaze and strained his eyes to peep into his phone.

There was no video recording of that moment out there so no one can really tell what actually happened.




Former Senate President, Bukola Saraki has congratulated Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State on his birthday.





Saraki described Adeleke as a distinct politician who is humble and energetic.





Tweeting, Saraki said Adeleke was tirelessly working for the progress of Osun State.





According to Saraki: For several years, Governor Ademola Adeleke (@AAdeleke_01) has stood out as a distinct politician.





His humble and captivating personality, his skill in energizing and managing crowds, his signature dance moves, and his honesty have consistently distinguished him from others.





When Governor Adeleke assures you of his support, you can count on him to be there every step of the way.





Today, as we honour this exceptional leader who has been tirelessly working for the progress of Osun State, my family and I extend our warmest birthday wishes to our brother and friend, Governor Adeleke.
Idris Wase, a member of the house of representatives, has declared his intention to run for the speaker of the 10th assembly.

Wase, who is the deputy speaker of the house, declared his speakership bid on Friday at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja.

Wase said the north-central deserves to produce the next speaker of the lower legislative chamber because it has not done so since 1999.

The deputy speaker said he is competent and has the legislative experience to lead the house of representatives.

What we need is a deliberate choice to poach for the right people with fervent patriotism, energy of the spirit, commitment, competence and focus, to lead the charge in our determined journey to national redemption, he said.

Indeed, the task before us is to overcome all the tribulations that threaten our heritage of honour, hard work, enterprise and development in the context of Nigerias leadership in Africa and her prime place in world affairs.

Since the campaigns for the speakership of the house of representatives began, many of my colleagues have signified their intentions to seek the votes of members to be elected as speaker.

This is a positive development in the dispensation of democratic governance. Honestly, I cannot single out any one of them that is not capable of leading the house.

However, it must be noted that in the wisdom of party leadership and by the sheer authority of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, how top national offices shall be shared among the federating units in the country has been explicitly stated in section 14 sub-section 3 of the 1999 constitution of the federal republic as amended.

Flowing from this, therefore, the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria has strengthened my resolve to aspire to the speakership of the house of representatives as a Nigerian from the north-central geo-political zone of the country, to lend my vision, competencies, patriotism and loyalty to the nations constitution and my partys ideals in the collective mission to build a prosperous nation founded on the pedestals of justice and equality.

Fellow Nigerians, Nigeria is built on the supremacy of the law and the sacredness of the constitution for justice to reign and to keep the peace in the country.

It is on the strength of this that I offer myself to contest and serve as the speaker of the house of representatives in the 10th assembly in clear deference to Nigerian constitutional provision and with your full support and understanding of Nigerians so that the journey we began together a long time ago can continue to prosper.

As speaker, I hope to build a solid coalition of interests of national importance to achieve a common goal.

While the primacy of national interest will be of utmost importance, I shall be guided by the six-point agenda of my party (APC) while also actively supporting most honestly the opposition parties as they strife to support legislations that seek to address the concerns of their constituents and other Nigerians in general. Our legislative agenda will always address other matters of interest.

Generally speaking, my conduct will be motivated by an avowed commitment to national integration to build a society where justice reigns.

We need to build on the successes recorded so far within the context of national laws and support Nigerian international commitments that seek to promote the national interest and welfare of all Nigerian citizens.

Mukhtar Betara, Sada Soli, Mariam Onouha, and Yusuf Gagdi were among the speakership hopefuls that attended Wases declaration.

The APC had nominated Tajudeen Abbas and Benjamin Kalu as its preferred choice for speaker and deputy.




The anatomical setup of a womans body makes her more prone to certain medical conditions, particularly autoimmune disorders. Therefore, performing a routine health screening is of utmost importance.

Having medical tests regularly will help identify warning signs early of diseases, and diagnose and treat potential problems promptly.

Without further ado, here are the important medical tests you must get done as a woman.

Pap smear

A pap smear, also called a pap test, is a screening procedure for cervical cancer.

The test is done to check for the presence of precancerous or cancerous cells on a womans cervix  which is the opening of her uterus.

The cells from the cervix are gently scraped away and examined for abnormal growth during this procedure.

Even though the test might be mildly uncomfortable, it doesnt cause long-term pain and it helps detect cervical cancer and encourages fast treatment when detected early.

According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, a woman should start taking a pap smear from age 21, with a basic screen every three years until age 65  after which it is only safe to stop being tested according to the doctors recommendation; and that is if you have had several tests in a row that didnt find cancer within the previous 10 years.

The current guidelines from the American Cancer Society also recommend that people between the ages of 25 and 65 should have a human papillomavirus (HPV) test every five years. The HPV test can be done alone or alongside the pap test.

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is a common infection that spread through sex. It is a virus that causes warts and increases the chance of cervical cancer and other cancers.

Mammogram

According to the National Cancer Institute, breast cancer is the second most common cancer in women, hence the need for women to always go for mammography.

Mammogram is an x-ray of the breast; a womans breasts are compressed between two firm surfaces to spread out the breast tissue to detect cancer.

Its the best way to detect breast cancer early.

The American Cancer Society recommends that women aged 40-45 can choose to get a mammography or not but from age 45-54 it must be done once a year.

It also stated that women aged 55 and above should go for the procedure every 2 years.

However, if you have a personal or family history of breast cancer you might want to see a professional.

Also, a regular self-breast examination is a must for women of all ages.

Blood pressure test

Some hormonal and lifestyle factors in women such as menopause, pregnancy, and stress, can cause variations in blood pressure and further increase the risk of heart disease.

High blood pressure is one of the key risk factors for cardiovascular disease and it has been proven to be the leading cause of death in women.

This is why a regular blood pressure screening is recommended for women.

Starting from age 20, a biannual blood pressure screening should be done if you have normal blood pressure.

However, if your blood pressure reading is too high or too low, your doctor can recommend frequent monitoring.

It is important to have your blood pressure checked because high blood pressure usually has no symptoms so it cant be detected without being measured.

Pelvic exam

As a woman, you need a pelvic exam to maintain your reproductive and sexual health.

During this physical examination, your reproductive organs including the vagina, cervix, fallopian tubes, vulva, ovaries, and uterus are inspected.

A pelvic exam is done to find possible signs of ovarian cysts, sexually transmitted infections, uterine fibroids, or early-stage cancer.

Pelvic exams are also performed during pregnancy to look for abnormalities and infections.

Diabetes screening

Having a blood test that checks your blood glucose (sugar) levels is important to reduce the risk of diabetes.

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) advised that adults without risk factors for diabetes should be screened for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes starting from the age of 35.

Diabetes screening is of utmost importance to women who are planning to conceive in order to reduce the risk of gestational diabetes.

Sexually Transmitted Disease screening

As a sexually active woman, getting an STD screening is important to protect your health.

Women at 24 and younger have been advised to be screened at least annually for chlamydia and gonorrhea.

Sometimes, STDs have no symptoms so it is important to get this screening regularly.

Skin check

This is another test that a woman should prioritise. A skin check is a complete assessment of your skin for any sign of cancer.

This screening is recommended for women in order to reduce the risk of skin cancer as it has been proven to be one of the leading causes of death in women.

Lipid panel

A lipid panel test is also essential as it helps check your cholesterol level and determine the risk of heart disease and stroke.

The recommendation on the lipid panel suggests that from the ages of 20 to 65, one should check his/her cholesterol level at least once in 5 years.

However, if there is a family history of heart disease or risk factors you may need to get this test done more frequently; confirm with your doctor for its frequency.
Idris Wase, deputy speaker of the house of representatives, says Femi Gbajabiamila should have properly advised the All Progressives Congress (APC) on the zoning of the 10th national assembly leadership positions.

Wase said he consulted with Gbajabiamila, the speaker, on his ambition before the party announced its zoning preferences.

On May 8, the APC nominated Tajudeen Abbas and Benjamin Kalu as the preferred choice for speaker and deputy.

The deputy speaker and other aspirants had rejected the partys nominations.

Wase, on Friday, formally declared his bid for the speakership of the 10th assembly.

During an interview with Channels Television later in the day, Wase said the party should have given him the right of first refusal.

I consulted with him (Gbajabiamila). We had a meeting in his house and I showed my interest, he said.

I cannot feel betrayed, it is politics. Everybody is trying to protect his own interest. He told that me if the party zones it (speakership position) to my own area, he will definitely support me.

That has been his own words. Then, being in a position within the hierarchy of the party where discussions are held, I think it is his responsibility to guide the party properly and advise them that the procedure and process they want to take is not the right course.

I dont hold any malice. I dont think I should do so.

Wase said his geopolitical zone  north-central  deserves to be nominated for one of the four top principal positions in the 10th national assembly.

I want to believe that the party has a good intention to unite Nigeria. In terms of contribution, why will the north-central not be considered, if south-east was considered? I think north-central deserves more, he said.




The aggrieved aspirants for the Speaker of the House of Representatives are moving to produce a consensus candidate to tackle Tajudeen Abbas.





Muktar Betara, one of the aspirants for the speakership, stated this on Friday during the official declaration of Idris Wase.





Recall that the aggrieved lawmakers- Betara, Wase, Aminu Jaji, Alhassan Doguwa and Sada Soli formed a coalition to battle Tajudeen Abbas, the candidate endorsed by the President-elect, Bola Tinubu.





In his remarks at the coalition, Betara said the lawmakers will not fight, but rather work together to produce a consensus candidate.





He said the members of the coalition will decide the next speaker.





We can pick the candidate from among ourselves but if we will all sit down and decide on it.





I assure all of you it is only one person that God would choose to be Speaker. I assure you we are not going to have any issues. We are going to agree to support one of us as the Speaker, he said.
The Speakership position of the 10th National Assembly has taken a new turn as aspirants are now seeking to form a consensus candidate to tackle Tajudeen Abbas.





Recall that aggrieved lawmakers  Muktar Betara, Idris Wase, Aminu Jaji, Alhassan Doguwa, and Sada Soli  allied in a bid to battle Abbas, the candidate endorsed by the President-elect, Bola Tinubu.





Confirming the move to produce a consensus candidate among themselves, Betara on Friday said, We can pick the candidate from among ourselves, but well all sit down and decide on it. I assure all of you it is only one person that God would choose to be Speaker.





I assure you we are not going to have any issues. We are going to agree to support one of us as the Speaker.





Also, it was earlier reported that Abbas and the Joint Task had visited the vice president-elect to intervene in the battle.





In the meeting which took place in Abuja, Abbas affirmed that conversations with Wase, Betara, Onuoha and others are ongoing.





I will take it upon myself to reach out to the other contenders. Rt Hon Betara is my brother. We are from the same subregion, we are from the same state and I have the best relationship with him. I met him two nights ago, I will sustain that.





Around 1 pm today I met with Rt. Hon Wase, the deputy speaker. We will continue with the engagements so we can have a rancour-free Assembly, he said.





It was also learned that Shettima and Abdullahi Adamu are under massive pressure to stop the rebellion in the House.





Both Shettima and Betara hail from Borno State, however, Shettima has kept mum on the Speakership race. Some leaders of the party have turned to him to address the issue.





Aside from being from Borno State, Shettima is also currently a member of the National Assembly, representing Borno Central.





Many within the party believe that Betara holds the ace in the race, and his withdrawal will weaken the opposition.





It was also learned that the National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, and the Deputy Chairman, Suleiman Kyari, are also under pressure to intervene.





Adamu is from North-Central, the same region as Wase and Gagdi, while Kyari is from Borno State.





However, with the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, currently on a trip outside there is a vacuum once again, and the decision on the race appears to be facing uncertainty until his return.
Mohieldin accepted the award during a ceremony held on Wednesday in the attendance of the President of Ain Shams University, Mahmoud El-Metini, Presidential Advisor for Health and Prevention Affairs, Dr. Mohamed Awad Tag Al-Din and a large group of academics and researchers from inside and outside Egypt.

Over more than 30 years as a public servant, Mohieldin held influential positions in Egypt and internationally.

At home, he served as minister of investment from 2004-2010, where he was applauded by many for implementing innovative policies to improve the investment atmosphere in the country.

Internationally, he has been serving as UN Climate Change High Level Champion, playing a key role in the success of the COP27 held in Sharm El-Sheikh last November.

He also serves as an Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund.

Mohieldin graduated with a bachelor's in economics from Cairo University. He holds a master's degree in economics and social policy analysis from the University of York, UK and a PhD in economics from the University of Warwick, UK, among other academic degrees.

In his speech at the ceremony, President El-Metini explained that the university's board of directors decided to award Mohieldin with the honourary degree as recognition for his contribution in the field of the economy over 30 years on the local and international levels.

In accepting the award, Mohieldin expressed his appreciation to the faculty and administration at the university, adding that Ain Shams has been at the forefront of advancing academia and the sciences in the country since its establishment in the fifties of the last century.

He stressed to the audience that the global community needs to work harder to confront multiple crises, such as climate change, rising unemployment, epidemics and diseases, and economic uncertainties.




President Muhammadu Buharis Special Assistant on Digital Communication, Bashir Ahmad, has mocked the Labour Party, LP, presidential candidate, Peter Obi over his latest comment.





Obi had insisted that he must be the President of Nigeria.





Obi, who is challenging the victory of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu in court, said he is convinced in his spirit that he will be President.





He spoke during the launch of a book written in his honour: Peter Obi: Many Voices, One Perspective, in Awka, Anambra State.





Reacting, Ahmad described the LP flagbearer as daddys favourite son dreaming to be president.





Tweeting, Ahmad wrote: So, Daddys favourite son insisted that he MUST be the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We wish him sweet dreams.




The suspended Michael Ashade-led executive of the Labour Party in Ogun State has said it remains in charge of the affairs of the party in the state.





Recall that the embattled National Chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure, had, before the general elections, dissolved the Ashade-led executive over alleged misconduct.





However, following Fridays court ruling upholding the suspension of the Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the Labour Party, Ashade said he is still the Chairman of the Labour Party in Ogun State.





At a press briefing on Saturday, Ashade disclosed that the suspension of Abure as the National Chairman of the party has brought about the reversal of the illegally constituted caretaker committee led by Engr. Lukman Jagun, by the National Working Committee led by Alhaji Lamidi Bashiru Apapa.





As a result of this, Ashade said it became imperative to inform the Ogun people of the leadership in place for the Labour Party.





The Executives led by Comrade Michael Ashade are the only authentic leadership coordinating the state of affairs in the Labour Party Ogun State, he said.





He listed some members of his executive to include: Segun Feyisola State, Secretary; Catherine Y. Oguntola. Deputy State Chairman 1 West; Yinka Adeboye, Deputy State Chairman 1 Central; Oyewale Okusanya, Deputy State Chairman 1 East; Babaseun Ogunyemi, Ag. Senatorial Chairman, East; Olusola Olufemi, Senatorial Chairman, West and Tosyn Meadows Ogunbona, Organising Secretary/Ag. Senatorial Chairman, Central and others.





According to him, a resolution passed at the LP National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting at Bauchi, upheld the expulsion of Kehinde Sogunle and other caretaker committee members, adding that we the State Executives declare that no one should parade themselves as executives in the state other than led by Comrade Michael Ashade.





He called on the Commissioner of Police in Ogun State and the Director of State Securities (DSS) in the state to arrest anyone falsely parading themselves as the state executives of the Labour Party.





He allays fears, saying the stability of the party in Ogun State is not in jeopardy, but reinforced and repositioned to take over.





He added that the restructuring of the party would cut across the state, local governments and wards.





We use this medium to appreciate and recognize the efforts of Comrade Dr. Arabambi Abayomi, the National Publicity Secretary, in stabilizing this party and pushing it forward, he stated.
DEAR AMY: I have been happily married for 39 years. The few disagreements weve had always seem to center around my husbands family.

The latest has to do with my brother-in-law.

He has always had a very entitled attitude.

When my mother-in-law passed away in 2020, the car she recently bought was taken over by him. I was fine with that.

However, she also had a handicap parking permit that was issued to her by the state of New York due to her deteriorating health issues.

My husbands brother has chosen to use that permit illegally for the past two years.

I have always suspected the fraud but didnt want to accuse him and cause problems in the event that he had gotten his own permit.

This past week he left the area to visit another relative and his car was left in our driveway while he was away.

After checking the tag through the window, I confirmed that he has been illegally using my mother-in-laws handicap permit tag. This left me furious.

Not knowing where the keys to the vehicle were, I asked my husband to please remove the permit from his brothers vehicle since he shouldnt be using it.

My husband refused, saying he didnt feel he had the right to remove something from someones vehicle without their permission.

I felt my husband is enabling him to continue this abuse.

I am disappointed and have lost a lot of respect for my husband, who I love dearly, over this.

Id appreciate your opinion as to whether I am overreacting in this matter.

 Annoyed!

DEAR ANNOYED!: I can understand why you are so annoyed by your brother-in-laws choice to use his late-mothers handicap permit, but I agree with your husband that it is not his place to remove it.

I do believe you are overreacting to this, but I assume that this episode is a placeholder for other in-law annoyances youve experienced over the years.

Furthermore, you are blaming the wrong person for this! Your husband is refusing to do something you have told him to do. He is standing up to you, and yes  you dont like it, but he has the right to discern and make choices based on his own values; and in this case I happen to agree with him.

Now that your brother-in-law has left his car in your driveway for an extended period, you have a legitimate reason to tell him that youre aware of this and that it bothers you.

In my opinion, he should be deeply embarrassed to be scamming off of a dead womans infirmities in this way, when doing so also denies others with legitimate needs the ability to use a parking spot reserved for them.

This is from the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles website: The plates and permits may be used to park in reserved parking spaces only when the person with the disability rides in or drives the vehicle.

***

DEAR AMY: On the topic of downsizing and returning decades-old letters to the person who originally wrote them [Cleaning in Culver City], I have a very simple solution: Ask first!

 Problem Solved

DEAR SOLVED: This question has garnered a huge response. And, yes, when tempted to return old letters or photos to the subject, the solution is simple: Ask first!

MORE FROM ASK AMY:

Ask Amy: I worry about the welfare of my adult sons on a daily basis ... its not healthy

Ask Amy: How can I gently decline an invitation to a family vacation?

Ask Amy: What is my obligation to my sister whose life choices have left her alone and out of money?

Ask Amy: How do I tell a visiting friend that her dogs cant stay with us?

Ask Amy: Teen girl who judges others wants to change

***

(You can email Amy Dickinson at askamy@amydickinson.com or send a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or Facebook.)

2023 Amy Dickinson. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The 8-year-old boy and the man killed by a gunman who was fatally shot by police last week in Newark have been identified.

The boy was identified in reports and by those who attended a vigil in his honor as Zahmire Lopez, and the other man fatally shot was identified Friday by the Essex County Prosecutors Office as Wyleek Shaw, 27, of Newark. The office only identified the child by the initials Z.L.

The gunman who took both of their lives was also identified by the office as Everette Rand, 29, of Newark. Another 24-year-old Fords resident was also shot during the incident but survived, authorities said.

Despite identifying the victims and gunman, few details about the shooting have been shared by either the prosecutors office or the New Jersey Attorney Generals Office, which is also investigating the case because the police fatally shot Rand.

The deadly shooting took place at about 8:30 p.m at an apartment on the 300 block of Johnson Avenue where Shaw was pronounced dead at the scene while Lopez died of his injuries less than an hour later, the agencies have said in separate statements.

According to a report by WABC-TV, Rand burst into Lopezs home and started firing. He allegedly shot Shaw and the other man and then ripped Lopez out of his mothers arms and shot him in the chest, the report said. Lopezs mother was able to escape out a second floor window.

A short time after Newark police were called to the apartment, officers found Rand running away, according to the attorney generals office.

Police engaged in a foot pursuit, two officers fired their weapons during the encounter and the male was fatally wounded, the attorney generals office said. Additional details were not provided.

Video from the scene showed a handgun on the sidewalk and Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka said during a press conference last week a total of three weapons were found at the scene.

Drugs and other kinds of paraphernalia were found on the scene, as well, Baraka added.

The relationship between those who were shot and the gunmans motives have not been released by investigators.

Anyone with information about the shooting was asked to contact the Essex County Prosecutors Office tips line at 1-877-TIPS-4EC or 1-877-847-7432.

Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com.
Make sure to get your permission slip signed to join Lil Yachty on The Field Trip Tour.

The rapper will begin his fall tour on Sept. 22 in New York City and it will wrap up in the U.S. on Nov. 5 in Detroit, Michigan.

Lil Yachty will also be making a stop in Philadelphia on Sept. 24.

Before his fall tour begins, he will be performing at a number of music festivals including Rolling Loud Miami, Lollapalooza and Outside Lands.

If you want to join the field trip this fall, here is everything you need to know.

How to get tickets to see Lil Yachty

Tickets to see Lil Yachty in concert go on sale to public on May 12 at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster.

Fans can also buy tickets on secondary market websites such as StubHub, Vivid Seats, TicketNetwork, TicketCity and MegaSeats.

First-time Vivid Seats users can save $20 on ticket orders over $200 by entering promo code NJ20 at checkout.

A complete list of Lil Yachtys tour dates is available here.

More upcoming rap tours in 2023

Lil Yachty is not the only rapper heading out on tour this year.

Here are a few more tours you do not want to miss:

RELATED STORIES ABOUT LIVE EVENTS:

Queen and Adam Lambert tour 2023: How to buy tickets for 8 new show dates

Taylor Swift 2023 tour setlist: All the surprise songs at each concert

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The concerts and events at Madison Square Garden through summer 2023

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Nicole Iuzzolino can be reached at niuzzolino@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips.
Before Ringo Starr begins his spring tour, he wants everyone to know he is touring this fall too.

The musician and His All Starr Band will begin their fall tour dates on Sept. 17 in Ontario, Canada and they will wrap up on Oct. 13 in Thackerville, Oklahoma.

For his spring tour dates, Starr and his famous musician friends will begin their tour on May 19 in Temecula, California and wrap up on June 17 in San Jose, California.

Ringo Starrs shows follow the release of his EP last September titled EP3.

Here is how you can get tickets to see Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band on tour.

Where can I get tickets to see Ringo Starr and All Starr Band?

Tickets for Ringo Starrs fall tour dates can be bought on Ticketmaster.

However, tickets are also available on the secondary market.

Fans can look for tickets on StubHub, Vivid Seats, TicketCity and MegaSeats.

First-time Vivid Seats users can save $20 on ticket orders over $200 by entering promo code NJ20 at checkout.

A complete list of Ringo Starrs spring tour dates dates is available here.

More massive upcoming tours in 2023

Ringo Starr is not the only artist going out on tour in the next few months.

Here are a few more upcoming tours you wont want to miss.

RELATED STORIES ABOUT LIVE EVENTS:

Aerosmith farewell tour 2023: Dates, schedule, ticket info for The Peace Out Tour

Queen and Adam Lambert tour 2023: How to buy tickets for 8 new show dates

Taylor Swift tour 2023: Full schedule, dates, where to buy tickets

Rick Springfield tour 2023: Dates, schedule and ticket info for the I Want My 80s Tour

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Nicole Iuzzolino can be reached at niuzzolino@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips.
The biggest rap artists in the industry are coming to an arena near you.

From Drake to Snoop Dogg, fans have many artists to choose from when buying concert tickets. Or, if you are in more of a music festival mood, fans can book a flight to Miami to attend Rolling Loud where Playboi Carti and A$AP Rocky will headline.

Here is a comprehensive list of the biggest rap music concerts and festivals of 2023.

(Note: Vivid Seats is currently offering a promo for first-time users: Get $20 off ticket orders over $200 with code NJ20 at checkout).

Rico Nastys Monster Energy Outbreak Tour

Tour runs from April 16 to June 2

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Soulja Boys summer tour

Tour runs from May 7 to June 10

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Bryson Tillers Back and Im Better tour

Tour runs from May 10 to July 21

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Pitbulls tour dates

Tour runs from May 11 to July 21

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Jelly Rolls Backroad Baptism tour

Tour runs from May 19 to Oct. 14

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Ice Cubes tour dates

Tour runs from May 19 to Nov. 4

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Lil Babys Its Only Us Tour

Tour runs from May 19 to Sept. 22

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Wiz Khalifas tour dates

Tour runs from May 20 to Aug. 27

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Logics The College Park Tour

Tour runs from May 25 to June 30

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

TLC and Shaggys Hot Summer Nights tour

Tour runs from June 1 to July 15

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Hive Music Festival

June 9-10

Headliners: Kid Cudi and Post Malone

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Drake and 21 Savages Its All a Blur Tour

Tour runs from June 29 to Oct. 7

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

LL Cool Js THE F.O.R.C.E. Tour

Tour runs from June 25 to Sept. 3

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Snoop Doggs High School Reunion Tour

Tour runs from July 7 to Aug. 27

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

NFs Hope Tour

Tour runs from July 12 to Oct. 15

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Broccoli City music festival

Tour runs from July 15-16

Headliners: Lil Uzi Vert, Jazmine Sullivan and Brent Faiyaz

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Rolling Loud Miami

July 21-23

Headliners: Playboi Carti, Travis Scott and A$AP Rocky

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

50 Cents The Final Lap Tour

Tour runs from July 21 to Nov. 12

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Chance The Rappers The Acid Rap 10-Year Anniversary Show

Shows on Aug. 19, Aug. 26 and Sept. 21

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Macklemores Ben tour

Tour runs from Sept. 17 to Oct. 18

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Wu-Tang Clan and Nas N.Y. State of Mind tour

Tour runs from Sept. 20 to Oct. 22

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

Lil Yachtys The Field Trip Tour

Tour runs from Sept. 21 to Nov. 17

Buy tickets: StubHub | Ticketmaster | Vivid Seats

RELATED STORIES ABOUT LIVE EVENTS:

Taylor Swift tour 2023: Full schedule, dates, where to buy tickets

The biggest N.J. music festivals in 2023: Headliners, dates, ticket info

The biggest country music concerts coming to N.J. in 2023: Dates, tickets, venues

Aerosmith farewell tour 2023: Dates, schedule, ticket info for The Peace Out Tour

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Nicole Iuzzolino can be reached at niuzzolino@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips.
The odds of a meteor falling from the sky and crashing into your house are astronomical, with some experts putting it at 1 in 3.9 trillion, far less likely than a single lottery ticket winning a Powerball jackpot.

As rare as it is, a small, stony chondrite meteor actually survived a trip through the Earths atmosphere and smashed through the roof of a house in the New Jersey town of Hopewell on Monday, according to local police and astronomy experts.

This begs a question: Do homeowner insurance policies typically cover the cost of damage from meteors, asteroids or other types of space debris that happen to fall from outer space and crash into your home? Several insurance experts say the answer is likely yes.

Based on the feedback from our members and other industry partners, it seems that a falling object, such as a meteor or falling satellite, would typically be covered by a standard homeowners or business property insurance policy, Gary La Spisa, vice president of the Insurance Council of New Jersey, told NJ Advance Media.

Of course, it is always critical to read your policy and familiarize yourself with any exclusions that your policy may have, he noted.

Astronomy experts confirmed a rare stony chondrite meteor from outer space crashed through the roof of this house in the Titusville section of Hopewell Township in New Jersey on May 8, 2023.Camille Furst - NJ Advance Media | Hopewell Police Dept.

After a bright fireball was seen streaking across the sky in Michigan in January 2018, the Insurance Alliance of Michigan told MLive.com that falling objects  including asteroids, meteors and satellites  are likely covered under standard homeowners and business insurance policies.

There is coverage for the damage the falling object causes to the structure of the home or business, as well as to property or belongings damaged within the building, according to MLive, which is affiliated with NJ.com.

Meteors may not be a risk that people in Michigan generally think about, said Pete Kuhnmuench, executive director of the IAM. But fortunately, homeowners insurance policies would cover damage resulting from a meteor or its pieces.

An insurance website, InsuranceHub.com, agrees that objects falling from outer space are usually covered by home insurance policies  similar to earthly things, like trees, that may fall onto your house during stormy weather.

The answer is yes, typically you should be covered for that rogue asteroid, the website says in this post. Thats because home insurance typically covers falling objects. And an asteroid is, well, a falling object if it crashes to Earth.

Suzy Kop, who owns the house in the Titusville section of Hopewell that was struck by the small meteor early Monday afternoon, could not be reached for comment about whether her home insurance company will cover the damage, or how much the repairs will cost.

The space rock, measuring about 6 inches by 4 inches, punched a hole in the roof of her house, then crashed through the ceiling and hit the hardwood floor, according to the Hopewell Township Police Department.

CBS3 News in Philadelphia reported that the rock ricocheted from the floor, back up to the ceiling, then down again to the floor. No injuries were reported.

A metallic object that has been confirmed to be a rare stony chondrite meteor crashed through the roof a home on Old Washington Crossing Pennington Road in the Titusville section of Hopewell Township on Monday, May 8, 2023.Hopewell Township Police

Chris Bakley, an astronomy expert from South Jersey, said its rare for a meteorite (the technical term for a meteor that lands on Earth) to fall in a populated area.

Due to the worlds oceans covering most of the planet, thats where most meteorites tend to fall, Bakley said. Thats not to say they dont fall on populated areas all the time. Over 17,000 meteorites fall to earth every year. Its just that meteorites found in remote areas or common contained areas make them hard to identify from normal Earth materials.

Bakley said the Hopewell meteor incident excites the science community, as when they impact through a building like this its easier to identify and confirm that it undeniably came from the sky.

He said it wouldnt be surprising if extra pieces of the stony meteorite may be lodged and scattered in the roof and ceiling of the impacted house.

Meteors are essentially space rocks. Some are tiny pieces of dust and rock particles left behind by comets, and others are fragments of asteroids or planets.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.

Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com.

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The Mets didnt create this monster, but they might have found a way to give it life again, and The Kraken could be on its way to Flushing Bay this season.

BUY YANKEES TICKETS: STUBHUB, VIVID SEATS, TICKETSMARTER, TICKETMASTER

Gary Sanchez  the former Yankees catcher who washed out with the Minnesota Twins, then waited all winter before the San Francisco Giants signed him, only to wash out again  has rediscovered his hitting stroke with the Syracuse Mets. In four games with the Triple-A team, Sanchez is 5-for-11 with a double, homer, three walks and four RBI.

When Sanchez  whose nickname is The Kraken  signed with the Giants, Yankees slugger Aaron Judge vouched for him. Its taken a while for Sanchezs bat to heat up, but hes now making Judge look prophetic.

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I know what type of talent Gary is and what hes done, Judge said. When he was coming up with us, he was one of the best hitters Ive ever seen and his arm behind the plate is one of the best Ive ever seen, he can really control the running game. He doesnt get enough credit for all the hard work he does to get himself ready in the offseason. He always gives you a competitive at-bat, he goes the opposite way really well and hes just a really tough out.

Mets GM Billy Eppler, who was with the Yankees as Sanchez rose through their minor leagues is hopeful the Mets can make him into a major-league hitter again  most likely as a trade chip. While the Mets could use Sanchez as a DH in the big leagues, its doubtful Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, among others, would want to throw regularly to Sanchez, who is better defensively than his disastrous years with the Yankees but likely still below average.

Sanchez, who signed a minor-league deal that will pay him $1.3 million if he reaches the majors this season, just missed a home run on Friday night when he hit a ball of the top of the left-field wall and settled for a two run double.

This is the bat the Giants were hoping to add to their lineup when they signed Sanchez while heir young catchers were battling slumps and injuries. But Sanchez was cut last week after posting a .164/.319/.182 slash line in Triple-A. In 13 games, he had no home runs and only eight RBI in 55 at-bats. He also struck out 19 times.

The Mets signed former All-Star catcher Omar Narvaez this offseason to a one-year, $8 million contract with a player option for 2024 worth $7 million. But hes currently recovering from a calf injury.

MORE SPORTS:

Son of Yankees and Mets star back on track to reach majors soon

Is Gerrit Coles biggest Cy Young threat a pitcher who bombed with Yankees?

National League teams MVP is a forgotten ex-Yankees infielder

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An opinion piece that you describe, praises or criticizes, on the whole or partly, to cultural or entertainment work. It must be written by an expert on the matter

When Lightyear was released just two months ago, the conversation centered on a same-sex kiss between two female characters. In the scene, which caused great controversy and saw the movie banned from several countries, two women in a long-term relationship give each other a welcoming, loving and chaste kiss, after one of them returns from space.

In these times, this should be considered completely normal. But the scene sparked debate due to two issues: Floridas controversial Dont Say Gay law, which prohibits any class discussion about sexual orientation and gender identity to students younger than nine years old, and Disneys efforts as a company to have it repealed. The Lightyear kiss remained for a while in a drawer in the editing room. It had been destined for the cutting room floor, until the protests of Disney employees forced it back into the final version.

Disneys new animated movie Strange World, co-directed by Don Hall and Qui Nguyen, once again has sparked a debate about sexual orientation. This time, the topic appears on a much larger scale: one of the protagonists, a teenager, is in love with another boy. He tells his father about it. His father supports him and gives him advice, not focusing on whether his son is gay or not, but simply as a father who is by his sons side in matters of love. That is to say, the film completely normalizes the fact that a boy may feel attracted to or love another person of the same sex, along the same lines as, for example, the movie Call Me By Your Name by Luca Guadagnino, which also refrained from turning sexual orientation into the center of family conflict.

Some reviewers have criticized the fact that the boys in Strange World do not share an onscreen kiss. But that is irrelevant in light of the naturalness with which the film presents the relationship. For Disney, its a historic gesture.

Narratively, the film is a classic adventure that echoes Jules Vernes novel Fantastic Voyage and the 1987 sci-fi movie Innerspace. It provides interesting subtext about generational differences: a tough grandfather, brave in the face of any threat; a practical father who provides solutions for everything; and a grandson, the teenage boy, who flees from conflict and goes through life armed with a uniquely contemporary idealism. That idealism also plays out in one of the key sequences, in which the three of them are playing a board game. While the grandfather and father insist that there must be a villain, the grandson wonders why there must always be a bad guy. Is this fallacy or naivete?

Unfortunately, Hall and Nguyen fail to create an attractive new universe to live up to the title. The color combinations of fuchsias, greens and blues are not appealing. The story shares the same message about environmentalism as much of childrens media today. But the main problem with the adventure itself is that the living organism where they live, and the immune system that accompanies it, is described in such a cumbersome way that is difficult for viewers to understand.

This Christmas, Disney threw its support behind an idealistic world, the LGBT+ friendly and villain-less. It is not a small feat. But it misses what is essential in a film: a well-told story.




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Short sentences have a cost. A large part of the veteran prisoners segregates the new inmate, whom the officials also inherently distrust. The newcomer becomes the focus of intense scrutiny: why does he have trouble sleeping? Is there a reason to keep his cell so clean and tidy? Did he skip dessert at lunch, again? Meanwhile, long-term inmates pull rank and are not subjected to this kind of inspection. At least this is what Andres P. Gomez, 28, concluded after his time at the Villabona Penitentiary Center in Asturias, Spain, where he was locked up for three months. By then, he was already preparing a documentary about the deep mark that prison had left on him and his group of friends. The result is titled La mala familia (The bad family), directed by Nacho A. Villar and Luis Rojo.

The film, which will be available on Netflix in a few months, is an urgent documentary about six working-class boys who face the legal consequences of a brawl. One night of alcohol and testosterone in the center of Madrid, things turned ugly. Six years later they all face prison terms, although initially only Gomez will serve time; the incarceration of the others depends on them paying a fine of 330 (about $360) a month for two years. Failure to pay, even once, would put their freedom at risk. Doubt undermines their friendship. Narrated from a place of absolute honesty, the film opens with Gomez pleading guilty before the judge, full of regret. Today he has rebuilt his life and works as a delivery person. I accept my sentence, but if I feel freed it is not because of jail, but because of the movie, he says.

Directors Nacho A. Villar (left) and Luis Rojo at the gates of the Roman Valero de Usera stadium, in Madrid. Claudio Alvarez

Gomez was arrested in Asturias, still wearing his work overalls; he barely had time to notify his sentimental partner. The episode had occurred when I was 18. When I was thrown into jail I was already more organized, more focused. It was a blow. Until then I had been deceiving myself, telling me that the day would never come, he relates. He served a sentence in the Therapeutic and Educational Unit of the Villabona prison, where receiving visits and sending letters are limited to two or three people per inmate. The toilets in the unit can only be used for 10 minutes; after that time, the person in charge usually goes to take a look, in order to avoid drug use. The time limits and the enormous weight of the routine pierced Gomezs chest. I was so overwhelmed that I thought about ending it all, he confesses. Until he was released with parole, largely thanks to the documentary.

The directors had worked hard to defend the social nature of the project, which redeemed its protagonists. That was the support that we could offer him from our privilege, says Villar. It must be noted that it was an exception; most of the prisoners with sentences of less than one year have to stick it out. The shooting crew set up shop two weeks before Gomezs first leave in a marsh on the outskirts of Madrid. The idea was to bring together the entire Bad Family, as they call themselves since their teenage years, when they met at urban music concerts, squares south of the city and skate parks. Rojo points out: This story was best told in the field, without towers or graffiti to camouflage the character. The neighborhood is not a set; its something you carry with you.

We wanted them to get out of the pressure zones, their everyday zones, to connect with their emotions, adds the filmmaker. A total of 19 young people camped there, including the defendants, all waiting for Gomezs visit. The camera witnessed conversations and hugs without intervening in any way. However, there was a script with some topics that had been agreed upon in advance; the matter of the consequences of not paying the fine, for instance, was crucial to round off production. None of those involved was fully aware of the situation of the others, perhaps out of anger or shame. The issue came up for the first time during a sequence shot that oozes truth. Some of them were close to giving up. The fine they have to pay is higher than their rent. Others refuse to end up in jail, and will bear the weight on behalf of others.

A scene from La mala familia by Nacho A. Villar and Luis Rojo.

At this point, it could be said that the film shapes the reality. We were no longer faced with the simple documentation of the facts with which we started the movie; it was not fiction, either. Everything happened spontaneously, states Rojo. Behind the tact of the images is his sensitive view of a reality that lends itself to cliches. That is the trademark of the Brbr collective, of which both directors are part, rooted in Madrids underground scene. They are also responsible for some of C. Tanganas videos, although they devote most of their time to advertising communication. For their first feature film they bet on a raw portrait of alienation, loss, power and friendship. A friendship that also binds them to Gomez, who had already worked with them as an actor. The film is only a very small part of the journey we have taken together. The change in the collective dynamic is evident, now they talk about things, they are more transparent among themselves, Villar concludes.

The best proof that the project transcends the screen is called Yamel, another of the affected. Throughout the film, he expresses his fear of going to jail; today, as in a self-fulfilling prophecy, he is in prison for causes unrelated to the fight. Visiting him and writing him often are two resolutions of the group, which otherwise has not suffered any more casualties and is at peace with the law. Celebrating a year of freedom, Gomez closes his eyelids tightly and confesses: I want to let my guard down, share my problems so they dont weigh me down. I had to hit bottom to get well. When I was little, things could have been explained to me in a different way, without accumulating so much hatred, which distances you from people. Now Im happy to help out a friend, to offer my little tricks to move forward, as other fuckers did with me. In the process, he has gotten rid of his ghosts, and the Bad Family is closer than ever.

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If a moody 80s nightclub fell hard for a nail salon, Hungry Eyes would be their love child.

The Magazine Street lounge and restaurant from the team behind Turkey and the Wolf and Mollys Rise and Shine takes the company in a new direction, and its a mindful way to grow that spotlights Mason Herefords commitment to supporting his teams potential and development.

Hereford and his wife Lauren Agudo brought Turkey and the Wolf chef Phil Cenac into the ownership loop. Lahzie Takada, last of Faubourg Wine, is the GM and sommelier, and bartender Carlos Quinonez runs the cocktail program.

Hungry Eyes What Hungry Eyes Where 4206 Magazine St.; @hungryeyesnola on Instagram When Dinner Wed.-Mon. How Dine-in Check it out Creative shareable plates and 80s kitsch

Hereford has parlayed a fine-dining background at places like Coquette into a take-no-prisoners approach to fast casual sandwiches and breakfast. Its an approach that earned Turkey and the Wolf the top spot in Bon Appetits 2017 list of the best new restaurants in America. He sees Hungry Eyes as an opportunity to develop the team.

Hungry Eyes is a trip. First came the name, a reference to the song immortalized in Dirty Dancing, and everybody agreed it was a perfect name for a restaurant. The 80s theme bloomed from there.

Housed in the storefront that was formerly Italian restaurant Red Gravy, the 40-seat space shines with custom neon from Big Sexy Neon on Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard and vintage pieces Hereford found with the help of Chicago-based designer Paul Octavious. They unearthed all kinds of treasures at the sprawling antiques show in Round Hill, Texas, hauling back everything from original Paris streetlamps to mirrors and iconic Patrick Nagel posters. A pretty back patio offers additional leafy seating.

Close ups of bee-stung lips and come-hither eyes abound. A revolving playlist, curated by staff, customers and friends like Toure Folkes from Turning Tables, keeps the vibe going.

The idea, Hereford says, is for Hungry Eyes to be the kind of place diners can come to after walking their dog, meet up with friends and have nibbles and drinks. Or you can strap on the stilettos and strike a pose.

The cool thing about the 80s is they were equal parts playful and sensual, says Hereford, who at 37 was born in the 80s but grew up in the 90s. We wanted a fun place to be.

Chef Cenac devised a compact but action-packed menu that flirts with familiarity but strikes its own path. There are about 15 items of what Hereford calls unpretentious luxury drinking food for the curious. He recommends five dishes for two people, or more for the famished.

The best-selling plate is artichokes on the half shell, and with good reason. Imported baby artichoke hearts are nestled into deep ceramic Loftin oyster shells and served sizzling with a thick, smoky morita chili sauce and garlicky Parmesan cheese. House-made ciabatta for dipping is served on the side.

Grilled pastrami is cubed and threaded on skewers, brushed with a zippy red wine barbecue sauce and served with lettuce for tucking into wraps. The fun of offering something like fried veal sweetbreads with peanuts and puffed rice or Alaskan halibut crudo with pineapple and birds eye chili isnt lost on chefs used to composing creative sandwiches at a counter-service restaurant.

The stacked nuts and seed tostada is a stellar plant-based option. Its a salad in disguise with a slather of salsa macha, cashew cheese and some heat from arbol chilies. It looks daunting, but diners can break the seed-studded tortillas and scoop away.

Pastry chef Keira Watt is behind the sourdough ciabatta and creative desserts like the B52 Vienetta, vanilla ice cream encased in dark chocolate and doused with a B52 shot of Baileys Irish Cream, Grand Marnier and coffee liqueur. Technicolor riffs on martinis abound on the drinks menu, along with zero-proof sips and a wine list focused on small bio-dynamic producers.

We really wanted a fun place to hang out, Hereford says. It all came together thanks to the bad-ass people on the team. It aint about me.
Plaquemines Parish President Keith Hinkley veered off the road in Venice and drove for two miles on a sandy spit lined with freshly planted trees.

Look at this, he said, opening a GPS map on his phone. Right now, it shows us in the middle of the bay.

Not long ago, this spot was open water surrounded by rapidly disappearing marsh. But after piping in two Superdomes worth of Mississippi River sediment, the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority has created nearly 1,700 acres of freshly formed land extending about six miles into Yellow Cotton Bay.

The new land replicates one of the low natural ridges that once gave structure and stability to much of Louisianas soft, marshy coastline. Many of these ridges, which were stable enough to support oak trees, have eroded away along with more than 2,000 square miles of land in the states coastal parishes since the 1930s. The ridges didnt erode easily, but when they go, the wetlands they protect unravel even faster.
A United Airlines jetliner taxis to a runway for take off from Denver International Airport, Dec. 27, 2022.

Just ahead of what could be a record-breaking summer travel season, pilots from one of the nations biggest airlines marched in picket lines at major airports on Friday as they push for higher pay.

The United Airlines pilots have been working without a raise for more than four years while negotiating with airline management over a new contract.

The pilots are unlikely to strike anytime soon, however. Federal law makes it very difficult for unions to conduct strikes in the airline industry, and the last walkout at a U.S. carrier was more than a decade ago.

The coast-to-coast protests by United pilots come on the heels of overwhelming strike-authorization votes by pilots at American Airlines and Southwest Airlines. United pilots could be the next to vote, according to union officials.

Pilots at all three carriers are looking to match or beat the deal that Delta Air Lines reached with its pilots earlier this year, which raised pay rates by 34% over four years.

United has proposed to match the Delta increase, but that might not be enough for a deal.

We still have a long ways to go to resolve some of the issues at the table, said Garth Thompson, chair of the United wing of the Air Line Pilots Association.

Thompson said discussion about wages has been held up while the two sides negotiate over scheduling, including the unions wish to limit Uniteds ability to make pilots work on their days off.

United spokesman Joshua Freed said, Were continuing to work with the Air Line Pilots Association on the industry-leading deal we have put on the table for our world-class pilots.

Even if the unions and companies fail to reach agreements quickly, strikes are unlikely in the next few months  when millions of Americans hope to fly over summer vacation. Under U.S. law, airline and railroad workers cant legally strike, and companies cant lock them out, until federal mediators determine that further negotiations are pointless.

The National Mediation Board rarely declares a dead end to bargaining, and even if it does, there is a no-strikes cooling-off period during which the White House and Congress can block a walkout. Thats what President Bill Clinton did minutes after pilots began striking against American in 1997. In December, President Joe Biden signed a bill that Congress passed to impose contract terms on freight railroad workers, ending a strike threat.

The last strike at a U.S. carrier occurred at Spirit Airlines in 2010.

Over the years, airline workers have conducted job actions that fell short of a strike but disrupted flights anyway. A federal judge fined the American Airlines pilots union $45 million for a 1999 sickout that crippled the airlines operations, although the amount was later reduced.

Arthur Wheaton, director of labor studies at Cornell University, said Congress would not permit an airline strike because of the economic harm it would cause, but unhappy pilots could still cause disruptions in other ways.

They always have work to rule. They could say, Were not working any overtime, Wheaton said. I dont anticipate the pilots trying to screw up travel for everybody intentionally, but bargaining is about leverage and power ... having the ability to do that can be a negotiating tactic.

Airlines are vulnerable to work-to-rule protests because they depend on finding pilots and flight attendants to pick up extra shifts during peak travel periods.

Regardless of the legal hurdles to a walkout, unions believe that strike votes give them leverage during bargaining, and they have become more common. A shortage of pilots is also putting those unions in particularly strong bargaining position.

United has roughly 14,000 pilots, and the union expects at least 2,000 will picket Friday at 10 airports from Newark, New Jersey, to Los Angeles. The union is also distributing leaflets that highlight the pilots desire for better work-life balance in their scheduling but make no mention of pay.

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Aisen Etcheverry, Chiles minister of science, poses for a photo in her Santiago office. sofia yanjari

On March 10, as part of President Gabriel Borics cabinet shakeup, Aisen Etcheverry became the third Minister of Science since the administration took office one year earlier. Unlike her predecessors, the 43-year-old isnt a scientist or a lawyer and the bulk of her experience comes from serving under right-wing presidents  such as Sebastian Pinera  rather than center-left ones.

During Pineras first administration (2010-2014), Etcheverry was an official at the Ministry of Finance. During his second government (2018-2022), she was the executive director of digital transformation at CORFO, the state agency responsible for generating economic development. Subsequently, she was the director of ANID  the National Agency for Research and Development  responsible for promoting the development of science and technology.

However, despite her time with the Pinera administrations  and despite the fact that she doesnt belong to a political party  Etcheverry is actually closer to the left than the right, aligned with Borics Broad Front party. For this reason it wasnt a surprise when, in March 2022, the expert in intellectual property was assigned to coordinate inter-ministerial relations within the Ministry General Secretariat of the Presidency. By November of last year, she moved to preside over Chiles National Innovation Council. And, after only a few months on the job, Boric called her and asked her to join his cabinet, as Minister of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Research.

Now settled in her office in downtown Santiago  which has an impressive view of La Moneda, the presidential palace  she tells EL PAIS that she knows Boric well. As inter-ministerial coordinator, she accompanied him to almost all meetings with the various ministers in 2022. Even so, she was surprised by the presidents call, when he entrusted her with a very specific task: managing and implementing a new development model, which  with the contribution of science and technology  will manage to generate a better quality of life for the Chilean people.

Etcheverry has had to learn fast. Just a month after she assumed the post, the government unveiled its National Lithium Strategy, one of its most ambitious bets in terms of production for the country, in which the Ministry of Science is a key player. Together with the portfolios of Mining, Economy, Environment and CORFO, these institutions are charged with shaping the new Lithium and Salt Flats Science and Technology Institute. This research center will be located in Antofagasta, in the north of Chile, where the countrys largest salt and lithium reserves are located.

Question. Whats the mission of the new Lithium and Salt Flats Science and Technology Institute?

Answer. Its role is to generate new energy from lithium: adding value to the industry, improving extraction mechanisms and studying the salt flats. The institute will look at biodiversity, while taking into account the perspective of communities that live around the salt flats.

Q. Today, the state doesnt have sufficient knowledge about lithium. The main players in Chile who deal with this metal are private enterprises. How are you going to bolster the governments understanding?

A. Scientific development occurs when there are research groups at universities, specific research centers and the private sector doing R&D. Its impossible for all these actors to be [part of a single institute]... but there must be a capacity to generate research through some collaborative work. Were going to be doing this in the coming months.

Q. Most of the knowledge about the exploitation of lithium and the global trade networks is possessed by SQM and Albermarle, the main companies in Chile that exploit it. How does the Chilean government seek to access this knowledge and these networks? Especially as the administration is negotiating the nationalization of lithium

A. Were actually not part of the conversation [regarding the negotiations over control of the reserves]. Codelco [the National Copper Corporation of Chile, a state-owned mining company and the worlds biggest copper producer] has the mandate to do so in an independent capacity. There are technology transfer mechanisms associated with industrial property, which give value to that knowledge and allow it to be monetized.

Q. So, as Minister of Science, youre not going to be part of the negotiations?

A. No. But the other space  which is the one that interests us the most as a ministry  is that, when you combine private interest with the public interest, you can develop technology not only to improve extraction methods or to comply with environmental standards. You can go further.

Q. In what way?

A. For example, by taking charge of the impact on biodiversity [caused by mining]. Or generating forms of exploitation that may be more consistent with certain worldviews associated with the communities that exist in the areas. The technological institute can [contribute a lot in this regard]. Perhaps SQM or Albemarle or another firm wont be able to develop this technology, or theyll want to outsource it and have others do the research for them.

Q. What this strategy seeks, as has been said, is to generate greater added value in the industry. Would that be in the form of refining lithium, or manufacturing batteries out of the metal?

A. The president was referring to participation in the entire value chain. Does it make sense to make electromobility batteries in Chile? Probably not, because those batteries are built close to where the car-manufacturing plants are. But perhaps it makes sense to develop stationary batteries, because we have significant energy production in the north from solar radiation. I would say that there is no industry that can be ruled out [these activities] will have to be defined by the National Lithium Company [and by] Congress.

Q. To be clear about how added value would be generated, we will have to wait for the National Lithium Company to be approved and implemented, correct?

A. Yes, that would be the role [of the National Lithium Company]. And, in parallel, the new technological institute is going to do research [to support] more environmentally-friendly mining. That should be our number one priority. But, in addition to that, [our ministry] will administer competitive funds for scientific and technological-based ventures, which can be used for different purposes [we may] see ventures associated with lithium and other metals.

The contracts that exist today include a mechanism that allows manufacturing companies based in Chile to sell lithium at a reduced price. Hence, if a person wants to make batteries, they can have a reduced price of lithium if they produce their batteries in Chile. There is a public interest in developing a more advanced lithium industry.

Q. Critics doubt that the state will be able to generate a value-added lithium industry, if the same has not been done with copper.

A. Many years have passed since we started the copper industry: this is a very different country today. In Chile, [its possible] to make very high-level technology. Theres a lot of space for investment and incentives. Its also unfair to compare lithium with our copper strategy as theyre very different.

Q. Do you agree that the state has to be in charge of this industry?

A. Yes, absolutely.

Q. The idea that the state has to control lithium projects has spooked the private sector, which expected to have more of a leading role. Do you think theres a risk that the debate ends up focusing on the issue of public versus private ownership, rather than the issues of added value and sustainability that concern your ministry?

A. This [debate] has been changing direction in recent weeks. Ive been struck by the number of companies that are interested in starting conversations with the Chilean government [to become part] of our lithium strategy. Were heading down a hopeful path, where the participation of the private sector is essential. But theres also a public interest that needs to be protected, which has been done in other parts of the world. One can understand  based on the initial reaction  that [state control] was not what the private sector in Chile expected, but as the details become known and talks progress, the meaning of our strategy will be understood: we can all win.

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Guarded as one of its greatest treasures, Brazil keeps a parchment with delicate calligraphy that reads: Slavery is hereby declared extinct in Brazil. The so-called Golden Law, of very brief wording and divine halo, was signed by Princess Isabel, daughter of Emperor Pedro II, on May 13, 1888, 135 years ago this Saturday. Brazil ended with a stroke of a pen (literally) more than three centuries of slavery. It was the last country in the Americas to do so. Thanks to this gesture, the princess quickly became a national heroine. She gives her name to a multitude of squares and avenues, and in Rio de Janeiro she has a statue in front of Copacabana beach. Until not long ago she was a figure that generated unanimity, the redeemer; but in recent years the pressure of the black movement and of a new generation of historians is revising her figure.

A few weeks ago, the government of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva renamed an award created in the last days of the Bolsonaro administration (the Princess Isabel Order of Merit) as Luiz Gama, in homage to a self-taught lawyer who was enslaved for ten years and who, thanks to his legal knowledge, won the freedom of more than 500 people, becoming one of the most prominent abolitionist leaders.

For years, the long shadow of the princess hid many struggles, especially those of black abolitionists. Although things are changing, in schools and in the collective imagination the image of the savior princess prevails, as historian Ynae Lopes dos Santos, author of the book Racismo Brasileiro (Brazilian Racism), acknowledges. She argues that abolitionism was the first great Brazilian social movement: Unfortunately, what we know about Princess Isabel was told from a very white perspective of Brazilian history. It seems that one fine day she woke up and said slavery is over, leaving a series of struggles that marked Brazil from 1865-1868 until abolition in the background, she remarks in a cafe in Rio de Janeiro, not far from the palace where the princess lived.

A tourist photographs the statue of Princess Isabel located in the Copacabana neighborhood of the city of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). Leonardo Carrato

It is true that the daughter of Emperor Pedro II had a progressive outlook and sympathy for the abolitionist cause. She did not hesitate to appear in public with camellias, as these flowers became a symbol of the anti-slavery cause, because they were grown in a quilombo (a freemen settlement) in Rio de Janeiro that sheltered fugitives.

The princess was a close friend of Andre Reboucas - Brazils first black engineer and one of the main abolitionists - and even organized charity balls to raise funds for the cause. Nevertheless, the historian recalls that she signed the Aurea law because she had no other choice. The law formalized something irreversible. The newspapers of the time even spoke of civil war. Insurgent movements, mass escapes or farm invasions proliferated throughout the country. The provinces of Amazonas and Ceara had already abolished slavery years before, international pressures, especially from England, were already unsustainable, and the ghost of Haiti, the only country where the black rebellion triumphed and led to an independent republic, hovered over the landowning elite.

In Brazil, for a long time, May 13 was an important date. In the first years after abolition, it was a holiday with massive street celebrations. For the freedmen there was no financial compensation or reparations (nor for the owners), but even so the festivities had immense popular support, explains Dos Santos. Everything began to decline as the black population perceived that the new Republic inaugurated in 1889 continued to stimulate racial inequality, perhaps not as explicitly as with racial segregation in the USA, for example, but with policies that relegated blacks to a subordinate position, hindered their right to vote and sought to whiten the population by stimulating the arrival of European immigrants, in line with the eugenic theories of the time.

Reproduction of the Golden Law of 1888. Adolfo Celso Galdino Alves

In the symbolic field, the excessive prominence of Princess Isabel began to annoy. From the fifties and sixties onwards, voices arise calling for the commemoration of November 20, the day on which Zumbi dos Palmares, who in the 17th century fought against the Portuguese at the helm of the biggest quilombo in the country, was assassinated. Zumbi brought a perspective of a more radical break with slavery, and he is a black protagonist, as opposed to a white protagonist, the historian points out. As of today, November 20 is Black Consciousness Day, a public holiday in several states, and May 13 passes unnoticed on the calendar.

In this redefining of the figure of Princess Isabel, 1988 was a year that marked a before and an after. The current Constitution was approved, the one of redemocratization after the military dictatorship, and the centenary of the end of slavery was also celebrated. Throughout the country, the Unified Black Movement (MNU because of its initials in Portuguese) organized the March Against the False Abolition. One of its most iconic banners read The princess forgot to sign our work card. Rios samba schools dedicated all Carnival parades to the centennial of the historic milestone. Among tributes and more critical looks, the winner was Vila Isabel, with a parade that solemnly ignored the princess, sang thank you, Zumbi and paid tribute to Angolas heritage in Brazilian culture.

The deconstruction of the idea of the princess as the great savior comes from afar, but has been accelerating in recent times. Another samba school, Mangueira, sang in 2019 that freedom did not come from heaven or from the hands of Isabel and had the audacity to present the heroic Princess Isabel on top of a float with her hands stained with blood. At the same time, it vindicated the stories that were hidden behind the framed heroes, such as that of Chico da Matilde, also known as Dragao do Mar, the humble sailor who, in the state of Ceara, refused to disembark slaves to distribute them throughout Brazil. His story, like that of Manoel Congo, leader of a revolt in Rios main coffee-growing valley, that of Luiz Gama himself and many others, is still little known to the general public, despite the fact that in recent years books, documentaries and exhibitions on their lives have been flourishing.

A representation of Princess Isabel during the 2019 Rio de Janeiro caranaval. Leo Queiroz (Cortesia)

With this rescue movement in the background, Princess Isabel ends up entering a field of dispute, says the historian. There is an anti-racist view that argues that the abolition cannot be explained from the centrality of the princess, because it is not enough and because it eliminates the actions of thousands of people, especially blacks, and on the other hand there is a more conservative wing that defends racism as a system of power and that strengthens Princess Elizabeth, because it presents her as if she were the great mother of the enslaved, she explains.

The figure of the regent who never inherited the throne has been vindicated by the right wing as social movements and the most progressive political sectors have been stripping her of the excesses of benevolence and gratitude. In a session in Congress, one of Bolsonaros sons, Eduardo Bolsonaro, defended her against those who do not praise her perhaps because she is white. He said this before the also far-right deputy Luiz Philippe de Orleans e Braganca, great-great-grandson of the princess. At the end of December last year, Bolsonaro, already defeated in the elections, dedicated one of his last days in office to create the Order of Merit of Princess Isabel, to reward people or entities that work for the protection of human rights. Among the first to receive the award were himself and his wife, which was interpreted as one of his last provocations.

Lulas new government renamed the award Luiz Gama, and the extreme right felt it as a grievance against the princess. The Minister of Human Rights, Silvio Almeida (one of the few blacks in the cabinet), refuted the criticism, asking to leave her out of political battles. In the name of Princess Isabel and her importance to history, the best thing we did was to put an end to this award, which was the result of a misappropriation of purpose, he said.

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Solid Platforms, Hasse Construction, Falk PLI and Cargill were among 60 Northwest Indiana companies to receive construction awards for excellence at the recent construction awards banquet in Merrillville.

The Northwest Indiana Business RoundTable and Construction Advancement Foundation honored companies for safety performance, project outcomes, job site innovation, professional development and collaborative efforts to improve construction.

"At the heart of successful construction projects lies an unwavering commitment to safety. Companies in Northwest Indiana continually strive to improve their safety practices, even amidst the most challenging of circumstances. We are honored to recognize and celebrate these companies, whose dedication to safety not only sets them apart but elevates the entire regional construction industry, said NWIBRT Safety Committee Chair and Cargill Health & Safety Manager Rick Foor.

The ceremony was attended by hundreds, with presentations from major companies like BP, Cleveland-Cliffs, NIPSCO, Cargill and Franciscan Health.

"It is truly inspiring to witness the ingenuity and superior craftsmanship that is consistently demonstrated in construction projects throughout our region. We take great pride in recognizing and honoring the remarkable achievements of these outstanding craftspeople and contractors. Their dedication and commitment to excellence are evident in their daily work, as they lay the foundation for the future of our communities and serve as leaders for others in the construction industry, said Dewey Pearman, executive director of CAF.

This year's NWIBRT Award Winners were Solid Platforms and Hard Rock Concrete Cutters for Contractor of the Year, Falk PLI for Company of the Year and BP and Cargill for Owner Excellence in Leadership. David Cooper with Thatcher Foundations got the Roger Walters Memorial Award for Site Safety Leader of the Year.

Cargill, EMCOR Hyre Electric, Fluor Constructors-Suncoke, Thatcher Foundations and Total Safety U.S. won Innovation Awards.

Excellence Awards went to Advanced Engineering Services, AMS Industries, Brock Industrial Services, Calumet Lumber, Falk-PLI, Fluor Constructors-Suncoke, Hard Rock Concrete Cutters, Industrial Contractors & Engineers, Luse Contracting Group, Meccon Industries, Middough, N.A. Logan, Nooter Chicago, One Way Safety, Petrochem Insulation, R.J. Mycka, Solid Platforms, Stevenson Crane Service, Superior Engineering, Total Mill Services and Valdes Architecture and Engineering.

Achievement Award recipients included ACMS Group, Atlas Technical Consultants, BMWC Constructors, Continental Electric Co., DLZ Industrial, Griffin Contract Dewatering, K2 Industrial Services, Superior Construction and Total Safety U.S.

Recognition Awards went to Barton Malow Co., Central Rent-A-Crane, EMCOR Hyre Electric, Fluor Constructors-Cargill, Hasse Construction Co, Hayes Mechanical, Meade Industries, Morrison Construction Company, Orbital Engineering, Rieth-Riley Construction Co., Sargent Electric Co., SEI Solutions, Thatcher Foundations, The Pangere Corp., Tonn and Blank Construction and Tranco Industrial Services.

Construction Advancement Foundation Award winners included Larson-Danielson Construction Co., as Commercial Contractor of the Year, Hasse Construction Co. as Industrial Contractor of the Year, Superior Construction as Highway Contractor of the Year, DLZ Industrial as Professional/Engineering Contractor of the Year and Thatcher Foundations as Specialty Contractor of the Year.

Hasse Construction won the Excellence in Professional Development Award and ACMS Group the Maintenance/Service Project of the Year Award for the Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor Coke Plant.

Morrison Construction Co. received the Industrial/Capital Project of the Year Award for the United States Steel Pig Iron Caster while Larson-Danielson Construction Co. got Commercial Project of the Year for Northwest HealthLaPorte.

Hasse Construction earned Public Works Project of the Year for its work in East Chicago, while Superior Construction notched the Highway Project of the Year for INDOT Bridge Deck Overlays.

Writers strike in Hollywood: Average residual checks can barely cover an In-N-Out burger Writers strike in Hollywood: Average residual checks can barely cover an In-N-Out burger Why it's important The AI factor
VALPARAISO  A Portage contractor faces fraud and theft charges in connection with customers who say he pocketed their money without completing the work he promised.

A customer alleges that Jose Gonzales, 52, of Portage, who owns American Fence Co., agreed to put up a fence in her backyard Sept. 16 and charged a $900 deposit for the work. Three days later, she went to obtain a permit from the city to build the fence and learned that the company's license was no longer valid, according to a police report.

The customer contacted her bank and asked if she could procure a stop-payment on the check she wrote. She learned that the check had already been cashed.

The customer asked Gonzales if she could get her deposit back by a certain date if he did not renew his license. He told her she could but failed to follow through. He then stopped answering her calls, according to an arrest report.

Gonzales was arrested Thursday and booked into the Porter County Jail. He faces multiple felony counts for multiple incidents in July, September and October.

Numerous customers have reported their frustration with Gonzales's business, one as recently as last week. A Portage man said he gave Gonzales a $9,000 deposit to fence a large property he recently purchased off Airport Road. He was referred to Gonzales by a Menards worker.

The customer said he looked up Gonzales after putting down the deposit and saw posts on social media "blasting" his work. The customer said he likes to support local businesses but feels defeated after this experience with Gonzales. He said he plans to file a police report.

Makes it hard for me to trust people, he said. I was always taught you want to leave your dollar in your community as long as you can.

Visit the Indiana attorney general's website for information on how to prevent home improvement scams.
The 13-foot-tall (four-meter-tall) figure of the half-human Roman god has stood in the same niche for more than 150 years.
PALENVILLE, N.Y.  On a meandering mushroom hunt at North-South Lake in the Catskill Mountains of New York, Jessica Rosenkrantz spotted a favorite mushroom: the hexagonal-pored polypore. Ms. Rosenkrantz is partial to life-forms that are different from humans (and from mammals generally), although two of her favorite humans joined on the hike: her husband, Jesse Louis-Rosenberg, and their toddler, Xyla, who set the pace. Ms. Rosenkrantz loves fungi, lichens and coral because, she said, theyre pretty strange, compared to us. From the top, the hexagonal polypore looks like any boring brown mushroom (albeit sometimes with an orange glow), but flip it over and theres a perfect array of six-sided polygons tessellating the underside of the cap.

Ms. Rosenkrantz and Mr. Louis-Rosenberg are algorithmic artists who make laser-cut wooden jigsaw puzzles  among other curios  at their design studio, Nervous System, in Palenville, N.Y. Inspired by how shapes and forms emerge in nature, they write custom software to grow intertwining puzzle pieces. Their signature puzzle cuts have names like dendrite, amoeba, maze and wave.

Beyond the natural and algorithmic realms, the couple draw their creativity from many points around the compass: science, math, art and fuzzy zones between. Chris Yates, an artist who makes hand-cut wooden jigsaw puzzles (and a collaborator), described their puzzle-making as not just pushing the envelope  theyre ripping it apart and starting fresh.
Afterward, he dropped the couples daughter, Alana, then 6, with his brother and left his car at Newark Liberty International Airport before taking a taxicab to Philadelphia. Over the next week, Mr. Ray hitchhiked west across the country and into Mexico before being arrested trying to enter Cuba, a country with no extradition treaty with the United States.

You dont just kill somebody on one day and find your way to Cuba six days later, an assistant prosecutor, Michele Miller, told jurors during her closing arguments. This was thought out.

Mr. Ray did not testify in his own defense or offer an explanation for his dramatic cross-country trek or the 18-page journal that he wrote along the way and labeled On the Move.

The jury of 11 men and four women, including several alternates, found Mr. Ray guilty of murder and weapons possession hours after Ms. Miller finished her closing argument.

The trial portrayed both Mr. Ray and Ms. Bledsoe as unfaithful partners and took on a soap-opera quality as sexually explicit text messages and audio recordings were entered into evidence during the trial before Judge Verna G. Leath in Essex County Superior Court.
As New York City officials scramble to find housing for an expected influx of migrants, the city is planning to house them in a stand-alone school gym in Coney Island, officials said Friday.

The city alerted the principal of P.S. 188 that the schools gymnasium would be used as a sheltering site, said Ari Kagan, a Brooklyn councilman who represents the neighborhoods of Bensonhurst, Coney Island, Gravesend and Sea Gate.

People are really concerned, Mr. Kagan said Friday night. I got a lot of phone calls from concerned parents, from community leaders. Nobody, nobody expressed their support for this plan.

No migrants were being housed in the gym on Friday night, he said, but added: Whats going to happen tomorrow and Sunday? Who knows? He said that the citys Office of Emergency Management would decide when people would be placed there.
The enterprising president of the Harriet Holland Social Club just wants the cotillion to be successful. The floral centerpieces are in place, a band is onstage, and the draperies are neatly tucked in and tied. The debutantes are primped and primed. By nights end, she hopes, these young women will set off into their bright futures.

Presented by New Georges and the Movement Theater Company at A.R.T./New York Theaters, The Harriet Holland Social Club Presents the 84th Annual Star-Burst Cotillion in the Grand Ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel, written and directed by Colette Robert, mimics the proceedings of debutante balls. Theres the introduction of the debutantes, the father-daughter dance and a multicourse dinner, but this cotillion  and the production  is far from flawless.

Madam President (Akyiaa Wilson), a 2-D villain, encourages the debutantes (Claire Fort, Caturah Brown, Starr Kirkland, Aigner Mizzelle, Monique St. Cyr, Portland Thomas) to prioritize appearances and wealth, hurling critiques with no regard for them as individuals. The more enlightened vice president (a hilarious Jehan O. Young, with priceless passive-aggressive expressions and line reads) pushes for more substance, like community outreach, and less of the superficial focus on style and status.

The script clearly has something to say about these antiquated rites of passage. But Robert doesnt go beyond the obvious: Instead of being a source of uplift and empowerment, the script says, Black debutante balls often promote classism, colorism and retrograde gender politics, like the objectification of Black womens bodies. And yet, cotillions arent the source of the problem; theyre a symptom of a more nuanced social and cultural infrastructure. The play's lack of deeper inquiry and character-building leaves us feeling unsated  even as the debutantes begin to question the whole affair.
In recent years, mental health struggles have become the leading cause of maternal mortality in the United States, primarily due to suicides and drug overdoses. It is estimated that one in eight new moms experience postpartum depression, and some research has suggested that the prevalence climbed to as high as one in three during the early days of the pandemic.

Yet roughly half of the women who are struggling with their mental health after pregnancy dont receive treatment. Barriers to care include a lack of awareness about symptoms and treatments, an inability to access resources and stigma.

Postpartum depression has historically been underdiagnosed and under-researched, but recognition of the condition is finally growing. As a result, there are more treatment options available than ever before, including innovative therapeutic models and at least one new medication.

Diagnosing postpartum depression

Many women experience mood swings in the days and weeks following birth because of the dramatic hormonal shifts that occur. Sometimes called the baby blues, symptoms include feelings of sadness, anxiety, tearfulness or overwhelm; they typically subside within a week or two.
Seven years ago, not long after Jaap van Zweden had been proclaimed the music director of the New York Philharmonic, I listened to every commercial recording of his that I could lay my hands on, to get a better sense of his conducting. I do not remember it exactly as a fun experience, when I have to remember it at all, nor one that flattered him that much.

Now that the Philharmonics next music director has been named, its Gustavo Dudamels turn.

This time, the exercise is a different proposition, and thankfully nowhere near as enervating. Van Zweden was hardly a household name when the Philharmonic hired him, and even avid collectors could have been excused for not staying abreast of his latest releases. Dudamel is a Hollywood-starred celebrity who enjoys a longstanding relationship with the Deutsche Grammophon label. On May 19, he leads Mahlers Ninth Symphony in his first Philharmonic appearances since his appointment, which takes effect in 2026.

The Philharmonic has high hopes for Dudamel, 42, but it probably has not hired him first and foremost to commit agenda-setting Beethoven and Brahms to disc, though he will make records anyway. It expects him to be a grander figure, a talisman who will gladden the jaded and enthuse audiences the orchestra has yet to enthuse.

His conducting has always been somewhat overshadowed by the blinding hype that surrounds his vision of music-making as a transformative social force. Claims that he is the savior of classical music are no longer as common as they once were, but other cliches have endured since he shot to stardom in the mid-2000s: that he stands musically for impetuous exuberance, say, or for perpetual youth. He still has to say, as he did to The New York Times in February, that he is not a young conductor anymore.
Vladimir Putin and Li Hui in Moscow in May 2019. Xinhua / Zuma Press / ContactoPhoto

As it attempts to act as a mediator over the war in Ukraine, China has confirmed that it will next week send a high-ranking Chinese official to visit the country for the first time since Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022. Li Hui, the Chinese governments special representative for Eurasian affairs  and the nations former ambassador in Moscow  will travel to Europe on Monday, on a trip that will take him to Russia, Ukraine, Poland, France and Germany. Lis visit will allow communication on a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said.

At the end of April, China announced its intention to send a special envoy to Europe, in a bid to establish deep communication. The move came after the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, held a telephone call with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, for the first and only time since the conflict broke out.

This upcoming visit by the Chinese representative again reflects Chinas commitment to promoting peace talks and staying on the side of peace, Wang told his regular press briefing on Friday. Since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis, China has held an objective and just position and actively promoted talks for peace.

Western powers are not so sure about that. Beijing avoids calling the conflict a war, and hasnt condemned the invasion. Whats more, Xi didnt speak to Zelenskiy until a year and two months into the crisis, despite holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on several occasions. Nevertheless, China has in recent months sought to put out the message that it has a key role to play in resolving geopolitical issues, presenting itself as an alternative to the global leadership of the United States.

In February, China unveiled a 12-point position paper  not a peace plan  aimed at reaching a political resolution to the crisis. The document was met with a lukewarm response in Washington and Brussels. However, the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said during their recent visits to China that some elements of the paper are interesting, such as the respect for territorial integrity and its emphatic rejection of nuclear war.

The voices for ceasefire and de-escalation are building in the international community, Wang said on Friday. China will continue to play a constructive role and build more international consensus on ending hostilities, starting peace talks and preventing escalation of the situation.

Xi and Putins no-limits friendship

International analysts feel that Xi could be the only person capable of persuading Putin to bring an end to the war. The two good old friends, as the Russian defined their relationship during their most recent meeting, proclaimed a no-limits friendship days before the invasion of Ukraine began, and their countries maintain an important strategic partnership. However, the close ties between the nations have caused alarm bells to ring more than once in the West, over the possibility that Beijing could come to Moscows military assistance.

Against this backdrop, there is keen anticipation ahead of Lis visit to Russia and Ukraine next week. The 70-year-old comes with deep experience of the modus operandi of Chinese diplomacy in recent decades. He was ambassador to Russia between 2009 and 2019, a post he was appointed to under former president Hu Jintao, before being kept on when Xi took over. A career diplomat, he belongs to a generation of Chinese people who were born at a time when their parents idolized the Soviet system; who grew up as Sino-Russian political relations began to deteriorate after the death of Stalin in 1953; and who then experienced the rapprochement between Moscow and Beijing as China sought to boost its exports, at a point when its status as the worlds premier exporter was still in the making.

Li was also the ambassador to Kazakhstan between 1997 and 2000. Despite his extensive knowledge of the nations that were part of the former Soviet Union, there may be misgivings in Kyiv over his impartiality: he has made his alignment with the Kremlin clear in several Russian and Chinese media outlets. In July 2019, as his stint as ambassador in Moscow came to an end, he penned a goodbye article for the Russian news agency TASS, entitled Eternal friendship like evergreen mountains. Regardless of where I am or what post I hold, he wrote, I will devote myself, as ever, to the cause of Sino-Russian friendship and will continue using my 44 years of experience in diplomacy with Russia to contribute to the development of bilateral relations.

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The belonging obsession is the result of a now-widespread corporate standard: Bring your whole self to work. If you have the flexibility to work wherever you want, and the freedom to discuss the social and political issues that matter to you, then ideally, youll feel that you belong at your company.

Bring your whole self to work emerged before the pandemic but became something of a mandate at its height, as companies tried to stanch a wave of resignations. They were also responding to concerns that many people felt excluded in the workplace. According to a 2022 report by the think tank Coqual, roughly half of Black and Asian professionals with a bachelors or more advanced degree dont feel a sense of belonging at work.

Last year, the Society for Human Resource Management conducted its first survey on corporate belonging. Seventy-six percent of respondents said their organization prioritized belonging as part of its D.E.I. strategy and 64 percent said they planned to invest more in belonging initiatives this year. Respondents said that identity-based communities, like employee resource groups, helped foster belonging, while mandatory diversity training did not.

Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist and professor at N.Y.U.s Stern School of Business, wishes we werent having this conversation about identity and belonging. At a time of rising political polarization, many peoples whole selves dont fit with the whole selves of their colleagues, Mr. Haidt, a self-described centrist, said. Ive heard from so many managers. They cant stand it anymore  the constant conflict over peoples identities.

In 2017, he and a colleague, Caroline Mehl, started the Constructive Dialogue Institute, whose main product is an educational platform called Perspectives. The tool uses online modules and workshops to help users explore where their values come from and why people from different backgrounds might have opposing values.
Slava Zaitsev, an effervescent and enduring Soviet-era fashion designer, once called the Red Dior by the Western press, whose over-the-top theatrical creations and persona made him a go-to couturier at home, died on April 30 in Shchyolkovo, Russia. He was 85.

His longtime friend Tatiana Sorokko, a Russian-born model and journalist, said his death, in a hospital, was caused by internal bleeding that resulted from an ulcer.

Mr. Zaitsev died just two days before Valentin Yudashkin, a pupil of his who was also known for his sumptuous creations, and who found greater success in the West than he did, died of cancer at 59.

Mr. Zaitsev gave color, sparkle and opulence to a generation raised in drab Soviet gray, the uniform of the proletariat, by combining Western bling with nods to traditional Russian folk costumes and nostalgic references to Pasternak and Tolstoy. He was the first designer, in pre-perestroika days, to be allowed to put his name on his work, which he first did in 1982.
A century ago, before it was called sparkling water or club soda, and before it was sold as LaCroix and Spindrift, it was called seltzer. No plastic bottles or aluminum cans magically appeared on grocery shelves. Instead, factories across New York City pumped fizzy water into heavy siphon bottles that were distributed by deliverymen.

Nearly all those seltzer men are gone now; one seltzer works remains.

In an industrial space in the Cypress Hills section of Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Seltzer Boys factory is known among industry insiders, certain foodies and seltzer fans, but thats about it. Its owner, Alex Gomberg, wants to change that.

Originally called Gomberg Seltzer Works, the business was started in 1953 in Canarsie, Brooklyn, by Moe Gomberg, Mr. Gombergs great-grandfather. After nearly closing for good during the pandemic, Brooklyn Seltzer moved and (somewhat) modernized its factory, introducing a visitable space called the Brooklyn Seltzer Museum.
For years before Jordan Neely, a mentally ill homeless man, was killed in the subway, the city had its eye on him.

He was on a list informally known as the Top 50, a roster of people in a city of eight million who stand out for the severity of their troubles and their resistance to accepting help. The list is overseen by a task force of city agency workers and social-service nonprofits; when homeless-outreach workers see someone who is on the list, in some cases they are supposed to notify the city and try to get that person to a shelter.

Despite that, and an open arrest warrant, Mr. Neely was out on his own on May 1, when he began ranting at passengers. A Marine veteran, Daniel Penny, grabbed him and choked him to death; Mr. Penny has now been charged with manslaughter.

In the wake of Mr. Neelys death, the administration of Mayor Eric Adams has been criticized by advocates for homeless people and left-leaning political opponents who say the killing highlights deep problems in the citys support systems for homeless people and those with mental illness.
Carson Marie Earnest, a New York City actress, recently came across a casting call for a darkly funny, cautionary play in two acts, based on the true story of Larry Ray and the sex cult at Sarah Lawrence College.

Oh my gosh, I know this story, thought Ms. Earnest, who several years earlier had been shocked when the news broke in 2019 just as she was set to graduate from the school just north of the city.

Everyone was talking about it, Ms. Earnest said. She soon learned that a writing teacher at Sarah Lawrence, Melvin Jules Bukiet, had written the play with one of his former students, Finnegan Shepard.

The circumstances were intrinsically dramatic, Mr. Bukiet said. It just felt like it wanted to be on a stage.
Its been months since Ive recommended a movie, so this weekend let me, well, recommend a movie.

The director John Frankenheimer was best known for two movies: The Manchurian Candidate, his 1962 Cold War paranoia thriller (with a career-making performance by Angela Lansbury), and Ronin, his 1998 late-career masterpiece starring Robert De Niro.

That these films were nearly 40 years apart is a testament to the fact that Frankenheimer had a long and fruitful career, beginning in television in the 1950s and ending with his death in 2002. The 1960s were his decade, however, and he directed a run of films that stand up to the best work of that era. In addition to The Manchurian Candidate, theres the prison drama Birdman of Alcatraz, the political thriller Seven Days in May, the World War II thriller The Train, the period drama The Fixer, a highly ambitious (and expensive) racing picture called Grand Prix and a strange and disturbing science fiction film called, simply, Seconds.

Ive seen most of these  except Grand Prix, which I hope to see in a real theater someday  but the one I want to recommend is Seconds, which I watched for the first time this week.

Seconds stars John Randolph as Arthur Hamilton, a middle-aged executive whose material success is no match for the ennui of modern life. He is contacted by an old friend who tells him there is a way to live a second life, and with that he is on his way to a physical transformation into Tony Wilson  played by Rock Hudson  that he hopes will turn into a spiritual one as well.
To the Editor:

Re Can College Meritocracy Survive?, by Ross Douthat (column, April 30):

Good riddance to the SAT. It is a simplistic yardstick of performance  and tests a certain type of intelligence, whereas there are many. Further, it exacerbates the unfairness of higher education in the United States.

Those with means avail themselves of small armies of tutors and expensive prep courses, while those born into modest circumstances are on their own  a microcosm of American society.

Though even as the SAT fades in importance, we must recognize that its diminishment alone does not render the college admissions process fair  in fact, it is obscene in its bias. If we want a truly meritocratic system, we would do away with preferential admission for legacy applicants and those with parents who are generous donors.

I went to a private school in Manhattan. By and large, those whose parents had legacy status, connections and/or gave large donations received acceptance letters from Ivy League schools. Those who lacked these resources  acquired by birth and not merit  were left to pick up the scraps thrown from the table. Meritocracy is merely a myth.
Less than three weeks into the March 2020 lockdowns in New York City, my boyfriend turned to me with a revelation he was having while in the snug living room that had become our co-working space, wine bar and prison chamber.

A finance lawyer who used to wear suits, he lately had found himself toiling in a series of baggy sweatpants and sweaters. (No judgment: I wore the same crusty, forest-green hoodie and gray sweats for over three days straight.) As we prepared to throw on some jeans to head to the grocery store, he told me he couldnt remember the last time he had put on a pair of hard pants.

I shared his utterance on Twitter, the site on which I have wasted much of my life, and hard pants went viral. Dictionary.com even credited us with popularizing the term, although its been around in some form since at least 2009. It was probably my greatest cultural contribution to the pandemic  it may prove to be the most influential piece of writing I produce in my career.

Three years on, while I have mostly stopped wearing masks, my soft clothes remain. All the pieces I gravitate toward feel more  casual. If a set of pants has an elastic waistband, Im sold. On an ideal day, you shouldnt be able to tell if Im going to the club or to my couch. Think airport chic.
As a former executive of Fox News, I never expected to write this: CNN performed a valuable journalistic service this week by hosting a spirited town hall with Donald Trump.

Like it or not, Mr. Trump is one of the two people who are most likely to win the presidency next year. He should be questioned by journalists at every opportunity, whether those be news conferences, live interviews, taped interviews, debates and, yes, town halls. Far too often, presidential candidates stick to scripted events, safe audiences and saturation advertising; days, even weeks, go by with a candidate  or a sitting president  not facing a single tough question.

Weve heard a lot of naysayers deriding the recent town hall or even the idea of mainstream media interviews with Mr. Trump as platforming a monster. Monster or not, he is the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination (he is about 30 points ahead of his nearest rival) and a central figure in some of the highest-profile political and legal debates in this country. Are we better off as a society if, after shunting him into his own MAGA bubble, we wake up in November 2024 and find that he has been elected president?

With the first Republican primary debate scheduled for August, we need to confront this and some other uncomfortable questions now. Is American democracy so fragile that we cannot metabolize the outlandish views of a presidential candidate? If a candidate is the subject of serious investigations, shouldnt the news media ask him about that? Are our ideas of journalism so degraded that providing airtime to a candidate is tantamount to an endorsement?
Two groups can learn something from the experience: first, network producers and executives thinking about how to conduct interviews and host debates with Trump; second, rival Republican presidential candidates trying to envision a path to beating him.

What the TV professionals should learn is that they have two choices in dealing with another Trump primary campaign. They can take the kind of this-is-an-emergency path urged on them by some press critics and anti-Trump writers: Dont platform him or normalize his campaign in any way, dont let him speak on live TV, cover him only within a set framework that constantly emphasizes his authoritarian tendencies and attempts to overturn the last election. I dont believe this path is wise or workable, but it at least has a moral consistency lacking in the democracy is in danger and tune in tonight for an hour with the demagogue! approach that we already watched play out in 2016.

Alternatively, if the press intends to conduct interviews and run debates as normal, then in preparing for them they need to try to think a little bit more like Republican voters as opposed to center-left journalists. Not in the sense of behaving slavishly toward the former president, but in the sense of writing the kinds of questions that a right-leaning American primed to dislike the media might actually find illuminating.

In part, as Ramesh Ponnuru suggests, that means drilling into Trumps presidential record on conservative terms rather than liberal ones  asking about, for instance, the failure to complete the border wall or the surge in crime in the last year of his administration. In part, as Erick Erickson writes, it means asking obvious questions that follow from his stolen-election narrative rather than just attacking it head-on  as in, if the Democrats really stole the election, why did your administration, your chosen attorney general and your appointed judges basically just let them do it?

The utility of this last line of questioning is also something that Trumps prospective rivals, Ron DeSantis especially, can draw out of the CNN experience, since they can tee up those kinds of conservative-friendly challenges if the media does not. But the most basic lesson to be drawn by Republican politicians from watching Trumps town hall is the importance, for any would-be Trumpian successor, of demonstrating that you too can engage with the mainstream press and come away a winner.
One day after the expiry of Title 42, a health directive introduced by the Donald Trump administration during the Covid-19 pandemic but that also allowed U.S. authorities to expel would-be migrants as soon as they set foot on American soil, the ramifications are being felt on the other side of the border. The Mexican governments additional efforts to attend to migrants entering through the countrys southern border have also come to an end. Faced with the increased flow of people, the National Institute of Migration (INM) set up a temporary headquarters three months ago in a park in Tapachula, a city beset by the massive numbers of migrants crossing from Guatemala. To address the migratory crisis, over the last few weeks the INM pushed through the issuance of thousands of temporary permits to permit onward travel to the north of Mexico and the U.S. border. On Friday, however, nearly 1,000 people waiting in line for their provisional documents found the office had been shut down. Instead of being given papers, INM agents put them on around 20 buses to distribute them to immigration offices in the state of Chiapas, which borders Guatemala in the east.

The INM had promised to deliver the necessary documentation at the other centers to which the migrants were moved. However, on Friday the agency issued a communique stating that it had stopped issuing temporary permits, citing a lack of resources. In this climate of contradictions and uncertainty, civil society organizations have warned the INM is now issuing documents in an arbitrary manner, and the paperwork does not specify through which border their bearers can leave, leaving them in a limbo that places them in danger. Meanwhile, the United States said they will be deported if they cross its border illegally.

In Tapachula, the city-trap that hosts tens of thousands of migrants, was calm when dawn broke on Friday. The shelters, streets, and squares of the city, which are usually packed with migrants, were relieved. Over the past two weeks, thousands of people had queued in front of the INMs temporary headquarters in the citys Ecological Park to receive a permit to travel north. The backlog became so large that the system collapsed, leaving many people to wait fruitlessly for the opportunity to obtain their papers.

Migrants being transferred from Tapachula to Tuxtla Gutierrez to continue the procedure to obtain a transit permit, Friday 13 May. JOSE TORRES (REUTERS)

Among those loaded onto the INM buses were migrants who had traveled from other continents. Obad Kan, an Afghan traveling with a group of five friends, asked, disoriented and mixing English, Afghan and Spanish, what was happening. Aided by a translation app on his cell phone, he told EL PAIS he was afraid he would be deported after getting on. We are tired and we dont have any money. I am afraid of being cheated.

The Jesus El Buen Pastor, a shelter with room for 500 people but which is almost always at 300% of its capacity, was at 90% on Friday, according to its manager. However, this by no means indicates that there are no longer any migrants in Tapachula. Local NGOs estimate that more than 30,000 remain stuck in the city. U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Troy Miller said in an official statement after Title 42 expired that the border is not open to irregular migration, " and warned that migrants who cross into the U.S. at unauthorized points may be transported away from Mexicos northern border to locations in southern Mexico.

In the meantime, hundreds of migrants continue to cross Mexicos southern border each day in the hopes of reaching the United States. Local activists say the crisis will worsen further when the deportations of the thousands of migrants now piling up in the south begin.

Late on Friday afternoon, a group of 11 Venezuelans arrived at the Jesus El Buen Pastor shelter. One of them, Josue, said they arrived at the INM office after it had closed and the buses had already left. They told us to come back on Monday. If they dont give us the documentation, we are going to continue ahead without papers, he said.

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CHICAGO  Moments before 10 a.m., a security guard thanked the crowd for being cooperative.

When the clock struck the hour, it became clear why: The doors of the Marriott Chicago OHare conference center opened, and hundreds of attendees, a majority of whom were over the age of 60, bee-lined as fast as they could to the booths.

Many had studied the color-coded map ahead of time listing each booths location and came prepared with a shopping plan  a scene that could easily be mistaken for a Black Friday sale. Instead, it was the Chicago International Miniatures Show.

Despite the gathering touting itself as the Worlds No. 1 Dollhouse Miniatures Show, there arent many actual dollhouses. Attendees instead sift through thousands of tiny objects that fill these tiny homes: miniature sponges, chocolate fondue fountains, rocking chairs, barbecue sets, Tupperware containers or fly swatters.
Why It Matters: North Carolina has been a destination for women seeking abortions.

Abortion is currently legal in North Carolina up to 20 weeks. A 12-week ban would dramatically cut abortion access.

The ban would stand to have an impact well outside of the state. North Carolina has become a haven for women across the South who are seeking abortions and whose home states have banned the procedure. North Carolina had one of the biggest upticks in out-of-state abortions since the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to abortion last year.

The bill is a consequential test of power of the Republican legislature's new supermajority, achieved when a Democratic House member, Tricia Cotham, joined the Republican Party last month. A few weeks later, she voted in favor of the abortion ban in an apparent change of heart on the issue.

Background: Republicans pitch the bill as a compromise, but abortion rights supporters see it as a threat.

The 12-week ban is not as restrictive as other bans enacted in conservative states since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Many states have banned most abortions at any stage of pregnancy or after six weeks, before most women even know they are pregnant.

The North Carolina ban that Mr. Cooper vetoed allows a larger window, and broader exceptions. Most abortions take place within the first trimester, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Republicans in North Carolina have pitched the 12-week ban as a compromise.

Senator Phil Berger, a Republican, said Saturday that the bill was a mainstream approach to limiting elective abortions.

But those who support abortion rights say the bill would be disastrous for womens health because of other barriers it creates, like longer waiting periods, more in-person doctor visits and restrictions on who can provide abortions.

Whats Next: An override vote is expected soon.

Republicans in the House and Senate are expected to hold votes to override the governors veto in the coming days.

Mr. Berger, the Republican Senator, and Tim Moore, the House Speaker, both promised a swift override of Mr. Coopers veto.

That override would most likely require the vote of every elected Republican, which is not assured.

Governor Cooper has spent days campaigning around the state asking residents to pressure several Republican lawmakers who are viewed as movable on the issue to vote against the override.
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In the imagination of many mainland Americans, hula may mean coconut bras and cellophane skirts. It may conjure visions of a figurine jiggling her hips on a car dashboard or smiling serenely as she is used as a bottle opener.

But hula is, in fact, an ancient and often sacred dance indigenous to Hawaii.

For the past 60 years, some of the best hula schools in the United States have gathered in the sleepy town of Hilo on the Big Island to compete in the annual Merrie Monarch Festival.

The festival features a parade and a traditional Hawaiian arts and crafts fair, however its best known for its prestigious hula competition, which locals often call the Olympics of hula.
The mother-son split mirrors a broader generational divide among Black voters on President Biden, who needs their support as he runs for re-election. Although Black voters were a key constituency that sent Mr. Biden to the White House in 2020, polls show that Black voters under 30 have far less enthusiasm for Mr. Biden than their elders do.

The Democratic National Committee said it has invested in reaching young Black voters through a variety of initiatives, including issuing grants to states to expand voter registration and hiring campus organizers in battleground states.

But Quentin James, a co-founder of the Collective Pac, an organization that aims to elect Black officials, said the generation gap was going to be a huge challenge for Democrats.

Im very nervous in our ability not only to maintain Black voters but engage younger Black voters in the way we need to to win 2024, Mr. James said.

The New York Times spoke to students at Howard, the renowned historically Black university, in the days leading up to Mr. Bidens commencement address there on Saturday. Most of them said they would still vote for Mr. Biden rather than a Republican. They spoke about their views, how their opinions differ from their parents  and what they want for the future.
President Biden declared on Saturday that white supremacy is the most dangerous terrorist threat to our homeland and warned a predominantly Black audience that sinister forces embraced by his predecessor and putative challenger are trying to reverse generations of racial progress in America.

Mr. Biden never named former President Donald J. Trump in his sometimes stark commencement address to the graduating class of Howard University, the nations most prestigious historically Black college. He alluded, however, to Mr. Trumps past statements to link him to racist elements in American society and suggest that the presidential campaign that has just gotten underway will determine whether justice will prevail over hate, fear and violence.

There are those who demonize and pit people against one another, Mr. Biden said. And there are those who will do anything and everything, no matter how desperate or immoral, to hold onto power. Thats never going to be an easy battle. But I know this  the oldest, most sinister forces may believe theyll determine Americas future. But they are wrong. We will determine Americas future. You will determine Americas future.
In the days surrounding the lifting of Title 42, some Democrats have sought to strike that balance, arguing that there should be no conflict between supporting border security and demanding compassion for asylum seekers. Title 42, a public health rule, had allowed Border Patrol agents to turn away migrants rapidly, without providing most with the chance to seek asylum  and in the immediate aftermath of the lifting of the order, the scenes of chaos some had worried about did not materialize.

But some moderate Democrats running in competitive races  like Senator Jon Tester of Montana  have argued against lifting Title 42 for now, as they seek to combat Republican attacks that Democrats are weak on border security.

We can have law and order at the border, and still be respectful of immigrants and their rights and treat them with respect and dignity, said Representative Henry Cuellar, a conservative Texas Democrat who offered a mixed assessment of how the Biden administration had handled the rollback.

Janet Napolitano, a homeland security secretary during the Obama administration, recalled the pressures the White House had faced from various factions of the Democratic Party when increased numbers of Central American children crossed the border in 2014.

Democrats have a much broader spectrum to cover, from those that are in what I would call the immigration advocacy community, to those who I would consider the pragmatic moderates and everything in between, Ms. Napolitano said.
Yet Mr. Trumps compounding legal woes and potential future indictments could eventually have the opposite effect  exhausting voters, which is Mr. DeSantiss hope. A jury found Mr. Trump liable this week for sexual abuse and defamation. When you get all these lawsuits coming at you, Mr. DeSantis told one associate recently, its just distracting.

So God Made a Fighter

The DeSantis team seemed to buy its own hype.

Days before the midterms, the DeSantis campaign released a video that cast his rise as ordained from on high. On the eighth day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, I need a protector, a narrator booms as Mr. DeSantis appears onscreen. So God made a fighter.

For years, the self-confident Mr. DeSantis has relied on his own instincts and the counsel of his wife, Casey DeSantis, who posted the video, to set his political course, according to past aides and current associates. Mr. DeSantis has been written off before  in his first primary for governor; in his first congressional primary  so both he and his wife have gotten used to tuning out critics.

Today, allies say there are few people around who are willing to tell Mr. DeSantis hes wrong, even in private.

In late 2022, the thinking was that a decision on 2024 could wait, and Mr. Trumps midterm hangover would linger. Mr. DeSantis published a book  I was, you know, kind of a hot commodity, he said of writing it  that became a best seller. And Mr. DeSantis was on the offensive, tweaking Mr. Trump with a February donor retreat held only miles from Mar-a-Lago that drew Trump contributors.
A crush of asylum claims at the U.S.-Mexico border is complicating an already intractable immigration debate on Capitol Hill, pulling the two parties further apart and threatening to undermine what some lawmakers have viewed as the best hope in a decade for Congress to forge a comprehensive immigration deal.

For decades, bipartisan discussions on such a compromise focused on pairing beefed-up border security with a pathway to legalization for undocumented immigrants and expanded legal pathways to entry. But in recent years, an explosion in the number of migrants asking for asylum  a protected status for those fearing persecution in their home country  has scrambled the equation, exposing deep political and moral divisions.

The shift helps explain why talks on Capitol Hill to find a consensus on a comprehensive immigration overhaul have sputtered, despite lawmakers hope that the expiration this week of Title 42  a pandemic-era policy that had let authorities swiftly expel migrants  would force Congress to act.

Its changed, Senator Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware, said of the immigration overhaul debate. We managed to get to an agreement that put a significant amount of money into border security last time. Making similar progress on asylum is very, very different, because its a values issue.
As the sun rose on Friday morning, Antonio, 51, was gathering his things and saying his goodbyes at a large migrant shelter on the outskirts of Tijuana, Mexico.

Since 2020, Title 42, a public health measure implemented during the pandemic, has allowed border authorities to swiftly expel migrants who crossed into the United States illegally. A surge of arriving migrants and a limited number of asylum appointments have led to large numbers of people waiting in border communities like Tijuana.

On Friday, Antonios family was part of the first group of asylum seekers processed after the expiration of Title 42 on May 12.

The family started trying to schedule an appointment two and a half years ago. They finally secured one after months of attempts on CBP One, a smartphone app developed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Many migrants The Times spoke with described the app as glitchy and hard to use.
Prime Minister Narendra Modis ruling party on Saturday lost its only state government in Indias relatively prosperous south, results from elections in Karnataka showed, in a boost to the otherwise struggling opposition ahead of general elections next year.

The Indian National Congress, which governed India for much of its time since independence before being sidelined by the rise of Mr. Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party, was winning a majority of the seats in the local assembly elections in Karnataka.

Home to more than 65 million people and Indias cash-rich tech hub, Karnataka is the only southern state where Mr. Modis Hindu nationalist party has managed to lead a government, its ideological push finding less acceptance in that part of the country than in Mr. Modis stronghold of northern India.

With a majority of the votes counted, the Congress party was projected to win at least 135 of the assemblys 224 seats, which would position it to easily form the government.
Shortly after nightfall in Moscow on Thursday, Russian social networks started firing alerts like a machine gun on the front lines. Pro-Russian bloggers claimed that the Ukrainian Army had just launched its long-awaited counteroffensive and was now bearing down on the Kremlins forces on all fronts: crossing the Dnipro River to advance into Crimea and forming a pocket in Bakhmut, capturing thousands of Russian soldiers, while attacking the neighboring town of Soledar and even preparing to cross the border  the Kremlins ultimate red line  to conquer the Russian region of Belgorod. Statements spread by individual Telegram channels about defense breaches that took place on various parts of the contact line do not correspond to reality, the Russian Defense Ministry stated at around midnight.

On Friday morning, the head of the mercenary Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, rubbished the official line and hours later the Russian military euphemistically acknowledged having regrouped in Bakhmut, the devastated city that has become the epicenter of the war and where the Wagner Group has borne the brunt of the fighting on a front that Ukraine has vowed will not fall.

One of the first signs of panic came from Russias northern border with Ukraine. On the Internet rumors have begun to spread that troops of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are heading towards Belgorod from the Kharkiv region. We hasten to point out that this information does not correspond to reality. Ukrainian vehicles are only moving inside Kharkiv, no offensive is planned, local news channel Dzhest Belgorod reported in response to speculation that Ukrainian forces were about to arrive at the gates of the city. However, the rumors pointed only to a build-up of forces in the vicinity, not to an attack being staged.

Information on the situation at the front is often contradictory and difficult to verify in Russia. The Defense Ministry claims to have halted an assault on a 60-mile front around Soledar, a city near Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, which it said was staged by 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers with support from 40 armored vehicles. Kyiv, meanwhile, offered a completely different version of events. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated that Ukrainian forces in the area were attacked and not only managed to stop them, but in some cases pushed them back.

Zelenskiy reiterated Thursday that Ukrainian forces need a bit more time to prepare for the counteroffensive and the wait is becoming an uncomfortable one in Moscow. Tensions between the Russian High Command and the Wagner mercenaries were further strained on Friday when Prigozhin rebuffed a victorious Defense Ministry report on the situation in Bakhmut and ironically questioned the military ability of its chief, Sergei Shoigu. This latest verbal battle was won by Prigozhin: a few hours later, Moscow acknowledged with opaque wording that it had yielded ground to a Ukrainian advance.

On the flanks of PMC Wagner, where Russian Federation Armed Forces units are located, the enemy has launched a number of successful counterattacks, Prigozhin wrote on Telegram the morning after the Defense Ministry claimed to have repulsed three Ukrainian attacks in the disputed city. Hours later, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov clarified that the troops supposedly covering the Wagner Groups flanks on that front had regrouped. Earlier in the week, the Wagner Group commander accused a Russian brigade of having fled the battlefield.

Units of the Russian Southern Group have occupied another line on the Maloilinovsk front because of favorable conditions provided by the Berekhovskoye reservoir. They proved their courage in repulsing the enemys attacks, Konashenkov said. Prighozin challenged the Defense Ministry version and promised to provide more details at a later date. Unfortunately, this is called a retreat, not a regrouping.

Prigozhin has become an outspoken critic of the military high command, recently going as far as calling Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov bitches for allegedly failing to provide his forces with ammunition. Taking into account the difficult operational situation, as well as your many years of experience in combat operations, I ask you to come to Bakhmut and independently assess the current situation, Prigozhin told Shoigu, with a not-too-veiled criticism of the Defense Ministers largely desk-bound military career. The former head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Shoigu was appointed to the Defense Ministry in 2012 by Vladimir Putin, a result of the blind loyalty he had shown since the 1990s when the now-president burst onto the Russian political scene.

Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin reads a statement on Friday, May 5, 2023, accusing Russia's military command of starving his troops of ammunition. AP

Panicking is death

One of Russias most popular war analysis channels, the ultra-nationalist WarGonzo, which has 1.3 million followers, has criticized those who showed fear at what appeared to be the start of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, as well as those who dismissed Thursdays attacks as relatively small. Panicking is death, warned one of the Telegram pages founders, Semyon Pegov, while urging Russian to take the latest movements on the front lines seriously.

The enemy is making progress. In some places more, in some places less, but it will have an impact on the further development of events. The offensive did not start today, or yesterday; the enemy is looking for our weak points to try and hit them, Pegov said Thursday.

The entire front stretches across a line of around 620 miles and the Russian high command is faced with the dilemma of which areas to reinforce with its worn-out troops in the face of the imminent Ukrainian offensive, while Kyiv in turn is attempting to sow more doubt in Moscow by probing Russian defenses at various points. Igor Girkin, the former Russian Federal Security Service officer who was one of the commanders who led Russian servicemen into Donbas in 2014, has also joined the speculation.

I have predicted that the main offensive will be in Zaporizhzhia  Russias only land connection to Crimea  with auxiliary attacks in Kherson and possibly Donetsk. And they may inflict diversionary attacks in [the Russian regions of] Belgorod, Kursk, and Bryansk to capture settlements and provoke the Russian Armed Forces to try and retake them, Girkin, one of the most outspoken critics of the Kremlins handling of the war, said. It would make me happy to be wrong, but I am not very optimistic.

While Russian troops are digging in along a vast defensive line, in the rearguard the search for fresh reinforcements is ongoing as the Kremlin seeks to avoid a new forced mobilization. The governor of the Primorye region in Russias far east, Oleg Kozhemyako, has presented a new law on support for the participants of the special operation. Under the law, the authorities will give priority for housing to orphans who sign up as volunteers. Russian legislation stipulates that the government must provide a roof over their heads when they turn 18, but there are currently some 288,000 orphans on the waiting list.

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I met with Ms. Gondek, the citys second consecutive mayor of South Asian heritage, earlier this week at city hall, days after the city and the province had announced that they would both contribute a total of 867 million Canadian dollars to build a new arena for the Calgary Flames. The announcement was widely seen as a move to bolster the re-election hopes of the premier, Danielle Smith, who often stymies Ms. Gondeks political agenda, in the current provincial election campaign. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

What do people get wrong about Calgary?

Folks that dont live here and havent visited here have been sold a stereotype of who we are. Its sort of this cartoon image of Calgary. And I think weve done a remarkably poor job of telling our story properly as Calgarians.

The narrative developed that we were only interested in oil and gas  and that was about it. Weve let it get away from us and were trying to regain it now. The investment that we need here is too important. We need to be talking about who we really are.

How has Calgarys growing ethnic diversity changed the city?

Its the third most diverse city in Canada, and yet a lot of people dont know that about us. But if you spend any amount of time here, its quite evident.

The capacity building that many ethnic communities have done allows newcomers to come here and actually settle here and not just make this a landing place. People come into Calgary and they stay.
More broadly, for the European Union and Washington there is the strong feeling that Turkey under Mr. Erdogan has moved farther away from European values and norms like the rule of law and freedom of the press.

Kaja Kallas, Estonias prime minister, said in an interview that NATO and the European Union viewed the election differently. It is a defense alliance, she said, and Turkey is one of the allies that has great military capacities to help NATO in a key part of the world. So I dont think anything changes in terms of NATO in this regard whoever wins the elections.

For NATO, of course, the hope is that a change of leadership in Turkey will end the standoff over approval of Swedens membership in the military alliance, ideally before a summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July.

In Washington, Mr. Erdogans drift toward authoritarianism, his ties to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and his disputes with NATO have exasperated officials  and even led some members of Congress to suggest that Turkey should be banished from the NATO alliance.

While the United States, the European Union and, to a lesser extent, NATO stand to gain from an opposition victory, Mr. Putin almost certainly will be seen as the loser if Mr. Erdogan is ousted.
Israel and the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad agreed to a cease-fire on Saturday, according to Egyptian negotiators, ending five days of violence in which 35 people were killed.

Egyptian officials said representatives from Israel and Islamic Jihad, an Islamist group based in Gaza, had agreed to suspend fighting. The sides confirmed that a cease-fire had been reached, but. exchanges of fire continued for at least 30 minutes after the deal was to go into effect at 10 p.m. local time.

According to local Arabic news outlets, Israel and Islamic Jihad mutually agreed to stop firing on civilians and destroying homes. But a Western diplomat, with knowledge of the talks, said the cease-fire came without conditions  as Israel had demanded  and was based on the principle of calm being answered with calm.

The five days of fighting, the longest stretch of cross-border violence between Israel and the group in recent years, remained relatively contained. Islamic Jihad, a small militant group backed by Iran, failed to draw in Hamas  the more powerful Islamic militant organization that controls Gaza  or any other major faction. The Islamic Jihad fighters, alone on the battlefield, suffered crushing blows.
WHEN I saw the article in the Tribune requesting views on the changes that EU membership has impacted on our lives, I decided to pen a few lines on its impact on An Garda Siochana.

I arrived in Tullamore in April 1964 as a new member of An Garda Siochana. I quickly learned that measurement played a major part in the working life of a Garda.

The Imperial system of measurement is defined as a system of measuring items for length  yard, mass  ounce, volume  pint etc.

And it is this system, used in England to this very day, entered my life very soon after becoming a Garda. When I attended the scene of a traffic accident and had to construct a sketch of the scene miles, yards and inches came into play immediately.

When I was instructed to attend the accident scene I was given an Imperial measuring tape to record a sketch of the scene.

If a complaint was received at the station that a particular business premises had a faulty weighing scales I would be instructed to visit the premises and decide if the complaint was accurate. It must be remembered that at that time most grocery items were sold loose in brown paper bags. Even snuff was sold by the dram.

Public houses were not allowed to escape the eagle eye of the patrolling Garda as measurement played a large part in how the publican carried on his business. All pint and half-pint glasses had to be stamped with the legal quantity that the glasses held. The brass measure that the publican used for selling spirits had also to be stamped by the Weights and Measures Inspector.

Ireland had an unusual arrangement for the enforcement of the laws and regulations governing Imperial measurement. Probably coming from the former connection with England the Irish government made the laws and regulations governing measurement.

The equipment used to test the different items of measurement and the accommodation to store it was supplied by the local authority. The personnel to enforce the different laws and regulations was supplied by An Garda Siochana whose members had the title Inspector of Weights and Measures.

With the arrival of membership of the EEC, as the union was then called in 1973, the whole measuring system began to change on a gradual basis to the metric system. We now had to get used to new terms such as metres, grammes, litres etc.

The change had an immediate effect on the working life of a Garda.

No longer could be used the old reliable measurements of feet, yards and inches when a Garda was completing his traffic accident sketch. Centimetres and metres were a problem at the start and you now also had to look at the petrol pump to see if it was showing the correct amount of litres.

Even when the farmer took his cattle to the mart he was paid according to the weight of the animal in metric measures.

Many citizens protested at this imposition and the changes to their normal life but progress continued.

Similarly members of an Garda Siochana had to adapt to the new system. There are now many every day occurences which remind us that the metric system is in place. If you receive a notice in the post of a fine for exceeding the 100 kilometre speed limit you will blame yourself and not the metric system.

It is likely that there will be many more changes over the next 50 years inspired by the European Union but hopefully they will be for our benefit.



Michael Dalton, from Tullamore, is a retired member of An Garda Siochana and a published author of fiction and non-fiction works
Brits are warned that dozens of airlines are planning to strike in Spain this summer. The move can affect millions of travellers potentially leading to ruined holidays and lost money. Find out the affected flight operators.

If youre planning a trip to Spain this summer you may be up for an unpleasant surprise.

The Spanish Union of Airline Pilots (SEPLA) is planning a series of industrial strikes during the coming months. With over a dozen airlines impacted, it can potentially lead to dramatic consequences for thousands of families.

Spanish airport staff have already warned that Brits may face chaotic queues at airports during the holiday season due to having to have their passports stamped after Brexit.

Also, new summer security measures were introduced on this Spanish island, in a bid to combat antisocial behaviour and improve the safety of tourists and residents.

The details of the strikes are yet to be confirmed but earlier this month, SEPLA announced new action on May 22, 23, 25, 26, 29 and 30 and June 1 and 2 at all air bases in Spain.

Further stand-stills could be called off if the union is able to reach an agreement with the airlines involved.

Airlines strike in Spain could affect millions of travellers this summer

Britons travelling to Spain could face major flight disruption this summer as more than a dozen airlines are considering strike action.

The Spanish Union of Airline Pilots (SEPLA) has union representation in several popular airlines including Ryanair, easyJet, Vueling, Jet2 and Norwegian. Other impacted airlines include Air Nostrum, Air Europa, Iberia, Iberia Express, Swiftair, Plus Ultra, Eurowings and Evelop.

These are the next dates Air Europa pilots plan to strike at all bases in Spain



Eight more days of industrial action have been called and their union has accused the airline of showing zero interest in settling the legitimate work and salary demandshttps://t.co/5jq4rT7J2D  SUR in English (@SUR_English) May 9, 2023

Spanish legislation requires a minimum amount of service even on strike days, which can lessen the impact of industrial action.

SEPLA believes that airlines feel no pressure to negotiate with staff and that the minimum service rules are interfering with the constitutional right to strike for the workers.

They are unhappy that on current strike days called by Air Nostrum and Air Europa, 90% of flights will still run due to Spanish law. This means that out of about 80 flights scheduled to run, only around 18 to 20 flights were cancelled.

They are hoping to encourage other groups, such as cabin crew and air traffic controllers to join the strikes.

Read more:

 Travel warning for tourists visiting Spain over new security measures from next week

 Travel warning issued for tourists going to Spain, here's how it will affect your holiday

How likely is it that you will be impacted

The union has warned that the pilots will not halt their action and said there would be more strikes this summer if an agreement wasn't reached.

Earlier this month, SEPLA announced new days on stand-still on May 22, 23, 25, 26,29 and 30 and June 1 and 2 at all air bases in Spain.

#TravelAlert #Spain Public transportation workers set to strike in #Barcelona on May 18th



Travelers should plan for alternative means of travel on this dayhttps://t.co/yzxqjXYAkx pic.twitter.com/Bg7nR9BkqO  Global Rescue (@GlobalRescue) May 13, 2023

As Spain is a leading destination for travellers from the UK, millions of Brits could be affected.

You should be contacted by your airline directly if your flight is impacted by strike action.

Read more:

 Travel warning issued for Brits going to Spain for their summer holidays

 Brits allegedly offered 2,600 to move to Spain? What you should know about this claim

Sources used:

- Express: 'Britons travelling to Spain could face major flight disruption this summer'
Press Release

May 12, 2023 Hontiveros meets with Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, raises issues in the West PH Sea TAIPEI, TAIWAN -- Senator Risa Hontiveros recently met with Taiwan Foreign Minister Dr. Jaushieh Joseph Wu in Taipei City, Taiwan to reaffirm her commitment to a peaceful resolution in the West Philippine Sea and the entire South China Sea. "Unlike China, who has been employing tactics that employ force short of war, we can genuinely and diplomatically engage with Taiwan in order to resolve territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Taiwan has been a good and responsible friend to the Philippines, and in the face of a common bully, friends tend to stick with each other," the senator said. "As a member of the Senate, the treaty-making body of our legislature, I will continually work with nations such as Taiwan, with whom we share the same values of freedom and democracy, to uphold and maintain the relative peace our region has so far enjoyed," she added. Hontiveros said the Thursday discussion is meant to contribute to the legislative roadmap she will craft to have clear policies that can allow the Philippines to protect, defend, and maintain sovereignty over territories in the WPS. In the meeting, the senator and the foreign minister also agreed that international relations among various democratic nations must be strengthened in order to resist China's aggressive actions. "While the Philippines does not yet have official diplomatic ties with Taiwan, constant cooperation is needed as both countries confront similar challenges, from cybersecurity to climate change. It is also in the interest of our country to deepen people to people exchanges with Taiwan, whether through tourism or overseas employment," Hontiveros said. The senator's visit to Taipei was sparked by the recent threats to our overseas Filipino workers by the Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines, should it not oppose Taiwanese independence. Before her engagement with MOFA, the senator met with some of the OFWs living in Taiwan to check on their welfare and working conditions, amid the rising tensions in the SCS. "The foreign minister himself acknowledged that migrant workers such as our OFWs are crucial in the economic development of his country. Our OFWs, in turn, are able to share in the prosperity of Taiwanese society and help improve the lives of their families back home. For this economic growth to benefit our countries, we must do all we can to preserve peace," the senator concluded.
The main opposition candidate in the presidential elections to be held in Turkey this Sunday, the center-left Kemal Kilicdaroglu, has accused Russia of interfering by manipulating videos in the electoral campaign in support of the Turkish President, the Islamist Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Polls indicate that Erdogan could lose power for the first time in 20 years, although his opponents lead is slim.

As a result, as the campaign - which began almost two months ago - has progressed, it has become increasingly harsh, with cross accusations, attacks and foul play. The president himself has broadcast on two occasions - at a rally and on a television program - a montage in which the leader of the Kurdish armed group PKK, Murat Karayilan, is shown participating in the oppositions campaign video. Kilicdaroglu puts the man who is in command of the terrorist organization behind him. He says Lets go and the other one also answers Lets go, Erdogan denounced on the TV program, trying to convince his supporters that the video is real.

Despite the crude montage, this link between the opposition and the PKK - an organization considered terrorist by Turkey and the EU -, constantly repeated by the candidates of the pro-government alliance and its supporting media, has a strong impact on Erdogans supporters. The political polarization in the country has turned the media landscape into echo chambers and it is very difficult for voters on one side or the other to expose themselves to narratives that are different from what they think.

The presidents voters are convinced, as EL PAIS was able to verify in various provinces, that if the opposition wins, PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan, captured in 1999 and imprisoned for life, will be released. Two sources from different opposition parties have confirmed this fact: On the street there are many who tell me: You seem like a good guy, why are you allying with the terrorists, laments a member of the nationalist IYI party: We are really having a hard time getting our message across to AKP voters.

Sex, lies and deepfake videos

Kilicdaroglu already warned last week that the AKP was preparing to use deepfake videos with the help of international hackers. This Thursday, he went further and in a tweet written in Turkish and Russian directly accused Moscow of being involved in the production of fake propaganda: Dear Russian friends. You are behind the leaked montages in this country, the plots and the tapes containing deepfakes. If you want us to remain friends on May 15, get your hands off the Turkish state.

The opposition candidate did not specify what exactly he was referring to with these words, but asked about it, his partys deputy Tuncay Ozkan, explained that he was referring to the one linking Kilicdaroglu to the PKK. We are seeing that this government is working together with Russian hackers and that Russia is clearly supporting Erdogan to ensure preferential treatment of its economic interests, Ozkan asserted. Over the past year, Moscow has transferred billions of euros to the Central Bank of Turkey for construction work on the Akkuyu nuclear power plant, but these have been essential for the Erdogan government to keep the value of the Turkish lira stable. In recent weeks, moreover, the Turkish Ministry of Energy has announced that it has reached an agreement to postpone the payment of gas imports worth more than 500 million euros until next year. With all this, Turkey has become a key country for Vladimir Putin in his search for ways to circumvent the Western sanctions decreed after his invasion of Ukraine.

Another fake video is also sowing controversy in the Turkish elections. It is a sex tape about Muharrem Ince, who was a CHP presidential candidate in 2018, but later left the center-left formation and had run as a presidential candidate for these elections despite opposition requests that he should not do so, so as not to split the anti-Erdogan vote.

Ince resigned from the electoral race this Thursday alleging to the campaign of insults and false accusations that he is suffering (it is also true that his voting intention had plummeted below 2% according to the polls). He also assured that the video circulating is false and linked the plot to the brotherhood of the Turkish preacher exiled in the United States Fethullah Gulen, formerly allied with Erdogan and later declared a terrorist organization.

This link is due to the fact that who is announcing the publication of this and other videos of sexual content (he has also promised one of the leader of the far-right MHP party with his driver and of several female talk show hosts close to Erdogan) is a Twitter account under the name of Ali Yesildag, brother of a close collaborator of the Turkish president who is now accused of allying himself with Gulens organization. Last week Yesildag had appeared in a YouTube video denouncing Erdogans corruption and promising more information.

The Erdogan government has accused Kilicdaroglu of getting rid of his rivals by using sex videos and recalling that in 2010 he became president of the Republican Peoples Party (CHP) following the resignation of his predecessor, Deniz Baykal, after a video - real, in this case - was leaked of him having extramarital affairs. Members of Gulens organization infiltrated into the state (then still Erdogans allies) were also accused of this illegal recording.

But the plot is even more convoluted, like almost everything in Turkish politics. Yesildag has claimed in his videos that he has no accounts on other social networks. An analysis of the Twitter account on which these videos are posted by Tugrulcan Elmas, a researcher on social media manipulation, alleges that it previously published under other names and attacked members of the opposition so he ventures that it could be a false flag operation of the AKP itself. We dont know where that video came from, whether from the FETO [Gulenists] or the Russians, says Ozkan, the CHP deputy.

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Who Would Be The Next CM of Karnataka: 6 Possible Scenarios

In Race For Karnataka CM, Why the Scales Are Tilted In Favour Of Siddaramaiah

BJP Surges Ahead In UP Civic Polls

India

oi-Sanjeev Nayak

At a time when BJP is unsure of retaining power in Karnataka, the party has taken a major lead in the Urban Local Body (ULB) polls in Uttar Pradesh, the results of which have started trickling in after counting of votes started at 7 am this morning.

Early trends suggest that there won't be much of Karnataka-style suspense and the saffron party will win it big here. BJP candidate Ganesh Kesarwani is leading by 26 votes against his SP rival Ajay Srivastava for the post of Mayor in Prayagraj, which remained in the headlines throughout the last month over the trials of mafia don Atiq Ahmed and his subsquent murder.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has asked the State Election Commission to release figures after each round of counting for the sake of transparency. It is hoped that the Election Commission will keep telling the figures after each round so that public confidence remains, he tweeted.

BSP has made its presence felf by taking the lead for the post of Municipality President from Hamirpur Municipality Maudha. There are total of 25 wards, in which BJP is ahead in 9, SP is ahead in 7 wards, BSP is ahead in 5 wards and others are ahead in 4 wards. Congress account is not opened here.

The BJP hasnt faced any electoral challenges in Uttar Pradesh since the Modi juggernaut swept through the country in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The 2017 and 2022 Assembly elections as well as the 2019 Lok Sabha elections further cemented the saffron hold on the State.

With strong organisation, the ruling party has also dominated local body polls, including Panchayat elections, under the leadership of Yogi Adityanath. Hence, its surging ahead in the ULB polls today has hardly surprised anybody.

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Story first published: Saturday, May 13, 2023, 9:28 [IST]
A Ploy To Beat Anti-Incumbency That Did Not Work For The BJP In Karnataka

Bommais Take On Reports of Congress Moving Its Leaders to Resorts

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Even as the trends in Karnataka show that the Congress is hitting the majority mark, Chief Minister, Basavaraj Bommai has expressed confidence that the BJP will cross the majority mark.

We have the ground report from the booths and we are confident that we will win and cross the majority mark, Bommai said.

On being asked about the Congress allegedly moving its MLAs to a resort to keep the flock together, Bommai said that the grand old party will not get the majority and hence they are in touch with other parties.

He also ruled out any coalition and said that the BJP will come to power on its own.

"At present, there's no question of any alliance as they are sure to get the absolute majority. Let the Congress leaders hold any meeting as they have the right to hold it," Bommai said.

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Siddaramaiah Should Become CM in The Best Interest of Karnataka: Yathindra

Karnataka witnessed a three-cornered contest. The main players in the state are the BJP, Congress and JD(S).

The trends currently show that the Congress is in a comfortable position. There are many shock defeats on the cards.

In case the Congress wins, its biggest challenge would be to appoint a chief minister. Both D K Shivakumar and Siddraramaiah are in the race to become chief minister in case the party wins the Karnataka elections.
Congress In Over-Cautious Mode In Karnataka: Books Hotels In Bengaluru, Mahabalipuram

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Despite heading for a majority, the Congress is taking no chances in Karnataka.

Two hotels have been booked by the Congress-one in Bengaluru and another in Mahabalipuram, to shelter its MLAs from any poaching attempt.

Congress sources said that the party has booked rooms in the Shangri La hotel in Bengaluru.

They MLAs would be asked to stay there if the party breaches the 130 mark. If the party fails to do so then they would move the MLAs to Tamil Nadu. This is being done to shield the MLAs from any attempts against poaching.

Shivakumar Gets Emotional As Congress Races Ahead In Karnataka

Resort politics have been a norm in Karnataka. All parties have resorted to resort politics since coalition governments had become the norm.

This time the Congress is being over-cautious as it does not want a repeat of the events that followed post the 2018 assembly polls. The Congress and JD(S) had come together to form the government in 2018, although the BJP had emerged as the single-largest party. The government however survived just one year when the Congress list 17 of its MLAs after they were holed up in a resort in Mumbai. They went on to join the BJP, following which the BJP went on to form the government.
Not Just Siddaramaiah and DKS, 3 Others In Race for CM Post: Congress Leader

Congress Smells Victory In Karnataka, Goes Past 2013 Mandate

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Opposition Congress on Saturday seemed to be on course to breach rival BJP's lone southern citadel Karnataka, racing ahead the magic 113 figure to form a government on its own.

The opposition party marched ahead establishing a lead in 118 constituencies, while the BJP was leading in 75 segments, the latest Election Commission (EC) trends of counting of votes polled in the Karnataka Assembly elections showed. The former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal is leading in 24 segments, and others in 5 seats.

It must be noted that in the 2013 Karnataka state assembly elections, Congress emerged as the single largest party, winning 122 out of 224 seats in the assembly. The mandate for the Congress party in these elections was to form the government in Karnataka and to govern the state for the next five years.

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Karnataka Results: Congress crosses the majority mark | Celebrations start | Oneindia News

The party's manifesto for the 2013 Karnataka elections included promises such as the creation of one crore jobs (10 million), the implementation of the Right to Education Act, the provision of free laptops to students, the distribution of free milk to children in government schools, the construction of one lakh (100,000) houses for the poor, and the establishment of a price stabilization fund for farmers, among other things.

BJP Concedes Defeat In Karnataka

After the elections, the Congress party formed the government in Karnataka, with Siddaramaiah as the Chief Minister. The party remained in power in the state until the 2018 Karnataka assembly elections, where it was defeated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

2013 election results:

BJP - 40

Congress - 122

JD(S) - 40

Others - 22

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Story first published: Saturday, May 13, 2023, 12:34 [IST]
With Fears Of A Hung Verdict In Karnataka, Backroom Operations On In Full Swing

High Stake Karnataka Battle: What Is In Store For The Three Major Parties

Congress Legislature Party Meet As It Leads In Over 100 Seats In Karnataka

Congress Taunts BJP with 'Bajrang Bali' Chants As Party Crosses Majority Mark

India

oi-Prakash KL

With the Congress crossing the halfway mark in the early trends, the celebration at the Congress camp has kicked off at party offices in New Delhi and Bengaluru.

What has caught the attention is the Congress workers chanting 'Bajrang Bali' and some workers dressing up as Lord Hanuman to mock the BJP.

"Bajrang Bali BJP ke nahi Congress ke sath hain... Bajrang Bali ne BJP par fine lagaya hai (Lord Bajrang Bali is with the Congress. He has levied a fine on the BJP," NDTV quoted one of the workers prancing around in a Hanuman costume.

Karnataka Elections: Congress Vote Share At 44.4%

Uddhav Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi too took a potshot at the BJP by invoking the 'Bajrang Bali' issue. "So as per result trends in Karnataka: Bajrang Bali ki Jai, Bhajpa ki haar hai tay," Priyanka Chaturvedi wrote. "Even Bajrang Bali has given a thumbs down to Modi ji's campaign in Karnataka. Media may show the face of JP Nadda ji or CM Bommai ji as losers but it is PM Modi's loss since he made the entire campaign about himself," she tweeted.

The topic of Hanuman in the Karnataka election took centre stage after Congress announced in its manifesto that it will ban right-wing organisation Bajrang Dal if it comes to power.

"The Congress Party is committed to take firm and decisive action against individuals and organisations spreading hatred amongst communities on grounds of caste or religion. We believe that law and Constitution is sacrosanct and can not be violated by individuals and Organisations like Bajrang Dal, PFI or others promoting enmity or hatred, whether among majority or minority communities. We will take decisive action as per law including imposing a ban on any such organisations," the manifesto read.

Congress Begins Victory Celebration As It Crosses Majority Mark In Karnataka

Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi had chanted "Bajrang bali ki jai" at the end of his speeches at Mulki and Ankola.

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Story first published: Saturday, May 13, 2023, 12:18 [IST]
Could Mallikarjun Kharge Be The Congress Surprise Pick As Karnataka CM?

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

All eyes are on the Karnataka Congress as the party gets set to form the government post a mammoth win.

The question now is who will the Congress pick as the Chief Minister. For now, Siddaramaiah appears to be the frontrunner for the post. However knowing Karnataka, politics is not always simple and there could be some drama.

It is also a well known fact that D K Shivakumar is also eyeing for the post. While this issue has been playing on since the start of the elections, Rahul Gandhi has made every effort to show that the party is united, the party would ensure that there is no mess up on the leadership front.

Let us look at the top contenders:

Siddaramaih: He made waves when he announced that this would be his last election. Siddaramaiah has denied any differences with Shivakumar, but it is a well known fact that he is harbouring ambitions yet again. He also said that the opinion of all the MLAs will be taken, following which a decision will be taken. It is yet to be seen how many MLAs out of the 137 are loyal to him.

Congress Composition In Karnataka: Siddaramaiah CM, Three Deputy CMs?

D K Shivakumar: Shivakumar is a favourite with the high command. He commands every right to seek the post of CM as it was under his leadership that the party won Karnataka. He has also been an aspirant for long. Further in Congress circles it is said that the Karnataka leg of Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' was the best thanks to the organisational capabilities of Shivakumar. He has maintained that he would abide by whatever the party decides.

Mallikarjun Kharge: Now if the Congress is unable to broker any truce between Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah on the issue of CM, then Congress president, Mallikarjun Kharge could be a surprise candidate. Shivakumar also threw up a surprise by saying that he is willing to work under Kharge. He is my party's president. He is 20 years my senior and in the event of him becoming CM, I am ready to work under him, Shivakumar had said.

G Parameshwara: When the elections began, G Parameshwara who was party chief when the Congress won the 2013 polls, said that he is ready to become the CM. "The high command will decide and if given an opportunity, he is ready," he had said.

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Story first published: Saturday, May 13, 2023, 18:33 [IST]
BBC should make sure to caught with rules, regulations: British MP on I-T surveys

Delayed elections, 140 seats, more from BJP to switch: The many claims by Karnataka Congress

Exit Poll vs Exact Poll: Which Survey Got It Right?

India

oi-Prakash KL

Congress is coming back to power with a bang in Karnataka. The grand old party is likely to win about 135-140 seats, the trends indicate.

So, which pollster has got their prediction right, this time?

Several pollsters had predicted that the Congress will return to power in Karnataka in 2023. However, there was one survey that predicted the grand old party to bag 122-140 seats.

Well, it is India Today-Axis My India exit poll that got their numbers right. Not just for the Congress, but it had also stated that the BJP would win 66 seats and had given 22 seats to the JDS.

The early trends say that the BJP might win less than 65 seats while the JDS is being reduced to 20. The saffron party had won 104 seats in 2018 and the JDS had emerged victorious in 40 seats.

Congress Composition In Karnataka: Siddaramaiah CM, Three Deputy CMs?

In 2023 polls, at least 14 ministers from the BJP has lost. Notably, V Somanna (Varuna and Chamrajanagar), Murugesh Nirani (Bilagi), Dr K Sudhakar (Chikkaballapur), JC Madhuswamy (Chikkanayakanahalli), BC Nagesh (Tiptur), BC Patil (Hirekerur) and Sriramulu (Ballari Rural).

What Other Poll Surveys Say?

Pollster BJP Congress JDS Others ABP News-C Voter 83-95 100-112 21-29 2-6 News 24-Today's Chanakya 92 120 12 0 News Nation-CGS 114 86 21 3 Republic TV-P MARQ 85-100 94-108 24-32 2-6 Suvarna News-Jan Ki Baat 94-117 91-106 14-24 0-2 Times Now-ETG 85 113 23 3 TV 9 Bharatvarsh- Polstrat 88-98 99-109 21-26 0-4 Zee News-Matrize 79-94 103-118 25-33 2-5

On the other hand, the Congress has called a Legislative Party meeting on Saturday evening as the party expects to form a government in Karnataka. "We will brief the candidates about how to react. The high command will take decisions," said Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.

The party is likely to announce its CM face at the meeting in Bengaluru around 12 noon in Bangalore on Sunday.
High Stake Karnataka Battle: What Is In Store For The Three Major Parties

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

The stage is set and the results in Karnataka will be out today. It is a big battle between the BJP and Congress, while all eyes would be on the JD(S) which many have touted would play kingmaker.

While most of the exit polls have predicted that the verdict would be hung, leading psephologists argue that it may not be so.

Currently the scales are tilted in favour of the Congress, but the BJP appears to be confident that it would cross the 100 mark and form the government.

To be sure, the magic number in the 224 member Karnataka assembly is 113.

The elections are extremely important for the BJP. It is the party's gateway in the South. A victory in Karnataka would mean a boost for the party as it is looking to turn the tables in Telangana later this year.

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For the Congress a win in Karnataka would mean a huge boost as it would be a big state that it would snatch away from the BJP. This would also have an impact on the party's prospects in the forthcoming elections in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to be held later this year.

For the JD(S) it is a case of survival. The party has been written off several times, but it has always played a relevant role in the state. The fear for the JD(S) is that in case it is not able to play a role in the formation of the government, many of its MLAs may switch sides.

However one has to bear in mind that the JD(S) has seen several such ups and downs, but has somehow managed to pull it off. This has been the story of the JD(S) since 20404 in Karnataka.

Karnataka voted in a single phase on May 10 and recorded a 73.19 per cent voter turnout.

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Story first published: Saturday, May 13, 2023, 6:44 [IST]
Who Will Be Karnataka's New CM If Congress Wins?

Jagadish Shettar's Decision to Quit BJP Backfires as he is Trailing By Big Margin

How Has Greater Bengaluru Voted?

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

The BJP has won four seats in Bengaluru, Karnataka which has the highest number of constituencies in the state.

The Congress on the other hand bagged three as of now.

The BJP has won in Malleshwaram, Rajajinagar, Chickpet and Basavangudi. The Congress on the other hand bagged Saravanagar, Chamrajpet and Shivajinagar.

Meanwhile the Congress is leading in Jayanagar, BTM Layout, while the BJP is ahead in Padmanabhnagar. In Basavanagudi, the competition is tight, while in Chickpet the BJP is ahead. In Chamrajpet, the Congress is ahead at the time of writing this copy.

Congress In Over-Cautious mode In Karnataka: Books Hotels in Bengaluru, Mahabalipuram

In Vijaynagar the BJP is ahead, while the case is the same in Govidraj Nagar. The BJP is also ahead in Rajajinagar and Gandhinagar. The same is the case in Shanthi Nagar.

In C V Raman Nagar, the BJP is ahead.

In the 2018 elections, the BJP bagged 11 of the 32 seats in this region which is referred to as Greater Bengaluru. The Congress did exceptionally well here in 2018 and bagged 17 seats, while the JD(S) ended up with four.

This time around the final leg of the campaign by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Bengaluru. The BJP had high hopes on this campaign and for now it appears that the BJP is doing better here.

In Bengaluru the voting has largely been on development and the popularity of the PM.

Shivakumar Gets Emotional As Congress Races Ahead In Karnataka

Bengaluru is an important component for any party as any government that is in power faces a tough challenge to manage the city, which is known as the Silicon Capital of India.

The Congress announced as it began its campaign that it would provide limited free electricity to the people if voted to power. The BJP on the other hand had promised free cooking gas and daily essentials.

Governing the capital of the state is a matter of prestige for any party. While Bengaluru is set to overtake Delhi to become the second-highest generator of income tax revenues after Mumbai, no party has however announced any plans to develop the city.

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Story first published: Saturday, May 13, 2023, 14:47 [IST]
Weather forecast for June 11: On and off rains to continue in Bengaluru

How Has North Karnataka Voted?

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

The Congress party's sweeping victory in seven districts of north Karnataka is seen as a significant setback for the BJP, which had previously held 40 of the 56 seats in the region (after defections). The BJP was found to be trailing in multiple constituencies.

North Karnataka comprises Kittur Karnataka (Mumbai Karnataka) and Kalyana Karnataka (Hyderabad Karnataka) regions, with 13 districts and 90 assembly seats. Presently, the BJP holds 52 seats, while Congress and JDS hold 32 and six seats, respectively.

The Lingayat community, which has traditionally been a strong supporter of the BJP and is highly represented in the areas of Belagavi, Uttar Kannada, Haveri, Gadag, Vijayapura, Bagalokot, and Dharwad, appeared to have shifted their support to the Congress in this election cycle.

Although former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who had defected from the BJP to the Congress, lost his seat in Hubbali-Central Dharwad, his departure from the BJP was viewed unfavorably by the Lingayat community. Additionally, the All India Veerashaiva Community of the Lingayats openly endorsed the Congress party, giving them a significant boost.

How Has Greater Bengaluru Voted?

However, Laxman Savadi, a powerful Lingayat leader and former Deputy Chief Minister who had also left the BJP for the Congress, won his traditional seat in Athani in Belagavi district.

The defections of these high-profile leaders seem to have impacted the BJP in north Karnataka, which had been a stronghold of the party for many years. As a result, the BJP's national leadership will likely face several questions in the aftermath of this defeat.

Interestingly, in North Karnataka, the party that secures more than 50 seats usually forms the government in the state. In 2013, the Congress won 59 seats and took power, while in 2018, the BJP won 52 seats but the Congress-JD(S) coalition came to power. Subsequently, in 2019, the BJP formed the government after multiple Congress and JD(S) MLAs defected to the party.

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Story first published: Saturday, May 13, 2023, 16:29 [IST]
On April 8, Geoffrey Hinton announced that he had resigned from his position as Googles vice president of engineering. According to an interview he gave to The New York Times, he now wants to dedicate himself to warning the world about the dark side of artificial intelligence (AI).

Born in Wimbledon 75 years ago, this British-Canadian gentleman is known as the godfather of AI. His work has been decisive in illuminating some techniques that have made ChatGPT, automatic translators, or autonomous vehicle vision systems possible. However, Hinton believes that the technology he has helped develop could actually lead to the end of civilization in a matter of years.

This scientist has always been obsessed with how the brain works, trying to replicate it in computers. In 1972, he coined the concept of a neural network. The underlying idea is to apply mathematics to data analysis, so that the system is capable of developing skills. While his proposition didnt make many waves at the time, today, neural networks have spearheaded AI research.

Hintons big moment came in 2012, when he showed the true potential of his line of research with a neural network that could analyze thousands of photographs and teach itself to distinguish certain objects from others, such as flowers, cars, or dogs. He also trained a system to be able to predict the next letters of an unfinished sentence the foundation of todays great linguistic models, including ChatGPTs.

His work earned him the Turing Prize  considered to be the Nobel Prize in computing  back in 2018, which he received alongside researchers such as Yann LeCun, his former student, or Yoshua Bengio. Hinton spoke with EL PAIS via videoconference from his home in London, where hes lived since departing from Google.

Question. What are the dangers of AI that humanity is facing?

Answer. There are many different dangers I think a particularly bad one is the creation of so much fake news, which makes it impossible to know whats true. Thats causing greater divisions in society. Another danger is that [AIs elimination] of some jobs will reduce the number of people required to do those jobs, increasing the disparity in wealth between the rich and the poor. This always makes society more violent.

I recently realized that the kind of digital intelligence were developing might be a better form of intelligence than what biological brains have. I always used to think that deep learning was trying to mimic the brain, but that it wasnt as good as the brain and we could make it better by making it more like the brain. [But now] I think [AI systems] may be doing some things more efficiently than the brain!

Q. Why do you think thats the case?

A. With a digital system, you can have many, many copies of the exact same model of the world. These copies can work on different hardware. Thus, different copies can analyze different data. And all these copies can instantly know what the others have learned. They do this by sharing [but] we cannot do that with the brain. Our minds have learned to [function] individually. If I gave you a detailed map of the neural connections in my brain, it wouldnt do you any good. But in digital systems, the model is identical. They all use the same set of connections. Thus, when one learns anything, it can communicate it to others. And thats why ChatGPT can know thousands of times more than anyone else: because it can see thousands of times more data than anyone else. Thats what scares me.

Q. Youve spent decades working in this field. How come youve reached this conclusion now?

A. [For a long time], Ive been trying to figure out how a human brain can implement the same learning procedures that are used in digital intelligence, such as whats behind ChatGPT-4. But from what we know so far about how the human brain works, our learning process is probably less efficient than that of computers.

Q. But can AI really be intelligent if it doesnt understand the real meaning of words and if it doesnt have a sense of intuition?

A. Deep learning  if you compare it to symbolic AI (the dominant current in the discipline until the emergence of neural networks, which tried to make the machine learn words and numbers)  is a model of intuition. If you take symbolic logic as a reference  if you think thats how reasoning works  [ChatGPT] cant answer the questions Im going to ask. But if you have a computer model of intuition  of deep learning  the answers become obvious.

Heres an example: you know there are male and female cats, and you know there are male and female dogs. But suppose I tell you that you have to choose between two possibilities, both ridiculous: all cats are male and all dogs are female, or all cats are female and all dogs are male. In our culture, were quite clear that it makes more sense for cats to be female, because they are smaller, smarter, and surrounded by a series of stereotypes, and for dogs to be male, because they are bigger, stupider, louder, etc. I repeat: it doesnt make any sense, but if youre forced to choose, I think most people would say the same thing. Why? Because in our minds, we represent the cat and the dog  the man and the woman  with patterns of neural activity based on what weve learned. And we associate with each other the representations that are most similar. Thats intuitive reasoning, not logic. This is how deep learning works.

Sunder Pichai  the CEO of Alphabet Inc., Googles parent company  and Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, arrive at the White House to attend a meeting about AI with Vice President Kamala Harris, on Thursday, May 4, 2023. Evan Vucci (AP)

Q. In the past, youve said that you thought that AI would surpass human intelligence in between 30 to 50 years. How long do you think it will take now?

A. Between five and 20 years.

Q. Thats around the corner.

A. Im not very confident about my prediction, because I think I made a mistake in my previous prognosis. But its clear that everything is moving faster.

Q. Do you think that AI will eventually have its own purpose or objectives?

A. Thats a key question, perhaps the biggest danger surrounding this technology. Our brains are the result of evolution and have a series of integrated goals  such as not hurting the body, hence the notion of damage; eating enough, hence the notion of hunger. Making as many copies of ourselves as possible, hence the sexual desire.

Synthetic intelligence, on the other hand, hasnt evolved: weve built it. Therefore, it doesnt necessarily come with innate goals. So, the big question is, can we make sure that AI has goals that benefit us? This is the so-called alignment problem. And we have several reasons to be very concerned. The first is that there will always be those who want to create robot soldiers. Dont you think Putin would develop them if he could? You can do that more efficiently if you give the machine the ability to generate its own set of targets. In that case, if the machine is intelligent, it will soon realize that it achieves its goals better if it becomes more powerful.

Q. What should we do now?

A. You have to draw peoples attention to the existential problem that AI poses. I wish I had a solution, [like in the case of] the climate emergency: we must stop burning carbon, even though there are many interests that prevent it. I dont know of any AI-equivalent [solution]. The best thing I can think of right now is that we should put as much effort into developing this technology as we do into making sure its safe. And thats not happening right now. How [can that be] accomplished in a capitalist system? I dont know.

Q. Do you think part of the problem lies in the fact that the development of AI has taken place within private enterprises?

A. This has been the case for the past few years. Google internally developed chatbots, like LaMDA, which were very good [but the company] deliberately decided not to open them to the public, because [management] was concerned about the consequences. And then, while Google was leading [the development of] this technology, Microsoft decided to put an intelligent chatbot on its Bing search engine. [Subsequently], Google had to respond, because these companies operate in a competitive system.

Google has behaved responsibly  I dont want people to think that I left to criticize the company. I left Google so I could warn you about the dangers without having to think about the impact it might have on the business.

Q. Have you spoken about your concerns with your colleagues? Do they share your worry?

A. Weve entered completely unknown territory. Were capable of building machines that are stronger than ourselves, but were still in control. But what if we develop machines that are smarter than us? We have no experience dealing with these things.

There are people I respect  like my colleague Yann LeCun  who think that what I say doesnt make sense. I suspect we really have to think hard about this. And its not enough to say that we shouldnt worry. Many of the smartest people I know are seriously concerned. Its what has convinced me to step up and use my reputation to make people realize that this is a very serious problem.

Q. You didnt sign the letter signed by more than a thousand AI experts calling for a six-month moratorium on research in the field. How come?

A. I think that approach is completely naive. Theres no way that [such a freeze] will happen. Even if [we stop] big companies from competing, entire countries wont. If the US decided to stop developing AI, do you really think China would stop? The idea of stopping the research draws peoples attention to the problem, but [the proposal] isnt going to happen. With nuclear weapons  since people realized that we would all lose if there was a nuclear war  it was possible to get treaties. With AI, it will be much more complicated, because its very difficult to check if people are working on it.

Q. What do you propose as an alternative?

A. The best I can recommend is that many very smart people try to figure out how to contain the dangers of these things. AI is a fantastic technology  its causing great advances in medicine, in the development of new materials, in forecasting earthquakes or floods [but we] need a lot of work to understand how to contain AI. Theres no use waiting for the AI to outsmart us; we must control it as it develops. We also have to understand how to contain it, how to avoid its negative consequences. For instance, I think all governments should insist that all fake images be flagged.

Q. Are you optimistic about the future that awaits us?

A. I tend to be quite an optimistic person. Theres a chance that we have no way to avoid a bad ending but its also clear that we have the opportunity to prepare for this challenge. We need a lot of creative and intelligent people. If theres any way to keep AI in check, we need to figure it out before it gets too smart.

Q. Do you trust governments to find a way to regulate this technology?

A. In the United States, the political system is incapable of making a decision as simple as not giving assault rifles to teenagers. That doesnt [make me very confident] about how theyre going to handle a much more complicated problem such as this one.

Q. Last summer, Google engineer Blake Lemoine became famous around the world by saying that the chatbot he worked on  LaMDA  had gained consciousness. Was that a premonition?

A. I think that what happened contains two different ideas. Firstly: will machines get [so smart] that theyll take over? And secondly: are they conscious or sentient?

The most important debate is the first one. In the second idea, personal beliefs get involved  that doesnt interest me. In any case, Im surprised that there are so many people who are quite sure that machines arent conscious, but who, at the same time, dont know how to define what it means for someone or something to be conscious. This seems like a stupid position to me.

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Jagadish Shettar's Decision to Quit BJP Backfires as he is Trailing By Big Margin

India

oi-Prakash KL

Senior politician Jagadish Shettar's decision to quit the BJP and join the Congress seems to have backfired as he is trailing by over 30,000 votes in Hubli Dharwad Central Constituency.

Going by the trends, BJP candidate Mahesh Tenginakai leading by a big margin and is likely to win the seat.

Shettar had ended his four-decade ties with the BJP for denying him the ticket to contest. The party high command had asked him to make way for newcomer Mahesh Tenginakai. Hurt by the development, he joined the grand old party which he had criticised all his life.

Shettar had won the seat six times in a row by a good margin. His decision to quit had met with criticism from the BJP supporters as the party had made him the Chief Minister and had given him different responsibilities at different times.

However, he had blamed BJP National General Secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh for rejecting his plea for a ticket in Karnataka.

"My name was in the list sent by the core committee. I don't know what happened in the Central Election Committee meeting. If they had offered me some other position earlier respectfully, I would have accepted it. BL Santhosh is the main reason for missing the ticket. For some people, the party is not important but individuals are. To disturb one seat, you destroyed the party," News9 quoted Shettar as saying.

"Nobody knows why I was denied a ticket despite having popularity, age, no criminal background and no corruption/CDs. Whereas the BJP has given tickets to 75 year-old people, family members and those who have criminal background," he said.

Nonetheless, he refused to criticise Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. In fact, the photos of the two leaders were seen at his office even after he quit the party.

"Immediately after shifting from one party to another, removing photos of earlier leaders is not a good thing. I cannot do that," he said in an interview with PTI.

He had also expressed confidence in winning the seat. The former CM said, "I have still maintained popularity because of pro-development works. There is no anti-incumbency. I am confident of winning with a thumping majority this time."

He said there is a "miscommunication" that he won in the last six consecutive elections with the support of BJP workers and Marathas."

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Story first published: Saturday, May 13, 2023, 14:34 [IST]
Who Would Be The Next CM of Karnataka: 6 Possible Scenarios

Kateel To Be Replaced by Karandlaje As Karnataka BJP Chief Following Poor Show?

In Race For Karnataka CM, Why the Scales Are Tilted In Favour Of Siddaramaiah

'Dont Know What Gift High Command Will Give On My Birthday': DK Shivakumar

Karnataka Election Results: Kharge to choose next Karnataka CM

India

oi-Oneindia English Desk

The Congress Legislature Party (CLP), which met at a private hotel in Bengaluru on Sunday, passed a unanimous resolution authorising All India Congress Committee (AICC) President M Mallikarjun Kharge to pick its leader, who will be the next chief minister of Karnataka.

The Congress on Saturday emerged victorious in the 224-member Karnataka Assembly polls held on May 10, by winning 135 seats. The BJP bagged 65 and JDS - 19 seats. Two independent candidates also won in the election. Apart from it, Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha won one seat each.

Stay tuned with Oneindia News for all the LIVE updates:
How Have The Turncoats Performed In The Karnataka Elections?

Karnataka Elections 2023: Big Winners and Losers

India

oi-Prakash KL

Opposition Congress on Saturday seemed to be on course to breach rival BJP's lone southern citadel Karnataka, racing ahead towards the magic 113 figure to form a government on its own.

The opposition party marched ahead establishing a lead in 112 constituencies, while the BJP was leading in 74 segments, the latest Election Commission (EC) trends of counting of votes polled in the Karnataka Assembly elections showed.

Even as the counting is on, here we bring you the list of big candidates who are leading and trailing in key constituencies.

At least 14 ministers from the BJP has lost in 2023 polls.

V Somanna, who is the current Minister of the Housing and Infrastructure Development department of Karnataka, has lost from both Varuna against Congress CM candidate Siddaramaiah and Chamrajanagar against Congress' C Puttarangashetty.

Murugesh Rudrappa Nirani, who served as the Minister of Large and Medium Industries of Karnataka in the BJP government, lost to Congress' JC Patil by less than 10,000 votes in Bilgi.

Govind Muktappa Karjol, who is the current Minister of Major and Medium Irrigation, Water Resources of Karnataka, was defeated by Congress' Timmapur Ramappa Balappa.

Dr K Sudhakar, Minister of Medical Education and Health, was defeated by Congress' Pradeep Eshwar.

JC Madhuswamy, who is the current Minister of Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Legislation and Minor Irrigation, from the BJP lost to JDS candidate CB Suresh Babu in Chikkanayakanahalli.

Agriculture Minister BC Patil is defeated by Congress candidate Ujaneshwar Basavannappa Banakar.

B Sriramulu, who served as Minister of Transport Department and Tribal Welfare of Karnataka, lost to Congress candidate B Nagendra in Bellary Rural.

MTB Nagaraj, who is the current Minister of Small Scale Industries and Municipal Administration, lost to Congress candidate Sharath Bachegowda in Hoskote.

Dr Chikkegowda Narayanagowda, who is currently serving as Minister of Sericulture, Youth empowerment and Sports, was defeated by Congress' BL Devaraja.

Halappa Achar, who is the Cabinet Minister of Mines & Geology, Minister of Women & Child Development, Disabled & Senior citizens empowerment, from the BJP has been defeated by Congress candidate in Yalaburga.

Shankar Patil Munenakoppa, who is the Minister of Textiles & Sugarcane in the BJP government, lost to Congress candidate Ninharaddi Hanamaraddi Konaraddi.

Siddharth Singh aka Anand Prithviraj Singh, who is currently serving as Minister of Tourism, Ecology and Environment of Karnataka, lost to Congress candidate HR Gaviyappa in the Vijayanagara constituency.

Varuna

Siddaramaiah is leading by over 16,000 votes against BJP candidate V Somanna. This seat falls under the Chamarajanagar Parliamentary seat, which was won by the BJP's V Srinivas Prasad in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Shivakumar Gets Emotional As Congress Races Ahead In Karnataka

Varuna is currently represented by his son Dr Yathindra Siddaramaiah. Siddaramaiah had earlier won the seat twice from Varuna and even went on to become the Chief Minister after winning the seat in 2013.

However, he vacated the seat for his son Yathindra in 2018.

Shikaripura

BJP candidate Vijayendra Yediyurappa is leading from this constituency by 8,000 seats against his nearest rival and independent candidate SP Nagarajagowda.

Vijayendra's father Yediyurappa has an impressive track record on this seat and has won the elections from here on 8 occasions. In 2013, Yediyurappa had won this seat on a KJP ticket. That year, he had quit the BJP and formed his own party. However, in 2014, he returned to the BJP.

While the Congress has won the seat 5 times, it has remained a safe bastion for the BJP thanks to the presence of Yediyurappa.

Hubli Dharwad Central

Jagadish Shettar, who quit BJP and joined Congress, is trailing by over 30,000 votes against BJP candidate Mahesh Tenginakai.

BJP Concedes Defeat In Karnataka, Not Up To The Mark Says Bommai

Shettar had won the seat six times in a row. But this time, the central leadership decided to give the ticket to a new candidate which made the senior leader quit the saffron party with which he had associated for four decades.

Kanakapura

Karnataka Congress Chief DK Shivakumar has won the seat by over 1 lakh votes in Kanakapura Constituency.

However, this has been a stronghold of Congress and DK Shivakumar. Hence, the result has not come as a surprise.

Other Major Defeats

In the Soraba constituency, Congress candidate Madhu Bangarappa has defeated his elder brother and BJP candidate Kumar Bangarappa by over 40,000 votes.

Former Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil is trailing by over 10,000 votes in Ramanagara Constituency against Congress candidate HA Iqbal Hussain.
High Stake Karnataka Battle: What Is In Store For The Three Major Parties

Congress Legislature Party Meet As It Leads In Over 100 Seats In Karnataka

Key Congress Meet Today As It Expects To Form Govt With Full Majority

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

The Congress has called a Legislative Party meeting on Saturday evening as the party expects to form a government in Karnataka. "We will brief the candidates about how to react. The high command will take decisions," said Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.

Some local reports also suggest that the party is likely to announce its CM face at the meeting in Bengaluru around 12 noon in Bangalore tomorrow, May 14.

Mallikarjun Kharge, Randeep Singh Surjewala, and K C Venugopal are among the leaders to be present in the meeting.

Congress Composition In Karnataka: Siddaramaiah CM, Three Deputy CMs?

Karnataka registered a record turnout of 73.19 per cent in the voting on May 10. According to the EC, a voter turnout of 73.19 per cent was recorded which is slightly above the previous polls in 2018.

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Story first published: Saturday, May 13, 2023, 16:18 [IST]
In The Siddaramaiah Vs Somanna Battle What Does the Massive Voter Turnout in Varuna Mean?

PM Modi and Amit Shah's visits had no impact on Karnataka voters: Siddaramaiah

India

oi-Prakash KL

Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Saturday said that the visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had no impact on the voters as the Congress crossed the halfway mark in the early trends during the counting of votes for recently-held Karnataka Assembly elections.

"I had been saying let Narendra Modi or Amit Shah or J P Nadda come how many ever times they want to the state (but) that will have no impact on the voters of Karnataka because people are fed up with BJP, their corruption, maladministration and their anti-people politics," the former Karnataka Chief Minister said.

"People were also not happy with the saffron party since it did no developmental work. People wanted change, and they have given their verdict accordingly," he said.

He said that Congress will come to power on its own by winning over 120 seats in the 224-member Karnataka Legislative Assembly. "Congress party will win by getting over 120 seats, it is still the initial stage, more rounds of counting have to be completed. So Congress will come to power by getting over 120 seats on its own strength," the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly told reporters.

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Siddaramaiah Vs Shivakumar: Congress Big Decision Likely Tomorrow

Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah is leading by over 16,000 votes in Varuna Constituency against his nearest rival and BJP candidate V Somanna.

He also said V Somanna will lose both in Varuna and in Chamarajanagara, the other seat from where the BJP candidate is contesting from, against Congress' Puttarangashetty.

Siddaramaiah is one of the contenders for the CM post in Karnataka from Congress along with state unit chief DK Shivakumar and former Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Parameshwara.
Not Just Siddaramaiah and DKS, 3 Others In Race for CM Post: Congress Leader

Siddaramaiah Should Become CM In The Best Interest Of Karnataka: Yathindra

India

oi-Prakash KL

As Congress leads in over 100 seats in the Karnataka Assembly polls, Yathindra, son of former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, has said that his father should occupy the top post in the "best interest of Karnataka".

Speaking to news agency ANI, Yathindra expressed confidence that his party would come back to power in the state. On asking about the rumours of backroom talks with the JDS in case of a hung assembly, he said, "I don't know what our leaders have decided whether they are in talks with independents or other parties because I am a small player in the party and new to politics. But whatever the decisions the leaders take, we will follow them. It is necessary in the interest of the state to keep the BJP out of power."

When asked whether his father will become the CM again, he said, "As a son, I would definitely like to see him as the Chief Minister. As a citizen of the state, his regime had given a very good governance and this time also if he becomes the CM, whatever corruption and misrule the BJP has given those things will be corrected by him. So in the interest of the state, my father should become CM."

#WATCH | Congress leader & former CM Siddaramaiah gives a thumbs up as his party is close to crossing the halfway mark in initial trends in Karnataka pic.twitter.com/rp3B5knUMe  ANI (@ANI) May 13, 2023

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Siddaramaiah has contested from Varuna Constituency and facing BJP's Somanna. He is predicted to win the seat.

#WATCH | Celebrations underway at national headquarters of Congress party in New Delhi as counting of votes gets underway for #KarnatakaPolls. pic.twitter.com/e0eGObhLh3  ANI (@ANI) May 13, 2023

However, it has to be seen whether the high command will pick Siddaramaiah for the top post again as KPCC chief DK Shivakumar is also a strong contender for the CM post.

The single-phase election for 224-member Karnataka Assembly was held on Wednesday. The counting of votes is underway on Saturday.

#WATCH | Ladoos being distributed at AICC HQ in New Delhi amid celebrations as the Congress inches towards the halfway majority mark in #KarnatakaElectionResults. pic.twitter.com/0s1VXgYcR2  ANI (@ANI) May 13, 2023

Meanwhile, the early trends have indicated that Congress is leading in over 110 seats.
In The Siddaramaiah Vs Somanna Battle What Does the Massive Voter Turnout in Varuna Mean?

Siddaramaiah Vs Shivakumar: Congress Big Decision Likely Tomorrow

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

A meeting of the Congress legislature party will be held on Sunday as the party inches towards a majority in Karnataka.

The meeting is important as the party would now have to decide on who the chief ministerial candidate would be.

The race is between Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar. It is however unclear who would make it to the top post. Congress sources tell OneIndia that the person with the support of more number of MLAs will make the cut.

Siddaramaiah has said that this is his last election, and hence it appears that the Congress would consider him. D K Shivakumar had appealed to the Vokkaliga voters and if the Congress has done exceptionally well in the Old Mysuru Region, then it would be hard to deny him the post.

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Similar questions had been raised in 2013 as well. At that time the battle was between Siddaramaiah and Dr. G Parameshwar. However Siddaramaiah had the edge as Parameshwar ended up losing the elections.

The Congress legislature party meet would be an important one and a final call will be taken on who will be the CM if the Congress forms the government.
Who Will Be Karnataka's New CM If Congress Wins?

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Congress is all set to make a comeback in Karnataka. As per the latest EC numbers, the grand old party was leading in 122 seats, the BJP in 71 and the JD (S) in 24. However, the Congress party has not officially announced its Chief Ministerial candidate for the Karnataka assembly elections in 2023. However, there are several prominent leaders within the party who are seen as potential contenders for the CM post.

Some of the probable CM candidates in Congress Karnataka elections 2023 could include:

DK Shivakumar - He is the President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and a former Minister in the Karnataka government. He is considered to be a strong and influential leader within the Congress party in Karnataka.

PM Modi and Amit Shah's visits had no impact on Karnataka voters: Siddaramaiah

MB Patil - He is a former Minister in the Karnataka government and a prominent Lingayat leader from North Karnataka. He is seen as a potential Chief Ministerial candidate from the Lingayat community.

Siddaramaiah - He is a former Chief Minister of Karnataka and a senior leader in the Congress party. Despite his age, he is still considered to be a powerful and influential leader within the party.

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G Parameshwara - He is a former Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka and a prominent Dalit leader from the state. He is also the President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee and could be a potential contender for the Chief Ministerial post.

Siddaramaiah Vs Shivakumar: Congress Big Decision Likely Tomorrow

Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai conceded defeat as the Congress leads sailed past 120 by noon.

Bommai said,''We've not been able to make the mark. Once the results come we will do a detailed analysis. As a national party, we will not only analyse but also see what deficiencies and gaps were left at various levels. We take this result in our stride.''

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Story first published: Saturday, May 13, 2023, 13:08 [IST]
Igor Girkin has warned that Russia is in danger of turmoil or even collapse due to military failures in the Ukraine war.
Sydney house hunters can no longer afford to buy in as many suburbs as a year ago, despite sharp price declines.
Many studies have shown that in countries with higher gender inequality, women are more at risk of suffering from mental illnesses and tend to have less academic success than men. A persons brain, like the amount of belly fat or the strength of the muscles, is altered by the circumstances of the environment; however, these transformations are sometimes not so evident, as they are hidden by the skull. In China, for example, it has been observed that dementia is higher among women, and lack of exercise and illiteracy have been identified as risk factors for this type of disease.

To test whether the circumstances of greater or less inequality between the sexes are related to the differences in the brain structure of men and women, an international group of scientists took almost 8,000 magnetic resonance images of people from 29 countries. In an article published by the PNAS magazine, they explain that in the nations with greater gender equality  measured with the Gender Inequality Index and the Gender Gap Index  no significant differences were observed between the male and female brains. However, where the gender imbalance was higher, they found that the cortical thickness of the right hemisphere was thinner in women.

The authors acknowledge the complexity of gender inequality indexes, which in turn interact with different biological mechanisms, but they have hypotheses to explain their observations. The anterior cingulate cortex and the orbitofrontal cortex, where differences in thickness were found, have been linked to responses to inequality or resistance to adversity. In addition, changes in these regions have been observed in conditions where stress is considered a central mechanism, and have been seen to become thinner during depression or reduced by post-traumatic stress.

Nicolas Crossley, a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and co-author of the study, explains that this type of work points to an observable effect of gender inequality in the brains of people who are exposed to permanent subordination and even physical violence. Although the study does not establish a causal relationship, and despite the fact that these results are not necessary to make the case that gender inequality is wrong, he believes that this can lend weight to the arguments in favor of policies that reduce inequality. In all legislations, when there is an act of violence, if that act is associated with visual and significant changes in the other, the severity of the violence is considered greater. With our work we show, in some way, that there is real damage caused by gender inequality, he assures.

The origin of the differences

For Crossley, these results could also affect the notions about the origin of the differences between men and women found in societies around the world. There are people who argue that the differences in social roles are the result of biological differences, and here we show that some of those differences can be changed by the social environment. In addition to influencing the way of seeing the origin of the inequalities, the authors, with a phrase that has been questioned by some colleagues who did not participate in the study, state that their results provide initial evidence for neuroscience-informed policies for gender equality. According to the Chilean researcher, the ability to measure brain alterations and link them to changes in gender policies can be used to monitor how certain public interventions are reflected in these brain measurements or tell us at what critical moments in the development of a person it is more important to apply public policies.

A person undergoes a brain scan. Nolan Zunk/Universidad de Texas en Austin

Bruce Wexler, a professor at Yale University, believes that what would have been more surprising would have been if the researchers had not found any differences in the brains of men and women where women have much less intellectually stimulating jobs, have little access to education or are not encouraged to perform physical activity. In addition, in those countries they are subjected to violence, which we already know can affect brain volume, and the data cited by the authors showing more depression and other mental health problems must mean that there are changes in brain function and at some level of the structure of the brain, explains Wexler, author of the book Brain and Culture, where he explores the synergies between human neuroplasticity and the fact that humans alter their environment, which in turn, alters their brains.

Wexler questions whether the authors claim about the value of their results to promote equality policies will hold up. He believes that although MRIs, due to their ability to measure the brain, can impress some people and move them to act, others can rightly say that this technology changes nothing in the need to confront inequality, which is already justified for many reasons. In short, the researcher is skeptical about the possibility of changing the opinion of politicians or the public with results like those of this study, despite their scientific merit.

Maria Ruz, director of the Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center at the University of Granada, in Spain, commends the fact that the study included a large number of participants, but believes that interpreting the results is not easy. That a greater or lesser cortical thickness is associated with some type of damage does not seem right to me, she says. In the hippocampus, which they talk about in the abstract, a variation in size due to stress has been seen, but they dont see the effect on the hippocampus, she explains. One thing that I think they do very well is make it clear that the brain is plastic and changes with socio-cultural variables. But the association between brain regions and mental functions is much more complex than people think, she points out. The areas they find have been associated with the functions they mention, but also with many others, and a greater or lesser thickness in that region of the brain is not necessarily a negative thing, she concludes.

Despite the importance of recognizing how the brain explains human behavior, experts also warn against using seemingly objective measures of an organ  one about which much is still unknown  to draw disproportionate social or political conclusions. The authors themselves are aware of the need for new studies, like some that observe human groups whose levels of inequality have changed over time, in order to begin to understand the reasons for the differences observed.

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Pope Francis met Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican on May 13, 2023, their first meeting since the start of the full-scale war with Russia. / Vatican Media.



Vatican City, May 13, 2023 / 09:52 am (CNA).



Pope Francis and the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, met at the Vatican on Saturday.



The May 13 encounter  their first since Russia initiated a full-scale war in Ukraine over 14 months ago  was around 40 minutes long.



The two met in a small office off of the Paul VI Hall, which is close to Pope Francis Vatican residence.



Pope Francis greeted Zelenskyy at the door of the building. The two shook hands and the Ukrainian president placed his hand on his heart and said, in English, great honor.



Pope Francis met Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Vatican on May 13, 2023, their first meeting since the start of the full-scale war with Russia. Vatican Media



The Holy See Press Office said Francis and Zelenskyy spoke about the humanitarian and political situation in Ukraine amid the conflict.



The pope assured of his constant prayers, evidenced by his many public appeals and continuous invocations to the Lord for peace since February last year, the press office said. The pope particularly stressed the urgent need for gestures of humanity toward the most fragile people, the innocent victims of the conflict.



Zelenskyys gifts to Francis were a painting of the Virgin Mary and Child titled Loss 2022-58, about the death of children in the conflict, and a collage made of bulletproof plate, wood, and paint from a series called Protect the Defender. The collage also features an image of the Virgin Mary.



The Ukrainian president spent in total about one hour at the Vatican.



Volodymyr Zelenskyy (center) speaks with Archbishop Richard Gallagher (second from right), secretary for relations with states, in the presence of Ukraine's ambassador to the Holy See, Andrii Yurash (third from left), on May 13, 2023. Vatican Media



He also spoke with the Vaticans foreign minister, Archbishop Richard Gallagher. They conversed in English in the presence of Ukraines Ambassador to the Holy See, Andrii Yurash.



On Saturday morning, Zelenskyy met with Italian President Sergio Mattarella, and later, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.



Meloni and Zelenskyy gave a nearly 30-minute joint press conference in the afternoon before the Ukrainian president proceeded to the Vatican for his meeting with Pope Francis.



We are betting on Ukraines victory, Meloni said at the press conference. We will continue to provide support, including military support, so that Ukraine can arrive at the negotiations with a solid position.



Zelenskyy thanked Meloni for welcoming him to Italy and for giving shelter to Ukrainian citizens during the war.



Meloni said Italy was Zelenskyys first stop in a tour of Europe this month.



The Ukrainian president is scheduled to appear live on one of Italys state television channels, Rai1, during a special edition of the program Porta a Porta on Saturday evening.
Authorities say one person was killed when a tornado struck the southernmost tip of Texas on the Gulf coast. Cameron County Sheriff Eric Garza says 42-year-old Randy Flores died from the EF1 tornado with wind speeds up to 110 miles per hour. The storm struck the unincorporated community of Laguna Heights near South Padre Island at about 4 a.m. Saturday. County Emergency Management Coordinator Tom Hushen says 10 people were also injured, two critically. The tornado damaged dozens of homes and knocked down power lines. It follows an outbreak of dozens of tornadoes in Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado that caused damage but no reported deaths.
Cassandra Nunez and her grandmother cast their first ballots in a U.S. presidential election in 2016. She was a first-year college student; her grandmother, a newly minted citizen. They both hoped to elect the first woman president over a man who bragged about grabbing and kissing women at will.

But Donald Trump became president, and it would be nearly seven years before a Trump accuser could press her claims at trial. This week, jurors in a New York civil case said they believed that Trump sexually assaulted writer E. Jean Carroll in a dressing room in the 1990s  making him the first U.S. president found liable by a jury in a sexual battery case. The panel awarded her $5 million in damages.

Its a victorious moment, but why did the people of the United States let this happen? said Nunez, now 25, of Los Angeles, noting the number of sexual misconduct accusations against Trump during the campaign and since his election. Its kind of late.

The verdict  a rare moment of accountability for a former president and powerful men like him  comes as women across the U.S. ponder the cultural landscape amid sweeping threats to their hard-won progress, including Hillary Clintons loss to Trump in 2016, the Supreme Courts repeal of abortion rights last year and the uneven success of the #MeToo movement.

Juliet Williams, a professor of gender studies at UCLA, called it an ambiguous time for women.

Its very hard to feel at this moment that the accounting, the reckoning that we need has yet happened, she said. I feel this is a small step in the right direction.

Some may find yet another day contemplating the behavior of Donald Trump just feels like a colossal waste of attention, Williams said. But she believes its important to address the everyday abuses of power that have real consequences for victims.

With a string of investigations swirling around Trump, the sex-abuse case  a civil verdict, with no criminal prosecution possible  hit only so hard across a news-weary America. Nunez followed the trial and discussed it with a few colleagues at her public relations job. For others, the news barely hit their radar, if they were aware of the decision at all, even as Trump campaigns for the presidency again.

Trumps long list of scandals makes any single moment seem less surprising, said Kelly Dittmar, a scholar with the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. What might certainly derail other candidates or elected officials meets an eye roll among many Trump detractors  and only further mobilizes Trump supporters around the idea that this is a witch hunt against him.

Carroll this week savored the outcome of the lawsuit she filed the day New York, like some other states, opened a one-year window for adults to file suit over old sexual assault claims. Advocates say it can take years for victims like the 79-year-old advice columnist to move past their sense of shame and go public. But its often too late, as it was for her, to pursue criminal charges.

Trump dismissed the accusation as a way to boost sales of Carrolls 2019 book, What Do We Need Men For?

But Carroll, in the wake of the verdict, said the case was never about money. She said she only hoped to clear her name, one the jury  in awarding nearly $3 million for defamation  agreed Trump had sullied.

Trump, in hours of deposition questioning, denied he knew Carroll despite photographic evidence, and he denigrated her as not my type. He also mused that celebrities had gotten away with sexually abusing women for centuries, unfortunately, or fortunately.

Trump doubled down on his insulting, often misogynistic rhetoric about women in a CNN Republican town hall Wednesday evening, mockingly calling Carroll a wack job in a comment that drew glee from the New Hampshire audience.

The day after his inauguration in January 2017, millions of people around the world took part in a Womens March to protest his rise to power. Many sported bright pink hats that were the brainchild of the Pussyhat Project  a cat-eared design meant as a wry clapback to Trumps infamous comments on womens genitals.

The Womens March demonstrated that we are watching, Williams said. But in terms of the scope of sexualized violence, a $5 million fine to somebody who commands immense resources and will certainly not show that this does any material harm to him, theres a grotesque imbalance with this outcome.

Los Angeles screenwriter Krista Suh, who helped launch the Pussyhat Project, is not sure Tuesdays verdict strikes a death knell for Trumps political career.

Hes very good at skirting the truth, and Im just not sure this verdict pins him down, but it definitely helps, the 35-year-old said.

The crowd at the Womens March in Washington included an anonymous observer from Toronto: Andrea Constand, whose sexual abuse claims against actor Bill Cosby would soon go to trial.

In the years that followed, she would see Cosby convicted, sent to prison and then released when his conviction was overturned on appeal. Amid that setback, and the inability of victims like Carroll to pursue criminal cases, she believes the civil court process can alone be effective. Constand had received $3.4 million from Cosby in a civil settlement in 2006, long before the criminal case was reopened, and she used the money to rebuild her life and career.

If thats what it takes to get justice and you have no other option, then it is about the money, because the money helps you heal and move forward and accomplish things that you havent been able to accomplish because youve been gripped by your trauma, she said.

Despite the jurys view that Trump is a sexual offender, millions of women would likely still vote for him given the chance in 2024, to maintain the countrys social, economic or racial order, Williams said. More than half of white women voted for Trump in 2020.

There are people that like Trumps brand of masculinity. They like the bravado, they like the confidence, they like a certain type of patriotism, they like the performance of a certain kind of virility, Williams said. So when these episodes of sexual misconduct come out, I think people are willing to give it a pass.

For Nunez, Trumps victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016 was a double whammy given his behavior. His presidency, and later the #MeToo movement, spanned her time in college at Loyola Marymount University. She sees progress in small victories, like when her workplace required sexual misconduct training.

These beginnings give me hope that one day when I have my own children, she said, leaders will be held accountable for all their actions, and all types of violence against women will not be tolerated.

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A group of U.S. Tesla Model S and Model X owners filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against the electric vehicle maker in California Friday over automatic software updates that reportedly decreased driving range or cause battery failures. The lawsuit claims Teslas updates and their effects



#modelx #tesla #usdistrictcourt #computerfraud #steveberman #hagensberman
Turkish citizens will vote in elections on Sunday, and polls suggest Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been in power for two decades, may be defeated.
The Iranian authorities dramatic escalation of executions in recent weeks is a serious violation of the right to life and should bring international condemnation, Human Rights Watch said today.



Since late April, the Iranian authorities have executed at least 60 people, including an Iranian-Swedish national on alleged...
By Dr. Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg*



Bahrain this week hosted an important meeting of NATO and its regional partners to discuss closer cooperation. This was the fifth meeting held by the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative Policy Advisory Group since it was established and its first since 2018, reflecting the urgency NATO gives to the...
The United States, which has maintained uninterrupted supplies of arms to Ukraine, announced on May 9 the delivery of another package amounting to a hefty $1.2 billion.



The new package provided under a Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) is aimed at bolstering Ukraines air defenses and sustaining its artillery...
By David Camroux and Earl Wang



French President Emmanuel Macron triggered a series of geopolitical debates after returning from his state visit to China on 9 April 2023. Strong criticism was provoked by his remarks that Europe should reinforce its strategic autonomy and avoid becoming either a vassal of the United...
DALLAS  A man who didnt want his girlfriend to get an abortion fatally shot her during a confrontation in a Dallas parking lot, police said. He was jailed on a murder charge as of Friday. Texas banned abortions after roughly six weeks of pregnancy in September 2021. But nearly all abortions have



#dallas #roevwade #gabriellagonzalez #haroldthompson #colorado #surveillance #thompson #dallascountyjail
Newsy 13 May 2023

ViewUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held talks with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday, saying it was a great honor to..
Khartoum residents described fierce battles on Saturday with fighters roving the streets and little sign Sudan's warring sides were..

Japan Today 13 May 2023
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

In the midst of the noise and the crowds there are deranged people who live in New York as if on a desert island on which they have spent many years without any human contact. There are those who cover their heads with a hood so large and so low over their eyes that their features are indistinguishable. The hood is a cave and they live crouched in the depths, in a darkness that cannot be reached by daylight, nor perhaps by the sound of voices. Every time I read The Mysterious Island, the character that impressed me the most, apart from the revived Captain Nemo, was a sailor named Ayrton, who was left alone on an uninhabited island for five years, after which he had lost his mind and even the use of speech, reduced by the lack of human company to a hoarse grunting and barking animalism. Almost all the castaways who haunt the streets and the stations and trains of the New York subway are mentally ill people that no one cares for, but their clinical condition is undoubtedly exaggerated by the harshness of life outdoors in a city of very cruel winters, and by a particular form of loneliness that is that of those who, being surrounded by people, never receive anyones gaze, nor have an answer if they raise their voice.

Even in the less insecure years in New York one quickly learned to look out of the corner of ones eye, to look without appearing to be looking, so as to detect in advance not a possible danger, but a simple discomfort. Thus, when a few meters ahead, in the middle of one of those generous sidewalks of the city, there was a peddler waving his paper cup, or someone with an alarming appearance, one turned aside in time and quickened ones pace, without seeming to do so to avoid the other, as if one had not really seen him. On the subway platform it was enough to tilt ones head to know if there was someone disturbing behind, because from time to time the news was published or the rumor spread that there were malevolent or demented people who pushed some unwary person against the tracks at the moment when the train arrived, with that metallic clatter that always seems to announce the advent of a disaster.

But the instant, distracted supervision that one learned before was that of the subway car at the moment of entering. It could happen that in a crowded train one discovered a whole row of free seats, and rushed to sit down in one of them. And it was only when seated that one would realize the novice trap into which one had fallen, on seeing, and often smelling too, the traveler who was the cause of all that free space: a man, almost always a man, and almost always black, lined with rags and garbage bags, sleeping with his legs spread against a corner, or lying on several seats, surrounded by his filthy belongings, giving off an odor not of stable or dump, but of cesspool, of urine and sweat and accumulated human shit. The stench sharply marked the scope of the island of solitude on which this man dwelled. Fingers with long dirty fingernails emerged from winter gloves improvised with rags. The face was always hidden under the hood, at the bottom of a cave of misanthropy and madness.

As social creatures, our identity is largely shaped by our dealings with others. If we are not spoken to or listened to, we gradually lose the use of speech. If we are not looked at, we become invisible. A ghost is someone whom others have agreed not to see. In New Yorks implicit social code, and in official safety recommendations, a cardinal precaution is to avoid the gaze of anyone who appears threatening. When cell phones became widespread, the only users of New Yorks often gutted phone booths were beggars and the mentally ill, who rummaged through the boxes for change and used the useless earpieces to engage in long diatribes with unseen interlocutors. In New York, as in Madrid, sane people walk down the street talking loudly on their cell phones with the gesticulations of old-fashioned madmen. When I returned to Madrid, something that always surprised me was the absence of that population of mental castaways to which I had become accustomed in my other city. There are some now, just as there are also those common-looking people who furtively rummage through garbage containers, ashamed homeless people with their shopping carts looking for food when its already dark and there are no people left on the street.

The deranged person who keeps silent in his bubble of invisibility can be ignored without disturbance. The one who breaks into speech and shouts becomes a threat, even if he is not addressing anyone. I have in New York many times seen black men talking to themselves, moving very fast, with angry gestures, reproaching someone they do not see, piling interjections one after the other, in a fierce fight in which there is no adversary, with an impotent fury that exhausts itself in itself. Thats why I have no trouble at all imagining that homeless man, Jordan Neely, in a carriage on the F line, standing among the people who pretend not to see him, who turn away from him little by little, contracting in their seats, their faces expressionless, their eyes absent, while he raises his voice above the noise of the train and gradually lights up as he hears himself, though his words seem to ring inside a glass bell. He is 30 years old and has been living on the streets for half his life. He earned pocket change doing Michael Jackson impersonations on the tourist-filled sidewalks of Times Square. When he was 14, his mother was murdered by a lover who left her dismembered body in a suitcase on the side of a Bronx road. Witnesses who seemed not to hear or see anything have reported what he kept shouting, I dont have anything to eat. I want water. I dont care if they lock me up in jail for life. Im willing to die.

His fate could have been that of so many mentally ill people: the police arrest them for any reason, take them to the terrible Rikers Island remand prison, and since they cannot pay bail they are locked up, which aggravates their disorder and thus provokes new punishments, among them the endless tunnel of the isolation cells, from where there is no return to sanity.

Jordan Neely was forever silenced by a passenger in the same carriage who, instead of acting distracted, felt like a hero and threw him to the floor, pinning him to the ground with a muscular lever against his neck, with all the technical prowess of a vigorous twenty-four-year-old ex-Marine. As Neely resisted and kicked, a few volunteers soon joined in the feat. When the train stopped, Neelys mouth hung open and his eyes rolled back in his head. Perhaps he did not have time to realize that the invisibility of ghost and castaway against which he wanted to raise his voice was also his only refuge.

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Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group on Saturday agreed to an Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza that began at 10 pm local time, the Egyptian government said. Why it matters: The cease-fire ends five days of fighting that killed more than 30 Palestinians, at least half of them



#israel #egyptian #gaza #palestinians #israeli #pij
London: According to a study analysing more than 25,000 posts shared on the social media platform, tweets about obesity are predominantly negative.

The findings to be presented at the upcoming European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in Dublin, Ireland (17-20 May), showed that about 72.97 per cent of tweets represented negative sentiments, followed by neutral (18.78 per cent) and positive (8.25 per cent).

The analysis, by researchers in Switzerland and the UK, included 25,580 tweets about obesity that were posted between December 2019 to December 2021. The data were extracted and analysed using artificial intelligence.

The tweets covered 243 topics including childhood obesity, COVID-19 vaccination, racism and high obesity rates among minorities, smoking, illicit substance use and alcohol consumption among people with obesity, environmental risk factors for obesity (such as unavailability of green spaces), polycystic ovary syndrome and surgical treatments.

"Obesity can lead to serious physical, mental, and social health problems and its prevalence is increasing worldwide among people of all age groups," said researcher Dr Jorge Correia, of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, Nutrition and Therapeutic Patient Education, at the University Hospitals of Geneva.

Further, the team linked spikes in Twitter activity with significant political events such as when the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the US, Nancy Pelosi, described the then President, Donald Trump, as "morbidly obese".

A total of 1,003 tweets were posted on this topic over several days. Around 94 per cent of the tweets were negative in sentiment.

The largest number of tweets related to the issue of Covid vaccination for people with obesity, followed by Nancy Pelosi's comments on Donald Trump being "morbidly obese".

The third largest group of tweets wasn't made up of tweets from the public but of tweets from research teams about their work on obesity. Racism towards Black people was the fourth most tweeted topic.

In addition, negative tweets often talked about increased hospitalisations and death due to Covid-19 among people with obesity and about how people living with obesity are responsible for their weight.

"The negative portrayal of obesity by influential politicians and celebrities may increase stigma against people living with obesity, and also harm public health by spreading misinformation," Dr Correia said. The team recommended using the platform to make information about obesity available to the public.
by Joel D. Joseph

Recently, a panel in California was created to consider reparations for black residents. The panel voted to approve recommendations for the payments of reparations to Black Californians for injustices and discrimination stemming from slavery. These recommendations are not justified for many reasons.

First, and most importantly, California was not a slave state. However, where it is proven that the government took discriminatory action, fair compensation should be paid. This is what happened recently in Manhattan Beach, California. Charles and Willa Bruce purchased beachfront property there in 1912 and operated a resort for black residents. The property was known as Bruce's Beach. In 1924, the city of Manhattan Beach condemned the property under a false pretense of developing a park. The city never used the property as a park. In 2022 the County Board of Supervisors in Los Angeles returned ownership of the beachfront property to the living heirs of the Bruces.

Second, California has discriminated against Jews, Native Americans and Asians, who are at least as entitled to compensation as Black Californians.

Restrictive Covenants

All throughout California there are thousands of restrictive covenants against Jews written into deeds for land. I purchased property near Lake Tahoe years ago that had a restrictive covenant against Jews. I had it removed. In La Jolla, California, where I now live, Jews were banned. According to the book American Jewish History (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996), "La Jolla had an unwritten understanding, a 'Gentleman's agreement' regarding Jews in the 1950s. La Jollans wanted to keep Jews out their town because of class fears as well as anti-semitism." Roger Revelle, the scientist who championed the establishment of the University of California San Diego in La Jolla, said: "You can have a university or an anti-Semitic covenant. You can't have both." In 1960, Dr. Jonas Salk was given 27 acres of land in La Jolla for the Salk Institute by the City of San Diego. The same year UC San Diego was formed. These two events broke down the anti-semitic walls around La Jolla.

Japanese-American Internment Camps

In 1942 during World War II 112,000 Japanese Americans were rounded up in California, as well as in a few other western states. These American citizens were sent to relocation centers (including the Manzanar War Relocation Center) in desolate eastern California. Among the promoters of this unconstitutional internment was Earl Warren, then the Attorney General of California. Warren, who became Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, years later lamented his support for detaining Japanese-Americans. Warren said that he "deeply regretted the removal order and my own testimony advocating it, because it was not in keeping with our American concept of freedom and the rights of citizens." The United States belatedly compensated Japanese-Americans who were interned and paid them each $20,000, a modest sum considering even that most of them lost their homes and businesses. California did not contribute a single penny to compensate Japanese-Americans rounded up in the state.

Native Americans

In 1850 California passed a law called "An Act for the Government and Protection of Indians." This law did not protect Native Americans, it provided them instead with forced labor. Historian James Rawls said, "The name of this law sounds benign, but the effect was malign in the extreme degree. Any white person under this law could declare Indians who were simply strolling about, who were not gainfully employed, to be vagrants and take that charge before a justice of the peace, and a justice of the peace would then have those Indians seized and sold at public auction."

Chinese and Mexican Workers

In 1852, the California legislature passed the Foreign Miner's Tax, a tax on the earnings of Chinese and Mexican prospectors, making it impossible for them to compete financially with the white miners. The state also imposed an alien poll tax--a tax of a fixed amount, in this case $2.50 per month--on each Chinese adult working in the country. Additionally, the Chinese were often allowed to seek gold only in mines that had already been abandoned by white prospectors. Because of the actions taken against them by the state government, most Chinese miners during the gold rush were forced to work as cooks and launderers.

About 10,000 to 15,000 Chinese workers came to the United States to build the Central Pacific Railroad. Chinese workers found some economic opportunity, but also experienced hostility, racism, violence and legal exclusion. Many came as single men--others left families behind. Railroad companies considered Chinese migrants a source of cheap, unskilled labor. In America in the 1800s, Chinese workers were seen as racially inferior to white workers. Employers used this prejudice to justify paying Chinese workers less than other workers and to relegate Chinese workers to the most undesirable jobs.

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The Oregon Health Authority announced Friday that federal and state regulators have extended the deadline for Legacy Health to reopen the maternity department at its Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center in Gresham until Aug. 3.

Legacy closed the birth center, the only one serving east Multnomah County, on March 17, saying it had no choice after most of the doctors working in the ward quit after learning of Legacys plan to restructure operations to cut costs.

On March 29, the Oregon Health Authority denied Legacys request to close the birthing center, saying the closure could endanger pregnant patients and their babies. The health authority wields a heavy hammer. If a healthcare facility is found to be out of compliance with its state license, it has 90 days to return to compliance or risk losing the ability to bill Medicare and Medicaid, which would be financially devastating.

The deadline for the birth center to reopen was extended after Legacy updated their plan to address issues regulators found.

Cara Biddlecom, Oregon Health Authoritys public health deputy director, said in a news release, We recognize the progress Legacy has made toward our shared goal to ensure that families in the Gresham area have access to safe, high-quality maternity and delivery care close to home. We will provide a thorough and timely review of Legacys corrective action plan to ensure that it meets federal standards and families can count on having access to comprehensive care at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center in the future.

 The Oregonian/OregonLive
A high-ranking state judge who oversaw administrative appeals was sentenced to more than three years in state prison Thursday after pleading guilty earlier to possessing images of child sexual abuse.

John Mann, the now-fired chief administrative law judge, lost a bid for probation only.

Defense attorney Lawrence Taylor wrote in a sentencing memo that Mann entered a voluntary rehabilitative program for sexual offenses two days before police raided his home March 10, 2022, and had been given a favorable prognosis especially if his treatment is not interrupted by a term of incarceration.

Mann, 58, also passed a polygraph test where he denied having sexual contact with minors, the defense attorney wrote.

It is unfortunate, even tragic, that (Mann) did not recognize the self-destructive and ultimately criminal path in which he was headed when he first suffered a personal and professional loss as a result of his sex addiction, Taylor wrote. This is the rule, however, and not the exception for the downward spiral of addiction.

Mann admitted guilt to all 10 counts of first-degree encouraging child sex abuse without a plea deal in place, meaning he was hoping for leniency.

In the bid for probation, his attorney cited two separate cases in which Washington County Circuit Judge Andrew Erwin had given probation to attorneys who were also convicted of possessing explicit content of children.

District Attorney Kevin Barton said prosecutor Christopher Lewman called for a punishment involving prison time in court, but didnt specify the length of the sentence.

Erwin opted for a prison sentence of three years and two months.

 Zane Sparling; zsparling@oregonian.com; 503-319-7083; @pdxzane

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A leader of the Portland area far right is set to face an even harsher punishment after a judge on Friday found evidence allowing for a prison term that goes beyond state sentencing guidelines.

Tusitala Tiny Toese was already staring down a minimum sentence of five years and 10 months in prison after he was convicted in March on 10 counts, including second-degree assault and riot, for egging on his fellow Proud Boys during a street battle with left-wing protesters on Northeast 122nd Avenue in 2021.
With experts predicting the Writers Guild of America strike is likely to last for months, signs are already appearing that the work stoppage will have a direct impact on what viewers see. The WGA, which represents 11,5000 writers in film, TV and other media, and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios, are apparently at an impasse. Writers are calling for better compensation, streaming residuals and raising concerns about the possible use of artificial intelligence platforms. So far, the AMPTP hasnt shown signs of granting writers union demands.

After the writers went on strike on May 2, late night shows, including Saturday Night Live, ceased production. Since then, other productions have been affected, either by picketers causing scheduled work to stop, as happened with Showtimes Billions, or production being delayed, as with Netflixs Stranger Things, among other projects.

Viewers should expect to see plenty of reality shows, as those programs, along with sports, news and interview-based talk shows, arent generally affected by the strike. But, as Variety reports, The longer the writers strike continues, the more likely it is to have a direct impact on the ability of scripted broadcast shows to return in September.

With uncertainty growing by the day, viewers on the sidelines of the dispute can try and make the best of a slowdown in production. After all, for years, TV critics and fans have sometimes complained that theres more TV than they can keep up with, and that they feel overwhelmed by a nonstop barrage coming from networks, cable and streaming sources.

So, while we cant predict how this particular cliffhanger may get resolved, heres a list of shows to catch up on while we wait and see what happens with the behind-the-scenes drama.

With Love: The romantic dramedy about a pair of siblings named Lily and Jorge Diaz and their family returns for a second season on June 2. That sounds like a good reason to check out Season 1 of the show, which was created by Oregons own Gloria Calderon Kellett and was set in Portland (though it filmed in Los Angeles) Why set the show in Portland? When I moved to L.A., Calderon Kellett told The Oregonian/OregonLive in 2021, whenever I would tell people I was from Portland, people would almost always say, There are Latinos in Portland? It seemed like a fun way to claim my home state, and to also make a comment about how Latinos are everywhere. (Streaming on Amazon Prime Video)

Related: Gloria Calderon Kellett on her new show, With Love, early days in Portland, and why diversity matters

The Bear: This comedy-drama doesnt make running an eatery look relaxing, but the family conflict, workplace surprises and juicy relationships make the story of a former fine dining chef whos called back to operate his familys grimy Chicago sandwich shop after her brother dies one of 2022s best shows. So prepare for Season 2, which arrives June 22, by watching, or re-watching the first season. The terrific cast includes Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and more. (Streaming on Hulu)

Guys All-American Road Trip: The series featuring Food Network star Guy Fieri and his family and friends driving in an RV to check out communities, and, of course, their food, returns for a second season on June 2. In the new one, Fieri and his crew will travel through Appalachia. Why wait for that, though? You can watch the first season, which featured Fieri and friends traveling along the West Coast, an itinerary that included stops in Northern California, Oregon and Washington. (Streaming on Fubo, which offers a free trial; and Philo, which also offers a free trial)

Related: Guy Fieris Northwest-focused All-American Road Trip earns a Daytime Emmy Award nomination

The Great American Baking Show: Speaking of tasty viewing, after many attempts to bring the charm of The Great British Baking Show to America, finally the beloved competition seems to have figured it out. The mothership judges, Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith, are on hand. But the hosts, actors Ellie Kemper and Zach Cherry, are American, as are the contestants. The show, however, was filmed in England, so that particular flavor carries over from the original. (Streaming on the Roku Channel)

Yellowstone: After rumors flew about star Kevin Costner wanting to leave the show, its been officially announced that the upcoming second half of Season 5 will be the end of the trail for the hit contemporary Western. Fans may be feeling pretty bummed about the show coming to a close, but you can pass the time before the final episodes begin in November, by going back and watching what has come before. (Yellowstone streams on Philo; and on Peacock)

Related: Yellowstone will end with final Season 5 episodes, as Paramount announces new sequel series

The Diplomat: While Netflix is notoriously protective when it comes to releasing viewership numbers, Season 1 of this drama starring Keri Russell (The Americans) as the U.S. ambassador to the U.K. has been a hit with viewers and critics. It earned a speedy Season 2 renewal, so check out the first season, which has earned comparisons to smart political dramas such as The West Wing and Homeland. Rufus Sewell costars as the husband to Russells character, and their relationships adds a whole other layer of intrigue. (Streaming on Netflix)

Succession: We couldnt come up with a list of shows worth watching without including this, the most cleverly written, superbly acted drama on TV. As this fourth and final season continues, each episode is more jaw-droppingly good than the one before it. You can go back and watch the lovably loathsome members of the Roy family beginning with Season 1, but the show has only gotten better with each subsequent season. (Succession airs new episodes on HBO and is streaming on HBO Max)

Related: HBO Max is becoming Max: What viewers need to know about the re-branded streaming service

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: Over the years, the comedy created by Amy Sherman-Palladino has had its ups and downs, but its always been bursting with energy and vivid -- sometimes over-the-top, but definitely vivid -- characters. In this fifth and final season, the show is taking place in the early 1960s, and making the most, as always, of the eras fashions and furnishings. But there are also time jumps into the future, which offer a sometimes unexpected glimpse of whats ahead for Midge Maisel, her comedy career, and the lives of those around her. The final episodes make looking back at earlier seasons even more fun, and it doesnt hurt that the cast includes gifted performers such as Rachel Brosnahan, Susie Bornstein, Tony Shalhoub, Marin Hinkle, Michael Zegen, and in earlier seasons, standout moments featuring Luke Kirby as Lenny Bruce. The series finale streams May 26. (Streaming on Amazon Prime Video)

Beef: Another hit for Netflix, this dark comedy stars Steven Yeun and Ali Wong as two people who get involved in a road rage incident, an event that escalates into a series of conflicts that encompasses class issues, long-suppressed frustration, and revenge. (Streaming on Netflix)

Only Murders in the Building: While we eagerly await Season 3, scheduled to begin on Aug. 8 -- and includes guest appearances by Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd -- theres time to go back and enjoy the wonderful first two seasons of this comedy, starring Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez as a trio of unlikely podcasters who try to solve crimes that occur in their Manhattan apartment building. (Streaming on Hulu)

 Kristi Turnquist

503-221-8227; kturnquist@oregonian.com; @Kristiturnquist

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The CNN series, The Whole Story With Anderson Cooper is a new effort from the cable news network that aims to explore single subjects in more depth. This Sunday, the series turns its attention to the Bay Area with an episode titled What Happened to San Francisco?, which investigates how that city is faced with homelessness, addiction, mental illness and other issues that Portland, along with other West Coast cities in particular, also struggles to address.

(No cable? You can stream CNN on services including Sling TV and Hulu)

In What Happened to San Francisco? CNN anchor Sara Sidner reports on a city that, as she said in press materials about the episode, she loves. But too many people I know have been attacked there or faced intimidation while simply walking the streets, Sidner said. I wanted to delve into what is going on there now and if there are solutions being worked on to create change.

Press materials about the episode describe it this way: The metropolis at the center of the 1960s counterculture movement that became the center of the modern technological revolution, the city by the bay is now at the forefront of the nations homelessness, mental illness and drug addiction crises. Some residents worry Northern Californias largest municipality could become a so-called failed city.

Sidner interviews London Breed, the mayor of San Francisco, and she also talks with former Mayor Willie Brown, who says homelessness has long been a problem in the Bay Area. The special also includes segments on mothers who have organized to try and combat the drug problem in the city, and interviews with people struggling with homelessness and drug addiction.

What Happened to San Francisco? airs at 8 p.m. Sunday, May 14, on CNN.

 Kristi Turnquist

503-221-8227; kturnquist@oregonian.com; @Kristiturnquist

Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe
Swimmers and boaters beware if youre planning to escape the unseasonable heat at a river or swimming hole this weekend. Use extreme caution before hopping in to avoid cold water shock, safety officials warn.

Cold water shock is a leading cause of hypothermia and drowning, according to the Oregon State Marine Board. And the state has plenty of cold water due to ongoing snowmelt.

The Columbia River and neighboring Willamette, Sandy and Clackamas rivers all measured about 55 degrees Friday, which is average for this time of the year, according to meteorologist Noah Alviz with the National Weather Service in Portland.

Water temperatures under 70 degrees can be dangerous for swimmers, according to the National Center for Cold Water Safety. When people make contact with cold water, they can lose control of their breathing and struggle to swim in even calm waters.

The marine board suggests wearing a life jacket and regulating your temperature in the frigid water with wetsuits, swim caps and ear plugs.

Keeping active, like kayaking or paddling, can also keep you warm in the cold water, said Ashley A. Massey, public information officer with the marine board. Unfortunately, we see the most water-related incidents when it first starts to get hot.

Oregon had the 13th highest drowning rate in the country from 2011 to 2020, with 1.59 deaths by drowning per 100,000 people, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 2022, there were 16 deaths from boating in Oregon, caused by sudden medical emergencies, capsizings and boats getting stuck, according to the marine board. All were during the summertime and most of the people were not wearing life jackets.

Local agencies plan to have all hands on deck  including drones and Jet Skis  as temperatures rise to search for swimmers and boaters who need help.

Saturday and Sunday could break the 90-degree mark in the Portland metro area. Monday and Tuesday are expected to continue the trend with highs near 90.

The Gresham Fire Department uses Jet Skis to respond quickly to distress calls and accidents. The Multnomah County Sheriffs Office has a dive team that responds to Sandy and Columbia River calls for help.

The Corbett Fire Department plans to use its AquaEye scanner to find people underwater and a new drone that will use thermal imaging to locate lost swimmers during the day and night from the Columbia River to 16 miles upstream on the Sandy.

Officials are still undergoing federally enforced training to operate the drone, so it wont take flight until May 18. It will drop life jackets, first-aid kits and water for people in need.

Even with state-of-the-art rescue technology, first responders agree that wearing a life jacket is the best way to stay safe.

The Columbia and Willamette Rivers are just too cold for safe swimming at this time, Laurent Picard, spokesperson for Portland Fire & Rescue, said in an email. If you must go swimming or if you go boating, it is essential that people  especially children  wear (U.S. Coast Guard)-approved life vests to avoid drowning.

The Oregon State Marine Boards website has a database of locations to borrow life jackets, free of charge, for people hoping to go for a swim this weekend.

Oregons American Medical Response and the Corbett Fire Department also placed over 120 life jackets at Glenn Otto Community Park, Lewis and Clark State Recreation Site and Dabney State Recreation Area for people to borrow.

-- Lisa Moreno; lmoreno@oregonian.com
A family detained by the Border Patrol while crossing the Rio Grande from Ciudad Juarez, hours before the end of Title 42 on May 11.

At 11:59 p.m. this Thursday, Washington time, Title 42 lost its effect on the lives of the thousands of migrants who arrive every day at the border separating Mexico from the United States. It was a rule imposed by the Donald Trump Administration under the pretext of halting the advance of the pandemic. It allowed the rapid expulsion of migrants, who were returned in a matter of minutes to Mexico. Its extinction opens a new era in migratory relations between the two countries, and it leaves open a number of questions that Joe Bidens Administration hopes will be clarified as the weeks go by.

This regulation coexisted with Title 8, which stood alone for decades until March 2020. It was left to the discretion of immigration officials to decide whether to apply one rule or the other. In practice, they had been opting for weeks mostly for Title 8; Title 42 was only applied in 17% of the cases, a border patrol agent told EL PAIS on Thursday in El Paso (Texas).

In the 2022 fiscal year, which runs from October to May, more than 1.15 million border detainees were subject to Title 8, compared to slightly more than 1.08 million for whom Title 42 was applied.

Title 8 involves a tightening of the conditions for seeking asylum. It allowed the Barack Obama Administration to deport more than three million migrants in eight years. The rule now incorporates new features: those who want to apply for asylum are obliged to request it through a mobile application from their countries of origin, so that they can travel with the certainty that they will be taken into consideration.

Migrants guarded by the Border Patrol between the two walls dividing Tijuana (Mexico) and San Diego (USA) on Thursday. Gladys Serrano

This requirement has been criticized by migrants, who consider the app difficult to use and requires them to have good internet access, something thats not always the case and shouldnt be taken for granted.

Regardless of the migrants complaints, if they arrive in the United States without having met this requirement or are ineligible for asylum, they will be deported. That deportation will entail a ban on trying again for at least five years. If they are caught trying to cross again within that time, they face prison sentences in the United States. Deportations will be to their countries of origin, except in cases where there are no agreements in place.

Those eligible for asylum in the United States will wait in a detention center while their application is resolved. They must demonstrate that they are in credible fear, that is, that their lives are in danger where they come from.

Those who pass that test are allowed to remain in the country while their cases go through the immigration courts. They receive a document with an appointment with a judge somewhere in the United States that allows them to travel freely throughout the country. The time frames vary, from several weeks to several years. Currently, there are two million open cases, and immigration judges are overwhelmed.

U.S. authorities expect the change to bring an increase in border crossings, which could reach 13,000 people a day, compared to 6,000 on a busy day just a few weeks ago. That will also have implications for the time immigration officials have to spend completing processing. Under Title 42, 10 minutes to 30 minutes was sufficient to decide removal. The process mandated by Title 8 rules increases that time to more than an hour.

Migrants' clothing outside a shelter in Tijuana, Baja California, on May 11. Gladys Serrano

This week, the United States also debuted a new asylum rule that will largely prohibit migrants who passed through another country before arriving at the border from seeking asylum in the United States. The rule, proposed earlier this year, understands that those individuals were able to seek refuge in those places but decided against it. Immigrants who secure an appointment through the CBP One application will be exempt.

The State Department also plans to open about 100 regional processing centers in the Western Hemisphere where immigrants can apply to be accepted in the United States, Canada or Spain. Little is yet known about how they intend to carry out these plans.

The combination of all these measures, a mix of providing more legal, though still limited, avenues and tightening border security to try to curb irregular crossings, is aimed at discouraging migrants from crossing the border illegally and preventing an unprecedented surge in asylum seekers. Experts have attested to a global trend that speaks of an unprecedented growth in migratory movements.

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Helping to nail together the walls of her first home in central Oregon was a powerful feeling for Keri Ritchie.

As volunteers and workers assembled the 2x4s and used power tools to create the walls on Tuesday, Ritchie, 33, was at a loss for words.

We got two walls up on our first home, said Ritchie, a stay-at-home mom. It was all laid out and we got to put in the nails and get it all put together.

Ritchie and her husband-to-be thought that homeownership was out of reach in Bend, until someone from NeighborImpact, an emergency shelter and rental nonprofit organization, told them about a program run by homebuilder Hayden Homes.

First Story, the nonprofit arm of the homebuilder, has built 110 homes for low-income families, using sweat equity and hired labor to build in 35 communities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. Through the program, 34 homes have been built in Bend, Redmond and Sisters.

Ritchie and Colton Adams, her fiance, realized that the only place they could afford a home was in Madras, a 26-mile one-way commute from where Adams works.

That would have required her to uproot the family, which had been renting in Bend for 13 years, and then enrolling her 9-year-old son in a new school and finding new caregivers for her special needs child.

Thats when First Story came into the equation with a philosophy that has made everyone involved feel good. Giving to the community is a best practice and a smart investment for many businesses, said Scott Cooper, NeighborImpact executive director. Each year, Cooper and the team raise $1.5 million from individuals, companies and foundations to cover costs and help the community.

Better communities make communities more desirable places to live, create environments where people have more income and more stable living situations, Cooper said. Businesses that thoughtfully design philanthropic initiatives to address the most pressing issues of our times and where we live  housing, homelessness, food, child care, among others  can create a ripple effect of positive change.

Colton Adams, Keri Ritchie and their children, Jackson Adams, 9, and Easton Adams, 2, listen to comments at the construction site of their new home in Bend. The home is being built by a Hayden Homes program called First Story, the nonprofit arm of the homebuilder. First Story has built 110 homes for low income families, using sweat equity and hired labor to build in 35 communities.Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin

Easton Adams, 2, center, looks on as his family and others raise a wall at the construction site in Bend. The home is being built by a Hayden Homes program called First Story, the nonprofit arm of the homebuilder. First Story has built 110 homes for low income families, using sweat equity and hired labor to build in 35 communities.Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin

Building affordable housing means a family that was spending 50% of its monthly income on rent now only has to spend 30%, Cooper said. That 20% savings means more money to be invested in the community.

At Hayden Homes, a Redmond-based company, supporting the community comes in a variety of ways to meet a mandate to support the community that it derives income from.

The most visible sign is its name on the amphitheater at the Old Mill District. Other efforts to support the community range from building homes for families earning below area median income to paying employees to volunteer each month, said Deborah Flagan, Hayden Homes vice president of community engagement.

Our belief started in 1989 with the company founders, Bob and Virginia Watson, who believed that anyone who works hard should be able to own a home, Flagan said. Virginia believed that we should live in a world where we give more than we get.

Bob Bohac, who volunteers to help the homeless in Redmond, said that Hayden Homes has been supportive of the tiny home concept for Oasis Village, a 15-unit low barrier shelter thats in the process of being built. Hayden Homes has supplied the building expertise and encouraged its trade partners to donate building materials, Bohac said.

Theyve been a willing, able and tremendous partner for us, Bohac said. Without them, Oasis Village would have been off the tracks a year and a half ago. Theyve opened up avenues for. us.

Families can qualify for First Story if their gross income is at 80% or below the area median income, have no current credit dings, items in collection agencies and enough income to meet mortgage payments, homeowners insurance and property-tax requirements.

Hayden Homes started the nonprofit in 1998. Since that time its tapped into its trade partners for nearly $2.5 million in time and materials to build First Story homes.

The recipients have been families of four that earn less than $58,930 a year in Bend or $52,944 a year in Redmond.

Since Hayden Homes was founded, it has donated $54 million to the communities its built in, making charitable donations, creating a foundation and donating time to the community, Flagan said. The foundation is funded by 10% of the companys profits each year. It has been used to fund parks, senior-center improvements and a remodeled day care center for low-income families, Flagan said.

The companys philanthropy also funded a community building and 10 sleeping units in the St. Vincent Village on Third Street in Bend and helped build 15 sleeping units at Veterans Village in a public-private partnership.

Homeowners like Ritchie get a 30-year interest-free mortgage.

Easton Adams, 2, points to a message written on the inside of a wall by his brother, Jackson Adams, 9, during a wall raising event in Bend.Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin

When they decide they want to sell the homes, they have to give First Story first right of refusal. All the payments the homeowner makes are returned to the homeowner and the equity is split in half.

The program matches our philosophy of creating a next generation of givers, Flagan said. We believe its our duty through our actions to do more. This is our flagship of our giving.

David Woods, Hayden Homes accounting director, was at the wall-raising effort on Tuesday. It was part of his monthly volunteer hours, which have been ongoing since he joined the company 12 years ago.

Im an accountant, so it was a nice change of pace for me, Woods said. Im not a builder in any shape or form. In fact we had the whole accounting team out there today. Most of us want to help, but its sometimes hard to find an opportunity.

Woods also donates his corporate-paid time as a member of the board of directors at the Giving Plate, a Bend food pantry.

Sometimes hell bring one of his daughters to volunteer to pack up food.

Were all called to support one another, but many dont know how to make the time, Woods said. Its neat to work with Hayden Homes, which gives us time to serve. A lot of companies say they want to support the community, but its another thing for a company to give workers time off. This way makes it easier.

Its was heartwarming for Ritchie to see the 40 or so volunteers from Hayden Homes work on her new home. She hopes to move in to her brand-new southeast Bend home Aug. 17. Shes already added her personal touches by choosing the flooring, the color of the outside of the home, the cabinet style and countertops.

This is a great opportunity for us, Ritchie said. If we were to buy this house on our own, it would be over $500,000. At that price no one can afford a home here.

Its great that theres a program like this geared for people who would struggle to buy a home on their own.

Reporter: 541-633-2117,

sroig@bendbulletin.com

 This story originally appeared on bendbulletin.com
Want to save a salmon?

Drink a beer.

Yes, you heard that right.

Oregon beer may end up saving Oregon salmon, said Marc A. Johnson, holder of an Oregon State University doctorate in fisheries science and molecular genetics, among other mysterious things.

Johnson and a team of federal, state and university scientists appear on the threshold of ending competition on spawning grounds between wild salmon and stray hatchery fish.

Its not a stretch to imagine their success could save endangered orcas, finally satisfy treaty obligations and provide more hatchery salmon for anglers and commercial fishers without jeopardizing wild spawning populations.

And the dots seem neatly connected between their findings and the byproducts of beer and ale brewing.

Settled and unneeded materials from the vats of the Rogue brewery in Newport are on the verge of becoming the latest honey hole for salmon restoration.

Like many anglers, Johnson wants to know what repels salmon and steelhead and what attracts them.

However, he and the others have a far greater purpose in mind than simply bringing home a nice catch.

Theyve been looking for an odor that wont repel fish, but instead will unhesitatingly lead it back into the hatchery where its life began, rather than stray onto wild spawning grounds.

Salmon rear in the ocean and use geo-magnetic navigation to return to nearshore areas where they entered the sea. From there, they switch to scents unique to their home rivers, streams and, hopefully sooner rather than later, hatcheries.

Scent structures are imprinted in young fish as early as their emergence from egg sacs and remain embedded in their brains throughout their time in the Pacific.

So, those dots.

Dogs, as we know, emit odors that salmon dont like, as do humans and other mammals.

These chemicals occur naturally in our skin and while we cant smell them, theyre scent identifiers for dogs, which can smell a thousand times better than humans.

Rogue brewery leftovers are trickled into fish hatchery trays to help baby chinook find their way home.Courtesy of Marc Johnson

Salmon can smell that many times better than dogs and rather than sniff each others tails, instead recognize much lower concentrations of bad-acting chemicals and quickly react to danger.

Fish are hard-wired. Thats a predator, said Johnson, an avid angler who works for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Among other duties, hes a liaison with the unique Oregon Hatchery Research Center on Fall Creek, a tributary of the Alsea River in the central Coast Mountains. The center is jointly managed by the department and Oregon State University.

The repertoire of receptor genes in fish is smaller, he said. There are more aromatic molecules in air than are water soluble. There are hundreds for fish (to smell), but thousands for dogs; so a fish cant smell as many things, but it can smell much better. It has to (quickly) know whether this is food or danger.

Dogs like dinner.

Salmon like survival.

Johnson and the team have tested many fish-friendly scents to find one that can be trickled into hatchery water in just the right amount to imprint on the hatchery youngsters, but one that also wont attract wild fish passing by on their way upstream.

Theyve experimented with chinook salmon in the Elk River Hatchery on the south Oregon coast, an abundant source of chinook eggs, fry and smolts.

After years of testing, the team settled on a brew (pun intended) of amino acids with just the right combination of structures.

However, their preferred amino acids were laboratory strength and prohibitively expensive.

The search switched to other sources, mint compost, coffee grounds, etc.

But none were a good fit until an aha moment  the discovery of the perfect amino acid blend in detritus from the brewing of beer and ale.

Seth White, the new Research Center director, came up with the answer, Johnson said. Im not certain how, and hes at a conference in Spain; but one might assume some trips to the Rogue brewery were involved.

After all, its not a long drive from the center to Newport.

The brewery is completely on board, Johnson said.

The acid test (also pun intended) was performed in Seattle by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Washington, using equipment that measures sensory nerve activity in a fish when various smells are introduced.

We could see the introduction (of the beer-related amino acid cocktail) triggered immediate positive responses, Johnson said.

What will it mean down the road for anglers?

The team has just landed a grant to find a way in the next two years to expand their research into action throughout the hatchery system (and probably those in other states).

Theyre still waiting for returns of chinook salmon to validate all of their toil and it may take five to 10 years to put everything in motion, Johnson said.

But meanwhile, buy these scientists a cold one or two.

-- Bill Monroe for The Oregonian/OregonLive
MOSCOW, Idaho  Mackenzie Davidson grew up in a Mormon household and sheepishly admits she knew little about pregnancy.

This is embarrassing, she said, sitting outside a cafe along a street thronged with students in this college town. But I didnt know that you had to have sex to have kids until I was 13 or 14.

Shes a writer for the University of Idaho student newspaper, The Argonaut, and was asked recently to report on a new law. Its now a crime to help a teen under 18 leave the state for an abortion or obtain medication abortion pills without parental consent  including when the girl has been sexually assaulted or raped by a family member or parent. Gov. Brad Little, a Republican, in signing the bill, wrote that the law does not limit an adult woman from obtaining an abortion in another state.

Davidson, 19, reached out to interview state Rep. Barbara Ehardt, a Republican co-sponsor of the bill, who touted her Christian-based attitude during her campaign.

She kept saying that it was about parental rights, Davidson said. But the thing that really caught my attention was the fact that they were calling it abortion trafficking.

The law creates a crime of abortion trafficking and criminalizes the recruiting, harboring, or transporting of minors without parental consent. In a floor speech before the Idaho Legislature voted on the bill, Ehardt said, We are only looking to protect our children.

Idahos teen travel ban, as its known here, took effect May 5, nearly 11 months after the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion. Any adult, including an aunt, grandparent, or sibling, convicted of violating the criminal statute faces up to five years in prison. Under a separate state law, family members of the pregnant minor and the sexual partner involved can sue any health care provider who helped terminate the pregnancy for financial damages.

If youre successful, youre guaranteed $20,000 minimum, and thats per claim per relative, said Kelly ONeill, an Idaho litigation attorney for Legal Voice, a progressive nonprofit.

Idaho has a lot of big families, she added.

Under the new law, even when a parent gives consent, the person accompanying the minor would need to provide an affirmative defense proving they were acting with the permission of a parent of the teen.

You could still be charged, arrested, perhaps even have to go all the way to a jury trial and prove in a courtroom that your sister gave you permission, ONeill said.

Legal experts say Idahos travel ban, based on a model bill written by National Right to Life, one of the countrys largest anti-abortion groups, is designed to sidestep implied constitutional protections for interstate travel. The law targets travel assistance within and up to the states border, effectively criminalizing medical care legally obtained in neighboring states.

This is one of the next frontiers of abortion litigation, said David S. Cohen, a constitutional law professor at Drexel University. Theyre clearly pushing this kind of law with other states.

In response to potential legal threats, on April 27, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, signed a series of bills barring law enforcement from cooperating with other states abortion investigations. Those laws shield medical providers from lawsuits and protect their medical licenses from being revoked.

But in communities like Spokane, Washington, just 20 miles from the Idaho border, there is a sense of unease.

We have staff who live in Idaho who commute, said Karl Eastlund, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho. Its one big economic region, when you think of the border communities here.

When asked if he was concerned that medical staff members living in Idaho could be criminally charged for the abortion care they provide every day, he said, We have told our providers we will handle all of your legal fees and well provide lawyers to help you sort out anything that happens.

He added, Its something we think about a lot.

After Sunday morning Mass at St. Augustines Catholic Center in Moscow, Ryan Alexander tended to his 17-month-old daughter, Penelope, as she toddled about the church courtyard. Alexander, 25, a married law student at the university here, said ending any pregnancy violates his Catholic beliefs.

He has read the text of the bill, he said, and the way its written is actually incredibly prudent. No adult, he said, can act in place of a parent.

Thats just kidnapping, by any means, if you take a girl away from her parents when shes a minor and her parents have authority over her, he said.

Alexander said he understands that some teenage girls are sexually abused at home or have dysfunctional relationships with their parents. Still, he supports the law.

When we look at situations like that, my heart goes out to them. What can I do but pray from a distance and think, how can that be better? he said. But two wrongs do not make a right.

Idaho patients, including teenagers, have long crossed into Washington state to legally end their pregnancies. Eastlund said fewer than 5% of the clinics patients who come for abortion care are minors.

Most of those patients, he said, do involve their parents in the process, even though parental consent is not mandatory in Washington. Those who dont, Eastlund said, have good reason not to. Some are in dangerous, abusive situations in which disclosing a pregnancy could put them at risk of further harm.

Were talking about sexual abuse and incest, said Eastlund, sitting upstairs at the clinic in Spokane. Its not stuff people want to talk about, but, unfortunately, its more common than people think.

Abortion rights activists gather outside the Idaho Statehouse on May 14, 2022. Last week, the states new abortion trafficking law took effect, which criminalizes the recruiting, harboring, or transporting of pregnant minors without parental consent. (IDAHO STATESMAN / AP)

On the shores of Lake Pend Oreille, in Sandpoint, Idaho, Jen Jackson Quintano said she wants her daughter, Sylvia, 8, to have trusted adults around whom she can turn to when shes a teenager.

I think back to my teenage years when I was in high school, I had a boyfriend that I loved, and I was sexually active, she said. At the time she thought, If I get pregnant, I would rather just die, just end it, than have to figure this out and tell my parents.

Quintano said that while growing up in the Roman Catholic Church, she was taught that sex, contraception, and abortion were shameful, and she is raising her daughter under a different set of beliefs.

Shame as a woman  its a powerful form of control, and I dont want her to walk that path of shame, Quintano said. I want her to feel comfortable in her body.

Idahos teen abortion travel ban and the financial rewards for reporting citizens who obtain abortions are already dividing the tightknit fabric of Sandpoints community, she said.

We dont know who to trust, Quintano said. We dont know who we can talk to.

Sarah Varney: svarney@kff.org, @SarahVarney4
A combination of Oregon taxpayers and campaign donors paid for then-Secretary of State Shemia Fagan and her two children to attend the annual White House Easter Egg Roll last month in Washington, D.C.

Ben Morris, a spokesperson for the Secretary of States office, said Fagan attended the event in her official capacity, so her airfare and related expenses totaling about $1,000 were covered by the state.

Fagans political campaign fundraising committee picked up the cost of her kids flights, plus other expenses from the trip, which together topped $2,100.

An attorney for Fagan said the campaign spending for her children is permissible under state and federal regulations. But local campaign finance watchdogs say it raises questions, nonetheless.

Details of the funding behind Fagans trip are coming into focus after her resignation this month over a $10,000 a month consulting contract she signed in February with an Oregon cannabis company looking to expand in other states. Fagan, who said her $77,000 state salary was not enough to make ends meet, stepped down May 8 after acknowledging she broke the publics trust and had become a distraction.

It was a stunning turn for one of Oregons brightest political stars, who only a month earlier had been smiling with her kids in front of the White House.

Fagan reserved four tickets for an April 9 flight to Washington, D.C., state records show. She billed Oregon taxpayers $877.80 for her own airfare, and collected another $138.25 in per diems to cover her lunch and dinner on the day of departure, plus meals for the day she flew back to Oregon, four days later.

Morris, the state spokesperson, said Fagan was invited to the event by the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and chose to attend because the event seeks to promote public officials with young children.

Fagans campaign committee, funded by political donations, picked up a $1,755.60 flight tab and another $141 in Lyft rides, $127 in personal expenses while on the trip, and a $141 meal at the airport on their way home. The committees campaign finance filings dont specifically say the Alaska Airlines expense was for her children, but the airfare was precisely double her own, the transaction date was the same day she purchased her own ticket, and her expense claim shows she reserved four tickets in neighboring seats for herself, her kids and her boyfriend.

A photo from the event shows Fagan attended with her children and her boyfriend; theres no indication the campaign or state money paid for his flight.

Fagans calendar shows only two meetings during the four-day trip, which she apparently attended virtually for about three hours on the morning of April 11. She and her kids flew back to Oregon the following evening.

David Elkanich, a lawyer for Fagan, said in a text message she was invited to the event because she is a statewide official with one or more children under 13 and was acting in her official capacity.

She used her PAC to reimburse for lodging, transportation to political meetings and flights for her children. Travel for minor children is a reimbursable expense for campaign committees under both Oregon and federal law, Elkanich said, citing a 2005 advisory opinion from the Federal Election Commission that determined such campaign expenses were permissible for then U.S. Senator Chris Dodd if he was traveling to participate in a function directly connected to his official responsibilities.

Oregons campaign finance manual says campaign funds may be used for expenses incurred as a public office holder if directly related to an office holders official duties, or for expenses incurred by the committee. State law also says that such funds cannot be converted for personal use by any person.

Dan Meek, a Portland attorney deeply versed in Oregons campaign finance rules, said that while billing her kids airfare to the campaign is certainly questionable and would not be allowed in other states, Oregon has massive loopholes in its rules.

Julie Parrish, a Republican consultant and former state legislator, said she believes neither the state nor Fagans campaign should have covered costs for the trip.

She said the Legislature should close campaign finance loopholes to prevent such spending.

It should never have been a taxpayer-funded junket in the first place, Parrish said. No one compelled her to go. She got an invite and she went. Is this really an official purpose of her (campaign committee)? At the end of the day, no way. If it looks bad and smells bad, it is bad.

Correction: An earlier version of this story said Fagan billed her campaign for lodging at the event, and misattributed that to agency spokesperson Ben Morris. David Elkanich, Fagans lawyer, said Fagan used campaign funds to pay for lodging.

--Ted Sickinger; tsickinger@oregonian.com; 503-221-8505; @tedsickinger
One morning last spring, Kenneth Fandrich told a Hillsboro police officer he had been stalked for years by his wifes former lover who promised to cut me into a million pieces and make sure it takes days to do it.

Im shaking, Fandrich told Officer Joey Edwards in a encounter recorded on Edwards body-worn camera. Hes been following me for years.  Hes a psychopath.
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A population of moms around the nation, including in Midland, have just one request for Mothers Day: a federal ban on assault weapons.

We are asking all mothers across the nation to say, We dont want flowers, we dont want gifts, we dont want to be taken out to eat. What we really want is for the federal law that was in place from 1994 to 2004 prohibiting assault weapons to be reinstated, said Kathy Kinkema, chapter leader for the Great Lakes Bay Region Moms Demand Action.

We simply want to know that our children, which is the reason we are celebrating Mothers Day, can go to school, can go to the movie theater, can go shopping at a mall and feel safe.

Across the nation, chapters of Moms Demand Action are asking that community members participate in a texting/calling campaign to tell their federal legislators to support a ban on the weapons. There is also an online form where participants can fill out their name and address and a message will be sent to their U.S. representative.

I dont know of mothers that wouldnt do anything to protect their children, wouldnt stop at anything to protect their children, said Chris Klykken, also of the local Moms Demand Action chapter. This is saying as a whole that we should do everything we possibly can to protect our children, our families. Thats the important thing.

The organization is asking Congress and President Joe Biden to reinstate the same federal ban that was signed by former President Bill Clinton in 1994 and that expired in 2004. The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act - as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act - amended the federal criminal code to prohibit the manufacture, transfer, or possession of a semiautomatic assault weapon.

Karla Castellanos from Moms Demand Action said the original bill passed with bipartisan support.

It did pass with bipartisan support and were asking for that again, she said. Because, as we know, Congress has a majority of Republicans in the House, and we would like to persuade some of them to consider it.

Since last year's Mother's Day, there have been hundreds of mass shootings, including at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York; Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas; a Highland Park parade in Illinois; a Monterey Park dance studio in California and more.

When you look at the number of people that were killed and injured in those incidents, each one of those, it just shows that assault weapons are incredibly deadly and that we need to step back and figure out how we can bring those out of the realm of everyday use and really have safer communities, Kinkema said.

The potential ban, just like the 1994 ban, would apply to guns manufactured after the enactment date, meaning those who already own assault weapons would not have to turn them in.

There is nothing that would take them away, Castellanos said. Were not going after anyones guns.

All of us support the fact that the Constitution gives us the right to own guns, said chapter member Allison Wilcox. Yes, they have a right to own a gun. But dont we have a right to feel safe in our communities?

Moms Demand Action formed after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. In the past 10 years, the group has garnered around 10 million supporters.

Moms from the Great Lakes Bay chapter said theyre supporting the initiative to make their children and grandchildren feel safe.

I got involved with Moms when my grandchildren were the same age as the Sandy Hook children, and now one just finished his first year in college, Kinkema said. Instead of gun deaths going down, theyve gone up. So, throughout that whole span of time, it just shows that our society has been unwilling to reckon with this as a health crisis.
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DALLAS (AP)  Just ahead of what could be a record-breaking summer travel season, pilots from one of the nations biggest airlines marched in picket lines at major airports on Friday as they push for higher pay.

The United Airlines pilots have been working without a raise for more than four years while negotiating with airline management over a new contract.

The pilots are unlikely to strike anytime soon, however. Federal law makes it very difficult for unions to conduct strikes in the airline industry, and the last walkout at a U.S. carrier was more than a decade ago.

The coast-to-coast protests by United pilots come on the heels of overwhelming strike-authorization votes by pilots at American Airlines and Southwest Airlines. United pilots could be the next to vote, according to union officials.

Pilots at all three carriers are looking to match or beat the deal that Delta Air Lines reached with its pilots earlier this year, which raised pay rates by 34% over four years.

Top scale at United for a captain is $369 an hour on two-aisle planes, called widebodies, which are generally used on international flights, and $297 an hour on narrowbodies such as Boeing 737s. Airline pilots fly an average of 75 hours per month, according to the Labor Department.

United has proposed to match the Delta increase, but that might not be enough for a deal.

We still have a long ways to go to resolve some of the issues at the table, said Garth Thompson, chair of the United wing of the Air Line Pilots Association.

Thompson said discussion about wages has been held up while the two sides negotiate over scheduling, including the union's wish to limit United's ability to make pilots work on their days off.

United spokesman Joshua Freed said, We're continuing to work with the Air Line Pilots Association on the industry-leading deal we have put on the table for our world-class pilots.

Pilots argue that United should reward them for helping the airline survive the coronavirus pandemic.

We made quite a few sacrifices during the pandemic, and we feel it is now time for the company to step up to the plate and to give us a contract, acknowledging the sacrifices and the contributions that we have made, said pilot Arzu Delp, as he picketed at San Francisco International Airport.

The Delta contract that United pilots are using as their starting point will cost Delta $7.2 billion over four years. All airlines are dealing with rising labor costs, which could show up in the price of a ticket, but fares are also set by supply and demand, notes Blaise Waguespack, who teaches airline management and marketing at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Giselle Ascione, a United passenger in San Francisco, said the airlines are making a lot of money, and the pilots as well as the attendants should be paid. Its common sense.

Even if the airlines and their unions fail to reach agreements quickly, strikes are unlikely in the next few months  when millions of Americans hope to fly over summer vacation. Under U.S. law, airline and railroad workers cant legally strike, and companies can't lock them out, until federal mediators determine that further negotiations are pointless.

The National Mediation Board rarely declares a dead end to bargaining, and even if it does, there is a no-strikes cooling-off period during which the White House and Congress can block a walkout. That's what President Bill Clinton did minutes after pilots began striking against American in 1997. In December, President Joe Biden signed a bill that Congress passed to impose contract terms on freight railroad workers, ending a strike threat.

The last strike at a U.S. carrier occurred at Spirit Airlines in 2010.

Thompson, the union leader at United, said his pilots will continue to work in 2023 despite challenges including an aggressive summer flight schedule.

Over the years, airline workers have conducted job actions that fell short of a strike but disrupted flights anyway. A federal judge fined the American Airlines pilots union $45 million for a 1999 sickout that crippled the airlines operations, although the amount was later reduced. In 2019, a federal judge ordered unions representing American's aircraft mechanics to stop what the airline termed an illegal work slowdown.

Arthur Wheaton, director of labor studies at Cornell University, said Congress would not permit an airline strike because of the economic harm it would cause, but unhappy pilots could still cause disruptions in other ways.

They always have work to rule. They could say, Were not working any overtime,' Wheaton said. I don't anticipate the pilots trying to screw up travel for everybody intentionally, but bargaining is about leverage and power ... having the ability to do that can be a negotiating tactic.

Airlines are vulnerable to work-to-rule protests because they depend on finding pilots and flight attendants to pick up extra shifts during peak travel periods.

Regardless of the legal hurdles to a walkout, unions believe that strike votes give them leverage during bargaining, and they have become more common. A shortage of pilots is also putting those unions in particularly strong bargaining position.

Chicago-based United has roughly 14,000 pilots, and the union expects at least 2,000 will picket Friday at 10 airports from Newark, New Jersey, to Los Angeles. The union is also distributing leaflets that highlight the pilots' desire for better work-life balance in their scheduling but make no mention of pay.

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Haven Daley in San Francisco contributed to this report.
KYODO NEWS - May 13, 2023 - 17:11 | All, Japan, World

South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Saturday a delegation will visit the Fukushima nuclear power plant later this month for a four-day assessment of the safety of a planned release of treated radioactive water into the sea.

Senior foreign ministry officials from South Korea and Japan met Friday in Seoul and discussed the visit through the early hours of Saturday. They will continue to work out the details.

The inspection of relevant facilities by the delegation was agreed upon earlier this week during a meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol as the two neighbors see improvements in bilateral ties amid growing security threats in East Asia.

Concerns linger in South Korea over the potential impact of the treated water on the ocean environment, despite Japan's pledge to start discharging the water around this summer in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure its safety.

Water that has become contaminated after being pumped in to cool melted reactor fuel has been accumulating at the complex, devastated by a powerful earthquake and tsunami in 2011, and has also mixed with rainwater and groundwater at the site.

The Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., the operator of the crippled complex at the time, had been considering ways to safely dispose of the water amid strong opposition to the plan from local fishermen and neighboring countries, such as South Korea.

About 1.33 million tons of treated water was stored on the plant's premises as of late April and is edging closer to the capacity of 1.37 million tons, according to TEPCO.
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP)  The Syrian government has agreed to extend by another three months the use of two border crossings with Turkey into the rebel-held northwest that were opened for aid delivery after a deadly earthquake in February, Syrian and U.N. officials said Saturday.

Syrian President Bashar Assad had agreed to open the border crossings at Bab al-Salameh and al-Rai for three months to allow aid to flow into Idlib province a week after the Feb. 6, earthquake that hit southern Turkey and northern Syria.

The earthquake has killed more than 50,000 people, including over 6,000 in Syria, according to the United Nations. The quake also displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

Following a request by the U.N. and ensuing discussions, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad conveyed to U.N. Under-Secretary-General Martin Griffiths the decision by Syria's government to allow the U.N. to continue using the two border crossing points for an additional three months, said Eri Kaneko, spokesperson for the U.N. office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Syrias ambassador to the U.N. Bassam Sabbagh tweeted that the period has been extended for another three months based on Syrias determination to enhance stability and improve the living and humanitarian conditions of all Syrians. He added the move also aims to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to those in need in all of Syria.

Syrias northwestern province of Idlib is home to some 4 million people, many of whom had been earlier displaced during the countrys 12-year civil war, which has killed nearly half a million people.

David Carden, the U.N.s Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria crisis, said during a visit to Idlib earlier this month that since the earthquake some 2,000 trucks have crossed the border from Turkey, providing assistance such as shelter, food, medical supplies and other services.

Carden added that the earthquake damaged or destroyed the homes of about 855,000 people.

In 2014, the Security Council authorized four border crossings to deliver aid to northwest Syria  two from Turkey, one from Jordan and one from Iraq. In January 2020, Syrias close ally Russia used its veto threat to reduce the number of crossing to the two from Turkey. The following July, China and Russia used their veto power to reduce the number to just a single crossing.
When I asked my AI chatbot to list the 10 most famous demagogues in history, the chatbot took all of three seconds to provide the list.

Here it is: 1. Adolf Hitler 2. Joseph Stalin 3. Benito Mussolini 4. Julius Caesar 5. Vladimir Lenin 6. Mao Zedong 7. Saddam Hussein 8. Muammar al-Gaddafi 9. Kim Jong-un 10. Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Since "demagogue" may be a word youre not familiar with, heres a description: A demagogue is a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular desires, prejudices, and emotions, rather than by using just reasoning and rational arguments. Demagogues often use their charisma and strong rhetoric to manipulate people and gain power, rather than seeking to govern in the best interests of the people they represent. They may also use propaganda, misinformation and other manipulative tactics to gain and maintain support.

But that's not a perfect description because it begins by identifying a demagogue as a political leader. My personal experience suggests you can also include religious leaders, news reporters, parents of athletes sitting in the stands, financial investors, economists, professors, community members, and more. In all of those groups, demagogues tend to represent an insignificant percentage of the whole, but they secure a lions share of the publics attention. Its sad that more 99% of any group that falls on the side of good can have their goodness tarnished by a few.

If you take any time to study the 10 most famous demagogues, youll find that they left a path of death and destruction behind them. Youll also realize that their primary motivations were completely selfish but hidden behind a mask of caring for whats best for others.

The opinion page in every newspaper includes people who have this strange desire to be part of the problem rather than part of the solution. Why? Well, frankly, its a lot easier to generalize and pick something apart than it is to assess, have open discussion where your opinions may be debated, and be part of a group that works together for the good of all. Demagoguery doesnt require telling the truth. You can say whatever you want and force others to determine its validity.

Id like to go back up to the beginning of this article, where I list the 10 most famous demagogues in history. Wouldnt that list deter anyone from attempting to follow the demagogue strategy that each of them mastered? I cringed just reading each of their names based on the fundamental knowledge I have of them - except number 10.

The name Recep Tayyip Erdogan was not familiar to me. So, I looked him up. Turns out Recep Tayyip Erdogan is the current president of Turkey. Hes seeking re-election as you read this. Hes been in power since 2014 and was previously the prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014.

Erdogan has often been criticized for his authoritarian tendencies and his government's suppression of political opposition and human rights abuses. However, he also enjoys a strong base of support among conservative and nationalist voters in Turkey because of his successful economic policies and emphasis on Turkish nationalism.

Another of the top 10 currently living is Kim Jong-un, the current supreme leader of North Korea. Kim has been known for his strict and oppressive leadership style, including a tight control over the country's media, harsh treatment of political dissidents and defectors, and a focus on nuclear weapons development. Again, if you study them, you would never want to be like them.

Youll notice I havent claimed that being a demagogue is always a failed strategy. I claim that demagoguery succeeds ONLY in furthering the selfish interests of the one utilizing it. It occurs when any of us tosses out an opinion that tears down another person or thought process that we dont agree with for no other purpose than to manipulate others' opinion of us and gain personal power.

Fact is, demagogues tear down, leaders build up! So, where's the lesson in all of this talk of demagoguery?

The lesson here is for each of us to develop an analysis strategy that seeks the good, the possible, and the potential success of any thought process or idea we encounter. Remove the initial impulse to tear something down and destroy it before it even has a chance to hatch.

If you want to share an opinion you have, make sure that youve put adequate time into the forming of that opinion. Have your own personal debate which allows you to consider other opinions that may not align with yours so you can adequately explain your thoughts without tearing down someone elses.

Develop a mindset that allows you to be part of the creation and implementation of something that benefits the entire community, state, country, and world. Bring the good that resides in your heart and brain to the table and share that good for solutions within your family, your community, at work, and with every interaction you experience with others. Its there that you will discover consistent joy and happiness in life. GiddyUp!

Paul White is a guest columnist and avid entrepreneur from Midland, MI. More about Paul can be found at www.theanswerdiscovery.com.
Paducah, KY (42003)

Today

Cloudy this morning. Scattered thunderstorms developing this afternoon. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High 81F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Variably cloudy with scattered thunderstorms. Low 67F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Libya's prime minister, Abdelhamid al-Dbaiba, has said the return to operation, after a 12-year hiatus, of the main refinery at Ras Lanuf petrochemical complex, about 600km southeast of Tripoli, will reduce the country's import burden
KYODO NEWS - May 13, 2023 - 14:10 | All, Japan

Five women were taken to hospital Saturday after a passenger car driven by an 80-year-old man crashed into a supermarket in central Japan, police said.

One of the five, aged in their 60s and 70s, was seriously hurt, while the other four sustained minor injuries in the incident that occurred in Inazawa, Aichi Prefecture, at around 9:45 a.m. The driver told the police, "I pressed the gas pedal instead of the break by mistake."

The car smashed through the glass front of the supermarket and came to a stop with half of its body inside the store, the police said.

The driver was not injured in the accident.

A woman working in the supermarket said the crash sounded like a bomb exploding.
Khartoum, Sudan (PANA)  Sudan on Friday launched an urgent appeal to the international community for humanitarian assistance following four weeks of fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF)
In 2018 Patently Apple posted a report titled " A Finnish Patent Troll Sues Apple Claiming that iMessage and FaceTime infringe 8 of their (Acquired) Patents." Apparently MPH Technologies must have won their case because six months later Apple began petitioning to nix MPH-owned patents in March 2019.

The case has been bouncing around the courts since then until Thursday when the U.S. While some claims were found to be unpatentable, the Patent and Trademark Office, before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board published its Final Written Decision on Remand Determining Challenged Claims 4-6 Not Shown Unpatentable.

The introduction of the Final Decision in-part states: "This case returns on remand from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Apple Inc. v. MPH Techs. OY. In our prior Final Written Decision in this proceeding, we determined that by a preponderance of the evidence Apple Inc. (Petitioner) (i) did not prove that claims 16 of U.S. Patent No. 7,620,810 B2 are unpatentable, and (ii) proved that claim 7 of the 810 patent is unpatentable. On Petitioners appeal, the Federal Circuit held that we erred in our construction for encrypted messages, and as a result, vacated our judgment of no unpatentability for claims 16 and remanded to the Board for further proceedings.

After the Federal Circuits decision, and before the mandate issued, Patent Owner filed a statutory disclaimer which states that Patent Owner hereby disclaims and dedicates to the public the entirety of claims 13 of the 810 Patent. Accordingly, claims 13 are no longer part of this proceeding. And for the reasons that follow, we determine that Petitioner [Apple Inc.] does not show by a preponderance of the evidence that claims 46 are unpatentable."

Below is a copy of the Judgement's Final Written Decision in this case.

Final Written Decision on Remand by Jack Purcher on Scribd
Two new review-articles appeared earlier today (Friday) in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship:

A New and Most Welcome Resource for Book of Abraham Studies, written by Quinten Barney

Review of Stephen O. Smoot, John Gee, Kerry Muhlestein, and John S. Thompson, A Guide to the Book of Abraham, BYU Studies Quarterly 61, no. 4 (2022). 302 pages. Abstract: The new and special issue of BYU Studies containing A Guide to the Book of Abraham provides a welcome and easy-to-read approach to the historicity and issues surrounding the Book of Abraham in a way that will engage those beginning their studies in the Book of Abraham just as equally as those who have already become familiar with the subject.

A Restoration of Pauls Understanding of Faith as a Relationship of Action, written by Godfrey J. Ellis

Review of Brent J. Schmidt, Relational Faith: The Transformation and Restoration of Pistis as Knowledge, Trust, Confidence, and Covenantal Faithfulness (Provo, UT: BYU Studies, 2022). 356 pages, $21.95 (softcover). Abstract: Brent Schmidt builds on his earlier book on relational grace by tackling the topic of relational faith. For those interested in historical trends in religious thought, this book provides intimate details of Greek and Latin terms and the gradual corruption of the original Pauline concept of faith by Augustine and other early and influential thinkers and theologians. Leading the reader through the conceptual reworking of the idea of faith by examining both well-known and lesser-known reformers, but somewhat skirting the faith-works debate, Schmidt ends up nevertheless convincingly demonstrating two facts. First, that faith as concrete action, not just as abstract belief, is a distinguishing doctrinal foundation that is consistently preached by leaders of the Church today. Second, Joseph Smiths concept of faith as a covenantal relationship built on mutual trust was not a latter-day invention. Instead, it is a restoration of the concept of faith as originally understood by members of the church at the time of Paul.

The fundamental principles of our religion, said the Prophet Joseph Smith, is the testimony of the apostles and prophets concerning Jesus Christ, that he died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended up into heaven; and all other things are only appendages to these. And if Christ be not risen, the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain (1 Corinthians 15:14). But are the New Testament accounts of the Resurrection credible?

N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird observe that It is important to think historically about how the early traditions [about the resurrection] might have developed. By themselves, neither the empty tomb nor the resurrection appearances alone could have generated belief in Jesus resurrection. Had there been no empty tomb, they reason, the postmortem appearances of Jesus could easily have been dismissed as merely visionary manifestations of his spirit or ghost. And had there been no appearance of Jesus to His disciples, the rumor that Jesuss body had been stolen would have sufficed, for most people, to explain the empty tomb. When viewed together, though, these two crucial historical events, recorded in great detail in the New Testament gospels, provide a strong basis for confidence.

Consider, first, the empty tomb.

The burial of Jesus, and the discovery of the empty tomb, Wright and Bird observe, can be regarded as historically solid.

While many victims of crucifixion received no proper burial, Roman officials were known to release the bodies of condemned criminals to their families particularly during festivals and were probably inclined more often than not to support Jewish burial customs to avoid further commotion. The gospels accurately depict this: When Joseph of Arimathea requests the body of Jesus (during a Jewish festival), Pilate allows Jesus to be properly buried properly.

Even the very mention of Joseph of Arimathea is noteworthy. A member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, he hadnt even been mentioned until this point in the Gospels. Given later tensions between Jews and Christians, if the story of the burial and resurrection of Jesus had been invented at a later date it is unlikely that a Jewish leader would have been mentioned so positively. Another, better-known disciple could have been named, instead.

The earliest rumors recorded in Matthew 27:64 about an empty tomb also suggest the credibility of the New Testaments resurrection narratives: If nobody had suggested such a thing prior to Matthews writing his gospel, Wright and Bird explain, it is difficult to imagine the Christians putting the idea into peoples heads by making up tales that said they had. Such reports of theft were still being told even in the second century AD, which of course assumes that the tomb was empty and the body was not to be found. In the light of such these details, probably most scholars argue that, in fact, the tomb was actually found empty.

The most compelling witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus, however, are the eyewitnesses who personally saw the risen Jesus. Given their testimony, the empty tomb assumes a very specific meaning.

Evidence suggests that each Gospel record reflects direct, eyewitness accounts of the empty tomb and of seeing the resurrected Jesus. For example, Wright and Bird note, the gospel accounts remain scripturally unadorned. Had they been invented at a later date, they would probably have appealed to Old Testament prophetic scriptures (such as Ezekiel 37:26 or Daniel 12:23). Something else was shaping the narrative: a personal encounter to which witness was borne, a witness which was thereby rooted in history.

Robust early traditions attribute the gospels of Matthew and John to the apostles who bore those names and who were themselves among those who saw the resurrected Jesus multiple times: in Jerusalem (Luke 24:3643; John 20:1929), on the shores of the Lake Kinneret (John 21:114 ), on a mountain in Galilee (Matthew 28:1620), and at His ascension into heaven from the Mount of Olives (Luke 24:50; Acts 1:1012).

The wide breadth of the witnesses is also important. In addition to his own testimony, the apostle Paul told the Corinthians that Peter, the twelve apostles, James the brother of Jesus, and a group of five hundred people had also seen the resurrected Jesus (see 1 Corinthians 15:58). Paul even noted that the greater part [of the eyewitnesses] remain unto this present, which means that those who doubted his experience could have checked with them (1 Corinthians 15:6). Thus, the resurrection was still vivid in the memories of living eyewitnesses, making it difficult to simply brush aside.

It is also significant that, in the gospel accounts, the very first witnesses to the Resurrection were the women who came to Jesuss tomb early on Sunday morning. It was to them that the angel spoke: Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen (Luke 24:56), and they saw Jesus himself shortly thereafter. In the ancient world generally and especially in the Jewish world, women were viewed as unreliable witnesses and, accordingly, could not offer a legally binding testimony. It is therefore implausible that a fabricated story in antiquity would rely on women as its key witnesses.

Furthermore, ancient Judaism and broader Greco-Roman antiquity entertained a wide variety of beliefs about life after death, including the existence of spirits or ghosts. Yet the eyewitnesses make it clear that their experience wasnt merely a vision of Jesus spirit. He himself addressed the matter when he asked his disciples, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have (Luke 24:3839).

In addition to the foundational biblical accounts, Latter-day Saints are fortunate to have even more witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus. In the Book of Mormon, for instance, a multitude of about two thousand and five hundred souls saw, heard, and touched Jesus on the first day of His post-resurrection ministry in the Americas (3 Nephi 11:717; 17:25). This multitude then spread the word so that on the following day when he appeared again, the multitude was so great that they did cause that they should be separated into twelve bodies (3 Nephi 19:5). Jesus again ministered unto the twelve whom he had selected (3 Nephi 27) and, three centuries later, he ministered to Mormon and Moroni (Mormon 1:15; Ether 12:39).

Other witnesses of the Resurrection appear in modern times. Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ in the Sacred Grove (see Joseph SmithHistory 1:1520), and Christ appeared, over at least ten occasions, to a total of at least twenty-three other people in Kirtland, Ohio. The reality of the Lords Resurrection has continuously been declared by the Latter-day prophets and apostles of Jesus Christ unto the entire world.

The paragraphs immediately above represent a condensed summary of Why Are the Gospel Accounts of the Resurrection Credible? which is a KnoWhy from Book of Mormon Central.

Finally, heres a small but gratifyingly toxic item from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial How Religion Poisons Everything File: Religion and spirituality play helpful role in mental health

Posted from Las Vegas, Nevada
Gallicanism, Ultramontanism, and Petrine Primacy in the New Testament

The book, The Infallibility of the Church (1888) by Anglican anti-Catholic polemicist George Salmon (1819-1904), may be one of the most extensive and detailed  as well as influential  critiques of the Catholic Church ever written. But, as usual with these sorts of works, its abominably argued and relentlessly ignorant and/or dishonest, as the critiques listed below amply demonstrate and document.

Prominent Protestant apologist Norman Geisler and his co-author Ralph MacKenzie triumphantly but falsely claim, in a major critique of Catholicism, Roman Catholics and Evangelicals: Agreements and Differences (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1995, 206-207, 459), that Salmons book has never really been answered by the Catholic Church, and call it the classic refutation of papal infallibility, which also offers a penetrating critique of Newmans theory.

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Bishop Butlers book is partially available (8 chapters of 11) in old Internet Archive files (see chapters one seven ) and another web page with Chapter Ten . Most of these files will eventually be inaccessible, so I have decided to select highlights of all of these chapters, and also from chapters eight, nine, and eleven, from my own hardcover copy of the book. The words below are all from Bishop Butler, edited and abridged by myself. I will indicate which chapter excerpts are from, but not page numbers. Subtitles are not Salmons own. George Salmons words will be in; St. Cardinal Newmans words in

Salmons tome, however, has been roundly refuted at least twice: first, by Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Murphy in The Irish Ecclesiastical Record ( March November 1901 and January March 1902): a response (see the original sources )  which Ive now transcribed almost in its totality: adding up to more than 73,000 words, or approximately 257 pages (last two installments abridged a bit); secondly, by Bishop Basil Christopher Butler (1902-1986) in his book, The Church and Infallibility: A Reply to the Abridged Salmon (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1954, 230 pages). See all of these replies  and any further ones that I make  listed under George Salmon on my Anti-Catholicism web page

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See other installments of this series:

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I do not know anything in the teaching of the modern Church which suggests that an Ecumenical Council (which requires papal acceptance as such for its claim to the title) is any less of a main organ than is the Pope, defining a doctrine (as recently that of the Assumption) without the formality of a Council. The country can be governed by Order in Council (a direct act of superior authority) or by Act of Parliament (and a Bill only becomes an Act when it receives the royal signature), but it would be rash to assume that the claim of Parliament to be the main  organ of government is not upheld. Similarly, it is of course simply a mistake to say, as Salmon himself does, (S, page 109) that modern Catholics seek to show that infallibility does not reside in Councils. The Church recognizes about twenty [now 21] Ecumenical Councils, and all their doctrinal definitions are accepted as infallible.

Chapter 10 of the Abridgement is devoted to the Vatican Council [1870], at which the Popes infallibility was defined and the old theological controversy between Gallicans (who thought a Council superior to a Pope) and Ultramontanes was thus terminated by a conciliar act. Salmons main source for his sharply critical account of the Council was apparently Quirinus, and this means that it was largely Dollinger, whom Mr. Woodhouse describes as The great R.C. historian. It is true of course that Dollinger was a great historian, and that he had been a Catholic. But for ten years before the Council he had been moving towards what in modern jargon might be called the left of the theological world, and he left the Church as a result of the Council and its decisions. He is therefore a partial witness.

[see my related article, Dollinger & Liberal Dissidents Rejection of Papal Infallibility (11-28-04) ]

There had been in antiquity what amounted to a traditional recognition that the Church of Rome had always been a citadel of orthodoxy, that its line on any doctrinal issue might be presumed to be correct, and that the infallible Peter spoke in the official utterance of the bishop who, as Bishop of Rome, inherited his apostolic chair (sedes apostolica). There had further been, and especially in the West, a practical recognition of Romes de jure leadership of the Catholic Church. Broadly speaking, these ideas met no serious and persistent opposition from orthodox ecclesiastical quarters either before 1054 (when, under Michael Caerularius, the Eastern Churches drifted into separation from the West) or, in the West, after that date, until the scandals of the Western schism and the period of the anti-Popes shook the prestige of the Roman See.

The Council of Constance (1414-17), in an endeavour to bring the Western schism to an end, declared that

a General Council, as representing the Universal Church, held its power immediately from Jesus Christand that every one, even the Pope, was bound to obey the Council in matters concerning the faith, the extinction of the schism, and the reform of the Church in its head and members; and that the Council had authority over the Pope as well as over all Christians.

This is the theory of theological (as distinct from political) Gallicanism, and the acts of this Council were approved by the Pope saving the rights, dignity, and pre-eminence of the Apostolic See. Theological Gallicanism found a home in France, where the great Bossuet (17th century) was one of its spokesmen, and though its famous Four Articles had in 1690 been declared by the Pope to be null and void, . . .

Meanwhile, the other, and ultimately victorious explanation of the relation of bishops (or Council) and Pope, had been systematically set forth by St. Robert Bellarmine in 1586. This is the theory known as Ultramontanism:

The Pope is the supreme judge in deciding controversies on faith and morals. When he teaches the whole Church in things pertaining to faith, he cannot err.

The nineteenth century, however, witnessed the rise of a movement of thought to which the name New Ultramontanism, or Neo-Ultramontanism, has been applied. [T]he school of thought opposed to the New Ultramontanism came to be described as Gallican. But, says [Cuthbert] Butler, the liberal Catholics were not, as such, Gallicans  that is, they did not, as such, maintain the theological Gallicanism of Bossuet. Their great leader was Montalembert, who declared that he detested Gallicanism and its official formularies; . . .

In England, Ullathorne may be taken as a typical case of a man educated on the lines of the old theological Gallicanism who, by the date of the Vatican Council, had evolved into a supporter of the moderate Ultramontanism canonised in that Councils definition of faith. Cardinal Newman, the greatest of the Oxford converts, stated after the Council, as we have seen, that he had held this theological opinion ever since his conversion a quarter of a century earlier. But the great layman convert W. G. Ward, editor of the Dublin Review since 1863, was an ardent advocate of extreme theological Neo-Ultramontanism:

He held that the infallible element of bulls, encyclicals, etc., should not be restricted to their formal definitions, but ran through the entire doctrinal instructions; the decrees of the Roman Congregations, if adopted by the Pope and published by his authority, thereby were stamped with the mark of infallibility, in short, his every doctrinal pronouncement is infallibly directed by the Holy GhostWards attitude to encyclicals and allocations was much like the Protestant attitude to the BibleHe insistedthat his view was the only Catholic oneonly invincible ignorance excusing [those who rejected it] from mortal sin. [Cuthbert Butler, The Life and Times of Bishop Ullathorne, vol. 2, 41-44]

It can be well understood that such as extreme position, advocated with force and ability, by a theologian like Ward, aroused the greatest anxiety in more moderate men such as Newman, with a deep knowledge of Christian history and a sense of those fine distinctions which looked like treachery to Ward, and like special pleading to Salmon.

It will thus, I take it, be seen that it is altogether mistaken to suppose that the line which separates the minority at the Council from the majority must be the same as the line dividing those who held, from those who rejected, the opinion that the Pope as pastor of the flock of Christ is superior to any Council lacking his ratification, and that he is therefore infallible. There were those who held this opinion as theologically true, but feared either the extreme position of the Neo-Ultramontanes or the effect of even a moderate definition upon governments and upon non-Catholics, and the danger that it would lead to an undesirable centralization and a diminution of the rights and status of the other diocesan bishops. In fact, as we can now see, the Neo-Ultramontanes did not prevail at the Council, democratic governments have found it possible to maintain diplomatic relations with the Holy See, and the bishops had their authority secured to them in the Canon Law of the Latin Church. Unfortunately, many non-Catholics continue, like Salmon, to imagine that Neo-Ultramontanism is now the official creed of the Catholic Church.

Chapter Seven: St. Peters Primacy

The course of Salmons argument now takes him back from the Vatican Council to the origins of Christianity, and in the eleventh chapter of the Abridgement the Petrine texts and St. Peters position as deducible from the New Testament are investigated; and the claim is made that whatever special prerogatives Christ gave to the first among his Apostles, still no provision was made whereby these prerogatives should be transmitted to a line of individual successors of St. Peter.

Before descending into the detail of these discussions, there is a point which I think it legitimate to make here. The foundation of the Churchs case against Protestantism is that Christ entrusted his truth and grace to a visible society of human beings, the perpetuity of which society on earth is assured by divine Providence; and such a society does in fact appear to be the one direct outcome in history of Christs life on earth. Approaching the New Testament documents as historians, we see in them the evidence of that Churchs existence and activity in the apostolic generation. The books of the New Testament were written by and for members of that society. When we come to the second and subsequent centuries of our era the Great Church is indeed flanked by other more or less Christian bodies, and Christian influence makes itself felt beyond the limits of any social incorporations of Christianity. But these other bodies, in so far as they are (imperfectly) Christian, and these influences, all derive from the Great or Catholic Church. And so it has been ever since.

The story of Christianity has been, in fact, the story of a great central body known to itself and to the non-Christian world as the Catholic Church, and alongside it of other bodies and influences derived historically from it. I know that all Christians see things in this light. But no unprejudiced person will deny that this is at least a reasonable way of looking at the Christian fact in history, somewhat as the Copernican hypothesis is a reasonable way of looking at the phenomena relating to what we now call the solar system. Moreover, for a Christian who believes that something called the Church was established by Christ as an essential part of his work for all mankind, this way of looking at the Christian story makes sense of the New Testament evidence on this subject.

Now there is one text, and only one, in the Gospels, in which Christs intention to found such a Church is expressed in language incorporating the actual word Church (ecclesia). It is the famous words of Christ in the middle of St. Matthews Gospel:

Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jonas, because flesh and blood hath not revealed it [viz. the fact that Jesus is Christ the Son of the living God] to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the Kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosened also in heaven. (Matthew 16:17-19)

This passage has, of course, and for obvious reasons, been the storm-centre of controversies, literary, historical, exegetical, and theological. All I want to do here, however, is to emphasize that the passage does stand there, in the New Testament, and in a prominent position in the New Testament.

The text cries out across the centuries to the contemporary fact and the contemporary fact harks back to the original commission. I venture to think that to anyone who believes in divine Providence; and especially to anyone who already believes, or inclines to believe, that the divine entered into the texture of human history in a unique and supreme way in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth; and above all to anyone who believes that Christ founded a visible society that was to represent him on earth till the end of history, this correspondence between the beginning and the end of the Christian story, so far as that story has yet been unrolled, is profoundly moving, claims the most earnest and prayerful attention, and is an invitation to faith.

The correspondence can, of course, more or less, be explained away, just as a believing Jew will explain away the correspondence between Old Testament Judaisms messianic hope and the Christian message. The method of explaining away is to concentrate attention on the human and other creaturely causes which have influenced and in some measure affected the development of the Church. This is the method adopted by Salmon, and to a discussion of his use of it we must shortly turn.

It is surely no great straining of this text, to see in it the bestowal on Peter, for transmission to those who should succeed in his see, of the powers and privileges which Catholics believe that the Pope possesses. But even one who does not see this in the text, must surely admit that the scriptural evidence is not demonstrably inconsistent with the Catholic belief; and this is all we need. And so, too, with the evidence of subsequent history.

A Catholic does not yield religious faith to the Vatican definition because he thinks that the truth of the definition can be historically proved without appeal to the authority of the Church that holds its teaching commission from Christ. It may be difficult for a western non-Catholic to believe in the Papacy; but the difficulty will be principally caused by the fact that the non-Catholic does not yet believe in the Church as a visible association of baptized believers.

What, in fact, is contained in the passage of St. Matthews Gospel quoted above? It is desirable to read the passage in its context, and I suggest that we thus get the following as a probable exegesis.

St. Peter has confessed, on behalf of the other Disciples, that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. In reply Christ first congratulates him on having learned this truth (the cardinal Christian truth when it is a question of distinguishing Christianity from Judaism) not by human means but by divine revelation. He then echoes St. Peters words to him; [As thou hast said that I am Christ, the son of the living god] I in my turn say to thee, Thou art Kepha [the Aramaic for Rock]. The parallelism with Peters confession (which was not Thou art Jesus, but Thou art the Messiah) indicates that Kepha is here not simply a personal name but a name denoting a function or office; and the nature of that function is at once made clear: Thou art Rock, and upon this Rock I will build my Church.

Peter then, in his official or functional capacity, is to be the firm substructure (not a foundation stone but the Rock on which the foundation stones will rest) of the Church which Christ will build as a builder builds a temple or a house. Upon this Rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Sheol [i.e. the might of the city of the powers of evil] will not prevail against it [i.e. the Church, not I think, the Rock]. Thus the Church will have a stability that will make it at all times and for ever victorious over the worst assaults of the evil that is ever conspiring against the divine cause and purpose in history. And the source of this stability will be the Rock on which the Church is built.

We naturally compare the implied simile with that which terminates the Sermon on the Mount:

Every one therefore that heareth these my words and doth them, shall be likened to a wise man that built his house upon a rock, and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded on a rock. (Matthew 7:24f)

We note Christs great concern for stability. It is stable perseverance that counts, not a flash-in-the-pan enthusiasm. So too he contrasted, in the parable of the Sower, the seed sown on good ground with, for instance, that which endured only for a season. So, too, he promised that he who endured to the end should be saved. The man whose character survives all the storms and stresses of natural life is he who rests his behaviour permanently on a permanent adhesion to Christs teaching.

An individual Christian may fail and fall, as Judas did. But Christs promise for his Church is that it will not fail or fall. The gates of Sheol will not prevail against it. And the reason is that it is built upon Peter, the Rock. I will point out, in passing, that the stability of the building obviously depends upon the persistence, and persistent functioning, of the Rock. To suggest that the Church can survive and outlive the office or function signified by Peters official name, is like suggesting that the wise man, having once accepted and acted upon Christs teaching, could thereafter dispense with that rock and yet hope to withstand the rain and floods and winds. If the Church is to persist  and Christ assures us that it will  then the Petrine function must a fortiori persist.
6-10,000-Year-Old Universe (?); Myths in Genesis; Straw Men; Protestant Scholarly Authorities; Exorcism; Symbolic Interpretation of Scripture

The late Steve Hays (1959-2020) was a Calvinist (and anti-Catholic) writer, who was very active on his blog, called Triablogue (now continued by Jason Engwer). His 695-page self-published book, Catholicism  which appears to simply be a collection of his articles on his site  has graciously been made available there for free. This is one of many planned critiques of that book. Rather than list them all in individual sections, interested readers are directed to the Steve Hays section of my Anti-Catholicism web page, where they will all be listed. My Bible citations are from the RSV. Steves words will be in blue.

*****

[Chapter 1: Miracles]

Speaking for myself, I rarely attended Sunday school as a kid. I wasnt raised on a cartoon version of the flood narrative. Likewise, many people come to the Christian faith as adults. They had no Christian upbringing. [p. 5]

It should be noted, however (speaking of cartoon versions of things), that Hays was a young-earther: typically a position held by biblical fundamentalists. In a post called Dawkins Postmortem (10-22-06), he wrote: The universe is between 6000-10,000 years old, give or take. He noted that he held this view with certain qualifications but they are not such as to change the essential position. Note that I am not asserting that he himself was a fundamentalist, based on this consideration alone; only that it is in fact held mostly by biblical fundamentalists, who interpret the Bible much more literally than most reputable Bible scholars among all the various sorts of Christians. Hays was operating within a certain paradigm, at any rate  whatever it was , as we all do.

The origin of Jericho as an established city has been dated to 8,000 BC (many scholars regard it as the oldest city in the world): at which time it already had a massive stone wall around the settlement, strengthened at one point at least by a massive stone tower (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Jericho). That would mean that it was in place at about the same time that Hays thinks (if we adopt his older date) the entire universe began. And there were developments of the city (a long period of settlement) up to a thousand years before the universe began, according to Hays: quite a feat!

Catholic Cognitive Dissonance [p. 5: subtitle]

Citing a Catholic who referred to biblical literalists, Hays polemically shot back with, Well, Catholics are literalists when it comes to the Bread of Life discourse (John 6). [p. 5] Yes, quite true. The issue in such matters is whether it is warranted to interpret a text literally or symbolically, allegorically, or as an example of hyperbole and many other non-literal forms of expression that are found throughout the Bible. The exegete needs to determine the literary nature of any given biblical text. Ive written at length about how there are insuperable exegetical problems if one interprets John 6 (i.e., the second part of it) non-literally. See, for example: John 6: Literal Eucharist Interpretation (Analogical Cross-Referencing and Insufficient Counter-Arguments) [8-15-09].

Hays noted the words of Ven. Pope Pius XII in Humani Generis [1950], about the book of Genesis, and immediately set out to caricature the popes words and to distort his actual thoughts and intentions (something, sadly, that he habitually did in his apologetics, as I will show time and again in this series):

i) To say Gen 1-11 is metaphorical rather than historical is a rearguard action. That reflects the triumph of modernism in contemporary Catholicism. Its certainly not the traditional view of Gen 1-11. [p. 7]

But of course, Pius XII didnt express this heretical notion in the first place (one notes that Hays didnt document him actually doing this). Pius XII and the Church herself are very clear about this: the early chapters of Genesis are historical in nature, but expressed in a semi-mythical, very primitive literary form, that we know little about. Pope Pius XII wrote in this Encyclical:

[T]he first eleven chapters of Genesis, although properly speaking not conforming to the historical method used by the best Greek and Latin writers or by competent authors of our time, do nevertheless pertain to history in a true sense, . . . (38; my italics and bolding) Therefore, whatever of the popular narrations have been inserted into the Sacred Scriptures must in no way be considered on a par with myths or other such things, which are more the product of an extravagant imagination than of that striving for truth and simplicity which in the Sacred Books, also of the Old Testament, is so apparent that our ancient sacred writers must be admitted to be clearly superior to the ancient profane writers. (39; my italics and bolding)

So we have what a pope actually expressed, then we see how Hays twisted and distorted it, so that he could set forth a straw man mythical version (heres where the true myth lies!) of what the Catholic Church teaches. The first task of the honest researcher, on the other hand, is to accurately document what his or her opponents position is. The above distortions of our beliefs are simply not honest. Hays was too sharp of a guy to be that ignorant. This was deliberate distortion. A sentient being with brain cells and a rudimentary understanding of logic and grammar (and a sense of fair play and intellectual honesty) cant possibly read Pius XIIs words in Humani Generis and summarize them as expressing the notion that Gen[esis] 1-11 is metaphorical rather than historical.

ii) Scholars who deny the historicity of Gen 1-11, or treat it as metaphorical, dont suddenly view the rest of the Pentateuch as historical. Scholars who take that view of Gen 1-11 dont think the patriarchal narratives, or Exodus, or wilderness account, constitute a record of human experiences in living memory, based directly on eyewitness testimony, interviews with eyewitnesses. [p. 7]

I agree. These are the liberal dissidents and dissenters that all Christian communions are blessed with. The difference in the Catholic Church is that we have an authoritative magisterium (pope and ecumenical councils) that can resolve theological issues and controversies once and for all. Protestants (and even Orthodox) have no such thing. All they can do is take head count of scholars, which accomplishes nothing and is a form of the ad populum fallacy (lots of folks  and the smart people  believe x, therefore x must be true).

Hays, quite often, trots out names of the usual suspect Catholic liberal dissidents and presents their views, as if they reflect actual Catholic defined, magisterial teaching. They do not. Catholic scholars are not our authorities in the way that Protestant scholars function, as an ersatz authority in Protestantism. And the latter do that because they have to fill the void left by the Protestant institutional and theological rejection of ecumenical councils and the papacy and authoritative apostolic tradition and apostolic succession, and they cant possibly do so. The strong Protestant tendency (easily demonstrated from the sad history of their endless denominations) is for these scholars to keep getting more and more anti-traditional and theologically liberal (even in the Protestant sense) and for entire denominations to follow their lead and walk right over the cliff.

Hays at this point switched on a dime and started discussing Catholic Mariology (anti-Catholics generally are notorious for irrational and/or deliberately evasive topic-switching), exorcism and Catholic belief in the Real, Substantial Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

Why not interpret Marys real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth as mythical or metaphorical language? [p. 8]

Because it was part and parcel of the miracle of the virgin birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We believe that He was so special (as God the Son and God Incarnate that even the birth process itself was miraculous in a unique way. When God the Son is being born, that is an event unique in the history of the world: a one-time event that will never happen again. And we believe that this was entirely proper and fitting.

Recently I made a biblical study of the latter concept, that is often mocked by Protestants.

Why not interpret demonic possession and exorcism as an archaic way of expressing a deeper content? [p. 8]

Simply because demons are very real and harmful creatures, just as the devil is. Catholics believe in these things, which is why we are virtually the only Christians to take exorcism seriously: something that inexorably follows from Jesus actually commanding the disciples to cast out demons (Mt 10:8; Mk 3:15; 16:17). After following Jesus orders, the disciples exclaimed like good little exorcists: Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name! (Lk 10:17). Yes they are.

But Hays (on p. 41) calls his own view semicessationist: meaning that God now works miracles directly or individually, rather than working through an official intermediary (e.g. apostle, prophet, healer). It follows logically that no Christian today can exercise the prerogative that Catholic exorcists do: to cast out demons. Only God can do that. The problem is that this novel idea is a mere Protestant tradition of men that isnt found in the Bible anywhere, which explains why Hays never attempts to defend it from the Bible, in his discussion of it on pages 40-42.

Instead, he disagrees with another Protestant tradition of men from a fellow Calvinist: good ol Benjamin Warfields even more extreme complete cessationism. And so he continues the proud Protestant tradition of never-ending internal dissension (that can never be decisively resolved within their rule of faith and worldview), while we seek to follow our Lords express injunctions in Holy Scripture and help poor souls to be freed from horrific demonic possession. Which is more biblical: dissensions that are roundly condemned by Paul ten times or more, or liberating human beings from oppressing and possessing demons? Which pleases God more? Which is more loving and Christlike?

Why not interpret the claim that the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained in a wafer as mythical or metaphorical? [p. 8]

Because the exegesis of John 6 doesnt logically or theologically permit such an interpretation, as I explained in an article linked above. The symbolic standpoint is utterly incoherent and self-defeating.

Why not treat the Assumption of Mary as a metaphor? [p. 8]

Because if in fact the Blessed Virgin Mary was granted an entirely unmerited, gratuitous gift by God of being without original sin, then the absence of bodily decay after death (which came from original sin) leads logically to an immediate bodily resurrection, graphically expressed by her being bodily assumed into heaven.

Why not treat Marian apparitions like Fatima as mythical or metaphorical? [p. 8]

Because there were eyewitnesses of the apparitions, and associated miracles (like the miracle of the sun), and healings: none of which are merely mythical or metaphorical; theyre quite real, just as witnesses of Jesus resurrection experienced real, tangible events (with Thomas even touching Jesus physical wounds), and Jesus eating fish after His resurrection.

Devout Catholic intellectuals are by turns skeptical and superstitious. Rationalistic and fideistic. [p. 8]

This is sheer nonsense (complete with one of Hays trademark incomplete sentences), as just shown. The orthodox Catholic exercises faith, as all Christians do and must, but its a rational faith, based in part on evidences from reason, not a blind faith.

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Practical Matters: Perhaps some of my 4,200+ free online articles (the most comprehensive one-stop Catholic apologetics site) or fifty-one books have helped you (by Gods grace) to decide to become Catholic or to return to the Church, or better understand some doctrines and why we believe them. Or you may believe my work is worthy to support for the purpose of apologetics and evangelism in general. If so, please seriously consider a much-needed financial contribution. Im always in need of more funds: especially monthly support. The laborer is worthy of his wages (1 Tim 5:18, NKJV). 1 December 2021 was my 20th anniversary as a full-time Catholic apologist, and February 2022 marked the 25th anniversary of my blog. PayPal donations are the easiest: just send to my email address: apologistdave@gmail.com. Youll see the term Catholic Used Book Service, which is my old side-business. To learn about the different methods of contributing, including 100% tax deduction, etc., see my page: About Catholic Apologist Dave Armstrong / Donation Information. Thanks a million from the bottom of my heart!

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Photo credit: The Whore of Babylon (workshop of Lucas Cranach): colorized illustration from Martin Luthers 1534 translation of the Bible [public domain / Wikimedia Commons]

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Summary: The late Steve Hays was a Calvinist and anti-Catholic writer and apologist. This is one of my many critiques of Hays Catholicism: a 695-page self-published volume.
Ghana's Minister for Works and Housing, Hon. Francis Asenso-Boakye, has emphasized the need for African countries to increase their investment in the housing sector as a means of driving economic growth on the continent.



Speaking at a Ministerial Roundtable during the 42nd Annual General Meeting of Shelter Afrique in Abuja, Nigeria, on Tuesday, May 9, 2023, the Minister pointed out that the housing sector has significant potential to help Africa emerge from the current global economic slowdown, provided that leaders prioritize and refocus resources on housing development.



Housing can serve as a powerful tool for economic alleviation, especially in Africa, where there is an increasing demand for affordable housing. Investing in housing development can create more job opportunities, boost local economies, and promote economic growth, he added.



The Minister also called on African governments to make more funding available to housing development through their respective Ministries of Finance, and to source long-term financing, as is done in Europe and other advanced economies, to provide affordable housing that meets the needs and financial capacity of citizens.



The Nigerian Finance Minister, Hon. Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, responded by revealing that the Ministry of Works and Housing in Nigeria receives the second-highest budgetary allocation, after the defence ministry. This, she said, was an indication of the government's prioritization of the housing sector, and she urged her fellow Finance Ministers on the continent to follow suit.



Mr. Asenso-Boakye also supported the call by the Housing Minister for Nigeria, Hon. Babatunde Raji Fashola, for Africa to adopt credible data in housing and use it for decision making. He cited Ghana's 2021 Population and Housing Census, which revealed that about 12% of houses in the country are currently unoccupied, as the prices of these homes are above the means of low- to middle-income earners, and called for a change in this narrative.



About Shelter Afrique



Shelter Afrique, established in 1982, is a pan-African housing and development finance institution with a mandate to mobilize resources and invest in the housing sector across Africa. The organization provides financing for a wide range of housing and urban development projects and offers technical assistance to governments and other stakeholders in the housing sector to support the development of policies and regulations.



Shelter Afrique works closely with African governments, multilateral organizations, private sector actors, and civil society to promote the development of the housing sector and improve living conditions across the continent.

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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Insurance Group, Hollard Ghana, has awarded Gwendy Tetteh, the 2023 valedictorian from the University of Media, Arts, and Communication (UniMAC), with the Hollard Prize at the universitys first congregation held at the Dzorwulu Campus, Accra.



The Hollard Prize under the Hollard x Academia partnershipwith UniMAC seeks to reward top-performing students for winning in academics and personal development. The honoree Gwendy Tetteh received a cash prize, a citation, and a laptop for graduating with a distinction in Master of Arts, Public Relations.



The Head of Operations for Hollard Life, Dorothy Salifu, presented the award on the company's behalf during the brief ceremony in Accra.



Speaking on the essence of the award, Cynthia Ofori-Dwumfuo, Group Head of Marketing and Corporate Affairs, Hollard Ghana, commended Gwendy Tetteh for chalking this fantastic milestone.



"Congratulations to Gwendy Tetteh for emerging the best-graduating student at UniMAC. It is inspiring to see Gwendy, a working student, wife, and mum, effortlessly juggle work, raising a family, and her academics to top her cohort. We are proud of her achievements and share in her joy. We cannot wait to celebrate her professional accomplishments in the future. We hope her story motivates more students, especially young women, to be success driven.



As a responsible corporate citizen, we are elated to partner with the University of Media, Arts and Communication to use our flagship Hollard x Academia platform to impact young Ghanaians positively. Given the significance of tertiary education in nation-building, it is crucial to drive students to pursue academic excellence. At Hollard, our purpose is to enable more people to create and secure a better future by being a catalyst for positive and enduring change. Therefore, we are confident that students from our partner universities will be well-equipped to succeed in the future ", she added.



The University of Media, Arts, and Communication (UniMAC) is one of four schools benefiting from the Hollard X Academia scheme. Aside from the Hollard Prize, the other modules under Hollard X Academia are the Hollard Streetwise Finance engagement, thought leadership events, corporate events, and the Hollard scholar programme.



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 0307000599. 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, www.melcom.com/hollard-insurance and www.jumia.com.gh for all their insurance needs.

Source: Peacefmonline









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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In a landmark move set to transform the landscape of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in Ghana, Absa Bank Ghana and the Mastercard Foundation have partnered to offer an unprecedented support programme that will elevate SMEs and propel their growth to new heights.



This initiative marks a turning point for women-owned businesses, young entrepreneurs, agribusinesses, and fintechs in Ghana, as they will now have access to borrow money from Absa Bank at a remarkably low rate of 10%, without collateral. The timing could not be better, as the average commercial borrowing rates in Ghana have soared above 25%, making it harder for businesses to thrive and achieve their full potential.



Absa Bank Ghana has always been committed to the growth and success of small and medium-sized businesses, recognizing their power to transform the economy of the country. This support programme is an exciting development that reflects the bank's unwavering commitment to empowering and partnering with SMEs as they navigate the challenges of today's marketplace.



Managing Director of Absa Bank Ghana, Abena Osei-Poku, has described the programme as a groundbreaking moment in the bank's journey to transform the landscape of Ghanaian businesses "We are not just a bank  we are a partner in Ghanas real sector growth. We are committed to making an impact within our communities, to supporting the dreams and aspirations of SMEs as they contribute to the total transformation of the Ghanaian economy."



The programme is one of the most compelling stories of hope and possibility in a world that is grappling with uncertainty and volatility. The Mastercard Foundation is offering capacity support and guidance for the programme while Absa Bank will take care of the lending aspect of the initiative.



This development is a beacon of hope for small and medium businesses in Ghana, as it presents a unique opportunity to access capital at an incredibly low rate, empowering them to create jobs, drive economic growth and unlock their full potential. It is an investment in Ghana's future, and Absa Bank Ghana is leading the charge to transform the economy by supporting and partnering with these businesses, one story at a time.

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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The US ambassador to South Africa has accused the country of supplying weapons to Russia despite its professed neutrality in the war in Ukraine.



Reuben Brigety claimed that a Russian ship was loaded with ammunition and arms in Cape Town last December.



President Cyril Ramaphosa's office said it was disappointed by the claims and said no evidence has been provided to support them.



The country has maintained claims of neutrality in the invasion of Ukraine.



Mr Brigety said at a media briefing in Pretoria on Thursday that Washington had concerns about the country's stated non-aligned stance on the conflict.



He referred to the docking of a cargo ship in the Simon's Town naval base between 6 and 8 December last year which he was "confident" uploaded weapons and ammunition "as it made its way back to Russia".



The presence of the ship, the Lady R, had seemed curious at the time and raised questions from some local politicians.



"The arming of the Russians is extremely serious, and we do not consider this issue to be resolved," Mr Brigety said, in a damning accusation that seems to have caught South Africa's officials off guard.



In the wake of the allegations, the South African government announced the establishment of an independent inquiry led by a retired judge, a spokesman for the president's office said.



The US has been critical for months about South Africa's continued cosy relationship with Russia.



State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel told journalists on Thursday that the US had previously raised concerns about the Lady R with numerous South African officials.



He said the US would speak out against "any country taking steps to support Russia's illegal and brutal war in Ukraine", but would not say whether there would be any repercussions for South Africa if the claims proved to be true.



Washington has also expressed concerns about South Africa's participation in military exercises with Russia and China during the anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.

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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KYODO NEWS - May 13, 2023 - 21:23 | All, World, G7

Science ministers from the Group of Seven countries confirmed Saturday that inappropriate diversion of research results, including for military purposes, is a growing concern, with security risks mounting worldwide in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In a joint statement released after their two-day meeting, the G-7 ministers condemned Moscow's aggression against its neighbor for threatening the international order based on the rule of law amid fears about the potential illicit diversion of weapons by Russia.

The science and technology representatives of the G-7 gathered in Sendai, northeastern Japan, to promote the global sharing of research benefits while safeguarding each member nation's national and economic security.

"We share a growing concern that some actors may attempt to unfairly exploit or distort the open research environment and misappropriate research results for economic, strategic, geopolitical, or military purposes," the communique said.

The statement added, "We also acknowledge that science, technology, and innovation will play a key role in rebuilding Ukraine as a modern and sustainable economy."

At a press conference after the gathering, Sanae Takaichi, Japan's minister in charge of science and technology policy, said each country has a sense of crisis regarding security risks as the international situation is becoming more challenging.

Takaichi, chair of the meeting, emphasized the importance of implementing appropriate risk mitigation measures by the G-7 and other partners in a bid to foster continuous and safe international cooperation in research.

At their talks, meanwhile, the science chiefs called for urgent action for the safe and sustainable use of outer space, given the rising number of satellites and the diversity of extraterrestrial activities, which have led to an accumulation of debris in Earth's orbit.

The G-7 ministers said in the communique, "We strongly encourage further research and development of orbital debris mitigation and remediation technologies."

The agreement comes as Russia's antisatellite missile tests have generated a lot of debris in recent years, posing a danger, along with the remnants from a Chinese rocket last year that plunged uncontrollably back to Earth and re-entered the atmosphere.

The G-7 science and technology ministers also said the development and governance of emerging and breakthrough technologies are key to resolving social challenges through innovation.

The chiefs agreed that artificial intelligence, quantum and other cutting-edge technologies are vital to the green and digital transition, as well as economic and national security.
The largest opposition party, National Democratic Congress (NDC), is scheduled to hold its Presidential and Parliamentary primaries on Saturday, May 13.



The primaries is to elect a Presidential candidate and Parliamentary representatives for the party ahead of the 2024 elections.



Currently, three candidates namely former President John Dramani Mahama, former Minister of Finance, Dr. Kwabena Duffour and former KMA Mayor, Kojo Bonsu, are vying for the presidential slot.



However, the Electoral Commission has taken the decision not to supervise the NDC elections after concerns were raised by Dr. Duffour and his team regarding the party's voters' register being infested with errors that, according to them, will cause irreparable damage to their candidate.



Dr. Duffour has sought for postponement of the elections and the court is yet to decide on whether or not the NDC primaries will come off as scheduled.



At a meeting on Wednesday, May 10, with the Elections Committee of the NDC, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mrs. Jean Mensa said in order that the EC is not cited for contempt, it has resolved not to go ahead with supervising the primaries.



"Earlier this week, the Commission received a letter from the Kwabena Duffuor Campaign Team alleging various errors and anomalies with the Register. It was based on this, that the Commission felt it necessary to meet with the Elections Committee of the NDC as well as the representatives of the Presidential Aspirants to deliberate on this matter and agree on a way forward.



"That meeting was to have been held today. However, yesterday we were served with an Application for Interlocutory Injunction seeking to restrain the Commission from supervising the conduct of the Presidential and Parliamentary Primaries due to the alleged anomalies with the register," she said.



As the party awaits the court verdict to proceed with the elections or not, Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah, a Governance Lecturer at the Central University, has made a pick of the candidate to win the NDC Presidential elections.



According to him, he will be utterly shocked if former President John Mahama doesn't emerge victor.



He told host Kwami Sefa Kayi that the two candidates contesting the race stand no chance of winning against Mr. Mahama saying Mr. Kojo Bonsu is "vying for future gains" and for Dr. Duffour, the delegates will surely vote against him.



Speaking on Peace FM's morning show "Kokrokoo", he said; "I will be shocked if President Mahama gets anything less than 85 percent...He will win with a wide margin."





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah has asked the leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to resolve their internal conflict and hold their Presidential and Parliamentary primaries this Saturday, May 13, 2023.



The party's primaries is in limbo as the Electoral Commission has refused to supervise it following a complaint by Dr. Kwabena Duffour, a Presidential aspirant of the party.



Dr. Kwabena Duffour has called for the elections to be postponed, raising concerns that the NDC voters' register has a lot of errors that render the register incomplete and inaccurate to be used to conduct the elections.



His team also says should the party go ahead to hold the elections on Saturday with the register, it will cause irreparable damage to their candidate.



As a result, they, on Tuesday, May 9, filed an interlocutory injunction against the party.



At a meeting on Wednesday, May 10, with the Elections Committee of the NDC, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mrs. Jean Mensa said in order that the EC is not cited for contempt, it will not supervise the primaries.



"Earlier this week, the Commission received a letter from the Kwabena Duffuor Campaign Team alleging various errors and anomalies with the Register. It was based on this, that the Commission felt it necessary to meet with the Elections Committee of the NDC as well as the representatives of the Presidential Aspirants to deliberate on this matter and agree on a way forward...yesterday we were served with an Application for Interlocutory Injunction seeking to restrain the Commission from supervising the conduct of the Presidential and Parliamentary Primaries due to the alleged anomalies with the register," she said.



Addressing the issue during Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" show, Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah, a Governance Lecturer at the Central University, hoped the party had resolved this issue internally without it proceeding to the court.



Nonetheless, he prayed the party's leaders to sit with the aggrieved candidate and find a suitable solution to this dispute.



He believed the delegates both abroad and in the country have made preparations for this Saturday, hence postponing the elections won't be good news for them and the party.



"If they postpone this election, it will cost a lot of people. It will cost the party. So, they should resolve the issue", 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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Reliable information reaching Peacefmonline indicates that NDC flagbearer aspirant, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor has withdrawn his suit against the National Democratic Congress (NDC).



As announced by Peace FM morning show host, Kwami Sefa Kayi on 'kokrokoo', Firday morning, the former Finance Minister has accepted to resolve the case out of court with the party.



Kojo Bonsu, a flagbearer aspirant of the opposition NDC, earlier in the day, called on Dr. Duffuor to consider the interest of the party and withdraw his suit.



In a statement on Friday, the former Kumasi Mayor said the issues raised by Dr. Kwabena Duffuor can be resolved internally and amicably in unity.



More details soon . . .











Kwabena Duffuor's Case



NDC flagbearer aspirant, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor on Tuesday, May 9, filed an interlocutory injunction against the partys presidential and parliamentary primaries.



The suit by Dr. Duffuor is to bar the NDC and the Electoral Commission from holding the primaries pending the production of a complete photo album register.



The former Finance Minister also wants the party to deliver the complete register to him at least five weeks ahead of the election.



According to the plaintiff, data from only 220 out of the 275 constituencies have been verified. An exceptional list of 74,799 he adds has been created which cannot also be verified because of scanty information.



For no credible reason, 3,910 eligible voters at the 220 constituencies have been disenfranchised, Dr. Duffuors writ read in parts.



He further makes a point, the photo album put out by the electoral directorate of the NDC with the knowledge, consent, and tacit approval of the general secretary of the party would compromise the integrity of the election to his detriment.



The Plaintiff maintains that the reluctance to extend the time for the internal elections and provide a complete and credible photo album register ahead of time to the presidential aspirants for verification smacks of a plan to create an undue advantage for manipulation of the presidential primaries, the motion added.



Kwabena Duffuor had complained of some discrepancies in the partys voter register and called on the National Executive of the party to postpone the upcoming primaries, but the party stated that the primaries will proceed accordingly.

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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NDC delegates at Sefwi Wiawso have reportedly boycotted their ongoing parliamentary and presidential elections.



The delegates are infuriated at their executives, accusing them of "chopping" their GH40 per delegate T&T money.



Former President John Dramani Mahama, who is contesting the presidential elections to become the party's leader into the 2024 elections, is said to have provided the delegates with money to enable them travel to the voting centres.



According to a statement issued by his spokesperson, Joyce Bawa Mogtari, "as the party heads to the polls on Saturday for the presidential and parliamentary primaries, the John Mahama Campaign wishes to inform all of Mr Mahama's decision to support delegates with some T&T to enable them travel to the voting centres".



In the statement, Prof Joshua Alabi, a member of the former President's campaign team, called for equal distribution of the money.



"There must be no discrimination in the disbursement of the GH40 per delegate T&T money", he urged.



But the Sefwi Wiawso delegates complain they haven't received theirs and have threatened not to vote until their executives give them their T&T money.





Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Former Education Minister and 2020 Running Mate for former President John Mahama, Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang says the National Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential and parliamentary primaries currently taking place across the nation is a rehearsal for the big elections in 2024.



Addressing some delegates at a constituency, Mrs. Naana Opoku-Agyemang urged them to make the primaries very peaceful and cast their votes without engaging in any form of violence.



She said "this is just a rehearsal" and advised the delegates not to lose sight of the 2024 elections, stressing "the bigger task lies ahead of us".



She admonished them to comport themselves to send a positive signal to the nation.



"Let no one hear of any disturbances here. Let them know we are well-trained...Do not let your conduct make it difficult for us to unite because if it happens this way, the enemy will enter and it will be the end of us. Nothing we do will favor us", she charged the delegates.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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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.
Three people were charged after two dogs  one of which was dead  were found tied to a tree in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, authorities said.

The dogs were tied to a tree in a wooded area on Wilburforce Avenue and had been there at least a week, the Atlantic County Prosecutors Office said Friday.

The dog that was alive was emaciated and needed medical attention, officials said.

Derek Hardy, 58, Lassale Hardy, 56, and Shak Balayet, 51, all of Egg Harbor Township, were each charged with two counts of third-degree animal cruelty in addition to multiple charges of disorderly persons animal cruelty.

Attorney information wasnt immediately available.

The prosecutors office issued a reminder that pets that can no longer be properly cared for or are no longer wanted can be surrendered to the Atlantic County Animal Shelter in Pleasantville or the Humane Society in Atlantic City.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Atlantic County Prosecutors Office at 609-909-7800 or click ACPO.Tips to provide information by filling out the form anonymously.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.

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York City Police are seeking the publics help in locating a man they believe robbed the Peoples bank branch office on Yorks Square Friday afternoon.

Police said the robbery was reported at 1:27 p.m. Friday. Shortly before, according to reports, the robber entered the bank office at One Market Way West and showed a teller a demand note that also indicated he was armed.

While there were customers in the bank at the time, it was not immediately clear if they were aware the robbery was occurring. No one was injured during the robbery.

York police said the robber was last seen heading west on Market Street after leaving the bank with an undisclosed amount of cash. Police are checking surveillance cameras and other sources to see if they can trace his movements from there.

In the meantime, the above photo of the robbery suspect has been released. Readers who may have information about this person are asked to contact the York Police tipline at 717-849-2204, or email Detective Andy Baez at abaez@yorkcity.org
A recently released dessert wine named Veritas thats produced by Boordy Vineyards won the 2023 Maryland Winemasters Choice competition.

Its the latest addition to Boordys Landmark series of premium wines, which includes all of its reserve wines.

Veritas was released in late December. The full-bodied dessert wine is made primarily from Chambourcin grapes, sourced from the home vineyard located by the winery, with smaller amounts of Petit Verdot and Syrah, which both come from Boordys South Mountain Vineyard in Washington County. The wines aromas of orange and caramel develop from gradual oxidation while aging in French oak for seven years.

Yes, this is a 2015 vintage. It won the best fortified/dessert wine award and then the competitions Best in Show title.

Rob Deford, president of one of the East Coasts most historic (and oldest) wineries, said they discovered almost by accident that Chambourcin makes an exceptional port-style wine when appropriately vinified and patiently aged. Our 2015 Veritas spent 7 years in barrel, allowing it ample time to develop its nuanced aromas and depth of flavor. The credit for our Veritas goes to our vineyard crew, led by Ron Wates, and our winemakers Tom Burns and Jose Real, he said in the Maryland Wineries Association (MWA) release.

When the wine was released, Deford told Boordys club members in an email that there are two anomalies in the production of Veritas: first, pure grape spirits are added to arrest primary fermentation before its completed, retaining some unfermented juice which contributes a jammy grape aroma and an indulgent residual sweetness of 8%. We call this process fermentus interruptus  not proper Latin, but you get the point.

The addition of spirits raises the alcohol content to 18%, making Veritas our headiest wine. The spirits are custom distilled from our estate grapes by Sagamore Rye Distillery in Baltimore, who, I might add, uses our retired Port barrels to age their reserve Rye whiskey. The second anomaly is that Veritas has been aged for 7 years in French oak barrels that are filled to 90% of capacity, leaving a bit of head space to encourage gentle oxidation. We would never dream of doing this to our other Landmark Reds, but the elevated alcohol protects Veritas from spoilage, and during extended aging it develops decadent aromas of dark chocolate and baked walnuts.

The MWA annually holds two in-state competitions: the Winemakers Choice and then its Governors Cup later in the year. Where so many of these competitions wind up being won by red blends, the last two Maryland contests have awarded Best in Show to dessert wines. In addition to the Veritas, an ice wine-style dessert wine called Siberian Ice from Big Cork Vineyards in Rohrersville, about 25 miles west of Frederick, won the 2022 Governors Cup.

The view from the back deck on a sunny Friday afternoon at Boordy Vineyards, in Hydes, Maryland.

Both wineries are among the regions top producers. Big Cork opened in 2014 and has been racking up accolades since.

Boordy Vineyards became a bonded winery in 1945, founded and operated by Jocelyn and Philip Wagner. His legacy was the promotion of French American hybrids such as Seyval, Vidal and Chambourcin in America, and also will be remembered for running the winery and a nursery while still holding his day job as the Baltimore Sun editorial page editor after succeeding H.L. Mencken.

The Deford family purchased the winery in 1980.

There were 147 entries in the Winemakers Choice competition. The list below includes the best in class, double gold and gold medal winners:

Best In Class

BEST IN SHOW & Fortified/Dessert: Boordy Vineyards  2015 Veritas

White Blend: Big Cork Vineyards  2022 Russian Kiss

White Varietal: Boordy Vineyards  2022 Albarino

Red Blend: Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard  2022 Orion

Sweet/Dessert: Boordy Vineyards  2022 Chambourcin Merlot

Rose: Boyd Cru Wines  2022 Free Spirit Rose

Fruit: Big Cork Vineyards  NV Black Raspberry Port

Mead: Clear Skies Meadery  2023 Meadarita

Sparkling: Big Cork Vineyards  2022 Blanc de Blanc

Double Gold Medal Wines

Big Cork Vineyards  2020 Muscat Port

Big Cork Vineyards  2022 Russian Kiss

Boordy Vineyards  2022 Albarino

Boordy Vineyards  2015 Veritas

Serpent Ridge Vineyard  2021 Albarino

Gold Medal Wines

Big Cork Vineyards  NV Black Raspberry Port

Boordy Vineyards  2022 Chambourcin Merlot

Boyd Cru Wines  2022 Free Spirit Rose

Corteau Vineyards  NV Petit Verdot

Corteau Vineyards  NV Barbera

Corteau Vineyards  2022 Chardonnay

Libertas Estates  2021 Pinot Gris

Port of Leonardtown Winery  2020 Chambourcin Reserve

Port of Leonardtown Winery  2020 Vintners Select Red

Robin Hill Farm & Vineyards  2022 Rooted

Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard  2022 Chardonnay

Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard  2022 Merlot

Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard  2022 Orion

Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard  2022 Pinot Grigio

To see the rest of the competition medalists, visit marylandwine.com.

Looking for a chance to sample some of these wines? Try Wine in the Woods, which will return to Symphony Woods at Merriweather Post on May 20-21. Tickets are available at this link.

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By EVELYNE MUSAMBI, The Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)  The death toll linked to a doomsday cult in Kenya hit 201 Saturday after police exhumed 22 more bodies, most of them bearing signs of starvation, according to the coast regional commissioner.

The bodies are believed to be those of followers of a pastor based in coastal Kenya, Paul Mackenzie. Hes alleged to have ordered congregants to starve to death in order to meet Jesus.

More than 600 people are still missing.

Mackenzie, who was arrested last month, remains in custody. Police plan to charge him with terrorism-related offenses.

Preacher Paul Mackenzie, center, who was arrested, appears at a court in Malindi, Kenya Tuesday, May 2, 2023. (AP Photo, file)AP

Hundreds of bodies have been dug up from dozens of mass graves spread across his 800-acre property, located in the coastal county of Kilifi.

Mackenzie insists that he closed his church in 2019 and moved to his property in a forested area to farm.

Autopsies conducted on more than 100 bodies last week showed the victims died of starvation, strangulation, suffocation and injuries sustained from blunt objects.

Local media outlets have been reporting cases of missing internal body organs, quoting investigators in the case.

Bodybags with victims of a Christin cult are seen during the exhumation from a forest at Shakahola outskirts of Malindi town, Kenyan Coast Tuesday, April 25, 2023. (AP Photo, file)AP

Mackenzie, his wife and 16 other suspects will appear in court at the end of the month.

Coast regional commissioner Rhoda Onyancha on Saturday said the total number of those arrested stood at 26, with 610 people reported as missing by their families.

It is unclear how many survivors have been rescued so far from the search and rescue operations on Mackenzies vast property. Some of them were too weak to walk when they were found.

Cults are common in Kenya, which has a religious society.

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By Noriyuki Suzuki, KYODO NEWS - May 13, 2023 - 17:52 | All, World, G7

The envisaged creation of a "mutually beneficial" partnership with developing nations for resilient supply chains is testimony to how the Group of Seven rich nations that have dominated international trade and finance is transforming itself to cope with what some experts call the "post-globalization" era.

Economic security is among the major G-7 agenda items this year under the presidency of Japan. Behind it lies a sense of alarm about China's tighter grip on critical components that has threatened the national security of other major powers.

With less than a week to go until a summit in Hiroshima where Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's middleman skills will be put to the test, the G-7 finance chiefs concluded their talks on Saturday with an agreement on the launch of the supply chain partnership by the end of this year.

While the G-7 members are united in punishing Russia for its unprovoked war on Ukraine, the group is grappling with the conundrum of not being too harsh nor too easy on Asian powerhouse China.

"The role of the G-7 has increased again," said Martin Schulz, chief economist at Fujitsu. "The current technology confrontation, especially between the United States and China, and the Russian attack on the post-world war order require cooperation and a common position among the middle powers" in the group.

Even within the G-7, the United States is more aggressive about countering what Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen described as "economic coercion," while Japan is seeking to take a balanced approach to China, an assertive neighbor but a key trading partner.

The G-7 plans to enable low- and middle-income countries to play bigger roles in the supply chains of critical components necessary for decarbonization, such as electric vehicle batteries, solar panels and rare earth materials.

The group's members hope that developing nations will benefit from sustainable growth by fostering their own domestic industries through investment and financial aid, while the global push for carbon neutrality will gather momentum backed by stable supplies of components for clean energy.

"Throughout the pandemic, we have witnessed the adverse effects of supply chains excessively concentrated in one place," Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki told a press conference after the G-7 meeting.

While Japanese officials dismiss the idea that the supply chain partnership initiative is directly linked to China, experts say any diversification away from the world's second-largest economy, or "de-risking," is easier said than done.

"In a globalized world, countries stayed out of markets in pursuit of free trade and deregulation. We are in a post-globalized era when countries intervene for political and national security reasons," said Kazuto Suzuki, a professor of international political economy at the University of Tokyo.

"Both China and the United States are offensive in terms of using economic influence to advance their national security interests. But Japan is defensive. As G-7 chair, Japan needs to make sure the group keeps an eye on China while preventing the United States from going too far," Suzuki said.

The United States is curbing semiconductor exports to China, while reportedly considering limiting investments in the Asian nation by U.S. firms.

As she joined her G-7 peers for discussions, Yellen talked about the need for "friendshoring," adding that supply chain diversification efforts can open up trade and investment opportunities for developing nations.

A joint statement after the three-day meeting of the finance ministers and central bank governors made no specific mention of China but underscored the challenges the Asian powerhouse poses to the G-7 -- and developing nations for that matter.

Japan also invited key players with ties to China -- Brazil, India, Singapore and South Korea -- to the finance chiefs' meeting to discuss debt vulnerabilities experienced by developing nations and ways to make supply chains more robust.

"The restructuring of supply chains should come with extra benefits at a time when the economic power of the G-7 is declining and that of China is rising," said Toru Nishihama, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute.

"Gone are the days when smaller nations would simply jump at an offer (from the big ones)," he added.

When the G-7 leaders meet from Friday, they will take up a whole range of global challenges, from Russia's aggression and food security to nuclear disarmament. Economic security will also be on the agenda.

"G-7 cooperation won't suffice," said one government official. "We need to send out a constructive message. That's why we need the Global South."

Related coverage:

G-7 vows to ensure financial stability after U.S. bank failures
SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  A gunfight between police and a man inside a home in east Tennessee left him dead and wounded a K-9 police dog named Hank, who is recovering from surgery, authorities said Saturday.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation did not say if police gunfire killed the man, 63-year-old David Wright, who was found dead inside the house. The bureau said an autopsy would determine the manner and cause of death.

A second person in the home was hospitalized with unspecified injuries. The bureaus news release did not identify the injured person.

Officers went to the house in Sevierville on Friday night after a felony in which someone evaded police in a vehicle, the bureau said. Someone inside the home fired at the officers, who shot back. The bureau is investigating the shooting.

This undated photo released by the Sevierville (Tenn.) Police Dept. shows K-9 officer Hank, who was injured in a gunfight. (Sevierville Police Dept. via AP, file)AP

Sevierville city spokesperson Bob Stahlke said Hank the K-9 officer underwent surgery for a gunshot wound and was transferred to a veterinary clinic in Knoxville. The Belgian Malinois was later sent home to recuperate with his police handler, Stahlke said.

Two sheriffs deputies and one city officer were treated for minor injuries that were not caused by gunshots, the bureau said. They were not identified.

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Three people were hurt and a major midstate highway was closed for about an hour Saturday after a crash in Penn Township, Perry County.

Cpl. Brent Miller of Pennsylvania State Police Newport Barracks said the crash occurred at 3:05 p.m. on Routes 11/15, when a northbound Chevy Silverado pick-up truck crossed into the southbound lane and collided with a Hyundai Elentra sedan.

Miller said both drivers and a passenger in the Elantra were injured and taken to area hospitals for treatment, though their injuries did not appear to be life-threatening. Fire crews from Duncannon had to free one of the victims from their vehicle because of the crash damage.

Miller said the circumstances surrounding the crash remain under investigation at this time.

Perry County emergency dispatchers said the crash investigation and clean-up caused the highway to be closed for about an hour, but both lanes are open now.

.
Brian Shull

Brian Shull is one of three Republican candidates running for the position of magisterial district judge for Magisterial Court 41-3-05, Loysville. Shull has worked in law enforcement for more than 15 years. He believes his experience as an affiant in hundreds of criminal cases has prepared him for the position on the bench.

Brian Shull

As a police officer I act as a mediator between citizens during civil disputes as well as landlord and tenant disputes, referring both parties to the appropriate office or agency for assistance. This experience, actually being in the office of the magisterial district judge often more than once a week, and being an integral part of the process makes me fully capable and ready to serve as magisterial district judge. In June 2022, I attended a month-long certification class, passing a very challenging final exam on the first attempt, and have received my required certification to serve as magisterial district judge from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The Pennsylvania State Troopers Fraternal Order of Police, Keystone Lodge 41, as well as the Fraternal Order of Police, Tri-County Lodge 76, have given their endorsement based on my experience, qualifications and philosophy.

His judicial philosophy and how it informs his decision-making process: I believe in the U.S. Constitution, the Pennsylvania Constitution, the rule of law, and I believe in right and wrong. I have spent my adult life protecting our country and our rights as a soldier and have diligently followed the constitutions as a law enforcement officer. I believe that a contract is a binding agreement and shall not be breeched. I believe that facts are facts and will consider all facts, testimony and related articles as they are presented in each case and will impartially and fairly base my decisions on the same.

How would he ensure the court remains impartial and objective? I will ensure that I always remain impartial and objective in all of my duties as magisterial district judge, treating everyone with dignity and respect. I also will ensure that any personnel employed by the office remain objective and impartial when answering questions or dealing with citizens, attorneys, police and defendants. As a police officer, I know there also are two sides to a story and will give everyone an opportunity to present and explain their side of the story.

How would he approach a case where a defendant chooses to represent themselves while not necessarily understanding the legal process? As magisterial district judge you must ensure that a defendant who chooses to represent themselves understands they have the right to counsel and they can seek counsel at any time during the process. I would take time with them prior to any proceedings to answer any questions they may have about the judicial process, while not offering any type of legal advice. Doing so ensures the defendant has been given a fair, impartial and objective trial.

Was there a time when he had to make a difficult decision, the factors he considered, and the outcome? Serving two tours in Iraq I have certainly made many difficult decisions. As a law enforcement officer I have to make a lot of difficult decisions. The most common difficult decision is when someone has been victimized and they call upon the police to help them and there is no way to prove a case and make an arrest on their behalf. I have always strived to attend to the victims needs, shown empathy and worked diligently to seek justice on their behalf.

How would he would ensure all parties involved in a case are treated with respect and dignity? I, as well as court staff, will treat all persons with dignity and respect. I will also ensure good order and respect shown between all parties while in the court, interjecting in any inappropriate interactions or conversations. I have lived my life by the golden rule, Do unto others as youd have done onto you, and it has served me well.

His experience working with Perry County law enforcement and how he will ensure their actions align with the law: I have professional experience in working with Pennsylvania state troopers from the Newport State Police barracks, whether I provided information or assistance to them and vice versa. The state troopers will present criminal complaints, search warrant applications as well as defendants for preliminary arraignment in front of me as magisterial district judge. As an experienced police officer and supervisor I know the laws of the commonwealth, how they are specifically applied, and I know what probable cause is. When hearing or examining the facts of a case, I will make the appropriate ruling based upon victim, witness and defense testimony, as well as all the facts of the case, remaining fair and impartial. I will also ensure that all steps were followed to protect the defendants constitutional rights.

How he would approach a case that involves a sensitive or controversial issue, such as domestic violence or hate crimes: Unfortunately domestic violence is a very common occurrence and Ive made many arrests, both male and female, throughout my career. I provide the victim with information on domestic violence services, conduct lethality screenings and also provide information on how to seek a protection-from-abuse order against the perpetrator. Ive witnessed the cycle of domestic violence and understand the difficult and sensitive nature of these incidents.

How he would balance the need for justice with the need to show compassion: In my 15-year law enforcement career Ive had to act as a counselor, mediator and therapist. I have always been compassionate and empathetic, and it has served me well. As magisterial district judge, I will examine the case, keeping in mind the rights and wishes of the victim. I will take time to ask questions about personal or family issues, and should the person share information, I will make sure they are aware of any resources they have available to them from the court and other agencies or programs. I have been trained by the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation in assisting individuals in crisis. As an Iraq War veteran and Bronze Star recipient, I have been able to establish a rapport with veterans in crisis, referring them to appropriate services and staying with them and supporting them in their time of need. I have learned throughout my career that when youre dealing with someone in crisis or being difficult, you never truly know what they are dealing with on the inside.

How he would ensure those who cannot afford legal representation receive justice, and what measures hed take to reduce the impact of poverty on the court system: Defendants will provide information on their income and assets which is used to determine whether they qualify for a public defender or not. Should they choose to represent themselves, I would make sure they have all the information they need to adequately do so. In my law enforcement career, I have worked in low-income communities and take that into consideration when initiating criminal proceedings. Ive found that sometimes paying a fine is not the only punitive option and often not effective when levied against a juvenile, whose parents or guardians will likely need to pay. As magisterial district judge, I will consider all options, such as diversionary programs, community service, etc., as a means to not create a financial burden for defendants and their families.

Shull is running against Traci Morrow Wilt and Stacy Wilson for the position. For more information on Shull, visit electbrianshull.com.

Stacy Wilson

Stacy Wilson is one of three Republican candidates running for the position of magisterial district judge for Magisterial Court 41-3-05, Loysville. Wilson, who has worked in the legal field for more than 20 years, is a life-long Perry Countian who graduated from West Perry High School in 1988. She has worked in a variety of legal capacities during her career, working cases involving criminal, civil, family, real estate, and contract law. She also has experience working in a MDJ office.

Stacy Wilson

I have worked in a magisterial district judges office, and learned the aspects of the office with, admittedly, much more to learn. I primarily was the criminal clerk, but I also assisted in landlord-tenant, traffic, non-traffic, civil cases under $12,000, truancy, expungements, issued warrants, assisted in bank deposits and set up payment plans. I also know the MDJS computer system for the office. I received my MDJ board certification training in June of 2022, and received my MDJ certificate on July 15, 2022. I also took the advanced week of MDJ training in December of 2022. I am fully prepared to step into this role and serve the community I have proudly been a part of for more than 52 years.

Her judicial philosophy and how it informs her decision-making process is: I would say my judicial philosophy would fall more toward judicial restraint. Judges should interpret the law, not write new laws. However, rules of life and society are constantly changing, so should a law start to show signs of becoming outdated, then I believe there would be a need to adapt to new circumstances for an outdated law. I would say I do tend to be more conservative, but everyone needs to be heard without bias. For me, being conservative certainly does not mean being close-minded. Each circumstance and each matter needs to be thoroughly evaluated on its own value and merit. With that responsibility you need to ask questions: What factors contributed to this crime, why did this offense occur, what is going on in this persons life and do they have family and friends to assist them in their lives? With each matter you need the ability to see the entire picture and ask the right questions.

How would she ensure the court remains impartial and objective? A judge has the responsibility to protect the rights of the accused, the rights of victims and to determine what is in the best interest of our community. Therefore, a judge must maintain consistency in the courtroom and an atmosphere conducted in an unhurried manner with a sense of calm and dignity. A judge should address the parties to educate on the operation of the proceedings in a manner all understand. A judges conduct should show professional respect, courtesy and fairness to all involved in the proceeding and not allow outside influences to come into the courtroom, such as family, social, political or relationships and avoid contact or familiarity with the parties involved as to avoid the appearance of bias or partiality.

How would she would approach a case where a defendant chooses to represent themselves while not necessarily understanding the legal process? Everyone has a right to self-representation; however, I would be obligated to the self-represented defendant to make sure they have a sense and understanding of the proceedings that must occur in the courtroom and they must have the ability to understand what they are being charged with in the matter. I would also make them aware of the dangers and disadvantages of self-representation, to establish they were given every opportunity to seek professional counsel. I would ask the opposing counsel to give some leeway, as well, but I would also be obligated to make sure the other parties involved are not completely inconvenienced by the self-represented defendant in the same process.

Was there a time when she had to make a difficult decision, the factors she considered, and the outcome? Wilson said she had graduated from college and initially worked as a photographer, and when her daughter was born, she recognized the need for a more stable job. After having moved through a variety of jobs in law enforcement, and after my dad (Harry Wilson) passed away the stress of working three shifts became overwhelming as a single mom, because he, primarily, was my go-to for helping with my 10-year-old daughter. I left law enforcement and took a position with steady hours, but also took a huge pay cut. I felt like I was drowning, so after much consideration and sleepless nights, I decided I needed to better myself, not just for me, but for my daughter. After a huge swallowing of pride, I sold my house and moved in with my mom, Sue Wilson, and went back to school full-time for paralegal studies. I ended up working part-time while putting myself through school and I have become a much stronger and more confident person for doing so. I truly believe hard work and a strong education gives you a solid base to grow from and become a contributing member of our community.

How she would ensure all involved in a case are treated with respect and dignity: All parties should have the same and equally reasonable rights to be heard and to receive accurate and timely notice of any public court proceeding. These proceedings should also include, not just for the accused, but also the victim, any public proceeding involving release, plea agreement, sentencing or parole proceedings. No one should be permitted to outbursts of any kind in the courtroom, courthouse or on the property of the courthouse. The privacy of all should be protected at all times. Courtroom proceedings should happen in a timely function so as not to cause delay or stress to any of the parties involved.

On her experience working with Perry County law enforcement, and how she will ensure their actions align with the law: I have worked with the law enforcement in Perry County through the district offices in Duncannon and Newport. Most of the officers I have encountered all want the same thing, to protect the law and to serve and to protect the community. I have heard many officers say, I want to go home from my shift in the same manner I started my shift, in one piece. So, with that being said, it is the duty of our community to do right by them as well. To ensure law enforcements actions align with the law, I believe all policies and procedures put into place by the court must be followed  no corners to be cut or shortcuts taken.

How she would approach a case that involves a sensitive or controversial issue, such as domestic violence or hate crimes: I would first assess the type of crime and look for past circumstances involving the same parties. Are there particular factors that could have led to the event (loss of job, loss of home, separation, or divorce)? Whether its a domestic violence case or a hate crime I would, basically, need to get answers to many questions. I would weigh all evidence heavily and make my decision based on what would best serve the safety of our community.

How she would balance the need for justice with the need to show compassion: I once read that the the essence of the art of judging is the ability to understand the goals of others. This has stuck with me. The ability to balance justice and compassion comes from understanding that not everyone has the same feelings and values as our own, so we need to find a neutral vantage point. The ability to understand the thoughts and motivations of others is a critical tool for judges.

When asked how shed ensure those who cannot afford legal representation receive justice, and what measures shed take to reduce the impact of poverty on the court system, she responded, I would want to make sure all people who need a public defender have access and the means to get to the public defenders office for representation. If they feel they may need another resource for representation, I would offer contact information for the MidPenn Legal Services office or the Pennsylvania Bar Association, who may be able to assist a client with an attorney who offers Pro Bono services. As for the impact of poverty, if someone is having problems paying back restitution, fines, and costs, I would do my best to find other ways to assist them with paying back fines and costs, like community service projects or special work details in the community. I know keeping our community free of trash and rubbish is a huge concern for a lot of us in the community. This would be one way to assist our community and help the person pay back a debt. My other thought would be to place a cap on interest and penalties associated with late payments and overdue payments. Afterall, if someone is already having issues meeting and struggling to pay a debt above their means, how is adding more debt to the costs and fines going to do anyone any good? Its just going to cause more work for the court system and add money to already impossible costs and fines for the person trying to pay.

How would she engage with the community and address local concerns? I would like to have town hall meetings  possibly two to four times a year and broken into different sections of the district, so that there are smaller groups. I would always be open to setting up meetings with anyone who may have immediate concerns or issues.

Wilson is running against Traci Morrow Wilt and Brian Shull for the position. For more information on Shull, visit facebook.com/people/Stacy-Wilson-for-Magisterial-District-Judge/100089236486377/.

Traci Morrow Wilt

Traci Morrow Wilt is one of three Republican candidates running for the position of Magisterial District Judge for Magisterial Court 41-3-05, Loysville. Wilt graduated from West Perry High School in 1989 and has worked for more than 30 years as a paralegal. Her first position was assisting with insurance defense work for workers compensation and commercial personal injury cases before she moved onto working at a general practice law firm doing personal injury and family law.

Traci Morrow Wilt

For the last 22 years I have been employed at a general practice law firm in Carlisle where I have gained extensive experience in civil law, both contracts and general litigation matters, as well as protection from abuse, criminal, landlord/tenant, and municipal law matters. I am experienced in drafting and filing complaints, counterclaims, appeals, requests for orders of execution and requests for orders of possession. I research case law in support of and in opposition to the issue at hand as well as prepare the parties, witnesses and exhibits for the hearing. I am very familiar with the rules regarding evidence and witnesses which will be required of the magisterial district judge. Furthermore, I have worked with various magisterial district judges, their office staff and constables in order to properly file documents and serve the documents upon the opposing party. One of my strongest skills is assisting individuals in navigating the legal process and helping them through what can often feel like an overwhelming and confusing process. I am certified by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Minor Judiciary Education Board as a prospective magisterial district judge.

Her judicial philosophy and how it informs her decision-making process is: I believe in following our state and federal constitution. It is not the role at the magisterial district judge level of the judiciary to interpret those documents. I believe in using judicial restraint, meaning it is my goal to follow the law as written. Each case is unique with its own set of facts and circumstances. Therefore, I believe common sense dictates a decision shall also be made based upon the testimony, exhibits and the law combined in order to determine the original intent of the parties.

On how she would ensure the court remains impartial and objective: I promise to uphold the Pennsylvania Code of Judicial Conduct. I will make all reasonable efforts to ensure that all parties in court shall be heard fairly. It is imperative that a judge must remain non-partisan, unbiased, objective and open-minded at all times. It is essential that not only the courtroom but the office as a whole be held to these standards.

How she would approach a case where a defendant chooses to represent themselves while not necessarily understanding the legal process: All parties are entitled to respect, equal protection, and access to the court system. It would be my goal to provide latitude and give every consideration legally allowed so that no persons argument is unheard. A case must only be decided on the facts and allowing all parties to be heard is the singular way to ensure that the constitutional right to access to the courts is met.

Was there a time when she had to make a difficult decision, the factors she considered, and the outcome? The most recent difficult decision I have had to make was whether or not to run for magisterial district judge. I considered how becoming magisterial district judge would enable me to serve my community and the ways that service could help others. I also considered what would be required of my family and of myself to run a solid and respectable campaign, as well as how difficult it would be to leave my work family of the last 22 years if I was ultimately successful. I considered the other candidates and how I felt they would represent our community in comparison to myself. I considered the potential sacrifices and changes to my personal life. I decided to proceed with the campaign since I feel strongly I am the most experienced and qualified candidate. I love Perry County and its residents and believe I would fulfill the role of magisterial district judge fairly and equitably and would serve my community extremely well.

On how she would ensure all parties involved in a case are treated with respect and dignity: I was taught as a child and still follow today the simple Christian principle to do to others as you would have them do to you. Every person, no matter the situation that they may find themselves, should be treated with respect and dignity. I would require that all individuals in the courtroom as well as the office of the magisterial district judge abide by these rules.

On her experience working with Perry County law enforcement, and how she will ensure their actions align with the law: I have respect for all law enforcement and police officers. Their jobs can often be difficult and dangerous and they should be given respect by the citizens of the communities they serve. A criminal case brought before the magisterial district judge will be decided based upon the facts, testimony and witnesses presented. If the officer is able to meet the proper burden of proof to prove that a crime has been committed then the law must be followed as written. If the officer is unable to meet the proper burden of proof, the case must be dismissed.

How she would approach a case that involves a sensitive or controversial issue, such as domestic violence or hate crimes: Judges have a responsibility to protect victims that come before them as well as provide them with an equal opportunity to be engaged in the judicial process. Victims of a hate crime or domestic violence are harmed individuals who are extremely vulnerable and therefore should be protected by the court and supported in their decision regarding how to participate in the Commonwealths case. I would ensure that a victim is aware of and provided with all information regarding the programs available to assist them in the judicial process.

How would she balance the need for justice with the need to show compassion? Showing empathy and concern for another human being is not exclusive to the position of district judge. Every person, including myself, have had or do have personal or family issues which can affect them from time to time. Showing grace and compassion toward an individual is very important in the courtroom. However, circumstances involving personal or family issues does not provide a party with an excuse for illegal behavior.

How would she ensure those who cannot afford legal representation receive justice, and what measures shed take to reduce the impact of poverty on the court system? If a defendant appears in court unrepresented, it is the duty of the magisterial district judge to advise the defendant of their right to an attorney and to provide them with the information on how to obtain an attorney and the opportunity to do so prior to the hearing. If a plaintiff appears who would like to file a lawsuit against another party and would like an attorney to represent them, I would direct them to the local MidPenn Legal Services office to obtain assistance. Otherwise, my goal would be to give every consideration legally allowed so that no persons argument is unheard. It is vitally important to me to protect our constitutional rights on all levels, including the right to access the courts to address grievances and to defend yourself against accusations.

Wilt is running against Stacy Wilson and Brian Shull for the bench. For more information on Wilt, visit traciformdj.com.
Dauphin County Tech School students and their dates arrive at the Red Lion Inn for their senior prom in Harrisburg, Pa., Friday, May 12, 2023.

NEW SUBSCRIBER BENEFIT: This prom season, PennLive is offering a special perk exclusively for subscribers: Login, click on the photo gallery to see if we photographed your favorite prom-goer, and choose Get Photo to download free print-quality images. Plus, get 50% off the purchase of prom-related keepsakes.
A Metis settlement, shown in this handout image provided by Brad Desjarlais, devastated by an out-of-control wildfire remains at risk as hot and dry conditions in Alberta's forecast threaten to worsen an already intense fire season. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Brad Desjarlais **MANDATORY CREDIT **
Members of the Nuchatlaht First Nation and supporters rally outside B.C. Supreme Court before the start of an Indigenous land title case, in Vancouver, on Monday, March 21, 2022. A British Columbia Supreme Court judge says the First Nation did not prove it had rights to its entire claim area, although he suggested it may be time for the provincial government to rethink its current test for such titles. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Press Release

May 12, 2023 'Peace is our only option': Hontiveros meets with Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen TAIPEI, TAIWAN -- Senator Risa Hontiveros on Friday met Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen at her residence in Taipei City as part of the opposition senator's efforts to lead legislative proposals that seek to promote peace in the region. The senator's visit is also meant to inform the legislative roadmap she will recommend in the Senate, the foreign policy body of the Philippine legislature, to strengthen security, economic, and labor relations in the region amid China's aggression in the West Philippine Sea and the entire South China Sea. "While I am here in Taiwan to particularly check on the overseas Filipino workers who were threatened by the Chinese Ambassador's dangerous statements, I cannot help but raise an urgent issue that looms large over the Philippines - the external threat posed by China in our territories, a similar dilemma Taiwan also faces," Hontiveros said. In their tete-a-tete, the senator shared that China's intimidation, threats, and harassment are a daily occurrence that Filipino fisherfolk and Philippine Coast Guard personnel experience, adding that the tensions in our own seas have deprived our fisherfolk of their livelihood, especially since Chinese vessels have constantly shooed them away, at times even confiscating their bountiful catch. "Like President Tsai, I would like a peaceful approach to the South China Sea question. I will work on taking tangible steps in the Philippine legislature to ensure that we successfully discuss and conduct diplomatic, legal, and respectful negotiations with all States concerned to advance peace and stability in the entire South China Sea," Hontiveros said in her opening statement. The senator also emphasized that the Philippines will not meddle with the issue of Taiwanese independence, underscoring that the Taiwanese people should have the basic human right to self-determination. "While we in the Philippines will never interfere with the issue of your independence, I will always support nations who err on the side of democracy. We know that democracy is a powerful vaccine against armed conflict, as it requires fostering peaceful relations among citizens. When carried into the realm of foreign policy, this will result in peaceful international relations not only among our nations, but also across the world," the senator told the President. "Peace is necessary for the safety and security of all our citizens. Peace is essential for our economies to survive and thrive. Peace is our only option. With the continued and strengthened ties between the Philippines and Taiwan, I trust that true and lasting peace will reign," Hontiveros concluded.
By Toru Takei, KYODO NEWS - May 13, 2023 - 10:01 | All, G7, World

The upcoming visit by President Joe Biden to Hiroshima should help promote global momentum toward nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation, a former U.S. ambassador to Japan said.

John Roos, who served as the country's top envoy to Tokyo under President Barack Obama, expressed hope that the two countries will lead efforts to seek a world without nuclear weapons, during a recent interview with Kyodo News ahead of the May 19-21 summit of the Group of Seven industrialized nations.

As Obama's vice president, Biden "was very supportive of President Obama going to Hiroshima during his presidency, and I know that's something President Biden has wanted to do as well," Roos said.

In May 2016, Obama became the country's first sitting president to visit the western Japanese city that was devastated by a U.S. atomic bombing at the closing stage of World War II.

"(Obama) had made it clear from the very beginning that during his presidency he would like to go to Hiroshima," said Roos, a lawyer who served as the U.S. ambassador to Japan from 2009 to 2013.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, a lawmaker representing a constituency in Hiroshima, was foreign minister at the time of Obama's visit to the city and will be the host of this year's G-7 summit.

"It's incredibly important that our two countries continue to be in the lead of this stated goal of the elimination of nuclear weapons," Roos said.

"As we look around the world right now, things are obviously very fragile, and there's a lot of risk in the world, both militarily and politically," he added.

Referring to Russia's veiled threat to use a nuclear weapon in the war in Ukraine, China's increasing of its nuclear stockpile, and the respective development of nuclear weapons by North Korea and Iran, he said, "We have these new nuclear threats."

As the United States is the only country that has used nuclear weapons in war and Japan is the only country to have suffered the devastation of such attacks, the two hold "a special place in the debate with regard to the future -- hopefully -- elimination of nuclear weapons," Roos said.

"It's been said many times -- a war with nuclear weapons not only must never be fought but can never be won."

Six years before Obama's visit to Hiroshima, Roos became the first American ambassador to attend the annual Aug. 6 ceremony in the city commemorating those lost in the 1945 nuclear attack.

Even though Roos had previously visited Hiroshima, "being there for the commemoration ceremony and the symbolism that my presence brought was just incredibly meaningful to me," Roos said of the 2010 event. "And so the whole experience had a major impact."

Three days after the Hiroshima attack, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945. However, no sitting U.S. president has yet visited the southwestern city.

"I don't think there's any hidden message there," Roos said. "I think it's just more of a scheduling issue."

Related coverage:

Ukraine hopes for G-7 message against use of nuclear weapons

Japan takes issue with Time's headline for Kishida interview

Japan hopes G-7 leaders show "strong" resolve to defend int'l order
Popular Texas Poker Room "At the Mercy of the Court" to Remain Open

May 12, 2023 Jon Sofen Senior Editor U.S.

Poker House Dallas, one of the top card rooms in Texas, is facing a forced closure from the city over a Certificate of Occupancy (CO) issue.

The North Texas poker club, according to a statement provided to PokerNews, is currently at the mercy of the court system as it hopes to remain open permanently. But the laws of the land could say otherwise.

Poker House Dallas is at the mercy of the court of appeals as to whether or not we will be able to continue after midnight, Tuesday May 23. Were asking for the communitys support during this unsettling time for staff and players," the statement read.

In hopes of bringing in some much needed business during a difficult time for the poker club, Poker House Dallas is offering discounts to players until judgement day.

For the next ten days, our hourly seat rate will be changed from $13/hour to $8/hour to encourage players who still have time on their account," the statement continued.

Texas Poker Laws are Tricky

Due to strict anti-gambling laws in the state many boast as a "free state," poker rooms are forced to operate as membership clubs and cannot legally collect rake, a stark contrast to traditional card rooms across most of the US. And even the membership-based model isn't good enough for some lawmakers who argue that poker, whether rake is taken out of pots or not, is illegal according to Texas Penal Code Chapter 47.

Doug Polk, who co-owns The Lodge Card Club near Austin, is among a group of Texas poker room operators who are attempting to reword the law so as to ensure there no longer is any confusion or dispute.

But Poker House Dallas is currently facing closure over a secondary issue  its Certificate of Occupancy. Or, better yet, the question of whether the club's CO is or ever was valid. According to a District Court in Dallas, the business does not have a legal right to operate a poker room in the Dallas area. The business is currently going through the appeals process in hopes of reversing the ruling.

For now, Poker House Dallas is permitted to remain open, but they've been ordered to cease operations effective May 23. If the business is able to win in the appeals court, the card club will be able to continue spreading poker games.

Poker House Dallas is one of the largest poker rooms in the state with 30 tables. They offer cash games and daily tournaments, and it's one of the most popular places to play in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. If the court isn't willing to budge, hundreds of players will need to find somewhere else to play and dozens of workers will be out of a job.

This isn't the first time a Texas poker room has faced closure due to Certificate of Occupancy issues. Texas Card House Dallas fought a legal battle in 2022 after the city went back on its word and revoked the room's CO two years after approving the business model. The room was never shut down, however, and continued to operate during the legal process.

Sharelines Find out details about the likely closure of the Poker House Dallas card room.
The late registration for the flagship tournament of the 2023 PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Cambodia Main Event at the luxurious NagaWorld Integrated Resort in Phnom Penh has concluded. All three starting days combined created an overall field of 476 entries and generated a prize pool of $623,322, all of which will be distributed in the following two days when the tournament is playing down to the winner.

India's Vishal Ojha topped 58 survivors out of 219 entries on Day 1b while nearly half of the field was still in contention during the final stages of the turbo heat 1c, which attracted another 81 runners. Ojha bagged up 407,000 in chips to claim the overall lead, well ahead of Curtis Lim (316,500) and Victor Chong (210,000) who occupied the two remaining spots on the podium for today.

Among the big stacks in the top 10 for Day 1b were also Roman Kolotiuk, WSOP bracelet winner Guoliang Wei, Jhon Hendri, and Huu Dung Nguyen.

Top 10 Chip Counts After Day 1b

Rank Player Country Chip Count Big Blinds Day 2 1 Vishal Ojha India 407,000 136 2 Curtis Lim Singapore 316,500 106 3 Victor Chong Malaysia 210,000 70 4 Roman Kolotiuk Russia 209,000 70 5 Guoliang Wei China 201,000 67 6 Jhon Hendri Singapore 192,000 64 7 Jia Yi Low Singapore 189,000 63 8 Guillem Segarra Lopez Spain 170,000 57 9 Feng Qu China 162,000 54 10 Huu Dung Nguyen Vietnam 155,000 52

Other notables to bag and tag for Day 1b were Siarhei Chudapal, Natural8 ambassador Pete Chen, Renniel Galvez, Alexander Puchalski, Dhanesh Chainani, David Erquiaga, and Sven McDermott. Defending champion Puchalski needed two bullets to claim 74,000 to his name while last year's third-place finisher Galvez scored two very late double-ups to advance with 90,000.

The rise to the top of the leaderboard for Ojha started with a double-up through Laury Vanlerberghe with kings versus ace-jack before he then consistently added chips through various showdown pots. Another Frenchman fell victim to the hot run of Ojha in Romain Morvan before the player from India knocked out Australian High Roller Joshua McCully in the final hand of the night.

Many other familiar names of the Asia-Pacific poker region came up short of making Day 2, as more almost three quarters of the field departed throughout the 13 levels of 40 minutes each. Chien Chih Weng, Lester Edoc, Shardul Parthasarathi, Yunsheng Sun, Eric Wasylenko, Mauricio Salazar Sanchez, Valeriy Pak, and Junzhong Loo were among the casualties.

The 58 Day 1b survivors will join their 41 counterparts from Day 1a and everyone to bag and tag for the night on Day 1c. More than 120 players are expected to return to their seats at 1 p.m. local time in the grand ballroom at Naga 1 for the restart of Day 2. Blinds in level 14 will be 1,500-3,000 with a big blind ante of 3,000. The money bubble will burst and the race to the nine-handed final table then headlines the business end thereafter.

The overall attendance came up just shy of 500 entries and the initial $400,000 guarantee was surpassed by more than 50%, which comfortably beat the 378 entries of the previous edition in 2022 by a wide margin as well.

Stay tuned to find out who makes it one step closer to become the 2023 APPT Cambodia Main Event champion right here on PokerNews, as the live reporting team will be on the floor throughout the next two days until a winner has been crowned.
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How badly did Donald Trumps CNN Town Hall fail? In the same format on the same network, President Biden drew more viewers than Trump.

The Washington Post has this little interesting nugget, At a time when CNN has been struggling to turn around viewership decline, the telecast proved to be a ratings disappointment, with Nielsen reporting just 3.1 million viewers overall. That was a big boost over CNNs typical 8 p.m. telecast, but a smaller audience than CNNs town hall with President Biden last summer (3.7 million) and six previous Trump town halls carried by Fox News  calling into question both CNN and Trumps drawing power.

Which is it? Do not people not want to watch CNN, or do people not want to watch Trump?

The answer is that Donald Trump has copied the Fox News model of building supporter loyalty. As far as business structures are concerned Trump and Fox News share the same DNA. The real world consequence of this dynamic is that any network that decides to host Trump is unlikely to draw as many viewers as Fox News would for the same event.

CNN seems to have many misconceptions about Trump and his supporters.

Trump himself is not a big enough draw to pull viewers away from Fox and over to CNN. This dynamic suggests that CNN trashed its credibility for an audience that was never going to come.

None of this explains how Biden was able to draw more viewers than Trump to CNN. There are a sizable number of Americans who dont want to see or hear Trump, and they have zero interest in listening and watching the former president play his oldies.

The numbers dont lie, and what they tell us is that Joe Biden is a bigger draw on television than Donald Trump.

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Former Manhattan prosecutor Mark Pomerantz complied with Jim Jordans subpoena in the Alvin Bragg investigation but gave Republicans no information.

Pomerantz ripped the investigation in his opening statement:

Mark Pomerantz opening statement to House Judiciary Committee. He calls the committees subpoena to him political theater and explains that he is taking the 5th now that formal charges are pending against Trump pic.twitter.com/S8EeY6cr1u  Annie Grayer (@AnnieGrayerCNN) May 12, 2023

Pomerantz called Jordans investigation cynical histrionics, and said that he is not legally required to play a role in the House Republican political theater. Pomerantz also said that he was asked by DA Alvin Bragg not discuss information about the Trump case, which meant that Republicans had nothing. Pomerantz said that the Trump case is privileged information, and he responded to questions by invoking his Fifth Amendment rights.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) was one of the Judiciary Committee House Republicans who was outraged:

.@repdarrellissa on former New York District Attorney Mark Pomerantzs deposition before the House Judiciary Committee: "I've never had a more obstructive and less cooperative witness in my over 20 years in Congress." pic.twitter.com/Z8o0Fi1hFR  CSPAN (@cspan) May 12, 2023

Rep. Issa said, The witness has not cooperated in any way, shape, or form, has simply appeared and I would characterize as taking the fifth on every single question. He has answered no substantive questions whatsoever.

Issa added, Ive never had a more obstructive and less cooperative witness in my over 20 years in Congress.

CNNs Paula Reid described Jim Jordans response:

CNN's Paula Reid described Rep. Jim Jordan's response to getting stonewalled by Mark Pomerantz as, "Jim Jordan came out and asked what they were going to do next and he said I'm going to consult with other members, I'm going to talk to lawyers. It was pretty restrained for him. " pic.twitter.com/wukzCEhE4M  Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) May 12, 2023

Reid said, Jim Jordan came out and asked what they were going to do next and he said Im going to consult with other members, Im going to talk to lawyers. It was pretty restrained for him.

It turns out that Jim Jordan and House Republicans dont have the legal authority to meddle in a local criminal investigation. Jordan is trying to investigate DA Bragg to help Donald Trump who is currently faces 34 counts of falsification of business records.

Mark Pomerantz did his legal duty and nothing more.

Jim Jordans muted reply said it all. House Republicans can seethe, but there is nothing that they can do to get answers from anyone in Manhattan about the criminal investigation into Trump.

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Gov. Roy Cooper (D) held a ceremony outdoors where a crowd chanted veto and cheered as he vetoed a Republican-passed 12-week abortion ban in North Carolina.

Here is a clip of the crowd cheering as Gov. Cooper vetoed the bill:

The moment Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed a Republican 12-week abortion ban in North Carolina. pic.twitter.com/rolQX7UFxx  Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) May 13, 2023

In his remarks, Cooper said, Standing in the way of progress right now is this Republican supermajority legislature that only took 48 hours to turn the clock back 50 years on womens health. Lets be clear: This bill has nothing to do with making women safer and everything to do with banning abortion.

A Meredith College Poll found:

While over half of our respondents wanted to keep North Carolinas current law about abortion access (20 weeks) or expand it, over one-third of voters, want to restrict access to abortion even further or ban access completely. A plurality of respondents (30.9%) wants to keep the current law.

The division over abortion law is entirely partisan. Over three-quarters of Democrats want to keep the current law untouched or expand abortion access, while almost 60 percent of Republicans want to further restrict access to abortions or ban access altogether. A majority of unaffiliated voters (59.3%) would prefer keeping the 20-week ban or expanding access further.

Overall, 57% of North Carolinians want to keep the current 20-week abortion law or expand access to abortion and 35% want abortion restrictions.

Republicans are being driven by their far-right fringe into a losing hand on abortion.

North Carolina Republicans have a supermajority in the state legislature, so they are planning to override the governors veto, but the GOP abortion position is so unpopular and toxic that Democratic governors can veto their abortion bans in public in front of cheering crowds.

Republicans arent listening, and they are going to pay for their abortion bans at the ballot box in 2024.
KYODO NEWS - May 13, 2023 - 19:00 | All, Japan, G7

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday inspected the main venue for the Group of Seven summit beginning next week in Hiroshima and other locations he is set to visit with fellow leaders, including the cenotaph for atomic-bomb victims.

In the run-up to the summit in western Japan, which will be the first to be held at a site hit by an atomic bomb, Kishida, a lawmaker representing Hiroshima, encouraged the security personnel to prioritize measures against terrorism.

Later in the day, Kishida told reporters that he is planning to welcome the G-7 leaders at the Peace Memorial Park on the opening day of the three-day summit from Friday.

Kishida on Saturday visited the Grand Prince Hotel Hiroshima, where the G-7 summit will take place, as well as Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima Island, renowned for its torii gate that appears to float in the Seto Inland Sea during high tide.

His itinerary also included key locations scheduled to be visited by U.S. President Joe Biden and the other G-7 leaders, such as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, according to a Japanese government official.

Kishida has voiced hope that visiting the museum on the first day of the summit will generate momentum to achieve his cherished goal of realizing a "world without nuclear weapons" by fostering a deeper understanding of the devastating impact of atomic bombs.

The government has also been arranging a meeting between the G-7 leaders and atomic bomb survivors, known in Japan as hibakusha.

Earlier Saturday, Kishida told police officers and Japan Coast Guard officials, "As the host nation, it is Japan's duty to ensure the safe and smooth conduct of the historic summit. The success or failure of the event rests on your shoulders."
Shocked and surprised were some of the words used by Cherell Butler to described how she felt after hearing the announcement that she was being honored as the 2023 Woman of the Year on Thursday during An Evening of Glitz and Glamour.

Im like, Who are they talking about? It cant be me, said Butler, who is the owner and director of Complete Care Counseling LLC.

This is unbelievable, she added after receiving her award from the 2022 Women of the Year, Stephanie Franklin and Keyatta Priester.

Carmen Landy, the emcee for this years event, described Butler as a woman who has gone above and beyond for her community for years.

Her servants heart is evident in the way she chooses to live her life, Landy continued. From her career to her volunteer efforts, she makes it a point to lift others up.  She spent many years working in the school system helping young children build a foundation for successful learning.

In addition, Landy said Butler has been and still is a mentor to other women through her involvement with her sorority and her church. And through Complete Care Counseling, Butler spends her days helping others develop healthy methods for dealing with the stress of life, Landy told the audience.

Butler is a founding member of Women United, which along with the Young Philanthropists Society, organized An Evening of Glitz and Glamour.

Landy said Butler has been a huge part of Women Uniteds success and the positive impact it has had on the lives of women and children in our community.

An emotional Butler accepted the Woman of the Year honor with tears in her eyes.

Im just grateful, she said. Its not that I do things to get awards. I do things because I want to serve people. I took over a big challenge by taking over the ownership of a counseling service, but its all about helping people.

And all I can say is to just thank God for using me as a servant and allowing me to serve other people who have mental challenges, she concluded. Its about helping. Its about serving other people in need. All of these agencies here, most of them are agencies I work with or I volunteer in some way or some fashion.

An Evening of Glitz and Glamour was held at Newberry Hall in Aiken.

Also during the event, grants worth a total of $24,250 were awarded.

The Matthews Foundation received a $1,000 gift presented by the Young Philanthropists Society. The money will be used to provide homeless school children with clothing, toys or other gifts, and hygiene bags during Christmas break.

Mental Health America of Aiken County/Nurture Home received the $4,500 Harriet Jackson Memorial Grant. It will be used to match a gift from the Aiken Safe Communities Initiative to fund a creative arts program for middle and high school students.

Area Churches Together Serving received $5,000 to provide rental assistance for female clients with children under 18 years of age.

The Child Advocacy Center of Aiken County received $2,000 to purchase a refrigerator to store food pantry items and $2,500 to stock its pantry with food and hygiene products.

Helping Hands received $6,750 to expand its job readiness program so that 15 additional young people from families with low incomes can receive training and participate in a subsidized work experience.

The Salvation Army of Aiken received $2,500 to purchase new linens and pillows for the female dorm and four family rooms at its homeless shelter.

Dr. Deidre Martin was An Evening of Glitz and Glamours keynote speaker. She retired as USC Aikens vice chancellor of university advancement in 2015. She currently is the chief advancement officer at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Georgia.

Women United and the Young Philanthropists Society both are affiliated with the United Way of Aiken County.
Aiken, SC (29801)

Today

Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 81F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds. Low 63F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
COLUMBIA  Gov. Henry McMaster has appointed his budget director as South Carolina's new comptroller general, ensuring state employees are paid on time with a pick that makes history.

Brian Gaines, a 16-year veteran of state budgeting and compliance roles, becomes South Carolina's first Black constitutional officer since Reconstruction  a distinction he said he hasn't fully digested.

"I've not had much time for reflection on that point," Gaines told reporters May 12 after being sworn into office at the Statehouse. "In any regard, I think the fact I'm standing here today is a momentous occasion and a great thing not only for this state but also for myself."

McMaster's announcement came in conjunction with him ordering the Legislature back into session to complete their work  an order stemming from behind-the-scenes drama over who should be the state's next chief accountant. The job has been vacant since April 30, the effective day of former Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom's resignation.

Statehouse jockeying for his replacement began shortly after Eckstrom turned in his letter five weeks earlier amid mounting pressure over his office's $3.5 billion accounting error.

It's the General Assembly's job to replace the constitutional officer through a legislative election. But many senators didn't want the House's chosen candidate, former Columbia GOP Rep. Kirkman Finlay, to win. So senators  who always lose in a House-Senate election battle because of their fewer numbers  refused to agree on a date for a joint assembly.

Amid the stalemate, the clock was ticking on the next state payroll for nearly 60,000 employees. A chief duty of the comptroller general is to sign off on their paychecks. Before leaving, Eckstrom did so for May 1 payments.

Gaines' appointment, which actually occurred moments after regular session ended at 5 p.m., came just in time to ensure employees get paid on time May 16. According to the state's posted schedule, next week's checks had to be finalized May 11.

State law is unclear on whether a signoff by the senior deputy Eckstrom put in charge before leaving would suffice, McMaster said.

"There's still a question," he told reporters. "There's no authority answering this question, and that's one reason we're moving quickly."

McMaster's choice puts a seasoned state budget analyst in the role following a $3.5 billion oops.

The error was strictly on paper. No money went missing due to Eckstrom's office mistakenly double-counting some agencies' revenue. And the Legislature doesn't use the comptroller general's annual report for budgeting, so the overstatements did not result in any deficit. But the yearslong accumulated errors infuriated legislators once they found out.

Sen. Larry Grooms, who led the Senate panel investigating the issue, was particularly adamant that the job not go to Finlay. He put Mike Shealy, the Senate's longtime budget guru, up for consideration as an expert who would help transition the comptroller general's job into a strictly administrative role and not run for election himself.

McMaster said he considered both Shealy and Finlay, but "this man is the man for this job," he said about Gaines.

"He's qualified. He's respected by everyone. He has enormous experience," McMaster said about his reasoning. "He's not a political person, and everyone we discussed this with has great respect and confidence in Mr. Gaines."

Gaines actually took a slight pay cut in accepting the job, from $154,500 as budget director for the Department of Administration's executive budget office, to $151,000 as comptroller general. Raising his pay would be up to legislators.

Grooms praised McMaster's pick as meeting his call for a "highly qualified seasoned professional with great knowledge of government accounting."

Gaines "is an excellent choice," said the Berkeley County Republican.

Asked if he would run for the job in 2026, Gaines gave reporters a one-word answer: "No." He also made clear he will not get involved in the debate over whether to make the job an appointed, rather than elected, position. He will concentrate on the duties of the office, period, for as long as he's in the role, he said.

When or whether the Legislature will hold a joint assembly to elect someone to the job is unclear.

Considering the maneuvering that happened to let McMaster make an appointment, it seems unlikely to happen anytime soon. The governor had that authority only because legislators let the regular session end without a temporary law limiting when they can return and what they can take up during the off-session.

The upcoming special session is not so much an "order" of McMaster's as a mutually agreed-to solution.

"This was not a surprise with the House or Senate. They knew they were at loggerheads on a number of important issues and were running out of time," McMaster said. "I wish they'd finish their work."

While he thinks they had plenty of time to do so, he added, "This is allowed, and so that's why I've ordered it."

Primarily, he noted, they must pass a budget for the fiscal year starting July 1.

Other than that, he said it's critical that legislators send him bills that prevent violent criminals from being let out on bond to reoffend while awaiting trial and increase penalties for illegal gun possession.

"We've got to close that revolving door, and there's been work on that, but we know who these criminals are. They do it over and over again," he said. "We have to have graduated penalties for those known criminals who are committing crimes with guns to have increased penalties every time it happens."

He also wants the Legislature to send him a bill banning most abortions, saying "It's high time to go on and make a decision."

But, while McMaster can tell legislators what he wants, he can't actually make them do anything or stay longer than they decide. He's fully aware of that, using the words "I hope" and "they should" throughout the news conference.

House Speaker Murrell Smith has said he has no intentions of keeping the House in session past June 1.

McMaster declined to say whether he'd call legislators back again if they don't complete what he wants before then.

"I hope they will finish," he said. "I think they should be able to finish by then."
KYODO NEWS - May 13, 2023 - 23:00 | World, Japan, All

The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.

----------

G-7 vows to ensure financial stability after U.S. bank failures

NIIGATA, Japan - Finance chiefs of the Group of Seven nations vowed Saturday to take appropriate action to ensure financial stability after a series of U.S. bank failures raised concern about spillover effects, asserting that the financial system remains resilient for now.

In a joint statement after a three-day meeting in Niigata, the G-7 underlined the need to address "data, supervisory and regulatory gaps" in the baking system after they weighed risks from the widespread use of messaging apps and online banking, blamed for causing digital bank runs.

----------

Strong quake hits island area of Kagoshima Pref., southwestern Japan

TOKYO - An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.1 jolted an island area of Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, on Saturday, the weather agency said. No tsunami warning was issued, and no reports of serious injuries or damage were reported.

The quake hit at 4:10 p.m., registering a lower 5 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in Toshima village, part of the Tokara island chain, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

----------

S. Korea set for 4-day Fukushima plant visit to assess water release

SEOUL - South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Saturday a delegation will visit the Fukushima nuclear power plant later this month for a four-day assessment of the safety of a planned release of treated radioactive water into the sea.

Senior foreign ministry officials from South Korea and Japan met Friday in Seoul and discussed the visit through the early hours of Saturday. They will continue to work out the details.

----------

Biden to leave for Hiroshima for G-7 summit on May 17 as planned

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Joe Biden will leave next Wednesday for Hiroshima to attend a Group of Seven summit, the White House said, indicating his travel may go forward as planned although talks over a looming government default have yet to bear fruit.

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said in a press briefing Friday that Biden will discuss with his counterparts "a range of the most pressing global issues including the G-7 unwavering support for Ukraine," climate change and food security.

----------

FOCUS: G-7 courting of supply chain partners a crack at new order

NIIGATA, Japan - The envisaged creation of a "mutually beneficial" partnership with developing nations for resilient supply chains is testimony to how the Group of Seven rich nations that have dominated international trade and finance is transforming itself to cope with what some experts call the "post-globalization" era.

Economic security is among the major G-7 agenda items this year under the presidency of Japan. Behind it lies a sense of alarm about China's tighter grip on critical components that has threatened the national security of other major powers.

----------

Japan PM Kishida inspects G-7 summit venue, Hiroshima A-bomb cenotaph

TOKYO - Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday inspected the main venue for the Group of Seven summit beginning next week in Hiroshima and other locations he is set to visit with fellow leaders, including the cenotaph for atomic-bomb victims.

In the run-up to the summit in western Japan, which will be the first to be held at a site hit by an atomic bomb, Kishida, a lawmaker representing Hiroshima, encouraged the security personnel to prioritize measures against terrorism.

----------

G-7 science heads call for action to remove space debris from orbit

SENDAI - Science ministers from the Group of Seven industrialized nations called Saturday for concerted efforts to remove space debris orbiting the Earth.

During their two-day talks in Sendai, the ministers also agreed that advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing are vital to the green transition as well as economic and national security.

----------

7,300 health insurance entries erroneously linked to "My Number" IDs

TOKYO - Around 7,300 cases involving "My Number" national identification cards linked to health insurance data have been found to have contained erroneously registered information, Japan's health ministry said Friday.

Such errors have led to five cases in which users' medical information has been exposed to others between October 2021 and November 2022, a health ministry survey showed.

----------

Video: Dazaifu Tenmangu shrine's temporary hall unveiled

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Century Aluminum expects to sell the final parcel of land at a business park next to its Berkeley County smelter, marking the end to an economic development venture that was started 27 years ago.

Jesse Gary, the metal company's president and CEO, told analysts during a May 8 earnings call that the transaction should be complete sometime in the second quarter of 2023.

"There is a little bit of zoning issues that are going on with the sale ... just normal process," Gary said.

Century is not disclosing the buyer of the 133-acre parcel at its Mount Holly Commerce Park off U.S. Highway 52 between Goose Creek and Moncks Corner. The sale price of $28.5 million is down from the $30 million Century expected to get when it first announced the land deal in 2022.

Gary said the sale will complete Century's exit from the 1,044-acre industrial park that was announced in 1996.

"We previously formed the commerce park, located near our Mount Holly smelter, to develop excess land at the site and to assist the county with bringing additional business and commerce to the area," Gary said.

The sale does not affect the company's 5,000-acre smelter, which employs more than 460 workers.

Google operates a large data center on about half of the industrial park's acreage. The internet giant's site, which opened in 2008 to help manage the explosive growth in web traffic, employs more than 400 workers and has been expanded over the years to bring the company's total investment in the site to about $2.4 billion.

Last year, global apartment behemoth Greystar broke ground on a 132,200-square-foot warehouse at the commerce park to be marketed to manufacturing and distribution firms. Other tenants include electronics company Audio-Technica and Power Glow Property LLC, which makes parts for extrusion equipment used in the plastics industry.

The business park was touted as the first large-scale development of its type in the Lowcountry when it was announced in 1996. At the time, the property was owned by Alumax, a subsidiary of metal giant Alcoa. Chicago-based Century, which had been a minority partner in the Mount Holly smelter, bought out Alumax's interest in 2014.

This week's Mount Holly Commerce Park disclosure followed the company's first-quarter financial report, which included a net loss of $38.6 million compared to a gain of $60.4 million a year earlier.
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McCord's Ferry development straddles Orangeburg, Calhoun counties near Lake Marion

Charleston doesn't have a lock on the large housing developments sprouting up in the region.

Developers plan to build a 1,000-home, gated community on Lake Marion on the edge of Santee State Park near Santee, just west of Interstate 95.

McCord's Ferry, with 27 homes on the ground and another 165 in development, will be built as a master-planned neighborhood on 678 acres off Cleveland Street at Audubon Boulevard.

Audubon Homes of Charleston is developing the site in Orangeburg and Calhoun counties. Lead developer Micah Simon expects buildout to occur over a 15- to 20-year span.

Amenities include a private boat ramp with community docks and nature trails connecting to the state park as well as a community center with a gym, pool, pickleball courts, ballroom and meeting space.

A two-day open house event is set for 11 a.m.-3 p.m. May 20 and noon-3 p.m. May 21 at 122 Twisted Oak Trail, northeast of Elloree.

Prospective homebuyers can explore the property and enjoy music, raffles, giveaways and complimentary food and refreshments.

Homes range from 1,500 square feet to 3,600 square feet with prices starting in the low $300,000s for the smaller residences. The median price of a house in South Carolina in March was $318,000.

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Fielding Home for Funerals has been in business since 1912, but the longtime family business's owners decided to sell the downtown property earlier this year. A change in the restrictive covenants to allow school use is being requested.

By the numbers

2: Number of stores a Florida-based company will have after it opens a new shop on King Street in Charleston.

215: Number of stores across the Southeast that a Charleston-based convenience store chain will own after two new deals are finalized soon.

6,000: Square footage of new dog-boarding shop opening May 15 in North Charleston.

This week in real estate

+ Second act: A new Mediterranean restaurant from the creators of The Grocery in Charleston is coming to Mount Pleasant.

+ Sales slip: The number of homes sold across the Charleston region dipped for the 20th consecutive month in April as the median home price continued to rise.

The ground floor of the King and Queen Building in downtown Charleston is undergoing a makeover for five retail tenants. Four of the spaces have been leased. See the retailers here.

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Craving more? Check out all of the Post and Courier's newsletters here.
A longtime family-owned funeral home in downtown Charleston is under contract, but until the deal is sealed, the buyer and sale price are under wraps.

The property's proposed use might not be so confidential.

The city's Planning Commission will consider a request May 17 from Fielding Home for Funerals to allow school use of the less-than-1-acre site at Logan and Magazine streets.

Also, a request will be made to rezone the single-family house at 7 Magazine St., across from the funeral home property, to include it in the school overlay zone. An affiliate of Charleston Day School at nearby 15 Archdale St. bought the house last October for $800,000. The private school's property abuts 7 Magazine St.

The Fielding property has served as a mortuary for the Black community since 1928. The business started in 1912 a couple of blocks south at Logan and Short streets.

The funeral home will remain in business until the property is sold. The family began seeking buyers earlier this year.

Changing hands

A longtime West Ashley watering hole is under new ownership.

After 32 years, Robert Richmond sold R Pub in Crossroads Centre Shopping Center at 1836 Ashley River Road to Smit Chauhan, Aditya Chauhan and Nick Parmar, according to Jim Moring with restaurantbrokers.info, who handled the transaction for the seller and buyers.

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Richmond recently bought an RV and plans to travel while the new owners will keep the business name and operate as usual, Moring said.

Smit Chauhan also owns three liquor stores in the Charleston area: Sunbliss Wine & Spirits in the Whole Foods Market-anchored Patriots Plaza Shopping Center in Mount Pleasant, Sunshine Spirits in the Harris Teeter-anchored West Ashley Circle Shopping Center and Synergy in the Publix-anchored Riverland Market Shopping Center on James Island.

Parmar also owns the Citgo service station at 1828 Ashley River Road on an outparcel of Crossroads Centre, just steps away from R Pub.

Disposition

A Mount Pleasant company recently sold part of a neighborhood retail center in Chattanooga.

Ziff Real Estate Partners sold the strip center portion of Chattanooga's East Brainerd Shopping Center in an off-market transaction to an undisclosed buyer. Financial terms were not disclosed, and the transaction had not been filed as of May 12 in Hamilton County.

Tenants at the 18,156-square-foot center at East Brainerd and Jenkins roads, east of Interstate 75, include East Brainerd Wine & Spirits, Marcos Pizza, Tobacco Mart of Chattanooga and Good World Goods. Food City and the associated Gas N Go fuel station were not included in the sale.

Ziff bought the property in 2014 for $4.76 million through an affiliate, according to public real estate records.
What started as one of the hardest trials for a decades-old restaurant in Columbia became an opportunity for a bigger project.

Village Idiot Pizza, a longstanding pizza spot that started in the heart of Five Points and has since expanded to three total locations, will begin franchising, owners announced May 9.

Brian and Kelly Glynn, the husband-and-wife duo who purchased the restaurant in the early 2000s, initially toyed with the idea of franchising throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

(The decision) was born out of COVID, Kelly said. It was a reflection of what we had just gone through  probably one of the hardest journeys in our restaurant life, and we made it through. We just really wanted to see the brand expand and flourish.

The pair described their ideal growth model as organic and hope to grow outward from their current restaurants  the original location in an upstairs space in Five Points, a spot in Forest Drive and another in the Olympia neighborhood.

Kelly said the hope is to expand the pizzeria, fondly known as simply Village, to closer markets like Lexington, Irmo, Chapin and Blythewood before beginning to expansion across the state, eventually eyeing other SEC college towns  and even major USC rival Clemson's stomping grounds, where Kelly said Village has lots of fans.

Village Idiot was opened at 2009 Devine St. in 1990 by three college friends who lovingly referred to themselves as 'the village idiots,' according to the restaurants website. Brian and Kelly met while they both worked together at the restaurant and purchased it from original owners in 2003. Over the last 20 years, they've expanded to other locations.

The couple wants to see like-minded partners who share Village Idiots core values, Brian said, so they can ensure the brand is part of the surrounding community. Their business plan isn't to open as many stores as possible by a certain date, but, rather, to share the joy of serving a community they love.

Pizza is a good way to bring people together, Brian, who runs the restaurant's kitchen, said. You can feed a lot of people with pizza and we want to kind of plant those seeds in different areas with the right people Its a big benefit to the community to have businesses that are our true partners and truly invested.

And while Village is the first restaurant in decades to franchise, it's not the first Columbia-based restaurant to expand across the state. Well-loved restaurants like Groucho's Deli, Rushs and Lizards Thicket all began as humble mom-and-pop restaurants before expanding to multiple locations in Columbia, Lexington, Florence, Camden and other parts of South Carolina.

Groucho's, which began in the 1940s, franchised in 2000 and now has nearly 30 locations across South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia.

Rushs and Lizards Thicket are not franchised; each location is company-owned. Bobby Williams, whose father is the original owner of Lizard's Thicket, owns the restaurant and said they tried franchising in Greenville but ultimately decided against it.

We decided then that we will not franchise because this is something we built ourselves, and it was a bad feeling of not having control over people, Williams said. Its not worth it to us personally. We care too much about the business to lose control of it.

Don Alcorn, CEO of Rushs, also has personal ties to the restaurant. Alcorn worked at the restaurants during the holidays and summers of college and eventually returned to the restaurant full-time.

Its been a good run, Alcorn said. Weve had good success at every place.

Alcorn said the company is holding back from expanding at the moment because of labor shortages. But he gets requests always about expanding to other parts of South Carolina.

Were always getting requests. Come to Greenville, come to Charleston, that sort of thing, Alcorn said. We got a good support from our loyal customers and they want to come wherever they are.
NORTH MYRTLE BEACH  The battle of the bathing suits is on in the Carolinas.

Many North Carolina beach towns have adopted new rules allowing swimsuits that show off more backsides in response to recent skimpier fashion trends. But most South Carolina coastal areas have no plans to allow beachgoers to wear thongs along the shoreline.

Most of the changes in North Carolina come from removing one word from local beach rules: buttocks.

The town of Sunset Beach, just over the state line from North Myrtle Beach, recently joined other N.C. coastal towns amending rules to line up with a Tarheel State law that allows lower-cut bikini bottoms on the beach as long as they do not result in the exposure of private areas, front or back.

Sunset Beach Police Chief Ken Klamar told his Town Council before an unanimous vote in April that the beach clothing rules needed adjusting because of recent societal changes  namely the narrower current styles of bikini bottoms  and enforcing the law.

We had some awkward conversations with some young ladies who said they felt body shamed because not everybody is built the same, and we put an order to our (officers) that if this was going to be enforced on a complaint basis, that we werent going to proactively enforce it, Klamar said.

Sunset Beach joins other North Carolina coastal governments, including Carolina Beach, Bald Head Island, Emerald Isle, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, North Topsail Beach, Pine Knoll Shores, Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach that have similar measures in place. The shift for many coastal governments stems from a 25-year-old N.C. Supreme Court case in which justices ruled that buttocks are not private parts.

To hold that buttocks are private parts would make criminals of all North Carolinians who appear in public wearing 'thong' or 'g-string' bikinis or other such skimpy attire during our torrid summer months, the justices wrote in the 1998 opinion. Our beaches, lakes, and resort areas are often teeming with such scantily clad vacationers.

Local officials in North Carolina, in explaining the need for change, noted that in the years since the state Supreme Court ruling, the number of swimsuits sold in retail stores showing more of a beachgoers backside has grown.

But in South Carolina, many coastal governments said they havent discussed any changes to existing ordinances that prevent beachgoers from showing too much of their backsides. Most base their beach nudity ordinances on an existing state law regarding indecent exposure, which says it is unlawful for a person to willfully, maliciously, and indecently expose his person in a public place, on property of others, or to the view of any person on a street or highway."

Violating the state indecent exposure law is a misdemeanor, which can be punished by jail time of not more than three years, a fine set by the court, or both.

The Grand Strand serves as South Carolina's tourism hub, seeing 20 million visitors annually in an area that includes Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Surfside Beach and unincorporated parts of Horry County. Each has rules preventing beachgoers from showing their buttocks in public.

Myrtle Beach takes the ban one step further. It is the only S.C. coastal city that specifies a ban on thongs in public.

The popular tourist city at the center of the Grand Strand prohibits g-strings, t-backs, "dental-floss" style and thongs in public, according to its nudity ordinance.

City officials have not considered amending the local ordinance to include the exposure of buttocks despite the increased popularity of thong-style bathing suits and the changes a few miles up the coast in North Carolina, said Myrtle Beach spokesman Mark Kruea.

In 2020, Sam Panda, a well-known aerial acrobat performer, posted a social media video that went viral of her being detained by Myrtle Beach Police for wearing a thong on the beach. She was released without any charges.

South of Myrtle Beach, Georgetown County and Pawleys Island governments ban public nudity but do not include the word buttocks in their ordinances, which could allow people to wear thong bikinis on the countys 34-mile coastline. Officials said their respective councils have not discussed the topic.

Both Hammock Coast governments follow state law regarding indecent exposure, but differ on penalties. Appearing in the nude on public beaches in Pawleys Island could result in a $50 fine. Violators on Georgetown County beaches could face fines not to exceed $200 or up to 30 days in jail.

Other coastal Lowcountry destinations from the Charleston area to Beaufort County  including Isle of Palms, Sullivans Island, Folly Beach, Kiawah Island, Edisto Beach and Hilton Head Island  mostly mimic Horry or Georgetown counties in terms of public nudity beach laws.

Isle of Palms and Edisto Beach ban exposing buttocks in their beach ordinances. Edisto Beach Town Administrator Mark Aakhus said the popular seaside community does not plan on changing the rule.

Other Charleston-area beaches  including Folly, Kiawah and Sullivans Island  do not specifically restrict beachgoers from wearing thongs as long as they do not show private parts. But officers could charge thong-wearing sunbathers.

Private parts are not specifically defined, but we have not interpreted that phrase to prohibit the exposure of the buttocks, said Adam Pope, Folly Beach Town Administrator.

Kiawah Island, the wealthy beach community in Charleston County, recently started a workgroup to look at its ordinances, but there has been no talk about changing the nudity rules, spokeswoman Erin Pomrenke said.

Those who violate any of the towns ordinances could face penalties ranging from a verbal warning up to a $500 fine, Pomrenke said, but it is really at a police officers discretion and the situation on whether wearing a thong would qualify.

Similarly, Sullivan's Island Administrator Andy Benke said the towns ordinance does not speak to swimwear styles, but beachgoers coming to the 2-mile-long island near the entrance of the Charleston Harbor tend to follow the rules in terms of covering up.

Fashion changes pretty quickly. But if the trend changes this summer, were prepared and can take action quickly enough, Benke said. But it has not been a problem in past years.

Farther south on Hilton Head Island, the only time "buttocks" are referenced in current code covers sexually orientated businesses, but state law still applies in terms of public nudity, Deputy Town Manager Joshua Gruber said.

Theres nothing thats pending or before Town Council that would change our current language in any way, Gruber said.
MONCKS CORNER  Lorice Richards-Gathers wanted to leave her husband of five years.

Working three jobs, she set aside money. At times, she'd sleep in her car to avoid him.

His jealousy, history of abuse and fascination with knives made her beg him to leave.

Anthony Lamar Gathers II told Lorice he'd rather be killed than get a divorce. Less than a year later, it was Lorice, 38, and her daughter, Shanique Hills, 22, who were brutally murdered.

Each had been stabbed 15 times or more. Hills was at least 30 weeks pregnant at the time.

Gathers pleaded guilty May 12 to their murders, causing the death of Hills' unborn child, and two weapons offenses. Details of their tumultuous relationship and its gruesome end were shared with 9th Circuit Judge Bentley Price, who sentenced Gathers to 35 years in prison.

The sentence is five years above the mandatory minimum, according to Gathers' attorney Ashley Pennington, former public defender for Charleston and Berkeley counties. Gathers, 41, would be in his 70s when released, which Pennington argued meets the solicitor's demand for a life sentence and allowing Gathers hope for release. Pennington called it "harsh, but fair."

Kamila Szymczynska-Sas, who prosecuted the case, said life was warranted "due to the brutality of the murders, the number of victims and the circumstances leading up to them."

A friends and colleague who worked with Lorice at an assisted-living facility noted past bruises on her arms and a black eye, according to Szymczynska-Sas, who summarized in court a memorandum she'd filed before the hearing.

"But Lorice blamed it on being clumsy and on patients she cared for," Szymczynska-Sas said. "She later shared that they would get in big fights and the next day they were 'OK,' further corroborating the vicious cycle of domestic violence."

Berkeley County sheriff's deputies had been to the Goose Creek home they all shared twice before they found Lorice and Hills' bloodied bodies in the driveway in the early morning hours of Nov. 10, 2019.

On July 22, 2018, Hills called authorities after Gathers left the house with her little sister armed with a knife. Hills told deputies Gathers had threatened her, but she was unsure if she wanted to press charges, court documents showed.

In May 2019, deputies returned for a domestic dispute. Gathers punched Lorice after learning she'd been talking with another man. It's the same reason, Gathers would later tell deputies, that he killed her.

Gathers had again grabbed a knife, but never threatened to use it, according to the memorandum.

Deputies determined that Lorice had bit and scratched Gathers defending herself calling Gathers "the primary aggressor." But Lorice declined to press charges.

Just two weeks before her death, Lorice texted Gathers: "If you won't leave, I'll leave without you because it is very clear we are not compatible for each other."

On Nov. 10, 2019, just after 5 a.m., Berkeley County sheriff's deputies were again called to the home on Clarine Drive. Gathers had called 911.

"I don't want to admit it, but I just stabbed my wife and stepdaughter," Gathers told the dispatcher in what Szymczynska-Sas described as "a very calm voice."

Gathers was detained on the scene. Beside him was his and Lorice's 4-year-old daughter. Another child, 2, was also inside the home when the murders occurred.

The girl was interviewed, and said she didn't see what happened, but saw the blood splattered throughout the house and her mother lying in the front yard, Szymczynska-Sas said.

Blood trailed from the master bedroom and Hill's room, through a hallway, into the kitchen and laundry room, and out into the garage and drive way.

"Both Lorice and Shanique were fleeing from the residence while being brutally attacked," Szymczynska-Sas said.

A large hunting knife, and a serrated blade that matched a set from the kitchen were found on the scene.

Gathers never denied what he'd done, Pennington told the court asking for mercy. He's never asked for a bond or release since his arrest three years ago, and did not want to put the victims' families through a trial.

"He is grieving, just as they are," Pennington said after the hearing.

"I'm really sorry for what I've done," Gathers said in court. "I loved my wife very much."

Lorice's family declined to comment for this story. Her sister spoke in court about how Lorice had come to the U.S. in 2004 from Jamaica as part of a work program, describing her as hard working, devoted to her family.
A North Charleston man was sentenced to 14 years in state prison for the rape of a teenage girl that he broadcast on Facebook and boasted about in a rap song.

Jonah Dimetre Fishburne was 18 years old when he livestreamed an attack on his Facebook account in which he and two friends took turns assaulting a 13-year-old girl.

Prosecutors say the victim, who has an intellectual disability, on May 4, 2020, was walking to her grandmother's home when a group of males forced her inside a residence on Poplin Avenue and proceeded to rape the victim on video for public consumption.

Assistant Solicitor Lauren Mulkey Frierson, who prosecutes sexual assault cases in the 9th Circuit, called the case "especially horrific."

"As if being gang raped was not enough, it was broadcast," Frierson said.

Circuit Judge Jennifer McCoy reviewed the videos of the assaults in chambers with attorneys before sentencing the defendant May 12 in a downtown Charleston courtroom.

Fishburne pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor and first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, but the defendant bargained with prosecutors for a sentencing range of 10 to 15 years.

Fishburne is the only defendant to be convicted in the case. The Solicitor's Office dismissed charges against a juvenile defendant, court documents show. A third defendant, Tasheen Amar Walker, was acquitted by a jury last year in a trial that featured testimony from the victim.

North Charleston police received multiple 911 calls the night of the assaults from people who saw the incident while scrolling on Facebook, according to the prosecutor. Investigators recovered the videos as evidence, including a subsequent confession in which Fishburne rapped about the sexual assault and vowed to release additional videos if his post reached 650 views.

Fishburne's broadcast is part of a subculture that has emerged on Facebook where assailants broadcast their crimes.

A 19-year-old man took to Facebook Live in September as he went on a killing spree throughout Memphis, Tenn. In 2019, a gunman used Facebook to broadcast the killing of 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand; a gunman accused of killing 10 people last year at a grocery store in upstate New York wrote online that he drew inspiration from the Christchurch shooting videos.

Frierson, the Charleston County solicitor, called the victim "an extremely brave young lady." She was not present at the May 12 hearing, but her mother fought back tears in the courtroom.

"I wish this would never happen on a child ever," the mother told the judge. "It's disgusting."

Fishburne, now 21, told the court he takes full responsibility for his actions and apologized to the victim and her family.

"Not one day I go by where I don't regret what happened," he said.

The defendant has been jailed for 1,102 days awaiting trial. His attorney, Christopher Greel, asked the judge to impose a sentence that appreciated "the exceedingly poor judgment of youth."

The attorney cited the 2005 Supreme Court case Roper v. Simmons, in which the court identified mitigating factors for juvenile offenders, including their underdeveloped sense of responsibility, susceptibility to negative influences and nascent character development.

Greel said his client's childhood was characterized by instability. His mother suffered from mental illness, he was the victim of physical violence and he spent years in foster care.

The judge said she sympathized with the defendant's troubled family background, which she said is common among defendants who come before General Sessions Court. But she noted Fishburne was 18 at the time of the crime  an adult in the eyes of the law.
S.C. Gov. Henry McMasters order calling the Legislature into a special session on Tuesday was so matter-of-fact, so routine, so unextraordinary that you might well wonder why I would bother writing about it  much less why the word extraordinary would be attached to it.

But that very mundanity belies a dramatic history of gamesmanship between the House and the Senate and tensions between the Legislature and the governor that have produced previous gubernatorial declarations of extraordinary occasions that allowed or required lawmakers to return to work.

The fact that lawmakers this year so nonchalantly allowed and even welcomed the situation underscores the extraordinary degree of trust they place in the governor  the absence of which drove a decade and a half of their own extraordinary actions to strip governors of control over their schedule.

State law requires the Legislature to adjourn at 5 p.m. on the second Thursday in May. Lawmakers can, by a two-thirds vote, adopt a sine die resolution, which allows them to return to work under their terms, typically for just a few days to consider vetoes and finish work on bills already passed by both bodies.

The state constitution empowers the governor to "on extraordinary occasions convene the General Assembly in extra session, and the exercise of this power has not been so cordial in the past.

Weve seen governors extract extraordinary concessions from lawmakers who desperately wanted a special session so their priorities for the year wouldnt evaporate because, as happened on Thursday, they failed to make arrangements for an orderly return to complete their work. Weve seen governors try to bully the Legislature into acting on their priorities by threatening to convene an unrequested special session.

None of that has happened recently because legislators stopped playing high-stakes games of chicken over sine die and hit upon a method to strip the governor of the power to call special sessions. And of course there was that governor who tried to do an end run around the Legislatures end run  only to get her head handed to her by the S.C. Supreme Court.

Turning back time

Legend has it that when the clock was about to strike 5 in 1985 and the House and Senate were still bickering over sine die, a clerk was dispatched to turn back the hands on the giant clock in the Senate chamber. The House left anyway, before work was completed on the budget, Gov. Dick Riley quickly convened a special session, and when I tried years later to verify the story, the clerk in question denied any knowledge of it. Not that I believed him.

The most dramatic standoff Ive witnessed was in 1990, when senators refused to sign off on sine die unless the House passed a bill limiting then-Gov. Carroll Campbells involvement in the reapportionment process. Negotiations went down to the wire, with senators eventually trying to extend the session 30 minutes, the House trying to convince the governor to call lawmakers back at 5:01 and finally the Senate remaining in an unconstitutional session after 5 when the House had adjourned. Some of the Legislatures most important bills of the year were passed but not ratified  and therefore dead unless the governor agreed to call lawmakers back to work.

A bewildered Senate President Pro Tem Marshall Williams wandered into the Senate antechamber moments later and declared: "I can't believe it. We're through for the year, everything down the drain."

Mr. Campbell did eventually call a special session, but not before extracting a pledge in writing that lawmakers would limit the session to five hours, wouldnt accept what was then $250 a day in extra pay for special sessions and wouldnt take up the reapportionment matter.

A year later, another frantic final day again gave the governor extraordinary negotiating power, this time over a landmark ethics bill the House and Senate had failed to finish before they failed to pass a sine die resolution. And again Mr. Campbell took maximum advantage, insisting that he be satisfied by the final bill before reconvening them.

Conventional wisdom is that governors cant limit the time or the subject matter of a special session, although, as House Speaker Murrell Smith reminded me Tuesday, there are certain circumstances under which they can adjourn the session. Still, there's something a bit unsettling about lawmakers returning to work this coming week with no limits on their agenda and only that theoretical constraint on their time in session  a situation we haven't seen since at least the Riley special session.

The Sanford solution

More skirmishes occurred during Mark Sanford's administration, not because lawmakers dared leave without plans to return and override his budget vetoes but because Mr. Sanford kept threatening to order them back to pass his pet projects. That threat ended in 2008, when concerns that the recession could necessitate mid-year spending cuts begat a more expansive resolution that allowed legislative leaders to reconvene under particular circumstances through October.

That model might have been dropped after Mr. Sanford left office but for Nikki Haleys audacious attempted power grab in her first year in office. Moments after lawmakers adjourned, she ordered them to return for a special session to pass bills she was upset they hadnt passed. Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell sued, arguing that she couldnt order a special session because the Legislature, having adopted a sine die resolution, was still in session. The Supreme Court quickly agreed, and open-ended resolutions became standard operating procedure.

This years break with tradition occurred because the only way the Senate could prevent former Rep. Kirkman Finlay from being elected to complete former Comptroller General Richard Eckstroms term was to adjourn without the resolution, thus empowering the governor to appoint an interim. Which he did on Friday, at the same time he announced he was calling a special session. In so doing, he returned us to a time long ago when the Legislature trusted the governor to convene an extraordinary session if one was needed, and the governor trusted legislative leaders to make sure that session didnt spin out of control.

Click here for more opinion content from The Post and Courier.
Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Mainly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 81F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Showers early, then cloudy overnight. Low 68F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
COLUMBIA  South Carolina Republicans are flying high. Theyve romped to victory over Democrats time and time again and have a lock on power in the Palmetto State.

Yet many ardent supporters of former President Donald Trump who became active after his 2020 loss are furious with those in charge, believing the wins havent been accompanied by ideological purity.

Now, an insurgent movement of hard-line grassroots activists is attempting to oust incumbent party chairman Drew McKissick at the May 20 state convention, with the two sides waging total war against each other.

Many stalwarts believe McKissick, who has led the state party since 2017, will prevail over Jeff Davis, chairman of the Greenville County Republican Party and the leader of mySCGOP, an organization that supports likeminded hard-line activists around the state.

Are they going to be able to kick the incumbents out? I dont think so," said Katon Dawson, who led the party from 2002 to 2009 and supports McKissick. I could be surprised, but I dont think so.

McKissick supporters estimate theyve secured about 60 percent of the delegates, but the results will hinge on who shows up and how long and chaotic the convention at River Bluff High School in Lexington might become.

The party did not make McKissick available for an interview.

Davis, on the other hand, is confident hell be able to capture the 50 percent plus one votes needed to topple McKissick after hard-line activists aligned with or similar to Davis scored a string of victories in local GOP county conventions this spring.

Davis won control of the Greenville County party in 2021 and repeatedly clashed with the old timers, suing several. Earlier this year the central party seized control back from Davis, but at a raucous closed-door convention in April he and his supporters were reelected. Elsewhere, hard-line activists hostile to McKissick have taken over party spots in Lexington, York, Anderson and a handful of other rural counties at conventions this spring.

In Charleston County, Andrew Boucher, a veteran political operative closer to the establishment, was narrowly elected chairman over a hard-line activist last month. But candidates on an anti-establishment America First slate won more than 90 percent of the countys 70 delegates to the state convention.

Anti-establishment leaders are prepping for pulling an upset.

McKissick has "perhaps been unpleasantly surprised at how many conservatives have swept a number of county conventions across the state, said Jonathon Hill, a former firebrand state representative who was booted from the House GOP caucus in 2019 but was elected Anderson County GOP chair this spring.

Hill describes himself as an anybody-but-Drew guy.

McKissicks backers point out his supporters retook control of the Horry County party after a nasty schism this year and say the numbers from Richland, Spartanburg and the vast majority of rural counties is more than enough to win.

They also say there simply isnt a strong argument to oust him.

We win. We win a lot. But those wins didnt happen by accident, said Steven Wright, chairman of the Dorchester County GOP. They happen because of experienced, tested and proven leadership, and that all begins with Chairman McKissick.

McKissick built a robust coordinated campaign infrastructure and raised huge sums to fund it, Wright said.

Under McKissick, Gov. Henry McMaster was reelected by the widest margin for the office in more than two decades and Republicans have maintained control of every statewide elected office. Plus they gained 10 seats in the Legislature.

But activists argue that doesnt matter if those politicians dont pass extremely conservative legislation on abortion, guns and social issues. They frequently point to South Carolinas middling scores on certain rankings of how conservative states are.

We need a change. We dont need people that are 1,000 percent focused on running Republicans or getting Republicans elected at all costs  more middle-of-the-road Republicans, Davis said.

Davis said if elected, hed give more power to committees of activists, county parties and precincts. He wants the state party to fund and deliver literature to Republican voters about how their legislators voted on certain issues to enforce ideological purity, singling out the three Republican woman in the state Senate who opposed the near-total abortion ban as an example.

Detractors see Davis as a power-hungry opportunist and warn the hard-liners extreme politics and mordant attacks on Republican leaders, often accompanied by vague accusations of corruption, have sown chaos in Greenville and would be disastrous for the state party.

Theyre not interested in electing Republicans. All theyre interested in doing is throwing people out of the party, said Mark Hartley, a fixture of Charlestons Republican establishment since the 1980s who was ousted this year as a precinct president and as the countys executive committeeman by America First candidates.

Others argue hard-liners will torpedo Republicans chances in swing districts or bungle the upcoming primary, jeopardizing the states First-in-the-South status.

I dont think it helps Republicans win races when we are engaging in friendly fire all the time, Wright said. My  biggest criticism of the mySCGOP movement is to date I havent seen them criticize one Democrat.

Davis dismisses the critiques as talking points handed down by McKissick.

In 2021, hard-liners backed Lin Wood, a Georgia attorney who aided Trumps attempts to overturn the 2020 election, over McKissick at that years convention. McKissick routed Wood with nearly 70 percent of the vote, but it didnt stop the hard-liners growth.

Around the same time he was recruiting Wood to challenge McKissick, Davis set up mySCGOP, which has since grown into a statewide operation that helps mobilize, train and organize the often fractious activists. But, outside Greenville, it does not directly control them.

Though Davis is not universally loved by members of the partys right  and far-right  flank, many of them prefer him to McKissick.

Even if he loses his bid for chair this year, Davis said hell keep organizing and that 2025 will be a bloodbath for the establishment.

The new activists fervor does not appear to be fading. In Charleston, more people attended precinct reorganization this year in Mount Pleasant, the countys hard-line hotbed, than attended the reorganization countywide in 2021, Hartley said.

But some in the establishment are more sanguine about the rise of the hard-line faction.

A really good fight is what makes you a better party, and this has been a pretty decent fight so far, Dawson, the former state chair, said.
UNITED NATIONS, May 12 (Xinhua) -- United Nations agencies spent Friday preparing for the potential disaster caused by an intensifying cyclone Mocha in the Bay of Bengal.

According to UN News, the severe cyclonic storm "poses a significant threat" to Bangladesh and Myanmar, with the potential for violent winds, flooding, and landslides that could affect vulnerable populations.

The World Meteorological Organization predicts Mocha will move towards coastal areas of Bangladesh and Myanmar, with landfall expected between Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh and Kyaukpyu in Myanmar.

The Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar camps, who experienced the impact of Bay of Bengal cyclone Sitrang in 2022, are "preparing for the worst."

According to the report, the International Organization for Migration has trained refugee volunteers on cyclone preparedness, distributed emergency shelter materials and hygiene kits, and provided personal protective gear.

The World Health Organization has mobilized ambulances and medical teams, while the UN refugee agency has prepositioned food supplies and is ready to provide hot meals.

However, there are concerns about landslides, flooding and damage to infrastructure, including power supplies and communication networks, UN News says.

In Myanmar, local communities are also urgently preparing for the cyclone, and humanitarian organizations have pre-positioned personnel and supplies.

Despite these efforts, funding for Myanmar's UN humanitarian response plan "remains inadequate." UN agencies emphasize the need for sustainable climate adaptation, preparedness and disaster risk reduction measures to mitigate the impacts of climate change and protect vulnerable communities, according to UN News. 
If there were ever a doubt South Carolina Democrats would hold a presidential primary in 2024, this settles it.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison said he expects South Carolina will hold its inaugural first-in-the-nation presidential primary on Feb. 3 where the turnout will overwhelmingly deliver for President Joe Biden.

"Our new primary calendar, with South Carolina leading it off, elevates diverse voices, reflects our values, and will strengthen our party," Harrison said in a statement to The Post and Courier.

"When voters in South Carolina head to the polls next year, I'm confident they will resoundingly vote for President Biden and Vice President Harris because they have delivered real results for them," he said.

U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, South Carolina's most powerful Democrat and one of Biden's strongest allies, is equally adamant the Palmetto State will be the leadoff host.

"If you're going to have a primary season, I want him to run where he will win first," Clyburn, D-Columbia, said of Biden. "Why would we allow New Hampshire to be first when he finished fifth in New Hampshire?" added Clyburn, a national co-chair on Biden's 2024 reelection campaign.

The insistence that South Carolina hold a presidential primary next year comes three months after Democrats retooled their 2024 nominating calendar at Biden's request, an overhaul that upended decades of political tradition in an effort to amplify Black voters who have been the party's most reliable constituency.

The plan removed Iowa's caucus from the leadoff spot  a position it has held since 1972  and bestowed the first-in-the-nation status to South Carolina, the state that resuscitated Biden's 2020 presidential campaign.

At the time, it was unclear if South Carolina's newfound political position would be purely symbolic, amounting to a premier spot on the 2024 calendar but nothing more.

In interviews with South Carolina Democrats from across the state, the consensus is overwhelming: They don't just want a 2024 presidential primary here, they are openly hoping for one.

And it's not just about Biden. South Carolina Democrats said the 2024 primary can be a dry run for 2028, from both a fundraising and political standpoint, should Biden win in '24, complete a second term and leave the White House open, or a Republican wins next year and Democrats need to select a challenger.

The top four members of S.C. Democratic Party leadership all say a 2024 presidential primary would inject much-needed energy and money into a party that suffered brutal electoral losses in November.

Christale Spain, the newly elected state part chair, said in an interview the only way the party would cancel its 2024 primary is if Biden is the only candidate who files to run. The expectation, she said, is that there will be a presidential primary.

Quoting the Atlanta-based rapper Andre 3000, Spain said, "The South has something to say."

"I'd love to see us host a primary. Its historic for us. I wouldn't be excited about canceling it," Spain said.

But not everyone is convinced that a 2024 presidential primary would be a major financial or organizing boost. Former party chair Dick Harpootlian questioned the value of holding a potentially costly event for a predictable outcome.

"The question is, do we have one if it's the president versus nobody, because it costs a tremendous amount of money to do that," he said.

Two Democrats so far have announced challenging Biden for the 2024 presidential nomination: Marianne Williamson and Robert Kennedy Jr., both widely viewed as long shots.

Pressed if he would want a primary with the current field, Harpootlian replied, "I wouldn't have it."

In years past, both Republicans and Democrats have opted against nominating contests when an incumbent president sought a second term. The S.C. Democratic Party declined to hold presidential primaries in 1996 (Bill Clinton) and 2012 (Barack Obama). The S.C. Republican Party did the same in 1984 (Ronald Reagan) and 2004 (George W. Bush).

But in 2020, when the S.C. Republican Party's state executive committee voted to scrap its primary, a trio of longshot GOP presidential candidates hoping to challenge President Donald Trump cried foul. South Carolina GOP Chairman Drew McKissick cited the public cost of the primary as the top reason for scrapping it. At the time, holding a presidential preference primary would cost South Carolina taxpayers an estimated $1.2 million, according to S.C. Election Commission.

Now, it's even more expensive.

The latest estimate from the commission puts a presidential preference primary in 2024 at $2 million because of additional costs required to satisfy a hypothetical two-week early voting period.

York County Democratic Party Chair John Kraljevich backs holding the vote as a party-growing strategy.

"We want to give Biden the opportunity to win, not just win by acclamation," he said. "We want to give him the opportunity to burnish his credentials and face a live pitcher rather than just putting him on first base."

Charleston County Democratic Party Chair Sam Skardon said Democrats need time to prepare for the harsh glare of the national spotlight. He views a 2024 primary as a necessary political "dress rehearsal" to cement the state's "first in the nation" status.

"We've got a chance to show we can take care of business in 2024. Were not Iowa, we can count. Were not New Hampshire, where they elect candidates who cant win nationally, Skardon said.

In a sign that Democrats nationally are already taking South Carolina's leadoff standing seriously, some potential 2028 presidential candidates are already calling around.

"I firmly believe were going to see some '28 potentials here this fall," said Colleen Condon, first vice chair of the S.C. Democratic Party, who declined to give names.

But Condon teased, "It's with some of the names you expect to making arrangements on when they can come down. They want to be respectful of the president but they also certainly want to start getting their South Carolina time in now."

Spain, the new party chair, confirmed other elected officials could be showing up in the state soon to "energize voters for President Biden."

"And if that happens to be an opportunity for them to meet South Carolinians ahead of 2028, then we welcome their support in keeping South Carolina First in the Nation," she said in a statement.
PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-13 22:05:13

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 13, 2023 / Hagens Berman urges Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) investors who suffered substantial losses to submit your losses now.Class Period: Oct. 8, 2020 - Mar. 3, 2023Lead Plaintiff Deadline: May 15, 2023Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/NSC Contact An Attorney Now: NSC@ hbsslaw.com 844-916-0895Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC) Securities Fraud Class Action:The complaint alleges that Defendants misrepresented and concealed material facts concerning Norfolk Southern's increased risk-taking at the expense of reasonable safety precautions due to the company's near-term focus on profits.Specifically, the company invoked a plan to, among other things, use longer, heavier trains staffed by fewer personnel, which led to increased train derailments and the risk of future catastrophic events. The complaint also alleges that while failing to make proper capital expenditures in safety risk programs, the company concurrently lobbied for policies undermining its ability to provide safe, efficient, and reliable rail transportation services.The complaint alleges that this undisclosed conduct made Norfolk Southern more susceptible to accidents that could seriously harm the company, its workers, its customers, third parties, and the environment.The true facts began to emerge on Feb. 3, 2023, when a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. The derailed equipment included 11 tank cars carrying hazardous materials that subsequently ignited and required the immediate evacuation of those within a one-mile by two-mile area. According to regulators, the derailment was entirely preventable.An additional revelation of Norfolk Southern's safety lapses occurred on Mar. 14, 2023, when another of its freight trains derailed near Springfield, Ohio."We're focused on investors' losses and proving Norfolk Southern put profits over safety," said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.If you invested in Norfolk Southern 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 Norfolk Southern 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 NSC@ 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
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang (L) and Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt attend a joint press conference in Oslo, Norway, on May 12, 2023. (Xinhua/Lin Jing)

OSLO, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Friday proposed three principles to maintain stable development of China-Europe relations amid the international situation intertwined with changes and turmoil.

"China and Europe are two globally influential powers, two vast markets, and two great civilizations. I deeply felt, through the visit, a strong willingness of the European side to enhance communication, coordination, and to promote mutually beneficial cooperation with China," Qin said when asked about how to maintain sound development of China-Europe relations at a joint press conference with his counterpart Anniken Huitfeldt.

He called for the adherence to an inclusive worldview. China and Europe should respect and support the different countries' development paths chosen by their people, jointly and positively respond to the universal concerns of the international community, Qin said. The post-war international order must be safeguarded, and genuine multilateralism must be upheld, he added.

Qin called for commitment to a progressive view of history. What the international community needs most is peaceful development, fairness and justice, and progress rather than retrogression. The Cold War is a tragedy for mankind, he said.

He warned that a "new Cold War" would only bring greater disaster, severely harm the interests of the Chinese and the European people, as well as the rest of the world, and would significantly undermine multilateralism and global governance.

China and Europe should jointly oppose a "new Cold War," lead in promoting coordination and positive interaction among major powers, and use their capacities and resources to promote common development and prosperity, Qin said.

Qin also called for upholding the perspective of mutually-beneficial and win-win cooperation. China is Europe's partner in dealing with risk challenges, and what China exports to Europe and the world is sureness rather than risk, Qin said.

Both China and Europe, unanimously opposing "decoupling and breaking chains," should jointly uphold the right direction of economic globalization, strengthen macroeconomic policy coordination, explore cooperation potentials, properly address each other's major concerns, and jointly maintain the stability and smoothness of global industrial and supply chains, Qin said. 
PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-13 01:00:23

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LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 12, 2023 / The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces that it is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Shift4 Payments, Inc. ("Shift4" or "the Company") (NYSE:FOUR) for violations of the securities laws.The investigation focuses on whether the Company issued false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose information pertinent to investors. Shift4 is the subject of a research report issued by Blue Orca Capital on April 19, 2023. The report alleges that, "Shift4 engaged in a string of highly questionable and hyperaggressive accounting maneuvers seemingly designed to keep the stock afloat, from cash flow manipulation to inexplicable distributor acquisitions that enabled it to capitalize a major component of COGS." The report claims that, "Shift4's CEO began to engage in highly aggressive stock promotion, proclaiming that FOUR is way too cheap' and that he is absolutely' considering taking the Company private." Blue Orca Capital claims that despite the CEO touting the Company's prospects, "Shift4's CEO also claimed to be a buyer' when he was, in fact, a net seller of over 1 million shares in 2022, and just weeks before his planned disposal of up to 2 million shares alongside the closing of his [variable prepaid forward (VPF)] contract." Based on this report, shares of Shift4 fell by more than 8.6% on the same day.If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate.We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall of the Schall Law Firm, 2049 Century Park East, Suite 2460, Los Angeles, CA 90067, at 310-301-3335, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com , or by email at bschall@ schallfirm.com The class in this case has not yet been certified, and until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member.The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation.This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics.CONTACT:The Schall Law FirmBrian Schall, Esq.310-301-3335info@ schallfirm.com SOURCE: The Schall Law Firm
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LAKE FOREST, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 13, 2023 / Virtual Ventures Society is a leading e-commerce solutions provider that is pleased to announce the release of its official company podcast show and first business book, "Jumpstart Ultimate Scaling," which helps to scale their business to seven figures: Insider Strategies for Growth and Success by Justin Guerra.Justin Guerra is a 22 year-old American entrepreneur, internet celebrity, author, podcaster, digital marketer & CEO of Virtual Ventures SocietyWith the latest development, Virtual Ventures Society announces the release of their official company podcast show, "Just Unlock Success," and their first company business book, "Jumpstart Ultimate Scaling." This will help the company's community and clients to scale their businesses to seven figures and beyond. The company's podcast will provide valuable insights and practical advice to help in entrepreneurship, e-commerce, and business growth.In addition, the company's business book, "Jumpstart Ultimate Scaling," provides valuable resources for entrepreneurs and business owners looking to scale their businesses. By releasing the resources, Virtual Ventures Society intends to support its community and clients in their entrepreneurial journey.Virtual Ventures Society offers innovative solutions to help to build sustainable online businesses. With the rise of e-commerce, VVS offers cutting-edge services in the area of e-commerce, automation, and business management, in order to help clients to achieve financial freedom and success. The platform provides comprehensive solutions for managing their online stores, such as product management, order processing, and payment processing.In addition to its e-commerce platform, VVS also provides a range of services that help businesses to build and grow their online presence. The platform facilitates its clients with the services of search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, and email marketing. By utilizing these services, the platform enables businesses to reach a wider audience and drive more traffic to their online stores.Virtual Ventures Society offers exceptional services and innovative solutions by following these steps, which increase its credibility.Qualify - The platform helps to scale their Amazon business by utilizing their credit and capital to grow their investment returns as well as leverage VVS's systems and the team of experts to take their business to the next level.Client Success Specialist Call - Additionally, the platform gives the opportunity to book client success specialists who will help the clients to get started with Amazon Automation. The VVS team of experts works with the clients to qualify for one of their stores.Start Store - VVS allows clients to hire experts that will work passionately through all of the details to get started and help to launch a new store to grow their investment.Scale and Profit - VVS team of professionals offers scaling and operating services and helps clients to scale up their stores.Furthermore , Virtual Venture Society is poised to help the clients to achieve their dreams and build a community of like-minded entrepreneurs and business owners. The platform provides effective solutions and works with clients from small startups to large corporations.About Virtual Ventures Society:Virtual Ventures Society is a company that strives to empower individuals and business owners to reach their potential through a variety of innovative and effective solutions. Justin Guerra CEO of the VVS. The company's team of experts is constantly researching and developing new strategies to stay ahead of the curve and also provide high-quality services to its clients.PR Agent for Justin Guerra Handlez Agency - 22471 Aspen St, Lake Forest. CA.Justin Guerrajustin@ vvsautomation.com Handlez Agency - 22471 Aspen St, Lake Forest. CA.SOURCE: Virtual Ventures Society
PR-Inside.com: 2023-05-13 09:41:25

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Dhirtek Business Research and Consulting recently released their most comprehensive study on the global amlodipine besylate tablets market. This research report provides a detailed overview of the market's drivers and restraints, as well as a thorough analysis of the current trends that are likely to shape its future. To create this in-depth report, the team of analysts used both primary and secondary research methods. The report offers an unbiased perspective on the amlodipine besylate tablets industry, allowing clients to make well-informed business decisions. The report reveals key insights about the global amlodipine besylate tablets industry, such as the market's size and potential for growth. It also examines the impact of technological advancements, regulatory changes, and consumer behaviors on the market's performance. Analysts also take a closer look at the market's competitive landscape, highlighting the strategies used by leading players to gain a competitive edge. Additionally, the report outlines potential threats and opportunities that may arise in the near future.Overall, this comprehensive report offers an invaluable resource for those looking to better understand the global amlodipine besylate tablets market. With the help of the study's data-driven insights, clients can gain a better understanding of the current market dynamics, allowing them to make informed business decisions.Request a Sample of this Report at: https://www.dhirtekbusinessresearch.com/market-report/Amlodipine-Besylate-Tablets-Market/request-for-sample-report The global amlodipine besylate tablets market was in a state of flux, and the future direction was uncertain. To gain clarity, a comprehensive research study was conducted to analyze the market using Porter's five forces analysis and SWOT analysis. By combining these two methods of analysis, the research could gain a clear perspective of the global amlodipine besylate tablets market's expected direction.The SWOT analysis focused on identifying the market's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It was a useful tool in determining the potential of the market to succeed and develop, as well as its potential vulnerabilities. The Porter's five forces analysis, on the other hand, provided a detailed look into the competitive landscape, examining the level of competition, the bargaining power of customers, the bargaining power of suppliers, the threat of new entrants, and the threat of substitute products.The research report delved into the trends that were shaping the market, as well as consumer behavior patterns. It was found that the competition among the existing players in the market was intense, and new entrants posed a major threat. The bargaining power of customers was also strong, and suppliers had to come up with innovative products to keep their customers satisfied. Additionally, the threat of substitute products was also present, and companies had to be prepared to face this competition.Overall, the research study provided a comprehensive understanding of the global amlodipine besylate tablets market's expected direction. By combining Porter's five forces analysis and SWOT analysis, the research was able to gain a clear picture of the market's future. The report gave readers a better understanding of the trends and consumer behavior patterns that would shape the market's evolution.Highlights of Global Amlodipine Besylate Tablets Market ReportThe global amlodipine besylate tablets market report is a comprehensive overview of the current state of the industry and provides an in-depth analysis of its future trends and developments.The report details the market size, growth rate, industry trends, and other noteworthy information. It also highlights key products and services that are driving the growth of the market, as well as their respective market shares.One of the most important aspects of the global amlodipine besylate tablets market report is the analysis of the competitive landscape. The report details the competitive positioning of the leading players in the market and the various strategies they are using to stay ahead of their rivals.The report also examines the recent technological developments that are disrupting the industry and the effect they will have on the market in the long term. It also covers the impact of government regulations and policies on the industry and provides an insight into the future trends in the industry.The global amlodipine besylate tablets market report provides an insightful look at the current state of the industry and a comprehensive overview of its future prospects. It is an invaluable resource for anyone looking to gain an understanding of the market and its potential.Scope of the ReportAmlodipine Besylate Tablets Market SegmentsThe market by product type is segmented into 5 milligrams, 10 milligrams.The market by application is segmented into hospital, pharmacy.Regions Covered in the Global Amlodipine Besylate Tablets Market:North America (the United States and Canada)Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Italy, Spain, Russia, and Rest of Europe)Asia-Pacific (China, India, Japan, Korea, Australia, and Rest of Asia Pacific)The Middle East and Africa (GCC Countries, South Africa and Rest of the Middle East & Africa)Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Rest of Latin America)The amlodipine besylate tablets market has been under intense scrutiny over the past few years, and the latest report released by the market research division provides a comprehensive overview of the leading players in the industry. The report contains a detailed chapter on company profiles which provides an overview of the strategic objectives of the leading players, their primary products and services, and an in-depth analysis of their strategic initiatives.The report reveals that the leading players in the amlodipine besylate tablets market are taking aggressive steps to strengthen their position in the industry. Many of the organizations have embarked on R&D activities to stay ahead of the competition and remain competitive. Their strategic initiatives have also been designed to capitalize on the technological advances in the industry.The report also provides an overview of the financial outlooks of the leading players in the industry. An overall analysis of the organizations' financial statuses reveals the current trends in the market. This allows readers to gain a better understanding of the potential of the amlodipine besylate tablets market and its expected trajectory.It is clear that the amlodipine besylate tablets market is a highly competitive industry and the leading players have to continuously innovate to keep up with the competition. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the industry and its key players and provides readers with an understanding of the industry's current and future prospects. This research aims to provide readers with an informed assessment of the anticipated trajectory of the amlodipine besylate tablets market.The following Companies as the Key Players in the Global Amlodipine Besylate Tablets Market Research Report:AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, China Resources Double-Crane Pharmaceutical, Jingfeng Pharmaceutical, North China Pharmaceutical, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi, Shanghai Shyndec Pharmaceutical, Yangtze River PharmaceuticalContact UsDhirtek Business Research and Consulting Private LimitedContact No: +91 7580990088Email Id: sales@ dhirtekbusinessresearch.com
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SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 13, 2023 / Hagens Berman urges Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD) investors who suffered substantial losses to submit your losses now.Class Period: Apr. 26, 2018 - Mar. 13, 2023Lead Plaintiff Deadline: May 19, 2023Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/RAD Contact An Attorney Now: RAD@ hbsslaw.com 844-916-0895Rite Aid Corporation (RAD) Securities Fraud Class Action:The litigation focuses on Rite Aid's compliance with federal regulations concerning its pharmacies' prescriptions practices and its federal healthcare program reimbursement billing.According to the complaint, Defendants made false and misleading statements or failed to disclose that Rite Aid: (1) filled hundreds of thousands of unlawful prescriptions for controlled substances that lacked a legitimate medical purpose until June 2019; (2) ignored evidence that its stores were dispensing unlawful prescriptions and intentionally deleted internal notes about suspicious prescribers written by concerned pharmacists; (4) violated the Controlled Substances Act by knowingly filling unlawful prescriptions for controlled substances; and (5) violated the False Claims Act when it sought reimbursement from federal healthcare programs.Investors began to learn the truth on Mar. 13, 2023, when the US Department of Justice announced it filed a lawsuit against Rite Aid alleging that the company knowingly filled hundreds of thousands of unlawful prescriptions for controlled substances and knowingly submitted false or fraudulent reimbursement claims for such prescriptions to federal healthcare programs. The DOJ alleges these activities violate the Controlled Substances Act and the False Claims Act and states, in part, "[w]hile making millions of dollars [Rite Aid] opened the floodgates for millions of pills of opioids and other controlled substances to flow illegally out of [its] stores." This news sent the price of Rite Aid shares sharply lower."We're focused on investors' losses and proving Rite Aid's decision to put profits ahead of safety enabled it to record illegally-generated revenues," said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.If you invested in Rite Aid 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 Rite Aid 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 RAD@ 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
The Peoples Democratic Party Governors Forum and the presidential candidate of the party in the last election, Atiku Abubakar, have congratulated the governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke, on his 63rd birthday.

Atiku and the governors in separate statements on Saturday said the governor developed Osun State miraculously within 100 days in office.

The Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum and Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, who issued the statement on behalf of PDP governors, commended Mr Adeleke for his good works in the state.

He said the Osun governor has displayed confidence in the progress of the party and development of the nation.

He joined the Forum in high spirit, easily associating with his colleagues, displaying so much confidence in the progressive ideals of our Party (PDP) and the resolute stance of our Forum in rebuilding our country, he said.

He has unreservedly restored the dignity of labour by promp payment of backlog of salaries and pensions in Osun State since assumption of office, and made a huge impact in the development of lives in the State in such a short time. Indeed, his first hundred days is nothing short of a miracle, he added

He has commenced timely reforms in the education sector, revived ICT and Science and Technology at basic and secondary education levels, reset agriculture and food supply chains, approved empowerment for SMEs, healthcare provision and infrastructural renewal, road infrastructure and maintenance, skill acquisition for youths and women, and established a conducive environment for investors, among others. We assure him of our unalloyed support always.

Also, Atiku, in a statement he personally issued, commended Mr Adeleke for standing by him and the party in the general elections.

Your abiding faith in the people of Osun State and the fidelity of the law courts have brought you to great heights, your joyful disposition has endeared you to many Nigerians, and your performance in office so far is a beacon to the delivery of democratic dividends, once the votes of the people genuinely count. The testimony of your performance is not only attested to in the media, as with the award presented to you yesterday but more importantly, by the great people of Osun, he said.

Your loyalty to our party is unalloyed and evidenced by the back-to-back electoral victories you have achieved in Osun State, against all odds. You delivered robustly in the federal elections and followed it up with the State House of Assembly  history will forever remember you kindly, he added.

I celebrate with you today with confidence and hope that the light now shining in Osun will also radiate over this nation for the good of our people.

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Olujonwo Obasanjo, one of the sons of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has endorsed the bid of former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio for the Senate presidency.

The former presidents son, who is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) also supported the candidature of Abbas Tajudeen as the next Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The National Working Committee of APC had nominated Messrs Akpabio and Tajudeen as Senate President and House speaker for the 10th National Assembly.

Other aspirants for the two offices and their supporters have criticised the nominations on the zoning formula adopted by the party.

But, the vice president-elect, Kashim Shettima, on Friday said the nominations were considered in order to ensure that the party balances religion in the political leadership of the country.

Mr Obasanjo, while addressing journalists in Abuja on Saturday, appealed to the federal lawmakers-elect to support the nominations of the APC.

He said Mr Akpabio is qualified for the office, having demonstrated loyalty to the party and to the president-elect, Bola Tinubu.

Senator Akpabio obtained APCs presidential nomination form but on the night of the primary, he was the first aspirant to step down for the now president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he said.

Senator Akpabio has earned the respect and trust of the leadership of the party and the president-elect and all other stakeholders. Therefore, his nomination as the next president of the Senate is very welcome.

The former presidents son also claimed that Mr Abass possesses the qualities to be a good Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Hon. Tajudeen Abasss exceptional contribution to law-making alone is enough to secure him the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, he said.

READ ALSO: Why Tinubu picked Akpabio to be Senate President Shettima

This unassuming gentleman from the famous Zazzau royal family is a trailblazer in the aspect of lawmaking that he alone has sponsored 74 bills and 21 of them have been signed into law by the President, he added.

Hon Abass is so loved and trusted by his constituents that he has been returned to represent them for the third term in the House. Hon Abasss constituency projects are well on the ground in every part of the constituency and of the 114 bills signed into law between 2019 and now, he single-handedly has 21 in a House of 360 members.

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The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Idris Wase, has officially joined the speakership race  in a defiant move against the decision of his party to zone the position to the North-west.

Speaking during his official declaration on Friday at the Transcorp Hotel in Abuja, Mr Wase stated the now popular Yoruba phrase emi lokan, which translates as it is my turn. The phrase was popularised by the president-elect, Bola Tinubu.

At this point, I will use the words of my leader, emi lokan, emi lokan, emi lokan, Mr Wase said, referring to Mr Tinubu as his leader even though he rejects the latters endorsement of a different aspirant.

Mr Wase, who is from Plateau State, stated that the ruling party must follow the Nigerian constitution in ensuring that the North-central is not excluded from the distribution of offices even though the constitution does not state how such offices should be allocated.

It must also be noted that it is only the North-central in the entire country that has not produced the Speaker in 24 years after the return of democracy to Nigeria in 1999.

Fellow Nigerians, Nigeria is built on the supremacy of the law and the sacredness of the constitution for justice to reign and to keep the peace in the country, he said.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported that the zoning of the presiding officers of the 10th Assembly as done by the ruling party excluded the North-central. The party said it decided on the zoning arrangement after consultations with Mr Tinubu who will be inaugurated as president on 29 May.

The new House of Representatives will be inaugurated in June, about two weeks after the inauguration of the president.

The APC has zoned the positions of speaker and deputy senate president to the North-west, while the senate president and deputy speaker have been zoned to South-south and South-east respectively.

The APC, which has the highest number of seats in the Senate and House of Representatives, settled for Godswill Akpabio (South-south) and Barau Jibrin (North-west) for the positions of senate president and deputy senate president respectively.

The party also endorsed Tajudeen Abbas (North-west) and Ben Kalu (South-east) for speaker and deputy speaker respectively.

Mr Wase is one of the leading APC lawmakers opposed to the partys zoning arrangement. Others include House Leader Alhassan Doguwa, Muktar Betara, Sada Soli and Aminu Wali.

The aggrieved lawmakers, who have been re-elected and all seek to become the speaker, have formed a coalition called the Coalition of Progressive Speakership Aspirants (COPSA).

We will decide the next speaker  Betara

Several members of the COPSA group attended the declaration of Mr Wase and reaffirmed their commitment to the struggle against the imposition of a candidate on the lawmakers.

Speaking on the alliance, Mr Betara said the selection of a consensus candidate must be done in consultation with all members.

For us forming a group, we are not fighting, we are all APC members. A consensus candidate can be picked but we must sit and say this is the person we have picked to lead us. I assure all my colleagues, members-elect, and former members, we are not going to fight. We are going to agree to support one of us as the speaker, Mr Betara said.

Others that spoke include Messrs Jaji and Soli.

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BEIJING, May 13 (Xinhua) -- The coordinated development in Beijing and neighboring regions is now in full swing and has grown into a new driving force for China's development, nine years after China launched a key strategy to build the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei regional city cluster.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region's gross domestic product (GDP) reached 10 trillion yuan (about 1.44 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2022, 1.8 times the 2013 level at current prices, according to a report released by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics on Feb. 20.

A more rational industrial layout, the more balanced resource distribution and innovation-driven development have not only helped the crowded Chinese capital achieve healthy growth, but also brought benefits to Tianjin and Hebei.

OPTIMIZING INDUSTRIAL DISTRIBUTION

In the Beijing Daxing International Airport Economic Zone, Du Qiuju, a staff member of Beijing AegleStem Therapeutics Co., Ltd. was doing her daily job in the lab -- carefully examining stem cell raw materials.

As a native of Gu'an County, Hebei Province, Du quit her job in her hometown a year ago and chose to embrace a new opportunity in the economic zone, because "it offers a better salary and is conducive to career development."

She doesn't have to worry about commuting distance. She usually rides a motorcycle for 40 minutes to get to the company. In addition, a rail transit line currently under construction, which is located close to her home, will make commuting more convenient in the future.

The Beijing Daxing International Airport sits at the junction of Beijing's Daxing District and Langfang in Hebei Province. The economic zone has a planned area of 150 square km in total and develops industries ranging from international medical care, and airport guarantee and support services, to international convention and exhibition spaces, comprehensive-purpose bonded areas, as well as aviation logistics.

Due to its unique location advantages and rich policy support, more and more high-tech enterprises like AegleStem have settled there, while many talents from Hebei and Tianjin have been attracted there by superior jobs.

"Beijing has significant R&D strength, while Hebei offers relatively low land and labor costs. Enterprises there are very impressed by the complementary advantages of these two regions, which could combine to form synergistic development advantages," said Zhu Tianzhu, assistant director of the economic zone's administrative committee.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in 2021, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region invested a total of 394.91 billion yuan in R&D, 2.1 times that of 2013, accounting for 14.1 percent of the national total.

The same story is unfolding in the Xiong'an New Area, Hebei Province. Located about 100 km southwest of Beijing, the area has been designed as a major recipient of functions previously located in Beijing but which are not essential to its role as China's capital.

Hebei Province has welcomed some 44,000 enterprises transferred from Beijing and Tianjin, according to the provincial development and reform commission. This year, Hebei plans to absorb 30 second- and third-tier subsidiaries of central enterprises which are scheduled to settle in Xiong'an.

SHARED PUBLIC SERVICES

Coordinated development has not only boosted economic growth, but also improved people's lives in the region.

Beijing Children's Hospital in 2015 started assisting the children's hospital in Baoding City, Hebei Province, providing professional medical workers and technical support.

In the past eight years, more than 8,000 medical experts from Beijing have served at Baoding Children's Hospital. They performed operations there and passed on their experience, and eventually cultivated a large number of local medical professionals and high-level medical departments in Baoding.

According to Tian Jian, director of Baoding Children's Hospital, the hospital only saw about 250,000 patients a year back in 2015, but now it could see over 600,000 patients a year. "Our hospital is now capable of carrying out major operations. Local patients can enjoy Beijing's high-quality medical resources and medical services on their doorsteps."

Apart from this rational distribution of medical resources, 22 university development alliances have also been established in the region, aiming to balance educational resources and provide equitable opportunities for students.

Transportation development has been a basis for the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. A "one-hour traffic circle" now exists between Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei cities, greatly facilitating residents' work and lives in the three areas.

The region has also enjoyed better air quality and a more sustainable energy mix. In 2021, the average density of PM2.5 -- fine particulate matter that causes smog -- fell 15.6 percent compared to a year earlier. Renewable energy accounted for 8.8 percent of the region's total energy consumption, up 1.9 percentage points from 2020, according to the NBS. 
The incoming Tinubu administration will prevent the experiences of 2011 and 2015 when members of the House of Representatives revolted against the candidates of the ruling party, Vice President-elect Kashim Shettima said on Friday.

He said former President Goodluck Jonathan lost control of his administration the day Aminu Tambuwal emerged as the speaker. He added that the singular act contributed to the defeat of the then-ruling party, PDP, in 2015.

He also said outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari failed to achieve much in his first term because of the election of candidates not endorsed by the ruling party as leaders of the parliament.

Mr Shettima spoke during a meeting with Tajueen Abbas, Ben Kalu and other members of the Joint Task, a coalition of elected lawmakers who have pledged to support the choice of the ruling party, APC.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) adopted Messrs Abbas and Kalu as speaker and deputy speaker respectively.

The decision of the ruling party has been trailed by protests from other aspirants. They have formed a coalition called the Coalition of Progressive Speakership Aspirants (COPSA) to fight Mr Abbas.

Some of the members of the coalition include Deputy Speaker Idris Wase, Majority Leader Alhassan Doguwa, Sada Soli, Aminu Jaji, Yusuf Gagdi, Miriam Onuoha and Muktar Betara.

Speaking on the ongoing controversy trailing the speakership race, Mr Shettima said he is in constant talk with all the aggrieved aspirants in order to resolve the crisis.

I will take it upon myself to reach out to the other contenders. Rt Hon Betara is my brother. We are from the same subregion, we are from the same state and I have the best relationship with him. I met him two nights ago, I will sustain that, Mr Shettima said.

Around 1 p.m. today, I met with Wase, the deputy speaker. We will continue with the engagements so we can have a rancour-free Assembly.

When Obasanjo lost grip of the National Assembly, his first tenure was a failure. President Buhari could do little in his first because of the rancorous relationship between the executive and the legislature. What was accomplished in the last four years was because of the harmonious relationship between the executive and legislature.

When President Goodluck Jonathan lost grip of the National Assembly when Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal emerged as the speaker, and that rancorous relationship culminate in his defeat in the 2015 general election. Mariam Onuoha is my friend, I will reach out to her.

Why we picked Akpabio

Explaining the reason for the choice of Godswill Akpabio as the APCs choice for senate president, Mr Shettima said the president-elect, Bola Tinubu, tried to prevent a situation where the Senate President will also be a Muslim.

What we are trying to avoid is a situation whereby the number one citizen, number two citizen, the number three citizen and the number four citizen are all of the same faith. That will validate the negative narrative of the Islamization of Nigeria.

That is why my principal, a fair-minded individual, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu insists the number three citizen must come from the South/south (Christian). The stability of the nation is more important than any other consideration. We are talking about inclusivity, he said.

In his remarks, Mr Abbas assured the president-elect that the 10th House will have a harmonious relationship with the executive.

It is my turn  Wase

On the day Mr Shettima was justifying the selection of Mr Abbas, another APC lawmaker was insisting on contesting for the speakership position.

The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Idris Wase, on Friday, officially joined the speakership race.

Speaking during his declaration at the Transcorp Hotel in Abuja, Mr Wase stated the now popular Yoruba phrase emi lokan, which translates as it is my turn. The phrase was popularised by Mr Tinubu.

At this point, I will use the words of my leader, emi lokan, emi lokan, emi lokan, Mr Wase said, referring to Mr Tinubu as his leader even though he rejects the latters endorsement of a different aspirant.

Mr Wase, from Plateau State, stated that the ruling party must follow the Nigerian constitution in ensuring that the North-central is not excluded from the distribution of offices even though the constitution does not state how such offices should be allocated.

It must also be noted that it is only the North-central in the entire country that has not produced the Speaker in 24 years after the return of democracy to Nigeria in 1999.

Fellow Nigerians, Nigeria is built on the supremacy of the law and the sacredness of the constitution for justice to reign and to keep the peace in the country, he said.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported that the zoning of the presiding officers of the 10th Assembly as done by the ruling party excluded the North-central. The party said it decided on the zoning arrangement after consultations with Mr Tinubu who will be inaugurated as president on 29 May.

The new House of Representatives will be inaugurated on 13 June, about two weeks after the inauguration of the president.

The APC has zoned the positions of speaker and deputy senate president to the North-west, while the senate president and deputy speaker have been zoned to South-south and South-east respectively.

The APC, which has the highest number of seats in the Senate and House of Representatives, settled for Godswill Akpabio (South-south) and Barau Jibrin (North-west) for the positions of senate president and deputy senate president respectively.

The party also endorsed Tajudeen Abbas (North-west) and Ben Kalu (South-east) for speaker and deputy speaker respectively.

Mr Wase is one of the leading APC lawmakers opposed to the partys zoning arrangement. Others include House Leader Alhassan Doguwa, Muktar Betara, Sada Soli and Aminu Wali.

The aggrieved lawmakers, who have been re-elected and all seek to become the speaker, have formed a coalition called the Coalition of Progressive Speakership Aspirants (COPSA).

We will decide next speaker  Betara

Several members of the COPSA group attended the declaration of Mr Wase and reaffirmed their commitment to the struggle against the imposition of a candidate on the lawmakers.

Speaking on the alliance, Mr Betara said the selection of a consensus candidate must be done in consultation with all members.

For us forming a group, we are not fighting, we are all APC members. A consensus candidate can be picked but we must sit and say this is the person we have picked to lead us. I assure all my colleagues, members-elect, and former members, we are not going to fight. We are going to agree to support one of us as the speaker, Mr Betara said.

We can pick the candidate from among ourselves but if we all sit down and decided on it. I assure all of you it is only one person that God would choose to be speaker. I assure you we are not going to have any issue. We are going to agree to support one of us as speaker, he said.

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Vice President-elect Kashim Shettima has disclosed that the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, picked Godswill Akpabio as his preferred candidate for the position of senate president to avoid the negative narrative of Islamization.

Mr Shettima spoke Friday during a meeting with some elected lawmakers including Tajudeen Abbas, whose ambition to be House Speaker has been endorsed by Mr Tinubu and the ruling party, APC.

Mr Shettima said Mr Tinubu wants to prevent a situation where the President, Vice President, Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives would all be Muslims.

Messrs Tinubu, Shettima and Abbas are all Muslims while Mr Akpabio is a Christian.

The same faith ticket of Messrs Tinubu and Shettima already created a situation where the president and vice president are Muslims. There have, therefore, been calls by many Nigerians for the APC to ensure religious balance in its choice of presiding officers of the parliament.

Mr Tinubu and the APC picked Mr Akpabio (South-south) and Barau Jibrin (North-west) as preferred senate president and deputy senate president respectively. They also picked Mr Abbas (North-west) and Ben Kalu (South-east) as speaker and deputy speaker.

However, the decision has been criticised by some lawmakers and members of the party for various reasons including the fact that the North-central was excluded from the arrangement.

Three aspirants for the senate presidents seat, Abdulaziz Yari (APC-Zamfara), Sani Musa (APC-Niger) and Orji Kalu (APC-Abia) have been very vocal in speaking against the arrangement.

In the House of Representatives, ranking APC lawmakers like Deputy Speaker Idris Wase and House Leader Alhassan Doguwa have also rejected the zoning arrangement and have vowed to continue with their ambition to be the speaker.

Explaining the rationale for the zoning arrangement, Mr Shettima said What we are trying to avoid is a situation whereby the number one citizen, number two citizen, the number three citizen and the number four citizen are all of the same faith. That will validate the negative narrative of the Islamization of Nigeria.

That is why my principal, a fair-minded individual, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu insists the number three citizen must come from the South-south (Christian). The stability of the nation is more important than any other consideration. We are talking about inclusivity, he said.

Mr Shettima did not explain why other APC ranking senators who are also Christians were not considered despite seeking the position of senate president. These include Mr Kalu and Osita Izunaso. However, unlike Mr Akpabio, Messrs Kalu and Izunaso are from the South-east, the region where Mr Tinubu scored his least number of votes in the presidential election.

Mr Shettima, a former Borno governor, did not also speak on the ongoing corruption probe of Mr Akpabio.

PREMIUM TIMES reported the ongoing probe of Mr Akpabio by the anti-graft agency, EFCC, for allegedly stealing state funds while he was Akwa Ibom governor. Mr Akpabio is, however, not the only aspirant with a tainted past. Mr Kalu was psoecuted and convicted of stealing public funds while he was Abia governor. However, the Supreme Court ordered his retrial based on technicalities.

Mr Shettima, who is a senator in the current assembly, promised to intervene to prevent a situation that will lead to rebellion by APC lawmakers ahead of the 13 June inauguration of the National Assembly.

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A former Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, has called on senators-elect to ignore religion and ethnicity sentiments when electing the Senate President.

Mr Yari is one of the aspirants contesting for the office but the All Progressives Congress (APC) had nominated a former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, for the position and the senator Representing Kano North District, Barau Jibirin, as Deputy Senate President.

The vice president-elect, Kashim Shettima, on Friday said the two were nomimated after consideration of the need to show religious balance in the political leadership of the country,

The president-elect, Bola Tinubu, and Mr Shettima are both Muslims and their party was severely criticised for fielding a same-faith ticket in a country with many religious faiths.

Mr Yari is a Muslim from the North-west of Nigeria. However, in a congratulatory message to the senators-elect on Saturday, he insisted that he will not withdraw from the race in spite of his party announcing its preference of candidates.

Mr Yari said the 10th Senate needs a compassionate, honest and fair-minded senate president and not the one that will be chosen based on religion and ethnicity sentiments.

This, in the first instance, is the reason you are elected to serve, and this is why you need a senate president that is compassionate, honest, fair-minded, and result driven, he said.

This is the time to eschew religious, tribal, nepotic tendencies and ethnic sentiments in the choice of the president of the senate which is first among equals, he added.

As I continue to consult on my aspiration to serve you as your president of the senate, please accept the assurances of my highest esteem.

He also encouraged the senators-elect to come up with policies that will promote unity and peaceful coexistence in the country when they are finally inaugurated into the 10th assembly.

The division among Nigerians resulting from religious, tribal and ethnic sentiments is a narrative we must all work together to change for the country to move forward. You must all think up ways to work towards building a better and united country to make it safe for all.

Mr Yari advised the senators-elect to ensure they facilitate developments to their constituents while in the senate.

I congratulate you all on your well-deserved victory at the polls. It is a testament to your popularity among your people and the confidence they have in you to deliver democracy dividends to them, Yari said.

You must therefore not disappoint them in any way because your actions, inactions, omissions, and commissions may affect them directly or indirectly, he noted.

While in the senate, you should always be reminded that you are indebted to your constituencies and should work towards attracting development projects to your people.

Aside from the religious factor weighing against his candidacy for the Senate presidency, the former head of the Nigerian Governors Forum is one of the three contenders for the office who are facing investigations or trial for alleged graft.

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The Nigeria Army says 6,251 newly-recruited soldiers would be deployed to counter activities of criminal elements.

The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Faruk Yahaya, made the disclosure on Saturday in Zaria, Kaduna State at the passing-out parade of the 84 regular recruits intake.

Mr Yahaya noted that Nigeria was faced with numerous security challenges occasioned by the activities of Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, separatist agitators, religious extremists and other criminal elements.

The army with the support of the Federal Government will continue to do everything possible to surmount the various security challenges confronting the country until Nigeria becomes safe for all.

The adoption of cyclic training, which allows each recruit to undergo every aspect of training, has made you a strong force to be reckoned with, Mr Yahaya told the recruits.

He said with the passing-out, the strength and combat efficiency of the Nigerian Army would be enhanced with 6,251 well-trained men.

The COAS reiterated his commitment and support to improve the standard of training as well as the welfare of recruits, instructors and staff of Depot, Nigeria Army.

He tasked the new soldiers on loyalty, selfless service, courage, discipline, integrity and respect for others which he described as the core values of the Nigerian Army.

You are expected to always do your utmost best to sustain these values through high professional standards in order to enhance your individual ability and our overall combat-readiness.

I urge you to assimilate and retain the mental, physical and spiritual training given to you at this institution, Mr Yahaya charged. (NAN)

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On Thursday 18 May, General Aliyu Gusau (rtd., CFR) will be eighty. If you call him General Aliyu Mohammed or General Aliyu Gusau, you are referring to the same man. The talk in many circles, in this country, is that if you have a problem that you cant solve, contact General Aliyu Mohammed Gusau. He will give a solution. He is a brilliant man with very few words. He loves to operate in the background and rarely talks. You either fear him or you love him. He is someone, you cannot ignore his call. Inspite of all said about him, General Gusau is a man who values friendship. He goes out of his way, even bend rules to help his friends. His circle of friends is beyond religious, tribal, military or even political groupings.

The Nigerian Defence Academy was established in 1964 to replace the Nigeria Military Training College (NMTC) for the purpose of producing junior leaders (officers) for the Nigerian Armed Forces. Hitherto, Nigeria Armed Forces Officer Cadets were trained in oversea countries, notably Royal Military Academy I (RMA), Sandhurst England, German Air Force Academy and Teshie Military Academy, Ghana. The First Regular Course (Regular Course 1), which consisted of Army and Navy Cadets only of the duration of 31/2 years. Air Force Cadets were later admitted and trained with the subsequent courses.

The outbreak of the Nigerian civil war in 1967 made it imperative for the Emergency Commission Course (ECC) to be introduced to produce officers for the prosecution of the war. The duration of this type of training ranged between four and eight weeks. The ECC was eventually phased out at the end of the war in 1970 when the need to produce officers of such cadre in the Nigerian Armed Forces was no longer as pressing. In its place the Short Service (Combatant) Commission (SSC) course was introduced with a duration ranging between six and nine months.

This type of training draws largely on the pool of graduates from the Nigerian Universities and other technical colleges to meet the manpower need of the Nigerian Armed Forces on a short-term basis.

This type of training was designed to give the cadets essential professional knowledge that will enable them to be competent platoon commander in their respective units on commissioning. Cadets from other sister African nations have also been trained all along in this august institution. In the mid 1990s the three services of the Nigeria Armed Forces namely: The Army; Navy and Air Force transferred the training of their cadets under the direct short service commission (DSSC) course to the NDA. With this, uniformity in training standards for officers of the respective services of the Nigerian Armed Forces has been achieved.

One of the students of the Nigerian Defence Academy first Regular Course 1 was General Aliyu Muhammed. His other course mates included Lt-General Oladipo Diya, Lt-General Joshua Dongoyaro, Major General Ishola Williams, Major General Salihu Ibrahim and Admiral Allison Madueke.

Others were Major General O. Daramola, Brigadier General Ibrahim Bako, Brigadier General Rafuka, Major General Karawu, Major General Suleiman, Colonel Anifowose, Major General Abdulahi Mamman, Major General Idahosa, Major General Peter Adomokhai, Major General Haladu Hananiya, Major General Samuel Olajide and Colonel Awodeyi.

General Aliyu Gusau, since joining the Army in 1964, has been able to build national and global contacts. He speaks seven languages including Hebrew, French and German. He is also vast in Arabic. Before he retired from the Nigerian Army, he rose to the position of the Chief of Army Staff.

In 1967, he fought during the Nigerian Civil War. He was Commander of 9 Infantry Brigade, Abeokuta (April 1976  July 1978). He later became acting Governor of Ogun state. During that time he formed strong friendship among strong Ogun state elites and the friendship still last till today. General Aliyu Gusau became Adjutant General of 2 Mechanised Division (July 1978  September 1979) and Director of Personnel Services, Army Headquarters (October 1979  November 1979).

From November 1979 to December 1983, General Aliyu was Director of Military Intelligence (DMI). Along with Brigadier General Ibrahim Bako, Major General Ibrahim Babangida and Major General Muhammadu Buhari, he played an important role in the coup that ousted President Shehu Shagari and the Second Nigerian Republic on 31 December 1983 and brought General Muhammadu Buhari to power.

When Major General Babangida took over power in 1985, General Aliyu was appointed Director of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) and Acting Director-General of the National Security Organisation (NSO) from September 1985 to August 1986, then Coordinator on National Security from August 1986 to December 1989. He reorganised the security and intelligence apparatuses, which had fallen in disarray under Rafindadi during the Buhari regime, breaking up the NSO into three organisations: State Security Services (SSS), National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA).

General Gusau was appointed General Officer Commanding 2 Mechanised Division in Ibadan from December 1989 to August 1990; and Chief of Administration, Defence Headquarters, in Lagos from August 1990 to February 1992. He was Commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna from February 1992 to January 1993.

Aliyu became National Security Advisor in January 1993, and was promoted to Chief of Army Staff when Babangida passed control to the short-lived civilian government of the Nigerian Third Republic in August 1993.

In November 1993, in a bid to consolidate his power General Sani Abacha removed Aliyu as Chief of Army Staff replacing him with General Chris Alli.

General Ibrahim Babangida GCFR once told me that the greatness of General Aliyu Gusau lies in personal contact with him. He said General Aliyu Gusau is a wonderful man, a personal friend and a loyal officer. I am always proud of him.

His son Mahdi Aliyu Gusau (born 1981) served as deputy governor of Zamfara State from 2019 till 2022. His daughter, Aisha,is married to Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, the Vice Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the last Presidential election.

From 1983 till now, every Nigerian leader had one way or the other had contacts with General Aliyu Gusua. In his home state of Zamfara, he is regarded as the Godfather of politics in that state. I think the source of his greatness is his simplicity.

Those who know him love him, infact too much. Those who hate him do not know him at all.

Eric Teniola, a retired director at the Presidency wrote from Lagos.

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Nigerias Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo, has commended the proposed dredging of Oguta Lake and River Orashi in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State.

Mr Osinbajo, who performed the flag-off ceremony of the project on Thursday on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari, said when completed, the project would end recurring crude oil theft and create jobs for teeming unemployed Nigerians.

The vice-president, in a series of tweets via his verified Twitter handle on Saturday, said that the project was a vital collaboration between the Imo State Government, the Nigerian Navy, and a consortium of technical partners.

With the dredging project, the (Nigerian) Navy will be better equipped to protect our coastlines, thereby curbing crude oil theft and illegal bunkering and other criminal activities that appear to have taken advantage of the difficulty of the terrain for the operational use of naval platforms, he said.

Oil theft, illegal bunkering in Nigerias oil-producing communities, and its negative impact on the countrys economy have been a source of concern to the Nigerian government over the years.

Mr Osinbajo said the dredging project will include creation of a sea route from the Oguta Lake, River Orashi, through the Degema Council Area in Rivers State to the Atlantic Ocean.

As far back as 1914, the British, understanding its strategic importance in connecting the hinterlands to the coast, utilised this route to facilitate the smooth export of products such as palm oil, timber, and coal, from Oguta and its neighbouring regions, Mr Osinbajo stated.

The vice-president pointed out that the project would also pave the way for a thriving business landscape and increased revenue for both governments of states in the South-east and the federal government.

Today, we aim to revive this once vibrant and economically strategic channel, furthering job creation and sustainable growth in Imo State and the entire Southeast-region.

By enhancing coastal connectivity and facilitating seamless transportation, the project will promote trade and investment, spur growth in multiple sectors including shipping, manufacturing, and agriculture, and offer numerous opportunities for the people, he said.

The vice-president said President Buhari has granted a request by Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State to declare Oguta/Ohaji/Egbema and its environs as an oil and gas free trade zone.

This proposed free trade zone has one of the largest hydrocarbon deposits in the country, he said.

He commended the governor for his foresightedness and political pragmatism as well as mastering the art of close collaboration with the federal government for the benefit of the state.

Federal Medical Centre, Alvan Ikoku College of Education, Owerri

Mr Uzodinma, in August 2022, pleaded with Mr Buhari to convert Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owerri into Federal University of Technology Teaching Hospital as well as Alvan Ikoku College of Education, Owerri into Federal University of Education, Owerri.

Mr Osinbajo revealed that Mr Buhari has approved the governors request regarding the federal governments take-over and conversion of the two institutions in the state.

He did not, however, give details of the take-over and conversion of the institutions.

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Israeli forces and Palestinian militants continued to exchange fire on Friday, further escalating the confrontation that has killed dozens.



Xinhua correspondents report from a town in northern Gaza Strip and a city in Israel to bring you the latest.
We encourage the Governor and Legislative leadership to finalize a budget that includes ongoing, significant resources like those included in the Senate Budget Plan released last week and in our comprehensive coalition investment strategy for affordable housing production, preservation, and tenant stability. The Senate Budget Plan builds on the Governor's proposal and would provide additional resources for key programs, including ongoing investment in homelessness and resources for key housing production programs. Notably, that Plan provides $1 billion in ongoing funds to support the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention Program, $1 billion towards the state Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program, and an additional $300 million flexible funding for affordable housing production programs.

To protect the progress made from past investments and to build upon our efforts in an uncertain and constrained economic climate, the Administration and Legislature must invest additional resources to prevent our housing and homelessness crisis, and its disproportionate impact on people of color, from worsening.

Now is the time to build on our momentum in securing a more stable and affordable California. Our coalition stands fully committed to advocating for the full spectrum of housing and homelessness programs as a package, and we are eager to work with the Administration and the Legislature to seek collaborative and creative approaches for this and future years, including a statewide housing bond and by exploring new, dedicated revenue sources to provide long-term funding solutions to our affordable housing and homelessness crisis.

Contact: Unai Montes, [email protected], 310.962.7369 (Bilingual)

SOURCE Housing California
OKOTOKS, AB, May 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - (TSX: MTL) Further to the news release dated May 4, 2023, Mullen Group Ltd. ("Mullen Group" and/or the "Corporation") announced today that the Board of Directors of the Corporation (the "Board") will not accept the resignation of Sonia Tibbatts as a director of the Corporation.

At the annual meeting of shareholders of the Corporation held on May 3, 2023, eight nominees including Ms. Tibbatts were elected as directors of the Corporation, however, Ms. Tibbatts did not receive the requisite majority of votes cast in respect of her election. In accordance with the Corporation's majority voting policy (the "Policy"), she tendered her resignation for consideration by the Compensation, Nomination and Governance Committee (the "CNG Committee") of the Board.

The CNG Committee considered the factors it deemed relevant in respect of her resignation and made a recommendation to the Board to reject the resignation. After consideration of the recommendation of the CNG Committee as well as further evaluation of all of the factors the Board deems relevant, the Board has determined that there are exceptional circumstances that warrant the Board not to accept the resignation of Ms. Tibbatts. As a result, Ms. Tibbatts will continue to serve as a director of the Corporation until the close of the next annual meeting of shareholders of the Corporation, or until her successor is elected or appointed.

A key factor taken into account by the Board in reaching their determination included the fact that the primary cause for the withhold votes cast against Ms. Tibbatts was that certain shareholders advisory groups recommended against her election because she is the Chair of the CNG Committee and the Board is comprised of less than 30% women directors. The Board determined that it would be contrary to the objective of increasing diversity of the Board to accept the resignation of Ms. Tibbatts and an injustice to Ms. Tibbatts. An additional factor taken into consideration was that Mullen Group was never offside on its gender diversity initiatives and that the representation of women on the Board temporarily fell below the recommended 30% threshold as a result of the Board's focus on broader diversity initiatives in adding Jamil Murji and Benoit Durand. The Board remains committed to acting in the best interests of the Corporation and all shareholders.

The Board has been and will continue to be committed to making the effort to meet the 30% recommended threshold and in that regard will take steps to recruit an additional woman to join the Board as well as implement a gender diversity policy. The Board expects to achieve representation by women directors of at least 30% before the next annual meeting of shareholders of the Corporation.

About Mullen Group Ltd.

Mullen Group is one of Canada's largest logistics providers. Our network of independently operated businesses provide a wide range of service offerings including less-than-truckload, truckload, warehousing, logistics, transload, oversized, third-party logistics and specialized hauling transportation. In addition, we provide a diverse set of specialized services related to the energy, mining, forestry and construction industries in western Canada, including water management, fluid hauling and environmental reclamation. The corporate office provides the capital and financial expertise, legal support, technology and systems support, shared services and strategic planning to its independent businesses.

Mullen Group is a publicly traded corporation listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "MTL". Additional information is available on our website at www.mullen-group.com or on the Corporation's issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Contact Information

Mr. Murray K. Mullen - Chair, Senior Executive Officer and President

Ms. Joanna K. Scott - Senior Corporate Officer

121A - 31 Southridge Drive

Okotoks, Alberta, Canada T1S 2N3

Telephone: 403-995-5200

Fax: 403-995-5296

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements included in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities laws, specifically, the statement regarding the ability of the Board to elect women directors that represent at least 30% women. By its nature, forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties, and assumptions and in this case, the Corporation has assumed that qualified director candidates will be available and have the desire to join the Board. The Corporation cautions that its assumptions may not materialize although it believes they were reasonable at the time they were made. In the event that the assumptions do not materialize, actual results may differ materially from any conclusion or expectation that may be drawn from the forward-looking information. The risk factors that the Corporation believes could cause actual results to vary from the forward-looking information include that the no qualified candidates are available or, if they are available, do not accept an appointment to the Board before the next annual meeting of shareholders of the Corporation.

Mullen Group assumes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking information to reflect future events, changes in circumstances, or changes in beliefs, unless required by applicable securities laws. In the event Mullen Group does update any forward-looking information, no inference should be made that Mullen Group will make additional updates with respect to any statement, related matters, or other forward-looking statement that included the forward-looking information.

SOURCE Mullen Group Ltd.
NEW YORK, May 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, a leading national securities law firm, is investigating potential claims against Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. ("Spirit" or the "Company") (NYSE: SPR) and reminds investors of the July 3, 2023 deadline to seek the role of lead plaintiff in a federal securities class action that has been filed against the Company.

If you suffered losses exceeding $100,000 investing in Spirit stock or options between April 8, 2020 and April 13, 2023 and would like to discuss your legal rights, call Faruqi & Faruqi partner Josh Wilson directly at 877-247-4292 or 212-983-9330 (Ext. 1310). You may also click here for additional information: www.faruqilaw.com/SPR.

There is no cost or obligation to you.

Faruqi & Faruqi is a leading minority and Woman-owned national securities law firm with offices in New York, Pennsylvania, California and Georgia.

As detailed below, the lawsuit focuses on whether the Company and its executives violated federal securities laws by making false and/or misleading statements and/or failing to disclose that: (1) that Spirit lacked effective production quality controls; (2) that, as a result, Spirit incorrectly installed fittings designed to join the aft fuselage to the vertical tail for some Boeing 737 Max airplanes that Spirit sent to Boeing; (3) that, as a result, Spirit would have to develop an inspection and repair procedure for the affected fuselages; (4) that the foregoing would negatively impact Spirit's financial results; and (5) that 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.

On April 13, 2023, after the market closed, Boeing announced that it would halt deliveries of its 737 MAX aircraft due to a supplier quality problem. According to an article by Barron's, Boeing issued a statement stating that "the issue will likely affect a significant number of undelivered 737 MAX airplanes."

The same day, Bloomberg identified Spirit as the supplier of the faulty part. Several media outlets reported the details of the quality problem. An article by Reuters reported that "[t]he problem involves the installation of two fittings that join the aft fuselage made by Spirit to the vertical tail, which were not attached correctly to the structure of the fuselage before it was sent to Boeing." Reuters also reported that "Spirit said it is working to develop an inspection and repair for the affected fuselages" and that "the problem is believed to date back to 2019."

On this news, Spirit's stock price fell $7.38, or 20.7%, to close at $28.22 per share on April 14, 2023.

The court-appointed lead plaintiff is the investor with the largest financial interest in the relief sought by the class who is adequate and typical of class members who directs and oversees the litigation on behalf of the putative class. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision to serve as a lead plaintiff or not.

Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP also encourages anyone with information regarding Spirit's conduct to contact the firm, including whistleblowers, former employees, shareholders and others.

Attorney Advertising. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP (www.faruqilaw.com). Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your particular case. All communications will be treated in a confidential manner.

SOURCE Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP
The National Restaurant Association Show's FABI Awards celebrate stand-out flavors in taste, creativity and ingenuity.

LOS ANGELES, May 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- UNLIMEAT announced that its plant-based Korean BBQ is a featured recipient of the 2023 Food and Beverage (FABI) Awards and will be showcased at The National Restaurant Association Hotel-Motel Show taking place May 20-23 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL.

UNLIMEAT_FABI Awards

UNLIMEAT, a pioneering company in plant-based cuisine, has developed its groundbreaking products to address food waste and improve food sustainability by using upcycled ingredients. Addressing unmet market needs, UNLIMEAT has created a versatile plant-based product fit for use in all kinds of global cuisine, from Korean BBQ to plant-based Cheesesteaks. Their products represent a unique fusion of traditional Korean flavors and modern, innovative plant-based ingredients, setting it apart from other offerings in the market.

"We're honored to be recognized in this year's FABI Awards and look forward to showcasing our product at the foodservice industry's most influential event," said Ryan Chung, co-CEO of UNLIMEAT. "With tens of thousands of professionals attending from around the globe, the show presents the perfect opportunity to introduce our plant-based Korean BBQ to new buyers who are seeking flavorful, sustainable, and versatile menu options."

The National Restaurant Association Show's FABI Awards represent the most forward-thinking and creative new tastes that are driving trends, delighting customers, and delivering expanded menu offerings across an industry focused on increasing profitability. Each FABI Award submission was evaluated by an independent panel of judges from across the foodservice industry who represent some of the world's most well-known brands and organizations. Recipients were selected for their exciting new tastes, uniqueness in the market, appeal to the operator community, creative approach to operator challenges, and introduction of new opportunities and profit potential.

"This year is truly an exceptional year for noteworthy food and beverage products," said Tom Cindric, President of Winsight Exhibitions. "The awarded products are breaking new barriers in flavor, taste, creativity, and packaging and are shaping the future of food and beverage. As the world's largest and most-trusted foodservice event, the Show continues to be where the next big industry trends are born and serves as a launching pad for companies to showcase new products."

UNLIMEAT will be showcasing its plant-based Korean BBQ on the Show floor, in featured demos at The Culinary Experience, and in tastings held at the new Connections space. Their booth will present an assortment of plant-based dishes aside from their Korean BBQ, featuring options such as plant-based pulled pork and tuna. Additionally, in collaboration with Bear Robotics, robot servers will be handing out meat pies made with UNLIMEAT's plant-based pulled pork at the Bear Robotics' booth.

As the global restaurant and hospitality industry's premier trade show, the National Restaurant Association Show is one of the best places to explore everything that's happening in the hospitality industry, from the latest food and beverage trends to emerging technologies. For more information, visit nationalrestaurantshow.com.

About UNLIMEAT

UNLIMEAT's products are rich in nutrients and use various by-products that are typically discarded in the food production process, such as rice bran, which is discarded during the process of polishing brown rice, and defatted soybean powder, which is discarded after pressing soybean oil. The company began as an idea for reducing waste by using 'ugly agricultural products' thrown away due to poor product value, such as small size, scratches, and uneven color. UNLIMEAT is the first food tech startup in Korea to develop, manufacture, and sell plant-based meat created with technology that reproduces the texture, juiciness, taste, and flavor of meat. They have the largest factory exclusively producing plant-based meat in Asia.

SOURCE UNLIMEAT
Gaza/Jerusalem, May 13 : A senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement's armed wing Al-Quds Brigades was killed in an Israeli airstrike on an apartment in Gaza city, the Gaza-based health ministry said in a press statement.

In the statement released on Friday by the ministry, which is run by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), two Palestinian men were killed and five civilians were injured in the attacks on the Al-Nasser neighbourhood, Xinhua news agency reported.

The ministry identified the victims as PIJ militants Eyad Al-Hasani and Mohamed Abdel Aal.

According to a statement released by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), Eyad Al-Hasani was "a significant figure in leading the operations and making military decisions" of the PIJ.

"Al-Hasani was a key figure in the organization and was involved in all decisions regarding rocket launches and barrages toward Israel," the IDF statement read.

The PIJ's armed wing said in a statement that "assassinating our leaders won't stop our resistance." According to the health ministry, 33 people have been killed and more than 100 others injured since Israel began airstrikes on the PIJ's armed wing on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Israeli fighter jets and unmanned drones carried out simultaneous and surprising airstrikes against buildings and apartments that host senior PIJ military leaders in the Gaza Strip.

On Wednesday afternoon and Thursday, the PIJ militants fired more than 500 rockets at central and southern Israel, leaving one Israeli woman killed and more than nine injured, according to Israeli media reports.

Palestinian sources said that Egypt, Qatar, and the UN have so far failed to mediate a ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas-led militant groups, including the PIJ.
Islamabad, May 13 : Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan currently faces more than 150 legal cases registered against him in various police stations and courts spread across the country.

The popular leader and the biggest challenging hurdle for Pakistan's military establishment and the current coalition government, may just end up seeing himself out of the election race and also the political future in the country. Legal counter to Imran Khan's public uproar is what seems to be the countering-plan of his opponents.

The legal cases against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman, some of which may have been politically motivated, however, many are of serious nature, charging him on terrorism and incitement to violence.

And with the last 48 hours of riots, violence and chaos through protests and anger among the Khan's supporters, the legal cases against him are lined up to become more severe in the coming days and weeks.

The current coalition government and the military establishment may not have a solution to shrink the public support of Imran Khan, but they most certainly have formulated a plan to ensure that the serious threat to their political future in power posed by Imran Khan is countered through the legal cases against him. Some of the plans may pave the way towards his disqualification from the political race and also his party's leadership for life.

Some of the important cases, including Toshakhana case and the Al-Qadir Trust land scam case, top the list of hundreds of others, in which Khan may face disqualification through the courts.

Imran Khan has already been disqualified as Member National Assembly (MNA) in the Prohibited Funding Case by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which is now seeking his removal as PTI chief and starting criminal proceedings against him.

The Al-Qadir Trust land scam case is also another corruption case worth billions in which, Khan is accused by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) of facilitating a well-known business tycoon Malik Riaz with a settlement amount of at least 60 billion rupees, which was paid by Malik Riaz in a land settlement case to Supreme Court of Pakistan.

However, Imran, being Prime Minister of the time, had the money transferred back to Malik Riaz's account and in compensation, Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi accepted 5 billion PKR as a bribe to whitewash 60 billion PKR for Malik Riaz.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, in his recent statement, has said that the government would ensure that they do not let Imran Khan off the hook that easy now since he is under police custody, giving clear signs that Khan's political threat would be tackled through the legal course and make way towards his removal from the election race going forward.
People wait to be evacuated near an airport in Omdurman, Sudan, April 26, 2023. As conflict continues in Sudan, many people have fled to neighboring countries. (Xinhua)

The decision to allocate airports is part of efforts to implement a commitment to protect civilians, signed by the Sudanese Army and the RSF in the Saudi port city of Jeddah on Thursday following the start of peace talks on May 6.

KHARTOUM, May 13 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese government announced Friday that it had allocated three airports to facilitate the arrival of humanitarian aid.

The airports in Port Sudan and Wadi Seidna, as well as Khartoum International Airport, will serve as entry points for humanitarian aid after maintenance, said the Council of Ministers, the cabinet, in a statement.

The cabinet called on all national and foreign voluntary organizations and relevant authorities to coordinate with a special committee it formed to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid to all affected citizens.

Khartoum International Airport, Sudan's main airport, went out of service after being bombarded during clashes between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The decision to allocate airports is part of efforts to implement a commitment to protect civilians, signed by the Sudanese Army and the RSF in the Saudi port city of Jeddah on Thursday following the start of peace talks on May 6.

In the declaration, the conflicting parties vow to "achieve a short-term ceasefire to facilitate the delivery of emergency humanitarian assistance and restoration of essential services."

International organizations and authorities have welcomed the deal to protect civilians.

"While humanitarian workers, most notably local partners, have continued to deliver in very difficult circumstances, the secretary-general hopes this declaration will ensure that the relief operation can scale up swiftly and safely to meet the needs of millions of people in Sudan," said Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The UN chief reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire and expanded discussions to achieve a permanent cessation of hostilities, the spokesman said.

The United Nations would spare no effort to assist in the declaration's implementation and will continue to deliver humanitarian aid, ceasefire or not, he added.

Meanwhile, Libya's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said the declaration "represents a courageous step by both sides of the crisis to commit to protecting civilians in Sudan."

The ministry reaffirmed Libya's keenness to restore stability in Sudan and to encourage the Sudanese Army and the RSF to abide by their commitments in the declaration.

It also called for reinforcing the agreement between the Sudanese rivals by additional measures, "especially in the path of responding to urgent humanitarian needs."

South Sudanese displaced by conflict in Sudan are seen at the reception center in Renk County, Upper Nile State, South Sudan, on April 30, 2023. (Photo by Denis Elamu/Xinhua)

More than 164,000 people have sought refuge across borders since the outbreak of the military conflict in Sudan on April 15, showed the UN Refugee Agency. The International Organization for Migration estimates some 736,000 people have been internally displaced within Sudan since the start of the conflict. Almost 3.8 million people were displaced within Sudan before the outbreak of violence.

According to the United Nations, about 15.8 million Sudanese, or one-third of Sudan's population, will need humanitarian aid in 2023, and the figure is likely to increase.

The deadly clashes have left at least 550 people dead and 4,926 others wounded, according to the figures released by the Sudanese Health Ministry in early May. 
Islamabad, May 13 : Pakistan has become a country with a free flowing floods of political unrest, uncertainty and chaos as political rivals refuse to leave any leaf unturned to regain power, and in order to do that, gaining control of the political epicentre hub, the Punjab province.

Punjab, the largest province of the country, has been the epicentre of political unrest after Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan dissolved its assembly along with that of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to assert pressure on the federal government and enforce early general elections in the country.

However, the ruling government countered the move by putting in place a caretaker government setup, which has already exceeded its 90 days tenure and still has no sight of holding election in the province.

The government maintains that it would hold election together in the whole country as having separate election in Punjab and KP provinces, followed by general election in rest of the country is something that the country cannot afford financially and politically.

This has led to a political unrest in the Punjab province, with PTI protesting and challenging the caretaker setup authority along with the federal government's refusal to hold elections in the courts.

"Politics in Punjab is what establishes who takes control in the federal government and the country at large. This is why PTI and the other political parties are working hard to regain control of the political setup in Punjab. And in process, plunging it into extreme political crisis," said Muhammad Hassan, political analyst based in Lahore.

The current unrest, resulting after the arrest of the former Prime Minister Khan from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) officials, saw one of the worst violence in Punjab, especially its provincial capital Lahore, where PTI workers and supporters stormed the core commander office, vandalising and looting it, which was followed by attacks on state institution buildings and installations of security forces in different parts of the province, has resulted in more cases of serious charges registered against Khan, his party leaders and workers.

The unrest has certainly established that the real fight for power and the future coarse of political future for political parties, banks on the power game in the Punjab province.

Experts say Punjab is going to be the centre of political fight between Khans's party and his rival political parties as Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), once ruled Punjab as its stronghold, wants to regain strength, Pakistan People Party (PPP), which has established its strong base in Sindh province, is now making strong in-roads in Punjab to return to power through political maneuvering, and PTI, which let go of its control on the province by dissolving assemblies, wants to regain the throne and use it to weaken the federal government and pressurise them to go into early general elections.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, May 13 : The body of a man was found in northeast Delhi's Babarpur area, an official said on Saturday, adding that the three accused, who are on the run, have been identified.

The deceased was identified as Deep Kamal, a resident of Balbir Nagar Extension in Delhi.

According to police, in the wee hours of Saturday, a PCR call regarding a body in Prem Gali, East Babarpur was received at Welcome police station following which a police team was dispatched for the spot.

"Deep Kamal was found dead. He was taken to GTB Hospital, where the body was kept for post-mortem," said Joy Trikey, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northeast).

During initial investigation, it was revealed that a quarrel had taken place between Deep Kamal and Dinesh Verma, Pawan and Himanshu, all originally from Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh, and presently all residing on rent at East Babarpur area.

"Deep Kamal was hit with a blunt object on his head after which he collapsed. A case under section 302 (murder) is being registered and a police team has been sent to Firozabad to nab the accused persons," said the DCP.
Bengaluru, May 13 : The Congress party has widened its lead to over 82 seats in Karnataka assembly elections while BJP, which was hoping to retain the power, was trailing with 52 seats.

The Congress was leading in regions considered as BJP strongholds. The Congress party candidates were in three constituencies of Dakshina Kannada district which witnessed revenge killings. Congress managed to win only one seat in the last elections and BJP won seven seats.

Congress candidates were leading in Bengaluru city as well. They are leading in most of the seats in Bagalkot, Chitradurga, Koppal, Tumakuru districts.

JD (S) was leading in four seats in Mandya and Hassan districts. In Tumakuru, JD (S) candidates have maintained lead in four seats of the total 11 constituencies.

In Belagavi which has 18 seats, Congress candidates maintained leads in six segments and BJP was leading in four seats. The trends were yet to be known for other seats.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai speaking to reporters after visiting Hanuman temple stated that it is a big day for Karnataka and BJP will get absolute majority. With a stable government, inclusive development is possible in Karnataka and he thanked the people of Karnataka for voting peacefully.

The results will be out in a few hours and all political developments will depend on the outcome of the results, CM Bommai stated when asked about an alliance with JD (S).

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
New Delhi, May 13: Mounting public anger against China and its companies in Myanmar has gone unnoticed thanks to the din over the China-Taiwan issue and the Russia-Ukraine war. In barely a week, numerous incidents of violence against Chinese interests have demonstrated the pent-up fury among the Myanmarese people against China and its exploitative investments in their country.

This Sunday, the Natogyi Guerrilla Force (NGF) attacked Myanmarese soldiers guarding oil and gas pipelines in the Mandalay region. According to a news report in The Irrawaddy, the guerrillas attacked the Myanmarese soldiers with rockets. Bo Zeyar, a member of the NGF said: "We fired three 60-mm rockets at the control centre on May 7. The rockets hit the building. We learned that two junta soldiers were killed and five others wounded." The Irrawaddy says that claims about the casualties are unverified. A Myanmarese source told India Narrative that China is providing training and weapons to the rebel Arakan Army (AA) in an effort to provide protection to its oil and gas pipelines that run from Kyaukphyu port through Mandalay and Namkham in Myanmar to enter Ruili in Yunnan, China. Many locals see the oil and gas pipelines as a symbol of exploitation when large parts of Myanmar do not have adequate energy.

However, the incident is a pointer to the swelling resentment against the Communist Party of China (CPC) which is seen as propping up the military regime, which has now completed more than two years since toppling the democratically-elected government of popular leader Aung San Suu Kyi and took over power on February 1, 2021.

Besides the armed rebels, common people also are openly showing their disdain for China.

In another incident that took place on Thursday, May 11, people protested against Chinese investments in mines in Monywa city in Sagaing region. They also burnt a Chinese flag in public and took out an anti-China rally. In a show of defiance, the Myanmarese people have protested against the Chinese in cities like Yangon, Salingyi and Yinmabin towns.

Monywa city has some of the biggest mines - the Letpadaung copper mines, which are being exploited by Chinese companies under the patronage of the government in Beijing. The mines have seen violence by people earlier also due to feelings of economic exploitation.

In yet another incident, sources in Monywa city told India Narrative that the rebels used landmines and bombs to blow up a truck carrying copper between the villages of Chownow and Myinmu. The copper mines are surrounded by nearly 30 villages which are angry with the Chinese company for exploiting their resources. Mining operations have also polluted agricultural land which has made the villagers resentful against China.

Negative sentiments against China have simmered earlier also.

These sentiments were stoked recently after Chinese Foreign Minister Yin Gang visited Myanmar on May 2 to meet with Myanmar junta leader, General Min Aung Hlaing. Even as Qin described the two countries as "brothers who share the same mountain and water", Beijing made efforts to signal that the high-level meet should not be construed as an endorsement of Myanmar's military regime.

Before Qin met with the Junta leadership, he had visited the China-Myanmar border at Yunnan where he played hot and cold politics. While talking about friendly relations between the two neighbours, Qin also warned about the escalating violence in Myanmar spilling over to China.

The Chinese Foreign Minister also called upon the Communist Party, the local government, military, police and civilians in the border town of Ruili, Yunnan, to strengthen the border defence system and severely crack down on cross-border criminal activities from Myanmar. The two countries share a hyper-active border with all kinds of people crossing over for work, tourism, pleasure and even criminal activities.

Qin's visit to the border and his meeting with the military leaders fired protests in Myanmar against both - China as well as the military government. The estrangement with the junta has naturally spread to the Communist Party of China (CPC) which is seen as not only propping up the military regime but also stripping the people of Myanmar of their rightful natural resources.

With the Western countries continuing to thumb their noses at Myanmar's military junta and the South-East Asian nations unable to exert themselves, Beijing has nimbly and happily stepped in to fill up the vacuum in Naypyidaw - Myanmar's capital.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative
Bengaluru, May 13 : Congress candidate from Bellary Rural, B. Nagendra has established a huge lead of 20,163 votes against the state's Health Minister B. Sriramulu, considered as one of the BJP's prominent faces for oppressed classes.

Sriramulu polled 27,767 votes, while Nagendra secured 47,930 votes.

The BJP leaders had spoken of giving Sriramulu a plum post and also making him the Deputy Chief Minister.

However, the work done by Nagendra during the Covid pandemic had worked for him, according to sources.

The setback for Sriramulu is seen as a clear indication about the mood of oppressed classes.
New Delhi, May 13: Time is running out for Pakistan as the deadline to repay $3.7 billion inches closer. The country's Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has assured timely repayment of the debt - by this month and the next.

Mahua Venkatesh New Delhi, May 13: Time is running out for Pakistan as the deadline to repay $3.7 billion inches closer. The country's Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has assured timely repayment of the debt - by this month and the next.

But where will Pakistan get the money from? To avert a default Pakistan will have to receive bilateral funds from friendly states including China. "Aid from friendly countries is what the country's finance minister may be hoping for as he seemed confident about repayment," an analyst tracking Afghanistan and Pakistan told India Narrative.

Besides this Pakistan is also expecting to seal the deal for a $6.5 billion bailout package with the International Monetary Fund. "If that happens Pakistan will be out of danger for sometime," the analyst said.

Global ratings agency Moody's has warned that Pakistan may default if it fails to get the financial assistance package from the IMF. While negotiations are on, the two have not managed to come to any agreement.

Meanwhile the foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan further fell by 1.7 per cent on a weekly basis- touching $4.38 billion on May 5.

Simply put, if the present situation does not change dramatically in the next few days, Islamabad will not be in any position to repay its debts.

However, experts said that it will not be in China's interest to let Pakistan default. China has high stakes in the South Asian country especially due to its strategic location.

After a $2 billion loan rollover in March, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited last week approved another assistance of a $1.3-billion. Despite this, bilateral loans from friendly countries are now shrinking amid the geopolitical and geo-economic uncertainties. This has caused concerns for Islamabad.

Pakistan-in case of a default-will be the second South Asian country to go bankrupt after Sri Lanka.

Incidentally, Sri Lanka too kept denying reports of a default until it officially announced bankruptcy.

While Islamabad has not officially defaulted, local newspaper the Express Tribune in January said that with continuous rollovers of loans, the country has already done so technically.

Meanwhile, the country has to make a repayment of $73 billion by 2025. Clearly, for the country, the challenges are multiplying and its financial need will not subside even if it manages repayment in the short term. And the current political crisis will make the going tougher. After former Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested on Tuesday, the Supreme Court declared the act as unlawful. The political crisis in Pakistan is only expected to deepen in the coming days.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative
Lucknow, May 13 : Counting of votes for the Urban Local Body polls in Uttar Pradesh is underway and trends show BJP leading in 15, out of the total 17 seats, while BSP and AIMIM on one each.

According to the Election Commission, after the seventh round of counting, BJP Mayoral candidate from Lucknow Sushma Kharkwal is leading. Kharkwal has bagged 10,185 votes, SP candidate Vandana Mishra 9,669, BSP candidate Shaheen Bano 878.

Before the counting began, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav tweeted in Hindi that hope the result is declared after every round of counting so that public's faith is maintained.

Meanwhile, state Finance Minister Suresh Khanna claimed that the BJP will clean sweep all the 17 seats.

Khanna claimed that only the BJP can do development while opposition can only boast about doing things but in vain.

In the sixth round of Ayodhya Municipal Corporation, BJP Mayoral candidate Girish Tripathi is leading with 17,196 votes.

In Bareilly, after the fifth round of counting, BJP candidate has bagged 44,764 votes, SP 25,057 and Congress 6,371.

In the fourth round in Saharanpur Municipal Corporation, BJP candidate Dr Ajay Kumar is leading against BSP candidate with 9,231 votes.

In Varanasi, BJP's mayoral candidate Ashok Tiwari is leading against Samajwadi Party candidate O P Singh with 7,000 votes.

After the fourth round of counting in Agra, BSP mayoral candidate is leading against the BJP. BSP polled 54,267 votes while BJP 32,964.

At the counting centre in Farukkhabad, supporters of BJP and SP clashed after which police officer reached the spot.

The counting of votes for 760 ULBs started at 8 a.m. and the polling for it was held in two phases on May and 11.

In municipal corporations, EVMs were used while in municipalities ballot papers were used.

Voting was held to elect 17 Mayors and 1,401 councillors while 19 councillors were elected unopposed.

Voting was held to elect 198 chairpersons and 5,260 members of municipal councils in the state.

The electorate voted to decide the fate of 542 chairpersons of Nagar Panchayats and 7,104 members of Nagar Panchayats.

Overall, 162 people's representatives were elected unopposed, while 83,378 candidates were in the fray for 14,522 posts.

In Uttar Pradesh, mayoral elections were held in Agra, Jhansi, Shahjahanpur, Firozabad, Saharanpur, Meerut, Lucknow, Kanpur, Ghaziabad, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Aligarh, Bareilly, Moradabad, Gorakhpur, Ayodhya, Mathura-Vrindavan Municipal Corporation.
Bengaluru, May 13 : As celebrations have started within the Congress camp in Karnataka, the party is planning to shift all the winning candidates to a resort in the outskirts of Bengaluru on Saturday, sources confirmed.

Going by the vote count trend, the Congress is set to achieve a majority in the Karnataka Assembly and form the new government.

Congress workers have taken to the streets to celebrate the party's victory.

The party has asked all the candidates who have secured major leads and their victories to reach Bengaluru by Saturday night and shift to the resort.

The party leadership was earlier considering to shift the MLAs to a Jaipur resort in the eventuality of not attaining majority, the sources said.

Now, the leadership is convinced of attaining majority and the MLAs will be kept in the resort not taking any chances after the experience in Maharashtra, sources stated.
New Delhi, May 13 : Give your mum the gift of a lifetime this Mother's Day: an unforgettable vacation. This will show her how much you value her. Instead of the usual flowers and chocolates, take her to one of these wonderful heritage resorts for a tour through other civilisations.

Every place, from the opulent palaces of Rajasthan to the serene eco-retreats of Kerala, is a unique experience that offers a voyage that will leave her with lifelong memories. Your Mother will have the chance to take in the breathtaking architecture, savour genuine regional fare, and take part in distinctive cultural events that will leave her with priceless memories.

Experience authentic Kerala This eco-friendly resort on the shores of the Arabian Sea offers a peaceful and sustainable vacation experience offering the experience of authentic Kerala. With nature as its constant companion, this hidden gem offers a truly unique experience that will leave you and your mom feeling rejuvenated and inspired. The true magic of Marari Beach Resort lies in its connection to the nearby village, where you can immerse yourself in the traditional way of life of the local fisherfolk. Watch as they bring in their daily catch or try your hand at fishing like a true local. Indulge in a range of rejuvenating spa treatments or take a leisurely stroll on the beach as the gentle breeze and the sound of the waves transport you to another world. And when you're ready to refuel, enjoy delectable meals that are made from locally sourced ingredients and reflect the flavors of the Malabar coast.

Get into gastronomical indulgence amid the coral reefs This Mother's Day, treat your mom to a culinary experience like no other at Tilar Siro Andamans, the definition of an island paradise. Situated on Havelock Island in the Andaman Sea, the resort offers 25 rooms with breathtaking views of the coastline and azure waves surrounded by tropical vegetation. The charming pool and coconut grove offer a serene and tranquil escape for your mom. Tilar Siro Andamans prides itself on its culinary offerings, with a focus on fresh seafood and a menu featuring regional and international cuisines. The resort's expert chefs create a delectable array of dishes that are sure to tantalize your taste buds. Indulge in the delicious food and enjoy a peaceful and rejuvenating vacation with your mom in this island paradise.

Experience the Backwaters of Kerala: A World Without Walls Embark on a boat ride through the mesmerising Vembanad Lake to reach Coconut Lagoon, where you can soak up the local culture of the Kuttanad region. Stay in a 150-year-old traditional tharavad home with breathtaking views of the backwaters and indulge in authentic Kerala cuisine. More than just a resort, Coconut Lagoon is a destination that transports you to a world without walls, preserving the traditional architecture and culture of the surrounding village. The resort's staff, coming from the local community, provide fascinating stories and homegrown wisdom. Committed to preserving the fragile ecosystem and the region's unique flora and fauna through sustainable living practices, Coconut Lagoon is an experience your mother will cherish this Mother's Day. Book a stay at Coconut Lagoon and immerse yourself in the pulse of Kerala's traditions.

Discover the old-world charm: Travel back in time This Mother's Day, give your mother the gift of a fascinating piece of history in the lap of luxury. The period furniture, artwork, and mesmerizing views of the harbour will transport your mother to a bygone era while still offering all modern amenities. Brunton Boatyard promises an authentic and unforgettable experience that your mother will cherish for a lifetime.

Each of the 22 thoughtfully designed rooms in this historic hotel offers mesmerising views of the sea. Imagine sipping a warm cup of tea on a cozy balcony, mesmerised by the sights of fishing boats and ships lazily passing by. Witness delightful dolphins frolicking in the waters or breathtaking sunsets over the palm-fringed shores of Vypin Island, while the tranquil cries of cormorants and gulls add to the serene ambiance. At Brunton Boatyard, every moment is a treasure, and your mother deserves nothing less than the very best.

Discover the enchanting charm of the last royal kingdom of Sri Lanka Treat your mother to an unforgettable experience by immersing yourselves in the rich cultural heritage of Kandy, the last royal kingdom of Sri Lanka. Jetwing Kandy Gallery offers guests a stunning location to discover the city's fascinating stories and landmarks of cultural, religious, and architectural significance. From the historic Temple of the Tooth to traditional cultural dance performances and the city's charming streets, Kandy offers a truly authentic Sri Lankan experience.

As part of the Jetwing family, Jetwing Kandy Gallery provides novel luxury experiences that seamlessly blend with the city's rich culture. With luxurious accommodations, breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains, and a wide range of activities to choose from, a stay here promises to be an experience like no other.

(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)
May 13 : Hindus, especially devotees of Lord Vishnu across the world will observe the Vrat (Fast) of Apara Ekadashi on Monday, May 15th, 2023. Apara Ekadashi is celebrated on the ekadashi tithi of the Krishna Paksha of the Jyeshta month in the Hindu Calendar, which generally falls in the months of April or May in the Gregorian Calendar.

Apara Ekadashi Vrat Katha in English.

Apara Ekadashi Vrat Katha in Hindi.

Also known as Achla Ekadashi, the observance celebrates Lord Vishnu in his Trivikrama form, a symbol of triumph over evil. Devotees religiously observe a strict fast as the Apara Ekadashi Vrat promises countless blessings, prosperity, peace, good health and redemption. They abstain from the consumption of food and water, and perform certain rituals and pujas to complete their fast. They also read the Ekadashi Vrat Katha, and recite the Vishnu Sahasranamam on this day.

Trivikrama is one of the many titles of Lord Vishnu. The story of Vamana and King Mahabali, the grandson of King Prahlada, is a popular tale when Mahabali, an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu, agreed to offer Vamana three steps of land. The avatar of Vamana, who was a dwarf, grew in size into a giant. He took the Earth in his first step, the heavens with his second step, and had no land to place his third step. The humbled King Mahabali offered to place Vamanas third step on his head. This giant form that Lord Vishnu manifested earned him the name Trivikrama.

Devotees begin observing the fast from the sunrise of the Dashami tithi when they have only one meal before the sunset of the Dashami tithi. They abstain from consuming food or water, and remain clean from ill thoughts and habits on the day of Apara Ekadashi. They avoid grains and rice, and are not supposed apply oil on their body. They indulge in reciting bhajans and mantras in praise of Lord Vishnu.

Important timings of Apara Ekadashi 2023 as per Panchang:

Ekadashi Tithi Begins- 02:46 AM on May 15th.

Ekadashi Tithi End- 01:03 AM on May 16th.

Dwadashi Tithi End Moment- 11:36 PM on May 16th.

Hari Vasara Beginning- 01:03 AM on May 16th.

Hari Vasara End Moment- 06:41 AM on May 16th.

Parana time- 06:41 AM to 08:26 AM on May 16th.

(Parana time is the period when one can break their fast)

(The above mentioned timings are in correspondence to the IST of Ujjain. To change the location as per your convenience, visit the Panchang page)

Apara Ekadashi holds a great significance among the Hindus worldwide. People have their faith rooted in the belief, as depicted in the Padma Puran, the Narad Puran, and the Brahmanda Puran, that Apara Ekadashi solicits redemption, a chance from the gravest of sins, a peaceful life ahead, and Moksha from the cycle of Rebirth.
BEIJING, May 13 (Xinhua) -- On Wednesday, Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, met with U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in the Austrian capital of Vienna.

Their discussions were candid, in-depth, substantive and constructive, and have been the highest-level encounter between the two sides in recent months.

Communication is necessary when China-U.S. relations are growing increasingly precarious, particularly after the United States shot down a stray Chinese weather balloon earlier this year. Prior to the Vienna meeting, a string of senior U.S. officials like Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen have expressed their desire to either visit China or to keep lines of communication open with Beijing. And according to some media reports, Washington is complaining that their willingness to talk was met with China's cold shoulders.

To set the record straight, China and the United States have maintained contact. In addition to Wang Yi's meeting with Sullivan, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Commerce Minister Wang Wentao have lately met respectively in Beijing with U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns.

Yet talk for the sake of talk will do little to remove the obstacles in the path of a sound relationship, which entails Washington's concrete steps to demonstrate complete sincerity, and deliver on its promises.

In recent years, Washington's duplicitous practice of double-dealing in key areas concerning China's core interests has been draining mutual trust.

Take the Taiwan question, which is at the very core of China's core interests, and the first red line that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations. On various occasions, U.S. President Joe Biden and many other senior officials of his administration have publicly pledged to stay committed to the one-China policy and not to support "the Taiwan independence."

But Washington has been bent on stirring up tensions across the Taiwan Straits, not least by sending warships and fighter jets to the region, boosting arms sales to the Chinese island and, most recently, arranging the so-called "transit" of Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen through the United States. Those deliberate provocations are eating into the political foundation of the China-U.S. relationship, and turning the region into a dangerous flashpoint.

How Washington deals with China's rise also attests to its two-faced ploy. The United States, on the one hand, claims that it is not seeking to decouple from China and has no intention of obstructing China's development, while on the other it squeezed its tech ties with China by imposing many rounds of chip bans on Chinese firms under the pretext of national security, rushed to encircle China in the Asia-Pacific by mustering such Cold-War style groupings as the AUKUS and the Quad alliances, and coerced regional countries into picking sides.

Washington's duplicity stems largely from the mounting anxieties over China's rise among many of the decision-makers in the United States. Burning in their self-centered paranoia, they stubbornly believe that China must be brought down in order to keep America ahead. They call it "competition."

History is the best textbook. The past 50 years of exchanges between China and the United States have testified that the duo gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. And the world as a whole has largely profited from sound and stable China-U.S. ties.

And in this age of hyper-interdependence, a steady China-U.S. relationship is even more imperative for the world's collective fight against pandemics and climate change.

China-U.S. relations should not be a zero-sum game where one side out-competes or thrives at the expense of the other, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Biden in their meeting in Indonesian island of Bali late last year. Xi also urged the two countries to have a sense of responsibility for history, for the world and for the people, explore the right way to get along with each other in the new era, and put the relationship on the right track.

Beijing, as always, welcomes exchanges with Washington and has no intention of breaking down what is broadly recognized as the world's most important bilateral relationship.

But if the United States is obsessive about playing its Janus-faced game, then no means of communication can call a halt to the downward spiral of its relations with China. 
Hyderabad, May 13 : The victory of Congress in Karnataka brought cheers to its camp in Telangana with the party leaders and workers joining the celebrations on Saturday.

As it became clear that the Congress was racing ahead to get a majority in the Karnataka Assembly, celebrations started at Gandhi Bhavan, the headquarters of Telangana Congress.

Party functionaries were seen dancing amid the drumbeats. Holding party flags and the cut-outs of Congress leaders -- Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, the party workers joined the celebrations.

The enthusiastic Congress workers were also seen bursting firecrackers and distributing sweets. Some party workers took out a bike rally to celebrate the victory.

Congress in-charge for Telangana Manikrao Thakare, state Congress chief A. Revanth Reddy and other leaders performed 'puja' at a temple as thanksgiving.

They exuded confidence that the Congress party will repeat the performance in Telangana, where elections are due to be held later this year.
New Delhi, May 13 : The international community has endorsed India's foreign policy and its war against terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

The world rejected the Pakistan propaganda when New Delhi announced its decision to scrap Article 370, a temporary provision in the Constitution, in 2019.

Now, it has not paid any attention to Pakistan's tantrums, which it has thrown ahead of the G20 meeting slated to be held in Srinagar on May 23 and 24 this year.

Pertinently, India's independent foreign policy even earned appreciation from a detractor like former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan.

Khan praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led regime for taking the decisions in the interest of its citizens.

He announced that Pakistan was a slave to the West and was unable to take fearless decisions for the welfare of its citizens.

It may be recalled that when Narendra Modi took over the reins of the country in 2014, he had promised to the nation that India would emerge as one of the most powerful countries in the world. He has remained true to his word. He has worked relentlessly to put India on the top.

Imran Khan was ruling Pakistan when the PM Modi-led regime on August 5, 2019, announced its decision to scrap J&K's special status and bifurcate it into two Union Territories.

Imran Khan knocked the door of every country, including the Islamic nations, to put pressure on India to reverse its decision but all the countries closed the doors on Khan by making it clear to him that they cannot interfere in India's internal matters.

Khan had to return dejected. He realized that India has defeated Pakistan diplomatically as the entire world endorses India's stand and respects its decisions.

G20 summit in Srinagar Exactly three years after revoking the Article 370, PM Modi led dispensation announced it would hold a G20 summit in Srinagar, summer capital of J&K.

Pakistan once again opposed the decision by throwing tantrums. It called on the G20 countries not to attend the meetings to be held in Srinagar as "J&K is a disputed territory", but none of the G20 countries paid any heed towards the hue and cry raised by Pakistan. They confirmed their participation in the tourism working group meeting scheduled to be held in Srinagar on May 23 and 24 this year and ignored the Kashmir rant of India's unruly neighbour.

India respects the sovereignty of all India's independent foreign policy has made it clear to the world that it respects the sovereignty of all the countries and won't allow any other nation to disturb peace in its territory.

It's in place to mention here that Jammu and Kashmir had remained a challenge for all the regimes that came into power in New Delhi after 1947. No government was able to merge J&K completely with the Union of India which led to Article 370 remaining in vogue for seven long decades.

However, the PM Modi-led regime "bit the bullet" and ended J&K's 70-year long status-quo.

In his first in the office from 2014 to 2019, Prime Minister Modi did a complete homework on J&K and soon after assuming power for the second term in 2019 it ended all the confusions and ambiguities surrounding J&K.

World support The international community has supported all the moves of PM Modi-led regime and has lauded its zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism. As of date the entire world is supporting India in its war against terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. It has rejected Pakistan's propaganda and has backed India.

During the past nine-years, Pakistan has been exposed. Entire world is aware of the fact that Pakistan is a breeding ground for terror and it grooms terrorists in its backyard. New Delhi has been nice with the nice people and has pushed back difficult people.

The Gulf countries coming forward to invest in Jammu and Kashmir is yet another example of India's successful foreign policy.

The Gulf countries by deciding to invest billions of dollars in J&K have sent a clear message to Pakistan that they have full faith in India and its policies.

Multiple challenges The PM Modi-led regime has faced multiple challenges vis-a-vis J&K, but it has put in all the efforts to instill a sense of confidence, to give that sense of hope, and security to J&K people and the foreign investors.

After 2019 things have changed for the better in J&K. Economy has grown, new employment opportunities have been created. Entire ecosystem has become vibrant despite Pakistan making desperate attempts to disturb the peace.

On the diplomatic front, India has taken a lead by making the world aware about its clear and transparent policies.

The world has understood that India is a progressive nation and its emerging as the fifth largest economy in the world is ample proof of the fact that it's in the right hands.

In the 9-years of PM Modi's rule India has driven home a point that no one can take the country for granted. Talks and terror cannot go together. People are the fountainhead of power and their interests are supreme.

Soft approach abandoned New Delhi has given up its apologetic and soft approach. By carrying out surgical strikes in 2016 and Balakot airstrikes in 2019, India gave a befitting reply to terrorists that they cannot intrude into J&K and get away with their acts.

It's not only Imran Khan who has praised India's foreign policy, the entire world has lauded the efforts of the present regime in India, and many leaders have gone on record to say that they are "impressed". Many nations are following the footsteps of India and are keen on making their relationships stronger with New Delhi.

India not an aggressor The PM Modi-led regime has made the world understand that India is not an aggressor but it cannot tolerate aggression.

India after attaining G20 Presidency last year has ensured that representatives of the most powerful countries in the world, who attend the summit, should know that India stands for peace, tranquility and development and wants all the countries to prosper. New Delhi's decision to host one of the G20 meetings in Srinagar has put the summer capital of J&K on the global map and has sent a message to the world that Jammu and Kashmir is no longer a conflict zone. Pakistan sponsored terrorism has ended and people are living their lives peacefully.
Mumbai, May 13 : Actor Vijay Varma, who is receiving positive response to his streaming show 'Dahaad', shared that to get acquainted with driving a large van, he was given a big old vehicle to practice.

In the series, Vijay plays the role of a serial killer who murders women after seducing them. He plots his crime in a school van which he also uses for philanthropic purposes.

The actor told IANS: "I was given an old ambulance so that I could practice how to drive a huge vehicle like that." He further mentioned: "So, before the series went into production, I was driving around that old ambulance in the Yari Road area of Mumbai." 'Dahaad', which also stars Sonakshi Sinha, Gulshan Devaiah and Sohum Shah, is streaming on Prime Video.
London, May 13 : India will wage a diplomatic campaign to reclaim the Koh-i-Noor diamond and thousands of other treasures from Britain in a "reckoning" with the colonial past, the Telegraph UK reported.

Officials in New Delhi are preparing what would amount to the largest repatriation claim faced by the UK, on a scale that would dwarf Greece's demands for the Elgin Marbles.

India's ministerial and diplomatic staff will be mobilised to secure the return of potentially thousands of artefacts taken to Britain during the days of empire, in what one source described as a "reckoning with the past", Telegraph UK reported.

It is understood that their goal is to secure the return of the Koh-i-Noor diamond, which is one of the Crown Jewels held in trust for the King.

The reclamation of historical artefacts taken from India "comes from the top" of Indian politics, and is one of the priorities of Narendra Modi's premiership, Telegraph UK reported.

It is understood the issue may spill over into diplomatic talks between the UK and India on matters such as trade.

Govind Mohan, secretary for the Indian ministry of culture, said that returning antiquities would form a key part of India's policy-making, adding: "It is of huge importance to the government. The thrust of this effort to repatriate India's artefacts comes from the personal commitment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has made it a major priority," Telegraph UK reported.

The Archaeological Survey of India, a branch of the ministry of culture, is leading efforts to reclaim objects trafficked out of the country since it became independent.

Oxford's Ashmolean Museum has already been approached regarding a bronze idol taken from a temple in southern India, the report said.
Seoul, May 13 : For the past few years, Samsung Electronics has been the dominant player in the global foldable smartphone market, where early tech adopters have lugged around small tablet-sized phones in exchange for creative dual screen use.

Now, the South Korean tech giant is facing its most serious competitor yet -- Google.

The company unveiled the much-anticipated Pixel Fold, its first foldable smartphone, during its annual developer conference this week. The phone is available for preorder now and will begin shipping next month, Google said.

One of the biggest appeals of the $1,799 Pixel Fold is its thickness. It is slightly slimmer than Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 4: 12.1 millimeters versus 15.8 mm, reports Yonhap news agency.

Fitted with a 7.6-inch screen when open, the phone comes with the largest 4,821 mAh battery to date in a foldable, larger than Samsung's 4,400 mAh battery. So it is, naturally, slightly heavier than Samsung's phone: 283 grams versus 263 grams.

While Samsung is facing a tougher race in the foldable segment, more competition also means a bigger and more creative ecosystem and wider market adoption.

For its first foldable phone, Google optimised more than 50 of its own applications for Pixel Fold's larger display. It also promised to continue its efforts on that front, as part of efforts to encourage other app developers to do the same.

Samsung aims to raise the portion of foldable phones, which were first introduced in 2019, to half of its total smartphone sales by 2025, and to make them another pillar of the company alongside the Galaxy S flagship series and a key category in the premium segment.

According to market researcher Canalys, Samsung accounted for approximately 77 percent of foldable phone shipments worldwide last year.

On September 4 last year, just a few days after the company unveiled its fourth-generation foldable phones, Samsung said a successful foldable phone needed two core elements -- a flexible and foldable display and a strong hinge for folding and unfolding operations.

"Foldable phones are not just about the novel form factor and technological advancement," Choi Won-joon, then head of the flagship product R&D team at Samsung's mobile experience division, said during a press briefing in Berlin on the sidelines of Europe's biggest tech show, IFA 2022.

"I believe we should give users unique and valuable experiences that they can't get from any other smartphone," he said.

"Making a more compact and lightweight hinge while not compromising its durability was a huge challenge," he said, adding that Samsung developers were able to eventually come up with a completely new hinge system, called a spiral hinge, after some 20 failed attempts in the span of nearly a year.

Google's hinge system allows the two screen halves to fold completely, leaving no small gap when closed. Google also said it has the most durable hinge, made of stainless steel, which has been tested up to 200,000 opens and closes.

According to the latest report released in March by the International Data Corporation (IDC), foldable phone shipments are expected to reach 21.4 million units this year, up more than 50 percent from a year ago, as consumers start to embrace the new form factor. By 2027, the figure could reach 48.1 million, it estimated, driven by "a healthy demand for this growing form factor." "A 10 percent decline in average selling price helped the market grow 75.5 percent in 2022, as foldable devices became more affordable in numerous markets," it said, adding, "With new vendors and models joining the race this year, we expect the foldable market to be the one bright spot in 2023 with 50.5 percent growth, while the total smartphone market contracts 1.1 percent." Samsung said the release date for the Galaxy Z Fold 5 has yet to be decided.
Chennai, May 13 : The Tamil Nadu government has commenced a drive for solid waste management awareness in the state.

The state local administration minister, K.N. Nehru on Saturday launched a few short films on solid waste management in Chennai.

The short films have been made in four different topics, to appeal to people to segregate garbage before disposing, avoid throwing away the waste in open spaces, not to throw garbage from apartments and avoid littering public places. The minister explained all the facts and said that the messages in the short films would help reduce the littering in public spaces.

K.N. Nehru said that to make Chennai a clean city, Swachh Bharat Project 2.0 was initiated.

He said that at least 649 city local bodies have been declared as litter and open defecation-free zone. The minister said that the state government was taking several steps to make Chennai city clean and litter free.

The Tamil Nadu government will be campaigning in all the other major cities of the state for litter-free cities.
Thiruvananthapuram, May 13 : Saying "the BJP has been booted out of south India", the Kerala unit of the INC on Saturday cheered the Congress' victory in the Karnataka Assembly elections, polling for which was held on May 10.

Senior Congress legislator Ramesh Chennithala, who actively campaigned in Karnataka ahead of the elections, said "this victory is a slap on the face of the CPI-M", claiming the Left party has a secret pact with the BJP.

"This landslide victory of the Congress is very much against the wishes of people like M.V. Govindan (Kerala unit CPI-M secretary) as the CPI-M doesn't want the Congress to get power. The CPI-M has a secret pact with the BJP.

"Govindan is very particular that secular forces should not unite. All knows that the outcome of the secret pact between the BJP and the CPI-M is why the SNC Lavalin case has been adjourned a record 34 times," he said.

Kerala unit INC president K. Sudhakaran said "the BJP has been booted out of south India".

"There are so many Keralites in Karnataka who actively backed the Congress party. Hence, Kerala is also very happy and can take credit for it. If the Congress can chase away one party that rules the country out of Karnataka, the same thing will be done... when we will be chasing out 'two public enemies'," said Sudhakaran.

Top Congress leaders from Kerala, including Chennithala, Sudhakaran, Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan, Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram constituency, Shashi Tharoor had actively campaigned in Karnataka.

In a tweet, Tharoor, said: "Proud of my colleagues of @INCKarnataka for their outstanding work on the ground, responsiveness to local issues and commitment to resist the politics of polarisation. Now it's time for celebration but not for complacency. We have the results we worked for; now we must deliver results for the people of Karnataka." He added this (the Karnataka poll result) is going to be a pointer for 2024 and for that, all have to work.
Mumbai, May 13 : Hailing the Congress sweep to power in Karnataka, Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar said that the people of the neighbouring state have rejected the politics of money, caste, religion practiced by the Bharatiya Janata Party, here on Saturday.

Speaking to the media, Pawar said that the people of Karnataka have taught a lesson to the divisive politics of BJP and handed over power to the Congress.

"This same trend is likely to be witnessed in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections," predicted Pawar firmly.

He pointed out how the NCP had clearly forecast the exit of BJP from Karnataka as the people are fed up with the politics of 'Khokha' (slang for crores of rupees) pursued by the saffron party.

"Although the BJP was in power there, the entire top brass of the government and senior party leaders had gone there to campaign... We suspected that the money used by them would go against them, and that's what has happened," Pawar pointed out.

He rued the trend of the BJP grabbing power in a state where it is not elected by breaking the MLAs of other parties, which the masses have disapproved of.

"They did it in Karnataka... they toppled the former government by usurping the MLAs of the previous government to grab power," said Pawar.

The same happened even in Maharashtra and Goa earlier where the BJP took power in a similar fashion.

"The BJP started this new trend, using the government machinery and its resources... This is a matter of great concern. However, the people do not endorse such politics of money and muscle power. It is evident from the outcome in Karnataka," declared Pawar.

On the Congress performance, Pawar said that the Congress is on way to getting more than double the BJP's tally.

"It is an indicator that the people of Karnataka had made up their mind to completely defeat the BJP... There was a strong reaction to the blatant misuse of power and official resources," Pawar said.

He expressed optimism that now the people will teach a lesson to those who amisrule the country and a similar trend will be seen all over India.

With Karnataka slipping out of BJP's control, Pawar said that the saffron party is now wiped out of the entire south India.

"There is no BJP in Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, besides Delhi, Jharkhand, Punjab, West Bengal, Bihar, Rajasthan. This is a harbinger of what will happen in the 2024 elections," asserted Pawar.

The 83-year-old Maratha strongman frowned and said it was a blunder on the part of the BJP to rake up issues like Bajrang Bali which seems to have backfired as now the people have given a befitting reply.

On the NCP contesting against Congress in Karnataka, Pawar clarified that it had put up seven candidates "only to make an entry" in that state - days after the Maharashtra-based outfit lost its 'National Party' status.

"We are not a powerful party in Karnataka, we have elected only one candidate and there's no possibility of a second winner... We needed to enter that state and for that we had to contest," justified Pawar.
Hyderabad, May 13 : Telangana's Minister for Industries and Information Technology K.T. Rama Rao has said that India needs the Telangana model.

He claimed that India's successful startup state Telangana has undergone a revolutionary transformation in just nine years to become a pioneer state.

KTR, as the minister is popularly known, recounted Telangana's transformation 'Ideas for India' conference in London on Saturday. The event was organised by the global advisory firm EPG in conjunction with Bridge India.

Quoting Victor Hugo, the minister said that 'Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come' and the Telangana model is an idea whose time has come.

"As India, we have to focus on the fundamentals and basics the way Telangana did. We need to focus on the farmer, the youth, while creating a future that is based in innovation and making India a leader in the fourth Industrial Revolution," he remarked.

He highlighted the remarkable progress made by Telangana in the last nine years, emphasising its success in achieving five revolutions in the agriculture and allied sectors.

"Telangana was considered an arid region, where the lakes and tanks in villages were running dry, where people dug multiple bore wells, sometimes resulting in farmer suicides because of the financial burdens, where people suffered from fluorosis, is now a lush green state, where a farmer can grow two crops a year. Because of what we did in irrigation, farmer welfare, and other reforms, Telangana has ushered in five revolutions," KTR said.

In addition, the minister made a mention about the novel policy interventions and unique schemes introduced by the Telangana government and highlighted the achievements of Telangana in sectors such as power, health, rural development, economy and others.

"Telangana's per capita income grew more than 2.5 times, and we now stand to be the number one in the country. A state with 2.5 per cent population contributes to 5 per cent of India's GDP," he added.

The IT and Industries Minister brought to the notice of the audience that Hyderabad is home to marquee tech companies and the city is an emerging hub for innovation.

"We built T-Hub, the world's largest startup incubator. T-Works, India's largest prototyping center. We-Hub, India's first women entrepreneur incubator. TSIC, to help rural innovators. TASK, largest finishing school to orient the graduating youth. While we continue to focus on improving our infrastructure and industry, we have not lost sight of the commitment to our environment," said Minister KTR.

"Under the flagship Haritha Haaram program, we have undertaken one of the largest green initiatives in human history. We planted 24 billion saplings. As a state, we achieved the highest green cover growth in India, of 7 per cent," the Minister added.

The Minister's speech also focused on India's potential for development, particularly on the importance of investing in human resources to create opportunities in employment and entrepreneurship.

KTR was optimistic that by doing things right, what China could achieve in 30 years, India could do in less than 20 years.

He stressed that India should capitalise on the demographic dividend as 67 per cent of the population are in the age group of 15 to 64, which is the highest number of working population any country had in the entire history of mankind.

The minister was hopeful that by doing things right India can increase the per capita by 6 to 8 times in the next 20 years.
Chennai, May 13 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, MDMK chief Vaiko and Makkal Needhi Maiam President and Tamil superstar Kamal Haasan on Saturday congratulated the Congress for its emphatic victory in the Karnataka Assembly polls.

Stalin called Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, as well as senior leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah, and D.K. Shivakumar and others to congratulate them on the victory.

In a social media post, he said: "The land mass of the Dravidian family stands clear of the BJP. Now let us all work together to win the 2024 Lok Sabha polls to restore democracy and constitutional values in India".

"The unjustifiable disqualification of brother Rahul Gandhi as MP, misusing premier investigative agencies against political opponents, imposing Hindi and rampant corruption have all echoed in the minds of the people of Karnataka while voting and they have upheld the Kannada pride by teaching a befitting lesson to the BJP's politics of vindictiveness", he said.

Vaiko said that the BJP was trying to make Karnataka a "Hindutva laboratory" but the people of the state had taught a befitting lesson to it. He also said that the BJP government had even rescinded the reservation of Muslims in Karnataka.

Kamal Haasan, in a string of tweetsa citing Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', said: "Just as Gandhiji, you walked your way into people's hearts and as he did you demonstrated in your gentle way that you can shake the powers of the world -with love and humility".

"Your credible and creditable approach, without bravado or chest thumping has ushered a breath of fresh air for the people".

"You trusted the people of Karnataka to reject divisiveness who in turn have unitedly reciprocated by placing their faith in you. Kudos not just for the victory but also for the manner of victory."
TEHRAN, May 13 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian and Saudi foreign ministers said the determination of the two countries to expand bilateral relations is evident in the measures and steps they have taken so far toward normalizing ties, the Iranian Foreign Ministry website reported on Saturday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud Friday evening held a phone call to discuss the latest progress toward the implementation of a Beijing-brokered agreement in March.

The Iranian foreign minister reviewed the progress achieved by the two sides toward normalizing ties, adding that Iran has implemented the necessary measures for the official opening of its embassy and consulate general in the Saudi capital of Riyadh and the port city of Jeddah.

The Saudi foreign minister, for his part, said Riyadh is upbeat about the future of bilateral relations and has a positive attitude toward efforts aimed at developing and strengthening bilateral ties.

He expressed hope that the reinstatement of the two countries' ambassadors would help facilitate the expansion of bilateral cooperation.

In March, Saudi Arabia and Iran reached in Beijing a groundbreaking agreement to resume diplomatic relations and reopen their embassies and missions within a two-month timeframe.

In early April, the two countries officially announced in China the resumption of diplomatic relations with immediate effect.

The Iranian foreign minister said earlier this week that Riyadh had informed the Iranian government about the appointment of the new envoy, noting that Iran would reciprocate by soon appointing its ambassador to Saudi Arabia and introducing him to the Saudi government. 
New Delhi, May 13 : The Supreme Court has upheld the dismissal of an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientist -- an expert on starting and transient flows in the solid rocket motors -- for his unauthorised association with foreign institution, especially in the area of propulsion, which is a strategic research and development subject in the organization.

A bench of Justices M.R. Shah and C.T. Ravikumar said it is not the mere unauthorised absence of the appellant that actually weighed with the authority and evidently, the organisation is perfectly justified in casting suspicion on the honesty, integrity, reliability, dependability, and trustworthiness in view of the factual situation.

Justice Ravikumar, who authored the judgment on behalf of the bench, said the Centre's stand that his unauthorised association with foreign institution, especially in the area of propulsion, which is a strategic research and development subject in the organisation and based on which the nation's rocketry and ambitious launch vehicle programs are/were advancing, was a matter of concern for the security of the state.

"When such acts/conduct occur/occurs from a scientist in a sensitive and strategic organisation, the decision to impose dismissal from service cannot be said to be illegal or absolutely unwarranted," he said in the judgment delivered on Friday.

The bench said that the continued association with a foreign agency/university, ignoring the fact that he is a responsible scientist in the ISRO, which is a highly sensitive and strategic research and development organisation under the Department of Space, if viewed suspiciously and thought that his further exposure to ISRO's critical rocket technologies would create serious complications.

"It cannot be said to be bereft of substance and not a matter of concern in regard to the security of the state," it said.

The bench said it does not find any reason to hold that the judgment of the Kerala High Court, dismissing the challenge against the order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), warrants any kind of interference in exercise of the power under Article 136 of the Constitution. "The appeal, therefore, must fail and accordingly it is dismissed, however, without any cost," said the bench.

Dr V.R. Sanal Kumar moved the apex court challenging the high court judgment delivered in January 2012, which dismissed his challenge against September 30, 2008 order of CAT.

Kumar was initially appointed as Scientist/Engineer 'SC' in Group-A in Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram of ISRO on January 15, 1992. On July 1, 1999, he was promoted as Scientist/Engineer 'SD'. On August 28, 2002, he was invited by Prof. H.D. Kim, Head of School of Mechanical Engineering, Andong National University, South Korea, to join as a postdoctoral trainee and to assist him for one year, recognising the appellant as a well-known expert on the starting and transient flows in the solid rocket motors. Kumar applied for leave, which was not approved, however he went to South Korea.

The appellant, through an email on September 5, 2003, was informed that his leave was not sanctioned and he was required to report for duty not later than September 11, 2003.

Meanwhile, the respondent organisation came to know he had published a technical paper as first author with a foreigner as one of the co-authors in the 39th American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Joint Propulsion Conference, US held during July, 2003, without obtaining specific approval of the competent authority. Thereupon, disciplinary action was initiated against him and he was charge-sheeted on December 19, 2003, for unauthorised absence and publication of papers without following due procedure or obtaining approval.

The appellant claimed he is a high-profile scientist with specialisation in rocket propulsion with proven credentials at par with NASA scientists. Kumar said that he is second to none in space programme and is having all potential to become the Chairman of ISRO and is the best suitable candidate for the post with immediate effect.

The bench said there can be no doubt that the appellant has been working under ISRO since 1992, and he has gained sufficient experience on the subject.

"leaving to a foreign country without prior permission and continuing there for a considerable long period despite advice and instructions to come back and continuing to associate with such a foreign organisation/university researching on rocketry, the respondent organisation cannot be said to have committed a flaw or fault in entertaining suspicion on his honesty, integrity, reliability, dependability and trustworthiness and above all to treat such acts as a matter of concern in relation to the security of the State," said the bench.

The bench also said the court cannot judge on the expediency or inexpediency to dispense with the inquiry as it was arrived at based on the subjective satisfaction of the President based on materials.

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the appellant, submitted that he was dismissed without inquiry in the manner provided under the Central Civil Services Rules.

On behalf of the Centre, advocate Shailesh Madiyal submitted that ISRO employees are not allowed to go abroad and to take up assignments or research there, without permission.
Mumbai, May 13 : In a major operation, multiple station houses of Mumbai Police in collaboration with the Department of Telecom have busted a huge racket of 2,197 fake mobile SIM cards issued in single names and arrested 13 people, top officials said here on Saturday.

The Mumbai Police probe is part of a nationwide campaign by the DoT which has detected and cancelled at least 30 lakh (3 million) such fake cards that were in operation.

Joint Commissioner of Police Satyanarayan Chaudhary said that the DoT had tipped off the Mumbai Police on several suspicious SIM cards in operation with the help of their supercomputers, and investigations were launched simultaneously by five police stations.

They are V.P. Road, Malabar Hill, D.B. Marg, Sahar, and Bangurnagar police stations, which formed multiple teams to investigate the locations from where such fake SIM cards on single identity were issued.

These unauthorised SIM cards are used by fake call centres, bookies, cyber-criminals, sex-racketeers, and others indulging in nefarious activities, police said.

Chaudhary said that during the probe, five cases have been registered in Mumbai and 13 accused have been arrested so far.

Besides, there are an estimated 62 people in Mumbai alone, in whose names a staggering 8,500 SIM cards have been issued by mobile companies using their photos.

In most cases, hundreds of fake SIMs were cleared using one person's photos clicked from different angles, which were then sold out to unauthorised persons who used them for various illegal activities, the probe revealed.

During the probe, the sleuths detected and raided a fake call centre in Mira Road, Thane, from where they seized 52 fake SIMs.

V.P. Road Police nabbed one Vishal Shinde, in whose name there are 378 SIM cards, while D.B. Marge Police have arrested one Abdul Shaikh having 190 SIM cards with his picture on the documents.

The Malabar Hill Police have swooped on the alleged mastermind, one Abdul Mansoori, who had issued 685 SIMs under his photo.

Chaudhary said that as per the DoT, Mumbai has over 30,000 fake SIMs in operation, which are now being investigated.

The DoT has already found around 3 million such fake SIMs being operated all over India, which have now been stopped, he added.
Bengaluru, May 13 : With the Congress all set to return to power with a clear mandate in Karnataka, the grand old party seems to be reaping the benefits of its pin-pointed campaign and the five promises it made to the people of the southern state, party leaders said on Saturday.

The polling for the 224-member Karnataka Assembly was held on Many 10 after the Congress ran a spirited campaign with five top leaders playing a significant role.

From the party's election manifesto to its aggressive campaign, all the points highlighted by the Congress drew immediate attention of the people of the southern state.

Party leaders like G. Parmeshwara, state in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, M.B. Patil, Shashikant Sethil and Sunil Kanugolu played an important role in ensuring the party's landslide victory.

Surjewala was appointed as Karnataka in-charge in place of Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal in 2020, while, Patil, a powerful Lingayat leader, was made the chairperson of the campaign committee.

The party leaders also said that Patil was behind designing the aggressive campaign in the state with back-to-back public meetings of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, and rallies and roadshows by former party chief Rahul Gandhi and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

He also focused on door-to-door campaign to woo the voters, besides organising a public meeting of former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in the state after a gap of four years.

Patil is considered close to Siddaramaiah and had also handled several important portfolios in the state government earlier.

Meanwhile, Parmeshwara was made the chairperson of the Manifesto, Policy, and Vision Committee.

After its release, Congress' election manifesto became the talk of the town as it promised to impose a ban on Bajrang Dal if voted to power.

The manifesto soon garnered attention of the people and also drew criticism from several quarters.

Apart from the promise to ban Bajrang Dal, the party also announced four more crucial guarantees in its manifesto -- 'Gruha Jyothi' (200 units of free electricity), 'Gruha Lakshmi' (Rs 2,000 monthly allowance to every woman head of the family), 'Anna Bhagya' (10 kg food grains of choice to every person in a BPL family) and free travel for women in Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation and Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses.

The manifesto also had something for the different regions of the state, such as the coastal region, where the party was hoping to gain more seats as compared to the previous elections.

The party's "40 per cent commission Sarkar" campaign also seemed to have struck a chord with the people, who gave a cold shoulder to the Bajrang Dal vs Bajrang Bali debate.

In the 2018 elections, the BJP had won 104 seats, the Congress 80 and the JD(S) 37. BJP's B.S. Yediyurappa had formed the government but he resigned before a majority test. Then, the Congress and the JD(S) formed a coalition government, which lasted just 14 months after which 16 MLAs switched to the BJP, toppling the government and bringing the BJP back in power..

However, this time the Congress is all set to win 136 seats in the southern state, while the BJP and the JD(S) will have to settle with 65 and 19 seats, respectively.

(Anand Singh can be contacted at Anand.s@ians.in)
New Delhi, May 13 : The Delhi High Court has directed an NGO to vacate a Basti Vikas Kendra that was constructed on public land in east Delhi.

The Kendra is required by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the construction of the elevated Delhi-Dehradun Expressway.

In an order, Justice Prathiba M. Singh instructed NGO Asha Community Health Development Society to vacate the Kendra and remove all of its belongings by May 14.

"After this, the NHAI will be free to carry out its demolition or construction activity in the area from May 15," the court noted.

According to the NGO's petition, bulldozers had arrived at the BVK premises in the Gandhi Nagar area on April 27 for demolition without any prior notice.

The petitioner claims that the premises were allotted to them by Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) to run the BVK, and therefore, the demolition cannot be carried out without notice.

The petition also requested either a stay on the demolition or an alternate site for the NGO.

The court in its order, also said that considering the circumstances, the court is not inclined to grant a stay on the construction of the elevated corridor and demolition of the BVK.

Counsel for the DUSIB argued that the NHAI is responsible for the demolition due to the construction of the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, which is a national infrastructure project.

"The BVK is located on government land, and the petitioner cannot claim any rights over it," counsel said.

Counsel also mentioned that the area already has two other mohalla clinics and one Delhi government dispensary to serve local residents, so the demolition would not affect medical facilities.

The NHAI's lawyer pointed out that the conditions of the BVK's allotment make it clear that the petitioner organisation has no claim on the land and is not entitled to compensation.

"The area was taken over by NHAI by paying over Rs 3 crore to the DDA, and it is being used for the construction of the elevated corridor as part of the Bharat Mala Project," said the lawyer.

The lawyer also stated that once the construction is complete, the NHAI plans to reconstruct the BVK according to existing specifications, and the petitioner can run it if they have a proper agreement with DUSIB.

A meeting is set to take place between the DUSIB, NHAI, and Delhi Development Authority/Railways officials to establish a schedule for the reconstruction of the BVK once the work on the elevated corridor is complete.
Doha, May 13 : Qualifier Camila Osorio knocked out No.5 seed Caroline Garcia 6-4, 6-4 in the third round of the Italian Open to notch her career-best win by ranking and reach the last 16 of a WTA 1000 event for the first time, here on Saturday.

The result is the first Top 5 victory of the Colombian's career and moves her into the last 16 of a WTA 1000 event for the first time. Her only other win over a Top 10 opponent came against Elina Svitolina in the first round of Tenerife 2021.

A leg injury sidelined the former No.33 for two months this year, and her ranking fell to No.115 in April. But Osorio has come back strongly on clay, reaching the third round of Madrid last week to return to the Top 100, and going at least one round better in Rome.

The 21-year-old's record this season now stands at 13-6 (11-5 in WTA main draws).

Osorio avenged a 6-2, 6-2 loss to Garcia in their only previous meeting, which came in the semifinals of Lyon on the Frenchwoman's home turf in February.

With this, WTA Finals champion Garcia has now taken five losses in 2023 to players ranked outside the Top 50.
Kolkata, May 13 : With the Calcutta High Court giving a go ahead for central agency probe into the alleged scam in municipal recruitments in West Bengal, a state minister on Saturday admitted that there had been deviation from the prescribed recruitment norms in certain municipalities.

Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim, who's also the Minister of Urban Development and Municipal Affairs and Housing, the nodal department for all municipal corporations and municipalities in the state, admitted on Saturday that the deviation was in terms of recruitment through an outsourced agency in certain municipalities.

"If there were some irregularities, the department will surely examine them. I am yet to understand why certain recruitments were made through an outsourced agency. The rule for recruitment in case of a municipality is that the process should be conducted by a joint committee of representatives from the municipality concerned and the district magistrate's office. But in some cases, recruitments were made through an outsourced agency. I am yet to understand why there was this deviation from the norms," Hakim said.

The minister also said that he has asked his department secretary to review why such deviations took place.

"Once the report comes, everything will be clear. If the court wants, we will submit our report to it. I also need to know who approved this outsourced agency," Hakim said.

Both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are now probing the alleged municipal recruitment scam by filling FIRs.

The matter surfaced when the ED was conducting a raid at the residence of real-estate promoter Ayan Sil in connection with its probe into the alleged multi-crore scam in recruitments in state-run schools.
Bengaluru, May 13 : The Congress is also set to return to power in Karnataka with a historic mandate on Saturday, but some of its candidates won by small margins of less than 300 votes, including former state unit chief Dinesh Gundu Rao.

As per the Election Commission, Rao, who contested from the Gandhinagar Assembly seat, managed to win by 105 votes - the smallest margin in the state - against BJP's Sapthagiri Gowda A.R. On the other hand, Congress state chief D.K. Shivakumar won from his Kanakpura seat by a margin of 122,392 votes over his JD-S rival B. Nagaraju, pushing the BJP to the third place.

Among other tightly-fought competitions, Congress' T.D. Rajegowda defeated BJP's D.N. Jeevaraya by a margin of 201 votes from Sringeri Assembly seat.

Congress' K.Y. Nanjegowda also defeated BJP's K.S. Magunta Gowda by a thin margin of 248 votes from Malur Assembly seat.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Sowmya Reddy was leading BJP's C.K. Ramamurthy by a margin of 294 votes from Jayanagar Assembly constituency.

BJP's Dinakar Keshav Shetty defeated JD-S candidate Suraj Naik Soni by a margin of 676 votes from the Kumta assembly seat.

The Congress is all set to win 136 seats in the southern state where the polling for the 224 member Assembly took place on May 10, whereas the BJP is set to win on 65 seats and the JD-S 19. The remaining four were won by two small parties (one each) and two Independents.
Jaipur, May 13 : The BJP in Jaipur staged a sit-in protest on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Jaipur serial blasts on Saturday, wherein its cadres recited Hanuman Chalisa.

Rajasthan BJP President C.P. Joshi, who took part in the protest against the Rajasthan High Court's decision to acquit four persons accused in the case on the ground of 'shoddy' investigation, accused the Congress government in the state of lobbying 'weakly' in the bomb blasts case.

Joshi said the Congress government in Rajasthan adopted negligence only to please some people and save the accused from being hanged.

"The Congress leaders had even filed a petition to save terrorist Yakub Menon from the gallows. Similarly, in the Jaipur serial blasts case, it has adopted the policy of appeasement. The Congress deliberately did weak lobbying against the culprits, so that they could be released. But the BJP will fight till the last to uphold the rights of the people of Jaipur. The BJP will ensure that the accused persons are hanged," Joshi said.

On May 13, 2008, Jaipur was rocked by a series of blasts that had left 71 dead and 185 injured.

On March 29 this year, the Rajasthan High Court acquitted four persons accused in the case citing shoddy investigation.
Guwahati, May 13 : The North East Congress Coordination Committee (NECCC) said on Saturday that after the defeat in the Karnataka Assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah should follow 'Raj Dharma' and focus on restoring peace in violence-hit Manipur by undoing all the 'gaffes' it made in the recent past to polarise the polity of the state.

NECCC General Secretary Diganta Chaudhury said that the Karnataka mandate amply reflects that the people of the southern state have embraced the politics of love over of the politics of hatred and squarely voted for social harmony and economic growth.

The Congress entered the election fray on issues faced by the common people, such as unemployment, corruption, price rise etc., while the "double-engine" BJP government relied on sheer money power and communal politics, Chaudhury said in a statement.

"The NECCC compliments former Congress President Rahul Gandhi whose Bharat Jodo Yatra has played a catalysing role in establishing the supremacy of love over hatred and the need for establishing social harmony, which would propel the country towards economic prosperity," the statement said.

"NECCC also conveys its deep thankfulness to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, all KPCC leaders and other Congress leaders who were an integral part of the entire Congress strategy and campaign for leading the party to a resounding victory in the state," it added.

The NECCC also extended its congratulations to the electorate of Karnataka for "comprehensively defeating the divisive and polarisation politics of the BJP".

As per the Election Commission of India data on Saturday night, the Congress returned to power in Karnataka by winning 136 seats in the 224-member state assembly. The BJP won 65 seats while the Janata Dal (Secular) secured 19 seats.
Washington, May 13 : Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who won a landslide win in the November midterms, has come out in the open, engaging in a rhetorical battle against his big boss Donald Trump's questioning of his credibility, leadership, character, and ability to deliver the White House for the Republicans in 2024.

Now, it appears DeSantis has launched his fight back with a vituperative attack on the ex-President after ignoring months of slanderous barbs from Trump. For the first time, DeSantis has engaged the ex-President over leadership, character and his uncertain ability to win elections virtually announcing his candidacy for the presidential race.

The verbal battle of DeSantis is seen as a fightback and a clear signal to the GOP that he is throwing in his hat for nomination for the the 2024 Republican presidential race, media reports said.

"You know, you can call me whatever you want," DeSantis told television host Piers Morgan in an interview aired on Thursday. "I mean, just as long as you, you know, also call me a winner," America's Number one newspaper in circulation, USA Today said.

DeSantis criticized what he called Trump's "daily drama" of his leadership style, creating tensions within the GOP. In the Piers Morgan interview, DeSantis discussed character. "It's not saying that you don't ever make a mistake in your personal life, but I think what type of character are you bringing?" DeSantis said. "I think the person is more about how you handle your public duties and the kind of character you bring to that endeavour." DeSantis, who is yet to formally announce his candidacy for presidency ahead of the vote in the GOP primaries, seems to be in a warm-up mode as he mentioned his leadership style as being a stark contrast with Trump.

"The way we run the government, I think, is no daily drama," DeSantis said. "Focus on the big picture and put points on the board, and I think that's something that's very important," he was quoted by USA Today as saying.

Trump has been nasty towards DeSantis, reports said, as he has accused him of inappropriate behaviour during his year as a high school teacher, albeit without total lack of evidence or allegation.

What has apparently irked DeSantis to hit back is the Trump team's complaint to a state ethics committee claiming the Florida Governor was busy running for President rather than attending and looking into the needs of Floridians.

Trump, in a written statement, said DeSantis "is finally admitting he's in the Race by beginning to fight back".

The former President is a Palm Beach resident, who is a constituent of DeSantis.

Trump attacked the Florida Governor over proposals on Social Security, Medicare, crime and education concerning the constituency from which he had won a landslide victory in the November midterms.

"Ron is an average Governor, but the best by far in the Country in one category, Public Relations," Trump said.

A column in The New York Post, owned by Rupert Murdoch who backs DeSantis, said the Florida Governor "has finally taken the gloves off and launched a blistering attack on his former mentor, former President Donald Trump".

DeSantis drew up a new controversy over Trumps handling of the Covid-19 pandemic during 2020 saying in his place he (DeSantis) would have fired the Health Adviser Anthony Fauci. But Trump retained him as the pandemic raged. US was the worst affected by the pandemic, while Trump kept him on.

Trump supporters and DeSantis detractors in the Florida council of 20 members hit back saying DeSantis projected himself as a pioneer in the reopening of schools and businesses, while putting Floridians' lives at risk in the pursuit of competitive politics with the ex President.

Trump alleged "DeSantis was a big Lockdown Governor ... sealing all beaches and everything else for an extended period of time." He said DeSantis would never have become Governor in the first place without his endorsement during a Republican primary in 2018. "It's my fault," he said on Truth Social. "I put him there!" Local voters have voiced another sentiment about the Trump-DeSantis feud: "Why do they both have to be from Florida?"

Susan MacManus, political scientist emerita at the University of South Florida, expressed herself against what she called "slash and burn" politics and said why should they both be from Florida, they can be from different states, referring to nominations for the primaries.

Democrats are enjoying the Trump-DeSantis verbal feud and are joyful while Republicans are concerned that the feud could result in a divisive primary that could weaken Republican campaigns for the White House and Congress, media report said.

The issues between Trump and DeSantis are too many for any resolution. But many polls conducted by agencies show a close race between Trump and DeSantis with some showing DeSantis ahead and others saying Trump's ahead. The GOP is worried over divisions. But the general feeling is donors are for DeSatntis without legal baggage against Trump, though Trump exerts considerable influence in the Republican National Convention (RNC) which funds the GOP nominee.
Azerbaijan`s Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeyhun Bayramov has met with the Special Representative of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation for the normalization of Azerbaijan-Armenia relations Igor Khovaev.

Discussions revolved around the process of normalization of Azerbaijani-Armenian relations, negotiations on a peace agreement as well as the current situation in the region.

Minister Jeyhun Bayramov highlighted the position and priorities of Azerbaijan in the negotiations on a peace agreement as well as future expectations. The minister also informed the special representative about Armenia`s provocative attempts to undermine the peace process and negotiations.

Russian MFAs Special Representative Igor Khovaev stressed the importance of ensuring peace and stability in the region, adding that the Russian side is ready to provide any support in this regard.

During the meeting, the pair also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang meets with members of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense of the Norwegian Parliament in Oslo, Norway, on May 12, 2023. (Xinhua/Lin Jing)

OSLO, May 12 (Xinhua) -- The combat against climate change and the transition to a model of green development can become new key areas for China-Norway cooperation, visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang said here on Friday.

Qin made the remarks while meeting with members of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense of the Norwegian Parliament. He noted that China's modernization is committed to harmony between humanity and nature.

Qin said, this visit, his first to Norway, aims at enhancing understanding, expanding consensus and promoting healthy and stable development of bilateral relations.

China-Norway cooperation has achieved fruitful results in various fields, which demonstrates that the cooperation conforms to the shared interests of both sides and to the common aspirations from all walks of life in both countries, he added.

China and Norway have different national conditions thus it's normal to have differences, he noted, stressing that the key is to maintain a rational and inclusive attitude, keep the general direction that consensus outweighs differences and cooperation is better than confrontation, and conduct constructive dialogue and communication.

The Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense of the Norwegian Parliament is an important part of the Norwegian foreign policymaking mechanism, Qin said, asking the parliamentary members to make positive and constructive contributions to China-Norway relations.

The Norwegian parliamentary members said that their parliament and people are deeply interested in China, paying close attention to China's development and its role in international and regional affairs, and appreciate China's influence in tackling climate change.

China is Norway's largest trading partner in Asia, and the two countries enjoy extensive cooperation in various areas, they said, adding that the existing differences on some issues do not and should not affect the dialogue and cooperation between the two countries.

Qin also explained China's position on issues involving Ukraine, human rights and China-U.S. relations among others. 
Adventure on the Rogue River "Our promise to you is we will provide an exciting and unique river adventure in the beautiful Wild and Scenic Rogue River Canyon," said a spokesperson for Morrisons Rogue Wilderness Adventures. "After a trip with us, you'll want to visit year after year for your next adventure on the Rogue River."

This season, Morrisons Rogue Wilderness Adventures offers a wide range of exhilarating and relaxing outdoor experiences, designed to showcase the stunning wilderness of Oregon and the Rogue River. Some of the incredible adventures include:



Multi-day rafting trips: Float through 40 miles of the Wild and Scenic Rogue River, featuring over 20 class II-IV rapids across 3 or 4 days.

Day rafting trips: Full-day and half-day trips covering up to 18 miles of the thrilling Rogue River, perfect for beginners, families, and adventure enthusiasts.

Hiking trips: Embark on a 4-day lodge-to-lodge adventure along the historic Rogue River Trail, with raft-supported hiking tours providing comfort and convenience.

Wiking trips: A unique wine hiking experience, combining wilderness lodges with daily presentations from guest winemakers.

Fishing trips: World-class fishing adventures for steelhead and salmon, featuring Orvis-endorsed fishing trips and multi-day, lodge-to-lodge fishing experiences.

Safety and enjoyment are top priorities for the company. The professional river guides at Morrisons Rogue Wilderness Adventures are certified in Wilderness First Aid and CPR, ensuring a safe and exciting adventure for all guests.

"Our promise to you is we will provide an exciting and unique river adventure in the beautiful Wild and Scenic Rogue River Canyon," said a spokesperson for Morrisons Rogue Wilderness Adventures. "After a trip with us, you'll want to visit year after year for your next adventure on the Rogue River."

Join Morrisons Rogue Wilderness Adventures on May 15th, 2023, for the opening day of their new season, and embark on a world of incredible adventure on the Rogue River in Oregon, creating unforgettable memories with the diverse lineup of trips.

For more information or to book your adventure, please visit https://rogueriverraft.com/ or call (800) 336-1647.

About Morrisons Rogue Wilderness Adventures:

Morrisons Rogue Wilderness Adventures is a premier outdoor adventure company operating on the Rogue River in Southern Oregon. With over five decades of experience, the company offers a unique blend of lodging and unforgettable wilderness experience for all of our guests along the majestic Rogue River, including multi-day rafting trips, day rafting trips, hiking trips, wiking trips, and fishing trips. Their professional river guides are certified in Wilderness First Aid and CPR, ensuring a safe and enjoyable experience for all guests.
Georgia Spa Company transitioned to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) business last week, and immediately following the announcement of the change, the new owners, Georgia Spas nearly 90 employees, participated in their first Gives Back charity event, a bike build benefiting the Boys & Girls Club of Winder Barrow County.

We have been extremely blessed a company, and giving back to our community will continue to be a focus for Georgia Spa now that we are all employee-owners, said Josh Kemerling, Georgia Spa Companys Chief Executive Officer. The bike build was a fun, interactive way for our team to begin taking ownership of the Gives Back initiative.

A total of 20 new bikes were built by Georgia Spas new employee-owners, and a select group of students from the Boys & Girls Club of Winder Barrow County were on hand to receive them. In addition to the bikes, each recipient will receive an inspirational drawing and letter with words of encouragement from the teams that built each bike.

While assembling the bikes, Georgia Spas employee-owners also participated in several team-building activities including a rock-paper-scissors tournament, ping-pong ball toss and pencil catch among others. After a group photo with the Boys & Girls Club representatives, both Georgia Spa and the students took part in one more challenge, where each person had to attempt to move a cookie from their forehead to their mouth without use of their hands.

Simply a wonderful day all around, said administrative assistant Stephanie Campbell. First, finding out we are now employee owned. All the activities were very entertaining, and it was amazing to see the kids receiving the bikes.

The bike build is part of a larger Georgia Spa Gives Back effort underway during the second quarter of 2023. In April, Georgia Spa partnered with Hot Spring Spas in a sponsorship of Denim & Diamonds, a fundraising event benefiting Lake Oconee Academy. Additionally, a portion of proceeds from the entire quarter will go to supporting Adventure Bags, the Boys & Girls Club of Winder Barrow County, Camp Twin Lakes and the Grant Boys Honey Bee Foundation.

About the Georgia Spa Gives Back Program:

The Georgia Spa Gives Back program is a charitable giving initiative focused on giving back to different organizations and deserving individuals around the state of Georgia. Through the program, Georgia Spa selects a charity or cause to sponsor and donates a portion of our proceeds from a given month or quarter to that organization. The Gives Back program also oversees employee/dependent scholarships and local sponsorships and fundraising opportunities. It also champions an annual Hot Tub for a Hero, which awards a new hot tub a very deserving recipient from the military or a service field.

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Aprios vision is to grow a premier firm where thriving employees serve thriving clients and we have achieved this vision by building a firm where team members can grow professionally and personally."

Nationally recognized business advisory and CPA firm Aprio, LLP is proud to announce the firms Rockville office has been honored as a 2023 Best Place To Work by the Washington Business Journal. Ranking No. 10 among 75 total companies, the recognition highlights Aprios strength and dedication to their people-first, purpose-driven culture through rapid growth, offering expanded capabilities and opportunities for team members and clients alike.

Named the No. 1 Fastest-Growing Accounting Firm in the U.S. by Accounting Today, Aprio established their Rockville office following the strategic merger with Aronson, LLC effective January 2023. Only 5 months into the combination, the Best Place to Work recognition establishes the firms presence as a top workplace in the Mid-Atlantic region and their commitment to providing exceptional team member experiences across the firm.

Were proud to be recognized by the Washington Business Journal for this incredible distinction in the Washington D.C. market, said Richard Kopelman, CEO & Managing Parnter at Aprio. Aprios vision is to grow a premier firm where thriving employees serve thriving clients and we have achieved this vision by building a firm where team members can grow professionally and personally.

The Best Places To Work recognition for Aprios Rockville office showcases the incredible impact our new reach as a national firm has had for our team members and our clients, said Lexy Kessler, Mid-Atlantic Regional Leader. Aprio prioritizes people and its evident how that has positively impacted our culture and ability to deliver exceptional experiences for our clients.

Distributed by Quantum Workplace, the Best Places to Work results are quantitative and based on team member engagement survey responses across a range of different categories including leadership, culture, benefits and more. Each company is sorted by size  Aprio included in the Extra-Large category with more than 250 employees - and assigned a score out of 100 percent. This is the 17th year the Washington Business Journal has compiled the annual survey.

Aprios best-in-class team aligned to the Rockville office includes over 300 professionals working in teams that are establishing national practices in Government Contracting, Construction and Nonprofit from the Greater Washington D.C. market. The firms footprint in the Mid-Atlantic makes it Aprios second largest office after their Atlanta, GA headquarters.

Aprio is regularly awarded top workplace awards nationally and regionally across the U.S. The firm earned a 2023 Top Workplaces USA Award and received recognition on Vaults Top Accounting 25 list, which ranks the best accounting firms to work for in 2023. Aprio consistently ranks as a top firm for wellness, the hiring process, and culture.

To learn more about Aprio, visit http://www.aprio.com.

About Aprio:

Aprio is a premier, full-service business advisory and certified public accounting firm that advises clients and associates on how to achieve whats next. Aprios associates work as integrated teams across advisory, audit, tax, outsourcing, talent solutions and private client services, bringing the best thinking and personal commitment to each client. Across practices, Aprio brings together proven expertise, deep understanding and strategic foresight for industries including Manufacturing and Distribution; Non-Profit and Education; Professional Services; Real Estate; Construction; Retail, Franchise and Hospitality; Government Contracting, and Technology and Blockchain. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Aprio has grown to over 1,600 team members. To serve clients wherever life or business may take them, Aprios teams speak more than 35 languages and work with clients in over 50 countries. For more, visit https://www.aprio.com/.

Follow Aprio:

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Dolores Panlilio Bediones Dolores is a respected luxury real estate professional with more than 30 years of success.

Dolores is a respected luxury real estate professional with more than 30 years of success. She has received a multitude of accolades throughout her real estate career including the Honolulu Board of Realtors Aloha Aina Award for client service (2002-2016) and a consistent honoree of the Hawaii Business Magazine Hall of Fame  the highest award for the Top 100 Realtors. Her depth of market knowledge and ability to consistently deliver exceptional results has resulted in an impressive network of clients that now include multi-generations. Dolores has closed more than 500 transactions with first-time home buyers, multi-generations of families, investors, and ultra-high-net-worth individuals. From the Hawaiian islands to New York, from China to Korea, and across Europe, investors have sought out Dolores to market and manage the sale of their luxury properties. Her dedication and commitment to her clients is paramount.

Dolores comes from generations of real estate. Her family was involved with subdivisions and commercial developments and held investments in Asia, Silicon Valley, Las Vegas, and Newport Beach. Her immersion in the industry from a young age provided her with a deep and diverse understanding of the market, both from an investor and developer point of view. Dolores continues this legacy with her two children  Michael, who works in commercial development in Virginia, and her daughter and business partner Amanda who works closely with Dolores on all of her transactions in Hawaii.

Visit Dolores Panlilio Bediones's Haute Residence Profile: https://www.hauteresidence.com/member/dolores-panlilio-bediones/

ABOUT HAUTE RESIDENCE

Designed as a partnership-driven luxury real estate portal, Haute Residence connects its affluent readers with top real estate professionals, while offering the latest in real estate news, showcasing the worlds most extraordinary residences on the market, and sharing expert advice from its knowledgeable and experienced real estate partners. The invitation-only luxury real estate network, which partners with just one agent in every market, unites a distinguished collective of leading real estate agents and brokers and highlights the most extravagant properties in leading markets around the globe for affluent buyers, sellers, and real estate enthusiasts. HauteResidence.com has grown to be the number-one news source for million-dollar listings, high-end residential developments, celebrity real estate, and more.

Access all of this information and more by visiting http://www.hauteresidence.com
The Charming Taste of Europe is pleased to announce that it will host an interactive reception at PENTHOUSE 45 in New York on May 16th from 3:30pm - 6:30pm. The event will provide participants with information on The Charming Taste of Europe campaign with an emphasis on the wines from the Consorzio Tutela Vini dAbruzzo.

During the reception participants will enjoy the traditional wines from the Abruzzo region highlighting their quality as one of the agricultural gems of Europe. The varieties being presented are Montepulciano dAbruzzo, one of the most widespread grape varieties throughout the region, alongside Trebbiano dAbruzzo, a varietal dating back to the 16th century and Abruzzo Passerina.

The Charming Taste of Europe is a three-year campaign started in 2021 and promoted by the Vini dAbruzzo consortium from Italy and the Late Harvest Bordeaux Wines, along with fruit producers in Greeces Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Kavala (Kavala COOP) and Agricultural Cooperative of Rachi Pieria (Agios Loukas), co-financed by the European Union.

The Charming Taste of Europe'' campaign's goal is to educate attendees on the wines from the Consorzio Tutela Vini dAbruzzo and shed light on their partners including the Late Harvest Wines from Bordeaux , the kiwis from Kavala Coop, and the cherries from the Agricultural Cooperative of Rachi.

To learn more about The Charming Taste of Europe Campaign, visit charmingtasteofeurope.eu, which highlights the characteristics of the selected European products. Pages dedicated to The Charming Taste of Europe'' can be found on all main social networks, such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. The participating Consortia invites everyone to join the social media campaign using the hashtag #charmeu.

About the Charming Taste of Europe:

Europe, a place with timeless charm, is the birthplace of some of the highest-quality products in the world. The Charming Taste of Europe is a special project that introduces exquisite specialties to the United States and Canada, such as Italian and French wines, and fresh fruits from Greece, that showcase Europes charm, beauty, culture, history, art, heritage and unmistakable tastes.

The mission of the Charming Taste of Europe, co-funded by the European Union, is to increase awareness of the merits and quality standards of select European wines and fresh fruits with promotional activities in the competitive markets of the U.S. and Canada. The Charming Taste of Europe is promoted by the Consortium for the Protection of Wines of Abruzzo, the Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Kavala (Kavala COOP), the Agricultural Cooperative of Rachi Pieria Agios Loukas and the Union of Sweet Bordeaux Wines. These European agricultural products, famous around the world for their outstanding qualities, will continue to be promoted with initiatives and events for consumers, journalists and trade professionals. For more information visit charmingtasteofeurope.eu

To Follow The Charming Taste of Europe Campaign:

Website: charmingtasteofeurope.eu

Facebook: @CharmingTasteofEU

Instagram: @charmeu_usa

YouTube:The Charming Taste of Europe

Hashtags: #thecharmingtasteofeu and #charmeu

The content of this promotion campaign represents the views of the author only and is his/her sole responsibility. The European Commission and the European Research Executive Agency (REA) do not accept any responsibility for any use that may be made of the information it contains
"Patients just need an effective solution with as little time on the phone as possible. Making it easy for the patient and effective and efficient for the organization are two objectives on this project. Colin Taylor, CEO, The Taylor Reach Group

A leading eye care network in Virginia has called in The Taylor Reach Group for support in managing and improving its contact center operations.

The network, with satellite offices across the state, is seeking to streamline its customer-facing contact and appointment booking processes, with better integration across the available service network, an area in which TRG has a strong reputation as an industry leader.

Having worked with regional healthcare networks, says Colin Taylor, CEO and Chief Chaos Officer of Taylor Reach, our consulting team has the experience and resources needed to create and support a care network of this size.

It goes beyond management, of course, as Taylor points out. The key word here is care, and when working with a booking and patient management system, making it easy for the patient is critical. Patients just need an effective solution with as little time on the phone as possible. Making it easy for the patient and effective and efficient for the organization are two objectives on this project.

Because the vision network integrates a number of different surgical and non-surgical services across a wide geographic area and caters to the general public as well as specialized services like pediatrics, its imperative that the systems be in place to reduce the number of steps the patient needs to take, while also balancing this with a thorough review of the services available.

Streamlining and fixing a complex contact system takes time and starts with an operational review. In this process we review what is in place, from people, technologies and workflow processes. We determine what the customer needs, and then determine how those needs are best expressed by the networks approach. Making operational changes while continuing to deliver services is akin to changing the tires while driving the car.

Typically, our team steps in for an assessment and makes recommendations based on that assessment, Taylor says. In some instances, like this one, it makes more sense for us to take the reins for a period  cut out the middleman, as it were  so we can make the necessary changes, such as acquiring new technology or implement training systems as quickly and effectively as possible. Then, when we have a working system in place, well be positioned to hand the reins back to the network to operate on their own.

Taylor Reach performs detailed strategic assessments for companies, NGO's and governments across North America. Using a proprietary methodology combining benchmarking, best practice analysis, root cause analysis, and a deep understanding of People, Processes, Technology, and Methodology, Taylor Reach employs a holistic approach to contact center assessment that views the center in the context of the customer experience and the service delivery across traditional and digital channels. From there, recommendations can be made as to what gaps need to be addressed, and what steps can be taken to improve the operation and experience for both the customers and front-line staff.

About The Taylor Reach Group, Inc.

A global Contact Center, Call Center, and Customer Experience consulting firm. Established in 2003, Taylor Reach is dedicated to assisting clients to solve customer experience, contact center, and customer service challenges. Services include Strategic Assessments, Training Development, Revenue Generation and anything related to optimizing the Contact Center. Taylor Reach serves client organizations across all verticals with anywhere from 5 to 25,000+ agents: SMBs, Fortune 500 and Global 1000 firms.

Media Contact: For more information on The Taylor Reach Group, Inc. visit https://thetaylorreachgroup.com or phone Steve Baric at 1-866-334-3730 ext. 112
Some moms like to relax and rest on Mothers Day, and others like to enjoy their special day a little more wildly; you can do both at Wild Rivers Waterpark. Kevin Kopeny, General Manager

Wild Rivers Waterpark, Californias newest waterpark in Irvines Great Park, will shower moms with the sun-soaked fun, celebratory brunch and cocktail, and water slides as part of a free Mothers Day admission on Sunday, May 14th with a paid childs ticket. The park is also reducing Mothers Day weekend at-the-gate admission for the whole family to $44 per ticket.

Some moms like to relax and rest on Mothers Day, and others like to enjoy their special day a little more wildly; you can do both at Wild Rivers Waterpark, says Kevin Kopeny, General Manager of Wild Rivers Waterpark. Whether mom wants to blaze down the Bombay Blasters or kickback floating along Castaway River, we want her to celebrate at the speed right for her.

Wild Rivers Waterpark is offering moms free admission into the park on Mothers Day, Sunday, May 14th, with each paid childs ticket. Moms will also be treated to a free brunch and celebratory cocktail to enjoy the special day.

Special weekend pricing will be in effect on Saturday, May 13th and Sunday, May 14th, with all tickets at the gate discounted 44% for guests 48 and above to $44. Junior tickets, usually $50 at the gate, will also be reduced to $44.

There are many unique ways to show mom that you love her, and we believe Wild Rivers Waterpark offers both a great family experience and great value, with memory-making fun, laughter to be cherished for years, Kopeny added.

Wild Rivers operates weekends only from 11 am to 5 pm until Memorial Day weekend, when the hours expand to 10 am to 6 pm.

For more information on Wild Rivers Group Discounts, Birthday Parties, and additional special offerings and to purchase tickets, please visit http://www.wildrivers.com.

About Wild Rivers Waterpark

Located in the heart of The Great Park Irvine, Wild Rivers is Californias newest waterpark! Wild Rivers is dedicated to bringing our guests the best, most fun and exciting waterpark experience California has ever seen. The newly designed water park is over 20 acres, with over 30 rides and attractions including 5 family raft rides, one of the longest Lazy Rivers in California and one of the largest wave pools. With Mustang Bar, Pacific Grill, and exciting thrill rides like Typhoon, Tikis Revenge, Pelican Plunge, and Bora Bora Boomerango as well as 2 children's areas with mega water play structure, Cooks Cove that has over 77 activities, and Kontiki Cove, with amazing children's slides, Wild Rivers is fast becoming Southern Californias must experience family destination. Season Passes and tickets, along with a full operating schedule, are available now at http://www.wildrivers.com.

Media Contact

Jeff Soto

Jeff.Soto@WildRivers.com

949-436-4836
Supporters of Indian National Congress (INC) carrying party flag celebrate the party's victory in the Karnataka state assembly election in Bengaluru, India, May 13, 2023. India's main opposition party, the Indian National Congress (INC), on Saturday won the recently-held Assembly elections in the southern state of Karnataka, unseating the current ruling party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). (Str/Xinhua)

NEW DELHI, May 13 (Xinhua) -- India's main opposition party, the Indian National Congress (INC), on Saturday won the recently-held Assembly elections in the southern state of Karnataka, unseating the current ruling party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Election Commission of India has announced that the INC has won 123 out of 224 constituencies and is leading in another 13, with a total expected win of 136 Assembly constituencies. The BJP is likely to win only 64 Assembly constituencies.

A party needs to win in at least 113 Assembly constituencies to form the government in the state. The final results are expected to be announced later this evening.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the INC on its win. He tweeted, "Congratulations to the Congress Party for their victory in the Karnataka Assembly polls. My best wishes to them in fulfilling people's aspirations."

Hailing his party's victory, INC leader Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted, "This is truly the victory of the people of Karnataka. They have voted for their progressive future, their welfare and social justice. With folded hands, we thank them for putting their trust in us." 

Supporters of Indian National Congress (INC) carrying party flag celebrate the party's victory in the Karnataka state assembly election in Bengaluru, India, May 13, 2023. India's main opposition party, the Indian National Congress (INC), on Saturday won the recently-held Assembly elections in the southern state of Karnataka, unseating the current ruling party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). (Str/Xinhua)

Supporters of Indian National Congress (INC) carrying party flag celebrate the party's victory in the Karnataka state assembly election in Bengaluru, India, May 13, 2023. India's main opposition party, the Indian National Congress (INC), on Saturday won the recently-held Assembly elections in the southern state of Karnataka, unseating the current ruling party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). (Str/Xinhua)
The second Sharjah Booksellers Conference in the U.A.E., held May 12, attracted some 200 booksellers and another 100 publishing professionals from across the world. The event opened with an introduction from Ahmed al Ameri, chairman of the Sharjah Book Authority, and Sheika Bodour al Qasimi, CEO of Kalimat Group and former president of the International Publishers Association. Al Qasimi noted that the U.A.E. will host COP28, the United Nations climate change conference, later this year, and she encouraged the attendees to prioritize sustainability. Climate change poses a profound risk to our industry, she said. We must find ways to do betterto change the way we produce and distribute books.

Markus Dohle, former CEO of Penguin Random House and current Bertelsmann board member, followed. He said the industry is currently in one of the greatest moments of change in publishing since Gutenberg. He added that global revenues are growing, and praised the healthy coexistence between physical and digital products, with physical products accounting for about 80% of all sales. Print has prevailed, and it is the life insurance of the publishing industry, he noted.

Furthermore, Dohle said that as the population of the world grows and literacy spreads, the total market for books grows with it. For years, childrens and young adult books have been the fastest-growing category in the industry, and, he added, that should be reassuring to those at the conference. He also praised the new efficiencies in distribution.

However, book distribution bottlenecks persist around the world. Brexit, for example, means that U.K. distributors that previously had significant export sales to Europe have seen that business grind to a halt; Gardners, the dominant book distributor in the U.K., opened a company in France to accommodate European orders. Ordering from U.K. publishers also has slowed.

It is so difficult to order from the U.K. now, said Sonia Draga, CEO of Sonia Draga Publishing House and Bookstores in Poland. She added that it can take up to three weeks for English-language books ordered from the U.K. to arrive at her stores as a result of customs delays.

As an alternative, publishers in the U.K. and those further afield are looking to the U.S. as a market for expansion. Wonder House and Prakash Books, now the largest publisher in India, have signed a deal with IPG to begin distributing their bestselling childrens board books in June.

That said, U.K. publishers report they have found a newly fertile market in China after several years of stalled rights sales, as diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China have been strained in recent years. China is very interesting, but very tricky now for U.S. publishers, said one international sales director, who asked not to be identified.

The Sharjah Book Authority flew in a wide variety of booksellers from some remote markets, including a coalition from French-speaking West African countries such as Benin, Cameroon, Djibouti, and Niger; others came from Central Asia, including some from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan; and still others traveled from New Zealand, the Philippines, and Singapore.

After two days of conversations, it became clear that everyone shared the same concerns: how to attract customers to their stores, promote reading, build community, curate stock, reduce returns, and eke out a profit. Attendees included Ivana Simic', the publishing and licensing manager of Dexyco, a chain of 50 childrens goods stores in Serbia; El Kamouni Hassan, director of the Librarie de Paris bookstore in El Jadida, Morocco; and Akshay Routray, founder of the Walking BookFairs bookstore in Bhubaneswar, India.

Many participants said theyre eager to stock more English-language titles, but find them difficult or too expensive to order. Reading books in English is an aspirational activity for some. The desire is there, said Aidai Maksatbekova, owner of IQ Bookstore in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. While were doing fine, we could do even better if we could find a more affordable and efficient way to get English-language books. Bishkek may seem far away from everyone, but the books make us feel close and connected to the international community of book lovers and readers.
In 2021, Publishers Weekly launched the U.S. Book Show to help keep the publishing community connected and provide a platform for publishers to promote their books during the pandemic. The first two shows were entirely virtual; this year, for the first time, well gather in New York City at NYUs Kimmel Center for a hybrid live and virtual show of informative programming and much-needed socializing.

In-person programs on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 2324, include a day of sessions hosted by the Association of American Literary Agents, panel discussions and keynote addresses featuring adult and childrens authors and graphic novel creators, and author chats produced in cooperation with various publishersall livestreamed to attendees across the publishing world.

Theres plenty happening in the virtual space, too, including this years Libraries are Essential program and a celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander voices in publishing, both on Monday, May 22, as well as at the PubHubs, where publishers and distributors will showcase their offerings. On Thursday, May 25, we wrap things up by revealing PW editors picks for the big books of fall in several categories and age ranges, with the editors of the books on hand to discuss their projects in a series of panel discussions.

Whether on screen or in the halls of NYU, we look forward to seeing you!

Registration for the U.S. Book Show will be open until May 19.

Click here to register for the U.S. Book Show, and click here for more information on the programming.

Read more from our U.S. Book Show Preview feature:

U.S. Book Show 2023: Schedule & Highlights

The highlights from our programming this year include the return of our Libraries Are Essential program, a day-long in-person meeting for literary agents, and more.

U.S. Book Show 2023: Featured Speakers

National ambassador for young peoples literature Meg Medina, Public Enemy frontman Chuck D, and bestselling novelist Lauren Groff are among the authors and comics creators appearing live at the show.

U.S. Book Show 2023: Authors in Conversation

In a series of intimate discussions, authors, comics creators, and artists will give readers an inside look at their latest titles and forthcoming books.

U.S. Book Show 2023: Libraries Are Essential

A robust slate of programming highlights the crucial work of libraries and librarians.

U.S. Book Show 2023: AAPI Communities in Conversation

AAPI Communities in Conversation will feature a series of panels centered on Asian American and Pacific Islander voices, books, cultures, and experiences, and feature authors, creators, and librarians.

U.S. Book Show 2023: AALA Program

The Association of American Literary Agents presents a day of in-person educational sessions.

U.S. Book Show 2023: Upcoming Big Books

Meet the authors behind some of the adult, childrens, and graphic titles on PWs radar.

U.S. Book Show 2023: PW Editors Picks Panels

Our editors will reveal their picks for the big books of fall in several categories, with the editors of the books on hand to discuss.

U.S. Book Show 2023: Debut Authors in Conversation

First-time authors Alice Carriere, Tereh Shelton Harris, and Kelsey James will discuss their forthcoming books.

U.S. Book Show 2023: Bookstore of the Year Finalists

This years finalists bring distinctive styles to bookselling.

U.S. Book Show 2023: Rep of the Year Finalists

Meet some of the industrys favorite road warriors.

U.S. Book Show 2023: Spotlight on Arabic Literature

Iraqi writer Shahad Al Rawi, who was shortlisted for this years Sheikh Zayed Book Award in the young author category, will speak with the New Yorkers Yasmine AlSayyad.

U.S. Book Show 2023: About the Sponsors

This years U.S. Book Show was made possible, in part, with the support of the following partners
Publishers Group West sales rep Ty Wilson says hes been in the book industry since the Rolodex cards and clipboards era. He started off, in 1984, working the 3 p.m. to midnight shift at a Tower bookstore in Sacramento, Calif., where the Tower chain originateda plum job for a guy who grew up trawling Sacramentos used bookstores with his dad.

I worked at Tower for 19 years, going from clerk to manager to manager-buyer, Wilson says. Eventually I became their national adult frontlist buyer and helped set up some stores around the country.

He handled buying for stores in Asia too, traveling to Singapore, Bangkok, and Tokyo: For a book person it was a real privilege and adventure. They gave me a store with on-the-job training.

By 2003, the Napster writing was on the wall, Wilson says, referring to the file-sharing site that ushered in streaming platforms and the decline of CDs and old-school record stores, at least until the current vinyl resurgence. (Tower declared bankruptcy in 2006.) Wilson moved to Sonoma, becoming the adult frontlist buyer for six locations of Copperfields Books, where he stayed until 2010.

Ready for a change, Wilson found a job on PGWs sales force, and he didnt need to abandon what he loved about being a buyer. I go into a store wearing my rep hat, but I always have my buyers hat on too, he explains. Because I bought for so many stores, I often had to conjure who the reader would be in locations I didnt work in daily. Now Im trying to fit my publishers books into the vision a buyer has for their store.

Wilson attends to a stores sales figures, manages changes to the sections and clientele, and recognizes that scrolling Edelweiss catalogs can overwhelm a buyer. If I can give a list some contours, pointing out titles potential appeal in regional markets, the buyers are going to bring their own sensibilities, he explains.

He notes that the books he highlights inevitably change between the start and end of a season, as a result of word-of-mouth among booksellers and his conversations with Ingram Content Group colleagues, including senior manager Leslie Jobson and v-p of sales Elise Cannon.

A lover of literary fiction, Wilson was pleased by the success of Claire Keegans Small Things Like These. I felt its commercial potential from the first page, the first paragraph, and I encouraged everyone in my sales group to read it, he says. This spring, hes especially looking forward to Europa Editions The Postcard, by Anne Berest.

Wilson, who still lives in Sonoma, covers a territory from Mendocino to Santa Cruz to the eastern Sacramento suburbs. I spend a lot of time on 101, he says, traveling north and south of the Bay Area.

Looking back on his early days as a buyer, he recalls, When a set of catalogs would come in, I would drop everything. You feel renewed two or three times a year, and its still exciting. I still drop everything to go through the catalogs.

Click here to register for the U.S. Book Show, and click here for more information on the programming.

Return to the main feature.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame inspects the rainfall disaster at a tea factory in Rubavu, Rwanda, May 12, 2023. Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Friday visited areas in Rubavu District of Western Province that were heavily affected by recent floods and landslides caused by heavy rains. (Photo by Cyril Ndegeya/Xinhua)

KIGALI, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Friday visited areas in Rubavu District of Western Province that were heavily affected by recent floods and landslides caused by heavy rains.

Weather-related disasters that hit Rwanda on May 2 and 3 killed at least 131 people in Western, Northern and Southern provinces, and displaced more than 9,000 people, according to figures from the Ministry in charge of Emergency Management.

During his visit to the affected areas, Kagame spoke to people impacted by the disasters and expressed his condolences. "I came here to visit you and let you know that we are thinking of you and are saddened by what has happened. Your concerns are our concerns, and we are exploring every possible option to help you recover."

He pledged swift support to households, schools, and other infrastructure affected by the disasters, adding that the government is making relentless efforts to ensure the safety of people's lives and property.

At least 94 people have been injured, and more than 5,550 houses, 14 roads and over 50 schools were destroyed; the disasters also destroyed crops, and water and power infrastructures.

The Rwandan government needs about 110 billion Rwandan francs (about 98 million U.S. dollars) to rebuild infrastructure damaged by disasters as a result of heavy rains across the country, according to the Ministry of Infrastructure.

The cabinet approved the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Policy, which seeks to strengthen the legal and institutional framework for disaster management and to build capacity for disaster management at all levels.

It also approved an emergency response plan aimed at reinforcing efforts to provide urgent relief to communities affected by disasters, according to a recent statement by the Office of the Prime Minister. 

This photo taken on May 12, 2023 shows houses destroyed by floods in Rubavu, Rwanda. Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Friday visited areas in Rubavu District of Western Province that were heavily affected by recent floods and landslides caused by heavy rains. (Photo by Cyril Ndegeya/Xinhua)

Rwandan President Paul Kagame inspects the rainfall disaster near a river in Rubavu, Rwanda, May 12, 2023. Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Friday visited areas in Rubavu District of Western Province that were heavily affected by recent floods and landslides caused by heavy rains. (Photo by Cyril Ndegeya/Xinhua)
During a ceremony held in Washington to commemorate the Lunar New Year in 2011, thenVietnamese Ambassador to the United States Le Cong Phung surprised the audience by announcing that the two countries would raise their ties to the level of strategic partnership. Phrases describing partnerships can be nebulous, of course. But from what we know about Vietnamese diplomacy, Hanoi's definition of strategic partnership is not just boilerplate, but signifies concrete, mutual, long-term strategic interests.

Vietnamese officials, however, never followed up on Phung's newsworthy announcement. Instead, Washington and Hanoi announced a comprehensive partnership in 2013a relationship that implies a less-serious geopolitical alignment for Vietnam. The United States has been left wondering why.

The Biden administrationlike at least two administrations before itis convinced that U.S.-Vietnamese ties should be intensified, precisely because both countries share long-term strategic interests. Both countries want to prevent China from dominating the Indo-Pacific; and both have a strong interest in upholding the rules-based international order. In its 2021 Interim National Security Strategic Guidance, the Biden administration mentioned ( PDF ) Vietnam alongside Singapore, a de facto U.S. ally in Southeast Asia, stating that both countries would help to advance shared objectives in the Indo-Pacific. In the administration's 2022 Indo-Pacific Strategy ( PDF ), Vietnam also made the prominent list of leading regional partners, on par with India, New Zealand, Taiwan, and other critical countries.

In late March this year, the United States may finally have achieved a breakthrough. U.S. President Joe Biden held his first call as president with his Vietnamese counterpart, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. While little was revealed about the content of the call, a trip to Hanoi by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken soon followed. There, Blinken told reporters Our conviction is that [the U.S. partnership with Vietnam] can and will grow even strongerin the weeks and months ahead. Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, in turn, said Hanoi sought to take the relationship to a new height. Speculation is now rife in Washington that the stage is set for the two countries to finally establish formal strategic partnership status, maybe at the White House during Trong's possible visit this July.

But the Biden administration would be wise to manage expectations for now. There are good reasons why Vietnam has been delaying the upgrade for so longand why it may ultimately decide that elevating to a strategic partnership simply isn't worth it. Of course, deepening U.S.-Vietnamese ties does not fundamentally depend on any official diplomatic status. But if Hanoi forgoes strategic partnership status with Washington, it would validate Beijing's view that Vietnam remains firmly ensconced in China's geostrategic orbitand that U.S. attempts to leverage Vietnam against China not only have limits, but are futile over the long-term.

The most important obstacle to a more-formalized U.S.-Vietnamese alignment is Beijing's likely reaction. Share on Twitter

Of course, the most important obstacle to a more-formalized U.S.-Vietnamese alignment is Beijing's likely reaction. In its long history, Vietnam has been invaded multiple times by its much larger northern neighbormost recently in 1979and is highly reluctant to unnecessarily antagonize Beijing. Although foreign partnerships are certainly important to help Vietnam balance against China, the Vietnamese are mindful of an ancient Chinese saying: Distant water will not quench the fire nearby. In other words, Vietnam cannot count on faraway partners to help manage problems with China. In the end, only Vietnam can ensure that bilateral ties preclude trouble.

From Hanoi's perspective, raising U.S.-Vietnamese ties to strategic partnership level may simply be asking for trouble. After the bloody Sino-Vietnamese war in 1979, Hanoi and Beijing normalized relations in 1991; and as part of their agreement, Vietnam imposed limitations on its own future security engagements to appease Chinese leaders. Originally known as the Three Nos (before becoming Four Nos and One Depends, more on that below), Vietnam's post-agreement defense policy committed it to forgoing formal military alliances, military basing on its territory, and military activities aimed at a third country. Hanoi very likely worries that elevating to strategic partnership with Washington might give Beijing the impression that it is establishing a military alliance, perhaps putting it on course to violating the other Nos as well.

Chinese retaliation to a U.S.-Vietnamese strategic partnership could be severe, particularly in the South China Sea, where China and Vietnam have substantial overlapping sovereignty claims and Beijing has overwhelming military strength to enforce its side of the dispute. This leads to another reason Hanoi is likely hesitant to bolster ties to Washington: Despite Beijing's encroachments in the South China Sea, things have been relatively quiet there since 2019, when China and Vietnam had a standoff at Vanguard Bank in the Spratly Islands. Why potentially rock the boat?

Moreover, Hanoi may believe it has already handled the situation effectively without needing Washington's support. Following the Vanguard Bank standoff, Vietnam released a defense white paper pledging never to unilaterally use or threaten forcethe fourth No meant to be another reassurance to Beijing. It also added the One Depends clause, stating that depending on the circumstances and specific conditions, Vietnam will consider developing necessary, appropriate defense and military relations with other countries. By adding the One Depends clause, Hanoi drew a causal link between the deterioration of Vietnam's external security environment and the nations with which it chooses to deepen defense cooperation. A reasonable interpretation of this is that, if China's bullying behavior in the South China Sea continues, Vietnam might finally promote the United States' status to that of strategic partnership. Given recent stability, there has been no impetus to do so. If this interpretation is correct, Hanoi will find a potential status upgrade more useful when it is not exercised.

Another reason Hanoi might drag its feet is due to domestic politics. Over the last few months, Trong's anti-corruption campaign has removed several high-ranking members of the Vietnamese Communist Party and state apparatus, including deputy prime ministers Pham Binh Minh and Vu Duc Dam, along with state president Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Some Western observers worry that the purge is bad news for U.S.-Vietnamese ties, since these three officials leaned toward Washington. Most significantly, Trong appointed his young conservative ally, Vo Van Thuong, to replace Phuc as president. Thuong reportedly favors China over the United States, as does Trong. Vietnam is unlikely to drift away from the United States toward China, since it seeks good ties with both. But an internal recalibration of Hanoi's delicate balancing act between the two great powers may be underwayespecially as geopolitical competition continues to intensify.

Yet another potential explanation for Vietnamese inaction on a strategic partnership is that U.S.-Vietnamese relations are already operating at a de-facto strategic level, even if without the official label. For example, Vietnam has expressed implicit support for the U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy; in recent years, it has received additional diplomatic and economic supportas well as military hardware and trainingto counter China. What would Vietnam substantively gain, that would also be within the bounds of its strict defense policy, from elevating the partnership? Virtually anything that the U.S. military would like to doand has done, for example, in the Philippinessuch as accessing Vietnam's bases to help it better deal with South China Sea contingencies or joint training focused on lethal operations against a third nation, could violate these rules.

On the economic side in particular, Vietnam still feels spurned by the Trump administration's decision in 2017 to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) multilateral trade agreement forged under the Obama administration. In order to become eligible to join the TPP, Hanoi had to implement deep and risky systemic reforms to its economy; and in the end, these good-faith efforts went unrewarded. Washington left Hanoi (and many others) standing at the altar in a massive breach of trust. Today, the deal has been renamed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP); but without the United States as a member, it carries less economic and especially strategic heft as a counterbalance to China.

To date, the Biden administration has not offered a viable alternative that would allow Vietnam to bank on future U.S. economic ties, which is a serious gap in the partnership. To be sure, the United States is Vietnam's number two trading partner after China. But the Trump administration's TPP withdrawal not only confused and frustrated Vietnamese leaders, but also made them question Washington's staying power in the region, particularly as Beijing's profileeconomic and otherwiseis ascendant.

Finally, it is widely known that Trong suffered a stroke in 2019 and may be too weak to travel from Hanoi directly to Washington in July. This has created a logistical dilemma and ultimately a political one: It is difficult to envision who in the Vietnamese leadership, other than Trong, would be able to announce a decision of such political and strategic magnitude. Indeed, Vietnamese interlocutors have recently linked a possible announcement of a relationship upgrade to Trong's presence at the White House. Given the size of the strategic prize, Biden could of course travel to Vietnam, but there are no concrete plans to do so yet.

Hanoi continues to be intentionally vague and has not publicly commented on the issue of strategic partnership, probably to allow itself some wiggle room. Share on Twitter

All these obstacles aside, there are still many encouraging signals coming out of Hanoi that the relationship upgrade may very well happeneven if not this summer, as Washington hopes.

That said, the reality is that Hanoi continues to be intentionally vague and has not publicly commented on the issue of strategic partnership, probably to allow itself some wiggle room. Vietnam also knows that the United States has been wanting to elevate ties for some time, and in order to placate Washington and benefit from continued U.S. support against Beijing, Hanoi is smart to at least begin negotiations. Vietnam seems perfectly fine with things dragging on for years, avoiding a final decision, or even getting cold feet in the end. Avoidance is actually more of a feature than a bug of Vietnam's decisionmaking process. The Biden administration should manage expectations by remaining skeptical until the ink is dry on any new agreement.

Derek Grossman is a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation, an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California, and a former daily intelligence briefer to the U.S. assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs.

This commentary originally appeared on Foreign policy on May 9, 2023. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.
The Florida Board of Education recently expanded the scope of the state's Parental Rights in Education law, which restricts classroom discussions of gender identity and sexual orientation. Our research suggests the so-called Don't Say Gay bill is bad for students and educatorsand not just in Florida.

The original Florida law, passed in spring 2022, prohibited teachers from discussing these topics with elementary students. The expanded restrictions effectively ban instruction about LGBTQ+ issues for all K12 public school students.

Over the past year, we've used RAND's American Educator Panels to survey national samples of educators to learn about how efforts, like those in Florida, to restrict discussions of race, gender, and LGBTQ+ issues are affecting teaching and learning. Educators' responses highlight how the expansion of the Florida law could be harmful for students and educators across the United States.

Policies that restrict discussion of LGBTQ+ issues and representation of LGBTQ+ individuals are likely to make schools less welcoming to the nation's estimated 2 million LGBTQ+ youth ( PDF ). Even before states began enacting policies limiting conversations about race and gender, nearly half of secondary social studies teachers said that students engaged in demeaning behavior toward LGBTQ+ students.

LGTBQ+ Students Don't Feel Safe at School

And, according to a survey of over 20,000 LGBTQ+ youth across the nation administered just as states were beginning to pass restrictive policies, eight in ten LGBTQ+ students felt unsafe at their schools. Meanwhile, fewer than two in ten LGBTQ+ youth said they were exposed to positive representations about LGBTQ+ people or issues.

Further restrictions could exacerbate these issues, and not just in Florida. Our survey data suggest about a quarter of U.S. teachers are shifting how they talk about gender and race in the classroom, including teachers in states that have not enacted restrictive policies.

About a quarter of U.S. teachers are shifting how they talk about gender and race in the classroom, including teachers in states that have not enacted restrictive policies. Share on Twitter

Furthermore, teachers say restrictive policies have made them more hesitant to introduce students to book characters who identify as LGBTQ+, to discuss same-sex marriage or diverse family structures, and to display pride flagsall shifts that are likely to send negative messages to LGBTQ+ youth. When students experience messages that they don't belong, it can have adverse consequences on their physical and mental health and ability to learn.

Although there are partisan differences, 63 percent of adults, according to research from the University of Southern California, believe high school studentsnow covered by the expanded Florida policyshould learn about LGBTQ+ issues, like transgender rights, gay rights, and expressions of gender identity. If the expanded Florida policy reduces exposure to LGBTQ+ issues in classrooms across the United States as our research suggests it will, then schools may shift content in ways that are not only harmful to students but that don't align with the preferences of many parents.

The U.S. Department of Education also has noted that LGBTQ+ students are especially vulnerable to harassment and discrimination. Although LGBTQ+ issues have become points of political and cultural contention, we should not create conditions in schools that foster discrimination. Instead, classrooms should be a place for students to learn how to discuss controversial issues, develop the skills and dispositions ( PDF ) necessary for civic engagement, and to soften divides.

Conflict over politicized issues has been linked to lower educator well-being and increased intentions to leave the profession. Share on Twitter

Beyond students, our survey data suggest the increasing politicization of race- and gender-related topics in schools is affecting the nation's already beleaguered educator workforce. Almost half of teachers and principals say political polarization is causing them stress in their jobs. Conflict over politicized issues has been linked to lower educator well-being and increased intentions to leave the profession.

Teachers Say New Policies Make Them Fearful

When we collected responses from about 1,500 teachers across the nation on how these restrictions were influencing their classroom instruction, about one in ten said they experienced fear or anxiety about violating restrictive policies and potentially losing their jobs.

Students and educators of all backgrounds, including those who identify as LGBTQ+, deserve learning and work environments where they feel safe and valued. Policymakers should develop policies that cultivate such environments, so educators and students can focus on the hard work of teaching and learning.

Ashley Woo and Melissa Kay Diliberti are assistant policy researchers at the RAND Corporation and doctoral fellows at the Pardee RAND Graduate School.

This commentary originally appeared on USA Today on May 12, 2023. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.
Property details:

Carlsbad Inn Beach Resort Carlsbad, California "All images in this listing are general images of the resort and do not necessarily reflect the actual resort or units. Please perform your own due diligence Item Description_________________________________European charm meets California cool at this beachfront resort in Carlsbad Village. The inns courtyard serves as an expansive outdoor living roomthe perfect place to relax while your kids frolic in the grass. As the sun sets, unwind in t...

Price: $ 99 Seller State of Residence: Florida Property Address: 3075 Carlsbad Blvd Number of Bedrooms: 1 Number of Bathrooms: 1 Zip/Postal Code: 92008 City: CARLSBAD State/Province: California Location: 920**, Carlsbad, California

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By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 05/13/2023



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alum Amanda Stanton has revealed why she lets her pre-teen children swear and just so happens to view cursing as "fine.""I curse! So generally I don't teach them it's bad to curse," Amanda told her followers on Instagram Stories, according to BachelorNation.com.Amanda -- who is mom to girls Charlie, 9, and Kinsley, 10 -- took her daughters to the Taylor Swift Eras tour in April and documented the amazing time they had at the concert on social media.Amanda told her fans at the time it was "one of the most special nights" of her life with the kids, adding that it was a "core memory" and she'll be "crying forever" about it.After the show, Amanda posted a video on TikTok and Instagram of Charlie singing the lyrics to Taylor Swift 's song "All Too Well," which includes the F-word.The video, which has amassed hundreds of thousands of views, shows Charlie and Amanda belting out together, "And you were tossing me the car keys, 'F-ck the patriarchy,' keychain on the ground, we were always skipping town."While many fans praised the Charlie's boldness and girls' special bonding moment, mom-shamers chimed in and criticized Amanda for allowing her nine-year-old daughter to swear.Amanda responded in her Instagram Stories, writing, "I know everyone has different opinions on this so I'm not expecting everyone to agree with me! I knew some people would get upset over the video of Charlie saying the F word while singing so I just wanted to share my take haha."She went on to clarify, "I do not allow the girls to curse first of all. And if I caught them dropping F bombs during their day to day they'd be in trouble haha!"But the Bachelor in Paradise alum explained, "Because we were at a concert and she was singing/the context, I was like whatever it's fine! But that instance aside... I curse! So generally I don't teach them it's bad to curse."Amanda reasoned, "Because why would I teach them it's a terrible thing to curse only for them to see [my husband Michael Fogel] and I do it all the time? I don't ever want to instill rules for them that they see me break because then they won't take me seriously. So I really choose my battles when it comes to rules."Amanda also revealed that she taught her daughters context is important when dropping a curse word."Instead I teach them that it's not appropriate for KIDS to curse. Also to make sure I'm showing them the correct context of how/when to curse and how it's not ok to direct it at people ('f-ck you' calling someone a bitch etc they NEVER hear us say!)" Amanda shared."Not appropriate at school or work etc. but if they grow up and want to curse, I don't really care tbh I care that they are good humans and if they grow up to be good kind humans who say fuck a lot, I will gladly take it."Amanda elaborated how her "reasoning behind this" is "just because" she wants "to prepare them for REAL life.""And let's be honest, adults curse. If I tell them it's so so bad then they're going to grow up and be like 'mom needs to chill' and maybe question other things we tell them are bad," Amanda wrote."So for me, being mean to people is bad. Drugs are bad! Saying fuck is not bad (but it's not for kids) Again, this is just my take and I know not everyone will agree haha!"Amanda and Michael were reportedly friends for two years before they began dating. Michael popped the question and the couple got engaged in December 2021 Amanda married Michael in California in September 2022. Amanda called her wedding "pure magic."Amanda revealed on April 3 that she and Michael, a real estate entrepreneur, would "love to start trying at some point soon" for another child.And during a late March Instagram Q&A with her followers, Amanda discussed potentially expanding her family. (She also scolded fans for constantly asking if she's expecting).When a person asked if Amanda wants more babies, Amanda reportedly replied, 'Yes! I'm not going to lie, though. I'm so nervous. I thought we would have started trying by now, but maybe a few more months?!"Amanda, however, elaborated how it's difficult to truly prepare for having a baby."But then I keep thinking, 'Will we ever feel 100 percent ready for another baby?!' Whenever it happens, I'll be so so excited, whether we're ready or not," Amanda said.Amanda also reportedly shared that if she and Michael do try for another baby, she hopes to have a little boy "that is exactly like Michael."Amanda shares her two daughters with ex-husband Nick Buonfiglio, whom she was married to from 2012 to 2015.Amanda competed for Ben Higgins ' heart on 's 20th season just one year after getting divorced from Nick.After Amanda introduced Ben to her girls and finished his season in third place, the Lani the Label founder looked for love on Season 3 of Bachelor in Paradise.Amanda accepted a marriage proposal from Andi Dorfman 's ex-fiance Josh Murray during the finale, but they called it quits on their engagement and announced their split in December 2016.Amanda and Josh had a nasty public breakup, with Amanda calling Josh "the worst" and admitting she had mistakenly ignored friends' grim warnings about his personality and character.Amanda decided to search for The One on television again by participating in Bachelor in Paradise's fourth edition the next summer, when former ette star JoJo Fletcher 's runner-up Robby Hayes pursued her.However, Amanda and Robby's romance was short-lived and she confirmed their breakup in September 2017."Robby was somebody who was doing all these sweet things for me and saying that he wants a family and a future, and then we get off the show and all he wanted to do is party and not call me ," Amanda told People at the finale taping.Amanda subsequently got romantically involved -- off-camera -- with Tillow co-founder Bobby Jacobs and the couple went Instagram official in May 2018.Bobby, however, appeared to break Amanda's heart just about one year later. I'm sad. I cried a lot ... I was completely blindsided [by the breakup] and it just happened very suddenly," Amanda told her fans on social media in April 2019.After a series of heartbreak and men letting her down, Amanda told Us Weekly in April 2020 that dating and getting married again weren't high on her list of "priorities" considering she had "so many other things to worry about" in her life.But Amanda proceeded to date attorney Oren Agman in 2020 before finally getting involved with Michael in early 2021.Amanda made her romance with Michael Instagram official during a vacation to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in February 2021, Us reported."It's still new, so they're taking things slow and just enjoying their time together," a source told the magazine at the time. "He has met her daughters, of course, since they're with her half the time."Amanda apparently fell hard and fast for Michael, because in August 2021, she said that she was hoping her man would pop the question soon.When an Instagram user asked last summer when she wanted to get engaged, Amanda reportedly replied, "If we're being honest, yesterday."Interested in more news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group
Israel and Islamic Jihad agree on cease-fire to end 5 days of fighting

Israel and the Islamic Jihad militant group in the Gaza Strip have agreed to an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire, ending five days of intense fighting that left 33 Palestinians, including at least 13 civilians dead
This photo taken on May 8, 2023 shows a Tang Dynasty (618-907) tri-colored galloping horse at Xi'an Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

This photo taken on May 11, 2023 shows sapphires displayed at Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

A visitor views a Tang Dynasty (618-907) mural depicting foreign envoys to China at Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 11, 2023.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

This photo taken on May 9, 2023 shows a stone lion statue displayed in Xi'an Beilin Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

This photo taken on May 9, 2023 shows a stone rhinoceros at Xi'an Beilin Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

People visit Xi'an Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 8, 2023.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

This photo taken on May 11, 2023 shows a gold cup with filigree floral medallions at Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

People visit Xi'an Beilin Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 9, 2023.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

This photo taken on May 8, 2023 shows a part of the Stone Coffin of Shijun, a sogdian living in the Northern Zhou Dynasty (557-581), at Xi'an Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

Tourists visit the Six Steeds of the Zhao Mausoleum, which was sculptured on orders of Emperor Li Shimin of Tang Dynasty (618-907), at Xi'an Beilin Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 9, 2023.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

People visit Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 11, 2023.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

This photo taken on May 11, 2023 shows a Tang Dynasty (618-907) mural depicting foreign envoys to China at Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

A visitor takes photos of an agate rhyton inlaid with gold plug at Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 11, 2023.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

This photo taken on May 11, 2023 shows an agate rhyton inlaid with gold plug displayed at Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

This photo taken on May 11, 2023 shows a Tang Dynasty (618-907) tri-colored figurine of camel-riding musicians at Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

Visitors view a stone lion statue displayed at Xi'an Beilin Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 9, 2023.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

A visitor views bronze mirrors displayed at Xi'an Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 8, 2023.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

Tourists visit the Stone Coffin of Shijun, a sogdian living in the Northern Zhou Dynasty (557-581), at Xi'an Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 8, 2023.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

Tourists look at a Tang Dynasty (618-907) tri-colored galloping horse at Xi'an Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 8, 2023.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

This photo taken on May 11, 2023 shows spotted jade waist belt plaques displayed at Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

This photo taken on May 11, 2023 shows a Tang Dynasty (618-907) tri-colored figurine of camel-riding musicians at Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

People visit Xi'an Beilin Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 9, 2023.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

This photo taken on May 8, 2023 shows a part of the Stone Coffin of Shijun, a sogdian living in the Northern Zhou Dynasty (557-581), at Xi'an Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

Tourists look at pottery figurines of foreign visitors to China at Xi'an Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 8, 2023.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

This photo taken on May 8, 2023 shows a bronze mirror depicting auspicious animals and grape patterns displayed at Xi'an Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

Tourists look at a Tang Dynasty (618-907) tri-colored figurine depicting camel-riding musicians at Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 11, 2023.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)

This photo taken on May 9, 2023 shows Te Qin Biao steed, one of the six steeds of the Zhao Mausoleum, which was sculptured on orders of Emperor Li Shimin of Tang Dynasty (618-907), at Xi'an Beilin Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Founded about 3,100 years ago, Xi'an, which is today the capital of China's Shaanxi Province, served as the capital for 13 dynasties in Chinese history. This is also the place where Zhang Qian, an envoy of the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), began his journey to the Western regions via Central Asia. This expedition eventually led to the opening of the Silk Road.

Xi'an has a total of 159 museums, attracting over 30 million people each year. Many exhibits in the museums bear witness to the cultural exchanges between ancient China and countries along the ancient Silk Road in over 2,000 years. (Xinhua/Li Yibo)
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The Congress' big win in the Karnataka assembly polls has come as a boost for Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge as it is also the first time in nearly four decades that the party has won in the home state of its president.

IMAGE: Congress leaders DK Shivakumar (second from right) and Siddaramaiah (fourth from right) felicitate party national president Mallikarjun Kharge as the party sweeps the Karnataka assembly polls, in Bengaluru, May 13, 2023. AICC in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Surjewala (third from left) and party general secretary KC Venugopal (right) are also seen. Photograph: ANI Photo

The Congress would also take inspiration from history as it was from Karnataka that an embattled Indira Gandhi had revived her dwindling political future by winning a Lok Sabha bypoll from Chikmagalur.

The Congress is facing a stiff electoral challenge from a rampaging Bharatiya Janata Party and the Karnataka poll win has come at a critical juncture for the grand old party with the Lok Sabha polls next year, but whether this victory would prove to be its "Chikmagalur moment", only time will tell.

"It is an extraordinary result for the Congress party in Chikmagalur district which had become a BJP bastion of late. It won all 5 of the 5 seats there. In 1978, Chikmagalur heralded the revival of @INCIndia nationally by electing Indira Gandhi. History will soon repeat itself!" Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a tweet.

For Kharge, who was elected Congress president last October, this election in his home state of Karnataka was being seen by many as a litmus test as it was the first major electoral challenge the party faced under his stewardship.

Though the party had also gone to polls in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat with Kharge at the helm but those elections came soon after he assumed office and he had little time to strategise and leave his mark on them.

Kharge led the party's charge in the Karnataka polls along with Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and made fervent appeals to the electorate citing that Karnataka was his home turf.

Making an emotional appeal to voters on the last day of campaigning, Kharge had asked them to take pride in the fact that he as a bhoomi putra of Karnataka had been made the Congress president and sought a win for the party.

Prior to Kharge, the Congress got a victory in the home state of a party chief way back in the 1985 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh when Rajiv Gandhi was at the helm following Indira Gandhi's assassination in 1984.

At that time the Congress had got 269 seats in the 425-member assembly.

The Congress had lost the polls in UP in 1989.

In the first half of the 1990s, after Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated and PV Narasimha Rao took over as the president of the Congress, the party was defeated in the 1994 assembly elections in his home state of Andhra Pradesh.

Rao was succeeded by Sitaram Kesri, who hailed from Bihar. In his tenure as party chief from 1996 to 1998, no assembly elections were held in his home state.

Sonia Gandhi became the Congress President in 1998 and by that time the Congress had been weakened in Uttar Pradesh considerably and did not win any assembly elections in the state.

The Congress could not leave a significant mark in the assembly elections of 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017 in Uttar Pradesh when she was the president.

In her second term as president, the performance of the Congress in 2022 was also disappointing. During Rahul Gandhi's tenure as party chief, there was no election in Uttar Pradesh.

Though the Congress' campaign initially centred around its state leaders like Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar, Kharge gave it a momentum and thereby prepared the pitch for the party's top leaders Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi to join in.

In the last 50 years, Kharge is only the second leader after Jagjivan Ram to be the Congress president from the Dalit community. The win in Karnataka is a major boost for his image.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party swept the mayoral elections in Uttar Pradesh winning the posts all the 17 municipal corporations on Saturday.

IMAGE: Celebrations at the Bhartiya Janata Party office after results of urban local body elections were declared, Lucknow, May 13, 2023. Photograph: Nand kumar/PTI Photo

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who claimed victory in all the 17 municipal corporations, thanked the people of Uttar Pradesh and congratulated BJP workers for forming a "triple-engine government" in the state after the party's "biggest victory" in the urban local body polls.

The party's candidates won in Varanasi, Lucknow, Ayodhya, Jhansi, Bareilly, Mathura-Vrindavan, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Prayagraj, Aligarh, Shahjahanpur, Ghaziabad, Agra, Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Firozabad and Meerut.

The urban local body polls were held in two phases -- on May 4 and May 11 -- to elect 17 mayors and 1,401 corporators. Nineteen corporators were elected unopposed, according to the State Election Commission.

Of the 17 municipal corporations, the BJP repeated its candidates only in Kanpur city, Bareilly and Moradabad and all three proved to be successful.

Adityanath said the win was a result of better coordination between the government and the organisation.

Flanked by Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak at a press conference at the BJP headquarters in Lucknow, Adityanath said the BJP has won all the 17 municipal corporations for the first time.

"In all 17 municipal corporations, voters have reposed faith in BJP," he said.

Earlier, in a tweet, the chief minister said, "Hearty congratulations to all the dedicated and hardworking workers of the BJP and the people of Uttar Pradesh, who love good governance, on the massive victory of the BJP in the Uttar Pradesh municipal elections."

"This massive victory reflects the successful guidance of respected Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji and immense public faith in the pro-people, developmental and all-inclusive policies of the double-engine government," he added.

Adityanath had led the campaign for the urban local body polls, holding several election meetings across the state. During the campaign, he had repeatedly urged voters to add a third wheel or third engine to the "double-engine" government in Uttar Pradesh.

In the Lucknow Municipal Corporation, the BJP's Sushma Kharkwal won the mayoral election. According to the State Election Commission, Kharkwal bagged 5,02,660 votes while Vandana Mishra of the Samajwadi Party got 298519 votes.

In Varanasi, the BJP's Ashok Kumar Tiwari won the mayor's seat defeating his Samajwadi Party rival Om Prakash Singh by a margin on 1,33,137 votes. While Tiwari bagged 2,91,852 votes, Singh got 1,58,715 votes.

In the temple town of Ayodhya, BJP candidate Girish Pati Tripathi won the mayoral election, defeating his nearest rival Ashish of the Samajwadi Party by a margin of 35,638 votes.

Tripathi bagged 77,494 votes. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) candidate Rehan secured the third position pocketing 15,107 votes. BSP candidate Ram Murti got 12,852 votes and Pramila Rajput of the Congress 4,084 votes, according to the State Election Commission (SEC).

In Jhansi, the BJP's Bihari Lal Arya bagged 1,23,503 votes and defeated his nearest rival Arvind Kumar of the Congress by a margin of 83,587 votes.

The Bahujan Samaj Party candidate came third, while the Samajwadi Party secured the fourth position.

In Bareilly, Umesh Gautam of the BJP secured more than 1.67 lakh votes to defeat independent candidate Iqbal Singh Tomar by a margin of 56,343 votes.

The temple town of Mathura-Vrindavan also witnessed a saffron bloom with BJP candidate Vinod Kumar Agarwal bagging more than 1.45 lakh votes and defeating his nearest rival Raja Mohatsim Ahmed of the BSP by a gap of more than 1.10 lakh votes.

In Moradabad, the BJP's Vinod Agarwal (over 1.21 lakh votes) defeated Mohammad Rizwan of the Congress (over 1.17 lakh votes) by a margin of 3,642 votes.

In Saharanpur, Ajay Kumar of the BJP defeated Khadija Masood of the BSP by a margin of 8,031 votes.

In Prayagraj, Umesh Chandra Ganesh Kesarwani bagged more than 2.35 lakh votes and defeated Ajay Kumar Srivastava of the Samajwadi Party, who got over 1.06 lakh votes.

Aligarh, which was won by the BSP in the previous mayoral election, saw a saffron surge with the BJP's Prashant Singhal securing more than 1.93 lakh votes to defeat his nearest rival Zameer Ullah Khan of the SP by a margin of 60,902 votes.

Shahjahanpur, which voted for the first time to elect its mayor, witnessed BJP's Archana Verma clinching victory on the mayor's seat by bagging 80,762 votes and defeating Nikhat Iqbal of the Congress, who got 50,484 votes.

In Ghaziabad, the BJP's Sunita Dayal secured 3,50,905 votes to defeat Nisara Khan of the BSP, who got only 63,249 votes.

Pushpa Rawat of the Congress came third (with 58,951 votes), while SP's Poonam Yadav came a distant fourth (with 57,608 votes).

Agra candidate Hemlata Diwakar won the seat with a margin of 1,08,468 votes over the BSP candidate while Kanpur candidate Pramila Pandey defeated her Samajwadi Party rival by a margin of 1,77,846 votes.

BJP candidate in Gorakhpur, the home turf of CM Yogi Adityanath, Manglesh Srivastava posted a win over his Samajwadi Party rival by a margin of 60,876 votes and in Firozabad, Kamini Rathore won the seat for the BJP by a margin of 26,969 votes defeating the Samajwadi Party candidate.

In Meerut, Harikant Ahluwalia of the BJP won the mayoral election by a margin of 1,07,406 votes over the AIMIM candidate. The Samajwadi Party candidate came third and the nominee of the BSP, which had won the seat last time, came fourth.

Meerut and Aligarh had Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) mayors in 2017, while the BJP ruled the rest.

In the two-phase urban local body elections, voting was also held to elect 198 chairpersons and 5,260 members of nagar palika parishads, 542 chairpersons of nagar panchayats and 7,104 members of nagar panchayats.

In all, 162 public representatives were elected unopposed, while there were as many as 83,378 candidates in the poll fray for 14,522 posts.

In the urban local body elections, 53 per cent of voters exercised their franchise in the second phase covering 38 districts on May 11, while the voter turnout in the first phase on May 4 was 52 per cent covering 37 districts of the state.

According to the State Election Commission, 4.32 crore people were eligible to cast their votes in the urban local body polls. In 2017, the polls were held in three phases and the overall polling percentage was 53 per cent.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's comprehensive defeat to the Congress in Karnataka where the two parties ran a campaign of contrasts has left the ruling party with much to ponder as the two rivals prepare for a direct contest in three more state polls this year in the run-up to the all-important 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

IMAGE: Congress supporters celebrate in front of KPCC office after party's victory in the assembly elections, in Bengaluru on Saturday. Photograph: ANI Photo

This is the first time since the 2019 Lok Sabha polls that the Congress, amid its shrinking footprint, has got the better of the ruling party in a big state, a feat which will energise its battered ranks and possibly give it a template for taking on the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan in the coming months.

With Karnataka results underlining the importance of strong local leaders, BJP sources said the party may have to factor this in and consider giving a bigger say to regional leaders.

A party leader pointed to its significant win in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls in 2022 and noted that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's appeal had then added to the party's draw.

Incidentally, the BJP swept the mayoral elections in the largest state on the day it lost power in the only southern state it ever ruled.

A popular state leadership is helpful in taking on rivals, more so if they too have strong regional leaders, he said, acknowledging that this was clearly missing in Karnataka.

The difference in the BJP's vote shares in Lok Sabha and assembly polls is a clear indication that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's wide approval does not work similarly in national and state elections, party sources said.

Though the win is sure to give wings to the Congress' ambition for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and will add heft to its political weight as opposition parties work to join hands, its success in forming the government in Karnataka in 2018 in an alliance with the JD-S and subsequent win over the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan was unable to prevent a saffron sweep in these states in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

In Karnataka, the BJP had made a big deal about fielding 72 fresh faces in the elections to the 224-member state assembly as it projected the dropping of several seasoned leaders, former chief minister Jagadish Shettar being the most notable, as a way to groom a new crop of leaders in the state -- a pitch which clearly did not work.

While Shettar badly lost as the Congress candidate but the opposition party's contention that the BJP's central leadership slighted Lingayat leaders seemed to have found traction.

The ruling party has suffered massive losses in its bastion of northern Karnataka, a stronghold of the community which had traditionally supported it.

Quite a few BJP rebels have won, while a large number of Lingayat candidates of the Congress have also scored victories.

With the likes of Shettar taking aim at BJP general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh, who hails from Karnataka and has been accused by rivals of partisanship in ticket selection, the party's big loss will only boost such voices and may prompt the central leadership to take corrective measures, especially in the state organisation.

The BJP ran a high-pitch campaign around planks which were more national than local.

Its top central leaders sought a fresh mandate in the name of a double-engine government, strengthening the Centre's development push, the Congress' alleged corruption in the past with a dash of Hindutva as they invoked 'Bajrang Bali' to counter the opposition's promise of tough action, including a ban on Bajrang Dal.

The Bajrang Bali issue stole the limelight and roused the party's base but has apparently failed to bring new votes.

While Congress' regional satraps led by former chief minister Siddaramaiah and its Karnataka president D K Shivakumar went after the state government with eyeball-grabbing '40 per cent sarkara' campaign, the BJP's state leadership, including Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, appeared limp, unable to fill the void left behind by the electoral retirement of their tallest leader B S Yediyurappa.

The opposition party projected the state government as 'corrupt' on the one hand and struck a chord with a large section of voters with its five guarantees, a mix of welfare measures and sops targeted at different sections of society.

The BJP's hopes that the popular appeal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who like every state election campaigned intensively this time as well, and its grander themes of nationalism, Hindutva and the country's development will be more than a match to the Congress' promises and charges against its state government turned out to be futile.

The Congress took a turn to social justice plank by supporting caste census, a first for the party, and promising to raise the reservation bar to 75 per cent from existing 50 per cent.

Having tested success, the party is bound to raise the pitch and force the BJP to look for a countermeasure to protect its support among the other Backward Classes.

While many BJP leaders drew consolation from the party's almost steady vote share of around 36 per cent like last time, the rise in the Congress' support to over 43 per cent from 38 per cent underscores that it succeeded in wooing most of the floating voters and those who broke from the Janata Dal-Secular.

The Opposition's success in building a strong caste coalition combined with Muslim votes to get the better of the BJP is another significant takeaway from the polls, experts said.

It had so far been largely the BJP that succeeded in building on its social coalition in big states as it defeated the Congress time and gain.

Since 2019, the BJP towered over its main national rival in elections in Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Assam, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand among others.

The only state the Congress won was Himachal Pradesh last year.
The Opposition Congress on Saturday seemed to be on course to breach rival Bharatiya Janata Partys lone southern citadel Karnataka, inching towards the magic figure of 113 needed to form a government on its own.

IMAGE: Congress workers celebrate as the party leads in early trends on the counting day of Karnataka assembly polls, Bengaluru, May 13, 2023. Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI Photo

Buoyed by the initial trends, Congress said the message given to the BJP was to stick to public issues that matter, even as the saffron party expressed hope of securing the simple majority mark of 113.

The opposition party established a lead in 127 constituencies, while the BJP was leading in 68 segments, the latest Election Commission (EC) trends of counting of votes polled in the Karnataka assembly elections showed.

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The former prime minister H D Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal-Secular is leading in 22 segments, and others in 6 seats.

BJP leader and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai (Shiggaon) and Congress State unit President D K Shivakumar (Kanakapura) were leading in their respective seats.

Former CM Jagadish Shettar, who quit the BJP after being denied to contest in the May 10 polls for the 224-member assembly, was trailing in Hubballi-Dharwad Central by 2,614 votes. He was fielded there by the Congress.

JD-S leader and another former CM, H D Kumaraswamy, was leading in Channapatna against the BJP's C P Yogeshwara by 93 votes.

Shivakumar was ahead of his BJP rival, state minister R Ashoka by about 6,000 votes.

Congress leader Pavan Khera said, "This is the message for the BJP that please stick to issues that matter to everyday life of people and don't try and divide India."

Former chief minister and senior BJP leader D V Sadananda Gowda said: "It is too early to comment on the final results. But certainly we will cross 113."
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra making crisp dosas at an eatery, Rahul Gandhi riding pillion on the scooty of a gig worker in Bengaluru and interacting with passengers after hopping on to a bus, were some of the endearing images from the Congress campaign that seemed to have captured the people's imagination.

IMAGE: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra making dosas at Mylary Agrahara in Mysuru. Photograph: ANI Photo

It was not just these instances but also some images from the Congress' 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' last year when it was passing through the state remain etched in people's memory.

Be it Rahul Gandhi addressing people in downpour in Mysuru or him tying mother Sonia Gandhi's shoe laces in Mandya during the foot march, many images during the yatra's stay in the state in October last year had gone viral.

However, candid, light-hearted interactions Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi had during the campaign trail seemed to have struck a chord with the electorate.

IMAGE: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with a woman passenger travels in the BMTC bus during the election campaign ahead of the Karnataka assembly polls, in Bengaluru, May 8, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

Priyanka Gandhi took a break from her busy election campaign in poll-bound Karnataka and learnt some basics of making dosas at a restaurant in Mysuru.

After having idli and dosa, she expressed her desire to learn the tricks of making dosa. The restaurant owner readily agreed and took her to the kitchen.

IMAGE: Rahul Gandhi riding pillion with a gig worker, in Bengaluru, May 7, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

While she was successful in pouring batter on the tawa to make a set of dosas and spreading it to the right shape, at least two of them were charred after she apparently failed to flip them on time, leading to bursts of laughter by people around her.

Later, she thanked the restaurant owner and his family and took a selfie with them.

Another instance of fun while on the campaign trail was when Rahul Gandhi rode pillion on the scooty of a gig worker.

IMAGE: Rahul Gandhi having a meal with the gig workers and delivery partners, in Bengaluru, May 7, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

In the last phase of the campaigning, he also stopped for a cup of coffee at a 'Cafe Coffee Day' outlet on Cunningham Road in Bengaluru.

At a close-by Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation bus stop, he spoke to a bunch of college students and working women.

IMAGE: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra embraces a party worker during a public meeting for the Karnataka assembly elections, in Mysuru, April 25, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

He then hopped on to a BMTC bus and interacted with women passengers to understand their vision for Karnataka.

The former Congress president then got down from the bus at Lingarajapuram where he again spoke to women at the bus stop.

IMAGE: Rahul Gandhi with Karnataka party president DK Shivakumar and party leader Siddaramaiah leads the party's Bharat Jodo Yatra, in Raichur, Karnataka, October 23, 2022. Photograph: ANI Photo

Both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi led the Congress campaign in Karantaka along with party chief Mallikarjun Kharge.
Imran Khan has torn into Pakistan's Army chief General Asim Munir and blamed him for his "abduction" after a court in Islamabad set the former prime minister free and barred his re-arrest in any case until Monday.

IMAGE: PTI leader Imran Khan returns to residence after 2 days of detention, in Lahore, May 13, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

A triumphant Khan returned to his Lahore home on Saturday after having locked himself in the Islamabad high court premises for hours for fear of re-arrest despite being granted bail on Friday.

Before leaving for Lahore, the 70-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief hit out at the imported government for kidnapping him despite the IHC granting him bail in all cases.

"They have kidnapped me and forcibly kept me here. I want to tell the whole nation that it is their bad intention, they want to do something again and the whole nation should ready itself to protest," he said.

After spending nearly 11 hours on the IHC premises, the ex-premier, clad in a sky blue shalwar kameez and a dark blue waistcoat, finally left the federal capital without addressing charged PTI workers who remained on the streets throughout the day.

Earlier, he interacted with media persons during the break time on the premises of the IHC on Friday, the Dawn newspaper reported on Saturday.

When asked about the impression that security agencies were against him whereas the judiciary was favouring him, Khan told a BBC correspondent: It's not the security agencies. It's one man, the Army chief." "There is no democracy in the Army. The Army is getting maligned with what is happening .

"And he (the army chief) is worried that if I come to power, I will de-notify him...All this is happening is direct orders from him. He is the one who is convinced that if I win, he will be de-notified," alleged Khan.

In a major relief to Khan, the IHC on Friday granted him protective bail for two weeks in a corruption case and barred the authorities from arresting the former Pakistan prime minister in any case registered anywhere in the country until Monday.

Three different benches of the IHC granted relief to Khan who was escorted to the court amid tight security.

Khan was arrested by paramilitary Rangers from the Islamabad high court while he was undergoing a biometric process before a court hearing in a corruption case.

The ex-premier also talked about the victimisation of his party by the government, alleging that 5,000 people have been arrested during the last one year .

He said he had survived two assassination attempts and had only called for an investigation, regretting that his demand had been rejected.

When another journalist asked Khan about getting relief from the Supreme Court which had never been provided to any other politician, the PTI chief said it could not be called a relief when he was still sitting in the court.

I am sitting in the Islamabad high court. They had no justification to arrest me. I was abducted. They showed me a warrant for the first time after taking me to jail. This happens only where there is a law of the jungle and where the Army abducts [people]," he said.

Where is the law? Where are the police? It seems that martial law has been declared [in the country], he said on Friday.

Later on Saturday when he reached his Zaman Park residence in Lahore, Khan was greeted by a number of jubilant PTI workers who showered rose petals on his vehicle, danced to the tune of drums and conducted massive fireworks.

They also chanted slogans in favour of Khan and against the ruling PML-N-led coalition.

The PTI released a video of Khan entering the house where his sisters and other family members welcomed him and inquired about his health.

Khan, who is demanding snap general elections, is facing over 120 cases across the country.

"Islamabad inspector general of police Akbar Nasir tried his best to retain me at the capital's high court. They did not let us leave for three hours, saying that it's dangerous outside," Khan said in a video message from his vehicle in which he was travelling back to Lahore.

He said he told the IG that he would tell the entire Pakistan that he was kidnapping him and upon this he let him go.

"Imran Khan did not cooperate with us for security arrangements, thus he is responsible for his actions. If anything happens to him (Khan) the state institutions will not be responsible," Islamabad police said in a statement.

On Friday, Inter-Services Public Relations director General Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said that the army was united despite internal miscreants and external enemies.

The dream of dividing the Pakistan Army will remain a dream, the Army is united under the leadership of Army Chief General Asim Munir and will remain united, the military spokesman said.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif slammed Khan for criticising Army chief Munir, saying Khan's "statement about the Army chief is a reflection of his diseased & obsessive mindset".

"As DG ISI, Gen Asim Munir unearthed the corruption syndicate of Niazi & that is why he has been maligning the COAS from day one. It is also his admission of masterminding the tragic and disgraceful incidents of terrorism undertaken by PTI goons at his behest," he tweeted on Saturday.

"The desecration of the martyrs' monuments & attack on the national installations represent an unimaginable low in our politics. The nation stands behind its armed forces & will thwart any nefarious attempts at undermining them," Sharif said.

He said he has given law enforcement apparatus 72 hours to arrest all those involved in facilitating, abetting and perpetrating the "disgraceful incidents of arson, ransacking, sabotage & damaging public & private properties".

"All available resources including technological aid & intelligence are being deployed to chase down these elements. Bringing these people to justice is a test case for the government. Their cases will be tried by the anti-terrorism courts," Sharif said.

The arrest of Khan on Tuesday by the Pakistan Rangers at the IHC premises triggered unrest in Pakistan that continued till Friday and led to several deaths and dozens of military and state installations being destroyed by the protesters.

For the first time in Pakistan's history, the protesters stormed the army headquarters in Rawalpindi and also torched a corps commander's house in Lahore.

The police put the death toll in violent clashes to 10 while Khan's party claims 40 of its workers lost their lives in the firing by security personnel.

Khan was ousted from power in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China and Afghanistan.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition on Saturday ended Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan's over four-decade dominance in Rampur with its ally Apna Dal-Sonelal winning the Suar assembly by-election by a margin of 8,724 votes.

IMAGE: Apna Dal-S president Anupriya Patel during a party event in Lucknow. Photograph: ANI Photo

Shafeek Ahmed Ansari of the Anupriya Patel-headed Apna Dal-Sonelal secured a little over 50 per cent of the total votes polled in the bypoll, according to the Election Commission website.

Ansari polled 68,630 votes and his nearest-rival and Samajwadi Party nominee Anuradha Chauhan bagged 59,906 votes.

More than 1.35 lakh votes were polled in the by-election held on May 10.

The Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress did not field candidates on the seat.

Ansari said his win is a result of the collective effort and hardwork of BJP and Apna Dal-Sonelal workers.

With this victory, the ruling coalition ended Azam Khan's over four-decade hold in the Muslim-dominated Rampur district.

Azam Khan and his family watched the poll outcome on TV at their Jail Road residence.

Of the five assembly constituencies under Rampur Lok Sabha seat, Bilaspur, Rampur and Milak-SC are held by the BJP.

Chamrau is held by SP and Suar has been clinched by BJP's ally Apna Dal-Sonelal.

The Rampur parliamentary constituency, also a stronghold of Azam Khan, was won by the BJP.

SP's Muslim face from the days of Mulayam Singh Yadav, Azam Khan remained undefeated in Rampur Sadar assembly seat since 1980 irrespective of the party in power.

In November 2022, Azam Khan's name was removed from the electoral roll in Rampur after he was convicted in a 2019 hate speech case.

As a result, he could not cast his vote in the by-election in Suar.

In February 2023, Abdullah Azam Khan's name was struck off the electoral roll after his disqualification from the legislative assembly.

A Moradabad court had sentenced him to two years in jail in a 15-year old case.

Campaigning for SP candidate Chauhan, Azam Khan had asserted she will win the election.

"If there is any injustice (in terms of poll results), it will be a deceit," he had said.

He also took potshots at Apna Dal-Sonelal, saying, "The candidate who has come with a plate (referring to the party's cup-plate symbol), he is with those who want to give a knife to your (next) generation."

Referring to his son's conviction by a court and subsequent disqualification as MLA from Suar, which necessitated the bypoll, Azam Khan had claimed that there was 'no one who can defeat him'.

Reacting to Azam Khan's claims after the poll results, BJP MLA from Rampur Akash Saxena said, "Azam Khan has lost his mental balance, hence he is speaking like this."

Saxena asserted Azam Khan was 'getting the punishment for his deeds'.

"The person who has no right to cast his vote, that person after seeing the mandate of the people, should leave the country, and should not stay here. The politics of hatred will not work here. Azam Khan had always worked to create rift between Hindus and Muslims," Saxena told PTI.

In the assembly election last year, Abdullah Khan defeated Apna Dal-Sonelal's Haidar Ali Khan in Suar.

*****

Apna Dal-S retains Chhanbey seat

Apna Dal-Sonelal candidate Rinki Kol defeated Samajwadi Party's Kirti Kol to win the bypoll to the Chhanbey (SC) assembly seat in Mirzapur by a margin of 9,587 votes.

While Rinki Kol polled 76,203 votes, Kirti Kol bagged 66,616 votes in a keenly contested electoral battle.

Voting for the Chhanbey assembly seat was held on May 10.

The Apna Dal-Sonelal candidate secured 46.7 per cent of the votes polled, while the SP candidate's vote share stood at 40.82 per cent, according to the Election Commission.

Congress candidate Ajay Kumar could muster only 1.56 per cent of the votes, a little more than the NOTA share, which stood at 1.51 per cent.

The Bahujan Samaj Party did not field any candidates from the seat. In all, eight candidates were in the fray.

The total votes polled in this assembly constituency was over 1.63 lakh, according to the Election Commission website.

Apna Dal-Sonelal chief and Union minister Anupriya Patel is the MP from Mirzapur.

The Chhanbey seat fell vacant following the death of sitting Apna Dal-Sonelal MLA Rahul Prakash Kol in February.

Though the bypoll result would not impact the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh as it enjoys more than two-third majority, it is considered important for the political parties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as the state sends the highest number of 80 members to Lok Sabha.
Palestinian protesters throw stones at Israeli military vehicles during clashes following an Israeli army raid in the Balata refugee camp near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, May 13, 2023. Two Palestinians were killed on Saturday during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the Balata refugee camp near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinian medics and eyewitnesses said. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)

RAMALLAH, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Two Palestinians were killed on Saturday during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the Balata refugee camp near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinian medics and eyewitnesses said.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement that Sa'ed Mashah, 32, and Wasim El-A'raj, 19, were killed after they were shot by Israeli soldiers during clashes that broke out in the refugee camp.

The statement added that three other Palestinians were injured by Israeli soldiers, two of whom were in serious condition, and they were taken by Palestinian paramedics to the main hospital for treatment.

Palestinian eyewitnesses said that an Israeli army force, backed by armored vehicles, stormed the area and besieged a building where the two militants were hiding inside, adding that fierce clashes broke out in the area between the two sides.

The eyewitnesses added that Israeli soldiers fired anti-tank missiles at the building, killing two young men inside the building. Clashes broke out in the refugee camp with dozens of young men throwing stones at the soldiers.

The Israeli army didn't comment on the killing of the two Palestinians. However, Israel Radio reported that two were killed in an exchange of fire in the Balata refugee camp, adding that the two were wanted by Israel.

Since early January, the Israeli army forces have been carrying out daily raids on Palestinian towns, villages, and refugee camps in the West Bank. Since then, 117 Palestinians were killed, according to Palestinian figures.

Israel authorities said that since January, 19 Israelis were killed in attacks by Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem. 

People inspect the damage inside a house burned down during an Israeli army raid in the Balata refugee camp near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, May 13, 2023. Two Palestinians were killed on Saturday during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the Balata refugee camp near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinian medics and eyewitnesses said. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)

A Palestinian protester throws stones at Israeli military vehicles during clashes following an Israeli army raid in the Balata refugee camp near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, May 13, 2023. Two Palestinians were killed on Saturday during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the Balata refugee camp near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinian medics and eyewitnesses said. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)

Palestinian protesters burn tires during clashes following an Israeli army raid in the Balata refugee camp near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, May 13, 2023. Two Palestinians were killed on Saturday during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the Balata refugee camp near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinian medics and eyewitnesses said. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)
Congress workers chanted 'Jai Bajrang Bali' and 'Jai Shri Ram' and danced to drumbeats in Bhopal on Saturday afternoon to celebrate the party's victory in the Karnataka assembly polls.

IMAGE: Madhya Pradesh Congress party supporters celebrate the party's decisive lead in the Karnataka Assembly polls, at PCC headquarters, in Bhopal, May 13, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

Some of them also carried pictures of Lord Hanuman as party workers and leaders assembled at Indira Bhawan, the state Congress office, and distributed sweets, threw gulal powder and burst firecrackers.

After the Congress manifesto in Karnataka promised to take action against extremist organisations and referred to the Popular Front of India as well as the Bajrang Dal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that any action against the Bajrang Dal was tantamount to an insult to Bajrang Bali, another popular name of Lord Hanuman, and raised chants of Bajrang Bali Ki Jai at rally after rally.

Assembly elections are due in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Madhya Pradesh by the end of this year.

The BJP government in Karnataka that thrived on 40 per cent commission has ended. Now the time for the end of the BJP government in MP where 50 per cent commission raj has flourished is drawing closer," said KK Mishra, head of the state Congress's media department.

Congress workers took to the streets to celebrate the victory in Karnataka in other parts of the state too.
An independent Muslim candidate has secured a surprise victory in a ward in the Hindutva nerve centre of Ayodhya in the civic election results declared on Saturday.

IMAGE: Kindly note that this image has been posted for representational purposes only. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

While the Bharatiya Janata Party won the mayoral election in Ayodhya, the party bagged 27 out of the 60 wards. The SP and Independents won 17 and 10 wards, respectively.

Sultan Ansari, a local youth making his electoral debut, won the Ram Abhiram Das ward named after a key figure of the Ram Janmabhoomi temple movement.

"This is the best example of Hindu-Muslim brotherhood and peaceful co-existence of both the communities in Ayodhya. There was no bias from our Hindu brothers and also they did not treat me as someone from another religion. They supported me and ensured my victory," Ansari told PTI.

The Muslim vote share in this ward located on the backyards of the Ram Janmabhoomi is only 11 per cent of the total votes with 440 Muslim votes as against 3,844 Hindu votes.

The winning candidate bagged 42 per cent share of the total 2,388 votes polled. Ansari got 996 votes among the 10 candidates in the fray.

He defeated another independent candidate, Nagendra Manjhi, by a margin of 442 votes. The BJP managed to get the third position.

Asked if there was any hesitation in contesting from a Hindu-dominated area, he replied, "I am a resident of this area and to the best of my knowledge, my forefathers had been living here for more than 200 years. When I expressed my wish of contesting election to my Hindu friends, they wholeheartedly supported me and encouraged me to go ahead."

Anup Kumar, a local residence of the ward, said, "People looking at Ayodhya from outside think how any Muslim can exist in Ayodhya, but now they can see, Muslims not only exist in Ayodhya but can also win the elections.

"Ayodhya is known the world over for the Ram Mandir, but this religious town is as pious for Muslims as it is for Hindus. Here you will find lots of mosques and there are many centuries old mausoleums of Muslim Sufis as well," said Saurabh Singh, an Ayodhya-based businessman.

The ruling BJP swept the mayoral elections in Uttar Pradesh winning the posts in all the 17 municipal corporations on Saturday.

In the temple town of Ayodhya, BJP candidate Girish Pati Tripathi won the mayoral election, defeating his nearest rival Ashish of the Samajwadi Party by a margin of 35,638 votes.

Tripathi bagged 77,494 votes. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) candidate Rehan secured the third position pocketing 15,107 votes. BSP candidate Ram Murti got 12,852 votes and Pramila Rajput of the Congress 4,084 votes, according to the State Election Commission (SEC).
Pakistani authorities have released 198 Indian fishermen, who were languishing at a jail in Karachi after being arrested for allegedly fishing illegally in the country's waters, and handed them over to India at the Wagah border.

IMAGE: Indian fishermen released by Pakistan reach Attari border, May 12, 2023. Photograph: ANI Digital

The fishermen were released from the Malir Jail in Karachi on Thursday evening.

Malir Jail superintendent Nazir Tunio said that they had released the first batch of Indian fishermen prisoners and two more batches would be released in June and July.

We released 198 prisoners on Thursday while 200 and 100 more would be released later on, he said.

Tunio said that 200 Indian fishermen were to be released on Thursday from Malir jail but two of them died due to illness.

The two deceased fishermen included one Muhammad Zulfiqar, who passed away on May 6, and Soma Deva, who died on May 9 after a prolonged illnesses.

Their bodies have been kept in the Edhi Foundation mortuary till they could be flown out to India.

Soma and his nephew were among a dozen Indian fishermen who were arrested at sea some four and half years ago and they were lodged in the Malir jail.

Soma was twice sent to the hospital for treatment.

Tunio said Zulfiqar died after a massive heart attack.

Faisal Edhi of the Edhi Welfare Trust, which arranged the transportation of the fishermen from Karachi to Lahore via train where they were handed over to Indian authorities at the Wagah border, said some of the Indian fishermen also looked unwell.

We do our best to make the journey back home of these Indian fishermen comfortable and easy. After all, most of them have been in jail for the last four to five years," he said.

Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum General Secretary Saeed Baloch said that under the agreement reached between the two governments, a second batch of 200 Indian fishermen would be released on June 2 and another 100 on July 3.

Baloch said he had a lot of sympathies for the Indian fishermen as the majority of them were just out for a livelihood and did not even realise it when they crossed territorial waters between the two countries.

"The sad part is that some of them even end up spending 7 to 8 years in jail before they get a chance to return home, he said.

Fishermen Cooperative Society, Sindh administrator Zahid Ibrahim Bhatti said that some 200 Pakistani fishermen were lodged in Indian jails and hopefully they, too, would come home soon after the release of Indian fishermen.

Pakistan and India regularly arrest rival fishermen for violating the maritime boundary, which is poorly marked at some points.
The Congress on Saturday made a stunning comeback in Karnataka ousting the Bharatiya Janata Party from its lone southern citadel with a comfortable majority in a morale booster win that will be key for reviving its electoral fortunes ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

IMAGE: Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge being felicitated by party leaders D K Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, K C Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala on the party's victory in the Karnataka assembly elections, on Saturday. Photograph: ANI Photo

The Congress' decisive victory in the assembly elections after an aggressive pro-poor campaign spearheaded by mass leader and former chief minister Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president D K Shivakumar also saw Karnataka continuing with a 38-year-old anti-incumbency trend.

The state has never voted an incumbent party to power since 1985.

Siddaramaiah, 75, and Shivakumar, the party's trouble shooter who won from Kanakapura by over one lakh votes and who turns 61 on Sunday, are both front runners for the chief minister's post.

The Congress has returned to power on its own in Karnataka after 10 years.

Siddaramaiah was the chief minister from 2013 to 2018.

IMAGE: Congress supporters celebrate with sweets the party's good show in Karnataka assembly polls at the AICC headquarters, in New Delhi. Photograph: Atul Yadav/PTI Photo

The first meeting of the Congress Legislature Party(CLP) will be held at 5.30 pm on Sunday, according to All India Congress Committee in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Surjewala.

The meeting is likely to decide the name of the new chief minister.

Helped by a nearly five per cent vote swing in its favour, the Congress with a vote share of 42.88 per cent bagged 135 out of the 224 seats at stake, according to Election Commission data.

The magic mark is 113.

It was also the Congress' best-ever performance in Karnataka since 1999 when the party won 132 seats.

The party bagged 80 seats in the 2018 elections with a vote share of 38 per cent.

Of the six regions in the state, the Congress swept the Old Mysuru, Mumbai Karnataka, Hyderabad Karnataka and Central Karnataka regions.

IMAGE: Congress leader Siddaramaiah reacts as the party leads. Photograph: PTI Photo

The BJP managed to retain its hold only in Coastal Karnataka while it was a mixed bag in Bengaluru.

Though its vote share decreased only marginally from 36.2 per cent to 36 per cent, the BJP's seat tally slumped to 66 from 104 in 2018.

It was the second loss for the BJP after Himachal Pradesh in December last year.

As BJP leaders were contemplative in defeat, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the party could not make the mark 'in spite of a lot of effort put in by everyone, including the prime minister and workers of the party'.

"We will do a detailed analysis as the results conclude. We will take these results in our stride and try to reorganise the party for next year's Lok Sabha elections," said Bommai who won from Shiggaon.

As many as 14 ministers tasted defeat at the hustings.

They are Govinda Karjol, J C Madhuswamy, B C Patil, Shankar Patil Munena Koppa, Halappa Achar, B Sriramul, Dr K Sudhakar, B C Nagesh, Murugesha Nirani, B C Patil and M T B Nagaraj. V Somanna lost from Varuna and Chamarajanagar, the two segments where he contested.

R Ashoka who too contested from two constituencies was re-elected from Padmanabhanagar but lost in Kanakapura.

The Janata Dal-Secular, which had hoped to be kingmaker, won 19 seats, down from 37 last time with its vote share decreasing to 13.32 per cent from 18 per cent in the previous elections.

IMAGE: Congress supporters hold portraits of party leaders as they celebrate the party . Photograph: PTI Photo

The Congress made huge inroads into the JD-S' Vokkaliga stronghold in Old Mysuru region.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the Congress for its win and wished the party best in its endeavour to fulfilling people's aspirations.

With a much-needed victory in the crucial southern state in the Congress bag, celebrations broke out at its offices across the country, from Bengaluru to Bikaner and Ranchi to Ahmedabad, as party workers danced to drumbeats and burst firecrackers.

The Congress also hailed the Bharat Jodo Yatra for the party's success in the home state of party president Mallikarjun Kharge having won 15 of the 20 assembly constituencies in the state the Rahul Gandhi-led foot march passed through.

"The Bharat Jodo Yatra was the Sanjeevini for the party," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh told PTI.

A campaign against corruption, guarantees of dole and consolidation of Muslim votes appear to have underpinned the Congress victory that was also aided by anti-incumbency against the BJP government.

IMAGE: Congress workers celebrate in Bikaner. Photograph: ANI photo

Congress party's hyper-localised campaign, a bold gambit of a proposed Bajrang Dal ban, a promise of five guarantees, prominence to state leadership and deft caste and class combinations in Karnataka could, going forward, serve as a template to counter the hitherto successful blend of BJP's 'welfare outreach' and Hindutva politics.

Assembly elections are due in the next one year in Telangana and Madhya Pradesh as also in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, where it is in power.

"I am happy we contested the Karnataka polls without using hate, bad language. We fought the polls with love. In Karnataka, the market of hate ('nafrat ka bazaar') has closed down and shops of love ('mohabbat ki dukaanein') opened," said former party chief Rahul Gandhi, who has been disqualified as Lok Sabha MP after he was sentenced by a Gujarat court to two years in prison in a defamation case.

The strength of the poor has defeated the power of crony capitalists and this will happen in all states, he added amid loud cheers by party workers at the Congress' headquarters in Delhi.

"This is the victory of 'janata janardhan'," Kharge said, adding, "All our leaders have worked unitedly and people have voted for our guarantees."

People want politics of issues concerning the masses and tactics of deviating from major issues would not work is the message from Karnataka, said All India Congress Committee general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

The result, said senior state leader Siddaramaiah, will be a stepping stone for a Congress victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

He will be entering the Karnataka Assembly for the ninth time.

IMAGE: Congress supporters celebrate victory in Karnataka, at the party's office in Nagpur. Photograph: ANI Photo

Shivakumar was effusive in his praise of the Gandhi family.

"I can't forget Sonia Gandhi visiting me after the BJP people jailed me," an emotional Shivakumar told reporters, adding he had told the Gandhi family and Kharge that he would deliver Karnataka to them.

Congress' empathic win came as a much needed psychological booster for the party ahead of next year's Lok Sabha elections, firming up its position as the ruling BJP's principal challenger, and ending the recent cycle of electoral losses.

A victory in the first major state since 2018 not only puts the Congress back in the game for the General Elections, it also re-establishes the party's primacy in the opposition space which is currently vastly fragmented.

Having tasted victory after a long gap, the party's strategy to give precedence to local leadership has also helped as it worked both in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka, though not in Gujarat, and the party has credited the people of Karnataka for this win.

The Congress' contention that BJP's central leadership slighted Lingayat leaders also seemed to have found traction.

The BJP suffered massive losses in its bastion of northern Karnataka, a stronghold of the Lingayat community which had traditionally supported it.

Quite a few BJP rebels have won, while a large number of Lingayat candidates of the Congress have also scored victories.

IMAGE: Congress supporters celebrate party's victory. Photograph: PTI Photo

The high-profile defections of leaders such as Jagadish Shettar and Laxman Savadi also helped the Congress breach the Lingayat stronghold of the BJP.

The BJP ran a high-pitch campaign around planks which were more national than local.

Its top central leaders sought a fresh mandate in the name of a double-engine government, strengthening the Centre's development push, the Congress' alleged corruption in the past with a dash of Hindutva as they invoked 'Bajrang Bali' to counter the opposition's promise of tough action, including a ban on Bajrang Dal.

The Bajrang Bali issue stole the limelight and roused the party's base but has apparently failed to bring new votes.

Prime Minister Modi made this a big campaign issue and had come down heavily on the Congress over its poll promise, saying the opposition party in its manifesto, 'decided to lock up Lord Hanuman'.

Attacking the Bommai government over corruption, the Congress in its campaign had alleged it was a '40 per cent commission' government.
Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Saturday said the incoming government in Karnataka would not only give its stamp of approval for the five pre-poll guarantees announced by the party in the first cabinet meeting itself but also pass an order to this effect immediately.

IMAGE: Congress leader Siddaramaiah speaks after winning the Karnataka Assembly elections, in Bengaluru, May 13, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

He also said the mandate given by the people is to give a pro-people administration and not for "enjoyment".

"The five guarantees we have given will be approved in the first cabinet meeting and we will then pass an order," the former Chief Minister said addressing a press conference in Shivamogga.

The Congress has promised to implement '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 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), 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), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti).

He also took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had allegedly mocked these guarantees. "Modi said these promises will not be fulfilled as it will burden the state with debts. Modi himself burdened the country with debts. It is the BJP which has pushed the state towards bankruptcy," Siddaramaiah said.

The Congress wrested power from the BJP with a comfortable win in the Assembly polls.

According to the Election Commission website at 9.30 pm, the party emerged on top in 135 seats and was leading in one seat.
ISLAMABAD, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Five terrorists were killed when security forces repulsed an attack on a military check post in Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province, an army statement said.

The incident happened in Hoshab area of Balochistan on Thursday night, the military's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a late Friday night statement.

Following the flee of the terrorists, the security forces launched an operation to capture them during which a heavy exchange of fire took place between terrorists and a security forces party.

During the skirmish, the five terrorists were killed, and a cache of arms and ammunition was recovered.

The operation continued to track the remaining fleeing terrorists into adjoining areas, said the statement.

"The security forces, in step with the nation, remain determined to thwart attempts at sabotaging peace, stability, and progress of Balochistan, " the ISPR added.
LHASA, May 13 (Xinhua) -- In the early morning, Kelzang Lhakyi skillfully uses ultrasound equipment to screen local herder women for cervical and breast cancers, a service she provides at a clinic in Amdo County in the city of Nagqu, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.

"We screen women from the pastoral area aged from 35 to 64, and we sometimes screen more than 300 people in a day," said the 29-year-old.

Kelzang Lhakyi is a female doctor in the ultrasound department of Fokind Hospital in Tibet's capital city Lhasa. She has been dispatched to the city of Nagqu every year since 2019 with a team from her hospital to carry out screening work for cervical and breast cancers.

In the past, most herder women in Nagqu had no idea about these two kinds of cancer. Some that had been diagnosed with cancer did not appreciate the severity of the condition and were unwilling to seek medical treatment.

Cervical and breast cancers are two forms of malignant tumor that pose a serious risk to women's health. As it attaches great importance to women's health, Tibet has been promoting the prevention and control of cervical and breast cancers, launching mass screening as a basic public health service in 2019.

In the vast remote pastoral areas in Nagqu, there is often no available screening equipment, so Kelzang Lhakyi's screening team brings its own advanced equipment.

Amdo County has an average altitude of 5,200 meters, with biting cold, low oxygen levels and poor roads. On the way to Amdo County, team vehicles often get stuck in deep snow.

"It took us eight hours to reach the destination after a 170-km journey," Kelzang Lhakyi said, recalling their trip in early April.

Despite the bumpy journey, the subsequent screening work went smoothly.

Following years of screening and popularization work on the two cancers, many local women have now learned about the dangers they represent, and more and more are coming for check-ups, she said.

The screening work for 2023 is underway, said Gadrum of the Nagqu municipal health commission, adding that more than 18,400 local women were screened in the 2022 program.

During a follow-up examination in Nyima County in Nagqu this year, a 56-year-old villager said that she was diagnosed with breast cancer during a screening last August. Following the advice of doctors, the woman promptly underwent surgery at the Tibet Autonomous Region People's Hospital.

Most breast and cervical cancers can be cured if they are detected early, Kelzang Lhakyi said. "Mass screening is vital to safeguard women's health, and early detection, diagnosis and treatment can significantly raise the survival rate of women with the disease," she said.

To prevent cervical cancer, in 2022, health authorities in Tibet began to offer free HPV vaccines for school girls between 13 and 14 years old, with the free inoculations expanded to cover all of Tibet by the end of 2022. 
BRIDGEPORT  Federal authorities have joined the search for Andre Johnson, who is wanted in the killing a Bridgeport man found dead on Denver Avenue last month, police said.

Johnson, who is considered armed and dangerous, is accused of killing Aaron Hunt, who was found dead on Denver Avenue about 12 hours after Bridgeport police investigated a shooting in the area on April 26.

Capt. Kevin Gilleran, who heads the Bridgport police detective division, said Friday that U.S. Marshals and other federal partners have joined the search.

Bridgeport police said last week they were seeking the public's help to find Johnson, 27, and have obtained an arrest warrant charging him with Hunt's murder. He is known to hang out on the west side of Bridgeport, police said.

Police responded to the shooting about 8:15 p.m. April 26 after Bridgeport's ShotSpotter system reported gunfire in the 100 block of Denver Avenue, police said.

"Police officers responded to Denver Avenue, collected several items of evidence, conducted interviews, canvassed the area, and documented their investigation," Gilleran said at the time.

Around 8:30 a.m. the next day, "a citizen called police stating he found a body on the side of a house" that was also in the 100 block of Denver Avenue, Gilleran said.

Police and medics found the man "positioned on the ground between a car and a house," he said. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene by medics.

Hunt's family told Hearst Connecticut Media Group that they plan to file a lawsuit against the city on claims he may have survived if he had been found by Bridgeport police sooner.

Funeral services for the 25-year-old were held Wednesday in Norwalk, where he grew up.

The youngest of five brothers, Hunt was full of life, according to his family. A graduate of Brien McMahon High School, he was studying to be an HVAC specialist.

Aaron was a jokester with his brothers. He liked to make people laugh, his father Geary Hunt said. He was raised with love and by love by both of his parents.

The family is going through a lot of pain, he said. I just wish he was still here with me, and I cant have him back.

Police are asking anyone who encounters Johnson to call 911 or Detective Brian Coyne at 203-581-5223.

Staff writer Ethan Fry contributed to this story.
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FAIRFIELD  A resident of a Steep Hill Road home found occupied by dozens of dogs and cats in April was charged with 48 counts of animal cruelty Friday, according to local police.

Glorianne Marie Lagnese, 59, was released after posting a $5,000 bond, Fairfield police Lt. Michael Paris said. Lagnese is scheduled to appear at state Superior Court in Bridgeport on May 19, Paris said.
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SHELTON  Xavier Sandor was a strong, devoted serviceman who dreamed of adventure when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, according to his father, John Sandor.

Now, a year after his death, Connecticut's senators are proposing legislation to improve living conditions and mental health care for sailors that could have helped prevent Sandor and two other sailors aboard the USS George Washington from taking their own lives in 2022.

"The Navy ... failed him," said John Sandor at a gathering in Shelton with U.S. senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, noting that his son was excited to "travel the world and experience everything he could while serving in the Navy."

Sandor said his son "was not given the chance he should have. We are here today to make sure other servicemen and women are given the chance they deserve."

Blumenthal and Murphy, alongside John Sandor and Mary Graft, Xavier Sandor's mother, introduced new legislation Friday at Shelton's Veterans Memorial Park in honor of the pair's son. The senators have been demanding accountability following the death by suicide of Sandor and two other sailors.

The legislation, called the Seaman Xavier Sandor Support for Sailors Act, would authorize an allowance for junior sailors to pay for housing when their ships undergo overhauls, such as extended maintenance, in a shipyard. It would also allow the Secretary of the Navy to "appoint and retain" two licensed clinicians to serve as counselors on nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, landing helicopter assault ships and large-deck amphibious ships.

The loss of Xavier Sandor is heartbreaking, and its even more devastating that his death was preventable," said Murphy in a statement. "Unlivable conditions aboard the USS George Washington and the lack of mental health services left Xavier and others like him feeling unsupported and desperate.

"This legislation would give the Navy the ability to make much-needed reforms that will improve life for sailors assigned to ships undergoing major overhauls," Murphy added.

The senators introduced the bill in response to a 2022 U.S. Navy report, which investigated the suicides of three crew members of the USS George Washington aircraft carrier. The crew members included Sandor, then 19, who grew up in Shelton and graduated as a master at arms in San Antonio, Texas, before taking on his first Navy role on the ship.

The deaths of the crew members occurred while the aircraft carrier was undergoing a lengthy refitting process for nuclear-powered ships, often known as Refueling and Complex Overhaul, which the announcement said created subpar living conditions for sailors, particularly young sailors like Sandor who can be overwhelmed by the sheer size of an aircraft carrier.

Findings the announcement highlighted from the report include round-the-clock shipyard operations, frequent interruptions of electric power, heating, air conditioning and hot water for weeks, along with no access to welfare and recreation services. It also pointed to a two-month backlog for mental health appointments and how sailors were hesitant to seek treatment "through Navy channels" due to concerns it would affect future career opportunities.

Blumenthal, a Senate Armed Services Committee member, in a statement called the housing allowance and enhanced mental health services "common sense measures to improve quality of life and save lives."

Our legislation will help spare other sailors from the abhorrent conditions confronting Xavier Sandor  no mental health care, unacceptable housing, or access to relief," Blumenthal said. "Xavier Sandors tragic death underscores the Navys failure to care for its sailors, and the clear need for legislation."

In a January letter to Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro, the senators had also criticized conditions aboard the ship during its refueling and complex overhaul, and the barriers sailors faced to receiving mental health care, including a two-month backlog for routine mental health screenings and fears it would affect their future career opportunities.

There were multiple mistakes made by the USS George Washingtons leadership and warnings that could and should have prevented it, the senators state in the letter about Sandor's death. It is completely intolerable for the Navy to place sailors onboard a ship with these conditions and tremendous barriers to accessing care and support.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP)  A crucial radar antenna on a European spacecraft bound for Jupiter is no longer jammed.

Flight controllers in Germany freed the 52-foot (16-meter) antenna Friday after nearly a month of effort.

The European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, nicknamed Juice, blasted off in April on a decade-long voyage. Soon after launch, a tiny pin refused to budge and prevented the antenna from fully opening.

Controllers tried shaking and warming the spacecraft to get the pin to move by just millimeters. Back-to-back jolts finally did the trick.

The radar antenna will peer deep beneath the icy crust of three Jupiter moons suspected of harboring underground oceans and possibly life. Those moons are Callisto, Europa and Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system.

Juice will attempt to go into orbit around Ganymede. No spacecraft has ever orbited a moon other than our own.

The news wasn't so good for NASA's Lunar Flashlight spacecraft. After struggling unsuccessfully for months to get the Cubesat into orbit around the moon, the space agency called it quits Friday.

Launched in December, the Lunar Flashlight was supposed to hunt for ice in the shadowed craters of the lunar south pole. Now it's headed back toward Earth and then into deep space, continually orbiting the sun.

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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.
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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP)  Kansas' Democratic governor on Friday vetoed Republican legislation that would have provided a financial boost to anti-abortion pregnancy centers and prevented officials fighting outbreaks of contagious diseases from prohibiting public gatherings or ordering infected people to isolate themselves.

The two measures were part of a wave of conservative policies passed by GOP-controlled state legislatures this year, including ones in Kansas rolling back transgender rights and establishing new restrictions on abortion providers. But Gov. Laura Kelly's two vetoes will stand because lawmakers have adjourned for the year, barring any attempt at overriding them.

The anti-abortion measure would have granted up to $10 million a year in new state income tax credits to donors to the more than 50 centers across the state that provide free counseling, classes, supplies and other services to pregnant people and new parents to discourage abortions. Lawmakers included it in a wide-ranging tax bill that also included an expansion of existing tax credits for adoption expenses and purchases from businesses that employ disabled workers. Kelly vetoed the entire bill.

Republican lawmakers pursued anti-abortion measures this year despite a decisive statewide vote in August 2022 affirming abortion rights. Abortion opponents argued that the vote didn't preclude reasonable restrictions and other measures, while Democrats argued that GOP legislators were breaking faith with voters.

Kelly supports abortion rights and narrowly won reelection last year. Last month she vetoed $2 million in the next state budget for direct aid to the centers, but the Legislature overrode that action.

In her latest veto message, Kelly didn't point to any individual provision in the tax bill but said bundling so many proposals together made it impossible to sort out the bad from the good.

In vetoing direct aid to anti-abortion centers last month, Kelly called them largely unregulated and said, This is not an evidence-based approach or even an effective method for preventing unplanned pregnancies.

Abortion opponents argued that providing financial aid to their centers would help make sure that people facing unplanned pregnancies have good alternatives if they're unsure about getting abortions.

House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, accused Kelly in a statement of a "political bias against helping vulnerable new mothers.

Even if lawmakers still had a chance to override Kelly's veto, they didn't pass the tax bill initially with the two-thirds majorities required.

The other bill Kelly vetoed was part of an ongoing backlash from conservative lawmakers against how she, other state officials and local officials attempted to check the spread of COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021. They were particularly critical of orders closing schools and businesses during the pandemic's first months and restrictions on businesses' operations and mask mandates later.

She said no to protecting the health freedom of Kansans and curtailing the powers of unelected bureaucrats, Senate President Ty Masterson, another Wichita-area Republican, said in a statement.

But Republicans split over the measure because some feared it went too far in curbing state and local officials' powers during outbreaks.

It would have stripped local officials of their authority to prohibit public gatherings and repealed a requirement that local law enforcement officers enforce orders from public health officials. Those officials also would have lost their authority to order quarantines for infected people.

The head of the state health department, appointed by the governor, would have lost the power to issue orders and impose new health rules to prevent the spread of disease or to order people to get tested or seek treatment for infectious diseases.

Kelly's veto message said Kansas has been a pioneer in public health policy. A century ago the state's top health official, Dr. Samuel Crumbine, was known internationally for campaigning against unsanitary, disease-spreading practices such as spitting on sidewalks and having common drinking cups on railroads and in public buildings.

Yet lawmakers continue trying to undermine the advancements that have saved lives in every corner of our state," Kelly wrote.

The bill also reflected vaccine opponents' influence with conservative Republican lawmakers.

It would have prevented the head of the state health department from requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for children entering school or day care  something Kelly's administration has said it doesn't plan to do. State and local officials also would not have been able to cite a person's lack of vaccination as a reason for recommending that they isolate themselves.

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Follow John Hanna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/apjdhanna
BEIJING, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Chinese president, and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made an inspection tour in north China's Hebei Province in recent days and presided over a meeting on promoting the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. He delivered an important speech at the meeting.

Xi stressed that efforts should be made to boost confidence and maintain resolve, to improve the capabilities of seizing opportunities, meeting challenges, addressing crises, nurturing decisive opportunities, and to coordinate development and security. He emphasized that work should be done to promote work in all fields with enthusiasm and diligence, so as to push the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to a higher level and to make the region a pioneer and example in pursuing Chinese modernization.

Premier Li Qiang, Cai Qi, who is director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, and Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang were present at the meeting. Cai was also on the inspection tour. The three are members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

On May 11 and 12, accompanied by Ni Yuefeng, secretary of Hebei Provincial Committee of the CPC, and Wang Zhengpu, governor of Hebei, Xi went to the cities of Cangzhou and Shijiazhuang, where he visited the countryside and places including a port and a research institute, to learn about the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

On May 11, Xi arrived in Cangzhou. In a plot of saline-alkali wheat land in Xianzhuang area of Jiucheng Town, Huanghua City, he learned about how saline-alkali land has been harnessed, how wheat is planted in saline-alkali land and how the agriculture here has been industrialized. He walked into the wheat field, examined how the wheat was growing, and asked the farmers and agricultural technicians working in the field about the output, prices, quality, and earnings of saline-alkali wheat. Xi said, it is a strategic issue to comprehensively utilize saline-alkali land, and great importance should be attached to it. It is important to base our work on the reality that China has a large amount of saline-alkali land, which has great development potential, Xi noted. It is imperative to make greater efforts to harness saline-alkali land through innovation in science and technology, to promote the development and planting of crops suitable for saline-alkali environment, to effectively expand the planting areas of the crops, and to develop processing industry in this regard, so as to do a great job in developing the distinctive agriculture of saline-alkali land.

On the afternoon of May 11, Xi arrived at the coal dock of Huanghua Port and learned about the integrated development of ports in Hebei as well as production, operation and future planning of this port. Xi stressed that Hebei, with a uniquely advantaged location and good conditions for marine transport, should continuously promote the upgrading of its ports, integrate resources, and optimize their functional layout with a view to proactively dovetailing with the major national strategic needs for coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, high-standard and high-quality construction of Xiong'an New Area, and cooperation projects of the Belt and Road Initiative. In this way, the province will be able to play a greater role in promoting coordinated regional economic development and in the building of a modern industrial system, Xi noted. As a hub port to transport coal from west China to east China and from north China to south China, Huanghua Port should improve its capacity, innovate management systems and mechanisms to develop itself into a multifunctional, comprehensive and modern port, Xi said.

On the morning of May 12, Xi visited the research institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation in Shijiazhuang City. He learned about the development of the enterprise, its research and development of products, and improvement of military-civilian integration and independent production. He entered a workshop to observe the chip production process. Xi pointed out that developing China into a power of science and technology serves as the strategic pivot for building it into a great modern socialist country in all respects and advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts. National strategic needs must be targeted as priority to systematically arrange key innovative resources, give full play to strengths brought about by the full integration of enterprises, colleges and research institutes so that new breakthroughs will be continuously made in core technologies in key fields. Xi encouraged technological researchers to achieve continuous progress in making breakthroughs in cutting-edge technologies, and develop more technological and engineering equipment and projects of great significance independently.

Later, Xi visited the planning exhibition hall of the International Biomedical Industry Park in Shijiazhuang, and was briefed on the development of biomedical industries in Shijiazhuang, watched exhibited medicines, and learned about research and development of medicines. Xi emphasized that biomedical industry is an emerging strategic one of great importance to the national economy and people's wellbeing as well as national security. It is essential to strengthen basic research and scientific innovation capacity to keep the lifeline of the biomedical industry firmly in China's own hands. The principle of putting the people and their lives first must be upheld to develop and produce more "Chinese medicines" that are compatible with the genetic, physical and mental features of the Chinese people, and much emphasis should be placed on the innovation and development of traditional Chinese medicine.

On the afternoon of May 12, Xi chaired a meeting in Shijiazhuang City on further promoting the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Ni Yuefeng, secretary of Hebei Provincial Committee of the CPC and Chen Min'er, secretary of Tianjin Municipal Committee of the CPC, made speeches. Yin Li, secretary of Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC submitted his written speech. They reported their work on pushing forward the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and offered suggestions and advice.

After listening to their speeches, Xi Jinping delivered an important address. He affirmed what Hebei has achieved in its economic and social development since the 19th CPC National Congress and expressed the hope that the province should thoroughly learn and implement the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress, put into practice the new development philosophy in a holistic, precise and comprehensive manner, remain committed to the primary task of high-quality development and the strategic task of fostering a new development paradigm, and blaze new paths in pursuing the strategy of innovation-driven development. He also expressed the hope that the province shall shoulder new responsibilities in promoting the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and building Xiong'an New Area with high standards and high quality, score new breakthroughs in achieving all-round green transition, cultivate new strengths in deepening reform and opening up, take new initiatives in realizing common prosperity, accelerate the pace of building Hebei into a beautiful province with economic strengths and strive to write a brilliant chapter on the province's journey to Chinese modernization.

Xi stressed that since the 19th CPC National Congress, Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei have been performing their principal duties in compliance with the decisions and plans made by the CPC Central Committee, relevant central Party and government departments and units have offered strong support and played a very important role, and as a result, new and marked achievements have been made in the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, efforts to relieve Beijing of functions non-essential to its role as the national capital are paying off, significant phased achievements have been made in building Xiong'an New Area, the high-quality development of the Beijing Municipal Administrative Center has been stepped up, the rail network connecting Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei is quickly taking shape, major progress has been made in building the region into a beautiful and livable place, and technological innovation and industrial integration have been constantly improved. Facts have proved that the major regional development strategies such as the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region the CPC Central Committee has made are in line with the needs of our country in the new era to pursue high-quality development, and are an effective approach for promoting Chinese modernization.

Xi pointed out that active and steady efforts to relieve Beijing of functions non-essential to its role as the national capital must be prioritized as the pivot to control the increase of unnecessary functions and cut down the existing non-essential functions, and equal emphasis should be placed on reorganization of the internal functions and relocation of non-essential functions outside the capital to make solid and orderly progress in this regard. Xi urged greater efforts in relocation of marked projects, and the planning for the relocation to Xiong'an of another batch of the headquarters of centrally-administered state-owned enterprises in Beijing as well as their subsidiary companies and units of innovation operation. Incentive and constraint policies for the relocated should be further improved. Xi also called for greater roles of market mechanisms, and strengthening internal impetus for the relocation through market-based and law-based approaches. Work should be done to restrain Beijing's functions non-essential to its role as the national capital from increasing.

Xi stressed that more progress needs to be made in the development of both the Beijing Municipal Administrative Center and Xiong'an New Area, which are the "two new wings" of Beijing. Xi noted that a balanced relationship should be developed between the role of the Beijing Municipal Administrative Center and that of Xiong'an New Area, and coordinated endeavors of the "two new wings" are needed to address Beijing 's "big city malaise." He highlighted a balanced development between the Beijing Municipal Administrative Center and the central area of Beijing, and the former should support the development of the city center, and both should achieve prosperity together. Xi urged the relocation of another batch of administrative organs, state-owned enterprises and public institutions under the Beijing municipal government to the Beijing Municipal Administrative Center to make room for the enhancement of the essential functions of the capital. It is imperative to realize balanced development between the "two new wings" and their surrounding areas, stressing their role in leading the high-quality development of the neighboring areas.

Xi pointed out that the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is one of the most important three major drivers in leading the high-quality development of China, as it boasts a large number of first-class institutions of higher learning and high-caliber talent in research, and strong innovation capability with a solid foundation. The region should strengthen innovation coordination and industrial collaboration to play an exemplary role in achieving self-reliance in high-level science and technology. Efforts should be made to accelerate the building of an international center for innovation in science and technology and a high-level talent highland in Beijing, making the capital city an important source of China's independent innovation and original innovation. A new model of collaboration among enterprises, universities and research institutes should be developed to increase the efficiency and share of the science and technology achievements that have been applied within the region of their origin. Xi stressed the necessity of reinforcing the principal role of enterprises in innovation to cultivate a group of leading innovative enterprises with international competitiveness that hold independent intellectual property rights. It is essential to consolidate and strengthen the foundation of the real economy, and give top priority to the development of strategic emerging industries such as integrated circuit, cybersecurity, biomedicine, electric power equipment, and safety and emergency equipment to build world-class advanced manufacturing clusters.

Xi stressed that the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region should ultimately improve people's wellbeing and promote common prosperity. It is important to encourage investigation and research, gain an in-depth understanding of people's needs, address the issues of concern to their interest to constantly boost their sense of fulfillment, happiness and security. It is essential to accelerate the improvement and sharing of public services, strengthen the policy of putting employment first, and promote more adequate and high-quality employment in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Efforts must be made to share high-quality primary and middle school education resources in Beijing, Tianjin with Hebei, and deepen cooperation in faculty members, discipline development and the application of achievements among higher education institutions in the region. It is imperative to develop health care consortia and extend elderly care programs in Beijing and Tianjin to eligible areas in Hebei. Efforts should be redoubled to work on key ecological conservation and restoration projects such as the sand control belts in northern China and major ecological projects like the building of ecological shields.

Xi pointed out that it is important to accelerate the development of transportation and other infrastructure and deepen intra-regional coordination. He stressed the need to pursue coordinated development between Beijing and Tianjin by expanding cooperation in breadth and depth, in order to make the two cities pioneers in regional development and play a radiating and leading role in the development of a world-class city cluster in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. It is necessary to combine Beijing's strengths in scientific and technological innovation with Tianjin's advantages in advanced manufacturing research and development, strengthen joint efforts to achieve breakthroughs in core technologies, build a national technological innovation center in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to enhance their role as a growth engine for scientific and technological innovation. On the one hand, Hebei should give full play to its geographical advantages surrounding Beijing and Tianjin, and build economic corridors connecting Beijing and Tianjin from different directions. On the other hand, Beijing and Tianjin should continue to offer assistance to Hebei, and encourage eligible areas in Hebei to better absorb the spillover effects of science and technology and industrial transfer from Beijing and Tianjin. It is necessary to advance institutional reform and open up wider, make great efforts to improve the business environment, communicate with other regions at home and abroad to make the region a pacesetter for opening up in China.

Xi emphasized that to carry out the extensive theoretical study program is the top priority of this year's Party building work. The provincial and municipal Party committees in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei must conscientiously implement the arrangements and requirements of the CPC Central Committee, earnestly focus on the study program, and further enhance the political and organizational role of Party organizations at various levels to provide a strong guarantee for promoting the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

In his speech, Li Qiang said that it is essential to earnestly study and thoroughly implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech, thinking and acting from a big-picture perspective, in a bid to advance the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region more effectively and efficiently. It is imperative to highlight the primary task, and promote the aggregation of resources, policies and forces with the aim of relieving Beijing of functions non-essential to its role as China's capital, so as to make sure notable results will be achieved in the relocation of landmark projects. We must be aware of the regional differences, step up efforts to make regions complement each other with their own strengths, not only to make up for their respective deficiencies, but also forge common strengths, and turn the potential energy of development gaps into the driving forces for coordinated development, so as to ensure that residents have a stronger sense of fulfillment. Efforts should be made to further improve the working mechanism and form a closer coordinated promotion pattern.

Ding Xuexiang said that it is necessary to conscientiously study and implement the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping, adhere to the rigid requirements of remarkable improvement in air quality, and make continuous efforts to prevent and control air pollution, so as to bring the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to a higher level. Efforts should be made to accelerate the optimization and upgrading of the industrial structure, resolutely curb the blind development of energy-intensive projects with high emission and backward production capacity. Work must be done to promote the low-carbon transition in energy structure, strengthen the clean and highly-efficient use of coal, and vigorously develop new and clean energy. Efforts should be made to adjust and optimize the transportation structure to reduce fuel pollution emissions from the source. Continuous efforts must be made to deepen the joint mechanism for the prevention and control of air pollution, make sure that local governments perform their due responsibilities to form a synergy for joint management in this regard.

Li Ganjie, He Lifeng and others were on the inspection tour and attended the meeting. Wu Zhenglong, Mu Hong and leading officials of the Second Central Steering Group for theoretical study program, the leading officials of the relevant departments of the central Party and government, leading officials of relevant local government departments and those in charge from relevant enterprises were present at the meeting. 
In the face of relentless pressure from China, Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis has emerged as a staunch defender of his country's sovereignty, calling for a unified global response to counter Beijing's economic coercion. As the Group of Seven (G7) economies prepare to convene in Japan, the nations hope to forge a collective strategy to address China's aggressive tactics. However, the challenge lies in reconciling divergent economic interests among wealthy nations while China maintains a unified front.

For Lithuania, the threat of Chinese pressure is not a mere abstraction but a tangible reality. The Baltic nation has been targeted by Beijing's sanctions due to its decision to establish a representative office for Taiwan. In the face of these challenges, Landsbergis emphasised the importance of defending smaller nations like Lithuania. He expressed optimism about finding a consensus among the G7 members, acknowledging that it would require time and a delicate balance.

China has targeted Australia and South Korea in past as well

The G7 members have ample evidence to support their concerns over China's targeted sanctions. Australia faced punitive measures following its call for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus in 2020. Similarly, South Korea experienced Chinese retaliation in 2017 after deciding to host a US anti-missile system, and Japan faced sanctions in 2010 over a territorial dispute. These instances highlight the need for a coordinated response to safeguard national interests and deter Chinese economic coercion.

While the path forward may be complex, the G7 nations are determined to find common ground and formulate a response that balances their economic ties with China. The discussions in Japan are expected to lay the foundation for a coordinated global approach to confront China's economic coercion, with the goal of upholding international norms and defending the rights of nations to make independent decisions without fear of reprisal.

The G7's efforts to address Chinese economic coercion will likely be met with challenges, but the resolve to protect national interests and ensure a rules-based international order remains strong. The world will closely watch the outcome of the G7 meeting and the strategies that emerge to counter Beijing's pressure campaigns, recognizing the importance of unity in the face of China's assertiveness on the global stage.
Turkish politicians were holding final rallies in the last hours of campaigning on Saturday, the eve of pivotal presidential and parliamentary elections that could significantly shape the NATO member's future.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is facing the toughest challenge ever in his two decades of power, was speaking at neighborhood rallies in Istanbul, Turkeys biggest city.

His challenger  Kemal Kilicdaroglu of the pro-secular, center-left Republican Peoples Party who is the joint candidate of six opposition parties  held his final rally in the capital, Ankara, on Friday under pouring rain.

On Friday, Erdogan dismissed speculation that he wouldn't cede power if he lost by calling the question very ridiculous. In an interview with a dozen Turkish broadcasters, Erdogan said he came to power through democracy and would act in line with the democratic process.

If our nation decides to make such a different decision, we will do exactly whats required by democracy and theres nothing else to do, he said.

Erdogan said Saturday that he views the elections as a democracy celebration for our countrys future and aired videos to undermine his opponent as incapable of leading Turkey.

The oppositions campaign was continued by Istanbul's popular mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, who held final rallies in the city to call on people to vote for Kilicdaroglu.

On Friday, Kilicdaroglu asked tens of thousands gathered to hear his final speech to go vote on Sunday to change Turkeys destiny. He said he was ready to bring democracy to Turkey, a major criticism of Erdogan who has cracked down on dissent in recent years.

We will show the whole world that our beautiful country is one that can bring democracy through democratic means, he said. Though Kilicdaroglu and his party have lost all past elections since he took the helm of the party in 2010, opinion polls have showed he has a slight lead over Erdogan.

Voter turnout in Turkey is traditionally strong, showing continued belief in this type of civic participation in a country where freedom of expression and assembly have been suppressed.

If no presidential candidate secures more than 50% of the vote, a runoff election will be held on May 28.

Turkeys Supreme Electoral Board said it decided that votes cast for another candidate, Muharrem Ince, who pulled out of the race this week would be counted as valid and that his withdrawal would not be considered until a potential second round.
According to a local Japanese newspaper, the Group of Seven (G7) Health Ministers' Meeting has considered a new vaccine programme for developing nations. This vision by the G7 group comes in the backdrop of poor management witnessed in developing countries during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The G7 meeting i sbeing held in Nagasaki, Japan over two days, starting May 13, as Japan's Yomiuri newspaper. In this meeting, they would be focussing on improvising and strengthening international cooperation in preparation for the next infectious disease crisis.

The COVID pandemic caused chaos across the world, impacted the global economy on a massive scale and impacted thousands of lives for more than three years. Health Ministers of G7 countries and Outreach 4 countries, which include India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand who were invited to the meeting, were in attendance.

Vaccine program at G7 meeting in Japan

In the G7 meeting, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States took part. It is to be noted that India is not only a part of G7 but is also chairing the Group of 20 (G20). Further, Indonesia, chairing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and Vietnamese health ministers would also be participating. In the meeting, while discussing health management in poor countries, minister for health, Labor and Welfare in Japan, Katsunobu Kato, who chaired the meeting, pointed out that "the infection situation in the world is finally coming to an end."

Further, Kato added, "Building a healthy health system will also contribute to responding to emergencies, and is the path the world should take," as per Yomiuri. The health ministers of G7 also stressed that problems arose when people from low-income countries had no access to vaccines and therapeutic drugs. Hence, one of the themes of the meeting is "Universal Health Coverage (UHC)" which would enable everyone to "receive basic healthcare services such as prevention and treatment at affordable costs."

India At G7

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya addressed the G7 Health Ministerial meeting on Global Health Architecture in Nagasaki on May 13. Taking to Twitter, Union Minister Mandaviya wrote, "The G7 Family. We stand for a healthier and prosperous world." In a separate tweet, the minister wrote, "Addressed inaugural session of the G7 Health Ministers' Meeting in Nagasaki. India's G20 Presidency Health Priorities & G7 health agendas are perfectly aligned. We have prioritized Health Emergency Preparedness, Access to Medical Countermeasures & Digital Health to achieve UHC."

The G7 Family.



We stand for a healthier and prosperous world. pic.twitter.com/irBwyQPI5j  Dr Mansukh Mandaviya (@mansukhmandviya) May 13, 2023
US President Joe Biden is all set to leave for Hiroshima to attend the Group of Seven Summit in the historic Japanese city. According to Japanese news outlet Kyodo News, Biden is expected to leave for the Japanese city next Wednesday. The White House Press Secretary Jean-Pierre informed that the trip of the US President will go as planned. During the press briefing, Pierre stated that the US President will discuss a wide array of pressing global issues including the G-7s support of Ukraine.

According to Kyodo News, her remarks came after US President Joe Biden hinted at staying in the US to take part in the negotiations with congressional leaders over the governments debt ceiling limits. Earlier this month, the US Treasury Secretary warned that the country might record a default on June 1. "What I can say right now is that he's expecting to go. I can say that for sure, at this moment, that he's expecting to go, Pierre asserted when she was asked if the US President has changed his mind amid the current economic situation.

Jill Biden to accompany her husband

During the press briefing, Pierre stated that the US First Lady Jill Biden will accompany her husband to the summit. Earlier, US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby made similar remarks and stated that the US President is looking forward to his trip to Japan. "We are excited about this trip. It's an important trip," Kirby asserted. According to Kyodo News, the summit which will be chaired by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is scheduled to take place May 19. The Summit will include delegations from countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the European Union.

However, Bidens visit to the summit came as a surprise since he was supposed to meet US House of Representative Kevin McCarthy and top congressional leaders on May 19. The 80-year-old president was expected to negotiate with the congressional leaders to lift the debt ceiling so that the US doesnt record a default. While the GOP leaders have made it clear that the ceiling will be increased only if the country cut out its Federal Spending, Biden has remained adamant about not taking that route.
The Syrian government has agreed to extend by another three months the use of two border crossings with Turkey into the rebel-held northwest that were opened for aid delivery after a deadly earthquake in February, Syrian and U.N. officials said Saturday.

Syrian President Bashar Assad had agreed to open the border crossings at Bab al-Salameh and al-Rai for three months to allow aid to flow into Idlib province a week after the Feb. 6, earthquake that hit southern Turkey and northern Syria.

The earthquake has killed more than 50,000 people, including over 6,000 in Syria, according to the United Nations. The quake also displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

Following a request by the U.N. and ensuing discussions, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad conveyed to U.N. Under-Secretary-General Martin Griffiths the decision by Syria's government to allow the U.N. to continue using the two border crossing points for an additional three months, said Eri Kaneko, spokesperson for the U.N. office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Syrias ambassador to the U.N. Bassam Sabbagh tweeted that the period has been extended for another three months based on Syrias determination to enhance stability and improve the living and humanitarian conditions of all Syrians. He added the move also aims to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to those in need in all of Syria.

Syrias northwestern province of Idlib is home to some 4 million people, many of whom had been earlier displaced during the countrys 12-year civil war, which has killed nearly half a million people.

David Carden, the U.N.s Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria crisis, said during a visit to Idlib earlier this month that since the earthquake some 2,000 trucks have crossed the border from Turkey, providing assistance such as shelter, food, medical supplies and other services.

Carden added that the earthquake damaged or destroyed the homes of about 855,000 people.

In 2014, the Security Council authorized four border crossings to deliver aid to northwest Syria  two from Turkey, one from Jordan and one from Iraq. In January 2020, Syrias close ally Russia used its veto threat to reduce the number of crossing to the two from Turkey. The following July, China and Russia used their veto power to reduce the number to just a single crossing.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang (L) shakes hands with Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt during their meeting in Oslo, Norway, on May 12, 2023. (Xinhua/Lin Jing)

OSLO, May 12 (Xinhua) -- China appreciates Norway's firm adherence to the one-China policy and appreciates that the two countries respect and accommodate each other's core interests and major concerns, visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang said here on Friday.

Qin made the remarks when jointly meeting the press with Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt.

Qin said that after candid talks with Huitfeldt, they both have confidence in and expectations for the development of China-Norway relations. He noted that the most important experience of the steady development of bilateral relations lies in adhering to mutual respect, equal treatment, mutual benefit and win-win results, and in seeking common ground while reserving differences.

The two sides exchanged views on the idea of strengthening bilateral cooperation in the next step, and agreed to resume and accelerate bilateral exchanges as soon as possible, promote mutually beneficial cooperation, enhance understanding and deepen friendship through more frequent people-to-people and cultural exchanges, Qin said.

The two sides compared notes on trade and investment, marine affairs, green transition, climate change, cultural exchange, tourism and local-to-local cooperation, Qin said.

China has decided to enlist Norway as one of the eligible countries for the 72/144-hour visa-free transit policy in relevant Chinese port cities, and the two countries have just signed a new version of the bilateral agreement for the avoidance of double taxation, Qin said, adding that relevant cooperation results will bring more dividends to Chinese and Norwegian companies and people.

Noting that next year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties, Qin said the two sides have agreed to organize a series of celebration activities to make the bilateral exchanges and cooperation even closer and lay a more solid foundation for the next 70 years of exchanges.

Qin pointed out that the Chinese government has made unremitting efforts to protect human rights, and that Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet-related issues are not human rights issues, but issues related to safeguarding China's sovereignty, security and development interests. China firmly opposes external forces taking advantage of these issues to create instability in China.

The essence of the Taiwan question is a fight against secession, Qin said, adding that China expects the Taiwan Strait to remain peaceful and stable, and to achieve peaceful reunification of China.

It is the "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces and some countries' connivance and support for the "Taiwan independence" that have been undermining the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait, Qin said, stressing the unwavering determination of the Chinese government and people to safeguard sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Qin said that peace and development are the most enduring wishes of mankind, and that both China and Norway believe that the more turbulent the world is, the more necessary it is to strengthen dialogue and exchanges.

Both sides firmly support world peace, globalization and free trade, and support countries to jointly address climate change and achieve sustainable development, he added.

China is willing to join hands with Norway to firmly uphold the international system with the United Nations (UN) at its core, the international order underpinned by international law, and the basic norms of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, Qin said.

China also stands ready to strengthen cooperation in peace and reconciliation affairs with Norway, and promote world peace and development, he added.

Qin emphasized that the top priority for the Ukraine crisis is to facilitate a cease-fire and a cessation of hostilities without delay, and ultimately resolve the crisis through political negotiations. China will always stand on the side of peace and insist on promoting peace talks, he noted.

It is hoped that all parties involved in the crisis will remain calm and restrained, make joint efforts to resolve the crisis through negotiations, and foster a balanced, effective and sustainable European security architecture so as to achieve enduring stability and security in the region, he said. 
Once you lose the language, its very easy to lose your culture.

A student sits next to his bag with a Tibetan flag at the weekly Tibetan language school in Vienna Community Center northern Virginia. Credit: Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA

Children imitate a teacher to learn traditional Tibetan dancing at the weekly language school. The teachers are all volunteers, and the school charges a nominal fee of U.S. $20 per child per month to help pay rental space for classrooms. Credit: Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA

Pre-school children in a classroom at the weekly Tibetan language school in Vienna Community Center. In North America, there are about 36 Tibetan associations, most of which operate Tibetan weekend schools. (RFA Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

Children dressed in traditional Tibetan clothes try to concentrate as they learn how to meditate at the school. Credit: Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA

Tenzing Kunzang displays a textbook at the weekly Tibetan language school in Vienna Community Center. The school in northern Virginia operates under the auspices of the Capital Area Tibetan Association, a nonprofit organization, and offers classes that roughly correspond with public school grades. Credit: Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA

Students attend a class at the Tibetan language school in Vienna Community Center. Members of the Tibetan diaspora in pockets of the U.S. are trying to preserve their language, culture and Buddhist religion by providing instruction to local Tibetan children and teenagers at self-funded, volunteer-based Tibetan language schools. Credit: Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA

Students practice writing at the weekly Tibetan language school. The school follows a curriculum designed for Tibetan children growing up in the West by the Department of Education of Central Tibetan Administration, the Tibetan government-in-exile headquartered in Dharamsala, India. Credit: Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA

Students attend a class at the weekly Tibetan language school in Vienna Community Center. The U.S. is home to the second-largest Tibetan diaspora after India. Credit: Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA

Students participate in a Buddhist meditation session before commencing a class at the weekly Tibetan language school in Vienna Community Center. Credit: Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA

Attendees sing the U.S national anthem during the opening assembly of the Tibetan language school in Vienna Community Center in northern Virginia. Credit: Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA

During the opening assembly of the Tibetan language school, Tenzing Kunzang Gyanakwa reads a short book review he wrote. Credit: Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA

Stepping up to take the microphone, 9-year-old Tenzing Kunzang Gyanakwa got up in front of a group of about 60 students, teachers and parents gathered in the community center.

In a clear voice, he told the crowd about the simple yet powerful message of a childrens book by the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Buddhists spiritual leader.

The Dalai Lama believes that cultivating compassion can make us happier and more fulfilled individuals, and that it can also have a positive impact on others, said Tenzing, sporting a blue Tibetan shirt with gold piping and fringe, about The Seed of Compassion.

Tenzings Sunday afternoon presentation was part of the opening assembly of a weekly Tibetan language school at a community center in Vienna, northern Virginia, outside Washington DC, where children between the ages of three and 18 are taught Tibetan by volunteers.

The self-funded school is one of 36 in North America, where about 36,000 Tibetans live  the largest diaspora outside of India. About 400 live in the greater Washington area.

Preserving a culture

The goal of the school network is simple and increasingly vital: To keep alive the Tibetan language and culture in the face of Chinas attempts to squelch them.

Capital Area Tibetan Association board members from left, Kalasang Dorjee [also principal of the school], Tenzing Norbu, and volunteer teacher Passang Dhonden lead the recitation of a Buddhist prayer during the opening assembly at the Tibetan language school at Vienna Community Center in northern Virginia, Sunday, May 7, 2023. Credit: Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA

China has forced Tibetan children in the Tibet Autonomous Region and other Tibetan areas incorporated into Chinese provinces such and Sichuan and Qinghai to be separated from their families and sent to boarding schools where the instruction is in Mandarin.

Its just one of the many ways that China has tried to erode Tibetans way of life.

Chinese authorities have prohibited boys and girls under the age of 18 to be sent to monasteries and nunneries and closed religious schools.

Theyve imposed heavy surveillance on Tibetans and restricted communication with Tibetans abroad. Theyve forced the collection of biometric data and driven nomads from their ancestral lands. Beijing has even interfered in the selection of the next Dalai Lama.

We are at a very low point in our legacy and in terms of Tibetan as an identity, said Kalsang Dorjee, principal of the school and board member of the Capital Area Tibetan Association, or CATA, which operates the school.

The Tibetan language is just not only a language, its a heritage which we want to pass on to our next generation, he said.

Songs, prayers and sentence structures

After the opening assembly in Vienna, where those gathered sang the American and Tibetan anthems and recited a Buddhist prayer, the 50-odd students dispersed to three classrooms, depending on their age, to learn Tibetan for two hours.

In one class, second-graders were learning and reciting the Tibetan words for colors. In another, preschoolers received praise in Tibetan from their teacher for doing a good job with their homework on learning the words for body parts.

The high school-age students paused for a two-minute meditation before tacking their Tibetan lesson.

Passang Dhonden [left] and his students participate in a Buddhist meditation session before commencing their weekly class at the Tibetan language school in Vienna Community Center. Passang is a journalist at Radio Free Asia and has volunteered as a Tibetan language teacher for 11 years. Credit: Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA

The sessions are held on Sundays from 3-5 p.m., followed by an hour of singing or dancing. The teachers are all volunteers, and the school charges a nominal monthly fee of about US$20 per child, which pays for the rental space at the center.

The school began informally in 1997 when an ethnic Tibetan who came to the United States under a program in the late 1990s that provided 1,000 immigrant visas to Tibetans living in India and Nepal, began teaching the language to five or six students in the basement of his home.

The school follows a curriculum designed for Tibetan children growing up in the West by the Department of Education of Central Tibetan Administration, the Tibetan government-in-exile headquartered in Dharamsala, India. Instruction is nonpolitical and nothing is said about the Chinese governments policies in Tibet.

We are trying to preserve Buddhist teachings, which thousands of years ago our ancestors took so much trouble to go to India and bring to Tibetans, Dorjee said.

And if over the course of time we lose that language, we are going to lose all of that  the teachings which have been preserved all these years.

Cultural assimilation

Dorjee estimates that 350-400 Tibetan families, whose adults were part of the immigrant influx in the late 1990s, reside in the Washington capital region, which includes the District of Columbia, and parts of Maryland and northern Virginia.

But families are also worried that their children will assimilate into American culture to the point of forgetting their cultural identity and heritage.

One of the fears and concerns for all Tibetan families is we worry that slowly the next generation will not be able to follow Tibetan culture and traditions, especially now that they are more involved in the American lifestyle and culture here, said Tenzin Norbu, another CATA board member and father of Tenzing Kunzang Gyanakwa, who talked about the Dalai Lamas book.

Tsering Lhamo, who has taught at the school for more than 15 years, agrees.

Once you lose the language, its very easy to lose your culture, he said.

Children dressed in traditional Tibetan clothes try to concentrate as they learn how to meditate at weekly Tibetan language school in Vienna Community Center in northern Virginia, Sunday, May 7, 2023. Credit: Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA

In mid-March, two teachers from the school joined about 80 other educators from similar schools for a three-day workshop in California to learn how to incorporate social, emotional, and ethical learning, or SEE, learning into their educational programs.

The framework content of SEE learning is primarily derived from the Dalai Lamas books on secular ethics  Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World and Ethics for the New Millennium.

The two teachers from CATAs Tibetan language school then held workshops in Vienna for their fellow teachers and the students parents.

This is not only limited to just language, Dorjee said about the instruction at the Tibetan school. We also are trying to inculcate these values in the kids so that when they go out in the world they become a really responsible citizen with a lot of compassion and empathy, so that the world becomes a better place.

The school would like to see the Tibetan language included in the Fairfax County Public School systems World Languages Credit Exam, which assesses reading and writing proficiency in foreign languages.

Students in grades seven through twelve may earn up to three program credits to fulfill a world languages requirement for an advanced studies diploma. The exam is also an approved assessment for awarding the Virginia Department of Educations Seal of Biliteracy.

But first the school must increase its student enrollment number to be considered for participation in the program, Dorjee said.

Culture mates

Students said they enjoy the social aspects of the school.

We can actually hang out with our culture mates, said Pema Gyalpo, 10, who lives near the community center and has attended classes for about two years.

Children learn traditional Tibetan dance at the Tibetan language school in Vienna Community Center in northern Virginia, Sunday, May 7, 2023. Credit: Gemunu Amarasinghe/RFA

Dolma Tsering from Ellicott City, Maryland, says her two children Tenzin Doela, 8, and Yangla Lama, 5, also like coming to the school to meet and play with their friends.

As a parent, though, she believes the instruction serves as a means for them to stay connected to their roots, to know their identity and to learn about their culture and language.

Its important for the kids to meet other people  other kids who look like them and who share the same beliefs and same culture, she said.

Tsering, who was born in Nepal and came to the United States with her family in 2001, doesnt know how to read and write in Tibetan and cant recite Buddhist prayers, but wants her children to be able to do so.

Thats one of the reasons why I want them to learn how to read and write in Tibetan, she said. So, when they grow older, if and when they want to connect with their religion or go deeper into studying, they have the ability to read and write.

Besides classroom instruction, the students also participate in cultural performances when invited, such as a recent event at George Mason University where some of them performed Tibetan dances in celebration of Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

School leaders now are planning a Memorial Day camping trip for students, teachers and parents  about 90 people in all.

Besides being with like-minded friends, Tenzing Kunzang Gyanakwa says he realizes the importance of learning the Tibetan language.

Later, in the future, if people forget the Tibetan language, there will be no more, like, country, he said. Tibet won't any more exist if they cant speak the language and do all of the things that they do in Tibet.

Edited by Malcolm Foster.
Iran is implementing modern new payment systems to make it easier for its citizens to use public transportation and get their subsidized daily bread. But Afghans living in the country say they are being left behind due to immigration policies that restrict their access to bank cards.

Afghan migrants are complaining that not being able to have bank cards makes it difficult to use city subways, access mobile phone services, and even to get their daily bread.

Mirwais, who has lived in the southwestern city of Shiraz for over 20 years, says the limitations add to the "pressure" he and other Afghans face every day in Iran.

"All the migrants face this," said Mirwais, who gave only his first name in a telephone interview with RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. "Whether in Shiraz, Tehran, or Isfahan, migrants suffer and are under pressure all over Iran."

Digital Divide

The lack of access to basic services can be traced to requirements imposed years ago that effectively prevent many members of Iran's large Afghan community from obtaining bank cards. While Iran has made the leap to Internet banking, online purchases, and digital card readers, migrants must still go in person to a bank to make withdrawals or send wire payments.

Some Afghans living in Iran say they cannot open a bank account at all, while others complain that they face limits on the amount they can withdraw. Getting mobile phone service has also been made difficult due to Iran's crackdown on unregistered SIM cards.

The problem has been compounded by the need for bank cards to purchase transportation tickets or to apply for new smart cards introduced for purchasing subsidized goods from bakeries, meaning Afghans have to rely on workarounds just to put food on the table or travel around.

Mohammad Amiri, 26, has lived in Tehran with his wife and child for more than two years, but still faces difficulties carrying out everyday tasks.

"In the [Tehran] subway, you need to pay with a bank card. They don't accept cash," he told Radio Azadi. "Some [Iranians] buy tickets for us [in exchange for cash], but others don't."

"Unfortunately, as Afghan migrants, we don't have the right to have a bank card or even a SIM card. This is a real problem for us," he said.

Mirwais expressed the same frustration, saying that if fellow passengers are not willing to purchase electronic passes for them, he and other Afghans must take taxis at much greater expense.

He said the same goes for bakeries, which recently introduced a new "smartization" system that uses special cards that allow customers to automatically deduct their purchases from a state-subsidized account.

The initiative has been touted by officials as a way of more effectively distributing subsidies, easing skyrocketing prices for flour and bread, and eliminating graft.

'They Make It Hard'

Officials have denied they are excluding anyone and have pledged to fix any difficulties stemming from the new systems, saying that there are alternatives to using bank cards and that the Tehran subway allows Afghan nationals experiencing payment issues to ride for free.

But Afghans who spoke to Radio Azadi said the reality is much different.

"My wife offered the baker money six times, but the baker would not accept it, saying she must bring a bank card," Mirwais said this week. "There are some [Iranians] who offer their cards, one in 1,000. They give their cards and take cash to resolve the problem."

"We go to the bank, they don't accept our passports; we go to buy a SIM card, they don't accept our passports," Mirwais said. "It should be easy to use the subway, but the government makes it hard for migrants."

Millions Of Migrants

An estimated 3 million Afghans, many of them undocumented refugees and migrants, live in Iran. Many have complained of widespread discrimination and abuse.

More than 1 million Afghans crossed into Iran in 2021, often en route to third countries, as the Taliban advanced and eventually seized power in Afghanistan that year. Iranian authorities have reportedly deported more than half of recent arrivals.

Many Afghan migrants in Iran moved to the Islamic republic decades ago amid political upheaval and war. Iran has also long been a destination country for Afghan migrant workers seeking seasonal jobs.

Migrants are officially divided into two categories in Iran: those who are documented and have passports, residency, or immigration cards, and the undocumented. The latter group includes Afghans who never held passports in their home country.

Iran provides one-year residency permits for more recent arrivals, and has said that full access to banking and social services, including health insurance, are available to all migrants who officially register their names and information with the Interior Ministry. More than 2 million foreign nationals have complied and are on the books, according to the ministry.

But mired in its own economic crisis amid skyrocketing inflation and rising food prices, Iran has often expressed alarm at the number of undocumented Afghans on its soil.

Undocumented Afghans like Amiri have little hope of gaining access to basic services, and even those who have residency permits can only hold bank accounts for the one-year period of their stay.

"We can't open a bank account because we don't have any [identity] documents with us," Amiri said.

"We applied at several banks, but they've told us that we must wait. So, we're just waiting to see what will happen. Having a bank card is essential for us, for our daily lives."

Written by Michael Scollon based on reporting by Freshta Negah of RFE/RL's Radio Azadi
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on May 14 flew to Paris for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, extending a tour of European capitals after accepting the Charlemagne Prize at a ceremony in Aachen, Germany. He next heads to London on May 15.

Zelenskiy and Macron held talks over dinner that included building up Ukraine's arsenal and the need for an ad hoc tribunal for prosecuting atrocities "committed in connection with Russia's war of aggression."

Macron's office said France will supply Ukraine with armor but demurred on sending much-coveted fighter jets.

Zelenskiy said earlier it was "great honor" to receive the prize on behalf of the Ukrainian people, who have been fighting for their freedom and the values of Europe.

Zelenskiy, who was showered with accolades before he accepted the prize, said every Ukrainian "would deserve to stand here."

In his acceptance speech, he stressed that Ukraine wanted nothing more than peace but that this could only be achieved with victory in the conflict, which he said would decide the fate of Europe.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensives, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz thanked Zelenskiy for defending European values and spoke the words "the president is here. We are all here" in Ukrainian, quoting Zelenskiy after the invasion began in February 2022 as he made it clear that the Ukrainian people would not yield to Russia's violence.

"Rarely in history have such brief words had such a great effect," Scholz said.

"Europe owes a lot to the Ukrainian people and personally to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy," he added. "We stand together! We belong together! And our story will continue together."

Scholz also pledged Germany's "full support" to Ukraine on its journey to become a member of the European Union.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki hailed Zelenskiy as "the most outstanding leader on an international stage in the 21st century," while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Zelenskiy and the Ukrainian people were paying with their blood and their lives as they fight for freedom, humanity, and peace.

Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the recipient of the award last year, was also present at the ceremony. She said it was an honor to meet Zelenskiy.

"We stand united with Ukraine for freedom and for democracy," Tsikhanouskaya said on Twitter.

Zelenskiy says he will travel to London on May 15 to hold talks with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

"Today  London. The UK is a leader when it comes to expanding our capabilities on the ground and in the air. This cooperation will continue today," Zelenskiy said on Telegram. "I will meet my friend Rishi. We will conduct substantive negotiations face-to-face and in delegations."

Earlier in Berlin, Zelenskiy thanked Germany for its "powerful support" after Berlin pledged a 2.7 billion-euro ($3 billion) package of arms and discussed his country's planned counteroffensive with Scholz.

The military package includes 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, 30 Leopard 1 tanks, 15 Gepard antiaircraft tanks, 200 reconnaissance drones, four additional Iris-T antiaircraft systems including ammunition, additional artillery ammunition and more than 200 armored combat and logistics vehicles.

Ukraine is preparing to liberate occupied areas but will not attack Russia, Zelenskiy said in response to a question about a report by The Washington Post saying that he had privately asked Western partners for long-range weapons that could strike inside Russia.

"We have neither the time nor the strength [to attack Russia]," he said. "And we also don't have weapons to spare, with which we could do this."

The Washington Post on May 14 cited previously undisclosed documents from a U.S. intelligence leak suggesting that Zelenskiy had considered trying to capture areas in Russia for possible use as bargaining chips in peace negotiations. The United States and other Western governments have insisted that the weapons they provide must not be used to attack targets in Russia.

As Zelenskiy continues his tour of European capitals, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar provided an update on the situation on the battlefield.

Malyar said that Ukrainian forces had captured more than 10 Russian positions on the outskirts of Bakhmut and taken captive enemy soldiers of various units.

"Anyone who knows the real situation and is there now understands the gravity of what is happening," Malyar added.

In a rare announcement of battlefield losses, the Russian Defense Ministry said on May 14 that two of its military commanders had been killed in eastern Ukraine, as Kyiv's forces renewed efforts to take back territory near the embattled city of Bakhmut.

The ministry said in a statement that the commander of the 4th Motorized Rifle Brigade, Vyacheslav Makarov, and Yevgeny Brovko, deputy commander of the army corps for military-political work, had been killed in fighting to repel Ukrainian attacks.

It said that Makarov had been leading troops from the front line, and that Brovko "died heroically, suffering multiple shrapnel wounds."

Ukraine's General Staff said that the Russian military continued to focus its main efforts on areas around Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiyivka, and Maryinka, and that about 30 combat clashes took place during the day on May 14.

It was not possible to independently verify Russia's account of the battlefield situation.

Zelenskiy's trip to Germany came after the Ukrainian leader received vocal support on May 13 from Italian leaders in Rome and at the Vatican, where Pope Francis called for humanitarian gestures toward the most fragile persons, innocent victims of the conflict."

On the war front, at least one Russian SU-34 warplane and a military Mi-8 helicopter had crashed in the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, Russian emergency services were quoted by TASS news agency as saying, with several reports claiming the craft had been shot down.

Later, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that a Russian SU-35 jet and a second Mi-8 helicopter also crashed on May 13, but that report could not immediately be confirmed.

Ukraine did not comment on the reports. Kyiv normally does not comment directly on any incidents occurring within Russias borders.

If confirmed that the aircraft were shot down, it would represent a major coup for the Ukrainian military and an embarrassment for the Kremlin.

On the war front, Ukrainian forces intercepted and destroyed three missiles and 25 drones overnight in the latest aerial attack by Russian forces, Ukraine's air force said on May 14.

Russia attacked "from different directions with Shahed attack drones, Kalibr missiles from ships in the Black Sea, [and] cruise missiles from Tu-95 strategic aircraft," the air force said in a statement.

Russia has increased the number of missile and drone strikes since the beginning of May, which Ukrainian authorities attribute to Moscow's fear of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Late on May 13, Russian missiles hit the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil, which is home to the electro-pop duo Tvorchi, this year's contestants from Ukraine at the Eurovision 2023 Song Contest, local authorities said.

The attack came as the contest was under way in Britain because Ukraine, last year's winners, could not host it due to the war.

WATCH: After Ukraine was unable to host this year's Eurovision competition, Liverpool stepped in to host the annual song contest and is putting Ukrainian artists and culture front and center.

The strike hit warehouses owned by commercial enterprises and a religious organization, injuring two people, local officials in Ternopil reported on Telegram.

Melinda Simmons, Britain's ambassador to Kyiv, praised Tvorchi for their Eurovision entry.

"The staging was brilliant. And poignant as their university home town of Ternopil was targeted by Russian missiles this evening," Simmons tweeted.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and dpa
KYIV -- The former head of Ukrainian engine manufacturer Motor Sich, Vyacheslav Bohuslayev, who was detained for his suspected assistance to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has asked to be exchanged for Ukrainian prisoners held in Russia, according to a handwritten request obtained by Schemes (Skhemy), the investigative unit of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service.

Ukrainian officials have indicated that Bohuslayev, 84, once described as an "icon" of Ukrainian industry, could potentially be included in a prisoner exchange, while Moscow has not commented publicly on the matter.

"I request that you include me on the list for exchange with the Russian Federation," says the one-sentence letter, written in Russian and addressed to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak.

Under the signature of Bohuslayev -- for decades the controlling force behind Motor Sich, a leading aviation-engine manufacturer -- it identifies him as a "pensioner" and an "invalid."

The signature on the letter is very similar to Bohuslayev's signature on multiple documents reviewed by Schemes in the past, and the handwriting in the text of the letter is also similar.

Contacted by Schemes several weeks before publication of the report, Bohuslayev's lawyer, Ruslan Volynets, said that he was unaware of any possible exchange involving Bohuslayev and that any such request would be a personal decision.

Following the Schemes report on May 10, however, Volynets told TV channel Suspilne that Bohuslayev had written a statement asking to be exchanged due to poor health.

If included in a trade, Bohuslayev, decorated as a Hero of Ukraine for his contributions to the country's aviation industry, would be the most prominent Ukrainian sent to Russia in an exchange since September 2022, when Kyiv included lawmaker Viktor Medvedchuk, who has close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a swap with Moscow for 215 Ukrainian prisoners.

Bohuslayev, now being held in a Kyiv pretrial detention center until May 27, faces a long list of potential criminal charges that, if taken to trial, could lead to him spending the rest of his life in prison.

The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) detained Bohuslayev and another Motor Sich executive in late October 2022 on suspicion of collaborating with and assisting "the aggressor state" by supplying helicopter parts to the Russian military.

After heavily backing anti-Kyiv forces in a war that Moscow fomented in the eastern Donbas region in 2014, Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and it continues with no clear end in sight.

The SBU has released recordings of phone conversations in which a man identified as Bohuslayev assures people identified as Russian defense contractors that the company's supplies to Russia will continue despite the fighting.

Roughly three months after his detention, the SBU further alleged that Bohuslayev had cooperated with "a terrorist organization" -- a reference to Kremlin-backed separatists in the Donbas -- by supposedly paying the separatists 290 million rubles ($3.7 million) as "taxes" on the sale of aircraft parts to the Russian defense sector.

Separate documents published by Schemes suggested that Bohuslayev also arranged deals with sanctioned Iranian firms.

The latest allegation, filed in court on March 28, asserts that Bohuslayev blocked the April 2022 transfer of a Mi-2 military helicopter from Motor Sich to frontline Ukrainian forces by ordering its disassembly and concealing the documents that contain its serial number, date of manufacture, and other key details.

Volynets, his attorney, told Schemes that Bohuslayev had wanted to install helicopter blades certified by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry before handing the Mi-2 helicopter over.

Based on a dated note of conveyance from another lawyer for Bohuslayev, the prisoner-exchange request was finalized nine days before Bohuslayev's court appearance.

Not only criminal charges face Bohuslayev, who, as Schemes has reported, holds both Russian and Ukrainian citizenship. Ukrainian sanctions decreed on April 1 prevent him from buying land or taking part in trade, among other standard business activities, for 10 years.

Bohuslayev denies that he did anything wrong at Motor Sich, now under Defense-Ministry management. He has criticized the government for investigating him, citing his contributions to Ukrainian manufacturing, and called the criminal probe "a nightmare."

But the businessman has not publicly acknowledged any desire to be exchanged with Russia, the source of most of Motor Sich's business for decades.

Asked about the likelihood that Kyiv would exchange Bohuslayev for Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Russia, Zelenskiy's office declined to comment and referred Schemes to a representative of the government body responsible for matters involving prisoners of war, Andriy Yusov.

Schemes had contacted Yusov separately and in advance of the recommendation from the president's office. "Ukraine will continue to use all available tools to return our prisoners of war and illegally detained civilians from the aggressor state," he said. He declined to comment on specific cases or names.

In a December 2022 interview with 1+1 TV host Natalia Moseychuk, Vasyl Malyuk, then the acting head of the SBU and now its head, said that Bohuslayev might "perhaps" become a "high-quality" candidate for a swap in which Ukraine would "be able to get a lot of our real heroes" now held in Russia.

Shortly after Bohuslayev was detained in October, presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak told Current Time he could not rule out the possibility that, as with Medvedchuk, Kyiv would exchange him for what he called "real citizens" imprisoned in Russia.

Written by Elizabeth Owen based on reporting by Kira Tolstyakova and Kyrylo Ovsyaniy of Schemes
Hussein Darwish, acting president of Egypt's National Research Center (NRC), delivers a speech during a donation ceremony, in Suez, Egypt, May 11, 2023. China's fiberglass giant Jushi Group donated a cutting-edge research device to Egypt's National Research Center (NRC) on Thursday in a bid to strengthen scientific and technological cooperation in the fiberglass industry. (Xinhua/Wang Dongzhen)

CAIRO, May 12 (Xinhua) -- China's fiberglass giant Jushi Group donated a cutting-edge research device to Egypt's National Research Center (NRC) on Thursday in a bid to strengthen scientific and technological cooperation in the fiberglass industry.

The device, an Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectrometer (ICP), is an important tool that can provide powerful qualitative and quantitative analysis of the mineral composition of glass fiber.

A ceremony was held to mark the donation at the factory of Jushi Egypt for Fiberglass Industry S.A.E. in the Suez Governorate in northern Egypt.

"The donation is an important step in the construction of the China-Egypt Joint Laboratory for High Performance Fiberglass and Composites," said Zhang Huasheng, science and technology counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Egypt, at the ceremony.

The joint lab has provided an ideal platform for China and Egypt to strengthen technological cooperation and facilitate joint research and development in the fiberglass industry, Zhang said, adding the lab is of great significance to promote the research, development, and application of Egyptian glass fiber products.

Hussein Darwish, acting president of NRC, expressed gratitude to the Chinese side and said he was looking forward to carrying out cooperation with more Chinese companies.

Established in January 2018 through the cooperation between Jushi Group and NRC, the joint lab has brought tangible benefits to the local fiberglass industry, including the development of an Egypt-based fiberglass manufacturing technique that lowers production costs and carbon emissions.

Fiberglass is a new inorganic nonmetal material widely used in fields such as aerospace, transportation, and electronics.

Through cooperation, Jushi Group has helped Egypt become one of the largest fiberglass producers and exporters in the world over the past few years. 
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy received vocal backing from Italian leaders in Rome on May 13 as Germany announced a $3 billion military aid package for Kyiv -- the biggest since the start of Russia's unprovoked invasion -- ahead of a visit by the Ukrainian leader to Berlin.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella told Zelenskiy during his visit to Rome that "we are fully at your side." Italian sources said Mattarella later assured the Ukrainian leader that Rome would continue to aid the country with military, economic, and humanitarian assistance.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensives, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

The Ukrainian leader later met with 86-year-old Pope Francis at the Vatican, where they discussed aid for the "innocent victims" of the Russian invasion.

Zelenskiy presented the pope with a bulletproof vest that had been used by a Ukrainian soldier and later painted with an image of the Madonna.

"The meeting -- which lasted about 40 minutes -- focused on the humanitarian and political situation in Ukraine," the Vatican press service said.

The pontiff last month told reporters that the Vatican was involved in a peace mission to try to end the conflict triggered by Russia's invasion.

But when asked by Italian TV about the popes efforts, Zelenskiy said, "With all respect to the pope, the thing is that we don't need mediators between Ukraine and the aggressor who has occupied our territories, but an action plan for a just peace in Ukraine."

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also hosted Zelenskiy for a working lunch at her official residence at the Chigi Palace in Rome where he was received with military honors.

Speaking beside Zelenskiy, she said that "we are betting on Ukraine's victory," adding that Italy will support Kyiv "for as long as necessary" against Russia's "brutal and unjust aggression."

Zelenskiy's trip came shortly after Russia launched another drone attack on Kyiv and shelled cities in central and southern Ukraine, causing material damage, amid reports of some Ukrainian gains in Bakhmut, where heavy fighting has been under way for months.

In Berlin, the German Defense Ministry announced a new package of military equipment for Ukraine worth 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), the biggest since Russia's invasion.

"We all hope for a rapid end to this terrible war by Russia against the Ukrainian people, but unfortunately this is not in sight," Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in a statement.

The package includes 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, 30 Leopard 1 tanks, 15 Gepard antiaircraft tanks, 200 reconnaissance drones, four additional Iris-T antiaircraft systems including ammunition, additional artillery ammunition and more than 200 armored combat and logistics vehicles.

Zelenskiy is scheduled to arrive in Berlin either late on May 13 or early May 14, according to German government sources.

He is expected to meet in the capital with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and also expected travel to the city of Aachen to receive a prestigious award.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for a speedy delivery of the package as Kyiv is reparing for a long-anticipated counteroffensive.

Kuleba, speaking on May 13 on the sidelines of a meeting with his counterparts from EU countries in Sweden, said Ukraine always needed everything as quickly as possible.

Russia on May 13 claimed its forces had taken control of a section of northwestern Bakhmut amid earlier reports of gains by Ukrainian forces in and around the city -- the scene of brutal fighting in recent months.

"In the Donetsk direction, assault detachments liberated a block in the northwestern part of the city of Artemovsk," the Russian Defense Ministry said, using the Russian name for Bakhmut.

Conflicting battlefield claims around the eastern city have been difficult to independently confirm in recent days.

Oleksandr Syrskiy, commander of Ukrainian ground forces, said earlier on social media that Ukrainian forces were advancing is sectors of the front line against Russian troops near Bakhmut.

"Our soldiers are moving forward in some areas of the front, and the enemy is losing equipment and manpower," Syrskiy said, a day after Ukraine said it had recaptured some territory in the bitterly contested city.

Russia has acknowledged its forces retreated from positions north of Bakhmut, with Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov telling the media that Russian forces "occupied a new frontier" at the Berkhivske reservoir, some 2 kilometers from Bakhmut.

The gains, if confirmed, would be the biggest for Ukraine in six months.

It is unclear if the developments were part of a long-planned counteroffensive.

There also were reports of Ukrainian advances to the south, suggesting a coordinated push by Kyiv to encircle Russian forces in Bakhmut.

Overnight, Kyiv's air defenses shot down all the drones launched by Russia overnight, the capital's military administration reported on May 13, without specifying the number of drones.

There were no reports of damage or casualties, it said. It was the sixth drone attack on Kyiv this month.

In the central city of Khmelnytskiy, people were wounded and critical infrastructure was damaged by Russian shelling overnight, the region's military administration reported early on May 13.

Khmelnytskiy Mayor Oleksandr Symchyshyn said schools, medical facilities, administrative buildings, industrial objectives, and high-rise residential buildings were damaged. "The number of wounded is currently being established," he said.

The mayor of the southern city of Mykolayiv, Oleksandr Syenkevych, said three people were wounded in overnight shelling that damaged a factory and several residential buildings.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Russian Service, Reuters, AFP, BBC, and dpa
The International Military Cooperation Department of Azerbaijans Ministry of Defense has held a briefing for foreign military attaches accredited in the country and representatives of international organizations, Azernews reports via the ministry.

According to the ministry, the departments head, Major-General Huseyn Mahmudov, who spoke at the briefing, informed in detail the military representatives of foreign countries about the deliberate provocation of the Armenian side, during which, starting from the evening of May 10, units of the Armenian armed forces from the positions in the Zod direction of the Basarkechar region intensively, using various types of small arms, fired on opposite positions of the Azerbaijan Army.

Mahmudov said that on May 11 and 12, in order to expand their provocations and further aggravate the situation, the Armenian armed forces, using large-caliber guns, mortars, and then D-30 howitzers, shelled the positions of the Azerbaijan Army.

He noted that the Armenian armed forces from various directions using strike UAVs also attacked several positions of the Azerbaijan Army in the Kalbajar district.

The foreign representatives were shown footage of the Armenian armed forces provocations.

After answering the questions of interest to the representatives, they were shown the remains of the UAVs.
This aerial photo taken on Oct. 27, 2020 shows the construction site of the second phase of the north-south highway built by China in Kyrgyzstan. (China Road&Bridge Corporation/Handout via Xinhua)

BEIJING, May 13 (Xinhua) -- "The precious merchandise of many foreign countries is stored up here. The soil is rich and productive, and yields abundant harvests. The forest trees afford a thick vegetation, and flowers and fruits are plentiful."

The excerpt from "The Great Tang Records on the Western Regions" written by Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang in 646, a narrative of his 19-year journey through China and neighboring areas, vividly depicts a richly-endowed Samarkand, one of the most important transit points on the ancient Silk Road linking the East to the West.

The legendary route activated more than 2,000 years ago bore witness to interactions between China and Central Asia through tradings of merchandise and flows of ideas. Now, the footprints of camel caravans have faded away, but cooperation and exchanges between the two sides have remained and become ever thriving.

This photo taken on April 24, 2023 shows a flume rebuilt under a project allocated from a Chinese grant to reconstruct Kyrgyzstan's irrigation system at Kara-Oi village in Issyk-Kul region, Kyrgyzstan.(Photo by Chingiz/Xinhua)

BREAD AND BUTTER, AND A BETTER LIFE

Water is life, and with water anything is possible. But for Kyrgyz farmers like Evgeny Yakovlev, there was a time when getting water became a big problem.

"Water is not enough. (We have) constant queues. It is very difficult to get water in a timely manner," said Yakovlev, who has been growing crops for 15 years in a village called Kara-Oi, which lies on the northern shore of Kyrgyzstan's Issyk-Kul Lake.

Yakovlev has four hectares of land, on which he nurtures about 1,000 cherry, apple and pear trees, as well as clover and barley. Every summer, Yakovlev needs to water his plants at least three times a day, but the old irrigation system built decades ago could not deliver enough water.

To solve the water problem in Kara-Oi and villages alike, the Kyrgyz government initiated a project in May 2018 allocated from a Chinese grant to reconstruct the country's irrigation system.

Under the project, a reservoir was built by China Railway No.5 Engineering Group Co., Ltd in Kara-Oi with a capacity of 470,000 cubic meters of water. A total of 330 hectares of undeveloped land were put into operation, and the water supply was increased on an area of over 1,000 hectares.

"Before, it was very difficult with water ... Now it's better. We are grateful to the builders," said Arstanbek Zhundubaev, head of the Water Users Association of Kara-Oi.

Ensuring a good life for the people means going beyond water, food and other daily necessities to touch on the experience of life, for example, by making journeys safe and sound. And this is exactly what China and Kyrgyzstan have been cooperating on -- since 2001, about 300 km of roads and more than 10 bridges have been built and reconstructed with joint efforts from both sides.

"More than 20 years, China Road and Bridge Corporation has been implementing large projects in Kyrgyzstan in the road industry," said Ulan Uezbaev, deputy director of the Department of Transport and Road Infrastructure Development of the Bishkek Mayor's Office. "During the implementation of projects, the company also hired citizens of Kyrgyzstan, who learned a lot. I hope that our cooperation will continue."

"This is the street where my sister and I walk ourselves to school each morning," Kasyet Azamatovna, a young girl living in Bishkek, pointed to the newly-paved road outside her front door.

"Look how smooth and neat it is!" she said, bubbling with excitement.

Photo taken on Sept. 13, 2022 shows the entrance to the 100-MW Zhanatas wind farm near the city of Zhanatas in the Zhambyl Region, Kazakhstan. (Photo by Dmitry Vasilenko/Xinhua)

GO GREEN TOGETHER

Maksat Abilgaziev, 33, is a Kazakh born and raised in Zhanatas, a run-down town in the country's south that was once the thriving center of phosphate mining and fertilizer production.

In 2020, Abilgaziev quit his electronic engineering job at a local phosphate mine, and became a wind power engineering trainee at the Chinese-built Zhanatas wind farm, one of the largest of its kind in Central Asia.

"Our Chinese friends have brought equipment, investment, technology and experience to Kazakhstan. They have also cultivated clean energy talents in our country. The wind power projects have created jobs and tax revenues for Zhanatas, bringing the town back to life," rejoiced Abilgaziev, whose income has more than doubled in three years.

The studious and industrious man, now a senior at the wind farm, told Xinhua that it was the dream for a better future that prompted his decision for a career change.

Clean energy, including wind power, is what the future holds for Zhanatas, and Kazakhstan at large and what the future should look like, he said.

"We should pursue the new vision of green development and a way of life and work that is green, low-carbon, circular and sustainable," Chinese President Xi Jinping said at the opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in May 2017. "We propose the establishment of an international coalition for green development on the Belt and Road, and we will provide support to related countries in adapting to climate change."

To put words into action, China has fully integrated the Belt and Road Initiative with Kazakhstan's "Bright Road" new economic policy, and launched 52 cooperation projects with the Central Asian country, with the Zhanatas wind farm as one of the flagship projects.

Put into operation in 2021 with a capacity of 350 million kWh of electricity annually, the wind farm is expected to save about 110,000 tons of standard coal per year and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, compared with thermal power plants.

Another signature project of green cooperation between China and Central Asia is the 100 MW solar power plant seated in the town of Kapchagay in southeastern Kazakhstan's Almaty Region. The plant, jointly invested and built by a Chinese enterprise and Kazakh partners, is one of the largest photovoltaic power generation projects in the country, reducing carbon emissions by 160,000 tons per year.

"With more green cooperation, I believe that in the future, the sky will be bluer, the water will be clearer, and the earth we live on will be cleaner," said Abilgaziev.

This photo taken on April 29, 2023 shows a view of the historical sites in Khiva, Uzbekistan. (Xinhua)

HANDSHAKE OF CULTURES

On a refreshing autumn day in September 2022, Xi held talks with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev at the International Conference Center in Samarkand, during which a small gift was presented by China to Uzbekistan. The gift turned out to be a miniature of the ancient city of Khiva, which celebrates the two countries' joint efforts to restore the cultural heritage of the ancient Silk Road.

"The preservation and restoration of historical sites in Khiva, a project launched during my visit to Samarkand in 2013, has been successfully concluded, further augmenting the charm of this ancient city," Xi said in a signed article published on Uzbek media ahead of his state visit to Uzbekistan.

"I'd give a bag of gold to visit Khiva," goes a Central Asian saying.

Located in southwestern Uzbekistan, Khiva, a shining pearl on the ancient Silk Road, was built in the 10th century and inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in the 1990s. However, due to disrepair, some ancient buildings of the cultural relic sustained damage in varying degrees.

Following Xi's Uzbekistan visit in 2013, China and the Central Asian country announced they would be working together to restore the Amir to'ra madrasasi, the Hasan Murod Qushbegi Mosque and their surroundings in Khiva. A Chinese team arrived at the site in May 2014, and with expertise and dedication to preserving history, the team members had overcome difficulties and successfully completed the restoration work with a minimal intervention approach.

"Our Chinese colleagues do their work very carefully, with love and with all their soul, and try to keep everything in its original form," said Abdullayev Masharib Saydamatovich, deputy director of Center for Promotion of Science of Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences. "Cultural cooperation with China does not stop there. It continues, and restoration work has been singled out as one of the main directions."

True, joint restoration on Khiva only stands as one of the many epitomes of cultural and people-to-people exchanges between China and Central Asian countries. Another dazzling example is the Luban Workshop in Dushanbe, a Chinese vocational workshop program training talents in Tajikistan. The workshop, officially going into service in November 2022, is the first of its kind in Central Asia.

"China's Luban Workshop is recognized as an international vocational education brand worldwide. We believe that Luban Workshop will be of great help to Tajik Technical University in training talents in measurement, green energy and heating, and can promote cooperation and exchanges between the two universities in all aspects," said Shahriyor Sadullozoda, vice rector of Tajik Technical University.

(Xinhua reporters Zhang Jiye in Astana, Guan Jianwu in Bishkek, Li Ao in Tashkent, and Han Liang, Sun Hao and Chen Yin in Beijing also contributed to the story.)
KAMPALA, May 13 (Xinhua) -- A small aircraft on Friday crashed at Kajjansi Airfield near the Ugandan capital of Kampala, the police said in a statement Saturday.

The Friday afternoon incident happened shortly after its takeoff from Kajjansi Airfield when the aircraft experienced difficulties and attempted to return for landing, the statement said.

During the incident, the co-pilot sustained an injury to the right hand, while the pilot was rendered unconscious, the statement said, adding that the pilots were rescued from the wreckage and taken for medical attention.

There were no passengers on board, said Bar Aviation, the company that owns this aircraft, in a press release Friday.

The police said the cause of the crash is yet to be determined, and investigations are underway. 
Amit Shah

There were several loopholes in the existing Prison Act: MHA

NEW-DELHI: The Ministry of Home Affairs has prepared a comprehensive 'Model Jail Act-2023' by making changes in the 130-year-old Jail Act. The relevant sections of the old prison laws have also been included in the new prison act. It will be helpful to serve as a guiding document for the states and their legal jurisdiction. The decision was taken under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The Jail Act-1894 was a pre-independence act. Its main purpose was to keep criminals in custody and to maintain discipline and order in the jail. There is no provision for reformation and rehabilitation of prisoners in the present Act. The Home Ministry said in a statement that today prisons are no longer seen as retribution deterrents, but as sanatoriums and reformatory institutions, where prisoners are rehabilitated to return to society as law-abiding citizens.

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The Ministry of Home Affairs felt that there were several loopholes in the existing Prison Act. There is a need to amend the existing Act to meet the present day needs and requirements of prison management. Keeping in view, the need of the present times and with a reformist approach, the Ministry of Home Affairs has entrusted the task of amending the Prisons Act-1984 to the Bureau of Police Research and Development.

It is worth mentioning here that the bureau, after holding talks with state prison officials (home minister) and correctional experts, has come up with a plan including prison management, parole, furlough, use of technology to encourage good behavior of prisoners, making special arrangements for women and transgender prisoners.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has also reviewed the 'Prisons Act-1894', 'Prisoners Act-1900' and 'Transfer of Prisoners Act-1950'. The relevant sections of these Acts have been included in the 'Model Jail Act-2023'.
Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot

Congress workers celebrated in front of the party's state headquarters in Jaipur

JAIPUR: Reacting on the decisive lead of Congress in the Karnataka Assembly elections, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said on Saturday that Karnataka has rejected communal politics and opted for politics of development.

Gehlot said that the same will be repeated in the upcoming Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana assembly elections. Assembly elections are also slated to be held in these states at the end of this year. Meanwhile, Congress workers celebrated in front of the party's state headquarters in Jaipur.

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Gehlot tweeted, "The atmosphere that was visible in Karnataka during Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' is clearly visible in the Karnataka election results today." Congress leaders under the leadership of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi launched a vigorous campaign.

He wrote, Karnataka has rejected communal politics and opted for development politics. This will be repeated in the upcoming Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana assembly elections."

The main opposition party in Karnataka is poised to cross the magic number of 113 to form the government on its own and is on track to become the sole stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka.

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Notably, In Jaipur, Congress workers burst crackers and distributed sweets in front of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) office here. Rajasthan is due for elections later this year and party workers said that the party's performance in Karnataka will have a positive impact in Rajasthan as well.

A worker in front of the party office told reporters, The party is going to win in Karnataka with a strong mandate. Due to the plans and programs of the state government in Rajasthan, the atmosphere is already in favor of the party and we are hopeful that the party will retain power in the state in the assembly elections.

Another worker said, "The result in Karnataka is the result of hard work of party workers and leaders and we are all very happy and excited."
Priyanka Gandhi

Heartfelt gratitude to the people of Karnataka: Priyanka Gandhi

BENGALURU: The Congress is moving towards a historic victory in the Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023 results. By combining the results of many seats and the trends, the Congress is likely to be forming the government with a huge majority with a huge lead of around 136 seats. Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi has reacted on this achievement of the party.

Priyanka Gandhi tweeted (In Hindi) (Roughly Translated), "Heartfelt gratitude to the people of Karnataka for giving a historic mandate to the Congress party. This is a victory of giving priority to the idea of Karnataka's progress. This is the victory of politics that unites the country."

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She further wrote, "My best wishes to all the hardworking workers and leaders of the Karnataka Congress. All your hard work has paid off. The Congress party will work diligently to implement the guarantees given to the people of Karnataka. Jai Karnataka, Jai Congress."

It is worth noting here that Priyanka Gandhi also campaigned strongly for the victory of Congress in Karnataka. When she attacked the BJP government in front of the public, she also took up local problems. Now that the Congress government is going to be formed here, Priyanka Gandhi has thanked the people of Karnataka for giving a historic mandate.

Priyanka Gandhi had addressed 13 public meetings, besides participating in 12 road shows. She had also held two womens meetings and a workers meet during election campaign.

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According to the Election Commission website, the Congress has won 79 of the 224 assembly seats in Karnataka so far and is leading in 57, while the BJP has won 39 and is ahead in 27. The Janata Dal (Secular) has won 14 seats so far.
UNITED NATIONS, May 12 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the signing of a commitment to protect civilians and humanitarian aid delivery in Sudan, a UN spokesman said on Friday.

"The secretary-general welcomes the signing by the parties to the conflict in Sudan of the Declaration of Commitment to protect civilians and guarantee the safe passage of humanitarian aid in the country," said Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for Guterres.

"While humanitarian workers, most notably local partners, have continued to deliver in very difficult circumstances, the secretary-general hopes this declaration will ensure that the relief operation can scale up swiftly and safely to meet the needs of millions of people in Sudan," Dujarric said.

The UN chief reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire and expanded discussions to achieve a permanent cessation of hostilities, the spokesman said.

After almost a week of negotiations in the Saudi port city of Jeddah, the warring Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces signed the declaration on Thursday.

The spokesman said the United Nations would spare no effort to assist in the declaration's implementation and will continue to deliver humanitarian aid, ceasefire or not.

Word of the accord coincided with a fire in a Khartoum factory producing food for the UN Children's Agency. "It is yet another bitter blow to Sudan's most vulnerable children," said the agency's spokesman in Geneva, James Elder. "This is the darkest, most distinct illustration to date of how this conflict threatens the lives of children through multiple means."

He said the SAMIL factory fire destroyed 14,500 cartons of Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) for the life-saving treatment of 14,500 children. The factory produced 60 percent of the RUTF used to treat children with severe acute malnutrition in Sudan last year.

Elder added that the blaze destroyed the factory's machinery. However, the agency said it has 34,000 cartons of RUTF enroute from France, with another 81,000 cartons to be sent from France at the end of the month.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned that the situation is critical, with the humanitarian response significantly underfunded in Sudan and some of its neighbors: Chad, South Sudan and Ethiopia. The agency deployed teams and is rushing to deliver aid with its partners, but ramping up its operations will require more funding.

Almost 200,000 people have fled the conflict in Sudan so far, UNHCR said.

The World Food Programme reported it delivered food assistance to 50,000 people in the states of Kassala, Gedaref and White Nile. 
Fishermen

They crossed the border while catching fish

ATTARI: The Pakistan Government on Friday night released 198 Indian fishermen at the Attari-Wagha border, who were detained for "crossing the maritime international border". Fishermen who cross the maritime international border in the Arabian Sea are charged with violating the Passport Act of the respective countries and are given a jail term of about six months.

According to the information, they crossed the border while catching fish as they did not know the border in the sea. Indian and Pakistani fishermen frequently cross the international maritime boundary in the Arabian Sea. They are caught by the concerned agencies of both the countries.
While official launch timeline is not available, 2024 Honda e:Ny1 EV is expected to debut in Europe in coming months

Honda has been rather late in EV segment. However, recent plans show that the Japanese carmaker has stepped up focus to boost its electric portfolio in international markets. But in India, Honda continues to focus on ICE-based and hybrid cars.

Hondas brand-new electric SUV for European market is e:Ny1 compact SUV. It was earlier showcased as e:Ny1 Prototype, which in turn is similar to e:NS1 and e:NP1 twins available in Chinese market. Honda e:Ny1 seems familiar, as the SUV is essentially an electric version of HR-V.

2024 Honda e:Ny1 electric compact SUV details

Although it looks like HR-V, Honda has stated that its new e:Ny1 electric SUV is based on an entirely new e:N Architecture F. It has some unique characteristics, designed to improve drive dynamics. One of the key highlights is a front-drive platform.

The e:N Architecture F has three primary USPs  low centre of gravity, a dedicated high rigidity body structure and intelligently designed under-floor aerodynamics. All these features will ensure greater confidence for users while driving the SUV and make journeys a lot more fun and exciting.

The newly developed chassis for Honda e:Ny1 offers improved torsional rigidity. It has been achieved with the use of high tensile steel, which comprises around 47% of the SUVs body by weight. Improved torsional rigidity means the vehicle will have better ride quality and the suspension system can work more efficiently. With the new platform and chassis, Honda e:Ny1 is primed to deliver dynamic and refined performance and exceptional comfort.

In terms of how it differs from HR-V, Honda e:Ny1 Compact Electric SUV has new headlamps, a closed grille and new bumper. The EV also gets a unique set of alloy wheels. Branding elements are also new, as can be seen with the white coloured H logo on the charging flap and on the steering wheel. This seems to be a new identity for Hondas electric cars.

Honda follows a similar approach for Type R variants that have the logo in red background. Similarly, Honda hybrid cars have the H logo in blue background. Another unique aspect is new typeface for HONDA badging at rear.

2024 Honda e:Ny1 Compact Electric SUV is expected to offer spacious interiors. It will be equipped with a massive 15.1-inch vertically mounted (portrait) touchscreen infotainment system. The screen has a fixed section for AC controls. Honda e:Ny1 also gets a separate instrument console, which seems to be around 10.25 inch in size.

Honda e:Ny1 range, specs

Honda e:Ny1 electric SUV is equipped with a 68.8 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. The EV has a lightweight three-in-one integrated power drive unit that generates 201 hp of max power and 310 Nm of peak torque. Honda says range of e:Ny1 is 412 km, as per WLTP cycle. With a DC fast charger, Honda e:Ny1 can load up from 10% to 80% in just 45 minutes.

Honda e:Ny1 could be launched in Europe at around 30,000 (approx. INR 30.70 lakh). At this price point, it will compete with rivals such as Hyundai Kona Electric and Peugeot e-2008. If launched in India, it will rival the likes of the upcoming Hyundai Creta EV, Kia Seltos EV, Tata Curvv EV, etc.
Upon launch, Punch Electric will rival the likes of Citroen eC3 and recently launched MG Comet EV

With new rivals in entry-level EV segment, Tata Motors is looking to spruce up its EV portfolio. The strategy to launch electric versions of existing popular ICE models has paid rich dividends for the company. After Nexon, Tiago and Tigor, the next to get the EV version is Tata Punch.

Tatas primary volume generators have been Nexon and Punch. While Nexon has crossed the 5-lakh production milestone, Punch recently achieved the 2-lakh production milestone. With Punchs soaring popularity, it seems the right time to introduce its electric version. Punch will also be getting a CNG option soon.

Punch Electric spotted  Same exterior profile

Punch Electric has been spotted on a tow truck. The tight-fitting camouflage reveals that Punch EV has the same exterior profile as the ICE-based Punch. Even the alloy wheels are the same as ICE Punch.

Changes at the front are not needed, as Punch Electric is likely to have the charging port at the same spot where the ICE version has the fuel tank lid. This has been the case with Nexon EV and Tiago EV as well. This setup probably helps reduce the number of changes required to convert an ICE-based car into an electric car.

However, Punch electric could get some new features. For example, the test mule can be seen with rear disc brakes. In comparison, ICE Punch is offered with front disc and rear drum brakes. Interiors reveal the presence of a rotary dial, indicating that the EV could get an electronic parking brake. This feature is already available with Nexon EV Max. The electronic parking brake functions automatically and it can also be engaged and disengaged manually.

Other features on the inside appear to be the same as ICE Punch. The electric version can be seen with a floating 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system, which is likely to be from Harman and come with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Other features similar to ICE Punch include a 7-inch TFT instrument cluster, automatic climate control, flat bottom steering wheel and premium upholstery.

Safety features for Punch Electric will be largely the same as its ICE sibling. Some of the key safety equipment offered with Punch includes reverse parking camera, front fog lamps with cornering function, auto headlamps, rain sensing wipers, ABS and EBD with brake sway control and rear defogger.

Punch Electric range

While official details are not available, Punch Electric could have a range of around 300 km. For reference, Tiago EV is available in two variants, one with 250 km range and the other with 315 km range. Recently launched MG Comet EV has range of 230 km whereas Citroen eC3 offers 320 km. Punch Electric is likely to get drive modes of Eco, City and Sport. Battery packs could be similar to those used with Tiago EV.

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KAMPALA, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Uganda has ruled out a resurgence in COVID-19 cases but warned that the country is going through a wave of persistent flu, the Ministry of Health has said in a statement.

There is no evidence of any COVID-19 increase in the country, said the statement released on Friday, warning that the country is facing a wave of viral influenza illness circulating within the population.

"This illness is characterized by a runny nose, headache, intermittent fevers, dry cough and general body weakness. These may persist for a couple of days before complete reduction," the statement said.

The wave is commonly affecting children and the elderly, according to the statement, adding that there is no record of any consistent increase in hospitalizations due to influenza.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said in a tweet on Friday that he had met the COVID-19 National Task Force and they discussed the COVID-19 situation in the country. "I will update the country next week on the steps going forward." 
TUNIS, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Tunisian President Kais Saied on Friday denounced the accusations labeling Tunisia as anti-Semitic.

Saied made the comments after meeting with Prime Minister Najla Bouden accompanied by several ministers of the cabinet.

The president said he was surprised by those (without mentioning them) "who talk about anti-Semitism when we are in the 21st century. They want to sow division to benefit from this discourse."

"Once again, Tunisia will remain safe despite the desperate attempts to harm its stability. The efforts made by the armed, military and security forces are commendable and a source of pride," Saied said.

The attack at La Ghriba synagogue on the island of Djerba in southern Tunisia intended to undermine Tunisia's stability and disrupt the tourist season, he added.

On Tuesday night, a guardsman affiliated with the Tunisian National Guard opened fire at security staff stationed near the synagogue, leaving two visitors and three other security officers killed, before being shot dead during an exchange of fire.

Several others, including security officers and civilians, were injured and taken to hospital. 
NAIROBI, May 13 (Xinhua) -- When he took to the podium to deliver a speech in Mandarin extolling the virtues of friendship and the pursuit of shared dreams, Amos Michira received thunderous applause from the audience thanks to his eloquence and stage presence.

The 21-year-old was declared the overall winner in the Kenyan division finals of the Chinese language proficiency contest for foreign college students held at the University of Nairobi on Friday.

Sharply dressed and with a glow on his face, Michira's oratory skills captured the attention of judges and audiences as he made a speech about enhanced Sino-Kenya cooperation in various fields.

Michira, who was born and raised in a farming town in northwestern Kenya, said that his passion for studying the Chinese language developed after he joined the University of Nairobi in 2021.

As a Chinese language major student at Confucius Institute in the University of Nairobi, Michira plans to learn the Chinese language up to postgraduate levels, as he believes that it will open doors for him to work in a cross-cultural environment.

Kenya held the contest against a backdrop of blossoming Sino-Kenya cultural ties. The 17 young contestants showcased their mastery of Chinese language, dance, and classical music during the contest.

During the first round of the competition, the contestants made speeches in Mandarin, elaborating on their views about the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind.

In the second round that focused on talent shows, the contestants, clad in Chinese traditional regalia, demonstrated their prowess in Chinese dance and classical music.

Deborah Mukiri, an economics and statistics major at Egerton University, became a star attraction thanks to her splendid performance of a Chinese dance.

Currently pursuing the Chinese language as an optional course, Mukiri said that adequate preparation and confidence were behind her thrilling performance.

"Initially, I had some anxiety, but my teachers cheered me on, enabling me to deliver a performance that was well received by the audience," Mukiri said.

Impressed by the contestants' wonderful performances, Julius Ogeng'o, deputy vice-chancellor in charge of academic affairs at the University of Nairobi, said that grasping Mandarin has become crucial for securing well-paying jobs for the youth in a highly globalized workforce.

Bilshan Tamaha Keranga, a 25-year-old contestant from the University of Nairobi, said he looks forward to leveraging his proficiency in the Chinese language to venture into management consultancy, helping link up local youth with potential employers. 
SYDNEY, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Foreign Minister of Papua New Guinea (PNG) Justin Tkatchenko has stepped aside and Prime Minister James Marape will oversee the foreign ministry in the interim.

The announcement of the office of Prime Minister on late Friday afternoon came after Tkatchenko's daughter faced criticism for social media videos she made while accompanying the minister to London for King Charles's coronation, and the foreign minister's defense of his daughter drew further harsh criticism from the public.

"The Prime Minister acknowledged that the Minister did what any father would do, but his responsibility as an elected leader and a state minister required that his conduct and words must remain exemplary and above board at all times," said the announcement.

Tkatchenko later apologized for his remarks and told a press conference that the decision to step aside was not easy.

He said he stepping aside as foreign minister so that the country can move forward and that he can also clear his name and also clear the doubt and the misinformation that is out there, reported by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Marape also apologized to the public for Tkatchenko's words and appealed to the country to rise above these issues. 
YANGON, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar authorities have seized 26.4 kilograms of heroin in the country's central region of Mandalay, the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control reported late Friday.

Acting on a tipoff, anti-narcotics police searched the sacks being transferred from one vehicle to another at a bus station in Mandalay on May 7. They confiscated 26.4 kg of heroin in soap containers.

Five suspects were arrested for the case, and the seized narcotics are worth about 660 million kyats (over 314,285 U.S. dollars), the report said.

The suspects were charged under the country's Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law, and further investigations were underway, it said. 
Madiha Ali/Getty Images

A jury convicted a San Francisco woman of felony possession of ammunition by a prohibited person after law enforcement seized a cache of illegal materials from her home and South of Market storage unit in 2021.

Thor Kill, 45, was sentenced to two years in prison after law enforcement agents found that she had stockpiled thousands of rounds of live ammunition, 87 firearm magazines, 125 pounds of explosive powder and other ammunition manufacturing equipment, according to the District Attorneys Office.
NEW DELHI, May 13 (Xinhua) -- The death toll in the recent violence that shook India's northeastern state of Manipur has risen to 71, officials said Saturday.

"Three public works department (PWD) laborers were also found dead in a vehicle in a 300-metre-deep trench in Churachandpur area. However, whether they met with an accident or got killed has to be probed," Kuldeep Singh, security advisor of the Manipur government told media.

Large-scale violence broke out in the state earlier this month during a tribal protest over the inclusion of the non-tribal Meiteis community for a scheduled tribe status. The call for protest was given by the All Tribal Student Union Manipur (ATSUM).

Scheduled tribes in India are officially designated as disadvantaged socio-economic groups. They are given reservations in education and jobs with the aim to improve their lives.

Thousands of people took part in the rally, during which violence broke out between tribals and non-tribals.

Schools, houses, churches, vehicles and public properties were set ablaze by protesting mobs in the state. Photographs and video footage captured during violence showed buildings set on fire, thick black smoke emanating from the streets and mobs on roads.

According to officials, more than 230 people were injured and about 1,700 houses were burnt down during the violence in the state.

The authorities imposed a curfew to contain the violence. Over 100 columns of army and paramilitary forces were deployed in the state to restore peace.

The government forces carried out flag marches, area domination and rescue operations to shift thousands of vulnerable people to army camps and temporary government accommodations. 
Two Fresno men were indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday in connection with a series of pipe bomb explosions which destroyed cars and property, according to the U.S. District Attorneys Office Eastern District of California.

Scott Eric Anderson, 43, and Paul New, 55, both of Fresno, were charged with conspiracy to destroy by means of an explosive device and malicious destruction, federal prosecutors announced.

Additionally, Anderson is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, authorities added. He had previously been charged and convicted of carrying a loaded and concealed weapon.

Both men are accused of putting pipe bombs in unoccupied vehicles and on property from November 2022 to February 2023, according to prosecutors. In total, the two men are accused of damaging three vehicles.

Anderson also allegedly filmed himself during the incidents, and location data from his electronic device connected him to the locations of the bombings, according to the criminal complaint.

Videos associated with other pipe bombings  which were allegedly discovered in a Google account linked to Anderson  are still being reviewed by investigators to determine the extent of Andersons bombing activities, the complaint stated.

A subsequent search of Andersons home led to the discovery of a .45 caliber pistol, the complaint added.

If convicted, both men are facing a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine regarding the malicious destruction by means of explosive device charges, and five years in prison and a $250,000 fine regarding the conspiracy charge, prosecutors said.
Filipa Ioannou/The Chronicle

San Francisco officers are investigating a fatal shooting in the Bayview neighborhood, the Police Department said Saturday.

Officers responded to a report of a shooting shortly before 4 p.m. Friday at Third Street and Palou Avenue. A man with life-threatening injuries was treated at the scene and transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced that her office secured a second-degree murder conviction related to a 2019 shooting in the Tenderloin neighborhood.

A jury found Gary Owens guilty of fatally shooting Ronisha Cook, a 33-year old mother, near the corner of Ellis and Leavenworth streets in December 2019.

Cook was the passenger in a moving car when Owens shot her in an unprovoked, cold-blooded killing, Jenkins said in a news release Friday.

The driver of the vehicle that was shot was not injured in the incident. Owens was also convicted of attempted murder for the attack.

Ronisha Cook was beloved by her family, Jenkins said. I hope that this verdict brings them a sense of closure and justice.

Sentencing for Owens, who faces up to life in prison, will be scheduled on July 10.
Like many Asian Americans, I was once a firm believer in the American ideals of merit and grit.

Growing up, I attended a magnet school in New York City, a public high school like San Franciscos elite Lowell High that required an admissions test. Tens of thousands of middle schoolers prepared for years to take this test. The overwhelming majority didnt make the cut. The ones who did seemed to already know each other from the prep courses theyd taken to get there.

Each day, the lucky few of us who were admitted into this bastion of privilege made the trek to lower Manhattan from all over the city  where we were told by our teachers and our communities that we were special: that we were the champions of our own success. At college admissions time, students and teachers alike would obsess over how many of us got into Yale, Harvard, Princeton and the other Ivy League schools.

About three-quarters of the student body were Asian Americans, with a majority of East Asians (Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean and Japanese). On the other hand, the number of Black students on campus was so low that they could all fit on about three lunch tables. This was New York: there was no dearth of Black students in the city. The public high school that I walked by every morning on the way to the subway had a clear Black majority.

At the time, I justified this disparity by finding refuge in the idea of meritocracy. All of us are where we belong due to the work we put in, I reasoned. Asians work harder, so there more Asians in elite schools like mine. We deserved this. We were the wheat; the chaff deserved to go to the bad schools.

I certainly wasnt alone in this line of thinking. In her upcoming book, Asian Americans in an Anti-Black World, political scientist Claire Jean Kim observes that Asian American history includes many versions of the idea that the superior quality of our labor is the origin of our successes and that denying us the boons of that hard work flies in the face of everything this country stands for.

The poor Chinaman does not come here as a slave. He comes because of his desire for independence  he sets to work with patience, industry, temperance, and economy, Chinatown leaders in San Francisco wrote in an 1852 open letter, protesting then-California Gov. John Biglers comparison of degraded Asiatics to enslaved Africans.

In 1968, S.I. Hayakawa, the nisei interim president of San Francisco State College and an eventual U.S. Senator, reprimanded strikers at his university led by the newly founded Black Students Union by saying, We (Asian Americans) are a colored race of non-whites  weve been through the same thing but weve been able to come through it better than the Negroes have.

More recently, in a 2021 letter addressed to the Department of Justice, the president of the Asian American Coalition for Education, an anti-affirmative action lobbying group, wrote, Asian Americans have been historically discriminated against in American society. Nevertheless, many of us have achieved our American dream mainly through hardwork (sic), as well as an emphasis on education and family valuces (sic), rather than political favorism (sic) or privilege.

The idea of a group using its superior work ethic and grit to transcend American racism and discrimination is a tempting means to stroke the ego, and I fell for it. That was until college, when I randomly picked up The Dispossessed, a novel by Ursula K. Le Guin. I couldnt help reading these two sentences over and over again: No man earns punishment, no man earns reward. Free your mind of the idea of deserving, the idea of earning, and you will begin to be able to think.

When I stepped back and looked at the bigger picture, I began to realize that my high school classmates and I werent particularly special. I was never the most well-behaved student, but I was given any number of breaks by authority figures. My open love for reading and writing seemed to charm my teachers into forgiving me for, say, habitually handing in essays weeks after they were due.

Black students are rarely given this kind of runway and are punished harshly when they slip up. A 2018 analysis found that while Black youth make up 15.5% of all public school students, they experience 39% of the suspensions. Another study of middle schools found that discipline methods escalated much faster for Black students for the same number of infractions. In counties where researchers measured an average amount of anti-Black and pro-white implicit (subconscious) bias, 16% of Black students were given an out-of-school suspension in a given school year, compared to 5% of white students. From unequal access to $1,200 test prep courses to chronically underfunded public schools, there were clear structural reasons that explained my schools three-table population of Black students. And they had little to do with merit or deservedness .

All of this speaks to a deepening rift among Asian Americans and an existential one at that: Are we on the side of racial justice only when it benefits us?

In the name of justice for Asian American victims of violent crime, for instance, vocal contingents within the community have called for tougher hate crime laws while sharing viral social media posts pointing almost exclusively at Black offenders. Yet according to the FBIs latest hate crime data (which admittedly relies on the sometimes-uneven reports of local law enforcement), the single most common perpetrators of violent hate crimes are non-Hispanic white people.

In fighting to avoid desegregating the San Francisco public school system in the 1990s, thus denying equal access to education to Black students, Chinese American activists invoked Jim Crow and the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case.

The San Francisco school district, the state, and the NAACP have put themselves in the same position as George Wallace in the early 1960s  they are saying quotas then, quotas now, and quotas forever, said Amy Chang of the Asian American Legal Foundation, which supported lawsuits against the district, as quoted in Kims book.

While the rhetoric of civil rights can elevate a cause into something lofty, theres something deeply strange and unaware about those references being weaponized to actively continue segregation and the criminalization of Black people.

In her summation of the desegregation case, Kim wrote: Chinese Americans displaced Black people from their own history and occupied it instead, borrowing the moral authority of the Black struggle to undercut a program that was the fruit of that struggle.

Friends of Lowell Foundation director Diane Yap, who became nationally known for leading last years recall of three San Francisco school board members, is arguably one such activist. She recently testified at a U.S. Commission on Civil Rights briefing on anti-Asian discrimination, where she asserted that theres a wrench stuck in the otherwise smooth turnings of American meritocracy  and its called equity.

Black people are assaulting Asians because theyve been tricked by critical race theory into resenting our success, Yap remarked , referring to recent violent incidents in San Francisco.

When poverty and low academic achievement no longer plague San Franciscos black community at todays rates, perhaps they wont feel so much resentment towards Asians that they violently lash out on a regular basis, she wrote this month in a Substack post on Black-on-Asian crime.

Channeling Hayakawa in a Substack post from last year, she wrote, Asians continue to be the victims of systemic racism just like other people of color, but excel in standardized tests and other objective measures of intelligence despite it.

So why, she asks, are others playing victim and trying to take opportunities away from us?

In an email, Yap told me that school admissions are the most important fight for Asian Americans today. Unfortunately, Asian Americans do not currently enjoy equal rights under the law. It is a shame that Asian Americans are not seen as deserving of civil rights like other groups, including the right to not be discriminated against based on race.

But theres a lot of history missing in this view. And in taking these beliefs at face value, Asian Americans risk pulling up the ladder as we climb, ultimately worsening opportunity for everyone.

Yes, Asian Americans have experienced and continue to experience racism in this country. But denying the structural advantages that Asian Americans have, simply by virtue of not being Black, isnt anti-Asian: Its reality. Asian Americans were never subject to chattel slavery, werent steered into subprime mortgages based on our race, and arent seeing staggering rates of homelessness and incarceration due to systematic and multigenerational economic inequality.

And its not just conservatives like Yap who have a tendency to blur reality regarding race in America. In her book, Kim argues that appropriation of racial oppression happens on the left, too; its an opportunity cost of the coalitional fight for civil rights among people of color.

(Progressives) say, Yeah, were all racialized, were all oppressed,  Kim told me in an interview. But, you know, being called too good at math is not the same thing as being shot by the police for walking down the street. If we want that dream of racial solidarity to actually happen, we need to look at the truth.

According to Kim, its not just that Asian Americans are pawns pitted against Black people by powerful whites. In her book, she outlines the numerous ways throughout history that Asians have worked to separate themselves from Black people, from using eugenics to justify racial hierarchies to suing to be on the right (white) side of Jim Crow laws.

In an 1897 opinion piece criticizing Chinese exclusion, San Francisco activist Wong Chin Foo wrote, We (Chinese) feel grieved and humiliated every time we behold our colored brethren, even from the wilds of African jungles, sit and eat from the National family table, while we, the descendants of the oldest race on earth, are not even allowed to pick up the crumbs from under the table! This piece was published one year after Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court case that upheld (actual) Jim Crow. And its a far cry from famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass pro-immigration stance, expressed in an 1867 speech. I want a home here not only for the negro, the mulatto and the Latin races; but I want the Asiatic to find a home here in the United States, and feel at home here, both for his sake and for ours.

To me, Wongs crumb metaphor really sums up the crux of the problem. Instead of demanding more bread for everyone, its easier to strategically point at the ones you think are undeserving of it. Then, you dont have to change or give anything up. This scarcity mindset implies that there must be a finite amount of opportunity in the world and a finite number of ways to be a good, valuable person, principles that make equity out to be a zero-sum game. Conveniently, this view aligns with white right-wingers like conservative judicial activist Ed Blum, who has spent decades fighting affirmative action, the Voting Rights Act and diversity efforts in the corporate world; all are efforts to shrink the size of Americas metaphorical bread.

The idea that we live in a historical vacuum and succeed solely based on our own efforts is a fantasy, a convenient lie that we tell to justify who wins and who loses. But we can and should get creative and find other ways to thrive. We dont all have to battle it out over crumbs.
The Biden administrations barriers for asylum-seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border, requiring them to first seek refuge in another country, are being challenged by immigrants rights groups before the same Bay Area judge who temporarily halted similar restrictions by Donald Trumps administration.

The policy would bar vulnerable people from asylum for reasons wholly unrelated to the strength or urgency of their need for protection under our laws, immigrant advocates said in a court filing late Thursday, just as the new rules were taking effect. They replaced another Trump administration policy, under a law known as Title 42, that has virtually closed the border since 2020 because of the governments assertion that migrants might spread COVID-19.

The new policy, like the one imposed by the Trump administration in 2019, prohibits migrants fleeing persecution in their home country from seeking asylum unless they have applied for it unsuccessfully in a country they passed through while heading to the United States. According to the court filing, during the year that those rules were in effect, they disqualified more than 98% of 25,000 asylum-seekers.

That requirement would not apply to migrants who presented themselves at ports of entry, a limited number of official sites at the border, and arranged an appointment with the Border Patrol by using a new mobile app called CBP One. The app may be difficult to obtain and often breaks down, the advocacy groups said, and the appointments typically require applicants to wait 20 days or more in areas of Mexico plagued by violent crime.

The Biden administrations new ban places vulnerable asylum seekers in grave danger and violates U.S. asylum laws, said attorney Katrina Eiland of the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the advocacy groups. Weve been down this road before with Trump.

People fleeing persecution have a legal right to seek asylum, no matter how they reach the border, said another attorney in the case, Melissa Crow of the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at UC College of the Law in San Francisco.

The latest arguments were presented to U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar of Oakland in a case that dates from 2018, when the Trump administration barred asylum for migrants who did not present themselves at an official port of entry. Tigar blocked that edict in November 2018, saying federal law allows those seeking refuge from persecution to apply for asylum no matter where they entered, and the Supreme Court left his ruling intact.

Tigar also blocked the Trump administrations order in July 2019 rejecting asylum-seekers who had not applied earlier in another country. But the Supreme Court reinstated the Trump policy a month later, in a 6-3 order without explanation, and it remained in effect for nearly a year before another federal judge halted it.

Trump reinstated the rule just before leaving office, but Tigar again rejected it, saying it increases the risk asylum applicants will be subjected to violence, and it has not been enforced until now.

The Supreme Court still has the same conservative majority, which may again uphold the restrictions if Biden maintains them. Thursdays filing by the immigrants-rights groups pressed the administration to change course.

After campaigning on a promise to restore our asylum system, the Biden administration has instead doubled down on its predecessors cruel asylum restrictions, the advocates contended.

Regarding the requirement to apply for asylum in another country, the groups said many of those countries lack a functioning asylum system, others have systems that are stretched to the breaking point, and most are not remotely safe enough for asylum seekers to find refuge.

As for the port-of-entry exception, the filing said many migrants are unaware of those locations or do not know how to find them, and others are unable to access them due to the well-documented dangers  including rampant kidnapping and physical and sexual violence  and unstable living conditions that refugees face in Mexicos northern border region.
When San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins took the citys top law enforcement seat last year, she inherited three historic prosecutions of police officers for on-duty assaults or killings.

Now, San Francisco is down to one, and some are already predicting its collapse.

Im not optimistic, said Oakland civil rights attorney John Burris, who represented family members of Sean Moore in their excessive force lawsuit against San Francisco. Given Jenkins pattern to date, Burris said he would not be surprised if the criminal case is dismissed.

Moore was shot and wounded by Officer Kenneth Cha in 2017. The victim died three years later while serving a sentence for an unrelated crime in San Quentin prison, apparently from health complications from his gunshot wound.

Jenkins was not immediately available for comment on Friday. San Francisco officials settled with Moores family for $3.25 million. He was unarmed when he was shot.

Should the case against Cha sputter, it would mark a significant shift from the core policies of former District Attorney Chesa Boudin, who promised to take a hard line on police misconduct and was the first San Francisco district attorney to charge an officer with homicide.

Two years ago San Francisco was an epicenter of the movement to reimagine criminal justice, with Boudin at one point juggling five law enforcement prosecutions. In the years since, the city has come to exemplify just how hard it is to win these cases.

Boudin took one use-of-force case to trial and lost when a jury acquitted the officer of a baton beating last year. He quietly pleaded out another case against two Alameda County sheriff deputies accused of beating a man in a Mission District alley in 2015. Ultimately, they faced only minor criminal penalties.

In the midst of these prosecutions, Jenkins was appointed to replace Boudin, after a recall election that served as a referendum on his progressive reforms. She pledged to get tough on open-air drug markets in the Tenderloin, aggressively clamp down on property crime, and restore accountability and consequences.

She dropped two more use-of-force prosecutions of police officers  a manslaughter case for a 2017 shooting in the Bayview, and a case for a 2019 shooting that Jenkins moved to dismiss this week, citing a lack of evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.

Law enforcement prosecutions are inherently difficult, UC Berkeley law Professor Jonathan Simon allowed. State law enables police to use deadly force when they reasonably believe they are threatened; juries bring a set of presumptions into the courtroom and historically they have been swayed by testimony of police officers. Considering all these hurdles, its inevitably rare that officers are charged for using force in the course of their jobs, Simon said, let alone convicted. The remaining officer prosecution stems from the 2017 shooting of Moore, who got into a verbal confrontation with police that turned violent.

Cha and his partner, Officer Colin Patino, drove to Moores house in the Ocean View neighborhood, responding to reports that Moore had violated a restraining order.

Body camera footage of the incident shows Moore behind a metal security door, repeatedly cursing at police and telling them to leave.

A few minutes into the encounter, Cha pepper sprayed Moore in the eyes, the video shows. Moore briefly withdrew to his home before officers ordered him back out, where Patino soon struck Moore with a baton and Cha fired two shots.

The officers said they were injured as well, alleging that Moore punched Patino in the face and that Cha was kicked in the face.

In 2021, Boudin charged Cha with voluntary manslaughter and assault with a semiautomatic firearm. Cha pleaded not guilty and his attorney, Scott Burrell, expressed surprise that charges had been filed, saying that Cha had lawfully fired his gun while defending himself and his partner as Moore attacked them.

Burrell declined to comment on Friday.

Boudins predecessor, George Gascon, previously cleared the officers of wrongdoing, and at one point charged Moore with various crimes, including assault on a peace officer, though a judge dismissed most of the case due to lack of evidence.

Records from San Francisco Superior Court show Cha has his next hearing on May 26, though it is unclear how the case will proceed.
A heat wave is slamming western states this weekend. The Bay Areas natural AC will shield most of the coast from the worst of the Florida-like weather pattern Saturday, but that wont be the case for many of the regions inland valleys. The heat will be so pronounced in some of Californias interior that thunderstorms might also briefly pop up.

The high-pressure system responsible for this weekends heat will set up over the Pacific Northwest on Saturday, sending a clockwise flow of hot, northeast winds toward Northern California. This weather setup will quickly raise daytime temperatures to the 60s and 70s across most of the Bay Area by 11 a.m., but thats when things begin to splinter.

That constant flow of warm air will clear the cool marine layer out of the inland valleys of the North Bay, East Bay and South Bay, exposing the region to blistering heat. Saturday afternoons temperatures will quickly rise to the upper 80s and lower 90s in inland cities such as Napa, Santa Rosa, Walnut Creek and San Jose.

Hot weather in the interior of California could lead to some thunderstorms in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. One or two thunderstorms could make for a lightning display visible as far away as Livermore and Fairfield by Saturday evening.

What about San Francisco?

The persistence of the marine layer along the bay shoreline on Saturday will help keep Oakland, San Francisco, Pacifica and Tiburon relatively cool.

Baron Lynx

Residents near the water can expect a light breeze out of the west after 1 p.m. Saturday. Cool, moist air over the Pacific Ocean will head toward the Peninsula, creating a gusty environment around the Golden Gate Bridge as the breeze funnels that cool air into the rest of San Francisco Bay.

Weather models are forecasting that the marine layers clouds will also return to the west side of San Francisco by the middle of the day Saturday. The combination of the marine breeze and the clouds will keep most of the coastline from measuring afternoon temperatures above 70 degrees. Residents in the rest of San Francisco, the Peninsula and bay shore can look for more widespread 70s  a far cry from the mid-90s that are on tap for the inland valleys.

So if youre looking to beat the heat, your best bet is to head to the coast!

Saturday breakdown

San Francisco: Stray bits of fog will linger along the outer Sunset and Richmond districts Saturday morning before warm, dry air rolls in from the northeast. Temperatures will quickly rise to the upper 60s by 11 a.m.

A sea breeze will then gently begin to stream into the west side around noon, keeping temperatures from going any higher. This breeze will spread into the Presidio and Glen Canyon, eventually spreading east after 2 p.m. That lag between the time it takes the breeze to reach downtown will allow temperatures east of Sutro Tower to reach the lower 70s Saturday afternoon.

Temperatures will then steadily drop back down to the lower 60s by the evening and mid-50s overnight.

Pacific Coast and Peninsula: Patches of fog are likely to linger just off the coast along Hwy. 1 between Pacifica and Half Moon Bay on Saturday. Occasional bursts of clouds and winds will arrive on the shore over the course of the morning before it eventually spills east into the San Bruno Gap. This cool breeze will slow down some of the warming trend thats on tap for the Peninsula Saturday afternoon, leading to daytime highs in the lower 60s on the coast and in places such as Daly City.

Residents closer to the bay shore, including those in Millbrae and San Bruno, can expect to experience warmer weather  upper 60s to lower 70s  on Saturday afternoon thanks to some of the shielding provided by the hills in San Mateo County. Even warmer air is slated for residents along the I-280 and Hwy. 101 corridors south of San Bruno. Residents in Redwood City, Menlo Park and Atherton can expect daytime temperatures to reach the upper 70s to lower 80s as warm, dry air overruns the cool breeze off the water.

Temperatures are set to gradually fall after sunset, but humidity levels will still be high. Expect a muggy Saturday evening across most of the bayside-facing side of the Peninsula.

North Bay: A strong high pressure system to the north will quickly help raise Saturdays daytime temperatures to the lower 90s in the Mayacamas Mountains and far northern corners of Napa and Sonoma counties, including Cloverdale, Guerneville and Healdsburg. This warmth will make it into the Santa Rosa, Napa and Petaluma valleys before eventually spilling into Solano Countys inland cities including Fairfield and Vacaville.

Residents in delta cities such as Vallejo will receive some relief from Saturdays heat thanks to a light breeze off San Pablo Bay, keeping daytime temperatures closer to the mid-80s. More cooling breezes are expected in Marin County, where residents in Tiburon, Sausalito and San Rafael can look forward to a more typical ebb and flow of the marine layers winds. Expect the breeze to arrive after 1 p.m., keeping daytime temperatures from going above the mid-70s.

As temperatures balance out Saturday evening, humidity levels are expected to rise, making for a combination of warm, muggy conditions right around sunset.

East Bay: Saturday is shaping up to be a hot day for residents in the San Ramon and Livermore valleys, where ample sunshine and the constant flow of warm, dry air from the Central Valley will raise daytime temperatures to the upper 80s. A few pockets of lower 90s will be possible in Livermore, Pleasanton and Dublin before a light breeze off the delta arrives by the middle of the afternoon.

Somewhat cooler weather is on tap in the bayside and delta regions, where Oakland, Alameda, Richmond and Concord can expect daytime temperatures in the upper 70s. Warmer air will manage to spill onto the Oakland and Berkeley hills, raising temperatures to the lower 80s.

Humidity levels will rise around sunset as some distant cumulus clouds appear over the eastern sky. Expect a muggy evening across most of Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

South Bay and Santa Cruz: A sharp temperature contrast is forecast to set up between Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties Saturday. Warm, dry air will hover over the Santa Clara Valley and Hwy. 101 corridor between Morgan Hill and Gilroy, leading to daytime temperatures in the upper 80s. The urban heat island effect around downtown San Jose will raise a chance of lower 90s for highs in the afternoon.

Residents along Hwy. 17 in the Santa Cruz Mountains will be spared from some of the hottest conditions on Saturday afternoon thanks to a light breeze from the south, but temperatures will rise to the mid-80s. The coolest air in the region will set up shop right along Monterey Bay, where residents in Capitola, Aptos, Soquel and the Santa Cruz Boardwalk can look forward to the perfect combination of sunshine and cool daytime highs around the 70-degree mark.
The start of 2023 has brought wild weather to California, including an above-average number of tornadoes.

Just last week, two tornadoes touched down in the Los Angeles area within a span of about 10 minutes. That brings the total as of mid-May to nine, compared with the annual average of seven, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Tornadoes arent that unusual for California  just relatively infrequent compared with other parts of the country, like the central United States. They tend to land more frequently in two miniature Tornado Alleys  the Central Valley and the Los Angeles coastal plain  Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA and the Nature Conservancy, said during an online presentation.

Those are the regions in the state that tend to see the right combination of thunderstorm activity and wind patterns to spin up tornadoes, because of the orientation of nearby mountain ranges.

These ranges, oriented from northwest to southeast, steer wind along Earths surface.

Then at 18,000 feet, imagine that the wind is coming from the southwest, so its coming at right angles to the wind at the ground, said John Monteverdi, emeritus professor of meteorology at San Jose State University. And then imagine if a thunderstorm forms, at the ground, and you tilt that air upwards into the thunderstorm and it begins to rotate.

The resulting rotating column of air is a tornado.

While the Central Valley and Los Angeles area generally see the most tornadoes in California, the Bay Area also has conditions ripe for spin-ups, especially the Santa Clara Valley.

You have on one side the Santa Cruz Mountains and then the other side the Diablo Range, Monteverdi said. The winds get channeled.

Most of the states tornadoes occur from January through April, with a peak in February and March. That said, official records probably dont include all of Californias tornadoes, as events were largely underreported before the 1980s, Monteverdi said.

These months coincide with the main ingredient needed for tornadoes: thunderstorms. While Californias marine layer keeps unstable air from rising during Bay Area summers, its pretty nonexistent in the winter, said Chronicle meteorologist Gerry Diaz. That means the regions defenses are down for storms during those months.

The peak in thunderstorms in California is between February and April, Monteverdi said. There is no coincidence that thats the period when tornadoes are most frequent in the state.

Most of Californias reported tornadoes are relatively weak, based on the Enhanced Fujita Scale and its predecessor, the Fujita Scale, which rate tornadoes on the amount of damage they produce. More than half of the states tornadoes fell under the F0 or EF0 categories, corresponding to light damage, like visible damage to a houses gutters or siding, as opposed to shattered windows.

The two tornadoes in Los Angeles County last week were rated EF0, meaning they produced damage consistent with wind speeds between 65 and 85 mph. Two tornadoes also occurred in Southern California in March, including an EF1 tornado that was the strongest recorded in the Los Angeles metropolitan area since 1983.

EF1 tornadoes have estimated wind speeds between 86 and 110 mph. An EF1 tornado also touched down in March in the Central Valley.
MEXICO CITY, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Mexico international midfielder Erik Lira could leave Cruz Azul this summer to join Spanish club Sevilla, according to media reports in the Latin American country.

Lira has also attracted the interest of Italy's Udinese and Fiorentina as well as other clubs in Spain, La Aficion reported on Friday.

The 23-year-old's contract with Cruz Azul is currently due to expire in December 2025. His market value is 4.5 million euros, according to specialist website Transfermarkt.

Having begun his career at Necaxa's youth academy, Lira made his professional debut with Pumas UNAM in 2020 before joining Liga MX rivals Cruz Azul last year.

He has made 62 appearances across all competition for the Mexico City club and has earned three Mexico caps since his international debut in 2021. 
One day in 1988, my suburban family got to feel especially grand. We piled into our green Volvo and left San Jose to spend the day at the newly opened San Francisco Centre mall, just three blocks from Union Square. I was 14, with a blooming retail obsession, and I was awed by the vertical mall that was so ahead of its time.

We rode the nations first curved escalators around the atrium of the five-level shopping palace to Nordstroms palatial shoe department, where men dressed in suits measured our feet while a pianist played on a Steinway. My mother was ecstatic; she wears a size 10, and at the time, the department store was among the only retailers to carry womens shoes that big. I treasured a pair of cherry red Salt Water sandals from the store all through high school.

Last week  35 years after my familys formative visit  Nordstrom announced it will vacate its 32,000-square-foot space at 865 Market St. by July 1. The brand is also closing its off-price outpost, Nordstrom Rack, located across the street. These stores join dozens of others around Union Square that have shuttered since the pandemic: first Gaps flagship store in August 2020, then Uniqlo in February 2021. More dominos have fallen in the last year, including Anthroplogie, the Container Store and Crate & Barrel.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The reasons for the dramatic decline are much-debated among residents, politicians, journalists and the retailers themselves. Property crime has risen at a time when tourism has yet to fully recover and many tech workers have stopped commuting to offices downtown. Theres also a widespread public perception that the number of people living on the street  and often openly using drugs  has increased, although raw numbers show a slight decrease in the unhoused population in San Francisco as a whole. All of that is compounded by ongoing pressure from internet retail.

Nordstrom itself attributed its closure to a lack of foot traffic in the neighborhood, while Westfield, which owns San Francisco Centre, blamed rampant crime. Conservative media has been quick to agree; a recent New York Post headline read, Nordstrom closing two San Francisco stores over deteriorating situation as crime in city surges. But theres little to back up the idea that crime is the cause. While data from the San Francisco Police Department does show that larceny theft reports, including shoplifting, are up in that district this year compared to last, they are still lower than they were right before the pandemic.

Obviously, many factors are at play here. Still, even city leaders have suggested that the neighborhoods outlook is bleak; Mayor London Breed said in February that downtown as we know it is not coming back.

Maybe Union Squares retail collapse was inevitable, just another in a long string of neighborhood booms and busts stretching back to the Gold Rush. But the bygone heydays of Union Square live brightly in the collective consciousness of Bay Area locals and anyone else who grew up visiting the neighborhood.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

In the Facebook group San Francisco Remembered, scores of people have responded to a request from SFGATE to share their reflections on the fall of the iconic retail space. Their more than 130 posts recall first jobs and first dates and vivid memories of times with mothers, fathers and grandparents. One woman remembered having lunch under the dome at the Emporium when she was dating her now-husband in the early 80s.

Food and dining out at long-gone eateries are prominent in these memories, with people sharing recollections of the hot fudge sundaes at Blums, creamed spinach at Townsends Restaurant, egg and olive sandwich at City of Paris and gimlets at Kuletos.

Holidays at Union Square are also part of the nostalgia, especially the rides and Christmas festivities on the roof of the Emporium. Melissa Hanna said her mother always bought her cotton candy and told her it was a scoop of clouds as they stood up on the roof.

And I believed her, Hanna wrote. Growing up in San Francisco was magical and visiting Union Square was always a special treat. Just like cotton candy.

San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst N/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Imag

Patricia Crockett also visited Union Square with her mother during the holidays. In the 1960s, their main stop was the huge Christmas tree installed at City of Paris, the department store that was located where Neiman Marcus sits today. We would get some hot cocoa from Blums and sit in Union Square, on the steps and watch the spectacular spectacle of it going in, piece by piece, Crockett wrote.

The decorations at Macys, Podesta Baldocchi and Gumps were another highlight in December. People used to come from miles around just to see the Christmas window displays at Macys, wrote Nick Mason.

Many people remembered trekking into Union Square on visits from the suburbs. Cindy Viola said her family drove in from Burlingame, as her parents grew up in the city. We made sure to hit the Emporium and Macys. Loved going into I. Magnins, Joseph Magnins and Saks just to browse, she wrote.  We definitely went to the opening of Nordstrom. Im so sad to see it go!

Brandon Jeffrey Mark, who said he grew up in Modesto in the 1970s, recalled annual trips to the city to properly shop for new school clothes and stay at the St. Francis hotel.

Many of the memories are from recent decades after the Nordstrom opened. In the 1990s, Deborah Navarrete was working at Fourth and Mission streets; on her lunch break, she said, shed run off to Nordstrom to buy cosmetics. Stila was new and exciting and the Prescriptives counter was my favorite, Navarrete wrote. Doug Elliott was lucky to catch a free lunchtime Tony Bennett concert sponsored by Macys in the 90s.

In the early 2000s, Stefanie Hockett worked at Banana Republics flagship store. She remembers endlessly walking around Bristol Farms in the food court under Bloomingdales.

San Francisco Chronicle/Hearst N/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Imag

The majority of folks, though, looked further back, to before Nordstrom even opened, to the 50s, 60s and 70s, to the eras when you wore hats, gloves, dresses & suits to Union Square.

Dale Bates worked at I. Magnin from 1957 to 1963 and called it a wonderful place to be. Her father managed the mens clothing store Roos-Atkins, where Saks Fifth Avenue is now located.

Holly Sadoff said she spent a lot of time in Union Square as a child in the 1960s with her grandmother, who lived at the Herbert Hotel. Wed hang out in Union Square, go to the top of St. Francis for ice cream sundaes, all the fancy storesCity of Paris was the best! she wrote.

Hanna, whose mother bought her the cloudlike cotton candy, zipped downtown from the Richmond District with her mom on the 38 Geary bus, she said. Their visits were filled with shopping at Liberty House, followed by lunch at Mamas in the basement of Macys. It was always a roast beef on baguette and potato salad, and a coke with a slice of lemon, she wrote. Then we would just walkup and down little alleys that felt hidden, riding escalators for the fun of it.

Most of the department stores mentioned are long gone, and memories of them are reminders that this isnt Union Squares first slump. The White House closed in 1965, City of Paris in 1976, I. Magnin in 1995 and the Emporium in 1996. Their openings and closures were part of previous ups and downs in the neighborhoods retail economy and changes in shopping trends. When Nordstrom opened in 1988, Market Street had fallen on hard times; an LA Times article described the corner it was opening on as seedy and torn-up. The new mall was a project to revive the area  which is, once again, on a decline.

George Rose/Getty Images

But when something is dying or lost, reminiscing can offer comfort  and even provide insight into what the future may hold.

I was happy to see Nordstrom go in but sad to see The Emporium close, Mary Edington wrote, in reference to the department store that closed 27 years ago.

However, she continued, Market Street has been a troubled street for the many decades Ive lived & worked in the City. The City will bounce back as its always done. I love my City and have faith in its resurrection of its retail.
The stars of Joy Ride called their newest film liberating and the first of its kind at Thursdays red carpet screening in San Francisco.

Ashley Park, who plays one of the films main characters, was in attendance and told SFGATE it was her third time seeing the film with an audience. She said each time, the crowd has left energetic.

We love anything in this genre, and what Ive seen at least personally is everybody leaving the theater feeling happy, horny, seen or heard and just excited about life, she said.

The film, which will officially hit theaters July 7, is a comedy centered around four Asian American friends played by Park, Stephanie Hsu, Sherry Cola and Sabrina Wu, who travel through various parts of Asia to find one of their birth mothers. The comedy is like a blend of Bridesmaids and Crazy Rich Asians, with hilarious moments that include bags of cocaine, a very interesting sex scene that involves a chaotic three-way montage and a performance from a fake K-pop group.

Joy Ride, directed by Adele Lim, had a nearly full theater of 1,400 audience members screaming and bursting out laughing during nearly every moment of the San Franciscremiere.

[Joy Ride] has everyone in a good mood and relating to one, if not all, of the characters and situations  and we just all happened to be Asian, Park said before the premiere.

The studio comedy premiered in San Francisco during CAAMFest, the worlds largest festival for Asian American films, according to its website. The film festival runs from May 11 to 21 in San Francisco and Oakland.

Wu, a comedian and actor who notably wrote for the Disney+ series Doogie Kamealoha, explained their appreciation for San Francisco on the red carpet at the historic Castro Theatre.

Its so beautiful in San Francisco right now, and when I lived in Michigan with my gay friends, we used to be like, one day we will all escape to California. We will move to the gay West Coast, they said. So being here on this road where theres like a rainbow flag every 10 feet, I guess, is exactly what I pictured.

Thuy Tran, festival and exhibitions director for CAAMFest, said in a prerecorded video shown at the premiere that the story of Joy Ride pushes the industry and Asian American community forward with its taboo but groundbreaking themes.

Joy Ride is so insistent on Asian American joy, Tran said. It is so unapologetic about our desires, period.

In the film, the four characters, especially Parks character Audrey, struggle with their sense of self and personal identity. Audrey, who works at a law firm, ignores the seemingly wild aspects of life that make her happy and fights with her cultural identity as an Asian American. The film does an excellent job depicting the characters breakthroughs with their self-discoveries while still capturing their pure and multifaceted friendship, all while not falling short of hilarious moments that will have you cackling in your seat.

During a Q&A session after the premiere, the cast members said they are thankful for the films writers ability to create such a diverse cast with notably different personalities and identities. The cast members also mentioned that similar to their on-screen characters, they felt their identities as Asian Americans limited their opportunities, and Joy Ride is a huge breakthrough for their professional careers.

I actually sometimes think that because I didnt see a path forward, I had such low expectations for myself, said Hsu, who plays Kat, during the Q&A session. Hsu recently played several supporting roles in blockbusters like Everything Everywhere All at Once and Marvels Shang-Chi.

Park, who also played Mindy Chen in Emily in Paris, said she felt like all of the lead actors similar experiences in the film industry created a bond among the four.

When youve only had really a handful of opportunities in supporting roles, you have a really supportive cast, she said during the Q&A.

Joy Ride was a fantastic portrayal of living life without shame, and if the reception at the Castro was any indication, it will be a revolutionary film for the talented cohort of actors and an important chapter in the next wave of Asian American cinema.
As I type this with sticky fingers, Im here to say that Warriors center Kevon Looney has great taste in chicken wings.

The rebounding machine revealed to Axios that two of his favorite San Francisco pastimes are taking walks at Lands End while listening to music, and enjoying chicken wings from Hot Sauce and Panko in Nob Hill.

Looney told the news outlet that he's a big wing guy.

The hole-in-the-wall restaurant originally opened in the Richmond District in 2011. It gained a cult following for its wide variety of wing options and hard-to-find hot sauces.

In 2016, owner Terrence Luk relocated to 1468 Hyde St. in Nob Hill, where the now much-lauded spot has not only gained Looney's respect, but even has a song named after it: Panko, by local rapper ZayBang.

On my visit Friday before Game 6, there were about 5 people ahead of me in line. A few orders were delivery app pickups; another was two friends catching up over wings. One man put in an order for 70, and I wondered if Looney could eat that much by himself.

Nico Madrigal-Yankowski/SFGATE

While the woman at the register was unable to confirm if Looney does in fact visit the chicken joint regularly, and attempts to reach Luk were unsuccessful prior to publication, I did enjoy some wings myself.

First up, I had Chriss wings. Breaded and fried with a salt, pepper and honey glaze, these were crispy, sweet and piping hot. Next, I tried the Old Bay wings, fried in a sriracha caramel sauce fortified by a smattering of the classic Old Bay spice rub. The wings come in five-piece orders at $7.89 plus tax. Other flavors include mango-habanero, gochujang, buffalo, Jamaican dry jerk, lemon pepper, garlic-bacon-parmesan and al pastor and crema.

There was one mystery that I wasn't able to clear up. Kevon Looney, if you read this, the people want to know your go-to order at Hot Sauce and Panko.
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Alert: North Carolinas Democratic governor vetoes legislation that banned nearly all abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy
LOS ANGELES  When the name "Natasha Obama" came up on the list of hundreds of students graduating from the University of Southern California's Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences on Friday morning, the crowd almost universally cheered for the former first daughter.

Sasha Obama, 21, beamed as she crossed the stage at Allyson Felix Field to commemorate her new sociology degree, as her sister and parents  the 44th president and former first lady  applauded in the audience.

But otherwise, Barack, Michelle and Malia Obama kept a low profile at USC's graduation festivities, scooting out of the ceremony soon after their youngest daughter received her diploma  but not before buzz about the family's presence had spread on social media and around campus.

"I was so excited to see Obama and Michelle," said Michelle Davies, who also graduated Friday from the college. "I wanted a picture (with them) so bad, but then they left early. If I would have gotten a picture I would have passed out."

The political science major, who is Black American, said she knew Sasha from around campus, noting that the African American community at USC is pretty small  but said it was a different level to see Barack and Michelle Obama on Friday.

"I waved at them and Michelle waved back at me," she said, almost giddy.

Flanked by more than a dozen Secret Service agents, the Obamas didn't address the crowd or take photos with attendees but cheered on the graduates and listened to the speakers. As Barack Obama walked out, he congratulated other parents and family members.

Alfred Chen and his friends rushed to the Dornsife College ceremony after getting a text that the Obamas were there.

"We tried to find them but we can't, there's so many people," said Chen, who graduated from the engineering school Friday. Chen's group even posed for a photo with the Dornsife College ceremony behind him, in the hopes that the Obamas might be in the background. (Unfortunately, they were not. Chen and his friends missed the family by about 10 minutes.)

Sharon MacDonnell had more luck as she waited for her son to walk across the stage. She was about as close as was possible to the Obamas as they walked out early from the ceremony.

"I came over to see him and then I spotted all the guys in suits," she said. She said she got some good photos of the former president, and said as a USC alumni it was particularly special to see the former first family there.

Sasha was just 7 years old when her family moved into the White House in 2009. In 2019, she graduated from high school in Washington, D.C., two years after her father's two terms as president. She initially attended the University of Michigan but transferred to USC.

Malia Obama also lives in L.A., where she's working in the film industry.


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ROYAL OAKS, Calif. (AP)  A dilapidated greenhouse at a Northern California nursery was home to dozens of farmworkers and their families who were living in tiny and unsafe dwellings without ventilation, authorities said Friday.

Officials found 62 makeshift dwellings inside the greenhouse on a property in rural Monterey County that were put together with plywood, sheetrock and other materials, said Nick Pasculli, a county spokesperson.

There are exposed gas lines and wiring, no proper sewer. The conditions are very rough, Pasculli said.

It was not yet clear if the farmworkers were employed at the nursery in the community of Royal Oaks or just lived there, Pasculli said. He added that some residents were paying up to $2,000 per month in rent and one told investigators he had lived there for more than eight months.

Nor have investigators determined yet where the migrant families are from, according to Pasculli, though some of them speak indigenous languages native to the Mexican state of Oaxaca.

Authorities started investigating the property this week after receiving an anonymous complaint.

The nursery owner will be fined nearly $60,000 each day his property is in violation of structural, health and environmental codes, Pasculli said.

The landlords name is not being released due to an ongoing investigation, he said.

County officials were working with the families to find suitable housing and their landlord will have to pay for two months of rent for each of the 62 families that were living on his property, Pasculli said.
SANTA FE, New Mexico (AP)  Joe A. Garcia, a well-known Native American leader from New Mexico and advocate for tribal sovereignty, has died at 70, his family confirmed Saturday.

A traditional funeral was already held following Garcia's death Thursday, said family members. The cause of death was not made public.

Garcia was a former two-time president of the the National Congress of American Indians, which describes itself as the oldest and largest organization of American Indian and Alaska Native governments. He previously served three terms as governor of the Ohkay Owingeh, a federally designated tribe of pueblo people in New Mexico. Garcia was currently the tribe's head councilman.

His untimely departure is a significant loss for Indian Country, as he was a true culture keeper for his people and a dedicated advocate for Native Nations across the Southwest region, Fawn Sharp, the president of the National Congress of American Indians, said in a statement.

Beyond his role as a leader, Joe Garcia was a mentor, a visionary, and a compassionate soul who touched the lives of many. He leaves a profound legacy of service, leadership, and cultural preservation, Sharp added.

Garcia had been chairman of the All Indian Pueblo Council, now renamed the All Pueblo Council of Governors, a non-profit leadership group that represents the modern pueblo tribes.

He also had been a vice president of the Board of Trustees of the Santa Fe Indian School, which serves about 700 Native American middle and high school students.

The Santa Fe Indian School noted Garcia's passing on its website.

His work in Indian Country will not be forgotten," wrote Robyn Aguilar, president of the school's board of trustees. "I am truly thankful to have had a mentor who was courageous in his conviction to protect Sovereign lands and the rights of Indian children.

Garcia held an an electrical engineering degree from the University of New Mexico and worked 25 years for Los Alamos National Laboratory before retiring in 2003, according to the schools statement.

Garcia is survived by his wife, Oneva, daughters Melissa and MorningStar, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, among other family. His son, Nathan, died in 2020.
SEATTLE (AP)  The Washington Supreme Court has ruled that prosecutors discriminated against a Black man by striking the last Black person from his jury pool nearly two decades ago.

Theodore Rhone, 65, will get a new trial as the high court takes steps to rectify a national history of racism and the persistence of implicit bias in jury selection, The Seattle Times reported.

The unanimous decision was issued Thursday.

They are keeping their promise and commitment to eliminating racial discrimination in the justice system, Lise Ellner, Rhones attorney, said of the state Supreme Court justices.

Rhone argued before his 2005 trial that the states exclusion of the last Black potential juror without reason was discriminatory.

I dont mean to be facetious or disrespectful or a burden to the court, he told the judge at the time. However, I do want a jury of my peers. And I notice that (the prosecutor) took away the Black, African-American, man off the jury. I would like to have someone that represents my culture as well as your culture. To have this the way it is to me seems unfair to me."

A new jury pool was denied. Rhone was convicted in Pierce County Superior Court of robbery, unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and other charges.

Because of previous robbery-related convictions, Rhone received a life sentence without the possibility of parole under Washington's three-strikes law.

He appealed the case, which the state Supreme Court denied in 2010. However, things have changed since then, Justice Susan Owens wrote on behalf of the court in the ruling this week.

It is undeniable that our understanding of the impact of implicit racial bias on jury selection has changed since our 2010 decision, Owens wrote.

Rhone, speaking from the Stafford Creek Corrections Center on Thursday, told the newspaper the decision means a fresh start.
Future Urbanism, one of the regions largest sustainable smart city expo, will open its doors on October 16, bringing together mega projects and the worlds most influential urbanists.

The global forum, which runs until October 20, will see URB, a global leader in developing sustainable cities, work along with Dubai World Trade Centre, to deliver pioneering content, roundtables, experiences, case studies, summits and exhibitions to create the next generation of sustainable cities.

It will exhibit blueprints of the sustainable cities on the show floor during the 5 days of high-level engagement, networking and knowledge exchange.

Hosted at Gitex Global, the largest tech show in the world, Future Urbanism will be the regions largest Sustainable Smart City Expo co-located with Gitex Impact, the regions largest event for sustainability tech innovation, ESG strategies and services.

It will bring together thought leaders across all industries to create sustainable cities of tomorrow, said the organisers.

There has never been a greater need for smarter placemaking in the public realm with sustainable & innovative infrastructures. As such, Future urbanism will become a global hub for the most innovative minds and designs behind the cities of tomorrow, they added.

Winners of the 2nd edition of the incubator for sustainable cities will also be announced during the event, as well as the winners of its Urban Innovation Awards.

URB Chief Executive Baharash Bagherian, who has masterminded design of various sustainable cities currently under construction, highlights the significance of the partnership in its mission to accelerate the worlds developments towards sustainability.

"Rapid urbanisation and the increase rate of climate change is fueling new thinking in the planning of the next generation of sustainable cities. As such it has become a necessity to promote a culture of innovation in urban planning," stated Bagherian.

"Future Urbanism Expo is a unique platform for us to showcase our initiatives & projects. Our aim at the Expo is to transfer our unique knowledge and experiences, whilst also celebrating the next generation of urban innovators from our incubator and awards programme," he added.

Abhishek Ganapathy, the Commercial Director (Exhibitions) at DWTC, explained the significance of the collaboration with URB during Future Urbanism Expo.

"For the event, we're bringing together leading experts and innovators in sustainable urban development to pave the way for a smarter future," noted Ganapathy.

"With a focus on mega city transformations and net zero goals, we're excited to partner with URB to shape the next generation of urban landscapes and deliver best practices through content, knowledge and experience," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
MEXICO CITY, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Friday denounced some U.S. politicians' statements against Mexican migration as "crude, smug politicking," urging the Spanish-speaking population not to vote for "arrogant" U.S. representatives.

"It is crude, smug politicking to try to deceive U.S. citizens, but it is ineffective, it is not going to help them," he told reporters at the National Palace in Mexico City.

During his daily press conference, Lopez Obrador particularly condemned the recent statements by Republican Senator John Kennedy, who said on Thursday that "Mexico would be eating cat food out of a can" without the support of the United States.

For his part, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard described Kennedy as a "profoundly ignorant" man and a "person who is unwelcome" in Mexico.

Ebrard also mentioned the law approved on Thursday in the U.S. House of Representatives to reinforce border security measures, including the completion of the border wall between Mexico and the United States, and the designation of Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations.

"This is being organized because next year there are elections," he said. "The foundation of these ideas is racism against Mexicans and all Spanish speakers in general."

Ebrard noted that authorities have detected a reduction in migratory flows and no confrontations at the border, amid speculation of an increase in both due to the end of Title 42, the U.S. health measure put in place to combat COVID-19. 
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who has launched a White House bid, touched on a number of topics recently in a "Conversation with the Candidate" town hall event with New Hampshire voters.

Watch the full conversation in the video player above or the links below. Included is a 30-minute, online-only portion of the conversation:

Who is Vivek Ramaswamy?

Ramaswamy was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and after high school, graduated from Harvard University with a degree in biology.

A first-generation American, he went on to get his law degree from Yale University while working at a hedge fund.

He started a biotech company and oversaw the development of five drugs that would win approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

Ramaswamy also wrote a New York Times bestseller called "Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam."

Last year, he launched a new firm called Strive Asset Management.

He believes in ending affirmative action, shutting down the Department of Education and declaring independence from China.

He is married to Dr. Apoorva Tewari Ramaswamy, has two children and lives in Columbus, Ohio.

See the full "Conversation with the Candidate" event through the following links:

Ramaswamy floats Democrat as possible running mate

If Ramaswamy wins the Republican nomination for president, he told voters he hasn't given much thought about who would be his running mate, but floated a surprising name.

"I would give strong consideration to even thinking unconventionally, even someone like RFK Jr., for example, who is running for the Democratic nomination," Ramaswamy said.

"I think we live in a moment where we can unite this country," he added. "Ronald Reagan did it in 1980, winning in a landslide election. I think there's an opportunity to win in a landslide election in 2024, and I think that's the single-most uniting thing we could deliver in our politics, and that's the way I'm going to be thinking."

Candidate says he would sign bill to ban gender-affirming care for minors

Ramaswamy answered a viewer question about gender-affirming care, saying he would support banning any genital mutilation for children under the age of 18. He shared an anecdote he said came from the campaign trail in New Hampshire:

"The last time I was here in New Hampshire, I met two young women, both of whom when they were teenagers, one of them was 13 years old, two young women went through double mastectomies, cut off both of their breasts. One of them had a hysterectomy, removing her uterus. Both of them had puberty blockers that effectively mean they will never be the same again, and the sad part is, Adam, they regret it."

Ramaswamy shared more about how he formed his opinion and said banning the practice is the "compassionate" thing to do for children.

"There isn't a state in this union that allows you to get a tattoo before the age of 18. Why? Because we don't want kids to make permanent changes to their bodies that they will regret later in life."

"It's not that I condemn any kid for going through confusion. Far from it. I think we need to be compassionate. Most of the time, when a kid, like those two young women who I met, say that my gender does not match my biological sex, it means something else is going wrong in their life. We need to have the courage to be able to ask them, 'What's going wrong at school? What's going wrong at home?' and actually have the compassion to help them. Affirming their confusion is not passion to me. It is cruelty. For most of our history, we have viewed that as a mental health disorder. That's not a stigma. That's actually the first sign to asking how we, as adults and leaders, help our children by protecting them.

"That's not because I shun anybody. It's actually, I think, the compassionate thing to do for children."

See the full "Conversation with the Candidate" event through the following links:

Other "Conversation with the Candidate" events will be held throughout the campaign season. The full list of candidates who participate will be updated here.
WILTON  Although it could be considered a quintessential old-time organization, the Cannon Grange and its members are taking steps to breathe new vitality into what they believe can be a highly relevant group going forward in the 21st century.

With the start of its 125th year earlier this month, Cannon Grange No. 152, which officially began on May 4, 1899, is seeing new members, new initiatives and new light streaming into its historic building at 25 Cannon Road adjacent to the train tracks.

"I think Cannon Grange is starting to blossom," said its president, Doug Shepherd, who joined in 1994 after attending the grange's annual agricultural fair.

"Our new members have good energy, fresh ideas and really want to see the grange active in the community," he said.

On, May 4, some of the new officers and newer members met to discuss future plans and also took time to enjoy birthday cake.

"People are like, 'We're so happy to see this place come alive,'" Treasurer Kateri Devlin of Wilton reported to the group. She noted that its coffer has doubled over the past two months due to the increasing number of building rentals.

"We're killing it," she told them, "and that's the whole point of this. We have something here so unique."

Barbara Geddis, an architect who also serves on the town's Master Plan Committee, is among the new members taking part in rejuvenating the Cannon Grange.

"It's like a renaissance  a new birth," she said upon hearing Devlin's news.

Though the first grange meetings, which included over 50 members, were held in the home of George F. Brown, the Cannon Grange Hall was originally constructed in 1899 and owned by the town as a community center. Cannon Grange No. 152 finally bought the building in 1933.

"I find its history with the town really interesting," said Itala Duke of Wilton, who joined a few months ago.

She said it was sad that many area residents are not aware of the Cannon Grange, and that the building itself has fallen into some disrepair.

"It's a beautiful building, with the woodwork, but now it needs some TLC. ... It needs a roof, it needs painting," she said.

The group has been giving its attention to an impending makeover, but it will only be possible as funds become available.

On Aug. 27, the grange will host its annual agricultural fair  the 91st in its history. It will feature many of the traditional grange contests for produce, home-prepared foods and more, and it will be the kind of traditional event that many residents associate with the organization.

"I grew up in Maine and agricultural fairs were a big thing," said Sarah Marceau of Wilton, who just joined. She said she wants to do her part to help revitalize the group after learning that its future  and events like the fair  were in jeopardy.

"When I heard it might not be happening, I was really sad," she said.

But that's starting to change, with some local organizations  Wilton Go Green among them  discovering the grange as a resource and a forward-thinking partner on many different initiatives.

Various private groups are also taking advantage of the facility, which in the past few weeks has hosted concerts and parties for both adults and kids.

"There is more to the grange than just a hall to rent for parties and events," Shepherd said, however. "We welcome the community to attend our meetings and events to see what we do firsthand."

Like others, Devlin was drawn to the grange this year after learning about it through a local Facebook group.

"There's a lot of new energy," she said, "and people are really excited about making this a community gathering spot."

And while she and others see the need to bring the group deeper into the 21st century from a technological standpoint to get out their message, its old-school agricultural roots fit logically into a resurgence of interest in such green topics as sustainability and environmental consciousness.

"This is a place to slow down and reconnect," Devlin said. "It's just getting back to our roots as human beings  stewards of the earth and farming and beekeeping  getting back to the real roots of what it means to be part of this planet."

Chris Sorensen of Norwalk and his wife, Paula, have been members for over 30 years.

"Things are looking up," he said, saying he was excited that more live music and events will be happening there. "There's new energy here right now, and it's good."

"There's more younger people coming in," Paula Sorenson said, noting that they originally got involved when their son was young to introduce him to agricultural-type events.

"It's nice to get new blood in," she said.

To learn more about the Cannon Grange, visit https://cannongrange.org/.
BEIRUT (AP)  Lebanons foreign minister spoke Saturday with his counterpart in the United Arab Emirates following the death of a Lebanese citizen while in custody in the oil-rich Gulf nation, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Lebanon's Foreign Ministry said in a short statement that Lebanons ambassador to the UAE, Fouad Dandan, spoke by telephone with the wife and brother of the late Ghazi Ezzedine, 55. The envoy later received a signed letter from the family saying the man died as a result of heart problems.

Ezzedines death had earlier raised questions about his possible mistreatment by authorities in the UAE. Earlier this week, a committee of family members of Lebanese citizens detained in the UAE, including the man who died earlier this month, alleged in a statement that Ezzedine had died as a result of being tortured.

The foreign ministry statement said UAEs Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan told his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bouhabib that Ezzedines family can leave the UAE or stay if they want. The statement did not say whether the family will be allowed to take the mans body for burial in Lebanon following reports that they were prevented from do so.

Sima Watling, a researcher with Amnesty International focusing on the Arab Gulf country, told The Associated Press on Friday that according to Ezzedines family, he had been arrested on March 22 along with eight other people, including two of his brothers, on unknown charges.

Ezzedine died on May 4, she said. His family was only notified several days later, when his son was asked by authorities to come to the cemetery and identify the body, she added. Ezzedines son was only permitted to see his fathers face, while his body was kept covered.

UAE authorities denied the familys request to bring him back to Lebanon for burial, Watling said. The two brothers who were detained along with him were subsequently released from detention but banned from leaving the country.

UAE authorities have detained dozens of Lebanese, mostly Shiites, in the past over alleged links to the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The UAE, like other Gulf Cooperation Council members, considers Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

In 2019, the UAE sentenced one Lebanese national to life in prison and two to ten years in prison on charges of links to Hezbollah.
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BANGKOK (AP)  Thailands main opposition parties easily bested other contenders with virtually all the votes counted from Sundays general election, fulfilling many voters hopes that the balloting would serve as a pivotal chance for change nine years after incumbent Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha first came to power in a 2014 coup.

With 99% of the votes counted by early Monday morning, the junior opposition Move Forward Party had eked out a small edge over the favored Pheu Thai Party, whose leaders earlier in the night conceded they might not finish on top.

The winner of Sundays vote is not assured the right to form the new government. A joint session of the 500-seat House of Representatives will be held with the 250-member Senate in July to select the new prime minister, a process widely seen as undemocratic because the Senators were appointed by the military rather than elected but vote along with Sundays winning lawmakers.

Sundays voter turnout was about 39.5 million, or 75% of registered voters.

The maverick Move Forward Party captured just over 24% of the popular vote for the House of Representatives' 400 constituency seats and an almost 36% share of the vote for seats allocated in a separate nationwide ballot for the 100 members elected by proportional representation.

Pheu Thai Party lagged slightly behind with just over 23% for the constituency seats and about a 27% share for the party list.

The tally of constituency votes gave Move Forward 113 House seats and Pheu Thai 112, according to the Election Commission, which did not give a projection for party list seats.

Prayuths United Thai Nation Party held the fifth spot in the constituency vote with almost 9% of the total, but it placed third in the party-preference tally with close to 12%. Its constituency vote gave it 23 House seats.

The three parties were considered before the vote to the most likely to head a new government. Paetongtarn Shinawatra, 36-year-old daughter of the former billionaire populist Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, had been favored in opinion polls to be chosen the countrys next leader.

Move Forwards leader, 42-year=old businessman Pita Limjaroenrat, now seems as likely a prospect.

Prayuth had been blamed for a stuttering economy, shortcomings in addressing the pandemic and thwarting democratic reforms, a particular sore point with younger voters.

The returns were a good sign for democratization, said Saowanee T. Alexander, a professor at Ubon Ratchathani University in northeastern Thailand.

This is people saying that we want change ... They are saying that they could no longer take it. The people are very frustrated. They want change, and they could achieve it, she said.

Move Forward outperformed even optimistic projections, and the party appeared poised to capture all, or almost all, 33 House seats in the capital Bangkok.

Along with Pheu Thai, it campaigned for reform of the military and the monarchy. But Move Forward put those issues closer to the heart of its platform, earning a more radical reputation.

Its outspoken support for minor reforms of the monarchy, while winning younger voters, antagonized conservatives to whom the royal institution is sacrosanct.

Pheu Thai is the latest in a string of parties linked to former Prime Minister Thaksin, who was ousted as prime minister by an army coup in 2006. Pheu Thai candidate Paetongtarn is his daughter. The government of her aunt, Yingluck Shinawatra, who became prime minister in 2011, was toppled in the coup led by Prayuth.

Pheu Thai won the most seats in the last election in 2019, but its archrival, the military-backed Palang Pracharath Party, succeeded in cobbling together a coalition with Prayuth as prime minister. It relied on unanimous support from the Senate, whose members were appointed by the military government after Prayuths coup and share its conservative outlook.

Ubon Universitys Alexander cautioned that the current situation remains very unpredictable, and that the Election Commission could unilaterally affect the results. In the past, it has used its authority to disqualify opposition parties or otherwise cripple challenges to the conservative establishment.

Move Forward's Pita would be a possible target for what the opposition, from bitter experience, calls dirty tricks. A candidate from the military-backed Palang Pracharath Party last week filed a complaint with the Election Commission and the National Anti-Corruption Commission, charging that Pita had failed to list a stock shareholding on a statutory declaration of his assets. Pita denied any wrongdoing, and the accusation hinges on a minor technical point.

However, the leader of the Future Forward Party, the forerunner of Move Forward, lost his seat in Parliament on similar technical grounds, and his party ended up being dissolved. It had also been seen as a radical challenge to the military-backed royalist establishment.

-

Associated Press writer Jintamas Saksornchai contributed to this report.
In this weeks developments, the Transportation Department said it plans to issue new rules that would set mandatory passenger compensation standards when an airline is responsible for flight cancellations and long delays; a new J.D. Power survey finds airline passengers are getting increasingly dissatisfied as planes become more crowded and costs rise; Air India is due to add a premium economy section on its San Francisco flights next week; United sets dates for adding more SFO-Hong Kong frequencies; additional international route news comes from United, Delta and Ethiopian Airlines; Alaska Airlines and United add new international code-sharing flights; Air New Zealand eyes a surcharge of $100 per hour for its new economy class sleep pods; Spirit adds a transcontinental flight from Oakland while low-cost carriers Breeze and Avelo begin new service from Southern California; Alaska overhauls its in-flight menus; and Southwest starts installing power ports on some 737s.

The Biden administrations pressure campaign against airlines to increase consumer protections  which intensified last year after industrywide problems of flight cancellations and delays  took another big step forward this week as the Transportation Department proposed new rules for passenger compensation. DOT noted that due to its pressure campaign, the nations 10 largest carriers now promise that they will provide stranded passengers with meals and free rebooking when the operational problem is the airlines fault, and nine of them promise hotel accommodations. But the agencys proposed rulemaking would make such guarantees mandatory rather than voluntary.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that for the first time in U.S. history, the proposed new rules would require airlines to compensate passengers and cover expenses such as meals, hotels and rebooking in cases where the airline has caused a cancellation or significant delay. DOT noted that one airlines existing policy guarantees passenger compensation with frequent flyer miles, while two carriers promise reimbursement in travel credits or vouchers. But no airline guarantees cash compensation when an airline issue causes the significant delay or compensation. The proposed new rules would ensure that passengers experiencing controllable delays and cancellations are better protected from financial losses than is the case today. It said the rules will also create definitions of what constitutes a controllable cancellation or delay.

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

The aviation website Simple Flying noted that if the proposed rules are adopted, they would bring U.S. passenger protections close to those that already exist in the European Union. It called the DOT announcement a welcome and much-needed step, since U.S. travelers currently are left on the receiving end of unreliable air transport practices. But Gary Leff at View From the Wing saw political motives at work. Since DOT announced the plan before it has written the rulemaking proposal, that is timed for political effect, he said, and again theyll have a news cycle later in the year actually releasing a proposed rule. He said the timing also means theres a strong likelihood we do not see this rule happen unless President Biden is re-elected because promulgation of a final rule would quite likely not occur prior to the end of the presidents first term.

If the planned rules are eventually adopted, a key to their effectiveness will be the definitions of what constitutes a cancellation or delay that is controllable by the airline (i.e., its the airlines fault) and who makes that determination and enforces the compensation rules. Airlines often blame schedule disruptions on the weather and on the Federal Aviation Administrations air traffic control (ATC) system, and the industrys reaction to the DOT announcement was no exception. Airlines for America (A4A), the leading industry trade group, said that in 2023, the majority of flight cancellations have been because of severe weather in addition to ATC outages and staffing shortages.

JUAN BARRETO/AFP via Getty Images

But a study of DOT data from January 2018 through April 2022  issued last month by the U.S. Government Accountability Office  found that factors within the airlines' control (e.g., aircraft maintenance or lack of crew) were the leading cause of cancellations from October through December 2021 as well as in April 2022 and airline-caused delays increased for nearly all airlines in the last half of 2021.

Early in the pandemic, passenger satisfaction with the air travel experience rose significantly because airports and flights were less crowded and less expensive. But in the past two years, that has been reversed, according to J.D. Powers 2023 North America Airline Satisfaction Study, released this week. What changed? Planes are crowded, tickets are expensive and flight availability is constrained, said Michael Taylor, J.D. Powers travel intelligence lead. While these drawbacks have not yet put a dent in leisure travel demand, if this trend continues, travelers will reach a breaking point and some airline brands may be damaged.

The companys 1,000-point passenger satisfaction scale showed a decline of 22 points in last years study and a drop of another seven points this year (to a total of 791). The biggest factor driving this years decline in satisfaction is cost and fees, which has fallen 17 points from 2022, the company said. Bucking the overall trend, customer scores in the front cabins (first and business class) rose nine points this year, which the company attributes to the restoration of food and beverage services as the pandemic waned.

Despite its operational meltdown the week after Christmas, Southwest Airlines posted the highest satisfaction score among economy class travelers for the second year in a row, with a score of 827, followed by Delta (801) and JetBlue (800). Among premium cabin flyers, JetBlue ranked No. 1 at 893, followed by Delta (865) and United (848). Carriers with the lowest customer satisfaction scores for economy travel were Frontier (705), Spirit (727) and American (764). The study is based on a survey of 7,774 passengers and was conducted from March 2022 through March 2023.

SOPA Images/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

In international route news, Air India is due to introduce a premium economy seating option next week on select routes from the U.S., including San Francisco-Bengaluru, San Francisco-Mumbai and New York-Mumbai, and it plans to expand the service to more routes in the next few months. The airline said its premium economy section will provide passengers with greater legroom, premium meals, noise-canceling headphones, more menu choices, hot towels and welcome drinks, and an amenities kit. Uniteds delayed plans to increase service to Hong Kong are now due to begin in August, according to Simple Flying. The carriers daily San Francisco-Hong Kong schedule is set to grow to 12 flights a week in August and then increase again to twice-daily departures Oct. 25.

Elsewhere, United launched daily seasonal service this week from its Chicago OHare hub to Reykjavik, Iceland, although it dropped plans to add Newark-Reykjavik flights as well. Delta continued adding Europe routes this week, starting daily flights from its Atlanta hub to Nice, France. On May 16, Ethiopian Airlines is set to add its sixth North American gateway when it introduces service four days a week from Atlanta to Addis Ababa.

In code-sharing news, Alaska Airlines started putting its AS code on Oneworld partner Japan Airlines flights to Tokyo Narita from San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Seattle; from SFO and LAX to Tokyo Haneda; and from LAX to Osaka Kansai. Across the Atlantic, when United Airlines resumes Newark-Stockholm Arlanda service on May 27, customers will be able to book United-coded connecting service beyond Stockholm to Oslo, Norway, and to Gothenburg, Lulea, and Umea, Sweden, operated by its Star Alliance partner carrier SAS.

Courtesy of Air New Zealand

Last year, Air New Zealand raised some eyebrows when it said it planned to start offering beds  which it calls sleep pods  in the economy cabin of select long-haul flights, and now it has released more details. The pods will be introduced in September 2024 on 787s flying between Auckland-New York and Auckland-Chicago, with six of them available in a new Skynest section between economy and premium economy. The pods can be booked for four-hour sessions. And the cost (above the regular fare, of course)? Its not definite yet, but At this stage [we] are looking at around $400 to $600 for the four-hour period, an airline official said. Each customer will be limited to one four-hour session, although families traveling on the same ticket might be able to book a session for each member, depending on availability.

On the domestic side, last week we mentioned that Spirit Airlines started flying from Oakland to Dallas-Fort Worth and Philadelphia, but it also added another route out of OAK: Newark. Spirit flies the Newark route seven days a week, with a red-eye departure from OAK at 8:40 p.m., arriving in EWR at 5:01 a.m. The westbound flight leaves Newark at 4:35 p.m., arriving at 6:35 p.m. At Los Angeles International, low-cost Breeze Airways plans a May 17 start for twice-weekly nonstop flights to Providence, Rhode Island, a route that never had nonstop service; Breeze will also operate one-stop LAX-Providence service another three days a week.

Low-cost Avelo Airlines on May 17 is due to introduce twice-weekly flights from Hollywood Burbank Airport to Brownsville South Padre Island Airport in Texas. On July 8, Delta will begin nonstop service from its Salt Lake City hub to New York  not to JFK but to LaGuardia Airport. According to The Points Guy, the SLC-LGA service  which continues through Sept. 2 with an Airbus A220-100  will be the longest route out of LaGuardia. Last week, we noted that Frontier Airlines added several new routes to Puerto Rico, and now Spirit Airlines has done the same. Spirit launched daily service to San Juan from Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Detroit and Chicago OHare, and it boosted its Orlando-San Juan schedule to five daily flights.

Charley Gallay/Getty Images for The Human Rights Campaign

Alaska Airlines this week overhauled its in-flight menus with new offerings. The carrier said it has doubled the number of preorder meal options in the main cabin and now offers first-class customers a choice of up to five entrees. For family travelers, Alaska introduced a new twist on the kids favorite peanut butter and jelly sandwich: one with no peanut butter. Instead, the sandwich features toasted cashew and oat butter and a homemade strawberry compote on a sweet croissant bread, paired with fresh fruit and a slice of Tillamook cheese, the airline said. The main cabin breakfast menu now includes bagel sandwiches with smoked salmon or with turkey, bacon and tomato. New lunch/dinner selections include two salads (Stand Bahn Mi and Strawberry Fields for Chevre) and a pair of new wraps (Mediterranean chicken shawarma and chicken mango). The airline has also resumed hot food service on Hawaii flights, starting with the Tillamook cheeseburger, with more options to come later.

A year ago this week, Southwest Airlines announced plans for a $2 billion project to improve the customer experience on its aircraft by adding power ports, larger overhead bins and faster Wi-Fi. And now the first power ports have appeared on a renovated Boeing 737 MAX 8, according to The Points Guy. The aircraft now has USB-A and USB-C power ports at every seat, and the airline plans to continue those installations on all of its 737 MAX aircraft, The Points Guy said  but not on its non-MAX 737s, which account for the majority of its fleet. That should put power ports on 250 Southwest planes by years end.
Harry How/Getty Images

Its no surprise that many big names were close to the action on Friday to see the last game in Los Angeles of this second-round Warriors-Lakers series.

The big tech names carried over from San Francisco with Twitter CEO Elon Musk courtside next to the Lakers bench. Musk just claimed that hed step down as the social media sites top executive in favor of Linda Yaccarino, formerly of NBCUniversal. Musks other company, Tesla, is facing a massive recall of cars in China over brake concerns.
California's Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis (3rd, R) addresses the opening ceremony of a history center, built to commemorate Chinese railroad workers who completed the Transcontinental Railroad on May 10, 1869, in San Francisco, California, the United States, May 10, 2023. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)

SAN FRANCISCO, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Standing side by side, U.S. California's Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis thanked Florence Fang for "her vision to put a China light on a part of American history and of Californian history" at the opening ceremony of a history center in San Francisco's Chinatown on Wednesday.

The center, founded by Fang, was built to commemorate Chinese railroad workers who completed the Transcontinental Railroad on May 10, 1869.

The railroad, which reduced coast-to-coast travel time to a week from months, has reshaped the fractured country in the wake of the civil war.

"Without Chinese railroad workers, it is impossible to complete the western part of this great railroad. As a Chinese American, I feel a personal obligation to do something for the unsung heroes," said Fang, also a Chinese-American community leader in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The construction of the Transcontinental Railroad relied heavily on human labor. Historians believe that between 12,000 and 20,000 Chinese workers were recruited to the workforce.

The Chinese workers, comprising 80 percent of the workforce in the west by 1867, are considered indispensable for their work ethic and endurance, according to a resolution passed in 2019 by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to honor the Chinese workers.

"You see the track as it clings to the cliffs of the Sierra Nevada. You see the snow shelters. You have to ask yourself how was this built?" said Kounalakis.

"It was the strength, the bravery, the courage, the sweat, the tears, and sometimes the lives of the Chinese immigrants who built the most treacherous, difficult part of the transcontinental railroad," she said, giving an answer that won applause from the guests.

But the Chinese workers who had built the railroad were all but invisible at the inauguration ceremony. Their contribution has been obliterated in American history, and they were prejudiced against because of the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Discrimination and hate crimes against Chinese communities, which happened in the past, unfortunately, persist nowadays, said Pan Qingjiang, Chinese deputy consul general in San Francisco.

A recent national survey conducted by Columbia University and the Committee of 100 showed that nearly three out of four Chinese Americans have experienced racial discrimination in the past 12 months. Fifty-five percent of respondents from across the United States worried about their safety relating to hate crimes and harassment.

Shamann Walton, member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, believed the center would help correct the omission of the past and remember the legacy of the Chinese builders. "Let us be inspired by these workers to apply the spirit of perseverance and ingenuity to fixing today's challenge."

Fang hoped that the history center would also contribute to reducing and stopping discrimination and hate against Chinese, and to enhancing mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples. 

Pan Qingjiang (C, front), Chinese deputy consul general in San Francisco, addresses the opening ceremony of a history center, built to commemorate Chinese railroad workers who completed the Transcontinental Railroad on May 10, 1869, in San Francisco, the United States, May 10, 2023. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)
Beirut: The head of Beirut's civil defence was detained by Syrian intelligence on Friday after travelling through the country on his way to Egypt for four hours.

The Palestine Branch of Syria's intelligence service detained and questioned Walid Hashash, 57, the director-general of Civil Defence in the Lebanese capital.

Since Lebanese migration into Syria resumed at the end of 2021, this incident hasn't happened before. As a precaution against COVID-19, the Syrian government forbade Lebanese from entering Syria in March 2020.

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According to Arab News, one of the most well-known Civil Defence volunteers in Beirut, Youssef Mallah, Hashash had left on a motorbike trip to Egypt via Jordan, passing through Syria. He was travelling with 20 friends.

According to Mallah, who added that Hashash was detained when the group passed through a Syrian security checkpoint, he had also secured 15 days of vacation time for the journey.

The circumstances of the arrest are unknown, but it was later asserted that misidentification may have occurred, according to Mallah.

The incident was reported to concerned parties in Lebanon by one of Hashash's relatives who was a member of the group.

Also Read: UN report: 500 killed in March 2022 in Mali by the army and "foreign" fighters

The release of Hashash, who was released hours after his arrest and returned to Beirut, was reportedly secured through official contact with the Syrian authorities, according to reports on social media.

According to Hashash's friends, the head of Beirut Civil Defence is not affiliated with any political party or group.

The Hashash family anxiously awaited his return for hours out of concern that he might have been mistreated while being questioned.

The Palestine Branch's arrests and detentions have drawn attention because the unit has been connected to a number of disappearances that have occurred in Syrian territory since the 1980s.

The communication to secure Hashash's release was handled by Brig. Gen. Raymond Khattar, director general of the Lebanese Civil Defence, and interim interior minister Bassam Mawlawi.

After arriving in Beirut, Hashash informed Arab News that he was in good health and had received respect from the Syrian authorities.

Sanad Party leader MP Ashraf Rifi stated: "Hashash is a sportsman and has a hobby of riding motorcycles and often makes trips with the group that was accompanying him to Egypt."

The MP noted that there have been increasing calls for the reestablishment of diplomatic ties between Lebanon and Syria.

"We don't know the specifics of why Hashash was detained. The majority of the information we have suggests he has no connection to politics.

Despite the positive vibes permeating the area, Rifi continued, the Syrian regime was "still adopting the same old methods."

2011 saw a vote in Lebanon to expel Syria from the Arab League, despite Hezbollah and its allies objecting to the action.

Beirut has not yet taken any official action to resume relations with Damascus, aside from security coordination, which had been interrupted by the civil war, even though Syrian ties with nations in the region are improving.

The Amal Movement, Hezbollah's ally, stated a few days ago that the resumption of Syrian membership in the Arab League is an opportunity to improve relations between Lebanon and Syria through dialogue and remove "imaginary obstacles" to settle a number of issues, most notably the issue of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Walid Bukhari, the Saudi ambassador to Lebanon, met with the interior minister on Friday as part of his ongoing political tour of the nation.

The minister referred to Bukhari's mediation efforts as a spark that accelerated the selection of a new president for Lebanon.Bukhari also met with lawmakers from the Tajaddod bloc, which includes Michel Moawad, a candidate for president in the opposition.

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A day earlier, Bukhari had met with Suleiman Frangieh, a Hezbollah candidate and close ally of Syria.

Moawad claimed that Saudi Arabia's position had become clear following the meeting. It holds that the choice of who will serve as president is a Lebanese sovereign decision and that the country's citizens are free to follow any course they please and are therefore accountable for their decision.

"Saudi Arabia seeks to establish rules for this region on the basis of state sovereignty, and all the developments in the region solidify our insistence that Lebanon should not be outside this momentum, growth, and stability," the MP continued.

The battle is between two projects, not between two people, according to Moawad, who stated that his bloc will oppose "any candidate imposed by the opposition project that brought us to our current situation, with all of our strength."
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Authorities allege that a driver fled from a car stop and crashed the sedan into a tree while an NYPD officer was clinging to the vehicles door during a wild chase in Silver Lake.

The suspect, Anthony Fils, 26, of Brook Street in Tompkinsville, drove over a second cops foot and hurled numerous threats and insults at officers in connection with his arrest, prosecutors allege in court documents.

His accomplice, Abby Lauren, 24, of the same address on Brook Street, allegedly kicked a female officer in the left thigh as she was being searched in connection with her apprehension, according to court documents.

After the two suspects were transported to the 120th Precinct stationhouse in St. George, officers allege they seized a clear bag containing pink vials of crack cocaine from Laurens waistband.

Authorities allege that drugs were recovered from the car in connection with the episode that began on Feb. 19 at about 7:25 p.m. in the vicinity of Victory Boulevard and Louis Street.

Fils was behind the wheel of a gray, 2014 Volkswagen Jetta with passengers that included Lauren in the front passenger seat and a child in the backseat, according to court documents.

An officer noticed that the Volkswagen had windows that were excessively tinted and an officer in uniform approached and initiated a car stop. Fils showed a New York State identification card and a check by police indicated that there was an outstanding warrant for the 26-year-old man, court documents allege.

Fils then sped away with a male officer hanging onto the open drivers side door as the car ran over a female officers foot, authorities allege. Despite multiple commands for the driver to stop the car, he allegedly crashed the sedan into a tree while dragging the male officer, according to court documents.

Court documents include numerous statement that the suspect allegedly made to police. Fils repeatedly questioned why he was being arrested, denied having an outstanding warrant, accused officers of lying and threatened to spit on one of the cops who was trying to apprehend him, authorities allege.

Can ya let me go? court documents quote Fils as saying to police. I will spit on your right now, bro. Ya have to hold me? What am I going to do, run? He stopped us for a random stop. He said it was over tints. Do not touch me. Ya dont have a reason to arrest me. Im going to wild out. Get off of me. Do not touch me. I have nothing on me....

Court documents allege that police searched the car the next day and recovered multiple vials in various colors that were tainted with cocaine residue.

The officer who was dragged suffered injuries that included swelling and pain to various parts of his body, including swelling of his face and neck, pain in his head and back and lacerations to a hand, authorities say.

The female officer suffered bruising, swelling and pain in her foot.

Court documents do not list any injuries suffered by the officer who was kicked.

Fils was indicted on charges that include criminal possession of a narcotic drug with intent to sell, criminal possession of a narcotic drug, unlawful fleeing from a police officer, obstructing governmental administration, assault, acting in a manner injurious to a child, reckless endangerment and criminal use of drug paraphernalia.

Bond has been set at $250,000/$100,000 cash for Fils, who is being held at Rikers Island, according to public records.

Lauren has been indicated on charges that include criminal use of drug paraphernalia, assault, criminal possession of a narcotic drug with intent to sell, criminal possession of a narcotic drug and obstructing governmental administration.

She has been released under supervision.

Both suspects pleaded not guilty on March 2 and are due to appear in state Supreme Court, St. George, on May 18, according to public records.

Attorneys for the defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comments.

PREVIOUS CONVICTION FOR FILS

Fils was arrested on gun charges on June 9, 2021 at Brook and Jersey streets.

He was driving a 2007 Saturn that failed to signal before a turn, police said.

Officers found that Fils had a suspended license and was using fraudulent New Jersey plates, the police spokeswoman said.

Further investigation led to the recovery of a firearm, according to the police spokeswoman.

Fils pleaded guilty to a criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree and was sentenced to 60 days incarceration in the 2021 case.



OTHER STATEN ISLAND NEWS:

>> NYPD: 14-year-old boy arrested for fatal stabbing of man on Staten Island; victim identified

>> Staten Island man accused of boxcutter robbery at retailer, shoplifting at supermarket

>> D.A. McMahon to investigate homicide of 16-month old boy caused by fentanyl, cocaine

>> Source: Detectives trying to determine who fired gun in shooting of teen on Staten Island

>> Source: Suspect who fired into S.I. salon missed gang target, hit innocent teen, woman
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  The vacant Richard H. Hungerford School in Tompkinsville is expected to accept asylum seekers as early as Saturday, according to borough elected officials.

The emergency shelter could ultimately be home to hundreds as the city attempts to address an ongoing migrant crisis.

Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo (R-Mid Island) told the Advance/SILive.com that the New York City Mayors Office notified him and others that the school would be able to handle up to 300 single migrants.

Specifics on exactly who will be arriving at the Hungerford School were vague. But it is expected to be a mix of men, women, children and families, officials said. The building is located at 155 Tompkins Ave.

Borough President Vito Fossella said he was first notified Friday evening that migrants would be sent to the Hungerford school.

Since then, weve been told today that there is capacity for 143 [individuals] currently, that could go up to 300, Fossella added.

Fabien Levy, deputy secretary for Mayor Eric Adams, confirmed the location was ready to accept asylum seekers as needed on Saturday. The building will have space for a little over 140 individuals.

Pirozzolo went to the school himself Friday night and observed about 70 cots in the gymnasium.

Additional cots will be in classrooms on the second floor, he said.

Cots seen set up inside the school's gymnasium. (Courtesy of Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo)

Pirozzolo expressed security concerns.

[There] doesnt seem like there is a plan for these people  theyre going to be locked in this building.

Outside the Hungerford School, furniture could be seen lined up along the sidewalk. (Staten Island Advance/Scott R. Axelrod)

On Saturday afternoon, outside the school, an Advance/SILive.com reporter observed workers removing school furniture in preparation. Members of the New York City Emergency Management were on the scene as well.

IT NEEDS TO STOP

Fossella referenced the two shelters in Travis hotels in October of last year.

We were the first in the country to stand up when asylum seekers were put in the Travis hotels, to say this was unsustainable, he said.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/South Brooklyn) had similar sentiments, saying that it needs to stop.

For his part, the mayor has called on the federal government to help the city address the ongoing crisis that officials expect to worsen with the expiration of a COVID-era policy making deportations easier.

No bipartisan consensus fixing the nations broken immigration system seems on the horizon, but Fossella and Malliotakis have made calls for the city to reconsider a policy of its own.

For the second week in a row, Malliotakis said the mayors office called local officials to tell them that they would be opening up a shelter in their district.

The congresswoman is arguing the mayor is misinterpreting the Right to Shelter law as it is intended for homeless New Yorkers.

I dont buy this argument that he is required to do this, she said on Saturday.

Malliotakis also criticized President Joe Biden and his policies.

Nobody has a policy where people can just waltz in and are entitled to free housing and services without being approved for asylum, she said. ... The majority of people who are coming here claiming asylum do not qualify for asylum.

The trio of elected officials all said it was unfair that taxpayer dollars are being used for this while other services are being cut.

Malliotakis and Fossella in a previous statement said it currently costs taxpayers $93,000 for each family housed in [hotel] units, which is more than many Staten Islanders make in one year.

I dont think Staten Island is prepared for 300 asylum seekers  thats just in my district. This is happening throughout New York City right now, Pirozzolo added.

Two Staten Island hotels became the latest emergency shelters last week. The Ramada Inn in Willowbrook and the former Staten Island Motor Lodge in Rosebank are being used to shelter migrants.

Local politicians have echoed Mayor Eric Adams comments last month when he said the migrants represented a $4.3 billion financial burden on the city to care for the migrants over two years.



RELATED COVERAGE: Staten Island news

>> Staten Island boom parties reverberate into Brooklyn; NYPD issues 10 summonses

>> Lucchese mobster who tried to kill sister of Staten Island turncoat denied release

>> Father Capodanno honored with stained glass window at Christendom College in Virginia

>> Photos from first Communion mass celebrated at Blessed Sacrament R.C. Church | Subscribers can download images for free
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Three best friends who met as new nurses nearly a decade ago at Staten Island University Hospital in Princes Bay, have real reason to celebrate this Nurses Week, and Mothers Day as well.

Nurses Kristen Kelly, Dana Carollo and Christina DeSapio have been there for one another both in and outside of work. They saw each other through their pregnancies during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and then again for a second time when they delivered their babies in October, November and January.

NATIONAL NURSES WEEK

National Nurses Week is celebrated every year from May 6 to May 12 (Florence Nightingales birthday). And rounding out that week is Mothers Day, which is particularly fitting because a majority of nurses are mothers or caregivers of a family member.

Research shows that nurse-to-nurse friendships help foster a better work/life balance by helping them manage stress and gain control over difficult situations, which helps prevent nurse burnout.

For that reason, SIUH Princes Bay celebrated all its nurse friendships at a Nurses Week ceremony this week by highlighting the trio of nurses who shared why theyre grateful for the emotional support they get from each other on Mothers Day and every day.

From the left, nurses Kristen Kelly, Dana Carollo and Christina DeSapio pose with flowers presented at the Nurses Week celebration at SIUH Princes Bay. The trio of friends also received spa products. (Courtesy/Diane O'Donnell)Staten Island Advance

I am so thankful to have them in my life because not everybody understands what we do on the job, the things we have to deal with, the emotional toll it sometimes takes on us and we all get each other, said Kelly, who just returned to work from maternity leave on Monday.

We see a lot of heartache. We see a lot of death, but we also see good things happen at work. No one really understands unless theyre a nurse themselves, she added.

HERES THEIR STORY

When Kelly started her nursing career at the Princes Bay hospital in 2016, DeSapio showed her the ropes of the 4N/4S medical surgical unit. Also working in that unit was Carollo, who had known DeSapio in childhood, but the two didnt become close until working together.

The three quickly forged a friendship both inside and outside of work. Fast forward three years to December 2019 and Carollo gave birth to her first child, with the trio celebrating the milestone.

Shortly thereafter, life as they knew it changed for the nurses both at home and at work.

I found out I was pregnant with my firstborn March 2020 and then like a week later, the world shut down, said Kelly.

But she wasnt alone because DeSapio was also pregnant.

From the left, nurses Dana Carollo, Christina DeSapio and Kristen Kelly are pregnant once again together in 2022. (Courtesy/Diane O'Donnell)Staten Island Advance

I went through infertility, so I just had an IVF transfer and then found out it worked, said DeSapio. It was nerve-wracking having to suit up and go into a room when you didnt know what could happen.

And Carollo would soon come back from maternity leave during the first wave of COVID.

It was scary, we kind of leaned on each other. Kelly and DeSpio were both pregnant and I had just had a baby, said Carollo. It was hard. I was wearing a mask around my newborn. I didnt kiss him. I didnt want to go near him. We just didnt know.

The three would call and text each other throughout the day over the slightest health changes  do you feel sick, do you have a temperature.

Intermingled with the daily chaos of COVID-19 were bright spots, like the birth of Kelly and DeSapios babies.

The following year, Carollo and Kelly graduated Wagner College together with a masters degree in nursing. And, in 2022 the trio celebrated Kellys wedding that had been postponed by the pandemic and the discovery that they were all pregnant again.

While the three no longer work on the same unit  Kelly transferred to the ICU and Carollo works as a float nurse  theyre still connected throughout the workday and after.

From the left, Nurses Kristen Kelly, Christina DeSapio and Dana Carollo pose with their firstborns as they await their next special delivery. (Courtesy/Diane O'Donnell)Staten Island Advance

We have a group text that doesnt stop  all day, all night. We vent to each other, whether it be something nursing related, our kids, said DeSapio.

Sometimes theres things that happen during work that we need to get off our chest. We cant keep those things inside  and having their friendship is crucial because they get it. I can talk to them freely, said Kelly. I dont think that any nurse can carry that burden alone. Our friendship helps us maintain our balance of life. Then, when I come home, Ive already talked it out and I can be 100% a wife, a mom and have a positive attitude.
FRONT ROYAL, V.A.  Over 55 years ago, one of Staten Islands own gave his life on the battlefield of the Vietnam War while ministering last rites to wounded soldiers. The Rev. Vincent Capodannos legacy has had a profound impact on the Staten Island community, on Christians, and on those around the world.

While the Father Capodanno Guild works to help canonize Father Capadanno in Rome, Christendom College in Virginia dedicated a stained glass window to him in its Christ the King Chapel on April 15, 2023.

Vice Admiral Stephen Stanley, the chairman of the board of the Father Capodanno Guild, thinks its a great depiction of Father Capodanno, especially the accuracy of his penetrating eyes.

Father Capodannos face in the stained glass was based on the lithograph offered to donors as a gift by the Guild, which was depicted by an artist based on a description given by Marines whod met the legendary priest, according to Stanley.

Theres a lot in that stained glass that brings out what an amazing person Father Vincent was, Stanley said.

The stained glass window depicts Father Capodanno in two different scenes from his life.

A new stained glass window depicts Father Vincent Capodanno at the Christ the King Chapel on the Christendom College campus in Front Royal, Virginia. (Courtesy of Tom Crowe, American Catholic History Podcast)

Christ died for all of our souls, [and] Capodanno died for the souls of the men that he was there with on that hill,' Stanley said. I see so many parallels between the sacrifice of Christ and Father Capodanno, and you see it in a lot of the saints. I know hes not canonized yet, but I firmly believe that he is a saint.

He was just such a positive example of how to be a Christian, Stanley continued. It is somebody that they [the students] can look to for this example of Christian behavior, [and] how to do the right thing for people.

As for the pursuit of sainthood for Father Capodanno, a new Historical Commission is being established in Rome. Father Capodannos sainthood effort was suspended in August of 2022, but has since begun to move forward again.

To many vets, including myself, Father Capodanno was a giant among men,' said Lee Covino, a retired Borough Hall military advisor. He carried the Word of God into the most dangerous of combat situations, while other chaplains sat comfortably in the rear. I dont see any reason why Father Capodanno shouldnt be declared a saint. We look forward to the day this becomes a reality.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the New York State Department of Labor is launching a new, free digital literacy program to help job seekers gain skills needed to be more marketable to an employer.

The program is available through a partnership with Northstar Digital Literacy to assess job seekers computer skills and help them build knowledge in areas often sought after by businesses.

New York is leading the way in expanding digital literacy to help our states talented workforce secure the jobs of tomorrow, Hochul said. This new initiative will be a transformative addition to our workforce development efforts, giving all New Yorkers access to the tools necessary to unlock a better future for themselves and their families.

According to a 2022 Department of Labor survey, 44% of responding businesses said basic computer use and computer literacy were common skills lacking among job applicants and new employees.

Some common issues include basic email skill, working Excel and Word, data analysis and typing. With technology constantly evolving in the workplace, it has become essential for employees to understand how to utilize digital tools and platforms in order for New York workers to advance their careers and businesses to continue to thrive.

As New York State looks to attract businesses to increase economic opportunities, we must ensure New Yorkers are well aligned with the needs of businesses, New York State Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said. Our partnership with Northstar Digital Literacy will help our workforce gain the computer competence they need to keep up with the rapid changes of the digital global market.

New Yorkers should contact their local state Department of Labor Career Center to sign up for Northstars no-cost digital program. Northstar is currently used by nearly 3,000 adult basic education programs, colleges, nonprofits, workforce centers, government agencies and businesses.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Staten Island residents have found themselves on the other side of the boom party drama, now being accused by Brooklyn residents of throwing parties that send loud music booming across the Narrows.

Councilman Justin Brennan (D-Brooklyn) recently posted on the neighborhood website Nextdoor.com that the noise his constituents were complaining about is/was coming from a lot on Front Street behind the Clifton train station across the pond on Staten Island.

Brennan told the Advance/SILive.com he began getting complaints from constituents last summer, and as the weather began warming up recently, he has started getting complaints again.

At first everybody was convinced it was party boats, but then there were a few nights when there were no boats in the Narrows and people still heard the music, Brennan said, adding that one of his constituents said they tracked down exactly where it was coming from.

Not only can Brooklyn residents hear the music, he said, but even the vibrations are being felt from across the pond.

Its loud. Its really wild how sound travels like that, he said.

120TH PRECINCT AWARE OF THE ISSUE, NYPD SAYS

The Brooklyn councilman said he became best friends with former 120 Precinct Deputy Chief Tania Kinsella last summer on the issue and has been in touch with Deputy Inspector Stephen Spataro, commanding officer of the 120th Precinct when the music began booming again this year.

A spokesperson for the NYPDs Deputy Commissioner of Public Information (DCPI) confirmed to the Advance/SILive.com that Spataro is aware of the noise condition on Front Street and is working to address it.

Initially, officers provided warnings and conducted education involving noise violations, the DCPI spokesman said.

However, in the past few weeks, officers began conducting enforcement and have issued 10 summonses. Precinct officers will continue to conduct patrols and conduct enforcement in the area, the spokesman continued.

Brannan said he hopes working with the 120th Precinct and its continued enforcement will help stop the boom parties because as soon as it starts, I get like 15 text messages and 25 emails. He said the only way to stop the boom parties is for police officers to be pro-active instead of reactive.

STATEN ISLAND RESIDENTS SAY THEY DONT HEAR THE MUSIC

While Brooklyn residents say they can hear the music loud and clear, Staten Islanders came to their boroughs defense on the Nextdoor post, saying they live in the area but havent heard a thing.

One Staten Islander -- who identified himself as Joseph R. and said he lives three blocks from the party spot in Clifton -- said he has never heard the loud music.

Believe it or not, nobody hears it on Staten Island. Its a parking lot in the middle of nowhere near the shore but the speakers are pointed at us, Brennan responded.

NEW JERSEY BOOM PARTIES WERE QUALITY-OF-LIFE ISSUE FOR STATEN ISLANDERS

Last summer, Staten Islanders were on the receiving end of boom parties when sound was traveling from New Jersey and causing quality-of-life issues for residents in several neighborhoods throughout the borough.

I live in Westerleigh and for the last two years we have been dealing with the sounds of blaring music and bass that starts as early as 10:30 p.m. and goes on until 6 a.m. sometimes, said a Westerleigh resident, who asked that her name be withheld, in an email to Advance/SILive.com.

This is affecting an entire community and we dont sleep! Please help, the email continued.

In addition to complaining to the Advance/SILive.com, residents have aired their concerns to Staten Island elected officials, who signed a joint letter to the Mayor of Elizabeth, N.J. Christian Bollwage, urging him to put an end to the boom parties.

As you know, enforcing noise regulations when such noise originates across state lines falls outside the jurisdiction of our local law enforcement. However, the Elizabeth Police Department, New Jersey State Police, and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection do have jurisdiction to enforce the law that prohibits this lawless behavior, the letter reads.

The mayors office, Elizabeth Police Department and the Code Enforcement Division have made an effort to locate and disperse the boom parties, however, the efforts were largely unsuccessful.

While elected officials in New Jersey didnt deny that boom parties were happening on their side of the bridges, it was discovered late last summer that loud parties taking place on Staten Island were also a booming quality-of-life issue.

It is a quality-of-life issue in the area, and it is happening closer than people think, the email continued.

Something needs to be done. Im losing sleep; the whole neighborhood is losing sleep, the resident said.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Guest speakers will discuss the health effects of Link5G cell towers during a full board meeting of Community Board 2 on Tuesday, May 16.

The meeting will take place in the Joan and Alan Bernikow JCC, 1466 Manor Rd., Sea View, at 7 p.m.

Also on the agenda will be land use applications, including one for 37 Farview Place, seeking authorization to construct a new residence within the Special Natural Area District. Another application seeks to restore a historic villa at 209 Flagg Place, in Dongan Hills.

Community Board 1

A meeting of Community Board 1s Mariners Harbor/Port Richmond Area Committee will take place on Tuesday, May 16, at 7 p.m.

Liquor license applications will be discussed. To join the meeting, visit Zoom. The meeting ID number is: 864 4546 2266.

Also on Tuesday, the West Brighton/St. George Area Committee will meet at 7 p.m. in the SIPP Auditorium of Richmond University Medical Center, 355 Bard Ave., West Brighton. The Project Hospitality Drop-In Center will be discussed.

And on Wednesday, May 17, the Clifton/Concord/Stapleton Area Committee Meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the Central Family Life Center, 59 Wright St. Various topics will be discussed.

Community Board 3

Community Board 3 has no meetings scheduled for the week of May 15 to May 19.

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

All Community Board meetings and meetings of their committees are open to the public. They provide an excellent opportunity for residents to learn about happenings in their neighborhoods and surrounding areas.

Below is more information about the Islands three Community Boards:

COMMUNITY BOARD 1

Arlington  Castleton Corners  Clifton  Concord  Elm Park  Fort Wadsworth  Graniteville  Grymes Hill  Livingston  Mariners Harbor  New Brighton  Port Richmond  Randall Manor  Rosebank  St. George  Shore Acres  Silver Lake  Stapleton  Sunnyside  Tompkinsville  West Brighton  Westerleigh.

The board chairman is Nicholas Siclari. The district manager is Joan Cusack. The telephone number is 718-981-6900.

COMMUNITY BOARD 2

Arrochar  Bloomfield  Bulls Head  Chelsea  Dongan Hills  Egbertville  Emerson Hill  Grant City  Grasmere  High Rock  Lighthouse Hill  Midland Beach  New Dorp  New Springville  Oakwood  Ocean Breeze  Old Town  Richmond  South Beach  Todt Hill  Travis.

The phone number is 718-568-3581. The fax number is 718-568-3595. The chairman is Fred Guinta. The district manager is Debra A. Derrico.

COMMUNITY BOARD 3

Annadale  Arden Heights  Bay Terrace  Charleston  Eltingville  Great Kills  Greenridge  Huguenot  New Dorp  Oakwood  Pleasant Plains  Princes Bay  Richmond Valley  Richmond  Rossville  Tottenville  Woodrow.

The office phone number is 718-356-7900. The board chairman is Frank Morano; the district manager is Charlene Wagner.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  In remembrance of those who have died, here is a collection of obituaries posted on SILive.com. Viewing times and guestbooks can be found here.

Gloria Ann Holman passed away at 101. (Family photo)

Gloria Ann Holman, the sister of Staten Islands heroic military chaplain Rev. Vincent Capodanno, passed away on May 7 at the age of 101. She was a former fashion student and worked for Bethlehem Steel as an administrative assistant who processed orders during World War II. She was interviewed in a documentary about her brother: Called and Chosen: Father Vincent R. Capodanno and attended numerous memorial masses and dedications to her late sibling. She was a member of the Father Vincent Capodanno Guild and supported efforts for his canonization.

John R. Gateley Jr., 85, a jazz and rhythm and blues enthusiast, died May 2. Always the life of the party, the beloved father and grandfather gave insightful perspectives on current events. Throughout the 80s and 90s, he served as an administrative clerk at Hunter College and helped manage the Hunter Symphony Orchestra.

Robert Allen Guckenbiehl, 70, died May 9. He worked in a variety of jobs over the years, including as a roofer, construction worker and truck driver for the Wall Street Journal. He testified at every opportunity on the love of Jesus, giving scripture verses as both encouragement as well as challenge.

Doris Hill, 87, a Staten Island native, died May 9. She attended Port Richmond High School and waitressed at various Staten Island diners.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  An average of 33 people were responsible for managing forested natural areas in New York City between 2017 and 2020  a small unit of city Parks Department workers tasked with tending to 24% of the agencys parkland, a recent report found.

Nearly 4,000 full-time equivalent personnel were employed by the agency during that time. The discrepancy means each forester member was responsible for running, restoring and maintaining 221 acres apiece.

The Natural Areas Conservancys Funding Forested Natural Areas study, which uncovered the data and was published earlier this year, placed a stark light on the disparity.

Imagine if all of Central Park was forested; there would be only four people working there, read the report.

Fall colors in Willowbrook Park, November 2002. (Staten Island Advance)

Years of disinvestment have plagued the city Parks Department. Analyses have found the agency is currently hamstrung to manage its current natural area.

The Forest Management Framework, adopted in 2018 and designed to serve as a financial plan for the city to invest and care for the citys 7,300 acres of forest, required a total of $285 million across a span of 25 years. However, inconsistent funding has put the program in jeopardy, making it difficult to retain staff and properly care for forested areas.

Mayor Eric Adams has previously pledged to bolster the agencys operations budget, used to hire and keep on full-time staff, but has so far fallen well-short of allocating 1% of the citys total funding to the Parks Departments expense purse.

Adams office didnt respond for a request to comment on the Natural Areas Conservancy report.

Emily Walker, the senior manager of external affairs for Natural Areas Conservancy, said year-to-year funding has been inconsistent and below baseline expectations in recent years.

We have 44 staff that were brought on for this fiscal year, and theyre doing really critical work, said Walker. Those folks dont know if theyre going to have a job beyond June 30, making the inadequate funding a barrier to the progress of the framework.

Reaching 1% of the citys total budget would bring the city Parks Department closer to, but still below, equivalent agencies in other major cities. Chicago puts aside 4.3% of its operations budget for the citys Parks Department; Los Angeles sits at nearly 3%; Washington, D.C. registers at 1.1%.

Touching that threshold would enable the agency to rely more firmly on full-time staff, rather than seasonal workers, and more responsibly allocate the funding.

This portion of the Parks portfolio has just been so incredibly underfunded for so long and relative to the proportion of the agency that falls under this category, it really is shocking, the level of public disinvestment, said Walker.

Staten Islanders beat the heat in the shade at Conference House Park. (Staten Island Advance/Rebeka Humbrecht)

Keeping forested areas healthy is both a matter of public health and fiscal responsibility, according to the report. Robust forested areas help remove pollutants, cool air temperatures and limit health risks, but unhealthy forests cost around 40 times more to restore than healthy forests are to maintain, said Natural Areas Conservancy, tallying in at $42,076 per acre and $1,037 per acre, respectively.

That especially pertains to Staten Island, where there is a large amount of forested natural areas, compared to the rest of the city, said Helen Forgione, senior manager of conservation planning for Natural Areas Conservancy. In general, there is a lot of really high conditioned and less-threatened forested parkland on the borough, and they really need that care now to prevent them from degrading and becoming a much bigger cost to restore.

Unlike other pieces of hardened infrastructure, forests run the risks of being lost altogether if maintenance is deferred for too long, according to the report, magnifying the need for timely investment.

Currently, about 18% of resources spent on forest care in New York City come from private sources  a vital stream that advocates said is welcomed but should not be depended on to keep a public resource intact. Private conservancies also are more likely to exist in higher income areas, leading to inequitable support for already-disadvantaged communities.

You cant expect it to be a solution, said Forgione. Its kind of like icing on the cake.

Innovative solutions like environmental bonds, outside funding and carbon credits, used to incentivize the preservation of natural areas, are among the potential solutions to bolster the citys forest care funding and are worth exploring, said Forgione.

However, a more dependable solution is using public funding to facilitate those conservation efforts.

There are a lot of really innovative sorts of ideas out there but trying to find the way that it can actually work is a challenge, she said. Not to say that were throwing up our hands, but when we have right in front of us a really clear solution of having New York City care for this infrastructure in the public domain... Its sort of a no brainer.

Echoing the calls of advocates across New York City, Forgione said 1% is not the apex Adams should be aiming for.

Its really the minimum, she said, and to not quite even reach that is disappointing.



RELATED COVERAGE: Staten Island and the environment

>> The crumbs: Proposed NYC budget wont hit Mayor Eric Adams promise for Parks funding

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New York: According to Sudan's ambassador to the UN, Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith Mohamed, the government of Sudan has the security situation under control even as civilians and refugees are fleeing the fighting to neighbouring nations and need immediate humanitarian aid.

Mohamed claimed that the "rebellion" by the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, a collection of heavily armed militias, had failed to seize power in the nation while speaking at a press conference at the UN on Friday.

He claimed that the government and its armed forces were winning the current battle, that a state of emergency had not been declared, and that communication was unhindered.

Also Read: President of UAE meets Macron of France during diplomatic trip

As of late Thursday, the week-long peace negotiations between the two factions in Saudi Arabia had failed to put an end to the fighting and produce a long-term cease-fire. This was in spite of recent attempts to mediate between the two factions thanks to a declaration of principles signed in Saudi Arabia.

Since the fighting started, numerous UN and international attempts to broker a cease-fire between the two factions have fallen short.

Residents of Khartoum heard intense gunfire and air strikes on Thursday. In the major cities and at border crossings, according to Al-Harith, women and children were suffering.

He declared, "Humanitarian conditions are dire." The UN health agency reports that at least 604 people, including civilians, have died as a result of the fighting in Sudan.

Also Read: UN report: 500 killed in March 2022 in Mali by the army and "foreign" fighters

Al-Harith claimed that those attempting to cross into neighbouring countries urgently required access to clean water, food, mobile clinics, and financial aid.

He claimed that in allowing civilians to leave conflict areas and cross borders and in maintaining open ports for shipping and receiving, the Sudanese armed forces had complied with international laws and treaties.

The safety of foreign diplomats and foreign nationals in Khartoum, as well as the safety of aid workers, is something that the Sudanese government is committed to ensuring, he said.

The regular army under General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and the RSF forces under Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, started fighting in Sudan on April 15. Days before a plan to transfer power in Sudan to a civilian government that was supported internationally, the group later attacked army barracks in an effort to unseat military leaders.

Al-Harith stated that a high-level committee for humanitarian aid had been established to oversee aid and relief operations in close coordination with local civil society organisations in order to address the crisis, the emigration of refugees, and the supply shortages.

He declared that the recently established committee would coordinate its initiatives with UN relief organisations and other foreign aid organisations.

In order to facilitate humanitarian aid and diplomatic efforts to contain the situation, Al-Harith claimed that Sudan's permanent mission to the UN was in constant contact with the organization's top officials.

Also Read: Marine who choked NYC tube rider Jordan Neely to death to turn himself in on a manslaughter charge

He claimed that there were plans to get in touch with donor nations, particularly those in the Arab Gulf and the US, to set up aid to ease the current crisis.

More than 200,000 people have fled the country as a result of the war, and an additional 800,000 are anticipated to enter neighbouring states.

In order to better coordinate relief efforts, many UN and international organisations have moved to Port Sudan on the Red Sea and suspended operations in the capital Khartoum and other major cities.
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Feeling overwhelmed by climate change? Want to take action but dont know where to start? Co Read moreHow To Take Action on Climate: What You (Yes, You!) Can Do
San Mateo, CA (94402)

Today

Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low around 55F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low around 55F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
Humble home brand products are getting fancy as the cost-of-living crisis broadens their appeal.

From coffee to cleansing wipes, and baby food to beer, thousands of supermarket-owned brands now line the aisles of our major grocery retailers, with more products added each quarter.

Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci says shoppers are becoming more functional in their shopping. Credit: Oscar Colman

These products are a far cry from the typical home brands found in Australia 30 years ago. After years of steady investment, major grocery giants have axed basic, budget packaging and replaced it with sleeker, more premium designs, and built product lines that shoppers might not even immediately register are supermarket-owned.

Whether its Daley St coffee at Coles or Voeu face masks at Woolworths, exclusive supermarket goods are taking on their own brand identities, and courting thousands of fans.
Sydney is already brimming with world-class bars, restaurants and clubs, with ever more lavish ones opening every week, and now our town is to get an outpost of the hip Soho House private members club.

Blind date: It all started at Soho House London for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2016. Credit: AP

But is it 20 years too late?

In March plans were lodged for the refurbishment of an old 1920s dance hall in Darlinghurst to be transformed into Soho Houses latest multi-million-dollar pleasure palace for those who want to avoid the masses  at a price.

Melbournes wealthy Smorgon and Kanat families are involved in the top-secret $55 million project, which was originally intended to be built in Melbourne. However, after being thwarted by council regulations and unimpressed neighbours, the ambitious vision is now destined to be realised on a rundown site just off Oxford Street.
Heres a story about Lachlan Murdoch at a party in New York.

My friend arrived early, and the only other guest was Lachlan. They were asked to wait on the balcony. Lachlan asked what my friend did, and my friend began telling him about the exciting television project he was working on. Halfway through, Lachlan turned on his heel and, without a word, walked off. Someone more important or compelling had arrived.

Illustration by Simon Letch. Credit:

True story, but too true for Succession. If you were making a television series about a media family under the patriarchal jackboot, this bland encounter wouldnt be worth using as TV dialogue. Available evidence suggests that real small talk is excruciatingly cliched and safe, while the big talk is technical, impenetrable and even more boring.

This is the gap that Succession has filled for the past four years, inserting an alternative set of facts into that gap where millions fantasise about what goes on in the Murdoch family. The HBO hit, now bent double under its awards and accolades, commonly rated alongside The Sopranos as the best television drama of the past 25 years, is so credible in its self-created universe that it stands as a belief-substitute for that other Fox-Trump-Murdoch drama. So discussed and penetrative is Succession, there would be no surprise if Kendall, Shiv or Roman Roy were called to give evidence in one of Fox News ongoing lawsuits. (As unsurprising as if, given The Crowns earlier penetration into the Windsors cone of silence, it had been Dominic West stepping up for last weeks coronation. He would at least have been able to simulate excitement.)
University of Melbourne Provost Nicola Phillips. University of Melbourne Provost Nicola Phillips says the responsibilities of universities are clear. Universities are the place where debates about controversial issues have to be able to play out, she says. Very often, that presents a very difficult environment, but that is what universities are for. Universities have to balance the resolute commitment that we have to academic freedom and freedom of expression with the firm commitment we have to making sure our environment is one where people can go about their work with dignity and without fear of harassment and intimidation. A question at the heart of the campaign against Lawford-Smith is whether gender-critical feminism, commonly referred to by its critics as Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminism (TERF), has any place on the syllabus of a mainstream university. When Lawford-Smiths book was released last year, a group of academics across different universities wrote an open letter to Oxford University Press arguing that gender-critical feminism was not a scholarly field but a coordinated polemical intervention which denies transgender rights under the guise of scholarly inquiry. In response, OUP managing director David Clark described Gender-Critical Feminism as a serious and academic representation of this school of feminist thought.

When asked whether gender-critical feminism has a place at the University of Melbourne, Phillips is unequivocal: The very short answer to your question is yes, of course. She adds that Lawford-Smiths Feminism course had been examined multiple times by the university in response to the complaints about it. We are satisfied that the curriculum is appropriate and that Dr Lawford-Smith is entitled to teach it in the way that is set out. Some of the posters and stickers targeting Holly Lawford-Smith. Those comments are unlikely to mollify the students behind the anonymous Fight Transphobia UniMelb campaign. A spokesperson for the campaign, who identified themselves as Valerie but declined to provide their full name for fear of reprisals by the university, says Feminism (PHIL20046) could be a valid course, but only if taught by someone else. A university subjects syllabus containing gender-critical feminism with sufficient room for a safe and fair academic discussion, taken by a person who isnt a figure well known to be unjustifiably critical of trans rights and identities, would be a valid subject, says Valerie, who identifies as trans. Holly Lawford-Smith does not meet these criteria. Holly Lawford-Smith is proudly and publicly known to be critical of trans and gender diverse peoples rights and identities.

Loading Her unfounded and dangerous agenda is not simply unpopular beliefs. We believe in academic freedom and the right of universities to propagate unpopular ideas, not bigoted ones. Valerie says the campaign against Lawford-Smith was not intended to intimidate students. Fight Transphobia UniMelb does not claim to speak for all transgender students at the University of Melbourne, much less all students. On a day this masthead visits the campus, PhD student Emma Baillie is quietly working her way across University Square, pulling down posters as she comes across them. She is 53, has spent many years at university as a student and occasional tutor and seen countless student campaigns. She says there is something unusually personal about this one. It is the targeting of Holly as a person that I object to, she says. I have ignored stuff before, but this one has gone on for too long. I just feel like enough is enough. The charge that Lawford-Smith incites transphobia has been levelled since 2021, when she established a website inviting women to make anonymous submissions about their experiences of men who identified as women being able to access women-only spaces and services. More than 170 University of Melbourne academics signed an open letter accusing her of promoting harmful stereotypes about trans people. A university investigation cleared Lawford-Smith of any breaches of workplace rules or teaching practices.

Lawford-Smith rejects the notion that either her writing or teaching is transphobic. She invites anyone who challenges this to take her class for themselves. Trans students would have no reason not to feel welcome in my feminism class, she says. There is one lecture where we tackle head-on the question of the relative priority that should be given to sex versus gender identity, which essentially is whether sex ever matters. Trans activism in its current form is an ideology, and not every trans person subscribes to it - perhaps even most do not. No student from the feminism class has ever approached me about feeling unwelcome in the class. I think it would be absurd to claim that feminism focused on females is discriminatory against trans people. That just begs the question in what is a live debate. Other academics are worried that if the university doesnt stare down the campaign against Lawford-Smith, they could be next. Credit: Joe Armao The campaign against Lawford-Smith - and the University of Melbournes response to it - are being closely watched by feminist academics in Britain. Kathleen Stock, a gender-critical philosopher who quit her job at the University of Sussex following a three-year push by student activists for her to be sacked, said the campaign against Lawford-Smith was very similar to the one she faced. There was a poster campaign on my campus about me, so I know how it feels to be singled out like that, she says.

I hope that Holly has got public, vocal support from colleagues. I suspect she hasnt got as much as she should have. The only way you can send the right message is public solidarity from fellow academics. I didnt have that. Either they agreed with the protesters or they were too frightened and didnt want a similar thing to happen to them. I dont blame students for having authoritarian mindsets. That goes with the territory of not knowing much about how things work. I blame the university authorities for being so cowardly and capitulating. The University of Melbourne and Lawford-Smith have very different views on whether the university capitulated or is holding firm in the face of the campaign against her. The posters and stickers were first reported to the universitys leadership on March 29. It was not until April 27 that the Dean of Arts, Professor Russell Goulbourne, emailed staff and later all students expressing his deep concern at material that disparaged one of our colleagues, that unreasonably call into question the academic rigour of an officially approved university subject and that seek to intimidate students who chose to take that subject. By that time, he had instructed university security to remove the material and identify those responsible. Phillips says that Goulbournes email condemned the campaign material in the very strongest terms. I would like to give my clearest assurance that as soon as we were aware that there was material being posted of this kind around campus, we acted very quickly to address it, she says.

However, the university does not accept that Goulbourne, in an earlier email to staff and students about the March 18 Let Women Speak Rally in Melbourne, had indirectly fuelled the campaign against Lawford-Smith. That rally is now notorious for the involvement of black-clad neo-Nazis who performed a Hitler salute on the steps of parliament. The neo-Nazis were disavowed by the principal organisers  radical feminist campaigner Angie Jones and British activist Kellie-Jay Keen  and condemned by political and civic leaders. But their opportunistic intervention, which follows a disturbing pattern of hate groups targeting trans people, and a spiteful Twitter post by Jones which adopted language used at the rally by neo-Nazis to describe trans people, was seized upon as evidence of an alliance between TERFs and the far right. The Let Women Speak rally in Melbourne was gatecrashed by members of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Network. Credit: Chris Hopkins The day after the rally, Liberal leader John Pesutto wrote to his parliamentary colleagues describing the rally as an abomination and revealing he had called in upper house MP Moira Deeming to explain her involvement in organising, promoting, and participating with speakers and organisers who themselves have been publicly associated with far right-wing groups including neo-Nazi activists. That decision triggered a destructive series of events which culminated on Friday with Deeming being permanently excluded from the party room. Within the Victorian Greens, the presence at the rally of Nina Vallins, a former member of the partys state executive, convinced the party to push ahead with a new, broad definition of transphobia which some feminists say effectively proscribes gender-critical thought. An extraordinary panel of inquiry convened to eliminate transphobia from the party is currently considering the expulsion of two long-standing members, City of Melbourne councillor Rohan Leppert and union industrial officer Linda Gale.

Loading At Melbourne University, complaints from students and staff about Lawford-Smiths involvement in the rally prompted Goulbourne to issue a statement on March 24. You wont be surprised, I hope, to learn that I utterly abhor and condemn last Saturdays event and the neo-Nazi activity that accompanied it, the Dean said. The dehumanising views expressed in the anti-transgender rally, and the scornful matter in which they were expressed, are antithetical to my own values and to the values of our university. I am committed, as Dean, to academic freedom, freedom of speech and freedom of expression: all members of our community are entitled to engage in robust, evidence-based and respectful expression of their views. I am equally committed to the values of diversity, inclusion and respect. I want us to provide a safe, fair, respectful and enriching environment for all our staff and students, so it follows that there is no place whatsoever in our faculty for displays of bigotry, hatred or intolerance. Goulbourne added that the university was reviewing all of the circumstances surrounding the rally. A university source not authorised to speak publicly said that review, which is now complete, concluded that Lawford-Smith attended the rally in a personal capacity and had no case to answer. A separate investigation into her social media posts is ongoing. The prospect of the university taking disciplinary action against Lawford-Smith for the content of her Twitter posts appears unlikely. As Phillips says, the university is not in the business of telling people, our staff and citizens, what they can and cant do. Cordelia Fine puts it more pointedly: Sacking or sanctioning a lesbian philosopher for expressing female-centred feminist views or attending a womens rights event? That is quite a message for a university to send.
There have been more than 7200 influenza cases reported in Victoria this year, compared with 4919 for the same period last year, according to the states surveillance of notifiable conditions report. There have also been 5089 cases of RSV so far this year, compared with 152 for this time last year. However, the Victorian government did not officially begin reporting RSV cases until February last year. Exactly why these typically winter illnesses are emerging earlier remains unclear. Some experts have speculated the reason could be immunity debt  a phenomenon they theorise was triggered by a reduction of seasonal bugs during coronavirus lockdowns. Carr, however, believes the answer could be more complex, noting that outbreaks of RSV and the flu never dissipated in the warmer months as outbreaks typically did pre-pandemic. What is so uncharacteristic about this year is that it just never went away over summer, he said. But we didnt see the hospital admissions with RSV and influenza children until recently.

Loading Carr said the next few weeks would determine whether it would be a severe influenza season, with some experts predicting a significant flu season back to epidemic proportions for 2023. The curve is starting perhaps a month earlier than last year and when a season starts early, there are concerns that will there will be a greater exponential rise, Carr said. But it also may be that cases are occurring earlier this season. Children aged over six months are recommended to have an influenza vaccine twice, at least a month apart, and an annual vaccine is recommended after that. Infants under six months cannot be vaccinated against the flu, so the safest approach is for women to have the injection while they are still pregnant.

Loading About 10 per cent of children who end up in hospital with the flu can have neurological problems, such as memory loss, seizures and learning and speech difficulties. While RSV continued to circulate unseasonably throughout summer, it had not triggered a rise in paediatric admissions significantly until last month and Carr said there were about twice as many cases of the infection compared with the same period last year. In 2022, Monash Health reported 36 cases of RSV in March and April, but this year there were 297 for the same two-month period. In severe cases, RSV infection can spread to the lower respiratory tract, leading to pneumonia or bronchiolitis in young children by causing inflammation of the small airway passages entering the lungs. RSV is the most common cause of respiratory and breathing infections in children.

There has also been marked increase in children with invasive group A streptococcus, a dangerous bacterial infection that caused the deaths of two Victorian children, presenting in hospital in the past year. Eight people died from invasive group A streptococcus across Australia last year, according to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which have prompted doctors to raise awareness of the potentially deadly illness. The infectious disease is caused by the group A streptococcus bacteria, found in the throat and on the skin. It mostly triggers mild symptoms including a sore throat, but in rarer cases can lead to life-threatening invasive group A streptococcal infections. There have been 320 cases reported between October and April this year. Case numbers appear to have risen in December 2022, decreased in January 2023 and stabilised in March this year. Carr said Monash Childrens Hospital had reported 13 cases between September and December last year, and another dozen between January and May.

I think were past the rapid peak, Carr said. But were still seeing high numbers of presentations with really significant illnesses with group A strep, which remains a concern. Carr said his advice to parents was to trust their instinct when it came to their childrens health and seek medical help if they were concerned about symptoms such as lethargy, high fevers, laboured or fast breathing, or a child being unable to maintain feeds or fluids. This was particularly important for children under the age of one year. Parents can seek care from a medical professional including a nurse on-call service, GP or visit their nearest emergency department. Meanwhile, the first approval for a vaccine offering protection against RSV for adults aged over 60 has been given by the US Food and Drug Administration this week. An application to approve the same protein-based vaccine in Australia is also currently under consideration by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
National cabinet announced last month it planned to curtail the growth of the NDIS, saving $57 billion over a decade by scrutinising invoiced payments and services provided by disability companies. More than 573,000 people are receiving NDIS funding. Funding levels are constantly tweaked. The latest NDIA quarterly report showed participants were more likely to have their plans increase rather than decrease. Between July and December 2022, 52 per cent of participants received a funding increase of more than 5 per cent, though 19 per cent had their plans cut by more than 5 per cent. This has led to concerns about how funding for plans are now being calculated and how reliant the scheme is now on automated systems. NDIS Minister Bill Shorten, in a National Press Club address last month, flagged his support for ethical automation, saying the public sector was not using data enough. There should be an ethical use of AI [artificial intelligence]. My view is it should be wherever possible open-sourced, so people can see whats going on, he said.

He did not respond to questions about when this transparency would be implemented. Disability advocates draw parallels to the robo-debt scandal, in which the previous federal government used computers to identify suspected welfare cheats and make savings in the budget. A royal commission last year revealed that the flawed scheme operated unlawfully for years before it was scrapped in 2020, leading to a $1.8 billion settlement package. But while robo-debt used an entirely automated system to target debt, the NDIA has confirmed it uses data fed into its customer relationship management system to generate a typical support package, which is then manually adjusted by NDIS planners following conversations with the person with disabilities to form an individual package. An NDIA spokeswoman said it was incorrect and misleading to link robo-debt to the NDIS, saying the NDIS funding plans were built and individually tailored to meet a participants own unique disability-related support needs. A spokeswoman for Shorten said there was no evidence the NDIS used similar processes to robo-debt.

Geoff Toomey and his father Mark have spearheaded the call for analysis into how the NDIS uses data analysis to determine funding packages. There is no way the minister who organised the robo-debt class action and the royal commission would tolerate it happening in anything he is involved with. We have never received any evidence that the agency is doing this, the spokeswoman said. Mark Toomey is spearheading a group of disability advocates who are pushing for a royal commission into NDIS funding decisions. We want parliament to extend or reconvene the robo-debt royal commission, directing it to immediately investigate the lawfulness of the use of robo methods, systems and processes in the administration of the NDIS, he said. His son Geoff has cognitive and mobile impairment following a brain haemorrhage. Toomey said hes spent the past several years fighting for more money for Geoff.

Georgia van Toorn, a postdoctoral research fellow at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, said there was limited transparency around NDIS automated decision-making. The nature of data-driven algorithmic systems is that they operate under a veil of invisibility and unexplainability, she said. Data crunching algorithmic process is one of the main levers that the NDIA really has available to it to control the cost of the individual plans and therefore the cost of the scheme. Australia doesnt have laws requiring government public service algorithms to be made open and accessible to the public. A 2021 Australian Human Rights Commission report recommended the government create a multidisciplinary task force on AI-informed decision-making. The government has yet to respond to the report.

Loading The reassessment is not the first time Oriel has had an issue with the NDISs funding decisions. She requested funding to repair a home wheelchair lift at her home in 2017. The funding was delayed and, in February 2020, the lift cable snapped while in use. Oriel broke multiple bones in her leg, pelvis and ribs, while Price fractured his ribs and vertebrae and had a large wound on his side. Oriel spent nine months in hospital and temporary accommodation until the lift could be fixed. She recently suffered a stroke, which the pair believe to have been caused by stress. Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Findlay said data was crucial in ensuring the sustainability of the NDIS, but said the use of algorithms without human explainability undermined the NDIS person-centric approach.
London: Experts concurred on Friday that Europe must reconsider its security policies and its transatlantic relationship with the US in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Academics and analysts from think tanks joined Baltic prime ministers on a panel at the Lennart Meri Conference to talk about how the continent can best adapt to and get through ongoing political and economic crises as a whole.

The panel asserts that the conflict in Russia-Ukraine has been the biggest test of European unification since the end of the Cold War, but it has also revealed the weakness of its defensive capabilities and shown the need to strengthen its defence industrial capacity.

Also Read: G-7 discussions centre on ways to strengthen supply chains and banks as China accuses the group of hypocrisy

Another important item on the agenda was the impact of the conflict on Europe's relationship with the US.

The conflict in Ukraine and the rise of China, according to Latvia's Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins, have forged a stronger bond between the US and Europe and increased Washington's involvement in European affairs.

He said: "I've given a lot of thought to how we can strengthen this relationship because I'm convinced from the European side that it's in our interest, but equally convinced that the US side has a lot to gain from doing so.

"We are all beginning to understand that NATO has placed us in a complete military reliance on the United States. What else can we do to strengthen our relationship with the US? Because of the many difficulties we and the US face, we should not separate.

Lithuania's prime minister, Ingrida Simonyte, asserted that the EU was fundamentally a peace initiative. She continued by saying that the Ukraine conflict had compelled the EU and its allies to consider the best ways to protect their hard-won peace, even if those ways involved less-than-peaceful means.

Also Read: China will dispatch a special envoy to the Ukraine, Russia, and other European countries

I don't want to say that the region has a unique (perspective); we simply have a living memory of our past, she continued.

"Even for myself, I can still recall the 15 years that the Soviet Union occupied Lithuania, and for me, never again means never again. Simply put, I don't want to see that occur once more.

Kaja Kallas, the prime minister of Estonia, stressed the necessity of European cooperation with the rest of the West in order to hold those accountable for Russian "crimes of aggression" accountable.

"Russia must be held accountable," she remarked. No one can enjoy immunity or impunity.

Also Read: In the Libya war crimes investigation, the International Criminal Court issues four new arrest warrants

It was unthinkable a year ago that the ICC (International Criminal Court) would issue an arrest warrant for (Vladimir) Putin. Most people were reluctant to publicly support the concept of a special court for crimes of aggression just six months ago. We have reached the last possible step now.

Simonyte concurred, stating: "If Ukraine falls, there won't be a lasting peace in Europe. Russia will reorganise, rearm, and move in on the next target.

"To prevent this, Russia must be driven off Ukrainian soil, pay for the country's reconstruction, and ensure that those responsible for war crimes are held accountable.
Rob Harris diminishes himself when he describes the coronation as absurd ... weird (A superb and absurd event for the ages, May 7). Was he not listening? A ceremony that explicitly reminded the King and us that civilised government must be founded on law, justice, mercy, freedom, equity, service, ministry and humility is far from weird, unless society itself has become so dislodged from its Christian foundations as to have become absurd itself. Peter Fleming, Northmead

Democracy manifest

I was flabbergasted (5 minutes with Fitz, May 7) that the avowed monarchist David Flint described himself as being a radical when he was younger by joining a demonstration against the Whitlam dismissal in 1975.

I doubt any of us who demonstrated back then would have called ourselves radical, but instead we were concerned worried about our democracy. Nothing radical about that. Con Vaitsas, Ashbury

I just want to say that not all Flints are monarchists. John Flint, Newtown
A Sydney council has proposed a tax on empty homes to address the housing affordability crisis and increase the number of rental properties.

Inner West Council has also suggested banning no-fault evictions, lengthening tenancy periods to up to 10 years and charging higher rates to retail landlords who keep shopfronts empty.

Tenants Union of NSW chief executive Leo Patterson-Ross supports incentives to discourage landowners from leaving properties vacant. Credit: Nikki Short

With almost 10 per cent of homes in Sydneys inner west unoccupied, the Labor-led council last week voted to convene a renters rights round table to gauge support for a vacant homes tax despite the newly elected Minns governments reluctance to consider new taxes.

The change in government presents an opportunity to re-engage with a fresh set of policy priorities on how we can improve tenancy laws and renters rights, Labor councillor Chloe Smith said.
Police are searching for vandals who spray-painted Declare Modi terrorist on a Rosehill Hindu temple last week.

It comes less than two weeks before Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to arrive in Sydney for the Quad leaders summit on May 24. It follows similar incidents at three Hindu temples in Melbourne and two in Brisbane, motivated by an intensifying campaign by activists who want to form a break-away state for Sikhs  Khalistan  in India.

The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir temple was defaced between 1am and 2am on Friday, May 5, and on Saturday NSW Police released images of the alleged vandals hoping the public can help them identify the perpetrators.

Police are hoping witnesses can help identify alleged vandals on Friday May 5 between 1am and 2am on Virginia Street toward James Ruse Drive, Rosehill. Credit: NSW Police

The Indian High Commission in Canberra said these incidents are clear attempts to sow hatred and division among the peaceful multi-faith and multicultural Indian-Australian community.
Overcrowded public schools across parts of Sydneys north and west are stretched to their limits with a dozen campuses operating more than 600 students above their official enrolment caps.

Schools including Carlingford West Public, The Ponds High, St Ives High and Riverbank Public are at double or triple their caps despite a crackdown on out-of-area enrolments. Some student populations have soared by more than 20 per cent this year.

New enrolment data reveals primary schools in the citys north-west growth area are bearing the brunt of ballooning enrolments, including at Northbourne Public which has added more than 350 pupils this year to push total student numbers to almost 1600.

Principals say they are adhering to strict rules that stop younger siblings from attending the same school as an older child if a family has moved out-of-area, but classrooms in high-growth suburbs are squeezed for space and some schools are being forced to use more than 40 demountables each.
NSW Secondary Principals Council president Craig Petersen said a rise in Vocational Education Training students, who require work experience placements, had driven up competition. Nationally, there were 4.3 million students enrolled in VET programs in 2021, an increase of 9 per cent on 2020 numbers. More than a quarter of a million students were year 11 and 12 students taking a VET course in school, a rise of 4.2 per cent from 2020. Schools are moving away from year 10 work experience and, in some cases, thats been caused by the difficulty in getting placements, Petersen said. Petersen said the role of work experience had also changed. Work experience wasnt originally just about having a crack at a career that youre interested in, but it was as much about preparing young people for the workplace, he said.

That may no longer be relevant given a record number of teens have entered the workforce, with more than half of 15- to 18-year-olds having a job. Australia has also almost reached its national target for 90 per cent of people aged 20 to 24 to have completed a year 12 equivalent or Certificate III attainment, meaning many young people are entering the full-time workforce later. Petersen said this reduced incentives for employers, who previously used work experience as a way to scout out new employees. Estella Bayfield feeds echidnas at Taronga Zoo as part of a work experience program. Credit: Brook Mitchell Year 10 student Estella Bayfield, who attends independent school Pittwater House on Sydneys northern beaches, scored a prized work experience at Taronga Zoo, helping to care for native animals.

As soon as I heard [applications] opened up, I got right on it, she said. The zoo offers placements to as many as 300 students across the year. Bayfield spent the week cutting vegetables, cleaning enclosures and feeding animals. She hopes to study zoology at university. If I didnt do this, I wouldnt have known what it would be like to be a zookeeper and [would have] to reassess what Id like to do when Im older, so its a really great experience to see what its like, she said. Career advisor and deputy principal of Lithgow High School Rebecca Hamment said the shuttering of large companies in the region, including the 2021 closing of the Lithgow coal-fired power station, made finding placements difficult.

Work experience was especially important for students in situations where family members dont work, she said. We want to increase aspirations for our students  so students can see whats outside of school. The school hosts events across the year to encourage businesses to get involved and works with the chamber of commerce to organise placements. Hamment said there had been a large response from small business owners in the community willing to take students in. We want everyone to be able to do it, and make it a community initiative as well, Hamment said.

Jack Murphy and Maximilian Horvath say their experience has given them a clearer picture of what to do after high school. Credit: Brook Mitchell Loading For Pittwater House students Jack Murphy and Maximilian Horvath, who organised placements through family connections at an insurance law firm and an automated vertical farming company, the experience has given them a better idea of what they want to study. Murphy has decided the Australian Defence Force might offer a good career path. Work experience can tell you what you want to do in life and give you experience in the real world, he said. Its important for students.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Four days after her mother died, Shelley Anson walked into a candlelit room at a funeral home. There, her mother Lorraine lay on a bed, tucked in as though she were just asleep. A cooling mat to slow decomposition was humming away beneath her body. She looked so beautiful. She had colour in her face, even her lips. I asked if it was make-up, but it was from massage. I was in absolute disbelief and awe, I cried and cried, Anson says. I was kissing her and she was cold to the touch, but that was OK. I was telling her how much I loved her, how grateful for her I was and how happy that she was reunited with my dad. For the next three hours, Anson cuddled her mother, brushed her hair and washed her face, arms, torso and legs with warm water and myrrh oil. Finally, she dressed her in her favourite sequined maroon dress for the funeral. The experience, in December, was transformative for Ansons grief. It was perfect in every way. It brought me absolute, great peace, she says. I could have stayed longer, but I felt like Id finally done enough and that it was OK to go home. In contemporary Australia, much as in the rest of the Western world, our eyes are closed to the realities of death. The dead are often hurried away from a hospital room by an appointed funeral director and not seen again, unless a family chooses to farewell them with an open casket.

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But there is a growing push towards keeping vigil with a loved one after their death and taking on the care of their body, either at a private house or a funeral home. Advocates of whats been termed the death-positive movement say our modern, sanitised practice interrupts our grieving process, creates a fear of death and has contributed to the loss of centuries-old rituals of caring for our loved ones. A bereavement casting made by Pia Interlandi of Shelley Ansons hand clasping her mothers. Credit:Simon Schluter Libby Moloney is the founder of Natural Grace, a Victorian holistic funeral company that has been at the forefront of shifting the narrative around after-death care. In the 1900s we surrendered the care of our dead to well-meaning strangers in what we now know as the funeral industry. In a way death was sterilised and outsourced. Its a model thats very much about easing your burden, taking away the stress, she says. But Moloney says this robs families of a pivotal point in the mourning process that comes from the act of being with the body of their loved one, of feeling the stillness of their hand. It happens to everybody, and its deeply sacred, Moloney says. It takes the human mind and body about three days, where theres a visceral, profound knowing that Im ready  ready to separate from the body of my person and I can now go on to the next steps. Its unbelievably empowering.

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She says at least 80 per cent of her clients have an element of death care, with roughly half choosing to do this at home, the other half at her Woodend or Fairfield sanctuaries. These rituals usually take place over a three-day period before a funeral ceremony and burial or cremation. Loading Tasmania-based Bec Lyons spent six years in the mainstream funeral industry before becoming a death doula and independent funeral practitioner. Today, she leads both the Australian Home Funeral Alliance and Natural Death Advocacy Network, which aim to raise awareness of family-led funerals, death care and natural burials. Death care is not for everybody, but Lyons goal is to teach people that there isnt just one way to grieve. Most Australians dont know that they dont have to appoint a funeral director, and that its perfectly legal and safe to care for the body of their loved one. In NSW, the deceased can stay at home for up to five days; in Victoria, there is no prescribed limit. The key requirements are to register the death and arrange a burial or cremation. Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows there were more than 171,000 registered deaths in 2021, up from almost 147,000 10 years earlier. Its estimated that by 2066, the number of annual deaths will be over 430,000. Theres a pertinent conversation around what are we going to do with all those bodies? Death needs to move back into the home, Lyons says. With 70 per cent of Australians wanting to die at home, Lyons believes that the older generation, having watched their parents die in nursing homes, want to do things differently.

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She says the number of home funerals shes facilitated has doubled in the last 12 months, which she puts down to increased understanding of death, as well as financial considerations: they can be half the cost of a typical funeral. Lyons says more people began to explore the idea of after-death care and home funerals (meaning a dead person is kept at home until they are put to rest) during COVID-19, when restrictions stripped away usual mourning practices. Holding vigil at home was still possible. In conventional Western society, the only vehicle we have to mourn is the funeral ceremony. For people who want that, thats fantastic. But when COVID-19 hit, you ended up with grief that had no outlet, she says. Grief is an emotion that needs something to do. Ansons mother died at age 79, 2 years after a brain cancer diagnosis. Anson, an end-of-life doula and nurse, cared for her at home for the first seven months until, emotionally, she couldnt do it any longer. But putting her mother in a nursing home weighed heavily. Its why after-death care and being with her mothers body was extraordinarily healing: That was my way of giving that last bit of love that I felt I hadnt been able to give. Melbourne Chevra Kadisha CEO Simon Weinstein with volunteer Yaelle Schachna. Credit:Eddie Jim Several religions and cultures have preserved ancient death care rituals. In Islam, its customary for same-sex relatives to wash the bodies of their dead, usually three times, then wrap them in sheets. Hindu families traditionally wash a body with holy ingredients such as milk, honey and ghee before dressing them.

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Simon Weinstein is chief executive of the Melbourne Chevra Kadisha, a funeral home that serves much of the citys Jewish community and delivers funerals according to Orthodox laws and traditions. In Judaism, a burial should happen as quickly as possible, preferably within a day, and until that happens, a body is guarded  an act called shemirah  by family sitting close by to protect and comfort the soul. The body is also washed in a ritual of purification and immersed in a holy bath. Weinstein says this process, tahara, is done by trained, same-sex volunteers as children and grandchildren of the dead cannot be involved to preserve modesty  but the community is tight-knit, and there is often a connection with at least one volunteer. Its an act of ultimate kindness and respect, he says. The cotton shrouds for the ritual of tahara are ironed at Melbourne Chevra Kadisha. Credit:Eddie Jim The dead person is then dressed in white cotton shrouds, and its at the end of this process that close relatives sometimes enter the room to place a cap on the head or tie a final bow. A common theme that comes out is how angelic they look. Its very comforting for families, Weinstein says. Yaelle Schachna was praying in a room next door when her late grandmother was undergoing tahara. She joined for the final stage. I gave my grandmother a kiss and it was very peaceful for me to see her. I could say goodbye.

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A century-old Australian law that allows alcohol to be called whisky only if it has been matured for two years has led to a fight between Australian distillers, after new technology now allows a bottle to be ready in just two weeks.

Sydney-based Goodradigbee Distillers and Mountain Distilling, based in regional Victoria, are calling their product single malt to get around the restriction in the Excise Act 1901.

The move has angered established distillers, who say it is putting the reputation of Australian whisky producers at risk.

George Cremasco, co-founder of Mountain Distilling, can mature a single malt in 14 days. Credit: Paul Jeffers

Backwoods Distilling Co. director Leigh Attwood said labelling products as single malt was misleading consumers because of the terms close association with whisky.
After months of meetings, visits and tours, it is now time for China to start untangling itself from the mess it created.

If not, Australia will have to escalate the dispute over more than $20 billion in trade bans on Australian exports.

Trade Minister Don Farrell, touring Beijing on Friday, has yet to secure any concessions from China. Credit: DFAT

The Albanese government has hardly put a foot wrong in its diplomatic reset with China, but it could get much more difficult from now.

It was a no-brainer for Trade Minister Don Farrell to travel to Beijing in a bid to get his counterpart, Wang Wentao, to commit to removing the trade sanctions.
The market is out of control. Ive [been selling residential real estate for 27 years] and I dont know what anything is worth [right now] ... theres no way I would have guided near what we got today, he said. Auctioneer Karen Harvey in action at 131 Corunna Road, Stanmore. Credit: Dion Georgopoulos People are not paying prices based on value, they are paying prices on what it costs to exit the market and continue with their life. Dendrinos said buyers were frustrated by the lack of homes for sale. They just dont have enough to look at, so people have to get creative and be more open-minded about where theyre wanting to go.

The property last sold just over 10 years ago for $1.17 million, records show. The Stanmore property attracted 23 registered bidders. Credit: Dion Georgopoulos In North Bondi, an original-condition four-bedroom house sold for $7,705,000  more than 50 times the $145,000 that records show it last traded hands for in 1983. Six buyers  all looking to rebuild on the 477-square-metre block  registered to bid on the deceased estate at 73 Hastings Parade. The bidding opened at $6 million, but not before Ray White auctioneer James Keenan had to knock back a cheeky attempt to start it at $4 million  well below the $7 million price guide.

From there it climbed in $100,000 jumps, before slowing to smaller increments, said selling agent Warren Ginsberg, of Ray White Double Bay. Four buyers made offers and the property was called on the market at $7.2 million. Loading The property sold to a local buyer, who plans to build a new home on the block. Ginsberg said all the interested buyers already owned homes on the surrounding streets. All the buyers either lived on the street or within one kilometre, he said.

The location is what drew everyone in ... the proximity to the beach is perfect, and its a good-sized block. In Russell Lea, another tightly held home was passed in at $3.8 million, despite drawing eight registered bidders. The red brick four-bedroom house at 75 Byrne Avenue was on the market for the first time in almost 60 years.

The auction opened with an offer of $3.2 million and four parties competed, pushing the price to the $3.5 million price guide, at which bidding stalled. A vendor bid was made at $3.8 million, and the property was then passed in. Ray White Drummoynes Mario Carbone negotiated with several parties after the auction and the home had been sold by Saturday evening. Carbone declined to disclose the result but said it topped the vendor bid. Loading I was pretty surprised that it didnt get done under the hammer, but sometimes people get shy, he said. In Cremorne, a large one-bedroom apartment at 17/74-76 Murdoch Street sold for $1,015,000.

The bidding started strong at $840,000, just short of the $850,000 reserve price, and went up in $10,000 and $5000 jumps as two parties  a downsizer and a single professional  competed. The four other registered bidders were all first home buyers and were priced out from the start. The 74-square-metre unit sold to the single professional, through David Benjafield, of Belle Property Neutral Bay. It had been guided at $790,000 to $869,000. The owner put the home on the market after upsizing last year. Records show they purchased the apartment for $545,000 in 2012.
Trade Minister Don Farrell is returning to Australia from a two-day trip to China without securing any major concessions on a raft of trade bans on Australian exports.

Farrell said there was positive momentum following his visit to the country, where he held high-level talks with Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao on Friday night, and agreed to step up dialogue to resolve the trade impasse.

Trade Minister Don Farrell says the trip to China was a first step in resolving the trade issues. Credit: DFAT

He said Wang had agreed to visit him in South Australia to build on their discussions.

Farrell said he also raised the plight of Australians Cheng Lei and Yang Henjung, who have been detained by China for years over alleged espionage offences amid frozen bilateral relations.
Manila: After the issuance of visas for Filipinos was suspended, the Philippine government stated on Friday that it was seeking a diplomatic resolution and "maximum protection" for its employees in Kuwait.

About 290,000 Filipinos, mostly women, are employed in Kuwait, which has recently come under scrutiny by Philippine authorities due to a number of abuse allegations and the murder of a Filipino maid. As a result, Manila suspended the deployment of new employees to the Gulf state in February.

According to a statement from the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, Kuwait's government had "suspended the issuance of new entry visas for PH nationals into Kuwait effective immediately until further notice."

Also Read: Remains of woman reported lost on April 30 is discovered in the River Thames

According to Eduardo De Vega, the DFA's Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs, the government has not yet decided how to handle the circumstance.

"Everything can be discussed and settled diplomatically, in a way that will provide the greatest protection and unrestricted access to justice for our nationals in Kuwait," he said.

The following steps will be discussed by various government agencies. Although the ban on the Philippines sending new workers to Kuwait overlaps with the suspension of new visas, DFA Assistant Secretary Paul Cortes said the measure also applies to tourist, business, and student visas. There is now a ban for those who will be entering Kuwait for the first time,"

Also Read: Refugee settlements in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh is prepare for Cyclone Mocha

At the same time, there is a guarantee that you will be permitted entry into Kuwait as long as you have a residence visa, or iqama.

A delegation from the Philippines was scheduled to visit the Gulf state soon, though the reasons for the suspension were not immediately clear.

"Hopefully, we'll be able to visit Kuwait in the coming weeks. There were scheduled meetings with Kuwait, not necessarily to discuss this matter but rather our bilateral labour agreement, according to Cortes.

"As always, the Philippines strives to amicably settle and resolve any bilateral disputes with any nation. And we must take this action in order to safeguard the interests of the remaining Filipinos.

Thousands of them, according to the Philippine Employment Agencies and Associates for Corporate Employees in the Middle East, or PEACEME, will be impacted by the visa suspension.

Also Read: No peace without holding aggressors accountable so the Russian invasion of Ukraine demands a review of European security policies

According to PEACEME president Arnold Mamaclay, "with the announcement, we can no longer deploy in Kuwait... those who were already interviewed and selected by employers, we can no longer apply for visas for them."

The group will make an effort to place them in work in other Middle Eastern nations.

"We will have to support them if there are jobs available for them in other markets. However, there is no assurance, Mamaclay said.

If the candidates match what our clients in other nations and industries need, that will ultimately depend on them.
Rome: Pope Francis joined Italys conservative prime minister in encouraging Italians to have more children, denouncing the financial precariousness facing young couples and selfish, egotistical choices that have led to a record low birth rate that is threatening the countrys economic future.

Francis urged concrete political action to invert the demographic winter, which in population terms resulted in the disappearance of a city the size of the Italian city of Bari last year. Blasting couples who have pets instead of children, Francis called for resources to be dedicated to helping couples grow their families, saying it was necessary to plant the future with hope.

Pope Francis greets Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni at the end of a conference to discuss the demographic winter and empty cribs problem Italy is facing. Credit: AP

Let us not resign ourselves to sterile dullness and pessimism, Francis told an annual gathering of pro-family organisations. Let us not believe that history is already marked, that nothing can be done to reverse the trend.

Italy recorded a record low number of live births last year, 392,598, which combined with an elevated number of deaths, 713,499, has accelerated the demographic trend that threatens to crash the countrys social security system.
This weekends Eurovision Song Contest final will be co-hosted by Ukrainian singer Julia Sanina, feature video postcards filmed at the Independence Monument in Kyiv and the botanical garden at Lviv University, and a performance from the Ukrainian group Kalush Orchestra.

But it will not feature an address to the estimated television audience of 160 million people worldwide from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He had asked to make one, but Eurovisions organising body, the European Broadcasting Union, knocked him back.

Volodymyr Zelensky gives a video address. He has been blocked from giving one to this weekends Eurovision final. Credit: AP

The move drew immediate criticism from British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

The values and freedoms that President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine are fighting for are not political, theyre fundamental, Sunaks spokesman said.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Texas: Beneath the unrelenting sun in El Paso, a four-year-old girl sits outside a church where countless migrants who have crossed the US southern border hoping for a better life are camped under white tarps or on flattened boxes lined with donated blankets. Ahead of a dramatic shift in immigration policy this week, the child and her parents, Luis Valbuena and Maria Claudia, embarked on a 2-month journey, largely on foot, from their home in Colombia: across the jungles of Panama, along the fast-flowing rivers of Nicaragua, and past the drug cartels of Mexico. Now, after being arrested and processed by Texas authorities and released back into the community to await an immigration hearing - a controversial practice that limits the number of families placed in detention centres - they are unsure of what happens next. We want to go to Denver because we have relatives there, says 22-year-old Valbuena, as he shows me Homeland Security Department documents confirming he has been granted a court hearing to formally seek US asylum. Migrants wait in line to be processed at the US-Mexico border before the lifting of Title 42 Credit:Bloomberg The problem is, due to an extraordinary backlog of migrants from South and Central America, the court date isnt until March 13, 2027. What will they do for the next four years?

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I dont know, he says, holding his daughter tightly as his partner sits beside him. We dont have much, so Id like to find a job somewhere ... A border mess Australias immigration regime - which mandates detention for illegal arrivals - is regarded as one of the strictest in the world. Americas system, which last year resulted in a record 2.3 million people apprehended along the 3000-kilometre southern border separating the United States and Mexico, is known as a mess. Many are now bracing for things to get worse, following the expiration of a Trump-era policy that allowed the government to immediately expel people, with some exceptions, to stop the spread of COVID-19. Were very concerned about what might happen, says John Martin, the deputy director of El Pasos Opportunity Centre for the Homeless, who had about 800 migrants sleeping in the laneway outside his shelter last Sunday because inside was already at capacity. John Martin, Deputy Director at Opportunity Center for the Homeless in El Paso. Credit:Lisa V. Lopez-Lupo We know were going to see a large number of individuals, but to what extent were just not sure. Weve just been trying to adapt daily, and in some cases hourly.

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Even before Title 42 ended at 11.59 pm on Thursday (Friday afternoon AEST), the signs of strain were everywhere. In downtown El Paso, where 2500 migrants were camped outside Sacred Heart Church last weekend, an informal economy had sprung up. One person was charging $1 per phone charge at her home; others were spruiking Coca-Cola for the same price; another was selling flattened cardboard boxes to sleep on. Migrants seek refuge outside Sacred Heart Church in El Paso, Texas, on the day Title 42 expired. Credit:Lisa V. Lopez-Lupo In Washington, DC, two busloads of migrants arrived at the home of Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday morning sent by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who started the contentious bussing policy last year to goad President Joe Biden for his broken immigration system. Since then, other Republican governors have followed suit, orchestrating surprise drop-offs in places such as New York, Chicago and Marthas Vineyard. And in Manhattan - a sanctuary city where every person in need of housing has a unique legal right to shelter - a fresh stoush erupted last week after Mayor Eric Adams announced a plan to house about 300 men in hotels in Rockland and Orange counties to meet the demand. About 36,000-plus migrants are currently in the states care, many staying in taxpayer-funded Manhattan hotels, causing simmering resentment from parts of the community. Adams announcement exacerbated the tension. Here is my response, Rockland Countys Republican executive Ed Day told his local WABC-770 AM radio program. Mr Adams, you can try to run us over, (and) I will reach up and grab you by the throat for the people of Rockland County.

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Credible fear In many ways, New York is emblematic of the fear and confusion surrounding the end of Title 42 - and the start of another regime known as Title 8. One day before Title 42 is set to be lifted, Border Patrol units patrol along the US side of the wall in El Paso, Texas. Credit:Lisa V. Lopez-Lupo Under the new rules, people wont be able to seek asylum in the US unless they have first applied for, and been denied, legal protection in another country. If they havent, they can make their case through a credible fear interview, explaining why they left their home or face persecution and setback. But if customs officials dont think the reason is valid enough (or if a migrant doesnt request asylum), they will be deported to their country of origin or Mexico. Whats more, unlike Title 42, those sent back under the new system could be banned from re-entering the US for a minimum of five years and risk criminal prosecution for repeated attempts. Its the kind of policy that has left Biden under attack from all sides. On the one hand, Republicans accuse him of creating the chaos by being too soft on border security. On the other, some Democrats and progressives say he has not done enough to create a better and more efficient pathway to help people seek asylum.

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One day before Title 42 is set to be lifted, makeshift shelter and items are left behind by migrants along the US side of the wall in El Paso, Texas. Credit:Lisa V. Lopez-Lupo Biden talks about restoring the soul of our nation. Lets remember we are a nation of immigrants, tweeted congressman Chuy Garcia, a member of the Democrats progressive caucus. Loading Since taking office in January 2021, there have been 6 million illegal immigrants detained or intercepted under Biden - more than any other president in history. However, Americas border crisis spans across successive governments and is influenced by shifting migration patterns: previously, those seeking entry were mainly solo Mexican men wanting a job; now there are more families and people from crisis-torn countries such as Venezuela and Cuba. The system is also unlikely to be fixed without bipartisan political will, says Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute. He says the new policy is a huge change because it would mean that, for the first time in US history, anyone who arrives between legal ports of entry would be presumptively ineligible for asylum.

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BONAIRE:--- With great appreciation, Mrs. Davika Bissessar Shaw and Mr. James Finies  on behalf of Bonaire Human Rights Organization, has accepted this honor by the extraordinary invitation by the Chairman of CARICOM Reparations Commission (CRC), Professor Sir Hilary Beckles

Mr. Finies confirmed the acceptance for Bonaire Human Rights Organization as an Associate Member at the historical meeting of CRC held on 25th April 2023 on behalf of his Bonerian ancestors. Our ancestors were forced into slavery, entire enslaved families, men, women, and children, and also convicted enslaved ancestors from other Antillean sister islands were sentenced to labor on the saltpans as punishment and were worked to death there on Bonaire. With a very short life span, with their sweat, blood, and tears they cultivated, harvested, and shipped thousands and thousands of tons of this white gold -salt- to Holland aka The Netherlands to grow their main economic fishing pillar, building their economy and enriching themselves to one of the world richest nations. All by our ancestors free labor and short-lived lives in these horror salt plantations. For the sake of reparatory justice, we further received and dedicated this honor in the name of our Bonerian hero, Martis di Katalina Janga



Special Recognition

In his letter of Invitation on behalf of his CARICOM Reparations Commission, Chairman Professor Sir Beckles recognizes the significant contribution of BHRO in advocating for human rights

Brief description of CARICOM Reparations Commission:

The CARICOM Reparations Commission (CRC) was established following a decision of the thirty-fourth Regular Meeting of the Heads of Government, held in July 2013 in Trinidad and Tobago. The CRC has been tasked with providing advice, coordinating the overall strategy, and implementing national and regional activities to pursue Reparations. This is being implemented through research, public education, preparing the legal case and costing the damages, diplomacy, partnerships with civil society, youth engagement, and advocacy.

This is the first time in history that Bonaire has a regional and international representation for human rights at the status as of CARICOM. BHRO will be looking forward to commencing working with these great minds of this CRC Commission to bring prosperity to our great region and peoples we call the Caribbean, as we all share common histories, trials, traumas, and triumphs. Despite our Dutch colonizer's actions to isolate us, we are now reunited as regional neighbors, as we all came on the same boats and as we have, through the years, encountered many of the same hurdles, beat down the same walls, and conquered the same challenges. Indeed, we owe it to ourselves and each other to recognize that we are and always have been in this together.

James Finies Davika Bissessar Shaw
PHILIPSBURG:--- On May 26, 2023, at the American University of the Caribbean, the Integrity Chamber will host its first Integrity Symposium. This symposium, with the theme: Building Integrity to Build a Nation, will aim to stimulate a national discussion and offer new ideas about the foundational elements of integrity for building a stronger Sint Maarten. Various stakeholders within Sint Maarten and the Kingdom were invited. The public can also participate virtually via the Facebook or YouTube pages of the Integrity Chamber. The event will be officially opened by the Prime Minister. Speaking at the event will be the president of the Integrity Chamber, Mrs. H.W. (Rian) Vogels. Vogels is the first president of the Integrity Chamber and was appointed by Kingdom Decree. Vogels has an extensive career of over 20 years in the judicial field in the Netherlands, where she practiced law and also served as a senior judge. Her vast experience in integrity matters throughout her career is exemplified by her serving on several supervisory boards, as a member of the Hague Courts Recusal Committee (Wrakingskamer), and as a mediator and deputy secretary of the Disciplinary Board for Accountants. She is also chair of the National Mining Damage Committee (Commissie Mijnbouwschade). One of the keynote speakers for the symposium is Mr. Dion Abdool from Trinidad and Tobago. Mr. Abdool is a Board Member of Transparency International and the immediate past Chair of the Trinidad and Tobago Transparency Institute. He is an Attorney at Law with over 20 years of experience in the corporate environment and holds a Masters's Degree in Law (Corporate and Commercial). Mr. Abdool is a Chartered Secretary, a fellow of the Corporate Governance Institute (FCG), and a graduate of the Harvard Business School (GMP). He has facilitated workshops, and presentations, and presented papers locally, regionally, and internationally on areas such as governance, risk management, strategic planning, diversity, integrity in public life, and procurement systems. Also, a keynote speaker is Professor Trevor Munroe, the Director of National Integrity Action in Jamaica. He is a member of the International Council of Transparency International, one of only 30 globally and the only such from the Caribbean. Professor Munroe has a First Class Honours Degree and a Masters in Government from UWI and attained his Ph.D. in Political Science from Oxford University. He has produced National Integrity System country studies of Jamaica, the Turks & Caicos Islands, and the Caribbean. The symposium will also include an interactive panel discussion open to both invited stakeholders and the public (virtual). The attendees, both in person and online, will have the opportunity to ask relevant questions to the panelists, which include the keynote speakers and members of the Integrity Chamber, Mr. Rafael Boasman and Mr. Hans Lodder. The public of Sint Maarten is invited to participate in this national discussion on the Integrity Chambers Facebook and YouTube pages.

More information about the Integrity Symposium can be found at www.integritychamber.sx/symposium.
Switzerland takes step towards arms deliveries to Ukraine 13 May, 05:24 PM Switzerland can start supplying weapons to Ukraine (Photo:Hans / Pixabay)

Both chambers of the Swiss parliament have voted to amend the War Material Act, which will allow for the weapons deliveries to Ukraine in the future, European news outlet Euronews reported on May 12.

Until now, weapons and ammunition purchased abroad could not be transferred from Switzerland to countries involved in armed conflicts.

Due to its neutral status, Switzerland has consistently vetoed requests from countries such as Spain, Germany, and Denmark to transfer Swiss-made armored vehicles and ammunition to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, including ammunition for German Gepard tanks.

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In March, Switzerland definitively refused to support the re-export of ammunition to Ukraine. However, in recent weeks, pressure on Bern from its western partners has increased, with the government being urged to provide greater assistance to Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized Switzerland for its neutrality and veto on the supply of ammunition.

Currently, EU countries plan to supply ammunition to Ukraine, but their own supplies are running low. Moreover, some of the weapons and ammunition purchased from Switzerland several years ago have not yet been delivered to Ukraine.

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Professor Stephen Hawking speaks about "Why We Should Go into Space" for the NASA Lecture Series, April 21, 2008

Stephen Hawking is regarded as one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists in history.

His work on the origins and structure of the universe, from the Big Bang to black holes, revolutionized the field, while his best-selling books have appealed to readers who may not have Hawking's scientific background. Hawking died on March 14, 2018, at the age of 76.

Stephen Hawking was seen by many as the world's smartest person, though he never revealed his IQ score. When asked about his IQ score by a New York Times reporter he replied, "I have no idea, people who boast about their IQ are losers," according to the news site The Atlantic (opens in new tab).

Related: 4 bizarre Stephen Hawking theories that turned out to be right (and 6 we're not sure about)

In this brief biography, we look at Hawking's education and career  ranging from his discoveries to the popular books he's written  and the disease that robbed him of mobility and speech.

The early life of Stephen Hawking

British cosmologist Stephen William Hawking was born in Oxford, England on Jan. 8, 1942  300 years to the day after the death of the astronomer Galileo Galilei. He attended University College, Oxford, where he studied physics, despite his father's urging to focus on medicine. Hawking went on to Cambridge to research cosmology , the study of the universe as a whole.

In early 1963, just shy of his 21st birthday, Hawking was diagnosed with motor neuron disease, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (opens in new tab). Doctors told Hawkings that he would likely not survive more than two years with the disease. Completing his doctorate did not appear likely, but Hawking defied the odds. He also obtained his PhD in 1966 for his thesis (opens in new tab) entitled " Properties of expanding universes (opens in new tab)". In that same year, Hawking also won the prestigious Adams Prize for his essay entitled "Singularities and the Geometry of Space-Time".

From then Hawking went on to forge new roads into the understanding of the universe in the decades since.

As the disease spread, Hawking became less mobile and began using a wheelchair. Talking grew more challenging and, in 1985, an emergency tracheotomy caused his total loss of speech. A speech-generating device constructed at Cambridge, combined with a software program, served as his electronic voice, allowing Hawking to select his words by moving the muscles in his cheek.

Just before his diagnosis, Hawking met Jane Wilde, and the two were married in 1965. The couple had three children before separating in 1990. Hawking remarried in 1995 to Elaine Mason but divorced in 2006.

Stephen Hawking's greatest scientific achievements

Stephen Hawking pictured in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1979 (Image credit: Photo by Santi Visalli/Getty Images)

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Throughout his career, Hawking proposed several theories regarding astronomical anomalies, posed curious questions about the cosmos and enlightened the world about the origin of everything. Here are just some of the many milestones Hawking made in the name of science.

In 1970, Hawkings and fellow physicist and Oxford classmate, Roger Penrose, published a joint paper entitled " The singularities of gravitational collapse and cosmology ". In this paper, Hawking and Penrose proposed a new theory of spacetime singularities  a breakdown in the fabric of the universe found in one of Hawking's later discoveries, the black hole. This early work not only challenged concepts in physics but also supported the concept of the Big Bang as the birth of the universe, as outlined in Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity in the 1940s.

Over the course of his career, Hawking studied the basic laws governing the universe. In 1974, Hawking published another paper called " Black hole explosions? (opens in new tab)", in which he outlined a theorem that united Einstein's theory of general relativity, with quantum theory  which explains the behavior of matter and energy on an atomic level. In this new paper, Hawking hypothesized that matter not only fell into the gravitational pull of black holes but that photons radiated from them  which has now been confirmed in laboratory experiments by the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Israel  aptly named "Hawking radiation".

Professor Stephen Hawking experiences the freedom of weightlessness during a zero gravity flight. (Image credit: NASA/J. Campbell, Aero-News Network)

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In 1974, Hawking was inducted into the Royal Society, a worldwide fellowship of scientists. Five years later, he was appointed Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, the most famous academic chair in the world (the second holder was Sir Isaac Newton, also a member of the Royal Society).

During the 1980s, Hawking turned his attention to the Big Bang and the uncertainties about the beginning of the universe. "Events before the Big Bang are simply not defined, because theres no way one could measure what happened at them. Since events before the Big Bang have no observational consequences, one may as well cut them out of the theory and say that time began at the Big Bang," he said during his lecture called The Beginning of Time. In 1983, Hawking, along with scientists James Harlte, published a paper outlining their "no-boundary proposal" for the universe. In their paper, Hawking and Hartle describe the shape of the universe as reminiscent of a shuttlecock  with the Big Bang at the narrowest point and the expanding universe emerging from it.

Related: Can we time travel? A theoretical physicist provides some answers

Books by Stephen Hawking

In the last three decades of Hawking's life, he not only continued to publish academic literature, but he also published several popular science books to share his theories of the history of the universe with the layperson. His most popular book " A Brief History of Time (opens in new tab)" (10th-anniversary edition: Bantam, 1998) was first published in 1988 and became an international bestseller. It has sold almost 10 million copies and has been translated into 40 different languages.

Hawking went on to write other nonfiction books aimed at non-scientists. These include "A Briefer History of Time (opens in new tab)," "The Universe in a Nutshell (opens in new tab)," "The Grand Design (opens in new tab)" and "On the Shoulders of Giants (opens in new tab)."

Along with his many successful books about the inner workings of the universe, Hawking also began a series of science fiction books called " George and the Big Bang (opens in new tab)", with his daughter Lucy Hawking in 2011. Aimed at middle school children, the series follows George's adventures as he travels through space.

Stephen Hawking's filmography

Hawking has made several television appearances, including a playing hologram of himself on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and a cameo on the television show "Big Bang Theory." He has also voiced himself in several episodes of the animated series "Futurama" and "The Simpson". In 1997, PBS also presented an educational miniseries titled " Stephen Hawking's Universe (opens in new tab)," which probes the theories of the cosmologist.

In 2014, a movie based on Hawking's life was released. Called "The Theory of Everything," the film drew praise from Hawking (opens in new tab), who said it made him reflect on his own life. "Although I'm severely disabled, I have been successful in my scientific work," Hawking wrote on Facebook in November 2014. "I travel widely and have been to Antarctica and Easter Island, down in a submarine and up on a zero-gravity flight. One day, I hope to go into space."

Related: The Theory of Everything: Searching for the universal rules of physics

Stephen Hawking's quotes and controversial statements

Hawking's quotes range from notable to poetic to controversial. Among them:

"Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe? The usual approach of science of constructing a mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a universe for the model to describe. Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing? " A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes, 1988

"All of my life, I have been fascinated by the big questions that face us, and have tried to find scientific answers to them. If, like me, you have looked at the stars, and tried to make sense of what you see, you too have started to wonder what makes the universe exist." Stephen Hawking's Universe, 1997.

"Science predicts that many different kinds of universe will be spontaneously created out of nothing. It is a matter of chance which we are in."  The Guardian, 2011 (opens in new tab) .

. "We should seek the greatest value of our action."  The Guardian, 2011.

"The whole history of science has been the gradual realization that events do not happen in an arbitrary manner, but that they reflect a certain underlying order, which may or may not be divinely inspired. " A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes, 1988.

"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

"It is not clear that intelligence has any long-term survival value."  Life in the Universe (opens in new tab) , 1996.

, 1996. "One cannot really argue with a mathematical theorem."  A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes, 1988.

"It is a waste of time to be angry about my disability. One has to get on with life and I haven't done badly. People won't have time for you if you are always angry or complaining."  The Guardian, 2005 (opens in new tab) .

. "I relish the rare opportunity I've been given to live the life of the mind. But I know I need my body and that it will not last forever."  Stem Cell Universe (opens in new tab) , 2014.

Stephen Hawking at he launch of The Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (CFI), at the University of Cambridge, in Cambridge, eastern England, on October 19, 2016. (Image credit: Photo by NIKLAS HALLE'N/AFP via Getty Images)

(opens in new tab)

A list of Hawking quotes would be incomplete without mentioning some of his more controversial statements.

He frequently said that humans must leave Earth if we wished to survive.

"It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand or million...Our only chance of long-term survival is not to remain inward-looking on planet Earth, but to spread out into space," he said during an interview with video site Big Think (opens in new tab) , 2010.

, 2010. "[W]e must  continue to go into space for the future of humanityI don't think we will survive another 1,000 years without escaping beyond our fragile planet," Hawking said during a lecture at the Oxford Union debating society (opens in new tab) , 2016.

, 2016. "We are running out of space and the only places to go to are other worlds. It is time to explore other solar systems. Spreading out may be the only thing that saves us from ourselves. I am convinced that humans need to leave Earth," he said during a speech at the Starmus Festival in Norway, 2017.

He also said time travel should be possible, and that we should explore space for the romance of it.

"Time travel used to be thought of as just science fiction, but Einstein's general theory of relativity allows for the possibility that we could warp space-time so much that you could go off in a rocket and return before you set out. I was one of the first to write about the conditions under which this would be possible. I showed it would require matter with negative energy density, which may not be available. Other scientists took courage from my paper and wrote further papers on the subject," he told the new site Parade (opens in new tab) in 2010. "Science is not only a disciple of reason, but, also, one of romance and passion," he adds.

The theoretical physicist was also concerned that robots could not only have an impact on the economy but also mean doom for humanity.

"The automation of factories has already decimated jobs in traditional manufacturing, and the rise of artificial intelligence is likely to extend this job destruction deep into the middle classes, with only the most caring, creative or supervisory roles remaining," he wrote in a 2016 column in The Guardian (opens in new tab).

"The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race," he told the BBC (opens in new tab) in 2014. Hawking added, however, that AI developed to date has been helpful. It's more the self-replication potential that worries him. "It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever-increasing rate. Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete, and would be superseded."

"The genie is out of the bottle. I fear that AI may replace humans altogether," Hawking told WIRED (opens in new tab) in November 2017.

An avowed atheist, Hawking also occasionally waded into the topic of religion.

"Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist. It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going."  The Grand Design, by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow.

"I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components failThere is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark," he said during a 2011 interview with The Guardian (opens in new tab) .

. "Before we understand science, it is natural to believe that God created the universe. But now science offers a more convincing explanation. What I meant by 'we would know the mind of God' is, we would know everything that God would know, if there were a God, which there isn't. I'm an atheist," Hawking said in a 2014 interview with the news site El Mundo (opens in new tab) .

Additional resources

For more information about Stephen Hawking, his theories and read through the many transcriptions of his influential lectures, check out his official website (opens in new tab). You can also watch Hawking probe the origins of the cosmos in his extraordinary TED talk (opens in new tab).

Bibliography

#5: Stephen Hawkings warning: Abandon earth-or face extinction. Big Think. (2010, July 27). https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/5-stephen-hawkings-warning-abandon-earth-or-face-extinction/ (opens in new tab)

Beck, J. (2017, October 11). people who boast about their IQ are losers. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/10/trump-tillerson-iq-brag-boast-psychology-study/542544/ (opens in new tab)

The beginning of time. Stephen Hawking. (n.d.-c). https://www.hawking.org.uk/in-words/lectures/the-beginning-of-time (opens in new tab)

Guardian News and Media. (2005, September 27). Interview: Stephen Hawking. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2005/sep/27/scienceandnature.highereducationprofile (opens in new tab)

Guardian News and Media. (2011a, May 15). Stephen Hawking: there is no heaven; its a Fairy story. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2011/may/15/stephen-hawking-interview-there-is-no-heaven (opens in new tab)

Guardian News and Media. (2011b, May 15). Stephen Hawking: there is no heaven; its a Fairy story. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2011/may/15/stephen-hawking-interview-there-is-no-heaven (opens in new tab)

Guardian News and Media. (2016, December 1). This is the most dangerous time for our planet | Stephen Hawking. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/01/stephen-hawking-dangerous-time-planet-inequality (opens in new tab)

Hartle, J. B., & Hawking, S. W. (1983, December 15). Wave function of the universe. Physical Review D. https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.28.2960 (opens in new tab)

Hawking radiation and the sonic black hole - technion - israel institute of technology. Technion. (2021, February 17). https://www.technion.ac.il/en/2021/02/hawking-radiation-and-the-sonic-black-hole/ (opens in new tab)

Hawking, S. W. (1974, March 1). Black Hole Explosions?. Nature News. https://www.nature.com/articles/248030a0 (opens in new tab)

Life in the universe. Stephen Hawking. (n.d.-a). https://www.hawking.org.uk/in-words/lectures/life-in-the-universe (opens in new tab)

Medeiros, J. (2017, November 28). Stephen Hawking: I fear ai may replace humans altogether. WIRED UK. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/stephen-hawking-interview-alien-life-climate-change-donald-trump (opens in new tab)

Oxford Union Speech. Stephen Hawking. (n.d.-b). https://www.hawking.org.uk/in-words/speeches/speech-5

Pablo Jauregui, Enviado especial Guia de Isora (Tenerife), & Chocolatillo. (2018, March 14). Stephen Hawking: no hay ningun dios. soy ateo. ELMUNDO. https://www.elmundo.es/ciencia/2014/09/21/541dbc12ca474104078b4577.html (opens in new tab)

The singularities of gravitational collapse and cosmology. Royal Society Publishing. (1970, January 27). https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspa.1970.0021 (opens in new tab)

Hawking, S. W. (1966). Properties of expanding universes. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.11283
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STAMFORD  Angelo Natalie was sitting in a music class at Western Connecticut State University at the age of 68 when the professor asked each student to share something interesting about themselves.

When it was his turn, Natalie could have chosen a number of compelling anecdotes from his eventful life, but he went with one sure to impress the classroom of mostly 19-year-olds.

"I used to write songs for Barney the big purple dinosaur," he said, to stunned reactions.

A student next to him turned to Natalie and said, "I love Barney," referring to the popular kids show "Barney & Friends" that ran from 1992 to 2010 and featured an anthropomorphic dinosaur who delivered educational messages through song and dance routines.

The professor asked Natalie if he could sing one of the songs, and the now-71-year-old Stamford resident went into a rendition of "It's C-C Cold BRRRR!"  one of 30 songs he composed and wrote for the show.

"They just died because they all knew it," Natalie recently told The Stamford Advocate.

This Sunday, Natalie will graduate from the university with a bachelor of music in audio and music production. It's a journey 50 years in the making, as Natalie dropped out of college in the early 1970s.

Although he's experienced success in the music industry, Natalie did so without a full formal education. So when a friend who works in the WCSU nursing department told him about the music department at the school, Natalie was intrigued. He then discovered that residents above the age of 62 could attend college tuition-free in Connecticut, so he decided to give it a go.

"I dont want to spend the last years of my life streaming six hours of Netflix every day," he said. "I want to do something with my time that would be beneficial."

The musician instantly fell in love with the program.

"There really wasn't a day that I felt like I didnt learn something new that was valuable and applicable," he said.

Fifty years ago, he wasn't much of a student, Natalie said, describing himself as an underachiever. But the more mature version of Natalie aced all of his classes, finishing with all A grades, save for two A- scores.

Douglas O'Grady was one of Natalie's professors at the university and also his academic advisor. He said he only learned about Natalie's extensive music career, including his contributions to Barney, from others.

"Angelo was always very modest about his music career accomplishments, so I only learned about what he did with Barney second hand from another faculty member," O'Grady wrote in an email. "I remember being really impressed, thinking that here is a guy who already has a successful music career and he still wants to learn more."

The professor said the affable Natalie fit right in with his classmates, despite the age difference.

"Angelo was a terrific student," he wrote. "He initially worried about being 'the old guy' in class but his personality ensured that he was accepted by the other students and welcomed into their study groups. He was here to learn, but also willing to help the students when he could."

Natalie's tentative plan for graduation day was to decorate his graduation cap with the saying "I should have finished college," but with the words crossed out and the sentence "I did finish college" written on top.

It's a reference to a song he wrote called "I Should Have Finished College," which he penned in the 1970s while working a grueling construction job after dropping out of Edinboro State College, now known as Pennsylvania Western University.

At the time, the 140-pound musician was tasked with manning the jackhammer to break up cement.

"And I'm thinking, 'Dang, I should have finished college,'" Natalie said.

The lack of a college degree didn't slow down Natalie too much, however. He played in local bands in the Midwest during the 1970s and recorded an album with Clockwise, the gospel rock group he created. Eventually, he made the fateful decision to start his own "jingle house" a business dedicated to creating music for advertisers  a career path that would lead to him working on the show "Barney & Friends."

After initial success creating jingles for local Pennsylvania advertisers with his company Buon Natalie Music, he worked for the larger jingle house Hummingbird Productions in Nashville producing songs for major advertisers including Dodge, Pepsi, Pizza Hut and the Cabbage Patch Kids. As a freelancer, Natalie composed the theme package for the A&E cable network, beating out much larger music houses vying for the contract.

Eventually, Natalie was charged with opening a satellite location of Hummingbird in New York City, which led him to move to a Springdale condo in Stamford with his family. They haven't left since.

"We rented in Stamford and we kind of got to like it," Natalie said. All four of his children attended and graduated from Trinity Catholic High School.

Since 1991, Natalie has been the music director for Living Hope Community Church in Greenwich and is a parishioner at Saint Aloysius Church in New Canaan.

His work on Barney was thanks to a relationship he had with a producer for Cabbage Patch Kids who had moved to Texas and started working in television production in Dallas, where Barney was filmed. He put Natalie in touch with them.

"I'm thinking, 'It would be great to have two or three Barney songs on my resume,'" Natalie said.

The partnership ended up being more fruitful than that, as Natalie penned dozens of songs with titles such as "It's a Beautiful Day," "Squishy, Squashy, Washy," and "My Jeans Are Always Blue."

"It's C-C Cold BRRRR!" is one of Natalie's favorites  it was even played live during the 2004 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

"One year I'm in my living room and all of a sudden I hear Barney start singing one of my songs," Natalie said, recalling that day. "I started freaking out."

Natalie only met Barney in person once, when he visited the studio in Texas. He remembers the actor playing Barney  David Joyner  break-dancing during some downtime and telling Natalie, "Your songs make me want to get down and dance."

As he reflected on his time at WCSU and the graduation this weekend, Natalie said he's grateful for the experience but sad that it's coming to an end. He said he hopes to use his new skills to produce and release songs he has compiled over the years.

This past week, he had to present his senior capstone project to a jury of seven professors from the music department to finish out his studies.

"Instead of rushing home, I went to the courtyard by the student center and sat there for an hour taking it all in," he said.
(Bloomberg) -- Two companies in billionaire Gautam Adanis empire, including his flagship firm, are seeking to raise as much as $2.6 billion, signaling the Indian conglomerate wants to focus on growth after a scathing short seller report forced it into damage control.

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Adani Enterprises Ltd., the incubator for new group businesses, has received board approval to raise as much as 125 billion rupees ($1.5 billion) through a Qualified Institutional Placement or other modes, according to an exchange filing Saturday. Adani Transmission Ltd. can do fundraising of up to 85 billion rupees using similar methods, the utility said in a separate filing on the same day.

The latest fundraising plans show that the ports-to-power conglomerate is looking to move past the crisis triggered by Hindenburg Researchs corporate fraud allegations levied at the end of January that has wiped out more than $100 billion from its market value. Despite denying these accusations, the tycoon and his aides had to undertake a slew of measures to assuage investors, including scrapping a $2.4 billion share sale by Adani Enterprises in February.

Shareholder approvals will be sought in due course, both the companies said in their filings. Adani Green Energy Ltd. was also scheduled to hold its board meeting on Saturday but deferred it to May 24, citing certain exigencies.

US-based GQG Partners, in early March, bought stakes from the founders in four group companies  Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd., Adani Green Energy, Adani Transmission and Adani Enterprises  for $1.9 billion, in a big vote of confidence for the conglomerate. GQGs Rajiv Jain told Bloomberg then that Adani firms have phenomenal, irreplaceable assets. In April, the star investor said these stocks could be multibaggers over five years.

Story continues

Indias markets regulator is currently looking into any possible violations as well as unusual market activity in Adani Group stocks in the wake of the short seller attack. The Supreme Court of India is awaiting a report from the regulator, which has requested more time as it collates financial data on the conglomerate locally and overseas. The apex court will be hearing the matter on Monday.

Adani Enterprises, which posted robust latest quarterly earnings, has plunged 49% this year. Adani Transmission, which will be dropped from MSCIs India index at the end of May, has declined 66% this year. It is yet to announce its earnings.

Meanwhile, Adani Transmission, Adani Green Energy and Adani Total Gas Ltd. will be removed from a local tally of firms designated for the so-called additional surveillance measures, according to a list updated on the websites of the countrys two largest bourses on Friday. Companies on the watchlist face trading restrictions, including margin limits, price band caps, and other curbs meant to protect investors.

--With assistance from Akshay Chinchalkar and Ashutosh Joshi.

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In three years, economists will be celebrating the 90th anniversary of John Maynard Keynes "The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money." The book written during and inspired by the global economic depression of the 1930s attempted to explain how major economic stakeholders  investors, workers, consumers, savers and government  interacted in ways that determined the performance of the macro economy. The General Theory continues to influence economists and policymakers today.

Keynes demonstrated that understanding how the economy works can be accelerated during times of crisis. Right now, we are experiencing a crisis of public and private violence. Perhaps a Keynesian approach could be helpful to drive understanding of the underlying conditions that are causing the current paroxysm of violence and random mass shootings that are dominating public consciousness.

A general theory of public and private violence would start with definitions, terminology and the destruction of myths. Keynes needed to create new economic terms; a general theory of violence may need new terminology that better captures our current dilemma. The myth about how the economy worked was something Keynes had to dispel before establishing a new way of looking at the economic world. During Keynes time, the myths he fought were the myths of the classical economists, whose beliefs still resonate with many today. High among those myths was the invisible hand. A second myth was that the economy would self-correct. Classical economists beginning with Adam Smith argued that markets and individual economic actors seeking their own benefit  i.e., profits  created value for everyone else. A corollary of the benefits of the invisible hand is the claimed ubiquity of negative unintended consequences when government interferes with the freedom of market actors.

There are plenty of myths associated with the causes of public and private violence. One of the most pervasive myths is that more guns will result in less violence. This includes tropes like the good guy with a gun myth; the government wants to take our guns to enslave us myth; the Founding Fathers wanted an unregulated armed militia myth; or the we are genetically predisposed to be violent myth. The later myth about humans being predisposed to violence might like most myths have some bits of truth, but the data comparing peaceful Costa Rica to its violent neighbors El Salvador and Honduras prove genetics are not determinative. Myths provide comfort to the disillusioned but make no sense.

A general theory of violence must include both public violence, which is violence by the state, and private violence, which is violence among private citizens.

Public violence would also include what we generally call wars between nation states. The United States waged war in Iraq and Afghanistan for over two decades. But before that there was the Gulf War, and before that the Vietnam War, the Korean War, the two World Wars, the Spanish American War and of course the Civil War. This does not include our incursions in Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras, China, Grenada, Panama and other places where we sent the Marines, Navy, Air Force and Army to control resources that did not belong to us and people who were not U.S. citizens. War has a way of metastasizing into problems in the society of even of the victors.

Also public violence comes as a by-product of policing citizens. To serve and protect is the how most police departments across the country define their mission. Unfortunately, not all citizens feel served or protected and indeed many of those citizens in low-income and minority communities feel the police are there to protect higher-income citizens from their lower-income neighbors. So called sundown-towns existed in Connecticut, where Blacks, Jews and others were not welcomed as homeowners or the police who protected" them. These practices were common in Northern as well as Southern states. More recently, the deaths of George Floyd and others at the hands of police led to the international Black Lives Matter movement.

Private violence between citizens is also rampant in the United States with the U.S. ranked the 16th most violent country among the worlds most populous 25 countries. The most violent countries in the world are El Salvador, Honduras and Venezuela. Is it any wonder why citizens from these countries are lining up at our southern border desperately trying to enter, and why so many U.S. citizens fear their arrival? A general theory would seek to understand why some countries are more violent than others, driving their citizens to leave.

A general theory of violence must look at access to guns, economic inequality and poverty, discrimination of all kinds, mental health, international forces, the role of government in the promotion of domestic and international violence, notions of citizenship, education and ignorance, climate change, political stability, economic opportunity, cultural influences, and belief systems.

There are also feedbacks between public violence and private violence as well as domestic violence and international violence. Some of our most recent mass shootings have been conducted by men who were trained by the military to kill, only to have those men come home and use those skills on innocent fellow citizens. Keynes knew and modern economists know that complex systems do not lend themselves to simple solutions. A general theory of violence is no different from the complexities of a general theory of macroeconomics. Like all scientific endeavors, we start with observation. We then create testable hypotheses of these complex relationships. Data is then brought to bear to test these hypotheses. Some will be rejected, and others supported. Keynes work did not eliminate the business cycle, but he did give us a framework for understanding our economic reality so that depressions were never as deep or as long as compared to the business cycles before the General Theory.
L abours plans for British industry could see 80,000 jobs created in the automotive sector, the party said.

It comes as Sir Keir Starmer, fresh from success in the local elections, is set to deliver a speech at British Chambers of Commerce on Wednesday.

The party said its plans to part-finance eight gigafactories will help create 80,000 jobs and power nearly two million electric vehicles.

Labour says that under the plan, the West Midlands will benefit from 28,000 jobs and 11,000 roles will be created in the North West.

Sir Keir has already pledged to deliver the highest sustained growth in the G7 if Labour does take power after the next general election, while the party also plans to put an industrial strategy council on a statutory footing as part of efforts to boost British industries.

Shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said Labour would make Brexit work and deliver a modern industrial strategy.

Mr Reynolds promised a bright future if Labour takes office.

Labour is ambitious for Britains future and our plans will bring investment and jobs to the industrial heartlands we are so rightly proud of, he said.

Britain is a fantastic place to work, grow or start a business, but firms need a government that will fight for them in an increasingly competitive global race.

Labour will never be complacent about our industrial base.

We have a plan to ensure the jobs of the future are here in Britain.

Labour will build the strong economic foundations business needs to succeed: growing our economy with a modern industrial strategy, our plans to make Brexit work, reforms to the apprenticeship levy and business rates to give firms the flexibility they need.

But Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch hit out at Labours plans.

The Government has already provided billions in support for the UK automotive sector and other industries, and our forthcoming plan for advanced manufacturing will further cement this Government as one that backs the future of industry in this country, she said.

By contrast, the only plan the Labour Party has is one that will wreck the economy by sticking tens of billions of pounds on the Government credit card and leave no money left, all over again.
S imon Pegg says he makes fun of Tom Cruise for being so famous, but is careful not to abuse the privileged access he has to the Hollywood star.

The British actor and comedian said the two shared an easy relationship that was simple and amiable.

Pegg is known for his cult sitcom Spaced, as well as his Three Flavours Cornetto film trilogy, which includes Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz and The Worlds End.

He has also starred in major blockbusters including the Mission Impossible franchise alongside Cruise.

Speaking to Lauren Laverne on BBC Radio 4s Desert Island Discs, Pegg said Cruise often appreciated the ridiculousness of his immense fame.

Its always been a very easy relationship. I think you realise when you meet the person rather than the thicket of mythology thats built up around them its a different experience, he said.

I mean, he loves (the fame) and he really relishes it, its all he knows. It energises him and spurs him on.

He added: I dont think I would appreciate that particularly. I find that very stressful and overwhelming and I would maybe want to sort of retreat, Im happy with where I am.

We joke about it. I mean I always make fun of him for it, you know, about the things that he can access.

Pegg recalled an incident while filming in South Africa, when Cruise had flown him in a helicopter to a seaside location so he could swim with sharks, describing it as a real Tom Cruise kind of day.

He kind of appreciates the ridiculousness of it sometimes, he said.

But Pegg added that he did not like to question Cruise on things such as his personal life or beliefs.

I dont ask him about stuff like that because I feel that would be me abusing my privileged access that I get to him, Pegg said.

My relationship with him is just very simple and amiable. Were friends.

Pegg also discussed his childhood, early career as a comedian and struggles with depression, even while at the height of his Hollywood success in 2006.

On his alcohol abuse he said: You become very sneaky when you have something like that in your life.

You learn how to do it without anyone noticing because it takes over. It wants to sustain itself and it will do everything it can to not be stopped.

But eventually it just gets to a point when it cant be hidden, and thats when, thankfully, I was able to pull out the dive.

Pegg, 52, said recently he would work till he dropped.

Im really happy when Im working, he said.

Sometimes its difficult because it takes you away from home, and I do miss my family when Im away.

Thats something Ive had to kind of learn how to cope with.

He added that he was happiest when he was at home with his family.

Were all on different devices. Dogs are asleep. Thats when Im happiest, he said.

Desert Island Discs airs on BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 4 at 11.15am on Sunday.
G lasses have been raised to the late Sir Terry Wogan, Finlands Cha Cha Cha and the butter churning of Mel Giedroyc as fans watching the Eurovision Song Contest final took to social media.

Millions of tweets were shared about the finale in Liverpool as #Eurovision2023 was the top trend worldwide on Saturday night.

For fans in the UK, many made a point of raising a glass as the competition reached its ninth song in tribute to the late Sir Terry, who hosted Eurovision from 1971 to 2008.

Song number 9  cheers to Terry Wogan and the first drink of the night, tweeted one user, while many shared photographs of themselves raising drinks.

Accurately explaining the tradition, Twitter user @BronwenLewis_ posted: For those who dont know why Graham Norton raises a glass to Terry Wogan in song 9, its because Sir Terry always warned Graham not to have anything to drink until that point in case he got a bit too tipsy.

Such a lovely way to honour a legend.

As he introduced Swedish pop superstar Loreen, Norton told viewers: It is also song number nine, this is traditionally where I would urge you to raise whatever is in front of you  a glass, a cup, a mug  and toast the memory of the late, great Sir Terry Wogan, the man who was and always will be the voice of Eurovision.

Another Eurovision highlight for viewers on Twitter was TV presenter Giedroyc, who pretended to churn butter dressed in a milkmaids outfit during a break between performances.

Giedroyc, who is of Polish descent, wore an outfit in the style of Polish entry Donatan and Cleo who performed My Slowianie during the live Eurovision grand final in 2014.

Twitter user @shadowsofalia posted: Theyre not letting Poland live that down, are they?

Fellow user, @Ariadne_Reviews, added: I was not prepared for this this evening.

While another, @CatWithSausages, took inspiration from Meredith Brooks 1997 hit Bitch as they posted: Im a bitch, Im a lover, Im a Mel churning butter

Finland were among the acts that entertained the most on the evening, as Kaarija sang his eccentric hyper-pop track Cha Cha Cha wearing a luminous green bolero-style jacket with spikes around the neck.

Finland just gave us more Cha Chas than week one of Strictly in 2005, tweeted @HertsSid.

In response to the Finnish performance, actress and author Emma Kennedy posted: This is like if a caterpillar was bitten by a radioactive spider and became a villain in a Batman film.

LOVING IT.

And @youngvulgarian tweeted: I want to go on a night out with Finland even though I know it would lead to my certain death.

Continuing a common theme for Eurovision finals, Norton gained plaudits for his commentary during the contest  but it was the presenting of Hannah Waddingham which garnered the most appreciation from fans on social media.

The Ted Lasso actress was trending on Twitter on Saturday evening as she drew compliments for her appearance and mastery of languages.

How do I vote for Hannah Waddingham, tweeted @HSouthwellFE.

Fellow user @HelenLOHara added: Hannah Waddingham, the human form of the fire emoji.
A man has been left shaken after he was threatened with an angle grinder by a moped driver attempting to steal his 2,500 Brompton bicycle in east London.

Ben Derbyshire was enjoying brunch with his son and daughter at a restaurant in Broadway Market, Hackney, on Friday morning when the moped driver started using the angle grinder to access Mr Derbyshires bike locked up outside.

We heard commotion down the street and then suddenly, up Broadway Market come these two mopeds riding on the pavement, making a racket, revving and basically being as intimidating as possible, all dressed in black with obscure glass full-face helmets, the chairperson of architecture firm HTA Design LLP told the Standard.

They took an angle grinder first of all to the D lock on [my daughter] Millies bike, which was locked to mine because they were obviously after the Brompton.

Seeing the commotion through the glass windows of the restaurant, Mr Derbyshire ran outside and started yelling at and photographing the moped driver, who had accessed his bike. Other bystanders captured the incident on video.

Ben Derbyshire

Mr Derbyshire then grabbed hold of his Brompton bike in an attempt to take it back from the thief.

I thought I was in danger. Especially at one point I was rather pinned into position with a lot of bikes in front of me and people behind me and I wasnt in a position to run away if I wanted to, Mr Derbyshire explained.

At this point Mr Derbyshire said he was threatened with an angle grinder, which a moped driver had put to his face.

Despite being pulled by the sheer force of the moped driver trying to snatch the Brompton bike back, Mr Derbyshire held on and eventually the swarm of moped drivers fled.

I think what happened was, from their point of view, it all got a bit too complicated so they chickened out, he said.

Ben Darbyshire

He cycled home without injury after the incident. Metropolitan Police responded quickly to the incident, Mr Derbyshire said.

He also thanked the owner of the restaurant for stepping in to help.

The proprietor of the restaurant came out immediately and was very supportive and very concerned and took our bikes in afterwards so we could finish our meals.

Mr Derbyshire said the near-theft has left him shaken and depressed.

I just think thats depressing and that they should be so aggressive about it. I mean, trying to intimidate me by, by pushing an angle, grinder into my face. That is not on.

Metropolitan Police said it is investigating the attempted theft of a bicycle around 10.55am on Friday in Broadway Market, E8.

There has been no arrest at this stage. Any witnesses who are yet to speak with police are asked to all 101, ref 2586/12may.

In statistics published in November, just 1 per cent of the more than 18,800 bike thefts in London in a year saw thieves charged or cautioned, according to police statistics.

According to the Metropolitan Police figures, which were collated and analysed by London criminal defence solicitors Lawtons, there were only 206 sanctions recorded between November 2021 and October 2022 despite the huge number of thefts.

The boroughs of Hackney, Southwark and Tower Hamlets recorded the most thefts though the total amount of bikes reported stolen was actually down 18% throughout the capital as a whole compared to the previous year.
A n investigation has been launched into an alleged incident of sabotage on board the HMS Glasgow earlier this week.

A number of cables appear to have been damaged on board the Type 26 Frigate which appear to have been damaged intentionally, BAE Systems have said.

According to a report in the UK Defence Journal, it is alleged the act was carried out by disgruntled contractors.

Work on the ship was paused temporarily, the company said, in order to assess every area of the vessel.

We immediately launched an internal investigation, alongside our suppliers, and temporarily paused work on the ship to inspect every area of the vessel and ensure our high standards and quality controls are met

A BAE Systems spokesperson said: We uncovered a limited number of cables on HMS Glasgow earlier in the week, which appear to have been damaged intentionally.

We immediately launched an internal investigation, alongside our suppliers, and temporarily paused work on the ship to inspect every area of the vessel and ensure our high standards and quality controls are met.

Normal operations have now resumed and an assessment is under way to scope the repairs needed.

HMS Glasgow is the first of eight Type 26 frigates that will be built in the city.
S cotlands First Minister has branded the Labour Party a replica of the Conservatives after a speech by leader Sir Keir Starmer.

Speaking at the Progressive Britain conference on Saturday, the Labour leader compared his efforts to reform the party to former prime minister Sir Tony Blairs symbolic rewriting of Clause Four on steroids.

But he has been criticised for comments briefed to the press ahead of the speech, where he said I dont care if he sounded conservative when committing to preserving precious things in our way of life.

Opponents have accused Sir Keir of pushing his party to the right in a bid to pick up disaffected Tory voters.

Tweeting after the speech, Humza Yousaf said: This week, I accused Labour of being a pale imitation of the Tories, I was wrong, they are a replica.

Whether it is the blue Tories or red Tories in Number 10, they will continue policies that are harming Scotland. We need independence to protect our people.

Electioneering among the parties at Holyrood has ramped up in the past week after the local elections in England, with projections suggesting Labour could fall short of an overall majority if the results are mirrored.

Mr Yousafs sentiment was echoed by one of his senior ministers, who said she was not sure who in Scotland Sir Keir was pitching his party to ahead of a general election next year.

I am absolutely shocked with the Labour leader in that regard, I'm sure Anas Sarwar will be shocked

Speaking to the PA news agency at a teaching union conference in Aberdeen, Scottish Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said: I am absolutely shocked with the Labour leader in that regard -Im sure Anas Sarwar will be shocked.

He will be having to mop this up in the chamber in the coming week and I cant imagine thats the place that he wants to take the party to.

She added: When he says this, hes courting Conservative votes in England, hes not courting people who vote SNP in Scotland, or people who vote Labour, I have to say.

I dont know who he is courting, other than people in the Conservative Party that may be fed up with Rishi Sunak  thats not what I thought the Labour Party was about.

The minister added that there had undoubtedly been a shift to the right from Labour under the current leadership.

Ms Gilruth, who was promoted to the post of Education Secretary by Humza Yousaf six weeks ago, acknowledged it had been a challenging time for the SNP but vowed that her party would fight for every vote at the next election.

Yousafs comment shows just how out of touch with reality and the people of Scotland he is

The SNP has been riven with internal turmoil in recent months, with a police probe into its finances resulting in the arrest of former chief executive, and Nicola Sturgeons husband, Peter Murrell and then treasurer Colin Beattie  both of whom were released without charge, pending further investigation.

Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: Labour is standing for a windfall tax on oil and gas giants to help with the cost-of-living crisis, ending fire and re-hire and repairing Britains relationship with Europe  the SNP is too busy dealing with their scandals.

Yousafs comment shows just how out of touch with reality and the people of Scotland he is.

While the SNP continue to attack Labour at the behest of their Tory allies, Labour is committed to standing up for working people.
R ishi Sunak is disappointed by the decision of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to block Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky from addressing the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest.

The body, which produces the event, said on Thursday night that it had declined Mr Zelenskys request to speak on Saturday over fears it could politicise the contest.

He had wanted to make an unannounced video appearance and had been expected to implore the global audience of millions to continue backing his country in its fight to repel Russian invaders.

The EBU said Mr Zelensky had laudable intentions but regrettably his request was against the rules.

On Friday, the Prime Ministers official spokesman said: The Prime Minister believes it would be fitting for President Zelensky to address the event and were disappointed by the decision from the European Broadcasting Union.

The values and freedoms that President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine are fighting for are not political, theyre fundamental, and Eurovision themselves recognised that last year when they rightly suspended Russias participation from the competition.

There are no plans to intervene and ask organisers to change their mind, Downing Street suggested.

In a statement ahead of the Eurovision final, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said our hearts will be with people in Ukraine who are fighting for their sovereignty and survival.

She added: If there was any justice this final would be taking place in Kyiv, but we are honoured in the UK to be able to host this event on their behalf and to welcome legions of fans and media.

Former prime minister Boris Johnson said it would have been right to hear from Mr Zelensky during the final.

Writing on Twitter, he added: There is only one reason the contest is not in Ukraine and that is because of Putins illegal war.

Mr Zelensky later thanked the UK for hosting as he expressed his gratitude for the donation of Storm Shadow long-range precision missiles in a conversation with Mr Sunak.

A Downing Street spokesman said: President Zelensky thanked the Prime Minister for Liverpools role in hosting tomorrows Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Ukraine.

The Prime Minister said he was proud the UK could do this for the Ukrainian people and looked forward to the day that the contest could be held on Ukrainian soil once again.

Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram said he would be speaking with both the Ukrainian ambassador and the mayor of Lviv, who are both in the city for the final, to discuss what we can do to provide a platform for Mr Zelesnky.

In its statement on Thursday, the EBU noted that 11 Ukrainian artists, including last years winners Kalush Orchestra, are performing and 37 locations from around Ukraine are being shown.

This war is something that we all feel deeply is wrong and if you watch the broadcast, I don't think you'll have any doubt that this is a celebration across Europe, for freedom, for democracy, and it's quite right we do that

The BBC has said the broadcast of this years contest is expected to be watched by more than 160 million viewers worldwide.

On Friday, BBC Eurovision commentators Rylan Clark and Scott Mills stressed the contest is non-political.

Clark said: At the end of the day we are commentators so we dont get involved in show format. I just think Eurovision, people say it is political  votes here, votes there.

From being on the inside it is the least political experience you could ever have, actually.

Radio DJ Mills added: People always ask, Do you think it is political?. It really isnt. It is a song contest.

Clark continued: It is a song contest and that is what we are here to say.

The pair, who provided TV commentary for the two semi-finals this week and will host radio coverage of the grand final, also stressed that as last years winner, Ukraine and its culture were being celebrated across Liverpool throughout the event.

Clark said: Ukraine, this is their party in our country.

We always said that we would be true to that because they were the winner and I think it is very visible in the city, added Mills.

BBC director general Tim Davie told the Eurovisioncast podcast that he understood the EBU decision as the history of the contest has not been a platform for political statement.

Mr Davie also said: This country, Ukraine, is the victim of an aggressor.

This war is something that we all feel deeply is wrong and if you watch the broadcast, I dont think youll have any doubt that this is a celebration across Europe, for freedom, for democracy, and its quite right we do that.

They spoke at the British Music Experience on the Liverpool waterfront, where Zoe Ball hosted a special edition of her BBC Radio 2 breakfast show which featured guests including last years UK entrant Sam Ryder and The Fizz, featuring members of former Eurovision winners Bucks Fizz.

Claire McColgan, director of Culture Liverpool, told Times Radio it would have been fantastic to hear from Mr Zelensky, especially for the people from Ukraine who have come here wishing it was at home.

Kalush Orchestra piper Tymofii Muzychuk told the PA news agency Mr Zelensky would have only wanted to thank the British people for hosting the contest.

He said: Actually we think that President Zelensky would have wanted to thank all the British people for doing this and, as we can see, Britain took this very responsibly, the UK. And so actually I think it would have been nice for him to talk.

Kalush Orchestra won last years contest but, owing to the Russian invasion of the country, hosting duties were awarded to the runner-up, the UK.

Mr Zelensky said earlier this week that he would have preferred Eurovision to take place in a neighbouring country.

Speaking to the BBC, he said: I have great respect for the United Kingdom and its society. It is an amazing country.

From the very start my opinion has been that if we cant host Eurovision it should take place in one of the countries that share a border with us, such as Slovakia, Poland or any other country which our people can reach easily. Something nearby.

It comes after the full line-up of the grand final was revealed following the second knockout round on Thursday night.

After 16 countries competed, the 10 remaining spots went to Poland, Australia, Cyprus, Albania, Estonia, Belgium, Austria, Lithuania, Armenia and Slovenia.

The 10 countries that qualified from Tuesdays semi-final were Croatia, Moldova, Switzerland, Finland, Czechia, Israel, Portugal, Sweden, Serbia and Norway.

They will join the so-called big five nations  the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain  who each get a free pass because of their financial contributions to the event, along with last years winners Ukraine.

The final is expected to draw a large TV audience after Thursdays semi-final was watched by an average of 2.4 million viewers with a peak audience of 3.4 million.

The Eurovision grand final on Saturday will air live on BBC One.
(Reuters) -Amazon.com Inc said it has optimized its delivery network coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing it to increase delivery speeds and lower costs, while also reducing the ecommerce giant's carbon emissions.

The online retailer on Saturday said it has reduced delivery times, reshaped its inventory management system as well as search capabilities to show customers items closest to them, leading to products reaching 12% less touchpoints before being delivered.

At a time of slack consumer demand, Amazon and other online retailers have also been making efforts to slash costs for home delivery and returns.

Amazon this week said it was offering U.S. customers $10 to pick up a purchase rather than have it shipped to a home address. As the company tightens its belt after a period of explosive growth, it has made numerous moves to reduce delivery-related costs across the company.

The ecommerce company's move was first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Saturday.

(Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh and Juby Babu in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Baranjot Kaur, Editing by Franklin Paul)
A n investigation has been launched after an alleged sabotage incident on the warship HMS Glasgow in which more than 60 cables were cut.

Defence contractor BAE systems opened a probe after discovering cables on the Type 26 Frigate had been damaged intentionally earlier this week.

The UK Defence Journal reported that the cables might have been damaged by disgruntled contractors. One suspected motive may relate to payment disputes, but this has not been confirmed.

A BAE Systems spokesman said: We uncovered a limited number of cables on HMS Glasgow earlier in the week, which appear to have been damaged intentionally.

We immediately launched an internal investigation, alongside our suppliers and temporarily paused work on the ship to inspect every area of the vessel and ensure our high standards and quality controls are met.

Normal operations have now re- sumed and an assessment is under way to scope the repairs needed.

It is understood that additional security measures are being introduced to prevent similar incidents.

About 23,000 cables will be installed on HMS Glasgow to send data between systems, equipment, and personnel on the ship.

HMS Glasgow, the first of eight Cityclass frigates to be delivered to the Royal Navy, is expected to enter service this decade.

The ship entered the water at the end of last year after being moved on a barge and taken downriver to Loch Long.

The barge was submerged there, allowing HMS Glasgow to float off and be towed back to the Clyde towards BAE Scotstoun, where it is being fitted out and further tested.
A Eurovision-themed theatre show created by and for care home residents is touring in Liverpool to provide meaningful therapeutic engagement for people living with dementia and other neurological diseases.

Nwoko Arts, a theatre company based in Liverpool, visited 25 care homes to interview its residents about the themes of Eurovision, their memories of the mid-20th century and their thoughts on the war in Ukraine, to create the show Songs for Europe.

The visual, humorous and funny 40-minute show includes a new song called Hope Love Music which was co-created with the help of 150 care home residents, it features the residents voices and chronicles their memories of purchasing their first vinyl record.

Peter Ward, 61, from Liverpool, who conceived and produced Songs For Europe said he has a close relative in a care home who suffers from Parkinsons disease and Lewy body dementia, seeing how neglected and isolated people were in care during the lockdown, he had to do something.

The reason I started do this (theatre show) was because of my personal experience and particularly in the lockdown seeing how neglected care homes were and how isolated care home residents were, Mr Ward told the PA news agency.

So, I thought dont just get angry about whats happening, do something about it.

I brought my experience of producing theatre to kind of bring a bit of joy and to remind these lovely old people that they have not been forgotten.

That was the heart of it, and I couldnt do that through campaigning, I couldnt do that through fundraising, so I thought Ill do it through making theatre.

The former director of Hope Street Theatre in Liverpool added that the show starts with Te Deum, the opening theme song of Eurovision, and finishes with a message of hope for Ukraine and a message of peace for the world.

He said: We asked a really key question to the residents which is what would your advice be for young people (living in war)?

It was really emotional and touching to hear what their thoughts were about peace and the futility of war.

There was one comment from a gentleman who said as one war finishes another starts and will we ever learn?

Music also plays a crucial role meanwhile, and Mr Ward said there is a medley of older hits from artists like Matt Monro, The Allisons and Ronnie Carroll.

We get the residents dancing in their chairs and singing along, they know words to these songs and its brilliant to see those words immediately spring back, Mr Ward said.

Music is the last faculty to go for people living with dementia and so they might not remember what theyve had for breakfast, they might not remember why they have been given a shaker to shake during the show.

But they will remember the words to Congratulations, [song by Cliff Richard] so seeing that spark is just really moving.

Nwoko Arts, which aims to gather untold stories from marginalised and disadvantaged people, has submitted the song Hope Love Music to BBC to represent the UK at Eurovision in 2024.
T ravellers faced severe disruption as rail strikes paralysed the train network across parts of the UK on Saturday.

Train passengers experienced another day of travel misery on the railways as the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) staged a 24-hour walkout quick on the heels of Aslefs own 24-hour strike.

The move paralysed much of the network and caused chaos for people hoping to travel to Liverpool for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Further strikes are planned for May 31 and June 3, which will coincide with the FA Cup final, prompting accusations from ministers that the unions are actively targeting major events with their walkouts.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch (centre) joins members of his union on the picket line outside Euston station (Yui Mok/PA) / PA Wire

This has been denied by union leaders.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said he was sorry for the disruption but added that people have had plenty of time to make alternative travel arrangements, with the union having given more than two weeks notice.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4s Today programme, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: Today is the last day under the anti-union laws that we can have a strike under the mandate. You get six months to run action. After that six months, you cannot take any more action.

Today is the last Saturday of our previous mandate.

We give two weeks notice under the law, which is what the Government requirement is, but if we didnt take strike action today, we wouldnt have been able to take any more during that mandate.

So, thats down to the anti-trade union laws.

Weve not targeted Wembley or Liverpool or any of the activities that people get up to. There isnt a day where people arent undertaking important activities, in business life or personal life.

We dont set the date of Eurovision. We dont set the anti-trade union laws that require us to have a mandate that expires after six months.

A Rail Delivery Group spokesperson said: While we are always open to dialogue, the only summit the RMT need is between its negotiating team and its executive committee.

Time and time again they have blocked the deal negotiated line by line by its top team from going out to its membership for a vote, with frontline losing out on a pay rise of up to 13 per cent as a result.

Its time the union leadership and executive finally agreed on what they want from these negotiations.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: Since coming into office, ministers have met with the RMT leadership four times and helped facilitate three fair pay offers from employers.

Its now time for unions to give their members a democratic say on their future.
I ndia is planning a diplomatic campaign to reclaim thousands of treasures including the Koh-i-Noor diamond, it is reported.

Officials in New Delhi are preparing what would amount to the largest repatriation claim faced by the UK, on a scale that would dwarf Greeces demands for the Elgin Marbles.

Govind Mohan, secretary for the Indian ministry of culture, said returning antiquities would form a key part of Indias policy-making.

The thrust of this effort to repatriate Indias artefacts comes from the personal commitment of prime minister Narendra Modi, who has made it a major priority, he said.

Diplomats in London will make formal requests to institutions to return artefacts seized as spoils of war or collected during colonial rule. The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford has already been contacted.

Ministerial and diplomatic staff will be mobilised in a reckoning with the past according to the Daily Telegraph.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was hailed as a living bridge to Indians in the UK by Mr Modi after he was made Tory leader.

It is understood that their goal is to secure the return of the Koh-i-Noor, which is one of the Crown Jewels held in trust for the King.

The 105-carat diamond once topped the Mughal emperors Peacock Throne. It was held by Indian rulers before being handed to the East India Company and then given to Queen Victoria after the annexation of the Punjab.

The Queen Mothers coronation crown was made especially for the 1937 coronation and features the famous but controversial Koh-i-noor diamond (PA Archive) / PA Archive

The gem was used in a crown made for King Charles III great-grandmother, Queen Mary, at the time of George Vs coronation in 1911.

Queen Camilla wore the Queen Marys Crown during last weekends Coronation, but the diamond did not feature in it.

The British Museum is expected to face claims for its collection of Hindu statues and the Amaravati Marbles. The Victoria and Albert Museums Indian collection will also be subject to claims.

These museums are bound by law to keep their collections intact, potentially putting India at odds with Westminster, which has refused to countenance changing legislation to facilitate similar claims, such as the case of the Elgin Marbles.

It is understood charities will be approached first as they are able to repatriate objects, and the National Trust could legally hand over Indian artefacts.
U kraine has forced Russian soldiers into a disorganised retreat from the southern flank of Bakhmut where it launched a full-frontal operation a year ago.

According to British military intelligence, the bad order withdrawal highlights a severe shortage of credible combat units.

This confirms reports from the Ukrainian military earlier this week that they had regained a kilometre of land around the key city as Russias 72nd Separate Motor Rifle Brigade retreated from their positions.

The Ministry of Defence update indicates wider implications for President Vladimir Putins men.

It described the 72 SMRB as a formation dogged with allegations of poor morale and limited combat effectiveness.

"Its deployment to such a demanding and operationally important sector highlights Russias severe shortage of credible combat units, the UK MoD said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (Andrew Matthews/PA) / PA Wire

War-ravaged Bakhmut has been has become a highly symbolic battleground for both Russian and Ukraines president Volodymyr Zelensky to show their domestic and international audiences a victory.

The withdrawal of the 72 SMRB has some tactical significance too, said the MoD.

It added: It was a Russian bridgehead on the western side of the Donets-Donbas Canal, which marks the front line through parts of the sector.

On Saturday, Zelensky arrived in Italy and is due to meet Pope Francis, as well as Italian premier Giorgia Meloni, who backs military and other aid for Ukraine, and President Sergio Mattarella.
U krainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Rome for talks with Italian leaders and Pope Francis on Saturday.

The Vatican has launched a behind-the-scenes initiative to try to end the war launched last year by Russias Vladimir Putin.

Mr Zelensky was greeted at Romes Ciampino airport by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

Tajani told reporters that Italy will continue to support Ukraine 360 degrees and press for a just peace, one that safeguards Ukraines independence.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni staunchly backs military and other aid for Ukraine.

But while her far-right Brothers of Italy party fiercely champions the principle of national sovereignty, Ms Meloni has had to contend with leaders of two coalition partners who have openly professed for years their admiration for Russian dictator Putin.

Silvio Berlusconi, the former premier, boasted of his friendship with Putin, while another government ally, League leader Matteo Salvini, has questioned the value of economic sanctions against Russia.

Mr Zelensky tweeted: Today in Rome, Im meeting with President of Italy Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister of Italy @GiorgiaMeloni and the Pope @Pontifex. An important visit for approaching victory of Ukraine!

Ukraines president began his official meetings by calling on Mattarella, who is head of state, at the presidential Quirinale Palace.

Rain let up just in time about noon for the two to view an honour guard in the palace courtyard atop the Quirinal Hill, and Mr Zelensky stood with his hand over his heart as an Italian military band played Ukraines anthem.

We are fully at your side, Mattarella told Mr Zelensky at the start of their meeting.

The Ukrainian leader then headed to the premiers office at Chigi Palace.

The pair embraced in the palace courtyard, before the two headed to their closed-door talks.

En route to his appointments, Mr Zelenskys motorcade passed by cheering Ukrainians who had waited in the rain to welcome him during his visit to the Italian capital, expected to last several hours.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella escorting Volodymyr Zelensky / Quirinale Press Office/AFP via G

Near the presidential palace was Mariya Hrytskevych, a Ukrainian citizen living in Italy, who noted that Mr Zelensky is traveling a lot for our good  to fight and to find more help, because we need help.

Mr Zelensky is believed to be heading to Berlin next.

His exact schedule hadnt been publicly announced because of security concerns, and the Vatican only confirmed a papal meeting shortly before the Ukrainian presidents plane touched down.

Italian state radio reported that as part of protective measures, a no-fly zone was ordered for Rome skies and police sharpshooters were strategically placed on high buildings.

Ms Meloni met with Zelensky in Kyiv, shortly before the anniversary of Russias full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Pope Francis, who is eager for peace, last met with the Ukrainian leader in 2020.

The pontiff makes frequent impassioned pleas on behalf of Ukraines martyred people, in his words.

At the end of April, flying back to Rome from a trip to Hungary, Pope Francis told reporters on the plane that the Vatican was involved in a behind-the-scene peace mission but gave no details. Neither Russia nor Ukraine has confirmed such an initiative.

He has said he would like to go to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, if such a visit could be coupled with one to Moscow, in hopes a papal pilgrimage could further the cause of peace.

Last month, Ukraines prime minister met with Pope Francis at the Vatican and said he asked the pontiff to help Ukraine get back children illegally taken to Russia during the invasion.
U krainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held talks with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday.

Mr Zelensky said it was a great honour to meet the pontiff after a 40-minute long meeting between the pair.

In a written statement, the Vatican said the two men spoke about Ukraines humanitarian and political situation provoked by the war going on.

The pope assured his constant prayer, paid witness to by his many public appeals and by his continued invoking of the Lord for peace, since February of last year, the Vatican said, a reference to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Both agreed on the need to continue humanitarian efforts to help the population. The pope underlined in particular the urgent need for humanitarian gestures toward the most fragile persons, innocent victims of the conflict, the statement said.

Last month, Ukraines prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, met with Francis at the Vatican and said he asked the pontiff to help Ukraine get back children illegally taken to Russia during the invasion.

Saturdays communique from the Vatican made no mention of that, and there were no immediate details from Mr Zelenskys side about his meeting with the pontiff.

Ahead of Mr Zelenskys arrival, police moved tourists to one side of St Peters Square so the Ukrainian presidents motorcade could speed across the vast cobblestone space.

Earlier in the day, Mr Zelensky met with Italian officials after his morning flight to Rome. He received pledges of both open-ended military and financial support as well as stronger backing for Ukrainian membership of the European Union.

The message is clear and simple, Meloni said, flanked by Mr Zelensky as the two briefed reporters after their meeting at her office, which lasted more than an hour. The future of Ukraine is a future of peace and freedom. And its the future of Europe, a future of peace and freedom, for which there are no other possible solutions.
T he Duke and Duchess of Sussex were back in London as gruesome puppets for a one-off show by comedian Al Murray.

The puppets, created for the comedy sketch show Spitting Image, were the surprise royal guests for Murrays show at the Royal Albert Hall on Friday.

Titled Gig For Victory, the coronation-themed show is Murrays only live date of 2023 as his famous character The Pub Landlord.

It is billed as offering people thirsty for common sense a full pint of the good stuff, and  celebrating the one true Kingof Beers!.

The Spitting Image official Twitter account posted a picture of the Harry and Meghan puppets sat waiting for the show to begin on Friday.

BREAKING NEWS! Harry & Meghan are back in London @RoyalAlbertHall as the surprise Royal guests for the Gig For Victory coronation show, celebrating the one true Kingof Beers!, it said.

Murray was one of the co-writers for the recent stage production: Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image Saves the World  which featured the Sussexs puppets.

The show, featuring other famous faces including the King, rapper Stormzy and Tom Cruise, had its world premiere in February.

Spitting Image made its return on BritBox in September 2021 following its revival in 2020 for the first time in 24 years.

The popular sketch show, featuring puppets of well-known figures, originally ran for 18 series between 1984 and 1996 and was watched by 15 million viewers in its prime.
A Ukrainian pianist who fled her home with just her young daughter and a suitcase is to use her instrument as a weapon to showcase the unbreakable spirit of her country over a year later at a Eurovision event.

Daria Golovchenko, who is in her 30s and seeking full-time employment as a pianist, fled her home in Kherson in April 2022 with her then two-year-old  three-year old  daughter Sophia, before arriving in the UK later that same month to stay with her host  Rachel Balen, a retired university lecturer.

Just over a year later, she is to perform a set of Ukrainian pieces as well as classic hits including Hit the Road Jack at a Eurovision event at the Piece Hall in Halifax on Saturday May 13  the same day as the song contests grand final  in a bid to showcase Ukrainian culture.

Its a big opportunity to show and represent our culture through our music at this event, Ms Golovchenko, who is based in Holmfirth, near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, told the PA news agency.

I will play some Ukrainian music, with one piece composed by a Ukrainian composer who is in Lviv, and some other more recognisable songs.

This time is very important for Ukrainians because before the war, not a lot of people understood who was Ukrainian  and Ukraine is a beautiful country with a lot of talented people and it is not the time to hide, but to speak about our Ukrainian culture.

And I can speak about it through music.

As the war in her country continues, Ms Golovchenko said she wants people to continue standing with Ukrainians.

(The Russians) destroy our cities, our lives, but they cant destroy our spirit, she said.

I fight here with music, my weapon is music.

Ms Golovchenko opened up about leaving Kherson, describing it as the most difficult decision of my life.

She added: I could only bring one bag and it was very difficult to decide what to bring.

Leaving was the most difficult decision of my life and finding a driver to get us out was hard.

My father had a car but he could not drive because it was too dangerous and we had to pay crazy money for a driver  you could buy a ticket to Australia for the price we paid  and it was just from Kherson to Odessa, which is not a long distance.

From Odessa, the pianist travelled many hours on a train to Lviv, arriving in the early hours of the morning, without any food and having to sleep on a tiny mattress on the floor of a train station, before being driven to Poland by a friend and eventually reaching her host at the end of April 2022.

Ms Golovchenko and Ms Balen were paired together via a local support group called Holme Valley Homes for Ukraine, with the fact that Ms Balen had a piano being of huge importance for Ms Golovchenko, especially since she has struggled finding employment as a pianist in the UK.

Daria has been to job centres, but they arent really geared up for helping musicians to find work, Ms Balen said.

She gets universal credit, but it is not really enough to cover rent.

Ms Balen added that her grandparents fled Zhytomyr in the 1900s, which was part of the Russian empire at the time, because they were Jewish, and got to the UK without money thanks to the kindness of strangers.

People helped them as they made their journey  Im repaying the help my grandparents had because it is what many Ukrainians are having to do now.

Ms Golovchenkos interest in the piano began at the age of five, where she would pretend she was playing by drawing keys on a piece of paper.

My parents didnt have a piano, so my teacher drew keys on an A4 paper and one year, I practised only using that.

And I played in a concert on a real piano after practising on paper.

Her parents managed to purchase a piano when she was six, and from there she went on to study classical piano at the Conservatoire in Kharkiv.

The performance could have been scuppered because of the lack of a keyboard, but Ms Golovchenko managed to borrow a full-size, weighted Casio keyboard in the nick of time, thanks to a Facebook appeal.

Ms Balen added that this was just one of the difficulties when you leave your life.

(Daria) could only bring one suitcase and her daughter, she could not bring a piano, she couldnt bring any music and her priority was finding somewhere safe.

Its taken Daria about a year to get to a place where she is able to play the piano properly, and its good in a way that this Eurovision opportunity has come for her a year after she has arrived because it has taken her a year to recover from the trauma of escaping Ukraine.

It has significance bigger than Eurovision, its kind of saying shes back as a musician.

Although she is not in Liverpool in the week the Eurovision contest takes place, Ms Golovchenko has been to the city in the run-up to the song contest.

It was maybe one month before and they already had Ukrainian menus in restaurants, they put Ukrainian slogans for welcome in cafes, she said.

Now, when I watch the news, I can see that they have a Ukrainian village and everywhere there is Ukrainian food, Ukrainian musicians, Ukrainians chefs  a lot of Ukrainian culture everywhere.

Its so nice, it makes me so happy.
R elationships between Liverpool and Ukraine will continue after the incredible Eurovision Song Contest, the citys cultural director has said.

Liverpool will host the competitions grand final on behalf of last years winners Ukraine on Saturday night.

Director of Culture Liverpool Claire McColgan, who has led the cultural, community and educational programmes running alongside the contest, said: I think its been the most incredible experience of my life ever.

I think for lots of people in Liverpool and around the world, it will be the most incredible event that theyve ever been part of, ever been to, ever looked at on the television, and I am hugely proud of this city, massively proud.

She said that relationships forged with Ukraine, which was unable to host the contest because of the Russian invasion, would not end after Saturdays final.

Ms McColgan said: We have literally put Eurovision everywhere so no-one can not be affected by it and I think what people have seen, whether they like the Eurovision contest or not, is the kind of spirit of equality, the spirit of diversity, the spirit of compassion with our friends  our friends now  in Ukraine that is immeasurable.

That is so powerful, and hopefully when this finishes one of the really great legacies will be those relationships in Ukraine, theyll have a bit of Liverpool in their hearts.

She said there would be legacy projects with artists in Ukraine following the shared endeavour of organising the competition.

The cultural director added: Liverpool has reached out on behalf of this great country to show what this great country does and the best thing this country does is have a heart and compassion for people in distress.

Hopefully thats what weve shown over these two weeks in Liverpool.

Ms McColgan said the key to making Eurovision a success for the area was involving everyone.

She said: You can put an event in an arena and its great and loads of people watch it on screen and watch across the world.

Unless you engage the residents of the city in that wider story, youve failed, I think.

Hopefully its created a model for Eurovision in the future that will be taken by the next city that does it.
(Bloomberg) -- Austin Russell, a 28-year-old automotive technology tycoon, acquired an 82% stake in Forbes Global Media Holdings, parent of the well-known business magazine.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The deal values the company at close to $800 million, the parties said in a statement Friday. The seller, Hong Kong-based Integrated Whale Media Investments will retain a minority stake. The Forbes family will not, though Steve Forbes will remain involved.

Russell is the chief executive officer of Luminar Technologies Inc., which provides antonymous driving technology to the automotive industry. The company, which has a $2.1 billion market capitalization, posted sales of $40.7 million last year and isnt profitable.

Russell plans to serve as a visionary for Forbes brand and wont be involved in day-to-day operations, according to the statement.

Forbes plans to appoint a new board consisting of American media, technology and artificial intelligence experts. Integrated Whale will keep one board seat.

The magazine was founded in 1917 by B.C. Forbes, a Scottish immigrant and business columnist for the Hearst newspaper chain.

Forbes competes with Bloomberg in providing business news.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
AIQ, an Abu Dhabi-based company focused on driving the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered transformation of the energy sector, and Beeah Group, the regions sustainability pioneer, have announced their collaboration to propel the UAEs sustainability agenda forward in alignment with the governments vision and COP28 goals.

The agreement underscores AIQ and Beeah Groups unwavering commitment to boosting sustainability across sectors and industries by leveraging future technologies such as AI.

The entities will collaborate on AI-driven opportunities in waste management, renewable energy, transportation and jointly explore new ways to drive value creation in the areas of sustainability and new energy.

The collaboration was sealed with the signing of a MoU at the Climate Tech Forum, held in Abu Dhabi, in the presence of Omar Al Marzooqi, the Chief Executive of AIQ, and Khaled Al Huraimel, Group CEO of Beeah.

Al Marzooqi said the UAEs vision to become a global hub for climate action and impactful change is inspiring collective action, which AIQ is committed to, and now, we are incredibly excited to join forces with Beeah Group and expand our offerings beyond the energy sector.

"Their commitment to sustainability aligns with our mission to leverage cutting-edge technologies to develop game-changing solutions, power the progress of energy and drive growth across industries. This partnership represents a significant step in our shared vision for a sustainable future, and we look forward to what we will accomplish together," he stated.

Al Huraimel said: "Driven by the pillars of sustainability and digitalization, BEEAH Group is redefining industries to be future-ready. Our businesses have demonstrated that technologies not only enable us to drive towards sustainability targets, but also achieve commercial success."

"We are excited to partner with AIQ to further explore new avenues for AI-based technological development, create new business efficiencies, and achieve greater targets to support the UAEs sustainability agenda," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Darden School of Business

Darden Dean Scott Beardsley is taking a six-month break from the deanship to become a student at Oxford University

It was during the Christmas break of 2021 that Scott Beardsley began reading Rossums Universal Robots. The script for the cautionary drama written in 1920 by Czech playwright Karel Capek stirred the curiosity of the dean of the University of Virginias Darden School of Business. The three-act play centers on a scientist named Rossum who creates a factory to make humanlike robots.

Its decided that they arent human enough, so they begin to add more human traits, says Beardsley, who politely declines to be the spoiler of the plays outcome. In fact, what happens is the robots, created to serve humans, have come to dominate them completely.

Fast forward to today when Chat-GPT is a harbinger of the future power of artificial intelligence, a technology that can eliminate much of the mundane work by humans but also has the potential, like Rossums robots, to be deployed in a way that could have a disastrous impact on humans and society.

IVE CHOSEN TO BE A STUDENT AGAIN

With all kinds of technological advances such as cloning, gene editing, brain chips, and generative AI within reach, Beardsley made the decision to become a student again. He is taking a six-month sabbatical to study the ethics of emerging technologies at Oxford University. From July 1 to Jan. 1 of 2024, Beardsley will temporarily leave the deanship he has had at Darden for the past eight years and attend graduate courses in practical ethics, immersing himself in a vast amount of reading and writing.

I will be there to learn, he says flatly from his office on the second floor of Saunders Hall at Darden. I got my doctorate in education when I was 50. Ive chosen to be a student again. You are never too old to learn. This is about having the mind space that is not distracted by all the myriad things you do as a dean.

While the 59-year-old Beardsley began thinking about the possibility of doing a sabbatical after reading the play, his decision to take six months off a grueling job was influenced by several other factors. When he was at McKinsey & Co. for nearly 27 years, ending as a senior partner and board member, he had the chance to take a sabbatical and turned it down, a regret to this day. No less important, a thoughtful conversation with University Provost Ian B. Baucom helped Beardsley move forward on the idea. When Baucom was Dean of Arts and Sciences, he took a sabbatical to write a book and spoke favorably about the experience.

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In Baucoms email to faculty and staff announcing the award of the sabbatical, he prominently mentioned his own break. Based on my experience taking a sabbatical while I was dean of Arts & Sciences, I believe that Scotts time away will enable him to build on his impressive accomplishments and increase his capacity for service to the university as a leader, teacher, and scholar, wrote Baucom.

BEARDSLEY HAS FORMALLY STUDIED ENGINEERING, MANAGEMENT & EDUCATION BUT NEVER PHILOSOPHY

During Beardsleys McKinsey years, he had become interested in the regulation of emerging technologies. And through the years, it has been an intellectual curiosity given more immediate attention by Chat-GPT. He notes that a Darden MBA student recently used an AI platform to create an admissions presentation by Dawna Clarke, the schools MBA admissions chief. She watched herself give a speech she never gave, marvels Beardsley. And this is just the early days.

Besides, notes the dean, he has never had the opportunity to study philosophy and ethics. Beardsley earned his bachelors degree in electrical engineering at Tufts University in 1985, his MBA at MITs Sloan School of Management in 1989, and 27 years later in 2016, his doctor of education from the University of Pennsylvania, a degree he leveraged to transition into the deanship from a long career in consulting. Now he will pursue graduate research and coursework at Oxfords Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, the most highly admired school of ethics in the world.

Beardsley believed it was an opportune time to take six months off to return to school. Just weeks ago, Beardsley opened the $130 million gathering space on campus, reached the first $400 million milestone of a major fundraising campaign, and established a growing presence for Darden in the Washington, D.C., area with a new satellite campus and the launch of Dardens first part-time MBA program and a masters in business analytics with the universitys McIntire School of Commerce. After teaching six courses this past academic year, he had been scheduled to teach just one in the next semester. Beardsley is already committed to teaching a total of five courses when he returns for the spring semester of 2024.

Darden School of Business

Long-time Darden Professor Jeanne Liedtka will serve as interim dean starting July 1 for six months

LONG-TIME DARDEN PROFESSOR JEANNE LIEDTKA WILL SERVE AS INTERIM DEAN

It also helped that Jeanne Liedtka, a long-time Darden professor of some 33 years on corporate strategy, innovation, and design thinking, will serve as interim dean in his absence. Jeanne is closely aligned with me. She led by reappointment and has the respect of everyone here. It just all came together at the end, he says. Beardsley will maintain his residence at Pavilion I on Thomas Jeffersons original Academical Village and says he will continue to do some fundraising and oversee the plan to build a new residential facility for MBA students.

With a very apparent twinkle in his eyes, Beardsley notes that he has been admitted to Oxfords historic Pembroke College, where J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings, his favorite book. At one moment, he reaches into his trousers to fetch his wallet and proudly shows his newly-issued Oxford student ID card.

At some point, I would probably have done this anyway, he says. Its all about lifelong learning and the difficult ethical dimensions our society faces by technology, both the dystopian side and the positive. There will be a lot of difficult challenges facing leaders on the ethics of using new technology. These technologies are at an inflection point. I want to help people be productive and happy in a world with technology options rising at exponential rates. I want to come back and help us develop new ideas and new courses to deal with these issues.

DONT MISS: MEET UVA DARDENS MBA CLASS OF 2024 or DEAN OF THE YEAR IN 2020

The post When A B-School Dean Becomes A Student Again appeared first on Poets&Quants.
The Roman kiln dating back from the 4th century, one of a kind in Romania, discovered during archaeological excavations carried out in 1981, in the settlement of Dealul Viilor, by Professor Radu Harhoiu and Professor Gheorghe Baltag and saved from destruction by a private company, has become the biggest tourist attraction outside the Medieval Sighisoara Citadel, after being exhibited in a glass pavilion on the banks of the Tarnava Mari River, near the Romanian-Orthodox Cathedral.

The kiln was first exhibited to the public at last year's Sighisoara Medieval Festival, and since then the Morii Street in the Lower Town has been included in the tourist route."The kiln was threatened with destruction in the place where it was discovered, having been excavated in 1982 and stored for the next 24 years in a container in the Citadel. It was then transferred to the city's brick factory, where it was restored and put on display. In 2020, the new management of the factory announced its intention to return the kiln to the Museum of History in Sighisoara, but the procedures involved several risks related to relocation, the object's durability, storage and conservation. The kiln was brought to its new location, restored and a protective pavilion was placed around it. It can be visited even at night, as the glass pavilion is illuminated," Nicolae Tescula, director of the Sighisoara History Museum, told AGERPRES.In order to present the historical and archaeological context in which it was discovered, the kiln is accompanied by a caption drawn up by the representatives of the Sighisoara History Museum, Nicolae Tescula, historian, and Sorina Parchirie, restorer.
Key Insights

Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, Hor Kew fair value estimate is S$0.25

Hor Kew's S$0.22 share price indicates it is trading at similar levels as its fair value estimate

The average premium for Hor Kew's competitorsis currently 40%

Today we will run through one way of estimating the intrinsic value of Hor Kew Corporation Limited (SGX:BBP) by taking the forecast future cash flows of the company and discounting them back to today's value. Our analysis will employ the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. It may sound complicated, but actually it is quite simple!

We generally believe that a company's value is the present value of all of the cash it will generate in the future. However, a DCF is just one valuation metric among many, and it is not without flaws. 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 Hor Kew

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. To begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. Seeing as no analyst estimates of free cash flow are available to us, we have extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the company's last reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate:

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10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 Levered FCF (SGD, Millions) S$2.46m S$2.04m S$1.80m S$1.67m S$1.59m S$1.55m S$1.53m S$1.53m S$1.53m S$1.55m Growth Rate Estimate Source Est @ -25.38% Est @ -17.18% Est @ -11.43% Est @ -7.42% Est @ -4.60% Est @ -2.63% Est @ -1.26% Est @ -0.29% Est @ 0.38% Est @ 0.86% Present Value (SGD, Millions) Discounted @ 14% S$2.2 S$1.6 S$1.2 S$1.0 S$0.8 S$0.7 S$0.6 S$0.5 S$0.5 S$0.4

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = S$9.5m

The second stage is also known as Terminal Value, this is the business's cash flow after the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (2.0%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 14%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2032  (1 + g)  (r  g) = S$1.5m (1 + 2.0%)  (14% 2.0%) = S$13m

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= S$13m ( 1 + 14%)10= S$3.6m

The total value is the sum of cash flows for the next ten years plus the discounted terminal value, which results in the Total Equity Value, which in this case is S$13m. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of S$0.2, the company appears about fair value at a 13% discount to where the stock price trades currently. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent.

dcf

The 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 Hor Kew 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 14%, which is based on a levered beta of 2.000. 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 Hor Kew

Strength

No major strengths identified for BBP.

Weakness

Earnings declined over the past year.

Interest payments on debt are not well covered.

Opportunity

Current share price is below our estimate of fair value.

Lack of analyst coverage makes it difficult to determine BBP's earnings prospects.

Threat

Debt is not well covered by operating cash flow.

Moving On:

Although the valuation of a company is important, it shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching 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 example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. For Hor Kew, we've put together three fundamental elements you should look at:

Risks: Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 5 warning signs with Hor Kew (at least 3 which are concerning) , and understanding these should be part of your investment process. 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! Other Top Analyst Picks: Interested to see what the analysts are thinking? Take a look at our interactive list of analysts' top stock picks to find out what they feel might have an attractive future outlook!

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every Singaporean 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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If Envision Healthcare files for bankruptcy, a group of emergency room doctors would seek permission to continue their federal lawsuit that claims the private equity-backed company is violating Californias ban on corporate control of medical practices.

I anticipate that we would ask the bankruptcy judge to let our case proceed, said David Millstein, an attorney representing the Milwaukee-based American Academy of Emergency Medicine Physician Group. Among other things, Envisions practices violate the law, are continuing, and need to be addressed.

Still, the future of the lawsuit is uncertain since its unclear how a judge might rule.

On May 9, The Wall Street Journal reported that Envision planned to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, possibly as early as this weekend. That would allow the company, based in Nashville, Tennessee, to reduce its debt while reorganizing its business. The Journal said Envision failed to report quarterly financial results by a March 31 deadline and missed an interest payment in April.

Envision spokesperson Aliese Polk declined to comment.

The emergency doctors lawsuit does not ask for monetary damages, so the Milwaukee group would presumably not have a financial claim against Envision. Instead, the doctors are seeking a declaration by the court that the companys alleged use of shell business structures to retain de facto ownership of ER staffing groups is illegal. A trial in San Francisco had been scheduled to start next January, but the date has been pushed back.

The doctors believe that a victory in their case would lead to a ban on that business strategy across California  not just in ERs run by Envision but also by TeamHealth, another private equity-owned medical staffing firm, and in other medical services the two companies provide, including anesthesiology, hospital-based medicine, and gynecology.

Many doctors, nurses, consumer advocates, and even some lawmakers, hope a legal victory would spur prosecutors and regulators in other states to take the issue of medical practices controlled by corporations more seriously.

Envision runs 467 emergency departments across the country and TeamHealth operates 511, according to Ivy Clinicians, a startup job search website for emergency physicians. Together, the two companies control more than 17% of emergency departments, the data shows.

Envision was acquired by the investment firm KKR in 2018 for $9.9 billion, making it the largest private equity deal in health care during that decade. The deal saddled Envision with about $7 billion in debt. Last September, analysts at S&P Global Ratings estimated that the companys debt was 29 times its earnings in 2022, a staggeringly high figure that raised alarms about its ability to pay its obligations.

At the same time, Envisions revenue picture has deteriorated. The federal No Surprises Act, which protects patients from unexpected bills sent by out-of-network providers, sapped a key source of revenue. The pandemic shrank patient volumes, and burnout among health care workers fueled staffing shortages that have jacked up labor costs. A fierce battle with insurance giant UnitedHealthcare over payments for patient care also hit Envision.

The financial profile of the company is just not strong enough to manage the debt they have on the balance sheet, and I think thats really what the bottom line is, said David Peknay, a director at S&P Global Ratings.

This article was produced by KFF Health News, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation.

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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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  Clergy and other opponents of a bill further restricting abortion in North Carolina that's about to be vetoed by Gov. Roy Cooper said Friday the measure is another effort by the Republican-controlled General Assembly to harm the state's low-income residents.

Civil rights leader the Rev. William Barber of Goldsboro and other ministers gathered inside the Legislative Building to speak against the legislation, which would ban nearly all abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. State law currently bans abortions after 20 weeks.

This bill will hurt the most vulnerable, especially the poor among us, Barber said. It is wrong. It is wrong over and over and over again.

Cooper has said he plans to veto the bill on Saturday, when he'll attend a rally organized by abortion-rights advocates in downtown Raleigh. The state legislature could begin override votes next week. Republicans hold narrow veto-proof seat majorities in the House and Senate. Cooper has held public events this week in hopes of persuading Republican legislators to uphold his anticipated veto.

Critics of the measure say additional rules governing legal abortions will make it harder for women who live in rural areas or work long hours to access abortion services. But bill supporters say the measure will protect life and provide at least $160 million toward services that help mothers, children and families.

Barber, president of the group Repairers of the Breach and co-chair of the national Poor Peoples Campaign, said that if GOP legislators were concerned about life they would pass laws tightening gun regulations and raising the minimum wage, among others. Event participants also read from an open letter to legislative leaders that in part highlights other GOP bills they oppose.

Religious leaders participating in the event met later Friday with Cooper, the governor's office said.
ATLANTA (AP)  To train more Black doctors, the federal government needs to bolster funding and make more training slots available for historically Black medical schools, leaders of those universities told U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday.

Our HBCU medical schools are the backbone of training Black doctors in this country. Dr. Hugh Mighty, Howard University's senior vice president of health affairs, said at a hearing in Atlanta.

Students, meanwhile, told the independent senator from Vermont who chairs the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee that the heavy debt many aspiring physicians pile up is particularly discouraging to nonwhite students, whose families are less likely to be able to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in tuition and fees.

The greatest barrier to entry for burgeoning Black physicians is the immense and seemingly insurmountable financial risk waiting to shackle all those who pass through the gates of medical education, Dr. Samuel Cook, a Morehouse School of Medicine resident, told Sanders.

Cook said he has $320,000 in debt and could earn more, on a per-hour basis, working as a restaurant cook than as a medical resident. Cook said the federal government should cancel medical student debts and pay medical school tuition for students going forward.

Sanders met with leaders of the Morehouse School of Medicine, Howard University College of Medicine, Meharry Medical College and Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science on the Morehouse campus in Atlanta.

We are going to take your testimony and do our best  I'm not making any promises  but we will do our best to incorporate your ideas into legislation, Sanders told the leaders and students.

The former Democratic presidential candidate made cancelling all student debt a central pillar of his 2020 campaign. He also backs the need to train more physicians willing to work in underserved communities.

Morehouse School of Medicine President Valerie Montgomery Rice told Sanders that Black medical schools have less money and fewer academic affiliations, making support from federal programs that are specifically designed to level the playing field very important.

Graduates of the schools need better access to more slots in residency and fellowship programs to complete their training, Rice and others said. They noted there arent enough residency slots available to train all the doctors that are needed and that recent expansions have skipped hospitals with links to the schools.

So if indeed it is a priority to increase the number of physicians in communities of color and medically underserved communities, there should be specific provisions in each of these programs that direct a meaningful portion of these slots to teach in hospitals and health centers affiliated with our HBCUs, Rice said.

A proposal in Congress to increase the number of Medicare-financed residency slots by 14,000 over seven years could help that problem. Leaders of the schools support the plan.

Leaders including Dr. David Carlisle, president of Drew in Los Angeles, said that federal programs to bolster research at the schools arent providing enough money to erase historical disadvantages.

Dr. James Hildreth, the president of Meharry in Nashville, Tennessee, earlier proposed that Congress invest $5 billion to improve research and development at the four schools, as well as in health graduate programs at other historically Black colleges and universities. Two other historically Black institutions, Xavier University of Louisiana and Maryland's Morgan State University, are setting up their own medical schools.

Jeannette E. South-Paul, the provost of Meharry, said the federal government should also bolster summer study, mentorship and scholarship programs that encourage nonwhite students to apply to medical schools. She said such pipeline programs are crucial in recruiting minority physicians.
ST. LOUIS  St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner met with St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell and several attorneys from his office on Thursday to discuss ways he can help stabilize Gardners office as she prepares to step down June 1.

How exactly Bell and county prosecutors plan to help rebuild Gardners dramatically understaffed team of attorneys was unclear Friday afternoon, but both Bell and Gardner released a statement Friday confirming the two are in talks.

Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, is expected to appoint a replacement for Gardner before she leaves office. A spokesperson for his office said he was not involved in the conversations between Bell and Gardner.

Parson is taking applications for a new city prosecutor until Monday, he announced this week.

Bell and Gardner released identical statements Friday afternoon announcing the planned collaboration. It read, in part: To ensure that the St. Louis Circuit Attorneys Office continues to carry out its duty to prosecute criminal cases in a manner that seeks justice on behalf of the residents of the City of St. Louis, Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner and St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell are collaborating in the transition. At the request of Ms. Gardner, they are actively collaborating on a plan to ensure a smooth transition of all cases with a priority on public safety and justice.

Bell is not alone in offering Gardner help, but the meeting Thursday is the first confirmation that Gardner has taken him up on the offer. She repeatedly refused or ignored offers of help from other prosecutors, including St. Charles County and the Missouri Attorney Generals Office, who offered to help clear a backlog of thousands of cases in St. Louis in the months before she announced her resignation.

Lincoln County prosecutor Mike Wood and downtown law firms Lewis Rice and Thompson Coburn also publicly offered to help.

County Executive Sam Page was aware that Bell was talking with Gardners office about a collaboration, a spokesperson for Pages office said Friday, but he doesnt know exactly what the relationship will look like yet.

The spokesperson added that theres probably not a more worthy cause than helping the city in the short term.

Gardner and Bell, who took office in 2019, both campaigned on agendas supporting criminal justice reform, police accountability, and increases in diversion programs for low-level offenders.

Gardners roster of attorneys dwindled from about 60 when she took office in 2017 to about 20 as of last week. Nearly all of the most experienced prosecutors from before her term began are gone. With so few attorneys, trials have been long delayed or canceled. Judges have grown frustrated with prosecutors missing deadlines and not showing up to hearings. A backlog of unreviewed applications for charges has grown, and charges are regularly dropped and refiled because prosecutors arent ready for trial.

Gardners office within the last week hired defense attorney Rufus Tate as a special prosecutor to help take the overwhelming number of felony cases created by a series of resignations over the last three months.

One murder case now assigned to Tate was set for trial Tuesday. Circuit Judge Rex Burlison agreed to delay it but gave Tate and assistant prosecutor Rob Huq two weeks to prepare for trial.

The defendant, Sturgeon Stewart, has been in jail for three years awaiting trial, Burlison said. The case had already been dismissed and refiled once by the circuit attorneys office.

I know youre assigned a whole bunch of cases, Burlison told Tate and Huq. But we expect cases to move.

Kelsey Landis and Taylor Tiamoyo Harris of the Post-Dispatch contributed.

St. Louis prosecutor Kim Gardner to resign June 1 after weeks of resistance The news sent shockwaves through downtown courthouses where victims, defense attorneys and judges had complained for weeks about the dysfunction.
ROME  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had private talks with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday, later saying he sought support for Ukraines peace plan from the pontiff, who in the past offered to try to help end the full-scale war Russia launched a year ago.

Meanwhile, Germany will provide Ukraine with additional military aid worth more than $3 billion, including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition, its government said Saturday. The announcement came as preparations were underway in Berlin for Zelenskyys possible first visit to Germany since Russia invaded his country. The exact schedule was not publicly announced because of security concerns.

The new military aid package, first reported by German weekly Der Spiegel, includes 30 Leopard 1 A5 tanks, 20 Marder armored personnel carriers, more than 100 combat vehicles, 18 self-propelled Howitzers, 200 reconnaissance drones, four IRIS-T SLM anti-aircraft systems and other air defense equipment.

It comes after Ukrainian military commanders said their troops recaptured more territory from Russian forces near the eastern city of Bakhmut amid speculation about a possible counteroffensive by Kyiv.

Russian shelling on Saturday killed two civilians, including a 15-year-old girl, and wounded 10 more in Kostyantynivka, a city less 18 miles west of Bakhmut, the regional prosecutors office said.

Zelenskyy held his hand over his heart and said it was a great honor to meet with the pope. Francis, using a cane for his knee problem, came to greet the Ukrainian president before ushering him into a papal studio near the Vaticans audience hall.

In a tweet after the 40-minute audience, Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to Francis for his personal attention to the tragedy of millions of Ukrainians. He said he spoke with the pontiff about the tens of thousands of deported (Ukrainian) children. We must make every effort to return them home.

Last month, Ukraines prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, asked the pope to help get children returned from Russia to Ukraine. The Vaticans statement Saturday made no mention of the request.

Instead, the Vatican said the two men spoke of Ukraines humanitarian and political situation provoked by the ongoing war.

The pope assured his constant prayer, paid witness to by his many public appeals and by his continued invoking of the Lord for peace, since February of last year, the Vatican said, a reference to the Russian invasion that began Feb. 24, 2022.

The meeting came as Russias defense ministry said Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles delivered to Ukraine by the United Kingdom this week damaged unspecified civilian enterprises in Luhansk province in Ukraines far east. Luhansk authorities separately said another missile strike hit the regional capital, wounding an elderly woman.

Two Russian Mi-8 helicopters and an Su-34 fighter-bomber crashed Saturday in the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, state news agency Tass and a Telegram channel close to the Russian defense ministry reported; the newspaper Kommersant cited reports of two fighter planes crashing. The causes of the crashes were not immediately disclosed, but concern in Bryansk is growing about cross-border attacks from Ukraine.

Some Ukrainian units continue to push forward near Bakhmut, the commander of Ukraines land forces said Saturday, just a day after Ukrainian commanders said their troops recaptured territory at the scene of the wars longest and bloodiest battle. Our soldiers are moving forward in some sectors of the front, and the enemy is losing equipment and manpower, Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Telegram.

Zelenskyy also said he asked the pope to condemn Russian crimes in Ukraine because there can be no equality between the victim and the aggressor.

I also talked about our Peace Formula as the only effective algorithm for achieving a just peace, Zelenskyy said. Later, in an interview on Italian state TV, the Ukrainian leader said the pope knows my position. The war is in Ukraine, that is why it has to be Ukraines plan to bring peace.

Zelenskyys 10-point plan would establish a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes. It would also create a European-Atlantic security architecture with guarantees for Ukraine, restore Ukraines damaged power infrastructure and ensure safety around Europes largest nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia.

Earlier in the day, Italian officials pledged open-ended military and financial support to Zelenskyy as well as stronger backing for Ukraines cherished aim to join the European Union.

The message is clear and simple, Premier Giorgia Meloni said after a meeting with Zelenskyy that lasted more than an hour. The future of Ukraine is a future of peace and freedom. And its the future of Europe, a future of peace and freedom, for which there are no other possible solutions.

The premier, who staunchly supports military aid for Ukraine, said Italy would back the country 360 degrees for all the time necessary and beyond.

Separately, Italian President Sergio Mattarella told Zelenskyy, We are fully at your side, Mattarella told Zelenskyy as he welcomed him. Later, presidential palace sources said Mattarella assured his guest that Italy would continue to support Ukraine militarily and financially, as well as with reconstruction and humanitarian aid.

Since the war began, Italy has contributed about $1.1 billion in military and financial aid, as well as humanitarian assistance.

In Ukraines forests, fighters race to prepare for next push
Like a gruesome car wreck you dont want to look at but cant help yourself, there was Donald Trump on stage, ruining a perfectly good Wednesday night. The former presidents town hall appearance on CNN was the first time in a long time that weve seen him like this, unscripted and outside the protective bubble of friendly right-wing media.

I saw the same pathological liar, enthusiastic misogynist and certifiable sociopath who sullied the White House for four years. The supposedly undecided audience apparently saw a rock star. Some recent polling indicates we might all have been seeing the next president.

So here we go again, skidding toward the guardrails.

If you missed it, let me congratulate you, and then recap: Trump lied his way through more than an hour of questioning from CNN moderator Kaitlan Collins  who admirably but unsuccessfully attempted to keep the conversation rooted in reality  and adoring treatment from the crowd, which had clearly been infiltrated by MAGA-world.

There were too many low points to list them all, but here are a few: The sacking of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, by a mob determined to overthrow democracy, was a beautiful day. The writer E. Jean Carroll, who Trump had one day earlier been found liable of sexually abusing and defaming, is a whack job. Collins herself is a nasty person for challenging Trumps lies. Anyone who doesnt believe the 2020 election was rigged is very stupid. (The word stupid made multiple appearances throughout the evening, sometimes with the extra peppering of very.)

Lets pause here to reiterate that, yes, this was all from someone who is, technically, an adult.

And the lies  oh, the lies.

No, Trump didnt finish building the border wall. No, he didnt sign the biggest tax cut in history. No, there is no camera footage showing officials stuffing ballot boxes during the 2020 election. No, Trump didnt offer 10,000 troops (or any troops) to confront the Jan. 6 rioters. No, other ex-presidents didnt take classified documents with them. And, yes, Trump did hound Georgias secretary of state to find enough votes for him to win in 2020. I didnt ask them to find anything, he said. Never mind that an audio recording of the infamous phone call (the one Trump still calls perfect) proves hes lying.

What person over the age of 7 digs in on such easily debunked lies?

And what person over the age of 6 applauds it?

The CNN audience was perhaps the most gruesome part of Wednesdays car wreck. The wild cheers, applause and laughter at Trumps false claims and putrid comments made clear that whatever attempts the network made to get an actual undecided crowd in there, it failed.

Most chilling was how they laughed as Trump mocked Carroll  the woman who had just been awarded $5 million by a civil jury that believed her claim of being sexually abused and defamed by Trump.

As tends to happen when he gets in front of a friendly mob, Trumps utter lack of anything resembling class or shame worked well for him. Asked by Collins if that damning verdict would hurt him politically, Trump gloated: My poll numbers just came out  they went up. Cue the laugh track.

Trump has this habit making such plainly self-contradictory statements that theres no logical way to even claim its not a lie. One example on Wednesday was when he claimed (falsely) to have finished his border wall, then in practically the next breath blasted President Joe Biden for not finishing the border wall. Another was his vile riff about Carroll.

This woman, I dont know her, I never met her, I dont know who she is, he said  before going on to brag that we had this great chemistry. Were walking into a crowded department  a few minutes later we ended up in a dressing room. Do Trumps star-struck fans even pause at such verbal cul-de-sacs?

And of course, no Trump monologue regarding women is complete without a big heap of misogyny.

What kind of a woman meets somebody, and brings them up, and within minutes youre playing hanky panky in a dressing room? he mused. That line  hanky panky, also known as legally actionable sexual abuse  drew delighted laughter from a crowd that we can only hope didnt include any parents of daughters.

Trump had been off the mainstream media stage long enough that it was easy to forget just what an awful human being he truly is. And how chilling it is to watch some Americans cheering him on as he relentlessly debases the norms of politics, civility and democracy itself. To the extent that his reemergence last week reminds the rest of the country of that, it may turn out to be a good thing. Sometimes its best not to look away from the wreckage.

Kevin McDermott is a Post-Dispatch columnist and Editorial Board member. On Twitter: @kevinmcdermott. Email: kmcdermott@post-dispatch.com
One of the keys to stemming the flow of new immigrants across the border is a Biden administration rule that requires asylum seekers to have first applied for asylum in one of the countries they passed through to reach the U.S. border. It will allow for quick expulsion of economic migrants who have no legitimate claim to asylum because of persecution in their home countries. The rule might sound harsh to immigration advocates, but it is one of the few necessary, legal ways this  or any  administration has to address the migratory flood now looms at the southern U.S. border.

President Joe Biden will face relentless criticism from Republicans now that Title 42 pandemic restrictions have been lifted and tens of thousands of migrants are swarming the border under the mistaken impression that they can enter freely. Immigrant smugglers are doing their best to feed the rumor mill that Biden is lifting restrictions and opening the floodgates. He now faces one of the biggest tests of his administration: turning back that flood and sending the loudest, most forceful message possible that American law will be rigorously enforced.

Nevertheless, the TV cameras will undoubtedly focus on the thousands crossing over and being detained by U.S. border enforcers, while Republicans exploit these images as proof of Bidens incompetence. Thats politics.

The reality is likely to be something far different. Those thousands will not be able to abuse the immigration system by claiming asylum because of a new rule that requires them to prove they first requested asylum from at least one of the countries they passed through. If, for example, the migrant is Venezuelan, that person would have to prove having requested asylum in neighboring Colombia or one of the other countries on the arduous northward land route  Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala or Mexico.

There must be paperwork proving that the asylum request was rejected. Only then would the asylum-seeker qualify for temporary entry to the United States to await an immigration-court hearing on the asylum application. All the rest would, in theory at least, face immediate expulsion  with a possible five-year ban on eligibility for legal reentry.

The rule presumes that those who do not use lawful pathways to enter the United States are ineligible for asylum, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters Wednesday.

None of these rules will matter one whit to Republicans on Capitol Hill, who already are declaring the administrations response a disaster. Even ex-President Donald Trump joined the chorus during a CNN interview Wednesday, claiming that now, we have open borders because of Bidens policies. U.S border enforcers cannot stop anyone from crossing the border illegally. The only thing they can do is arrest them after they have crossed, which is happening by the thousands, exactly as it happened under Trumps presidency.
A year ago the U.S. Marine Corps, after years of planning and preparation, activated its first (of three) Littoral Regiments in Hawaii. This one is called the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment because it was built around the existing 3rd Marine Regiment in Hawaii. The next one, the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment will be activated in Japan by 2025.

The Littoral Regiment is capable of operating throughout the Pacific and moving to a new area very quickly. The Littoral regiment has three components with the first being a Littoral Infantry battalion augmented by a missile battery firing guided rockets (like the new HIMARS GLSDB with a range of 150 kilometers) that can sink ships as well as destroy land targets. The marines already have HIMARS vehicles to carry and launch these missiles and have tested using them from the flight deck or an amphibious assault ship.

The marines and army are also developing land-based launchers for Tomahawk cruise missiles from tractor-trailer launchers. Each battery has four launchers, each carrying four Tomahawk missiles. The mobile launchers use the latest Block 5 model of the Tomahawk. The Navy introduced Tomahawk Block 5 in 2020. This was the first new version since Block 4 in 2005. The block versions actually represent an accumulation of individual upgrades that have turned the current Tomahawk into a substantially different cruise missile than the previous block. The unique new features of Block 5 include being able to hit ship size targets at max range (over 1,600 kilometers) by using a new target seeker. Block 5 also uses a new warhead that has greater penetrating power against large warships and is more effective against all targets. There are also upgraded communication and navigation systems which are more resistant to jamming and other EW (Electronic Warfare) measures. All this means Block 5 communications are more difficult to detect as well as disrupt. The navigation system is better able to function even with heavy GPS jamming thanks to a more accurate, and unjammable INS (Inertial Navigation System). Another notable feature is that Block 5 does not increase the price, which is still between a million and 1.5 million dollars, depending on features, per missile. Thats a lot cheaper than high-speed missiles that cost three or four times more, are heavier and have shorter range. The relatively low cost of the Tomahawk makes it effective for more missions, like attacking land targets or being used in large numbers. All Block 4 Tomahawks are being upgraded to Block 5 and remaining Block 3s will be retired because most were built in the 1990s and now not worth the expense of an upgrade and refurbishment.

Most Tomahawks in U.S. service are carried and fired from surface ship or nuclear submarine (SSN) VLS (Vertical Launch System) cells. There is also a torpedo-launched version which all British SSNs use. The Tomahawk has quietly become the primary offensive weapon for the American fleet. Land based Tomahawks were banned in 1987 by the INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces) Treaty between Russia and the United States. Russia violated that treaty in 2018 and the U.S. withdrew from the INF in 2019, with Russia doing the same a day later. Since the 1980s cruise missiles have been increasingly armed with high-explosive rather than nuclear warheads. Russia has used hundreds of these missiles in the current Ukraine War. These were launched from ships, aircraft and ground launchers. That confirmed the marine and army decision to organize land-based cruise missile batteries.

The RGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Missile weighs 1.2 tons, is six meters (18 feet) long and has a range of 1,600 kilometers. It reaches its target at a speed of 600-900 kilometers an hour, flying at an altitude of 17-32 meters (50-100 feet), and propelled by a jet engine generating only 273 kg (600 pounds) of thrust. Accuracy is on a par with JDAM (10 meters/ 31 feet). Tomahawk can be reprogrammed in flight to hit another target and carries a digital video camera to allow someone to check on prospective targets. Each Marine Littoral Regiment will include one or more Tomahawk batteries. One battery can provide missile support over a large portion of the Pacific Ocean where small marine detachments are operating. With these batteries the marines dont have to rely on Tomahawks launched from ships. The navy warships move around a lot and would not always be available for a Marine detachment in need of some Tomahawk support.

The littoral regiment infantry battalion is organized like the British Royal Marine Commandos, whose basic unit is a battalion-sized force called a commando consisting of 690 marines including four commando companies each with about 100 commandos organized into five platoons. The rest of the 690 troops are for support functions.

The U.S. Marine littoral combat team infantry element consists of small platoons that can operate independently or together with two or three other platoons. These platoons can quickly be flown to a combat zone or hot spot and collect information on the area, including selecting targets that can be hit by littoral regiment missiles or missiles launched from warships or aircraft. A primary task of these platoon size teams is to remain hidden. The team uses encrypted satellite communications. These small teams are mobile enough to quickly change location to prevent detection by the enemy.

The second littoral team is a battalion-sized anti-aircraft unit while the third team handles logistics and support of the entire regiment and especially the infantry battalion teams. These teams combine skills the marines have used with their Force Recon units and scout sniper teams consisting of two snipers to not only scout for a larger unit, but kill key enemy individuals they encountered. A Tomahawk battery would be added to this support force.

The littoral infantry teams also use tactics similar to what the allied coast watcher teams did in the Pacific during World War II. The coast watchers formed spontaneously when Europeans or locals on Pacific Islands began observing Japanese ship traffic passing by and reporting it back to the nearest allied military base. Eventually these teams were equipped with more capable radios and operators who could quickly send short messages that Japanese radio direction units could not locate. The coast watchers also depended on friendly locals for information and assistance when the team had to move to another watching site to avoid Japanese troops. The marine littoral regiment is a clever combination of past skills and techniques used by the American and British marines as well as specialized information gathering units. The marines have often used their past experience or that of others to update their organization and tactics.

The littoral regiments are one visible result of nearly a decade of Marine Corps efforts at reorganizing itself. Over the last few decades its weapons and equipment got heavier, so that it could work with army units during combat operations on land. This made your average marine combat unit heavier and more difficult to move ashore for amphibious operations. In response, marine commanders say they would prefer to be a smaller force, one that concentrates on its main mission: amphibious and commando type operations.

The reorganization process has been underway during the past few years and has led to a lot of support units (tank, artillery, aviation, engineer and military police) being disbanded or moved to the reserves. Three of 24 current marine infantry battalions and one regimental headquarters are being deactivated as well. The marine focus is now on the Pacific and potential conflict with China. That means the marines want to get back to World War II-type operations, when the marines were all about taking fortified islands from their Japanese garrisons or harassing enemy forces throughout the region.

The last major reorganization took place in the 1980s. Back then, the marines turned their divisional and regimental headquarters into administrative operations, and created new organizations to do the actual fighting. The new units were MEUs (Marine Expeditionary Units, actually reinforced infantry battalions), MEBs (Marine Expeditionary Brigades, which were brigades reinforced with support units so they could operate independently) and MEFs (Marine Expeditionary Force), which was a headquarters for controlling MEUs and MEBs. When there was a large operation, the old regimental and divisional designations were used, but the units were basically MEBs controlled by an MEF. This task-oriented organization remains. Even the army adopted this type of thing fifteen years ago when reinforced brigades became the primary combat unit rather than the division. Divisional headquarters became a tactical headquarters for brigades and other units for an operation.

Meanwhile, many marines were unhappy with the way they have been used as an army auxiliary in the decade after 2001. The marines consider themselves specialists, while the army are generalists who, for example, carried out more amphibious operations than the marines did during World War II. By 2013 marines comprised a quarter of America's ground combat forces. That's active duty, when you count the much larger army reserve force, the marines are 18 percent of ground combat forces. The marines never wanted to be just another part of American ground combat forces. This has caused some tension within the marine leadership, as some commanders want to maintain as broad a range of skills as possible. This has led to disputes over how to handle development and procurement of specialist equipment, especially amphibious and armored vehicles. Eventually the originalists won the debate and now the marines are going back to their modern origins during and before World War II.

The marines were also concerned with their relationship with the U.S. Navy, which went ahead and formed another ground combat force. To understand how this came about you have to understand the relationship between the navy and the marines. The marines are not part of the navy, as they are often described. Both the navy and marines are part of the Department of the Navy. The Department of the Air Force now has the Space Force as well as the much larger Air Force. The Department of the Army has only one component. For a long time, the Navy Department has had two components; the fleet and the marines. The marines are now a separate service that is still closely intertwined with the navy. For example, the navy provides many support functions for the marines which, in the army and air force, are provided by each service. Thus, navy personnel serve in marine units (wearing marine combat uniforms) as medics and other support specialists. The use of the navy for support functions means a much higher proportion of marines are combat troops than in the navy, army, or air force. This gives the marines a different attitude and outlook. The Air Force now has a similar relationship with the new Space Force.

Over the years, the marines have acquired more and more autonomy from the navy. When the U.S. Marine Corps was created, over two centuries ago, marines were sailors trained and equipped to fight as infantry, and they were very much part of the navy and part of ship crews. This changed radically in the late 19th century, when all-metal steam ships replaced wooden sailing ships. The new "iron ships" really didn't need marines and there were proposals to eliminate them. In response, the American marines got organized and made themselves useful in other ways. For example, the marines performed very well as "State Department Troops" in Latin America for half a century (late 19th century to just before World War II), where American troops were frequently used to deal with civil disorder abroad and nation building. During World War I (1914-18), they provided a brigade for ground combat in Europe where the marines demonstrated exceptional combat skills.

In the 1930s, as World War II approached, the U.S. Marine Corps saw what was needed when the navy realized they would have to use amphibious assaults to take heavily fortified Japanese islands in any future war. Once the U.S. entered World War II, the marines formed their first division size units and ended the war with six divisions, organized into two corps. Only four of those divisions survived the post-World War II demobilization and one of them is now a reserve division.

After World War II the Marine Corps was no longer just a minor part of the navy but on its way to being a fourth service. By the late 20th century, they basically achieved that goal. But in doing so, the navy lost control of its ground troops. Navy amphibious ships still went to sea with battalions of marines on board. But because the marines are mainly an infantry force, and the war on terror is basically an infantry scale battle, the marines spent a lot more time on land working alongside the U.S. Army.

In response to all this, the U.S. Navy began building a new ground combat force in 2006, staffed by 40,000 sailors as NECC (Navy Expeditionary Combat Command). This was for operating along the coast and up rivers, as well as further inland. NECC units served in Iraq and are ready to deploy anywhere else they are needed. The 1,200 sailors in the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) teams are particularly sought after because of increased use of roadside bombs and booby traps by the enemy. NECC also organized three Riverine Squadrons which served in Iraq. NECC basically consists of most of the combat support units the navy has traditionally put ashore, plus some coastal and river patrol units that have usually only been organized in wartime.

As major U.S. troops commitments to Iraq and Afghanistan declined after 2011 so did the need for NECC. Currently NECC is a smaller force of 20,000 sailors trained and equipped for coastal and riverine operations. There is still a need for that and the marines are content to let the navy handle it with sailors trained as infantry who operate from small boats along coasts and waterways.

NECC and the strategy that came with it, was a surprise to many people, especially many of those in Congress who were asked to pay for it. It came as a surprise to many NECC sailors as well. The navy even called on the marines to provide infantry instructors for the few thousand sailors assigned to riverine (armed patrol boat) units. The navy already had infantry training courses for Seabees (naval construction personnel) and members of EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) teams. Now all that was combined in the Expeditionary Combat Skills (ECS) course, which is conducted at a base in Mississippi.

Initially the Marine Corps had mixed feelings about NECC, for the marines have long been the navy's ground combat troops. The navy says that the USMC mission will remain. Thus, some marine leaders want to shrink the Corps so they become small enough to handle anticipated navy amphibious operations and not large enough to have troops available for large-scale support of army operations.

In effect, many American marine commanders want to be more like the British marines. That's interesting, because British marines are called Royal Marine Commandos and are quite different from their American counterparts. Britain invented the modern concept of the commando but disbanded all ten army commandos (as the battalion size commando units were called) at the end of World War II. The Royal Marines, however, saw the commando concepts as a welcome addition to their own amphibious doctrine and retained three of their nine Royal Marine Commandos. Since World War II, the Royal Marines have maintained at least three commandos (battalions). Artillery and engineer units are supplied by the army.

Like the U.S. Marines, the Royal Marines realized that assault from the sea was always a commando-like operation which required special training, bold leadership, and an aggressive spirit. The Royal Marines, like their American counterparts, continued to innovate. In 1956, it was a Royal Marine Commando that launched the first helicopter assault from ships against a land target (during an invasion of Egypt). The Royal Marine Commandos were used extensively to keep the peace in Ireland during the 1970s and 80s. In 1982, it was two Royal Marine Commandos and one army parachute battalion that did most of the fighting to retake the Falkland Islands from Argentina. The Royal Marines have performed peacekeeping duty in the Balkans and Africa, and served as an amphibious fast reaction force.

While the U.S. Marines made a name for themselves with multi-division amphibious operations in the Pacific during World War II, the Royal Marines stuck with the commando type operations that characterize what marines spent most of the time doing between major wars in the past. Remember, the last large scale amphibious operation took place over seventy years ago at Inchon, Korea in 1950. Since then, the typical marine mission has been a quick assault using a small (usually battalion size) force.

In anticipation of this, the U.S. Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC) was created in 2006. Since then, it has kept its 2,500 personnel busy with dozens of deployments in South America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia. MARSOC is organized into a headquarters, a two battalion Special Operations Regiment, a Foreign Military Training Unit, and a Marine Special Operations Support Group. There are 3-4 Special Operations companies in each battalion.

The marines basically lost two of their four Force Recon companies (one of them a reserve unit) in order to build MARSOC. Meanwhile, more troops have been added to division level reconnaissance units, to take up some of that slack. The Special Operations companies (with about 120 personnel each) can provide Force Recon capabilities to marine units they are attached to. The two Special Operations Battalions provide a combination of services roughly equal to what the U.S. Army Special Forces and Rangers do, as well as some of the functions of the Force Recon units.

With MARSOC the marines are playing catch up. In the late 1980s all the other services, except the marines, contributed to the formation of SOCOM (Special Operations Command). The marines finally got around to working with SOCOM in 2005, when it was agreed that they would create a marine special operations command (MARSOC). The Marine Corps had long resisted such a step, largely because of its belief that marines are inherently superior warriors capable of highly specialized missions. This attitude began to change during the fighting in Afghanistan, when marines were assigned to support SOCOM troops there and were duly impressed.

Most marine commanders see their future as a smaller (by up to a third, at least), even more elite and better equipped force. The marines want to get back to sea, and that is what the marines have done over the last decade. One major benefit was avoiding the loss of a lot of the valuable combat experience the marines have gained since September 11, 2001. Recruiting was reduced for a few years, and some marines transferred to the navy, usually in jobs that both sailors and marines handle, especially the NECC force. Marines have long moved over to the army, and the army would be glad to get an infusion of combat experienced marines, especially NCOs and officers. The marines also want to expand their reserve force so that marines who decide to get out can simply move over to the reserves.

The marines are now experimenting with some new concepts, like the littoral regiments to do the jobs that are too tough or too distant for NECC to handle right away. The marines found a home in SOCOM, a multi-service organization where all forces involved (army Special Forces, Navy SEALs, and special operations aviation units from the army and air force) remain with the military service that created them. SOCOM sees to it that all these separate special operations are used for special operations and not diverted to more mundane tasks.

The marine land-based Tomahawk missile batteries are another innovation to deal with a new task. That sort of thing has kept the marines relevant for over two centuries.
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 13, 2023 / International Paper Company



To mark World Migratory Bird Day, International Paper (IP) and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) are celebrating how sustainable forestry provides critical habitat for birds and at the same time, delivers a sustainable, renewable source of fiber for paper products. Forestland Stewards, IP's conservation partnership with NFWF, is helping to restore and maintain habitat in working forests to benefit bird species like the swallow-tailed kite and other migratory birds.

One example of how the partnership is helping the swallow-tailed kite is in the South Lowcountry-ACE Basin, where International Paper, NFWF and other funding partners have invested more than $2 million to restore, enhance and protect longleaf pine and bottomland hardwood forest habitats in South Carolina. This landscape is home to large blocks of forest, including many privately owned working forests, which support forest industry jobs and provide habitat for swallow-tailed kites, the northernmost populations of the at-risk gopher tortoise and many other species.

Grant investments are helping partners strengthen collaboration and coordination, provide technical and financial assistance to private landowners to plant longleaf pine and treat longleaf habitat with prescribed fire, and protect working forests and sensitive habitats. These efforts will impact more than 80,000 acres of forest habitat, benefiting the swallow-tailed kite and other migratory birds, and local communities.

In addition to the Forestland Stewards partnership with NFWF, IP is also partnering with the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) and the Avian Research and Conservation Institute (ARCI) to help the swallow-tailed kite. This partnership is developing bird-focused management recommendations for private forest landowners, who own about 90 percent of southern forests. The partnership also conducts field-based workshops with forest landowners and IP suppliers, and species-specific work, including capturing, tagging, and tracking swallow-tailed kites. Watch Kites in the Trees about the partnership's work.

The swallow-tailed kite is one of North America's most beautiful birds of prey. These large black-and-white birds have long narrow wings that span four feet, and a distinctive forked elongated tail. Swallow-tailed kites breed in swamps, lowland forests, and marshes of the US Southeast, mainly in South Carolina and Florida. They nest in tall trees and need open ground with small prey to feed their young. After rearing its nestlings in a treetop nest, the swallow-tailed kite migrates to wintering grounds in South America.

World Migratory Bird Day is an important reminder to celebrate progress in conserving habitats for the swallow-tailed kite, while also drawing attention to the serious threats birds still face as they migrate. Bird migration is one of the great natural wonders of the world and about 20 percent of bird species migrate. But every year, these migrating birds face new threats. Birds may arrive at a regular stopover site only to discover it has been transformed into a suburban development. Birds hit powerlines and windows, and millions are hunted illegally. Climate change, perhaps the greatest of all threats to migration, is causing habitats to shift, shrink, or disappear entirely.

Since 1970, North America's bird population has dropped by almost 30 percent. Watch the ABC video 3 Billion Birds Lost.

These are just some of the important reasons IP and the NFWF formed the Forestland Stewards partnership in 2013 to conserve and restore southern forestlands, which comprise some of the United States' most iconic landscapes. The partnership supports projects to restore native forests, strengthen important fish and wildlife populations, and protect watersheds-while at the same time promoting and supporting working forests in 11 states across the US South.

About the Forestland Stewards Partnership

International Paper's conservation partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, known as Forestland Stewards, was created to conserve and restore southern forestlands. These forests provide critical habitats for endangered wildlife and economic opportunities for local communities.

Since 2013, International Paper has invested more than $13.4 million in project funding. These investments are leveraging more than $179 million in matching funds from federal, state, and private organizations, for a total conservation investment of more than $192 million. These projects, once fully implemented, will establish, and enhance more than 1.2 million acres of native forest and wildlife habitat, improve more than 770 miles of stream habitat, and engage nearly 26,000 private landowners through outreach and technical assistance to implement forest stewardship practices.

About the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

Chartered by Congress in 1984, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) protects and restores the nation's fish, wildlife, plants, and habitats. Working with federal, corporate, and individual partners, NFWF has funded more than 6,000 grantee organizations and generated a total conservation impact of $8.1 billion. Learn more: NFWF.org.

About International Paper

International Paper (NYSE: IP) is a global producer of planet-friendly packaging, pulp and other fiber-based products, and one of North America's largest recyclers. Headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., we employ approximately 39,000 colleagues globally who are committed to creating what's next. We serve customers worldwide, with manufacturing operations in North America, Latin America, North Africa and Europe. Net sales for 2022 were $21.2 billion. Additional information can be found by visiting www.internationalpaper.com



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California's 'Dream for All' home loan program drained its $300M budget in just 11 days  3 ways to gain exposure to West Coast real estate

And just like that, Californias Dream for All program turned into dream on, yall.

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The historic home loan program drained its $300 million budget just 11 days after applications opened in April. Really, can you blame the 2,500-plus homebuyers who moved at supersonic speed to land this Golden State Opportunity? Trouble is, thousands of other hopefuls were shut out just as fast.

Though the paperwork is tedious, the idea of Dream for All is simple: The state makes the down payment for your home in exchange for a share in its value when its sold, refinanced or transferred. But the dream turned into a nightmare in that mostly white homebuyers took advantage of a program, meant to help Black and Latino families.

Meanwhile, the state continues to weather a housing crisis that may never right itself if the projected Dream for All spend of $10 billion over 10 years gets gobbled up in a like fashion.

Clearly more work needs to be done, said state Senate President Pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins of San Diego.

Meanwhile, if youre an investor on the real estate sidelines for any number of reasons  from the current high mortgage rates to stratospheric real estate prices (hello, San Francisco)  you still have options for getting involved in the market. Heres how.

These REITs are sweet

In California as elsewhere, a real estate investment trust (REIT) offers an avenue for any investor to take advantage of a robust market.

In fact, the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) states that REITs must pay out 90% of all taxable income to shareholders annually. This usually comes in the form of dividends, which provide an excellent source of income. Here are three to consider.

Story continues

Essex Property Trust

The Essex Property Trust (NYSE: ESS) is an apartment ownership entity located primarily in northern California, Los Angeles and Orange County (as well as Seattle). The California locations are key because theyre among the states most populous, though about 60% of the REITs revenue comes from the top five markets nationwide.

Essex stock has already excelled in 2023. It continues to beat earnings estimates; in the first quarter of 2023, net income per share hit $2.38 (compared to $1.12 in 2022). Its funds from operations (FFO) have already jumped 8.3%, with dividends up 5%  the companys 29th consecutive annual increase. That puts it well within Dividend Aristocrat status.

The results led ESS to increase its full-year guidance, with the trust aiming for a net income per diluted share between $6.36 and $6.74. It now offers a dividend yield at 4.27% as of writing, yet also provides a potential value play with shares down 30% year over year.

Read more: Rich young Americans have lost confidence in the stock market  and are betting on these 3 assets instead. Get in now for strong long-term tailwinds

Prologis

While apartments and residences certainly appeal to investors, logistics real estate also holds promise. Prologis (NYSE: PLD) works markets for business-to-business, retail stores and online fulfillment locations.

Located in San Francisco, Prologis oversees 5,000 buildings comprising 1.2-billion square feet in 19 countries across North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia. It continues to acquire new businesses as well, along with properties and development projects. So while you get exposure to California, you also benefit from a highly diversified global property portfolio.

Prologis stock continues to show resilience thanks to high occupancy rates. It holds a 2.79% dividend yield as of writing, and year-over-year is down a modest 9.7%. Its worth taking a look at, since year to date its up roughly 13%.

Medical Properties Trust

Medical Properties Trust (NYSE: MPW) is one of the largest hospital real estate owners in the world, with 444 facilities in 10 countries and several in California. It continues to focus on growth through acquisitions and recapitalizations.

Whats great about hospitals? They hold long lease agreements and high occupancy rates. Medical Properties Trust allows these hospitals to unlock the value of their real estate so the locations can upgrade themselves. This increases value to the trust in the process, allowing for a significantly high dividend yield.

How high? Medical Properties Trust offers a whopping 13.79% dividend yield as of writing  though that may not last as shares are down 53% year-over-year. That being said, it still trades at a reasonable 11 times forward earnings. Meanwhile, it still boasts a comforting payout ratio of 77.3%.

No matter which option you choose, there are certainly smart ways to get in on real estate in California  and by connection worldwide. But instead of buying properties youll buy shares  and rather than move into a home, youll move in on profits and dividends that could potentially help you buy one.

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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
Patient Safety Movement Foundation Brings Together World-Renowned Experts to Discuss Todays Challenges and Solutions in Patient Safety

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- President Bill Clinton, Founder and Board Chair, Clinton Foundation, and 42nd President of the United States, will address the Patient Safety Movement Foundations (PSMF) 2023 World Patient Safety, Science & Technology Summit (WPSSTS). This in-person Summit marks the non-profits 10th anniversary and will be held in Newport Beach, California, from June 1-2.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230512005460/en/

President Bill Clinton, Founder and Board Chair, Clinton Foundation, and 42nd President of the United States (Photo: Business Wire)

President Clinton has been a long-time supporter of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation. Last year, he was presented with the Joe Kiani Humanitarian Award, which is named after the founder of the PSMF, and recognizes individuals who are committed to the foundations mission. At previous Summits, he has addressed topics ranging from the dangers of the opioid epidemic to the need for healthcare budgets to be focused on major patient safety problems leading to premature hospital deaths.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to hear from healthcare leaders such as Sir Liam Donaldson, Dr. Jannicke Mellin-Olsen, Dr. Michael Durkin, Dr. Don Berwick, Dr. Anthony Staines, Dr. Peter Pronovost, The Right Honorable Jeremy Hunt, Dr. Neelam Dhingra, Dr. Michelle Schreiber, Dr. Eric Horvitz, Sue Sheridan, Leah Binder, Ruth Ann Dorrill, and Dr. Peter Zeiss.

We are very honored to once again have President Clinton supporting our annual Summit, said Dr. Michael Ramsay, CEO, Patient Safety Movement Foundation. His belief in our mission over the last ten years has helped us to not only highlight critical safety gaps in our healthcare system, but demonstrate that ZERO patient harm is possible.

The summit is open to anyone interested in actively planning solutions relating to the leading patient safety challenges that cause preventable patient harm and death in hospitals and healthcare institutions around the world. To register for the 2023 summit or to learn more about the event, visit: https://psmf.org/event/10th-annual-world-patient-safety-science-technology-summit/

Building on a lifetime of public service, President Clinton established the Clinton Foundation on the simple belief that everyone deserves a chance to succeed, everyone has a responsibility to act, and we all do better when we work together. For more than two decades, those values have energized the Foundations efforts to address big challenges, including urgent public health needs like making HIV/AIDS medication more affordable, expanding healthier food and beverage options in schools, supporting early childhood development, and tackling the overdose crisis.

ABOUT THE PATIENT SAFETY MOVEMENT FOUNDATION

In 2012, Joe Kiani founded the non-profit Patient Safety Movement Foundation (PSMF) to eliminate preventable medical errors in hospitals. His team worked with patient safety experts from around the world to create Actionable Evidence-Based Practices (AEBP) that address the top challenges. The AEBP is available without charge to hospitals online. Hospitals are encouraged to make a formal commitment to ZERO preventable deaths, and healthcare technology companies are asked to sign the Open Data Pledge to share their data so that predictive algorithms that can identify errors before they become fatal can be developed. The Foundation's annual World Patient Safety, Science & Technology Summit brings together all stakeholders, including patients, healthcare providers, medical technology companies, government employers, and private payers. The PSMF was established through the support of the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation, and Competition in Healthcare. For more information, please visit psmf.org.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230512005460/en/

MEDIA CONTACT

Patient Safety Movement Foundation

Irene Mulonni, [email protected] | (858) 859-7001

Source: Patient Safety Movement Foundation
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Tri Ri Asset Management ("TRAM") today announced the launch of their flagship venture capital fund, the TRAM Venture Fund ("TRAM VF"), with a target size of USD 125 million. TRAM VF will be focused on the MENA region, with a particular emphasis in Pakistan. Tri Ri Asset Impact Fund, with a commitment of USD 50 million, serves as the fund's anchor. TRAM VF is dedicated to serving the later-stage tech company growth needs in Pakistan and MENA. The new funds deployment will focus on investing in innovative early-stage and growth-stage tech companies and enabling them to emerge into market leaders in GCC, South Asia, and North Africa.

TRAM VF will meet the needs of local startups and help them to become regional and global competitors. The local tech industry has recently seen substantial expansion; yet, funding is falling behind the quick speed of change and technological adoption. This has drawn global technology businesses as well as international venture capitalists to the region. TRAM VF will further accelerate the growth of the VC ecosystem in order to meet the increasing demand for technology products and services.

Adeel Hussain, General Partner of TRAM VF stated: "Following the successful launch of our PE Impact fund last year, we are pleased to announce the launch of our Flagship VC Fund TRAM VF and its initial closure of $92 million. A particular thanks to our anchor investor, as well as the LP a Swiss family office, whose commitment demonstrates how ripe the region is for VC investments."

Asad Ali, Co-CIO & Principal added: We look forward to deploying our first flagship VC fund in a region with such complex growth. Scaling from our roots in Real Estate our capital deployment strategy has always been the core of our rapid growth. We will be able to use the same strategies to assist early stage startups within the region to leverage and grow their business. Our investment strategy is defined by a data-driven approach, specialized sourcing capabilities, and an uncompromising commitment to meaningful collaboration with entrepreneurs. We are more than just investors; we are also builders, utilising our team's market experience to propel firms more precisely than generalist organisations. Supporting entrepreneurs is a privilege that we never take for granted.

TRAM VF will utilize its differentiated market expertise and metrics-driven evaluation process, to invests across Fintech, healthcare, consumer, education, food security, real estate, B2B, Artificial Intelligence across the region.

About Tri Ri Asset Management:

Tri Ri Asset Management, is a concentrated, research-intensive, fundamental value investor in the public markets. Since 2019, Tri Ri has executed an aggressive but disciplined growth strategy, building a balanced portfolio of public market and real estate holdings.

As of March 2023, Tri Ri's portfolio composed of USD 850 million in assets under management along with USD 1.2 billion in Co-investments and 7 renowned properties with over 1500 rooms.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230512005453/en/

Richard Haig

[email protected]

Source: Tri Ri Asset Management
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 12, 2023) - Bolt Metals Corp. (CSE: BOLT) (FSE: A2QEUB) (OTCQB: PCRCF) ("Bolt" or the "Company") announces it intends to complete a non-brokered private placement of up to 714,286 units (each a "Unit") at CAD$0.35 per Unit for gross proceeds of up to CAD$250,000 (the "Offering"). Each Unit is comprised of one (1) common share in the capital of the Company (each a "Common Share") and one (1) transferable Common Share purchase warrant (each a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to acquire one (1) Common Share at CAD$0.50 for two years from the date of issuance. In connection with the Offering, the Company may pay finder's fees to qualified non-related parties, in accordance with the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "Exchange"), being 7% cash commission on total proceeds raised by the finder. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering for general working capital purposes. All securities issued under the Offering, including securities issuable on exercise thereof, will be subject to a hold period expiring 4 months and 1 day after issuance, in accordance with the rules and policies of the Exchange and applicable Canadian securities laws, except for those issued to investors in foreign jurisdictions.

About Bolt Metals

Bolt Metals is a Canadianbased exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of production grade nickel and cobalt deposits, key raw material inputs for the growing lithiumion battery industry. Visit https://boltmetals.com/ to find out more.

Bolt Metals Corp.

Ranjeet Sundher - President and CEO

(604) 9228272

[email protected]

Steve Vanry - CFO & Director

(604) 9228272

[email protected]

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. The words "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements made in this news release include the proposed use of the proceeds of the Offering. 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 or development programs, successes of the Company's exploration efforts, 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.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES. ANY FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS RESTRICTION MAY CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF U.S. SECURITIES LAWS.



To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/165679
Paid press release content from The Financial Capital. The StreetInsider.com news staff was not involved in its creation.

This new front-end solution for Oracle's NetSuite platform enhances user experience and productivity.



Charlotte-based tech solutions provider, Above Bits LLC, has recently released a brand-new service that promises to revolutionize the user experience of Oracle's NetSuite platform. The company's cutting-edge front-end solution for NetSuite is expected to provide businesses with a highly adaptable, lightning-fast, and visually stimulating interface that enhances usability and productivity, establishing a new industry standard.

Designed to overcome the limitations of NetSuite's default front-end interface or site builder, Above Bits LLC's custom front-end solution leverages NetSuite's API layer to establish a seamless connection between their separate server-based front-end and the NetSuite back-end system, providing businesses with lightning-fast and intuitive user interfaces.

One of the key features of the custom front-end developed by Above Bits LLC is its flexibility and customizability. It empowers businesses to tailor their NetSuite front end to specific branding guidelines, user preferences, and requirements. Developed using the Laravel PHP framework, the platform ensures ease of maintenance and scalability, making it an ideal choice for PHP developers.

The custom front end introduces user-centric features that elevate the NetSuite experience. It provides intuitive navigation, powerful search capabilities, customizable checkout and shipping processes, and real-time dashboards that give users valuable insights into their orders, invoices, and other crucial information.

Alex Fufaiev, CEO of Above Bits LLC, expressed his excitement about the product's release, saying, "Our mission is to deliver quality products that meet our client's needs, and we never stop until we achieve this goal. Nothing is impossible, and we're thrilled to offer our clients a solution that revolutionizes the user experience of Oracle's NetSuite system."

Above Bits LLC has been providing technology solutions since 2006. The company employs more than 40 web development specialists with extensive hands-on experience addressing clients' unique IT challenges, such as employee productivity, business process improvement, and customer satisfaction. The company collaborates with businesses, non-profits, and government agencies to create websites and enhance their online presence, offering faster delivery, minimal and market-competitive prices, decades of experience, skilled professionals, clean coding, and regular updates to keep platforms in line with modern standards.

Above Bits LLC's custom front-end solution for NetSuite represents a significant advancement in transforming the user experience of Oracle's NetSuite system. With seamless integration and a flexible interface, Above Bits LLC sets a new NetSuite usability and performance standard, delivering a front-end experience that transforms businesses and drives success.

To learn more, visit: https://abovebits.com



About Above Bits LLC.

Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Above Bits LLC is a technology solutions provider specializing in web design and development services. Their impressive portfolio comprises an extensive list of over 900 pleased customers gained over 17 years across businesses of all sizes and industries.

Contact Info:

Name: Alex Fufaiev

Email: Send Email

Organization: Above Bits LLC

Website: https://abovebits.com/



Release ID: 89097486

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.
HONOLULU, Hawaii (PRWEB) May 13, 2023

Dolores is a respected luxury real estate professional with more than 30 years of success. She has received a multitude of accolades throughout her real estate career including the Honolulu Board of Realtors Aloha Aina Award for client service (2002-2016) and a consistent honoree of the Hawaii Business Magazine Hall of Fame the highest award for the Top 100 Realtors. Her depth of market knowledge and ability to consistently deliver exceptional results has resulted in an impressive network of clients that now include multi-generations. Dolores has closed more than 500 transactions with first-time home buyers, multi-generations of families, investors, and ultra-high-net-worth individuals. From the Hawaiian islands to New York, from China to Korea, and across Europe, investors have sought out Dolores to market and manage the sale of their luxury properties. Her dedication and commitment to her clients is paramount.

Dolores comes from generations of real estate. Her family was involved with subdivisions and commercial developments and held investments in Asia, Silicon Valley, Las Vegas, and Newport Beach. Her immersion in the industry from a young age provided her with a deep and diverse understanding of the market, both from an investor and developer point of view. Dolores continues this legacy with her two children Michael, who works in commercial development in Virginia, and her daughter and business partner Amanda who works closely with Dolores on all of her transactions in Hawaii.

Visit Dolores Panlilio Bediones's Haute Residence Profile: https://www.hauteresidence.com/member/dolores-panlilio-bediones/

ABOUT HAUTE RESIDENCE

Designed as a partnership-driven luxury real estate portal, Haute Residence connects its affluent readers with top real estate professionals, while offering the latest in real estate news, showcasing the world's most extraordinary residences on the market, and sharing expert advice from its knowledgeable and experienced real estate partners. The invitation-only luxury real estate network, which partners with just one agent in every market, unites a distinguished collective of leading real estate agents and brokers and highlights the most extravagant properties in leading markets around the globe for affluent buyers, sellers, and real estate enthusiasts. HauteResidence.com has grown to be the number-one news source for million-dollar listings, high-end residential developments, celebrity real estate, and more.

Access all of this information and more by visiting http://www.hauteresidence.com

Read the full story at https://www.prweb.com/releases/dolores_panlilio_bediones_joins_the_exclusive_haute_residence_real_estate_network/prweb19336847.htm
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (PRWEB) May 13, 2023

WishingUWell has been named to Inc. magazine's annual Best Workplaces list. Featured in the May/June 2023 issue, which hits newsstands on May 16, 2023, and prominently featured on Inc.com, the list is the result of a comprehensive measurement of American companies that have excelled in creating exceptional workplaces and company culture, whether operating in a physical or virtual facility.

About WishingUWell

WishingUWell, a full service eCommerce agency, partners with like-minded brands who are determined to make a positive impact in the world. WUW is a one-stop-shop for all-things eCommerce--they help brands increase awareness, boost advertising, and drastically improve sales on the Amazon platform and beyond. WUW is committed to doing what's best, not what's easy, to promote lasting success for their brand partners.

Visit WishingUWell to learn more about the brand and their services.

After collecting data from thousands of submissions, Inc. selected 591 honorees this year. Each company that was nominated took part in an employee survey, conducted by Quantum Workplace, which included topics such as management effectiveness, perks, fostering employee growth, and overall company culture. The organization's benefits were also audited to determine overall score and ranking.

"We are immensely honored to be recognized as one of Inc.'s Best Workplaces," said Heather Hennings, VP of People at WUW. "At Wishing U Well, we believe that caring for our employees is the foundation of our success. When we prioritize their well-being, we unlock their potential and foster a culture of loyalty and dedication. Investing in our employees is not just the right thing to do, it is the smartest business decision we can make."

"Being named to Best Workplaces is an honor that only a small fraction of companies have been able to claim," says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. "Proving to the world that you're a magnet for talent and have a culture that keeps teams engaged, productive, and proud to come to work is a truly remarkable achievement."

About Inc. Media

The world's most trusted business-media brand, Inc. offers entrepreneurs the knowledge, tools, connections, and community to build great companies. Its award-winning multiplatform content reaches more than 50 million people each month across a variety of channels including websites, newsletters, social media, podcasts, and print. Its prestigious Inc. 5000 list, produced every year since 1982, analyzes company data to recognize the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the United States. The global recognition that comes with inclusion in the 5000 gives the founders of the best businesses an opportunity to engage with an exclusive community of their peers, and the credibility that helps them drive sales and recruit talent. The associated Inc. 5000 Conference is part of a highly acclaimed portfolio of bespoke events produced by Inc. For more information, visit http://www.inc.com.

About Quantum Workplace

Quantum Workplace, based in Omaha, Nebraska, is an HR technology company that serves organizations through employee-engagement surveys, action-planning tools, exit surveys, peer to-peer recognition, performance evaluations, goal tracking, and leadership assessment. For more information, visit QuantumWorkplace.com.

Read the full story at https://www.prweb.com/releases/2023/5/prweb19336936.htm
OKOTOKS, AB , May 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - (TSX: MTL) Further to the news release dated May 4, 2023 , Mullen Group Ltd. ("Mullen Group" and/or the "Corporation") announced today that the Board of Directors of the Corporation (the "Board") will not accept the resignation of Sonia Tibbatts as a director of the Corporation.

At the annual meeting of shareholders of the Corporation held on May 3, 2023 , eight nominees including Ms. Tibbatts were elected as directors of the Corporation, however, Ms. Tibbatts did not receive the requisite majority of votes cast in respect of her election. In accordance with the Corporation's majority voting policy (the "Policy"), she tendered her resignation for consideration by the Compensation, Nomination and Governance Committee (the "CNG Committee") of the Board.

The CNG Committee considered the factors it deemed relevant in respect of her resignation and made a recommendation to the Board to reject the resignation. After consideration of the recommendation of the CNG Committee as well as further evaluation of all of the factors the Board deems relevant, the Board has determined that there are exceptional circumstances that warrant the Board not to accept the resignation of Ms. Tibbatts . As a result, Ms. Tibbatts will continue to serve as a director of the Corporation until the close of the next annual meeting of shareholders of the Corporation, or until her successor is elected or appointed.

A key factor taken into account by the Board in reaching their determination included the fact that the primary cause for the withhold votes cast against Ms. Tibbatts was that certain shareholders advisory groups recommended against her election because she is the Chair of the CNG Committee and the Board is comprised of less than 30% women directors. The Board determined that it would be contrary to the objective of increasing diversity of the Board to accept the resignation of Ms. Tibbatts and an injustice to Ms. Tibbatts . An additional factor taken into consideration was that Mullen Group was never offside on its gender diversity initiatives and that the representation of women on the Board temporarily fell below the recommended 30% threshold as a result of the Board's focus on broader diversity initiatives in adding Jamil Murji and Benoit Durand . The Board remains committed to acting in the best interests of the Corporation and all shareholders.

The Board has been and will continue to be committed to making the effort to meet the 30% recommended threshold and in that regard will take steps to recruit an additional woman to join the Board as well as implement a gender diversity policy. The Board expects to achieve representation by women directors of at least 30% before the next annual meeting of shareholders of the Corporation.

About Mullen Group Ltd.

Mullen Group is one of Canada 's largest logistics providers. Our network of independently operated businesses provide a wide range of service offerings including less-than-truckload, truckload, warehousing, logistics, transload, oversized, third-party logistics and specialized hauling transportation. In addition, we provide a diverse set of specialized services related to the energy, mining, forestry and construction industries in western Canada , including water management, fluid hauling and environmental reclamation. The corporate office provides the capital and financial expertise, legal support, technology and systems support, shared services and strategic planning to its independent businesses.

Mullen Group is a publicly traded corporation listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "MTL". Additional information is available on our website at www.mullen-group.com or on the Corporation's issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Contact Information

Mr. Murray K. Mullen - Chair, Senior Executive Officer and President

Ms. Joanna K. Scott - Senior Corporate Officer

121A - 31 Southridge Drive

Okotoks, Alberta , Canada T1S 2N3

Telephone: 403-995-5200

Fax: 403-995-5296

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements included in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities laws, specifically, the statement regarding the ability of the Board to elect women directors that represent at least 30% women. By its nature, forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties, and assumptions and in this case, the Corporation has assumed that qualified director candidates will be available and have the desire to join the Board. The Corporation cautions that its assumptions may not materialize although it believes they were reasonable at the time they were made. In the event that the assumptions do not materialize, actual results may differ materially from any conclusion or expectation that may be drawn from the forward-looking information. The risk factors that the Corporation believes could cause actual results to vary from the forward-looking information include that the no qualified candidates are available or, if they are available, do not accept an appointment to the Board before the next annual meeting of shareholders of the Corporation.

Mullen Group assumes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking information to reflect future events, changes in circumstances, or changes in beliefs, unless required by applicable securities laws. In the event Mullen Group does update any forward-looking information, no inference should be made that Mullen Group will make additional updates with respect to any statement, related matters, or other forward-looking statement that included the forward-looking information.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mullen-group-ltd-announces-rejection-of-director-resignation-301823827.html

SOURCE Mullen Group Ltd.
FILE PHOTO: A logo of ByteDance at its office in Beijing, China July 7, 2020. REUTERS/Thomas Suen/File Photo

(Reuters) - A former head of engineering at Bytedance in the United States has said the company discharged him after he voiced concern to management that it was taking user content from other platforms, mainly Instagram and Snapchat.

The dispute comes at a time when ByteDance-owned app TikTok faces growing calls for a nationwide ban from some U.S. lawmakers regarding concerns about potential Chinese government influence over it.

Yintao "Roger" Yu said in a complaint filed on Friday in San Francisco state court that the Chinese tech company engaged in a "worldwide scheme to steal and profit from the content of others" without seeking permission.

When Yu raised these concerns to higher management, he said they dismissed them and asked him to hide the illegal program, especially from employees in the United States, as it had stricter IP laws and class actions.

He was later dismissed by ByteDance in November 2018.

Yu also said in the complaint that ByteDance created fabricated users to exaggerate its metrics and served as a useful propaganda tool for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

He is seeking a court order that would prohibit ByteDance from scraping content from other social media platforms.

In response to the complaint, ByteDance said, "We plan to vigorously oppose what we believe are baseless claims and allegations. Mr. Yu worked for ByteDance Inc. for less than a year."

ByteDance also responded to the scraping allegations, saying it acquired data in line with industry practice and its global policy.

In April, Montana lawmakers passed a bill to ban its short-form TikTok app from operating in the state.

In March, U.S. lawmakers questioned TikTok's Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew about potential Chinese influence, saying its short videos were damaging children's mental health, reflecting bipartisan concerns about the app's power over Americans.

(Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike amid Israel-Gaza fighting in Deir al-Balah town in the central Gaza Strip, May 13, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) -Fatima Bashir's family had a few minutes warning before an Israeli air strike destroyed their home in the Deir Al-Balah area of Gaza for the second time in a decade, leaving only a mass of rubble, broken furniture and scattered household items.

Shortly before the strike, smaller projectiles hit the house, a tactic used by Israel's military to alert civilians of an imminent attack which gives them just enough time to run outside.

"We heard a noise. Our neighbours were shouting, 'Get out of the house! Evacuate the house!', so we ran away, into the street," she said. "We got nothing out."

In 2014, during a previous round of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, the Bashir's home was also hit.

"They destroyed our homes before and we rebuilt it, and this time we will rebuild it too," she added.

According to officials from Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip, the latest round of Israeli air strikes, which began on Tuesday, have destroyed 15 residential blocks, containing more than 50 apartments. In addition, 940 buildings have been damaged, 49 beyond repair.

In response, Palestinian militants have fired hundreds of rockets across the border, sending one and a half million Israelis into air raid shelters.

Israel, which said it targeted command centres of the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad, ruled out an immediate truce on Saturday, saying the onus was on Palestinian militants to stop launching rockets. The Islamic Jihad said it wanted Israel to commit to stopping targeting militant leaders.

It says it takes every effort to limit civilian casualties and damage, and accuses the militant group of hiding command centres and other military sites in residential areas.

"Prior to these strikes, the Israeli Defence Forces took every feasible measure to mitigate harm to civilians as much as possible," the Israeli military said.

Eyad Al-Bozom, spokesman for the Hamas-run interior ministry, rejected the Israeli allegation, saying they meant to "justify their crimes against innocent civilians".

"We stress that the residential blocks destroyed by the occupation were inhabited by civilians. Allegations by the occupation that these houses contained military targets are false and incorrect," Bozom said in a statement.

Israeli security officials sometimes call families shortly before their houses are hit to tell them to get out.

In Gaza City, Hazem Muhana, 62, said his extended family of 55 people, was given only minutes to leave their five-floor residential building before it was bombed to the ground.

The family has now been divided and is being hosted by neighbours. "He told me you have five minutes to leave," Muhana said.

(Reporting by Nidal Almughrabi; editing by Mark Potter and Jason Neely)
BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany on Saturday announced 2.7 billion euro ($3.0 billion) of military aid to Ukraine, its biggest such package yet since Russia's invasion, and pledged further support for Kyiv for as long as necessary.

The package will include 30 Leopard 1 tanks, 15 Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, over 200 reconnaissance drones and four Iris-T anti-aircraft systems, according to a defence ministry statement.

"We all wish for a speedy end to this terrible and illegal war.... Unfortunately, this is not yet foreseeable. Therefore, Germany will provide any help it can - as long as it takes," German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said.

"Thank you to our allies," Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, wrote in a post on Telegram confirming the package.

Ukraine has pressed its allies for long-range weapons, jets and ammunition before a counteroffensive expected in coming weeks or months. Saturday's German package also included 18 howitzers.

Germany was initially reluctant to provide heavy arms to Ukraine to help it counter Russia's invasion, fearing it might escalate the fight. But in January Berlin agreed to send Leopard tanks and said it would work with allies to send more.

($1 = 0.9084 euros)

(Reporting by Max Hunder, Victoria Waldersee, Sabine Siebold; Editing by William Mallard and John Stonestreet)
FILE PHOTO: Man types on computer keyboard in this illustration picture taken

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The personal information of 237,000 current and former federal government employees has been exposed in a data breach at the U.S. Transportation Department (USDOT), sources briefed on the matter said on Friday.

The breach hit systems for processing TRANServe transit benefits that reimburse government employees for some commuting costs. It was not clear if any of the personal information had been used for criminal purposes.

USDOT notified Congress Friday in an email seen by Reuters that its initial investigation of the data breach has "isolated the breach to certain systems at the department used for administrative functions, such as employee transit benefits processing."

USDOT said in a statement to Reuters the breach did not affect any transportation safety systems. It did not say who might be responsible for the hack.

The department is investigating the breach and has frozen access to the transit benefit system until it has been secured and restored, it said.

The maximum benefit allowance is $280 per month for federal employee mass transit commuting costs. The breach impacted 114,000 current employees and 123,000 former employees.

Federal employees and agencies have been target of hackers in the past.

Two breaches at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in 2014 and 2015 compromised sensitive data belonging to more than 22 million people, including 4.2 million current and federal employees along with fingerprint data of 5.6 million of those individuals.

Suspected Russian hackers who used SolarWinds and Microsoft software to burrow into U.S. federal agencies breached unclassified Justice Department networks and read emails at the Treasury, Commerce and Homeland Security departments. Nine federal agencies were breached, Reuters reported in 2021.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese, Cynthia Osterman and Diane Craft)
Jack Teixeira, dressed in camouflage fatigues, his finger wrapped around the trigger of a semiautomatic rifle, faced the camera and spoke as though reciting an oath.

"Jews scam, n-----s rape, and I mag dump."

Teixeira raised his weapon, aimed at an unseen target and fired 10 times in rapid succession, emptying the magazine of bullets.

The six-second video, taken at a gun range near Teixeira's home in Massachusetts, affords a brief but illuminating glimpse into the offline world of the 21-year-old National Guard member, who stands accused of leaking a trove of classified military intelligence on the group-chat platform Discord.

Previously unpublished videos and chat logs reviewed by The Washington Post, as well as interviews with several of Teixeira's close friends, suggest that he was readying for what he imagined would be a violent struggle against a legion of perceived adversaries - including Blacks, political liberals, Jews, gay and transgender people - who would make life intolerable for the kind of person Teixeira professed to be: an Orthodox Christian, politically conservative and ready to defend, if not the government of the United States, a set of ideals on which he imagined it was founded.

Teixeira's love of guns, which first drew him to an online community of friends, was intertwined with a deep suspicion of the government that he served as an enlisted member of the Air National Guard. But Teixeira did not consider himself a whistleblower, according to friends.

By the time of his arrest, filings by federal prosecutors show that Teixeira had amassed a small arsenal of rifles, shotguns and pistols, as well as a helmet, gas mask and night-vision goggles, all under the roof of the house where he lived with his mother and stepfather. The Post obtained and verified two videos taken at their home in Dighton, Mass., where the FBI arrested Teixeira last month.

Filmed from the shooter's perspective, the first video shows a person identified by a Discord user as Teixeira firing an AR-style weapon into the forest. Another video shows the gunman firing a pistol into the woods behind Teixeira's home, including two rapid volleys that suggest the weapon may have been modified. It isn't clear what legal or illegal modifications Teixeira may have made, though devices like binary triggers and typically illegal auto sear accessories can make semiautomatic guns fire quicker than they are designed to shoot. A separate photograph shows an AK-style weapon resting on a table outside the family home next to a helmet with attached night-vision goggles.

For Teixeira, firearms practice seemed to be more than a hobby. "He used the term 'race war' quite a few times," said a close friend who spent time with Teixeira in an online community on Discord, a platform popular with video game players, and had lengthy private phone and video calls with him over the course of several years.

"He did call himself racist, multiple times," the friend said in an interview. "I would say he was proud of it."

The friend, like others on the server, spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid being associated publicly with Teixeira, who faces a potential sentence of 25 years in prison. The friend gave a video interview to The Post and requested that their face be obscured and their voice modified.

In the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, Teixeira told friends that he saw a storm gathering. "He was afraid they would target White people," his friend said. "He had told me quite a few times he thought they need to be prepared for a revolution." The friend said Teixeira spoke approvingly of Kyle Rittenhouse, a teenager who shot three people, two fatally, during protests that summer in Kenosha, Wis., claiming that he had acted in self-defense. A jury acquitted Rittenhouse of five counts, including intentional first-degree homicide, in 2021.

Teixeira's preparations for civil chaos weren't limited to arms; knowledge was also power. His job as a computer technician at Otis Air Force Base, on Cape Cod, gave him access to the Pentagon's network for top-secret information, where, according to his friends, Teixeira viewed thousands of classified documents on a vast range of topics, from the war in Ukraine to North Korean ballistic missile launches to attempts by foreign governments to interfere in U.S. elections. Teixeira shared some of this intelligence bounty with a band of about two dozen people in a Discord server he came to control called Thug Shaker Central. (The server's name, the most often used of several, is a racist allusion.) Teixeira's goal, they said, was to reveal truths that powerful people had hidden from ordinary ones.

Teixeira wanted his online companions, many of them teenage boys, to "be prepared for things the government might do, reinforcing to them that the government was lying to them," said the close friend, who was also a member of the server. Beginning in 2022, the year after Teixeira was granted a top-secret government security clearance following a standard background investigation, he began posting classified documents in the server, first typing them out by hand and later uploading photographs of printed documents bearing classification markings and restrictions on their distribution. He also shared video from the base, showing friends on the server where he worked and allegedly secreted away classified intelligence.

The Post obtained hundreds of documents, as well as text messages, that Teixeira shared on the server over the course of several months. Teixeira's lawyers declined to comment. Teixeira, who remains in federal custody, has not entered a plea.

Teixeira occasionally augmented his leaks with sober analysis. He once confidently predicted that China "will be trying to avoid sanctions and appease us in the near term" in light of new laws and regulations aimed at blunting the country's semiconductor manufacturing industry.

But Teixeira's missives also revealed a conspiratorial streak.

"Recently a Al-Qaeda sympathizer moved nearby my area, immigrant and we're finding more about their organization," he wrote in October 2022, apparently referring to the U.S. government. "Any sand ni--er like that we will watch them[.]"

On Discord, an account with the handle "Jack the Dripper," one of Teixeira's known monikers, shared an image titled "payback," showing a large passenger jet careening toward the Kaaba in Mecca, Islam's holiest site.

Teixeira asserted that "lots of FBI agents were found to have sympathized with the Jan 6 rioters," and he said naive members of the intelligence community, of which he was technically a part, had been "cucked." He referred to mainstream press as "zogshit," appropriating a popular white-supremacist slur for the "Zionist Occupied Government." Friends said that during live video chats, Teixeira expounded on baseless accusations of shadowy, sinister control by Jewish and liberal elites, as well as corrupt law enforcement authorities.

"He had quite a few conspiratorial beliefs," the close friend said, adding: "I remember him multiple times talking about things like Waco and Ruby Ridge, and talking about how the government kills their own people," referring to a pair of notorious armed standoffs that the far right has held up as emblematic of government oppression.

Polarized by the pandemic

Already united by their love of guns and their Orthodox Christian faith, two members of Thug Shaker Central said their nascent political beliefs became hardened and more polarized during the isolation of the pandemic. Unable to see their local friends in person, the young members spent their entire days in front of screens and came under the influence of outsize online figures like Teixeira. Some on the server saw him as an older brother - others, friends said, like a father figure.

The Post obtained previously unpublished screenshots from the server and recordings of members playing games together. Racist and antisemitic language flowed through the community, as did hostility for gay and transgender people, whom Teixeira deemed "degenerate." The line between sarcasm and genuine belief became increasingly blurred. On video calls, users held up a finger, jokingly imitating members of ISIS. In their rooms were flags associated with Christian nationalism and white power.

In interviews, some of the members struggled to explain worldviews that had developed largely online, and expressed remorse. Several admitted they had become radicalized during the pandemic and were influenced by Teixeira, whose own politics seemed animated by social grievances and an obsession with guns.

The members may have sensed they were treading into dangerous political waters, even before leaked classified documents started circulating. During video chats, some hid their faces behind masks, fearful of being publicly identified with a group of self-professed bigots, Teixeira's close friend said.

After he enlisted in the U.S. Air National Guard in September 2019, Teixeira also feared that his own racist and violent statements would jeopardize his chances of getting a security clearance. "He was worried something from Discord would come up during his interview," said the friend, who met him when the application was still pending. Teixeira changed his online handle to an innocuous version of his surname and became "less active" in the community for a time, the friend added, in an effort not to create more incriminating evidence.

But Teixeira already had an offline record that arguably should have raised concerns for the officials who approved his security clearance. In March 2018, Teixeira was suspended from his high school "when a classmate overheard him make remarks about weapons, including Molotov cocktails, guns at the school, and racial threats," according to a Justice Department filing last month that argued Teixeira should remain in jail while he faces charges under the Espionage Act stemming from his alleged leaks.

Federal prosecutors noted that, according to local police records, Teixeira claimed that he had been talking about a video game when he made the alarming comments. But other students disputed that characterization, prosecutors said. And Teixeira's close friend, who knew him after he had graduated high school, said he had confessed to wanting to take a gun to school and carry out a shooting.

"He had told me multiple times about when he was younger, his desire to shoot up his school," the friend said. "He hated his school."

"To my knowledge, he never hurt anyone physically, but he absolutely talked about it pretty often," the friend added. Other friends confirmed Teixeira talked about attacking his school, but they said they didn't take his threats seriously.

It remains unclear how Teixeira obtained a clearance and what consideration, if any, adjudicators gave to his history of violent remarks.

Ann Stefanek, an Air Force spokeswoman, said Teixeira is subject to "potential discipline," considering he was working under active duty. After the Air Force concludes an investigation, she said, a commander will determine if Teixeira should face charges in the military. The service is coordinating closely with the FBI in the leak investigation, she said.

Teixeira remains an airman first class, a low-ranking enlisted service member, as he awaits trial on the leaking charges.

The military has, in the past, struggled to track down individuals who have espoused racist or white-nationalist ideologies. Service members have faced charges that include dereliction of duty and misconduct for racist rants.

After Teixeira got his privileged access, he sought out another official license that had eluded him: a firearms identification card, which, in the state of Massachusetts, permits the possession of "non-large-capacity rifles, shotguns, and ammunition."

Teixeira's application had been turned down in 2018 due to the concerns of local police about his violent remarks at his high school, court records show. But in a letter to a local police officer in 2020, Teixeira argued that his new career in the Air Force, and the security clearance that came with it, demonstrated his trustworthiness.

"I now represent much more than myself and need to watch what I say and do both in public and in private, as it affects more than just myself," Teixeira wrote in November 2020. He allegedly began divulging classified information online a little more than a year later.

A second server

The pandemic refuge of Thug Shaker Central wasn't the only place Teixeira appears to have spilled protected information.

According to court documents and online records reviewed by The Post, Teixeira posted intelligence on another Discord server as early as February 2022. This community of gamers contained hundreds of people, exposing official secrets to a much larger audience than his tight-circle of friends, who said they understood they should keep the classified documents to themselves.

The server, called Abinavski's Exclusion Zone, is associated with a YouTube streamer who plays the video game War Thunder, known for its realistic models of tanks, fighter jets and other military vehicles. A member of the server, who asked not to be identified, said a user believed to be Teixeira posted intelligence in a channel called "civil-discussions," usually in a running thread.

Abinavski's Exclusion Zone remained active this month. When The Post reviewed the server on Tuesday, it listed 627 members, of whom 150 were online at the time.

On April 6, a Discord user informed Teixeira that he had seen material he believed the service member had shared show up on another social media platform, Telegram, in a channel devoted to pro-Russian topics.

"Is it actually one of them btw," the unidentified user asked, according to court documents.

"Not commenting," Teixeira wrote in reply. The user then asked, "[D]id you share them outside of abis," an apparent reference to Abinavski.

In chat logs made public by prosecutors, Teixeira repeatedly makes reference to "the thread" where he had posted material starting in 2022. In a March 19, 2023, exchange, Teixeira wrote that he'd "decided to stop with the updates," thanking "everyone who came to the thread about the current event," an apparent reference to the Russian invasion of Ukraine that had begun a year earlier.

"I was very happy and willing and enthusiastic to have covered this event for the past year and share with all of you," Teixeira wrote, in comments that match messages the New York Times first reported he had made on that date in what it identified as a second server but didn't name as Abinavski's Exclusion Zone. In an email to The Post, Abinavski said a user believed to be Teixeira left the server in early April.

Abinavski said the civil-discussion channel had a thread for conversations around the Ukraine war, created roughly the time Russia invaded. "Members confirmed with me . . . that photos of documents were posted" to the channel, Abinavski said.

The YouTuber added that Discord deleted the civil-discussion channel on April 24 after "multiple members" received notices from the company.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Discord said: "We have removed content, terminated user accounts, and are cooperating with the efforts of the United States Departments of Defense and Justice in connection with this incident."

"In this instance, we have banned users involved with the original distribution of the materials, deleted content deemed to be against our Terms of Service and issued warnings to users who continue to share the materials in question," the spokesperson added.

As classified documents began popping up across the internet, Teixeira asked an unnamed user to help him delete en masse the posts that Teixeira had made in civil-discussions, according to court documents. "If anyone comes looking, don't tell them shit."

But the leak that led the authorities to the young National Guard member appears to have come not from Abinavski's larger group but within Teixera's trusted circle. The classified information that showed up on Telegram, and later circulated more broadly online, came from a young Thug Shaker Central member, several other members of the server said, who broke the club's unwritten rule not to share the documents and set off a chain of events that led to Teixeira's arrest the following month.

Moving from online to IRL

The civil-discussions channel gave Teixeira a large audience. But in Thug Shaker Central, he seemed to feel he was in a more intimate environment, able to share his love of guns and express his political views to a sympathetic audience. Teixeira posted videos and photographs taken at his mother and stepfather's home in Dighton and clips he recorded at the nearby gun range, where Teixeira made his "mag dump" video.

Teixeira developed an offline relationship with at least one friend on the server: Henry Adams, 18, who lives with his family about an hour's drive from Dighton in Hanover, Mass.

Three former members of Thug Shaker confirmed Adams's identity, as well as his close ties with Teixeira and activity on the server. An attorney for Adams, Max Perlman, confirmed that his client knew Teixeira for "around three years," bonding over shared interests. Through his attorney, Adams denied being a member of Thug Shaker Central, claimed to be unaware of its existence and said he had never seen any "illicit material" posted by Teixeira on any server.

According to a former member of the server, Adams tried to obtain support for Teixeira following his arrest. Asked if Adams had contacted anyone on the server, Perlman said his client had spoken "to one minor individual and asked for letters of support because Mr. Teixeira's mom ask[ed] him to see if people would do that and get them to his lawyer."

Perlman said Adams's and Teixeira visited a shooting range in Raynham, Mass., "many, many times," accompanied by Adams's mother, Lisa, his father, Richard, or Teixeira's biological father, Jack Michael Teixeira.

Reached by phone, Adams's mother didn't dispute that her son knew Teixeira. But she denied that he was active on Thug Shaker Central and said he "saw nothing."

Referring to Teixeira, she asked, "When did serving your country and being a Christian become a bad thing?"

Attempts to reach Jack Michael Teixeira were unsuccessful.

Additional videos obtained and verified by The Post showed Teixeira and Adams at the gun range, owned by Taunton Rifle and Pistol Club. In one, Adams fires a Soviet-era SKS rifle. In another, Teixeira fires a pump action shotgun.

The club president, Eric Dewhirst, confirmed that the footage was taken at the members-only facility. In an interview at the organization's clubhouse, Dewhirst said there was no record of Teixeira being a member, suggesting that he and his friend were probably taken there by someone else. Dewhirst, who said he had read about Teixeira's alleged crimes and his life online, described the 21-year-old as "young and head full of mush."

'He absolutely enjoyed gore'

When Teixeira wasn't firing guns in the real world, he was playing with them online.

"He played a lot of video games, mostly shooters," his close friend said, noting that Teixeira preferred games from the shooter's point of view.

Teixeira's gaming and political cultures overlapped, the friend observed. "Once you start getting into the more niche video games, a lot of those communities are much more conservative. I think he found a small place where his views got echoed back to him and made them worse."

The interest in video games and conservative politics was accompanied by an acute obsession with violence, the friend said. "He would send me a video of someone getting killed, ISIS executions, mass shootings, war videos. People would screen-share it, and he would laugh very loudly and be very happy to watch these things with everyone else. He absolutely enjoyed gore."

Friends may not have taken seriously Teixeira's threats against his high school. But he voiced approval of some shooters, particularly when they targeted people of different races and faiths. Teixeira was especially impressed by a gunman's rampage at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019, which left 51 people dead and 4o injured. "He was very happy that those people died," the friend said, because they were Muslim. The shooter live-streamed his massacre as though he were in a video game.

The line between condoning violence and making light of it was slippery. When Teixeira was waiting on approval of his security clearance, he told his friend that he was particularly concerned that "jokes" he had made in the server might surface about "shooting up buildings" and "wanting to kill government agents." These were frequent subjects of amusement.

"Most of the jokes he would make were about the ATF," the friend said, referencing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the federal government's premier gun control agency and a bete noire of the far right.

"He was very against gun control. And so he would talk about wanting to kill ATF agents or when ATF agents would show up to his house, like theoretically preparing your house so that they would die in some strange trap."

In arguing that Teixeira should remain in jail while he faces charges, federal prosecutors pointed to his threats of violence in high school. But among online communities whose members hold "more extremist conservative views," the friend said, "it's really common to joke about killing government agents like that, so it never seemed worrying to me."

Teixeira's alleged hostility toward the government doesn't explain his motivation for disclosing classified information. Other convicted leakers, including those like Teixeira who served in lower-level positions but had some of the highest levels of security clearance, were self-described whistleblowers trying to check perceived abuses or wrongdoings. Teixeira was trying to impress, and apparently mold, a group of teenagers.

"I think he did think it made him special," the close friend said. "I think there was a part of him that felt like he was cool or important because he got that access."

For the teenagers Teixeira had taken under his wing, the classified documents offered an education about how the world secretly worked. "He wanted to be seen as someone who's powerful or looked up to," the friend said. "He wanted them to be what he thought was the ideal, the ideal man."

The Washington Post's Dalton Bennett, Evan Hill, Alex Horton, Andrew Ba Tran, Alice Crites, Nilo Tabrizy, Jon Gerberg and Dan Lamothe contributed to this report.
(Tribune News Service)  Coast Guard crews repatriated 50 people to Cuba and transferred 19 others to the Bahamas after spotting three suspicious boats in waters off the coasts of Florida and the Bahamas in the past week.

 The first interdiction: A Customs and Border Protection Maritime Patrol aircrew called in to the Coast Guard a suspicious vessel about 11 miles west of Cay Sal, Bahamas, on May 5. The Coast Guard Cutter William Trump crew interdicted the vessel and found 25 people aboard. The passengers had been en route illegally to the U.S., the Coast Guard said in media release.

 The second interdiction:A commercial boat salvage company reported to the Coast Guard, also on May 5, that its staff spotted a disabled 34-foot recreational boat about 25 miles east of Fort Pierce Inlet. Sector Miami watchstanders sent an Air Station Clearwater HC-130 aircrew who located the vessel and vectored in a Coast Guard Station Fort Pierce boat crew. Coast Guard members boarded the boat and found 19 people aboard attempting to migrate unlawfully to the U.S.

 The third interdiction: Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton crew were notified Thursday of a migrant vessel about 40 miles north of Havana. The Hamilton crew returned its 25 passengers to Cuba.

The Coast Guard and our federal partners maintain a continual presence with air and sea assets in the Florida Straits and Caribbean Sea, Lt. Connor Ives, Coast Guard District 7 response enforcement officer, said in a statement. People attempting to migrate illegally into the U.S., will be interdicted, repatriated, or sent back to the country of origin.

Since Oct. 1, 2022, Coast Guard crews interdicted or encountered 6,662 Cubans and 4,470 Haitian migrants.

2023 Miami Herald.

Visit miamiherald.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
(Tribune News Service) About 200 Marines from Camp Pendletons 1st Marine Division will be among 1,500 troops sent to the U.S.-Mexico border to work with Customs and Border Protection as pandemic restrictions expire and a surge of migrants arrive.

The Camp Pendleton Marines will join about 350 Marines from the 2nd Division at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and will be assigned duties by the Border Patrol agents. Some of the work could include data entry, warehousing support and additional detection and monitoring support as part of Joint Task Force North, said 1st Lt. Ana Chiu with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton.

The first 550 American service members are expected to arrive at the border on Friday and the remaining 950 troops, which will also include service members from the Army and Air Force, will arrive between May 27 and June 5, said Lt. Col Sonie Munson, a U.S. Army spokesperson for the U.S. Northern Command.

Presently, the Department of Defense expects to provide troops to the Department of Homeland Security for up to 90 days.

Officials with the DOD would not disclose planned areas of operation for the troops because of security concerns, but said they will be working at various Customs and Border Protection locations along the border.

By U.S. law, active duty military personnel are not permitted to conduct any activities that are inherently law enforcement responsibilities, and for this mission will not be allowed direct contact with the migrants, a Department of Defense spokesman said.

In 2018, about 1,100 Camp Pendleton Marines deployed to the border as caravans of migrants from Central America approached.

At that time, most of the Marines supported the Border Patrol agents by helping build barriers, barricades and fencing. They also worked as medical teams, set up command and control facilities, constructed temporary housing for Customs and Border Protection personnel and provided personal protective equipment for those troops.

2023 MediaNews Group, Inc.

Visit ocregister.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Joan Palumbo wasnt told the danger she was in when she stepped under the showerhead in her bathroom in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

She wasnt told about the toxins mixing into her daughters food every time she blended formula with water from the kitchen sink.

Or that cooking her own food in that same water would eventually lead to her death.

Palumbo didnt know that beginning in 1953 toxic chemicals had begun seeping through the ground into two of the eight water treatment plants on Camp Lejeune, the Marine Corps base near Jacksonville where she and her husband, Fred, lived in the Tarawa Terrace neighborhood.

Trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene, benzene and vinyl chloride, deadly chemicals known to cause health problems including miscarriages, birth defects, cancers and childhood leukemia, leaked from underground fuel storage tanks, an off-base dry cleaning facility, industrial area spills and waste disposal sites. The contamination of the bases waters continued through 1987 and mostly affected the Tarawa Terrace and Hadnot Point neighborhoods.

It is estimated that more than 1 million people were likely exposed to the toxic waters on Camp Lejeune. Beginning in August, half of those people had filed claims asking for the government to make right what happened to its Marines and their families  but no offers from the government have been extended. And without those offers, the claimants have been forced into litigation  potentially for years  if they want justice.

Palumbo is among those people. The Palumbos moved in 1962 to Camp Lejeune and together had their first child. Fred deployed overseas in 1963.

Subtle signs include miscarriage, premature births

The first signs of trouble for the Palumbo family from drinking Lejeunes water were subtle. While Fred was serving across the world from his wife, Joan suffered a miscarriage.

That same year, Joan became pregnant, this time with twin daughters. They were born three months premature, and entered the world fighting for their lives. The Palumbos daughter, Kristine, died after three days, on New Years Day. Her sisters fight continued for six long months before she was able to leave the hospital and join the rest of her family at home.

The Palumbos went on to have six children, and it seemed that tragedy had left them.

When their youngest entered grade school, Joan Palumbo returned to her job as a pediatric nurse. She would eventually become a psychiatric nurse. Fred continued serving in the Marines until retiring in August 1981.

Less than subtle signs? Breast cancer, multiple myeloma

Then, in 1997, Joans own health took a drastic turn. Her husband calls it her medical nightmare.

Breast cancer led to a lumpectomy in her right breast.

Another lump in her left breast led to a bilateral mastectomy.

Then she needed a spinal fusion.

A new diagnosis: multiple myeloma.

She had a mitral valve in her heart replaced.

Then she went into renal failure.

If all of that wasnt bad enough, she was inflicted with shingles before her death in January 2011.

Learning about Camp Lejeunes contaminated water

Fred Palumbo told McClatchy he and his wife pored through her familys medical history. Heart problems and cancer werent part of their story. Nothing made sense.

We couldnt determine what the problem was, Palumbo said. And I didnt realize there was a problem until after she died.

He cant remember exactly how he learned about the water contamination. He believes it was a news segment on television that led him to connect with Jerry Ensminger.

Ensminger, a retired Marine, has become the face of the fight for justice for those who lived and worked on Camp Lejeune. Ensminger lost his 9-year-old daughter born on the base, Janey, to leukemia in 1986.

Ensminger led efforts to uncover what happened with the water on the North Carolina base, hold the government accountable for covering up the contamination and ensure that no one who served at Camp Lejeune was left in the dark.

Fighting for justice and the PACT Act

Ensminger spent decades traveling to Washington fighting for the government to take responsibility for what happened to his fellow Marines at Camp Lejeune.

In 2012, President Barack Obama signed into law the Janey Ensminger Act, which ensured family members of veterans who lived on Camp Lejeune during the years of the water contamination had access to health care.

Last summer, Ensmingers Oorah, the Marines battle cry, echoed in the Senate chamber when Congress passed the PACT Act, giving anyone exposed to and affected by the water on Camp Lejeune two years to file claims with the U.S. Navy. The bill also allowed service members to file claims if they were exposed during specific dates to burn pits  a form of waste disposal that can give off toxic fumes  or had illnesses connected to service in the Gulf War, southwest Asia or the Vietnam War.

More than 500,000 claims have been filed because of the PACT Act, Biden announced on April 26.

The claims detail when someone was on the base, their exposure to the water and what health issues they developed.

The Navy can then do one of three things: offer a settlement, deny the claim or do nothing.

If a settlement is offered, the person filing the claim can then accept it or litigate it.

If an offer isnt made within six months or the claim is denied, then the person can pursue litigation.

Attorneys work with victims to file lawsuits

In February, when Camp Lejeune victims could first file lawsuits, a name repeatedly popped up on the court documents: attorney Eric Flynn with Bell Law Group, a firm out of South Carolina, who has since opened an office in Raleigh to help handle the Camp Lejeune claims.

I couldnt be prouder to represent these clients, Flynn told McClatchy. These people have suffered tremendously and I think it only takes talking to a handful of them, hearing their stories to hear the suffering they went through.

Bell Law Groups namesake, Edward Bell, began working with victims of Camp Lejeune more than 15 years ago. In the beginning, Flynns firm tried to sue over the effects of the water, but ran into two hurdles: a time limit for how long after exposure someone could sue, and the governments immunity.

Until the PACT Act, the law firm ran into roadblock after roadblock to get their clients justice.

Flynn can rattle off their stories with ease: the women who suffered miscarriages while their husbands fought in Vietnam, the members of the military who developed neurological effects, the Marine with Parkinsons, the wife with multiple sclerosis. The divorces as medical problems and losses became too much for a couple to handle. The missing faces at family gatherings.

There have been times where I think any attorney that has talked to these folks have walked out in tears because what these people have gone through is horrible, Flynn said. To be able to fight for these folks, to be able to bring their claims and hold people accountable is extremely gratifying.

Civil case could become largest in US history

Flynn said that while the government lost sovereign immunity and the time limit constraints, officials still have a lot of arguments they can make.

He said he wont predict what theyll do, but they could raise challenges based on the governments liability, on whether the water caused someones health issues, or on the length of time they were exposed.

On top of that, we still have to go through the process of getting experts to review all the documents, picking the jury, getting in front of the jury, convincing the jury of our case, Flynn said.

Catherine Dunham, a professor of law at Elon Law School, told McClatchy that the largest civil case in U.S. history saw 300,000 claims filed due to 3M military earplugs. Camp Lejeunes claims are expected to far exceed that number.

Despite victims being scattered worldwide now, and attorneys as far away as at least Puerto Rico fighting for their business, the case is not multidistrict, meaning all of the lawsuits are being filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

District Judge James Dever told parties in March that he would handle the cases expeditiously. If he were to handle each lawsuit filed so far individually, it would take four judges 1,900 years, Public Radio East reported.

We dont have a court system that could ever hear all those cases, Dunham said

Finding a lawyer

Meanwhile, victims of Camp Lejeunes toxic waters still need to navigate finding a lawyer. Once the PACT Act passed Congress, commercials flooded the airwaves for lawyers who could help secure money for people who lived on the base and even off base.

The honest to God truth is if they dont advertise, then no, the injured people arent going to know what to do, Dunham said.

But she understands that some of the commercials leave people uneasy.

Ill tell you what my philosophy is, is that the justice system has to be available, Dunham said. You have to have access points for regular people, because its always regular people who are injured.

Dunham said if that means lawyers need to flood television to reach those who are injured, so be it. She added that someone is at greater risk of being taken advantage of if they walk into a random attorneys office who doesnt have experience but wants to go after a few claimants so they can take his share of the settlement.

Flynn said its important that people arent victimized once again, this time by lawyers, through this process. Bell Law Group does not advertise on television.

Flynn said to do your homework on law firms. Call around and ask to talk to attorneys to see if theyre the right fit.

The good ones will do that, and you should be able to speak to somebody that you just click with and feel like this person really knows what theyre talking about, Flynn said.

Commercials predicting a specific payout amount have frustrated Flynn. Its impossible for a lawyer to make that promise since none of these cases have been heard and theres no precedent.

In the original draft of the bill to help Camp Lejeune water victims, lawmakers included a 25% cap on attorneys fees so that lawyers couldnt take advantage of their clients. That cap was taken out before the PACT Act passed into law.

Bloomberg reported in March that Bell Law Group spent more money than any other legal firm lobbying federal lawmakers over the past two years, and one of its requests was for the cap to be removed. Bell said he wouldnt object to a cap but believed lawyers should be able to charge up to 40%, Bloomberg reported.

When asked about the cap, Flynn said the legislation was supported by an overwhelming and bipartisan majority of senators and representatives.

We, too, support the law as enacted and are eager for these veterans and their families to finally get the justice they have long been entitled to, Flynn said.

Ensminger told McClatchy he had felt that years ago Bell, who he had previously recommended to people like Palumbo, took advantage of Ensmingers connections to drive up business. Ensminger has since cut ties with the firm, and is now working with Mikal Watts out of Texas.

Despite that and the attorneys fees, Palumbo said he is grateful to the Bell group for helping him navigate through the legal system.

Cancer after drinking, cooking and bathing in poisonous water

Jeff Freuler, 57, a Townsville resident, also said he was thankful to the law firm as he navigates the long legal process ahead of him.

Like the Palumbos, Freuler had no idea he drank, cooked with and bathed in poisonous water while stationed on the Marine base in the 1980s.

Almost immediately after leaving the military, he began noticing neurological problems doctors couldnt explain: anxiety, depression, irritability, poor concentration, and changes in his mood and personality.

Freuler did receive a letter in the early 2000s from the U.S. government warning him that he had been exposed to toxins at Camp Lejeune. But details in the letter were sparse and Freuler dismissed it.

It was a very generic letter that held very little information, Freuler said.

Then, things got serious.

In 2012, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer, Freuler said. At a very young age, according to my urologist.

Freuler underwent a robotic prostatectomy the week of Thanksgiving. The surgery was a success and the tissues taken from around his prostate came back negative for any spread.

Initially, Freuler had to return to his doctor every few weeks to ensure the cancer didnt return. He now goes once every year.

I was still in the dark, Freuler told McClatchy. I mean, there was really no information out there that could tie everything together  the cancer that I had to the chemicals  until just a few years ago.

But as Ensminger continued to work, word reached Frueler, who said that as more information surfaced, the more he could connect both his neurological ailments and his cancer to the toxin exposures.

Continuing to do the research and reading stuff, I mean, it just all started making a little bit more sense, Freuler said.

What happens next?

Its an emotional process for the Marines to come to terms with what happened and that the government was not upfront about it when officials first learned about the toxins.

I signed up to serve my country, and Ill never regret it, Freuler said. What I do get emotional over is the fact that so much was done to cover this up, and it was some very hard work by a handful of people that wouldnt give up that brought all this to the surface.

When we asked to join the military, when we were assigned to Camp Lejeune, we didnt have to get treated like this, to get poisoned like this by that water, Freuler said.

For Frueler, theres always the question of whats next.

Its always in the back of my mind, as long as youre walking around with a ticking time bomb and thats cancer, yeah its not a matter of if its going to go off, but when its going to go off, and that plays with your mind, Freuler said.

He said he had to compartmentalize that and push it to the back of his mind every day just to function.

Then theres Palumbo. The illnesses didnt end with his wife. His oldest daughter, Kimberly, born on Camp Lejeune, died last June just months before the PACT Act passed, at age 59. Like her mother, she suffered from a series of painful health conditions before her death.

I look back and Ive said to myself many times if I just didnt live in the village rather than going to Tarawa Terrance, maybe my life would be different now, Palumbo said. I dont know. Im just following what Gods put in my path and trying to do the best I can with my children that I have now.

Freuler said he filed his lawsuit to lend a voice to those of people like Palumbo, but also to look out for both himself and his daughter, because if another health issue arises because of the water, he doesnt know what they would do  and they were only given until 2024 to figure it out.

2023 McClatchy Washington Bureau.

Visit mcclatchydc.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
(Tribune News Service)  An Anaheim man who stabbed his girlfriend to death and then tried to persuade a police officer to shoot him was sentenced Friday to 11 years in prison.

Frank Moseley, a 34-year-old Iraq War veteran, was convicted earlier this year of voluntary manslaughter for the January 2017 killing of 25-year-old Janessa Smith in an Anaheim apartment, after an Orange County Superior Court jury rejected a more serious murder charge.

Moseley, who never denied responsibility for Smiths violent death, apologized to her family prior to his sentencing and alluded to the PTSD that his attorney argued had helped lead to the killing.

I just want to express how apologetic I am to anyone who is affected by the crime I committed, Moseley said.

I dont want anyone who is dealing with psychological trauma to be in this situation, he added.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Kimberly Menninger acknowledged Moseleys PTSD and military service, but also described the killing as brutal and noted that Smith was likely fighting for her life.

It is never going to be excusable to lose your temper, have a traumatic episode and (kill) another person, the judge said.

Moseley told investigators that he lost it and saw red after, he said, Smith told him she was having an affair and may have been pregnant by another man. He admitted picking up a chefs knife and stabbing Smith more than a dozen times.

After the killing, Moseley described setting small fires in the apartment in order to kill himself through smoke inhalation, but said he changed his mind after hearing the cries of the couples toddler.

Moseley, young child in tow, drove toward the Anaheim Police Department, according to testimony during the trial. On the way he spotted a patrol officer and crossed over the median in order cut the officer off and forced him to stop. He then exited the vehicle while holding the young child.

Body-worn camera footage showed Moseley yelling Please shoot me! over and over at the officer while the toddler crouched by his feet. The officer responded by telling Moseley Im not going to shoot you in front of your kid.

After he was handcuffed, the footage showed a sobbing Moseley screaming I cant believe what I just did, I lost it, I couldnt keep control.

An autopsy showed no signs that Smith was pregnant. During the trial, Deputy District Attorney Christopher Alex told jurors that Smith and Moseley had broken up months earlier only to reconcile and agree to marry. But Smith had second thoughts, the prosecutor added.

She did not even respect him, much less love him, Smiths mother, JoAnna Smith, said during Fridays sentencing hearing of her daughters feelings toward Moseley at the time of her killing.

Moseleys attorney, David Hammond, argued during the trial that Moseley didnt act with premedication, a requirement for the first-degree murder conviction that was sought by the prosecution. Instead, the defense attorney argued that the slaying occurred during the heat of passion.

Much of the testimony in the trial focused on the PTSD that Moseley suffers from a traumatic childhood and a tour in Iraq. As a Navy medic, Moseley was attached to a Marine unit that went on more than 250 patrols.

After leaving the military, Moseley was going to nursing school. But doctors with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs had noted that he suffered from combat-related dreams and daily panic attacks triggered by stress.

2023 MediaNews Group, Inc.

Visit ocregister.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Editors note: A version of this story originally ran in The Washington Post on May 8, 1994, with the headline Momsters.

___

Mother's Day is an occasion for gratitude - and history provides us many reasons for thanks.

Maybe your mom isn't perfect. But check out how she stacks up against these famously miserable matriarchs.

Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria reigned longer than any British monarch before her, and considering her vigilance in keeping him politically and socially impotent while she lived, her longevity was perhaps her final and greatest disservice to her eldest son and heir, Edward VII.

The rigid, repressed Victoria was never a particularly cozy mum, candidly acknowledging early on that she derived "no especial pleasure or compensation" from her children. Early on, she displayed a particular enmity toward Edward. "The hereditary and unfailing antipathy of our Sovereigns to their Heirs Apparent seems thus early to be taking root," noted one member of the court.

The young prince was gregarious and fun-loving. And with his mother's driving fear that he would grow up to be like her debauched Hanoverian uncles, the queen prescribed a torturously rigid upbringing that stifled the boy's natural inclinations. His rebellion did little to endear him to his mama, who bombarded him with criticism and rarely missed an opportunity to register her disappointment in him.

The chasm between mother and son widened considerably upon the death of Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, to whom she was fanatically devoted and for whose death she loudly blamed Edward. The prince had been caught up in a youthful indiscretion with an actress, and the morally sensitive Albert, who was devastated by the scandal surrounding his son, coincidentally died a short time later. Victoria could not be convinced that it was typhoid, not grief, that carried her beloved away.

During her morbid, self-imposed seclusion that would last for decades, the crepe-draped queen remained determined to keep the Prince of Wales away from anything remotely resembling responsibility. She was convinced of Edward's inherent unworthiness. All important state papers were kept from him, providing zero training for his future role. Removing a key from his pocket, Edward's little brother Leopold once remarked: "It is the Queen's Cabinet key which opens all the secret despatch boxes. . . . The Prince of Wales is not allowed to have one."

After he inherited the throne in 1901, at age 59, King Edward would reign with distinction for nine years, becoming known as Edward the Peacemaker, proving his mother's mistrust of him unfounded.

Myra 'Belle' Shirley

Myra "Belle" Shirley was one of the great heroines of the Wild West, a Robin Hood-esque character of bewitching beauty and charm, an accomplished piano player who could tame a roomful of roughnecks with her haunting melodies, a buxom bandit in lace petticoats with a heart of gold and a beloved mare named Venus. That was the myth of Belle Starr, as presented in the pulp paperbacks of the era.

Revisionist historians say she actually was a foulmouthed, horse-faced, horse-thieving outlaw who never in her life played it straight and certainly never played a piano. She indeed rode a mare named Venus, whom she would flog to near death for the sport of it. But Belle Starr did far worse to her own son.

By the time he was 18, Eddie Reed was a sullen and confused young man. From his childhood, Belle Starr had disciplined him hard and often with a bullwhip, and when he got old enough, she coerced him into her bed. Eddie not surprisingly grew to hate his mother, and once publicly threatened to kill her. This did not exactly fill Belle with remorse for her many acts of cruelty toward him; she had him arrested.

Belle Starr died on Venus, just before sunset on Feb. 3, 1889, shotgunned from the back by a sniper who had hated her enough to lie in wait for hours. As she fell, she glimpsed her assailant in flight. According to one legend, her final words, croaked to her daughter Pearl, were: "Baby, your brother Eddie shot me."

Mary Ball Washington

George Washington's mother's tombstone reads, with understated dignity: "Mary, the Mother of Washington." A more fitting epitaph might have been "Mary, the Bother of Washington." The Grandma of Our Country proved more aggravating to son George than his false teeth.

Mary Ball Washington spent her life in a struggle to keep her son, and his fat purse, at her disposal, and she begrudged him his successes because they kept him away from home and spending his money elsewhere. According to historian James Thomas Flexner, "she never budged from her house to take part in any triumphant moment of his career." And she lived into his second term as president!

Her denigration of his accomplishments led to speculation during the American Revolution that Mrs. Washington was actually a closet royalist trying to undermine the cause of independence. Though there is ample evidence that Washington was generous to his mother and that she lived quite comfortably, she never ceased digging deeper into his pockets while loudly complaining of his financial neglect. She also seemed to delight in humiliating him as publicly as possible. In 1781, Washington was mortified when he received a letter from Benjamin Harrison, the speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, advising him of a movement in the House - in response to Mary Washington's cries of poverty - to have the state come to her financial rescue. The Revolutionary commander was forced to make an excruciating public defense of his treatment of his mother.

"Before I left Virginia, I answered all her calls for money, and, since that period, have directed my steward to do the same," he wrote back. "Whence her distress can arise, therefore, I know not, never having received any complaint. . . . Confident I am that she has not a child that would not divide the last sixpence to relieve her from real distress. This she has been repeatedly assured of by me; and all of us, I am certain, would feel much hurt at having our mother a pensioner."

Frances Grey

Perhaps the most tragic figure in English history was Lady Jane Grey, "The Nine Days Queen." This abused pawn of Tudor-era intrigue owed her misery almost entirely to her grasping and malicious mother, Frances Grey, Henry VIII's niece. Even at a time when children of the aristocracy knew little of parental love, Jane had an especially brutal mother bent on using her to the best advantage.

The quiet, studious girl, raised at a time when the failure to honor and obey one's parents was considered a sure path to damnation, did once allow herself the luxury of revealing her horrendous situation to her tutor: "I will tell you, and tell you a truth which, perchance, you will marvel at . . . whether I speak, keep silence, sit, stand or go, eat, drink, be merry or sad, be sewing, playing, dancing or doing anything else, I must do it, as it were, in such weigh, measure and number, even as perfectly as God made the world, or else I am so sharply taunted, so cruelly threatened, yea, presented sometimes with pinches, nips and bobs, and other ways (which I will not name for the honor I bear them) so without measure misordered, that I think myself in Hell." Yet her mother's greed consigned her to an end worse still.

Henry VIII's successor, the boy king Edward VI, was dying and with him the hopes of one John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, the Lord Protector of England. As a sort of regent, Dudley had set England on a course of extreme Protestantism. He and his plans would be doomed, however, if Edward was succeeded by his half sister, the staunchly Catholic Mary Tudor. Desperate, Dudley conspired with Frances Grey to have his son Guildford marry her daughter in 1553. He then persuaded the dying king to exclude both his sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, from succession and name his Protestant cousin, Jane, the king's heir.

The self-effacing girl, all of 15, was horrified at the prospect, fainted and was gleefully slapped awake by her mother. Eventually, Frances bullied the terrified teen into the marriage. She was queen of England for nine days before "Bloody" Mary Tudor claimed her rightful throne. Jane was banished to the Tower of London, completely abandoned by her mother, who was absorbed with saving her own skin.

Frances did find time to plead successfully with her cousin the queen to pardon her husband, the Duke of Suffolk, for his part in the usurpation plot, but didn't bother putting in a good word for her daughter Jane. On her way to the chopping block, Jane first was forced to observe the body of its previous victim: her 19-year-old newlywed husband, Lord Guildford Dudley, whose body lay on a stretcher, his severed head ensconced between his thighs. Lady Jane was decapitated without ever hearing from her mother.

Hetty Green

Henrietta "Hetty" Green's moneymaking skills made her one of the richest women in the world during the Gilded Age. Her maternal instincts, however, were poor.

Hetty's thrift was legendary - her life was devoted entirely to acquiring more and more money while jealously refusing to spend it. She lived in a dingy cold-water flat in Hoboken, N.J. She rendered her own soap from animal fat. She used wrapped newspapers as leg warmers and ate nothing but cold oatmeal at her desk at the New York Stock Exchange. She was the bane of shopkeepers everywhere, haggling over pennies while soiling the merchandise with her filthy hands. One time, when her hands were particularly grimy, Hetty explained that she had been examining an old sled and had found "some perfectly good nails" that she had pulled out by hand.

Hetty's son, Ned, had been plagued since birth with a lame leg, and on one occasion he injured it so severely it briefly distracted his mother from the stock market. Hetty was determined to find the best possible medical care for her son, so long as it didn't cost anything. Dressed in her customarily shabby clothes, Hetty marched the limping boy to all the free clinics in Manhattan and Brooklyn. She was, alas, recognized everywhere, and unceremoniously shooed away.

Having exhausted all possibilities for medical charity, Hetty was forced to call the neighborhood doctor, who advised immediate amputation of the now-gangrenous leg. Hetty wasn't buying it. "Mamma," Ned recalled later, "still felt there was a chance to save my leg. We both wanted this, of course. We didn't have much faith in doctors and believed, given time, the limb would heal itself." But Hetty's remedies of "oil of squills" and Carter's Little Liver Pills didn't do the trick, and the leg came off. The doctor determined that the limb could have been saved had the injuries been addressed sooner.

It was Hetty's bankrupt ex-husband, by the way, who paid for the operation.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa  South Africa's foreign ministry summoned the U.S. ambassador to a meeting Friday over allegations he made a day earlier that the country had provided Russia with arms and ammunition for its war in Ukraine.

Amid the diplomatic fallout over the allegations, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor also planned to speak with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the ministry's spokesperson said on Twitter.

The committee that regulates arms exports in South Africa "has no record of an approved arms sale by the state to Russia related to the period/incident in question," spokesperson Clayson Monyela tweeted. "If any crimes were committed, the law will take its course."

U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety alleged during a news conference Thursday that weapons and ammunition were secretly loaded onto a Russian cargo ship at the Simon's Town naval base in December and then transported to Russia, Brigety said.

"We (the U.S.) are confident that weapons were loaded into that vessel, and I would bet my life on the accuracy of that assertion," Brigety said. He called South Africa's "arming" of Russia "fundamentally unacceptable."

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed an investigation was underway into the December visit by the Russian cargo ship Lady R. Before Brigety went public, U.S. and South African officials had agreed behind the scenes that the investigation should be allowed to play out and would incorporate any evidence U.S. intelligence officials shared, Ramaphosa said.

South Africa could be in breach of international law, if it provided arms to Russia. The president's office said in a statement there was "no evidence" currently that weapons or ammunition were loaded onto the ship at the Simon's Town base or anywhere in South Africa.

The Associated Press has independently verified that the Lady R was at the South African naval base from Dec. 6-8, as Brigety claimed. A review of records by the AP has also shown that the Lady R is tied to a company that was sanctioned by the U.S. for transporting weapons for the Russian government and aiding its war effort.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the situation would likely get discussed at a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Stockholm on Friday. Baerbock noted they were dealing with only allegations so far, but said weapons exports to Russia "would be an extension of a war of aggression in violation of international law, and so we take all reports very, very seriously."

South Africa's own arms control laws stipulate that the country "will not trade in conventional arms with states engaged in repression, aggression or terrorism."

Ramaphosa's office criticized Brigety on Thursday for making the allegations public. Monyela said the South African government would issue a "demarche" against the ambassador for his allegations, a diplomatic term that refers to a formal complaint.

The episode could seriously strain the relationship between the U.S. and one of its key African partners, although Monyela said in his Twitter post that South Africa "values the relations we have with the United States of America. They're cordial, strong and mutually beneficial."

South Africa's position on the war on Ukraine has troubled the U.S. and other Western nations since Africa's most developed country abstained last year in a United Nations vote condemning Russia's invasion. South Africa stated it would take a neutral stance on the war and called for a diplomatic solution to end the fighting.

Critics said that South Africa had effectively sided with Russia after it hosted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for talks in January and allowed Russian and Chinese warships to use its waters for joint naval drills off its east coast in February. The exercises coincided with the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The South African government has also indicated it would be unwilling to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he visits, as expected, for a meeting of leaders of the BRICS economic bloc in August despite the International Criminal Court issuing an arrest warrant for him.

South Africa is a signatory to the international court and is obliged to arrest Putin if he sets foot on its territory.

South Africa has a historical relationship with Russia due to the former Soviet Union's support for the ruling African National Congress when it was a liberation movement fighting to end the apartheid regime of segregation that oppressed the country's Black majority.

AP Writer David Keyton in Stockholm contributed to this report.
The European Union's top envoys sought to project a united front on relations with China, reaching an initial consensus on a common blueprint for future ties although they still need to work out how to smooth out remaining differences.

Foreign ministers of the E.U., meeting in Stockholm, approved the main principles in a road map proposed by the bloc's foreign affairs arm, according to its head, Josep Borrell. Still, Borrell acknowledged member states would seek revisions to the paper ahead of a June leaders' summit, where ties with China will be discussed.

"They agree on the basic lines on this recalibration of our strategy on China, considering the recent domestic evolution in China and the foreign policy trajectory," Borrell said. "We continue with the triptych because it reflects reality - it's a rival, competitor and a partner," he added in a reference to the current approach.

The paper drafted by the E.U.'s foreign policy arm calls on member states to avoid being drawn into a zero-sum contest between Washington and Beijing as the bloc works to manage China's rise. It reaffirmed the rival-competitor-partner stance, but said the balance of those approaches will be conditional on how China responds to Europe's approach.

E.U. countries have been striving to work out a common stance on tackling China's economic might, with several stressing that it is increasingly becoming a rival rather than a partner. Some states are pushing for more strategic distance, including new limits on exports of technology to Beijing.

The U.S. and E.U. will pledge to step up coordination on security measures like export restrictions, the screening of outbound technologies and foreign investment controls to fight back against economic coercion from countries such as China, Bloomberg reported earlier Friday.

"In a complex relationship like the one we have with China we have unavoidably different approaches because there are different interests," Borrell said, mentioning "a big exporter to China like Germany" and "countries that have almost no economic relationship."

E.U. countries must both "engage which China" on many different issues "and at the same time we have to compete with China and decrease our dependencies when these become too big," Borrell said.

Borrell cautioned that the future of the E.U.'s ties to China will also depend on Beijing's stance toward Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Beijing will send a special envoy - Ambassador Li Hui - to Ukraine, Russia and other European countries next week in efforts to foster a diplomatic resolution to Russia's war in Ukraine.

"For us it's so important that Russia understands that it is an existential threat for us what's happening in Ukraine, and we expect that China will use its role and responsibilities," Borrell said, adding that "if it isn't the case, our relation won't be so good."

European officials, including Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, have increasingly spoken about "de-risking" - but not "decoupling" - relations with China.

U.S. State Department Counselor Derek Chollet said in an interview in Stockholm earlier Friday that he was confident that "we will see a lot of overlap in terms of our perspective" in relation to the E.U.'s strategy on China.

"We respect that there's a multiplicity of views within the E.U., even though at a strategic level there is greater convergence on the PRC within the E.U., and between the U.S. and the E.U., than at any moment that we have had in our history, since 1949," Chollet said.

Bloomberg's Natalia Drozdiak contributed to this report.
Japanese and South Korean officials held hourslong talks into early Saturday and agreed on a visit later this month by South Korean experts to the Fukushima nuclear plant before it begins the controversial release of treated but radioactive water into the sea. The safety of the water is a major sticking point as the two sides work to improve long-strained ties.

Discussions were held Friday in Seoul and online, in which the Japanese government also provided an update on the status of the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Officials are preparing to release the water, saying it's an unavoidable step for the decommissioning process.

Japan's Foreign Ministry, after a nearly 12-hour meeting that ran past midnight, issued a statement early Saturday saying the two sides agreed to have a four-day visit by a South Korean delegation to Japan that includes a Fukushima nuclear plant tour, and that "further details, including its program" need to be finalized.

The government and the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, say the water release will begin between spring and summer and take decades to finish.

A massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi plant's cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt and release large amounts of radiation. Water used to cool the three damaged reactor cores, which remain highly radioactive, leaks into the basements of the reactor buildings and is collected, treated and stored in about 1,000 tanks that now cover much of the plant.

The government and TEPCO say the tanks must be removed to make room to build facilities for the plant's decommissioning and to minimize the risk of leaks in case of another major disaster. The tanks are expected to reach their capacity of 1.37 million tons in early 2024.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, during his May 7-8 visit to Seoul for a summit with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, announced that Japan would receive a team of experts at the plant later in May to address South Korea's concerns in a show of his desire to further improve relations.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Saturday the two sides held "in-depth discussions" on what the South Korean experts would see and do at the plant and that further consultations were planned to finalize the details.

Seoul wants to send some 20 government experts to visit the Fukushima Daiichi plant on May 23-24, although the group's actual size will be determined after further talks with Japan, Park Ku-yeon, first vice minister of South Korea's Office for Government Policy Coordination, said Friday.

Park said the plant visit is aimed at "reviewing the safety of the entire ocean discharge process," including Japan's water treatment facility and its operation and technologies to measure contamination levels in treated water.

Asked whether Seoul would consider lifting its import ban on seafood from Fukushima if it determines Japan's water release plan is safe, Park replied "absolutely not," citing South Korean public concerns and a need for deeper investigations into the environmental impact of the 2011 disaster.

Japanese officials said the Korean delegation's plant visit is not an inspection and does not involve a safety assessment, review or evaluation of the water discharge plan, because it's already under review by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Japan has been assisted by the IAEA for credibility and transparency.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Thursday the visit would not affect the timing of a planned release of the water and that Japan continues to provide explanations about safety measures to aid understanding.

Japanese officials say the water will be safely filtered to below releasable levels by international standards and further diluted by large amounts of seawater before release, making it harmless to human health or marine life.

The plan has faced fierce protests from local fishing communities concerned about safety and reputational damage. Neighboring countries, including South Korea, China and the Pacific Island nations, have also raised safety concerns. South Korea and China ban food imports from around Fukushima and describe the water as "contaminated" instead of "treated" despite the Japanese government's repeated protests.

Some scientists say the impact of long-term, low-dose exposure to tritium and other radionuclides on the environment and humans is still unknown and the release should be delayed.

Historical disputes have strained ties between Tokyo and Seoul  most recently over the compensation of wartime Korean forced laborers during Japan's 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula. But their relationship has thawed rapidly since March, when Yoon's government announced a local fund to compensate some of the former laborers. Tokyo and Seoul, under pressure from Washington, share a sense of urgency to mend ties amid growing security threats in the region.

Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  Army veteran Ed Reeves knows his name could be on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial if it hadnt been for his German shepherd Prince.

It was Feb. 14, 1971  Valentines Day  Reeves and Prince were a scout team scoping out a trail in Phu Bai, Vietnam, as a group of U.S. soldiers followed behind. A small tree had fallen on the path, but Prince went around it instead of jumping over it. Reeves tried to get the dog to come back but Prince kept circling around the area. Reeves said he could not figure out what the dog was doing so he tried to walk over the tree. Prince came underneath him and put his nose to the ground to indicate something was there.

I took a step back and he looked at me like, There you go, stupid, said Reeves, 72. The dog had discovered a mine was hidden at the spot.

More than 4,000 dogs were trained for scouting, tracking, sentry duty, mine/tunnel detection and water patrols during the Vietnam War. The dogs are believed to have prevented about 10,000 service members from dying, according to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, the nonprofit organization that built the wall.

But to the military, the efforts of the dogs were not a factor when it was time to come home. Some service members tried to get their dogs back to the U.S., but only 204 dogs returned from Vietnam -- 2,000 were euthanized.

Few people attending a three-day Welcome Home commemoration in the nations capital to honor Vietnam veterans and mark the 50th anniversary of the wars end knew about the dogs that served in Vietnam. Many of them at the event who passed by a tent set up by the Vietnam Veterans Dog Handler Association made similar comments: I had no idea about dogs in Vietnam and Did we really leave dogs there?

Joe Gilleran was a sentry and a dog handler in the Army in Ban Me Thuot, Vietnam, in 1970-71. As a sentry, he monitored areas that contained ammunition and fuel, and he conducted perimeter sweeps and base security.

Gilleran volunteered for the service in Scranton, Pa., in 1970 after a couple of guys from his block were drafted and died.

I didnt think it was right that some people had to go while others did not, he said.

It took him a while to find the right job in the Army, but Gilleran was happy when he became a dog handler. He said his German shepherd, Rex, was the best-looking dog in Vietnam, but doesnt know what happened to the dog after the war. Gilleran, 72, said he assumes the worst.

He also said there could be a few reasons why the military did not bring dogs home from the war.

It was Uncle Sam being Uncle Sam. Sorry, honey, we dont have the money, Gilleran said, referring to it being a cost-saving measure.

The military also thought dogs were carrying diseases that could be transported back to the United States and they were treated like excess equipment if there was not room on a plane or places were not lined up for the dogs to live in America, he said.

Reeves said when he left Vietnam on July 2, 1971, he was not allowed to have contact with Prince. As he was driving off in a jeep, Prince chased him down and he stopped to say goodbye.

It was the happiest day of my life, but also the saddest day leaving him behind, Reeves said.

He arrived back in the U.S. on July 4, 1971, and Reeves said he thought about Prince and what happened to him. But 36 years later, Reeves learned Prince was one of the 204 dogs who made it home. Prince worked for four years as a drug-sniffing dog for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in San Diego. He retired to a kennel in that city and died of natural causes in 1983.

In 2000, Robbys Law was passed by Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton requiring all military working dogs suitable for adoption be available for placement after their service.

There is nothing that can be done to fix the past, Reeves said. But at least we know nothing like that will happen again.

The dogs who served in Vietnam are now receiving recognition.

A memorial was unveiled Sept. 28, 2019, at the Motts Military Museum in Groveport, Ohio, called The Vietnam War Dog Team Memorial to honor the 4,225 dogs who served Vietnam. Deputy Director Lori Motts said she was not aware of what dogs did during the Vietnam War, and she was upset about what happened to them.

I said people have to know what happened. I said we have to create a memorial, we have to do something to keep these dogs memories alive and let people know what they did, she said.

Motts said it took three years to raise $113,000 for the memorial and complete the research and work of the memorial to ensure every dogs name and serial number were listed on the wall. The granite stone for the dog memorial came from the same quarry in India that was used for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

In my mind, thats the vision I had, Mott said. I wanted a wall similar to that wall with every dogs name and numbers in alphabetical order so their handlers could come and find them.

In addition to the dogs, the wall includes the names of 297 dog handlers, one veterinary and two veterinary technicians who died in the war.

In front of the wall, there is a statue of a dog and his handler. The statue is based on a photo of Reeves and Prince from 1971. Reeves is a volunteer at the museum who worked with Motts throughout the process with finding records and information. She said it took some convincing for Reeves and Prince to be the model for the statue.

[Reeves] doesnt feel like he really did anything other than what anybody else did at the time, Motts said. I told him, Thats the point. You guys were the grunts on the ground taking all the heat. You guys need to be out front  you and Prince walking point.
Rosalie's Restaurant in Strasburg is now under the ownership of 18-year-old Samantha Frye. She bought the diner April 1 from Bob and Stephanie Roth.

STRASBURG, Ohio  Rosalie's Restaurant is an Ohio diner that occupies a warm place in the heart of its village for more reasons than the food, though the food is the attraction that draws people and provides a common bond.

It is a place where a teen can find her first job, a husband and return more than half a century later to have breakfast with their children and grandchildren.

And it is now where Samantha Frye, 18, embarks on a career as a restaurateur and entrepreneur with savings from her own food-service jobs and financing from the previous owners. The Dover High School graduate bought the American-style eatery last month from Bob and Stephanie Roth, who still live in the house behind the restaurant.

Samantha Frye cooks at Rosalie's Restaurant in Strasburg. The 18-year-old bought the diner last month from Bob and Stephanie Roth.

"I started working when I was 14 and then when I was 16, I got two jobs, one of them being here," Frye said. "I eventually had three jobs at one point. And then I worked with my dad. So, basically, I just worked a lot."

She spent about nine months washing dishes at Rosalie's before she started serving. She began cooking at Rosalie's when she was 17 and has also worked at Blazin Burgers, a restaurant in nearby Dover.

"She's always been a go getter," her mother Brandi Beitzel wrote in a text message. "Sam just has me in awe! I think back to when I was her age and there is no way I would have had the knowledge or the courage, or even be able to wrap my mind around the enormity of owning a restaurant."

Don Gerber is a regular customer of Rosalie's Restaurant in Strasburg. His grandfather worked with the great-grandfather of the diner's new owner, 18-year-old Samantha Frye.

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'How many 18-year-olds do you see like that?'

Don Gerber of Strasburg is among her admirers and regular customers.

"I think she's a great young lady," he said. "She's got everything all in order, knows what she wants. She's doing what she wants. She's really friendly. I've known her for as long as she's been here working. I knew her grandpa."

Story continues

Gerber and some other regulars, his dining companions, call her Spike, the nickname shared by her grandfather Gregory Beitzel and great-grandfather Orin Beitzel.

Gerber is amazed that she had time to go to school with all the jobs she worked.

"When we heard that she bought the place, we were shocked  18 years old, and she's buying the place, got enough money for a down payment," said Gerber. "How many 18-year-olds do you see like that? Not too many."

Frye said that while her parents, Beitzel of Strasburg, and Jason Frye of Winfield, are proud of her, "My mom, she was pretty angry at first, because her dream was for me was to finish college."

Frye went to Ohio State University in the fall with plans to study environmental engineering. But when the chance to buy the restaurant arose, she didn't return for the spring semester. She said she may take courses at an area university in the future.

"I was not on board with her leaving OSU and taking on such a huge responsibility at her age," Beitzel wrote. "But over time, I warmed up to it and realized that it might not have been the path I envisioned (for) her on but it's the path she wanted to take.

"And I couldn't be more proud. I worked in the restaurant industry for 22 years and I know there are going to (be) many obstacles and challenges ahead of her, but with her drive and ambition the sky is the limit."

Dover High School graduate Samantha Frye, 18, bought Rosalie's Restaurant in Strasburg last month.

Frye's concern for the environment may figure in the decisions she makes at Rosalie's.

"I want to start doing compost eventually, so we're not wasting as much food," she said of the restaurant, which is open seven days a week for breakfast and lunch.

And she doesn't plan to change its name.

"It's working," she said. "Why change it?"

"If you change it, I'll never remember it," said customer Ed Weaver, lightheartedly. He visited Rosalie's on a recent Saturday morning with his wife Doris and several members of their family.

Ed and Doris Weaver visit Rosalie's Restaurant regularly for a meal with their family. They met at the Strasburg diner when she was a dishwasher and he was a customer.

The diner as matchmaker

The Weavers met at Rosalie's, then called Cindy's, after Doris got a job washing dishes there at the suggestion of her mother Esther Snellenberger.

The year was 1967, and she was about 18. Ed sat at the table in the southwestern corner of the dining room. Every night when he came in, he'd play the same song on the jukebox. She knew he was there when she heard it. Neither remembers its name. One night, he met her by a back door.

"He asked me, 'Are you dating anybody?'"

Ed's corner booth became Doris and Ed's corner booth.

"That's why we like it here so much. It brings back a lot of memories," Doris said.

The couple, who live about two miles west of Rosalie's in Franklin Township, celebrated 55 years of marriage on March 23.

The diner at 989 North Wooster Ave. is a regular meeting place for their family.

"I just like the atmosphere," said Ed. He likes the food, too. "The Mess is a wonderful, wonderful breakfast ... eggs, potatoes, whatever meats you want, gravy. It's all mixed together."

He takes his with sausage.

Doris had eggs, toast and sausage at their recent gathering. She also likes the cheeseburgers, hamburgers and french fries.

"Anything else that you would get in here is excellent, too," Doris said. Daily specials include creamed chipped beef on toast, baked pasta and poor man's steak  chopped sirloin with gravy.

The Weavers' son-in-law Jacob Smalley of Uhrichsville said he likes Rosalie's because it is family-oriented.

Rosalie's Restaurant in Strasburg is now under the ownership of 18-year-old Samantha Frye, a Dover High School graduate.

Where everybody knows your name

Stephanie Roth said that creating a welcoming atmosphere was a goal when she and her husband Bob took over the operation in 2016 from Terry and Rosalie Reed, who had it for 30 years.

I said I want it to be like Cheers, so when you come in, we know your name." Stephanie said. "And that's how it's become. We made it personal. Everybody is important. The business has grown substantially. 

She said she was sad to sell Rosalie's, but had to step away because of her health and the need to look after her father and Bob's mother.

Bread fills shelves in the kitchen at Rosalie's Restaurant in Strasburg.

We just love the business. We love the people. We love our employees, Stephanie said.

On one recent visit with her mother-in-law, Stephanie started talking about some of the diner's older patrons. One had fallen. Another needed surgery but was expected to return home within the week. It felt like she was talking about her own aunts and uncles.

The customers, too, have connections among themselves.

We do have we have a lot, a lot of regulars who check on each other, Stephanie said.

She recalled how she and Bob took food to people when they were sick, or when snowstorms threatened to trap the elderly in their homes.

"A lot of them have family, but that's our mission job there, Stephanie said.

She and her husband felt it was important to give jobs to young people who wanted to work. Employees became like family, she said.

Server Mary Beth Christner takes drinks to a table at Rosalie's Restaurant in Strasburg.

"Several of them took food over to my dad and mom," she said. "Several of them stopped to see my mom and dad. They took them in as much as we took others in. And that's what the restaurants about. That's how I think it's grown. It's more about love.

I think that's how God blessed us. We took care of others. God takes care of you.

Stephanie said she and her husband felt the love returned when COVID-19 hit, causing the dining room to close.

Stacy Hostettler, a line cook at Rosalie's Restaurant in Strasburg, puts an order into the service window.

"Our employees asked us, 'What are we going to do?' I said, 'We have a savings account. We'll be OK. God will take care of it,'" Stephanie said. And then we had some customers that came in and said, 'We won't let you close.' And they tipped our employees, gave them some extra money. We paid them out of our savings account, along with a little bit that the government gave them through COVID."

Curbside pickup took place at the diner. Two waitresses started making deliveries in town.

After COVID, then when we opened back up, our business just zoomed," Stephanie said.

The list of soups, pies and coffee cakes is displayed on a whiteboard at Rosalie's Restaurant in Strasburg. There's mush, too.

Mentoring relationship continues

The Roths plan to continue to live in the house behind Rosalie's, where they can keep an eye on Stephanie's widowed father Bob Shuman, who lives in the attached apartment. They plan to continue to support Frye and Rosalie's.

Bob has helped by making pies. Stephanie has guided Frye in making the soups.

We're there to support her and help her any way she can make this a success, Stephanie said. We're not walking away. I can't do that. It's too hard."

Stephanie said she and her husband want to teach Frye how to handle the part of the business that transcends cooking, serving, cleaning and maintaining inventory, the soft skills that involve loving the customers and the place where they live.

Its the community that supports the restaurant, so the restaurant needs to support the community, Stephanie said.

Frye understands the place Rosalie's occupies in customers' lives.

Six days a week, she said, the regulars start arriving at 7 a.m. After they filter out, another crew flows in around about 10 a.m. Some stay away on Sunday when the dining room is packed.

"A few of them come twice a day," Frye said. "There are some characters. It is a little community here."

Reach reporter Nancy Molner at nancy.molnar@timesreporter.com or on Twitter at @nmolnarTR.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: 18-year-old woman buys Ohio diner: Rosalie's Restaurant in Strasburg
ROME  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had private talks with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday, later saying he sought support for his peace plan from the pontiff , who in the past has offered to try to help end the war launched by Russia's invasion of Ukraine a year ago.

Zelenskyy held his hand over his heart and said it was a "great honor" to meet with the pope. Francis, using a cane for his knee problem, came to greet the Ukrainian president before ushering him into a papal studio near the Vatican's audience hall. "Thank you for your visit,'' Francis said, as their 40-minute-long meeting began.

In a tweet after the papal audience, Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to Francis for "his personal attention to the tragedy of millions of Ukrainians." He said he spoke with the pontiff "about the tens of thousands of deported (Ukrainian) children. We must make every effort to return them home."

Last month, Ukraine's prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, asked the pope to help get the children returned from Russia to Ukraine. But the Vatican's written statement after Saturday's talks made no mention of the request for help for the children.

Instead, the Vatican said the two men spoke about Ukraine's "humanitarian and political situation provoked by the war going on."

"The pope assured his constant prayer, paid witness to by his many public appeals and by his continued invoking of the Lord for peace, since February of last year," the Vatican said, a reference to the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, by Russia's military.

"Both agreed on the need to continue humanitarian efforts" to help the population, the Holy See's statement added. "The pope underlined in particular the urgent need for 'humanitarian gestures' toward the most fragile persons, innocent victims of the conflict," the statement said.

Zelenskyy also said that he asked the pope to condemn Russian "crimes in Ukraine" because "there can be no equality between the victim and the aggressor." And he said he asked Francis to come aboard Ukraine's peace plan.

"I also talked about our Peace Formula as the only effective algorithm for achieving a just peace,'' Zelenskyy said. Later, in an interview on Italian state TV, the Ukrainian leader said the pope "knows my position. The war is in Ukraine, that is why it has to be Ukraine's plan" to bring peace.

Zelenskyy's 10-point plan would establish a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes. It would also create a European-Atlantic security architecture with guarantees for Ukraine, restore Ukraine's damaged power infrastructure and ensure safety around Europe's largest nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia.

Earlier in the day, Zelenskyy received from Italian officials pledges of both open-ended military and financial support as well as stronger backing for Ukraine's cherished aim to join the European Union.

"The message is clear and simple," Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said, flanked by Zelenskyy as the two briefed reporters after their meeting at her office, which lasted more than an hour. "The future of Ukraine is a future of peace and freedom. And it's the future of Europe, a future of peace and freedom, for which there are no other possible solutions.''

Meloni also renewed her pledge to champion Ukraine's EU ambitions, saying Ukraine was moving ahead with required reforms despite the war.

The premier, who staunchly supports military aid for Ukraine, said Italy would back the country "360 degrees for all the time necessary and beyond."

Zelenskyy began his official meetings by calling on Italian President Sergio Mattarella at the presidential Quirinale Palace. "We are fully at your side," Mattarella told Zelenskyy as he welcomed him. Later, after their meeting, presidential palace sources said Mattarella assured his guest that Italy would continue to support Ukraine militarily and financially, as well as with reconstruction and humanitarian aid, in both the short and long term.

Since the war began, Italy has contributed about 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in military and financial aid, as well as humanitarian assistance.

Zelenskyy is believed to be heading to Berlin next for what would be his first visit to Germany since the war began. The exact schedule was not publicly announced because of security concerns.

At the end of April, flying back to Rome from a trip to Hungary, Francis told reporters on the plane that the Vatican was involved in a behind-the-scene peace mission but gave no details. Neither Russia nor Ukraine has confirmed such an initiative.

He has said he would like to go to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, if such a visit could be coupled with one to Moscow, in hopes a papal pilgrimage could further the cause of peace.

The German government, meanwhile, said it was providing Ukraine with additional military aid worth more than 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Berlin wanted to show with the latest package of arms "that Germany is serious in its support" for Ukraine.

"Germany will provide all the help it can, as long as it takes," he said.

Frank Jordans in Berlin, Joanna Kozlowska in London, and Nicole Winfield and Gianfranco Stara in Rome contributed to this report.
MATAMOROS, Mexico  Migrants rushed across the Mexico border Thursday, racing to enter the U.S. before pandemic-related asylum restrictions are lifted in a shift that threatens to put a historic strain on the nations beleaguered immigration system.

The imminent end of the rules known as Title 42 stirred fear among migrants that the changes would make it more difficult for them to stay in the U.S. And the Biden administration was dealt a potentially serious legal setback when a federal judge temporarily blocked its attempt to more quickly release migrants when Border Patrol holding stations are full.

With a late-night deadline looming, misinformation and confusion buffeted migrants as they paced the border at the Rio Grande, often unsure of where to go or what to do next.

At Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas, throngs of migrants  some clutching small children  waded across spring river currents, pushed through thickets to confront a border fortified with razor wire. Other migrants settled into shelters in northern Mexico, determined to secure an asylum appointment that can take months to schedule online.

Many migrants were acutely aware of looming policy changes designed to stop illegal crossings and encourage asylum seekers to apply online and consider alternative destinations, including Canada or Spain.

I dont know whats going to happen tomorrow, said Jhoan Daniel Barrios, a former military police officer from Venezuela as he paced with two friends along the the border in Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, looking for a chance to seek refuge in the U.S.

We dont have any money left, we dont have food, we dont have a place to stay, the cartel is pursuing us, said Barrios, whose wife was in U.S. custody. What are we going to do, wait until they kill us?

Last week, Barrios and his friends entered the U.S. and were expelled. They had little hope of a different result Thursday.

On the U.S. side of the river, many surrendered immediately to authorities and hoped to be released while pursuing their cases in backlogged immigration courts, which takes years.

It was not clear how many migrants were on the move or how long the surge might last. By Thursday evening, the flow seemed to be slowing in some locations, but it was not clear why, or whether crossings would increase again after the coronavirus-related restrictions expire.

A U.S. official reported the Border Patrol stopped some 10,000 migrants on Tuesday  nearly twice the level from March and only slightly below the 11,000 figure that authorities have said is the upper limit of what they expect after Title 42 ends.

More than 27,000 people were in U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody, the official said.

Our buses are full. Our planes are full, said Pedro Cardenas, a city commissioner in Brownsville, Texas, just north of Matamoros, as recent arrivals headed to locations across the U.S.

President Joe Biden's administration has been unveiling strict new measures to replace Title 42, which since March 2020 has allowed border officials to quickly return asylum seekers back over the border on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19.

The new policies crack down on illegal crossings while also setting up legal pathways for migrants who apply online, seek a sponsor and undergo background checks. If successful, the reforms could fundamentally alter how migrants arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border.

But it will take time to see results. Biden has conceded the border will be chaotic for a while. Immigrant advocacy groups have threatened legal action. And migrants fleeing poverty, gangs and persecution in their homelands are still desperate to reach U.S. soil at any cost.

Many migrants were acutely aware of looming policy changes as they searched Thursday for an opportunity to turn themselves over to U.S. immigration authorities before the 11:59 EDT deadline.

While Title 42 prevented many from seeking asylum, it carried no legal consequences, encouraging repeat attempts. After Thursday, migrants face being barred from entering the U.S. for five years and possible criminal prosecution.

Holding facilities along the border already were far beyond capacity. But late Thursday, U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell, an appointee of President Donald Trump, halted the administrations plan to begin releasing migrants with notices to report to an immigration office in 60 days when holding centers reach 125% capacity, or where people are held an average of 60 hours. The quick releases were to also be triggered when authorities stop 7,000 migrants along the border in a day.

The state of Florida argued the administrations plan was nearly identical to another Biden policy previously voided in federal court. Earlier Thursday, the Justice Department said its new move was a response to an emergency and being prevented from carrying it out could overwhelm the border and raise serious health and safety risks to noncitizens and immigration officials.

Weatherell blocked the releases for two weeks and scheduled a May 19 hearing on whether to extend his order.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had already warned of more crowded Border Patrol facilities to come.

I cannot overstate the strain on our personnel and our facilities," he told reporters Thursday.

Even as migrants were racing to reach U.S. soil before the rules expire, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said smugglers were sending a different message. He noted an uptick in smugglers at his country's southern border offering to take migrants to the United States and telling them the border was open starting Thursday.

On Wednesday, Homeland Security announced a rule to make it extremely difficult for anyone who travels through another country, like Mexico, or who did not apply online, to qualify for asylum. It also introduced curfews with GPS tracking for families released in the U.S. before initial asylum screenings.

The administration says it is beefing up the removal of migrants found unqualified to stay in the U.S. on flights like those that brought nearly 400 migrants home to Guatemala from the U.S. on Thursday.

Among them was Sheidi Mazariegos, 26, who arrived with her 4-year-old son just eight days after being detained near Brownsville.

I heard on the news that there was an opportunity to enter, I heard it on the radio, but it was all a lie, she said. Smugglers got her to Matamoros and put the two on a raft. They were quickly apprehended by Border Patrol agents.

Mazariegos said she made the trek because she is poor and hoped to reunite with her sisters living in the U.S.

At the same time, the administration has introduced expansive new legal pathways into the U.S.

Up to 30,000 people a month from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela can enter if they apply online with a financial sponsor and enter through an airport. Processing centers are opening in Guatemala, Colombia and elsewhere. Up to 1,000 can enter daily though land crossings with Mexico if they snag an appointment on an online app.

At shelters in northern Mexico, many migrants chose not to rush to the border and waited for existing asylum appointments or hopes of reserving one online.

At the Agape Mision Mundial shelter in Tijuana, hundreds of migrants bided their time. Daisy Bucia, 37, and her 15-year-old daughter arrived at the shelter over three months ago from Mexicos Michoacan state  fleeing death threats  and have an asylum appointment Saturday in California.

Bucia read on social media that pandemic-era restrictions were ending at the U.S.-Mexico border, but preferred to cross with certainty later.

What people want more than anything is to confuse you, Bucia said.

Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Rebecca Santana in Washington; Christopher Sherman in Mexico City; Gerardo Carrillo in Matamoros, Mexico; Maria Verza in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; Morgan Lee in Santa Fe, New Mexico; Giovanna DellOrto in El Paso; and Elliot Spagat in Tijuana, Mexico, contributed to this report.
AUSTIN, Texas  A battalion commander for the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Cavazos was fired after a command investigation called into question his ability to lead troops, according to officials at the Texas Army post.

Lt. Col. Damasio Davila was relieved as commander of the 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment on April 26 by Col. Chris Dempsey, the commander of 1st Brigade Combat Team, due to a loss of trust in his ability to command, base officials said. He had led the unit since June 2021.

He is at least the third commanding officer within the brigade and at least the fourth within the division to be fired within the past two years.

Lt. Col. Jennifer Bocanegra, spokeswoman for the 1st Cavalry Division, declined to comment on the investigation or its findings.

As a matter of policy, the Army does not comment on investigations, she said in a statement.

Dempsey, the brigade commander who removed Davila, took over the unit after the previous commander, Col. Jon Meredith, came under a criminal investigation for sexual misconduct. Meredith will be arraigned Monday in a Fort Cavazos courtroom on charges of abusive sexual contact and conduct unbecoming of an officer.

Meredith became commander of the unit in May 2021 after his predecessor, Col. Michael Schoenfeldt, was removed from command for bullying staff. The unit was deployed to Poland at the time.

Six months prior to Schoenfeldts firing, the Army published a report from the Fort Hood Independent Review Commission that found the quality-of-life of soldiers and families assigned to the base had greatly deteriorated because of lack of trust in leadership, as well as an environment that permitted sexual assault and harassment. The commission was formed to investigate the experiences of soldiers at Fort Hood following the killing of a soldier on post.

The reports release triggered the suspension of then 1st Cavalry Division commander Maj. Gen. Jeffery Broadwater while an internal review took place. That report was not publicly released, and officials said Broadwater did not face disciplinary action. However, he did not return to command.

Maj. Gen. John Richardson took command of the division in July 2021 and remains in the job.

Bocanegra did not answer questions about possible issues within the unit that could lead to repeated misconduct from leaders.

Lt. Gen. Sean Bernabe, commander of III Corps and Fort Cavazos, was asked the same question in February during a meeting with reporters and he cautioned against connecting the cases.

I know that's a tendency. People want to do that. Just like filling the space with rumors, or what have you, trying to connect dots where there may not be a connection is also not helpful and potentially dangerous, he said.
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.  Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin traveled to the Army's largest base in the United States to meet with some military families and listen to them talk about their concerns about quality-of-life problems, in particular finding and paying for child care.

Austin said he chose to visit Fort Bragg to listen to Army families because he has a personal connection to the North Carolina base and some of the brightest minds in the service are stationed there. Austin held several commands at Fort Bragg during his Army career.

"My No. 1 priority is to defend this country," he told a group of soldiers with the 82nd Airborne Division, part of the Army's XVIII Airborne Corps that's stationed at the base. "My second priority is to take care of people and I want to make sure that you have the resources that you need to be successful."

Austin flew into Fayetteville in the southern part of North Carolina on Friday to spend several hours on a whirlwind tour, meeting with many people at many stops  service leaders, policy advisers, new ROTC graduates and concerned military families.

During a private meeting with Austin, families told him about some of their top struggles with military life, including difficulty finding, keeping and paying for child care on bases. Part of the problem is there aren't enough on-base providers, which leaves only one option -- private child care off base, which is more expensive, they said.

On some installations, military parents are stuck on long waitlists for on-base child care. The problem has gotten so serious, the military has been helping families pay for Pentagon-approved providers off base.

A congressional watchdog report issued this year said the problem in particular affects lower-ranking service members who struggle more to afford private care, even with the Pentagon helping to pay for it.

We heard a lot of questions from service members today on child care, a defense official on the trip said after Austin's meeting with the families.

The family members asked Austin whether more can be done to help them, the official said. Austin said one help that he wants to institute is stripping down some of the military process for dual-income families.

In his meeting, Austin said a partial solution is in helping spouses find employment quicker and removing some of the burdens on dual-income households. One way that the Pentagon is looking to do this is getting state governments to allow spouses to quickly transfer their professional licenses -- such as a nursing or business license. In many cases, it can now take months for spouses to get licensed in another state, which means months of lost income.

In December, the Pentagon announced an increase in the rates that it would pay for on-base providers  a measure to keep them from seeking higher pay elsewhere -- and increased the private-care subsidy from $1,500 to $1,700 per month. Austin promised the families that more will be done to help, the defense official said.

Later during Austins tour of the Fort Bragg area, he underscored what he said was a sign of the Pentagon's commitment to military families by visiting children at nearby Kimberly Hampton Primary School, a Defense Department-operated child development center for 800 children of military members from pre-kindergarten through 1st grade.

After entering, Austin stopped in the hallway to speak with a seven-year-old girl who mentioned how proud she was that her school is named after a female military hero. Army Capt. Kimberly Hampton was a member of the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg and helicopter pilot who died in the Iraq War in 2004. She was the first female U.S. military pilot to be shot down and killed by enemy fire.

Remember, you can be anything you want to be if youre willing to work for it, Austin told her, saying hes excited to see what she will be doing in 25 years.

Another young girl from another classroom wasnt shy about rattling off a series of her favorite school subjects and told Austin she's thinking about multimedia production as a career.

Austin's tour of Fort Bragg highlighted another prevailing issue in the military  the inability to recruit enough qualified troops.

Last week, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth told lawmakers that the service will not meet its goal of 65,000 new recruits in 2023. Air Force and Navy leaders have also told lawmakers those services will have recruiting shortfalls this year.

Last year, the Army missed its recruiting goal by 15,000 and the services have introduced several incentives to boost those numbers, including financial bonuses, a new recruiting ribbon, choice of duty station out of basic training, and promotion points.

When Austin met with soldiers at Fort Bragg on Friday, he repeatedly told them how much they are needed and President Joe Biden is always thinking about their well-being.

"Be proud of who you are, America's best, he told another group of soldiers in the 82nd Airborne. "We have sent you a lot of places in the past, and were going to call on you again. And when we call you again, my expectation is that you will be ready."

The trip to Fayetteville had other personal connections for Austin, a retired four-star Army general. Beyond serving at Fort Bragg in his military career, his wife Charlene graduated from nearby Fayetteville State University, one of North Carolina's oldest Historically Black Universities, where Austin on Saturday gave a commencement address.

Fort Bragg, however, will only be Fort Bragg for a few more weeks. Named for Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg, a controversial figure from the Civil War whose family was said to have own slaves, the base will be redesignated Fort Liberty on June 2.

The change is one of many that have been ordered by the Pentagon in the past year at southern bases with names honoring other Confederate leaders.
Hodding Carter III, an Emmy-winning journalist and political commentator who covered the civil rights movement in the South, served as the State Department's spokesman during the Iran hostage crisis and promoted media innovation as head of the Knight journalism foundation, died May 11 at a retirement community in Chapel Hill, N.C. He was 88.

The cause was complications from a series of strokes, said his daughter Catherine Carter Sullivan.

A Mississippi newspaperman with a Princeton pedigree, Mr. Carter helped run his family's crusading, anti-segregationist newspaper and worked for Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign before becoming the top public affairs official for Cyrus R. Vance, the publicity-averse secretary of state, in 1979.

Mr. Carter, who was unrelated to the president but shared his background as a White liberal from the South, persuaded Vance to allow television cameras into daily briefings at Foggy Bottom. With a soothing drawl, he answered reporters' questions on strategic arms negotiations, the Panama Canal treaties and the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel.

But he was little known to most Americans before November 1979, when Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took dozens of hostages. Mr. Carter went on to deliver frank and frequent updates on the hostages' condition and efforts to rescue them, becoming "as omnipresent as Johnny Carson or Walter Cronkite," as People magazine put it. Some White House officials grumbled that it was hard to tell which Carter was president.

Mr. Carter parlayed his prominence into a contract with the William Morris talent agency, reinventing himself as a columnist and broadcast journalist after leaving the State Department in 1980. He appeared as a panelist on programs including "This Week With David Brinkley," worked as a correspondent for "Frontline," hosted the PBS media-analysis series "Inside Story" and received four Emmy Awards for television documentaries on foreign policy and civil rights.

He also taught at universities and, beginning in 1997, led the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Over the next eight years he grew the organization's endowment to more than $1.9 billion and more than doubled its grants to journalists and news organizations, to some $90 million annually.

But he remained best known for his tenure as assistant secretary of state for public affairs, which led veteran Washington correspondent William M. Beecher to call him "the best guy I have seen in his job in 20 years." Hailed by Time magazine as "the new voice of America" during the hostage crisis, he said that he benefited from an early image as "an ignorant, silly hick from Mississippi," which bought him time to learn the ins and outs of the job.

While Mr. Carter was largely unfamiliar with the intricacies of foreign policy, he was far from a rube, having spent nearly two decades as a journalist at his family's newspaper, the Delta Democrat-Times in Greenville, Miss. His father, the longtime publisher and editor, had received a 1946 Pulitzer Prize and death threats from the Ku Klux Klan for writing editorials against intolerance.

Mr. Carter followed in his footsteps as a reporter and later as publisher, writing roughly 6,000 editorials before coming to Washington. He developed a good rapport with journalists including Ted Koppel, who described Mr. Carter in a Christian Science Monitor interview as "a tough, aggressive, worthy adversary," and laced his briefings with Southern colloquialisms and - when he found it necessary - evasive responses.

When a reporter wrongly speculated about a State Department policy, Mr. Carter replied, "That dog won't hunt." When another complained that Mr. Carter had "slipped off the point," Mr. Carter replied: "I hope so." Annoyed by a question from journalist and conservative gadfly Lester Kinsolving, he grabbed a rubber chicken from the podium and lobbed it at the reporter.

"The briefing is a form of ritualized combat," Mr. Carter told The Washington Post in 1980. "I like the give and take."

Mr. Carter was sometimes criticized for turning his televised briefings into a bully pulpit. But for the most part he maintained the respect of reporters and his boss, Vance, whose resignation in April 1980 precipitated Mr. Carter's own departure less than three months later.

The secretary of state had quit in protest of President Carter's decision to launch a military rescue effort in Iran, which Vance considered ill-advised. His instincts proved correct: The mission ended with a helicopter crash in the desert and the deaths of eight U.S. servicemen, with the last of the 52 American hostages remaining in captivity until January 1981.

Mr. Carter often said that he was the last to know about key developments, including the rescue mission. After telling a group of newspaper publishers in Hawaii that military action in Iran was not imminent, he took an overnight flight home and was shaken awake by a flight attendant, who wanted to express his sympathies about the raid.

"What raid?" Mr. Carter recalled asking, in a 1981 article for Playboy.

"Oh, God," the attendant replied. "I think you had better talk to the captain."

The oldest of three sons, William Hodding Carter III was born in New Orleans on April 7, 1935, and grew up in Greenville. His mother, the former Betty Werlein, was a feature writer who co-founded the Delta Star in 1936 with his father, Hodding Carter Jr. Two years later, they purchased the Star's competitor and merged the papers to form the Delta Democrat-Times.

"There was never a time I didn't realize we were completely out of step with the Whites in Greenville," Mr. Carter told The Post. His mother was said to have protected the family home from KKK attacks by sitting at the door with a shotgun on her knees.

Mr. Carter graduated from high school in Greenville after studying for a time at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. He initially vowed that he would never be a "Little" Hodding, a sidekick to his father, who was known as Big Hod. But after receiving a bachelor's degree from Princeton University in 1957 and serving in the Marine Corps for two years, Mr. Carter came home to Greenville, deciding that he owed a year to the family business.

Instead he stayed for 17, facing some of the same threats that had dogged his parents.

"I carried a gun in my car, in my pocket and in my desk from '59 until my brother" - Thomas, the youngest son - "killed himself with a pistol in '64," Mr. Carter told the Greensboro (N.C.) News & Record. His brother Philip took the reins of the paper before the Carters sold it to a politically conservative newspaper chain in 1980, angering some of their liberal readers.

Mr. Carter made headlines in 1978 when he divorced his first wife, Margaret "Peggy" Wolfe, and married President Carter's human rights chief, Patricia Derian, with whom he had worked in Democratic Party politics in Mississippi. She died in 2016. Two years later, Mr. Carter found late-in-life love when he reconnected with Patricia O'Brien, an author and reporter who had profiled him decades earlier.

"I fell in love with her instantly," Mr. Carter told the New York Times after their wedding in 2019. "But it took her at least a couple of hours to fall in love with me."

Survivors include his wife, of Brookline, Mass.; four children from his first marriage, Hodding Carter IV of Camden, Maine, Catherine Carter Sullivan of Jackson, Miss., Margaret Carter Joseph of Brevard, N.C., and Finn Carter of Worcester, Mass.; three stepchildren from his marriage to Derian, Mike Derian of Takoma Park, Md., and Craig Derian and Brooke Derian, both of Chapel Hill; a brother; and 12 grandchildren.

While teaching at schools including the University of North Carolina, where he was a professor of leadership and public policy, Mr. Carter stressed that although his job in government was to relay information that officials wanted known, he was also charged with withholding certain facts.

"If any reporters think they're going to get the truth out of a government official, they should be summarily fired," he told students in 1990. He added that his own briefings were honest - mostly.

"I gave out utterly misleading info only about four times, and I wasn't happy about it. But I didn't know about it, either," he said. "That was probably one of the reasons why we failed in that administration. For a long time, I was never given any B.S. to go out there with."
NEW YORK (Tribune News Service)  Daniel Penny, the Marine veteran caught on video placing Jordan Neely in a deadly chokehold aboard a Manhattan subway train, was released on $100,000 bond Friday after surrendering to police.

Penny arrived earlier at the 5th Precinct stationhouse in Chinatown to turn himself in on a charge of second-degree manslaughter in the killing of the 30-year-old homeless man in a headline-making and polarizing homicide, said the Manhattan District Attorneys office.

Defense attorney Thomas Kenniff confirmed Penny, 24, turned himself in to police shortly after 8 a.m., and the defendant was led in handcuffs from the Manhattan police precinct on his way to court a short time later.

Penny, in a black suit and white shirt, ignored shouted questions from reporters gathered outside, with cameras lining the street as he walked into a waiting car. Keniff said his arraignment should occur Friday afternoon.

He did so voluntarily and with the sort of dignity and integrity that is characteristic of his history of service to this grateful nation, said Kenniff. ... He has his head help up high.

The Marine was recorded May 1 on the floor of the F train inside the Broadway/Lafayette station with his left arm wrapped around the throat of Neely, a former subway busker who made money impersonating Michael Jackson.

The video showed Neely initially fighting back before he stopped moving, and the victim died shortly afterward. Penny was questioned by police later that day but was released without charges.

The justice system needs to send a clear, loud message that vigilantism has never been acceptable, said the Rev. Al Sharpton after the suspect turned himself in. Being homeless or Black or having a mental health episode should not be a death sentence.

Sharpton again called for the arrests of two other subway riders seen restraining Neely on the video.

Neely died from compression to his neck, the city medical examiner said in declaring his death a homicide.

Neely entered the train at the Second Avenue station ranting about being hungry and needing money, Freelance journalist and fellow rider Alberto Vazquez took the video of the lethal confrontation.

I dont have food, I dont have a drink, Im fed up, said Neely, according to the journalist. I dont mind if I go to jail and (get) life in prison ... Im ready to die.

Neely didnt seem like he wanted to hurt anyone, Vazquez wrote on a Facebook post.

According to police, Neely yelled and threw garbage at commuters, sparking the argument with Penny.

During the outburst, Penny allegedly came up behind him and put him in a chokehold. Video shows the two men on the floor of the subway train with Pennys legs wrapped around Neelys and his arm firmly around his neck.

The victim became homeless after moving out of his fathers Bronx apartment four years ago, instead living on the streets. His dad said Neely, who battled mental health issues and racked up 42 arrests in the last decade, was also devastated by his mothers 2007 murder.

Kenniff, who ran against District Attorney Alvin Bragg in 2020, suggested his client acted in self-defense.

When Mr. Neely began aggressively threatening Daniel Penny and the other passengers, Daniel, with the help of others, acted to protect themselves, until help arrived, said Kenniff, and his co-counsel Steven Raiser, said in a statement.

Neelys family rejected that version of the incident.

Cellphone video captures deadly chokehold incident on subway.

It is clear he is the one who acted with indifference, both at the time he killed Jordan and now in his first public message, said Donte Mills and Lennon Edwards, lawyers for Neelys family, in a statement at the beginning of the week.

He never attempted to help him at all. In short, his actions on the train, and now his words, show why he needs to be in prison, they added.

The jarring video of the chokehold and the news of Neelys death prompted angry reactions from New Yorkers and local politicians.

Hundreds of protesters and police faced off during marches and vigils throughout the week after the killing.

More than a dozen protesters, and a photojournalist, were arrested at various protests across Manhattan. Racial justice activists questioned why Penny, who is white, was not arrested immediately for the death of Neely, who is Black.

They chanted Justice for Jordan Neely and other slogans.

Demonstrators climbed onto the rail bed of the busy Second station, blocking train traffic and risking arrest and electrocution.

Mayor Adams initially cautioned patience and asked the public to allow the authorities to investigate before releasing a Wednesday statement.

Theres a lot we dont know about what happened here, the mayor said. However, we do know that there were serious mental health issues in play here, which is why our administration has made record investments in providing care to those who need it and getting people of the streets and the subways, and out of dangerous situations.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez quickly slammed Adams ambivalent response, calling Neelys death a public murder.

The Manhattan District Attorneys office had promised a rigorous investigation, including a review of the Medical Examiners report, an assessment of all available video and photo footage, and witness interviews.

Penny joined the Marines in 2017 and left four years later with the rank of sergeant. During his tour of duty he received many accolades including the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

He served in the Mediterranean and his last assignment was in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Marine Corps officials said.

2023 New York Daily News.

Visit at nydailynews.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Saturday asserted that the government would take strict action against the culprits involved in vandalising the public property during protests following the arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan.

His statement came a day after the PTI chief was granted a blanket relief by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) as the authorities were barred from arresting him in any case till May 15 (Monday).

Its important to have a stance against armed groups. There is no other option but to impose a ban on this party [PTI], the interior minister said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad.

He said the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led coalition government would be compelled to take extreme measures to outlaw the opposition party "if it did not change its attitude".

Sanaullah said the PTI chiefs only objective is to spread chaos and anarchy in the country.

He also held the Khan-led partys workers and supporters responsible for damaging public properties and storming military installations across the country during the countrywide violent protests.

The government will bring these gangs to the book. They [miscreants] will be identified through CCTV footage cameras and rounded up one by one, he added.

He also took a jibe at the courts for granting relief to the PTI chief saying the situation would have been brought under control if Khan was not granted relief.

The Interior ministers presser came hours after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed the Punjab government to move swiftly and arrest the vandals within 72 hours as he visited the Corps Commander House in Lahore that was ransacked by the PTI protesters.

"I have given law enforcement apparatus a target of 72 hours to arrest all those involved in facilitating, abetting and perpetrating the disgraceful incidents of arson, ransacking, sabotage & damaging public & private properties, the PM said after chairing a meeting at the Punjab Safe City Authority Headquarters in Lahore.

At least 10 people were killed and dozens of others sustained injuries during the two-day protests with internet services also remaining suspended for over 72 hours across the country.
Army chief General Syed Asim Munir has said that all the planners, abetters, instigators and executors of vandalism on May 9 will be brought to justice.

The armed forces will not tolerate any further attempt of violating the sanctity and security of its installations or vandalism, he said while addressing the officers during a visit to the Corps Headquarters Peshawar on Saturday.

The army chief emphasised on the evolving threats to national security. We shall continue with our endeavors of peace and stability and there will be no room for spoilers of the process, he said in his address days after rioters ran amok in different cities of the country, vandalising installations of security forces.

The army chief was given a detailed briefing on the prevailing security situation and ongoing counter-terrorism efforts. He appreciated the professional competence, performance and achievements of the law enforcement agencies in the ongoing fight against terrorism.

Gen Asim also sensitised about challenges of information warfare and efforts to create misperceptions. He highlighted that a concerted effort is being made maliciously by inimical elements to target the armed forces. He pledged that such nefarious attempts will be foiled through the support of people of Pakistan.

In an unprecedented show of vandalism, PTI supporters had attacked and caused damage to the historic Corps' Commanders House  originally known as Jinnah House and which once served as the residence of the founding father of the nation, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah  and other military installations including attacking the GHQ building in Rawalpindi hours after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested former prime minister and PTI chief Imran Khan in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case on May 9.

The ousted prime minister was arrested from inside the premises of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) earlier that day, triggering protests in many cities of the country by party activists and supporters as they clashed with the law enforcement agencies.

An FIR was later registered against leaders and activists of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf for attacking and damaging the state properties and installations.
Key Insights

Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, Johns Lyng Group fair value estimate is AU$7.28

Current share price of AU$6.77 suggests Johns Lyng Group is potentially trading close to its fair value

Our fair value estimate is 11% lower than Johns Lyng Group's analyst price target of AU$8.19

Today we will run through one way of estimating the intrinsic value of Johns Lyng Group Limited (ASX:JLG) by taking the forecast future cash flows of the company and discounting them back to today's value. The Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model is the tool we will apply to do this. 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 Johns Lyng Group

Is Johns Lyng Group Fairly Valued?

We use what is known as a 2-stage model, which simply means we have two different periods of growth rates for the company's cash flows. Generally the first stage is higher growth, and the second stage is a lower growth phase. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars:

Story continues

10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate

2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 Levered FCF (A$, Millions) AU$76.3m AU$74.7m AU$83.7m AU$100.9m AU$112.8m AU$121.6m AU$128.9m AU$135.1m AU$140.4m AU$145.1m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x7 Analyst x7 Analyst x6 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Est @ 7.76% Est @ 6.02% Est @ 4.80% Est @ 3.95% Est @ 3.35% Present Value (A$, Millions) Discounted @ 7.8% AU$70.8 AU$64.2 AU$66.7 AU$74.7 AU$77.4 AU$77.4 AU$76.1 AU$74.0 AU$71.3 AU$68.3

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = AU$721m

We now need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all the future cash flows after this ten year period. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (2.0%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 7.8%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2032  (1 + g)  (r  g) = AU$145m (1 + 2.0%)  (7.8% 2.0%) = AU$2.5b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= AU$2.5b ( 1 + 7.8%)10= AU$1.2b

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$1.9b. 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$6.8, the company appears about fair value at a 7.0% discount to where the stock price trades currently. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent.

dcf

Important Assumptions

The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. If you don't agree with these result, have a go at the calculation yourself and play with the assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Johns Lyng 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 7.8%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.987. 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 Johns Lyng Group

Strength

Earnings growth over the past year exceeded the industry.

Debt is not viewed as a risk.

Weakness

Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Construction market.

Opportunity

Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the Australian market.

Current share price is below our estimate of fair value.

Threat

Annual revenue is forecast to grow slower than the Australian market.

Next Steps:

Valuation is only one side of the coin in terms of building your investment thesis, and it shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Instead the best use for a DCF model is to test certain assumptions and theories to see if they would lead to the company being undervalued or overvalued. For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. For Johns Lyng Group, we've put together three important items you should further examine:

Risks: Be aware that Johns Lyng Group is showing 1 warning sign in our investment analysis , you should know about... Future Earnings: How does JLG's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other High Quality Alternatives: Do you like a good all-rounder? Explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every Australian stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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Daniel Bull (41) had permission to be in the flat but she returned to find he had caused the damage, a court heard.

Daniel Bull pleaded guilty to criminal damage and other charges

A father-of-two damaged his ex-partners home by throwing paint on her bedroom floor and smashing her TV while she was out.

Daniel Bull (41) had permission to be in the flat but she returned to find he had caused the damage, a court heard.

Judge John King adjourned the case at Dublin District Court for a probation report and community service assessment.

Bull, from Yorkshire but with an address at a Dublin city centre hostel, pleaded guilty to criminal damage and other charges.

Dublin District Court heard the accused was in his ex-partners flat with her permission on April 12, 2021, and while she was out, he threw paint on the bedroom floor and smashed a TV screen.

She returned to find the damage done, valued at 250.

Separately, he was staying at a flat on December 1, 2021, when gardai searched his room and found cocaine worth 1,500.

On June 24, 2019, Bull struck out at gardai after he was found in an intoxicated and agitated state on Henry Street.

He was verbally abusive to gardai who found him in the stairwell of flats at Oliver Bond House on June 28, 2020.

Bull had begun taking weed and pills in his teens and progressed on to heroin, his lawyer said. He was now on methadone.

Bull was under the influence of numerous substances at the time of his offending, the court heard. He had worked as a landscaper and was prepared to do community service.

Bull was remanded on continuing bail to a date in July.
Freeing Mongan in his own bail of 500, District Judge Amanda Henderson adjourned the case to Wednesday and hopefully the matter can be dealt with then.

A man only recently released from prison for trying to intimidate a prison governor was back in court today accused of disorderly behaviour.

Appearing at Belfast Magistrates Court by video link from police custody, 36-year-old Martin Mongan was charged with using disorderly behaviour on the Falls Road in the early hours of May 13.

Mongan, with an address at the Edward street hostel in Portadown, confirmed he understood the charge while a police officer confirmed he could connect the defendant to the charge and that police had no objections to bail.

Freeing Mongan in his own bail of 500, District Judge Amanda Henderson adjourned the case to Wednesday and hopefully the matter can be dealt with then.

The defendant was only recently released from prison having been handed a 30-month sentence last October for a bizarre case of intimidation where Mongan defended himself at trial.

Following the two-day trial at Craigavon Crown Court, Mongan was convicted by a jury of attempting to intimidate the assistant governor from his home on April 19 April, 2019.

The jury heard how Mongan made threats to the assistant governor that he would be killed with the defendant making clear that he knew where he. lived.

Bizarrely, the jury also heard how Mongan had even written a letter to his victim alleging that he had information that the governor was in his attic and masturbating while he was having sex with his wife.

Giving evidence at the trial, the assistant governor said the threats were part of a continuing saga between himself and the defendant but that knowing Mongans previous offences and record for violencehe had to undertake extra security measures to protect himself and his family.

Imposing the 30 month sentence, Judge Patrick Lynch KC ordered Mongan to serve half in jail and half on licence.
Shane Farrelly (24) is accused of hitting the woman, who suffered two brain bleeds after she fell.

Shane Farrelly is accused of attacking the woman at the James's Luas stop on March 16. Photo: Debbiesw/Wikipedia

A young woman had to be put into a medically induced coma for 10 days after she fell to the ground and fractured her skull in a one-punch attack by a man at a Luas stop, a court heard.

Shane Farrelly (24) is accused of hitting the woman, who suffered two brain bleeds after she fell.

He is also charged over another alleged street attack on her the day before, when she was punched and kicked and had earrings ripped from both of her ears.

Mr Farrelly was granted bail under conditions at Dublin District Court. Judge Brendan OReilly remanded him in custody with consent to bail.

The father-of-two from Ben Madigan Road, Drimnagh, is charged with two counts of assault causing harm.

Objecting to bail, a garda said the first alleged assault was at Ben Madigan Road on March 15.

It was alleged the woman was punched and kicked to the face and body and had a number of earrings ripped out of both her ears.

In her statement, she alleged the accused was with two other men when he attacked her. She described horrendous pain as the earrings were pulled out.

The second alleged attack took place at Jamess Luas stop the next day.

According to gardai, Mr Farrelly approached the woman and punched her once to the face. She fell to the ground and struck her head, which rendered her unconscious.

The alleged victim was taken to hospital with a skull fracture and two bleeds to the brain. She had to be kept in a medical coma for 10 days, the garda said.

In both alleged attacks, she identified the accused, who was known to her.

The garda agreed with defence solicitor Mark OSullivan the culprits face was not identifiable on CCTV footage.

Mr Farrellys home was recently burned down in a feud not related to the case, the court heard.

His partner was due to give birth to a third child and he could live at her address, Mr OSullivan said.

Judge OReilly granted bail in the accuseds own bond of 500, with no cash lodgment. He also required two independent sureties of 1,000, with half in cash.

Mr Farrelly must not contact directly or indirectly the alleged victim, or any witnesses, including by social media.

He is to sign on daily at Kevin Street garda station and stay out of the Basin Street and James Street area.
Despite Mahers apparent ill health, the Sunday World previously reported on how he set up a new pro perty company

A SERIAL fraudster  who held the role of joint secretary in Catriona Careys Careysfort Assets Estates Limited  is under hospital care and could not attend sentencing on five counts of deception, a court has heard.

Patrick Maher, who is to be questioned in the near future by gardai probing allegations of fraud at Careysfort, has already had a bench warrant issued for his arrest after he failed for sentencing on four previous occasion.

The 55-year-old, whose previous excuses for not turning up in court included strokes and stress and a fall was, on Thursday, said to be receiving hospital treatment at St. Vincents Hospital in Dublin.

The five counts of deception to which Maher previously pleaded guilty are contrary to section 6 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001.

They include four counts of obtaining monies by deception by preparing false mortgage applications, as well as a further count of conning a woman out of her car.

Catriona Carey

Each carries with it a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

At Thursdays sitting of Wexford Circuit Court, the court was informed by solicitor Ed King that Maher was in hospital at St Vincent's

The matter was adjourned to June 7 for production of a medical cert

Despite Mahers apparent ill health, the Sunday World previously reported on how he set up a new property company  less than three weeks after he previously failed to appear in court on October 7th of last year.

Mahers co-director in the new company is John Steadmond  the man identified by RTE as the fake solicitor who took calls from desperate clients of Careysfort Assets Estates Limited as they sought to get their money back.

Company documents that were obtained by this newspaper show the pairs new company J,P & P Properties, with an address at The Square, Ashford, Wicklow, was incorporated on October 25.

Maher was appointed joint secretary of Careysfort Asset Management in the UK in December 2021, having been appointed to the same role with an Irish registered version of the company two years earlier.

The company now lies at the centre of an 800,000 fraud probe after dozens of indebted property owners were scammed with promises of non-existent buybacks on their loans.
Finnegan was previously named in a Criminal Asset Bureau case in 2017 as a suspect in the murder of Eddie Hutch.

Gerry Hutch's brother Eddie, who was shot dead in 2016

This is the Kinahan-cartel thug arrested in relation to the murder of the brother of Gerry the Monk Hutch in 2016.

Convicted sex offender Barry Finnegan, who was previously named in court as a senior member of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group, was arrested on Friday in relation to the murder of Eddie Neddy Hutch.

Neddy (58), a brother of Gerard the Monk Hutch, was shot dead outside his home on Poplar Row in Dublins north inner city three days after the Regency Hotel murder.

The murder was a revenge attack carried out by the cartel following the murder of David Byrne in the hotel on February 5, 2016.

Finnegan was named in a Criminal Asset Bureau case in 2017 as a suspect in the murder of Eddie Hutch.

He has one conviction under the Criminal Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act 1990.

Gerry Hutch's brother Eddie, who was shot dead in 2016

He was also named as an associate of David Byrnes brother Liam who is a senior cartel figure.

Finnegan was also recently named in a CAB case against the cartels number one man in Ireland Ross Browning.

Finnegan has known Browning since they were kids growing up in the Hardwicke Street flats in Dublins north inner city.

Ross Browning

He was named in the CAB case as the partner of Brownings sister Cheryl.

Other associates of Finnegan include former British soldier Robert Browne who is currently serving a jail sentence for his part in a plot to murder Patsy Hutch.

Finnegan had previously been close to of a number of Hutch associates including Gary Hutch and James Mago Gately.

Finnegan even ran a business with Gately before they ended up as bitter enemies on opposing sides of the Kinahan-Hutch feud.

He was arrested by gardai on Friday in relation to Eddie Hutchs murder and can be held for up to a week before either being released or charged.

Eddie Hutch was approached by several gunmen as he pulled up in his taxi outside his home on February 8, 2016.

A silver BMW 3 series vehicle, which was believed to be the getaway car, was found abandoned a short distance away on St Patricks Parade in Drumcondra.

Eddie Hutch was the first of six people associated with the Hutch gang to be murdered by the Kinahan gang in 2016 after the Regency killing.

The gangland feud has claimed a total of 18 lives since the murder of Gary Hutch in 2015.

Eddie Hutchs younger brother, The Monk, walked free from the Special Criminal Court last month after being found not guilty of the murder of Kinahan cartel gangster David Byrne in the Regency attack.
He is now facing a total of 12 charges as a result of a combined Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Australian Border Force (ABF) drug trafficking investigation

A man has appeared in a court in Perth after he was charged for allegedly importing cocaine through the mail from Northern Ireland to Western Australia.

The 32-year-old, who is also suspected of dealing with more than $350,000 in cash, suspected to be proceeds of crime, appeared in Perth Magistrates Court yesterday and was remanded in custody to reappear on May 26.

He is now facing a total of 12 charges as a result of a combined Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Australian Border Force (ABF) drug trafficking investigation, after he was initially charged on March 31 with five alleged offences.

A 33-year-old from the Perth suburb of Morley has also been charged over some of the seized cash.

An investigation was launched on March 15 by the AFP after ABF officers in Perth intercepted an international mail consignment and allegedly found about 561g of cocaine concealed in soup sachets.

Later that month, ABF officers in Sydney intercepted a second package addressed to the same residence in the Perth suburb of Scarborough and allegedly found about 400g of cocaine hidden in sachets of curry sauce.

The AFP executed search warrants on March 31 at properties in Scarborough and Perth.

Investigators seized $116,480 cash, a mobile phone, about 28g of cocaine, 5g methamphetamine, 8g MDMA and 15g of cannabis from the Perth address, and allegedly found packaging at the Scarborough home which had traces of what they suspect to be illicit drugs.

The man (32) who was allegedly linked to both properties, was subsequently arrested and charged with five offences relating to the cash and drugs found at the warrants. He was later granted bail by the Perth Magistrates Court.

The investigation garneted Intelligence that resulted in another search warrant executed on 1 April at a Morley residence, where the AFP found $234,850 cash, which was allegedly stored there for the 32-year-old.

The investigation also led to ABF officers in Perth intercepting another consignment on 5 April, which they suspected was imported by the same man. Packets labelled as curry sauce allegedly instead contained a total of about 552g of cocaine.

The AFP executed another search warrant at the mans Perth home on Thursday (11 May) and on two cars and a motorcycle linked to him.

They allegedly found small amounts of what they suspect to be cocaine, cannabis and three MDMA tablets. The substances were seized for further forensic examination.

The man was arrested and charged with the seven additional offences, including the alleged importation of the three cocaine consignments.

The Morley resident, 33, has been charged over the $234,850 suspected illicit cash. He is due to appear in court on 23 June on one count of dealing in proceeds of crime worth $100,000 or more. This offence carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment.

AFP Inspector Matt Taylor said the AFP was committed to working with partners to ensure people could not profit from exploiting the wider community through the illicit drug trade.

While many air mail or air cargo imports may seem like relatively small amounts of illicit substances, combined they can equate to millions of individual street deals and can cause significant harm, Inspector Taylor said.

Across Australia, there were 1800 cocaine-related hospitalisations in 2020-21  almost five people each day on average. There were 12,400 hospitalisations over the same period related to methamphetamine use  33 people each day on average.

Illicit drugs can cause significant physiological, psychological, financial and social harms, not only to users but to those around them  those drug-related hospitalisations are an impost on the health system that negatively impacts the entire community.

The AFP will continue to work with partners to protect the community by disrupting attempts to import drugs into Australia.

ABF Superintendent Aviation Goods James Payne said as custodians of the nations border, ABF officers played a crucial role in detecting harmful drugs coming through the international mail system.

Criminals will try to hide illicit substances in a variety of creative ways, however our officers have many detection methods at their disposal, with officer intuition and use of innovative technologies often the driving forces behind these kind of discoveries, Superintendent Payne said.
Our fearless crime editor Nicola Tallant on digging into Irelands murky underworld for 15 years

It really just means eight or 10 splashes a year from you, said the Sunday Worlds Deputy Editor Neil Leslie. Be no bother to you.

Wed just had lunch and a bottle of wine, without which, I wouldnt have been able to hide my terror. Splashes, by the way, are front page exclusive stories, which screamed from the news stands in big banner headlines and with undercover photography to boot.

It was 2008 and I was coming in from the cold  Id spent 10 years running a successful news agency which covered everything from politics to showbiz and was far more about making lots of money than journalism.

Nicola Tallant

Crime was my natural beat, but how I was going to produce the kind of content which was theSunday World bread and butter was beyond me. I swallowed hard, raised my glass and clinched the deal to return full time to hard-hitting crime reporting.

Id watched in awe for years as investigative journalists on both sides of the border had blazed a trail with their crime reporting for the Sunday World, getting up close and personal to some of the biggest names in Irelands underworld and digging deep into their operations.

I had some good contacts and no shortage of enthusiasm, but I struggled to see how I was going to crack the style of gritty reporting that was required to hit page one.

And so I closed my eyes and dived in and discovered a sort of journalistic nirvana where every day was an adventure and where literally anything could happen.

Nicola Tallant challenges John Gilligan

Despite my own lack of confidence, I soon found myself creating those front pages with stories about the cult of Tony Quinns Educo, where millions of euro was washing in to his promises of financial freedom, weight loss and spiritual awakening; the foreign begging rackets on Irish streets which were funding millionaire crime bosses in Romania, and the seedy sex-for-sale industry and its violent bosses.

I found myself picking through abandoned houses where trafficked people were accommodated by greedy crime lords, watching street dealers ply their wares in scenes straight from The Wire from the back of surveillance vehicles, and interviewing Justice Ministers, police chiefs and community workers on the front lines in the fight against drugs.

I travelled to Serbia, Romania, Spain, Belgium, Mallorca, Mauritius, Hong Kong, The Philippines, Indonesia, the US and the UK, chasing criminals, investigating murder cases, setting up stings and seeking out the wealth of those who made their money from crime.

There were plenty of hairy moments, like the time myself and Mick McCaffrey were recognised in Puerto Banus by some Kinahan footsoldiers who called for reinforcements to teach a lesson to the Sunday World scum, there were a few dodgy encounters along the border which served as a baptism of fire in tactical driving and the occasions I stupidly found myself going into buildings without a plan to get out.

Nicola with her Crime Journalist Of The Year award in 2019

Ironically, it was the Sunday World, with its reputation for zero tolerance to crime, where I learned that its not all so black and white and where I have had the opportunity to see the bigger picture of why young men get lured into gangs and are tempted by a lifestyle of fast cars, women and wealth.

And its not because theSunday Worldglamorises it, its a far more complex problem than that. Its actually all about the fabric of society and community and the inequalities that exist for many who are marginalised and who are poor. We are actually all to blame.

There have been the encounters with the crime lords, the A-listers, who are both fascinating and frightening all at the same time. To rise to the top in a world of violence and power, you cannot show weakness or have the same moral code as ourselves.

People like Daniel Kinahan, Liam Byrne, Thomas Bomber Kavanagh and Derek Bottler Devoy have an unmistakable aura around them, a darkness that you can feel from their eyes.

Others, like George The Penguin Mitchell, the late Noel Kingsize Duggan and Gerry The Monk Hutch are a different breed  old school Dubliners who came up the hard way but who know how to hide and control their menace.

Nicola Tallant with Paul Ward   Caroline Quinn

A younger breed of cocaine fuelled and ruthless criminals like Paul Crosby and Trevor Byrne emanate a complete disorder and unpredictability, while the smugness of criminals like John Gilligan and Martin The Beast Morgan suggest they feel totally untouchable.

It would be hard to imagine any other job where meeting such characters, and often standing to talk with them, would be OK with the boss.

Or where a trip into the dark heart of an international drug cartel would be just another days work.

Im not sure many workplaces see deliveries of sodden boxes of bullets, are the scenes of confessions to murder or where the secrets of the Irish underworld are so freely discussed.

There were plenty more lunches over the years and a good few bottles of wine.

There has been fun and laughter, grief and sadness, and there has been many a day when it seems that truth is far stranger than fiction.

Nicola Tallant tracking down George The Penguin Mitchell in Traben-Trarbach, Germany in 2015.   Kevin Mc Nulty

Along the way the pen and notebook has been replaced by cameras and microphones and the newspaper has been complemented with a website and podcasts and videos as we look forward to a digital future for the extraordinary, brash and noisy being that is the Sunday World.

It seems like a long time ago that my lifelong friend Neil Leslie suggested that it would be no bother to me to become part of the good ship Sunday World.

In the 15 years that have followed Ive had an education that I could never have got in any university.

And as many of us Sunday Worlders will tell you, its the stories we cant tell that are the truly entertaining.

So, still standing, I raise a glass to 50 years and wish the best little newspaper a Happy Birthday and many more years to come.
(Bloomberg) -- A former executive at TikTok parent ByteDance Inc. who was fired in 2018 said in a lawsuit that the Chinese Communist Party had a special office within the company that gave it supreme access to all data, a backdoor channel that he said persisted even after US user data was walled off from individual engineers in China.

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In a complaint filed Friday in California state court, Yintao Roger Yu said he was terminated from his job as head of engineering in the US in retaliation for his complaints to supervisors about brazenly unlawful conduct at the company.

ByteDance called the allegations baseless and said it will vigorously fight the suit, which comes as TikTok is making an all-out effort to avoid being banned in the US.

ByteDance is committed to respecting the intellectual property of other companies, and we acquire data in accordance with industry practices and our global policy, a spokesperson said in a statement, which noted that Yu worked for the company for less than a year.

Yu alleges his bosses were dismissive when he voiced concern that ByteDance was stealing copyrighted content from other platforms including Instagram and Snapchat, as well as fabricating users to exaggerate its metrics and help Chinas Communist Party spread propaganda to a larger audience.

How TikTok Became a US-China National Security Issue: QuickTake

He also said he was struck by the misdirection of TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Chews March testimony before Congress to allay national security concerns about the platforms ties to China in light of his own on-the-job knowledge that the CCP maintained a backdoor channel to US user data.

It was known within the company that a special government-controlled committee had a significant role even though it did not work for ByteDance, Yu said.

Story continues

The Committee maintained supreme access to all the company data, even data stored in the United States, according to the suit. After receiving criticism about access from abroad, individual engineers in China were restricted from accessing U.S. user data, but the Committee continued to have access.

Yu alleges the company was driven by a culture of lawlessness that focused on growth at all costs.

He was surprised by the brazenly unlawful conduct within the company, which was euphemistically excused as entrepreneurship, according to the complaint.

Soon after he joined the company in 2017, Yu learned that ByteDance had for years undertaken a worldwide scheme (including in California) to steal and profit from the copyrighted works of others, according to the complaint.

He also discovered that the company was programming fabricated users to like and follow real user accounts to boost the engagement metrics relied on by potential investors, according to the complaint.

TikTok has been under intense scrutiny from Congress and a federal national security review over concerns about potential influence from the Chinese government because ByteDance is based in China. Multiple bills have been introduced that would limit or ban the app in the US.

As recently as this month in a letter to Congress, the company said it has never shared any US user data with the Chinese government, and wouldnt if requested to do so. TikTok says it is in the process of walling off its sensitive US operations into a separate entity with relevant data kept on Oracle Corp.s domestic servers.

ByteDance relied on software to strip video from competitors websites to make its service appear more popular with users, according to the complaint. These actions were taken without the permission of the content creators and represented an unlawful effort to gain an edge against entrenched online video hosting websites, according to the complaint.

Concerned about ByteDances skirting of legal and ethical lines, and the potential liability for the theft, Yu says he repeatedly raised objections, including to a senior vice president of engineering who reported directly to ByteDance CEO Yiming Zhang. But the senior vice president dismissed his concerns and the infringement continued, according to the complaint.

ByteDances Next Stop for TikTok Is US Courts as CEO Falls Flat

Yu identified one supervisor who was in a position to retaliate against him as Kelly Zhang, who is now ByteDance Chinas chief executive officer.

Yu is seeking an order from a San Francisco Superior Court judge directing ByteDance to stop scraping social media content that belongs to others.

The lawsuit also details Yus objection to the companys treatment of an unidentified employee suffering from depression. He says he lodged a complaint with ByteDances head of human resources about an illegal plan to fire the employee.

Yu, a resident of California, was hired with stock options and a guaranteed payment of $600,000 for the intellectual property of his own company, Tank Exchange, with the condition that he stayed with ByteDance for two years, according to the complaint.

The ByteDance spokesperson said that during Yus brief time at the company, he worked on an app called Flipagram, which was discontinued years ago for business reasons.

ByteDance claims it notified Yu that his termination was due a reduction in headcount, but he argues he never received any notices. In November 2018, he was terminated without the stock option award which he says had vested. In 2019, he filed a discrimination complaint with Californias Department of Fair Employment and Housing, according to the suit.

The suit was reported earlier by the New York Times.

The case is Yu v. ByteDance Inc., CGC-23-606246, California Superior Court, San Francisco County.

--With assistance from Alex Barinka.

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Hutch spoke to gardai about pal Noel Kingsize Duggans murder  but they didnt ask about David Byrne

Gerry The Monk Hutch wanted to help gardai with their investigation into the murder of his friend Noel Kingsize Duggan on March 23, 2016  just weeks after the Regency Hotel attack.

It is understood Hutch (60) had told gardai that he planned to leave Ireland but gave officers 48 hours notice to contact him if they so wished before he left.

It is understood The Monk had received a Garda Information Message (GIM) at that time, officially warning him there was a credible threat to his life.

However, it is believed he wanted to try and assist investigators before he left the country.

The threat was levelled by the Kinahan cartel following the attempted assassination of mob boss Daniel Kinahan at the Regency Hotel by members of the Hutch gang.

While Kinahan escaped unharmed, one of the cartel senior lieutenants, David Byrne, was shot dead by members of the Hutch gang in the hotel attack.

Sources reveal that investigators probing the murder of 55-year-old Duggan did opt to speak to Hutch about the murder  which remains unsolved  before he left Ireland for Spain.

But as he was not present when Duggan was shot dead, he was not able to provide anything of evidential value in his voluntary statement.

Gardai who interviewed him did not ask him any questions about the Regency shooting as investigators were still in the early stages of the probe, it is understood.

Since Hutchs acquittal over the Regency murder of David Byrne four weeks ago, it is believed gardai do not have any intelligence to suggest there is an imminent threat to his life and he has not received a GIM notice warning him of any threat.

However, sources concede the Kinahan cartel would grasp any opportunity with both hands to murder the patriarch of the Hutch family.

However, it is understood he is still very cautious about his personal safety as he remains in Dublin for the time being.

Gerry Hutch is a cautious man by nature. Best believe the Kinahan cartel would seize at any opportunity to murder Gerry and his brother Patsy, a source said.

Noel Kingsize Duggan, who was shot dead outside his home on the Fairyhouse Road in Ratoath, Co Meath was not in any way considered a serious organised criminal by An Garda Siochana and it is believed he was targeted because of his longstanding friendship with The Monk.

Gardai say Duggan was something of a tragic causality in the Hutch/Kinahan feud and that he was in no way involved in the feuding, which dramatically escalated in the aftermath of the Regency Hotel attack.

It emerged in 2021 the cigarette smuggler had left an estate in Ireland valued at just 91,000.

He was considered by gardai as an ordinary, decent criminal.

Duggans own criminality was understood to have been almost exclusively connected to the smuggling of cigarettes.

He was not thought to have been involved in the drugs trade and, while he lost his life in a gun attack, he had never been linked with gun crime or armed feuds.

Although Duggan was believed to have earned vast sums of money from his lucrative cigarette smuggling activities, his will, which went to probate on August 20, 2021, shows a pre-tax value to his estate of 95,721.
Family face homelessness despite giving South Dublin County Council two-years notice of landlord selling up

The woman said the stress of the family's impending homelessness has affected her children and led to the deterioration of her health. Photo: Getty Images   Getty Images/iStockphoto

A Dublin mother whose family of six faces homelessness from today says her children are watching their stuff being packed up and asking: Where are we going?

The family contacted South Dublin County Council (SDCC) two years ago when they received notice from their landlord that the property would be sold.

They requested that the local authority purchase their home of 14 years through the tenant-in-situ scheme.

The family, who wish to remain anonymous, are on the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS), a social housing support payment for those on long-term rent supplement in privately rented housing.

Our kids dont know anything. They dont know the situation and I never wanted them to, said the woman.

I want them to feel secure where they are living. They are looking at us packing boxes and asking us where we are going. And I cant say.

We have an autistic daughter and I have Crohns disease. The stress of the last two years has put me into a massive flare-up and I am waiting for surgery. I dont even know where I am going to recuperate afterwards.

The family were contacted by the landlord in April 2021 informing them that the house would be sold.

I rang SDCC immediately to let them know and asked if they had any interest in purchasing the house, the woman said. They said no, that they werent in a position to do so, but they linked me in with a voluntary housing body and they were interested.

Unfortunately, according to the landlord, the price was too low so the deal was off.

In August that year, SDCC then expressed interest in buying the property, but the offer was again lower than the valuation and the landlord rejected it.

The family were given their official notice in August 2022 after both deals fell through.

Their eviction date was originally April 30. However, this has been extended a number of times as a temporary home that was to be provided by the council has not been ready.

Im banging my head off a brick wall. I told the council two years ago that the landlord was planning to sell, she said.

I was told not to worry, that we would be housed closer to the time. They told us not to panic. Now, as of Saturday, we are homeless.

The family were told in April they would be housed in a three-bed temporary house, which now wont be available in time and has no appliances, no furniture and concrete floors.

I got a call a couple of days ago to say that the electrics are not sorted; they havent even been started and the property wont be ready until the end of the month.

We were asked by the SDCC if there was any family or friends we could stay with.

The family plan to move in with the womans mother until an alternative arrangement can be found. They are on the councils transfer list.

Its going to be 11 people in a two-bed house. I am physically and mentally drained. Im shouting from the rooftops and nothing I say or do can get through to them (the council).

We are here 14 years, my husband is in full-time employment, we are good tenants and weve always kept up to date on our rent.

The woman said the RAS should be abolished.

We were promised that this situation would not happen and here we are, she added.

A spokesperson for SDCC said it is the councils policy not to provide comment on individual cases.
Mr Pennys attorneys have said he was acting in self-defence when he pinned Mr Neely to the floor

A US Marine veteran who used a fatal chokehold on an agitated fellow passenger on the New York City subway turned himself in yesterday as authorities charged him with manslaughter nearly two weeks after the encounter.

Daniel Penny (24) arrived at a police station and was later taken to a courthouse where he is expected to answer to criminal charges in the May 1 death of Jordan Neely. Mr Neelys death sparked protests, while others embraced Mr Penny as a vigilante hero.

Mr Penny didnt speak to reporters as he arrived at a Manhattan police station with his lawyers yesterday morning, nor did he respond to questions shouted by reporters as he was led from the police precinct house in handcuffs several hours later.

Mr Pennys attorneys have said he was acting in self-defence when he pinned Mr Neely to the floor of the subway car with the help of two other passengers and held him in a chokehold for several minutes.

A freelance journalist who recorded Mr Neely struggling to free himself, then lapsing into unconsciousness, said he had been shouting at passengers and begging for money aboard the train but had not gotten physical with anyone. Mr Pennys lawyers have said he was threatening passengers.

Mr Neelys death has raised an uproar over many issues, including how those with mental illness are treated by the transit system and the city, as well as crime, race and vigilantism. Mr Penny, who is white, was questioned by police in the aftermath but was released without charges. Mr Neely is black.

Thomas Kenniff, one of Mr Pennys attorneys, said the veteran didnt mean to harm Mr Neely and is dealing with the situation, like I said, with the sort of integrity and honour that is characteristic of who he is and characteristic of his honourable service in the United States Marine Corps.

Friends of Mr Neely said the former subway performer had been dealing with homelessness and mental illness in recent years. He had recently pleaded guilty to assaulting a 67-year-old woman leaving a subway station in 2021.
The RTE star posted a picture on Instagram showing how she had noticed the red mark on her ankle on the morning of Tuesday, May 9.

Today Show host Maura Derrane has taken to social media to share the painful aftermath of what she believes was an insect bite that left her with a serious looking red mark on her skin.

The RTE star posted a picture on Instagram showing how she had noticed the red mark on her ankle on the morning of Tuesday, May 9.

However, she revealed how the following day the mark on her leg "literally blew up".

Posting a picture of her ankle on the social media platform, Maura said that even with antibiotics the bite is still really sore and painful and not very attractive.

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"But even with the antibiotic, the wound is still really sore and painful, and as you can see its not very attractive, she shared.

This is my leg five days after getting, what the Doctor thinks is an insect bite. I now think it may be a spider bite. I noticed a red mark last Tuesday morning but thought little of it.

By the time I went to work on Wednesday, my leg had literally blown up. Thankfully @dr.doireannoleary took a look at it, and put me on an antibiotic immediately

But even with the antibiotic, the wound is still really sore and painful, and as you can see its not very attractive!! I just want to warn everyone out there not to ignore an insect bite as it can become really serious very quickly, especially a spider bite.

Last year, Derrane (52) revealed how she had to cut her partying days or she would be fired from her TV job.

Opening up about her wild side to The Sunday Times, she confessed she once went on air so hungover she could barely read the autocue or see who was in front of me.

Before her current gig hosting the Today Show alongside Daithi O Se, Galway-born Maura presented Ireland AM with Mark Cagney.

Those days  from 2004 to 2006  she admitted were particularly wild.

"Oh, theres a lot of wildness there. There are horns growing out of my head and Im always pushing them down and putting sticking plasters over them, she said.

"I love going out, but have to try to keep a lid on it, as the problem is that if I go out, I just dont want to come home."

One night, the star socialised alongside a manager who warned her to call it a night.

"I went to everything I was invited to at first, but one night, my boss, Andrew Hanlon, was there too.

"He was seriously vibing me at 11.30pm when I was getting into my millionth gin and tonic, and asked me why I was still there when I was on air in the morning? I said Id be fine but he said I wouldnt and needed to go home.

"I looked like the wreck of the Hesperus. I was like a dead thing and could barely read the autocue or see who was in front of me, she told The Sunday Times.

"And, of course, I had Mr Mark Cagney beside me, who went to bed every night at eight oclock. So I was forced to catch myself on and cut out the midweek socialising. It was that or be fired."

Maura has always been candid about her partying days, previously telling independent.ie that her arrival in Dublin from Inis Mor was like the Amish on their year off.

"We'd have been sacked if there were camera phones back then," Maura said.

"We were uncouth; we were like wild beasts. We didn't know how to pose for a photo, we were only there at events for the free booze. You're judged now on appearance rather than personality.

"There were plenty of girls who weren't the best looking, but they were the craic (sic). They were exciting and they could hold an audience.

"It's like John B Keane or something - if you could hold an audience and be the craic, that was enough. You were allowed individuality, she said.

Maura is married to former Fine Gael John Deasy and they have a young son, Cal (8).
Taurangas Urban Task Force say their submissions on urban development highlight gaps between the desired outcomes of urban intensification and the reality of the planning policies proposed by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council - BOPRC.

UTF Chairman, Scott Adams, says the two submissions on Plan Change 6 (PC6) which are due to be presented next month reveal the importance of getting the foundations right "to ensure we can build a city that meets the needs of the community for many years to come".

We have no land available for development. PC6 is supposed to open up the opportunity to intensify building in current residential areas, providing the housing that the city so desperately needs.

Unfortunately, we believe the current plan change drafted by the BOPRC has been worded in such a way that development of the scale needed wont be viable, says Scott.

UTF support the aim of intensification in urban areas, but only if the changes are based on sound planning policy which offers a clear path to rectifying the regions chronic housing shortage.

How is Tauranga supposed to move forward and build more capability and capacity for our community if the right plan changes and details have not been approved?

PC6 gives no consideration to a Future Development Strategy. The strategy is a crucial piece of work to define how our region should grow over the next 50 years and should have been a central element of the way in which this policy was developed. How can long-term growth patterns be absent from this plan change?

Its vital that plan changes such as this are based on sound planning policy which will rectify the capacity shortage, whilst also avoiding unnecessary and inefficient process and uncertainty, says Scott.

Plan Change 6 is one of several amendments to regional planning policy required by the government as part of the National Policy Statement-Urban Development (NPS-UD). This new legislation directs regional councils to enable higher density housing to address nationwide shortages.

What is the NPS-UD?

The National Policy Statement-Urban Development (2020) (NPS-UD) introduced requirements for regional councils to amend their Regional Policy Statement to be more responsive to urban development proposals and provide support to intensification of urban areas.

Their purpose is to enable additional development capacity, regardless of whether it is planned in existing planning documents, and to contribute to well-functioning urban environments. The NPS-UD also requires local authorities to take into account the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in planning decisions relating to urban environments.

Under the NPS-UD regional councils are required to:

Take into account Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles

Provide criteria for assessing private plan changes for un-anticipated or out of sequence urban development proposals for urban environments

Enable intensification of urban environments

One of the concerns raised by UTF with BOPRCs proposed changes is the exclusion of developments under 5 hectares.

There is no reason why smaller scale developments cannot be considered under this policy. The exclusion of sites under the 5-hectare limit is contrary to guidelines set by the NPS-UD.

There are many smaller sites throughout the region which can play an important role in providing land for housing and business use, says Scott.

UTF also want the policy change to provide for intensification in smaller towns in the region.

As its currently worded, PC6 will exclude expansion in existing areas such as Paengaroa and parts of Te Puke. Ensuring we have sufficient supply of future land for urban development will rely on areas such as this becoming available for development.

The proposed policy acts to severely limit the opportunities for growth despite this being the desired outcome of the NPS-UD.

The Bay of Plenty is crying out for sensible planning policy which addresses the years of poor growth management. Nows the time to get it right, and were encouraging the BOPRC to ensure this vital policy sets the scene for the kind of development the region so desperately needs."

For more information about the Urban Task Force including copies of submissions referred to see: https://urbantaskforce.co.nz

For more information on Plan Change 6 see: https://www.boprc.govt.nz/your-council/plans-and-policies/policies/regional-policy-statement/proposed-change-6-nps-ud
WINDSOR, ON, May 13, 2023 /CNW/ - Unifor is calling on the federal government and Stellantis to deliver on commitments to a new Windsor EV battery plant to safeguard Canadian auto manufacturing jobs.

Unifor Logo (CNW Group/Unifor)

"Government and Stellantis are playing a high-stakes game that is betting the livelihoods of tens of thousands of Canadian autoworkers. Commitments were made and Unifor and our members fully expect that all parties live up to them. Any brinkmanship must end, and a deal must be reached because come hell or high water no promised manufacturing jobs are leaving this country," warned Unifor National President Lana Payne.

The Toronto Star reports there are fears that Stellantis may pull out of the EV battery plant currently under construction in Windsor, ON if the federal government fails to match the investment level provided to the Volkswagen electric-vehicle battery gigafactory in St. Thomas, ON. Unifor maintains that government investment is necessary to attract and secure Canada's future auto manufacturing footprint.

"The shift to electric vehicles has created a fiercely competitive environment, as evidenced by the IRA incentives in the U.S., with jurisdictions around the world vying for these highly sought after jobs. These plants will anchor the communities that they are built in for generations to come," said Payne.

The last federal budget stated ' without swift action, the sheer scale of U.S. incentives will undermine Canada's ability to attract the investments needed to establish Canada as a leader in the growing and highly competitive global clean economy. If Canada does not keep pace, we will be left behind. If we are left behind, it will mean less investment in our communities, and fewer jobs for an entire generation of Canadians. We will not be left behind.'

"Unifor and our members will hold the government to its word not to leave workers behind just as we will hold Stellantis to the company's promises in Windsor," Payne said.

Story continues

Unifor previously unveiled its set of 29 recommendations for governments and automakers in its auto policy document, Navigating the Road Ahead: Rebuilding Canada's powerhouse auto sector. The union will enter negotiations with Detroit Three automakers later this year.

SOURCE Unifor

Cision

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2023/13/c1100.html
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Update as of 8 a.m. Saturday: A 15-year-old boy was shot in the leg at least once, said Sgt. Thomas Blake, a spokesperson for the Syracuse Police Department. The boy was taken to Upstate University Hospital and is expected to survive, Blake said.

Original report

Syracuse, N.Y.  A 15-year-old boy was reported shot Friday night at a South Side corner store, police said.

Deanna Holland said she was inside the store at 500 Oakwood Ave. when a teen boy ran inside and asked for someone to call 911.

The call was made at 9:02 p.m., according to Onondaga County 911 Center dispatches. Another caller reported hearing two gunshots.

Holland said the teen was shot in the thigh. A man in the store wrapped a belt around his leg to apply pressure to the wound until police came, she said.

The store is just yards from where 11-year-old Brexialee Torres-Ortiz was fatally shot in January. She was bringing home a gallon of milk she had bought there.

This is a developing story. Check back later for updates.

Staff writer Fernando Alba covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, story idea, question or comment? Reach him: Email | Twitter or at 315-690-6950.
NY Cannabis Insider is hosting a full-day problems and solutions summit at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Albany on May 18. Learn more and buy tickets here.

Jeffrey Hoffman is a New York City-based attorney who hosts Ask Me Anything about Cannabis Legalization in New York each week on LinkedIn. Hoffman and NY Cannabis Insider have partnered to bring those sessions into print in a Q&A format.



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Hoffmans practice focuses on cannabis industry clients, including licensees in the adult-use market, practitioners in the medical cannabis space, and cannabis adjacent product and service providers. He has a particular interest in social and economic equity cannabis license applicants, and he also informs and assists those convicted of cannabis offenses in getting such convictions expunged from their record. He can be reached at info@420jurist.com.

Did the news today provide more info on the timeline for licensing cultivators, outside of the current conditional licenses awarded to hemp growers?

So, Ive not read them all yet. But it has given us quite a bit more information about whats going to happen here. And kudos to my associate Steph. And also to Ari. Steph brought this up internally first. And then Ari, whos a great cannabis consultant here in the biz, and we were talking with him, I guess a week or so ago. And both of them nailed it. What it looks like the OCM is now going to do is that theres going to be some type of preliminary process for the application. We had Julie Hulburd whos one of the commissioners of the Vermont cannabis board on our show several months ago, earlier this year. And Julie was talking about how Vermont had done a preliminary licensing or a pre-licensing or, you know, whatever you want to call it, and it does look like New York is going to do something similar to that.

This kind of process will help as its taken OCM a long time with the CAURD applications. So as folks know, Ive said repeatedly that OCM is way understaffed. I think they probably need double the number of staff they have currently. I was talking with Axel and John at the April board meeting - you guys need more money, you need more warm bodies, processing applications, and just doing everything you do. Tell me, line items and budget dollars. And Im happy to bring this up.

How can us chemo patients afford hundreds of dollars a day to buy high dose extracts?

I mean, the answer is you cant. Its absurd that were making you pay for all of your medicine out of pocket. There is a bill in front of the legislature right now to allow insurance companies to cover cannabis expenses. And Im hopeful that theyre going to make it such that they will force the state funded insurance programs to cover cannabis. So now that were done with the budget, this is now the time to speak about bills like that. And that bill is going to be top of my list up there with medical psilocybin and decriminalization of psilocybin.

So you cant afford it. Normal people cant. And they shouldnt have to. And frankly, like I said, the state insurance entity should be funded to pay for those expenses. So you need to figure out who your assemblymember is and who your senator is. And go to them with several of your other medical cannabis friends and say, Hey, this is our number one issue. Wed like to see you get behind it. Are you currently a co-sponsor of this bill? If not, why not? Can we convince you to become a co sponsor? And if not, were going to actively work to make sure youre not in the legislature after the next election. Thats how this works, folks. Everybodys like, whats the magic sauce to get this done? There is no magic sauce. You and your friends organize. For those of you that have legislators who are either not in favor of cannabis, or who dont know about the bill or who are not co-sponsors, get them on it. And then if theyre not on it, get them un-elected. Thats the way we do this.

Has New York issued distribution licenses yet?

They have not - currently the conditional cultivators and conditional processors can distribute their products. Technically, that was supposed to sunset here in 21 days on June 1, but obviously, it wont because we will not have distribution licenses issued in 21 days. Theyre gonna have to extend the conditional cultivators and conditional processors being able to distribute until they issue the distribution licenses, which will come once the application opens later this year.

What have you heard about the June 1 deadline being extended?

This is related to the distribution issue. OCM will probably just say, you know, the thing that the legislature said about the conditional cultivators and conditional processors being able to distribute, were good with that until we get distribution licenses out there. There was a question about it at the April meeting. Theyre well aware of it, and Im fairly certain theyre going to do something about it here in the next three weeks. So dont worry.

What about the delivery service from the Shinnecock tribe out there on Long Island into New York?

We did a lot of talk about this in a previous Ask Me Anything. So you can go watch that one. I dont remember which one it is. But heres the deal about that. The Shinnecock are on what we call sovereign land. Right? Its tribal land, theyre technically not in the United States. So they can do whatever they want. So they can grow, they can process, and they can sell on their tribal land all the cannabis they want to - totally up to them and they can deliver on their land. The products are their products, they do not need to get the products from anywhere else, because they absolutely, as of right, can grow cannabis and process cannabis and sell it on their own lands.

The question now is delivery outside of their lands. So MRTA says that the OCM and the Cannabis Control Board can enter into tribal-state compacts with the New York state Indian nations and tribes. And my read on it is that to do anything in New York, not on the tribal lands, but in New York, they would have to have one of these compacts with the state of New York. So for them to buy cannabis from cultivators in New York, they would have to have a compact. I think there would have to be a compact for them to distribute their cannabis to retail dispensaries in the state of New York. I think they would have to have a compact for them to deliver into the state of New York from their tribal land. The Shinnecock have very, very smart lawyers. They have not shared with me their legal opinion as to why they can do this. So while I have not seen the legal opinion about why the Shinnecock think they can deliver into the state of New York from their land, we 100% agree they can do everything else on their land. Can they do stuff into the state of New York from their land? My opinion is no. And that they would need a compact with the state of New York in order to do that.

Is what NY is going to do similar to NJ with the conditional licenses, but in NY its provisional?

You can be awarded this license and then submit additional information later to convert to an annual license?It is similar in that there are two steps. It is not similar in the way that it is in New Jersey where the municipality has the final say. What were talking about here in New York is simply making it a two step process with the state for that one license just like they did for CAURD. But New Jersey has given the municipalities the right to have an up or down vote. And now youre going to have all these municipalities really gumming up the works. And thats not working out well, especially in places like East Orange, where the municipality thinks its okay to feature a putative cannabis dispensary business on the video boards in the in the government building where the city council has all their votes, and for days and weeks and months and I dont know maybe even years you can talk about how great this minority owned and woman owned putative cannabis businesses is and this is just who we want you can talk promote them all you want on the video boards. And then when the rubber comes to meeting the road about voting them a license, somehow you dont do it.

And yes, were talking about Roll Up Life. And yes, were talking about Precious and her partner Tiyahnn. The reason why Precious didnt get a license and Roll Up Life didnt get a license is because they left it up to East Orange. And East Orange really screwed up here big time. You know, I was speaking with Precious the other day, and I told her its gonna be a real uphill climb. I know over there in New Jersey, its called an OPRA request to get information / records from the process. And you know, theyre gonna fight you for that. And every 30 days, theyre going to come up with an excuse about why theyre not going to give it to you. So yeah, you can do your OPRA thing. And I guess you can sue about it. And thats going to take forever. If I were you Precious, I would just run against the city council folks. So get them out of office, right? Get them out, run for their office. Get a groundswell of support, start running now.
NY Cannabis Insider (NYCI) is hosting the states first industry summit and conference of 2023 at The Desmond Hotel in Albany, N.Y. on May 18 from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Details and tickets available here.

Industry professionals  from growers, processors and retailers to attorneys, consultants and politicians  will gather for a day of venting, problem-solving, and learning.

NYCI has partnered up with a professional mediation firm to help guide discussions on frustrations that industry members are experiencing here in New York State. Attendees will have a chance to speak openly and have their voice heard. Once we dive deep into the issues, well spend the afternoon finding solutions and ways to solve some of the most pressing issues. Concurrent to the open forum, well host informative breakout sessions where you can learn more about whats next in the industry and best practices for cannabis business owners.

The following gives a comprehensive overview of the challenges/topics being discussed on site, along with some additional context on what industry groups are primarily affected as well as additional resources and articles that will help to explain a bit more in depth into the topic at hand.

If youre not a current subscriber to NY Cannabis Insider, we are giving you a one-month free subscription so you can access this important content prior to the event.

How to subscribe to NY Cannabis Insider for a month for free:

Step 1: Go to https://www.newyorkupstate.com/cannabis-insider/subscribe/

Step 2: Use the code NYUP1M at checkout

Important Note: this code doesnt renew and your card will be charged after the first month, so we recommend you set a calendar reminder in 28 or 29 days to decide if you want to stay a subscriber. If you do, youll be charged $15/month. If not, make sure to cancel your subscription.

Industry challenges that well be discussing during the interactive workshop include:

Problem #1: The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY)

DASNY is a massive but opaque quasi-government agency that has a huge hand in the initial rollout of NYs cannabis industry: they were tasked with finding a fund manager to raise $200M for the CAURD program; with finding a bank for these retailers to use; for hiring design/build firms for CAURD real estate; and for contracting with a point-of-sale technology company to service CAURD stores.

But DASNY has failed at both the $200M fundraising and banking. As a result, much of the current collective frustration among the states retailers (and others) is directed toward the agency.

And just last week, a group of CAURD licensees laid out in detail 13 grievances they have with the agency, including the lack of funds available, how the agency competes against license holders for real estate, the slow speed at which DASNY approves sites, the lack of loan terms available, high rents, exorbitant and unnecessarily large real estate options, and much more. The next day, the Cannabis Association of New York backed the CAURD letter, and added in an allegation of a conflict of interest for DASNYs President Reuben McDaniel, who also sits on the Cannabis Control Board.

Who this affects primarily:

 Every aspect of the supply chain in addition to ancillary service providers

Related: Discontent and despair: NY cannabis entrepreneurs fed up with states problematic industry rollout

Related: Cannabis Association of NY alleges conflict of interest for Reuben McDaniel, backs criticism of DASNY

Related: New Yorks political leaders silent about states failure to raise cannabis funds

Related: With DASNY dropping the ball, NYS just changed course on its cannabis retail rollout

Problem #2: June 1 deadline

Early last year, New York State legislators passed a statute which created two license types: Adult-Use Conditional Cultivator and Adult-Use Conditional Processor. These licenses enabled the Empire State to establish a limited cannabis supply chain before regulators fleshed out the entire legal weed program.

But the laws also say that AUCCs and AUCPs can only distribute their products to retailers until June 1, 2023. Currently, the OCM is months away from opening full licensing, and if theres no legislative fix by June 1, there will be no legal way to get product from the supply tier to the retail tier.

The OCM said on April 25 that theyre mindful about the June 1 date and are working on a solution, but we are now less two weeks from deadline and theres no fix in sight. What needs to happen to fix this problem?

Who this affects primarily:

 Before June 1: Growers and processors.

 After June 1: The entire supply chain in addition to ancillary service providers

Related: Clock ticking for NY cannabis growers: legal sales threatened by June 1st deadline

Related: Big trouble lies ahead for New Yorks legal cannabis supply chain (guest column)

Problem #3: Crumbling medical program

Seven years after medical sales began, there are only 38 medical dispensaries across the state of New York. Some of the states medical cannabis companies and others are suing over the CAURD program and their inability to enter the recreational market, and those companies are also laying off workers and cutting hours.

New York medical cannabis patients are frustrated and are suffering from a lack of access, product types and affordability.

Who this affects primarily:

 The more than 121,000 registered medical cannabis patients in New York State

 The hundreds of thousands more who arent registered, but use cannabis for medical reasons

 CAURD license holders

 The ten registered medical cannabis organizations in the state, along with their thousands of employees

Related: NYs cannabis regulators sued again, this time by the big players

Related: NYs medical marijuana program suffering as state focuses on a recreational market

Related: Acreage lays off New York employees, PharmaCann may be next

Problem #4: The 4/20 bill

Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo and Senator Michelle Hinchey have introduced legislation that would allow cultivators to sell their products directly to consumers until Sept. 30, 2023. It would also authorize the Office of Cannabis Management to create a loan or grant program to help these farmers process cannabis into distillate.

However, this legislation has stoked division between CAURD licensees and growers, and may not even be feasible given the time constraints and lack of capital among growers to institute a mini retail store on their property.

Who this affects primarily:

 Conditionally licensed cultivators

 CAURD license holders

Related: Cannabis Crop Rescue Act ignites debate on supporting struggling New York cannabis farmers

Problem #5: Enforcement & Legacy

Gov. Kathy Hochuls enforcement bill has made it into this years budget. It aims to increase fines against unlicensed businesses and gives broader authorities to OCM and the Department of Taxation and Finance. But how likely is it to work? And will this effort target Black and brown business owners, reopen the War on Drugs, or miss an opportunity for onboarding these businesses and their tax revenues?

Also, how does the legacy industry successfully onboard into legal without necessary support, financial aid, banking, and other services? Is that a priority for this industry?

Who this affects primarily:

 Legacy

 Illicit and/or grey market shops

 Member-only clubs

 CAURD license holders

 Ancillary providers, such as attorneys, accountants and others

Related: https://www.newyorkupstate.com/cannabis-insider/2023/02/a-detailed-plan-for-a-transitional-marijuana-license-for-new-yorks-smoke-shops-guest-column.html

Related: Gov. Hochul proposes increased enforcement on illicit cannabis businesses (guest column)

Related: Heres (mostly) everything in Gov. Hochuls recent cannabis bill (guest column)

Related: NYS Society of CPAs weighs in on Gov. Hochuls cannabis enforcement bill (guest column)

Related: Reflections on Gov. Hochuls proposed cannabis legislation (guest column)

Related: How Gov. Hochuls cannabis enforcement bill could target consumers

Related: Gov. Kathy Hochuls cannabis crime bill will destroy lives and restart the War on Drugs (guest column)

Problem #6: Open topic table

Your chance to bring up any other problems were missing from the list above.

After we work to unpack the various challenges and root causes, the group will work to discuss ideas and solutions to move the burgeoning cannabis market forward.

Meet the sponsors and vendors offering onsite advice and support

Sponsors and vendors are the businesses shaping and supporting the industry. Look for them at the event for advice and help with your cannabis business:

 Cannaspire provides the products, services, and consulting you need to succeed in the cannabis industry from application to expansion.

 New York State Dispute Resolution Association, Inc. is a not-for-profit membership organization committed to the promotion of quality conflict management and peaceful dispute resolution.

 New York Medical Cannabis Industry Associations mission is to protect and serve the patients in New Yorks medical cannabis program while working collaboratively to establish a responsible, inclusive and competitive adult-use cannabis program.

 Ground Game Cannabis is a New York State sales and distribution agency created to help cannabis brands get their products on dispensary shelves and keep them there.

 Local 338 RWDSU/UFCW is a labor union that proudly represents working people in a variety of different industries, including New Yorks cannabis workers who are employed across the industrys full supply chain from seed to sale.

 Citrin Cooperman is one of the nations largest professional services firms, with a dedicated Cannabis Advisory Services (CAS) team that utilizes their specialized knowledge to help companies thrive.

 Dickinson & Avella knows the cannabis industry inside and out from their work on the implementation of medical marijuana to the emerging adult-use market.

 The Bluntness is one of the fastest growing independent digital media and marketing platforms exploring, examining and elevating the intersection of cannabis & psychedelic culture, community & commerce.

 Allspace is thoughtful space design meets full-service fabrication & installation; we work with your to develop a concept that encompasses everything from aesthetics to functionality.

 McNeil & Co. in conjunction with the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF) and the Cannabis Association of New York are excited to launch a safety group to provide a sustainable workers compensation solution for members of the New York State cannabis industry.

 Cannabis Workforce Initiative has a mission to promote and support social equity in the adult-use cannabis market by providing quality workforce development and legal education.

 HUB International Limited has specialized cannabis insurance experts and risk consultants help you manage the emerging risks that face your cannabis business with the right risk transfer and mitigation.

 New York Consortium of Cannabis Accountants has a mission to promote financial literacy among New Yorks legacy market leaders and social equity entrepreneurs.

 StaffBuffalo and HRBuffalo are ancillary businesses to the cannabis industry, optimizing the People Operations to enable growing businesses to thrive.

 East Coast Cannabis Insurance offers experienced insurance solutions for everything in the cannabis industry, from workers comp to crop coverage.

 Cannabis360 is a full-service cannabis marketing partner focused on crafting your brand story, finding your best audience and driving brand awareness for your business.

 Hybrid Marketing focuses on business outcomes to move the needle in the areas of revenue, risk, cost, cashflow, and asset utilization.

Our next event will be an afternoon networking and production facility tour hosted by Beak & Skiff/1911 Establish/ayrloom held on June 8 in CNY (tickets and details here). Contact Lindsay Wickham at lwickham@advancemediany.com to learn more about sponsor and vendor opportunities.

As entrepreneurs and cannabis professionals are moving forward in the billion-dollar legal weed industry, NY Cannabis Insider events allow participants to learn about regulations, discuss topics essential to New York State, make connections, establish teams and foundations, and continue business planning.
Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (ETR:FME) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in three days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before a company's record date, which is the date on which the company determines which shareholders are entitled to receive a dividend. It is important to be aware of the ex-dividend date because any trade on the stock needs to have been settled on or before the record date. In other words, investors can purchase Fresenius Medical Care KGaA's shares before the 17th of May in order to be eligible for the dividend, which will be paid on the 19th of May.

The company's upcoming dividend is 1.12 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of 1.12 per share to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Fresenius Medical Care KGaA stock has a trailing yield of around 2.6% on the current share price of 43.76. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Fresenius Medical Care KGaA's dividend is reliable and sustainable. As a result, readers should always check whether Fresenius Medical Care KGaA has been able to grow its dividends, or if the dividend might be cut.

Check out our latest analysis for Fresenius Medical Care KGaA

Dividends are usually paid out of company profits, so if a company pays out more than it earned then its dividend is usually at greater risk of being cut. Fresenius Medical Care KGaA is paying out an acceptable 55% of its profit, a common payout level among most companies. That said, even highly profitable companies sometimes might not generate enough cash to pay the dividend, which is why we should always check if the dividend is covered by cash flow. It distributed 28% of its free cash flow as dividends, a comfortable payout level for most companies.

It's positive to see that Fresenius Medical Care KGaA's dividend is covered by both profits and cash flow, since this is generally a sign that the dividend is sustainable, and a lower payout ratio usually suggests a greater margin of safety before the dividend gets cut.

Story continues

Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Companies with falling earnings are riskier for dividend shareholders. If business enters a downturn and the dividend is cut, the company could see its value fall precipitously. Readers will understand then, why we're concerned to see Fresenius Medical Care KGaA's earnings per share have dropped 13% a year over the past five years. Ultimately, when earnings per share decline, the size of the pie from which dividends can be paid, shrinks.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. In the last 10 years, Fresenius Medical Care KGaA has lifted its dividend by approximately 4.1% a year on average. Growing the dividend payout ratio while earnings are declining can deliver nice returns for a while, but it's always worth checking for when the company can't increase the payout ratio any more - because then the music stops.

The Bottom Line

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Fresenius Medical Care KGaA? The payout ratios are within a reasonable range, implying the dividend may be sustainable. Declining earnings are a serious concern, however, and could pose a threat to the dividend in future. Overall, it's not a bad combination, but we feel that there are likely more attractive dividend prospects out there.

With that being said, if dividends aren't your biggest concern with Fresenius Medical Care KGaA, you should know about the other risks facing this business. We've identified 2 warning signs with Fresenius Medical Care KGaA (at least 1 which is significant), and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

If you're in the market for strong dividend payers, we recommend checking our selection of top dividend stocks.

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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NY Cannabis Insider is hosting a full-day problems and solutions summit at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Albany on May 18. Learn more and buy tickets here.

It was another blockbuster week for cannabis industry news in New York, which kept us at NY Cannabis Insider busy. Lets take a look at the stories we covered:

First of all, we posted stories throughout the week about the industry summit were hosting in Albany on May 18. Were really excited about this one, because its a major departure from the traditional cannabis industry conference.

The conference will be the states first cannabis summit of 2023, where industry professionals  from growers, processors and retailers to attorneys, consultants and politicians  will gather for a day of venting, problem-solving, and learning. The event will feature traditional breakout panels on industry hot topics alongside an open forum dedicated to discussing specific challenges faced followed by proposing ideas and solutions. NY Cannabis Insider will report on the issues brought to light and solutions discussed over the next several months.

Heres the full agenda, a list of speakers and breakout sessions, and details about each of the topics featured during our problems and solutions part of the summit.



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We covered Thursdays Cannabis Control Board meeting, at which Cannabis Control Board members displayed a higher level of scrutiny and criticism for Office of Cannabis Management proposals than usual. During the meeting, the board approved 50 new conditional retail licenses, new regulations and a social equity plan for the states cannabis industry.

NY Cannabis Insider Editor/Publisher Brad Racino broke two major stories last week. On Wednesday, Brad published a story about a group of Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary licensees who have documented in a letter an alarming and unacceptable lack of communication and transparency among state cannabis regulators.

The group of seven CAURD licensees, along with the Long Island CAURD Coalition and several others who signed anonymously, sent the letter late Tuesday night to the OCM, CCB, the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York and Gov. Kathy Hochuls office.

On Thursday, Brad broke a story about New Yorks largest cannabis industry trade organization alleging a conflict of interest for Reuben McDaniel, a CCB member who is also CEO of DASNY  which plays a major role in overseeing the CAURD program.

The Cannabis Association of New York sent a letter to the OCM, CCB, DASNY and Hochuls office that highlighted issues surrounding McDaniels potential conflict of interest and concerns were directed toward DASNY and its Social Equity Cannabis Investment Fund, which was designed to provide funding for the identification, leasing and build outs of 150 CAURD sites across the state.

We ran a story this week about predatory financing offers to small business owners proliferating in the NY cannabis industry. Industry stakeholders who spoke with NY Cannabis Insider said that predatory offers have existed in the cannabis industry for a long time, but since the state began conditionally licensing businesses to grow, process and sell adult-use weed, its been getting worse.

Wesley Parnell contributed a story about a deal the New York CAURD Coalition  a cannabis association of entrepreneurs  has struck with Credit Union 1 to provide banking services for its members. The deal expands financial options for an industry that often struggles to find banking providers.

We had a guest column by the Service-Disabled Veterans in Cannabis Association, which calls for embracing diversity in the cannabis industry. As the industry evolves with new laws and regulations, we must stand together to achieve a fair and equitable cannabis market, they write.

Continuing our NYs women in cannabis series, we ran a profile on Sackville & Co. co-founders Lana Van Brunt and Hayley Dineen.

We also added a new entry to our People to know in NY cannabis series: Mike Dulen, a co-founder and CEO of A Walk in the Pines, a licensed Adult-Use Conditional Cultivator

Have a great weekend, everyone, and please join us in Albany next week!
The days are getting longer and summer is just around the corner. With the easing of covid restrictions that were in place for the last three years, communities are enjoying events that were canceled or scaled back during the pandemic.

One of the most popular events is the traditional Memorial Day parade that marks the beginning of the summer season in many communities across Central New York.

This year, the Memorial Day Watchfire returns to Central New York. The popular event was canceled for the last three years but returns to the State Fair under new management and with renewed vigor. Read: After a three-year hiatus, Memorial Day Watchfire will return to the NYS Fairgrounds.

Syracuse.com would like to let readers know if your community is having a parade or ceremony to celebrate Memorial Day. You can tell us about your event by filling out the form below.

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You may contact Sharon Dellinger by phone at 315-470-2265 or email.
robot customer service

Customers of Hargreaves Lansdown say quality of service has plummeted after the broker started using bots instead of humans in a bid to cut costs.

Savers have taken to social media to complain about long waiting times on the phone and robot interactions, after the firm rolled out a new AI-powered platform last year.

The firms 1.8 million customers pay a premium for access to Hargreaves Lansdowns easy-to-use app, extensive market research and  in theory  high levels of customer service.

The platform charges an annual fee of 0.45pc on the first 250,000 of customers' savings, making it the most expensive platform on the market for investors with portfolios worth over 25,000, according to data provided by the consultancy the lang cat.

But its reputation for premium service has now been called into question, due to a cost-cutting drive which has left investors waiting for more than an hour on the phone.

Holly Mackay of the investment research firm Boring Money said: It used to be the case that if you rang Hargreaves Lansdown, youd be answered by a bright graduate in their trainee scheme within ten seconds. Yesterday was the first time Id phoned them and had a robot answer the phone.

She said Hargreaves Lansdown's customer service has never recovered since the pandemic.

The company cut back its call centre hours in 2020.

The opening hours are now from 8am until 5pm on weekdays and from 9.30 to 12.30 on Saturdays and have never returned to pre-pandemic levels.

The firm's lines were previously open until 7pm on weekdays and on Saturdays from 8am to 1pm.

The firm is under pressure to slash costs following a slowdown in new business. It brought in 23,000 new customers in the first quarter, down from 31,000 a year ago.

Peter Hargreaves

Last year Hargreaves Lansdown rolled out a Cloud Contact Centre platform which uses AI to steer callers to the right expert at the firm.

The company said in its interim results for the second half of 2022 that this has led to efficiency improvements in live teams and that it would continue to enhance this service over 2023.

Story continues

Once routed, clients speak to Hargreaves Lansdowns expert team. But it can take a long time to get through to a real human being.

The platforms helpdesk is currently taking much longer than usual to answer your calls and respond to emails, according to its website.

One Twitter user complained: 30 minutes on hold  market is now closed  is the best service you can offer? I need a reliable broker.

Co-founder Peter Hargreaves recently called on the firm to drastically cut costs, saying it has 1,000 staff members it did not need, but criticised the use of AI in place of using human staff.

In an interview with the Financial Times, the billionaire lambasted the companys recent strategy to implement automated advice to meet the advice needs of the baby boomer generation.

While some see robo-advice as the key to solving the UKs advice gap, others argue that supplementing human experts with automated advice could cause problems, including pushing clients into riskier investments.

It is expected investment platforms and banks will increasingly automate their customer service in order to slash costs. Call centre workers are among those whose jobs are expected to be at risk due to the rapid rise of artificial intelligence.

A spokesman for Hargreaves Lansdown said: Were building our capabilities and improving the client experience by using AI technology to route people to the teams best able to help them. Over 95pc of client transactions are completed digitally and where clients need more help, in those moments that matter, our expert helpdesk is there to support them.

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Tor is free software and an open network that helps you defend against a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security known as traffic analysis.



Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. It also enables software developers to create new communication tools with built-in privacy features. Tor provides the foundation for a range of applications that allow organizations and individuals to share information over public networks without compromising their privacy.



Individuals use Tor to keep websites from tracking them and their family members, or to connect to news sites, instant messaging services, or the like when these are blocked by their local Internet providers. Tor's hidden services let users publish web sites and other services without needing to reveal the location of the site. Individuals also use Tor for socially sensitive communication: chat rooms and web forums for rape and abuse survivors, or people with illnesses.

Who uses the Tor Browser?

With Tor Browser having made Tor more accessible to everyday internet users and activists, Tor was an instrumental tool during the Arab Spring beginning in late 2010. It not only protected people's identity online but also allowed them to access critical resources, social media, and websites which were blocked.

Individuals use Tor to keep websites from tracking them and their family members, or to connect to news sites, instant messaging services, or the like when these are blocked by their local Internet providers. Tor's hidden services let users publish web sites and other services without needing to reveal the location of the site. Individuals also use Tor for socially sensitive communication: chat rooms and web forums for rape and abuse survivors, or people with illnesses.

Journalists use Tor to communicate more safely with whistleblowers and dissidents. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) use Tor to allow their workers to connect to their home website while they're in a foreign country, without notifying everybody nearby that they're working with that organization.

Groups such as Indymedia recommend Tor for safeguarding their members' online privacy and security. Activist groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) recommend Tor as a mechanism for maintaining civil liberties online. Corporations use Tor as a safe way to conduct competitive analysis, and to protect sensitive procurement patterns from eavesdroppers. They also use it to replace traditional VPNs, which reveal the exact amount and timing of communication. Which locations have employees working late? Which locations have employees consulting job-hunting websites? Which research divisions are communicating with the company's patent lawyers?

A branch of the U.S. Navy uses Tor for open source intelligence gathering, and one of its teams used Tor while deployed in the Middle East recently. Law enforcement uses Tor for visiting or surveilling web sites without leaving government IP addresses in their web logs, and for security during sting operations.

What is Tor Browser?

The Tor Browser is the flagship product from the Tor Project. The web browser is based on a modified version of Mozilla Firefox ESR that includes extras like the Tor proxy, TorButton, TorLauncher, NoScript, and HTTPS Everywhere extensions.

How does the Tor Browser keep my internet activity anonymous?

The Tor Browser uses the Tor network, which consists of more than six thousand relays located worldwide, to hide the users' location and online traffic. This ensures anonymity and avoids your activities from being seen by others.

Is Tor better than a VPN?

Tor is not a VPN. Tor is a free browser similar to Chrome or Firefox, but it includes features that encrypt your IP address, making your browsing sessions private. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is software that can change your IP address when you use any browser installed on your PC. To learn more about VPNs, you can read this article.

Journalists use Tor to communicate more safely with whistleblowers and dissidents. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) use Tor to allow their workers to connect to their home website while they're in a foreign country, without notifying everybody nearby that they're working with that organization.



Groups such as Indymedia recommend Tor for safeguarding their members' online privacy and security. Activist groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) recommend Tor as a mechanism for maintaining civil liberties online. Corporations use Tor as a safe way to conduct competitive analysis, and to protect sensitive procurement patterns from eavesdroppers. They also use it to replace traditional VPNs, which reveal the exact amount and timing of communication. Which locations have employees working late? Which locations have employees consulting job-hunting websites? Which research divisions are communicating with the company's patent lawyers?

A branch of the U.S. Navy uses Tor for open source intelligence gathering, and one of its teams used Tor while deployed in the Middle East recently. Law enforcement uses Tor for visiting or surveilling web sites without leaving government IP addresses in their web logs, and for security during sting operations.

Welcome Screen

Our old screen had way too much information for the users, leading many of them to spend great time confused about what to do. Some users at the paper experiment spent up to 40min confused about what they needed to be doing here. Besides simplifying the screen and the message, to make it easier for the user to know if they need to configure anything or not, we also did a 'brand refresh' bringing our logo to the launcher.

Censorship circumvention configuration

This is one of the most important steps for a user who is trying to connect to Tor while their network is censoring Tor. We also worked really hard to make sure the UI text would make it easy for the user to understand what a bridge is for and how to configure to use one. Another update was a little tip we added at the drop-down menu (as you can see below) for which bridge to use in countries that have very sophisticated censorship methods.

Proxy help information

The proxy settings at our Tor Launcher configuration wizard is an important feature for users who are under a network that demands such configuration. But it can also lead to a lot of confusion if the user has no idea what a proxy is. Since it is a very important feature for users, we decided to keep it in the main configuration screen and introduced a help prompt with an explanation of when someone would need such configuration.

As part of our work with the UX team, we will also be coordinating user testing of this new UI to continue iterating and make sure we are always improving our users' experience. We are also planning a series of improvements not only for the Tor Launcher flow but for the whole browser experience (once you are connected to Tor) including a new user onboarding flow. And last but not least we are streamlining both our mobile and desktop experience: Tor Browser 7.5 adapted the security slider design we did for mobile bringing the improved user experience to the desktop as well.

What's New

This version includes important security updates to Firefox:

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2022-14/

Tor Browser 11.0.10 updates Firefox on Windows, macOS, and Linux to 91.8.0esr.

We use the opportunity as well to update various other components of Tor Browser:

NoScript 11.4.3

The full changelog since Tor Browser 11.0.9 is:

Windows + OS X + Linux
China special envoy to visit Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany, Russia

Xinhua) 09:27, May 13, 2023

BEIJING, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Eurasian Affairs Li Hui will visit Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany and Russia to communicate with all parties on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis starting from May 15, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said Friday.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a regular press conference in response to a related question.

He pointed out that since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, China has been actively promoting peace talks in an objective and just manner, adding that Li's visit to relevant countries shows China's commitment to promoting peace talks and fully demonstrates that China firmly stands on the side of peace.

At present, the Ukraine crisis is still escalating, and spillover effects continue to appear. The international community is increasingly calling for a ceasefire to stop the war and ease the situation, Wang noted.

China is willing to continue to play a constructive role in building more international consensus on the ceasefire, the cessation of war, the opening of peace talks, and the avoidance of escalation of the situation, and make China's contribution to promoting the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis, Wang said.

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Wu Chaolan)
Ethiopian Airlines, the leading and fastest growing Airline in Africa, is celebrating the 50th year of the launch of its service to the UK in April 1973.



Ethiopian Airlines inaugural flight arrived in London-Heathrow on a Boeing 720-B commencing with two flights a week. The flight was originally operated via Cairo, Rome and Frankfurt with First Class and Economy Class.



Today, Ethiopian offers daily non-stop A350 Airbus flights from London Heathrow (Terminal 2) to Addis Ababa, and 4 weekly B787 Dreamliner flights from Manchester (Terminal 2) to Addis Ababa, carrying over 10,000 passengers monthly, with connections to over 60 destinations across Africa.



Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Mesfin Tasew said: Positioned as the Heart of Europe, the UK has always been a strong and important market for Ethiopian Airlines. Celebrating 50 years is a success story of our loyalty to serving the UK with both passenger and freighter flights. As we mark half a century since we first landed in the UK, we look forward to an ever growing service to the country with more destinations and flights.



Henock Woubishet, Area Manager UK and Ireland said: This is a big anniversary for Ethiopian Airlines as it highlights our unwavering commitment to serving the UK. During the rest of the year, we will be celebrating this milestone with a series of events including FAM trips, campaigns and promotions. We want to take this opportunity to extend our gratitude to the travelling public and our partners in UKs travel industry for supporting our journey over the decades.



Currently, Ethiopian serves more than 150 domestic and international passenger and cargo destinations including 21 cities in Europe.  TradeArabia News Service
TOKYO (Reuters) -The Group of Seven (G7) rich nations is set to agree on establishing a new programme to distribute vaccines to developing countries at next week's summit of leaders, Japan's Yomiuri newspaper said on Saturday.

In addition to the G7, G20 nations such as India and international groups such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank will participate, it added, citing Japanese government sources.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the COVAX facility, backed by WHO and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), delivered nearly 2 billion doses of coronavirus vaccine to 146 countries.

However, COVAX faced setbacks in ensuring equitable access, as wealthy nations prioritised shots for their citizens while insufficient storage facilities in poorer nations caused supply delays and disposal of millions of close-to-expiry doses.

The new program aims to pool rainy-day funds for vaccine production and purchases, as well as investment in low-temperature storages and training of health workers to prepare for the next global pandemic, the Yomiuri said.

Japan, this year's chair of the G7 meetings, looks to build support from emerging nations on wide-ranging issues such as supply chains, food security and climate change to counter the growing influence of China and Russia.

Saturday's meeting of G7 finance ministers agreed to offer aid to low- and middle-income countries to help increase their role in supply chains for energy-related products.

At a meeting on Saturday G7 finance and health ministers called for a new global financing framework to "deploy necessary funds quickly and efficiently in response to outbreaks without accumulating idle cash", they said in a statement.

The G7 will collaborate with the WHO and the World Bank, which manages an international pandemic fund, to explore the new funding scheme ahead of an August meeting of G20 finance and health ministers in India, they said.

The G7 grouping of Britain, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, is considering whether to issue a statement on global pandemic response at the May 19-21 summit in Japan's city of Hiroshima, the Yomiuri said.

(Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
Cutting corners: Google devotes countless resources to analyzing and refining how we communicate via electronic messaging. The evolution of artificial intelligence gave these efforts a boost, helping it to roll out solutions such as Smart Reply in 2017 and Smart Compose in 2018. At this year's developer's conference, Google introduced its newest AI-driven feature, which provides the ability to generate complete email responses at the push of a button.

Google held its annual developer's conference, Google I/O, earlier at its Mountain View campus. Google CEO Sundar Pichai introduced several topics and announcements during the event's keynote, ranging from updates to Google Maps to its 3D teleconferencing solution, Project Starline. One particular new feature announcement, called "Help Me Write" has caught the attention of almost 2 billion Gmail users.

Since their release, Google's previous Smart Reply and Smart Compose features have helped users create basic replies and offered predictive text suggestions. Help Me Write expands upon these capabilities, allowing users to generate and elaborate upon entire messages in a single click.

Google developers designed the technology to help minimize the time spent crafting simple, repetitive messages and responses to routine questions and needs. Pichai's demonstration shows a user replying to an email, clicking on the new feature's icon, and entering a prompt describing the response's desired intent. The result was a clear and accurate email that included elements directly related to the original message. Once crafted, Help Me Write users can manually edit, ask the AI to elaborate, or shorten the message.

A recent blog post referenced this new email functionality and several other AI-assisted authoring tools, all part of Google's new Duet AI for Google Workspace. Similar to the email authoring capabilities of Help Me Write, the new Workspace tool suite offers users AI-assisted features to generate text and visual content via descriptive prompts. For example, Duet AI will help Google Slide users generate new, original prompt-based visuals for their presentations.

Sheets users can also leverage Google's AI to simplify their data-centric tasks. Duet AI's new Help Me Organize feature can support users by automatically creating custom plans to track tasks and projects using the same prompt-based description functionality.

Users interested in previewing these new technologies can register to access them via Google's Workspace Labs sign-up page. Selected users will receive access to Google's latest generative AI features in Workspace and the opportunity to provide feedback regarding its use, issues, and potential improvements before public release.
Tinder has announced a significant change in its platform, as the popular dating app will no longer connect users' social media accounts to their profiles.

This decision comes as part of Tinder's ongoing efforts to maintain a safe and inclusive environment for its diverse user base.

No More Social Media Integration

In its statement, Tinder emphasized the importance of community guidelines and setting expectations for user behavior both on and off the app.

The new rule aims to ensure that users can fully express themselves without the need for social media integration.



By removing the requirement to link social media accounts, Tinder seeks to encourage users to be more authentic and genuine in their interactions. The focus is on fostering personal connections rather than promoting business endeavors or seeking social media fame.



"Make personal connections, not biz ones. Don't advertise, promote, share your social handles to gain followers, sell stuff, fundraise, or campaign. This also means Tinder isn't the place for any sort of sex work, escort services, or compensated relationships. So, no-don't use Tinder to find your sugarmamma," the popular dating app wrote in its community guidelines.



This change also aligns with Tinder's commitment to user privacy and security. By disconnecting social media accounts, users have greater control over their personal information and can choose what they share within the app.

This measure discourages the public display of sensitive details such as phone numbers, emails, or social handles, reducing the risk of privacy breaches.

Read Also: Tinder, Other Dating Apps to Prevent Romance Scams - Thanks to Match Group's New In-App Messages

Baby Pictures Are Prohibited Too

The decision aligns with Tinder's existing community guidelines, which serve to establish clear expectations for user behavior within and outside the app.

These guidelines emphasize the importance of personal boundaries, with Tinder prohibiting the display of nudity, sexual content, sexual desires, or explicit requests for sex on public profiles.



However, within private conversations, such discussions are permissible as long as all parties involved are comfortable with it, highlighting the significance of consent. Tinder also reiterates that it is exclusively for adults aged 18 and above.



The app strictly prohibits the posting of photos featuring unaccompanied or unclothed minors, including pictures of users' younger selves.

To ensure privacy and maintain the integrity of the platform, Tinder allows only one account per person. Multiple individuals accessing the same account is not supported, as it poses logistical and privacy concerns.

Tinder also emphasizes that the app is a space for users to post their own content. It is strictly prohibited to share images or private messages from other individuals without obtaining their explicit consent.



This policy aims to protect the privacy and personal rights of all users. Furthermore, Tinder prohibits the posting of copyrighted or trademarked content belonging to others.

Related Article: Tinder, Hinge, Other Dating Apps Gives Vaccination Badges and More Matches to Encourage Vaccination

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The launch of the PlayStation VR 2 was a big moment for the virtual reality world. The much-loved gaming system from Sony finally had a way to experience the world of virtual reality, and fans were ready to jump in.

New Retail Outlets Make the PSVR 2 More Accessible

According to the story by The Verge, after its launch, however, the availability of the PSVR 2 was limited. But now, with the exclusivity held by Sony loosening, the headset is available at five of the most popular retail outlets in North America.

Before the move, shoppers could only buy the headset through Sony's website. Now, in addition to the same $550 price tag, buyers can purchase through Amazon, Best Buy, and other stores.

Expanding Availability of the PSVR 2 to Include Amazon's International Storefronts

The ideal way to test the waters with a new product type, such as the PSVR 2, is to allow customers to try a demo first. In the case of the PSVR 2, a PlayStation VR Experience Station is available at stores like Best Buy, where customers can give the headset a test run within an immersive environment.

Outside of the retail stores, headset availability is expected to expand online even further. All confirmed addition to the list are Amazon's international storefronts, including Amazon UK and Amazon France.

Cross-Platform Compatibility Sets the PSVR 2 Apart from the Competition

Rumors of other outlets carrying the headset, such as the PlayStation Store, have been in the pipeline as well. Of course, due to reportedly low sales, the PSVR 2 must have something up its sleeve to make it stand out.

One advantage it carries over competitors is its cross-platform compatibility, something which sets it apart from other headsets. Not only is the PSVR 2 compatible with the PlayStation 5 but it can also be used on the PlayStation 4, making it more accessible and cost-effective for gamers.

The Possibilities of the PSVR 2 Now Available at Multiple Retail Outlets

Another point that might attract potential buyers is the exciting bundle package being offered, including the headset and Horizon Call of the Mountain game. With the exclusive grip Sony held on the PSVR 2 now loose, a bigger audience of potential buyers is within reach for the headset.

While it showed much promise at launch, there were several constraints hindering it from further reach. Now that the PSVR 2 is available at multiple retail outlets, the chances of it achieving success could be bigger than ever.

Read Also: Is a Nintendo Price Cut Happening This Year? Nintendo Clears up Speculations

PC Compatibility: An Untapped Market Opportunity for Sony

To further improve its drive towards mainstream success, Sony must couple additional game releases with more experience kiosks in retail stores, allowing potential customers to try out the PSVR 2 firsthand.

But while the headset is available at multiple outlets now, one that isn't in the catalog yet is PC compatibility. With no indication of PC compatibility, Sony will likely still ride the PSVR 2's momentum on its own PS5 hardware.

Related Article: ASUS ROG Ally: Preorders Now Available, But Where? Mixed Reviews for PC Handheld

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
This new lawsuit is spilling the beans for ByteDance's former operations and is now taking it up against the company for the previous actions that made them among the famous names in the industry with TikTok. A former employee of ByteDance has claimed significant actions of the company that helped boost its standing now, using bots in the process.

The former ByteDance employee also said that China-based employees of the company had access to US user data, and this is a significant complaint that lines up with America's probe on a TikTok ban.

ByteDance is Facing a Lawsuit from a Former Employee, Revealing their Actions

ByteDance, the parent company of the wildly popular social media platform TikTok, is now facing a lawsuit from its former head of engineering, Yintao Yu, who claimed that the company resorted to illegal actions to bolster TikTok's success.

According to the New York Times report, the lawsuit alleges a series of concerning practices, including the unauthorized access of user data by China-based employees, the use of bots to artificially inflate engagement and traction in the United States, content theft from platforms like Instagram and Snapchat, promotion of Communist values, and serving as a propaganda tool for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Yu, who departed from ByteDance in 2018, had reportedly been engaged in a battle against the use of content sourced from other platforms even before TikTok underwent its rebranding from Musical.ly.

Read Also: Snap CEO Evan Spiegel Supports Banning TikTok in US

ByteDance used Bots to Boost TikTok, Access to US User Data

According to Engadget, Yu claimed that ByteDance not only turned a blind eye to his concerns but also allegedly engaged in illicit practices to expedite the platform's growth.

Furthermore, the lawsuit claims that TikTok deployed bots to manipulate engagement metrics in the United States. By doing so, ByteDance may have allegedly deceived both users and advertisers, compromising the integrity of the platform's success and influencing the perception of TikTok's reach.

TikTok and its Massive Operations Problems in the US

TikTok has been in the heat for some time now, and this is because there are reasons to believe that the app is stealing user data, and is accessible to its Chinese operations. This centered on a US probe that could lead to a ban, but there are concerns that this may lead to further cybersecurity issues.

Yu's lawsuit is an eye-opener to ByteDance's operations.

ByteDance has yet to respond to these specific allegations publicly. However, the company has previously faced scrutiny over security and privacy concerns, prompting investigations and regulatory actions in multiple countries.

The outcome of this lawsuit could have significant implications not only for ByteDance but also for the future of TikTok. If the allegations are substantiated, the company may face severe penalties, including potential regulatory intervention and a significant ban.

Additionally, it could lead to increased scrutiny of TikTok's practices by governments and regulatory bodies worldwide.

As the legal proceedings unfold, the accusations made by Yu will undoubtedly shed light on the inner workings of one of the world's most prominent social media platforms.

Related Article: TikTok Contains Misinformation About Liver Disease, New Study Claims

(Photo : TechTimes)

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
USPS announced its new efforts to fight carrier robberies and mail thefts.

The postal service provider shared its plans after the National Association of Letter Carriers expressed its outrage this May.

Recently, The Associated Press reported that there is a spike in robberies of postal carriers. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) confirmed that mail thefts increased to nearly 500 back in 2022.

Because of this, the NALC was disappointed saying that it was angered by the armed robberies, assaults, and murders experienced by letter carriers.

USPS To Fight Carrier Robberies, Mail Thefts With New Efforts

According to CTV News' latest report, USPS is now taking new actions to protect its American letter carriers from robberies and other crimes.

Also Read: USPS' E-Cargo Bikes Are Currently Being Tested After Gas-Guzzler Mail Truck Fallout

The agency said it is doubling down its efforts to ensure the safety of USPS employees, as well as to protect their mail.

"We are hardening targets -- both physical and digital -- to make them less desirable to thieves and working with our law enforcement partners to bring perpetrators to justice," said Gary Barksdale, the USPIS chief.

As of writing, criminals reportedly target mail carriers in an organized manner. This allows them to commit financial crimes, such as check fraud and check altering.

Because of this, U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said that mail carriers, especially those delivering over 162 million pieces of first-class mail every day, should have enough protection so that they can be free from crimes.

USPS Anti-Crime Efforts

USPS said that one of its efforts is to replace antiquated keys used by postal carriers, tens of thousands of them.

The postal service provider will also install thousands of high-security collection boxes. USPS expects these boxes to prevent the surge in robberies and mail thefts.

To give you more idea, here are the specific plans of USPS to protect its letter carriers:

Replacing 49,000 antiquated arrow locks.

Installing 12,000 hardened blue collection boxes.

If you want to learn more details about the latest efforts of USPS against mail crimes, you can click here.

Here are other stories we wrote about USPS activities:

In 2021, the USPS-Oshkosh Defense partnership for electric mail truck production was announced. In 2022, the new USPS stamp featuring NASA's JWST was introduced.

For more news updates about USPS and its upcoming efforts, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: USPS Plans to Go Fully Electric by 2028 with 66,000 EV FleetTo Start Purchases by 2026

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
New research presented at the 25th European Congress of Endocrinology in Istanbul reveals a potential link between low levels of vitamin D and an increased risk of developing long COVID.

The findings highlight the importance of monitoring individuals' vitamin D levels after recovering from COVID-19.

Vitamin D Linked to Long COVID

Long COVID, also known as post-COVID-19 syndrome, refers to a condition where the effects of the virus persist for more than 12 weeks after the initial infection.



Despite the fact that a significant proportion of COVID-19 patients who have been hospitalized (50-70%) develop long COVID, there is limited understanding of this condition.



Although low levels of vitamin D have been recognized as a risk factor for severe consequences in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, such as intubation, mechanical ventilation, or fatality, its impact on long COVID has not been thoroughly explored.



Supported by Abiogen Pharma SpA, researchers from Vita-Salute San Raffaele University and IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital in Milan conducted a study involving 100 patients aged 51-70 years, both with and without long COVID.



The participants' vitamin D levels were measured upon their initial admission for COVID-19 and six months after discharge. The study revealed lower vitamin D levels in patients with long COVID compared to those without the condition.

This association was particularly evident in patients who reported "brain fog" symptoms, such as confusion, forgetfulness, and poor concentration, during the six-month follow-up period.

To ensure the validity of the study, the researchers specifically included patients without any existing bone conditions and only considered individuals who had been hospitalized for COVID-19 without requiring intensive care.

The two groups, comprising patients with and without long COVID, were carefully matched in terms of age, sex, pre-existing chronic diseases, and COVID-19 severity.



"Previous studies on the role of vitamin D in long COVID were not conclusive mainly due to many confounding factors," lead investigator Professor Andrea Giustina said in a press release statement.



"The highly-controlled nature of our study helps us better understand the role of vitamin D deficiency in long COVID and establish that there is likely a link between vitamin D deficiency and long COVID."

Read Also: [STUDY] Cats Infected With COVID-19 Have Same Variants as Owner; Human-to-Cat Transmission?

Further Research Required

Professor Giustina acknowledges the requirement for larger-scale studies to validate the observed correlation, and his team is currently dedicated to exploring the possibility of vitamin D supplements in mitigating the risk of long COVID.



The team claims that their study provides evidence that individuals with low levels of vitamin D are more susceptible to developing long COVID. However, the effectiveness of vitamin D supplements in alleviating symptoms or reducing the overall risk remains unknown at this time.



Further research is necessary to gain a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and long COVID. By shedding light on this potential association, the study paves the way for future investigations into the role of vitamin D in managing and preventing long COVID.

The study's findings were published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Related Article: AI Increases COVID-19 Vaccine Antibody Response by 128X-New Study

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Imagine the shock of finding a large, metallic-looking rock on your bedroom floor. This is what happened to Suzy Kop in Hopewell Township, New Jersey, on May 11, as we reported a few days ago. But it was not just any rock - it was a meteorite that had plummeted to Earth from space.

Thankfully, no one was injured when the rock slammed into the house, leaving two holes in the ceiling and a dent in the floorboard. Kop immediately reported the incident to authorities, who confirmed that the space rock was not radioactive.

Meteorite That Crashed NJ Home Is Older Than the Solar System

After ensuring the safety of the residents, the space rock was handed over to the College of New Jersey (TCNJ) for further inspection. Space.com reports that the physics department, led by Nathan Magee, studied the rock and identified it as a stony chondrite, a primitive rock that makes up 85% of all meteorites found on Earth.

But that is not all. Jerry Delaney, a retired meteorite expert who had worked on the meteorite collection at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, helped determine this space rock's true nature.

The results were mind-blowing - the rock was around 4.6 billion years old, making it one of the oldest meteorites ever found on Earth.

This means that the meteorite was formed at the very beginning of our solar system, providing a rare glimpse into the early history of our corner of the universe. According to NASA, the solar system where Earth is located formed about 4.5 billion years ago from a dense cloud of interstellar gas and dust.

More Interesting Observations from Physicists

A team led by Dr. Magee has identified a meteorite that crashed into Earth and landed in Titusville, NJ. This 2.2-pound meteorite has been dubbed Titusville, NJ, after the closest postal address to its landing site, the expert said in a statement.

Upon closer inspection, Magee's team found that the meteorite's top layer had a blackened crust that was a few millimeters thick, resulting from the intense heat generated when the rock entered Earth's atmosphere.



They also discovered that the meteorite's minerals are blue and gray, with a small amount of other metals mixed in, Magee confirmed with Space.com.

Read Also: Frame-by-Frame SpaceX Starship Analysis Conducted by Chinese Scientists! Will They Copy the Rocket?

Based on initial estimates, the meteorite belongs to the chondrite of class LL-6. This type of meteorite has less iron than other members of its family and is denser than the most common rocks on Earth, such as slate or granite, by at least 30 to 40%.

Before crashing onto Earth, the space rock had already undergone extreme temperatures and conditions in outer space that heavily altered its structure and composition. This is why it is not easy to distinguish individual grains or chondrules that make up the meteorite.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.

Related Article: NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Captures a Luminous Dusty Star-forming Galaxy

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Samsung Electronics is boldly investing a whopping $222 million in a brand new development facility in Yokohama, Japan.

The move is expected to fuel collaboration between two of the world's most advanced chip industries - Japan and South Korea.

As first reported by Nikkei Asia, the investment will leverage the mutual expertise of both countries, with Samsung being the world's largest memory chip maker and Japan leading the charge as a top producer of basic materials for chip production, such as wafers and chip-making equipment.

The new facility, which is set to be built separately in the city, is still shrouded in mystery, with specific details yet to be revealed. Nikkei details that the Korean tech giant plans to build a production line for a prototype chip device.

The facility is expected to employ several hundred people and commence operations in 2025. Interestingly, Samsung is looking to make use of subsidies offered by the Japanese government for semiconductor investment.

This strategic move by Samsung Electronics has the potential to bolster the already strong ties between the two nations. The investment is not only a great opportunity for Samsung to expand its footprint in the region, but it also signifies a significant shift in the global semiconductor industry.

Reignited Japanese-South Korean Economic Ties

Among other restoration efforts, South Korea has officially returned Japan to its list of preferred trading partners following a three-year trade dispute that began with a diplomatic row over historical issues.

Aljazeera reports that the move comes after the two countries reached a deal last year to resolve a long-standing dispute over compensation for South Koreans forced to work in Japanese factories during World War II.

The decision means that Japan will now enjoy lower tariffs on exports to South Korea, putting it on an equal footing with other major trading partners. However, Seoul has made it clear that it will continue to monitor Japan's trade practices closely and may take further action if necessary.

Read Also: First Online Apple Store in Vietnam Will Open May 18

The investment is expected to be a highly symbolic move following a fresh rapprochement between the two countries under South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The two leaders are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima next week.

What the Investment Means for the Chip Industry

This move comes hot on the heels of a similar investment by its arch-rival, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), which also sought to diversify its production base amid concerns about the concentration of chip production in Taiwan.

The new investment by Samsung will see the company establish a facility in Japan that focuses on the "back end" of semiconductor production.

Samsung's decision to collaborate more closely with Japanese materials and equipment makers shows that the company is looking for a breakthrough in production.

Nikkei notes that this investment is also expected to help Japan rebuild its production base by attracting foreign investment. TSMC and Micron Technology are among the major foreign investors in Japan who have received subsidies from the Japanese government.

With this move, Samsung has joined the growing list of tech giants investing in the region, which could spur more collaboration between the chip industries of the two countries.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.

Related Article: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 April 2023 Firmware Update Rolls Out in the US

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Companies are responsible for data from the moment they acquire it until the second they dispose of it.

Within that data life cycle, organizations are obligated to keep information safe  make sure theyre not compromised in breaches. According to a recent survey, the potential of exposed sensitive data is what worries business leaders the most.

With significant data breaches such as T-Mobile, Western Digital, and NextGen in the news, users are acutely aware of the dangers that can occur when they trust businesses with their sensitive information.

Retaining visibility, meeting compliance, and having control over data is a necessity for any business today.

The key to protecting personal data is proper data management.

A few features data governance applications must have to protect organizations against cyber breaches are discussed below.

Keeping Track of Sensitive Information

Cybercriminals are primarily after private user information. They want to use it as a weapon for ransom or sell it online. Having full visibility of sensitive data and keeping a record of who is attempting to access it is an integral step for keeping it far away from bad actors.

Its no surprise that the top three industries that are commonly targeted with cyber attacks that expose personal information are:

Healthcare

Finance

Manufacturing

All of them are vulnerable to breaches during which bad actors attempt to steal and leak personally identifiable information. Why? Because businesses in these industries store a lot of valuable data within their infrastructure.

For example, one of the latest data breaches happened to NextGen, a provider of healthcare software designed for keeping medical records. Social security numbers, dates of birth, full names, and home addresses of over 1 million patients were exposed in the incident.

Hackers accessed the system using employee credentials stolen online.

Data governance applications can be used to identify, categorize and keep track of sensitive user data as well as who has access to it at all times.

Achieving Data Compliance to Prevent Data Breaches

GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, and SOX are more than abbreviations that concern a companys legal team. Their application has an important role in cybersecurity  specifically in the prevention of data breaches. Compliance is a matter of IT as well.

What if a company doesnt comply with data privacy laws?

It recently came to light that Canadian Manulife Bank had lax practices when it came to the protection of the highly sensitive data of their clients. The insider source revealed a disturbing truth  the bank hasnt been complying with the necessary data policies for years.

As a result, the personal data of their clients has been potentially exposed. Hundreds of employees had access to it at all times.

The information that the bank has about its clients includes addresses, IDs, birthdays, telephone numbers, and social security numbers. In the wrong hands, they can result in identity fraud.

While this is an extreme case of poor personal data protection, it is a reminder of how important it is to protect users data. And how negligence can lead to possible fraud and hacking exploits.

Top data governance applications automate compliance processes to ensure that the information stored by the company adheres to necessary standards.

Laws are susceptible to change, and new data (that has to be compliant) is acquired every day, making this practice essential.

Using Machine Learning to Detect Risks Early

Businesses store high volumes of online documents. When they lack visibility of such files, the cybersecurity teams may uncover that the sensitive data was compromised months after the bad actor gains initial access to the network.

The longer it takes the security teams to identify critical risks, the more expensive the attacks aftermath will be.

In some of the latest breaches, it took days and even months before companies noticed the threat and started notifying their customers who were affected by a data breach.

Machine learning can discover malicious hackers within the system by detecting suspicious activity within the context of a company.

For example, a person that has accessed data outside of their working hours. They attempted to download, tweak, or erase the files they dont normally need to do their jobs.

Data governance applications that utilize machine learning to detect threats such as illicit access on time.

That way, even if the criminal bypasses other cyber solutions, their activity will trigger the right alarms early.

Rating Risk in User-Friendly Reports

Not all vulnerabilities pose the same risk. Assessing whether the risk is likely to compromise sensitive data of the company saves time for security teams. Also, it helps them to focus on patching up flaws that do present a critical risk.

Security teams are already bogged down with alerts, understaffed, and overworked. Patching up flaws that can lead to security incidents is a long and ongoing process.

Accurate reports are essential for teams that need to respond to high-risk threats as soon as possible.

On average, it takes between 180290 days for security professionals to fix the vulnerabilities within the system.

Weaknesses that are ranked as critical are the priority, and they might get fixed within 146 days. For low-risk vulnerabilities, it can be around 10 months before theyre taken care of.

Best data governance applications make a difference between high-risk cyber issues that are likely to compromise sensitive data and those that cant wait for the next patching schedule.

Combining Data Management and Threat Hunting

Data protection and management go hand in hand with cybersecurity protocols and solutions.

To protect the company against data breaches, its necessary to apply a holistic approach to anti-hacking protection. Besides guarding the infrastructure from technical hacking and phishing, its necessary to make sure that the data is wellguarded within the system.

The protection of private data has a central role here.

Data governance applications should continually identify and classify private data as well as use machine learning and automation to achieve compliance and detect malicious insiders early.
General Motors has issued a recall for nearly 1 million of its sports utility vehicles in the United States because of defective airbag inflators that may explode during a crash.

The car-maker submitted a safety recall notification for 994,763 vehicles to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Friday. The affected models are the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse and GMC Acadia vehicles from the 2014 to 2017 model years, which carry airbag inflators manufactured by Tennessee-based ARC Automotive Inc.

Owners of the affected vehicles may have their airbag inflators replaced at a dealership free of charge.

The recall comes as federal regulators are demanding that ARC Automotive Inc. recall 67 million airbag inflators the U.S. because of the risk that they may explode and hurl shrapnel at drivers and passengers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said at least two people have been killed by the defective devices in the U.S. and Canada.

GM DITCHING CHEVY BOLT, SHIFTING TO ELECTRIC TRUCKS

General Motors on Friday issued a recall for nearly 1 million vehicles with defective airbag inflators, including the 2015 Buick Enclave 4WD model pictured here.

One of those crashes involved a Michigan mother of 10 who was killed in her 2015 Chevrolet Traverse in what otherwise would have been a minor accident. A police report said that metal shrapnel from the airbag inflator hit her neck.

READ ON THE FOX BUSINESS APP

Investigators determined on April 25 the front driver airbag inflator ruptured.

GM said it was still investigating the issue with the assistance of a third-party engineering firm. "GM is taking this expanded field action out of an abundance of caution and with the safety of our customers as our highest priority," the Detroit automaker said.

GM said it was aware of two prior ruptures of ARC-manufactured airbag inflators in 2015 Chevrolet Traverse vehicles, and GM conducted two earlier small recalls of about 3,000 ARC inflators.

BMW ISSUES DO NOT DRIVE WARNING FOR OLDER MODELS WITH RECALLED AIRBAGS THAT MAY EXPLODE

In this photo illustration, the American multinational automobile corporation, the General Motors (GM) logo is displayed on a smartphone screen.

CHICAGO - FEBRUARY 10: 2017 GMC Acadia is on display at the 109th Annual Chicago Auto Show at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois on February 10, 2017. (Photo By Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)

In a letter made public Friday, the NHTSA told ARC it has tentatively concluded that its front driver and passenger inflators are defective following an eight-year investigation.

Story continues

"Air bag inflators that project metal fragments into vehicle occupants, rather than properly inflating the attached air bag, create an unreasonable risk of death and injury," Stephen Ridella, director of NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, wrote in a letter to ARC.

But ARC is denying that its design is defective and claims any problems are related to isolated manufacturing issues.

HONDA OWNERS WITH OLDER MODELS ADVISED TO PARK UNTIL DANGEROUS AIR BAGS ARE REPLACED

The company's refusal to issue a recall sets up a legal battle with regulators.

"We disagree with NHTSA's new sweeping request when extensive field testing has found no inherent defect," ARC said in a statement Friday night.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
General Motors is recalling nearly one million vehicles because faulty driver's air bag inflators could explode and injure or possibly kill the driver.

The automaker told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in March 2023 it had been notified about a crash involving a 2017 Chevrolet Traverse in which the front-driver air bag inflator allegedly ruptured during deployment, GM said in a safety report filed with the agency. The driver suffered facial injuries in the crash, according to NHTSA.

GM and NHTSA inspected the vehicle and confirmed the front driver air bag inflator ruptured during deployment. Air bag inflators made by the same company were involved in two previous allegations of ruptured inflators in 2015 Chevrolet Traverse vehicles, GM said.

An inflator rupture may cause metal fragments to pass through the air bag and into the vehicle interior, which may result in injury or death to those in the vehicle, GM said. "Out of an abundance of caution," GM opted to recall 994,763 vehicles in the model years 2014 to 2017 "that may have received a suspect airbag inflator," the company said.

What else is under recall? See USA TODAY's recall list here

1.1 million Tesla vehicles recalled in China over acceleration, braking issues

GM is recalling nearly 1 million vehicles including 293,243 2014-2017 model Acadia SUVs for potentially faulty air bag inflators.

What GM vehicles are among the nearly 1 million being recalled?

2014-2017 Buick Enclave  244,304 SUVs

2014-2017 Chevrolet Traverse  457,316 SUVs

2014-2017 GMC Acadia  293,143 SUVs

Each had a front-driver air bag module with an ARC inflator installed as original equipment. The driver's air bag inflator may explode during deployment, due to a manufacturing defect.

Owners will be notified by letter starting June 25, but no fix is available yet. GM will send another letter when a remedy is ready. The automaker said it will offer courtesy transportation on a case-by-case basis to owners who fear driving vehicles that are part of the recall.

Regulators demand recall of 67 million potentially dangerous air bag inflators

The GM recall is just part of a much larger action involving air bag inflators. NHTSA has directed ARC Automotive Inc. of Knoxville, Tennessee  maker of the inflator used in air bag modules in the GM recall  to recall 67 million inflators in the U.S. because they could explode and hurl shrapnel.

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At least two people have been killed in the U.S. and Canada, and seven others have been hurt as a result of defective ARC inflators, wrote Stephen Ridella, director of NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation, in a letter to ARC.

One of the two deaths was a mother of 10 who was killed in what appeared to be an otherwise minor crash in Michigans Upper Peninsula in the summer of 2021. Police reports show that a metal inflator fragment hit her neck in a crash involving a 2015 Chevrolet Traverse SUV.

The letter, posted Friday, comes after an eight-year investigation in which NHTSA tentatively concluded ARC front driver and passenger inflators have a safety defect. Air bag inflators that project metal fragments into vehicle occupants, rather than properly inflating the attached air bag, create an unreasonable risk of death and injury, Ridella wrote in the letter.

GM is only one of more than a dozen automakers  others include Chrysler, Kia, Hyundai and Volkswagen  that have used ARC inflators.

A court battle could loom as ARC responded to the agency that any air bag problems are related to isolated manufacturing issues. ARC vice president of product integrity Steve Gold wrote in May 11 in response to Ridella, that NHTSAs position is not based on any objective technical or engineering conclusion about a defect, but rather conclusory statements regarding hypothesized blockage of the inflator orifice from weld slag.

The next step in the process is for NHTSA to schedule a public hearing. It could then take the company to court to force a recall.

Contributing: The Associated Press.

Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @mikesnider.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: GM recall: Nearly 1 million SUVs may have faulty air bag inflators
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 Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Key Insights

Significant control over South Port New Zealand by state or government implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions

The largest shareholder of the company is Southland Regional Council with a 66% stake

Ownership research, combined with past performance data can help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

Every investor in South Port New Zealand Limited (NZSE:SPN) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. With 66% stake, state or government possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Meanwhile, individual investors make up 16% of the companys shareholders.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about South Port New Zealand.

View our latest analysis for South Port New Zealand

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About South Port New Zealand?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

Less than 5% of South Port New Zealand is held by institutional investors. This suggests that some funds have the company in their sights, but many have not yet bought shares in it. If the company is growing earnings, that may indicate that it is just beginning to catch the attention of these deep-pocketed investors. It is not uncommon to see a big share price rise if multiple institutional investors are trying to buy into a stock at the same time. So check out the historic earnings trajectory, below, but keep in mind it's the future that counts most.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in South Port New Zealand. The company's largest shareholder is Southland Regional Council, with ownership of 66%. With such a huge stake in the ownership, we infer that they have significant control of the future of the company. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 5.1% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 4.1% by the third-largest shareholder.

Story continues

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. As far as we can tell there isn't analyst coverage of the company, so it is probably flying under the radar.

Insider Ownership Of South Port New Zealand

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.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

We can see that insiders own shares in South Port New Zealand Limited. As individuals, the insiders collectively own NZ$14m worth of the NZ$201m company. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board, though we generally prefer to see bigger insider holdings. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 16% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 9.2%, of the South Port New Zealand stock. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand South Port New Zealand better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for South Port New Zealand (1 is a bit unpleasant) that you should be aware of.

Of course this may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free free list of interesting companies.

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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Whilst it may not be a huge deal, we thought it was good to see that the Tivan Limited (ASX:TVN) Executive Chairman, Grant Wilson, recently bought AU$84k worth of stock, for AU$0.084 per share. Although the purchase is not a big one, increasing their shareholding by only 4.4%, it can be interpreted as a good sign.

Check out our latest analysis for Tivan

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Tivan

Notably, that recent purchase by Grant Wilson is the biggest insider purchase of Tivan shares that we've seen in the last year. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, at around the current price, which is AU$0.087. Of course they may have changed their mind. But this suggests they are optimistic. We do always like to see insider buying, but it is worth noting if those purchases were made at well below today's share price, as the discount to value may have narrowed with the rising price. In this case we're pleased to report that the insider bought shares at close to current prices. The only individual insider to buy over the last year was Grant Wilson.

The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

Tivan is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of growing companies with insider buying.

Insider Ownership Of Tivan

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Our data indicates that Tivan insiders own about AU$14m worth of shares (which is 11% of the company). We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. Overall, this level of ownership isn't that impressive, but it's certainly better than nothing!

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What Might The Insider Transactions At Tivan Tell Us?

The recent insider purchase is heartening. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. But we don't feel the same about the fact the company is making losses. Given that insiders also own a fair bit of Tivan we think they are probably pretty confident of a bright future. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. To help with this, we've discovered 5 warning signs (3 shouldn't be ignored!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in Tivan.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Join A Paid User Research Session

Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
Louisiana will need to spend billions of dollars on new levees and revive several thousand acres of marshland to protect the coast from whats expected to be a rough couple of decades, according to an updated 50-year master plan the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority approved Wednesday.
GSK plc (LON:GSK) is about to trade ex-dividend in the next 4 days. The ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company's books to be eligible for a dividend payment. The ex-dividend date is an important date to be aware of as any purchase of the stock made on or after this date might mean a late settlement that doesn't show on the record date. This means that investors who purchase GSK's shares on or after the 18th of May will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 13th of July.

The company's next dividend payment will be UK0.14 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed UK0.61 to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, GSK has a trailing yield of approximately 4.2% on its current stock price of 14.702. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. So we need to check whether the dividend payments are covered, and if earnings are growing.

See our latest analysis for GSK

Dividends are usually paid out of company profits, so if a company pays out more than it earned then its dividend is usually at greater risk of being cut. GSK is paying out an acceptable 52% of its profit, a common payout level among most companies. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether GSK generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. The company paid out 106% of its free cash flow over the last year, which we think is outside the ideal range for most businesses. Cash flows are usually much more volatile than earnings, so this could be a temporary effect - but we'd generally want to look more closely here.

While GSK's dividends were covered by the company's reported profits, cash is somewhat more important, so it's not great to see that the company didn't generate enough cash to pay its dividend. Were this to happen repeatedly, this would be a risk to GSK's ability to maintain its dividend.

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Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. It's encouraging to see GSK has grown its earnings rapidly, up 23% a year for the past five years. Earnings have been growing quickly, but we're concerned dividend payments consumed most of the company's cash flow over the past year.

Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. GSK has seen its dividend decline 4.0% per annum on average over the past 10 years, which is not great to see. It's unusual to see earnings per share increasing at the same time as dividends per share have been in decline. We'd hope it's because the company is reinvesting heavily in its business, but it could also suggest business is lumpy.

The Bottom Line

Is GSK worth buying for its dividend? Earnings per share growth is a positive, and the company's payout ratio looks normal. However, we note GSK paid out a much higher percentage of its free cash flow, which makes us uncomfortable. In summary, while it has some positive characteristics, we're not inclined to race out and buy GSK today.

With that being said, if dividends aren't your biggest concern with GSK, you should know about the other risks facing this business. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for GSK you should know about.

If you're in the market for strong dividend payers, we recommend checking our selection of top dividend stocks.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Join A Paid User Research Session

Youll receive a US$30 Amazon Gift card for 1 hour of your time while helping us build better investing tools for the individual investors like yourself. Sign up here
I'm a big movie fan. I'm not an obsessive film buff who can recall the year, producer, director and cast of every movie I've seen. And I can't recite movie lines other than the obvious, everyone-knows lines such as "I'll be back," "I'll have what she's having," or "Bye Felicia."
Food Stand Opps Turned Friends

The lesson in the story Food Stand Opps Turned Friends is that competition doesn't always have to be about winning or losing. Sometimes, it's better to collaborate and work together to create something even better than what you could have done alone. Asha and Nala were both incredibly talented food vendors, and when they came together, they were able to create a dish that combined the best of both of their specialties. By working together, they were able to achieve even greater success and create something truly unique and delicious.

Food Stand Opps Turned Friends.

In the bustling city of Accra, there were two food vendors named Asha and Nala. They both had their small food stands on the busiest street in Ghana, where they sold their delicious dishes to hungry customers passing by.

Asha's stand was known for its mouth-watering jollof rice, spicy grilled chicken, and savory beef stew. Her customers would always rave about the bold flavors and spices in her dishes. Meanwhile, Nala's stand was famous for its sweet treats, such as coconut rice pudding, fried plantains with honey, and banana bread. Her customers couldn't get enough of the sweet and decadent flavors.

One day, a traveler came to the city and decided to try both Asha's and Nala's stands. He was impressed by the quality of their food and couldn't decide which one he liked best. So, he came up with an idea to hold a cooking competition between the two vendors.

Asha and Nala accepted the challenge, and they began preparing for the competition. Asha decided to make her famous jollof rice with grilled chicken, while Nala made her signature coconut rice pudding with fried plantains and honey.

On the day of the competition, the street was buzzing with excitement. The people of Accra came out to see the cooking challenge between the two food vendors. Asha and Nala cooked with passion, and their dishes were both delicious and unique.

The customers sampled the dishes and cast their votes. The competition was fierce, but in the end, it was declared a tie. Asha and Nala were both equally talented and deserving of recognition for their skills.

But instead of competing against each other, they decided to collaborate and create a new dish that combined their specialties. They came up with a dish called "Sweet and Spicy," which was a fusion of jollof rice with grilled chicken, topped with a drizzle of honey and served with a side of fried plantains.

Their new dish was an instant hit with the customers, and Asha and Nala became the talk of the town. People would often say, "If you want the best of both worlds, go to Asha and Nala's food stands."

From that day on, the two vendors became the best of friends, and they continued to cook together and delight their customers with their unique and delicious dishes. They proved that when you combine your talents and work together, you can create something truly special.

The story Food Stand Opps Turned Friends is about two food vendors named Asha and Nala who sold their delicious dishes on the busiest street in Ghana. They were challenged by a traveler to a cooking competition, which resulted in a tie. Instead of competing against each other, they decided to collaborate and create a new dish called "Sweet and Spicy." The dish became an instant hit, and Asha and Nala became the talk of the town. They learned that by combining their talents and working together, they could create something truly special, and they became the best of friends. The story teaches the importance of collaboration and cooperation to achieve success.

More links to articles you will find thought provoking.
Requirements for Emigration: Vaccination, Good Character, and Proficiency in a Trade or Calling

The Emigration Commissioners for Passages to the Cape of Good Hope played a crucial role in British colonial expansion in southern Africa during the mid-19th century.

They were responsible for promoting emigration from the United Kingdom to the Cape Colony (now South Africa) and for organizing and regulating the emigration process, including the selection of emigrants, transport arrangements, and settlement schemes in the colony.

The Emigration Commissioners for Passages to the Cape of Good Hope, their role in British colonial policy, and the regulations and conditions for emigration.

The Emigration Commissioners for Passages to the Cape of Good Hope were responsible for organizing and regulating the emigration process from the United Kingdom to the Cape Colony in the mid-19th century. Their role was crucial in the British government's efforts to increase its influence in southern Africa and promote the economic and social development of the Cape Colony.

Established in 1849, the commissioners were appointed by the British government in response to a growing demand for emigration opportunities among the working-class population of the United Kingdom, many of whom were experiencing economic hardship and unemployment.

The Cape Colony was seen as a promising destination for emigrants due to its favorable climate and agricultural opportunities. Under the direction of the Emigration Commissioners, thousands of British emigrants, mostly from England and Scotland, were assisted in making the journey to the Cape Colony between 1850 and 1870.

The commissioners were responsible for selecting and assessing potential emigrants and required them to pay a fee for their passage to the Cape Colony, which varied based on age, occupation, and marital status.

The Emigration Commissioners had strict regulations and conditions for selecting emigrants, including that they must consist principally of young married couples without children, and all adults must be capable of labor and going out to work for wages.

The separation of husbands from wives and parents from children under sixteen was not allowed, and single women under eighteen were only eligible if emigrating with their parents or under the immediate care of some near married relatives.

Young men under eighteen, not accompanying their parents, were only admissible on payment of the third-class fee. Furthermore, emigrants could only be accepted if they had been vaccinated or had had smallpox, and applicants had to provide decisive certificates of good character and proficiency in their professed trade or calling.

Persons intending to buy land in the colony or invest capital in trade there were not eligible for a passage, and persons in the habitual receipt of parish relief were also not accepted.

The persons eligible for passages to Natal would be agricultural laborers, mechanics, skilled laborers, and small farmers accustomed to some manual labor and intending to work for their subsistence.

For those emigrating to buy land, unappropriated Crown lands at the Cape of Good Hope and Natal were sold in freehold and by public auction only. The upset price was two shillings per acre at the Cape and four shillings per acre at Natal, or as set by the Governor. Lands not sold at auction could be purchased later at the upset price on payment of the whole purchase money.

The Emigration Commissioners for Passages to the Cape of Good Hope were a group of British government officials established in 1849 to promote emigration from the United Kingdom to the Cape Colony. Their main objectives were to increase the population of the colony, stimulate economic growth, and consolidate British control over the region.

They were responsible for selecting and assessing potential emigrants, regulating the emigration process, and establishing settlement schemes in the Cape Colony. The emigrants were required to pay a fee for their passage to the colony, and the amount varied depending on their age, occupation, and marital status.

The regulations and conditions for emigration included requirements for vaccination, good character, and proficiency in a trade or calling. The eligible emigrants were principally young married couples without children, capable of labor and going out to work for wages.

Single women under 18 were not eligible unless they were emigrating with their parents or under the immediate care of some near married relatives. Young men under 18, not accompanying their parents, were admissible only on payment of the sum in the third class of the scale.

Insight into the role of the Emigration Commissioners in British colonial policy and the conditions and regulations for emigration to the Cape Colony.
The campaign posters and stickers  which university security have since removed  accused Lawford-Smith of arguing against the existence of transgender people and her prospective students of supporting fascism. A month after the stickers and posters first appeared, University of Melbourne dean of arts Professor Russell Goulbourne condemned the campaign as disparaging of Lawford-Smith and intimidating towards students. Holly Lawford-Smith addresses the March 18 Let Women Speak rally, an event now notorious for the presence of neo-Nazis. But in her WorkSafe complaint, Lawford-Smith said Goulbourne had fuelled the campaign through an earlier email to staff in which he denounced the dehumanising views expressed in the anti-transgender rally as antithetical to his and the universitys values. This correspondence humiliated and wrongly disparaged me and my involvement in the rally, she said in her complaint. It also emboldened student activists to begin a campaign of harassment against me on campus and during my teaching periods.

A university source, speaking confidentially to discuss internal matters, confirmed the university investigated Lawford-Smiths attendance at the rally, where she was invited to speak by UK organiser Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, and found she had no case to answer. A separate review into her social posts is ongoing. Lawford-Smith declined to comment on the investigations. University of Melbourne provost Nicola Phillips, while declining to discuss Lawford-Smiths complaint or any disciplinary proceedings against the associate professor, said the institution had a resolute commitment to academic freedom that extended to gender-critical perspectives being debated on campus and Lawford-Smith teaching her course. University of Melbourne Provost Nicola Phillips. Universities are absolutely the place where debate needs to thrive, including debate about controversial and difficult issues, Phillips said. That is foundational to the mission of universities and we have to protect that. Phillips said the university also had a positive obligation to ensure that all students, including transgender or gender diverse students, could participate fully in the life of the university.

Loading The institution recently released a four-year LGBTIQA+ Inclusion Action Plan, which promises to improve its grievance and complaint processes for students and staff who experience discrimination. The identities of the students involved in Fight Transphobia Uni Melb, which is contactable by encrypted ProtonMail, are not known to the university. A spokesperson for the campaign, who gave their name only as Valerie for fear of reprisals by the university, said the group comprised students with different political views and gender identities, including some who had taken Lawford-Smiths feminism class. Valerie, who identifies as trans, said Lawford-Smiths feminism class was not a safe learning environment free from bigotry and her teaching and writing centred around the demonisation and delegitimisation of trans and gender diverse people. They apologised to any students who felt intimidated by the campaign.

Amelia Bright, a 23-year-old trans woman and gender studies student, said she was not involved in the boycott campaign but called for the university to commission an external review of Lawford-Smiths second-year subject by experts in teaching and learning, psychological safety, trans issues and feminism. Loading Dr Lawford-Smith fundamentally doesnt believe in hearing out trans people, in considering their safety or having them in public life, said Bright, the editor of a report by the student unions Queer Political Action Collective into Lawford-Smiths feminism class. All of her personal views absolutely seep into this subject. Frankly, you wouldnt let a flat-earther teach an astronomy class. Lawford-Smith is one of a shrinking number of academics working in Australian universities who approach questions about sex and gender from a radical feminist perspective. Her teachings maintain that sex distinctions between males and females, rather than gender identity, should be prioritised when considering womens rights.
I dont know if youre supposed to enjoy your own coronation, but outward appearances would suggest our new King, Charles III, met his crowning with mild irritation at best. His facial expressions throughout the hours-long festival ranged from dismay to annoyance to something neutral which may have been fear, or perhaps boredom.

According to lip-readers who deciphered what Charles was allegedly saying when stalled in his carriage during the procession, he thought it was boring. The footage showed him seeming to have a small kingly tantrum because it was all taking too long  the story of his life, really.

A lip reader says Charles grumbled to Camilla after his carriage arrived early. Credit: AP

King Charles has reportedly decreed that his will be a pared-down monarchy, but then he ordered the golden carriage? Cinderella would have thought it too much. Im not knocking the ceremony  I greatly enjoyed it. But minimalist it wasnt.

The whole thing was artfully arranged for public consumption  down to the exquisite music and the camera angles set up in the Abbey (I wanted to see more of Prince Harrys facial expressions, but sadly the Palace-controlled CCTV feed did not allow for Harry-cam). But the event was so colourfully bonkers and at times, so strange, that in a perverse way, it felt like something very private, between the British King and his subjects, that the rest of us were only allowed to gawp at by mistake.
Long term investing is the way to go, but that doesn't mean you should hold every stock forever. We don't wish catastrophic capital loss on anyone. Anyone who held Beshom Holdings Berhad (KLSE:BESHOM) for five years would be nursing their metaphorical wounds since the share price dropped 78% in that time. We also note that the stock has performed poorly over the last year, with the share price down 27%. Furthermore, it's down 16% in about a quarter. That's not much fun for holders.

Since shareholders are down over the longer term, lets look at the underlying fundamentals over the that time and see if they've been consistent with returns.

View our latest analysis for Beshom Holdings Berhad

In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

During the five years over which the share price declined, Beshom Holdings Berhad's earnings per share (EPS) dropped by 24% each year. Notably, the share price has fallen at 26% per year, fairly close to the change in the EPS. This suggests that market participants have not changed their view of the company all that much. Rather, the share price has approximately tracked EPS growth.

You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

It's probably worth noting that the CEO is paid less than the median at similar sized companies. But while CEO remuneration is always worth checking, the really important question is whether the company can grow earnings going forward. Dive deeper into the earnings by checking this interactive graph of Beshom Holdings Berhad's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What About Dividends?

It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. In the case of Beshom Holdings Berhad, it has a TSR of -72% for the last 5 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

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A Different Perspective

We regret to report that Beshom Holdings Berhad shareholders are down 23% for the year (even including dividends). Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 0.3%. Having said that, it's inevitable that some stocks will be oversold in a falling market. The key is to keep your eyes on the fundamental developments. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 11% per year over five years. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Beshom Holdings Berhad better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 2 warning signs for Beshom Holdings Berhad you should be aware of, and 1 of them makes us a bit uncomfortable.

If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on Malaysian 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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JJO has launched an advanced CCi30-based investment instrument to make crypto index investing more accessible, easier, and safer for beginners and pros.

Singapore, Singapore, May 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- JJO is bringing secure and hassle-free index investing to crypto with its latest CCi30-based professional investment service, launched for public use on May 15, 2023. The instrument is entirely free for deposits under $500, and its available in 12 languages across 200 countries. JJOs API-based tool is compatible with every major cryptocurrency exchange platform.

Warren Buffet famously bet on index funds as a low-cost investment strategy that anybody can use. This revealed the billionaires confidence in the prospects of index investing, especially for amateur investors and traders. JJOs latest instrument is an opportunity for the crypto industrywhere ownership grew by 39% in 2022, from 306 million to 425 millionto leverage such prospects.

JJO has designed its offering to reduce risks in crypto investing, while also helping investors improve their financial planning, even without in-depth market knowledge or experience. This caters to the rising demand for simplicity in crypto-oriented solutions, which is crucial for achieving mass adoption in this domain.

JJO Provides Simplicity, Boosts Investor Confidence

Investors across market segments, from digital currencies to real estate and luxury items, now get novel opportunities thanks to cryptoassets. But they need proper education and accessible tools to benefit from this optimally. Particularly as retail investors increasingly put their money in nascent crypto-based asset classes, entering high-risk and high-volatility markets.

However, while traditional finance platforms offer various tools to make investing simpler and more accessible for the masses, the crypto industry is still lagging behind on this front. Though some cryptocurrency platforms and exchanges offer relevant services, they are inaccessible to most users due to flawed positioning.

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Investors get sub-optimal returns because of the above issues, ultimately losing money. JJO rectifies this problem with its clean and simple, yet powerful, investment and portfolio management service. It minimizes risks and algorithmically optimizes returns for investors, helping them endure dynamic market conditions and boosting their confidence.

Putting Investors First with JJO

JJO features an intuitive interface for a rich and seamless experience for crypto investors while ensuring technical soundness. The flagship JJO35 index leverages the tested CCi30 principles, formulated by expert mathematicians like Carlo Sevoly, the CS&P President, and Igor Riven, a Temple University and Regis professor.

The instrument invests in the top-35 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, automatically rebalancing the asset basket based on current data. Investors can thus access crypto index investing in a few clicks, simply by connecting their existing wallets or exchange accounts to JJO. The API-based framework keeps users in complete control since the funds remain in their exchanges, rather than on JJO. Further, as JJO automates the index rebalancing, users dont need to track this process.

Users can experience JJOs full service for free up to deposits worth $500. Beyond that, they can opt in for a monthly subscription worth $14.99 to continue enjoying the benefits. JJO also supports multiple payment options, including VISA, Mastercard, and even local services, further enhancing its accessibility.

Although JJO, like any market-driven solution, cannot guarantee profits or 100% accurate price predictions, historical data show that JJO35 has grown 5.5x in the past three years. Bitcoin, in comparison, has grown only 3x during this period. This highlights the instruments profitability for long-term investments, achieved by eliminating guesswork with innovative software.

Overall, JJO is a means to sustainable adoption of crypto assets and hassle-free growth for investors. Learn more about the tool and start growing your cryptocurrency portfolio today by visiting JJOs official website.

About JJO

JJO is a professional service provider offering tools to make crypto investments more accessible, easier, and safer for everyone. The fully-regulated entity has licenses to operate in over 200 jurisdictions worldwide, including Estonia, Singapore, and London. JJOs flagship product, the JJO35 index fund, is based on deep research around the globally accepted CCi30 principles. The expert team working on JJO has brought together the best of innovative and ready-made solutions based on vast chunks of historical data. The company strives to democratize crypto investing further by expanding its service suite in the future.

For more information, please visit:

Website Twitter Instagram Medium

Disclaimer: There is no offer to sell, no solicitation of an offer to buy, and no recommendation of any security or any other product or service in this article. This is not investment advice. Please do your own research.

Press contact:

Contact Person : Ivan Shemelin,

Email : pr@jjoapp.io

Location : Singapore

Source : JJO




By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co on Friday asked a federal judge to deny class-action status to more than 100 women who said the bank helped enable the late financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse them.

In a filing in Manhattan federal court, the largest U.S. bank said Epstein's accusers had too many differences to sue under an "oversimplified" theory that it was liable to all of them by having provided Epstein with banking services.

JPMorgan said allowing a class action "skips over" how Epstein's conduct "varied from victim to victim, and across time," and that the bank's knowledge at the time and provision of banking services similarly varied.

The question "is not whether Epstein's behavior was monstrous. It was," JPMorgan said. "The question before the court is whether to certify a class in this lawsuit. It should not."

Lawyers for the accusers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Class actions let plaintiffs sue as a group, potentially allowing greater recoveries at lower costs than if they were forced to sue individually.

Epstein was a JPMorgan client from 1998 to 2013.

He was also a Deutsche Bank AG client from 2013 to 2018, which faces a separate proposed class action by Epstein's accusers.

In both lawsuits, the accusers have called the banks "Epstein's secret weapon" that made his years of sexual abuse and trafficking possible.

Both cases are scheduled for trial later this year. The banks have denied wrongdoing.

Epstein died in August 2019 in a Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial for sex trafficking, in what New York City's medical examiner called a suicide.

The cases in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, are Jane Doe 1 v Deutsche Bank AG et al, No. 22-10018, and Jane Doe 1 v JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, No. 22-10019.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
Carl Icahn is used to being on the offensive, but this time, hes the one facing an all-out assault.

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In a May 2 report, the famed short-seller Hindenburg Research targeted Icahns publicly traded conglomerate, Icahn Enterprises, alleging that the company is using a juicy but unsustainable dividend yield to lure retail investors into a ponzi-like operation.

Icahn has been using money taken in from new investors to pay out dividends to old investors, Hindenburg wrote while revealing it had taken a short position against his companys stock.

Icahn Enterprises did not immediately respond to Fortunes request for comment about Hindenburgs allegations. But in a May 10 statement responding to Hindenburg's report, Icahn pushed back with his typical bravado.

Hindenburg Research, founded by Nathan Anderson, would be more aptly named Blitzkrieg Research given its tactics of wantonly destroying property and harming innocent civilians. Mr. Anderson's modus operandi is to launch disinformation campaigns to distort companies' images, damage their reputations and bleed the hard-earned savings of individual investors, the billionaire wrote, promising to fight back against the allegations.

Icahns billionaire arch rival, Pershing Square Capital co-founder and CEO Bill Ackman, was quick to remark on the irony of the corporate raider, who is well known for his harsh criticism of executive mismanagement and corporate malfeasance, being accused of his own misdeeds. There is a karmic quality to this short report that reinforces the notion of a circle of life and death. As such, it is a must read, he wrote in a May 2 tweet.

Icahn has had a long-running feud with Ackman, which culminated in a 2013 CNBC interview where he called the Pershing Square Capital founder a "liar" and a "crybaby after the two had taken opposing positions on the multi-level market company Herbalife. Ackman famously shorted Herbalife in 2012, arguing the company was a ponzi-scheme and its stock would eventually drop to $0 per share, but was forced to abandon his bet in 2018 as the stock soared after Icahn invested in the company.

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On Thursday, however, it was Icahn who was under pressure, as Hindenburg alleged in a follow up report that he had borrowed billions against his holdings in Icahn Enterprises (IEP) and invested some or all of the money into his own funds.

These funds subsequently generated significant losses, which could pose an overleveraging risk for both Carl Icahn himself, and IEP unitholders, Hindenburg wrote, noting that it doubled down on its bet against Icahn Enterprises by shorting its bonds as well.

Icahn Enterprises did not immediately respond to Fortunes request for comment.

Carl Icahn became famous for his cutthroat tactics as a corporate raider in the 1980s, which director Oliver Stone relied on to create his Michael Douglas greed is good character Gordon Gekko in the 1987 film Wall Street. The billionaire would commonly purchase a large number of shares in companies he felt were mismanaged and then push for changes to the board, layoffs, or the sale of assets in an attempt to improve earnings and stock prices. Although Icahn, 87, isnt the aggressive activist investor he once was, he still loves to criticize corporate mismanagement.

In 2015, he warned of a pending recession and blasted U.S. CEOs for borrowing money for buybacks and acquisitions in an attempt to artificially inflate earnings in a 15-minute video called Danger Ahead.

Its financial engineering at its height, he said. The earnings that are being put out today, I think they are very suspect.

But now Icahn is being accused of his own type of financial engineering. Icahn Enterprises stock has plummeted more than 30% since Hindenburg first revealed its short position earlier this month, leading Icahns personal net worth to drop over $10 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The fallout for Icahn comes after Hindenburg targeted Indias Adani Group in January, leading the company into a tailspin that saw CEO and co-founder Gautam Adanis net worth plummet by $60 billon, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires index.

Hindenburg might not be the investors only problem. Icahn Enterprises revealed in a May 10 regulatory filing, that Federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorneys office for the Southern District of New York were seeking information regarding its corporate governance, capitalization, securities offerings, dividends, valuation, marketing materials, due diligence and other materials. That disclosure came a little more than a week after Hindenbugs first attack on the company.

Icahn Enterprises said it was cooperating with the request, adding that the US attorneys office has not made any claims or allegations against us or Mr. Icahn.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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A Necessary JAccuse! The Crimes of the CCP Laid Bare

Democracy activists join together to call on governments to stand against the CCPs suppression of freedom, democracy, and human rights, in front of the U.N. headquarters in New York City on Oct. 1, 2020. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Commentary

Emile Zola revealed the stark power of laying the facts on the table in his attack on the French president and his government for the unjust conviction and imprisonment of French General Staff Officer Alfred Dreyfus due to false accusations of espionage anchored upon widespread antisemitism.

In Frank Gaffneys new book, The Indictment: Prosecuting the Chinese Communist Party and Friends for Crimes Against America, China, and the World, he analyzes the crimes of the Chinese regime with the same amalgamation of forceful logic and incandescent outrage that defined Zolas expose of corruption in France.

Gaffneys work (NB: Gaffney is a friend and colleague at the Center for Security Policy) addresses both the threat and the needed response. He explains why the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) existential threat to the United States was ignored for many decades. He demonstrates that there is increasing recognition of the danger, including of unrestricted warfare, the application of non-kinetic means of waging war against the United States, which is essential but insufficientconcrete measures must be taken against it. Thus, the book documents the crimes of the CCP against the United States and humanity so that readers will understand the all-encompassing nature of the threat and the critical steps of what must be done to defeat the CCP.

The first part of the analysis identifies nine specific charges against the CCP. It begins with the recognition the Chinese regime is at war with the United States. This is peoples war, a form of ideological and political warfare to mobilize the regime and its adherents against the United States. While the CCP has been at war with America since it came to power in 1949, the CCPs declaration in 2019 of peoples war compels the recognition that the regime is determined to defeat the United States and its allies.

Moreover, Gaffneys analysis of elite capture is also critical for Americans to comprehend, that is, many of the American elitein politics, business, finance, media, think tanks, and universitiesare corrupted by the CCP so that Beijing has an enormous internal lobby in the domestic politics of the United States. For those captured to defend their pecuniary interest, they must defend the interests of the CCP.

The intertwining of the CCPs interests and Americas captured elite is a fundamental problem that the U.S. Congress and the American people are only now comprehending and considering how to end this sordid situation. This keen analysis permits Americans to understand how the current cold war with the Chinese regime is unlikely the one with the Soviet Union, where elite capture was far less of a problem as most Americans patriotically would have nothing to do with the Soviet Union and would shun those, like Armand Hammer of Occidental Petroleum, who did.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden meet on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Nov. 14, 2022. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

The second part of the study defines 20 detailed and focused actions to be implemented against the CCP to punish it for its crimes against the Chinese people, the United States, and the world, and to defeat the CCP. These actions include understanding the threat and elite capture, investigating President Joe Biden and his subordinates, demanding the removal from office of compromised politicians and others in government, rebuilding and replenishing the U.S. military, disengaging from China economically, banning TikTok and similar apps, securing the U.S. electrical grid, and insisting on full reciprocity in the Sino-American relationship. For example, if China does not let U.S. entities buy Chinese farmland, then Chinese entities, even if working through U.S. cutouts, should not be allowed to buy U.S. land.

Having identified the actions, the third part of the study explains how to accomplish these measures through actions that individual Americans can take to promote public awareness and engagement, as well as necessary actions by federal, state, and local governments.

This comprehensive, thoughtful, and strategic analysis provides an unparalleled tour of the horizon regarding the CCPs unrestricted warfare campaign against the United States and how the CCP is assisted in this war by the American elite, businesses, and governments around the worldincluding on Wall Street and Silicon Valley. By identifying what individual Americans can do in response, Gaffney has produced a how to guide to assist Americans as they combat the threat.

Beyond its immediate contribution, the legacy of the study will be, first, that it provided American citizens with the knowledge of the threat and what to do today to combat it.

Second, mutatis mutandis, the core of the book may be applied to other countries so that people in other states who are plagued with the same problems, which will be all of them with which the CCP interacts, may adopt similar steps. Gaffney is right to stress repeatedly that the CCP is a global problem and requires that all states respond. The United States must take the lead, but all other states can contribute.

Third, the study serves as a metric for readers to gauge what actions the United States is taking and what more needs to be done. No doubt, progress will be uneven, but the guideposts are provided.

Fourth, as the United States moves into the 2024 campaign season, American citizens will use the book to be motivated to support and hopefully participate in the campaigns of candidates who will fight the CCP, and to weigh their voting decisions at all levels, from local elections to the presidential one, in light of the CCP threat.

Gaffney has produced a remarkable book for all who seek to understand the scope of the threat and what must be urgently accomplished to defeat the malevolent force that is the CCP.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Airbnb Posts $117 Million Profit, but Q2 Outlook Disappoints

The Airbnb app icon is displayed on an iPad screen in Washington on May 8, 2021. (Patrick Semansky/AP Photo)

Airbnb said that it earned $117 million in the first quarter as revenue rose during the ongoing recovery in travel, but the companys outlook for late spring and early summer disappointed investors.

The San Francisco-based companys shares fell nearly 12 percent in extended trading hours after Airbnb posted the forecast on Tuesday.

The weak outlook overshadowed Airbnbs first profit in the first three months of the year, a seasonally slow period for travel.

The companys profit compared with a loss of $19 million a year earlier and worked out to 18 cents per share. Revenue climbed 20 percent to $1.82 billion, beating Wall Streets forecast of $1.79 billion, according to a FactSet survey.

Nights and experiences booked, a closely watched measurement for Airbnb, increased 19 percent to 121 million, and the company valued the bookings made in the quarter at $20.4 billion, a 19 percent increase.

We have seen our highest number of active bookers ever despite continued macroeconomic uncerainty, CEO Brian Chesky said during a call with analysts.

However, Airbnb said second-quarter bookings growth wont look as robust as they did a year earlier, when consumers were busy booking travel after hunkering down at home during the outbreak of COVID-19s omicron variant. The company said bookings will grow more slowly than revenue in the April-through-June period, and the average daily rental rate will be slightly lower than a year earlier.

The company predicted that revenue in the second quarter, which includes the start of the peak summer travel season, would be around $2.40 billion. That was below analysts average prediction of $2.42 billion.

In a letter to shareholders, Airbnb said its revenue and the gross value of bookings are both double what they were before the pandemic.

Airbnb is getting a lift from people who are traveling while they take advantage of the ability to work remotely and stay away from the office. More of those people are booking international stays. The company said cross-border bookings grew 36 percent over last years first quarter, helped by travel to and within the Asia-Pacific region and bookings into North America.

The average nightly rate paid by Airbnb customers was $168, level with a year earlier, the company said. Price hikes in some places were offset by a slight shift toward in-city rentals, which tend to be lower in price than whole-house rentals in beach and mountain destinations.

Airbnb has grown increasingly concerned about rising rates, which could be pricing out some consumers.

Last week the company announced a renewed emphasis on renting rooms in hosts houses, which it said would provide rentals averaging $67 per room per night. Chesky said rooms would be particularly appealing to younger travelers who cant afford to rent an entire house.

Airbnb is gradually making cleaning feesa major complaint among Airbnb customerspart of the total price that consumers see first when they search for lodging. Chesky said the pricing change should bring down cleaning fees, although there is no indication in the companys disclosures whether that is happening.

Also, the company said it is continuing to find new listingsthe supply of lodgings for rent on the platform rose 18 percent in the first quarter, with the fastest growth in North America and Latin America. Chesky said that should help hold down prices.

By David Koenig
Beware of Chinese Carrier Conceit

A jet fighter takes off from China's Shandong aircraft carrier, south of Okinawa prefecture, Japan, on April 10, 2023. (Joint Staff Office of the Defense Ministry of Japan/Handout via Reuters)

Commentary

The Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is learning how to deploy its conventionally powered aircraft carriers for political intimidation and potential combat missions. While they do not match the capabilities of larger and better-armed U.S. Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, it is a mistake to diminish their potential threat.

This was the thrust of a May 5 Reuters article with a declarative headline, Chinas aircraft carriers play theatrical role but pose little threat yet.

The article states, It could be more than a decade before China can mount a credible carrier threat far from its shores, according to four military attaches and six defence analysts familiar with regional naval deployments.

It continues, Instead, Chinas carriers are more of a propaganda showpiece, with doubts about their value in a possible conflict with the U.S. over Taiwan and about whether China could protect them on longer-range missions into the Pacific and Indian oceans, the attaches and analysts told Reuters.

The article was referring to the PLAN carrier Shandong, which had just completed a 41-day mission that had the political import of a sortie of the German battleship Bismarck, steaming with its battle group to the east of Taiwan, and for the first time contributing to a major blockade/attack and intimidation exercise against Taiwan and the United States.

From March 19 to April 27, the Shandong deployed from its base at Sanya harbor on Hainan Island for exercises in the South China Sea, along with a 112 missile vertical launch system (VLS) armed Type 055 cruiser, a 64 VLS armed Type 052D destroyer, a 32 VLS armed Type 054A frigate, and very likely, escorting cruise missile armed submarines.

Then on April 4, Shandong transited the Bashi Channel south of Taiwan to participate in the April 810 PLA Joint Sword combined forces exercises to intimidate Taiwanthe CCPs response to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wens visit to the United States.

By April 8, Shandong started exercise operations about 100 miles south of Japans strategic Sakashima Island group near Taiwan, and by April 16, reached a point about 460 miles west of the major U.S. air and naval bases on Guam, well within the 900-mile combat radius of its Shenyang J-15 strike fighters.

The 65,000-ton steam-turbine-powered Shandong was completed in early 2018 as a nearly complete copy of the ex-Soviet/Ukrainian incomplete Project 1143 carrier Varyag, purchased and towed to Chinas Dalian city in 2002 and then completed as the Liaoning.

In contrast to the 100,000-ton nuclear-powered full conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) flattop carrier USS Nimitz, steaming about 100 miles to the east of Shandong during the Joint Sword exercise, the PLAN carriers do not have catapults and utilize a ski jump to help its J-15 strike fighters into the air.

This means the Chinese carriers must be pointed into the oncoming wind to launch their J-15s, which will consume more of their fuel for takeoff.

In addition, the Nimitz can carry 80 or more combat aircraft. In contrast, the Shandong can only carry about 40, which will not be corrected until the 80,000-ton conventionally powered Fujian, launched in 2022 and which can carry 50-plus aircraft, enters service in several years.

But what the Reuters article failed to explore, proving that Shandong and Liaoning are not theatricalpropaganda showpiece[s], is that both carriers will operate within a dome of PLA anti-ship missile superioritythey were never intended for one-on-one contests with U.S. Navy carrier battle groups.

The PLA copied the strategic naval concept of one of its chief innovative heroes, the late Soviet Navy Admiral Sergei Gorshkov, who determined that to defeat the U.S. Navys carrier-based battle groups and ensure the survival of his nuclear ballistic missile submarines, he had to launch long-range supersonic missiles from ships, submarine, aircraft, and land bases.

Chinas aircraft carrier Liaoning (front) sails with other ships during a drill at sea in April 2018. (AFP via Getty Images)

Shandong and Liaoning can conduct small-scale air defense and air strike missions. Still, its J-15s will also be working to target the PLAs arsenal of long-range hypersonic, supersonic, and subsonic speed anti-ship missiles.

The PLAs development of long-range anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs) dates to the early 1990s when it purchased scrap components of the U.S. Pershing-II precision-guided medium-range ballistic missile from U.S. Army bases. Now, the PLA Rocket Force deploys the 2,500-mile range DF-26B, the 1,800-mile range DF-17 hypersonic glide vehicle, the 950-mile range DF-21D, and the 620-mile range DF-16B, all ground-launched missiles.

PLA Navy ships like the Type 055 cruiser carry the 950-mile range YJ-21 ship-launched ASBM and the 920-mile range YJ-100 anti-ship cruise missile. At the same time, older Sovremenny destroyers purchased from Russia are being up-armed with new 290-mile range YJ-12 supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles. Other destroyers are getting the 300-mile range YJ-18 subsonic/supersonic anti-ship cruise missile. PLA Navy submarines are armed with the YJ-18 as well.

PLA Air Force Xian H-6N bombers can carry a large yet unnamed ASBM that may have a 1,800-mile range, while H-6K, H-6L, and H-6N bombers can carry the 300-mile range YJ-12 and the 950-mile range YJ-100.

Targeting is the Achilles heel of the PLAs naval missile strategy, which is why it employs layers of optical surveillance satellites, radar satellites, electronic intelligence (ELINT) satellites, ELINT aircraft, radar aircraft, unmanned surveillance aircraft, carrier-based aircraft, and thousands of civilian fishing ships.

In actual combat with U.S. Navy carrier battle groups in the regions east of Taiwan or near the Japanese Ryukyu Island chain, Chinas carriers will be hiding behind a literal phalanx of missiles.

But to Reuters credit, the PLA Navy was insulted enough by its article to issue a May 6 press release retort, paraphrased in the May 7 state media Global Times, saying there were joint exercises with the Rocket Force, land-based aviation forces, and other surface combat units beyond the island chain.

The key question is whether the U.S. Navy carrier battle group can survive multiple barrages of long-range missile attacks. Does it have enough VLS for defensive ship-launched missile intercepting missiles, or can U.S. Navy nuclear attack submarines get within the fatal range of the PLANs carrier and surface action groups, and then its large invasion fleets?

Today, there is no justification for conceit about the balance of naval power in the Western Pacific.

The survival of U.S. Navy forces in the Western Pacific is uncertain enough to require a crash program to develop new tactical nuclear warheads for U.S. ASBMs, long-range ballistic and cruise missiles, and U.S. tactical nuclear artillery shells to deter China, Russia, and North Korea from deciding they can win such a war.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Biden Admin Seeks to Resume Fast-Track Release of Illegal Immigrants

Migrants wait in line to enter the United States from Tijuana, Mexico, on May 11, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

The Biden administration on Friday asked a federal judge to resume the fast-track release of illegal immigrants in a court filing.

In a ruling in Florida v. United States (Case number: 23-cv-9962), U.S. Judge T. Kent Wetherell II, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, issued a temporary restraining order on Thursday night against the Biden administrations new parole policy that would have replaced Title 42, the measure that allowed for the immediate expulsion of illegal border crossers to Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The policy titled Policy on Parole with Conditions in Limited Circumstances Prior to the Issuance of a Charging Document would release the illegal immigrants without a court date.

Instead, the illegal immigrants would schedule an appointment to appear at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility online within 60 days or would get a Notice to Appear (NTA) via mail after being released.

Wetherell also blocked another U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) parole known as Parole + Alternatives to Detention (ATD) in a separate case, Florida v. United States (Case number: 21-cv-01066) in early March.

The Parole + ATD policy allows CBP to release illegal immigrants into communities after national security and public safety evaluation.

Illegal immigrants who enrolled in the ATD program are subject to supervision, reads the CBP policy memorandum.

In the filing in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Florida, the Justice Department (DOJ) asked the judge to stay both orders and said they will appeal two rulings by the court by May 15 at the U.S. 11th Circuit Court.

The Solicitor General has authorized an appeal of both orders and the government has filed a notice to appeal in 21-cv-01066 and will file a notice to appeal in 23-cv-9962, and intends to move to consolidate the two appeals, the DOJ said. Defendants advise the Court that they intend to seek emergency relief from the Eleventh Circuit by Monday, May 15, 2023, at 2:00 pm with respect to their requests to stay both orders if this Court does not grant the requested stays.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is seen in a file photograph. (Patrick Semansky/AP Photo)

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody objected to the motion, saying that the Biden administration is trying to continue the unlawful policy.

Let us be clear about what has apparently happened since. The federal government has known for some time that it intended to end Title 42 and induce a massive increase in the inflow of unlawful migrants at the border, thus exacerbating a border crisis that its own policies created. Part of its master plan to address that latest escalation of its own border crisis was apparently to reimpose much the same unlawful policy that this Court previously held unlawfulall without seeking a stay of the policyapparently counting on the fact that no one would catch wind of what it was up too, Moody responded in a court filing.

A Peek Into the Southern Border Crisis

The DOJs filing came with a statement from Matthew J. Hudakdeputy chief of the U.S. Border Patrolwhich offers a peek into the southern border crisis.

U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) held more than 27,000 noncitizens in custody as of May 9.

It has encountered approximately 1.33 million noncitizens during fiscal year 2023 to date.

Days before Title 42 expired, USBP apprehended over 23,000 illegal immigrants per day on average between May 8 and 10.

Over the last week, the ten-day average encounters is 9,087, with May 8, 9, 10 and all surpassing 10,000 apprehensions with a daily in custody average of 23,646, Hudak stated.

The number of encounters per day is expected to increase to 12,00014,000 after the termination of Title 42, he said.

The Biden administration is sending 1,500 troops to the southern border to deal with the expected surge of illegal immigrants.

Pentagon press secretary Gen. Pat Ryder confirmed in early May that the Pentagon would be sending 1,500 U.S. military personnel to supplement Border Patrol resources for 90 days.

Ryder suggested this could be extended as the need arises.

These 1,500 troops will fill critical capability gaps, such as ground-based detection and monitoring, data entry, and warehouse support until CBP can address these needs through contracted support.

Military personnel will not directly participate in law enforcement activities, Ryder added.

While the first wave of troops will be drawn from active-duty personnel, Ryder said that the Pentagon was looking into other options, including potentially pulling from reserves.

Joseph Lord and Caden Pearson contributed to the report.
Musafir.com, a leading online travel agency in the UAE, has signed an agreement with the Royal Commission of AlUla (RCU) aiming to promote the destination to tourists from the UAE to AlUla.



The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed at Arabian Travel Market 2023 between Melanie De Souza, Executive Director, Destination Marketing at RCU and Sachin Gadoya, CEO and Co-Founder of musafir.com.



Gadoya said: AlUla, the Worlds Masterpiece, is one of the oldest cities in the Arabian Peninsula with massive tourism potential. The fact that it received close to 185,000 visitors in 2022 speaks volumes about the level of interest among tourists to explore this unique destination and its UNESCO World Heritage site. With Musafir.com's expertise in travel planning and the Royal Commission for AlUla's commitment to preserving the region's heritage, this partnership promises to offer visitors a truly authentic experience of Saudi Arabia's fascinating history and culture.



AlUla is ready to receive up to 250,000 visitors in 2023, the majority of which will come from neighbouring nations. As part of the agreement, musafir.com will promote holiday packages to AlUla with the objective of growing the profile of AlUla as a destination. Musafir.com will collaborate on various promotional and marketing initiatives to increase tourist arrivals, he added.



Melanie De Souza said, AlUla is a truly unique destination, representing over 200,000 years of largely unexplored human history and 7000 years of continuous human civilisation. From Hegra, Saudi Arabias first UNESCO World Heritage Site to the ancient oasis and AlUla Old Town, recently recognised by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) as one of the Worlds Best Tourism Villages, to a vibrant arts and culture scene, world-class culinary experiences and a wide range of outdoor activities, AlUla has a broad appeal for visitors from all around the world.



I am excited by the new partnership with Musafir.com, which will help us to reach our target visitor arrivals for 2023. Partnerships such as these will be instrumental in AlUlas continued emergence as a world-class sustainable tourism destination that helps to nurture the long-term prosperity and growth of the region.



Musafir.com has curated a range of all-inclusive packages for AlUla with flights, top-rated hotels, airport transfers, breakfast, visa assistance, and much more, allowing travellers to explore this new exotic destination with ease and zero hassle while helping them create unforgettable memories.



A land rich in historical, geological and geographical significance, this ancient city, once at the crossroads of the Incense Road, has only recently been re-discovered by the world. With breathtaking monuments from the past, AlUla offers numerous activities including zip lining, hiking, stargazing, and rock climbing, along with a fine appreciation of contemporary art, traditional handicrafts, and a vast and expansive desert with its unique rock formations, inscriptions, oasis valleys and much more.  TradeArabia News Service
An influx of VC funding has flowed into the European crypto market over the past couple monthssomething executives have said is because of the landmark crypto regulation in the European Union.

Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA), is a regulatory framework that was approved earlier this year and will likely become law in July this year.

The legislation aims to regulate crypto assets and those engaged in transacting them, whether they are people or entities. That makes it the first major step towards the regulation of the industry anywhere thus far.

The announcement has gained support from many executives in the crypto industry on Twitter, with some hoping other nations can follow in the EUs footsteps and apply similar laws.

Patrick Hansen, the EU Policy Director at USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin issuer Circle, said that VC investment into European crypto projects is up almost 10x in one year, and can be attributed to new laws in the EU, specifically MiCA. He shared a screenshot from PitchBook showing that in Q2 2023, Europe accounted for 48% of all VC funding that went to crypto startups.

Regulatory clarity attracts capital & entrepreneurs from around the world. Great development for crypto in Europe!, he said on Twitter.

The MiCA effect  The share of VC investment into European crypto projects is up almost 10x in one year - from a share of 5.9% in Q1 2022 to 47.6% in Q2 2023. Regulatory clarity attracts capital & entrepreneurs from around the world. Great development for crypto in Europe! pic.twitter.com/kUVp3rwlg3  Patrick Hansen (@paddi_hansen) May 9, 2023

Although England is no longer part of the EU, London-based crypto startups have been especially successful securing VC funding in 2023, according to a study from investment firm Rockaway. The next two largest hubs were Zurich and Berlin.

Story continues

According to Rockaway, VC funding for crypto startups in Europe totaled $5.7 billion last year.

Hansen said he sees the legislation as a way to increase investment and involvement in the crypto space going into the future.

Hes certainly not the only one. Richard Teng, Binances regional head for Asia, Europe, and MENA, wrote on Twitter: The new MICA framework provides regulatory clarity and consistency for crypto businesses in EU. A model for other regulators to emulate.

The new MICA framework provides regulatory clarity and consistency for crypto businesses in EU. A model for other regulators to emulate. Great to work on an article based on this new legislation while representing #Binance at Eurofi pic.twitter.com/Zk3v1rqzwz  Richard Teng (@_RichardTeng) May 10, 2023

Many executives in the crypto space are concerned with the lack of clarity from regulators. As a result, Europe has been a bright spot during an otherwise trying time for crypto startups.

While European markets are seeing an influx of attention from new regulation, VC funding for crypto startups has taken a big tumble, falling 82%, in the first quarter of 2023.
The weighty, 944-page A Patriots History of the United States, originally published in 2004, has been lauded by mainstream press as refreshing in its absence of a political agenda or social rebuke. Numerous pages of research notes and cited sources back up its content, which goes From Columbuss Great Discovery to Americas Age of Entitlement, as indicated by the books updated-edition subtitle.

With a combined experience of teaching American history for 60 years, authors Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen allowed Americas past to speak for itself. In the books introduction, the authors note: The evidence is there for telling the great story of the American past honestlywith flaws, absolutely; with shortcomings, most definitely. But we think that an honest evaluation of the history of the United States must begin and end with the recognition that, compared to any other nation, Americas past is a bright and shining light.

Though thorough, this is no tedious read. This is a history book broken into plenteous subhead-titled sections so that each segment is digestible, and the authors conversational tone connects with readers. Plus, so many little-known nuggets are mined and shared. For example, in the first chapter, covering 1492 to 1707, is this revelation: It is crucial to realize that key inventions or technologies appeared in non-Western countries first; yet, they were seldom, if ever, employed in such a way as to change society dramatically until the Western societies applied them. The stirrup, for example, was known as early as A.D. 400500.

And, to understand the economics of different time periods, comparative living expenses are noted. In the chapter, Building Best, Building Greatly, 18961912, the text reveals: An American in 1900 spent $30 a year on clothes, $82 for food, $4 for doctors and dentists.  A quart of milk went for 6 cents.

This particular history book originally ended with America fighting a war on terror and cleaning up after Hurricane Katrinas staggering $75 billion impact. Its revised 15th-anniversary edition covers recent presidencies.

A Patriots History endsas it beginson a positive note, with the authors conclusion reminding readers, The United States was, and is, a fountain of hope, and a beacon of liberty.

A Patriots History of the United States: From Columbuss Great Discovery to Americas Age of Enlightenment, 15th Anniversary Edition by Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen (Sentinel, 2014).

This article was originally published in American Essence magazine.
Buffetts Dairy Queen Sees Taiwan Among Possible New Markets, While Mindful of Geopolitics

Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO Warren Buffett enjoys an ice cream treat from Dairy Queen before the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting in Omaha, Neb., on May 6, 2017. (Rick Wilking/Reuters)

Berkshire Hathaway-owned Dairy Queen is exploring options to expand in new markets, perhaps including Taiwan, the companys CEO said, even as geopolitical concerns with China simmer.

Owned by Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway since 1998, the fast-food chain counts China as its second-largest market, operating more than 1,250 stores there out of more than 7,000 worldwide.

Tensions between the United States and China have been rising, with some investors worried that China might invade or seek to reunify Taiwan soon.

Troy Bader, chief executive of International Dairy Queen Inc., said the company often looks to markets adjacent to existing ones, so it can take advantage of existing supply chains, when considering where to expand.

He said Taiwan is on our list for exploration at this point, as are Australia, India, and Europe.

Were going to be smart, but were going to continue to grow in those markets so we can be there for fans, Bader said, referring to customers, in a May 5 interview at Berkshires annual shareholder weekend in Omaha, Nebraska.

Buffett told Berkshire shareholders a day later that he felt better about deploying capital in Japan than Taiwan, reflecting U.S. tensions with China.

He contrasted Berkshires increasing its stake in five Japanese trading houses with his decision in late 2022 to unwind most of a $4 billion investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. disclosed just three months earlier.

I reevaluated that in the light of certain things that were going on, Buffett said.

Bader said Dairy Queen would be mindful of political concerns in whichever market it entered.

The Bloomington, Minnesota-based company operates in at least 20 countries, five in the Middle East.

You need to think about them in any country youre in, he said. We do not have a presence in Europe. With all thats going on there, were not going to be opening stores tomorrow. The development process takes time.

Dairy Queen sales topped $5.7 billion last year, up from more than $5.5 billion in 2021, despite distribution problems as warehouses struggled to retain labor.

Bader said the 83-year-old company is counting on greater customer use of its DQ Rewards digital app to fuel group, with more than 7 million U.S. and Canadian downloads so far.

By Jonathan Stempel
California Reparations Committee Calls for Ending Cash Bail

People line up to speak during a reparations task force meeting at Third Baptist Church in San Francisco on April 13, 2022. (Janie Har/AP Photo)

Californias reparations committee is calling for state officials to end cash bail and the prosecution of low-level crimes after approving a reparations payment plan to make amends for slavery and anti-black racism earlier this week.

The nine-member committee, which was created by state legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2020, approved its final recommendations to the California Legislature, which will decide whether to enact the measures and send them to the governors desk to be signed into law.

A final report is due to the Legislature by July 1, where recommendations include several proposals related to criminal justice, including the elimination of cash bail.

The cash bail system is at the core of many of the class and race-based inequities in the criminal legal system, the committee wrote in its proposal. The task force accordingly recommends that the legislature take all steps necessary to definitively end cash bail.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs into law a bill that establishes a task force to come up with recommendations on how to give reparations in Sacramento, Calif., on Sept. 30, 2020. (Office of the Governor via AP)

Government officials and prosecutors have argued that its unfair to low-income people who cant afford it to pay cash for bail and have fought to end this requirement.

Pretrial detention can last months and even years, during which incarcerated individuals suffer countless harms, including deteriorating mental and physical health, risk of sexual violence and lasting trauma, the committee wrote. These harms exert significant pressure on defendants to accept plea bargains in order to be released from custody rather than fighting the charges at trial.

Newsom called the recommendations a milestone in our bipartisan effort to advance justice and promote healing.

Dealing with the legacy of slavery is about much more than cash payments, Newsom said in his statement. We are waiting for the process to be completed.

The recommendations approved by the committee outline restitution that, if approved by state lawmakers, could cost billions of dollars to address historical disparities in health care, housing, and policing.

Many of the recommendations put forward by the Task Force are critical action items weve already been hard at work addressing: breaking down barriers to vote, bolstering resources to address hate, enacting sweeping law enforcement and justice reforms to build trust and safety, strengthening economic mobilityall while investing billions in rooting out disparities and improve equity in housing, education, healthcare, and beyond. This work must continue, Newsom said.

Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, a Los Angeles-area Democrat on the committee, said in an interview that its too early to know whether payments could get passed in the Legislature, as the committees report deadline looms.

We have absolutely no idea right now what will or will not be approved, he said.

Republican Lauren Boebert criticized the reparations payments calling it a joke.

The fact that supposedly serious people in San Francisco are considering a plan that would give $5,000,000 in reparations to every black resident in their city in a state that never had slavery is a joke, Boebert wrote on Twitter.

Californias black population includes more than 2.5 million people.

The committee outlines what it describes as over-policing of black Americans before calling for California to stop prosecuting low-level crimes.

Given the devastating impacts of this kind of over-policing, the task force recommends that the legislature prohibit law enforcement from criminally enforcing public disorder infractions and other low-level crimes, the committee wrote.

Instead, a public health and safety institution, without criminal arrest or prosecution powers, would enforce prohibitions such as sleeping on the sidewalk, fare evasion, spitting on the train, and similar transit-related or other public disorder violations that criminalize poverty, the committee added.

Assemblymember Lori Wilson, who chairs the state Legislative Black Caucus, said that the caucus would champion policy proposals included in the task forces report.

We look forward to working collaboratively with our Legislative colleagues and Gov. Newsoms administration as we continue to fight for equity in our communities, Wilson said in a statement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Canadian Cities Honour World Falun Dafa Day With Flag-Raising Ceremonies

Cities across Canada are celebrating the 31st anniversary of World Falun Dafa Day, which falls on May 13, and the spiritual practices moral principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance with flag-raising ceremonies and the illumination of local landmarks.

Many of the events were attended by local politicians and other VIPs.

Falun Dafa is good, Falun Dafa hao, Conservative MP John Brassard for BarrieInnisfil, said at a flag-raising ceremony in Barrie on May 13.

This year in particular brings up even more importance to truthfulness to compassion, and tolerance. Were seeing threats in this country as a result of the Beijing communist regime. You know, people come to this country to escape persecution, they come here for religious freedom, they come here to be able to live their lives and to provide opportunity for their family. And so we have to remain diligent to those threats that were seeing in this country, he said.

Brassard added: On behalf of myself and the Leader of our Conservative Party of Canada, the Honourable Pierre Poilievre, its a great honour and privilege to be here today among you to celebrate Falun Dafa Day.

Barrie city councillor Nigussie Nigussie (centre L), Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall (centre), and Conservative MP John Brassard (centre R) pose with hosts and Falun Dafa practitioners during a World Falun Dafa Day flag-raising event in Barrie, Ont., on May 13, 2023. (The Epoch Times)

Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall, who also spoke at the event, said Canada is a beacon of light around the world, for freedom, for hope, for religious freedom, for opportunity.

Days like today will help tell all the residents who are walking around here that there is an issue that exists in terms of persecution of your followers. And it also says that an incredible group of people who follow truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, he said.

At least 16 cities and towns across the country are holding flag-raising ceremonies or light up landmarks in honour of the occasion.

At the flag-raising at city hall in Hamilton, Ontario, on May 13, city councillor Esther Pauls said shes thankful Canada has religious freedom as some Falun Dafa practitioners who live here came to the country as refugees from China.

These freedoms are extended to all Canadians, [including those] who engage in the spiritual practice of Falun Dafa, a cultivation practice guided by the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. I love thatcompassion, truthfulness, thats what its all about, she said.

So today, to the Falun Dafa community in Hamilton and around the world, we underscore our freedom of religious expression by raising the flag outside city hall, as well as lighting up the letters that spell Hamilton outside city hall in blue, yellow, and purple.

On May 1, the Town of Milton, Ontario, raised the Falun Dafa flag outside town hall, with Mayor Gord Krantz proclaiming May as Falun Dafa Month.

Falun Dafa has received worldwide recognition with its traditional Chinese self-improvement system that guides people to mental, moral & physical well being, the Milton municipal government said on its official Twitter account.

A Falun Dafa flag flies outside city hall in Hamilton, Ont., on May 11, 2023. (Courtesy of Falun Dafa Association of Canada)

A Falun Dafa flag flies outside town hall in Milton, Ont., on May 1, 2023. (Courtesy of Falun Dafa Association of Canada)

Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is practised by millions of people in over 110 countries worldwide. The practice involves a set of five meditative exercises and moral teachings that emphasize improving ones character. After its introduction in China on May 13, 1992, the practice grew rapidly largely due to its health benefits, and by 1999 it had an estimated 70 million to 100 million adherents.

Several cities and townships in Ontario have raised flags or lit up landmarks to mark Falun Dafa Day, including Amherstburg, Brock, Cornwall, Cambridge, Orangeville, Orillia, Scugog, Pembroke, and Hamilton. More cities in Ontario and others in British Columbia and Saskatchewan will follow in the coming week.

A Falun Dafa flag flies over the Amherstburg municipal building on April 30, 2023. (Courtesy of Falun Dafa Association of Canada)

Michael Prue (centre front), Mayor of Amherstburg, Ont., and several city officials learn the Falun Dafa exercises at a flag-raising ceremony outside of the municipal building on April 30, 2023. The officials include councillor Linden Crain (back L), Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb (back 3rd L), and councillor Molly Allaire (back 5th L). (The Epoch Times)

A Falun Dafa flag flies outside town hall in Orangeville, Ont., on May 12, 2023. (Courtesy of Falun Dafa Association of Canada)

Falun Gong adherents in a number of cities in the United States, Australia, and Hong Kong are celebrating the anniversary with parades, dances, and traditional Chinese dance and music. Several cities in Canada also held parades and celebratory events ahead of May 13.

Although Falun Gong is practised worldwide, it remains banned in China by the authoritarian regime in Beijing. Former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Jiang Zemin viewed Falun Gongs popularity as a threat to the regimes rule, and in July 1992 launched a persecution campaign with the intention of eradicating the practice. The campaign, which continues today, involves the arbitrary incarceration, torture, brainwashing, and sexual abuse of Falun Gong adherents, as well as the live harvesting of their organs to supply Chinas lucrative transplant industry.

Michael Prue, mayor of Amherstburg and longtime advocate of Falun Gong, condemned the brutality of the CCP and expressed concerns about the regime extending repression to Canada.

About 25 years ago, I became aware of what was happening to the Falun Gong in China, I became aware of what was happening and what the Chinese government was starting to do to persecute people who only believed in simple truth, he said at the towns flag-raising event on May 10.

The world needs to know about this, and they need to know the brutality with which people who practice a simple faith in China were being treated, he added. One day, they will stop the persecution; one day, the world will know that [Falun Gong] is an effort [for] people to better themselves.

A Falun Dafa flag flies outside city hall in Cambridge, Ont., on May 8, 2023. (Courtesy of Falun Dafa Association of Canada)

Greetings
CCP Intelligence Operations in the US

Commentary

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are ramping up efforts to counter CCP intelligence operations in the U.S.

On May 11, the FBI arrested an alleged Chinese spy in Boston. Litang Liang was accused of spying on U.S.-based Chinese dissidents and critics of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime. This latest arrest comes as part of an ongoing campaign by the CCP to silence critics abroad. To dissuade pro-democracy activists and others who speak out against the CCP, Beijing uses physical threats, online harassment, and clandestine operations in foreign countries.

Chinese security forces have implemented campaigns, such as Operation Fox Hunt, which was meant to coerce people wanted by the regime to return to China and stand trial. This is often achieved through intimidation, threatening the persons family back in China, or outright abduction. Last month, the FBI raided a secret Chinese police station in New York City, which prosecutors identified as part of the CCPs transnational repression campaign.

The CCP is carrying out an increasing number of intelligence and covert operations in Western democracies, where human rights and personal freedoms are often exploited to avoid detection. Allegations of and investigations into secret police stations have cropped up in Canada and in Europe. So far, 14 countries are investigating secret Chinese police stations on their soil. And on May 8, Canada expelled a Chinese diplomat for attempting to intimidate a Canadian lawmaker who challenged the CCP on human rights grounds.

The CCPs covert networks are extensive, not only in the number of countries they cover but also in the number of agents employed. At the same time that the Chinese police station was raided in New York City, 34 officials of Chinas Ministry of Public Security were charged by U.S. prosecutors with creating thousands of fake online accounts which they used to harass and menace opponents of the regime.

United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace and other officials are seen at the U.S. Attorneys office in New York City on April 17, 2023. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

Not only Chinese nationals or ethnic Chinese are being targeted by CCP espionage programs, but also Americans who could be of use to the regime either by providing political influence or by stealing U.S. secrets. These efforts are directed at businesses, academic institutions, researchers, lawmakers, and the general public. The FBI has identified countering the severe threat of the CCPs counterintelligence and economic espionage campaign as a top priority. CCP tactics are meant to influence lawmakers and public opinion to support government policies that are more favorable to Beijing. CCP head Xi Jinping has stated that his goal is for China to become the worlds greatest superpower, displacing the United States militarily, economically, and diplomatically. To achieve this end, the CCP employs a number of tools, including predatory lending and business practices, theft of intellectual property, forced intellectual property transfer, industrial espionage, acquisition of foreign companies, and cyber hacking. This economic espionage converges with overseas influence operations on U.S. campuses, in R&D departments, and in U.S. research labs where Chinese researchers are often co-opted or coerced, or have their families threatened if they refuse to steal secrets for the CCP.

Last year, the FBI announced that they were opening a new China-related espionage investigation roughly once every ten hours. In April 2023, Homeland Security announced they were launching initiatives to combat malicious artificial intelligence controlled by the CCP. This included attempts to influence public opinion and legislation by spreading misinformation, or outright attacks on U.S. critical infrastructure, such as power grids. Apart from silencing critics, Homeland Security reports that the CCP is exploiting immigration and travel systems to spy on the U.S. government as well as private companies and individuals.

The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and Section 951 of the Espionage Act make it clear that anyone inside of the United States acting on behalf of the CCP can be classified as a foreign agent. If they fail to register as such, they can be subject to arrest and prosecution. Last year, the Justice Department invoked the FARA to arrest and charge 25 people. While this is a step in the right direction, the real number of people meeting the definition of foreign agent must be much higher. This includes people paid by the CCP to lobby, spy, or engage in influence operations. In total, the FBI has over 2,000 open investigations into Chinese spies in the United States.

The CCP is not only guilty of transnational repression of dissenters and stealing Americas secrets, they are also killing Americans with illegal drugs. Along with looking for ways to counter the CCP intelligence threat, Homeland Security is also exploring ways to break the global fentanyl supply chain. The supply chain begins with precursor chemicals for fentanyl being shipped from China to Mexico. Cartels then manufacture the illicit and deadly drug. It is smuggled into the United States across the Southern border. Once in the United States, it is distributed by street gangs affiliated with the cartels. More than 100,000 Americans die of drug overdoses each year, roughly 70 percent of which are from fentanyl.

Some U.S. lawmakers want to declare drug cartels as international terrorist organizations. If that happens, China could be held accountable for selling precursor chemicals to the cartels and for helping them launder their money. By similar logic, could drug dealers in the United States be considered foreign agents, working on behalf of the CPP? Legislation in the United States generally moves slower because of the need to protect personal freedoms and liberties. Meanwhile, China is expanding its own anti-espionage laws, making business consulting and a number of other common business services effectively illegal. It seems a bit of a contradiction that a U.S. accountant in China could be charged with spying for auditing the books of his clients, while CCP agents can operate out of secret police stations in the United States, influencing opinion, shutting down dissenters, or forcing graduate students to steal secrets.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Chinese City Conducts Nucleic Acid Test as WHO Lifts COVID Health Emergency

A health worker wears a protective suit as an employee from a local company is given a nucleic acid test to detect COVID-19 at a makeshift testing site in Haidian District on April 26, 2022 in Beijing, China (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

On the same day the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an end to the global public health emergency for COVID-19, authorities of a subdistrict in Chinas Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, announced the implementation of 8 days of voluntary nucleic acid testing.

Hours after the WHO lifted its alert on May 5, the official WeChat account of Dongcheng Subdistrict in Dongguan issued a notice on the arrangements for nucleic acid testing.

The notice called for nucleic acid testing in Dongcheng Subdistrict from May 6 to 13. The authorities would provide voluntary nucleic acid testing services at a cost of no more than 13.5 yuan ($1.95).

On May 9, The Epoch Times called the Dongcheng Subdistrict Office to ask about the matter, with a staff member saying: The superiors arranged this. Those who have demands can take a test voluntarily. Its not mandatory for everyone. Costs are on your own.

The Epoch Times called a B&B in Dongguan, where Tianni (pseudonym), a staff member, answered the phone.

We dont look at nucleic acid [test results] here, Tianni said. The health code [system] has been turned off, so whats the point of doing nucleic acid testing?

Patients wait to see the doctors at a fever clinic of Dongguan Peoples Hospital in Dongguan, Guangdong Province of China, on Dec. 20, 2022. (VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

Perhaps there was a glut of nucleic acid testing paraphernalia, so [they] ask commoners to help consume? Tianni said, offering a supposition.

The nucleic acid testing in 2022 has scared everyone, with working people taking the test almost daily. Back then, the shelf life of a human being was shorter than that of a loaf of bread, expiring in less than 48 hours, Tianni said.

The sudden mention of nucleic acid testing now makes people feel scared and worried about being isolated, Tianni continued.

After the Labor Day holiday [April 29-May 3], many people had throat problems, such as itching, sore throats, and fever. There are also many people who have relapsed. Perhaps its targeting these people. We havent received any notice about mandatory nucleic acid testing yet.

Movement of People

Hu Yang, deputy director of the Department of Respiratory Medicine at Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, recently told Chinese media that during this period, more COVID-19 patients were visiting the outpatient clinics than in the previous month. Most of them took a rapid antigen test at home. Some relapsed, and some tested positive for the first time. The symptoms of those infected for the first time were a little more severe.

Hu believes that it may be related to the movement of people around the Labor Day holiday.

Passengers arrive at Hangzhou East train station in Hangzhou, in Chinas eastern Zhejiang Province on April 28, 2023, ahead of the Labor Day holiday, which started on April 29. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

According to Chinese media, the number of patients with upper respiratory tract infections such as fever also increased, most of whom were the elderly with low immunity, preschool children, and patients with chronic diseases. Most of these patients have a high fever above 38, even causing pneumonia and myocarditis.

The number of swine flu patients has recently increased significantly across China, with many patients in hospitals, Chinese media reported.

Yu Yang (pseudonym), a resident of Changsha City, Hunan Province, said while he only wandered around with his family during the Labor Day holiday, he came back with a fever and weakness. He first thought that he was just tired.

The next day, I had a temperature of 38.6 , a sore body and throat, Yu told the Epoch Times on May 8. I took a pill of ibuprofen, but it didnt help. Its been a week now. I had it time after time. With the fever and a sore throat, I dont dare to swallow anything. Im tired and sleepy.

Wuhan Fever Clinic

Dr. Lin Wen (pseudonym) described the situation where he works at the fever clinic of Wuhan University Hospital.

There are many patients in the outpatient clinic. The inpatient department is full, Dr. Lin told The Epoch Times on May 6.

There are also many cases of COVID-19 recurrence recently. Since [the authorities] now manage COVID-19 with measures against Class B infectious diseases and no more nucleic acid testing is being done. There is also no special medicine for COVID-19.
Congressman Wants Federal Medical Discrimination Law to Protect Against COVID Vaccine Mandates

Linda Garinger (L), who has end-stage kidney disease, and her daughter Emily Lewis read the letter from a hospital denying Garinger a kidney transplant operation because she won't get a COVID-19 vaccine. (Allan Stein/The Epoch Times)

A Georgia congressman is hoping to introduce a federal vaccination bill to end what he calls outrageously unethical decisions by hospitals denying transplant patients life-saving organs because they dont believe in the COVID-19 vaccines.

Rep. Richard McCormick (R-Ga.), who is also a medical doctor known for supporting natural immunity over the experimental jab, told The Epoch Times that the legislation, called My Body My Choice, would center on ending what he called medical discrimination when it comes to requiring the vaccinesimilar to the argument lawyers across the nation have used to win appeals against hospitals that have denied religious exemptions, but granted medical ones.

Every single hospital in the nation receives government funding, said McCormick. And they can be beautifully dealt with in that regard. If youre going to take federal funding, you cannot discriminate against somebody who either has a moral objection or a medical objection.

McCormick said his interest in introducing a medical-based anti-discrimination bill came after he read that patients were still being denied a spot on a donor list because they wouldnt take the jab.

Rep. Richard McCormick (R-Ga.). (Public domain)

He said he was particularly struck by a recent story about a 41-year-old mother of seven in end-stage renal failure and surviving on dialysis who was declared ineligible for a kidney transplant by Emory Healthcare due to her unvaccinated status.

After reading it, McCormick, who did his residency at Emory, told The Epoch Times that he personally called Hospital President Bryce Gartland about the mothers case and that Gartland assured him the hospital would not enforce any vaccine mandate in her case.

The hospital never responded to requests from The Epoch Times to speak to Gartland.

Earlier this week, The Epoch Times reported that a growing number of transplant centers are ending their mandate policies for the COVID-19 vaccine, including the University of Michigan, which announced it was doing so after a national legal organization, the Pacific Justice Institute, filed a lawsuit against it for removing unvaccinated patients from candidacy lists for a transplant or refusing to put them on.

Natural Immunity

Deborah Catalono, senior counsel for Liberty Counsel, who represented the mother in the case with Emory, told The Epoch Times that the Georgia hospitals transplant center also has indicated to her that it had changed its policy from requiring the vaccine to recommending it.

She said they announced the change in a letter they sent her in response to blood test results Catalano sent the hospitals transplant center showing the mother had acquired natural immunity to COVID-19 after recovering from the virus.

According to Catalano, the test results showed the mother had a greater number of antibodies against the virus than what has been found in fully vaccinated individuals against COVID-19.

Catalano sent the results to Emory along with a request for a religious exemption from the vaccine requirement.

Other transplant hospitals she has sent proof of acquired natural immunity from patients they declared ineligible for an organ transplant have also since reversed their COVID vaccine mandate policy, including the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Kidney Transplant Center.

She said USCF, Emory, or any of the other hospitals have not given any specific reason why they decided to now make the vaccine voluntary for transplant patients.

Correspondence shows that Catalano was the one who initiated the case for natural immunity as an exemption from the vaccine. Like McCormick, she also questions why hospitals never considered the natural immunity of a patient against COVID-19 and instead enacted blanket vaccine mandates.

To my knowledge, the subject of natural immunity is not discussed between the transplant centers and the patients, she said.

Katie Shier, pictured with her husband Ron and their children, was denied a heart transplant by the University of Michigan for refusing to get the COVID vaccine. (Imaged supplied by the Shier family)

McCormick said omitting options like natural immunity is unquestionably discriminatory and envisions a bill that would add medical discrimination to race, religion, and gender under existing civil rights laws.

Texas Bill

Texas lawmakers recently introduced a similar bill called the Texas COVID-19 Vaccination Freedom Act.

Under it, hospitals would be prohibited from taking adverse action against anyone who refused to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. It would also outlaw any action to compel or coerce Texans into giving consent to receive the jab.

It also calls for a $5,000 fine against any health care provider that violates the law and authorization for the attorney general to obtain an injunction against hospitals requiring the vaccine.

The legislation was recently passed by the Texas Senate in a 2011 vote with El Paso Democrat Cesar Blanco crossing party lines to support the measure.

Texas Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston), who introduced the bill, said, The COVID-19 vaccine does not make epidemiological or medical sense.

Health officials have called the bill a bad idea because it interferes with the rights of hospitals and health care providers to set their own policies for patient care.

McCormick said that while he understands standards like denying eligibility for a lung transplant to a smoker or a liver to a heavy drinker, he sees using any vaccine as a factor in determining a persons eligibility for medical care as discriminatory because not all diseases have vaccines.

What about tuberculosis or AIDS? Thats a really serious disease, said McCormick. Are we going to say unless you are taking a medication to prevent HIV, were not going to give you a transplant?
DeSantis Fundraises for Ex-Marine Daniel Penny Charged Over Subway Chokehold Death

Daniel Penny (C) is walked by New York Police Department detectives detectives out of the 5th Precinct in New York on May 12, 2023. (Jeenah Moon/AP Photo)

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is using his sizeable platform to help raise funds for the legal costs of Marine veteran Daniel Penny, who faces criminal charges over the death of a homeless man on a New York subway who lawyers say was aggressively threatening other passengers.

DeSantis took to Twitter to bring to the attention of his 1.7 million followers that a legal defense fund has been set up on GiveSendGo for Penny, who faces criminal charges in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely, who witnesses said was acting erratically and threatening passengers before Penny intervened.

We must defeat the Soros-Funded DAs, stop the Lefts pro-criminal agenda, and take back the streets for law abiding citizens. We stand with Good Samaritans like Daniel Penny. Lets show this Marine Americas got his back, DeSantis said in the post, which had over 5.5 million views at the time of reporting.

We must defeat the Soros-Funded DAs, stop the Lefts pro-criminal agenda, and take back the streets for law abiding citizens. We stand with Good Samaritans like Daniel Penny. Lets show this Marine Americas got his back.

https://t.co/uQXZuT19Mo  Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantisFL) May 13, 2023

The 24-year-old former Marine was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on May 12 on charges of second-degree manslaughter.

The city medical examiner ruled the death of Neely, who had a long history of mental illness and several prior arrests, a homicide due to compression of neck (chokehold).

Pennys lawyers have said he was acting in self-defense. His attorney, Thomas Kenniff, told the New York Post that hes confident that Penny will be absolved of any wrong doing.

The campaign, called Daniel Pennys Legal Defense Fund, had already raised nearly $700,000 at the time of reporting, with over 14,600 donors.

Money raised in excess of whats needed to cover Pennys legal defense will be donated to a mental health advocacy program, per the campaign.

Penny Freed on Bail

Penny on Friday appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court, where a judge set bail at $100,000.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement released after Pennys arraignment that after evaluating the available facts and evidence, his office concluded that there was probable cause to arrest and charge the ex-Marine.

Jordan Neely should still be alive today, and my thoughts continue to be with his family and loved ones as they mourn his loss during this extremely painful time, Bragg said.

If convicted of manslaughter in the second degree, Penny could face as much as 15 years in prison. He is due back in court for another hearing on July 17.

Neelys family released a statement saying they believe he should have faced a more serious charge of murder.

Daniel Penny chose, intentionally chose, a technique to use that is designed to cut off airthats what he choseand he chose to continue to hold that chokehold minute after minute, second after second, until there was no life left in Jordan Neely, Neely family attorney Lennon Edwards told reporters Friday.

Prosecutors said in Pennys bail application that, on the day of Neelys death on May 1, he was threatening subway passengers and frightening them.

Penny approached Neely from behind, placing him in a chokehold and taking him to the floor, according to prosecutors.

While Penny held Neely for several minutes, several other men helped Penny by restraining Neelys arms.

Pennys attorneys said Friday that he stepped in to protect himself and his fellow New Yorkers.

More Details

Juan Alberto Vazquez, a freelance journalist who recorded a clip of the incident, told the New York Post that Neely had been threatening and screaming at other passengers in an aggressive manner though he had not physically attacked anyone.

Vazquez told the paper that the Marine veteran approached Neely after he threw his jacket to the ground. In the video, two other riders are also seen restraining Neelys arms.

After they let go of Neely, he is seen lying motionless on the floor.

New York police officers administer CPR to Jordan Neely on a subway train in New York, on May 1, 2023. (Paul Martinka via AP)

Friends of the 30-year-old homeless man said he suffered from worsening mental health and had a lengthy criminal record, including more than 40 prior arrests ranging from disorderly conduct to assault. Neely also had an active warrant out for his arrest from a felony assault.

Most recently, he was charged with assaulting a 67-year-old woman leaving a subway station. After pleading guilty, he missed a court date, leading to the warrant for his arrest that was still active at the time of his death.

Neely had a documented history of violent and erratic behavior, the apparent result of ongoing and untreated mental illness, Pennys lawyers said earlier, blaming elected officials for turning a blind eye to mental illness in the state.

We hope that out of this awful tragedy will come a new commitment by our elected officials to address the mental health crisis on our streets and subways, they said.

Mark Bederow, a former assistant district attorney in Manhattan, said that the argument of self-defense would likely brush up against a tricky legal requirement for a person who used deadly force to prove that they feared for their own life or someone elsesand that any reasonable person would have felt the same way.

Lorenz Duchamps and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A Chinese solar panel maker has been raided by Homeland Security. Officers exercised search warrants in the Golden and Sunshine states this week, but DHS is staying tight-lipped on the details. Thats alongside rising concerns over forced labor in Asia, where most U.S. solar gear comes from.

Topics in this episode:

DHS Raids Chinese Solar Panel Maker in FL, CA Canadian Govt Compromised by China for Four Decades: Former Canadian Security Official on China Infiltration Canada Expels Chinese Diplomat Zhao Wei; Former Canadian Lawmaker, Human Rights Activists React Parade Celebrates 2023 World Falun Dafa Day in NYC G7 Weighs Reducing Reliance on China New Outbreak in China? 74% Caused by New Variant Chinese Scour Thailand for Homes, Looking to Offset Risks After Pandemic U.S.-China Policy Focus Should Be Religious Freedom: Turkel

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Employee Found in Freezer of Louisiana Fast Food Outlet; Police Calling It Suspicious

An Arbys restaurant in New Iberia, La., in May 2022. (Google Maps/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

NEW IBERIA, La.Police in Louisiana are investigating the death of a fast-food restaurant employee whose body was found in the restaurants freezer.

Police in New Iberia told local news outlets the body was found around 6:30 p.m. Thursday at an Arbys restaurant.

A police sergeant said the death was considered suspicious. But authorities provided no details. The identity, gender, and age of the dead person had not been released as of midday Friday. There was no information released on a possible cause of death or whether there were any injuries to the body.

KLFY-TV reported Friday that police said the person found was a manager of the restaurant.
E-7 Wedgetail - Crown Copyright

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been accused of wasting taxpayer money after confirming that it will buy five multi-million pound early warning radar systems for just three planes, putting two into storage.

The MoD ordered five new long-range surveillance planes in 2019 to replace ageing eye in the sky aircraft.

The planes act as early warning systems for the military thanks to the powerful radar systems installed in each aircraft that can detect threats from hundreds of miles away.

Defence chiefs cut back the order from five E-7 Wedgetail planes to two in 2021 in an effort to reduce costs.

However, the MoD has now confirmed that the UK will still buy the radar systems for all five aircraft.

Defence minister James Cartlidge said: At the time of the Integrated Review decision to reduce the scope of the UK E-7 Wedgetail programme from five to three aircraft, the MESA (Multi-Role Electronically Scanned Array) radars for aircraft four and five were in production.

It was decided that production and delivery of all five MESA radars would continue as planned, allowing a saving/offset of initial procurement and sustainment spares from the overall programme cost.

Reducing the Wedgetails order from five to two is set to cut just 12.5pc of the projects budget, reducing the cost from 2.16bn to 1.89bn.

While it is not known how much the radars cost, the figure suggests the sensors are the most expensive part of the aircrafts and likely to cost multiple millions of pounds.

The exercise was branded the mother of all false economies, by former defence minister Mark Francois.

Mr Francois, who is also chairman of the ongoing Defence Sub-Committee inquiry into the MoDs procurement process, said: The Ministerial decision to cut the number being purchased from five to three  only two of which are likely to be operationally available because of maintenance demands  is extremely dangerous.

If we were left effectively blinded in a future shooting war with Russia, this could yet turn out to be the mother of all false economies.

Story continues

The E-7 Wedgetails offers the Royal Air Force a better picture of warships and fighter jets with a range of many hundreds of miles, providing crucial live intelligence.

At a March meeting of Parlaiments defence committee, retired Royal Navy fighter pilot Captain Dan Stembridge told MPs that three aircraft is simply not enough.

He said: It is not enough to be able to deliver effect in two places at once. It may allow you to join in as part of a coalition and provide, which is an important fact, but fundamentally it is not enough.

Retired US Air Force Lieutenant General David Deptula said the trio of jets is not a prudent reduction and said the aircraft are absolutely crucial for the effective functioning of the NATO air enterprise.

The aircraft will replace the ageing E3 Sentry craft, which the UK retired in 2021. E-7 Wedgetails are expected to be converted second hand Boeing 737 jets kitted out with radar and defensive weaponry.

There are hopes that another defence review could mean that the radar on order may be fitted to new aircraft, bringing the number of Wedgetails back up to five.

A government spokesman said: The E-7 aircraft will provide the UK with one of the most advanced early warning systems in the world.

A three-aircraft fleet will deliver on our key operational requirements and enable the UK to meet its national and international commitments.

The decision to reduce the scope of the programme from five to three aircraft generated some 720m of savings, with the two spare radars retained for future sustainment requirements, optimising aircraft availability.

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Ex-Northern Territory Chief Minister Cleared of Political Interference

Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner arrives at Kirribilli House to meet with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Sydney, Australia on October 16, 2020. (Dan Himbrechts - Pool/Getty Images)

The Northern Territory anti-corruption watchdog has cleared former chief minister Michael Gunner of political interference allegations over the decision to charge a policeman with an Indigenous teenagers murder.

Former constable Zachary Rolfe was acquitted of murdering Kumanjayi Walker, 19, who he shot three times and killed during a bungled outback arrest at Yuendumu in 2019.

After his five-week trial ended in March last year the NT Police Association, opposition politicians and Mr Rolfes legal team alleged the then chief minister, Gunner politically interfered in the decision to arrest the former policeman.

A central feature of the allegations was Gunners address to the Yuendumu community three days after Mr Walker was killed when he said consequences will flow while explaining the role of a coroner.

The comments made on the steps of the Supreme Court triggered an investigation by the NTs Independent Commissioner Against Corruption, Michael Riches, who on Thursday tabled a report to parliament that found Mr Gunner had not interfered.

The former chief minister did not intend to prejudice the administration of justice nor to influence the police investigation, the commissioner said in the report.

Rather, I find that when making the comments, the former chief minister was endeavouring to address matters that had been raised with him during the all-male meeting with elders and matters that he understood were of concern in the community.

He said Gunners conduct did not involve illegality, corruption, impropriety, incompetence or negligence.

It is clear on the evidence that the former Chief Ministers comments had no impact or influence on the decision to arrest Mr Rolfe.

During his address to the Yuendumu community, Mr Gunner said the coroner was a judge, explaining the investigation would be thoroughly independent.

I know the coroner will listen to you, and the coroner will seek to answer those questions that you have, those questions that I have  what happened that night, he said.

I can promise you that that investigation will be independent and that consequences will flow as a result of that investigation.

Mr Riches said that while there was no finding of impropriety by Gunner he did not discount the fact that reports about the impugned comments did cause anger and frustration amongst police.

However, he said, the sentence uttered by the former chief minister, which included the words consequences will flow was directed towards a coronial inquest.

Riches also investigated a rumour and allegation that police facilitated a secret meeting at a hotel between the former police commissioner Jamie Chalker, Gunner and the then police minister Nicole Manison during the investigation into Walkers death.

He said one version of the allegation was that the alleged meeting was facilitated by a senior police officer. Another was that the meeting was facilitated by a member of the NT Police Tactical Response Group.

The assertion arose from third-hand information  (and) in my view, this was a rumour without substance, he said.

Being satisfied that no further inquiry was warranted, I find that no such meeting took place.
Fire Returns to the Kimberley on Heels of Epic Flood

A supplied image obtained on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023, of floodwaters in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. A remote Western Australian town surrounded by a 100-year flood has become a refuge for hundreds of people evacuated from outlying communities. (AAP Image/Supplied by Andrea Myers)

Barely four months have passed since record floods swamped the Kimberley, but the region is already burning.

For those unfamiliar with Western Australias remote and rugged north, its hard to fathom it could be dry enough to ignite.

But for those who know the place, theres an urgency to fire management efforts in a landscape still scarred by Januarys torrent but blooming because of it.

As early as late March, some lightning-ignited fires were occurring, said conservation land manager Tim White from the Australian Wildlife Conservancy.

Our planned burn program is critical this year when you consider the consequences of several perfect wet seasons regarding vegetation growth.

The last wet season was a doozy thanks to ex-tropical cyclone Ellie.

In a week, the system dumped almost a years worth of rain at breathtaking Dimond Gorge, near the primary operations base for the conservancys Mornington-Marion Downs wildlife sanctuary.

Nearby Fitzroy Bluff, part of an ancient range of cliffs that rises 341 metres above sea level, became an island.

The Adcock River burst its banks, submerging many of the bases buildings.

At the height of the drama, choppers were sent in to evacuate staff and researchers who had retreated to the few buildings that were not swallowed up.

There is still a vast clean-up task ahead. Still, the camp is now functional enough to support the conservancys contribution to a crucial early-season burning program, covering over 6 million hectares of the Kimberley.

White said the program was about minimising the risk of large-scale fires and safeguarding habitat for native species by creating a mosaic of burnt and unburnt areas.

The strategy means that when fires break out, they cannot take off and destroy large tracts of bush.

One of the big aims is to maintain areas of long unburnt fuels  around three to four years of vegetation, he said.

The monitoring that AWC and a whole range of research collaborators have done shows that long unburnt fuel, around that age, is critical to habitat.

One of the species that benefits from careful fire management is Morningtons population of endangered purple-crowned fairy wrens.

It has been studied for almost 20 years in one of Australias longest-running field studies involving birds.

Last year, Monash University scientists published a paper last year detailing how climate change affects the birds DNA and shortens their lives.

Monash staff are about to resume fieldwork for the first time since the floods as fire management efforts continue around them.

Significant ground burning has already been done. Work is currently focused on careful landscape burning that will likely extend into June  all from a disaster-battered camp that is slowly being knocked back into shape.

White said work on the camp would stretch into next year as most of the flooded buildings were inundated above the ceiling.

But there is an upside to match the down: the explosion of growth and life that has come with the big wet.

Its a fascinating time, and its a busy time. Everything is growing and abundant, and the place is clean and refreshed, he said.
Congestion Pricing To Toll Drivers Moves Closer to Reality In New York

New York City may start charging drivers traveling below Midtown Manhattan extra fees for congestion as early as April 2024.

After years of heated debate, the NYC congestion pricing plan is expected to get final approval from the federal government next month.

Urban commuter fees have been a pet project for environmentalists, urban planners and transit advocates nationwide for years.

Critics of the plan say it penalizes drivers who already pay high tolls to get into Manhattan and those who live in the tolling zone as an additional drain on their budgets.

Former NYC mayor, Michael Bloomberg, attempted to push such a plan almost two decades ago but failed after tough opposition.

New York State authorities expect it will lower traffic and help the MTA improve its transit system while raising $1 billion yearly in fees.

All vehicles that enter or remain in Manhattans Central Business District (CBD) will be tolled.

The CBD Tolling Program is the first of its kind in the United States and will charge E-ZPass holders driving south of 60th Street as much as $23 with higher rates for vehicles without E-ZPass.

Singapore has charged drivers since 1975, along with Stockholm in 2007 and in parts of Milan in 2012, while fees have been in effect in central London since 2003, according to Bloomberg.

MTA Hope Revenue Will Be Raised From NYC Congestion Fee Plan

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which is in charge of New York States subways, buses and commuter rail lines, released its final environmental assessment for the program on May 12.

The plan will also include new concessions for low-income motorists and Uber and Lyft drivers.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued a statement last week that the MTAs application for the plan neared final approval.

The FHWA demanded price breaks for low-income drivers and taxis or for-hire vehicles more than once a day.

The public transit authority also agreed to spend $200 million over five years to address some of the concerns raised in the environmental review process.

Prior studies have allegedly shown that similar congestion programs could improve air quality.

Air quality concerns have been raised in NYC boroughs like the Bronx, which is expected to see more truck traffic from drivers trying to circumvent the new tolls.

The MTA expects the U.S. Department of Transportation to give final approval after a 30-day public review period from May 12, 2023, through June 12, 2023.

That significant step will allow construction to begin on tolling facilities.

Transit officials said that its vendor would have 310 days, after final approval, to set up cameras and new infrastructure in time for next spring.

Congestion pricing means less traffic, cleaner air, safer streets, better transit, Janno Lieber, the MTAs chief executive officer, said during a media briefing about the plan on Thursday.

MTA officials expect to borrow $15 billion against the $1 billion the agency expects to earn yearly from congestion pricing.

Meanwhile, Lieber said he expects the tolling plan to face lawsuits.

We studied the traffic intersections going down almost to Philadelphia, every possible air quality scenario, all the social justice and physical impacts, Lieber said.

Im confident that if anyone challenges this, this is going to stand up and that were going to implement congestion pricing for New York.

NY State and City Officials Expect Traffic to Ease Under New Program

The money-losing transit agency claims that additional funds to improve the dysfunctional and largest mass transit system will help promote equity by expanding access to the system.

The new funds will finance major capital projects such as expanding the Second Avenue Subway to 125 Street, updating the 120-year-old subway signal system, and additional elevators and escalators for stations to enhance accessibility.

A six-member Traffic Mobility Review Board will be appointed to determine the final tolling structure and other discounts or exemptions, with all meetings open to the public.

Drivers using an E-ZPass may pay as much as $23 during peak hours and $17 during off-peak periods for those not given exemptions.

The charges would vary depending on the time of the day and type of vehicle and state law requires the West Side Highway and FDR Drive to be exempt from the tolls.

The FHWA also requires that drivers making $50,000 per year receive a 25 percent discount if they cross into the zone more than 10 times a month, of which 16,000 drivers are estimated to be eligible, according to the MTA.

A state law passed in 2019 also said that those living in the zone who earn less than $60,000 a year will receive a tax credit for congestion pricing payments.

The MTAs final environmental review also included lower overnight tolls than what was published last August, which will be 50 percent less than the cost to enter the zone during peak hours.

The agency is attempting to urge truck drivers to pay the new fee rather than bypass Manhattan and drive through the Bronx.

State officials estimate the CBD program will reduce the amount of vehicles entering Manhattan every day by as much as 20 percent and help boost falling mass-transit ridership.

Although subway ridership has steadily increased since its pandemic lows, weekday use is only about 70 percent of 2019 levels, according to MTA data.

Much of it can be blamed on horrifying incidents involving violent crime, drug use, homeless behavior, severe maintenance issues, and filthiness of the subway cars and stations.

Even with the congestion pricing, mass transit ridership may only reach 80 percent of pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2026, according to official estimates.

This is a significant milestone, bringing us closer to a future where New Yorkers have cleaner air, better public transit and less traffic clogging our streets, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said in a May 12 press release.

This program is critical to New York Citys long-term success, ensuring our commuters and businesses are able to grow and thrive.

New York Congestion Tolls Earn Bipartisan Critics

Meanwhile, the New York State GOP has long opposed a Manhattan pricing plan since it was proposed.

Kathy Hochul continues to find new ways to drive up the cost of living and meddle in New Yorkers lives. First, she banned gas stoves. Now, congestion pricing will disproportionately harm lower-income New Yorkers and force all of the environmental impacts onto the outer boroughs. One more policy driving businesses and citizens out of our state, State GOP Spokesman David Laska told The Epoch Times.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, the Republican Congresswomen from the NYC borough of Staten Island, said that congestion pricing would increase pollution and traffic in her district while adding financially penalizing her constituents.

Although Hochul strongly backs the plan, many of her fellow Democrats, like New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, oppose the plan and have actively pledged to stop its implementation.

He said in a statement that New Jersey residents should not have to pay and face financial hardship for the MTAs revenue troubles.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a Congressional Democrat from New Jersey, has vehemently opposed congestion pricing for years and has similar complaints as Malliotakis.

The congressman has formed a four-member caucus to oppose the tolls and announced this week he would send a formal complaint to federal officials during the MTAs 30-day review period.

Let me be clear, both over the next 30 days and beyond, we plan to fight and fight hard. Governor Murphy has already indicated that the state is looking at the legal options, Gottheimer said at a May 11 press conference.

Many New Jersey rush hour commuters to central Manhattan already pay about $30 to $35 in round-trip tolls to use the New Jersey Turnpike and cross via a Hudson River bridge or tunnel, according to TollGuru.

Taxi drivers and mobile rideshare companies are also strong opponents of the proposals, despite the price breaks.

The MTAs solution for rideshare would be an infeasible logistical nightmare, a spokesperson for Lyft said to Bloomberg in an emailed statement.

Instead of burdening drivers further, the MTA should acknowledge that our industry has for years already paid them a congestion pricing fee and focus on ensuring the program is funded fairly across all who use our roadways.

Economists have said if the fees are too high, driver volume will fall dramatically, and toll revenues will plummet, but if drivers are charged too little, there will be less money and traffic jams will continue.
Former Prosecutor Against Trump Takes the Fifth in Deposition Before GOP Committee

L: Mark F. Pomerantz at a press confernce in New York City, on March 12, 2008. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images) R: Then-President Donald Trump speaks to media from the White House South Lawn in Washington, on Aug. 7, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Mark Pomerantz, a former Manhattan prosecutor who led an investigation into former President Donald Trumps finances, invoked his Fifth Amendment rights during his deposition before the House Judiciary Committee on May 12.

The GOP-led committee is conducting oversight of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Braggs unprecedented indictment of a former U.S. president.

In March, Trump became the first former U.S. president to be criminally charged; he pleaded not guilty in April to all 34 felony counts (pdf) of falsifying business records in the case brought by Bragg.

As part of the House Judiciary Committees oversight, Pomerantz was subpoenaed to provide testimony. While Bragg sued in an attempt to block the congressional subpoena, a judge denied his request.

In Pomerantzs opening statement on May 12, he called the GOP-led committees investigation political theater. He said he was appearing to testify as required because he respects the rule of law.

What I do not respect is the use of the Committees subpoena power to compel me to participate in an act of political theater, he said in the statement. This deposition is for show. I do not believe for a moment that I am here to assist a genuine effort to enact legislation or conduct legislative oversight.

Although the rule of law compels me to be here, it does not require that I play a substantive role in your theatrical production. Under the law, I can decline to answer your questions for several reasons.

Subpoenaed to Testify

Pomerantz had pushed for an indictment against Trump after having led a probe into the former presidents hush money payments that took place before the 2016 election.

The former prosecutor left the Manhattan district attorneys office in February 2022 because he disagreed with Braggs initial decision not to pursue a criminal case against Trump. Pomerantz later released a memoir about the case.

Three House GOP committee chairmen, including Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), mounted an investigation into Braggs office in March, at a time when Trump had suggested hed be arrested soon, although before the felony charges were announced.

Pomerantz in his opening statement said he was instructed by Braggs office to maintain its claims of privilege and confidentiality in order to protect the integrity of the pending prosecution and continuing investigation of Donald Trump.

I intend to honor the District Attorneys request, and I will not answer questions to which the District Attorney objects, Pomerantz said.

Circumstances Have Changed

He also said he invoked the Fifth Amendment because even though he had written and spoken about his own investigation into Trump, formal charges are now pending against Trump, which means the circumstances have changed.

With formal charges now pending, the rule of law is best served if the merits of the case against Mr. Trump are litigated before the court that is hearing that case. This is neither the time nor the place for me to answer questions about the investigation or the pending indictment over the objection of the prosecutors, he said.

The charges against Mr. Trump should be heard and decided by a judge and a jury before politicians second-guess their merits or the decision to bring them. Thats how our system works. Those who claim that they respect the rule of law should wait for the courts to do their work.

Possible Criminal Liability

Pomerantz also said that Braggs office, shortly before the publication of Pomerantzs book, had warned him that he could face criminal liability if, among other things, he disclosed grand jury material or violated a provision of the New York City Charter dealing with the misuse of confidential information.

He said a lawyer from Braggs office told him on April 19 that his book exposed him to criminal liability, even though Pomerantz is certain that he broke no laws.

He said that under the Fifth Amendment, hes not required to answer questions if the answers might be used against him in a criminal prosecution, and that the amendment is a protection for all citizens, including those who have done nothing wrong.

He also said hes permitted under the rule of law to refuse to answer questions that are not pertinent to a legitimate legislative action or that seek information that is protected by the First Amendments guarantee of freedom of speech.

There may be other privileges, such as attorney-client privilege or the work product privilege, that are available for me with respect to [not answering] certain questions, Pomerantz added.

For all these reasons, I will not be answering questions that relate to my work in the DAs office, my book, or public statements I have made in the past, he wrote.

No Substantive Answers

Pomerantzs deposition lasted five hours.

Ive never had a more obstructive and less cooperative witness in my over 20 years in Congress, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who is on the House Judiciary Committee, told reporters on May 12.

Issa said Pomerantz simply appeared and seemed to have taken the Fifth on every single question, and answered no substantive questions whatsoever. He also clearly appears unwilling to answer any questions even about previous statements hes made, Issa said.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) speaks at the U.S. Capitol on Nov. 15, 2022. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

We respect someones Fifth Amendment rights, but its very clear that this witness came with a clear intention of obstructing us, he told reporters. When his opening statement becomes public, I think well make it clear that he has disdain for this body and has no intention of answering any of our questions.

Jordan, upon leaving the meeting room after the deposition, told reporters that he was surprised at some of the answers, but didnt provide further details because of committee rules.

Pomerantzs attorney, Ted Wells, told reporters that Pomerantzs opening statement made it very clear as to what happened.

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) said that Pomerantz shouldnt have been forced to appear before the panel.

Todays deposition simply underscored that House Republicans investigation into Donald Trumps criminal prosecution by a local district attorneys office has no nexus to Congresss jurisdiction and is simply an effort to abuse the official authority of Congress to undermine the rule of law, interfere in an ongoing prosecution of a private citizen, and harass and badger a public official carrying out his official duties, he said in a statement to media outlets.
GOP Tries to Revive Abortion Ban Bills in South Carolina and Nebraska

Pro-life activists celebrate outside the Supreme Court after the top court ruled to erase a federal right to an abortion and sent abortion law to the states to decide, on June 24, 2022. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

GOP lawmakers in Nebraska and South Carolina are renewing their push to strengthen restrictions on abortions two weeks after previous bills were defeated.

Nebraska state Sen. Ben Hansen, a Republican, has added a 12-week abortion ban as an amendment (pdf) to a separate bill that seeks to restrict transgender surgeries for minors, known as the Let Them Grow Act. That abortion ban re-up includes exceptions for rape, incest, and medical emergencies.

This move has been criticized by opponents as breaking Nebraskas single-topic bill rule. However, proponents disagree, arguing its permitted since both issues are related to medical procedures, KOLN reported. State Sen. George Dungan, a Democrat, disagreed.

The only two things that I see that these bills have in common is the government standing between a doctor and patients, and I oppose that in pretty much every concept, Dungan told KOLN.

Hansens amendment aims to resurrect a failed legislation that sought to introduce what is sometimes called a heartbeat bill. It would have decreased Nebraskas current 20-week abortion cut-off to six weeks. However, that measure fell just one vote short of breaking a filibuster to the cheers of opponents outside the chamber.

Republican state Sen. Merv Riepe, 80, who originally co-sponsored the bill, abstained from the vote. He was concerned that a six-week ban wasnt enough time to allow a woman to know if she is pregnant. His attempt to introduce an amendment to ban abortions after 12 weeks wasnt given a vote.

Riepe was publicly reprimanded by Republicans and Gov. Jim Pillen, who supported the failed measure. The Nebraska Republican Party issued a statement warning that Riepe would be censured.

The entities and individuals who aided in the defeat of a Core Republican Value have been duly noted by the leadership of this party. The Watchfulness in the Citizen applies now more than ever, the statement reads.

Riepe noted that abortion was a key issue in his district during the last election, in which his margin of victory was reduced in the face of a Democrat opponent who made abortion a central campaign issue.

Had my opponent had more time, more money, and more name recognition, she could have won. This made the message clear to me how critical abortion will be in 2024, he said. We must embrace the future of reproductive rights.

South Carolina

In South Carolina, where abortion remains legal through 22 weeks of pregnancy, lawmakers are pursuing their own heartbeat abortion ban after six weeks. Their legislation includes some exceptions to a ban.

The states Supreme Court overturned a previous six-week abortion ban earlier this year. State lawmakers are seeking to get around this with their new bill.

Two weeks ago, a near-total abortion ban failed in the state Senate after a filibuster that lasted many days involved the chambers five female lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

The defeat of that bill, also by a single vote, marked the third time a near-total abortion ban has failed in the GOP-controlled state Senate chamber since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, will call a special session next week as the House wasnt able to vote on the bill before the end of the legislative session.

The South Carolina vote took place with only days left in the session. House Speaker Murrell Smith, a Republican, has said abortion will be the primary matter for the special session, although other items will be on the agenda as well.

I will hold a State House news conference tomorrow morning to announce my plans to call the General Assembly back for a special session and announce the appointment of the next Comptroller General.  Gov. Henry McMaster (@henrymcmaster) May 11, 2023

South Carolinas last session began shortly after the state Supreme Court struck down the 2021 heartbeat abortion ban. Both chambers of the GOP-controlled Legislature have tried since then to advance measures banning abortion at different stages of pregnancy.

Sen. Sandy Senn, a Republican, was the single dissenting vote. She criticized Majority Leader Shane Massey for repeatedly taking us off a cliff on abortion.

The only thing that we can do when you all, you men in the chamber, metaphorically keep slapping women by raising abortion again and again and again, is for us to slap you back with our words, she said.

Massey, who had sought to advance the Houses stricter abortion ban, warned that the response to Senns decision will be in 2024, referring to the election year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Pharma Companies Not Amenable to Lowering Drug Prices: Federal Memo

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos was told of the hard reality of getting pharmaceutical companies to lower their drug prices before he urged an independent federal agency to pause the discussion in favour of more consultation, a 2021 memo shows.

After five years, myriad policy proposals and many hundreds of hours of consultation, it would appear the pharmaceutical industry is simply not amenable to any measures that would further constrain its ability to sell patented medicines in Canada at free market prices, said the document, titled Memorandum to the Minister of Health.

Dated Dec. 8, 2021, the memo, obtained by the NDP through access-to-information and viewed by Blacklocks Reporter, told Duclos that the pharmaceutical sector is not supportive of Ottawas plan to advance reforms over prescription drug prices.

The hard reality is even wealthy countries like the U.S. and Canada find themselves at an increasing disadvantage in their dealings with a sophisticated, transnational trillion-dollar pharmaceutical industry when seeking to advance reforms that put long term sustainability over short term profitability, wrote Melanie Bourassa Forcier, acting chair of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPR) at the time.

PMPR, the agency responsible for monitoring drug prices, said members of the pharmaceutical industry steadfastly refused to engage on the substance even after 110 hours spent on meetings talking about the guidelines for the new rules.

Pushback

In 2017, the federal government announced changes to federal rules in an attempt to bring prices down. However, amendments related to the new price regulatory factors did not come into force last July due to pushback by the pharmaceutical sector and a series of court challenges between late 2020 and early 2022, as reported by The Globe and Mail.

The pharmaceutical industry has argued that the price control will cut revenue so much that it wont be profitable to bring new drugs to Canada. Pharmacies have taken a similar position, saying if the prices get too low, it will affect their revenue, a major part of which consists of a percentage markup on drug price, plus a dispensing fee.

In November 2022, Duclos wrote to PMPR and suggested the process be paused to give drug companies, patient groups, provincial ministers, and himself more time to understand the changes.

Speaking at a press conference on May 11, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said the government is siding with drug companies, causing Canadians to pay more right now for their medications.

This Liberal government has chosen to continue to protect the profits of these very profitable pharmaceutical industries, he said. And weve got real, concrete proof to back this up.

$11 Billion

In March 2022, the NDP signed a Supply and Confidence Agreement with the Liberals to back the minority government till June 2025 with one of the conditions being that the government pass a bill on universal public drug insurance coverage by the end of 2023. No bill has been introduced to date.

Testifying before the Standing Committee on Health on April 27, Duclos said the government remained committed to improve accessibility to medicines at more affordable prices.

He reiterated that his letter to PMPR was to allow stakeholders to fully understand the short- and long-term impacts of the proposed new guidelines.

According to the Parliamentary Budget Office last March, the NDPs plan for national pharmacare will cost about $11 billion a year.

While the concept of universal pharmacare receives overwhelming public support, a poll commissioned by the think tank Fraser Institute, and conducted by market research firm Leger in April 2022, indicated that over half of Canadians lose their enthusiasm for the program if it has to be paid for through an increase in taxes, particularly the goods and services tax.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
Oscar Wilde once said, A flower blooms for its own joy. This quote, while ostensibly profound, is scientifically defective.

Flowers, it seems, dont merely blossom for themselves. Their positive influences on our health are perhaps abstruse but nonetheless extraordinary.

Flowers Decrease Cortisol and Increase Restfulness

We live in a society where stressors inundate our everyday life. From the omnipresence of electronic screens to the consumption of processed foods to disappointing headlines, every day, we ride an emotional rollercoaster that severely impacts our health and longevity.

However, we can make many simple yet effective lifestyle changes to decrease the negative impact of stress and anxiety on our health. Perhaps the most beautiful way is by incorporating more plants and flowers into our ways of living.

Being around plants can cause a response within our body that reduces the amount of cortisol that is present in our saliva, explained Melinda Knuth, assistant professor of horticulture science at North Carolina State University.

Cortisol, the bodys stress hormone, is critical to our health. But when its chronically elevated, it can cause immune suppression, sickness, and delayed healing.

By reducing physical stress responses, we can be refreshed and calmer, she told The Epoch Times.

Beautiful Blooms Accelerate Healing

Hypothesizing that flowers have a unique ability to enhance healing by downregulating elevated cortisol, researchers launched a clinical trial to examine whether the presence of flowers affected how patients heal from various surgeries.

Keep in mind: The flowers were used in an ornamental fashion, not in a medical manner.

Of the studys 90 participants, half the patients received flowers in their recovery rooms, while the other half didnt have any flowers in their rooms.

The study found that patients in hospital rooms with flowers had significantly more positive physiologic responses, evidenced by lower systolic blood pressure and lower pain, anxiety, and fatigue ratings than patients in the other rooms.

The study concluded that the ornamental presence of flowers proves to be effective complementary medicine for surgical patients.

While these findings baffle many, they contribute to a larger body of evidence that highlights how serene and sterile environments influence our health and rate of healing.

Within the last century, humans have gone through a technology revolution which has made our lives more sedative and removed from nature because we are staying within our indoor environments more, said Knuth. The removal of nature from our daily lives, she says, goes against our biological instincts.

Therefore, when were closer to natureeven if its just a bouquet sitting on a counterwere creating an environment that fosters health.

Flowers Promote Better Sleep

In the same way that flowers foster a better healing environment and reduce stress levels, multiple studies have demonstrated that flowers promote better sleep.

In one randomized crossover study, researchers found that indoor plants support comfortable and restful feelings associated with improved sleep quality.

In another study, researchers discovered flowers in sleeping quarters could significantly regulate humans emotion and sleep through their own color and fragrance.

The Many Medicinal Benefits of Flowers

While we have benefited simply by being near flowers, humans have also utilized the power of flowers for thousands of years. Below is a list of flowers with unique medicinal qualities used in teas, essential oils, and tinctures.

Mothers Day flowers are more than a way of showing gratitude to motherstheyre a way to make mothers healthier.
House GOP Demands Information From Homeland Security Chief on Chinese Tech Used at US Ports

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington on May 11, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

House Republicans are pressuring Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over threats the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) poses to U.S. port infrastructure.

The lawmakers have demanded Mayorkas provide information on what his department and the Biden administration are doing to prevent the CCP from using the technology it develops and produces, which is used in cargo cranes and other shipping infrastructure in American seaports, to spy on and orchestrate sabotage against the United States.

Two chairs of House committees, and four chairs of House subcommittees, signed and sent a letter, dated May 10, insisting that Mayorkas immediately provide the information which House Committee on Homeland Security members requested in a letter sent to him on April 23.

Cranes stack cargo containers at the Port of Baltimore in Baltimore, Md., on Nov. 10, 2021. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

The legislators wrote that they are conducting oversight of the presence of Chinese software and operational technology in U.S. port infrastructure. This includes software used for cranes, terminal industrial control systems, power systems, and telecommunications equipment.

A story published in The Epoch Times on May 11 reported on a bill introduced the previous day by Representatives Carlos A. Gimenez (R-Fla.) and John Garamendi (D-Calif.) that focused on inspecting and monitoring port cranes made in China to ensure that they do not contain technology used to spy, create societal disorder, inflict physical damage, and disrupt the function of seaports, which are critically important to the U.S. supply chain.

Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC), a Chinese company, makes about 80 percent of the cranes used in American seaports. Chinese-made cranes are in operation at ports that the U.S. military uses.

We remain concerned about the security risks associated with the widespread use of Chinese-manufactured cranes that threaten to undermine our national security, particularly those made by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC), a Chinese state-owned business whose governing shareholder is China Communications Construction Company, wrote the legislators in their letter to Mayorkas.

We request additional information on the prevalence of such equipment and technology at U.S. ports and DHS actions to address the potential national security threats posed by the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) use of this technology in U.S. port infrastructure.

House GOP signatories of the May 10 letter were Mark Green (Tenn.), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security; Select Committee on China Chairman Mike Gallagher (Wis.); Carlos Gimenez (Fla.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security; Andrew Garbarino (N.Y.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection; Dan Bishop (N.C.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability; Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence Chairman August Pfluger (Texas).

Committee chairman Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) speaks during a House Homeland Security Committee about the U.S.-Mexico border on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 28, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The letter said that the dominant presence of ZPMC cranes in U.S. ports while noting that ZPMC holds 70 percent of the global port crane market, presents a significant risk to U.S. homeland security.

Those security risks include cyberattacks, espionage, and supply chain vulnerabilities due to the shared software and interconnectivity among ZPMC cranes operating at our nations ports.

Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle are paying increasing attention to and working to counter the growing actions and ability of the CCP to use technology and media it develops, and which American consumers and businesses purchase, to conduct surveillance on the U.S.

US Stepping Up Vigilance, Scrutiny

The Epoch Times reported on May 12 on the U.S. House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party sending a letter to the CEO of TikTok, stating its concerns about how the company uses its widely popular social media video app to stifle freedom of speech and to spy. The letter also requested information from TikTok on its data-gathering practices.

At the end of February, the White House issued a directive that required all executive agencies to remove the TikTok app from any government device.

On March 15, in a reaction to the Chinese spy balloon that traveled across America and which the U.S. military shot down off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4, Senators Mark Budd (R-N.C.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) filed legislation that would help the government better track and identify high-altitude balloons that are in U.S. airspace.

In December 2022, the Biden administration banned the sale and import of telecom equipment made by Chinese companies Huawei Technologies and ZTE.
Hundreds Celebrate 31st World Falun Dafa Day at Santa Monica Beach

Along the scenic coastline of Santa Monica Beach, hundreds of Falun Dafa adherents wearing yellow shirts celebrate the spiritual practice in Santa Monica, Calif., on May 7, 2023. (Alex Lee/The Epoch Times)

Along the scenic coastline of Santa Monica Beach, hundreds of Falun Dafa adherents wearing yellow shirts gathered to celebrate the 31st anniversary of the spiritual practices introduction to the public.

World Falun Dafa Day falls annually on May 13, the day the spiritual practice Falun Dafaalso known as Falun Gongwas introduced to the public in China in 1992. This year, it is also the 72nd birthday of the practices founder Mr. Li Hongzhi.

At the May 7 celebration, local Falun Gong adherents shared the practice, its core principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, and the physical and mental benefits they gained.

The 21-year-old Fangwei Xu, who started practicing with her mother at the age of three, was one of them.

[The principles were like] a seed planted in my heart since I was little. Since I started the practice, I always tried to be truthful, compassionate, and tolerant in my words and deeds, and I would not say things that might hurt others, Xu told The Epoch Times.

However, during her teenage years, Xu stopped practicing because of academic pressure until she saw growing conflicts between her peers in high school. She said she started to question whether human beings are supposed to take advantage of each other to get ahead in life.

Her mother told her to find answers in Zhuan Falun, the main book of Falun Gongs teachings.

I found the answers I had been looking for. [The book] untied the knots in my heart, she said. I become more compassionate and considerate toward people. I became content and peaceful. When my peers were confused about their future, I already had a clear goal.

A scientific programmer at Caltech, Martin Beroiz, also shared how the practice changed his life.

Originally from Argentina, Beroiz received a Falun Gong flyer in 2005 and started to practice. At the time, he said, he was hitting rock bottom mentally due to anxiety and pressure from work.

After a while, he said, he found that his mind became clearer, and he no longer felt depressed or helpless handling intensive work. His family also saw the change in him and started practicing.

My mother is in her 70s now  and she had her illnesses cured [after picking up the practice]. Shes very well physically, he said.

Beroiz said his relationship with his family members also improved.

I used to have a lot of arguments with them, but now the relationship  is so much more peaceful. Even though we may have an argument here and there, all of us know how to stop and not escalate too much, he said.

Beroiz said he believes that by becoming a better person, everyone can change society and make the world a much better place for the generations to come.

Linda Jiang contributed to this report.
Hundreds of Nurses Join States Public Health System

A nurse goes to assist a patient at the COVID-19 and flu assessment clinic at Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney, Australia, on May 12, 2020. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

Hundreds of extra nurses and midwives are set to join the New South Wales (NSW) public health system as the Minns government works towards a goal of hiring more than 1000 new graduates.

The 520 frontline staff will begin working in western Sydney later this year, the government said, beating a previous record intake of 383 graduates.

The 500 nurses and 20 midwives will be deployed at hospitals in Auburn, Mount Druitt and Westmead and at drug, mental health and integrated health services.

This next generation of nurses and midwives in  are already making a positive impact on the lives of the patients, visitors and the communities they serve, Premier Chris Minns said on Friday.

Each of these nurses and midwives plays an important role in helping the NSW public health system continues to deliver the care that patients expect when visiting our hospitals and health services across the state.

Before the NSW election, Labor committed to recruiting an additional 1200 new nurses after months of strikes and complaints of burnout and staff being overworked.

We have to recruit nurses to meet our election promises in relation to safe staffing levels for NSW public hospitals, the premier said.

Some $97 million will also be spent on study subsidies for people choosing a career in health, as NSW looks to compete for workers against other states and territories.

Were in a competition against Victoria and Queensland and other states, that want to steal our best and brightest. We want to keep them right here in NSW, he said.

We know that its a vocation, and we want to make sure that were offering every incentive possible for people to take up this important job.

The $12,000 subsidies, spread across three years, will be available for 2000 students.

The government is also working towards hospital reform, as an advisory panel of health leaders determines what will become safe staffing levels for different wards around the state.

All emergency departments must be staffed with one nurse for every three patients after a decision on safe staffing levels last month.

The commitment, compassion and skills of our nurses and midwives contribute greatly to the health and wellbeing of local communities right across NSW, Health Minister Ryan Park said.

It is up to this government to ensure that our nurses, midwives and health care workers feel supported and ensure they enjoy lifelong careers in our health and hospital system.

The announcements of reinforcements for the sector coincide with International Nurses Day, which is celebrated each year on the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.

Last Friday marked International Day of the Midwife.

The two days are commemorated worldwide as a way to acknowledge and celebrate the contribution of nurses and midwives.

Home to Australias largest health system, NSW employs more than 53,000 nurses and midwives in total.
From what we can see, insiders were net buyers in JAKKS Pacific, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:JAKK ) during the past 12 months. That is, insiders acquired the stock in greater numbers than they sold it.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

Check out our latest analysis for JAKKS Pacific

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At JAKKS Pacific

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by insider Lawrence Rosen for US$260k worth of shares, at about US$13.00 per share. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of US$23.82. While it does suggest insiders consider the stock undervalued at lower prices, this transaction doesn't tell us much about what they think of current prices.

The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Does JAKKS Pacific Boast High Insider Ownership?

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. JAKKS Pacific insiders own about US$52m worth of shares. That equates to 22% of the company. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About JAKKS Pacific Insiders?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. Overall we don't see anything to make us think JAKKS Pacific insiders are doubting the company, and they do own shares. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing JAKKS Pacific. Our analysis shows 2 warning signs for JAKKS Pacific (1 is potentially serious!) and we strongly recommend you look at these before investing.

Story continues

But note: JAKKS Pacific may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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IN-DEPTH: Thousands of Migrants Released Into Southern California as Title 42 Expires

Migrants cross the Tijuana River toward the U.S. border in Tijuana, Mex., on May 11, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

SAN DIEGO AND TIJUANAWith tens of thousands of illegal aliens expected to rush the U.S.Mexico border in San Diego on May 12 after the Bidens administrations planned expiration of public health restrictions on immigration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents are bracing for chaos.

Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a union representing 18,000 Border Patrol agents and support personnel, told The Epoch Times as many as 13,000 illegal migrants a day are expected to cross with the collapse of Title 42 at 11:59 p.m. on May 11.

I would say that were looking at a minimum of 13,000, Judd said on May 10. Weve arrested more than 10,000 people per day, for the last three days, and that number just continues to go up.

Those estimates could reach 16,000 per day if nothing is done to halt the incursion.

The restrictions are known as Title 42, a law enacted in 1944 allowing the federal government to curb immigration to protect public health. The Trump administration imposed these restrictions at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic three years ago after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended limiting immigration to reduce the spread of disease.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who has steadfastly denied there is a border crisis, blamed Congress for failing to fix the broken immigration system for more than two decades and called for legislative reform, at a press conference on May 10.

Mayorkas said migrants who cross the border illegally without being properly processed will be ineligible for asylum.

But, Judd said, the Biden administration of misleading the public.

Thats a half-truth at best, he said.

While people caught illegally crossing the border will be told they cant claim asylum under the new rule, they will still have the right to appeal, and because the border patrol cant hold them until their appeal hearings, they will be released into the United States.

Theyre telling the American people what the intention of the rule is, but theyre not telling them the practical application of the rule, he said.

Detention facilities are already three times over capacity, leaving the border patrol no choice but to release illegal immigrants.

Were doing mass releases, he said. Now, its just mass releases to the street because we cant hold this many people.

More than two years of lax border policies have led to this massive influx of illegal migrants and strained the system, turning agents who once patrolled the southern border into desk clerks who process asylum claims, he said.

It pulls resources from patrolling the border, he said. Thats what arrests mean to us.

At 10,000 arrests a day, about 70 percent of border patrol agents are doing administrative duties, he said, adding the Biden administration prefers to use the word apprehensions to make it sound nicer.

Currently, cartels only control certain areas of the southwest border, but as border patrol agents are increasingly overwhelmed, they will control every inch of it, he said.

If we hit 16,000 apprehensions, were looking at literally only having 10 percent of our resources patrolling the border, and at that point, cartels will own the border.

Aside from arrests, thousands of got-aways cross the southern border illegally every day, Judd said.

Weve had roughly 3,000 got-aways that we were able to detect. We dont know what theyre carrying. Every one of them carries backpacks, and we see these backpacks filled with fentanyl on a regular basis, he said. Were losing so many U.S. citizens to fentanyl, and thats just going to open up the floodgates.

And, an estimated 25 to 35 percent of undetected got-aways easily brings that number to well over 4,000 a day, Judd said.

Manny Bayon, who represents the National Border Patrol Council in San Diego, told The Epoch Times that border patrol dropped off hundreds of illegal migrants at the Crowne Plaza hotel, in San Diego on May 11.

It used to be a beautiful hotel here a couple years ago  and now the NGOs have taken over, he said.

Several buses and smaller border patrol vans transported illegal immigrants to the hotel on May 11. The hotels parking lot is guarded by security and barricaded with high chain-link fence covered with green visual barriers.

You cant see, but thats where were dropping them off, Bayon said.

Once NGO-run facilities reach capacity and stop accepting new illegal immigrants, they will be dropped off at the nearest train, trolley, and bus stations, he said.

The illegal immigrants are coming from more than 120 countries.

Bayon said he was told at a Wednesday morning briefing that two migrants from Afghanistan were on a terror watch and are being interviewed by the FBI and CIA.

I call it an invasion, Bayon said. This morning, we were told if you get large groups in the field, hold them there until theres room at the stations.

But, he said, there are no rooms at the stations.

On May 9, about 2,500 illegal immigrants were released in San Diego, Bayon said.

Bayon said the Biden administration and Mayorkas have done nothing to ease the strain on the immigration system.

He is trying to look good in front of everybody, he said. Weve been telling him, its broken, we need to fix it. He doesnt do anything.

Mayorkas halted repairs to the border wall, leaving huge gaps that act as funnels for illegal border crossings, he said.

Meanwhile in Mexico

At the San Ysidro border crossing, U.S. federal agents prepared for increases in migration on May 11 by placing barrier fencing around several vehicle lanes that connected with the pedestrian entryway.

Foot traffic was heavier than usual for Thursday afternoon, with more than 1,000 people standing in line to be processed by U.S. Border Patrol agents.

South of the border along the Tijuana River, migrants of all ages clutching infants and bags holding personal belongings walked down steep embankments to cross a small concrete bridge headed toward San Diego.

On the southern side of the riverbank, Mexico National Guard troopers watched the migrants while a small unit of U.S. Border Patrol agents monitored their movement from inside SUVs posted near an open section American border wall.

With just a 10-minute walk to the border, the migrants hastened their pace as Tijuana municipal police arrived at the scene.

Chaos Expected

President Joe Biden told reporters on May 9 the southern border is going to be chaotic for a while, and Mayorkas warned migrants headed to the border that the lifting of Title 42 doesnt mean an open border, but tougher consequences for anyone who crosses the border illegally.

On Friday, the United States returned to Title 8 immigration code. The federal government is also considering a new rule which would deny asylum to migrants at the border who travel through another country before Mexico. It would also expedite the process, and those deemed not to have a credible fear and deported can be denied reentry to the United States for five years.

Currently, most asylum seekers are currently allowed passage into the country pending immigration court appearances, but according to Judd, usually only one in every 10 show up for their final immigration hearings.

Mayorkas urged migrants not to risk their lives and life savings only to be turned away at the border and implored them not to trust human smugglers, known as coyotes, whove told them the border will be open after May 11.

It will not be. They are lying, Mayorkas said.

Riverside County

In Riverside County, about an hours drive north of the border, busloads of illegal migrants have been arriving daily at Murrieta, Blythe, and Indio for more than two years under the Biden administrations border policies, and volumes are expected to increase.

The Galilee Center, a non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Meccas, California, has been accepting busloads from the inland border patrol station in Indio which handles the overflow of migrants from Yuma, Arizona.

Gloria Gomez, who runs the center, told The Epoch Times on May 11 the facility is still accepting migrants.

Weve got plenty of room, she said.

Gomez wouldnt speculate on how the end of Title 42 could impact the Galilee Center or elaborate on details about operations at the facility.

In 2021, she said, the center had been receiving 75 to 100 migrants daily from the inland border patrol station in Indio.

In October 2021, Gomez told The Epoch Times the center was founded by Catholics out of an obligation to serve the poor and the needy.

Every human being is Jesus to us, and we are supposed to be treating everybody with dignity, love, and respect regardless [of] who they are or where theyre coming from, she said. I understand that theres bad people here who are drug addicts, but lets be truthful, weve got Americans who are bad people, too.

The center was founded in July 2010, during the Obama administration, to help migrant farm workers, but expanded to assist asylum seekers in 2018, she said.

We went from there and have not stopped, she said. The border patrol  brings the people to us, otherwise they were going to be in the streets.

The NGO is supported mainly through private donations but also receives funds from the State of California and Riverside County, she said. It provides food, clothing, and shelter and helps asylum seekers contact their sponsors in the United States.

Asylum seekers must have a sponsor in the United States, and most dont stay in California, she said.

I think only like maybe three percent stay in the state of California. The rest they go beyond that, mostly to the east. Im talking about Florida. Im talking about New York, Im talking about Washington, D.C. Im talking about Texas, she said.

Gomez said illegal immigrants have been living in the shadows for decades since the Reagan Amnesty, or Immigration Reform and Control Act, was enacted in 1986.

They want a better life  because theyre persecuted in their countries and they have nothing to eat, she said.

Sheriffs Warning

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco wrote on Facebook on May 10 that he had spent the day with the border patrol in the El Centro Sector to see firsthand the disaster at our border.

We need to be extremely grateful for our dedicated Border Patrol officers because our government is failing them, he said. We are being lied to by the people in Washington D.C. and our media. Smugglers and drug cartels have a free pass. We encountered over 500 people crossing just today where we were.

Bianco told The Epoch Times the border patrol is overwhelmed.

Once the asylum seekers cross and surrender to the border patrol, the agents are forced by the Biden administration to process them and give them papers, Bianco said in a text message. They let them go, now they are legally in the U.S. capable of working and staying indefinitely.

In a CNN live town hall meeting on May 10, former President Donald Trump said May 11 will be known as a day of infamy over the expiration of Title 42 restrictions.

If reelected for a second term as president in 2024, Trump indicated he wouldnt rule out reimplementing the immigration policies he imposed in his first term.

We have to save our country, he said. Look at New York City. Look whats happening. Theyre living in Central Park in New York City. The city is being swamped. Los Angeles is being swamped. Iowa is being swamped.

The Biden administration should have extended Title 42 and curbed immigration, but instead has allowed millions of people from 129 different countries into the United States in two years, he said.

Theyre destroying our country, and this should not be allowed to happen.

While he acknowledged the Title 42 policies were imposed under the auspices of reducing the spread of COVID-19, he said the United States should still have public health safeguards.

If people are sick and have infectious diseases and lots of other problems, we dont want them, he said. We have enough problems right now. We have problems like weve never had in the history of our country.

Trump wouldnt rule out his zero-tolerance immigration policy, which was blamed for families separations at the border.

Well, when you have that policy, people dont come. If the family hears that theyre going to be separated. They love their family. They dont come. So, I know it sounds harsh. But if you remember, they said I was building prisons for children. It turned out that it was Obama, he said.

ICE-ing on the Cake

Meanwhile, the power of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to do anything about the immigration problem has been curtailed with sanctuary cities and state policies.

Tom Homan, former acting ICE director during the Trump administration, told The Epoch Times in October 2021 that the Biden administration has manufactured the border crisis by design.

This crisis was created on purpose. This isnt mismanagement. This isnt incompetence. This is by design, Homan said. They planned open borders, and Joe Biden didnt hide it.

During his campaign, Biden vowed to end ICE detentions, put a moratorium on deportations, and made other promises that he knew would cause a surge, Homan said.

Economic Impacts

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) said in a March 8 statement that according to its cost analysis mass illegal immigration and misguided state policies that provide illegal alien[s] with benefits and services now cost Californias shrinking tax base nearly $31 billion a year.

The report (pdf) pegs combined federal, state, and local costs for K-12 education, indigent medical care, housing, and nutrition assistance associated with illegal immigration at $182 billion annually. It notes that California also provides illegal aliens with in-state tuition at public colleges and universities, health coverage under the states Medi-Cal program, and sweeping sanctuary policies that shield illegal aliens from identification and removal.

Benefits and services provided to the estimated 3.23 million illegal aliens in California cost local taxpayers $22.8 billion annually, and another $8 billion for about 1.15 million U.S.-born children of illegal aliens, according to the reports.

No Response

U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not respond to inquiries.

Meanwhile on Thursday evening, a federal judge blocked the Biden administration from implementing a policy that allows the release of illegal aliens without a court date. Judge T. Kent Wetherell II imposed a two-week restraining order on the policy outlined in a border patrol memo earlier this week. The memo stated migrants can be released into the U.S. on parole, a directive usually reserved for humanitarian reasons in emergencies.

Several American border cities have declared disasters due to the collapse of Title 42.
Indiana Sheriffs Deputy Killed in Dog Attack That Left Her Son, 8, Wounded

INDIANAPOLISA sheriffs deputy died after being attacked in her Indianapolis home by a dog that also bit and wounded her 8-year-old son, authorities said.

Tamieka White, 46, was pronounced dead at the scene Tuesday night shortly after Indianapolis police officers responded to her home on the citys east side, officials said. She had been a deputy with the Marion County Sheriffs Office since 2007.

Her young son was also bitten in the dog attack, which was reported about 7:45 p.m., officials said. He is recovering from non-life-threatening injuries, The Indianapolis Star reported.

Indianapolis police said the attacking dog charged at a responding officer, who fatally shot the animal.

A spokesperson with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said the dog was not owned by White, and police have identified the owner. They declined to release further information about the owner.

Indianapolis Animal Care Services said in a statement that workers impounded the deceased dog, three additional dogs and a cat from Whites home. The department said it cannot confirm the breeds without a DNA test, but it said all the dogs appeared to be a pitbull-type.

The animals are being held as part of the ongoing investigation into the attack.

The Marion County Sheriffs Office said Wednesday that White had served as a deputy sheriff with the agency since 2007 in the Judicial Enforcement Division, which oversees the transportation of inmates to and from courts, collecting delinquent taxes and serving legal process papers.

Deputy White was a bright light to all that knew her, Sheriff Kerry Forestal said in a statement. We are immensely grateful for her nearly 17 years of service to our agency.
Judge Orders FDA to Accelerate Release of COVID-19 Vaccine Trial Data to Just 2 Years

Pfizer, left, and Moderna bivalent COVID-19 vaccines are readied for use at a clinic in Richmond, Va., in a Nov. 17, 2022, file image. (Steve Helber/AP Photo)

A federal judge in Texas ordered the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make public data it relied on to license COVID-19 vaccines at an accelerated rate, requiring all documents to be made public by mid-2025 rather than, as the FDA wanted, over the course of about 23.5 years.

In a May 9 decision hailed as a win for transparency by the lawyer representing the plaintiffs (the parents of a child injured by a COVID-19 vaccine) in a lawsuit (pdf) against the FDA, the agency was ordered to produce the data on Modernas vaccine for adults and Pfizers for children about 10 times faster than the agency wanted.

Democracy dies behind closed doors, is how U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman opened his order (pdf), which requires the FDA to produce the data on Modernas and Pfizers COVID-19 vaccines at an average rate of at least 180,000 pages per month.

The FDA had argued it would be impractical to release the estimated 4.8 million pages at more than between 1,000 and 16,000 pages per month, which would have taken at least 23.5 years.

Aaron Siri of Siri & Glimstad, who represents the plaintiffs in the legal action against the FDA, called the decision another blow for transparency and accountability that builds on an earlier court order targeting Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine data for those aged 16 and older.

The January 2022 order (pdf), also issued by Pittman, forced the FDA to produce all its data on Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine for those aged 16 and older at a rate of 55,000 pages per month, or much faster than the 75 years the agency had sought.

That production should be completed in a few more months, Siri said in a statement, referring to the earlier Pfizer data for those aged 16 and up.

The latest order requires the FDA to produce all of its data on Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds (and Modernas product for adults) by June 31, 2025.

FDA officials didnt respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.

Stale Information Is of Little Value

While the judge noted in his order that the court recognizes the FDAs limited resources dedicated to freedom of information requests (FOIA), he stated that the number of resources an agency dedicates to such requests does not dictate the bounds of an individuals FOIA rights.

Instead, the Court must ensure that the fullest possible disclosure of the information sought is timely providedas stale information is of little value,' Pittman wrote.

In order to ensure the FDA can meet the accelerated deadline, the judge ordered the parties to the lawsuit to confer and submit a joint production schedule for the data by May 23.

In the earlier case adjudicated by Pittman, the FDA had argued it only had the bandwidth to review and release around 500 pages per month of an estimated total of 450,000 pages of material about the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for those aged 16 and older.

While the FDA hasnt disputed in either case that it has an obligation to make the information public, it has argued that its short-staffed FOIA office couldnt meet the pace of production sought by the plaintiffs.

The judge disagreed, arguing in both cases that the imperatives of transparency and accountability are of paramount importance.

In the January order, Pittman said that too much foot-dragging and secrecy on the part of federal agencies feeds conspiracy theories and reduces the publics trust in government.

Confidence in the FDA over COVID-19 vaccine approvals was shaken by the disclosure that regulators sped up the approval of Pfizers vaccine.

Republicans on the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in March announced they were seeking answers after recently released emails indicated that the FDA rushed the approval of COVID-19 vaccines and boosters to accommodate vaccine mandates.
Laguna Hills Bans Short Term Rentals

Property owners advertising short-term rentals in Laguna Hills will soon face fines up to $2,000 after city councilors recently approved an ordinance enhancing regulations on such.

According to city officials, short-term rentalsmeaning those for a day, weekend, or a couple of weeks have always been prohibited in Laguna Hills.

Late last year the city hired a consultant to investigate if there were short-term rentals in the city, turning up 29 results.

It should be emphasized  that short-term rentals have always been a prohibited use in the city of Laguna Hills, City Attorney Gregory Simonian said during a council meeting on April 25.

Property owners are still allowed to rent out their properties for one month or longer, according to a city staff report.

Under the ordinance, owners who are found to have illegally advertised a short-term rental will receive a $2,000 fine initially, and $1,000 each day thereafter as long as the advertisement exists.

The decision comes after 10 residents of Nellie Gail Ranch approached the city last June regarding a house party causing a nuisance, in their neighborhood, according to the city staff report.

Mobile homes in Huntington Beach Calif., on June 10, 2022. (Julianne Foster/The Epoch Times)

Following the complaints, officials directed city staff to conduct surveys and receive public input on the issue.

Survey results collected from 140 respondents reported 71 percent in favor of banning short-term rentals, citing concerns over noise and safety.

I lived a couple of doors down from a vacation rental and the noise was unbearable, one survey respondent wrote. People are on vacation and wanting to have fun, so they stay up late, play music, talk loud  the police [were] often being called on the vacationers.

Before the ordinance was finalized, a couple of residents pleaded, during public comment, for a grace period to make the adjustment.

If [this ordinance] passes, pretty quickly its going to cause financial burden on us, said resident and property owner Adrian Placinta.

He said he and his wife began renting out their Laguna Hills home late last year after purchasing a larger home to raise their family of three. Passing the ordinance would push him to sell his second home quickly and suffer financially, he said.

If this causes distressed sales on current short-term renters, theyre going to sell that property for less, and its going to hurt the neighborhood, he said.

Houses in Irvine, Calif., on Aug. 14, 2020. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Irvine resident Tatiana Taleb additionally asked for more time for owners of rental properties to be in compliance. She said she and her husband purchased a Laguna Hills home last September for short-term rentals and switching to long-term rentals or selling arent viable options.

Just the [homeowners association fees] and mortgage is $4,200  If I wanted to rent it out on a yearly basis, that would go for around $3,200 or even less so I would be in great financial debt, she said.

According to Laguna Hills City Attorney Simonian, such a grace period would be up to the city manager who is responsible for enforcing the citys municipal code.

There is an opportunity for a grace period, that is possible, he said. Barring any egregious or aggressive violations.

Further details were not given, but it was implied grace periods would be handled case by case. The ordinance becomes effective May 26.

A real estate data analytics company has been hired by the city to monitor and report back such short-term listings, Laguna Hills Community Development Director Larry Longenecker told The Epoch Times.

Additionally, the popular short-term rental website Airbnb announced a permanent ban on party houses worldwide late last June.
Lyft Lays Off 383 Employees at Headquarters in San Francisco

A sign is posted in front of a Lyft driver center in San Francisco on Aug. 12, 2020. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Ride-share service Lyft has laid off 383 employees at its headquartersaccording to a company notice filed with the state on May 10and has closed its San Francisco driver center.

Lyft is the latest company to announce a closure in the city as businesses and residents struggle with skyrocketing crime and an economic decline some have called a doom loop.

Were sorry to announce the permanent closure of the Lyft San Francisco Driver Center, Lyft posted on its website.

The company announced its plan to lay off employees in an email April 21, but didnt provide additional details about the cutbacks.

Lyft also laid off 227 workers at its headquarters location in November, according to state records.

The companys CEO David Risher told employees the company needed to bring costs down to deliver affordable rides, compelling earnings for drivers, and profitable growth.

A sign is posted in front of a Lyft driver center in San Francisco on Aug. 12, 2020. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

We intend to use these savings to invest in competitive pricing, faster pick-up times, and better driver earnings, Risher wrote. All of these require us to reduce our size and restructure how were organized.

The ride-hailing company announced in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it would let go of about 1,072 employees in total, which represented about 26 percent of its workforce. The company also said it had eliminated over 250 open positions.

The news follows Nordstroms recent decision to close its two remaining department stores in downtown San Francisco, citing dramatic changes in the area.

A number of other retailers are also shuttering branches in the city. In April, the Whole Foods Market grocery chain decided to temporarily close a location on Market Street because of safety concerns. Walgreens, Amazon Go, and Anthropologie are also closing stores.

The retail cutbacks coupled with massive job reductions in recent years in the tech industry are having an impact on the City by the Bay.

The closures are unfortunate, Daniel Herzstein, director of public policy at the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, told The Epoch Times last week.

San Francisco has really been struggling, especially downtown, Herzstein said.

Pedestrians walk by a closed Whole Foods store in San Francisco on April 12, 2023. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

California Layoffs List

California workers who are concerned about layoffs and major closures in their industries can check an online list published by the state.

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) list published by Californias Employment Development Department is updated every Tuesday and Thursday of each week.

Many states publish a WARN list, but not all.

The [WARN] Act helps ensure advance notice in cases of qualified plant closings and mass layoffs, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Besides Lyft, recent notices for California include Dropbox, Inc., the online file-hosting service. According to the notice, Dropbox permanently laid off 182 workers at its headquarters in San Francisco in April.

Beverly Hospital in Montebello is also planning to let go 68 employees in June. The medical center that catered to Medi-Cal and Medicare patients announced it filed for bankruptcy protection in April. The hospital also announced it would no longer provide maternity services, including labor and delivery, postpartum care, and inpatient pediatric care after June 11.

CJ Logistics America, a supply-chain logistics provider, plans to permanently close two locations and lay off 92 workers at its San Bernardino warehouse and another 48 at its Tracy facility in June.

In another filing, Jenny Craig USA plans to permanently close its Fleet Street location in Carlsbad and lay off 146 employees next month.

As of March, Californias unemployment rate was 4.4 percent with about 17.5 million people employed. This is slightly higher than the national unemployment rate of 3.5 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Man Accused of Shooting Laguna Woods Church Faces Nearly 100 Federal Hate Crimes

David Chou (L) appears for an arraignment with his attorney deputy public defender, Jennifer Ryan, at superior court in Santa Ana, Calif., on Aug. 19, 2022. (Mark Rightmire/The Orange County Register via AP)

An indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Santa Ana May 10 charged the man who opened fire, killing a prominent Orange County doctor and injuring five others, last May at the Laguna Woods Geneva Presbyterian Church with 98 federal hate crimes.

If convicted, David Chou, 69, of Las Vegas, faces a maximum penalty of death or life in prison without the possibility of parole, the Department of Justice announced in a news release May 11.

Choua Chinese immigrant and U.S. Citizenkilled John Cheng, 52, and attempted to kill 44 others, according to the indictment.

A photo of the suspect in the May 15, 2022, Laguna Woods church shooting, David Chou, 68, of Las Vegas. (Courtesy of Orange County Sheriffs Department)

Chou allegedly acted because of the victims national origin and religion, and he intentionally obstructed the victims religious exercise, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

Chou faces 45 counts of obstructing the free exercise of religion by force, 45 counts of attacking church congregants because of their national origin and faith, one count of attempting to damage or destroy a building with fires and explosives, one count of carrying explosives during the commission of a federal felony offense and six counts of using a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence, officials announced.

Members of the Irvine-based Taiwanese Presbyterian Church, who rent space at the Laguna Woods church, were enjoying lunch after their 11:30 a.m. Sunday service May 15, 2022, when Chou opened fire.

Police tape at Geneva Presbyterian Church after a shooting left one dead and five injured in Laguna Woods, Calif., on May 15, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

He had super glued and chained the exits of the church beforehand, and Molotov cocktails and magazines of ammunition were found behind a curtain in the churchs banquet hall by police, according to media reports at the time.

In a press conference the day after the shooting, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said Chous actions were politically motivated, due to political tensions between China and Taiwan.

Theres a lot of evidence that absolutely at this point in time indicates that the suspect had an absolute bias against the Taiwanese people, its country, he said.

Cheng, a resident of Laguna Niguel, tackled and disabled Chou before being fatally shot.

Other congregants then restrained Chou with an extension cord before authorities arrived.

Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer listens to Sheriff Don Barnes during a press briefing on a May 15 Laguna Woods, Calif., church shooting in Santa Ana, Calif., on May 16, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorneys office said Chou will next appear for arraignment, where he will likely enter a plea of not guilty. No date has been scheduled yet for the proceedings.

He is also being prosecuted by the Orange County District Attorney, where he faces one count of murder and five counts of attempted murder.

Chou is being held at the Theo Lacy facility in Orange and is next scheduled to appear in Superior Court, in the Orange County case, July 14 according to the Orange County Sheriffs Department website.

A spokesperson for the sheriffs department wasnt immediately available for comment.
Man Charged With Damaging ULEZ Cameras Amid Low Emission Zone Controversy

A sign at the expanded boundary of Londons ULEZ pollution charge zone for older vehicles on Oct. 25, 2021. (Yui Mok/PA)

A man has been charged with damaging traffic cameras that record number plates to check whether the vehicles need to be charged for entering Londons Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ).

It comes after activistswho were dubbed ULEZ Blade Runnerswere reportedly targeting the cameras ahead of the controversial ULEZ expansion to the whole of the Greater London area in August.

Joseph Nicolls, 42, of Sidcup, a suburban London area, was charged with criminal damage, malicious communications, and handling stolen goods, as well as aiding or abetting the destruction of, or damage to, property valued over 5,000, the Metropolitan Police said on Friday.

Nicolls appeared at Bromley Magistrates Court on Thursday before being released on bail.

The Met said Transport for London (TfL) had reported 96 allegations of criminal damage, but it declined to reveal how many Nicolls allegedly damaged or what malicious communications were entailed.

Lead investigator, Detective Superintendent Daniel Smith said: We have been proactively targeting those we suspect of causing or seeking to cause damage.

Smith said officers are carrying out a thorough investigation including gathering CCTV footage, speaking to potential witnesses, and following up on active leads.

We are also working with TfL to prevent further offences in the future, he added.

Controversial Expansion

ULEZ is a zone in which vehicles that do not meet certain emissions standards must pay a daily charge of 12.5 to drive or face fines.

It was initially planned during Boris Johnsons mayorship and launched by Mayor Sadiq Khan in 2019. The zone originally covered the same central London area as the Congestion Charge was extended to the North and South Circular Roads in October 2021. Its now set to expand to the whole of Greater London from Aug. 29.

According to estimates from automotive services company RAC, drivers of almost 700,000 cars in Greater London could be liable to pay the daily charge after the expansion.

Khan and TfL said the expansion would help clean up Londons air and improve residents health, saying around 4,000 people die prematurely because of air pollution each year.

The figure came from a TfL-commissioned study (pdf) published in January 2021 by Imperial College London (ICL)s Environmental Research Group.

The Study said the equivalent of between 3,600 to 4,100 deaths in Greater London in 2019 were estimated to be attributable to human-made PM2.5 and NO2, counting all causes including respiratory, lung cancer, and cardiovascular deaths.

It also calculated that a child born in London in 2013 would on average live 5 to 6 months longer with Khans air quality policies.

Khans plan has been met with fierce opposition from campaign groups and Conservative-led suburban councils, who argue the rationale behind the extension is bad science, and that the plan would disproportionately affect lower-income households and small businesses.

City Hall Conservatives have said the High Court has allowed their legal challenge against the plan.

The issue is also set to be one of the focal points in next years mayoral election.

Conservative Party Candidate Susan Hall said she would stop the expansion, while Reclaim Party candidate, pro-driver campaigner Howard Cox vowed to scrap the whole scheme.

Green Partys candidate Zoe Garbett said she supported the ULEZ expansion, but suggested she would offer more financial support to help reduce the cost of changing vehicles.

But it was also reported that some activists opted to take matters into their own hands by targeting new cameras.

Mail on Sunday two weeks ago said a secret activist army dubbed ULEZ Blade Runners vowed to take down every single [camera] no matter what.

The report showed photos of some cameras that were either covered, had their wire clipped, or were abandoned on the streets. It also showed photos of people wearing balaclavas and hoods while holding what appeared to be ULEZ cameras.

TfL told the publication at the time that all incidents were reported to the police for investigation, but the Met said it had not heard about the incidents, the report said.
The Christian mayoral candidate in Londons civic election has scored a massive win after tasting bitter discrimination from her former employer, housing association L&Q.

It wasnt discrimination for her skin colorshes the daughter of Jamaican immigrantsbut the religious views she espoused during her campaign that marriage is between a man and a woman. For this, she was fired from her job of 13 years, though she fought back. And won.

A Christian Mayoral Candidate in a Leftist Company

While working for housing company L&Q, Maureen Martin, 57, had risen from a temp position to become a manager overseeing staff. The views that got her in hot water with the company had less to do with the insights she drew regarding the challenges facing minorities, including her own demographic, and more to do with the solution she proposed, as a mayoral candidate interested in bettering the lives of Londoners.

What insights were those? She cites that a staggering 75 percent of black children in the UK are born out of wedlock, which she calls atrocious. Similar statistics in the U.S. show some 73 percent of black children grow up in unwedded households. We have more of our young black boys in prison, joining gangs, knife crime, failure in the academic arenait shows in the results, Martin, president of the Christian Peoples Alliance political party, told The Epoch Times.

Housing association L&Q in London, UK. (Screenshot/Google Maps)

And her solution? This naturally concerns Martin, who aspires to represent Londons constituents. As a Christian minister, she credits the traditional family modelthe nuclear familywith producing the most favorable results in raising children. That model was created by God. He knew what he was doing, she said, adding that this model is the foundation of our Western culture. Any society where the family is broken down is doomed to failure.

Publishing this message on leaflets during her 2022 campaign, she might have been lauded as a champion for marginalized minorities, such as her own black community, or hailed a hero for women, who bear the brunt of child-rearing in single-parent situations.

But that wasnt the case. Instead, Martin would be fired by the progressive-leaning company she worked for, L&Q, which supports the LGBTQ community and, according to Martin, frowns upon certain Christian values as homophobic and discriminatory.

London mayoral candidate Maureen Martin, president of the Christian Peoples Alliance. (Courtesy of Christian Concern)

L&Q supports Stonewall, an LGBTQ charity in the UK that lobbies companies on behalf of said community. As in America, companies in England have been bombarded by demands for cultural diversity from Leftist-affiliated shareholders, generating incentives to implement progressivist policies in companiesregardless of the costs. Martin hadnt heard of Stonewall just yet. She would soon find out.

Theyre an LGBTQ charity and they tend to carry quite a bit of cultural clout, if you know what I mean, she said. They have companies sign on to their agenda, and their organization probably sees these companies sort of in a [good] favor. I dont know exactly what they promised [L&Q] but, honestly, it sounds like sort of perks to be part of the organization. L&Q had very much sold in and sold out for this particular organization, she said.

Her colleagues at the company all knew she was a Christian. The managers also knew of her political engagements. I wouldnt necessarily be quiet about it, but I wasnt necessarily shouting from the rooftops either, she said. In these companies, you have to be wise about when you speak up and when you dont speak up.

They Violated My Rights on Every Level

During her mayoral campaign, Martin published the following statement in her six-point plan leaflet:

I pledge to cut through political correctness and simply state the truth that natural marriage between a man and a woman is the fundamental building block for a successful society, and the safest environment for raising children.

That didnt go over well with heads at L&Q.

While LGBTQ advocates accused her of breaking laws on hate speech & equality and actively promoting prejudice and discrimination, a certain company connection reported her to the bosses. L&Qs response was to accuse me of being homophobic and discriminating against LGBTQ people, she said. Martin describes the resultant discipline as a Soviet style interrogation.

(Left) London mayoral candidate Maureen Martin; (Right) A leaflet displays mayoral candidate Maureen Martins six-point plan manifesto. (Courtesy of Christian Concern)

Shortly thereafter, despite her exemplary performance in the workplace, Martin was handed a letter of dismissal for gross misconduct, resulting from the statement in her manifesto. Rather than back down, though, Martin doubled down. Recanting her words didnt even cross her mind. It was a no brainer. They violated my rights on every level, she said, citing the European Court of Human Rights enumeration of religious expression and free speech rights. Theyve violated both articlesArticle 10 of the European Human Rights Act.

Lacking means to mount a legal solo offensive, she allied with Christian Concern, an organization that offers legal support in cases of religious discrimination. They put L&Q on notice that they would be defending themselves in court. I accused them of unfair dismissal and discriminating against me because of my religion, Martin said, adding that political speech in the UK is also protected. My statement comes out in the category of political speech, because I was running legitimately in an electoral campaign.

Ultimately doubling down proved very effective. The company folded. In January, L&Q chose an out-of-court settlement rather than battle it outit would cost far more to litigate in the long runin particular because Martins case was so strong.

Martin calls it a massive win for Christians. If I hadnt launched a campaign and just walked away, thered be nothing, she said. So its important to challenge these cases and make sure that the perpetrators are put on notice: Youre not going to get away with this.

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Merrick Garland Approves Transfer of Russian Assets to Ukraine

Attorney General Merrick Garland looks on as he testifies at a House Appropriations Committee Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on "Budget HearingFY2024 Request for the Department of Justice" in Washington on March 29, 2023. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Wednesday that he had given the go-ahead for the first transfer of confiscated Russian assets to Ukraine.

The U.S. Department of Justice charged Konstantin Malofeyev, a Russian oligarch, with breaching sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine last year. The United States claimed that he had provided funds to Russians who were promoting separatism in Crimea.

Malofeyev accumulated his wealth through investments in various industries, including banking, telecommunications, and media.

Garland also revealed that last year authorities had seized millions of dollars from an account at a U.S. financial institution that could be linked to Malofeyevs sanctions violations. In February, he authorized the transfer of that money to Ukraine.

While this represents the United States first transfer of forfeited funds for the rebuilding of Ukraine. It will not be the last, Garland said in a statement.

The expropriated money will be sent for the reconstruction of Ukraine in response to Moscows military operation, which began in February 2022.

A destroyed Russian T-72 tank is seen near Pokrovy Presvyatoyi Bohorodytsi Church, in the city of Svyatohirsk, Donetsk region, on March 1, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Ihor Tkachov/AFP via Getty Images)

Congress passed a law in December 2022 directing the Department of State to award certain proceeds from confiscated Russian assets to Ukraine.

Garland announced the first such transfer in February, which involved $5.4 million seized mostly from Malofeyevs investment into a Texas bank.

Taskforce KleptoCapture

At the same time, Garland announced taskforce KleptoCapture, which involved a group of prosecutors, agents, analysts, translators, and other Justice Department personnel and law enforcement partners who have been prosecuting and effecting seizures against sanctioned enablers of the Kremlin and Russian military.

And we are also exercising new authority granted by Congress to transfer certain assets we have seized from Russian oligarchs for the rebuilding of Ukraine, Garland said. Earlier this month, I authorized the first-ever transfer of such assets to the State Department to support the people of Ukraine.

Such transfers of assets seized by the United States from Russians have been criticized by Moscow as barbaric. Moscow has threatened to respond with similar actions if deemed necessary, labeling the United States actions as theft and cautioned that it violates international law.

The Justice Departments War Crimes Accountability Team has been collaborating closely with Ukrainian authorities to probe into specific crimes committed by Russian military personnel, such as assaults on civilian sites. The United States has unwaveringly supported Ukraine throughout Russias aggression and invasion since it began around 14 months ago.

Over the past year, the Ukrainian people have shown the world what courage looks like, said Garland in February. For as long as it takes, the Department of Justice will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our Ukrainian and international partners in defense of justice and the rule of law.

Trump Says Hell Resolve the Conflict in 24 Hours

The United States has spent many billions supporting Ukraine amidst its war with Russia. Republicans have sought to curb such spending where possible.

Former President Donald Trump, a Republican, recently said he could resolve the conflict within a day if he were elected president again in 2024. During a CNN town hall, Trump said that ending the war and preserving human life is more important than determining who won.

If Im president, I will have that war settled in one day24 hours, Trump said during a May 10 town hall in New Hampshire.

Former President Donald Trump (L) speaks at a CNN Town Hall with CNNs Kaitlan Collins at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., on May 10, 2023, in a still from video. (CNN/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

He said he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying they both have weaknesses and strengths, indicating his confidence to negotiate with both.

I dont think in terms of winning and losing, Trump said in response to a question about which side he wants to win. I think in terms of getting it settled so we stop killing all these people and breaking down this country [of Ukraine].

When pressed by the CNN moderator, Kaitlin Collins, with the same question, Trump said: I want everybody to stop dying. Theyre dyingRussians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying.

Trump lamented how many Russian and Ukrainian people have died, along with how many cities have been ruined. He was adamant that none of it would have happened if he had still been president.

During his administration, Trump was able to calm North Koreas belligerencea task former President Barrack Obama had said would be Trumps most urgent problem. Putin also wasnt able to make inroads in the Eastern Ukraine conflict during Trumps term.

Reuters contributed to this report.
The Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines did not impact overall mortality, a reanalysis of clinical trial data found.

The two vaccines, both based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, protected against deaths from COVID-19 but that effect was offset by vaccinated trial participants being more likely to die from cardiovascular problems, Christine Stabell Benn, a health professor at the University of Southern Denmark, and other researchers reported in April in the Cell journal.

On the other hand, vaccines that utilized adenoviruses, such as the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, had a favorable impact on both COVID-19 mortality and overall mortality, according to the reanalysis.

The research analyzed data from randomized clinical trials (RCTs) reported by the companies that manufacture the vaccines.

In the RCTs with the longest possible blinded follow-up, mRNA vaccines had no effect on overall mortality despite protecting against some COVID-19 deaths. On the other hand, the adenovirus-vector vaccines were associated with lower overall mortality, researchers said.

The differences in the effects of adenovirus-vector and mRNA vaccines on overall mortality, if true, would have a major impact on global health, they added later.

Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, and AstraZeneca did not respond to requests for comment.

Study

Benn and colleagues took data from three RCTs for the mRNA vaccines and six RCTs for the adenovirus-vector vaccines that had mortality data available. They compared the overall deaths in the vaccinated arms with the placebo arms. They also broke deaths down into different categories: attributed to COVID-19, cardiovascular problems, other non-COVID-19 causes, accidents, and non-accident, non-COVID-19 causes.

We extracted the number of deaths from the studies that led to approval of the new mRNA and adenovirus-vector COVID-19 vaccines. We calculated the relative risk of dying, overall, and for various causes of death, for each vaccine type, Benn told The Epoch Times in an email.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the researchers found, were associated with lower COVID-19 mortality but higher cardiovascular and non-accident, non-COVID-19 mortality. There was no difference in overall mortality between the vaccinated arms and the placebo groups.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was associated with lower overall mortality and with lower non-COVID-19 mortality, with no effect on COVID-19 mortality. AstraZenecas shot, never authorized in the United States but cleared in some other countries, performed well against overall mortality and other categories across several trials, except for one trial where slightly more vaccinated people died from non-COVID causes or non-accident, non-COVID-19 causes.

The results suggest that adenovirus-vector vaccines compared with placebo have beneficial non-specific effects, reducing the risk of non-COVID-19 diseases. The most important cause of non-COVID-19 death was cardiovascular disease, against which the data for the current RCTs suggest that the adenovirus-vector vaccines provide at least some protection, researchers said.

They noted that trial populations were largely healthy adults and that in the real world, even mRNA vaccines were expected to reduce overall mortality. But the intriguing differences in the effects on non-accident, non-COVID-19 mortality are likely to persist and should be investigated in future studies, they added.

Overall mortality spiked in a number of highly vaccinated countries after the vaccines were rolled out, including the United States. Researchers are divided as to the causes, with some arguing the vaccines primarily drove the increases and others blaming COVID-19 and other factors.

The study was published ahead of peer review in 2022, but the authors struggled to find a journal that would accept the paper, Benn said. Several journals rejected it without explaining why, causing a delay in publication.

Immune System Impact

Several experts complimented the paper.

This is a good article that raises food for thought, Dr. Peter Gotzsche, professor emeritus and director of the Institute for Scientific Freedom in Denmark, told The Epoch Times via email.

Gotzsche wrote about research conducted by Peter Aaby, one of Benns co-authors, in his book Vaccines: Truth, Lies, and Controversy. Some of Aabys other papers have supported the hypothesis that live attenuated vaccines like adenovirus vectors help decrease overall mortality while vaccines that contain the killed version of a germ that causes a disease increase total mortality.

Such unexpected results can complicate public health messaging, Gotzsche wrote.

Previous research, including a 2013 paper from Benn and Aaby, has suggested that some vaccines provide non-specific effects, or increased protection against unrelated pathogens. They posited that the adenovirus-vector COVID-19 vaccines might prime the immune system in a way similar to a live vaccine, while noting that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines increase inflammation, which could lower the immune systems protection against other illnesses.

Benn, Aaby, and other experts said in a separate paper in April that the current framework for testing and regulating vaccines needs to be updated because of how vaccines may impact the risk of contracting unrelated diseases.

Criticism

Dr. David Boulware, a professor of medicine at the University of Minnesotas Medical School, was among the critics of the new study. He told The Epoch Times in an email that it was poorly designed because of differences in where the trials were conducted. Thats because some countries, such as the United States, have better health care, he said.

The researchers acknowledged that might be true in the limitations section, writing that differences between the study populations in the RCTs of the two vaccine types could have biased the comparison as different disease patterns and level of care could have influenced the measured effect of the vaccines on overall mortality.

The researchers added: More individuals were infected with COVID-19 in the mRNA RCTs than in the adenovirus-vector vaccine RCTs, but there were more COVID-19 deaths in the adenovirus-vector RCTs. This suggests that participants in the mRNA RCTs may have had access to better health care during COVID-19 infection, and this may have reduced the impact of mRNA vaccination on overall mortality.

Boulware also said that real-world data does not support the conclusions of the paper, pointing to observational data from Israel and Minnesota. Clearly the mRNA vaccines protect better against COVID than adenovirus vector vaccines, he said.

Benn said the study was built on a meta-analysis of placebo-controlled RCTsthe highest degree of evidence in the evidence pyramid. and that the key point of focus was overall mortality.

He is discussing COVID-19we are studying all-cause mortality, Benn said. It is irrelevant if a vaccine protects better against COVID-19 than another vaccine, if it reduces overall mortality to a lesser degreeunless you think that COVID is worse than death.
Key Insights

The considerable ownership by private companies in Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy

The largest shareholder of the company is Quan Min Holdings Pte Ltd. with a 53% stake

Using data from analyst forecasts alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) Limited (SGX:QC7), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 56% stake, private companies possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Meanwhile, individual investors make up 31% of the companys shareholders.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Q & M Dental Group (Singapore), beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for Q & M Dental Group (Singapore)

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Q & M Dental Group (Singapore)?

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.

Less than 5% of Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) is held by institutional investors. This suggests that some funds have the company in their sights, but many have not yet bought shares in it. If the business gets stronger from here, we could see a situation where more institutions are keen to buy. When multiple institutional investors want to buy shares, we often see a rising share price. The past revenue trajectory (shown below) can be an indication of future growth, but there are no guarantees.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Q & M Dental Group (Singapore). Quan Min Holdings Pte Ltd. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 53% of shares outstanding. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. With 6.8% and 1.8% of the shares outstanding respectively, Heritas Capital Management Pte. Ltd. and Quan Min Plus Pte. Ltd. are the second and third largest shareholders. In addition, we found that Chin-Siau Ng, the CEO has 0.6% of the shares allocated to their name.

Story continues

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Q & M Dental Group (Singapore)

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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 most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) Limited. As individuals, the insiders collectively own S$15m worth of the S$289m company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 31% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Private Equity Ownership

With an ownership of 6.8%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Sometimes we see private equity stick around for the long term, but generally speaking they have a shorter investment horizon and -- as the name suggests -- don't invest in public companies much. After some time they may look to sell and redeploy capital elsewhere.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 56%, of the company's shares. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it's hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for Q & M Dental Group (Singapore) you should know about.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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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Mother Arrested in 17-Month-Olds Fentanyl Poisoning Death in Riverside County

A Norco, California mother was arrested May 9 on suspicion of murder in the fentanyl-related death of her 17-month-old daughter, according to authorities.

Deputies from the Riverside County Sheriffs Department responded to a report of a juvenile in need of medical aid on the 100 block of 8th Street at 3:30 p.m., where they found the toddler not breathing, according to a statement from the sheriffs department.

Paramedics and deputies attempted life-saving measures on the girl, but she was unresponsive and pronounced dead at the scene, according to authorities.

The toddlers mother, Jennifer Johanna Allen, 32, was arrested after an investigation revealed fentanyl had played a role in the girls death, the statement said.

Anyone with information regarding the case is encouraged to contact Investigator Adams of the Riverside Sheriffs Department Central Homicide Unit at 951-955-2777.
MPs and Senators Across Political Spectrum Condemn Beijings Threats Against Canadians

MPs and senators of different political stripes told NTD, The Epoch Times sister media, that its unacceptable for Beijing to intimidate and threaten Canadians and members of Parliament.

The revelations of Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei, who targeted Conservative MP Michael Chong and threatened his family members in Hong Kong in 2021, prompted the House of Commons to pass a motion on May 4 to push back Beijings intimidation tactics deployed against many Canadians of Chinese descent in diaspora communities across the country.

The motion, put forth by Tory MP Michael Cooper, calls on the federal government to immediately expel all Chinese diplomats responsible for and involved in these affronts to Canadian democracy. It also demands the Liberal government to stop delaying the creation of a foreign agent registry, a national public inquiry, and the closing down of Peoples Republic of China run police stations operating in Canada.

NDP MP Heather McPherson speaks to a reporter at the Taiwan Night in Ottawa event in Ottawa on May 10, 2023. (Annie Wu/NTD)

NDP MP Heather McPherson says it is crucial that a foreign agent registry that prevents China and other countries from interfering in Canadas affairs be established.

I think thats vital, she said on May 10, while at the Taiwan Night in Ottawa event along with parliamentarians from different parties. We need to have a public registry. There needs to be a registry of foreign influence.

McPherson, who is also vice-chair of the Commons Committee on the CanadaChina Relationship, added that the creation of a public inquiry on the matter of foreign interference is equally important.

We need to make sure that we do have a public inquiry that is looked at very, very carefully.

Belligerence

Citing the Indo-Pacific strategy, McPherson stressed that Canada must work with like-minded countries to protect democracies from the belligerence weve seen from Beijing.

One of the things thats most important is that we continually find ways to strengthen our relationships with democracies, strengthen our relationships with countries in the region that believe in democracy, believe in rule of law, believe in a rules-based world order, she said.

Liberal MP Judy Sgro speaks to a reporter at the Taiwan Night in Ottawa event in Ottawa on May 10, 2023. (Annie Wu/NTD)

Liberal MP Judy Sgro, who represents the riding of Humber River-Black Creek in Ontario, says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has now indicated to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to bring to his desk any threats against any parliamentarian.

I think everybodys woken up to the seriousness of foreign interference, Sgro told NTD. Its been going on for many years. Its not just China, we have issues with Iran, Russia, and so on. But its just time that all of our countries band together to protect each other.

She said Canada can learn from Taiwan, which is dealing with foreign interference on a daily basis.

Clearly, looking at how Taiwan deals with foreign interference, deals with hybrid security, theres a lot that we need to learn because Taiwan is under attack every single day in one form or another, Sgro said.

Wolf Warriors

Liberal MP John McKay says he is expecting more Chinese diplomats to be expelled from Canada after the recent expulsion of Zhao.

These people bear no relationship to diplomats, said McKay. Theyre not really interested in persuading you, theyre interested in intimidating you.

I expect that more diplomats will be expelled one way or another, he added.

Liberal MP John McKay speaks to a reporter at the Taiwan Night in Ottawa event in Ottawa on May 10, 2023. (Annie Wu/NTD)

Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly declared Zhao persona non grata on May 8, after the Globe and Mail reported a week earlier that the Chinese diplomat worked with a Beijing-linked spy service to target Chong and his family in 2021.

The Globes report, later confirmed by CSIS, detailed how Chong was targeted because of a House of Commons motion he sponsored in February that year calling Chinas treatment of Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities a genocide.

McKay, chair of the Standing Committee of National Defence, described Chinas diplomacy with Canada as one that is conducted by wolf warriors for the sole interest of their communist leader.

The reality is that we are allparliamentarians and non-parliamentariansgoing to have to realize that the government of China is not here for the best interests of Canadians. They are there for the best interests of one person, and one person onlyXi Jinping, he said.

More Need to Go

Cooper told NTD that the federal government not only has to expel Beijing diplomats who intimidate members of Parliament, but also those involved in meddling in the countrys elections.

Only one diplomat is expelled. More need to go, the Conservative MP said.

Conservative MP Michael Cooper speaks to a reporter at the Taiwan Night in Ottawa event in Ottawa on May 10, 2023. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

On May 9, the Chinese regime retaliated by expelling Jennifer Lynn Lalonde, Canadas diplomat at its Shanghai Consulate, and ordered her to leave China by May 13.

Retaliation by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) isnt new to Canada. Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were arbitrarily detained in Chinese prisons for over 1,000 days, nine days after Huaweis chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Vancouver on Dec. 1, 2018, on a U.S. extradition request. The two were released on Sept. 24, 2021, after Meng reached a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Justice Department on that same day, which allowed her to return to China that day.

Cooper said Ottawa shouldnt be tolerating Chinas aggressions.

It is intolerable when we have a Beijing regime who so fundamentally disrespects Canada, who sets up illegal police stations, who interferes in our elections, who threatens members of Parliament, he said.

We need to respond by forcefully denouncing it, taking action, and working in the longer term to decouple ourselves from the PRC [Peoples Republic of China].

Harsh Dictatorship

Bloc Quebecois MP Stephane Bergeron said the belief held by Western countries that the strengthening of trade with China to improve the living standards of Chinese people would bring more democracy and more respect for human rights, proved to be wrong.

We realized that we were wrong, said Bergeron. The Chinese people still live under a very harsh dictatorship.

Bloc Quebecois MP Stephane Bergeron speaks to a reporter at the Taiwan Night in Ottawa event in Ottawa on May 10, 2023. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

The vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development warned that the CCPs interference activities may be replicated across the globe.

We now know that foreign interference coming from the Peoples Republic of China on the Chinese Canadians might be replicated everywhere around the world. So we have to stick together, all the like-minded countries, we have to work together in order to counter these kinds of operations coming from the Peoples Republic of China.

Not Acceptable

Conservative Sen. Michael MacDonald said Ottawa has been far too patient with Beijings diplomats.

It seems like the people they send over here to be diplomats arent very diplomatic, he told NTD. We should be very strong in our opinions going forward, and let them know that their conduct is not acceptable in Canada.

Conservative Sen. Michael MacDonald speaks to a reporter at the Taiwan Night in Ottawa event in Ottawa on May 10, 2023. (Annie Wu/NTD)

Responding to Lalondes expulsion, MacDonald said thats the way Beijing operates, and stressed there is a difference in how Canadian diplomats conduct themselves in overseas missions compared with Chinese diplomats.

Theyre saying, Well, you expel one of ours, well expel one of yours, but our diplomats arent over there interfering with peoples lives or threatening people, he said.

Put an End to It

Conservative Sen. Leo Housakos said its completely a dream, a pie in the sky for Western democracies to believe they can reform the CCP.

We have to learn from history. Bullies and dictators, they do not acquiesce, they dont come around, he said.

Conservative Sen. Leo Housakos speaks to a reporter at the Taiwan Night in Ottawa event in Ottawa on May 10, 2023. (Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times)

Housakos added that China is operating in the most nefarious way by using intimidation tactics against Canadians and having their police stations in our country.

We, as Canadian politicians and parliamentarians, we should never accept that. Your Canadian passport, your Canadian citizenship should trump anything else.

The senator stressed that Beijing has been benefiting from the free marketconsumer marketsthat Canada and other countries have opened to them with unfettered access.

We have created this monster called the CCP, he said.

Its time to put an end to it.

Donna Ho, Matthew Horwood and Peter Wilson contributed to this report.
Officials Across US Commemorate World Falun Dafa Day

Falun Gong practitioners march in Manhattan to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day on May 12, 2023, in New York. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

On the 31st anniversary of its introduction to the public, Falun Dafa has been recognized by officials and elected bodies across the United States for its spiritual values and its adherents contributions to communities.

Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is a spiritual practice involving meditative exercises and moral teachings rooted in traditional Chinese beliefs in body and mind improvement. It was introduced to the public by its founder, Li Hongzhi, on May 13, 1992, in northeast China and is now practiced in more than 100 countries.

Official proclamations in various U.S. states and locales credit the practices slow-moving exercises and core principlestruth, compassion, and forbearanceas the source of its contributions to society.

The Falun Dafa philosophy espouses the idea that when the heart is pure, the mind balanced, and the body energized, health and happiness are a natural outcome, wrote a New York state legislative resolution adopted on April 25 commemorating World Falun Dafa Day on May 13. Individuals have been empowered to leave behind addictions and bad habits; families, to live in peace together; and communities, to embrace what is virtuous and life-affirming.

In addition, adherents efforts to share the practices benefits with communities through free workshops were also highlighted.

Falun Dafa practitioners throughout the world dedicate countless hours to contributing to their communities by participating in local parades and street fairs, organizing free meditation and exercise classes, thousands of which have been offered in libraries, senior centers, public parks, and health clubs, as well as corporate offices and private residences, wrote New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu on May 9 in his proclamation for World Falun Dafa Day.

His remarks were echoed in other official recognitions, including the New York state legislative resolution and a Texas Senate resolution adopted on May 11. Both chambers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts state legislature issued citations to acknowledge World Falun Dafa Day and wished adherents continued success.

Falun Gong practitioners march in Manhattan to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day on May 12, 2023. (Larry Dye/The Epoch Times)

Some federal politicians have also voiced their appreciation of the spiritual practice and pointed out the contrast of brutal persecution by the Chinese communist regime.

Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Reps. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) and Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) sent Falun Dafa adherents letters of recognition in commemoration of the anniversary.

I applaud each of you for sharing the illustrious history and rich culture of China as well as drawing attention to the violence and persecution the county has endured, wrote Cruz in his letter to members of the Southern USA Falun Dafa Association. Falun Dafa practitioners have continued to demonstrate the determination and courage to stand up for Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

Within eight years of Falun Gongs introduction to the public in China, the practice had attracted 100 million adherents. Deeming this popularity a threat to its absolute rule, the Chinese Communist Party started a nationwide persecution campaign, subjecting adherents to detention, slave labor, torture, psychiatric abuses, and forced organ harvesting.

Ambassador Rashad Hussain, principal adviser to the secretary of state and adviser to the U.S. president on religious freedom conditions and policy, wrote in a tweet on May 13: I am pleased to join the Falun Gong community in recognizing World #FalunDafa Day, a time to remember the peaceful ideals of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance in solidarity with the many practitioners around the world who continue to suffer for their beliefs.

Health Benefits During Post-Pandemic Times

Many county- and city-level proclamations highlighted the health effects of Falun Gong, particularly in the COVID-19 era.

In these trying, post-pandemic times, the meditative exercise of Falun Dafa and its health benefits offers an effective option to those seeking peace and healing, wrote Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui of Cambridge, Massachusetts, in his proclamation this month.

Falun Dafa practitioner Yu Haoxin before a World Falun Dafa Day parade in New York on May 12, 2023. (Courtesy of Yu Haoxin)

That certainly rings true for Yu Haoxin, 29, a Chinese businesswoman who arrived in New York on April 6. The pandemic led her to Falun Gong.

On Dec. 21, 2021, she took a second shot of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine in southern Chinas Guangxi Province. Within five days, she experienced a fast heartbeat and trembling hands.

Her symptoms deteriorated rapidly weeks later during her Chinese New Year holiday visit to her hometown of Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province in northeast China.

She still remembers the trip to the hospital; even getting on and off the taxi took much effort. She couldnt breathe and felt no strength in her limbs. Her younger sister supported her all the way.

Before the hospital visit, Yu did some research online and suspected that she had hyperthyroidism, a not-uncommon condition developed by Sinovac vaccination recipients. She was terrified of acquiring such an illness, characterized by excessive production of thyroid hormone, which controls how the body uses energy and affects a persons metabolism. Through a customer at her beauty salon, she had learned that the condition would be lifelong.

The doctors diagnosis confirmed her fear.

At that time, citizens mobility was still under control. Each time she went out of the complex, she would have to get permission from property management by showing a negative COVID test. And that was limited to up to once every two days.

Yus mother, a Falun Gong practitioner, saw that Yu was in despair and asked whether she wanted to try the practices exercises. Yu took up the practice in February 2022.

The following month, her test results showed significant improvement. Her levels of T3, one of the hormones produced by the thyroid, decreased from over 50 in January to below 12. Her T4, another hormone produced by the thyroid, came down from over 100 in January to slightly below 34. She knew she was on the way to recovery. After another three months, her symptoms went away completely. A check-up this March confirmed that she had remained healthy.

Yu came to the United States on a tourist visa to escape the communist regimes persecution of her faith. She used to run a beauty salon business in China. Now she wants to focus on settling down before making a professional choice.

In 2022, on her first World Falun Dafa Day as a practitioner, she bowed in front of its founders picture at her home in China to commemorate the anniversary. This year, she joined another 5,000 in a parade in Manhattan to celebrate the occasion.

Im very honored, she told The Epoch Times. Celebrating World Falun Dafa Day in a grand parade was something we didnt dare to even think of in China.

Falun Gong practitioners march in Manhattan to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day on May 12, 2023. (Larry Dye/The Epoch Times)
Teacher Sacked After Refusing to Use 8-Year-Olds Trans Pronouns

Students in a lesson at a school in the UK on Sept. 12, 2018. (Ben Birchall/PA)

A primary school teacher in England sacked in a row over refusing to use an 8-year-old childs trans pronouns has said her only intention was to safeguard the pupil.

The teacher, who cant be named to protect the childs identity, told The Epoch Times she had raised concerns about the potential damage social transition could have on the young pupil.

The womanwhos now taking legal action against Nottinghamshire County Council over her dismissalclaimed she was stonewalled by school chiefs after raising concerns over the welfare of the 8-year-old.

She was dismissed last year after raising a number of concerns regarding the facilitation of a new school pupil into her class who wanted to be treated as a boy.

The childwith the support of both parentsrequested to be called a different name and required that staff use pronouns aligned to the childs new gender identity.

School employees, including the pupils new teacher, were instructed to follow the familys wishes, which included allowing the child to use the boys toilets and dressing rooms.

The teacher raised her concerns with the school principal over the facilitation of the gender transition, which she felt went against her Christian beliefs, and the child was removed from her class.

However, discussions continued with school bosses on how she would address the child if they came into contact within the school setting.

The teacher suggested using a gender-neutral type of nickname, but was told that she could only use the name and pronouns requested by the child.

After refusing, she was suspended for failing to comply with what she was told was a reasonable management request.

Censorship

At that point, I did get in touch with the legal people and started asking, What does the law say about this? the teacher told The Epoch Times.

Because from my point of view, I felt that they are forcing me to live contrary to my conscience, and theyre forcing me to go along with something that I think is actually harmful.

And so the legal people did argue the point that basically what was being required of me was compelled speech, and they were compelling me to live against both my Christian beliefs and, I suppose you could say, philosophical beliefs that are formed by actually what evidence I had seen.

The teacher was allowed to return to work with an agreement that she would refer to the child in gender-neutral terms.

However, the atmosphere within the school had changed, she said.

I felt as though I was being very much silenced, she said.

For example, they were requiring me to write a paragraph to the head teacher explaining what I would say to staff should they ask me questions about why I had been away from school for so long.

She didnt want me to tell them that I had been suspended.

The woman also claims she was told not to share any of her personal opinions, including her beliefs, with any other members of staff.

Its like censorship, she said. So I thought, well, how on earth do we protect these children?

Id already started that safeguarding process in terms of raising it with the head teacher.

I gave them quite detailed explanations as to why I thought it was harmful; I just thought, well, Im going to continue then, and I started to raise it formally.

The teacher raised her concerns about the childs transitioning with the primary schools board of governors.

I actually presented them with a 100-page expert report from a psychotherapist, a psychologist, and [an] endocrinologist who were experts in the field who had worked with these kids, and who are all saying, Dont affirm them in these beliefs. Its going to do more harm than good, she said.

Its going to do more harm than good.

Sacked

The teacher also raised her concerns with the local authority but was told that the school and council had gone through the correct procedures.

She was then told that there would be no further correspondence with her on the issue.

After seeking further legal advice, she disclosed information on the child to her lawyer in preparation for a judicial review of the case.

I went into school one morning, about to set up the classroom, and was met by the head teacher and deputy, she said.

They asked me [whether I had] disclosed information on the child to my lawyer. They didnt even give me a chance to explain that it was done privately and with confidentiality.

They said I would have to be suspended and escorted me out of the school.

The teacher was formally dismissed on the grounds of gross misconduct a short time later.

She now faces never being able to teach again after the school reported her to the Teaching Regulation Agency for an alleged confidentiality breach.

She has brought an employment tribunal claim against the local authority that runs the school, claiming unfair dismissal and religious discrimination.

The woman is currently working in a sandwich shop ahead of the hearing, expected to take place in August.

I would hope this at least gets people talking and thinking, Are we doing harm? she said. Its like weve lost sight of whats really important in that debate. Its about [whether this is] actually harmful.

A Year 1 pupil colours a dolphin poetry worksheet while conforming to social distancing rules in a classroom during a lesson at the College Francais Bilingue De Londres French-English bilingual school in north London on June 2, 2020. (Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP via Getty Images)

Ongoing Concerns

Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, is backing the teachers case.

She told The Epoch Times that the centre has been inundated with concerns from teachers and other school staff.

People are calling us every single day because of the situation in schools; parents, even students sometimes, and teachers who are very concerned about pupils or perhaps materials that they are being told that they have to teach, Williams said.

This teacher was being asked to essentially affirm an 8-year-old in the gender that they said they were and she felt very concerned because of the surrounding circumstances of this child.

The child was displaying concerning behaviour and it was really as a result of that that the teacher felt that it was really important that safeguarding issues were raised around this particular child because the childs wellbeing was at stake.

For raising her concerns, the woman is now facing her very ability to teach being completely removed, Williams said.

She wants to see this whole situation around children change, and different policies put into place.

The local authority didnt respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.
Texas Ban on Gender Modification for Minors Passes Major Hurdle

Nineteen Democratic amendments proposed to water down bill fail during marathon legislative session

Police stand between anti-trans activist Chris Elston (L) and counterprotestors (R) as they confront each other outside of Boston Childrens Hospital in Boston, Mass., on Sept. 18, 2022. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)

Texas Republicans cleared a major hurdle to pass a ban on child gender modification surgery and hormones after fierce resistance from Democrats and pro-transgender protesters.

The vote mainly along party lines on May 11 came after five hours of debate on Senate Bill 14 that included multiple attempts by Democrats to water down the bill through 19 proposed amendments.

The bill prohibits treatment for childhood gender dysphoria including surgeries that sterilize children, such as removing parts of their reproductive systems, mastectomies, and prescribing drugs that induce temporary or permanent infertility, such as cross-sex hormones, or removing any otherwise healthy or non-diseased body part.

Children currently on hormones for gender dysphoria would have to be weaned off the hormones, according to the bill.

Texas state representatives and visitors are gathered in the House chamber on the first day of the 87th Legislatures special session at the State Capitol in Austin, Texas, on July 8, 2021. (Tamir Kalifa/Getty Images)

The bill gives the attorney general the ability to enforce the law. Doctors who perform gender modification on children will lose their medical licenses to practice in Texas.

Republican state Rep. Tom Oliverson, who sponsored companion bill House Bill 1686, shepherded SB 14 through the House.

Dr. Oliverson, who told The Epoch Times last week he looked forward to discussing the bill publicly, said there is no high-quality scientific evidence that puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or surgery help children overcome gender dysphoria.

Oliverson said that evidence of adverse outcomes for such treatment is growing.

Risks including bone demineralization, abnormalities of brain and cardiovascular development, strokes, blood clots, chronic pain, infertility, and incontinence are known to accompany these treatments for a lifetime, he said.

Texas state Rep. Tom Oliverson speaks at a press conference in Austin, Texas, on March 29, 2023, in a still from a video. (The Epoch Times)

Oliverson said that suicide and gender dysphoria are something that the literature got wrong from a very early stage. He said providers erroneously told parents that if they didnt transition their children, they would commit suicide.

Other Republicans who spoke on the House floor called the practice of permanently sterilizing children child abuse.

Democrats coordinated a political attack on the bill by calling points of order on clerical errors and open meeting rules on May 2 and May 5. That delayed the second reading of the bill until May 12.

A point of order is a maneuver used to kill bills in the Texas Legislature by forcing them to be corrected and rescheduled, which could run out the clock.

Democrat state Rep. James Talarico called the legislation banning gender modification the most dangerous bill being heard this session.

Democrats said the bill wold discriminate against transgender youth and force parents with gender dysphoric children to leave the state. They also claimed gender dysphoria is linked to suicide.

Democrats also spoke of gender as a spectrum, refusing to agree that there were two biological sexes.

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, here gaveling-in a July 2021 special session in Austin, Texas, was reelected speaker on Jan. 10 for the 2023 legislative session. (Tamir Kalifa/Getty Images)

The bill, a priority for the Republican Party of Texas, will now be up for a final vote in the House Monday that would send it to Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature.

Oliverson told The Epoch Times last week that Republicans are committed to seeing the bill through without compromise.

Democrats offered to withdraw one point of order in exchange for his acceptance of an amendment to water down the bill, which Oliverson said he refused.

So I do think that this strategy for the Democrats is one of diminishing returns, and unfortunately, the clock is not in their favor, he said. Ultimately, were setting ourselves up with a law that is going to withstand any legal challenge that they could mount, he said.

During the May 2 session, pro-transgender protesters disrupted the legislature, prompting Republican Speaker of the House Dade Phelan to order the gallery to be cleared.

Scuffles erupted between officers and pro-transgender activists who began chanting loudly and hanging signs over the balcony.

Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers had to remove some protestors and made two arrests.

Police look on as a protest takes place outside the Texas state capitol in Austin, Texas, on May 29, 2021. (Sergio Flores/Getty Images)

Videos posted online showed protestors chanting and obstructing officers trying to clear the Texas Capitol.

Adriano K. Perez, an organizing director with the Texas Freedom Network, a left-wing group describing its mission as monitoring far-right issues, organizations, money, and leaders, was arrested, according to the DPS.

Perez was charged with disrupting a meeting, resisting arrest, and assault on a peace officer and transported to the Travis County Jail, the DPS said in an emailed statement.

Protester Evan D. Wienck was charged with assault by contact and released on-site, according to the same statement.

Andrew Brown, associate vice president of policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), a conservative think-tank, said the protest at the Texas capitol on May 2 was a borderline insurrection.

Andrew Brown is associate vice president of policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), a conservative think-tank. (Courtesy of TPPF)

Brown credited Phelan with not letting the situation get out of hand.

The disruption of the Texas House follows a pattern across the country this spring, where pro-transgender activists have disrupted legislation aimed at outlawing gender modification for minors.

In the Florida House recently, a video posted on social media showed left-wingers and children tossing white underwear from the legislative balcony onto lawmakers to protest a ban on child gender modification.

At least one person was arrested in connection with the Florida incident for disturbing a peaceful or lawful assembly. Two juveniles were also cited for trespassing and are not allowed back at the capitol for a year.

In Tennessee, protestors that included elected officials disrupted a legislative session in Tennessee by chanting and shouting, which shut down the Legislature. Media accounts did not detail any arrests, but two of the three legislative members were expelled from the Legislature.

Kentucky State Police recently asked people to leave or be arrested as a mob of protestors chanted over lawmakers who voted to override the governors veto of a ban on child gender modification. A group of 19 were arrested on trespassing charges.
Like millions of other immigrants to America, Edgar Albert Guest (18811959) worked hard, overcame adversity, made good, and loved the land that gave birth to his dreams and ambitions.

He was born in Birmingham, England. In 1891, his mother and father moved the family to Detroit, Michigan. There, at age 11, Guest began working odd jobs to help out at home when his father was temporarily unemployed. In his early teens, he found work as a copy boy at the Detroit Free Press.

When Guest was 17, his father died, and he left high school to support his family, working his way up at the paper from police reporter to columnist when in his mid-20s. By the time he was 30, nearly all his writing for the paper appeared as poems in a column titled Breakfast Table Chat. These daily verses soon became wildly popular and were at one time syndicated in over 300 newspapers. Published in 1916, his poetry collection A Heap o Livin eventually sold a million copies, a phenomenal record for any book but particularly so for poetry.

Guest wrote for the Detroit paper for over 60 years, during which time he published over 11,000 poems. More than 20 volumes of his poetry were sold to the public, and his 945-page Collected Verse, published in 1934, found such an enthusiastic audience that it ran into 11 editions.

Widely known at the time as the poet of the people, he hosted a popular radio show from 1931 until 1942. And in 1951, NBC television featured him in A Guest in Your House.

The high school dropout had made his mark.

Of Time and the Critics

Though Edgar Guest still has fans, far fewer today remember the man who was once a household name in towns and cities across America.

This gradual erasure from the collective memory is in part the result of the changing tides of time and taste. The old is washed away, and the new rushes to shore. Most of the bestselling novelists of the first half of the 20th century, for example, are forgotten. Artists and musicians then celebrated as geniuses lie unremarked in their graves. Such is the nature of time and changes in fashion.

Edgar Guest wrote for the Detroit paper for over 60 years, during which time he published over 11,000 poems. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

In the case of Guest, some contemporary critics and poets, a few of them undoubtedly jealous of his fame and success, rolled their eyes at his verse and derided it as being too simplistic, too optimistic, and far too sentimental. That evaluation remains his reputation today. In almost any encounter with Guest and his standing as a poet, such as occurs in the Encyclopedia Britannica, these adjectives with their whiff of condescension are still used to describe him.

And theyre on target. Edgar Guests verse was as they say: simple, optimistic, and sentimental.

Yet I would contend that these same qualities explain precisely why millions read his poetry.

Simplicity

Guest never claimed the genius of a Shakespeare or an Emily Dickinson. As he once said of his verse, I take simple everyday things that happen to me and I figure it happens to a lot of other people and I make simple rhymes out of them.

In the final eight lines of My Creed, he gives us this summation of his code:

To leave some simple mark behind

To keep my having lived in mind;

If enmity to aught I show,

To be an honest, generous foe,

To play my little part, nor whine

That greater honors are not mine.

This, I believe, is all I need

For my philosophy and creed.

Some simple mark and to play my little part seem his frank evaluation of his own status as a poet and a man.

Optimism

Despite the Great Depression and two horrific world wars, one quality associated with the American character during that era was a confident belief in individual effort and resilience, all buoyed up by a jaunty attitude toward life. We see this outlook reflected in many of the films of the 1930s, for instance, or in books like Dale Carnegies 1936 How to Win Friends and Influence People, works that only Americans of that time could have produced.

Guest reflects and promotes these same virtues in his verse. It Couldnt Be Done, which is one of his better-known meditations in meter and rhyme and was even featured in an Audi commercial some years ago, gives us this can-do American spirit:

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,

There are thousands to prophesy failure,

There are thousands to point out to you one by one,

The dangers that wait to assail you.

But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,

Just take off your coat and go to it;

Just start in to sing as you tackle the thing

That cannot be done, and youll do it.

Sentimentality

In the movie Local Color, a critic and a painter are discussing the place of sentiment in art when the critic remarks, Sentiment is a sloppy, sugary, emotional form of gushing which is indicative of the lack of intellect. And the painter replies, You have so much intellect that you have become stupid, Curtis.

Published in 1916, Edgar Guests poetry collection A Heap o Livin eventually sold a million copies. (generic)

Can Guests poetry be called sentimental? Absolutely, if by that word we mean Oxford Languages definition: of or prompted by feelings of tenderness, sadness, or nostalgia. The more limited literary meaning of sentiment adds to this definition typically in an exaggerated or self-indulgent way.

Those who attach sentiment to Edgar Guests reputation seems to favor the literary meaning of the word, which reveals that theyve understood neither Guest nor his audience. He published his poems in a newspaper, meant to be read by men, women, and children as they sat at the breakfast table or in the den after supper, hardworking people who knew lifes joys and sorrows, its comedies and tragedies. The topics Guest addressed so frequentlyfamily, friendship, birth, death, love of God and countrywere not for them abstract concepts, but were the living realities of daily living.

Guests A Child of Mine is an exchange between God and two parents entrusted with the care and keeping of their child. To them God explains:

Hell bring his charms to gladden you,

And should his stay be brief.

Youll have his lovely memories,

As solace for your grief.

I cannot promise he will stay,

Since all from earth return.

At the poems end, the parents reply:

Well shelter him with tenderness,

Well love him while we may,

And for the happiness weve known,

Forever grateful stay.

But should the angels call for him,

Much sooner than weve planned,

Well brave the bitter grief that comes,

And try to understand.

Is this a sloppy, sugary, emotional piece of gushing? If we search out this poem on FamilyFriendlyPoems.com and scroll down, we can read the testimonies of moms and dads whose children have died and who have found comfort in Guests words. Only people with a heart of stone could read these testimonials for their deceased daughters or sons and dismiss them as sloppy and sugary. Moreover, Guest knew whereof he spoke, having lost his own little girl, age 13 months.

End Notes

Critics of Guests poetry often forget a singular, important fact. He was a newspaper man who was proud of his lifes work. In a 1939 interview, he said: Ive never been late with my copy and Ive never missed an edition. And thats seven days a week. Every day for three decades, the Detroit Free Press featured a poem by Guest in its pages.

Give that assignment to most poets, then or now, and they would be pulling out their hair and snapping their pencils in half before the week was ended.

Much more important to general readers, as we read some of Guests poems, is whether todays culture isnt in need of the spirit we find in his verses. We may smile and turn away from his verse, dismissing it as trite or idealistic, and not pertinent to our own tribulations and bitter divisions, yet that would be a mistake.

Let me make this point with a piece from Guests Poems of Patriotism. This old, thin volume from 1922, which I borrowed from our local college library, was originally published a few years earlier during World War I. Here we find The Time for Deeds, which ends this way:

If in honor and glory our flag is to wave,

If we are to keep thisthe land of the brave;

If more than fine words are to fashion our creeds,

Now must our hands and our hearts turn to deeds.

We are challenged by tyrants our strength to reveal!

Oh, God! let us prove that our courage is real!

This exhortation may be a century old, but it arrives as fresh as this mornings headlines. Here is a call to liberty that should speak to Americans in any age.
Theyre Still Killing People: Man Defends Right to Speak for Unborn Babies

Standing on a sidewalk in front of an abortion facility, Calvin Zastrow holds his grandson in his arms in Grand Rapids, Michigan on July, 13, 2022. (Courtesy Cal Zastrow)

Just weeks after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade last June, Calvin Zastrow, A pro-life sidewalk preacher, walked on the public sidewalk in front of an abortion facility in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

He was one of about 40 people there the morning of July 13, 2022, and, as Zastrow paced back and forth carrying his toddler grandson, he sometimes crossed the driveway to the facility that intersects with the sidewalk.

They said I blocked the driveway, Zastrow told The Epoch Times. But they have no evidence that any cars were blocked, trying to turn in, or planning to come in. If youre walking in front of a driveway, and nobodys trying to turn in, youre not blocking anything.

Shortly after the police arrived, Zastrow put his grandson back into his mothers arms. He noticed police were standing in the middle of the road, which would have blocked traffic, but it was slow that morning, and he said there was not much traffic.

The police come out, and they say, You cant go in front of the driveway. Well, I knew that was not a lawful order. There was nobody blocking, and nobody even coming. So I kept walking.

I Lived Liberty

When police give an order, but it seems unlawful, he said, you have to make a choice.

Am I going to uphold the rule of law? Or am I going to hold lawlessness at [the] point of [a] gun, and clasp of handcuff by a police officer whos acting lawless? Then you have to make a choice. I made a choice. I lived liberty. I upheld the rule of law.

Gods law says thou shall not kill, he said.

The decision had consequences.

They said, No, youre going to jail. So thats what happened.

He spent that day in jail, charged with failure to obey a lawful order of a police officer, a local misdemeanor. In April, he had a jury trial.

Thursday, Zastrow, who represented himself in court, attended his sentencing. More than 30 people went to the courthouse to pray and sing hymns before and after the sentencing.

Trish and Calvin Zastrow, along with supporters, pray before entering court in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on May 11, 2023. (Courtesy of Calvin Zastrow)

Everybody has the constitutional right to make a statement before sentencing, Zastrow said. I didnt do that. I gave an 11-minute sermon.

Before he spoke, Zastrow set up a poster he uses on the streeta photograph of a dead, aborted baby.

As I unrolled the poster in court, the judge stared in grief at the large picture of a preborn child murdered by choice, Zastrow described on his social media. He listened attentively to my passionate 11-minute sermon from Isaiah, made his remarks, and sentenced me to 100 hours of community service because I had peacefully rescued children. Worthy is the Lamb of God!

Probation had originally suggested 60 hours of community service and several hundred dollars in fines, but Judge Michael J. Distel gave him an opportunity to speak. Zastro asked if he could do something other than pay the fine, which would be odious to him.

I dont like propping up a baby-murdering system. I do not like paying the salary of the prosecutor who will not uphold the rule of law and come and prosecute me in court. I dont like paying his salary. I dont like paying the salary of the police officers who are lawless and protect baby-murdering and persecut[ing] Christians. If I dont have to pay their salary. That would be a blessing to me.

That is how he got 100 hours of community service and no fine. Zastrow hopes he can get the service done and put this case behind him before he is back in court again.

Decades in Prison

Zastrow faces five more court cases related to his presence at abortion facilities. Of those, two are federal cases, with FACE Act charges from the FBI, that each carries 11 years in federal prison, that is, 22 years total.

The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act was enacted in 1994 to prohibit interference with obtaining or providing abortions. After the Supreme Court ruled on Abortion last year, the Department of Justice, under the direction of President Joe Biden, cracked down on pro-life street preachers and sidewalk counselors in a way that had not been seen previously. It started charging pro-lifers retroactively and added conspiracy charges, making what used to be a risk of a year in prison, now an 11-year threat.

Zastro and others who were with him face federal charges in Nashville, Tennessee, and Detroit, Michigan. That same Michigan case also has local charges.

He also faces local charges of trespassing in Fort Myers, Florida, which could bring a year in jail and a fine. In Little Rock, Arkansas, the local charges could bring a $500 fine and 30 days in jail.

Asked why he continues to risk his freedom on the sidewalks of abortion facilities, Zastro didnt miss a beat.

Because theyre still killing people. Lets stop pretending that everything is okay, Zastrow said. I pray for more people to love Jesus enough, to love their preborn neighbors as themselves.
Unholy Alliance of Woke Left and Islamist Right Is Destabilizing America: Asra Nomani

An unholy alliance of far leftists and fundamental Islamists is undermining the principle values of the United States, warned Asra Nomani, a former Wall Street Journal reporter and advocate for reform in Islam.

Theres a war for the values of classical liberalism, Nomani told host Jan Jekielek in an interview on EpochTVs American Thought Leaders program.

To me, they are simple ideas like individual freedom, free speech, the actual value of family, and something also really important to mea sense of equality, a sense that there is no hierarchy of human value.

Nomani is a co-founder of the Muslim Reform Movement, an international organization fighting to counter the ideology that fostered and nurtured terrorist groups like ISIS.

A Muslim herself, she has long been arguing that the Muslim community needs to confront, not deny, the existence of elements of their religion that are not compatible with the principal values of the free world.

Muslim author Asra Nomani (C) prays with other women during a rare public mixed-gender, woman-led prayer service in New York City in this 2005 file photo. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

An Ethical Incongruity

Born in India and then migrating to the United States when she was four, Nomani described an ethical incongruity she felt in an upbringing shaped by both Islamic and classical liberal values.

Womens rights, equality, free speechthese were just joyful experiences that I had as a young girl growing up in the United States, she said. But I was feeling incongruous with some of the ideas that were actually embedded inside of me, being a Muslim.

Inside of the very traditional and fundamentalist interpretation of Islam, you are denied principles like free speech because you are ruled in by laws of blasphemy, she continued.

You are denied individual rights because you are defined by the collective sense of what youre supposed to live, how youre supposed to marry, where youre supposed to travel, and what youre supposed to do for a living.

This feeling of incongruity would accompany Nomani for many years until she started confronting it, prompted by the horrendous murder of a dear colleague at Wall Street Journal.

Daniel Danny Pearl was only 38 when Islamist terrorists kidnapped him in Karachi, Pakistan, on Jan. 23, 2002. The terrorists first claimed that Pearl was an American spy, then accused him of spying on behalf of Israeli intelligence after learning that he was a Jew. A video of Pearls decapitation emerged weeks later.

Daniel Pearl, a Wall Street Journal newspaper reporter kidnapped and murdered by Islamic extremists in Karachi, Pakistan, in a file photo. (Getty Images)

That was the moment that I knew deep in my heart that we were in this war with this extremism, Nomani told Jekielek.

It was defined by a sectarianism. It was defined by the most illiberal of ideas, which is that there is a hierarchy of human value in the world.

Danny, by being American, being white, by being Jewish, by having Israeli ancestry, was now at the bottom of that hierarchy of human value, she continued.

Thats when I first confronted the fundamental idea of identity.

Summer of Reckoning

About two decades after Pearls murder, Nomani was shocked to find that an ideology centered around evaluating humans based on their racial identity was gaining prevalence in America, including in public school classrooms.

In June 2020, in the wake of George Floyds death, the principal of Virginias Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technologyone of the nations top-ranked high schoolssent an email to the schools mostly Asian immigrant families, saying that they needed to check their privileges.

It was a scolding, in which she said that our families, with such diverse backgrounds with such stories of struggle coming to the United States, needed to check our privileges, said Nomani, whose son was at that time a senior at TJ High.

She said that we needed to change the racial demographic of the school so that it would match the racial demographic of the county.

What they had been doingis run[ning] this domestic disinformation & character assassination campaign against not only Muslim reformers, butanybody who dares to challenge their Islamist interpretation of my faith. @AsraNomani PREMIERE at 7:30pm ET on @AmThoughtLeader! pic.twitter.com/6S0G86TiAm  Jan Jekielek (@JanJekielek) May 9, 2023

Some 70 percent of the students at TJ High are Asian, whereas in Virginias Fairfax County, Asians account for only 20 percent of the population.

So, we were the wrong kind of minority, Nomani said.

That summer, I recognized really fast that the same type of identity politics that had laid its target on my friend Danny Pearl had shifted to a new group in the United States: Asian families, immigrant families, anybody who refused the narrative of this network that I call the woke army. And a new fight began.

Racial Identity

While it may seem self-contradictory, the fundamental Islamists have allied with identity politics-oriented leftists. All it takes, according to Nomani, is to redefine Muslim as a racial identity.

What I noticed through the start of the Obama administration was the Islamists were aligning with the Democratic Party, she told Jekielek, noting that Islamists obviously dont support abortion or LGBTQ rights like Democrats do.

I saw that build up. I saw money start flowing into the Muslim organizations from typical traditional liberal philanthropists. And I wondered how they could justify it.

What I realized they were using was race, she continued. What the Islamists had started to do was take this really complicated legal theorycritical race theoryand declare that Muslims were a race, and you are being racist if you dare to criticize extremism within the faith.

This unholy alliance would grow and strengthen over the two terms of Obamas presidency to the point that President Donald Trumps 2016 election victory triggered what Nomani called a battle cry from Islamists.

I saw the battle cry go out from the Islamist organizations for literally an overthrow of the government, she recalled.

They were chanting the same chant that they had been chanting in Tahir Square in Egypt, to overthrow the [Hosni] Mubarak regime and bring in the Muslim Brotherhood.

Concurrently, of course, most people know that the Democratic groups and the far left in the United States were rallying against Donald Trump.

As an example, Nomani pointed to Linda Sarsour, a pro-Palestine, anti-Israel activist and former co-chair of the feminist movement Womens March. In 2019, Sarsour stepped down from the co-chair position, largely due to her unwillingness to disassociate with Louis Farrakhan, who leads the black supremacist group Nation of Islam.

Linda Sarsour speaks onstage during an event on May 11, 2017. (Monica Schipper/Getty Images for The New York Womens Foundation )

Linda Sarsour became a leader of this new movement called the Womens March. It wasnt just a march for women; it was a march for women opposed to Donald Trump, she told Jekielek.

And who were they starting to exclude? They wanted to also exclude Jewish feminist women from Israel because, in this woke armys new order, there was a hierarchy of human value.

In their universe of intersectionalitythe new term that they were introducing to the political landscape, Israeli feminists were at the bottom. Because for women like Linda Sarsour from the Muslim establishment, they were the colonizers, they were the white supremacists.

Be Unapologetic

It was just so obvious to me that this new network was going to not only undermine Donald Trump but the freedoms that we know in the United States, Nomani said, adding that the woke army is implementing a vision characterized by demoralization and dehumanization.

So many people feel helpless and hopeless against this woke army, she said. They work in jobs for which they have worked to accomplish and get their entire lifetimes, and now they live in almost intellectual prisons and spiritual prisons because theyre not self-expressed.

The most important strategy for conservatives and classical liberals to combat the woke army, according to Nomani, is to be unapologetic in the values they have.

We have to be unapologetic in our values. That, to me, became the most important strategy against those accusations and that character assassination, she said.

You have to lay your head to rest at night, every night on your bed, and live with yourself the values that you have and the values that you practice every day. If you know in your heart that you are motivated by a sense of these classic liberal values that align with conservative values of equality and justice and individual rights, then you can withstand all of those smears because theyre just used as weapons.
University of Hong Kong: 16.6% of Hong Kong Youth at Risk of Mental Illness in 2022

Research team at the University of Hong Kong found that the prevalence rate of possible mental illness among Hong Kong youth in 2022 is 16.6%. (Benson Lau/Epoch Times)

The Department of Psychiatry at the University of Hong Kong analyzed over 3,000 Hong Kong youth and found that the prevalence rate of possible mental illness among them in the past year (2022) is 16.6 percent, with depression being the most common. Shockingly, among those at risk of mental illness, a staggering 74.1 percent have not received any psychiatric or psychological services.

From 2019 to 2022, the University of Hong Kong conducted a community survey called the HK-YES Study, using epidemiological methods to understand the prevalence rate of mental illness, the rate of inadequate help-seeking, and risk factors for mental crisis among Hong Kong youth.

Advisory Committee Chairman on Mental Health and Senior Barrister Wong Yan-lung, Prof. Eric CHEN Yu Hai from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Hong Kong, and Dr. Stephanie Ming Yin Wong, a dedicated researcher at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Hong Kong, held a press conference to announce the research findings.

The study involved 3,340 young participants, and after analyzing the data, the team discovered that academic pressure was the primary source of stress (42.8 percent), followed by work or career (14.4 percent) and personal prospects (12.5 percent). In the past year, the prevalence rate of possible mental illness among Hong Kong youth was 16.6 percent, with depression being the most common (13.7 percent). However, among the youth at risk of mental illness, 74.1 percent are currently not receiving psychiatric or psychological services.

The research findings point out four major risk areas for mental crisis, including family space, personal mindset, digital life, and adversity transformation. Risk factors in the family space include a family history of mental illness, childhood adversity, poor family relationships, and a lack of personal space. Experts suggest strengthening the role of family involvement and providing mental health support for young people and offering a third space for them to relax.

Regarding the personal mindset, risk factors include neuroticism, low self-esteem and resilience, a tendency towards loneliness and hopelessness, and a negative outlook on the future. Experts recommend implementing positive psychology and personalized measures to address risk factors such as resilience, self-esteem, and loneliness among youth.

Encouraging Health-consciousness Through Healthy Phone Usage

In terms of digital life, risk factors include excessive use of smartphones and cyberbullying, while poor sleep quality and irregular breakfast habits are lifestyle-related risks. Experts advocate for healthy and conscious smartphone use among young people, and interventions based on sleep can also contribute to enhancing mental health.

Regarding adversity transformation, in addition to personal pressures like academic stress, it also includes stress brought about by events such as the pandemic. The research team suggests excessive rumination on depressive symptoms, and stressors can further deteriorate mental health. Experts promote supporting young people in managing stress with a healthy attitude, such as through exercise.
Vetting Backlog Could Increase National Security Risks, MPs Warn

Unacceptable delays in the security vetting of government staff may have resulted in an increase in national security risks, a select committee of MPs said.

The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) published a report on Friday, accusing the Cabinet Office of failing to get a grip on national security vetting since it took over United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) in April 2020.

Increased demand after the end of COVID-19 lockdowns and insufficient staffing levels mean the UKSV team was taking longer than expected to process many of the cases and had to put off the re-vetting of staff to manage the workload, the report said.

The PACs Labour chair, Dame Meg Hillier, accused the Cabinet Office of appearing deaf to concerns of risks and blocking UKDVs attempts at reform.

The Cabinet Office denied the accusation, saying it has worked closely with UKSV to reduce the backlog.

Security and counterterrorism expert David Lowe told The Epoch Times the vetting backlog is a big concern as it could lead to understaffing problems or changes in existing personnels circumstances being missed.

Missed Performance Targets

UKSV provides vetting services for all government departments, many public bodies, and some private sector industries including the aviation industry, whose staff require security clearance.

The most common clearance levels are Counter Terrorist Checks (CTC), Security Checks (SC), and Developed Vetting (DV), which is the highest clearance level bar a handful of posts that require Enhanced DV checks.

UKSV has received requests to process an average of 164,700 CTC and SC clearances and 17,900 DV clearances per year, but the team has failed to hit its performance targets since 2021, according to a report published in January by the National Audit Office, on which the PACs report was built.

According to the report, UKSV aims to complete 85 percent of routine CTC/SC clearances within 25 days, but had missed the target every month since August 2021. The worst performance was seen in September 2022, in which only 15 percent of the checks were completed within 25 days.

With regard to the more complicated DV clearances, the team is expected to complete 85 of the cases within 95 days, but the target had not been met since May 2021. In April 2022, only 7 percent of the checks were done within the target time frame.

In the year 20222023, almost a third (30 percent) of the DV clearances took more than six months, compared to 4 percent in the year 20192020.

The service has also been missing its targets to complete priority cases for 23 out of 60 months in the case of DV and 30 out of 60 months for CTC/SC clearances, the report said.

The delays were caused by increased demand owing to reasons including the end of the lockdowns, the war in Ukraine, the beginning of aviation worker accreditation service, and insufficient staffing levels owing to an underestimation of demand.

The PAC report said the Cabinet Office has failed to get a grip of the service and hasnt assessed the impact caused by government staff not having the appropriate level of security clearance.

It also said the department should have anticipated the increased demand, but was over-reliant on UKSV customers to forecast demand.

Re-Vetting Delay

The performance of UKSV has improved after the Cabinet Office introduced a delivery stabilisation plan in April 2022, with additional staff deployed. By November 2022, the average DV clearance processing time was 98 days, down from 177 days in April.

But part of the reduction in the backlog was achieved by delaying the re-vetting of staff who were meant to renew their DV clearances after seven years.

The Cabinet Office Government Security Board extended most DV renewal clearances in 2018, 2019, and 2020, with the renewal backlog contributing to the caseload in the year 202122. In the year 202223, the Government Security Steering Group again directed UKSV to extend all renewals by a year, apart from high-risk exceptions.

The performance target for renewal cases has also been extended to 200 days. By November 2022, the average DV renewal process took 255 days, up from 190 days in April.

UKSV claimed it had thoroughly reviewed renewals with known red flags and that prioritising new clearances was a sensible risk-based decision, according to the report, but the PAC said members are still concerned about the level of risk created by the repeated deferral of DV clearance renewals.

Lowe, senior research fellow at the Leeds Beckett University Law School, said the vetting backlog is a big concern.

These checks are about keeping us all safe, that we have people in place who have been vetted and are reliable security-wise, he said.

Referring to his own experience of renewing DV clearances as a police officer, Lowe said the police, the Home Office, the Ministry of Defence, the security services, and the military all have personnel who require the clearances and they have to be renewed because things can change in seven years.

He cited the example of a security guard at the British Embassy in Berlin who was jailed in February for spying for Russia, saying people can change their mind on their views politically and socially.

Also people get married. Whom theyre married to, what influence  and so you can see how wide it is. It really is looking into your background, what youre doing, and so on, he said.

Were looking at someone whos got a safe pair of hands, but can they keep the safe pair of hands while in that role.

A spokesperson for the Cabinet Office said: Security vetting is a key priority and we have worked closely with UKSV to ensure it has the resources needed to deal with the surge in demand in the last year. As a result, turnaround times for the highest level of clearance have more than halved from April 2022 to April 2023.

We are continuing to reform and improve vetting processes while maintaining the necessary protocols for national and personnel security. This has already resulted in over 200,000 security checks being successfully completed in the last year with the highest annual level of Developed Vetting clearances since UKSV was created in 2017.
Key Insights

Significantly high institutional ownership implies Bens Creek Group's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions

The top 2 shareholders own 59% of the company

Past performance of a company along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business

A look at the shareholders of Bens Creek Group Plc (LON:BEN) can tell us which group is most powerful. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 66% to be precise, is institutions. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Institutional investors would probably welcome last week's 18% increase in share prices after a year of 74% losses as a sign that returns are likely to begin trending higher.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Bens Creek Group.

See our latest analysis for Bens Creek Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Bens Creek Group?

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.

Bens Creek Group already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Bens Creek Group, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Bens Creek Group. Our data shows that MBU Capital Group Limited is the largest shareholder with 48% of shares outstanding. Jarvis Securities plc, Asset Management Arm is the second largest shareholder owning 11% of common stock, and Adam Wilson holds about 7.0% of the company stock. Adam Wilson, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Member of the Board of Directors.

Story continues

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 2 shareholders collectively control more than half of the company's shares, implying that they have considerable power to influence the company's decisions.

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 is a little analyst coverage of the stock, but not much. So there is room for it to gain more coverage.

Insider Ownership Of Bens Creek Group

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

We can see that insiders own shares in Bens Creek Group Plc. It has a market capitalization of just UK82m, and insiders have UK6.6m worth of shares, in their own names. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but we usually like to see higher insider holdings. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 22% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 3.8%, of the Bens Creek Group stock. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Bens Creek Group better, we need to consider many other factors. Like risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 4 warning signs for Bens Creek Group (of which 1 is a bit concerning!) you should know about.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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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Were Preparing to Restart Repayment: Education Secretary on Federal Student Loans

President Joe Biden (L), joined by Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, speaks on student loan debt in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Aug. 24, 2022. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona revealed during a recent hearing that the Biden administration is preparing to restart the payment of federal student loan debt that was paused amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

During a May 11 hearing of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) cited remarks by White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre who said, regarding the debt ceiling, that if you buy a car, you are expected to pay the monthly payments. If you buy a home, you are expected to pay the mortgage every month. That is the expectation.

Britt said she believes that same logic must apply to student loans, to which Cardona responded, We agree and were preparing to restart repayment because the emergency period is over, and were preparing our borrowers to restart.

At the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, student loan payments were suspended by the government. Since then, two presidential administrations have pushed back the end of the suspension period eight times.

In August after rolling out the debt forgiveness plan, the White House announced that repayments would begin Jan. 1, 2023. But this was pushed back after legal challenges to the forgiveness plan reached the Supreme Court.

At present, the Supreme Court is reviewing the orders of a lower court that blocked the Biden administrations student debt forgiveness plan. Payments are scheduled to resume either 60 days after June 30 or 60 days after the court ruling if the ruling comes before June 30. The court is expected to issue a ruling on the matter this summer.

Back in November, the Department of Education revealed that it had received applications from 26 million individuals for the loan forgiveness programout of which 16 million were approved. The lower court order prevented the department from considering more applicants as well as forgiving student debt.

Cardona added that the HEROES Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush in January 2002, allows him to create a waiver for those who are impacted significantly by the pandemic.

We recognize after three years of paused payments through two administrations, that the repayment restart is going to be a very important step, and we want to make sure its done right, Cardona said.

Were confident that the targeted debt relief will address some of the concerns of some of our borrowers who are struggling right now. But as they re-enter repayment, its really important that we provide support for them.

Issues With Student Loan Forgiveness Plan

According to Bidens forgiveness scheme, individuals with an annual income of less than $125,000 who have received a Pell Grant while studying could get up to $20,000 of their student loan debt canceled.

Speaking at a March 23 House Committee on Education & the Workforce hearing, Rep. Burgess Owens (R-Utah) warned that Bidens plan will mortgage our childrens future.

The Biden administrations proposal is a patchwork attempt that takes a structural problem that will only make worse issues of rising prices and low-quality education, he said. This has left millions of Americans with student debt that far exceeds the financial value of their degree.

In a March 6 commentary in The Epoch Times, Daniel Lacalle, chief economist at hedge fund Tressis, criticized the idea of student loan forgiveness, pointing out that it does nothing to solve the cost of tuition.

Instead, the program may even raise tuition as universities see that the government will subsidize those who take on difficult-to-pay loans, he warned.

Furthermore, by providing a subsidy to the already indebted, banks may have an incentive to give loans to students with less probability to repay them. Its likely to create a wave of nonperforming loans predicated on the view that this scheme will be prolonged and even increased, Lacalle said.

According to a budget model of the proposed student loan forgiveness plan made by the Penn Wharton University of Pennsylvania, the cost of the program could come to anywhere between $333 billion and $361 billion over a 10-year period.

On May 10, the Republican-controlled House Education and the Workforce Committee advanced a resolution aimed at invoking its authority under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to put an end to Bidens loan forgiveness program.
Consistency, hard work, brings scores





Staff Reporter

Abhinav Somani, who became the probable topper in Humanities stream of CBSE Class XII examination on Friday, believes that hard work and consistent study helped him to score good marks in the examination. Abhinav, who is a student of Centre Point School, Wardhaman Nagar, scored 97.4 per cent in the examination. He scored 97 marks in English, 96 in Political Science, 95 in History, 99 in Economics and 100 in Psychology.

I started preparation for Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) and Class 12 at the same time. I never expected to score this marks. My expectation was 91-92 per cent but now I am happy, said Abhinav. Abhinavs father Dr Abhishek Somani is a Psychiatrist and mother Dr Aditi Somani is a Gynaecologist. He has one younger brother Aditya who is now in Class 10. I have cleared the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) and got admission in National Law University in Bangalore. I am excited to join the college in July, said Abhinav. While talking about his preparation, Abhinav said, I disabled my social media accounts before 2-3 months of my examination. There was no particular time that I followed to do preparation but I do regularly and consistently which helped me to score better than my expectation, said the probable topper of Humanities.
UP Police-criminal nexus at local level helped many gangsters gain notoriety





LUCKNOW,

UTTAR Pradeshs acting police chief Rajkumar Vishwakarma on Friday claimed that nexus between criminals and police at the local level helped many gangsters gain notoriety. The acting Director General of Police, who is set to retire on May 31, also refuted the Opposition parties allegation that the police were working in a partisan manner and taking action with an eye on the caste and religion of the criminals. We do not work like that. We absolutely do not spare criminals violating the law and making the public unhappy, Vishwakarma told PTI.

The Samajwadi Party had recently come up with a list of alleged criminals and claimed that they were still alive, committing crime and running gangs as they all belong to the same caste as UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

All criminals who became gangsters gained strength due to their nexus with the local police. Without the cooperation of the police administration (at the local level), no criminal can make a mark in the initial stages, the acting police chief said.

He also said that cybercrime is the biggest challenges before force and security agencies could not move forward in

the matter as much as they should have. Cybercrime and traffic control are two such matters where the problem is ahead of the police. It is our effort that the police should be far ahead in eradicating both these problems effectively, DGP Vishwakarma said. Although cyber police stations are now being opened, police personnel do not have proper training, the DGP said, accepting the shortcoming. He claimed police are working to arrest Guddu Muslim, an accused in the Umesh Pal murder case, and will get success very soon. Different units of the police trying to arrest the gangster, the acting DGP said.

Vishwakarma, a 1988 batch IPS officer was made the acting Director General of Uttar Pradesh Police on March 31.

On April 13, Asad and his accomplice Ghulam, the two accused in the Umesh Pal murder case carrying a reward of five lakh each were killed in an encounter with the Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh Police in Jhansi.

A few days later, Atiq Ahmad (60) 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. Vishwakarma refused to comment on the matter, only saying that a commission headed by a retired High Court judge was probing the matter.
By Sunita Shukla

Despite all odds, Arnab Chatterjee, of Bhavans Bhagwandas Purohit Vidya Mandir, Ashti, has secured 89 per cent in the CBSE Class X examination. His father Pallab Chatterjees satisfaction and joy knew no bounds after the result was declared. After all the effort and care put in from age five onwards, when 16-year-old Arnab was detected with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) that rendered him physically-disabled to a great extent, this result is nothing short of a miracle. Arnab has been a student of the Bhavans school since primary class and all who know him are very happy for him. It was a formidable task for Arnab to undertake the Class X board exam. Pallab Chatterjee is all praise for the school that reached out and cooperated with him. Arnab used to be taken in an ambulance to the examination centre, along with Dr Rajesh Kale and a medical attendant in tow, with all medical equipment in place.

Since he is bed ridden, he was carried on a stretcher to the special room where the school had made all arangements, along with a bed in place for him to give his exam. Anushka Bhagat, certified by Government Medical College, Nagpur, was assigned by the school for Arnab to write his exams. The school all along took special care of Arnab in his studies, said Pallab, but for the Board exams it went out of the way to provide every possible assistance. Arnab, a slim frail child, with no siblings, lost his mother to COVID two years back during the delta phase. Bereft of close relatives, including his maternal grandparents, Aaji and Mausi and Mausa who also passed away few years back, his father and octogenarian paternal grandfather are his companions at home. He finds solace in books and his favourite subjects are space, astrophysics, stars, planets and NASA. He can speak English and Hindi fluently and enjoys using his mobile phone.

Arnab would spend scheduled hours to study for the exam. Actually several hours were needed for him to be put on the BiPap machine to help him breathe easy. Every afternoon from 1 to 4, and later at night from 9:30 to 6:00 in the morning he was on the BiPap machine to relieve him of the pressure on his lungs, and clear them. Study hours were ususally in school and evening at home from 5:30 to 9:30 until it was time for bed. For Arnabs father it is a very proud moment indeed, and he feels it is God, his wife and the schools blessings that have helped Arnab attain the splendid result. Chatterjee, a chemical engineer academically, but now into medical sales as a field representative, has been playing the role of mother and father.

He recalls how Arnab had to be admitted to the ICU twice in June and December last year. But despite such tremendous odds he continued encouraging him with his school studies. The Board result has been a perfect outcome and they are both rapturous in this moment. Arnab received constant support from his teachers and school Principal Vandana Bisen. Arnab celebrated his 16th birthday with the Principal, class teacher Suchi Ralhan, and his classmates of Standard X-A who reached his home with a birthday cake and candles that lit up his day with hope and happiness. Arnab said he would always cherish the fact that he was a student of Bhavans Bhagwandas Purohit Vidya Mandir, Ashti, where students imbibe the philosophy: All good things do not come to an end. They stay alive in the form of Good Human Beings.
CM terms Enforcement Directorate as Bhasmasur







Staff Reporter

RAIPUR,

Making a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has termed Enforcement Directorate (ED) as Bhasmasur. Talking to media persons in the state capital before leaving for Beltara legislative assembly on Friday, Baghel said that there is a nexus between the BJP and the ED. Former Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh issued his press release regarding the EDs raids first and the ED issued its press release later.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has accused the Enforcement Directorate of being biased towards the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and functioning as their agent. Baghel alleged that the ED conducts raids wherever the BJP points and has not targeted a single BJP leader so far. He further questioned how the ED determines who belongs to the BJP or Congress party. Baghel criticized the BJP for giving the ED immunity, making it a Bhasmasur and expressed concern that there is no mechanism to hold the ED accountable if it acts unjustly. He claimed that the EDs actions are politically motivated and aimed at tarnishing the image of Opposition parties.

According to Baghel, despite some people approaching the Supreme Court, the ED has become even more powerful. During interrogations, the officials are depriving individuals of water, despite providing them with food, and human rights activists are unable to intervene due to the risk of the ED making a case against them. Baghel likened the ED to a boon given to Bhasmasur by Lord Shiva, which may ultimately lead to their downfall. Baghel criticized the continuous raids conducted by the ED and CBI in Chhattisgarh, stating that they are roaming the streets like ordinary people.

He also expressed concern that after the Karnataka elections, the entire focus will shift to Chhattisgarh. Baghel responded to a question about a possible dialogue between the State government and the Naxalites by stating that he intends to consult with various groups, including Bastar residents, tribals, youth, farmers, and journalists. He emphasized that the Naxalites must demonstrate their trust in the Constitution of India before any discussion can take place. Regarding a question about the BJPs claims to form a government in Karnataka through operation lotus, Baghel suggested that such a move signifies the BJPs acceptance of their defeat. If there is a result like Chhattisgarh, then how can Operation lotus be possible? They are 14 and Congress is 71 here, then what operation will they do? At this time, the people of Karnataka have made up their mind. The Congress will win over 150 seats in Karnataka. After this result, no operation will be possible. The public will do the operation, Baghel pointed.
ED arrests Spl Secy of Cgarh Excise Deptt in liquor scam





RAIPUR,

THE Enforcement Directorate on Friday arrested the Special Secretary of the Chhattisgarh Excise Department in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Rs 2,000 crore liquor syndicate scam in the State. Arunpati Tripathi was arrested around 4:10 pm in Raipur, said the EDs lawyer Saurabh Pandey. Tripathi is the first Government official to be arrested in the case. He was produced before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court which remanded him in the agencys custody for three days, the lawyer said.

Tripathi, an Indian Telecom Service officer, is posted in the Excise Department on deputation. He is also the Managing Director of the Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited (which controls retail sale of all kinds of alcoholic beverages in the State), he said. The scam involved selective grant of licenses to liquor manufacturers for commission, distribution of the collected money and collection of commission from liquor shops, he said.

He told the court that enough evidence was available against Tripathi regarding all three aspects, Pandey said.

The official will be again produced in the court along with co-accused Anwar Dhebar, Nitesh Purohit and Trilok Singh Dhillon alias Pappu (who were arrested earlier) on May 15, he added. Anwar Dhebar, elder brother of Raipur Mayor and Congress leader Aijaz Dhebar, was the first person to be arrested by the agency in the case last week. The ED had earlier told the court that in May 2019, Tripathi was made MD of the CSMCL at Anwars behest. He was then assigned the task of maximizing the collection of commission on liquor procured by CSMCL and making arrangements for the sale of non-duty paid liquor.
G7: Empower people by improving digital access: Nirmala





NEW DELHI,

FINANCE Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday underlined the need for going beyond GDP numbers and empowering people by improving digital connectivity in developing nations. Addressing G7 seminar on economic policies for welfare, in Niigata, Japan, she stressed that technology improves access for the poor to markets and basic services and highlighted that access to digital connectivity has empowered people and there is a need to discuss ways to measure empowerment going beyond GDP indicators.

She underlined the dilemmas faced by Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDEs) between climate security and growth as they manage overlapping crises and socio-economic transformation. Finance Minister Smt. @nsitharaman emphasised on the importance of #SustainableGrowth and environment and the need for balancing the two in the short and long run, a Finance Ministry tweet said. The Union Finance Minister shared Indias focus on

#technology #DigitalPublicInfrastructure #DPI #GreenHydrogen as a foundation for #sustainable and #InclusiveGrowth and as an example of innovative #PolicyToolkits by #EMDEs, another tweet said. Sitharaman is on a two-day visit (May 11-12) to Japan to attend G7 meeting of the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors.
By Sajjad Hussain

ISLAMABAD,

IN A major relief to embattled Imran Khan, the Islamabad High Court on Friday granted him protective bail for two weeks in a corruption case and barred the authorities from arresting the former Pakistan premier in any case registered anywhere in the country until Monday. Three different benches of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted relief to the 70-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief who was escorted to the court amid tight security. In the first case, a special bench comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz granted Khan protective bail in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case for two weeks.

Hearing another petition, the IHC granted bail to former premier Khan in all cases filed against him from May 9, the day he was arrested. Khan had filed a petition seeking details of all cases filed against him with the request for bail.

A division bench presided over the hearing held in courtroom No.2 of the IHC. After hearing the arguments from the lawyers, the court gave Khan protective bail until May 17 in all cases filed after his arrest on Tuesday when he was present in the court. Khan, in his petition, had asked the court that he was not aware of the violence but cases had been registered. While granting bail, the judge remarked that he should condemn all the incidents of violence in the wake of his arrest. The bench also ordered the authorities to provide foolproof security to Khan. In another case, IHC judge Justice Tariq Mehmood Jehangiri conducted the hearing in the Zile Shah murder case and after arguments, the court accepted Khans protective bail in the case till May 22. Shah was a PTI supporter and was killed in violence in March when police raided Khans Lahore residence to arrest him.

The bench also ruled that Khan should not be arrested in any case until Monday, a kind of blanket protection in all cases. He was asked to appear before the Lahore High Court on Monday. Khans lawyer Shoaib Shaheen told the media that the former premier had been given blanket bail in all cases and he cannot be arrested until Monday.

Responding to the court verdict, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that the Government would honour the court orders and not arrest Khan in the cases he had secured bail from the court. The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Friday announced that it will hold countrywide rallies in major cities across Pakistan to protest Khans release.

It has been directed by the partys London-based supremo Nawaz Sharif, who has called on the PML-N leadership to mobilise its supporters for the protests, Samaa TV reported. The IHCs decision to grant Khan a two-week reprieve from arrest came hours after he warned of countrywide unrest if he was arrested again. Khan arrived at the court amid tight security and underwent the biometric identification process and other formalities. The hearing was delayed for nearly two hours due to security reasons. Earlier, the two judges left the courtroom amid pro-Khan slogan-shouting by a lawyer. The upset judges later announced that the hearing will resume after Friday prayers. Khan was arrested after National Accountability Bureau (NAB) issued an arrest warrant against him. The Al-Qadir Trust corruption case is about the setting up of Al-Qadir University for Sufism in the 2019 Sohawa area of Jhelum district of Punjab. Khan is accused of looting Rs 50 billion from the national treasury in the case.
Sue Blaney, 69, was wondering what might bring meaning and purpose to her life after retirement when she enrolled last year in a week-long workshop at the Modern Elder Academy (MEA) in Baja, Mexico.

I didn't come home having solved all my personal questions, but I did come home inspired, Blaney, who lives in Hudson, Mass., told Yahoo Finance.

The academy is one of a growing number of educational programs that have sprung up in the past few years from Notre Dame to the Modern Elder Academy to the University of Colorado designed to attract adult learners like Blaney seeking new chapters and personal growth.

Driving the trend: baby boomers retiring and looking for purposeful pivots. Some 10,000 Americans are turning 65 every day; the youngest boomers will turn 65 in 2029. Thats a lot of potential customers for such programs.

The beauty of it is that new research shows taking adult education courses and finding purpose are key ingredients for maintaining and even increasing mental acuity as we age.

Say no to brain drain: a class at Modern Elder Academy, Baja, Mexico (Photo Credit: Cliff Hackel)

Backpacks and books

Were not talking about masters or degree programs, but rather classes and fellowships for students  those ranging in age from 50 to 75  many of which have been launched at top universities through academic or year-long programs in recent years.

Campus-oriented fellowships, where students audit classes, attend lectures, and work on projects with graduate and undergraduate students, include the Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute, Harvards Advanced Leadership Initiative, the University of Notre Dames Inspired Leadership Initiative, and the University of Texas at Austin, which offers the Tower Fellows Program.

This fall, the Leadership and Society Initiative (LSI) will launch at the University of Chicago. The University of St Gallen in Switzerland will open its NEXT program in June. And the University of Oxfords six-month Next Horizons program will open its classrooms next year.

Meanwhile, the University of Colorado-Denver launched its Change Makers program, a semester-long course, earlier this year.

Story continues

The idea is to have a framework for really valuing what youve done, the wisdom of your experience, and using that to discern what you want to do, said Anne Button, the founding director. Most of our fellows are retired or on the cusp and are looking to make a social impact.

That's the case for Ellen Dumm, 68, who enrolled after a career in Colorado politics and public relations.

I was looking at what's next, but I couldn't find anything substantial and meaningful that I thought fit me, she told Yahoo Finance. I've seen so many people just retire and not really have a plan other than the financial plan.

Class action: Thomas Schreier Jr., director of the Inspired Leadership Initiative at the University of Notre Dame speaking to students. (Photo Credit: Inspired Leadership Initiative)

Long-term improvements in cognitive functions

The uptick in learning opportunities coincides with a core aging issue. A recent study published in the journal Aging and Mental Health shows that classroom learning for older adults makes brains sharper.

Learning real-world skills can lead to long-term improvements in cognition during older adulthood, said Rachel Wu, the lead researcher and an associate professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside.

One year after they learned new skills at the Riverside campus, the students who participated in the research  all over age 60  tested higher for certain cognitive tasks than prior to the learning regimen, Wu said.

She added: Whats equally important is that when youre learning new skills, it makes you more resilient in a changing world.

And its not just learning per se  but that the process itself provides a reason to get up in the morning that can potentially stave off a decline in cognition.

There's evidence that purpose in life provides a sort of buffer against Alzheimer's disease pathology in the brain, Christopher Stewart, director of adult clinical neuropsychology services at Indiana University School of Medicine, told Yahoo Finance. By continuing to challenge yourself to personal growth and seeking purpose, you're improving mental wellness.

That sentiment is backed up by a new study from the Yale School of Public Health of 1,716 participants aged 65 and above with mild cognitive impairment. It found folks who have positive beliefs about aging are 30% more likely to regain normal cognitive function than those who are more pessimistic.

Change agents? At Modern Elder Academy, students take walks on the beach, whale watchand along the way the faculty presses them articulate goals and commitments to adjustments they will take on to make changes in their life. (Photo credit: Cliff Hackel)

At the Modern Elder Academy, in fact, purpose is the spine of the classroom discussions, which can segue from how to shed an identity that no longer works for you to crafting an encore career or launching a business.

Since the school launched in 2019, more than 3,500 people from 40 countries and 26 regional chapters around the world have attended the workshops. In fact, the demand has been so strong that another campus will open in Santa Fe, New Mexico, next year.

We call ourselves a midlife wisdom school because we help mid-lifers cultivate, harvest, and repurpose their wisdom, said Chip Conley, the founder of Modern Elder Academy.

The catalyst of intergenerational classrooms

The notion of a second verse is one boomers have embraced.

Not much more than a generation ago when people reached traditional retirement sometime in their late 50s or early 60s, they didn't have a reasonable expectation of a long period of time where they would mentally and physically be able to have a next act, Thomas Schreier Jr., the founding director of the Inspired Leadership Initiative at the University of Notre Dame, told Yahoo Finance.

And that's changed dramatically, he added. The intergenerational aspect of many of the on-campus fellow programs is often the special sauce. The fellows in our program generally range from their 40s to early 80s and to interact in a classroom setting, as well as just in general campus settings, with the undergraduate population, is super powerful."

They both learn from each other in remarkable ways and it creates energy," Schreier added.

After Phil White, 62, retired from his three-decade career in law, he applied to Notre Dames Inspired Leadership program. Part of the excitement was simply that he had never had a campus experience. He worked his way through undergraduate and law schools taking classes in between jobs.

This was finally my time to focus on things that felt meaningful to me and design a life that was going to be more fulfilling, he said. The program helped me realize that where I am is on a journey, and it'll keep evolving.

The cost?

The price of purpose is not cheap, though financial aid or stipends are available.

The programs at Stanford and Harvard can run over $70,000 for an academic year. The annual fee for the fifth cohort at Notre Dames Advanced Leadership Initiative that kicks off in August will be $58,000. The LSI Fellowship has an annual fee that is consistent with the cost of a year of study at the University of Chicago  $75,000.

Shorter, less academic programs are more affordable.

MEA tuition, for example, ranges from $4,000 to $5,500, all inclusive for a week. Its online programs are priced at anywhere from $750 to $1,250. Change Makers has a tuition of $3,200 for the semester. Tuition at the University of Connecticuts Encore!Connecticut  geared to helping corporate and public sector professionals, mostly 50 and older, transition to management opportunities in the nonprofit sector  clocks in at $2,950.

Life adjuster: Modern Elder Academy founder Chip Conley (r) in action (Photo courtesy of MEA)

But before you get too blue about the price tags, there are a number of public colleges offering free or reduced tuition for both audited and credit courses for older students.

The University of Virginia, for instance, offers classes with tuition and certain fees waived for persons 60 and older who have lived in Virginia for at least one year. Other options to find classes include adult education centers, local libraries, and community colleges.

You can check out Osher Lifelong Learning Institute programs. At American University in Washington, D.C., for instance, the tuition for the Institute is $300 for the fall semester, or $550 for fall and spring semesters combined.

Virtual learning platforms are also popping up.

Since it launched a little over three years ago, GetSetUp, a virtual interactive education platform aimed at those over 50, has grown to more than 4.6 million users around the world. The monthly subscription is roughly $20 a month, but there are partnerships with state and local governments around the country that sponsor the classes for free to residents as well as through health plans that offer classes at no additional charge to members. Classes span the gamut from writing a simple business plan to how to set up your profile on LinkedIn to understanding Medicare.

Until now, higher education hasnt rolled out the welcome mat to older adults and especially older workers who want to extend their careers with additional schooling, Chris Farrell, author of Unretirement and Purpose and a Paycheck, told Yahoo Finance.

But, he added, change is coming

Kerry is a Senior Reporter and Columnist at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @kerryhannon.

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Inauguration of office building of Dharampeth Mahila Society on 21st





Business Bureau

The Dharampeth Mahila Multi-State Co-operative Society Limited, Nagpur is all set to open its newly constructed main office building Sitaram Bhawan on May 21. The inaugural ceremony will be held at plot no. 42-A, Shivaji Nagar, Ram Nagar Chowk, Nagpur at 6.45 pm.

Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, will preside over the inaugural function while Chandrashekhar Bawankule, President of Bharatiya Janata Party, Maharashtra, will be the chief guest of the ceremony. Justice Vasanti Naik, Former Judge, Bombay High Court, will also attend the function. In addition to this, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and former Member of Rajya Sabha Ajay Sancheti are also expected to attend the mega event. Dharampeth Mahila Multi-State Co-operative Society Limited is one of the leading co-operative societies of the State and has completed 28 years of its existence. It branches are spread over Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Dharampeth Mahila Multi-State Co-operative Society is catering to the financial needs of its customers through its 29 branches.

Addressing a press conference recently, Nilima Kishore Bawne, Chairperson of the co-op society, said that the society has earn a profit of Rs 6.65 crore in the current year. All its branches offer facility of lockers. Vice Chairperson of the society Sarika Pendse, and directors of the society were also present in the press conference.
Indias H1 vegetable oil imports up 21%: SEA





Business Bureau

Indias vegetable oil imports rose by 21 per cent to 81.10 lakh tonnes in the first six months of the current oil year, driven by increased shipments of refined palm oil which is a cause of concern, industry body SEA said on Friday. Vegetable oil imports stood at 67.07 lakh tonne in the same period of the 2021-22 oil year. India is the worlds leading vegetable oil buyer. Oil year runs from November to October. In fact, in April vegetable oil imports remained lower by 10 per cent at 10.50 lakh tonne when compared to the previous months 11.72 lakh tonne.

According to the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA), Increase in import of RBD palmolein in the first six months of the current oil year reported at 11.01 lakh tonne is nearly 22 per cent of the total palm oil import, depriving domestic industry for capacity utilization. The palm oil refining industry in the country is heavily suffering from very low capacity utilization due to excessive import of RBD palmolein, thus getting transformed into mere packers, it said in a statement. To address this problem, SEA said the duty difference between crude palm oil (CPO) and refined palm oil needs to be increased from the current 7.5 per cent to at least 15 per cent, by imposing an additional 7.5 per cent agriculture cess on RBD Palmolein.

Due to an increase in the shipment of RBD palmolein, the share of palm oil has risen to 61 per cent in the total vegetable oil imports from 49 per cent, while soft oils imports reduced in the first six months of the current year.

Palm oil imports, both crude and refined ones, rose to 49.09 lakh tonne during the November-April period of the 2022-23 oil year from 32.25 lakh tonne in the year-ago period because of the price parity.

Although total import of soft oils -- sunflower and soybean oils -- remained lower at 30.92 lakh tonne in the first half of the current oil year, but shipments of these two vegetable oils have seen a sharp jump, the SEA said. As of May 1, edible oil stocks were estimated to be 33.74 lakh tonne at various ports, slightly lower than 34.47 lakh tonne in the previous month.
Mayor mulls over proposals with MiC members





Staff Reporter

An important meeting of Mayor-in-Council was held at Jabalpur Municipal Corporation headquarters, on Friday. Mayor Jagat Bahadur Singh chaired the meeting. He emphasised that the city is rapidly transforming into a metropolis and highlighted various development and infrastructure works that have been undertaken for overall growth of the city.

The Mayor mentioned that M-i-C made several important decisions in the public interest, including approval of various development projects.

Among these projects, a two-storey grand new House building and meeting hall will be constructed soon. Likewise, a number of works will be carried out to ease citizens concerns regarding lease, free hold, road construction, water crisis and waterlogging. The proposal for issuing a new tender of Rs 45 crore for sanitation workers was also approved during the meeting. The Mayor-in-Council meeting also approved the recruitment process of guest teachers in 5 Higher Secondary schools run by the Jabalpur Municipal Corporation. In addition, the meeting also gave nod to proposal for improving cleanliness, sanitation and solid waste management. In preparation for Swachh Survekshan 2023, the meeting also approved the innovative use of old unusable buses for public welfare, such as utensil banks, bag banks, libraries, museums and toilets.

The M-i-C also directed to conduct physical verification of allotment of land in village Kathonda for firecracker traders. After verification of the land, approval will be granted to allotment case. The Mayor also submitted the DPR for the construction of stadium and instructed the officers to decide on the agency for preparation, installation of solar plants, tender for electricity bill agency and provide relief to the citizens from waterlogging and drainage of rainwater by placing hume pipes on both sides of the drains. He also directed to issue a new tender for the work of tarring and administrative approval was granted for issuing a new tender worth Rs 45 crore for sanitation workers.
OBC reservation cases to be heard on July 4





Legal Correspondent

In the matter related to OBC reservation, a bench of the Supreme Court of India presided by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul ordered that hearing of all the above cases be fixed for hearing on July 4, 2023 after summer vacation. The hearing of four transfer petitions filed for transfer from Jabalpur High Court to the Supreme Court for hearing in the Supreme Court was postponed till July 4, 2023. Final hearing could not be held due to non-service of notice to all the parties. There are 67 petitions related to OBC reservation pending in High Court Jabalpur, hearing of these petitions has not been stopped.

The government has sent a letter to the Advocate Generals Office to get a list of all pending petitions related to OBC reservation in Indore, Gwalior and Jabalpur High Courts. There are more than one hundred petitions pending in all the three benches of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. Special advocates Rameshwar Singh Thakur and Vinayak Shah, appointed by the Madhya Pradesh Government to represent the OBCs, said that four transfer petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court, which were scheduled for second hearing on May 12, 2023. In the said petitions, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta said that notices have not been served to all the non-applicants in the said cases, therefore hearing of the said cases is not possible.

Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul ordered that the hearing of all the above cases be fixed for hearing on July 4, 2023 after summer vacation. It may be noted that according to the decision of the batch of 9 judges of the Supreme Court in Indra Shahani vs. Union of India, several petitions including the OBC Advocates Welfare Association are pending in the Supreme Court for the demand of 27 per cent reservation in Madhya Pradesh. Thats why the High Court was informed about this fact in the previous hearing. Then the High Court had found that there is a lot of similarity between the pending petitions in the Supreme Court and the High Court. Because of this, the High Court had stopped the regular hearing midway and directed the government to take necessary action in this regard. Hearing of cases of OBC reservation in Jabalpur High Court is fixed on June 27, 2023, hearing of which is still not barred by the Supreme Court.
TRAI gives 30 days to telcos to check misuse of telemarketing message templates





Business Bureau

Regulator Trai on Friday directed telecom operators to take action against misuse of telemarketing messages templates within 30 days to curb pesky messages. The regulator in the direction said that it has noticed some telemarketers are misusing headers and content templates of enterprises. Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC) is a major source of inconvenience to the public and impinges on the privacy of individuals and Trai has been taking various steps to curb it. Today, Trai has issued a direction to stop misuse of message templates under Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (TCCCPR-2018), the regulator said.

Instead of mobile numbers, the authorised telemarketing messages display headers which is indicative of the company from which it has come. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has directed telecom operators to make changes in the code of practices (CoPs) around headers and content templates of telemarketing messages under the TCCCPR 2018 rules and comply with the direction within 30 days. The regulator said that look-alike message titles or headers are creating confusion among recipients of messages and are being misused by some of the entities for their gains. Trai said that the number of variables in a template is not defined in CoPs, which leads to misuse of the same, and moreover, the promotional content is being passed in the variable portions of content templates.

In order to minimize the said misuse, the number of variables allowed in content template needs to be limited in a way that not only gives PEs (Principal Entities) enough flexibility to phrase their content but at the same time, there are reasonable restrictions on number and placement of variables, the regulator said. Trai has directed telecom operators to re-verify all headers registered on blockchain based messaging platforms within 30 days and block unverified headers. It has asked telecom operators to develop a system within 60 days to temporarily deactivate all headers which remain unused for 30 days.
NORWICH  The body found partially buried in Mohegan Park last weekend was identified as a New York boxer who police say was killed by his brother in January.

Norwich police said the remains of 44-year-old Martin Wright were found Sunday by a person who was walking in the park.

Norwich police have been working with New York Police Department detectives this week to identify the remains.

New York City police have been searching for Wright since Feb. 7 when a family member went to the 81st Precinct with information about him possibly being killed, according to an email sent by public information office for the NYPD.

Detectives believe Wright was killed by his 45-year-old brother, McMillian Wright, on Jan. 28 at a residence at 773A Monroe St. in New York City, officials said. Further information revealed that Wright had suffered trauma to the head and his body was then removed from the Monroe Street residence, officials said.

New York detectives charged McMillian Wright on April 20 with murder, criminal possession of a loaded firearm, falsifying business records, concealment of a human corpse, tampering with evidence and possessing a forged instrument even though his brother's body had not been found.

A second man, Craig Smith, 48, of Brooklyn, was charged with concealment of human corpse and tampering with evidence one week earlier.

In mid-February, Martin Wright's profile was placed on the national missing persons database Namus, which said he was last seen in January and remained missing.

He had been a welterweight boxer with 15 professional fights, records show.

His body was discovered partially buried in a shallow grave that was found by someone walking in the park, Norwich Police Lt. Anthony Gomes said.

He had been fatally shot, Gomes said. Evidence located at the scene indicated the killing did not occur inside the park and represented a targeted attack on the victim, Gomes said.

Norwich police have turned over the investigation to NYPD detectives.
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STOCKHOLM (AP)  Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi expressed concern Saturday about Russian and Chinese military cooperation in Asia and said the security situation in Europe could not be separated from that in the Indo-Pacific region since Moscows full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking at a meeting of European and Indo-Pacific foreign ministers in Sweden, Hayashi said Russias war in Ukraine had shaken the very foundation of the international order and must face a united response by the international community.

Otherwise, similar challenges will arise in other regions and the existing order which has underpinned our peace and prosperity could be fundamentally overturned, Hayashi said.

Japan firmly backs Ukraine in the war but China says it remains neutral while declaring a no limits relationship with Moscow and blaming the U.S. and NATO for provoking the conflict. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, in March at the same time as Chinese President Xi Jinping met Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Hayashi accused Beijing of continuing and intensifying its unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East and South China seas by force and increasing its military activities around Taiwan.

In addition, China and Russia are strengthening their military collaboration, including joint flights of their bombers and joint naval exercises in the vicinity of Japan, Hayahshi said.

China, which claims most of the South China Sea as well as Japanese-held islands in the East China Sea, says it has the right to defend its sovereignty and development interests.

Hayashi also warned that North Korea was escalating provocations in the region by conducting ballistic missile launches with a frequency and in a manner that are unprecedented.

He joined dozens of ministers from the European Union and the Indo-Pacific region for the meeting just north of the Swedish capital. China was not invited to the talks.

Since the aggression of Russia to Ukraine, the security situation here in Europe and the security situation in the Pacific are not separable," Hayashi said as he arrived.

Some of the Indo-Pacific countries, including India and Pakistan, have called for an end to the Ukraine war but stopped short of condemning Russia for it.

We all try and address it in our own different ways, Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said. I think a lesson a country like Pakistan has learned is that percolation of conflict is never the answer; that we want an end to hostilities, an end to conflict, so people can go back to building lives rather than destroying more lives.

Most EU countries have provided military support to Ukraine and the bloc has imposed sanctions on Russia. Asked whether the EU was hoping to convince Indo-Pacific countries to align with the bloc's stance on the conflict, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said, We don't want to convince anyone. We just want to share our analysis of the causes and consequences of the war.

He dismissed a question about whether it was possible to have a meaningful dialogue with the Indo-Pacific countries without China, saying the EU had plenty of other opportunities to talk to Beijing.

We can perfectly discuss the Indo-Pacific without China," Borrell said. It doesnt mean we neglect China. It doesnt mean we want to substitute China. I dont see where the problem is.
AP

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP)  A raid on militants in Pakistan's southwest in response to an earlier attack on soldiers left seven troops, six militants and a civilian dead, the army said Saturday.

The operation continued for two days after a group of militants attacked a camp of soldiers in the Qila Saifullah district of northern Balochistan province early Friday. The militants also held hostage three families, including women and children, at the residential area of the army camp, the army said.
SIUE photo

In this weeks episode of Segue, Southern Illinois University Edwardsvilles weekly radio program exploring the lives and work of the people on campus and beyond, College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) Dean Kevin Leonard, PhD, interviews Gary Hicks, PhD, professor in the Department of Mass Communications for a rebroadcast of the interview.

Hicks earned his bachelors degree in broadcast journalism and political science from Texas Christian University, a masters degree in longform journalism from University of Missouri-Columbia and a PhD in journalism studies from the University of Texas at Austin.
To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? In a perfect world, we'd like to see a company investing more capital into its business and ideally the returns earned from that capital are also increasing. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. Having said that, from a first glance at adidas (ETR:ADS) we aren't jumping out of our chairs at how returns are trending, but let's have a deeper look.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What Is It?

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. The formula for this calculation on adidas is:

Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT)  (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)

0.033 = 356m  (20b - 9.0b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to March 2023).

So, adidas has an ROCE of 3.3%. In absolute terms, that's a low return and it also under-performs the Luxury industry average of 11%.

View our latest analysis for adidas

roce

Above you can see how the current ROCE for adidas compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you're interested, you can view the analysts predictions in our free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

How Are Returns Trending?

On the surface, the trend of ROCE at adidas doesn't inspire confidence. Over the last five years, returns on capital have decreased to 3.3% from 25% five years ago. On the other hand, the company has been employing more capital without a corresponding improvement in sales in the last year, which could suggest these investments are longer term plays. It may take some time before the company starts to see any change in earnings from these investments.

Another thing to note, adidas has a high ratio of current liabilities to total assets of 46%. This can bring about some risks because the company is basically operating with a rather large reliance on its suppliers or other sorts of short-term creditors. While it's not necessarily a bad thing, it can be beneficial if this ratio is lower.

Story continues

The Bottom Line

To conclude, we've found that adidas is reinvesting in the business, but returns have been falling. Since the stock has declined 11% over the last five years, investors may not be too optimistic on this trend improving either. In any case, the stock doesn't have these traits of a multi-bagger discussed above, so if that's what you're looking for, we think you'd have more luck elsewhere.

adidas does have some risks though, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for adidas that you might be interested in.

If you want to search for solid companies with great earnings, check out this free list of companies with good balance sheets and impressive returns on equity.

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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Linkedin Front Row (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, May 13, 2023 19:24 1 5fceed71997e5776a1634d25dc68c7c6 4 Front Row PNM Free

Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Erick Thohir encouraged the micro-small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to go global by taking advantage of the ASEAN Summit 2023s momentum through Rumah SMEs HUB at Marina Waterfront Labuan Bajo.

Products by PNM Mekaars customer became one of local 50 MSMEs, which had passed the tight curation process and stole the show in the international event.

According to Erick, the MSMEs is the tip of the spear of Indonesias economic fundamental, driving synergy of multi stakeholders to become the governments primary focus. On top of that, the MSMEs also collaborate with PNM as a company that provides financing and empowerment to ultra micro business players. The SOEs ministry and other institutions synergize to develop the MSMEs by focusing on helping them how to reach the target market and have access to financing. The SOEs and state-owned banks association (HIMBARA) focus on the financing. Additionally, PNM Mekaar with 149,000 customers being developed under the PNMs assisted partnership program in Flores are also involved, said Erick in his statement on May 11, 2023.

Merry Harleni is PNM Mekaars participating customer at the ASEAN Summit 2023s side event. The processed foods that she made were showcased before more than 800 ASEAN delegates and successfully drew their attention. Within a very short time, the products were sold out, purchased by the delegates, allowing her to earn up to Rp 2 million in one day.

In a normal condition, it takes days to earn Rp 2 million. I am very pleased to be able to participate in the event, Merry said.

She sold home cooked cuisines such as ikan asam manis (sweet and sour fish), sop iga (rib soup), rendang (beef simmered in thick coconut milk and rich spices), sayur (vegetables) and etc. Cooking is her hobby, which continually fuel her passion when preparing her cuisines to sell.

For her, seeing others eating her cuisines heartily and enjoyed her foods was her great delight. Furthermore, this time her buyers were delegates from various countries. Until the third day, when the dining time comes, my cuisines that I served were sold out within two hours, she said happily.

PNMs president director Arief Mulyadi asserted that PNM Mekaar customers participation in big events like the ASEAN Summit was a concrete form of PNMs care for helping household economy. Steps to encourage ultra micro businesses must continue so that they will have macro business mindset and open market access opportunity beyond the usual customers.

The ASEAN Summit serves as a momentum for the MSMEs, especially ultra micro businesses, to pave the way for global recognition. We hope that moms, assisted customers continue to develop their potential and PNM is committed to serving as a bridge for the ultra-micro business players to exist in international events, explained Arief in his official statement on May 12.

For further informztion

L. Dodot Patria Ary

Corporate Secretary

PT Permodalan Nasional Madani dodot@pnm.co.id

www.pnm.co.id

Topics : PNM
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Linkedin Matt Spetalnick, David Brunnstrom and Michael Martina (Reuters) Washington  Sat, May 13, 2023 14:46 2 5fceed71997e5776a1634d25dc68c337 2 Asia and Pacific Government-Politics,Society-Social-Issues,Human-Rights-Civil-Rights,Conflicts-War-Peace,infectious-diseases,coronavirus,Diplomacy-Foreign-Policy,international-trade Free

China is facing a growing backlash from the United States and other Western governments over its controversial efforts to pressure dissidents and their advocates abroad, but Beijing has appeared undeterred.

Authorities in the US, Canada, Britain and elsewhere recently have taken a hard line, including with expulsions, indictments, arrests and probes, against Chinese operations they say are aimed at intimidating critics and pursuing officials accused of corruption living abroad.

Among Beijing's alleged tactics are threats of harm, online harassment and clandestine operations on foreign soil to hunt pro-democracy activists.

China has pushed back with staunch denials and retaliatory moves while apparently shrugging off any damage to diplomatic relations and betting that trade ties can weather the storm - a signal, experts said, it has no intention of backing off.

An increasingly assertive Beijing is being more aggressive with its overseas influence operations, said Isaac Stone Fish, founder and CEO of Strategy Risks, a firm that helps companies navigate political risk in China.

The latest dispute has centered on Canadas expulsion of a Chinese diplomat on Monday over allegations that he attempted to intimidate a Canadian lawmaker critical of China's human rights record. Beijing responded within hours by ordering a Canadian diplomat in Shanghai to leave over what it called Ottawa's "unreasonable actions".

Crackdown on 'police stations'

This comes as Canada, the US and several European countries recently have cracked down on what they see as clandestine Chinese police stations overseas to target dissidents and those Beijing accuses of "financial crimes", including coercing some Chinese emigrants to return home.

Chinas government has disputed the existence of such facilities but has said there are volunteer-run centers outside China that help Chinese citizens renew documents and offer other services.

But the US believes such explanations lack credibility, according to a person in Washington familiar with the matter, saying President Joe Bidens administration would be undeterred in efforts to root out Chinese pressure campaigns.

The US Justice Department has been ramping up probes into what it calls "transnational repression" by US adversaries such as China, in part to raise awareness among potential victims.

And shortly after authorities arrested two people on charges of links to a Chinese secret police station in New York last month, a US official said the United States was engaged in an extensive effort with international partners to counter Chinese influence operations.

Many of the actions China takes abroad - from the "police stations" to efforts to silence critics - stem from President Xi Jinping's heavy focus on domestic security, including an ongoing campaign to stamp out corruption in the Communist Party and worries about unrest in the country's restive Xinjiang region.

But those steps by Beijing are increasing tensions when relations between the US and China have sunk to the lowest point in decades over issues ranging from Taiwan to technology.

Some of this is China feeling that it needs to and can act extra-territorially to address what it believes are threats to its domestic stability, said Jon Bateman, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. But they're doing it in a very aggressive way that flouts international norms.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said in a statement: "China has always followed the path of peaceful development ... Chinese diplomatic and consular staff have always complied with relevant international conventions and local laws when performing their duties."

Impact on trade ties

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Canadas expulsion this week of Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei came after an intelligence report accused him of trying to target a Canadian lawmaker critical of China's treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority.

Diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Ottawa have been running high since Canadas detention of Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou in 2018 and Beijing's subsequent arrest of two Canadians on spying charges that Canada steadfastly denied. All three were freed in 2021.

Sarah Kreps, director of the Tech Policy Institute at Cornell University, said one reason China continues to push its influence operations is that it believes the US is unlikely to retaliate in a way that would risk a more volatile relationship with China.

Further, China appears to have calculated that, as the worlds second-biggest economy, it can weather any global reputation damage and avoid any major impact to its trade ties for activities it perceives as in its national interests.

Despite the latest diplomatic spat between China and Canada, I don't think that you can say that these particular actions are harming the business relationship," said Sarah Kutulakos, the executive director of the Canada China Business Council.

Last year, for instance, Beijing lifted a three-year ban on imports of canola, Canada's largest crop, restrictions that followed Meng's arrest. China is also a major importer of Canadian potash and wheat.

But some analysts have said that China's increasing focus on its own security and intensifying rivalry with the United States threaten to undermine its re-engagement with the world after years of COVID curbs as it tries to send the message it is once again open for business.
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Linkedin Roli Srivastava and Bhasker Tripathi (Thomson Reuters Foundation) Mumbai/New Delhi, India  Sat, May 13, 2023 11:28 2 96f72165d1db80845b6b1c241cb5ee1c 2 Asia and Pacific Government-Politics,Health-Medicine,Society-Social-Issues,Disasters-Accidents,Human-Diseases-Conditions,pollution,Climate-Politics,environment,workforce,climate-change,India,agriculture,farmer Free

Farmer Ganpatram Bheda, 66, fears he will lose his two acres of land in northwest India after scarce rainfall and extreme cold in recent years hit crop yields, trapping him in a web of loans with little help from the state to overcome his financial woes.

As small-scale Indian farmers like Bheda grapple with growing climate uncertainties, researchers this week called for a robust rural jobs scheme, crop insurance and mental healthcare to ease growing distress and suicide in agrarian communities.

In a new report linking rainfall deficits to higher farmer suicide rates in India's drought-prone states, researchers said climate change was making "agriculture an extremely risky, potentially dangerous and loss-making endeavour".

Farmers are among the most at-risk groups in India for death by suicide, said the report from the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), as recurring droughts affect their health and emotional wellbeing.

For more than two decades, rural India has struggled with farmer suicides, as consecutive years of drought, poor harvests and costly animal feed have fuelled debt and mental anxiety.

Nearly 11,000 farmers, cultivators and agricultural labourers took their own lives in 2021, averaging about 30 deaths a day, according to India's most recent crime data cited in the IIED report.

But experts estimate that the real numbers are far higher.

Madhura Swaminathan, an economist with the Bengaluru-based Indian Statistical Institute, said the official figures cover only reported cases.

More robust research is needed on the linkage between suicides and climate change in order to better plan ways to make Indian agriculture more climate-resilient, she added.

Ritu Bharadwaj, a principal researcher with the IIED, noted that climate change impacts are "a stress multiplier".

In particular, they are exacerbating economic pressures on farmers through recurring droughts, she said.

While droughts are not a new problem, "climate change has made (them) more intense and more frequent, and it has increased (their) geographical coverage," she said in a phone interview.

More than 250 million people in India, or nearly half of all workers, are employed in agriculture and related sectors, according to India's last census in 2011 - and the vast majority depend entirely on their farm incomes to survive.

New interventions are needed to protect this huge community as the planet warms, said the IIED report, noting that early warning systems and insurance policies can offer protection against extreme weather.

While the Indian government has some support programmes in place for farmers, including crop insurance and a rural job guarantee scheme, those suffer from poor budgeting and patchy implementation, said campaigners for farmers' rights.

Debts pile up

For farmers like Bheda, a bad harvest spells doom.

In the last four years, he has accrued loans amounting to 4 million rupees ($48,911) from local moneylenders and banks to tide him over crop losses, buy expensive fodder for his cows and pay off other debts.

"We depend only on farming, we have no other income source - and I don't have any other skill either," said Bheda, speaking from Sikar district in Rajasthan state.

Last year, he lost millet and peanuts to a poor monsoon and mustard to a cold wave.

"I take one loan to repay another. If I don't do that, the bank will take away my land," he said.

India still does not map "the hazard, risks and vulnerabilities" affecting farmers at "a hyper-granular level", said Abinash Mohanty, division head for climate change and sustainability at IPE Global, an international development organisation.

This limits understanding of the real impacts of climate change on people, he added.

In recent years, environmental groups have equipped some farm communities with weather information and alerts via text message, as well as resilient seeds for climate-smart farming.

State-run agricultural research institutions also issue weather-based advice on crops.

Yet drought is still forcing many farmers to migrate to cities for work, while some see no way out and end their own lives.

"The likelihood of these cases (of suicide) increasing in the future is high," said the IIED's Bharadwaj, whose assessment of rising risk is based on rainfall variation and suicide data.

Her team studied rainfall patterns between 2014 and 2021 in drought-prone Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Telangana states, which recorded the highest farmer suicides, and found more cases during periods of below-normal rainfall.

"Climate is a factor," Bharadwaj explained. "But vulnerabilities like poverty, illiteracy and lack of social safety nets, or knowledge about how to access them, come together to create a difficult situation."

Employment scheme

The IIED report recommends a shift from insuring against poor crop yields to insuring against bad weather, giving farmers an immediate payout when it hits, regardless of actual losses.

India's rural job guarantee scheme - which promises 100 days of paid labour a year to each rural household - can also be a shock absorber, the report said.

The scheme created much-needed jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic when tens of thousands of people returned to their villages from cities as industries shut down. But its budget was trimmed this year and its implementation is increasingly patchy.

Peoples' Action for Employment Guarantee (PAEG), a collective of academics and campaigners which tracks the scheme's implementation, recorded a 30% fall in the work created this year up to April, compared to the same period last year.

There have also been problems with workers not getting paid, as attendance is now recorded using an app and some rural areas have poor phone networks, said M.S. Raunaq, a PAEG member.

IIED researcher Bharadwaj said she had found that regions where jobs were available under the scheme registered lower suicide numbers despite erratic rainfall.

But the scheme needs to offer better wages and more skills training to open up other job options beyond digging wells and canals and building school walls, researchers said.

For now, farmer Bheda said he and his fellow villagers are planning a protest this month at the district administrative office to demand work under the rural jobs scheme.

But he is not too hopeful, despite scoring a rare win this year: a payout of 48,000 rupees from the state crop insurance scheme for his losses last year.

"The money has gone to the bank, and it gets deducted there for loan repayment. I don't want to be a loan defaulter or I lose my land," he said.

When it comes to the troubles he is experiencing, the blame cannot be put on the climate alone, he added.

"The state has failed to protect farmers," he said.
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Linkedin Nivedita Bhattacharjee (Reuters) Bengaluru  Sat, May 13, 2023 12:30 2 5fceed71997e5776a1634d25dc68b46f 2 Asia and Pacific Public-Company-News,Science-Technology,Company-News Free

Encouraged by high-profile successes elsewhere, India wants its private space companies to increase their share of the global launch market by fivefold within the next decade - an effort boosted by the personal support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In the year after the country opened the way for private launches in 2020, the number of space startups more than doubled, from 21 to 47.

At the end of 2022, Skyroot Aerospace, whose investors include Sherpalo Ventures and Singapore's GIC, launched India's first privately built rocket into space.

"Many times initiatives get announced and they die. This is not one of those," said Pawan Goenka, an auto-industry veteran who last year was named head of Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), a newly created space regulatory body. "Space is one of the most favourite areas of our prime minister right now, one that he wants to see move."

Investors poured $119 million into Indian space startups in 2022, up from a total of just $38 million in all the years up to 2017. They see a less-costly alternative to European launchers that are grounded or under development, as well as access to a bustling manufacturing hub, analysts say.

That has meant a boom for young space companies such as Skyroot and Agnikul Cosmos - which promise to slash launch costs for satellites - Satsure, offering satellite-data and analytics services, and Pixxel, which in March won a five-year contract from the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.

"It was a big surprise for all of us that the launch and the policy change all happened on time and we were able to meet our deadlines with complete support. We did not have a single day's delay because of policy issues," said Pawan Chandana, co-founder of Skyroot, which is valued at $163 million.

Other startup founders say the new approach means approvals come easier, stakeholders are aligned with each other, and there are more private industry veterans in government helping the sector.

There are challenges, however. The country accounts for just 2% of the space sector's global revenue, estimated at $370 billion in 2020. Funding has only trickled in, as customers want to see successful launches before committing costly payloads to unproven designs.

"There are some very good companies, but at the moment, we are very behind the U.S. or China," said Prateep Basu, co-founder of SatSure. "Policy unlocking is very important, but the world will not take real notice until you do something remarkable like what SpaceX did."

In the United States, the government-operated NASA handles space exploration while private companies do launches and build crewed vehicles. Proponents say that has lowered costs, but it also led to a multiyear gap in which Washington relied on Russian space vehicles to travel to the International Space Station.

SpaceX, which serves private customers and governments, conducted more than 60 launches in 2022 alone.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) manages all of the country's launch infrastructure, although Agnikul is planning its own launchpad.

"We realised the industry's basic need is money," said Jayant Patil, head of the launch vehicles committee at the Indian Space Association (ISPA), a quasi-government body that helps address private sector concerns.

Patil said the government is offering millions of dollars' worth of seed funding to startups that use satellite data to boost India's crop yields. Startups with potential military applications are vetted for government investment separately.

Kanchan Gupta, the Modi government's senior adviser at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, said that the country could not afford to lag behind in the space race, and that "everything cannot be done by the government alone".

"The whole idea is to provide policy stability, predictability," Gupta said. "Letting the private sector know where the government comes in, where the government doesnt come in, where they can get in, where they cannot get in."

'Self-sustaining'

The privatisation effort began with a late 2020 video conference call between Modi and executives, five people involved in the process say. Since then, Modi has made it clear he wants to sweep away red tape and create national champions, they say.

"The prime minister's aim is to do with space what we have done with IT," said one of the people, who declined to be named because the call and ensuing meetings were private.

ISRO will focus on exploration but still support private launch efforts, giving the country's space startups global legitimacy, industry executives said.

The agency will work alongside an advisory panel - with members from In-SPACe, ISPA and NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), the government's commercial launch arm - that helped the government announce a new, business-friendly regulatory framework in April.

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd HIAE.NS and Larsen & Toubro Ltd LART.NS, which helped shape the privatisation policies, have a $100 million contract to deliver ISRO's next launch vehicle in 2024.

"Modi is a technology person. So the suggestion is to hand over production and development to private players, while we look at technology. It then becomes a self-sustaining environment," said S. Somanath, chairman of ISRO.

The country's space companies also hope to find new customers as sanctions and political tensions have cut off Russia from much of the international launch market after the invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special operation".

The British satellite company OneWeb, for example, partnered with ISRO for a launch after Russia cancelled its launches.

"If you look at high technology, it is a matter of geopolitics... India definitely has some leverage right now," said Laxman Behera, chairperson at the Jawaharlal Nehru University's Special Centre for National Security Studies.
McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU  Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,523 shares of the financial services providers stock, valued at approximately $350,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cowa LLC boosted its position in Prudential Financial by 9,930.2% in the first quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 771,824 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $912,000 after buying an additional 764,129 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 2,197.4% during the first quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 690,184 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $81,560,000 after purchasing an additional 660,142 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 6.0% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,353,887 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $750,839,000 after purchasing an additional 356,957 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 102.9% in the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 496,298 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $42,572,000 after buying an additional 251,751 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 0.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,654,749 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,715,345,000 after buying an additional 168,175 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.33% of the companys stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Prudential Financial

In related news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 11,405 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.95, for a total transaction of $1,151,334.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,241,685. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 11,405 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.95, for a total transaction of $1,151,334.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,241,685. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 4,126 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.20, for a total transaction of $409,299.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,241 shares in the company, valued at $1,214,307.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the companys stock.

Prudential Financial Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of PRU stock opened at $78.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.07 and a current ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $28.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 877.11, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.38. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.37 and a 52-week high of $110.96. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.94.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU  Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $2.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $3.02 by ($0.36). The company had revenue of $15.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $13.29 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 0.09% and a return on equity of 14.05%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.17 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 12.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 7th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the companys board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 23rd will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 22nd. Prudential Financials payout ratio is 5,555.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $106.00 price target on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $99.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Prudential Financial from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and set a $114.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 4th. Finally, 92 Resources reaffirmed a maintains rating on shares of Prudential Financial in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $99.83.

About Prudential Financial

(Get Rating)

Prudential Financial, Inc engages in the provision of insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services to both individual and institutional customers. It operates through the following segments: PGIM, U.S. Businesses, International Businesses, Closed Block, and Corporate and Others.

Further Reading

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Treasurer of the State of North Carolina trimmed its stake in shares of AmerisourceBergen Co. (NYSE:ABC  Get Rating) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 83,658 shares of the companys stock after selling 5,252 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolinas holdings in AmerisourceBergen were worth $13,863,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ABC. Edmp Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AmerisourceBergen by 16,285.3% in the 4th quarter. Edmp Inc. now owns 2,295,746 shares of the companys stock valued at $13,854,000 after purchasing an additional 2,281,735 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in AmerisourceBergen by 7.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,411,527 shares of the companys stock worth $2,848,446,000 after acquiring an additional 1,269,147 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in AmerisourceBergen by 42.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,079,491 shares of the companys stock worth $321,717,000 after acquiring an additional 618,248 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in AmerisourceBergen by 11.4% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,041,639 shares of the companys stock worth $684,631,000 after acquiring an additional 514,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can purchased a new position in AmerisourceBergen in the third quarter worth $47,136,000. 84.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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AmerisourceBergen Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABC opened at $170.99 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $34.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.98, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.13, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.89. AmerisourceBergen Co. has a one year low of $135.14 and a one year high of $174.63. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $161.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $162.19.

AmerisourceBergen Dividend Announcement

AmerisourceBergen ( NYSE:ABC Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 2nd. The company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.29 by $0.21. AmerisourceBergen had a return on equity of 809.53% and a net margin of 0.65%. The company had revenue of $63.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.22 EPS. AmerisourceBergens revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that AmerisourceBergen Co. will post 11.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.485 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 11th. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. AmerisourceBergens dividend payout ratio is presently 24.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AmerisourceBergen news, CEO Steven H. Collis sold 10,499 shares of AmerisourceBergen stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $1,574,850.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 257,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,695,050. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Steven H. Collis sold 10,499 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $1,574,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 257,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,695,050. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gina Clark sold 1,924 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.22, for a total value of $300,567.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,733 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,176,229.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,421 shares of company stock worth $5,412,110 in the last three months. 20.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI restated an outperform rating and issued a $185.00 price target on shares of AmerisourceBergen in a research report on Tuesday, January 31st. Barclays raised their price target on AmerisourceBergen from $182.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on AmerisourceBergen from $174.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on AmerisourceBergen from $199.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, TheStreet upgraded AmerisourceBergen from a c rating to a b+ rating in a report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $181.62.

AmerisourceBergen Company Profile

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AmerisourceBergen Corp. engages in the provision of pharmaceutical products and business solutions that improve access to care. It operates through the Pharmaceutical Distribution Services and Other segments. The Pharmaceutical Distribution Services segment distributes an offering of brand-name, specialty brand-name and generic pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter healthcare products, home healthcare supplies and equipment, and related services to healthcare providers, including acute care hospitals and health systems, independent and chain retail pharmacies, mail order pharmacies, medical clinics, and long-term care and alternate site pharmacies.

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Central African Gold Inc. (BANC.V) (CVE:BANC  Get Rating) was up 8.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as C$0.32 and last traded at C$0.32. Approximately 80,972 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 230% from the average daily volume of 24,545 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.30.

Central African Gold Inc. (BANC.V) Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.17. The firm has a market cap of C$11.23 million and a P/E ratio of -0.91. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of C$0.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$0.32.

About Central African Gold Inc. (BANC.V)

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Bankers Cobalt Corp., a natural resource company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of cobalt and copper mineral projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Namibia. The company explores for nickel, gold, platinum, and palladium deposits. It holds 100% interest in six concessions located in Namibia.

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China Merchants Bank Co., Ltd. (OTCMKTS:CIHKY  Get Rating) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 38,500 shares, an increase of 24.6% from the April 15th total of 30,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 68,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group cut China Merchants Bank from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd.

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China Merchants Bank Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of China Merchants Bank stock traded down $0.81 during trading on Friday, hitting $24.90. The companys stock had a trading volume of 21,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 42,831. China Merchants Bank has a 52 week low of $16.04 and a 52 week high of $33.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.14. The company has a market capitalization of $125.59 billion, a PE ratio of 6.35 and a beta of 0.57.

China Merchants Bank Company Profile

China Merchants Bank Co, Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services. It operates through Wholesale Finance Business, Retail Finance Business, and Other Business segments. The company offers current, demand, time, call, savings, notice, and renminbi accounts. Its loan products include personal commercial real estate, consumption, housing, and car loans; loans to finance for studying abroad; micro-business loans; mortgage loans for equipment; joint guarantee, special guarantee, and housing mortgage loan; bank acceptance, discount, liquid capital, and fixed asset loans; and loans for vessels.

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We think intelligent long term investing is the way to go. But along the way some stocks are going to perform badly. For example the Jupiter Fund Management Plc (LON:JUP) share price dropped 74% over five years. That is extremely sub-optimal, to say the least. And some of the more recent buyers are probably worried, too, with the stock falling 28% in the last year. Shareholders have had an even rougher run lately, with the share price down 15% in the last 90 days.

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.

See our latest analysis for Jupiter Fund Management

In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

Looking back five years, both Jupiter Fund Management's share price and EPS declined; the latter at a rate of 23% per year. This change in EPS is remarkably close to the 24% average annual decrease in the share price. This suggests that market participants have not changed their view of the company all that much. Rather, the share price change has reflected changes in earnings per share.

You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover 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. It might be well worthwhile taking a look at our free report on Jupiter Fund Management's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. In the case of Jupiter Fund Management, it has a TSR of -63% for the last 5 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

Story continues

A Different Perspective

Investors in Jupiter Fund Management had a tough year, with a total loss of 23% (including dividends), against a market gain of about 3.8%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 10% over the last half decade. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Jupiter Fund Management better, we need to consider many other factors. Even so, be aware that Jupiter Fund Management is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , you should know about...

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 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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Evoqua Water Technologies Corp. (NYSE:AQUA  Get Rating) EVP Rodney Aulick sold 200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.10, for a total transaction of $10,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 127,001 shares in the company, valued at $6,616,752.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Evoqua Water Technologies Price Performance

NYSE:AQUA opened at $49.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Evoqua Water Technologies Corp. has a one year low of $30.44 and a one year high of $52.30. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $48.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.20. The stock has a market cap of $6.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.95, a PEG ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 1.79.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AQUA shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Evoqua Water Technologies from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Evoqua Water Technologies from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating and lowered their price target for the company from $51.00 to $50.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Evoqua Water Technologies from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $49.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Evoqua Water Technologies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $49.29.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

About Evoqua Water Technologies

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AQUA. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Evoqua Water Technologies by 73.5% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,795 shares of the companys stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 4,573 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Evoqua Water Technologies during the 1st quarter worth about $316,000. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Evoqua Water Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at about $434,000. Bank of Montreal Can bought a new stake in Evoqua Water Technologies in the first quarter valued at about $221,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in Evoqua Water Technologies by 54.6% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 61,851 shares of the companys stock worth $2,906,000 after purchasing an additional 21,841 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.46% of the companys stock.

(Get Rating)

Evoqua Water Technologies Corp. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of water and wastewater treatment systems and technologies. It operates through the Integrated Solutions and Services and Applied Product Technologies segments. The Integrated Solutions and Services segment offers outsourced water services, capital equipment for process water and wastewater treatment, and preventive maintenance service contracts.

Further Reading

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StockNews.com upgraded shares of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX  Get Rating) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

FCX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $35.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 10th. Barclays upped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Friday, April 21st. UBS Group upped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $32.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, February 27th. Scotiabank raised Freeport-McMoRan from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating and upped their price target for the company from $41.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Freeport-McMoRan from $40.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Freeport-McMoRan presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $38.42.

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Freeport-McMoRan Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Freeport-McMoRan stock opened at $34.99 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.45. Freeport-McMoRan has a 12-month low of $24.80 and a 12-month high of $46.73. The company has a market capitalization of $50.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.55 and a beta of 2.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Freeport-McMoRan Announces Dividend

Freeport-McMoRan ( NYSE:FCX Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 21st. The natural resource company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.25 billion. Freeport-McMoRan had a return on equity of 11.07% and a net margin of 12.07%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was down 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.07 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Freeport-McMoRan will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 14th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 13th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Freeport-McMoRans dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.76%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Ellie L. Mikes sold 11,678 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.17, for a total transaction of $504,139.26. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 32,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,395,815.61. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Freeport-McMoRan

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. America First Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Freeport-McMoRan during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Freeport-McMoRan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Freeport-McMoRan by 54.1% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the natural resource companys stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the period. 77.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Freeport-McMoRan

(Get Rating)

Freeport-McMoRan, Inc engages in the mining of copper, gold, and molybdenum. It operates through the following segments: North America Copper Mines, South America Mining, Indonesia Mining, Molybdenum Mines, Rod and Refining, Atlantic Copper Smelting and Refining, and Corporate and Other. The North America Copper Mines segment operates open-pit copper mines in Morenci, Baghdad, Safford, Sierrita, and Miami in Arizona and Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico.

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Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN.A  Get Rating) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $7.40 and last traded at $7.40, with a volume of 1019 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $7.54.

Gray Television Stock Up 5.7 %

The companys fifty day moving average is $8.47 and its 200-day moving average is $10.37. The company has a market capitalization of $735.19 million, a PE ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10.

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Gray Television (NYSE:GTN.A  Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 24th. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter. Gray Television had a return on equity of 18.45% and a net margin of 9.92%.

Gray Television Dividend Announcement

Gray Television Company Profile

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 15th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.04%. Gray Televisions dividend payout ratio is presently 9.58%.

(Get Rating)

Gray Television, Inc, a television broadcast company, owns and operates television stations and digital assets in the United States. As of February 28, 2019, it owned and operated television stations in 91 television markets broadcasting approximately 400 program streams, including approximately 150 channels affiliated with the CBS Network, the NBC Network, the ABC Network, and the FOX Network.

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Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of iShares MSCI Brazil ETF (NYSEARCA:EWZ  Get Rating) by 155.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,089,575 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after purchasing an additional 1,272,580 shares during the period. iShares MSCI Brazil ETF makes up approximately 2.4% of Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. owned 1.25% of iShares MSCI Brazil ETF worth $58,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EWZ. Boenning & Scattergood Inc. lifted its stake in iShares MSCI Brazil ETF by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Boenning & Scattergood Inc. now owns 19,800 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $749,000 after buying an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC lifted its stake in iShares MSCI Brazil ETF by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 11,500 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in iShares MSCI Brazil ETF by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 18,690 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $523,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in iShares MSCI Brazil ETF by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 32,900 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $975,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in iShares MSCI Brazil ETF by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 10,230 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 426 shares in the last quarter.

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iShares MSCI Brazil ETF Price Performance

iShares MSCI Brazil ETF stock traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $29.80. The company had a trading volume of 29,634,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,114,770. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $27.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.73. iShares MSCI Brazil ETF has a 12-month low of $25.00 and a 12-month high of $35.92. The company has a market capitalization of $4.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.97.

iShares MSCI Brazil ETF Company Profile

iShares MSCI Brazil Capped Index Fund (the Fund), formerly iShares MSCI Brazil Index Fund, seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of publicly traded securities in the Brazilian market, as measured by the MSCI Brazil Index (the Index).

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StockNews.com cut shares of Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB  Get Rating) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on KMB. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $130.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Berenberg Bank increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $132.00 to $144.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $124.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Kimberly-Clark from $118.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Kimberly-Clark from $131.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kimberly-Clark currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $134.45.

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Kimberly-Clark Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE KMB opened at $144.65 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.23, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.40. Kimberly-Clark has a 1-year low of $108.74 and a 1-year high of $147.87. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $135.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $132.91.

Kimberly-Clark Dividend Announcement

Kimberly-Clark ( NYSE:KMB Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 25th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.35. Kimberly-Clark had a return on equity of 279.42% and a net margin of 9.75%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.35 EPS. The firms quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Kimberly-Clark will post 6.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 9th will be issued a $1.18 dividend. This represents a $4.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 8th. Kimberly-Clarks payout ratio is presently 80.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kimberly-Clark

In other Kimberly-Clark news, CEO Michael D. Hsu sold 46,508 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.28, for a total value of $6,710,174.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,668 shares of the companys stock, valued at $16,111,459.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Michael D. Hsu sold 46,508 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.28, for a total value of $6,710,174.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,668 shares in the company, valued at $16,111,459.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Doug Cunningham sold 1,504 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.48, for a total value of $218,801.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,416 shares of company stock valued at $8,580,971. 0.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kimberly-Clark

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KMB. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 36.0% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 910,594 shares of the companys stock worth $122,220,000 after purchasing an additional 240,800 shares in the last quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kimberly-Clark during the first quarter worth approximately $213,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 18.9% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 20,194 shares of the companys stock worth $2,710,000 after purchasing an additional 3,209 shares in the last quarter. Smith Moore & CO. increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 1.7% during the first quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 10,674 shares of the companys stock worth $1,433,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Tennessee Treasury Department increased its position in shares of Kimberly-Clark by 3.4% during the first quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 52,117 shares of the companys stock worth $6,995,000 after purchasing an additional 1,710 shares in the last quarter. 74.16% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kimberly-Clark Company Profile

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Kimberly-Clark Corp. engages in the manufacture and marketing of products made from natural or synthetic fibers. It operates through the following segments: Personal Care, Consumer Tissue, and K-C Professional. The Personal Care segment offers disposable diapers, training and youth pants, swim pants, baby wipes, feminine and incontinence care products, and other related products.

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Macquarie Group Limited (ASX:MQG  Get Rating) declared a final dividend on Monday, May 8th, MarketIndexAU reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 3rd will be paid a dividend of 4.50 per share on Monday, July 3rd. This represents a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date is Sunday, May 14th. This is a boost from Macquarie Groups previous final dividend of $3.35.

Macquarie Group Stock Performance

Macquarie Group Company Profile

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Macquarie Group Limited provides diversified financial services in Australia, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through four segments: Macquarie Asset Management (MAM), Banking and Financial Services (BFS), Commodities and Global Markets (CGM), and Macquarie Capital.

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Meridian Mining UK Societas (CVE:MNO  Get Rating) shares rose 9.6% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as C$1.07 and last traded at C$1.03. Approximately 247,282 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 12% from the average daily volume of 220,803 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.94.

Meridian Mining UK Societas Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of C$152.09 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.30. The firms fifty day moving average is C$1.03 and its 200-day moving average is C$1.03.

About Meridian Mining UK Societas

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Meridian Mining UK Societas, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties in Brazil. The company explores for manganese, gold, copper, and tin deposits. It holds interest in the EspigAo polymetallic project and the Ariquemes tin project located in RondAnia.

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MFS Municipal Income Trust (NYSE:MFM  Get Rating) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 66,500 shares, a drop of 25.9% from the April 15th total of 89,700 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 78,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.8 days.

MFS Municipal Income Trust Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE MFM traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $5.11. 42,636 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 82,923. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.13. MFS Municipal Income Trust has a 1-year low of $4.66 and a 1-year high of $5.98.

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MFS Municipal Income Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.018 per share. This is an increase from MFS Municipal Income Trusts previous monthly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 16th. This represents a $0.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.23%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

About MFS Municipal Income Trust

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in MFS Municipal Income Trust by 27.7% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 561,552 shares of the closed-end funds stock valued at $2,999,000 after purchasing an additional 121,839 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of MFS Municipal Income Trust by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,056,431 shares of the closed-end funds stock worth $5,641,000 after acquiring an additional 21,697 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its position in MFS Municipal Income Trust by 284.3% in the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 461,980 shares of the closed-end funds stock valued at $2,467,000 after acquiring an additional 341,780 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in MFS Municipal Income Trust by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 307,530 shares of the closed-end funds stock valued at $1,642,000 after purchasing an additional 50,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in MFS Municipal Income Trust by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 343,520 shares of the closed-end funds stock worth $1,834,000 after purchasing an additional 17,338 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.68% of the companys stock.

(Get Rating)

MFS Municipal Income Trust is a close ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Massachusetts Financial Services Company. The fund invests in fixed income markets of the United States. It primarily invests in tax-exempt bonds and tax-exempt notes. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against Barclays Municipal Bond Index.

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Notis McConarty Edward lifted its position in shares of Raytheon Technologies Co. (NYSE:RTX  Get Rating) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,729 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 999 shares during the period. Raytheon Technologies comprises approximately 2.6% of Notis McConarty Edwards holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Notis McConarty Edwards holdings in Raytheon Technologies were worth $6,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RTX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Raytheon Technologies by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 123,174,905 shares of the companys stock valued at $10,083,098,000 after purchasing an additional 760,968 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Raytheon Technologies by 32.8% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 9,130,557 shares of the companys stock valued at $904,564,000 after buying an additional 2,256,475 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Raytheon Technologies by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 9,102,540 shares of the companys stock worth $745,134,000 after purchasing an additional 42,111 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Raytheon Technologies by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,812,201 shares of the companys stock worth $889,327,000 after purchasing an additional 237,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Raytheon Technologies by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,575,791 shares of the companys stock valued at $651,464,000 after buying an additional 294,366 shares in the last quarter. 78.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Raytheon Technologies Stock Up 0.5 %

RTX opened at $95.99 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.26. Raytheon Technologies Co. has a 52 week low of $80.27 and a 52 week high of $108.84. The company has a market capitalization of $140.26 billion, a PE ratio of 25.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Raytheon Technologies Increases Dividend

Raytheon Technologies ( NYSE:RTX Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.09. Raytheon Technologies had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 9.81%. The firm had revenue of $17.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Raytheon Technologies Co. will post 5.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 19th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. This is an increase from Raytheon Technologiess previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 18th. Raytheon Technologiess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RTX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Raytheon Technologies from a buy rating to a neutral rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Raytheon Technologies from $119.00 to $115.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Raytheon Technologies from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. Wolfe Research raised Raytheon Technologies from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $117.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group raised their price objective on Raytheon Technologies from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $111.88.

Insider Transactions at Raytheon Technologies

In related news, VP Amy L. Johnson sold 3,622 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.55, for a total transaction of $356,948.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,061 shares of the companys stock, valued at $400,211.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.11% of the companys stock.

About Raytheon Technologies

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Raytheon Technologies Corp. is an aerospace and defense company, which engages in the provision of aerospace and defense systems and services for commercial, military, and government customers. It operates through the following segments: Collins Aerospace Systems (Collins), Pratt and Whitney, Raytheon Intelligence and Space (RIS), and Raytheon Missiles and Defense (RMD).

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Olin (NYSE:OLN  Get Rating) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a hold rating to a buy rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on OLN. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Olin from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, January 30th. UBS Group upped their target price on Olin from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 11th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Olin from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Olin from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, January 30th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group boosted their price target on Olin from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $67.67.

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Olin Stock Performance

OLN stock opened at $52.52 on Thursday. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $54.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $6.79 billion, a PE ratio of 6.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.44. Olin has a 1-year low of $41.33 and a 1-year high of $67.25.

Insider Transactions at Olin

Olin ( NYSE:OLN Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 28th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.05 billion. Olin had a return on equity of 42.24% and a net margin of 12.45%. The businesss revenue was down 25.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.48 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Olin will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

In other news, VP Damian Gumpel sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.65, for a total transaction of $814,450.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,155 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,074,760.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.60% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Olin

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Olin by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,867,281 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $829,542,000 after buying an additional 493,052 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Olin by 33.7% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,238,429 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $512,733,000 after purchasing an additional 2,330,040 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Olin by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,581,714 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $291,812,000 after purchasing an additional 31,587 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Olin by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,933,066 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $211,525,000 after purchasing an additional 19,638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Olin by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,451,592 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $238,276,000 after purchasing an additional 888,221 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.77% of the companys stock.

About Olin

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Olin Corp. engages in manufacturing of chemicals products. It operates through the following segments: Chlor Alkali Products and Vinyls, Epoxy, and Winchester. The Chlor Alkali Products and Vinyls segment manufactures and sells chlorine and caustic soda, ethylene dichloride and vinyl chloride monomer, methyl chloride, methylene chloride, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene and vinylidene chloride, hydrochloric acid, hydrogen, bleach products and potassium hydroxide.

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This week, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. announced the repatriation of three antiquities collectively valued at $725,000 to Yemen. The items are an alabaster ram with an inscribed base, an alabaster female figure, and a silver vessel with elaborate inscribed decorations.

The three items had been recovered as part of the criminal investigation into private collector and Metropolitan Museum of Art trustee Shelby White. As a result of the investigation, 89 items from 10 different countries, valued at nearly $69 million, were seized from White. These included nine antiquities repatriated to Turkey last month and seizures of Roman and Greek antiquities that took place last December.

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According to the Manhattan DAs office, the three items were acquired by White from the Mansour Gallery in London; art dealer Robin Symes, who was later convicted of antiquities trafficking in 2005; and from a Christies auction in New York.

The first item of the three repatriated items, an alabaster ram, is a funerary object from the Hayd bin Aqeel necropolis in Shabwa, Yemen. The ram was looted in 1994 during the countrys civil war and dates back to the 5th century B.C.E. The second, an alabaster female figure, is also a funerary item depicting a female god. The figure dates back to the 2nd century B.C.E. The third, an inscribed silver vessel, dates back to 200 to 300 C.E. It features an inscription that allowed experts to identify its origin as the same looted location as the alabaster ram.

This repatriation underscores how art and culture can serve as powerful symbols of hope, District Attorney Bragg said in a statement. Our investigation into the collector Shelby White has allowed dozens of antiquities that were ripped from their countries of origin to finally return home,

Story continues

Due to the ongoing civil war in Yemen, the three items will be temporarily displayed at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

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Shares of Rogers Communications Inc. (TSE:RCI.B  Get Rating) (NYSE:RCI) have earned an average recommendation of Buy from the ten research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$75.98.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on RCI.B. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Rogers Communications from C$68.00 to C$70.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. UBS Group upgraded Rogers Communications from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the stock from C$64.00 to C$75.00 in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Cormark raised their price target on Rogers Communications from C$69.00 to C$74.00 in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Rogers Communications from C$70.00 to C$72.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Rogers Communications from C$74.75 to C$75.75 in a research report on Thursday, April 27th.

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Rogers Communications Stock Performance

Shares of RCI.B opened at C$66.14 on Friday. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is C$64.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$62.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 364.52. Rogers Communications has a 12 month low of C$50.53 and a 12 month high of C$67.67. The company has a market cap of C$27.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.38.

About Rogers Communications

Rogers Communications Inc operates as a communications and media company in Canada. It operates through three segments: Wireless, Cable, and Media. The Wireless segment offers wireless voice and data communication services to individual consumers, businesses, governments, and other telecommunications service providers; postpaid and prepaid wireless services under the Rogers, Fido, and chatr brands; and wireless devices, services, and applications to consumers and businesses.

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Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust (OTCMKTS:CHKR  Get Rating) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,800 shares, an increase of 56.8% from the April 15th total of 3,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 86,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.1 days.

Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of OTCMKTS:CHKR traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $1.20. 14,449 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 53,393. Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust has a 12 month low of $0.90 and a 12 month high of $1.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.64. The firms fifty day moving average price is $1.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.19.

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Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.0757 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 23.47%. This is a positive change from Chesapeake Granite Wash Trusts previous dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 16th. Chesapeake Granite Wash Trusts payout ratio is presently 120.00%.

Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust Company Profile

Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust engages in the ownership of royalty interests. It owns royalty interests in oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas properties located in Washita County, Oklahoma. The company was founded on June 29, 2011 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

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Thai Union Group Public Company Limited (OTCMKTS:TUFBY  Get Rating) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 900 shares, a growth of 12.5% from the April 15th total of 800 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 9.0 days.

Thai Union Group Public Price Performance

TUFBY stock remained flat at $8.70 during midday trading on Friday. 6 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 135. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $8.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.11. Thai Union Group Public has a 1 year low of $7.91 and a 1 year high of $9.47.

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Thai Union Group Public Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.0578 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 3rd. This represents a yield of 4.08%.

About Thai Union Group Public

Thai Union Group Public Co Ltd. engages in the manufacture and sale of frozen, chilled and canned seafood. It operates through the following segments: Ambient Seafood, Frozen and Chilled Seafood and Related Business and Pet Food, Value-Added and Other. The Ambient Seafood segment includes tuna, sardine, salmon, specialty seafood and pelagic fishes.

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Tianyin Pharmaceutical Inc Co (OTCMKTS:TPIY  Get Rating)s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $0.00 and traded as high as $0.00. Tianyin Pharmaceutical shares last traded at $0.00, with a volume of 88,900 shares.

Tianyin Pharmaceutical Stock Performance

Tianyin Pharmaceutical Company Profile

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Tianyin Pharmaceutical Co, Inc is engaged in the development, manufacturing, marketing and sale of modernized traditional Chinese medicines and other pharmaceuticals in China. Its products address significant medical needs in the therapeutic areas spanning internal medicines, gynecology, hepatology, otolaryngology, urology, neurology, gastroenterology, orthopedics, dermatology and pediatrics.

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TreeHouse Foods (NYSE:THS  Get Rating) had its price target boosted by Barclays from $49.00 to $57.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, The Fly reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on THS. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on TreeHouse Foods in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. They set a hold rating and a $53.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com started coverage on TreeHouse Foods in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on TreeHouse Foods in a report on Sunday, March 19th. They issued a buy rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, TreeHouse Foods has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $56.20.

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TreeHouse Foods Price Performance

NYSE:THS opened at $52.06 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.83 and a beta of 0.44. TreeHouse Foods has a 12 month low of $35.82 and a 12 month high of $55.30. The businesss 50-day moving average is $50.70 and its 200 day moving average is $49.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

TreeHouse Foods ( NYSE:THS Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 8th. The company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.28. TreeHouse Foods had a positive return on equity of 5.90% and a negative net margin of 3.23%. The company had revenue of $894.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $850.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.15) earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that TreeHouse Foods will post 2.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In related news, Director Ann Sardini sold 5,083 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.89, for a total value of $253,590.87. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,800 shares of the companys stock, valued at $89,802. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of TreeHouse Foods

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in TreeHouse Foods by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,935,988 shares of the companys stock valued at $148,061,000 after acquiring an additional 147,939 shares in the last quarter. Shapiro Capital Management LLC boosted its position in TreeHouse Foods by 47.7% during the 1st quarter. Shapiro Capital Management LLC now owns 2,628,233 shares of the companys stock valued at $84,787,000 after acquiring an additional 848,909 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of TreeHouse Foods by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,997,638 shares of the companys stock valued at $83,541,000 after purchasing an additional 23,101 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of TreeHouse Foods by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,413,408 shares of the companys stock valued at $69,765,000 after purchasing an additional 45,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of TreeHouse Foods by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,151,670 shares of the companys stock valued at $48,854,000 after purchasing an additional 122,128 shares during the last quarter.

About TreeHouse Foods

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TreeHouse Foods, Inc engages is the manufacture and distribution of private label packaged foods and beverages in North America. Its product portfolio includes snacking, beverages, and meal preparation products, available in shelf stable, refrigerated, frozen, and fresh formats. The firm operates through the following segments: Meal Preparation, and Snacking and Beverages.

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Valeo Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EAFE ETF (BATS:HEFA  Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 51,710 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,396,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EAFE ETF by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 193,966 shares of the companys stock worth $6,583,000 after buying an additional 11,505 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EAFE ETF by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,518 shares of the companys stock worth $458,000 after buying an additional 1,249 shares in the last quarter. Flow Traders U.S. LLC acquired a new position in iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EAFE ETF during the 1st quarter worth about $6,283,000. SVB Wealth LLC lifted its position in iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EAFE ETF by 44.5% during the 2nd quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 7,305 shares of the companys stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 2,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WESCAP Management Group Inc. lifted its position in iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EAFE ETF by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. WESCAP Management Group Inc. now owns 296,511 shares of the companys stock valued at $8,862,000 after purchasing an additional 6,685 shares during the period.

Get iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EAFE ETF alerts:

iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EAFE ETF Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of BATS HEFA opened at $30.29 on Friday. iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EAFE ETF has a 1 year low of $26.88 and a 1 year high of $30.88. The firms 50-day moving average is $29.46 and its 200-day moving average is $29.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of 12.57 and a beta of 0.70.

iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EAFE ETF Company Profile

The iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EAFE ETF (HEFA) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in total market equity. The fund tracks a market cap-weighted, USD-hedged index of large- and mid-cap stocks from developed countries outside the US and Canada. HEFA was launched on Jan 31, 2014 and is managed by BlackRock.

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Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB  Get Rating) by 24.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,990,337 shares of the insurance providers stock after selling 1,272,925 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.s holdings in W. R. Berkley were worth $288,488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its stake in W. R. Berkley by 43.2% in the third quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 451 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 3,558 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 16,897 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $1,226,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 11,660 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $846,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Manhattan Co. raised its stake in shares of W. R. Berkley by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 486 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.66% of the companys stock.

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W. R. Berkley Trading Up 0.1 %

W. R. Berkley stock opened at $58.92 on Friday. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $61.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.36 billion, a PE ratio of 15.15, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. W. R. Berkley Co. has a 52 week low of $56.04 and a 52 week high of $76.99.

W. R. Berkley Announces Dividend

W. R. Berkley ( NYSE:WRB Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 20th. The insurance provider reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.19 by ($0.19). The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.53 billion. W. R. Berkley had a net margin of 9.73% and a return on equity of 17.98%. The businesss revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that W. R. Berkley Co. will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 9th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 8th. W. R. Berkleys dividend payout ratio is currently 10.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WRB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on W. R. Berkley from $75.00 to $69.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 10th. Bank of America upped their price objective on W. R. Berkley from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 21st. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of W. R. Berkley from $85.00 to $73.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. They set a market perform rating and a $76.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, W. R. Berkley presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $77.64.

W. R. Berkley Profile

(Get Rating)

W.R. Berkley Corp. is an insurance holding company, which engages in the property casualty insurance business. It operates through the following segments: Insurance and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess. The Insurance segment includes excess and surplus lines, admitted lines, and specialty personal lines throughout the United States, as well as insurance businesses in the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, South America, Canada, Mexico, Scandinavia, Asia, and Australia.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WRB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for W. R. Berkley Co. (NYSE:WRB  Get Rating).

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(Bloomberg) -- President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met with Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni and other top officials in Rome and later had a private audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican. Ukraines leader is reportedly traveling next to Berlin for talks with leaders there.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Germany is preparing a a military aid package for Ukraine worth almost $3 billion, the nations defense ministry announced. Russia said Ukraine had fired on targets in Luhansk on Friday using Storm Shadow missiles provided by the UK.

Two Russian military helicopters and two jets crashed on Saturday in the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, according to Russian media reports.

Key Developments

South Africa, US Look to Ease Strain After Russia Weapons Dustup

Ukraines Zelenskiy in Rome to Meet Pope, Prime Minister

China to Send Special Envoy to Ukraine, Russia From Monday

Ukraine Cites Gains on Russian Troops Near Embattled Bakhmut

Germany Announces Record 2.7B in Military Aid for Ukraine

(All times CET)

Zelenskiy Vows Results From Counteroffensive (8:02 p.m.)

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine is getting ready, with great effort, for a counteroffensive against Russia, adding that important steps will be taken shortly. He provided no other details in a live interview with Italian public broadcaster Rai Uno.

You will see results, he said. We believe in victory.

South African, Ukrainian Presidents to Talk Saturday (7:17 p.m.)

South Africas President Cyril Ramaphosa will hold talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy, International Relations and Cooperation Ministers spokesman, Clayson Monyela, said on Twitter.

The remote talks come amid Zelesnskiys visit to Rome and reportedly to Germany. They will talk a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Ramaphosa at Pretorias initiative on the strategic partnership between the two nations, the Kremlin said in a statement Friday.

Story continues

US Ambassador Says Abrams Tank Training to Start Soon (5:45 p.m.)

Bridget Brink, the US ambassador to Kyiv, said on Twitter that training for Ukrainian soldiers on Abrams main battle tanks will start in Europe soon.

Russias Kommersant Says Two Jets, Two Helicopters Crash in Bryansk (5:30 p.m.)

Two Russian military jets  an Su-24 and an Su-35  and two Mi-8 helicopters likely crashed on Saturday in the Bryansk region not far from Ukraines northeast border, with their crews killed, the Kommersant newspaper reported.

Earlier, Russian media reported that one plane and one helicopter had crashed, with the circumstances still under investigation.

In its report, which cited preliminary data, Kommersant said the jets had been headed to Ukraines Chernihiv region on a bombing mission with the helicopters had trailed them to pick up crew members if they were shot down by enemy fire.

Russia Says Ukraine Used UK Storm Shadow Missiles to Strike Luhansk (3:30 p.m.)

Ukraines forces used Storm Shadow missiles provided by the UK to strike occupied Luhansk, Russias defense ministry said in an update on what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine.

Russia said the targets included a polymer factory and a meat plant, without offering evidence. There was no immediate comment from Ukraines military. Images on social media showed large plumes of smoke rising in the city thats far behind the front lines in eastern Ukraine.

The UK confirmed this week that its donating the weapons to Ukraine, saying the move was a calibrated and proportionate response to Russias escalations. The missiles have a firing range in excess of 250 kilometers (155 miles). It was unclear when the Storm Shadows would be ready for deployment.

Read more: UK Sends Long-Range Storm Shadow Cruise Missiles to Ukraine

Russian Helicopter, Jet Crash in Bryansk Region (2:30 p.m.)

At least one Russian military helicopter crashed near Klintsy in the Bryansk region, which borders northeastern Ukraine, Russian media reported, citing local officials who said the cause of the accident was an engine fire.

Tass reported that a Russian Sukhoi Su-34 fighter jet crashed in the same region. Videos circulated on social media of what appeared to be a jet falling from the sky. The footage couldnt be independently verified.

Russias defense ministry hasnt commented. The incidents come a day after a military helicopter crashed in Russian-occupied Crimea, killing its two pilots, during what was described as a routine training exercise.

Zelenskiy in Rome to Meet Prime Minister, Pope Francis (11:43 p.m.)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in Rome on Saturday to meet Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and other government officials, as well as Pope Francis.

We renew our commitment by the side of Ukrainian people, in defense of freedom and democracy, said Italys Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

Andriy Yermak, Zelenskiys chief of staff, posted images from a meeting between Ukrainian and Italian officials that he said had a particular focus on the issue of Russias abduction of Ukrainian children.

EUs Borrell Says 1,000 Rounds a Day Needed in Bakhmut (11:40 a.m.)

The Ukrainian armed forces need about 1,000 shells every day just in the Bakhmut area, as fierce fighting continues around city in Donetsk, said Josep Borrell, the EUs top foreign policy official.

While European countries are providing shells, they realize that theres a need to accelerate those deliveries, Borrell said after a meeting with Ukraines foreign minister and his European counterparts near Stockholm.

I am very sorry that it is the way it is, but a far as Russia continues attacking, Ukraine has to defend, and this is the requirement that Mr. Kuleba presented today to the ministers, Borrell said.

Germany Announces 2.7 Billion Military Aid Package for Ukraine (10 a.m.)

Germany is preparing another military support package for Ukraine worth more than 2.7 billion ($2.9 billion), the countrys defense ministry said, confirming an earlier report from Der Spiegel.

Read more: Germany Announces Record 2.7B in Military Aid for Ukraine

The record large package is intended to continue to support Kyiv in its defense against Russia and will include material from the areas of artillery, air defense, and armored combat vehicles including main battle tanks.

We are once again showing that Germany is serious about its support, said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. Germany will provide all the help it can - as long as it takes, he added. Ukraines president will reportedly travel to Berlin on Saturday after visiting Rome, Der Tagespiegel reported.

Read more: Europe Crowns Zelenskiy As New Charlemagne: Andreas Kluth

Poland Says Probable Observation Balloon Flies in From Belarus (9:44 a.m.)

Polands defence ministry said a flying object, probably an observation balloon, entered the NATO members airspace from Belarus to the east. Troops are searching for the object after it disappeared from radar near the town of Rypin, some 150 km (93 miles) northwest of Warsaw, the ministry said.

Ukraines PM Kuleba Asks Allies to Focus on Weapons Shipments (9:30 a.m.)

Western countries should stop asking when Ukraines counteroffensive against Russia will start and instead focus on providing the equipment it needs to be successful, foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said before a meeting with European foreign ministers in Sweden.

When you fight a war you need everything, from medical vehicles to transport injured soldiers to long-range missiles, armored personnel carriers and F-16s, Kuleba told reporters at the meeting venue near Stockholm. Instead of asking when the counteroffensive will begin, ask: have I done enough for the Ukrainian counteroffensive to begin and to be successful?

Russia Launched Sixth Drone Attack on Kyiv This Month (8:30 a.m.)

Russia attacked Kyiv with drones early Saturday monring. Air alerts sounded in Ukraines capital for over two hours in the sixth air attack there since the beginning of May, Kyiv city military administration said in Telegram.

Some 21 Iranian-made Shahed-136/131 were directed at Kyiv from the north and south, with 17 downed, Ukrainian Air Defence reports.

Ukraines southern Mykolayiv and northern Khmelnitskiy regions faced strikes as well. Over 15 strikes from different kind of weapons were directed on southern city of Kherson and the near by areas over the past day. Two people killed and four injured.

Preparations for Counteroffensive Discussed (1:30 a.m.)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraines foreign minister, spoke about preparations for the Ukrainian counteroffensive in a call on Friday, the State Department said.

They discussed how contributions from international partners can support the success of the counteroffensive, the department said in a statement.

South Africa, US Seek to Smooth Over Weapons Dispute (1:10 a.m.)

South Africa and the US sought to make amends after the American ambassador was summoned in protest over his accusation that the country had provided weapons to Russia.

The government in Pretoria said the ambassador, Reuben Brigety, admitted that he crossed the line and apologized unreservedly. That followed South African officials expressing utter displeasure with his conduct.

Neither the US nor South Africa addressed the veracity of his claim that South Africa had sent arms Russia for the war in Ukraine. Brigety said in a tweet late Friday that he was grateful for the chance to correct any misimpressions left by my public remarks.

Putin Seeks to Stop People From Leaving Russia (6:10 p.m.)

Russias president wants additional measures to stop people from leaving the country, according to a document published by Kremlin. Hundreds of thousands fled after Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022 and later announced a mobilization when his army suffered a series of setbacks.

According to Putins order, emigration from Russia has increased because of changed social economic conditions and it is necessary to adopt additional financial, social and other mechanisms to keep human capital and reduce Russian population outflow abroad.

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Nairobi, May 12, 2023Ethiopian authorities should immediately release journalist Gobeze Sisay and cease harassing members of the press at home and abroad, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.

On May 6, Ethiopian authorities announced that Gobeze, editor and founder of privately owned YouTube-based broadcaster The Voice of Amhara, had been arrested in the neighboring country of Djibouti. The journalists lawyer, Addisu Almaw, told CPJ that he was renditioned to Ethiopia and was held at the Federal Police Crime Investigation Center in the capital city of Addis Ababa.

On May 9 and 10, Gobeze appeared before the Lideta branch of the Federal High Court in Addis Ababa, where police accused him of terrorism and leading the media propaganda wing of an unnamed extremist group, according to court documents reviewed by CPJ. Authorities did not identify any specific content or activities prompting that allegation.

The court granted police an additional 14 days to hold Gobeze for investigation, and he is due in court on May 24, Addisu said.

Ethiopian authorities have brazenly reached across borders to silence and retaliate against journalist Gobeze Sisay. His arrest will instill fear in all the journalists who have fled the country, seeking safety in exile, said CPJs sub-Saharan Africa representative, Muthoki Mumo. Gobeze should be released without delay, and authorities in Ethiopia and Djibouti must shed light on the murky circumstances surrounding his arrest and rendition.

In the announcement of Gobezes arrest, published on the Facebook page of the Ethiopian Federal Police and signed by the Ethiopian Security and Intelligence Taskforce, authorities said he had been arrested with the assistance of Djiboutian authorities and the International Criminal Police Organization, or Interpol. That task force is a body that brings together the police, military, and intelligence services.

In an emailed statement to CPJ, an Interpol representative said the organization had no information about Gobeze in its databases and noted that it was not empowered to arrest or extradite individuals.

Prior to his arrest, Gobezes reporting focused on recent unrest in Amhara regional state, following the demobilization of the Amhara State Special Forces. Authorities previously detained Gobeze for more than a week in May 2022, and held him for more than two months later that year.

In an April 30 statement by the security task force, authorities accused Gobeze and 46 others of involvement in terrorism in Amhara regional state. That statement named at least five journalistsMeskerem Abera, Dawit Begashaw, Tewodros Asfaw, Genet Asmamaw, and Assefa Adanewho were already in detention.

The April 30 statement said authorities were responding to extremist groups attempting to forcibly subvert the constitutional system in the Amhara region following the April 27 murder of Girma Yeshitila, a top ruling party official in the state. It accused members of the media of spreading false news and propaganda.

Gobeze fled to Djibouti after that statement was published, his lawyer told CPJ.

When CPJ asked Ethiopian Federal Police spokesperson Jeylan Abdi about the circumstances of Gobezes detention and rendition, he declined to answer those questions and said via messaging app that Gobeze had been detained in connection to the death of an official in Amhara regional state, was suspected of terrorism, and was not being targeted for his journalism.

CPJ contacted Djibouti Deputy Director of Public Security Omar Hassan and Interior Minister Said Nuh Hassan via messaging app and text message for comment, but did not immediately receive any responses. CPJs text to Djibouti Information Minister Ridwan Abdullahi Bahdon was answered with an error message saying the number could not be identified.

When CPJ called the publicly available number for the Djibouti police, the person who answered said they were not familiar with Gobezes case.
Independent Hajj Reporters, a civil society organization that monitors and reports Hajj and Umrah activities in Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, has urged the Federal and State Governments to subsidize the differences in the prices of air tickets of Nigerian 2023 intending Hajj pilgrims.

On Saturday, the commission has announced an increase of $250 in the flight tickets of the 2023 Hajj intending pilgrims due to the closure of Sudan airspace because of the ongoing war in the North African country.

The 2023 Hajj fare was based on airlifting Nigerian pilgrims through Sudan airspace to Saudi Arabia, whereby flight ticket prices were calculated based on the number of flight hours to Saudi Arabia via Sudanese airspace.

Having paid the approved Hajj fare, we know Nigerian Muslims or Nigerian intending pilgrims would have to pay the differences in the air tickets if time permits; but we are worried that with less than 10 days to the commencement of airlift of Nigerian pilgrims to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, asking pilgrims to pay the difference at this time will definitely derail the airlift exercise.

A statement by the national coordinator of the CSO Ibrahim Muhammad at the weekend said, We are appealing to the Federal and State Governments to liaise with the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) and offer to settle the differences for the respective number of pilgrims from their states in the event that Sudan airspace remains closed before the commencement of airlift.

We appeal that the Federal Government takes 50 percent while States pay the balance of 50 percent for the numbers of intending pilgrims from their states.

President Muhammadu Buhari had approved Saudi-based Flynas and other Nigerian airlines including Max Air, Air Peace, Azman Air, Aero Contractors, Arik Air and Value Jet to fly Nigerian pilgrims.

While the first five were selected to fly pilgrims from the 36 states and FCT, Arik and Value Jet were selected to offer charter services to pilgrims travelling through private tour operators.

So far, only Saudis Flynas agreed to airlift the pilgrims at the preSudan crisis air ticket price. Flynas is to transport 28, 515. The local airliners that demand for upward review of air tickets are Max Air with 16,326 allocation, Air Peace 11,348, Azman Air 8,660 and Aero Contractors with 7,833 leaving the fate of remaining 44, 167 States Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Boards pilgrims in apparent uncertainty.

The closure of the Sudanese airspace will compel airlines to fly through longer routes to Saudi Arabia which will take approximately 7 hours instead of the usual 4 hours plus. This unfortunate development has added another 2 to 3 hours flight time to the existing airlift cost template for Nigerian Intending pilgrims.

The increase in the air tickets comes after pilgrims have completed the payment of Hajj fare as announced by NAHCON.

While we commend the Federal Governments efforts in evacuating Nigerians who are stranded in Sudan, we appeal to the government to extend the same gesture to Nigerian intending pilgrims by subsidizing the 2023 Hajj air ticket, the CSO said.

SIGNED

IBRAHIM MUHAMMED

NATIONAL CORDINATOR

INDEPENDENT HAJJ REPORTERS

13TH OF MAY, 2023


When Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is sworn in as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the 29th of May 2023 he will have his work cut out for him: not only will he be inheriting a morally and financially bankrupt nation questions will, continually, be asked about his checkeredpast and his ability to run the country.

How old is he really? What are his true educational qualifications? Does he really have dual-nationality? Whats the true source of his mega-wealth? Also,questions will be asked about whether hes medically-fit to run the country and the continual questions about his alleged drug smuggling/peddling convictions in the United States about three decades ago.

He may not have been everybodys best choice for the job but he allegedly won the election fair and square, something that has already been confirmed by INEC and congratulatory messages have been pouring in from World Leaders across the globe. If you elect even a goatto be your President the intentional community will respect that as your choice as being the best you have to offer.

Nigeria is in shambles and despite the efforts of his predecessor, and fellow APC compatriot, MohammaduBuhari, who was in power from 2015, things are still going downhill with seemingly no light at the end of the tunnel. Are we going to see the emergence of a Super-Hero Tinubu whos going to come in guns blazingtackling corruption, cronyism, insecurity and consigning all the nations woes to the dustbin or is he just going to engage himself with doing Naija-politics  turning a blind eye to all thats going on, pardon all his corrupt mates while he sits out his term  like his predecessor.

The nation is fed up of leaders giving excuses for their incompetence. Recently Femi Adeshina, defending his boss, claimed Buhari was ..not aware of promises made to Nigerians by support groups in 2015... A good excuse to cover up incompetence but when you send out your supporters to canvas for votes dont they read and have a copy of the [agreed] party manifesto? They could have easily have sent out Basketmouth or Mr Macaroni to tell a few jokes if they couldnt tell the truth!

President Tinubu is in whether anybody likes it or not and everybody will be watching what he gets up to. I dont want to sound like a Prophet of Doom here but APC winning a third consecutive Presidential term is pushing the country in the direction of being a one-party state: PDP is in trouble leadership-wise and unless they can bring in a suitable candidate to rival Atiku Abubakar they are dead in the water. Peter Obis Labour Party movement still has a long way to go to break the APC/PDP domination. And this is not good for development since the same party manifesto will just be re-cycled over and over again. To dispel the notion of the country turning into a one-party state is he (Tinubu) going to sack all current Buhari-appointed ministers and political appointees and appoint fresh new ones or is hejust going to re-cycle the old and re-appoint them?

Then there is the question of his health. Being the leader of a nation, anywhere in the world, is a 24/7/365 job and it can take its toll even on the fittest of men (- and women). Tinubus true state of health has always been a subject of debate and he hasnt come clean about it. During his tenure as President, Buhari was notoriously famous for going AWOL, on numerous occasions, on medical-check-up trips to the UK that King Charles, jokingly, once asked him if he had a house in London. Will incoming President Tinubu, a known perennial health-check-up tourist in the London medical circles, also be running the country from the UK? And will he be flying to the UK frequently in his own private jet or the Presidential jet?

The there is the question of him going-youth. The Youths of Nigeria, predominantly the under-35s, have always been excluded from the affairs of state almost as if they dont exist. How is he going to connect with them in an effort to make his tenure more youth-friendly? At the end of the day its their future nation he will be managing. All these old Babas seem to forget that one day theyll pass and the young people [ they are ignoring today] will inherit the mess they have left behind.

And about his checkered past? Well, we all tell the odd fib or white-lie or two (-or few!) from time to time, so now hes going to be President perhaps hell tell us all as it is before we read about it in his unauthorized biography!

Follow me on Twitter: @Archangel641 or visit http://www.archangel641.blogspot.co.uk
Two people were hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after a motorcycle and another vehicle collided Friday evening on Emily Park Road.

City of Kawartha Lakes OPP say it happened at about 5:20 p.m.

The two people  a driver and a passenger  were airlifted to a Toronto hospital. No other injuries were reported.

Emily Park Road was closed from Grassy Road to Valley Road for several hours as OPP investigators worked at the scene.

Police issued a statement about motorcycles: With Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month underway in May, the OPP is reminding motorcyclists and other motorists to be responsible, defensive, attentive, and alcohol/drug-free drivers throughout the riding season, it states. Motorcyclists are reminded to wear bright, protective equipment and clothing to increase their visibility to other motorists.

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The solution to Peterboroughs search for a bus system that meets riders needs without costing more than city council wants to spend seems as elusive as, well, a city bus that arrives every 20 minutes on schedule.

Four years ago, a comprehensive transit study recommended spending $3 million more annually to switch to a grid system of routes and add routes and stops.

Council rejected the plan and ordered some limited, grid-like routes. Some riders said service was worse, not better.

In February, faced with rising costs, city staff recommended a $1-million transit budget increase, the equivalent of six per cent. Council said no, froze funding instead, and directed staff to work out the details.

Those details were delivered Monday in a staff report: substantial weekend, holiday and other route cuts would save $800,000. More recommendations would follow.

Council said not yet. A public liaison committee created as part of the funding freeze will get to have its say before any decision is made.

Thats where things sit. Like local transit, its a slow-moving process. And a close look at the options put forward suggests none are likely to be the solution everyone wants.

Heres a bullet point review.

The liaison committee will have an answer: The committee has representatives from various rider groups, including both Trent University and Fleming College students who are the largest core group. Non-student riders complain they get second-class treatment in route planning. Listening to everyones concerns is a good idea that could help with fine-tuning, but wont produce a big-picture solution.

Tap into a capital reserve fund to cover the extra $1 million in operating costs, pushing annual spending to $19.2 million: Considered and rejected in the staff report, this is the solution favoured by the union representing bus drivers and backed by some riders. The city gets just under $2 million annually from the province and Ottawa  more for special projects some years  but it must be spent on buses and equipment and requires a city contribution. Drain the reserve and there is no money to leverage grants. Transferring from reserves now with a promise to replace the cash later would create a nasty future obligation for local taxpayers. Which segues nicely into ...

Cuts are inevitable or transit will be overfunded: Coun. Andrew Beamer, councils finance and budget chair, referred Monday to over-subsidy of a system that isnt providing good service. Beamer is a fiscal conservative and backed the freeze in part because it lowered the annual property tax increase. But the over-subsidy argument doesnt hold. A 2018, pre-COVID study of per-capita transit spending put Peterborough last among five comparable Southern-Ontario cities with a university and/or college. Moving up one spot to match Kingston would have cost an extra $1.4 million annually. Catching Guelph, at the top of the heap, would have cost $6.3 million a year.

In terms of effective change, it would be a big help if provincial/federal grants were not tied exclusively to capital spending. Allow up to $1 million a year to be used for operating costs.

Dont listen to anti-Trent and Fleming complaints. All students pay an annual fee for bus passes. They are the main revenue and ridership drivers. The level of service they get should be seen as a standard to be matched, not a perk to be cut back.

Give the full grid system a chance. Maybe not at the $3-million-a-year level to start, but something like it.

Delivering better service would attract riders and generate revenue. That, not cuts, needs to be the goal.

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Beyond Our Imagination  that was the theme of the 14th Annual UWI Toronto Benefit Awards to raise funds to support Caribbean students attending the University of the West Indies. More than 450 guests celebrated at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on April 29, where actress and singer Sheryl Lee Ralph, of Dreamgirls and Abbott Elementary fame, received the Luminary Award and pledged via video to create a scholarship in her familys name. Another highlight was the live auction, where Wes Hall, of Dragons Den, won autographed Lennox Lewis boxing gloves and a private lesson from the former heavyweight champ.

The 14th Annual UWI Toronto Benefit Awards were held at the Ritz-Carlton.

Donette Chin-Loy Chang and Brigette Chang-Addorisio, right, with her children Lucas and Savanna.

Elizabeth Buchanan-Hind and Dodridge D. Miller.

Caleb, Kevin and Ann-Marie Hibbert.

Hilary Beckles and Anya Schnoor.

Fennella Bruce and Sabrina Perry.

Donovan Bailey.

Wes Hall and Lennox Lewis.

Tyrone Edwards and Julianna Foster.

Dahabo Ahmed-Omer and Ray Williams.

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QI heard that speed dating has made a comeback but the memory of what I experienced in its earlier popularity was too much too soon.

I tried it just once, maybe 30 years ago. One guy (24, I was 21) looked up when I sat facing him and announced that I was his perfect match. I was both nervous and flattered. But I soon realized that Id learned nothing about him.

I foolishly gave him my cellphone number and he began texting me several times daily, saying what a great couple we were.

He kept organizing dates with no consideration to my personal schedule (I was finishing my university courses).

My school was in a different city, and he insisted on visiting me there. I insisted he stay at a hotel and told him I wasnt in a serious relationship with him.

The whole episode was awkward and embarrassing. It put me off dating for several years.

Not for me

AYes, speed dating has returned, as described in a recent Star article by writer Olivia Bowden, who experienced a renewed form of speed dating, which originated in the late1990s.

It worked for some then, but not for everyone, which Bowden soon discovered for herself about talking to strangers for just minutes, to discover if they clicked.

I understand this rebirth of an old-new dating method which avoids the negative aspects of dating apps e.g., cold dismissals from a stranger, or being ghosted after previous buildup to frequent online communication  or, worse, after a first in-person date.

Yet, online dating enhanced many lives. Ive personally known couples happily married for years after meeting online.

Unfortunately, your experience years ago with an overzealous speed-dater put you off. He may have been genuinely attracted  or he wanted a connection with anyone whod respond.

Now that youre in your 50s, I hope your personal life includes happy, loving connections.

QIve lived with my male partner, age 30, for six years. He cares excessively about his physical appearance, attends a gym daily and enjoys its positive mental-health space.

Hes proud of his strength and good looks, having endured severe insecurities as an obese teenager.

Im 28 and opposite to him. I didnt fall in love with him for his looks. He admires that others physical appearances arent my interests. We relate to different struggles and help each other understand different people.

However, since experiencing sudden unexplained hair loss, its all he thinks about. We dont have any answers yet from doctors and blood work, which is stressful.

Ill love and adore him no matter what he looks like. But he finds my consoling efforts unempathetic.

I cant help him with research or contacts. I dont want to draw attention to the problem or exacerbate anything, so I havent touched his hair or his face for physical comfort (his primary love language).

Sex doesnt distract him much, though normally hed be happy for that stress relief. Were now both feeling isolated because I cant comfort or support him. Im watching him stressed, desperate and grieving.

How do I help him feel loved and supported? Im asking your readers the following: Could other men who have experienced hair loss help me understand what support they would have wanted from their partner through something so distressing?

Missing empathy

AThis writers outreach to men with hair-loss experience shows the essence of what a relationship column can bring to light. Ill publish the answers that emerge, as soon as they become available.

Feedback Regarding the new neighbour helped to move into her condo by the letter-writers husband (April 19):

ReaderWhile the letter-writer may have past insecurities, her husband should be more sensitive.

I remember years ago my husband suddenly started helping a new friend from work with moving and other things.

When I joked one day to a guy friend of his, that he was helping his girlfriend, he got really angry. I didnt find out until later that she was indeed his new girlfriend.

I honestly didnt see it coming.

There are women out there who play at being helpless and, while this incident may not be the case, I believe the wife should stay watchful and make sure the new neighbour uses the landlord for other jobs in future.

Also, watch that the woman socializes with them both if shes interested in making friends with her new neighbours.

Ellies tip of the day:Dating-assists will always attract some singles, whether online, seated together briefly, or connected by paid matchmakers. Your choice.

Ellie Tesher and Lisi Tesher are advice columnists for the Star and based in Toronto. Send your relationship questions via email: ellie@thestar.ca or lisi@thestar.ca

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SIOUX CENTER, Iowa (AP)  Decrying a Republican culture of losing, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sought Saturday to weaken former President Donald Trumps grip on the GOP as tornado warnings interrupted a collision of leading presidential prospects in battleground Iowa.

DeSantis, expected to announce his 2024 presidential campaign any day, briefly flipped burgers and pork chops at an afternoon picnic fundraiser in Sioux Center that drew hundred of conservatives to the northwest corner of the state. From the podium, the 44-year-old governor highlighted his eagerness to embrace conservative cultural fights and sprinkled his remarks with indirect jabs at Trump.

Governing is not about entertaining. Governing is not about building a brand or talking on social media and virtue signaling, said DeSantis, who wore a blue button-down shirt without a tie or jacket. Its ultimately about winning and producing results.

Trump, a candidate since November, had hoped to demonstrate his political strength with a large outdoor rally in Des Moines, the capital, later in the day. He canceled the appearance hours before its scheduled start time due to a tornado warning.

Roughly 200 supporters had already gathered at the venue.

I feel like its still Trumps time, said Robert Bushard, 76, who said he drove about four hours from St. Paul, Minnesota to see the former president. Of DeSantis, he said, Hed be a good president after Trump.

Republican primary voters across the nation are sizing up DeSantis and Trump, two Republican powerhouses who are among a half dozen GOP candidates already in the race or expected to announce imminently. Trump is well ahead of his rivals in early national polls, while DeSantis is viewed widely as the strongest potential challenger.

Trump was hoping to return to the comfort of the campaign stage after a tumultuous week.

On Tuesday, a civil jury in New York found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming advice columnist E. Jean Carroll and awarded her $5 million. A day later, during a contentious CNN town hall, he repeatedly insulted Carroll, reasserted lies about his 2020 election loss and minimized the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

DeSantis has burnished his reputation as a conservative governor willing to push hard for conservative policies and even take on a political fight with Disney, which he highlighted in Sioux Center. But so far, he hasnt shown the same zest for taking on Trump, who has been almost singularly focused on tearing down DeSantis for months.

On Saturday, DeSantis avoided Trumps legal entanglements or his falsehoods about the 2020 election, instead highlighting the GOPs recent string of electoral losses. The Republican Party has struggled in every national election since Trumps 2016 victory.

We must reject the culture of losing that has impacted our party in recent years. The time for excuses is over, DeSantis said. If we get distracted, if we focus the election on the past or on other side issues, then I think the Democrats are going to beat us again.

Its uncertain whether DeSantis political successes in Florida can be replicated on the national stage.

Even before he formally enters the race, hes already facing questions about his ability to court donors and woo voters.

The Iowa visit, his second in two months, was expected to help address concerns about his sometimes awkward personal appeal as he met with Republican officials, donors and volunteers, all under the glare of the national media. But DeSantis devoted little time  at least compared with most of the GOPs other White House contenders  for selfies or handshakes in Sioux Center, where more than 600 people had gathered to see him at an event billed as a family picnic for U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra.

DeSantis left most of the politicking to his allied super political action committee, which had set up a table where prospective supporters for his yet-to-be-announced presidential campaign could sign up.

The road outside the museum was flanked with DeSantis 2024 campaign signs.

Trumps team had expected more than 5,000 to attend the rally at an outdoor amphitheater in downtown Des Moines for the purpose of collecting information on would-be supporters and encouraging them to commit to Trump.

Trumps 2024 Iowa campaign, unlike his rag-tag 2016 second-place Iowa effort, is putting together a more disciplined, data-driven operation. The Saturday event was aimed at encouraging attendees to sign up with the campaign on a website so the campaign could maintain contact with them, keep them posted on how and where to caucus, and recruit campaign volunteers.

In a social media post, Trump promised to reschedule the event. Shortly afterward, the campaign released a list of endorsements from more than 150 Iowa elected officials and activists across all of the states 99 counties.

And as they compete for support, the emerging rivalry with DeSantis has turned increasingly personal.

DeSantis has largely ignored Trumps most egregious jabs, which have included suggesting impropriety with young girls as a teacher decades ago, questioning his sexuality and calling him Ron DeSanctimonious.

Trumps campaign began airing an ad mocking DeSantis for yoking himself to the former president in 2018 when he ran for governor, even using some Trump catchphrases as a nod to his supporters in Florida.

Trumps super PAC, MAGA Inc., also has aired spots highlighting DeSantis votes to cut Social Security and Medicare and raise the retirement age. The group even targeted DeSantis snacking habits, running an ad that called for him to keep his pudding fingers off those benefits. That was a reference to a report in The Daily Beast that the governor ate chocolate pudding with his fingers instead of a spoon on a plane several years ago.

DeSantis has said he does not remember doing that.

At the same time, the pro-DeSantis super PAC, Never Back Down, has hired Iowa staff and begun trying to organize support for the governor before a 2024 announcement. The group announced Thursday that state Senate President Amy Sinclair and state House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl would endorse DeSantis candidacy. On Friday, it rolled out roughly three dozen more state lawmakers who would endorse him.

Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst attended DeSantis Sioux Center appearance.

After his speech, he spent about 15 minutes shaking hands and making small talk with voters as he maneuvered through the large audience, trailed by reporters, TV cameras and a security detail. He then dashed outdoors to pose with Reynolds and Feenstra while tending to burgers and pork chops at the grill.

Lyle and Sonia Remmerde of Rock Valley managed a handshake. She said DeSantis style comes across as normal.

One of the things when you compare Trump and DeSantis, I think DeSantis has  how do you say?  a much more smooth approach, said Lyle Remmerde, 65. Hes less abrasive.

___

Price reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Peoples reported from New York.

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For half a century Canadians have told polls they worry about the environment.

In 1970, in a Gallup poll, 63 per cent thought the dangers of pollution were very serious. In 1989, pollster Angus Reid asked the public, Would you support a political party that made protection of the environment its primary objective?

Across the country, 19 per cent said they definitely would consider that party; another 52 per cent would seriously consider it. In Ontario, 23 per cent said they would definitely support that party, and 48 per cent seriously consider it.

Yet, wherever the Green Party runs, in federal or provincial elections, its support dramatically lags the voters avowed concern for the environment.

In an Ipsos poll before last years Ontario election, only 13 per cent of voters who said the environment was one of their most important issues intended to vote for a Green Party candidate. In the election the Greens got 6 per cent. In a Vector Poll in January this year 8 per cent supported the Greens. In April, in an Angus Reid Institute poll only 6 per cent were most likely to vote Green.

Those who resisted legislation to curb fossil fuels shrewdly framed the choice facing voters as jobs or the environment. Possibly the first poll on the tradeoff was a 1990 Gallup survey asking Canadians, What do you think is more important  to create jobs or to protect the environment?

The poll found that 58 per cent said protect the environment, 29 per cent said create jobs (13 per cent had no opinion). But this strong verdict in favour of the environment was misleading. Canadians want a painless, inexpensive transition to a green economy.

In an Innovative Research Group poll last year, 38 per cent agreed putting a price on pollution is one of the best ways to lower carbon consumption and to fight climate change But 45 per cent agreed, The carbon pricing policy is just another tax grab that hinders the economic development of the country and does nothing for the environment.

The same poll underscores the publics ambivalence: 41 per cent agreed fossil fuels should be phased out as quickly as possible to speed up the shift to a lower-carbon future even if it means job losses or paying more for energy,  but 57 per cent agreed it is critical to Canadas ongoing prosperity that we responsibly develop and export our oil and gas resources.

This year, 60 per cent said no when Ipsos asked, Are you prepared to pay more in taxes to help fight climate change? In March, 37 per cent told Ipsos that lowering taxes should be federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freelands priority in her recent budget, while only 12 per cent said spending to support the transition to greener energy.

Like other Green Party leaders, Ontarios Mike Schreiner wants voters to see the Greens as more than a single-issue party.

Were demanding better care for patients, says a recent Green Party fundraising letter. A new donor appeal from the Ontario NDP says, We can invest in and grow our public health care system. Greens are standing up for young people who need an affordable place to call home.

The diversification strategy is failing because the more the Greens campaign on different issues the more they become indistinguishable from other parties. Instead, the Greens should double down on the environment to engage environmental voters.

Schreiner could promise a Green government will use the $6 billion a year Ontario spends to subsidize hydro prices to give cash rewards to individuals and businesses who reduce their energy consumption.

He could pledge to get thousands of CO2-emitting vehicles off the road by giving drivers financial incentives to buy or lease an electric car, provided they scrap a fossil-fuel-burning vehicle.

He could promise a Green government will replace  one-for-one  any job eliminated by the shift to a low-carbon economy.

Every business faces the choice to specialize or diversify its products, customers or services. For the Greens diversifying isnt working. They need to specialize.

Marc Zwelling is the founder of The Vector Poll and author of Public Opinion and Polling For Dummies and Ideas and Innovation For Dummies.

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Phuket ready for national election

PHUKET: Phuket is ready for the national general election to be held on Sunday (May 14), Orapin Acheevasuk, Director of the Phuket Office of the Election Commission of Thailand (ECT Phuket), has announced.

politics

By The Phuket News

Saturday 13 May 2023, 09:00AM

Phukets three consituencies to be contested by the election on Sunday (May 14). Image: ECT Phuket

ECT Phuket Director Orapin Acheevasuk (centre, right) leads the Big Day election awareness event at Saphan Hin on Tuesday (May 9). Photo: PR Phuket

There will be 377 polling stations set up across the island which will be open to receive voters from 8am and 5pm.

There are a total of 313,594 eligible voters registered in Phuket Province, divided into Constituency 1 with 101,164 eligible voters, Constituency 2 with 102,388 eligible voters and Constituency 3 with 110,042 eligible voters.

Constituency 1 comprises Phuket Town (Talad Yai and Talad Neua subdistricts), plus Ratsada and Koh Kaew.

Constituency 2 comprises Wichit, Chalong, Rawai ,Kata, Karon (namely all areas in Muang District not covered by Zone 1), plus Patong and Kamala (both in Kathu District).

Constituency 3 comprises all of Thalang District plus Tambon Kathu.

Ms Orapin on Thursday (May 11) said that it is hoped that as many as 80% of eligible voters will turn out to cast their votes. Voter turnout is expected to be no less than 70%, she added.

Officials have been trained in how to perform their duties, and the equipment needed has been tested and proved to be fully operational, Ms Orapin said.

ECT Phuket has confirmed that the official ballot counting centers will be at Saphan Hin for Constituency 1, at the Tapao Yai building at Wichit Municipality for Constituency 2 and at Muang Thalang School in Tambon Thepkrasattri for Constituency 3.

We are ready to invite those who have rights to exercise their rights [to vote]. I repeat, study the information before entering the booth. Avoid entering a bad ballot or engaging in any illegal actions, Ms Orapin said.

Ms Orapin said her greatest concern were people not completing ballots correctly, resulting in a spoiled or rejected ballot  meaning the vote will not count.

Any area where the number of spoiled or rejected ballots exceeds 3% of the number of eligible voters for that area will result in the election result for that area being annulled, Ms Orapin noted.

Voters will be given two ballot papers: one green ballot to vote for a candidate, and one purple ballot to choose which party to support when determining the party list seats.

To raise awareness about correct procedures for voting, Ms Orapin along with ECT Phuket officials and members of the public held a Big Day event at Saphan Hin on Tuesday.

It is believed that the general election on Sunday, May 14, will be the most peaceful election. But what Im worried about is I want people to study the election information before entering the booth so as not to mark a bad ballot. Do not break the law and do not make votes that come out to be wasted, she said.

Of note, the Royal Thai Police have warned that wearing clothing with logos of political parties or names of their candidates during the election period on May 13-14 may be considered illegal campaigning and thus result in a hefty fine or even imprisonment.

In accordance with election law, alcohol sales and distribution will be forbidden nationwide from 6pm tomorrow (May 13) until 6pm Sunday (May 14).

The ban applies to all people in the country. Those caught violating the ban can face a fine of up to B10,000 or even up to six months in jail, or both, confirmed a notice issued by Royal Thai Police last week.

The ban includes a ban on alcohol consumption gatherings.
Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the UAE, is launching its seasonal services into the Portuguese capital of Lisbon on June 18 and is treating its guests with discounted fares.



Guests can benefit from this offer to enjoy the unique old city known for its historical centre, stunning architecture, colourful azulejos and fantastic food, with fares starting at AED2,995 ($815) in Economy class and AED14,995 in Business class.



Arik De, Chief Revenue Officer, Etihad Airways, said: With the launch of our new seasonal service to Lisbon, we offer our guests discounted fares to visit one of the oldest nation-states in Europe, hear stories about the glories of the old empire and enjoy the delicious custard tarts, famous in Portugal.



The airline will be connecting Abu Dhabi to Lisbon right in time for the summer holidays, with three weekly flights scheduled to be operated on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays, with the sale running until 17 May for travel between 18 June and 5 October.



The flights from Abu Dhabi to Lisbon will be operated with Boeing 787 aircrafts, one of the most advanced fleet in the world, offering Etihads award-winning service to guests in First, Business and Economy classes, convenient flight timings and seamless connections to destinations across the airlines growing global network of 67 destinations.



As well as introducing flights to Lisbon, Etihad Airways will be returning to Malaga on the Spanish Costa del Sol and the popular Greek island of Mykonos this summer.



Everyone flying on Etihad will benefit from complimentary Chat messaging throughout their entire flight by signing in with Etihad Guest membership or simply enrolling online before flying to benefit immediately. The free chat feature includes access to popular messaging apps like WhatsApp, Messenger, and WeChat to name a few.  TradeArabia News Service
Lagos, Nigeria--(Newsfile Corp. - May 13, 2023) - Veritasi Homes, a leading Nigerian real estate development company, has been recognised by Financial Times in the annual ranking of Africa's Fastest Growing Companies of 2023, focused on identifying top performers in Africa's private sector. This ranking places Veritasi Homes as the only Nigerian real estate company in Africa to make the list.

The company has accomplished this feat by catering to the needs of over 1,000 clients with world-class homes, despite the adverse business climate. Veritasi's tremendous revenue growth is evident as the company, earlier in the year, became the first indigenous real estate company to earn an international B/Stable rating from Scope Ratings, Europe.

The list of Africa's fastest-growing companies, compiled by Financial Times in collaboration with Statista, a research and database company, highlights advanced, modern, and thriving businesses in Africa fueling the global economy in the 21st century. It showcases the growth of private companies across different sectors, offering a brief overview of the corporate landscape where technology, Fintech, and other businesses have had to adapt to a significantly challenging environment.

Veritasi Homes has developed a real estate portfolio spanning nine developments. The developments include five luxury residential constructs, Camberwall Advantage 1-5; two affordable housing projects, Camberwall Court 1 and 2; and two site and services projects, ITUNU Residential and ITUNU CITY, to mention a few, within five years of existence.

Nola Adetola, the Chief Executive Officer, commenting happily about the ranking, said, "I can recall when we started in 2017; it took us a few months to get our first set of clients. But now, Veritasi Homes caters to over 1,000 clients with our various mega projects spanning Lekki, all the way down to Aiyetoro, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria. We are proud to receive another global recognition. The announcement is huge for us. Despite our economic challenges, it reflects our team's hard work, sweat, and innovative skills. As we celebrate this accolade, expect more from Veritasi Homes."

Story continues

Tobi Yusuff, Partner at Veritasi Homes, shared his thoughts following the announcement by Financial Times: "The recognition we have received from Financial Times for the 2023 ranking has us as the only Nigerian real estate company of the 100 companies ranked. The ranking reinforces our belief in excellence and the team's effort in building the future of Africa's real estate. As this ranking highlights our diligence, we are further committed to excellence and quality build across our projects."

Veritasi Homes have established a reputation as a frontier of quality, innovation and technology in the Nigerian real estate space. Veritasi Homes will expand its footprint across Africa in the coming years to serve new markets.

Media Contact:

Company name: Veritasi Homes and Properties

Contact person name: Adetola Nola

Business Phone number: +234 903 016 0016

Email: info@veritasihomes.com

City: Lagos

Country: Nigeria

Website: https://veritasihomes.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/165339
Phuket van driver charged for drunk driving causing death

PHUKET: A Phuket passenger van driver has been charged with drunk driving causing death after his van collided with a motorbike in Samkong this morning (May 13), causing the 54-year-old motorbike rider to slam into a roadside power pole.

accidentsdeathalcoholtourismtransportpolice

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Saturday 13 May 2023, 01:30PM

Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

Pol Lt Col Ekkasak Kwanwan of the Phuket City Police said officers were informed of the accident, on Yaowarat Rd about 100 metres from the three-way intersection between the Sam Kong Intersection and Bangkok Hospital Phuket, at about 6am.

Officers arrived at the scene with emergency responders from Vachira Phuket Hospital and the Kusoldharm Foundation to find the body of Korkua Kulsathit, 54, lying nearby his heavily damaged Honda Wave motorcycle, which was still lying beside the power pole he had struck.

Nearby was a grey Phuket-registered Toyota passenger van fitted with back-on-yellow licence plates, indicating that the van is legally registered to be used as a taxi.

The van had heavy damage to its front left and its windscreen was cracked from the impact. The driver, Natthaphong Samart, 48, was waiting for police.

Lt Col Ekasak said that from asking eyewitnesses police had learned that Mr Korkua was riding towards the three-way intersection when he was struck from behind by the van.

Before the accident, the van was seen driving behind the motorbike at high speed. The van collided into the back of Mr Korkuas motorbike, sending him into the roadside power pole.

Nattapong was taken to Phuket City Police Station, where he was tested for alcohol, Lt Col Ekasak confirmed.

His blood alcohol content was recorded as 230 milligrams per 100ml (230mg/dL).

Police charged Nuttaphong with drunk driving causing death, reckless driving causing death and reckless driving causing property damage to others.

Nuttaphong confessed to the charges against him, Lt Col Ekasak said.
Phuket water reserves holding safe

PHUKET: Phuket officials keeping an eye on drought concerns have confirmed that the three main reservoirs on the island currently collectively contain 9.73 million cubic metres of water, some 45.2% of capacity, which is deemed sufficient to see island residents through to the annual rains returning later this month.

Water-Supplyweather

By The Phuket News

Saturday 13 May 2023, 10:30AM

The reservoir reserve levels were confirmed at a meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall chaired by Phuket Vice Governor Mr. Anupap Rodkwan Yodrabam on Thursday (May 11).

Also present was Udomporn Kan, chief of the Phuket Provincial office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM-Phuket), among other officials, including from the Phuket office of the Provincial Waterworks Authority and Phuket City Municipality.

Bang Wad Reservoir in Kathu currently holds 3.66mn cubic metres of water, accounting for 35.9% of capacity, an official report of the meeting said.

Bang Neaw Dum Reservoir in Srisoonthorn is 59.4% full, with 4.27mn cubic metres of water, and Klong Kata Reservoir in Chalong is 43.4% full, with 1.8mn cubic metres of water, the report noted.

The overall picture of the drought situation in Phuket is still not worrying about the amount of water in all three basins is still sufficient, the report concluded.

People were still asked to minimise their water usage as a general practice to help conserve water resources.

Vice Governor Anupap noted that although water reserves were healthy this year, such meetings were still necessary, especially after how people suffered during the droughts of 2018-2019.

Phuket Province faced a shortage of tap water in many areas of Phuket. causing people to suffer, he said.

Therefore, in order to effectively and continuously prepare for drought situations and manage water resources during the dry season, the Governor of Phuket emphasises having a meeting of the Phuket drought situation monitoring committee and for the relevant agencies to analyse and assess the situation in the area every day of the week until the situation is resolved, Vice Governor Anupap said.
PLTO riding clinic to provide training, licenses to Phuket students

PHUKET: Up to 350 students from five schools and colleges in Phuket will be able to obtain their first motorcycle driving licenses through a series of official riding clinics in May and June, the Phuket Land Transport Office (PLTO) has announced.

transportSafety

By The Phuket News

Saturday 13 May 2023, 09:45AM

PLTOs announcement of the five riding clinics in May and June. Image: PLTO

Motorcyclist in protective gear learns basic riding techniques at a riding school in Bangkok. The PLTO did not say if its clinics are organised in partnership with any local riding schools. Photo: Yamaha Riding Academy

The funding to organise the clinics has been provided by the Department of Land Transports Traffic Safety Foundation, which in turn is financed through the annual lucky license place auctions, explained the PLTO Chief Adcha Buachan.

The safe riding education offered by the clinics will be available to male and female students of 15 years old, which is the legal age to obtain a driving license for a personal motorcycle in Thailand.

The courses will include both theoretical and practical training sessions under the guidance of experienced instructors. The training will conclude with written exams (E-Exam) and practical driving exams conducted according to the PLTO standards for motorcycle licenses.

Those who pass the exams will receive their licenses and become eligible drivers of motorcycles for personal use. With their new licenses, students will be able to enjoy riding any motorcycles they wish as Thai law does not have any restrictions on the power of motorcycles for beginners.

The PLTO has already coordinated with five Phuket schools and colleges and allocated quotas for students who are interested in joining the clinics. The schedule of the clinics is as follows:
Search for missing Russian man continues

PHUKET: The search continues for the Russian man swept off rocks and into the water by a wave at Promthep Cape yesterday (May 12), with search teams today hindered by strong wind and waves.

tourismSafetymarineaccidents

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Saturday 13 May 2023, 03:31PM

The missing man, Yuri Smoyan, 32, was with three friends on rocks at the popular peninsula yesterday when they were hit by a large wave.

All four were swept into the sea. Three of the men managed to get out of the water and are safe now, although one was taken to Chalong Hospital for treatment of wounds sustained in the fall.

Rawai Deputy Mayor Thiraphong Thaowdang, who heads the missing persons operations centre set up at Yanui Beach, explained that the search was now a mutli-agency effort after attempts to find Mr Smoyan late yesterday were unsuccessful.

The search teams now comprise officers and personnel from the Tourist Police. The Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command, Rawai Municipality, local rescue foundations and lifeguards, among others, Mr Thiraphong said.

Search teams on speedboats, rubber dinghies and jet-skis were scouring the coast and searching offshore in the hope of locating Mr Smoyan. However, so far efforts have still been unsuccessful.

Strong wind and waves were hampering search efforts, especially along the rocky areas along the coast, where the conditions make it too dangerous for search teams to come close to shore, he said.

The search effort today is from Yanui Beach all the way round to Koh Kaew Phitsadan, Mr Thiraphong explained.

Today has strong winds, but we are praying that we will find him soon, he said.

We encourage everyone who comes to the area, whether by land or by water, to be on the lookout for him, Mr Thiraphong added.
Dont get stuck in traffic: The Ministry of Transportation has scheduled three closures in Waterloo on May 13, 2023 for roadwork on Highway 6.

Highway 6 northbound between Wellington Road 34 / County Road 34 and Maltby Road / Concession 4, Guelph: one alternating lane closed from May 15 at 7 a.m. until May 19 at 5 p.m.

Highway 6 northbound between Wellington Road 34 / County Road 34 and Maltby Road / Concession 4, Guelph: one alternating lane closed until May 12 at 5 p.m.

Highway 6 southbound between Currie Drive / Telfer Glen, Morriston and Highway 5, Hamilton: one alternating lane closed from May 14 at 9 p.m. until May 19 at 5 a.m.

Have further to travel? Highway closures for planned roadwork outside Waterloo

About this story

This story was automatically generated using open data from Ontario 511. These closures are scheduled for short-term or emergency repairs and maintenance of provincial highways around Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo. The disruptions may be intermittent or ongoing and can change due to weather, emergencies and other factors.

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Yellen expects US regulators to be open to mergers among midsize banks G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors' Meeting in Niigata

By Andrea Shalal

NIIGATA, Japan (Reuters) - The current banking environment and pressures on earnings of some U.S. regional banks may lead to some concentration in the sector, and regulators will likely be open to such mergers, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Saturday.

Yellen told Reuters she was not seeing evidence of pressure on smaller community banks, which had a large percentage of insured deposits. She expressed confidence that nearly all banks had access to sufficient liquidity to guard against unexpected deposit outflows from uninsured depositors.

However, she said a certain degree of consolidation in the regional and midsize banking sector could occur. She declined to discuss any specific banks.

"This might be an environment in which we're going to see more mergers, and you know, that's something I think the regulators will be open to, if it occurs," she said in an interview on the sidelines of meetings of finance officials from the Group of Seven rich nations n Japan.

Yellen sought to reassure her G7 partners this week that the U.S. financial system was stable, saying the United States had taken action to strengthen confidence in its banking system after the failure of three regional banks since mid-March.

On Friday she told Bloomberg TV that all three of those banks had tended to have substantial losses and a very high proportion of uninsured deposits but that the overall banking system was well-capitalized and still had "very solid earnings."

Shares of major U.S. regional lenders have been more volatile in recent weeks, with investors still wary about the stability of mid-sized banks.

The KBW Regional Banking index, which has fallen nearly 14% so far this month, rose 0.39% on Friday, but PacWest Bancorp, which lost 23% on Thursday after reporting a decline in deposits, dropped a further 3%.

Yellen noted that pressure on a bank's stock could unsettle uninsured depositors. "The unfortunate dynamic is that once a bank's stock is under pressure, it can trigger concern among uninsured depositors ... even though the bank has adequate capital and liquidity," she said.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal in Niigata; Editing by William Mallard)
Today

Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low near 45F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.

Tonight

Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low near 45F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.

Tomorrow

Mostly sunny skies. High 74F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
Aden Hassan is at his wits end.

For seven months, he, his wife and four young children have lived in a downtown apartment with chunks of missing drywall, loose electrical wires, shredded baseboards, black mould, exposed concrete, a leak under their kitchen sink and a hole behind their shower knob.

The conditions stem from an incident last September, when Hassan returned from a quick trip to the store to find his unit at 235 Rebecca St. flooded.

A few days later, Hassan said, his landlord sent workers in to make repairs that included draining excess water and removing large portions of affected drywall.

They havent been back since.

This isnt a safe place to live, said Hassan, whos the sole income provider for his family. If one of my kids puts water on the walls with the (exposed) wires, they can die.

The drywall was cut out from behind Aden Hassan's bed following a flood. The Hamilton Spectator

Beyond clear safety concerns with his living environment, the 27-year-old is now under threat of eviction from the apartment hes lived in for four years.

In January, Medallion Corporation filed an N5 eviction notice at the Landlord and Tenant Board, pinning the blame of the flood on Hassan and demanding he pay more than $11,800 in damages.

Medallion alleges in the application that during a city-ordered water shutdown on Sept. 22, 2022, Hassan left his apartment with the kitchen faucet on and a plug in the drain. Once the shutdown ended, water spilled out of the sink and onto the floor for hours, the eviction notice stated.

The application left Hassan with an ultimatum: either pay the requested damages or leave the apartment by March 28.

Aden Hassan says his landlord cut away this area in his bathroom looking for a leak. The Hamilton Spectator

I pay my rent every month, Im a good tenant, and I have done nothing wrong. Why should I have to leave? said Hassan, who maintains he didnt leave the faucet on and. They have no proof, no evidence I left it on. Its an excuse they are making to get money.

Medallion didnt respond to several Spectator requests for comment.

In a statement to CBC Hamilton last week, the Toronto-based company said they like to handle tenant matters internally.

Between management and resident, and not through the media. That process of dialogue is ongoing between the resident and management.

Hassan pays around $1,500 a month in rent and worries about finding a similar rate elsewhere given the housing crisis.

Even so, in a bid to avoid conflict with his landlord, he recently took out a loan and paid them $5,000 to squash the dispute and make the repairs.

Aden Hassan pays around $1,500 a month in rent and worries about finding a similar rate elsewhere given the housing crisis. The Hamilton Spectator

Still, nothing was done, Hassan said.

City bylaw director Monica Ciriello said an officer attended Hassans apartment April 5 after receiving a property complaint. After working with the landlord to make the repairs, bylaw confirmed May 2 that a contractor had been retained, she added.

On Tuesday, Medallion left a notice at Hassans door saying work on his unit would begin next week. It didnt make any mention of the pending eviction order or payment demands.

While welcome news, Hassan said his landlords change of heart has come too late.

Im still very overwhelmed, he said over a call Tuesday, adding hes unsure if hell get back the $5,000 he paid to Medallion. Unfortunately, this has been very painful, stressful and unprofessional. It shouldnt have taken all of this difficulty for them to do this.

Aden Hassan holds a pan of water that leaked from the drain in his kitchen sink. The Hamilton Spectator

Indeed, when it comes to landlords ensuring a unit is fit for habitation in Ontario, the legislation is clear, said Douglas Kwan of the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO).

The work has to begin immediately, said Kwan, the centres director of advocacy and legal services. Whatever transpires in a unit, the landlord has a responsibility. Theyre obligated to do all the work thats necessary.

Kwan added thats true even in cases where the source of a units damage is in dispute, such as if the landlord believes the tenant is at fault.

Those are separate responsibilities and rights were talking about here. The work cannot be delayed because of who the landlord thinks is at fault, he said, adding if a landlord does want to challenge the source of any damages, they need to file a separate action at the LTB.

Theres no excuse for that family to be living in a unit with exposed wiring for more than half a year. Its tragic.

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Every Grade 6 student at Adelaide Hoodless is writing at grade level.

The lower-city elementary school isnt the only one in Hamilton where 100 per cent of students met the provincial mark on that portion of the standardized EQAO test.

But, given its demographics, the achievement is remarkable.

Forty per cent of students at Hoodless, which is tucked in the quiet, leafy Blakeley neighbourhood near Main Street East and Sherman Avenue South, are from lower-income households, according to provincial data, a socioeconomic factor that typically coincides with lower student achievement.

Yet their scores are high  and not just in writing.

At Hoodless, 86 per cent of Grade 6 students met the provincial standard in reading on the 2021-22 Education Quality and Accountability Office assessment, while 68 per cent met the mark in math, significantly outpacing provincial and board averages in both categories. Meanwhile, the schools Grade 3s exceeded Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board averages in reading and math  although they fell short of provincial and board norms in writing.

This success isnt novel. In fact, Hoodless has for years defied expectations on EQAO. But no other school in Hamilton with similarly high results has a poverty rate of more than 20 per cent.

So whats happening at Hoodless?

Superintendent of education Bill Torrens wouldnt speak specifically to the school, but did point to experienced, highly skilled educators and strong principal leadership as factors leading to strong student outcomes.

Dedicated professionals make a difference for kids, he said. Where you see schools do very well, you can be confident that theres a strong classroom program underneath that data.

With high expectations, you can see that students from a variety of different socioeconomic communities can achieve at a high level, he said.

Superintendent of education Bill Torrens said "highly skilled educators" and "strong principal leadership" are factors leading to strong student outcomes. The Hamilton Spectator file photo

The board declined The Spectators request for an interview with the principal, saying EQAO is a way to gauge standards imposed by the province, not to compare schools or look into school practices, HWDSB spokesperson Shawn McKillop said in an email.

Experts agree many factors influence outcomes on the oft-criticized test administered annually by the province.

Demographic data, such as income, language and learning abilities, can offer clues, Steven Reid, a faculty member at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, previously told The Spec. For example, it takes several years to become proficient in another language, so schools with more English language learners may have lower results in the assessment, which is in English.

Similarly, ample research from across North America has found that students from lower-income families are often already trailing behind their affluent peers when they start school. Lack of support and access to resources at home, inconsistency and hunger can affect a childs ability to do well academically.

Adelaide Hoodless is the only high-priority school, a designation given to those in areas with greater socioeconomic challenges, to experience this level of success. In fact, only two others in the board  Flamborough Centre and Rousseau in Ancaster  achieved a result of 100 per cent in any subject.

The area surrounding the school is largely residential, with low-rise buildings and houses converted to apartments butting up against million-dollar detached homes.

Diverse schools with a healthy mix of income can have significant benefits for students on the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum. Mixed-income schools also tend to do better than those with higher poverty rates, a 2012 Hamilton Community Foundation report found.

On the other side of Gage Park, half as many students at Memorial Elementary School, where 30 per cent of students are from low-income households, met the standard in writing.

Where we find that schools are having success, we do want to learn from it, Torrens said.

Staff share effective practices through monthly principal and vice-principal learning sessions, advisory committees and mentorship to colleagues, he said.

Nine Catholic schools had grades where 100 per cent of students met the provincial standard in a subject.

At Blessed Sacrament Catholic Elementary School on the Mountain, 100 per cent of Grade 6 students met the standard in writing, 96 per cent met the standard in reading and 69 per cent met the standard in math  all results well above board and provincial averages.

We were surprised, said principal Rukshi Athulathmudali. Its not very easy to accomplish 100 per cent, no matter how outstanding the teacher is.

At Blessed Sacrament Catholic Elementary School on the Mountain, 100 per cent of Grade 6 students met the standard in writing, 96 per cent met the standard in reading and 69 per cent met the standard in math  all results well above board and provincial averages. The Hamilton Spectator

Its a test, she added, meaning theres always a chance kids will freeze and wont do their best work.

Previously, the school achieved 77 in Grade 6 writing in 2018-19 and 82 in 2019-20.

The principal points to the tests new digital format, delivered to students for the first time in 2022, as a factor contributing to the above-average results. The very experienced educators who taught Grade 6 last year are exceptional teachers who have moved technology in those classrooms, the principal said.

The children in both of those classes are very accustomed to working digitally, she said.

The principal said the school uses EQAO results to inform instruction and programming for the following year. Athulathmudali said she and her staff dig deep into the outcomes, analyzing questions and sections where students have excelled or struggled to find out what is or isnt working.

If 70 per cent of your kids failed a particular question on the test  what is it that theyve missed in the instruction or the learning? she asked, adding that it might mean reteaching a concept or teaching it a different way the following year.

Morris Hucal, superintendent of education with the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board, said exceptional results are a testament to  great teaching practices.

Results like these show educators are consistently implementing high-yield strategies, such as a focus on phonics and breaking students into smaller groups, challenging students to meet the 70-and-above standard set by the province, he said.

Hucal also said teachers with experience teaching Grade 3, 6 or 9  the three levels at which the test is administered  have a leg up. They know the curriculum and types of EQAO questions, and embed that into their routines, activities and assessments in the lead-up to the test.

The board also says it makes an effort to learn from its results, having staff in schools with above-average results share best practices with other teachers and consultants.

Hucal said much of this work was paused in recent years as staff prioritized responding to the challenges of the global pandemic. Now, the board is refocusing on intervention where students are behind and on board improvement and equity plans.

Thats going to be our work, he said.

Top 5: Grade 3 writing

St. Mark: 93%

Balaclava: 92%

Sir William Osler: 92%

St. Paul: 91%

Corpus Christi: 89%

Bottom 5: Grade 3 writing

Cecil B. Stirling: 11%

Parkdale: 19%

Hillcrest: 20%

G.L. Armstrong: 28%

Westwood: 28%

HWDSB: 55%

HWCDSB: 73%

Province: 65%

Top 5: Grade 6 writing

Adelaide Hoodless: 100%

Blessed Sacrament: 100%

Holy Name of Mary: 100%

Our Lady of Peace: 100%

Rousseau: 100%

St. Bernadette: 100%

Bottom 5: Grade 6 writing

Cathy Wever: 3%

Buchanan Park: 9%

Prince of Wales: 13%

Dr. J.E. Davey: 15%

St. Patrick: 15%

HWDSB: 75%

HWCDSB: 85%

Province: 84%

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SAINT-URBAIN, Que. - Funerals for two Quebec volunteer firefighters who died earlier this month during flash floods in the Charlevoix region will be private affairs.

The municipality of St-Urbain, northeast of Quebec City says the families of both Regis Lavoie, 55, and Christopher Lavoie, 23, wanted to proceed with simple services in the image of the two fallen men and did not want civic funerals.

Regis Lavoies funeral will take place later today at the St-Urbain church in the town about 110 kilometres northeast of Quebec City.

The municipality says Christopher Lavoies funeral is scheduled for May 26.

The two men  who are not related  were swept away by floodwaters on May 1 during a rescue mission in St-Urbain, Que., northeast of Quebec City.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault has said that one of the firefighters used his own amphibious ATV to try to reach a couple whose home was surrounded by water in the town.

Their bodies were discovered two days later about 500 metres apart in the Riviere du Gouffre.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2023.

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Woodland Cree Elder Leonard Cardinal, his wife and their son prepared more than 100 bagged lunches earlier this week and delivered them to evacuees from Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation, a northwestern Alberta community hit hard by one of the dozens of wildfires burning across the province.

They also travelled from Grande Prairie with a trailer full of clothing and other items to High Level, some 450 kilometres north, where some evacuees from Fox Lake and Rainbow Lake have been staying.

I think its just the human compassion that we have and empathy for other people to do things to help as much as we can, said Cardinal, with Thunderbird Inc., a consultancy that offers land-based teachings and workshops.

When you have to leave your home, a lot of times you are not able to grab the things you need.

Cardinals family are among many Albertans pitching in to help the thousands of people who have been displaced by wildfires in recent weeks.

Jena Clarke, director of community services for the town ofHigh Level, said the town, Little Red River Cree Nation and the province have been offering support. That includes opening an evacuation centre and donation centre and offering mental and public health services and recreation activities for children.

Clarke said Canadian National Railway Co. flew donations up from Edmonton and many organizations and businesses in High Level have been supportive.

A lot of these people just left with like a backpack full of stuff, so really they need everything, she said.

A provincial state of emergency remained in effect on Friday night as 78 active wildfires burned across Alberta, 22 of which were out of control. Colin Blair, executive director of the Alberta Emergency Management Organization, said there 10 evacuation orders, 19 declared states of local emergency, and four band council resolutions remained in place.

We remain in an extremely volatile situation, and the risk of new wildfires remained significant in much of the province, he said. Hot and dry conditions are expected to continue over the weekend and into next week.

While some people have been able to return to their homes, many others remain under evacuation orders. Blair said there were an estimated 16,500 evacuees as of Friday afternoon.

The Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation announced Tuesday that net proceeds from the Oilers playoffs 50/50 raffle until the end of the second round would go to a Canadian Red Cross fund to support communities affected by wildfires.

The Yukon government also donated $25,000 to that fund, while the Alberta and federal governments have both pledged to match all donations.

Among those still displaced are members of the Little Red River Cree Nation community of Fox Lake, where more than 100 structures have been destroyed by fire including homes, the RCMP detachment and a store.

Online apparel company Kiwetin Clothing, based in the nearby community of John DOr Prairie, is selling Fox Lake Strong hats, T-shirts, hoodies and stickers, with proceeds going to support those displaced from Fox Lake.

At Kiwetin Clothing, we understand this wont replace the memories and buildings that were lost due to this wildfire, but were hoping this will alleviate this burden, says its website.

Our Fox Lake Strong design represents the strength and resiliency that we feel best represents Fox Lake. The fox in the design is guarding and protecting its home. Its waiting to pass down its wisdom and teachings to the next generation. Fox Lake will rebuild and will be stronger.

The Mountain View Moccasin House charity is also collecting funds and donations for Fox Lake residents.

Co-Chair Debbie Collins said many people have family and friends in Fox Lake.

(It) makes your heart hurt to think about all those families, she said. Were just praying for people and we know its going to be a hard go and its going to take a long time.

Other communities that remain under evacuation orders include Drayton Valley and parts of Brazeau County, Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation, OChiese First Nation and Whitefish Lake First Nation.

Calgary and Edmonton have both opened reception centres and are providing temporary lodging and other services for evacuees.

The City of St. Albert just northwest of Edmonton has set up a temporary permitting system to allow evacuees staying in RVs and trailers to continuously park them outside of their friends and familys homes until May 31, suspending the 24-hour maximum under its bylaws.

Evacuees are also staying in John DOr Prairie, Fort Vermillion, La Crete and Paddle Prairie Metis Settlement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2023.

___

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

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Police in India say they are looking for three men in connection with the deaths of a family from Gujarat who perished trying to cross into the United States by boat through Akwesasne, Que., in March.

Achal Tyagi, superintendent of police for the city of Mehsana, in the western state of Gujarat, says authorities have issued a lookout circular for three men: Nikulsinh Vihol, Sachin Vihol and Arjunsinh Chavda. The notice is used at checkpoints, borders and immigration ports to look out for a person wanted by law enforcement.

Indian police allege the men were involved in running immigration firms some people use to enter countries with fake documents.

Four Indian nationals whose bodies were among eight people pulled from the St. Lawrence River had been travelling in Canada on a tourist visa from their home state of Gujarat. They included Praveen Chaudhari, 50; his wife Daksha, 45; their daughter Vidhi, 23; and their 20-year-old son Meet.

Tyagi said a police complaint was registered against the three wanted men and the case is still in the early stages of investigation. They face charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, criminal breach of trust, cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property and criminal conspiracy.

Charges would happen at a much later date, Tyagi said in an interview this week. We are trying to trace them.

The complaint sets the criminal case in motion and was filed by Praveen Chaudharis younger brother, Ashwin Chaudhari.

According to the complaint, translated by The Canadian Press from Gujarati and known as a First Information Report, at least one of the alleged brokers, Sachin Vihol, was living in Canada and acted as the point person.

The allegations in the report, which have not been tested in court, provide some details about the final movements in the Chaudhari familys journey.

The report alleges the brokers received the equivalent of about C$100,000 to have Praveen Chaudhari and his family cross into the U.S. by taxi. Later, family members were reluctantly convinced at the last minute to travel by boat and were reassured there would be no issues, despite poor weather.

Ashwin Chaudhari, a 40-year-old farmer, said in the complaint that he was in touch with the family through phone calls and WhatsApp.

According to the complaint, his brother Praveen told him in January he was travelling to Canada and had received a visitors visa. Its unclear how he obtained the travel document, but the family boarded a flight from Ahmedabad, India, to Toronto on Feb. 3, 2023 and later wrote to say they were staying at a hotel near a Toronto airport.

The Chaudharis were allegedly contacted around March 10 by Nikulsinh Vihol, who said he could get them into the U.S. for about C$100,000. Praveen asked his brother to help finance the trip, so he went to relatives to raise the amount. Ashwin said he made the payment near a temple.

That day, Sachin Vihol, who was allegedly living in Canada, arranged for the Chaudhari family to fly to Winnipeg and on to Montreal on March 23, and moved them around to different locations over the next six to seven days. During that time, the complaint alleges, they could not bathe, were given little food and were repeatedly told it was not safe to cross the border.

The complaint said Sachin Vihol, who had been in Canada for about five years, told them the plan was changing and the family would have to make the crossing over water via a five to seven minute boat ride. Praveen Chaudhari initially refused but was eventually persuaded to make the trip.

When a vehicle came to pick them up, the complaint said a Romanian family was also inside and wanted to cancel due to weather.

After an hour or so, I received a call from my brother saying that we have to leave today, and as Sachin said so, if you dont go there will be trouble, the complaint reads, quoting Ashwin Chaudhari.

He later received a text from the boat from his niece, Vidhi, who said it wasnt working properly and the weather was poor.

After that, I had no contact with them, the report reads.

The bodies of the two families were pulled from the St. Lawrence River in Akwesasne, about 130 kilometres southwest of Montreal, on March 30 and 31.

The four other people who died were a Romanian family from the Toronto area who were fleeing after receiving a deportation order. They were identified as Florin Iordache, his wife Cristina (Monalisa) Zenaida Iordache, and their Canadian-born children, two-year-old daughter Evelin and one-year-old son Elyen

According to the complaint, Ashwin Chaudhari called one of the alleged smugglers in India after his brother failed to call back and was told to wait. A few hours later, he was then told his relatives had been arrested by U.S. authorities and was reassured that someone would pay their bail.

Eventually, everyone went silent and the brokers vanished. News of the deaths began circulating on the news and social media by April 1.

So we came to know about this tragic incident that my brother and his family died at that time, the report reads.

Speaking in an interview from India this week, Ashwin Chaudhari blamed the alleged immigration brokers for the tragedy and expressed confidence they will be brought to justice.

We are still in shock, he said. Nothing is left. We lost our family.

He added the last time he spoke to his brother, the family was very happy.

They were visiting places. He promised to come back home, Ashwin said of his brother, adding the family had not wanted to go to America.

He also reiterated what another family member told The Canadian Press earlier; his older brother was mortally afraid of water.

I dont know what happened and why, he said, breaking down. I just dont know.

His elderly mother breaks down several times daily and hasnt eaten a proper meal since the news of her older sons death, he said.

We are not able to think. We are not able to function. We just want answers. What happened? Why?

Tyagi said he spoke with Canadian police once so far but did not elaborate. No one has been charged in Canada.

A spokesperson for the federal Justice Department said this week that extradition requests are confidential, state-to-state communications and it cannot comment on any such request until courts make them public.

The Canadian Press has not been able to confirm that Sachin Vihol is in Canada. Police forces including the RCMP referred questions to the Akwesasne Mohawk Police, who said this week they are continuing to investigate and would not provide any further comment.

(The force) has communicated with the next of kin regarding the investigation and will directly provide them with information when the investigation concludes or when there are significant updates that can be shared, it said in a statement.

Authorities are still searching for Casey Oakes, 30, an Akwesasne resident who was last seen on the night of March 29 operating a boat that was found next to the bodies of the two migrant families.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2023.

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Nominations closed Friday, with a record 102 candidates running  but none of them are John Tory despite recent polling finding the former mayor still popular enough to handily win.

This week saw the first debate of several, the formal resignation of now former Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter, and a kerfuffle over Brad Bradfords use of TikToks in a campaign ad.

Here is what else happened this week:

Molly for mayor

As nominations came to a close at 2 p.m. on Friday, Toby Heaps rollerbladed into city hall with Molly, a seven-year-old Russian rescue dog, in tow just in time to be the last person to sign up to run for mayor. But as he explained to reporters, although he filed the papers, hes only a stand-in due to the citys anthropocentric election rules, and Molly was the real candidate.

Shes got a lot of big ideas shes going to introduce to this campaign, and shes going to excite a lot of peoples imaginations, he said, touting her plan to enact a law requiring any mayor who breaks their promises to pick up poo for a year, including hers.

Heaps said Molly has assembled a stellar team of advisers and will roll out a full slate of common sense policies around pressing issues like transit and affordable housing over the course of the campaign. Her biggest concern is the citys excessive use of road salt, which stings her paws when she goes for winter walks and corrodes vehicles.

Heaps himself has an impressive political pedigree: hes the son of former Scarborough councillor Adrian Heaps, and great grandson of A.A. Heaps, the co-founder of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. He also worked on Ralph Naders presidential campaign and co-founded the Corporate Knights media organization.

Despite his own qualifications, he insisted Molly is uniquely suited for the mayors job.

Youve probably noticed when you have an animal in the room, people are more human, he said, predicting that with Molly presiding over council meetings youd have a lot more civilized discourse and you could solve problems in ways that werent getting solved before.

Campaigning on council floor

If you didnt know councillors Anthony Perruzza, Brad Bradford and Josh Matlow were running for mayor, even a cursory look at this weeks city hall session would make it clear.

The meeting began with Perruzza objecting to council sitting late on Wednesday because of a pre-scheduled mayoral debate at a galaxy-themed bar.

You still have your obligation to be here and do your job even though you are running for mayor, snapped Coun. Frances Nunziata, who runs the council meetings.

Bradford wasted no time in using his campaign slogans in his fiery speeches. This is endless debate, deferral, delay. This is more talk, less action, he said, opposing a motion to cost out alternatives to the Gardiner Expressway east rebuild (he has promised as mayor to speed up the construction). I just had to get them all in there  you guys can use them too, he said to council.

Candidates didnt even have to be a sitting councillor to make an appearance in the chamber.

On Thursday, Coun. Chris Moise asked council to request the province take on the cost of the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway  a central campaign promise made by former councillor Ana Bailao. Moise  whose motion was cheered on with calls of Chris for mayor  has endorsed Bailao. The motion passed, prompting an victorious press release from the Bailao campaign, but was ultimately meaningless. It was killed because it was attached to an item that didnt pass, and the plan itself has been repeatedly shot down by the province.

Matlow, who along with Olivia Chow would change the Gardiner east plan to a boulevard rather than an elevated section, used the motion to make this point in a pithy sound bite.

Its not like we should budget or rely on or bank on Doug Ford to come through when we make decisions here at council about our priorities. This is aspirational? he asked Moise who agreed.

But no one did more campaigning this council session than Perruzza, well-known as a council character with an unsilenced phone that perpetually interrupts the meeting.

Perruzza made several colourful speeches through the three-day session, all the while sending out campaign emails about the motions he plans to introduce.

It started off normal, by his standards.

Now we have cars  someday someone will come there in their flying suit, he said, calling for cars to have access to High Park at all times.

But it soon went beyond waxing poetic about spandex to a full-out shouting match.

You are screwing Scarborough one more time, yelled Perruzza at Nunziata on Thursday evening during a debate about replacing the Scarborough RT. Nunziata asked security to escort Perruzza out of the chamber, but the crisis was averted by a timely dinner break.

Doug Ford sort-of endorses a candidate

The premier has maintained hes staying out of the mayoral election but hes still made it clear that he has a preference.

I can work with any mayor. I think I showed over the last four years I dont care about their political stripe, as long as they believe in building homes, as long as they believe, especially, in Toronto, crime, Ford said this week at a stop in Oshawa.

So we need someone that has experience dealing with crime. I believe we need someone that has actually run an operation with a number of employees, that has the experience. We need someone in Toronto that knows all of Toronto, not a little ward that theyve been representing, but all of Toronto, so whoever that might be, Ill work with them. And they have to be, obviously, they have to be fiscally responsible.

And to be very frank. I havent seen fiscal responsibility since my brother Rob was there.

It doesnt take much of a sleuth to figure out hes talking about former police chief Mark Saunders, whose campaign is staffed and supported by people with close ties to Ford and who ran unsuccessfully as a Conservative in the last provincial election.

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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Police have identified the victim in a fatal stabbing that took place on Friday afternoon in downtown Toronto.

At around 1:50 p.m., emergency crews responded to a call in the area of Victoria Street and Dundas Street East in front of The Works, a city-run safe injection and harm reduction site.

Police say two men were involved in an altercation that led to the stabbing. The victim, identified on Saturday by police as Richard Sasaki, 40, of Toronto, was taken to hospital where he died from his injuries.

The suspect fled the area on foot, police say, and he may have been in the area interacting with others for some time prior to the incident. He is described as light brown complexion, in his late 20s, 5-foot-10, with long black hair and black facial hair. He was wearing dark clothing.

Police are urging anyone with information to contact them at 416-808-7400, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), or at www.222tips.com.

With files from Mahdis Habibinia and Thea Gribilas.

Ana Pereira is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Stars radio room in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @anabpereiraa

RELATED STORIES GTA Man dies in hospital after fatal daytime stabbing downtown

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For Kai Forcey-Rodriguez, an ideal restaurant would have chairs that were soft without too many different textures. Diners would talk at the same moderate decibel level. The lights wouldnt be very bright. And nobody would ask Forcey-Rodriguez why all this was necessary.

Forcey-Rodriquez, who is on the autism spectrum, is a 27-year-old masters student in developmental psychology and education, concentrating on special education and mental health, at the University of Toronto. Though theyre fluent in eight languages and have lived in the United States, Italy, Indonesia, Israel and the Netherlands, they have always found it difficult to venture outside and navigate spaces without feeling overstimulated. Forcey-Rodriguez says its due to the way they process physical senses, like textures, brightness, volume levels and scents.

Thats what happens with autistic hypersensitivities, they said.

There is, however, a new space in Toronto outside their comfort zone, where Forcey-Rodriguez feels comfortable and safe.

Its a Korean fried chicken spot in Dovercourt Village.

Sarang Kitchen, at 1056 Bloor St. W., is a restaurant and social enterprise that prioritizes the well-being of neurodiverse people. While, other local social enterprises, like the Common Ground Co-operative and the Lansdowne Cone, employ people with social and developmental differences, Sarang Kitchen is bringing a more holistic approach to its business  offering generous platters of Korean comfort food, like rice cakes and mayo corn cheese, along with environments and accessories that make neurodivergent people feel good.

Sarang Kitchen (Sarang means love in Korean) was created by chef Deon Kim and manager Jennifer Low, an autism specialist. Low earned her masters degree in New Zealand, where she and Kim met. They moved to Canada in 2022 so she could pursue her PhD studies and start the restaurant, which they opened in March. Low attributes Sarang Kitchens concept to her unforgettable experience in New Zealand, teaching eight neurodivergent children for four years.

There, she realized that for her students to learn and succeed, it was important to cater to their needs. For me (as a teacher), I had to pick up a new language. It was no longer standing in front of a whiteboard or preparing worksheets, she said. The experience was life changing. It made me see a whole different side of education.

One incident in particular inspired Low to create an accessible space: when she took two students  twins  out for a birthday celebration with their parents. (The parents) said the last time they brought them out for a meal was when they were crawling, Low said. That was 15 years ago.

Now, Low pays tribute to her students by proudly displaying their portraits on one of Sarang Kitchens walls.

Even the fried chickens place on the menu is meaningful  it was something her students loved. Low said its is also a suitable dish for their employees (70 per cent of whom are neurodivergent) to make. It is very methodical, and the process is easy for anyone to learn, she said. We use a timer for the frying, (so its easier) to make than, say, a steak.

The space has been designed with sensory accessibility in mind for both customers and employees. On a bookshelf right near the entrance are weighted blankets and boxes filled with fidget toys, like Rubiks cubes, and noise-cancelling headphones that diners can take to their tables. Some dining areas have large bean bag chairs. Theres also a sensory room where people can relax with calm music, dimmer lights, a fish tank, and bean bag chairs.

But its not just the sensory items and environments that make Sarang Kitchen accessible for people who are neurodiverse, said Forcey-Rodriguez, who visits a couple of times a month.

We have long-standing life experiences of constantly being overstimulated by scenarios, said Forcey-Rodriguez, adding that its frustrating to have to repeatedly advocate their needs to people who dont understand their importance.

Sarang Kitchen, however, fosters a culture of empathy and understanding, which makes it the oasis that it is, they said.

Front-of-house employee Vitor Pena Gomes, who has ADHD, agrees. He says he feels safe telling Low he needs to take breaks when hes not at his best, something he hadnt felt comfortable doing at previous jobs.

I can work at my own pace, he said. Sometimes I do have off days. Its good that I have that relationship with Jen where I can just be upfront and transparent about how Im doing, and she can figure out a way to help me get to the end of the shift.

The restaurant has only been open for two months, but Low has big, long-term plans. She hopes to start a Sarang Kitchen in New Zealand so that her former students can work there and gain meaningful employment, something not always available to neurodivergent people, she said.

Being neurodivergent or being different is actually an advantage, Low said, citing one employee who is extremely detailed. He stocks the fridge with so much precision, it looks immaculate.

Also, some neurodivergent people have hyperfocus. So, once they start a task, they have 100 per cent focus until they complete it.

Ultimately, Low hopes that other businesses will see the benefits of having a pool of different employees. Its a positive thing, she said. They come with lots of talent.

Ramona Leitao is a multimedia journalist based in Toronto.

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ROME (AP)  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had private talks with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday, later saying he sought support for Ukraine's peace plan from the pontiff, who in the past has offered to try to help end the full-scale war launched by Russia a year ago.

Zelenskyy held his hand over his heart and said it was a great honor" to meet with the pope. Francis, using a cane for his knee problem, came to greet the Ukrainian president before ushering him into a papal studio near the Vatican's audience hall.

In a tweet after the 40-minute audience, Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to Francis for his personal attention to the tragedy of millions of Ukrainians. He said he spoke with the pontiff about the tens of thousands of deported (Ukrainian) children. We must make every effort to return them home.

Last month, Ukraine's prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, asked the pope to help get children returned from Russia to Ukraine. But the Vatican's statement Saturday made no mention of the request.

Instead, the Vatican said the two men spoke about Ukraines humanitarian and political situation provoked by the ongoing war."

The pope assured his constant prayer, paid witness to by his many public appeals and by his continued invoking of the Lord for peace, since February of last year, the Vatican said, a reference to the Russian invasion that began Feb. 24, 2022.

The meeting came as Russia's defense ministry said Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles delivered to Ukraine by the United Kingdom this week damaged unspecified civilian enterprises in Luhansk province in Ukraine's far east. Luhansk authorities separately said another missile strike hit the regional capital, wounding an elderly woman.

Two Russian Mi-8 helicopters and an Su-34 fighter-bomber crashed Saturday in the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, state news agency Tass and a Telegram channel close to the Russian defense ministry reported; the newspaper Kommersant cited reports of two fighter planes crashing. The causes of the crashes were not immediately disclosed, but concern in Bryansk is growing about cross-border attacks from Ukraine.

Story continues

Some Ukrainian units continue to push forward near Bakhmut, the commander of Ukraines land forces said Saturday, just a day after Ukrainian commanders said their troops recaptured territory at the scene of the wars longest and bloodiest battle. Our soldiers are moving forward in some sectors of the front, and the enemy is losing equipment and manpower, Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Telegram.

Zelenskyy also said that he asked the pope to condemn Russian crimes in Ukraine because there can be no equality between the victim and the aggressor.

I also talked about our Peace Formula as the only effective algorithm for achieving a just peace,'' Zelenskyy said. Later, in an interview on Italian state TV, the Ukrainian leader said the pope knows my position. The war is in Ukraine, that is why it has to be Ukraine's plan" to bring peace.

Zelenskyys 10-point plan would establish a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes. It would also create a European-Atlantic security architecture with guarantees for Ukraine, restore Ukraines damaged power infrastructure and ensure safety around Europes largest nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia.

Earlier in the day, Zelenskyy received from Italian officials pledges of open-ended military and financial support as well as stronger backing for Ukraine's cherished aim to join the European Union.

The message is clear and simple, Premier Giorgia Meloni said after a meeting with Zelenskyy that lasted more than an hour. "The future of Ukraine is a future of peace and freedom. And it's the future of Europe, a future of peace and freedom, for which there are no other possible solutions.''

The premier, who staunchly supports military aid for Ukraine, said Italy would back the country 360 degrees for all the time necessary and beyond.

Separately, Italian President Sergio Mattarella told Zelenskyy, We are fully at your side," Mattarella told Zelenskyy as he welcomed him. Later, presidential palace sources said Mattarella assured his guest that Italy would continue to support Ukraine militarily and financially, as well as with reconstruction and humanitarian aid.

Since the war began, Italy has contributed about 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in military and financial aid, as well as humanitarian assistance.

Zelenskyy is believed to be heading to Berlin next for what would be his first visit to Germany since the war began. The exact schedule was not publicly announced because of security concerns.

At the end of April, Francis told reporters that the Vatican was involved in a behind-the-scene peace mission but gave no details. Neither Russia nor Ukraine has confirmed such an initiative.

He has said he would like to go to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, if such a visit could be coupled with one to Moscow, in hopes a papal pilgrimage could further the cause of peace.

There has been speculation about whether the Vatican could play some mediating role. But in the Italian TV interview on Saturday, Zelenskyy indicated mediation in general would be impossible. "You can't mediate with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,'' he said.

The German government, meanwhile, said it was providing Ukraine with additional military aid worth more than 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Berlin wanted to show with the latest package of arms that Germany is serious in its support for Ukraine.

Germany will provide all the help it can, as long as it takes, he said.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

 Officials in the Ternopil region about 350 kilometers (220 miles) west of Kyiv on Saturday night reported a strike on an industrial area. No casualities or other details were immediately stated.

 Russian shelling on Saturday killed two civilians, including a 15-year-old girl, and wounded 10 more in Kostyantynivka, a city less than 30 kilometers (18 miles) west of Bakhmut, the regional prosecutors office said.

 Russian forces on Friday and overnight resumed their shelling of Ukraines northeastern Kharkiv region, killing a civilian, local governor Oleh Syniehubov said. Four civilians were killed over the same period in Donetsk province in the east, said governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.

 A massive Russian barrage overnight damaged an energy facility in Ukraines western Khmelnytskyi region, but didn't affect the power supply, according to the Ukrainian energy ministry,

___

Frank Jordans in Berlin, Joanna Kozlowska in London, and Nicole Winfield and Gianfranco Stara in Rome contributed to this report.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
ROMEUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held talks with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday, saying it was a great honor to meet with the pontiff, who has previously offered to do what he can to try to end the war launched by Russias invasion of Ukraine a year ago.

Zelenskyy held his hand of his heart as the pope, using a cane, came to greet him before ushering the Ukrainian into a papal studio near the Vaticans audience call. Thank you for your visit, Francis said, as their 40-minute-long meeting began.

In a written statement, the Vatican said the two men spoke about Ukraines humanitarian and political situation provoked by the war going on.

The pope assured his constant prayer, paid witness to by his many public appeals and by his continued invoking of the Lord for peace, since February of last year, the Vatican said, a reference to the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, by Russias military.

Both agreed on the need to continue humanitarian efforts to help the population. The pope underlined in particular the urgent need for humanitarian gestures toward the most fragile persons, innocent victims of the conflict, the statement said.

Last month, Ukraines prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, met with Francis at the Vatican and said he asked the pontiff to help Ukraine get back children illegally taken to Russia during the invasion.

Saturdays communique from the Vatican made no mention of that, and there were no immediate details from Zelenskyys side about his meeting with the pontiff.

Ahead of Zelenskyys arrival in late afternoon, police moved tourists to one side of St. Peters Square so the Ukrainian presidents motorcade could speed across the vast cobblestone space.

Earlier in the day, Zelenskyy met with Italian officials after his morning flight to Rome. He received pledges of both open-ended military and financial support as well as stronger backing for Ukraines cherished aim to join the European Union.

The message is clear and simple, Meloni said, flanked by Zelenskyy as the two briefed reporters after their meeting at her office, which lasted more than an hour. The future of Ukraine is a future of peace and freedom. And its the future of Europe, a future of peace and freedom, for which there are no other possible solutions.

Meloni, who had met with Zelenskyy in Ukraine in February, just ahead of the anniversary of the invasion, renewed her pledge to champion Ukraines EU ambitions, saying Ukraine was moving ahead with required reforms despite the war.

The premier, who staunchly backs military aid for Ukraine, said Italy would back the country 360 degrees for all the time necessary and beyond.

But while her far-right Brothers of Italy party champions the principle of national sovereignty, Meloni has had to contend with leaders of two coalition partners who for years have openly professed their admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Coalition ally Silvio Berlusconi, a former premier, has boasted of his friendship with Putin, while another government ally, League leader Matteo Salvini, has questioned the value of economic sanctions against Russia.

Zelenskyy began his official meetings by calling on Italian President Sergio Mattarella at the presidential Quirinale Palace.

We are fully at your side, Mattarella told Zelenskyy as he welcomed him. Later, after their meeting, presidential palace sources said Mattarella assured his guest that Italy would continue supporting Ukraine militarily and financially, as well as with reconstruction and humanitarian aid, in both the short and long term.

Since the war began, Italy has furnished about 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in military and financial aid, as well as humanitarian assistance.

Zelenskyy is believed to be heading to Berlin next for what would be his first visit to Germany since the war began. The exact schedule hadnt been publicly announced because of security concerns. Italian state radio reported that as part of protective measures, a no-fly zone was ordered for the skies over Rome and police sharpshooters were strategically placed on high buildings.

Francis had previously met with Zelenskyy in 2020. At the end of April, flying back to Rome from a trip to Hungary, Francis told reporters on the plane that the Vatican was involved in a behind-the-scene peace mission but gave no details. Neither Russia nor Ukraine has confirmed such an initiative.

He has said he would like to go to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, if such a visit could be coupled with one to Moscow, in hopes a papal pilgrimage could further the cause of peace.

The German government, meanwhile, said it was providing Ukraine with additional military aid worth more than 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Berlin wanted to show with the latest package of arms that Germany is serious in its support for Ukraine.

Germany will provide all the help it can, as long as it takes, he said.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

 Some Ukrainian units continue to push forward near Bakhmut, the commander of Ukraines land forces said Saturday, just a day after Ukrainian commanders said their troops recaptured territory at the scene of the wars longest and bloodiest battle. The defensive operation in the Bakhmut area continues. Our soldiers are moving forward in some sectors of the front, and the enemy is losing equipment and manpower, Oleksandr Syrskyi wrote in a Telegram update.

 Russian shelling on Saturday wounded at least seven civilians in Ukraines south and northeast, regional Ukrainian officials said. Two women, a man and a teenage boy suffered wounds as Russian forces shelled the village of Khatnie, in the northeastern Kharkiv region, the local prosecutors office said.

 Shelling also hit the center of Huliaipole, a town in the southern Zaporizhzhia province, and wounded a civilian, presidential aide Andriy Yermak said. Two others civilians were hurt in the village of Chornobaivka, in the neighboring Kherson region, another official said.

 A massive Russian barrage overnight damaged an energy facility in Ukraines western Khmelnytskyi region, the Ukrainian energy ministry said Saturday morning. It added that power supply in the region wasnt affected. The mayor of the regional capital said that 11 civilians were wounded or injured overnight as a result of a Russian missile strike, He added that hundreds of residential buildings in the city were also damaged in the strike.

 Russian forces on Friday and overnight resumed their shelling of Ukraines northeastern Kharkiv region, killing a civilian, local Gov. Oleh Syniehubov reported on Telegram on Saturday. Four civilians were killed over the same period in Ukraines front-line Donetsk province in the east, its Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said Saturday.

 Russian forces overnight launched at least 21 Iranian-made Shahed drones at Ukrainian territory, 17 of which were shot down, Ukraines air force said Saturday. One of the drones hit unspecified infrastructure facilities in the western Khmelnytskyi region, the update said in a likely reference to the energy facility in the province that was damaged in the nightly strike, according to Ukraines energy ministry.

 Russian shelling overnight wounded three civilians in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, the mayor said Saturday. One person was hospitalized, while the two others were treated on the spot. Multiple fires were reported within the city.

 Russian shelling on Saturday killed two civilians and wounded 10 more in Kostyantynivka, a city less than 30 kilometers (18 miles) west of Bakhmut, the regional prosecutors office reported in a Telegram post. According to the update, posted on the agencys official channel, a 15-year-old girl was among those killed, while two more teenagers suffered wounds. The post featured a photo of an almost completely collapsed one-storey house, another, taller residential building with its doors and windows blown out, and another of a building with a destroyed roof and gaping holes in its facade.

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MEXICO CITY (AP)  For weeks, Solangel Contreras raced.

The Venezuelan migrant and her family of 22 trudged through the dense jungles of the Darien Gap and hopped borders across Central America.

They joined thousands of other migrants from across the Hemisphere in a scramble to reach the United States-Mexico border and request asylum.

They raced, unsure what changing migratory rules and the end of a pandemic-era border restriction, Title 42, would mean for their chances at a new life in the U.S.

But after missing that cutoff, robbed in Guatemala and crossing into Mexico shortly after the program ended Thursday night, Contreras, 33, had only one certainty in her mind: Were going to keep going.

Confusion has rippled from the U.S.-Mexico border to migrant routes across the Americas, as migrants scramble to understand complex and ever-changing policies. And while Title 42 has come to an end, the flow of migrants headed north has not.

From the rolling mountains and jungles in Central America to the tops of trains roaring through Mexico, migrants from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, Colombia, Nicaragua, Ecuador and beyond push forward on their journeys.

Weve already done everything humanly possible to get where we are, Contreras said, resting in a park near a river dividing Mexico and Guatemala.

The problem, say experts, is that while migration laws are changing, root causes pushing people to flee their countries in record numbers only stretch on.

It doesnt appear to be the case that this is going to curb the push or pull factors for migration from Central America, South America and other parts of the world, said Falko Ernst, senior analyst for International Crisis Group in Mexico. The incentives for people to flee and seek refuge in safer havens in the United States are still in place.

For Contreras, that push came after her brother was killed in Ecuador for not paying extorsions to a criminal group. The family had been living in a small coastal town in the south after fleeing economic crisis in Venezuela two years earlier.

Others, like 25-year-old migrant Gerardo Escobar left in search of a better future after struggling to make ends meet in Venezuela like Contreras family.

Escobar trekked along train tracks Friday morning just outside Mexico City, with 60 other migrants, including families and small children. They hoped to climb aboard a train migrants have used for decades to carry them on their dangerous journey.

Escobar was among many to say he had no clue what the end of Title 42 would mean, and he didnt particularly care.

My dream is to get a job, eat well, help my family in Venezuela, he said. My dream is to move forward.

Despite misinformation prompting a rush to the border last week, analysts and those providing refuge to migrants said that they dont expect new policies to radically stem the flow of migrants.

Title 42 allowed authorities to use a public health law to rapidly expel migrants crossing over the border, denying them the right to seek asylum. U.S. officials turned away migrants more than 2.8 million times under the order.

New rules strip away that ability to simply expel asylum seekers, but add stricter consequences to those not going through official migratory channels. Migrants caught crossing illegally will not be allowed to return for five years and can face criminal prosecution if they do.

The Biden administration has also set caps on the amount of migrants allowed to seek asylum.

At the same time, Biden is likely to continue American pressure on Mexico and other countries to make it harder for migrants to move north.

Mexicos Secretary of Foreign Affairs Marcelo Ebrard said they dont agree with the Biden administrations decision to continue to put up migratory barriers.

Our position is the opposite, but we respect their (US) jurisdiction, Ebrard said.

Yet in a news briefing on Friday, he announced Mexico would carry out speedier deportations, and that it would no longer give migrants papers to cross through Mexico.

While the new rules likely wont act as a strong deterrent, Ebrard and the head of a migrant shelter in Guatemala said they saw a drop in the number of migrants they encountered immediately following the rush on the U.S. border. Though the shelter leader said numbers have been slowly picking up.

Still, migrants continued to make it across the U.S. border, even as the new rules were announced. At a cemetery near Roma, Texas, about 60 migrants who had crossed the Rio Bravo were waiting to be processed around midnight. They included a large group of Chinese migrants who huddled for cover under a driving rain.

Another member of the group, a Guatemalan who left her country to escape an abusive husband, crossed the river with her four-year-old son. With the rules changing, she was unsure if shed qualify for any asylum help.

Ernst, of International Crisis Group, warned that such measures could make the already deadly journey even more dangerous.

Youll see an increase in populations that remain vulnerable for criminal groups to prey on, to recruit from and make a profit from, he said. It could just feed into the hands of these criminal groups.

Meanwhile, Contreras continues trucking forward alongside many other migrants, even with no clear pathway forward and little information about what awaits them at the border.

Its worth it, she said, to give a better life to small children traveling with them.

Weve fought a lot for them (the kids), she said. All we want is to be safe, a humble home where they can study, where they can eat well. Were not asking for much. Were just asking for peace and safety.



Associated Press journalists contributed from Marco Ugarte in Huehuetoca, Mexico, Edgar H. Clemente in Tapachula, Mexico, Mark Stevenson in Mexico City, and Colleen Long in Washington. Janetsky reported from Mexico City.

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ATHENS, Greece (AP)  The detention of a mayoral candidate belonging to the Greek minority in Albania has raised tensions between the two neighboring countries.

Greeces Foreign Ministry released a statement Saturday demanding the release of Dionysis-Fredi Beleri, a candidate for mayor of the Albanian city of Himare, which has a strong Greek minority presence.

Greek media reported that Beleri was arrested by Albanian police early Friday on charges of vote buying, two days ahead of local elections. A court confirmed Saturday that he would remain in custody.

The Greek ministrys announcement implies that the case could negatively impact Albanias application to join the European Union.

Todays decision of the Vlora District Court, if there is no irrefutable evidence, constitutes a scandal. The arrest of a mayoral candidate two days before the elections is not within the rule of law. The decision to detain the mayoral candidate in custody induces a full reversal of the rules of equality in the municipal elections in Himare, a significant center of the Greek national minority in Albania, the ministrys statement says.

Such a decision will also have repercussions on the European Unions relations with Albania, as adherence to European rules and the principles of the rule of law is a prerequisite for this European path. Decisions such as todays, which violate these principles, mean that in practice Albania is not following the European path, the announcement continues.

Albanian Foreign Minister Olta Xhacka responded angrily, saying she considered it nearly impossible to understand how our friends have the right to dispute a court decision in our country, when the hard evidence they were looking for couldnt be any harder - Fredi Beleri has been caught engaging in criminal activity against free and fair elections.

Relations between Greece and post-communist Albania have been at times uneasy, largely over the issues of minority rights and the sizeable Albanian community in Greece.

We do not understand how being a Greek national exempts him from the law as a citizen of Albania. We urge our Greek friends to refrain from making statements that disrespect the independent institutions of our country, Xhacka tweeted.

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DAMASCUS, Syria (AP)  The Syrian government has agreed to extend by another three months the use of two border crossings with Turkey into the rebel-held northwest that were opened for aid delivery after a deadly earthquake in February, Syrian and U.N. officials said Saturday.

Syrian President Bashar Assad had agreed to open the border crossings at Bab al-Salameh and al-Rai for three months to allow aid to flow into Idlib province a week after the Feb. 6, earthquake that hit southern Turkey and northern Syria.

The earthquake has killed more than 50,000 people, including over 6,000 in Syria, according to the United Nations. The quake also displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

Following a request by the U.N. and ensuing discussions, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad conveyed to U.N. Under-Secretary-General Martin Griffiths the decision by Syrias government to allow the U.N. to continue using the two border crossing points for an additional three months, said Eri Kaneko, spokesperson for the U.N. office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Syrias ambassador to the U.N. Bassam Sabbagh tweeted that the period has been extended for another three months based on Syrias determination to enhance stability and improve the living and humanitarian conditions of all Syrians. He added the move also aims to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to those in need in all of Syria.

Syrias northwestern province of Idlib is home to some 4 million people, many of whom had been earlier displaced during the countrys 12-year civil war, which has killed nearly half a million people.

David Carden, the U.N.s Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria crisis, said during a visit to Idlib earlier this month that since the earthquake some 2,000 trucks have crossed the border from Turkey, providing assistance such as shelter, food, medical supplies and other services.

Carden added that the earthquake damaged or destroyed the homes of about 855,000 people.

In 2014, the Security Council authorized four border crossings to deliver aid to northwest Syria  two from Turkey, one from Jordan and one from Iraq. In January 2020, Syrias close ally Russia used its veto threat to reduce the number of crossing to the two from Turkey. The following July, China and Russia used their veto power to reduce the number to just a single crossing.

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SANTA FE, New Mexico (AP)  Joe A. Garcia, a well-known Native American leader from New Mexico and advocate for tribal sovereignty, has died at 70, his family confirmed Saturday.

A traditional funeral was already held following Garcias death Thursday, said family members. The cause of death was not made public.

Garcia was a former two-time president of the the National Congress of American Indians, which describes itself as the oldest and largest organization of American Indian and Alaska Native governments. He previously served three terms as governor of the Ohkay Owingeh, a federally designated tribe of pueblo people in New Mexico. Garcia was currently the tribes head councilman.

His untimely departure is a significant loss for Indian Country, as he was a true culture keeper for his people and a dedicated advocate for Native Nations across the Southwest region, Fawn Sharp, the president of the National Congress of American Indians, said in a statement.

Beyond his role as a leader, Joe Garcia was a mentor, a visionary, and a compassionate soul who touched the lives of many. He leaves a profound legacy of service, leadership, and cultural preservation, Sharp added.

Garcia had been chairman of the All Indian Pueblo Council, now renamed the All Pueblo Council of Governors, a non-profit leadership group that represents the modern pueblo tribes.

He also had been a vice president of the Board of Trustees of the Santa Fe Indian School, which serves about 700 Native American middle and high school students.

The Santa Fe Indian School noted Garcias passing on its website.

His work in Indian Country will not be forgotten, wrote Robyn Aguilar, president of the schools board of trustees. I am truly thankful to have had a mentor who was courageous in his conviction to protect Sovereign lands and the rights of Indian children.

Garcia held an an electrical engineering degree from the University of New Mexico and worked 25 years for Los Alamos National Laboratory before retiring in 2003, according to the schools statement.

Garcia is survived by his wife, Oneva, daughters Melissa and MorningStar, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, among other family. His son, Nathan, died in 2020.

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I have had several opportunities to meet with Justin Trudeau since he became leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and prime minister. Most of these meetings took place during the annual Dec. 6 commemorations remembering the femicide at Polytechnique. In these meetings, I believed him when he committed to banning assault weapons. I believed him because I am convinced that the man, the husband, the father that he is, sincerely wishes to act against this scourge of our society that are these weapons.

However, he is first and foremost the prime minister and the imperatives of state governance compel him. I am aware of this.

For my part, I cannot negotiate on this issue. I made a promise in blood. On Dec. 6, 1989, the last look of Annie Saint-Arneault was imprinted on my retina. The sound of Barbara Daigneaults last breath still rings in my ears. And I can still feel the bodies of Helene Colgan, Anne-Marie Lemay and Nathalie Croteau touching mine  our blood melded that night.

I took to the microphones on Dec. 8, 1989, to ask my brothers and sisters to come back, to recreate Polytechnique. I told Quebec girls who sought scientific fields to not hold back on their enthusiasm and to join us in our studies at Polytechnique. Life had to be productive and optimistic again.

That is why I was at the press conference of the Polytechnique Students Association in January 1990 with Heidi Rathjen, who was then beginning the fight of her life. That day, I met Suzanne Laplante-Edward, Anne-Maries mother who, while still grieving the loss of her daughter, was determined to work to strengthen our gun laws in order to protect other Quebecers and Canadians from the horror of another mass shooting.

Our demand at the time was to ban on assault weapons. We have never stopped asking for this measure. And, as the prime minister must know, Canadians have always been overwhelmingly in support. Indeed, assault weapons have no place on our communities, in the hands of ordinary citizens.

I cant accept a half measure with respect to assault weapons, I have sworn an oath to my deceased sisters. What his public safety minister, Marco Mendicino, proposed on May 1 is a half measure.

I dont want people to get me wrong. I agree that Bill C-21 includes many strong measures and this legislation deserves to be passed. But since our original request was focused on assault weapons, we cannot let this one aspect go.

I am still convinced that in his heart of hearts Trudeau really wants to ban assault weapons. I am even convinced that federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Mendicino, like Bill Blair before him, would also rather see these weapons gone. There must be an approach that completes the list of prohibited assault weapons and ensures that the limitations of the new definition are dealt with.

Trudeau can still deliver on his promises to survivors and victims families of the Montreal massacre, as well as the majority of Canadians who want these weapons banned and who will applaud the Liberal leader for having the courage to govern.

And if, despite everything, Trudeau continues on the current path, he should know that I will be there to monitor the situation, the increase in the number of weapons in Canada, the increase in gun violence, the increase in femicides and, unfortunately, most likely more mass shootings. I will be there, with my sisters on my mind, watching the effects of his decisions, and I will be a voice for those who have asked and continue to ask for assurances that they are safe from gun violence.

The femicide on Dec. 6 is not an abstract concept in my life. It is a day that is engraved in my flesh and that makes me the woman I am. I cannot negotiate that away.

Nathalie Provost is a Canadian Bravery medallist and survivor of the femicide at Polytechnique.

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Its cheaper. We need more housing. Its rundown. Employees are keen to move. Those are a few of the reasons Premier Doug Ford and his cabinet ministers have offered up to justify their controversial decision to relocate the Ontario Science Centre.

Its been almost a month since the announcement about the centres move to Ontario Place and still there remain more questions than answers around the governments rationale. Among them:

Moving the science centre will allow thousands of new housing units to be built on the site at Eglinton Avenue East and Don Mills Road. This, according to the province, is the main motivation for the move. We want to create as much density as possible, Premier Doug Ford said in announcing the relocation.

Not so fast, says the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, which owns portions of the lands occupied by the centre and its parking lots. The centre sits in a scenic ravine setting where the lands are considered hazardous due to the steep slopes and floodplain associated with the West Don River.

Nothing can be built on our land, Michael Tolensky, the TRCAs chief financial and operating officer, told the Star, citing provincial, municipal and authority policies.

The authority bluntly noted that no discussions had been held between it, the province and the city on plans to move the centre and build housing on the lands or change the 99-year lease for the property occupied by the centre. The authority was seeking a meeting with the province to clarify its plans. A spokesperson said this week there is no update.

Science centre staff want to make the move. They want something new, they want something sparkling and have an opportunity to be able to walk into a beautiful facility, Ford declared.

Not so, says JP Hornick, president of OPSEU, the union which represents some 400 employees at the centre. Not a single one of them is happy. They're angry. They're upset. They weren't consulted, Hornick told the Star this week.

OPSEU has said there are no discernible benefits and many disadvantages to moving from the current spacious location in Don Mills to a congested site downtown.

Declining attendance. Ford declared that visitors to the centre were down 40 per cent, a figure later clarified to 30 per cent. Even that is misleading. As Canadian Press noted, that comes from comparing 2012-13 figures to 2022-23, a year when the pandemic had slashed attendance. The drop is about 10 per cent when compared to 2018-19, before the pandemic, when there were 884,837 visitors, it said.

The new site will attract attract one million visitors a year. The centre may certainly benefit from a waterfront location close to other attractions. Less clear is how many visitors will stay away, put off by inevitable downtown traffic bottlenecks.

That concern puts a question mark over a key role of the science centre, to educate students. The 2017-18 annual report counted some 170,000 visits by students and teachers. Will the relocated centre remain accessible  and inviting  to such school field trips?

The proposed move comes just as the existing site will be easier to access via public transit once the Eglinton Crosstown LRT eventually opens.

The existing centre is a run-down, old building. Here, the provincial government needs to look in the mirror. If the centre is in disrepair, the blame falls squarely on Queens Park for failing to make the investments needed for centre upkeep and to revitalize exhibits. For example, a key pedestrian walkway is closed, forcing visitors to take a shuttle to exhibits on a lower level. The centres 2017-18 business plan highlighted that the building requires ongoing upkeep of obsolete or failed infrastructure and pegged the 10-year deferred maintenance needs at $147.5 million.

Raymond Moriyama, the architect who designed the centre, said it was built to last. We guaranteed that with proper maintenance the life of this project will last far beyond 250 years, he wrote in a letter to the Star.

Moving the centre is cheaper than renovating and revitalizing the existing site. Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma said a business case showed it was less expensive to make the science centre part of Ontario Place and build a brand new modern facility, one with new exhibits.

Yet, the province has so far refused to make that business case public, keeping Ontario residents in the dark about the assumptions in the business case and the true price tag.

The relocated centre will be spectacular and state-of-the-art. The government rolled out the superlatives to describe the new site. One thing is for sure  it will be smaller, just about half the current space. What gets left behind in that move? Whats the impact on the exhibits? Hornick said.

As well, as Hornick notes, the current facility was purpose-built to be a science centre, with dedicated workshops behind-the-scenes for the design and maintenance of exhibits.

Ontario Place could well serve as a satellite facility to showcase a specific science theme. But the government has yet to show how the entire centre can be shoehorned into a space half its current size.

These are all red flags. More and more, it screams of something thought up in a hurry to distract from the governments other waterfront folly, the mammoth private spa on prime Ontario Place lands.

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As a passionate advocate for others with abilities that may differ from ours, I want to educate and bring awareness to National AccessAbility Week from May 28 to June 3.

I am the proud Mom to a young woman who uses a power wheelchair and daily experiences barriers in almost every aspect of society.

Unfortunately, these barriers are in every community and the most detrimental barrier is that of attitude. As a parent as well as an educator, my goal is to bring awareness, change perspectives and make daily improvements in our society.

We advocate daily and have been doing so for several decades helping to create Canadas first Boundless park, having automatic doors installed in elementary and high schools, educating and providing suggestions for schools, recreation, libraries, housing, transportation, and businesses.

National AccessAbility Week is not known to many people in our communities. Please find further information and resources online including Rick Hansen Foundation, Easter Seals Canada, and Easter Seals Ontario.

I would like to challenge individuals, schools, businesses, and all aspects of communities to learn more regarding National AccessAbility Week, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, and strive to make a difference in our cities.

Even something as simple as a smile and a friendly hello to others who are viewed as different by society is a wonderful way to begin.

Rosemary Christensen, Wellington County

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So, as of 2 p.m. Friday when nominations finally closed, we can stop asking Whos gonna run for mayor? Between now and election day on June 26, the question is, Whos gonna run this town?

A whopping 102 candidates on the ballot are hoping that they are the answer.

Most of us, frankly, dont have time to sort through all of those.

There might be a dozen candidates who you could even conceive, based on their resumes and public profile, of being on anyones shortlist, and about half of those  Id include Anthony Furey, Chloe Brown, Anthony Perruzza, Rob Davis, Giorgio Mammoliti and Celina Caesar-Chavannes  need something significant to happen to get close to the podium. It could come, but it hasnt yet.

There are six Id consider as having an obviously real shot: Ana Bailao, Brad Bradford, Olivia Chow, Mitzie Hunter, Josh Matlow and Mark Saunders.

The state of the race and the city

In some ways, its an encouraging list. Thats more than the usual number of obviously qualified candidates and it reflects the conventional political spectrum. Maybe more notably, its a shortlist that reflects some of the diversity of the city: half of those heavy hitters are women, two of them are Black and one is Asian, four of them are immigrants to Canada.

That variety of perspectives will be helpful debating a pivotal moment for the city: theres a crisis of housing affordability, and an affordability crunch in general. Much of the citys infrastructure is falling apart, there are real concerns about public safety, TTC service is being made actively worse to try to save money and theres a billion-dollar budget shortfall. And then theres traffic (surprise, surprise, we all still hate it).

But the new mayor will have access to unprecedented power over the citys government, thanks to strong mayor laws Doug Ford delivered last year.

Previous mayors have had to be wranglers and persuaders to attempt to lead council. The new boss will have the option of  well, of being a boss.

So, who are these candidates and where are they positioned as we enter the heart of the race?

Olivia Chow

We can start with Olivia Chow, who has a substantial but not overwhelming lead in every poll so far. She has recently been retired from politics serving on city council during the preamalgamation era and through most of Mel Lastmans terms, and then as an NDP MP in Ottawa where she worked beside her late husband, the one-time Leader of the Opposition Jack Layton.

She has led polls for Toronto mayor before: In 2014, when she ran against Rob Ford (eventually replaced by his brother Doug on the ballot) and John Tory, she initially led before being overtaken and coming third. My own sense of that campaign is she lost in part by playing safe, afraid of taking any bold stances that might alienate suburbanites while she took the downtown progressive vote for granted  which wasnt a safe bet in a race where many such voters just wanted someone they thought could beat Ford.

Chow says she learned from that campaign  that she was reading from a script a lot because she was afraid of how her accented English would come across, and now shes more comfortable just being who she is  and will take a different approach this time. Well see.

Josh Matlow

Chow and her NDP supporters are claiming the mantle of progressive champion, but shes faced an early challenge for that title from current midtown councillor Josh Matlow.

At city hall, he often served as among the most vocal and exasperated opponents of former mayor Tory  and Ford before him  and developed a reputation for not letting go of issues he believes in, like his opposition to the Scarborough subway extension (which he has since conceded is a lost cause) and the Gardiner Expressway eastern rebuild (which he still promises to halt if elected). He also developed a reputation for being blunt in his accusations of wrongdoing against colleagues and members of city staff  he spend 10 days this month forgoing his paycheque after being disciplined for accusing a senior bureaucrat of being dishonest.

Matlow put out waves of detailed policy earliest in the campaign, cementing his status as a top-tier candidate. His challenge is to move up from there as he becomes a target of opponents.

Mitzie Hunter

Mitzie Hunter, who served as a Liberal MPP representing a Scarborough riding until this week, is also looking to pick up votes from progressive voters. She has an MBA and a background as an executive at Goodwill and the Toronto Community Housing Corporation, then served as CEO of the civil-sector non-profit group CivicAction (a job which was held immediately before her by John Tory). As an MPP, she served in the cabinet of Kathleen Wynne, then ran for leader of the provincial Liberals in 2020 (finishing fourth), and served as deputy leader of that party after last years election.

Its a resume that, combined with her being from Scarborough, and a youngish (GenX) Black woman, would seem to make her a campaign managers dream  an experienced hand and a breath of fresh air at the same time. In her campaign this month, shes been releasing eye-grabbing, detailed policy proposals on transit and housing. But early on, she has seemed to be getting only a little traction in polls, and also seems to have less of a heavy-hitting backroom team working on her campaign than most of the other candidates.

Ana Bailao

Ana Bailao, positioning herself as John Torys heir as the consummate centrist moderate, has that backroom organizational muscle to a steroidal degree. A former deputy mayor who oversaw the housing portfolio, she has inherited much of Torys team. Shes already drawn endorsements from many of the councillors who served on Torys executive committee, and notably, shes got endorsements from some of the city workers biggest labour unions.

So shes got the pros, and shes going to be able to raise whole trainloads of money.

But what she hasnt got so far is a clear identity among members of the public. I watched her at city hall over her three terms as a councillor and saw her at first as a nominal progressive who could often be bullied or cajoled into supporting Rob Ford, and then as a loyal right-hand woman to John Tory. But I would have a hard time telling you  beyond strong support for unions and a focus on housing policy  much about what she stands for or believes in, in her own right.

Some early campaign statements that anticipated announcements that were coming from others (on subway cell service, and moving the Science Centre) seemed more odd than bold, and her housing and traffic policies often sound like modest tweaks of Torys ideas.

She has the money and political smarts on her team to try to grab voters by the lapels, if it turns out she has the personality for it to work.

Brad Bradford

Depending on which month of his previous term as a city councillor you looked at Brad Bradfords speeches and public stances, you might have expected him to be jostling for position as a progressive. But hes got a Conservative campaign guru and an Ontario Proud meme-lord on his team, so now suddenly hes accusing others of trying to defund the police, all tough on crime and promising to be the authoritarian strong mayor of action to stop all the talking and get to the doing.

What Bradford has is energy  his many social media videos are kinetic adventures, with him speedwalking and quick-talking like a shaved-headed Rick Mercer without the jokes, drinking beer with Leafs fans and eating beef patties in Scarborough and borrowing Tik Tok users complaints to scaremonger about transit.

What he doesnt have so far, is much detail in his policy promises.

And as his ideological elasticity mentioned above would indicate, he may lack a certain authenticity to pull of the tough-guy shtick hes peddling.

Mark Saunders

If theres someone who would have tough-guy cred as the conservative law-and-order candidate, it would be a former police chief. And Mark Saunders has been playing to type, with a platform aimed heavily at fighting crime  and stoking fears of it  peppered with bashing of bike lanes on the side.

The thing is that the soft-spoken former chief, whose rhetorical style is more meek than commanding, was not a particularly well-liked or successful police chief.

He is nonetheless the choice of team Doug Ford in the election, with the potential to be a loyal henchman to the premier who loves nothing more than running Toronto from Queens Park. And in that, he is the default conservative voting option, so far. As a man who rose through the ranks to become the citys first Black police chief, the one under whom the discriminatory carding policy was officially (if reluctantly) ended, and who said to me on the first day of his campaign that part of what hed learned as police chief is that the solutions to crime arent all about arrests but also about community and mental health support, its possible to imagine a more nuanced kind of campaign from Saunders.

But so far, he seems to be making announcements with an eye to fending off a possible populist challenge from Anthony Furey on his right, who could conceivably emerge to take the mantle of Fordian outrage  the specialty of the Toronto Sun where Furey used to work  from him (if not the pseudo-endorsements of the premier himself).

So what comes next?

As much as any policy positions  though ones that resonate with people are table stakes here  over the next month and a half these candidates are going to give us a look at who they are, how they handle the spotlight, how they speak to us and about us and for us. I am on the record wishing for a candidate with an expansive vision backed by smart policies. But we dont vote for visions or policies, we vote for a person.

So their job is to convince us that we know them and can trust their judgment. Most polls still show massive numbers of undecided voters. Many of us are still waiting for all of them to properly introduce themselves.

Were about to hand a mayor more authority over the government than we ever have before. Weve got a lot of options. And roughly six weeks to make our choice.

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Proposed changes to the land use zoning for 1,500 acres of land intended to be the home of the new Fremont Inland Port were partially approved by the Fremont City Council on Tuesday, May 9, with the remainder of the changes to be discussed on May 30.

Two items related to the new Inland Port Authority land were on the May 9 agenda, one an ordinance to change the wording and text of the citys Unified Development Code to establish a Port Authority Zoning District; and the other is an ordinance changing the zoning in the 1,500-acre area from rural to port authority zoning.

The agenda item to change the Unified Development Code wording was approved in a unanimous 8-0 vote. However, because the May 9 meeting was already four-hours long, at about 11:10 p.m., Ward 3 Council Member James Vaughan made a motion to end the meeting due to him being tired and continue the items left on the agenda to the Tuesday, May 30, meeting.

That meant the second zoning agenda item for the Inland Port land, which would rezone the land, was not debated nor voted on. It is scheduled to be addressed on May 30.

The 1,500-acre proposed site for the Inland Port Authority district is east of U.S. Highway 275, north of Morningside Road up to near Military Avenue.

Fremont Planning Director Jennifer Dam gave a presentation on the two items.

Dam said there are no plans for construction on the land in the near future, as development of the port authority is expected to take eight to 15 years to fully complete the new development. The city and the port authority board wanted to get a head start on the planning of the area by rezoning it now, she added.

One of an estimated five to six residents of the 1,500-acre area was present at the meeting, voicing her objections to the rezoning of the land.

Michelle Morgan, who said her family has owned the farmland and homestead at 315 South County Road 26 for almost 50 years, told the council the rezoning was not needed now and would in her opinion negatively impact the land owners who live there now.

Morgan said shed become the owner of the land her family lived on only three days prior to the meeting, and that the zoning changes would change her property to a non-conforming residence designation. That designation means upgrades and improvements to existing homes are limited to less than 50% of the value of the home; and if the home is damaged and repairs are more than 50% of its value, rebuilding the home would be blocked.

The rezoning effort, she added, was only approved by the Fremont Planning Commission in a 5-3 vote and came after an initial vote to reject the rezoning request. Dam confirmed that claim, but explained to council members why it occurred.

Morgan said she plans to hire an attorney, and will try to cobble together an alliance of other landowners in the 1,500-acre area designated for the inland port in an effort to both stand up for their property rights, but also possibly stop or delay the project.

Dam said that the change in the zoning, if approved on May 30, would alter homeowners property in the 1,500-acre area to non-conforming use, which would restrict improvements and limit rebuilding options.

Morgan also made allegations that the site was poorly chosen by officials, claiming the soil in the area is different than other nearby parts of Dodge County and is unsuitable for heavy building and infrastructure development because the soil is a type called, sandy loam.

Inland Port called a key to Fremonts future

The inland port is a key part of Fremonts future planning, and is expected to be fully complete within 10-15 years if all goes as planned.

According to a federal Department of Transportation report, an inland port can be a highway hub, train center or airport which allows for economic growth and employment opportunities where they are located.

Traditional ports at land, air, and coastal borders are the primary locations where international trade is processed. However, it is now recognized that a growing amount of trade is being processed at inland sites. International trade processing involves all transactions and inspections that federal agencies require for goods entering or leaving the country, federal DOT officials stated in a research paper on the topic.

On April 27, the governing board of the Fremont Inland Port Authority elected officers. All seven members were jointly chosen and appointed by Mayor Joey Spellerberg and the Fremont City Council; along with Dodge County Supervisor Bob Missel and the Dodge County Board of Supervisors in late March and early April.

Former Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman is the chairman of the board. Joining Heineman on the board are: 48-year former Dodge County Clerk Fred Mytty was chosen as secretary; Paul Vaughan, retired district court judge and former Dodge County attorney, was elected vice-chairman; and Steve Pribnow, a certified public accountant who is a managing partner for Erickson & Brooks CPAs, was elected as the treasurer.

Other members of the board include: Christy Fiala, executive director of the Fremont Area United Way; Joe Sajevic, former Fremont High School principal and former executive director of the FPS Foundation; and Jennifer Greunke, project and implementation manager at Brandt Holdings Agriculture.

The election of board members to their officer roles was the latest mark on the timeline of the inland port planning, which has been in the works for years under a memorandum of understanding between the county and city.

Site plans for the logistics hub were revealed in January 2022, and through that year, officials updated city residents and others on their application to the state. On Feb. 14, 2023, the designation of an inland port authority was awarded to Fremont by state officials, capping a hopeful, but confident period of collaboration at the local level.
Former Chinese President Deng Xiaopings defensive foreign policy of taoguang yanghui or hide ones talent and bide ones time has outlived its utility. President Xi Jinpings China sees the ensuing global turbulence as an ideal time to project power across the globe and be counted as a Superpower.

The means to do so go beyond those afforded by the foundational military-industrial complex i.e., economic, infrastructural, militaristic, to the realm of cultural, technological, political, soft power etc.

However, there is yet another lever that is powerfully symbolic of having arrived on the global high table i.e., mediative powers.

Only a country that is supposedly significant in scale, importance, imagination and presumably unbiased in the eyes of two differing nations can ever be considered worthy of intervening and being taken seriously.

Beyond its potent combination of coercive expansionism, economic bailouts, veto powers, infrastructural investments like Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Chinese are now seen actively mediating between the Russians and Ukrainians, as also between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

While Chinas unsolicited mediation in the bloody RussianUkrainian battle was clearly ambitious given Beijings unequivocal tilt in the conflict with the US accusing it of parroting the Russian propaganda, it did present a 12-point position paper that calls for respecting territorial sovereignty.

However, China has met with undeniable success in facilitating the long-pending rapprochement between two bitter sectarian rivals across the Persian Gulf i.e., Shia-dominated Iran and Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia.

Ummah (Muslim World) has seen these two powers shadowbox with each other by supporting their respective proxies in countries like Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Yemen etc., even though they ostensibly hold similar positions on issues like Palestine, Islamophobia etc.

What flared the situation between these two traditionally hostile nations was the execution of a prominent Shia cleric, Nimr-al-Nimr, in Saudi Arabia and the subsequent storming of the Saudi Embassy in Iran.

Tensions reached a level that they cut diplomatic ties and Iran went to the extent of stopping its citizens from traveling to the Haj pilgrimage temporarily. The killing battlegrounds of Yemen and the Syrian swathes witnessed an intensified conflict as rival militias linked to Tehran and Riyadh upped the ante.

Although discreet attempts like five rounds of reconciliation talks were hosted by the Iraqi regime, it finally took the conclusive push by Beijing to get both sides to shake hands.

In March, Supreme National Security Council of Iran secretary Ali Shamkhahni and the Saudi Arabian National Security Advisor, Musaed Al-Aiban, signed the deal that was brokered by China.

This brokerage by the Chinese could credibly be read as Beijings first real arrival on the global stage as a fixer of issues, and concurrently a tell-tale sign of Americas unmistakable decline and irrelevance.

The unprecedented success of the Chinese flies in the face of US President Joe Biden earlier insistence that Washington DC would not secede strategic space in the Middle East to walk away and leave a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia and Iran. On the contrary, this brokerage by the Chinese contradicts Mr. Bidens assertion.

That this thaw also fits in well with Chinas own energy insecurities and the constant need for markets, the far larger import of Beijings effort is the willy-nilly announcement of an arrived superpower that is perceived as a capable and credible entity to resolve global disputes. In many ways, the Chinese diplomatic flex has gone beyond its usual clientage of pariah and vassalized states like North Korea, Pakistan, or the junta-ruled Myanmar.

Two of the most powerful and influential states within the comity of 57 Islamic countries have seemingly reposed faith and benefited from Chinese intervention.

Already, follow-up meetings are also planned in China and the Saudi newspaper, Asharq alAwasat explained the logic for the venue as it came as an extension of Beijings positive role in reaching the agreement and facilitating communication between the two countries. The unofficial Chinese mouthpiece, Global Times, mocked the Wests effort to promote so-called democratic transformation in the region.

That this conflict did entail two countries that are essentially illiberal, theocratic, and undemocratic is a fact, as is the fact their regimes do not like the preachy and condescending tones of the West which threatens their stranglehold over the government. The Chinese have no such pre-conditions.

The newspaper rattled off the list of Chinese carrots on display, Since the new era, China has launched and proposed a series of ideas and practices including a global community of shared future, the Belt and Road initiative, as well as the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, which are compatible with the needs of the people in the Middle East who have long been troubled by war, confrontation and civilizational tensions.

This is indeed a lot more than what an economically distressed West can offer anytime soon. While it is early days to say conclusively that the Chinese deal will stand the test of time and the civilisational schism, a new broker has certainly entered the market.

Beijing will extract its own pound of flesh, as always, and with China desperate to shore up support on contentious issues like Taiwan tensions, trade wars etc., the timing is significant for China too.

(The writer is Lt Gen PVSM, AVSM (Retd), and former Lt Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Puducherry)
Calcutta High Courts single-judge Bench of Justice Amrita Sinha on Friday upheld the order by the Bench of Justice Gangopadhyay for a CBI probe into the alleged multi-crore recruitment scam in municipalities. Earlier, the Supreme Court had put an interim stay on the order by Justice Gangopadhyay for a CBI probe in the scam, which the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had unearthed while investigating the alleged recruitment scam in staterun schools.

The apex court had also referred the matter back to the Calcutta High Court. Meanwhile, the state government made a petition at the Bench of Justice Sinha for reconsideration of the order.

The matter came up for hearing at Justice Sinhas Bench on Friday. Justice Sinha dismissed the plea of the state government on this count and allowed CBI to continue with the probe in the matter.

State Advocate General SN Mukherjee argued that the previous Bench ordered the CBI probe without hearing the argument of the state government. Matters related to municipalities were not the subjects of that court which ordered the CBI probe.

Moreover, law & order being a state subject, the state police should have the authority to probe the matter. But in this case that scope was not granted to the state police, the state advocate general argued.

However, the counter argument to this in the court was that since recruitment scams in state-run schools and municipalities in West Bengal were related, the central agency probe in the matter is required.

Finally, after hearing both sides, Justice Sinha finally upheld the order by Justice Gangopadhyay for CBI probe in the alleged recruitment irregularities scam
In the wake of the alleged love jihad, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Government undertook certain measures to curb religious conversion in Uttar Pradesh. On November 27, 2020, the state government passed the Prohibition of Law-Conversion Prohibition Ordinance-2020.

With the implementation of the ordinance strong action was taken against those accused of religious conversion. As per official available data released here on Friday, as many as 433 cases related to religious conversion were registered in the state from 27 November 27, 2017 to April 30, 2023. More than 855 arrests have been made in the cases so far. In 184 cases, women victims confessed before the court that they were forcibly converted. At the same time, 66 cases of conversion of minors have been registered so far.

A total of 433 cases related to religious conversion were registered in UP. In this, a maximum of 86 cases were registered in Bareilly zone while 61 cases were registered in Gorakhpur, 55 in Lucknow, 47 in Meerut, 46 in Prayagraj and 40 in Varanasi.

On the other hand, most of the accused were arrested from the Prayagraj zone. While taking action in these cases, the police of Prayagraj zone arrested 163 accused while137 arrests were made in Bareilly. 124 in Lucknow, 115 in Varanasi, 86 in Gorakhpur, 65 in Meerut, 37 in Agra zone, 21 accused of conversion in Kanpur were caught by the police.

As per the provisions of the Prohibition of Illegal Religious Conversion Act, a person found guilty of religious forced conversion can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined Rs 15,000 to Rs 50,000.

The ordinance makes it mandatory for interfaith couples to inform about their marriage to the district magistrate two months before getting married. There is a provision in the ordinance of imprisonment from one to five years with a minimum fine of Rs 15,000 for forcible conversion.

There is also a provision of punishment of three to 10 years for the conversion of minors and women of SC/ST communities. Forcible mass conversion warrants 3 to 10 years jail and a fine of Rs 50,000. According to the ordinance, if the sole purpose of the marriage is to convert a woman, such a marriage can be declared illegal.
For guardians of students in schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education in Siliguri, theres some great news.

For the second consecutive year, most of the CBSE schools in the town have fared very well in the All India Secondary School Examination and All India Senior School Certificate Examination 2022 conducted by the CBSE, the results of which were declared today.

Delhi Public School, Siliguri is believed to have achieved the best results in the ClassXII examinations.

Soon after the results were declared, the principal of the school, Anisha Sharma, told this correspondent that Prapti Das and Ruchira Roy, who have topped the list of successful candidates in the Science and Humanities streams respectively with 98.4 and 96.6 percent marks in the school, were also the toppers in their respective streams in north Bengal and Anurag Sengupta, who stood first in the Commerce stream with 97 percent marks, was the second most successful candidate in his stream from the region.

She also said that in ClassX, Yana Bindal and Sumedha Bhattacharya secured the first position in the school with 98.2 percent marks and their school had achieved a 100 percent result in both the Class-X and Class-XII examinations. All the 433 and 709 students, who had appeared in the Class-X and Class-XII examinations respectively, have passed the examinations and a whopping 100 and 73 students have achieved more than 90 percent marks in AISSCE and AISSE.

This resounding success is almost fully attributable to the hard work, resilience and fortitude of our students and the exemplary efforts of the teachers and the school staff, she said.

Among the other schools whom The Statesman could contact, Techno India Group Public School, Modi Public School, DAV School and GD Goenka Public School have also achieved 100 percent results in both the examinations.

According to Modi Public School principal Jayanta Pal, all the students have passed the examinations. Vritti Deb and Drishti Dudheria of the Commerce stream have topped the list of successful candidates in the AISSE and AISSCE from our school with 97.4 and 97.6 percent marks respectively, he said.

DAV principal Taposhi Pal Banik said that out of the 107 and 169 students, who had taken the Class-X and ClassXII examinations, all have passed. Omshree Mahapatra, from the Commerce stream and Arkadip Ray from the Humanities stream secured 96 and 93.6 percent marks, while Utsha Bapari and Agnidipta Banik emerged toppers in the Science streams with 94.2 percent marks in the Class-XII examinations. Trisha Jain topped the list of successful AISSE candidates from the school with 95.5 percent marks, she said.

According to a press release issued by the GD Goenka Public School, all the 165 and 295 candidates, who took the Class-X and Class-XII examinations, have passed. Riju Dutta stood first in the Science stream with 98 percent marks, while Devanshi Sharma and Tanish Agarwal secured the top position in the Commerce group with 95 percent marks. Srinjoy Paul topped the Humanities stream with 94 percent marks and in the ClassX examinations Ronit Bhotra notched 97 percent to emerge the topper in the school, the release informed.

Techno India principal Nandita Nandi said that all the 309 and 447 candidates, who had appeared in the AISSE and AISSCE from the school this year, have passed.

Retaining their reputation of putting up brilliant performances in the CBSE examinations, Jermels Academy, Siliguri Model High School, Royal Academy and Doon Heritage School have achieved 100 percent results.

Siliguri Model High School principal SS Agarwal said that Sayan Nandi stood first among the successful AISSE candidates of the school with 95.60 percent marks, while Rajdeep Kumar Prasad of the Science stream topped the list of successful AISSCE candidates in the school with 91 percent marks.

Jermels Academy has achieved a 100 and 99.32 percent result in AISSE and AISSCE respectively. Principal Ejaz E Sadiq informed that Debanshu Chanda of the Humanities stream and Fazal Hayat Khan of the Science stream have both secured 97.8 percent marks, while Sagnik Biswas secured the top spot in the Class-X examinations with 95.8 percent marks.

Royal Academy principal Arindam Chakraborty said that Sourav Rathi and Nisha Gupta of the Humanities and Commerce streams have stood first in their respective groups with 95.8 and 91.2 percent marks respectively, while Aditya Sanghai has topped the list of successful AISSE candidates with 90.2 percent.

According to Doon Heritage School principal Md Ishaque, Antariksha Chatterjee (Humanities), Aditi Chettri (Commerce) and Arifa Talaha (Science) have secured 96, 92 and 91.3 percent in AISSCE, while Asif Alam has secured the top spot in AISSE with 93.8.
Many health professionals and doctors have disagreed to and opposed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees move to ask the state health department to consider a proposal to start a three-year diploma course for medical practitioners.

According to a senior physician, the number of medical colleges has increased in the state during the regime of the present government in more than a decade. Thousands of medical students are graduating every year, so there should not be a crisis of qualified doctors. I do not know what made the chief minister think like this. It is a risky proposition, he said.

The CM, who is also the health minister, has asked the health department to look into the introduction of a three-year diploma course in medicine to mitigate the shortfall of doctors. She has also directed officials to see whether the post of semi-doctor can be introduced by promoting senior nurses with several years of experience.

Raising strong objections to the proposal, the physician said the proposal for a threeyear diploma course is not at all scientific.

The National Medical Commission (NMC) regulates medical education and medical professionals across India. The diploma course will not be of much help as the medical students undergo a longer duration of practical and theoretical MBBS course. Learning and studies are life-long processes. The diploma may be helpful for health assistants, paramedical staff, but not for doctors, said the physician, requesting anonymity.

Dr Jyoti Bikash Saha, who had served in both the posts as the principal and superintendent of the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, said he could not support the proposal. Medical students need exposure in the diverse course. I cannot support the proposal, said Dr Saha, who had been the head of the department of community medicine between 1996 and 2003.

According to him, doctors were responsible for the lives of the patients they treated. They work to save the lives of the patients which is very serious unlike other professions, Dr Saha added.

Multiple forums of the medical fraternity have opposed the proposal.

State secretary of the Medical Service Centre Dr Biplab Chandra said, The move lacks a scientific approach. After a prolonged scientific review, the recommendations of the Bhore committee for a five and half year MBBS course had been implemented in the country. In this context, the proposal of the chief minister is unscientific and motivated. It may be recalled that the erstwhile Left Front government had mooted similar proposals like the so-called barefoot doctors in 1980s, as a diploma in community medical service, the UPA government at Centre had also planned a three-and-a-half-year course leading to a diploma in Bachelor of Rural Medicine and Surgery. But after strong opposition from medical students, doctors and the people, they withdrew such unscientific steps. We are demanding that the state government drop the proposal, Dr Chandra said.
Nataka (drama) pretty much rhymes with the name of the state Karnataka  where results of the Vidhan Sabha elections are expected in a few hours.

Even as the results are awaited, the drama has started unfolding; the two Congress factions led by former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and DK Shivkumar were reportedly collecting and keeping their flock intact, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) not happy with BS Bommai at the helm has not named their CM candidate but are keen to exploit any available opportunity to form the government while Janata Dal-Secular (ex-president) HD Kumaraswamy who knows well that his party can only leverage some power in case of a hung assembly has flown to Singapore making himself dearer to both the Congress and the saffron party in case there is something to leverage.

Dharmasenan, a veteran journalist, who has his ear close to the ground repeats a dialogue from the Bollywood blockbuster  Om Shanti Om, Picture abhi baki hai mere dost. Casually translated it means, My Friend, The Film Isnt Over Yet. He adds, Take a look at the past four Vidhan Sabha elections in Karnataka and you know except 2013, all the three elections  2018, 208, 2004 had some drama unfolding every two years.

Lets take a look at what Dharmasenan is referring to.

2018 Vidhan Sabha polls

Before the polls, out of the eight exit polls, five polls predicted that BJP will be the single largest party but there will be a hung assembly and the remaining three had predicted that Congress will be the single largest party and again they too predicted a hung assembly. The drama started to unfold after the election results. BJP with 104 seats could not form the government and Congress with 80 seats forged an alliance with Janata Dal (S) which had 37 seats. However, 14 months later, 16 ruling coalition MLAs resigned making the strength Congress-JDS alliance down to 101 while two independent MLAs joined the BJP taking the BJP tally to 107 and well past the new halfway mark of 105. BS Yediyurappa became the CM. In 2021, Yediyurappa too had to resign after Prime Minister Narendra Modis intervention. This paved way for BS Bommai, who became the new chief minister.

2013 Vidhan Sabha polls

There wasnt much drama in the 2013 Karnataka VS polls. The major exit polls predicted a Congress victory and that came out to be true. Congress won 122 seats in an assembly of 224 while BJP and Janata Dal (S) secured 40 seats each and Siddaramaiah became the CM of Karnataka. Ahead of the 2013 elections, sensing trouble BJP made Jagdish Shettar the CM of Karnataka. However, he was defeated in the elections and had to resign. In 2023, Shettar was denied the ticket by the BJP and the former Karnataka CM joined the Congress in the presence of Mallikarjuna Kharge and Siddaramaiah.

2008 Vidhan Sabha polls

In 2008, the saffron party for the first time broke the barrier beyond the Vindhyas. It came to power in the southern state with 110 seats well short of the halfway mark. BJP with the backing of six independents five, of whom had to be given cabinet berths came to power, and BS Yediyurappa became the CM. Congress had won 80 seats while Janata Dal (S) won 28.

However, in the five years, the saffron outfit had three Chief Ministers  Yeddyurappa who was mired in controversies and was also arrested in a land scam in 2011 along with other BJP leaders. After his resignation, his chosen man DV Sadananda Gowda became the CM who too was replaced by Jagdish Shettar as CM towards the end of the term.

2004 Vidhan Sabha polls

It was the 2004 Vidhan Sabha election results that were termed by everybody a khichdi result by psephologists and a shadow of the events which would unfold in the coming two decades. For the first time, BJP won the highest number of seats 79, Congress won 65 seats and JDS won 58 seats. While no one was in a position to form the government, Congress and JDS came together to form an alliance.

Dharam Singh of the Congress became the CM. But in early 2006, JDS withdrew support and HD Kumaraswamy with the help of the BJP became the CM of Karnataka with Yediyurappa as his deputy. This was just the beginning of the drama that kept unfolding in the next three VS elections.

Bengaluru-based keen watcher of Karnataka affairs Vijay Grover says, Kumaraswamy wants to remain relevant, Congress does not want to lose its hold, this is one big state where they want to stay relevant, for the BJP Karnataka is the doorway to the southern states and thus it is an important state to them.

Ask him how he visualizes the new Vidhan Sabha and he responds, Picture baaki hai par khiladi naye hain (It is the same film but with new players).
In a boost to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ahead of 2024 general elections, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party on Saturday wrested the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat from the Congress with the party candidate Sushil Kumar Rinku winning a margin of 58,691 votes.

By polling over 34 per cent of the total votes, Rinku  a former Congress legislator who joined AAP days ahead of the by-election  maintained lead over his nearest rival and the Congress candidate Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary from the very first round of counting. The Congress got 27.4 per cent votes.

The Shiromani Akali Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party (SAD-BSP) candidate Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi remained at number four position with 17.9 per cent of votes while Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal, who polled about 15.2 per cent of votes, was at number four position.

A Congress stronghold, Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat, remained with the grand old party since 1999. This reserved seat fell vacant after Congress Member of Parliament (MP), Santokh Singh Chaudhary (76), died of a heart attack during Rahul Gandhis Bharat Jodo Yatra in Punjab this January.

In the 2022 Assembly polls, Congress had won five of the nine Assembly segments in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat while the AAP won the remaining four. In the bypoll results today, the AAP took lead in seven segments while the BJP took lead in the remaining two  Jalandhar North and Jalandhar Central.

Having suffered an embarrassing defeat in the bypoll for Sangrur Lok Sabha seat  vacated by the chief minister who had won it in 2014 and 2019  to Simranjit Singh Mann of Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) barely three months after AAP swept the February 2022 Punjab Assembly polls by winning 92 of the 117 seats. This had raised a question mark on AAPs popularity and Manns leadership.

No wonder this bypoll was a matter of prestige for the ruling AAP as a defeat would have dented the partys claim to good governance and new brand of politics. The resounding victory, that too in the Congress stronghold, has given AAP in general and Mann in particular a much-needed boost in the run-up to 2014 Lok Sabha elections due next year.

Addressing a press conference in Delhi along with the Punjab chief minister, AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal described the bypoll result as a peoples stamp on the one year of the Bhagwant Mann Government in Punjab.

Mann, in turn, said the verdict is a positive stamp on 14 months of the AAP government. We were seeking votes for free power, school, Aam Aadmi Clinics and infrastructure. Its great that people like positive politics. All parties were together against AAP in this bypoll. But people have rejected them all and given their stamp to the work culture and honesty of the AAP government, he said.
Days after Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira accused a minister in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of sexual misconduct, a Congress MLA sought protection for life and liberty from the Punjab Police on Friday.

The three-time legislator from Bholath, who had made the allegation against the minister on the basis of video clips, complained that the state police was working overtime on the directions of the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to implicate him in multiple false cases.

In a representation addressed to the Chief Justice of India as well as the Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court, All India Kisan Congress chairman Khaira said he is being victimised for raising issues of public importance.

 I am writing this to seek protection of life and liberty at the hands of a vindictive state government, he said.

The Congress leader said recently he brought into the open a conduct of a sitting minster in the state who had appointed his own son as telephone attendant in his office and had further appointed son of his real sister-in-law as assistant besides appointing his personal political companion as a cook in his house just to get money in his pocket.

Another very damaging video of highly-objectionable nature where the same minister was sexually abusing a young boy by alluring him with a job offer which was sent to me. Instead of bringing it in the public domain, I, as a responsible citizen, handed it to the governor of Punjab with a request to get it verified first by forensic examination and then to take appropriate action on it if it was found to be genuine, authentic and not tampered with in any manner, Khaira said.

The Congress leader said he did not disclose the name of the minister to anyone. It (the video) has now come out into the public domain that the video has been found to be authentic and not tampered with in any manner. The Punjab governor has now written to the government of Punjab to take action on the same in accordance with law. The victim of the sexual abuse has approached the Scheduled Caste Commission for taking action and for protecting his life which is under threat, he added.

The Congress leader said instead of taking action against the culprit minister, the state government has initiated vindictive and mala fide action against him by registering false frivolous and motivated cases.

Khaira said a false first information report (FIR) was registered against him on 27 April when he sat on protest at SDM office for not taking timely action to disburse compensation for the crop loss suffered by farmers due to untimely rain in the state.

All the false offences mentioned in the FIR were bailable offences. Now a non bailable offense under section 353 IPC has been added in this FIR after this episode to illegally arrest me, he added.

The Congress leader said he apprehends that the police and to an extent court is being put under pressure as his bail pleas are not being considered in a fair manner while ignoring the recent binding directions issued by the Supreme Court.

I have now learnt that a few more cases are going to be foisted on me to take spite and to take away my liberty. I am left with hardly any option but to approach you, being protector of the liberty of citizens as guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution of India, to save me from the tyranny of the government in power which is hell bent to violate the law to have a go at me, he added.
Congress had to wait for six Vidhan Sabha elections and 34 years to reach the kind of tally it got in the 2023 Vidhan Sabha elections in Karnataka. This is going to be the biggest victory for any party in Karnataka in 34 years by vote share and seat, former psephologist and political activist Yogendra Yadav said even as the counting was on.

The last time it won more than those many seats was in 1989 when it won a whopping 178 seats, Janata Dal had 24 seats in its kitty then while Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was trying hard to find its feet south of the Vindhyas then. The saffron party had all four seats in Karnataka in 1989.

It may not be a landslide victory, but winning 61 per cent of the total seats and way past the halfway mark of 113 seats, now Congress does not even need any outside support. Many say, Bharat Jodo Yatra also may have contributed significantly to this result that favoured the Congress.

A welled-up DK Shivkumar after the elections said that I had promised Sonia Gandhi and Mallikaarjun Kharge that we will win Karnataka.

Now all eyes are on the two Congress camps of DK Shivakumar and former CM Sidaramaiah and who among the two will be the chief ministerial choice.

Dharmasenan, a keen watcher of South Indian affairs says, The majority voted against the BJP and that basically means it was an anti-incumbency vote. Also, because Yediyurappa was sidelined and Bommai could not replace him as a mass leader that also resulted in BJPs loss. And for the Congress, DK Shivakumar is the man who organised them under one umbrella.

Which way various regions of Karnataka polled From Bengaluru, out of a total of 28 seats, Congress and BJP won 14 seats each.

From Central Karnataka, out of a total of 23 seats Congress won 14 seats while BJP won seven seats. Two seats went to Janata Dal (S) and Others won one seat.

From Old Mysuru out of 64 seats, Congress won 44 seats, the saffron party won four seats, JDS won 14 seats, and Others two.

From Mumbai-Karnataka, out of 50 seats, Congress won 33 seats, BJP won 16 seats, and JDS won one seat.

From Hyderabad-Karnataka, out of a total of 40 seats, Congress won 27 seats, BJP nine seats while JDS won three seats and Others one. Like from Bengaluru where BJP and Congress were neck and neck, the Coastal Karnataka is the only region from where BJP has fared better than the Congress winning 12 seats out of 19. From here Congress won six seats and JDS one.
Jubilant over the victory in Karnataka Assembly elections, the Congress on Saturday said the partys win in the southern state is an outcome of the collective work of party leaders.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who hails from Karnataka, said the people of all communities voted for the Congress. He said the party will work towards fulfilling its election promises.

I thank the people of Karnataka for giving a huge mandate to the Congress. We will respect the mandate and uphold peoples belief in us. We will implement all the welfare schemes we have announced in our manifesto. I thank Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and also Sonia Gandhi who campaigned even when she wasnt well, Kharge said.

Targeting the BJP, he said the people have defeated a partys government which had indulged in corruption.

People of all communities voted for us. Now, we have to go miles and fulfil the promises and guarantees we made to the public. This is a result of the collective work of our workers, from booth to state level.. they worked under collective leadership, Kharge said.

Talking to reporters after the grand old party scored an emphatic victory in the Assembly polls, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said: I congratulate the people of Karnataka. They have sent a message across the state that the public want a politics that resolves their issues, a politics where their issues are discussed.

She said the people of Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh have proved that politics of diversion will not work anymore.

As I said, this (coming to power in Karnataka) is a huge responsibility. We went to the people with a few guarantees and we have to fulfill them. We have to work for the people. Public will tell us what will happen next, said Priyanka Gandhi Vadra when asked about voices in the country that Rahul Gandhi will become the PM.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday said that the saffron party spoke of Congress mukt-Bharat but the party itself is not in power in the southern part of the country.

Talking to reporters, Baghel said: First we won Himachal Pradesh and then we won Karnataka. They used to speak of Congress mukt-Bharat but now South India is BJP-mukt. He called the results a defeat of the Prime Minister.

Expressing joy over the partys performance in Karnataka Assembly polls, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the Assembly poll results confirmed that the Congress had won and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had lost.

Ramesh said Karnataka has rejected the BJPs campaign which was a referendum on the PM.

As the results firm up in Karnataka, it is now certain that the Congress has won and the PM has lost. The BJP had made its election campaign a referendum on the PM and on the state getting his ashirwaad. That has been decisively rejected!, Jairam Ramesh tweeted.

According to the Congress leader, the grand old party fought the Karnataka polls on local issues  livelihood and food security, price rise, farmer distress, electricity supply, joblessness, and corruption.

He accused PM Modi of having injected divisiveness and polarising voters in the elections.

The PM injected divisiveness and attempted polarisation. The vote in Karnataka is for an engine in Bengaluru that will combine economic growth with social harmony, Jairam Ramesh tweeted.

Congress Madhya Pradesh chief Kamal Nath said the Karnataka poll results have given an indication that politics of bargaining will end now.

After his partys massive victory in the southern state, he said that result showed the impact of Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The victory in Karnataka has shown that people support the truth, he added.

Kamal Nath congratulated Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and the entire party unit of Karnataka who worked hard to bring the party back into power. Heartiest congratulations to Kharge ji and all Congress leaders including Rahul Gandhi who has ushered a new revolution in the country through Bharat Jodo Yatra, he said.

Meanwhile, he said that Karnatakas victory will be repeated in Madhya Pradesh too and appealed to state Congress leaders and workers to get ready for the elections due at the end of this year.

After massive victories in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka, it is certain that the Congress will form the government in Madhya Pradesh as well. Every worker of the Congress should now gear up for elections, he added.

Former CM and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh took dig at the BJP, saying the saffron party has been wiped out from the southern part of the country and they will face the same outcome in central India soon.

The BJP has been wiped out in south India and after the Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh elections, you will see that they will be wiped out from central India too, he said.
Saturday

HomeStore open, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., 701 E. Dodge St., Fremont. The HomeStore sells donated items at discounted prices. Proceeds support the mission of Fremont Area Habitat for Humanity.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 10 a.m., Chapter 5 Club, 136 N. Main St., Fremont

Alcoholics Anonymous womens heart-to-heart group, noon, Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

DC Lynch Carnival, noon to 10 p.m., Fremont Mall parking lot.

Fremont Eagles Club open, noon to midnight, 649 N. Main St., Fremont. The club may stay open later or close early depending on business.

Fremont High School graduation, 2 p.m., Midland Universitys Wikert Event Center, Fremont.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 5:15 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Archbishop Bergan High School graduation, 6:30 p.m., St. Patrick Catholic Church, Fremont. A Baccalaureate Mass will precede graduation at 5 p.m.

Spiritual 12-Step Recovery Program, 7 p.m., Lighthouse, 84 W. Sixth St., Fremont.

Live music by Collective Twang, 8 p.m. to midnight, Fremont Eagles Club Ballroom. The cover charge is $8. Everyone is welcome.

Narcotics Anonymous The Lie is Dead meeting, 8 p.m., LifeHouse, 723 N. Broad St., Fremont. The hotline number is 402-459-9511.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 10:30 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Sunday

Alcoholics Anonymous Happy Sober Sunday Group, 9 a.m., Chapter 5 Club, 136 N. Main St., Fremont.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 10 a.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Mothers Day Brunch, 10 a.m. to noon, Fremont Friendship Center, 1730 W. 16th St., Fremont. A pancake feed will celebrate all mothers. A freewill donation is encouraged. All proceeds will benefit the Fremont Friendship Center. The first 100 moms in the door will receive a rose.

Narcotics Anonymous Seekers of Serenity meeting, 10:30 a.m., LifeHouse, 723 N. Broad St., Fremont. The hotline number is 402-459-9511.

DC Lynch Carnival, noon to 10 p.m., Fremont Mall parking lot.

Fremont Eagles Club open, noon to 6 p.m., 649 N. Main St., Fremont. The club may stay open later or close early depending on business.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 5:15 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Narcotics Anonymous Freedom Works Group, 7 p.m., Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 1440 E. Military Ave., Fremont.

Alcoholics Anonymous Sunday speaker, 7:30 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Monday

TOPS Club (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), 9 a.m., First United Methodist Church, 850 N. Broad St., Fremont. Weigh-ins begin at 8 a.m. Visitors (preteens, teens and adults  male and female) are welcome. The first meeting is free.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 10 a.m., Chapter 5 Club, 136 N. Main St., Fremont.

Lightkeepers Womens Group, 10 a.m., Lighthouse, 84 W. Sixth St., Fremont.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, noon, Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Fremont Eagles Club open, 3 p.m. to midnight, 649 N. Main St., Fremont. The club may stay open later or close early depending on business. The trustees meeting is at 4 p.m.

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 5:15 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, Fremont.

Celebrate Recovery, 6:30 p.m., Fremont Church of the Nazarene, 960 Johnson Road.

Fresh Hope Mental Health Support Group, 7 p.m., Lighthouse, 84 W. Sixth St., Fremont.

Narcotics Anonymous Freedom Works Group, 7 p.m., Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 1440 E. Military Ave., Fremont.

Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 854 meeting, 7 p.m., Fremont Eagles Club.

Alcoholics Anonymous 12x12 meeting, 8 p.m., Chapter 5 Club, 136 N. Main St., Fremont.

 Tribune staff
Congress, CPI-M and Muslim league leaders in Kerala have welcomed the Karnataka Assembly election results calling them an indication of public sentiment against BJPs alleged communal politics.

Terming the Congress victory in Karnataka historic, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said here on Saturday that the results reflect the public sentiment against BJPs divisive and communal politics.

It also showed the public acceptance of the Congress and Rahul Gandhis Bharat Jodo Yatra, he added.

KPCC president K Sudhakaran said the result of the Karnataka elections, which has pushed the BJP out from South India, has raised the enthusiasm of the secular forces in the country.

Opposition leader VD Satheesan termed the congress victory in Karnataka peoples verdict against communalism and fascism. Its impact will go beyond the frontiers of Karnataka and will be reflected in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls , he said.

CPI-M state secretary MV Govindan said with the Karnataka result, southern India has been freed from BJP. But he added that Karnataka election results did not indicate a comeback of Congress on its own. He said Congress on its own cannot free India from BJP.

Muslim League state general secretary PMA Salam said that the election result in Karnataka gives a source of hope in national politics. He said it was an opportunity to reclaim secular India.
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought to the forefront the fault lines in existing global health architecture, underlining the need for a more robust, inclusive and responsive global health architecture, while maintaining the centrality of the WHO, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Saturday.

Bridging the digital divide through the promotion of digital public goods to support health service delivery is critical to ensure that fruits of technology are made available to all and to aid and augment health response capacities, he said, while addressing the G7 Health Ministerial meeting on Global Health Architecture in Nagasaki, Japan.

The meeting was held to discuss global health challenges and ways to ensure preparedness, prevention and response to future health emergencies. The health ministers of the G7 countries and invited Outreach 4 countries of India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand attended the meeting.

Mandaviya stated that when it comes to managing any health emergency, any countrys national health system is heavily dependent on the global health system. He cautioned against fragmented and siloed efforts in addressing the challenges faced by the world and underlined the need for collaborative efforts to ensure global health security, including a specific focus on promoting health equity.

He noted that while multiple global efforts were underway, there was a need to ensure the convergence of these ongoing initiatives. On this note, he appreciated that the health agendas under the G20 India Presidency and the G7 Japan Presidency were perfectly aligned and have collectively prioritised health emergency preparedness, access to medical countermeasures and digital health to achieve universal health coverage & innovation.

Mandaviya also emphasised the role of digital solutions and the use of technology in ensuring continuity of care amidst multiple challenges posed by the pandemic. He stated that bridging the digital divide through the promotion of Digital Public Goods to support health service delivery is critical to ensure that fruits of technology are made available to all and to aid and augment health response capacities.

On Indias G20 Presidency, the Indian minister informed that priority has been given towards building consensus for converging global efforts to address any health emergencies and ensure the availability of medical countermeasures to all the countries during any health emergency, with a specific focus on affordability and ensuring equitable availability.
The defeat in Karnataka has far-reaching implications for BJP. As it is bound to put a halt to its southern sojourn, the saffron party will certainly face roadblocks in its way to capture power in Telangana.

Among the southern states, it is Telangana where Assembly elections are due in December this year and the BJP, which is still suffering from organisational weaknesses, particularly in interior areas, have been looking to poach powerful leaders from other parties, particularly the Congress to contest from all the 119 seats in the state.

The party had set a model with Munugode byelection though it had lost. The disastrous loss in Karnataka may prove a deterrent to leaders looking to jump ship opting for BJP. No wonder both the Telangana Congress and the BRS seem to be buoyed by todays results.

The beleaguered Telangana Congress, which was being pushed into a corner as much by the BJP due to infighting, celebrated the Congress win in Karnataka with much fanfare at Gandhi Bhavan in Hyderabad with PCC president A Revanth Reddy joining in along with AICC in charge Manikrao Thakre.

The Karnataka victory prompted Reddy to claim that the Congress will come to power in Telangana with a clear majority in the assembly elections. He said in Karnataka, the voters rejected Prime Minister Narendra Modi by defeating his BJP and by extension rejected Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao by rejecting the JDS.

No stopping for Congress. Yesterday it was Himachal Pradesh, today its Karnataka, tomorrow it will be Telangana, said the Congress MP.

However, the BRS, which seems to be excited by the decimation of BJP at the hands of the Congress, was quick to offer a rebuttal to Revanth Reddys claim. BRS working president KT Rama Rao, who is away in the UK, took to Twitter to refute Reddys prediction.

Just the way The Kerala Story failed to amuse people of Karnataka, similarly, Karnataka election results will have no bearing on Telangana, said Rao.

Nevertheless he went on to appreciate the mandate of the people saying, Thanks to the people of Karnataka for rejecting ugly and divisive politics. Let Hyderabad and Bengaluru compete healthily for investments and creating infrastructure for the greater good of India. My best wishes to the new Congress government in Karnataka.

The glee of the BRS is not without reason at a time when the BJP has been breathing down its neck. The party even held its national executive meet in the state last year and its leaders fanned out in the districts to boost its chances on the ground. For a brief period, the BRS even assured all support to the JDS and proclaimed HD Kumaraswamy as next chief minister. But BRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao, who has his ear to the ground when it comes to political goings-on across the country, did nothing to upset the applecart of the Congress even as the state elections are drawing closer.

Rao neither visited North Karnataka, nor did his party men campaign for the JDS as he realised that Kumaraswamy may negotiate with BJP after falling short of a few seats. It is willing to take on a resurgent Congress if it means BJP would be considerably weakened in Telangana.
The outcome of the Assembly elections in Karnataka is on the expected lines. The Congress partys handsome victory has come as a morale booster for the rank and file of the grand old party.

Senior Congress leaders were quick to credit Rahul Gandhi for the partys victory, saying his Bharat Jodo Yatra reinvigorated the party. But no one can deny that it was the local Congress leadership, led by old war horse and former chief minister Siddaramaiah and state Congress chief D K Shivakumar, who tirelessly worked for its victory, pitted as they were against well-oiled BJP election machinery.

The two leaders, who were always at loggerheads, made a common cause against the ruling saffron outfit in the state and succeeded in dislodging the Basavaraj Bommai government. Now that the dust has settled on the electoral battle, will they cross swords when the new leader of the Congress legislature party is elected? Since both are contenders for the coveted chief ministers post, it wont be easy for the Central Congress leadership or the new Congress legislators to choose the new leader.

Poll analysts say the Congress victory has again demonstrated the partys ability to field a strong cadre and leadership capable of challenging the BJP, notwithstanding the charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There are many who claim that the BJPs tally would have been much lesser had the PM not undertaken a high-decibel campaign by addressing as many as 19 rallies and holding six road shows in Karnataka.

Chief Minister Bommai was quick to concede defeat, saying, Despite best efforts by the PM and party cadres, we were not up to mark. But everyone knows what has led to his partys defeat in the elections.

There were expectations that Bommai would boost the image of the party and the government when he replaced veteran B S Yediyurappa as chief minister. But his tenure too was marked by charges of corruption and nepotism. On top of it, the powerful Lingayat community also gradually started drifting from the BJP and the result is there for all to see.

At the last minute during the electioneering, the BJP sought to strike an emotional chord with the Hindus by highlighting the Congress promise in its manifesto to ban organisations like the Bajrang Dal and the Popular Front of India (PFI), if voted to power. Top Congress leaders privately admitted that the mention of the Bajrang Dal could have been avoided. But the party decided not to back down, which might have even led to Muslim consolidation in favour of the grand old party.

As far as the Janata Dal (Secular) is concerned, it was perhaps punching above its weight during the no-holds-barred campaign. It was apparently under the impression that neither Congress nor the BJP would get an absolute majority, in which case, it would play the role of a kingmaker again. However, the partys performance has left much to be desired.

All eyes will now be on the Assembly elections in some of the key states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Telangana later this year which will set the tone for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Friday sent Shahrukh Saifi, the accused caught in connection to the Kozhikodes Elathur train attack case, to judicial custody till May 27.

Earlier on Thursday, NIA had conducted searches at 10 locations in the national capital in connection with the attack case that took place on April 2 this year. The agency sleuths carried out raids at Delhis Shahin Bagh and other locations of suspects. The NIA carried out these searches at the hideouts of suspects in the case which was taken over by the anti-terror agency almost a month ago and it started its probe charging the highly radicalised arrested accused Shahrukh Safi.

The agency took over the case from Kerala Police in mid-April following an order issued by the Counter Terrorism and Counter Radicalization (CTCR) division under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). As it was a clear case of terror involving many states, the NIA invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in its based on doubts that the accused was sent to the state by his handlers and he got enough local help.

The NIAs action comes days after the accused, identified as one Shahrukh Saifi, who also suffered burn injuries during the terror act, was slapped with murder charges under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code by a district session court in Kozhikode. He was charged with murder in a case filed by the railway police.

As per officials, there was a preplanned conspiracy behind the crime and it was not a single-man mission as confessed by the accused.

Saifi, 27, a native of Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, was arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Maharashtra police and Central Intelligence after the train arson attack case. He had also suffered injuries in the attack.

At the time of interrogation by a special investigation team (SIT) Saifi provided contradictory statements in which initially, he had said he was being used by someone and later retracted saying, everything was planned and executed by him only.

The NIA is investigating the larger conspiracy as part of which Saifi, assessed by Kerala police to be highly radicalised and influenced by inflammatory speeches of Islamic evangelist Zakir Naik, planned and executed the act of arson.

On April 2, Saifi had attempted to set some passengers on fire on board the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express at Elathur in Kozhikode, after spraying them with an inflammable liquid. Three passengers lost their lives while trying to jump out of the train to escape the fire. Saifi was later arrested from Ratnagiri.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Saturday said that Bharatiya Janata Partys V Somanna will be defeated from both Varuna and Chamarajanagar constituencies as the results of the Assembly polls are declared later in the day.

The early trends for Karnataka assembly election results showed Congress crossing the halfway mark, and Siddaramaiah leading from the Varuna constituency. The BJP has fielded Somanna from both Varuna and Chamarajanagar constituencies.

He is trailing in Varuna by 8354 votes against Siddaramaiah and in Chamarajanagar by 7383 votes against C Puttarangashetty.

There was a lot of curiosity around the battle for the Varuna constituency where Congress stalwart and former chief minister Siddaramaiah is pitted against the BJPs V Somanna, a state minister and Dr. Bharathi Shankar of the JD(S).

V Sommana will lose in both Varuna and Chamarajanagar seats. We had said that even if PM Modi comes nothing will work and see that has happened. As we expected we will get a majority, said Siddaramaiah.

Congress leader Siddaramaiah is leading from the Varuna constituency with 60.78 per cent votes.

According to the trends of all the 224 Assembly constituencies declared till 11.55 am, Congress surged ahead in 118 seats, BJP in 75 seats and JDS in 24 seats.

There was a celebratory mood at the Congress office in Bengaluru as the party consolidated its lead.

The party workers celebrated at the residence of Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakaumar in Bengaluru as the Congress party surged ahead and crossed the halfway mark in the polls.

The counting of votes began at 8 am amid tight security across the state.

There were celebrations at Congress headquarters in Delhi in anticipation of victory.

Former Karnataka CM and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy visited a temple in Bengaluru amid the counting of votes for Karnataka polls.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited a Lord Hanuman temple in Shimla.

The exit polls predicted a hung assembly with some showing Congress returning to power with a majority. A few exit polls also showed BJP ahead.

If there is a hung assembly, Janata Dal (Secular) can play the role of a kingmaker.

The fiercely contested election that saw high-pitch campaigns from the political parties is crucial for both BJP and Congress.
With hours to go for the final results of the Karnataka Assembly polls to be declared, JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy on Saturday said that he has not been contacted as yet for the formation of the government in case of a cliffhanger, adding that he is hoping for a good show.

Counting for the Assembly polls is all set to begin at 8 am that will decide the fate of 2,615 candidates across parties. Speaking to the media ahead of the counting, Kumaraswamy cited the exit polls which predicted nearly 30-32 seats to JD(S) and a clear edge to the Congress party with some even predicting a majority for the grand old party and said that according to the predictions, there is no need for him to explore options.

In the next 2-3 hours, it will become clear. Exit polls show that the two national parties will score in a big way. The polls have given 30-32 seats to JD(S). I am a small party, there is no demand for meI am hoping for a good development, he said.

No one has contacted me till now. Let us see the final results first. According to the exit polls, there is no need for options. Let us see, the JD(S) leader added.

The counting of votes for the aggressively contested Karnataka assembly elections 2023 will be held on Saturday, three days after the voting concluded to elect the 224 members of the state Assembly.

Notably, Congress is expected to have a clear edge in Karnataka as four exit polls giving it a full majority and some predicting for a hung assembly with an advantage to the party. A few exit polls also said that BJP is ahead in the sweepstakes to form the government.

The exit polls, which were released after the polling ended in Karnataka, predicted that Janata Dal-Secular JD(S) would not touch the 37 seats it won in the 2018 polls but will continue to be a strong regional player in the state. If Karnataka throws up a hung assembly, the JD-S could emerge in the role of kingmaker.

The fiercely contested election that saw high-pitch campaigns from the political parties is crucial for both BJP and Congress. Hectic electioneering by leaders of various political parties saw BJP allowing Union Ministers and Chief Ministers to campaign with their full force.

The Congress on the other hand worked hard to wrest power from the BJP that is striving to break the 38-year-old pattern of alternating governments and retain its power in the state.

Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, held various roadshows, rallies and elections campaigns. An incumbent government has not returned to power in Karnataka after a full term of five years since 1985.
In a scathing attack on BJP that on Saturday lost the assembly elections in Karnataka at the hands of the Congress, National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah said there is no way the BJP will have the courage to allow assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir after its poor performance in the Karnataka polls.

Now, there is no way BJP will have the courage to allow assembly elections to take place in Jammu and Kashmir any time soon #KarnatakaElectionResults, Abdullah, the vice president of the NC, said in a tweet.

Omar and his father Dr. Farooq Abdullah, who is NC chief, had supported Congress leader Rahul Gandhis Bharat Jodo Yatra. The J&K assembly was dissolved five years ago after the BJP withdrew support to PDP that was leading the coalition government. Mainstream regional parties have been demanding assembly elections in J&K where the officialdom of the Lt. Governors administration has lost rapport with people.

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, while congratulating the Congress for the sweeping win in Karnataka, tweeted; wasnt easy given that BJP unleashed the most vicious communal campaign. The people of Karnataka have rejected division and bigotry. I hope this is the start of a new beginning for India.

Talking to mediapersons, Mehbooba described Karnataka Assembly poll results as a ray of hope, and hoped that the rest of the country will also reject communal politics and vote for its development and prosperity.

She said, The BJP tried its best to communalise the situation as is their habit. They even brought Bajrangbali, religion, Hindu-Muslim to the discourse. The prime minister tried to take the discourse on religious lines. Despite that, people kept these issues on the sidelines and chose the issue of development on which the Congress ran its campaign.

Apni Party chief Altaf Bukhari, who is considered close to BJP, tweeted; As a representative of the people, I strongly believe that democracy is the backbone of our society. Elections in Jammu and Kashmir must not be delayed any further as the voice of the people deserves to be heard.

Congress activists in Srinagar and Jammu celebrated the victory of the party. They burst firecrackers and danced in traditional style.
The prayers of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi seem to have been answered by Lord Hanuman. She offered morning prayer at the famous Jakhoo temple on Saturday morning, even before the Karnataka poll verdict turned in favour of her party.

Offering her prayers, she spent around 15 minutes in the temple and offered Aarti.

Later sharing her photos on social media, she stated: Offered prayers at the Jakhu Hanuman Temple in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh and prayed for the happiness, prosperity and peace of the people of the country and Karnataka. May Maruti Nandan bless you all. Jai Bajaranga Bali ! 

The Congress leader was seen clad in Indian traditional dress with the dupatta draped on her head. She along with her mother and former Congress President Sonia Gandhi is on a private visit to Shimla. They arrived here on Friday.

She and her mother are staying at Priyankas house at Charabara in the outskirts of Shimla. Later in the evening, she took a stroll on the historic Ridge and the Mall. She was accompanied by State Congress President Pratibha Singh, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri and other Cabinet ministers.

This was a rare sight for the locals and tourists alike to witness Priyanka Gandhis public appearance, walking on the Mall and waving at the bystanders.

Priyanka has in the past made many private visits to Shimla, which she restricted to her house only and had never made such a public appearance in the last many years.

Elated with the huge win of Congress in Karnataka polls and also the recent Shimla Municipal Corporations impressive victory of her party, Priyanka Gandhi was full of smiles.

She visited Maria Brothers, an antique book store that sells rare books and maps on the Mall and evinced keen interest. The frenzied crowd of locals and tourists reached out to her to shake hands with her and even clicked selfies to which she readily agreed.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Saturday that the state government is planning to use state-of-the-art technology to grow high quality and productive plants in the horticulture sector.

The latest technology will increase the survival rate of plants considerably, he added. The Chief Minister further said that the state has been endowed with a wide range of agro-climatic conditions which has proved a boon for a large number of fruit crops like apple, citrus fruits, mango, apricot, and pear.

He said that the present state government is committed to promoting horticulture besides increasing the income of the farmers.

Several schemes have been initiated, and many programmes were launched to promote this pivotal sector. The World Bank-funded Horticulture Development Project envisages the promotion of productivity, quality, and marketing of horticultural products and fruit production, he said.

The state government is laying emphasis on adopting new techniques to deal with this problem and improve the horticulture sector, he added.

Plantation models of several fruit-producing states are being studied and farmers are being motivated to adopt the latest technology to ensure that the survival rate of plants increases considerably, he said.

For this purpose, a delegation led by Horticulture Minister Jagat Singh Negi is on a six days foreign tour to Australia under the HP Shiva Project funded by the Asian Development Bank, he added.

The Chief Minister said that the team, during its visit, observed and studied the modern techniques of screening, testing, cleaning, and maintenance, being adopted in the field of plant health management in Australia during their tour.

The team also visited the Strawberry Industry Certification Authority and the Elizabeth Agricultural Institute laboratories in Sydney and discussed modern techniques for nursery registration programs.

Apart from observing the micro-grafting technique in orange cultivation, citrus pathology program and national citrus repository program were discussed, he disclosed.

He further informed that it is proposed to cover 1800 hectares of land for orange production in the state under the HP SHIVA project with a requirement of about 20 lakh plants.

This is a key initiative of the state government to gain technical knowledge from Australia and utilize it to guide horticulturists in the state for improving the horticulture sector, he said.

He added that this will help in preparing high-quality orange plants in the state for the orange orchardists.

This tour will be instrumental to adopt new technology practiced in Australia to the state so as to increase the production of the horticulturists besides strengthening their economy, said the Chief Minister.
Not every nurse can do the job that Collette Heiman does.

Heiman is a registered nurse and case manager for Methodist Fremont Health Hospice. Shes been involved in hospice care for 15 years.

The person who nominated Heiman as one of Fremonts Nurses for 2023 said this:

Collette came to us in a time of sadness and dread. She brought a light to our dark moments. The early morning hours after my daughter passed, she came and comforted us. Removed/covered items that would be triggering. She cried with us. She walked with the coroner out to make sure my baby wasnt alone. She still checks in on us. One amazing nurse in a field that many couldnt do. Will forever hold this woman in my heart.

Originally from Gretna  when it was a small town  Heiman went to Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and has lived in Elkhorn for the last 40 years.

Heiman easily tells what she loves about nursing.

It is being with people, Heiman said. Youre dealing with the worst thing thats going to happen to somebody, a loved one is going to pass. Thats the hardest part. But they should be able to do it with comfort and dignity and wherever they feel comfortable  either at home, at a friends home, in a facility. Its their choice.

As for her own background, Heiman comes from a family of 10.

Im from a big family and chaos is normal, she said, smiling.

Perhaps that and other factors are why Heiman  described by her boss as unflappable and unshaken  is able to stay calm in different situations.

Ive been doing hospice for over 15 years and I think if anything was going to happen  it probably already has, she said.

Heiman and her spouse have four children and seven grandchildren.

Recently, Heiman was part of a Q and A with the Fremont Tribune. Her responses are below:

Q. How many years have you been in nursing?

A. 32 years.

Q. Tell us about your immediate family.

A. Proud to say I have been married to my husband, Dale, for 39 years. We raised our four children in Elkhorn, however since working in Fremont since 2009  our youngest daughter attended and graduated from Archbishop Bergan Catholic High School. We have been blessed with five grandchildren and our middle daughter and son-in-law are expecting twin girls in May. (Their daughter recently gave birth to twin girls, so now they have seven grandchildren.)

Q. When, why did you decide to become a nurse?

A. My older sister is an RN (registered nurse). She encouraged me.

Q. What do you like best about nursing and find most rewarding about it?

A. Being a nurse is like a having a passport to explore so many different areas or specialties. There is a niche for everyone, limitless opportunities, and I cannot name another profession that is more conducive to raising a family.

Q. Funniest, saddest, most unusual experience in nursing?

A. Being a hospice RN, people immediately think of cancer and geriatric patients. I have had the privilege and honor to care for a few angels on earth. Pediatric cases are rare, however, there is a need for comfort and dignity at end of life even if that patient is an infant and their life is too short.

Q. If you hadnt become a nurse, what profession might you have entered? And why?

A. Originally started out to be CPA (Certified Public Accountant), quickly realized I cannot sit at a desk all day.

Q. Why are you glad you chose nursing?

A. Nursing has allowed me to work a schedule that is best for my needs, while still making a decent wage. I also really enjoy meeting so many amazing people and getting to hear their life story.

Q. Future plans?

A. Plan to (eventually) retire from Methodist Fremont Health Hospice. Jokingly gave my boss a 5-year notice.
A team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur has proposed a universal mechanism for turbulent relaxation, which can be applied to a wide range of fluids, including plasmas and complex fluids.

This principle, called the principle of vanishing nonlinear transfer (PVNLT), explains how a turbulent system attains a steady, stable state of relaxation when the driving force is switched off.

The study titled Universal turbulent relaxation of fluids and plasmas by the principle of vanishing nonlinear transfers has been published in the journal Physical Review E (Letters).

The team comprises professor Supratik Banerjee, and researchers Arijit Halder and Nandita Pan from the Department of Physics, IIT Kanpur.

According to an official release, the researchers used the example of mixing milk in a cup of coffee.

When we stir the coffee, we create eddies and turbulence that cause the milk to mix quickly. However, when we stop stirring, the system organises itself via turbulent relaxation before it finally ceases to flow. According to PVNLT, this happens when the system gets rid of its nonlinear transfers, terminating the turbulent cascade. In this state, stability is ascertained as a scale-dependent entropy function is maximised when the correlation between different parts of the fluid tends to vanish, said Banerjee.

The PVNLT principle has been shown to give the correct pressure-balanced relaxed states for both two and three-dimensional fluids and plasmas, as previously obtained in numerical simulations.

This means the current principle can correctly predict the way the turbulent relaxation happens in reality. This technique is fundamental and can easily be applied to complex fluids, including compressible fluids, plasmas, binary fluids etc.

Through the principle of vanishing nonlinear transfer, we have been able to uncover a universal mechanism for understanding how turbulent systems reach a relaxed and stable state. Our research has important implications not only for the study of fluids, but also for plasmas and other complex fluids. We are excited about the potential for future applications of this principle in a wide range of fields, added Banerjee.

This research has important implications for our understanding of cosmological plasmas. Cosmological plasmas are plasmas that exist in outer space, such as in stellar envelopes, gaseous nebulae, and interstellar space. Plasmas are a state of matter that consists of charged particles, such as ions and electrons that interact with electromagnetic fields. These plasmas are often dilute, meaning they are not very dense, but they are still important because they play a crucial role in shaping the universe.

One of the interesting features of these cosmological plasmas is that they often exhibit regular patterns, such as force-free magnetic fields with a clear alignment between the magnetic field lines and the current.

This alignment, popularly called a Beltrami-Taylor alignment, is important because it helps to explain the behaviour of these plasmas in outer space. For example, it can explain why some regions of space appear brighter than others in certain wavelengths of light.

The PVNLT principle provides a unified framework for understanding how turbulent systems reach a stable, relaxed state, from a cup of coffee to the cosmological plasmas. The research has the potential to open up new avenues of study and discovery in both laboratory and astrophysical plasmas.
The UK researchers have developed a novel algorithm based on artificial intelligence (AI) that may one day help doctors diagnose heart attacks quickly and with precision.

According to researchers from the University of Edinburgh, the new algorithm, called CoDE-ACS, was able to rule out a heart attack in more than double the number of patients, with an accuracy of 99.6 per cent in comparison to current testing methods.

CoDE-ACS may also greatly help in reducing hospital admissions and rapidly identify patients that are safe to go home. The findings are published in the journal Nature Medicine.

For patients with acute chest pain due to a heart attack, early diagnosis and treatment saves lives, said Prof. Nicholas Mills, who led the research.

Unfortunately, many conditions cause these common symptoms, and the diagnosis is not always straightforward.

Harnessing data and artificial intelligence to support clinical decisions has enormous potential to improve care for patients and efficiency in our busy Emergency Departments, Mills noted.

In addition to ruling out heart attacks, CoDE-ACS could also help doctors identify those whose abnormal troponin (protein released into the bloodstream during a heart attack) levels were due to a heart attack rather than another condition.

Chest pain is one of the most common reasons that people present to emergency departments, said Prof. Sir Nilesh Samani, medical director of the British Heart Foundation.

Every day, doctors around the world face the challenge of separating patients whose pain is due to a heart attack from those whose pain is due to something less serious, he added.

CoDE-ACS was developed using data from 10,038 patients in Scotland who had arrived at hospital with a suspected heart attack.

It uses routinely-collected patient information, such as age, sex, ECG findings and medical history, as well as troponin levels, to predict the probability that an individual has had a heart attack.

The result is a probability score from 0 to 100 for each patient.

Clinical trials are now under way in Scotland to assess whether the tool can help doctors reduce pressure on overcrowded emergency departments.
As connected cars become mainstream globally, Toyota has issued an apology after it discovered that millions of customers partial data was made public due to misconfiguration of the Cloud environment for a decade.

The automaker said it will notify nearly 2.15 million customers in Japan whose personal and vehicle information were left exposed on the web from November 6, 2013 to April 17, 2023.

The exposed data includes registered email addresses, vehicle-unique chassis and navigation terminal numbers, the location of vehicles and what time they were there, and videos from the vehicles drive recorder.

After the discovery of this matter, we have implemented measures to block access from the outside, but we are continuing to conduct investigations including all cloud environments. We apologise for causing great inconvenience and concern to our customers and related parties.

The company is individually sending an apology and notification to the registered email address for customers whose in-vehicle terminal ID, chassis number, vehicle location information, and time may have been leaked.

In addition, we will set up a dedicated call centre to answer questions and concerns from customers, said the Japanese giant.

The company said that the main reason for this incident was insufficient explanation and thoroughness of rules for data handling.

This time, customer information that may have been viewed from the outside will not identify the customer based on this data alone, even if accessed from the outside, it said in a statement.

Since the discovery of this matter, we have not confirmed any secondary use of customer information on the Internet by a third party, or whether or not there are any copies remaining, regarding customer information that may have been viewed from the outside.
US President Joe Biden held a bilateral meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday (local time) to reaffirm the close partnership between the two nations.

President Biden held a bilateral meeting with President Sanchez of Spain to reaffirm the close partnership between our nations, tweeted The White House. Both leaders discussed issues of strategic relevance ranging from the war in Ukraine to trade and immigration.

But efforts by the US and Spain to cooperate on asylum processing loomed large over the discussion as the Biden administration rolls out new immigration measures now that COVID-19 immigration restrictions have ended, reported The Washington Post.

Biden commended Sanchez for his countrys collaboration with the United States and Canada to establish migration hubs in Latin America where asylum seekers fleeing poverty and violence in their home countries can apply for protection.

The new efforts are designed to crack down on illegal border crossings while opening legal pathways to give migrants incentives to apply for asylum online where they are, instead of making the dangerous journey to the border, reported The Washington Post.

Were both facing the challenges of migration in the Western Hemisphere, Biden told Sanchez at the start of the Oval Office meeting.

The coronavirus restrictions, known as Title 42, were a Trump administration endeavour that went into effect in March 2020 amid the global pandemic. Title 42 allowed border officials to turn away migrants to help stop the spread of COVID-19. But there were concerns the policies were put into place merely to keep people out.

While Title 42 was used to deny asylum more than 2.8 million times, it carried no legal consequences, which encouraged repeat attempts by migrants to enter the U.S. The public health emergency officially ended on Thursday night and with it the restrictions.

Russias invasion of Ukraine was also high on the agenda for Biden and Sanchez, two NATO allies, reported The Washington Post.

Sanchez told reporters following the meeting that he and Biden discussed their countries continuing efforts to support Ukraine as Russias invasion grinds on.

Sanchez recently met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, both of whom have put forward ideas to end the conflict, reported The Washington Post.

White House officials have dismissed Chinas 12-point peace plan, and called on Beijing to use its influence to urge Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war.

Sanchez said that Spain, which will assume the rotating presidency of the European Council in July, is committed to a lasting and just peace to resolve the Ukraine crisis. He made clear that he sides with Biden and other Western allies in condemning Russian aggression.

Make no mistake, in this war there is an aggressor and victim, Sanchez said. And in this war the aggressor is President Putin.
End of Title 42 hasn't stopped migrants' push north to US from across the Americas

Confusion has rippled from the U.S.-Mexico border to migrant routes across the Americas, as migrants scramble to understand complex and ever-changing laws
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ST. LOUIS  Metro East infrastructure projects are receiving more than $41 million in grants through the 2023 Illinois Competitive Freight Program.

This include $15 million for improvements to Terminal Railroad Associations Madison Yard and other rail improvements; $10 million for lane improvements on Interstate 55/70 between I-255 and I-270 in Madison County; and $3.5 million for dock improvements at Americas Central Port.

We are thankful that Governor (J.B.) Pritzker and IDOT are highlighting these projects which serve as economic catalysts for the St. Louis Metro East area and the State of Illinois, said Mary Lamie, executive vice president of multi modal enterprises for Bi-State Development and head of the St. Louis Regional Freightway. These infrastructure enhancements will further elevate the region as a global logistics hub while supporting increased safety, reliability, and mobility.

A total of eight major infrastructure projects in Madison and St. Clair Counties in southwestern Illinois are being funded. The funding was initially announced in March; five of the projects are on the St. Louis Freightways 2023 Priority Projects List, which is compiled annually by the organization.

The initiative, which distributes federal infrastructure funds through the Illinois Department of Transportation, aims to improve the movement of freight and create jobs and economic opportunity while enhancing safety and local quality of life.

Criteria include increasing safety, improving reliability, and boosting intermodal connections and commerce at the local level. A total of more than $200 million is being invested in 22 projects on established freight routes statewide.

"These funds will be used for 22 port, rail, and highway projects in Illinois to address bottlenecks, increase mobility, and improve the supply chain up and down the state, said Illinois Governor JB Pritzker when he announced the funding this spring.

The five funded projects on the St. Louis Regional Freightways Priority Project List received $33,979,428. They are:

$15,197,718 to the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis for its multi-modal freight yard expansion at Madison Yard and rail improvements in St. Clair County

$10,000,000 for lane improvements on Interstate 55/70 in Madison County between Interstates 255 and 270

$3,636,000 for dock improvements at Americas Central Port in Madison County

$771,960 for engineering work on the Illinois Route 3 Diversion  Falling Springs Road and Illinois 3 Bypass in Sauget

$4,323,800 to the Kaskaskia Regional Port District for congestion reduction and safety engineering and construction.

The funding TRRA has received will support the addition of a third main line at our Madison Yard, adding another 8,000 feet of track that will provide added capacity to accommodate greater velocity, so that freight trains moving through this area can move through faster, said Brent Wood, President of the Terminal Railroad of St. Louis. We appreciate the State of Illinois commitment to funding infrastructure projects of this nature that can help to reduce congestion and delays in one of the highest volume freight hubs in the nation and strengthen our rail network so it can handle increasing volumes in the years ahead.

Dennis Wilmsmeyer, executive director of Americas Central Port, said the funding for the expansion of the Granite City Harbor General Cargo Dock will allow for an increase in capacity and movement of goods to and from barges.

That project also will increase the laydown area, truck turning area, and provide a safer and more efficient surface for handling commodities.

"The State of Illinois continues to be a great partner and certainly understands the value of freight transportation at all inland ports, Wilmsmeyer said.

He added a second approved project, $2.1 million for road improvement at Americas Central Port, is also needed.

We are pleased to work with the State of Illinois on rehabilitation of critical roads within our main industrial park that will allow trucks ease of access to and from the Port's terminals and warehouses.

Also approved were:

 $1,600,000 for Illinois 203 pavement profile raise engineering in Madison County.

 $4,000,000 for reconstruction engineering for Illinois 127 between I-64 and Illinois 15 in St. Clair County.

The full list of 2023 Priority Projects, which includes more details about each of the 25 projects identified for investment, is available at https://www.thefreightway.com/why-stl-region/priority-infrastructure-projects/.

The St. Louis Regional Freightway will again host the annual FreightWeekSTL May 22-26.

The week-long freight and logistics expo includes panel discussions on economic development, real estate development and transportation. The event highlights the unique role the St. Louis region plays in advancing major infrastructure projects and addressing global supply chain disruption.

The majority of the panel discussions will be available virtually, while a riverboat cruise featuring the Ag Coast of America and a Freight Summit Luncheon will provide opportunities for in-person connections.

We have a stellar lineup of speakers and timely topics this year, so were anticipating another great event as people join us virtually, in person, or take advantage of the flexibility our format offers to enjoy the FreightWeekSTL 2023 offerings on their own schedules, Lamie said.

To learn more about FreightWeekSTL, see the dates and times for each session or register to attend the virtual sessions and events, visit https://freightweekstl.thefreightway.com/. For those who are unable to tune in live for the individual panel sessions, all the content presented will be accessible on the website and via the organizations social media channels.
John Badman|The Telegraph

ALTON  A gang of some of the most polite motorcycle riders Alton has ever seen rolled down East Broadway at midday Friday.

Four motorcycle Illinois State Troopers stopped to have lunch at the Brown Bag Bistro in Alton.
If youre going into a surgery or coming out of one, you want a nurse like Sydney Ortmeier to help you.

Ortmeier works in the pre-op area within the surgery department of Methodist Fremont Health. This is where patients are prepared for surgery.

She also works in the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) or recovery room in the hospital.

Nurses such as Ortmeier are specially trained, critical care nurses who provide constant monitoring, while patients recover from anesthesia.

When a patient comes out of surgery, Ortmeier makes sure theyre in stable condition before she sends them to whats called Phase II (the post-operative area within in the surgery department), where they more fully wake up and have something to eat and drink before going home.

Ortmeiers work with patients hasnt gone unnoticed. The person who nominated Ortmeier to be one of Fremonts Nurses for 2023 described her this way:

Sydney is a passionate, caring caregiver. She treated a friends brother who credits her for saving his life. We definitely need more people like her.

Ortmeier is originally from Creston, Nebraska, a small town of 200 people, located halfway between Norfolk and Columbus, said she likes her job, because its different each day.

Recently, Ortmeier was part of a Q and A with the Fremont Tribune. Her responses are below:

Q. How many years have you been in nursing?

A. I have been a registered nurse for seven years.

Q. Tell us about your immediate family.

A. I have been married to my husband, Jason, two years in June. We have a daughter who will be turning 1 next month. I also have a cat named, Hiccup, and a 6-month-old puppy named, Zeus.

Q. When, why did you decide to become a nurse?

A. I have known I wanted to be a nurse since I was in the seventh grade. I was sick when I was in the seventh grade and was admitted into the Childrens Hospital. All the nurses I had take care of me were amazing, but one in particular made a lasting impression on me. I remember after she took care of me thinking how I wanted to do what she did. I thought about other career paths in high school, but ultimately nursing was always what I stuck to.

Q. What do you like best about nursing and find most rewarding about it?

A. One of the things I find most rewarding about being a nurse is being able to advocate for my patients  when they open up to me about concerns or questions they have in regard to their health or diagnosis and feeling like I can help them to find the answers they are looking for  whether that be to call a doctor, find resources to guide them to, or help to find education and help teach them. I feel like this is one way to really make an impact and to feel like I am helping just a little bit to make a difference in someones life.

Q. Funniest, saddest, most unusual experience in nursing?

A. I love laughing with my patients and family every day, whether that is them or me cracking a joke just to help lighten the mood. Unfortunately, in nursing you also have sad moments quite often. You just hope that you can help patients and family through those hard times the best you can. The moment in nursing that really sticks out to me is during COVID. We had to cancel surgeries sometimes due to unforeseen circumstances, but I got a patient ready one morning and the patient was able to have surgery because they were already ready.

The family thanked me over and over and the next day delivered a whole sheet cake to our department and had written me a note. I still have that note.

Q. Why are you glad you chose nursing?

A. I am glad I choose nursing, because every day is a different day. You meet different people every day and sometimes I get the chance to impact their lives and sometimes they impact mine. I try to connect with every patient I take care of and genuinely enjoy getting to know about them and their families. You find out it is a small world, sometimes, and get to connect over places youve been, people you know, or past and present places you lived.

Q. Future plans?

A. I currently work in pre-op and PACU. I enjoy my job very much. I plan to stay in my current role and learn as much as I can from the people I get to work with every day. I have thought about going back to school and might eventually. At this time though, I plan to focus on my family and maybe will try to expand it in the future.
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Amy Elik

SPRINGFIELD  State Rep. Amy Elk, R-Alton, on Thursday joined her House Republican colleagues to discuss legislation introduced on behalf of the House Republican Women and Families Working Group.

My focus of the Women and Families Working Group has been trying to find ways to make an impact by helping improve the health and safety of children and families, said Elik. Improving access to child care is critical to helping children and families. Working families with children need more access to childcare. It is especially challenging today for families to find childcare in areas where childcare deserts exist."
MARYVILLE  After wearing a gun and a badge for about 32 years, Maryville Police Department Chief Rob Carpenter is ready for his next chapter.

His last day as village police chief was Sunday, May 14, after 20 years of service. Sunday is Maryville police Sgt. Steve Howe's last day too, ending more than 24 years of police service.

"I really love this job and I love this town," Carpenter said Thursday.

Carpenter, 55, began his law enforcement career in January 1991 with the East St. Louis Police Department.

"They put me through the police academy and upon graduation, I was immediately assigned to the Metropolitan Enforcement Group of Southwestern Illinois (MEGSI). I did that for a few years and I ended up being the field supervisor."

He said that during his rookie year, they had 67 homicides but he didn't work homicides; he worked undercover. The early 1990s was the era during which crack cocaine was one of the predominant street drugs in the area.

Carpenter said he worked for the East St. Louis police until the end of 1994, when he moved to Nashville, Illinois, in early 1995 and worked for that police department as a lieutenant who was second in command. He remained there until 2003, when he shifted to Maryville.

'Honor and privilege'

In Maryville, he said he started at the bottom as a probationary patrolman and climbed the ladder.

"I worked my way up. I enjoyed being a patrolman but the unique thing about me with Maryville is that I've occupied every office in this building  patrolman, investigations, sergeant, I was deputy police chief for 3.5 years and I was police chief for 9.5 years."

"Words cannot express what an honor and privilege it has been to serve as your Police Chief since being appointed in December 2013," according to an excerpt from his retirement letter to the mayor and board of trustees, dated April 14. "I feel that during my tenure with the Maryville Police Department, we have moved forward and accomplished many goals, making the department one of the best in the entire Metro East."

Carpenter's next chapter includes a shift away from police work and a new address.

"I've owned a lake house for the last couple of years and I'm going to live there," he said. "I've also accepted a position outside of law enforcement."

He and his wife own a second home at Table Rock Lake near Branson, Missouri, and that will become their full-time residence. He will begin a work-from-home position as an investigator for an insurance company on May 30, he said.

The time between Sunday and Memorial Day will be spent transitioning from Illinois to Missouri. He added that the house has a boat and a boat slip and is all ready for them to live there.

"I've been dying to live there," he said.

A lot of changes

He said Maryville has changed dramatically since he started working there.

"The population has probably doubled," he said. Today the village has a population of 8,221 residents.

"The police department has grown in size. When I got here, they had 10 full-time officers and still had part-time ones. Now, we have 16 full-time officers and no part-timers."

He said Illinois Route 159, which is also North Center Street, was a two-lane highway in those days, not the four-lane road with a bi-directional center left-turn lane present today.

"We had several bars in Maryville back then, so that kept the night shift busy," he recalled. Most, if not all of those bars have evaporated since then.

Staffing his department was an issue, he remembered. For 15 years, he said they were stuck at 13 sworn officers while the village's population rose dramatically and the number of service calls doubled, he recalled. Over the past two years, he finally got approval to hire three more sworn officers.

In January, partnering with the Collinsville school district, Maryville police embarked on its first school resource office program.

"We have had a full-time police officer, Frank Leffler, in their grade schools and the school district actually pays 80% of that officer's salary and benefits," Carpenter said. "I'm getting great reviews from that program. The teachers love it and the superintendent is a big fan of it and it gives us extra manpower in the summertime. When he's not in the schools, we can use him to cover for vacations and so forth."

"Our district is fortunate to have effective relationships with our law enforcement officials to help provide not only a safe environment for students and staff, but also positive role models and mentors," Collinsville Superintendent Dr. Mark Skertich said Thursday. "Chief Carpenter was a driving force behind adding elementary SROs to the Collinsville school district."

Carpenter said he had an associates degree in administration of justice from Belleville Area College (BAC), which is now Southwest Illinois College (SWIC), before he first became a law enforcement officer. He has a bachelor's of science in criminal justice from Lindenwood University and he's a graduate of Northwestern University's school of police staffing command.

Making a difference

Out of the thousands of calls he was sent on, went on and assisted on over the years, he related one that stood out.

"I can tell you how police officers make a difference and most of the time, they never see it," he said.

In 2004 or 2005, he responded to a traffic crash at Keebler and Sugarloaf roads in southwestern Maryville. "The woman's vehicle had rolled over several times. When I pulled up, this woman, who I did not know, she had blood on her face, and she ran up to me and hugged me."

While Carpenter tried to figure out the reason for the unexpected embrace, she said that she had hated seatbelts, she had never worn one and a month prior, he had issued her a citation for failing to wear one while driving.

"She said that ever since then, she had cursed me every day as she put her seat belt on and that day, she said, 'Look at my car! I would be dead!'" he remembered. He said her words stuck with him and that ticket made a difference.

Leaving a legacy

He noted that the department's rank structure has changed. He said there was no deputy chief position when he joined and that has become an important position. He said his predecessor, Rich Schardan, was police chief for 10 years, despite starting two weeks after Carpenter did, and Carpenter served as Schardan's deputy chief between 2009 or 2010 and 2013.

"That's why Maryville has been able to go in-house since 2003 with [their] police chiefs because typically [the deputy chief becomes the next chief.] It gives me the opportunity to mentor and train my replacement."

According to the abovementioned departure letter, Carpenter noted who he would like to see as his successor.

"Lastly, my strong recommendation is that the mayor and village board appoint Tony Manley as their next police chief," he wrote. "As most of you know, I have spent the last several years mentoring Tony for this position and I have the utmost confidence that Tony has the integrity and knowledge to keep the department moving in a positive direction."

Mayor Craig Short confirmed last week that Manley will be the interim chief and Carpenter said Thursday that Manley will be sworn in as his permanent successor. Manley is currently participating in a 10-week FBI Command Training program in Quantico, Virginia. He won't return until mid-June.

In his absence, Sgt. Brandon Ponce will handle the department's day-to-day operations, said Short. Ponce and Manley are in contact on a daily basis, the mayor added.

When Carpenter is not working, he enjoys boating, riding motorcycles and driving classic cars.

"Realistically, I've been a workaholic my whole life," he said. "My wife will tell you I have no hobbies; this job is my hobby. I feel like I've been on duty 24/7 for over 30 years but that's just my personality."

He and his wife, Connie, have been married for 23 years. They have five children, the youngest of which turned 21 this month, and they have two grandchildren.

"It's really hard to walk away from a job that you love going to every day, but when it's time, it's time," Carpenter said.
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BERLIN (AP)  Germany will provide Ukraine with additional military aid worth more than 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition, the government said Saturday.

The announcement came on the eve of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's first visit to Germany since Russia invaded his country last year.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that Berlin wanted to show with the latest package of arms that Germany is serious in its support for Ukraine.

Germany will provide all the help it can, as long as it takes, he said.

Zelenskyy's expected weekend visit  still not publicly confirmed by German officials for security reasons  is regarded in Berlin as a sign that relations between Ukraine and Germany have improved markedly after a rocky patch.

Kyiv has long been suspicious of Germany's reliance on Russian energy and support for the Nord Stream gas pipelines circumventing Ukraine, defended by then Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Her successor, Olaf Scholz, agreed to phase out Russian energy imports after the invasion but initially hesitated to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons, fearing Germany could be drawn into the conflict.

With Washington, Warsaw and London more overtly supportive of Ukraine's efforts to defend itself, Berlin got the cold diplomatic shoulder from Kyiv.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was disinvited from Ukraine last year,prompting annoyance in Germany, which pointed out that it had given considerable financial aid to Kyiv and taken in more than a million Ukrainian refugees. Scholz eventually visited Kyiv with French President Emmanuel Macron and other leaders in June.

Though slow to provide military aid, Germany has since become one of the biggest suppliers of arms to Ukraine, crucially giving the green light for the delivery of modern battle tanks like its own Leopard 1 and 2, along with sophisticated anti-aircraft systems needed to fend off drone and missile attacks.

The new military aid package, first reported by German weekly Der Spiegel, includes 30 Leopard 1 A5 tanks, 20 Marder armored personnel carriers, more than 100 combat vehicles, 18 self-propelled Howitzers, 200 reconnaissance drones, four IRIS-T SLM anti-aircraft systems and other air defense equipment. It comes after Ukrainian military commanders said their troops recaptured more territory from Russian forces near the eastern city of Bakhmut amid speculation about a possible counteroffensive by Kyiv.

The Ukrainian president would be arriving from Rome, where he was meeting Saturday with Pope Francis and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni.

Berlin police have imposed a security cordon throughout much of the capital's government district Sunday.

After meeting Scholz and other senior officials at the chancellery, the two leaders are expected to fly to the western city of Aachen for Zelenskyy to receive the International Charlemagne Prize awarded to him and the people of Ukraine.

Organizers say the award recognizes that their resistance against Russia's invasion is a defense "not just of the sovereignty of their country and the life of its citizens, but also of Europe and European values.

Zelenskyy last visited Berlin in July 2021. He also attended the Munich Security Conference the following February, days before Russia launched its full-scale attack on Ukraine.



Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Last month I witnessed something special.

At St. Patricks parish hall in Imperial, I heard laughter, saw smiles and felt the cultivation of relationships in action. Affiliated fund volunteers in Imperial, McCook and Keith County welcomed a delegation of fellow Nebraskans from North Omaha and Lincoln, breaking bread and sharing stories as part of a whirlwind two-day tour of Southwest Nebraska. It was like seeing the mission of Nebraska Community Foundation manifest in real-time, altering perceptions and building bridges with nothing but good will, good food and good times.

In 2020, North Omahas Preston Love Jr. wrote a letter to Greater Nebraska, suggesting his community and those out west come together, bridge divides and find common goals beneficial to all. His letter, written with passion and honesty, inspired me. Preston and I started talking. We found lots of common interests and opportunities. Our conversations eventually resulted in two busloads of NCF affiliated fund leaders touring North Omaha as a part of NCFs 2022 annual events. The welcome provided by our neighbors in North Omaha inspired NCF volunteers to repay the favor, and in April a bus full of curious urbanites from North Omaha and Lincoln hit the road for southwest Nebraska.

I have no doubt that this tour of McCook, Imperial and Ogallala was a smashing success. We saw so much, and for many attendees this was their first time visiting the area. In McCook we broke into small groups and took walking tours of historic homes and businesses. Residents in Imperial opened their homes to our urban neighbors, and we all shared a night of history, storytelling and performance. The next morning, we dined on breakfast burritos at Wine Glass Ranch outside Imperial, where owners Brianna and Logan Pribbeno shared the ranchs history, their land stewardship practices and their own love for their community. In Ogallala we got to participate in a mock cattle auction, visit Lake McConaughy and have a delicious meal at the local Methodist church.

This tour was more than a collection of visits to cultural landmarks, however amazing those visits were. The real work happened around dinner tables, at kitchen counters, in living rooms and in conversations on the streets of McCook. It was in those moments that we started building real relationships, founded on a mutual interest in each other and an understanding that success for one community meant success in the other. Our commonalities are many. Our differences are few. Communities across our state do better when focusing on their assets, as illustrated by the support of local, homegrown businesses in Southwest Nebraska and North Omaha. Our conversations led to recognition of a shared passion for creating lasting, generational change to build more shared understanding and prosperity.

On the trek back to Omaha, murmurs of excitement filled the bus. Discussion centered on the potential of these new relationships. Where will these efforts lead? How can we further build on these new friendships? Quite frankly, the possibilities are nearly infinite.

At Nebraska Community Foundation we believe change happens along the lines of relationships at the speed of trust. Thats what were doing with this exchange. Were building relationships between Nebraskans to identify commonalities, build trust and find opportunities that are mutually beneficial.

If your urban neighborhood or Greater Nebraska community has an interest in building new relationships with your urban or rural neighbors, please contact me at jeffyost@nebcommfound.org or 402-323-7330.
Competition Commission on Friday opened an inquiry into alleged non-compliance with the order passed by the regulator in October last year with respect to Play Store policies, according to a source.

The watchdog has issued a show cause notice with specific questions and has asked the internet major to submit its response in four weeks. Non-compliance with Competition Commission of India (CCI) order is viewed as a serious issue and if it is proved, then the company could face penalties and action could also be taken against its senior executives, the source said.

On October 25 last year, the regulator slapped a penalty of Rs 936.44 crore on Google for abusing its dominant position with respect to its Play Store policies.

It had also ordered the company to cease and desist from unfair business practices as well as implement various measures to address the anti-competitive issues within a defined timeline.

The inquiry has been opened against Google under Section 42 of the Competition Act that pertains to contravention of CCI orders.

The move follows a complaint filed by the Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF).

In a statement on Friday, ADIF said CCI ordered an inquiry in the Google matter, regarding non-compliance with CCI directions and for introduction of UCB (User Choice Billing) policy.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in a joint operation with the Indian Navy has seized 2,500 kg drugs valued at Rs 1,200 crore from a ship off the Kerala coast. One person suspected to be a Pakistani national has been detained in connection with the seizure.

The NCB said in a statement that the seizure was part of its Operation Samudragupt. Based on intelligence inputs, the Navy intercepted a large sea going vessel (Mother Ship) and seized 134 sacks of suspected high purity methamphetamine from it.

The recovered sacks and the suspected Pakistani national have been brought to Kochi's Mattancherry Wharf and handed over to the NCB.

As the seizure procedures are still underway, the exact quantity of methamphetamine recovered is not clear yet. However, from the number of packets recovered, we estimate it to be around 2,500 kg in conservative estimate, the NCB said.

The agency said this is the third major seizure carried out by it with respect to maritime trafficking through southern route in the last one and a half years. The NCB further claimed that it is the first time an Indian agency has intercepted a Mother Ship carrying drugs.

As part of the Operation Samudragupt launched in January 2022, the NCB has so far seized 3,200 kg of methamphetamine, 500 kg of heroin and 529 kg of hashish. The primary objective of the operation is to collect actionable inputs which could lead to interdiction of ships carrying narcotics contraband, it said.

The agency is also sharing inputs with Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
The BJPs challenges have increased after its rout in Karnataka, especially when the Lok Sabha elections are less than a year away. The party had won 25 out of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka in 2019, making the state its southern bastion. Another big worry for the party is the cascading effect this result might have on other southern states, especially Telangana which goes to polls later this year. The BJP was hoping to emerge as a big force in the state.

The Karnataka results may force the BJP to go back to the drawing board as some of its strategies appear to be losing their steam. For one, the double engine slogan has not worked in Himachal Pradesh either, and now Karnataka electorate also wanted a change. As the BJP tried to contest assembly polls with national issues, including increased emphasis on the Hindutva plank, it could not overcome the local issues like those of livelihood or the corruption. The 40 percent sarkara slogan had stuck to its state government, which despite all the efforts could not be wiped out.

The jolt to the BJP may force the party to have a relook at its strategy as the move to change the state leadership midstream did not yield desired results.

The saffron partys campaign had belatedly got a zing after Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived on the scene. His invocation of religious and cultural themes, especially Bajrangbali, could not help the party retain its hold. Despite this loss, Modi continues to be the BJPs biggest bet in the elections, as states have voted differently in assembly and the Lok Sabha polls, as it could be seen in Delhi or in the results of 2018 assembly polls. Congress won state elections in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, but BJP performed well in 2019 Lok Sabha polls as it was seen as Modis election.

The big solace for the BJP is that the party was able to maintain its overall vote share of close to 36 percent. The Congress on other hand had gained at the expense of the JD(S).

In terms of perception, the loss of Karnataka makes BJP a north Indian party. It also does not have a party ruled state in eastern India, after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar made a switch last year.

The Karnataka victory would make the Congress the leading partner in the Opposition unity grouping. The victory has come as a big morale boost for the Modi challengers as they will use this opportunity to double their efforts for arriving at a shared strategy. Two back to back victories  Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka  has prompted the Congress to hail Rahul Gandhis appeal including the impact of his Bharat Jodo yatra.

Rahul presented himself as an ideological counter to Modi may have got a boost. The Karnataka elections results have made the upcoming battles in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, where Congress and BJP are the prime contenders, much more interesting and keener. For Congress, the Himachal and Karnataka results highlight the success of its strategy to keep the focus on local issues, and let the local leaders carry the message. Its guarantees of cash stipends of women, old pension scheme and free electricity seem to be getting traction on the ground.

The BJP may have to rework on its messaging and strategy.
It came as a surprise when the Congress pledged in its manifesto for the Assembly elections in Karnataka that it would impose a ban on the Bajrang Dal. It instantly gave rise to a debate on the political efficacy of the move, speculation on whether it would result in polarisation of the electorate and as expected was latched on to by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

It was felt that the party could have made a political miscalculation by bringing Bajrang Dal, a right wing outfit that had been at the forefront in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement by allowing the BJP to double down on its efforts to raise Hindutva-related issues. In its manifesto, the party had put the Bajrang Dal in the same bracket as the Popular Front of India (PFI) and said that it was committed to taking firm and decisive action against individuals and organisations like the Bajrang Dal and the PFI.

The reaction from the BJP to the announcement was swift and strong. The party described the Congress's manifesto promise as evidence of its anti-Hindu mindset and an insult to Lord Hanuman. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his election campaign in the state, said the Congress had insulted those who are devotees of Bajrang Bali. He even exhorted the crowds at his rallies to raise slogans of Jai Bajrang Bali.

As the results for the elections poured in, making it clear that the Congress had emerged victorious and would form the next government, it was time for the party to claim vindication over its stand on Bajrang Dal. Lord Hanuman dominated the celebrations at the AICC headquarters in the national capital, with a Congress worker dressed as Hanuman posing for photos with party colleagues, and red maces, the weapon of the deity, becoming a common sight in the party precincts. Slogans of Jai Bajrang Bali were also raised by the party workers at regular intervals.

Posters of Lord Hanuman and his mace were held aloft by party workers behind former Congress President Rahul Gandhi as he gave his reaction to the election results at the AICC headquarters. It was then only apt when Gandhi said the election outcome was a victory of politics of love over politics of hatred.

Party leaders described the victory as a befitting reply by supporters of Bajrang Bali to the divisive agenda of the BJP. However, it is also assessed that the debate over the proposed ban on Bajrang Dal could have helped the party consolidate its Muslim support base. This, party leaders say, was evident in Old Mysuru region, where the party gained from the Muslim votes consolidating behind it and not getting split between the Congress and the JD(S). Party leaders also say that the noise created by the BJP over the issue was disproportionate to its actual impact on the Hindu electorate since it could have had an effect only in coastal Karnataka, which is the BJP's stronghold and where politics of Hindutva has a play.
A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) of Army was injured after Army foiled an infiltration bid by militants in Uri sector in Baramulla on Saturday.

A group of armed terrorists, while attempting to cross the Line of Control, were engaged in an exchange of fire with the alert troops resulting in a failed attempt to intrude into Kashmir Valley, said the statement by spokesman of Army's 15 Cops in Srinagar.

A quadcopter flown by the Pakistan Army to aid the terrorists was also spotted across the Line of Control, and was fired at, causing it to withdraw, it added.

The statement also added that the desperate action by the terrorists, duly abetted by Pakistan Army, is yet another failed attempt to disrupt the G20 Summit and create disturbance in the Valley.

The Army also said that extensive search operations are underway in the densely forested area.

Security in Kashmir has been heightened in view of the G20 Tourism Working Group's meeting in Srinagar from May 22 -25.

The event is a major international event in Jammu and Kashmir after the revocation of Article 370.
Four U.S. military veterans were thanked and honored for their service to our country as each one was wrapped with a Quilt of Valor. The Quilt of Valor Award Ceremony was held at the 75th Anniversary of the Nebraska Auctioneers Convention in Lincoln on Sunday, April 30, 2023.

The awarding of Quilts of Valor is a heartfelt way to say thank you for their service, said Phyllis Schoenholz, Quilts of Valor volunteer. The mission of Quilts of Valor Foundation is to cover service members and veterans touched by war with comforting and healing Quilts of Valor.

Scott McWhirter joined the Army National Guard in June 2001. He traveled to Ft. Jackson, South Carolina, for basic training, the day after Labor Day that year. Scott was still taking part in his initial in-processing to the military on the 9/11 attack.

He completed his Basic Combat Training and then traveled to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, for Advanced Individual Training. When that training was completed, he returned home to Nebraska to serve as a medic in the 110th Medical Evacuation Battalion Headquarters.

In 2003 his unit was mobilized to Fort Riley, Kansas, to prepare for deployment to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. His National Guard unit was the command control for ground and air medical evacuation companies under them in the Middle East. McWhirters duty as a medic was to see to the health and well-being of his unit.

At that time, there were two zones on Camp. Zone 1 included mostly warehouses that were being utilized. Zone 2 was just starting to be constructed, and would include new barracks, a fire house and office space. McWhirter was one of the medics who helped run the Troop Medical Clinic during his deployment.

McWhirter was honorably discharged from the military in 2007. He married and started raising a family. He now lives in Arlington and travels to Methodist Hospital in Omaha where he is a respiratory therapist.

Quilts of Valor is a volunteer organization founded by Catherine Roberts. Today, this National Foundation has over 10,000 members and 650 sewing groups who make heart-warming quilts. Since the beginning in 2003, over 343,365 U.S. active-duty military and veterans have been thanked and honored for their service.

This effort has become so popular that Australia, Canada, Great Britain, and Korea are now awarding quilts to their military personnel and veterans.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has won from Shiggaon constituency by over 35,000 votes.

According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), Bommai secured total votes of 1,00,016. While, Indian National Congress's Pathan Yasirahmedkhan has secured 64,038 and Janata Dal (Secular) Shashidhar Yeligar has secured 13,928 .

"I take responsibility for this debacle. There are multiple reasons for this. We will find out all the reasons and strengthen the party once again for Parliament elections," Bommai told ANI.

Earlier, Bommai has expressed confidence in BJP coming to power in Karnataka. Bommai, along with his cabinet ministers Murugesh Nirani and Byrati Basavaraj met with former chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa in Bengaluru to discuss the probability of a hung verdict and assess its position from the feedback received from the booths.

"We are confident that we will win and cross the magic number. We have got the ground report from all booths and the constituencies," he had said. Bommai had also said that there was no question of any alliance as they are confident of winning the polls.

Yediyurappa dismissed the exit polls and said he was confident of the BJP forming the government. "I don't accept any exit poll results. I have toured the state and I am confident of the BJP winning 120 seats. I would like to tell my partymen in Bengaluru and elsewhere that there is no cause for concern," said Yediyurappa, and advised BJP workers to closely watch the Congress's moves.

The initial trends revealed a slight edge to Congress, with the party leading in 114 seats in early hours. At 10:15 am, Congress is leading in 110 seats, while BJP and JD (S) in 73 and 24 seats respectively.

In 2018, Shiggaon seat was one of the 104 seats won by the BJP, which failed to achieve the majority. Shiggaon is one of the stronghold of BJP.




With Congress's lead widening in Karnataka, there is a renewed vigour in the party camp as workers thronged the KPCC office in Bengaluru in anticipation of a clean sweep.

Not just workers, but even leaders have started staking claims for the top post. First in the line is former chief minister Siddaramaiah, who has never shied from expressing his interest in helming the government once again.



Just as the early leads showed he was leading from Varuna, Siddaramaiah's son said his father should become the chief minister for the interest of the state. "We will do anything to keep BJP out of power...In the interest of Karnataka, my father should become the CM," says Yathindra Siddaramaiah.



Yathindra added that his father was going to win in the Varuna constituency with a huge margin. "We are very confident that my father (Siddaramaiah) is going to win in the Varuna constituency with a huge margin. Congress will get an absolute majority and will come to power on its own," he said. "Every survey says that we are going to get a simple majority," added the Congress leader.



The former chief minister already has a lead in his constituency. He faces a tough contest against BJP candidate V. Somanna and JD(S) candidate Dr Bharathi Shankar in Varuna.



Pre-poll surveys have already hinted that Siddaramaiah is a popular choice for the chief minister. However, state Congress chief D K Shivakumar too is in the race. In an early interview, Siddaramaiah, while rubbishing rumours of his tussle with the state chief, said his "relationship with DK Shivakumar was good."



"He is an aspirant, I'm also an aspirant. In democracy, anyone can have aspirations. I don't think it is wrong to have an aspiration for democracy. The opinion will be collected after the election; based on the opinion of the MLAs the high command will take a decision (on CM)," he had told PTI last month.



Soon after, the Congress put out a two-part video of Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar engaged in a candid conversation about the polls in a show of camaraderie and bonhomie.



On him being a strong contender for the post of the chief minister, Shivakumar said, "For me, the party comes first and the chief ministership comes later. On the CM issue, I will abide by whatever the party decides."



The 75-year-old Siddaramaiah has said this would be his last polls, after which he would abstain from electoral politics.


With the Congress crossing halfway mark and moving towards absolute majority in Karnataka, the BJP state leadership has admitted the party's failure in the crucial assembly polls. In spite of a lot of efforts put in by PM & BJP workers, we've not been able to make the mark, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai told media-persons on Saturday.

Adding that the party will conduct a detailed analysis, he said: We take this result in our stride to come back in Lok Sabha elections.

BJP leader and Karnataka minister C.N. Ashwathnarayan said the party was surprised at the results. We need to accept people's verdict, it is in the favour of Congress...Let's see the factors that went against BJP, let's discuss and debate later, he said.

According to the latest trends available on the Election Commission website, the Congress is leading in 127 of the 224 assembly seats in the state, while the BJP is ahead in 68. The JD-S is leading in 22 seats.

The Congress, celebrating its big victory at the party headquarters in Bengaluru and Delhi, thanked voters and said that claims made by the BJP top brass including Prime Minister Narendra Modi had no effect on the voters. "I had been saying let Narendra Modi or Amit Shah or J P Nadda come how many ever times they want to the state (but) that will have no impact on the voters of Karnataka because people are fed up with BJP, their corruption, maladministration and their anti-people politics," veteran leader Siddaramaiah, a leading contender for the CM's post, said.




Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar, a top contender for the post of Chief Minister, got emotional on Saturday as he celebrated the party's huge victory in Karnataka.

Shivakumar, who broke down in front of reporters, said he had assured Sonia Gandhi that he would deliver Karnataka. Recalling his arrest, Shiva Kumar said he cannot forget the day Sonia Gandhi visited him after the BJP jailed him.



He also gave credit to all party workers and leaders for the victory.



He said the people have reposed faith in the Congress and the leaders have also supported the party.



Shivakumar also had a mammoth victory in Kanakapura Assembly constituency, bagging over 72 per cent share of votes. He was pitted against R Ashoka of the Bharatiya Janata Party and B Nagaraju of the JD(S).



He had earlier too expressed confidence about Congress winning 141 seats and forming a government with a full majority.


The counting of votes for the urban local body polls in Uttar Pradesh began on Saturday morning. In the initial trends, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is ahead in 14 corporations in UP including Varanasi, Ayodhya and Lucknow municipal corporations.

The counting began at 8 am. Lucknow District Magistrate Suryapal Gangwar and Joint Commissioner of Police Upendra Agrawal reviewed the preparations in the state capital.

The Urban Local Body (ULB) polls were held in two phases on May 4 and May 11.

Out of the 17 mayor seats, BJP is leading on 14 seats. In 2017, BJP had won 14 seats out of the 16 mayor seats. Shahjanapur was the 17th corporation, which was added in 2018.

After the first round of counting in Agra, BSP is leading by over 12,000 votes (at 11 am), while BJP was trailing with 7,300 votes.

17 mayors and 1,401 corporators will be elected after the results are declared on Saturday. As many as 19 corporators have been elected unopposed.

Majority of the exit polls has predicted BJP winning at least 10 municipal corporation, while Akhilesh Yadav's SP and Mayawati's BSP getting less than 5.

The Election Commission has set up 353 counting centers for the elections.

Meerut and Aligarh had Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) mayors in 2017, while the BJP ruled the rest of the civic bodies.

The ULB polls will also elect 198 chairpersons and 5,260 members of nagar palika parishads. For nagar panchayats, the fate of 542 chairpersons and 7,104 members will be decided.

According to the State Election Commission (SEC), there were 83,378 candidates in the fray for 14,522 posts. During the campaign, senior leaders of various political parties visited different parts of the state.

(With PTI inputs)
The California Senate has overwhelmingly passed a legislation seeking to explicitly ban caste discrimination, in a historic move that would make America's most populous State also the country's first to outlaw caste-based bias.

State Senator Aisha Wahab, the first Muslim and Afghan American elected to the state legislature, introduced the bill last month.

Passed by 34-1 vote, the bill SB 403, would make California the first US State to add caste as a protected category in its anti-discrimination laws.

Promoters of the bill, being led by non-profit Equality Lab, said that a similar bill is being introduced in the State House of Representatives, before it can be sent to the Governor to be signed into law.

The bill adds caste as a protected category to an existing law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, which provides that all people in California are entitled to full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments.

The bill provides explicit protections to those who have been systemically harmed due to caste bias and prejudice. It also provides firm legal consequences for those seeking to avoid responsibility or ramifications for permitting or participating in caste discrimination and caste-based violence.

This landmark bill comes just weeks after the California Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed SB403 in April.

Earlier this year, Seattle became the first US city to outlaw caste discrimination after its local council passed a resolution moved by an Indian-American politician and economist. The resolution, moved by Kshama Sawant, an upper-caste Hindu, was approved by the Seattle City Council by six to one vote.

It also follows the resolutions to designate caste as a protected category passed by the California Democratic Party, the California State University system, the Alphabet Workers Union, tech giants like Apple and Cisco, and others.

Seattle Council member Sawant welcomed the passage of the bill by the California State Senate.

 Following our historic victory in Seattle in February, the California Senate has voted in favour of banning caste discrimination, Sawant said.

"The bill now goes to the Assembly. Anti-caste activists, working people, union members, and my socialist Council office built a fighting movement to win in Seattle, creating national and even international momentum. Solidarity to all fighting oppression under capitalism!" she said.

"On behalf of all Dalit Californians and caste-oppressed people around the world, we are ecstatic that the California Senate has passed SB403 off the Senate floor. This is a win rooted in years of Dalit feminist organising, and we are just getting started in making the state safe for our entire caste-oppressed community, said Thenmozhi Soundararajan, Equality Labs executive director and author of The Trauma of Caste.

Civil rights organisation Equality Labs was the brain behind the anti-caste discrimination resolution in Seattle. It has been spearheading a nationwide campaign.

We know that we have a long journey ahead of us with this bill, but we have made history with this vote and are proud to look forward to working with the California Assembly on this historic bill! Equality Labs thanks all of the partners in Californians for Caste Equity who worked tirelessly to get us this far, Soundararajan said.

Tanuja Gupta, a law student, activist, and a former Google engineering programme manager said, Ending caste discrimination will soon no longer be an opt-in for a California-based company like Google, but a legal requirement of its existence.

Deelip Mhaske, president of Foundation For Human Horizon, congratulated State Senator Wahab for introducing the bill in the California Senate. "This is a win for the Indian Constitution framed by Dr B.R. Ambedkar's equality principle," Mhaske said.

Indian-American Muslim Council president Mohammad Jawad commended the California Senate for passing the bill.

This is a historic moment for the Dalit community, which has been fighting against caste-based discrimination for generations. The passage of this bill sends a strong message that caste discrimination has no place in California. The bill will provide much-needed protection to Dalits and others who face discrimination based on their caste, he said.

We urge the California Assembly to pass this bill without delay, and for Governor Newsom to sign it into law. We also call on other states and the US Congress to follow California's lead in recognizing caste discrimination as a form of discrimination and taking steps to address it. Discrimination based on caste is a violation of human rights and must be eradicated wherever it exists, said IAMC executive director Rasheed Ahmed.

California, a western US state located along the Pacific Coast with nearly 39.2 million residents, is the most populous US state and the third-largest by area. Many Indian-Americans fear that codifying caste in public policy will further fuel instances of Hinduphobia in the US.

Over the last three years, ten Hindu temples and five statues, including those of Mahatma Gandhi and Maratha emperor Shivaji, have been vandalised across the US as an intimidation tactic against the Hindu community.

Indian-Americans are the second-largest immigrant group in the US. According to data from the 2018 American Community Survey (ACS), which is conducted by the US Census Bureau, there are 4.2 million people of Indian origin residing in the United States.

India banned caste discrimination in 1948 and enshrined that policy in the Constitution in 1950.
Germany will provide Ukraine with additional military aid worth more than 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition, the government said Saturday.

The announcement came as preparations were underway in Berlin for a possible first visit to Germany by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy since Russia invaded his country last year.

Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said that Berlin wants to show with the latest package of arms that Germany is serious in its support for Ukraine. Germany will provide all the help it can, as long as it takes, he said.

While Zelenskyy's visit on Sunday has yet to be officially confirmed, it would be a sign that relations between Ukraine and Germany have improved markedly after a rocky patch.

Kyiv has long been suspicious of Germany's reliance on Russian energy and support for the Nord Stream gas pipelines circumventing Ukraine, defended by then Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Her successor, Olaf Scholz, agreed to phase out Russian energy imports after the invasion but initially hesitated to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons, fearing Germany could be drawn into the conflict.

With Washington, Warsaw and London more overtly supportive of Ukraine's efforts to defend itself, Berlin got the cold diplomatic shoulder from Kyiv.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was disinvited from Ukraine last year, prompting annoyance in Germany, which pointed out that it has given considerable financial aid to Kyiv and taken in more than a million Ukrainian refugees. Scholz eventually visited Kyiv with French President Emmanuel Macron and other leaders in June.

Though slow to provide military aid, Germany has since become one of the biggest suppliers of arms to Ukraine, crucially giving the green light for deliveries of modern battle tanks like its own Leopard 1 and 2, along with sophisticated anti-aircraft systems needed to fend off drone and missile attacks.

The new military aid package, first reported by German weekly Der Spiegel, includes 30 Leopard 1 A5 tanks, 20 Marder armoured personnel carriers, more than 100 combat vehicles, 18 self-propelled Howitzers, 200 reconnaissance drones, four IRIS-T SLM anti-aircraft systems and other air defence equipment.

The Ukrainian president would be arriving from Rome, where he will meet with Pope Francis and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni.

After meeting Scholz and other senior officials at the chancellery, the two leaders are expected to fly to the western city of Aachen, where Zelenskyy would receive the International Charlemagne Prize awarded to him and the people of Ukraine. Organizers say the award recognizes that their resistance against Russia's invasion is a defence "not just of the sovereignty of their country and the life of its citizens, but also of Europe and European values.

Zelenskyy last visited Berlin in July 2021. He also attended the Munich Security Conference the following February, days before Russia launched its full-scale attack on Ukraine.
The Karnataka elections results have marked a BJP-free south India, said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge as his party returned to power in the state with an emphatic victory on Saturday. Kharge attributed the victory to the people of Karnataka.

"We started from Mekedatu (padayatra). Then came the Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanniyakumari to Kashmir. We have won almost 99 per cent of the seats in the route in which Rahul Gandhi walked. I thank him for that, he said addressing party workers.

Kharge said through the party's victory a new energy has emerged in the whole nation. BJP used to taunt us and say that 'we will make Congress mukt Bharat'. Now the truth is that it is 'BJP mukt south India," he said.

The Congress chief further told party workers that they need to fight bigger battles in the coming elections if they want a democratic government.

"Ego does not stay for long. It is a democracy and we will have to listen to people and bow our heads before those who show us the right path. It is not a victory of anyone. This victory belongs to the people of the state. They decided and chose. That is why we got 136 seats - huge after 36 years, Kharge said.

In the results declared on Saturday, the Congress won 135 seats while the BJP ended up with 65. The JD(S), the third player in the contest, won 19 seats in the 224-member assembly, while two seats were won by Independents, two were won by regional parties. Counting was still on in one seat, where the Congress was leading.
Pakistan's Army has ruled out the possibility of imposing martial law in the country amidst the political turmoil and deteriorating law and order situation following the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan, saying Army chief General Asim Munir and the entire military leadership believe in democracy.

The remarks of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry came after an almost four-day political turmoil erupted due to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Khan's arrest, in which Army's installations, including the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, were also targeted.

There is no question of imposing martial law in the country, he told Geo News, adding that Army chief General Asim Munir and the entire military leadership along with him believe in democracy.

The Army remains Pakistan's most powerful institution, having ruled it directly for close to half its 75-year history through three coups.

Chaudhry stressed that the Army's unity is unwavering and will persist, serving as a pillar of stability and security for the nation.

He also rejected social media rumours about resignations by top Army officers or anyone disobeying the military discipline.

No one in the Army has resigned and no one has disobeyed any order, the military spokesman said on Friday.

He also rejected the impression of division within the army in the wake of attacks on military facilities during protests following the arrest of Khan. Despite the internal and external propaganda, the army is united and will remain, he said.

Major General Chaudhry further said that the army is united despite internal miscreants and external enemies.

The dream of dividing the Pakistan Army will remain a dream, the Army is united under the leadership of Army Chief General Asim Munir and will remain united.

He called upon the public and media to rely on verified information from official sources rather than giving credence to unfounded speculation.

The Army has come under scanner after showing no response when the rioters ransacked the residence of Corps Commander Lahore after Khan was arrested on May 9.

At least 10 people have been killed in the violence that erupted after Khan's dramatic arrest by the paramilitary Rangers from the Islamabad High Court on Tuesday.

The unrest in the country has come to a halt for now as the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has provided blanket relief to Khan and barred authorities from arresting the PTI chief till Monday morning.

Khan has been highly critical of the alleged role of the establishment, especially that of former Army chief General (retired) Qamar Javed Bajwa, in bringing down his government in April 2022.

Before his retirement, Gen Bajwa said that the Pakistan Army will remain apolitical.
In the autumn of 2009, a school teacher Mohan Kumar was arrested from a small village on the outskirts of Mangaluru. Dressed in plain formal clothes, the modest-looking man would teach physical education to primary classes in South Karnataka. He was a family man living a middle-class life with no reason for anyone to suspect.

When the gruesome murders of 20 women were uncovered and linked to each other, the police tracked down the serial killer and found it to be the unlikely Mohan Kumar. Shortly after, the story of the serial killer spread and he came to be known as Cyanide Mohan, for he would elope with women in their mid-20s or early 30s and give them contraceptive pills laced with cyanide and ask them to take it in a public toilet before they went ahead to marry. A few hours later, their dead bodies would be recovered from the public toilets.

Actor Vijay Varma, who brings to life this serial killer character as Hindi literature professor Anand Swarnakar in Amazon Prime Videos Dahaad, plays the role with Kumars ease and modesty, yet a passive aggressive approach that convinces the audience of Varmas intentions.

The initial episodes entail the story of two missing women and a made-up case of love jihad that is further fuelled by yellow-flagged guardians of the religion who want to save their daughters from the clutches of men from another religion (an Altaf). Even as the missing girls are of legal age to marry, they seek justice and the arrest of Altaf, when the police realise the case is much beyond that of 'love jihad' as other girls go missing.

The story that has been inspired from 'Cyanide Mohan' finds actors Sonakshi Sinha and Gulshan Devaiah portraying the roles of police officers investigating the case. Gulshan Devaiah as Devilal Singh plays a cop with restraint and professionalism. While Devaiahs acting prowess is not unknown, Sinha surprises with her Anjali Bhaati  a young female Dalit cop fighting the caste system and patriarchy, which is extremely prevalent around her by being an unabashed part of the system.

Gulshan Devaiah and Vijay Varma packed in a crime thriller together prove to be the biggest draws and Sonakshi is at her refreshing best without overdoing any bits.

She makes her stance abundantly clear  she is educated, independent, fearless, yet is faced with sexist and caste remarks in every walk of her life  be it her workplace, her marriage prospects, victims who refuse entry to her citing her caste and even the serial killer who declare she must be punished for being born a low caste. Her mother is grateful when she manages to find a groom for her daughter and pays the pundit extra when he manages to find her a match even after their caste dilemma.

The theme of caste discrimination and patriarchy is further explored in the eight-part series when Anand Swarnakar targets women of only low caste and meek backgrounds and calls them loose for agreeing to be with a man easily and justifies his doing.

What wins is the fact that every character in the series has a story of their own and does not exist to push the story forward or be a prop to the protagonists. Anand Swarnakars wife is in the middle of an extra-marital affair and plans on leaving her husband, Anjali Bhaati is in a relationship while battling the pressures of getting married, Devilal Singhs wife feels neglected and suspects him of having an affair, cop Kailash Parghi is dealing with the dilemma of having or not having a child. Yet, the series does not deviate and end up becoming an overall mess but packs the action and intermingles the stories together to make it one whole good clear script; director Reema Kagti and screenwriters Kagti, Zoya Akhtar and Ritesh Shah deserve credit.

The series that could have been heavy and overwhelming with the social messaging, intertwined plots and stories emerge as a fair play. It concludes with Sinha (Anjali Bhaat) finally unmasking her dalit identity and changing her surname to her original one - Meghwal and proudly wearing her caste as a badge on her sleeve as she manages to put the serial killer behind the bar.

Web Series: Dahaad on Amazon Prime Video

Language: Hindi

Director: Reema Kagti, Ruchika Oberoi

Cast: Vijay Varma, Gulshan Devaiah, Sonakshi Sinha, Sohum Shah

Rating: 4.5/5
Compiled by Monica Garcia

Over the last 16 years Methodist Fremont Health (MFH) nurse Missy Overholt has learned many lessons. The most important? To listen.

They dont want to hear you talk, they need (to be) listened (to), or have a hug  maybe its not all about the nursing interventions itself, but just about empathy and thats taken a few years to learn but as you get older, you just learn  youre just here because you need someone.

Overholt is that person. She describes herself as a good listener, patient and doesnt get wound up.

In the emergency room, Overholt said, they see patients of all backgrounds from homeless people to very educated. No matter who comes in, she continued, you have to treat them all the same.

You never know what walks of life they come from, which is very important, especially when youre dealing with emergencies. Everybody thinks that the reason theyre in there is an emergency so you have to treat it that way, Overholt said.

While treating a variety of people, Overholt said she learns a lot from them. This could be about their lives, what they have been through and more. She describes it as a melting pot, adding, she loves meeting all the people there.

I guess I just like being with  with the people, taking care of them. I guess I dont know if its in my blood  my mom does it, my grandma did it, Overholt said.

Overholt grew up in Wayne, and went to Clarkson College in Omaha. But her journey in healthcare didnt start there. She started as a dishwasher at a local hospital, and eventually became a CNA (certified nursing assistant), through college she worked as a CNA at a medical center, and then became a nurse. Overholt recently received her masters degree.

Overholt started her nursing career in the emergency department  and she has stayed in the emergency department.

I love it (working in the emergency department). I think it keeps my mind going and I learn every day, and I love the variety of patients that we get, Overholt said.

Overholts journey led her to working in Council Bluffs, Iowa, for about five years. Overholt has now been at MFH for the past 10 years, and calls Arlington home.

The Tribune recently sat down with Overholt and spoke to her about her time as a nurse.

Q: Tell us about your immediate family

A: I have been married to my husband Jason for 13 years. We have two children: Jaydee, 12 years old, and Brody, 9 years old.

Q: When, why did you decide to become a nurse?

A: In high school, my parents made me get a job, so my mom, who is also a nurse, signed me up for CNA (certified nursing assistant) courses. I started working at the Wayne, Nebraska, hospital, shaping my career in healthcare.

Q: What do you like best about nursing and find most rewarding about it?

A: Emergency department (ED) nursing is a rewarding field that has expanded my knowledge and expertise in a variety of specialties from trauma to pediatrics. I am able to use my knowledge to care for the community by adapting and responding to situations at a moments notice to ensure exceptional care for patients and their families.

Q: Funniest, saddest, most unusual experience in nursing?

A: I will never forget my first pediatric trauma death as a new nurse in the ED, only one year after I graduated nursing school. I remember all the emotions I felt and learned, for the first time, it was OK to cry and it was OK to just be there for the parents without saying anything. The parents returned a week later to give me flowers from the funeral. I remember thinking I couldnt save your child, but youre still thanking me? They told me, very simply, Thank you for being at work that day, we needed you. Show kindness and love every day, you never know what kind of impact it can have on other people.

Q: If you hadnt become a nurse, what profession might you have entered? And why?

A: I wanted to be an accountant! I really like numbers and finances.

Q: Why are you glad you chose nursing?

A: I really enjoy meeting people from all socioeconomic statuses. I think everyone has a story to tell or something they are suffering with and nursing gives me the chance to let them tell their stories. I have experienced tragedy and joy within the ED which has shaped the way I live my everyday life. For that, I will be forever grateful for my nursing career.

Q: Future plans?

A: I recently graduated with a masters degree in healthcare leadership. I hope to keep educating new graduates in nursing, helping them as they learn the profession. I am surrounded by great leaders who have pushed me to keep growing in my education, and I want to be able to share that with future nurses!
People want to celebrate and nurture hate. It is trying times for art because the films that try to question this are suddenly not finding an audience. The state makes a film like The Kerala Story tax-free. It just shows that times are extremely disturbing. Onir filmmaker

What is abuse is a matter of perception. Robust political language in an election is not abuse. Besides, shall we play tit-for-tat and count the abuses hurled by BJP leaders against Mrs Sonia Gandhi, Dr Manmohan Singh and Mr Rahul Gandhi? This is a pointless exercise. P. Chidambaram Congress leader, on Prime Minister Narendra Modi raising the issue of abuses hurled at him

India was never a closed system or society. And there was no attempt to impose anything. There is evidence of interaction with foreign tribes in the Mahabharat. Ancient law-givers prescribed no purificatory rites for the admission of foreign groups. Meenakshi Jain author

Rohit Sharma is not batting with the bowlers but with himself. There is a mental block. There is no problem with his batting technique. Some confusion is going on in his mind. But the day he gets going, he will make up for all the previous matches. Virender Sehwag former cricketer, on cricketer Rohit Sharmas bad performance in the IPL
London, May 12 (PTI) Telangana IT and Industries Minister K.T. Rama Rao on Friday announced a new pact with the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) for the establishment of a Technology Centre of Excellence in the state capital of Hyderabad, generating employment opportunities and innovation tie-ups.

The announcement was made after the minister, who is on a short visit to the UK, met with LSEG CIO Anthony McCarthy and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by the state government officials.

We have just entered into an MoU with the London Stock Exchange for an innovation centre, with potential employment for 1,000 people, Rao told reporters after the meeting.

Earlier, he addressed a roundtable discussion organised by the Indian High Commission in London to showcase the many strengths of the state  which the minister dubbed the most successful start-up state of India.

I call my state the most successful start-up state of India. The reason why I say this is because in start-up parlance, when somebody achieves a certain something you will be looked at as a successful institution. In the case of Telangana, we will be completing nine years as a new state on June 2, said Rao.

So within a very short span of less than nine years, Telangana today has delivered so many things, which are truly remarkable we're only two and a half per cent as a state in terms of population within the country, but we contribute to 5 per cent of India's GDP. So, we're literally punching double our weight, he said.

The minister highlighted the states strengths as the production hub for one-third of the worlds vaccine production and as an entrenched player in the life sciences industry.

And last year out of the 450,000 jobs in technology that were created in India, 150,000 were in Telangana and 146,000 were in Bangalore. So that goes to show that Hyderabad is a fast mover, fast learner, and it is growing rapidly, more rapidly than any other state in India in technology, he added.

During the roundtable discussions at India House in London, the ministers presentation similarly emphasised that Telangana's economy is growing at a brisk pace, backed by rapid industrialisation and improvement in green cover.

Rao highlighted Telangana's progressive industrial policy and revolutionary single window system, TS-iPASS, which is claimed to streamline investment processes and reduce bureaucratic red tape.

The state's robust ecosystem for electronics, aerospace and defence, food processing, mobility, and textiles sectors were also showcased during the presentation to pitch the southern Indian state as an ideal investment hub for UK companies. Academic collaborations with King's College London and Cranfield University were highlighted as a sign of more to come in the UK-Telangana corridor.

During his address, Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram K. Doraiswami praised Hyderabad for its world-class infrastructure and multicultural environment, making it a perfect destination for global investors.

Among those accompanying the minister on the UK visit include Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary of IT and Industries Departments, and E. Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, Special Secretary, Investment Promotion & NRI Affairs.
New Delhi (India), May 13: Mr. Syed Algazi has been officially appointed as, Indias Honorary. Consul General of Republic of Liberland in India for 3 years. His tenure begins with immediate effect from May 11th 2023 in the city of Hyderabad with the consular district including the entire territory of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh States.







The official appointment ceremony is being held in London on 18th May 2023 at Millennium Gloucester Hotel, Kensington, London, UK in the presence of Minister of Foreign Affairs, Secretary of State and Deputy Lieutenant (DLs) greater London, House of Lords members and many dignitaries from across the globe followed by 2 ceremonies in Delhi and Hyderabad respectively for Indian officials and Consulates of different countries.



Republic of Liberland is a sovereign state in Southeast Europe surrounded by other 11 Balkan countries in Europe. It has more than 105 representative offices, embassies and consulates across the globe includes UK, USA with more than 7 million further citizenship requests from all across the globe. The business incubator has been established for foreign investors in Ark Liberland Apatin, Serbia as well as in Republic of Liberland.



Republic of Liberland will also be the first European country to be built in the virtual world by the world-renowned London based architectural firm, Zaha Hadid Architects who have been working on a vision for a virtual city.



A Multi- Million Dollar state-of-the-art Consulate of Republic of Liberland in Hyderabad Telangana has already begun its 6-storey construction work with a ground breaking ceremony in 2023 with 20 thousand square feet area for many international businesses and incubators for Europe, UAE, Philippines, UK, USA to connect with Liberland. This will be a significant development for the Liberland - India Diplomatic and strategic partnership and will create jobs.



H.E. Mr. Syed Algazi will be flying to Delhi soon to meet the officials to present his credentials as the Hon. Consul General of Republic of Liberland in India and to discuss various bilateral trade, business, recognition, collaborations and diplomatic relations between both countries.



H.E. Mr. Syed Algazi will also be meeting the officials of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh States, as well the Consulate Generals of different countries in India to discuss and promote bilateral trade, business, investment, arts, cultural, films, sports, youth, tourism, diplomatic relations for Republic of Liberland.



A consular team for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will be selected by H.E. Mr. Syed Algazi from India to be appointed from the bracket of top entrepreneurs, bureaucrats, HNWI and highly experienced achievers for day-to-day Consulate functioning for Diplomatic relationship with different countries.



We are very sure that, H.E. Mr. Syed Algazi will make India, his city Hyderabad, State of Telangana, Republic of Liberland and its citizens proud with his extraordinary work between both countries by helping businesses, startups, entrepreneurs to flourish in Europe.



About H.E. Mr. Syed Algazi Hon. Consul General:



H.E. Mr. Syed Algazi belongs to the Royals and Great Nobles family of Hyderabad. He is the Great Grandson of Nawab Fakhr ul Mulk Bahadur who built great Palaces (Errum Manzil Palace) Monuments (Tomb of Nawab Fakhr ulk Mulk  known as the Taj Mahal of Hyderabad Deccan, Nizam Collage and many other Palaces around Hyderabad Deccan. He is also the Great Grandson of Salar Jung III (Maternal) and Nephew of Prince Mouzam Jah, 2nd Son of 7th Nizam.



He is the Alumni of Rashtriya Military School Bangalore 1986 batch.



H.E. Mr. Syed Algazi has been invited twice at the Presidents Estate, Rashtrapati Bhavan Delhi for his wonderful, selfless, humanitarian and dedicated services towards the Indian Armed Forces & Martyrs families all across the globe.



He started his entrepreneurs journey at the very young age of 16 in 1986. He provided employment to number of boys at that time who were unable to meet the ends.



He has been awarded as the youngest entrepreneur of Andhra Pradesh in 1987 by the Indian Chamber of Commerce at Bhaskar Palace (Present day  Care Hospital).



He is also the recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi award for his services towards Indian Armed Forces, Martyrs and their families initiatives and food drive campaigns across the globe.



He is also the first civilian in the history of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to be awarded by the high rank Army officials at HQ 35 Infantry Brigade Vasant Vihar New Delhi for his services towards Indian Armed Forces, Martyrs and their families all across India.



He is credited for creating the first ever Digital War Memorial in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh history by a Cadet.



H.E. Mr. Syed Algazi became the 1st personality in the history of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to be awarded Sir Syed Ahmad Award by the Aligarh University Council for his contribution to the nation, Martyrs families and social work all across India.



He is also credited for the initiative of forming the Telangana Police Youth Club. This initiative is to connect students and eliminate crime. Lakhs of students will get connected with this initiative was launched in Hyderabad on 18th March 2018.



He has been a UAE resident and investor since 2006. He is also the founder of Braveheart Martyrs Foundation and has been serving Indian Armed Forces Martyrs families, war widows (Veer Naris) war veterans through his Patriotic foundation Braveheart Martyrs Foundation and have been honouring them all across the globe in a program called GOLDEN SALUTE. He is also the Chairman and Managing Director of N. F. Constructions since 1991 and has his presence in 14 countries.



Motto of Republic of Liberland is To live and let live.



From the Presidents office of Prague, Czech Republic



http://nfconstructions.com/lifeofdreamer.html



https://www.linkedin.com/in/syed-algazi-0a36b4b3/



https://liberland.org/en/



http://nfconstructions.com/hr.html



Email:india@liberland.org



(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PNN and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR

PWR
New Delhi (India), May 13: The AI revolution has transformed the world, impacting various sectors such as healthcare, finance, and education by enhancing efficiency, personalizing experiences, and lowering costs. Virtual assistants and AI-driven algorithms have altered how we interact and consume content. The global AI training dataset market, valued at USD 1.9 Bn in 2022, is expected to reach USD 11.7 Bn in ten years, growing at a CAGR of over 20%. India is expected to garner 30-35 per cent of the global market share by 2028.



Cogito Tech, a technology-driven data analytics company, is at the forefront of this transformation. Cogito houses one of the biggest data annotation centers - center of excellence for AI in Noida, India, staffed by a qualified and experienced workforce. Cogito offers cutting-edge AI training data for AI and machine learning enterprises. Their innovative services span data collection and enrichment, machine learning and deep learning, and AI-based solutions, enabling businesses to harness AI and data-driven technologies.



Cogito Tech's data collection and enrichment services provide accurate and diverse datasets tailored to client's needs, encompassing data annotation, categorization, transcription, and entry. Their machine learning and deep learning services include custom model development, training, and validation, enhancing efficiency and reducing errors in tasks like image recognition, natural language processing, and sentiment analysis.



Cogito offers AI-based solutions to industries like healthcare, finance, retail, and automotive, helping businesses seize new opportunities and improve customer experiences. Cogito is a trusted partner that supports 35% of the top 100 IT companies globally, delivering robust AI solutions.



Combining human ingenuity with technology, Cogito creates value for AI and business initiatives across verticals such as retail, manufacturing, construction, medical, food processing, e-commerce, automotive, insurance, and robotics. Their solutions include computer vision, natural language processing, content moderation, data and document processing, and generative AI applicable to various industries.



Cogito's skilled workforce optimizes results, lowering costs and time required for data segregation and categorization. In addition, the company has developed innovative data annotation solutions for large and small corporates and government agencies globally.



With a focus on delivering accurate and reliable data, Cogito has helped shape the future of over 5000 employees by allowing them to enter the phenomenal world of artificial intelligence. Cogito has become a beacon of hope for young graduates and professionals looking to gain exposure in the rapidly growing AI industry. The company constantly hires fresh talent and offers comprehensive training programs to its employees, enabling them to develop skills in high demand in the global AI industry. Cogito's hiring and training programs help its workforce learn the best practices for data annotation and collection, quality assurance, and project management.



Incorporating cutting-edge technology like generative AI, Cogito utilizes tools like ChatGPT for enterprise clients. Generative AI creates new content or data based on existing data patterns and structures, with applications in image synthesis, text generation, music and audio synthesis, data augmentation, drug discovery, and anomaly detection, making it useful for fraud detection, quality control, and cybersecurity.



As a leader in AI and machine learning, Cogito Tech delivers tailored data annotation solutions to diverse industries. With a focus on innovation and customer success, Cogito enables organizations to harness the transformative potential of AI.







https://www.cogitotech.com



(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PNN and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR

PWR
Islamabad, May 13 (PTI) At least six Pakistani soldiers and as many terrorists were killed in a gun battle between the security forces and militants in Pakistans southwestern Balochistan province on Saturday.

The rebels attacked a paramilitary Frontier Corps Compound in the Muslim Bagh area of the province, leading to a hostage situation, according to a statement by the army.

The clearance commenced on Friday evening after repulsing the initial onslaught of terrorists and was completed on Saturday morning, it said.

All six terrorists in the compound, who were well equipped, have been sent to hell, the army said, adding that necessary intelligence follow-up will continue to trace their linkages and arrest facilitators and expose their sponsors.

It said the complex clearance operation involved a hostage rescue operation as well to save three families from a residential block.

The terrorists had not even spared children of their horrendous approach, the army said.

Six soldiers and a civilian were killed while six individuals, including a woman, were injured, it said.

The security forces are determined to thwart all attempts at sabotaging the peace, stability and progress of Balochistan, it said.

The region is facing an onslaught from militants who on Friday night raided a security forces post in the Hoshab area of the province.

After successfully repulsing the raid, the escaping terrorists were pursued into the nearby mountains of Balore, using aerial surveillance means, according to the military.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed deep grief and sorrow over the death of six soldiers of the Pakistan Army and one civilian.

According to a statement, the premier said the armed forces are determined to completely eradicate the menace of terrorism.

He said the entire nation stands by the security forces.
Islamabad, May 13 (PTI) Pakistan's Army has ruled out the possibility of imposing martial law in the country amidst the political turmoil and deteriorating law and order situation following the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan, saying Army chief General Asim Munir and the entire military leadership believe in democracy.

The remarks of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry came after an almost four-day political turmoil erupted due to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Khans arrest, in which Armys installations, including the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, were also targeted.

There is no question of imposing martial law in the country, he told Geo News, adding that Army chief General Asim Munir and the entire military leadership along with him believe in democracy.

The Army remains Pakistans most powerful institution, having ruled it directly for close to half its 75-year history through three coups.

Chaudhry stressed that the Army's unity is unwavering and will persist, serving as a pillar of stability and security for the nation.

He also rejected social media rumours about resignations by top Army officers or anyone disobeying the military discipline.

No one in the Army has resigned and no one has disobeyed any order, the military spokesman said on Friday.

He also rejected the impression of division within the army in the wake of attacks on military facilities during protests following the arrest of Khan. Despite the internal and external propaganda, the army is united and will remain, he said.

Major General Chaudhry further said that the army is united despite internal miscreants and external enemies.

The dream of dividing the Pakistan Army will remain a dream, the Army is united under the leadership of Army Chief General Asim Munir and will remain united.

He called upon the public and media to rely on verified information from official sources rather than giving credence to unfounded speculation.

The Army has come under scanner after showing no response when the rioters ransacked the residence of Corps Commander Lahore after Khan was arrested on May 9.

At least 10 people have been killed in the violence that erupted after Khan's dramatic arrest by the paramilitary Rangers from the Islamabad High Court on Tuesday.

The unrest in the country has come to a halt for now as the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has provided blanket relief to Khan and barred authorities from arresting the PTI chief till Monday morning.

Khan has been highly critical of the alleged role of the establishment, especially that of former Army chief General (retired) Qamar Javed Bajwa, in bringing down his government in April 2022.

Before his retirement, Gen Bajwa said that the Pakistan Army will remain apolitical.
(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)
Brighton (UK), May 13 (The Conversation) We have grown so used to many things. To the pictures of wildfires and cremated animals, to the ice sheets calving into the ocean, to the promises of world leaders that they will heed the last chance warning of the scientists.

Its hard for anyone under the age of 40 to remember a time when carbon dioxide build-up, whether it was the greenhouse effect, or global warming or climate change or now climate crisis, wasnt in the news.

The long hot summer of 1988  35 years ago  is held as the moment that world leaders began to mouth the right pieties.

Presidential candidate (and soon to be president) George H.W. Bush said he would use the White House effect to fix the Greenhouse Effect (he didnt). UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher warned of a giant experiment being conducted with the system of this planet itself.

Thirty-five years. But it was actually 35 years before that  fully 70 years ago this month  that the danger of carbon dioxide build-up in the atmosphere first travelled around the world.

That carbon dioxide trapped heat was uncontroversial. Irish scientist John Tyndall (possibly drawing on the work of an American, Eunice Foote) had shown that it did back in the mid-1800s.

In 1895, Swedish Nobel prize winner Svante Arrhenius had suggested that  over hundreds of years  the build-up of carbon dioxide released when humans burn oil, coal and gas might trap so much heat as to melt the tundra and make freezing winters a thing of the past.

His work was challenged, but the idea occasionally popped up in popular journals. In 1938 English steam engineer Guy Callendar suggested to the Royal Society in London that warming was underway.

But it was in early May, 1953, at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union, that Canadian physicist Gilbert Plass  who had been corresponding with Callendar  told the gathered scientists that trouble was afoot.

Plass said that:

The large increase in industrial activity during the present century is discharging so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that the average temperature is rising at the rate of 1.5 degrees per century.

This got picked up by the Associated Press and other wire services and appeared in newspapers all around the world (even as far afield as the Sydney Morning Herald). Plasss warning also popped up in Newsweek on May 18 and in Time on May 25.

The fact that the world was warming was already uncontroversial among scientists. But the emphatic connection with carbon dioxide made by Plass, as opposed to competing theories such as orbital wobbles or sunspot activity, was newsworthy.

Plass had become interested in the question of carbon dioxide buildup while working for the Ford Motor Company.

He looked at how carbon dioxide actually functions in the real world, not just at sea level (without getting too technical. Many scientists had dismissed Arrheniuss earlier work on the basis of false confidence that carbon dioxide worked the same there as in the stratosphere).

Plass kept working on the issue, with technical and popular publications through the rest of the 1950s.

In 1956, he had an academic article on the carbon dioxide theory of climate change published in the Swedish scientific journal Tellus, and also a popular article in the American Scientist.

And he was present at the first major meetings to discuss carbon dioxide build up.

Meanwhile, the carbon dioxide theory started getting more coverage among science journalists. One, George Wendt, wrote up the findings in the then well-regarded UNESCO Courier, and this got excerpted in the Irish Times in 1954, the same year that British journalists started mentioning it.

In 1957 the then-new magazine New Scientist mentioned it. By the end of the 1950s, anyone who read a newspaper could have been aware of the basic idea.

Throughout the 50s and 60s US, Swedish, German and Soviet scientists were examining the issue. In 1965 President Lyndon Johnson even namechecked carbon dioxide build-up in an address to Congress.

By the end of the 1960s international collaboration was beginning, though there was caution still.

For instance, in April 1969 the American scientist Charles Keeling, who had been measuring atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations at a Hawaiian observatory, revealed that he had been asked to change the title of a lecture from, If carbon dioxide from fossil fuels is changing mans environment, what will we do about it? to Is carbon dioxide from fossil fuel changing mans environment?

For climate historians like me, the 1970s are a fascinating period of intense measurement, modelling, observation and thinking which, by the end of the decade, produced a working consensus that there was serious trouble ahead. In effect, Plass had nailed it.

When Plass spoke out, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide was at about 310 parts per million. Today, theyre 423 or so. Every year, as we burn more oil, coal and gas, the concentration climbs and more heat is trapped.

By the time Plasss warning is 100 years old, the concentrations will be much higher. Theres a very good chance we will have gone over the 2C warming level that used to be regarded as safe. (The Conversation) FZH
Warsaw, May 13 (AP) Poland's Defense Ministry said Saturday that it has detected an object in Polish airspace that flew in from the direction of Belarus, and that it's probably an observation balloon.

The ministry tweeted that radar contact with the object was lost near Rypin, a town in central Poland 143 kilometers (89) northwest of the capital, Warsaw.

A search was launched in the vicinity of Rypin involving a helicopter, a drone and ground groups from the Territorial Defense Forces, a press officer with the Operational Command of the Armed Forces, Capt. Ewa Zlotnicka, told the television broadcaster TVN24.

The object was spotted Friday around 8:30 p.m. local time near Bialowieza, which is near Poland's border with Belarus. Radar monitoring was carried out, but at around 12:30 a.m. Saturday, the object ceased to be visible, Zlotnicka said in a phone interview with the private TV station.

The development reported Saturday follows two other known incursions into Poland's airspace since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which lies on Poland's eastern border.

In November, two Polish men were killed when a missile landed in eastern Poland. Western officials said they believed a Ukrainian air defense missile went astray as Ukrainian air forces tried to repel a large-scale attack by Russia.

Polish military and political officials are also facing questions about another object that landed on Polish territory in December, but which was only discovered in April by chance by a member of the public who was riding a horse in a forest.

The issue is raising questions about the authorities' handling of its air defenses amid new risks created by the war in Ukraine.

President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki were only informed of the December airspace incursion in late April.

The National Security Bureau, a body that advises the president on security and defense matters, said Friday that its head, Jacek Siewiera, and Duda were informed on April 26 about the object, which the bureau said may be a Russian-made cruise missile.

Officials have said that no traces of explosives were found at the site where the aerial object was discovered.

Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak this week pointed to the operational commander of the armed forces as being to blame for not properly informing political leaders of the object. Army leaders have pushed back against that claim, insisting they fulfilled their duties properly.

The political opposition has been calling for the dismissal of Blaszczak over that matter. (AP)



MRJ
London, May 13 (PTI) S Jaishankar arrived in Stockholm on Saturday on his first visit as the External Affairs Minister to Sweden to participate in the second EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum (EIPMF).

During his three-day visit to Stockholm, the minister will address the EIPMF and also hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit.

He is also scheduled to attend the inaugural session of the India Trilateral Forum involving India, Europe and the US with his Swedish counterpart Tobias Billstrom.

"From Dhaka to Stockholm, but still discussing the Indo-Pacific. Arrived in Sweden for the EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial," Jaishankar tweeted.

"Nice to see FM of Singapore @VivianBala at the EU-Indo-Pacific Ministeria," he said.

This will be his first visit as EAM and comes at a time when India and Sweden are celebrating 75 years of establishment of diplomatic relations, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said.

Sweden currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the minister is expected to discuss India-EU relations during his visit, at the conclusion of which he will depart for Brussels to continue the exchange.

In Brussels, he will attend the first ministerial meeting of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council along with Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs & Food & Public Distribution and Textiles Piyush Goyal and Minister of Railways, Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Jaishankar arrived in Sweden from Bangladesh where he addressed the 6th Indian Ocean Conference on Friday.
Tara Barnes is authentically, genuinely herself all the time.

A nurse at Methodist Fremont Health (MFH), Barnes uses this trait to establish trust with those in her care.

I just meet patients right where theyre at in life, Barnes said. They trust you, they believe Im a human being, too, and they trust me. Thats the most important part of the job, is instilling that trust.

When patients are with Barnes, she said she asks them to do things that they do not want to do. But, because of that established trust, her patients know that she is advocating for them and their best interests. She will not let anything happen to them thats not to their benefit while in her care, Barnes explained.

Im an advocate. I think my core is to be an advocate, she said.

Growing up all around the country, 20 years ago Barnes moved to Fremont and now calls it her homebase.

When she arrived in Fremont, Barnes was already a CNA (certified nursing assistant). She eventually decided to progress in the field, and studied nursing at Midland University.

Barnes started her nursing career at CHI Health Immanuel in the oncology department, and was recruited to MFH. For the last eight years, Barnes has been a nurse at MFH, and currently works in the acute care unit (med surg ICU) caring for those in inpatient care.

Barnes is the clinical coordinator for the unit, and recently finished her masters degree in nursing from Nebraska Methodist College.

The Tribune recently sat down with Barnes and spoke to her about her time as a nurse.

Q: Tell us about your immediate family

A: My husband Nathan and I formed a beautiful blended family 17 years ago and are now empty nesters. Our son Nik is a journeyman electrician and recently married our daughter-in-law Amber; they remain in Fremont. Our daughter Iyala resides in Omaha and is a student at UNO (University of Nebraska Omaha) to obtain a masters in psychology to work as a mental health provider. Our youngest, Sydnee, lives in Norfolk and is navigating her educational goal of becoming an architect.

Q: When, why did you decide to become a nurse?

A: I was 19 when I began my healthcare journey. I first became a certified nursing assistant (CNA), then a medication aide, and, at 25, I decided to further my education to become an RN (registered nurse). I dont recall a specific moment that set me on my path; it has been naturally laid out for me. It sounds cheesy, but nursing is my calling.

Q: What do you like best about nursing and find most rewarding about it?

A: I love our people! I love using my knowledge and experience to help patients and coworkers navigate challenging times in their lives. Being in a hospital is stressful for patients. I love finding ways to relate to them, reduce their stress, and comfort them.

Q: Funniest, saddest, most unusual experience in nursing?

A: When working with people, every day has its unique experiences. The most challenging yet rewarding times are caring for our patients while also caring for the family. Having the skills and ability to care for someone during their last days is an honor. I am thankful to have the skills to help manage them through their process respectfully. Yet, simultaneously, I am pulled because I am also assisting families in navigating through their hardest days, losing their loved ones. Having lost a family member unexpectedly, I relate to it all. So while they are my hardest and saddest days, they are also my most honored days.

Q: If you hadnt become a nurse, what profession might you have entered? And why?

A: When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a veterinarian. I loved animals, and still do. It seems I have always had the desire to care and advocate for those in need.

Q: Why are you glad you chose nursing?

A: Nursing is a profession that provides many opportunities to impact people and the world in so many ways. As a nurse, I can see life in full circle, impact our community, and influence the profession. The last three years have been challenging, but I would choose this profession over and over again.

Q: Future plans?

A: On May 5, I graduated from Nebraska Methodist College with my masters degree in nursing, focusing on executive leadership. For now, my future plans are to settle in and use my new knowledge to continue to make meaningful decisions for our nursing team at MFH (Methodist Fremont Health) and our patients.
Islamabad, May 13 (PTI) Pakistan Army chief General Syed Asim Munir on Saturday warned that the armed forces would not tolerate any further attacks on the country's key installations and vowed to bring to justice those responsible for the recent acts of vandalism.

Gen Munir visited Corps Headquarters in Peshawar for the first time since the city witnessed some of the worst incidents of violence including an attack on the building of state-run Radio Pakistan by the supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan after his arrest in a corruption case.

According to an army statement, the army chief was given a detailed briefing on the prevailing security situation and ongoing counter-terrorism efforts.

Addressing the officers of the Corps and emphasised the evolving threats to national security, he said the Armed Forces will not tolerate any further attempt of violating the sanctity and security of its installations or vandalism and resolved to bring to justice all the planners, abetters, instigators and executors of vandalism on the Black Day of 9th May.

Khan, the chief of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was arrested in Islamabad on May 9, before being let off on bail by the Islamabad High Court on Friday.

He also sensitised about the challenges of information warfare and efforts to create misperceptions, highlighting that a concerted effort is being made maliciously by inimical elements to target the Armed Forces.

He pledged that such nefarious attempts will be foiled through the support of the people of Pakistan.

We shall continue with our endeavours of peace and stability and there will be no room for spoilers of the process, he said.

On arrival, the Army chief was received by Corps Commander Peshawar, Lt Gen Hassan Azhar Hayat.
Karachi, May 13 (PTI) Pakistani authorities have released 198 Indian fishermen, who were languishing at a jail here after being arrested for allegedly fishing illegally in the countrys waters, and handed them over to India at the Wagah border.

The fishermen were released from the Malir Jail in Karachi on Thursday evening.

Malir Jail superintendent Nazir Tunio said that they had released the first batch of Indian fishermen prisoners and two more batches would be released in June and July.

We released 198 prisoners on Thursday while 200 and 100 more would be released later on, he said.

Tunio said that 200 Indian fishermen were to be released on Thursday from Malir jail but two of them died due to illness.

The two deceased fishermen included one Muhammad Zulfiqar who passed away on May 6 and Soma Deva who died on May 9 after prolonged illnesses.

Their bodies have been kept in the Edhi Foundation mortuary till they could be flown out to India.

Soma and his nephew were among a dozen Indian fishermen who were arrested at sea some four and half years ago and they were lodged in the Malir jail.

Soma was twice sent to the hospital for treatment.

Tunio said Zulfiqar died after a massive heart attack.

Faisal Edhi of the Edhi Welfare Trust, which arranged the transportation of the fishermen from Karachi to Lahore via train where they were handed over to Indian authorities at the Wagah border, said some of the Indian fishermen also looked unwell.

We do our best to make the journey back home of these Indian fishermen comfortable and easy. After all, most of them have been in jail for the last 4 to five years," he said.

Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum General Secretary Saeed Baloch said that under the agreement reached between the two governments, a second batch of 200 Indian fishermen would be released on June 2 and another 100 on July 3.

Baloch said he had a lot of sympathies for the Indian fishermen as the majority of them were just out for a livelihood and did not even realise it when they crossed territorial waters between the two countries.

The sad part is that some of them even end up spending 7 to 8 years in jail before they get a chance to return home, he said.

Fishermen Cooperative Society, Sindh administrator Zahid Ibrahim Bhatti said that some 200 Pakistani fishermen were lodged in Indian jails and hopefully they, too, would come home soon after the release of Indian fishermen.

Pakistan and India regularly arrest rival fishermen for violating the maritime boundary, which is poorly marked at some points.
Pune, May 13 (PTI) A Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) legislator and six others have been booked for their alleged role in the murder of a 48-year-old man in Maharashtras Pune district, an official said on Saturday. The MLA has denied all the allegations against him.

Victim Kishor Aware was on Friday shot dead by a group of six people in the Talegaon Dabhade area of the district following which his mother Sulochana Aware filed a complaint at Talegaon police station, the official said.

Based on the complaint, police registered a first information report (FIR) against MLA Sunil Shelke of NCP, Shyam Nigadkar, Sudhakar Shelke, Sandip Garad, and three others, the official said. Sunil Shelke represents the Maval Assembly constituency.

In the FIR, registered under Indian Penal Code sections including 302 (murder) and the Arms Act, the complainant has said that Aware was a prominent face in Maval Taluka and had staged a protest against illegal activities being carried out at the behest of MLA Shelke, the official said.

According to the victims mother, her son was the president of Janseva Vikas Samiti, a local political body, and did social work. She has alleged that Aware posed a threat to MLA Shelke due to their political rivalry in the Maval Taluka.

Rejecting the charge, MLA Shelke said some people are playing politics over this matter.

Addressing media persons here on Saturday, he said, Kishor and I had differences but they were limited to only politics. Some people are deliberately taking this matter to another level just to insult me. We trust our law. Let the truth prevail.
Aizawl, May 13 (PTI) Ten tribal MLAs belonging to the Chin-Kuki-Mizo-Zomi group in Manipur have urged the Centre to give their region a separate administration in the wake of recent violent clashes between the Meiteis and tribals.

Of the 10 legislators, 7 belong to the BJP, two are from Kuki People's Alliance (KPA) and one is an Independent.

The two KPA and independent MLAs are also part of the NDA led by the BJP.

As the state of Manipur has miserably failed to protect us, we seek from the Union of India a separate administration under the Constitution of India and live peacefully as neighbours with the state of Manipur, the MLAs said in a statement on Friday.

The legislators alleged that violence was perpetrated by the majority Meitei community and was tacitly supported by the BJP-run state government.

"The unabated violence that began on May 3, 2023, in Manipur perpetrated by majority Meiteis tacitly supported by the Manipur Government against the Chin-Kuki-Mizo-Zorni hill tribals has already partitioned the state and effected a total separation from the State of Manipur," the statement said.

The MLAs are Haokholet Kipgen, Ngursanglur Sanate, Kimneo Haokip Hangshing, Letpao Haokip, LM Khaute, Letzamang Haokip, Chinlunthang, Paolienlal Haokip, Nemcha Kipgen and Vungjagin Valte.

As elected representatives of our people, we mirror the sentiments of our people and endorse their political aspiration of separation from the state of Manipur. We have also decided to hold a political consultation with our people at the earliest regarding further steps to be taken by us,  the statement said.

Violent clashes had broken out in the northeastern state after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts on May 3 to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

The clashes were preceded by tension over the eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land, which had led to a series of smaller agitations and tension between the Meiteis and Kukis.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals -- Nagas and Kukis -- constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside in the hill district.
Kolkata, May 13 (PTI) Taking a swipe at the BJPs double engine rhetoric over its defeat in the Karnataka polls, the Trinamool Congress on Saturday said the people of the southern state rejected the trouble engine government and asserted that the brute authoritarian and majoritarian politics were vanquished.

The ruling party of West Bengal, however, came out with a guarded response regarding the Congresss victory saying the people decided to reject the BJP.

TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the Karnataka poll results are a lesson for tomorrow, in an apparent reference to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The Congress crossed the 113-seat mark in the election, the majority required to form the government, in the 224-member Assembly for which counting of votes took place on Saturday. According to the Election Commission website, the party was leading or winning in 136 seats.

My salutations to the people of Karnataka for their decisive mandate in favour of change!! Brute authoritarian and majoritarian politics are vanquished!! When people want plurality and democratic forces to win, no central design to dominate can repress their spontaneity: that is the moral of the story, a lesson for tomorrow, Banerjee tweeted.

She had last week appealed to the electorate of Karnataka not to vote in favour of the BJP and hoped that the downfall of the saffron camp would begin from the southern state ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2024.

Former Karnataka chief minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy in March came to Kolkata to meet Banerjee at her residence and requested the TMC boss to campaign in the upcoming Karnataka assembly polls. She, however, didnt visit the southern state.

TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, considered number two in the party, said the people rejected the trouble-engine government of the saffron camp.

It is a victory for the people of that state. It is the defeat of the BJP top brass, he said.

When asked about the Congresss performance in the polls, he said the people of Karnataka chose the most viable alternative to the BJP.

We have been saying for a long time that a one-to-one fight formula is needed to defeat the BJP. In Karnataka, the people defeated the party, putting up a fight against the BJP. In West Bengal, the TMC is the only force fighting against the BJP, he said.

The TMC MP also declined to attach Rahul Gandhis Bharat Jodo Yatra to the Congresss victory, saying there can be many factors including the party having a new president.

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh tweeted, What Bengal thought in 2021, Karnataka thinks that today, India will think tomorrow,

The TMC came to power in West Bengal for the third time in a row in a landslide victory in 2021, defeating the BJP.

Later, while speaking to reporters, Ghosh said the Congress might have won in Karnataka, but its role in Bengal is under question as it is aligned with the Left to oppose the TMC and, in turn, help the BJP,.

The Trinamool Congress, in March, had announced equidistance from both the Congress and the BJP and had claimed that the saffron camp is trying to make a hero out of Rahul Gandhi to divert attention from the burning issues.

"Victory and defeat are part of elections. The TMC has nothing to celebrate about it. Rather it should worry about its leaders who are on their way to jail," BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said, referring to the corruption cases against a number of functionaries of the ruling party.
Jammu, May 13 (PTI) A Navy commando, who lost his life when his parachute got entangled in high-tension wire and caught fire during a training exercise in Uttar Pradesh, was cremated with full military honours in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday.

The mortal remains of Commando Ankur Shama, a resident of Kothey-Sadotrian village in Bishnah tehsil of Jammu, were first brought to his home and later taken to Parmandal area of Samba for last rites as per the family tradition, officials said.

The body of the soldier reached the Bishnah tehsil from the Jammu airport after it was flown from Uttar Pradesh as thousands of villagers turned up to bid a tearful adieu to the son of the soil.

Emotional scenes were witnessed as the wailing relatives, including his parents and siblings, tried to reach the coffin wrapped in the Tricolour to have a last glimpse of the fallen hero.

After the wreath-laying ceremony, the body of the deceased was shifted to Parmandal where the commando was cremated with full military honours, including a gun salute, the officials said.

Senior officers of the Navy, Army, Air Force and police besides civil officials attended the last rites, they added.
New Delhi, May 13 (PTI) Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will attend a prayer meeting in Haryana's Karnal on Monday on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Swami Gyananand Maharaj.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will also be present on the occasion, which is celebrated as Janmotsav.

A 'bhajan sandhya' -- lyrical evening of devotional songs - has been organised on the occasion on Monday.

Several eminent personalities and experts on Bhagavad Gita will discuss the relevance of the Hindu scripture for personality development and for societal growth and harmony.
SOPHIA GOUVEIA, Wheeler, Girls Lacrosse, Sophomore; Gouveia scored the winning goal with less than a minute remaining to beat St. Bernard. Gouveia finished with six goals in that game and also scored eight times in a win against Griswold-Norwich Tech.

WILL FRENCH, Stonington, Boys Lacrosse, Senior; French won 62 of 66 faceoffs in three Stonington victories. French also scored six goals and contributed an assist in the wins.

RYDER CASADY, Westerly, Boys Lacrosse, Junior; Casady made 30 saves in goal for the unbeaten Bulldogs. Casadys best performance of the week was 13 saves in a win against Burrillville.

KODY POPLASKI, Chariho, Boys Volleyball, Sophomore; Poplaski had 95 assists in two wins for the Chargers. Poplaski contributed 51 in a victory against Classical and 44 against Cranston East.

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According to an Al Jazeera report on Motzei Shabbos, Israel, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group agreed to an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire beginning at Motzei Shabbos at 10 p.m. However, rocket sirens blared in Gaza border towns at 10:11 p.m.

National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi confirmed that Israel agreed to a ceasefire but will not hesitate to respond if any further attacks take place.

Shortly before 10 p.m., PIJ sent a barrage of rockets into central and southern Israel. Siren blared in the central Israeli cities of Rishon LTzion and Holon, in the southern city of Ashkelon, and in Gaza border communities. BChasdei Hashem, there were no injuries reported.

In response, the IDF carried out additional airstrikes against 3 PIJ targets in Gaza.

Heavy rocket fire continued over Shabbos, with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group launching a barrage of rockets toward southern Israel on Shabbos morning.

A Palestinian resident of Gaza who was working in an Israeli yishuv near the Gaza border was killed by rocket shrapnel on Shabbos and his brother was seriously injured.

The IDF continued carrying out extensive strikes again PIJ targets in the Gaza Strip, including military command centers in residential buildings after warning residents to leave the area.

A total of 1,234 rockets have been launched at Israel since the beginning of Operation Shield and Arrow.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
Columbus Public Schools officials say community engagement will continue after a $53.5 million facilities bond referendum failed during a special election.

The bond would have paid for the following projects: construction of a new K-4 elementary school; classroom additions and dining renovations at Columbus Middle School; several projects at elementary schools; classroom additions at Columbus High School; and space for alternative learning.

The estimated impact it would have had on a home valued at $100,000 would have been an increase of $4 per month, or $48 per year.

Fifty-seven percent of voters cast their ballots against the bond, with 43% voting in favor of it  3,566 versus 2,683.

CPS Superintendent Troy Loeffelholz told the Columbus Telegram that he felt disappointed by the bond measures failure.

I thought the district did a good job of reaching out to the community over the last 18 months to try to get some feedback on a growing enrollment problem, as well as some programming needs, Loeffelholz said. It just didnt turn out our way. It's also information and data to take back to have more discussions and to hopefully come back later with something that the community can rally around and support.

Platte County Election Commissioner Eryn Roberts said 47% of registered voters residing in the CPS district had cast their ballots.

Historically, special elections dont see high voter turnout.

Its pretty low, between 25% and 40%, Roberts said, noting she believed last years first congressional district special election to have had just under 25% voter turnout.

On the bond failing to win voter approval, Loeffelholz said more research needs to be done but pointed to some sticking points, such as the $53.5 million price tag or the possibility of one of the projects killing the measure.

Until we have those conversations with a lot of people, it's going to be hard to define what the why, so to speak, but thats what weve got to do over the next six months to a year and figure out what those barriers were, Loeffelholz said.

The school district announced on May 10 that it will be reaching out to those who voted in the election to find out what they liked or didnt like about the proposal and if there were any areas of concern or that needed clarification.

We don't know what they voted but we can reach out to the 6,200-plus voters, and do some surveying and some polling, invite some people in for some conversations about if they were supportive or not supportive. What can the district do differently? Loeffelholz said.

In 2011, a $28.5 million bond issue that would have funded the construction of a new Columbus Middle School failed. CPS officials had then sought additional community feedback and presented a new proposal  construction of a new Columbus High School, which voters passed in 2014.

Loeffelholz said the school districts approach will be similar this time around, in that they need to get out into the community, ask questions and dig deeper into what people want to see.

The needs are aren't going to go away. We're going to continue to grow as a school district with our enrollment; that's going to put more pressure on our schools as far as space, Loeffelholz said. We have to come out and have a conversation to find out what they will support to help alleviate that strain on the number of kids in our classrooms per teacher.

Construction costs will continue to rise, he added. If voters do decide to give their approval to a similar project down the line, it will most likely cost more money, he said.

The longer you wait, the more costs, Loeffelholz said. We're trying to do something to reduce the burden on taxpayers and not overburden them. We felt like all these things were needs, and none of them are really wants. But, again, weve got to go out and have those tough conversations.

Top Journal Star photos for May 2023
Entrepreneur: Mike Lynch

Mike Lynch, one of Britain's most successful tech entrepreneurs, will be confined to an address in San Francisco  guarded by private security  once he stumps up bail of $100million after being extradited on Thursday to the US where he will stand trial on criminal fraud charges.

The astonishing high level of bail has been set because, according to US court filings, Lynch is considered such a 'serious risk of flight' after so many years of fighting extradition.

Not only was the founder of software group Autonomy accompanied on his flight to California by the US Marshals Service, but he has to pay for the private security guards himself.

It is a chilling scene not just for him, but for the British business community.

Executives fear that the recent High Court ruling refusing Lynch permission to appeal his extradition sets an unhealthy precedent. They fear that any fall-out from future trans-Atlantic business deals could land them in the US courts many years later.

On a more fundamental level, business leaders, and an increasing number of politicians, have serious doubts about the process itself. Former Conservative minister, David Davis, has spoken out about whether Lynch can expect a fair trial in the US.

Davis has warned how the drawn out legal process of 'ferocious intimidation' relies on complex plea bargains, a process that usually results in a 97 per cent conviction rate.

They are right. Lynch's hijacking sets a dangerous precedent whereby any British businessman or woman who finds themselves up against a powerful US corporation can be bullied through the UK courts and ensnared as a victim.

Yet Lynch is a British national and Autonomy, which is at the heart of the criminal charges, was a British company at the time of its $11billion takeover by Hewlett-Packard in 2011. The deal was subject to UK takeover rules. Ipso facto, the case should be tried here.

Whether Lynch is guilty or not of the charges brought against him after HP alleged that he duped them into overpaying for Autonomy by inflating the numbers, he should still be allowed a fair trial. It is doubtful he will get one. Quite the reverse.

The US authorities look to be licking their lips at the prospect of more high drama and big bucks. More worrying is that the extradition agreement between the two countries looks increasingly one way.

The death of 19-year-old Harry Dunn, who was killed by Anne Sacoolas, the wife of a CIA operative, while driving on the wrong side of the road in the UK, shows the extent of the imbalance. The UK failed to extradite Sacoolas. She pleaded guilty at court via video link, and was given an eight months prison sentence, suspended for 12 months. Hardly justice.

The difference in the treatment between these two cases is shocking  a suspended prison sentence for death versus potential decades for alleged fraud.

Lynch, who denies HP's accusations, could face 20 years in prison if found guilty. The Government must revisit its treaty with the US and curb the country's overreach. Sovereignty matters.

Another post gone

The top seat at Royal Mail is turning out to be more of an ejector seat. Simon Thompson is the fourth boss in five years to have vacated the role. But did he go or was he pushed? Some say Thompson had simply had enough.

Others suggest he was forced out after the year-long bitter fight with the unions which got him into such hot water with MPs  and his boss.

The good news is that Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union have finally agreed on a decent deal.

If Royal Mail gets it right, it has a bright future so it is important that all sides can work properly together. Smart postal and delivery services have become the lifeblood of the country. Interestingly, despite its Test-and-Trace experience, healthcare is an area it wants to expand. Watch this space.

Twitter to come

Oh, how Elon Musk likes to tease. He tweets that he has found a new Twitter boss  a she  and all hell breaks loose.

The name of every top US female executive is sent spinning into the ether. The search doesn't take long.

Linda Yaccarino, advertising supremo at media giant NBC Universal, soon emerges at the top of the list. NBC confirms she's leaving. Then Musk tweets that Yaccarino is the new girl on board. With luck, Yaccarino has a sense of humour, and won't curb his enthusiasm for hanging us all on a thread. It's too much fun.
Celebrity culture may not be your thing. But if you want to give your portfolio some razzle-dazzle, you cannot ignore the stars of the fund management world, the custodians of billions of savings, and the proponents of different styles of investing.

In the UK, Nick Train of Lindsell Train and Terry Smith of Fundsmith dominate the scene. In the US, Warren Buffett, boss of the leviathan Berkshire Hathaway, is the sector's most influential figure.

Its most controversial personality is Cathie Wood, chief executive of Ark Invest, a $14billion group focused on technology companies.

Even if you choose not to back these stars' funds, their stock picks merit your consideration.

Ed Monk of Fidelity International says: 'There's a lot to be gleaned from scouring the top holdings of the top investors. At the very least, you'll understand better the companies in which these pros have most confidence.'

Celebrity fund managers: Warren Buffett, Terry Smith, Cathie Wood and Nick Train

This week, the professionals have been poring over the remarks made by the 92-year old Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway's annual general meeting (AGM).

The guru seems cautious about the direction of the stock markets, disinclined to deploy the fund's $130billion cash pile.

He disapproves of the conduct of bankers, yet Bank of America is the $717billion fund's second largest holding. At the AGM, Buffett dwelt on the qualities of a potent brand, pointing to the appeal of Tiffany's iconic blue box.

The jewellery business now belongs to LVMH, the luxury conglomerate headed by French tycoon Bernard Arnault, who based his thinking on Buffett's buy-and-hold approach. As part of this strategy, Buffett favours businesses with an 'economic moat', that something that sets their products apart from those of rivals, so supplying pricing power.

American Express, Chevron and Coca Cola, which account for 38 per cent of Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio, possess this attribute, but the prime example is Apple which represents 38 per cent. Buffett first bought into the i-Phone maker in 2016 when its shares were $24.91, against $172 today. Thanks to such moves, Berkshire Hathaway's share price has risen by 200 per cent over the past decade.

Over the same period, Terry Smith has delivered growth of 200 per cent, against the 111 per cent achieved by his peer group.

He is another believer in buy-and-hold and moats. But he only bought into Apple in late 2022 at $125. He called this one of his largest mistakes, but added: 'Looking in the rear-view mirror isn't going to help you.'

This useful precept for any investor has helped the 23.4billion Fundsmith recover from a challenging 2022. The fund is up 10.4 per cent, against an increase of 4.9pc in the MSCI World Index.

Currently Smith is betting on technology (Microsoft), beauty (L'Oreal), luxury (LVMH) and smoking (Philip Morris). Novo Nordisk, the business behind slimming drug Wegovy, is his healthcare punt.

My allegiance to Fundsmith has lasted more than a decade, but lately I have been observing the purchases of Nick Train for Lindsell Train UK Equity, Lindsell Train Global Equity and the Finsbury Growth & Income trust.

Over the past decade, he has delivered growth of 216 per cent, against 96 per cent for his peer group. To maintain this record, he is relying on FTSE 100 names such as Relx, Burberry, Diageo, and Unilever.

UK pension funds are not keen on these stocks, but Train argues: 'If the brands and franchises owned by these companies are of the calibre we believe them to be, and their equity is undervalued, then we are going to capture an outsize share of their future share price gains.'

Cathie Wood's choices are driven by the conviction that innovation will spark 'exponential growth trajectories' for tech groups.

But shares in the Ark Innovation fund's three top holdings  Tesla, Zoom and Roku  have fallen by 31 per cent, 31 per cent and 44 per cent respectively over the past 12 months.

These declines illustrate the risks inherent in building a portfolio based on the major holdings of the stars. Insufficient diversification is another hazard, and Monk also highlights the difficulty of knowing when to sell.

But one plus of copying the stars' investing selections is the opportunity to save on fees. Annual charges range from 0.75 per cent-1.25 per cent, one reason why Smith may have earned 190million last year.

But Haig Bathgate at investment management group Atomos contends that the publicity surrounding charges can overshadow 'the care and balance' that the stars dedicate to stock selection.

On this basis, it may be worth paying the fees to benefit from their expertise. He says: 'I would caution against trying to replicate their portfolios. It's hard enough as a market professional.'
The Royal Mail's embattled boss has resigned following a long-running dispute with workers that plunged the company into crisis.

The 507-year-old delivery firm's owners, International Distributions Services (IDS), said Simon Thompson, who has been chief executive for around two years, will leave at the end of October.

His departure  which the Mail revealed was on the cards last month  follows the Royal Mail's deal with the Communication Workers Union (CWU) to end a row over pay and working practices that saw posties walk out on strike for 18 days last year.

Troubled tenure: Simon Thompson is quitting his job as the boss of Royal Mail

IDS said it was in the 'advanced stages' of appointing a replacement.

During the transition, chairman Keith Williams will provide 'additional oversight and support'.

Thompson said: 'I have been incredibly proud to lead Royal Mail during this crucial period in its 507-year history.

'The changes we have made, the infrastructure we have put in place, and the agreements negotiated with our trade unions mean that Royal Mail now has a chance to compete and grow. It is now the right time to hand over to a new chief executive to deliver the next stage of the company's reinvention.'

IDS shares dropped 1.5 per cent, or 3.4p, to 227.9p.

Thompson's departure draws a line under a volatile period that saw Royal Mail plunged into crisis by strikes as unions clashed with management over pay and working practices.

Royal Mail was losing more than 1million a day and warned administrators may need to be called in if the situation did not improve.

A breakthrough came last month when the company and union bosses agreed a deal that included a 10 per cent pay rise for staff and a profit-sharing scheme.

CWU members will vote on the agreement. But the crisis left Thompson's reputation in tatters and he faced fierce criticism from regulators and MPs. He was also humiliated during two bruising appearances before the House of Commons Business Select Committee earlier this year.

MPs accused Thompson of 'either an unacceptable level of incompetence or an unacceptable level of cluelessness' in his running of the business and of 'intentionally or inadvertently' misleading MPs when he said it was not his understanding Royal Mail had used data from personal digital assistants (PDAs) to track worker performance.

Labour MP Darren Jones, chairman of the business committee, wrote on Twitter yesterday that the criticisms levelled at Thompson and Royal Mail were 'never personal' and were 'about holding decision-makers to account for their performance'. He added: 'On that basis, it's right that Simon Thompson has resigned but I wish him all the best for the future.

'The culture at Royal Mail must change and I hope this new chapter will recognise the importance of every worker and focus on delivering a sustainable future for the business.'

Dave Ward, the CWU's general secretary, also welcomed the news, saying: 'Simon Thompson is one of the key individuals responsible for the financial crisis that Royal Mail has created over the course of the last year.

'It is important that the next chief executive is somebody who understands the only way to turn around the fortunes of the company is by taking the workforce with them.'

Thompson joined the board of IDS as a non-executive director in 2017 before becoming chief executive in 2021. He has held roles at HSBC, Honda, Apple, Motorola and Ocado.

Aside from the long-running battle with its workers, Thompson's tenure was also marked by a cyber attack in January that knocked out Royal Mail's overseas delivery operations.
Tasty: Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay

Turnover trebled across Gordon Ramsay's restaurant empire last year  but the celebrity chef still posted a loss of 504,000.

Gordon Ramsay Restaurants reported record revenues of 78.9m for the 12 months ending August 2022, up from 26.2m the year prior.

This reflected the business's post-Covid recovery as it enjoyed '12 months of uninterrupted trading in the UK'.

The pandemic previously brought Ramsay's business operations to a halt and forced his restaurants to make hundreds of jobs cuts as losses hit almost 6.5m. Before Covid, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants recorded revenues of 55m.

Losses have since fallen significantly and the business pressed ahead with expansion plans last year by opening seven restaurants. The group runs 36 venues in the UK, and also boasts operations in countries including Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.

Andy Wenlock, Ramsay's business partner, said 'the group remains committed to and on course with its growth strategy both in the UK and internally'. The highest-paid director took home 517,000 in 2022, up from 372,000 in 2021.

Ramsay, 56, the group's main shareholder, vowed to provide financial support 'in the event of any severe downturn'.
Decision time: Tata's gigafactory will make batteries for JLR vehicles

Jaguar Land Rover's boss yesterday said it would be 'lovely' to see corporation tax fall to zero  as its parent company considers where to build a gigafactory.

The car maker's chief executive Adrian Mardell said a decision by Indian group Tata on whether to site the battery plant in the UK or Spain was near a 'final determination'  having taken longer than expected.

Asked about the corporation tax environment  after the UK put up the rate from 19 per cent to 25 per cent despite the opposition of many businesses  he said: 'It would be lovely if it was zero, wouldn't it? We'd all love that.'

Mardell welcomed the Government's Budget measures granting business tax breaks which he said have 'really started to incentivise investment'.

'Not everything that happens here is bad,' he said. 'But increasing the competitive advantage of producing vehicles in the UK is what I vote for and obviously the elimination where possible of additional costs including taxes would be wonderful.'

Tata's gigafactory will make batteries for JLR vehicles but Mardell insisted that its location would not change where the cars are built.

'Our tie and our emotion is in the UK, and from my perspective that will continue irrespective of this decision,' he said.

JLR swung back into the black with a profit of 97m for the year to the end of March, compared to a loss of 455m a year earlier, as supply chain constraints eased. Sales rose 25 per cent to 22.8billion.
Cheniere Energy Partners (NYSE:CQP  Get Rating) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

Cheniere Energy Partners Trading Down 0.2 %

CQP stock opened at $45.85 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $22.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 0.85. Cheniere Energy Partners has a 52 week low of $40.20 and a 52 week high of $62.08.

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Cheniere Energy Partners Company Profile

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Cheniere Energy Partners LP engages in the operations of liquefied natural gas. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

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Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW  Get Rating) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CW. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Curtiss-Wright from $183.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Curtiss-Wright from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Curtiss-Wright presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $186.80.

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Curtiss-Wright Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Curtiss-Wright stock opened at $163.34 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $171.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32 and a beta of 1.24. Curtiss-Wright has a twelve month low of $124.37 and a twelve month high of $182.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Curtiss-Wright

Curtiss-Wright ( NYSE:CW Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The aerospace company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.12. Curtiss-Wright had a return on equity of 16.54% and a net margin of 11.81%. The firm had revenue of $631.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $585.49 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. The firms revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Curtiss-Wright will post 8.77 earnings per share for the current year.

In other news, CEO Lynn M. Bamford sold 1,337 shares of Curtiss-Wright stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.10, for a total value of $228,760.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 18,998 shares in the company, valued at $3,250,557.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Lynn M. Bamford sold 1,337 shares of Curtiss-Wright stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.10, for a total value of $228,760.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 18,998 shares in the company, valued at $3,250,557.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Lynn M. Bamford sold 2,223 shares of Curtiss-Wright stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.42, for a total value of $376,620.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 17,356 shares in the company, valued at $2,940,453.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,586 shares of company stock worth $1,459,205 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CW. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in Curtiss-Wright in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Curtiss-Wright during the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Curtiss-Wright during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Curtiss-Wright by 26.8% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 303 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Curtiss-Wright during the 4th quarter valued at $54,000. 84.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Curtiss-Wright

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Curtiss-Wright Corp. is a global integrated business that provides engineered products, solutions, and services mainly to the aerospace and defense markets, as well as critical technologies in demanding commercial power, process, and industrial markets. It operates through the following three segments: Aerospace & Industrial, Defense Electronics, and Naval & Power.

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Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (NYSE:CCEP  Get Rating) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Thursday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Credit Suisse Group raised their target price on Coca-Cola Europacific Partners to 65.00 ($71.43) in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on Coca-Cola Europacific Partners from $68.00 to $71.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Barclays raised their target price on Coca-Cola Europacific Partners from $73.00 to $75.00 in a report on Thursday, April 27th. Societe Generale upgraded Coca-Cola Europacific Partners from a sell rating to a hold rating and set a $61.15 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on Coca-Cola Europacific Partners from $60.00 to $62.00 in a report on Thursday, March 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $66.66.

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Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Price Performance

Shares of CCEP stock opened at $65.50 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $59.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Coca-Cola Europacific Partners has a 12 month low of $41.80 and a 12 month high of $66.36.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coca-Cola Europacific Partners

About Coca-Cola Europacific Partners

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. WealthPLAN Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Exos TFP Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners by 270.2% during the 1st quarter. Exos TFP Holdings LLC now owns 622 shares of the companys stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. BOKF NA bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners during the 1st quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Alta Advisers Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 28.63% of the companys stock.

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Coca-Cola Europacific Partners plc engages in the distribution and sale of non-alcoholic ready to drink beverages. It operates through the following geographical segments: Iberia, Germany, Great Britain, France, Belgium/Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland. The company was founded on August 4, 2015 and is headquartered in Uxbridge, the United Kingdom.

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Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM  Get Rating) has earned a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $110.60.

Several research firms recently weighed in on PM. UBS Group upgraded shares of Philip Morris International from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their price target for the company from $106.00 to $116.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. Societe Generale started coverage on Philip Morris International in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. They set a sell rating and a $90.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com started coverage on Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Philip Morris International from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and raised their price objective for the company from $109.00 to $116.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Philip Morris International in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. They set a buy rating and a $114.00 price objective for the company.

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Insider Transactions at Philip Morris International

In related news, insider Werner Barth sold 8,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.35, for a total value of $786,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 87,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,588,020.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Chairman Andre Calantzopoulos sold 80,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.35, for a total value of $8,028,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,007,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,057,266.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Werner Barth sold 8,000 shares of Philip Morris International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.35, for a total value of $786,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 87,321 shares of the companys stock, valued at $8,588,020.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 108,308 shares of company stock valued at $10,851,692 in the last quarter. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Philip Morris International

Philip Morris International Stock Performance

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PM. Veritable L.P. grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Veritable L.P. now owns 132,707 shares of the companys stock valued at $12,906,000 after acquiring an additional 4,171 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 13,298 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,294,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the period. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Philip Morris International by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,912 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,812,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Philip Morris International by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 58,914 shares of the companys stock worth $5,802,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC purchased a new position in Philip Morris International in the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,516,000. 75.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Shares of Philip Morris International stock opened at $95.12 on Monday. Philip Morris International has a 52-week low of $82.85 and a 52-week high of $109.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.68. The companys 50 day moving average price is $97.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.55.

Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM  Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 20th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $8.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $8.03 billion. Philip Morris International had a net margin of 10.80% and a negative return on equity of 128.55%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Philip Morris International will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Philip Morris International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 23rd were given a $1.27 dividend. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.34%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 22nd. Philip Morris Internationals dividend payout ratio is presently 90.88%.

About Philip Morris International

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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.

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State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its stake in Bank of Hawaii Co. (NYSE:BOH  Get Rating) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44,694 shares of the banks stock after acquiring an additional 850 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System owned 0.11% of Bank of Hawaii worth $3,466,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Bank of Hawaii by 5.8% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 70,245 shares of the banks stock valued at $5,895,000 after buying an additional 3,843 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Hawaii by 15.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 15,739 shares of the banks stock valued at $1,322,000 after purchasing an additional 2,093 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Hawaii by 43.8% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 14,531 shares of the banks stock valued at $1,219,000 after purchasing an additional 4,423 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Hawaii by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,757 shares of the banks stock valued at $735,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Hawaii by 32.7% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 26,023 shares of the banks stock valued at $2,184,000 after purchasing an additional 6,407 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.29% of the companys stock.

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Insider Activity

In other news, Director Alicia E. Moy bought 4,200 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $47.90 per share, for a total transaction of $201,180.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,482 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $502,087.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.11% of the companys stock.

Bank of Hawaii Stock Performance

BOH stock opened at $33.56 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $50.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.05. The company has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.97. Bank of Hawaii Co. has a 12 month low of $30.83 and a 12 month high of $85.45.

Bank of Hawaii (NYSE:BOH  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 24th. The bank reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.09). Bank of Hawaii had a net margin of 26.90% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The company had revenue of $229.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $177.67 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bank of Hawaii Co. will post 4.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Hawaii Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 31st will be paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 30th. Bank of Hawaiis dividend payout ratio is 52.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Bank of Hawaii from $83.00 to $60.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 6th. TheStreet lowered shares of Bank of Hawaii from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 4th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Bank of Hawaii from $76.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Monday, March 20th. Compass Point lowered shares of 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, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of Hawaii to a sell rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Hawaii currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $66.25.

Bank of Hawaii Company Profile

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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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HARTINGTON, Neb. (AP)  A woman has pleaded not guilty in the death of one of four people who were killed in a small northeast Nebraska town last year.

Carrie Jones, 44, of Laurel entered written not guilty pleas this week to first-degree murder, being an accessory to a felony and tampering with evidence, according to court records.

Jones husband, 43-year-old Jason Jones, has pleaded not guilty to four counts each of first-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony, plus two counts of first-degree arson.

Carrie Jones is charged in the death of Gene Twiford, 86, in Laurel, on Aug. 4, 2022. Her husband is charged with killing Twiford, his wife and his daughter and another Laurel woman and setting fire to the victims homes.

Prosecutors allege Carrie Jones encouraged her husband to confront Twiford, who she said had been making sexually charged comments to her for years, and then helped him hide when he was being sought by police.

Testimony at an earlier hearing revealed that the Joneses did not have a specific conflict with Ebeling and her fiance, Brian Welch, but thought the couple was odd.

Carrie Jones is scheduled to be arraigned May 22 in Cedar County District Court, the Norfolk Daily News reported.

Carrie and James Jones remain jailed. They are scheduled to appear in court on July 24.
Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:AIT  Get Rating) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,862 shares of the industrial products companys stock after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement Systems holdings in Applied Industrial Technologies were worth $1,369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ellevest Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Industrial Technologies by 30.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 370 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,404 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,114 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management raised its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 3,196 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $403,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Applied Industrial Technologies by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,820 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $1,616,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. 92.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Applied Industrial Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AIT opened at $129.19 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.99 billion, a PE ratio of 15.18 and a beta of 1.19. The companys fifty day moving average is $135.19 and its 200 day moving average is $132.06. Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.09 and a 52 week high of $149.42. The company has a quick ratio of 2.04, a current ratio of 3.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Applied Industrial Technologies Announces Dividend

Insiders Place Their Bets

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 12th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. Applied Industrial Technologiess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, CEO Neil A. Schrimsher sold 4,186 shares of Applied Industrial Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $606,970.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 339,744 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $49,262,880. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Applied Industrial Technologies news, CEO Neil A. Schrimsher sold 21,526 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.06, for a total value of $3,122,561.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 318,218 shares in the company, valued at $46,160,703.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Neil A. Schrimsher sold 4,186 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $606,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 339,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,262,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.20% of the companys stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AIT shares. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, January 27th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Applied Industrial Technologies from $138.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Applied Industrial Technologies from $160.00 to $161.00 in a report on Friday, April 28th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Applied Industrial Technologies in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a buy rating on the stock.

Applied Industrial Technologies Profile

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Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc engages in the manufacture and distribution of industrial parts and products. It operates through the Service Center Based Distribution, and Fluid Power & Flow Control Business segments. The Service Center-Based Distribution segment provides customers with a wide range of industrial products through a network of service centers.

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Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR  Get Rating) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,934 shares of the business services providers stock after selling 1,873 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.06% of Broadridge Financial Solutions worth $10,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 0.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,043,423 shares of the business services providers stock worth $2,026,747,000 after purchasing an additional 131,997 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 0.7% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,830,478 shares of the business services providers stock worth $1,418,737,000 after acquiring an additional 64,035 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,654,571 shares of the business services providers stock worth $675,108,000 after acquiring an additional 19,303 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 86.6% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 554,807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 0.7% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,134,711 shares of the business services providers stock worth $163,760,000 after acquiring an additional 7,333 shares in the last quarter. 86.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Broadridge Financial Solutions news, VP Richard John Stingi sold 750 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.27, for a total value of $116,452.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,202 shares in the company, valued at $652,444.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP Richard John Stingi sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.27, for a total transaction of $116,452.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 4,202 shares in the company, valued at $652,444.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert Schifellite sold 15,695 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.59, for a total value of $2,394,900.05. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 50,314 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,677,413.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,870 shares of company stock worth $2,712,363 over the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Down 0.1 %

Several research firms have commented on BR. Raymond James boosted their target price on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $180.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. StockNews.com started coverage on Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating on the stock. TheStreet raised Broadridge Financial Solutions from a c+ rating to a b rating in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on Broadridge Financial Solutions in a report on Monday, April 24th. They set an outperform rating and a $169.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Broadridge Financial Solutions has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $161.40.

Broadridge Financial Solutions stock opened at $154.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $18.24 billion, a PE ratio of 33.17 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. has a one year low of $131.35 and a one year high of $183.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $143.84 and a 200 day moving average of $143.22.

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $2.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.65 billion. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a return on equity of 40.29% and a net margin of 9.33%. Broadridge Financial Solutionss revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 6.91 EPS for the current year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be given a $0.725 dividend. This represents a $2.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 14th. Broadridge Financial Solutionss payout ratio is 62.23%.

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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California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its position in Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF  Get Rating) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,102,736 shares of the mining companys stock after selling 88,183 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.21% of Cleveland-Cliffs worth $17,765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Destiny Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 218.1% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 108.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,075 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,601 shares during the last quarter. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,500 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. 65.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Activity at Cleveland-Cliffs

In related news, Director Ralph S. Michael III bought 10,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $14.96 per share, with a total value of $149,600.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 171,840 shares in the company, valued at $2,570,726.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, Director Ralph S. Michael III purchased 10,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $14.96 per share, with a total value of $149,600.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 171,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,570,726.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Celso L. Goncalves, Jr. purchased 6,500 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction on Monday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.18 per share, for a total transaction of $98,670.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 237,727 shares in the company, valued at $3,608,695.86. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 125,300 shares of company stock valued at $1,875,531. 1.43% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

CLF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $16.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, February 13th. Wolfe Research upgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report on Monday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. B. Riley dropped their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $22.11.

CLF stock opened at $14.69 on Friday. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.82 and a 1 year high of $24.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 2.15. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $17.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.43. The firm has a market cap of $7.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.32 and a beta of 2.22.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF  Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The mining company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of ($0.20) by $0.09. Cleveland-Cliffs had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 2.14%. The firm had revenue of $5.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.71 EPS. Cleveland-Cliffss revenue was down 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cleveland-Cliffs Profile

(Get Rating)

Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest flat-rolled steel company and the largest iron ore pellet producer in North America. The company is vertically integrated from mining through iron making, steelmaking, rolling, finishing and downstream with hot and cold stamping of steel parts and components. The company was formerly known as Cliffs Natural Resources Inc and changed its name to Cleveland-Cliffs Inc in August 2017.

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StockNews.com upgraded shares of Armstrong World Industries (NYSE:AWI  Get Rating) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Armstrong World Industries from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Armstrong World Industries from $77.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Credit Suisse Group reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Armstrong World Industries in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Armstrong World Industries from $97.00 to $86.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 12th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Armstrong World Industries from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $83.63.

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Armstrong World Industries Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:AWI opened at $65.46 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.64, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 1.49. Armstrong World Industries has a one year low of $64.94 and a one year high of $94.94. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $69.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.12.

Armstrong World Industries Dividend Announcement

Armstrong World Industries ( NYSE:AWI Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The construction company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $310.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $310.86 million. Armstrong World Industries had a return on equity of 41.94% and a net margin of 16.32%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.02 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Armstrong World Industries will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 issued a $0.254 dividend. This represents a $1.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 3rd. Armstrong World Industriess dividend payout ratio is 22.60%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Armstrong World Industries

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AWI. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Armstrong World Industries by 28.9% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,825 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $794,000 after buying an additional 1,980 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Armstrong World Industries by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 13,988 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $1,262,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Armstrong World Industries by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,949 shares of the construction companys stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in Armstrong World Industries by 32.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 29,164 shares of the construction companys stock worth $2,723,000 after purchasing an additional 7,064 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Armstrong World Industries during the first quarter valued at $178,000.

Armstrong World Industries Company Profile

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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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Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its stake in shares of AmerisourceBergen Co. (NYSE:ABC  Get Rating) by 34.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 48,203 shares of the companys stock after selling 24,892 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans holdings in AmerisourceBergen were worth $7,988,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ABC. United Bank raised its position in AmerisourceBergen by 16.6% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 3,632 shares of the companys stock worth $562,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in shares of AmerisourceBergen by 29.9% in the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 5,193 shares of the companys stock valued at $803,000 after buying an additional 1,194 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of AmerisourceBergen by 123.4% in the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,301 shares of the companys stock valued at $975,000 after buying an additional 3,480 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in shares of AmerisourceBergen by 22.5% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,767 shares of the companys stock valued at $430,000 after buying an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in shares of AmerisourceBergen by 12.4% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 8,124 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,257,000 after buying an additional 899 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.79% of the companys stock.

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AmerisourceBergen Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ABC opened at $170.99 on Friday. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $161.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $162.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.13. AmerisourceBergen Co. has a 12-month low of $135.14 and a 12-month high of $174.63. The firm has a market cap of $34.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.98, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.52.

AmerisourceBergen Dividend Announcement

AmerisourceBergen ( NYSE:ABC Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $3.29 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $63.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.40 billion. AmerisourceBergen had a return on equity of 809.53% and a net margin of 0.65%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.22 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that AmerisourceBergen Co. will post 11.8 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 12th will be paid a $0.485 dividend. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 11th. AmerisourceBergens dividend payout ratio is currently 24.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Gina Clark sold 1,924 shares of AmerisourceBergen stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.22, for a total value of $300,567.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,733 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,176,229.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Steven H. Collis sold 10,499 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.34, for a total transaction of $1,756,902.66. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 257,967 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $43,168,197.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gina Clark sold 1,924 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.22, for a total value of $300,567.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,733 shares in the company, valued at $4,176,229.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,421 shares of company stock valued at $5,412,110 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 20.10% of the companys stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI restated an outperform rating and issued a $185.00 price target on shares of AmerisourceBergen in a research report on Tuesday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on AmerisourceBergen from $174.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Mizuho raised their price target on AmerisourceBergen from $170.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Barclays raised their price target on AmerisourceBergen from $182.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on AmerisourceBergen in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a strong-buy rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $181.62.

AmerisourceBergen Company Profile

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AmerisourceBergen Corp. engages in the provision of pharmaceutical products and business solutions that improve access to care. It operates through the Pharmaceutical Distribution Services and Other segments. The Pharmaceutical Distribution Services segment distributes an offering of brand-name, specialty brand-name and generic pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter healthcare products, home healthcare supplies and equipment, and related services to healthcare providers, including acute care hospitals and health systems, independent and chain retail pharmacies, mail order pharmacies, medical clinics, and long-term care and alternate site pharmacies.

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Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of The Bank of New York Mellon Co. (NYSE:BK  Get Rating) by 201.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 174,476 shares of the banks stock after purchasing an additional 116,563 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans holdings in Bank of New York Mellon were worth $7,943,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BK. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of New York Mellon by 97.1% in the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 609 shares of the banks stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of New York Mellon by 38.3% in the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 747 shares of the banks stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank of New York Mellon by 238.6% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 948 shares of the banks stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc bought a new position in shares of Bank of New York Mellon in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, CI Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of New York Mellon by 1,001.1% in the 3rd quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 980 shares of the banks stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 891 shares during the last quarter. 82.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Bank of New York Mellon Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of New York Mellon stock opened at $40.15 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $44.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.91. The company has a market cap of $31.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.71, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.07. The Bank of New York Mellon Co. has a 1-year low of $36.22 and a 1-year high of $52.26.

Bank of New York Mellon Announces Dividend

Bank of New York Mellon ( NYSE:BK Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 18th. The bank reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.03. The company 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 revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Bank of New York Mellon Co. will post 4.75 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 28th were paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 27th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. Bank of New York Mellons dividend payout ratio is presently 46.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Bank of New York Mellon from $52.00 to $51.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Bank of New York Mellon from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. Barclays lowered their target price on Bank of New York Mellon from $64.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Bank of New York Mellon in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Bank of New York Mellon from $49.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of New York Mellon has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $51.61.

Bank of New York Mellon Company Profile

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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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Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (NYSE:MAA  Get Rating) by 18.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,556 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after acquiring an additional 7,811 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans holdings in Mid-America Apartment Communities were worth $7,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in Mid-America Apartment Communities by 1.2% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 50,778 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $7,874,000 after acquiring an additional 620 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,190 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 32,675 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $5,130,000 after purchasing an additional 982 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,244 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the period. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at $398,000. 91.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Melanie Carpenter sold 480 shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.21, for a total transaction of $72,100.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,669 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,503,850.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Price Performance

Mid-America Apartment Communities Increases Dividend

MAA stock opened at $153.39 on Friday. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $138.68 and a 12 month high of $190.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $149.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.74. The stock has a market cap of $17.89 billion, a PE ratio of 26.91, a P/E/G ratio of 8.31 and a beta of 0.77.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 14th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 13th. This is a boost from Mid-America Apartment Communitiess previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Mid-America Apartment Communitiess payout ratio is currently 98.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $178.00 to $159.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 27th. 92 Resources reaffirmed a maintains rating on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities from $195.00 to $182.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Mid-America Apartment Communities in a research note on Wednesday, March 29th. They set an equal weight rating and a $156.50 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $172.82.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Company Profile

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Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the operation, acquisition, and development of apartment communities. It operates through the following segments: Same Store Communities and Non-Same Store and Other. The Same Store Communities segment focuses on communities that the company has owned.

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Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of The Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW  Get Rating) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,921 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans holdings in Sherwin-Williams were worth $7,898,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Resources Management Corp CT ADV boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 4,593 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $1,090,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 544,314 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $129,182,000 after acquiring an additional 4,775 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 41,437 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $9,834,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Bancreek Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Bancreek Capital Management LP now owns 25,423 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $6,034,000 after acquiring an additional 935 shares during the period. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sherwin-Williams by 140.6% during the 4th quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 2,449 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $581,000 after acquiring an additional 1,431 shares during the period. 76.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Sherwin-Williams

In other Sherwin-Williams news, SVP Bryan J. Young sold 2,750 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.76, for a total value of $607,090.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,955 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,145.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Sherwin-Williams Price Performance

Several research firms recently issued reports on SHW. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $260.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. Barclays boosted their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $220.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Sherwin-Williams from $270.00 to $251.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Sherwin-Williams in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a buy rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sherwin-Williams has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $257.83.

Shares of SHW opened at $227.43 on Friday. The Sherwin-Williams Company has a 12-month low of $195.24 and a 12-month high of $278.31. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $224.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $232.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.03. The stock has a market cap of $58.65 billion, a PE ratio of 27.91, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.07.

Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW  Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.20. Sherwin-Williams had a return on equity of 86.29% and a net margin of 9.41%. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.61 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that The Sherwin-Williams Company will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sherwin-Williams Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 19th will be given a $0.605 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 18th. This represents a $2.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. Sherwin-Williamss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.69%.

About Sherwin-Williams

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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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Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its stake in Invitation Homes Inc. (NYSE:INVH  Get Rating) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 264,934 shares of the companys stock after selling 12,857 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans holdings in Invitation Homes were worth $7,853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Invitation Homes by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 98,213,645 shares of the companys stock worth $3,316,675,000 after buying an additional 11,059,735 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Invitation Homes by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 38,133,933 shares of the companys stock worth $1,287,783,000 after buying an additional 9,188,909 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Invitation Homes by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 58,699,529 shares of the companys stock worth $1,982,284,000 after buying an additional 9,004,231 shares in the last quarter. PGGM Investments acquired a new stake in Invitation Homes during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $147,993,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in Invitation Homes by 31.6% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 10,215,791 shares of the companys stock worth $344,987,000 after buying an additional 2,453,217 shares in the last quarter. 98.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Invitation Homes Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:INVH opened at $34.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $20.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.76, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.91. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $31.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Invitation Homes Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.52 and a fifty-two week high of $40.20.

Invitation Homes Announces Dividend

Invitation Homes ( NYSE:INVH Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.25). Invitation Homes had a net margin of 17.88% and a return on equity of 3.98%. The firm had revenue of $579.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $566.68 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Invitation Homes Inc. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 10th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 9th. Invitation Homess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 155.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on INVH. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Invitation Homes in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. They issued a sector perform rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho lowered shares of Invitation Homes from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $32.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 22nd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Invitation Homes from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Invitation Homes in a report on Tuesday, March 28th. They issued an overweight rating and a $33.50 price objective on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $34.72.

About Invitation Homes

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Invitation Homes, Inc engages in the acquisition, renovation, leasing, and operation of single-family homes as rental properties, including single-family homes in planned unit developments. Its services include property management, selection of homes, maintenance program, and online payment. The company was founded by Marcus Ridgway, Dallas Tanner, and Brad Greiwe in 2012 and is headquartered in Dallas, TX.

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Community Bancorp (OTCMKTS:CMTV  Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 200 shares, an increase of 100.0% from the April 15th total of 100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.1 days.

Community Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of OTCMKTS:CMTV opened at $18.50 on Friday. The firms 50 day moving average price is $19.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.44. Community Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $17.40 and a fifty-two week high of $23.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

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Community Bancorp operates as a bank holding company, which engages in a full line of personal and business financial services. It provides retail banking services to the residents, businesses, and municipalities in northeastern and central Vermont. It operates through the following segments: Commercial and Industrial, Purchased Loans, Commercial Real Estate, Municipal, Residential Real Estate, and Consumer.

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Nebraskans do not need healthcare bans

Nebraska legislators have no place in medical exam rooms. Nebraska senators should not be the individuals telling us what we can do with our bodies or what medical treatment we can provide to our children.

During this legislative session our senators have debated two bills that involve healthcare bans. Legislative bill 626, LB 626, was introduced to prohibit abortion after the detection of fetal cardiac activity. Legislative bill 574, LB 574, has been introduced with the intent to ban gender affirming care for minors.

Following the failure of LB 626, Senator Hansen has filed an amendment into LB 574, the bill attempting to ban minor gender-affirming care, to ban abortion at 12 weeks of pregnancy. This amendment is a last-ditch effort to restrict our rights due to their inability to accept defeat.

Nebraska senators refused to pass a 12-week abortion ban during the debate of LB 626, resulting in the failure of the bill. Senator Hansen claims that being pro-life is a gradient. Bodily autonomy should never be a gradient. Our senators should not give Nebraskans a time limit to decide what they want to do with their pregnancy. Nebraskans do not need or want abortion bans.

It is clear, following the overturn of Roe v. Wade, that abortion bans result in a reduction of healthcare access, reduction of healthcare providers willing to practice in banned areas, and unnecessary pain and suffering for pregnant people. Pregnant individuals do not need to be near death to receive essential healthcare to save their lives due to providers fearing legal implications. Abortion bans only increase the risks for pregnant individuals. Individuals that are against abortion always have the option to not receive an abortion.

We cannot watch and wait as our senators scramble to pass harmful laws that have the potential to result in the death of Nebraskans. We are the second house of Nebraska, call your senator and let them know Nebraskans do not need healthcare bans. We cannot live the Good Life if we do not have access to healthcare, say over our childrens medical care, or bodily autonomy.

Hayley Hilker

Fremont
PerkinElmer (NYSE:PKI  Get Rating) had its price target reduced by Robert W. Baird from $182.00 to $165.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, The Fly reports.

A number of other analysts have also commented on PKI. TheStreet upgraded PerkinElmer from a c+ rating to a b rating in a report on Tuesday, February 14th. StockNews.com began coverage on PerkinElmer in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on PerkinElmer from $140.00 to $125.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Credit Suisse Group reiterated a neutral rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of PerkinElmer in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $159.60.

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PerkinElmer Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE PKI opened at $116.30 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $128.73 and a 200-day moving average of $133.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.10. PerkinElmer has a 52 week low of $113.46 and a 52 week high of $170.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 2.13.

PerkinElmer Dividend Announcement

PerkinElmer ( NYSE:PKI Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 11th. The medical research company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $674.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $686.30 million. PerkinElmer had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 13.94%. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.41 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that PerkinElmer will post 5.06 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 20th. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.24%. PerkinElmers dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.11%.

Insider Transactions at PerkinElmer

In other news, insider Daniel R. Tereau sold 10,741 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.72, for a total transaction of $1,328,876.52. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,611 shares in the company, valued at $1,436,512.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other PerkinElmer news, insider Andrew Okun sold 2,435 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.51, for a total transaction of $332,401.85. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 4,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $594,637.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel R. Tereau sold 10,741 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.72, for a total value of $1,328,876.52. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,436,512.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,349 shares of company stock worth $1,953,042. Company insiders own 0.52% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PerkinElmer

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in PerkinElmer by 25.1% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 359 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund boosted its holdings in shares of PerkinElmer by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund now owns 17,934 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $2,515,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PerkinElmer by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,281 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of PerkinElmer by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 1,582 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of PerkinElmer by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 7,334 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $1,043,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.22% of the companys stock.

PerkinElmer Company Profile

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PerkinElmer, Inc engages in the provision of products, services, and solutions for diagnostics, food, environmental, life sciences, and applied markets. It operates through the following segments: Discovery & Analytical Solutions and Diagnostics. The Discovery & Analytical Solutions segment consists of technologies that help life sciences researchers better understand diseases and develop treatments.

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Capital Analysts LLC lifted its position in Ford Motor (NYSE:F  Get Rating) by 42.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,486 shares of the auto manufacturers stock after purchasing an additional 1,342 shares during the quarter. Capital Analysts LLCs holdings in Ford Motor were worth $52,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Ford Motor by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 20,119,177 shares of the auto manufacturers stock worth $233,986,000 after purchasing an additional 381,565 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ford Motor by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 63,770 shares of the auto manufacturers stock worth $742,000 after purchasing an additional 11,904 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its holdings in Ford Motor by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 75,661 shares of the auto manufacturers stock worth $880,000 after acquiring an additional 6,592 shares during the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ford Motor by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 122,709 shares of the auto manufacturers stock worth $1,427,000 after acquiring an additional 23,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Decade Renewable Partners LP bought a new stake in Ford Motor during the 4th quarter worth about $2,911,000. Institutional investors own 49.68% of the companys stock.

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Insider Transactions at Ford Motor

In other news, insider Ashwani Kumar Galhotra sold 24,850 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.01, for a total transaction of $323,298.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 511,605 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,655,981.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO John T. Lawler sold 29,821 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.07, for a total value of $389,760.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 443,683 shares of the companys stock, valued at $5,798,936.81. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ashwani Kumar Galhotra sold 24,850 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.01, for a total transaction of $323,298.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 511,605 shares of the companys stock, valued at $6,655,981.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,592 shares of company stock valued at $1,740,843 in the last ninety days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ford Motor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:F opened at $11.67 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.54. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $12.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Ford Motor has a fifty-two week low of $10.61 and a fifty-two week high of $16.68.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F  Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The auto manufacturer reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $39.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.42 billion. Ford Motor had a net margin of 1.75% and a return on equity of 19.99%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ford Motor will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Ford Motor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 25th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.14%. Ford Motors dividend payout ratio is currently 84.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on F shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Ford Motor from a hold rating to a sell rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $13.00 to $11.00 in a report on Friday, February 3rd. TheStreet raised shares of Ford Motor from a c+ rating to a b rating in a report on Tuesday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Ford Motor from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Ford Motor from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Ford Motor in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $15.16.

About Ford Motor

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Ford Motor Co engages in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of automobiles. It operates through the following segments: Ford Blue, Ford Model E, and Ford Pro, Ford Next, and Ford Credit. The Ford Blue, Ford Model E, and Ford Pro segment includes the sale of Ford and Lincoln vehicles, service parts, and accessories, together with the associated costs to develop, manufacture, distribute, and service the vehicles, parts, and accessories.

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LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AMN  Get Rating) by 228.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 112,170 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 78,070 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management owned approximately 0.26% of AMN Healthcare Services worth $11,533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its stake in AMN Healthcare Services by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 17,100 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,758,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of AMN Healthcare Services by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 78,055 shares of the companys stock valued at $8,025,000 after buying an additional 1,444 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AMN Healthcare Services by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,585 shares of the companys stock valued at $163,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of AMN Healthcare Services by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 104,317 shares of the companys stock valued at $10,726,000 after buying an additional 1,575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of AMN Healthcare Services by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 4,101 shares of the companys stock valued at $422,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.94% of the companys stock.

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AMN Healthcare Services Price Performance

NYSE:AMN opened at $93.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.27. AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. has a one year low of $81.15 and a one year high of $129.04. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $86.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.16. The stock has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.68, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at AMN Healthcare Services

AMN Healthcare Services ( NYSE:AMN Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The company reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.13. AMN Healthcare Services had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 45.31%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.49 EPS. The businesss revenue was down 27.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. will post 8.11 earnings per share for the current year.

In other AMN Healthcare Services news, insider Denise L. Jackson sold 4,515 shares of the stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.26, for a total value of $493,308.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,002 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,639,118.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Denise L. Jackson sold 4,515 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.26, for a total value of $493,308.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,002 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,639,118.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark G. Foletta sold 1,458 shares of AMN Healthcare Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total value of $129,441.24. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,073 shares in the company, valued at $716,720.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,015 shares of company stock valued at $1,132,393 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.80% of the companys stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AMN. Benchmark reiterated a buy rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of AMN Healthcare Services in a report on Monday, February 13th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on AMN Healthcare Services in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of AMN Healthcare Services from $111.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Credit Suisse Group lowered their target price on shares of AMN Healthcare Services from $128.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of AMN Healthcare Services from $140.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $113.20.

AMN Healthcare Services Profile

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AMN Healthcare Services, Inc provides healthcare workforce solutions and staffing services to healthcare facilities across the nation. Its workforce solutions include managed services programs and recruitment process outsourcing. It operates through the following segments: Nurse and Allied Solutions, Physician and Leadership Solutions, and Technology and Workforce Solutions.

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Raymond James & Associates decreased its holdings in CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP  Get Rating) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,029,440 shares of the utilities providers stock after selling 28,070 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates holdings in CenterPoint Energy were worth $30,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in CenterPoint Energy by 68.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,638,179 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $234,036,000 after buying an additional 3,096,455 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,279,592 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $1,019,687,000 after purchasing an additional 3,035,409 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,506,201 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $2,252,230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,900 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management SA raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 9,068,600 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $255,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461,593 shares during the period. Finally, Scout Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 1,726.7% during the 4th quarter. Scout Investments Inc. now owns 1,289,676 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $38,677,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219,073 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.28% of the companys stock.

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CenterPoint Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNP opened at $30.05 on Friday. CenterPoint Energy, Inc. has a one year low of $25.03 and a one year high of $33.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $29.63 and a 200-day moving average of $29.68. The company has a market capitalization of $18.96 billion, a PE ratio of 23.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.00.

CenterPoint Energy Announces Dividend

CenterPoint Energy ( NYSE:CNP Get Rating ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. CenterPoint Energy had a return on equity of 9.97% and a net margin of 8.99%. The company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CenterPoint Energy, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 18th will be issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 17th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. CenterPoint Energys payout ratio is currently 60.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Guggenheim cut CenterPoint Energy from a buy rating to a neutral rating and increased their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $33.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Monday, March 6th. StockNews.com raised CenterPoint Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, April 20th. Bank of America increased their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $32.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Barry T. Smitherman sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.51, for a total value of $152,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 21,075 shares in the company, valued at $642,998.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Barry T. Smitherman sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.51, for a total transaction of $152,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,075 shares in the company, valued at $642,998.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ted Pound sold 2,770 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.50, for a total value of $84,485.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 46,541 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,419,500.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the companys stock.

About CenterPoint Energy

(Get Rating)

CenterPoint Energy, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the business of power generation and distribution. It operates through the following segments: CenterPoint Energy, Houston Electric, and CERC. The CenterPoint Energy segment consists of electric transmission and distribution services in the Texas gulf coast area in the ERCOT region and electric transmission and distribution services primarily to southwestern Indiana and includes power generation and wholesale power operations in the MISO region.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CNP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP  Get Rating).

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Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Rio Tinto Group (NYSE:RIO  Get Rating) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 427,115 shares of the mining companys stock after buying an additional 32,061 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates holdings in Rio Tinto Group were worth $30,410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in RIO. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Rio Tinto Group by 58.9% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,899,694 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $1,037,135,000 after purchasing an additional 4,783,488 shares in the last quarter. Cowa LLC acquired a new position in Rio Tinto Group during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Pendal Group Ltd acquired a new position in Rio Tinto Group during the 4th quarter worth about $183,849,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Rio Tinto Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $81,527,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Rio Tinto Group by 26.9% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,475,787 shares of the mining companys stock worth $440,253,000 after buying an additional 1,161,737 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 10.43% of the companys stock.

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Rio Tinto Group Price Performance

NYSE RIO opened at $61.74 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.65. Rio Tinto Group has a 52-week low of $50.92 and a 52-week high of $80.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Rio Tinto Group Cuts Dividend

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 9th. This represents a yield of 9.8%.

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas cut Rio Tinto Group from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report on Monday, February 13th. CLSA raised Rio Tinto Group from an underperform rating to an outperform rating in a report on Monday, March 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Rio Tinto Group from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report on Friday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Rio Tinto Group from GBX 5,750 ($72.56) to GBX 5,790 ($73.06) in a report on Monday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Rio Tinto Group from GBX 5,310 ($67.00) to GBX 5,380 ($67.89) in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Rio Tinto Group has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $5,790.00.

Rio Tinto Group Profile

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Rio Tinto Plc engages in the exploration, mining, and processing of mineral resources. It operates through the following business segments: Iron Ore, Aluminium, Copper and Diamonds, Energy and Minerals, and Other Operations. The Iron Ore segment supplies global seaborne iron ore trade. The Aluminium segment produces bauxite, alumina and primary aluminum.

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Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF (BATS:EFG  Get Rating) by 23.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 344,693 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 64,928 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates holdings in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF were worth $28,872,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFG. Concord Wealth Partners acquired a new stake in iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new position in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 201.6% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 573 shares of the companys stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the period. Finally, Tsfg LLC acquired a new position in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF during the 4th quarter valued at $54,000.

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iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF Stock Performance

Shares of EFG stock opened at $95.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.80 billion, a PE ratio of 18.69 and a beta of 0.87. The businesss fifty day moving average is $93.01 and its 200-day moving average is $88.71. iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF has a 1 year low of $67.58 and a 1 year high of $85.81.

iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF Company Profile

iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares MSCI EAFE Growth Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the MSCI EAFE Growth Index (the Index). The Index is a subset of the MSCI EAFE Index and constituents of the Index include securities from Europe, Australasia (Australia and Asia), and the Far East.

Further Reading

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Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI  Get Rating) by 9.5% 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 63,436 shares of the construction companys stock after selling 6,623 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. owned about 0.09% of United Rentals worth $22,546,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 2.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,179,328 shares of the construction companys stock worth $2,905,379,000 after acquiring an additional 186,931 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of United Rentals by 0.8% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,631,282 shares of the construction companys stock worth $1,521,122,000 after acquiring an additional 41,952 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in United Rentals by 27.0% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,168,327 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $317,729,000 after buying an additional 248,072 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in United Rentals by 2.9% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,162,951 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $314,151,000 after buying an additional 32,283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC raised its holdings in United Rentals by 0.3% during the third quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 909,639 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $245,712,000 after buying an additional 2,829 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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United Rentals Stock Down 0.7 %

URI stock opened at $331.66 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $379.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $381.58. The company has a market cap of $22.79 billion, a PE ratio of 10.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.81. United Rentals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.54 and a twelve month high of $481.99.

United Rentals Dividend Announcement

United Rentals ( NYSE:URI Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 26th. The construction company reported $7.95 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $8.12 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.17 billion. United Rentals had a net margin of 17.65% and a return on equity of 36.77%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.73 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that United Rentals, Inc. will post 39.96 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 10th will be paid a $1.48 dividend. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 9th. United Rentalss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Matthew John Flannery sold 12,000 shares of United Rentals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.99, for a total value of $5,735,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 101,276 shares in the company, valued at $48,408,915.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Matthew John Flannery sold 12,000 shares of United Rentals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.99, for a total value of $5,735,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 101,276 shares in the company, valued at $48,408,915.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO William E. Grace sold 725 shares of United Rentals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $359.63, for a total transaction of $260,731.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,520 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,344,787.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

URI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus raised their target price on United Rentals from $360.00 to $475.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 31st. Citigroup lowered their price target on United Rentals from $500.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 18th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on United Rentals from $515.00 to $475.00 in a research report on Friday, April 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on United Rentals from $399.00 to $406.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on United Rentals from $505.00 to $498.00 in a research report on Friday, April 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $421.08.

United Rentals Profile

(Get Rating)

United Rentals, Inc engages in the equipment rental business. It operates through the General Rentals and Specialty segments. The General Rentals segment includes the rental of construction, aerial and industrial equipment, general tools and light equipment, and related services and activities. The Specialty segment focuses on the rental of specialty construction products such as trench safety equipment, power and HVAC equipment, fluid solutions equipment, mobile storage equipment and modular office space.

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Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM  Get Rating) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,446 shares of the business services providers stock after purchasing an additional 3,064 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADVs holdings in Waste Management were worth $7,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waste Management by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 36,984,227 shares of the business services providers stock worth $5,925,244,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016,798 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 194.9% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,217,592 shares of the business services providers stock worth $192,988,000 after acquiring an additional 804,708 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waste Management by 3,120.2% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 600,443 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $96,197,000 after acquiring an additional 581,797 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in shares of Waste Management by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,605,293 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $417,394,000 after purchasing an additional 461,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. grew its position in Waste Management by 67.5% during the 3rd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 966,026 shares of the business services providers stock worth $154,772,000 after purchasing an additional 389,400 shares during the last quarter. 78.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Activity at Waste Management

In other news, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 200 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $31,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 64,317 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,969,135. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Tara J. Hemmer sold 7,515 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $1,164,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 46,542 shares in the company, valued at $7,214,010. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Devina A. Rankin sold 200 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $31,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 64,317 shares in the company, valued at $9,969,135. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 30,743 shares of company stock valued at $4,762,320. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the companys stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Waste Management Trading Down 0.6 %

Several research firms have recently commented on WM. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $158.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Waste Management from $157.00 to $151.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Waste Management from $179.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. 51job reissued a maintains rating on shares of Waste Management in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $167.00 to $166.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $175.67.

WM stock opened at $169.24 on Friday. The businesss 50-day moving average is $161.03 and its 200 day moving average is $158.63. Waste Management, Inc. has a 12-month low of $138.89 and a 12-month high of $175.98. The stock has a market cap of $68.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.00, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 26th. The business services provider reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.86 billion. Waste Management had a return on equity of 33.23% and a net margin of 11.33%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waste Management, Inc. will post 6.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waste Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 1st. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. Waste Managements payout ratio is presently 51.28%.

Waste Management Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Waste Management, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of waste management environmental services. It operates through the following segments: East Tier, West Tier, and Other. The East Tier segment consists of Eastern U.S., the Great Lakes Region, and Canada. The West Tier segment includes the upper Midwest region and British Columbia, Canada.

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In May we celebrate Renewable Fuels Month and highlight the importance of biofuels. Nebraska farmers and ranchers fuel the world through the production of biofuels like ethanol. Our state is the second largest producer of ethanol, representing 2.3 billion gallons per year. Nebraskas 24 ethanol plants boost our states economy by $5.7 billion per year. E15, gasoline with ethanol blends of 10.5%-15%, is a win for Nebraska and a win for our country. It saves drivers money, is good for the environment, and creates jobs here in America.

First, especially as high costs of living continue to cost Nebraska families, ethanol saves consumers money at the pump. One study showed consumers have been able to save up to 30 cents a gallon during the summer months, leading to total savings of $84 million in gasoline costs. These savings will only increase as more stations offer higher blends like E15 through the summer months.

Second, ethanol helps clean our environment. According to the USDA, ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 52% compared to gasoline. E15 reduces emissions of particulate matter by 18%, carbon monoxide by 17%, and NOx by 3% compared to E10. The use of ethanol blended fuels led to a reduction of nearly 1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gas emissions between 2008 and 2020.

Third, ethanol creates jobs here in America and promotes our energy security. In addition to the 1,400 jobs directly created by Nebraskas 24 ethanol plants, ethanol production generates demand for locally grown corn and increases the price farmers are paid for their harvest. Forty-six percent of corn grown in Nebraska is used to make ethanol, and one study estimated that farmers in the immediate vicinity of ethanol facilities received about 21.3 cents more per bushel for their corn.

Ethanol also promotes our domestic energy security. The use of ethanol reduced crude oil imports by over 600 million barrels in 2022. Without biofuels, America would be more heavily reliant on foreign energy sources. Theres no reason why the United States should be reliant on authoritarian regimes like Iran, Russia, and Venezuela for fuel when we have home-grown solutions in our own Heartland.

Despite all these benefits, regulatory uncertainty has prevented the year-round sale of E15 from becoming permanent. Thankfully, the EPA recently announced an emergency waiver that will allow for the nationwide sale of E15 during the 2023 summer driving season. They also approved a request I made with other Midwestern governors last year to allow for the sale of E15 in several states during the summer of 2024. These recent announcements are good news, but our producers deserve a more permanent solution than bureaucratic waivers. Thats why I proudly co-sponsored Senator Deb Fischers Consumer Fuel Retailer Choice Act. This bipartisan, bicameral bill would eliminate the need for waivers by allowing year-round, nationwide sale of higher ethanol blends like E15.

E15 is a win for everyone. Thats why it enjoys bipartisan support. It is exactly the kind of proven Nebraska solution that is ready for America. The Senate needs to pass Senator Fischers bill and unleash nationwide, year-round E15 for good.

Along with Senator Fischer and the rest of my colleagues in the Nebraska delegation, my team and I are here to serve you. Contact my team and I anytime by phone at 202-224-4224, on my website www.ricketts.senate.gov, or via email contactricke@ricketts.senate.gov. I am honored to serve our great state and will continue to work to protect the Good Life from Washington overreach.
Brenda Kohl has been in nursing for the past 15 years.

I have worked in different fields: Nursing home, Pediatrics and now Home Health, the Nye Home Health nurse said.

QUESTION: Tell us about your immediate family:

KOHL: I have been married to Luke for 21 years!! I have a 20-year-old daughter Makayla who lives in Fremont, a 9-year-old Olivia and Noah who is four. I have two dogs, Bella and Clyde. We have lived in North Bend for almost 19 years. Our children attend Trinity Daycare/Preschool as well as Bergan Elementary. I have volunteered the past four years for the Bergan Plant Sale.

QUESTION: When, why did you decide to become a nurse?

KOHL: I went to school when my oldest was 2 years old. I wanted to work where I loved doing what I was doing while helping others.

QUESTION: What do you like best about nursing and find most rewarding about it?

KOHL: I love helping others. The most rewarding part of my job is watching people grow and be successful no matter how big or small the goal may be. I have made new friendships with people that have the same goals and mind sets as myself....helping and serving others!

QUESTION: Funniest, saddest, most unusual experience in nursing?

KOHL: I love to make work environment fun!! I will never forget the time that I called out the vaccine that I was giving instead of the patients name or the time that I called out the reason the patient was being seen for instead of the patients name(and my past co-workers will not let me forget these moments either) Boy were those the times of non stop laughing. I have also been around some not so good times for families. Death of family members, sadness of hearing your child has cancer are never what a person wants to hear or experience. Both experiences...laughing and crying have not only helped me grow as a person but a nurse as well. A person should never take things for granted and laughing is always good for the soul.

QUESTION: If you hadnt become a nurse, what profession might you have entered? And why?

KOHL: I initially started out with the thought that I was going to be an accountant. I love working with numbers!

QUESTION: Why are you glad you chose nursing?

KOHL: I wanted to be a nurse to help others! I worked in the nursing home as my first job when graduating from college. I learned a lot from the older population and how to experience life and not take things for granted. Slow down and experience the moment. I then went to work with pediatrics which I loved watching the different stages that children go through along with their families. Birth to teens through college....off getting married. I have realized that some families have hard life struggles and some children experience things they shouldnt have to see in their young life. Being part of every stage of a persons life...birth to death. has allowed me to grow as a person professionally as well as a wife and mother. Life experiences help us grow and watch out for others! It takes all members of the community to make this world a better place to work and raise our families.

QUESTION: Future plans?

KOHL: My future plans are to experience life with my family. Live in the moment...take time to talk to your neighbors, make memories with your children and love one another!! You never know how your kind words can brighten someones days. It is the little things in life that make the world a more enjoyable place to be in. No matter how tough of a situation that you are facing NEVER be afraid to reach out! Laugh, cry, volunteer, reach out to help others. You just never know how much it means to a person that may be looking for some answers...or help. As nurses we tend to listen to others and sometimes that is all our patients want us to do.
NEW YORK (AP)  From just the right book to just the right wheels, there are lots of ways to please all the mothers in your life when their special holiday rolls around.

Some ideas:

TECHNOLOGY

Give the gift of a heartbeat. Bond Heart is a smart necklace in the shape of a heart that allows the wearer to record heart beats and play them back in pulses felt when the bauble is grasped. From a company called Bond Touch, the $99 necklace pairs with iOS and Android phones via Bluetooth. Instructions on how to record heartbeats using the pulse from a finger are included. An app stores multiple heartbeats for playback in the heart.

Reach for a digital camera. Theres one thats great for beginners if mom isnt a pro but would like to be pro-like. Its the Canon EOS R50 Mirrorless Camera for $799.99. Its light, compact, and reviewers rave about how easy it is to use. Comes in black or white. Turn it on and begin. The A+ mode does the rest.

Have at it on pricier options. But in the under $1,000 range, The Strategists Steven John recommends the Sony Alpha A6000 Mirrorless Digital Camera for its versatility and superfast autofocus abilities, among other things.

BOOKS

The Art of Feminism. This collection of art, illustration, photography and graphic design spans the feminist aesthetic over two centuries. The original book, out in 2018, has been revised to add 60 pages of material. It's an in-depth examination of the subject, from the suffragists and Judy Chicago to Zanele Muholi and Andrea Bowers. Chronicle Books. $45. Consultant editor Helena Reckitt. Written by Lucinda Gosling, Hilary Robinson and Amy Tobin.

Head of Household: A Journal for Single Moms. Beth Raymer, a single mom, has put together words of inspiration from famous single mothers, prompts aimed at reflection, and ways to help their lives go easier. What are the top five things you wish people understood or acknowledged about your single-mom experience? she asks. Some estimates put the number of children in the U.S. being raised by single mothers at 15 million. Princeton Architecture Press. $24.95.

How about a burn book? Emily Rose, host of the podcast It's Become a Whole Thing, has put together The Stuff I Hate Journal. Among the prompts: What's the most condescending remark you've ever received? Who's the person in your life who always has to outdo everyone else? Think of the worst neighbors you've ever had and write the note you'd love to leave on their doorstep. Might be just the thing to help mom take the edge off. Adams Media. $15.99.

SUPPORT ADOPTION

The nonprofit Helpusadopt.org sells beaded bracelets with a gold leaf charm symbolizing the family tree. It gives 100% of its proceeds to its grant program that helps families struggling with the cost of adoption. The bracelets come in a variety of colors and materials, including marble and glass. They're also accentuated by gold beads with the group's Help Us Adopt signature. Available at Helpusadopt.org. Prices range from $50 for a single bracelet to $175 for a stack.

The nonprofit Jockey Being Family Foundation, which funds post-adoption support, benefits from the sale of a plush bear, because why shouldn't mom have her own stuffed animal? Jockey sets aside $5 per bear for the foundation's work. There are two bear versions dubbed Sam and Donna. They cost $10 each at Jockey.com.

FOR MOMS WHO ROLL

The folks at Oprah Daily put this bike on the O list for Mother's Day: The Electra Loft 7D. And it's a beaut. At $549.99, it comes in cream and seafoam green. It's lightweight, European style and has seven speeds. Considered a commuter bike, it has an aluminum frame and painted fenders. Tires are slightly wider than traditional road tires. Available at REI.

Consider a new suitcase, either carry-on size or larger. There's a huge selection out there so track down a sale.

Perhaps a balance ball would serve if your gift recipient is still working from home. There's one that comes with a traditional chair, including arms. $237.99. For new moms, a ball could double as a new baby activity.

MISCELLANEOUS GOODNESS

Walking poles are abundant. Jetti Poles go a step further. They're walking poles that add an extra pound each for fuller-body intensity on a stroll or hike. The poles come with rubber soles made of the same material as car tires to help navigate a range of terrains. From Jetti Fitness, the poles come in lengths of petite (5 feet to 5 foot, 3 inches) to extra tall (5 feet, 11 inches to 6 feet, 2 inches). They come in blue, pink and yellow. A carry bag is included.

Don't forget about Pickleball. ProXR has on offer a paddle from Beth Bellamy. The special-edition paddle comes in a white design with a premium fiberglass face for extra pop. A cover is included. Bellamy is ranked No. 1 in senior world pro women's singles. $179.99.

Got a crafter? Solve her storage crisis with the Dreambox. The rolling storage closet is full of adjustable shelving, rods, hooks and boxes. And, to reiterate, it's on wheels so can be stashed when not unfurled. There's lighting built in, along with an adjustable table, with options to add two additional side tables. Comes in two designs in white. Lots of other add-ons are available, like a white magnetic board that can be used to stick metal cutting dies onto. Making dreams come true sometimes doesn't come cheap. The base cost is around $2,500.

Follow Leanne Italie on Twitter at http://twitter.com/litalie
At least 13 people were killed and more than 90 injured in Pakistan and Afghanistan after a magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck late on Tuesday, government officials said.

At least nine people were killed and 44 injured in northwest Pakistan, a Pakistani government official said, and hospitals in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province were put into a state of emergency overnight.

At least four people were killed and 50 injured in Afghanistan, a health ministry official there said.

Houses and buildings in both countries were also damaged, authorities said.

The quake was felt over an area more than 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) wide by some 285 million people in Pakistan, India, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre said.

The epicentre was in the Hindu Kush mountains, in the sparsely populated northeastern Afghan province of Badakhshan, 40km southeast of Jurm village, at the considerable depth of 187km, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

In Pakistans Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province senior provincial official Abdul Basit said that addition to the dead and injured, at least 19 houses were damaged.

Shafiullah Rahimi, a spokesperson for Afghanistans disaster mitigation ministry, said late on Tuesday that two people had been killed in the eastern province of Laghman.

Large parts of South Asia are seismically active because a tectonic plate known as the Indian plate is pushing north into the Eurasian plate.

A 6.1 magnitude earthquake in eastern Afghanistan killed more than 1,000 people last year.

In 2005, at least 73,000 people were killed by a 7.6 magnitude quake that struck northern Pakistan.

SOURCE: REUTERS
Two buses with male migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. arrived in Newburgh from New York City on May 11  the first arrivals in a plan devised by New York City Mayor Eric Adams to temporarily relocate hundreds of migrants upstate to relieve stress on the citys social services.

Originally, the program planned to send 400 migrants to two hotels in Orange and Rockland counties. But the situation quickly turned political. Officials in both counties declared states of emergency, claiming they couldnt accept the migrants and that Adams, a Democrat, hadnt adequately communicated his plans. Meanwhile, the mayors office and immigrant support groups have criticized the Republican upstate officials for a lack of compassion amid a growing humanitarian crisis.

Some of the arguing between those who want to welcome the migrants and those who want to keep them out has been has been fueled by uncertainty and, to some degree, misinformation.

Rumors have swirled online  fed in part by elected officials  that the asylum-seekers identities and backgrounds are unknown and that infrastructure in these locales  housing, schools, social services  cant support them in the short or long term.

Here, we will attempt to demystify some of what has happened over the past week and continue to post updates as we learn more about this developing situation.

How asylum works in the U.S.

Federal law prevents border officials from turning away immigrants fleeing persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a certain social group or political opinion. This legal right to seek asylum in the U.S. rests with the Refugee Act of 1980.

During the national COVID-19 public health emergency, people seeking asylum could legally be turned away at the border without a hearing. That was because former President Donald Trump invoked a public health services law, Title 42, to try to stop the spread of COVID-19. That rule expired Thursday at midnight.

Ongoing and developing conflict worldwide has led to more than 100 million people being forcibly displaced, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The agency tried to put that into perspective in a global trends report, noting that 1 in every 78 people on the planet has been forced to flee their home.

International protection for refugees, enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Refugee Convention of 1951, dates to the end of World War II, when many nations swore to never again shut out people needing sanctuary following the tragedies of the Holocaust.

Immigrants can begin the process of seeking asylum in the U.S. by coming to the border and asking to be screened by federal officials at a port of entry, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Migrants can also enter the U.S. illegally and declare their fear of persecution if they are apprehended. Many people  including all lone children and most families  are released into the U.S. pending the resolution of their asylum case, which can take years. This catch and release protocol was suspended during Title 42.

A new rule instituted by the Biden administration at the expiration of Title 42 requires migrants first to apply for asylum in the country they travel through on their way to the U.S. The rule is an attempt to limit the number of people seeking asylum within American borders. Federal officials are also working with the United Nations and other countries to open processing centers in Colombia and Guatemala for migrants to apply for asylum without having to trek to the border.

In January, the Biden administration also launched an app, CBP One, that migrants can use to make an appointment with border officials at a port of entry. But the app has been glitchy, and demand for appointments far outweighs available slots.

Regardless of how one enters, everyone who seeks asylum must undergo criminal background and security checks. They then have the complex task of interacting with multiple government agencies to prove they have a well-founded fear of persecution.

People who are denied asylum may appeal the decision, but those who lose their case and those who are going through the appeals process are deported.

Is this relocation similar to what Texas and Florida did?

No. Adams temporary relocation program is much different than the nearly forced relocations of migrants driven by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who misled migrants about where they were going.

The asylum-seekers in Adams program are voluntary participants, even after they arrive at their destination in the Hudson Valley. One man who arrived in Newburgh wasnt sure if he wanted to stay and was told he could return to the city if he wanted to, according to Ignacio Acevedo, Hudson Valley organizer for the New York Civil Liberties Union.

New York City is paying for the asylum-seekers hotel stays for up to four months and providing staff prepared to meet their needs that include food, clothing, medical care, assistance with asylum applications and getting work permits. The city has also arranged for a shuttle to come by three times a day to transport migrants wherever they needed to go, according to Rene Mejia, a For the Many organizer who spoke to program facilitators at the hotel in Newburgh.

What will happen in the long term?

Some local lawmakers and residents have expressed a wide array of concerns about what will happen to the migrants in the long term. Where will they live? What jobs will they have? If the program expands, how many people will participate and move here?

The answers to some of these questions are unknown.

The current plan would allow the 60 migrants in Newburgh to stay at the Crossroads Hotel for up to four months, with all costs paid for by New York City. (Migrants have not yet been sent to Rockland County after a judge there issued a temporary restraining order.) What happens after those four months are up is unclear.

Rabbi Doug Kohn, who leads the Greater Newburgh Interfaith Council, said members of the council have met to discuss ways they could help support the asylum-seekers, including providing food, clothing and financial assistance. Theyve even considered asking their congregations to chip in to buy a facility that could be renovated to temporarily shelter people and mitigate the housing issue, Kohn said.

There has been no confirmed effort to send more migrants upstate, though Adams initial announcement about the program said it had the potential to expand. Since then, the plan has become mired in competing local and federal lawsuits filed by the towns, the counties and the New York Civil Liberties Union.

As far as jobs go, the Hudson Valley has them. Experts have said that immigration could be one solution to the regions lack of available workforce, according to a newly released report by Pattern for Progress. The report found that regional population loss due to declining birth rates and outward migration caused by housing affordability has led to a decline in workers.

Forget the politics for a moment, and just think of our demographics like a mathematical problem, the report states. Our region needs people. There are lots of hardworking people who want a place to live in our country. A rational immigration policy at the federal level could help regions like the Hudson Valley, whose significant labor shortages could be allayed by the next wave of new Americans.

The legal situation

The situation is fluid, developing with each public statement made by officials  and hampered by several lawsuits and executive declarations.

Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus and Rockland County Executive Ed Day have both declared states of emergency in an attempt to thwart the plan. Those declarations were challenged in a lawsuit filed by the NYCLU on May 11.

No migrants have yet been sent to Rockland County because a Supreme Court judge there issued a temporary restraining order on May 9 at the request of Orangetown Supervisor Teresa Kenny. She argued that the land-use permit and certificate of occupancy for the hotel set to receive migrants do not allow it to house people for up to four months.

On May 12, Orange County also filed two lawsuits against New York City, and the town of Newburgh filed a third seeking to have the state Supreme Court disallow New York City from housing migrants in local hotels. Newburghs lawsuit also seeks a temporary restraining order to hold off on the housing of the migrants while the county seeks a permanent prohibition.

On May 10, Gov. Kathy Hochul also declared a state of emergency for New York, though for different reasons than the county executives. Her order allows state and local officials to more quickly distribute funds from the $1 billion provided in the state budget to address the challenge.

On May 12, Hochul told reporters she had sent a letter to President Biden requesting emergency disaster aid from the federal government and permission to use additional sites to house migrants. Options she named included Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn and military sites across the Northeast.

How you can help

Local advocates are accepting donations to help support newly arrived migrants in Newburgh.

They are looking for mens clothing and underwear  specifically boxers, toiletries and hygiene products. There is an urgent need for mens shoes in larger-than-average sizes.

In the city of Newburgh, contact Kevindaryan Lujan at 845-281-4838 or Jules Ridgeway at 814-581-255 for more information about a drop-off location. In the town of Newburgh, contact Vanessa Tirado at 914-213-9370 or Terri Blancato at 845-649-5149.

This article will be updated as new information emerges.
Thinkstock Images/Getty Images

CATSKILL  Federal authorities say a murder suspect wanted in Scranton, Pa. was found in Catskill after investigators determined he was hiding in the region.

Travis Lanzo is accused of killing David Deshler in Scranton on March 12. He was wanted in Scranton on charges of criminal homicide, criminal conspiracy to commit criminal homicide, aggravated assault, and a firearms violation.
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WATERVLIET  Behind the walls and fences of the Watervliet Arsenal stand eight historic houses that were homes for officers and non-commissioned officers and that helped give the cannon factory its status as a National Historic Landmark.

The oldest residence, a two-story Greek Revival building, served as the commanders quarters from 1842 until it was last used in July 2018 and mothballed as the U.S. Army moved to stop providing on-base housing at the arsenal.

The fate of the commanders quarters, the seven other residences and three garages may be demolition, wiping out some of the most historically significant structures at the 112.5-acre arsenal thats helped arm the nation's military since the War of 1812 with equipment and cannons and in the city that hosts the base.

Both the National Park Service and the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation have been seeking ways to protect the arsenals historic character. The commanders quarters is considered key to the arsenals historic significance while the seven other residences are identified as contributing factors.

When asked why the Army wants to remove the houses and garages, the Watervliet Arsenal issued a statement that said that the deputy secretary of the Army on July 17, 2019 directed Watervliet to divest itself of family housing because the conditions of housing no longer meet the Armys commitment to providing quality housing to our Soldiers and their Families and is not economically sustainable.

Most options under consideration call for demolition. The Army is taking public comment on the fate of the housing until May 21.

We currently dont have an opinion on any of the different plans because we are waiting for the public comment period to end. Once the public comment period has ended, we will review all the plans and determine next steps, the Watervliet Arsenal said in a statement.

The Army report on the situation states, Due to the presence of excess administrative space at (Watervliet Arsenal) and the lack of funding to successfully maintain the historic buildings in a mothballed state, demolition of all historic housing is the preferred alternative; however, given the significance of the property, the Army will continue to consider alternatives 6,7, and 8 as they meet the directive and minimize the adverse effects to the NHL.

Alternative 6 is to keep only the commanders quarters and raze the rest. Alternative 7 is to keep the commanders quarters and an officers house built in 1849. Alternative 8 is complete demolition of all eight historic residences.

National Park Service and State Parks are involved due to the arsenal being listed as a National Historic Landmark.

New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservations role is to make recommendations to the U.S. Army to avoid or mitigate the impact of the potential demolition of historic housing quarters at the Watervliet Arsenal, a National Historic Landmark, and our review is ongoing, said Dan Keefe, a spokesman for State Parks.

We have been working with the Army on alternatives. Our goal is to preserve the nations history, said John Harlan Warren, communication specialist for the National Park Service Region 1, North AtlanticAppalachian, based in Philadelphia.

Mayor Charles Patricelli said he would like to see the residences preserved. I would love to see it kept, absolutely. It certainly will be a loss, Patricelli said.

The arsenal has manufactured various military equipment, until in the late 19th century it became the center of the Armys cannon manufacturing.

The National Park Service recommended in January that the Army either sell the residences or lease them to tenants. This would involve taking the land and placing it outside the arsenal property. The Army, however, wants to hold on to the property.

The U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command to which the arsenal reports, said in its study, that expansion is part of the discussion of the arsenals needs. The report continues, Currently, plans for expansion are only conceptual and are not the purpose of this undertaking.

Anyone interested in submitting comments on the Watervliet Arsenal, Watervliet Housing Analysis of Alternatives may email them to usarmy.watervliet.tacom.list.wvapublicaffairs@army.mil or send them by mail to Watervliet Arsenal Public Affairs Office, 1 Buffington Street, Watervliet, NY 12189. Comments must be submitted or postmarked on or before May 21, 2023.

All comments submitted will be reviewed and addressed before a final Analysis of Alternatives is issued.
CASTLETON  Wren Panzella rendered action and sound into paintings. Her vivid canvases, often of jazz or baseball scenes and instantly identifiable as Panzella works, graced the walls of Capital Region galleries, restaurants and friends homes for more than three decades, reaching to the Smithsonian in Washington, galleries in New Orleans and internationally, and the personal collection of at least one celebrity.

Panzella died suddenly May 8 at her home, according to friends. She was 69 and semi-retired after a career as an artist and collections manager at the University at Albany art museum.

Upon seeing her work for the first time, People always said, The painting is moving. Its coming off the canvas, said John Froebel-Parker, who ran a gallery under different names on Lark Street in Albany for more than a decade, starting in 1991, usually with at least one Panzella on the wall. At her peak in the 1990s, customers were buying scores of her paintings annually. She told the Times Union for a 2000 profile that the prior year shed sold 52 works, priced from $100 to $2,000.

She was a constant presence in the gallery, Froebel-Parke, who now lives in Hudson, where he curates exhibits in multiple venues, said Friday. A painting would be there for a while, it would sell, and another would take its place. She was always popular with customers. Froebel-Parke said he and a friend, who had a relative with a gallery in France in 1997, helped arrange for Panzella to be chosen as the first official artist of the Antibes Jazz Festival on the French Riviera.

After a visit to Panzellas home studio some years ago, Times Union art critic William Jaeger was struck by what was abundantly evident about her: Wren was a true artist. She lived it. She appreciated. Her work and her life were one, Jaeger said Friday via email.

Born Aug. 21, 1953, and raised on Long Island, she was the middle child and lone arts-minded sibling of four math and science whizzes. She dropped out of art college after a year, married Bob Panzella at age 20, worked as bookkeeper and window dresser for a clothing store in the Virgin Islands, where her husband landed a job as a teacher, and was a bookkeeper again after they relocated to the Capital Region. A lithography course at UAlbany inspired her to return to art and informed the rest of her career.

Although Panzella worked in oil painting, etching, prints and mixed media, she was best known for her glass-transfer paintings, which required the artist to work essentially in reverse from traditional painting, where the background is painted first. For a glass-transfer work, Panzella, using acrylic paint, would paint the foreground first, moving back through the layers of the scene, painting the background last. Once finished, she would apply adhesive to paper or canvas, affix it to the back of the painting on glass, let it dry for 24 hours, soak briefly in water and then peel away, lifting the paint off the glass.

It is like turning a painting inside out, Panzella wrote in an explanation of the process on her website. She wrote, Because ... you work from the foreground to the background, the underpainting is added last, creating new possibilities for unifying and deepening a composition.

Jon Gernon, a fellow painter who was also gallery director for many years of the now-closed Clement Frame Shop & Art Gallery in Troy, said he was awed by the process. He chose Panzella works for Clement shows for more than a decade until leaving the position in 2015.

You could always look at the other side of the glass to see how it was coming along, but you didnt ever fully know what you had until after you removed it, Gernon said. If it didnt all come off, weeks of work or longer would be lost.

Timothy Cahill, who reported on and reviewed visual arts for the Times Union from 1996 to 2004, first got to know Panzella from her role at the University Art Museum before he became aware of her jazz paintings.

I underestimated them at first as simply exuberant expressions of her affable love of the music, Cahill said via email. The more closely he examined the work, the more impressed he became.

Cahill said, She depicted the intense energy of jazz, no small feat itself, but did more. She celebrated the players and made us feel what it must be like to sit in with the band. Through her intricate use of multiple perspectives and color relationships, she gave to the eye the joy, the rich interplay and the harmonic complexity that are the soul of jazz.

Corinna Ripps Schaming, director and chief curator of the UAlbany museum, said the glass-transfer technique was suited to Panzellas temperament and skills.

Its a very precarious way of working but one that Wren engaged with and clearly mastered, Schaming said. For her, it opened up new ways of expressing her ideas.  She was an extremely passionate and energetic person, and in terms of her artwork, she demonstrated a passion and commitment that captured what I thought was very intuitive and energetic and improvisational way of responding to the world around her.

Tess Collins, owner of McGearys Pub in downtown Albany, started working at the former Justins restaurant on Lark Street in 1989, soon after the arrival of the first of what would become a collection of four Panzella jazz paintings on the walls of the dining room. Justins owner, Joe Palma, was turning the restaurant into a destination for jazz and liked how the paintings energy reflected that of musicians performing live up to seven nights a week, including world-class baritone saxophonist Nick Brignola, who always returned to Justins between national and global tours.

Shed sit and sketch the musicians, and that would become the basis for the paintings, said Collins, who also commissioned Panzella to design T-shirts for the Justins staff and who a few years ago received a gift of a Panzella painting from a friend.

For fans of jazz and visual art, a Panzella painting was a must-have, said Holly Katz of Albany. The home Katz shares with her partner, Bill Harris, features a Panzella painting  piano, double bass, drums, evoking the roiling feel of an all-out jam.

Her paintings had a lot of energy and recalled her and our love of jazz, Katz said. The viewer is drawn into the performance, and youre back at Justins.

One of the paintings of Brignola was purchased from a Troy gallery in 2004 by rapper-turned-country rocker Kid Rock. He paid a combined $3,100 for the Brignola painting, titled The Flight of the Eagle, and another Panzella work depicting a saxophone trio with the piano player in the foreground, according to a Times Union story at the time.

Panzella didnt know who Kid Rock was, she told the Times Union after the purchase, adding that he represents everything that jazz isnt. Its kind of wild that he would have liked this. He picked two extremely straight, pure-jazz pieces.

Collins, who remained friendly with the artist, said, She was energized by people, art and music. Thats just who she was.

Friends who have spoken to Bob Panzella said they were told there will be no wake, funeral or other services, per Wren Panzellas wishes. Details including cause of death and survivors in addition to her husband were not available Friday.
Mothers have been their childrens influencers long before the dawn of Instagram and TikTok.

Mindi Linscombe, a mother of four, sets examples for more than just her kids thanks to her bridal boutique on Colorado Springs north side.

And now, Linscombe is widening her sphere of influence with recent additions to her entrepreneurial endeavors in consulting, podcasting and philanthropy.

Linscombe opened her bridal shop, Something New Boutique, with her husband, Jordan Linscombe, in 2008 after disappointing experiences searching for her wedding dress, ranging from extravagant stores with dismissive staff to rundown shops with kinder employees.

Ive always loved celebrating people. I feel pretty good at working with others, you know, being a teacher. What if I create what the market needs in Colorado? Mindi Linscombe said.

And so, I decided to create something that would be a beautiful environment with the friendliest people.

She started with 900 square feet and one employee  her mom.

She helped me because I couldnt afford an employee, Linscombe said.

In the more than 15 years since, Linscombe has expanded her business into a 10,000-square-foot space with nearly 20 employees where panels of windows let in streams of sunshine in a shop filled with racks of wedding gowns, prom dresses and other formal wear.

Among the rows of dresses is her Brooklyn Grace collection  a line of dresses Linscombe named after her only daughter, 5-year-old Brooklyn Grace.

We all are waiting for that moment when she realizes these dresses are named after her, Linscombe said. But she has not realized it yet and so its kind of cute.

Brooklyn loves visiting the boutique, Linscombe said, especially when it means breaking out balloons and cake to celebrate a customer.

She thinks shes going to work here one day, which is great, Linscombe said. ... I want all my kids to dream big. So I always tell them you can do anything, you could be anything. Whatever your mind actually can imagine is what can happen.

And for Linscombe, she always imagined Something New being a brand beyond a bridal shop.

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Thats why she started the Something New Foundation and Something New Show this year in addition to the consulting she offers bridal shop owners.

With the Something New Foundation, the stores philanthropic arm, Linscombe intends to grow the brands giving to include a scholarship fund and development opportunities for women and young ladies. She uses a portion of each dress sale from the Brooklyn Grace collection, in addition to the brands partnerships with Compassion International and Childrens Hospital Colorado.

Linscombe hopes to extend her mentorship and impact beyond the business, philanthropy and bridal worlds with her Something New Show, which is meant to encourage people to live a life worth celebrating.

I have guests from all over the country, super successful guests from all different walks of life, talking about their story and ... what they had to overcome to become successful, Linscombe said. Its been a very meaningful project for me.

Another meaningful step was hiring her friend, Karen Sanchez, to be a stylist for mothers and mothers-in-law at the bridal shop.

Moms are some of the more tender customers that we care for and Im sure you can imagine why theres a lot of emotions around the wedding coming up, Linscombe said.

But they didnt necessarily always connect with a stylist that perhaps wasnt a mom or hadnt ever carried those burdens before.

As a mother and grandmother with a background in the fashion industry, Sanchez is not only a support to customers but to Linscombe, because Sanchez owned her own womens clothing boutique in Houston.

Shes a very smart woman and a very smart businesswoman, Sanchez said.

She surrounds herself with people that she can glean from. ... She just gleaned from my life experience... and we also have the same faith and so Im able to share with her and guide and direct her in some of those areas.

And the area of faith for Linscombe is no slight one. As a Christian, her faith is what drives her.

I believe that God put me here and all of us here with a purpose to help others, Linscombe said.

And so, if I can use my little pocket of knowledge and influence to help others then I feel like Im using the time he gave me well.
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SEOUL, South Korea (AP)  South Korea will drop its COVID-19 quarantine requirements and end testing recommendations for international arrivals starting next month after the World Health Organization declared the end of the global health emergency.

In lowering the coronavirus alert level from critical to plainly alert starting June 1, health authorities will also lift mask mandates in pharmacies and small clinics but will continue require mask wearing in large hospitals and long-term care facilities and other medical venues with high infection risks.

The decision was announced during a meeting attended by President Yoon Suk Yeol, where he thanked the countrys medical workers and said it was delightful that people are getting their normal lives back after three and a half years.

He said his government will take steps to improve the countrys capacity to deal with future pandemics, including providing stronger support for vaccine developments and expanding international cooperation.

South Korea has been requiring seven-day quarantines for virus carriers. While the mandate will be lifted from June 1, health officials will continue to recommend people to isolate for five days if they test positive for the virus, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. Travelers had been advised to take PCR tests within three days after arriving in the country, but that recommendation will also be lifted.

Youngmee Jee, KDCAs commissioner, downplayed worries that virus measures were being loosened too quickly, saying that the countrys COVID-19 situation was stabilizing, partially because of high vaccination rates and immunity gained through infections during previous waves of the virus.

The fatality rate of COVID-19 after a steady decline is now at a similar level with influenza and there are enough medical resources to deal with a modest rise in infections, with about half of the countrys 700 hospital beds designated to treat serious cases currently vacant, Jee said.

She said officials will maintain preventive measures to protect vulnerable groups, including senior citizens and people with medical conditions, and continue financial support to lower the costs of tests and hospitalizations for virus carriers.

The risk of COVID-19 is not yet over, but considering the decline in cases, improved medical response capacities and high levels of immunity, we have reached a point where we need to step out of an international emergency state and transition toward a long-term management phase, Jee said during a briefing.

The announcement came as health workers reported 20,574 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, which represented a slight increase from last weeks level. Lee Sang-won, KDCAs chief of epidemiological investigations, said the pace of the countrys COVID-19 infections has moderately increased in recent weeks because of the spread of XBB, a new omicron variant. He said it was unlikely that the spread would develop into another huge wave of the virus.

There are concerns that the lifting of the quarantine mandate will result in people showing up to work when sick, considering the countrys notoriously harsh work culture.

Lim Sook-young, another KDCA official, said the government, for the time being, will continue to provide subsidies to COVID-19 patients in low-income brackets and to small companies when they offer paid leave to sick employees, so that infected people could be encouraged to isolate and recover.

She said government agencies were debating further plans to institutionalize a culture of resting when sick, including pushing employers to establish consistent guidelines over paid and sick leave and provide employees expanded options for working at home.

South Korea had maintained a stringent COVID-19 response based on aggressive testing, contact tracing and quarantines during the earlier part of the pandemic, but has eased most of its virus controls since last year as the omicron variants surge rendered those containment strategies irrelevant.

WHO had declared an end to the COVID-19 emergency last week, though Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted the viral disease remained a global health threat.
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ALBANY  Pasta. They were obsessed with pasta.

I have no ziti, wrote Joe Percoco, then a top aide to Andrew Cuomo.

Got to keep the ziti flowing, countered Todd Howe, also once an aide to the former governor. The ziti is in the oven, Howe wrote in a different email. Dont burn the ziti, he said in yet another.

The office of former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara asserted that Percoco and Howe used ziti as a term for bribe money, a reference snatched from The Sopranos. Many of us, me included, have had some fun with the ziti thing over the years, partly because it was so remarkable that the dunderheads would talk about bribes so openly in emails.

But given that the Supreme Court just overturned Percocos 2018 conviction on bribery charges, perhaps its time to reassess. Maybe Howe and Percoco were simply hosting a big dinner? Maybe dont burn the ziti was intended only as helpful advice?

OK, I wont go that far, and its key to remember that the behavior documented in Percocos 2018 trial was wildly unethical. A jury, as you may recall, believed the longtime friend of the Cuomo family improperly accepted roughly $300,000, mostly from outfits that were hoping to win lucrative state contracts. Percoco received a six-year sentence.

The Supreme Court didnt pat Percoco on the back for ethics. Instead, the justices said he couldnt be convicted under federal honest services statute because he wasnt a state employee at the time of the payments. You see, Percoco had taken an eight-month hiatus from government work to manage Cuomos 2014 campaign.

Sure, he worked out of the former governors executive office in Manhattan and had a government phone. But not being on the public payroll was enough separation, in the courts view, to make a tangible difference.

The decision would be easier to criticize had it not been unanimous. But nine justices, liberal and conservative alike, essentially agreed that Percocos conviction resulted from prosecutorial overreach and an overly broad interpretation of the law.

The court said the same about Alain Kaloyeros' conviction, also newly overturned. Kaloyeros, of course, is the founder of our SUNY Polytechnic Institute, an Albany-area superstar until he was accused of rigging state contracts. The court said his conviction was invalid under the federal fraud statute.

Part of the problem is the ambiguity of federal anti-corruption law. It turns out that the people who wrote the law have not created easy guidelines for prosecutors seeking to imprison people who write laws. Surprise, surprise.

As Justice Neil Gorsuch noted in a concurring opinion, what and what doesnt constitutes honest-services fraud is destructively vague and confusing.

In this country, criminal law is supposed to provide 'ordinary people fair notice of the conduct it punishes,' Gorsuch wrote, quoting from court precedent. Yet even 80 years after lower courts began experimenting with the honest-services-fraud theory, no one can say what sort of fiduciary relationship is enough to sustain a federal felony conviction and decades in federal prison.

He then suggested that Congress get to work and identify the conduct it wishes to prohibit. I wouldnt sit around waiting.

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But Congress doesnt get all the blame. As I wrote when the overturning of the Kaloyeros and Percoco convictions began to look likely, we shouldnt ignore the strategies employed by Bharara, who built both cases before being fired by former President Donald Trump in 2017.

With the benefit of hindsight, the much-celebrated crusader against Wall Street and Albany corruption looks overzealous and irresponsible. A suggestion: Be wary of prosecutors, particularly those, such as Bharara, who litigate by news conference and too eagerly seek the limelight.

There should be a complete reexamination of his time in office, Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi told me Friday, accusing Bharara of prosecutorial overreach and rank abuse of the system.

Again, it would be easier to disagree if the Supreme Court decisions had not been unanimous. But if a law is so vague that ordinary people and federal judges both cant tell you what it forbids, a prosecutor shouldnt be using it to turn lives upside down. One who does is abusing the immense power and responsibility of the office.

In that context, the prosecution of Joe Percoco and all the ziti jokes are no longer so amusing. Whatever we think of how he behaved, the father of two went to prison on a conviction now unanimously rejected. Who gives him back his time?

cchurchill@timesunion.com  518-454-5442  @chris_churchill
[May 12, 2023] Partnership between Fat Cat Killer's new ETH based token, kUSDC and KillerPay, will Enable Patrons to Seamlessly Pay with Crypto at Bars, Nightclubs and Cabarets.

PANAMA CITY, PANAMA, May 12, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KillerPay and kUSDC, the new ETH blockchain based token of Fat Cat Killer, have signed an agreement which guarantees the lowest rate for users of kUSDC on KillerPays payment system. KillerPay partnered with Fat Cat Killers kUSDC as its preferred token for its payment system offering the most robust and complete benefits package, speed, and transaction rates. KillerPay accepts variety of tokens but offers the greatest benefits to users of kUSDC (from Fat Cat Killer). Some of the KillerPay benefits using kUSDC include the following: Lowest processing fees on the market, well under 1%

Eliminate chargeback transactions

Nearly instantaneous transaction speed

Expand customer base by accepting various forms of cryptocurrency

Immediate crypto to fiat conversion option KillerPay enables buyers to purchase goods and services using a multitude of digital assets, allowing them to enjoy extremely low transaction rates with a "cash back" mechanism for our partner token kUSDC and under 1% fee for Merchants using most of the tokens listed on KillerPay. KillerPy's system can be used almost anywhere but has unique operational advantages for both customers and merchants in the hospitality sector and luxury retail brands. Merchants will have an option to convert their crypto payments immediately into their native currency, such as USD, at the time of transaction.



In a nod to investors, kUSDC has the highest non-restricted Staking APY on the market. It is also the preferred token in multiple Crypto Payment Systems and NFT Platforms. Fat Cat Killers unique Staking contract rewards its holders to use our digital assets to generate a passive income with an unprecedented APY - without selling.

This is a unique tiered system that rewards kUSDC investors based on the duration of staking with progressively increasing APY. It allows a flexibility to un-stake at any time without penalties. In the lottery system, holders can win a variety of coveted prizes. From an iPad to a luxury watch to increasingly luxurious items, nothing is off the table. Investors must lock their tokens for a short period of time to be eligible and winners are chosen randomly via its verified smart contract algorithm. Billy Blatty, Founder of KillerPay, said, as the adoption of crypto becomes more widespread, this partnership will enable customers and venues to meet their patrons where they are, without all the hassle and high fees that accompany current offerings / systems. Im excited to announce weve partnered with Fat Killers kUSDC as a preferred token, and even more excited its on the Ethereum blockchain which has the largest community of big fund investors on the market. Some of the KillerPay benefits using kUSDC include the following: Lowest processing fees on the market, well under 1%

Eliminate chargeback transactions

Nearly instantaneous transaction speed

Expand customer base by accepting various forms of cryptocurrency

Immediate crypto to fiat conversion option Contact Details:

Contact person: Billy Blatty



Email: [email protected]

Disclaimer: The information provided in this release is not investment advice, financial advice, or trading advice. It is recommended that you practice due diligence (including consultation with a professional financial advisor) before investing or trading securities and cryptocurrency.









Billy Blatty KillerPay support at killerpay.net

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[May 12, 2023] Tri Ri Asset Management Announces Launch of Flagship VC Fund

Tri Ri Asset Management ("TRAM") today announced the launch of their flagship venture capital fund, the TRAM Venture Fund ("TRAM VF"), with a target size of USD 125 million. TRAM VF will be focused on the MENA region, with a particular emphasis in Pakistan. Tri Ri Asset Impact Fund, with a commitment of USD 50 million, serves as the fund's anchor. TRAM VF is dedicated to serving the later-stage tech company growth needs in Pakistan and MENA. The new fund's deployment will focus on investing in innovative early-stage and growth-stage tech companies and enabling them to emerge into market leaders in GCC, South Asia, and North Africa. TRAM VF will meet the needs of local startups and help them to become regional and global competitors. The local tech industry has recently seen substantial expansion; yet, funding is falling behind the quick speed of change and technological adoption. This has drawn global technology businesses as well as international venture capitaliststo the region. TRAM VF will further accelerate the growth of the VC ecosystem in order to meet the increasing demand for technology products and services.



Adeel Hussain, General Partner of TRAM VF stated: "Following the successful launch of our PE Impact fund last year, we are pleased to announce the launch of our Flagship VC Fund TRAM VF and its initial closure of $92 million. A particular thanks to our anchor investor, as well as the LP a Swiss family office, whose commitment demonstrates how ripe the region is for VC investments." Asad Ali, Co-CIO & Principal added: "We look forward to deploying our first flagship VC fund in a region with such complex growth. Scaling from our roots in Real Estate our capital deployment strategy has always been the core of our rapid growth. We will be able to use the same strategies to assist early stage startups within the region to leverage and grow their business. Our investment strategy is defined by a data-driven approach, specialized sourcing capabilities, and an uncompromising commitment to meaningful collaboration with entrepreneurs. We are more than just investors; we are also builders, utilising our team's market experience to propel firms more precisely than generalist organisations. Supporting entrepreneurs is a privilege that we never take for granted."

TRAM VF will utilize its differentiated market expertise and metrics-driven evaluation process, to invests across Fintech, healthcare, consumer, education, food security, real estate, B2B, Artificial Intelligence across the region. About Tri Ri Asset Management:

Tri Ri Asset Management, is a concentrated, research-intensive, fundamental value investor in the public markets. Since 2019, Tri Ri has executed an aggressive but disciplined growth strategy, building a balanced portfolio of public market and real estate holdings.

As of March 2023, Tri Ri's portfolio composed of USD 850 million in assets under management along with USD 1.2 billion in Co-investments and 7 renowned properties with over 1500 rooms. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230512005453/en/

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[May 12, 2023] In Accordance with NYSE Rule 303A.08, this Press Release Makes Public the Grant of an Employment Inducement Award to Weave Communications' New Chief Strategy & Services Officer

As required by the rules of the New York Stock Exchange, Weave Communications, Inc. (NYSE: WEAV), a leading all-in-one customer communications and engagement software platform for small and medium-sized businesses, today announced that it has granted to Marcus Bertilson, Weave's recently appointed Chief Strategy & Services Officer, on May 10, 2023, the following equity award as an inducement for him to accept employment: restricted stock units relating to 250,000 shares of Weave's common stock, which vest over three years, with 33% vesting on June 15, 2024 and the remaining 67% over the following 2 years in equal quarterly installments, in each case subject to Mr. Bertilson's continued service through each vesting date. The employment inducement award was granted under Weave's 2022 Inducement Equity Incentive Plan and related form of restricted stock unit agreement. The Compensatin Committee of Weave's Board of Directors approved this award in reliance on the employment inducement exception to shareholder approval provided under Section 303A.08 of the NYSE Listed Company Manual. To comply with the terms of this exemption, the employment inducement award requires prompt public announcement of the award and written notice to the NYSE.



About Weave Weave is a leading all-in-one customer communication and engagement platform for small- and medium-sized businesses. From the first phone call to the final invoice and every touchpoint in between, Weave connects the entire customer journey. Weave's software solutions transform how local businesses attract, communicate with and engage customers to grow their business. Weave has set the bar for Utah startup achievement & work culture. In the past year, Weave has been named a G2 leader in Patient Engagement, Optometry, Dental Practice Management and Patient Relationship Management software. To learn more, visit getweave.com/newsroom/.

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[May 13, 2023] SPR INVESTOR DEADLINE: Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP Announces that Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. Investors with Substantial Losses Have Opportunity to Lead Class Action Lawsuit

Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP announces that purchasers or acquirers of Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SPR) securities between April 8, 2020 and April 13, 2023, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period") have until July 3, 2023 to seek appointment as lead plaintiff of the Spirit AeroSystems class action lawsuit. Captioned Li v. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc., No. 23-cv-03722 (S.D.N.Y.), the Spirit AeroSystems class action lawsuit charges Spirit AeroSystems as well as 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 of the Spirit AeroSystems class action lawsuit, please provide your information here: https://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases-spirit-aerosystems-holdings-inc-class-action-lawsuit-spr.html You can also contact attorney J.C. Sanchez of Robbins Geller by calling 800/449-4900 or via e-mail at [email protected]b>.



CASE ALLEGATIONS: Spirit AeroSystems is a non-Original Equipment Manufacturer that serves markets for commercial airplanes, military platforms, and business/regional jets. Spirit AeroSystems' largest customer is Boeing Co. Spirit AeroSystems and Boeing have long-term supply agreements under which Spirit AeroSystems provides products for several Boeing aircrafts, including the 737 MAX. The Spirit AeroSystems class action lawsuit alleges that defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Spirit AeroSystems lacked effective production quality controls; (ii) as a result, Spirit AeroSystems incorrectly installed fittings designed to join the aft fuselage to the vertical tail for some 737 MAX airplanes that Spirit AeroSystems sent to Boeing; (iii) consequently, Spirit AeroSystems would have to develop an inspection and repair procedure for the affected fuselages; and (iv) the foregoing would negatively impact Spirit AeroSystems' financial results.

On April 13, 2023, Boeing announced that it would halt deliveries of its 737 MAX aircraft due to a supplier quality problem. According to an article by Barron's, Boeing issued a statement stating that "the issue will likely affect a significant number of undelivered 737 MAX airplanes." An article by Reuters further reported that "[t]he problem involves the installation of two fittings that join the aft fuselage made by Spirit [AeroSystems] to the vertical tail, which were not attached correctly to the structure of the fuselage before it was sent to Boeing." On this news, the price of Spirit AeroSystems stock declined more than 20%, damaging investors. THE LEAD PLAINTIFF PROCESS: The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 permits any investor who purchased or acquired Spirit AeroSystems securities during the Class Period to seek appointment as lead plaintiff of the Spirit AeroSystems 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 Spirit AeroSystems class action lawsuit. The lead plaintiff can select a law firm of its choice to litigate the Spirit AeroSystems class action lawsuit. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff of the Spirit AeroSystems class action lawsuit. ABOUT ROBBINS GELLER: Robbins Geller 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.

Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Services may be performed by attorneys in any of our offices. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230512005374/en/

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Delving into politics and morality . . . One of the most prolific local scribes on the topic of religion & morality offers his perspective on a longstanding debate that now is under discussion in Kansas City.



Here is the crux of his argument . . .



"So 158 years later we're still toying around with reparations, an idea that should have happened a century and a half ago. Imagine how much more robust American society and the economy would be today if the residual effects of a racist system hadn't kept millions of Americans from reaching their human and social potential. It was -- and remains -- a self-inflicted wound that costs everyone daily."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
A power ranking of sorts . . .

One again, Mayor Q earns high praise across the nation for legislation championed by activists further down the food chain.



Here's a peek at the national MSM fallout after week's LGBT love fest . . .

Democratic Mayor Quinton Lucas praised the vote, saying the city is committed to being a welcoming, inclusive, and safe place for everyone, including our transgender and LGBTQ+ community.



Kansas Citys new, sanctuary status sets it apart as a Democratic-leaning city in a state with a Republican governor and GOP-controlled Legislature.



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Kansas City declares itself an LGBTQ sanctuary city Officials in Missouri's largest city approved a resolution Thursday to declare it a sanctuary for people seeking or providing gender-affirming care, defying state lawmakers who voted a day earlier to ban such care for minors and restrict it for some adults.

Kansas City Council Votes To Become Sanctuary For Trans Health Care Kansas City, Missouri, opted to become a "safe haven" for transgender people seeking medical care this week in defiance of conservative state legislators who passed a ban on gender-affirming treatments for minors on Wednesday. The health care bill, along with a statewide measure that puts new restrictions on transgender women and girls playing sports, now rests with Gov.

Kansas City Is Now Sanctuary City for Those Seeking Gender-Affirming Care Kansas City, Mo., has declared itself a safe haven for transgender people seeking gender-affirming care. The City Council approved a resolution to that effect Thursday. The move by Missouri's largest city comes when the state legislature has passed a bill banning gender-affirming care for trans minors and certain others. Republican Gov.

Developing . . .
Staff defections, personnel clashes and delays in legislatively mandated reforms have troubled the new Behavioral Health Administration, a state department launched just over a year ago to fix Colorados tattered safety net for the mentally ill that one study ranked the worst in the nation.

The new department was supposed to be the key to improving the abysmal rate of access to care in Colorado, which still fails to provide adequate services to the mentally ill despite spending $1.5 billion annually on more than 120 mental health service programs spread across 13 state agencies and the judicial branch.

Instead, sharp divisions in the Behavioral Health Administration hobbled its ability to fulfill its mandate, according to a review of staff emails, legislative testimony and interviews.

The top three officials at the department clashed so severely that the head of the new department complained in emails that the other two did not trust her, and they resigned. They returned to work after Gov. Jared Polis replaced their boss late last month with an interim appointee.

Those departures were part of an exodus of employees to hit the new state department. Since July 2022, 27 people have resigned from the Behavioral Health Administration, roughly equivalent to a quarter of the 116 people working there. Several employees who have worked there or who still are employed there say the department is drastically understaffed.

One current employee, who did not want to be identified due to fears of retaliation, said the department should nearly double its staffing given the long list of tasks and breadth of the overhaul it is supposed to achieve.

We probably have 15%, maybe 20% of the people for the positions that have been created, the employee said.

The fact that we even go to work is amazing, the employee said. People are tired. They work all the time. If you have certain things that need to get done and deadlines, you cant not do them. The employee added that all the turmoil at the agency and fluctuating leadership hurts your soul.

The department is the target of ongoing investigations by the Colorado Civil Rights Division and the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

State officials wont say what is being investigated, though two people familiar with the inner workings of the department said a personal assistant to the former head of the department submitted age and disability discrimination claims after she was pushed out after clashing with others there.

A staff survey conducted by the Colorado Department of Human Services also documented deep dissatisfaction over the work environment at the BHA, with 55% of the respondents stating their job stress was unreasonable and nearly half of respondents stating they viewed senior leaders at the department as ineffective.

Meanwhile, the state's mental health providers are disgruntled that officials at the Behavioral Health Administration did not promptly distribute all the $190 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act money they received last year to improve access to mental health care.

Officials at the BHA only recently awarded $150 million of that money in grants, nearly two months later than originally expected. An employee of one of the providers said that even though the money has been awarded, the contracting process still has been a long, arduous byzantine process.

The delays will put providers in a rush because all the federal money must be spent by the end of December 2024, said one provider employee, who asked to not be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue. In addition, the state still hasnt developed a plan to sustain programming once the one-time allotment of federal aid is spent, according to that person.

The Behavioral Health Administration also wont meet the original deadlines state lawmakers set for rewriting licensing standards for providers and for establishing a new oversight network that was supposed to coordinate and improve access to care. A redrafting of the regulations regarding involuntary commitment procedures for the mentally ill also has been pushed from a deadline of this July to a year later in July 2024.

The part that concerns me is that the BHA is supposed to actually deliver care one way or another to people who desperately need it, said state Rep. Judy Amabile, D-Boulder. But it began to feel like they were mired in administrative mumbo-jumbo and having conflicts over what direction to go in rather than being a streamlined organization that knew where they were headed.

During one legislative hearing last month  this a week after the head of the Behavioral Health Administration, Dr. Morgan Medlock, was replaced  state Sen. Jim Smallwood, R-Parker, lamented that it appeared the fledgling department already was moving away from overseeing and running all mental health programs in the state.

Department officials said during the hearing that they planned instead to coordinate services and improve communications among state agencies because they feared moving programming under one department would take as long as seven years to do and would not be effective.

Im disappointed that the vision that I was sold does not sound like it is coming to fruition, Smallwood said. I really thought our state was ready to take a different step and was moving in a different direction and would have a lot more coordinated effort.

Polis late last month announced he was replacing Medlock, the person he appointed just over a year ago to lead the BHA as the states first behavioral health commissioner.

Polis appointed as interim commissioner Michelle Barnes, the executive director of the Colorado Department of Human Services, to replace Medlock. The governor is searching for a full-time replacement. Medlock, who did not return telephone messages seeking comment, had previously been chief medical officer for the Department of Behavioral Health in Washington, D.C., before her appointment in Colorado.

While Medlock's removal has been applauded by leaders at key advocacy groups for the mentally ill, legislators and county officials, it also has generated criticism from her allies. Supporters of Medlock say she struggled for clout and was subjected, as an African American woman, to racial insensitivities, even by other members of the governors cabinet despite Medlock often rising at 3 a.m. to begin her day.

I saw it play over and over again, where shes young; shes Black; shes smart, and people genuinely (felt) uncomfortable about that, said Maureen Maycheco, who was promoted by Medlock from a role as communications director at the department to one of two deputy commissioners at the department. They would challenge her in ways. Other cabinet leaders would like yell and scream on the phone, and Dr. Medlock would say that doesnt seem appropriate, and people would be like, Oh, oh well, youre challenging me.

She added that Medlock, as a new outsider, unsettled some in the state because she didnt always cater to titles and influence and instead valued reaching out to those most in need of services.

Dr. Medlock started saying, Im so happy that youve been doing behavioral health for 30 years, and youre a doctor who now serves on XYZ board and donates thousands of dollars. Thats great, Maycheco recalled. 'Im also going to talk to this person who is in recovery, who lives in their house and has two children with serious mental illness. People genuinely did not like that.

After Polis replaced Medlock, Maycheco resigned from her position as deputy commissioner in charge of system equity and effectiveness. She said that when Medlock first promoted her, two other key members of the executive leadership team at the department gave her the cold shoulder. She said Medlock continued to enhance her role at the department, going so far as to install Maycheco as the top person in charge when Medlock left town last month to speak at a conference.

By the end of the Monday that Medlock returned from that conference, Medlock was gone from the department, telling Maycheco she no longer worked there. Maycheco said she was excluded from meetings discussing a path forward and resigned.

I resigned because I had a panic attack, Maycheco said. I was crying and shaking in the office. This was all too much for me, and I was being excluded and disrespected.

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Medlock during her tenure championed the needs of minorities in the state, whose leaders argue the state historically has marginalized their mental health needs. Her sudden departure prompted a blistering email on Thursday to Barnes, the new interim commissioner, and other staffers at the BHA, from Racquel Garcia, a member of the Behavioral Health Administration Advisory Council, a 20-member group of appointees that helps the BHA form policy.

Garcia questioned in the email whether Polis and other state officials were just checking their diversity box by inviting people of color and culture to the table? Were we just for show?

Because of the racialized trauma my dad has experienced he often tells me to be quiet and go on about my way, Garcia said in the email. Tuesday, he didnt say that. Tuesday, he told me to use my voice, but I cant help but think that Im speaking for him today."

Barnes wrote back to Garcia that she wanted to build mutual trust but cautioned that there are certain topics I cannot discuss, adding, I hope all of you choose to stay as advisory council members.

You each were chosen for a reason and your voice and experience is important to guide our work, Barnes said in the email.

Others welcomed the change in leadership at the Behavioral Health Administration, stressing that theyd heard of staff defections during Medlocks tenure.

We were concerned to hear reports of staff leaving the BHA in significant numbers, from program staff to executive leadership  many of whom left without another job lined up, said Vincent Atchity, the president and CEO of Mental Health Colorado, the leading statewide group advocating for people with mental health challenges, in a letter to Alec Garnett, Polis chief of staff.

Some of these individuals were longtime public servants with whom we worked for many years and know them to be tireless mental health advocates in addition to their roles as state department staff, Atchity continued in the letter. These staff departures were particularly concerning because we began to see issues regarding the ability of the BHA to meet expectations and legislative deadlines and impacts on statewide programs.

Resignations at the department during Medlocks tenure included Summer Gathercole, the deputy commissioner of operations; and Andrew Rauch, the departments chief of staff, both of whom did not return requests for comment. They agreed to remain with the department after Polis replaced Medlock. Rauch now plans to take a six- to eight-week sabbatical before returning full-time, according to people familiar with his plans.

Emails obtained by The Gazette show that, at one juncture in February, Medlock lamented to Rauch after one contentious meeting that she doubted he trusted her.

It reminded me of a difficult dynamic that has also developed between you, me and Summer, Medlock wrote in the email to Rauch. I feel we have actually not recovered from that fateful meeting in September, where I was surprised by a meeting agenda that developed in my absence.

She concluded: I think your vacation is well-timed, and when you return, I would like to share some reflections on co-management boundaries, and how those topics impact trust.

Rauch, in another February email to division directors, referred to how a recent meeting with them took a direction that we were not expecting that resulted in some heated conversations. He promised he would strive to set a better standard in the future.

Gathercole and Medlock in other emails clashed over Gathercoles request that Medlock refrain from contacting her on Sunday mornings.

My request was about setting expectations in not being available on Sunday mornings unless there is an emergency, Gathercole wrote to Medlock in a Jan. 13 email, adding that she would be working in the afternoon and evening on most Sundays, but planned to hike or meditate in the mornings. We have all been working long, hard hours for months  after hours and on weekends. For my own mental health, I need to carve out a bit of time each week where I am comfortable walking away from my work phone/computer and knowing that is OK not to be available.

Medlock in a Jan. 23 email said her contacts of Gathercole on Sundays had been rare and stressed that some agency risks have developed as a result of our infrequent communications.

Thus, it is my recommendation that we do not reduce our communication, and I will continue to reach out to you as deputy commissioner when I have needs, Medlock continued in the email. I will do my best to communicate in advance about needs that may be urgent and impact weekend availability.

In another February email, Medlock said to her leadership team that she still had not addressed the group following a recent contentious meeting, and that it takes me a while to process information that may be emotionally charged.

Medlock in the email referred to a staffing retreat months earlier during which a management facilitator report found the team split between two leadership cultures.

Roughly 36% of the team gravitated to a culture of dominance that rewards independence, decisiveness and results while disliking hesitation and foot-dragging, she said. In contrast, about 45% of the team favored a culture of conscientiousness that rewards accuracy, attention to detail and dependability while disliking exaggerated enthusiasm, she added. Medlock put herself in the conscientiousness camp.

Atchity, in the letter to Polis chief of staff, described the interim appointment of Barnes as prudent and thoughtful given all the turmoil.

Despite the leadership change, widespread concerns persist at the General Assembly over the pace of a statutorily required overhaul to Colorados system of providing mental health care that new state laws required the Behavioral Health Administration to undertake.

Legislators bowed to reality and in April, nearly a week after the release of Medlock, agreed to push back six months the deadline for an overhaul of the states licensing standards for mental health providers. Legislators originally mandated that the BHA complete by this July a total rewrite of those regulations, which also would transfer licensing duties to the BHA from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Lawmakers now are requiring the BHA to complete that task by January 2024.

In addition, legislators delayed for a year the deadline for creation, required by state law, of a new network of Behavioral Health Administrative Services Organizations. The BHAs creation of that network was supposed to improve access to mental health care in Colorado, which one study found was the worst in the nation amid rising wait times.

That 2022 study by Mental Health America, a national nonprofit that advocates for improvements in behavioral health care, found Colorado had the nations highest rate of adult mental illness and lowest access to care. A more recent 2023 study by the nonprofit found modest improvements, with only six states  Utah, Alabama, Oregon, Arizona, Wyoming and Kansas  now having worse access to care than Colorado amid high rates of adult mental illness.

Another major concern revolves around what type of network for coordinating care the BHA will create. Stakeholders reported that, during public meetings, theyd been told new coordination offices would be set up in regions throughout the state that would include walk-in services, according to legislators. Then those stakeholders later learned that there likely would only be one office for coordinating service, and it would not offer walk-in services.

State Rep. Dafna Michaelson Jenet, D-Commerce City, said part of Medlocks downfall involved giving mixed messages.

One of the complaints that I got was that she would say one thing in a stakeholder meeting to appease stakeholders, and then she would turn around to her team and do the opposite and do something totally different, said Michaelson Jenet. The team was worried that they would then have to go talk to the stakeholders, and then stakeholders were off the rails upset. Something needed to happen.

A key employee at one mental health provider, who did not want to be identified because the provider does business with the state, said the big question now is whether the remaining leaders at the BHA will remain introspective instead of boldly putting in places needed reforms.

I think whatever happens, it will require a strong leader who has a vision and is able to take information that has been gathered and hit the ground running and trust in staff and trust in stakeholders and counties, the provider said. And really move forward quickly because times running out.
The Democratic Guv holds the line against Republican efforts to clap back against pandemic rules and government spending.



The basics . . .



"The bill would have clamped down state public health officials' ability test and quarantine Kansans for infectious diseases."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links from both sides . . .

Kansas governor vetoes bill to strip power from public health officials on vaccines, quarantines Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed legislation Friday that would have stripped the power to enforce quarantines from public health officials and squashed COVID-19 vaccination requirements for children attending child care or schools.

KS Governor Laura Kelly vetos tax relief worth $244 million in SB 8 - The Sentinel As if taking away in tax relief from Kansans wasn't bad enough, Governor Laura Kelly today vetoed Senate Bill 8 (SB 8) which would have provided $244 million in tax relief over the first three years.
An apt write-up from Mary Sanchez . . . There's no arguing with her angle . . . Even participants in the process dispute the hurried timeline . . . Take a peek:



"First the City Council, then the public needs to vote on any changes that the commission recommends to the charter. To meet filing deadlines for the August ballot, the council needs to sign off in May.



"This week, the charter review commission backed off from Lucas proposal to change when elections will be held, a shift that would have moved city votes to August for the primary and November for the general election. "



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
Credit to this Missouri legislation that offers a crackdown against drivers who are even more dangerous than drunks . . .



If (Governor) Parson signs the bill, it will be illegal for drivers behind the wheel to physically hold a cell phone; write or read text-based messages; record, posting, send, broadcast video, make/receive video calls or use social media; and watching a video or movie.



There are some exceptions.



Under the bill, drivers will be allowed to make calls or receive them using voice-operated or hands-free tools that use a single touch or swipe; talk on the phone hands free; send or receive texts through voice-to-text features; use GPS navigation and music apps.



There are also exemptions for drivers who need to use their phones in emergency situations.



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

New cell phone restrictions while driving pass Missouri legislature KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Driving with a mobile phone in hand could soon lead to fines in Missouri. Missouri legislators passed Senate Bill 398, which included the "Siddens Bening Hands Free Law", Thursday, which will require all drivers to utilize hands-free cell phone features while behind the wheel.
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.
The El Paso County Redistricting Commission convened for its introductory meeting earlier this week, launching the process of redrawing commissioner districts for the first time since 2017.

The redistricting commission, consisting of the current five members of the El Paso County Board of Commissioners, charged staff with the Clerk and Recorder's Office and other county officials with creating five preliminary maps using several geographic and cultural factors during its meeting on Monday.

Under House Bill 21-1047, passed in 2021, districts must be redrawn by Sept. 30 of the second odd-numbered year after a national census and cannot see more than 5% deviation between the most and least populous districts in a county.

The bill also encourages, as much as possible, preserving "communities of interest  such as urban, rural or trade areas, or other factors like education, environment or water needs  to ensure "fair and effective representation."

The commissioners, all Republicans, appointed themselves to oversee the process without a citizen advisory committee at a controversial and highly attended regular meeting on April 18, during which dozens of residents argued that such a move would disenfranchise Democratic voters and accused the board of gerrymandering, given that a Democrat has not sat on the board since Stan Johnson's election in 1970.

The decision was "allowing the fox to guard the henhouse," one resident said at the April meeting.

Commissioners argued that since all but one of them, Carrie Geitner of District 2, were term-limited, they could not act in self-interest and that several districts were, indeed, competitive in the 2020 presidential and 2022 gubernatorial races.

Every county seat is held by a Republican, so the argument that the (commissioner districts) are not reflective of a county would be true if we had a treasurer, sheriff, assessor that were split party and (commissioners) were all one party," Commissioner Longinos Gonzalez said at the time. "That is clearly not the case. I understand the belief system there, but I dont think its necessarily accurate.

According to a presentation by Clerk and Recorder Steve Schleiker on Monday, each new district should have a population of roughly 146,550 based on 2020 U.S. Census data.

As a result, District 1 needs to lose around 1,800 people, while Districts 2 and 4, the fastest-growing districts, need to lose 7,200 and 4,600, respectively. With growth mostly locked in, Districts 3 and 5 should gain 7,800 and 5,700, respectively.

Government Affairs Department Director Ryan Parsell recommended the commission use the Cook Partisan Voting Index as a standard to gauge election competitiveness among the districts. The index, he said, takes voting results from the past two presidential elections, averages them, and compares them to the nationwide average to determine how strongly Republican, Democrat or unaffiliated a region may be.

The index is considered the "most effective" measurement used by political science experts, he said, and is "very broadly used" by academics, in media coverage and by the Almanac of American Politics.

According to the measurement, Districts 1 and 2 are the most heavily Republican, 4 and 5 are moderately Republican, and 3 is "even," he said.

While former President Donald Trump carried all five districts in 2016, Districts 3 and 5 narrowly swung blue in 2020. In November, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat, carried 3 and 5 and Gov. Jared Polis, also a Democrat, carried 3, 4 and 5.

Geitner asked, given the heavy Republican sway in some districts, whether it was possible mathematically to make every district equally competitive by carving in blue areas.

Doing those sorts of surgical lines, while not breaking minority groups or some other communities of interest, could be problematic," Parsell said. "But never say never."

Ahead of the next five redistricting meetings, which will each occur in a separate district, commissioners requested its staff draw five preliminary maps as a starting point to be reworked.

Upcoming Redistricting Commission meetings:  District 1 meeting, June 12: Lewis Palmer High School, 5:30 p.m.  District 2 meeting, June 21: Mountain View Academy, 5:30 p.m.  District 4 meeting, July 6: 5:30 p.m., location to be announced  District 3 meeting, July 10: 5:30 p.m., location to be announced  District 5 meeting, July 17: 5:30 p.m., location to be announced July 14 is the last day for the public to submit proposed maps.

Because commissioners representing Districts 2, 3 and 4 are elected on presidential cycles and residents of 1 and 5 elected on gubernatorial cycles, moving voting precincts between districts to achieve equal populations could create "super-voters" who vote again in 2024 or disenfranchise others until 2026.

People would prefer to miss an election cycle if it meant the end of being disenfranchised for 50 years," said John Jarrell, a resident and former District 5 commissioner candidate, on Monday.

Still, one requested map will show regulated populations with "minimal changes" in election cycles and another will show a minimum amount of precinct moves.

There is just absolutely no way to get us to something that's perfect with all of those different wide varieties of communities of interest, Commissioner Stan VanderWerf said. The best approach is to try to do the best that we can based on a large number of types of calculations.

Gonzalez requested a map keeping Security-Widefield, Hanover and Fountain together as communities of interest, while a fourth would move the Air Force Academy to District 3, keeping the west side of Interstate 25 together as a community of interest with special wildland urban interface needs, thus splitting Monument into two districts.

A fifth map would seek to overpopulate Districts 3 and 5 and underpopulate the rest to account for expected mass growth in coming years.

"I would like to keep them under the deviation so that they have more chance to grow into their numbers," Commissioner Holly Williams said.

More information on the redistricting process, meeting presentations and legal parameters can be found on the county website.

Residents are encouraged to submit public comments and proposed maps through the website, which can be reviewed at future meetings. According to Schleiker, the county is providing free maps by current district, voter precincts and school districts to assist with future map development.
A Colorado credit union gave sufficient notice to consumers when it announced a change to customers' legal rights in two sentences at the bottom of an email that required multiple clicks to see the new policy, the Court of Appeals ruled last week.

Although a three-judge panel of the appellate court agreed Ent Credit Union met the legal standard for providing notice, one judge expressed concern that typical online banking customers are not catching important updates inserted in routine account messages  and financial institutions know that.

"Would it be too cynical of me to think that banking institutions have done their own market research in this area," wrote Judge Sueanna P. Johnson, "and are well aware that consumers are not opening their monthly bank statement email, and that they insert the hyperlink with updated terms and conditions knowing that most users will not perceive the email to contain other important information?"

She suggested an update to the law to prohibit financial institutions from alerting consumers to terms and conditions changes in otherwise innocuous emails concerning monthly bank statements.

Jason Frank, an attorney for plaintiff Cecilia Macasero, agreed with Johnson's analysis of consumers' ability to see and comprehend updates to fine-print agreements, but argued the law already requires "reasonably conspicuous" notice.

"All of the points Judge Johnson makes in her opinion demonstrate that this notice was NOT reasonably conspicuous to modern day customers in an online banking world," Frank wrote.

A spokesperson for Ent declined to comment.

In the underlying case, Macasero sued Ent for breach of contract, alleging it needed to refund fees related to her car loan. Her lawsuit was intended as a class action, encompassing all Ent customers who were owed refunds.

At the time Macasero opened her account in 2014, she agreed to accept "statements, notices, and disclosures" electronically, including changes to the credit union's terms and conditions.

In 2017, the Republican-led Congress, with a tiebreaking vote from then-Vice President Mike Pence in the U.S. Senate, killed an Obama administration regulation that prevented financial institutions from requiring customers to submit to arbitration in lieu of filing class action lawsuits. Less than two years later, Ent amended its terms and conditions to require arbitration, giving customers 30 days to opt out.

The credit union notified Macasero of the new policy in an email that contained news of her monthly statement at the top, multiple paragraphs about banking accounts for children in the middle, and two sentences at the bottom that simply stated Ent had "updated its Membership and Account Agreement." There was a hyperlink that required users to click through multiple windows to learn about the arbitration change.

Given that Macasero agreed to receive updates by email, Ent claimed it gave her the required level of notice and she needed to submit to arbitration to resolve her fee dispute, not file a lawsuit.

Denver District Court Judge Marie Avery Moses refused to find Ent's email gave notice of the arbitration agreement, pointing out the credit union chose "modest and unassuming language" to inform customers of the important change to their rights.

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"Simply put, this notice was buried at the bottom of an email, almost as if it was designed to be overlooked by anyone receiving this email," she wrote.

On appeal, Ent argued Macasero's agreement to receive electronic updates, coupled with the two-sentence advisement, essentially ended the controversy over whether the email provided enough notice.

"Shes effectively telling the credit union, 'If you send me the notice electronically, Im gonna read it.' If she doesn't read it, I think Colorado law is clear," said attorney Stuart M. Richter during oral arguments to the appellate panel. "You cant bury your head in the sand and say, 'I didnt get notice because I didnt read it.'"

"If its that important, why don't you put it at the top" of the email, asked Johnson.

Judge John Daniel Dailey asked why it was reasonable for customers to click multiple hyperlinks to finally read about the arbitration policy.

"At what point does it become too onerous?" he wondered. "Five clicks? Six clicks? Do you have an obligation to keep clicking to the end however long that end is?"

Ultimately, however, the panel agreed Macasero was on notice of Ent's policy change. Macasero had agreed to receive updates electronically, the hyperlink to the policy was "blue" and "underlined," and clicking on the hyperlink led to a page with the phrase "Important Account Information."

"Contrary to Macaseros argument, we do not deem the notice as being buried or hidden in Ents email, or the surrounding information as cluttering the screen to the extent that a reasonable person would be distracted from the important notice," wrote Judge Robert D. Hawthorne in the May 4 opinion.

Johnson, while agreeing the law was on Ent's side, wrote separately. She linked to numerous articles reporting at least 70% of customers use online banking, meaning they can check their account balances without relying solely on monthly statements.

"Therefore, was Macasero acting like a 'reasonable person' by not opening her monthly online statement because she is like the majority of Americans, who can  and do  check their bank accounts more frequently," Johnson asked.

Johnson, who is visually impaired, added that Ent's placement of the alert at the bottom of its email likely made it more difficult for people with different screen sizes and resolutions to notice it.

"During a strictly paper era, the end user received the same layout and printed material. Not so in the digital era," she explained. "The farther down the notice of updated terms and conditions is placed, the more likely that people with less screen real estate will not view the entire email, thinking that all the important information was at the top."

Frank, the lawyer for Macasero, suggested that Colorado lawmakers require an opt-in to mandatoy arbitration agreements, rather than an opt-out.

The case is Macasero v. Ent Credit union.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has met with Italian President Sergio Mattarella in Rome.

The official meeting ceremony was broadcast live on the YouTube channel of the Office of the President of Ukraine, according to Ukrinform.

The Italian leader met the Ukrainian president near the Quirinal Palace in Rome. After a short handshake, the heads of state listened to the anthems of the two countries. This is Zelensky's first visit to Italy after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

In a post on Telegram, Zelensky thanked his Italian counterpart for his consistent position on support for Ukraine.

"We appreciate the important military assistance that gives our country the capacity to resist Russian aggression. The key to our success on the battlefield is the timely reception of the necessary assistance. Italy has been on the right side, on the side of truth in this war. We are moving towards victory," he added.

Zelensky said that victory means peace for the Ukrainian state.

Photo: Rainews
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Italian President Sergio Mattarella have discussed support for Ukraine, the peace formula, increasing sanctions pressure on Russia and bringing the aggressor to justice.

That's according to the press service of the head of state, Ukrinform reports.

"Unfortunately, I don't have time to shake hands with everyone, hug them, thank them for the support that Italy provided to Ukraine, our people, displaced persons, from the first day of the full-scale aggression, to thank them for such a warm attitude towards Ukrainians," Zelensky said.

He expressed gratitude for Italy's consistent stance on support for Ukraine and assistance to the country in defending its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"We are extremely grateful to Italy for the important defense assistance that enables Ukraine to resist Russian aggression. The key to our success on the battlefield is timely receipt of the necessary assistance," Zelensky said.

He expressed hope for further extensive support from Italy. In addition, he noted the need for further strengthening of international pressure on the aggressor country, in particular, via new sanctions.

"In this war, Italy was and remains on the right side, on the side of truth. We are moving towards victory. Because victory also means peace for our country. I am sure that Italian society fully shares our attitude, our just struggle against Russia's unprovoked war," Zelensky said.

The leaders of the two countries dwelled on Ukraine's efforts to restore peace based on the Ukrainian Peace Formula.

"I highly appreciate Italy's readiness to join the implementation of our Peace Formula. I count on Italy's participation in the Global Peace Summit, which will take place this year," Zelensky said.

Read also: Ukrainian president meets with Italian PM

He also praised Italy's support for international efforts to hold Russia accountable for crimes in Ukraine. He specially thanked Italy for its support for the relevant work of the International Criminal Court and participation in the Core Group on the creation of a Special Tribunal on the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

On May 13, Zelensky is on his first visit to Italy since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine
President Volodymyr Zelensky has invited political leaders and public figures of Italy to visit Ukraine and see with their own eyes the aftermath of Russian aggression.

He said this during a joint press conference with President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic Giorgia Meloni in Rome, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"I want to invite now all political leaders of Italy, all your public figures to visit our country, talk personally with people, ordinary people. It seems to me that if you see with your own eyes what is happening and what one person - Putin - has done there, then everyone will finally understand why we are resisting the evil. We are just fighting for our lives," Zelensky said.

Read also: Zelensky says decisions made with Italian partners on protection of Ukrainian skies

He thanked Meloni for her recent visit to Kyiv, stressing that it was a "very important signal", and recalled that former Prime Minister of Italy Mario Draghi visited Ukraine and saw the devastating aftermath of this bloody war.

On behalf of the Ukrainians, the President thanked the Italians for their support of Ukraine, stressing that Ukraine seeks peace.

"Perhaps, someone who has not seen what Russia's aggression is, thinks that it might not matter how it all ends, who wins. But this is a question of when Russian bombs will finally stop destroying Ukrainian villages and every Ukrainian family will be sure that their house or apartment will not be destroyed by this or that missile or long-range artillery," Zelensky added.

As reported by Ukrinform, President Volodymyr Zelensky is on his first visit to Italy since the beginning of Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Photo: Ukrainian Presidents Office
| By Alex Likowski

This museum is a celebration of excellence. And it's a celebration of a family, Maryland Governor Wes Moore told a full house in the auditorium of the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture in Baltimore May 10. Moore and Baltimore civic, business, and cultural leaders were invited by the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) to a night honoring Loida Lewis, chair and CEO of TLC Beatrice, LLC, and now author of the new book, Why Should Guys Have all the Fun?

The books title itself is an homage to her late husband Reginald Lewis iconic business memoir, Why Should White Guys Have all the Fun? His book told how the Wall Street titan built a business empire  Beatrice International  and became the wealthiest Black man in America. Her story expands the narrative of their lives, exploring Loida Lewis life from her upbringing in the Philippines to her rise as a tough immigration lawyer in New York, and goes deeply into the Lewis whirlwind romance and the immense challenges she faced following Reginalds untimely death. Most of all, Why Should Guys Have all the Fun? shows how grit and faith together can overcome anything.

(l-r) Bruce Jarrell, Loida Lewis, and Luke Cooper

Those of you who have her book, it's got some interesting passages in it, UMB President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS, addressed the audience. One really stuck out in my mind because it reminded me so much of UMB. Jarrell explained Lewis work for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service put her face to face with people who didnt have a lawyer or many resources and couldnt navigate the federal bureaucracy. And the point that drove home to me, something really important was that those were the ones she really paid attention to, because that those were the ones that nobody else would pay attention to. The staff attorneys, the other ones wanted to take care of the higher profile or the ones with an attorney, and Auntie Loida took care of those people, the people in need. You know who they are, they're the people that get left out.

Moore, a friend of the Lewis family, also explained why the book resonated with him. She talks about the people who need support and mentorship and the people who she has guided and helped throughout her life. One of those people is my mom, Moore explained. Because years ago, when she first had a chance to meet my mom, and she first had a chance to hear her story, that bond became immediate. And that bond became unbreakable. I cannot tell you enough how much your example still continues to mean her. Because what you showed is an ability to know that even when all things seem dark, that if you just push hard, that the light is ahead. And that the legacy that you're building is one that all people can and will be proud of.

For much of the evening, the audience was treated to a discussion with Loida Lewis led by UMB Distinguished Presidents Scholar Luke T. Cooper, JD, MBA. At one point, Cooper asked Lewis to apply her experience to the challenges facing entrepreneurs  particularly Black and women entrepreneurs  today in Baltimore. There are a lot of people in this city Auntie Loida that are doing their very best. We've got 1,500 women-owned businesses in the city that are undercapitalized, he said. Baltimore brings in roughly 300 million plus in venture capital every year. Not even 1% of that goes to black entrepreneurs in this city. What do you say to them?

Slavery is the original sin of the United States. And racism still exists, discrimination. prejudice. And so, it is up to people who have power. And I'm so glad that our governor is the first black governor of Maryland. Yes. But in the end, it's people who have power. Lewis went on to explain how her husband used his great talent to overcome the challenges facing a prospective law student in 1965. The Rockefeller Foundation sponsored 80 students from historically black colleges and universities to attend an eight-week summer program at Harvard University. Lewis so impressed the school that he was asked by the law dean to enroll that fall without even applying.

So, I want to fast forward to today, Cooper continued, We have 4000 plus boards, corporate boards out there, you know, less than 10% of them are represented by women, less than 5% of them are represented by women of color. In the wake of George Floyd, corporations made a big commitment. They said they were going to give maybe $100 billion, $50 billion to various causes around racial equality. That has not happened. Why do you why do you think that's not happened?

Because after they have said that, Lewis replied, we who are involved just quieted down. There is no news follow up. And even organizations that not for profit, even Black companies, Latino, are not demanding it. So, I'm just saying, if you don't demand, they will not listen. The squeaky wheel gets the oil. And there's no squeaky wheel. So that's what I'm saying.

How did Loida Lewis come to run Beatrice International after her husbands death, Cooper asked. Lewis explained that her husbands plan if he should pass away was to ask Colin Powell, then chairman of the joint chiefs of staff of the U.S. Department of Defense to take over. Powell declined, and Lewis was unimpressed by the candidates she interviewed. None of them would say, I will make it succeed. It's, I will try my best.

Questions from the audience also yielded some powerful insights.
Celebrations of motherhood abound in Colorado this weekend among both people and animals who call the state home.

In both zoos and wildlife refuges across the state, spring is breeding season for many animal species, highlighting the joy, strength and care of mothers across the animal kingdom just in time for Mother's Day Sunday.

The Denver Zoo, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge have welcomed many new additions to their animal squads, none possible without the courage and care of their mothers.

The Denver Zoo is celebrating Mother's Day for several new baby animals and their moms

Most recently, the Denver Zoo, at 2300 Steele St., has welcomed new eastern bongos, two-toed sloths, African penguins, Humboldt penguins, otters and currently has a pregnant Sumatran orangutan, according to Denver Zoo staff.

Along with celebrating motherhood and new life, the Zoo is also celebrating conservation wins for some of these species that are considered threatened or endangered.

Eastern bongos: "Fiddle" and "Clementine"

The zoo welcomed two new eastern bongos, Fiddle and Clementine, early this year. The species is considered critically endangered, making the two new births "huge conservation wins," according to zoo staff.

Fiddle was born Jan. 25 to mom Fern. Fiddle is curious and playful, running around with her half-sister, Clementine.

Clementine, born Feb. 16 is a "momma's girl" who likes to stick close to Columbine, according to zoo staff. She's slowly coming out of her shell and gaining confidence with the guidance of Fiddle, who is introducing her to the "zoomies."

The mother and daughter pair are often found snuggling and taking naps in the sun.

Linnaeus' two-toed sloth: "Wicket"

Wicket the two-toed sloth was born Jan. 26 to mom Charlotte.

Charlotte's trusting relationship with the zoo's animal care and health teams allowed for regular ultrasounds, checkups and weigh-ins during her pregnancy, according to Zoo staff.

Wicket is getting more and more independent by the day, starting to eat solid foods and explore his habitat without Charlotte. He still needs his mother, though, and doesn't venture very far before returning to her for safety and comfort.

Wicket's name came from a naming fundraiser. He was officially named Wicket after four weeks and more than 3,000 votes.

African Penguins: chick (name TBA) and "Gwen"

The newest African penguin, whose name and sex will be announced soon, was born March 10 to mom Empanada.

African penguins are considered endangered, making the new chicks a conservation win for the species.

Empanada and dad Roast Beef reared the chick for the first month and animal care specialists are finishing the process until the chick fully fledges in a few weeks.

Human interaction during the chick's rearing process will allow it to be more comfortable with the zoo's bird team for future care and handling, according to zoo staff. The chick, who is calm, curious and friendly, is also slowly being socialized with the rest of the penguin flock.

Mom Sinclair welcomed chick Gwen on Nov. 10, 2022.

Gwen marked many fun firsts for the zoo's bird team, as the first African penguin chick hatched at the zoo in three years, first penguin chick in the zoo's new Pinnacol African Penguin Point habitat and first chick for Sinclair and breeding partner Wesson.

Gwen loves swimming, soaking in the sun with her mom and interacting with zoo guests through the glass, according to zoo staff. She is out and about with the flock, identified by her small size and grey and black feathers.

Humboldt penguins: chicks (names TBA)

The zoo welcomed two new Humboldt penguins in late February, one female and a second whose sex is to be determined by a DNA test, according to zoo staff.

The female chick was born Feb. 22 to penguin parents Jermaine and Baby. The second chick was born Feb. 25 to parents Milo and Porkchop. The chicks are reportedly doing well, but will remain behind the scenes until they fledge.

Asian small-clawed otters: pups (names TBA)

Otter mom Bu welcomed two male otter pups on April 14. It is Bu and dad Pintar's second litter, adding to their family of three. The pups' big brother, Jai, was born July 1, 2022, according to zoo staff.

The otter family will remain behind the scenes until the pups can open their eyes and navigate on their own.

Sumatran orangutan: "Eirina" is pregnant!

Sumatran orangutan mother Eirina is expecting her first baby in late July or early August. Her species is considered critically endangered and the zoo has not welcomed a baby orangutan since 2018.

The new baby will bring the orangutan group total to six, including Eirina, Hesty, Cerah, Berani and Jaya.

The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo recently welcomed three new baby animals

When babies are born at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, at 4250 Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Rd. in Colorado Springs, zookeepers rely on the animal mothers and the trust they've developed with keepers, according to zoo spokesperson Heidi Lopez.

Most of the zoo's animal mothers instinctively know what to do as mothers and don't require much assistance from the animal care team, according to Lopez. The mothers' positive reinforcement training encourages the babies to move from space to space following their mothers.

The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo's newest addition include a giraffe, a red river hog and a Rocky Mountain goat.

Reticulated giraffe: "Wednesday"

On Oct. 19, 2022, just before Halloween, giraffe mom Bailey welcomed her second daughter, Wednesday, named by popular vote and in honor of the Halloween-themed character.

Wednesday is the 203rd giraffe calf born to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo family and is an outgoing and intelligent new member of the zoo's 18-giraffe herd, according to zoo staff.

At seven months, Wednesday is weaning off nursing and gaining independence, but still spends her nights with Bailey.

Wednesday's small size, intelligence and confidence lead her to wiggle her way between the legs of her full-grown herd-mates to get right up close to guests for a lettuce snack at the zoo's giraffe feeding experience, according to zoo staff.

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Red river hog: "Augustus" or "Gus"

Red river hog mom Zena, 9, surprised zoo staff with new hoglet Augustus, "Gus," on Aug. 12, 2022. Gus was born with tiny pink hooves, a "dazzling" orange coat with brown stripes and spots and a big personality, according to zoo staff.

Hoglets are born with stripes and spots that generally fade in about six months. The pattern, often described as looking like a watermelon pattern, acts as vital camouflage for young hogs.

Gus, now nine months, has grown into his orange-red coat just like Zena's. He spends much of his time zooming around his exhibit and nudging his mom and rolling around near her to encourage her to play.

The mother-sun duo enjoy a nice mud wallow on warm days.

Rocky Mountain Goat: "Blanca"

Rocky Mountain goat mom Lena, 4, welcomed kid Blanca on May 4, 2022. Blanca was on her feet working out her wobbly legs within minutes, according to zoo staff.

Lena, a first-time mother, took a little while to get the hang of nursing, but has since fully embraced motherhood. She is both attentive to Blanca and a perfect playmate.

Blanca is learning how to run, jump and play in the yards and on the zoo's rocky cliff with Lena at her side, showing her how the ways of the Rocky Mountain goats.

Many animals at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge are welcoming babies.

Unlike animals at zoos, viewed from outside the safety of their enclosures, animals at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge  a 15,988-acre refuge located eight miles northeast of downtown Denver  are best viewed from a distance.

Refuge spokesperson Megan Klosterman reminded people to resist the temptation to touch or handle babies. Mothers will often leave newborns alone while they feed, causing people to think the animals are orphaned when they are not, according to refuge staff.

The refuge has recently welcome baby black-footed ferrets, bison, prairie dogs, deer, Canada geese and bald eagles.

Black-footed ferrets

Ferret breeding season is from mid-March to early April and ferret mothers give birth underground to three to four baby ferrets, or kits, within 45 days, according to refuge staff.

Kits are entirely dependent on their mothers at birth and their eyes don't open until they are 37 days old. Around July, kits mature enough to venture aboveground and, at about 100 days old, leave their mothers' dens.

Black-footed ferrets are an elusive and solitary species with the exception of breeding season and when mothers are raising their young.

Plains bison

Bison calves, commonly called red dogs for the reddish fur they have in their first few months of life, are typically born from May to April.

At the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, however, they can be born year-round and the refuge herd typically produces between 40 and 50 bison calves each year, according to refuge staff.

Bison calves nurse with their mothers for about six months until they are weaned onto grass. Male calves generally become independent of their mothers at this point and female calves take a few more months.

Black-tailed prairie dogs

Black-tailed prairie dogs' breeding season is from mid-March to mid-April, with moms typically having litters of two-to-eight pups.

Prairie dog mothers line their burrows with grass to create a nest chamber in preparation for their pups and, in May and June, the pups emerge from the burrows.

The babies separate from their families after about three months.

Mule and white-tailed deer

Mule and white-tailed deer, two separate species with similar breeding and maternal habits, usually welcome fawns in early June.

Deer fawns typically weigh six-to-eight pounds and have reddish-brown coats with white spots to help them camouflage from predators.

Fawns can stand on their own within a couple hours of birth, but rely on standing still as their main defense mechanism until they are strong enough to run, according to refuge staff.

Fawns rely on their mothers, does, to leave them in safe areas while the does feed then return to nurse. Does always know where their fawns are and never stray very far from them. Spending time away from their fawns allows the fawns to remain scent-less and protect them from predators.

The two species can be most easily told apart by their tails. While mule deer have rope-like white tails with black tips, white-tailed deer have larger, fluffier tails with a white underside that sticks up when they are alert.

Canada geese

Canada geese breeding season begins in early April and their babies, goslings, hatch in May.

Mother geese build nests of grass and other plant material near water and add their own down feathers to keep their five to six eggs warm, according to refuge staff.

Canada goose parenting is a two-parent task, with the mother incubating alone and the male goose staying nearby to stand guard. Both parents care for the goslings and the family stays together during winter migration.

Bald eagles

Bald eagle eaglets hatch in late March and early April and mothers lay one to three eggs.

The refuge has three nesting pairs, which produce eaglets every season, according to refuge staff.

Bald eagle parents build some of the largest of all bird nests, usually about five to six feet in diameter and two to four feet tall.

Bald eagle parenting is also a two-parent job, with both parents take turns keeping the eggs warm and defending the territory

At about 10 to 12 weeks, eaglets can fledge the nest but remain dependent on their parents for food. Eaglets become self-sufficient at about 17-to-23 weeks.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) returned to the Senate this week after an illness forced her prolonged absence, causing her to miss votes and put certain Biden judicial nominations on hold.

Feinstein, 89, faced pressure to resign from fellow Democrats as her nearly three-month absence put the party's narrow 51-49 control of the upper chamber in peril and the Senate Judiciary Committee's ability to confirm liberal judges on ice.

SCHIFF'S COFFERS STUFFED AHEAD OF RACE TO REPLACE FEINSTEIN IN THE SENATE

Feinstein arrived to work in a wheelchair and announced she would have to work a "lighter schedule" as she has lingering symptoms associated with her shingles diagnosis.

Also this week, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) held a press conference unveiling a new report alleging $10 million flowed from foreign countries into bank accounts tied to Biden family members. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) met with President Joe Biden at the White House to discuss raising the debt ceiling limit. And the pandemic-era policy Title 42 ended at the border, sparking rebuke from centrists that Biden has enabled a migrant crisis at the southern border.

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Here's a look at scenes from the week of May 8, 2023, captured by Washington Examiner photographer Graeme Jennings.

Feinstein returns to Senate using a wheelchair after nearly three-month absence

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is assisted to a wheelchair by staff as she returns to the Senate after a nearly three-month absence with shingles, at the Capitol, Wednesday, May 10, 2023. Graeme Jennings/Graeme Jennings

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is assisted to a wheelchair by staff as she returns to the Senate after a nearly three-month absence with shingles, at the Capitol, Wednesday, May 10, 2023. Graeme Jennings/Graeme Jennings

Congressional leaders meet with Biden at the White House to avoid debt ceiling crisis

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speak to the media during a press conference in front of the West Wing at the White House on May 9, 2023, in Washington, D.C. President Joe Biden met with Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate to discuss debt ceiling negotiations. Graeme Jennings/Graeme Jennings

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks to the media during a press conference in front of the West Wing at the White House on May 9, 2023, in Washington, D.C. President Joe Biden met with Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate to discuss debt ceiling negotiations. Graeme Jennings/Graeme Jennings

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) speak to the media during a press conference in front of the West Wing at the White House on May 9, 2023, in Washington, D.C. President Joe Biden met with Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate to discuss debt ceiling negotiations.

Graeme Jennings/Graeme Jennings

House Oversight Committee Republicans release new report on Biden family finances

House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-KY) speaks during a news conference on the committee's investigation into the Biden family on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 10, 2023. Graeme Jennings/Graeme Jennings

Rep. Nancy Mace calls on DOJ to 'get off its ass' and investigate Biden family finances

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) speaks to reporters following a news conference on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability investigation into the Biden Family on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 10, 2023. Graeme Jennings/Graeme Jennings

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema calls Biden administration handling of Title 42 'unacceptable'

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) speaks during a pen and pad session with reporters about Title 42, on Capitol Hill, Thursday, May 11, 2023 Graeme Jennings/Graeme Jennings

Original Location: Ailing Dianne Feinstein returns to Senate on 'lighter' schedule: Washington Photos of the Week

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The investment will be made in preparing feasibility, reserve report, upgradation of mining procedures and processes, construction of world class processing and packaging facility and community development programs.

WASHINGTON: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-May 13rd, 2023) An American leading company in import, manufacture and supply of sea salt Miracle Saltworks Collective Incorporation says it is planning to invest nearly 200 million Dollars in curating, processing, distributing and importing Pink Himalayan Salt in Pakistan.

This was stated during a briefing by top leadership Miracle Saltworks Collective Inc. (MSCI) to Pakistans Ambassador to the United States Masood Khan in Washington.

It was informed that Pakistan, with its geographical monopoly of the resource, has a huge reserves of Pink Salt with a potential earning of 12 billion dollars annually.

The investment would be made in preparing feasibility, reserve report, upgradation of mining procedures and processes, construction of world class processing and packaging facility and community development programs. According an estimate, the country possesses approximately 22.22 billion tons of the natural resource, concentrated mostly in Salt Range areas of Kala Bagh, Warcha, Khewra and Bahadur Khel, with an immense potential of kick-starting massive economic activity.

The delegation include President and CEO Ahmed N. Khan, Vice President Tad M. Ballantyne, CCO Muhammad M. Khan, Director Jeffry Meilander, and others. It was informed that currently Pakistan was retaining 70 million dollars only in lieu of export of this unique natural resource due to lack of policy framework and adequate facilities for processing, packaging and world-wide distribution.

Ambassador Masood Khan welcomed MSCIs interest in making investment and promoting Pink Salt industry in the country. He said the government is committed to provide every possible facilitations to international investors and business community intending to invest in traditional and non-traditional sectors of the economy. The Ambassador said that Pakistan due to its unique geostrategic location is poised to serve a vast market of Central and West Asia, middle East and North Africa.

The Ambassador assured leadership of Miracle Saltworks Collective Inc. of every possible support of the Embassy in facilitating early finalization and implementation of their business plan in the country.
(@FahadShabbir)

Rome, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th May, 2023 ) :Carlos Alcaraz marked his return to the world number one ranking by comfortably seeing off fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-4, 6-1 in his first ever match at the Italian Open.

In-form Alcaraz ensured top spot just by taking to the court to play his second round match in Rome as he seeks a third straight tournament win.

The 20-year-old will overtake Novak Djokovic in the ATP rankings and is now assured of the top seeding at the French Open later this month.

The Spaniard became the youngest ever world number one thanks to his US Open triumph last September, with Djokovic denied entry to the United States because of his Covid vaccination status.

Alcaraz will begin his 23rd week at world number one on May 22.

The second seed arrived in the Italian capital on a fine run after back-to-back clay court titles in Barcelona and Madrid, and he made short work of Ramos-Vinolas.

He took control of the match in what turned out to be the final game of the first set, breaking Ramos-Vinolas to take the lead in what had been up to that point a hard-fought match.

From there Alcaraz went through the gears, unleashing a wide repertoire of shots which left Ramos-Vinolas bamboozled and set up a third round clash with either Jiri Lehecka or Fabian Marozsan.
Hyderabad, India, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th May, 2023 ) :Indian batsman Prerak Mankad and Nicholas Pooran steered Lucknow Super Giants to a seven-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in an IPL match marred by unruly fans on Saturday.

Chasing 183 for victory, Lucknow looked in trouble at 54-2 in 8.2 overs but Mankad's 64 and a series of key partnerships including an unbeaten 58-run stand with left-handed Pooran guided Hyderabad to victory with four balls to spare.

Mankad, an up-and-coming batsman, first set the pace with a 73-run partnership with Marcus Stoinis, who hit a 25-ball 40.

Mankad raced to his maiden IPL fifty and then changed gears with Pooran, who scored a rapid 44 off 13 balls.

The West Indian smashed three consecutive sixes in a 31-run over as Lucknow moved into the top four to bolster their playoff hopes.

South Africa's Heinrich Klaasen stood out with 47 for Hyderabad, in an innings interrupted by crowd trouble as the home team lost momentum and finally the match to stay in ninth position.

Things got heated in the crowd after Hyderabad's Abdul Samad, who hit an unbeaten 37, received a waist-high delivery that was called a no-ball by the on-field umpire but overturned on review.

The delivery appeared to be above the batsman's waist but Lucknow reviewed it in their favour, cancelling out the run and the free hit.

Home fans got into an altercation with the Lucknow dugout, prompting a stoppage of play, with Klaasen dismissed a ball later.

"Disappointed by the crowd to be honest, that's not what you want," said Klaasen after his 29-ball knock.

"That also broke the momentum, not great umpiring either, but you can't take matters in your own hands." Klaasen has been handed a fine with 10 percent docked from his match fee for an offence, "which states the use of public criticism/inappropriate comment in the IPL's Code of Conduct".

Lucknow's Amit Mishra was reprimanded for "abuse of equipment during the match".

The no-ball decision was slammed by experts including Tom Moody, who tweeted, "How can the 3rd umpire take that long to make the wrong decision?"Lucknow skipper Krunal Pandya returned impressive figures of 2-24 as he struck on successive balls to take down his counterpart Aiden Markram, for 28, and Glenn Phillips, for a duck.
(@FahadShabbir)

Ukraine used two Anglo-French Storm Shadow cruise missiles and one US-made ADM-160 MALD decoy missile to shell Luhansk on May 12, the representative office of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of issues related to Ukraine's war crimes (JCCC) said on Saturday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th May, 2023) Ukraine used two Anglo-French Storm Shadow cruise missiles and one US-made ADM-160 MALD decoy missile to shell Luhansk on May 12, the representative office of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of issues related to Ukraine's war crimes (JCCC) said on Saturday.

Earlier, a Sputnik correspondent reported there were two explosions in Luhansk on Friday. The JCCC said that Kiev used two Ukrainian-made Grom missiles. Six children were injured as a result of the attack.

"According to specified information, on May 12, 2023, during a missile attack on the city of Luhansk, the Ukrainian armed forces used two Storm Shadow cruise missiles (Anglo-French production) and one anti-air defense missile ADM-160B MALD (US production)," the LPR's representative office said on Telegram.

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed on Saturday that the strikes were carried out "using Storm Shadow missiles supplied to the Kiev regime by the UK, contrary to London's assertions that these weapons would not be used against civilian targets." The missile attack targeted a polymer manufacturing factory Polipak and a meat processing plant Milam in the city of Luhansk, causing a fire on their premises and damaging nearby residential buildings.

Some civilians, including six children, were injured as a result, the ministry added.

Two Ukrainian military aircraft involved in the shelling, namely a Su-24 bomber and a MiG-29 fighter jet that was escorting it, were shot down by Russian fighter aircraft, according to the ministry.

Ukraine used a Storm Shadow missile again at 9:15 a.m. (06:15 GMT) on Saturday to shell the village of Yuvileine in Luhansk, the LPR's representative office said. The shelling injured an elderly woman and damaged seven residential buildings, 15 cars, 25 garages and a power line, the office added.

On Thursday, UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace confirmed that London is sending Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles to Kiev. The minister dodged giving a straightforward answer to a question whether there are any restrictions on the use of the missiles by Kiev by saying that he will not "talk in public" about possible limitations, as this is very sensitive information. The Russian Foreign Ministry slammed London's move as it leads to a serious escalation of tensions.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

The deputy leader of Turkey's Republican People's Party (CHP), headed by presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, told Sputnik the opposition wanted to bolster ties with Russia in the event of electoral win

ISTANBUL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th May, 2023) The deputy leader of Turkey's Republican People's Party (CHP), headed by presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, told Sputnik the opposition wanted to bolster ties with Russia in the event of electoral win.

"We are a party that believes that it is important to have a good relationship with Russia. Not only with Russia, but with all of our neighbors ... There are a number of problems (in Turkey's ties with Russia) but we want to solve them through dialogue and bring the ties to a new level," Oguz Salici said.

Kilicdaroglu is the main challenger of sitting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in this Sunday's presidential election. Kilicdaroglu is backed by a six-party opposition alliance.

Salici said CHP was open to deepening economic cooperation with Russia, going forward.

"We can bolster trade. The tourist sector is of high importance to us. We are committed to promoting development and prosperity in the region. We are not prejudiced against having a relationship with Russia," the CHP deputy leader said.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th May, 2023)  The Belarusian Energy Ministry said on Saturday that the second power unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (BelNPP) has been connected to the country's energy system and generated first kilowatt hours of electricity.

"On May 13, 2023, at 13:24 (10:24 GMT), in accordance with the staged power start-up program, the first connection to the network of the second power unit of the BelNPP took place. He contributed the first kilowatt-hours of electric power to the country's unified energy system," the ministry said on Telegram.

The ministry also noted that the reactor unit had to be brought to a critical state first, before reaching a minimally controlled power level, which, then, allowed to increase its capacity to 40%. Only after all the above-mentioned stages were completed, the second power unit's turbogenerator was synchronized with the energy system, according to the statement. All technological procedures were carried out in full compliance with the necessary safety requirements, the ministry added.

"One of the most important and critical sub-stages of the power unit start-up was completed, which is the result of large-scale work ... The second power unit of the BelNPP was successfully introduced in the unified energy system, the electricity it generates is supplied to the country's consumers," Belarusian Energy Minister Victor Karankevich said.

According to the statement, in the near future, specialists will work to increase the unit's reactor capacity up to 100%. The commissioning of the second unit is scheduled for later this year.

The BelNPP, also known as the Astravets NPP, located near Astravyets in Grodno Region in north-western Belarus, near the Belarus-Lithuanian border. It is powered by two Russian-made VVER-1200 reactors with a total capacity of 2,218 megawatts. The first unit became fully operational in June 2021.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th May, 2023) Air raid warnings were issued in several regions of Ukraine late on Friday night, according to air raid data from the country's Ministry of Digital Transformation.

Air raid sirens went off in the Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, as well as the Ukraine-controlled parts of Zaporizhzhia region and the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) shortly before midnight, the ministry's online map showed.

Later in the night, air raid sirens went off in the regions of Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kirovohrad, Cherkasy, Chernihiv and Sumy, as well as the Ukraine-controlled parts of Kherson region.

Precision strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure have been carried out by Russia since October 10 (two days after the terrorist attack on the Crimean Bridge).

In February, the head of Ukrainian power grid operator Ukrenergo said that direct damage to Ukraine's energy infrastructure caused by Russian strikes may amount to hundreds of millions of Dollars, with economic losses ranging in billions.
The United States is throwing its support behind a bid to document damages from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which hopes the effort will lead to post-war reparations, according to a letter seen Friday by AFP

United Nations, United States, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th May, 2023 ):The United States is throwing its support behind a bid to document damages from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which hopes the effort will lead to post-war reparations, according to a letter seen Friday by AFP.

The UN General Assembly in a non-binding November vote backed the idea of an "international register" that would document damages across Ukraine from the war unleashed by Russia in February 2022.

Earlier this year, Marija Pejcinovic Buric, the head of the Council of Europe, proposed that the Strasbourg-based group take the lead on the register.

The 46-nation Council, founded in 1949, seeks to uphold democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Its members are holding a meeting Tuesday in Reykjavik devoted mostly to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In a letter ahead of the meeting, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations who will represent Washington, an observer to the Council, at the summit, said the United States would provide funding and serve as an "associate member" of the nascent register.

"As President Biden has stated, the United States has committed to holding Russia accountable for its war of aggression against Ukraine," Thomas-Greenfield wrote in a letter to Buric seen by AFP.

"Establishing a Register of Damage to document claims of damage from Russia's brutal war is a critical step in this effort," she wrote.

The World Bank estimated in March that Ukraine's reconstruction and recovery needs amounted to $411 billion, 2.6 times the country's estimated 2022 gross domestic product.

The United States in March also voiced support for another international effort on Ukraine -- a special tribunal to consider the crime of aggression.

Ahead of her trip, Thomas-Greenfield spoke by telephone on Friday with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

The US ambassador discussed efforts to renew a UN-backed deal to ensure exports of grain from Ukraine, a key breadbasket, said her spokesman, Nate Evans.

After negotiations led by Turkey and the United Nations, Russia in July agreed to the initiative which ensures shipments from Black Sea ports but has not committed to a new renewal next week.
By Philip Pullella and Gavin Jones

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy asked Pope Francis on Saturday to back Kyiv's peace plan, and the pope indicated the Vatican would help in the repatriation of Ukrainian children taken by Russians.

"It is a great honour," Zelenskiy told Francis, putting his hand to his heart and bowing his head as he greeted the 86-year-old pope, who stood with a cane.

Earlier on Saturday, Zelenskiy met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who promised full military and financial backing for Ukraine and reiterated support for its EU membership bid.

Zelenskiy, who was visiting Rome for the first time since the war began, spoke with the pope for 40 minutes and presented him with a bulletproof vest that had been used by a Ukrainian soldier and later painted with an image of the Madonna.

A Vatican statement said that in their private talks, Zelenskiy and the pope discussed "humanitarian gestures", which a Vatican source said was a reference to the Vatican's willingness to help with the repatriation of Ukrainian children.

Kyiv estimates nearly 19,500 children have been taken to Russia or Russian-occupied Crimea since February 2022, in what it condemns as illegal deportations.

"We must make every effort to return them home," Zelenskiy said in a Tweet afterwards, saying he had discussed it with the pope.

Zelenskiy also said he asked the pope to "join" Kyiv's 10-point peace plan.

It calls for restoring Ukraine's territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities, and the restoration of Ukraine's state borders. Zelenskiy has repeatedly said the plan is not open to negotiation.

At the start of the war, the pope tried to take a balanced approach in hopes of being a mediator but later began forcefully condemning Russia's actions, comparing them to some of the worst crimes against Ukraine during the Soviet era.

"I asked (the pope) to condemn Russian crimes in Ukraine. Because there can be no equality between the victim and the aggressor," Zelenskiy said in his Tweet.

Returning from a trip to Hungary on April 30, Francis made an intriguing but puzzling comment about the Vatican being involved in a mission to try to end the war. "There is a mission in course now but it is not yet public. When it is public, I will reveal it," he told reporters during his flight home.

But the Vatican statement made no mention of any such mission and later in an Italian television interview Zelenskiy appeared to rule out a mediation outside of Kyiv's own peace plan. "Putin only kills. We don't need a mediation with him," he said.

PLEAS FOR PEACE

Francis has pleaded for peace practically on a weekly basis, and has repeatedly expressed a wish to act as a broker between Kyiv and Moscow by visiting both capitals. His offer has so far failed to produce any breakthrough.

Earlier, both Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella reiterated Italy's full support for Ukraine in terms of military, financial, humanitarian and reconstruction aid in the short and long term.

At a news conference, Meloni condemned Russia's "brutal and unjust aggression", pledged Italy's support for Ukraine for "as long as is necessary" and urged Russia to immediately withdraw.

"You can't achieve peace through a surrender," she said. "It would be a very grave precedent for all nations of the world."

She emphasised Italy's support for Ukraine's membership of the European Union and the "intensification" of a partnership with NATO.

As he headed to the presidential palace, Zelenskiy's motorcade passed by small groups of people holding Ukrainian flags. One person held up a sign condemning Russia.

Zelenskiy flew to Rome on an Italian government plane that was escorted over Italian airspace by fighter jets.

He is due to visit Berlin on Sunday, German government sources told Reuters on Saturday.

(Reporting by Philip Pullella; editing by Jason NeelyAdditional reporting by Olena Harmash, Max Hunder, Gavin Jones and Giselda Vagnoni; editing by Frances Kerry, Helen Popper and Mark Potter)
For four hours, Raymond V. Buelna, a cultural leader for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, sat on a metal bench in a concrete holding space at the U.S.-Mexico border, separated from the two people he was taking to an Easter ceremony on tribal land in Arizona and wondering when they might be released.

It was February 2022 and Buelna, a U.S. citizen, was driving the pair  both from the sovereign Native American nation's related tribal community in northwestern Mexico  from their home to the reservation southwest of Tucson. They'd been authorized by U.S. officials to cross the border. But when Buelna asked an agent why they were detained, he was told to wait for the officer who brought him in.

"They know that we're coming," said Buelna, who has made the trip for a variety of ceremonies for 20 years. "We did all this work and then we're still sitting there."

Now, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe is trying to change this  for themselves and potentially dozens of other tribes in the U.S.

'Something that will help everybody'

Tribal officials have drafted regulations to formalize the border-crossing process, working with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's recently formed Tribal Homeland Security Advisory Council, made up of 15 Native officials across the U.S.

Their work could provide a template for dozens of Native American nations whose homelands, like those of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, were sliced in two by modern-day U.S. borders.

If approved, the rules would become the first clearly established U.S. border crossing procedures specific to a Native American tribe that could then be used by other tribes, according to Christina Leza, associate professor of anthropology at Colorado College.

The regulations would last five years, to be renewed and amended as needed, and require training local U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and consular personnel on the tribe's cultural heritage, language and traditions. It would require a Yaqui interpreter to be available when needed. It also would require close coordination with the tribe, so border crossings are prompt.

"This is just something that will help everybody," said Fred Urbina, attorney general for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. "It will make things more efficient."

Regulations would bring 'peace of mind'

Urbina said the tribe has met with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about the proposal. DHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment by phone and email on the status of the regulations.

When family members, deer dancers or musicians living in Sonora, Mexico, make the trip into the U.S. for ceremonies, tribal recognition celebrations or family events, they are typically issued an ID card from the tribe and a visitor visa or parole permit from the U.S. government. But they can still face border officials who they say lack the cultural awareness to process them without problems.

In the last two years, Buelna said, he has made the roundtrip about 18 times and was detained on four of them. He said border officials question the people he's escorting, whose first language is Yaqui, without an interpreter, and cultural objects, such as deer and pig hooves, have been confiscated. Officials have touched ceremonial objects, despite only certain people being permitted by the tribe to do so.

As a sovereignty issue, Native American nations should be able to determine their people's ability to cross the border to preserve the ceremonial life of their communities, Leza said.

"If the federal government is saying our particular priorities, our interests in terms of securing our borders, trump your interests as a sovereign nation, then that's not really a recognition of the sovereignty of those tribal nations," she said.

Tribes along the U.S.-Canada border face similar problems.

The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians is headquartered in Michigan, but 173 of its more than 49,000 enrolled members live in Canada. Kimberly Hampton, the tribe's officer-secretary and vice chair of the Tribal Homeland Security Advisory Council, said those members cross the border for powwows, fasting and to visit with traditional healers and family, but border officials have rifled through eagle feathers and other cultural objects they are carrying.

Hampton wants an agreement that includes having tribal liaisons at border crossings and training developed by the tribe for border personnel.

Members of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe and the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, which has about 8,000 members in the U.S. and about 8,000 in Canada, said they have also been asked at the border to prove that they possess at least 50% "blood of the American Indian race." That stems from a requirement under the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act.

Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe Chief Michael L. Conners wants to eliminate the requirement and boost education for border agents on local and national tribal issues. Drafting regulations specific to the tribe, like the ones the Pascua Yaqui are doing, "would bring a lot of peace of mind to our whole community," he said.

Meanwhile, in that concrete holding space, Buelna was reunited with the two tribal members only after he told a border official that he thought they'd been overlooked following a shift change, he said.

"Why can't there be a system?" Buelna asked. "Why can't there be already a line for us where we can present the proper paperwork, everything that we need and go about our way?"
A Chinese court Thursday sentenced Yang Maodong, a veteran pro-democracy activist, to eight years in prison on subversion charges for his two-decade advocacy of rights and freedoms.

Yang, better known by his pseudonym Guo Feixiong, was sentenced by the Guangzhou Intermediate Peoples Court for "inciting subversion of state power," according to his brother, Yang Maoquan, whose message has been posted on Twitter by a network of Chinese rights lawyers. Phone calls to the court went unanswered on Friday.

The court convicted Yang, 56, for his "long-term attack and smearing of the Chinese political system" and "incitement of others to subvert state power" through his online essays and website that advocated constitutional democracy, his brother wrote in the message. He was also accused of talking to the foreign media after he was barred from travelling to the United States to see his ailing wife, Zhang Qing, in 2021. The authorities have detained him ever since. He was "formally arrested," or charged, in January of last year, two days after his wife died.

In addition, the court handed down three years of "deprivation of political rights," which forbids Yang from taking public positions, speaking publicly and publishing after he is released.

In his self-defense statement to the court, which has been posted on overseas websites, the former philosophy teacher contested the subversion charges and insisted he was innocent.

"In writing my essays and publishing them on the website I founded, I was openly exercising my basic civil and political rights, freedoms of speech and thought as well as academic freedom," he wrote. "Now they are settling accounts for my 20 years of intellectual activities, and Ive been prosecuted as a hostile forces stereotype."

He noted that he had been incarcerated for a total of 11 years in his two previous jailings and four criminal detentions in the 14 years between 2005 and 2019.

"This is my third imprisonment. From illegal publishing, gathering crowds to disturb public order to inciting subversion, I expect Ill be convicted," Guo wrote, but he swore he would not give up his values.

"From my first participation in student rallies in 1986 to now, my political aspiration has never wavered: to implement genuine freedoms, democracy, human rights and rule of law in China."

Western embassy representatives were prohibited from attending Guos sentencing.

"We continue to call for Mr. Guos speedy release so he may be reunited with his family," tweeted the U.S. Embassy in China. The EU delegation and the German ambassador, Patricia Flor, also called for his release.

A legal consultant working for Chinese lawyers Gao Zhisheng in 2005, Yang became well-known for helping people in Taishi village in southern China to defend their land rights. He was often harassed, beaten, tortured during his previous detentions and jailings. Gaos whereabouts are unknown after years of detentions and jailings, during which he was also tortured.

"This is blatant prosecution," said Yang Zili, a Chinese activist who had also been jailed for eight years on the same subversion charge and now living the United States. "No matter how peaceful and rational ones political beliefs are, as long as it deviates from the Communist Party propaganda, one has committed a thought crime."

William Nee, a U.S.-based researcher at Chinese Human Rights Defenders, a coalition of Chinese and international human rights nongovernmental organizations, called Guos sentencing "yet another instance that demonstrates the Chinese governments extreme hostility towards democracy and constitutional government.

"Its also a warning signal to anyone hit by exit bans of what might happen if they publicly object," he said.
A senior adviser to the Biden administration and other experts say that deepening cooperation between China and Russia could overturn decades of stable international nuclear arms control.

Pranay Vaddi, the U.S. National Security Council's senior director for arms control, said that China and Russia have been deepening cooperation on key technologies for nuclear weapons while strengthening ties with Iran, according to Bloomberg.

We're entering a different period, Vaddi said. He told Bloomberg that during the Cold War, the U.S. and the Soviet Union agreed to maintain a nuclear balance and limit certain types of weapons. The Cold War lasted from 1947 through 1991, and since then more countries have been developing the technologies and materials needed for weapons of mass destruction.

According to a report earlier this month in the South China Morning Post, citing the Chinese site of Russian state media, Sputnik News, a subsidiary of Russias state atomic energy corporation, Rosatom, will be allowed to export highly enriched uranium to a power plant in southeast China over the next three years. The CFR-600 power plant in Xiapu, Fujian province has two fast neutron reactors, each capable of producing 600 megawatts of power.

The uranium-235 that Russia will supply to China for the project is mainly used to fuel nuclear reactors. However, it can also be used for manufacturing nuclear weapons.

Tian Li, vice president of the nuclear power branch of the China Electric Power Promotion Council, was quoted by the South China Morning Post as saying the Fujian plant would not be used for military purposes.

Military experts believe that Russia's aid may help China expand its nuclear arsenal faster.

Anthony Cordesman, emeritus chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told VOA Mandarin in an interview, We now live in a nuclear world once again. And it is not something that seems likely to go away over the next 10 to 20 years.

Most people alive today didn't grow up at a time when basically the United States and Russia seemed to be on the edge of an actual possible nuclear conflict. The last real test of whether nuclear weapons were likely to be used was the Cuban Missile Crisis, he said, referring to the 1962 face-off over Moscows placement of nuclear missile sites in Cuba.

When Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Russia in March, President Vladimir Putin announced that Rosatom and the China Atomic Energy Agency had signed a long-term cooperation project contract to develop fast neutron reactors and closed nuclear fuel cycle systems.

Cordesman said while the agreement does not necessarily mean the two countries will cooperate to develop nuclear weapons or delivery systems, it certainly does empower China at a time when it is estimated to be wanting to expand its nuclear weapons arsenal from 250 to more than 1,200. He said China also has three new missile sites under construction and is producing nuclear submarines that can launch nuclear missiles.

Alex Wellerstein, an historian of science and nuclear technology and professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology, told VOA Mandarin in an email, The International Panel on Fissile Materials estimates that China already has some 14 metric tons of HEU (highly enriched uranium) and around three metric tons of separated plutonium (see here for a full report from a few years ago). It is enough to build as many warheads as they could ever desire, even if those estimates were significantly off.

Patty-Jane Geller, a former senior policy analyst for Nuclear Deterrence and Missile Defense at the Heritage Foundation, published an analysis in March saying nuclear cooperation between China and Russia goes back to the 1950s when the Soviet Union, consisting of Russia and 14 surrounding countries, provided material and technical assistance to China's nuclear program. Rising tensions between the two countries during the Cold War led to a halt of nuclear aid, but their cooperation resumed in the 21st century, years after the Soviet Union fell in 1991.

This development means that the more fuel Russia provides, the more plutonium China can produce. And the more plutonium China can produce, the more nuclear weapons it can build, she said.

Three senior GOP lawmakers said in a March letter to U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan that cooperation between China and Russia is a direct threat to U.S. security and called on the Biden administration to use all tools at its disposal to stop the dangerous cooperation.

A Pentagon report released in 2020 predicted that China would "at least double" the size of its nuclear warhead stockpile over the next decade. But by the end of 2022, it had already done so. Geller predicted that with help from Russia, China might be able to accelerate this buildup even further.

Some military experts worry that Xi might use China's nuclear weapons in a conflict related to Taiwan, a self-governing island that China considers its own territory. The U.S. is expected to announce $500 million in direct military assistance for Taiwan, money that would come from tapping into a congressional authorization in the 2023 budget allocating $1 billion for Taiwan, according to The Hill.

James Stavridis, a retired U.S. Navy admiral and former commander with NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told The Washington Post that if the U.S. and China enter a conventional war, theres a high risk of escalation to a nuclear war.

"Two great powers who face each other in combat are unlikely to avoid using tactical nuclear weapons, at least at sea, Stavridis said. Once that threshold is crossed, it is but a short step to a much broader nuclear conflict."
Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH) criticized Republicans who attended CNN's town hall with Donald Trump for their reaction to the former president's comments, including those directed at writer E. Jean Carroll.

"It was embarrassing," Sununu said in an interview with MSNBC's Jen Psaki, airing Sunday. "I knew pretty much everybody in that audience  they're all Trump supporters."

GLENN YOUNGKIN HINTS AT FUTURE PRESIDENTIAL RUN: 'IF WE CAN DO IT IN VIRGINIA, WE CAN DO IT ANYWHERE'

Republican Gov. Chris Sununu announces that he is seeking a fourth term as governor of New Hampshire, instead of running for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan, during a news conference, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, in Concord, N.H. Holly Ramer/AP

"I wasn't surprised to hear the support," Sununu continued. "When you're talking about a serious issue like that, and laughter and mocking and all that, it's completely inappropriate, without a doubt. And it doesn't shine a positive light on New Hampshire."

The town hall came one day after a New York jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation against Carroll, who accused him of raping her at a Bergdorf Goodman store in New York in the 1990s.

He reiterated previous claims that he had never met Carroll and that she was a "liar" during the town hall, and he blamed the outcome of the trial on political motivations.

"What's happening is they are doing this for election interference," Trump said of the trial's verdict on Wednesday. "This woman, I don't know her, I never met her, I have no idea who she is."

"This is a fake story, a made-up story," Trump continued, adding that it "wouldn't have made a difference" if he had appeared at the trial to testify.

Kaitlan Collins, CNN This Morning anchor, moderates a town hall with former President Donald Trump on Wednesday, May 10, 2023. John Nowak/CNN

He also made light of the sexual abuse he was held liable for.

"What kind of a woman meets somebody and brings them up and within minutes, you're playing hanky-panky in a dressing room?" he said, eliciting laughter from the audience.

While Sununu said the town hall did not case New Hampshire in a positive light, he argued that the audience's allegiance to the former president should not be looked over.

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"Maybe they're undeclared voters, but I believe every single one of them had voted for Trump at some point," Sununu, who had no part in choosing town hall attendees, said "I don't know  how they determined that and set that up, but obviously it was a roomful of Trump supporters."

"So no one should have been surprised to hear the support," Sununu added. "But again, on that issue, it was  I would call it embarrassing."

Original Location: New Hampshire Gov. Sununu criticizes Republicans for 'embarrassing' support of Trump

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The family of a Frenchman released this week after he had been jailed by Iran said on Saturday he was "relieved" to be back in France.

On Friday, Benjamin Briere, whose ordeal in Iran lasted three years, and French-Irish citizen Bernard Phelan, held since October, were freed from their prison in the northeastern city of Mashhad, the French foreign ministry said.

There had been grave concerns about the health of the men, both of whom had been on hunger strikes to protest their conditions.

'Relieved'

Briere, 37, was first detained while traveling in Iran in May 2020 and later sentenced to eight years in prison for espionage.

"We were able to hold him in our arms at 1930 (1730GMT) on Friday, May 12, after three years of hell," Briere's family said in a press release.

"He is, like all of us, relieved, calm, and he is trying to realize that he's really here, with us," they said. "He is, however, very weak, physically and morally, a return to normal life will be long and certainly difficult, but now he is in good hands."

Dozens of foreigners jailed

The pair were among some two dozen foreigners jailed in Iran, who campaigners see as hostages held in a deliberate strategy by Tehran to extract concessions from the West.

Four more French citizens, described previously as "hostages" by the French foreign ministry, are still in prison by Iran.

A fifth individual, French-Iranian academic Fariba Adelkhah was released from prison in February but appears still unable to leave the country.

Several U.S., German, British, Swedish and other European citizens, such as Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele  who was arrested in February 2022  also remain detained.

"All our thoughts now turn toward the five other French hostages still held in Iran," Briere's family said.

"Our thoughts are also with other families of European hostages held in Iran, with whom we share this heavy and painful battle," they said. "We send them strength and courage, and we continue to fight alongside them," they added.
The worlds biggest chocolate producers are enjoying large profits while failing to pass on the benefits to cocoa farmers, many of whom are suffering falling incomes and worsening poverty, according to a report from the charity Oxfam.

The report was published ahead of World Fair Trade Day on May 13.

Falling incomes

The analysis focuses on Ghana, the worlds second-largest producer of cocoa. The charity says farmers incomes in the country have fallen since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

An Oxfam survey of more than 400 cocoa farmers supplying chocolate corporations across Ghana found that their net incomes have fallen on average by 16 percent since 2020, with womens incomes falling by nearly 22 percent. Nine out of ten farmers said they are worse off since the pandemic, the report says.

The authors add that up to 90 percent of Ghanaian cocoa farmers do not earn a living income, meaning they cannot afford enough food or other basics such as clothing, housing and medical care. Many of the 800,000 farmers in the country survive on just $2 a day.

Several local and global factors have driven down farmers wages, said Uwe Gneiting, a co-author of the Oxfam report.

COVID, of course, was a big disruption. But then also the war in Ukraine and the resulting economic crisis, coupled with some more longer-term challenges, like the impacts of climate change and aging farms, which is a big issue in Ghana, Gneiting told VOA, adding that there are widespread social and environmental consequences.

Lower incomes really have shown to facilitate the use of children on farms, so child labor, which is a big problem of course in Ghana and other cocoa producing countries. But also deforestation - that farmers are more likely to go out and cut down more trees and or to expand their farms and to make a living.

Bumper profits

At the same time, Oxfam says profits for the worlds biggest chocolate firms have increased.

The worlds four largest public chocolate corporations, Hershey, Lindt & Sprungli, Mondelez and Nestle, have together made nearly $15 billion in profits from their confectionary divisions alone since the onset of the pandemic, up by an average 16 percent since 2020. They paid out on average more than their total net profits (113 percent) to shareholders between 2020 and 2022, the report said.

Oxfam also analyzed the wealth of the two biggest private chocolate corporations, Mars and Ferrero, which has risen by $39 billion since 2020, giving them a combined net worth of around $157 billion.

Ghana and Ivory Coast  the worlds two biggest cocoa producers - signed a deal in 2021 to try to get a bigger share of the chocolate industrys profit. The two governments set a minimum market price or living income differential for cocoa and also insist on a premium payment - an extra sum of money paid directly to farmers per ton of cocoa.

But Oxfam says the payments have failed to meaningfully increase farmers incomes.

Declining yields

Oxfam analyzed the sustainability programs of ten of the top chocolate manufacturers and traders operating in Ghana... None of the programs achieved their stated goal of increasing cocoa production and, consequently, boosting farmer income. In fact, the crop yields of farmers in the corporations supply chains declined by 25 percent between 2020 and 2022, the report said.

Cocoa farmers surveyed by Oxfam said they are being paid a premium of $35 to $40 per ton of cocoa. The average cocoa farmer in Ghana produces about one ton of cocoa annually. They need to earn $2,600 more per year to get a living income, according to the Oxfam report.

The entire supply chain is unbalanced, argues author Uwe Gneiting.

If you as a company are profitable, at the same time as the producers of your most critical raw material are falling deeper into poverty and there's something wrong with your business model, he told VOA.

Response

In an email, Lindt & Sprungli told VOA it pays Ghanaian farmers a $60 per ton premium and has invested over $20 million in cocoa sustainability programs in 2021.

The Lindt & Sprungli Farming Program aims to contribute to building resilient livelihoods for farmers, their families, and farming communities by taking a holistic approach to increasing farming household incomes. We are addressing this through a combination of measures, the email said.

Hershey told VOA in an email that the company has had a long-term commitment to supporting increased incomes for cocoa farming households. We are investing in proven approaches such as cash transfers and village savings and loan associations, implementation of sustainable and regenerative farm management practices and creating greater access to education in cocoa growing communities.

Mondelez and Nestle did not respond to VOA requests for comment.
Honduras will soon begin talks toward a trade deal with China, the Central American country's top diplomat said Friday, marking the latest step toward stronger bilateral ties between the two nations after Honduras broke off relations with Taiwan.

Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina told reporters at a press conference that the goal is to launch talks "soon" and eventually ink a "free trade" agreement with the Asian giant, the world's second-largest economy.

"It will be good news and [offer] opportunities for access to our products to China," said Reina.

In late March, Honduras ended its decadeslong diplomatic recognition of Taiwan, after President Xiomara Castro opted to open relations with China in a bid for more investment and jobs.

Coffee will be the first Honduran export to the massive Chinese market, Reina noted, adding that both countries are also evaluating future shipments of shrimp and melon to China.

Honduras is one of Central America's top coffee growers.

Reina said that China has also expressed interest in buying Honduran beef and bananas, among other products.

In April, the diplomat said Honduras also hopes to reach agreements with China to lighten the nation's debt burden with the support of financial organizations from its new partner.
Israel and the Islamic Jihad militant group in the Gaza Strip agreed to an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire late Saturday, ending five days of intense fighting that left 33 Palestinians, including at least 13 civilians dead. Two people in Israel were killed by rocket fire.

The Egyptian-brokered cease-fire took effect just after 10 p.m., with a last-minute burst of rocket fire and Israeli airstrikes stretching several minutes past the deadline announced by Egypt.

While the calm brought a sense of relief to Gaza's more than 2 million people and hundreds of thousands of Israelis who had been confined to bomb shelters in recent days, the agreement did nothing to address the underlying issues that have fueled numerous rounds of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip.

Tensions could quickly resume next week when Israel holds a contentious march through a main Palestinian thoroughfare in Jerusalem's Old City.

Celebration in the streets

Still, as the truce took hold, the deafening whooshes of outgoing rockets and booms of Israeli airstrikes was replaced by the honking of cars in Gaza. Streets that had been desolate in recent days quickly teemed with people reveling in the cease-fire, waving Palestinian flags and flashing victory signs from speeding vehicles. Amid the celebration, a fruit vendor used a loudspeaker, enthusiastically promoting his supply of bananas.

Islamic Jihad leader Mohamad al-Hindi had told the Al Kahera Wal Nas channel that the Egyptian-brokered deal would go into effect at 10 p.m. local time (1900 GMT).

"Now, this agreement has been reached thanks to continuous Egyptian effort. We appreciate this effort," he said.

There was no Israeli comment on the cease-fire announcement. But the Egyptian station had earlier reported a deal was imminent.

Egypt frequently acts as a broker between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in Gaza.

The latest violence erupted Tuesday when Israeli airstrikes killed three senior Islamic Jihad commanders. Israel said the airstrikes were in response to a heavy burst of rocket fire the previous week and that its attacks have been focused on Islamic Jihad targets. But residents in Gaza said homes of people uninvolved in fighting also had been struck.

At least 10 civilians, including women, young children and uninvolved neighbors were killed in those initial strikes, which drew regional condemnation.

Over the past few days, Israel has conducted more airstrikes, killing other senior Islamic Jihad commanders and destroying their command centers and rocket-launching sites. But the airstrikes showed no signs of stopping the rocket fire.

Israel reported more than 1,200 launches throughout the fighting, with some rockets reaching as far as the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem areas. Israel said about a quarter of the rockets were misfired and landed in Gaza, while most of the rest were either intercepted or landed in open areas. But an 80-year-old woman and a Palestinian laborer who was working inside Israel were killed by rocket fire.

There were no immediate details on the terms of the cease-fire. Islamic Jihad had been demanding a halt to Israel's policy of targeting its leaders. Israel has only said it would offer quiet for quiet.

Ongoing battle

It was the latest in a long series of battles between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza since the Islamic militant group Hamas seized control of the seaside territory in 2007.

But the deal was unlikely to address the many issues that have fueled the repeated fighting, including Israel's ongoing blockade of Gaza, the large arsenals of weapons possessed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and the Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians claim all three areas for a future state. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but Hamas subsequently overran the territory and expelled forces loyal to the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority.

The more powerful Hamas has praised Islamic Jihad's strikes but remained on the sidelines during the latest round of fighting, limiting the scope of the conflict. As the de facto government held responsible for the abysmal conditions in the blockaded Gaza Strip, Hamas has recently tried to keep a lid on its conflict with Israel. Islamic Jihad, on the other hand, a more ideological and unruly militant group wedded to violence, has taken the lead in the past few rounds of fighting with Israel.

In a reminder of the combustible situation in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military raided the Balata refugee camp near the northern city of Nablus, sparking a firefight that killed two Palestinians. In a separate incident near the northern city of Jenin, Israeli police said they shot and killed a suspected Palestinian assailant who ran toward soldiers wielding a knife.

Israeli-Palestinian fighting has surged in the West Bank under Israel's most right-wing government in history. Since the start of the year, 111 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, at least half of them affiliated with militant groups, according to a tally by The Associated Press  the highest death toll in some two decades. In that time, 20 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks on Israelis.

The truce could be further tested Thursday when Israeli nationalists plan their annual "Jerusalem Day" march through the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City. The march, meant to celebrate Israel's capture of the Old City and its Jewish holy sites in 1967, is a frequent source of friction and helped spark and 11-day war with Hamas in 2021.
Israel on Saturday ruled out an immediate truce in Gaza, saying the onus was on Palestinian militants to stop launching rockets from an arsenal it suggested could be depleted within days, while its aircraft kept up strikes in the enclave.

"We're not holding cease-fire talks," National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi told a municipal event near Jerusalem, adding that Israel's top priority was presently firing on militants.

Two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli raid on the outskirts of Nablus in the northern West Bank, where clashes had erupted, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. A military spokesman said gunmen exchanged fire with Israeli forces.

Islamic Jihad's armed wing said it would press on with rocket salvos as fighting entered a fifth day. "The resistance prepared itself for months of confrontation," Islamic Jihad said a statement.

The Israeli military said aircraft struck Islamic Jihad command centers and rocket launchers in Gaza. Huge clouds of smoke rose as loud explosions ripped through areas bombed.

In the Deir Al-Balah area of the central Gaza Strip, a building was flattened as houses nearby were knocked down. There were no reports of casualties as residents sifted through piles of rubble.

"Destruction is miserable, the mind doesn't accept it," a resident, Marwan Al-Dirawi, told Reuters.

Airstrikes on a house also damaged the nearby Shuhada Al-Aqsa hospital, wounding a number of nurses and patients with flying shrapnel, Eyad Abu Zaher, the hospital's director, said.

Israel's military says it has made every effort to limit civilian casualties and damage to houses and accuses Islamic Jihad of deliberately locating its command centers in residential areas.

From dawn, Gaza militants fired rockets, setting off sirens and sending Israelis across the border running to bomb shelters. At least two people were badly wounded by shrapnel, Israel's ambulance service said.



Egyptian mediation

Egypt has been trying to mediate a truce to the latest outbreak of violence, which has so far killed at least 33 Palestinians and one Israeli.

At least four women and six children have died in Gaza, an impoverished coastal territory blockaded by Israel and Egypt since 2007. In Israel, one woman was killed when an apartment was hit by a Gaza rocket near Tel Aviv.

A Palestinian official familiar with the truce talks described them as "complicated" and "tough" but also said that Cairo was pressing ahead with its efforts.

Six top commanders of the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad have been killed since Tuesday, when Israeli forces launched a campaign against the group, which it said was planning attacks.

Israeli military officials have said they have seen no sign that Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip, has fired missiles itself and air strikes have so far targeted only Islamic Jihad sites.

Islamic Jihad, the largest armed group in Gaza after Hamas, has since fired more than 1,000 rockets, some deep into Israel.

Hanegbi said its arsenal had stood at 6,000 rockets.

Islamic Jihad has not provided details on its weaponry, but 5,000 remaining projectiles would enable it to keep up an intense rate of fire for several days. That timeline would likely change were Hamas to join the fighting.

Like Hamas, Islamic Jihad spurns coexistence with Israel and preaches its destruction. Top ministers of Israel's religious nationalist government rule out any state sought by Palestinians in territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.
Israel and Palestinian militants unleashed salvos of fire for a fifth day on Saturday, with the Islamic Jihad militant group launching dozens more rockets and the Israeli military pounding targets inside the Gaza Strip.

Missile shrapnel from a Palestinian rocket that slammed into an agricultural community in Israel's southern Negev desert severely wounded two Palestinians from Gaza in their 40s who had been working in Israel. Another 36-year-old man was moderately wounded, Israeli medics said. There were no immediate reports of casualties Saturday from Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, where so far 34 Palestinians have been killed, at least 14 of them civilians, according to Palestinian health officials. Over 147 have been wounded.

In a reminder of the combustible situation in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military raided the Balata refugee camp near the northern city of Nablus, sparking a firefight that killed two Palestinians. In a separate incident near the northern city of Jenin, Israeli police said they shot and killed a suspected Palestinian assailant who ran toward soldiers wielding a knife.

Meanwhile, hopes for an imminent cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad were fading as the Israeli military Saturday bombed an apartment belonging to Islamic Jihad commander Mohammed Abu Al Atta, among other targets including rocket launchers, it said.

Islamic Jihad militants fired a barrage of rockets toward southern Israel, where tens of thousands of Israelis were instructed to remain close to safe rooms and bomb shelters. Hundreds of residents near the border were evacuated to hotels farther north.

Islamic Jihad promised a further onslaught. As assassinations and the bombing of apartments and safe houses continue, the Palestinian resistance will renew its rocket fire ... to emphasize the continuation of the confrontation, the group said. Mortar shells fired by Palestinian militants crashed into the Erez crossing between Gaza and Israel, the Israeli civil defense body said, sharing footage of a fiery explosion at the main passageway into Israel.

Israeli officials told media that Egyptian-led efforts to broker a cease-fire were still underway, but that Israel has ruled out the conditions presented by Islamic Jihad in the talks. Israel has said only that quiet will be answered with quiet, while Islamic Jihad has been reportedly pressing Israel to agree to halt targeted assassinations, among other demands. If the rocket fire continues from Gaza, Israeli officials told local media, the strikes [on Gaza] will continue and intensify.

The hostilities erupted Tuesday when Israel targeted and killed three senior Islamic Jihad commanders who it said were responsible for firing rockets toward the country last week. At least 10 civilians, including women, young children and uninvolved neighbors were killed in those initial strikes, which drew regional condemnation.

Over the past few days, Israel has conducted more airstrikes, killing other senior Islamic Jihad commanders and destroying their command centers and rocket-launching sites. On Friday, Israel killed Iyad al-Hassani, an Islamic Jihad commander who had replaced a leader of the group's military operations killed in a Tuesday airstrike.

On Saturday, Palestinians ventured out to assess the damage wrought by Israeli warplanes and salvage whatever they could. One man carefully pulled documents out from under the rubble. Another carried away a mattress.

Four homes in densely populated residential neighborhoods were reduced to dust in the pre-dawn attacks. The Israeli military alleged the targeted homes belonged to or were used by Islamic Jihad militants. The residents denied the army's claims and said they had no idea why their homes were targeted.

We have no rocket launching pads at all. This is a residential area, said Awni Obaid, beside the debris of what was his three-story house in the central town of Deir al-Balah.

The nearby house of his relative, Jehad Obaid, was also leveled. He had been standing some hundred meters away when his apartment was bombed.

I felt like vomiting because of the dust, he said. "This is extraordinary hatred. They claim they dont strike at children, but what we see is craziness, destruction.

Islamic Jihad has retaliated by firing a thousand rockets toward southern and central Israel. On Friday, the group escalated its assaults and fired rockets toward Jerusalem, setting off air raid sirens in the Israeli settlements south of the contested capital.

Most of the rockets have fallen short or been intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome aerial defense system. But a rocket on Thursday penetrated missile defenses and sliced through a house in the central city of Rehovot, killing an 80-year-old woman and wounding several others.

Hamas, the larger militant group that has controlled Gaza since seizing power in 2007, has praised Islamic Jihad's strikes but remained on the sidelines, according to Israeli military officials, limiting the scope of the conflict.

As the de facto government held responsible for the abysmal conditions in the blockaded Gaza Strip, Hamas has recently tried to keep a lid on its conflict with Israel. Islamic Jihad, on the other hand, a more ideological and unruly militant group wedded to violence, has taken the lead in the past few rounds of fighting with Israel.

On Saturday, the deadly Israeli raid into the Balata refugee camp turned the focus of the conflict back to the long-simmering West Bank. Residents said that Israeli forces besieged a militant hideout, sharing footage of a large explosion and smoke billowing from the crowded camp. Ejected bullet casings littered the alleys. Blood soaked the streets. The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the two as 32-year-old Said Mesha and 19-year-old Adnan Araj. At least three other Palestinians were wounded in the raid, the latest of near-daily Israeli arrest operations against suspected militants in the territory.

The Israeli military said the targeted apartment harbored militants who had planned attacks against Israeli soldiers and manufactured improvised explosive devices. It said the blast and fire erupted after Israeli security forces detonated explosives inside the hideout. The two Palestinians were killed when Israeli forces opened fire on a group of gunmen who were shooting at them, the military said.

Israeli-Palestinian fighting has surged in the West Bank under Israels most right-wing government in history. Since the start of the year, 111 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, at least half of them affiliated with militant groups, according to a tally by The Associated Press  the highest death toll in some two decades. In that time, 20 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks on Israelis.
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The Los Angeles Public Library evolved from donated space over a saloon to a sprawling system with an imposing central library downtown. An exhibition looks back at the drama surrounding the library through its 150-year history. Mike OSullivan reports.
Here are some Native American-related news stories that made headlines this week:



California professor confesses she is a white person, not Native

Native Americans and non-Native allies are expressing outrage over a University of California Berkeley professor who has admitted she has no Mohawk or Mikmaq ancestry.

Associate professor Elizabeth Hoover posted a Letter of Accountability and Apology on her website Monday, admitting she is "a white person who has incorrectly identified as Native" her entire life.

She said she did not knowingly falsify her heritage but relied on family lore which she did not try to verify until 2022, when questions were raised about her identity.

I have brought hurt, harm, and broken trust to the Native community at large, and to specific Native communities I have worked with and lived alongside, and for that, I am deeply sorry, Hoover stated.

More than 380 students and educators have signed a statement calling for Hoover to resign from all positions on boards and advisory committees and all grants, speaking engagements, and other paid opportunities she obtained with her false identity.

UC Berkeley spokesperson Janet Gilmore did not comment on what, if any, disciplinary action the university would take.

As VOA previously reported, Native and First Nations scholars say colleges and universities are overrun by academicians who falsely claim Indigenous identity. They not only rob legitimate Indigenous scholars of opportunities but inform public policy.

Read more:

Study: Early humans in North America migrated from China

New research from China suggests that some ancient humans migrated to the Americas from northern coastal China in the region of the Bohai and Yellow seas.

Scientists examined modern and ancient mitochondrial DNA to trace a rare female lineage. They found 216 modern-day and 39 ancient individuals who share that prehistoric ancestry.



In addition to previously described ancestral sources in Siberia, Australo-Melanesia, and Southeast Asia, we show that northern coastal China also contributed to the gene pool of Native Americans, Yu-Chin Li, a molecular anthropologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said in a statement.

The research published this week in Cell Reports shows two separate migrations between China, Japan and North America during and after the Ice Age. Researchers say this would explain similarities between prehistoric arrowheads and spearheads found in China, Japan and the Americas.

Read more:

Catholic groups ran nearly 90 Indian boarding schools in US



An independent collaboration of native tribe and Catholic Church members, historians and archivists this week published a list of Indian boarding schools that were run by the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Native Boarding School Accountability and Healing Project published an online list showing that Catholic dioceses, parishes and religious orders established and operated schools across 22 states; the majority were run by Catholic sisters representing 53 religious orders.

We are under no pretense that our list is complete, the group said. We have done our best to offer the most accurate information possible, but we also anticipate future revisions as additional information is obtained.

The list expands and corrects a May 2022 U.S. Interior Department report that followed a nine-month probe into federal Indian boarding schools.

The federal government once regarded Christianization to be key to assimilating Native Americans into mainstream American society. The Catholic Church was one of more than 14 denominations of Christians that ran Indian boarding schools between the 1820s and 1970s.

Read more:

Alaska Federation of Native loses two of its largest members

The Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) lost two members this week, sparking concerns about the future of an organization that represents the interests of more than 200 tribes and corporations in Alaska.

The Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, the largest federally recognized tribe in the state, announced Monday it would withdraw from the federation and pursue its political interests independently.

The truth of the matter is our Executive Council has diverse areas of expertise and this has been a true strength in the governance of our Tribe, Tlingit and Haida President Richard Chalyee Eesh Peterson said in a written statement Monday.

Separately, the Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC) also decided to quit the AFN.

Over the past few years, over 40 resolutions were passed by the full board at AFN that support a subsistence way of life, but no significant action has been taken on those directives, the group said on its website.

TCC represents 39 villages and 37 federally recognized tribes across more than 608,000 square kilometers (235,000 square miles).

Since 2019, five organizations have withdrawn their AFN memberships.

Read more:
Pakistani authorities said Saturday that a drawn-out overnight gun battle with "terrorists" in southwestern Baluchistan province had killed six soldiers and a civilian, as well as the six attackers.

Six others were said to have been wounded.

"In the process of clearance operation, seven sons of the soil, including a civilian, have embraced martyrdom while another six individuals, including a woman, have been injured," the militarys media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations, said.



The violence erupted Friday evening when "well-equipped" militants assaulted a main paramilitary compound about 100 kilometers north of the provincial capital of Quetta, the ISPR said.

The ensuing clashes and "clearance operation" had continued into Saturday morning, killing "all six terrorists" involved in the attack, according to the ISPR.

The assailants had taken families, including women and children, hostage in a residential block who were rescued by security forces.

A recently emerged so-called Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan militant group claimed responsibility for the attack in natural resources-rich but impoverished Baluchistan, bordering Afghanistan and Iran.



The province routinely experiences attacks on security forces and installations. The violence is mostly claimed by ethnic Baluch insurgents, militants linked to the outlawed Pakistani Taliban, and those linked to the Islamic State group.



Militant attacks have lately increased across Pakistan, particularly in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which also shares a large part of the country's long border with Afghanistan.



Officials say the violence has killed hundreds of people, mostly soldiers, and members of the Pakistani police force since the beginning of the year.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held talks with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday, saying it was a great honor to meet with the pontiff, who has previously offered to do what he can to try to end the war launched by Russia's invasion of Ukraine a year ago.

Zelenskyy held his hand to his heart as the pope, using a cane, came to greet him before ushering the Ukrainian leader into a papal studio. "Thank you for your visit, Francis said, as their 40-minute-long meeting began.

In a written statement, the Vatican said the two men spoke about Ukraine's "humanitarian and political situation provoked by the war going on.''

"The pope assured his constant prayer, paid witness to by his many public appeals and by his continued invoking of the Lord for peace, since February of last year,'' the Vatican said, a reference to the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, by Russia's military.

Both agreed on the need to continue humanitarian efforts to help the population. The pope underlined in particular the urgent need for humanitarian gestures toward the most fragile persons, innocent victims of the conflict," the statement read.

Last month, Ukraines prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, met with Francis at the Vatican and said he asked the pontiff to help Ukraine get back children illegally taken to Russia during the invasion.

Saturday's communique from the Vatican made no mention of that, and there were no immediate details from Zelenskyy's side about his meeting with the pontiff.

Earlier in the day, Zelenskyy met with Italian officials after his morning flight to Rome. He received pledges of both open-ended military and financial support, as well as stronger backing for Ukraine's cherished aim to join the European Union.

The message is clear and simple, Meloni said, flanked by Zelenskyy as the two briefed reporters after their meeting at her office, which lasted more than an hour. "The future of Ukraine is a future of peace and freedom. And it's the future of Europe, a future of peace and freedom, for which there are no other possible solutions.

Meloni, who had met with Zelenskyy in Ukraine in February, just ahead of the anniversary of the invasion, renewed her pledge to champion Ukraine's EU ambitions, saying Ukraine was moving ahead with required reforms despite the war.

The premier, who staunchly backs military aid for Ukraine, said Italy would back the country 360 degrees for all the time necessary and beyond.

But while her far-right Brothers of Italy party champions the principle of national sovereignty, Meloni has had to contend with leaders of two coalition partners who for years have openly professed their admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Coalition ally Silvio Berlusconi, a former premier, has boasted of his friendship with Putin, while another government ally, League leader Matteo Salvini, has questioned the value of economic sanctions against Russia.

Zelenskyy began his official meetings by calling on Italian President Sergio Mattarella at the presidential Quirinale Palace.

We are fully at your side, Mattarella told Zelenskyy as he welcomed him. Later, after their meeting, presidential palace sources said Mattarella assured his guest that Italy would continue supporting Ukraine militarily and financially, as well as with reconstruction and humanitarian aid, in both the short and long term.

Since the war began, Italy has furnished about 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in military and financial aid, as well as humanitarian assistance.

Zelenskyy is believed to be heading to Berlin next for what would be his first visit to Germany since the war began. The exact schedule hadn't been publicly announced because of security concerns. Italian state radio reported that as part of protective measures, a no-fly zone was ordered for the skies over Rome and police sharpshooters were strategically placed on high buildings.

Francis had previously met with Zelenskyy in 2020. At the end of April, flying back to Rome from a trip to Hungary, Francis told reporters on the plane that the Vatican was involved in a behind-the-scenes peace mission but gave no details. Neither Russia nor Ukraine has confirmed such an initiative.

He has said he would like to go to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, if such a visit could be coupled with one to Moscow, in hopes a papal pilgrimage could further the cause of peace.

The German government, meanwhile, said it was providing Ukraine with additional military aid worth more than 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Berlin wanted to show with the latest package of arms that Germany is serious in its support for Ukraine.

Germany will provide all the help it can, as long as it takes, he said.

Other developments:

 Some Ukrainian units continue to push forward near Bakhmut, the commander of Ukraines land forces said Saturday, just a day after Ukrainian commanders said their troops recaptured territory at the scene of the wars longest and bloodiest battle.

 Russian shelling Saturday wounded at least seven civilians in Ukraines south and northeast, regional Ukrainian officials said. Two women, a man and a teenage boy suffered wounds as Russian forces shelled the village of Khatnie, in the northeastern Kharkiv region, the local prosecutors office said.

 Shelling hit the center of Huliaipole, a town in the southern Zaporizhzhia province, and wounded a civilian, presidential aide Andriy Yermak said. Two other civilians were hurt in the village of Chornobaivka.

 A massive Russian barrage overnight damaged an energy facility in Ukraines western Khmelnytskyi region, the Ukrainian energy ministry said Saturday. It added that the power supply in the region wasn't affected. The mayor of the regional capital said that 11 civilians were wounded or injured overnight because of a Russian missile strike.

 Russian forces Friday and overnight resumed their shelling of Ukraines northeastern Kharkiv region, killing a civilian, local Gov. Oleh Syniehubov reported on Telegram on Saturday. Four civilians were killed over the same period in Ukraines front-line Donetsk province in the east, its Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said Saturday.

 Russian forces overnight launched at least 21 Iranian-made Shahed drones at Ukrainian territory, 17 of which were shot down, Ukraine's air force said Saturday. One of the drones hit unspecified infrastructure facilities in the western Khmelnytskyi region.

 Russian shelling overnight wounded three civilians in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, the mayor said Saturday. One person was hospitalized, while the two others were treated on the spot.

 Russian shelling Saturday killed two civilians and wounded 10 more in Kostyantynivka, a city less than 30 kilometers west of Bakhmut, the regional prosecutors office reported in a Telegram post.
By Julia Harte

(Reuters) -North Carolina Democratic Governor Roy Cooper on Saturday vetoed a bill that would ban most abortions after 12 weeks, a move the Republican supermajority in the state legislature is expected to quickly override, allowing the bill to become law.

The measure would cut the window for most abortions in the state back from 20 weeks and curtail access to the procedure for millions of women across the U.S. south.

At a rally in Raleigh, the state capital, Cooper signed paperwork to veto the bill as a crowd chanted "veto."

"This bill has nothing to do with making women safer and everything to do with banning abortion," Cooper said, calling on Republicans to reconsider their stance.

"If just one Republican finds the courage, if just one Republican listens to doctors, if just one Republican is unafraid to stand up to the political bosses, if just one Republican keeps that promise made to the people, then we can stop this ban," he added.

Republicans have a supermajority in both legislative chambers. Cooper has spent the week traveling across the state to raise awareness about impacts of the bill, urging Republican lawmakers to allow his veto to stand.

Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the anti-abortion group North Carolina Values Coalition, criticized Cooper for vetoing the bill and for holding his rally the day before Mother's Day.

"His actions would crush provisions to give women more opportunities to choose life, improve safety standards of clinics, and stop the barbaric painful practice of partial birth abortion," she said in a statement, adding Coopers attempts to convince Republican lawmakers to sustain his veto were "a fools errand."

The bill whizzed through the legislature in fewer than 48 hours in early May, drawing criticism from Democrats and abortion rights supporters who urged a period of lengthier analysis and debate typical for such legislation.

The measure would ban elective abortions after the first trimester, except in cases of rape, incest, life-limiting fetal anomalies and medical emergencies.

It would also require doctors to be present when abortion medication is given and those seeking medical abortions to have an in-person consultation with a doctor 72 hours before the procedure. That would make it more difficult for out-of-state abortion seekers to obtain the service in North Carolina.

Republican lawmakers called the bill "common-sense legislation" that represented a compromise that stopped short of the more restrictive bans opposed by a majority of U.S. voters. Democratic opponents called it "devastatingly cruel," and said it would force women into seeking illegal abortions.

The bill includes funding for foster and child care as well as paid parental leave.

Near-total abortion bans have taken effect in 14 states since the U.S. Supreme Court revoked federal abortion rights in June 2022, according to the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights advocacy research group.

Abortions in North Carolina rose by 37%, more than any other state, in the first two months after the ruling, according to a study by the Society of Family Planning, a nonprofit that promotes abortion rights and research.

(Reporting by Julia HarteEditing by Colleen Jenkins and David Gregorio)
Soldiers from Myanmar's military government raided a village in the country's central region, killing 19 villagers including four children and burning their bodies, independent media and a resident said Friday.

The killings Wednesday in Nyaung Pin Thar village in Bago regions Htantabin township may have been in retaliation for an attack by resistance forces opposed to army rule.

Radio Free Asia, a U.S.-funded news service, quoted a member of the locally formed Peoples Defense Force as saying the killings occurred after fighting the same day between the army and his group and its allies from the Karen National Liberation Army, an ethnic rebel group that operates in the area. He said the resistance forces killed 20 soldiers and captured three officers.

A farmer from the village told The Associated Press that he lost his wife, 7-year-old daughter and nine other relatives in the raid by about 10 soldiers.

The farmer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared arrest, said he had been working in the fields and did not return on Wednesday after he was informed soldiers had entered the village, so he did not witness the killings.

When he returned the next day, his family members were gone and he found bodies, charred beyond recognition, in two spots in the small village.

They kill people as easily as killing a chicken or bird. At least they should have released the children, who dont understand anything, on humanitarian grounds, the farmer said.

He said 19 people had been killed, and it appeared they had been shot in the head before their bodies were burned using gasoline and diesel fuel taken from a store in the village. He said the soldiers also took beer and alcoholic drinks, which they consumed.

Reports of the killings, along with what were said to be photos and videos of the remains of the victims, also appeared in independent Myanmar media and social media on Friday, the same day a human rights monitoring group released a report charging that Myanmars military is deliberately carrying out atrocities, including beheadings, to instill terror in those fighting the army and in a public already dismayed by the militarys barbarity.

The Ogre Column

The rights group, Myanmar Witness, singled out an army unit nicknamed the Ogre Column for its brutality in the central region of Sagaing, which is considered part of Myanmars traditional heartland.

Sagaing is a stronghold of armed resistance to the ruling military, which seized power on Feb. 1, 2021, from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The armys takeover triggered mass nonviolent protests which were suppressed with lethal force, triggering armed resistance around the country.

Myanmar Witness said its investigation of eight incidents between late February and early April found that at least 33 villagers were killed, 12 of whom were beheaded and two dismembered by the Ogre Column and other units.

Most of the beheaded victims were left on grotesque display.

In a number of these cases the individuals were killed and then beheaded. As the beheadings serve no functional purpose, they represent a dramatic and horrific warning to those resisting military rule, the report said.

It said the Ogre Column is part of the armys 99th Light Infantry Division.

A leader of the local defense force who cremated the bodies of two beheaded boys killed by the Ogre Column in April told The Associated Press then that it "is harsher in killing than other groups of soldiers.

The report says the 99th Light Infantry Division, based in Sagaings neighboring Mandalay region, and the No. 8 Military Training School in Sagaings Shwebo township have been repeatedly blamed by villagers for most of the killings.

Myanmar Witness said the 99th Light Infantry Division has a history of violence, with allegations of involvement in a brutal 2017 counterinsurgency campaign in the western state of Rakhine that prompted more than 700,000 members of the Muslim Rohingya minority to flee to neighboring Bangladesh for safety.

Myanmar Witness said its findings are based on investigations of images and videos of the aftermath of the incidents and reports in pro-military and independent media.
Hundreds of Senegalese opposition supporters and civil society activists gathered at a square in the capital Friday to protest a potential third-term bid by the West African nation's president, Macky Sall.

Senegal has been shaken by violent protests over a host of issues including fears by opposition parties that Sall may seek a third term in office.

Sall, 61, came to power in 2012, and won reelection in 2019. Senegal's new constitution, adopted in 2016, limits presidential terms to two five-year mandates.

Sall has not confirmed or denied he plans to run. He told French newspaper L'Express in March that he could technically run because the new constitution reset the clock on his number of mandates, an argument that has been used by other presidents in the region to run and secure third terms.

"Macky Sall is done. He must not seek a third term. We'll not accept it -- not today, not tomorrow," said Ibrahima Lo, a trader from the southern town of Kaolack, who joined the protest in the capital.

The opposition has also accused Sall's government of using the judicial machinery to target potential challengers, including leading opposition firebrand Ousmane Sonko, 48, who placed third in the 2019 presidential election.

The government has denied the opposition's accusations.

Sonko is on trial in two separate cases which could disqualify him from the 2024 presidential race. A court of appeal handed him a heavier suspended sentence on May 8 in a libel case against Senegal's tourism minister.

A separate trial is scheduled to start on Tuesday in which he is charged with raping a beauty salon employee in 2021 and making death threats against her. Sonko has denied both allegations.

His legal troubles and court appearances have stirred violent protests and clashes between his supporters and security forces.
Somalia's army says it has killed 44 al-Shabab militants in the latest offensive against the group in the Lower Shabelle region.



Somalia's deputy information minister, Abdirahman Al-Adala, told state media Saturday that forces from the intelligence unit, with the support of international partners, killed 44 al-Shabab militants in the Ali Fuuto area, about 200 kilometers from the capital, Mogadishu, near the Kurtowarey district of the Lower Shabelle region.



The minister said the militants were regrouping at the time. The operation comes about a week after the Somali army said it killed 67 militants in the central Mudug region.



Somali security forces have been conducting major operations against al-Shabab since the start of the campaign last July. The government said in April that more than 3,000 al-Shabab fighters have been killed since the start of the military campaign, which has been supported by troops from Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya since those countries agreed in January to conduct joint military operations against al-Shabab strongholds.
Khartoum residents described fierce battles on Saturday with fighters roving the streets and little sign Sudan's warring sides were respecting an agreement to protect civilians ahead of cease-fire talks set to resume in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

Fighting has rocked Khartoum and adjoining areas as well as Geneina in the Darfur region since the warring army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary force agreed a "declaration of principles" on Thursday.

"It was much worse this morning compared to the past two days. You could clearly hear the tanks and the RSF were patrolling the streets more than usual," said Hani Ahmed, 28.

The conflict that broke out a month ago has killed hundreds of people, sent more than 200,000 into neighboring states, displaced another 700,000 inside the country, and risks drawing in outside powers and destabilizing the region.

Medical charity Medicins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders, said displaced people living in a large camp in north Darfur were cutting down to a single meal a day because food aid programs had been halted by fighting. It said the condition of already malnourished children would likely deteriorate.

Airspace will stay closed except for aid flights until May 31, authorities said on Saturday.

No signs of compromise

The two sides have battled through previous truces and have shown no sign of being willing to compromise. Although the RSF promised to uphold Thursday's agreement, the army has not yet commented on it.

Neither side seems able to secure a quick victory, with the army able to call on air power but the RSF dug into residential districts throughout the capital.

"We only see the army in the sky but in terms of face-to-face contact we only see the RSF. They're the ones on the ground," Ahmed said.

For civilians, the conflict has unleashed a nightmare of bombardment, random gunfire, home invasions and looting amid flickering electricity supply, shortages of water and food, and little chance of medical help with injuries.

"Our neighborhood is now completely under RSF control. They loot and harass people and wander around, always armed, taking shelter wherever they want," said Duaa Tariq, 30, an art curator in Khartoum.

Tariq said she hoped the talks in Jeddah could lead to a cease-fire, but was doubtful, adding: "We can't really trust either side because they don't have control of their soldiers on the ground."

Neighborhoods become war zones

Fighting has been unabated since the two sides agreed the declaration of principles to protect civilians and allow humanitarian access.

Residents say RSF fighters continue to occupy properties, which the force has denied doing, and the army carries out air strikes that residents say hit civilian targets.

Hashim Mohamed, 35, said he had found bread in a local shop for the first time in a week. "It's not that bread isn't available, but it's a longer walk, which means more brushes with danger," he said.

Out shopping on Saturday, he had to duck down as gunfire rattled nearby and RSF fighters cruised the neighborhood in civilian cars.

The resumed talks in Jeddah will start by discussing ways to implement the existing agreement, then move on to a lasting cease-fire that could pave the way for a civilian government, officials say.

Saudi Arabia has invited army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to the Arab League summit in Jeddah, a senior Saudi diplomat said, but he is not expected to leave Sudan for security reasons, two other diplomats in the Gulf said.

Burhan was invited because he is head of Sudan's Sovereign Council, in which his rival, RSF chief Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, is deputy.

Saudi Arabia has had close ties to both men since the army and the RSF sent troops to help the Saudi-led coalition in its war against Houthi forces in Yemen.

Violence in Darfur

Some of the worst fighting has taken place in Darfur, where a war has simmered since 2003, killing 300,000 people and displacing 2.5 million.

The Darfur Bar Association, a local rights group, said at least 77 people were killed in Geneina, where fighting flared on Friday after a two-week lull.

"Armed groups on motorcycles and RSF vehicles attacked on Friday and are continuing to commit acts of killing, looting, arson and terror," the group said.

The RSF has denied moving from its positions in Darfur and blamed the strife there on the army and on loyalists of former president Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted in 2019, saying they had armed civilians.

Residents said on Friday the army did not intervene in the Geneina strife.

(Reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi in Riyadh and Nafisa Eltahir and Adam Makary in Cairo; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Frances Kerry and David Holmes
Like many other Sudanese forced to flee their homes amid raging street battles, Mohamed said that when he finally returned to his flat, he found heavily armed paramilitaries had moved in.

After cautiously approaching his Khartoum apartment block, he discovered that "the entire building had become like a military barracks filled with weapons and ammunition."

Almost a month of heavy fighting has turned Khartoum into a war zone, with the city's 5 million residents enduring artillery barrages, gunfights, airstrikes and anti-aircraft fire.

Many have hunkered down at home amid power outages and a lack of clean water, food and medicine  but many have also been forcibly evicted.

The northern suburb where Mohamed lived has become a major battleground in the war between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

After Mohamed's family had spent terrifying days at home, waking and sleeping to deafening explosions and gunfire outside, RSF fighters came to evict them.

"They knocked on the door and asked us to leave," said the 54-year-old, who, like others interviewed by AFP for this article, asked not to be identified by his full name, citing security fears.

Before leaving home, his family members took what they could carry and locked their doors, he added.

When he returned days later to collect some belongings, Mohamed was interrogated by the RSF paramilitaries whom he had found sitting inside his apartment.

Fighters 'in our kitchen'

Witnesses in Khartoum say RSF fighters have often taken up positions in leafy residential streets, with soldiers hiding camouflaged trucks under trees.

Men in military fatigues patrol in pickup trucks mounted with heavy machine guns.

Another man, Babiker, 44, said he fled his home in central Khartoum amid incessant gunfire, only to return two weeks later to find it occupied by the RSF.

"I found more than 20 paramilitaries living there," he said, adding he was interrogated for half an hour before being allowed entry.

"They were using all appliances and cooking in our kitchen," he said. "All the bedrooms that we had locked before leaving were open."

Sudan's bitter fighting has so far killed at least 750 people, wounded thousands and uprooted hundreds of thousands, with many refugees fleeing the country.

The U.N.'s human rights commissioner, Volker Turk, said the RSF had allegedly taken "possession of many buildings in Khartoum to use as operational bases, evicting residents and launching attacks from densely populated urban areas."

He also criticized Sudan's military for launching "attacks in densely occupied civilian areas, including airstrikes" that have killed residents.

The paramilitaries have also turned many hospitals and medical facilities into "barracks"  a practice the U.N. World Health Organization has condemned as a "gross violation."

Even diplomatic missions in Khartoum have not been spared. On May 3, Saudi Arabia said "an armed group" had stormed its cultural office and "damaged appliances, cameras, and seized some property."

The European Union said on April 17 that its ambassador was "assaulted" in his residence, and it labeled the attack a "gross violation of the Vienna Convention."

'All our memories'

"Last Wednesday, the RSF took over my family house in Khartoum, where my cousins and I have our documents, valuables and all our memories," one Sudanese woman wrote on Twitter.

"It's confirmed by the only neighbor left in the neighborhood that it is the RSF. RSF soldiers are going out of control, out of Hemeti's control," she added, referring to Dagalo's nickname.

Another citizen, Tahany, 33, escaped her home when fighting intensified near Khartoum's airport.

Having abandoned hope for an end to the fighting, she decided to join the tens of thousands of Sudanese making the long, arduous trip to Egypt, but she first needed to return home to get her travel documents.

"Paramilitaries at checkpoints interrogated us as we were trying to return to our neighborhood, and every time we told them we wanted to pick up some things from our home," she said.

Eventually, Tahany and her mother were allowed entry to the home, escorted by paramilitaries.

"We found that all our home items had been used, from the kitchen to the beds," she said. "They even mounted a weapon on the balcony on the second floor."

Terrified, Tahany and her mother frantically searched for their travel documents and rushed out. "We are now on our way to Egypt," she said. "We don't know what has become of our home."
The Syrian government has agreed to extend by another three months the use of two border crossings with Turkey into the rebel-held northwest that were opened for aid delivery after a deadly earthquake in February, Syrian and U.N. officials said Saturday.

Syrian President Bashar Assad had agreed to open the border crossings at Bab al-Salameh and al-Rai for three months to allow aid to flow into Idlib province a week after the February 6, earthquake that hit southern Turkey and northern Syria.

The earthquake has killed more than 50,000 people, including more than 6,000 in Syria, according to the United Nations. The quake also displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

Following a request by the U.N. and ensuing discussions, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad conveyed to U.N. Under-Secretary-General Martin Griffiths the decision by Syria's government to allow the U.N. to continue using the two border crossing points for an additional three months, said Eri Kaneko, spokesperson for the U.N. office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Syria's ambassador to the U.N. Bassam Sabbagh tweeted that the period has been extended for another three months based on Syria's determination to enhance "stability and improve the living and humanitarian" conditions of all Syrians. He added the move also aims to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to those in need in all of Syria.

Syria's northwestern province of Idlib is home to some 4 million people, many of whom had been earlier displaced during the country's 12-year civil war, which has killed nearly half a million people.

David Carden, the U.N.'s Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria crisis, said during a visit to Idlib earlier this month that since the earthquake some 2,000 trucks have crossed the border from Turkey, delivering shelters, food, medical supplies and other services.

Carden added that the earthquake damaged or destroyed the homes of about 855,000 people.

In 2014, the Security Council authorized four border crossings to deliver aid to northwest Syria  two from Turkey, one from Jordan and one from Iraq. In January 2020, Syria's close ally Russia used its veto threat to reduce the number of crossings to the two from Turkey. The following July, China and Russia used their veto power to reduce the number to just a single crossing.
A new generation of young, outspoken political leaders is emerging in Thailands insurgency-hit southern provinces as a May 14 general election takes place, calling for peace, protection of their culture and identity, and an end to the martial law that targets the majority Malay Muslim population.



Thailands Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala border provinces have hosted a long-running conflict between rebels seeking autonomy and Thai security forces. More than 7,000 people have been killed since 2004, most of them civilians.

The rebels are Muslims fighting a Buddhist-majority state, but it is not a religious conflict.



Instead, they say their struggle is to defend their Malay identity, culture and political rights. The zone was colonized more than 100 years ago and has been governed by Bangkok  which put it under martial law 20 years ago but has failed to control the rebellion.



Activists say that law and other security measures have resulted in arbitrary detentions, especially of Muslim youth, harassment by Thai security forces and a culture of impunity.



Politics in the border area has traditionally been dominated by older local leaders with large patronage networks.



In Sundays election, though, new voices will be heard, taking off from a wider pro-democracy youth movement that has swept across the rest of Thailand since the countrys last coup in 2014.

We prioritize peace, justice and fairness  with a secondary focus on economy and security, Abdulloh Sideh, 25, told VOA. He is running for the newly formed the Fair Party. The party has 12 candidates contesting eight of the souths 15 constituencies.



Candidates like Sideh have grown up entirely in conflict. They say they represent a young generation sick of being stopped, searched or detained by the state, while being forced to live with the daily threats of violence.



But a high profile can carry risks in the south.



The young generation think were brave  the reality is its dangerous, especially bringing up issues of demilitarization and peace talks, said Sideh. But the new [generation] never thought that we would sacrifice this much, so we have lit up their hopes, and we have to win because they need change.



Move Forward, the pro-democracy reform party of the young that is expected to do well in the wider country, is also fielding candidates across the south.



Ive spent a decade trying to promote peace in the region, and Ive never seen this level of engagement, said Romadon Panjor, aged 42, a Move Forward member of parliament candidate and local peace activist.

It shows the political arena is a useful platform to discuss local issues and to challenge the old mindset, Panjor noted.



He says the next Thai government has a chance to make progress on peace talks if it accepts the need to decentralize [power] and demilitarize  two of Move Forwards key principles.



The hype around the newcomers is growing, said Artef Sohko, president of The Patani, an advocacy group for self-determination in the southern provinces.



I dont think theyll win anything this time around, but people love these young guys. They are moving the needle.

He says the Fair Party has brought Malay identity to the forefront of political debate. Previously, many young people were cautious when voicing support for their culture too loudly, fearing they could be associated with the insurgency in the eyes of the watching state.



They may not win this election, but they are already a success as they have started to remove fear from people in the area  its now okay to talk about your identity.



There are about 1.6 million eligible voters in the three southern provinces, most of them Muslim. About 12 percent on Sunday are first-time voters, from whom the Fair Party is seeking endorsements.



The area is dominated by the Prachachart Party, which wins most seats in the south. But its leaders are older and long established, something activists say has less traction with the young.

Under nine years of the government of Prayuth Chan-ocha, the former army chief who seized power in 2014, peace talks with rebels also have not made significant progress.



Prayuth wants to return to power after Sundays election.



Speaking to supporters last weekend in Narathiwat, veteran Prachachart Party chief Wan Muhamad Noor Matha, told supporters he wants to join a new government to help end the special security laws that suffocate the south.



These laws burn through 30 billion baht [$900 million] per year, but they never benefit a single one of us, he said.



The border area remains among the poorest parts of Thailand, depending on fruit, rubber and fisheries for income.



For many voters, Sundays vote is a chance to back a positive agenda in a zone that for many years has only been associated with conflict.



Jobs and education are the most important policies for me because weve seen an increasing number of people leave to work in Bangkok or overseas, said trainee nurse Noor Syikeen Yusof, 27.



And candidates who dare to speak about sensitive subjects are the ones I trust.
Volunteers in Bangladeshs coastal districts were using loudspeakers to urge people to seek shelter on Saturday as the delta nation braced for an extremely severe cyclone, which is expected to slam ashore in Bangladesh and Myanmar in the next 24 hours.

U.N. agencies and aid workers prepositioned tons of dry food and dozens of ambulances with mobile medical teams in sprawling refugee camps with more than 1 million Rohingya who fled persecution in Myanmar.

The camps at Cox's Bazar are in the path of Cyclone Mocha, which was closing in on the coast of southeastern Bangladesh and Myanmar with wind speeds of up to 220 kilometers (135 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 240 kph (150 mph), the Indian Meteorological Department said. It's projected to make landfall on Sunday between Coxs Bazar in Bangladesh and Kyaukpyu in Myanmar.

Bangladesh, with more than 160 million people, has prepared more than 1,500 cyclone shelters. The navy said it's keeping ready 21 ships, maritime patrol aircraft and helicopters for rescue and relief operations.

In Myanmar, rains and winds were picking up since Friday and prompted more than 10,000 people in villages around Sittwe in Rakhine state to seek shelter in sturdy buildings including monasteries, temples and schools, said Lin Lin, the chairman of the Myittar Yaung Chi charity foundation.

Currently, about 20 places have been arranged for people to stay in Sittwe. But because there were more people than we expected, there was not enough food for the next day. We are still trying to get it, he said.

Speaking from Coxs Bazar across the border in Bangladesh, the International Organization of Migration's deputy chief of mission, Nihan Erdogan, said Bangladesh put in place a massive preparedness plan.

He said his agency had trained 100 volunteers in each of the 17 refugee camps on how to alert rescuers using flag warning signals when heavy rains, floods and strong winds lash the region. Emergency shelter materials and hygiene kits are readily available, and personal protective gear has been provided to all volunteers."

The World Health Organization put 40 ambulances and 33 mobile medical teams on standby at Coxs Bazar, the agencys spokesperson Margaret Harris said.

Authorities in Bangladesh said heavy rains from the cyclone could trigger landslides in Chattogram and Cox's Bazar and three other hilly districts  Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachhari.

Bangladesh, which is prone to natural disasters such as floods and cyclones, issued the highest danger signal for Coxs Bazar. The Bangladesh Meteorological Department warned the cyclone could cause severe damage to the lives and properties in eight coastal districts.

Mizanur Rahman, director general of the Disaster Management Department, said they asked the local authorities in 20 districts and sub-districts to make swift preparations. He said they were particularly concerned about a small coral island called Saint Martins in the Bay of Bengal, where efforts were underway to protect thousands of inhabitants.

Myanmar said in its weather bulletin the cyclone was moving toward the coast of Rakhine state near Sittwe, which was put under the highest weather alert.

The World Food Program said it prepositioned enough food to cover the needs of more than 400,000 people in Rakhine and neighboring areas for one month.

We are preparing for the worst, while hoping for the best. Cyclone Mocha is heading to areas burdened by conflict, poverty, and weak community resilience, said WFPs Myanmar deputy director, Sheela Matthew. Many of the people most likely to be affected are already reliant on regular humanitarian assistance from WFP. They simply cannot afford another disaster.

In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar with a storm surge that devastated populated areas around the Irrawaddy River Delta. At least 138,000 people died, and tens of thousands of homes and other buildings were washed away.

Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune city, said cyclones in the Bay of Bengal are becoming more intense more quickly, in part because of climate change.

The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported on Friday that thousands of people living along the western coast of Rakhine state were evacuated.

Both Indian and Bangladesh authorities said they were expecting heavy to very heavy rainfall in Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Andaman Sea, parts of Indias remote northeast, and across Bangladesh from Saturday night.

Climate scientists say cyclones can now retain their energy for many days, such as Cyclone Amphan in eastern India in 2020, which continued to travel over land as a strong cyclone and caused extensive devastation. As long as oceans are warm and winds are favorable, cyclones will retain their intensity for a longer period, Koll said.

Cyclones are among the most devastating natural disasters in the world, especially if they affect densely populated coastal regions in South Asia.
The monthslong impasse between the White House and congressional Republicans over raising the debt ceiling to keep the U.S. from defaulting on its obligations could derail Joe Bidens upcoming meeting with allies in Japan and Australia.

The U.S. president is scheduled to depart Washington for Hiroshima on May 17 to attend a meeting of the Group of Seven leaders. On May 22 he is to continue to Sydney for the Quad Summit with a brief stop in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, to meet with Pacific Island Forum leaders. The meetings have been billed as opportunities to deepen cooperation on regional challenges and advance U.S. strategic interests in countering Chinas influence.

Biden is expecting to go, said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre during her briefing Friday. Earlier this week, Biden said he is committed to going but that resolving the debt ceiling deadlock is the single most important thing on his agenda. Depending on the state of those negotiations, he said its possible he would attend virtually or not go.

It would not be the first time an American president has skipped a summit over budget disputes at home. Barack Obama canceled a trip to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Indonesia and the East Asia summit in Brunei in 2013 because of a government shutdown over a budget disagreement, and Bill Clinton pulled out of the APEC Japan meeting in 1995, also during a debt ceiling dispute.

G-7 Hiroshima

Hiroshima, Japan, is the venue for this years May 19-21 summit of the G-7, a grouping of the worlds leading industrial nations, including the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom and the European Union.

Leaders will try to find alignment in countering Beijings use of trade and investment restrictions, boycotts and sanctions for what they see as economic coercion. They will do so through export controls and restrictions on investment from their own nations to China, while seeking to slow China's technological advance and reduce its dominance of the global supply chain.

More than a year after Russia invaded Ukraine, the meeting will also focus on supporting Kyivs defense and ratcheting up economic pressure on Russia through broader export bans. G-7 members, mainly those in Europe, still export around $4.7 billion a month to Russia, about 43% of what they did before the invasion, mostly pharmaceuticals, machinery, food and chemicals.

As part of his outreach to the Global South, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan, this years G-7 host, has invited Australia, Brazil, Comoros, Cook Islands, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Ukraine and Vietnam.

A little bit like the G-7 trying to create a mini-G-20 without China and Russia, said Josh Lipsky, senior director of the Atlantic Council's GeoEconomics Center, in a briefing to reporters Friday.

Looming over the meeting is the concern that financial instability from the threat of a U.S. default and the recent collapse of three American banks will spill over into the rest of the world. That would particularly hurt countries in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia that are struggling with post-pandemic debt accumulated through infrastructure and other loans mainly from China.

There have been calls to reduce those debts to more manageable levels, said Shihoko Goto, deputy director of the Asia program at the Wilson Center. However, she told VOA, Without having China there, there isn't really going to be much momentum.

Nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation are also at the top of this year's agenda, with Kishidas symbolic choice of hosting the summit in his hometown of Hiroshima, a city destroyed by an atomic weapon in 1945.

Notably lacking in this G-7 is the push to provide funding for global infrastructure projects as an alternative to China's Belt and Road Initiative, which was a focus in the last two G-7 summits.

Pacific Island Forum

From Hiroshima, Biden is scheduled to head to Papua New Guineas capital, Port Moresby, on May 22 to meet with Prime Minister James Marape and other leaders of the Pacific Island Forum, a grouping of 18 countries and territories spanning more than 30 million square kilometers of ocean. There he will seek to establish stronger strategic ties and deter those nations from making security deals with China amid rising tensions over Taiwan.

PNG officials say defense and surveillance agreements between PNG and the U.S. have been finalized and are set to be signed by Biden, including deals to help PNG mitigate climate change and strengthen deterrence capacity against illegal fishing.

Biden will be the highest U.S. official to visit in recent years, following Vice President Mike Pences trip to the 2018 Asia Pacific Economic Forum in Port Moresby. Chinese President Xi Jinping has visited the region three times, setting up infrastructure projects and signing a 2022 security pact with the Solomon Islands.

The U.S. needs to make up ground in the region, said Charles Edel, the inaugural Australia Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies during a briefing earlier this week. Years of strategic neglect from Washington produced a strategic vacuum that China was eager to step into.

Last year the administration hosted the first U.S.-Pacific Island Country Summit in Washington. It has established representation in the Pacific Islands Forum and is opening new embassies in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Kiribati and Tonga.

Observers also will be watching for any progress on the U.S. offer to revamp PNGs Lombrum Naval Base on Manus Island that Pence announced during his 2018 visit.

Quad Summit

After the brief stop in Port Moresby, Biden is scheduled to continue to a summit of the Quad countries  the U.S., Japan, India and Australia  May 24 in Sydney, hosted by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

The Quad was formed in 2007 to bolster economic and security relations among the four democracies and eventually evolved to become a strategic alignment against Chinas rise.

This will be the fourth meeting of the group, and the second to be held in person following last years Tokyo summit. Its structured around six leader-level working groups, on global health security, climate, critical and emerging technologies, cyber, space, and infrastructure.

Last year the Quad launched the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness, aiming to improve partners ability to protect their waters and resources and deter illicit Chinese maritime activities.

Australian media is reporting that Albanese has invited Biden to speak in front of the parliament in Canberra. The White House has not said whether Biden will accept.
Experts from the United States and several other countries will begin working with Ukrainian counterparts within weeks to collect evidence and identify individuals involved in Russia's invasion of Ukraine who can be prosecuted for the crime of aggression, a U.S. diplomat told VOA.

VOA was told this week that the work, to be conducted by the newly formed International Center for Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression, was given the go-ahead at a meeting in Warsaw of the year-old Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group, which comprises the United States, European Union and Britain.

"The United States will be sending the senior prosecutor; the other countries made various pledges," explained Beth Van Schaack, the State Department ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice, on the sidelines of the Warsaw meeting.

"The institution will be launched at the end of this month  bringing together experts who will be working side by side with Ukrainian counterparts in order to lay the groundwork for the application of individual criminal responsibility for the crime of aggression committed in Ukraine," she said.

Hazel Cameron, head of department at the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office, told VOA the international partners are helping Ukraine collect evidence to ensure international justice in the future. Britain is already providing expertise and resources, including mobile units for collecting and documenting the evidence, she said.

"In the highest possible standards  justice has to be done and seen," she said.

The new center, to be based at The Hague, is an outgrowth of the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group that was launched in May 2022 to support the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine (OPG) in its investigation and prosecution of conflict-related crimes, according to a State Department website.

More than 80,000 cases registered

In more than a year since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the OPG has registered more than 80,000 cases of war crimes committed by members of Russia's forces.

In their Warsaw meetings Thursday and Friday, several speakers echoed sentiments expressed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a recent visit to The Hague, where he said impunity from prosecution "is the key that opens the door to aggression."

"If you look at any war, any war of aggression in history, they all have one thing in common: The perpetrators of the war didn't believe they would have to stand to answer for what they did," he said in the Dutch city, home to the International Criminal Court (ICC) which issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in March.

'Crimes against humanity'

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in his virtual address at this week's session, said Russian attacks against civilians in Ukraine, including the systematic torture and killings in active regions, are "intended to steal Ukraine's very future."

"These acts are part of the Kremlin's widespread and systematic attack against Ukrainian civilians. They constitute crimes against humanity. And they are still being committed today. The United States is committed to pursuing accountability for Russia's atrocities, including war crimes."

U.K. Secretary of State for Foreign Commonwealth Affairs James Cleverly said Russian crimes in Ukraine cannot be ignored. "It's clear that the scale of the accountability challenge is huge and responding requires a coordinated international approach on several fronts."

Russia has previously denied targeting civilians and has not responded to allegations that its forces committed atrocities or tortured Ukrainians, including a recent request by a U.N.-backed Human Rights Council commission.

While the effort to collect and document the evidence of Russian war crimes is taking shape, it is still unclear when and in what forum any future trials might take place.

"Everyone understands there is a gap in the international system of accountability," explained Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin on the sidelines of the Warsaw meetings.

He told VOA the ICC "has jurisdiction, but not in our case. The [U.N.] Security Council will never refer this case to the ICC while Russia is a member of the Security Council," where Moscow has veto power.

Watch video: Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group Discusses Steps to Pursue War Crimes

As a result, Kostin said, Ukraine has proposed the establishment of a new mechanism "based on the practice of different previous tribunals, starting with the Nurenberg one" that prosecuted Nazi war criminals after World War II.

He said the idea for a special tribunal is gaining ground and now is supported by 37 countries.

Van Schaak said the United States and its partners fully support the creation of a special tribunal.

"Indeed, we are totally united on the need of creating some kind of the dedicated tribunal to prosecute individuals who are responsible for either planning or executing the war of aggression commented against Ukraine," she said, adding that the world has not seen this scale of atrocities and crimes since World War II.

Kostin said there is no country that has not been affected by Russia's war against Ukraine.

"The world should understand that this is a global war. And the creation of a special tribunal is not only to punish the crime of aggression against Ukraine but also to create the mechanism to deter the future aggression."
The border between the U.S. and Mexico was relatively calm Friday, offering few signs of the chaos that had been feared following a rush by worried migrants to enter the U.S. before the end of pandemic-related immigration restrictions.

Less than 24 hours after the Title 42 rule was lifted, migrants and government officials were still assessing the effect of the change and the new regulations adopted by President Joe Biden's administration to stabilize the region.

"We did not see any substantial increase in immigration this morning," said Blas Nunez-Neto of the Department of Homeland Security. He said the agency did not have specific numbers because it was early in the day.

Migrants along the border continued to wade into the Rio Grande to take their chances at getting into the U.S. while defying officials shouting for them to turn back. Others hunched over cellphones, trying to access the appointment app that is a centerpiece of the new measures. Migrants with appointments walked across a bridge hoping for a new life. And lawsuits sought to stop some of the measures.

Migrants are now essentially barred from seeking asylum in the U.S. if they did not first apply online or seek protection in the countries they traveled through. Families allowed in as their immigration cases progress will face curfews and GPS monitoring.

Across the river from El Paso in Ciudad Juarez, many migrants watched their cellphones in hopes of getting a coveted appointment to seek entry. The application to register to enter the U.S. had changed, and some were explaining to others how to use it.

Nearby, other migrants were charging their phones on a lamppost to try to get an appointment. Most of them were resigned to wait.

The legal pathways touted by the administration consist of a program that permits up to 30,000 people a month from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter if they apply online with a financial sponsor and enter through an airport.

About 100 processing centers are opening in Guatemala, Colombia and elsewhere for migrants to apply to go to the U.S., Spain or Canada. Up to 1,000 can enter daily through land crossings with Mexico if they snag an appointment on the app.

If it works, the system could fundamentally alter how migrants come to the southern border. But Biden, who is running for reelection, faces withering criticism from migrant advocates, who say he's abandoning more humanitarian methods, and from Republicans, who claim he's soft on border security.

Melissa Lopez, executive director for diocesan migrant and refugee services at El Paso, said the streets were calm Friday, with few migrants present.

After talking with many migrants, she said they were willing to follow the pathway created by the federal government, but there is also fear about deportation and possible criminal penalties for people who cross the border illegally.

The lull came after days in which large numbers of migrants crossed the border in hopes of being allowed to stay in the United States before the Title 42 restrictions expired.

Farther west, hundreds of migrants, mostly families, sat in two dozen rows between the border walls between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico, as Border Patrol agents walked among them and selected who would be allowed to leave to be processed. When some got up with them, those left behind cheered.

Gloria Inigo of Peru said she hoped her family would be next. Inigo, her husband and two girls, ages 5 and 8, crossed the border Wednesday before the new rules went into effect. She said she had heard about the rules and wanted to get in before then, but she was surprised so many others were doing the same thing.

"I have faith," she said of being able to get asylum in the U.S.

The expired rule, known as Title 42, has been in place since March 2020. It allowed border officials to quickly return asylum-seekers back over the border on the ground of preventing the spread of COVID-19. The U.S. has declared the national emergency over, ending the restrictions.

While Title 42 prevented many from seeking asylum, it carried no legal consequences, encouraging repeat attempts. After Thursday, migrants face being barred from entering the U.S. for five years and possible criminal prosecution.

Border Patrol chief Raul Ortiz said Friday in a tweet that the agency had apprehended 67,759 people in the last week. That averages out to 9,679 per day  nearly twice the average daily level of 5,200 from March.

It's slightly below the 11,000 figure that authorities said was the upper limit of what they expected after Title 42 ended, but it wasn't clear where numbers peaked in the hours before Title 42 expired Thursday night.

"We're seeing precisely the challenge we expected," Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Friday on ABC's "Good Morning America." "We cannot control the movement of people before they reach our border."

Border holding facilities were already far beyond capacity in the run-up to Title 42's expiration. Officials had orders to release people with a notice to report to an immigration office in 60 days if facilities reached 125% capacity or when they were held 60 hours or more. The quick releases were also to be triggered when authorities stopped 7,000 migrants along the border in a day.

But late Thursday, a federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump temporarily halted the administration's plans to release people into the U.S. and set a court date on whether to extend the ruling. Customs and Border Protection said it would comply but called it a "harmful ruling that will result in unsafe overcrowding."
New developments:

Germany says it is preparing a new weapons package for Ukraine worth $3 billion, reportedly the nations largest package since Russia invaded its neighbor last year.

Russia says its forces launched attacks on Ukrainian troops and military facilities on front lines in Kupyansk, Bundman and western Bakhmut.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Rome on Saturday for expected talks with Italian political leaders and the pope.

Zelenskyys trip comes as Russia again launched a drone attack on Kyiv and shelled cities in central and southern Ukraine, causing material damage, amid reports of some Ukrainian gains in Bakhmut, where heavy fighting has been under way for months.

Kyiv's air defenses shot down all the drones launched by Russia overnight, the capital's military administration reported Saturday, without specifying the number of drones.

There were no reports of damage or casualties, it said. It was the sixth drone attack on Kyiv this month.

In the central city of Khmelnytskyy, people were wounded and critical infrastructure was damaged by Russian shelling overnight, the region's military administration reported early Saturday.

Khmelnytskyy Mayor Oleksandr Symchyshyn said schools, medical facilities, administrative buildings, industrial objectives, and high-rise residential buildings were damaged. "The number of wounded is currently being established," he said.

The mayor of the southern city of Mykolayiv, Oleksandr Syenkevych, said three people were wounded in overnight shelling that damaged a factory and several residential buildings.

In Rome, Zelenskyy is to meet President Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, and Pope Francis during his visit, whose details have not been revealed for security reasons.

Zelenskyy on Sunday is due to receive the prestigious Charlemagne Prize in the northern German city of Aachen.

It remains unclear if he will attend the ceremony in person and if he would also travel to Berlin for meetings with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Germany's Der Spiegel reported Saturday that Berlin has put together a new package of military equipment for Ukraine worth $3 billion, the biggest since Russia's invasion began.

The package will include 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, 30 Leopard 1 tanks, 15 Gepard antiaircraft tanks, 200 reconnaissance drones, four additional Iris-T antiaircraft systems including ammunition, additional artillery ammunition, and more than 200 armored combat and logistics vehicles, the article said.

Zelenskyy's trip to Italy comes a day after Ukraine said it had recaptured some territory in the bitterly contested city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region.

Russia has acknowledged its forces retreated from positions north of Bakhmut, with Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov telling the media that Russian forces "occupied a new frontier" at the Berkhivske reservoir, some 2 kilometers from Bakhmut.

Konashenkov said Friday that Ukraine had launched an assault with more than 1,000 troops and up to 40 tanks after advancing the day before in the Soledar direction "along the entire line of contact" with a length of more than 95 kilometers.

The gains, if confirmed, would be the biggest for Ukraine in six months.

It is unclear if the developments were part of a long-planned counteroffensive.

There also were reports of Ukrainian advances to the south, suggesting a coordinated push by Kyiv to encircle Russian forces in Bakhmut.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Rome on Saturday for talks with Italian officials and Pope Francis, who has said the Vatican has launched a behind-the-scenes initiative to try to end the war launched last year by Russia.

Today in Rome, Zelenskyy tweeted. Im meeting with President of Italy Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister of Italy @GiorgiaMeloni and the Pope @Pontifex. An important visit for approaching victory of Ukraine!

When Zelenskyy arrived at a military airfield at Romes Ciampino airport, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani was on hand to greet him. Tajani told reporters that Italy will continue to support Ukraine 360 degrees" and press for a just peace, one that safeguards Ukraine's independence.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni staunchly backs military and other aid for Ukraine.

But while her far-right Brothers of Italy party fiercely champions the principle of national sovereignty, Meloni has had to contend with leaders of two coalition partners who have openly professed for years their admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Coalition ally Silvio Berlusconi, a former premier, has boasted of his friendship with Putin, while another government ally, League leader Matteo Salvini, has questioned the value of economic sanctions against Russia.

Zelenskyy began his official meetings by calling on Mattarella, who is head of state, at the presidential Quirinale Palace. Rain let up just in time about noon for the two to view an honor guard in the palace courtyard atop the Quirinal Hill, and Zelenskyy stood with his hand over his heart as an Italian military band played Ukraine's anthem.

"We are fully at your side,'' Mattarella told Zelenskyy at the start of their meeting.

The Ukrainian leader then headed to the premier's office at Chigi Palace. Meloni and Zelenskyy embraced in the palace courtyard, before the two headed to their closed-door talks.

En route to his appointments, Zelenskyy's motorcade passed by cheering Ukrainians who had waited in the rain to welcome him during his visit to the Italian capital, expected to last several hours. Near the presidential palace was Mariya Hrytskevych, a Ukrainian citizen living in Italy, who noted that Zelenskyy is traveling a lot for our good  to fight and to find more help, because we need help.

Zelenskyy is believed to be heading to Berlin next.

Zelenskyys exact schedule hadn't been publicly announced because of security concerns, and the Vatican only confirmed a papal meeting shortly before the Ukrainian president's plane touched down.

Italian state radio reported that as part of protective measures, a no-fly zone was ordered for Rome skies and police sharpshooters were strategically placed on high buildings.

Meloni met with Zelenskyy in Kyiv, shortly before the anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.

Francis, who is eager for peace, last met with the Ukrainian leader in 2020.

The pontiff makes frequent impassioned pleas on behalf of Ukraine's martyred" people, in his words.

At the end of April, flying back to Rome from a trip to Hungary, Francis told reporters on the plane that the Vatican was involved in a behind-the-scenes peace mission but gave no details. Neither Russia nor Ukraine has confirmed such an initiative.

He has said he would like to go to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, if such a visit could be coupled with one to Moscow, in hopes a papal pilgrimage could further the cause of peace.

Last month, Ukraine's prime minister met with Francis at the Vatican and said he asked the pontiff to help Ukraine get back children illegally taken to Russia during the invasion.

The German government, meanwhile, said it was providing Ukraine with additional military aid worth more than $3 billion, including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition.

The announcement Saturday came as preparations were underway in Berlin for a possible first visit to Germany by Zelenskyy since Russia invaded his country last year.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Berlin wants to show with the latest package of arms that Germany is serious in its support for Ukraine.

Germany will provide all the help it can, as long as it takes, he said.

Other developments:

 A massive Russian barrage overnight damaged an energy facility in Ukraines western Khmelnytskyi region, the Ukrainian energy ministry said Saturday morning. It added that the power supply in the region wasn't affected. The mayor of the regional capital said that 11 civilians were wounded or injured overnight as a result of a Russian missile strike, He added that hundreds of residential buildings in the city were also damaged in the strike.

 Russian forces on Friday and overnight resumed their shelling of Ukraines northeastern Kharkiv region, killing a civilian, local Gov. Oleh Syniehubov reported on Telegram on Saturday. Four civilians were killed over the same period in Ukraines front-line Donetsk province in the east, its Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said Saturday.

 Russian forces overnight launched at least 21 Iranian-made Shahed drones at Ukrainian territory, 17 of which were shot down, Ukraine's air force said Saturday. One of the drones hit unspecified infrastructure facilities in the western Khmelnytskyi region, the update said in a likely reference to the energy facility in the province that was damaged in the nightly strike, according to Ukraines energy ministry.

 Russian shelling overnight wounded three civilians in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, the mayor said Saturday. One person was hospitalized, while the two others were treated on the spot. Multiple fires were reported within the city.
FRIDAY, May 12, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Outside advisers for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted Thursday to recommend approval of Neffy, the first epinephrine nasal spray for severe allergic reactions.

Although most of the Pulmonary-Allergy Drugs Advisory Committee members supported the spray for adults (16:6) and children (17:5), key questions linger about whether more data are needed from its maker, ARS Pharmaceuticals, CBS News reported.

But Richard Lowenthal, cofounder, president, and CEO at ARS, said in a company statement following the vote, "We believe our clinical data from more than 600 individuals demonstrate Neffy's absorption-enhancing nasal spray technology is comparable to injectable products in delivering potentially lifesaving epinephrine, but with unique advantages of being small, needle-free, and conveniently sized."

Neffy delivers a 2-mg dose of epinephrine. Instead of large clinical trials, the drug company compared its product to already approved injectable epinephrine products, such as the EpiPen. It showed the results for Neffy were neither substantially higher or lower than injectable epinephrine.

"The effects of epinephrine on blood pressure and heart rate are surrogates for efficacy and are important in determining if someone is responding to treatment," Carlos Camargo, M.D., a professor of emergency medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, said in the company's news release. "With Neffy, blood pressure and heart rate are comparable to EpiPen with a single dose -- and with a second dose of Neffy, increases in systolic blood pressure were statistically higher, even better than revealed in the available data from EpiPen, which is crucial for patients requiring a second dose for a severe allergic reaction."

Epinephrine has been used since 1901 via injection. It was never put through the same approval process as drugs are now because it was on the market before the FDA existed, CBS News reported. That means the FDA does not have a lot of data it can use to compare Neffy's effectiveness in saving patients who are having a severe allergic reaction. As a result, it is not entirely clear whether the nasal spray will work as well as injectable epinephrine.

The FDA is expected to make its decision on whether to approve Neffy by the middle of this year. The company has said it could start selling the spray in late 2023. The drug is designed to work for patients who weight at least about 66 lb.

The company's research included a survey showing that people would be likely to use the spray 18 minutes earlier than an injectable medication, and as many as 35 percent more people would carry it with them.

CBS News Article
The Great Destiny/Once Upon a Time Season 3 Episodes 9 and 10 Editors Rating 5 stars * * * * *  Previous Next  Previous Episode Next Episode  Photo: Christopher Raphael/HULU/ HULU

There are not many shows that I have enjoyed as consistently as The Great. Despite Tony McNamaras partiality to animal cruelty, his writing is so sparklingly funny and clever that, three seasons in, I am still delighted by it even when he kills my favorite character! I think I will not get over it, but I do. Sort of. In a way. I want to stay angry about this! But I cant, because wow, these characters have really gone Through It and emerged even more interesting and complex.

This Pugachev plot of Archies has really gotten out of hand. Marial, Georgina, Catherine, and Elizabeth go to the town where hes currently speechifying to try to calm the rebelling peasants. It does not go well, and Marial saves Georginas life, although she later regrets it. Catherines realizing that the people really do hate her, which cant be a good feeling at any time, especially not right after youve lost your husband, and the people you govern are flocking to a man you stabbed a bunch who is now pretending to be him. What a complicated situation. Soon after this, Pugachev takes Moscow. MOSCOW. Catherines response to this is, Okay. Thanks. Saying she is depressed is a gross understatement, as it is more of an existential fugue where she drifts through life with nothing meaning anymore. Im sure many of us have been there, but we werent governing a country being taken over by an angry mob of its citizens. Side note: While Catherine instituted many reforms, she was not pro-democracy in her own country! Very much the opposite!

To determine whether Catherine actually has a destiny or has just been deluding herself this whole time, she lays out three guns every day, only one of which is loaded, points one at her head, and shoots. Her logic is that if it is her destiny to rule, she will never pick up the loaded gun. To this, I say, good LORD. When Elizabeth insists that Catherine has a destiny, Catherine says that it is true, according to todays guns.

Weve touched on this in previous seasons, but this conversation between Elizabeth and Catherine feels like two alternate realities coming together, as Catherine asks Elizabeth why being empress isnt Elizabeths destiny. Because Elizabeth was empress! That happened! It gets a little weird, though, with the shows moving around of family members, as Elizabeth was Peter the Greats daughter and not his love interest. She is seen as a very successful monarch, though, which Id definitely believe of the Elizabeth we know and love, butterfly training and all.

Paul is living in a box in a tree, and its absolutely batshit. Hes in what looks like a bear costume, and Grigor brings the box down via a rope multiple times a day to feed him and play the violin for him. Folks. This is not sustainable. Its clear that Grigor is losing it, though; his main goal is to keep Paul safe and not let him be ordained since Peter didnt want it. Catherine sanctioned this take Paul away for his safety thing, but its unclear if she knows he is living in a tree box that occasionally bears attack. If everything feels like its chaos, it is. No one is in control, everyone is running around trying to secretly accomplish their own agenda, and its all banana muffins.

Also, Velementov is now not dying! He finally goes to the doctor, and the doctor casually tells him they came up with a cure for what Velementov has a few years ago and also that people need to read his pamphlets. So now Velementov isnt in an alcoholic, self-destructive spiral! But its a little too late, and Petrov remains head of the army. Catherine does listen to Velementovs plan for Pugachev, though, which is to take him alive and make him go on a tour, telling everyone hes not Peter. Gosh, things were hard back then. Archie panics about this plan because then Pugachev might reveal that Archie hired him and started this whole thing. He just wants Pugachev dead. I mean, he also wants to have sex with him, but the dead thing more.

Catherine and Marial sneak into a Pugachev rally to hear what he has to say thats so riveting. He promises everyone they will kill all foreigners who look them in the eye, build the tallest towers in the world, and send ships to steal all the gold and raccoons from America. HEY. Those are OUR raccoons. We need them to make funny videos.

Everyone shouts, kill her, re: Catherine, and we end the penultimate episode. I know, I know! One episode to somehow resolve this massive chaos. Can it be done!! Well, basically, yes.

Pugachev gets sorted out right from the start of our season finale, Once Upon a Time. Were still at the rally, and when Pugachev comes into an antechamber, theres Archie. Archie shoots Pugachev in the shoulder right after Pugachev kisses him. This is his second shoulder-shooting. Pugachev runs away and sees Petrov, who doesnt shoot him because he was ordered not to, so Pugachev flees into a carriage, and Maxim is there, holding a gun at him. Someone needs to take Maxims guns away. Pugachev is brought to court and tied to a chair. Catherine tells him about this speaking tour deal where hell admit he isnt Peter. When shes out of the room, though, Archie talks Maxim into going in and shooting Pugachev in the head, so now weve had to see Nicholas Hoult die twice in one season. Its not fair. But also, shit. Now whos going to do Catherines speaking tour?

There is a hell of a lot of moving pieces in this episode, so let me try to sum up motives: Grigor is insane but wants to keep Paul and marry Marial. Georgina wants Paul ordained and to marry him and be empress. Archie wants Paul ordained. Elizabeth wants Paul ordained, but she is no longer in cahoots with Archie. Petrov is just kind of vibing. The Swedes are running around doing things, but eh. Oh, and Marial wants a job. And everyone keeps bashing people on the head to knock them out! I thought we talked about this in the last recap!

Catherine gets a break when the royal astronomer Nikolai shows up and tells her that Halleys Comet is about to appear. If you were immediately like, excellent, she can use this to trick the peasants; then congratulations, you are one step ahead of Catherine. To be fair, shes having a rough time.

Speaking of which, Elizabeth has had it, and she tells Catherine that she needs to stand up, or someone else will. By someone else, Elizabeth means herself. Elizabeth says that if she and not Catherine sits in the empresss seat in the State Room tomorrow, Elizabeth is not getting up again. Also, she loves Catherine, which is nice. Catherine seems to finally come to herself, not at this moment, but the next day during Gun Time. Catherine still chooses a gun. Right as she picks it up, someone comes into her room shooting in order to assassinate her, and she fires at them. The gun is loaded! Destiny! OR IS IT? (It is not. OR IS IT?)

After this incident, Catherine immediately seems like herself again, but harsher. Harsher in a way she probably needs to be to get anything the fuck done. She goes to a duel that is happening despite her banning it and shoots Petrov in the leg (hes fine). She tells Archie to use the comet as a sign to calm down the Russian people, just like we all thought would be a great idea. Its unclear how Archie will do this, though, as he has also ordained Paul against her wishes and did the Pugachev murder (which Catherine finds out because Marial finally tells her, thank you, Marial), so Catherine tells him hes going to be buried alive. To be specific, she tells the guards to tear the cassock from his body, rip off his beard, bury him alive, and piss on his grave.

Catherine tells Archie that either this can happen or he can sign a paper freeing half a million serfs owned by the Church and giving them each 25 acres. Archie begrudgingly agrees, and then, of course, she has him dragged off anyway. Damn, Catherine! Elizabeth had indeed been in the chair of state, but once this Archie business happens, she yields it to Catherine.

Then we get a kind of quick wrap-up! Guards piss on Archies grave, but Marial digs him up and hes still alive. Petrov fires Pugachevs head out of a cannon into a room of his supporters. Catherine finds out all the guns were loaded the day she shot the assassin. She states that destiny didnt get her where she is. She did it. Shes chopped off her hair, and we end with Catherine dancing around an empty room to You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC before sitting on the floor and crying. And THAT is where we end season three.

Will we get another season?? What on EARTH do we do without Nicholas Hoult on this show? And are we sure Peter couldnt survive being drowned in an icy lake for several months?

What a great show.
42 years ago today gun shots in Rome rang out around the world.

Today is the 42nd anniversary of the near-fatal assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II, an event that stunned the world.

On the fateful day - 13 May 1981 - the Polish pontiff was passing through the thousands of faithful gathered in St Peter's Square, blessing the crowds from his open Popemobile.

Suddenly four shots were fired at close range and John Paul II collapsed into the arms of his aides as the Popemobile was driven away at speed, chased by a team of security officers.

The 60-year-old pontiff, who had been hit in the abdomen, left hand and right arm, was rushed to Rome's Gemelli hospital where he underwent emegency surgery.

Moments before Pope John Paul II was shot in St Peter's Square. Photo Adnkronos.

Panic broke out in St Peter's Square as the faithful cried and prayed that the Holy Father would survive the shooting. Two female bystanders were also injured in the attack.

The assassination attempt was carried out by 23-year-old Turkish citizen, Mehmet Ali Agca, who was swiftly subdued and arrested.

The afternoon's dramatic events were reported live by a Vatican Radio journalist, Benedetto Nardacci, who said: "For the first time there is talk of terrorism even in the Vatican."

Italian police announced that Agca, who was on the run from Turkish authorities and Interpol, was a far-right terrorist who had been convicted of the 1979 murder of prominent left-leaning Turkish journalist Abdi Ipekci.

Police seized Agca's Browning handgun and said he had travelled to Italy using a false passport.

Pope John Paul II recovering in Rome's Gemelli hospital,

Karol Wojtyla, elected pope in 1978, underwent critical surgery, lasting more than four hours, which doctors described later that night as "successful."

No vital organ had been hit and the pontiff would later credit his survival with the Madonna of Fatima - a vision of the Virgin Mary who first appeared to Portuguese children on 13 May in 1917.

Forgiveness

On the Sunday morning after the shooting, the pope addressed the faithful in a recorded message from his hospital bed, asking people to pray for the man who pulled the trigger, whom he referred to as "my brother" and offered his "sincere forgiveness."

Within a few weeks John Paul II had recovered fully and on 27 December 1983 he went to visit his attempted assassin in Rome's Rebibbia jail.

In June 2000, after serving almost 20 years of a life sentence in prison in Italy, Agca was pardoned by then Italian president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi - at the request of JP II - before being deported to Turkey.

Pope JP II meeting Mehmet Ali Agca in jail in 1983

He was released from an Ankara prison in 2010, five years after the death of Pope John Paul II who would go on to be declared a saint in 2014.

Conspiracy theories

To this day mystery surrounds the motives of Agca's attempt on the pope's life. Conspiracy theories abound. Some suggest the involvement of the KGB due to Wojtyla's fierce opposition to communism.

Now aged 65 and living in Istanbul, Agca told Italian news agency ANSA two years ago that: "Certainly full light has not been shed on the attack on Pope John Paul II," adding that "many people's memories are fading in a world full of events."

Speaking in 2021 on the 40th anniversary of the attempted assassination, Pope Francis said of his predecessor: He was certain that he owed his life to Our Lady of Fatima, noting that that this makes us aware that our lives and the history of the world are in Gods hands.
Question:

I have recently been applying for positions within the Victorian Public Service.

Their employment framework is called the Jobs and Skills Exchange. A job can be advertised externally, but only after an internal search has failed to find a suitable candidate. In some cases, it can be advertised internally and externally at the same time.

Although Ive submitted strong applications with more than enough skills, experience and capability (over my 30-year career, I have worked within every sphere of business), in some cases I have not even been considered for interview because an existing staff member has also applied for the position.

I believe that it is a discriminatory framework that disadvantages jobseekers outside government. It effectively excludes candidates from consideration who may well be better-qualified than internal staff. Why is the system built this way?
On Saturday morning, 10-year-old Liam Sloan was happily chatting as he played on his iPad. His mother, Aimee Sloan, couldnt be happier. She said this was one of the many benefits she had seen since her son, who has autism, began using medicinal cannabis in January. Dr James Stewart is cannabinoid clinician and founder of Herbal Health Clinics. Credit: Darrian Traynor When The Sunday Age and The Sun-Herald visited Liam, who was non-verbal and rarely communicated his feelings, he greeted us with an enthusiastic, Hi sister! The words were always there, but he couldnt get them out  and now hes saying sentences, Sloan said.

Sloan, who lives in Patterson Lakes in Melbournes south-east, began using CBD oil in November to help manage chronic pain from a motorbike accident. After an improvement with her own symptoms, she wondered if a prescription could help her son. Loading While debate continues about the efficacy of medicinal cannabis for the treatment of autism, Sloan said her sons communication had significantly improved over the past five months. He greeted and farewelled people with hello and goodbye and also sang along to songs, she said. Hes a completely different child, Sloan, 39, said.

Hes always been a happy kid, hes got a beautiful nature and [is] always smiling. I had his teachers telling me he was chattier and more engaged. GPs need to get each patient treatment approved through the TGA, but some have authorised prescriber status and dont need approval for every patient. Statistics on medicinal cannabis use are collated in a number of ways. An Australian Natural Therapeutics worker prunes cannabis seedlings. Credit: Janie Barrett More than 85 per cent of GPs have patients asking about the drug, but only 52 per cent felt comfortable discussing it with patients and nearly 70 per cent felt they had inadequate knowledge, a survey published in the journal, BioMed Central Primary Care, in December found. There is a very good amount of support for medical cannabis but there is a lack of comfort in discussing medicinal cannabis with patients which seems to be the barrier, said lead researcher Zeeta Bawa, of the Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics and the University of Sydney.

Aimee Sloan spends about $250 a month on CBD oil for her son Liam, 10. Credit: Justin McManus There is an exponential rise in demand for it, but there is a lag in education for GPs. I do think GPs are being conservative about this but for good reason, the research for medicinal cannabis is up and coming and more needs to happen. Dr James Stewart, who founded the Herbal Health Clinics group and treats the Sloans, gave evidence last month at a federal parliamentary inquiry calling for medicinal cannabis to be considered for the treatment of brain trauma injuries in sport. He told the Senate inquiry that another of his patients, former NRL star Andrew Johns, no longer suffered seizures from repetitive head injuries after taking medicinal cannabis. I am trying to get out there and de-stigmatise and train and teach those doctors [who] are on the fence about cannabis medicine, Stewart said.

Im hoping what comes out of that is that well get some funding to do a study next year, hopefully with the AFL and AFLW, NRL and NRLW around using cannabis, specifically mostly CBD products, to prevent the effects of concussion and also slow down and help with CTE [chronic traumatic encephalopathy]. Concussion is huge and lives have been torn apart. There is fantastic evidence to say that cannabis can help. So what Im trying to do is reduce the stigma and let people know that cannabis is a medicine. Its not an illegal gateway drug. Its not about smoking cones. Its an oil and a medicine. Liam Sloan is under treatment for ADHD and epilepsy; one medication, Risperidone, made him gain 15 kilograms. Medical advice suggested another ADHD drug, Ritalin, could help curb the weight gain.

Loading Thats when I put my foot down, Sloan said. Liam gaining that much weight was not good for his health. Stewart prescribed both Aimee and Liam Sloan with CBD oil. A 25-day refill for both costs about $500. The federal government does not subsidise medicinal cannabis therapies on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Its not cheap, Sloan said. It would be nice to see the government supporting medicinal cannabis more.

She hopes CBD oil will become more accessible to other families with autistic children in the future. We didnt know whether Liam was ever going to talk, she said. CBD oil has changed both of our lives and it should be easily available to other families. Mills said the commercial sector had entered the market with cannabis access clinics, which do the compliance paperwork on behalf of patients. Chemist Warehouse has joined a medicinal cannabis joint venture between listed health and wellness company Wellnex Life and Melbournes OneLife Botanicals. Andrew Forrests heath tech venture capital group, Tenmile  which is backed by his family company, Tattarang  has invested in medicinal cannabis drug developer Emyria.

I am hoping it doesnt go down the US model where it jumps from being illegal to being aggressively marketed for conditions for which it is not medically helpful, Mills said. In the US, there is a lot de facto recreational use under the guise of medical use. Rachel Payne was elected for the Legalise Cannabis Party in last years state election. Credit: Jason South There is no decent evidence that medical cannabis is effective in treating depression or anxiety. Mills said the medical system and more doctors needed to engage on the treatment.

Neither blanket acceptance nor blanket scepticism is helpful, he said. We need a scientific approach. In 2016, Victoria was the first state to approve medicinal cannabis. Unlike in Tasmania, there is no exemption for unimpaired drivers. Road-safety laws make it an offence to for drivers to have any presence of THC in their system, even if the effects of physical impairment have worn off and they have a prescription. A private members bill from MPs calling for medicinal cannabis to be treated like other prescription medications for drivers was introduced this year. Victorian Legalise Cannabis MP Rachel Payne wants to provide a medical defence for users.
A question often asked by novice investors is how much you should prioritise a companys green credentials versus its financial performance. Gen Zs and Millennials are increasingly concerned with the impact our super funds and personal investments have on our planet.

Should investors be gauge the impact of our ESG investments through financial returns or their intended outcomes? There are more important metrics to consider when investing ethically, such as impact and value creation. Bottom line: dont be afraid to see red on your balance before you see green impact in the real world.

Now more than ever, Gen Zs and Millennials are increasingly conscious of the impact our super funds and personal investments have on our planet. Credit: AP

The correlation between performance and ESG impact is not clear cut and the practice of ESG investing doesnt always align with short-term profitability objectives. Implementing sustainable initiatives or improving social practice often means significant capital expenditure and may require various trade-offs that affect financial performance.

However, in the long term these companies are better equipped to manage ESG risks, which in turn leads to not only greater long-term social impact but can also support greater financial performance.
Although Molina and Zhai won their wrongful dismissal case, and in August 2022 Galloway paid the pair a total of $65,000, Galloway failed to pay their full entitlement. Further action in the Federal Circuit Court in Sydney in November resulted in further pecuniary penalties against Galloway. He now owes Molina more than $40,000, Zhai $12,000, and legal costs of around $20,000. Milena Molina successfully sued solicitor Brett Galloway for wrongful dismissal. His practice manager, whod worked for him since 2011, told the court that in the lead-up to her firing in March 2020 Galloway had not been paying staff wages on time, nor had he been paying other business expenses such as barristers fees. She said that Galloways clients often paid in cash and at one stage there was up to $80,000 in cash kept in the office safe. Molina said she was worried that Galloway was spending his clients money on his own March 2020 wedding. Deputy president Easton acknowledged Galloways accounting system was shambolic and that Galloway had been twice found to have engaged in unsatisfactory conduct in relation to cash transactions and other financial matters. Molina also told the court of a confrontation with Galloway in July 2019 when she said, I cant believe you are using drugs again. You need help once and for all, Brett  youre an addict. I have seen your bank records, and personal expenses  I do the books, remember. Lets go outside to talk, we need to hash this out.

Galloway claimed that Zhai was rude to him during a trial, but Zhai said Galloway repeatedly fell asleep during the trial and that hed have to nudge him under the bar table to wake him up. Galloway was a no-show at last Novembers hearing, but later tried to have the matter re-litigated claiming that, for the last year, he was suffering poor physical, mental and emotional health which had been exacerbated by the loss of two family pets as well as a failed reconciliation with his wife of two years. To back up his claims he provided a medical report from his GP, Dr Joe Grech. The Herald has previously revealed the well-known eastern suburbs doctor was suspended for six months in 2021 for various matters including giving false and misleading information to the Medical Council and possession of methamphetamine (ice). Joe Grech, who provided a medical report for Galloway, was suspended for six months in 2021 for various matters including giving false and misleading information to the Medical Council and possession of methamphetamine (ice). Grech was arrested in April 2018 after police searched his car, a Jaguar with the number plates 01DUDE. After unlocking a silver suitcase, they found 1.19 grams of ice and an assortment of glass pipes. He told police, I take full ownership for it and its crystal meth.

In 2019 Grech was found guilty of possessing ice and the equipment to administer a prohibited drug. He received a conditional release order of 18 months after the Local Court accepted his explanation that the drug and the equipment belonged to someone else. That someone else was Grechs girlfriend as well as his patient, a fact which he was caught lying about to the Medical Council. That same year Galloway was successful in having drug-driving charges against him dismissed. In September 2018 Galloway was charged after a saliva test returned a positive result for ice. Police recorded that after Galloway left a known drug premises he went through a stop sign in Paddington. The charges were dismissed after Galloway argued that traces of the drug could have entered his system after drinking tea and smoking a cigarette handed to him by his client, who was on a bond for supplying ice. For nearly two decades police have received a steady stream of intelligence suggesting that Grech has been involved in drug supply and possession, and has been providing false medical certificates in return for cocaine, heroin and ice.

The explosive allegations were contained in a lengthy police dossier which was tendered in the 2020 criminal case of one of Grechs patients, the now-jailed criminal lawyer Michael Croke. According to the tendered intelligence report, Grech was a known associate of Galloway, a criminal solicitor accused of regularly using prohibited drugs namely ice. The deputy commissioner said Grechs report along with one from psychologist Tim Watson-Munro were of little probative value as they were based on what Galloway told them. In his report, Watson-Munro said his friend at times has experienced avoidance reactions due to his anxiety, which offers some explanation as to his tardiness/inability to open emails and to attend to his legal responsibilities. A report from Tim Watson-Munro was considered to be of little probative value. Credit: Cole Bennetts The well-known psychologist was previously deregistered for a number of years after pleading guilty to cocaine use and possession. He has sustained a dual life for a series of years that was not only deceitful to his profession, his colleagues, his clients and his family but involved sustained and serious ethical impropriety, the Psychologists Registration Board of Victoria held in 2002.

In a recent scathing judgment, Federal Circuit Court Judge Sophie Given dismissed Galloways attempt to relitigate the matter. She said that despite his evidence that he had been unable to attend to the simplest tasks such as opening his emails, she was of the view that Galloway had an ostrich-like attitude in this matter, burying his head in the proverbial sand and that by paying some, but not all of his employees entitlements, hed hoped he wouldnt have to pay any more and that the matter would go away. She also said that society had a right to be concerned that Galloway, who claimed to be so mentally ill that he is unable to care for himself, has been continuing to practise as a solicitor. Galloway is yet to pay his employees their full entitlements and, to compound his financial woes, he is currently facing bankruptcy proceedings brought by BMW Finance. He was also found guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct in October 2021 for his failure to pay a barrister who had represented him in this matter.
A missing surfer is believed to have been killed in a shark attack at a popular South Australian surf spot as a police search continues.

Police said multiple surfers had witnessed a shark attack a 46-year-old Elliston man at Walkers Rock Beach, about 365 kilometres west of Adelaide, as the crow flies, on the Eyre Peninsula.

The incident occurred near a reef break popular with surfers.

Police, SES and locals have been searching for the man after the incident was reported about 10.10am (10.40am AEST) on Saturday.
I have come to this farm to hunt rabbits with butcher and mobile slaughterer Russell Barnes, who has stalked introduced species since he was a teenager. Hunting deer and rabbits remains a regular part of his lifestyle, providing him with a plentiful source of meat.

Rabbit colonies have savaged this undulating landscape, leaving it pockmarked and scarred. Bald patches spread across the slopes where rabbits have chewed the grass back to dry earth.

The crack of gunfire sends other rabbits scurrying, but I try to hold steady and focus on the target, long after the bullet has cleared the barrel.

Eventually, those eyes pause long enough for my finger to settle on the trigger  the rifles smooth wooden butt pressed against my cheek. Between breaths, I pull back on the trigger in one decisive motion.

In the last glow of dusk, two eyes glint at the foot of the hill, caught in the spotlights powerful green beam. I crouch, then lie down on dry brambly grass that prickles through my T-shirt as I track the twin glimmering specks through the rifle scope.

G raphic content: This story contains descriptions of hunting and photographs of dead animals that may distress some readers.

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.

Wild deer populations have exploded and now roam freely over much of Victoria. Rabbits continue their indiscriminate feeding and breeding, threatening native flora and competing with indigenous animals for food.

More than a century after Europeans introduced wild game for hunting in Australia, animals once considered harmless are devastating the natural landscape. They have inflicted billions of dollars in damage to the agriculture sector, caused car accidents and even charged into suburban houses.

Aim for the chest, he said. Youll most likely kill it straight away.

As I prepare to take my first shot, I ask Barnes where to aim for a quick kill.

But this is my first hunt. Before this balmy autumn evening, I had never fired a gun outside the controlled conditions of a rifle range.

A 2021 report from the CSIRO described European rabbits as the single biggest menace to threatened native species in Australia and cost, on average, $216 million a year in lost farm productivity. The report said rabbits had infested two-thirds of Australia.

Biodiversity Council lead councillor and RMIT professor Sarah Bekessy says Victorias ecosystem is in crisis due to introduced species. Research backs this assertion.

Or would this further entrench these introduced animals in the environment by creating an industry with a financial interest in keeping them there?

Could we eat our way out of this catastrophe by harvesting and simultaneously removing invasive species from the Victorian landscape?

But what if we shifted our attitudes to wild rabbits and deer and considered them a sustainable source of protein?

Its not having an impact on feral animal numbers, but its a far more ethical way of eating meat than factory farming.

However, Bekessy argues eating introduced animals when killed humanely has other benefits.

But she believes hunting has so far has delivered limited benefit. The latest figures from Victorias Game Management Authority show the total deer harvest from game licence holders reached 118,900 in 2021  a 49 per cent increase on the 79,700 average since 2009.

Its deer and rabbits that have been responsible for the demise of so many threatened plants, Bekessy says. Its not right to let them roam.

Meanwhile, wild deer numbers have exceeded a million in Victoria alone, according to the Invasive Species Council, covering more than 40 per cent of the state.

The most important thing is that its ethical  a very easy, quick dispatching.

Despite introduced species unwelcome presence, OMeara insists he respects those he kills.

For OMeara, game meat has become a household staple: Youre accessing grass fed, free-range, non-chemical meat at its purest.

He hunts deer, rabbits and ducks in the land surrounding his Mansfield home in the foothills of the Victorian Alps, and says removing introduced species is good for the environment and eases the pressure on farmers trying to keep them away from their crops.

Chef, author and game meat advocate Ross OMeara wants more people to consider eating hunted meat.

For years, I have wondered whether I have the grit to hunt for my dinner. In my late teens I became vegetarian after growing increasingly uncomfortable with the idea of factory-scale meat production where animals make long and stressful trips to abattoirs.

Although I returned to meat about five years later, I have brooded over the welfare of the animals Im eating, how they lived and died.

Last year, I decided to try hunting to learn whether I could give an animal the kind of death my conscience would reconcile.

Hunting for dinner

I applied for a firearms licence. It was a rigorous process that took months, requiring my medical history and background checks.

The compulsory training included an online theoretical course covering firearm parts and how to operate rifles and shotguns safely. It took me more than four hours to complete.

A shot rabbit tied to the fence before being prepared for cooking. Credit:Jason South

Then there was in-person training at a firing range where instructors showed about a dozen of us how to shoot from a range of positions.

Before this moment, I had not even handled an unloaded gun, let alone shot one with live ammunition.

When the order came to begin shooting, I was taken aback by the burst of gunfire and retreated to readjust my earplugs as others began firing at the targets.

The rifle felt heavier than I expected as I lifted it from the rack for my turn at target practice. I loaded the bullets into the magazine with trembling fingers and shoved the bolt in place.

At first, I was happy just to hit any spot on the paper target from a 50-metre distance. But over months of successive practice sessions, my aim and accuracy improved until I was confident I could pick off a stationary rabbit in the open.

Helping the environment, getting a feed

Russell Barnes is keen to point out hunting can be a humane way to source food.

Thats why he takes me to this farm in northern Victoria, 90 minutes drive from Melbourne, where hes been given permission to hunt on the sprawling property  away from other people or livestock.

Dressing a rabbit shot in the field. Credit:Jason South

Were enjoying the outdoors. Were helping the environment, and were getting a feed for our family, he says. I dont think were hurting anybody.

Barnes knows what hes doing. Settling between rocks, Barnes eyes a rabbit  one of the first to emerge into the late afternoon sun. He cocks the rifle and fires a single shot, then dashes off to retrieve the dead animal.

Barnes cuts a series of deft nicks into the carcass, and runs his hand over the rabbits stomach in one swift motion, squeezing out the guts and organs to cool it down.

Soon, its my turn. No turning back now.

My heart thumps as I line up those glinting eyes and fire. I see the rabbit struggle momentarily  the briefest flurry in the failing light  before falling still amid the dry grass and burrows and bald earth.

I breathe, while Barnes runs down the hill. He returns holding the creature by its hind paws and hands it over, pointing to my shot, right through the upper body.

The animals weight feels substantial in my hands, and the fur is much smoother than the stringy texture I imagined. In the strange intimacy of this moment I remember my pet rabbit, Peter, that I had kept as a little boy. We throw the rabbits into the tray of Barnes ute and drive away.

A feral deer in Sherbrooke Forrest. Credit:Alex Maisey

Labels may cloud morals

RSPCA senior scientific officer Di Evans insists introduced species deserve a painless death when killed by humans, preferably by a single shot to the head.

She says only skilled shooters should be able to hunt animals as part of government-controlled programs.

Evans worries recreational hunting may result in high rates of animal wounds that inflict severe pain and prolonged deaths.

I hate to think about how often that happens, she says.

Evans believes even the language used to describe introduced species contributes to their treatment  people may not take sufficient care to prevent pain and suffering with animals regarded as pests.

When you start to label animals as vermin, pests or feral you tend to have a different view of moral considerations, she says. People forget were the cause of the problem.

People forget were the cause of the problem. Di Evans, RSPCA senior scientific officer

Hunting should be monitored more closely to ensure community expectations on animal welfare are met, Evans says, but she concedes this can be difficult in remote areas.

However, Invasive Species Council deer project officer Peter Jacobs says the Victorian government should designate deer as pests, alongside foxes, rabbits and wild pigs.

He explains the Australian landscape evolved without the presence of hard-hoofed animals and deer are now trampling and destroying sensitive environments - particularly in Victorias High Country.

Deer can be hunted in Victoria, but they are classed as game, which means other methods of control, such as poisons, cannot be used.

Theyre clearly a pest. What are we actually protecting any more? Jacobs says. The community is quite confused by that.

The council wants urgent action to control deer numbers, arguing the cost of doing nothing could reach $2.2 billion dollars to agriculture, forestry and road accidents in the next 30 years.

The large deer smashed through the front window of a suburban Melbourne home and became trapped inside. Credit:Alexander Hill

Deer are now pushing further into suburbia. One had to be euthanised after it was found running through the streets of Fitzroy in 2021. In April, a buck smashed its way into an Alphington home.

Hunting deer might help individual landholders to keep the animals off their property. But Jacobs doubts whether creating an industry for wild venison can solve the broader environmental catastrophe.

Instead, he says, it risks creating a perverse outcome where there are incentives for harbouring deer in the wild for commercial benefit.

Were not going to eat our way through the deer problem in Victoria.

Significantly expanding professional shooting programs, Jacobs says, is the only realistic option currently available for curbing deer numbers.

Legal changes by the Victorian government in the past five years have allowed expanded access to wild deer for commercial harvesters.

Yet, the government has given no firm indication of plans to designate deer as pests.

The status of deer as game does not prevent their control when they are causing damage to the environment or property, a government spokesman said.

The government pointed to more than $27 million in funding to manage deer and rabbits in Victoria, but conceded eradicating them altogether is unrealistic.

Benjamin Preiss preparing the rabbit he shot for stew. Credit:Eddie Jim

Brian Cooke, patron of Rabbit Free Australia and University of Canberra adjunct associate professor, says there was a viable commercial market for wild rabbits in the 1940s, but it did nothing to reduce their plague numbers.

It simply didnt work, he says.

Cooke says introduced diseases, including myxomatosis and calicivirus, have had the greatest impact on curbing rabbit populations, although some animal lovers say they inflict cruel deaths.

Fumigating and covering burrows are now common methods for culling rabbits.

But research into genetic manipulation that minimises breeding provides a humane and promising way forward, Cooke says.

From field to plate

In his open outdoor shed, Russell Barnes arranges the gutted rabbits on a white plastic table and hands me a pair of black plastic gloves.

Starting at the bottom of the rabbit, he shows me how to yank back the fur from the animals hindquarters and rip up towards its head, while inspecting the flesh for cysts, ensuring it is free of disease.

Handling the warm rabbit, I somehow feel closer to this animal that I shot an hour earlier.

Rabbit stew prepared with vegetables and white wine. Credit:Benjamin Preiss

Using a heavy cleaver, we break carcasses down into pieces. Then with a boning knife we skirt around the hindquarter bones, so I can use the meat for schnitzel.

The next day I stew the rabbit slowly with carrots, celery and white wine until the meat slides off the bones. The flavour is a rich umami with mild gaminess.

Loading

I crumb the remaining fillets and hindquarters then shallow fry them in olive oil. The meat is firm but not chewy and tastes much like chicken schnitzel.

I serve it to my family, and we eat it with gusto.

Perhaps this meal is less part of an environmental solution than I hoped. But I am proud to have confronted the grisly realities of eating meat. And I have given this animal the most respectful death I could imagine.



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We would take croissants, fruit, muffins, dry cereal like Cheerios. Basically, any food that didnt need refrigeration and travelled well, said OCallaghan, who noted that staff are mostly obliging. I pile a plate high and then bag it so it doesnt go to waste ... We would easily save $40 to $60 each day. But does all you can eat extend to all you can take at the hotel breakfast buffet? This mainstay topic of travel forums has had a resurgence since buffets resumed post-COVID. Australias strict food safety regulations, set by Food Standards Australia New Zealand and enforced by state and territory authorities, mean that most hotels dont allow the practice to occur. Emma Hynes, director of operations for IHG Hotels & Resorts, said while food safety restrictions apply, staff generally want to extend great hospitality. Well of course work with our hotels and guests to ensure we can make requests safely happen, Hynes said. That includes some of their hotel brands, such as Holiday Inn Express, offering Grab and Go bags for guests to take their breakfast on the go. AccorHotels, whose brands include Sofitel, Pullman and Novotel, take a similar position, providing guests with a container to take food from the buffet if they need to eat and run.

However, guests caught concealing buffet food may still face repercussions. There have been occasions over the years when guests try to push it, said Andre Jacques, sales and marketing director for The Langham, Melbourne. We have a strict food hygiene policy. Our Melba restaurant team are very well versed in managing that and preventing guests taking food outside. Chef David How prepares breakfast buffet items at Melba, The Langham Melbournes restaurant. Credit: Joe Armao Duncan Morrison, executive chef for Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park, said that over the years theyve caught numerous guests of buffet restaurant Feast trying to make off with morsels  from sweet treats, to the hotels house-grown micro-herbs. Weve caught quite a few guests wrapping up our scrumptious desserts and pastries in serviettes and sneaking them into their handbags for a snack later on, Morrison said.

This can pose a health and hygiene issue, and staff take guest safety seriously. We kindly request that they leave the buffet items where they belong  in their satisfied bellies, Morrison said. However, doesnt leftover food just get tossed at the end of breakfast service anyway? In Australia, 7.6 million tonnes of food is wasted each year, 70 per cent of it perfectly edible, according to a National Food Waste Strategy Feasibility Study. The same study reported that retail and hospitality waste between 2019 and 2021 increased by 104 and 275 per cent, respectively. Food safety regulations mean only 10-15 per cent of unused food can be donated or repurposed; items such as those that require temperature control or have been sitting out of refrigeration for longer than two or four hours are considered higher-risk. Hotel buffets remain a significant culprit, and part of the issue is an expectation to provide lavish, filling spreads. However, the food waste defence may not hold up.
Moscow: Pro-war Russian nationalists led by one of the militants convicted over the shooting down of flight MH17 have announced they are entering politics to save Russia.

Igor Girkin warned that Russia was in danger of turmoil or even collapse because of military failures in the Ukraine war.

Igor Girkin, who has been convicted over his role in the shooting down of MH17, has now criticised Russias handling of the Ukrainian invasion. Credit: EPA

Nearly 15 months since President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in what he called a special military operation, Moscow says it has still not achieved all of its aims as its forces brace for a Ukrainian counteroffensive backed by the United States and the NATO military alliance.

The Russian nationalist group known as the Club of Angry Patriots said it was entering politics as an opposition party without any formal or informal instruction from the Kremlin but that it saw Putin as the only true guarantor of stability in modern Russia. The group was founded on March 17.
BROWNS SUMMIT  From the roadside, some passersby who see the cluttered, decaying storefront are too young to remember it used to be the only 
A rendering of the 8,050-unit development slated for 1082 Lakeshore Rd. E. and 800 Hydro Road in Mississauga.



The developer behind a massive project on Mississaugas waterfront is asking the province to nearly double the number of units and remove most building height limits, a city report shows.

A May 2 report from the citys planning and development department says Lakeview Community Partners requested a ministers zoning order (MZO) that would permit the over 8,050-unit project slated for 1082 Lakeshore Rd. E. and 800 Hydro Rd. in Mississauga to grow to 16,000 units, if approved.

MZOs are granted by Steve Clark, Ontarios minister of municipal affairs and housing, and allow quicker approvals for developments through bypassing typical planning process, including public meetings and appeals.

The province has granted two recent MZOs in Mississauga with council support, including a film studio proposal at 6967 Maritz Dr. and Trillium Health Partners planned Mississauga hospital expansion.

According to the staff report, the MZO is requesting a 10-storey height limit for waterfront facing buildings but no maximum everywhere else.

Local Mississauga councillor Stephen Dasko says hes not happy about the MZO request and that the citys planning staff worked hard on the existing proposal to ensure there was enough parkland, amenities and infrastructure to support the nearly 20,000 residents expected to live in Lakeview Village.

He also says if the province approves the proposed MZO, it could undercut the citys ability to plan for new developments.

And with this type of increased intensification right across the city, we need parkland. We need amenities such as community centres like we've never needed them before because I've got no interest in warehousing people.

Mississauga Coun. Stephen Dasko. | Metroland file photo Lakeview Community Partners Adine Carter did not respond to interview requests or questions sent by publication time.

Early visioning for the 177-acre site began as a community driven project around 20 years ago following the demolition of Ontario Power Generations Lakeview coal station. City council has since approved plans for the site, permitting around 5,300 units in 2014, 6,800 in 2018 and 8,000 in 2019.

An earlier development application from Lakeview Community Partners proposed 9,751 units for the project. Council approved the Lakeview Village development with a total of 8,050 units and maximum heights of between four and 40 storeys.

Other than a single 40-storey tower, the other tallest buildings in the approved Lakeview Village plan were between 12 and 29 storeys.

A 2020 rendering of proposed Lakeview Village tower heights. | City of Mississauga rendering City officials, including Mayor Bonnie Crombie, have previously referred to the Lakeview Village development as a touchstone project for Mississaugas waterfront.

In her 2022 state of the city address, Crombie said the Lakeview and Brightwater developments will put Mississaugas waterfront on the map as an international destination much like Chicago, Vancouver and New Orleans.

In a Wednesday, May 10 statement, Crombie wrote the city has worked with Lakeview Community Partners where it makes sense but the MZO proposal would double the population of the site without the necessary schools, transit, community amenities, or fire stations to support them.

Simply put, the current proposal puts significant pressures on a site that is already at capacity and will impact new developments in the neighbouring area, she wrote.

Trevor Baker, president of local resident group Lakeview Ratepayers Association, says the MZO proposal flies in the face of years of work by the community, council and city staff to plan the Lakeview Village development and that the proposed unit and density increase would have an enormous impact on the area.

He also says that the proposal disregards the intent of MZOs, which he believes are meant for emergency, time-sensitive projects, not for developers to increase density.

What I think, the provincial government needs to be somewhat concerned about the potential abuse of their MZO program.

Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing spokesperson Conrad Spezowka said in an email that no decision on the MZO has been made as of Wednesday morning.

The citys planning and development committee is scheduled to discuss the MZO Monday, May 15.

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Colleen Hood has had two lives.

One before her 19-year-old daughter Maddie was murdered in St. Catharines and she was whole. And one after that July 7, 2012 day when she broke.

Her two selves are distinct.

The person I was before Maddie was killed, I was fearless and fierce. Like Maddie, strong, indomitable in some ways, she says.

And the person I am now is fragile and vulnerable. Its like all my outer layers of skin got ripped away.

Hood has spent the last decade trying to reassemble her broken pieces, knowing she will never be the same person she was before Maddies future, and in turn her own, was stolen.

Its an ongoing process, but one of perseverance.

While dealing with grief, the court system and the stigma of losing a child to homicide, she went back to school and started a second career as a registered psychotherapist to help other bereaved parents.

She continued teaching at Brock University pushing new ground in her field of therapeutic recreation, retiring just last month and creating a new scholarship in Maddies name to mark the occasion.

And her contributions have been so notable, shes been honoured by her students and peers recently with national awards.

Hood says she feels like shes been on a journey to learn how to live well in spite of such an overwhelmingly tremendous loss.

Im not even close to the same person I was before Maddie was killed I am this deeply wounded kind of broken human being whos still trying to live well and do her best in the world.

I think my work over the last 10 years has been a part of trying to do that and trying to figure that out. Figure out how to do it myself, figure out how to share that with other people.

- - -

In July 2012, Hood and her now-wife Judy Bullis were on vacation, spending a week in Paris before arriving at a Tuscan farmhouse.

That first morning in Italy, Hood woke up to find a message on her phone from someone back home in Niagara trying to get a hold of her. She went downstairs to join Bullis in the kitchen and was speculating about what the call was about.

As she came down the stairs, Bullis, then the publisher of The Standard, dropped her coffee in the sink. She was looking at the newspaper on her phone and saw a photo of what looked like the house where Hoods 19-year-old daughter Maddie lived. It was behind police tape. A body had been found.

A quick scan showed it was the same address on East Hampton Road in Glenridge.

What came next was trauma in slow motion.

A phone call with Niagara Regional Police confirming the worst. Bullis on the phone trying to get a flight out of the country, from anywhere. Driving at night through roundabout after roundabout in a rural area to the Florence airport. Leaving the rental car in an empty lot at 3 a.m. Taking a plane to Frankfurt airport. Hood sitting down in a row of empty seats in the terminal and being told she had to move because they were for people with disabilities. Bullis yelling that this woman had just lost her child. Hood crying on the plane. The flight attendants gathering around.

Are you fit to fly? If you cant pull yourself together, were going to have to ask you to get off the plane.

- - -

Hood doesnt remember much from that first year after her only daughter was murdered.

She wouldnt even find out how Maddie died for 12 months.

The pieces of me were scattered all over the floor and in shards and I was trying to figure out how to pick up the pieces and patch something back together, she says.

Thats one reason I went back to work so quickly. It was like the one thing I felt I could do.

Hood, who also has a son, Andrew, is known nationally for her work in the therapeutic recreation field, which helps people with disabilities, illnesses or other limiting conditions choose leisure activities that help them live the best lives possible.

Two months after Maddie was killed, Hood was back in the classroom teaching at Brock. The following September, she was eligible for a year-long sabbatical and took it, thrusting herself into work at Niagara Health hospital system.

She spent a year on site with recreation therapists in outpatient mental health. While interacting with patients, Hood realized she had something in common with them.

They were all shattered.

Turning her own loss into something helpful, she created programs with the hospitals recreation therapists related to identity reconstruction that continue to run today.

Hood also went back to school to become a registered psychotherapist. Her own therapist was a saviour after Maddies murder.

I know that part of my thinking was, how is it possible to make anything positive from this? Like, there just isnt a good thing about it. Theres no silver lining. Theres nothing. Its just pure and utter devastation, she says.

I decided I was going to become a therapist because maybe I could help other bereaved parents, even though I didnt know what the f - - k I was doing myself. Like I wasnt even close to having my feet on the ground at that point.

For three years she travelled once a week to Toronto for the program and later opened her own practice in Niagara.

- - -

Maddie was beaten, strangled, stabbed multiple times and left to burn in her apartment that was set on fire.

Cassell Farnsworth, 21, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and arson in November 2013, receiving life without parole eligibility for 12 years.

Hood said when you lose parents, as she has, you lose your past. When you lose a child, you lose your future.

I had a very clear image of what my life was going to be moving forward with Maddie as a key feature of it. And then she was gone.

Maddie, brilliant, humorous, outspoken, didnt love high school but had been accepted to Brock University that year and was planning to go to Niagara College first as a transition.

She worked part-time at United Way and loved it, telling her mom she could see herself pursuing a career with a non-profit organization to help people.

She had her struggles  the court was told she owed her killer money for drug transactions  but her mother said she was always loved.

We were very, very, very close. And even though she was having her struggles, her late adolescent early adulthood struggles, she knew we were very close. I didnt appreciate the things she was doing in her life, but I never stopped loving her. She never stopped knowing that, I dont think.

At the sentencing hearing, Hood said she will never matter again in the world the way she mattered to Maddie. She still believes that.

- - -

When Maddie was killed, her co-workers at the United Way set up a memorial fund in her name before Hood and Bullis plane had even touched the ground.

The money is now being moved to Brock University to create a scholarship in Maddies name to support graduate students studying the role of leisure and living well with mental illness.

I think the greatest fear of any bereaved parent is that their childs existence wont matter and will be forgotten. And so for me, this is a way for Maddies unrealized legacy to play out in some way, Hood said.

Hoods own legacy as a professor was honoured in April with the Teaching Award of Excellence from the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance.

This month, shes being presented the 2022 Leisure Scholar Award from the Canadian Association for Leisure Studies and with the Gonzaga Da Gama Memorial Award from the Canadian Therapeutic Recreation Association from her peers for her work.

Bullis says Hoods contributions are impressive and even more so knowing everything she has been dealing with.

Surviving it is an accomplishment. But persevering through and accomplishing what she accomplished through, that is admirable.

Hood says she didnt have a choice.

My friends tell me all the time you could have become an alcoholic. You could have gone to bed, never got up. You could have done a million other things, she said.

But I didnt feel like I had a choice. I would not let him steal my life too. It was bad enough that he stole Maddie, I wasnt going to let him kill me too, emotionally.

It wasnt like I said, I am going to overcome. I was just like, what do I need to do every day to try to survive, to get out of bed. I still feel like that some days frankly. Its not like its over. You can see the grief is still very present.

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Anti-corruption advocate James Cohen says Canadas reputation has for years been hammered over its weak record of prosecuting financial crimes.

But now the executive director of Transparency International Canada is hopeful theres political will to tackle the problem, and that the establishment of the Canada Financial Crime Agency will finally start scaring the bad guys.

Cohens group released a white paper this week about the Trudeau governments plan to create the agency, outlined in the latest federal budget, to tackle financial crime across the country.

Hes cautiously optimistic, but his organization also warns that the feds may be missing an opportunity to tackle corruption and securities fraud by focusing solely on money laundering.

The 2023 budget outlined how the Trudeau government intends to make the Canada Financial Crime Agency the lead enforcement agency against financial crime.

It will bring together expertise necessary to increase money laundering charges, prosecutions and convictions, and asset forfeiture results in Canada, the budget said. These actions will address the key operational challenges identified in both domestic and international reviews of Canadas (anti-money laundering/anti-terrorist financing) Regime.

Cohen said its important to take the opportunity to look at the full package of what is financial crime, which includes corruption and bribery abroad by Canadian companies, as well as securities fraud and the often related offence of money laundering.

Cohen, who co-authored the paper with lawyer Julia Webster, law professor Julia Quaid and anti-money laundering advocate Denis Meunier, said establishing the Canada Financial Crimes Agency could improve the countrys weak enforcement record on financial crime.

The paper says questions loom about how the agency would operate with Canadas disjointed enforcement regime, including provincial securities regulators, tax authorities, police and Fintrac, Canadas financial intelligence unit.

The authors urge the Canadian government to ensure that the new organization can co-ordinate effectively between multiple agencies, and create specialized teams of investigators and prosecutors to tackle financial crimes while filling in gaps in enforcement.

Canada could learn from countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom, the paper says, both of which have their own national financial crime enforcement bodies.

Transparency International says the new agencys effectiveness will hinge on many factors, including hiring more federal government prosecutors with the knowledge and expertise to tackle complex financial crimes.

Cohen said staffing issues often hamper enforcement efforts, and its important to retain people for years to build up expertise to effectively deal with complex money laundering and fraud cases.

Other policy developments federally and provincially, Cohen said, show governments have taken notice of the criticisms of Canadas financial crime situation. These have come from the international Financial Action Task Force, the Cullen Commission examining money laundering in British Columbia, and in the wake of the Panama Papers leak about the role and use of anonymous shell companies.

Cohen said beneficial ownership registries unmasking hidden owners of shell companies, coupled with other tools such as unexplained wealth orders and the new Canada Financial Crime Agency, indicate that things are starting to move forward.

I have cautious optimism that were gonna get to a good place, he said.

Maybe we wont get everything we want with this agency, but hopefully well get something better than nothing that will help enforcement in Canada, and help us shed our global image, help us restore Canadian confidence in our markets and our transparency, and give our law enforcement a boost of confidence that theyre getting the tools and the political will to get the job done on this and start scaring the bad guys.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 12, 2023.

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British Columbias New Democrats have formally named the head of a Victoria-area school board as their candidate in an upcoming byelection to fill the seat once held by former Premier John Horgan.

The NDP says Sook School District Chair Ravi Parmar will carry the party banner in the race to represent the riding of Langford-Juan de Fuca.

It issued a release saying Parmar oversaw the largest expansion in the boards history while working alongside Horgan, who stepped down as premier last year and officially resigned his legislature seat in March.

Parmar says he worked with Horgan as a student activist while attending Belmont Secondary during the reign of the B.C. Liberal Party, which has since rebranded as BC United.

Parmar says hes honoured to be nominated and follow in the footsteps of Horgan, whom he calls a friend and mentor.

BC United named Elena Lawson, a parent advocating for children with autism, as its candidate earlier this month.

Elections BC says the province has two pending byelections, one for Langford-Juan de Fuca, which must be called by the end of September, and Vancouver-Mount Pleasant, which must be called by mid-October.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2023.

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DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP)  Volunteers in Bangladeshs coastal districts were using loudspeakers to urge people to seek shelter on Saturday as the delta nation braced for an extremely severe cyclone, which is expected to slam ashore in Bangladesh and Myanmar in the next 24 hours.

U.N. agencies and aid workers prepositioned tons of dry food and dozens of ambulances with mobile medical teams in sprawling refugee camps with more than 1 million Rohingya who fled persecution in Myanmar.

The camps at Coxs Bazar are in the path of Cyclone Mocha, which was closing in on the coast of southeastern Bangladesh and Myanmar with wind speeds of up to 220 kilometers (135 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 240 kph (150 mph), the Indian Meteorological Department said. Its projected to make landfall on Sunday between Coxs Bazar in Bangladesh and Kyaukpyu in Myanmar.

Bangladesh, with more than 160 million people, has prepared more than 1,500 cyclone shelters. The navy said its keeping ready 21 ships, maritime patrol aircraft and helicopters for rescue and relief operations.

In Myanmar, rains and winds were picking up since Friday and prompted more than 10,000 people in villages around Sittwe in Rakhine state to seek shelter in sturdy buildings including monasteries, temples and schools, said Lin Lin, the chairman of the Myittar Yaung Chi charity foundation.

Currently, about 20 places have been arranged for people to stay in Sittwe. But because there were more people than we expected, there was not enough food for the next day. We are still trying to get it, he said.

Speaking from Coxs Bazar across the border in Bangladesh, the International Organization of Migrations deputy chief of mission, Nihan Erdogan, said Bangladesh put in place a massive preparedness plan.

He said his agency had trained 100 volunteers in each of the 17 refugee camps on how to alert rescuers using flag warning signals when heavy rains, floods and strong winds lash the region. Emergency shelter materials and hygiene kits are readily available, and personal protective gear has been provided to all volunteers.

The World Health Organization put 40 ambulances and 33 mobile medical teams on standby at Coxs Bazar, the agencys spokesperson Margaret Harris said.

Authorities in Bangladesh said heavy rains from the cyclone could trigger landslides in Chattogram and Coxs Bazar and three other hilly districts  Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachhari.

Bangladesh, which is prone to natural disasters such as floods and cyclones, issued the highest danger signal for Coxs Bazar. The Bangladesh Meteorological Department warned the cyclone could cause severe damage to the lives and properties in eight coastal districts.

Mizanur Rahman, director general of the Department of the Disaster Management, said they asked the local authorities in 20 districts and sub-districts to make swift preparations. He said they were particularly concerned about a small coral island called Saint Martins in the Bay of Bengal, where efforts were underway to protect thousands of inhabitants.

Myanmar said in its weather bulletin that the cyclone was moving toward the coast of Rakhine state near Sittwe, which was put under the highest weather alert.

The World Food Program said it prepositioned enough food to cover the needs of more than 400,000 people in Rakhine and neighboring areas for one month.

We are preparing for the worst, while hoping for the best. Cyclone Mocha is heading to areas burdened by conflict, poverty, and weak community resilience, said WFPs Myanmar deputy director, Sheela Matthew. Many of the people most likely to be affected are already reliant on regular humanitarian assistance from WFP. They simply cannot afford another disaster.

In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar with a storm surge that devastated populated areas around the Irrawaddy River Delta. At least 138,000 people died and tens of thousands of homes and other buildings were washed away.

Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune city, said cyclones in the Bay of Bengal are becoming more intense more quickly, in part because of climate change.

The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported on Friday that thousands of people living along the western coast of Rakhine state were evacuated.

Both Indian and Bangladesh authorities said they were expecting heavy to very heavy rainfall in Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Andaman Sea, parts of Indias remote northeast, and across Bangladesh from Saturday night.

Climate scientists say cyclones can now retain their energy for many days, such as Cyclone Amphan in eastern India in 2020, which continued to travel over land as a strong cyclone and caused extensive devastation. As long as oceans are warm and winds are favorable, cyclones will retain their intensity for a longer period, Koll said.

Cyclones are among the most devastating natural disasters in the world, especially if they affect densely populated coastal regions in South Asia.

___

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about APs climate initiative at https://www.ap.org/press-releases/2022/ap-announces-sweeping-climate-journalism-initiative. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP)  Democratic Minnesota senators held firm despite only a one-vote majority Friday to pass gun control legislation strongly supported by the governor that would align the battleground state with others nationally that have taken steps to keep guns out of the hands of people in crisis and criminals.

The proposals include a red flag law that would allow authorities to ask courts for extreme risk protection orders to temporarily take guns away from people deemed to be an imminent threat to others or themselves. The provision is part of a broad public safety budget bill that also contains expanded background checks for gun transfers.

The bill passed 34-33 on a party-line vote late Friday after around nine hours of debate.

What we are going to be providing  finally  is a path forward for families and law enforcement who know that someones exhibiting signs of crisis and danger, said Democratic Sen. Rob Latz of St. Louis Park, chairman of the Senate public safety committee. And it will give them lawful tools to separate people in crisis from the firearms that are around them.

Nineteen other states have some kind of red flag laws, Latz noted at a news conference, including several red states.

Across the country, a few cracks have been opening up in the pattern of Republican-controlled states loosening gun laws while Democratic states like Minnesota tighten them. GOP Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee wants to call a special session to pass what he has avoided calling a red flag law, calling it a toxic political label. And two Republicans in a Texas legislative committee broke ranks to back raising the age for buying semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21. But its far too soon to say the GOP is changing direction even amid a record-setting pace for mass killings in the U.S.

Some of Minnesotas rural Democratic senators had long been on the fence. But a key moment came Wednesday when one of them, Sen. Grant Hauschild of Hermantown, announced that he would support the overall bill. The two gun measures were not part of the public safety budget bill that the Senate passed earlier. But they were added Wednesday in the House-Senate conference committee that negotiated the final version, providing some political cover to holdouts by wrapping them into a much bigger public safety package.

Senators from the Republican minority decried several non-firearms provisions that were added to the public safety bill in conference committee that werent in the original Senate-passed version of the bill.

Democrats who have a more comfortable majority in the Minnesota House scheduled the package for debate late Friday night on the presumption that the Senate would pass it first, but postponed the debate until Saturday. The House had already passed the gun measures as part of its original public safety bill. Democratic Gov. Tim Walz has repeatedly said he will sign the legislation.

The package also includes tougher restrictions on the use by police of no-knock warrants. While it stops short of a ban, it allows only very limited exceptions.

GOP leaders objected to how the final version of the 522-page bill wasnt posted until around 2:30 a.m. Friday. Members can vote only up or down on a conference committee report. They cant amend it. And Republicans were upset at their voices being shut out of shaping the final version, which they oppose on Second Amendment and other grounds.

This bill is actually what bad legislating looks like, Republican House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth of Cold Spring said at a separate news conference. Democrats have full control, but a very small margin.

The Minnesota Legislature is rushing to complete work on the major budget bills of the session before the May 22 adjournment deadline. Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman of Brooklyn Park told reporters Thursday that she wants to adjourn early  either next Thursday night or early next Friday morning. Senate Democratic leaders, however, have not agreed to that.

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PHOENIX (AP)  The last remaining election misconduct claim by Kari Lake, the 2022 Republican candidate for Arizona governor, is playing out in court as state officials and the Democratic governor asked a judge to throw out the case Friday.

Lake was among the most vocal of last years Republican candidates promoting former President Donald Trumps election lies, which she made the centerpiece of her campaign. While most other election deniers around the country conceded after losing their races in November, Lake did not.

Courts have dismissed most of the former TV anchors lawsuit. On Friday, a judge heard arguments on whether or not Lakes final claim should move ahead to a trial next week.

Attorneys representing Arizona election officials and Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs say Lakes allegation that the election was rigged is based on unsubstantiated speculation.

Lakes lawyers say there was a flood of mail-in ballots in Maricopa County, home to more than 60% of the states voters, at a time when there were too few workers to verify ballot signatures. Her attorneys say the county ultimately accepted thousands of ballots that had been rejected earlier by workers for having mismatched signatures.

The Arizona Supreme Court revived her claim challenging the application of signature-verification procedures, reversing a lower court decision that found she waited too long to raise that claim.

The state Supreme Court sent the claim back to the lower court to decide if there is another reason to dismiss it, or if Lake can show that enough votes were affected to change the outcome of the election, which she lost by over 17,000 votes.

Lake alleged at least 164,000 illegal votes were counted, according to filings by her attorneys. Three signature verification workers have said they experienced rejection rates due to mismatched signatures on 15% to 40% of the ballots they encountered.

The math doesnt add up, said Kurt Olsen, one of Lakes attorneys.

Opposing attorneys said the workers speculation doesnt amount to a violation of the law or misconduct by election workers, and raised questions about whether the three workers truly knew the ultimate outcome of the ballots they had flagged.

Abha Khanna, one of the attorneys representing Hobbs, said Lakes allegations are wholly untethered to reality.

Earlier in her lawsuit, Lake had focused on problems with ballot printers at some polling places in Maricopa County. The defective printers produced ballots that were too light to be read by the on-site tabulators at polling places. Lines backed up in some areas amid the confusion. Lake alleged ballot printer problems were the result of intentional misconduct.

County officials say everyone had a chance to vote and all ballots were counted because those affected by the printers were taken to more sophisticated counters at election headquarters.

In mid-February, the Arizona Court of Appeals rejected Lakes assertions, concluding she presented no evidence that voters whose ballots were unreadable by tabulators at polling places were not able to vote.

The state Supreme Court declined on March 22 to hear nearly all of Lakes appeal, saying there was no evidence to support her claim that over 35,000 ballots were added to vote totals. Earlier this month, the court sanctioned Lakes lawyers $2,000 for making false statements when saying more than 35,000 ballots had been improperly added to the total ballot count.

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OTTAWAA former Conservative cabinet minister who came within a whisper of winning leadership of that party but then quit to form his own is making another attempt at getting back into the House of Commons.

Maxime Bernier is running in the upcoming byelection in Manitobas Portage-Lisgar riding, calling his drive to return to Ottawa a new version of what the Reform Party managed to do in the late 1980s.

In announcing his candidacy Friday, he positioned his Peoples Party of Canada (PPC) as the lone fighters against a radical leftist agenda, and accused the Conservatives  who have held the riding for decades  of giving up the fight.

Whether it is gender ideology, mass immigration, climate hysteria, the cult of diversity, or abortion, the CPC (Conservative Party of Canada) has refused to fight the necessary cultural battles, he said.

They are too scared of negative coverage from the mainstream media and being called bigots. They have sat on their hands.

After he lost the 2017 Conservative leadership race to Andrew Scheer by 1.9 percentage points, Bernier broke with the party, accusing them of being morally and intellectually corrupt.

He set up the Peoples Party as an alternative, with promises including an end to corporate subsidies for business, a massive reduction in immigration, and slashing foreign aid and multiculturalism funding.

His anti-establishment rhetoric also attracted attention from alt-right groups, and heading into the 2019 general election, a slew of organizers quit over concern the party was being ideologically hijacked by racist and xenophobic ideas.

Bernier has denied those allegations.

COVID injected new energy

Still, he failed to win his own Quebec seat of Beauce in that election, raising questions about whether his party truly had enough momentum to keep going.

Then came the COVID-19 pandemic.

As he told the Star in an interview ahead of the 2021 general election, suddenly his calls for freedoms had new resonance among voters who were chafing under COVID-19 public health guidelines and vaccine mandates.

Bernier himself was arrested at one point for violating the rules in Manitoba.

Nationally, the Peoples Party tripled their vote share, going from 1.62 per cent in 2019 to 4.94 per cent in 2021.

But in Portage-Lisgar, the jump was much higher: 2.6 per cent in 2019 to 21.58 in 2021.

Still, the Conservatives did win the riding with 52 per cent of the vote. Incumbent Candice Bergen resigned in February, triggering the byelection.

Since the Conservative party was formed in 2004, it has held the riding. Before that, it was held by the Canadian Alliance. And before that  the Reform Party.

The upstart political movement was started by Preston Manning in 1987 as a response to emerging sentiment the West was being cut out of decisions being made in Ottawa. There were also concerns that the existing Progressive Conservatives had cut out the more socially conservative supporters in their party.

In the 1988 election, Reform captured two per cent of the vote. Then, Deborah Grey won the Reform Partys first seat in Parliament in a byelection in 1989.

In the next general election, Reformers captured 53 seats.

Bernier drew a direct parallel between what Manning was able to do and what he thinks the Peoples Party can achieve.

All the populist conservative Reform Party needed was a foothold into Parliament, a single seat and then the floodgates opened, he said.

I can tell you, we can make history and do the same with that byelection here.

Bernier and Poilievre are fighting the same war

Whether the culture battles Bernier says hes fighting have the same resonance with voters as the Western existential crisis that turned Reform into a fighting force in 1993 remains to be seen.

The current leader of the Conservatives is trying to find his own way to fight that same war.

This past week, for example, Pierre Poilievre laced into the Liberals over Canadas new passport design, calling it a reflection of their woke and out of touch ideology.

Poilievre is not cut from the same political cloth of Erin OToole, whose response on vaccine mandates is what drove his partys own voters to the Peoples Party in 2021.

In numerous ridings from coast to coast  though most acutely in Portage-Lisgar  the Conservatives saw support bleed to the Peoples Party, and in some spots it even cost them a chance to win.

But the pandemic is now in the rearview mirror and Poilievres leadership victory last year was achieved by drawing tens of thousands of disaffected voters into the party, the same anti-establishment votes courted by the Peoples Party.

The Conservative machine raised $8.3 million in the first three months of the year to keep them motivated and reach new voters, too. Bernier pulled in just under $300,000.

But Bernier suggested Poilievre will have to loosen up on the man of the people mantra he used to win the leadership race.

His goal is to have the seats in the GTA, in Toronto, and in Vancouver, Bernier said Friday.

Theres more seats in the GTA than in all Alberta. So for him to be in government, he will please these leftists and Liberals, voters in the big cities in this country. Poilievre is going to the left.

That will leave voters like those in Portage-Lisgar potentially without a voice, Bernier said.

The goal is to have a strong voice, the goal is not to change the government, he said.

We will still have Justin Trudeau after this byelection.

While the byelection has yet to be called, the Tories have also nominated their candidate, Branden Leslie.

He worked on Parliament Hill during the last Conservative government and was most recently working for the Grain Growers of Canada.

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GREENSBORO  Several organizations are participating in a protest Saturday against the opening of a facility to receive immigrant children at the former American Hebrew Academy campus.

Organizers say the concept is flawed and that the companies hired by the federal government are not trained in the care of children.

There is a narrative that this is a safe haven, said Mike Ishii of Tsuru for Solidarity. But actually what this is, is an influx site. And the history of children in these sites is that these are warehouses  these are congregate prisons for children.

No opening date has been announced for the facility on the 100-acre campus of a former boarding school. It could house up to 800 children, primarily boys and girls ages 13 to 17, and would be staffed by at least 1,500 people.

Children would stay there while the Office of Refugee Resettlement works to place them with a vetted sponsor, often a family member, while their immigration status is adjudicated. The agency, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, operates 220 care facilities nationwide.

The federal government is legally required to provide care for unaccompanied children referred by the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies.

While in ORR care, children have access to medical treatment, legal services, translation services, education, and mental and behavioral health counselors and are able to connect with family at least twice a week, DHHS said last year.

Cecile Crawford, state director of the American Friends Service Committee, said the beauty of the campus on Hobbs Road and the plan put forth by the Office of Refugee Settlement sound beneficial to the children.

It sounds great and I applaud them for trying to take this humane approach, she said. But we have not seen one instance of this being done right.

We want to make sure that people understand that imprisoning children and separating families goes against American values, Crawford said. Detention is a failed time-proven policy  it doesnt deter migration, because it just causes tremendous irreparable harm to humans, especially children.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement has contracted Deployed Resources LLC and Deployed Services LLC  theyre not contractors of child care, these are military contractors, Crawford said.

More than $268 million has been obligated by the federal government for the facility, with the potential for millions more. Deployed Resources and its sister company Deployed Services have been awarded to provide services at the Greensboro facility, called the Greensboro Piedmont Academy Influx Care Facility for UC (unaccompanied minors).

The News & Record reached out to both companies, but they did not respond with a comment for this article.

The Office of Refugee Settlement also did not respond to requests for comment about the groups concerns.

Crawford said plans for the Greensboro site sounds similar to those put in place at Starr Commonwealth. That emergency intake site in Albion, Michigan, housed migrant children from Afghanistan and was staffed mostly by another federal contractor, PAE Applied Technologies, according to a Pro Publica report.

The March 25 article says that before Starr Commonwealth site shut down in January, there were reports of physical and sexual abuse at the facility. Employees were overwhelmed and one shelter volunteer called the situation inside a pressure cooker, the article says.

They had all the promises of treating these kids really well and it just went wrong, Crawford said. It went sideways really fast.

Ishii said the federal government should be funding much smaller facilities for immigrant children.

And theres money to do that, but theres not a will on the part of the government to actually shift and do what they should do, which is small home-like care facilities with licensed wraparound support, Ishii said.

The advocates also criticized what they say is a lack of oversight for these facilities.

The narrative is  were going to be watchdogs over this site, Ishii said. Whos going to let you in to see that? Theyve never done that before. They dont let the community in to oversee it.

Other groups participating in the protest include Guilford for All, Jallohs Upright Services, Sudan House, Greensboro African Public Action Committee and North Carolina Asian Americans Together.
ROME (AP)  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had private talks with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday, later saying he sought support for Ukraine's peace plan from the pontiff, who in the past has offered to try to help end the full-scale war launched by Russia a year ago.

Zelenskyy held his hand over his heart and said it was a great honor" to meet with the pope. Francis, using a cane for his knee problem, came to greet the Ukrainian president before ushering him into a papal studio near the Vatican's audience hall.

In a tweet after the 40-minute audience, Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to Francis for his personal attention to the tragedy of millions of Ukrainians. He said he spoke with the pontiff about the tens of thousands of deported (Ukrainian) children. We must make every effort to return them home.

Last month, Ukraine's prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, asked the pope to help get children returned from Russia to Ukraine. But the Vatican's statement Saturday made no mention of the request.

Instead, the Vatican said the two men spoke about Ukraines humanitarian and political situation provoked by the ongoing war."

The pope assured his constant prayer, paid witness to by his many public appeals and by his continued invoking of the Lord for peace, since February of last year, the Vatican said, a reference to the Russian invasion that began Feb. 24, 2022.

The meeting came as Russia's defense ministry said Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles delivered to Ukraine by the United Kingdom this week damaged unspecified civilian enterprises in Luhansk province in Ukraine's far east. Luhansk authorities separately said another missile strike hit the regional capital, wounding an elderly woman.

Two Russian Mi-8 helicopters and an Su-34 fighter-bomber crashed Saturday in the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, state news agency Tass and a Telegram channel close to the Russian defense ministry reported; the newspaper Kommersant cited reports of two fighter planes crashing. The causes of the crashes were not immediately disclosed, but concern in Bryansk is growing about cross-border attacks from Ukraine.

Some Ukrainian units continue to push forward near Bakhmut, the commander of Ukraines land forces said Saturday, just a day after Ukrainian commanders said their troops recaptured territory at the scene of the wars longest and bloodiest battle. Our soldiers are moving forward in some sectors of the front, and the enemy is losing equipment and manpower, Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Telegram.

Zelenskyy also said that he asked the pope to condemn Russian crimes in Ukraine because there can be no equality between the victim and the aggressor.

I also talked about our Peace Formula as the only effective algorithm for achieving a just peace,'' Zelenskyy said. Later, in an interview on Italian state TV, the Ukrainian leader said the pope knows my position. The war is in Ukraine, that is why it has to be Ukraine's plan" to bring peace.

Zelenskyys 10-point plan would establish a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes. It would also create a European-Atlantic security architecture with guarantees for Ukraine, restore Ukraines damaged power infrastructure and ensure safety around Europes largest nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia.

Earlier in the day, Zelenskyy received from Italian officials pledges of open-ended military and financial support as well as stronger backing for Ukraine's cherished aim to join the European Union.

The message is clear and simple, Premier Giorgia Meloni said after a meeting with Zelenskyy that lasted more than an hour. "The future of Ukraine is a future of peace and freedom. And it's the future of Europe, a future of peace and freedom, for which there are no other possible solutions.''

The premier, who staunchly supports military aid for Ukraine, said Italy would back the country 360 degrees for all the time necessary and beyond.

Separately, Italian President Sergio Mattarella told Zelenskyy, We are fully at your side," Mattarella told Zelenskyy as he welcomed him. Later, presidential palace sources said Mattarella assured his guest that Italy would continue to support Ukraine militarily and financially, as well as with reconstruction and humanitarian aid.

Since the war began, Italy has contributed about 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in military and financial aid, as well as humanitarian assistance.

Zelenskyy is believed to be heading to Berlin next for what would be his first visit to Germany since the war began. The exact schedule was not publicly announced because of security concerns.

At the end of April, Francis told reporters that the Vatican was involved in a behind-the-scene peace mission but gave no details. Neither Russia nor Ukraine has confirmed such an initiative.

He has said he would like to go to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, if such a visit could be coupled with one to Moscow, in hopes a papal pilgrimage could further the cause of peace.

There has been speculation about whether the Vatican could play some mediating role. But in the Italian TV interview on Saturday, Zelenskyy indicated mediation in general would be impossible. "You can't mediate with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,'' he said.

The German government, meanwhile, said it was providing Ukraine with additional military aid worth more than 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Berlin wanted to show with the latest package of arms that Germany is serious in its support for Ukraine.

Germany will provide all the help it can, as long as it takes, he said.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

 Officials in the Ternopil region about 350 kilometers (220 miles) west of Kyiv on Saturday night reported a strike on an industrial area. No casualities or other details were immediately stated.

 Russian shelling on Saturday killed two civilians, including a 15-year-old girl, and wounded 10 more in Kostyantynivka, a city less than 30 kilometers (18 miles) west of Bakhmut, the regional prosecutors office said.

 Russian forces on Friday and overnight resumed their shelling of Ukraines northeastern Kharkiv region, killing a civilian, local governor Oleh Syniehubov said. Four civilians were killed over the same period in Donetsk province in the east, said governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.

 A massive Russian barrage overnight damaged an energy facility in Ukraines western Khmelnytskyi region, but didn't affect the power supply, according to the Ukrainian energy ministry,

Frank Jordans in Berlin, Joanna Kozlowska in London, and Nicole Winfield and Gianfranco Stara in Rome contributed to this report.

Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
BERKS COUNTY, Pa. - In a decision released Friday, the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court upheld a previous Commonwealth Court decision that denied the Berks County Republican Committee's appeal for a recount of the 2022 election.

In that decision, the Commonwealth Court ruled that the Berks GOP failed to meet the requirements of the election code and denied its requests for relief.

A Berks County Court of Common Pleas judge denied the GOP's initial petition for a recount in December 2022.

Petitions were initially filed on behalf of 94 voters who alleged that voting machines were changing votes cast for Republican candidates to Democrats on the ballot.

The party sought a recount in 30 of the county's precincts and the filing delayed the certification of the November election.
A Pennsylvania man has learned his sentence after pleading guilty to possessing material depicting the sexual exploitation of a child.

Joshua F. Daranijo, 24, of Levittown, was sentenced to concurrent 7-year terms in New Jersey State Prison on three counts of second-degree sexual assault by contact and one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child for knowingly possessing items depicting the sexual exploitation of a child, as well as to a 5-year term on a count of possession of child sexual abuse material, according to a news release from the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office.

Daranijo will be required to register as a sex offender and be subject to parole supervision for life.

The sentence follows a guilty plea as a result of an investigation conducted by the Hunterdon County Prosecutors Offices Special Victims Unit.

The prosecutor's office says Daranijo admitted in court to sexual contact with children under the age of 13 and to possessing child sexual abuse material while a camp counselor at YMCA Camp Bernie.

Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renee Robeson further announced that a Clinton Township man in a separate case was sentenced last week for manufacturing/filming child sexual abuse material.

Mattheu Goncalves, 24, of Clinton Township, NJ, pleaded guilty on October 21, 2022 to seconddegree manufacturing/filming child sexual abuse material for a recommended 8-year term in New Jersey State Prison, the prosecutor's office said.

On May 5, a judge sentenced Goncalves to a 6-year term at the Adult Diagnostic & Treatment Center for sex offender treatment. Upon his release, Goncalves will be required to register as a sex offender under Megans Law and be subject to parole supervision for life, according to the prosecutor's office.
GREENSBORO  Protesters chanted while holding signs with abortion rights messages such as, I dream that women will someday have the same rights as guns during a downtown rally Saturday urging voters to contact their legislators about a bill that reduces access to abortion in North Carolina.

Im 74 years old, and I fought this battle over 50 years ago, Carolyn Bunker said as she stepped up to a bullhorn. Here we are again.

The more than 100 people gathered in front of the Old Guilford County Courthouse were joining in with scheduled rallies across the state as Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, vetoed abortion legislation that would ban most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy compared with the 20-week current restriction. Republicans in the largely conservative General Assembly have signaled they have enough votes to override a Coopers veto of Senate Bill 20. The governor held round-table meetings in Gibsonville and across the state last week to hear from the public on the issue.

The bill is opposed by the North Carolina Medical Society, the North Carolina Obstetrical and Gynecological Society and the North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians.

At a rally in Raleigh, Cooper was joined on stage by doctors and women as he vetoed the bill.

Lets be clear  this bill has nothing to do with making women safer, and everything to do with banning abortion, Cooper was quoted in a release by his office as saying at the rally. How about we leave medicine to the doctors and the decisions to the women.

Organizers in Greensboro were backed by an oversized North Carolina Will AID and Abet Abortion backdrop on the lawn of the courthouse and had earlier told the crowd  a diverse range of people from college students to grandmothers  that they need just one Republican to vote against the override.

If they dont care about people, said Lauren Overman, a doula and an escort at the citys only abortion clinic, then they might care about their careers.

Her thoughts were echoed during the day.

Bunker and some of the abortion-rights protestors were speaking about fighting for Roe v. Wade, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing access to an abortion, which was overturned in 2022 by the high court.

Bunker recalled her teenage granddaughter becoming emotional recently about the tightening restrictions on women having abortions where she lived, notably in the case of someone who had been raped or had medical complications. While the granddaughter had yet to even mention being interested in someone, she worried about what could happen to someone who had something bad happen to her.

She said, Yaya, what would happen to me?

The grandmother was in tears herself.

I said, I would fight for you until my dying days,  Bunker said she told her.

It had become even more personal, Bunker said.

We have to continue fighting, Bunker said, no matter how tired you are.

Others in the crowd during about an hour of open mic spoke of the slippery slope it could create about the intrusion into peoples lives.

Gay marriage, birth control, interracial marriage  all are based on privacy, said someone who identified themself only as Violet, a South Carolina college student home on summer break. I just want the Legislature to leave me the hell alone.

Cary Anne Broadway had gotten the chance to share her abortion story with Cooper during his listening tour in Gibsonville Friday. She told him that she went to her doctor years ago to change birth control and found out she was pregnant. She hadnt missed a period, but had she not had an appointment for something else, she might not have even known before 12 weeks.

This is going to hurt people who are in similar situations to that, Broadway said of not knowing she was pregnant.

Opal Andrews, holding a I dream that women will someday have the same rights as guns sign, stood listening to Broadway and others among people from different backgrounds, thoughts and stages of life. She worried about the time-treasured bond between patients and their doctors.

I feel like in a lot of cases medical staff will be afraid to help a woman if she is in trouble, Andrews said.

The signs Andrews and the others raised caught the attention of motorists passing by on busy Market Street  some of whom honked their horns and waved.

We dont know whats going on in that womans life when she decides on an abortion, Andrews said. We dont know why shes making a hard decision. But its not our business.

Organizers also said they came together to educate the public because of what theyve heard people say about the legislation.

Theres a lot of rhetoric around, Oh it just moves the boundary from 20 to 12 weeks,  said Kirstin Cassell, another organizer. It does so much more than that.

Under current state law, counseling appointments are required within 72 hours before having an abortion. Proposed legislation requires that counseling to take place before the appointment and afterward, which would be a barrier to some, Cassell said.

Think about how much time you would have to take off from work for something that doctors say is not medically necessary, Cassell said of the counseling.

The number of appointments would also effectively ban people from coming out of state, she said.

There are exceptions for rape or the danger to the life of the woman, Cassell said of the legislation, but they are intrusive. A person has to report rape to a doctor and fill out forms asking about other abortions and pregnancies, she said.

Also, those pregnancies that are a danger to the life of the woman, under the new legislation, could further endanger the life of the woman, Cassell said.

Weve seen that play out in other states and we hear story and story of pregnant people who know that their pregnancy has ended, who know that if they dont get care that they could die, and they have to sit and wait for their vital signs to get close enough to death before they can get that medical care, Cassell said.

Do we want that in our state? Cassell shouted through the bullhorn.

A thunderous No roared back from the crowd.

This is just the beginning of a long-term plan to ban abortion, she said of the legislation.

This is not the work, she said of the rally. This is where we come together and we get loud. The work is when we go out and contact those legislators.
Botswana Diamonds plc (LON:BOD  Get Rating) passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 0.95 ($0.01) and traded as low as GBX 0.95 ($0.01). Botswana Diamonds shares last traded at GBX 0.95 ($0.01), with a volume of 760,186 shares traded.

Botswana Diamonds Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of 9.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.00 and a beta of 0.98. The firms fifty day moving average is GBX 1.02 and its 200-day moving average is GBX 0.95.

About Botswana Diamonds

(Get Rating)

Botswana Diamonds plc explores for and develops diamond properties in Botswana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. The company's flagship property is the Thorny River/Marsfontein property located in South Africa. It also explores in the Kalahari region of Botswana. Botswana Diamonds plc was formerly known as Botswana Exploration plc and changed its name to Botswana Diamonds plc in October 2010.

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Chesnara plc (LON:CSN  Get Rating) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of GBX 283.33 ($3.58) and traded as high as GBX 287.63 ($3.63). Chesnara shares last traded at GBX 279.50 ($3.53), with a volume of 45,816 shares traded.

Chesnara Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of GBX 285.41 and a 200 day moving average of GBX 283.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 64.01, a quick ratio of 38.06 and a current ratio of 9.18. The firm has a market capitalization of 414.32 million, a P/E ratio of -434.62 and a beta of 0.44.

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Chesnara Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 6th will be issued a dividend of GBX 15.16 ($0.19) per share. This is an increase from Chesnaras previous dividend of $8.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 6th. This represents a yield of 5.42%. Chesnaras dividend payout ratio is currently -4,615.38%.

About Chesnara

Chesnara plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the life assurance and pension businesses primarily in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Sweden. It operates through CA, Movestic, Waard Group, and Scildon segments. The company underwrites life risks, such as death, disability, health, and accident; and provides a portfolio of investment contracts for the savings and retirement needs of customers through asset management, as well as general insurance products.

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First National Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB  Get Rating) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,085 shares of the financial services providers stock after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the period. First National Advisers LLCs holdings in U.S. Bancorp were worth $353,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in USB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 115,121,643 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $4,641,705,000 after acquiring an additional 1,441,430 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 58,898,088 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $2,402,820,000 after acquiring an additional 210,054 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 22,052,957 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,172,115,000 after acquiring an additional 1,622,711 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 17,793,541 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $945,727,000 after acquiring an additional 303,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of U.S. Bancorp by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 7,038,610 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $283,797,000 after acquiring an additional 496,016 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.83% of the companys stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider James B. Kelligrew bought 16,260 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $30.59 per share, for a total transaction of $497,393.40. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 151,927 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,647,446.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Alan B. Colberg acquired 10,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $34.14 per share, with a total value of $341,400.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 10,050 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $343,107. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider James B. Kelligrew acquired 16,260 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $30.59 per share, with a total value of $497,393.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 151,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,647,446.93. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 76,698 shares of company stock worth $2,446,082 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

U.S. Bancorp Stock Down 1.8 %

USB opened at $28.92 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $35.30 and a 200 day moving average of $41.88. The company has a market cap of $44.30 billion, a PE ratio of 7.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.93. U.S. Bancorp has a 12 month low of $27.27 and a 12 month high of $53.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB  Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.09). U.S. Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.70% and a net margin of 19.21%. The firm had revenue of $7.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 28.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that U.S. Bancorp will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

U.S. Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 31st were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.64%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 30th. U.S. Bancorps dividend payout ratio is presently 51.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on USB shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $46.00 to $43.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 20th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $68.00 to $52.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of U.S. Bancorp from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and set a $52.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $55.00 to $49.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 24th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group upped their price objective on shares of U.S. Bancorp from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, U.S. Bancorp currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $50.35.

About U.S. Bancorp

(Get Rating)

U.S. Bancorp operates as a bank holding company, which offers financial services including lending and depository services, cash management, foreign exchange and trust and investment management. The firm also offers mortgage, refinance, auto, boat and RV loans, credit lines, credit card services, merchant, bank, checking and savings accounts, debit cards, online and mobile banking, ATM processing, mortgage banking, insurance, brokerage and leasing services.

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French Connection Group PLC (LON:FCCN  Get Rating) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 29.55 ($0.37) and traded as high as GBX 29.80 ($0.38). French Connection Group shares last traded at GBX 29.55 ($0.37), with a volume of 18,750 shares.

French Connection Group Stock Up 0.9 %

The company has a market cap of 28.55 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 344.05. The business has a fifty day moving average of GBX 29.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of GBX 29.55.

About French Connection Group

(Get Rating)

French Connection Group PLC designs, produces, and distributes branded fashion clothing for men, women, and children. The company also provides toiletries and fragrances, shoes, watches, jewelry, eyewear, and furniture, as well as accessories and homeware products. It operates retail stores and concessions in the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East, the United States, and Canada; and e-commerce stores.

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Shares of Schroders plc (LON:SDR  Get Rating) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of GBX 460.85 ($5.82) and traded as high as GBX 469.90 ($5.93). Schroders shares last traded at GBX 466.70 ($5.89), with a volume of 3,844,987 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SDR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup restated a neutral rating on shares of Schroders in a report on Wednesday, March 8th. Credit Suisse Group lowered shares of Schroders to a neutral rating and dropped their price objective for the company from GBX 510 ($6.44) to GBX 470 ($5.93) in a research note on Friday, March 10th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a hold rating on shares of Schroders in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Schroders has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of GBX 2,352.50 ($29.68).

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Schroders Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.06, a quick ratio of 4.32 and a current ratio of 1.19. The firms 50-day moving average price is GBX 466.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is GBX 460.90. The firm has a market capitalization of 7.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,561.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.22.

Schroders Cuts Dividend

Insider Activity at Schroders

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 23rd were issued a dividend of GBX 15 ($0.19) per share. This represents a yield of 3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 23rd. Schroderss dividend payout ratio is currently 7,000.00%.

In related news, insider Deborah Waterhouse bought 4,190 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 491 ($6.20) per share, with a total value of 20,572.90 ($25,959.50). In other news, insider Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson acquired 4,400 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 451 ($5.69) per share, for a total transaction of 19,844 ($25,039.75). Also, insider Deborah Waterhouse purchased 4,190 shares of Schroders stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of GBX 491 ($6.20) per share, with a total value of 20,572.90 ($25,959.50). 43.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Schroders

(Get Rating)

Schroders plc is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm also provides advisory and consultancy services. It provides its services to financial institutions, high net worth clients, large corporate, local authority, charitable entities, individuals, pension plans, government funds, insurance companies, and endowments.

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Seabridge Gold Inc. (TSE:SEA  Get Rating) (NYSE:SA)s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$16.90 and traded as high as C$21.61. Seabridge Gold shares last traded at C$21.07, with a volume of 49,132 shares.

Seabridge Gold Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.81, a quick ratio of 3.34 and a current ratio of 2.70. The firm has a market capitalization of C$1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -234.00 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a fifty day moving average of C$17.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$16.95.

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Seabridge Gold (TSE:SEA  Get Rating) (NYSE:SA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 30th. The company reported C($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of C($0.09) by C($0.22). As a group, research analysts predict that Seabridge Gold Inc. will post -0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Seabridge Gold

About Seabridge Gold

In other news, Director Eliseo Gonzalez-Urien sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$14.00, for a total value of C$140,000.00. Corporate insiders own 16.63% of the companys stock.

(Get Rating)

Seabridge Gold Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition and exploration of gold properties in North America. The company also explores for copper, silver, molybdenum, and rhenium deposits. Its principal projects are the Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell property and Iskut project located in British Columbia, Canada; Courageous Lake property situated in Northwest Territories, Canada; Snowstorm project located in the Nevada; and 3 Aces project located in the Yukon Territory.

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Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY reduced its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL  Get Rating) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,233 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 625 shares during the period. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NYs holdings in Aflac were worth $736,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Edmp Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aflac by 6,918.5% during the 4th quarter. Edmp Inc. now owns 3,676,833 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $51,110,000 after buying an additional 3,624,445 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 62.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,936,608 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $317,865,000 after acquiring an additional 1,897,212 shares during the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can bought a new stake in shares of Aflac in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $65,661,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 225.2% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,076,386 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $60,493,000 after acquiring an additional 745,346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Aflac by 58.5% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,792,388 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $100,737,000 after acquiring an additional 661,438 shares during the last quarter. 66.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on AFL shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Aflac from $77.00 to $72.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Aflac from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, January 30th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Aflac from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Monday, February 6th. VNET Group reissued a maintains rating on shares of Aflac in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Aflac from $73.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $71.22.

Aflac Trading Down 0.8 %

Aflac stock opened at $66.11 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $65.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $39.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.93. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $52.07 and a 12 month high of $74.01.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL  Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.15. Aflac had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 22.90%. The business had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. Aflacs quarterly revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 5.74 EPS for the current year.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 16th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. Aflacs dividend payout ratio is 24.24%.

Insider Activity at Aflac

In related news, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 19,291 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.36, for a total transaction of $1,357,314.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 87,598 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,163,395.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Aflac news, VP June P. Howard sold 8,230 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total value of $556,101.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 119,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,067,993.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Masatoshi Koide sold 19,291 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.36, for a total value of $1,357,314.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 87,598 shares in the company, valued at $6,163,395.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 105,284 shares of company stock valued at $7,228,195 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the companys stock.

Aflac Profile

(Get Rating)

Aflac, Inc is a holding company. engages in the provision of financial protection services. It operates through the followings segments: Aflac Japan and Aflac United States (U.S.). The Aflac Japan segment offers life insurance, death benefits, and cash surrender values. The Aflac U.S. segment sells voluntary supplemental insurance products for people who already have major medical or primary insurance coverage.

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Cincinnati Financial Corp grew its holdings in Agree Realty Co. (NYSE:ADC  Get Rating) by 21.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 407,500 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after purchasing an additional 71,500 shares during the quarter. Cincinnati Financial Corp owned 0.46% of Agree Realty worth $28,904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ADC. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Agree Realty by 6.9% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 15,348,857 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,037,276,000 after purchasing an additional 992,766 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Agree Realty by 6.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,644,530 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $854,518,000 after purchasing an additional 797,668 shares during the period. Caas Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Agree Realty in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,927,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Agree Realty by 184.8% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 926,315 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $66,815,000 after purchasing an additional 601,073 shares during the period. Finally, Waterfront Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Agree Realty in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,466,000.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ADC. JMP Securities downgraded shares of Agree Realty from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 21st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Agree Realty in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a sell rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Agree Realty from $76.75 to $77.50 in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Agree Realty from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Agree Realty currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $78.23.

Agree Realty Stock Performance

ADC stock traded up $0.43 on Friday, hitting $66.84. The companys stock had a trading volume of 439,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 942,611. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $67.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.02. Agree Realty Co. has a 1 year low of $63.34 and a 1 year high of $80.44. The stock has a market cap of $6.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Agree Realty (NYSE:ADC  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($0.52). The firm had revenue of $126.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $124.55 million. Agree Realty had a return on equity of 4.04% and a net margin of 34.48%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Agree Realty Co. will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agree Realty Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 31st will be given a dividend of $0.243 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 30th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.36%. Agree Realtys payout ratio is currently 163.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John Rakolta, Jr. acquired 10,495 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $67.85 per share, for a total transaction of $712,085.75. Following the transaction, the director now owns 281,768 shares in the company, valued at $19,117,958.80. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Agree Realty Profile

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Agree Realty Corp. is a real estate investment trust, which focuses on the ownership, development, acquisition, and management of retail properties net leased to national tenants. It specializes in acquiring and developing net leased retail properties for retail tenants. The company was founded by Richard Agree in 1971 and is headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, MI.

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Royal London Asset Management Ltd. decreased its position in Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP  Get Rating) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 34,468 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 190 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.s holdings in Ameriprise Financial were worth $10,731,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AMP. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $53,000. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in Ameriprise Financial by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 1,961 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $588,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Aviva PLC boosted its position in Ameriprise Financial by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 45,024 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $13,523,000 after purchasing an additional 8,625 shares during the period. Prudential PLC bought a new stake in Ameriprise Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $724,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Ameriprise Financial by 62.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 2,900 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $871,000 after acquiring an additional 1,115 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the companys stock.

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Insider Transactions at Ameriprise Financial

In related news, CEO William F. Truscott sold 11,480 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.33, for a total transaction of $4,079,188.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 17,489 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,214,366.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO William F. Truscott sold 11,480 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.33, for a total transaction of $4,079,188.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 17,489 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,214,366.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Edward Sweeney sold 6,390 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.35, for a total value of $2,238,736.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,955 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,838,084.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Ameriprise Financial Stock Performance

Several brokerages have weighed in on AMP. Credit Suisse Group lifted their target price on Ameriprise Financial from $382.00 to $401.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. StockNews.com raised Ameriprise Financial from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $350.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $360.00 to $338.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Ameriprise Financial from $400.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $349.70.

Shares of AMP stock opened at $293.33 on Friday. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $301.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $318.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 1-year low of $219.99 and a 1-year high of $357.46. The company has a market capitalization of $30.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.46.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP  Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $7.21 by $0.04. Ameriprise Financial had a return on equity of 77.32% and a net margin of 15.41%. The firm had revenue of $3.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.98 earnings per share. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 30 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameriprise Financial Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 5th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.14%. Ameriprise Financials dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.43%.

About Ameriprise Financial

(Get Rating)

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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Chorus Aviation Inc. (TSE:CHR  Get Rating)  Analysts at National Bank Financial issued their Q2 2023 earnings estimates for shares of Chorus Aviation in a research report issued on Tuesday, May 9th. National Bank Financial analyst C. Doerksen expects that the company will earn $0.11 per share for the quarter. The consensus estimate for Chorus Aviations current full-year earnings is $0.41 per share.

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CHR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Cormark dropped their price objective on shares of Chorus Aviation from C$4.75 to C$4.25 in a report on Friday, February 17th. TD Securities decreased their target price on shares of Chorus Aviation from C$5.00 to C$4.75 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Scotiabank cut shares of Chorus Aviation from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating and raised their target price for the stock from C$4.00 to C$4.40 in a research note on Monday, January 23rd. National Bankshares decreased their target price on shares of Chorus Aviation from C$4.80 to C$4.50 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Finally, CIBC decreased their target price on shares of Chorus Aviation from C$4.75 to C$4.50 in a research note on Thursday, April 13th.

Chorus Aviation Stock Performance

CHR opened at C$3.01 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 160.06. The company has a market cap of C$603.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.15, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 2.21. The companys 50 day moving average is C$3.10 and its 200 day moving average is C$3.21. Chorus Aviation has a 12-month low of C$2.24 and a 12-month high of C$4.10.

Chorus Aviation (TSE:CHR  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The company reported C$0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts consensus estimates of C$0.11. The firm had revenue of C$439.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$409.16 million. Chorus Aviation had a net margin of 3.06% and a return on equity of 5.30%.

About Chorus Aviation

(Get Rating)

Chorus Aviation Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides various aviation support services in the United States and Canada. The company operates through two segments, Regional Aviation Services and Regional Aircraft Leasing. The Regional Aviation Services segment includes all three sectors of the regional aviation, such as contract flying, including ACMI and charter operations; aircraft leasing; and maintenance, repair, and overhaul, as well as part sales and technical services.

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ASOS Plc (LON:ASC  Get Rating)s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as GBX 445 ($5.62) and last traded at GBX 502.73 ($6.34), with a volume of 6120976 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 487.40 ($6.15).

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ASC shares. Barclays restated an equal weight rating and issued a GBX 625 ($7.89) price target on shares of ASOS in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Credit Suisse Group set a GBX 680 ($8.58) price target on ASOS in a research note on Friday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a GBX 1,050 ($13.25) price target on ASOS in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada set a GBX 950 ($11.99) price target on ASOS in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a GBX 750 ($9.46) price objective on ASOS in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of GBX 926.50 ($11.69).

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ASOS Stock Up 1.0 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 84.34. The firm has a market capitalization of 505.10 million, a P/E ratio of -1,629.03, a P/E/G ratio of -1.26 and a beta of 2.94. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is GBX 749.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 712.32.

ASOS Company Profile

ASOS Plc operates as an online fashion retailer worldwide. It offers womenswear and menswear products. The company sells its products under the ASOS Design, ASOS Edition, ASOS 4505, Collusion, Reclaimed Vintage, Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT brands, as well as through third-party brands. It is also involved in the employer of marketing staff and payment processing businesses.

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Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC grew its position in Seaboard Co. (NYSEAMERICAN:SEB  Get Rating) by 22.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 136 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLCs holdings in Seaboard were worth $513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in Seaboard by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 992 shares of the companys stock worth $3,745,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Seaboard by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 22 shares of the companys stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Group bought a new stake in Seaboard during the 4th quarter worth about $200,000. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Seaboard by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 236 shares of the companys stock worth $891,000 after buying an additional 8 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Seaboard by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,759 shares of the companys stock worth $12,791,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. 18.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Seaboard Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of SEB opened at $3,795.00 on Friday. Seaboard Co. has a 52 week low of $3,295.00 and a 52 week high of $4,296.77. The firm has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.59 and a beta of 0.47. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $3,860.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3,830.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.63.

Seaboard Announces Dividend

Seaboard ( NYSEAMERICAN:SEB Get Rating ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 14th. The company reported $192.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Seaboard had a net margin of 5.16% and a return on equity of 12.24%. The firm had revenue of $2.67 billion for the quarter.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 25th. Investors of record on Monday, May 15th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 12th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.24%. Seaboards dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 1.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Seaboard from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, April 28th.

About Seaboard

(Get Rating)

Seaboard Corp. engages in hog production and pork processing in the U.S., commodity trading and grain processing in Africa and South America, cargo shipping services in the U.S., Caribbean and Central and South America, sugar and alcohol production in Argentina, and electric power generation in the Dominican Republic.

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StockNews.com upgraded shares of Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN  Get Rating) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning.

SAN has been the subject of several other research reports. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Banco Santander from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 22nd. HSBC lowered shares of Banco Santander from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Banco Santander currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $3.70.

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Banco Santander Price Performance

Banco Santander stock opened at $3.38 on Tuesday. Banco Santander has a 52 week low of $2.26 and a 52 week high of $4.09. The companys 50 day moving average price is $3.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.37. The stock has a market cap of $55.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.83 and a beta of 1.08.

Banco Santander Increases Dividend

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.0631 per share. This is a positive change from Banco Santanders previous semi-annual dividend of $0.06. This represents a dividend yield of 2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 27th. Banco Santanders payout ratio is 15.52%.

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Banco Santander by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 149,246,951 shares of the banks stock valued at $550,721,000 after purchasing an additional 4,146,463 shares in the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Banco Santander by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 20,553,218 shares of the banks stock valued at $60,632,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732,248 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Banco Santander by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 20,137,558 shares of the banks stock valued at $59,406,000 after purchasing an additional 1,777,193 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 14,703,761 shares of the banks stock worth $43,376,000 after acquiring an additional 923,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Banco Santander by 37.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,999,050 shares of the banks stock worth $47,316,000 after acquiring an additional 3,805,547 shares during the last quarter. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Banco Santander Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Banco Santander SA is a banking services company, which engages in the provision of banking services to individuals, companies, and institutions. It operates through the following segments: Europe, North America, South America, and Digital Consumer Bank. The Europe segment comprises business activities carried out in the region.

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Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO  Get Rating) (NYSE:BMO) had its price objective decreased by Barclays from C$149.00 to C$127.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, BayStreet.CA reports.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on BMO. CSFB cut their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$150.00 to C$147.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$154.00 to C$151.00 in a report on Monday, March 27th. National Bankshares lowered their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$135.00 to C$133.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. Fundamental Research set a C$160.30 price target on shares of Bank of Montreal and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, March 14th. Finally, TD Securities lowered their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$145.00 to C$140.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of C$147.38.

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Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

TSE BMO opened at C$118.91 on Tuesday. The companys 50-day simple moving average is C$120.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$126.32. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of C$113.47 and a one year high of C$138.85. The company has a market capitalization of C$83.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.13.

Bank of Montreal Dividend Announcement

Bank of Montreal ( TSE:BMO Get Rating ) (NYSE:BMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 28th. The bank reported C$3.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of C$3.13 by C$0.09. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 40.56% and a return on equity of 21.06%. The firm had revenue of C$6.47 billion for the quarter. Equities analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 13.3034091 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 28th will be given a $1.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 27th. This represents a $5.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.81%. Bank of Montreals dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.61%.

About Bank of Montreal

(Get Rating)

Bank of Montreal engages in the provision of diversified financial services primarily in North America. The company's personal banking products and services include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgages, personal loans, small business lending, cash management, and financial and investment advice services; and commercial banking products and services comprise business deposit accounts, commercial credit cards, business loans and commercial mortgages, cash management solutions, foreign exchange, specialized banking programs, treasury and payment solutions, and risk management products for small business and commercial banking customers.

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BILL Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BILL  Get Rating) Director Brian Jacobs sold 2,000 shares of BILL stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.70, for a total value of $197,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,826 shares in the company, valued at $278,926.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

BILL Stock Performance

NYSE BILL opened at $93.70 on Friday. BILL Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.30 and a fifty-two week high of $179.85. The stock has a market cap of $9.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.71 and a beta of 1.96. The business has a fifty day moving average of $78.96 and a 200-day moving average of $98.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on BILL from $86.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on BILL from $150.00 to $125.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on BILL from $140.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on BILL from $100.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on BILL from $185.00 to $105.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $125.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BILL

About BILL

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of BILL in the first quarter worth $28,294,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in BILL in the first quarter valued at $250,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in BILL by 131.7% in the first quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 95,000 shares of the companys stock valued at $7,708,000 after purchasing an additional 54,000 shares during the last quarter. Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC increased its stake in BILL by 87.8% in the first quarter. Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC now owns 50,736 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,117,000 after purchasing an additional 23,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its stake in BILL by 51.8% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 82,207 shares of the companys stock valued at $6,673,000 after purchasing an additional 28,064 shares during the last quarter. 95.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

(Get Rating)

Bill.com Holdings, Inc provides cloud-based software that simplifies, digitizes, and automates back-office financial operations for small and midsize businesses worldwide. The company provides software-as-a-service, cloud-based payments, and spend management products, which allow users to automate accounts payable and accounts receivable transactions, as well as enable users to connect with their suppliers and/or customers to do business, eliminate expense reports, manage cash flows, and improve office efficiency.

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BlueScope Steel Limited (OTCMKTS:BLSFY  Get Rating) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 300 shares, a growth of 50.0% from the April 15th total of 200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Credit Suisse Group downgraded BlueScope Steel from a neutral rating to an underperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st.

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BlueScope Steel Stock Performance

Shares of BLSFY traded down $3.63 on Friday, reaching $64.37. 126 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 495. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $66.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.90. BlueScope Steel has a 52-week low of $49.14 and a 52-week high of $68.72.

BlueScope Steel Cuts Dividend

About BlueScope Steel

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.8091 per share. This represents a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 2nd.

(Get Rating)

BlueScope Steel Ltd. engages in the manufacture of steel products. It operates through the following segments: Australian Steel Products, North Star BlueScope Steel, Buildings and Coated Products North America, Building Products Asia and North America, and New Zealand and Pacific Islands. The Australian Steel Products segment produces and markets coated and painted flat steel products.

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BNP Paribas SA (OTCMKTS:BNPQY  Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 17,700 shares, an increase of 70.2% from the April 15th total of 10,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 277,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.1 days.

BNP Paribas Price Performance

BNPQY traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $31.68. 118,945 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 345,966. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. BNP Paribas has a one year low of $20.19 and a one year high of $35.52. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.20.

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BNP Paribas (OTCMKTS:BNPQY  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.03). BNP Paribas had a return on equity of 9.17% and a net margin of 22.04%. The business had revenue of $12.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.74 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that BNP Paribas will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

BNP Paribas Company Profile

BNP Paribas SA engages in the provision of banking and financial services. The company operates through the following business: Retail Banking and Services, and Corporate Institutional Banking. The Retail Banking and Services business includes the retail banking networks and specialized financial services in France and around the world.

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Brookfield Co. (TSE:BN  Get Rating) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 11th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.095 per share on Friday, June 30th. This represents a $0.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 30th. This is an increase from Brookfields previous quarterly dividend of $0.09.

Brookfield Stock Performance

Shares of TSE BN opened at C$41.11 on Friday. Brookfield has a 1 year low of C$38.92 and a 1 year high of C$55.00. The stock has a market capitalization of C$64.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.53 and a beta of 1.58. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is C$42.47.

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Brookfield (TSE:BN  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 9th. The company reported C($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$1.11 by C($1.42). The firm had revenue of C$32.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$1.36 billion. Brookfield had a net margin of 2.15% and a return on equity of 3.76%. On average, research analysts expect that Brookfield will post 3.2378419 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Brookfield Company Profile

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Brookfield from C$54.00 to C$51.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 23rd.

(Get Rating)

Brookfield Corporation is an alternative asset manager and REIT/Real Estate Investment Manager firm focuses on real estate, renewable power, infrastructure and venture capital and private equity assets. It manages a range of public and private investment products and services for institutional and retail clients.

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Brunswick Bancorp (OTCMKTS:BRBW  Get Rating) shares crossed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $16.61 and traded as low as $12.45. Brunswick Bancorp shares last traded at $12.45, with a volume of 300 shares.

Brunswick Bancorp Stock Up 4.2 %

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.55. The firm has a market cap of $35.23 million, a P/E ratio of 10.33 and a beta of 0.05.

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Brunswick Bancorp (OTCMKTS:BRBW  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 26th. The bank reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $3.29 million for the quarter.

About Brunswick Bancorp

Brunswick Bancorp is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of consumer and commercial banking services. It offers personal banking, checking, certificate of deposit accounts, business checking, equipment leasing, commercial mortgages, small business loans, construction loans, and merchant services.

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Canadian Western Bank (OTCMKTS:CBWBF  Get Rating) had its price objective reduced by Barclays from C$29.00 to C$27.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, The Fly reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Canadian Western Bank from C$36.00 to C$35.00 in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. TD Securities cut their price target on Canadian Western Bank from C$34.00 to C$33.00 in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Desjardins boosted their price objective on shares of Canadian Western Bank from C$30.00 to C$35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Canadian Western Bank from C$29.00 to C$28.00 in a research report on Friday, February 17th.

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Canadian Western Bank Stock Performance

Canadian Western Bank stock opened at $17.72 on Tuesday. Canadian Western Bank has a 52 week low of $15.70 and a 52 week high of $25.96. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.60.

About Canadian Western Bank

Canadian Western Bank engages in the provision of business and personal banking; specialized financing; comprehensive wealth management offerings; and trust services. The firm focuses on providing business banking services for small- and medium-sized companies. The company was founded by Charles R. Allard and Eugene Pechet on March 22, 1984 and is headquartered in Edmonton, Canada.

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Shares of China Gold International Resources Corp. Ltd. (TSE:CGG  Get Rating) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$4.70 and traded as high as C$6.88. China Gold International Resources shares last traded at C$6.46, with a volume of 62,406 shares trading hands.

China Gold International Resources Trading Down 5.1 %

The firm has a market cap of C$2.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.51 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a fifty day moving average price of C$5.88 and a 200-day moving average price of C$4.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 43.87.

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China Gold International Resources (TSE:CGG  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 30th. The company reported C$0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. China Gold International Resources had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 20.16%. The business had revenue of C$344.73 million during the quarter. As a group, research analysts expect that China Gold International Resources Corp. Ltd. will post 6.2699998 EPS for the current year.

About China Gold International Resources

China Gold International Resources Corp. Ltd., a gold and base metal mining company, acquires, explores for, develops, and mines mineral properties in the People's Republic of China. It primarily holds 96.5% interest in the Chang Shan Hao gold mine covering an area of 36 square kilometers in the western part of Inner Mongolia, northern China; and 100% interest in the Jiama copper-gold polymetallic mine that hosts copper, gold, molybdenum, silver, lead, and zinc metals located in Metrokongka County, Tibet.

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Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE:CL  Get Rating) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Friday.

CL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $80.00 to $88.00 in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $82.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Monday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Colgate-Palmolive from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and set a $82.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Colgate-Palmolive from $80.00 to $77.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 31st. Four equities research 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 price target of $84.75.

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Colgate-Palmolive Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:CL traded up $0.35 during trading on Friday, hitting $81.98. 3,211,854 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,720,190. Colgate-Palmolive has a 1-year low of $67.84 and a 1-year high of $83.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $75.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.87. The firm has a market cap of $68.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.70, a PEG ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 0.49.

Insider Transactions at Colgate-Palmolive

Colgate-Palmolive ( NYSE:CL Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 28th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.03. Colgate-Palmolive had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 348.63%. The business had revenue of $4.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. Colgate-Palmolives quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Colgate-Palmolive will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

In other news, Director John P. Bilbrey sold 5,703 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.81, for a total transaction of $460,859.43. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 26,257 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,121,828.17. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director John P. Bilbrey sold 5,703 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.81, for a total value of $460,859.43. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,121,828.17. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Stephen I. Sadove sold 12,032 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.37, for a total value of $979,043.84. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,866 shares in the company, valued at $965,536.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 163,045 shares of company stock valued at $13,169,831 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Colgate-Palmolive

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Colgate-Palmolive by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,444,508 shares of the companys stock valued at $185,376,000 after buying an additional 94,837 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 71.9% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,451 shares of the companys stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,025 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Colgate-Palmolive by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,882,813 shares of the companys stock valued at $142,774,000 after acquiring an additional 146,936 shares during the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 1st quarter valued at about $569,000. Finally, Wsfs Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Colgate-Palmolive during the 1st quarter valued at about $288,000. 77.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Colgate-Palmolive Company Profile

(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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Endeavour Mining plc (TSE:EDV  Get Rating)  Research analysts at National Bank Financial issued their Q2 2023 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Endeavour Mining in a note issued to investors on Monday, May 8th. National Bank Financial analyst D. Demarco forecasts that the company will post earnings per share of $0.48 for the quarter. The consensus estimate for Endeavour Minings current full-year earnings is $2.08 per share. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for Endeavour Minings Q4 2023 earnings at $0.82 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $2.39 EPS.

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Endeavour Mining Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Endeavour Mining stock opened at C$34.40 on Thursday. The businesss fifty day moving average price is C$33.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$30.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 21.33, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of C$8.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -92.97, a PEG ratio of -2.74 and a beta of 0.57. Endeavour Mining has a 1-year low of C$22.77 and a 1-year high of C$36.44.

Endeavour Mining Increases Dividend

Endeavour Mining ( TSE:EDV Get Rating ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 9th. The company reported C$0.35 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of C$0.35. The firm had revenue of C$837.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$804.38 million.

The company also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 28th were paid a $0.557 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 23rd. This is an increase from Endeavour Minings previous Semi-Annual dividend of $0.51. Endeavour Minings payout ratio is currently -302.70%.

Insider Transactions at Endeavour Mining

In other news, insider La Mancha Capital Management GP sold 22,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$35.01, for a total value of C$770,138.60. Company insiders own 19.35% of the companys stock.

Endeavour Mining Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Endeavour Mining plc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a gold mining company in West Africa. It has six operating assets, including the Boungou, Hounde, Mana, and Wahgnion mines in Burkina Faso; the Ity mine in Cote d'Ivoire; the Sabodala-Massawa mine in Senegal; Lafigue and Kalana development projects in Cote d'Ivoire and Mali; and a portfolio of exploration assets on the Birimian Greenstone Belt across Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Senegal, and Guinea.

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EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL  Get Rating) by 43.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,597 shares of the medical research companys stock after selling 1,250 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLCs holdings in Charles River Laboratories International were worth $348,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Texas Permanent School Fund raised its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund now owns 7,045 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $1,535,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 198 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Charles River Laboratories International by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 5,955 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $1,298,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,793 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $509,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, FourThought Financial LLC raised its holdings in Charles River Laboratories International by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. FourThought Financial LLC now owns 256 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.80% of the companys stock.

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Charles River Laboratories International Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CRL opened at $191.24 on Friday. The firms 50-day moving average is $198.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $219.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has a 1 year low of $181.22 and a 1 year high of $262.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.79 billion, a PE ratio of 20.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.34.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Charles River Laboratories International ( NYSE:CRL Get Rating ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.23. Charles River Laboratories International had a net margin of 12.23% and a return on equity of 20.98%. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.49 earnings per share. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. will post 10.19 EPS for the current year.

CRL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Credit Suisse Group reduced their price objective on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $260.00 to $255.00 in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $260.00 to $250.00 in a report on Friday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. Guggenheim upgraded shares of Charles River Laboratories International from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $255.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Charles River Laboratories International from $241.00 to $230.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $260.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Shannon M. Parisotto sold 4,558 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.41, for a total transaction of $1,159,600.78. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,010 shares in the company, valued at $1,529,004.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO James C. Foster sold 20,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $5,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 216,594 shares of the companys stock, valued at $54,148,500. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Shannon M. Parisotto sold 4,558 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.41, for a total value of $1,159,600.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,010 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,529,004.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,763 shares of company stock worth $6,974,921. Company insiders own 1.30% of the companys stock.

About Charles River Laboratories International

(Get Rating)

Charles River Laboratories International, Inc is an early-stage contract research company, which provides research models required in the research and development of new drugs, devices, and therapies. It operates through the following segments: Research Models and Services (RMS), Discovery and Safety Assessment (DSA), and Manufacturing Solutions.

Further Reading

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Fibra Terrafina (OTCMKTS:CBAOF  Get Rating) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 436,900 shares, an increase of 61.1% from the April 15th total of 271,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 19,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 23.0 days.

Fibra Terrafina Stock Performance

CBAOF stock remained flat at $1.81 during midday trading on Friday. The companys stock had a trading volume of 879 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,113. Fibra Terrafina has a 52-week low of $1.23 and a 52-week high of $1.93. The stocks 50 day moving average is $1.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.60.

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Fibra Terrafina Company Profile

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Terrafina is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the acquisition, development, and management of industrial real estate properties. Its portfolio includes distribution centers, warehouses, and light manufacturing properties located at Bajio and Northern Mexico. The company was founded on January 29, 2013 and is headquartered in Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico.

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First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE:BZH  Get Rating) by 29.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 306,874 shares of the construction companys stock after buying an additional 70,443 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned about 0.98% of Beazer Homes USA worth $3,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BZH. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in Beazer Homes USA by 60.3% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,618 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Beazer Homes USA by 2.4% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 48,154 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Beazer Homes USA by 83.4% during the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,007 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,367 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in Beazer Homes USA by 18.5% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 14,363 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 2,240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Winslow Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Beazer Homes USA by 0.4% during the third quarter. Winslow Asset Management Inc. now owns 552,390 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $5,342,000 after purchasing an additional 2,289 shares during the last quarter. 78.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on BZH. Wedbush increased their price target on Beazer Homes USA from $18.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Friday, April 28th. B. Riley upped their price objective on Beazer Homes USA from $20.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Beazer Homes USA in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock.

Beazer Homes USA Price Performance

NYSE:BZH opened at $20.86 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.46, a current ratio of 16.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $16.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $653.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 2.17. Beazer Homes USA, Inc. has a 12-month low of $9.47 and a 12-month high of $21.75.

Beazer Homes USA (NYSE:BZH  Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The construction company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $543.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $519.91 million. Beazer Homes USA had a return on equity of 21.32% and a net margin of 8.54%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.45 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Beazer Homes USA, Inc. will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Beazer Homes USA Profile

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Beazer Homes USA, Inc engages in the design and sale of single-family and multi-family homes. It operates through the following geographical segments: West, East, and Southeast. The West segment includes Arizona, California, Nevada, and Texas. The East segment consists of Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Tennessee, and Virginia.

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It was all smiles on the Helena College Donaldson Campus Friday as about 40 Bryant Elementary fifth-graders received their honorary degrees.

The children spent the past school year shadowing their college student counterparts, attending lectures and exploring the school's many offerings, from dissecting cow eyeballs in the biology department to learning about wilderness safety in the nursing department.

"I've been trying to tell my mom I don't need to go to college again," 11-year-old Bryant student Eli Hawkins joked.

Eli said he wanted to have fun with the program, a fact reinforced by his graduation attire: bright pink, flamingo-adorned shorts paired with a black suit jacket.

When asked if he discovered a new potential career path that excited him, Eli said, "At the airport campus, I found out you can learn how to build airplanes."

His father, Zach Hawkins, said with the "shifting paradigm" around secondary education and a greater recognition of the value of trade schools, he is happy Eli could see the different avenues available to him.

Zach said he spent years working with a different but similar program that focused on middle school students, but that reaching kids earlier is even better.

"Fifth grade is a pivotal moment in kids' lives as they transition to middle school," Helena College's Executive Director of General Education and Transfer Robyn Kiesling said. "The goal is to expose these fifth-graders to a bunch of different things. It's meant to be fun, but also show them the many job opportunities out there."

In addition to the plurality of career paths and almost more importantly, Bryant Elementary fifth-grade science and math teacher Jamie Voigt said, the program gives the students a clear view of what that future step in life looks like, puts it right in front of them and shows them secondary education is not as insurmountable as it may seem.

"Just to see what a college classroom looks like, to sit in the classroom, to hear an actual lecture  it's an extraordinary opportunity for these children," Voigt said.

The honorary college students are expected to maintain good grades and behavior throughout the year to participate in the program, including no more than five missing or incomplete assignments.

"This is one of my favorite things we do on campus," Helena College Dean and CEO Sandy Bauman said ahead of the ceremony. "We're really showing them the sky's the limit."

Bauman said she checks in with the Bryant faculty and administration throughout the program.

"The teachers have told me they're hearing kids talking about going to college more than ever," she said.

This is the second year of the program, and Kiesling said it was born out of a desire to "embrace" the college's community partners.

"With Bryant right across the street, they felt like a natural partner," she said.

She said she hopes the program can give the kids the confidence to take on their next chapter, middle school.

"If you can be a Helena College student, you can be a Helena Middle School student. I promise. It'll be great," Kiesling told the honorary graduates.
Reinsurance Group of America (NYSE:RGA  Get Rating) and FOXO Technologies (NYSE:FOXO  Get Rating) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Reinsurance Group of America and FOXO Technologies net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

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Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Reinsurance Group of America 5.66% 23.94% 1.52% FOXO Technologies N/A -18,881.06% -90.78%

Volatility and Risk

Reinsurance Group of America has a beta of 0.91, indicating that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, FOXO Technologies has a beta of 2.22, indicating that its stock price is 122% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

Valuation & Earnings

96.5% of Reinsurance Group of America shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.9% of FOXO Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Reinsurance Group of America shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.9% of FOXO Technologies shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

This table compares Reinsurance Group of America and FOXO Technologies top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Reinsurance Group of America $16.26 billion 0.61 $623.00 million $13.85 10.72 FOXO Technologies $511,000.00 20.25 -$95.25 million N/A N/A

Reinsurance Group of America has higher revenue and earnings than FOXO Technologies.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Reinsurance Group of America and FOXO Technologies, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Reinsurance Group of America 0 4 6 0 2.60 FOXO Technologies 0 0 0 0 N/A

Reinsurance Group of America presently has a consensus target price of $155.80, suggesting a potential upside of 4.96%. Given Reinsurance Group of Americas higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Reinsurance Group of America is more favorable than FOXO Technologies.

Summary

Reinsurance Group of America beats FOXO Technologies on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Reinsurance Group of America

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Reinsurance Group of America, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of traditional and non-traditional life and health reinsurance products. It operates through the following segments: U.S. and Latin America, Canada, Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Asia Pacific, and Corporate and Other. The U.S. and Latin America segment markets individual and group life and health reinsurance to domestic clients for a variety of products through yearly renewable term agreements, coinsurance, and modified coinsurance. The Canada segment offers individual life reinsurance, and, to a lesser extent, creditor, group life and health, critical illness, and disability reinsurance, through yearly renewable term and coinsurance agreements. The Europe, Middle East, and Africa segment serves individual and group life and health products through yearly renewable term and coinsurance agreements, reinsurance of critical illness coverage that provides a benefit in the event of the diagnosis of a pre-defined critical illness, and underwritten annuities. The Asia Pacific segment consists of individual and group life and health reinsurance, critical illness coverage, disability, and superannuati

About FOXO Technologies

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FOXO Technologies Inc., a technology platform company, focuses on commercializing longevity science through products and services that serve the life insurance industry. The company is developing products and services that combine longevity science with life insurance to support the consumer health and wellness engagement, and to simplify the consumer underwriting journey. It offers FOXO Labs, a services platform that integrates saliva-based epigenetic biomarkers into accelerated underwriting protocols to improve the customer underwriting journey; and FOXO Life, an insurance products platform that offers proprietary life insurance products and third-party life insurance carrier products based on bundling longevity science with life insurance. The company was founded in 2019 and is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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Hims & Hers Health (NYSE:HIMS  Get Rating) had its target price upped by Bank of America from $13.50 to $15.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday, The Fly reports.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Hims & Hers Health from $7.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Hims & Hers Health from $11.00 to $12.00 in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Hims & Hers Health from $15.00 to $18.00 in a report on Thursday, April 27th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of Hims & Hers Health in a report on Tuesday, April 11th. They issued a neutral rating and a $10.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Hims & Hers Health from $11.00 to $12.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $12.00.

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Hims & Hers Health Stock Up 2.3 %

Hims & Hers Health stock opened at $10.81 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $10.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.28 and a beta of 0.47. Hims & Hers Health has a 52-week low of $3.30 and a 52-week high of $12.34.

Insider Activity

Hims & Hers Health ( NYSE:HIMS Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $190.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.07 million. Hims & Hers Health had a negative net margin of 9.65% and a negative return on equity of 18.95%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 88.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.08) EPS. Research analysts expect that Hims & Hers Health will post -0.21 earnings per share for the current year.

In other news, CFO Oluyemi Okupe sold 15,720 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.82, for a total transaction of $154,370.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 99,013 shares in the company, valued at $972,307.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Hims & Hers Health news, COO Melissa Baird sold 11,943 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.82, for a total value of $117,280.26. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 495,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,864,356.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Oluyemi Okupe sold 15,720 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.82, for a total transaction of $154,370.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 99,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $972,307.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 722,285 shares of company stock worth $8,033,062 over the last 90 days. 35.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Hims & Hers Health by 7.9% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 185,000 shares of the companys stock worth $986,000 after acquiring an additional 13,500 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in Hims & Hers Health by 249.9% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 34,718 shares of the companys stock worth $185,000 after acquiring an additional 24,796 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC bought a new stake in Hims & Hers Health in the first quarter worth approximately $949,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Hims & Hers Health by 2.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 616,214 shares of the companys stock worth $3,285,000 after acquiring an additional 14,990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Hims & Hers Health by 1.3% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 253,307 shares of the companys stock worth $1,350,000 after acquiring an additional 3,226 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.60% of the companys stock.

Hims & Hers Health Company Profile

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Hims & Hers Health, Inc operates a multi-specialty telehealth platform that connects consumers to licensed healthcare professionals. The company offers a range of health and wellness products and services available to purchase on its websites and mobile application directly by customers. It also provides prescription medication on a recurring basis and ongoing care from healthcare providers; and over-the-counter drug and device products, cosmetics, and supplement products, primarily focusing on wellness, sexual health and wellness, skincare, and hair care.

Further Reading

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StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hudson Pacific Properties (NYSE:HPP  Get Rating) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on HPP. Citigroup cut their price objective on Hudson Pacific Properties from $10.00 to $6.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Hudson Pacific Properties from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Hudson Pacific Properties from $10.00 to $6.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 31st. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Hudson Pacific Properties from $12.00 to $8.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Hudson Pacific Properties from $10.00 to $7.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hudson Pacific Properties has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $10.63.

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Hudson Pacific Properties Trading Down 4.8 %

NYSE:HPP opened at $4.38 on Wednesday. Hudson Pacific Properties has a fifty-two week low of $4.30 and a fifty-two week high of $21.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 2.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $617.10 million, a PE ratio of -11.23 and a beta of 1.09. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $6.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.95.

Hudson Pacific Properties Dividend Announcement

Hudson Pacific Properties ( NYSE:HPP Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 8th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.09) earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $267.83 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Hudson Pacific Properties will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 20th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 22.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 17th. Hudson Pacific Propertiess dividend payout ratio is currently -256.40%.

Insider Transactions at Hudson Pacific Properties

In other Hudson Pacific Properties news, EVP Arthur X. Suazo purchased 10,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $5.86 per share, for a total transaction of $58,600.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 87,102 shares in the company, valued at $510,417.72. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Hudson Pacific Properties news, CIO Drew Gordon purchased 25,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $5.96 per share, for a total transaction of $149,000.00. Following the purchase, the executive now owns 116,958 shares in the company, valued at $697,069.68. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Arthur X. Suazo purchased 10,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $5.86 per share, for a total transaction of $58,600.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 87,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $510,417.72. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 38,975 shares of company stock worth $232,523 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.95% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC increased its position in Hudson Pacific Properties by 87.3% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,839 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 2,256 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Hudson Pacific Properties by 119.5% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,424 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,864 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors bought a new position in Hudson Pacific Properties during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. AXS Investments LLC bought a new position in Hudson Pacific Properties during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Hudson Pacific Properties during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 95.57% of the companys stock.

Hudson Pacific Properties Company Profile

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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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Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ingersoll Rand (NYSE:IR  Get Rating) from an in-line rating to an outperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, The Fly reports. They currently have $71.00 price objective on the industrial products companys stock.

IR has been the topic of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Ingersoll Rand from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Monday, April 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Ingersoll Rand from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Ingersoll Rand from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Ingersoll Rand from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Ingersoll Rand from $62.00 to $66.00 in a report on Friday, May 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $60.36.

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Ingersoll Rand Price Performance

Shares of NYSE IR opened at $58.25 on Tuesday. Ingersoll Rand has a one year low of $39.28 and a one year high of $60.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 2.16. The companys fifty day moving average is $56.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.96 and a beta of 1.42.

Ingersoll Rand Dividend Announcement

Ingersoll Rand ( NYSE:IR Get Rating ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Ingersoll Rand had a net margin of 10.66% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ingersoll Rand will post 2.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 24th will be paid a $0.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 23rd. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.14%. Ingersoll Rands payout ratio is 4.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Vicente Reynal sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 102,856 shares of the companys stock, valued at $6,171,360. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ingersoll Rand

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ingersoll Rand by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 15,601 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,675 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ingersoll Rand by 47.6% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 9,880 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 3,185 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Ingersoll Rand during the 1st quarter worth approximately $327,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Ingersoll Rand by 62.2% during the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,937 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $1,457,000 after buying an additional 11,096 shares during the period. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ingersoll Rand by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 57,771 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $2,909,000 after purchasing an additional 988 shares in the last quarter. 99.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ingersoll Rand Company Profile

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Ingersoll Rand, Inc provides a broad range of mission critical air, fluid, energy, specialty vehicle and medical technologies, providing services and solutions to increase industrial productivity and efficiency. It operates through the following segments: Industrial Technologies and Services, Precision and Science Technologies, High Pressure Solutions, and Specialty Vehicle Technologies.

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NuScale Power Co. (NYSE:SMR  Get Rating) General Counsel Robert K. Temple sold 18,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.98, for a total transaction of $150,183.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 2,001 shares of the companys stock, valued at $15,967.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

NuScale Power Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SMR opened at $8.30 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a PE ratio of -13.61 and a beta of 0.88. NuScale Power Co. has a 52 week low of $7.60 and a 52 week high of $15.85. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.03.

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NuScale Power (NYSE:SMR  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 15th. The company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $3.44 million for the quarter. On average, equities analysts predict that NuScale Power Co. will post -0.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Separately, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of NuScale Power from $17.00 to $14.50 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $15.90.

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in NuScale Power by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,933,657 shares of the companys stock valued at $17,577,000 after buying an additional 93,120 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in NuScale Power by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 95,098 shares of the companys stock valued at $864,000 after buying an additional 5,285 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in NuScale Power by 47.5% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 15,906 shares of the companys stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 5,122 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in NuScale Power by 55.0% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,405,757 shares of the companys stock valued at $21,868,000 after buying an additional 853,569 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in NuScale Power by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,505 shares of the companys stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 1,423 shares during the period.

About NuScale Power

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NuScale Power Corporation develops and sells modular light water reactor nuclear power plants to supply energy for electrical generation, district heating, desalination, hydrogen production, and other process heat applications. It offers NuScale Power Module, a water reactor that can generate 77 megawatts of electricity (MWe); The VOYGR-12 power plant that can generate 924 MWe; and four-module VOYGR-4 and six-module VOYGR-6 plants, as well as other configurations based on customer needs.

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Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO  Get Rating) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,454,782 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 524,276 shares during the quarter. Novo Nordisk A/S accounts for 1.6% of Jennison Associates LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Jennison Associates LLC owned 0.51% of Novo Nordisk A/S worth $1,550,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NVO. BlackRock Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,571,747 shares during the last quarter. Eaton Vance Management raised its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 289.1% in the 3rd quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 1,088,926 shares of the companys stock valued at $108,489,000 after purchasing an additional 809,078 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Novo Nordisk A/S by 36,122.5% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 669,754 shares of the companys stock worth $66,727,000 after buying an additional 667,905 shares in the last quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co raised its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S by 9.4% in the third quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 5,218,104 shares of the companys stock valued at $519,878,000 after acquiring an additional 450,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Novo Nordisk A/S by 33.0% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,815,936 shares of the companys stock valued at $201,659,000 after acquiring an additional 450,122 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 6.09% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NVO shares. Credit Suisse Group upgraded shares of Novo Nordisk A/S from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Novo Nordisk A/S in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a strong-buy rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novo Nordisk A/S currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $383.33.

Novo Nordisk A/S Trading Up 1.3 %

Novo Nordisk A/S Profile

Shares of NYSE NVO opened at $171.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $387.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.48. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $158.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Novo Nordisk A/S has a 12-month low of $95.02 and a 12-month high of $172.97.

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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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Shares of Kenmare Resources plc (LON:KMR  Get Rating) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of GBX 453.47 ($5.72) and traded as high as GBX 460 ($5.80). Kenmare Resources shares last traded at GBX 451 ($5.69), with a volume of 57,296 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Berenberg Bank dropped their price target on Kenmare Resources from GBX 820 ($10.35) to GBX 780 ($9.84) and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd.

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Kenmare Resources Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.28, a current ratio of 4.07 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 463.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 453.64. The stock has a market cap of 424.84 million, a P/E ratio of 266.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.03 and a beta of 0.43.

Kenmare Resources Increases Dividend

Kenmare Resources Company Profile

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 13th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 8.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 13th. This is a positive change from Kenmare Resourcess previous dividend of $0.11. Kenmare Resourcess payout ratio is 2,619.05%.

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Kenmare Resources plc, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells mineral sand products in China, Europe, the United States, and internationally. It operates the Moma Titanium Minerals Mine located on the northeast coast of Mozambique. The company's products include ilmenite, zircon, and rutile; and concentrates, including secondary zircon and mineral sand concentrates.

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Masonite International Co. (NYSE:DOOR  Get Rating) insider Alexander Albert Legall sold 1,700 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.01, for a total transaction of $156,417.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,257 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $299,676.57. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Masonite International Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE DOOR opened at $91.20 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.82. The stock has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.71 and a beta of 1.60. Masonite International Co. has a 12-month low of $65.71 and a 12-month high of $101.72. The company has a current ratio of 3.33, a quick ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

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Masonite International (NYSE:DOOR  Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 8th. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $726.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $688.20 million. Masonite International had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 28.00%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Masonite International Co. will post 8.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Institutional Trading of Masonite International

DOOR has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Masonite International from $110.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Masonite International from $102.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Masonite International from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Masonite International from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $106.43.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Masonite International in the third quarter worth $32,000. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Masonite International by 421.9% in the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 381 shares of the companys stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of Masonite International by 55.0% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 513 shares of the companys stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in Masonite International by 3,100.0% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 416 shares of the companys stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Masonite International during the first quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.67% of the companys stock.

About Masonite International

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Masonite International Corp. engages in the manufacture of interior and exterior doors for residential and architectural use. It operates through the following geographical segments: North American Residential, Europe, Architectural, and Corporate and Other. The Corporate and other segment includes unallocated corporate costs and the results of immaterial operating segments.

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McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW  Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 1,903 shares of the industrial products companys stock, valued at approximately $419,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Red Tortoise LLC bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Standard Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Old North State Trust LLC bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. 79.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on ITW shares. 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. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $205.00 to $203.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $183.00 to $181.00 and set a sell rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $213.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, February 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Illinois Tool Works from $174.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $228.21.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ITW opened at $228.52 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $69.45 billion, a PE ratio of 22.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 1.10. The firms fifty day moving average is $233.45 and its 200-day moving average is $228.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.20. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52 week low of $173.52 and a 52 week high of $253.37.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The industrial products company reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.98 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 92.13%. Illinois Tool Workss revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.11 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 9.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Illinois Tool Works Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 13th. Investors of record on Friday, June 30th will be issued a $1.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 29th. This represents a $5.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. Illinois Tool Workss payout ratio is 52.40%.

Illinois Tool Works Company Profile

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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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National Bank of Canada (TSE:NA  Get Rating) had its price objective trimmed by Barclays from C$98.00 to C$82.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, BayStreet.CA reports.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. CSFB increased their price target on shares of National Bank of Canada from C$110.00 to C$113.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of National Bank of Canada from C$111.00 to C$108.00 in a report on Monday, March 27th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of National Bank of Canada from C$115.00 to C$111.00 in a report on Friday, February 17th. Cormark boosted their target price on shares of National Bank of Canada from C$112.00 to C$113.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Finally, Veritas Investment Research reaffirmed a buy rating on shares of National Bank of Canada in a research note on Monday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of C$105.23.

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National Bank of Canada Stock Performance

Shares of National Bank of Canada stock opened at C$101.47 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of C$34.22 billion, a PE ratio of 10.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.10. National Bank of Canada has a 1 year low of C$82.16 and a 1 year high of C$104.83. The firms 50-day simple moving average is C$98.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$97.11.

National Bank of Canada Dividend Announcement

National Bank of Canada ( TSE:NA Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 1st. The financial services provider reported C$2.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$2.41 by C$0.15. The firm had revenue of C$2.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of C$2.62 billion. National Bank of Canada had a net margin of 34.98% and a return on equity of 16.00%. On average, equities analysts predict that National Bank of Canada will post 9.8509804 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 27th were issued a $0.97 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 24th. This represents a $3.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. National Bank of Canadas dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.01%.

About National Bank of Canada

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National Bank of Canada provides various financial products and services to retail, commercial, corporate, and institutional clients in Canada and internationally. It operates through four segments: Personal and Commercial, Wealth Management, Financial Markets, and U.S. Specialty Finance and International.

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A Lewis and Clark County judge on Friday told attorneys in the nations first-ever youth constitutional climate case they should continue prepare for trial as she reviews recent bills passed by the Montana Legislature that could have a direct bearing on the case.

Attorneys for both sides debated the states' motions for summary judgment and to partially dismiss the upcoming trial on the basis of mootness.

I would suggest you continue to prepare for trial until you get an order, 1st Judicial District Court Judge Kathy Seeley said. ... I dont find this to be nearly as substantive to the issues raised in this case as you do. It is the statute that they cited, it has been clarified, and it seems to me that preparations that you have done would all be applicable to this statute as amended.

Four of the 16 youth plaintiffs in Held v. Montana were present  Mica, 14, of Missoula; Taleah, 19, of Polson; and Lander, 18, and Badge, 15, both of Kalispell. Only their first names were used in the lawsuit because they were minors when it was filed. The case is named for Rikki Held of Broadus, who was the only plaintiff over the age of 18 when it was filed in 2020. The plaintiffs ages range from 5-22, and theyre from all around Montana including Big Fork, Helena, Livingston, the Flathead Indian Reservation and more.

The plaintiffs originally asked the court to declare Montana's State Energy Policy Goals and the climate change exception in the Montana Environmental Protection Act (MEPA), which makes it so the state doesn't have to consider climate impacts beyond its borders, as unconstitutional.

The attorneys for the state highlighted that both the energy goal statements and the MEPA climate exception have been repealed by this years Legislature with the passing and signing of House bills 170 and 971. HB 170 repealed the State Energy Policy Goals, and HB 971 revises MEPA to exclude the use of greenhouse gas evaluations in environmental analyses of large projects such as mines and power plants.

The states' attorneys asked, How could the court invalidate and enjoin the enforcement of a statute that no longer exists?

The state's attorneys brought up that the attorneys for the youth plaintiffs have created moving targets by now claiming that theyre challenging the state's de facto energy policy" instead.

They addressed the motion for summary judgment by asserting the plaintiffs' remaining relief claims aren't resolvable due to a lack of standing, failure to name indispensable parties, redressability beyond the courts reach, and that by claiming a constitutional right to a stable climate would lead to absurd results such as the carbon dioxide from humans breathing being labeled as a constitutional violation.

Seeley said that the defense may be going to an extreme that isnt what were contemplating here.

The plaintiffs' attorneys argued that the repeal of the statutory energy policy act doesnt vitiate other claims from the plaintiffs such as the implicit and de facto state energy policy as well as the aggregate acts.

They said the case needs to go to trial because the youth plaintiffs are still seeking declaratory and injunctive relief from Montanas fossil fuel-based energy policy that is violating their constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment.

Roger Sullivan, an attorney for the plaintiffs, brought up Montana's supermajority in the Legislature and how the passing of last-minute laws trying to prevent a case from going to trial is "contrary to the jurisprudence of this state  an vitiation and an abrogation of the judiciarys responsibility to uphold these constitutional rights."

The plaintiffs' attorneys said they have testimony from the head of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the director of the Montana Public Service Commission that they will follow a judicial declaration on permitting activity in Montana if one is given.

There has never been an application for a fossil fuel permitting activity that has been denied by an agency of the state of Montana that is before this court as a defendant, Sullivan said.

The attorney for the DEQ, which is named as a defendant, said that an amendment signed into law recently (HB 971) fundamentally affects the courts subject matter jurisdiction in the case and that there cant be a trial if the court doesnt have subject matter jurisdiction.

The attorneys for the youth plaintiffs stated that that position has no basis in law or fact and that HB 971 wont alter or change the positions of the parties because its what Montana agencies have already been doing  excluding greenhouse gas evaluations.

Seeley submitted the motions. Trial is set to start on June 12 in Seeley's courtroom in Helena.
Nuveen New York Quality Municipal Income Fund (NYSE:NAN  Get Rating) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 13,700 shares, a decrease of 54.0% from the April 15th total of 29,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 53,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.3 days.

Institutional Trading of Nuveen New York Quality Municipal Income Fund

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Karpus Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Nuveen New York Quality Municipal Income Fund by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. Karpus Management Inc. now owns 895,895 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $9,891,000 after acquiring an additional 149,291 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nuveen New York Quality Municipal Income Fund by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 745,053 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $8,225,000 after purchasing an additional 64,261 shares in the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Nuveen New York Quality Municipal Income Fund by 18.9% in the 1st quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 494,894 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $5,464,000 after purchasing an additional 78,712 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Nuveen New York Quality Municipal Income Fund by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 472,410 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $5,938,000 after purchasing an additional 13,907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Nuveen New York Quality Municipal Income Fund by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 267,795 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,865,000 after acquiring an additional 51,129 shares in the last quarter.

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Nuveen New York Quality Municipal Income Fund Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NAN stock traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $10.87. The stock had a trading volume of 60,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 50,944. Nuveen New York Quality Municipal Income Fund has a fifty-two week low of $9.65 and a fifty-two week high of $12.16. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $10.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.79.

Nuveen New York Quality Municipal Income Fund Dividend Announcement

Nuveen New York Quality Municipal Income Fund Company Profile

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be paid a $0.0375 dividend. This represents a $0.45 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th.

(Get Rating)

Nuveen New York Quality Municipal Income Fund operates as a closed-end management investment company. It seeks to provide current income exempt from regular federal, and New York State and New York City income tax and to enhance portfolio value. The company was founded on May 26, 1999 and is headquartered in Chicago, IL.

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OLD Second National Bank of Aurora lowered its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB  Get Rating) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,018 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock after selling 630 shares during the quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Auroras holdings in Albemarle were worth $3,474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ALB. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 79,043.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,407,165 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $1,650,000 after acquiring an additional 1,405,387 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 33.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 865,408 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $191,386,000 after buying an additional 217,538 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 71.3% in the third quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 488,490 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $129,176,000 after purchasing an additional 203,385 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 86.4% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 375,347 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $99,257,000 after purchasing an additional 173,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,933,369 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock valued at $3,684,541,000 after acquiring an additional 158,005 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.24% of the companys stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters bought 5,470 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction on Friday, May 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $181.64 per share, for a total transaction of $993,570.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 51,466 shares in the company, valued at $9,348,284.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters acquired 5,470 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $181.64 per share, for a total transaction of $993,570.80. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,466 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $9,348,284.24. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kristin M. Coleman acquired 1,373 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $182.00 per share, for a total transaction of $249,886.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,373 shares in the company, valued at $249,886. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.38% of the companys stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Albemarle Stock Performance

Several research analysts have issued reports on ALB shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Albemarle from $497.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 17th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Credit Suisse Group reaffirmed an underperform rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. Berenberg Bank reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $290.00 to $225.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 17th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Albemarle from a sector weight rating to an overweight rating and set a $270.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $284.95.

Shares of ALB traded down $2.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $195.79. The companys stock had a trading volume of 1,429,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,036,833. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $171.82 and a one year high of $334.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.97 billion, a PE ratio of 6.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.53. The stocks 50-day moving average is $205.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $241.87.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB  Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $10.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $6.93 by $3.39. Albemarle had a return on equity of 45.57% and a net margin of 41.89%. The company had revenue of $2.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.74 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.38 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was up 128.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 24.21 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 15th. Albemarles dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.13%.

About Albemarle

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Albemarle Corp. engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of chemicals for consumer electronics, petroleum refining, utilities, packaging, construction, transportation, pharmaceuticals, crop production, food-safety, and custom chemistry services. It operates through the following business segments: Lithium, Bromine, Catalysts, and All Other.

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Paramount Gold Nevada Corp. (NYSEAMERICAN:PZG  Get Rating) major shareholder Parent Co. Fcmi acquired 4,300,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $0.32 per share, for a total transaction of $1,376,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 9,276,310 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,968,419.20. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a companys shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Paramount Gold Nevada Stock Performance

Shares of NYSEAMERICAN PZG opened at $0.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $15.63 million, a P/E ratio of -2.31 and a beta of 1.74. Paramount Gold Nevada Corp. has a 1-year low of $0.28 and a 1-year high of $0.57.

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Paramount Gold Nevada (NYSEAMERICAN:PZG  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 10th. The basic materials company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts consensus estimates of ($0.03). As a group, equities analysts expect that Paramount Gold Nevada Corp. will post -0.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paramount Gold Nevada

Paramount Gold Nevada Company Profile

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PZG. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new position in Paramount Gold Nevada in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Paramount Gold Nevada by 91.7% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 125,595 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 60,095 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Paramount Gold Nevada in the 1st quarter worth approximately $49,000. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Paramount Gold Nevada by 52.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 104,974 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 36,074 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC increased its stake in Paramount Gold Nevada by 218.5% in the 1st quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 142,589 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 97,824 shares during the period. 6.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Paramount Gold Nevada Corp. engages in the acquisition and exploration of mineral properties. Its projects include Sleeper Gold, Frost, and Grassy Mountain. The company was founded on June 15, 1992 and is headquartered in Winnemucca, NV.

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Reinsurance Group of America (NYSE:RGA  Get Rating) had its price target increased by Barclays from $146.00 to $149.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning, The Fly reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on RGA. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Reinsurance Group of America from $170.00 to $164.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Reinsurance Group of America from $147.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Reinsurance Group of America in a research note on Tuesday, April 25th. They set an overweight rating and a $163.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised Reinsurance Group of America from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised Reinsurance Group of America from a sell rating to a buy rating and raised their target price for the stock from $133.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Reinsurance Group of America has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $155.80.

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Reinsurance Group of America Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of RGA stock opened at $148.44 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $9.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.72 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $136.68 and a 200-day moving average of $141.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Reinsurance Group of America has a 1-year low of $109.06 and a 1-year high of $153.35.

Reinsurance Group of America Dividend Announcement

Reinsurance Group of America ( NYSE:RGA Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 5th. The insurance provider reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.37 by $1.79. The company had revenue of $4.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.23 billion. Reinsurance Group of America had a return on equity of 23.94% and a net margin of 5.66%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Reinsurance Group of America will post 16.36 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 16th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 15th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Reinsurance Group of Americas dividend payout ratio is presently 23.10%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Veritable L.P. lifted its holdings in Reinsurance Group of America by 3.6% during the first quarter. Veritable L.P. now owns 2,713 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Reinsurance Group of America by 3.2% during the first quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 335,419 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $44,530,000 after acquiring an additional 10,451 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. lifted its holdings in Reinsurance Group of America by 0.6% during the first quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 29,528 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $3,608,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Reinsurance Group of America by 5.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,543,731 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $204,946,000 after acquiring an additional 74,110 shares during the period. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Reinsurance Group of America by 12.8% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 5,856 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $777,000 after acquiring an additional 663 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.46% of the companys stock.

About Reinsurance Group of America

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Reinsurance Group of America, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of traditional and non-traditional life and health reinsurance products. It operates through the following segments: U.S. and Latin America, Canada, Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Asia Pacific, and Corporate and Other.

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Vishay Precision Group, Inc. (NYSE:VPG  Get Rating)  Stock analysts at B. Riley dropped their Q2 2023 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Vishay Precision Group in a research note issued on Wednesday, May 10th. B. Riley analyst J. Nichols now anticipates that the scientific and technical instruments company will post earnings per share of $0.51 for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.56. B. Riley currently has a Buy rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Vishay Precision Groups current full-year earnings is $2.45 per share. B. Riley also issued estimates for Vishay Precision Groups Q3 2023 earnings at $0.59 EPS, Q4 2023 earnings at $0.72 EPS, FY2023 earnings at $2.34 EPS and FY2024 earnings at $2.83 EPS.

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Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Vishay Precision Group in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a strong-buy rating for the company.

Vishay Precision Group Stock Performance

NYSE:VPG opened at $33.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $450.04 million, a P/E ratio of 12.55 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 3.91 and a quick ratio of 2.60. Vishay Precision Group has a 1-year low of $27.03 and a 1-year high of $45.69.

Vishay Precision Group (NYSE:VPG  Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 9th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.01). Vishay Precision Group had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 12.37%. The business had revenue of $88.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.79 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share.

Institutional Trading of Vishay Precision Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Vishay Precision Group by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 29,800 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock valued at $958,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Vishay Precision Group by 54.8% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 8,155 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 2,888 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Vishay Precision Group by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 327,807 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock worth $10,539,000 after acquiring an additional 34,345 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Vishay Precision Group by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 604,989 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock worth $19,451,000 after acquiring an additional 4,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its holdings in shares of Vishay Precision Group by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 18,584 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock worth $597,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.31% of the companys stock.

Insider Transactions at Vishay Precision Group

In other Vishay Precision Group news, Director Wes Cummins purchased 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $42.49 per share, for a total transaction of $1,062,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 431,792 shares in the company, valued at $18,346,842.08. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders acquired 57,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,454,150. Company insiders own 6.78% of the companys stock.

About Vishay Precision Group

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Vishay Precision Group, Inc engages in the provision of precision measurement and sensing technologies. The firm serves a diverse array of industries and markets, including industrial, test and measurement, transportation, steel, medical, agriculture, avionics, military and space, and consumer. It operates through the following segments: Sensors, Weighing Solutions, Measurement Systems, and Corporate and Other.

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3SBio Inc. (OTCMKTS:TRSBF  Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,846,900 shares, a drop of 27.4% from the April 15th total of 3,920,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 558.2 days.

3SBio Stock Performance

Shares of 3SBio stock remained flat at $0.80 on Friday. 3SBio has a 52 week low of $0.80 and a 52 week high of $0.80. The companys 50-day moving average is $0.80 and its 200 day moving average is $0.80.

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About 3SBio

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Further Reading

3SBio Inc, an investment holding company, researches, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells biopharmaceutical products in the People's Republic of China. The company provides TPIAO, a recombinant human thrombopoietin to treat chemotherapy-induced thrombopenia and immune thrombocytopenia; YISAIPU, a tumor necrosis factor for rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and psoriasis; EPIAO and SEPO recombinant human erythropoietins to treat anemia; and Cipterbin for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer in combination with chemotherapy.

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MFS Charter Income Trust (NYSE:MCR  Get Rating) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,100 shares, an increase of 95.2% from the April 15th total of 2,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 55,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.1 days.

MFS Charter Income Trust Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of MCR opened at $6.14 on Friday. MFS Charter Income Trust has a one year low of $5.80 and a one year high of $7.09. The company has a 50-day moving average of $6.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.45.

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MFS Charter Income Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.0459 per share. This is a boost from MFS Charter Income Trusts previous monthly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.55 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 16th.

Institutional Trading of MFS Charter Income Trust

MFS Charter Income Trust Company Profile

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of MFS Charter Income Trust by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 152,688 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $960,000 after acquiring an additional 1,817 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of MFS Charter Income Trust by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 281,686 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,772,000 after acquiring an additional 2,082 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MFS Charter Income Trust by 160.8% in the 1st quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 13,041 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 8,041 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of MFS Charter Income Trust by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 483,794 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $3,043,000 after acquiring an additional 39,632 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of MFS Charter Income Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $72,000.

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MFS Charter Income Trust is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Massachusetts Financial Services Company. The fund invests in the fixed income markets across the globe. It invests primarily in corporate bonds of U.S. or foreign issuers, U.S. Government securities, foreign government securities, mortgage-backed, and other asset-backed securities of U.S.

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Sylvania Platinum Limited (LON:SLP  Get Rating) passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 98.31 ($1.24) and traded as low as GBX 88.32 ($1.11). Sylvania Platinum shares last traded at GBX 90 ($1.14), with a volume of 300,952 shares changing hands.

Sylvania Platinum Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 11.05, a quick ratio of 15.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of 234.25 million, a P/E ratio of 487.78, a PEG ratio of 0.05 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of GBX 92.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 98.22.

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Sylvania Platinum Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 2nd were given a dividend of GBX 3 ($0.04) per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 2nd. This represents a yield of 3.01%. Sylvania Platinums dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6,111.11%.

Insider Activity

Sylvania Platinum Company Profile

In other news, insider Eileen Carr sold 13,811 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 89 ($1.12), for a total transaction of 12,291.79 ($15,510.15). Company insiders own 11.63% of the companys stock.

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Sylvania Platinum Limited primarily engages in the retreatment of platinum group metals (PGM) bearing chrome tailings materials in South Africa and Mauritius. The company produces PGMs, including platinum, palladium, and rhodium. It holds interests in the Sylvania dump operations that comprise six chrome beneficiation and PGM processing plants located in the Eastern and Western Limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex; and various mineral asset development projects, including Volspruit and Northern Limb projects located on the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex located in South Africa.

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Suncor Energy (TSE:SU  Get Rating) (NYSE:SU) had its price objective lowered by TD Securities from C$52.00 to C$49.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, The Fly reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on SU. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Suncor Energy from C$50.00 to C$47.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. CSFB dropped their price target on Suncor Energy from C$60.00 to C$56.00 in a report on Thursday, April 6th. National Bankshares raised shares of Suncor Energy from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating and upped their price target for the stock from C$60.00 to C$61.00 in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Eight Capital upgraded shares of Suncor Energy from a sell rating to a neutral rating and upped their price objective for the stock from C$43.00 to C$50.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Finally, CIBC increased their target price on shares of Suncor Energy from C$60.00 to C$62.00 in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of C$53.86.

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Suncor Energy Stock Performance

TSE SU opened at C$38.87 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.72, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The business has a 50 day moving average price of C$41.95 and a 200 day moving average price of C$43.76. The company has a market capitalization of C$51.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.95, a PEG ratio of 0.15 and a beta of 1.67. Suncor Energy has a 1-year low of C$36.38 and a 1-year high of C$53.62.

Suncor Energy Dividend Announcement

Suncor Energy ( TSE:SU Get Rating ) (NYSE:SU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 14th. The company reported C$1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$1.68 by C$0.13. The business had revenue of C$13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of C$12.92 billion. Suncor Energy had a return on equity of 23.89% and a net margin of 15.56%. Sell-side analysts expect that Suncor Energy will post 6.0843558 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 5th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.35%. Suncor Energys dividend payout ratio is presently 31.85%.

About Suncor Energy

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Suncor Energy Inc operates as an integrated energy company. The company primarily focuses on developing petroleum resource basins in Canada's Athabasca oil sands; explores, acquires, develops, produces, transports, refines, and markets crude oil in Canada and internationally; markets petroleum and petrochemical products under the Petro-Canada name primarily in Canada.

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Thai Beverage Public Company Limited (OTCMKTS:TBVPF  Get Rating) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 13,200 shares, a decline of 88.5% from the April 15th total of 115,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 42,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.3 days.

Thai Beverage Public Stock Performance

Shares of TBVPF remained flat at $0.44 during trading hours on Friday. 23,500 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 31,604. The companys 50 day moving average price is $0.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $0.48. Thai Beverage Public has a fifty-two week low of $0.37 and a fifty-two week high of $0.55.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Thai Beverage Public in a report on Tuesday, February 7th. They issued a buy rating on the stock.

About Thai Beverage Public

Thai Beverage Public Co, Ltd. is a holding company, which engages in the production and distribution of beverage. It operates through the following segments: Spirits, Beer, Non-alcoholic Beverage, and Food. The Spirits segment produces and sell spirits products. The Beer segment manufactures branded beer products.

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Helenas Transportation Systems Department announced plans to open an application period for its spring and summer 2023 sidewalk improvement loan program on Tuesday.

According to a city news release sent Friday, applications can be submitted using a new online form starting at 7 a.m.

A link to the application will be available at www.helenamt.gov/Applications-Permits.

"The sidewalk improvement program helps property owners add sidewalks where missing or replace old and damaged sidewalks," the news release states.

The city consolidates all the sidewalk projects for the year into one bid, which helps lower installation costs.

The program offers a 0% interest loan repaid via the property owner's annual tax bill over 10 years.

Funding for the program is limited, and applications will be accepted on a first come, first served basis. Property owners are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

Applicants will be contacted in the order in which their application was received to schedule a date and time for a staff member to conduct an estimate of work inspection.

Confirmation into the program will be complete once a signed estimate is returned to staff. The application process will close once enough signed estimates have been returned to exhaust the budgeted funds, which is $150,000.

It is in the property owners best interest to be timely in scheduling their inspection and returning the signed estimate to staff to secure their spot in the program.

Residents are encouraged to call (406) 447-1566 with any questions.
The Berkeley Group Holdings plc (OTCMKTS:BKGFY  Get Rating) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 8,100 shares, a decline of 50.0% from the April 15th total of 16,200 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 16,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on BKGFY. Jefferies Financial Group lowered The Berkeley Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, January 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on The Berkeley Group from GBX 3,807 ($48.04) to GBX 3,992 ($50.37) in a research note on Monday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of The Berkeley Group from GBX 4,500 ($56.78) to GBX 4,800 ($60.57) in a research note on Tuesday, April 18th. HSBC raised shares of The Berkeley Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of The Berkeley Group from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $4,169.00.

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The Berkeley Group Trading Down 0.3 %

OTCMKTS BKGFY traded down $0.03 on Friday, reaching $10.88. The stock had a trading volume of 4,490 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,633. The Berkeley Group has a 1-year low of $6.92 and a 1-year high of $11.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $10.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 3.36.

The Berkeley Group Increases Dividend

About The Berkeley Group

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.1474 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 3rd. This is a boost from The Berkeley Groups previous dividend of $0.05. This represents a yield of 1.9%.

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Berkeley Group Holdings Plc engages in the development of residential and mixed-use properties. It operates through the following brands: Berkeley, St. James, St. George, St. Edward, St. Joseph, and St. William. The company was founded by Anthony William Pidgley and Jim Farrer in 1976 and is headquartered in Cobham, the United Kingdom.

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Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW  Get Rating) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders acquired 99,418 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 57% compared to the typical volume of 63,223 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Medical Properties Trust

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 101.4% during the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 100,000 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $822,000 after purchasing an additional 50,337 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 798,291 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $6,562,000 after acquiring an additional 95,760 shares in the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its holdings in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 1,191,117 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $9,809,000 after acquiring an additional 180,876 shares in the last quarter. Cutler Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Cutler Capital Management LLC now owns 241,129 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,982,000 after purchasing an additional 4,724 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aureus Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Medical Properties Trust during the 1st quarter worth $82,000. Institutional investors own 80.31% of the companys stock.

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Medical Properties Trust Stock Down 9.2 %

Shares of Medical Properties Trust stock traded down $0.77 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $7.64. 41,405,382 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,447,417. The company has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a PE ratio of 15.28, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 0.95. Medical Properties Trust has a twelve month low of $7.10 and a twelve month high of $18.92. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Medical Properties Trust Announces Dividend

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.18%. Medical Properties Trusts payout ratio is currently 232.00%.

MPW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Medical Properties Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 in a report on Friday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Medical Properties Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Medical Properties Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 5th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Medical Properties Trust from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Medical Properties Trust in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Medical Properties Trust currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $13.23.

Medical Properties Trust Company Profile

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Medical Properties Trust, Inc is a self-advised real estate investment trust, engages in the investment, acquisition, and development of net-leased healthcare facilities. Its property portfolio includes rehabilitation hospitals, long-term acute care hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, hospitals for women and children, regional and community hospitals, medical office buildings, and other single-discipline facilities.

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StockNews.com upgraded shares of Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV  Get Rating) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $181.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, March 31st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $188.00 to $182.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. They issued an outperform rating and a $212.00 price target for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $196.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $191.73.

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Travelers Companies Price Performance

Travelers Companies stock opened at $182.09 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $174.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $182.16. Travelers Companies has a 1 year low of $149.65 and a 1 year high of $194.51. The stock has a market cap of $42.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

Travelers Companies ( NYSE:TRV Get Rating ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 19th. The insurance provider reported $4.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.47. Travelers Companies had a net margin of 7.41% and a return on equity of 13.41%. The company had revenue of $9.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $8.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.22 earnings per share. Travelers Companiess revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Travelers Companies will post 14.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Travelers Companies declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 19th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to repurchase up to 12.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the companys management believes its stock is undervalued.

Travelers Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a positive change from Travelers Companiess previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 8th. Travelers Companiess dividend payout ratio is presently 34.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Travelers Companies news, EVP Andy F. Bessette sold 11,572 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.14, for a total transaction of $2,061,436.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,361 shares in the company, valued at $3,092,688.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Andy F. Bessette sold 11,572 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.14, for a total value of $2,061,436.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,361 shares in the company, valued at $3,092,688.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Daniel S. Frey sold 37,316 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.08, for a total transaction of $6,682,549.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 11,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,095,773.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 67,468 shares of company stock worth $12,154,895. 1.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Travelers Companies

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nordwand Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Travelers Companies in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Travelers Companies during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. US Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Travelers Companies during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Travelers Companies during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc acquired a new position in Travelers Companies during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.59% of the companys stock.

About Travelers Companies

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The Travelers Cos., Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of commercial and personal property and casualty insurance products and services. It operates through the following business segments: Business Insurance, Bond and Specialty Insurance, and Personal Insurance. The Business Insurance segment provides an array of property and casualty insurance, and insurance related services to its customers primarily in the U.S., as well as in Canada, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and throughout other parts of the world as a corporate member of Lloyds.

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Treasury Wine Estates Limited (OTCMKTS:TSRYY  Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 17,400 shares, a decrease of 87.1% from the April 15th total of 134,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 46,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.4 days.

Treasury Wine Estates Stock Performance

Shares of OTCMKTS:TSRYY traded up $0.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $8.83. 22,121 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 25,100. The businesss fifty day moving average is $8.95 and its 200-day moving average is $9.15. Treasury Wine Estates has a 52-week low of $7.25 and a 52-week high of $10.51.

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Treasury Wine Estates Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 3rd were issued a $0.1089 dividend. This is an increase from Treasury Wine Estatess previous dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 2nd. This represents a yield of 2.14%. Treasury Wine Estatess dividend payout ratio is -65.14%.

Treasury Wine Estates Company Profile

Treasury Wine Estates Ltd. engages in the production and marketing of wine. It operates through the following segments: Australia and New Zealand, Americas, Asia, and Europe, Middle East and Africa. The Australia and New Zealand segment manufactures, sells, and markets of wine within Australia and New Zealand; and also distributes beer and cider.

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Turkiye Garanti Bankasi A.S. (OTCMKTS:TKGBY  Get Rating) saw a significant decrease in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 70,200 shares, a decrease of 22.2% from the April 15th total of 90,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 19,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Turkiye Garanti Bankasi A.S. from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 21st.

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Turkiye Garanti Bankasi A.S. Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of TKGBY traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $1.60. The stock had a trading volume of 53,364 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,364. Turkiye Garanti Bankasi A.S. has a 1 year low of $0.75 and a 1 year high of $1.69. The stocks 50 day moving average is $1.41 and its 200 day moving average is $1.35.

Turkiye Garanti Bankasi A.S. Company Profile

Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS engages in the provision of service to its corporate, commercial and retail customers, including deposit, loans, foreign trade transactions, investment products, cash management, leasing, factoring, insurance, credit cards and other banking products. It operates through the followings segments: Retail Bank; Corporate and Commercial Banking; and Investment Banking.

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Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN  Get Rating) had its price target cut by Barclays from $58.00 to $52.00 in a research report released on Tuesday, The Fly reports.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Tyson Foods from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 20th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Tyson Foods from $62.00 to $56.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Tyson Foods from $61.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 12th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Tyson Foods in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. They set a market perform rating and a $66.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Tyson Foods in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $60.11.

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Tyson Foods Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE TSN opened at $48.87 on Tuesday. Tyson Foods has a 12 month low of $47.11 and a 12 month high of $92.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.72 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50-day moving average of $58.52 and a 200-day moving average of $62.12.

Tyson Foods Dividend Announcement

Tyson Foods ( NYSE:TSN Get Rating ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.80 by ($0.84). Tyson Foods had a return on equity of 8.04% and a net margin of 2.81%. The business had revenue of $13.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $13.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Tyson Foods will post 4.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. Tyson Foodss dividend payout ratio is presently 46.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brady J. Stewart acquired 2,040 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $48.89 per share, for a total transaction of $99,735.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 57,478 shares in the company, valued at $2,810,099.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Johanna Soderstrom acquired 5,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, May 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $49.22 per share, for a total transaction of $246,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 32,847 shares in the company, valued at $1,616,729.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Brady J. Stewart acquired 2,040 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $48.89 per share, with a total value of $99,735.60. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 57,478 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,810,099.42. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 17,390 shares of company stock worth $846,258. 1.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tyson Foods

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TSN. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Tyson Foods during the first quarter valued at $265,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Tyson Foods by 7.1% in the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 44,787 shares of the companys stock worth $2,657,000 after buying an additional 2,961 shares during the period. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Tyson Foods by 36.9% in the first quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,266 shares of the companys stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 1,688 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Treasury Department raised its stake in shares of Tyson Foods by 3.4% in the first quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 45,527 shares of the companys stock worth $2,701,000 after buying an additional 1,494 shares during the period. Finally, Applied Finance Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Tyson Foods by 6.1% in the first quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 206,568 shares of the companys stock worth $12,254,000 after buying an additional 11,859 shares during the period. 66.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Tyson Foods Company Profile

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Tyson Foods, Inc engages in the production of frozen and refrigerated food products. It operates through the following segments: Beef, Pork, Chicken, and Prepared Foods. The Beef segment includes processing live fed cattle and fabricating dressed beef carcasses into primal and sub-primal meat cuts and case-ready products.

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Valeo Financial Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO  Get Rating) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 40,432 shares of the companys stock after selling 2,506 shares during the quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLCs holdings in Altria Group were worth $1,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in Altria Group in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 85.6% during the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 542 shares of the companys stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Altria Group during the 1st quarter worth $41,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 118.8% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 805 shares of the companys stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares during the period. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 886 shares of the companys stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. 58.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Altria Group Stock Performance

NYSE:MO opened at $45.67 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.89. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.35 and a 52-week high of $54.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.52 billion, a PE ratio of 14.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.59.

Altria Group Dividend Announcement

Altria Group ( NYSE:MO Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.19 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.89 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 245.43% and a net margin of 22.44%. The businesss revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.12 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 24th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 23rd. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.23%. Altria Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 120.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Altria Group from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, January 23rd. StockNews.com started coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Citigroup cut their price objective on Altria Group from $49.50 to $47.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, April 13th. They issued a buy rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $44.67.

Altria Group Profile

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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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Virgin Money UK (OTCMKTS:CYBBF  Get Rating) had its price target hoisted by Royal Bank of Canada from GBX 205 ($2.59) to GBX 220 ($2.78) in a research note released on Tuesday, The Fly reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays cut Virgin Money UK from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Berenberg Bank lifted their price target on Virgin Money UK from GBX 170 ($2.15) to GBX 195 ($2.46) in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Virgin Money UK from GBX 200 ($2.52) to GBX 180 ($2.27) in a research report on Friday, April 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Virgin Money UK from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, January 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Virgin Money UK from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Virgin Money UK currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $200.00.

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Virgin Money UK Stock Performance

CYBBF stock opened at $1.83 on Tuesday. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $1.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1.79. Virgin Money UK has a twelve month low of $1.44 and a twelve month high of $2.29.

Virgin Money UK Company Profile

Virgin Money UK PLC provides banking products and services for consumers, and small and medium sized businesses under the Clydesdale Bank, Yorkshire Bank, and Virgin Money brands in the United Kingdom. The company offers savings and current accounts, mortgages, credit cards, and home loans; business loans, overdraft facilities, treasury solutions, and corporate and structured finance; asset and invoice finance services; risk management; international trade services; and home, car, and life and critical illness insurance products.

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Vulcan Materials (NYSE:VMC  Get Rating) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, May 12th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 26th will be paid a dividend of 0.43 per share by the construction company on Friday, June 9th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%.

Vulcan Materials has raised its dividend payment by an average of 8.9% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 10 consecutive years. Vulcan Materials has a dividend payout ratio of 22.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Vulcan Materials to earn $7.43 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.1%.

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Vulcan Materials Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:VMC opened at $195.38 on Friday. The firms 50 day moving average price is $173.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.78. The stock has a market cap of $26.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.74. Vulcan Materials has a fifty-two week low of $137.54 and a fifty-two week high of $199.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

Vulcan Materials ( NYSE:VMC Get Rating ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The construction company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.31. Vulcan Materials had a net margin of 8.14% and a return on equity of 10.36%. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Vulcan Materials will post 6.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In other Vulcan Materials news, SVP David P. Clement sold 2,389 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.00, for a total transaction of $468,244.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $565,852. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.62% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vulcan Materials

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,180 shares of the construction companys stock worth $1,319,000 after buying an additional 676 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 4,685 shares of the construction companys stock worth $861,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 32.2% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,451 shares of the construction companys stock worth $450,000 after buying an additional 597 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Vulcan Materials by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 19,808 shares of the construction companys stock worth $3,639,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC acquired a new position in shares of Vulcan Materials during the 1st quarter worth $470,000. 90.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on VMC shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Vulcan Materials in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $191.00 to $186.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 20th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Vulcan Materials from $212.00 to $225.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Vulcan Materials from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their target price for the stock from $188.00 to $212.00 in a research report on Monday, April 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given 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 $208.08.

Vulcan Materials Company Profile

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Vulcan Materials Co engages in the production of construction aggregates. Its products include crushed stone, sand, and gravel. It operates through the following business segments: Aggregates, Asphalt, Concrete, and Calcium. The Aggregates segment produces and sells asphalt mix and ready-mixed concrete primarily in its mid-Atlantic, Georgia, Southwestern, Tennessee, and Western markets.

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Windham Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in Vanguard Real Estate ETF (NYSEARCA:VNQ  Get Rating) by 56.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,108 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 41,162 shares during the period. Vanguard Real Estate ETF accounts for approximately 1.0% of Windham Capital Management LLCs holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Windham Capital Management LLCs holdings in Vanguard Real Estate ETF were worth $2,648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mivtachim The Workers Social Insurance Fund Ltd. Under Special Management bought a new position in shares of Vanguard Real Estate ETF in the 4th quarter valued at about $529,864,000. Cowa LLC increased its holdings in Vanguard Real Estate ETF by 75,967.4% during the first quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 5,210,614 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $824,000 after buying an additional 5,203,764 shares during the period. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Vanguard Real Estate ETF by 7,735.2% in the third quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,834,209 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $898,000 after acquiring an additional 1,810,799 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Vanguard Real Estate ETF by 38.9% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,791,548 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $143,628,000 after acquiring an additional 501,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Vanguard Real Estate ETF by 12.0% in the third quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 3,897,162 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $308,967,000 after acquiring an additional 416,748 shares in the last quarter.

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Vanguard Real Estate ETF Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSEARCA:VNQ opened at $82.03 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.64. Vanguard Real Estate ETF has a 12 month low of $74.66 and a 12 month high of $102.37. The company has a market capitalization of $32.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.40 and a beta of 0.91.

Vanguard Real Estate ETF Company Profile

Vanguard REIT ETF (the Fund) is an open-end investment company. The Fund invests in stocks issued by real estate investment trusts (REITs), companies that purchase office buildings, hotels, and other real property. It tracks the return of the MSCI US RIT Index, a gauge of real estate stocks. The Vanguard Group, Inc provides investment advisory services to the Fund.

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Town Pump is replacing two of its existing buildings in Helena and East Helena with larger stores and casinos, a company official said.

The Butte-based family owned company, celebrating its 70th year, is building a 26,000-square-foot Town Pump in East Helena that includes a 22,500square-foot convenience store and 3,500-square-foot Lucky Lils Casino.

The building at 3680 E. Highway 12 will have 11 fuel pumps with 22 fueling stations, be RV friendly with 4 RV dump stations, company officials said.

Helena-based CWG Architects is the designer and Markovich Construction (Butte) is the general contractor. Completion is scheduled for March/April 2024.

Company officials said soil remediation is underway.

They said the $14.4 million project at Wylie Drive and Highway 12 will be one of the chains largest stores, noting it is building a store in Bozeman that is larger by 200 square feet.

There are 107 Town Pump Convenience Stores across Montana. Other than Bozeman, the company is also replacing stores in Whitehall, and Troy with new buildings.

The East Helena store will offer a large selection of beverages (beer, wine, soda, waters, energy drinks, a large selection of snacks and food items and a StoneHouse Coffee Shop.

The store will have an expanded selection of groceries and have a StoneHouse Hot Shot  with baristas preparing specialty coffee drinks, a company official said.

The building will be energy efficient and feature skylights for daylight harvesting. All interior and exterior lighting will be energy efficient LED lighting. Town Pump also has a store on the west side of town.

In Helena, Town Pump is building a 12,500-square-foot convenience store at 2910 N. Montana Ave. The $7 million building is scheduled for completion in late October/early November.

It will include a 3,500 square-foot Montana Lilis Casino, eight fuel pumps with 16 fueling stations and electric vehicle charging stations. Company officials say the building will allow for easier access and exit for fueling.

CWG Architects also designed the building and Helena-based Golden Eagle Construction is the general contractor, a Town Pump official said.

This new store will replace the current smaller store to the immediate south of the new building. The Lucky Lils Casino in the current building will be expanded, a company spokesman said.

The new building will allow for a greater variety of beverages (sodas, water, energy drinks, beer, and wine), food items, and have an expanded StoneHouse deli area offering hot and cold sandwiches, salads, breakfast items.

It will also feature Town Pump favorites such as corn dogs, nachos, fried chicken, hot dogs, fountain drinks and a large selection of flavored coffees, a company official said in an email.

The building will have sky lights to allow for "daylight harvesting" for energy efficiency, all interior and exterior lighting will be energy efficient LED fixtures, Town Pump officials said.

A company spokesman said that at this point, Town Pump will remove the pumps and storage tanks and lease the buildings out.
Xinyi Solar Holdings Limited (OTCMKTS:XNYIF  Get Rating) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,422,100 shares, a decline of 45.3% from the April 15th total of 4,431,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 16,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 150.4 days.

Xinyi Solar Price Performance

XNYIF stock traded down $0.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $1.01. 1,237 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,826. Xinyi Solar has a 52-week low of $0.94 and a 52-week high of $1.86. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $1.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.13.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Xinyi Solar from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 17th.

Xinyi Solar Company Profile

Xinyi Solar Holdings Limited, an investment holding company, produces and sells solar glass products in the People's Republic of China, rest of Asia, North America, Europe, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Sales of Solar Glass and Solar Farm Business. The company offers photovoltaic power station, ultraclear patterned glasses, back glasses, and AR photovoltaic glasses.

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Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS  Get Rating)  Analysts at Zacks Research dropped their Q2 2023 EPS estimates for shares of Novartis in a report released on Tuesday, May 9th. Zacks Research analyst E. Bagri now expects that the company will post earnings per share of $1.64 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $1.65. The consensus estimate for Novartis current full-year earnings is $6.66 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Novartis FY2023 earnings at $6.47 EPS, Q1 2024 earnings at $1.55 EPS, Q2 2024 earnings at $1.65 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $1.89 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $1.89 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $6.98 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $1.74 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $7.44 EPS.

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NVS has been the topic of several other reports. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a strong-buy rating on the stock. Citigroup downgraded shares of Novartis from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of Novartis from $75.00 to $85.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Novartis from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $82.25.

Novartis Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $103.14 on Thursday. The companys fifty day moving average price is $93.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.90. Novartis has a 12 month low of $74.09 and a 12 month high of $105.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.54.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS  Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The company reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.16. Novartis had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 23.29%. The firm had revenue of $12.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.60 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. Novartiss revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novartis

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NVS. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Novartis by 18.3% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,556,539 shares of the companys stock valued at $136,587,000 after buying an additional 240,710 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management increased its position in Novartis by 3.9% during the first quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 4,869 shares of the companys stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Novartis by 42.4% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,996 shares of the companys stock worth $965,000 after purchasing an additional 3,272 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Novartis by 4.5% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 95,477 shares of the companys stock worth $8,379,000 after purchasing an additional 4,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its position in Novartis by 22.8% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 3,528 shares of the companys stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 8.12% of the companys stock.

About Novartis

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Novartis AG is a holding company, which engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of healthcare products. It operates through the following segments: Innovative Medicines, Sandoz, and Corporate. The Innovative Medicines segment researches, develops, manufactures, distributes and sells patented pharmaceuticals, and is composed of two business units: Novartis Oncology and Novartis Pharmaceuticals.

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Jeopardy co-host Ken Jennings charts the steady increase in viewers for his ever-popular show to a large crowd inside the Chace Athletic Center on the Bryant University campus Wednesday.
Tom Guay of North Smithfield, left, and Ernie Potter of Woonsocket were found working in the kitchen for New Beginnings St. James Episcopal Church last weekend.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has indicated that the country likely will not address Canadian-caused water contamination in the U.S. through the Boundary Waters Treaty, despite a pledge in March to deal with the toxic mine runoff polluting the Kootenai River.

The Ktunaxa Tribal First Nation in British Columbia has for years been at the fore of pushing the Canadian government to address selenium contamination from runoff water at massive open-pit coal mines around Sparwood and Elkford, northeast of Fernie. In trace amounts, selenium is essential to animal health. But in greater concentrations it accumulates in fish and bird ovaries, which leads to fewer eggs hatching, animals hatching with birth defects, and young that die before they can reproduce. The Ktunaxa Tribal First Nation, Kootenai Tribe of Idaho and Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Montana are part of the broader Ktunaxa Nation that was split by white settlers' boundaries.

The toxic runoff comes primarily from waste rock at mines operated by mining giant Teck Resources. It flows into the Elk River. The Elk River flows into the Kootenai River at Lake Koocanusa, a reservoir spanning the U.S.-Canada border and held back by the Libby Dam. From the Libby Dam in Montana, the Kootenai River flows through Libby and Troy, and then into Idaho. Selenium levels above what tribal, state and federal regulations allow  and high enough to harm wildlife  have been documented throughout so-called "Lake K" and the Kootenai River (Kootenay in Canada) downstream of where the Elk River flows into it.

In March, U.S. President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a joint statement that mentioned selenium contamination in Lake Koocanusa: "The United States and Canada also intend to reach an agreement in principle by this summer to reduce and mitigate the impacts of water pollution in the Elk-Kootenai watershed, in partnership with Tribal Nations and Indigenous Peoples, and in order to protect the people and species that depend on this vital river system."

For years, the tribes of the Ktunaxa Nation in both countries have pushed the U.S. State Department and its Canadian counterpart, Global Affairs Canada, to refer the issue to the International Joint Commission. The commission is a bi-national entity created by the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty primarily to address disputes over contamination flowing between two countries that share a continental border riddled with lakes, rivers and reservoirs. A reference would spur the IJC to convene a bi-national "watershed board" of experts and stakeholders who would analyze selenium contamination in Lake Koocanusa and advise on solutions. Such a board would likely include scientists, tribes and governments of all levels from both nations. The State Department has indicated willingness to refer the matter to the IJC. In May 2022, the IJC itself urged Biden and Trudeau to issue a joint reference.

But at an April 28 press conference in New York City, Trudeau stated, "We believe that there are processes that are being followed right now that have a better chance of getting to a resolution" than an IJC reference. The remark came one year after Global Affairs Canada turned away from a joint reference on Lake K selenium. In May 2022, the Ktunaxa Tribal First Nation announced that Global Affairs Canada notified the tribe via email the month before that it would not support an IJC reference. Technically, either nation can send a reference to the IJC by itself. But out of dozens of references, that's only happened one time, according to Robert Sisson, a U.S. IJC commissioner.

The tribes have repeatedly called for action from the Canadian government. On Thursday, the three tribes once again blasted the Canadian and British Columbia governments over what the tribes characterized as unwillingness to engage them and the U.S. via the IJC. In a joint statement, the tribes said Canada "continues to stonewall an IJC reference."

"Canada and the United States were expected to commit to the IJC reference a year ago, but at the eleventh hour, Global Affairs Canada walked away," the tribes stated. "Freedom of Information documents later revealed that Canadas last-minute reversal followed intense interference by the Province of British Columbia and the mining industry to defeat the joint reference and override Canadas obligations and commitments to the Boundary Waters Treaty and Indigenous peoples."

When it encouraged a joint reference, the IJC highlighted selenium levels of 9.46 parts-per-billion (ppb) in the Elk River, 4.99 ppb in Lake Koocanusa and 1.4 ppb in the Kootenai River. Levels as high as 150 ppb have been detected around Teck's mines. In the U.S., water quality is more strictly regulated under the federal Clean Water Act than water is in Canada. Montana developed a site-specific standard of 0.8 ppb for Lake Koocanusa, citing state, tribal and university studies that found that current levels of selenium are harming fish there.

In lieu of a joint reference to the IJC, it's unclear how the Canadian government will engage tribes and the U.S. to address those high levels of selenium.

"We are completely baffled by Prime Minister Trudeaus remarks," CSKT Chairman Tom McDonald said. "Canada and the U.S. created the IJC over a hundred years ago, under the Boundary Waters Treaty, to address transboundary water issues exactly like this one. There is no legitimate reason to avoid the tried and tested IJC process  it is transparent, inclusive, accountable, and enforceable. We welcome further efforts in addition to the IJC, but we are skeptical that Canadas insistence on an alternative is a delay tactic designed to produce a watered-down IJC process."
This is the report delivered by Joseph Kishore, the National Secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (US), to the 2023 International May Day Online Rally. To view all speeches, visit wsws.org/mayday.

Dear Comrades and friends,

Todays rally has given powerful expression to the international unity of the working class and the global perspective advanced by the International Committee of the Fourth International.

We have heard remarks from representatives of the ICFI, the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees, and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality from a dozen countries and five continents, speaking to a truly global audience. While the specific conditions in each country may differ, the fundamental issues confronting workers and youth are the same everywhere.

The speeches today have outlined the interrelated elements of the world situation: The escalation of the US-NATO war against Russia in Ukraine, now in its second year; the growing threat of a US-led war against China; the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 22 million people and continues to evolve into new strains; the deepening economic and financial crisis; the breakdown of democratic forms of rule, as the ruling elite turns to ever more naked forms of repression to enforce its interests; and, above all, the growth of the class struggle throughout the world.

In no country is this reality more starkly revealed than in the United States, the cockpit of imperialist war planning and the center of finance capital. More than three decades ago, at the time of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the American ruling class proclaimed the unipolar moment. It concluded that force works, and that it could use its unrivaled military power to counteract its protracted economic decline.

What followed were the wars and interventions against Iraq, Serbia, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, and many other countries. Millions of people have been killed, and entire societies devastated. Now, the war on terror has given way to great power conflict, by which is meant the targeting of Russia and China, even if this threatens what Biden himself has called Armageddonthat is, nuclear war.

A government building burns during heavy bombardment of Baghdad, Iraq, by U.S.-led forces Friday evening, March 21, 2003. [AP Photo/Jerome Delay]

Unending war, however, has not ushered in an American century, but a series of ever more extreme economic and political crises. While the ruling elite pretends to be advancing democracy abroad, just over two years ago the government was nearly overthrown in an attempted fascistic coup, spearheaded by the former president Trump.

The coming to power of Biden has done nothing to resolve the contradictions that have so completely eroded the basis for democratic forms of rule in the United States. On the contrary, in his attempt to establish a fictional national unity on the basis of war, Biden has worked to rehabilitate and strengthen the Republican Party.

In the coming election, the population of the United States is to be presented with the choice between perhaps the two most hated political figures: the current president, Biden, an aging octogenarian who can think of nothing but war, and the fascist conspirator himself, Trump.

As we wrote in the statement announcing this May Day rally, and as has been documented in the event itself, the massive growth of military budgets, the gargantuan sums allocated to the most advanced means of death and destruction, has assumed the form of a war against the social conditions of workers in every country.

The United States is the most socially unequal advanced capitalist country on the planet, presided over by an oligarchy that controls all the institutions of the state, from the presidency, to Congress, to the Supreme Court.

While trillions have been handed out to the banks, social infrastructure is in a state of advanced collapse and disintegration, producing such disasters as the poisoning of East Palestine, Ohio, following a train derailment earlier this year. Industrial accidents are commonplace, and the ruling class treats the deaths of workers as merely a cost of doing business. The most basic rights that workers won through bitter struggles, including even the abolition of child labor, are being ripped away.

A man takes photos as a black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern train, Feb. 6, 2023. [AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar]

In its response to the pandemic, the American ruling class has led the way in the ruthless prioritization of profits over lives. More than one million people have died of COVID in the United States. Thousands continue to die every week, while untold millions suffer from the consequences of Long Covid. The ruling class, first under Trump and then under Biden, declared that the cure cant be worse than the disease, by which they meant that the health of millions could not justify taking measures that imperiled profit and the rise of the stock markets.

At the first May Day rally held in 2014, we noted that there are two Americas. There is the America of Wall Street, the Pentagon, the CIA, the plutocracy, which lies, threatens and bullies. And there is the America of the working class, the bearer of all that is progressive, the true hope for the future. Even as the American ruling elites plot violence and plunder throughout the world, they confront their most powerful antagonist at home, the working class.

The past several years have seen significant expressions of class struggle in the United States, as workers strive to break free of the control of the reactionary trade union apparatusthe wave of teachers strikes in 2018, the strike by 40,000 GM workers and 30,000 Chicago teachers in 2019; the walkouts of autoworkers at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, which forced the initial shutdown of production; the wave of struggles by educators against the homicidal school reopening policies in fall 2020 and spring 2021; the walkout of 3,000 Volvo Trucks workers in 2021; a whole series of strikes and protests involving nurses in opposition to the disastrous state of the health care system; the protracted battle of more than 120,000 railroad workers last year against contracts that were ultimately imposed by force through a vote of Congress, backed by the Biden administration. This year has seen a series of strikes by academic workers, while autoworkers in the US and Canada are preparing for a major battle as contracts expire at the Big Three in September.

Teachers protest for stronger COVID-19 safety protocols outside Oakland Unified School District headquarters on Jan. 7, 2022, in Oakland, Calif. [AP Photo/Noah Berger]

The development of the class struggle in the United States is part of a global upsurge, as the speeches today have documentedfrom the protests of millions in France against pension cuts, to the strikes of hundreds of thousands in the UK and Germany against the attacks on jobs and the rising cost of living, to the ongoing strike by more than 120,000 federal public sector workers in Canada.

The issues posed to workers in the US are the same as the issues posed to workers in every country.

First, there is no solution to any of the great problems confronting mankindwar, the pandemic, the growth of fascism and dictatorshipexcept through the development of the class struggle in a globally-unified manner. But this requires the building of organizations, democratically controlled by workers themselves, through which they can unify their struggles outside of the control of the corrupt, pro-corporate trade union apparatus.

The union bureaucracy exists not as a mechanism for the development of the class struggle, but as a police force over the working class, whose services are all the more necessary for the ruling elite in time of war. Workers in the United States have taken important steps toward self-organization over the past year, with the establishment of rank-and-file committees among health care workers, educators, autoworkers and other sections of the working class.

The 5,000 votes for socialist UAW presidential candidate Will Lehman, despite systematic voter suppression by the apparatus with the assistance of the state, demonstrates the growing support for a movement to transfer power to the rank and file.

Workers showing support for Will Lehman for UAW president [Photo: WSWS]

The development of committees in every sector and industry, as part of the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees, is the essential basis for breaking the stranglehold of the apparatus and forging a way forward for the expansion of the class struggle.

Second, this must be connected to the independent political mobilization of the working class. This requires a fight against the Democrats and Republicans, the two parties of the American capitalist class, along with all the various organizations, in the US and internationally, that represent the interests of privileged sections of the upper-middle class.

In the US, the Democratic Socialists of America has, over the past year, revealed itself to be nothing more than an adjunct of the Democratic Party. It supports the US-NATO war against Russia, and its members voted to impose a contract on railroad workers that the workers had rejected.

The International Youth and Students for Social Equality, in its meetings in the US and throughout the world, has fought against the identity politics promoted so heavily on university campuses, whose purpose is to divide the working class and youth and subordinate them to the ruling class policy of war and social reaction.

The IYSSE fights to orient young people, politically, theoretically and organizationally, to the working class, the great social force that is capable of stopping imperialist war, ending the pandemic and abolishing the capitalist system.

This May Day rally has warned about the many dangers confronting mankind. But it is rooted in a profound optimism, an optimism that is based on the understanding that the same contradictions that produce imperialist war also produce social revolution.

This is not a matter of speculation, but rooted in a historical materialist analysis of the 20th century, the Russian Revolution, the history of the Trotskyist movement. And the growth of the class struggle as a powerful objective force throughout the world points the way forward.

This objective process must be made conscious, through the building of a revolutionary leadership, the Trotskyist movement, the International Committee of the Fourth International. It requires a study of history, and the bringing forward of this history into the present. It requires the decision of all of you listening today to take up the active fight for socialism.

In concluding this rally, I call on all of you to take action. Donate to the World Socialist Web Site, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, to help us expand our readership to workers and young people throughout the world.

Educate yourself in the fundamental theoretical and political issues necessary for building a socialist movement, contained in the critical volumes available on Mehring Books. Build rank-and-file committees at your workplaces as part of the IWA-RFC. Join the IYSSE and establish a club on your campus.

Above all, join the Socialist Equality Party if one exists in your country, or help found an SEP to expand the presence of the ICFI throughout the world. Join and help build the World Party of Socialist Revolution.
At least 22 people, including 15 children, were killed when a double-decker tourist boat overturned and sank near a beach in the Malappuram district of the southern Indian state of Kerala last Sunday evening. Ten people, some of them in critical condition, were admitted to hospital.

Police said that overcrowding as well as the operation of the boat without proper safety measures led to the tragedy. The boat was carrying about 40 people, or double its capacity. Ibrahim and Izahak, brothers from Kondotty who had canceled their trip at the last minute, told the local news website Onmanorama that they did not take part in the ride after seeing the crush of passengers. It was filled with the maximum number of people as it was the last trip for the day, they said. Usually, tourists are not allowed to take a boat ride after 6.30 p.m. But on Sunday, the ride was after sunset. They also noticed that no life jackets were provided to the passengers.

People look at the tourist boat Atlantic that capsized May 7 in Malappuram, India, killing more than twenty people. [AP Photo/P.P. Afthab]

Quoting from the Mathrubhumi news channel, BBC reported Shameer, a lifeguard involved in rescue operations, as saying that the boat was completely upside down when rescuers arrived at the scene. I recovered four bodies and none of them had life jackets on, he added.

Police took P. Nassar, the boat owner, who sought to abscond after the accident, into custody and an FIR (First Information Report) was registered under CrPC Section 174 (unnatural deaths) against him.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi quickly took to twitter to say he was pained by the loss of lives and announced an ex-gratia payment of 200,000 rupees ($US2,446) from the PMNRF (Prime Ministers National Relief Fund) to the next of kin of each deceased.

Playing chorus with Modi, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of the Stalinist Communist Party (Marxist), or CPM, announced that Monday would be a day of mourning with all government events postponed as a mark of respect to the victims.

Neither Modi nor Vijayan has any genuine sympathy for the loss of life from a disaster that was waiting to happen. With the typical announcement of meager compensation, crocodile tears on Twitter, and legal action against greedy boat operators, they both try to cover up their culpability for the deaths of innocent people. Vijayans state government, like that of Modi at the Centre, defends the profit interests of the capitalist elite while allowing them to freely break safety and environmental regulations. This includes transport, as was shown in the case of Sundays boat accident.

Kerala is a popular holiday destination for Indian and foreign tourists alike. In 2023, Kerala adopted the tag line Kerala-Gods Own Country. In tourism promotion, it was listed in thirteenth spot in the New York Times annual list of places to visit. One of the states top attractions are its traditional wooden houseboats, which sail in the brackish lagoons and canals that crisscross much of the tropical coastline. However, rampant corruption and gross violation of safety regulations are widespread in this industry. To give an idea, according to a report in the Hindu on June 13, 2022, when the Port Authority conducted a crackdown on illegal houseboats in Alappuzha in Kerala, it found nearly half of the estimated 1,500 vessels in the backwaters in Alappuzha operating without registration. The area is one of the most popular tourist attractions in India.

After the tragedy, Onmanorama carried a feature report recalling a number of similar boat accidents in Kerala in recent years. In 2009 in Thekkady Lake near the Mullaperiyar Dam 46 people drowned when a brand new KTDC double-decker boat overturned. The boat had been carrying 95 passengers when its maximum passenger capacity was 75. The boat did not have a license; in 2007 at Thattekad near Kochi, 18 people, including 15 school children drowned when they were returning from a trip to Thattekad Bird Sanctuary. Thirty five passengers were on board in the private picnic boat made to hold just six. In 2002, in the Kumarakom boast tragedy, 29 people drowned, including a nine-month-old baby. The report showed over 250 passengers had boarded the boat, which was owned by the Kerala State Water Transport Department, although it had the capacity to hold only 101 passengers.

The article found that all tragedies had the following similarities: overcrowding, faulty boat design, absence of life jackets and life buoys, disrepair and official indifference.

According to Onmanorama, the boat named Atlantic that capsized at Malappuram last Sunday was said to have been a fishing vessel retrofitted haphazardly to look like a double-decked picnic vessel.

A number of people had already warned of the imminent threat posed by the Atlantics flawed design, but authorities had not taken these warnings seriously. Speaking to Onmanorama, Nisar, who runs two eight-seated tourist boats, said: The design (of Atlantic) was flawed. And on top of it, Nasars (Nassar Patarakath, the owner of Atlantic) men were taking double the capacity of tourists.

The local councilor K.P. Nisamudeen, an experienced fisherman who worked on larger boats in Abu Dhabi, saw that the Atlantic was taking people in trips even after the 6 p.m. deadline. Even though he had written about this dangerous practice to the District Tourism Promotion Council and also to the police, There was no response. He also revealed that the boat was not registered with the Port Department.

Even though the police on April 22 ordered all four boats owned by Nassar Patarakath to halt service till their papers were cleared, the Atlantic resumed service the following day, he said. If the police were strict and did not allow the boat to resume service, 22 lives could have been saved, observed Councilor Nisamudeen, adding We should know on whose direction the police allowed the boat to resume service.

The Onmanorama article further exposed shocking lapses in the processes of boat registering and launching. The boat did not have design approval nor was it modified in an NIV (Kerala Inland Vessels)-approved yard. It had not cleared a stability test done to check if the boat would be steady even if all the passengers moved to one side of the vessel, the website reported. All other details clearly show that the tragedy was all but inevitable and the state authorities did nothing to prevent it.

These shocking details are only the tip of the iceberg of the corrupt economic practices in the Stalinist-governed state, which place profits over human lives. Initiating a Public Interest Litigation to probe the tragedy, the Kerala High Court said the accident was a result of the deadly cocktail of callousness, greed and official apathy.

The boat tragedy underscores that the policies for Keralas development pursued by the Stalinist Communist Party of India (Marxist), which are predicated on making the state a haven for Indian and foreign capital, are in no way a progressive alternative to the policies of the far-right Modi government or other strategies of capitalist development.

While the CPMs model is characterized by high literacy and life expectancy rates when compared to the rest of the country, Kerala has been one of the worst affected states by the COVID-19 pandemic, recording a total of 71,883 deaths. The Vijayan government has abandoned all COVID prevention measures, including mask mandates. It is thus implementing the same policy of placing profits over human lives as its counterparts in other Indian states and the Modi government at the center.
[Photo: WSWS]

Dear brothers and sisters,

Our fight is at a critical stage. Under the cynical guise of consultation and engagement, Communication Workers Union (CWU) officials led by Dave Ward are waging a campaign of disinformation and intimidation against Royal Mail workers to try and ram through their pro-company agreement.

A members vote on the agreement is now being delayed an extra week, with the unions postal executive announcing Wednesday that ballot papers will be sent on May 25 (not May 17) and that voting will close on June 14 (instead of June 7). The executive cited the need to create the right environment for the ballot to be conducted, specifically to address failed revisionsthe very same revisions endorsed by the CWU executive on March 2!

CWU head office is trampling our rights, pushing a company narrative that this is the best agreement we are going to get.

Stage-managed online eventsincluding last weeks members meeting in Portsmouth, and this weeks live interview with Ward and Andy Furey in Yorkexclude any genuine input from members. They have blared out a single message: there is no alternative to this sell-out deal and all resistance is futile.

Two arguments are being used by CWU officials to try and batter postal workers into submission:

First is the claim that technology means change is inevitable. The shift to online shopping and decline in letter volumes means Royal Mail workers must adapt by accepting Amazon-style conditions and the junking of the Universal Service Obligation (USO) on six-day-a-week letter delivery for customers.

Second is the claim that Royal Mail faces bankruptcy, which can be averted only by accepting the company agreement. As Ward put it last week during the unions 35-strong members meeting in Portsmouth, If this deal goes down then were on the path to some sort of mutual self-destruction of this company.

Wards talk of mutual interest obliterates the fundamental division between workers who produce the companys wealth and major shareholders such as billionaire Daniel Kretinsky who exploit our labour for profit. Ward claims that if we surrender conditions now, we will benefit in future as the companys financial position improves. The CWU has embraced the mantras of trickle-down economics used by Margaret Thatcher to justify privatisation, asset stripping and other forms of corporate vandalism in the 1980s.

The Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee (PWRFC) rejects these arguments. New technology is not the problemdigital platforms and the shift to online shopping are being used to exploit the existing workforce for profit. The answer is obvious: confiscate the immense wealth of large shareholders and use this to massively expand the workforce, reducing the working week with no loss in pay.

Ward has the gall to lecture members about Royal Mails most serious financial, economic and market conditions in its history. How is that our problem? Royal Mail profits quadrupled to 726 million in the first year of the pandemic alone, through our work and sacrifice. Revenue hit 12.6 billion and the companys market value tripled to 5.2 billion. A criminal looting operation followed: 400 million handed to shareholders, taking dividends to 1.2 billion since privatisation.

There are grounds to conclude that Royal Mail has deliberately engineered the current financial and operational crisis as a pretext to restructure, hive off unprofitable areas, and drive thousands of senior staff from the industry. There is no innocent explanation for the total shambles that exists across the company, including industrial-scale breaches of the USO. Workplace revisions have produced an unprecedented health crisis for thousands of long-serving Royal Mail workers. Combined with inferior pay, terms and conditions for new entrantscreating a two-tier workforcethis amounts to fire-and-rehire via the back door.

400 million in dividends would fund a pay rise of 2,600 for 150,000 Royal Mail workers. 726 million would fund an additional 20,000 full-time employees based on a pay and entitlements package of 36,300. As for the 1.2 billion leeched by shareholders since 2013, we will leave it to colleagues to consider how this money could be better spent.

Over the past week Ward (144,635 annual salary) and Head of Communications Chris Webb (salary unknown) have stepped up their attack on extremists in the union. Thousands of postal workers who oppose the deal, barred from speaking at the CWUs online events, are portrayed as cowardly keyboard warriors who dont care about the companys future.

Significantly, Ward focused his attack on extreme political groups who sometimes look to infiltrate trade unions and who have no interest in you and the future of this company. Acknowledging widespread opposition to the agreement, he declared, What I dont accept is that they [political groups] should over-influence our members in this particular dispute.

This confirms the central importance of the Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee. Opposition among Royal Mail workers is massive, but how is that to be organised? Wards red-baiting attack on outside agitators expresses the bureaucracys fear that workers will start to organise under the political influence of the socialist movement, building rank-and-file committees that put workers interests before shareholder profit.

Ward doesnt mention the World Socialist Web Site or the Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee by name, but the CWU is acutely aware that PWRFC statements and articles are being read by tens of thousands of postal workers. A previous attack on WSWS and the rank-and-file committee by head office backfired. Hundreds of postal workers have submitted written reports to WSWS exposing the horrendous conditions they face, because they know the CWU leadership is deep in the pockets of Royal Mail. Thousands of workers are looking for a way to fight back.

WSWS writers and members of the Socialist Equality Party have helped to initiate the PWRFC, but it can only succeed through the involvement of ever-wider sections of workers. Rank-and-file committees must be built in every workplace, creating a forum for democratic discussion, organisation and collective struggle, coordinating across Royal Mail and beyond.

Pseudo-left groups, such as the Socialist Workers Party and Workers Power, promoting the Postal Workers Say Vote No Facebook page, are seeking to confine the campaign to a no vote. They deliberately evade the issue raised constantly by posties of what to do next. Their aim is to block a struggle against the CWUs unaccountable bureaucracy.

A majority no vote in the May-June ballot will immediately pit workers not just against the plans of Royal Mail, but against the CWU leadership. Royal Mail will move to implement its agenda regardless, and they will be backed by the Tory government and the most right-wing Labour Party in history. To defeat this combined attack a rank-and-file insurgency is needed, breaking the grip of Ward and the apparatus and restoring control to the membership. We urge workers who want to prepare such a fight to attend this Sundays Zoom meeting.

The Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee is holding a Zoom meeting A Fighting Programme for Royal Mail workers this Sunday May 14 at 7pm. Register here to attend.
The lives of children and adolescents in Europe are being placed in danger due to a shortage of appropriate drugs. On April 27, 2023, paediatricians drew attention to this in an open letter to the health ministers of Germany, France, South Tyrol (Italy), Austria and Switzerland, calling for action to ensure sufficient production and stockpiling of key paediatric primary care medicines in Europe.

In an interview with the Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung, Thomas Fischbach, president of the Professional Association of Paediatricians and Adolescents, warned of a serious shortage of medicines for children in the coming autumn and winter. Fischbach, who is a co-signatory of the open letter, commented on the situation as follows: We are already treating far from the guidelines, and next autumn is just around the corner. Were going to be back in a supply shortage that could be even worse than last time.

A child in a hospital bed [Photo: Medical University of South Carolina]

The alarming shortage of medicines suitable for children is a Europe-wide phenomenon due to the profit interests of the pharmaceutical corporations as well as the policies of capitalist governments.

Pharmaceutical companies focus on the production of profitable medicines for adults and neglect the development of medicines suitable for children because the market for these is smaller and profit margins are lower. As a result, doctors are forced to prescribe adult medications that are not suitable for children and can have serious side effects.

The Professional Association of Paediatricians and Adolescents (BVKJ) emphasizes that children often require different dosages and forms of medications than adults. The lack of medications appropriate for children often forces physicians to prescribe inadequate or riskier drugs, posing a significant health risk.

The letter states, Children and adolescents require comparatively few medications, but they are not readily interchangeable. In particular, antibiotics, antipyretics, analgesics, medications for asthma, and vaccines represent indispensable and essential basic needs.

According to the letter, the impact of government austerity measures and price regulation ... is hitting the medication sector for children and adolescents particularly hard ... Yet medication costs for children and adolescents are marginal compared to adults.

However, the current shortage of medicines does not only affect preparations for children. Across Germany, pharmacies are short of cough syrups, asthma medicines, blood pressure-lowering drugs, painkillers and cancer drugs, among others. In addition, the German Hospital Association warned of an increasing shortage of medicines in hospitals.

The situation in health care is not only strained when it comes to medicines. Cuts are also being made everywhere else.

The situation in hospitals has become increasingly unbearable over the past three years due to the burden of the coronavirus pandemic. With a shortage of 200,000 nurses, those remaining in the hospitals have shouldered the situation provoked by politicians, sometimes at the risk of their lives. Now they are being forced to accept a further loss in real wages in the current contract bargaining round despite catastrophic working conditions and already low wages.

As a result, many qualified and experienced professionals are leaving their jobs, further exacerbating the overall situation in the health care sector, while hospital operating companies are profiting from the increasingly precarious situation.

The causes of the drug shortage and the catastrophic situation in the health care system are closely linked. The government has used the pandemic to enforce a new principle: Preventable deaths must be accepted to increase profits. This is now evident everywhere, including in the care of children.

The current crisis in health care is symptomatic of the inhumanity of the capitalist system, which subordinates peoples needs to profit. While health and education are being cut to the bone by governments, tens of billions are being poured into military rearmament against the will of the people. This misanthropic policy is particularly drastic in the handling of the pandemic. While it has been officially declared over, more than 12,000 people worldwide are still dying every day as a result of the pandemic and the virus continues to mutate.

Adequate supplies of childrens medicines, the fight for decent wages in health care, and an effective strategy against COVID-19 require a fight against capitalism. All the establishment parties have shown that they place profits above peoples lives. What is needed is a society that focuses on the needs of the people, especially the needs of children. This is the only way to establish health care that is truly accessible to all and prioritises life.
Work at Alliance Interiors or another auto plant? Fill out the form at the end to tell us what your working conditions are like. Comments will be published anonymously.

Pablo Herrera [Photo: Herrera family]

Coworkers of Pablo Herrera Jr., a production technician who was killed at Alliance Interiors on April 24, spoke to the World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter recently on the brutal conditions workers face. The plant, near Lansing, Michigan, produces acoustic parts and floor covers for General Motors Lansing Delta Assembly Plant, including TPO vinyl floor foam.

Herrera Jr. was killed after being caught between an extended conveyor and vacuum forming mold, crushing him, according to the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA). As of this writing there has been no formal statement by the union or management on the causes of the fatal accident.

Pablo was very kind, one Alliance production worker stated. This should have never happened! On the first shift, there are at least five to six people in front of that machine. Always someone watching the clock for the machine to cycle. Where was his team? We know they lack people on the third shift. There was probably no one spotting him.

Workers at the Alliance plant reported that a similar incident almost happened prior to Pablos death. Management had demonstrated the TPO production and had workers sign documentation stating they were trained and viewed the demonstration, the worker told the WSWS. MIOSHA signed off on the TPO vinyl floor, that was the piece Pablo worked on. They were supposed to give us safety features. A supervisor was behind the machine and stepped out just before the press accidentally raised on him. They blamed the operator not the faulty machine. Management just called it a dead spot.

We make $16 an hour, why would we trust the machinery with our lives? the worker continued. The company after Pablos death said if you are not comfortable dont run the machine. But then that Saturday, Jeff Church, the operations manager, told us if we refuse, we could find another job. An HR rep told us thats how production works. Then they used the documentation that was signed against workers to keep them running TPO.

We shouldnt be in this situation. The plant is full of temps and training sucks! We had training videos on tasks, how to use PPE, lockout/tag out, but its not followed. Management told Pablos sister machine doesnt run properly and people dont know how to run it. Lot of people are not trained even on E[mergency] stop. I know exactly how he was he was killed. The gate should have been up during the incident.

I heard Pablo was a great guy, another worker said. She said the operations manager had called for workers to enter the back of the machine, supposedly for lack of quality of parts. Jeff Church made the call to take the torch person into the machine. Lockout/tag out shouldve been there. When the VP tells you to torch, cut, foam you have to do it. If you ask a team leader, youre the last on the list of priorities. At the same time, I heard team leaders yelling at you to not go behind the machine, but Jeff did. He is unprofessional, screams and curses at us. He tells you to walk around the machine when it has about 120 second cycle time. One temp was fired for dropping an earplug!

The union doesnt do anything, she continued. Just like management they pick and choose who to protect. We came into work the next day and the union was waiting at the door for us. They told us not to go on the line and brought us in the break room to tell us what happened, saying it was most heartbreaking. But they didnt tell us who it was. They put up cardboard pallets to hide the machine.

They dont care. The company acted like they showed sympathy; now its like it never happened.

Some of us make $16 and temps make about $15, mandated 7 days. The higher ups dont understand what we do, they just want us to capture these production numbers. We get rewarded with lunch, not a day off. Our last day off was Easter maybe.

Since you distributed the newsletters, a production worker said, Jeff Church doesnt even look at us. In an indication of the companys nervousness over anger among rank-and-file workers following the accident, management sought to prevent workers at the plant from speaking to reporters from the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter.

Dangerous conditions and disregard for workers health and safety are worsening throughout the auto industry, which, along with eroding wages, are provoking growing resistance among workers.

Near Toledo, Ohio, several hundred UAW members are striking at the Clarios battery plant. The workers regularly work 19 days in a row and receive monthly blood tests due to the high degree of lead exposure involved in the battery production process.

At the GM Lansing Delta Assembly plant near Alliance, workers reported that a coworker was sent back to the line despite vomiting and suffering from blurred vision. Currently the worker is in the ICU. As of this writing the GM Lansing and Flint Truck Rank-and-File Committees are investigating what took place.

GM workers at Delta Township plant near Lansing, Michigan [Photo: WSWS]

Workers at the GM Lansing Delta Assembly all spoke out on Pablos death and conditions they face at the plant.

Lot of workers talking about this, this is sad and terrible, one told the WSWS.

Another worker stated, Thats sad. The line was stopped for a few minutes. They need to get on the bottom of this. When a WSWS reporter said that an independent investigation should be carried out under the oversight rank-and-file workers, he continued, I agree with you that needs to be done!

Other workers at GM Delta knew Pablo directly or his family members and were angered by the news of his death. A seniority worker stated, I can tell you stories about this place too. Workers reported being sick on the line or injured and medical refusing to treat them. Medical never takes anything seriously. Ice pack and ibuprofen then back to the line.

The World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter calls upon Alliance Interiors and auto parts workers in the surrounding area to build rank-and-file committees at each plant and workplace, as part of the network of autoworkers rank-and-file committees. Such committees would provide workers the means to share information across plants, and democratically decide demands based on what workers actually need, including:

A full investigation of Pablo Herreras death, led by trusted rank and file workers. No confidence should be placed in the UAW bureaucracy, management or MIOSHA, which hands out minimal fines while the companies continues to profit and cut workers lives short.

No worker should be ordered to work in unsafe conditions. All unsafe conditions should be communicated across the shop floor, and the line should be stopped until resolved.

An end to 7-day mandates and extended 8- to 12-hour shifts

Full training and job security for workers, and hiring and firing only conducted by the supervision of the rank and file.
Last Fridays decision by the World Health Organization (WHO), taken without any scientific basis, to end the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency of International Concern was hailed by the Workers Party (PT) government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Brazilian national radio and television. Health Minister Nisia Trindade declared that our country receives this news with hope.

Repeating the ruling elites discourse throughout the pandemic intended to force the population to live with the coronavirus, Trindade bluntly recognized: We are still going to be living with COVID-19, which continues to evolve and mutate. As she made clear, the Lula government is criminally accepting that SARS-CoV-2 virus infections will continue, bringing with it preventable deaths and all the debilitating symptoms associated with Long COVID for masses of people.

Brazils health minister, Nisia Trindade, during her Sunday speech; caption reads, "We are still going to be living with COVID-19." [Photo: Screenshot-Planalto/Twitter]

Significantly, at no point in her five-minute speech did Trindade refer to the dangers posed by Long COVID, a chronic condition that according to the WHO itself affects 10 percent of those infected with the coronavirus. Numerous studies have shown that Long COVID affects virtually every organ in the human body, and the risk of an infected person developing some of its symptoms increases with each reinfection.

Cynically, the PT government feigned a responsible attitude over the pandemic, with the minister declaring that we must remain cautious and strengthen surveillance systems, diagnosis, care networks, and vaccination. However, the Lula government has already shown it wont advance any of these measures.

Since its inauguration on January 1, the Lula administration has maintained the attitude of criminal neglect toward the pandemic already established by Brazils former fascistic President Jair Bolsonaro, who openly promoted the murderous herd immunity doctrine.

The Lula government continues to reject measures such as mass testing and the sequencing of circulating variants, necessary to assess the real extent of the pandemic, nor has it implemented campaigns to alert the population about the aerosol transmission of COVID-19 and the consequent need for quality masks.

In fact, what has been shown is that the supposedly progressive PT administration is advancing the systematic abandonment of every public health measure against COVID-19. In a decision sharply criticized by science and medical experts, it abandoned in early March the reporting of daily COVID-19 numbers, making it weekly. This came shortly after the government ignored the risks of the mass Carnaval parties amid a wave of the Omicron subvariant XBB1.5.

Soon after its lifting of the mask mandates in airports and airplanes in early March, ANVISA, the federal health agency, gave a green light to state and local governments to lift the mandates in Brazils crowded public transport systems. In early April, ANVISA removed mask mandates in the countrys hospitals as well.

For the Lula government, as for the ruling elites throughout the world, remaining cautious about COVID-19 means exclusively the promotion of vaccinations. But even that measure, by which the PT sought to differentiate itself from Bolsonaros anti-vaccine rants, has been a fiasco.

In late February, with the rollout of Pfizers bivalent vaccine exclusively for the over-60 population, people with comorbidities, pregnant women, and other risk groups, the Lula government began its National Movement for Vaccination. By April 20, only 17.6 percent of the eligible population had taken the bivalent vaccine. In the face of this debacle, the government moved to offer the bivalent vaccine for the general population over the age of 18, for which it had previously claimed the vaccine had no proven benefit.

Last year alone, Brazil recorded three of its five waves of the pandemic so far, driven, respectively, by Omicron subvariants BA.1, BA.4/5 and BQ.1. This year, with the predominance of the XBB.1.5 subvariant, 1,180,640 cases and 8,263 deaths have already been reported, a situation that may worsen with the already detected spread of XBB.1.6 and the approach of winter. Overall, Brazil has 37 million cases and 702,000 deaths, in addition to the countless millions suffering from Long COVID.

As if these numbers were not enough, they are hugely underestimated. A study earlier this year estimated, based on excess deaths, that by the end of 2022 Brazil had 1.14 million COVID-19 deaths, a number 1.6 times larger than the 693,000 recorded by then.

This policy of normalizing death and mass debilitation from COVID-19 has been denounced by many principled experts. Speaking to the World Socialist Web Site, neurologist and anti-COVID activist Beatrice drew attention to the coherence and continuity of that policy throughout Lulas first months in office. She declared in response to the governments announcement on Sunday:

The minister spoke about the supposed end of the pandemic that we all know cannot even be predicted. And as if this was not enough, she still criticized the disrespect for science by her predecessors [in the Bolsonaro government], an attitude that is in fact continued when she mentions only vaccinations as a necessary measure, when we all know this is far from enough [She] does not mention or inform about the airborne transmission of COVID and does not mention or give any orientation about the mitigation measures long identified and studied.

On Twitter, Beatrice also denounced the WHO decision, questioning its impact particularly on vaccinations in poor countries: after ending the PHEIC [Public Health Emergency of International Concern] status of COVID 19 what will happen to COVID vaccines!?!? And what will happen to the still unvaccinated world!?!?

The WSWS also spoke to Lucas Ferrante, a researcher at the Federal University of Amazonas, whose works has shown the role of schools in the dynamic of the pandemic in Manaus and the emergence of the Gamma variant, responsible for two-thirds of COVID-19 deaths in Brazil.

Regarding the global situation of COVID-19, Ferrante stated: Many countries are still having an upsurge of the pandemic, especially in Asia.... So, the pandemic is not over, that is very important to stress. According to him, the spread of the coronavirus can still lead to the emergence of a new variant [that] can circumvent the protection of the vaccines. This cannot be disregarded, and therefore the need of tracking new variants in the Brazilian territory.

Regarding the national situation, Ferrante said: Brazil still has many COVID-19 cases and deaths, and that still cannot be accepted as a standard. He also drew attention to the large underreporting in Brazil, mainly [after] the Lula government adopted the measure of reporting [COVID-19] cases on a weekly basis. That covers up a lot of the data.

Ferrante mentioned an article published on Monday in Nature Human Behaviour that features his statement on The future of Brazilian Science. In it, he criticized the Lula governments initial decision to provide the bivalent vaccine only for some social groups, once studies had found that vaccination of at least 90 percent of the entire population is necessary to eradicate severe forms of COVID-19, in addition to the need for a booster dose every four months.

He also pointed out that, while The administration of President Bolsonaro (20192022) was notable for the prominent role of scientific denialism, President Lulas two previous terms as president (20032010)  also showed worrying denialist tendencies (such as ignoring technical reports and scientists). He concludes the article by saying, the general population [should] not be deceived into thinking that a change of presidential administrations alone is sufficient to bring about the needed improvements in public health and the environment.

Indeed, the Lula government is working to lull the Brazilian population into thinking that the threat from COVID-19 is over. A recent social media post by the governments secretariat of communication read that The pandemic has gone, while the front page of the Ministry of Healths own website on Tuesday morning carried the logo in capital letters END OF THE PANDEMIC, which was then changed hours later.

A little over four months into the Lula government, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fully reactionary character of the new Workers Party government. It has come to power to defend the interests of the Brazilian and global capitalist elite, and it is determined to put private profits over human life.

The only scientifically based response to the pandemic, and the only one that represents the interests of workers, is the global elimination of COVID-19. The growing Brazilian and international working class movement must raise this demand to put an end to the pandemic as part of a broader struggle for international socialism.
DECATUR  Camila Caceres used to spend much of her time on dance.

She danced in competitions and she spent hours every week practicing.

I started dancing when I was 3, said the 18-year-old, who will graduate from St. Teresa High School on Sunday. I started competing when I became a teenager and it pretty much consumed my life. I was dancing over 24 hours every week.

Dance was her life, and she didn't have time to make friends outside of dance or attend school events.

But when she needed surgeries on both hips, her competitive dancing days were over, and the first surgery was during COVID shutdowns, which made her isolation even harder. Nearly all of her friends were dance friends, and without dance, she was lost.

I didn't really know what to do with myself, Camila said. All of my friends in dance, none of them went to my school. I lost my sport and I lost all my friends. So I ended up in a low mental health area.

Enter Octavia, familiarly known as Tavi, an Aussie doodle dog. Camila's parents  Dr. Luiz Caceres and mom Robin, a nurse  suggested the idea.

We were suffering watching her suffer, her mother said. Going through a transition and learning to make new friends, getting reacquainted with her high school and participating in activities she hadn't participated in before, and then COVID hit and shut it all down. We think outside the box, and we just knew she needed a new purpose.

Camila plans to study animal science at the University of Iowa in the fall and hopes to get into the veterinarian training program there, but it's very competitive. Her mother and all of her siblings are graduates of the same university. Brothers Luichi and Adrian graduate today and her sister, Carma, is a nurse in New Orleans.

The family has always had dogs, and when one of Camila's classmates died of cancer when she was at Holy Family School, PawPrint Ministries dogs came to comfort the students. Camila wanted to do something service-oriented with her time, and enrolling herself and Tavi in PawPrint's training seemed like the perfect fit.

Not all dogs are suited to be comfort dogs, so there was no guarantee, but it turned out Tavi was right for the job  her favorite thing, Camila said, is visiting with kids.

Tavi has been to sporting events and to the Decatur Public Library, and Camila hopes to take her on visits to a children's hospital near her university. She has already obtained permission for Tavi to live with her in the dorm at school because Tavi is a certified therapy dog.

Tavi will even walk beside Camila when she graduates from St. Teresa High School on Sunday afternoon.

Camila is the youngest-ever graduate of PawPrint Ministries' comfort dog training, and just barely made the cut due to her age. She's just turned 18, and the ministry raised the minimum age for human volunteers to 18 after she'd already begun training. Now that she's 18, Camila said, she can take Tavi places to serve that weren't possible before.

Camila and Tavi did very well in our program, said Jennifer Dahn, who founded PawPrint Ministries. They worked very hard to master the necessary skills for certification to serve in the community. A good comfort dog loves people and adapts well to a variety of situations. All of our dogs are temperament-tested by our Master Trainer before they are allowed to enter into our training program.

Close Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Cindy Spohr shows affection to PawPrint ministries comfort dog, Eli, while taking a break from clearing damage to her residence after straight-line winds ripped through Quincy, Illinois. Her mother Wanda Spohr, left, chats with Vice President Judy Koshinski and other PawPrint teammembers as the ministry performs disaster relief work July 18, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Resident Maxine Critchelow enjoys eye contact from comfort dog, Eli, during a PawPrint Ministries visit with residents at Imboden Creek Living Center March 18, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling PawPrint Ministries Founder Jennifer Dahn shows Kaylynn Sullivan,4, how she can get her comfort dog, Payton, to smile while performing disaster relief work with Handler Rebecca Crites, right and other PawPrint Ministries members as volunteers clean up Sullivan's yard damaged by straight-line winds in Quincy, Ill., July 18, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling New comfort dog, JJ, left, is sniffed by co-worker Eli, during her first participation in a PawPrint Ministries event, the Party for the Paws fitness-focused fundraiser at the LSA school gymnasium April 11, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Vice President and Handler Judy Koshinski has a dance with her comfort dog, Eli, during the "Party for the Paws" PawPrint Ministries fitness-focused fundraiser in the LSA gymnasium April 11, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Members of Mount Zion Girl Scout Troop 3215 couldn't get enough of comfort dog, Payton, as PawPrint Ministries founder Jennifer Dahn spoke with them about the importance of doing good works in the community during a meeting at Mount Zion Intermediate School May 7, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling PawPrint Ministries Handler Regan Deering bows her head with Chuck Williams as prayer requests for individuals with special needs are spoken during prayer time to end a PawPrint "Dog Church" service at Macon County Resources November 12, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Ramona Hochgraber shows her appreciation to comfort dog, Eli, as Judy Koshinski, left, and Jennifer Dahn of PawPrint Ministries react during a visit on Hochgraber's porch in Quincy, Ill., July 18, 2015. The ministry was performing disaster relief in Quincy, Illinois and decided to make a side trip to encourage Hochgraber after they were told she could benefit from seeing them because her husband had passed away a day earlier. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling PawPrint Ministries Founder Jennifer Dahn enjoys having a photo taken for a television news website with PawPrint Ministries comfort dogs at a church shelter while performing disaster relief work in Quincy, Ill., July 18, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Kaitlin Sinclair enjoys repeatedly hugging comfort dog, Eli, as Ellie Jones watches during a PawPrint Ministiries visit at Kids-N-Fitness December 11, 2014. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling PawPrint Ministries head trainer David Dodd shows founder Jennifer Dahn leash handling techniques first-hand as handler Rebecca Crites observes on during an training session at Evergreen Place Supportive Living October 14, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Jennifer Dahn and her comfort dog, Payton, listen to veteran Ted Kitchens during a PawPrint Ministries visit at Eagle Ridge of Decatur assisted living community April 16, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Members of Mount Zion Girl Scout Troop 3215 enjoy petting comfort dog, Payton, as PawPrint Ministries founder Jennifer Dahn, middle, speaks about doing good works in the community during a meeting at Mount Zion Intermediate School May 7, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling From left, Regan Deering and Judy Koshinski of Pawprint Ministries sing along as Bob Kuhlmann volunteers to lead the group in singing "This Little Light of Mine" during the ministry's "Dog Church" for individuals with special needs at Macon Resources November 12, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Registered therapy/comfort dog, Payton, enjoys a head rub from a resident at Mercy Creek Assisted Living in Normal, Ill., November 21, 2014. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Lutheran Early Response Team volunteer Annalisa Eden enjoys a break from clearing fallen trees from straight-line winds to play with PawPrint Ministries comfort dog, Eli, during the ministry's disaster relief work in Quincy, Ill., July 18, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling PawPrint Ministries Handler Regan Deering gets a laugh from seeing her registered comfort/therapy dog, JJ, letting her tongue hang out while doing disaster relief work in Quincy, Ill., July 18, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling PawPrint Ministries Founder Jennifer Dahn shows a resident how she can get comfort dog, Payton, to smile for him during a visit at Keystone Meadows assisted living facility November 21, 2014. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Debbie's Dance Studio performers enjoy a visit with PawPrint Ministries comfort dogs as handlers and dogs mingle at the Downtown Decatur Christmas Walk December 3, 2014. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling PawPrint Ministries Founder Jennifer Dahn holds up a toy to get the dogs to focus in the photo booth area of the "Party for the Paws" fitness-focused fundraiser at LSA April 11, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling A resident shows her affection for a PawPrint Ministries comfort dog during a visit at Imboden Creek Living Center March 18, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Registered therapy/comfort dog, Payton, anticipates a treat during a handler/dog training session at St. Paul's Lutheran Church December 3, 2014. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling A resident shows a photo of family members and family pets to PawPrint Ministries handler Regan Deering and her comfort dog, JJ, during a visit to Hickory Point Christian Village retirement community July 10, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Registered therapy/comfort dog, Eli, enjoys being petted while taking a break at the Party for the Paws fitness-focused fundraiser for PawPrint Ministries at LSA April 11, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Comfort dog, Payton, looks out an open window while handler Jennifer Dahn drives to their next destination after completing a PawPrint Ministries training session at Evergreen Place Supportive Living October 15, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Handler Regan Deering bows her head with her comfort dog, JJ, as Vice President and Handler Judy Koshinski prays during a PawPrint Ministries "Dog Church" service November 12, 2015. The organization holds the service to share their faith and their dogs with individuals with special needs at Macon Resources. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling PawPrint Ministries founder Jennifer Dahn gets a hug from Kaylynn Sullivan,4, while visiting her family in Quincy, Ill., July 18, 2015, as disaster response volunteers clear the damage from their yard caused by straight-line winds. Herald-Review, Jim Bowling A resident shows PawPrint Ministries vice president Judy Koshinski his artwork while founder Jennifer Dahn visits with him at Eagle Ridge of Decatur assisted living community April 16, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Handler Regan Deering dances with her registered therapy/comfort dog, JJ, during the Party for the Paws fitness-focused fundraiser for PawPrint Ministries at LSA April 11, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling PawPrint Ministries Founder Jennifer Dahn, left, Handler Rebecca Crites and Head Trainer David Dodd review footage of their comfort dog interactions with residents at Evergreen Place Supportive Living during training after the visit November 21, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling PawPrint Ministries founder Jennifer Dahn greets her grandparents Bob and Nancy Rauschek with comfort dog, Payton, while visiting residents at Keystone Meadows assisted living facility November 12, 2014. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling A resident enjoys an extended visit with a PawPrint Ministries comfort dog at Hickory Point Christian Village retirement community July 10, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling PawPrint Ministries Handler Regan Deering enjoys petting her registered therapy/comfort dog, JJ, at a church shelter before the two perform disaster relief work in Quincy, Ill., July 18, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Ross Burgener enjoys a relaxed visit with handler Judy Koshinski and her comfort dog, Eli, during a PawPrint Ministries visit with pre-kindergarten students at Kids-N-Fitness December 11, 2014. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling PawPrint Ministries Founder Jennifer Dahn shows affection to comfort dog, Eli, as Dog Handler Judy Koshinski shares encouragement with a resident at Keystone Meadows assisted living facility November 21, 2014. PHOTOS: A Year in the Life of PawPrint Ministries Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Cindy Spohr shows affection to PawPrint ministries comfort dog, Eli, while taking a break from clearing damage to her residence after straight-line winds ripped through Quincy, Illinois. Her mother Wanda Spohr, left, chats with Vice President Judy Koshinski and other PawPrint teammembers as the ministry performs disaster relief work July 18, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Resident Maxine Critchelow enjoys eye contact from comfort dog, Eli, during a PawPrint Ministries visit with residents at Imboden Creek Living Center March 18, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling PawPrint Ministries Founder Jennifer Dahn shows Kaylynn Sullivan,4, how she can get her comfort dog, Payton, to smile while performing disaster relief work with Handler Rebecca Crites, right and other PawPrint Ministries members as volunteers clean up Sullivan's yard damaged by straight-line winds in Quincy, Ill., July 18, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling New comfort dog, JJ, left, is sniffed by co-worker Eli, during her first participation in a PawPrint Ministries event, the Party for the Paws fitness-focused fundraiser at the LSA school gymnasium April 11, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Vice President and Handler Judy Koshinski has a dance with her comfort dog, Eli, during the "Party for the Paws" PawPrint Ministries fitness-focused fundraiser in the LSA gymnasium April 11, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Members of Mount Zion Girl Scout Troop 3215 couldn't get enough of comfort dog, Payton, as PawPrint Ministries founder Jennifer Dahn spoke with them about the importance of doing good works in the community during a meeting at Mount Zion Intermediate School May 7, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling PawPrint Ministries Handler Regan Deering bows her head with Chuck Williams as prayer requests for individuals with special needs are spoken during prayer time to end a PawPrint "Dog Church" service at Macon County Resources November 12, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Ramona Hochgraber shows her appreciation to comfort dog, Eli, as Judy Koshinski, left, and Jennifer Dahn of PawPrint Ministries react during a visit on Hochgraber's porch in Quincy, Ill., July 18, 2015. The ministry was performing disaster relief in Quincy, Illinois and decided to make a side trip to encourage Hochgraber after they were told she could benefit from seeing them because her husband had passed away a day earlier. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling PawPrint Ministries Founder Jennifer Dahn enjoys having a photo taken for a television news website with PawPrint Ministries comfort dogs at a church shelter while performing disaster relief work in Quincy, Ill., July 18, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Kaitlin Sinclair enjoys repeatedly hugging comfort dog, Eli, as Ellie Jones watches during a PawPrint Ministiries visit at Kids-N-Fitness December 11, 2014. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling PawPrint Ministries head trainer David Dodd shows founder Jennifer Dahn leash handling techniques first-hand as handler Rebecca Crites observes on during an training session at Evergreen Place Supportive Living October 14, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Jennifer Dahn and her comfort dog, Payton, listen to veteran Ted Kitchens during a PawPrint Ministries visit at Eagle Ridge of Decatur assisted living community April 16, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Members of Mount Zion Girl Scout Troop 3215 enjoy petting comfort dog, Payton, as PawPrint Ministries founder Jennifer Dahn, middle, speaks about doing good works in the community during a meeting at Mount Zion Intermediate School May 7, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling From left, Regan Deering and Judy Koshinski of Pawprint Ministries sing along as Bob Kuhlmann volunteers to lead the group in singing "This Little Light of Mine" during the ministry's "Dog Church" for individuals with special needs at Macon Resources November 12, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Registered therapy/comfort dog, Payton, enjoys a head rub from a resident at Mercy Creek Assisted Living in Normal, Ill., November 21, 2014. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Lutheran Early Response Team volunteer Annalisa Eden enjoys a break from clearing fallen trees from straight-line winds to play with PawPrint Ministries comfort dog, Eli, during the ministry's disaster relief work in Quincy, Ill., July 18, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling PawPrint Ministries Handler Regan Deering gets a laugh from seeing her registered comfort/therapy dog, JJ, letting her tongue hang out while doing disaster relief work in Quincy, Ill., July 18, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling PawPrint Ministries Founder Jennifer Dahn shows a resident how she can get comfort dog, Payton, to smile for him during a visit at Keystone Meadows assisted living facility November 21, 2014. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Debbie's Dance Studio performers enjoy a visit with PawPrint Ministries comfort dogs as handlers and dogs mingle at the Downtown Decatur Christmas Walk December 3, 2014. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling PawPrint Ministries Founder Jennifer Dahn holds up a toy to get the dogs to focus in the photo booth area of the "Party for the Paws" fitness-focused fundraiser at LSA April 11, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling A resident shows her affection for a PawPrint Ministries comfort dog during a visit at Imboden Creek Living Center March 18, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Registered therapy/comfort dog, Payton, anticipates a treat during a handler/dog training session at St. Paul's Lutheran Church December 3, 2014. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling A resident shows a photo of family members and family pets to PawPrint Ministries handler Regan Deering and her comfort dog, JJ, during a visit to Hickory Point Christian Village retirement community July 10, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Registered therapy/comfort dog, Eli, enjoys being petted while taking a break at the Party for the Paws fitness-focused fundraiser for PawPrint Ministries at LSA April 11, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Comfort dog, Payton, looks out an open window while handler Jennifer Dahn drives to their next destination after completing a PawPrint Ministries training session at Evergreen Place Supportive Living October 15, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Handler Regan Deering bows her head with her comfort dog, JJ, as Vice President and Handler Judy Koshinski prays during a PawPrint Ministries "Dog Church" service November 12, 2015. The organization holds the service to share their faith and their dogs with individuals with special needs at Macon Resources. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling PawPrint Ministries founder Jennifer Dahn gets a hug from Kaylynn Sullivan,4, while visiting her family in Quincy, Ill., July 18, 2015, as disaster response volunteers clear the damage from their yard caused by straight-line winds. Herald-Review, Jim Bowling A resident shows PawPrint Ministries vice president Judy Koshinski his artwork while founder Jennifer Dahn visits with him at Eagle Ridge of Decatur assisted living community April 16, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Handler Regan Deering dances with her registered therapy/comfort dog, JJ, during the Party for the Paws fitness-focused fundraiser for PawPrint Ministries at LSA April 11, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling PawPrint Ministries Founder Jennifer Dahn, left, Handler Rebecca Crites and Head Trainer David Dodd review footage of their comfort dog interactions with residents at Evergreen Place Supportive Living during training after the visit November 21, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling PawPrint Ministries founder Jennifer Dahn greets her grandparents Bob and Nancy Rauschek with comfort dog, Payton, while visiting residents at Keystone Meadows assisted living facility November 12, 2014. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling A resident enjoys an extended visit with a PawPrint Ministries comfort dog at Hickory Point Christian Village retirement community July 10, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling PawPrint Ministries Handler Regan Deering enjoys petting her registered therapy/comfort dog, JJ, at a church shelter before the two perform disaster relief work in Quincy, Ill., July 18, 2015. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling Ross Burgener enjoys a relaxed visit with handler Judy Koshinski and her comfort dog, Eli, during a PawPrint Ministries visit with pre-kindergarten students at Kids-N-Fitness December 11, 2014. Herald & Review, Jim Bowling PawPrint Ministries Founder Jennifer Dahn shows affection to comfort dog, Eli, as Dog Handler Judy Koshinski shares encouragement with a resident at Keystone Meadows assisted living facility November 21, 2014.
On April 28, a Reddit post on the subreddit r/covidlonghaulers revealed that medical staff at Stanford Medicine had stopped masking when seeing Long COVID patients face-to-face as part of an ongoing clinical trial. The poster said that his wife quit and walked out of the study as a result. At least one other participant is confirmed to have also walked out on the trial.

Clinical lab scientist Selam Bihon processes upper respiratory samples from patients suspected of having COVID-19 at the Stanford Clinical Virology Laboratory on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021, in Palo Alto, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

 Not only does it demonstrate a complete lack of regard and understanding for the illness in question, in my opinion it calls into question the legitimacy of the entire study, the user said in the reddit post. Weve been traveling hundreds of miles for months in order to try to participate in their study and provide THEM with data about the illness, and this is what they think of us.

The clinical trial, which is sponsored by Stanford University in collaboration with Pfizer and run by Stanford Medicine, seeks to compare the effectiveness of Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir and ritonavir) with that of a placebo (and ritonavir) in treating post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC), more commonly known as Long COVID. The study includes 200 participants with Long COVID who were randomly assigned to receive either Paxlovid or the placebo. Participants would take their drug for the first 15 days and come into the study clinic five times over the course of the next 15 weeks.

In early April, Stanford Medicine announced that masks are no longer required for staff, patients or visitors across the whole hospital system. Hospitals across the country have similarly been dropping mask mandates despite the spread of the new Arcturus variant.

The notion that hospital systems would remove mask mandates in health care can only be understood within the larger context of the abandonment of all COVID safety measures in the US and around the world to ensure the continuing enrichment of the ruling classes. In the US, this bipartisan policy has been spearheaded by the Biden administration and followed by state legislatures no matter which party is in control.

On Thursday, the White House ended the national COVID-19 public health emergency, which means that the CDC will no longer track COVID-19 transmission at the community level, uninsured Americans will now have to pay full price for vaccines, tests, and other treatments, and millions of people are now at risk of losing their health coverage through the unwinding of Medicaid. This was preceded by the World Health Organizations announcement formally ending the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), a decision with no scientific basis that serves to justify the ending of public health measures by governments around the world.

The ending of masking, especially in a health care setting, puts societys most vulnerable at risk. In addition, health care workers, burned out and already bearing the brunt of the mismanagement of the virus, are now facing increasingly unsafe conditions as even the nominal protection from masks is taken away.

The Stanford Long COVID patients walked out not only to protect themselves, but also to protest the unscientific and dangerous policies that likely led to their infection in the first place.

Another reddit user who claimed to have also left the study said that even when medical staff wore masks, they were the less-effective surgical masks.

I had to email them the second time (before dropping out) and ask them to wear N95s for my next appointment, the poster wrote. With that said, not wearing them AT ALL when they make you do a swab is horrifying.

I felt the level of care taken to avoid me being reinfected was 0. They acted like it was crazy that I was worried about it, said the same reddit user in a later comment.

The lack of masking in the clinical trial was later confirmed in a story by the Daily Beast published on May 5. The news outlet confirmed that at least two people, and possibly a third, had walked out of the trial as a result. The event has otherwise been completely ignored by the media.

I knew that mask mandates were dropped, but I naively assumed that staff interacting with Long COVID patients would still wear masks, another patient involved in the trial, Olivia H., told the Daily Beast. She did not walk out on the trial since her last visit to the study site was on April 24, but was disappointed by the change and it made her lose trust in the staff running the trial.

To me it almost seems logical, Olivia said, that long COVID patients in a long COVID trial need to be protected from the virus that triggered their illness in the first place.

Worldwide, over 671 million people have been infected with COVID-19, resulting in 6.73 million deathsa vast undercount, with studies indicating that over 20 million excess deaths are due to the pandemic. In the United States, over 1.13 million people have officially died from COVID, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), although this too is a vast undercount.

Long COVID symptoms include cognitive impairment, fatigue, memory loss, coughing and difficulty breathing, nausea, erectile dysfunction and irregular menstruation. It impacts numerous organs and systems, including the brain, heart, lungs, pancreas, immune system, kidneys, spleen, liver, blood vessels, gastrointestinal tract and the reproductive system. There is currently no treatment for Long COVID.

Some of the most prevalent symptoms of Long COVID [Photo: WSWS]

Even in individuals who do not develop Long COVID, COVID infections increase the risk of medical conditions such as pulmonary embolism, cardiac arrest, heart failure, diabetes and death. Those who do suffer from Long COVID are at significantly higher risk for ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome) and dysautonomia (a disorder of the autonomic nervous system that controls involuntary functions).

Moreover, the harms from repeated COVID-19 infections have been found to be cumulative. While the risks of getting Long COVID from a subsequent reinfection are not fully established, a survey of 484 adults and 112 children conducted by the UK charities Long Covid Kids and Long Covid Support and published in September 2022 found that 80 percent of the individuals with Long COVID who were reinfected had a worsening of symptom severity. For those individuals who had recovered from Long COVID, a subsequent reinfection resulted in a recurrence of Long COVID in 60 percent of the respondents.

The scientific literature clearly illustrates the long-term dangers of COVID-19, which only increase with each reinfection and can only be prevented by stopping the transmission of the airborne virus. The best method for decreasing transmission is two-way masking, along with improving ventilation, using FAR UVC technology, systematic testing and other mitigation factors.

The initiative taken by the Stanford patients reflects a growing anger among sections of workers who have not accepted the lie that the pandemic has ended. However, the fight for a rational and scientific approach to the pandemic must be connected to the fight for a socialist society in which human need and public health takes precedence over private profit.
Ten days after the chokehold strangulation of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway train, Daniel Penny was finally charged with second-degree manslaughter in the homicide. Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man with a history of mental illness, was killed by the 24-year-old Penny, a former US Marine, who held Neely in a chokehold for at least four minutes, an action that was witnessed by scores of passengers and captured on video. Penny was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court Friday morning. He did not enter a plea, and was released after posting $100,000 bail.

Daniel Penny, center, is walked by New York Police Department detectives detectives out of the 5th Precinct on Friday, May. 12, 2023 in New York. Manhattan prosecutors announced Thursday they would bring the criminal charge against Penny, 24, a US Marine Corps veteran, in the May 1 killing of 30-year-old Jordan Neely. [AP Photo/Jeenah Moon]

This murder, just as graphically as the police killings of Eric Garner in 2014 and George Floyd in 2020, has provided a glimpse of the bitter reality of life in America. It reveals the risks that many millions of the most oppressed and vulnerable sections of the working class face on a daily basis. The death of Jordan Neely is a direct consequence of the historically unprecedented levels of social inequality and polarization in the glittering US capital of finance, the media and culture. Similar conditions exist in most urban centers, even if not quite as glaring. The glittering surface can no longer hide the reality underneath.

Penny, who was not even identified until his name was leaked to the media three days after the murder, is being represented by Steven Raiser and Thomas Kenniff. Kenniff ran unsuccessfully as the Republican candidate for Manhattan District Attorney against Democrat Alvin Bragg, whose office is prosecuting this case. Pennys lawyers issued a statement after Pennys arrest, stating their confidence that once all the facts and circumstances surrounding this tragic incident are brought to bear, Mr. Penny will be fully absolved of any wrongdoing.

Whatever Pennys political views, it is noteworthy that he is being defended by right-wing demagogues like Fox News host Laura Ingraham. A crowdfunding platform has raised more than $400,000 in right-wing circles for his defense.

Neelys family, including his father, Andre Zachery, and aunt, Carolyn Neely, had been pressing for an arrest since the day of the murder. Dante Mills, a lawyer for the family, told a press conference on May 12 that the prosecutors office had telephoned to offer condolences earlier this week. We said thank you for the condolences, but we want an arrest.

On Wednesday, nine days after Neelys death, Democratic Mayor Eric Adams was finally forced to go beyond statements about the need for investigation. Earlier, the family, addressing Adams, had said that his silence meant, You seem to think others are more important than him. Adams, speaking at City Hall, said, Jordan Neelys life mattered. He was suffering from severe mental illness, but that was not the cause of his death. His death was a tragedy that never should have happened.

Much has been made of the role of mental illness in Neelys behavior the day he was murdered. Formerly a Michael Jackson impersonator, he had struggled for many years; he had been arrested more than 40 times, including for violent behavior, and had been committed for psychiatric evaluation or treatment, both voluntarily and involuntarily, on numerous occasions. On the afternoon that found him in the same subway car as Penny, Neely screamed in psychological pain, complaining about hunger and thirst, and saying, I dont mind going to jail and getting life in prison.

Of course, none of this remotely excuses Pennys action. Witnesses have reported that Neely, though clearly unsettling the passengers, did not directly threaten anyone. Penny was not simply restraining a troubled man. He used the chokehold technique that he had been taught in the Marines, maintaining it for at least four minutes, even as bystanders warned him to release Neely. If you suffocate him, thats it, said one man. You dont want to catch a murder charge.

Various capitalist political hacks, most prominently Adams and Democratic New York governor Kathy Hochul, have suddenly discovered the need for increased mental health treatment. Hochul called the murder a wake-up call. She has been governor for the last two years and was lieutenant governor for the six years prior to that, however, and is thus fully responsible for the various budget-cutting programs and the overall economic disaster for the working class that is intimately bound up with the epidemic of homelessness as well as mental illness in New York City.

These elected officials are well aware that mental illness, whatever its genetic or biological components, is triggered or worsened amongst the more vulnerable. Appalling social conditions are a major factor. Neely was 14 years old when his mother was killed by her boyfriend, her body stuffed into a suitcase.

Mayor Adams and other law-and-order advocates exaggerate the crime danger, even as statistics demonstrate that the city remains one of the countrys safest, and that crime in the subways has in fact fallen this year. They nevertheless play on a generalized concern over the social crisisthe decline in living standards, the decay of the infrastructure and the gutting of social programs.

They stoke fear to divert attention from the underlying causes of social issues like mental illness and homelessness, just as the notorious Republican mayor (and more recently Trump coup lawyer) Rudy Giuliani did in the 1990s. The actions of Daniel Penny, in line with this demagogy, appear to indicate he regarded Jordan Neely as less than human.

The overwhelmingly working-class passengers on the New York transit system are well aware of the fact that there have been more public episodes of mental illness, including in the confined spaces of the buses and subways, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the absence of a leadership which fights to unite the working class in solidarity and common struggle, however, workers can become somewhat desensitized. Some become susceptible to individualism, and even approve the action of vigilantes. In the subway car as Neely was killed, at least two other passengers reportedly assisted Penny as he applied the chokehold. Many others looked on, and did not intervene.

The fundamental responsibility for Pennys actions lies with the ruling elite of New York City, and with American capitalism as a whole. The homeless and the mentally ill have not increased in numbers as if by magic. They are produced by the terminal crisis of capitalism. Wall Street, the giant hedge funds, the billionaires and their political representatives stand condemned by this murder. It is their system that regularly and increasingly produces tragedies such as the needless death of Jordan Neely.

The Democrats have no answer to the social crisis. They are split between so-called moderates like Adams and progressives, including Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) members like Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The divisions are purely tactical and rhetorical, however, with Ocasio-Cortez, public advocate Jumaane Williams and others simply using left rhetoric to obscure their own responsibility.

Some Democrats, including City Council president Adrienne Adams, as well as various pseudo-left politicians, have hastened to depict the murder of Neely, who was black, by Penny, who is white, primarily in racial terms. This conveniently ignores the role of Adams, who is African-American, and of at least some, if not most, of the passengers on May 1. The focus on race obscures the most fundamental class issuesabove all the responsibility of the profit system.

In fact, not to be outdone on the racial politics front, Adams used the same speech on May 9 to suddenly announce that Neely, whose humanity he had not recognized for over a week, was black like me. The mayor went on to claim that too many black and brown families bear the brunt of a system long overdue for reform. Here, just as he did when he ran for mayor in 2021, Adams, the shameless demagogue, turns to the issue of race when his real role begins to be exposed.

The reforms that are needednot only fully-funded mental health treatment for all who need it, but also jobs, education, health care, transportation and other vital public and social servicescan only be won in independent struggle against the capitalist system. It will take a revolutionary political struggle to fight for socialism, establishing the conditions that make it possible to eliminate the causes of social tensions, and many of the causes of mental illness. The Socialist Equality Party is building the leadership for these struggles, which are posed by the pandemic, the danger of war and increasing inequality.
Workers, young people and local residents marched in the streets of Port Kembla last Saturday, protesting the federal Labor governments plans to transform the port into a nuclear submarine base.

Workers march in opposition to AUKUS in Port Kembla on May 6, 2023 [Photo: South Coast Labour Council]

Port Kembla, located in an outer suburb of Wollongong, 100 kilometres south of Sydney, was identified in March 2022 as one of three potential locations for an east coast submarine base, along with Newcastle and Brisbane. A year later, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the south coast port had emerged as the strongly favoured option.

More than 2,000 people participated, including union and pseudo-left delegations from Sydney as well as residents of the surrounding Illawarra region. But any workers and young people attending the rally seeking a perspective through which they can advance a fight against war will have been left sorely disappointed.

The speakers at the rally sought to promote illusions that Australias preparations for war against China can be prevented by applying pressure to the same Labor government that is carrying out the military buildup.

This is a deliberate trap for anti-war sentiment, laid by representatives of the union bureaucracy, the pseudo-left and the Greens, which all support the Labor government and the interests of Australian and US imperialism.

The event was not aimed at building a genuine anti-war movement, but at blocking any such fight.

The unions had held their main May Day events, with large demonstrations around the country, the previous weekend, with speakers careful to keep AUKUS and war squarely off the agenda. The location and timing of the Port Kembla event was engineered to limit the basis of opposition to nuclear submarines to a narrow, local audience and outlook.

Underscoring this provincial orientation, South Coast Labour Council (SCLC) secretary Arthur Rorris declared They want to conscript our region into their war machine but we will not have a bar of it.

But, even within the SCLC, there are open voices in support of the militarisation. In February, the Australian Workers Union (AWU) refused to pass a resolution opposing a nuclear submarine base at Port Kembla. The AWU leadership is now promoting the AUKUS deal as a win for workers, claiming it will boost our security, our economy, and Australian jobs and make Australia stronger and safer.

The SCLC, a peak body representing unions on the New South Wales (NSW) south coast, organised the rally in collaboration with Wollongong Against War and Nukes (WAWAN), which is closely associated with the pseudo-left Socialist Alliance.

Alexander Brown of WAWAN claimed the organisation had already had some important victories, based on the Labor governments assertion that no decision would be made on a base until at least after the next election.

Brown raised these supposed victories as evidence that protest politics and appeals to the Labor government are all that is required. On this basis, he called on the audience to demand that the government tear up the AUKUS agreement and commit to an independent and peaceful foreign policy. This is a fantasy and a diversion on both counts.

Why would the Labor government, fresh from announcing the $368 billion nuclear submarine expenditure, tear up the AUKUS agreement? In fact, the March announcement was just the latest affirmation of the federal governments total commitment to the war plans of US imperialism.

Even before the count was complete in last years federal election, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese rushed to the Quad summit in Japan to pledge Australias services at the vanguard of a US-led war against China. Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong slipped immediately into the role of regional enforcer, visiting every Pacific island nation to line them up in preparation for the coming conflict.

These actions are not a matter of the individual attitudes of Albanese and Wong. They reflect the complete integration of the Australian state and military apparatus into the US war machine.

The conception that Australia could simply elect to remain neutral in a war between the US and China, which would certainly envelop the Indo-Pacific, if not the world, is a utopian dream promoted to trap workers and prevent any genuine opposition to war.

Like previous anti-AUKUS events, the purpose of the rally was to divert anti-war sentiment behind a section of the political establishment that has expressed a limited tactical disagreement with the Labor governments war plans.

Not a single word was spoken about the current US-NATO war against Russia in Ukraine, demonstrating that the rallys organisers and speakers, and the political organisations and unions they represent, agree with the broader war aims of Australian and US imperialism.

Socialist Alliance has hailed the efforts of US and European imperialism to inflict a massive military defeat against Russia, falsely claiming that the conflict is a fight for Ukrainian sovereignty and democracy.

In March 2022, the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) called on the Liberal-National federal government to take action against Russia by imposing sanctions on international shipping. Under the guise of opposing the Putin regimes reactionary invasion of Ukraine, the MUA actively lobbied the Australian government to step up its involvement in the US-NATO war.

The opposition of these layers to AUKUS has nothing to do with the devastating consequences a war against China would have for the working class in China, Australia and throughout the region. Instead, they are concerned about the implications for Australian capitalism of a war against the nations major trading partner.

This orientation to big business took on an especially parochial form at the Port Kembla rally. Greens senator David Shoebridge warned while ever the threat of a nuclear submarine base is hanging over Port Kembla, the amazing future that Port Kembla can have with a green energy revolution is being stifled.

In other words, Shoebridges concern is that the plans of major energy corporations to transform the Illawarra region into a highly profitable renewable energy zone may be thwarted.

The MUA has advanced a similar position, warning in February that a nuclear submarine base at the port would scare off investor interest in renewable energy and be incompatible with expanded shipping activity.

Electrical Trades Union (ETU) secretary Allen Hicks said: I guarantee you we will work with the community in Illawarra to make sure that a submarine base is not built in Port Kembla and under my watch it wont be built with ETU labour.

Shoebridge declared that the federal government wont win if it proceeds with a plan to establish an AUKUS base at Port Kembla, because it had picked a union town.

But what is the reality of Port Kemblas history as a union town? Over the past four decades, the union apparatus, in close collaboration with Labor, has overseen the destruction of tens of thousands of steelworkers jobs in the region. Time and again, the unions have rammed through sell-out deals, insisting that workers sacrifice pay and conditions to protect the international competitiveness and profits of the plants corporate owners.

Maritime and logistics workers at the port itself have likewise faced a decades-long assault, facilitated and enforced by the unions. The cumulative legacy of this is a social crisis in the region, characterised by endemic youth unemployment and poverty.

Workers and young people cannot look to the unions as a means of opposing war. These organisations do not represent the interests of workers, but those of corporations and governments. They will enforce the war agenda of Australian imperialism, just as they have enforced decades of cuts to jobs, wages and conditions.

Events such as Saturdays rally reflect the reactionary nationalist politics of the unions, pseudo-left organisations and the Greens. They are aimed at sowing confusion among workers and young people, covering over the fact that war is a direct product of the capitalist nation-state system and diverting opposition to war in plaintive appeals to the parliamentary parties.

The struggle against war can only be fought on the basis of an international and socialist movement of the working class, the great revolutionary force in society. The basis for this exists in the rapidly developing class struggle in Australia and around the world, as governments impose harsh austerity measures to pay for their ever-growing war budgets.

The development of such a movement requires a fight to expose the pro-imperialist charlatans who seek to derail genuine anti-war sentiment and shackle workers and young people to sections of the ruling elite.
At 12:01 am Eastern Daylight Time on Friday, the Biden administration lifted Title 42 and imposed a new ban on refugees seeking to apply for asylum at the southern border. In March of 2020 Donald Trump invoked Title 42, an obscure emergency public health provision, as the pretext, citing the coronavirus, for summarily expelling migrants fleeing poverty, repression and state-sanctioned violence in Central and Latin American countries that have been subjected to more than a century of subversion and exploitation by US imperialism.

Joe Biden continued and expanded the use of Title 42, expelling millions of asylum seekers, as well as his predecessors policy of mass detention of refugees. He was forced to end the provision when he criminally ended the COVID-19 national emergency in order to terminate all financial support for COVID testing and treatment, cut social spending and further boost corporate profits, despite the continuing toll from COVID in needless deaths and the ravages of Long COVID.

In its place he and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) chief Alejandro Mayorkas are requiring asylum seekers to file their claims in their home country or in regional processing centers to be set up in Colombia, Guatemala and other Latin American countries. Of course, this leaves them in peril of attack or murder by the drug cartels, gangs and government assassins they are seeking to escape. Those who try to apply at the US border will be sent back to their home countries. Migrants from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti and Nicaraguacountries where the US is either unable or unwilling to deport directlywill be sent back to Mexico under the terms of an agreement with the Mexican government.

The brutal and anti-democratic policies of both capitalist parties, in defiance of international laws guaranteeing asylum rights, have produced a nightmare scene at the southern border. Amid blazing heat, and lacking food, water, shelter or medical care, some 65,000 desperate emigrants from what Washington calls its backyard are gathered along the border. They are confronted from the US side with 24,000 armed Customs and Border Protection (CBP) guards and 1,500 active duty US troops, bolstered by 2,500 Texas National Guard troops deployed unilaterally by the states fascistic Republican governor, Greg Abbott.

Migrants line-up between a barbed-wire barrier and the border fence at the US-Mexico border, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Tuesday, May 9, 2023. [AP Photo/Christian Chavez]

On the Mexican side, Washingtons accomplice in its war against refugees, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), has deployed 25,000 Mexican troops to terrorize and suppress migrants who have come not only from Latin America, but also from Asia, Africa and war-devastated parts of the Middle East and Europe.

Already in the first hours of the post-Title 42 border crisis, the US government acknowledged the death of an unaccompanied migrant child in US custody. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirmed a report from Honduran authorities that 17-year-old Angel Eduardo Maradiaga Espinoza, who had arrived in the US without a parent or guardian, died in government custody at a shelter west of Tampa, Florida.

As of Wednesday, according to US government figures, there were 8,681 unaccompanied children in HSS detention facilities. Border Patrol officials say they encountered more than 152,000 unaccompanied minors in fiscal year 2022, and have encountered more than 70,000 since October 1, 2022. Desperate parents, barred from applying for asylum at the border themselves, in some cases allow a child to attempt the crossing because, under law, they cannot be sent back to Mexico. The hope is that the child will get a sponsor in the US who will then help bring in the rest of the family.

Many, many more have died as a result of the brutal anti-immigrant policy of the American ruling class and both of its parties, as well as the ruling classes of Europe, and those numbers will only increase without the mass, united and international intervention of the working class. Less than two months ago, on March 27, at least 40 refugees were killed in a fire that broke out in a crowded detention center in the Mexican border town of Ciudad Juarez. The victims were locked in a cell and AMLOs guards refused to let them out.

The US Border Patrol, which claims a capacity to detain 10,000 migrants in its border facilities, says it is already holding over 28,000. The Biden administration says this number could rise to 45,000 by the end of this month. As a stopgap measure to relieve some of the pressure, the DHS this week announced a plan to allow a fraction of those being held to be released into the US prior to receiving a hearing date. A Trump-appointed judge immediately blocked implementation of the order.

The Republicans and the corporate media, echoed by Biden and the Democrats, are whipping up a pogrom atmosphere. Just days after a neo-Nazi shot and killed eight people at a mall in Allen Texas, and a man drove his car into a group of immigrants in the border town of Brownsville, killing eight, CNN extended a national platform for Trump to spew his anti-immigrant filth at its town hall event Wednesday evening.

In Texas, Governor Abbott not only deployed his National Guard to the border, in what he called Operation Lone Star, he denounced Bidens decision to order 1,500 active-duty troops to the border as a token measure and demanded between 15,000 and 150,000 troops. He is supporting a state bill that would create a Border Protection Unit empowering citizens to arrest, detain, and deter individuals crossing the border illegally, including with the use of non-deadly force.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, another Republican fascist, on Wednesday signed a sweeping state law on immigration policy. Its provisions include:

Banning local governments from issuing identification cards for people who cant prove citizenship.

Requiring hospitals that accept Medicaid to include a question on intake forms about the patients citizenship status.

Banning undocumented law school graduates from being admitted to the Florida bar.

Increasing penalties for human trafficking-related offenses.

On Thursday, House Republicans passed the Secure the Border bill, which would allocate millions of dollars to hire thousands more border patrol agents and enlarge Trumps southern border wall.

The response of Biden and the Democrats is to adapt to the fascistic agitation of the Republicans and implement their own barbaric assault on immigrants rights. In October of 2020, during his final pre-election debate with Trump, candidate Biden denounced Trump for tearing up the right to asylum. This is the first president in the history of the United States of America that anybody seeking asylum has to do it in another country, Biden declared, concisely summing up the policy he is now implementing.

Other Democrats are seeking to attack the GOP from the right. On Thursday, California Governor Gavin Newsom denounced House Speaker Kevin McCarthys budget-cutting bill on the grounds that it would slash $4 billion from Customs and Border Protection and result in the loss of 2,400-plus officers.

To this must be added the reactionary role of the Democratic Socialists of America and other pseudo-left organizations of the upper-middle class, which seek to lend the Democratic Party in the US and AMLOs party in Mexico a progressive veneer.

The savage treatment of asylum-seekers, overwhelmingly impoverished and oppressed workers, coincides with US escalation of the war against Russia in Ukraine and the intensification of military preparations against China. This is not an accident. The horrific scenes of mass suffering playing out at the US border completely explode Washingtons pretensions to be threatening nuclear war against Russia in order to defend democratic rights. But such wanton attacks on the rights of immigrants and promotion of chauvinistic and racist sentiments have always accompanied the turn by imperialism to war. They have always been part of a broader assault on the democratic and social rights of the working class in every capitalist nation involved in the struggle over markets, natural resources and sources of cheap labor.

American entry into World War I was accompanied by the Espionage Act, which outlawed anti-war speech and led to the jailing of socialist leader Eugene V. Debs, followed by the deportation of socialist immigrants in the Palmer Raids of 1919-1920. The entry of the US into World War Two was preceded by the passage of the Smith Act, which Roosevelt used to jail 18 Trotskyists in 1944. The US declaration of war against Japan was followed by the mass incarceration of Japanese-Americans.

The so-called war on terror after 9/11 was accompanied by the opening of the Guantanamo gulag and the establishment of the Homeland Security department as well as the Northern Command.

The enforcement of what imperialist leaders are today calling a war economy and the conduct of total war for control of the Eurasian landmass requires the suppression of the class struggle in the United States as well as across Latin America, under conditions of a growing upsurge of working class opposition and a mounting rank-and-file rebellion against the pro-war, pro-corporate trade union apparatus.

What Leon Trotsky wrote in May of 1940, some 10 months into World War II, could, with minor updating, be used to describe present conditions:

The world of decaying capitalism is overcrowded. The question of admitting a few hundred extra refugees becomes a major problem for such a world power as the United States Amid the vast expanse of land and the marvels of technology, which has also conquered the skies for man as well as the earth, the bourgeoisie has managed to convert our planet into a foul prison.

The brutalization of immigrants is a damning expression of the bankruptcy of the nation state system to which capitalism is tied. The globalization of economic life and the technological integration of the world population have progressed far beyond what existed in Trotskys day.

But under capitalism, governments all over the world foment hatred of immigrants to divide the working class and divert attention from the real source of workers suffering, the capitalist system.

The Socialist Equality Party and the International Committee of the Fourth International reject the entire framework of the official discussion on immigration. We advance a socialist and internationalist solution to the crisis facing immigrant workers and for the establishment of a United Socialist States of the Americas. It is based on the strategic perspective of the international unity of the working class and world socialist revolution.

We stand for the right of workers from every part of the world to live in the country they choose, with full citizenship rights, including the right to work and travel without fear of deportation or repression.
Turkeys presidential and parliamentary elections on Sunday May 14 are of international significance and are being followed around the world. There are 64 million voters in Turkey and abroad.

The elections take place under the shadow of the US-led NATO powers escalating war against Russia in Ukraine. A poll taken after the war began last year showed that 80 percent of the population in Turkey opposes the Ukraine war. However, the opposition to the war and the urgent social aspirations of working people find no political expression in these elections.

Despite their tactical differences, the two main contenders, the Peoples Alliance of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Nation Alliance of Kemal Klcdaroglu, leader of the Republican Peoples Party (CHP), share this in common: loyalty to imperialism and hostility to the working class.

While Klcdaroglu promises to better serve NATO, Erdogan plans to continue maneuvering between the United States on the one hand, and Russia and China on the other. This is a decisive factor in the preference for Klcdaroglu in Washington and the European capitals, which are at war with Russia in Ukraine and preparing war against China.

Erdogans 20-year rule has been marked by massive political crimes, including support for imperialist wars and a draconian assault on democratic rights. His responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and to the economic crisis have discredited him. On February 6, earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria, causing tens of thousands of preventable deaths and displacing millions of people, further deepening opposition to Erdogan in the working class.

The Nation Alliance of Klcdaroglu, backed by the Kurdish-nationalist Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) and pseudo-left parties as a progressive alternative to Erdogan, is complicit with Erdogan on all these crimes. It supported NATO expansion and wars as well as the deadly official response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It enriched finance capital at the expense of the working class and ignored scientists warnings about earthquakes and unsafe housing.

The Socialist Equality Group (SEG), the Turkish section of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), rejects the claim that masses of workers and youth should choose between the two right-wing bourgeois alliances and their supporters. It stated :

Whatever their outcome, the elections will not solve any of the fundamental problems facing the working class. This is because none of these problems can be solved on a national basis, or without a frontal social assault on the wealth of finance capital.

Erdogan, the leader of the Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has ruled Turkey since 2002, could lose the presidency in the first round, according to most polls. The latest poll on May 10-11 by ORC Research, which largely correctly predicted the outcome of the 2018 presidential election, shows Klcdaroglu could win in the first round with 51.7 percent. Erdogan, on the other hand, remains at 44.2 percent.

Klcdaroglus chances of winning the election in the first round rose after Muharrem Ince, the CHPs presidential candidate in 2018, withdrew from the race on Thursday over allegations of a sex scandal, which Ince denied and blamed on Fethullah Gulen, an Islamist preacher and long-time CIA asset in the US. The Nation Alliance, the pseudo-left parties behind it and the pro-opposition media all demanded that Ince withdraw from the race.

Bekir Agrdr, general manager of Konda Research, said that it expects most Ince voters to support Klcdaroglu. Among voters who said they would vote for Muharrem Ince, 7 out of 10 or even 8 out of 10 said they would support Mr. Kemal if the election went to the second round... Those who will go to the polls will probably vote for Mr. Kemal. Therefore, [Inces withdrawal] is a development that increases the possibility of Mr. Kemal being elected in the first round.

Klcdaroglu reacted to Inces withdrawal with an unprecedented barrage of accusations that Russian President Vladimir Putin had interfered in the elections. This underscores the central role played by NATOs war against Russia in the Turkish elections. Klcdaroglu tweeted, Dear Russian Friends, you are behind the montages, conspiracies, Deep Fake content, tapes that were revealed in this country yesterday.

Klcdaroglu did not provide any evidence for this explosive accusation. The lack of any substantiation for his accusations is so obvious that it attracted questions even from the establishment media. If we didnt have it [concrete evidence], I wouldnt have tweeted, he told Reuters, before admitting that his campaign had not contacted the Russian embassy on the matter.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov categorically denied Klcdaroglus allegations, saying: We have repeatedly said and insisted that we do not interfere in the internal affairs and electoral processes of other countries. We officially declare: there can be no talk of any interference. If someone provided Mr. Klcdaroglu with such information, they are liars.

Peskov noted that allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 US elections turned out to be unfounded. Recalling the fiasco of the Democratic Partys impeachment of then-President Donald Trump, Peskov said: In the US, the entire government, the entire administration, for a long time claimed that Russia had interfered, then they spent tens of millions of dollars on the investigation and finally came to the conclusion that there was no interference.

The Democrats unsubstantiated claim that Russian interference had caused their candidate, Hillary Clinton, to lose to Donald Trump played a critical role in escalating the anti-Russian campaign amid the NATO-Russia proxy war in Syria and the civil war in Ukraine. Ultimately, the escalation of NATOs arming of the Ukrainian regime after Joe Biden took office in January 2021 provoked Putins reactionary invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Klcdaroglu told Reuters: We dont want to break our friendly relations but we will not allow interference in our internal matters. Reuters wrote that Klcdaroglu plans to push for another peace initiative between Russia and Ukraine, following a failed bid by Erdogan in 2022.

Asked whether he would support NATOs further eastward enlargement encircling Russia, Klcdaroglu said, Of course We will maintain our relations with NATO within the same framework as we had in the past.

Klcdaroglu wore a bulletproof vest at his rally in Samsun yesterday after his campaign circulated allegations that he could be assassinated by killers traveling through Georgia, a country located between Russia and Turkey.

CHP deputy Murat Balkan made further serious allegations about election day. He claimed the Interior Ministry sent a letter to provincial governors asking them to have Turkish Armed Forces personnel and armored vehicles ready on Sunday. The National Defense Ministry denied the allegation in a statement.

With the support of the HDP and the Turkish pseudo-left parties, Klcdaroglu is preparing to take power and increase Ankaras participation in NATOs war with Russia. This policy, carried out behind the backs of the population, is deeply unpopular. It can proceed, however, because the entire capitalist establishment, including Erdogan, supports the NATO war.

Yesterday, in response to Klcdaroglus accusations against Russia, Erdogan attacked him, saying: Biden handed down the verdict that Erdogan must be defeated. It is in the archives. You are impotent, pathetic. When Biden said that, I did not say why he said it. When you attack Russia, I do not approve. Our relations with Russia are not less than with America. We trade more with Russia than with America. Mr. Kemal, you do not know how to administer the state, you do not understand.

Referring to the failed NATO-backed coup attempt against him in July 2016, Erdogan said in another statement: No matter what attacks we face, we will not cast a shadow on the will of the nation and our democracy. If necessary, we will defend our independence and our future at the cost of our lives, as we did on the night of July 15 [in 2016]. He claimed that he would win the election and declare those who did not recognize his victory as coup plotters.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu also said yesterday that Washington was behind the allegations that forced Ince to withdraw, declaring: America has been interfering in this election from the very beginning. Biden said that we werent able to do this with a coup in 2016. This time we will do it with an election, not a coup.

Soylus statements constitute an indictment of his own government. Despite the 2016 coup, the Erdogan government remained loyal to NATO and joined in its escalation of the war in Ukraine. This laid the ground for Klcdaroglu, assisted by the HDP and its pseudo-left allies, to mount his own provocations against Russia.

Whatever their outcome, the election will not resolve any of the questions facing the working classabove all, stopping NATOs war with Russia. Rather, it has shown the urgent necessity of establishing the political independence of the working class from all the pro-imperialist parties of the political establishment based on a program for a struggle of the international working class for socialism.
Are you a Detroit autoworker? Tell us what you think about Wednesdays incident. All submissions will be kept anonymous.

Shift change at Detroit Assembly Complex-Mack [Photo: WSWS]

The day shift at the Stellantis Mack Avenue assembly plant was sent home Wednesday after workers complained of fumes inside the facility of unknown source.

Workers contacted by the World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter said that they had gotten little information from either plant management or the United Auto Workers about the source or nature of the smell inside they plant, which caused eye irritation and other complaints. Multiple workers also told the WSWS that several workers collapsed on the line due the fumes.

The incident follows the issuance of yet another fine against Stellantis by state of Michigan environmental authorities for spreading paint solvent odors into the neighborhood around the Detroit Assembly Complex  Mack plant (DACM). Those living in the struggling, mostly African American, working-class neighborhood near the plant have complained for years that the paint odors are making them sick.

It also follows a series of similar incidents in American factories. Last week, a fire broke out at the Dana auto parts plant in Warren, Michigan, filling the plant with smoke and fumes. Workers accuse management of having initially locked the doors, creating a delay in evacuating the plant, which was still ongoing by the time fire engines arrived on the scene.

In late March, six workers died in an explosion at a chocolate factory in Reading, Pennsylvania. Survivors reported earlier smelling gas in the facility but that management had refused to shut down production.

The Mack plant, supposedly one of the most state-of-the-art assembly plants in America, was opened in 2021 to much fanfare and builds the new Jeep Grand Cherokee. The state of Michigan handed Stellantis hundreds of millions in tax abatements and other subsidies for the plant, the first new auto assembly plant built in the city of Detroit in decades.

A worker leaving the Mack plant Wednesday told an Autoworker Newsletter reporter, It smelt like burning rubber in there. I had to get out. Im old and have respiratory issues.

Another worker going in said, They didnt even inform us. Its ridiculous. Ive got breathing issues, too. All they want to do is keep production going. They dont care about us.

Another source reported that management had told workers it was just the normal welding smell. After that story fell through, they were told it was from a coolant leak. But workers on the floor said they were familiar with those smells, and it wasnt any of those things.

A second shift worker said that his shift had briefly stopped production after complaining of fumes in the air. People were standing on the blue line and said they were feeling irritation in their eyes. They shut down production, basically. It lasted 15 minutes. It was the second time I had seen something like that. The first time was during COVID.

Management claimed OSHA [The Occupational Safety and Health Administration] had tested the air twice and it was safe. They threatened to fire anyone who didnt get back to work.

I think a lot of people were also angry because it was so hot inside the plant. It gets to be 95 degrees in there during the summer months. They usually dont have the air on at all.

A temporary part time worker on day shift told the WSWS that he had lost a whole days pay because of the incident. They said they were trying to identify where the smell was coming from. The only thing they knew was that it was chemical smell in the building and didnt know what it was. I couldnt tell what it was.

OK, so you dont know what it is, at the same time you want us to go in to work and then send us home and not get paid for it? And its not our fault. You have to pay for gas to go to and from work after they say there is nothing they can do about it? We didnt get paid anything. That doesnt make sense.

We are struggling to pay our bills because we have this one job to survive on. We were there for close to two hours. When I tried talking to the union, they were busy doing something else. People are mad. We have to feed our families.

There was considerable speculation among workers about the source of the fumes. Some said a chemical spill, others a fire or even a gas leak. The lack of definite information created considerable confusion and anger.

The second shift worker said, If they had told us what was going on, workers wouldnt have been so upset. We never saw a union official all day. We have the most useless local union.

Of course OSHA says everything is fine. They say what management wants. They are a corrupt organization.

Workers have every right to be skeptical of managements claim that the fumes posed no danger to health. The fine slapped on Stellantis for polluting the neighborhood around the plant is the sixth citation issued against the company over the issue of paint fumes. The company has also been cited two times for the plant exceeding limits for Volatile Organic Compound emissions.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy fined the company $136,832 for the most recent violation. Stellantis has also received similar citations for emissions at the Warren Truck Assembly Plant north of the city.

The state is also requiring Stellantis to install a new regenerative thermal oxidizer, system to remove paint fumes, and to have it up and running no later than June 30, 2023. Stellantis had claimed that the problem with the fumes had been already resolved.

Stellantis reportedly responded to the citations by requesting that the state approve higher emission levels at Warren Truck and Mack.

According to an April 27 report in Crains Detroit Business, a child living in a home near the DACM plant was diagnosed with reactive airway disease earlier this year. A medical report on the childs condition cited strong odors or fumes, such as from exhaust, paint, or chemicals as contributing factors

The second shift worker said, They have absolutely destroyed air quality in the neighborhood. The fine is just penniesjust a business expense for Stellantis. The paint smell is always there.

We are used to it. We always get an air quality warning: may be dangerous for sensitive groups. What does that mean exactly? Who knows?
SHELBYVILLE  The Shelby County Courthouse is a toxic work environment, multiple county clerks office employees told the county board.

The last four years being a county employee have been the most stressful, negative and filled with turmoil, said Lisa Swenny, a 16-year county employee and president of the countys AFSCME chapter. They can be explained with this analogy: employees are treading water in the ocean, just trying to keep our heads up and stay breathing. Meanwhile, sharks start circling and attacking the people next to you, picking them off one by one. You're just praying to survive long enough to outlive the circling sharks and the attacks.

Swenny rose during Thursdays county board meeting to respond to ongoing tensions between county employees and some board members.

Multiple citizens said they feared retaliation from the county for their remarks.

It seems that its only good to this board when it speaks to the bubble, said county resident Marilynn MacZura. At last meeting, I tried to share clarification and understanding about the toxic work environment which exists here by drawing on my 50 years of corporate management experience. Instead, you allowed others here who can talk at any time during the meeting to interrupt me and talk over me. Then you hijacked my time in public body comments.

County employee Elizabeth Ragan said employees are ridiculed and punished for voicing their opinions to the board. She also accused board members of doing business in top secret and excluding some board members from committee communications.

When asked by board member Julie Edwards, R-Shelbyville, to state which of her colleagues had been excluded from important messages, Ragan named Carol Cole and Theresa Boehme, the boards only Democrat.

Edwards asked Ragan to send her the specific communications in question, and Ragan said she would.

Edwards spoke up shortly after the interaction to read an email she said she sent to all county department heads on April 21, after similar conversations erupted at the last county board meeting.

In light of recent concerns brought forth by a member of the public and reprinted in the Shelbyville Eagle, I feel it's necessary to reach out to our county department heads, Edwards said, quoting her email. While I do not feel it is the job of the board to micromanage departments, these concerns were brought to the board and I feel they're serious enough to warrant a follow up.

The questions posed to department heads included: Do you or any of your employees of your department feel unsafe or in danger? Have you or the employees in your department witnessed physical, verbal or sexual abuse in the workplace?

Only the states attorney and the treasurer responded, Edwards said.

But MacZura and others suggested the efforts to reach out were not in good faith as multiple county employees have already established a distrust for the board, while the states attorneys and treasurers offices are in good favor with the boards majority.

A more appropriate option might be to send completely anonymous surveys to all employees, suggested resident Chris Boehme.

Board Chairman Robert Bobby Orman, R-Windsor, said the county need(s) a whistleblower policy something fierce.

Public body comment lasted for nearly an hour-and-a-half, with board members at times arguing back and forth with members of the public. Conversation later shifted focus to newly-appointed States Attorney Robert Hanlon.

Hanlon was not present at Thursdays board meeting. He did not respond to multiple calls from the Herald & Review on Friday.

Multiple citizens expressed concern that Hanlon, a Northern Illinois native who has no prosecutorial experience, isnt often available in his office.

Many also criticized Hanlons use of American Rescue Plan Act money to fund a pay increase of nearly $1,500 per pay period for his assistant states attorney and a $50 per hour wage for an individual living outside the county to scan and digitally file the offices records.

But some county board members jumped to Hanlons defense.

I'm just going to say, the witch hunt against our state's attorney, Rob Hanlon, is getting insanely old, said board member Martha Firnhaber, R-Shelbyville.

Many of the boards remaining agenda items passed with little fanfare, and many residents who came for public comments left before the nearly three-hour-long meeting was over.

Here are some key health policies that will and will not change with the COVID-19 public health emergency's end Here are some key health policies that will and will not change with the COVID-19 public health emergency's end
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Cloudy skies during the morning hours followed by scattered showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Heavy and torrential downpours at times. High 81F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms, especially overnight. Low 66F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 67F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 67F. Winds light and variable.
ABC is cutting back on its drama offerings before its upfront next week.

The network has canceled first-year shows Alaska Daily and The Company You Keep and Big Sky, which ran for three seasons. Theyre the first cancellations ABC has made this season; fellow drama A Million Little Things and comedy The Goldbergs announced their endings ahead of time.

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Big Sky, from creator David E. Kelley, was a strong performer for ABC in its first season but ebbed some in subsequent years. The shows third season, subtitled Deadly Trails, was at 13 episodes its shortest run, and seven-day Nielsen ratings declined by about 15 percent in total viewers (from 5.65 million to 4.85 million) and 17 percent in adults 18-49 (from 0.6 to 0.5).

Alaska Daily, starring Hilary Swank as a reporter trying to rebuild her career in the titular state, had the biggest total audience among the three canceled shows at 5.3 million viewers over seven days  but also the second smallest rating (0.41) among any ABC drama in the adults 18-49 demographic thats key to advertisers. The Company You Keep, which stars This Is Us alum Milo Ventimiglia, never quite caught on in the post-American Idol spot on Sunday nights, averaging 3.78 million viewers and a 0.4 rating in the 18-49 demo.

Alaska Daily and The Company You Keep were both produced by ABCs Disney sibling 20th Television; Big Sky is a co-production of 20th TV and A+E Studios.

ABC has yet to make decisions on four series  The Conners, Home Economics, Not Dead Yet and The Rookie: Feds  and has six pilots (four dramas and two comedies) in contention for the 2023-24 season. Decisions on those projects will be made next week, as sources say the Disney-owned network is still in talks with producers and the multiple outside studios behind many of the programs. ABC is expected to unveil its fall schedule on Tuesday morning. What remains unclear is if the networks fall schedule will largely ignore the potential fallout from the Writers Guild of America strike (as CBS did) or take the work stoppage into account, more in line with NBCs mostly strike-proof slate.

Story continues

Keep track of all the broadcast cancellations, renewals and new series orders with The Hollywood Reporters network scorecard.

Additional reporting by Lesley Goldberg.

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Pope Francis greets a woman with a child during his weekly general audience in St. Peters Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, May 10, 2023. | Alessandra Tarantino, Associated Press

Pope Francis created an international press frenzy last year when he shared his candid thoughts on choosing pets over kids.

During a gathering at the Vatican in January 2022, he criticized couples who avoid having children, arguing that its selfish and harmful to the whole world.

His comments spread like wildfire across social media, as The New York Times noted in its coverage of the remarks.

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Many people were angry at the pope for downplaying the emotional and monetary costs of having kids, while others praised him for promoting parenthood. Still others wondered why the Catholic leader wouldnt encourage people to say yes to both pets and children.

It is strange to think that the pope considers love in our lives to be limited in quantity, and that giving it to someone takes it away from others, said Massimo Comparotto, the president of the Italian branch of the International Organization for the Protection of Animals, to The New York Times.

On Friday, Pope Francis waded once again into these controversial waters, when he spoke about Italys declining birthrate.

Appearing alongside Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, the pope once again called young pet owners selfish and argued that government leaders and others must work to reverse birthrate trends.

Francis called for resources to be dedicated to helping couples grow their families, saying it was necessary to plant the future with hope, The Associated Press reported.

The article noted that Italy recorded a record low number of live births last year and that government officials have been engaged in talks about how to reverse the trend. Unless the birthrate rises in the near future, the country could be headed toward economic collapse, according to The Associated Press.

Although Pope Francis engaged with these potential economic issues during Fridays event, his previous comments on parenthood have focused on other concerns.

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Last year, the pope said that choosing not to be a parent risks a persons humanity. In 2014, he said the drop in interest in child-rearing is fueled by cultural degradation, The New York Times reported.

An emotional relationship with animals is easier, more programmable, he said nine years ago. Having a child is something complex.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Pope Francis is not believed to have pets of his own, despite sharing a name with the patron saint of animals.

Many of his predecessors have raised pets at the Vatican, including dogs, cats, birds and even a monkey, according to The New York Times.
Courtesy of Abel Cano Jr.

After nearly 15 years of litigation, the Suffolk County Superior Court on Thursday awarded more than 600 Black and Latinx police officers a total of $40 million in compensation, finding they were overlooked for promotion due to a discriminatory promotional exam.

A court order released Thursday from the Suffolk County Superior Court found the states human resources division had an unlawful disparate impact upon Black and Latinx candidates in the police sergeant promotional examinations and interfered with class members rights to consideration for promotion.

One of the plaintiffs, Abel Cano Jr., now 55, told The Daily Beast that despite having a masters degree in criminal justice and an extensive background of experience, he was denied a promotion on multiple occasions.

The attainability was obvious within those departments where you would see that we had minorities on the job, but very few that were of rank, he said. For me, that was something really odd.

Cano identifies as Hispanic and has been a police officer for nearly 30 years. He previously worked on the force in Methuen, but now works for the Lawrence Police Department.

According to the court order, Black and Latino police officers from all over the state, who took promotional tests in 2005 to 2008, 2010, or 2012 were consistently passed over for job promotions and are set to receive about $60,000 each from Thursdays ruling.

However, Cano says the years of discrimination has come at a huge price for him and hundreds of other Black and Hispanic police officers.

We would work hard, and we would not be recognized and thank goodness that the judge was able to see through the barriers that were there, Cano said.

Its hard to not feel the emotions and the frustration that you know my life would have been better, would have been a lot better had I had the opportunities, Cano added. I hope that through this process and through this case, other young men and women of color will have the opportunity that I never had. And thats the ultimate goal because thats what we started and thats what we really wanted. I wish it would have been recognized sooner.

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Cano said the test for promotion was both trivial and taxing, consisting of 80 questions pulled from 10 books that officers are supposed to study over the course of four months. Then, the test was computerized and would not allow officers to go back and answer questions they skipped. In all, test takers were given two hours to complete the exam, roughly providing officers a minute-and-a-half, Cano said, to answer each question.

Everything was memorization, Cano said. It didnt have anything to do with Massachusetts.

He claimed the test would use trick questions to confuse those taking the test.

Its very hard to remember that much volume, that much information on things that were not really [relatable] to the job, Cano said. Its a very complicated test where its not matching up to the realistic aspects of the job.

He said the people who scored well on the test and got promoted, however, were not personable or fit for the role.

They got a great score, but what was it that they did in the capacity of the job? Hows their ability to communicate? What is their characteristic like, what did they give back to the community? What are the things that they do? And their training and their experience? And those things are not really factored into the test in a wholesome way that you can really take a picture of the individual versus just answering a question.

Black and Latino police officers first filed a lawsuit in 2009. However, it wasnt until March 2023 that a superior court judge agreed to a settlement.

This case has been going on for almost 15 years. OK. It has had a lot of twists and turns. Its been up on appeal twice, attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan told The Daily Beast. We are extremely pleased at this resolution for this long fought, hard fought case that went on for a very long time.

Liss-Riordan said current and future Black and Latino police in Massachusetts would benefit from the persistence of Cano and others with the state set to change its promotional testing.

Massachusetts is working on creating a new promotional exam in line with the principles that the case was based on, she said. The exam that Massachusetts has been using for many years, its just out of date We think that communities will be better served by a more diverse police force and a police force and more diverse police supervisors, as well as one to show the qualities that should be valued for the position.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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DuPont Manual High School seniors were having their prom and all was dignity and decorum until the orchestra cut loose with a few hot licks and Mary Ray Douglas, 18, and her date Joe Breen started to really to cut the rug at Louisville on June 1, 1957.

Prom season marks the rite of passage that teens have celebrated since the late 19th century  but that one special night wasn't always about the over-the-top 'promposals,' dresses, flowers, limousines and awkward photos.

According to History.com, celebratory events for young people can be traced back to ancient Greece, but the history of prom, short for promenade, is rooted in 18th and 19th century debutante balls, the popular high-society tradition with an introductory parading of guests in formal attire at a co-ed banquet.

The prom we're more familiar with today evolved in the 20th century to serve a similar function for graduating middle-class white women who might not be able to afford debutante balls.

Debutantes walk out onto the dance floor for their first waltz at the 50th Vienna Opera Ball February 23, 2006 in Vienna, Austria.

The Greeks threw celebrations, called symposia, for elite men who were about to transition into adult society.

Greek traditions like throwing lavish dinner parties and playing music have stuck, but as cultural norms shifted, so have proms  which are slowly becoming more inclusive for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ students who have continued to push for equal access.

1951: North-Central Senior Prom, Binghamton.

Marialice Sue Shivers, daughter of former Texas governor, bows into society at the International Debutante Ball in New York's Astor Hotel on Dec. 29, 1965. The Texas flag is held by her honorary military escort, a midshipman from the U.S. naval academy. (AP Photo)

This year's prom may mean a dress, a tux, and a Breathalyzer. Are we OK with that?

Getting ready for prom? Here's everything you need to know to create your own corsage.

One hundred twenty debutantes dressed in white, or silver, made their debut at the Cotillion and Christmas Ball at the Grand Ballroom of the Hotel Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York, Dec. 19, 1949. The ball was for the benefit of the New York Infirmary. (AP Photo/Matty Zimmerman)

Hair used to be done at home, now girls go to a salon; couples were the norm, now groups of friends are more accepted; house parties used to be the post-prom activity, now many schools host extravagant after-proms; nails, makeup and tanning were once unheard of, now they're an unspoken requirement for attendees, three generations of women told the Des Moines Registrar, part of USA TODAY Network.

Prom is the "quintessential story of high school," Francine Pascal, creator of the "Sweet Valley High" series said during a "This American Life" episode. And it's taken historic events, including World War II and the COVID-19 lockdowns, to disrupt the gatherings. When the Great Depression hit in the 1930s, some high schools cancelled proms so that poorer students wouldnt be psychologically wounded, according to author Beth L. Bailey's book on the history of dating in America.

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"It's the moment that comes closest to the romantic vision of life," Pascal said. "I think it's repeated only one other time, and that would be marriage. It's that important in high school life, in the teenager life."

Southwestern High School students at their prom during the 1987-1988 school year at Southwestern High School in Detroit, Michigan.

Student Theasha Bryan tries on a pair of shoes at Project Prom, an event offering free dresses, handbags, shoes and accessories to high school students on May 22, 2009 in New York City.

Juniors and seniors from John McDonogh High School celebrate at their prom, its first prom since Hurricane Katrina, June 1, 2007 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Cabrini High School junior Danielle DiMaggio (L) and boyfriend Ben Navo dance at the Cabrini High School prom May 12, 2006 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

2005: Alex Rizzo, 16 of Schenectady High has a moment with Chenango Forks High School Junior Elaina Dybas, 17 Friday night During Chenango Forks High School Prom, at the Binghamton Regency, Binghamton.

Students of the Senior Class of New York City's The High School of Fashion Industries attend the Ultimate Prom 2009 at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers on June 5, 2009 in New York City.

Oyster River High School student Anna Blezard, 18, poses during senior prom in Durham, New Hampshire on May 12, 2021.

Spaulding High School students attending prom walk in a grand march Sunday, May 23, 2021 in Rochester.

When was the first prom in the US?

It's unclear where the first American prom was hosted, but news articles from colleges in Massachusetts provide some clarity on early celebrations during the late 19th century, according to History.com.

In Cambridge, The Harvard Crimson Dec. 5, 1879, issue references the junior prom.

In 1895, an Amherst College student named Dwight Morrow, who later became the ambassador to Mexico and a U.S. senator, wrote a diary entry detailing his invitation to attend Smith Colleges junior prom.

When did high schools adopt proms?

Susan Ford and her escort Billy Pifer, 21, from Winchester, Va., dance the "bump" Saturday night during the Holton Arms School senior prom at the White House, May 31, 1975.

According to History.com, segregated white high schools introduced proms in the 1920s to show teenagers how to behave cultural norms and stereotypes of their gender  for example, women being subservient to men  and race.

Proms really took off in the early 1930s and again in the a post-war boom of the 1940s, which is when companies geared more of their products to teens.

Dubbed the golden age of prom by author Ann Anderson in High School Prom: Marketing, Morals and the American Teen, the 1950s were a transitional period for dances. Proms in sweaty gyms became passe, with more schools opting for hotels and banquet rooms, and choosing a prom king and queen to crown became commonplace.

More coverage by USA TODAY

High school students plan their own integrated prom

Teens roll into prom in WWII army tank, accompanied by Darth Vader playing flaming bagpipes

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How America's proms evolved from debutante balls to promposals
As the people of Nashville collectively enter into the second month following the devastating shooting at the Covenant School, a certain awkwardness permeates our city. We continue to mourn and grieve the lives lost, but we are at the same time celebrating the lives that are still around us. While red and black ribbons remain tightly tied to mailboxes, students are sending graduation announcements, couples continue to get married, and summer vacations are optimistically planned.

We are holding the tension between the weight and stillness of grief and the turn of the calendar.

As we move forward, presumably changed by our common experience of this tragedy, I wonder what lessons we have learned, especially those of us who claim a Christian faith. After March 27, how do we live differently in community?

Girls embrace in front of a makeshift memorial at Covenant Presbyterian Church on March 28 for victims of the Covenant School shooting that killed six in Nashville.

Certainly, there have been ample discussions and demonstrations about common-sense gun reform and the role of our legislature in keeping citizens safe, and rightly so. However, once the rallies conclude and the petitions are signed, I fear we are no better at loving our neighbor on a personal level.

Hear more Tennessee voices: Get the weekly opinion newsletter for insightful and thought-provoking columns.

Last month, during the height of prom season, a young student was turned away from their high school prom for wearing a suit. They attend a local Christian school and, because they wore a suit to prom, they were not let in. After being turned away, the brave student took to Instagram, where their post has more than 23,000 likes. While this support shows them they are certainly not alone, they still were excluded from a high school rite of passage because of the bigotry and intolerance that continue to exist in their own community.

Mary Cady Bolin

In a city that recently endured a hate crime of unspeakable measure, at a Christian school no less, have we as people of faith learned nothing about loving our neighbor well? I wonder what it will take to inspire Christians to love one another with mutual affection, extend hospitality to strangers, outdo one another in showing honor and live peaceably with all. These words from the 12th chapter of the Apostle Pauls letter to the Romans havent sunk in for all of us, and even a brutal mass shooting didnt inspire this students community to decide to be hallmarked by inclusion rather than exclusion.

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Cries for legal change outside the State Capitol are justified and needed, but our hearts and behavior need drastic reform as well. At a time when our city, nation and world are so divided, consumed by anxiety and fear, it seems completely out of step to pick a fight with a high-schooler about clothing.

For all of us, especially those of us who identify as Christians, our posture should be one of openness and curiosity, seeking to understand the lives and stories of those in our midst. Only with humility and a shared commitment to the well-being of all of our neighbors can we build a better Nashville and begin to heal.

As we wake up to new days and months with the losses in our community still fresh on our minds, might we endeavor to, as Paul also admonished the Roman people in chapter 12, live in harmony with one another.

Mary Cady Bolin is a writer and pastor based in Nashville. She writes about spiritual life, current events, and family.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Opinion: Did shooting teach us nothing about loving our neighbors?
Alaura Kimes is following in her mothers footsteps.

The Married to Medicine daughter recently announced she will attend Florida A&M University  the same school where her mom, Dr. Heavenly Kimes, received her bachelors degree. Heavenly celebrated the big news on Instagram this month, when she posted a video of her daughter walking through the HBCU campus.

Thank you God ! I am proud to announce that my baby girl [Alaura] will following in my footsteps and be spending her next four years at My Alma Mater THEE #1 Public HBCU: Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, she captioned the post. Thank you to my family and friends for continuously pouring into and supporting us! See you on The Hill

Heavenly confirmed the high school senior will pursue a biology pre-med degree, indicating Alauras plan to enter the medical field just like her parents. After graduating from FAMU, the Married to Medicine mom earned a doctorate in dentistry from Meharry Medical College, which is where she met her husband and Alauras father, Dr. Damon Kimes.

Alaura reflected on her new life chapter in a May 2 Instagram post.

With 11 days left until my Highschool Graduation Ceremony [and] less than 2 months until I embark on my college journey, I want to take the time to express my gratitude for my parents, family, friends, and teachers for molding me into the person that I continue to become! she wrote. Over these next four years, theres no place I would rather call my HBCU than The Highest of Seven Hills! I also heard the pretty girls go to FAMU.

Since joining Married to Medicine in 2014, Heavenly has proven to be Alauras biggest cheerleader. The mother-of-three has used her platform to promote Alauras music and YouTube projects and has even enlisted the teen to help run her online business, Heavenly Beauty.

Daily Dish Mtm Heavenly Kimes Alaura

Alaura has a big role in this beauty supply store, Heavenly said in the Married to Medicine Season 9 premiere. I wanted to make sure that she had a business that she could go into She runs the social media, she helps with the website. Shes bossy, shes confident, and  unlike her mother  shes very fashionable.
Asylum protections were the target of the left and the right this week, as both the White House and the House GOP laid out plans for limiting pathways for those fleeing persecution.

While Republicans rolled out a plan to severely limit asylum rights  arguing such a move is necessary with the lifting of Title 42  the Biden administration likewise unveiled a new regulation that, while less extreme, would also dramatically restrict who is eligible for the protections.

The refrain We are a nation of immigrants, but we are also a nation of laws was used to pitch the respective plans in two different places on Thursday, the day Title 42 was officially rescinded.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas used the phrase at a White House press briefing announcing the administrations response plan; Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) repeated it on the House floor in calling for passage of the GOP bill.

There are some pretty significant and meaningful distinctions between the Biden administrations approach, including that regulation, and what House Republicans did yesterday. But the bottom line is that theres this clear bipartisan effort and attention to ways to potentially limit the population of people who could qualify for asylum in the U.S., said Jorge Loweree, managing director of the American Immigration Council.

Thats something that we dont anticipate is going to go away. This is the new frontier in immigration policy.

Bidens new asylum rule

To be sure, the GOP bill is far more expansive than President Bidens new asylum rule. The bill that passed Thursday evening slices away asylum rights at every turn, limiting who can travel to the border to apply, upping the standard for passing an initial screening, and then tightening the categories under which people can be granted protection based on their identity or beliefs.

But the Biden plan mimics a prior Trump policy known as a transit ban, largely blocking asylum to anyone who doesnt first apply and get denied for asylum elsewhere along their journey to the U.S.

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Its a move likely to limit pathways for anyone who cannot get a direct flight to the U.S., something that often requires securing a tough-to-get tourism visa. And places like Cuba and Venezuela or others with limited direct flights would largely be cut out from applying.

Only those within Mexico or Canada would be able to travel by car to present themselves at the border and seek asylum, cutting off many who otherwise travel throughout Latin America to arrive at the border.

The Biden rule assumes those who do not first get denied for asylum elsewhere are ineligible for asylum  an assumption they can seek to challenge in immigration court, a higher bar for what is already a difficult protection to secure.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaks during a press conference after the passing of Secure the Border Act on Thursday, May 11, 2023.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued over the policy just minutes after it took effect shortly after midnight Thursday, noting in a press release that it successfully challenged a similar Trump-era policy in court.

The asylum bans were cruel and illegal then, and nothing has changed now, the group said.

But the similarities between the Trump and Biden plans werent lost on Biden allies either.

One-time Biden challenger Julian Castro, shared on Twitter a clip of one of the 2020 presidential debates, with Biden pointing to former President Trump and calling him the first president in the history of the United States of America that says anybody seeking asylum has to do it in another country. Thats never happened before in America.

Castro, who served as secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the Obama administration, called it a promise broken.

Today, with his new asylum rule, Biden became the second president. Promise broken, he tweeted.

House Republicans asylum plan

The GOP bill passed by the House this week goes much further than Bidens rule, but it has little chance of becoming law given that the Democrat-led Senate has declared it dead on arrival.

Still, it outlines GOP priorities when it comes to the border, and while it covers security issues and other forms of migration, it is heavily focused on asylum.

The bill was timed to coincide with the end of Title 42, with Republican lawmakers arguing the legislation preserved asylum rights for the truly deserving.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) billed it as provid[ing] for a path for asylum while making sure we dont create a magnet for the abuse of migrants in the false name of compassion.

Immigration advocates assess, react

The confluence of the two measures has been overwhelming for some immigration advocates.

These are all human beings, most of which are fleeing persecution. And theyre just looked at as numbers and optics for the news cycle and for the election cycle, said Jennifer Quigley, senior director at government affairs for Human Rights First.

Its a complete dehumanization of the most vulnerable people for scoring political points and viewing the border as something that has to be managed as opposed to [the fact that] people are going to come. The world has seen the largest displacement crisis in recorded history. I dont care how horrible you make this process for them. Theyre going to come as long as what is here is not as horrible as what they left.

The Biden administration has defended its new rule, arguing that its been paired with other lawful pathways for migrants to come to the U.S.

Still, those pathways have their own limitations. Only citizens from Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Haiti can apply for temporary entrance to the U.S. But to qualify they must secure a U.S.-based financial sponsor and already have a valid passport.

We believe that rule is well within our statutory authority. And we have tied it to an expansion, a historic expansion  of our lawful pathways for people to come directly to the United States at the end of the day, Blas Nunez-Neto, chief operating officer at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said on a call Friday with reporters.

Loweree said that program, combined with an increase in visas and the use of an app to book appointments at the border, will collectively mean pathways to the U.S. for hundreds of thousands of people, gains that will be countered by the new asylum regulation.

The regulation that has come into effect, though, steers the other way. It will cut a lot of people out, a lot of people who should otherwise qualify for protection, for reasons that are largely arbitrary, he said, adding that many other countries do not have meaningful asylum systems in place.

But Quigley said the programs rolled out for Venezuelans, Cubans, Nicaraguans and Haitians arent enough, especially because many in those countries either wont be able to secure a financial sponsor or may not have a valid passport, particularly those who have already fled to another country.

The problem is that they were crafted in a way that the most vulnerable were never going to qualify for them, she said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Eurovision has finally arrived, with the bookies favourite Loreen hopeful that shell be able to take home the trophy for a second time.

The Swedish singer was behind Euphoria, one of the biggest Eurovision songs of the 21st century.

Loreen triumphed with the track in 2012. The song went on to top the charts across Europe and reaching No 3 in the UK, the highest chart position for a non-UK Eurovision entry since 1987.

This year, Loreen will represent Sweden once again with the equally catchy and predictably euphoric ballad Tattoo.

With its powerhouse vocals and soaring melody, the track has a good chance of achieving the same success as its predecessor.

Going into the competition, Loreen is the clear favourite among the bookies to win the competition. You can find the current winner odds here.

The Stockholm-born singer  real name Lorine Zineb Nora Talhaoui  rose to fame after she finished fourth in Swedens Idol singing competition in 2004. She released her first single The Snake the following year.

Ahead of Loreens performance in Liverpool this week, we spoke to the musician about returning to the competition, finding nature and writing love songs.

(Handout)

Hi Loreen! Its so exciting to see you back at Eurovision  how have rehearsals been going?

Its going well but its definitely intense, haha. Its a very physical performance. You must be in tune with both mind, body and soul to do this the right way. It takes discipline, it takes a lot of hard work. You have to be strong both physically and mentally and you have to have a huge focus... Everything needs to be pure, and for that I need to be focused. You cant split your energies all over. So, my days are filled with a lot of training, a lot of eating, a lot of communication and a lot of sleeping. Theres no wiggle room for anything else, but I love it.

You won the competition back in 2012. Did you expect that experience to be so transformative?

It changed my whole life, and it also really taught me a lot about intuition. Before Euphoria I was struggling, compromising back and forth, doing things I wasnt supposed to... With Euphoria, it was the first time I decided to do what I wanted to do. And yes, I was afraid and I was worried that it might not even work, but I needed to go with my gut feeling, my intuition. And my intuition told me that the performance needed to look like it did. I dont know why, but my intuition told me that that song needed to have that siren in the beginning. My intuition also told me that I needed to be barefoot, that it should snow and that youre not supposed to see anything on stage. People said, Its never going to work. But it did.

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Loreen won Eurovision for Sweden in 2012 (Getty Images)

Euphoria pushed the boundaries of what Eurovision music could do in terms of international success after the competition. In recent years, weve seen Maaneskin also go on to fame across the world. Why is the rest of the world catching up to Eurovision now?

I think its because this community stands for certain things, it has certain values that the majority of people resonate with. This is a space where youre accepted, where your differences are appreciated, which is very unique. All of us that belong to this community and those who support the community, we all gather around creativity as well. This is one thing, diversity is another. I think this is the reason why it is such a huge thing. Everybody is included!

What made you want to return to the competition for 2023?

I never imagined that Eurovision was going to be my path again. But when the song was sent to me, just the embryo, the demo, I instantly intuitively felt like Im going to do something with this song. The whole reason why Im doing this again is because I truly, deeply believe that I have something that I can give. So, for me its not about success, its about communication. We are all creators, and we have a purpose. We all have creativity within us, and were supposed to send that out. And now Im here at Eurovision feeling happier than ever, which is crazy because I never thought that I would be here again.

Where did your inspiration for this song come from?

Im in love with Tattoo. I just feel it has a beautiful purpose. With this song, there is a certain energy movement created that people are resonating with. Its beautiful and I get to be a part of it. The process of making Tattoo was pretty simple. Its funny, cause when youre at the right place, it is simple. Ive worked with the songwriters many times... so they know that if they want something really good to happen, they just sit back and relax and let whatever happens, happens. So, I went into the studio and the relationship between me and the song became even stronger. It just flowed. One or two hours later, it was done. And its pretty magical. You know, when you dont let the mind interrupt, you just sing and suddenly you see pictures and everything. Its pretty amazing.

Tattoo is a song about eternal, overpowering love. What love songs have you turned to in emotional times?

There are many of them but the first thing that pops into my head is All is Full of Love by Bjork. Its a beautiful song saying that everything is love, which is the truth! So, whenever I really want to deeply connect with that loving feeling for everything, I turn to that song. Its a very intelligent song.

This years final is taking place in Liverpool, what local culture are you excited to explore?

Im a nature person, so Im always curious to see what the countryside looks like. The question is whether I have time for it but thats at least what Im longing for, to see the countryside of Liverpool.

Loreen performs Tattoo during the semi-final (The Associated Press)

Youre entering the competition as the bookies favourite to win. How tuned in are you to Eurovision gossip? How do you manage that pressure?

I see this space as a safe haven for creators, to fully create and express their true selves. The competition is a play  a beautiful play because it includes people  so I wouldnt want to take that out, to be honest. Its an important part because were rooting for the ones that we love. My pressure, or as I call it, my discipline is to be a servant of creativity and to create something that hopefully is authentic for you guys. And I love that.

How can Eurovision 2023 personally top the euphoria you felt at the 2012 final?

The difference between then and now is now Im more present. Its like Im more one with the people than Ive ever been, you know? Its like I feel everything in the room and its a beautiful feeling. Im also very much aware of the love I feel in my body and sending it out! Whereas when I did it in 2012, everything was new but I had a lot of love but I didnt know how to navigate it. Now I know exactly what Im doing when Im sending it out and also receiving, taking it in.

Liverpool is hosting on behalf of Ukraine this year, who are unable to host due to the war with Russia. As a result, Eurovision 2023 carries a particular importance. Is this something you and your fellow competitors have discussed or you feel backstage?

I havent discussed the support of Ukraine with my fellow colleagues but Ive thought about it myself. Its a beautiful thing that were doing, it says something about all of us. We find our ways to support Ukraine and we do it through this community and through creativity. Its done beautifully, if you ask me, by doing the thing they do best  being warm, inclusive & welcoming. Which I think so far, theyve succeeded brilliantly with.

Whose performances are you most looking forward to seeing? Who have been your favourite Eurovision entries over the years?

All of them! Im rooting for everyone and hope that they also can enjoy this experience while it lasts. But I really like Blanca Paloma from Spain, Alessandra from Norway and Kaarija from Finland. One of my favourite songs from Eurovision is Arcade by Duncan Laurence

If you win in Liverpool, will you celebrate with a Eurovision tattoo?

Trust me, a win wont stop me from getting tattoos  I already have my body covered so why stop now?
Among the acts to take the Eurovision stage this weekend are the all-female folk band Vesna, who are representing Czechia in this years song contest.

With the semi-finals now done and dusted, the 26 countries to compete for the glass microphone trophy in Liverpool this Saturday (13 May) have been confirmed.

You can see the full line-up and running order for this weekends glitter-strewn event here.

Inspired by their bond as bandmates and women, Vesnas song My Sisters Crown is a celebration of sisterhood, female power, and community.

While these values underpin the groups own sense of family, the lyrics are also intended to resonate more widely and galvanise other marginalised groups who experience violence.

The distinctly feminist approach to the lyrics is consistent with the origins of the bands founding member.

Singer-songwriter Patricia KaAok developed a passion for celebrating Slavic culture and femininity during her musical studies at the Jaroslav JeAek college in Prague.

Vesnas accompanying performance for My Sisters Crown sees the women donning matching pastel pink outfits and floor-grazing braids.

(PA)

Its a slick and simple affair compared to some of the more wild acts they are up against, such as Australian prog-rock group Voyager and Germanys head-bashing metal outfit Lord of the Lost.

With two albums already under their belt, Vesna will be bringing a well-tuned blend of dreamy folk and contemporary pop to the Eurovision stage this weekend.

The Czech Republic may have withdrawn from the competition for 10 years (resuming only in 2015) due to a perceived lack of interest in their countrys performers, but the magnetic presence of Vesna is likely to render this hiatus long forgotten.

This year is also the first time that the country has competed in Eurovision under the name Czechia.

Ahead of this weeks competition, we spoke to Vesna about competing in Liverpool and girl power.

Vesna are representing Czechia (Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)

Hi Vesna! Eurovision 2023 is fast upon us  how are you feeling about competing in Liverpool?

In one way, we feel honoured to represent the Czech Republic in such an important event  we are no longer Vesna, but Czechia. People call you by the name of your country, and with that you also feel the weight of responsibility. We feel like we are in a dream, being able to have all these gigs, all the international fans singing our song and meeting talented and brilliant artists. It is all very surreal.

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You wrote My Sisters Crown specifically to be performed at Eurovision. Where did the inspiration for the song stem from?

As women, we have a bond with each other that is shared not only through music, but also friendship, which feels like sisterhood to us. With our song, we wanted to support all the people that are experiencing a certain type of pressure or restriction on a personal or social level.

We wanted everyone who listens to the song to feel like they own their crown, and nobody can undermine that. Its a song calling for all the underdogs to be strong and supported.

Whats an essential item in your Eurovision rider?

Believe it or not, just an in-ear system and steam iron!

Whos your favourite Eurovision contestant of all time and why?

Ruslana [2004 Ukraine contestant]  her song was a great hit in the Czech Republic while we were growing up, but Manizha [2021 Russia act] is also such a talented artist, and Maneskin [2021 Italian winners] are a brilliant and successful band. Also Mikolas Josef, who came sixth [in 2018], the best result the Czech Republic has ever got at Eurovision. And so many more!
Foo Fighters

Foo Fighters are lining up "soon-to-be-announced" UK shows.

Dave Grohl's band, who recently released Rescued as the first single from their forthcoming But Here We Are album, are set to return to action in two week's time, with a show at Gilford Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion in New Hampshire. This will be the LA-based group's first 'proper' show since the passing of drummer Taylor Hawkins. As yet, the group have not confirmed who will play drums at future gigs.



Foo Fighters have now flagged up "forthcoming and soon-to-be-announced UK live dates on their website: a pre-sale code will be available to those pre-ordering the forthcoming But Here We Are on any format.



But Here We Are, will arrive on June 2 via Roswell Records/Columbia Records. It's being described as the first chapter of the bands new life, a brutally honest and emotionally raw response to everything [the band] endured over the last year and a testament to the healing powers of music, friendship and family.

UK dates coming!! https://t.co/ov0TyUQE0x pic.twitter.com/NWez6jUvJwMay 11, 2023

See more

Speculation as to who might replace Hawkins in the band has recently settled upon The Darkness' Rufus Taylor, son of Queen legend Roger Taylor, a close friend of Hawkins.



Asked about the possibility of his son becoming the new Foos drummer, Roger Taylor told BBC Radio 2: "Well, Rufus is phenomenal. Hes turned into this scary, great drummer with The Darkness... Hes just annoyingly powerful and hes become very, very good. I cant say any more!"

Foo Fighters tour dates 2023:

May 24: Gilford Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion, NH

May 26: Boston Calling Music Festival, MA

May 28: Columbus Sonic Temple Arts & Music Festival, OH

Jun 02: Nurburgring Rock Am Ring, Germany

Jun 04: Nurburg Rock Im Park, Germany

Jun 14: Rogers Walmart AMP, AR

Jun 16: Pelham Oak Mountain Amphithea, AL

Jun 18: Manchester Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, TN

Jul 12: Ottowa Bluesfest, ON, Canada

Jul 15: Milwaukee Harley-Davidson Homecoming Festival, WI

Jul 28: Naeba Fuji Rock, Japan

Aug 12: San Francisco Outside Lands Festival, CA

Sep 03: Aspen Jazz Aspen Snowmnass, CO

Sep 09: Sao Paulo The Town, Brazil

Sep 17: Asbury Park Sea.Hear.Now, NJ
The actor  who is currently facing assault charges  and the actress are currently seeing each other, PEOPLE can confirm

Joi Pearson Photography/WireImage, Albert L. Ortega/Getty

Jonathan Majors and Meagan Good are dating.

The actor, 33  who is currently facing assault charges  and the actress, 41, are currently seeing each other, PEOPLE can confirm. TMZ was the first to report the news.

An eyewitness told the outlet that the duo were at the Alamo Drafthouse in Los Angeles last weekend to see a movie.

Representatives for both Majors and Good did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

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Frazer Harrison/WireImage, Jon Kopaloff/WireImage

Related:Meagan Good Opens Up About Why Divorce Was Her 'Biggest Fear' and 'Nothing I Would Have Ever Chosen'

Majors' romance with Good comes about after the Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania star was arrested in March in connection with an alleged domestic dispute. He was subsequently charged with multiple misdemeanor counts of assault and harassment by the Manhattan District Attorney's office over the alleged incident.

The actor appeared virtually at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City for a short hearing earlier this week, where he spoke during the hearing only to confirm that he consented to appear at the hearing virtually rather than in person.

In a statement obtained by PEOPLE following the hearing, Majors' attorney Priya Chaudhry said that her team has provided the Manhattan District Attorney's office with "irrefutable evidence" that the alleged victim in the March 25 incident that led to his arrest "is lying" about the facts of the case. (The alleged victim has not been identified by authorities and it is unclear whether she has her own legal representation.)

Good, meanwhile, separated from ex-husband DeVon Franklin in December 2021 after nine years of marriage. They announced their split at the time and then finalized their divorce in June 2022, just a week after what would have been their 10-year anniversary.

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The decision to divorce wasn't hers, the Harlem star shared in her first ESSENCE solo cover interview. She detailed the difficulties resulting from the fallout of the marriage and told the outlet that she still considers Franklin, 45, "an incredible and beautiful person," confirming that neither did anything malicious toward the other.

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Read the original article on People.
Groups gather Thursday in front of the Oregon State Capitol, calling on Republican senators to end their walkout of the Legislature.

Oregon lawmakers intent on passing legislation that would protect and decrease gaps in access to reproductive and gender-affirming health care have been stymied, at least temporarily, by Republican senators who have walked out of the Legislature.

HB 2002 explicitly lists reproductive and gender-affirming health care that would require insurance coverage by any health benefit plan in the state of Oregon, including abortion, contraceptives, sexually transmitted infections screening, breastfeeding support, domestic violence counseling, electrolysis and facial surgery.

The bill also clarifies that Oregon minors under the age of 15 are able to receive abortions without parental consent or notification.

At least 13 states had trigger laws to ban abortion in the first and second trimesters following the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. And dozens of other states have worked toward restricting or banning abortion with legislation that would limit or completely block access to this type of care. Anti-LGBTQ legislation has followed a similar trend.

That's why the walkout feels different to Jackie Yerby, board co-chair to Portland-based nonprofit Basic Rights Oregon, which focuses on LGBTQ+ policy and advocacy.

Four senators have nine unexcused absences as of Thursday: Brian Boquist, I-rural Polk and Yamhill counties; Daniel Bonham, R-The Dalles; Cedric Hayden, R-Fall Creek, and Dennis Linthicum, R-Klamath Falls.

If leaders fail to reach an agreement by 10:30 a.m. Monday when the Senate is scheduled to reconvene, they could hit 10 unexcused absences, the trigger under Measure 113 that would bar them from running for reelection.

A woman at a protest Thursday holds a sign asking Republican senators to return to the Oregon Legislature. Republican lawmakers have said they're protesting a lack of readability of bill summaries, as well as Democratic legislation restricting gun use and expanding abortion and transgender protections.

Oregon's walkout history

Oregon is one of the four states with a requirement of a two-thirds quorum to conduct business. In the Senate, 20 of its 30 members must be present to hold a session. Texas, Tennessee, and Indiana are the other three states with a similar rule. Due to that threshold, walkouts have become a powerful tool for minority lawmakers.

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In Texas, Democrats walked out for 93 days in 2021 in a failed effort to stop a Republican-backed voting bill that added stricter rules to the state's elections.

There have been walkouts throughout the Oregon Legislature's history, including in 2001, when House Democrats walked out in protest of a Republican redistricting plan.

But the tactic has been used most recently and frequently by Senate Republicans. In 2019, Republican senators twice walked out in disagreement with the cap-and-trade bill and a school funding tax package. The cap-and-trade plan failed during the session while the education package was passed.

A revised version of the cap-and-trade bill was introduced in 2020, but Senate Republicans again walked out, dooming scores of other bills during the 35-day session.

Senate Republicans walked out again in 2021 to target COVID-19 restrictions.

Peter Courtney, the Senate president for more than 20 years, warned in 2019 that lawmakers needed "to find a way to make sure this doesn't happen again."

Courtney does not want to tell legislative leaders what to do about the ongoing walkout nor does he have a "profound formula," but he said he is hopeful cooler heads prevail, perhaps thanks to Mother's Day weekend.

Courtney, no stranger to walkouts, said these situations are wearing and that each negotiation is unique.

But the clock is ticking, with the legislative session set to end on June 25.

"When you are in these situations, you've gotta go into a room and never come out until you've got a deal  I don't care how many hours it takes," Courtney said. "The Legislature's taken a lot of hits the last several years and a lot of hits as an institution and I think it hurts it."

Legislative discussions to lower the quorum requirement have yet to come to fruition but a ballot measure, approved last November, was meant to discourage walkouts. Under Measure 113, any legislator who accumulates 10 unexcused absences during a legislative session would be unable to serve for the term following the end of their current term.

"Denying quorum is one tool out of many that they have deployed to delay or stop bad bills this session; none have prevailed, meaning this walkout is the last resort and may result in losing their seats," Boquist wrote in a newsletter on Thursday.

Republican senators have appeared largely unconcerned about the repercussions of their unexcused absences. Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp, R-Bend, has suggested senators are willing to reach 10 absences to challenge the constitutionality of the measure. He would not say which senator is willing to be the first to hit 10 in order to file a lawsuit.

For Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena, the prohibition on reelection doesn't matter much after announcing his retirement in March.

What are Republicans protesting?

Republicans insist the latest walkout was motivated by the readability of bills, not policy. It is an argument Democratic leaders immediately pushed back on.

Senators are set to take votes on two contentious bills and a proposed measure: House Bill 2002, 2005 and Senate Joint Resolution 33.

Sponsors have said House Bill 2005 would introduce "common sense" gun legislation, raising the age to purchase and possess certain guns, prohibiting unserialized "ghost guns" and allowing local governments to introduce restrictions on concealed firearms in public buildings.

SJR33 is a proposed constitutional amendment to enshrine the right to abortion, same-sex marriage, and gender-affirming care into the Oregon Constitution. It was introduced by Senate Majority Leader Kate Liber, D-Beaverton. Knopp has called the resolution an "extreme assault on parental rights."

But Knopp said Senate Republicans walked out to take issue with bills' compliance with little-used rules and statutes: Senate Rule 13.02 (5), ORS 171.134, and Article IV Section 21 of the Oregon Constitution. Under the rules and statutes, bill summaries must be written to reach a score of at least 60 on the Flesch readability test  essentially requiring them to be written in plain language that most adults could understand.

Knopp also has told reporters there were at least 20 "hyperpartisan" bills Republicans are protesting. He has declined to specify those bills.

Boquist, who has participated in all nine days of the walkout, wrote in his newsletter the walkout targets "specific pillars of wrongdoing" including HB2002, "lawlessness" and "corruption."

In walking out, "minority legislators are bravely 'doing their jobs' because they work for Oregonians, not the legislature," he wrote.

Quorum rules protect the minority from the rule of the majority, Boquist added.

Conversations ongoing to end walkout

Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Beaverton, told reporters his door has remained open to the Republican caucus to reach an agreement. All solutions except for killing HB2002 are on the table, he said.

Let me be clear: House Bill 2002 is not up for negotiation, Wagner said.

Lieber added that she has asked Republicans to give a "wish list" not a "kill list."

Wagner on Thursday agreed to pause floor sessions that had been scheduled through the weekend. Knopp issued a statement saying he made the request.

Instead, leadership plans to continue negotiations. Wagner, Knopp, Lieber, House Speaker Dan Rayfield, D-Corvallis, House Majority Leader Julie Fahey, D-Eugene, and House Minority Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson, R-Prineville, have met at least once.

I hope this agreement to pause Senate floor sessions will create room for progress," Wagner said. "I will continue to engage in good faith conversations to move our state forward."

'Critically important legislation' at risk

As legislative leaders attempted to cool down talk of the walkout, public advocates made their frustration clear during a rally Thursday afternoon.

Hibah Hammas, a senior at the University of Oregon involved in politics and lobbying and part of the Oregon Student Association, spoke at the gathering. She joined other college students to advocate for more higher education resources not less, as the proposed public university and community college budget for the next biennium suggests.

Sen. Elizabeth Steiner, D-Portland, speaks to groups that gathered Thursday, calling on Republican senators to end their walkout.

Hammas and other students have shown up to meet with legislators while juggling schoolwork, jobs and extracurriculars. Millions of dollars hang in the balance, she said, and the Republican walkout doesn't send a positive message to students.

"Senators won't show up and are playing games with our future," Hammas added.

Sen. Elizabeth Steiner, D-Portland, said her Democratic colleagues have shown up every day to pass "critically important legislation," specifically HB2002, to protect abortion rights following Roe v. Wade being overturned.

Steiner, a physician, spoke of the fear patients and doctors have in states where "politicians are inserting themselves into these deeply personal medical decisions."

Dianne Lugo covers the Oregon Legislature and equity issues. Reach her at dlugo@statesmanjournal.com or on Twitter @DianneLugo

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: As Oregon walkout drags on, GOP lawmakers near absence limit
The region includes Bolzano, which is the South Tyrol provinces capital city (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

An Italian region has imposed a cap on tourist numbers to prevent overcrowding.

Autonomous region Alto Adige (or South Tyrol) in northern Italy will limit the number of overnight visitors to figures seen in 2019.

There were 34 million overnight visitors to the area during 2022.

Alto Adige borders both Austria and Switzerland, is set among the Dolomites and has a population of both German and Italian speaking residents.

The region includes Bolzano (or Bozen), the provinces capital city.

Bolzano provincial council member and tourism official Arnold Schuler, who proposed the new legislation, told CNN: At certain times of the year and in certain areas, it became a lot.

We reached the limit of our resources, we had problems with traffic, and residents have difficulty finding places to live.

The law was enacted in September 2022 and there are now just under 230,000 guest beds which have been officially approved to fit within the newly capped number  the same number as pre-pandemic.

There is also a ban on any new accommodation opening unless another venue closes. That restriction includes Airbnb accommodation too.

Local businesses have been given until 30 June to record their 2019 accommodation figures, including sofa bed usage, to ensure official numbers are correct.

Mr Schuler added: The tourism sector is very important for us, for jobs and the economy, but we had reached the limit, so we took these measures to guarantee a better management of the flow of people, and to guarantee lodging for tourists.

Tourists come here to hike and to see beautiful places, not to find themselves in a traffic jam.

Measures have been put in place to to support small businesses, and there are to be an extra 7,000 guest bed slots, which the authorities can assign where needed to any accommodation hosting fewer than 40 guests.

An additional 1,000 guest beds have also been allocated for future authorisation should a business want to offer accommodation in a part of the region which has a lower overnight visitor count.

Restrictions have also been imposed on day trippers, with a reservation now required to visit key tourist spots including Alto Adiges glacial lake Lago di Braies.

You have to register to go to the lake, but that way youre guaranteed access and we wont have too many people there, Mr Schuler said, adding that officials will implement a reservation system in other areas of the region where needed too.
One Japanese brand that has taken over the global grooming device space is Panasonicand it makes terrific shavers, trimmers, and more. But theres another brand that has been big in Japan for the past few years, and is starting to make waves abroadand, pleasingly, those waves are as warm as the thermal waters in the nations famous hot springs.

The brand is Ya-Man, and its heated electric shaver is one of the more exciting devices to land in my mailbox of late. (Its Japans No. 1 market-share bestseller for the past four years, even.) Ill compare this one to a tool from another grooming device leaderthe heated razor from Gillette, which is clean-shaven guys dream come true. Like that manual razor, Ya-Mans electric device brings the classic barbershop hot shave to your fingertips. Its LED-glowing head is never too hot, and it warms up within moments of powering on, gliding over your face while keeping pores open and your skin calm.

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Ya-Man Heated Electric Razor

Buy Now on Amazon:

Price: $299

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You can use it in the shower, too, and with any shaving lotion if you prefer a wet shave. Obviously, because its an electric razor, it cant give you the same baby-smooth shearing that a manual razor provides, but thats exactly the point: This is for the frequent shavers who maintain a close enough shave, and dont mind touching up every day or two. That only further underscores how luxuriously divine this feels; it practically incentivizes you to do a once-over every day in order to enjoy that warmth. (You can choose to use it without the heat, too, and theres also an option to turn the device off and just enjoying a little warm compress against the skin, which Ive been guilty of a few times.)

While I wouldnt compare this ones complexity side by side with the best of Panasonic, Braun, or Philips-Norelco, I do think it stands in a class of its own due to this function, especially because, as a shaver, its technically excellent too. It uses a rotary head, of which only Philips Norelco really registers as a direct competitor (the other brands use foil heads). Rotary heads, in particular, are great options for guys with sensitive skin, thicker hair, and those prone to ingrowns.

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Ya-Man Heated Electric Razor

You can also detach the heated shave head and install the included trimmer head, in order to shear down longer hair prior to shaving, or to detail around the cheeks, neckline, mustache, or sideburns. It even comes with a hard-shell case plus swappable outlets that will help juice it up anywhere in the world. The one downside is the run time, which is just 25 minutes on a 3-hour charge. Ill look past that one for now, since its easy enough to charge this overnight or after a few uses, but hopefully the brand can swap in a better battery soon. Whats key here is the hot-shave experience, which is a joy. I wouldnt be shocked if more brands follow suit soon.

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By the end of this week, Seton Hall University student protesters who occupied the school president's office last week will know if they've won more resources for their Africana Studies program.

Students at the South Orange school protested publicly on April 3 after months of meetings with university officials following the departure of the program's director and only full-time faculty member, Kelly Harris. Harris left for a position at the University of Pennsylvania in December when he couldn't reach an agreement on a new contract.

Tensions escalated last weekend when 70 protesters, calling themselves the Protect AFAM Movement, took over the office of university President Joseph Nyre for several days. Since Monday, the students have occupied President's Hall from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., demanding a bigger investment in the program.

Seton Hall University students occupy the university president's office as part of protests that started on May 3 to get more resources for the school's Africana Studies Program.

The students' request starts with a new full-time director to step in. Seton Hall appointed Forest Pritchett, a longtime professor at the school, as the interim director of Africana Studies in January but he is not expected to take the job permanently.

The sit-in led to a 6.5-hour meeting on Monday with Nyre and other members of the administration, according to Tawanna Brown, one of the leaders of the protest. The negotiations, which are ongoing, have brought both sides closer to finalizing an agreement, she said.

Brown, a sophomore from East Orange with a double major in Africana Studies and Political Science, said she could not reveal what is happening in negotiations or what has been agreed upon, but she added that more information is expected to come out by this weekend.

The program was established in 1970, and according to Seton Hall's website, is the oldest college Black Studies unit in New Jersey. Students are required to take 10 courses including History of African Civilization and African American History. According to Brown, there are 11 students who are declared Africana Studies majors, 168 students enrolled in Africana Studies classes overall, and nine adjunct professors that teach in the program.

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Brown said protesters want to ensure the program has the resources necessary for students to fulfill majors and minors in Africana Studies. The department's work is essential, she said, in an era where conservative groups and politicians like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have targeted educational programs focused on Black history.

"It's important to save the program by hiring more professors equipped to teach Black studies courses because of the nationwide threat to Black studies and education," Brown said.

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The students' demands include:

Hiring three to four full-time professors with experience and recognition in teaching African Studies.

The reinstatement of the Africana Studies program as a fully funded department by spring 2024.

A full-time tenured director for the program.

Africana Studies students as liaisons with voting power on the search committee for the new director and professors.

Truthful posting of the faculty makeup and current state of classes in the program on the university's website.

Reinstatement of the Black House, a location that once existed on campus where some Africana Studies classes were taught and where Black students congregated.

A pardon for participants in the demonstrations from punishment proposed by the university.

Laurie Pine, a university spokesperson, said in an email to NorthJersey.com that the university's leadership held an "extensive and productive meeting" on Monday with student representatives and the president of the school's Student Government Association to make clear that there was no plan to close or underfund the Africana Studies program. Pine said a search committee is looking at applications to hire a tenure-track faculty member in Africana Studies, she added.

An ongoing issue

Protests over the Africana Studies program at Seton Hall aren't new.

It became a full-fledged department in 1978 as a result of student demands. There were more demonstrations in 2018 when students calling themselves the Concerned 44 conducted a 10-day sit-in. They pressed the school to dedicate full-time faculty to Africana Studies and more funding to a variety of other ethnic studies programs. The university met some of their requests, including hiring Harris as the full-time director at AFAM.

Pritchett, the current interim director, said in an interview that he will be in the role for a year, but has no plans to take it on full time because he is already serving in several other positions on campus.

He said he is in support of the students and sees a resolution of the current situation in the very near future.

A general view of the main entrance to Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J.

"I think where we have people of good will, you get movement," Pritchett said.

Brown said she and her fellow students are also looking forward to a resolution as they are protesting and negotiating while studying for their final semester exams, which started on Wednesday.

"I know for many of us it has been a lot just being able to balance everything, but we are doing all that we can and also fighting for something that's bigger than all of us," Brown said.

Ricardo Kaulessar is a culture reporter for the USA TODAY Network's Atlantic Region How We Live team. For unlimited access to the most important news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: kaulessar@northjersey.com

Twitter: @ricardokaul

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Seton Hall Africana Studies protest wins concessions for NJ program
Johnny Depp and Dior Sauvage are extending their partnership.

First reported by Variety and confirmed by a source close the deal, Depp and Dior Sauvage have extended a pact that is said to be three years and worth more than $20 million, making it one of the most lucrative celebrity fragrance deals. The Hollywood Reporter has also reached out to reps for Dior but did not hear back as of press time.

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While Depp faced scrutiny amid a tumultuous court battle last year with his ex-wife Amber Heard, Dior Sauvage didnt drop the actor, who has fronted the fragrance since it launched in 2015. Three months after Depp emerged victorious from the defamation suit, Dior Beauty promoted Depp in a new social campaign that was shared on the brands Instagram account. Profound and authentic. Johnny Depp embodies the heady magic of Sauvage, Dior Beauty shared in September 2022, on the heels of an initial report in TMZ that he had re-upped his pact. Another post the same day read, More than ever, Johnny Depp is the soul of Sauvage.

He can also be called successful. Bernard Arnault, CEO of Diors parent company LVMH, reported during a January financial presentation that Dior Sauvage was a leader in fragrance sales by achieving remarkable successdriven by the image of Johnny Depp. Already a leader in the category, Arnault also said the fragrance exhibited strong growth.

News of the deal comes days ahead of what will surely be a global spectacle when Depp hits the Palais red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival. His film, Maiwenns Jeanne du Barry, is set to open the festival on May 16. It will mark his first big-screen role since weathering the Heard controversy, following a 2020 release with Andrew Levitas Minamata.

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While Dior Sauvage stood behind Depp, he faced career setbacks due to the Heard drama that played out over several years, during which he was dropped by major Hollywood franchises, including Pirates of the Caribbean and Fantastic Beasts.

The appearance in Cannes could be a defining moment for Depps comeback, and the Dior Sauvage deal seems to be timed to coincide with the swell surrounding his return to the big screen. A veteran specialty distributor told THR in a new report, I havent seen the movie, but it feels like it was a good way for [Depp] to get back into everything.

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Its one thing to see Tom Cruise seemingly defy the laws of sanity in the Mission: Impossible franchise, but its a whole other experience watching the actor complete his stunts in person. Vanessa Kirby, who reprises her role as the White Widow in Mission: Impossible  Dead Reckoning Part One, says she was on set when Cruise parachuted from a motorcycle after riding it off a cliff in Iceland for the eighth installment of M:I.

He did it many times in one day, recalls Kirby. He did it consecutively  and repeatedly so he could capture all the different angles and sides of it.

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If Cruise was nervous, he sure didnt show it. He was just so calm, Kirby says. He had no fear. He just found it exhilarating. That kind of belief in cinema and what one could achieve and his passion for it is so inspiring. He kind of believes he can do the impossible and then he doesI love being a part of the franchise. Im really excited to come back.

Dead Reckoning Part One will be in theaters July 14. Kirby is signed up for at least one more installment. I would hope they would have me, she said when asked if she wants to do even more. My character, I love playing because shes kind of unusual, strange and fun and ambiguous.

Paramount debuted 20 minutes of Dead Reckoning during the its presentation last month at CinemaCon. Christopher McQuarrie, who directed the two previous Mission: Impossible movies, returns, as do ensemble members Kirby, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson and Ving Rhames.

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As a result of an ongoing strike by the Writers Guild of America, the 2023 Tony Awards wont be broadcast on CBS and stream on Paramount+ on June 11 as planned.

On Friday (May 12), the WGA denied a request for a waiver to allow for the Tony Awards to proceed as planned. The Hollywood Reporter was first to report the news.

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The Tony Awards Management Committee  which is comprised of eight representatives of the Broadway League, including president Charlotte St. Martin, and eight representatives of the American Theater Wing, including president Heather Hitchens  has set an emergency meeting for Monday morning to determine the best path forward. The options include sticking with the June 11 date and pivot to a non-televised presentation of the awards or postpone the ceremony until the strike comes to an end and the show can be televised.

The 76th Annual Tony Awards were set to be held for the first time at the United Palace in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. This would have been only the sixth time since 1997 that the show has not been held at its usual home, Radio City Music Hall in midtown Manhattan. Oscar winner Ariana DeBose was set to host the ceremony for a second year in a row.

This is the second time in the past three years that external events have thrown the Tony Awards timetable into chaos. The show that was originally scheduled to air in June 2020 didnt finally air or stream until September 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And then, CBS opted to air a celebration of Broadway titled Broadways Back. The regular, annual Tony show was relegated to pre-show status and streamed on Paramount+.

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According to The Hollywood Reporter, a script for the Tony Awards was completed before May 2, when the WGA declared a strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, of which CBS and Paramount+ are member companies. But without a waiver from the WGA granting special dispensation for the show, guild members would almost certainly show up to picket outside the Tonys new venue. And prominent members of the Broadway community  including Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda  have said they will not cross a picket line in order to attend.

The Tonys are a vital promotional tool for the Broadway industry  more than the Oscars, Emmys and Grammys are in their industries. Many in the comparatively small but fiercely loyal theatre-going audience decide what shows to see by watching the Tonys.

In addition, the Tony Awards has been regarded as one of the classiest and most entertaining awards shows since its first nationwide TV broadcast on ABC in 1967. (CBS has aired the show since 1978.) If the show doesnt air this year, it would be a loss both for the Broadway community and for Broadway fans.

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In Jan. 2021, Tucker Carlson told a Fox News colleague that he hated Donald Trump passionately. But less than two months earlier he was singing a dramatically different tune, newly leaked texts reveal.

In an exchange with his senior producer, obtained by the Daily Beast (yes, its yet more leaked evidence that emerged during discovery in the Dominion defamation lawsuit against Fox News), the recently fired host was so upset about the unusually negative coverage Fox was giving Trump that he said he was happy to start threating people to make it stop.

The text exchange happened Nov. 19, 2020, as Fox News was suffering a severe drop in ratings caused by the exodus of viewers angry that it had accurately called the election for Joe Biden and then  temporarily  refused to support Trumps constant lying about the loss.

The day before, Fox had published this story about Trumps decision to hold the annual presidential pardon of a turkey. The articles opening paragraph noted this was happening, despite the angst surrounding the growing number of coronavirus cases nationwide and the ongoing upheaval over President Trumps refusal to concede the election.

Carlsons producer, Justin Wells, was apoplectic. Pop that open in full. Its our networks [sic] official Instagram feed. Literally 4-5 separate swipes at Trump for doing the Turkey pardon. Its actually unbelievable. Were trying to piss people off for no reason. We cant fix all of Fox but there is a systemic issue here (to use an overused phrase of 2020.), he wrote, according to the Daily Beast.

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Were not going to succeed if this continues. The brand will be too damaged. We should jump on a couple of examples just to send a clear message. Lets start with this one. Can we find out who did this? Carlson responded. Im happy to start threatening people individually. Its too much. And again, it will hurt us badly if we let it continue.

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Wells, according to the Daily Beast, said he would find the guy who did this. After further discussions of possible topics for that nights episode of Tucker Carlson Tonight, and more complaints about how the network was covering Trump, Carlson vowed, we have to get this under control. Wells then noted that if Carlsons ratings continued to stay high even as the rest of the network suffered, it would give them more leverage over the network in terms of programming and compensation.

And indeed, as the Daily Beast notes, in Feb. 2021, Carlson signed a new 4-year contract that reportedly paid him as much as $20 million per year.

As became abundantly clear thanks to evidence leaked during the Dominion lawsuit, Fox soon enough came around and its biggest stars began embracing the lies Trump was telling about the election. That definitely included Carlson, who nevertheless tried to imply uncertainty about it.

That content of course eventually cost Fox News nearly $800 million, but the lawsuit also uncovered numerous damning details about Carlson that gave the conservative network multiple justifications to cut ties with him.

Carlson was Fox News biggest star, a success powered by his elevation of fringe conspiracy theories and blatantly hateful rhetoric. As the New York Times once put it, Tucker Carlson Tonight was possibly the most racist show in the history of cable news.

Since firing Carlson on April 24, Foxs primetime ratings in his time slot have suffered significantly.

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Tucker Carlson Felt Trapped at Fox News, Newly-Released Texts Reveal: Ill Die Here
New Mexicos spring wildfire season was underway as the states congress people sought action to both respond to the fires and provide relief to those still reeling from last year's record-breaking blazes.

Lincoln National Forest on Thursday raised its fire danger rating to high, according to an announcement from the U.S. Forest Service, after responding to 20 abandoned campfires in recent weeks and advising guests to use extreme caution when lighting and extinguishing campfires in the forest.

This came days after the Park Fire near Ruidoso burned about 3,000 acres after it was started May 3 by a lightning strike and was half contained by May 6, with 70 responders and aircraft deployed to the blaze near the Mescalero Apache Reservation.

More: Lujan Grisham signs burn ban bill into law to prevent future wildfires in New Mexico

It was the first fire of the year to grow larger than 1,000 acres.

Meanwhile, evacuations were in place in San Miguel County as the Las Tusas Fire near U.S. Highway 94 threatened to grow from an estimated 1,000 acres burned as of Thursday morning.

That was the region where the Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Fire in April 2022 burned about 341,000 acres, displacing residents and causing long-term damage to local water systems and infrastructure  the largest fire in New Mexicos history.

More: Martin Heinrich touts energy transition in reelection bid for New Mexico U.S. Senate seat

Last year also saw the second-largest wildfire in the states history when the Black Fire burned another 325,000 acres in southwest New Mexico.

The spring months are known for high fire danger in New Mexico as warming temperatures and high winds converge with low moisture ahead of the summer monsoon rains.

U.S. Sens. Ben Ray Lujan and Martin Heinrich (D-NM), along with U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM) urged the federal government Wednesday to hasten relief dollars for the Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Fire, while Heinrich cosponsored a pair of bills seeking to improve federal response to the fires and impacts like flooding.

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More: Here's what to know about New Mexico's wildfire bills considered by lawmakers this year

On Tuesday, the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) authorized about $18 million to aid in Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Recovery for the Mora-San Miguel Electric Co-Op and the New Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

The dollars were to help with repairs and reimbursements for fire response.

Teresa Leger Fernandez

The largest wildfire in New Mexico history will not stop us from rebuilding, Leger Fernandez said. This funding will repair basic infrastructure to further heal the wounds the fire caused.

More: Wildfires burned New Mexico last spring, prompting bill to ban burns during season

We will continue to use every possible federal resource to not only compensate those who lost so much in the fires, but invest in their future.

But the congress people also criticized FEMA on Wednesday for not yet publishing regulations called for in the Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Fire Assistance Act passed last year, requiring FEMA provide $3.95 billion to those impacted.

In a letter to FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security, the lawmakers chided the federal agency for missing deadlines tied to the bill and delaying the relief funding, and requested an update on the programs progress.

More: State of New Mexico accepting applications for nearly $1M to support rural firefighting efforts

While FEMA established an aggressive timeline for setting up the Claims Office, it has missed a number of self-imposed deadlines that has deepened mistrust with the community, the letter read. Every day that passes without compensation to the victims delays their ability to begin rebuilding after losing so much.

We ask that you put yourself into the shoes of those whove waited more than a year after the fire started.

Meanwhile, Heinrich signed on as a cosponsor for both the Fire Suppression and Response Funding Assurance Act and the Hazard Flooding and Mitigation Funding Assurance Act.

More: New Mexico wildfires ignite debate on oil and gas' role in climate change, economy

Lujan was also a cosponsor of the Fire Suppression and Response Funding Assurance Act which would allow local fire responders to receive FEMA grants and provide flexibility that could see federal cost shares exceed 75 percent.

Under current federal law, the federal government can only provide up to 75 percent of the costs with the state paying the other 25 percent.

The Hazard and Flooding Mitigation Funding Assurance Act would make similar changes to FEMAs post-fire response and for other hazards like flooding and debris flows, requiring federal funds account for at least 75 percent of that funding.

More: New Mexico state parks could prove alternative to national parks closed amid wildfires

The grants funds under that program are available after a presidential disaster declaration, and help local communities rebuild in the wake of disasters like wildfires.

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) tours Carlsbad Caverns National Park, July 6.

Heinrich said the legislation was needed to address increasingly worsening fires in New Mexico and the U.S., which he said were caused by ongoing climate change.

"The wildfires weve seen in New Mexico have been unprecedented and historic, but they are becoming dangerously routine, he said. We need to proactively work to mitigate the impacts of our climate crisis.

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Wildfires heat up in New Mexico. Political leaders fight for relief
Forty years ago today, it was reported in The News-Messenger that Fremont Cablevisions Timothy Wolfe and the Fremont City Council utilities committee were discussing the firms contract.

The cable company was asking to add six channels to the system and 90 cents to the customers monthly bill, raising the cost to subscribers to $7.75 for 17 channels instead of the $6.95 for 11 channels.

City officials were considering joining a coalition instead of granting a 15-year extension as requested.

Forty years ago, what is now the site of Vickery Environmental Inc. was then Ohio Liquid Disposal, and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and county were dealing with a clean-up plan for the OLD site.

Community was dealing with OLD clean-up plans

On the front page that day, Ohio Liquid Disposal was in the news in connection with an Ohio Environmental Protection order to submit a plan to clean up the 1.5 million gallons of PCB-contaminated oil at the site.

Sandusky County Health Commissioner Kenneth Kerik said that the cleanup will be a massive logistical problem and said the company may indeed need more time to devise a plan.

Meanwhile, Bill Warner of Vickery, a leader in the agricultural community, in a letter to the editor, was encouraging attendance at a meeting on the subject at the county health department because Land and water are our two most vital resources.

UPDATE: According to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Vickery Environmental, Inc. (VEI)  currently operates four Class I hazardous underground injection wells. Three other injection wells have been plugged and abandoned. VEI, the successor to Chemical Waste Management and Waste Management of Ohio (WMO), acquired the facility from OLD in 1978. Waste Management however has remained the owner/operator of the injection wells.

Waste Management on its website says it is on a mission to maximize resource value while minimizing  and even eliminating  environmental impact so that both our economy and environment can thrive.

Also in the news 40 years ago, The Vanguard Board of Education interviewed the last of seven candidates for the job  and could hire a new superintendent at its regularly scheduled April meeting

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Larry Graser, 36, was awarded a 26-month contract to earn $38,000 the first year. He was director of vocational and adult education for Oregon City Schools at the time.

Townships, county dealt with EMS issues

Then there was the request by the Sandusky Township trustees for a change of policy for dispatching ambulances in the township.

In the letter to EMS Director Gary LeMaitre, trustees were requesting a return to a policy agreed to about two years earlier under which township EMTs responded first to ambulance requests in their jurisdiction, leaving the decision whether to summon a county EMS crew to the first township EMT on the scene.

The policy had been changed three months earlier, sending both EMS and township squad to calls that were dispatched through the countys dispatch service.

Another medical service was in the news as Goebels announced plans to expand to Tiffin later in the month. Tiffins tax-supported ambulance should not perform invalid or transfer services. Outside the city, Goebels crews were to serve as back-up to existing services.

Meanwhile, Memorial Hospital honored Nan Newman and Dorothy Stebner for 25 years of volunteer service and gave special awards to Caroline Prosek and Alice Walter as it thanked volunteers for more than 19,432 hours of service during 1982.

Roy Wilhelm started a 40-year career at The News-Messenger in 1965 as a reporter. Now retired, he writes a column for both The News-Messenger and News Herald.

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Wilhelm: The news from 40 years ago still seems familiar
Over 90% of Uvalde students were picked up early by their parents or guardians from school Friday after a video was discovered circulating social media referencing threats to schools in the area, according to the district.

"These threats have caused families in our school district significant discomfort," Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District spokesperson Anne Marie Espinoza said in a statement.

The posts, which included an individual with a gun, were first discovered Friday and originated in Del Rio, Texas, a city 70 miles west of Uvalde, Texas, and targeted several school districts including Uvalde, Del Rio and Eagle Pass. Several police agencies investigated the threats throughout the day, and determined they are not credible.

PHOTO: A memorial dedicated to the 19 children and two adults murdered on May 24, 2022 during the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School is seen on April 27, 2023, in Uvalde, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images, FILE)

MORE: 'No one took leadership': A detailed look at the failings in Uvalde school shooting

"Unfortunately, as the anniversary of the Uvalde tragedy approaches, we will see more people wanting to scare and disrupt our schools," the San Felipe Del Rio CISD said in a press release.

Gladys Gonzales, a Uvalde parent, picked up her second-grade daughter from school after hearing about the threats. She said there were only a handful of students left in class when she picked her up. Her other daughter, who was a survivor of the Robb Elementary School mass shooting, was not in school Friday.

"It is nerve-racking every time there are threats," Gonzales told ABC News. "Law enforcement need to take it serious every time. The fear is real."

The posts also prompted the Uvalde school district to cancel their pep rally on May 12. The district did not implement an early release for the remaining 10% of students in order to prevent students from arriving at an empty home without guardian supervision.

"I think that fear is always going to be there and as much as we try to prepare ourselves, you can never be too safe," said Gonzales.

The mass exodus from Uvalde schools Friday afternoon is indicative of a community still reeling from the mass shooting that killed 19 students and two of their teachers nearly one year ago. Uvalde Interim Superintendent Gary Patterson said in a statement that these types of situations are occurring at a high frequency rate. The district became aware of another threat on Snapchat that turned out to have originated in Florida on May 5. Patterson wrote that the post was an attempt to disrupt the school day and did not present any danger to students.

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MORE: 'Please hurry': 10-year-old's courageous 911 call the day of Uvalde shooting

"We cannot afford to take anything for granted," said Patterson in a statement about the most recent threat. "We expect social media threats to increase as we near our one-year date."

The Uvalde school district has already elected to end the school year a few days early, so the buildings will be void of students and teachers on the one-year mark of the massacre.

ABC News' MaryEllen Schwisow and Brian Mezerski contributed to this report.

Nearly all Uvalde students picked up early by parents from school following gun-related threat originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
After a week of blame-shifting, name-calling and protests, New York politicians are coming to terms with the reality of housing and caring for thousands of new migrants.

A new bus of migrants arrived at New York City's Port Authority Bus Terminal Saturday morning around 6 a.m. as officials remained committed to caring for New York's newest immigrants, albeit without a clear action plan.



PHOTO: Migrants arriving from Texas by bus wait to be processed at the Port Authority bus terminal in New York City, U.S., May 10, 2023. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

Following the lifting of Title 42 -- a pandemic-era rule that allowed the easier expulsion of migrants -- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has continued to bus migrants to major cities like New York. Local, state and city officials have voiced concerns about a lack of planning to accommodate the migrants as New York operates a shelter system above capacity and vows to send migrants to counties that have already declared state of emergencies.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul sent a letter to President Joe Biden Friday requesting assistance from federal agencies to house migrants on federal land in New York, including military facilities.

"I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and the affected local government and that supplementary federal assistance is necessary," Hochul wrote.

As of Friday, New York City is beyond capacity for its shelter system with over 36,700 migrants housed across 120 locations, according to Hochul. She added that with no more shelter space, 40% of "mid-level hotel stock" in New York City is used for short-term respite centers.

In her letter, Hochul specifically called for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to direct the Department of Defense and National Park Service to assist in building and operating temporary housing on military installations and other government sites.

MORE: Migrant child has died in US custody, White House confirms

Hochul told county executives that she expects the federal government to soon step in to provide aid, according to Steve Neuhaus, the executive of Orange County, New York.

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Roughly 60 miles from New York City, Orange County became a center for controversy on Thursday when 82 migrants were bused from New York City to the Crossroads Hotel in Newburgh, New York.

Neuhaus told ABC News that New York Mayor Eric Adams did not provide any notice about the migrants to either himself, state police, the local sheriff or Hochul.

"So, it really is an unprofessional way of doing this; this could have gone a lot smoother," said Neuhaus. "If they said, 'Look, they're coming, here's their names, we'll work out everything later,' but it hasn't gone that way."

Neuhaus said last week that Adams initially told him 60 male migrants would arrive but a few days later recanted that statement and assured him no buses would arrive, according to Neuhaus. But on Thursday, he claims he received a call that a bus was 15 minutes away from the hotel.

Neuhaus also said he expects more buses to arrive at the Crossroads Hotel and Ramada Inn in Newburgh over the weekend. He said he heard that from county partners -- not the city of New York -- adding that Governor Hochul is trying her best, but the city "has gone rogue."

On Friday, Orange County sued New York City and the Crossroads Hotel to stop the housing of migrants. The town of Newburgh, New York, also filed a lawsuit and temporary restraining order against the owner of the Crossroads Hotel Friday, requesting an immediately halt to the "deliberate, hazardous and unlawful conversion" of the hotel as a selected housing site for New York City's migrant program.

Neuhaus told ABC News that he is not opposed to the arrival of migrants in Orange County but wants them to be vetted, adding that migrant workers arrive each year to work on farms.

PHOTO: NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 11: Councilmember Shahana Hanif speaks during a rally for immigrant rights at City Hall on May 11, 2023 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

New York City Councilmember Ari Kagan expressed a similar frustration about a lack of communication from Eric Adams after he learned that the standalone gym for a public school in Coney Island, New York, would be used to house migrants.

"First time I learned about it was a social media post on Facebook by the principal of that school," Councilmember Ari Kagan told ABC affiliate WABC.

Nearby residents expressed frustration about the surprise move, citing crime and public health concerns.

"Take them to Gracie Mansion," one resident told WABC. "Mayor Adams is taking this thing a little too far."

As New York struggles to house migrants, Adams has moved to relax rules that previously protected homeless families from seeking shelter. Signing emergency executive orders on Wednesday, Adams suspended sections of New York's administrative code related to right-to-shelter rules, including requiring families to be placed in private rooms with bathrooms and kitchens.

MORE: As Title 42 expires, is Joe Biden doing what he condemned Donald Trump for?

PHOTO: Security and staff personnel mill around The Crossroads Hotel where two busloads of migrants arrived hours earlier, Thursday, May 11, 2023, in Newburgh, N.Y. (John Minchillo/AP)

Eric Adams alluded to New York's challenges in an address to graduates of the City University of New York School of Law on Friday morning.

"These are exciting times, and we know we can move this city forward as we deal with the issues around immigration, the issues around public safety, the issues around how do we build a better city for all," Adams said.

During the address, students turned so that their backs faced the mayor, with boos and heckles tossed by the crowd -- a rough conclusion to a challenging week as New York City faces a crisis with no end in sight.

NYC loosens rules, ships migrants upstate and seeks federal aid amid a migrant surge originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Israeli-Palestinian violence flared this week as part of what appears to be the worst burst of fighting in months. Israeli warplanes struck targets in the Gaza Strip on Friday and Palestinian militants fired rockets toward Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and southern Israel. One of the world's most enduring conflict is never far from escalating. But here's some context to help you understand what's been happening lately.

Israeli airstrikes, Palestinian rockets: What is happening in Gaza?

Violence has for months been surging in the Palestinian-claimed, Israel-occupied West Bank as Israel's most right-wing government in history has conducted raids on suspected militants who have targeted Israelis.

Following the hunger-strike death of one of its West Bank members, Khader Adnan, while in Israeli custody, Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian militant group that rejects Israel's right to exist, launched a barrage of rocket fire at Israel from the Gaza Strip, a coastal enclave controlled by Hamas, a separate militant group.

The Israeli counterassault over the last few days has killed at least 31 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip including seven children and four women, according to the U.N. humanitarian office. One Israeli, a 70-year-old man, was killed in the central Israeli city of Rehovot when a rocket fired from Gaza hit a residential building.

May 12, 2023: A child looks toward the sky as he sits amidst the rubble of a building hit in an Israeli air strike in Biet Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip. Israel's military launched further strikes on Gaza on May 12 after militants fired rockets from the territory, on the fourth day of fighting which has killed dozens of Palestinians and one in Israel.

On their nation's 75th anniversary: Israelis ask: Is this still a democracy?

Islamic Jihad: What does it want?

Islamic Jihad is one of two groups in the Gaza Strip. The other being Hamas, a de facto civilian government in Gaza that has an estimated army of some 30,000. Islamic Jihad and Hamas are often united in their fight against Israel. But Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in 2007, has sat out this round of fighting.

Islamic Jihad is a hardline organization, backed by Iran, that wants to establish an Islamic state on all the lands historically claimed by Palestinians. This includes many parts of modern Israel.

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It has led attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians.

Israel's military reservists: How they transformed a political crisis into a security one

Cease-fire efforts: What happens now?

Two attempts at a cease-fire earlier in the week faltered. And Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported that Israeli officials pulled out of new talks in Egypt on Friday after Islamic Jihad unleashed rockets toward Jerusalem.

Ihsan Attaya, a senior official from Islamic Jihad, said it wants Israel to cease its policy of targeted killings. Attaya said Friday that the mediators have been unable to provide us with any guarantees.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Friday that he was conducting a security assessment to mount a further response. We continue, he tweeted.

Additional stories about Israel:

Poll: American Democrats express more sympathy for Palestinians than Israelis for first time

Let's talk about your peace plan: Rep. Rashida Tlaib's grandmother to Donald Trump

A Supreme Court case: How a gay couple's wedding cake got caught up in Israeli judicial reform

Contributing: Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fresh Israeli-Palestinian violence erupts: Here's why
Primrose of Mansfield named Distinguished Community of the Year

Primrose Retirement Communities LLC has named Primrose of Mansfield one of its 12 Distinguished Communities of the Year. The announcement was made on April 27, during the companys annual Leadership Retreat in St. Augustine, Florida.

Primrose Retirement Communities LLC recently named Primrose of Mansfield a Distinguished Community of the Year. From left are BJ Schaefbauer, president; Shala Steinman, operations manager; Alison Donley, executive director at Primrose of Mansfield; Jim Thares, CEO; Amanda Lindner, executive vice president operations.

"This award is given to communities who consistently meet and exceed expectations related to our mission of creating happy and healthy living environments for our senior population," said President BJ Schaefbauer.

Primrose Retirement Community of Mansfield consists of 36 independent living apartment homes, 32 assisted living apartment homes, and 14 townhome villas.

Since the opening of the first Primrose community in Aberdeen, South Dakota, in 1991, Primrose has grown to include over 33 locations in 17 states.

Spherion Mid-Ohio presented Marketing Excellence Award

Spherion Mid-Ohio received the Marketing Excellence Award during the recent Spherion 2023 National Meeting in Fort Worth, Texas.

Owners Beth and Mark Delaney were presented the award for their dedication to innovation and investment in marketing to raise brand awareness and build an audience to better connect job seekers with employment at local companies.

Their strategy led to an average rating of 4.9 on Google, according to a news release, which also stated one of the offices biggest marketing achievements in 2022 was from a TikTok post that earned 45 million views and more than 80,000 new followers.

The local marketing team consists of: Jessica Hiser, marketing and advertising director; Matt Peters, client and campaign marketing manager; and Miriam Morgenstern, marketing and outreach specialist.

Bellville native joins Haring Realty

Deanna Conrad

Deanna Conrad, a local entrepreneur and real estate professional, has announced her affiliation with Haring Realty.

Born and raised in Bellville, Conrad is a graduate of Clear Fork Schools and attended the Ohio State University at Mansfield. Starting in the workforce at the age of 14, she worked at San-dar Smorgasbord. Later Conrad founded A to Z Cleaning, which specialized in new construction cleaning for hospitals, schools, strip malls and other large construction sites.

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"I chose to go into real estate because I believe buying a home is one of life's most important decisions," said Conrad.

Conrad and her husband, Jim, have seven children, eight grandchildren, a dog and two cats.

She plans to spend several days a week at Haring's Bellville office, making it convenient for her clients and allowing her more time for family activities.

University Hospitals Samaritan Medical Center recognized for safety

ASHLAND  University Hospitals Samaritan Medical Center received an A Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit upholding the standard of patient safety in hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers. This national distinction celebrates UH Samaritans achievements in prioritizing patient safety by protecting patients from preventable harm and errors.

The new grades reflect performance primarily during the height of the pandemic. In fact, the spring A grade reflects continued outstanding results for UH Samaritan as this is its second Straight A result  reflecting a minimum of five consecutive A grades.

The Leapfrog Group, an independent national watchdog organization, assigns a letter grade to general hospitals across the country based on over 30 national performance measures reflecting errors, accidents, injuries and infections, as well as systems hospitals have in place to prevent harm.

The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade is the only hospital ratings program based exclusively on hospital prevention of medical errors and harm to patients. The grading system is peer-reviewed, fully transparent and free to the public. Grades are updated twice annually, in the fall and spring.

AI services scams target small businesses

COLUMBUS  Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the hot new thing revolutionizing medical research, challenging the art world, and even helping small business owners succeed by streamlining and automating tasks. Predictably, scammers are nimbly taking advantage.

How does the scam work? You get an unsolicited call, email or text message claiming to offer AI services for small businesses. You may even stumble across a convincing looking ad on social media or be sent one by a friend. The services sound amazing. Youll pay a reasonable amount upfront, and once the AI is set up, you can expect incredible benefits, such as automating all your marketing needs.

BBB President Judy Dollison warns if you engage with scammers offering phony AI services, youll likely lose any money you pay them. At the very least, business information could fall into the hands of bad actors putting individuals at risk for identity theft, business email compromise and other cons.

To avoid scams, the BBB says get to know a company before you do business with them. Review their website and social media accounts. If anything looks unprofessional or if contact information is missing or doesnt work, steer clear. Do an internet search for reviews and complaints. Search the company name along with the word scam to find reports or any dishonest business practices.

Also, watch out for aggressive sales tactics and far-fetched promises. If someone pressures you to buy a service, telling you youll miss out if you dont act right now, or if they promise you your business will make hundreds or thousands of dollars with little to no effort on your part, its probably a scam.

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Awards for Primrose, Spherion Mid-Ohio, UH-Samaritan plus BBB warning
Nastasic / Getty Images

Medically reviewed by Edmund Khoo, DDS

Coffee has plenty of benefits for your overall health. Studies have connected it with a lower risk of developing cancer, lower risk of type 2 diabetes, and a lower risk of dying from heart disease. But coffee has a more notorious reputation when it comes to your teeth.

Coffee is acidic, which means it can break down enamel, or the tooths outer layer. Its also full of tanninsthe molecules that give it a dark color.

Coffees ability to damage or stain your teeth really comes down to two things: exposure time and frequency, Augusto Robles, DDS, MS, DMD, an associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birminghams school of dentistry, told Health.

Exposure time has to do with how long it takes you to drink your coffee. Drinking it slowly, with pauses between sips, exposes your teeth over and over again to the acid and tannins. If you sip on multiple cups of coffee for hours every day, your teeth never get a break.

Long exposure never lets your saliva fully neutralize the acidity in your mouth, said Robles.

Saliva is one of your mouths main mechanisms for preventing cavities. But if youre constantly sipping on coffee, your saliva is not able to fully wash it away. And if sugar and cream are in the mix, it can further the risk of damage to the enamel and, over time, tooth decay.

Although coffee can be bad for your teeth, there are things you can do to mitigate the risks. Keep reading to find out.

Related:How Drinking 2-3 Cups of Coffee a Day May Help You Live a Longer Life

Does Coffee Stain Your Teeth?

You might remember a simple lesson in elementary school where your teacher dropped a boiled egg in a cup of coffee and let it sit. An hour later, the egg would come out brown. Something similar can happen to your teeth.

Teeth are made up of many layers. The outer layers have tiny ridges and pores where residue can build up, according to Robles. Anything with tannins, like red wine, soy sauce, coffee, and tea can build up in those ridges and stain the tooths surface. Luckily, they dont penetrate very deep.

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In fact, if you brush your teeth after drinking coffee, you can remove most of the staining material, said Robles. If you dont brush often enough, the staining will be worse.

Does Brushing Your Teeth After Drinking Coffee Prevent Stains?

Robles said the best time to brush your teeth after a cup of coffee is afterbut not too soon after. Brushing before drinking coffee strips the teeth of its protective layer of saliva. When that saliva is there, it can help neutralize some of the acidity that reaches the surface of the tooth.

If you brush and then go have coffee, you just peeled off your first [protective] layer, said Robles.

If you do end up brushing your teeth before you drink coffee, you can wait 15 minutes before your first sip to allow that saliva barrier to rebuild itself.

Brushing after you enjoy your coffee is ideal to prevent long-term staining. But, in order to protect your teeth, you need to give your mouth time to neutralize.

The surface of the teeth have been softened by the acid. If you go brush, you brush away a softened surface, and it's easier for you to take away tooth structure than it was before you drank your coffee, said Robles.

To neutralize your mouth, you can either swish some water around to wash away the coffee or wait around 20 minutes to let your saliva do it naturally.

How To Keep Coffee from Damaging Your Dental Health

Moderate coffee drinking without the addition of sugar likely isnt directly hurting your oral health.

Scientific analyses have found no associations between coffee and gum disease. Coffee is also not likely to be the direct cause of cavities. In fact, some research has pointed to it being beneficial against one of the main types of bacteria that cause cavities. More research needs to be done to make any direct conclusions.

If youre worried about the impact coffee is having on your teeth, a few tweaks can help make your coffee habit less damaging:

Drink it Faster

You dont have to drink your whole cup of coffee within minutes, but try allotting 30 minutes for coffee instead of sipping it over several hours.

Drinking the same amount of caffeine in smaller volumes might also be helpful. You can enjoy a cup or two of espresso much faster than a large dark roast.

Replace Coffee With Tea

While black tea will have a similar staining effect to coffee, other types of tea, including green and white tea, contain lower levels of tannins, research shows.

Switching to green tea can also be a positive move for your overall oral health. According to a large 2018 study, older people in Japan who frequently drank green tea were more likely to have better oral health than those who mostly drank coffee.

Use a Straw

If you drink iced coffee, you might already be sipping with a straw. But you can also try using a straw for warm coffee.

A straw is a great way to reduce coffees contact with your teeth. Just be sure you position it so that it goes past your front teeth.

Cut the Sugar

Adding sugar to your coffee can increase the risk of decay and cavities. If you drink your coffee with sugar every day, it may be a good idea to cut back.

Additionally, you could replace sugar with an artificial sweetener like xylitol, which is commonly found in sugar-free gum.

Add Dairy

Some older research has shown that adding milk to tea or coffee can reduce staining due to the protective effects of a protein called casein. However, another study found that teeth soaked in milk before being immersed in coffee still became stained.

Dr. Robles said milk does contain vitamins and minerals, like calcium and phosphorus, that are beneficial for keeping teeth healthy. But it also contains carbohydrates. Eventually, any carbohydrate residue on your teeth turns into damaging acids.

Therefore, milk in your coffee or not, its still a good idea to swish with water and brush your teeth afterwards.

Dont Have Acidic Foods or Drinks Before Coffee

One of the worst things you can do is drink something acidic before drinking coffee, research suggests.

Acidic drinks like orange juice break down your tooths outer layer, making it especially susceptible to staining. Once you switch to coffee, those tannins will have no problem lodging themselves in the microscopic nooks and crannies on the tooths surface.

In fact, in one 2021 study, researchers soaked teeth in a variety of liquids, including orange juice, soda, milk, and green tea before immersing them in coffee. While all the teeth came out stained, the ones that were soaked in orange juice and soda, which are both very acidic, took on the most severe stains.

Rinse With Water

After you finish your coffee, swish some water around your mouth. Not only does this wash away some of the stain-inducing tannins, but it also helps neutralize the acid in your mouth. That way, you can brush your teeth without brushing away any broken-down enamel.

When you're done, swish with water so you facilitate the clearing of the acid and neutralize the pH in the mouth, said Robles.

Related:Light Roast vs. Dark Roast Coffee: What Type Is Healthiest?

A Quick Review

Coffee has a reputation for staining your teeth. However, if youre a coffee drinker, you certainly dont have to give it up entirely to keep your teeth healthy and white. There are many things you can do to mitigate its effects.

One of the simplest steps you can take is to make sure youre brushing your teeth twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste, ideally after you drink your coffee (but not too soon after). You can also try reducing the amount of time it takes for you to drink coffee each day.

If youre still worried about stains, you can see your dental hygienist for cleanings more frequently. Additionally, you can try over-the-counter whitening strips or talk to your dentist about professional whitening sessions.

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Read the original article on Health.


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Joanna Gaines certainly brought her fashion A-game to the White House this past April.

The 45-year-old Fixer Upper star attended a celebration of Americas 70-year alliance with South Korea at a State Dinner with President Biden in Washington, D.C.

What an honor it was to be a part of tonights State Dinner to celebrate the 70 year alliance between the United States of America and my mother's home country of South Korea, Joanna wrote on Instagram.

Joanna Gaines traded her signature denim style for a formal gown this past April! The 45-year-old Fixer Upper star attended a State Dinner with President Biden in Washington, DC, with her husband, Chip, on April 26, 2023.

The dinner was especially momentous, as it was in celebration of Americas 70-year alliance with South Korea.

What an honor it was to be a part of tonights State Dinner to celebrate the 70 year alliance between the United States of America and my mother's home country of South Korea, Joanna wrote on Instagram. Coming off the heels of our incredible trip to Seoul, this evening was another reminder of just how proud I am to be a Korean American

Shop Now Magnolia Table, Volume 3: A Collection of Recipes for Gathering $26.09 amazon.com

For the special occasion, Jo wore a black asymmetrical one-shoulder gown paired with a coordinating black clutch. By her side, Chip looked dapper in a black tux. Understandably, fans couldnt help but gush over the couple. Amazing! You both look sharp, one fan wrote. One for the memory books, Im sure, another fan exclaimed. Congratulations on being able to honor South Korea and America's relationship. Im sure your mother and mother-in-law as well as all your parents are so proud. I would be boasting with joy that I made it to an event like that, someone else said.



As special as it was to attend the event, the moment she found out she was invited was particularly memorable.

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Anna Moneymaker - Getty Images

My mother found out that we were going  I mean, she cried immediately, Joanna revealed on TODAY while chatting with hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie. She was like, 'I would have never thought that my daughter would meet the Korean president,' So it was such an honor. It was such a dream, for sure.

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Louisianas public schools may soon be required to give students at least 15 minutes of recess each day.

The bill, proposed by Republican Rep. Beryl Amedee of Houma and supported by the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, would require a minimum of 15 minutes each day for supervised, unstructured free play. The House Education Committee passed the bill without objection Wednesday, and it will move to the full House for a vote.

The benefits of recess are well established, Amedee said, noting that a study from the American Academy of Pediatrics showed that recess improved students ability to focus and made instruction more efficient.

Louisiana House committee removes $52 million for childcare assistance on Early Ed Day

The bill would require recess for K-5 students.

Amedee said there is currently a discrepancy in how Louisiana public schools handle recess time, even among schools in the same district. Initially the bill would have removed a provision in current law that excludes time devoted to recess from the number of instructional minutes schools are required to have.

Amedee proposed an amendment to her bill to remove the exclusion. She said the Louisiana School Boards Association has been hesitant about a recess requirement in the past over fears that it would require districts to extend the school day to accommodate both the instructional minutes requirement and the mandated recess.

She said that after discussing removing the law excluding recess time from instructional minutes, she decided to amend the bill.

It seems that that is not a popular idea, Amedee said. They do believe in the benefits of recess, and they do want children to have at least this minor 15 minutes  were talking little children who need to move around and play  but they dont necessarily want the minutes to count toward the instructional allotment.

Cynthia Posey, the legislative director for the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, said her organization initially supported the bill, but keeping in the law excluding recess time from being counted toward instructional minutes changed its stance.

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Posey said it would be easier for the schools to accommodate the requirement if it could be counted toward instructional time, particularly as schools and teachers face a growing list of state-required activities.

Louisiana ranks 41st for Pre-K-12 education, up from 46th in 2019

Every additional requirement we pass through here, it adds to that and it takes away from recess time, Posey said. We are opposed to adding to the length of the school day. I dont think any teacher is opposed to recess, but we also have to recognize all the work they do after school.

If youre going to do something that might lengthen the school day, you need to take into account that its going to add another burden on teachers and also to students as well, she said.

Louisiana Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley spoke to the committee about the bill, though he was officially listed as providing information and not necessarily in support of the bill. Still, Brumley said he enjoyed recess as a student and that it kept many of his peers out of trouble.

At a special meeting in April, the bill was listed as part of LDOE and BESEs legislative package. Ethan Melancon, the director of governmental affairs for LDOE, said BESE was extremely happy to support this bill.

Recess  and we can list a ton of studies  has a significant impact on student well-being, Brumley said.

Rep. Lance Harris, a Republican from Alexandria and the chair of the House Education Committee, said he was shocked to learn that some schools dont already have a regularly-scheduled recess time.

I have to take a recess from my office, Harris said. I cannot believe that we keep children locked into a classroom or a building through the whole course of the day.

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This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Should Louisiana schools be required to have recess?
Downtown New York just got a luxe new storefront for all your cannabis needs.

The two-story retail and gallery space, dubbed Gotham, opened doors on Wednesday in the Big Apples Bowery neighborhood. Founded by Joanne Wilson, a multi-hyphenate known for making investments in brands such as Food52, Parachute, and Sweet Lorens, the shop will stocks all manner of cannabis goods. Offerings range from edibles and vaporizers to pre-rolls and tinctures. High-end product partnerships with New York-based brands like Edie Parker, Flowerhouse, House of Puff, and Rose New York x David Zilber of Noma will also be sold at store, alongside Gotham-branded products, apparel, and lifestyle offerings.

More from Robb Report

Gotham storefront in Bowery, NYC

The 2,800-square-foot retail space, designed by Cinema Vitae, offers an airy, modern aesthetic. Theres are wood-paneled wall displays and a leafy tree anchors the space at center. The displays are chock-full decorative pillows and coffee table books, as well as bongs and cannabis pens. A baby blue shelf space nearby sits near a rail of cannabis-inspired apparel and tables that trail the shops center.

Gothams rear houses a more minimalistic design with glass-encased displays featuring accessories, the shops own namesake CBD-based products, and more. The shops main staircase sits to the left of the displays, leading up to the second floor. The shop also has an exhibition space on the mezzanine that will host special events and display rotating shows featuring New York artists. The space will also feature a permanent installation by New York-based multimedia artist Molly Lowe.

A colorful shelf space with a variety of cannabis-based products

We wanted to create a space that was a first of its kind, uniquely downtown and differentiated from the local head shop, Gotham chief creative officer Billy Richards said in a statement. Gotham is a true concept store where visitors can discover something new, browse high end brands and enjoy incredible art through a distinctive NYC lens. And, of course, we also sell cannabis.

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The rear of the shop with glass-encased displays and a staircase to the second floor.

New York legalized marijuana last year, allowing locals to possess up to three ounces of cannabis for recreational use. As drugstore-style dispensaries pop up around the city, Gotham is betting that it can be the the preferred cannabis resource for upscale shoppers. Time will tell if that bet pays off.

Click here to view more images of the store.

Gotham cannabis store slide cover

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A Conover couple were sentenced on Thursday for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol breach, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

The couple are Dale Jeremiah Shalvey, 38, and Tara Aileen Stottlemyer, 37, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office.

Katharine Hallock Morrison, 24, of Dansville, New York, was also sentenced on Thursday, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

Shalvey was charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding law enforcement officers and obstruction of an official proceeding. Stottlemyer and Morrison were charged with obstruction of an official proceeding, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

Shalvey was sentenced to nearly three years and six months in prison, two years of supervised release and a $2,000 fine. Stottlemyer and Morrison were each sentenced to eight months in prison, two years of supervised release, and a $2,000 fine, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

On Oct. 3, 2022, the couple and Morrison, pleaded guilty to charges brought against them in connection to the breach, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

When Shalvey and Stottlemyer went to the U.S. Capitol, they were residents of Pennsylvania. The couple moved to Conover before they pleaded guilty to the charges, according to court documents.

The three defendants traveled together on Jan. 6, 2021, and illegally entered the U.S. Capitol grounds. Shortly after 2 p.m., Shalvey walked to a bike rack on the west front of the U.S. Capitol. The bike rack was used as a barricade. Shalvey assaulted law enforcement officers by throwing an object that hit an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

Shortly before 2:30 p.m., Shalvey, Stottlemyer and Morrison entered the Capitol through the Senate Wing door. The three defendants moved to various areas within the building, including the Crypt, the Houses Suite, the Rotunda and the Senate Chamber, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

Inside the Senate Chamber, Shalvey and Morrison looked through senators desks. All three defendants took pictures of documents that were in and on those desks. Shalvey also took a letter written by Sen. Mitt Romney to Vice President Mike Pence from a senators desk and destroyed it after leaving the Capitol. They exited the building at approximately 3:05 p.m., the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

Shalvey was arrested on March 9, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Stottlemyer was arrested on Sept. 14, 2021, in Conover. Morrison was arrested on Feb. 10, 2022, in Dansville, New York, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

In the 28 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,000 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol. More than 320 individuals were charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The investigation remains ongoing, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

Anyone with tips can call 1-800-225-5324 or visit tips.fbi.gov.
CEO Ami Gan laid out OnlyFans' ambitions at Web Summit last week. Getty Images

More than 3 million content creators are now signed up to subscription-based platform OnlyFans.

CEO Ami Gan said it's identified Latin America and Australia as future growth markets.

Gan said there'd been a "huge uptick" in creators joining last year, with the total up almost 40%.

The number of creators signed up to OnlyFans surged by about 40% last year, bringing the total to more than 3 million for the subscription platform that mostly features adult content.

"We've noticed a huge uptick in creators as well as fans joining the platform and we attribute that to OnlyFans is very much a global business, we're in over 100 countries," CEO Ami Gan told the Web Summit in Rio de Janeiro last week.

The company is now setting its sights on Latin America and Australia to further increase its numbers.

"We're looking at growth for the business and Latin America is a huge part of that," Gan said. "We're seeing Latin America is a massive growth region for us and see that opportunity for creators to get exposure to a global audience."

Gan said OnlyFans, which had revenues of close to $1 billion in 2021, has also identified Australia and some parts of Europe as growth regions too.



The owner of OnlyFans, Leo Radvinsky, has made more than $500 million from the platform since 2020. He took control of its parent company, Fenix International, in 2018 for an undisclosed amount two years after it was founded by British entrepreneur Tim Stokely.

Gan, who joined the company in 2020, had been chief marketing officer before she was tapped as CEO in late 2021 when Stokely sold his stake and stepped down.



Are you an OnlyFans employee or have insight to share? Contact Jyoti Mann at jmann@insider.com or Twitter DM at @jyoti_mann1

Read the original article on Business Insider
"People have been so generous in donating food and things, so we've just been able to just give it back, love on the community for a while, feed the volunteers."

Chucks Dairy Bar has been a staple of the small Mississippi Delta community of Rolling Fork since it was opened by Charles Chuck Henderson in 1977. The town itself has ties to legendary bluesman Muddy Waters and Teddy Roosevelt, who went bear hunting nearby, leading to the creation of the Teddy Bear.

In January 2007, Chucks was purchased by Tracy Harden and her husband Tim. While it was his idea, it soon became her domain.

Caroline Eubanks

We were a farm family, but the guys got ready to sell out of the farming business and wanted to buy the dairy bar, which is not something I wanted to do. I clearly, clearly remember telling him, Don't buy that thinking I'm doing that because I'm not doing that, says Harden, who moved to the small town from outside of Vicksburg. It's kind of been my baby ever since.

Not only was Chucks one of the few restaurants in the town of under 2,000 people, but it was a gathering place for the community.

It feels like home to me, to a lot of people, and the community as a whole. Most of the customers, they come in not just to eat, but to talk, she says. If they're having a rough day, we just talk about their rough day while they're waiting on their meal or happy news. We get all the happy news. It's a place where people can go and de-stress and also have a meal.

But on March 24, 2023, everything changed. A tornado hit the town around 8 pm, devastating everything in its path, destroying most of the homes and businesses and ending the lives of 13 residents. Among the rubble was Chucks Dairy Bar.

Harden was working alongside seven employees and her husband when the storm hit.

It being a Friday, I hadn't even looked at the news. It wasn't even on my mind. It was such a busy day.

Her employees had received messages about the coming storm and before they could even hear a siren, the lights flickered and they quickly took cover inside the restaurants walk-in cooler.

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My husband opened the cooler door. He started pushing us in there, and I'm thinking, We're going to get out of here in a few minutes and get on back to work. Everything's going to be okay, she recalls.

The strong winds tried to force open the door and through the opening, they saw the sky, telling them the roof of the restaurant, where the Hardens had served the people of Rolling Fork for over a decade, was gone.

We're in the cooler and just packed in there. We're being moved around back and forth. The back of the cooler is broken just a little bit and debris started coming in and raining We're still praying and screaming and praying it would end soon.

Just as quickly as the storm had arrived, it was gone. A customer returned to the scene to free them from the cooler after phone calls for help went unanswered.

My husband and I were the last two to come out. When we walked out, we would have been standing in my office, but we were just standing outside. The building was completely gone. It was just... I don't know. Everything was gone.

The Hardens were met with shock as their building, the two surrounding motel buildings, and trailer park behind it were all gone. Tracys first thought was the people who lived there, her customers and neighbors.

Despite the devastation of Rolling Fork, Chucks Dairy Bar is cooking once again after a neighbor donated cooking supplies and another donated a trailer. The restaurant is once again operational, although with a different format.

People have been so generous in donating food and things, so we've just been able to just give it back, love on the community for a while, feed the volunteers. We've been feeding people every day for about two weeks, no charge. Come by and get a hot meal for lunch. It's keeping me sane, says Harden.

The town of Rolling Fork continues to rebuild, which will no doubt be an extensive process. But in the meantime, people can help the residents with donations, both material and financial. Rolling Fork Baptist Church and South Delta High School have both become hubs for contributions.

The support for Chucks Dairy Bar has been one constant.

I've received so many cards and gifts, and it's just, all over the world, it's just overwhelmingly wonderful to see so much care and love and for this little bitty community that's hardly known. This has been wonderful, says Harden. I just love it. It wasn't home, but it sure is now. So we're doing okay. We've kind of found a new normal.

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Read the original article on Southern Living.
Deutsche Borse Photography Foundation Prize

Samuel Fosso has been announced as the recipient of the prestigious Deutsche Borse Photography Foundation Prize 2023. The Nigerian photographer and contemporary artist is renowned for his extensive self-portraits depicting himself in the style of leading historical figures, and his dedicated near 50-year career has a definitive focus on performative photography.

The prize was awarded to Fosso in recognition of his retrospective self-titled exhibition, which was displayed for four months at the Maison Europeienne de la Photographie in Paris, and cultivated his iconic as well as lesser-known series plus previously unseen works and archival content.

 These are the best lenses for portrait photography

One of the most distinguished awards that a photographer could receive in their lifetimes, the Deutsche Borse Photography Foundation Prize was awarded to Fosso last night at a ceremony hosted at The Photographers' Gallery, London, in addition to receiving the grand prize of 30,000 ($37,000 / AU$56,000 approximately).

Deutsche Borse Photography Foundation Prize

Deutsche Borse Photography Foundation Prize 2023 exhibition at The Photographers Gallery (Image credit:  Kate Elliott, Courtesy The Photographers Gallery)

Born in Kumba, Cameroon, in 1962 but raised in Nigeria, photographer Samuel Fosso opened up Studio Photo Nationale in 1975 at the age of just 13 - after having fled the Biafran War a few years prior.

Specializing in commercial work as well as portraiture for most of his career, Fosso was given the title of 'a man with 1000 faces' as he creatively reshapes himself into another for each image.

Deutsche Borse Photography Foundation Prize

Samuel Fosso, Autoportrait, from the series 70s Lifestyle, 1976 (Image credit:  Samuel Fosso Courtesy of the artist and JM Patras, Paris)

Leading historical figures that have been portrayed by Fosso in his self-portraits include Martin Luther King, Angela Davis, Muhammad Ali, Tommie Smith, Patrice Lumumba, Malcolm X, and Haile Selassie, many of which form his series African Spirits (2008), while his earlier works from the 1970s are reflective of performance and social archetypes. In 2017, he created a self-portrait as the "Black Pope".

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On winning the Deutsche Borse Prize, Fosso has shared that: Winning this prestigious prize, recognised as one of the most important in the field of photography, means that my work is recognised by the artistic community. This recognition is very important to me. I feel a lot of joy and pride.

Deutsche Borse Photography Foundation Prize

Samuel Fosso, Self-Portrait (Angela Davis) from the series African Spirits, 2008 (Image credit:  Samuel Fosso Courtesy of the artist and JM Patras, Paris)

Deana Lawson, last year's winner of the Deutsche Borse Prize, was praised for reframing the black experience through photography with her solo exhibition, Entropy which was displayed at the Kunsthalle Basel art gallery in Switzerland.

The Deutsche Borse Photography Foundation Prize itself was founded in 1996 by The Photographers Gallery, and now in its twenty-seventh year, aims to reward artists and their projects which have stood out as having made the most significant contributions to the fields of international contemporary photography.

Deutsche Borse Photography Foundation Prize

Samuel Fosso stood next to one of his self-portraits (Image credit: Margaret London / The Photographers Gallery)

The other shortlisted Deutsche Borse photographers for 2023 included Bieke Depoorter, Arthur Jafa, and Frida Orupabo  who all received 5,000 (and $6,000 / AU$9,000 approximately). The exhibition showcasing all four artists will be on display at The Photographers Gallery until June 11 2023.

 You might also be interested in the best camera for portraits, or more specifically - the best Canon portrait lenses, plus the best Nikon portrait lenses, and not forgetting the best lenses for creating bokeh.

 Take a look at the best books on portrait photography to brush up your skills, and see these Three prime lenses every portrait photographer needs to consider, plus our 14 tips for getting your best-ever portrait shots
Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero / The Daily Beast / Getty

Long before Tucker Carlson was ousted from Fox, thanks in part to behavior suggesting he believed himself to be larger than the network, he and his top producer contemplated leveraging his clout to threaten and bully Fox News employeesand to bend the network to their will.

Such revelations are contained within previously unreported text messages obtained and reviewed by The Daily Beast. The exchanges were contained in documents pertaining to Dominion Voting Systems now-settled defamation case against Fox News. In the past week, The Daily Beast has reported on other messages included in these materials, including text exchanges between Carlson and Fox colleagues Bret Baier and Jesse Watters.

Fox News declined to comment, and Carlson did not respond to a request for comment. In a text message, Wells suggested without any evidence that Fox News executives leaked the texts to The Daily Beast. He added that he didnt quite understand what the story or peg is here and did not provide any further comment.

In this particular text exchange, which took place on Nov. 19, 2020, Carlsons senior executive producer Justin Wells told the star host he was apoplectic over a social-media post from the network that seemed to criticize then-President Donald Trump. This was at the same time Fox News suffered a ratings plummet after angry Trump supporters boycotted the network over its Arizona call for Bidena crisis that prompted Fox to increasingly embrace Team Trumps wild stolen election rhetoric.

Tucker Carlsons C-Word Use on Display in Unredacted Dominion Docs

Pop that open in full. Its our networks [sic] official Instagram feed. Literally 4-5 separate swipes at Trump for doing the Turkey pardon, Wells wrote early in the morning. Its actually unbelievable. Were trying to piss people off for no reason. We cant fix all of Fox but there is a systemic issue here (to use an overused phrase of 2020.)

The Fox News digital story, written the day before Wells texts, reported that Trump would proceed with the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardon despite the angst surrounding the growing number of coronavirus cases nationwide and the ongoing upheaval over President Trumps refusal to concede the election to President-elect Joe Biden. It added that the then-president was also ducking reporters and sticking to Twitter tirades about the election.

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Hours later, Carlson responded by assuring his executive producer he was willing to throw his weight around to browbeat lower-level staffers back in line and into respecting the Fox audience.

Were not going to succeed if this continues, the far-right star texted back. The brand will be too damaged. We should jump on a couple of examples just to send a clear message. Lets start with this one. Can we find out who did this?

He added: Im happy to start threatening people individually. Its too much. And again, it will hurt us badly if we let it continue.

Wells agreed, replying that he was going to find out who did this first because he wanted to be armed with more detail. Thanking Wells, Carlson declared that Fox needs to hire someone to make sure our news coverage is right down the middle and fair. Like today. This back-and-forth between Carlson and Wellswho was also fired by Fox alongside Carlson last monthtook place shortly after Carlson and Hannity attempted to get Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich fired for fact-checking a Trump tweet that tagged other Fox stars. Carlson would also disparage Heinrich in his texts with Watters days earlier, saying her actions cant continue. (Despite the Fox opinion hosts push for the firings of Heinrich, Cavuto, and other journalists, both Heinrich and Cavuto remain in high-profile positions at the network.)

Elsewhere in the exchange, Wells and Carlson discussed possible topics to cover on that evenings program. While Wells proposed bringing on anti-diversity pundit Heather Mac Donald to fearmonger about how the mob and violence may only grow in the world led by Biden and anti-woke comedian Adam Carolla to mock Barack Obamas audiobook, Carlson noted that weve got to address this press conference. He was, of course, talking about the off-the-rails presser held by MAGA lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell that pushed the craziest conspiracy theories about Dominion voting machines.

As long as we find a good way to do it, Wells replied. Everyone in our little world is talking about it. But I doubt our viewers will even notice or care by 8pm. Seems like a lot of dumb people making noise.

Toward the end of that days exchange, Wells brought up Fox News host Greg Gutfeld seemingly criticizing then-Fox News correspondent Kristin Fisher for fact-checking Giulianis press conference. He was on fire, Wells texted, sharing a video of Gutfelds on-air remarks. And was perfect. Carlson then reiterated that we have to get this under control, prompting Wells to reply that the core audiences willingness to stick with Tucker Carlson Tonight while abandoning the rest of Foxs lineup could give the pair leverage over the network and pay dividends down the line.

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We can keep advising them and telling them in very explicit terms that they need to make changes, Wells proclaimed. But I want to get you a big, fat contract. And our own network that we run on our own. Theyre pissing the audience off but we can be the only thing working in the immediate future. It helps us in the right now.

Within months of Wells remarks, Carlson inked a new four-year contract that would reportedly pay him upwards of $20 million annually. (In his full deposition, Carlson told Dominions lawyers he made $15 million a year.) The then-Fox star also began producing additional content for Fox Nation, the networks digital streaming service. This included long-form interviews and documentaries, such as the revisionist Jan. 6 special Patriot Purge.

These particular texts indicating a seeming desire to either break free from Fox or turn it into his personal fiefdom have additional relevance now as Carlson now wages war against Fox News to be released from his contract.

Since firing Carlson on April 24, the conservative channel appears to be willing to pay him $25 million to sit on the sidelines under a pay or play deal, which would sideline the GOP kingmaker until early 2025giving him little sway over the presidential election.

The Daily Beast has previously revealed unreported texts showing how Foxs chief political anchor Bret Baierlong portrayed as a consummate newsmanschemed with Carlson on how to win back irate MAGA viewers shortly after the 2020 election. Baier, the face of the right-wing networks hard news side, even assured Carlson hed pressed them to slow down on calling the election and he thought they will slow walk Nevada.

What Else Do Tucker Carlsons Unredacted Texts Reveal?

In other texts revealed by The Daily Beast, Fox News opinion host Jesse Wattersoften seen as an heir to Carlson in primetimetold Carlson that Fox should fire veteran news anchors Neil Cavuto and Chris Wallace and replace them with some fresh blood, preferably some [T]rump people. These thoughts echoed Carlsons own desire to push out members of the networks news division, which had been previously revealed in text exchanges with Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity.

With Fox News ratings in freefall as conservatives boycott the network (where have we seen that before?), Carlson has enlisted a rogues gallery of MAGA influencers to ramp up the pressure on the cable channel. On top of that, hes accused Fox News of fraud and breach of contract while announcing that hes launching a new show on Twittersetting up a potential face-off with the network.

Carlsons sudden firing, which occurred just days after Fox News paid Dominion an eye-popping $787.5-million settlement, has largely been linked to the texts and emails that surfaced in the Dominion case. Confider reported that Carlsons frequent use of misogynistic slurs to insult womennotably describing Powell as a cuntplayed a key role in his dismissal. The Wall Street Journal additionally reported that he directed that same pejorative toward a senior Fox News executive, adding that the private messages in which Mr. Carlson showed disregard for management and colleagues were a major factor. The Washington Post also noted that Carlsons comment about Fox management played a role in his firing.

The New York Times, meanwhile, has pointed to a previously redacted text message in which Carlsonlong known for his racially inflammatory rhetoricsaid this is not how white men fight while describing a video of an attack, reportedly alarming the Fox board and setting off a chain of events that led to his termination. Furthermore, Carlson and Wells are also named throughout former Fox News producer Abby Grossbergs lawsuit claiming widespread discrimination and misogyny at Fox News.

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Backing a non-nuclear Ukraine

Re: AJ Morris May 10 guest column, Backing Ukraine a must for US:

A quick addition to AJ Morris excellent argument. To greatly oversimplify but make the point in its most relevant way:

In 1991, when the USSR disintegrated, Ukraine became the third largest nuclear power in the world ... Ukraine gave up those weapons, with its security guaranteed by the Budapest Memorandum of 1994, signed by Ukraine, the USA, the UK, and the Russian Federation.

There are earlier lessons along this line, but for now  if Russia reabsorbs Ukraine, especially if the USA and UK and NATO acquiesce, what lesson does that teach not just to China and Taiwan but non-nuclear countries generally? To quote Tom Lehrers sardonic Whos Next? on proliferation:  The Lords our shepherd, says the Psalm / But just in case, we better get a bomb!

There are nine acknowledged nuclear powers and over 10,000 nuclear warheads on Earth; we dont need more countries going after a nuclear capability, and every warhead over some 200-400 is an existential threat.

Richard D. Erlich, Port Hueneme

Do something about national debt

How high must our national debt get before President Biden and our politicians do something? It has moved past $31.4 trillion, the legal debt ceiling. The debt is projected to be over $42 trillion by 2027. The U.S. Federal Debt Ratio to Gross National Product is presently a record 120.37, projected to be 151.8 by 2027, an indication of a draconian future.

The present interest on the debt is 15% of federal spending, projected to be 22% by 2027. At present deficit-spending rates, debt principal payoff and interest payments will dominate and take over federal spending. The road to financial perdition and nation-ending bankruptcy.

We are the greatest debtor nation in history with a legacy of increasing debt imposed upon our children and grandchildren. Deficit spending must stop. Spending cuts and deficit reduction efforts must be made. Increased economy destroying taxes and charges and Federal Reserve printing of money will not solve the debt crisis. Both the present Democrat and Republican debt-ceiling increase proposals do not solve the debt crisis caused by deficit spending.

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Thomas Bryan, Ventura

Boycott CNN for Trump town hall

I urge all thinking Americans to boycott CNN in response to the farce they called a Town Hall starring disgraced former president Donald Trump.

Fill the room with rabid Trump supporters and let Trump run roughshod over your moderator. Typical and recycled Trump lies. Twice impeached, once indicted and fresh off a finding that he committed sexual abuse and defamed the victim. The audience laughed when he once again attacked and defamed E. Jean Carrol. Cruelty personified.

CNN has lost any credibility they once had and I for one am done. Inexcusable that they would give Trump a platform to lie with no one to fact check. Shameful.

Brian Yorke, Ventura

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Letters: Supporting Ukraine; U.S. debt problem; boycott CNN
Elder Peter F. Meurs, center left, and Sister Maxine Meurs join with His Excellency, Sir Bob Dadae, governor general of Papua New Guinea, and Tauvasa Tanuvasa Chou-Lee, solicitor general, to break ground for the Port Moresby Temple on April 22, 2023. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

On April 22, the groundbreaking ceremony officially started the construction of the Port Moresby Temple  the first in the island nation of Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea is home to 35,000 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 87 congregations, per the church website. Its one of the largest island nations in the world, located just west of Indonesia and north of Australia.

According to a church press release, local government leaders attended the ceremony, including the governor-general of the country, Sir Bab Dadae, the solicitor general, Tauvasa Tanuvasa Chou-Lee, and Charge dAffaires at the U.S. embassy there, Joe Zadrozny.

Its a great pleasure to come here and see that the church is still going strong ... as well as being a beacon of light to the rest of Papua New Guinea, said the solicitor general, who broke the ground with a shovel, alongside the governor-general.

Also present were church leaders, including Elder Robert Gordon, who is an Area Seventy, and Elder Peter F. Meurs, who is a General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the Pacific Area Presidency, along with with his wife, Sister Maxine Meurs.

Elder Meurs gave the dedicatory prayer and presided at the event. He said he felt touched by the joy in the faces of the saints who attended the event and described them as excited and delighted to have a house of the Lord.

I think its such a great season of preparation, helping everyone get ready for a house of the Lord and be worthy to enter it, Elder Meurs said. What a blessing its going to be to the church and I think to the whole nation of Papua New Guinea.

Local church leader Sasa Zibe said that he never thought hed see a temple built in the country in his lifetime.

Other local congregants said they felt blessed and grateful to have a temple being built on their own land.

Theres a huge measure of happiness that just washed over myself as well as everyone who attended, said Ouhdin Lagaia, a local churchgoer who attended the groundbreaking.

Related
A heat wave threatens the Pacific Northwest this Mothers Day weekend with possible record-breaking temperatures.

The National Weather Service reports high temperatures will surge into the 80s and 90s  20 to 30 degrees above normal for this time of year.

"Many parts of the coastal Pacific Northwest will tie or break temperature records this weekend," the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center said in a forecast discussion.

The NWS issued heat advisories from Saturday to Monday for the Western Oregon and Washington areas, where many residents lack central air conditioning units. The agency also reminded residents that lakes and rivers are still very cold and residents should be wary if they're tempted to cool off by taking a dip.

By early next week, the hot temperatures will spread into the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains regions.

El Nino: Scientists warn an El Nino is likely coming that could scorch Earth. Here's what to know.

Deadly heat waves in regions past

Fueled by climate change, scorching temperatures that gripped the Pacific Northwest region in recent years have been deadly.

Around 800 people died in the brutal heat wave that blanketed Oregon, Washington and British Columbia in the summer of 2021.

In June of that year, close to 100 residents in Oregon died of extreme heat, with more than 70 of those deaths in Multnomah County, according to the City of Portland.

How does climate change affect you?: Subscribe to the weekly Climate Point newsletter

READ MORE: Latest climate change news from USA TODAY

Highs that summer soared to a record 116 degrees in Portland and 107 degrees in Seattle.

An average of 702 heat-related deaths occur each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More than a third of heat-related deaths globally are a result of climate change, an analysis published in the journal Nature found.

How to stay safe in a heat wave

Infants, older adults, pregnant people, young children and those with chronic health conditions without sufficient cooling and hydration are at higher risk of hyperthermia.

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NWS advises people to stay safe by:

Staying hydrated: Eat light, cool foods and drink plenty of water.

Slowing down: Reduce or eliminate strenuous activities

Wearing lightweight clothing: Loose fitting, light-colored and lightweight clothing can help you stay cooler.

Directing fans away: If you use a portable electric fan indoors, direct it away from yourself. Blowing hot air when the room temperature is 90 degrees or more can speed up dehydration.

Find cooler spots: If your home doesnt have air conditioning, spend time in air conditioned buildings such as malls and libraries.

As a result of 2021s deadly highs, Portland launched a cooling program that distributed and installed portable heat pump cooling units, as many households in the region do not have air conditioning.

The program, focused on vulnerable, disadvantaged populations including low-income and people of color, began last summer and will continue over a period of five years.

Officials in Portlands Multnomah County said they are monitoring the forecast but as of now arent opening special cooling centers, according to the Associated Press.

This is the first significant event  and it is early for us, Chris Voss, the countys director of emergency management, told AP. Were not seeing a situation where we are hearing that this is extremely dangerous. That being said, we dont know if its going to drift."

Contributing: The Associated Press

Reach Nada Hassanein at nhassanein@usatoday.com or on Twitter @nhassanein_

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pacific Northwest heat wave could break records, NWS warns
Farm conditions for pigs dont seem to have anything to do with states salvos in the hard-fought battle over abortion. But a new Supreme Court ruling in an animal welfare case could become a tool in states burgeoning efforts to restrict or expand abortion access even beyond their own borders.

The case over the treatment of animals in factory farms splintered the justices Thursday, resulting in five separate opinions. The ultimate outcome was a victory for the right of California voters to dictate requirements for meat sold in their state, even if much of it is produced elsewhere.

However, experts say the core issue in the case  the ability of states to take actions with clear impacts beyond their borders  is also central to the legal imbroglio over abortion. The decision could, for instance, embolden states to crack down on the mailing of abortion pills. States with strong prevailing views on abortion could even seek to restrict the sale of goods from states with contrary views.



We could see anti-abortion states and even pro-choice states enact policies that have secondary effects in other states, said Drexel University law professor David Cohen. Just like California said, We dont allow pork raised in a way that goes against our ethics, you could see states saying, We cant do business with this state or that state because of their abortion policies, he added.

James Bopp Jr., counsel for National Right to Life, largely agreed. I think, on its face, there is a greater opportunity for pro-life states to regulate, for instance, the sale of chemicals that induce abortions out of state, provided theres still some connection to the original state, he said.

On a superficial level, the outcome of the case provides rhetorical opportunities for advocates on both sides of the abortion-rights debate to argue that their efforts are more morally weighty than those at stake in the pork-related legal showdown and therefore should get a similar blessing from the court.

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The California ballot measure, passed with 63% support in 2018, sought to improve conditions for veal calves, egg-laying hens and breeding pigs. However, the Supreme Court case, known as National Pork Producers Council v. Ross, focused largely on the prolonged confinement of pregnant sows in pens where they cannot turn around.

The case turned on an obscure and murky constitutional doctrine called the dormant commerce clause. That has been interpreted to limit the ability of states to make policies that interfere with economic activity outside their borders.

A majority of the justices concluded that the pork producers lobby had failed to make out a clear case that Californias law was significantly burdening interstate commerce.

What this might mean in the context of abortion is that if Alabama makes it a crime for someone in California to mail pills to Alabama residents, the dormant Commerce Clause might not get in Alabama officials way, University of California at Davis law professor Mary Ziegler wrote in a Boston Globe op-ed Friday.

State laws that seem intended to influence abortion-related activity in other states have been proposed and enacted in various states in the wake of the Supreme Courts decision last June to overturn Roe v. Wade and give states broad powers to enact their own laws on abortion. Some states havent been content to regulate only what happens within their borders.

Idaho has passed laws making it illegal to advise someone in the state about how to get an abortion in another state, if the procedure would be illegal under Idahos tough abortion ban.



California has passed a law voiding other states subpoenas and legal demands in abortion-related investigations and has established a fund to help people in other states travel to the Golden State for abortion.

The only member of the Supreme Court who directly mentioned the possible impact of Thursdays factory-farm ruling on the abortion fight was Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who said he would have allowed the pork producers suit against California to continue.

Future state laws of this kind might not be confined to the pork industry, Kavanaugh warned, before quoting from an amicus brief submitted by 26 conservative-leaning states. What if a state law prohibits the retail sale of goods from producers that do not pay for employees birth control or abortions (or alternatively, that do pay for employees birth control or abortions)?

Kavanaugh, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, said the country was sliding down a slippery slope that could effectively end the notion of the United States as a unified market.

Californias law thus may foreshadow a new era where States shutter their markets to goods produced in a way that offends their moral or policy preferences  and in doing so, effectively force other States to regulate in accordance with those idiosyncratic state demands. That is not the Constitution the Framers adopted in Philadelphia in 1787, Kavanaugh declared in his solo opinion.



Lawyers focused on abortion rights said they paid close attention to Kavanaughs statement Thursday because when he joined four other conservatives to end the federal right to abortion last year, he was emphatic that individual states should retain power to limit or permit abortion and that it would remain available because women have a constitutionally guaranteed right to travel.

Still, the ideologically scattered distribution of the justices in the pork case may counsel against reading too much into it about abortion. Two of the courts liberal members, Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, joined the part of the ruling tossing out the pork producers suit. The other liberal, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, would have allowed the case to proceed.

It seems doubtful that Sotomayor and Kagan would have backed the power of individual states in the pork dispute if those justices thought they were dealing any sort of blow to abortion rights.

I would think this might have more effect or application for abortion if the court divided along ideological lines and made crystal clear that the dormant Commerce Clause is dead and states can do a lot of things, but thats not what happened, said Dean Rachel Rebouche of Temple Law School.

Some legal experts said the ruling likely improved the chances of courts upholding certain abortion-related state laws, but only at the margins.

A court that was inclined to uphold state laws barring import of abortion pills had tools already to do that, said Cornell law professor Michael Dorf. This confirms those tools, but I dont think it strengthens them all that much.

Cohen also warned that judges and justices who come out one way on an issue in certain cases sometimes manage to take a different position when the case is about abortion. It is always true that once you look for or inject abortion into the mix, what the justices said in past cases gets thrown out the window,  he said.
Marcelle Jerrill Waldon looks back toward the courtroom during his status hearing before Judge J. Kevin Abdoney in Bartow on Friday. Waldon is charged with killing former Lakeland commissioner Edie Yates Henderson and her husband David Henderson on Nov. 10, 2020 at their Lake Morton home. The prosecution is seeking the death penalty, and the trial is set for Jan. 15.

Marcelle Jerrill Waldon appeared in court Friday on murder charges as his case continued its way toward a jury trial amid changes to Floridas capital punishment laws.

Waldon, 38, was indicted by a grand jury on first-degree murder charges and other crimes on Dec. 1, 2020, in connection with the killings of David Henderson and Edie Yates Henderson in their Lake Morton Drive home on Nov. 10.

In addition, Waldon was charged with the burglary of the home of Publix heiress Julie Jenkins Fancelli, which took place two days prior to the Hendersons' deaths.

A jury trial is set for Jan. 15. Judge J. Kevin Abdoney had asked both sides appear for the status hearing on Friday. Waldon did appear in court.

The State Attorneys Office is seeking the death penalty.

According to defense attorney Debra Tuomey, the case will be continuing toward the trial date with depositions and some motions, including filings about the potential penalty phase should Waldon be found guilty.

The arrest Marcelle Waldon charged in murders of former Lakeland city commissioner Edie Yates and her husband David Henderson

Capital case Prosecutors seeking death penalty in Lake Morton killings of David and Edie Yates Henderson

Troubled life Family calls man accused in Lake Morton double-homicide a 'monster'

There have been a lot of death penalty phase motions that are pending and going to be filed, Tuomey said after the hearing.

The Florida legislature has recently changed the law requiring only an 8-4 majority of the jurors to recommend the death penalty. Since 2016, only a unanimous recommendation by a jury could result in a defendant receiving capital punishment.

Waldon was indicted in connection with 10 crimes in the Hendersons killings, which also included burglary of a dwelling with assault or battery while armed with a firearm; kidnapping for holding Yates Henderson, a former Lakeland city commissioner, against her will; attempted arson for trying to set the Hendersons' home on fire after the crime; grand theft of David Hendersons Audi A6; arson for setting the car on fire; and tampering with physical evidence, according to previous reports by The Ledger.

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Lakeland police investigators said they think Waldon had been watching the home and walked in through an unlocked door one morning when Henderson had stepped out to pick up breakfast. Inside, he held Yates Henderson, 67, at gunpoint and forced her to write two $5,000 checks to him before stabbing her to death.

Edie Yates Henderson and David Henderson on the balcony of their home on Lake Morton in 2014.

When her husband returned, police said, Waldon killed him, too.

He then tried to set fire to the house by turning all the gas burners on high before leaving with Yates' jewelry, the couples cellphones and at least one of Hendersons credit cards, police said. He drove off in the Audi.

Waldon could not cash one of the checks at Amscot on Memorial Boulevard later that day when a clerk could not reach the Hendersons by phone, police said.

When he saw the intense police presence at the home on Lake Morton, police say Waldon set the Audi on fire at 449 Oregon Ave. in Lakeland.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Trial in 2020 double murder on Lake Morton is set for January
Education Reporter

Vanessa Ontiveros is the education reporter at the Yakima Herald-Republic. She grew up near Los Angeles but has happily made Yakima her new home. She is passionate about reporting stories that serve the community and highlight various aspects of the educational system.She also hosts a podcast that discusses local arts education, Yakima Arts Talk, available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. The daughter of two longtime public school teachers, she is always looking to include community voices in her work.
NEWTON  Amy Phillips, school nurse at Oxford and Webb A. Murray elementary schools, was recently named the recipient of the Jo Ann Spees Youth Advocacy Award, presented by the Catawba County Council on Adolescents. The award was presented during a breakfast ceremony.

The JoAnn Spees Youth Advocacy Award was established in 2014 in honor of JoAnn Spees, former executive director and one of the founders of the Council on Adolescents of Catawba County, Inc.

The award honors the individual, community, group, or business whose efforts have promoted healthy lifestyles and empowered youth to make healthy life choices so that they can reach their full potential.

Phillips, who has served as a school nurse for Catawba County Schools for over 17 years, is an advocate for students and parents who works to ensure families are connected with needed resources. She recently began a program at Oxford Elementary called Grandparents Cafe to provide support for grandparents raising their grandchildren. This initiative provides dinner, babysitting, and activities for students while their grandparents participate in a support group led by various community members and community support agencies.

Notes Oxford Principal Rene Spry, Amy noticed a problem and went above and beyond the job of school nurse to provide support for our families. She is very deserving of this honor, and we are so proud of her."
A walrus that became a global celebrity last year after it was seen frolicking and basking in a Oslo fjord before it was euthanized by the authorities has been honored with a bronze sculpture in Norway
Two beaches in Washington named on Top 100 hidden beaches list. Have you heard of either?
Physician-assisted suicide is a difficult minefield to negotiate, which no doubt explains why it's so rare, and so heavily restricted in this country.
SALISBURY  An alert employee stopped a package with meth from being delivered to a suspect in jail, according to a news release from the Rowan County Sheriffs Office (RCSO)

On March 22, a package was received at the Rowan County Detention Center in the mail. The package was addressed to inmate Keith Furr, and it appeared that it had been mailed from a local attorneys office, the sheriffs office said. This raised suspicion with the secretary who received the package. A detention center supervisor was contacted, and the package was taken to the X-ray machine at the entrance to the courthouse, but nothing suspicious was located.

Investigators contacted the attorney, who confirmed that Furr was not a client. The attorney was asked to open the package to determine the contents. The attorney was provided latex gloves, as it was suspected that the package could contain illegal narcotics. Once the package was opened, it contained three pieces of paper and an empty envelope. A detective was contacted, who responded and tested a small portion of the paper, which indicated the presence of methamphetamine, the sheriffs office said.

A report was generated, and the case was turned over to the criminal investigations division, who through their investigation, determined that another possible involved suspect may be Donna Lea Mullis, the RCSO said. Detectives knew that she was scheduled to be in court on unrelated matters and asked if she would speak with them. She was not under arrest at the time and agreed to speak with them. During the interview, she admitted to writing forged legal papers and putting the attorneys name on them. She also admitted to putting methamphetamine on the papers and mailing them to the detention center.

Mullis was charged on May 4 with identity theft, trafficking heroin or opium, possession of methamphetamine, and failure to appear on an unrelated matter. She was placed in jail on a $70,000 secured bond. Furr was charged May 10 with possession with intent to manufacture controlled substance, trafficking heroin or opium and given a $100,000 secured bond.
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After the CBSE declared results for Classes 10 and 12 on May 12, students of the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) Board are waiting for their results anxiously. The ICSE (Class 10th) and ISC (Class 12th) results are likely to be declared on May 14, 2023 (Sunday) on the Board's official website - cisce.org. The fact that CISCE usually announces the results for ICSE and ISC soon after CBSE is leading to intense speculations and conjectures on social media. Some creative youngsters are also not shying away from expressing their anxiety through hilarious memes, tweets, and social media posts. Let's check some of them out.

ICSE, ISC Board Results 2023: Students Wait Desperately For Result Dates



Time For ICSE, ISC Students To Go 'Underground'

ISC, ICSE Board Results 2023: Students 'Freak Out' Post CBSE Announcement

Icse students freaking rn after cbse results pic.twitter.com/zV5Q6LzRzh  Sam (chase atlantic version) (@200WIND_FLOWERS) May 12, 2023

A Message, Straight From Hollywood?

saw this and thought tom holland is telling me kal ICSE results niklega https://t.co/CxUkU5XQk2  Priyasha (@priyasharay29) May 10, 2023

Meanwhile, once the results are out, students can visit the official website of CISCE and download the mark sheets. Let's check out how:

ISC Class 12 Result 2023: How To Download Marksheet

- Visit the official website, cisce.org.

- Click on the 'Download ISC (Class 12) Result 2023' link

- Enter the login credentials such as Unique identification number and index number

- Your ISC Class 12 Marksheet 2023 will appear on the screen.

- Download the result and take a printout of it for future reference

ICSE Class 10 Result 2023: How To Download Marksheet

- Visit the official website, cisce.org.

- Click on the 'Download ICSE (Class 10) Result 2023' link

- Enter the login credentials such as Unique identification number and index number

- Your ICSE Class 10 Marksheet 2023 will appear on the screen.

- Download the result and take a printout of it for future reference

The ICSE Board Exams 2023 were held by CISCE from February 27 to March 29, 2023. From February 13 to March 31, 2023, the ISC Class 12 Board Exams were held. The results for both Class 10th and Class 12th are expected to be declared soon.
KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Friday ordered the cancellation of appointment of around 36,000 candidates who were untrained at the time of their recruitment as primary teachers in West Bengal government-sponsored and -aided schools, as the due procedure was not followed in the appointment process. Passing the order, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhay observed that "corruption of this magnitude" was never known in the State of West Bengal.

"The appointment of all 36,000 (more or less) candidates who were untrained at the time of recruitment in 2016 recruitment process conducted by the Board in the post of primary teachers are cancelled," Justice Gangopadhyay directed. Justice Gangopadhay, in the 17-page order uploaded in the high court's website after 11 pm, said that the allegation that there was no aptitude test has been proved before him from the evidence of the candidates and the interviewers.

From the gross illegality in the selection procedure in the recruitment exercise of 2016 conducted by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, it is clear that the board and its officials including its former president Manik Bhattacharya, who is now in custody after arrest by the Enforcement Directorate for the alleged transaction of huge money in the recruitment procedure, conducted the "whole affair like that of a local club."

The court directed that the West Bengal Board of Primary Education will immediately arrange for a recruitment exercise within three months only for the candidates who participated in the 2016 appointment process. Candidates who have obtained training qualifications in the meantime will also be included in the exercise. The court directed that in the exercise, both the interview and aptitude test of all examinees will be taken and the whole interview process has to be videographed carefully and preserved.

Justice Gangopadhyay directed that the recruitment process will be under the same rules and legal procedures under which the 2016 recruitment process was conducted. The court said that no new or any other candidate will be allowed to take part in the recruitment exercise. Justice Gangopadhyay directed that the primary teachers who are employed in primary schools against the recommendation of the Board in respect of the 2016 selection process will be allowed to work for a period of four months from this date at the remuneration equal to a para teacher of primary school.

The court said that if any of such teachers are recommended again by the board after the selection process, those candidates will work in the schools where they are working now and they will get notional benefit of their seniority with no monetary benefit at all and the salary of primary teachers for the coming four months will not be given to them if they are employed again.

The court directed that services of the present employed candidates who will not succeed in the selection process will be "terminated." He stated that if any candidate who appeared in the 2016 recruitment process has crossed the age bar in the meantime or will cross the age bar within three months from date, will be allowed to take part in the recruitment exercise.

"Crossing the age bar now will not create any impediment for them to participate and get selected in the recruitment process," Justice Gangopadhyay said. Stating that the board placed some judgement before him in support of the niceties of legal principles, the judge said that he finds that these have no applicability in the face of the "magnitude of stinking corruption in the recruitment exercise of 2016 conducted by the Board."

The writ application was filed by 140 petitioners who were qualified in Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) 2014 and participated in the 2016 recruitment process but did not get an appointment. A total of around 42,500 candidates were selected in the recruitment process, of which around 6,500 were trained candidates.

The recruitment process was held by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education which was to be held in accordance with West Bengal Board of Primary School Teachers Recruitment Rules 2016, the court noted. The court said that from the pleadings of the petitioners it is found that they wanted marks of last empanelled candidates of different categories like SC, ST, OBC, etc, but no such particulars were supplied and produced by the Board despite direction given by this court.

The court further said that it is "gradually coming to light by investigation of ED that jobs for primary school teachers were actually sold to some candidates who had the money to purchase the employment."
New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Sushil Rinku on Saturday won the Jalandhar (Punjab) Lok Sabha bypoll with a margin of more than 58,000 votes over his nearest rival and Congress nominee Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary. Out of 8.87 lakh votes polled, Rinku got over 3.02 lakh votes, while Chaudhary received 2.43 lakh votes. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi, who was also backed by the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), was at the third spot with 1.58 lakh votes and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominee Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal was at the fourth spot with 1.34 lakh votes.

The Jalandhar bypoll, voting for which was held on May 10, was necessitated following the death of Karamjit Kaur's husband and Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary in January.

The byelection was a litmus test for the 13-month-old AAP government in Punjab, where its victory has now stamped its administrative and leadership acumen, and has marked its presence in the Lok Sabha.

In June 2022, the Aam Aadmi Party witnessed a major setback when SAD (Amritsar) candidate Simranjit Singh Mann won the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat after defeating AAP's Gurmail Singh. Bhagwant Mann had represented this seat twice -- 2014 and 2019 -- and vacated the seat after becoming the Chief Minister.

For the Jalandhar bypoll, the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP fielded Sushil Rinku, who joined the party after quitting the Congress. He helped the AAP get more votes as he belongs to the Ravidassia sect and the Jalandhar seat has 38 per cent Dalit population, comprising 21 per cent Ravidasias and the remaining Valmiki or Mazhbi Sikhs.

The win for the party is also seen as the result of its moves to provide free electricity, jobs to the youths, regularising services of contractual employees and opening various mohalla clinics. The AAP's victory also came amid the Mann-led government taking action against corruption.

Arvind Kejriwal Bhagwant Mann's Punjab govt after Jalandhar bypoll win

With the AAP candidate in the Jalandhar Lok Sabha bypoll winning by a big margin, party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said the 'unprecedented victory' is because of the Bhagwant Mann government's good work in Punjab.

Talking to reporters at the AAP headquarters in the national capital, alongside Bhagwant Mann, Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal said, "It's an unprecedented victory because of the Mann government's good work. Our party candidate is winning from the seat which was a Congress stronghold for the last 50 years."

He added that 'we do of politics of work and seek votes from people for our work'.

"People have put a stamp on Bhagwant Mann government's work saying 'we are with you'... This is a big message," he added.

Mann said the trend of the bypoll result is the people's 'positive stamp' on the work done by his government in Punjab so far.

"The election result has increased our responsibility and my confidence. We will work much harder for the development of Punjab," he said.
The counting for Karnataka Assembly Election 2023 is underway and the political circle is abuzz with speculations. While Congress began celebrating at its Delhi office, the BJP is cautious in its approach. Amid the BJP vs Congress battle, JD(S) can emerge as the elephant in the room by emerging as the kingmaker once again. The majority of the exit polls have favoured Congress while some projecting the BJP as the single largest party. However, the JD(S) may hold the key as it is projected to win around 30-40 seats this time. Talking to the media, JD(S) chief HD Kumaraswamy said that he has not been contacted by any party as of now and the party has already decided whom it will support in case of a hung assembly.

"No one has contacted me till now. According to your exit poll, there is no need for any option. There is no plan for me, I am a small party," said JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy. The JD(S) chief, however, maintained that he does not trust the exit polls and will wait for the results.

When asked about the post-poll alliance, Kumaraswamy said that the JD(S) has already decided and left its decision to the people. When asked about whether he will claim the CM post, Kumaraswamy said that he is a leader of a small party and cannot demand the CM post. It may be recalled that the 2018 Karnataka Assembly Election threw a hung verdict, the Congress had joined hands with the JD(S) and Kumaraswamy was made the chief minister. However, the government fell due to the defection.

The counting of votes is underway at 36 centres in district headquarters across Karnataka. The authorities have clamped curfew orders in the capital city of Bengaluru and communally sensitive Dakshina Kannada district to avoid untoward incidents and maintain law and order situation. The Assembly poll in the state is said to be the semi-finals for the Lok Sabha elections as it will set the tone for the 2024 parliamentary elections. The majority mark is 113 in the 224-member state legislature.

The intense competition and campaigning for the seat of power in Karnataka by Congress, BJP and JD(S) has raised curiosity all over the country over the results. The BJP is still claiming that it would attain a majority as per its reports from booth-level workers and wants to create history as no party has returned to power since 1985 in Karnataka. Congress is also brimming with confidence and Karnataka Congress President D.K. Shivakumar has announced that the party will comfortably win 141 seats. The JD(S) is hoping to win 30 to 40 seats. Among 2,613 candidates, 2,427 are men and 185 are women. One candidate is in the other category.
New Delhi: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday offered prayers at the Jakhoo Hanuman Temple in Shimla and prayed for the Congress win in Karnataka. During her visit to the temple, she sought blessings for the happiness and prosperity of the people. Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi are on a personal visit to Shimla.

Her visit to Jhakoo temple, which has the tallest Lord Hanuman idol in Himachal Pradesh. (Also Read: Jalandhar Lok Sabha Bypoll Results: AAP's Sushil Rinku Set To Win From Congress Stronghold)

Meanwhile, as the counting of votes for the Karnataka Assembly elections began on Saturday, Chief Minister and BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai also paid a visit to a Hanuman temple in Hubballi. (Also Read: Lingayat Effect: BJP Trailing In North Karnataka)

On May 9, top leaders of the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress sought the blessings of Lord Anjaneya (Hanuman). The visit went beyond invoking divine blessings as both parties used the occasion to make a political point.

With the Congress crossing the magic number '113' and leading on 118 seats in the Karnataka Assembly elections, the party workers started celebrating at 24 Akbar Road, the party head office.

Bursting crackers, distributing sweets, and carrying Congress flags, scores of workers, including several leaders were seen at the party headquarters celebrating the election result trends.

Congress also tweeted a video of Rahul Gandhi during his Bharat Jodo Yatra with the song 'Unstoppable' by Sia playing in the background.

"I`m unstoppable. I'm a Porsche with no brakes. I`m invincible. Yeah, I win every single game. I`m so powerful. I don't need batteries to play. I'm so confident. Yeah, I'm unstoppable today," the lyrics of the song were played in the video.

As per latest the Election Commission of India (at 11.24 a.m.), the Congress was leading in 118 Assembly seats in Karnataka on Saturday. As per the Election Commission, Congress' vote share is currently at 43.1 percent in the southern state, whereas the BJP stands at 36 percent.
New Delhi: Streaming giant Netflix is reportedly slashing its spending by $300 million this year, including related to hiring. According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, one of the reasons behind the spending cut is that Netflix delayed its plans to crack down on password sharing from the first quarter to the second quarter this year.





It means that the revenue Netflix expected from the move is now shifted toward the second half of the year, the report said. ( Also Read: Zomato CEO's Car Collections - Check Out List "The company urged staff earlier this month to be sensible with their spending, including in relation to hiring, but noted that there would not be a hiring freeze or additional layoffs," the report added.The streaming company launched its crackdown on password sharing in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain earlier this year. Netflix is finally set to crack down on password sharing in the US this summer.Netflix originally planned to roll out "paid sharing" in the US during the first quarter of this year. The company will now introduce the feature on or before June 30.It will allow up to two extra members per account, and its fee per extra user varies by country.The sharing plans are available to members using Standard ($15.49 a month) and Premium ($19.99 a month) subscriptions. The company launched a new ad-supported plan called 'Basic with Ads' last November. The tier costs $6.99 per month.Netflix is also upgrading its ad-supported plan in terms of streaming quality and concurrent streams. In an effort to lower costs, Netflix also conducted job cuts last year.
A resurgent Congress has ousted BJP from the power corridor in Karnataka. The Congress not only secured an authoritative majority in the state with over 130 seats in its kitty, but it also pushed back BJP restricting it to just around 65 seats. While the election win is a much-needed booster shot for the Congress ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, this defeat will push the BJP back to the drawing board where it will not only introspect its losses but will look to redraw its strategy given the next assembly and parliamentary elections.

Bajrang Dal Vs Bajrang Bali Row

The Karnataka election campaign took a strange turn when the Congress party promised to ban organisations like Popular Front of India and Bajrang Dal. Unexpectedly, the BJP gave a twist to the Congress promised and claimed that the grand old party will lock up Bajrang Bali in the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it one of the key poll planks and Jai Bajrang Bali chants echoed his rallies. BJP leaders and Bajrang Dal workers even held a recital of Hanuman Chalisa in public spaces in protest against Congress. Bajrang Dal even burnt the Congress manifesto in protest against the party. BJP leaders termed the Bajrang Dal a nationalist organisation. To counter the BJP narrative, Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar promised that if the party is voted to power, it will develop Hanuman temples across the state.

What's Is Future Of Bajrang Dal?

While the Bajrang Dal is known for its far-right activities, the organisation remains at the centre of controversies. Almost a three-decade-old organisation, Bajrang Dal works on small issues like against the increasing influence of Christians, renovation of religious places etc, cow protection and forceful conversions. According to experts, while many Bajrang Dal workers were booked in the past in different cases, with Congress in power, the organisation will have to take every step very carefully. Any complaint against Bajrang Dal may snowball into a larger issue allowing Congress to suppress the organisation, which has been compared with the PFI in the past. Since the ban was a part of the manifesto, Congress may bring legislation for the same as well. However, even if the Congress bans the Bajrang Dal, it will be only applicable in Karnataka until other states reciprocate the ban decision.

An Issue For Lok Sabha Election?

Despite the BJP making a big issue out of the Bajrang Dal issue, the Congress has secured an almost landslide victory in Karnataka. This may force the grand old party to make this ban issue a national poll plank in the next year's Lok Sabha polls.

Since the Bajrang Dal is facing no threat to its existence, it will continue to work as earlier. However, it now faces increased scrutiny at the hands of Congress and other opposition-ruled states and will have to work within the ambit of the law.
GUEST OPINION: Are you someone that struggles to be organized in your career? Or are you someone who loves the challenge of organizing and finds the process relaxing? No matter how much you enjoy organization, it's essential as a business owner to keep track of everything, from receipts to inventory.

Keeping your business organized is vital to reduce overhead and save money. From managing inventory to sorting computer files, you'll have many elements of your business that need to be kept in order.

While this process may seem overwhelming, these tips can help you organize everything you need for your small business. Let's jump right into some ways you can organize nearly everything.

1. Get Better Inventory Management

If your company sells products, you need to know how much you have in stock. Knowing as much as possible about your items is key if you want to stay within budget.

Luckily, there are many options for inventory counting and tracking software that can help you manage all of this. With better inventory management programs, you won't waste money on products that aren't likely to sell and can also keep popular items in stock.

2. Establish A File Organization System Early On

While it used to be that companies had to have file cabinets full of information, these days, most companies are dealing with digital files. However, your business might have many physical and digital copies of many things.

You must ensure you keep both things organized and easy to find. While there's no one right away to manage your digital field or your physical one, you do want to develop a system early on in your business and then stick with it.

3. Build a Schedule For Yourself And Others

As a business owner or manager, you also need to organize and manage your time. Ensure you track your daily, weekly, and monthly schedule. And, if you're in charge of managing other employees or teams, you tend to keep them on track, too.

Consider using calendar software that allows you and your coworkers to share your schedules. This makes it easier to set up meetings and ensure projects are finished on time.

4. Use Project Management Programs

Even if your business is a one-person operation, you want to ensure your projects get done when they need to, as being prompt saves money and helps you establish a good reputation. You don't want to fall behind on client work or ignore essential deadlines.

While some project management options are a bit pricey, using them is often worth it. You'll be able to stay on track with your own work. Also, as your business grows with multiple employees, everyone can work together and keep track of more significant projects.

5. Answer Emails Each Day

Many people find that their inboxes fill up, and it's stressful to get them back in order. Instead of constantly scrambling to keep up, set aside time every workday to go through emails. Respond to important messages and delete junk mail. This way, you won't feel stressed every time you log in and see hundreds of unread messages.

Why Work Organization Tips Matter

Work organization will help you become a more efficient, productive person and increase your company's likelihood of success. As with most tips for entrepreneurs, there isn't a one-size-fits-all method.

Instead, you want to find the organization and planning methods that work best for you and then use them consistently. With these work management tips, you'll be well on your way to a more collected, less chaotic workplace.
Mumbai: Mother's Day is a one-of-a-kind day that honours all mothers, who are often forgotten for their contributions. It's a day to honour all mothers' incalculable and selfless contributions to their children's success. Many famous celebrities recently became moms and have frequently proved that they can accept and enjoy pregnancy while maintaining their professional careers. As Mother's Day is just around the corner, here are some new mothers in Bollywood who will be celebrating their first Mother's Day.

1. Alia Bhatt

Actor Alia Bhatt will be celebrating her first Mother's Day this year. Alia and her husband Ranbir Kapoor became parents to a baby girl, Raha, in November last year. Announcing the baby's arrival, Alia via an Instagram post said, "And in the best news of our lives:- Our baby is here...and what a magical girl she is. We are officially bursting with love - Blessed and obsessed PARENTS!!!! Love love love Alia and Ranbir."

2. Sonam Kapoor

In March 2022, Anand and Sonam made the pregnancy public. On August 20, the couple welcomed their first baby into the world. Their son was given the name Vayu Kapoor Ahuja. The 'Neerja' actor frequently shares adorable pictures of her son on her social media.

3. Bipasha Basu

Bipasha and her husband Karan Singh Grover welcomed their first child, on November 12, last year, six years after their marriage. Announcing her daughter's name, she shared a post on social media which reads, "12.11.2022. Devi Basu Singh Grover. The physical manifestation of our love and blessings of Ma is here now and she is divine."

4. Kajal Agarwal

'Singham' girl Kajal Agarwal and her husband Gautam welcomed their baby boy Neil Kitchlu on April 19, 2022. The actor usually shares pictures and videos of her baby boy on her social media handles.

5. Gauahar Khan

'Bigg Boss 7' winner Gauahar Khan is the newest mommy in the B-town. Gauahar and her husband Zaid Darbar became parents to a baby boy on May 10. Announcing the baby's arrival, the '14 Phere' actor shared a post which reads, "It's a Boy As salaam u alaikum beautiful world, says our bundle of joy. Arrived 10th of May 2023 to make us realise what happiness truly means. Our blessed boy thanks everyone for their love and prayers. Grateful and giggling new parents Zaid and Gauahar."
A Winston-Salem man was injured Friday when a bullet broke a parked vehicle's window near North Patterson Avenue, authorities said Saturday.

Winston-Salem police responded at 1:07 p.m. to a report of one shot fire at that location, police said.

When officers arrived, they learned that the victims were at 1200 N. Patterson Ave, police said.

The victims told the officers that their vehicle had been struck with a projectile in the back right window while they were parked near 2944 N. Patterson Ave.

Brandon Dean Robertson, 23, sustained cuts to his right upper arm from the broken glass, police said.

Forsyth County emergency medical technicians examined Robertson, but he decided to go to a local hospital with his family.

Police were able to find the suspect, Deshaun Christian Capers, 18, in the back yard of the North Patterson address.

He was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting injury, assault with a deadly weapon, discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle and other offenses, police said.

Investigators determined that the suspect and Carl Dean Robertson, 51, may have been arguing about a stray dog before the shooting, police said. Carl Robertson also was in the vehicle when the shot was fired.

Capers was being held Saturday in the Forsyth County Jail with his bond set at $35,000, police said.

Anyone with information about this shooting can call Winston-Salem police at 336-773-7700, Crime Stoppers at 336-727-2800 or its Spanish line at 336-728-3904.
The reason I talk to myself is because Im the only one whose answers I accept.  George Carlin

Former president Donald Trumps appearance at a CNN Republican Town Hall in New Hampshire stretched the truth beyond any standard by which that virtue can be measured.

Trump told more lies in one hour than many politicians tell in their entire careers. There are too many to list in a short column, but here are a few of the lowlights.

Trump said he would end the war between Russia and Ukraine in 24 hours if he again becomes president, but didnt say how.

He said he finished the border wall and then contradicted himself. He called CNN host Kaitlan Collins a nasty person and then at the end told her she did a good job.

Trump continues to promote the fiction that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Collins rebutted him each time, but it didnt seem to matter to the mostly white and largely older Republican crowd. The few who had a chance asked mostly softball questions.

Trump swore on my children, which Ive never done before that he never knew E. Jean Carroll, the woman who just won a defamation and sexual battery civil suit against him and was awarded $5 million. He said he may have met her once along with her husband, who he noted is Black and a nice guy. He denied having any physical contact with her.

Asked by Collins if he would accept the results of the 2024 election should he lose, Trump said it depends on whether the election is fair, meaning he gets to decide that and also whether to extend the fiction from 2020 for years to come. That sounds like the coin flip heads I win, tails you lose.

Trump also said if he again wins the presidency he would be inclined to pardon most of those who broke into the Capitol on January 6. He also claimed to have offered National Guard troops to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, but said they rejected his offer. Trumps own acting secretary of defense, Chris Miller, said in a deposition that the president never gave him a formal order to have 10,000 troops ready for deployment.

Responding to Trumps CNN appearance on Hugh Hewitts radio program, former Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) said: I think hes a coward, and I think hes a puppet of Putin.  He wouldnt say last night that Ukraine should win the war.  It was  the most stunning moment of the debate. If you wont say that you think Ukraine should win the war, I dont know where you stand with Putin. And to say that he could settle it in 24 hours is the same kind of bravado that we heard eight years ago when he said that he would build the wall across the entire border of Mexico and the United States and Mexico would pay for it. And we have a wall thats about a fifth of what we need after his presidency, and Mexico hasnt paid their first peso to us, yet.

Trump tried to explain without success his comments about women and when one is a star he can pretty much have his way with them. It was another embarrassing, even pathetic, moment.

One of my favorite modern musicals is Chicago. In the film version, Richard Gere, who plays an attorney for women arrested for murdering their husbands or boyfriends, sings a song called Razzle Dazzle. Some of the lyrics seem to fit Donald Trump.

Its all show business, kid

These trials, the whole world, show business

But, kid, youre workin with a star, the biggest

Give 'em the old razzle dazzle

Razzle-dazzle 'em

Give 'em an act with lots of flash in it

And the reaction will be passionate

Give 'em the old hocus pocus

Bead and feather 'em

How can they see with sequins in their eyes?

What if your hinges all are rusting?

What if, in fact, youre just disgusting?

razzle-dazzle 'em, and theyll make you a star!

What if, indeed?
An Evening with They Might Be Giants, 8 p.m. Sunday, Bourbon Theatre. They Might Be Giants was booked to play the Bourbon Theatre in 2020, then along came COVID. The show was rescheduled for June 2021 and postponed again to May 15, 2022. Sunday, a day short of a year after the last date, They Might Be Giants will finally make it to the Bourbon, which has been sold out  for years.

The original Giants  John Linnell and John Flansburgh  are celebrating their 40th anniversary, with 80 sold-out shows across the U.S., where theyre accompanied by a full band and a horn section.

Theyre playing two sets a night that will be filled with songs spanning their career, from playing their 1990 breakthrough album Flood, which includes Birdhouse in Your Soul and Istanbul (Not Constantinople) in full through some selections from last years Grammy nominated Book.

All reports are that the shows are terrific. So it looks like who have held onto their tickets for Lincolns longest post-pandemic postponed show are going to get a night worth waiting three years for.

Ugly Kid Joe with Pistols at Dawn, Paisty Jenny, 7 p.m. Tuesday, Bourbon Theatre. Ugly Kid Joe hasnt toured the U.S. in 27 years. But theyre back.

Led by singer Whitfield Crane, the California hard rock band had a top-10 hit with Everything About You in the early 90s and charted again with an acoustic cover of Harry Chapins Cats in the Cradle in 1993. Ugly Kid Joe broke up in 1997, then reformed in 2010 and has been playing in the U.K. and Europe for the last 13 years.

Big Al & the Heavyweights, 6 p.m., Wednesday, Zoo Bar. Louisianas Big Al & the Heavyweights is led by Big Al Lauro, who in the 90s played with Warren Haynes of Govt Mule and the Allman Brothers Band as the Unknown Blues Band. But Lauro and the Heavyweights arent a straight-up blues outfit. Rather, they play songs like Cajun Roux, New Orleans music like Hey, Hey Mardi Gras, and a little zydeco along with their blues rock.

Top Journal Star photos for May 2023
EL PASO, Texas (AP)  The border between the U.S. and Mexico was relatively calm Friday, offering few signs of the chaos that was feared following a rush by worried migrants to enter the U.S. before the end of pandemic-related immigration restrictions.

Less than 24 hours after the rules known as Title 42 were lifted, migrants and government officials were still assessing the effect of the change and the new regulations adopted by President Joe Biden's administration to stabilize the region.

We did not see any substantial increase in immigration this morning, said Blas Nunez-Neto assistant secretary for border and immigration policy at the Department of Homeland Security. He said the agency did not have specific numbers.

Migrants along the border continued to wade into the Rio Grande to take their chances getting into the U.S. while defying officials shouting for them to turn back. Others hunched over cellphones trying to access an appointment-scheduling app that that is a centerpiece of the new system. Migrants with appointments walked across a bridge hoping for a new life. And lawsuits sought to stop some of the measures.

The Biden administration has said the revamped system is designed to crack down on illegal crossings and to offer a new legal pathway for migrants who often pay thousands of dollars to smugglers to get them to the border. On Friday, Biden commended Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez for his countrys collaboration with the U.S. and Canada to establish migration hubs in Latin America where asylum seekers will be able to apply for refuge.

Migrants are now essentially barred from seeking asylum in the U.S. if they did not first apply online or seek protection in the countries they traveled through. Families allowed in as their immigration cases progress will face curfews and GPS monitoring.

Across the river from El Paso in Ciudad Juarez, many migrants watched their cellphones in hopes of getting a coveted appointment to seek entry. The application to register to enter the U.S. had changed, and some were explaining to others how to use it. Most were resigned to wait.

I hope its a little better and that the appointments are streamlined a little more, said Yeremy Depablos, 21, a Venezuelan traveling with seven cousins who has been waiting in the city for a month. Fearing deportation, Depablos did not want to cross illegally. We have to do it the legal way.

The legal pathways touted by the administration consist of a program that permits up to 30,000 people a month from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter if they apply online with a financial sponsor and enter through an airport.

About 100 processing centers are opening in Guatemala, Colombia and elsewhere for migrants to apply to go to the U.S., Spain or Canada. Up to 1,000 can enter daily through land crossings with Mexico if they snag an appointment on the app.

If it works, the system could fundamentally alter how migrants come to the southern border. But Biden, who is running for reelection, faces withering criticism from migrant advocates, who say he's abandoning more humanitarian methods, and from Republicans, who claim he's soft on border security.

At the Chaparral port of entry in Tijuana on Friday, a few migrants approached U.S. authorities after not being able to access the appointment app. One of them, a Salvadoran man named Jairo, said he was fleeing death threats back home.

We are truly afraid, said Jairo who was traveling with his partner and their 3-year-old son and declined to share his last name. We cant remain any longer in Mexico and we cant go back to Guatemala or El Salvador. If the U.S. cant take us, we hope they can direct us to another country that can.

Farther east, small groups of Haitian migrants with appointments to request asylum crossed the Gateway International Bridge connecting Matamoros, Mexico, with Brownsville, Texas. They crossed with the assistance of a nongovernmental organization, passing the usual commuter traffic of students and workers lined up on the bridge's pedestrian path.

In downtown El Paso, a few dozen migrants lingered outside Sacred Heart Catholic Church and shelter where as recently as Tuesday nearly 2,000 migrants were camped. Faith leaders in the city are striving to provide shelter, legal advice and prayer for migrants as they navigate new restrictions.

The Rev. Daniel Mora said most of the migrants took heed of flyers distributed this week by U.S. immigration authorities offering a last chance to submit to processing and left. El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said that 1,800 migrants turned themselves over to Customs and Border Protection on Thursday.

Melissa Lopez, executive director for Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services at El Paso, said many migrants have been willing to follow the legal pathway created by the federal government, but there is also fear about deportation and possible criminal penalties for people who cross the border illegally.

Ruben Garcia, director of the Annunciation House shelter in El Paso and coordinator for a regional network on migrant shelters, said he fears that migrants passing through Mexico may be diverted by smugglers away from cities with humanitarian infrastructure toward remote, desolate stretches of the border. He said thousands of migrants are currently passing through two U.S. immigration processing centers in El Paso, amid uncertainty about ensuing deportations and monitored releases.

The lull in border crossings follows a recent surge of crossings by migrants in hopes of being allowed to stay in the United States before the Title 42 restrictions expired.

Title 42 had been in place since March 2020. It allowed border officials to quickly return asylum seekers back over the border on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. The U.S. has declared the national emergency over, ending the restrictions.

While Title 42 prevented many from seeking asylum, it carried no legal consequences, encouraging repeat attempts. After Thursday, migrants face being barred from entering the U.S. for five years and possible criminal prosecution.

Border holding facilities were already far beyond capacity in the run-up to Title 42's expiration. Officials had orders to release migrants with a notice to report to an immigration office if overcrowding and other factors became critical.

But late Thursday, a federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump temporarily halted the administrations plans to release people into the U.S. and set a court date on whether to extend the ruling. Customs and Border Protection said it would comply, but called it a harmful ruling that will result in unsafe overcrowding.

Other parts of the administration's immigration plan were also in legal peril.

Advocacy groups including the ACLU sued the administration on its new asylum rules minutes before they took effect. Their lawsuit alleges the administration policy is no different than one adopted by Trump, which was rejected by the same court.

The Biden administration says its rule is different, arguing that its not an outright ban but imposes a higher burden of proof to get asylum and that it pairs restrictions with other newly opened legal pathways.

ACLU National Political Director Maribel Hernandez Rivera said many new required steps were unrealistic.

Asylum is not something you schedule when you are fleeing for your life," she said.
Five California men have been charged in Nebraska for their alleged roles in a drug and money laundering conspiracy involving the transportation of thousands of pounds of marijuana and millions of dollars in drug proceeds across the country.

U.S. Attorney Steven Russell said the investigation by the Lancaster County Sheriffs Office and Homeland Security Investigations dates back to September 2019.

On Thursday, two of the five made their first court appearances in federal court in Omaha on the charges: conspiracy to distribute 1,000 kilograms of marijuana, money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

If convicted, Eric Thibodo, 54, of Malibu, and Evan Bowen, 45, of Garberville, would face at least 10 years and up to life in prison.

Both were released on conditions and will be monitored by the U.S. Probation and Pre-Trial Services agency.

Russell said David Leidermann, David Bose, and James Reja also were charged in the same indictment but have yet to make court appearances.

Leidermann, the suspected leader of the organization, and Bose were arrested in the Los Angeles area. Reja has not yet been arrested.

In the affidavit for their arrests, Craig Allrich, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, said it started Sept. 12, 2019, when the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office Interdiction Unit arrested Tyler Gooch with 90 pounds of marijuana, 3,000 vape pens, 30 pounds of THC shatter concentrate, and a pound of psilocybin mushrooms in his pickup.

Through the investigation, he said, they learned the drugs were bound for eastern Nebraska.

A related traffic stop Jan. 19, 2020, turned up more than $200,000 in cash that smelled of drugs in a trash bag. Thibodo was the passenger.

Allrich said investigators searched his phone and found discussions of the delivery of narcotics from Chicago to Omaha.

They also searched a home in Papillion, where Thibodo had been, and found 111 pounds of marijuana, 32 pounds of THC shatter and 5 pounds of THC oil. Allrich alleges Thibodo delivered the drugs.

He said phone records led to other alleged co-conspirators and to a FastBox warehouse in New York, which led to a traffic stop in the Oklahoma City area that turned up roughly $3.9 million of suspected narcotics proceeds.

Allrich said that on May 7, 2020, HSI executed multiple search warrants on FastBox locations, containers and an employees residence, as well as storage units in California, Chicago, Cincinnati, Kansas City and New York. It turned up 55,000 THC vape pens and over $1.6 million in suspected drug proceeds.

Allrich said texts and audio messages discovered as part of that investigation indicated Leidermann had been directing the FastBox shipments. Bank records showed employees had deposited $1.4 million in cash between 2017 and 2020, he said.

He said FastBox created the appearance that it was a legitimate moving company when it really was being used to transport drugs and drug proceeds. Allrich said Leidermann and Reja started the company in 2014 as a marijuana and marijuana byproduct delivery company.

They are suspected of using the FastBox service to move marijuana and marijuana proceeds between California and the other FastBox locations, according to Allrich's affidavit.
The 17-year-old Lincoln boy accused of shooting and killing another teen at a crowded house party March 31 had confronted the victim over a bag of marijuana in the moments before the shooting, police said in newly unsealed court filings.

Kashuan McCree, who is accused of first-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony in the shooting death of Damien Brave, approached the 18-year-old within 10 minutes of Brave's arrival at the north Lincoln house party and asked if he had marijuana on him, Lincoln Police Investigator Jason Drager said in the court filings.

Brave told McCree no, so the 17-year-old walked away, according to witness accounts included in the probable cause statement for McCree's arrest.

But minutes later, at 11:30 p.m. March 31, McCree confronted Brave again at the house party near 27th and Fair streets, inquiring again about the marijuana he suspected Brave had in a bag he'd brought to the party, Drager said in the statement.

According to police, one witness reported McCree said "something similar to, 'So if I were to shoot you, take your bag and look through it, there will be nothing in there?'"

Then, police alleged, McCree pulled out a gun and shot Brave in the stomach.

The 18-year-old lunged for McCree's gun and tried to wrestle it away from him before the 17-year-old shot Brave three more times, witnesses told police.

As some partygoers fled 1834 N. 27th St. and some called police, at least two attendees carried Brave to a private car and drove him to a local hospital, Drager said.

He was pronounced dead at around 2:30 a.m. April 1.

Brave, the city's fifth homicide victim of 2023 who left behind a grieving family that includes four sisters and his parents, "didn't get a chance to live his life," his mother said.

At least six witnesses later pointed investigators to McCree, who fled to Michigan in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, according to police.

Police arrested McCree in Detroit on April 6 for his alleged role in Brave's death, Lincoln Police Chief Teresa Ewins said at a news conference the next morning.

Ewins said investigators had recovered the bag that apparently ignited the feud between Brave and McCree, but she declined to say what was inside.

At last month's news conference, the police chief also stopped short of calling the shooting a robbery gone wrong, but in court filings, prosecutors said Brave's alleged murder was carried out in an "attempt to perpetrate (a) robbery."

Police don't believe Brave and McCree knew each other prior to the shooting, Ewins said. And, she said, Brave wasn't armed when he was shot.

Authorities haven't found the handgun thought to have been used in the shooting, the police chief said. McCree remained in custody in Michigan until he was extradited this week ahead of Friday's hearing. Appearing via Zoom from the Lancaster County Youth Assessment Center, the 17-year-old Lincoln boy grappled with the reality of his criminal charges at his first court appearance.

McCree asked Judge Thomas Zimmerman at Friday's hearing if he might be able to see his charges reduced after learning he faces up to life in prison.

"I heard 'life,' you know what I'm saying?" he asked the judge. "So, like, if I get a paid attorney  that's just like the range. But with a paid attorney ... or anything like that, that's just  I can get those lowered down with all the facts and everything, right?"

"Mr. McCree, it's between you and your attorney how you intend to conduct your defense of this case," Zimmerman said, before setting the 17-year-old's percentage bond at $1 million.

McCree must pay $100,000 to be released.

Remembering Lincoln's homicide victims of 2023 1. Julian A. Martinez 2. Rudy Requejo Jr. 3. Ronald Gonzalez Rivas 4. Christopher Karmazin 5. Damien Brave
WAVERLY  Late last year, it appeared the School District 145 Board of Education would have to act quickly to address urgent capacity issues.

But a new report by a Kansas demographics consulting company says not so fast.

Previous projections by the school districts hired architect DLR Group indicated that enrollment growth could be expected in the next 10 years or so, based on the 1.8% growth rate the district has seen over the past 15 years and the possibility of significant residential development in Waverly and Eagle.

But an analysis presented by school district planning firm RSP & Associates at the May 1 school board meeting projects District 145s enrollment will grow marginally over the next five years, increasing by just 38 students between now and the 2027-2028 school year.

What they are telling us is that in the next five years, we as a school district are not going to grow by that many students, Superintendent Cory Worrell said, which is kind of contrary to what most people would think, because they are seeing all these potential houses going up.

The board contracted RSP to complete the analysis in January. The Kansas-based company has conducted similar enrollment studies for Papillion-La Vista Community Schools, Omaha Public Schools and Springfield Platteview Community Schools.

The RSP analysis accounts for factors like historical growth rates, land use plans and inward and outward migration, among a slew of others.

But the primary drivers contributing to the modest growth projections are the areas slowing residential construction, as well as declining birth rates in Lancaster, Cass and Otoe counties.

The analysis shows five straight years of a decreasing birth rate in Lancaster County from 2015 to 2019, which reflects a national trend. The number ticked up by 41 live births in 2020, the last year from which the analysis provides birth rate data.

The analysis links Lancaster Countys birth rate in a certain year with the number of kindergarten students from the county that attend District 145 schools five years later (the age at which most students begin kindergarten). It suggests that as birth rates decrease, the districts kindergarten classes will be smaller, too.

On the housing side, the analysis says that 47 residential units have been built in the district in the past year  down from 106 in 2021, 80 in 2020, 62 in 2019 and 83 in 2018. The analysis says that as of February 2022, construction costs were up 100% from August 2020. Higher costs coupled with supply chain issues have likely contributed to the areas slowed residential growth.

The analysis does acknowledge, however, the potential for residential growth within District 145. It points to immediate growth potential in Waverlys Anderson North Park and Liberty Estates subdivisions, as well as in the Wandering Creek development near 91st and Van Dorn streets  which is within District 145s boundaries but could be annexed by the City of Lincoln in the future.

Then, within the next 5 years, residential building could take place within Waverlys Riley addition and in a new development on the east side of town that plans to bring more than 500 houses by the time the development is built out. In Eagle, there are developments moving forward or in the works on land east of Eagle Elementary, near the Eagle water tower, and to the southwest of the U.S. Highway 34 and Nebraska Highway 43 interchange.

In the time frame of 10 years and beyond, the analysis lists additional potential for growth near 148th Street and McKelvie Road, as well as east of the existing Evandale Estates subdivision in Waverly.

In total, there is potential for 1,800 new units. But the rate at which new residences are built will depend on demand, infrastructure availability and economic conditions.

Still, RSPs five-year projection for Waverly shows 38 additional students coming to the district and kindergarten classes that are smaller than graduating senior classes. The only building that is projected to continue facing capacity issues is Waverly High School.

The analysis encourages the district to continue studying demographic and growth trends in the coming years.

What we dont know is what it will look like in years six through 10, years 10 through 15, Worrell said. Its very possible were going to see great growth.

Worrell said the district still has facilities needs that are not diminished by the lower-than-expected enrollment projections.

Our facility needs are still now, Worrell said.

At previous meetings, the school board has discussed possible additions at Waverly High School, as well as district-wide technology and HVAC upgrades. At the May board meeting, the board approved a resolution to choose the construction manager at risk contract delivery system for any forthcoming building projects. The resolution also authorized Worrell to publish a request for proposals from construction companies.

Part of the immediate benefit of working with a construction firm, Worrell said, is the ability to receive more accurate cost estimates on certain projects.

Theyre going to be able to give you a much greater idea of what the costs really are, Worrell said.

Also in the works is a committee that will be made up of district staff, administration and citizens and is intended to provide feedback on what projects the school board should prioritize. Worrell said school board members were tasked with inviting a handful of constituents apiece to be part of the committee.

I think well get a pretty good cross-section of staff and parents and community members to be part of that group, Worrell said.
Lincoln Choral Artists (LCA) will present its final concert of the 2022-23 season at 4 p.m. Sunday, May 21, at First United Methodist Church, 2723 N 50th St.

The theme is A Collaboration and a Calling, and LCA will work with University of Nebraska-Lincolns i2Choir. Both choirs will sing individual pieces, and the mass choir will perform two pieces together.

The i2Choir offers a naturally inclusive music-making opportunity where individual contributions are valued, musical growth is championed and all members become partners in the experience of creating high-quality music. The i2Choir comes from a partnership between the UNL Glenn Korff School of Music, International Quilt Museum, Cooper Foundation and Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts.

LCA is an auditioned, adult community choir from Lincoln and surrounding communities.

LCA will present "Faures Requiem" as part of its individual performance. Gabriel Faure composed his "Requiem in D minor, Op. 48," between 1887 and 1890. The choral-orchestral setting is the best-known of his large works. In seven movements, the work is scored for two soloists, chorus and orchestra.

The public is welcome. Tickets may be purchased at the door or online at www.lincolnchoralartists.org.
The League of Women Voters of Nebraska  a statewide nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government and public policy issues  elected Janelle Stevenson of Lincoln and MaryLee Moulton of Omaha as co-presidents for the 2023-2025 term.

Elected at the LWVNEs 10th annual meeting April 29 in Lincoln, the co-presidents will continue working to increase and diversify the organizations membership as well as educate and engage voters on political issues and with the elected and appointed officials who represent them.

As a new leader in a century-old organization founded by women in 1920 following a 72-year fight for their right to vote, I see the immense responsibility this position holds in empowering voters and defending democracy in Nebraska, said Stevenson, who served as the LWVNEs co-director of natural resources and energy from July 2019 to April 2023.

Mitigating climate change and preserving our natural resources will always be at the forefront of what I think about on a daily basis, she said. Going forward, I will expand my breadth of knowledge to collaborate with our directors in education, government, health care, mental and behavioral health, natural resources and energy, social policy and voter services. As co-presidents, we will continue the goal of recruiting a more diverse membership and eventual leadership in the League.

"I am looking forward to working with Janelle as the state League transforms to a younger, more diverse organization that provides Nebraskans with education on election issues and voter ID while also engaging the public with the leaders who represent them, said Moulton, who served as co-president of the LWVNE in the 2021-2022 term and president in 2022-2023. The decisions made in our state and local government impact us all and the League is committed to making sure Nebraskans know how to make their voices heard."

The LWVNE currently has local organizations in Lincoln-Lancaster County, Seward County, Greater Omaha and Hastings that sponsor voter registration efforts, candidate forums and other educational programs.

Throughout its 103-year history, the LWVNE has advocated for voting rights and championed policy initiatives that provide all Nebraskans an equal opportunity to participate and maintain a good quality of life. To learn more, visit www.lwvnebraska.org.
RACINE COUNTY  Extension Racine County welcomes Maria Gaytan-Martinez as its new positive youth development educator.

Gaytan-Martinezs skills and mindsets, combined with her diverse professional background as a youth organizer, special education teacher, camp counselor and legislative intern, will be an asset in her new role.

Her prior experience focused on providing opportunities for youth to infuse their voices in lobbying and policymaking, as well as education about basic organizing, leadership and advocacy skills.

I am beyond excited to join Extension Racine and cannot wait to work alongside youth from diverse backgrounds in the Racine community, Gaytan-Martinez said. I wholeheartedly believe that the youth of today will pave the way for a more just and equitable society and it is our role as educators to support them on this path. I am grateful for this opportunity and looking forward to collaborating with other passionate educators at extension.

Youth in Governance

Racine County Board Chairman Thomas E. Roanhouse has announced the new class of representatives for the Youth in Governance program.

For the 10th year, high school students from across Racine County will serve alongside Racine County Supervisors on County Board committees.

Committee assignments include:

Christopher Naber and Madhura Patil: Economic Development and Land Use Planning Committee

Adan Merino-Cabrera and Daysia Ward: Finance and Human Resources Committee

Shritha Reddy and Addison Turek: Government Services Committee

William Casterton and Jamillah Jallow: Health and Human Development Committee

Nicholas Blount and Itzetl Flores: Public Works, Parks and Facilities Committee

Youth in Governance representatives ending their term for 2022-23 were honored for their service at the County Board meeting May 9. They include Mabel Beversdorf, Noura Deanparvar, Maren DeSonia, Katelyn Guerrero, Kalyn Holland, Jamillah Jallow, Charles Letsch, Rabeka Liberto, Shritha Reddy, Margarita Reyes-Pena and alternate Fiona Anton.

Planning for the future

Juntos (together in Spanish) is a program for middle and high school students to help them successfully transition to high school, receive a high school diploma, and pursue their future education and career goals.

In the 2022-23 school year, Extension Racine partnered with RUSDs Education and Engineering Pathway, Burlington High School and Waterford High School.

Extension Racine educators presented workshops about the transition to high school, benefits of higher education, higher education options and ways to pay for higher education such as Promise Programs, financial aid and scholarships.

Guest speakers from Gateway Technical College, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Carthage College and UW-Madison offered information about admissions and career/degree programs at their institutions.

RUSD high school students and counselors also shared insights about how students can be successful in high school.

As a result of the workshops, students are equipped with more knowledge and resources to begin planning for their futures.

Summer library outreach

Extension Racine will offer programs for families with young children at local libraries this summer.

The All Together Now theme teaches children why they are an important member of the community.

Children will enjoy a book and then participate in interactive stations to help build skills such as cooperation and kindness.

Programs will be held from June to August at the Burlington, Racine, Union Grove and Waterford libraries.

For more information, visit the Extension Racine web site or check with your local library.

Want to learn more?

Extension Racine County offers a variety of in-person and virtual programs for individuals and families.

Programs are held regularly in the areas of parenting and financial education, 4-H and youth development, nutrition, horticulture and agriculture.

For the latest information about programs, go to https://racine.extension.wisc.edu or call 262-767-2929.
RACINE  The Racine Public Library, Aurora Health Care and Familia Dental will host a Health and Family Resource Fair from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 20, at the library, 75 Seventh St.

More than 30 agencies are participating, including Fight to End Exploitation, LIFT Wisconsin, BeLEAF Survivors, Unity Racine, the Aging & Disability Resource Center of Racine County and Workforce Development.

The fair, hosted in tandem with the renovation celebration and open house, is a day to enjoy how the library creates connections and share resources for the whole family, including health, housing and employment.

Attendees can enter free raffles to win prizes such as baby supplies, a cooking with ease basket, childrens books, canoe and kayak passes to the Root River Environmental Education Community Center, self-care supplies and gift cards. Raffle prizes will be drawn at 1 p.m. and winners must be present to win.
1. Yes. The state is missing out on millions in revenue that is going to neighboring states.

2. Yes. But only if the revenue is dedicated to education funding or property tax reduction.

3. No. As with the state lottery, casinos would more heavily impact lower-income Texans.

4. No. Texas has resisted the idea for years, and for good reason: its morally irresponsible.

5. Unsure. It definitely has some economic benefits, but it would be controversial.

Vote

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YORK  Alisha Vavra of Gresham was recently crowned York Czech Queen 2023. After being crowned the last three years, Vavra had much time to practice her queen duties.

Vavra said, When I put on my kroj two weeks ago, I just lit up inside. This title brings me such joy.

This fall Vavra will graduate from the University of Nebraska at Kearney, where she is studying music education and will become a high school band teacher at Lawrence - Nelson after graduation. Vavra said, I always knew I wanted to be a band teacher. In high school I had a great band teacher, Joshua Harris, who helped me find my love for music.

Vavra said JoAnn Kuester, club president of Nebraska Czechs of York, had reached out to Vavras grandmother three years ago and said they were looking for a Czech queen. Vavra had musical talent and her grandparents were both Czech, so the shoe fit.

This was out of my comfort level, said Vavra. I was very shy, but I grew very interested in my genealogy and learning what Czechs do. I felt like being a queen was the right thing to do."

Being involved with the Czech club helped Vavra grow closer with her family. Vavra and her family have done more than eat kolaches at festivals," researching together on Czech heritage.

The first year, we didnt know what we were getting into, said Vavra. I didnt know anything about making a kroj or that every part of the kroj has a historical meaning.

Last year, Vavra wore a headdress, signifying she is young and unmarried with several ribbons attached. One of the ribbons has blue anchors that symbolize how her faith keeps her anchored. She wore a white shirt, traditionally representing Czechoslovakia with a pink vest, representing the pink roses her great-grandmother plants in front of her home. The blue skirt she wore represented the sea her ancestors had to cross to get from Czechoslovakia to America and attached to the skirt was white lace that represents her love for her Czech heritage.

Around the skirt, she wore a black apron that symbolized the coal her ancestors mined in Czechoslovakia and in the center, it has embroidered flowers that her grandmother created to represent her familys love for flowers and greenery. At the bottom of the apron is a wheat ribbon that symbolizes what her ancestors grew in Nebraska. On the side of her apron, a handkerchief was placed that was made from two of her grandfathers shirts.

Vavra learned public speaking and communication skills as well during her reign the last two years. She said the life of a queen is a busy one, traveling to festivals and parades across the state of Nebraska.

Vavra said, My favorite parade would have to be the Fourth of July Parade in Seward. As a family, wed always go when I was younger, and it's fun seeing a lot of people that I know on every block.

With this year being her last year as Czech queen, Vavra most looks forward to spending more time with her family and getting to know her fellow Czech princes and princesses.

Shes also looking forward to the 2023 Wilber Czech Festival, where she will be competing in the state pageant. For her talent, she is giving a presentation on her ancestors.

In previous years, the Czech club has put on Oktoberfest in York with food, booths, music performed by the Milligan Czech Brass Band and dancing.
KEARNEY  A Kearney man was arrested Thursday for sexual assault of a child.

Ronald Clark, 84, has been charged in Buffalo County Court with felony third-degree sexual assault of a child 14 years old or younger. The sexual contact allegedly happened on or about Jan. 1, 2013.

There is no statute of limitations on sexual assault in Nebraska. A preliminary hearing date has not been set.

Records detailing the case are sealed.
KEARNEY  Since her first baby was due June 11, Alexandria Trujillo didn't expect to celebrate her first Mothers Day until next year.

But that changed April 24 when Trujillo delivered her daughter Bostyn seven weeks early at CHI Health Good Samaritan.

Trujillo, an endoscopy nurse at Good Sam, had been experiencing high blood pressure, but she continued to work while monitoring her blood pressure at home. But by mid-April, It was higher than what they wanted, she said. On April 22, she was hospitalized.

Trujillo was suffering from pre-eclampsia, which women can develop after the 20th week of pregnancy. Symptoms are high blood pressure, swelling and albumin in the urine.

Left untreated, pre-eclampsia can develop into eclampsia, which, without warning, can cause seizures or leave the mother comatose. It can also be fatal.

I was nervous, but when we got to the hospital Saturday, we knew that delivering her early was the plan, Trujillo said.

We got to meet our whole team, including a nurse practitioner from the NICU, so we had a little heads up. Everyone was great," she added.

Bostyn is born

On April 24, after a day and a half of bed rest, Trujillos obstetrician, Dr. Jesse Loeffler, induced labor. Trujillo delivered a daughter weighing just 4 pounds, 4 ounces. The infant was immediately whisked off to the neonatal intensive care unit.

Little Bostyn did so well in the NICU that she was able to start taking breast milk from a bottle a few days later.

It was exactly 33 weeks and one day into my pregnancy when she was born, but she did really well. She progressed faster than we thought she would, Trujillo said

Bostyn gained 8 ounces during her two weeks in the NICU. When the Trujillos took her home Tuesday, she weighed 4 pounds, 12 ounces.

By Thursday, when Trujillo took Bostyn to see her pediatrician, Dr. Evin Lackore, she had added 4 more ounces and weighed an even 5 pounds.

He is really pleased with her growth, Trujillo said.

Trujillo was discharged from the hospital April 28, two days after Bostyns birth, so she and husband Jordan Trujillo bounced back and forth between home and the hospital and spent several nights there as well.

Its amazing how resilient these babies are, Alexandria Trujillo said. She was so early we werent sure how developed she would be, but this showed me the resiliency in preemies and just how strong they are.

NICU notes

Kirsten Burklund, R.N., was one of the NICU staff who cared for Bostyn. Burklund has spent seven of her 14 years as a NICU nurse at Good Sam.

"She was a small little girl, and when we first got her, she was on respiratory support to keep her lungs open. We monitored her vitals  her weight, her temperature, and more  every hour, and then about every three hours, we would do her feedings," Burklund said.

A neonatal nurse practitioner is in the NICU around the clock to "keep their eyes on babies at all times," she added.

In order to go home, babies must be able to take all their feedings in a bottle, whether breast milk or formula; they must be gaining weight; and they must be off all central monitors, Burklund said.

"There can be no monitor events like a dropping heart rate or gaps in oxygen levels," she added. "She had to be able to keep her temperature up with no assistance in an open crib. She had to be able to be placed in a car seat, too."

She believed that Trujillo's training as a nurse was helpful. "The baby world can be very specialized, but having a nursing background helped her understand when we were explaining things to her, especially with these tiny babies who are so specialized," she said.

Going home

Trujillo said the NICU kept Bostyn on a strict schedule, with feedings every three hours. She has mostly retained that schedule now that she is home, although if she wakes up sooner and seems hungry, Trujillo feeds her. She takes between 1.5-2 ounces at each feeding.

Shes still in the NICU routine. She eats every three hours, and shes still pretty much sleeping. Shes awake for maybe 15- or 20-minute periods a few times a day, Trujillo said.

She and Jordan had clothing for newborns and infants waiting at home, but after her birth they searched for baby clothes sized for preemies.

They are hard to find. We bought every outfit we could find in preemie sizes, but that was just five outfits, Alexandria Trujillo said.

She described the staff at Good Sam as incredible, adding, Even when I was admitted, and in the NICU, they treat the babies like their own. I knew she was in good hands when I couldnt be there. I never had any doubts.

At Bostyns check-up Thursday, nurses at the Family Birth Center dropped off a Mothers Day onesie for Bostyn. Those will be given to all babies born at Good Sam on Mothers Day.

Fortunately, the nursery was ready at home, Alexandria Trujillo said. We werent quite mentally prepared, but everything was ready.

Jordan is a fertilizer technician at Grazcyks Lawn and Landscaping. Bostyns grandparents are James and Tami Hoatson of North Platte, and Bobby and Melanie Trujillo of Kearney.

The new parents will spend Trujillo's first Mothers Day at home, quietly. Well be keeping Bostyn in because she is so little, she said. Well enjoy our first weekend together as a family.
COVID generation

Across Nebraska, high school and college graduations are upon us. What is unique about this years graduates? This years graduates do not know a high school experience without COVID-19.

We were in our freshman year when COVID hit, had a strange hybrid sophomore year, tried to get back to normal junior year, and at last, were graduating seniors now.

We experienced social isolation, concern for our families and friends, and like everyone, a disruption to the activities we love. According to the CDC in 2023, 44% of high school students reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds. There will be a heartbreaking empty chair at my schools graduation.

What can be done? The most meaningful gift you can give this years graduates is acceptance. Please accept and celebrate all of us. We survived. Others didnt.

Think about it. When was the last time you asked a young person about their future goals and just listened? You didnt offer advice, or try to convince them that this or that would be better, make more money, or be more realistic?

Please extend your heart to the young people and graduates that you know. If you need support, call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. It gives free and confidential crisis resources for you and loved ones.

Enjoy graduation season. And watch out world, here we come!

Maggie Wadginski, Omaha

THE AUTHOR will be a member of the Class of 2023 at Omaha's Westside High School.

Lawmaking stalls

Sixty-three days, can you believe, our Legislature's first bill to conceive?

The senators clear, with intentions so pure, faced leaders who cared not for rights they'd ensure. Two sides unshaken, in boots firmly dug, a dance of division with each stubborn tug. The bills that were brought, controversy they'd sow, while the rest of the state's business lay fallow and slow.

With digital quill, my rhymes come alive, as we take on the partisans who connive.

With multiple measures, amendments galore, a hodgepodge creation, it's hard to ignore. Governor and friends, they plot and they scheme, to fund education with emergency dreams. Instead of solutions that last and are fair, they deplete what we've saved with nary a care.

As leaders press on through these 90 short days, reflection is needed, a change in their ways. Term limits have drained, leaving knowledge outpoured, campaign coffers swelling, records untoward.

The system once sturdy, now tattered and gnawed, leaves hearts torn asunder, in sorrow and awed. We weep for the beauty, once vibrant and true, the statesmanship lost, as we bid it adieu.

Nebraskans, unite, it is time to restore, our grand experiment in democracy, our Legislature once more. This house is our house, the people's domain, where the ultimate sovereign will forever remain.

For money may sway, but only so long, as the spirit of Nebraskans remains ever so strong. Together we stand, our voices as one, we'll reclaim our proud legacy, and our work will be done.

Nathan Leach, Kearney

THE AUTHOR lives in Kearney and is an outspoken advocate for Nebraska's officially nonpartisan Unicameral Legislature. In the creation of this poem, he employed the assistance of ChatGPT, an AI-powered language model by OpenAI. "While I provided the ideas and inspiration, ChatGPT served as a creative tool that helped refine and shape the final piece. The collaboration allowed for the unique blend of human and artificial intelligence in crafting this work," Leach said.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  A Minnesota man pleaded guilty to selling conventionally grown crops as certified organic produce in a scheme the federal prosecutors said brought in $19 million in profits.

James Clayton Wolf, 65, of Cottonwood County pleaded guilty Friday to one count of wire fraud after admitting that he sold the improperly labeled crops to a buyer in Pennsylvania.

As part of the plea deal, Wolf will be required to pay $19 million in restitution.

Federal prosecutors initially charged Wolf and a co-defendant, Adam Clifford Olson, with three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy. They alleged the men, both certified organic farmers, ran the scheme between 2014 and 2021, and it netted $46 million.

Certified organic crops generally bring in higher prices because they are raised without chemical applications, such as herbicides.

Olson's case is continuing in the court system.
Winona area law enforcement agencies hosted a memorial service honoring officers killed in the line of duty Wednesday.

The event took on added significance in the wake of two nearby high-profile incidents that left three western Wisconsin law enforcement officers dead in recent months.

Hosted at Winonas Law Enforcement Center, officers from Winonas Police Department, St. Charles Police Department, Goodview Police Department, Winona County Sheriffs Office, and the Minnesota State Patrol gathered with community leaders and members to remember all officers who have died on the job.

Gathered around flags and memorials to the three officers who have died on duty in Winona County, the service included prayers, songs, and proclamations.

Its important to me that we do this every year because we need to remember the officers and the job that they did and the sacrifice they gave, Winona County Sheriff Ron Ganrude said. You never know what youre getting into when youre getting into the car, and who knows what the next call is going to be.

In 2023, over 140 federal, state, and local law enforcement officers have been killed in the line of duty. Those numbers include the three officers recently killed in two separate incidents in western Wisconsin, including 29-year-old St. Croix Deputy Sheriff Kaitie Leising, who was shot and killed May 6 during a traffic stop.

On April 8, 32-year-old Chetek, Wisconsin, police officer Emily Breidenbach and 23-year-old Cameron, Wisconsin, officer Hunter Scheel were killed in a firefight during a traffic stop.

While honoring all law enforcement killed in the line of duty, Wednesdays memorial especially recognized the three who have died in Winona County: Officer Mathew Hamilton in 1874, Investigator John J. Schneider in 1980 and Corporal Theodore Foss in 2000.

Ted Foss, I worked with him for a number of years, Ganrude said. John Schneider, I only knew him for six months before he was killed. I was a brand new rookie officer. I still remember the chief coming over, knocking on door and saying that Schneider just got shot, and the impact that had on me.

The warm and sunny early afternoon had a somber tone to it as Father Tim Biren shared prayers with the crowd.

We honor the courage of the officers who have given their lives in the line of duty, the ultimate sacrifice, Winona County Attorney Karrin Sonnemann said. We know that you do the heavy lifting, and each time you are out on patrol or investigating a case, you put your safety and your life on the line to protect and keep our community safe.

May 10 was Winona County Law Enforcement Memorial Day, which Mayor Scott Sherman proclaimed Wednesday.

Sheriff Ganrude said the relationship between officers is stronger than most co-worker relationships.

You have to count on your partner to be able to have your back all the time, no matter what the situation, Ganrude said.
President of Eritrea to visit China

Xinhua) 09:28, May 13, 2023

BEIJING, May 12 (Xinhua) -- At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Isaias Afwerki of the State of Eritrea will begin his state visit to China on May 14, foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying announced on Friday.

In response to a question concerning the visit, Wang Wenbin, another foreign ministry spokesperson, told a press briefing that Eritrea is an important country in the Horn of Africa, and China and Eritrea are traditionally friendly countries.

China-Eritrea relations were elevated to a strategic partnership in 2022, and this year is the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, Wang said.

China and Eritrea have deepened political mutual trust, their practical cooperation has yielded fruitful outcomes, and they have maintained close communication and coordination concerning international and regional affairs, Wang said.

During the visit, President Xi will host a welcome ceremony and welcome banquet for President Isaias Afwerki, and the two heads of state will hold talks, Wang said.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang will meet with President Isaias Afwerki, he noted.

President Isaias Afwerki's visit will inject new impetus into the comprehensive and in-depth development of China-Eritrea relations, and push for new progress in their friendly cooperation, Wang said.

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Wu Chaolan)
Eight Winona area high school seniors were awarded scholarships Thursday evening during the Winona Daily News Above & Beyond scholarship award night at Saint Marys University.

The Above & Beyond scholarship program recognizes the efforts of high school seniors across the Winona area who overcame obstacles and hardship to find personal and academic success.

To our Winona Daily News Above & Beyond Winners, were so very proud of you, said retired Winona Daily News Editor Rusty Cunningham. Youve shared your stories and your courage, your talents and your character. Talent is a gift, character is a choice. We admire the courageous choices you made under the most difficult circumstances.

Excerpts of news articles published throughout the winter in the Daily News were read aloud during the ceremony, highlighting the efforts of each student to surmount adversity and challenges while making positive impacts on those around them.

Letting your stories be told and shared through Above & Beyond is incredibly brave. Allowing your vulnerabilities to be written down and read by others is yet another way you reached out, said Joy Rockwell, associate director of financial aid at Saint Marys University.

The 16-year-old program awarded scholarships to each student, sponsored by the Winona Daily News and the Winona Community Fund with support from WNB Financial.

What amazing stories we heard from each of this years Above & Beyond scholarship recipients, said River Valley Media Group Executive Editor Todd Krysiak. I want to thank them, as well as the Winona community that stepped up to support these important scholarships that help make college achievable for these special students.

Minnesota State College and Saint Marys University awarded scholarships to seniors planning on attending, while Winona State University earmarked funds if students chose to attend.

Scholarship funds were made available through WNB Financial for seniors attending college outside of Winona.

Every single one of your stories mentioned how youre already giving back. Youre always here in your communities in, your schools, you make time to reach out to others, Rockwell said. To see if they may be struggling themselves. Thats truly beyond.

Scholarship recipients included:

Olivia Becker, Winona Senior High.

Joelle Hammann, Lewiston-Altura.

Laina Koenig, Cochrane-Fountain City.

Kayleanna Kohner, Cotter.

Grace Meyer, Rushford-Peterson.

Brianna Mullen, Hope Lutheran.

Fred Williams, Mabel-Canton.

Mackenzie Zibrowski, Houston.

Close Olivia Becker, Winona Senior High School senior, at Thursday's Above and Beyond awards. Brianna Mullen, Hope Lutheran senior, at Thursday's Above and Beyond awards. Mackenzie Zibrowski, Houston High School senior, at Thursday's Above and Beyond Awards. Joelle Hammann, Lewiston-Altura High School senior, at Thursday's Above and Beyond awards. Grace Meyer, Rushford-Peterson High School senior at Thursday's Above and Beyond awards. Kayleanna Kohner, a senior at Cotter High School, receives a plaque from River Valley Media Group Executive Editor Todd Krysiak during Thursday's Above and Beyond award ceremony. Joy Rockwell, associate director of financial aid at Saint Mary's University, addresses Above & Beyond award winners and their families at Thursday's awards. Winona Daily News Above & Beyond scholarship recipients Winona area high school seniors receive scholarships as part of the Winona Daily News Above & Beyond program. Olivia Becker, Winona Senior High School senior, at Thursday's Above and Beyond awards. Brianna Mullen, Hope Lutheran senior, at Thursday's Above and Beyond awards. Mackenzie Zibrowski, Houston High School senior, at Thursday's Above and Beyond Awards. Joelle Hammann, Lewiston-Altura High School senior, at Thursday's Above and Beyond awards. Grace Meyer, Rushford-Peterson High School senior at Thursday's Above and Beyond awards. Kayleanna Kohner, a senior at Cotter High School, receives a plaque from River Valley Media Group Executive Editor Todd Krysiak during Thursday's Above and Beyond award ceremony. Joy Rockwell, associate director of financial aid at Saint Mary's University, addresses Above & Beyond award winners and their families at Thursday's awards.
American electric carmaker Tesla has broken ground on a new lithium processing center it says will support the production of up to 1 million vehicles by 2025.

When completed, the factory in the state of Texas will be the largest lithium processor in North America, Reuters news agency reported. The operation will push Tesla outside its main business of manufacturing electric vehicles (EVs). Lithium-based batteries are used to power most EVs.

Tesla chief Elon Musk said at a recent ground-breaking ceremony the processing center will be required for the company to reach its EV sales targets. He explained that in just a few years, lithium supplies worldwide are expected to face major shortages.

Musk said Tesla aims to complete construction of the factory next year. It is expected to reach full production about one year later.

The move will make Tesla the only major automaker in North America to refine its own lithium. Currently, China is the biggest processor of many in-demand minerals, including lithium.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott attended the ceremony. He said, "Texas wants to be able to be self-reliant, not dependent upon any foreign hostile nation for what we need. We need lithium."

Musk did not give an exact estimate for how much lithium the factory would process each year. But he did say Tesla would continue to buy lithium from two U.S.-based companies it currently uses, Albemarle and Livent. So it's not that Tesla will do all of it," Musk noted.

Albemarle plans to build a lithium processing center in South Carolina that will aim to refine 100,000 tons of the substance each year. Building on that project is expected to begin next year.

Musk did not say where Tesla will get the unprocessed lithium, which is known as spodumene concentrate. Currently, the company has supply deals with North Carolina-based Piedmont Lithium and others.

Tesla said it will avoid the lithium industry's traditional refining process, which depends on sulfuric acid and other strong chemicals. Instead, the company said it plans to use materials that cause less environmental harm, such as soda ash.

"You could live right in the middle of the refinery and not suffer any ill effect, Musk said. So they're very clean operations." Local media reported, however, that some environmental activists had raised concerns over the processing center.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Reuters reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

battery  n. a device placed inside a machine to supply it with electricity

refine  v. make a substance pure by removing other substances from it

self-reliant  adj. able to do things alone and not depend on other people or things

ill  adj. a way that is bad or not suitable

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We present the short story "The Caliph, Cupid and the Clock" by O. Henry. The story was originally adapted and recorded by the U.S. Department of State.

Prince Michael of Valleluna sat in the park on the seat he liked best. In the coolness of the night, he felt full of life. The other seats were not filled. Cool weather sends most people home.

The moon was rising over the houses on the east side of the park. Children laughed and played. Music came softly from one of the nearer streets. Around the little park, cabs rolled by. The trains that traveled high above the street rushed past. These cabs and trains, with their wild noises, seemed like animals outside the park. But they could not enter. The park was safe and quiet. And above the trees was the great, round, shining face of a lighted clock in a tall old building.

Prince Michaels shoes were old and broken. No shoemaker could ever make them like new again. His clothes were very torn. The hair of his face had been growing for two weeks. It was all colorsgray and brown and red and green-yellow. His hat was older and more torn than his shoes and his other clothes.

Prince Michael sat on the seat he liked best, and he smiled. It was a happy thought to him that he had enough money to buy every house he could see near the park, if he wished. He had as much gold as any rich man in this proud city of New York. He had as many jewels, and houses, and land. He could have sat at table with kings and queens. All the best things in the world could be hisart, pleasure, beautiful women, honor. All the sweeter things in life were waiting for Prince Michael of Valleluna whenever he might choose to take them. But instead he was choosing to sit in torn clothes on a seat in a park.

For he had tasted of the fruit the tree of life. He had not liked the taste. Here, in this park, he felt near to the beating heart of the world. He hoped it would help him to forget that taste.

These thoughts moved like a dream through the mind of Prince Michael. There was a smile across his face with its many-colored hair. Sitting like this, in torn clothes, he loved to study other men. He loved to do good things for others. Giving was more pleasant to him than owning all his riches. It was his chief pleasure to help people who were in trouble. He liked to give to people who needed help. He liked to surprise them with princely gifts. But he always gave wisely, after careful thought.

And now, as he looked at the shining face of the great clock, his smile changed. The Prince always thought big thoughts. When he thought of time, he always felt a touch of sadness. Time controlled the world. People had to do what time commanded. Their comings and goings were always controlled by a clock. They were always in a hurry, and always afraid, because of time. It made him sad.

After a little while, a young man in evening clothes came and sat upon a seat near the Prince. For half an hour he sat there nervously. Then he began to watch the face of the lighted clock above the trees. The Prince could see that the young man had a trouble. He could also see that somehow the clock was part of the trouble.

The Prince rose and went to the young mans seat.

I am a stranger, and I shouldnt speak to you, he said. But I can see that you are troubled. I am Prince Michael of Valleluna. I do not want people to know who I am. That is why I wear these torn clothes. It is a small pleasure of mine to help those who need help. First I must feel sure they are worth helping. I think you are. And perhaps your trouble may be ended if you and I together decide what to do about it.

The young man looked up brightly at the Prince. Brightly, but he was still troubled. He laughed, then, but still the look of trouble remained. But he accepted this chance to talk to someone.

Im glad to meet you, Prince, he said pleasantly. Yes, I can see you dont want to be known. Thats easy to see. Thanks for your offer to help. But I dont see what you can do. Its my own problem. But thanks.

Prince Michael sat down at the young mans side. People often said no to him, but they always said it pleasantly.

Clocks, said the Prince, are tied to the feet of all men and women. I have seen you watching that clock. That face commands us to act, whether or not we wish to act. Let me tell you not to trust the numbers on that face. They will destroy you if they can. Stop looking at that clock. What does it know about living men and women?

I usually dont look at that clock, said the young man. I carry a watch, except when I wear evening clothes.

I know men and women as I know the trees and the flowers, said the Prince, warmly and proudly. I have studied many years. And I am very rich. There are few troubles that I cannot help. I have read what is in your face. I have found honor and goodness there, and trouble. Please accept my help. I can see that you are wise. Show how wise you are. Do not judge me by my torn clothes. I am sure I can help you.

The young man looked at the clock again, and his face grew darker. Then he looked at a house beside the park. Lights could be seen in many rooms.

Ten minutes before nine! said the young man. He raised his hands and then let them fall, as if hope had gone. He stood up and took a quick step or two away.

Remain! commanded Prince Michael. His voice was so powerful that the young man turned quickly. He laughed a little.

Ill wait ten minutes and then Ill go, he said in a low voice, as if only to himself. Then to the Prince he said, Ill join you. Well destroy all the clocks. And women, too.

Sit down, said the Prince softly. I do not accept that. I do not include women. Women are enemies of clocks. They are born that way. Therefore they are friends of those who wish to destroy clocks. If you can trust me, tell me your story.

The young man sat down again and laughed loudly.

Prince, I will, he said. He did not believe that Prince Michael was really a prince. His manner of speaking proved that. Do you see that house, Prince? That house with lights in three windows on the third floor? At six tonight I was in that house with the young lady I am going towas going to marry. Id been doing wrong, my dear Prince, and she heard about it. I was sorry. I wanted her to forget it. We are always asking women to forget things like that, arent we, Prince?

 I want time to think, she said. I will either forget it forever, or never see your face again. At half-past eight, she said, watch the middle window on the third floor of this house. If I decide to forget, I will hang out a long white cloth. You will know then that everything is as it was before. And you may come to me. If you see nothing hanging from the window, you will know that everything between us is finished forever.

That, said the young man, is why I have been watching that clock. The time was passed twenty-three minutes ago. Do you see why I am a little troubled, my torn Prince?

Let me tell you again, said Prince Michael in his soft voice, that women are the born enemies of clocks. Clocks are bad, women are good. The white cloth may yet appear.

Never! said the young man, hopelessly. You dont know Marian. She is always on time, to the minute. That was the first thing I liked about her. At 8:31, I should have known that everything was finished. Im going to go West. Ill get on the train tonight. Ill find some way to forget her. Good nightPrince.

Prince Michael smiled his gentle, understanding smile. He caught the others arm. The bright light in the Princes eyes was softening. It was dream-like, clouded.

Wait, he said, till the clock tells the hour. I have riches and power and I am wiser than most men. But when I hear the clock tell the hour, I am afraid. Stay with me till then. This woman shall be yours. You have the promise of the Prince of Valleluna. On the day you are married I will give you $100,000 and a great house beside the Hudson River. But there must be no clocks in that house. Do you agree to that?

Sure, said the young man. I dont like clocks.

He looked again at the clock above the trees. It was three minutes before nine.

I think, said Prince Michael, that I will sleep a little. It has been a long day.

He lay down on the seat, as if he had often done it before.

Youll find me on this park on any evening when the weather is good, said the Prince. Come to me when you know the day youll be married. Ill give you the money.

Thanks, Prince, said the young man. That day isnt going to come. But thanks.

Prince Michael fell into a deep sleep. His hat rolled on the ground. The young man lifted it, placed it over the Princes face, and moved one of the Princes legs into an easier position. Poor fellow! he said. He pulled the torn coat together over the Princes body.

It was nine. Loud and surprising came the voice of the clock, telling the hour. The young man took a deep breath, and turned for one more look at the house. And he gave a shout of joy.

From the middle window on the third floor, a snow-white wonderful cloth was hanging.

Through the park a man came, hurrying home.

Will you tell me the time, please? asked the young man.

The other man took out his watch. Twenty-nine and a half minutes after eight.

And then he looked up at the clock.

But that clock is wrong! the man said. The first time in ten years! My watch is always

But he was talking to no one. He turned and saw the young man running toward the house with three lighted windows on the third floor.

And in the morning two cops walked through the park. There was only one person to be seena man, asleep on a long park seat. They stopped to look at him.

Its Michael the Dreamer, said one. He has been sleeping like this in the park for twenty years. He wont live much longer, I guess.

The other cop looked at something in the sleepers hand. Look at this, he said. Fifty dollars. I wish I could have a dream like that.

And then they gave Prince Michael of Valleluna a hard shake, and brought him out of his dreams and into real life.

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Words in This Story

prince  n. a male member of a royal family

cab(s)  n. a car that carries passengers to a place for an amount of money that is based on the distance traveled

beating  v. to make the regular movements needed to pump blood

comings and goings  idm. the activity of people arriving at and leaving a place

nervously  adv. done in a way showing feelings of being worried and afraid about what might happen

pleasantly - adv. done in a way that is friendly and likable

hopelessly  adv. done in a way that shows no feeling of hope

cop(s) - n. a person whose job is to enforce laws, investigate crimes, and make arrests

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IMMIGRATION | END OF TITLE 42

EL PASO, Texas  The border between the U.S. and Mexico was relatively calm Friday, offering few signs of the chaos that was feared following a rush by worried migrants to enter the U.S. before the end of COVID-19 immigration restrictions.

Less than 24 hours after the rules known as Title 42 were lifted,migrants and government officials were still assessing the effect of the change and the new regulations adopted by President Joe Biden's administration to stabilize the region.

"We did not see any substantial increase in immigration this morning,"said Blas Nunez-Neto of the Department of Homeland Security. He said the agency did not yet have specific numbers.

Migrants along the border continued to take their chances getting into the U.S., defying officials shouting for them to turn back. Others hunched over cellphones trying to access the appointment app that is a centerpiece of the new measures. Migrants with appointments walked across a bridge hoping for a new life. Lawsuits sought to stop some of the measures.

The Biden administration said the new system is designed to crack down on illegal crossings and to offer a new legal pathway for migrants.

Migrants are now essentially barred from seeking asylum in the U.S. if they did not first apply online or seek protection in the countries they traveled through. Families allowed in as their immigration cases progress will face curfews and GPS monitoring.

Across the river from El Paso in Ciudad Juarez, migrants watched their cellphones in hopes of getting a coveted appointment to seek entry. Nearby, other migrants were charging their phones on a lamppost to try to get an appointment. Most were resigned to wait.

"I hope it's a little better and that the appointments are streamlined a little more," said Yeremy Depablos, 21, a Venezuelan traveling with seven cousins who has been waiting in the city for a month.

Fearing deportation, Depablos did not want to cross illegally. "We have to do it the legal way."

The legal pathways touted by the administration consist of a program that permits up to 30,000 people a month from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter if they apply online with a financial sponsor and enter through an airport.

About 100 processing centers will open in Guatemala, Colombia and elsewhere for migrants to apply to go to the U.S., Spain or Canada. Up to 1,000 can enter daily through land crossings with Mexico if they snag an appointment on the app.

An election issue

Biden commended Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez for his country's collaboration to establish the migration hubs. The two leaders sat down Friday at the White House for wide-ranging talks on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, climate change and other issues.

The Biden administration argues that the current migration quandary facing the Americas is a global problem that needs a global solution  much like refugee crises that impacted Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine in recent years.

"Spain and the U.S., we have common interests about democracy, prosperity and safe, regular and orderly migration patterns," Sanchez said.

The new system could fundamentally alter how migrants come to the southern border.

Biden, who is running for reelection, faces criticism from migrant advocates, who say he's abandoning more humanitarian methods, and from Republicans, who claim he's soft on border security.

Melissa Lopez, executive director for diocesan migrant and refugee services at El Paso said the streets were calm Friday, with few migrants present. She said many migrants told her they are willing to follow the pathway created by the federal government, but there is fear about deportation and possible criminal penalties for people who cross the border illegally.

The lull comes after large numbers of migrants crossed the border in hopes of being allowed to stay in the U.S. before the Title 42 restrictions expired.

Hundreds of migrants, mostly families, sat in two dozen rows between the border walls between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico, as Border Patrol agents selected who would be allowed to be processed. When some got up with them, those left behind cheered.

Enforcement

Title 42, in place since March 2020, allowed border officials to quickly return asylum seekers back over the border on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. The U.S. declared the national emergency over, ending the restrictions.

Title 42 carried no legal consequences, encouraging repeat attempts. After Thursday, migrants face being barred from entering the U.S. for five years and possible criminal prosecution.

Border Patrol chief Raul Ortiz said Friday in a tweet that the agency apprehended 67,759 people in the past week. That averages out to 9,679 per day  nearly twice the average daily level of 5,200 from March.

It's slightly below the 11,000 figure that authorities said was the upper limit of what they expected after Title 42 end, but it wasn't clear where numbers peaked before Title 42 expired Thursday night.

Border holding facilities were already far beyond capacity. Officials had orders to release people with a notice to report to an immigration office in 60 days if facilities reached 125% capacity or when they were held 60 hours or more. The quick releases were also to be triggered when authorities stopped 7,000 migrants along the border in a day.

Late Thursday, a federal judge temporarily halted the administration's plans to release people into the U.S., and set a court date on whether to extend the ruling.

Other parts of the administration's immigration plan were also in legal peril.

Advocacy groups sued the administration on its new asylum rules minutes before they took effect, alleging the new policy is no different than one adopted by former President Donald Trump, which a court rejected.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  Israeli airstrikes killed a senior militant commander in the Gaza Strip and Palestinian militants fired rockets toward Jerusalem on Friday, further escalating the most violent flare -up in months despite efforts to broker a cease fire.

An Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinians in a residential building in Gaza City in the afternoon, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

The Israeli military said it targeted a senior commander of the Islamic Jihad movement. The Islamic Jihad confirmed that the airstrike killed Iyad Al -Fl ass ani, a member of the decision-making council in the group's armed wing.

The fighting, which started on Tuesday, between Israel and Islamic Jihad  the second-largest militant group in Gaza after the territory's Hamas rulers has killed at least 33 Palestinians in the strip, including women and children, and an 80-year-old woman in central Israel, identified in Israeli media as Inga Avramian.
Naomi Kowles, a dogged broadcast journalist at WISC-TV Channel 3, got her first taste of the power of reporting when she was sent to cover a 2018 meeting about mining in Rhinelander.

Kowles was living on the East Coast, working in graphic design, when she told one of her clients, the publisher of The Northwoods Star Journal in Rhinelander, about her interest in writing, and he said she should consider becoming a stringer for his paper.

She was soon covering local government there.

Kowles was sent on her first assignment where the Oneida County board met for five hours to approve a rewrite of the countys mining ordinance. She found she had the skills to talk to people in power and show how their decisions affect lives. Kowles was hooked.

Ive always been very passionate about just making the world a better place, right? Sounds cliche, but its true, she said.

Kowles, 29, said writing that first story was when a light bulb clicked on. Im just a bit of a bulldog. It was one of those moments where I realized that I could use my power for good.

From there, she became a producer at WSAW-TV, a station in Wausau, and then broke into investigative reporting, getting stories on national television and winning numerous broadcast journalism awards.

Kowles grew up in New Yorks Hudson Valley, 100 miles north of New York City. Her parents moved the family across the border to Pennsylvanias Poconos when she was 14.

Her parents, both retired, still live in Pennsylvania. Her father was an airplane mechanic and still dabbles in it. Her mother was in social work, and also spent some time at home raising Kowles and her two brothers.

Kowles started at WISC-TV in October 2020, three weeks before the election.

When she first moved to Madison, she lived on the Near East Side, close to Williamson Street, and last summer moved to the Bay Creek area.

Tell me about your start in TV journalism as a producer in Wausau.

For readers who may not be terribly familiar with producing, you basically put the newscast together. You decide what stories are going to be in a newscast, you write those stories into a 30-second blurb. And it was fine, but I really missed being out in the field. And the station had an investigative reporting unit that I just fell in love with. One of the reporters moved on, and I was lucky enough to be considered for the spot, and its kind of history ever since.

You won multiple awards at the Wausau station for reporting on child sexual assault.

Well, me and my partner, Emily Davies, she became the senior investigative reporter, and that was actually my first project out the door. The two of us started a monthslong project investigating how often child sexual assault was happening, what kinds of penalties existed for people who were charged. As a part of our reporting, we uncovered just some shocking things in terms of just how frequent it was, how low penalties could be in court. It ended up being, I believe, a 12-part series that we ran. And this, again, this is my first project out of the gate, so really more kudos and credit to Emily Davies for taking that on with me. Shes still there as their investigative reporter, one of my closest friends.

What brought you to Madison?

Two things really. My boss at the time who hired me, she had been my boss in Wausau. Sarah Gray was fantastic to work for. Shes no longer our news director, but I really loved working for her. So when she tried to recruit me, it was an easy call. But more than that, I really loved the city. I wanted something a little bit bigger than Wausau, and I loved the Madison vibe.

And so, were you hired as Channel 3s lead investigative reporter?

Yes.

What about hosting the Sunday public affairs show For the Record? How did that come about?

I wasnt hired to do that, but when I came on, it was October, 2020, it was kind of a little bit of a down period for the show. Obviously, Neil Heinen had done an incredible job over the last several decades manning that show. But he had very recently retired ... And previous to his retirement, the show had also been in a bit of a hiatus because of COVID, as all newsrooms everywhere ... Two weeks after I arrived at the station, I was just asked to give the reporter a break who was handling it at the time, and it just has stayed mine ever since.

Is it ever hard for you to ask the tough questions? Does it ever make you nervous?

I think it was probably earlier in my career. Certainly, every now and again it might be a little bit tough. But frankly, Ive been doing this for a few years now, and people who are close to me also know that theres almost no question I wont ask any person, whether its my boss or the mayor or the governor of Wisconsin. Its just, its my personality.

Take a look at 'Immersive Van Gogh'
At long last, U.S. military installations are playing taps for the ignominious mythology of the Lost Cause, stripping the names of Confederate officers and replacing them with the names of genuine heroes. Its about time.

Last week, the third-largest Army base was named for Gen. Richard Edward Cavazos, the first Latino to become a four-star Army general. The Texas installation had previously been named for John Bell Hood, a Confederate general. Fort Cavazos is among 10 installations that had honored insurrectionists but are undergoing long-overdue name changes.

The first to be redesignated was the Virginia base that had been named for Maj. Gen. George Pickett, who led the disastrous Picketts Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg. (He was not only a traitor but also a woeful military strategist.) In March, it was named for Col. Van Barfoot, a World War II Medal of Honor recipient who happened to be Native American.

In late April, the Virginia garrison that had previously commemorated Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was renamed Fort Gregg-Adams, honoring Lt. Gen. Arthur Gregg and Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley. As Black Americans, both overcame the harsh prejudices of the Jim Crow era to rise to leadership positions in the Army in the 1940s and 50s.

While these renaming ceremonies are a welcome step forward in a nation that still cannot come to terms with a violent and racist past, its nevertheless worth pointing out the obvious: U.S. military installations should never have honored traitors. Hood, Lee, Pickett and their compatriots  Braxton Bragg, Henry Benning and Leonidas Polk among them  took up arms against their government because they wanted to be able to continue to enslave Black men and women. Happily, they lost.

Their nation forgave them and granted them amnesty. That was a wise step toward reuniting a cleaved nation. But during the administration of Woodrow Wilson, Lost Cause apologists and other segregationists found reason to name military installations after them  as if soldiers should look up to men who had turned on their country. The bases commemorating Confederates became part of a long-running ahistorical tradition  a lie, in fact  that distorted the causes of the Civil War and cozied up to the terrorism being visited on Black citizens.

The new designations were proposed by a Naming Commission that looked to celebrate Americans who rendered admirable service to their country. One of those was Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, an abolitionist and skilled surgeon who served the Union army. She became the only woman ever to be awarded the Medal of Honor, and her name will soon grace the Virginia military center currently known as Fort A.P. Hill.

Some will denounce the new names as the woke politics of leftists who hate their country. Then-President Donald Trump opposed the name changes when Congress required them in 2020, going so far as to veto a massive defense authorization bill that included the directive.

Then there are those such as Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., who claimed in a recent radio interview that defense readiness is suffering because the Democrats are attacking our military, saying we need to get out the white extremists, the white nationalists. Just in case he misspoke, a reporter followed up by asking him whether he thought white nationalists should be in the military. Tubervilles response? Well, (Democrats) call them that. I call them Americans.

Americans? Yes, they are that by dint of citizenship but not by dint of service. The real patriots are not white racists but rather men such as my father, who fought in Korea to defend a nation that wouldnt allow him to eat in a restaurant or sit at the front of a bus. They are men and women such as Gregg and Adams and Walker, who valiantly served a nation that didnt treat them as if they were full-fledged citizens.

The Naming Commission recommended a raft of valiant men and women who embody the best of the United States Army and America. Theirs is the service that deserves to be remembered.
CAIRO  The U.N. envoy for Sudan on Friday welcomed a deal between the country's warring generals promising safe passage to civilians fleeing the conflict and protection for humanitarian operations in the East African nation.

The envoy, Volker Perthes, said the agreement was an important first step toward a ceasefire to the fighting, which is about to enter its fourth week.

The Sudanese military and the country's paramilitary, the Rapid Support Forces, signed a pact late Thursday vowing to alleviate humanitarian suffering across the country, though a truce remains elusive.

Both sides also agreed to refrain from attacks likely to harm civilians. The violence has already killed over 600 people, including civilians, according to the U.N. healthy agency.
The Bureau of Land Management scheduled five public meetings this week to gather feedback on major proposed changes to its stewardship of multiple-use lands across the western United States  including 12 million acres in Idaho.

None of those meetings will be in Idaho, and the states congressional delegation is asking for one.

In a letter to BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning, Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo and Reps. Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher questioned the choice of meeting locations geographically concentrated away from many of BLMs constituents and pushed the bureau to face the public rather than host virtual meetings after President Joe Biden signed a bill last month to end the COVID emergency.

The first meeting, scheduled for Monday, and the last, on June 5, will be held virtually. In-person meetings are scheduled for May 25 in Denver; May 30 in Albuquerque, New Mexico; and June 1 in Reno.

Idaho has twelve million acres of BLM managed land, and this rule will significantly impact how Idahoans interact with those public lands, the legislators wrote in their letter. By categorizing conservation as a use, rather than an outcome, this rule will effectively ensure the uses Idahoans have traditionally enjoyed on our public lands will be placed in competition with conservation, rather than in harmony. This action is in direct conflict with the congressional mandate to manage public lands for multiple use.

Since the bureaus proposed changes, announced in late March, could severely disrupt multiple uses from grazing to recreation as well as other considerations such as Tribal access, the Idaho delegation called it imperative that the BLM hears directly from Idahoans, in the state of Idaho, in-person.

The BLM also did not schedule in-person meetings in Alaska (70 million acres), Utah (23 million acres) and Wyoming (18 million acres), all of which have more public lands than Idaho, according to its website.

The nearest in-person location for Idahoans, in Reno, is a trip that can take anywhere between five and fourteen hours by car, the Idaho delegation told Stone-Manning in their letter.

They concluded, We look forward to a modification of the schedule for in-person meetings soon.

The proposed Public Lands Rule would, according to the BLM, put conservation on equal footing with other uses to help guide responsible development while safeguarding important places for the millions of people who visit public lands every year to hike, hunt, camp, fish, and more.

The Idaho Legislatures Committee on Federalism on Tuesday heard opposition to the proposed rule from agricultural and business groups during a public meeting in Boise, the Idaho Capital Sun reported. The Idaho Farm Bureau Federation, Idaho Water Resources Board and The J.R. Simplot Co. were among the speakers.

Those speakers were included on the meetings agenda, and no testimony was scheduled from conservation groups or the public, the Capital Sun reported.

The National Cattlemens Beef Association and the Public Lands Council immediately spoke out against the proposed rule in March: Ranchers have a reasonable expectation of transparency and predictability with dealing with the BLM, and this proposed rule falls short on both accounts. The covert manner in which the rule was developed and announced has left permittees feeling like the rule is either a capitulation to the extremist environmental groups who want to eradicate grazing from the landscape, or a concerted effort to develop rules that preclude ranchers input, the groups said in a joint statement.

Conservation groups, meanwhile, have voiced support. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, for example, called the Public Lands Rule a long overdue course correction for the BLM and a golden opportunity to provide positive reinforcement and ensure a better future for some of Americas most magnificent wild landscapes.

For information about the BLMs scheduled meetings, including links to the virtual meetings, go online to https://www.blm.gov/press-release/update-blm-releases-public-meeting-information-proposed-public-lands-rule.

The public comment period is open until June 20 at www.regulations.gov. More than 15,000 comments had been received as of Saturday afternoon.
A delay in construction of the University of Idahos Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (CAFE) has led to financial benefits, officials say.

Excavation crews this month started laying the groundwork on local farmland north of Rupert for the project, which will include the nations largest research dairy.

U of I and its partners had hoped to start work last summer but have reaped rewards from their choice to delay building Idaho CAFE, officials say, allowing time for construction costs to fall. The price of building the projects initial phase, which will include a 2,000-cow dairy adjacent to a 640-acre research farm, dropped by roughly $4 million during the hiatus following a ceremonial groundbreaking for the project in June 2022.

The outlook is very bright, said Mark McGuire, director of the Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station. The lower bids mean we have sufficient funds to fully build this project.

The general contractor, McAlvain Construction of Boise, suggested pausing the start of work and rebidding the subcontracts during winter, banking that labor and material costs would drop and that a more competitive field of bidders would emerge. The strategy worked, as bids from subcontractors for a greater scope of work recently came back significantly below last summers numbers.

Fuel prices were high and excavation companies were involved in many jobs last summer. U of I received a single bid for the excavation work. By contrast, several excavation companies competed for the recent bid. Supply chain constraints have also relaxed, leading to more affordable materials such as concrete.

This has been such a long time coming and the excitement last year at the groundbreaking was just overwhelming how many people showed up, said Tammie Newman, director of pre-construction with McAlvain. It was probably the biggest attended groundbreaking Id ever been to. Now the dream is a reality. When they sent me the picture of all of the equipment on site ready to start moving dirt, I was so excited.

Earthmoving began on May 4. Once the site is prepared, construction workers will begin pouring cement for the milking parlor. The first cows may arrive at Idaho CAFE before the end of 2024, with milking starting in early 2025.

Construction of the milk barn should move quickly, though installing state-of-the-art equipment in the milking parlor will take more time.

Design for the projects second phase should be completed during this summer, with the bid process occurring from September through November. Phase two will include manure handling facilities and lagoons, maternity barn, feed area, an office building and structures to provide shade and wind protection for cows in a dry lot with several pens for research purposes.

The improved budgetary outlook also reopens the door to completing a third phase  a cross-ventilated barn capable of housing between 800 and 1,200 cows. The barn would provide greater comfort to cows and would be useful in studies comparing productivity and environmental impacts of barn versus dry-lot production. Work on the barn would likely commence in 2025, with the dairy gradually ramping up its occupancy throughout the first few years.

Idaho CAFE has gained momentum recently beyond the improved construction cost outlook. The budget that recently passed through Idahos House and Senate contains funding to hire a ruminant nutritionist, a forage specialist and an air-quality engineer working at the facility.

Cargill and Burley-based Redox Bio-Nutrients have both announced $500,000 donations toward CAFE since the beginning of 2023, bringing the total contributions from industry for the project to almost $9 million.

In September 2022, the Idaho Board of Land Commissioners awarded $23.25 million from the sale of U of I College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) endowment land in Caldwell that was no longer being used for experimental farming to support Idaho CAFE. The state legislature approved $10 million toward the project in 2018.

Furthermore, the Idaho Dairymens Association contributed $2 million toward the purchase of the farmland near Rupert for the facility.

Without the support first and foremost of the Idaho Dairymens Association, we wouldnt have been able to purchase that site, and now with all of these other allied industry partners coming on board we will be able to build a facility that will meet the needs of the dairy industry and serve the citizens of Idaho, McGuire said.

Research at CAFE will help develop strategies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from animals, housing areas, waste systems and in-field applications, advancing the dairy industrys nationwide net zero initiative. The facility will even seek markets for dairy waste, which may be made into valuable byproducts such as bioplastics and transportable fertilizers.

The facility will be designed with flexibility in mind. As the project receives additional funding, more options will be possible to add extra components and address a wider variety of scientific and research questions.

The manure handling system is designed to be flexible so we can put in new components and test them as any new technology might come forward, McGuire said. We can also install a methane digestor. If it works, we can keep it in operation, or we can unplug it and put something else in its place.

The project has already generated over $13 million in grant activity and supports the work of more than 30 graduate students and numerous undergraduates hired as research assistants.
Users of Grab Philippines are up in arms anew over the super-apps policy of charging P50 for cancelled ride bookings due to late or no-show drivers.

The issue was revived after the popular website Bilyonaryo.com posted an article this week about well-known publicist Jun Lalin venting on Twitter over being charged the amount despite waiting for a ride for 30 minutes and the Grab driver concerned apparently not moving on the apps built-in map.

Lalin later posted a picture of the P50 cancellation fee receipt from Grab, which introduced the fee on December 2, 2021 as part of our ongoing effort to make driving and riding with us a better experience, according to the super-apps website.

Grab Philippines has enjoying a virtual monopoly of the car hailing services in the country following the exit of rival Uber in 2018. Officials of the company have yet to react to the reports as of posting time.

Why will I pay your driver P50 fee kung hindi naman siya makontak at hindi siya dumating (when he couldnt be contacted and did not even show up) after almost 30 minutes at hindi siya moving sa map app nyo (and he is not moving in your map app)? Lalin posted on Twitter.

This is unfair. Gaano karaming P50 ang kinukuha nyo sa mga kawawa at walang kalaban-laban na consumers nyo? (How many P50 do you collect from your poor and defenseless consumers?) the publicist added.

Other netizens joined in on the thread, and while Grab strongly advises drivers to follow and honor the bookings and said rest assured that were doing our best to provide a better riding experience for everyone in the community, others wanted a refund of the cancellation fee.

Thousands of Grab passengers recently were also up in arms against the car-hailing service provider for its alleged overpricing charges, particularly during rush hours.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and other government agencies are investigating the complaints.

Your driver is not moving, not replying, not answering my calls. Now, I am late, poor service and very unprofessional. After all the hassle, Grab charged me a P50 cancellation fee. Amazing job, another furious passenger wrote on social media, adding the policy is a scam.

Another annoyed passenger said: You charged me P50 for the cancellation fee because the car doesnt want to go in front of my house and you want me to walk six blocks away?

The passengers once again appealed to regulatory agencies to put a stop to the alleged abuses of Grab on commuters, majority of whom, they said, are common employees who only wanted to be home early after a rigorous days work.

The group Digital Pinoys has campaigned against a leading TNVS (transport network vehicle service) app after its attempt to establish a de-facto monopoly of the app-based transportation sector.

Their 95% market share in the TNVS industry lead to anti-competitive behaviors such as price hikes, reduced quality of service, and limited choices for consumers. Furthermore, the lack of competition also limited the opportunities for drivers and other TNVS service providers. It also holds a huge market share of on-demand app-based parcel and food delivery service, Digital Pinoys said.

The group noted that the same app has also ventured into ride-hailing service for tricycles, and recently, they acquired a motorcycle taxi company despite the industry still being in the pilot study program.

We are also pushing for the implementation of privileges granted by law to special sectors such as senior citizens, persons with disability and solo parents on online apps. To date, only a few entities are granting discounts for PWDs and SCs but only for transportation services, Digital Pinoys added.

According to Grabs website, the cancellation rates were already lowered from a previous amount so the firm could be able to match drivers more efficiently to passengers who really need a ride.

A passenger cancellation fee of Php50 will be charged if, 1. passenger cancels five (5) minutes after the time that booking has been allocated and if 2. passenger does not show up at the Pickup location within five (5) minutes from drivers arrival. Php50 will be charged to the passengers GrabPay account. Non-GrabPay passengers will have to enable GrabPay before making further bookings, it added.

Over time, we will review our cancellation policy. We want to encourage passengers to make a booking and stick with it. Rest assured that our app will always give ample notice in the form of warning notifications before we deduct the fee, the firm added.

Grab sincerely believes this move will create a fairer platform for all passengers and drivers. Thank you for your support, as we work toward improving our ride experience to you.

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President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday issued Executive Order No. 26 to promote and conserve Philippine historical and cultural heritage sites under the management of the Malacanang Heritage Mansions.

The order also provided for the creation of advisory and management bodies for the cultural and heritage sites.

EO 26 was entitled Promoting Filipino History and Culture Through the Efficient Management of Malacanang Heritage Mansions, and Creating an Advisory Board and Management Center for the Purpose.

An Advisory Board for the efficient management of the Malacanang Heritage Mansions is hereby created, the President stated.

The advisory board shall be composed of three representatives from the Office of the President (OP), who will serve in ex officio capacity, and three representatives from the private sector to be appointed by the Chief Executive.

The President tasked the board to formulate policies, projects and programs for the efficient management of the Malacanang Heritage Mansions subject to existing laws and regulations.

For this purpose, the Malacanang Heritage Mansions shall include the Kalayaan Museum, and such other properties as may be identified by the Advisory Board, the EO stated.

The supervision of the Kalayaan Museum was transferred from the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for General Administration to the Social Secretarys Office (SoSec).

The EO also establishes the Malacanang Heritage Mansions Management Center (MHMMC), which will provide technical and administrative support to the advisory board.

The MHMMC will be headed by an executive director who will ensure the day-to-day operations and maintenance of the subject properties and see to it that those properties are being managed effectively, efficiently and economically.

The center will also oversee the operational activities including the performance by all employees and personnel of their respective functions, with the SoSec exercising administrative supervision over the center.

The SoSec, in coordination with the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Finance and Administration (ODESFA), will determine the appropriate staffing pattern and qualification standards for all positions necessary for the administration of the Malacanang Heritage Mansions.

It was also tasked to submit to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) the proposed operational structure and staffing pattern of the MHMMC, pursuant to the EO and subject to compliance with relevant laws and regulations.

According to the Presidents order, the Malacanang Heritage Mansions may be opened to the public as venue for special events, programs and temporary exhibitions, and could collect fees subject to existing laws, rules and regulations.

The proceeds of the Malacanang Heritage Mansions operation will go to a Revolving Fund to be set up by ODESFA, in coordination with the DBM and the Bureau of Treasury (BTr), in compliance with governments budgeting, accounting and auditing rules.

Such Revolving Fund shall be used for the maintenance, operation, preservation, restoration, and beautification of properties covered by this Order, the EO stated.

The 1987 Constitution mandates the state to conserve, promote, and popularize the nations historical and cultural heritage and resources, as well as its artistic creations.

Republic Act No. 10086 also makes it a national policy to strengthen peoples nationalism, love of country, respect for its heroes and pride for peoples accomplishments by highlighting Philippine national and local history through the protection, preservation, and conservation of historical relics and memorabilia, monuments, sites, and other historical resources.

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The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) posted last month its highest passenger volume and flight movement in a single month since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) disclosed on Saturday.

MIAA acting general manager Bryan Co said the NAIA recorded 1,677,779 international passengers and 9,089 international flights in April, more than double compared to the 663,824 international passengers and 4,494 international flights in April last year.

Summer is indeed a popular time for vacation and international travel, not only for Filipinos taking advantage of airlines promotional fares or using travel funds for flights they couldnt use due to the pandemic, but also for our international visitors wanting to see the Philippines, Co said.

After more than two years of closed borders, we expect the momentum of recovery to continue for tourism and the aviation industry, he added.

NAIA handled a total of 1,178,461 passengers overall in the first 10 days of April as air travelers took advantage of the long Holy Week break.

Combined with domestic travel figures, NAIA registered a total of 3,666,503 passengers and 22,816 flights in April 2023.

This represents a 50-percent rise from the 2,447,795 passengers in April 2022, and accounts for 86 percent of the 4,261,352 passengers in April 2019, the last full year before the pandemic.

Flight movement has also increased by 28 percent compared to the 17,774 flights in the same month last year, and is equivalent to 98 percent of the 23,327 flights in April 2019.

The MIAA recorded an average of 75.20 percent flight on-time performance (OTP) in April 2023, an improvement by 71.24 percent from April 2022s OTP rating.

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President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered concerned government agencies to extend aid and assistance to the case of the Malaya Lolas  a group of victims of sexual slavery by the Japanese imperial army during World War II.

The President made the statement following a report of the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), saying the Philippines had failed to assist the Malaya Lolas in filing claims against Japan.

Government agencies concerned are formulating a comprehensive response to the CEDAW committee and will submit this within the required period, President Marcos said on Saturday.

MALAYANG LOLAS. File photo shows two comfort women with Teresita Ang See (middle), convenor of the Flowers for the Lolas Campaign, in a protest action in front of the Japanese Embassy in Pasay City in January. Danny Pata

We commit to undertaking measures and finding ways to help them live better lives as an expression of our continued deep solidarity with them and of our utmost respect, he added.

Mr. Marcos said his administration acknowledges the grave atrocities endured by the brave Filipino women during wars of the 20th century.

(We) sincerely commiserate with them as they bear the long-term and irreversible physical and psychological effects of the war. We honor their indomitable spirit and dignity in taking this important cause forward through these years, the President said.

I wish to underscore that the administration upholds the primacy of human rights and values the well-being of all Filipino women and girls. We strongly uphold womens rights and push for gender equality as inscribed in our national laws, our treaty obligations especially

under the CEDAW, and other international human rights instruments, he added.

On March 8, the International Womens Day, CEDAW issued its decision on the complaint filed by 24 members of Malaya Lolas.

The Committee (CEDAW) requested that the Philippines provide the victims full reparation, including material compensation and an official apology for the continuing discrimination, the UN said.

Malaya Lolas had consistently raised their claims at the domestic level, requesting that the government of the Philippines espouse their claims and their right to reparations against the government of Japan but claimed that their efforts, however, were dismissed by the authorities.

In 1956, Manila and Tokyo signed a reparation agreement, under which Japan would provide the country with services and goods valued at the equivalent of $550 million.

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A high-level Philippine delegation is scheduled to fly to Kuwait next week to discuss the ban on Filipinos entering the Gulf state for the first time and the possible review of the 2018 labor agreement between the two countries.

What we hope to achieve when we get there is to clarify the issues of why there was a visa suspension, what will it take to resolve these issues between the Philippines and Kuwait, Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Paul Cortes said in a briefing on Saturday.

He said the ban and suspension of entry visa issuance were only formally communicated to the Department of Foreign Affairs on Friday, but Kuwait has yet to officially provide a reason behind its decision.

Kuwaiti media, however, said the ban stemmed from the Philippines alleged non-compliance with the 2018 labor accord concerning the operation of a temporary shelter for distressed Filipinos inside the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait.

Cortes, however, said Manila did not violate the deal if this was indeed Kuwaits reason because the establishment of shelters inside the embassies, now known as Migrant Workers Overseas Filipino Resource Centers (MWOFRC), is mandated under Republic Act 8042 or the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995.

We could not have agreed to a provision that will allow us not to establish a shelter for our countrymen because thats our law.

Of course, whenever we have an agreement with another country, we always connect that with our domestic legislation, he said.

He said the operation of these shelters abroad is non-negotiable, and would remain in operation regardless of the outcome of the upcoming talks.

Our law is clear. We have to have a shelter for our kababayans, he said.

Cortes said the DFA would also explain the deployment ban for household service workers (HSWs), which he believes could have been a source of confusion for the Kuwaiti side.

The ban only covers the contracts of first-time HSWs bound for Kuwait and was imposed in February after the brutal death of Jullebee Ranawa, whose charred remains were found in a desert in Kuwait this year.

Cortes said the meeting is timely as it was already set even before the issue of the entry ban came up.

The upcoming high-level talks, he said, are part of the regular discussions between the Philippines and Kuwait concerning the more than 290,000 overseas Filipinos there.

According to the DFA, around 70 percent of the OFWs in Kuwait are household workers.

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It feels to me like the classic romcoms that you just dont see anymore, says producer Esther Hornstein of Love Again, a new love story about two heartbroken people in New York City  with different reasons for their heartbreak  find their way to each other, one knowingly, the other unknowingly. It has a lot of heart and very real characters.

One of those characters is Rob Burns, a music journalist who falls in love with the unknown woman who has been sending romantic messages to his work cell phone number  without knowing that the number, which used to belong to her late fiance  is currently being used by another person.

Sam Heughan describes his character as a Scotsman whos been living in New York for so long

Playing the romantic male lead is Sam Heughan, who rose to international fame thanks to his starring role in the popular drama Outlander. Priyanka Chopra Jonas stars opposite Heughan as Mira Ray. Celine Dion is also in the movie, playing herself and the subject of Robs writing assignment.

Hes a Scotsman whos been living in New York for so long that hed call himself a New Yorker, says Heughan of his character. Hes a music journalist whos still pretty depressed about being left at the altar a year earlier. Then Mira comes into his life and changes everything.

For Heughan, preparing to play the lead in a romantic comedy wasnt just getting ready for a role  it was opening up a whole world of film.

I started watching lots of romantic comedies, which Id avoided over the years because I thought they werent for me. But as soon as I started to watch them, I fell in love with them, he says. Theyre brilliant, theyre adult, theyre funny, theyre dark  it was a revelation to me. And I think this movie is an homage or nod to that tradition, he says.

Starring alongside Heughan in the lead female role is Priyanka Chopra Jonas

Preparation also was a chance for the actor to walk in the shoes of a music snob who gets his comeuppance in the form of the Queen of Power Ballads.

It was a fun movie to prep for, Sam shares. Jim sent me a playlist of very contemporary music  and it was pretty challenging music, because Rob is a bit of an academic. Hes a cynic, a critical music snob who falls for the music of Celine Dion. At first, he only hears these songs on the surface  he thinks theyre overly embellished, overly romantic. But it turns out theres truth to them. These songs really move him when he opens himself up to them. Thats a really nice journey to go on with the character.

Sam is so thoughtful about everything, says producer Hornstein. Sam made Rob a complicated guy  not your average romantic comedy prince whos there to save Mira.

Love Again, now showing in cinemas, is distributed in the Philippines by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

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The Martinsville Bulletin was awarded second place across the commonwealth in the 2022 Virginia Press Association News & Advertising Contest in the category In-depth or Investigative Reporting and in the category of Public Safety coverage.

The investigative award was granted for the Bulletins three-part series of articles on New College Institute published in October, plus smaller related articles. The articles were by the Bulletin and Lee Enterprises Public Service Journalism Team and were researched and written by Patrick Wilson of the Public Service Journalism Team and Editor Holly Kozelsky and reporters Bill Wyatt and Monique Holland of the Bulletin. The articles showed, among other things, that many of NCIs college partnerships and programs had lapsed even as the institute continued to promote them as if they were ongoing, and that it did not have the amount of student participation it has been created to have.

Additionally, reporter Bill Wyatt won second place in the Public Safety category, which recognizes coverage of law enforcement, criminal justice, non-spot emergency services and related issues.

Wyatts articles that won the recognition were one from March 7, 2022, in which Jamel Daeshaun Turner, 22, of Collinsville and Rosario Nasiar Eggleston, 22, of Martinsville, pleaded guilty in the shootout outside El Norteno Restaurant; one from June 22, 2022, in which Robert Wayne Reynolds, 56, pleaded guilty in the 2017 murder of Katherine White Likens; and one from Feb. 22, 2022, in which former Henry County investigator David Lee Morse, 67, was sentenced to 60 years in prison for first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder of his wife, Pamela Morse, in 2020.
Morocco has called for predictable, sustainable, and flexible funding for peace support operations in Africa.

The call was launched by Moroccos Permanent Representative to the African Union and UNECA, Mohamed Arrouchi, at a ministerial meeting of the Peace and Security Council (PSC), devoted to the financing of peace support operations (PSO) mandated by the AU.

The diplomat underlined the importance of this issue, which comes just a few days after the publication by the UN Secretary General of his report on the PSOs financing, noting that it is also a pressing issue for the AU, especially for missions such as ATMIS in Somalia, which require urgent mobilization of resources to ensure their viability and proper functioning.

Participation in peacekeeping efforts, particularly in Africa, has been at the heart of Moroccos foreign policy since its independence, Arrouchi said.

Morocco has implemented a policy of solidarity and action in favor of peace and stability in Africa, through participation in UN peacekeeping operations and constructive contribution to UN and African peacebuilding efforts in preventive diplomacy, mediation, and peaceful settlement of disputes, added the Moroccan diplomat.

Moroccos commitment at the UN level is consistent with its belief that the United Nations, and in particular the Security Council, remain the international organization that has the exclusive and universal competence, in accordance with the UN Charter, in the field of peacekeeping and peacebuilding, reaffirmed Arrouchi.

In parallel to its commitments at the UN level, Morocco has supported the efforts made by the AU for peace, security, and stability in Africa, within the framework of the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA).

The Moroccan diplomat recalled in this context the message addressed by King Mohammed VI to the High-Level Meeting on the Action for Peacekeeping initiative, held in New York on September 25, 2018, in which the Sovereign had affirmed that The time has come for all UN Member States to provide the appropriate support required to the African Union and to African countries, thereby supplying this partnership with the necessary means to broaden its scope and achieve the desired effectiveness. This is an investment in the future, for global stability hinges on stability in Africa.

Morocco believes that the partnership between the UN and the AU should be further strengthened to support the structures and mechanisms of conflict prevention and mediation, including through the PSOs, given their vital role in containing conflicts and crises, said Arrouchi.

In this regard, the Kingdom considers that PSOs are one of the essential instruments for peacekeeping and peacebuilding in Africa, in the context of compliance with the relevant provisions of the UN Charter, particularly Article 24 and Chapter VIII of the UN Charter, he said.

Peacekeeping and peacebuilding being the exclusive and universal competence of the UN, in particular the Security Council, we believe that the UN has an essential role to ensure predictable, constant and sustainable funding of PSOs, he insisted.

Morocco considers that in accordance with the guiding principles of the UN Charter and UN Security Council Resolutions 2320 (2016) and 2378 (2017), the AU should have immediate access to mandatory UN contributions to fill the funding gap for PSOs, Arrouchi added.

In addition to UN funding, the Kingdom of Morocco welcomes the operationalization of the Peace Fund, which will help finance the AUs actions in the area of peace and security, the Moroccan diplomat said.
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:

Colorized transmission electron micrograph of monkeypox virus particles (red) cultivated and purified from cell culture. Image captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: NIAID

The World Health Organization today declared an end to the mpox public health emergency. But just two days earlier, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced a potential resurgence of mpox (formerly monkeypox) in Chicago. Nine of the 13 cases (69%) reported to the CDPH between April 17 and May 5 were in men who were fully vaccinated for mpox.

Because May 11 marks the official end of the COVID-19 public health emergency and Chicago is preparing to enter busy spring and summer seasons, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine infectious disease experts Dr. Alexandre Carvalho, Judd Hultquist, Ph.D., Dr. Karen Krueger and Dr. Valentina Stosor said now is the right time to encourage Chicagoans to take precautions.

"Clearly, this gives us pause that vaccine immunity may not be lasting long in some patients despite full vaccination," said Carvalho, an infectious diseases fellow at Northwestern. "People will likely let their guards down in this first post-pandemic summer, go out to meet others, have fun. However, with the virus circulating, we must encourage people to take precautions and practice safe sex."

Mpox is spread by direct contact with lesions on the skin or mucosal surfaces or by direct contact with bodily fluids containing the virus, such as blood, saliva or semen. Most transmission events have been linked to intimate sexual contact and, while it is not exclusive to men who have sex with men (MSM), transmission continues to disproportionately affect the MSM community.

"With any public health crisis, you want to be one step ahead, not one step behind," Carvalho said.

How pox viruses evolve

The emergence of mpox in fully vaccinated individuals has raised concerns of weakening immunity and/or the evolution of immune evasion in the virus.

"Pox viruses evolve on a much slower time scale than many other viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2 or HIV, but all viruses mutate and change in the human population," said Hultquist, Ph.D., assistant professor of infectious diseases at Feinberg and associate director of Northwestern's Center for Pathogen Genomics and Microbial Evolution. "Efforts are ongoing to figure out if the mpox virus responsible for this recent resurgence is different than what was circulating last year."

CDPH recommends the mpox vaccine series (two doses) for unvaccinated, eligible and at-risk groups for prevention of mpox. Although a booster is not yet recommended, this outbreak in fully vaccinated MSM elevates this discussion to a priority for 2023, the experts said.

"Exposed patients may develop body aches, fever, chills and a rash with umbilicated lesions affecting the skin, genitals and rectum that may ulcerate, with some lesions tender to the touch," said Stosor, a professor of medicine at Northwestern's infectious diseases division. "The disease can affect eyes, mucosa and other organs, ranging from mild to severe. Deaths are unusual but have been described in severely immunosuppressed patients."

"If you believe you've become infected with mpox, it is important to try to limit the spread to others by wearing a mask and isolating at home until the rash is fully healed," Stosor said. "It is important to contact your health care provider for medical evaluation."

"There is an antiviral medication called Tecovirimat (TPOXX) that is currently under investigation for the treatment of mpox," said Krueger, assistant professor of infectious diseases at Northwestern.

"Tecovirimat can be obtained through participation in a clinical trial or through emergency use access at participating clinics. The Infectious Diseases Clinic at Northwestern Medicine is a participating site in the clinical trial evaluating its use. Jynneos is an approved vaccine for the prevention of mpox and is recommended for those at high risk, which is also available at select Northwestern Medicine sites."
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:

Linear correlations between 25(OH) vitamin D levels, at admission and at follow-up, and glucose levels evaluated at follow-up. Credit: The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (2023). DOI: 10.1210/clinem/dgad207

Long COVID risk has been found to increase with low levels of vitamin D, according to research presented at the 25th European Congress of Endocrinology in Istanbul. The findings suggest that individuals should have their vitamin D levels checked after COVID-19.

Also known as post COVID-19 syndrome, long COVID is a new condition in which the effects of COVID-19 last for more than 12 weeks after contracting the initial infection. Studies have shown that it affects 50%70% of patients previously hospitalized for COVID-19, yet very little is known about the condition. One risk factor for worse outcomes for hospitalized COVID-19 patients, such as intubation and mechanical ventilation or death, is low vitamin D levels, but its role in long COVID has not been adequately investigated.

For this study, supported by Abiogen Pharma SpA, researchers from the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University and IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital in Milan examined 100 patients aged 5170 years, with and without long COVID. They measured their vitamin D levels when first admitted to hospital for COVID-19 and six months after being discharged, and found lower vitamin D levels in patients with long COVID compared to those without. This result was more evident in patients who experienced "brain fog" symptoms, such as confusion, forgetfulness and poor concentration, at the six-month follow-up.

The researchers included patients without any bone conditions and only those who went to hospital for COVID-19, without ending up in the intensive care units (ICUs). They matched the two groups, with and without long COVID, in terms of age, sex, pre-existing chronic diseases and COVID-19 severity. "Previous studies on the role of vitamin D in long COVID were not conclusive mainly due to many confounding factors," said lead investigator Professor Andrea Giustina. "The highly-controlled nature of our study helps us better understand the role of vitamin D deficiency in long COVID, and establish that there is likely a link between vitamin D deficiency and long COVID."

While Professor Giustina acknowledges that larger studies are needed to confirm this link, he and his team are now focussed on finding out whether vitamin D supplements can reduce the risk of long COVID. "Our study shows that COVID-19 patients with low vitamin D levels are more likely to develop long COVID but it is not yet known whether vitamin D supplements could improve the symptoms or reduce this risk altogether."

The results of this study were also recently published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

More information: The study "Low 25(OH) vitamin D levels are associated with Long COVID syndrome in COVID-19 survivors" is a poster presentation that will take place on Saturday 13 May 2023 at the European Congress of Endocrinology at the Halic Congress Center in Istanbul, Turkey. See the full scientific program here. Luigi di Filippo et al, Low Vitamin D Levels Are Associated With Long COVID Syndrome in COVID-19 Survivors, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (2023). DOI: 10.1210/clinem/dgad207 Journal information: Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism

Provided by European Society of Endocrinology
Author Debra Magpie Earling will read from her new novel, The Lost Journals of Sacajewea, at a book launch on Friday, May 19, at the Missoula Art Museum with Fact & Fiction.

Earling, a Bitterroot Salish tribal member, won an American Book Award for her 2002 novel, Perma Red.

Her new book will be released on May 23 by Milkweed Editions, which brought Perma back into print last year. Shell sign copies after the reading and a discussion with Peter Koch, a Missoula native and master printer based in Berkeley, California.

According to a MAM news release, The Lost Journals originated with a project at the museum in 2005, when they invited Indigenous artists to create work for an exhibition during the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial.

Earling wrote a poem in Sacajeweas voice. Later, she and Koch collaborated on a limited edition art book for the text, which shes since expanded into her new novel, which the MAM called an "unconventional and poetic voice."

A starred review in Kirkus said, What we discover here is a startlingly new perspective on watershed historical events, particularly as they relate to the contributions of Native Americans in both aiding and resisting Western expansion across the continent in the early 19th century.

Among her other honors, Earling has received a National Endowment for the Arts grant and a Guggenheim Fellowship, and was the first Indigenous director of the University of Montanas Creative Writing Program.

Details: Free. Doors at 5 p.m. Reading at 6. Music by Dylan and Joseph Running Crane. Hors doeuvres and a no-host bar.
FRIDAY, May 12, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Higher rates of HIV diagnoses are seen among users of U.K. mental health services versus the general population, according to a study published online April 25 in BMJ Open.

Margaret Heslin, Ph.D., from King's College London in the United Kingdom, and colleagues examined the prevalence of HIV in a cohort of people who used secondary mental health services. The analysis included 181,177 people who had contact with mental health services for the first time between 2007 and 2018.

The researchers found that 2.47 percent of the cohort had a recorded HIV diagnosis in national HIV surveillance data at any time (before, during, or after contact with mental health services). In people with a diagnosed substance use disorder, HIV point prevalence was highest (3.77 percent). More than one-quarter of the sample did not have a formal mental health diagnosis (27 percent), but even when excluding those individuals, the point prevalence remained high at 2.31 percent. Just over two-thirds of people had their diagnosis of HIV before contact with mental health services (67 percent).

The prevalence of HIV in people who have had contact with mental health services was approximately 2.5 times higher than the general population in the same geographical area, the authors write.
Advanced practice registered nurses can provide abortion care in Montana following a unanimous order by the state Supreme Court issued Friday.

Abortion providers said the decision is a victory for abortion rights in Montana and will expand access to health care in the state, making patients safer.

The state Department of Justice, which defended the 2005 law that aimed to limit who can provide abortion care to only physicians and physician assistants (PAs), called the court "out of touch" and said the case was not about the right to access an abortion but standards of care.

The lawsuit decided Friday was first filed in 2018 by Helen Weems, who operates All Families Healthcare in Whitefish, and a provider identified as Jane Doe, a licensed registered nurse with a certification in the advanced practice of nurse midwife. Since that year, the state has been under a preliminary injunction blocking the law.

Friday's ruling cited the landmark state Supreme Courts Armstrong decision, which found the Montana Constitutions right to privacy guarantees a persons right to a pre-viability abortion from the qualified health care provider of their choice.

Even after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Roe decision last year and overturned the federal right to access an abortion, the procedure remained legal in Montana under the state documents long-recognized stronger right to privacy.

The state, through the Montana Department of Justice, appealed the district courts ruling to the Montana Supreme Court. The high court, in its 30-page opinion Friday, said early abortion care was safe, advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) were more than qualified to provide the procedure, and the states ability to regulate for the health and safety of its citizens did not supersede the constitutional right to access an abortion.

This is a resounding victory and an unequivocal win for the people of Montana.  The Montana Supreme Court clearly and unequivocally ratified the principle that our state constitutional right to privacy protects the right to an abortion in Montana. That cannot be disputed, said Alex Rate, a lawyer for ACLU of Montana that represented Weems.   That constitutional right guarantees an individuals ability to seek medical care from a health care provider of their choice, and that parts important here in Montana where we live in a geographically large state and its not always easy to travel to get the health care that you need.

Emilee Cantrell, a spokesperson for the state Department of Justice, panned the ruling, as well as the court, in a statement issued Friday.

The state Supreme Court has become disgracefully radicalized and out of touch with Montanans. This case was not about the right to abortion  it was about whether women have a right to an elevated standard of care during an abortion, Cantrell wrote. The Montana Supreme Court said no and lowered the standard of care set by the Legislature, effectively constitutionalizing the right of unqualified individuals to perform unregulated abortions. This decision is a loss for Montana women who will be less safe because of the state Supreme Court.

In the order written by Justice Laurie McKinnon and signed by the other six justices, the court said the state failed to prove its arguments on several points.

That included not proving that abortions done by APRNs were riskier than those performed by physicians or physician assistants. The state also didnt show why APRNs should be restricted from providing abortions or any associated health risks.

While the court in this decision recognized the state has general and inherent "police power" to regulate the health and safety of its citizens, the record showed no evidence APRNs providing abortion care presented any medical risk to women.

The states argument is detached from the overwhelming evidence presented to the district court that abortion care is one of the safest forms of medical care in this country and the world, and that APRNs are qualified providers, the order reads.  ... There is no medically recognized bona fide health risk for APRNs to perform abortion care, much less one that is clearly and convincingly demonstrated.

The court also pointed out that all parties in the case agreed managing a miscarriage is identical or nearly so to early abortion care, but the state did not argue it was unsafe for APRNs to provide that care.

"The court pointed to a logical fallacy in the states argument.  How can the state say it has a compelling interest to regulate abortion when identical procedures are not subject to the same onerous requirement? Rate said.

APRNs also regularly provide care far more advanced than early abortions, the court noted, such as neuraxial anesthesia, central line insertions and intubations. They can also prescribe dangerous and addictive drugs that pose far more risk than abortion medications.

The court also pointed to studies showing the risk of early abortion complications ranging from minor at 1.32% to major at 0.05% is far less than other common procedures such as wisdom teeth removal at 7% and tonsillectomies at 8-9%.

The ruling also cited safety repercussions associated with a lack of abortion care, highlighting evidence that delays in accessing care can force women to seek later-term abortions, which can come with higher risks, more costs and possibly the inability to get a medication abortion.

Access to abortion care in Montana is the difference between obtaining quality care or no care at all, especially for patients who might otherwise time out of early abortion care because their pregnancy extended past a certain gestational age, which can result in safety repercussions for the patient, the court wrote.

One doctor who testified on behalf of Weems and Doe said research has established the median distance a patient must travel for early abortion care in Montana increased by nearly 50 miles between 2011 and 2014, the court wrote. That year the average distance traveled was 180 miles. In 2017, more than 90% of the state's counties, home to half of the Montana population, had no abortion provider.

Other litigation

Republicans in the state have aimed to limit access to the procedure through several laws passed this legislative session and in 2021. Several of those bills are under litigation now, as is an administrative rule from the state health department that in addition to requiring preauthorization for abortions would limit the procedure to only be provided by a physician for those covered by Medicaid. Lawmakers passed a law earlier this year to codify the same policy.

(Fridays order) bodes well for the myriad lawsuits that are challenging the abortion restrictions that were adopted by the 2023 Montana Legislature, Rate said. All of that sends a clear message the state cant legitimately defend these patently unconstitutional laws.
A man found what Butte police believe to be a human jawbone at around 4 p.m. Wednesday in an alley in the 800 block of West Quartz Street.

We do believe the bone is human, but that will have to be confirmed at the Montana State Crime Lab, said Butte-Silver Bow Sheriff Ed Lester.

Butte police received a call from the unidentified man reporting what he found, and officers went to the site. According to Lester, trained searched dogs from Helena and Bozeman were brought to the scene Wednesday and Thursday for a search, with nothing else located.

The bone will be sent to the Montana State Crime Lab for complete analysis.

We will have more information after the full anthropological and forensic analysis at the lab, said Sheriff Lester

Additional details will be released as they come available. Anyone who believes they may have information regarding this case is asked to call the Butte-Silver Bow Law Enforcement Department at 406-497-1120.
Documents obtained through a March records request suggest that in 2022, the National Park Service believed the state of Montana was poised to litigate if Yellowstone bison were not vaccinated and aggressively culled toward a target population of 3,000 animals.

The documents also align with previous comments in which Montanas governor rejected three alternatives for a new Yellowstone National Park bison management plan on the basis that all supported maintaining a population of more than 3,000 bison.

At the time when the comments were filed in early 2022, Yellowstones bison population numbered around 5,500. That changed this past winter, when tribal and state hunters capitalized on the cold, snowy weather that drove thousands of the animals out of the park and into areas where they could legally be harvested.

Over 1,500 Yellowstone bison were culled over the winter  more than a quarter of the population. Most animals were removed through hunting, but others were consigned to slaughter and enrolled in a brucellosis quarantine program that transfers disease-free bison to tribal lands.

Jared Pettinato, an attorney who has represented Neighbors Against Bison Slaughter in a lawsuit against the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service, obtained the April 27, 2022, briefing statement this May. The document was addressed to the U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Interiors office.

The briefing statement mentions that on Feb. 28, 2022, Gov. Greg Gianforte asked the National Park Service to withdraw its notice of intent to update its Yellowstone National Park bison management plan, and instead engage in consultation to identify mutually acceptable alternatives.

According to the document, Gianfortes request was surprising, since two of the preliminary alternatives fit into contemporary management practices already agreed upon by the State through their participation in the (Interagency Bison Management Plan).

Park officials claimed in the document that as a cooperating agency, Montana officials were briefed twice on the purpose and need for the plan, preliminary alternatives, and the planning process before the (notice of intent) was released.

The Governor expressed dissatisfaction with all three of the alternatives, and would not support any alternatives not tied to the original IBMP population target of 3,000 bison. The state may litigate if the NPS does not reduce numbers towards 3,000 and vaccinate bison, the document says.

The briefing statement also notes that maintaining a population of 3,000 would require aggressive culling of bison in the interior of the park, which would lessen the long-term viability of the population and eliminate most tribal hunting opportunities due to a lack of migration outside the park.

Such actions are not necessary given 20 years of experience managing bison at higher numbers with no brucellosis transmission to cattle and fewer property and safety conflicts, it says.

In response to the document, a spokesperson for Gianfortes office pointed to comments the governor submitted to the National Park Service in 2022 regarding the proposed bison management plan.

The comments say that while the park service purports to focus on actions taken to manage bison inside of Yellowstone, the plans alternatives either expressly set forth activities to take place in Montana, or are only successful with Montanas full and unmitigated cooperation.

As Montana was not consulted in the formulation of these alternatives, NPS alternatives are premature, and NPS should withdraw them and consult with Montana on mutually acceptable alternatives for presentation and analysis, they say.

A Yellowstone spokesperson did not respond to a request for comments before Wednesdays deadline.

Pettinato said he filed two Freedom of Information Act requests with the National Park Service to find out more about whats going on with the agency internally, since it doesnt disclose very much information about the bison management plan update beyond regular status reports.

Back in 2019, Pettinato sued the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service on behalf of Neighbors Against Bison Slaughter  a group of Gardiner residents who were worried about the safety implications of bison hunting in Beattie Gulch, north of the park.

Federal and state agencies have set up this crazy, extraordinarily dangerous situation where dozens of hunters are shooting at hundreds of bison at the same time, he said. We are in support of the treaty rights of tribes, but we want more bison on the landscape.

As a part of the case, the court ordered the National Park Service to conduct a new environmental analysis that updates the guidance around managing Yellowstone bison, according to Pettinato.

In the winter of 2022, Yellowstone National Park announced it was considering three preliminary alternatives for the new bison management plan, which would function under the umbrella of the 2000 Interagency Bison Management Plan.

Through the IBMP, federal, state and tribal authorities seek to maintain a viable population of bison in Yellowstone while reducing the risks of a brucellosis transmission to livestock. They use hunting, slaughter and the transfer program to keep bison numbers steady within the park.

Wild bison from Yellowstone arent tolerated in Montana because a sizable portion of the animals have been exposed to brucellosis. Due to strict federal regulations around the bacterial disease, transmissions carry significant economic risks for livestock producers in the state.

A March 14, 2023, park briefing statement, also obtained by Pettinato, notes that there has been no detected transmission of brucellosis from bison to cattle, but wild elk have transmitted brucellosis to cattle in the Greater Yellowstone Area more than 30 times since 2000.

Of the three preliminary alternatives the park has considered, one calls for staff to maintain a wild bison population of roughly 3,500 to 5,000 animals. Hunting, shipment to slaughter and the transfer program would be the methods used to control bison numbers.

Under a second option, the park would allow the bison population to climb toward 4,500 to 6,000 animals. Staff would de-emphasize the use of slaughter as a management tool, and they would continue to support tribal hunting outside of Yellowstone.

The third alternative supports a bison population of between 8,000 and 10,000 animals. Under that option, shipment to slaughter would cease until the carrying capacity is reached. Natural selection and hunting outside of the park would regulate bison numbers.

Gardiner landowner Bonnie Lynn, a plaintiff in Pettinatos lawsuit, said its traumatic to see the bison hunting in Beattie Gulch each year, but she hopes her efforts will result in a five-star win for wildlife, Native Americans, the state of Montana, her neighbors and the animals that can not speak.

Achieving the right to an environmental impact statement in court is vital for making a difference, but plaintiffs in the case are still waiting for the Park Service to complete its analysis, Lynn said.

Last July, park officials requested a deadline extension due to record-breaking flooding in the park, according to Pettinato. They are now seeking to file a final decision in 2024, he said.
Milestone Cafe and home-delivered meals

Milestones Community Cafes are serving in-person lunches in most areas. Serving hours are 11 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday. All meals are served on a contribution basis to people 60 years and older.

To find the Community Cafe nearest you, or to make a reservation, please call 855-410-6222.

For questions or concerns, please call Heather at 563-260-9921.

Milestones Area Agency on Aging is located at 117 W 3rd St. (ground floor of Clark House) in Muscatine. To inquire about home-delivered meals, call 855-410-6222.

The suggested donation for a meal is $5. Income and ability to contribute do not determine eligibility. Persons younger than 60 may attend; however, the charge is $10.85 per meal. Menus are available at milestonesaaa.org.

May 15-19

Monday: Mother's Day Meal: Roast beef, gravy, sour cream and chive mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, tossed salad, angel food cake with strawberries, wheat roll.

Tuesday: Beef patty with cooked onions, mashed potatoes, baked spinach casserole, baked apples, garlic-wheat roll.

Wednesday: Roast turkey, gravy, sweet potatoes, green beans with onion, lemon bar, wheat roll.

Thursday: Beef and noodles, mashed potatoes, chopped green salad, dressing, Mandarin orange cake.

Friday: Chicken pasta salad, corn salad, sliced cucumbers, fruit, wheat crackers.

The senior nutrition program is sponsored by Milestones Area Agency on Aging.
When the 50th Registers Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa passes through Muscatine on July 29, the riders can expect good hospitality from the people of Muscatine.

During a presentation on RAGBRAI during Thursdays Muscatine City Council meeting, the council learned that if 20,000 people are riding it will take about double that number of volunteers throughout the state to make the event happen. About 40 people in Muscatine have already volunteered. People wishing to volunteer to help with the event can go online to www.muscatine.com/Ragbrai.

What is RAGBRAI all about? Nick Gowe, park maintenance superintendent and representative of the Muscatine RAGBRAI Committee, asked. It is all about people enjoying the great state of Iowa. It is about helping introduce people from all over the country to what the great state of Iowa has to offer.

During the meeting it was announced Muscatines theme for RAGBRAI is Muscatine: One in a Melon.

Gow said that five co-chairs have been named and that there are four committees formed to facilitate the event.

In March, it was announced that on Saturday, July 29, Muscatine would be the final meeting town for the projected 50,000 bicyclists traveling to Davenport as the last leg of RAGBRAI.

This years running of RAGBRAI, the 50th anniversary of the event, will happen July 22-29. Overnight towns are Sioux City, Storm Lake, Carroll, Ames, Des Moines, Tama-Toledo, Coralville and the finish line in Davenport. The route will span 500 miles and 16,549 feet of climb, making it the sixth-longest and the sixth-steepest RAGBRAI. In addition to Muscatine, other pass through towns between Coralville and Davenport include West Liberty, Montpelier and Buffalo.

Coming from West Liberty, the riders will take a right on Independence Road and then a left on G28. The route will lead them under the 61 overpass that turns into Hershey Avenue. The riders will take that to the riverfront. They will take a right at the roundabout, and go up Second to Park Avenue, and take a right on Washington to leave Muscatine. This is the same route used when RAGBRAI visited n 2016.

RAGBRAI co-chair Rebecca Paulsen said the average age of the riders is 45. She said if riders have a good experience in town, they are more likely to return for a visit.

This is why the state and the Iowa Economic Development Authority is putting so much money into tourism grants, she said.

She said when the riders come through Muscatine  around 10 a.m. - the hope is to have water, refreshments and watermelon for them.

In addition to a pass through city, Muscatine will be the last meeting city prior to the end of the course in Davenport. People who want to dip a tire in the Mississippi in Muscatine will be able to do so at the old boat launch area.

While, as the last meeting town before the end of the route, it is anticipated several of the bicyclists will want to dip their front tire in the Mississippi in Muscatine rather than fight the crowds in Davenport. The dipping of the tires in Davenport will be at the Marquette Street Boat Ramp and Veterans Memorial Park. The route to get to the site will be announced soon. The end of RAGBRAI also coincides with the Quad-City Times Bix 7 race.
If all goes according to plan, when the riders in RAGBRAI enter Muscatine on July 29 they will be greeted with possibly the worlds largest sculpture of a watermelon slice on the trip along Mississippi Drive.

During the regular Muscatine City Council meeting Thursday, Mayor Brad Bark, addressing the council as the director of the Greater Muscatine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, presented a potential project for Riverside Park. He explained the $40,000 cost of the watermelon slice and the foundation had already been raised with local donations and that the council simply needed to OK the project and determine a location.

We have the best riverfront all the way up and down the Mississippi River, Bark said.

The council unanimously approved the project, but no specific location along the river was determined. Bark said the idea is to have the slice somewhere people entering Muscatine  along Mississippi Drive, on the river, or on the trail system, will see it. The slice is expected to be in place before July 29 and the city is working with area farmers to be able to give slices of watermelon to RAGBRAI riders.

Bark said the idea had come from an area business that recommended Muscatine have an additional attraction. Currently on the riverfront, the city has the string of pearls (the lights on the riverfront), the Fisher of Clams statue and the Norbert Beckey Bridge. While Bark had originally thought of a water park, he said that project would be cost prohibitive. In searching the Internet, he found several areas that have a sculpture of a watermelon slice.

Muscatine and Muscatine County have been famous for growing watermelons and cantaloupes. Melons grow better in the sand that is prevalent on the south side of Muscatine. The rumor is this is how the town of Fruitland got its name.

The largest watermelon slice sculpture city workers have been able to find is 29 feet long and 9 feet tall in Chinchilla, Australia. Hoffman Industries in Muscatine has sheets of steel that the sculpture could be made of that are 40 feet long.

The watermelon will be 40 feet long and 16 feet tall. It will be 16,000 lbs. and have an 8-foot steel base. It will be created by a local artist. He said the city is working on determining a location that wont be in a flood plain. Bark also said the slice will be set so to not diminish the view of the river.

Council member Peggy Gordon said she preferred a location at Mulberry on the riverfront or by Pearl City Station, saying that it would not conflict with many events held by the river.

If you think about some people who might want to come visit and take a selfie, its not as long of a walk, she said.

The city is also working with MUSCO and MPW to provide lighting for the slice.
SIOUX CENTER, Iowa (AP)  Decrying a Republican culture of losing, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sought Saturday to weaken former President Donald Trumps grip on the GOP as tornado warnings interrupted a collision of leading presidential prospects in battleground Iowa.

DeSantis, expected to announce his 2024 presidential campaign any day, briefly flipped burgers and pork chops at an afternoon picnic fundraiser in Sioux Center that drew hundred of conservatives to the northwest corner of the state. From the podium, the 44-year-old governor highlighted his eagerness to embrace conservative cultural fights and sprinkled his remarks with indirect jabs at Trump.

Governing is not about entertaining. Governing is not about building a brand or talking on social media and virtue signaling, said DeSantis, who wore a blue button-down shirt without a tie or jacket. Its ultimately about winning and producing results.

Trump, a candidate since November, had hoped to demonstrate his political strength with a large outdoor rally in Des Moines, the capital, later in the day. He canceled the appearance hours before its scheduled start time due to a tornado warning.

Roughly 200 supporters had already gathered at the venue.

I feel like its still Trumps time, said Robert Bushard, 76, who said he drove about four hours from St. Paul, Minnesota to see the former president. Of DeSantis, he said, Hed be a good president after Trump.

Republican primary voters across the nation are sizing up DeSantis and Trump, two Republican powerhouses who are among a half dozen GOP candidates already in the race or expected to announce imminently. Trump is well ahead of his rivals in early national polls, while DeSantis is viewed widely as the strongest potential challenger.

Trump was hoping to return to the comfort of the campaign stage after a tumultuous week.

On Tuesday, a civil jury in New York found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming advice columnist E. Jean Carroll and awarded her $5 million. A day later, during a contentious CNN town hall, he repeatedly insulted Carroll, reasserted lies about his 2020 election loss and minimized the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

DeSantis has burnished his reputation as a conservative governor willing to push hard for conservative policies and even take on a political fight with Disney, which he highlighted in Sioux Center. But so far, he hasnt shown the same zest for taking on Trump, who has been almost singularly focused on tearing down DeSantis for months.

On Saturday, DeSantis avoided Trumps legal entanglements or his falsehoods about the 2020 election, instead highlighting the GOPs recent string of electoral losses. The Republican Party has struggled in every national election since Trumps 2016 victory.

We must reject the culture of losing that has impacted our party in recent years. The time for excuses is over, DeSantis said. If we get distracted, if we focus the election on the past or on other side issues, then I think the Democrats are going to beat us again.

Its uncertain whether DeSantis political successes in Florida can be replicated on the national stage.

Even before he formally enters the race, hes already facing questions about his ability to court donors and woo voters.

The Iowa visit, his second in two months, was expected to help address concerns about his sometimes awkward personal appeal as he met with Republican officials, donors and volunteers, all under the glare of the national media. But DeSantis devoted little time  at least compared with most of the GOPs other White House contenders  for selfies or handshakes in Sioux Center, where more than 600 people had gathered to see him at an event billed as a family picnic for U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra.

DeSantis left most of the politicking to his allied super political action committee, which had set up a table where prospective supporters for his yet-to-be-announced presidential campaign could sign up.

The road outside the museum was flanked with DeSantis 2024 campaign signs.

Trumps team had expected more than 5,000 to attend the rally at an outdoor amphitheater in downtown Des Moines for the purpose of collecting information on would-be supporters and encouraging them to commit to Trump.

Trumps 2024 Iowa campaign, unlike his rag-tag 2016 second-place Iowa effort, is putting together a more disciplined, data-driven operation. The Saturday event was aimed at encouraging attendees to sign up with the campaign on a website so the campaign could maintain contact with them, keep them posted on how and where to caucus, and recruit campaign volunteers.

In a social media post, Trump promised to reschedule the event. Shortly afterward, the campaign released a list of endorsements from more than 150 Iowa elected officials and activists across all of the states 99 counties.

And as they compete for support, the emerging rivalry with DeSantis has turned increasingly personal.

DeSantis has largely ignored Trumps most egregious jabs, which have included suggesting impropriety with young girls as a teacher decades ago, questioning his sexuality and calling him Ron DeSanctimonious.

Trumps campaign began airing an ad mocking DeSantis for yoking himself to the former president in 2018 when he ran for governor, even using some Trump catchphrases as a nod to his supporters in Florida.

Trumps super PAC, MAGA Inc., also has aired spots highlighting DeSantis votes to cut Social Security and Medicare and raise the retirement age. The group even targeted DeSantis snacking habits, running an ad that called for him to keep his pudding fingers off those benefits. That was a reference to a report in The Daily Beast that the governor ate chocolate pudding with his fingers instead of a spoon on a plane several years ago.

DeSantis has said he does not remember doing that.

At the same time, the pro-DeSantis super PAC, Never Back Down, has hired Iowa staff and begun trying to organize support for the governor before a 2024 announcement. The group announced Thursday that state Senate President Amy Sinclair and state House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl would endorse DeSantis candidacy. On Friday, it rolled out roughly three dozen more state lawmakers who would endorse him.

Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst attended DeSantis Sioux Center appearance.

After his speech, he spent about 15 minutes shaking hands and making small talk with voters as he maneuvered through the large audience, trailed by reporters, TV cameras and a security detail. He then dashed outdoors to pose with Reynolds and Feenstra while tending to burgers and pork chops at the grill.

Lyle and Sonia Remmerde of Rock Valley managed a handshake. She said DeSantis style comes across as normal.

One of the things when you compare Trump and DeSantis, I think DeSantis has  how do you say?  a much more smooth approach, said Lyle Remmerde, 65. Hes less abrasive.

Price reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Peoples reported from New York.
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The problematic pasts of historical figures have forced the renaming of hundreds of buildings and the removal of dozens of statues from public squares across the U.S. But what happens when the name of an entire community is tainted by racial injustice?

Its perhaps ironic that Berkeley is the latest place to face this question. The California citys reputation for anti-imperialism has only grown since becoming the nations first city to swap Columbus Day for Indigenous Peoples Day in 1992 and installing city-limit signs that declare Welcome to the City of Berkeley  Ohlone Territory in 2019. Last year, the City Council agreed to begin its meetings with a land acknowledgment, recognizing Berkeley as stolen land from its first inhabitants, the Ohlone people.

But now, historians at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, have renewed scrutiny of records indicating that the citys namesake  Bishop George Berkeley, an 18th-century Irish philosopher and influential scholar  purchased enslaved people to toil at a Rhode Island plantation he briefly operated until 1732.

Irelands largest university took a stand on Berkeley in April, voting to expunge his name from its central library. The colleges researchers advocated for the decision, citing public documents showing that Berkeley openly advocated for owning, evangelizing and educating Native Americans, whom he characterized as inhumane, barbarous and savage.

No plans are currently in the works to rename the city of Berkeley nor UC Berkeley, which actually bore the moniker first. But some people think there should be.

Berkeleys legacy began in the Golden State more than 150 years ago by virtue of a poem.

Trustees of what was then the College of California renamed the institution as the University of California at Berkeley in 1868, commemorating the Irish philosopher. While gazing toward the San Francisco Bay, those founders recalled  Verses on the Prospect of Planting Arts and Learning in America, which waxed of another golden age and dreams that westward the course of empire takes its way.

The city of Berkeley did not assume that same name until its incorporation in 1878, more than a decade after the residential community was first formed and blossomed around campus. The inspired line in Berkeleys poem appeared on the citys former seal alongside a bust of the bishop. Its unclear exactly when that was changed, but the citys current logo is based on a mural the city commissioned more than 50 years ago.

However, there was local support for the controversial scholar as recently as 2003, when the Berkeley City Council unanimously voted to proclaim May 24 as George Berkeley Day. At the time, sponsors of the celebrations argued that the philosopher may have simply advocated for Western enlightenment to spread around the world, rather than boasting about conquest.

While extremely uncommon, elected officials have pondered municipal name changes in the past.

Leaders in Austin, Texas, briefly considered picking a different moniker in 2018, due to reports that the citys founder, Stephen F. Austin, fervently supported slavery in order to protect the citys sugar and cotton production. The change never materialized, and the city acknowledged that the discussion was more for awareness than a concrete plan.

In 2021, a city ward in Ottawa, Canada, got a new name after local leaders discovered it commemorated a British political figure who was the absentee owner of a Jamaican plantation. Defending the decision, the council member representing the community said that its important that we understand what a name signifies or what it means to certain people and that we recognize how it can make people feel.

Both city staff and Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin declined to comment on the issue. However, a spokesperson from Arreguins office said that because the name is rooted in the citys charter, a push to rename Berkeley would likely require an amendment, which must be approved by voters on a future ballot.

While the quandary of whether or not to drop the name Berkeley hasnt made waves yet with the city or universitys leaders, the idea already has at least one backer.

Daniel OConnell, who has lived in Berkeley for nearly four decades, advocated for renaming the city in an op-ed last year in Berkeleyside, a local online news publication.

The more I looked into that history, the uglier it was, OConnell said in an interview Tuesday. The day will come when they change the city name of the city of Berkeley  not because theres so much traction for it now or anything like that, but simply because its absolutely morally reprehensible that our city is named after this slaveholding colonialist.

Where Black Americans fare best economically Where Black Americans fare best economically Key findings Data and methodology
Meet the Pearly Kings and Queens of London. Like the British monarch, Diane Gould comes from a long line of kings and queens. She can trace her own family tree back to the Pearly Royals of the 1800s, with the crown passing down from generation to generation. But these arent your average royals. Known for their mother-of-pearl embellished outfits and elaborate feathered hats, the Pearlies are an emblem of Londons working class, speaking in Cockney rhyming slang and honoring their royal duty: to raise money for charity. Have you ever spotted a Pearly King or Queen?
Napas first  and only  synagogue, Congregation Beth Shalom, comes from humble beginnings.

Their first temple was a hand-me-down building from the city. Purchased for just $1, the structure had to be cut into pieces and trucked across downtown to the congregations new home at 1455 Elm St.

We had leaks in the roof, recalled longtime member (and past-president) Ellyn Elson. We had pots all over the lobby, to catch drips. The cabinets were literally falling out of the kitchen.

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At first, the community couldnt even afford to buy enough land for a parking lot for their members. It took years before a new synagogue was built and years again before it was remodeled.

From just 12 original members, there are now 200 households registered at Congregation Beth Shalom, said Lauren Snyder, synagogue director.

Today, the religious community readies itself to celebrate a major milestone: Congregation Beth Shalom is turning 70.

Any anniversary is worthy of celebration, especially 70 years, said Congregation Beth Shalom President Roberta Solomon. To mark the milestone, the congregation will host a series of events from May 19-21.

On Friday evening (May 19) a Shabbat service honoring the past presidents and rabbis of Congregation Beth Shalom starts the weekend.

Saturday continues with dinner and dancing at a Congregation Beth Shalom gala, including a video retrospective of 70 years of Congregation Beth Shalom history, awards, and a silent auction.

Festivities end Sunday with a family day that includes free pizza and games.

This will be a memorable three days of remembrance to honor the congregations spirit of continuity, said Solomon.

The anniversary is meant as a celebration, but its also significant for another very important reason, she said. Given the deeply disturbing events happening in our town, now is the time to be visible, not silent, not only to our members but also to our many supporters, she said.

A Napa resident was recently criticized for posting anti-Semitic signs outside of his home on Browns Valley Road. In February 2022, anti-Semitic flyers were found scattered around downtown Napa and the synagogue.

Anti-Semitic Browns Valley Road signs a source of persistent concern in Napa A series of anti-Semitic messages posted on a sign along Browns Valley Road in Napa have drawn numerous complaints. But, owing to First Amendment protections, the city says they can't do anything.

Rabbi Niles Goldstein pointed out that according to the FBI and Anti-Defamation League, over the last several years, acts and expressions of anti-Semitism have really increased in this country and around the world.

One of the deadliest was the October 2018 mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A total of 11 people were killed in that attack.

He had some theories as to why anti-Semitism is on the rise.

This is a polarizing, chaotic time, in our country, said the rabbi. Often during times of tumult and strife, people look for a scapegoat, and historically, Jews often served as that scapegoat."

To fight that rise, offering positive, affirmative statements about Jewish life, like we are right now, is really important, said the rabbi.

For members of Congregation Beth Shalom, it gives us a feeling of comfort and support to know you're not alone. I wish the unaffiliated Jews of Napa County would be able to experience that, too. But I think when people are killed at synagogue in Pittsburgh, or when they find anti-Semitic leaflets at their doorstep, knowing you have a community that's going to support you and have your back is really important.

His congregation remains open and supportive of the greater community, while at the same time "we're also trying to be very vigilant and protect ourselves.

Given such a climate, Congregation Beth Shalom has been working on hardening access to its Napa campus. New fencing is being installed. Doors are secured. A private security guard stands watch.

We're not cowering in fear," Goldstein said. "We're not letting this threat paralyze us. We're standing tall and proud and celebrating Jewish life in many and varied ways.

Anti-Semitic flyers found at homes near Congregation Beth Shalom in Napa Anti-Semitic flyers were left early Thursday outside homes on Elm, Oak, Pine and other streets near a Napa synagogue, according to police.

Rabbi Goldstein is also celebrating the growth and success of the Beth Shalom community.

At 200 households, This is the largest we've been in our 70-year history, he noted.

What does he attribute that to?

We have a good team in place, said Goldstein. We have good leadership guiding us.

I've been a rabbi for almost 30 years, and I've served multiple congregations, and the level of commitment of the volunteers of the congregation is very high. That makes a huge difference, he added.

The rabbi pointed out that because Napa is a smaller city, this congregation plays a very important role in the social lives of our members, as opposed to if you lived in LA or New York, where there are many other things going on. So we're able to address the spiritual needs of our community as well as the social and personal needs.

And were very inclusive, said Goldstein. For example, We've had a series called Faces of Faith, where we invite different faith leaders from the community to address our congregation on a Friday night. The rabbi is also an active member of the Napa Valley Interfaith Leadership Council.

I think it's important for our community to know about the traditions and beliefs of other (faith) communities, and for them to know about us, and that only happens when you're in dialogue with each other, he said. If they're in their silo, and we're in ours, that's not going to happen.

During an interview this past Tuesday, the congregation members addressed some common questions or misconceptions that they get about Congregation Beth Shalom or being Jewish.

Elson said, "I think a lot of people don't really understand what Judaism is all about and that it's based on a value system. And some people are confused why we don't believe in Christ, even though he was a Jew, she added.

To balance those misconceptions, It's important that we educate the community, that we're not some weirdos out here, said Elson. Judaism has been around for almost 6,000 years now. We're one the oldest religions and we're still going strong.

Snyder said she is often asked about basic details such as membership dues for the synagogue. That's always a piece of my conversation with people because not everyone can throw their whole handbag at you. So that's always people's concern, but we meet them where they're at.

When Congregation Beth Shalom first opened, dues were $25 per family, said Elson. Today, annual dues range from $850 to $1,300 per person, according to the synagogue website.

However, We never turn anyone away because of an inability to pay dues, said Elson.

Rabbi Goldstein said another common misconception is that you need to be religious to be involved in Congregation Beth Shalom.

You don't, he said. We try to offer lots of different programs and services, from a social, spiritual, educational, or cultural perspective that will appeal to people irrespective of your beliefs. All we ask is that you have an open mind and an open heart, and if you're Jewish, hopefully you'll find a way to plug in with the wider Jewish community.

We try to reassure them that there's a place for you, he said.

The rabbi explained that in the Talmud, an ancient Jewish text, there's a line in there that talks about meeting people where they are, or ba'asher hu sham.

Its not just about growing the membership of the synagogue, he said. For Jews, ba'asher hu sham is a religious and moral imperative, he explained, especially at a time when many people seem to be going away from religion, and the country is becoming increasingly secularized.

"You have to embrace the reality, of secularization, said Goldstein. Yet at the same time, there are a lot of people who are depressed and lonely and feel that their lives don't have meaning. And I think that the rites, rituals and community support of Judaism are a counterweight to that.

If you can offer that faith in a more modern, contemporary way, it can offer all those things that people are starving for. It can give you community, it can give you purpose, it can give you meaning, he said.

Photos: Napa's Congregation Beth Shalom marks 70 years in the community Congregation Beth Shalom celebrates its 70th anniversary Napa's Congregation Beth Shalom celebrates 70 years Napa's Congregation Beth Shalom celebrates 70 years Napa's Congregation Beth Shalom celebrates 70 years Napa's Congregation Beth Shalom celebrates 70 years Napa's Congregation Beth Shalom celebrates 70 years Napa's Congregation Beth Shalom celebrates 70 years Napa's Congregation Beth Shalom celebrates 70 years Napa's Congregation Beth Shalom celebrates 70 years Napa's Congregation Beth Shalom celebrates 70 years Napa's Congregation Beth Shalom celebrates 70 years Napa's Congregation Beth Shalom celebrates 70 years
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Napa Mayor Scott Sedgley called homelessness a failure of our society, said city officials are working on affordable housing solutions, and addressed how the local government could fight climate change during a talk to the Napa High Alumni Association.

The event, held Tuesday at Hop Creek Pub, drew more than a dozen people. Many in attendance said they knew Sedgley personally as a fellow Napa High graduate. The NHAA works to preserve the history and community of Napa High, according to association leader Marilyn Reid.

Sedgley said the citys priorities include improving environmental preservation programs, more resources for homeless people, more housing in general, and economic development.

Affordable housing is difficult to achieve, said the mayor as he told NHAA members that while no one wants more traffic and construction in their neighborhoods, it is essential that more living spaces are built for the people who desperately need them.

The state is very hard to work with, he said, but added the city is doing everything it can to lock down the funds necessary to build permanent housing for the homeless and urban poor.

Speaking on climate change, Sedgley said that we have too many cars and that the city is exploring subsidized Uber-like methods of public transportation. Less focus on parking garages or wide thoroughfares also frees up more space for housing or local businesses.

Many nodded in agreement when Sedgley noted that local governments can feel split between the needs of locals and working to keep the profitable tourist economy humming  which helps to fund those government services.

It helps fill those potholes, said Sedgley.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had a telephone conversation with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba today. The two discussed ongoing preparations for Ukraines counteroffensive, including how contributions from international partners can support its success. Secretary Blinken noted Ukraines sovereignty is vital to peace and security in Europe and reiterated the U.S. commitment to holding Russia to account, underscoring President Bidens pledge to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes, the statement says.
80-year-old pensioner Inga Abrahamyan died during a rocket attack on the city of Rehovot launched from the Gaza Strip, founder of the newspaper "Israelahayer" Artiom Chernamorian shared on his Facebook page.

Yesterday, as a result of rocket fire on the city of Rehovot from the Gaza Strip, the Armenian community of Israel suffered a loss. 80-year-old pensioner Inga Abrahamyan died from a rocket explosion in this apartment on the third floor.

Union of Israeli Armenians of Petah Tikva "Nairi" expresses deepest condolences to the Abrahamyan family.

Ms. Inga's husband was injured in the rocket fire. In total, 1 resident was killed and 12 were injured as a result of the attack on this house. Residents of the house were placed in a hotel.

May she rest in peace

Since 2008, there have been no casualties in our community as a result of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

On April 16, 2008, David Papyan, the son of conductor and composer Vahagn Papyan, who moved from Armenia to Israel, was killed in the Gaza Strip.

Their unit was trapped in Gaza, and during a clash with Palestinian militants, three servicemen were killed, including 21-year-old private David Papyan, who was posthumously awarded the rank of sergeant for heroism, he wrote.
The counteroffensive against Russia planned by the Ukraine has overshadowed talks about a possible negotiated settlement in the conflict, but some US and European officials say the next stage of the war could provide a boost for diplomacy, The New York Times writes.

At the same time, the opinions of military strategists on whether Ukraine will be able to regain territory after more than a year of war vary greatly, the media outlet notes.

For now, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has shown no signs of wanting to make concessions or engage in meaningful dialogue.

And U.S. officials remain wary of any calls for an immediate cease-fire or peace talks, especially those coming from China. Beijing persists at trying to play peacemaker, despite its obvious strategic alignment with Russia. Foreign Minister Qin Gang has been traveling across Europe this week to try to sell the notion that China can shepherd negotiations, the NYT article says.

Joe Biden aides and European officials say their main hope is that Ukraine will make significant gains in the counteroffensive, giving it more advantage in any negotiations.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will provide Congress with an update within the next two weeks on how close the US is to defaulting on its financial obligations, Bloomberg reports.

I dont want to be specific about when we do updates  when we think we have more information, but certainly within the next couple of weeks, Yellen told Bloomberg in an interview on Saturday.

On May 1, she wrote to legislators that her department may run out of money as early as June 1.
A group of neo-Nazis clashed with police and demonstrators at an anti-immigration rally on the streets of the Australian city of Melbourne, Australian Associated Press reports.

Police held back the crowd outside the parliament building when a group of people wearing black masks sang the Nazi salute, sparking a heated exchange.

Members of the Campaign Against Racism and Fascism chanted "refugees welcome, Nazis are not" as they confronted a group holding a banner for [far-right] National Socialist Network.

Leader of the Opposition in Victoria, John Pesutto, condemned the protest and thanked the police for their work.

"The Victorian Liberals and Nationals condemn neo-Nazi thugs and their toxic bigotry and hate," Pesutto said in a joint statement with the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party in Victoria David Southwick.

Most states and territories have introduced or are in the process of banning the display of Nazi symbols.

The state of Victoria banned Nazi symbols in public places and is going to include the Nazi salute.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, Hadja Lahbib, announced the opening of the Belgian embassy in Armenia. Lahbib also stated that Belgium wants to contribute to the EU observation mission in Armenia.

According to Armenpress, Lahbib said Belgium would ensure its presence in the Caucasus as well in Armenia. The Belgian Foreign Minister noted that so far Belgium has been working with Armenia through the country's embassy in Moscow, but geopolitical events require monitoring of the situation on the ground.

Belgium fully supports European efforts that can contribute to the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in particular through EU civilian observation mission in Armenia, to which Belgium wishes to contribute. Our country also attaches great importance to stability and neighborliness in the South Caucasus. The opening of our diplomatic mission in Yerevan, in addition to the already existing embassy in Baku (Azerbaijan), stems from this vision, says the statement.
Polish Ministry of Defense said on Saturday that it detected an object in Polish airspace that came from Belarus and was likely an observation balloon.

The ministry said on Twitter that radars lost contact with the flying object near Rypin, a city in central Poland.

According to the Defense Ministry, territorial defense forces were sent to search for the object.

In November, two Poles were killed when a rocket fell in eastern Poland.
shamshyan.com: Gunshot marks found on car after shootings in Yerevan

EU ambassador says they support Armenia's territorial integrity

Lukashenko does not attend Belarus National Day event

Land Rover manufactures new all-terrain vehicle specifically for Red Cross

Karabakh MP: Azerbaijan actions do not aim to close Artsakh issue once and for all

TRT: Erdogan gets 49.35% of votes, Kilicdaroglu garners 45% after counting of all ballots

'Special roll' at US sushi restaurant blamed for killing 2

Tatoyan: Azerbaijan will not limit itself to Artsakh and has no intention of peace regardless of the Artsakh issue

US speaks about need for Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement

Colomina: Encouraging news from Pashinyan-Aliyev meeting

Charles Michel's words regarding Azerbaijan territory are edited on European Council website (PHOTOS)

Michel: Understanding achieved that several more detainees will be released in coming weeks

Armenia, Azerbaijan recognize each other's territorial integrity

Results of Pashinyan-Michel-Aliyev trilateral meeting

Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan is spreading disinformati

Polish LOT airline investigates drone incident

Pashinyan-Aliyev-Michel meeting ends in Brussels

Vucic resigns as Serbian Progressive Party chairman

Two people die at ballot boxes in Turkey

Zelenskyy: Germany earmarked over 11 billion euros for Ukraine

MP: Iran and Egypt to restore relations

Philippines installs buoys in South China Sea

Peskov calls agreements basis for settlement in South Caucasus

Michel-Pashinyan-Aliev meeting starts in Brussels

Financial Times: G7 and EU to ban restart of Russian gas pipelines

RA MoD holds briefing with military attaches and EU observers

Member of Erdogan's party dies near ballot box

Fragile truce between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad

Artsakh president sends condolences to family of politician Murad Petrosyan

18 fires rage Russia's Tyumen region

Zelenskyy meets German President Steinmeier

Turkey deploys over 600 thousand policemen

Charles Michel and Ilham Aliyev meeting starts in Brussels

3 earthquakes recorded off Kamchatka coast

Zelenskyy arrives in Germany to meet its leaders

Turkish presidential and parliamentary elections start today

Bison tears into tourist car in Yellowstone

Major road accident in Yerevan

Armenian PM holds informal meeting with Charles Michel

Cocaine found aboard Colombian "narco sub"

Ambassador-at-Large: Azerbaijani forces attack Armenia's sovereign territory

Borrell: World military spending hits record $2.2 trillion

Iran captures ISIS terrorist

Italian PM promises full support for Ukraine

"Fair Armenia" party to nominate Norik Norikyan as Yerevan mayor candidate

Poland detects air object flying from Belarus

Alen Simonyan leads delegation leaving for Minsk

Pakistan bans Facebook, YouTube and Twitter

Armenian FM briefs Derek Hogan on Azerbaijan's latest provocation

Borrell: EU should accelerate ammunition supply to Ukraine

Polish archaeologists uncover ancient bakery in Armenia

Ambassador Kvien: I heard heartbreaking stories from families of missing soldiers

Helicopter crashes in Russian Bryansk

Clashes erupt between neo-Nazis, anti-fascists and police in Melbourne

European Council publishes Pashinyan-Aliyev-Michel meeting schedule

Yerevan-Istanbul-Yerevan flight delayed due to technical malfunction

GOP members demand Biden take cognitive test

Fatal accident on Dalar-Aygestan road

Armenian PM Pashinyan leaves for Brussels

Belgium to open embassy in Armenia

G7 raises economic aid to Ukraine

Man pronounced dead by coroner revived at hospital

US Treasury Secretary to update Congress on default

US and Europe believe Ukraine's counteroffensive could boost talks

Borrell: It will be difficult to trust China

Blinken and Kuleba discuss Ukraine's counteroffensive preparations

80-year-old Armenian woman dies in attack on Rehovot in Israel

Ministry of Defense: There have been recorded no notable ceasefire violations over the night

20-year-old Narek Baghdasaryan was killed as a result of Azerbaijani attack

The Armenian side has one more wounded. Ministry of Defense

The intensity of fire in the direction of Verin Shorzha has decreased. Ministry of Defense

As a result of enemy fire Armenian side has 1 killed and 1 wounded. Ministry of Defence

The intensity of enemy fire has significantly subsided. Ministry of Defence

Azerbaijan continues to fire in Kut and Sotk areas

Azerbaijan also uses mortars in the direction of Sotk positions. Ministry of Defense

Turkish lira hits a new historic low

Azerbaijan violated ceasefire in the direction of Kut using mortars

ORC survey: Turkey presidential election will end in 1st round with Kilicdaroglu victory Sunday

Armenia restores diplomatic relations with Hungary

Azerbaijani shells were exploding 100 meters away from Sotk village, Armenia opposition MP says
Photo: The Canadian Press A northern spotted owl is shown at the Northern Spotted Owl Breeding Program (NSOBP) near Hope, B.C. in this undated handout photo. Two northern spotted owls that had been released into a British Columbia forest last year have been found dead, potentially reducing the known wild population in the province to a single female. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, NSOBP

Two northern spotted owls that had been released into a British Columbia forest last year have been found dead, potentially reducing the known wild population in the province to a single female.

Spuzzum First Nation Chief James Hobart says in a joint statement issued with the government and Jasmine McCulligh, facility co-ordinator for the Northern Spotted Owl Breeding Program, that the two male birds' remains were found with their GPS trackers in early May.

Nathan Cullen, minister of water, land and resource stewardship, says the cause of the released birds' death is unknown, but could include physical injury, predation, disease or starvation.

Hobart calls the deaths "devastating," and says efforts will be made to retrace the birds' final days to work out what could have been done differently.

A third male owl that had been released with the others last August was found injured near train tracks in October after potentially colliding with a train.

It has since recovered but remains in the breeding program's facility in Langley.

McCulligh says that despite the birds' deaths, her team would use the experience to help move the breeding and release program forward.

She says "countless hours" had been spent nurturing the owls, as she recalled the "exciting and rewarding moment" of their release near the Spuzzum First Nation, about 200 kilometres northeast of Vancouver.

Although this is clearly not the result we had wished for, we are committed to learning as much as we can from this experience," she says in the statement issued Friday.

McCulligh had said in February that the release of the male trio had brought the confirmed wild population to four, with a single female known to exist.

Cullen says in Friday's statement that the government and its partners were doing everything they could to help spotted owls recover, supporting the worlds only captive breeding and release program.

Protection of spotted owls has fuelled decades-long disputes between environmental groups and the forest industry as their future is often tied to saving old-growth forests where the birds live.

When the birds were released last year, the Ministry of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship said it was a "historic milestone, crediting a partnership between the breeding program and the Spuzzum First Nation.
Another case of a fatal accident has been registered in Armenia.

On May 12, Opel and BMW cars collided on the Dalar-Aygestan [inter-village] road in the Ararat region.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am was informed by the press service of the police of Armenia, the 75-year-old Opel driver died, while the 27-year-old driver of BMW was transferred to the hospital.

A preliminary investigation is underway.
US Ambassador to Armenia, Kristina A. Kvien, met with the family members of missing soldiers and prisoners of war, the US Embassy in Armenia informs.

Those detained should be repatriated, and the remains of those who perished on either side of the conflict should be returned to their loved ones whenever possible, the statement says.
Facebook, YouTube and Twitter were unavailable in Pakistan on Saturday after a temporary recovery late Friday, Reuters reports, citing its own sources.

Pakistan's Ministry of Interior shut down mobile broadband services across the country and cut off access to Facebook, YouTube and Twitter on Tuesday night amid unrest following the detention of former Prime Minister Imran Khan by the country's anti-graft agency.
The European Union should speed up the supply of ammunition to Ukraine, as the country's troops need 1,000 artillery shells daily in Bakhmut [Raion] alone, EU High Representative of the Union of Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell said on Saturday, Reuters reports.

According to Borrell, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told his EU counterparts at a meeting in Stockholm that Kyiv needed more support to defend against the Russian invasion.

Around the town of Bakhmut, east of the battlefield, "Ukraine needs about 1,000 shells of artillery per day," Burrell told reporters after the meeting.

Back in March, EU ministers approved a plan worth at least 2 billion to supply Ukraine with one million artillery rounds and missiles over 12 months.
Iranian intelligence and police have arrested a member of the ISIS terrorist group in Zabol city in the province of Sistan and Baluchestan, Mehr reports.

Iranian intelligence forces discovered that a member of the ISIL terrorist group has settled in one of the villages of the city of Zabol, Police Chief of Sistan-Baluchestan, Brigadaier General Doostali Jalilian said on Saturday, adding that the Iranian intelligence and police successfully apprehended this ISIL terrorist after a special military operation to discover his hideout.

Zabol is located near the border of Iran with Afghanistan.
The delegation, led by the President of the National Assembly Alen Simonyan, will take part in the meeting of the Council of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization held from May 17 to 19 in Minsk.

As the press service of the parliament of Armenia informed Armenia News - NEWS.am, the delegation leaving for the capital of Belarus will include Vice President of the Armenian National Assembly Hakob Arshakyan, member of the "Armenia" opposition faction Gegham Manukyan, Hovik Aghazaryan, an MP from the ruling Civil Contract party, as well as members of the National Assembly staff.
Italian PM Giorgia Meloni promised on Saturday to provide full support to Ukraine in its efforts to push back "brutal and unjust aggression of Russia", Reuters reports.

Speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Meloni stated that Italy will continue to supply arms to Ukraine and support his country as long as it is necessary.

"You can't achieve peace through a surrender," she said, echoing earlier comments made by the President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella. "It would be a very grave precedent for all nations of the world".
17:10





In addition, the Muslim vote, which accounted for nearly 13 per cent of the electorate, consolidated in favour of the party, Congress sources said.





The Congress has promised to implement poll 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 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), 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), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti - on the very first day after coming to power in the state.





The Congress successfully wresting power in Karnataka after Himachal Pradesh will be a morale booster for the party in reviving its electoral fortunes and strengthening its credentials as the main opposition player against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.





"I think this election is crucial. This result is the stepping stone for the party in the Lok Sabha election in 2024 .... I also hope that Rahul Gandhi becomes the prime minister of this country," party stalwart and former chief minister Siddaramaiah said. With the win in Karnataka, the Congress has also bounced back after the recent losses in the Northeastern states and it will give the momentum needed to take on the battle-ready election machinery of the BJP later this year in the Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.





The Congress, by and large, focused on local issues in this election and its campaign also was run by state leaders initially. However, its central leaders such as party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra pitched in subsequently.





The Congress entered the campaign with the challenge of keeping at bay the factionalism, especially between the camps of its two chief ministerial aspirants -- Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar -- who were often seen to be engaging in political one-upmanship, but succeeded in putting up a united front and ensured that no rift came out in the open and derailed its prospects.





This poll was also a prestige battle in a way for the grand old party with a Kannadiga Mallikarjun Kharge, who hails from Kalaburagi district, at its helm as the national president. Though the campaign initially centered around its state leaders like Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, Kharge gave it momentum and thereby prepared the pitch for the party's top leaders Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi to join in. The brother-sister duo extensively travelled across the state, challenging the BJP's campaign blitz led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, countering him on various issues, and raising the issue of corruption, while promising to provide a better alternative for Karnataka. Former AICC president Sonia Gandhi addressed a party rally in Hubballi on Saturday.





The party held 99 public meetings and 33 road shows by its top state and central leaders. The Congress, which had set a target of winning 150 seats, had repeatedly urged voters to ensure that it gets an absolute majority so that BJP doesn't "steal" the mandate by managing defections of other party legislators and "manufacture" a majority in its favour. The focus of the Congress attack on the BJP government was over corruption and the charge of "40 per cent commission", coupled with the Adani issue, which according to several party leaders seems to have echoed with the sentiment of the people.





While extensively highlighting its five key poll 'guarantees', the party tried to inform the people about its charge against the BJP government of having "failed in fulfilling 90 per cent of its promises" made in its 2018 manifesto. The Congress was aiming to attract the Lingayat vote base of the BJP by trying to project that the saffron party was neglecting the community.





CONG: WINS: 114, LEADS: 22

Putting up a united front and making corruption a central theme of its campaign coupled with pre-poll 'guarantees' of free power and rice and unemployment dole did the trick for Congress in defeating the BJP, which was weighed down by anti-incumbency.
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 13 (ANI/NewsVoir): Ozone Forum of India, a common platform created for doctors and patients alike for the beneficial effects of Ozone Therapy, launched its first book called 'Clinical Ozone Therapy' at the 12th Annual Conference - 'Ozone Therapy an Integrated Approach' which was held in Mumbai. The two-day conference saw Ramesh Chauhan, Chairman of Bisleri International, Dr Mili Shah, President - Ozone Forum of India, along with esteemed guests - Dr K Satya Lakshmi, Director - National Institute of Naturopathy, Dr D.R. Kaarthikeyan - Former Director (CBI), and Dr Maria Emilia Gadelha Serra, Founder and President of the Brazilian Society of Medical Ozone Therapy, unveiling the book. Therapy Supports the Following Health Conditions - Chronic infections due to viruses, bacteria, fungi and other germs.- Non-healing wounds and ulcers, diabetic ulcers, surgical wound infections.- Circulatory disorders.- Skin conditions like eczema, infections, bedsores, ulcers- Gynaecological infection.- Ear Nose Throat (ENT) infections, Sinus infections, Bronchitis- Arthritis, Rheumatism, Backaches, Spondylitis.- Help in cancer as supportive treatment to other mainline treatments- Liver diseases, cirrhosis, hepatitis- Brain disorders, Parkinson's, Memory Impairments The book - Clinical Ozone Therapy draws light on usage of ozone therapy in different disease management. It comprises various benefits of ozone therapy along with applications of ozone in skin disorders, infectious diseases, cancer, diabetes mellitus, respiratory diseases, circulatory disorders, COVID-19, thyroid disorders and many more. The book is written by Dr Mili Shah, President, OFI, Dr Jignasha Captain, Director, OFI and Dr Pradeep MK Nair, Consultant-Research OFI. Commenting on the event and the launch of the book, Dr Mili Shah, President of Ozone Forum of India & Trustee of Bisleri Charitable Trust, said, "Ozone Therapy has been in existence for over a century and has been practiced in India since 2003. Ozone therapy is a holistic treatment that empowers your body to heal itself naturally. This therapy has effectively prevented and managed various acute and chronic diseases. By organizing workshops and annual conferences, we aim to spread maximum awareness about ozone therapy as a healing alternative and encourage more people to resort to the treatment. We have trained more than 2600 doctors from diverse medical fields treating lakhs of patients of different diseases." Ozone therapy is a safe, simple and painless alternative medicinal therapy that has multiple benefits. Ozone is a very powerful germicidal, anti-inflammatory, oxidative-stress reducing and stress relieving agent which when administered through this therapy in the body, converts into Oxygen "O2" (the most important element required by our bodies) and nascent oxygen "O". The benefits of pure Oxygen in our body need not be elaborated, while the effect of the nascent oxygen "O", can easily be summarized as a powerful energetic molecule that readily attacks disease causing micro-organisms, while NOT harming any human cells. This helps in treatment of many diseases and allows the human body to improve regeneration of good cells for healing, enhancing its immunological response. The essence of ozone therapy is addressing the root cause of the disease which are usually oxidative stress and lack of circulation. To undertake ozone therapy, ozone cannot be given directly through the nose like oxygen. Instead, precisely measured quantities of ozone gas are administered through the rectum as an enema passed through the vagina, eardrums, mixed in blood or saline infusions. Ozone gas and ozonized oils are also applied over the affected parts and ulcers for quick healing. Each treatment takes a few minutes, and no anesthesia is required, aiding the patient to be cheerful throughout the treatment. The annual conference organized by the Ozone Forum of India is to emphasize use of ozone therapy as integrated approach. It empowers doctors with a revolutionary approach to healing people - not just treating diseases - using a unique tool called person-centred diagnosis. This story has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
New Delhi [India], May 13 (ANI/GPRC): The countdown has begun for the much-awaited mega award show "Telugu Influencer Awards 2023," which will be held in Hyderabad on July 15, 2023. Popular faces from Tollywood and Television industry are expected to grace the gala awards ceremony with their presence. The "Telugu Influencer Awards" are the most prestigious in social media, which honour the top Influencers in the Telugu states. This award ceremony is organized by Advide (a Prikus Group Company). Advide is a Holistic digital marketing, Influencer marketing, and market research agency located in Hyderabad. Advide integrates years of experience and knowledge to provide its clients with performance-driven and creative solutions. The nomination process for the Telugu Influencer Awards 2023 has also started. P Arjun, CEO of Advide (a Prikus Group Company), said, "We are thrilled to announce the launch edition of the Telugu Influencer Awards 2023. We aim to recognize and celebrate the best talent among Digital Creators & Influencers who create content exclusively in Telugu. We are honoured to have a lot of celebrity guests lined up for the event, and we look forward to a successful grand award ceremony." The mega event has already received an overwhelming response in the initial nomination phase. YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram content creators are eligible for Telugu Influencer Awards 2023. This event also offers a fantastic opportunity to the influencers and acts as a gateway to collaborate with various brands along with widespread publicity. Official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teluguinfluencerawards2023/ Official Website: https://teluguinfluencerawards.com/ This story is provided by GPRC. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/GPRC)
Photo: AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File The University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City. The Salt Lake County District Attorney said on Friday that Ben Smyth had returned to the United States and been arrested.

A University of Utah diver from Central Saanich has been arrested after being charged with raping a young woman in her dorm room during the first week of the school year last fall.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said the male student was arrested upon returning to the United States this week.

It is our understanding that he is in custody in Seattle, Gill said

In an indictment filed this week, detectives said a male student went to a womans dorm room after confirming she was alone last August. He allegedly raped her while she resisted physically, said she did not want to do that, shook her head no and told him she was in pain.

Scott Wilding, the male students attorney, declined to comment on the charges or whether he had returned to surrender voluntarily or was caught when his return to the country triggered the warrant.

The indictment, which does not name the woman, said when detectives went to serve the student with a protective order, a roommate said he had moved out. A private investigator later told detectives that he had returned to Canada after learning he was under investigation.

Prosecutors have charged Ben Smyth with sodomy, sexual abuse and rape.
New Delhi [India], May 13 (ANI/ATK): If you follow the crypto market, there's a good chance you know it's not all sunny weather over there, except for new meme coins. On the recovering end of the crypto market, there is the Cosmos (ATOM); on the other side, there is Solana (SOL); on the sunny meme coin side, there is DogeMiyagi (MIYAGI), a meme coin in presale. Cosmos Sets Out on Recovery Journey Cosmos displayed bearish trends for most of last month, and bears still seem to have a hold on the network. But the network is fighting selling pressure and posted gains in the previous seven days. USD ATOM went as low as USD 10.32 but is trading at USD 11.32 at the time of this writing. Cosmos offers an ecosystem of connected blockchains that can realize transactions quickly, cheaply, and securely. The network's proof of stake algorithm offers top-notch security while being highly power efficient. USD ATOM is the utility token of the Cosmos ecosystem and attracts many dApps and DeFi projects by virtue of its highly scalable, easy-to-use, and interoperable blockchain. As DeFi gets popular, the network will be on track to make gains, and ATOM will make gains in the event. Solana Network Reels from Price DropThe Solana network was created to process a high number of transactions at high speed. The blockchain is the fastest in the world and can process an eye-watering 50,000 transactions per second. The network uses a combination of proof-of-stake and proof-of-history consensus mechanisms and offers high security and low transaction fees. The network's high speeds and low fees make it highly scalable. This makes it the perfect choice for dApps and DeFi projects requiring high throughput and security. The strong fundamentals of the Solana network have not arrested the slide in the token's value. SOL's price has fallen more than 13 per cent, and the token is now trading at $20.24. The token has mirrored the market in its price drop, but an uptick in activity on the blockchain can once again make SOL a contender to be a top crypto in the long run. DogeMiyagi: The Wise New Doge in TownEverything about the DogeMiyagi network oozes wisdom, from the reference to Miyagi from the Karate Kid franchise to the project's roadmap that reads as if astute military planners put it together. The meme coin project is in presale and has caught the fancy of the crypto world. DogeMiyagi has a mustachioed doge as its mascot. The prevalent message around the project is the virtue of being patient and doing your due planning, which is unsurprising when your name has Miyagi in it. The wise doge's ecosystem will use USD MIYAGI, and the token will be used for buying DogeMiyagi NFTs, facilitating cross-border payments, and governing the network. The network has its community at the center of its project and has stated that it will transfer 100 per cent of the ownership of the token after launch. The team has also stated that DogeMiyagi's ultimate goal is to be a DAO where community members hold sway. It also has a referral program where holders can share a unique referral code with friends and family. Holders will get a 10 per cent commission when their code is used to join the network. As the crypto world is going through a downturn, it is important to identify top cryptos that could power your portfolio. Cosmos' gains show its potential to be among your picks, and from the meme coin space, DogeMiyagi is an irresistible pick with its great ecosystem and community-centred development plan. Check out Dogemiyagi below: Website: https://dogemiyagi.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/_Dogemiyagi_ Telegram: https://t.me/dogemiyagi This story has been provided by ATK. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/ATK)
New Delhi [India], May 13 (ANI/PNN): The Production Head Quarters ltd most recent film, 'Foot Prints on Water' directed by debutant British Film Maker Nathalia Syam, starring Adil Hussein and written by Neetha Syam, has won the award for the 'Best Debut Film' at the New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF). The film tells the story of an illegal immigrant father in the UK, in search for his missing daughter and has been praised for its captivating storytelling has left lasting impression, stirring hearts with its profound storytelling and mesmerizing performances'. The official Handle of the NYIFF announces "celebrating an extraordinary journey! Footprints on Water wins prestigious title of 'Best Debut Film' at NYIFF, as acclaimed by the film critics circle of India. Director Nathalia Syam added "We are grateful for this honour of 'Best Debut Film' from NYIFF for our film. We have two more nominations, Best Actor for Adil Hussain & Best Actress for Nimisha Sajayan where results will be announced at the awards on the 14th. Having shot this film mostly in Birmingham, UK it was interesting to see how the crowd from New York have found similarities and differences between the two cities when it comes to the lives of undocumented migrants. We are looking forward to our screening with UKAFF." Internationally acclaimed Producer Mohaan Nadaar has expressed his excitement; 'the journey of Footprints on water has just begun and we are thrilled to see the film being recognised this way. It is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the commitment of TPHQ to bring world class cinema out of their stable and promote new and exciting talent we could not be prouder. and this foray is being acknowledged in the world film Market. It's just the beginning of the journey for Footprints on Water and next we will be screening at the UK Asian Film festival this weekend.' Adil Hussein has also expressed his excitement and gratitude and congratulates the rest of the team and crew in a tweet; 'Absolutely delighted and thrilled to announce that our film Footprints on Water wins the best debut film at New York Indian Film Festival. Big Congratulations to the Director Nathalia Syam, Producer Mohaan Nadaar and the entire cast and crew'. Footprints on water is also set to premiere at the UK Asian Film festival in London on May 13th which has stirred a lot of buzz amongst the UK audiences with already a sold out screening. This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN)
New Delhi [India], May 13 (ANI/PNN): In an ironic turn of events, on the same day as the release of Music School, a film that highlights the societal and parental pressure of academics on students, the reports of the suicide of six students in Hyderabad have come to light. As the CBSE results for class 12th were out on Friday, six students in different instances in Hyderabad, Telangana and Nizamabad committed suicide succumbing to the pressure and harassment of parents/ teachers for scoring less marks. Music school, a multi-lingual musical by Ilaiyaraaja and directed and produced by IAS officer turned filmmaker Paparao Biyyala, is an entertaining narration of the grave and sensitive subject of academic pressure on students by parents, teachers and society, against the encouragement towards performing arts. The film traces the story of a drama and music teacher played by Sharman Joshi and Shriya Saran respectively struggling to put together a musical play of The Sound of Music with a bunch of kids, fighting against the restraints of the parents and teachers. Talking about the case, director Paparao Biyyala shares, "It is extremely unfortunate to witness a young kid with great potential lose his life due to the set standards and expectations of the society. Our film Music School voices the same concerns, promoting parents, teachers and society at large to ensure the over-all wellbeing and development of the kids." Music School is currently successfully running in theatres across three languages- Hindi, Telugu and Tamil. With music by Ilaiyaraaja, Music School stars Shriya Saran, Sharman Joshi, Shaan, Prakash Raj, Ozu Barua, Gracy Goswamy, Benjamin Gilani, Suhasini Mulay, Mona Ambegaonkar, Leela Samson, Bugs Bhargava, Vinay Varma, Sreekanth Iyengar, Vaquar Sheikh, Phani and many other child actors. Presented by Yamini Films, Hyderabad, this multi-lingual film is shot in Hindi and Telugu, and dubbed in Tamil. It has released on 12th May 2023 by PVR in Hindi and Dil Raju in Telugu. This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN)
The 'Fast and Furious' fan base has received good news regarding the 12th instalment of the franchise as actor Vin Diesel has hinted about the possibility of it being thought of by the makers. According to Deadline, a US-based media house, on the red carpet of the film 'Fast X' in Rome when questioned if there can be a 12th part for the film, Vin with co-star Michelle Rodriguez said, "It's a really good question. As filmmakers, you want to allow people to enjoy the film without tipping the hat too much. I can say this. Going into making this movie, the studio had asked if this could be a two-parter. And after the studio saw this, part one, they said, could you make Fast X, the finale, a trilogy?" "It's three acts in any story," Michelle added to solidify the potential of a trilogy. When asked for further confirmation whether the makers have decided to add another movie? Diesel said, "We probably are," suggests a report by Deadline. Fast X is about Dom and his crew as they look to fend off the pair of big bads -- the cyberterrorist Cipher (Charlize Theron) and her mysterious cohort, Dante (Jason Momoa) -- with the help of a new alley, Tess (Brie Larson). The film is all set to hit the theatres on May 19, 2023. (ANI)
'Mughal-e-Azam' has entertained fans across the globe. And now after more than 200 marvellous performances across six Asian countries, its sublime stage adaptation, 'Mughal-E-Azam: The Musical', premieres in North America. The 13-city tour starts in Atlanta on Friday, May 26 with stops in New York, Chicago, Toronto, and more. This is also India's longest-running Broadway-style extravaganza and has been directed by Feroz Abbas Khan and produced by Shapoorji Pallonji Group. It will be presented in North America by Cinema on Stage and will bring to a global audience, a timeless love story intertwined with the silken skeins of India's syncretic culture and its rich dance, musical, cinematic, and theatrical traditions. The director described his thoughts on the milestone by stating, "There cannot be a better way to end the pandemic-induced lull than to take 'Mughal-E-Azam: The Musical' to an international audience. We are well aware of how challenging it will be to keep the energy levels up as we travel from one city to another with a vast crew and learn to familiarise ourselves with a new venue every time, but we are looking forward to it. The last few years of not being able to perform have made us all hungry, and we will invest even more passion and diligence than ever before in every performance and ensure that this tour is a massive success. A very big element of this project is the way Mayuri Upadhya has choreographed dance sequences to do justice to the majestic musical score, and we are sure that the audiences will love every moment of it," Feroz added. "Seven years back, when we green-lighted this project, we had not imagined that it would run for 19 seasons and travel to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, Muscat, Doha, and now North America. There is a lot of technical and logistic expertise that goes into a massive show like this, but what really makes it universally loved is its emotional core and the love story of Salim and Anarkali, said Deepesh Salgia, Creative & Strategic Vision for the musical. And of course, this is India's most expensive theatre production and leaves audiences everywhere enchanted with its intricately choreographed dance sequences, spectacular lighting, exquisite costumes by Manish Malhotra, and live singing. We at Shapoorji Pallonji are extremely delighted to bring this musical play to a country that prides itself in creating a global ecosystem for theatrical production," concludes Deepesh Salgia. India's first Broadway-style musical boasts a cast and crew of more than 150 people, has been met with all-around accolades following its 2016 premiere in Mumbai. In 2017, it won seven out of the 14 BroadwayWorld India Awards, including Best Play, Best Director, Best Costume Design, Best Choreography, Best Original Set Design, Best Original Lighting Design, and Best Ensemble Cast. (ANI)
The director Neil Marshall's action-thriller movie' Duchess' is going to be on the slate of PPP at the Cannes Film Festival. The movie features actor Charlotte Kirk in a titular role alongside stars like Philip Winchester, Colm Meaney, Sean Pertwee and Stephanie Beacham. The movie follows the character of Scarlett Monaghan played by Kirk and her rise from a working-class petty criminal to becoming a ruthless organised crime leader in the seedy underbelly of the diamond smuggling circuit of Tenerife. The movie will feature top-notch action sequences to make it a must-watch for the audience which loves this genre. Marshall and Kirk have also written the screenplay for the movie. Kristyna Sellnerova is the producer of the film. PPP CEO Tamara Birkemoe sharing the information said, "We are thrilled to announce Duchess as part of our sales slate and eagerly await the film's introduction to buyers. We're proud of the range of varied content we plan to bring to Cannes and future markets and know that this action thriller will be a welcome, fresh addition." The 72nd edition of the Cannes Film Festival will take place on May 16 to May 27, 2023. (ANI)
Health experts have stressed the need for upskilling nurses in the evolving healthcare sector. The International Nurses Day (May 12) is celebrated to acknowledge the services of nurses who are considered the heart of the healthcare sector. Latha Nonis, Chief Nursing Officer, Fortis Hospital, Bannerghatta Road, Bengaluru, said that in the digital health era, the role of nurses in healthcare has undergone a tectonic shift. "As we witness the rapid advancement of technology, it has become imperative for us nurses to upskill ourselves continuously to stay in tune with the evolving healthcare landscape," she added. "Even the connections between nursing and technology help nurses to spend more time with patients. Our patients, too, have increasingly come to rely on technology to manage their health, and it is our duty to equip ourselves with the necessary skills to provide them with the best possible care. Technology brings patients closer to nurses," she said. Nonis added, "The primary role of a nurse is to be a caregiver for patients by managing physical needs, preventing illness, and treating health conditions. Nurses can be key contributors in the healthcare system and their critical thinking skills help to improve patient outcomes by enabling evidence-based decision-making." As healthcare professionals, our ability to harness technology to understand and utilise it effectively is crucial in ensuring that we provide safe, efficient and effective care to our patients. Upskilling nurses with the evolving technology is of paramount importance in today's healthcare landscape and also it's a need of today to deliver quality care, she said. Punitha Singh, Associate Vice-President, Nursing, Healthcare Global Enterprises Ltd, Bengaluru, said, "Nurses have been an integral part of the healthcare ecosystem by playing a crucial role in patient care delivery. Upskilling nurses in evolving technology can have several important benefits like improving efficiency in patient care delivery, retention of nurses, better representation etc." Technology is changing how nurses deliver patient care, but we should always remember to uphold the true essence of nursing by not losing the human side of empathetic care, which is an absolute need of the hour, says Singh. The world today experiences a huge shortage of nurses that is expected to intensify as the need for healthcare grows. The pandemic vividly reminds everyone of the essentiality of nursing services to uphold humanity and the selfless service they render, Singh added. Col. Sanjula Verma, Group Vice-President, Nursing Services, CARE Hospitals Group, said, "The digital health era has transformed the role of nurses in healthcare, creating a paradigm shift in the way they deliver care. Digital health technologies such as electronic health records (EHRs), telemedicine and mobile health apps have changed the way nurses document, communicate and provide patient care." Nurses have become key players in the digital health ecosystem, leveraging technology to enhance patient engagement, improve health outcomes, and drive operational efficiencies, Verma added. Overall, the digital health era has created a paradigm shift in the role of nurses, enabling them to become more efficient, effective and engaged in delivering patient care. As the digital health market continues to grow, it is essential that nurses receive the necessary digital education during their nursing training to leverage these technologies to their full potential, she said. --IANS mka/khz/ ( 548 Words) 2023-05-12-21:38:05 (IANS)
A fresh political slugfest has erupted in West Bengal over the termination of service of 36,000 primary teachers in the state following an order issued by the Calcutta High Court on Friday. Commenting on the development, Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said the high court must see that no teacher becomes a victim of the court's decision. "We had been saying since the beginning that only qualified persons should get jobs. But at the same time, it has to be seen that no one becomes a victim of stubbornness. The counsels for the state government and the concerned departments will surely review the order of the court. I am not in a position to make further comments on this issue," he said. CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty said that although he feels bad that the services of 36,000 primary teachers have been terminated by a court decision, it is the state government which is responsible for it. "Those who sold jobs against money should be arrested and the money should be recovered from them. The Trinamool leaders should be ready now to face the public's ire," Chakraborty said. According to Bengal Congress President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the termination of service of so many people is nothing less than a tsunami. "The entire state is shivering because of the tsunami of corruption. Under the current government, West Bengal will surely figure in the Guinness World Records for corruption," he said. According to BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh, breaking the law is rampant in all the departments of the state government under Trinamool's rule. "The court is now pointing out the irregularities one after the other. I wonder where this tunnel of corruption ends," he said. --IANS src/khz/arm ( 301 Words) 2023-05-12-19:32:03 (IANS)
NCB's Vigilance Department had forwarded a report to the CBI, which led to the registration of an FIR against former NCB's Mumbai zonal chief Sameer Wankhede and four others, for allegedly demanding Rs 25 crore from Shah Rukh Khan's family to save his son Aryan Khan in the alleged drugs-on-cruise case. Aryan Khan was on board, Cordelia cruise, when the NCB officials conducted raids. Name of dismissed NCB official VV Singh has also been mentioned in the FIR as an accused among others. The FIR has been lodged against Wankhede and four others including two public and two private persons. A top CBI source told IANS that during the raid on the Cordelia cruise, the NCB officials led by Wankhede allegedly threatened the individuals, who were on board, and demanded Rs 25 crore from Aryan Khan's family for not lodging any case against him. The source said that the case was lodged against Wankhede and four others under corruption and other Acts. "Out of Rs 25 crore, Khan family paid Rs 50 lakh to the NCB officials. Khan family claimed that they paid Rs 50 lakh to save Aryan Khan," said the source. IANS made several attempts to reach out to Wankhede for his comments on the matter, but he was not available. Wankhede is currently posted in Chennai. The raids by CBI are currently going on at 29 locations in Mumbai, Delhi, Ranchi (Jharkhand) and Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh). In Mumbai, raids are on in Andheri and other premises of Wankhede. The sources have claimed that a few documents were seized by them. --IANS atk/uk/ ( 286 Words) 2023-05-12-19:34:03 (IANS)
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde mourned the incident and announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the kin of each deceased person from the Social Justice welfare scheme, as per a CMO statement.

Police said that the incident occurred late on Thursday night when the workers were cleaning a septic tank with a machine inside a sewer near a field in Bhaucha Tanda village for nearly six hours.

When they resumed work around 9 p.m. after a short break, one of the workers fell into the sewer but was rescued by his associate.

Later, even the associate collapsed inside the septic tank, and the other four who rushed to help him also fell there unconscious.

The police and fire brigade were summoned and they removed the trapped workers from the sewer tank.

Five succumbed during treatment while the sixth, identified as Sabir Sheikh, is critical and admitted to the Ambejogai Government Hospital.

His associates -- all stated to be close relatives are: Firoz Sheikh, 27, Naved Sheikh and Shahrukh Sheikh, both 28, Junaid Sheikh, 32 and Sadiq Sheikh, 55.

The police have registered an accident death report and are probing whether they fell victim to the toxic fumes inside the septic tank or electric shocks of the machine they were using to clean it up even as the autopsy reports are awaited.

--IANS qn/pgh

( 263 Words)

2023-05-12-20:06:03 (IANS)
Photo: The Canadian Press OPP vehicles block a road near the scene of a shooting where one Ontario Provincial Police officer was killed and two others were injured in the town of Bourget, Ont. on Thursday, May 11, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle

Investigators combed through a property in a small village east of Ottawa on Friday as police looked to gather more information on a shooting that left one officer dead and two others injured a day earlier.

Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Eric Mueller died in hospital following the early Thursday shooting at a home in Bourget, Ont. The 42-year-old and two other officers had been responding to a disturbance call, police have said.

Alain Bellefeuille, a 39-year-old Bourget resident, is charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder in the case. He's expected to appear in court on Thursday in nearby L'Orignal, Ont.

In Bourget, police vehicles were parked Friday near the home where the shooting took place and officers went to and from the property. Police barricades remained in place in some areas and officers were seen going door-to-door in the area.

Veronique Poirier-Larabie had set up a small bunch of colourful silk flowers outside her home with Mueller's name written on a window above. She said his car had been left outside her house the day before.

"I did not know this officer but he does deserve to be remembered," said Poirier-Larabie, who moved to Bourget a month ago from Ottawa in search of a quiet community.

"It touched me," she said of the tragedy. "I did cry."

Poirier-Larabie said after the shooting, several members of the small village were checking in on one another as they processed what happened.

"You don't expect this to happen," she said. "This actually brought us probably a little closer."

Poirier-Larabie and several other residents said they did not know the man charged in the case.

OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique has said Bellefeuille's history would be closely mined for clues. Police have said they found a long gun at the scene of Thursday's shooting.

A members-only shooting range west of Bourget said it had no record of Bellefeuille in its member database or of him having attended the facility.

A forested lot stands between Bertrand Gosselin's street and the property where the shooting took place. He said he often hears gunshots through the trees and has seen tree stands for hunting set up further into the woods.

"It never bothered me because it's not uncommon," he said Friday. "Usually, you think someone is just shooting on their property."

He said if the gunshots were closer he might have been more concerned.

Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney General said they had not found previous criminal court files under Bellefeuille's name.

Police alleged the three officers who were shot on Thursday were "ambushed" when they arrived at the home. The officers had called for backup before they approached, police said.

One injured officer was still in hospital in stable condition on Thursday while the other had been released. Police did not provide an update on the condition of the officer in hospital on Friday.

Funeral plans for Mueller are underway, OPP spokesperson Bill Dickson said Friday.

Mueller, remembered as a mentor and dedicated 21-year-veteran of the OPP, was previously injured on the job, court records show.

He underwent three operations and months of rehabilitation for a broken leg after he was crushed into the side of his cruiser by a tractor-trailer unit during an arrest gone wrong in April 2008.

The driver, who was wanted by police for failing to appear in court, tried to flee when Mueller and other officers stopped him on a highway exit ramp, according to a 2010 ruling in the case.

Mueller is the fifth police officer to be fatally shot in Ontario since September.

On Friday the OPP posted an obituary of sorts on its website to commemorate Mueller's life and career.

He received a commissioner's citation for lifesaving in 2015 after helping to lift a burning vehicle to remove an injured suspect, the post read.

"Sergeant Mueller's devotion and courage will never be forgotten," the post said.

A book of condolences for Mueller will be available to sign this weekend at the Bourget Community Centre and the city hall in Rockland, the seat of the local municipality.
Speaking to mediapersons, Arukha said he has resigned on personal grounds. "I have submitted my resignation letter to Deputy Speaker Rajanikant Singh," he said.

Asked if he would be included in the Cabinet of Naveen Patnaik's government, Arukha said: "I will discharge every responsibility assigned to me by the party or in the government."

Soon after the resignation of the Speaker, School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash and Labour Minister Srikanta Sahu also resigned from the position of MoS.

Sahu said he has resigned to work for the organisation of Biju Janata Dal (BJD). A few days ago, a woman BJD worker made 'sexual harassment' allegations against Sahu. Even, the matter reached the police station seeking action against Sahu.

Commenting on it, Sahu said: "In politics, a lot of allegations will be made. So, I don't want to make any comment on this. To discharge organisational responsibility, I have resigned."

Besides, Samir Ranjan Dash, was also dragged into controversy over the alleged suicidal death of BJD zilla parishad member Dharmendra Sahoo. The ZP member was elected from one seat of Dash's Nimapara Assembly constituency. Recently, a by-poll for the ZP seat was held and the BJP won it.

Dash said he has resigned from the Cabinet to give full time in organisational work.

According to political observers, the two ministers have been asked to resign as both courted controversy.

--IANS bbm/pgh

( 270 Words)

2023-05-12-20:36:01 (IANS)
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Friday ordered an inquiry into the alleged non-compliance by Google related to the CCI order regarding the Play Store user choice billing policy. The order was in response to the Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) submission with the Indian market regulator on Google not complying with the CCI directions and introducing user choice billing (UCB) which is "unfair, irrational and discriminatory". The CCI had penalised Google for indulging in unfair practices and directed the company to follow certain corrective measures regarding the same. The CCI in October had imposed a penalty of Rs 936.44 crore on Google for abusing its dominant position with respect to its Play Store policies. The ADIF reached out to the CCI over the non-compliance by Google and in response, the CCI "has not only stated that an enquiry needs to be made against the compliance by Google" but has also directed "Google to file a detailed response to a set of queries mentioned in the order, including information on its processes and internal policies regarding data sharing, data-steering provisions, UCB policy". The tech-giant has been provided with 4 weeks to provide its responses to the queries. Google in January introduced various changes in its Play Store policies and introduced user choice billing as reforms in compliance with the directives of CCI. The changes, however, were not compliant with the order, according to the ADIF. The ADIF's spokesperson had slammed the changes and termed them "irrational, unfair and discriminatory" in nature. ADIF also maintained that the changes will not be beneficial in any manner and will only hurt the startup ecosystem in the long run. In another Android case, Google has paid the entire penalty amount of Rs 1,337.76 crore imposed by the CCI. --IANS na/pgh ( 315 Words) 2023-05-12-20:40:04 (IANS)
The West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE) is set to challenge the order of the Calcutta High Court to terminate the services of 36,000 primary teachers in different state-run schools in West Bengal. WBBPE President Gautam Pal said that the termination of 36,000 jobs will create a major chaos in the state education system. "We can say for sure that not a single primary teacher lacks requisite training. We will challenge the decision at the right forum," Pal told mediapersons a few hours after the judgment was pronounced by the single-judge bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay. He also claimed that all the recruitments were made as per existing legal provisions. "The WBBPE arranged for the training of each and every primary teacher recruited in the open and distance learning mode and the training process was completed by 2019," Pal said. He added that the board cannot just deny the responsibility for those teachers whose jobs are being terminated. "Let us get the copy of the court order first and accordingly we will take a decision," he said. Earlier on Friday, while passing the order for termination of 36,000 primary teachers, Justice Gangopadhyay had observed that none of these teachers had proper training for getting recruited as primary teachers and they got recruited without appearing for the compulsory aptitude tests. However, Justice Gangopadhyay directed that these 36,000 primary teachers will be able to attend their respective schools for the next four months and during that period they will be paid the salary of para-teachers instead of that for regular teachers. If any candidate among these 36,000 completes the requisite training in the interim period, he/she will be eligible for appearing for examinations in the next recruitment phase. --IANS src/khz/arm ( 305 Words) 2023-05-12-20:46:03 (IANS)
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday informed a special CBI court in Asansol that former director of Eastern Coalfields Limited, Sunil Kumar Jha, and retired Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) inspector Anand Kumar Singh, who were arrested on Thursday in connection with the multi-crore coal smuggling case in West Bengal, were the prime beneficiaries of the alleged scam. The CBI counsel informed the court that the probe agency has got specific information and evidence of Jha and Kumar receiving cash through coded vouchers from the kingpin of the alleged scam, Anup Maji a.k.a. Lala. The CBI counsel claimed that these coded vouchers carried some coded messages regarding details of such illegal cash payments. The CBI counsel also presented some vouchers before the court. He claimed that while Jha received a total amount to the tune of Rs 1.70 crore, Singh received Rs 11 lakh for facilitating coal smuggling in areas taken on lease by ECL. Meanwhile, CBI sources said that on Thursday, both Jha and Singh were questioned together at the agency's Nizam Palace office in Kolkata. Initially, both refused to cooperate with the interrogating officers, and at a later stage, they made a number of contradictory statements. They were arrested after questioning on Thursday evening. This is for the first time that a (former) CISF official has been netted by the CBI in connection to its probe into the alleged coal smuggling scam. On Friday, the special court remanded Jha and Singh to CBI custody. On July 7, 2022, the CBI had filed a charge sheet at the same court against 41 accused persons, including former general managers, chief managers, and security officials of Eastern Coalfields Limited, as well as private persons and private companies. --IANS src/arm ( 306 Words) 2023-05-12-22:36:02 (IANS)
In the Gujarat Assembly elections held last year, out of the total 182 legislators, 164 MLAs spent funds on public meetings, processions etc. involving star campaigners, according to a report prepared by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Gujarat Election Watch. The report said that 164 MLAs, which is 90 per cent of the total MLAs, have declared that they spent funds on public meetings, processions etc. involving star campaigners. The report also said that 18 MLAs have declared that they did not spend any funds on public meetings, processions etc. with star campaigners (other than those for general party propaganda). It also pointed out that all the MLAs in the state Assembly declared that they had spent funds on public meetings, processions etc. without star campaigners. Meanwhile, 97 out of the 182 MLAs have declared that they spent funds on campaigning through electronic or print media, while 85 MLAs (47 per cent) declared that they did not spend any funds on campaigning through electronic or print media. The report also pointed out that 172 (95 per cent) MLAs have declared that they spent funds on campaign workers, while 10 (5 per cent) MLAs have declared that they did not spend any funds on campaign workers. As per the report, 145 (80 per cent) MLAs have declared that they spent funds on campaign materials, while 37 (20 per cent) MLAs declared that they did not spend any funds on campaign materials. The report is based on the election expenditure statements submitted after the Gujarat Assembly elections. The expenditure limit for the MLAs during the Gujarat polls was Rs 40 lakh each. --IANS aks/arm ( 292 Words) 2023-05-12-22:44:04 (IANS)
Responding to reports suggesting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) holding talks with the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) in Karnataka over forming the government, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said "we will see tomorrow" (May 13). The results of the Karnataka Assembly election, polling for which was held on May 10, will be announced on Saturday. Replying to a question by the media here, Kharge said: "Our party has the strategy of discussing things after meeting each other. If we tell you everything, what would remain?" He quoted a Kannada proverb, saying "it is too soon to talk about the matter", when asked about who would be the CM candidate from the party. "First, let the results come. Things will be decided later on," he said. Kharge has been camping in the state for almost one month. His residence has become the centre of hectic party activities after exit polls predicted that "Congress will emerge as the single largest party". Earlier on Friday, Kharge held a meeting with senior leaders including state party in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, general secretary K.C. Venugopal, state unit chief D.K. Shivakumar, and former chief minister Siddaramaiah at a hotel in Bengaluru. According to party sources, Congress leaders discussed the possibilities of the outcome on May 13, and the strategy in case of a hung Assembly. Shivakumar on Friday claimed that there was a huge wave for his party in the state, while underlining that Kharge and his predecessor Sonia Gandhi will take a decision on the chief ministerial post if the Congress is voted to power. Speaking about "power sharing" between him and Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar told mediapersons: "The decision of Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi is final on this matter." He further said: "I don't have a belief in exit polls. According to me, we will win 141 seats. Our surveys have collected more samples than the exit poll agencies. "I have gone to every corner. The BJP might have spent money, their big leaders might have campaigned. The vote is more powerful than the bullet. How did the people not fear the British Raj? The same way, they have chosen Congress against the double engine government. They had misused constitutional agencies, indulged in misuse of power," Shivakumar said. The Congress leader said "BJP leaders are claiming that they will form the government no matter how many seats they get. It is their illusion". The Congress is hoping to return to power in the state by defeating the ruling BJP in the southern state. The grand old party had campaigned aggressively in the state and had targetted the BJP on several issues. --IANS aks/mka/pgh ( 456 Words) 2023-05-12-22:46:02 (IANS)
A Delhi court on Friday extended by three days the police custody of the six individuals arrested for their alleged involvement in gangster Tillu Tajpuriya's murder inside the Tihar Jail here. Tajpuriya, 33, was stabbed over 90 times to death by the assailants on May 2. The arrested accused persons are -- Deepak Dabas, Yogesh Tunda, Rajesh Bawana, Riyaz Khan, Ata-ul Rehman and Chavanni. The Patiala House Courts extended their police custody till May 15. Tajpuriya, a resident of Tajpur Kalan on the outskirts of Delhi, was lodged in Tihar Jail under tight security measures on the ground-floor of Jail number 8. He was an accused in the 2021 Rohini court shootout in which gangster Jitender Gogi was killed. According to a senior police officer involved in the probe, on May 8, after obtaining four days of police custody of the four accused, they were taken to the forensic department at Dr. Baba Sahib Ambedkar hospital. "The doctors of the forensic department subjected all four of them to a detailed medical examination for injuries sustained by them with their own weapons during the commission of Tillu Tajpuriya's murder in Jail No. 8, Tihar Jail, on May 2. Blood samples and nail clippings were collected and preserved by the concerned doctors," said the official. During their custody, their confessions regarding planning, preparation, execution, and weapon recovery were recorded during the questioning. The names of two other accused, identified as Vinod a.k.a. Chavanni and Ata-ul Rehman, also emerged as conspirators and facilitators in committing the murder of Tajpuriya. "On May 8, the police team assigned to the investigation also visited Tihar Jail and reviewed all relevant CCTV footage of the period in question, regarding Tillu Tajpur's murder, to identify the sequence of events and the specific roles played by the accused persons," said the official. On the same day, an application was filed before the Patiala House Court, requesting that the jail authorities provide every assistance and facilitate the investigating team in every aspect of the investigation. The police also seized an exhaust fan whose frame holding iron arms were used by the accused to make four improvised pointed knife-type weapons used in the killing of Tajpuriya. On Wednesday, the FSL team was taken to Tihar Jail in Delhi to abstract relevant CCTV footage of the 26 cameras installed in ward no-5, Jail No. 8, Tihar Jail, and subsequently, two more days of police custody of Chavanni and Ata-ul Rehman were obtained. "The police confronted all six arrested accused, and a complete chain of events was established. They were all taken to Tihar along with the FSL team to recreate the crime scene," said the official. --IANS spr/pgh ( 459 Words) 2023-05-12-23:00:04 (IANS)
In response to a trademark infringement lawsuit filed by the Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), a member of the Tata group of companies and the registered owner of the 'Vivanta' trademark, the Delhi High Court has permanently barred a hospitality company from using the 'Vivanta' mark. Vivanta Hospitality Private Limited has also been fined Rs 6 lakh by Justice Amit Bansal, who found that the company's use of the trademark 'Vivanta' in its trade name 'Vivanta Vacation Club' was identical to the mark used by the hotels managed by the Tata Group. The court noted that the hotel company exploited the contested mark with the intention of drawing an association with Indian Hotels and to ride on its goodwill and reputation to jumpstart its business. Justice Bansal also noted that under the guise of being affiliated to the Indian Hotels owned by Tata Sons, Vivanta Hospitality Private Limited defrauded a number of customers. The court stated that the hospitality company had not only unfairly exploited the goodwill and reputation of Indian Hotels' Vivanta mark, but it also misled unwary consumers into believing that they were associated with the latter, which would also cause the mark to become diluted and tarnished. More than 100 complaints were submitted by the consumers who believed the defendant firm was affiliated to Indian Hotels, according to an inquiry conducted by the investigator for Indian Hotels. Indian Hotels said that consumers who were not aware were likely to confuse the services or packages offered by the defendant company with those offered by Indian Hotels. Perusing the report of the local commissioner appointed in the matter, the court observed: "The report of the local commissioner shows that that the defendant is engaged in the business similar to the plaintiff, under the trade name identical/deceptively similar to that of the plaintiff. The inventory prepared by the local commissioner shows that a large stock of infringing material was found at the premises of the defendant. Photographs have been filed along with the report showing that the defendant is using the name 'VIVANTA VACATION CLUB' in its ordinary course of business prominently. "The user traffic may be diverted due to the use of the same or similar domain name, which could result in a user mistakenly accessing one domain name instead of the one intended. A domain name may, therefore, have all the characteristics of a trademark and could result in an act of passing off. Similarly, the use of 'VIVANTA VACATION CLUB' as part of their trade name is also likely to deceive unwary consumers of their association with the plaintiff." The court also ordered the destruction of the seized goods bearing the mark 'Vivanta' that were found on the defendant company's property while issuing the order of permanent injunction. --IANS spr/arm ( 476 Words) 2023-05-12-23:06:02 (IANS)
The consignment was smuggled into India from Afghanistan via Bandar Abbas, Iran in 2021.

With this, a total of 42 individuals and seven firms have so far been named in the chargesheet in the case.

On Friday, the NIA filed chargesheet against one Pankaj Vaid a.k.a. Amit, a resident of Amritsar in Punjab. He has been charged under various sections of IPC and NDPS Act.

"Pankaj is accused of being a part of the organised criminal conspiracy to smuggle illegal consignments of heroin through international trade routes to India from Afghanistan. As per NIA investigations, Pankaj was associated with foreign-based narcotics traders involved in pushing drugs into India," the NIA said.

The NIA investigations have further revealed that Pankaj had facilitated the processing of heroin and later sold the extracted heroin in India.

The case was initially registered by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) Unit - Gandhidham, Gujarat and later on the probe of the matter was taken over by the NIA on October 6, 2021. After taking over the probe, the NIA filed a chargesheet against 16 accused persons on March 14, 2022.

Later, the NIA filed the first supplementary chargesheet on August 29, 2022 against nine accused.

The second supplementary chargesheet was filed in the matter against seven firms and 15 individuals on February 20, 2023.

--IANS atk/pgh

( 268 Words)

2023-05-12-23:20:05 (IANS)
As Karnataka gearing up for D-Day, with most exit-poll projections predicting a hung Assembly while putting the Congress in the lead, the outcome will boil down to how the battle for some key constituencies play out. After a high-decibel campaign during which all three key players in the fray -- the incumbent BJP, the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) -- went at each other and pulled out stops and heavyweight campaigners to woo voters, the verdict in the battle for the Karnataka Assembly now rests with the people's court. The counting of votes will start at 8 am across 36 designated centres in the southern state, the Election Commission informed. While the campaign saw the BJP and the Congress trading fire over the promise in the latter's manifesto to proscribe the Bajrang Dal, polling went off peacefully on May 10, with the eventual turnout recorded at a robust 73.29 per cent. A party needs to win 113 seats to reach the majority mark and stake a claim to forming the government in Karnataka. The key constituencies to watch out for on the result day are Varuna, Kanakapura, Shiggaon, Hubli-Darwad, Channapatna, Shikaripura, Chittapur, Ramanagara, and Chikmagalur. The results in these seats could well sway the eventual outcome of the Assembly polls. Also, the Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities, accounting for 17 and 11 per cent of the state's population, will also play a key role in deciding the eventual poll outcome. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is seeking a fresh mandate from the Shiggaon constituency from where he has won three consecutive terms in the Assembly. There is also a lot of curiosity around the battle for the Varuna constituency where Congress stalwart and former chief minister Siddaramaiah is pitted against the BJP's V Somanna, a state minister and Dr. Bharathi Shankar of the JD(S). The former CM is hopeful of continuing his winning streak in this seat since 2008. Another heavyweight candidate, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar is also eyeing a fresh term in the Kanakapura Assembly constituency. A top Congress leader, who is believed to be vying for the chief minister's post this time, Shivakumar is in a direct contest against the BJP's Vokkaliga strongman and state Revenue Minister R Ashoka. BJP turncoat and former chief minister Jagadish Shettar, who switched over to the Congress after being denied a ticket by the saffron party to contest the Hubli-Darwad West Assembly constituency, is up against BJP's Mahesh Tenginkai. Though pitted against a formidable opponent, Shettar will have hopes of coming out tops in a state he has won a number of times. Channapatna is another key electoral battleground in Karnakata this year, with JD(S) leader and former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy in a direct contest against BJP's Yogeshwara and Congress's Gangadhar. Both his rivals are from the powerful Vokkaliga and are seen as formidable opponents. In another key battle, BY Vijayendra, an electoral greenhorn, will hope to conjure a win from the Shikaripura constituency, which is considered a stronghold of his father and former CM BS Yediyurappa. Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge's son, Priyank Kharge, is contesting the Chittapur Assembly constituency. He was a former minister in the Siddaramaiah government. In another battle that is expected to draw a lot of eyeballs, former prime minister HD Deve Gowda's grandson, Nikhil Kumaraswamy, is eyeing an electoral turnaround in the Ramanagara Assembly constituency, after a loss in the 2019 Assembly polls. However, he is pitted against Congress veteran HA Iqbal Hussain and the BJP's Gowtham Gowda. Chikmagalur is also among the key electoral battlegrounds in Karnataka where the BJP is eyeing a win. The saffron party has fielded its national general secretary CT Ravi from this seat, who was talked up as a potential CM candidate by none other than party stalwart KS Eashwarappa. A member of the Lingayat community, Ravi is yet to taste defeat in the Chikmagalur constituency since 2004. The BJP hopes to buck anti-incumbency riding on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who held a string of roadshows in the state ahead of the polls and even shared a personalised address, urging the people of Karnataka to vote back his party. The Congress, on the other hand, is eyeing a turnaround in its electoral fortunes after a string of poll defeats, the latest of which came in the three Northeast states of Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland. Significantly, Karnataka is the only southern state where the BJP is in power and winning the state will be the key to its plans of extending its electoral footprint in the south. While the BJP pulled out its top guns, including PM Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the party's national president JP Nadda, the Congress, too, fielded its heavyweights -- Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Kharge senior -- putting their best foot forward in the battle for 224 Assembly constituencies. In a major electoral gambit, the BJP fielded as many as 50 new faces while denying tickets to several prominent faces. Several of these leaders, including Shettar and former deputy CM Laxman Savadi, went into a sulk after being ignored and jumped to Congress. Karnataka has never brought the incumbent back to power since 1985 and the BJP would be hoping to do a first as it bids to return in the southern state. (ANI)
Writer Judy Blume, author of "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret," poses for a portrait at Books and Books, her non-profit bookstore on Sunday, March 26, 2023, in Key West, Fla. (AP Photo/Mary Martin) (Mary Martin/AP)

With the release of the film adaptation of her classic novel, Are You There God? Its Me, Margaret and a career-covering documentary, Judy Blume Forever, Judy Blume is having something of a moment.

Perhaps those of us of a certain age raised on Judy Blumes books are having a moment as well.

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At least, I feel that way, having found myself emotionally overwhelmed by the first 10 minutes of Judy Blume Forever to the point that I had to hit pause in order to collect myself.

Its not as if the beginning of the film is designed to engender this kind of response. It opens with a short reading from Blume, followed by shots of folks inquiring if and when she is going to be at her Key West, Florida, bookstore because they presumably want to meet her. The next series of shots includes a smiling, 85-year-old Blume riding her bike (presumably to the store) and encountering people who recognize her and tell her how much her books have meant to them.

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I suppose this is what got to me because I know how much her books meant to me, how much books, in general, have meant to me, and to see these opening scenes of what is to become a celebration of this idea got me right in my feels.

I read books for all kinds of reasons when I was a kid  to be entertained, to learn new things, to live vicariously through the lives of others  but Judy Blumes books were almost unique in their ability to make me feel like she understood what it meant to be young in the world.

Im obviously not alone in this feeling as Blumes books have reportedly sold more than 80 million copies over the course of her career. The famous folks in the documentary called upon to testify to Blumes impact include celebrities like Molly Ringwald, Lena Dunham and Samantha Bee, along with authors like Tayari Jones, Jacqueline Woodson and Jason Reynolds.

Blumes books for young people grasp that while childhood is in theory a time of innocence, it is also a time of great unknowing and confusion as the complexities and cruelties of the world reveal themselves. Her books are unflinching in treating issues like death, sex and desire seriously, but also with great humor and grace toward her characters.

Above all, Blumes books tell us that being human is not a sin and is nothing to be ashamed of.

It is not coincidental that this attitude put Blume and her work in the crosshairs of censors, but the failure of these forces to suppress Blumes work over her many decades as an author is proof of its potency. When something is true, it becomes impossible to deny.

In all honesty, its been many years since I read a Judy Blume book, so I think to some degree, my psyche is treating Blume as a stand-in for my relationship with books and reading in general. It makes me think of my mom, who cofounded the Book Bin in Northbrook when I was a year old because she and her partners thought it was important for the town in which she was raising her children to have a bookstore.

It was. It is.

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Judy Blume gets this, as she founded that Key West bookstore with her husband in 2018, wanting a place for readers in her community to gather.

The movies title, Judy Blume Forever, is both a statement of her long presence in readers lives and a rallying cry for those of us who get emotional about books in general.

Judy Blume forever, indeed.

John Warner is the author of Why They Cant Write: Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Necessities.

Twitter @biblioracle

Book recommendations from the Biblioracle

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John Warner tells you what to read based on the last five books youve read.

1. I Have Some Questions For You by Rebecca Makkai

2. All That is Mine I Carry With Me by William Landay

3. Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

4. Reef Road by Deborah Goodrich Royce

5. Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

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 Diane J., Park Forest

For Diane, Im recommending a novel thats primarily about the years of marriage after the romance ends, the moving and deeply human Morningside Heights by Joshua Henkin.

1. The Night Ship by Jess Kidd

2. Pym by Mat Johnson

3. The Plotters by Un-Su Kim

4. Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny

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5. Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway

 Christine C., Skokie

To me, Christine looks like a good candidate for Percival Everetts The Trees, which is a book Ill be recommending until the end of my days.

1. The Second-Worst Restaurant in France by Alexander McCall Smith

2. The Beauty in Breaking by Michele Harper

3. What the Eyes Dont See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance and Hope in an American City by Mona Hanna-Attisha

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4. Sooley by John Grisham

5. The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny

 Mary Beth N., Chicago

Its strange to describe a book about murder as good fun, but Jincy Willett pulls it off in her novel, The Writing Class, in which a writing workshop leader has to ferret out the killer among her students.

Get a reading from the Biblioracle

Send a list of the last five books youve read and your hometown to biblioracle@gmail.com
With hours to go for the final results of the Karnataka Assembly polls to be declared, JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy on Saturday said that he has not been contacted as yet for the formation of the government in case of a cliffhanger, adding that he is hoping for a good show. Counting for the Assembly polls is all set to begin at 8 am that will decide the fate of 2,615 candidates across parties. Speaking to the media ahead of the counting, Kumaraswamy cited the exit polls which predicted nearly 30-32 seats to JD(S) and a clear edge to the Congress party with some even predicting a majority for the grand old party and said that according to the predictions, there is no need for him to explore options. "In the next 2-3 hours, it will become clear. Exit polls show that the two national parties will score in a big way. The polls have given 30-32 seats to JD(S). I am a small party, there is no demand for me...I am hoping for a good development," he said. "No one has contacted me till now. Let us see the final results first. According to the exit polls, there is no need for options. Let us see," the JD(S) leader added. The counting of votes for the aggressively contested Karnataka assembly elections 2023 will be held on Saturday, three days after the voting concluded to elect the 224 members of the state Assembly. Notably, Congress is expected to have a clear edge in Karnataka as four exit polls giving it a full majority and some predicting for a hung assembly with an advantage to the party. A few exit polls also said that BJP is ahead in the sweepstakes to form the government. The exit polls, which were released after the polling ended in Karnataka, predicted that Janata Dal-Secular JD(S) would not touch the 37 seats it won in the 2018 polls but will continue to be a strong regional player in the state. If Karnataka throws up a hung assembly, the JD-S could emerge in the role of kingmaker. The fiercely contested election that saw high-pitch campaigns from the political parties is crucial for both BJP and Congress. Hectic electioneering by leaders of various political parties saw BJP allowing Union Ministers and Chief Ministers to campaign with their full force. The Congress on the other hand worked hard to wrest power from the BJP that is striving to break the 38-year-old pattern of alternating governments and retain its power in the state.Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, held various roadshows, rallies and elections campaigns. An incumbent government has not returned to power in Karnataka after a full term of five years since 1985. (ANI)
The death toll in Manipur following the recent clashes in the State has gone up to 71 according to Security Advisor to Manipur Government Kuldeep Singh. Speaking to ANI, Singh on Friday said, "Death figure is now approximately 71..." "Yesterday there was an exchange of fire between Manipur commandos and militants. Six commandos got injured and one of them got killed," Kuldeep Singh said on Friday. Singh further said that three PWD labourers were also found dead in a vehicle in the Churachandpur area. He said the exact cause behind the incident was yet to be ascertained. "Three bodies of PWD labourers along with a vehicle in which they were commuting recovered from a 300-metre-deep trench in the Churachandpur area. However, it is being ascertained whether they met with an accident or got killed," Singh added. Earlier, several locals went missing after being attacked by unidentified people while they had gone to collect some stuff from their burnt houses. An exchange of fire between Manipur Commandos and militants was also reported in the state leaving six of the Commandos injured and one dead, Singh further added. "Yesterday, there was an exchange of fire between Manipur commandos and militants in which six of the commandos got injured and one died," Singh told ANI. Kuldeep Singh further said that in another incident in Torbung village at the border of Bishnupur and Churachandpur where 11 people had gone to collect some items from their burnt house came under attack by militants. Eight of those who were attacked managed to flee and reached the BSF camp while three are still missing, he stated. "A massive search operation was launched by Assam Rifles, BSF and CRPF was launched to find them out but we are not able to find them yet," said Singh. Singh claimed that the situation has improved in the state and following the curfew relaxation has also been extended to seven hours. "Situation in Manipur has improved quite a lot and because of that curfew relaxation has also been extended to 7 hours now. Displaced people living in different camps have been reduced to a bare minimum...Approx 45,000 have been transported to different places... There are no extra flights operating and no stranded passengers at the airport as well," Singh said. A curfew was imposed on May 3 after violence broke out in the State. The State government clamped down on the use of the Internet and mobile phones to ensure the spread of panic and false information is curtailed. Amid the demand of the Meitei for Scheduled Tribe status, a rally was organised by the All Tribals Students Union (ATSU) Manipur on May 3, which later turned violent. As per latest figures, close to 71 people lost their lives while more than 230 were injured and close to 1700 houses were burnt down during the violence in Manipur. (ANI)
Mumbai ( Maharashtra) [India], May 13 ( ANI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said that Congress win in Karnataka is the defeat of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. "They fielded Bajrang Bali but his mace fell on them," Raut said. Raut noted that whatever has happened in Karnataka is exactly what is going to take place in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Bajrang Bali row had taken centre stage during the election campaigns in the run-up to the Karnataka Assembly polls. Congress faced a major backlash from Hindu organisations after it announced a ban on Bajrang Dal in its manifesto for the Karnataka assembly elections. "We believe that law and Constitution are sacrosanct and cannot be violated by individuals and Organisations like Bajrang Dal, PFI or others promoting enmity or hatred, whether among majority or minority communities," read the Congress manifesto. At a poll campaign rally Prime Minister Narendra Modi had lashed out at the Congress and said that the people of Karnataka should punish those who promised to ban the Bajrang Dal and urged people to chant 'Jai Bajrangbali' when they went to cast their vote. Meanwhile, referring to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case against former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer Sameer Wankhede, Sanjay Raut said that the central probe agency had registered an FIR against Sameer Wankhede and he may get arrested also. On Friday the CBI conducted searches at 29 locations across the country in an alleged corruption case Wankhede and three others. The case is linked to the alleged drug bust case on board the Cordelia cruise ship on October 2021. Raut said "All the goons of the BJP stood for that corrupt officer." He alleged that BJP leaders were supporting Wankhede while the latter was "arresting innocent children and destroying their lives." "All the goons of the BJP had stood for that corrupt officer (Sameer Wankhede)innocent children were caught, and their lives were destroyed. As CBI took action on the corrupt officer now what will BJP say?" Sanjay Raut said. He also alleged that a BJP leader used to hold a meeting in his Mumbai house with NCB officers. And he said that he would reveal the name of that BJP leader soon. Reacting to the Maharashtra government having dropped all charges against ex-Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh Raut said the BJP has become a "washing machine". The Maharashtra Home Department, on May 10, revoked the suspension order of former Mumbia police chief Parambir Singh and said the period of Singh's suspension, till the date of his retirement, should be treated as "being on duty". The suspension order was issued in December 2021. (ANI)
Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak on Saturday thanked the people after counting trends for the civic polls put the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a clear lead over rivals Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress in all 17 local bodies. As per the latest trends, the BJP has already been declared the winner in 4 civic bodies -- Jhansi, Ayodhya, Saharanpur and Vrindavan-Mathura -- while it is in the lead in 13 other civic bodies where the counting is still in progress. Speaking to ANI on Saturday, as his party seemed poised to take the reins of all civic bodies that went to polls in two phases -- May 4 and 11 -- Pathak said, "The BJP is on course to win all 17 local bodies. Our party has also performed very well in Nagar Nikay and Nagar Panchayat elections. I thank the people for reposing their electoral trust in us and assure them that the BJP will continue to take its welfare policies to the last man under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi." He said the ruling party will continue its efforts to further strengthen the law and order in the state and stand with the people at all times. "This victory is largely down to the leadership of PM Modi and the law and order situation in the state. I had said before that our ally Apna Dal will win both the Assembly bypolls (in Suar and Chhanbe Assembly constituencies) and so it turned out," he said. On the victory of Apna Dal at Suar in Rampur district, which is considered a stronghold of senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, Pathak said, "This happens when you drift from the people. The SP has lost its connect with the people and the same is reflected in the situation on the ground." Also reacting to the BJP winning 4 civic bodies and leading in another 13, fellow Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said his party is at the front and centre of the state's "future". "The trends in the Nagar Nikay elections show quite clearly that the SP, BSP and the Congress are in decline. BJP is the present as well as the future," Maurya tweeted in Hindi. Polling was held for 17 municipal corporations across the state, including the recently formed Shahjahanpur municipal corporation. Bye-elections for the Suar and Chhanbey Assembly seats were held on May 10. An estimated 53 per cent of the state's 4.32 crore registered voters exercised their franchise in the local body polls, according to Election Commission. Seventeen mayors and 1,401 corporators will be elected once the final outcomes are known. As many as 19 BJP corporators have been elected unopposed. The ongoing counting process will decide the fates of 83,378 civic poll candidates, across parties, who are vying for 14,522 posts in 17 local bodies. Polling in the first phase was held in 37 districts, 9 divisions and 10 municipal corporations. In 10 municipal corporations, polling was conducted in 830 wards, across 9,699 polling places and 2,658 polling stations. Shafeek Ahmed Ansari, Apna Dal (Soneylal) candidate won the Suar Assembly bypoll. Ansari defeated his closest rival, Anuradha Chauhan of the Samajwadi Party, by 8,724 votes. Suar Assembly seat in Rampur district fell vacant on February 13 after a Moradabad court sentenced Abdullah Azam Khan, the son of SP stalwart Azam Khan, to two years in jail in a 15-year-old traffic violation case. (ANI)
As the counting of votes for the Karnataka assembly election on Saturday progressed, the trends seem to match some exit polls. Most of the exit polls had given Congress an edge over the BJP in Karnataka after the May 10 elections. The India Today-Axis My India exit poll was the closest as it predicted, Congress is poised to win a comfortable majority with 122-140 seats, BJP will get 62-80 seats, JD(S) 20-25 and others 0-3 seats. The India Today-Axis My India exit poll seemed quite close to the actual results. According to the latest trends of the Election Commission of India, Congress has won 121 seats and is leading in 15 more seats. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won 56 seats and is leading on eight others. Janata Dal-Secular has won 18 seats and is leading on two. Independents have won two seats while Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha have won one seat each. The Congress maintained a lead from the morning when counting began for the assembly seats in the fiercely contested election. Congress won an absolute majority in Karnataka on Saturday with the party crossing the halfway mark of 113 seats in the 224-member assembly. Congress was expected to have a clear edge in Karnataka in the assembly elections held on Wednesday with four exit polls giving it a full majority while some predicting a hung assembly with an advantage to the party. A few exit polls also said that BJP was ahead and was likely to form the government. The exit polls, released after the polling ended in Karnataka, predicted that Janata Dal-Secular JD(S) would not touch the 37 seats it won in the 2018 polls but would continue to be a strong regional player in the state. If Karnataka throws up a hung assembly, the JD-S could emerge as the kingmaker, some of the exit polls predicted. A party needs 113 seats for a majority in the 224-member Karnataka assembly. The poll of polls showed an advantage for the Congress with the party poised to win 109 seats, BJP 91 seats and JDS 23. News24-Today's Chanakya predicted Congress crossing the halfway mark. It said BJP was poised to win 92 seats, Congress 120 and JD-S 12 seats. Times Now-ETG poll and India TV-CNX poll also predicted Congress hitting the majority mark. Times Now-ETG said BJP was expected to win 85 seats, Congress 113, JD-S 23 and others three. India TV-CNX poll gave 80-90 seats to BJP, 110-120 to Congress, JD-S 20-24 and 1-3 to others.Republic P-MARQ had predicted that Congress would get a 40 per cent vote share, BJP 36 per cent, JD(S) 17 per cent and seven per cent for independents and others. The poll had predicted that no party would get the majority mark in Karnataka with BJP poised to get 85-100 seats, Congress 94-108, JD-S 24-32 and others 2-6 seats. (ANI) According to the Election Commission (EC), Karnataka recorded a 73.19 per cent voter turnout in the May 10 assembly elections, the highest-ever voter turnout in the southern state. In the 2018 assembly elections, the BJP emerged as the single-largest party by winning 104 seats. Congress had bagged 80 seats and the JDS) got 37 seats. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) the Karnataka Pragyavantha Janata Party (KPJP) managed get one seat each. There was also an independent member. (ANI)
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami inaugurated Shri Anna Mahotsav 2023 at Survey Stadium, Hathibarkala on Saturday. Addressing a huge gathering on the occasion, the Chief Minister said, "Today's event would prove to be a milestone in the promotion of 'Shri Anna'. Such events will not only encourage the cultivation of millets but also provide necessary information related to millets to the farmers. The year 2023 is being celebrated as "Millets Year" in the country." The CM said that due to the guidance and foresight of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today the whole world is understanding the importance of traditional crops in our country. On India's proposal, the United Nations has declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets, he said. Thousands of farmers from all over the state are participating in this Shri Anna Mahotsav which lasts for four days. CM Dhami further said that "Shri Anna" is not limited to farming or eating only, where there is "Shri" there is prosperity, there is inclusiveness and there is victory. "That's why the Prime Minister has given Millets the name of "Shri Anna". Along with nutritional elements, medicinal properties are also found in Shri Anna crops", he added. "The state government is working to encourage millet cultivation in the hilly areas of the state through government schemes to encourage farmers and provide employment. Coarse grains like Mandwa, Jhingora, and Chaulai are being procured from the farmers of the hilly districts of the state at minimum support price as well as online payment is being made to the farmers. This is not only increasing the income of farmers but also encouraging farmers to produce millet products", CM Dhami said. The Chief Minister said that an amount of about Rs 73 crore has been given to the State Millet Mission by the government to encourage millet crops and include them in the food of common people. "Along with organic agriculture, the implementation of the National Natural Agriculture Mission scheme is being started in 11 districts of the state from this year", he added. The CM further said, "For this, approval has also been granted by the Government of India to run an agricultural mission program of about 796 lakhs on 6400 hectares of land." "In the state, a target has been set to cover the maximum agricultural area of the state under natural agriculture through the "Chief Minister Natural Agriculture Scheme" and Namami Gange Natural Agriculture Corridor Scheme. It is also proposed to set up a "State Natural Agriculture Board" for regular monitoring and planning to encourage natural farming. He has appealed to the people of the state to include Shri Anna in folk festivals and festivals. During the occasion, the Chief Minister also inspected various stalls based on millets and released the book "Health with Taste" based on nutritious crops of Agriculture Department, Uttarakhand. (ANI)
The Congress's in-charge of Rajasthan, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, on Saturday said the crisis within the party's state unit arising out of a fresh war of words between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and bete noire Sachin Pilot would be resolved firmly. Hitting out at CM Gehlot over his recent public statement that his processor Vasundhara Raje had helped him save his government amid the political turmoil in 2020, Pilot said it seemed from his remark that the former CM, and not Sonia Gandhi, was his "leader". Thereafter, the former Rajasthan CM embarked on a 'Jan Sangarsh Yatra' to put pressure on the Gehlot government to make good on its pre-poll promise of having corruption allegations against the previous Raje government probed Pilot was removed as deputy CM and Rajasthan Congress chief in 2020 on charges that he connived with the BJP to engineer a silent coup on the Gehlot government. Speaking to media persons, Randhawa said, "I accept that there are differences that need to be resolved at the earliest. It (the differences between Sachin Pilot and CM Gehlot) will be resolved firmly." "We fought unitedly in Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and will do the same in Rajasthan," he added. Pilot embarked on his five-day Jan Sangharsh Yatra from Ajmer on Thursday and it will culminate at Jaipur. The former Union minister held a day-long fast last month despite the Congress high command cautioning him against it. Gehlot and Pilot have been at odds, with both taking potshots at each other before the high command brokered a tenuous truce. With Rajasthan set to go to polls later this year, the latest flashpoint between Gehlot and Pilot could be a cause for concern for the Congress. (ANI)
BJP Mayor candidate Pramila Pandey won the local elections while Samajwadi party candidate Vandana Bajpai is in the second position.

While addressing the media, Pramila Pandey said, "This is a victory of Chief Minister's Yogi Adityanath governance in Kanpur. This is a win for the people of Kanpur."

It has to be noted that Pramila Pandey was mayor of Kanpur from 2017-2022.

Civic body polls were held in 17 municipal corporations across the state, including the recently formed Shahjahanpur municipal corporation. While the bye-elections were held in Suar and Chhanbey assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh.

About 53 per cent of voters exercised their franchise, out of the total 4.32 crore who were eligible, according to Election Commission data. Seventeen mayors and 1,401 corporators will be elected once the results are out. As many as 19 corporators have been elected unopposed.

UP had voted for civic body polls in two phases -- on May 4 and May 11.

83,378 candidates fought for 14,522 posts in the local body elections. In the first phase, voting was held in 37 districts of 9 divisions and 10 municipal corporations. In 10 municipal corporations, voting is held in 830 wards, 9,699 polling places and 2,658 polling stations are set up in Municipal Corporations. (ANI)
The police informed further that 8 kilograms of Heroin were seized during a joint operation with the Army in the Tregam area of Kupwara district.

Speaking to ANI, senior superintendent of police, (SSP), Kupwara, Youghal Manhas said, "It was an interstate terror module. We arrested 4 smugglers and about 8 kilograms of heroin and Rs 5 lakhs in cash were recovered during the joint operation with the Army. More arrests are likely in this connection in the coming days. Further details will be shared in due course of time."

Kupwara Police said preliminary investigations revealed that the narcotic consignment had been sent by terrorist handlers from Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) -- Manzoor Ahmad Mir and Asad Mir.

They added that the handlers, who hail from Jumagund in Kupwara, crossed over into Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) in the early 1990s to join terrorist ranks.

"Both Manzoor and Asad, over a period of time, become terrorist handlers of LeT, acting as launching commanders besides pushing narcotics and weapons to sustain terrorist activities in J&K," the police added in its statement.

The accused were identified as Yousuf Bokra from Rashanpora, Kralpora, Showkat Ahmad Khatana from Meliyal, Kupwara; Maroof Ahmad Mir from Jumagad, Kupwara and Laba Masih from Awaan Ramdas Ajnala, Punjab, Kupwara police said.

Acting on a tip-off, a joint search operation was launched by Kupwara Police along with a local army unit at Zurhama in the Trehgam police station area.

A case under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and UA(P) Act has been registered in the matter at Trehgam police station. (ANI)
The Culture Working Group meeting under India's G2O Presidency will be held in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha from May 14-17, as per an official statement. As per the statement, the Culture Working Group (CWG) meeting under India's G20 Presidency will highlight 'Culture Unites All' in campaign mode to bring out India's unwavering belief in multilateralism based on peaceful coexistence among diverse cultures and communities. Under the 'Culture Unites All' campaign to be held at the second Culture Working Group meet in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha from May 14 - 17 Padma Sudarshan Pattnaik from Odisha will create sand art on the theme at the Puri Beach on May 14. The installation will be inaugurated at 5:30 PM by GK Reddy Union Minister for Culture, Tourism and DoNER and Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State for Culture and Parliamentary Affairs. It said that in today's interconnected world, culture plays a crucial role in driving collaborative outcomes, and promotes inclusivity and harmonious living "The theme 'Culture Unites All' recognizes that although cultural traditions and practices may vary greatly, they often share underlying values and principles. Culture, in all its manifestations, has the potential to transcend boundaries, foster connections and inspire genuine dialogue and understanding among individuals, communities, and nations," read the statement. "Culture provides pathways to collaborate and develop sustainable and balanced solutions to contemporary global challenges," it added. The statement further added that encapsulating the essence of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam,' the message of 'Culture Unites All' embodies a holistic vision to work towards a collective sustainable future and universal well-being. Credited as a pioneer of sand art in India, Sudarshan Pattnaik is the recipient of the third highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri, for his distinguished service. "His sand art installations are world-renowned and has represented India in various competitions at a global level. Pattnaik believes in using his art as a means of spreading awareness about social and environmental issues, and as a catalyst to spread the message of peace and harmony while bringing people together for a shared cause," the statement added. "Despite the cultural and regional differences in the practice of sand art around the world, there is a commonality that ties them all together. At its core, sand art celebrates the beauty of the natural world and its temporary character. This sustainable art form, created from readily available sand and water at the beach, does not add or take away from the balance of nature," it informed. (ANI)
President Joe Biden speaks on the debt limit during an event at SUNY Westchester Community College, Wednesday, May 10, 2023, in Valhalla, N.Y. (John Minchillo/AP)

A showdown with Congress that has the nations creditworthiness at stake; a frenzied scene at the border as pandemic restrictions ease; a pivotal foreign trip meant to sustain support for Ukraine and contain a more assertive China in the Indo-Pacific.

Three weeks since launching his reelection campaign, President Joe Biden is confronting a sweeping set of problems in his day job that defy easy solutions and are not entirely within his control. If, as his advisers believe, the single best thing Biden can do for his reelection prospects is to govern well, then the coming weeks can pose a near-existential test of his path to a second term.

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Economists warn that the country faces a debilitating recession  and worse  if Biden and lawmakers cant agree on a path to raising the debt limit. Biden wants Congress to raise it without precondition, equating Republicans demands for spending cuts with ransom for the countrys full faith and credit.

The expiration of the COVID-19 public health emergency meant the end of special pandemic restrictions on migrant procedures on an already taxed U.S.-Mexico border. His administration has responded with new policies to crack down on illegal crossings while opening legal pathways encouraging would-be migrants to stay put and apply online to come to the U.S. But Biden himself has predicted a chaotic situation as the new procedures take effect.

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These tests comes as Biden prepares to depart Washington on Wednesday for an eight-day trip to Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia. Biden will try to marshal unity among Group of Seven leading democratic economies to maintain support for Ukraine as it prepares to launch a counteroffensive against Russias invasion, and to invigorate alliances in the face of Chinas forceful regional moves.

Biden put his ability to solve problems at the core of his pitch to voters in 2020 and it is central to his argument for why, at 80, hes best prepared for four more years in the White House.

Im more experienced than anybody thats ever run for the office, Biden told MSNBC this month. And I think Ive proven myself to be honorable as well as also effective.

Yet the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 undercut Bidens image as an effective manager, sending his approval ratings sharply down and hes still working to recover.

An April poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found Bidens job approval rating at 42%, a slight improvement from 38% in March. The March poll came after a pair of bank failures rattled an already shaky confidence in the nations financial systems, and Bidens approval rating then was near the lowest point of his presidency. It also found that 26% of Americans overall want to see Biden run again  a slight recovery from the 22% who said that in January. Forty-seven percent of Democrats say they want him to run, also up slightly from only 37% who said that in January.

Aides note that Biden entered the White House when the country faced an array of even greater trials: the COVID-19 pandemic, an associated economic crisis and strained international alliances after four years of Donald Trumps presidency.

President Biden continues to leverage his experience and judgment to fight for middle-class families and mainstream values, including by standing against congressional Republicans extreme MAGA threat to trigger a downturn unless they get sweeping spending cuts, said White House spokesman Andrew Bates.

Biden said Saturday its hard to tell how staff-level talks to avert a crisis on the debt limit will shake out. He plans to reconvene with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other congressional leaders before he heads overseas, but the White House has been firm that while Biden is open to considering spending cuts as part of the budget process, he wont agree to them as a condition for raising the debt limit.

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Theres no deal to be had on the debt ceiling, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday. Theres no negotiation to be had on the debt ceiling. This is something that Congress needs to do.

U.S. officials are warning that the impasse threatens national security. Pentagon brass has already warned that it could hurt pay and benefits for troops and U.S. standing around the globe, said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.

It sends a horrible message to nations like Russia and China, who would love nothing more than to be able to point at this and say, See, the United States is not a reliable partner. The United States is not a stable leader of peace and security around the world, he said.

Biden also faces a key test at the southern border, where the transition away from Title 42 has been anything but simple. Migrants along the border were still wading into the Rio Grande to take their chances getting into the country, defying officials shouting for them to turn back. Lawsuits have threatened measures to release migrants into the U.S. to avoid overcrowding in border patrol facilities as well as efforts to crack down on asylum seekers entering the country.

But the problem cant be solved by the U.S. on its own.

It is true that the Americas is, at the moment, going through an unprecedented displacement crisis, said Olga Sarrado, a spokeswoman for the United Nations refugee agency.

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The U.S. has increasingly seen migrants arrive at its Southern border who are from China, Ukraine, Haiti, Russia and other nations far from Latin America, and who are increasingly family groups and children traveling alone. Thirty years ago, by contrast, illegal crossings were almost always single adults from Mexico who were easily returned back over the border.

Meanwhile, Border Patrol agents are encountering more nearly 8,000 migrants per day, and the human toll of the challenge was driven home in recent days by the death of a 17-year-old boy in U.S. custody. An investigation continues.

A decision from one single country is not going to fix the challenges, Sarrado said. And we cannot forget that these are human beings  many of them in need of international protection and that we need to put them at the center of any decision that is made.

With just under 18 months to go until Election Day, its not a given that these issues will shape voters decisions, said Chapman University presidential historian Luke Nichter.

There is a long time between now and November 2024, he said. I dont think todays issues matter a great deal since they wont likely be the issues on the minds of voters more than a year from now.

Jonathan Young, a Democratic donor who came to hear Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday in Atlanta, said Biden must navigate the current gauntlet with something to show the middle of the electorate, especially if Republicans nominate someone other than Trump.

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A rematch might go the same way, because Biden still isnt Trump, Young said, arguing that the former president makes any contest turn on personality more than policy.

But Young noted that Bidens answer to Trumps big personality in 2020 was to be almost deliberately boring and stubbornly competent. However Biden navigates the debt ceiling and immigration, Young said, he has to maintain an ability to credibly sell that image again as an incumbent.

I think hes great on the policy, and I think hes usually great on the politics, Young said of Biden. Hes proven he can read the mood of the country really well.

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Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Aamer Madhani in Washington and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed.
Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Saturday said that the Aam Aadmi Party's Lok Sabha bypoll victory from the Jalandhar constituency is historic and has shown that people have put faith in the 'Jodi' of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. While talking to ANI, Harpal Singh Cheema said," It is a historic victory. I thank the public for this victory. People have put faith in the 'Jodi' of CM Bhagwant Mann and Arvind Kejriwal. This 'Jodi' has been successful in removing corruption from their respective governments. In Punjab, we are fulfilling our election promises and are working in utmost honesty." The Aam Aadmi Party candidate on Saturday won the bypoll from the Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency which was considered a Congress stronghold for the past 24 years. AAP candidate Sushil Kumar Rinku, a former Congress MLA defeated his closest rival, Congress's Karamjit Kaur by a margin of over 58,000 votes, as per the Election Commission of India. Rinku has polled 3,02,279 votes, while Chaudhary has secured 2,43,588 votes. BJP nominee Inder Iqbal Singh Atwal was at the third spot, while Shiromani Akali Dal candidate Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi, who is also backed by the Mayawati-led BSP, was at the fourth spot. The bypoll, voting for which was held on May 10, was necessitated following the death of Karamjit Kaur's husband and Congress MP Santokh Singh Chaudhary on January 14 this year following a cardiac arrest while taking part in the party's Bharat Jodo Yatra. Nineteen candidates contested the bypoll, which recorded a voter turnout of 54.70 per cent. The turnout was well below the 63.04 per cent recorded in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. After conceding defeat Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring congratulated the Aam Aadmi Party and its candidate Sushil Rinku. "We humbly accept people's mandate! I thank party workers, volunteers, supporters and the entire INC Punjab leadership, for the hard work and efforts put in by them for the Jalandhar By-Election. I congratulate Sushil Rinku and the AAP party for the victory," Warring tweeted. (ANI)
Congress general secretary KC Venugopal on Saturday referred to the Congress party's big win in the Karnataka Assembly elections as 'one of the milestones ahead of the 2024 elections'. Speaking about the win, KC Venugopal said, "This is one of the milestones of the 2024 elections." Venugopal further said that Congress stood for the poor in the state and thus won the mandate of the people. "The type of divisive politics that BJP does, is not going to be successful every time. This is a clear message. We stood for the poor people of Karnataka. They stood for the rich. Finally, the poor won this election. This is the clear narrative of this election", he said. Earlier, Congress general secretary, Communications Jairam Ramesh said people rejected BJP in Karnataka. "The whole election campaign was about the issues of Karnataka. We did not make it a national election, we made this election for Vidhan Sabha. Congress' win is PM Modi's decisive defeat. This is because except for PM Modi, there was no other face. The issues we raised were related to the state. But BJP made the election campaign like a referendum for PM Modi. JP Nadda said that if you give a vote to Congress PM Modi's blessings will not be with you. The campaigning by PM Modi was totally rejected by the people of Karnataka," Jairam Ramesh told ANI. Congress won an absolute majority in Karnataka on Saturday with the party crossing the halfway mark of 113 seats in the 224-member assembly. The Congress maintained a lead from the morning when counting began for the assembly seats in the fiercely contested election. Later after the results were declared, Congress party president Mallikarjun Kharge held a meeting with top leaders of the party from the State. Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar and former chief minister Siddaramaiah were present at the meeting held at Kharge's residence. DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah also felicitated Kharge as Congress sweeps the Karnataka polls. Pertinent to mention, the Karnataka election was a major victory for Congress after Kharge assumed as party president earlier this year. Karnataka went to the polls on May 10 for the 224-member state assembly and saw a record polling of 72.68 per cent. A party needs 113 seats to get the majority. (ANI)
The event was held on the premises of Chandra Nath Sarma Higher Secondary School at Bihaguri in Sonitpur.

Addressing the event, Chief Minister Sarma offered his tributes towards the late Chandra Nath Sarma for his contributions towards the process of nation-building.

Referring to Chandra Nath Sarma's death at the young age of 32 years, Chief Minister said that his achievements in the short span were extraordinary when compared with many who live much longer.

The Chief Minister also spoke about the role of Chandra Nath Sarma in the nation's struggle for Independence from British rule.

Chief Minister added Chandra Nath Sarma was deeply influenced by the political ideology and works of Mahatma Gandhi, especially during the latter's first visit to Assam.

Stating that Chandra Nath Sarma practised what he professed, the Chief Minister said Chandra Nath Sarma worked tirelessly during his lifetime in cultivating a sense of confidence among the students of the State during those days.

Drawing a parallel between Swami Vivekananda and Chandra Nath Sarma, the Chief Minister said that just as Swami Vivekananda has been immortalized in public memories, Chandra Nath Sarma too has attained a similar status in the State owing to his contributions in various spheres.

The Chief Minister also declared that the Government of Assam would build a college to be named after Chandra Nath Sarma at Bihaguri.

Today's event was also attended by Assam Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Ashok Singhal, Member of Parliament Pallab Lochan Das, Members of Assam Legislative Assembly Ganesh Limbu, Padma Hazarika, Krishna Kamal Tanti, Prithviraj Rava, among others. (ANI)
All India Congress Committee in-charge of Telangana Manickrao Thakre on Saturday lashed out at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the victory of Congress in Karnataka assembly elections and said that the charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is coming to an end. Congress won an absolute majority in Karnataka on Saturday with the party crossing the halfway mark of 113 seats in the 224-member assembly. Speaking to ANI, the Congress leader said, "Modi effect is completely reducing. The Congress had won in the Himachal Pradesh elections. Today, Congress has won with a big majority in the Karnataka elections. This shows that the charisma of Modi is coming to an end." Thakre also said that the people are going against PM Modi as they are not in favour of the politics the party (BJP) do and they should understand that people of all religion will live together in the country. "The people are going against him as they are not in favour of the kind of politics they do. They (BJP) should understand that people of all castes and religions will live together in this country," he said. "There should be discussions about development. They should understand that asking for votes in the name of religion will not work anymore," he added. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the Congress party for its win in the Karnataka assembly election. "Congratulations to the Congress Party for their victory in the Karnataka Assembly polls. My best wishes to them in fulfilling people's aspirations," Tweeted Narendra Modi. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost the only southern state that it ruled. Elections in Karnataka were held on May 10 in the southern state and saw a voting percentage of 72.68 per cent. (ANI)
Following the Congress victory in Karnataka assembly polls, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar on Saturday said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi would now have realized that the country's democracy is not under attack. The Union Minister's remarks came against the backdrop of Rahul Gandhi's statement at Cambridge University that "democracy is under attack." "We accept this result. We will continue to work for the people of Karnataka as a constructive Opposition...Rahul Gandhi said abroad that there is no democracy in India. Today people should ask him what he thinks about democracy and EVMs," Chandrashekhar said. Congress won an absolute majority in Karnataka on Saturday with the party crossing the magic figure of 113 seats in the 224-member assembly. According to the latest trends of the Election Commission of India, Congress has won 122 seats and is leading in 14 more seats. Earlier in the day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hailed the party's victory in Karnataka assembly polls and said that people of the State defeated the politics of hate. The Congress crossed the halfway mark in the trends and is well set to form the government in the state. Addressing reporters at the Congress headquarters here in the national capital Rahul Gandhi said that the Congress stood in support of the poor. "The poor defeated crony capitalists in Karnataka. What I really liked about this election is that we did not fight the battle with hatred. We fought the elections with love...," he said. "I want to thank all the party leaders and workers in Karnataka. Karnataka mein Nafrat ki bazaar band hui hai, Mohabbat ki dukaane khuli hai. We fought on the issues of the poor. We did not fight this battle using hatred and wrong words. This will happen in every state," Rahul Gandhi told the mediapersons here. Rahul Gandhi coined the 'Nafrat ki bazaar band hui hai, Mohabbat ki dukaane khuli hai' phrase"during the Bharat Jodo Yatra which he undertook last year and ended this year in Srinagar. "Poor people defeated crony capitalists in Karnataka. We didn't fight this battle using hatred..." he said. (ANI)
Pakistan's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar on Friday urged the Taliban to address the banned outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) resurgence, reported Tolo News. She said that the engagement with the interim government in Afghanistan is "preconditioned" on the issue of TTP. "The engagement with the Afghan interim government which is currently in Afghanistan is preconditioned on this issue (TTP). They have told us that they believe the blood of Pakistanis should not be poured but this has only been at a level of speech. They should prove some of the things because we have the ability to counter the TTP," she said. Since the talks with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) broke down in November last year, the outfit has intensified its attacks, particularly targeting the police in KP and areas bordering Afghanistan. Khar's statements come after the deputy spokesman of the Taliban, Bilal Karimi, denied the presence of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Afghanistan, saying that there is no threat from Afghan soil to any country, reported Tolo News. "It will not allow any country or element to damage other countries from the Afghan soil. Such elements and groups don't exist on our soil," Karimi said. Over the past few months, the law and order situation in the country has worsened, with terrorist groups executing attacks with near impunity across the country, reported Dawn. Earlier this month, experts at a discussion warned that the TTP was forging a nexus with Baloch separatists and local militant groups based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan -- a development that will likely exacerbate the already precarious security situation in the country. On April 1, four soldiers were killed in a terrorist attack along the Pak-Iran border in the Jalgai sector of Balochistan's Kech district, reported Dawn. On March 10, five terrorists were killed by security forces in intelligence-based operations (IBO) carried out in North and South Waziristan. On March 8, six terrorists were killed by security forces in an IBO in North Waziristan's Datta Khel general area. According to statistics released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based think-tank, January 2023 remained one of the deadliest months since July 2018, as 134 people lost their lives -- a 139 per cent spike -- and 254 received injuries in at least 44 militant attacks across the country, reported Dawn. Political analysts said that the interim government can play an important role in resolving the challenges of Pakistan. "TTP is considered a power in Pakistan. Also, the politics of Pakistan and Afghanistan are not centred on transparent and mutual interest, thus, the Islamic Emirate may be less interested in this regard," said Sayed Muqdam Ameen, a political analyst. (ANI)
Ahead of the G7 Summit in Japan, Chinese warships sailed around Japan in a display of military power, reported CNN. Chinese naval flotilla led by a powerful destroyer has been on a 12-day circumnavigation of Japan's main islands and it comes as leaders of the Group of Seven prepare to meet in Japan beginning May 19. Japan's Defense Ministry on Thursday released a map showing the Type 055 guided missile destroyer Lhasa, one of the People's Liberation Army Navy's most powerful warships, leading a four-ship flotilla that also included a smaller destroyer, a frigate and a supply ship on the clockwise circumnavigation. The Japanese map shows the voyage began on April 30 in the Tsushima Strait between South Korea and Japan, progressed through the Tsugaru Strait at the northern tip of Hokkaido on May 5 and 6 and then was in the Izu island chain south of Tokyo on Thursday, reported CNN. China's state-run Global Times linked the flotilla's journey to "Japan's recent provocative remarks" about Taiwan, the democratically ruled island over which the Chinese Communist Party claims sovereignty despite never having ruled it. "While the voyage is likely a routine PLA Navy far sea exercise that does not violate any international law or target any third party, it could be seen as a strong message to Japan," the Global Times report said, citing Chinese experts. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in an interview with Nikkei Asia on Wednesday that "the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait is critical not just for our country, but for the whole international community." Chinese naval flotillas have performed circumnavigations of Japan in the past - most notably when a Chinese-Russian flotilla of 10 ships did so in October 2021 - and analysts say more can be expected as the PLA Navy more frequently flexes its muscles outside China's nearby waters, reported CNN. (ANI)
A 29-year-old US YouTuber, Trevor Daniel Jacob will plead guilty to a federal charge after he destroyed the wreckage of a plane he purposefully crashed to gain views, Justice Department officials announced, reported CNN. He posted a video of himself crashing a small plane in California in November 2021 and is pleading on one count of destruction and concealment with the intent to obstruct a federal investigation, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, the US Justice Department said. On November 24, 2021, Jacob took off from an airport in Lompoc on a solo flight in a Taylorcraft BL-65 purportedly destined for Mammoth Lakes, California. However, after flying for 35 minutes Jacob jumped out of the plane while flying over a forest and filmed himself parachuting to the ground as well as his aircraft crashing, reported Sky News. After landing, Jacob retrieved data from the plane which appeared to show it descending to the ground and subsequently recovered the wreckage, which he then destroyed, according to the Justice Department. The YouTuber reported the crash to the National Transportation Safety Board two days later and agreed to share the site of the wreck. But he instead lied to authorities that he did not know where the crash site was and roughly two weeks later, flew to the site with a friend, loaded up the wreckage and later destroyed it, according to the release, which cites the plea agreement. Roughly a month after the wreck, he uploaded a video on YouTube called "I Crashed My Airplane," showing the crash and Jacob parachuting from the plane, reported CNN. Some viewers were suspicious of the stunt, with a number of comments pointing out Jacob was already wearing a parachute, made no attempt to glide the aircraft to a safe landing area, and took his camera and selfie stick with him when abandoning the plane. He also admitted to lying to federal investigators after submitting an aircraft accident incident report and falsely claimed the plane fully lost power roughly half an hour after take-off, the news release said. "Jacob also lied to (a Federal Aviation Administration) aviation safety inspector when he said the airplane's engine had quit and, because he could not identify any safe landing options, he had parachuted out of the plane," it added. The FAA revoked Jacob's pilot license last year, according to the release. Jacob is expected to appear in court in the coming weeks. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he had a productive meeting with Toshi Shiabata, the CEO of Japanese semiconductor firm Renesas Electronics and discussed various aspects of technology and innovation in the field of semiconductors. The Japanese company's CEO called on PM Modi on Friday. Replying to a tweet by Renesas Electronics, the Prime Minister tweeted, "Had a productive meeting with Mr Toshi Shibata, CEO of @RenesasGlobal. We discussed aspects relating to tech, innovation and India's strides in the world of semiconductors." Earlier, Renesas Electronics posted on Twitter that Toshi Shibata met the Indian Prime Minister to discuss the role of the semiconductor industry and how it contributes to India's vision for a digital future. "Our CEO Toshi Shibata met with India's PM @narendramodi to discuss the role that our industry plays & how we can contribute to India's vision for a digital future. We're committed to enabling #semiconductor ecosystem and digital infrastructure in #India. @PMOIndia #digitalization," Renesas Electronics wrote on Twitter. Earlier in March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met NXP's President and Chief Executive Officer Kurt Sievers. The two discussed the transformative landscape in the semiconductors and innovation world. "Happy to have met Mr Kurt Sievers, the CEO of @NXP and discuss the transformative landscape in the world of semiconductors and innovation. India is emerging as a key force in these sectors, powered by our talented youth," Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted. NXP Semiconductors NV is a Dutch semiconductor designer and manufacturer with headquarters in Eindhoven, Netherlands with locations throughout the globe. In a bid to give a boost to semiconductor manufacturing in the country, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw announced in February this year that the government will come up with a program very soon to put the country on a good semiconductor journey for the next 10 years. The government launched a programme called Semicon India Programme in December 2021 with an outlay of Rs 76,000 crore. The programme seeks to support the development of the semiconductors and the display manufacturing ecosystem in India. The minister had apprised the parliamentary consultative committee in 2023 that several state governments like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are in talks with the companies to set up semiconductor manufacturing plants/fab complexes. (ANI)
Mauritius President Prithvirajsing Roopun, accompanied by his wife, is scheduled to visit Kolkata on Sunday on a two-day visit, BJP leader and Governing Council of India Foundation Swapan Dasgupta said. Speaking to ANI, President of Khola Hawa Swapan Dasgupta said, "At one level, this is a private visit of President Rupan of Mauritius to Kolkata." Sharing details on why Roopun is visiting Kolkata, Dasgupta said, "Among the Indian community in Mauritius, those who went there as indentured labourers in the 19th century, there is a strong belief. The last port of call for most of them, when they set sail for Mauritius by ship, was Kolkata. So, they have a sentimental attachment to Kolkata as the last point in which they left India, their forefathers left India. Hence, the importance of Kolkata in an emotional sort of way for them. So, President Rupan is coming here partly as a result of that. And it's really a private visit." Swapan Dasgupta said that there are no state functions involved in Mauritius President Prithvirajsing Roopun's visit to Kolkata. He said that Roopun will visit Dakshineswar Temple and Belur Math. Dasgupta said that there are a few ceremonial things involved in the visit. "There are no state functions involved. There's one civic reception, but apart from that, it's him going to Dakshineshwar Temple and to Belmont and to look at one memorial which has been made by the Port Trust of India, the Calcutta Docks, a memorial for those who were indentured labourers in the 19th century. So he will be doing that. It's a very relaxed sort of informal basis, so there's no political significance. It's mainly a goodwill visit on his part," Swapan Dasgupta told ANI. He further said, "On behalf of Khola Hawa and India Foundation, the two organizations which are hosting him for this visit, I happen to be on the executive of both these bodies, so I will obviously be like a host to him in Kolkata. Well, it's a two-day visit, but as I said, it's essentially a private visit, and there are very few ceremonial things." In November last year, Mauritius President Prithvirajsing Roopun paid a visit to Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on Monday. Roopun and his wife Sayukta Roopun were accompanied by a 7-member delegation. Upon reaching Ayodhya, the President of Mauritius was welcomed by MP Lallu Singh, MLA Vedprakash Gupta, MLA Ramchandra Yadav, Mayor Rishikesh Upadhyay, Commissioner Navdeep Rinwa, DIG Amarendra Prasad Singh and many others officials. Mauritius President along with his wife and delegation visited the Ram Temple and offered prayers and performed aarti. Roopun also checked the construction works of the grand temple and obtained information about the development from the engineers. After that, Prithvirajsing Roopun visited Hanumangarhi, Kanak Bhawan. (ANI)
Ancient willow tree at quake epicenter witnesses hope, vigor in rural China

Xinhua) 09:34, May 13, 2023

This aerial photo taken on May 9, 2023 shows the scenery of Haiyuan County, Zhongwei City, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)

YINCHUAN, May 12 (Xinhua) -- In a village 30 km from the county seat of Haiyuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, a willow tree with a V-shaped trunk stands on a hill as witness to a devastating earthquake over a century ago.

On Dec. 16, 1920, an 8.5-magnitude quake ripped through dozens of counties in northwest China, with Haiyuan at the epicenter. The earthquake claimed the lives of over 270,000 people, making it one of the deadliest in the 20th century. This tragic event was recorded by almost 100 seismic monitoring stations across the globe.

Located right on the rupture caused by the quake, the trunk of the willow tree had a deep split down the middle. However, the tree has miraculously survived and thrived.

"The tree is still sprouting, like telling people there is always hope for a better life," said Zhao Tinghu, deputy director of the seismological bureau of Haiyuan.

With a height of 13 meters and covered by a luxuriant crown of over 10 meters in diameter, the tree, which is about 500 years old, has come to be known as "zhenliu," or "earthquake willow," due to its extraordinary experience.

May 12 marks China's national day for disaster prevention and relief, which was established in 2009 to commemorate the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake that left more than 80,000 people dead or missing.

Haiyuan has been a destination for seismologists and historians to conduct research with some well-protected remains from 1920. In 2010, an earthquake museum opened in the county with a displayed collection of pictures, printed articles, and old-time objects that recount the disaster. The museum receives hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

"The earthquake in Haiyuan reminds people of the importance of always standing prepared and alert for natural disasters. This is done through conducting scientific research, emergency relief preparations, spreading relevant knowledge and establishing a modern mechanism for disaster relief," said Zhao.

The local seismological bureau regularly holds training sessions and educational events to enhance public awareness of disaster prevention and increase self and mutual-rescue skills.

Having weathered over 100 years of vicissitudes after the quake, the willow has also borne witness to the changes in China's rural life.

Haiyuan is situated in Xihaigu, a region crossing the central and southern parts of Ningxia that was once deemed uninhabitable. In 2020, Haiyuan was lifted from absolute poverty, and the county is experiencing rapid revitalization with cattle breeding as its pillar industry.

One can see an exhibition of cows and bulls from all over the world at the "Bull King Valley" in the county, a major beef cattle breeding and production center covering an area of 400 hectares.

"We have a long tradition of cattle raising here. Now we have bought the world's best breeds to create a quality local stock," said Chen Liwen, a staff member at the base.

Ha Peng, a 23-year-old college student majoring in chemistry, returns home during the holidays to help his family on their cattle farm near the base.

"Last year we bought 20 cows and five calves with a low-interest loan of 200,000 yuan (about 28,780 U.S. dollars) provided by the local government. If all goes well, in three years, we will have five newborns, and the total value of my cattle will be around 250,000 yuan," Ha said.

In the Guanqiao Township of Haiyuan, villagers have built a modernized residential area called "Hope Town" with villa-like two-storey houses in it. Small shops have lined up a main street inside and spare rooms are ready for rent to tourists, helping villagers earn more money.

"We have several schools, a kindergarten, a hospital and a small museum on the local revolutionary history in the 1930s. I think we are living a life not so different from in the cities," local villager Feng Zenghu said proudly.

This aerial photo taken on May 9, 2023 shows landslides created by an earthquake over a century ago in Haiyuan County, Zhongwei City, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Yang Zhisen)

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Wu Chaolan)
Smoke and fire rise from an explosion caused by an Israeli airstrike targeting a building in Gaza, Saturday, May 13, 2023. The building was owned by an Islamic Jihad official. (Ashraf Amra/AP)

Israel and the Islamic Jihad militant group in the Gaza Strip agreed to an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire late Saturday, ending five days of intense fighting that left 33 Palestinians, including at least 13 civilians dead. Two people in Israel were killed by rocket fire.

The Egyptian-brokered cease-fire took effect just after 10 p.m., with a last-minute burst of rocket fire and Israeli airstrikes stretching several minutes past the deadline announced by Egypt.

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While the calm brought a sense of relief to Gazas more than 2 million people and hundreds of thousands of Israelis who had been confined to bomb shelters in recent days, the agreement did nothing to address the underlying issues that have fueled numerous rounds of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip.

Tensions could quickly resume next week when Israel holds a contentious march through a main Palestinian thoroughfare in Jerusalems Old City.

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Still, as the truce took hold, the deafening whooshes of outgoing rockets and booms of Israeli airstrikes was replaced by the honking of cars in Gaza. Streets that had been desolate in recent days quickly teemed with people reveling in the ceasefire, waving Palestinian flags and flashing victory signs from speeding vehicles. Amid the celebration, a fruit vendor used a loudspeaker, enthusiastically promoting his supply of bananas.

Islamic Jihad leader Mohamad al-Hindi had told the Al Kahera Wal Nas channel that the Egyptian-brokered deal would go into effect at 10 p.m. local time (1900 GMT).

Now, this agreement has been reached thanks to continuous Egyptian effort. We appreciate this effort, he said.

There was no Israeli comment on the cease-fire announcement. But the Egyptian station had earlier reported a deal was imminent.

Egypt frequently acts as a broker between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in Gaza.

The latest violence erupted Tuesday when Israeli airstrikes killed three senior Islamic Jihad commanders. Israel said the airstrikes were in response to a heavy burst of rocket fire the previous week and that its attacks have been focused on Islamic Jihad targets. But residents in Gaza said homes of people uninvolved in fighting also had been struck.

At least 10 civilians, including women, young children and uninvolved neighbors were killed in those initial strikes, which drew regional condemnation.

Over the past few days, Israel has conducted more airstrikes, killing other senior Islamic Jihad commanders and destroying their command centers and rocket-launching sites. But the airstrikes showed no signs of stopping the rocket fire.

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Israel reported over 1,200 launches throughout the fighting, with some rockets reaching as far as the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem areas. Israel said about a quarter of the rockets were misfired and landed in Gaza, while most of the rest were either intercepted or landed in open areas. But an 80-year-old woman and a Palestinian laborer who was working inside Israel were killed by rocket fire.

There were no immediate details on the terms of the cease-fire. Islamic Jihad had been demanding a halt to Israels policy of targeting its leaders. Israel has only said it would offer quiet for quiet.

It was the latest in a long series of battles between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza since the Islamic militant group Hamas seized control of the seaside territory in 2007.

But the deal was unlikely to address the many issues that have fueled the repeated fighting, including Israels ongoing blockade of Gaza, the large arsenals of weapons possessed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad and Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians claim all three areas for a future state. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, but Hamas subsequently overran the territory and expelled forces loyal to the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority.

The more powerful Hamas has praised Islamic Jihads strikes but remained on the sidelines during the latest round of figithing, limiting the scope of the conflict. As the de facto government held responsible for the abysmal conditions in the blockaded Gaza Strip, Hamas has recently tried to keep a lid on its conflict with Israel. Islamic Jihad, on the other hand, a more ideological and unruly militant group wedded to violence, has taken the lead in the past few rounds of fighting with Israel.

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In a reminder of the combustible situation in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military raided the Balata refugee camp near the northern city of Nablus, sparking a firefight that killed two Palestinians. In a separate incident near the northern city of Jenin, Israeli police said they shot and killed a suspected Palestinian assailant who ran toward soldiers wielding a knife.

Israeli-Palestinian fighting has surged in the West Bank under Israels most right-wing government in history. Since the start of the year, 111 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, at least half of them affiliated with militant groups, according to a tally by The Associated Press  the highest death toll in some two decades. In that time, 20 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks on Israelis.

The truce could be further tested on Thursday when Israeli nationalists plan their annual Jerusalem Day march through the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalems Old City. The march, meant to celebrate Israels capture of the Old City and its Jewish holy sites in 1967, is a frequent source of friction and helped spark and 11-day war with Hamas in 2021.

On Saturday, Palestinians ventured out to assess the damage wrought by Israeli warplanes and salvage whatever they could. One man carefully pulled documents out from under the rubble. Another carried away a mattress.

Four homes in densely populated residential neighborhoods were reduced to dust in the pre-dawn attacks. The Israeli military alleged the targeted homes belonged to or were used by Islamic Jihad militants. The residents denied the armys claims and said they had no idea why their homes were targeted.

We have no rocket launching pads at all. This is a residential area, said Awni Obaid, beside the debris of what was his three-story house in the central town of Deir al-Balah.

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The nearby house of his relative, Jehad Obaid, was also leveled. He had been standing some hundred meters away when his apartment was bombed.

I felt like vomiting because of the dust, he said. This is extraordinary hatred. They claim they dont strike at children, but what we see is craziness, destruction.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday met his Swedish counterpart Tobias Billstrom and Japanese counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi in Sweden. He met with his Indonesian counterpart partner Retno Marsudi and Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan at the EU-Indo-Pacific Ministerial. He tweeted, "Good to meet host FM of Sweden @TobiasBillstrom. And of course, Quad partner Yoshimasa Hayashi, Foreign Minister of Japan." In another tweet, he stated, "Good to catch up with my Indonesian counterpart and G20 troika partner, Retno Marsudi." Sharing details of meeting Singaporean Foreign Minister, Jaishankar in a tweet wrote, "Nice to see FM of Singapore @VivianBala at the EU-Indo-Pacific Ministerial." He tweeted, "Foreign Ministers representing G20, EU, ASEAN, AU and G7 gather in Stockholm today. He also posed for a group picture with Sweden's King along with his EU and Indo-Pacific colleagues. In another tweet, Jaishankar stated, "Joined EU and Indo-Pacific colleagues at a group picture with His Majesty, King of Sweden." Earlier on Saturday, Jaishankar arrived in Sweden for a three-day visit to participate in the EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in the press release noted, "This will be his first visit as EAM and comes at a time when India and Sweden are celebrating 75 years of establishment of diplomatic relations. Sweden currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. In Sweden, EAM will participate in second EU Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum (EIPMF)." It further said, "He will hold bilateral meetings with Foreign Ministers of several countries on the margins of EIPMF. During his stay, he will call on leadership in Sweden and meet with key Ministers. He will also participate in the inaugural session of the India Trilateral Forum (India, Europe and US) with his Swedish counterpart." From May 15-16, Jaishankar will be visiting Brussels for bilateral engagements with Belgian and EU officials. He will also be attending the first Ministerial Meeting of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council along with Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnawm according to MEA. The TTC Ministerial Meeting is scheduled to be held on May 16. (ANI)
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday called for an "independent and complete investigation" into the burning of state buildings and firing at protesters. "I want an independent investigation into the burning of state buildings and firing at unarmed youth protesters," Imran Khan said. "For this, I want Pakistan's Chief Justice to make a panel under him," he added. While addressing the nation on Saturday, Imran Khan said that he was not aware of what was happening after he was arrested. He said, "I was unaware of everything that was happening after I was picked up. I came late to address you all as yesterday and today I was collecting facts." "But we are not this. The PTI is the only party [in whose gatherings] families come women and children come," Khan said. "Will we want anarchy?," he asked. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan said that he was willing to go with them if they showed him the warrant. He said that there are 145 cases registered against him and there was bail granted in all the cases. Imran Khan said, "I told them to show me the warrant and I was ready to go with them. What all they did there the army because the rangers are part of the army." Imran Khan further said, "We were sitting calmly, but they broke glasses and attacked as if Pakistan's biggest terrorist was sitting there." He noted that there was no case against him in all these years. However, 145 cases have been lodged against him in recent times. Explaining the objective behind starting Al Qadir University, Imran Khan said, "When I became the prime minister, I decided to promote Seeratun Nabi as our morality had degraded. Thieves and criminals are ruling Pakistan as morality has degraded." "My objective behind setting up the Al Qadir University was to give rise to new leadership in this country that inculcates the qualities of the world's great leader Seeratun Nabi...to teach Sufism, spirituality and technology in the institute. While addressing the nation, Imran Khan, "The decision to set up the university was made in November and on May 15, 2019, I did its groundbreaking as the prime minister." He said that the case they are speaking about is UK NCA which surfaced in the cabinet after a few months in December. "We were given the choice that USD 170 million is coming to Pakistan, which is linked to a deal between Malik Riaz and the NCA, but it is confidential We were told if we accept that it is confidential, the funds can come to Pakistan. If not, we have to file a case there. We were also told that we have wasted USD 100 million on foreign litigation and if we file a case, it will take years to conclude, Imran Khan said. "So we decided that whether USD 170m comes to the Supreme Court or the government, it will come to Pakistan. They have made a corruption case against me over this," he added. He said that democracy in Pakistan is hanging by a thread and added that the judiciary can only save the democracy in Pakistan. In his address to the nation, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan said, "Today, our democracy is hanging by a thread and the judiciary can save it." "This mafia is going all out in attacking the judiciary, so I first ask the nation to stand with our judiciary and Constitution." (ANI)
Abu Dhabi [UAE], May 13 (ANI/WAM): H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Chairman of the Education and Human Resources Council, launched the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT)'s new strategy under the theme ''We design Future'' during a visit to the HCT Dubai Men's campus. The HCT's new strategy was rolled out in the presence of Dr Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of Education, Dr Abdulrahman Al-Awar, UAE Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation, and HCT Chancellor, Dr Faisal Al Ayyan, HCT President and CEO, and a number of senior HCT officials. The strategy seeks to draw a new work roadmap for applied education model in alignment with the UAE leadership's vision for building Emirati human resources that equipped with high skills, proficiency and readiness in order to respond efficiently to rapid changes and transformations and sharpen the country's competitiveness for building a sustainable economy. H.H. Sheikh Abdullah said:''Investing in human development has been one of the basic foundations in the UAE journey since the establishment of the federation, as well as in its forward-looking vision for the future.'' H.H. affirmed the UAE leadership's support for all development plans and initiatives for higher education institutions, which aim to improve the quality of educational services in accordance with international performance and evaluation standards, in order to produce distinguished national outputs with qualitative skills and capabilities that meet the needs of future jobs and the requirements of the priority industrial and vital sectors in the country. Sheikh Abdullah was briefed by the HCT Chancellor, Dr Faisal Al Ayyan, about the strategic transformations taking place in the HCT, saying that the aim of the new strategy is to make a paradigm shift in the concept of applied education through three core pillars: Inclusion, sustainability and integrity. Dr Al Ayyan said the 2023 - 2028 strategy will lend attention to "applied education" in order to achieve more focus on educational goals and vocational training programs, introduce new programs that meet the labor market demand, and in accordance with the standards of international applied education institutions. Dr Al Ayyan announced that the new academic year 2023 - 2024 will see the registration in five basic programs: health sciences, business administration, engineering and science technology, computer and information sciences, and education. ''With the launch of the new tracks, it is expected that more than 8,000 students will be admitted, an increase of about 31 percent compared to the previous academic year,'' he added Sheikh Abdullah was also briefed about the new HCT Bani Yas campus in Abu Dhabi which will welcome more than 10,000 students in the new academic year. H.H. also witnessed the ceremony for signing cooperation agreements with 11 strategic partners to the HCT. (ANI/WAM)
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Saturday hit out at the Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Maj-Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry and told him to form a party. This comes after DG ISPR called Imran a hypocrite and alleged that no one else harmed the army to the extent that he did. "You (DG ISPR) have jumped into politics. Make your party," Imran said in his address to the nation on Saturday. "Who are you to give statements ISPR? You have climbed through the wall and have been involved, you should really make a political party and not make such statements" Imran Khan added. Imran also said that he was upholding Pakistan's flag internationally and used it to represent the country. "ISPR sahab, at the time when you were not born, I was the one who was upholding Pakistan's flag internationally and used to represent the country. Look up my name", the former Pakistan PM said while responding to the ISPR statement. "ISPR sahab, when Abbottabad happened, even the Army chief did not speak, he kept quiet. For 5 days nobody spoke, They[Americans] came and killed Osama Bin Laden, Gilani and Zardari did not speak. I was the one speaking and defending my military", said Imran Khan in his address. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, has termed the events that unfolded on May 9 as a "black chapter" in the country's history, the day Imran Khan was arrested by Rangers outside the Islamabad High Court that led to countrywide violence by PTI supporters. In a strongly-worded statement, the military's media wing asserted that no one will be allowed to take the law into their own hands. Citing the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) statement and law, the ISPR justified the arrest of Imran Khan. The ISPR criticised the protesters and termed their actions as an attempt to manipulate the country's sentiments for their own limited and selfish objectives. The military wing said, "This is an example of hypocrisy. It stressed the importance of maintaining law and order and highlighted the need to respect the institutions of Pakistan." "I had an assassination attempt, as ex-Prime Minister I could not even get an FIR registered and there we had ISPR giving sermons on how I am lying. I ask who are you to say this to me, you should be ashamed for saying this", said Imran Khan in his address. Imran also suggested that nobody can forcefully eliminate a political party and put them in jail. "You won't listen to me but my suggestion for you is to come out of small, closed rooms and keep a big circle and see how can you save the country from destruction," said Imran Khan. He also said that democracy in Pakistan is hanging by a thread and added that the judiciary can only save the democracy in Pakistan. "Today, our democracy is hanging by a thread and the judiciary can save it." "This mafia is going all out in attacking the judiciary, so I first ask the nation to stand with our judiciary and Constitution," said Imran. "I understand that there is a lot of pressure on judges even, they get calls, told about tapes. I ask the policemen to not say what Aabpara and people near Zoo tell you to and ask you to tell them to follow the rule of Law", he added. Notably, Imran Khan's speech was not broadcast on any of the major television channels, despite a court order suspending a recent Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) ban on the broadcast of his speeches. (ANI)
He also met Secretary Generals of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation), and of SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation).

Both countries, India and Cambodia agreed to strengthen cooperation in development projects, and cultural cooperation including the restoration of temples, in Kumar's meeting with Dr Soeung Rathchavy, Secretary of State, MoFA Cambodia.

MEA Official Spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi tweeted, "Secy (East) @AmbSaurabhKumar met Secy of State, MoFA Cambodia, Dr. Soeung Rathchavy. Both sides agreed to deepen cooperation in development projects, cultural cooperation including restoration of temples, demining & defense exchanges."

In his meeting with Deputy Minister of Vietnam, Do Hung Viet, both countries expressed satisfaction at the progress in India-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

"Secy (East) @AmbSaurabhKumar held meeting with Deputy Minister @MOFAVietNam Do Hung Viet. They expressed satisfaction at the progress in - Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Also discussed cooperation in areas of trade, investment, defense, energy," Bagchi added.

MEA Secretary (East) also met Secretary General of BIMSTEC, Tenzin Lekphell and congratulated him for successfully holding BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting in March 2023.

His tweet also read, "In his meeting with Secy General @BimstecInDhaka Tenzin Lekphell, Secy (East) @AmbSaurabhKumar congratulated SG for the successful holding of the BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting in March 2023. Expressed 's strong support for BIMSTEC & discussed BIMSTEC Summit and other meetings."

In his meeting with Esala Ruwan the outgoing Secretary General of SAARC, Kumar expressed his gratitude for his leadership and his contributions to the organisation.

"Secy (East) @AmbSaurabhKumar also met outgoing Secy General @SaarcSec Esala Ruwan Weerakoon. Secy (East) thanked SG for the latter's leadership of the Secretariat and his contributions to the organization," the tweet thread said.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also participated in the 6th Indian Ocean Conference. (ANI)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday (local time) laid stress on the multipolar world at the EU-Indo-Pacific Ministerial. "The Indo-Pacific is a complex and differentiated landscape that is best understood through more intensive engagement. A generous and strategic approach that caters to economic asymmetries will surely enhance the EU's appeal. The more European Union and Indo-Pacific deal with each other, the stronger will be their respective appreciation of multi-polarity. And remember, a multipolar world, which the EU prefers, is feasible only by a multipolar Asia," said Jaishankar. He made the remarks while sharing his thoughts about the Indo-Pacific at the EU-India Pacific Ministerial Forum. Jaishankar outlined six points reflecting capabilities, activities and endeavours among the nations of the Indo-Pacific. He said that the EU has major stakes in Indo-Pacific developments, especially concerning technology, connectivity, trade and finance. Jaishankar dealt with globalisation and established thinking at the forum. "Globalization is the overwhelming reality of our times. However, far apart, regions and nations cannot be impervious to significant events elsewhere. Nor can we cherry-pick them to our convenience. The European Union has major stakes in Indo-Pacific developments, especially as they pertain to technology, connectivity, trade and finance. It has to, in respect for, and observance of UNCLOS. Agnosticism on such matters is therefore no longer an option," he said. Jaishankar said that the artificial lines that separated theatres due to the politics of the day are now coming to terms with a more integrated existence. They also reflect different capabilities, broader activities and shared endeavours among the nations of the Indo-Pacific. Jaishankar said that established thinking is being tested by the outcomes of the last two decades. "How to respond to non-market economics is proving to be a formidable challenge than most expected. The compulsions of the immediate are often in contradiction with the concerns of the medium-term. Therefore, conventional templates must give way to new thinking better suited to emerging realities," said Jaishankar. Indo-Pacific itself is increasingly central to the direction of global politics. Among the issues that it throws up, are the problems inherent in the established model of globalization. The EAM said that recent events have highlighted the problems with economic concentration, as also the need for diversification. "De-risking the global economy now involves both, more reliable and resilient supply chains, as well as promoting trust and transparency in the digital domain. EU and indeed the world is better off with additional drivers of production and growth," he said. Jaishankar said that transformations underway in India, like digital public delivery or green growth initiatives, merit the EU's attention. India's rapidly expanding global footprint will intersect with the EU more in the coming years. "In such an engagement with the Indo-Pacific, the EU will naturally seek like-minded partners. India is certainly among them. There may be historical and cultural divergences but at the end of the day, we are political democracies, market economies and pluralistic societies," he said. Jaishankar while further evaluating Indo-Pacific laid stress on Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD), commonly known as the Quad, a strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan and the US. "Any evaluation of the Indo-Pacific will naturally factor in the Quad as a platform for global good. The agenda and the impact of the Quad have steadily expanded. I would also highlight the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) and the Maritime Domain Awareness initiatives as having potential significance. From an Indian perspective, let me also flag the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) we proposed in 2019. The EU will be comfortable with its objectives and may consider partnering in one of its pillars," said Jaishankar. He also underscored that India and the EU need a regular, comprehensive and candid dialogue, especially with regard to the Indo-Pacific. (ANI)
10 suspects were arrested in Ohio on sex charges as another man was sentenced to life in prison for his involvement in the human trafficking scene.

>> TRENDING: Woman leads police on pursuit before rollover crashing on I-75 in Montgomery Co.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced Friday that on the same day that a Lorain County man was sentenced to life in prison for an investigation dating back to 2021, the Northeast Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force arrested 10 men on sex charges in North Olmsted in Cuyahoga County.

Yesterday was a banner day for the task force, Yost said. Their commitment to wiping out the scourge of human trafficking is making a difference in the lives of the victims and having a big impact on the region.

The arrests were part of a one-day operation held in conjunction with the North Olmsted Police Department, Westshore Enforcement Bureau, and the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force to identify people providing or purchasing commercial sex.

The 10 men arrested and charged with engaging in prostitution, a a first-degree misdemeanor, were:

Errol Jackson, 35, from Lorain Ahmed Aljabri, 41, from Cleveland Sha Chuwan, Erie, 32, from Pennsylvania Dan Keenan, Jr., 53, from Westlake William Minor, 52, from Cleveland Jeffrey Ohl, 53, from LaGrange Erwin Palma-Torres, 30, from Garrettsville Jacob Safran, Royal Oak, 32, from Michigan Raymond Schillinger, 53, from Akron Carl Whepley Jr., 55, from Perry

Those arrested included a non-profit executive, a middle school teacher, and a man who was living in the country illegally, according to a spokesperson for the attorney generals office.

During the operation, seven potential human trafficking victims were identified and provided with resources from multiple agencies who assisted the task force, including the Canopy Child Advocacy Center, Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, and the Harriett Tubman Movement, the spokesperson continued.

This cooperation not only allows us to apprehend the perpetrators but also identify the victims and provide them with services and support, Special Agent in Charge Jared Murphey of the Detroit office of Homeland Security Investigations said.

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While yesterdays operation was occurring, the conclusion of a separate investigation into Steven Gilbert, 36, of Elyria, led to his conviction of 31 human trafficking offenses. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison with eligibility for parole after 172 and a half to 182 and a half years in prison.

Detectives found that Gilbert ran a human trafficking ring that preyed upon numerous women who were addicted to narcotics, the spokesperson said.

The Northeast Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force assisted the Lorain County Sheriffs Office, Elyria Police Department, and the Investigative Division of the Lorain County Prosecutors Office to investigate the case.








Princess Diana, Prince William, and Prince Harry visit Thorpe Park amusement park in 1993. Julian Parker/UK Press/Getty Images

Princess Diana frequently showed how much she adored her two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.

Diana tried to align her schedule to match the boys' so she could spend even more time with them.

After her death, almost all of Princess Diana's fortune was left to her two sons.

Princess Diana is remembered as the "people's princess," a giving humanitarian, and a loving mother.

Before the Princess of Wales passed away in August 1997, she also aimed to raise her two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, as normally as possible, and provide them with a carefree childhood  despite the fact that the eyes of the world were constantly on the family.

In honor of Mother's Day, here are 11 ways Princess Diana showed she was an amazing mother.

Princess Diana knew she wanted to raise her children to be as "normal" as possible, despite the fact that they were royalty.

Princess Diana and Prince Charles with Prince William in December 1982. AP

Princess Diana took being a mother very seriously and always made an effort to spend time with her sons, William and Harry. From the time they were born, Diana pushed the boundaries of what was expected of the mother of the royal heirs  she chose their own names and breastfed them as infants.

"Most importantly, [my role is] being a mother and a wife. That's what I try to achieve; whether I do is another thing, but I do try," Diana said in November 1985.

Princess Diana later said, "I live for my sons. I would be lost without them."

It wasn't royal protocol to bring children along on tour, but Diana insisted she bring 9-month-old William on a tour of Australia.

Princess Diana carrying Prince William after their arrival at Alice Springs airport for their tour of Australia in 1983. Tim Graham Photo Library/Getty Images

"Diana and Charles bucked the royal trend of separation by taking nine-month-old William, as well as his nanny, with them on the six-week tour to Australia and New Zealand," royal expert Christopher Warwick told the Northern Echo in 2013, according to USA Today. "William and Harry were very, very fortunate with Diana as a mother because her ideas were so different from the previous generation."

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Princess Diana often spoke about how grateful she was for her family, especially after meeting so many people who didn't share the same blessings in life.

Princess Diana helping Prince William with a jigsaw puzzle in his playroom in Kensington Palace in 1985. Tim Graham Photo Library/Getty Images

"I've got two very healthy strong boys, and it's not always the case with the families I'm meeting ... and I realize how incredibly lucky I am," she said in an interview.

Diana tried to align her schedule to match the boys' so she could spend even more time with them.

Princess Diana with Prince William and Prince Harry in 1986. Tim Graham Photo Library/Getty Images

Although Diana didn't work a regular job  she gave up her position as a nursery school teacher when she married Prince Charles  her life was filled with royal duties, events, and obligations.

However, she would reportedly coordinate her schedule to match the boys' schedule. Like many other royal children, they were partially cared for by nannies.

"In her official calendar, the princess had all the everyday details of her sons' utterly everyday lives marked in green ink," Katrine Ames wrote in Newsweek in 1997.

Princess Diana also took her children to school, which was unusual for members of the royal family.

The Princess of Wales outside Wetherby School in London, with her sons William and Harry, April 1990. ayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images

Tradition in the royal family said that royal children were to be educated at home by their governess. However, Princess Diana changed royal education forever when William started at Mrs. Mynors' nursery in Notting Hill in September 1985.

"I was [a little sad] because it's opening another chapter in my life and certainly William's. But he's ready for it. He's a very independent child," Diana told the press after William's first day at school.

Prince William became the first future royal to be fully educated in the public school system, and Princess Diana would continue to support Prince William and Prince Harry's education throughout their lives.

Princess Diana was never afraid to be silly around her boys  just like a regular mom.

Princess Diana lets Prince William, Prince Harry, and others bury her in the sand while on a trip to Necker Island in 1990. Tim Graham Photo Library/Getty Images

On a trip to Necker Island in 1990, Princess Diana played in the sand with her sons and their friends, showing that being a royal definitely doesn't mean you can't have some fun.

"She understood that there was a real life outside of Palace walls," William said in a documentary about her life.

"My childhood, I remember, was filled with laughter, filled with happiness, and filled with adventure," Harry said during an interview in episode one of the Netflix docuseries "Harry & Meghan."

In one of Diana's most famous photographs, she broke royal protocol by throwing her arms around her sons in a massive hug after being apart on holiday.

Princess Diana greets her sons Prince William and Prince Harry on the deck of the yacht Britannia in Toronto in 1991. Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images

Prince Harry has since reflected on his mother's hugs, and what made her so special as a mother.

"She would just engulf you and squeeze you as tight as possible and being as short as I was then, there was no escape, you were there for as long as she wanted to hold you. Even talking about it now, I can feel the hugs that she used to give us," he said in the documentary "Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy."

"I miss that feeling, I miss having that mother to give you those hugs and that compassion that everyone needs. Behind closed doors, she was a very loving, caring mother and an incredibly funny person. I think she lived a lot of her life, especially in private, through us and I think that childish fun element really came out when she was spending time with us."

Princess Diana also kept her boys grounded by taking them on adventurous trips like this ski trip  and fighting off the paparazzi along the way.

Princess Diana with her two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, on a chairlift during a ski holiday in Lech, Austria, in 1991. Tim Graham Photo Library/Getty Images

During a ski trip with Prince William and Prince Harry in 1991, Diana pleaded with paparazzi to leave her and her family alone while they were enjoying their quiet family vacation and even approached people filming her and her children to ask that they stop.

The princess had also ordered that they would have no bodyguards in attendance, even for the children, to ensure that the vacation would be as "normal" as possible.

However, despite her best efforts, the paparazzi continued to be a constant in her sons' lives.

"The majority of my memories are of being swarmed by paparazzi," Harry said in "Harry & Meghan." "Rarely did we have a holiday without someone with a camera jumping out of a bush or something."

Princess Diana also let her hair down on a fun trip with William and Harry to Thorpe Park amusement park in 1993.

Princess Diana, Prince William, and Prince Harry visit Thorpe Park in 1993. Julian Parker/UK Press/Getty Images

Even today, it would be considered unusual to see a member of the royal family jetting down a water slide.

However, this was just one reason why Diana was so beloved by her sons and the public  she completely reinvigorated what it meant to be a royal and raising the future ruler of the United Kingdom.

Above all, Princess Diana impressed upon her children to give back and connect with those less fortunate.

Princess Diana with children injured by mines at Neves Bendinha Orthopaedic Workshop in Luanda, Angola, in 1997. Tim Graham Photo Library/Getty Images

"I want my boys to have an understanding of people's emotions, their insecurities, people's distress, and their hopes and dreams," Diana once said in an interview.

Not only did Princess Diana speak with her sons about how privileged they were, but she also brought them along on visits to hospitals and homeless shelters.

"My mother introduced that sort of area to me a long time ago," Prince William told the Telegraph in 2005. "It was a real eye-opener and I am very glad she did. It has been something I have held close to me for a long time."

Prince Harry also continued the charitable work his mother did by raising awareness for landmines and the mission of the HALO organization in the region of Angola.

After her death, almost all of Princess Diana's fortune was left to her two sons.

King Charles III, Prince William, and Prince Harry look at floral tributes for Princess Diana in 1997. Anwar Hussein/Getty Images

Prince Harry and Prince William both received a reported $12.5 million from their mother's estate upon their 30th birthdays, according to The Telegraph.

The Telegraph also reported that William and Harry were each gifted a number of valuable assets from their mother's estate, including jewelry pieces that have since been worn by Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, and Princess Diana's wedding gown.

The remaining inheritance that did not go to William and Harry was dispersed between her butler, Paul Burrell, and her 17 godchildren, The New York Times reported in 1998.

In 2021, Harry told Oprah Winfrey during a CBS interview that he and Meghan Markle would have been unable to move from the UK to California  which they chose to do after deciding to step back from their roles as senior royals  without that inheritance.

"I've got what my mum left me and without that, we wouldn't have been able to do this," Harry told Winfrey at the time. "She saw it coming, and I certainly felt her presence throughout this whole process."

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Winnipeg police found the remains of Rebecca Cantois at Brady landfill (photographed here). It is believed that the remains of two other indigenous women were taken to Prairie Green, another landfill south of the city

It will take three years and cost up to C$184m ($135m; 109m) to search a Canadian landfill for the remains of two indigenous women.

Indigenous leaders in the province of Manitoba released the results of a feasibility study on Friday and called for the search to take place.

The women's families have put pressure on officials to find their remains.

Both women are believed to be victims of an alleged serial killer.

Caution: This article contains upsetting content.

"If a search is not carried out, it will demonstrate to all First Nations across Canada that this government condones the despairing act of disposing of First Nation women in landfills," said Cathy Merrick, grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, during a news conference on Friday.

She said finding the remains of the two women will bring closure to their families.

"These women were all loved, they were cherished," Ms Merrick said.

Canada's federal government paid for the study after Winnipeg police said they would not search the site.

Police believe the remains of Morgan Beatrice Harris, 39, and Marcedes Myran, 26, are at the Prairie Green landfill near Winnipeg. Both women are members of the Long Plain First Nation.

They are among four indigenous women believed to have been killed by Jeremy Skibicki, who was charged last December with four counts of first-degree murder.

He is also believed to have killed 24-year-old Rebecca Cantois and an unidentified woman who has been given the name Buffalo Woman.

The remains of Ms Cantois were found at another landfill 16 May 2022.

Police said last year that they believe the remains of Ms Harris and Ms Myran were left in a garbage bin three days apart in May 2022, with the contents sent to Prairie Green.

But they said it would not be possible to search for Ms Harris and Ms Myran because too much time had passed and because the scale of the area is too big.

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According to a summary of the study findings released on Friday, a search would be lengthy and costly - between C$84m to C$184m - and may come with "considerable risks" due to exposure to toxic chemicals.

There is also no guarantee the women would be found, the study said.

But failing to conduct a search would cause "considerable distress" to the families of the two women.

Ms Myran's sister, Jorden, said the women deserve to rest in a grave.

"They're not trash. It shouldn't be a question whether they search or not."

It is unclear who would fund the search should it go ahead.

A spokesperson for federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller told the BBC that his office is reviewing the study.

"We need to make sure our work is done right, in a culturally-sensitive and trauma-informed manner, and keeping at heart the families, survivors, and communities," spokesperson Aissa Diop said in an email.

Indigenous women in Canada are 12 times more likely to be murdered or go missing than other women, according to a 2019 inquiry.

Nearly one year after the discovery of Ms Cantois' remains at Brady landfill, police in Winnipeg discovered the body of another indigenous woman - 33-year-old Linda Mary Beardy - at that same location.

It is not believed the two deaths are related.
The suspected kidnapper had head wounds, police say. Jason Edwards/Getty Images

A teen boy in Michigan fought off his sister's kidnapper with a slingshot, state police say.

The girl was looking for mushrooms in her backyard when a 17-year-old boy came out of the woods and grabbed her, according to police.

State troopers said they found the suspect at a nearby gas station with severe injuries from the slingshot.

A Michigan teen used his slingshot to fight off a would-be kidnapper that emerged from the woods and tried to snatch his 8-year-old sister, state police said.

Michigan State Police responded to the home in Alpena County, Michigan on Wednesday to a report of an attempted kidnapping, according to The Detroit News.

Michigan State Police did not immediately return Insider's request for comment Saturday.

According to the paper, police said the girl was "hunting for mushrooms" in her backyard when a 17-year-old boy came out of the woods, grabbed her, and covered her mouth.

The girl managed to break free from her attacker while her 14-year-old brother used his slingshot to hit him in the head and chest, police said, according to The Detroit News.

According to WPBN, a local NBC affiliate, state troopers said they found the suspect hiding at a gas station near the house with noticeable injuries to his head and chest from the slingshot.

The 17-year-old was arraigned on Thursday and is being held in the Alpena County Jail on charges of attempted kidnapping and child enticement, attempted assault with great bodily harm, and one count of assault and battery, the outed reported.

State police have not released the name of the 17-year-old so Insider could not call his lawyer for comment.

A judge set the minor's bond at $150,000 and he is next expected in court on Wednesday, the Detroit News reported.

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In this June 27, 2020, file photo, Saltillo High School seniors make their way to the football field as the sun begins to set for their graduation ceremony in Saltillo, Miss. Federal parent PLUS loans have become a last resort for many lower-income families paying for a kids college education. Today, parent PLUS loan debt totals $108.5 billion among 3.7 million borrowers, and the average borrower owes more than $29,000. (Thomas Wells/AP)

The U.S. has approved more than $42 billion in federal student loan debt forgiveness for more than 615,000 borrowers in the past 18 months as part of a program aimed at getting more people to work in public service jobs, the U.S. Department of Education said this week.

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program is open to teachers, librarians, nurses, public interest lawyers, military members and other public workers. It cancels a borrowers remaining student debt after 10 years of public interest work, or 120 monthly payments.

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The program is separate from President Joe Bidens student debt relief plan, which would wipe away or reduce loans for millions of borrowers regardless of what field they work in. The U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering whether that plan can go ahead.

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, known as PSLF, was launched in 2007, but stringent rules meant that more than 90% of applicants were rejected, the Department of Education said in 2019.

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In October 2021, the government temporarily relaxed the requirements, making it easier for people to apply and be approved. Those relaxed requirements ended in October 2022. However, borrowers who want to increase their payment count have another opportunity to do so. They can apply for the one-time account adjustment until the end of the year.

Through the one-time account adjustment, borrowers with direct loans through the William D. Ford program will have similar benefits to those that were available under the limited PSLF waiver. Borrowers who do not have direct loans can consolidate and receive PSLF credit for prior payments as part of this adjustment, as long as they submit a consolidation application by the end of 2023.

One of the people who benefited from the PSLF waiver was Beth Bourdon, an assistant public defender in Orlando, Florida.

Bourdon had about $57,000 of student loans forgiven in February 2022. Previously, because her loans had been acquired through the Family Federal Education Loan Program, Bourdon didnt qualify for relief. But when the waiver took effect in October 2021, she successfully applied.

I kept checking and re-checking the site, and one day I went and the balance was zero, Bourdon said. Two days later I got the official letter.

With the exception of one two-year period, Bourdon has worked in public interest law since 2005. She said she made payments of about $417 every month from June 2008 to October 2021, when she consolidated her loans and applied for PSLF.

Public defenders, we dont get paid a lot, she said. When peoples student loans hit, theyre faced with a really hard decision. Can I remain doing this job I love or will I have to go to a civil firm to try to make money? The PSLF helps try to retain talented people who would otherwise go somewhere else.

Bourdon said the cancellation gives her breathing room.

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She added that she personally talked about 10 people she knows through the process of applying for forgiveness via the waiver, and that several have already received cancellation.

Its so great  knowing how relieved I was, for my friends to have that kind of relief too, she said.

Starting July 1 of this year, the Education Department will implement changes designed to make the PSLF application process easier. Some of the changes were previously included in the waiver.

Heres what you need to know if you want to apply:

Who qualifies?

If you are or were previously employed at least 30 hours per week with the following types of organizations, you qualify:

 Government organizations at any level (U.S. federal, state, local, or tribal). This includes the U.S. military, all work in public education, and full-time volunteer work with AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps.

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 Any not-for-profit organization that is tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

 If you work for a not-for-profit organization that is not tax-exempt, you may still qualify for PSLF if the organization provides certain types of qualifying public services such as emergency management, legal aid and legal services, early childhood education, service to individuals with disabilities or the elderly, public health, including nurses and nurse practitioners, public library and school library services, and public safety such as crime prevention and law enforcement.

To demonstrate that your job in public service qualifies you for forgiveness, youll file an employer certification form with your servicer, listing jobs youve held.

You must have direct loans or consolidate other federal student loans into a direct loan. You must also make 120 qualifying payments or 10 years of payments.

Which student loans are eligible?

Any federal student loan received under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan program is eligible.

If you have either a Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) or a Federal Perkins Loan, youll need to consolidate those into direct loans with your servicer. Payments made on these loans before you consolidated them do not count as qualifying PSLF payments.

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Private student loans are not eligible.

How can I apply?

You can apply to the program using the PSLF help tool. If you want to do it manually, you can print and mail a PSLF form.

How can i consolidate my debt into a direct loan?

First, visit studentaid.gov to see if you have loans made under the Federal Family Education Loan or Perkins Loan Program. Those are the loans youll consolidate.

Next, apply online or by mail. The process is free and takes about six weeks to complete, but you can submit the Public Service Loan Forgiveness form after consolidation is complete.

What counts as a qualifying payment?

A qualifying monthly payment is a payment that you made after Oct. 1, 2007, while you were employed by a qualifying employer.

The 120 qualifying monthly payments dont need to be consecutive. For example, if you have a period of employment with a non-qualifying employer, you will not lose credit for prior qualifying payments.

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What about the payment pause?

Student loan payments are currently paused because of the COVID pandemic.

Payments are set to resume, along with the accrual of interest, 60 days after the current Supreme Court case about student loan forgiveness is resolved. If the case hasnt been resolved by June 30, payments will start 60 days after that.

Borrowers will get credit toward PSLF for payments they would have made during the pause as long as they meet all other qualifications for the program, according to the Education Department.

For the qualifying payments to show in your account, you must submit a PSLF form that certifies your employment during the pause.

How many people are currently in the program?

As of mid-April of this year, more than 615,000 borrowers have qualified for forgiveness under the limited PSLF waiver, which ended in October. Some borrowers who submitted their applications prior to the end date may continue to have their applications processed from the waiver period.

Who can i contact if i have questions?

If you have a specific question about your application, its best to call or email a representative.

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For general questions about student loans, the Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC) hosts a contact center that allows borrowers to live chat, call or email.
You know when you know. Flamingo Images / Shutterstock

Some people believe in love at first sight, while others think the feeling grows over time.

On Reddit, users have shared the moments they knew they were in love with their partners.

Some describe it as "just knowing," while others say it came after tough times or a kind gesture.

Whether or not you believe in love at first sight, there was probably a moment that you knew you loved, or were starting to fall in love with, your partner.

These moments can be silly or heartbreaking, just like the relationships and the people in them. Insider rounded up the best moments from a few different Reddit threads to show the beauty in all of these moments.

"When I tried to sum up my feelings for my wife in a card, but my rough draft was much too long and rambling."

"That's when I realized, 'Love is a much shorter word.'" Studio4/Getty Images

"When I tried to sum up my feelings for my wife in a card, but my rough draft was much too long and rambling for a card. That's when I realized, 'Love is a much shorter word and must mean at least as much as that mess - yep, I love her.'" - Redditor AdBig5163

"He looked back at me and smiled. He was so giddy and proud. I realized then that that was all I needed."

"We'd been friends for nearly a year and I knew I had feelings for him." Stephen Zeigler/Getty Images

"We'd been friends for nearly a year and I knew I had feelings for him. I actually remember the exact moment that it hit me that I was in love with him though. It wasn't anything big or monumental at all. We'd gone out to do some bow shooting, a hobby he's really into but I was really only passively into because he liked it so much. I was standing a couple feet back from him watching him do his thing and he hit his target from a pretty impressive distance. He looked back at me and smiled. He was so giddy and proud. I realized then that that was all I needed." - Redditor 01kaj10

"Maybe I fall in love with him every day."

"We celebrated 15 years of marriage on Wednesday and I can't imagine a more perfect man for me." Westend61/Getty Images

"After several years of marriage. I'm not a very emotional person and I don't particularly like people. I never really thought I'd get married. But we really 'clicked' from the moment we met. When he proposed, I still wanted to be around him and hadn't gotten sick of him yet so I said yes. I realize this sounds crazy, but I never had a moment of, 'Oh my gosh, I can't live without him' or anything. I still can't pinpoint the moment I knew I loved him. Maybe I fall in love with him every day. But we celebrated 15 years of marriage on Wednesday and I can't imagine a more perfect man for me." - Redditor Pandora1685

Story continues

"I was so nervous when I was going to see him and then, all of a sudden, I wasn't.

"We said 'I love you' after a week." Pollyana Ventura/Getty Images

"I was so nervous when I was going to see him and then, all of a sudden, I wasn't. Once he arrived, I was completely calm. It was like I'd known him forever. We said 'I love you' after a week, got engaged in a year, and got married 10 months later." - Redditor SunnyCarol

"I was more worried about her being worried about me than my own safety."

"I didn't want anything to hurt her; not even bad news." StockSnap/Pixabay

"I had been dating my girlfriend for about a year and a half, when I pulled out at an intersection and almost got side-swiped. I had to jerk the wheel and everything. Immediately I thought, 'Man that was close! I didn't have my seat-belt on, either. She would be so upset if I got hurt!'

"And that's when I realized that I was more worried about her being worried about me than my own safety.

"I know it's goofy and not very 'touching,' but that's when I realized that I was in love, because I didn't want anything to hurt her; not even bad news.

"I told her about it about a week later and she thought it was sweet. That was pretty much it (she isn't nearly as sentimental as I am). We have been together for 9 years, and married for the last 5. Oh, we got a baby, too." - Redditor marblefoot

"I knew we both took each other as we were."

Sometimes it's the little things. Shutterstock

"Something just came over me and I realized how happy I was."

"I don't know why but for some reason seeing her then for the first time away from school really made it click for me." Leah Kelley/Pexels

"Met a girl at university in March 2011, we hit it off really well and eventually decide to make things exclusive. We were both dumb 18 year olds, but something really, really felt connected about us and we had already said 'I love you' in April (one month in  I know, stupid). Anyways, we live about an hour apart when we're on summer holidays, but having never done long distance it seems really far away and we're both nervous about how things between us will change only seeing each other about once a week for four months right at the beginning of the relationship.

"Anyways, school ends, we both go home to our respective parents' house, and make plans to see each other at my girlfriend's house after about 10 days. She lives right in Toronto whereas I lived on the outskirts, so I take the train into the city and to meet her right downtown. We're trying to find each other on the crowded street (I didn't really know the city at that time so I was kind of going in circles looking for her).

"Eventually, I spot her on a busy street corner looking around, but she hasn't seen me yet. Something just came over me and I realized how happy I was, how happy she made me, and how much I really cared about her. I don't know why but for some reason seeing her then for the first time away from school really made it click for me. Just had our four year anniversary last week and I feel the same as I did that day." - Redditor richandbrilliant

"My body was telling my brain what I already knew."

"I relaxed instantly." oneinchpunch / Shutterstock

"When I realized I could be around that person 24/7 and not get sick of them."

This comment resonated with many users. Shutterstck

"When I realized I could be around that person 24/7 and not get sick of them." - Redditor Sport07

"When she bought a Christmas present for my 2-year-old son."

Loving people means loving people that are important to them, too. Shutterstock

"I remember telling my mom afterwards, 'I'm gonna marry that girl.'"

"Most important is know yourself and be yourself completely with others." Pixabay/bdcbethebest

"After the first date. We had gotten together for coffee twice since we had similar interests. Both times we talked for hours with amazing eye contact. I felt so comfortable with her, as if we'd known each other for years. The second time was so long, we ended up getting some Thai food at the end. After that, I knew I just had to ask her out on a date. She said yes. We went to a movie, a mexican restaurant, walked around at the south part of the San Francisco Bay, and ended up at a British pub. I remember telling my Mom afterwards, 'I'm gonna marry that girl.'



"It's a really good marriage. Most important is know yourself and be yourself completely with others. Then you'll know when you find each other." - Redditor Mark_Paulson

"When I look at him I just feel this really solid feeling."

"When I look at him I just feel this really solid feeling." Pixabay/StockSnap

"I have a lot of hyperactive, sometimes anxious voices in my head pretty much all the time. I knew when I realized that when we're together the extra voices go silent and I just feel very peaceful and warm. When I look at him I just feel this really solid feeling  this sort of strong feeling of deep satisfaction with hints of pride that doesn't feel vulnerable to doubt or speculation  and I'm practically made of doubt and speculation.

"I'd known him for nine months, we'd been together for two. I told him I thought that I thought I was in the process of falling in love with him, and he just said 'I love you, too.'" - Redditor swiggetyswoogety

"I looked up and realized I wanted to eat breakfast with her as many times as I could."

Who doesn't love breakfast food? Dc Lovensky/Unsplash

"We were eating breakfast at the diner by my apartment (which was the location for our first date) and as we were eating I looked up and realized I wanted to eat breakfast with her as many times as I could. I told her a few weeks later one night while we were laying in bed, and well we all know where that goes.

"Got engaged last August and currently planning a wedding that will hopefully consist of breakfast foods and local made potato donuts instead of cake." - Redditor pvcducttape

"It's one of those things that just can't be put into words."

Sometimes it takes a little time. Pixabay/StockSnap

"I told my fiance I loved her shortly after she told me. I think it was what I thought was love at the time.

"A few months later there was a moment when I just couldn't take my eyes off of her while we were just hanging out at home. A strange sensation came over me. I can't really explain it. It's one of those things that just can't be put into words. It was powerful and it forced me to think of life without her and how unbearable it would be.

"At that point I was like, 'Ohhhhh, this is what I said I felt months ago. Cool.'" - Redditor x4vior

"She took some scraps of food [...] to feed some baby raccoons she saw in the bush."

Critters need some food, too. Pixabay/Disarm

"I vividly remember the moment I realized that I had fell in love with my girlfriend  we were just cuddling and chatting maybe four to five months into our relationship and she told me about how she was written up at work (she was a CNA at a hospital) because she took some scraps of food that was left over from the old folks' lunch and threw them out into a woody area next to the hospital's campus to feed some baby raccoons she saw in the bush.

"Haha so ridiculous, but just the thought that she cared so much about the small woodland critters as to go to those lengths really resonated with me." - Redditor geo152

"I saw her walking towards me at a distance, and I could not stop smiling."

"I could not stop smiling." Andrew Robles/Unsplash

"Long long time ago ... 1971.

"I was 16, and had been hanging out with this pretty little hippie chick for about six months. I would walk down to meet her halfway when we got together. This certain summer day I saw her walking towards me at a distance, and I could not stop smiling, a silly grin so wide my I thought my face would split. It lasted the whole time she approached, grinning back at me.

"We've been married over 38 years." - anonymous Reddit user

"She woke up next to me and I was completely blown away with how beautiful she was."

Everyone says "I love you" in their own time. Yulia Mayorova/Shutterstock

"She smiled, walked to the freezer, and pulled out a box of Eggo's."

If you can respect someone's breakfast food opinions, you know it's love. Daxiao Productions/Shutterstock

"She prefers pancakes while I prefer waffles. It was around midnight and I couldn't sleep so I snuck out to the store and bought a box of pancake mix to surprise her in the morning. I came back, got into bed and nodded off. At one point I felt her get up and heard her go into the bathroom, I passed back out.

"We were sitting down to eat breakfast that next morning when I pulled out the pancake mix and said, I know how much you like pancakes so I snuck out last night and got this. She smiled, walked to the freezer, and pulled out a box of Eggo's while saying, 'I don't have a waffle iron, so I bought these last night.' That was the moment." - Redditor brian1321

"I told her that I loved her, but that I had to leave."

"I never presumed she would come." CC0 Public Domain

"I was living in Michigan and had been dating a girl for a year and a half. I found out my dad had cancer and I made plans to move back to Missouri. I told her that I loved her, but that I had to leave. She had lived in Michigan her whole life and was very close to her family. I never presumed she would come. After telling her, she sat quietly for a minute and asked, 'So, when do we leave?'

"I proposed within a week." - anonymous Reddit user

"I realized that night that I didn't want to spend my life with anyone else."

Many people know it's love when it's you against the world. cindy baffour/Unsplash

"My now-husband and I were at the beginning of a long trip around Europe after living on separate continents for 9 months. On the first leg of the trip, we missed a flight and then the airport was closed because of a terrorist attack, so we were stuck in Liverpool with no luggage (we'd left it at the airport), soaking wet clothes, and no sleep.

"We were both exhausted and grumpy, and each time that it became clear that one of us had reached our limit, the other would step up and take charge for a bit. We didn't grumble, argue, or place blame. We just fixed the problems the best we could and took the time to explore Liverpool. I realized that night that I didn't want to spend my life with anyone else." - Redditor laidymondegreen

"This woman was expecting to spend some time on a beach with her boyfriend and instead was stuck in the awkward situation."

"I had no idea what I was walking into." Pablo Heimplatz/Unsplash

"We both stopped and slow danced to Christmas music."

"I never had to tell her because I could see in her eyes that she knew." Unsplash/Ian Schneider

"He had made me a mixtape of all our favorite songs."

"The world isn't crashing into me anymore." Andrew Itaga/Unsplash

"Now I'd be lying if I said I wasn't attracted to her."

"We ended up talking every single day for 6 months." Shutterstock

"When I was reunited with her after close to 10 years. We went to high school together and knew each other through friends. Graduated and went our separate ways. I joined the military and got married, she hopped around trying to find her place. I got divorced a few years later. Did the single thing for a while and then noticed her on Facebook.

"Now I'd be lying if I said I wasn't attracted to her. But after talking to her for a few days I realized I would rather keep her as a friend. She was just so cool and I had a habit of ruining every single relationship I was in. We ended up talking every single day for six months. Then I took a trip to see her (just as friends). I lasted less than six hours before we kissed. It was so easy to hide from our chemistry behind a computer screen, but in person I didn't stand a chance. We have been together for about three years now. Engaged. A baby on the way." - Redditor Knowledge930

"My dreams were about us just being together."

Sometimes your mind knows before your heart does. Pixabay

"I started reflecting on my own relationship."

"I feel like those emotions were always there." Shutterstock

"He helped take care of my father. He helped take care of me. He never left."

"I'm coming. Deal with it." William Stitt/Unsplash

"She won that race, and my heart."

Who doesn't love a little friendly competition? Shutterstock

"She also embodied all of the traits that I find really important."

Sometimes your partner is also someone you can look up to. Toa Heftiba/Unsplash

"I realized one day that my wife was the first woman I'd dated to genuinely make me laugh, even when I didn't want to. She also embodied all of the traits that I find really important in a partner and was quickly becoming both my best friend and a role model." - Redditor Nine-Foot-Banana

"When I woke up early in the morning and saw him feeding my cat breakfast."

Sometimes showing a furry friend some love is the easiest way to someone's heart. Snezana Ignjatovic/Shutterstock

"I didn't know her at all and she caught me."

The best pick-up line. Ever. Flickr / Jason Sussberg

"He concluded by saying he greatly looked forward to the day when he could finally return to our dirt mound."

"I feel like such an idiot that I didn't save them." Shandi-lee Cox / flickr

"My boyfriend and I have been together almost two years, but we got off to a bit of a slow start. He was super into me and I wasn't sure if I was into him. We were going out once or twice a week, and I was warming to him, but wasn't sure. I was honest about it and he said we'd take things at my pace, and if I wanted to end it, that was fine.

"Probably about three or four months into it, he took me to a concert at a venue that was outdoors, but had an attached indoor restaurant where we could get food to eat during the concert if we wanted. It was pretty crowded but we managed to secure a high-top table with no chairs on a little dirt mound after we ordered food. Some time later, he went back into the restaurant to pick up our food, but it took longer than either of us expected because I guess they were backed up.

"So he started texting me the most hilarious, cheesy series of 'letters.' I really wish I still had them; I feel like such an idiot that I didn't save them. They were written Civil War-style, like he was a soldier in the field battling through hordes of people to get our food. He concluded by saying he greatly looked forward to the day when he could finally return to our dirt mound.

"I'm not sure if I decided 100% I was in love, but that was definitely the first moment I thought, 'I could really see myself with him.'" - Redditor starryophonic

"He's the lens through which I see all the good in the world, so much so that he becomes it."

"He brings out that sort of passionate intensity in me." Flickr / Lachlan Donald

"The first time I heard him sing.

"He has a very raw, honest singing voice, one that carries emotion better than any other I've ever heard. He sang a cover of Damien Rice's 'Cannonball,' and I could just hear him feeling the words, pouring out everything he is and was and had been through into them. He brings out that sort of passionate intensity in me, and makes me a better person every day I know him. He thinks he's the lucky one, but he's wrong  he's the lens through which I see all the good in the world, so much so that he becomes it.

"His 'Cannonball' cover is still one of my favorite things to listen to; in fact, I'm listening to it now, because he's at work and I miss him." - Redditor molecularity

"I can't articulate how or why, I'm just not a words person, but I feel it really strongly."

"I knew then that I really cared for her more than I realized." Pexels

"She came back a minute later holding the perfect pair of shoes."

If the shoe fits ... JD Mason/Unsplash

"When we went to buy shoes. We had been dating for quite a long time, and I honestly fell in love with her way before that, but that's the moment where it really hit me. I had to buy these fancy shoes for her graduation ceremony, so we went to a gigantic shoe store that had sales. I like to shop, but I'm usually a really efficient shopper: I go into the store, see what I like, try it, pay, goodbye.

"But this time it was just dragging on and on and I couldn't find anything that suited me. I had already tried almost a dozen pairs and nothing I really liked: but the ceremony was close and it was our last chance to shop for shoes. I was getting a bit frustrated, and seeing that, she looked at me and just said 'Wait here a minute. I'll see what I can find.'

"She came back a minute later holding the perfect pair of shoes  pretty much exactly the picture I had in my head, and that I hadn't precisely communicated to her. It was the right size, the right price, the right everything. I was flabbergasted.

"And to this day, that's how I always think of her: the only person that I know who could go burrow in a mountain of random shoes and find the only pair I would really like." - Redditor Calembreloque

Read the original article on Insider
Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast

They call themselves Sister Senators and together, crossing party lines, theyre the only thing stopping the male-dominated South Carolina legislature from passing an abortion ban.

The five women include three Republicans who identify as pro-life, plus a Democrat and an independent who lean pro-choice. Together, they share a common belief that banning abortion is not about saving unborn lives, its about controlling women.

If you dont believe me, just look up personhood, Republican state Sen. Sandy Senn told The Daily Beast. They (the GOP legislature) want to end abortion and get to zero exceptions, and then they want to attack birth control. Senn said in a recent debate over the issue that a Republican colleague declared the only proper birth control is a condom, everything else is sinful. If that isnt about control, Senn asks, what is?

Republicans Are Really Bad At Selling Pro-Life Policies to Voters

The five female senators are the only women in the 51-seat senate chamber, and their unity has held through eight months of contentious debate, countless hours of filibustering, and three failed attempts by their male colleagues in the Republican super-majority to push through a near total abortion ban. The male legislators have the votes for a six-week ban, which is before most women realize theyre pregnant, but they wanted an even more extreme ban, which is when they ran into the buzzsaw of the five women.

Im the only Republican who did not support a six-week ban, Senn says. I lost that argument. She favors a 12-week ban, but recognizes that politics is the art of the possible, and together with the other women amended the proposed six-week ban to include important exceptions, such as allowing doctors to proceed with emergency care when a womans life or health is threatened without first requiring an ultrasound to check for a fetal heartbeat.

The bill would also repeal a 1974 law that makes seeking an abortion a criminal act.

Story continues

Weve told the House they cant change a colon or a semicolon, and they gave us 14 pages of amendments, Senn says. So now we are back to another upcoming filibuster and our fourth time addressing abortion this year. Meanwhile we have failed so far to pass much needed bills such as one dealing with fentanyl trafficking and many more.

This tiny cohort of women are blocking the worst of the worst legislation denying women access to abortion.

Did you know that with us five women here in the state senate, that there are millionsliterally millionsof people here in South Carolina depending on the five of us to make sure this bill is just so? Republican Sen. Penny Gustafson said in describing the challenge before them.

Lindsey Grahams Abortion Ban Bill Is Bad Policy and Dumb Politics

Complicating matters, the state Supreme Court in January ruled unconstitutional an earlier six-week abortion ban, hastily passed last year after Roe was overturned in 2022. However, the deciding vote on the Court, a woman, retired. The legislature replaced her with a man, boosting the likelihood that a new six-week ban could survive the court test.

South Carolina is the only state where legislators elect judges, and the mostly male GOP supermajority rallied around the only male in contention, rejecting two qualified female judges, to make the states highest court the only all-male Supreme Court in the nation.

Tyler Jones is a Democratic political consultant in South Carolina, and he told The Daily Beast that the ongoing battle over abortion is the result of the Republican Party not having a clear strategy on the issue.

With Roe v. Wade Gone, Men Will Have a Lot Less Sex

After Roe, they became the official party of the dog that caught the car, he says. What the legislature is doing, theyre trying to give the Court another chance. The six-week ban is their insurance policy if they cant get the full ban passed (no abortion after conception).

This is Plan C, Jones continues, to have the Court uphold the bill not because the bill has changed, the Court has changed.

The Republican women have been the target of anti-abortion protesters, who last month distributed plastic spines from the pre-born urging the women to stand with their party. Ive got one hell of a spine already, but now Ive got another backup, Sen. Katrina Shealy said as she stood alongside the two other RepublicansSens. Senn and Gustafsonall proudly holding aloft their plastic spines.

Abortion Bans in the U.S. Created a Human Rights Crisis

Its good what theyre doing, but its hard to give them too much credit here, says Jones, pointing out that except for Sen. Senn, the two other Republican women voted for the six-week abortion ban. One of the most draconian laws in the history of our country, he called it, adding, Okay, youre not total fascists, but you could do better.

Thats the issuecould they do better?

Abortion is currently legal at 22 weeks in South Carolina, a law that is unlikely to survive much longer. Women have found their voice in the senate, but they are a distinct minority in a body that ranks 47th in the nation in female representation and is determined to end abortion. The Sister Senators have added exceptions for rape and incest, but a six-week abortion ban doesnt allow much leeway for real life getting in the way.

We the women have not asked for, nor do we want, your protection, Sen. Senn said, directing her gaze at her male colleagues on the floor, as she soldiered through yet another filibuster last month.

We dont need it. We dont buy into the ruse that what you really want is to take care of us, said the Republican senator from deep-red South Carolina.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Black moms need more than flowers this Mother's Day.

Black moms need more than flowers this Mother's Day.

Cassandra Welchlin is the executive director of the Mississippi Black Womens Roundtable. Shes an award-winning community organizer, social justice activist and licensed social worker who has spent her life championing working-class womens rights to equal pay, affordable childcare and health care, among others, in her home state of Mississippi, the South and nationwide. In her own words, Welchlin explains how her own upbringing helped shape her beliefs and, more importantly why she believes that Black mothers need to be uplifted this Mothers Day.

Like many Black folks, I grew up poor and didnt know it.

I was raised in Jackson, Mississippi, primarily by women, which included my mom, my grandma and my aunt. The women in my life often struggled to put food on the table, keep the lights on, and care for me as they worked low-paying jobs, mostly with no health benefits and no days off. My mom and aunt were maids in the 1970s, making just $2.13 an hour. When I was preschool age, they took me to work with them and hid me in utility closets while they cleaned the toilets and emptied the trash. I played patty-cake and ate lunch in those closets. Back then, I thought thats where all the kids went. I didnt understand until years later that this was my childcare story. My family didnt make enough money to send me to childcare or preschool, let alone trips to Disney  the pinnacle of the childhood experience, usually reserved for the wealthy and their kids  in nearby Florida.

As I stack the harsh realities of the mothers in my life back then against the most vulnerable mothers among us today, particularly the single ones, I am alarmed and devastated. You ought to be, too.

The statistics paint a clear, painful picture: This country is failing millions of Black moms economically, politically and medically in ways that keep generations of Black families just like mine stuck.

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And with literally deadly outcomes: Black mothers in the U.S. face a disproportionate burden of maternal mortality and morbidity compared to white mothers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Black mothers are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white mothers. This significant public health issue highlights the systemic racism and inequalities in health care that Black women face in the U.S. So, whats behind it?

A lack of access to health care: Black moms are more than likely to live in areas with limited access to health care facilities and providers. This makes it harder for them to get the prenatal care needed for a healthy pregnancy and access emergency care when complications arise. Implicit bias in health care: Black mothers are often subjected to racial discrimination and implicit bias in health care settings, leading to misdiagnosis, delayed treatment and inadequate care. Economic disparities: Black mothers are likelier to live in poverty and have limited access to resources like nutritious food, safe housing and transportation. This, of course, can negatively impact their and their childrens health. Lack of social support: Black mothers often face social isolation and lack of support during pregnancy and after childbirth, often leading to increased stress, depression, and anxiety, which can negatively impact their health and babies.

And those babies are dying too: Black infants are the most likely to die in all ethnic groups before or within their first year of life.

And if they live (for Black children specifically, gun violence has been the leading cause of death since 2006), how are we feeding them? As you read this, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and other lawmakers are pushing for tighter food stamp restrictions that would jeopardize already hungry Black families to include seniors amid debt ceiling concerns.

All these truths reinforce my belief that not only do we owe Black moms and their families an astronomically better existence this year and all years, but that, as citizens, we must do our part to hold our government accountable in passing legislation that will make it so.

Here are (at least) six ways the U.S. is obligated to better show up for Black moms and their families this Mothers Day.

Nationwide Paid Family And Medical Leave

Most Black mothers  more than 80% are primary breadwinners. Yet, research through the Center for American Progress finds that six out of 10 Black moms either dont take their maternity leave or do so without pay to care for new babies, sick family members or themselves when they fall ill, costing them $3.9 billion in lost wages each year. The U.S. can change this by finally passing legislation such as the long-proposed Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act, which would provide workers with up to 12 weeks of partial income replacement for qualifying events such as the birth or adoption of a child, serious illness or injury of a family member or a workers own serious health condition. Employee and employer contributions to a national trust fund would fund the program.

Pass Black Maternal Health-Focused Legislation

Policies like the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act of 2021, a package of 12 bills that address maternal health disparities through a comprehensive set of initiatives, aim to, among others, make critical investments in social determinants of health that influence maternal health outcomes, like housing, transportation, and nutrition, and provide funding to community-based organizations such as mine, theMississippi Black Womens Roundtable, that are working to improve maternal health outcomes and promote equity.

Vote Down Legislation Not Feeding Black Families

To cut the federal debt, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and other legislators are looking to do what they always have  sacrifice the welfare of Black and other minority families  by proposing $4.5 trillion in cuts to the federal budget via The Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023, taking aim at, among others, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a federal assistance program in the U.S. that provides nutrition assistance to low-income people and their families. If this or similar legislation passes, hundreds of thousands of low-income Americans, including 19.5 million kids, will face higher barriers to food assistance, including seniors  barriers that will cause them to go hungry.

Pass A New Child Tax Credit Law

The 2021 expansion of the federal Child Tax Credit led to a historic reduction in poverty in the U.S., particularly for children. Adults with young kids between the ages of 0 and 5 received refundable credits of $3,600 per child, and those with kids between 6 and 17 received $3,000. These benefits gave an unprecedented number of low-income families  Black, American Indian and Alaska Native families  a crucial financial break so moms could better feed, clothe and house their kids, with the Census Supplemental Poverty Measure showing that these poverty rates fell most dramatically for Black children  by a whopping 17 percentage points. More of this, please, as the current legislation expires after the 2025 tax year.

Pass The John Lewis Voting Rights Act

Aimed at restoring and strengthening key provisions of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 that sought to eliminate discriminatory voting practices used to disenfranchise Black voters. Passing it would help Black mothers by protecting their voting rights in states where they are always under attack like mine and addressing systemic racism that has existed since Blacks secured their right to vote, promoting equity and amplifying their voices in the political process.

Finally, Close The Wage Gap For Black Women

Closing the wage gap at the federal level would make a world of difference to Black moms and their families. Its not only incredibly important but also the fair and right thing to do. Black women, on average, earn only about 63 cents for every dollar earned by white men. This gap is even wider for Black moms, especially those in the South (in Mississippi, its a measly 56 cents on the dollar  locally, we are fighting to amend Mississippis Equal Pay Act which continues to rob Black women of their livelihoods). A financial boost through the federal Paycheck Fairness Act would be seismic and life-changing for Black families, promoting economic stability, improved access to health care, a reduction in stress and anxiety leading to better mental health, as well as improved educational opportunities for Black moms and their kids  the ultimate Mothers Day gift.

Related...
The principal chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians says his recent veto of $64 million will affect the tribes plans to open a medical marijuana dispensary this summer.

Chief Richard Sneed will meet in the next week with tribal officials who run the EBCIs medical cannabis operation to discuss the effects of his veto, including whether the loss of funding will delay the opening of a dispensary on the tribes Qualla Boundary in Western North Carolina, Sneed told The Charlotte Observer Friday night.

I expect it will impact their plans for development, Sneed told the Observer in a Facebook message. I meet with them to discuss further next week.

Sneed said he supports the project, but more diligence must be done before the EBCI commits more funding. I do not support a distribution of $64M at this time.

Officials with Qualla Enterprises LLC, the tribes medical cannabis business, didnt reply to two requests for comment from the Observer since Sneed announced his veto in a Facebook message to tribal members May 5.

The tribe plans to open the dispensary by late summer or early fall on U.S. 19 South near Harrahs Cherokee Casino Resort, officials with Qualla Enterprises told the Observer on an exclusive tour of the cannabis operation in late March.

Sneeds veto, which the Tribal Council backed, has raised questions about whether the tribe can now meet that timeline.

In his May 5 Facebook message to his tribe, Sneed attached a copy of a letter he sent to Tribal Council Chairman Richard French informing him of his veto and his reason. The chiefs role is similar to a state governor in his ability to veto legislation. The Tribal Council chairman is like a mayor in terms of leading council meetings and voting on issues.

The fact that this projects original cost for an outdoor grow, an indoor grow and an indoor dispensary was $50m, and we are now being told it is $95m, demonstrates that there is an immediate need for a full accounting of the money that has been expended to date, Sneed wrote.

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Sneed told French he fully supports cannabis, both medical and adult use. He is also encouraged and inspired by tribal workers at the growing operation at Coopers Creek on the Qualla Boundary in Cherokee.

Yet, he said, I am very troubled by the lack of accountability for the managing of the business side of the operation. The current projected cost is almost 100% over budget as compared to the original RFP projected cost. RFP stands for request for proposals.

The tribe has already developed what would be the first two unique strains of marijuana legally sold in North Carolina, named Qualla Bear and Goose Creep.

And more proprietary strains are on the way, Forrest Parker, Qualla Enterprises general manager told the Observer in March.
It was the end of the day for students at Lois E. Carter Middle School in Warren, Michigan. But for the students on Bus 46, that April afternoon was the beginning of an unforgettable ordeal.

It all started on April 26 when the brakes slammed. Students told CBS News that they were "terrified and shocked" by the sudden motion. Then, they looked up and saw what was going on.

The bus driver was unconscious  and seventh grader Dillon Reeves had grabbed the steering wheel.

Security footage showed that Dillon had noticed the driver having a medical emergency, causing the bus to swerve. The boy immediately sprang from his seat, took the wheel, and hit the brakes, gaining control of the situation and saving the driver and his passengers.

Dillon Reeves rescuing his school bus driver in Warren, Michigan. April 26, 2023. / Credit: Steve Hartman / On The Road

"I just knew what to do in that moment," Dillon said. "The bus was swerving off the road."

When police arrived on the scene they called Dillon's parents, who were a little alarmed to be getting a call from law enforcement.

"'Are you the parent of Dillon Reeves?'" Steve Reeves recalled the police asking him. "And I said, 'Yes.' And I go 'What'd he do?' And he goes 'No, this is a good phone call. Your son is a hero. He stopped the bus.'"

One student who had been on the bus credited Dillon with saving the "entire bus" with his "quick actions and thinking," and by "being brave."

Warren Consolidated Schools said in a news release that paramedics responded quickly and treated the driver. The students were placed on another school bus and transported home.

Soon, though, a question arose: How had Dillon been the only one to notice what was going on?

The answer was simple. While other kids had been on their cell phones, listening to music, or otherwise engrossed in their electronics, Dillon didn't have a cell phone to distract him from the world around him or limit his situational awareness.

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Dillon Reeves in his front yard the night of the bus incident. / Credit: Steve Hartman / On The Road

"What else are you going to do when you don't have a cell phone?" Steve Reeves asked. "You're going to look at people. You're going to notice stuff. You're going to look out the window and enjoy the world. It's a very powerful lesson. Maybe a change-the-world kind of lesson, I don't know."

Dillon is less convinced.

"My parents are old-school, I guess," he told CBS News with a sigh.

Sometimes even heroes have it hard.

To contact On the Road, or to send us a story idea, email us: OnTheRoad@cbsnews.com.

The Church's Firm | Sunday on 60 Minutes

Saturday Sessions: Acantha Lang performs "Sugar Woman"

Saturday Sessions: Acantha Lang performs "It's Gonna Be Alright"
Need something to do this weekend? Theres plenty going on in Central Florida.

Check out our top nine events below.

Pipeline preview

Heads up, SeaWorld fans. Early passholder previews for the new roller coaster Pipeline are officially underway. See the schedule of when you can check out the ride early here.

Channel 9s Q McCray got an early ride on the new roller coaster. See his reaction in the video below:

Watch: Get a sneak peek on board SeaWorld Orlandos new Pipeline coaster

Mess Fest

The gooiest, slimiest and messiest science experiments of all return to Orlando Science Center for Mess Fest Saturday and Sunday. Click here for details.

My Fair Lady

This is your last weekend to See My Fair Lady at the Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts as part of AdventHealths Broadway in Orlando series. Click here for tickets and details.

Golden Gals Live!

The gals are back in town. Just in time for Mothers Day weekend, Golden Gals Live! returns to the Clermont Performing Arts Center May 12-14 after a successful residency in Chicago. Click here for details.

Channel 9 got a sneak peek of the show. Watch it in the video below:

READ: Golden Gals Live! returns to Clermont in May

Movie Trash at the Nook

The Nook on Robinson continues its tradition of showcasing so-bad-their-good movies this Saturday night with Birdemic: Shock and Terror. The film is free and open to the public. Click here for details.

Disney on Ice

Amway Center hosts Disney on Ice through Monday, presenting Frozen and, for the first time, Encanto. Click here for details.

Finding Nemo, Jr.

Fins up! Finding Nemo Jr. presented by Tap Into Theater Academy, will perform Finding Nemo Jr. at the Dr. Phillips Center Saturday and Sunday. Click here for details.

READ: SeaWorld, Busch Gardens announces limited-time deal on Howl-O-Scream tickets

Food Truck Fiesta

Sanfords Food Truck Fiesta happens Sunday downtown from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

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Mothers Day

Of course, we cant forget Mom this weekend. Sunday is her special day. Take her to brunch then enjoy a day a day of shopping. Or a spa day.

Check out Channel 9s guide to Mothers Day in Central Florida here.

READ: Mothers Day: Here are 10 last-minute gift ideas for Mom

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.
"Humans are a bit boring - it will be like, goodbye!" That's the personal prediction - that artificial intelligence (AI) will supplant humans in many roles - from one of the most important people you've probably never heard of.

Emad Mostaque is the British founder of the tech firm, Stability AI. It popularised Stable Diffusion, a tool that uses AI to make images from simple text instructions by analysing images found online.

AI enables a computer to think or act more like a human. It includes what's called machine learning, when computers can learn what to do without being giving exact instructions by a human sitting at a keyboard tapping in commands. Last month, there was a dramatic warning from 1,000 experts to press pause on its development, warning of potential risks, and saying the race to develop AI systems is out of control.

In an interview we'll show in full on Sunday, tech founder Mostaque questions what will happen "if we have agents more capable than us that we cannot control, that are going across the internet and they achieve a level of automation; what does that mean?

"The worst case scenario is that it proliferates and basically it controls humanity."

That sounds terrifying, but he is not alone in pointing out the risk, that if we create computers smarter than ourselves we just can't be sure what will happen next.

Mostaque believes governments could soon be shocked into taking action by an event that makes the risks suddenly real. He points to the moment Tom Hanks contracted Covid-19 and millions sat up and paid attention.

When a moment like that arrives, governments will conclude "we need policy now", the 40-year-old says.

There's been a spike in concern for example after a Republican attack advert on Jo Biden was created using fake computer generated images.

When there's a risk to information that voters can trust, that's something governments have to respond to, says Mostaque.

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Despite his concerns, Mostaque says that the potential benefits of AI for almost every part of our lives could be huge. Yet he concedes that the effect on jobs could be painful, at least at the start.

Mostaque says he believes AI "will be a bigger economic impact than the pandemic", adding that "it's up to us to decide which direction" this all goes in.

AI could lead to 300m job losses according to one prediction.

Some jobs will undoubtedly disappear, the bank Goldman Sachs suggested an almost incomprehensible 300m roles could be lost or diminished by the advancing technology.

While no one wants to be replaced by a robot, Mostaque's hope is that better jobs could be created because "productivity increases will balance out" and humans can concentrate on the things that make us human, and let machines do more of the rest. He agrees with the UK's former chief scientific advisor, Sir Patrick Vallance, that the advance of AI and its impacts could prove even bigger than the industrial revolution.

Mostaque is an unassuming mathematician, the founder of a company he only started in 2020 that has already been valued at $1bn, and with more cash flooding in, including from Hollywood star Ashton Kutcher, is likely to be soon worth very much more. Some speculation has put the value as high $4bn.

Unlike some of his competitors he is determined his technology will remain open source - in other words anyone can look at the code, share it, and use it. In his view, that's what should give the public a level of confidence in what's going on.

"I think there shouldn't have to be a need for trust," he says.

"If you build open models and you do it in the open, you should be criticised if you do things wrong and hopefully lauded if you do some things right."

But his business also raises profound questions about ownership, and what's real. There's legal action underway against them by the photo agency Getty Images which claims the rights to the images it sells have been infringed.

A stock image of a professional photographer reviewing pictures

In response, Mostaque says: "What if you have a robot that's walking around and looking at things, do you have to close its eyes if it sees anything?"

That's hardly likely to be the end of that conversation.

The entrepreneur is convinced that the scale of what's coming is enormous. He reckons that in 10 years time, his company and fellow AI leaders, ChatGPT and DeepMind, will even be bigger than Google and Facebook. Predictions about technology are as tricky as predictions about politics - educated guesses that could turn out to be totally wrong. But what is clear is that a public conversation about the risks and realities of AI is now underway. We might be on the cusp of sweeping changes too big for any one company, country or politician to manage.

The first steam train puffed along the tracks in Darlington more than 50 years after the steam engine was patented by James Watt. This time we're unlikely to have anything like as long to get used to these new ideas, and it's unlikely to be boring!

You can watch much more of our conversation with Emad Mostaque on tomorrow's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg live on BBC One or here on iPlayer.

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On this week's show are Energy Secretary Grant Shapps , shadow shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds and boss of tech firm Stability AI, Emad Mostaque .

Watch live on BBC One and iPlayer from 09:00 BST on Sunday

Follow latest updates in text and video on the BBC News website from 08:00

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Follow Laura on Twitter
AFP

One month since Sudan's conflict erupted, its capital is a desolate war zone where terrorised families huddle in their homes as gun battles rage in the dusty, deserted streets outside.Across Khartoum, those still alive remain barricaded, hoping to dodge stray bullets and enduring desperate shortages of food and basic supplies.There are power blackouts, a lack of cash, communications outages, and runaway inflation.The city of five million on the Nile River was long a place of relative stability and wealth, even under decades of sanctions against former strongman Omar al-Bashir.Now it has become a shell of its former self.Charred aircraft lie on the airport tarmac, foreign embassies are shuttered and hospitals, banks, shops and wheat silos have been ransacked by looters.While the generals fight, what remains of the government has retreated to Port Sudan 850 kilometres (528 miles) away, the hub for mass evacuations of both Sudanese and foreign citizens.The battles have killed more than 750 people, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project. Thousands more have been wounded and nearly a million people displaced, with long refugee convoys headed to Egypt, Ethiopia, Chad and South Sudan. Some food prices have quadrupled, and petrol now sells at 20 times its pre-war price.Multiple truce deals have been agreed and quickly violated, and hopes are dim for an end to the fighting which has piled more suffering on the 45 million people of one of the world's poorest countries.Both sides "break ceasefires with a regularity that demonstrates a sense of impunity unprecedented even by Sudan's standards of civil conflict," said Alex Rondos, the European Union's former special representative to the Horn of Africa.- History of coups -Sudan has a long history of coups, but hopes had risen after mass pro-democracy protests led to the ouster of Islamist-backed Bashir in 2019, followed by a shaky transition toward civilian rule.As Washington and other foreign powers lifted sanctions, Sudan was slowly reintegrating into the international community, before the generals derailed that transition with another coup in 2021.On April 15, tensions over the integration of paramilitaries into the army exploded into war between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who leads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).Despite all the bullets, aerial bombardments and anti-aircraft fire since then, neither side has been able to seize the battlefield advantage.The army, backed by Egypt, has the theoretical advantage of air power while Daglo is, according to experts, supported by the United Arab Emirates and foreign fighters. He commands troops that stemmed from the notorious Janjaweed militia, accused of atrocities in the Darfur war that began two decades ago.Russian mercenary group Wagner is not fighting but has "technical advisers" in Sudan, said Cameron Hudson, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.For now, "both sides believe that they can win militarily", US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a Senate hearing in early May.The fighting has deepened the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, where one in three people already relied on humanitarian assistance before the war.Since then, aid agencies have been looted and at least 18 humanitarian workers killed. In six months, up to 19 million people could be food insecure, the UN has warned.- 'Poorer for longer' -Across the Red Sea, in the Saudi city of Jeddah, envoys from both sides have been negotiating.By May 11 they had signed a commitment to respect humanitarian principles, including the protection of civilians and, in general terms, a commitment to let in badly needed humanitarian aid.But, "absent a significant change of mindset from the warring parties, it is hard to see that commitments on paper will be fulfilled," said Aly Verjee, a Sudan researcher at Sweden's University of Gothenburg.Sudan has had a long history of conflicts, especially in the western region of Darfur, where Bashir from 2003 armed and unleashed the Janjaweed to quash a rebellion seeking an end to what the insurgents said was domination of Sudan's power and wealth by Arab elites.The scorched-earth campaign may have killed 300,000 people and uprooted more than 2.7 million at its peak, the UN said. According to the health ministry, the bulk of deaths during the current fighting have occurred in Darfur.The ministry reported 199 fatalities in Khartoum, but said at least 450 people were killed by May 10 in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state, and surrounding areas."We are told of snipers continuing to be in the area, shooting people leaving their houses," Mohamed Osman, researcher at Human Rights Watch, told AFP.With hospitals gutted, he added, "there are also reports of people dying from the injuries they sustained in the early days of fighting".The aid group Doctors Without Borders said food shortages in Darfur displacement camps mean that "people have gone from three meals a day to just one".Verjee said the fighting across the country has destroyed workshops and factories and caused "the partial deindustrialisation of Sudan"."This means that any future Sudan will be much poorer for much longer."bur/fz/it/lb
This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.

Allison Holker Boss and her eldest daughter, Weslie, were honored at the National Alliance on Mental Illness Westside Los Angeles 2023 Mental Health Gala.

Holker Boss attended the annual gala with her 14-year-old daughter May 12, which included a tribute to the late Stephen tWitch Boss, who died at age 40 by suicide.

The event marked the dancer's first red carpet appearance since the death of her husband in December.

NAMI Westside Los Angeles Mental Health Gala 2023 (Vivien Killilea / Getty Images for National Allian)

The mother-daughter duo matched in black floor-length gowns, accessorizing with simple jewelry. Holker Boss dress featured a side cut-out adorned with lace and a one shouldered strap. Weslie, who Boss adopted in 2013 after marrying her mother, wore a dress with simple spaghetti straps and two mesh cut-outs on the sides of the bodice.

At the ceremony, Derek Hough and Jenna Dewan presented Holker Boss and Weslie with the Heart of a Champion award, according to the organizations website.

The mother and daughter held hands as they accepted the award together on stage, with Holker Boss speaking to the attendees after accepting the honor.

"We promise to continue to move from love and joy forever and always, and to continue to inspire and lead and to teach and to grow, she said in her speech, per People.

NAMI Westside Los Angeles Mental Health Gala 2023 (Vivien Killilea / Getty Images for National Allian)

Since Boss' death, Holker Boss has paid homage to her husband in a series of touching tributes shared on social media.

Two months after his death, Holker Boss shared a video on Instagram to thank fans for the support given to their family during the "challenging and emotional" period.

Holker Boss also gave her first TV interview since the death of her husband May 3 when she sat down with TODAYs Hoda Kotb.

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During their conversation, the former So You Think You Can Dance star opened up about life for her three children  Weslie, Maddox and Zaia  since Boss' death, telling Hoda, I still feel like the rest of the world where Im still shocked.

No ones ready for that moment and theres no one that saw this coming, she added. No one  and that breaks my heart too.

Holker Boss said since her husbands death, she has had to have several difficult conversations with their children. She told Hoda that even though its something she "wouldnt wish for anybody," shes ultimately learned that communication is key.

Theres been some really hard conversations, she said. To us, Daddys in the stars. So we can go outside and talk to him whenever we want. ... They just ask, When is daddy coming back? and thats a really hard one.

She added, And then itll be a couple weeks later, But does he come back when hes older? Like, when Daddys older hell come back? she says. But they are still children and still obviously want him here.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Amber Heard is now reportedly based in Madrid (PA )

Amber Heard was seen signing an autograph for a fan in Spain after reportedly quitting Hollywood for a quieter life.

The Aquaman actress, 37, was seen out and about in Madrid as she scribbled her moniker for the admirer and posed for a photo with him, as reported by Page Six.

It had been reported last week that Heard had quit Hollywood and moved to the Spanish city with her daughter Oonagh, two.

I can reveal that Heard has quit Hollywood and quietly relocated to Spain with her young daughter Oonagh, Daily Mails columnist Alison Boshoff claimed a friend of Heard told her.

"Shes bilingual in Spanish and is happy there, raising her daughter away from all the noise.

Amber Heard is still signing autographs despite quitting Hollywood https://t.co/MgzfCaasP7 pic.twitter.com/oNmsvVb78Z  Page Six (@PageSix) May 11, 2023

I dont think she is in any hurry to return to work or to Hollywood, but she will probably come back when the time is right, for the right project, the friend added.

The actress, who lost a very public court battle with ex-husband Johnny Depp last year, reportedly fled to the Spanish city amid the ongoing drama from the fallout of the trial.

She sold her Yucca Valley, California home in July 2022 and has spent a lot of time in Spain since then.

This week, she was spotted spending quality time with her toddler  whom she welcomed via surrogate in July 2021  at a park in Madrid. And in photos taken last Friday, Heard was seen going for a run in her new city.

Heard lost the court battle to ex-husband Johnny Depp (getty)

Last October, she was snapped enjoying a day out on the beaches of Palma de Mallorca and, a few days before, was spotted playing with her daughter, Oonagh, two, at a park during the holiday.

Heard is expected to be in Tinsel Town, however, for the premiere of the upcoming Aquaman sequel.

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It was revealed recently that she is set to reprise her role as Mera.

The actresss future in the film was believed to be uncertain after she lost the six-week televised legal battle with Depp, 59, who accused her of defaming him, last year.

Heard, 37, had claimed during the high-profile court case that her role in the upcoming sequel was reduced, and that she fought really hard to stay in the movie.

Meanwhile, this week, Johnny Depp has been offered upwards of $20 million to renew his contract with Dior Sauvage for the next three years.
Gertrude and Charlie McGrath, back center, stand with their eight children and a few others at a relative's wedding, circa 1959. Author David McGrath is in a black bow tie in the foreground, second from right. (Family photo)

For once, I felt like the big man on campus.

I had just received a letter in the mail saying I had made the deans list. That evening, I learned from my brothers girlfriend, Michelle, that her best friend  older, attractive and worldly  wanted to date me.

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In less than a month, I would turn 19. And I recently switched from Lucky Strikes to Marlboros, the real mans brand of cigarette. Not only that, but since the start of summer, I had been pumping iron three times a week with my pal Tom Booth in his basement. After each workout, with arms and shoulders aching and biceps bulging, we would promenade down the main aisle at the Evergreen Park Plaza in our muscle shirts.

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I connected with Michelles friend on the phone on a Friday afternoon while I was alone in the house with my parents at work and my siblings at school. I was feeling her out while trying to impress her with the right amount of bravado when my monologue was abruptly interrupted by a clicking sound, followed by an unfamiliar voice:

This is the operator with an emergency breakthrough request on this line.

I was totally befuddled  until I heard my mothers voice.

Ive been trying to call for an hour, David, and youre tying up the phone. Make sure youre home when I get there.

The line went dead. And so did my inflated ego, as I wondered how much of my mothers scolding my potential love interest had heard.

Moms busting into my romantic conversation was embarrassing but not that much of a surprise. For I had learned long ago that nothing would stop her from doing what she thought best for her home and family.

Like the time I saw her morph into beast mode to pry a leech out of my little sister Nancys leg as a small crowd at a swimming lake in Michigan gathered to watch.

Or how, when I was little, she would commandeer five bench seats on a CTA bus for her and her brood for the hourlong commute to Rainbow Beach on 79th Street on broiling days in August with no air conditioning at home.

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Or when she stepped outside on a frigid day in December, wearing an apron but no coat, to issue a stern warning to some older boys who were vandalizing our snow fort and posturing for a fight.

Not that our mother was one of those helicopter parents, hovering over us in an unhealthy way. She would never dream, for example, of interfering at school, implicitly trusting the nuns to administer education and justice. As fiercely as she loved us, she resisted the maternal urge to overprotect, intellectually aware that accountability and independence would help us in the long run.

Which is why at the height of the 96th Place scandal of 1962, when my older brother and his friends were caught in an infamous act of Halloween mischief involving a freezer, a dog, a brown paper bag and a Zippo lighter, it was good old Mom who convened a block meeting to address the matter. Not to ensure special treatment for her own but to make certain all the perpetrators were equally punished and rehabilitated.

It all makes sense when you consider what a mother raised through war and the Depression was up against.

Shortly after Gertrude Rose Cichoszewski married Charlie McGrath in 1941, she got a crash course in self-reliance when my father was drafted into the Army for service in World War II.

After my father was assigned to an artillery command post in the Panama Canal Zone, she had her first child, Charlie Jr., in a Chicago hospital. For the next 18 months, my mother had to care for him alone. A story she often told was that when her husband came back to the States on furlough, the toddler said, Go away, man, when my father tried to enter the bedroom.

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When my mother became pregnant again, she wrote to President Harry Truman to ask if he could please speed things up so that her husband would not miss the birth of his second child. The White House replied with a polite form letter. Not long after, James was born, my father still absent.

Truman did finally speed things up, dropping bombs, accepting the Japanese surrender and sending Capt. McGrath by ship and rail to the train station on Chicagos South Side.

Mom was never happier.

Still, it didnt get much easier, as she had to raise a family that grew to 10 on the erratic commission my father earned as a tile salesperson. Not to mention, it was an era when womens employment, education and political avenues were closed off or restricted. They couldnt sign contracts for loans or even own a credit card. Nor did Mom ever drive.

Yet Gertrude McGrath succeeded as a mother in spite of gender restrictions, and as a role model and leader ahead of her time, thanks to her strength, ingenuity and tough love.

And her hijacking of my phone conversation that day? A blessing in disguise, ultimately rerouting me to find Marianne, my future wife.

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David McGrath is an emeritus English professor at the College of DuPage and author of South Siders. He can be reached at mcgrathd@dupage.edu.

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We are supposed to be a great nation. But its growing more difficult to believe we are even a good one. We routinely throw away people who make us afraid, those weve deemed other. Weve blithely accepted a state of economic inequality not seen since the Gilded Age and an unprecedented level of gun violence against our children.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott referred to Hispanic victims of a mass shooting as illegal immigrants instead of humans who tragically were murdered. More than 150,000 migrants amassed this week on our border with Mexico in terrible conditions looking for a chance to save themselves and their families from even worst conditions. The U.S. needs them as much as they need the U.S., and yet we cant muster up the courage to pass and implement a compromise immigration policy like the one that received 68 votes in the U.S. Senate in 2013. That was a decade ago, when we were closer to good than we are today. Since then, an open embrace of cruelty, even when it comes to the most vulnerable among us, has taken hold.

A live audience at a CNN-sponsored town hall featuring former President Donald Trump mocked a woman who had just successfully sued Trump for sexually assaulting her. No matter the growing number of documented stories about barbaric anti-abortion care laws putting pregnant womens lives at risk, Republican politicians push forward. The killing of 30-year-old Jordan Neely on the F train in the New York subway on May 1 was a flashpoint like no other. He had been homeless for years, long enough to have been arrested dozens of times, mostly for poverty-related offenses. In this country, poverty is more frequently being treated as a crime and moral failure, not something that should inspire us to remember what Jesus said about what we should do for the least of these.

Neely had also been convicted and spent time for physically assaulting people, including for punching a 67-year-old woman in the face and inflicting serious injuries. His past crimes have been repeatedly highlighted to justify his killing though he had not assaulted anyone on the F train that day. Less discussed was why he was suffering and homeless. As a 14-year-old, his mother was murdered by a boyfriend. He apparently never got over the guilt he felt for not having been able to protect her, a guilt I know well. As a young boy, I cowered in the corner of our kitchen watching my father beat my mother. I was frozen with helplessness. Its not something you ever forget. Neely went from grieving his mothers murder to being choked to death in the subway then slimed after death as just a criminal who was unworthy of the life snatched from his body. In a country that wanted to be good, not just pat itself on the back as being superficially great, there would be fewer Neelys in the wealthiest nation ever created, even fewer Americans who would excuse or justify what happened to him.

Closer to home, in South Carolina, Ive watched the victims of gun violence be all but dismissed after routine but brief bouts of thoughts and prayers. Tens of thousands of Americans are needlessly slaughtered every year because we worship the gun more than we love fellow children of God. Ive grown frustrated by our indifference. Fortunately, there are others still in the fight. Horry County Moms Demand Action will be holding an event at 2 p.m. Monday, May 15 at St. Pauls Anglican Church in Conway, then head to the Conway courthouse for a National Gun Violence Awareness Day Proclamation presented by Mayor Barbara Blain-Bellamy.

Theyll be honoring survivors of gun violence and those killed by firearms. It wont solve the enormous challenge we face on that issue and so many others. But it will be a small step back in the right direction of trying to make America good again.

Issac Bailey is a McClatchy Opinion writer based in Myrtle Beach.
An American expat living in the Philippines has been arrested after police discovered the body of his girlfriend inside a water drum near her home in the nations capital.

William Thomas Worth, 71, faces murder charges for allegedly killing his girlfriend, 48-year-old Mila Loslos, after finding out she was married with a child and was not single as she had claimed.

Loslos' son, 21-year-old Nino Jay, went to the police after his mother had been missing for a few days. He had asked his mothers roommate as to her whereabouts, then spoke to Worth, who said he had no idea, Rappler reported.

But Nino Jay said he smelled a foul odor in the house, at which point he went to the police to ask for help.

OHIO HUMAN TRAFFICKING STING NABS 10 MEN, INCLUDING TEACHER, ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT

William Thomas Worth, 71, was living with Mila Loslos, 48, at her home in Bacoor City, Cavite province, in the Philippines when the couple had an argument reportedly sparked by Mila's supposed deception of the American expat.

Bacoor City police recovered three knives and nylon rope at Worths house and noted that Worth had wounds in different parts of his body. They then found Loslos body sealed by duct tape inside a garbage bag inside the blue water drum.

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An American national has been arrested for allegedly murdering his Filipino girlfriend and hiding her body inside a plastic drum.

Bacoor City Police chief Lt. Col. Ruther Saquilayan identified the victim to the press and confirmed that she had been missing since May 5.

WANTED LAS VEGAS WOMAN ARRESTED AFTER COMMENTING UNDER NEWS POST ABOUT HER CASE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

"The body was already bloated, it was inside the drum and covered with packing tape," Saquilayan told the Manila Bulletin. "Based on our assessment, the victim has been dead for two to three days."

William Thomas Worth stands accused of murdering his girlfriend, Mila Loslos, after learning that she was married and had a son despite claiming otherwise.

Preliminary investigation suggests that Loslos may have slipped during an altercation and hit her head, after which Worth allegedly strangled her to death, Bacoor City police said. The police said they will carry out an autopsy to confirm the cause of death.

TEXAS MAN SHOOTS AND KILLS GIRLFRIEND BECAUSE SHE HAD AN ABORTION HE OPPOSED: POLICE

Bacoor City police arrested William Thomas Worth after investing his home and finding human remains inside a water drum.

Worth remained in Bacoor City police custody as of May 9 and will face an inquest this week. The police have said they will work with the U.S. Embassy regarding the incident.

A U.S. Embassy spokesman in Manila told the AFP that they are "aware of this case" but that "due to U.S. Privacy Act considerations, we cannot provide any further information."
North Carolina state Rep. Tricia Cotham announces she is switching affiliation to the Republican Party at a news conference Wednesday, April 5, 2023.

Imagine campaigning for a Democratic politiciana thankless, low-paying job, especially at the state levelbecause you believe in what they stand for. The candidate gives powerful speeches about abortion rights that make you proud. Youre in a purple state, where every single seat in the legislature is critical to protecting abortion access. So you join the fight, help them win, and continue working for them in the legislature. Then inexplicably, in the middle of their term, that politician does an about-face, switches parties, and votes in favor of an extreme abortion ban, delivering Republicans the one vote they needed to override a veto and actually shutter clinics in the state.

Two (now former) aides to North Carolina State Rep. Tricia Cotham found themselves in that position earlier this month. Cotham, a Democrat until recently who was endorsed by EMILYs List, had given speeches for years about abortion rights, sworn over and over to defend them, and even talked about her own medically necessary abortion. My womb and my uterus is not up for your political grab, she said in one particularly passionate 2015 speech.

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Then this month, in a stunning move that drew national headlines, Cotham decided to switch parties and vote in favor of a bill that would ban abortion after 12 weeks and could close clinics. Her defection gave North Carolinas Republican Party the supermajority they need to override Gov. Roy Coopers (D) veto and jam the bill into law, which will further decimate abortion access throughout the South.

The people who helped elect Cotham and worked for her are, understandably, feeling devastated, betrayed, and confused.

It makes you wonder, did this person ever believe anything at all? Jonathan Coby, who advised Cothams campaigns and resigned from her staff in April, told me in an interview. For her to vote for this is not just a betrayal of her district, but its a betrayal of who she has portrayed herself to be for her entire life. Coby said everyone hes spoken to on the ground in North Carolina feels deeply angry and heartbrokenand not just about the disgusting and awful politics of the move. Theres also a real human betrayal of just using and discarding people, he said.

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Autumn Alston, a Democratic activist who canvassed for Cothams two most recent campaigns and advised her often, echoed that sentiment. She used people when she needed them and now she has abandoned them, Alston told me, noting that Cotham stopped contacting her after switching parties.

Naturally, everyone would like to know what could possibly motivate a politician to abandon their whole platform, their constituents, and their dignity so suddenly and dramatically. We reported last week on the possibility that Cotham, a former charter school lobbyist, traded a vote on the abortion bill in order to co-chair the Education Committee. When she announced her defection, she said it was in part because shed been bullied by her fellow Democrats and had grown alienated from the party on issues like school choice, per the New York Times. (Cotham has not responded to Jezebels requests for comment.)

But Coby, in whom she confided about her decision to switch parties, said it wasnt really about any genuinely held beliefs, political issues, or even money. I wish I could say that she took a giant bag of cash at an IHOP and thats why she did thisbut its so much dumber than that, he said. Its just a deeply petty, personal thing.

Cotham served in the state house from 2007 through 2016; she left the role after failing to win a seat in Congress. In 2022, she ran for her old seat, and Coby said she felt a sense of entitlement that seeped through her actions. Cotham blew off endorsement meetings, didnt attend freshman orientation, and skipped caucus gatherings.

When Cotham told Coby she was thinking of switching parties about two days before the news broke, he says she was stuck on the idea that her Democratic colleagues didnt like her. The Democrats dont want me, and the Republicans have helped me out a lot, he recalled her saying.

As local media has reported, Cotham felt Democrats had repeatedly slighted her since her January swearing-inincluding criticizing her for using the American flag and prayer hands emojis online and supposedly not clapping for her when the Republican House Speaker recognized her on International Womens Day as the youngest woman ever elected to the State House. (Local news reported that Democrats did in fact clap for her, but as her mom recalled to a local reporter, Cotham had said of the perceived slight, That really hurt. This was womens history. And they couldnt even clap for me?) Cotham also bristled at criticism for missing a vote that let Republicans repeal a gun permit law.

Cotham had also been annoyed that Planned Parenthood didnt endorse her, despite her self-described very powerful speech on abortion rights. During her campaign, shed sought the endorsement of Planned Parenthood South Atlanticthe affiliate serving North Carolina, South Carolina, and West Virginiaand filled out their questionnaire, writing that shed been an unwavering advocate for abortion rights and citing her 2015 speech about her medically necessary abortion following a miscarriage. If elected, I will continue to work hand-in-hand with Planned Parenthood and allied groups to protect abortion rights and access and oppose anti-choice legislation, she wrote.

But then she blew off the actual endorsement interview for the group multiple times. A PPSAT spokesperson told Jezebel, Rep. Cothams campaign scheduled numerous candidate interviews with our board (the board endorses candidates), but she did not attend any of the interviews, which is why they didnt endorse her.

Then the day after the Supreme Court Dobbs opinion leak, Cotham complained to Alston via a now-public Twitter DM that Planned Parenthood and another organization had really screwed her. In the message, Cotham asks Alston if she would share a video of her abortion speech.

Alston told Jezebel she believed Cotham sent the DM because she was upset about not getting the PPSAT endorsement, as she had considered herself such a champion for women and womens rights.

The only thing that I can say for sure about Tricia Cotham from here on out is that she will always be the victim, Coby said. That is just who she believes herself to be, just a victim of life.

And so, feeling under-appreciated and under-celebrated by the left, Cotham saw an opportunity to be the new shiny object in the Republican Party, as Alston put it. And that meant being the hero who delivered them a huge victory on abortion. Nevermind everything she said before on the subject, or that she was throwing her own constituents who voted for her, and millions of other people, under the bus.

Now, Cotham still has a chance to change her mind. Gov. Cooper is expected to veto the abortion ban on Saturday, after which Republicans will take a vote to override it. Cotham could, by some miracle, decide not to join them, and activists on both sides are certainly pinning their hopes on her. The influential anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America has launched digital ads to support Cotham and three other lawmakers they accuse the governor of bullying in advance of the expected veto override. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic is appealing to her conscience.

We hope that a person who has experienced an abortion would do everything they could to protect access to it, said Jillian Riley, director of public affairs at PPSAT, told Jezebel in a statement. Rep. Cotham has one last chance to do thatto honor her personal experience and to stay true to her word.

Alston, meanwhile, says she would just like Tricia Cotham to remember where she came from, having experienced life as a young mother working in the State House, needing an abortion herself, and more recently, struggling with long covid.

Her new party would not support the decision she had to have an abortion. Her new party downplayed the significance of covid. She is now aligning herself with a party that is directly opposed to so many things she has not just stood for, but who she is and has been as a person, Alston told me. Selling out your soul is not worth it in the long term.

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Atlanta police are searching for suspects who they said shot a victim near the 2400 block of Forrest Park Road on Saturday.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Police told Channel 2 Action News they responded to 2497 Forrest Park Road after reports of a person shot. When at the location, police located a man who had been shot multiple times.

According to police, the man was shot by suspects in a gold Toyota Camry shortly after an argument with an unknown woman.

The victim was transported to a local hospital.

The victim was transported to a local hospital.

The suspects have not been identified. Anyone with any information on the incident is asked to contact police.

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IN OTHER NEWS:
A 22-year-old man was arrested for allegedly shooting his girlfriend because he was upset that she had had an abortion, according to the Dallas Police Department. The woman was killed by the gunshots.

The suspect and the victim got into an argument before the shooting, police said.

On Wednesday, Dallas police responded to a call about a shooting in the 800 block of South Walton Walker Boulevard around 7:40 a.m.

Police found Gabriella Gonzalez, 26, with multiple gunshot wounds. She died at the scene.

Gonzalezs sister said she saw Gonzalez and the suspect, Harold Thompson, walking together, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

The sister said after passing by Gonzalez and Thompson, she heard a gunshot. The witness saw Gonzalez on the ground.

Another witness told police they saw Thompson put Gonzalez in a choke hold before shooting her. The witness attempted to help Gonzalez but was unsuccessful, according to the affidavit.

Surveillance video obtained by police shows Gonzalez and Thompson walking. Thompson attempted to put Gonzalez in a choke hold, but she shrugged him off and they continued walking through a parking lot, according to police.

Thompson then pulled out a gun and shot Gonzalez one time in the head. She fell to the ground and Thompson fired several more gunshots at her before he fled the scene, police said in the affidavit. Thompson is facing a murder charge.

In the investigation, police discovered Gonzalez had gone to Colorado to get an abortion and returned the night before she was shot. Police believe Thompson was the father of the child and was upset about the abortion.

Thompson had an active warrant against him for choking Gonzalez before the day of the shooting.
Our close ally Britain has a new head of state. That fellow known for many decades as Prince Charles is now King Charles III, head of state of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland).

Media there and here focus on Royal Family personalities. There are much more durable dimensions to discuss.

Predecessors Charles I and Charles II reigned in the revolutionary 1600s. The first was beheaded. The second restored the monarchy after bloody war, then dictatorship under Oliver Cromwell. National institutions since then have endured.

Arthur Cyr

Britain played a pivotal role in World War II, when the Anglo-American Special Relationship was truly forged. The alliance between President Franklin Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill was central.

At home, Churchill and King George VI were vital to national unity in a desperate struggle.

The monarch has residual ruling powers, including the authority of actually appointing the government following a general election or other, sometimes unanticipated political shakeup.

In the 1960s, Queen Elizabeths husband Prince Philip spoke at UCLA, greeted by an Army ROTC student honor guard that included me. Philip paused, shook hands and talked with each of us, a classy gesture.

The public role of the Queen or King may be primarily symbolic. Nonetheless, that can become important in a time of national crisis or tragedy, especially war.

Britains government, after the 2016 referendum vote to leave the European Union, embarked on a complicated, painful effort to do so. In contrast to the heroic, historic stand against Nazi Germany, this bizarre ordeal seemed more like Alice in Wonderland.

Over four centuries ago, namesake Queen Elizabeth I was forcefully in charge of the British Isles. Those were brutal times, when losing a power struggle could cost your life.

That Elizabeth modernized Britain, managing Parliament with prudent skill. She stabilized politics following the tumultuous reign of her father Henry VIII. She confirmed influence in Europe, effectively balancing the nations of that continent.

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Today, the Crown and Parliament have subtly complementary roles. Walter Bagehot, long-time editor of the influential weekly magazine The Economist, described the situation brilliantly, with enduring insight.

The world has changed greatly since Bagehots analysis appeared in 1867. However, his fundamental insight remains very valid today. Parliament handles the practical efficient functions of governing while the monarchy handles the largely ceremonial dignified functions. Americans can envy the lack of an imperial presidency there.

Fundamentally important is that the British, unlike the Americans, have no written constitution. Parliament is effectively supreme, though the nation in October 2009 did formally establish an American-style Supreme Court.

The important ceremonial functions address the collective emotions of the people at large regarding government. In the 1930s, King Edward VIII generated great controversy when he wanted to marry Wallis Simpson, an expatriate American. In that different, earlier time, the fact that she was not British generated extensive public attention and debate. She also had been divorced twice. In general, notoriety followed her.

Vastly more important, Edward was sympathetic to Nazi Germany, as well as being personally extremely eccentric and unstable. Adolf Hitler and others at the top of the Nazi regime in Germany considered him a strategic asset, eventually to help control Britain in a conquered Europe. Finally, Edward abdicated to marry his American.

History underscores the importance of Britains Royal Family. Russias invasion of Ukraine reinforces our important Special Relationship. Nothing fake about these realities.

Learn more: Walter Bagehot, The English Constitution, and the film The Darkest Hour.

 Arthur I. Cyr is author of After the Cold War. Contact acyr@carthage.edu.

This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Arthur Cyr: Britains royal ceremony is important for them  and us
By Daniel Trotta

TIJUANA, Mexico (Reuters) - Lupita, a 36-year-old Mexican woman from the state of Michoacan, has spent three months in a shelter, waiting to apply for asylum in the United States. She wears some of the evidence for her case: bullet wounds about her arms, shoulder and abdomen.

Since March 2020, when broad COVID-era restrictions went into effect at the southwest border, Mexicans like Lupita were largely barred from seeking U.S. refuge and instead were quickly expelled back to Mexico.

On Friday, that changed when the administration of President Joe Biden ended Title 42, a COVID-inspired provision that allowed the U.S. government to turn away asylum-seekers for public health reasons.

Immigration attorneys at the Tijuana shelter, across the border from San Diego, California, were advising migrants they should sign up for an appointment to approach a port of entry on a new government app known as CBP One if they wanted to have a chance at winning asylum.

At the same time Title 42 expired, the Biden administration implemented a new regulation that presumes most migrants will be ineligible for asylum if they failed to use legal pathways for U.S. entry like CBP One.

Lupita, now attempting to get an appointment through CBP One, said she fled her home after her husband was killed by cartel gunfire last year, during which she said she was wounded. Pointing her elbows toward the ceiling, she revealed the suture scars where she was patched up. The outline of a colostomy bag - which she said was the result of a gut shot - is visible through her clothes.

Lupita, who asked not to publish her last name or be photographed for fear of reprisals, said prosecutors told her the attack was a case of mistaken identity, but she fears that being a witness to her husband's murder endangers her and her children. Reuters was not able to independently confirm her account.

"This is mostly for my children," Lupita said. "I can't go back home."

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Mexicans have made up about a third of all the migrants caught by U.S. Border Patrol in recent years but in 2021 and 2022 they were expelled under Title 42 more than 90% of the time.

PLACE OF SAFETY

Also at the shelter, where children played on bicycles and scooters around tents pitched on the floor, were families from Honduras, Ecuador, El Salvador and Nicaragua in addition to Mexico. It was at capacity with nearly 60 people on Friday.

Many migrant families are fleeing political violence or domestic abuse at home, trauma that is often made worse during the overland journey through Central America and Mexico, where they are preyed on by all manner of security forces and criminal groups, said Judith Cabrera de la Rocha, co-director of the Tijuana shelter.

"They arrive here malnourished, dehydrated, including pregnant women, and with severe consequences for their mental health. And that's in addition to the reason why they left was traumatizing," Cabrera said.

"I like to think of this as a place to get healthy," she said of the shelter. "We provide a place that's a little safer."

The new regulation also bars most migrants from asylum if they passed through other countries without first seeking protection elsewhere, which would apply to most people who are not from Mexico but who traveled through there to get to the border.

Immigration advocates have filed a legal challenge against the new asylum bars, claiming they violate U.S. and international laws and that they resemble restrictions imposed by Biden's Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, that were blocked in court.

Tens of thousands of migrants rushed to the border last week trying to enter the country before the new asylum rules took effect. In the scramble to the border Mexico's national migration agency said one 29-year-old Cuban migrant died trying to swim cross the Rio Grande river into Texas early Friday.

The spike in recent arrivals strained U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities. The Justice Department asked a federal judge in Florida to temporarily halt an order he issued on Friday that prevents border agents from releasing migrants from custody without first giving them formal notices to appear in immigration court. The government says the practice is needed to prevent overcrowding in U.S. detention centers.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta in Tijuana and Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City; Editing by Mica Rosenberg and Diane Craft)
Austin Russell is on quite a run.

The 28-year-old founder and CEO of Luminar, which develops vision-based lidar and machine perception technologies primarily for self-driving cars, told The Wall Street Journal earlier today that he is buying an 82% stake in Forbes Global Media Holdings in a deal that values the company at nearly $800 million.

According to the WSJ, Russell's stake includes the remaining portion of the company owned by its namesake family, which sold 95% of the company to the Hong Kong-based investor group Integrated Whale Media back in 2014. Forbes was essentially on sale from the moment it called off its merger with a special-purpose acquisition company in June of last year, after the market soured and investors lost their appetite for SPACs.

Luminar itself had better timing; it went public via a SPAC merger in 2021 when retail investors were still clamoring for shares in mobility tech companies. Still, by the time Forbes was calling off its own SPAC plans, nearly every mobility SPAC was trading below its offering price, and Luminar has not been immune to the broader downturn. Valued at $3.4 billion when it hit Wall Street, its market cap is now roughly $2 billion. Just three days ago reported slightly wider than expected losses.

Some retail investors might not be so happy about its performance, even while Russell told the Silicon Valley Business Journal last year that he had no regrets about the SPAC. (From his perspective, the alternative would have been to potentially run out of money, as private market investors began to snap shut their checkbooks.)

Others might find it concerning that Russell -- described by Forbes itself in 2021 as the world's youngest self-made billionaire -- will soon be directing some of his attention elsewhere.

Shareholders -- and Luminar employees -- may also find the acquisition confusing.

While it has become fashionable to dabble with more than one company at once (Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey), as well as to be a billionaire owner of a media company (Jeff Bezos, Laurene Powell Jobs, Marc Benioff), buying Forbes when so many outlets are fighting for survival bucks conventional wisdom.

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Then again, Russell has been focused on Luminar since 2012, when he dropped out of Stanford to start the company, aided by a $100,000 grant from renowned investor Peter Thiel. (The Thiel Fellowship program, founded in 2011, continues to give $100,000 to select students who are eager to spend two years on their idea instead of "sitting in a classroom.")

Russell has enjoyed the fruits of his work in the ensuing years. He purchased an $83 million Los Angeles spread in 2021 that has since been featured in the hit show "Succession." He also reportedly paid another $10.6 million for a 13,000-square-foot mansion in Winter Park, Florida, near Luminars Orlando headquarters. But after spending his entire career focused on Luminar, he could well be looking to alter how he invests his time.

As Y Combinator Paul Graham once said as he expressed his distaste for funding founders who are especially young, sometimes the worse thing that can happen to a person is that his or her startup succeeds straightaway.

Said Graham: "[I]f you start a successful startup, like, the footloose and fancy-free days of your life are over. Youre working for that company.

In a statement to the WSJ, Russell said simply of his motivations that: Forbes is something I had always looked up to as a brand and as a media empire." He also told the outlet that he doesnt plan to get involved in Forbess day-to-day operations but that he wants to both grow the outfit and emphasize "philanthropy" within the business.

TechCrunch reached out to Russell a bit ago; we were referred to a press release about the acquisition and told Russell has no further comment for now.
People living in tents behind the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures were moved into a motel in February under Mayor Karen Bass' Inside Safe program. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Mayor Karen Bass' first citywide budget cleared an important hurdle on Friday, with a five-member committee paving the way for her to spend $250 million on Inside Safe, her strategy for combating homelessness.

The City Council's Budget, Finance and Innovation Committee struck a compromise with Bass over efforts to secure additional oversight over Inside Safe, which has been moving unhoused Angelenos into hotels, motels and other facilities.

Council members have been seeking more supervision of the program, which has moved about 1,200 unhoused people indoors so far. Bass warned last week that the committee's push for additional review  setting some of the money for the program aside to be approved later on  would return City Hall to the days when there was a "lack of urgency" on homelessness.

The committee resolved the issue by calling for about $184 million of the planned $250 million to be put into the city's "unappropriated balance," an account where city programs receive funding but typically require additional council approval. However, the committee took steps to ensure that Bass' homelessness team would have immediate access to the remaining funds  without triggering additional council votes.

Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, who chairs the committee, compared the arrangement to a Starbucks gift card that automatically reloads: Any time the mayor's Inside Safe account falls below $25 million, it would be automatically replenished with another $25 million from the unappropriated balance, he said.

Council members would be notified in advance of each transfer to the Inside Safe account  and retain the power to reject that transfer if they had concerns about the program, Blumenfield said.

"[Bass] was concerned about the expediency ... and I had concerns about the oversight and accountability," he said. "I wanted to find a third way that would create the accountability and the oversight, but still give her expediency."

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Bass, for her part, would be required to provide biweekly reports on Inside Safe, spelling out how the money is being spent and what the initiative is accomplishing.

The mayor's proposed budget now heads to the full City Council, which is scheduled to make its decision Thursday. The next budget year starts July 1.

Zach Seidl, a spokesperson for Bass, said in a statement that the mayor and her team are reviewing the committee's actions.

"This is a step in a multi-step process and the mayor looks forward to continuing her work with the City Council to urgently bring Angelenos inside," he said. "The mayor is confident that the collaboration with the City Council established over the past five months will continue."

When the council approved $50 million for Inside Safe in January, council members said they wanted biweekly reports on the progress of the initiative. Only one report has been produced so far.

City Controller Kenneth Mejia, who sent staffers at one point to monitor an early Inside Safe operation, suggested in recent months that there were legal limits to his ability to oversee the program.

"Since Inside Safe is under the mayor's office, some interpretations of city law make it difficult for us to independently assess," he said on Twitter in March. "Thats why we & other offices defer to the mayor."

Chief Legislative Analyst Sharon Tso, who advises the council on the budget process, has also raised the issue of oversight regarding Inside Safe and other programs.

"While there is no objection to the mayor carrying out her priorities and directing departments accordingly, doing so without review by the city's legislative branch is of great concern and upsets the balance established in the City's Charter, Tso said in a memo to the committee this week.

During this year's budget hearings, oversight of Inside Safe has turned out to be a bigger source of contention than the mayor's proposal for police hiring. Bass has called for the Los Angeles Police Department to grow to 9,500 officers  a target viewed by many at City Hall as difficult to achieve. The department currently has 9,100.

On Friday, the budget committee endorsed the mayor's hiring plan. At the same time, the panel recommended the removal of about $31 million from her proposed budget for the LAPD, scaling back the amount allocated for salaries and related costs. The committee also recommended an additional $10 million for police hiring and overtime go into the city's unappropriated balance.

Blumenfield said he remains committed to the mayor's hiring goal, even amid efforts to trim the LAPD's proposed budget.

None of these reductions," he said, "will impede hiring."

Councilmember Curren Price tried at one point to halt the reductions planned for the LAPD budget, but later withdrew his motion after receiving reassurance from Tso that there would still be enough money to reach the mayor's LAPD hiring goal.

"I think we have a responsibility to support her as she endeavors to achieve her objective," he said in a statement.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Jeremy Allen White and his wife, fellow actor Addison Timlin, are parting ways.

Timlin, 31, has filed for divorce from 32-year-old White, according to legal documents obtained by NBC News and the Los Angeles Times. The actors, who have two young daughters, married in 2019 but have known each other since they were teens.

Actors Jeremy Allen White and Addison Timlin attend the Los Angeles premiere of

Actors Jeremy Allen White and Addison Timlin attend the Los Angeles premiere of "The Bear" last year.

When we were 14 years old and I saw you perform for the first time in drama class, I couldnt take my eyes off of you, Timlin wrote in an Instagram post following Whites Golden Globes win in January for his starring role as chef Carmy Berzatto in FXs comedy-drama series The Bear.

White had honored Timlin in his acceptance speech at the time, saying Addison Timlin, I love you deep in my bones.

White and Timlin at the premiere of

White and Timlin at the premiere of "The Bear" in Los Angeles last year.

Prior to appearing on The Bear, White acted on the 11-season hit Showtime series Shameless as eldest Gallagher child Phillip Lip Gallagher. Timlin has appeared on the Showtime comedy-drama Californication, and she starred in the 2014 slasher movie The Town That Dreaded Sundown.

Representatives for Timlin and White did not immediately reply to a request for comment from HuffPost.

Related...
Ben Affleck has officially convinced his toughest critic  and young daughter.

The Oscar-winning actor admitted Friday on the red carpet for his latest film, Hypnotic, that hes finally gotten familial approval. Affleck, who shares three children with his ex-wife Jennifer Garner, said the thriller had garnered him the first positive review.

My kids constantly make fun of me, and they wont watch any of my movies, but I showed them some clips from this, and my daughter was like, That actually looks kind of interesting! Affleck told ET. So I thought that was the best review that I could get.

Affleck added he hopes others are just as enthused and come away from it having really enjoyed the movie. The Robert Rodriguez film centers on a detective tracking his abducted daughter, only to uncover a secretive brainwashing project led by the government.

He really wanted to do a kind of homage to [Alfred] Hitchcock, Affleck told ET about Rodriguez. He wanted to make this movie like the classic Hitchcock films  letting the concept and directing be the special effects, in a way.

Rodriguez, who burst onto the scene as an independent filmmaker in the early 1990s, has since gone on to direct massive genre movies like The Faculty (1998), Sin City (2005), and the Spy Kids franchise. His films have reportedly grossed a total of over $1.5 billion.

Affleck shares three children with his ex-wife, Jennifer Garner.

Affleck shares three children with his ex-wife, Jennifer Garner.

Affleck revealed last month that hes only recently shown two of his children Good Will Hunting, which earned him and co-writer Matt Damon a Best Original Screenplay Oscar in 1998  and launched his enduring image as a working-class Bostonian.

It was interesting for me to watch them watch the movie and see how different their childhood is from what my childhood looked like, he told The Hollywood Reporter, and to wonder about what that must seem like to them and how distant from their life and reality.

While it remains unclear which daughter he showed Hypnotic to, Affleck told the THR that his young Good Will Hunting fans were engaged and interested in the coming-of-age drama  and that it was probably the most gratifying experience of my life.

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On Friday, however, the former Batman star was focused on his latest film. Affleck, who said Rodriguez had a bold style, told ET the thriller exemplified old-fashioned filmmaking and relied on the story. Garner, meanwhile, recently said their kids are over their parents.

They dont mind watching their dad, but they kind of want me to be their mom, Garner told Allure earlier this week. They dont want to see me upset, and women cry more in what we do. And they dont really want to see me in a romantic thing.

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Ben Shapiro may be feeling the Bern from Twitter users after he quipped that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) isnt really Jewish.

The right-wing podcaster weighed in after Sanders hosted a Nakba Day event on Wednesday organized by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the first Palestinian-American woman elected to Congress. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) had previously canceled the event in the House.

Nakba refers to the catastrophe and recognizes when Palestinians were displaced from their homes beginning in 1948 with the establishment of the State of Israel.

Sanders, who is Jewish, has been critical of the Israeli government and has expressed sympathy for Palestinians.

Shapiro responded to a tweet about Sanders by calling the senators Jewishness into question: Bernie Sanders is approximately as Jewish as a ham sandwich topped with shrimp on lard bread.

Bernie Sanders is approximately as Jewish as a ham sandwich topped with shrimp on lard bread https://t.co/LFEh4ovAIg  Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) May 11, 2023

Twitter responded by adding context to Shapiros tweet:

Sen. Sanders grew up in Brooklyn, a son of Jewish immigrants. His father, Elias, emigrated from Poland in 1921 at 17. Sen. Sanders learned during an appearance on the PBS show Finding Your Roots that he had family killed during the Holocaust.

Sanders fathers brother Abraham was shot and killed by Nazis in 1942 after he refused to turn people over to be executed, as the senator learned on Finding Your Roots.

Twitter users had some thoughts about Shapiros comment.

His family was literally murdered in the Holocaust you absolute piece of shit https://t.co/0t5oihKG37  Jeremy Slevin (@jeremyslevin) May 11, 2023

Why do the same people who criticize wokeness for racial stereotyping and declaring minorities heretics if they dont follow a certain line turn around and do this? Its the same thing. https://t.co/58qtVis9Tc  Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) May 11, 2023

Bernie Sanders is like ten Jews https://t.co/03yTlYxgpi  John Ganz (@lionel_trolling) May 11, 2023

Conservative Jews love to tell liberal Jews theyre not Jewish. https://t.co/4YzAoL8aSs  Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) May 11, 2023

Fun Fact: Ben's surname denotes that his Ashkenazi ancestors came from the German city of Speyer, whose vibrant, thriving Jewish community was destroyed after a flood of misinformation and lies about them. https://t.co/hJz1CGncU8  Mike Stuchbery  (@MikeStuchbery_) May 12, 2023

Bernie Sanders is a Jew of the Tikkun Olam tradition. Hes what we Jews call a mensch. Youre what we Jews call a schmuck and a shande far di goyim. https://t.co/1eg2tZI5p7  Katie Halper (@kthalps) May 11, 2023

Who is a Jew? A person whose integrity decays when unmoved by the knowledge of wrong done to other people.  Abraham Joshua Heschel https://t.co/fLgJWIoy85  Max Berger (@maxberger) May 12, 2023

The thing about this is that anyone who grew up New York Ashkenazi of a certain generation knows how profoundly Jewish Bernie is. The cranky old socialist complaining about injustice and not particularly observant is a New York Jewish archetype straight out of central casting. https://t.co/vz61LUQfmC  Joel S. (@jh_swanson) May 11, 2023

I had no idea that ben shapiro gets to decide who is and isnt jewish, thats totally wild https://t.co/up9CpZyYt5  beth miller (@bethavemiller) May 11, 2023

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When Beyonce says to sing, you sing. The crowd at the Friends Arena in Stockholm, where Beyonce's Renaissance tour kicked off on May 10, did just that  to mixed results.

Beyonce sang 37 songs over the course of three hours. When she got to "Love on Top," she invited the crowd to sing along to the song's iconic key changes.

On Twitter, a concertgoer posted a clip from the moment when fans joined in, which has been seen over 1.2 million times. But after people zoomed in on Beyonce's facial expression, they think she didn't seem impressed.

Im still stuck in Beyonces reaction, the attendee wrote on Twitter.

im still stuck in Beyonces reaction pic.twitter.com/9gX15z6mbC   (@arthfobic) May 10, 2023

At the end of the clip, Beyonce also says "give yourselves a round of applause," which some immediately took as shade.

She said give ya self a round of applause cause I aint   Im Take Care Drake (@tsddrake) May 11, 2023

And because this is the internet, the moment quickly became meme fodder.

She said: yall had a year to practice, lawd have mercy, another user wrote, captioning the reaction.

However, one concertgoer said the internet got it wrong: Beyonce had actually been impressed with the crowd's singing.

"I was there, she was impressed cuz the crowd was really good at singing this song altogether," they wrote on Twitter. (TODAY.com has reached out for comment).

Another defended Beyonce, stating, She would never treat her fans that way. Yall should know better. Shes not mean-spirited like that.

I dont think Beyonces being negative right here. She would never treat her fans that way. Yall should know better. Shes not mean-spirited like that.  Stephanie Parrott (@StephParrott) May 11, 2023

Whatever the case may be, Beys reaction will now go down in tour history.

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The Renaissance World Tour is an extravagant affair, with elaborate costumes from Beyonce and the crowd, intricate set pieces (such as the use of a metallic tank), and an overall ode to ballroom culture.

"Renaissance" is set to continue throughout Europe before heading to North America and concluding on September 27 in New Orleans.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Travelers wait in line to cross the McAllen-Hidalgo International Bridge, Friday, May 12, 2023, in Hidalgo, Texas. Julio Cortez/AP

On Friday, restrictive immigration policy Title 42  instituted by Donald Trump in March 2020  expired.

Advocates and attorneys told Insider that new measures from the White House are inadequate.

That's because the Biden administration is handling almost all asylum claims through a glitchy app.

The fate of tens of thousands of asylum seekers and the efficiency of the US border now rest on a smartphone application that immigration advocates and migrants alike say is glitchy, slow, and causing mass anxiety among migrants who, as of Friday, have the chance to seek asylum again for the first time in over three years.

Friday marked the official end of Title 42, a public health measure imposed by the Trump administration in March 2020. The measure, criticized for years as inhumane by immigration advocates, gave the US government the ability to close ports of entry to asylum seekers and rapidly deport them  effectively pausing the processing of asylum claims for years and stripping thousands of their international right to seek asylum.

President Joe Biden committed to ending the policy while on the 2020 campaign trail, but ultimately extended its expiry date several times. In recent months, his administration has enacted even more restrictive measures, including allowing migrants to seek asylum at US ports of entry only if they have already sought asylum in any other countries they passed through to reach the US.

Now, the Biden administration has returned to Title 8, a law which, in part, expands access to migrants claiming asylum, while also giving immigration enforcement agencies more tools to rapidly deport people, known as "expedited removals."

A new 'digital wall' is creating its own backlog

But at the core of the Biden administration's new approach is an electronic asylum processing system which migrants and immigration advocates say is a complete headache to use: the CBP One app.

The app, which launched in January, requires asylum seekers to upload a photo and their personal information to the platform, with a lottery for appointments opening up every day at 10 a.m. until the slots are filled. So far, at least 62,000 people have applied for appointments, and only 800 people have been scheduled for the first appointments to apply for asylum on May 24, according to The New York Times.

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The agency says it's gearing up to open up 1,000 appointment slots per day, per the Times.

A girl looks on as others reach through a border wall for clothing handed out by volunteers, while they wait between two border walls to apply for asylum Friday, May 12, 2023, in San Diego. Hundreds of migrants remain waiting between the two walls, many for days. The U.S. entered a new immigration enforcement era Friday, ending a three-year-old asylum restriction and enacting a set of strict new rules that the Biden administration hopes will stabilize the U.S.-Mexico border and push migrants to apply for protections where they are, skipping the dangerous journey north. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

The Department of Homeland Security is heavily pushing migrants to use the app, and immigration advocates told Insider that asylum seekers are even being penalized for not using it.

People caught trying to enter the US between ports of entry instead of waiting to be approved for an appointment on the app are being slapped with a 5-year ban on seeking asylum as part of the government's efforts to promote usage of the technology.

The catch, immigration advocates said, is that the app is borderline unusable for many migrants who have reached the border.

"Nobody that we saw between Matamoros and Reynoso could even open the app today, so imagine the anxiety that they are feeling," Priscilla Orta, an attorney with Lawyers for Good Government, told Insider on Thursday.

Reports from the border this week described an application that is full of technical glitches, including long loading times as the system is overwhelmed by tens of thousands of people trying to access it at the same time. The app has also struggled to recognize darker skin tones, according to The Guardian.

Nor is the smartphone app accessible to many migrants who have traveled hundreds of miles across dangerous terrain to reach the US border. Some don't have cell phones, and those who do are struggling to keep a charge or find a connection while stuck in immigration limbo, said Pedro Rios, director of the American Friends Service Committee's US/Mexico Border Program.

"Essentially it becomes a digital wall," Rios said of CBP One. "We have a physical border wall and now technology becomes another barrier that migrants are having to find a way around because it just doesn't work for many of them."

Escorted by Mexican immigration officials, migrants from a group of 50 who were chosen by the Casa Migrante organization, walk across the Puerto Nuevo bridge from Matamoros, Mexico, to be processed by U.S. immigration officials, early Friday, May 12, 2023, the day after U.S. pandemic-related asylum restrictions called Title 42 were lifted. According to Mexican immigration officials, migrants will be organized to cross in groups of 50. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Advocates working at the border told Insider that on the day Title 42 expired, the app was not working. Thus, even as Title 42 comes to an end, ostensibly offering migrants their first chance to seek asylum in years, many are quickly discovering the obstacles are ever-present, leaving migrants feeling hopeless and desperate, Orta said.

"Imagine you've been opening the app every day at 10 a.m. and then you know there's a shift coming, and on the day of the shift, nothing works," she said.

The Biden administration did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.

'A tough transition'

Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas in an interview with MSNBC on Friday acknowledged that the immediate aftermath of Title 42's expulsion would be "a tough transition," but emphasized the administration's plan.

"There's a right way to seek relief in the United States and a wrong way," he said. "If individuals do not use those lawful pathways, then they will face tougher consequences at the border."

"They will be removed if they do not qualify for relief, and they will face, after removal, at least a five-year bar from entry into the United States. And if they try again, they could face criminal prosecution," he added.

Among the other policies in place to prepare for an expected increase in asylum claims following the end of Title 42 are more regional processing centers; increased powers to asylum officers; and a humanitarian parole pathway for migrants from Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela, and Haiti with financial sponsors.

A spokesperson for DHS did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Migrants are facing dangerous conditions as they wait for an appointment

The inability to secure an appointment leaves tens of thousands of asylum-seekers stuck in limbo on the other side of the border, where they face a variety of dangers that include dehydration, hunger, unpredictable weather, and violence from Mexico's increasingly threatening drug cartels.

"You're telling folks that if you want to seek asylum you have to have an appointment on an app that doesn't always work," Orta said. "And then you have the Nueva Generacion Jalisco cartel chasing you and kidnapping you, and telling you that you're helping to fund their new war."

Many migrants have no idea the app even exists, let alone the repercussions that await them should they fail to make use of the technology, immigration advocates said.

A migrant woman, holding a baby, walks along the train tracks

A migrant woman, holding a baby, walks along the train tracks hoping to board a freight train heading north, in Huehuetoca, Mexico, Friday, May 12, 2023, the day after U.S. pandemic-related asylum restrictions called Title 42 were lifted.(AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

A Nicaraguan family of eight who attended one of Orta's "Know Your Rights," training in Matamoros, Mexico this week had never been given any information about the app as they planned to walk to a US port of entry and apply for asylum.

If they made that honest mistake, and were it not for a network of attorneys and advocates filling in the information blackout, the family would have had their claim rejected at the border with little chance of reapplying for years, Orta said.

"You will never have full freedom and protection in the US all because you innocently walked up to the bridge and had no idea an app existed because you have been fleeing for your life the last few weeks," Orta added.

While the caustic immigration rhetoric of the Trump administration may be a relic of the past, Rios said the Biden government's actions toward migrants and asylum seekers are disturbingly similar to his predecessor's, including the prioritization of an app that leads to limited asylum.

"The fundamental problem is that you're putting people's lives on an app," Orta said. "This is not a Taylor Swift concert."

Read the original article on Business Insider
The Biden administration has unleashed a flurry of regulations this year targeting popular household appliances as part of its climate and conservation agenda and has paved the way for additional actions.

Over the last several months, the Department of Energy (DOE) has unveiled standards to make various appliances, including gas stoves, ovens, clothes washers, refrigerators, air conditioners and dishwashers, more efficient, and experts have said this would worsen product quality and lead to higher prices.

"It's just spreading to more and more appliances. It seems that almost everything that plugs in or fires up around the house is either subject to a pending regulation or soon will be," Ben Lieberman, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told Fox News Digital in an interview.

"Consumers aren't going to like any of it. These rules are almost always bad for consumers for the simple reason that they restrict consumer choice.

BIDEN ADMIN MOVING FORWARD WITH LIGHT BULB BANS IN COMING WEEKS

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm testifies before the House Appropriations Committee March 23.

"Anybody who wants to choose the more eco-friendly versions of appliances is always free to do so. But these rules force that choice on everyone, whether it makes sense for them or not," Lieberman added. "Almost all of these appliance standards raise the upfront costs. It's not clear that you'll ever earn that back in the form of energy or water savings."

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According to the current federal Unified Agenda, a government-wide, semiannual list that highlights regulations agencies plan to propose or finalize within the next 12 months, the Biden administration is moving forward with rules impacting dozens more appliances, including consumer furnaces, pool pumps, battery chargers, ceiling fans and dehumidifiers.

BIDEN ADMIN CRACKS DOWN ON AIR CONDITIONERS AS WAR ON APPLIANCES CONTINUES

Under the DOE's mission statement, the Unified Agenda highlights advancing "energy efficiency and conservation" as one of five central pillars. Broadly, Democrats and environmentalists have argued that electrification, banning natural gas hookups and implementing strict energy efficiency standards could help accelerate emissions reductions.

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President Biden speaks about the situation in Poland following a meeting with G7 and European leaders on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali Nov. 16, 2022.

"This administration is using all of the tools at our disposal to save Americans money while promoting innovations that will reduce carbon pollution and combat the climate crisis," Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said May 5 after unveiling rules cracking down on dishwashers, electric motors and beverage vending machines.

"With todays announcements, DOE is making rapid progress to strengthen outdated energy efficiency standards  as directed by Congress and in coordination with our industry partners and stakeholders  and support healthier, safer communities for the American people."

In December, Granholm touted that the administration had taken 110 actions on energy efficiency standards in 2022 alone. The energy secretary added that the regulations strengthened U.S. leadership in "the race towards a clean energy future."

In addition, the White House hosted an electrification summit that same month during which Granholm played a leading role. During the summit, administration officials and environmental advocates discussed ways to push electrification of buildings and transportation while decreasing economy-wide fossil fuel use.

White House clean energy czar John Podesta speaks during the electrification summit Dec. 14.

"We've got to get these technologies in homes all across America, and we've got to do it as fast as possible," White House clean energy czar John Podesta said during the summit.

On his first day in office in January 2021, President Biden signed an executive order requiring the Department of Energy to make "major revisions" to current appliance regulation standards and standards set by the Trump administration. A month later, the agency listed more than a dozen energy efficiency rules impacting appliances like water heaters, cooking products and lamps, that it would review.

"Their philosophy is energy efficiency at all costs or energy efficiency no matter the cost," a former senior DOE official, who served during the Trump administration, previously told Fox News Digital. "That means we are going to see, as a result of their efficiency standards, higher-priced appliances. It's that simple.

"The reality is that we are not talking about saving huge amounts of energy from these new regulations."
President Joe Biden denounced white supremacy as the most dangerous terrorist threat to the nation in his commencement address to Howard Universitys graduating class Saturday.

White supremacy  is the single most dangerous terrorist threat in our homeland, Biden said. And Im not just saying this because Im at a Black HBCU. I say this wherever I go.

Addressing the 2023 graduates of the university at the Capital One Arena in D.C., Biden depicted the U.S. as a nation roiled by internal conflict and alluded to core messages of both his 2020 and 2024 campaign platforms.

Invoking the battle cry he used to galvanize voters in the 2020 election cycle, he called on his audience to fight for the soul of the nation.

Fearless progress toward justice often means ferocious pushback from the oldest and most sinister of forces, Biden said. Thats because hate never goes away.  It only hides under the rocks. And when its given oxygen it comes out from under that rock. And thats why we know this truth as well: silence is complicity. We cannot remain silent.

Biden continued by telling the soon-to-be-grads that they represented the future of America  a future with the opportunity to put the strength of our diversity at the center of American life, and one that celebrates and learns from history.

Still, in an apparent reference to former President Donald Trump, Biden acknowledged that the path toward that future is by no means easy.

Lets be clear: There are those who dont see you. Who dont want this future, Biden said. There are those who demonize and pit people against one another. There are those who would do anything and everything, no matter how desperate or immoral, to hold onto power.



But despite some strong audience applause, Bidens message was not entirely well-received. The crowd of graduates was dotted with students' signs criticizing the Biden-Harris administrations treatment of African Americans.

A Black child was lynched yesterday! one sign read, referencing the May 1 killing of 30-year-old Jordan Neely on a New York subway, while another students cap said, Biden and Harris dont care about Black people.

Still another read: Stand up, Fight Back, Black People Under Attack.

The seventh sitting president to deliver Howards Commencement address, Biden received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the HBCU. Bidens vice president, Kamala Harris, graduated from Howard.
President Biden was busy this weekend with a university commencement address and a trip to his private home in Delaware amid turmoil following the end of Title 42.

Biden spoke Saturday at Howard University in Washington D.C., delivering the commencement address to the historically Black university.

He later boarded Air Force One and arrived at his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware house after 2 p.m. ET. Biden briefly took questions before boarding the presidential aircraft, saying the debt ceiling talks are "moving along" but "we are not there yet."

WATCH LIVE: PRESIDENT BIDEN DELIVERS COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS AT HOWARD UNIVERSITY

President Biden makes his way to board Air Force One before departing from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on May 13, 2023. Biden is heading to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware to spend the weekend at his beach house.

The announcement comes after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) forced asylum officers to work through the weekend in an effort to deal with the surge of migrants at the southern border seeking to claim asylum in the U.S., Fox News Digital learned exclusively on Friday.

Title 42, the public health order that allows for the rapid expulsion of migrants at the southern border due to the COVID-19 pandemic, expired on Thursday night with the ending of the COVID-19 national emergency.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

BIDEN HEADS TO BEACH AS DHS FORCES EMPLOYEES TO WORK WEEKEND AT THE BORDER

President Biden delivers the commencement address during the 2023 Howard University Spring graduation ceremony at Capitol One Arena in Washington, D.C., on May 13, 2023.

In the days leading up to the order's end, agents have been encountering historic levels of over 10,000 migrants a day  with authorities already preparing for releases of migrants without court dates onto the streets.

Biden did not make reference to the ongoing crisis during his speech at Howard University.

The president spoke at length about the 2021 Capitol riots and his inauguration days afterward.

President Biden speaks to reporters about the continued debt ceiling negotiations before boarding Air Force One as he departs from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on May 13, 2023. Biden is heading to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware to spend the weekend at his beach house.

"In January 2021 I stood in the US Capitol to be inaugurated as President of the United States. Just days before on that very spot, a violent insurrection took place  a dagger at the throat of democracy," Biden told the audience. "For the first time in our history, an attempt to stop the peaceful transfer of power in this country. They failed."

Biden highlighted the presence of the Howard University marching band's presence during his inauguration parade with Vice President Kamala Harris.

He continued, "Our democracy held, and again hope prevailed. And this time, I was standing with a black woman about to take a two-hour procession down Pennsylvania Avenue as president and Vice President of the United States of America. And who was marching alongside her? The Howard University marching band in lockstep and solidarity."
WASHINGTON (AP)  A showdown with Congress that has the nations creditworthiness at stake; a frenzied scene at the border as pandemic restrictions ease; a pivotal foreign trip meant to sustain support for Ukraine and contain a more assertive China in the Indo-Pacific.

Three weeks since launching his reelection campaign, President Joe Biden is confronting a sweeping set of problems in his day job that defy easy solutions and are not entirely within his control. If, as his advisers believe, the single best thing Biden can do for his reelection prospects is to govern well, then the coming weeks can pose a near-existential test of his path to a second term.

Economists warn that the country faces a debilitating recession  and worse  if Biden and lawmakers cant agree on a path to raising the debt limit. Biden wants Congress to raise it without precondition, equating Republicans demands for spending cuts with ransom for the countrys full faith and credit.

The expiration of the COVID-19 public health emergency meant the end of special pandemic restrictions on migrant procedures on an already taxed U.S.-Mexico border. His administration has responded with new policies to crack down on illegal crossings while opening legal pathways encouraging would-be migrants to stay put and apply online to come to the U.S. But Biden himself has predicted a chaotic situation as the new procedures take effect.

These tests comes as Biden prepares to depart Washington on Wednesday for an eight-day trip to Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia. Biden will try to marshal unity among Group of Seven leading democratic economies to maintain support for Ukraine as it prepares to launch a counteroffensive against Russias invasion, and to invigorate alliances in the face of Chinas forceful regional moves.

Biden put his ability to solve problems at the core of his pitch to voters in 2020 and it is central to his argument for why, at 80, hes best prepared for four more years in the White House.

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Im more experienced than anybody thats ever run for the office, Biden told MSNBC this month. And I think Ive proven myself to be honorable as well as also effective.

Yet the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 undercut Bidens image as an effective manager, sending his approval ratings sharply down and hes still working to recover.

An April poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found Bidens job approval rating at 42%, a slight improvement from 38% in March. The March poll came after a pair of bank failures rattled an already shaky confidence in the nations financial systems, and Bidens approval rating then was near the lowest point of his presidency. It also found that 26% of Americans overall want to see Biden run again  a slight recovery from the 22% who said that in January. Forty-seven percent of Democrats say they want him to run, also up slightly from only 37% who said that in January.

Aides note that Biden entered the White House when the country faced an array of even greater trials: the COVID-19 pandemic, an associated economic crisis and strained international alliances after four years of Donald Trump's presidency.

President Biden continues to leverage his experience and judgment to fight for middle-class families and mainstream values, including by standing against congressional Republicans extreme MAGA threat to trigger a downturn" unless they get sweeping spending cuts, said White House spokesman Andrew Bates.

Biden said Saturday its hard to tell how staff-level talks to avert a crisis on the debt limit will shake out. He plans to reconvene with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other congressional leaders before he heads overseas, but the White House has been firm that while Biden is open to considering spending cuts as part of the budget process, he wont agree to them as a condition for raising the debt limit.

Theres no deal to be had on the debt ceiling, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday. Theres no negotiation to be had on the debt ceiling. This is something that Congress needs to do.

U.S. officials are warning that the impasse threatens national security. Pentagon brass has already warned that it could hurt pay and benefits for troops and U.S. standing around the globe, said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.

It sends a horrible message to nations like Russia and China, who would love nothing more than to be able to point at this and say, See, the United States is not a reliable partner. The United States is not a stable leader of peace and security around the world, he said.

Biden also faces a key test at the southern border, where the transition away from Title 42 has been anything but simple. Migrants along the border were still wading into the Rio Grande to take their chances getting into the country, defying officials shouting for them to turn back. Lawsuits have threatened measures to release migrants into the U.S. to avoid overcrowding in border patrol facilities as well as efforts to crack down on asylum seekers entering the country.

But the problem can't be solved by the U.S. on its own.

It is true that the Americas is, at the moment, going through an unprecedented displacement crisis, said Olga Sarrado, a spokeswoman for the United Nations refugee agency.

The U.S. has increasingly seen migrants arrive at its Southern border who are from China, Ukraine, Haiti, Russia and other nations far from Latin America, and who are increasingly family groups and children traveling alone. Thirty years ago, by contrast, illegal crossings were almost always single adults from Mexico who were easily returned back over the border.

Meanwhile, Border Patrol agents are encountering more nearly 8,000 migrants per day, and the human toll of the challenge was driven home in recent days by the death of a 17-year-old boy in U.S. custody. An investigation continues.

A decision from one single country is not going to fix the challenges, Sarrado said. And we cannot forget that these are human beings  many of them in need of international protection and that we need to put them at the center of any decision that is made.

With just under 18 months to go until Election Day, its not a given that these issues will shape voters' decisions, said Chapman University presidential historian Luke Nichter.

There is a long time between now and November 2024, he said. I dont think todays issues matter a great deal since they wont likely be the issues on the minds of voters more than a year from now.

Jonathan Young, a Democratic donor who came to hear Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday in Atlanta, said Biden must navigate the current gauntlet with something to show the middle of the electorate, especially if Republicans nominate someone other than Trump.

A rematch might go the same way, because Biden still isnt Trump, Young said, arguing that the former president makes any contest turn on personality more than policy.

But Young noted that Bidens answer to Trumps big personality in 2020 was to be almost deliberately boring and stubbornly competent. However Biden navigates the debt ceiling and immigration, Young said, he has to maintain an ability to credibly sell that image again as an incumbent.

I think hes great on the policy, and I think hes usually great on the politics, Young said of Biden. Hes proven he can read the mood of the country really well.

___

Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Aamer Madhani in Washington and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed.
Canadians will no longer have access to the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. Binance has announced that it's withdrawing from the Canadian marketplace due to new stablecoin and investor limits in the country. Back in February, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) released new guidance that gives crypto trading platforms operating in the region 30 days to register or to leave. The crypto firms that decide to register and stay will have to adhere to stricter rules, such as seeking the CSA's approval before allowing users to buy or deposit stablecoins.

According to CoinDesk, Binance will have to pass authorities' due diligence checks before it gets approval. The crypto exchange has been under intense scrutiny in North America over the past years. In the US, the DOJ and the Internal Revenue Service have been looking into reports that Binance is being used for money laundering schemes since 2021. It's also reportedly under investigation for allowing users to bypass sanctions against Russian financial institutions. In March this year, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission charged Binance for allegedly offering unregistered crypto derivatives, among other things.

In its announcement, Binance said it put off the decision as long as it could "to explore other reasonable avenues to protect [its] Canadian users." Indeed, Bloomberg says its Canadian affiliate filed paperwork to begin its registration process in March. But in the end, it had decided that continuing its operations in the country is "no longer tenable."

Binance ended its announcement with a note saying it's confident it will return to Canada, it's CEO Changpeng Zhao's home country, someday. It also said it hopes to continue engaging with Canadian authorities when it comes to forming a "thoughtful, comprehensive regulatory framework."
Retired physician Cecilia Martinez feeds a hummingbird known as a Brown Violetear at a sanctuary in Venezuela, on May 13, 2023

With excitement in their voices, six birdwatchers raise binoculars and scan the treetops in a private sanctuary not far from Venezuela's capital Caracas.

Look, one says, there's a blue-gray tanager. Another spots a warbler.

At the break of dawn, the birdwatchers left Caracas to take part in Global Big Day, an annual worldwide celebration in which birders observe as many species as they can in a 24-hour period.

Leading the group was Rosaelena Albornoz, a 61-year-old bird guide who has studied birds in Venezuela for nearly three decades.

Emotions were high as the group arrived at Amaranta Hummingbird House, a private sanctuary in San Jose de los Altos in the state of Miranda where some 170 species of birds have been spotted.

"Birds are an indicator of the health of an ecosystem," Albornoz tells AFP as she tallies the species they spot to upload on Ebird (https://ebird.org/), the platform to register bird sightings worldwide.

"With Global Big Day... the public comes out to have fun with the birds by counting them," says Albornoz, who left a job as an executive to study birds.

Hummingbirds fly over flowers and feeders set up by retired physician Cecilia Martinez, owner of Amaranta Hummingbird House.

A large hummingbird known as a brown violetear (Colibri delphinae) flies to Martinez to sip from a cup containing sugar water.

"Where have you been? Did you forget all about me?" she coos to the bird.

The fluttering hummingbird returns time and again to sip from the cup, as if she were a longtime friend of Martinez.

"Hummingbirds are capable of recognizing one," says Martinez, 73, a pathologist who retired in 2012 and now spends her time preserving the cloud forest tract near her home.

- 'Light pollution' -

Serenity envelops this mountain reserve -- except for the squawking of the Rufous-vented Chachalaca, a ground-dwelling bird with a squeaky shrill call.

Yet Martinez and other keen birdwatchers worry. They say human encroachment and light pollution are affecting birds and the insects they need for nourishment.

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"The idea would be to study light pollution and the grave effect it has had on the loss of insects," says Albornoz. "If white light does in the insects, it will diminish the number of pollinators and birds."

She says the impact on birds and insects might be akin to how disrupted a human would feel if he or she had to sleep each night with a bright light on nearby.

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A Boston man was arrested and accused of acting as a spy for the Chinese government for years by providing information on local pro-democracy dissidents, federal prosecutors said.

Between about 2018 and 2022, 63-year-old Litang Liang allegedly worked with Chinese officials to spy on dissidents in the Boston area, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts said in a statement on Friday.

Prosecutors said Liang, who is described in an indictment as a U.S. citizen living in Boston's Brighton neighborhood, organized a counter-protest against pro-democracy dissidents and gave "photographs of and information about dissidents" to Chinese government officials.

Liang was indicted on one count of acting as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. Attorney General and one count of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. Attorney General.

RELATED: Department of Justice announces arrest of 2 Chinese officials accused of running NYC police station

Boston man kept tabs on dissidents in the US, charges say

Liang allegedly gave information on Boston-area people and organizations with "pro-Taiwan leanings." He is accused in charging documents of alerting Chinese officials of the identity of a person Liang claimed had "sabotaged Chinese flags during an October 2018 protest in Bostons Chinatown. He also allegedly provided video of a dissident who attended a Boston Stands with Hong Kong rally in August 2019 and photographs of other dissidents in front of Boston Public Library in September 2019.

Liang called the people he took pictures of in front of the library "a bunch of clowns trying to cause trouble" in a message to a Chinese official, according to an indictment obtained by USA TODAY.

Liang used phone calls and the app WeChat to communicate with Chinese officials that included diplomats in the United States, the Ministry of Public Security and other bodies reporting to the Chinese Communist Party, the indictment said.

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The purpose of Liang's actions, the indictment alleges, was "to act at the direction or control of the (People's Republic of China) government in order to covertly advance the PRC government's goals and agenda within the United States."

He was arrested Tuesday and released Thursday on $25,000 bond and the condition that he not travel outside the state or have contact with any Chinese officials.

An attorney representing Liang did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

China accused of recent attempts to obstruct activists

China has been accused of interfering with pro-democracy activists in the United States previously this year.

Last month, the Justice Department announced charges against Chinese security officials allegedly operating as agents for Beijing to censor dissidents in the United States. Two people were accused of operating an illegal overseas police station of the Chinese government in lower Manhattan.

According to United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace, the police station provided illegal government services. Peace said in one instance, officials with China's national police were "using the station to track a U.S. resident on U.S. soil."

Another 40 officers of the Chinese government's Ministry of Public Security were accused of a creating a task force to commit crimes targeting Chinese democracy activists and censoring speech of Chinese dissidents. Dozens allegedly created an "internet troll farm" and set up thousands of accounts to harass activists.

Contributing: Rachel Looker, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Boston man accused of helping China spy on pro-democracy activists in US
Cargo ships

The post-pandemic downturn in British exports to the EU cannot be blamed on Brexit, a report has suggested.

The Centre for Brexit Policy said it was a myth that Britains departure from the bloc was mostly to blame for the shortfall in exports, pointing instead to a combination of global factors and the distinctive pattern of UK exports.

A report from the think-tank looked at why UK exports have recovered more slowly than other G7 countries since the Covid-19 pandemic.

It said that because of the distorting effects of the pandemic and the impact of Russias invasion of Ukraine it is difficult to ascertain the underlying drivers.

But the report claimed that more than 80 per cent of the UKs current shortfall in exports is in sectors that cannot in any meaningful way be ascribed to Brexit.

Heavy reliance on cars

It said a heavy reliance on overseas sales of cars and aircraft components along with cutbacks in North Sea oil and gas production are the main reasons for the underperformance against international competitors.

Phil Radford, a trade analyst who wrote the report, said: The UKs particular mix of exports explains why UK trade was bound to underperform G7 countries in 2021 and 2022.

The motor vehicle and aerospace sectors are easily our biggest goods-export industries in global terms. In 2019, for example, they delivered more than 20 per cent of all UK goods exports.

The report argued the two sectors were hard hit by recent global events, including the pandemic and the subsequent temporary collapse of civilian aviation, along with a global shortage in microchips.

It said that the shape of Britains goods export industries meant it had a unique misfortune among G7 countries.

It conceded that Brexit was a factor in reduced food product exports to the EU.

A trivial effect

However, it claimed that, overall, Brexit has had a trivial effect on UK-EU trade and is dwarfed by other developments such as the impact of higher corporation taxes on the pharmaceutical industry, EU subsidies to its car makers and green policies making the UK an importer of energy.

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The report said that about 17 per cent of the falls in goods exports to the EU in 2022 might be directly attributed to Brexit.

Mr Radford said: The UK-EU deficits in these three sectors are the result of policy choices by UK governments, and not shifts in global competitive advantage.

Their impact on UK trade is multiple times worse than the impacts of Brexit on UKs food, agriculture, jewellery and other sectors. And yet the challenges faced by the UKs auto and pharma sectors in particular receive next-to-zero attention from British trade commentators.

A report by the Office for the Budget Responsibility in March said that weak growth in imports and exports partly reflected the continuing impact of Brexit, which the forecaster expected to reduce the overall trade intensity of the UK economy by 15 per cent in the long term.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.
The author and her family at Disney World. Courtesy of Conz Preti

I'm a mom of three kids, and we went with all of them to Disney World for the first time in April.

My kids are all under 5, so seeing the characters was a huge highlight for them over rides.

We went in April and the heat was already unbearable.

Although I wouldn't consider myself a Disney adult, I love visiting the parks every so often. We had been to Disney World when my oldest was 18 months old in 2019, and I was eager to take our twins for the first time.

My family had a trip to Florida planned, and I decided to check last minute to see if there was still availability to visit Disney World. To my surprise, there was, and we were able to stay in a property hotel and do all four parks in four days.

And although it was truly magical to take my three kids to Disney together for the first time, not everything was perfect. Here are the things we loved and didn't love about our visit.

We loved the benefits of Genie+

Last time I was in the parks Genie+ didn't exist, so it took me a bit of researching and eventually talking to a Disney travel agent to understand how it works.

The long story short is that you can pay between $15 to $35  depending on how busy the park will be  to be able to book Lighting Lanes for rides. You can only use it for one ride at a time and can book the next after you're scanned into the first ride you're taking.

Paying more to enjoy Disney is not a plus, but the ability to not stand in line with three little kids under 5 really improved our experience. That said, there were some rides for which we could never get a reservation for, like Remy's Ratatouille Adventure or Slinky Dog Dash.

Epcot was the only park we felt like we could've done without the extra expense.

I was also impressed by how many characters we were able to see

During past visits, finding characters in the wild seemed almost impossible. I still remember standing in line for almost an hour for my then-toddler to take a photo with Donald Duck at Animal Kingdom.

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This time around, between booking meet and greets with Genie+ and just walking around the park we were able to have our kids see so many characters.

The author's children looking at Winnie the Pooh. Conz Preti

This was important to us because, being so little, our kids were mostly into the characters while in the parks. Even if a character was not available for photos and just said hello to us from afar, my kids' eyes were glowing with excitement to see them in real life.

The PhotoPass was great, even with its glitches

Because I wanted to document this vacation as much as I could, I paid $169 for the Memory Maker PhotoPass. This meant we could scan our MagicBands (wristbands that help you engage with the park) both with photographers around the parks or after rides to collect all of our photos.

We made sure to stop by as many photographers as we could to get photos and got some incredibly special shots.

The author and her husband at Disney World. Courtesy of the author

That said, the system is not perfect. I was given three other families' photos from rides and meet and greets with characters, and I'm still chasing down our photos from riding Expedition Everest which are nowhere to be found.

Even with these glitches, we were able to really get our money's worth.

The new roller coasters were awesome

My husband and I were able to go back into the parks after we put our kids to bed to do all the roller coasters they are too little to ride on. We were truly blown away by Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and Tron Lightcycle.

The author and her husband riding Tron Lightcycle. Courtesy of the author

We did have to purchase individual Lighting Lanes for the new rides since we had very limited time and wanted to make sure we could get on all of them. It was absolutely worth spending money to make sure we would hit the attractions we wanted to without standing in line for hours.

But dining at Chef Mickey's was disappointing

Our kids are all young, so they were more interested in seeing characters than getting on rides. Because of this, I made sure to try character dining.

First, I made a reservation for Tusker House in Animal Kingdom, which went above our expectations. The food was delicious, the service was incredible, and the characters came over multiple times to dance and interact with our kids.

We loved it so much that we made a reservation for Chef Mickey's at Disney's Contemporary Resort the next day, but it was a totally different experience.

The author and her family after dining at Chef Mickey's Courtesy of the author

I don't expect fine dining at a restaurant aimed to keep kids entertained, but I was shocked by how much we disliked the food. The dining room was packed and I thought the service was just OK.

But the most disappointing part was that the characters going table to table spent little time with my kids and the experience seemed rushed. The line to take a photo with Mickey was also incredibly long and packed with overstimulated, screaming toddlers.

The heat was unbearable, even in spring

The last time I visited Disney World was in June and it was scorching hot, which was to be expected in Florida.

This time, I thought things would be better temperature-wise because we were going in early April. I was wrong. We found the heat to be especially unbearable at Hollywood Studios, where there was hardly any shade to be found.

This made our days truly exhausting for the kids, so we made sure to stop by attractions like the Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along Film to enjoy some air-conditioning and shade.

I also thought upgrading to MagicBand+ was kind of pointless

We all opted to have MagicBands so it'd be easier to scan into our reservations from Genie+, use our Memory Maker, and charge things to our credit card. I upgraded the adults to the new version of the bands that are rechargeable and supposed to give you access to interactive elements around the parks.

It costs $10 per band to upgrade, but we only paid $5 because we were staying on a Disney property. But, in my opinion, the extra dollars spent weren't worth it.

The upgraded bands are supposed to activate golden statues throughout the parks, prompting little songs or phrases. We regularly saw people standing in front of these statues waving their arms, double tapping their bands, and waiting for something to happen. We had trouble getting these interactions to work and, when they did, we were disappointed.

Our bands also lit up during certain rides and shows. During the fireworks at Epcot and Magic Kingdom, our bands shined a rainbow of colors and vibrated with the fireworks. Although it was neat, it wasn't worth paying extra for.

Read the original article on Insider
The initial response of the driver who crashed his SUV into a group of people waiting for a bus outside a migrant centre has been revealed in his arrest report.

CNN reports the documents as saying that George Alvarez was obviously intoxicated when he killed eight and seriously injured 10 others.

When officers arrived on the scene in Brownsville, Texas, Mr Alvarez is said to have told them in Spanish: They got in my way.

Mr Alvarez allegedly attempted to flee the scene of the incident after he struck the victims and rolled his jeep.

He has been charged with eight counts of manslaughter and 10 counts of aggravated assault and remains in custody on a $3.6m bond.

Bystanders reportedly stopped Mr Alvarez and kept him detained until police arrived. He was then taken into police custody and then to an area hospital to be treated for injuries he sustained in the wreck.

Police said Mr Alvarez was being "very uncooperative" with them during their initial investigation.

Brownsville Police Chief Felix Sauceda noted at a press conference on Monday that Mr Alvarez has a lengthy criminal history.

His past charges include numerous assault charges, an aggravated assault charge, and additional charges for burglary, theft, DUI, and resisting arrest.

The incident occurred on 7 May at around 8.29am, police began receiving emergency calls describing a violent car accident in which numerous people were hit by a grey Range Rover.

The crash occurred near the Ozanam Centre, a migrant resource facility.

Mr Sauceda said during the press conference on Monday that the SUV ran a red light, lost control, and flipped onto its side. Video footage of the incident appears to show the vehicle hitting the victims before it flips onto its side.

On 10 May, police announced that blood screens from the hospital where Mr Alvarez was being treated showed he had drugs in his system at the time of the crash. Cocaine, benzodiazepines and marijuana were all detected, though his level of intoxication is currently unclear.

Since the wreck, police and the FBI have been investigating the cause of the crash, including whether or not the incident was intentional.

The government of Venezuela, noting that several of the victims were migrants from the country  has called for a thorough investigation into the drivers motives.
AI Supremacy

The struggling media company BuzzFeed told investors this week that its readers spend 40 percent more time with its AI-facilitated quizzes than traditional ones, Bloomberg reports.

While we have yet to see a more detailed breakdown of the numbers  the company would obviously be incentivized to present the stats in as flattering a way as possible  it is interesting to see it doubling down on AI after shutting down its entire Pulitzer-winning news division last month, laying off around 120 of its 1,200 total employees.

Getting Quizzical

Earlier this year, BuzzFeed announced it would be letting human employees create quizzes that made use of AI chatbots  which, to be fair, was kind of a fun idea.

Despite those early promises, it soon turned out that BuzzFeed was using AI to generate more than just quizzes. Dozens of SEO-driven travel guides started appearing on the site that made heavy use of hackneyed writing and repeated phrases. In a statement to Futurism at the time, BuzzFeed said it was "continuing to experiment with AI to 'enhance human creativity,'" and "trying new formats that allow anyone (with or without a formal background in writing or content creation) to contribute their ideas and unique perspectives on our site."

As of right now, even the AI quizzes aren't much more than glorified Mad Libs  a far cry from the"more personalized, more creative, more dynamic" AI-generated content CEO Jonah Peretti promised in a March interview with CNN.

And it's not just BuzzFeed. Earlier this year, Futurism found that both CNET and Men's Health were quietly publishing entire AI-generated articles, some of which were riddled with errors and plagiarism.

Chatbucks

Now, though, BuzzFeed is seemingly seeking to justify the AI move by trying to demonstrate that its experiment is paying off.

According to Bloomberg, BuzzFeed told investors that it's projecting adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization to be in the "high teens" millions of dollars this fiscal year (the company's stock, meanwhile, is now hovering around half its value at the time it first announced the AI content.)

Whether any of that is attributable to the purported success of its investment in AI  or the mass layoffs that have rocked the company this year  remains to be seen.

More on BuzzFeed: BuzzFeed Is Quietly Publishing Whole AI-Generated Articles, Not Just Quizzes
Afternoon high temperatures well above normal for this time of year are hitting Fresno and the central San Joaquin Valley, setting the stage for speeding up the melting of a record Sierra Nevada snowpack and potentially adding to flood concerns in the Tulare Lake basin.

The forecast for Fresno called for the temperature to tickle the 100-degree mark on Sunday  a significant lurch higher after Fridays 82 degrees.

Confidence is overall high that we will be in a summer-like pattern for an extended period of time into much of this week, the National Weather Service reported in a forecast discussion Friday.

A heat advisory was issued Friday for the period from noon Saturday through Monday evening, with forecasters urging people to stay out of the sun and remain in air-conditioned rooms, to drink plenty of fluids, to check on vulnerable relatives and neighbors, and not to leave children or pets unattended in vehicles.

While the Valley will see temperatures soar, the mountains are going to warm up more than the Valley, in terms of the amount of warming, meteorologist David Spector, from the National Weather Service office in Hanford, told The Fresno Bee on Friday. Were going to see increased snowmelt especially by early (this) week.

The increased melt of the massive volume of snow in the southern Sierra Nevada on the Valleys eastern flank may push rivers including the Kings, Kaweah and Tule rivers past the capacity of their channels in the upper reaches above the foothill dams, Spector said, so we might see some flooding up there.

In the Valley, however, only the Kings River has flooding below (Pine Flat) Dam, he added. Whatever water thats released from Pine Flat Dam to make room for more melting snow and cannot be diverted for groundwater recharge or agricultural use flows into Tulare Lake, the normally dry vast lakebed in Kings and Tulare counties that has been rejuvenated this spring by a series of atmospheric river storms as well as by snowmelt.

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Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA, said this week that cool weather in the first week of May slowed the pace of the snowmelt somewhat after a late April spurt of hot weather.

Huge amount of snow remains high in Sierra Nevada mountains

Snow is still melting at a pretty rapid rate, but at a less rapid rate than it was during the heat wave which did end up breaking a few records for heat in late April, Swain said in a video blog Monday.

But this weekend, he added, snowelt will once again accelerate as temperatures warm considerably.

A vast majority of that water that was stored up in the Sierra as snow is still there. It has not melted yet, Swain said. It is definitely melting fast and a lot of the snow at lower elevations is already gone. But of course thats not where most of the snow water actually resided.

The majority of that snow water was up above 6,000 or 7,000 feet anyway, and thats where a huge amount of snow remains, he explained. So that Central Valley flood risk, particularly Tulare Lake and Tulare Basin flood risk, is going to persist for weeks.

Best estimates are still that in a lot of places, the peak snowmelt potential isnt until late May and early June. So we still have a long way to go, Swain added.

That prospect of a prolonged snowmelt and continued Kings River excess flows into Tulare Lake have officials scrambling to raise the level of a 14.5-mile levee protecting the city of Corcoran from the resurgent lake. The state of California put up more than $17 million for the Cross Creek Flood Control district to raise the levee  which has been compromised over the years by ground subsidence from overpumping the water table in the area  by four feet, from its most recent height of 188 feet above sea level to 192 feet.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said earlier last week that this is the third time in recent decades that either state or federal officials have taken steps to raise the Corcoran Levee because of subsidence. Newsom and officials from his administration got a firsthand look at the Tulare Lake flooding threatening Corcoran and two nearby state prisons when they visited the area on April 25.

Raising the Corcoran levee provides greater certainty that we wont need to evacuate critical facilities and will ensure public safety, Newsom said Thursday. However, the state and federal government cannot continue stepping in to raise this levee. I look forward to a conversation on what (Kings County) is going to do differently so that we dont find ourselves in this situation again.
A Cornwall-Lebanon school director is making a run at a county commissioner seat on the Democratic ticket for the 2023 municipal primary.

Diana Carpenter said she was running for a commissioner seat to represent a demographic she feels is not being represented in the county right now. If elected she wants to be able to address a break down of communication between county and local government.

"It seems like the right hand doesn't always seem to talk to the left hand, and I think that is something I would like to address," she said Thursday.

Diana Carpenter

Owner of Berry Unique by Diana at the Lebanon Farmers Market, Carpenter was formerly a bodily claims adjuster with Allstate Insurance and an AT&T inventory and audit manager.

Democratic commissioner and incumbent Jo Ellen Litz announced in January that she will seek re-election this year. Former full-time Lebanon Valley College teacher and activist Michael Schroeder announced in February he would also be running in the Democratic primary.

Jo Ellen Litz: Litz to seek sixth consecutive four-year term as county commissioner

Michael Schroeder: Schroeder announces bid for county commissioner's race

Both Litz and Schroeder have expressed a need to update the county's comprehensive plan. Capenter, was part of updating the Cornwall-Lebanon comprehensive plan, also said there was a need to update the document due to the changing landscape of Lebanon County.

"Typically my understanding of a comprehensive plan isn't just a specific group of people who give opinions," she said. "It's builders, it's constituents, it's the county commissioners, it's everyone that could potentially have an opinion ... it's really supposed to be a lot of people who give an opinion on that comprehensive plan, so I'd be really interested to see how they are planning on updating it."

Carpenter says she would like to expand access to mental health systems and facilities, especially when it comes to funding. She hopes to work with other counties to push for more state funding for the issue.

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"I think that's what it's going to take, is not just me from Lebanon County but partnering with other counties and saying 'Hey this is a real issue,'" she said. "We need to just move this up the ladder and being that voice that is constantly talking about it, because that's how you get things like funding."

Republican commissioners Robert Phillips and Mike Kuhn are also seeking re-election this year. Phillips is running a joint campaign with Swatara Township supervisor Bill Bering Jr. Sharon Zook is also running in the Republican primary.

Election 2023: Lebanon County commissioners: Phillips, Kuhn seek re-election; Bering enters race

The Pennsylvania Municipal Primary is scheduled for May 16.

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: Carpenter runs for county commissioner seat in Democrat primary
A migrant pleads with a Texas National Guard to let his family pass the concertina wire on the embankment of the Rio Grande to join hundreds of other migrants who surrendered to Customs and Border Protection 40 minutes before Title 42 was set to expire. The migrants were refused further access to U.S. territory.

EL PASO, Texas  When Joe Biden toured the border in January, John Martin shook the president's hand at a migrant shelter and leaned in with a special request.

Aid organizations in border communities, like Martin's Opportunity Center for the Homeless, were working to feed and shelter thousands of migrants during the 2022 winter humanitarian crisis. But they faced a dilemma: The federal government would only reimburse them for helping migrants with the right documents, even as the mix of migrants arriving was increasingly undocumented.

Martin asked Biden: Can an exception be made for border communities?"

So far, the answer is no. Government and nonprofit organizations at the U.S.-Mexico border say the federal government has tied their hands with a funding stream that only reimburses them for aiding documented migrants.

At the height of the humanitarian crisis Monday, more than 3,300 unprocessed migrants were left in squalor on El Paso streets even while there were beds available in shelters. That number of unhoused people creates a powder keg of problems amid the desperation, local leaders say: trash and excrement, the potential for migrants to be targeted for prostitution and a trapped population for human smugglers.

President Joe Biden walks along the border wall with Customs and Border Protection agents during his visit to El Paso, Texas on Jan. 8, 2022. The president visited the border city prior to heading the to North American Summit in Mexico City.

This is a national issue that needs to be addressed, said Martin, deputy director of the Opportunity Center, which provides shelter to homeless locals and migrants who were arriving at the border without money for food, shelter or a ticket to their final destination.

We are on the front doorstep, and its not just El Paso: Its every community along the southern border, he said. The city and county and NGOs are all working together. Its a very good response system to the need, but now weve got the federal laws working against us.

More: Border Security Expo draws Homeland Security top brass as El Paso faces migration crisis

Federal funding with strings attached

The federal government is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to help communities along the border  as well as major destinations like New York City  care for migrants and prevent overcrowding of short-term federal holding facilities.

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Since the funding stream was created in 2019, it was intended for migrants who had been processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It was not supposed to cover food and shelter for migrants who entered illegally and have not sought asylum.

But an internal government watchdog said last year the Federal Emergency Management Agency needed better oversight of its Emergency Food and Shelter Program, which provides grants both for migrant services and to help a wider population.

A migrant from Guatemala awakes after sleeping on the street in Downtown El Paso, Texas a block from Sacred Heart Church on Tuesday, May 9, 2023. The church has been a refuge for migrants crossing into the U.S. seeking asylum.

This was always a requirement, but it wasnt one that was clearly communicated in the past, said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council.

Groups on the front line of the humanitarian crisis say that means people will go hungry and will be sleeping on sidewalks.

As the bells at El Pasos historic Sacred Heart Catholic Church tolled for Mass on Sunday last week, migrants picked up their cardboard beds and blankets. City workers swooped in with brooms and garbage bags, and police guarded the entrance for churchgoers. A dozen or so of the migrants found seats in the hardwood pews among the local faithful.

People are eating only once a day, said Father Daniel Mora, explaining the limitations nonprofits and faith-based organizations are facing in providing aid to migrants.

FEMA is only going to reimburse for people who are documented, Mora said. Many of the people around here  theyll tell you so  crossed without permission. Those meals arent reimbursed.

'Immoral not to feed people'

While FEMA has been providing grants from its Emergency Food and Shelter program for 40 years, Congress in 2019 created a separate track of the program to provide services for migrants encountered by the Department of Homeland Security at the southern border.

If audited, grant recipients must be prepared to provide the names of those served along with the Alien Identification Number, often called an A number, assigned to them after being processed by Border Patrol or another federal authority.

Migrant aid organizations in El Paso and other border cities, however, had grown accustomed to seeking reimbursement through the original FEMA program, which was not restricted to migrants who had been processed. Advocates say the A number requirement puts an undue burden on border communities, where recent migrants sometimes mix with established immigrants  some of whom are undocumented.

But its the program specifically targeting documented migrants that got a huge boost in funding for 2023 and that recently distributed $332 million to impacted communities.

Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva, whose district spans more than 300 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, said anything that adds red tape should be reconsidered.

"The people on the ground know what they need," he said. "They should be the first people that we listen to in terms of how we use resources and where we use resources."

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the restriction tying that funding to migrants processed by DHS is necessary" and appeared to suggest NGOs should tackle the problem on their own.

I believe that nongovernmental organizations in the cities address the needs of individuals who have not been processed, he said.

Migrants charge their phones at an impromptu encampment behind the Opportunity Center for the Homeless in El Paso, Texas on May 3, 2023. Hundreds of migrants are seeking refuge at the homeless center.

El Pasos primary food bank, the nonprofit El Pasoans Fighting Hunger, has struggled to keep people fed as one humanitarian crisis gives way to another.

The organization supplied 3,000 sack lunches every day last week for migrants living in shelters and on the street, said Chief Executive Susan Goodell.

We believe that it would be immoral not to feed people, regardless of their status, she said.

But when people are that distressed, she said, our truck is often completely surrounded with people trying to ensure they have a meal for themselves and their children. It would not be safe to ask if they have an A number or not.

Border policies create 'man-made emergency'

Some in Congress have said the government shouldnt be spending any FEMA money on migrant services.

This is a man-made emergency, Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., told the head of FEMA during an April budget hearing for the agency. I think it wanders way off what people expect FEMA to do.

Dr. Francisco Garcia, the chief medical officer for Pima County, Arizona, told lawmakers at a different April hearing the question hes most often asked is why the border county is helping local charities house, feed, medically screen and transport migrants.

Having thousands of people with limited resources, limited English skills, trying to figure out how to get to other parts of the country that is unfamiliar to them, with no food, little money, no place to sleep, is deleterious to the health, safety and welfare of everybody in this country, Garcia said.

We are obligated to protect the people of Pima County by assisting these asylum seekers to quickly and efficiently move on to their final destinations and their sponsoring organizations or families, he said.

The federal funding needs to be more stable and timely.

Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., told FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell in a recent letter that the programs restrictions  including a 90-day limit on some services  may be hindering the ability of local leaders to deal with spikes in the arrival of migrants.

The program is transitioning into a new grant vehicle, the Shelter and Services Program, to help with humanitarian needs of migrants released from DHS custody who are waiting for their cases to be heard by an immigration court.

That will prove, I think, more nimble, Mayorkas said Thursday.

Goodell, the food bank director, said her organization relies on charity even as it takes on increasing responsibility to prevent a humanitarian disaster at the border.

"We have to rely on the kindness of others in forms of charitable contributions," she said. "But now there is no government support, which makes it difficult when the numbers are so high."

Lauren Villagran reported from El Paso, Texas.

Maureen Groppe reported from Washington.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Title 42 ends: Catch in FEMA funds creates hurdles at US-Mexico border
A Daytona Beach man was convicted of multiple felony charges Friday, more than two years after police discovered an organized dog fighting ring.

>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<

The Daytona Beach Police Department began their investigation back in February of 2021 after a resident on Reva Street called in a complaint about animals in distress at a neighboring property.

READ: State will seek death penalty against triple-murder suspect Keith Moses, state attorney says

Investigators responded to the property and immediately saw dozens of dogs and puppies that were clearly being bred and used in an organized dog fighting ring.

Some of the dogs were restrained with heavy chains, a tactic used to build strength and endurance. Others were either caged for isolation or had wounds that were consistent with different stages of healing.

A search of the property also yielded dog supplements and injectable medications often used in dog fighting rings.

READ: Lake Nona Middle School teacher resigns after offensive student presentation

In all, Daytona Beach Police and Volusia County Animal Services seized 42 dogs from a vacant lot on the property and an adjoining home.

Three men were arrested and 40 dogs were seized after Daytona Beach police officials said they busted a dog fighting ring.

Police arrested three men: now 56-year-old Noble Geathers, 53-year-old Earl Holmes, and 35-year-old Benjamin Ponder.

After a five-day trial, Geathers was convicted by a Volusia County jury Friday on 12 counts of felony cruelty to animals, nine counts of animal fighting and one count of animal fighting-property promoting.

READ: Suspect wanted after universal mail keys stolen from postal workers in 2 Central Florida counties

This defendant has been a scourge in our community for too long, State Attorney R.J. Larizza said in a statement announcing the verdict. It is time to send him away for good.

Geathers will be sentenced by judge Leah Case on May 19. Both Holmes and Ponder are still awaiting trial.

At the conclusion of a five-day trial this evening, a Volusia County jury found defendant Noble Geathers guilty as charged of 12 counts of Principal to Felony Cruelty to Animals, nine counts of Principal to Animal Fighting and one count of Animal Fighting-Property Promoting. pic.twitter.com/tA2XZTGQfg  State Attorney, Florida's 7th Circuit (@SAO7FL) May 13, 2023

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.
A Franklin County sheriffs deputy and the group of public defenders he sued after they wrote a letter complaining about his attendance at former President Donald Trumps Jan. 6 rally have reached a settlement, according to the attorney for the deputy.

Franklin County Detective Jeff Farmer filed a federal lawsuit against five Franklin County public defenders who wrote a letter to Sheriff Chris Quire on Jan. 8, 2021 criticizing Farmers presence at the Washington, D.C., event, as well as his police record.

Farmer claimed in the lawsuit filed in the of the Eastern District of Kentucky that the public defenders had defamed him, invaded his privacy and retaliated against him for exercising his First Amendment rights. He asked for more than $1 million in damages.

Last fall, Chief U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell dismissed the suit, but Farmers attorney had filed a notice stating that he planned to appeal.

Farmers attorney, Chris Wiest, said in a statement Friday that the settlement included a financial payment to Detective Farmer, which he said demonstrated that there are and will be consequences to dragging someones name through the mud. He said in an email that the defendants arranged the payment.

An attorney for the public defenders, R. Kenyon Meyer, said in a statement: Mr. Farmers lawsuit about his activities on January 6 in Washington D.C. was dismissed by the court. He lost. Mr. Farmers lawyers statement that any of the public defenders agreed to pay or paid money to Mr. Farmer is false.

Wiest said Saturday afternoon that there was a check written. He said he was not allowed to disclose the amount.

It came from like a law firm in Chicago, he said. Im not privy to how that was funded.

We would not have settled the case unless there was a payment involved, he said.

Farmer did not follow the crowd to the Capitol after that rally, and instead returned to his hotel room, Wiests statement said. The letter penned by the public defenders prompted a thorough and independent investigation by the Franklin County Sheriffs Office, and an outside investigator, which ultimately found the allegations within the letter to be baseless.

He said the settlement also included a statement by one of the defendants, Nathan Goodrich, former directing attorney of the Frankfort Trial Office of the Department of Public Advocacy, saying that The parties have mutually agreed to end the litigation. Defendants do not admit any liability in this matter and regret any undue impact this had on the Farmer family. All parties have agreed to move forward to focus on better protecting and serving the citizens of Franklin County.

Wiest said Farmer plans to retire from the Franklin County Sheriffs Department in October.
A small group worked Thursday morning near the entrance of the Centre County Correctional Facility to prepare for a cookout in recognition of Corrections Employee Week.

It was partly sunny with a daytime high of 77 degrees, but only those employed there  not those incarcerated, nearly half of whom have not been sentenced  got outside that day.

That rankled some human rights advocates who have for months pressed the board that oversees the jail to give inmates what they consider actual time outdoors.

(Corrections employees) do some incredible work and they deserve something like that  having a barbecue outside, Irvin Moore told the board. Were not asking for a barbecue.

The countys prison board of inspectors again rebuffed Thursday the pursuit of a feasibility study that would offer detailed estimates about the added cost thatd come with expanding outdoor recreation opportunities.

Most of the jails inmates do not feel direct sunlight, save for those who participate in the work release program, CentrePeace or when theyre transporting to court hearings.

A garage-like door and a mesh-covered window inside the jails walls passes muster with state law. Inmates do not have an opportunity for exercise in an open field.

The setup is not abnormal in Pennsylvania.

About three-fourths of the 62 county jails in the state have urban recreation areas. Eighteen, including the Centre County jail, are covered and only allow natural light and fresh air through designed portals.

Only about one-fifth of the states county jails have exterior recreation areas. Eight consecutive biennial inspections from a branch of the state Department of Corrections found the approach complies with state law.

Im optimistic that the board will entertain in the future a motion for a study, county resident Mark Kissling wrote in an email Friday. Were not demanding a massive construction project; were asking for an expert study to assess the situation and the possibilities.

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The seven-person board  which includes the countys commissioners, president judge and district attorney  has not expressed an appetite for major changes to the facility, including potential construction of outdoor recreation yards.

A feasibility study could provide formal estimates on everything from construction costs to staffing changes, but the jails former warden offered a glimpse in November of what it may take.

A minimum of nine to 15 full-time corrections officers would need to be hired, which he said could be a tall task for a jail thats fought to stay above minimum staffing levels.

We wouldnt be running outside rec right now as it is. It wouldnt be feasible because we dont have staff, former Warden Chris Schell said in November. We would have a rec yard just be sitting there. Practically, I dont see that feasible here at the county level.

More than a dozen county residents spoke at Thursdays meeting, including a business owner, a retired physician, an environmental psychologist and environmental engineer.

Josh Helke, the owner of Rush Township-based outdoor and sporting goods company Organic Climbing, said its super embarrassing that no major initiatives have gained traction.

Planning for the jail dates back about two decades; it opened in 2005 and remains one of the newest county jails in the state. The three newest county jails have similar designs, Deputy Warden Melanie Gordon said in November.

As one of the more wealthy counties in the state, we have the ability  if we choose to exercise it  to deploy some of that resource toward solving this problem, longtime county resident Jeff Davidson said. There was a problem that occurred, frankly, when this facility was designed, but now we need to own that problem. Its a problem every day that we continue it. It was a problem that happened then, but its not an irreconcilable problem. Its one that we can go back and address.

The boards next meeting is scheduled for June 8.
With the end of its spring semester last week, North Carolina State University concluded a tragic school year that saw the deaths of 14 students.

Seven students died by suicide, two fatally overdosed, four passed away from natural causes, and one student was killed in a car accident, according to Mick Kulikowski, NC State's director of strategic communications and media relations. Over a dozen students and mental health experts described the loss of life at NC State to ABC News as staggering and tragic, as well as a concerning example of national trends in student mental health.

"I really started feeling it once it got to the fourth student death, because it really started to feel like it was an epidemic on campus at that point," said Mariana Fabian, a fourth-year student and opinion editor for NC State's student newspaper, The Technician.

PHOTO: Caldwell Hall is shown on North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C. (WTVD)

The deaths have cast an outsized shadow on the Raleigh campus, where classes continued through the year as the number of deaths gradually increased. NC State convened a task force devoted to mental health in November, releasing an 89-page report in late February that recommended a flurry of proposals to improve student life. The report's sobering conclusion: while NC State is "dedicated" to improving student mental health, "there is not only room for, but also a need for, additional efforts."

Apart from occasional wellness days and outreach following student deaths, the humdrum of college life continued at NC State, leaving little time for grieving according to some students.

"We're having to say goodbye to the students, but also focus on turning in an assignment," junior Angelina Cordone told ABC News.

Some communities on campus have faced a larger toll of the tragedies  as at least seven students, including three who died by suicide, have been part of NC State's School of Engineering, according to Kulikowski. With over 36,000 students, NC State has averaged eight student deaths, including three by suicide, annually since 2018, according to the task force's report.

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"I think a lot of people really want to honor the lives that were lost, but there was also a big feeling of enough is enough," said Eleanor Lott, a sophomore and a member of NC State's mental health task force.

In late March, Vice Chancellor and Dean Doneka Scott described the year to ABC News as a tragic "outlier," pointing to the nationwide challenge of educating students amid a rise in depression and suicide among young people.

"Institutions across the country are grappling with this," Scott said. "This is not an NC State-only issue. It's an issue in higher education writ large."

The rate of suicide has roughly increased in the United States over the last two decades. Despite a two-year decline in 2019 and 2020, the rate rose again in 2021, with one of the most significant year-over-year jumps for those aged 15-24, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). For that age group, suicide remains the third-leading cause of death.

MORE: Suicides increased in 2021, reaching highest level since 2018: CDC report

Across 10 student interviews with ABC News, some students at NC State pointed to the stresses of being a student there  including its demanding STEM classes  and stress stemming from grades and social pressures in an isolated campus community following years of coronavirus-related restrictions. Others described broader concerns about the weight of being young in a seemingly broken world, including the intensity of politics, debt, fleeting job opportunities, and the general fear of facing fewer opportunities and success than prior generations.

"We feel like we have the weight of the world on our shoulders," junior Ezekiel Snyder said.

Tragedy struck early

Early in the school year, students expressed concern with the vagueness of communications from the school following two student deaths, leaving students open to interpret the cause of death based on information from friends and social media.

On Oct. 24, NC State's student newspaper The Technician ran an editorial titled "NC State's lack of transparency surrounding campus tragedies harms us all." Tragically, another student passed away the day after it was published.

PHOTO: CDC says that the second top cause of death for children is suicide. (STOCK IMAGES)

"Oh, my gosh, it's not stopping," Technician's news editor Abigail Ali told ABC News, describing what she and other editors saw as the tipping point in the crisis. "As soon as we think it's over, there's another one."

Vice Chancellor Scott explained the communication delay as an intentional effort to reduce harm, codified in the school's complex postvention plan for crisis situations.

Deaths of any kind could expose a community to the risk of a suicide cluster, where vulnerable community members begin to think more about or act on suicidal thoughts, according to UNC professor and American Psychological Association chief science officer Mitch Prinstein.

By the start of the school's spring term, five students had passed away. Students reported that communications from NC State improved about the deaths and causes. However, the sheer number of deaths began to take a toll, according to students.

"To be completely honest with you, I've lost track with many students have died on campus," said Technician's managing editor Sam Overton, who spoke to ABC News following the 11th student death.

NC State's spring semester also concluded with two additional student suicides in late April, when two students died within 24 hours.

PHOTO: In this undated file photo, DH Hill Library at the campus of North Carolina State University is shown in Raleigh, N.C. (STOCK IMAGE/Getty Images)

"This is heartbreaking, and I know there's little I can say to console the deep hurt or heal the immense grief felt by the family and friends of these young people and others we've lost this year," Chancellor Randy Woodson wrote in a statement on April 27.

NC State celebrated its spring commencement for the Class of 2023 on Saturday, seemingly concluding the tragic chapter of the school's recent history. However, the deaths amid reforms provide further evidence of the severity of the mental health crisis confronting institutions of higher education.

A national crisis

Struggles with mental health often begin in high school or earlier for many students.

The proportion of high school students with persistent feelings of hopelessness or suicide increased by 40% between 2009 and 2019, according to a 2020 CDC survey. A 2021 survey from the CDC later found that nearly 60% of teen girls have said they feel "persistency sad or hopeless," and 30% have seriously considered suicide. More than 6,600 people between the age of 10 and 24 died by suicide in 2020, based on estimates from the National Center of Health Statistics.

"Those are the students who are coming to campus," Scott said.

One-third of US teen girls seriously considered attempting suicide in 2021: CDC

The loss of traditional support systems further these concerns as students transition into college, according to Brandon Johnson, the acting branch chief of suicide prevention at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Students added that factors like social media and isolation stemming from the pandemic have made adjusting to college harder than what previous generations have faced.

"I will say it's devastating," said junior Ony Otiocha, describing the stress of finding a friend group at NC State. "I'm not going to sit here and say that I've never sat in my room and cried about that."

Students additionally described stress stemming from competitive classes, particularly in science and engineering, and difficulties finding internships and employment. One student, who spoke with ABC News anonymously, described the challenge of reaching out to professors for help and struggling to complete coursework while dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.

"When I have to reach out to my professors and ask for these things because I just want to get any amount of sleep or like I just physically can't make myself do work because I'm so burnt out," she said. "It's a bit humiliating, honestly, and it's scary because they can just say no."

As students seek help to improve their mental health, many schools struggle to adequately staff their counseling departments to accommodate the demand for services, according to Prinstein, of the American Psychological Association.

"What we have is a remarkable crisis with kids desperately needing mental health services. They're not able to get what they need from the college staff or personnel," he said.

NC State has more than doubled its counselors over the last decade to 47 clinical professionals, according to Scott. However, even if they had "100 or 1,000 counselors," she said they could not fully address the crisis. Students also added that locating these resources can be inherently challenging during a crisis.

4 lawmakers share their mental health struggles: It's 'a form of public service'

"When we feel lost or confused and hopeless, and asking for help, or just finding the resource can be difficult," first-year student Ashley Clemmer added.

In spite of the tragedies, mental health experts pointed to some positives that have grown out of the mental health crisis, including that young people are more in tune with their mental health, are more likely to seek help, and can become leaders who help others approach struggles with empathy.

"There is a hyper-awareness and an empathy that young people have that I think previous generations were lacking," said Tia Dole, clinical psychologist and officer for suicide-prevention hotline 988. "That is something that will be really helpful when we become adults and start running [things]."

If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

After 14 student deaths, North Carolina State confronts a national crisis originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Charlotte Pipe and Foundry Co. has plans to build an $80 million plant in Maize, Kansas, according to a news release from the state.

It will be the seventh plastics plant in the U.S. for the Charlotte-based manufacturer of cast iron and plastic pipe and fittings. Construction on the plant is expected to begin in January and wrap up in early 2025.

ALSO READ: Charlotte Pipe and Foundry hires CBRE to market uptown site

The project, which received government support from the local, county and state levels, is expected to create 50 jobs, the release said.

We are very excited about the opportunity to expand our operations in the Midwest, said Hooper Hardison, the companys CEO. Maize is ideally located in the center of the country to help us better serve our customers. It is also a fast-growing, business-friendly community with an excellent workforce we can draw from to staff our new plant.

Read more here.




(Photo/Courtesy - USPS)

The United States Postal Service (USPS) released on Friday 18 million stamps honoring legendary Chief Standing Bear, a Ponca tribal leader who championed Native American 14th Amendment rights.

This stamp features a portrait of Chief Standing Bear by illustrator Thomas Blackshear II. Blackshear created the portrait based on a photograph taken of Standing Bear in 1877 while he was in Washington, DC, as part of a delegation of Ponca chiefs appealing to government officials for the right to return to their homeland. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamp.

Chief Standing Bear became famous for his resistance to the U.S. governments forced relocation of the Ponca people to Indian Territory to what is now known as the state of Oklahoma.

The resistance came in a lawsuit that began when in 1877, the U.S. Army had forcibly relocated some 700 Ponca to Indian Territory (what is now Oklahoma) after the federal government had given away the tribes homeland in the Niobrara River Valley in what is now northeastern Nebraska.

In a landmark civil rights case, Standing Bear v. Crook, Standing Bear sued the government for his freedom after being arrested, along with 29 other Ponca, for attempting to return to his homeland. Lawyers filed a writ of habeas corpus to test the legality of the detention, an unprecedented action on behalf of a Native American.

After winning the case, Standing Bear and the members of the Ponca who had followed him were allowed to return to their old Nebraska reservation along the Niobrara River.

One issue that his 1879 trial had raised was finally resolved in 1924 when Congress adopted the Indian Citizenship Act, which conferred citizenship on all Native Americans born in the United States.

Customers may purchase stamps and other philatelic products through the Postal Store at usps.com/shopstamps, by calling 844-737-7826, by mail through USA Philatelic or at Post Office locations nationwide.

About the Author: "Native News Online is one of the most-read publications covering Indian Country and the news that matters to American Indians, Alaska Natives and other Indigenous people. Reach out to us at editor@nativenewsonline.net. "

Contact: news@nativenewsonline.net
Russian forces shelled Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast with a heavy 300 mm Smerch multiple rocket launcher, killing two and injuring 10, including children, the Prosecutor Generals Office reported on May 13.

A 15-year-old girl is among the killed, and two other teenagers are injured, according to the report.

The injured have been hospitalized.

The Russian shelling also damaged apartment buildings, houses, a local gas station, pharmacy, and grocery stores.

Russian attacks on Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv oblasts injure 8 civilians on May 13 A 15-year-old boy was among the injured in the morning attack on a village in Kharkiv Oblast. Kyiv IndependentThe Kyiv Independent news desk

The Prosecutor Generals Office said it is conducting an investigation into violations of the laws or customs of war.

Donetsk Oblast is experiencing the highest number of casualties among the children, as it is the place of the most severe fighting.

Russias war has killed 480 and injured 968 children across Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.

The number of casualties is expected to be higher as the current count does not include data from Russian-occupied territories or where hostilities are ongoing.
The Biden administration and U.S. allies doubt China can play a decisive role in bringing an end to the war in Ukraine, given Beijings tendency to play it safe in the diplomatic arena and its reluctance to alienate Russia, Western diplomats and former U.S. officials say.

Although China has offered a peace proposal and plans to send an envoy to the region next week, there is no indication it is ready to wade in as a full-blown mediator with all the risks that could entail, former U.S. officials and two Western diplomats said.

Were skeptical, one Western diplomat said. Theyve been anything but neutral in their language.

Chinese President Xi Jinping did not speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy until more than a year after Russias invasion of Ukraine, and Beijing continues to echo Moscows talking points about the causes of the conflict, avoiding the use of the word war when referring to the fighting in Ukraine.

The Biden administration wants to convey the impression of at least being open to the possibility of a positive Chinese role, but expectations remain low, said Evan Medeiros, a professor at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University who served as a senior adviser on Asia to then-President Barack Obama.

I think theyre appropriately skeptical of the role that China might actually play, Medeiros said.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier this month said the U.S. would welcome any effort by China to help end the war, saying if theyre willing to play a positive role in trying to bring peace, that would be a good thing.

But he added that China needed to support the principle that theres a victim and theres an aggressor in the conflict. And I have to say, until recently, it was very unclear whether China accepted that basic principle. Im still not sure that they do, but at least President Xi has now had a conversation with President Zelenskyy.

Chinas position on the Ukraine conflict is consistent and clear, said Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington.

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China has been committed to promoting peace talks and bringing about a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis, he said, adding: Both President Putin and President Zelenskyy welcomed Chinas important role in restoring peace and resolving the crisis through diplomatic means."

In discussions in Vienna on Tuesday and Wednesday between President Joe Bidens national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and Chinas senior foreign policy adviser, Wang Yi, the American side pressed for some constructive engagement on Ukraine and repeated U.S. concerns that Beijing should refrain from providing military assistance to Russia, senior administration officials told reporters.

Avoiding risk

China increasingly presents itself as a powerful state with global reach, but its approach to diplomacy remains cautious. There is no precedent for it plunging into a difficult peace negotiation, putting its reputation on the line or twisting the arm of an important partner like Russia, former U.S. officials said.

Theres no question that they are becoming incrementally more ambitious in their diplomacy as they are in many other areas of world affairs, said Jacob Stokes, who served in the Obama administration on the national security staff of then-Vice President Biden. The question is, how ambitious and what costs and burdens are they willing to carry? said Stokes, now a senior fellow for the Indo-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security think tank.

For years, Washington hoped Beijing could use its influence to push Pyongyang to make concessions over North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

That was the view, said Victor Cha, who took part in the six-party nuclear talks more than a decade ago including the U.S, Japan, Russia and the two Koreas. It never really worked. 

Chinas diplomacy is designed to avoid incurring risk, he said, and Beijings approach to the North Korea talks was to invite the parties to meet without trying to shape the substance of the negotiations.

If youre going to be a mediator, you have to put a lot more stake into the success of the negotiation, rather than simply creating a venue for people to talk, Cha said.

The six-party talks, held in six rounds between 2003 and 2009, were a revealing experience about what really motivated China, Medeiros of Georgetown said.

China were not prepared to take substantial action against North Korea over its nuclear weapons because at the end of the day, they cared much more about maintaining their influence on the Korean Peninsula and maintaining North Korea as a buffer state than they ever did about nonproliferation, he said.

Chinas interests on North Korea were not in sync with the U.S. or its allies, Medeiros said. I think ultimately with Russia, were going to find the same thing.

How Beijing calculates its interests in Ukraine remains an open question. Some experts argue that China wants to see the fighting halted for the sake of the global economy and to ensure that Russia, its partner, does not suffer a devastating defeat.

Its also uncertain what real leverage or pressure Beijing would be willing to bring to bear against Moscow to end this conflict and what benefit would come to them for having done so, a senior Senate aide said.

Some Western officials said China could have a more limited, but useful, part to play in encouraging Russia to hold cease-fire talks, without necessarily negotiating detailed proposals or pressing Moscow to make compromises.

At the moment, neither Russia nor Ukraine appears ready for peace talks or cease-fire discussions as both sides believe they can make gains on the battlefield. CIA Director William Burns said in February that Russian President Vladimir Putin believes his forces can wear down Ukraine in a war of attrition and that Western support for Kyiv will fade over time.

Ukraines ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, said last week in Washington that her government was ready to cooperate with anyone whos ready to help us."

I think we should focus  and thats our goal  on not how to bring Russia to the table, but how to get them out of Ukraine, Markarova said at an event organized by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank.

Asked if Ukraine supported the prospect of China as a peace mediator, she said: We dont need a broker. Nobody needs a broker for Russia to get out from Ukraine, you know?

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
(Bloomberg) -- Chinese brokerage Zheshang Securities Co. said it received a resignation letter from its President Wang Qingshan, reported by local media as missing since late March.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Wang is stepping down from all positions at the company for unspecified personal reasons, it said in a stock exchange filing Friday. Operations remain normal, it added.

Speculation has surrounded Wang and the brokerage since March 31, when he fell out of contact, Caixin reported. Wang was called out of a meeting held by Zheshangs largest shareholder that day and has since remained unreachable, an unidentified person familiar with the matter told Caixin.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is accelerating a corruption crackdown on the sprawling financial sector. Authorities in April warned top banking executives in a private meeting that the crackdown on the $60 trillion industry is far from over. At least 20 financial executives had been probed or penalized since late February.

China Warns Top Bankers of Deepening Crackdown on Corruption

Wang, 42, was the only one among Zheshangs nine board members absent from a meeting Friday, according to the company. A call by Bloomberg News to Zheshang went unanswered outside of business hours.

Chinese authorities have recently taken away several close associates of Wang, Caixin reported.

He is also linked to an official who is currently under investigation by the ruling Communist Partys top anti-graft agency, Caixin said. More than a decade ago, when he was with the China Securities Regulatory Commission, Wang became secretary to Zhu Congjiu, then an assistant to the chairman. In 2012, Zhu was appointed a deputy governor of Zhejiang, where Zheshang is based.

Story continues

Xis Finance Crackdown Grows as Over 40 Officials Ensnared

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) slammed Republicans and undeclared voters in his home state for their behavior at a CNN town hall with Donald Trump earlier this week. (Watch the video below.)

In a preview for an upcoming MSNBC interview, Sununu panned the audiences laughter and applause during Wednesdays televised event with the former president and 2024 hopeful.

It was embarrassing, Sununu said in reference to the crowd reaction after Trump mocked E. Jean Carroll, who had just won a sexual abuse lawsuit against the former president.

When youre talking about a serious issue like that ... its completely inappropriate, he said. It doesnt shine a positive light on New Hampshire.

Sununu, who is currently mulling a 2024 presidential run of his own, has been a harsh critic of Trump in recent months, declaring that the country is movingon from the former president.

The New Hampshire governor recently told Trump to cowboy up and get in the saddle after the GOP front-runner suggested he might skip out on at least one of the initial Republican primary debates.

In his MSNBC interview, Sununu questioned whether the undeclared audience members at the town hall had been Trump supporters at one time or another.

I believe every single one of them had voted for Trump at some point, he said. So no one should have been surprised to hear the support.

MSNBCs interview with Sununu is set to air Sunday.

(H/T Mediaite)

Related...
A gay pride rainbow flag flies along with the US flag in front of a Methodist Church in Prairie Village, Kansas. Associated Press

The religious right has taken a staunch stance against LGBTQ rights amid a wave of anti-trans legislation.

They've quoted the Bible, referring to "God's good design of males and females and heterosexuality."

Some open-minded Christian leaders said it is an "abomination" to use the Bible to threaten people's well-being.

Many on the religious right call members of the LGBTQ community an "abomination," using Biblical scriptures to justify their stance against queer and transgender rights and inclusion.

But some within the Christian community have flipped the script, saying the real "abomination" is threatening people's lives with anti-LGBTQ laws and policies.

"As a Christian leader, it's horrifying to me that Christianity and the Bible are being used by the religious right to bludgeon people through these many bills," Rev. Dr. Serene Jones, the president of Union Theological Seminary in New York City, told The Associated Press.

Jones, the first woman to lead the UTS, was previously the president of the American Academy of Religion, another LGBTQ-inclusive organization.

"To use religious language like that is an abomination," Jones added.

Rev. Pat Langlois, senior pastor of Metropolitan Community Church United Church of Christ in the Valley, echoed Jones' thoughts to the AP.

"These bills are the most vitriolic and cruel legislation I've seen," Langlois told the outlet. "I have a non-binary teenager, so I take this really personally, not just as a person of faith and as a lesbian, but as a mom."

Unlike Jones and Langlois, many church leaders from the Southern Baptist Convention and the Catholic Church have been instrumental in the crusade against LGBTQ acceptance and inclusion for decades. Pope Francis, who has said the Church cannot recognize same-sex marriage, has denounced anti-gay laws. That stance has drawn criticism from conservative Catholics for his positions.

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And in 2021, the Southern Baptist Convention campaigned against the Equality Act  a bill that included protections against discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation  saying it went against "God's good design of males and females and heterosexuality as clearly expressed in Scripture."

Jones told the AP that transgenderism "wasn't something that the Bible even thought about."

"The larger message there is a message of love and inclusion," Jones said.

Conservative lawmakers across the country have cited Biblical scriptures to support their bills targeting trans healthcare and inclusion in public life.

Texas Rep. Steve Toth, who is an ordained minister, spearheaded a bill to make it a felony offense to provide minors with gender-affirming care.

"They are threatening the lives and well-being of so many people around the US and the world," Jones told the AP.

American Civil Liberties Union is watching a total of 474 anti-LGBTQ bills across the country this legislative session, representing a wave of conservative legislative interest in restricting queer and trans rights.

The number of anti-LGBTQ bills has doubled since 2021 and multiplied eight-fold since 2020, Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America , said in a statement in March.

"The language in many of these bills attacks the humanity of trans and nonbinary people, often erasing the dignity that should be afforded to everyone," Eaton said.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Wang Yan has come to a deeper understanding of her hometown since she signed herself up for a cultural and creative art competition at the end of last year.

The 19-year-old, who is studying art at Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, saw a notice for "The Heart of Beijing" Perfect World Campus Art Design Award seeking submissions from students, and the category of "showcasing hometown influence" caught her attention.

The competition was hosted by the culture and tourism bureau of Dongcheng district in Beijing and the gaming and movie conglomerate Perfect World, also based in the city. It was aimed at driving the innovative development of cultural industries, and promoting the international exchange of traditional Chinese culture.

"I was in quarantine at home then and I figured I could make use of my free time and all the videos I took during prior travels to present my impressions about my hometown," says Wang, who was born in Hezuo city, Gannan Tibetan autonomous prefecture, Northwest China's Gansu province.

As she collated and edited the short videos she made over the years, she came to realize how beautiful and influential her hometown was.

In her submitted video, herds of sheep and cattle cross vast, green grasslands under a clear blue sky, while polychromatic prayer flags flutter in the wind. Pious Tibetan women turn the prayer wheels in Tibetan Buddhist temples, and distinctive buildings stand neatly on clean streets.

"When I think of my hometown, there are too many things that come to mind  the vast grasslands and the kind people," Wang explains the elements in her work.

"To tell the story of my hometown through the lens and present it in the form of a short video is something that makes me proud."

Her work has paid off, earning her a bronze medal at the competition.

Wang was among the award winners invited to share their experiences at the competition's award ceremony in Beijing in April, which also featured an exhibition of their works.

Many of the submissions put a distinctly modern twist on their subject matter. Some even applied artificial intelligence or augmented reality to give viewers a taste of distant places and historical legacies.

"In terms of creative form, this competition did not impose too many restrictions on students," says Lu Xiaoyin, co-CEO and president of Perfect World.

"Students could use graphic design, short film production, or AI painting to present the interaction between traditional culture and technology."

The competition required that the entries integrate traditional Chinese cultural images, explore their cultural connotations and historical significance, and convey the values they represent.

At the beginning of the competition, organizers arranged riddles about Chinese culture and promotional videos featuring intangible cultural heritage for attendees, according to Lu.

"We saw that students had huge enthusiasm for interpreting traditional culture and injected fresh perspectives," Lu says.

The competition received diverse submissions, covering many themes and focusing on the integration of traditional culture and modern technology.

The candidates were enrolled in various majors, including graphic and digital arts, film and television media.

More than 4,100 students from over 500 domestic and overseas universities participated in the competition in three categories: tradition and art, commercial design and AI painting.

They created more than 2,700 works for the competition. For the final round, 266 of the most outstanding works were selected after evaluations by an expert panel.

A total of 221 awards were presented at the closing ceremony, including gold, silver, and bronze medals.

Winners will have opportunities to work with experienced designers and companies, and have their products commercialized.

Traditional Chinese cultural products, such as paper-cutting, Peking Opera facial makeup, cloisonne metalwork and kites, were presented in unique ways.

For example, the competition introduced the latest AI painting technology that enabled students from outside traditional art and design majors  including in the fields of law, finance and medicine  to express their artistic flair.

"Whether in art or in the gaming industry, AI is still in its early stages of development. Many events, including this competition, are part of our exploration of the development and application scenarios of AI technology," Lu says.

"The extent to which AI technology can develop will have a profound impact on the world."

Dou Zhiyu from Hohhot-based Inner Mongolia Agricultural University submitted two sets of black-and-white costumes featuring Chinese ethnic designs and surreal light elements using AI painting.

The 23-year-old has been studying computer science and has kept an eye on the development of AI in recent years.

"The technology has enabled me to express my artistic ideas," Dou says. His work was highlighted by the competition's judges, which has increased his confidence in the potential of the technology.

The campus competition has been staged three times, attracting more than 10,000 students from nearly 600 universities worldwide.

"In this competition, a large number of creative works integrate digital technology, AI-generated art and traditional culture," says Hu Guowei, an official from Dongcheng district.

"Through innovative and creative methods, students have demonstrated their reflections on traditional culture."

Speaking about the significance of the competition, Hu says it makes culture more accessible to the public and the market.

"We look forward to more participants from domestic and overseas universities going beyond time and space with their imagination, and using innovative and creative ways to embrace the present and the future with traditional culture."

Wang says it's the sincerity of her work that won her the award.

"This competition has let me see the charm of short videos and how they can help us better appreciate things we might take for granted and give us food for thought," she says.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas relationship with conservative billionaire Harlan Crow is corrupt.

No, theres no evidence yet Thomas changed his views to fit what his benefactor wants, at least not yet. There is, however, no need to require a quid pro quo to prove corruption under Thomas favorite form of legal interpretation: originalism.

Words have meaning at the time they are written. When we read something that someone else has written, we give the words and phrases used by that person natural meaning in context, Thomas said at a conference on originalism in 2019.

In the past month, Thomas has been revealed to have hidden hundreds of thousands of dollars in private jet and yacht travel, luxury vacations and lodging, the sale of a family property and the payment of his adopted sons boarding school tuition, all in connection with Crow. His wife, Ginni Thomas, also reportedly received secret payments from Leonard Leo, the mastermind of the conservative takeover of the court.

Thomas failure to properly disclose the gifts and sales he made in connection with Crow may be illegal under the Ethics in Government Act. That would be for the Department of Justice and the courts to decide. But it is clear that Thomas relationship with the billionaire Crow, and the conservative judicial establishment connected to Crow, is corrupt under the original meaning of corruption at the founding.

(Perhaps, the original meaning of corruption has no bearing here. Times have changed. Our conception of corruption shifted with the discovery that business could corrupt politics, too. The philosophies that influenced the founders no longer hold sway. Take it up with Thomas and the originalists who selectively choose which original meanings matter and which dont.)

Corruption, at the founding, did not mean what Thomas and his colleagues on the court say it does now: strict quid pro quo corruption  you do this in exchange for that. According to historian Gordon Wood, the framers saw corruption as a technical term of political science rooted in the writings of classical republican theory from ancient Greece and Rome, and in more modern adaptations like those of the philosophers Montesquieu and Machiavelli.

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Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas flouted rules designed to limit conflicts of interest or the appearance of a judge having an external dependence.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas flouted rules designed to limit conflicts of interest or the appearance of a judge having an external dependence.

This idea of corruption was systemic in nature and emerged in revolutionary America from experiences with the British monarchy and its abuses of power. Classical republicans saw corruption as the undermining of virtue and a direct threat to a republican government through external dependence and the use of office for personal interest.

When the delegates spoke of corruption at the convention they did so in a manner that reflected classical republican concerns about dependency, cabals, patronage, unwarranted influence, and bribery, James Savage, a University of Virginia political scientist, wrote in his 1994 paper Corruption and Virtue at the Constitutional Convention.

Dependence meant the improper influence of an external force over a body of government. As the framers constructed a balanced system of government, they were explicitly concerned about the unbalanced dependence of one branch of government on another. They witnessed the British king bend Parliament to his will by handing out offices, titles and gifts, and sought to restrain executive power as a result.

A citizen who took bribes from men in power was not only corrupt in the common sense of the word, but corrupt in the classical; he was liable to become dependent on that source of supply and, like the soldiers of the late Roman Republic, to degenerate from a citizen into a client, political historian J.G.A. Pocock wrote in his essay Civic Humanism and Its Role in Anglo-American Thought.

Officials who take the path of corruption are tempted by narcissism, ambition, or luxury, to place private gain before public good in their public actions, Fordham School of Law professor Zephyr Teachout wrote in The Anti-Corruption Principle.

The Constitution was constructed with these fears about corruption, and how to avoid it, in mind. The government is therefore split into three branches, with separation of powers and checks and balances, so that no one branch can become too dependent on another. Multiple officeholding is banned so that the executive cannot act like the king and use appointments to create dependencies. Foreign emoluments to officeholders were banned. And so on.

The framers spent little time discussing the creation of the judiciary, and therefore judicial corruption received little attention. They had other concerns on their minds.

Corrupt judges had not been on the revolutionists mind; corruption by the executive had, John Noonan, the late appeals court judge, wrote in his intellectual and legal history of bribery. But they still discussed and implemented constitutional provisions to guard against the judiciary developing an improper dependence on the other two branches, or on the gust of faction, as one delegate called it.

The delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention, pictured in this Howard Chandler Christy painting, expressed broad fears of corruption.

The delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention, pictured in this Howard Chandler Christy painting, expressed broad fears of corruption.

Supreme Court justices were given life tenure to insulate them from politics and the factions politics creates. Their pay was fixed and could not be reduced by Congress, in order to prevent a dependency if the legislative branch were to object to their rulings. They could serve during good behavior, a sign that they should not be corrupt.

This original conception of dependence corruption has been theorized in recent years by legal scholars like Teachout and Harvard Law School professor Lawrence Lessig in arguments about federal campaign finance law. A number of conservative lawyers have not challenged the veracity of this original meaning of corruption, but rather stated that it is no longer relevant.

Lessig and Teachouts revival of the original conception of dependence corruption focused largely on the elected branches of government, in particular the House of Representatives, as the framers said it should be dependent on the people alone. But concerns about dependence may go even further for the Supreme Court.

The justices are not meant to be dependent on the people, but they are expected to be the most disinterested and most independent of all of the constitutional officers across the government. This concept of judicial independence, and the measures adopted over the years to protect it, has led to strict rules for recusal, conflict of interest and disclosure for all judges, save those on the Supreme Court.

Thomas has flouted all of these rules for decades as hes hidden his dependence on the billionaire Crow and his wifes dependence on payouts from a litany of conservative activist organizations, including Leos court-focused groups. In doing so, he has become dependent on a political faction that is involved in the very intrigue and cabal the founders worried themselves about.

Crow isnt any old rich man. Hes a funder of conservative politics who sits on the boards of conservative think tanks and political organizations. And more importantly, he is connected to the leading lights of the conservative legal movement that has spent large resources to take over the court. The painting hanging in his house does not just feature him enjoying a summer day with Thomas, but also with Leonard Leo, the longtime vice president of the conservative Federalist Society and the operator of the dark-money network used to identify, select and shepherd conservative judicial nominees onto the court. Leo sits atop a war chest of $1.6 billion designed to influence the court in favor of conservatives.

By taking money from Crow for luxury vacations and private schools while his wife took under-the-table payments from Leo, Thomas enmeshed himself in a political faction funded largely by undisclosed donors seeking to control the body where he holds office.

Whether or not Thomas and Crow are friends doesnt matter here. Theres no reason to doubt that, but corruption can emerge out of friendship and vice versa. Indeed, Crow became friends with Thomas when Thomas was a justice and could not answer whether they would have become friends otherwise.

Its an interesting, good question, Crow told The Dallas Morning News when asked if he would be friends with Thomas if he werent a Supreme Court justice. I dont know how to answer that. Maybe not. Maybe yes. I dont know.

A painting commissioned by Harlan Crow shows Crow talking with Clarence Thomas and conservative judicial activist Leonard Leo. Both Crow and Leo have aided Thomas financially.

A painting commissioned by Harlan Crow shows Crow talking with Clarence Thomas and conservative judicial activist Leonard Leo. Both Crow and Leo have aided Thomas financially.

The Supreme Court is supposed to be bound by rules to protect both against the dependence of justices on the other branches of government and against outside influence and the appearance of such. But Thomas chose not to follow the rules and disclose his dependence on someone connected to the effort to take control of the court for conservatives, just as he previously failed to disclose his wifes income from conservative activist groups.

This corruption stains not just Thomas, but the whole court. When the framers worried about corruption they agreed that smaller institutions were more prone to corruption than larger ones, because one corrupt member of a small body could more easily corrupt the whole. Made up of just nine justices, the Supreme Court is far smaller than the House or Senate. And Chief Justice John Roberts has done little to nothing in response to Thomas flouting of the rules.

Its not as though Thomas isnt aware that justices should not be entwined in the secret political intrigue of factions. Hes said as much himself.

The bitterness and enmity surrounding nominations to the federal bench have proven to be one of the principle modern threats to judicial independence, Thomas told a gathering of the Federalist Society in 1999. Interest groups have turned the judicial appointments process into merely another theatre of operations for their unending battles. By making examples of nominees with whom they disagree, interest groups can seek to pressure potential or future nominees to adhere to certain positions and eschew others.

Thomas speech focused on the then-recent adoption of liberal policies by the American Bar Association. Conservatives rejected the ABAs role in the judicial nomination process  it rates judges as qualified or not qualified  in the 1980s. At the same time, conservatives founded the Federalist Society to act as a recruiter, trainer and filter for conservative judicial views in opposition to the ABA.

Rather than worry about whether judges, secure in lifetime appointments and irreducible salaries, are the subject of too much popular criticism, the bar should seek to do its best to de-politicize the selection and nomination process of judges, Thomas said. We should not allow interest groups to undermine the very neutrality that is at the real heart of what it means to be a judge. Only by standing up to these pressures can we all really defend judicial independence.

The Federalist Society came in for praise from Thomas for its wall of separation between law and politics.

That wall of separation may have been conceivable in 1999, but such comments are risible in 2023. Leo, the Federalist Society executive and today the co-chairman of its board of directors, helped shepherd the nominations of Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito in 2005. He worked with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to block President Barack Obamas nomination of Merrick Garland. Then he went to work for President Donald Trump to help him select Supreme Court justices and get them through the Senate.

Throughout all of this, Leo and Crow, and the activist groups tied to them, lavished Thomas with money and praise. What they have done is the flip side of Thomas worries about the politicization of the nomination process through negative attacks. They have rewarded him with gifts, family support, employment for his wife and the luxury life of a billionaire. This, too, is a threat to judicial independence and a fount of the original meaning of corruption.

Related...
The search for two climbers missing off a mountain in Alaskas Denali National Park is being scaled back after officials determined survival is outside the window of possibility."

The climbers, Eli Michel, 34, of Columbia City, Indiana, and Nafiun Awal, of 32, of Seattle, are believed to have been swept off Mooses Tooth mountain by a slab avalanche, the National Park Service said Thursday.

They were last heard from May 5 and reported missing Sunday, it said.

Moose's Tooth is a 10,300-foot-tall mountain in the Ruth Gorge area of the park.

The pair's empty tent and their skis they had cached after switching to crampons were found, and other equipment was spotted along a 3,200-foot fall line, officials said. Temperatures have been between 5 and 20 degrees at night.

"Search managers have concluded that survival is outside the window of possibility," the park service said in a statement.

Denali National Park, which covers 6 million acres, is famous for Denali, a 20,310-foot-tall mountain that is the tallest peak in North America.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Joe Motil, right, who is challenging incumbent Andrew J. Ginther for Columbus mayor, left, on the Nov. 7 ballot, filed a criminal complaint against a Ginther administration public safety official for allegedly grabbing his arm to keep him out of a city gun violence press conference April 28.

A Whitehall prosecutor will decide if any criminal charge should be filed in response to a complaint by Joe Motil  challenger to Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther on the Nov. 7 ballot  against a city public safety official following an incident last month at a press conference.

Motil, 67, filed a criminal misdemeanor assault complaint against Glenn McEntyre, a former Columbus TV reporter who is assistant director and media spokesperson for the city Department of Public Safety. Motil accuses McEntyre of allegedly grabbing Motil's arm while asking him to leave a gun violence press conference held April 28 at the James G. Jackson Columbus Police Academy.

Ginther, Columbus Police Chief Elain Bryant, Columbus Public Health Commissioner Mysheika Roberts and City Attorney Zach Klein addressed the alarming rise of city gun violence incidents involving youth.

Motil, who had not been invited to the media event, doesn't claim to have been injured in any way. He says McEntyre approached, asked him to step out into the hallway and informed him he had to leave the event.

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther looks on as Police Chief Elaine Bryant discusses recent incidents of gun violence involving children during a press conference April 28 at the James G. Jackson Columbus Police Academy.

When Motil responded to McEntyre that the police training facility was a "public building," Motil alleges McEntyre grabbed his arm and informed him he had to leave, saying it was a press event and that Motil was not a member of the media.

"He grabbed me. He grabbed my arm, and for no reason," Motil said Friday. "I told him to get his (expletive) hands off of me and don't (expletive) touch me again, and he let go."

A police officer at the event intervened, Motil said, and generally told Motil that the fact a building is a public facility doesn't mean the public has unfettered access to it. Motil said he asked if he could stand in the lobby, and the officer consented.

McEntyre couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

According to a Columbus police report, "The reporting officer informed the reporting person (Motil) that per city code, 'Assault' requires 'knowingly cause or attempt to cause physical harm'. The suspect 'grabbing' his arm did notconstitute an assault. No injuries were claimed."

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City Attorney Zach Klein's office handles misdemeanor criminal complaints, but has decided that because it represents the Department of Public Safety in other legal matters, Motil's complaint should be reviewed by an outside prosecutor to determine if any charges are merited. The case will be reviewed pro bono by a prosecutor who works for the city of Whitehall.

Joe Motil

Motil, who is a Democrat like Ginther, said he understands that the public can't just walk into any public building without a valid reason, but that he considered it to be a "public event." He said he has attended other Ginther press conferences without incident.

Ginther's campaign said in a written statement: "It's unfortunate Mr. Motil attempted to engage in an unfounded and petty political stunt in an attempt to gain attention. ... It's clear Joe just wanted to create distractions" that diverted from the gun violence message of the event.

On Aug. 28, 2022, Motil was among a group of residents and activists who protested at the homes of three city council members over the city's eviction of homeless people from a camp partially on city property where they had been living for months along Mound Street on the Near East Side. Motil and another man were arrested after setting up tents on City Council President Shannon Hardin's lawn, and then refusing police requests to leave.

In that case, Motil, a longtime city hall critic who frequently speaks at City Council meetings, was charged with trespass, but later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct. He paid a $50 fine and completed 20 hours of community service, according to court records.

wbush@gannett.com

@ReporterBush

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Motil says city asst. public safety director grabbed his arm at event
A 22-year-old man was shot and killed Friday night in his Clintonville apartment, according to Columbus police.

Police responding to a report of a shooting at 9:18 p.m. in the 3200 block of North High Street found Jawaun Fain suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. Medics declared him dead at 9:27 p.m.

Fain was at home when someone fired shots into his apartment, police said. At least one round entered Fain's apartment and hit him.

Authorities ask anyone with information about the shooting to call the Columbus Police Homicide Unit at (614) 645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at (614) 461-TIPS (8477).

It was the second fatal shooting in Columbus on Friday.

Columbus police say one male was killed and another was injured in a shooting early Friday afternoon next to a daycare center filled with napping children in the King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood.

One man found was found near the Atcheson Place Lofts apartments, in the 1000 block of Atcheson Street. He was taken to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, where he later died. The second man suffered a minor gunshot wound.

mawilliams@dispatch.com

@BizMarkWilliams

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Clintonville fatal shooting: Man killed after shots fired into home
Emily Campbell and Dan Regan. Emily Campbell

A couple quit their jobs in London to become caretakers of a remote Irish island.

Dan Regan and Emily Campbell run a coffee shop and cottages on Great Blasket Island.

With no running water or electricity, and demanding wildlife, they've had a steep learning curve.

How far would you go to escape burnout? For one couple, the answer was about 450 miles west and into the Atlantic Ocean.

At the start of April, Emily Campbell and her husband Dan Regan became caretakers of Great Blasket Island, a 1,100-acre island off the West coast of Ireland.

The couple beat out thousands of other applicants to run the island for six months. With no running water or electricity, and sometimes difficult visitors, they've faced a steep learning curve.

Thousands of applicants

Regan, a civil engineer, and Campbell, a nurse, applied for the role of caretaker when they were going through what Regan described as the "January blues." The position offered the chance to manage three cottages and a cafe and, more importantly, a chance to escape the rat race.

They were told there had been about 150,000 to take care of the island in the last five years. So to stand out, Regan and Campbell did away with a written application and instead sent in a video montage.

They were shortlisted and had a call with Billy O'Connor and Alice Hayes, a couple who own the island's cottages, for a final screening.

"It was just quite an informal chat and basically them being like, 'Are you sure you know what you're getting yourself into?'" Campbell said.

Dan and Emily get free food and accommodation to manage the island and receive a salary from the owners.

Sheering sheep and making coffee

The job is as multifaceted as you would imagine from running an island. Shearing some of the island's 200 sheep and giving them their vitamins is part of the job, as is looking after overnight guests and making coffee for day visitors.

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Regan leads coffee-shop duties, while Campbell handles the changeovers of overnight guests. They'll still try and balance some of the more unpleasant chores, like cleaning the toilet.

Regan drives the quad that helps transport several deliveries sent to the island. The couple said they've taken a lamb under their wing too, feeding it three times a day.

They do all these tasks on an island with no hot running water or conventional electricity. The couple uses a car battery connected to a wind turbine to power some essentials like their phones and head torches for guests.

"We're sleeping better than ever because we don't have screens and artificial light for most of the day, which is nice," Campbell said.

Trouble with tourists

Great Blasket is about 22 miles north of Skellig Michael, the island which filled in as Luke Skywalker's hideaway in "Star Wars: The Last Jedi." The movie made the island a huge tourist attraction, causing it to suffer damage.

Campbell and Regan have faced a similar struggle with Great Blasket: accommodating tourists while ensuring the island is respected.

Previous caretakers Brock Montgomery and Claire de Haas told the Irish Mirror that tourists were badly behaved when they visited the island. The couple reported public urination, littering, and even visitors throwing seals.

While Regan and Campbell haven't had trouble with littering, they've also been frustrated by visitors upsetting the island's seals.

"There have been several occasions already where people have spooked them and run up, jumped on the beach, kind of making lots of noise. And then it's really sad because it's their space to rest and they've got their pups there," Campbell said.

For now, the couple isn't sure what they'll do when their tenancy runs out in October. But they do find it hard to imagine living in a big city again.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A 23-year-old liquor store clerk was indicted Friday on charges that she schemed to steal a winning $3 million Mega Millions ticket and cash it in at Massachusetts Lottery Headquarters, prosecutors said.

Carly Nunes, of Lakeville, was indicted by a Plymouth grand jury on charges of larceny from a building, attempted larceny, presentation of a false claim, and witness intimidation, according to Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz.

Nunes indictment comes after a four-month investigation that involved a thorough review of records, video surveillance footage, and witness interviews, Cruzs office said.

On Jan. 17, 2023, the victim in this case is said to have entered Savas Liquors at Bedford Street in Lakeville and purchased a bag of barbecue potato chips, two Massachusetts State Lottery Quick Picks for the Mega Millions lottery, and two for the Mass Cash lottery. The man added a multiplier to his Mega Millions ticket to increase the jackpot prize.

Nunes, the checkout counter clerk, input the order into the lottery terminal, and printed two lottery tickets. Nunes returned to the cash register and rang up the mans order, totaling $12.

Prosecutors say the victim left the store with his bag of chips, but left all of his lottery tickets behind at the checkcounter. That same evening, the victims identical numbers were announced as winners in the Mega Millions drawing. The victim then briefly searched for his tickets to check his numbers but concluded that they were lost.

Two days later, a co-worker at Savas, 32-year-old Manchester, New Hampshire native Joseph Reddem, drove Nunes and her boyfriend to Massachusetts Lottery Headquarters in Dorchester to redeem the prize, according to prosecutors.

Reddem was also indicted on a charge of attempted extortion in connection with Nunes scheme.

When Nunes presented the winning ticket at Lottery headquarters, a customer service worker noticed that it was torn and burned, but proceeded to scan it and inform Nunes and her boyfriend that it was indeed worth $3 million. Prosecutors say the couple proceeded to embrace and celebrate.

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Shortly after cashing the ticket, prosecutors say Nunes and Reddem were caught on surveillance video arguing in the lobby of Lottery Headquarters. An investigation revealed that Nunes allegedly told Reddem that she would only pay him $200,000 from the winnings.

The argument that was overheard coupled with the condition of the ticket that was turned, led Lottery officials to interview Nunes, according to prosecutors.

Nunes allegedly claimed that she purchased the ticket near the end of her shift on Jan. 17, that she mistakenly ripped the ticket when removing it from her purse, and that the burn marks were from placing it on a pipe.

Lottery officials ultimately told Nunes that they were going to contact Massachusetts State Police to launch an investigation and that she would receive her winnings when a conclusion was made.

A review of surveillance video from inside Savas revealed that the ticket wasnt purchased by Nunes. When confronted with this evidence, she allegedly said that she had inadvertently obtained the winning ticket.

State police eventually tracked down the victim for an interview and lottery officials said they plan to honor the victims claim to the jackpot.

Nunes and Reddem will be arraigned at a later date.

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Noble Geathers

A Daytona Beach man is facing decades in prison after he was convicted Friday of dog fighting and animal cruelty charges.

Noble Gene Geathers, 56, was convicted after a five-day trial of 12 animal cruelty counts, nine animal fighting counts and one count of animal fighting-property promoting. Each of the charges is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

This defendant has been a scourge in our community for too long. It is time to send himaway for good, State Attorney R.J. Larizza said of the case.

The case began on Feb. 22, 2021, when Daytona Beach police and animal control officers seized 42 dogs, including puppies, from a home at 225 Reva St.

Some of the dogs had heavy chains attached to them. Some were being kept in makeshift wooden cages while others were tied to vehicle axles buried in the ground. Other dogs were kept in carriers.

Detectives determined that some of the dogs were being bred and then used in an organized dog fighting ring. Detectives also found dogs with wounds in different stages of healing.

Police also found dog supplements and injectable medication which was often used in organized dog fighting.

Circuit Judge Leah Case will sentence Geathers on May 19 at the S. James Foxman Justice Center in Daytona Beach.

Man gets jail for killing dog Port Orange man barred from owning pets, gets 6 months in jail for beating dog to death

Dogs die in hot car Woman sentenced to 1 year probation for death of 4 dogs in hot car in New Smyrna Beach

According to the ASPCA, dogfighting is a felony in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, yet it continues. It describes the activity as "one of the most heinous forms of animal cruelty."

Dogs used for fighting are typically raised in isolation, so they spend most of their lives on short, heavy chains. They are regularly conditioned for fighting through the use of drugs, including anabolic steroids to enhance muscle mass and encourage aggressiveness.

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Assistant State Attorneys Mike Willard and Dan Megaro prosecuted the case.

Another man charged in the case, Benjamin Ponder III, 35, has entered no-contest pleas to similar charges as part of a plea agreement and has yet to be sentenced.

According to the conditional plea agreement, Ponder will be sentenced to two years in state prison followed by eight years probation and will be eligible for early termination of probation. An addendum to the plea agreement was not available Friday night.

A third man, Earl Holmes, 53, also faces principal to cruelty to animal charges in the case and other charges and his case remains open.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona Beach man convicted in dog-fighting, animal cruelty case
MUNCIE, Ind.  Sheriff's deputies are investigating a Delaware County woman's shooting death Friday evening at a property in Salem Township south of Daleville.

Reports indicated three people were shot at a home in the 14400 block of West Corner Road. Two male victims were taken by ambulance to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital.

Emergency vehicles on Friday night lined the 14400 block of Corner Road in Salem Township south of Daleville. Three people were believed to have been shot and at least one was dead as of 10 p.m.

The female victim  identified Saturday afternoon as Angela K. Clymer, 47  was pronounced dead at the scene. Court records list her as residing at the address where the shootings took place.

About 10 a.m. Saturday, Stanley said the more seriously injured of the two men  described as a suspect in the shootings  continued to be treated at the Muncie hospital. He was believed to be in critical condition.

Stanley said deputies believed they could account for everyone involved in Friday's incident, and that as of late Friday, no danger was posed to residents of the area.

The shootings were reported about 7:40 p.m. Friday after one of the male victims apparently drove from the shooting scene to a Daleville business.

Stanley said that man "was bleeding from the head and stated he had just been shot." He was taken by ambulance to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital, and was later transferred to an Indianapolis medical facility.

That victim also provided authorities with information that led them to the Corner Road address, where they found Clymer and the other man, "on a porch with what appeared to be gunshot wounds," Stanley said.

Investigators were trying to determine whether the shootings were tied to an earlier report of gunfire in nearby Chesterfield, in eastern Madison County.

The shooting scene along Corner Road was outside a two-story structure that resembled a small barn. A recreational vehicle was parked nearby, along with two cars.

Stanley said late Saturday investigators were "processing multiple crime scenes and conducting interviews of potential witnesses."

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Several emergency responders including personnel from the Delaware County coroner's office, Delaware County EMS, Salem Township Fire/EMS, and police officers from Daleville and Chesterfield  and Deputy Prosecutor Doug Mawhorr were at the scene late Friday and early Saturday.

(This story will be updated.)

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Woman fatally shot, two men wounded near Daleville
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans main political opponent accused Russia of using deepfakes and other artificial intelligence (AI)-generated material to meddle in the countrys upcoming presidential election.

"The Russians have a vested interest in backing an Erdogan presidency to ensure that he basically stays in power, mainly because the Russians benefit [from] driving a wedge between Turkey and NATO, and they've been very successful about that in the last decade or so," Sinan Ciddi, non-resident senior fellow on Turkey at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital.

"So, in the last several days, weeks, it has been credibly reported by Turkish sources that Russian bot accounts, Twitter accounts, all sorts of disinformation campaigns have started pressing the thumb down on backing the Erdogan presidency, and that comes as no surprise."

The election, scheduled for May 14 alongside parliamentary elections, has proven difficult for Erdogan as his election rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu maintains a slight lead in opinion polls.

META ANNOUNCES AI IMAGE GENERATION TOOLS FOR ADVERTISERS

Supporters wave flags and chant slogans while waiting for the arrival of CHP Party presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu during a campaign rally May 12, 2023, in Ankara, Turkey.

The race has already seen another candidate, Muharrem Ince, drop out after claiming he was the victim of a faked "character assassination" online.

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Ince claimed an alleged sex tape released online was created using deepfake technology, which fabricates videos and images that can look and sound like real people and events, using footage "from an Israeli porn site," The Guardian reported.

Turkey's Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman and Presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu delivers a speech under heavy rain during an election campaign rally in Ankara, Turkey, May 12, 2023.

"I do not have such an image, no such sound recording," Ince said. "This is not my private life, its slander. Its not real.

"What I have seen in these last 45 days, I have not seen in 45 years."

AI COULD BECOME THE WORLD'S WEATHERMAN AS HUMAN-DESIGNED MODELS MAY BE ON THE WAY OUT

News agencies have covered instances of deepfakes and other material that many allege to have originated from Russian agents. Another high-profile instance saw Erdogan playing an alleged deepfake video that appeared to show Kurdish militants supporting his rival.

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Kilicdaroglu accused Turkey's "Russian friends" of responsibility for "the release in this country yesterday of montages, plots, deepfake content."

Presidential candidate and Chairman of the Homeland (Memleket) Party Muharrem Ince speaks to the press at the Homeland Party headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, May 11, 2023.

"If you want to continue our friendship after May 15, withdraw your hand from the Turkish state. We are still in favor of cooperation and friendship," he said on Twitter Thursday evening in both Turkish and Russian.

Teyit, a Turkey-based verification platform that analyzes the accuracy of dubious online content, has already debunked over 150 controversial election claims, Euronews reported. Many of the claims were based on deepfake material that tried to accuse candidates of terrorism and incivility.

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"It's easy to recognize that kind of content is fake, but it isnt to people who no longer think critically," Turkish AI expert Cem Say told Euronews.

Experts have already raised concerns as to how some bad actors might utilize AI technology to interfere in upcoming elections. Sen. Pete Ricketts during a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee hearing earlier this year referenced China and its alleged use of deepfake videos to spread propaganda on social media platforms.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan makes remarks as he attends the third Turkey Youth Summit organized by the Turkey Youth NGOs Platform at Istanbul Congress Center May 12, 2023, in Turkey.

Aiden Buzzetti, president of the Bull Moose Project, told Fox News Digital AI technology will be able to do more than just create misleading deepfake images and videos.

"AI involvement in elections could upend the large portions of campaign strategy from data-driven collection to dirty tricks," Buzzetti said. "Artificial intelligence tools could bolster the impact of targeting specific voters to articulate a campaign message  as well as trash opponents.

"Unethical campaign consultants could utilize AI deepfake tools to create inflammatory and outwardly false representations of federal officials and candidates, or even, potentially illegally, use robocalls in a candidate's voice to present them in a negative and destructive way."

Reuters contributed to this report.
China Development Bank, one of the country's policy banks, has increased financial support for the revitalization of the northeast parts of the country in recent years, data from the bank shows.

By the end of April, the policy bank had issued nearly 400 billion yuan (about 57.6 billion U.S. dollars) of loans to projects involved in this undertaking, it said.

It had also allocated 23.3 billion yuan of infrastructure investment funds to the region, backing 32 major infrastructure projects.

These loans have boosted the construction of highways, energy bases, water supply facilities and water diversion projects, and helped nurture strategic emerging industries in the northeast region, according to the bank.

The policy bank said that it would provide more financing support for the region this year, with the proportion of mid- and long-term loans expanding steadily.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to Iowa voters. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke at an event for Iowa Rep. Randy Feenstra on Saturday.

The event took place the same weekend former President Donald Trump was in the state.

DeSantis touted Florida's protection of "freedom" as the state moves to ban diversity programs in schools.

Calling Florida a "refuge of sanity," Gov. Ron DeSantis said Saturday people can't stop moving to the state because of its track record as a "citadel of freedom."

In the same speech, DeSantis proudly spoke of his administration's track record of pushing for books to be removed from schools, eliminating diversity programs, ousting critics from office, and moving toward banning teachers from sharing their preferred pronouns.

DeSantis  who is expected to announce his 2024 presidential campaign at any moment  attended the Saturday event in support Iowa Rep. Randy Feenstra. Former President Donald Trump, who is running again in 2024 as a Republican, is also planning a large outdoor rally in Des Moines, Iowa later in the day.

In his speech, DeSantis pointed to rankings released by US News & World Report on May 2, which places Florida at #1 in education based on graduation rates. DeSantis, said he's "very proud" that Florida also ranks in first place for parental involvement in education.

"We're very proud of that," he said. "But none of that would have been possible had we not stood up when it counted."

On May 3, Florida passed two bills that ban college diversity programs and make it illegal to require students or teachers to use pronouns that do not align with someone's assigned sex at birth.

DeSantis, who will soon sign them into law, said the legislation was designed to "nix the pronoun Olympics in schools."

"We're not doing the pronoun stuff," DeSantis said. "Your teacher can't make you list pronouns. We're just not doing it."

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Research has shown that using incorrect pronouns or misgendering transgender people can have harmful effects on their mental health. According to a survey from The Trevor Project, More than 40% of LGBTQ youth said they considered suicide in the last year, and that anti-LGBTQ laws were making their mental health worse.

Moms for Liberty, which originated in Florida, is a conservative parent group that has led the charge nationally in the push to remove books from schools with LGBTQ+ themes. The group has pushed to have its members elected to local school boards. Last month, the state Department of Education tried to oust a superintendent critical of DeSantis after the group sent him a letter about the official.

DeSantis also touted his habit of removing government officials who are critical of him or disagree with his political views from office in his speech on Saturday.

DeSantis bragged about ousting elected Tampa prosecutor Andrew Warren in August 2022 after Warren said he would not enforce the state's restrictions on abortion on gender-affirming care.

"I removed him from his position," he said. "He is gone and that's the type of accountability we need."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is fundraising for New York City Marine veteran Daniel Penny, who faces criminal charges for the death of Jordan Neely, a homeless man who witnesses and prosecutors say had been "making threats and scaring people" on the subway.

Penny, 24, was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court Friday and faces charges of second-degree manslaughter after he put Neely in a fatal chokehold. Lawyers for the defense argue Penny acted to protect himself and other passengers who were being threatened.

DeSantis on Friday shared a fundraiser for Penny's legal defense, calling him a "Good Samaritan" and criticizing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg as a "pro-criminal" and "Soros-Funded" prosecutor.

"We must defeat the Soros-Funded DAs, stop the Left's pro-criminal agenda, and take back the streets for law abiding citizens. We stand with Good Samaritans like Daniel Penny. Lets show this Marine... Americas got his back," DeSantis tweeted.

NYC MARINE VETERAN CHARGED IN DEATH OF MAN MAKING THREATS AND SCARING PASSENGERS: PROSECUTORS

U.S. Marine veteran Daniel Penny is walked out of the New York Police Department 5th Precinct in Lower Manhattan, May 12, 2023, on his way to an arraignment after surrendering to authorities, having been charged with 2nd-degree manslaughter in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely. The death of Jordan Neely -- widely identified as a Michael Jackson impersonator who often performed on the train -- earlier this month sparked outrage.

He tweet linked to a GiveSendGo page set up by Raiser & Kenniff, P.C., the law firm representing Penny.

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"Funds are being raised to pay Mr. Pennys legal fees incurred from any criminal charges filed and any future civil lawsuits that may arise, as well as expenses related to his defense," the fundraiser description reads. "All contributions are greatly appreciated. Any proceeds collected which exceed those necessary to cover Mr. Pennys legal defense will be donated to a mental health advocacy program in New York City."

The GiveSendGo campaign raised $853,213 at time of publication, with more than 18,000 donors.

MARINE VETERAN TO BE CHARGED BY MANHATTAN DA IN JORDAN NEELY SUBWAY CHOKEHOLD DEATH

On May 1, Penny, a 24-year-old Marine veteran and college student, put 30-year-old Jordan Neely in a fatal chokehold after what police described as an altercation on a northbound F train.

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Neely was allegedly threatening passengers on the subway and having a mental episode. He was yelling and pacing back and forth when Penny intervened, tackled him to the ground and put him in a chokehold, witnesses and police said.

The city's medical examiner determined that Neely died from the compression against his neck.

Marine veteran Daniel Penny, right, fatally choked Jordan Neely, left, on a NYC subway after the homeless man threatened passengers.

After the incident, Penny's attorneys said that Neely had a documented history of violent and erratic behavior, which was the apparent result of ongoing and untreated mental illness.

"When Mr. Penny, a decorated Marine veteran, stepped in to protect himself and his fellow New Yorkers, his well-being was not assured," Penny's attorney Steve Raiser said. "He risked his own life and safety, for the good of his fellow passengers. The unfortunate result was the unintended and unforeseen death of Mr. Neely. We are confident that once all the facts and circumstances surrounding this tragic incident are brought to bear, Mr. Penny will be fully absolved of any wrongdoing."

NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS SAYS JORDAN NEELY DID NOT DESERVE TO DIE

Daniel Penny leaves the 5th Precinct of the NYPD on Friday, May 12, 2023. Penny is charged in connection with the death of subway rider, Jordan Neely.

Neely's family responded to the statement issued by Penny's attorneys, saying it was not an apology or an expression of regret, but rather a "character assassination and a clear example of why he believed he was entitled to take Jordan's life."

"In the first paragraph he talks about how good he is and the next paragraph he talks about how bad Jordan was in an effort to convince us Jordan's life was worthless," Neely family attorneys Donte Mills and Lennon Edwards said. "The truth is, he knew nothing about Jordan's history when he intentionally wrapped his arms around Jordan's neck, and squeezed and kept squeezing."

The attorneys also said in the last paragraph that Penny suggests that the public shows indifference for people like Jordan.

"It is clear he is the one who acted with indifference, both at the time he killed Jordan and now in his first public message," the attorney's said. "He never attempted to help him at all. In short, his actions on the train, and now his words, show why he needs to be in prison."

Prosecutors said that Penny has been fully cooperative with police and the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

A judge ordered Penny's release Friday on a $100,000 bond signed off by prosecutors and secured by bondsman Ira Judelson.

Penny faces a maximum of five to-15 years in prison if convicted. He is due back in court in July.

Fox News' Rebecca Rosenberg, Marta Dhanis, Greg Wehner and Laura Ingle contributed to this report.
We all saw the photo go viral, Nicole Phillips, legal director at Haitian Bridge Alliance, told theGrio.

A decision by a D.C. federal judge could come at any moment over whether to hear a class action lawsuit filed by the Haitian Bridge Alliance on behalf of 11 Haitian migrants accusing Customs and Border Patrol of mistreatment at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The group of plaintiffs includes Mirard Joseph, who was infamously photographed in what many believed to be a horse-mounted border patrol whipping him with a horse rein in 2021.

We all saw the photo go viral, Nicole Phillips, legal director at Haitian Bridge Alliance, told theGrio.

A United States Border Patrol agent on horseback tries to stop a Haitian migrant from entering an encampment on the banks of the Rio Grande near the Acuna Del Rio International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas on September 19, 2021. (Photo by PAUL RATJE/AFP via Getty Images)

The pending ruling in the federal lawsuit comes as the controversial Trump-era Title 42 policy ended May 11 and as the federal government manages an influx of migrants seeking asylum in the United States at the southern border.

Phillips spoke to theGrio on Friday while at the border, where she and other immigration lawyers and advocates are monitoring the actions after the COVID-19 public health emergency restriction was lifted Thursday night.

The suit filed by Haitian Bridge Alliance alleges the federal government created inhumane conditions for approximately 15,000 Haitian migrants stationed at an encampment near the Del Rio, Texas border in September 2021. The complaint accuses border patrol of leaving migrants without giving them access to the asylum process or screening them for a fear of return to their home country.

The lawsuit names as defendants the Biden administration and several government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and others.

Phillips said the government violated the constitution, due process, and other policies and laws in the way they handled and treated the Haitian migrants in Del Rio, Texas.

The federal government filed a motion to have the class action lawsuit dismissed; however, the Haitian Bridge Alliance disputed. Now both sides are waiting for an answer.

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During Thursdays White House press briefing, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas pushed back against the notion that Joseph, the migrant from the viral photo, was whipped. He told theGrio an internal DHS investigation concluded that the whipping did not occur.

WASHINGTON, DC  MAY 11: Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas speaks during the daily news briefing at the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on May 11, 2023 in Washington, DC. Mayorkas took questions from reporters about the expiration Title 42. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The request by the government to dismiss the lawsuit was a result of the investigation launched in 2021 and concluded in 2022. Phillips does not believe the investigation was a fair one. The attorney for the migrant advocacy group called it a sham investigation that involved all law enforcement. She noted that the biased internal probe did not include a single migrant being interviewed.

Phillip also suggested a sort of cover-up by officials in Del Rio after the Haiti migrant controversy.

Thousands [Haitians] were expelled immediately to get rid of the witnesses, she declared. We put no weight at all in that investigation.

As all sides wait for the federal judges decision on whether to hear the case, the broader question now is on the treatment of Black migrants at the border.

Immigration advocate Nana Gyamfi, co-founder of Justice Warriors 4 Black Lives and Human Rights Advocacy, told theGrio that the recent lifting of Title 42 and the start of Title 8 enforcement will suppress Black migrants, who she noted are required to ask for asylum in countries they transit through.

She explained, Many of those countries are too dangerous for Black migrants to request asylum.

YUMA, ARIZONA- MAY 20: Immigrants from Haiti, who crossed through a gap in the U.S.-Mexico border barrier, wait in line to be processed by the U.S. Border Patrol on May 20, 2022 in Yuma, Arizona. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Gyamfi used the current conflict in Sudan as an example. If a native of Sudan wanted to file for asylum and come to the United States, how could they, as theres no one in the embassy? she queried. Americans were told to leave the country because of a deadly war there.

A Biden official, who wished to remain anonymous, told theGrio that the administration admits more refugees from Africa than any other region and that President Biden increased the number of refugees we accept globally more than any predecessor with a cap of 125,000 a year.

The official also noted that the administrations new parole program announced in January that admits up to 30,000 Haitians per month has, to date, admitted 32,000 Haitians.

That parole program, in four months, has admitted more Haitians than  from most of the world this year as refugees, said the official. That is not an overstatement.

TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku and Android TV. Also, please download theGrio mobile apps today!

The post Despite DHS secretary claim, lawyer for Haitian migrant says investigation was a sham appeared first on TheGrio.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently criticized calls for the U.S. Senates oldest and longest-serving member, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, to resign from office, saying Ive never seen them go after a man who was sick in the Senate.

Four-term Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow has also said that calls for Feinstein to step down are rooted in sexism.

I dont recall it happening to other colleagues of mine who now are also in their late eighties and having various challenges, Stabenow said.

They have a point.

Opinion

Two of the longest-serving and oldest members in the U.S. Senate, Robert Byrd and Strom Thurmond, were widely known by the end of their careers to be non-compos mentis, according to The New Yorker. A Latin phrase meaning not of sound mind, its a dismal label to describe anyone, let alone someone who should be a powerful U.S. senator.

Byrd, a Democrat from West Virginia, served in the Senate for 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010 at the age of 92. Thurmond represented South Carolina in the Senate for 47 years, first as a Democrat and then as a Republican.

By the time he retired, Thurmond was 100 years old, but it was well known that he should have left the Senate long before he did. One former Senate aide said that for his last ten years, Strom Thurmond didnt know if he was on foot or on horseback.

American political history is full of men who were allowed to remain in elected office when they were no longer physically able or mentally competent to serve. These men generally were given the benefit of the doubt by their colleagues, the media and the public. But now Feinstein, a woman, is in the same position, and she has been subjected to intense scrutiny and pressure to step down.

This new public reaction, however, is ultimately the right one. The days of excusing politicians who can no longer serve out of a misplaced sense of tradition should be eliminated.

If it takes a woman to amend that well, its hardly the first convention Feinstein will have broken in her career.

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Its always worse for women

Feinstein is a woman and a trailblazer for her gender. Age and infirmity are, perhaps, not the final glass ceiling she wanted to break in her career, but its the one she now faces.

Successful women are often more heavily scrutinized and closely watched than their male counterparts. Consider how intensely the public despises Theranos fraudster Elizabeth Holmes. Theranos former chief operating officer, Sunny Balwani, is also guilty of defrauding the public, yet is absent from much of the discourse.

Consider, too, the glass cliff  coined by researchers in 2003, who found that women have a better chance of being elevated to higher levels of management when an organization is facing a crisis, leaving the powerful men to escape the blame for mismanaging organizations to point of crisis.

The reason why media accounts describe Feinstein as selfish and tragic when Thurmond was largely given a pass is undoubtedly explained by deeply-rooted misogyny that exists in a patriarchal society that props up and lauds white men in power while simultaneously tearing down women.

But its also true that Feinstein, like some male predecessors, overstayed their welcome in office, to the lasting detriment of the American people.

So if Feinstein is the subject of intense scrutiny or public questioning in a way those men were not, its in part due to the presence of women and people of color in the Senate, which has helped challenge the status quo that sheltered powerful white men for far too long.

Ultimately, our states current conversation over whether Feinstein should or should not remain in office is not just a debate over the presence of sexism in society, it is  perhaps most importantly  a recognition of the insidious issues posed by the U.S. Senate existing as a gerontocracy.

Feinsteins physical return this week to the Senate  in a wheelchair pushed by an aide  after a long bout with shingles was hardly the resounding picture of health and competency her staff has been peddling to the media in her absence.

The median age of members of the U.S. Senate is 65, while the median age of the nation they serve is just 38.

It seems improbable at this time, however, that the senator will do the right thing and step down.

That final act of selfishness will undoubtedly mar what should have been a great legacy.
Dallas police are investigating a drive-by shooting that killed one man and seriously wounded another in east Oak Cliff Friday night, officials said.

Several suspects in a four-door sedan drove by a location at 3000 Alabama Avenue and fired shots, police said. Two men were injured.

Officers responded to the scene around 9:40 p.m., officials said. Both men were taken to a local hospital, where one of the victims died from his injuries. The other victim is in critical condition.

The suspects are still at large, police said.

Anyone with information about the drive-by shooting is asked to contact Detective Theodore Gross at 214-671-3143, or theodore.gross@dallaspolice.gov.
New Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino. Isaac Brekken/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images

Twitter owner Elon Musk announced Friday that he had selected advertising and media executive Linda Yaccarino to be the social media company's next CEO.

In a tweet, Musk said he was "excited to welcome" Yaccarino, adding that she will "focus primarily on business operations, while I focus on product design & new technology." Musk said he was looking forward to working with Yaccarino on what he described as the "everything app," X  an attempt to build a social platform akin to China's WeChat, NPR reported.

Musk had previously announced he was stepping down as CEO the day before, but had declined to specifically name his replacement.

Yaccarino is a media industry mainstay who had served as chair of global advertising and partnerships at NBCUniversal, working her way up the ladder after joining the company in 2011. After it was reported by The Wall Street Journal that Yaccarino was in contention for the job at Twitter, NBCUniversal announced they were immediately parting ways with her, just hours before Musk's tweet.

Given Yaccarino's prior industry background, it is likely that Musk chose her to help revamp the platform's advertisers after major companies pulled out of Twitter in 2022 amidst Musk's controversial handling of the site. Joe Marchese, the former head of ad sales at the Fox Networks Group, told The New York Times that Yaccarino "has one of the biggest jobs in advertising, and the ad market is as hard as it's ever been."

This past April, Yaccarino and Musk hosted a discussion about Twitter during a panel billed as "Twitter 2.0: From Conversations to Partnerships." In what was perhaps a preview of Yaccarino's Twitter tenure, she told Musk that "protection for their ad campaigns," Variety reported, and also him advertisers "have a challenge with your points of view, your opinions, and [they're] still holding back."

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The plump Chicago River snapping turtle Chonkosaurus was spotted by kayakers. Screenshot, Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't/Youtube

"Chonkosaurus," AKA "Chonk," was spotted chilling in the Chicago River last week.

The exceedingly plump snapping turtle was captured on video that has since gone viral.

"It was the most Chicago image," the person who took the video told Block Club Chicago.

An enormous snapping turtle in the Chicago River was captured on video last week and affectionately nicknamed "Chonkosaurus"  or "Chonk" for short.

The video was shared Joey Santore, who runs the YouTube channel "Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't" along with his friend Al Scorch, according to Block Club Chicago. The channel looks at natural areas in the city through the lens of a "Misanthropic Chicago Italian."

Santore can be heard expressing shock at the size of the plump turtle, whose robust body almost appeared too large for its shell: "Oh my god! That's a massive turtle."

Someone else can be heard pointing out that the turtle is "just hanging out" on a pile of rusty chains.

"Chicago River Snapper aka Chonkosaurus. Great to see this beast thriving here on what was once such a toxic river, but is slowly getting cleaned up & restored," Santore wrote in a tweet alongside the video. "Somebody planted a bunch of native plants up the river from here, too. I can only wonder this things been eating."

Videos of Chonk have racked up more than 653,000 views on Twitter and more than 84,000 views on YouTube.

Santore told Block Club Chicago that he and Scorch were kayaking along the river looking for invasive plants when they spotted Chonk and decided to start filming.

"It was the most Chicago image," he told the outlet. "It was like this giant, just almost overweight, that looked too [big] for its shell, reptile hanging out on some rusty gnarly chains that were holding together these decrepit pylons that were probably like 80 years old."

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There are two species of snapping turtle in North America, and both can be spotted in Illinois, according to Friends of the Chicago River. The common snapping turtle is found throughout the state, while the alligator snapping turtle is typically found in the southeast part of the state.

Common snapping turtles can weigh anywhere from 20 to 75 lbs. The jury's still out on where Chonk falls in that range.

Read the original article on Insider
A reelection campaign poster depicting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Kayseri, Turkey, on April 21, 2023. Erdogan has tapped the power of his office to appeal to voters and mitigate the effects of inflation. (Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times)

TALLINN, Estonia  Sundays presidential election in Turkey is being watched carefully in Western capitals, NATO headquarters and the Kremlin, with Turkeys longtime mediating role in the complex and often vexing relations among the parties riding on the outcome.

With President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slightly trailing his challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, in recent polls, the prospect that the Turkish leader could lose the election is concentrating diplomatic minds.

Officially, people on the Western side wont talk about their preferences, to avoid being accused of interfering in Turkeys domestic politics. But it is an open secret that European leaders, not to speak of the Biden administration, would be delighted if Erdogan were to lose.

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As Carl Bildt, the former Swedish prime minister, said Friday, We all want an easier Turkey, a strategically important member of NATO that has, under Erdogan, become an increasingly troublesome partner for the European Union, which has largely abandoned the idea of Turkish membership.

Russia, too, has much riding on the elections outcome. Under Erdogan, Turkey has become Russias indispensable trading partner and at times a diplomatic intermediary, a relationship that has assumed an even greater importance for the Kremlin since the invasion of Ukraine.

Throughout his 20 years in power, Erdogan has pursued a nonaligned foreign policy that has frequently frustrated his putative Western allies and provided a welcome diplomatic opening for Moscow  perhaps never more so than after Russias invasion of Ukraine.

By refusing to enforce Western sanctions on Moscow, Erdogan has helped undermine efforts to isolate the Kremlin and starve it of funds to underwrite the war. At the same time, the stumbling Turkish economy has feasted recently on heavily discounted Russian oil, helping Erdogan in his quest for a third, five-year term.

Erdogan has further irritated his allies by blocking Swedens bid for membership in NATO, insisting that Stockholm first turn over scores of Kurdish refugees in the country, especially from the Kurdistan Workers Party, which both Turkey and the U.S. consider a terrorist organization.

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More broadly, for the EU and Washington, there is the strong feeling that Turkey under Erdogan has moved further away from European values and norms like the rule of law and freedom of the press.

Kaja Kallas, Estonias prime minister, said in an interview that NATO and the EU viewed the election differently. It is a defense alliance, she said, and Turkey is one of the allies that has great military capacities to help NATO in a key part of the world. So I dont think anything changes in terms of NATO in this regard, whoever wins the elections.

For NATO, of course, the hope is that a change of leadership in Turkey will end the standoff over approval of Swedens membership in the military alliance, ideally before a summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July.

In Washington, Erdogans drift toward authoritarianism, his ties to President Vladimir Putin of Russia and his disputes with NATO have exasperated officials  and even led some members of Congress to suggest that Turkey should be banished from the NATO alliance.

While the United States, the EU and, to a lesser extent, NATO stand to gain from an opposition victory, Putin almost certainly will be seen as the loser if Erdogan is ousted.

Not only has Erdogan refused to join Western sanctions against Russia and provided a market for its oil and gas, but Turkey has also become a source for Moscow of much-needed imports and a crucial link to the global economy amid tightening Western sanctions. The Kremlin also sees in Erdogans often confrontational nationalist rhetoric the potential to disrupt the NATO alliance.

For its part, Turkey has benefited not only from cheap Russian energy but also from Russian investment and revenues from Russian tourism, which have risen since the start of the war. Russia is building Turkeys first nuclear power plant and, since war began, has announced plans to make the country a hub for its natural gas trade.

The two long-serving leaders also share an authoritarian streak and confrontational rhetoric toward the West, emphasizing historical grievances against other world powers. Erdogans relationship with Putin has allowed him to play the role of statesman as a mediator for Russias war on Ukraine, most recently by brokering a deal to allow the export of Ukrainian grain.

But Putin and Erdogans partnership has always been based on mutual self-interest rather than ideological affinity, and the two countries compete for influence in the Caucasus and Middle East. Most notably, the two leaders back different factions in the armed conflicts in Syria and Libya. Relations grew tense after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet in 2015.

Erdogan has stopped short of offering Putin direct support in the war in Ukraine, and his government has angered Russia by allowing the sale of Turkish armed drones to Ukraine.

In another worrying sign for the Kremlin, Kilicdaroglu, the opposition leader, accused Russia this past week of interfering in the countrys election by spreading conspiracies, deepfakes and tapes that were exposed in this country yesterday.

That was a reference to an alleged sex tape that surfaced Thursday, prompting a minor presidential candidate to leave the race.

Get your hands off the Turkish state, he wrote in Turkish and Russian, though adding, We are still in favor of cooperation and friendship.

Kilicdaroglu has promised to maintain economic ties to Russia if he wins the presidency, but it remains unclear whether he would maintain Erdogans delicate balancing act in Ukraine.

As an indication of the sensitivity of the situation, when the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Jeff Flake, met with Kilicdaroglu last month, he drew Erdogans ire. Saying that he would no longer meet with Flake, the Turkish president added, We need to teach the United States a lesson in this election, Turkish news media outlets reported.

Europes leaders, while silently rooting for an Erdogan defeat, are growing concerned about the potential for postelection turmoil, especially if Erdogan loses narrowly or the election goes to a second-round runoff in two weeks.

It is a watershed election, Bildt said. But democracy is at stake. And my second concern is that we get a result that means a division of powers  a powerful presidency under Erdogan and a Turkish parliament controlled by an unstable opposition coalition.

The risk of constitutional stalemate is quite high, Bildt said.

c.2023 The New York Times Company
AFP

Israeli air strikes battered Gaza and militants fired rockets again on Saturday as deadly fighting resumed after a night of relative calm, despite efforts to secure a truce.A new ceasefire proposal was circulated late Friday by Egypt, which has been mediating between the two sides, after a previous bid fell through, a Palestinian source said.But the move did little to quell the fighting, and on Saturday morning witnesses in Gaza reported that air strikes pounded uninhabited areas of the crowded enclave, while air raid sirens wailed in neighbouring parts of Israel.The exchange of fire came after the Palestinian health ministry reported the death of two men aged 19 and 32 in an Israeli army raid on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus.The Israeli army said it was a "counterterrorism" operation targeting operatives who had been planning attacks on soldiers."Armed gunmen fired at the forces, who responded with riot dispersal means and live fire," it said. "Two of the terrorists were targeted."The Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said the two men killed in the raid were members of its armed wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.The current bout of violence erupted on Tuesday when Israeli air strikes on Gaza killed three leading Islamic Jihad members. Three other senior figures from the Palestinian militant group were killed in later strikes.They are among at least 33 Palestinians killed in the fighting, according to Gaza's health ministry, including children.A rocket killed an elderly woman in the central Israeli city of Rehovot, rescue services said.- New ceasefire formula -Egypt, a historic mediator between Israel and Gaza's factions, has been working on bringing and end to the fighting, the worst in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since an August flare-up that killed nearly 50 Palestinians.A Palestinian source on Friday said Gaza factions were studying Cairo's new ceasefire formula, adding that Egypt was also waiting for Israel's response.Israeli public television meanwhile said an "improved" Egyptian ceasefire proposal had been handed to Israel.Earlier, there had been cautious optimism that a truce may be nearing, with an Islamic Jihad source saying a deal drawn up by Cairo had been circulated among the group's leadership.But the source subsequently said Israel was "disrupting Egypt's efforts for a ceasefire".The United States, which along with the European Union has blacklisted Islamic Jihad and Hamas as terrorist groups, urged steps be "taken to ensure that violence is reduced".US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, in a call to Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, "stressed the urgency of reaching a ceasefire agreement in order to prevent any further loss of civilian life", the State Department said.An Islamic Jihad source said Mohammad al-Hindi, who heads the group's political bureau, arrived in Cairo on Thursday for talks with Egyptian intelligence officials.He told AFP the group had been seeking "an honourable agreement that reflects the interests of the Palestinian people and the resistance".- 'Honourable agreement' -Morocco, which normalised relations with Israel in 2020, said it "firmly condemns recent Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, which have left numerous casualties among innocent civilians", a foreign ministry source said.According to the Israeli army, in the latest flare-up more than 1,000 rockets have been fired from Gaza towards Israeli territory, including 300 that were intercepted by the Iron Dome defence system.Israelis living in areas bordering the Palestinian territory have been told to stay close to bomb shelters.Gaza, a coastal enclave with a population of about 2.3 Palestinians, has been plagued by poverty and unemployment since a blockade imposed by Israel in 2007 when the Islamist movement Hamas took over.The territory has since been the site of numerous wars between militant groups and Israel, including the fighting in August in which 19 children were among the 49 killed, according to the United Nations.Islamic Jihad fired over 1,000 rockets at Israel at the time, injuring three people.The conflict has escalated since veteran leader Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power late last year, heading a coalition with extreme right and ultra-Orthodox parties.Israel has also been shaken by its biggest domestic political crisis in decades, as mass protests have flared against plans to reform the justice system that have been spearheaded by Netanyahu, who is also battling corruption charges in court.bur/mj/alv/jsa/dv
A too-small arena, political instability and infrastructure concerns were key factors in Belfast's failed bid to host the Eurovision Song Contest, BBC News NI has been told.

Ukraine won last year's contest but due to the war with Russia; second-place UK was chosen to host.

Last summer 20 cities bid for the event, with Belfast failing to make a shortlist of seven.

Liverpool was chosen and will host thousands at the song contest later.

BBC News NI has obtained a copy of Belfast City Council's bid to host the contest through a freedom of information request.

Sources with knowledge of the feedback given to the council on its failed bid spoke to BBC News NI on condition of anonymity.

They said several issues were raised including:

the proposed venue, the SSE Arena, was too small and it was unclear whether it was available for the eight weeks required to put on the contest

the political instability in Northern Ireland and its potential effect on funding

concerns over Belfast's infrastructure and the city's ability to host large-scale events

The last major music event held in the city, as referenced on council's bid, was the MTV European Music Awards in 2011.

In an email to the council seen by BBC News NI, the BBC's Eurovision bid team said Belfast "does not meet the minimum standards required" to be a host city or "did not score sufficiently high in comparison to others on experience".

SSE Arena issues

One source told BBC News NI that a key issue was that the SSE Arena was "too small for the show they wanted to put on".

The bid application form for the BBC, the host broadcaster, and the European Broadcast Union (EBU) stipulated the minimum capacity for the host venue was 10,000 people.

The SSE Arena was deemed not to have the minimum capacity required, according to a source

While the SSE Arena has an advertised capacity of 10,800, the source said staging and other sets would have reduced that to about 8,500.

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A further issue was that it was not confirmed whether the arena would be available for the full eight weeks needed to host the song contest.

Belfast's bid application ticked a box indicating yes, but a council officer added: "The SSE Arena currently has a number of events contracted for this period. We are working in conjunction with the arena and affected promoters to secure the required availability."

It said it was unable to complete those negotiations due to "time constraints".

Political uncertainty

Northern Ireland has been without a power-sharing government since February 2022 - and that too appears to have played a part in Belfast's bid not attracting enough support.

A source told BBC News NI that "political instability" was raised by the organisers giving feedback.

The Northern Ireland Executive collapsed after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) pulled out of power-sharing in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements known as the Northern Ireland Protocol.

On top of the general uncertainty, issues over funding may have stymied Belfast's bid.

The application form states that host cities have historically contributed between 10-20m (8.7-17.4m) to the hosting of the contest.

Belfast was one of 20 cities to bid for the event but did not make it onto the shortlist of seven

It asked those bidding: "Is your local authority in a financial position to provide/release that level of support (or above) between now and May 2023?"

In response the council outlined that it had an expenditure of 167m and that it is "fully aware of the possible costs".

The council went on to say it was liaising with the non-functioning Northern Ireland Executive as well as the government's Northern Ireland Office.

However, a source said organisers were concerned about the absence of local ministers making it more difficult to get the necessary funding.

Had Belfast made it to the next stage of the bidding process, the council, as the lead agency in the bid, would have needed to make "binding" financial commitments.

A source also said general infrastructure around the city, such as the transport network, was raised as an issue.

They said Belfast was not seen as a place that could host large-scale events.

The Eurovision Song Contest website noted that the host city selection process was "heavily weighted towards demonstrating past experience in hosting major international events, as well as being able to demonstrate credentials in hosting a celebration of contemporary music".

'Liverpool's familiar with big events'

Simon Hamilton, the chief executive of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce, said Liverpool's successful bid showed the benefit of a city hosting major events on a regular basis, such as Premier League matches.

"We were disappointed that the bid was unsuccessful but there were other great contenders," he said.

Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield were the among the bids to progress to the next stage, with Liverpool and Glasgow going onto the final two.

Mr Hamilton said: "You can see Liverpool has great infrastructure in place.

"There is familiarity of more big events being hosted in [Liverpool]."

He said there were "lessons to be learned" from Belfast's bid when attempting to attract major events in the future.

Within the cultural elements of Belfast's bid, the council hoped to use Northern Ireland's status as a post-conflict society to resonate with the would-be hosts Ukraine.

The bid stated: "Once characterised by conflict, we understand the importance of peace more than any other potential host.

"This common experience is why we've galvanised in support of Ukraine."

Among the proposed plans to pay homage to Ukraine was to invite 2022's Eurovision winners, the Kalush Orchestra, to perform at Belfast's St Patrick Day's concert and open a Ukrainian cultural centre.
By Paul Sandle and Sarah Mills

LIVERPOOL, England (Reuters) -Sweden's Loreen won Eurovision 2023 with the song "Tattoo" in Liverpool, northern England, on Saturday, becoming the first woman to triumph twice in the contest.

Finland's Kaarija, a green-bolero-sleeved rapper, came second. He won the viewer vote with "Cha Cha Cha", but it was not enough to overtake Loreen's lead after the result from the juries in the 37 participating countries.

"I am seriously overwhelmed," Loreen told reporters.

Comparing her win to 2012, she said: "It's like coming back to a family."

Loreen is the only person after Ireland's Johnny Logan to win the contest twice, and her victory puts Sweden level with Ireland as the most successful Eurovision countries, 49 years after Abba's famous victory.

The 67th edition of the musical festival was held in the "City of Pop" on behalf of Ukraine, last year's winner, which was unable to host this year because of Russia's invasion.

Organisers had to walk a tightrope between putting Ukraine centre stage and steering clear of any overt political messages, which are not allowed in the contest.

They largely succeeded.

Kalush Orchestra, 2022's winner, mixed video recorded in Ukraine with live performance in Liverpool in an opening sequence that included a cameo appearance from Britain's Kate, Princess of Wales, playing the piano.

But as the contest was underway, Russian missiles hit the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil, home to electro-pop duo Tvorchi, this year's entry from the country.

Local authorities, writing on Telegram, said the strike had injured two people.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was barred from addressing worldwide viewers - who numbered 160 million last year - by contest organiser the European Broadcasting Union.

It said that granting his request, which was made with "laudable intentions", would be against the non-political nature of the event and its rules prohibiting making political statements.

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UKRAINIAN SPIRIT

Nonetheless, the show, watched by thousands in person on the banks of the River Mersey and by millions on TV, was infused with the spirit of Ukraine, notably in a rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone" jointly sung in the arena and in Ukraine and which brought many in the audience to tears.

The 26 acts in the final spanned musical styles from ballads to heavy rock to rap, and included a handful of bizarre performances that the contest is renowned for.

Germany finished bottom of the table, just behind Britain, but no country received the dreaded "nul points."

Pam Minto, a 37-year-old support worker, said she hoped her city did Ukraine proud.

"We've just loved the whole event right across Liverpool from start to finish. It's just been amazing," she said.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; additional reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Jason Neely and Leslie Adler)
The Piece Hall performance was almost scuppered because of the lack of a keyboard, but Ms Golovchenko managed to borrow one in the nick of time

A pianist who fled her home in war-torn Ukraine with just her young daughter and a suitcase has said she will use her instrument as a "weapon" at a concert in West Yorkshire.

Daria Golovchenko is to perform at a day-long Eurovision event at Halifax's Piece Hall.

The Eurovision Song Contest is being staged by the UK in Liverpool on behalf of Ukraine.

Ms Golovchenko said she would use music to speak about Ukrainian culture.

Ms Golovchenko said she had visited Liverpool and seen "signs of Ukrainian culture everywhere" which had made her "so happy"

The pianist, who fled her home in Kherson in April 2022, said it had been "the most difficult decision of my life".

"I could only bring one bag and it was very difficult to decide what to bring," she said.

"We had to pay crazy money for a driver. You could buy a ticket to Australia for the price we paid - and it was just from Kherson to Odessa, which is not a long distance," she added.

Ms Golovchenko, who is now based in Holmfirth, said she went without any food and slept on a "tiny" mattress on the floor of a train station, before being driven to Poland and eventually reaching her host.

'I fight here with music'

Speaking about her performance at the landmark Piece Hall she said: "It's a big opportunity to show and represent our culture through our music.

"I will play some Ukrainian music, with one piece composed by a Ukrainian composer who is in Lviv, and some other more recognisable songs."

Ms Golovchenko said it was "not the time to hide, but to speak about our Ukrainian culture".

She said: "The Russians destroy our cities, our lives, but they can't destroy our spirit - I fight here with music, my weapon is music."

Her host, Rachel Balen, a retired university lecturer, said: "It's good that this Eurovision opportunity has come for Daria a year after she arrived, because it has taken her a year to recover from the trauma of escaping Ukraine."

Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk.
A former executive fired from TikToks parent company ByteDance made a raft of accusations against the tech giant Friday, including that it stole content from competitors like Instagram and Snapchat, and served as a propaganda tool for the Chinese government by suppressing or promoting content favorable to the countrys interests.

The allegations were made in a complaint Friday by Yintao Yu, the head of engineering for ByteDances U.S. operations from August 2017 to November 2018, as part of a wrongful termination lawsuit filed earlier this month in San Francisco Superior Court. Yu claims he was fired for disclosing wrongful conduct he saw at the company.

In the complaint, Yu alleges the Chinese government monitored ByteDance's work from within its Beijing headquarters and provided guidance on advancing core communist values.

Yu said government officials had the ability to turn off the Chinese version of ByteDances apps, and maintained access to all company data, including information stored in the United States.

ByteDance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The allegations come as TikTok  one of the most popular social media apps in the U.S.  faces heighted scrutiny in Washington and some states about whether it can keep American data safe from the Chinese government. The Biden administration has threatened to ban the app if its Chinese owners dont sell their stakes.

TikTok maintains it never gave U.S. user data to Chinas government and wouldnt do so if it was asked. In an effort to avoid a ban, it also wants to store U.S. user data on servers operated by the software giant Oracle.

In another attention-grabbing part of the lawsuit, Yu alleges he observed ByteDance promoting content that expressed hatred for Japan on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. At another time, he said the company demoted content that showed support for the protests in Hong Kong while promoting content that expressed criticism of the protests.

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Yu said ByteDance developed software that would scrape user content from competitors' websites without permission. He alleges the company would then repost the content on its own websites  including TikTok - to attract more engagement from users.

Yu said a fellow TikTok executive in charge of the video-sharing apps algorithm waved off his concerns. At some point, Yu said the company modified the program, but continued to scrape data from U.S. users when they were abroad.

The former executive also alleges the company created fake users to boost its engagement metrics, including by programming them to like and follow real accounts.

Yu is seeking punitive damage, lost earnings and 220,000 ByteDance shares that had not vested by the time he was fired.
From TikTok to artificial intelligence, 2023 has been the year of tech headlines.

Social media is rapidly evolving, and it can be hard to keep up for many of us.

Meredith Dean is a social media expert and a digital branding and career consultant.

She is the CEO and founder of The Deans List and is joining The Political Beat this weekend to talk about some of the biggest social media stories in the news right now.

ALSO READ: ChatGPT user in China detained for creating and spreading fake news, police say

So with AI, there are a lot of positives, Dean said. And there are a whole lot of negatives. And what Ive seen with some of these scams with artificial intelligence is that if youve ever done any kind of voiceover work, or youve ever recorded a video with your face. The scammers are able to take your voice and use it against you when it comes to calling your family.

>> In the video at the top of the page, watch Joe Brunos full interview with Dean.

VIDEO: Artificial intelligence causing ethics controversy among artists

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Insider's reporter explored a 1900s resort town full of historic cabins that were abandoned by the end of the century. After restoration by the National Parks Service, 16 cabins are now open to the public. Joey Hadden/Insider

There's a resort town in Great Smoky Mountains National Park that was abandoned in the late 1900s.

The National Parks Service began restoring the ghost town in 2009, and now it's open to the public.

I visited the town, called Elkmont, and toured the insides of cabins built more than 100 years ago.

Hidden in the lush woods of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a once-abandoned resort town known as Elkmont is full of 100-year-old cabins.

Cabins in Elkmont Historic District hidden behind trees. Joey Hadden/Insider

Source: National Parks Service

I recently visited and was amazed to find that 16 cabins preserved and restored by the National Parks Service were open for public viewing.

The author explores the town. Joey Hadden/Insider

Source: National Parks Service

When I made plans to visit the historic district, I expected to wander outside of cabins and see their facades, so I was excited to find I was actually able to step inside them for a more intimate look at what life was like 100 years ago.

Colorful cabins in the town. Joey Hadden/Insider

Elkmont Historic District is in a valley on the northern border of the park just south of Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

Elkmont Historic District is in the Great Smoky Mountains near Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Google Maps

I traveled to the town by taxi. Drivers can take the US-411 from Gatlinburg and turn at the "Elkmont Campground" sign, according to Visit My Smokies, a tourism site run by Sevier County. From there, take a left at the sign that says "Elkmont Nature Trail."

A view of the Great Smoky Mountains from the road. Joey Hadden/Insider

Source: Visit My Smokies

When I arrived in Elkmont, I learned about the land's rich history through on-site information provided by the NPS.

On-site information about Elkmont Historic District. Joey Hadden/Insider

Source: National Parks Service

According to the site's historical markers, the land was used for farming in the 1800s. Then a railroad was built in the 20th century, bringing loggers and tourists to the area. This led to the establishment of a resort town.

The homes of logging company employees were lined up alongside the railroad tracks in Elkmont. This photo was taken by Jim Shelton around 1912. US National Park Service

Source: National Parks Service

About 100 years ago, wealthy Tennessee travelers took the train to the resort community to escape hot summers in cities and find "harmony with nature," according to the same source.

The front porch of a cabin in Elkmont Historic District. Joey Hadden/Insider

Source: National Parks Service

Families spent their summers relaxing on the porches of their vacation cabins and playing outdoors, one NPS marker said.

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Inside one of the restored cabins in Elkmont Historic District. Joey Hadden/Insider

Source: National Parks Service

The resort town diminished after the National Parks Service bought the land in 1934. Residents had the option of selling their cabins for full price or at half-price with a lifetime lease, according to Visit My Smokies.

Cabins stand in the woods among several trees. Joey Hadden/Insider

Source: Visit My Smokies

In 1992, the NPS stopped renewing leases and the abandoned cabins deteriorated, turning the once-booming resort community into a ghost town.

An undated photo of an abandoned vacation home in the Elkmont historical district. ehrlif/Getty Images

Source: Visit My Smokies

In 2009, the NPS announced plans to preserve Elkmont's historic buildings, Knox News reported. From there, volunteers removed trees, repaired roofs and ceilings, and added insulation to the cabins.

An image of the on-site information showing cabins before and after renovations. Joey Hadden/Insider

Sources: National Parks Service, Knox News

During my visit, I explored the insides of all 16 cabins lining the pedestrian street.

A paved road lined with cabins in Elkmont Historic District. Joey Hadden/Insider

Source: 10 News

The oldest cabin in town was built in 1830 and then moved in 1932 to serve as a guest house in the resort community, according to NPS on-site information.

The oldest cabin in Elkmont is nearly 200 years old. Joey Hadden/Insider

Source: National Parks Service

The one-story building stood out to me because I thought it looked older than the rest with a distressed, wooden facade that remained unpainted.

A peek inside the oldest cabin in Elkmont Historic District. Joey Hadden/Insider

Inside, there was a single, large room with nothing but a stone fireplace.

A wide view of the single-room cabin. Joey Hadden/Insider

In fact, all the cabins were free of furniture, but I thought details like built-in kitchen counters and cabinets gave them a sense of a past life.

A kitchen in one of the cabins. Joey Hadden/Insider

Looking out the windows of these historic cabins, I thought about what it would have been like to vacation here a century ago.

A view out the window of one of the cabins. Joey Hadden/Insider

I pictured waking up to natural views with no agenda. I thought it seemed like the ideal getaway for city dwellers like me.

Windows show nature outside of the cabin. Joey Hadden/Insider

From the front porches, I pictured kids running around while waving to other families outside of their cabins.

A view from the front porch of one of the cabins. Joey Hadden/Insider

On my way out of Elkmont, I noticed a handful of families wandering the street. This made me think that the site is no longer the ghost town it once was.

A person pushes a stroller through Elkmont Historic District. Joey Hadden/Insider

I left Elkmont with a sense of what the once-abandoned resort community was like and felt grateful for the preservation crew that made it possible for me to visit.

The author enjoys her time at Elkmont Historic District. Joey Hadden/Insider

Read the original article on Insider
Two people face drug charges after trying to smuggle methamphetamine into the Rowan County Detention Center on March 22.

According to a release from the Rowan County Sheriffs Office, a package came to the detention center addressed to an inmate named Keith Furr and looked like it had been mailed from a local attorneys office.

Deputies say the secretary called a detention center supervisor, who took the package and put it through the X-ray machine at the courthouse entrance but found nothing. The attorney whose office was on the package was called, but they told deputies that Furr was not a client.

Officials asked the attorney to open the package to see what was inside; once opened, they found three pieces of paper and an empty envelope.

ALSO READ: K-9 unit assists with large drug seizure in Gaston County, police say

Deputies contacted a detective who came and tested the paper from the package; the test showed that there was methamphetamine in the box. After a report was made, the case was given to the criminal investigations unit.

During their investigation, detectives said another possible suspect may be Donna Lea Mullis, who was scheduled to appear in court on different matters.

The detectives said they didnt arrest Mullis; she agreed to speak with them. While being interviewed, detectives said Mullis admitted to forging legal papers and putting the attorneys name on them; she also admitted to putting methamphetamine on the papers before sending them to the detention center.

Mullis was charged on May 4 with identity theft, trafficking heroin or opium, possession of methamphetamine, and failure to appear in court on an unrelated matter. Detectives placed Mullis in jail on a $70,000 secured bond.

Furr was charged on May 10 with possession with intent to manufacture a controlled substance and trafficking heroin or opium. He was given a $100,000 secured bond.

(WATCH BELOW: Worst flesh wounds: Officials warn of tranq in drugs)
If you haven't heard: there's drama. Kidney transplant drama.

After months of speculation regarding why actresses Selena Gomez and Francia Raisa appeared to have had a falling out, we appear to finally have an answer  and it's a rare intersection between the worlds of celebrity news and the deep ethical waters of organ transplants.

Basically, the issue is that back in 2017, Raisa famously donated one of her kidneys to Gomez, whose own kidney had failed as the result of Lupus. And now, according to Raisa's father, Spanish radio personality Renan Almendarez "El Cucuy" Coello, the kidney is coming between them.

Specifically, in an interview with the Spanish show "Primo Impacto" that TMZ recently unearthed, Coello hinted that his daughter had grown increasingly angry with Gomez for her post-transplant activities. Gomez had apparently been drinking, and Raisa, concerned that the alcohol would damage the donated organ in question, became furious at her  seemingly now former  friend.

For what it's worth, we should note that neither actress has given any lip service to Raisa's father's claims. And on the one hand, there's definitely some sympathy to be had for Raisa. Giving someone a kidney is an amazing and difficult thing to do, and if you go choose to go through with it, you'd probably hope that the person on the other end is treating the organ in question with care.

But that said, it's just not that simple.

For one thing, there doesn't seem to be much definitive research to say that moderate drinking post-kidney transplant will cause any serious harm  or any harm at all, for that matter.

Emphasis, however, on moderate. While the UK's National Health Service (NHS), for example, says that anyone who's received a kidney transplant should absolutely abstain from cigarettes and "illegal drugs," which according to the website can cause kidney damage and react poorly with certain medicines, they don't say the same thing about alcohol.

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Instead, they seem to take a measured, common-sense approach: you can drink, but avoid doing so every day or in excess.

One South Korean study from 2022 appears to concur, finding that compared to non-drinkers, study subjects who drank before a transplant seemed to handle a low-to-moderate consumption of alcohol just fine afterward. And elsewhere, the National Kidney Foundation doesn't even mention alcohol in its aftercare guidelines, only recommending more broadly that transplantees should maintain a "healthy lifestyle."

And the science of it all aside, there are questions of autonomy here. If you give someone a kidney, it's not really your kidney anymore. It's theirs. And as long as someone stays within the doctor-recommended aftercare guidelines, the lines in the sand are far from cut and dry.

Again, as neither has confirmed nor denied the rumors themselves, no one really knows what went down between these two celebs. Still, their alleged beef is a fascinating study in transplant etiquette and ethics. Hopefully, these longtime pals can resolve their issues soon  and maybe anyone out there sending horrible messages to Raisa should just stay out of it?

More on organ science: Doctors Gene-Edit Patient's Liver to Make Less Cholesterol
The family of a man who was shot to death by Los Angeles police snipers is suing the city, alleging officers were encouraged to use force by a colleague who told them "happy hunting" before the shooting. Above, police investigate the scene of a fatal police shooting in Sherman Oaks in 2019. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

The family of a man who was shot to death by Los Angeles police snipers during an armed standoff last spring is suing the city of L.A., alleging officers were encouraged to use force by a colleague who told them "happy hunting" before the shooting.

The lawsuit, filed this week in Los Angeles County Superior Court, claims officers could have done more to deescalate the encounter before opening fire on 54-year-old Leron James, who, despite being armed and barricading himself in a downtown L.A. apartment building, wasn't a danger to anyone else.

A department review board previously found that the two SWAT snipers' use of deadly force in the May 2022 incident was within policy. The department board did, however, take issue with some of the tactics used by the two officers, Howard Ng and Joseph Dominguez, leading up to the shooting.

The suit comes on the heels of reporting by The Times into explosive allegations by a former SWAT sergeant, who maintains that the elite unit operates under a culture of violence driven by a group of influential members known as the SWAT Mafia.

A lawsuit brought in 2020 by former Sgt. Tim Colomey alleged that certain problematic members of SWAT glamorize the use of lethal force and ensured that officers who share the same values are promoted in the unit, while commanders turn a blind eye to the problems.

On the day of the incident, James reportedly called 911 after he ingested methamphetamine. He later became combative with firefighters who responded to the scene.

Police say James let off a single shot from a window at officers and bystanders on the street below, prompting Ng and Dominguez to open fire, killing him.

The incident cast a harsh spotlight on SWAT, after one of the units members, Leon Maya, was captured on a body camera video telling other officers who were preparing to confront the barricaded James, happy hunting. The episode was seized on by department critics, who said it reflected a culture of brutality and callousness within SWAT.

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Department officials have said the remark was caught on the body camera of another officer who happened to be walking past and was discovered during a subsequent review of video from the incident.

According to a report for Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore, Ng was walking up when Maya made the comment.

Maya, who had his own body camera turned off until about an hour after the incident, received a two-day suspension for the comment, LAPD disciplinary records show. Citing state privacy laws, the department has not publicly identified Maya, but his name is listed in an internal report.

"The family was outraged when it learned about the conversations that were held private prior to this shooting," said attorney Carl Douglas, who filed the suit on the family's behalf. "Justice demands a full exploration of the facts and circumstances of this tragic death."

The LAPD and the city attorney's office each declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.

Negotiators tried to persuade James to turn himself in by appealing to his concern for the safety of his dog, Dougie. A robot was sent into the apartment to communicate with James. When he didnt respond, officers fired gas canisters into the apartment.

Instead of leaving the department, a gasping James was seen opening a window before pulling out a handgun and letting off a shot indiscriminately toward the street below. No one was injured.

Ng and Dominguez had been watching James actions from their perch in a seventh-story apartment in a nearby building, according to the report. Roughly 26 feet separated them from James.

The review board found Ng and Dominguez were justified in using deadly force against James, after he fired a gun out of the apartment window. But the board faulted the officers for several tactical missteps.

Ideally, one officer would be the designated shooter, while the other played the role of spotter, passing along details about what was happening in the apartment below to avoid the simultaneous discharge of their rifles, the board said.

Instead, officers each fired a single shot at James. The board also faulted Dominguez for removing his body armor before taking a shot. Ngs decision to cross in front of his partners rifle several times was a substantial deviation from policy, the board ruled.

Dominguez told department investigators in an interview that he shot James after he saw the man fire a shot, knowing that there were people walking around in the street below.

Also, in the area of  the studio, there was people that are actually living in the storefronts that are there. In the event to the defense of their lives, of police officers' lives and the innocent bystanders that were there, I felt that the suspect was posing a deadly threat, so I fired one round at the suspect while he was there firing with the pistol, Dominguez said, according to snippets of the interview that were included in the report.

Ng and Dominguez were ordered to attend a training session in May 2022 that covered such topics as communication, body camera use and firearms tactics.

Moore said after the James shooting that he was disturbed by the happy hunting comment, but he denied the SWAT Mafia claims alleged in the lawsuit. Moore said at the time that the units members have consistently shown restraint and skill while handling difficult and dangerous situations.

Moore later ordered a 10-year review of the units operations to determine whether any potential problems or patterns existed in how its members used force. The controversial report, published last July, concluded that there was no culture of violence within the unit. It said SWAT officers used force in only a small fraction of deployments between 2012 and 2022; no force was used in 1,245 of the 1,350 incidents, the report found.

Police Commission President William Briggs asked about the "happy hunting" comment at a recent meeting of the civilian-run body that oversees the department.

I wanna ask you whether or not that terminology is the ethos of SWAT when they approach barricaded suspects, Briggs asked a supervisor with Metropolitan Division, which includes SWAT.

No, said Capt. Mario Mota, adding that he was the one who first noticed the comment while reviewing an officer's body camera video. He "immediately took action," Mota said.

That is not the reputation and that is not my expectation, Mota said. The officer who made the comment was immediately removed from his cadre, he said.

Mota said SWAT's culture constantly evolved" over its history. Presently, he said, the unit has about 70 officers, who are "highly professional and dedicated to what they do.

They all take every incident personal," Mota said. He pointed out that the SWAT team has not shot anyone or employed certain less serious force so far this year.

That is what we portray day in and day out and carry out, not that happy hunting [comment]," Mota said.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Helicopter crash near Bryansk

"According to our information, not a single crew member of the four aircraft that crashed today in Bryansk Oblast survived," the message says.

The Telegram channel also published a video from the crash site of the second Russian Mi-8.

Read also: Russian military helicopters and planes crash almost simultaneously in Bryansk Oblast, crews killed

According to the Russian propaganda agency Baza, a total of nine people died as a result of the crash of Mi-8 helicopters and Su-34 and Su-35 aircraft in Bryansk Oblast.

Read also: Su-34 fighter jet crashes in Russias Bryansk Oblast  video

The media outlet specifies that all three crew members were killed in the town of Klintsy when the Mi-8 helicopter crashed. In the Unetsky district, three more crew members of a combat vehicle were killed in the crash of a second Mi-8 helicopter.

Also, according to them, two pilots of a Su-34 fighter-bomber were killed in the village of Nizhniaya. A Su-35 fighter pilot was killed in the village of Suretsky Muravey.

On May 13, several helicopters and airplanes of the Russian Armed Forces crashed in Russia's Bryansk Oblast. According to media reports and pro-Kremlin military officials, two Mi-8 helicopters and two Russian planes were shot down. At least four pilots were killed.

Read also: Mi-8 helicopter crashes in Russia's Bryansk Oblast

The Russian Federation has introduced amber alert in Bryansk Oblast. Russian regime enforcers are looking for "saboteurs" who may be involved in the downing of Russian equipment.

Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The trio of Trump Towers on Sunny Isles Beach draws its share of gawkers, thanks to Donald Trumps licensing deal that plastered his name on the oceanfront development.

But on Thursday, the luxury high-rise complex drew the attention of law enforcement, namely the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

A squad of FBI special agents, assisted by local police, descended on Trump Tower III at 15811 Collins Ave. to carry out a search of unit 4102. Its owned by a shell company, MIC-USA LLC, that is controlled by two Russian businessmen, Oleg Sergeyevich Patsulya and Agunda Konstantinovna Makeeva, according to state corporation records.

On Friday, a spokesman for the FBIs Miami field office said it was conducting court-ordered law enforcement activity in the vicinity of that location, but provided no other information.

Donald Trump licensed his name to the Trump Towers condo project in Sunny Isles Beach.

Patsulya and Makeeva could not be reached for comment. Patsulyas wife, Roza Pereira, who state records show is also listed on the corporate paperwork for MIC-USA, said she was aware of the FBIs raid.

I cant talk about it, Pereira told the Miami Herald. The lawyer [for my husband] said not to talk to anyone. ... I have no idea what its about.

Sunny Isles Beach has been dubbed LIttle Moscow by locals because its home to many Russian expatriates. Some expressed concerns about a backlash against their affluent beachfront community after the Russian military invaded Ukraine last year and the U.S. government started pursuing sanctions against oligarchs who hide their wealth in real estate in South Florida and other parts of the country.

Before becoming president in 2016, Trump signed a deal with the developers of the 45-story condo buildings to name the property after him to help promote sales. Foreign buyers, especially from Latin America and Russia, flocked to Trump Towers, as they did with other Trump-branded properties in Sunny Isles Beach.

Among the buyers: MIC-USA, which acquired the three-bedroom, three-bath condo residence at Trump Tower III for $1.65 million a decade ago, according to Miami-Dade property records.

In 2020, BAC Florida Bank, which provided financing for the purchase, sued Patsulya and Makeeva, claiming they defaulted on their $975,000 mortgage. The dispute was resolved later that year, though its not clear how from the court records. MIC-USA, controlled by the two Russians, continued to own the 41st-floor unit at Trump Tower III.
Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a crash that killed a Michigan Man on Friday in Daytona Beach.

>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<

Troopers said the crash happened on Friday around 9 p.m. near the intersection of International Speedway Boulevard and Roosevelt Boulevard.

Troopers said the 65-year-old man was walking eastbound in the outside lane of ISB when he crossed directly into the path of a Volkswagen Beetle.

Read: Legal Analyst on state attorneys office seeking death penalty for triple-murder suspect Keith Moses

The victim was not in a marked crosswalk when he was hit and killed.

Read: Orlando International Airport welcomes the newest member of its K-9 team

The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver and the passenger remained at the scene.

Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV, and stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
By Ali Kucukgocmen

ISTANBUL (Reuters) -Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan held his last election rallies in Istanbul on Saturday, accusing the opposition of working with U.S. President Joe Biden to topple him while making a final appeal ahead of the biggest challenge to his 20-year rule.

Polls show Erdogan trailing the main opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu a day ahead of one of the most consequential elections in Turkey's modern history. However, if neither of them win more than 50% of the vote and secure an outright win, the vote will go to a runoff on May 28.

Voters will also elect a new parliament, likely a tight race between the People's Alliance comprising Erdogan's conservative Islamist-rooted AK Party (AKP) and the nationalist MHP and others, and Kilicdaroglu's Nation Alliance formed of six opposition parties, including his secularist Republican People's Party (CHP), established by Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Polls will open at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) and close at 5 p.m. (1400 GMT). By late on Sunday there could be a good indication of whether there will be a runoff vote for the presidency.

Erdogan's campaign over the past month has focused on his government's achievements in the defence industry and infrastructure projects, and his assertion that the opposition would roll back such developments.

One of his talking points has been that the opposition is receiving orders from the West, and that they will bow down to Western nations' wishes if elected.

At a rally in Istanbul's Umraniye district, Erdogan recalled comments made by Biden and published by the New York Times in January 2020, when he was campaigning for the White House. At that time, Biden said Washington should encourage Erdogan's opponents to defeat him electorally, stressing he should not be ousted in a coup.

The comments, which resurfaced later that year in a video that made Biden the most popular topic on Twitter in Turkey, were condemned by Ankara at the time as "interventionist."

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"Biden gave the order to topple Erdogan, I know this. All my people know this," said Erdogan, 69. "If that is the case, then the ballots tomorrow will give a response to Biden too," he added.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said Turkey was a long-standing U.S. ally and Washington would be following the election closely, but added: "The United States does not take sides in elections.

"Our only interest is in the democratic process, which should be both free and fair. We trust that Turkish authorities will carry out the election in keeping with its long, proud democratic tradition and its laws," the spokesperson said.

Erdogan also criticised Kilicdaroglu for his comments on Russia, calling Moscow an important partner for Turkey. "Russia has been one of our most important allies regarding agriculture products," he said.

Turkey's Western allies have been irked by closer ties between Ankara and Moscow under Erdogan. Turkey is a member of NATO, which has stood staunchly behind Kyiv since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour last year but it has not imposed sanctions on Russia.

Kilicdaroglu told Reuters on Friday that his party has concrete evidence of Russia's responsibility for the release of "deep fake" online content ahead of Sunday's elections. He did not present the evidence and Reuters could not independently verify it.

But he added that if he wins the presidency he will maintain Ankara's good ties with Moscow.

Russia categorically rejects Kilicdaroglu's accusations of election interference, domestic news agencies cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Saturday.

"We are extremely disappointed with this statement of the opposition," Peskov said, adding Kilicdaroglu would not be able to provide proof of the supposed interference "because it does not actually exist".

CONCERN ABOUT RESULTS

Anticipation and excitement are running high among Turks in the lead-up to the vote with some concerned about rising tensions, even violence, when the results come in.

While there has been concern about how Erdogan might react if he loses, the president said in a televised interview on Friday that he would accept the outcome of the election, no matter the result.

Kilicdaroglu, a 74-year-old former civil servant, did not hold a rally on Saturday but visited Ataturk's mausoleum in Ankara. He was accompanied by crowds of his supporters each carrying a single carnation to lay on the tomb.

The president's re-election efforts have relied heavily on accusing the opposition of cooperating with Kurdish militants and those Ankara holds responsible for a 2016 coup attempt.

Kilicdaroglu is a "separatist," Erdogan later said in Kasimpasa, an AK Party stronghold where he grew up. "Whatever the terrorists in Qandil are, unfortunately, that is what (Kilicdaroglu) is," he added, referring to the location where leaders of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) are based.

Kilicdaroglu has denied such accusations.

Tension has risen in the days leading up to the election, with Kilicdaroglu wearing a bulletproof vest to his rallies on Friday in response to intelligence his party received about an attack.

(Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen; Additional reporting by Eric Beech and David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Frances Kerry and Daniel Wallis)
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Handout

As migrants cross the southern border into the United States, the children seeking asylum owe a debt to a young Salvadoran who has gone missing in Mexico just as he seemed about to win a landmark case in the American courts.

Hernan Portillo-Flores was just entering his teens in 2013 when an MS-13 gang leader known as El Palon began calling and texting his sister, Paola, who was then in the ninth grade.

As she started the 10th grade in January 2014, El Palon (The Stick) began showing up at the schools front gate every day.

Every time I would see him, Id try to be with a group of people because I didnt want to be by myself, Paola Portillo-Flores would later testify in immigration court.

The gang leader continued texting.

He was trying for me to fall in love with him, the sister would testify. He would say things like if I did not belong to him, I was not going to belong to anybody else. And if I did not accept what he wanted to do with me, he might kill my mother and/or my brother.

She noted, The entire neighborhood was afraid of him.

Then came a day later in 2014 when El Palon approached her with a group of MS-13 members.

He said to me, Its been a long time that you havent done anything to make me happy, she would testify. He said, Youre going to start seeing the consequences of the things that Im capable of. He said, In reality, if you love your brother and your mother, youd better yield. Otherwise, somethings going to happen.

Paola had sought to spare her mother worry and had not said anything about her stalker, but the girl now told her everything. The mother arranged for Paola to leave the country immediately.

He could have raped me or killed me, Paola later testified.

The police were not an option. They had failed even to investigate after their stepfather was beaten, fatally shot in the forehead, and dumped in a well two years before for reasons that remained a mystery.

Paola departed for America on June 16 of that year, reaching an uncle in Virginia on Aug. 3.

Story continues

Retired Navy Officer Takes on Floridas Book-Ban Fascism

I fled from El Salvador in a very quiet way, she later testified. Nobody knew about it.

But El Palon immediately noticed her absence. He and his crew approached her brother Hernan in the street.

They stopped me and say to me, Hey, we need to talk to you. We would like to talk to your sister. Can you tell us where shes at or give us information about her whereabouts? Hernan later testified. They had a firearm, they had knives They said to me, Our gang is so big and youre going to get hurt.

Several days later, Hernan encountered them again.

They said, Okay, have you gotten the information that we asked you for? Hernan recalled.

The next several encounters were accompanied by escalating beatings. He, like his sister, sought to spare their mother from worry.

My mother would say to me [that] my brother would get home without his shoes, beaten up, with bruises and even sometimes without a shirt, but my brother never told us what was happening, Paola would recall of phone reports from home. He would say things like he was playing with his friends or he lost his shoes.

Then came a particularly savage beating.

I almost died on that occasion, he recalled. I had to tell my mom what was happening because she saw the bruises and the [injuries] that I had.

The mother arranged for her son to live at a relatives farm a two-hour drive from the city. He remained inside, fearful that somebody would see him and tip off the gang.

I wouldnt go anywhere because I did know the gang is very big, he said.

He became even more fearful when his mother called to report four uniformed police officers had shown up at their home, asking for him. She told him she had peered past the cops and seen El Palon looking on with several gang members. She concluded that the cops were serving as the gang leaders emissaries.

The police were the ones asking questions to my mother, and they were asking questions about me, Hernan recalled.

The mother and son decided that the time had come for him to head north.

We knew that the gang is everywhere, the sister would testify. And sooner or later, they were going to find him. And they werent going to be using words any more. He was going to get murdered.

Hernan crossed the border near Eagle Pass, Texas, as a 15-year-old unaccompanied juvenile in October 2015.

He soon encountered U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and admitted to illegally entering the country by crossing the Rio Grande, court papers say.

Hernan was released to live with a relative as the Department of Homeland Security instituted deportation proceedings. He sought asylum on the grounds that he would be harmed, tortured or killed by MS-13 if he returned to El Salvador.

Hernan and his sister testified and an immigration judge deemed them both credible. But the judge denied the application, ruling that beatings and threats by a gang do not constitute persecution.

That made the danger no less dire when Hernan was deported back to El Salvador, where his mother had gone into hiding and MS-13 had taken over their onetime home. He sought refuge in Mexico while his immigration lawyer, Benjamin Osorio, doggedly continued the fight.

After the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirmed the immigration judges decision, Osorio brought the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He argued that his clients age at the time of the encounter with El Palon should have been considered. The appeal was initially denied, but granted when Osorio took it en banc, to the full panel.

Where a petitioner is a child at the time of the alleged persecution, the immigration court must take the childs age into account in analyzing past persecution and fear of future persecution for purposes of asylum, the court found. Therefore, even if Petitioners beatings and the threats made against him would not rise to the level of past persecution for an adult, they may satisfy past persecution for a child.

The ruling was soon applied by immigration judges in other cases involving children. The federal court kicked Hernans case back to the BIA, which returned it to the Immigration Court in February 2023.

Eight years after he arrived at the border, Hernan is likely just a quick hearing away from finally being accorded asylum.

His case is regularly cited by [immigration judges] in the Fourth Circuit, so I imagine he will easily be granted asylum if we can find him, Osorio, who is based in Virginia, told The Daily Beast.

The hitch was that Hernan had disappeared, having last been seen in Baja, Mexico.

Right up until January, he had been diligent about regularly checking in, but Osorio was then suddenly unable to contact him. The lawyer sought the help of human rights activists, non-profits, and a private detective, sending photos and a fingerprint card from when Hernan was detained at the border.

Osorio also contacted a client in Mexico who is seeking asylum in the U.S. as a transgender woman who was raped and threatened in Guatemala. She told Osorio that she had not heard anything about Hernan.

Nor had Hernans mother or sister or, it seemed, anybody.

Mom is worried and I have had to talk her out of leaving El Salvador to go look for him in Mexico, Osorio said.

Osario continued reaching out to anyone who might know something about this vanished client whose case is already easing the way for kids seeking refuge.

I think Im about to go myself, he said in one text.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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First Lady Jill Biden visit to the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe in October 2021. (Photo/Levi Rickert for Native News Online)

The White House announced on Friday that Dr. Jill Biden, the First Lady of the United States will visit Bethel, Alaska on Wednesday, May 17, 2023 o highlight the Biden-Harris Administration's historic investments to expand broadband connectivity in Native American communities, including Alaska Native communities in Alaskas Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. These investments were made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and are part of President Bidens Investing in America agenda.

Dr. Bidens visit will be the first visit to Bethel, Alaska by a First Lady of the United States.

Never miss Indian Countrys biggest stories and breaking news. Click here to sign up to get our reporting sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning.

The First Lady will be joined by Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK), the first Alaska Native ever elected to Congress. Dr. Biden and Peltola will hold a joint event to highlight major investments made towards expanding broadband access in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and how broadband can improve health, education, and work training systems in Alaska. They will also discuss other needs and priorities across rural Alaska communities.

Im proud we have a First Lady who is a real advocate for education and health care access. These are issues that affect every Alaskan and every American, Peltola said in a news release on Saturday. I am glad that she has chosen to visit Bethel to see firsthand our unique way of life in Western Alaska. I want this to be an opportunity to demonstrate some of the challenges faced by rural communities in our state.

Since becoming the First Lady, Dr. Biden has visited several tribal communities, including the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan, Cherokee Nation, Navajo Nation, and the Tohono O'odham Nation.

About the Author: "Native News Online is one of the most-read publications covering Indian Country and the news that matters to American Indians, Alaska Natives and other Indigenous people. Reach out to us at editor@nativenewsonline.net. "

Contact: news@nativenewsonline.net
Inhabitants of Beledweyne town in Hiran region were forced out of their homes as heavy rainfall caused water levels to rise sharply

Around 200,000 people have been displaced due to flash flooding in central Somalia, a regional official told AFP on Saturday, as the Shabelle River burst its banks and submerged roads.

Inhabitants of Beledweyne town in Hiran region were forced out of their homes as heavy rainfall caused water levels to rise sharply, with residents carrying their belongings on top of their heads as they waded through flooded streets in search of refuge.

"Some 200,000 people are now displaced due to the Shabelle River flash floods in Beledweyne town and the number may increase anytime. It is a preliminary figure now," said Ali Osman Hussein, deputy governor for social affairs in Hiran region.

"We are doing all we can to help those who are affected," he told AFP.

The region's deputy governor Hassan Ibrahim Abdulle said on Friday that "three people were killed by the floods".

The disaster comes on the heels of a record drought that has left millions of Somalis on the brink of famine, with the troubled nation also battling an Islamist insurgency for decades.

Residents told AFP they were forced to abandon their homes in the middle of the night earlier this week as water gushed through the streets and into buildings.

Fartun Ali -- not her real name -- said it was her fifth time fleeing flash flooding in Beledweyne.

"Whenever the river breaks the banks, we flee," the 35-year-old mother of eight told AFP.

- Extreme weather -

Another resident Iman Badal Omar said he was relieved to escape with his life.

"All we could do was to evacuate and save our children. We did not take any of our belongings," he told AFP.

East and central Africa often suffers from extreme weather during the rainy seasons.

Earlier this month, 135 people were killed and more than 9,000 left homeless after heavy rains lashed Rwanda, triggering floods and landslides in several parts of the hilly nation.

More than 400 people lost their lives due to torrential downpours, floods and landslides last week in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

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Experts say extreme weather events are happening with increased frequency and intensity due to climate change -- and Africa, which contributes the least to global warming, is bearing the brunt.

In May 2020, at least 65 people died in Rwanda as heavy rains pounded the region, while at least 194 deaths were reported in Kenya.

At the end of 2019, at least 265 people died and tens of thousands were displaced during two months of relentless rainfall in several countries in East Africa.

The extreme downpours affected close to two million people and washed away tens of thousands of livestock in Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

bur-amu/giv
A Florida woman whose teen son was sentenced to life in prison for stabbing a cheerleader 114 times pleaded no contest to a charge of evidence tampering in the killing, officials said Friday.

Crystal Smith, 37, was sentenced to 30 days in jail and 5 years of probation for the crime, a 3rd-degree felony, the state attorneys office for Floridas 7th Judicial Circuit said in a statement.

Aiden Fucci at Saint Johns County Courthouse, on Jacksonville, Fla. (Bob Self / Florida Times-Union via USA Today Network file)

Smith was captured on a home security camera washing the blood out of Aiden Fuccis jeans after the May 9, 2021, killing of Tristyn Bailey, 13, the statement said.

What the defendant did was not protecting her child  she was assisting him in avoiding responsibility for an extraordinarily vicious and merciless crime, State Attorney R.J. Larizza said in a statement.

Smith did not address the court during the hearing but her lawyer, Matt Kachergus, said that Smith didnt know why her sons jeans were bloody when she washed them, NBC affiliate WTLV of Jacksonville reported.

She was a frantic mother trying to determine what was going on with her son, he said, according to the station.

Kachergus added that only later did she learn what her son had done, the station reported.

In a tearful victim impact statement made during the hearing, Tristyns mother, Stacey Bailey, said the choices Smith had made on Mothers Day 2021 will haunt me for the rest of my life, the station reported.

Ive tried to put myself in your shoes on that fateful day a thousand times, but I cant, she said, WTLV reported.

13-year-old Tristyn Bailey. (St. Johns County Sheriff's Office / via Twitter)

Fucci, who was 14 when he was arrested shortly after the killing, was sentenced in March after pleading guilty to first-degree murder.

Tristyn was found dead in the woods outside Jacksonville. According to a probable cause affidavit, Fucci told investigators that he got into an argument with Tristyn and pushed her to the ground after they left a mutual friends home before dawn May 9, 2021.

Before he was considered a suspect, Fucci snapped a photo of himself in the back of a police vehicle flashing a peace sign and posted the image to social media with the caption: Hey guys has anybody seen Tristyn lately.

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He was arrested May 10, 2021, and initially accused of second-degree murder.

Days later, a grand jury indicted him on a first-degree murder charge, and Fucci was tried as an adult.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
American workers in their first year at a company take an average of 11 days of paid vacation per year. Stephan Schulz/picture alliance via Getty Images

Summer is on the horizon. For some lucky Americans, that might mean two weeks of paid time off.

But in several European countries, taking five weeks of paid vacation per year is a legal right.

Swedish workers are guaranteed up to four consecutive weeks of paid summer holiday.

Summer is on the horizon. For some lucky Americans, that might mean two weeks of paid time off and an occasional summer Friday.

With vacation policies at the will of individual employers, American workers in their first year at a company take an average of 11 days of paid vacation per year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. After five years, that number increases to 15 days.

While two weeks of vacation may feel indulgent by US standards, employees in European Union member states have the legal right to at least four weeks of paid vacation per year  and some countries require employers to give their workers even more.

From France to Austria, these are the nine European countries where companies are required to give their staff a minimum of five weeks of paid vacation per year.

France: 30 days

John Harper/Getty

The French are known to take their vacation very seriously. Rightfully so, as it's the law: employees in France accrue 2.5 days of paid vacation every month they work at a company, adding up to a whopping 30 working days per year.

Between May 1 and October 31, workers are federally mandated to take between two to four weeks of consecutive vacation, known as "main leave."

Andorra: 30 days

Andorra is a small co-principality located between France and Spain known for its ski resorts. Gonzalo Azumendi/Getty Images

Travelers from all over the world spend their vacations in Andorra, a small co-principality located between France and Spain best known for its ski resorts.

Locals also enjoy generous vacation benefits. Andorra workers who have been employed at a company for more than six months are entitled to 30 calendar days of paid vacation per year and at least two weeks of an employee's annual leave must be taken consecutively.

United Kingdom: 28 days

Greenwich Park in London. Shutterstock/Pajor Pawel

Almost all workers in the United Kingdom (including England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid vacation per year. For employees with five-day work weeks, that calculates to 28 days. However, employers can choose to count public holidays as part of a worker's annual leave allocation.

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Moldova: 28 days

tcacidima/Shutterstock

Workers in Moldova, a country in Eastern Europe, are guaranteed 28 calendar days of paid vacation per year, not including public holidays.

While the leave period can be divided up and used throughout the year, workers are required to take at least one two-week vacation, according to Moldova's labor code.

Luxembourg: 26 days

DEA / W. BUSS / Getty Images

Workers in Luxembourg, a small European nation bordering France, Germany, and Belgium, are guaranteed 26 working days of paid vacation  slightly more than five full weeks.

Unlike some other countries, Luxembourg allows its workers to take the full annual leave all at once, as long as they've been employed by their company for at least three months.

San Marino: 26 days

Borgo Maggiore in San Marino. Wikimedia

San Marino, a nation approximately the size of Manhattan, may be one of the smallest countries in the world. But its vacation benefits are sizeable.

The independent republic in the middle of Italy guarantees its workers 26 work days of paid vacation per year.

On top of that, San Marino celebrates 20 public holidays  meaning employees can take a total of 46 days of paid time off in a single year. Taken together, San Marino workers receive the second-highest number of paid vacation days in the world, according to a recent study by Resume.io.

Sweden: 25 days

Leisa Tyler/LightRocket via Getty Images

After Swedish employees work for a company for a full year, they are legally guaranteed 25 days or five weeks of paid vacation. During the summer months, workers in most industries can take up to four consecutive weeks of paid holiday.

Swedish employees are even paid slightly more on the days they take vacation. Plus, they can roll over up to five vacation days to the next year.

Denmark: 25 days

Scott E Barbour/Getty Images

Denmark rolled out its new Holiday Act in 2020, allowing employees to accrue 2.08 days of leave every month. In total, that equals 25 working days, or five weeks, of paid vacation per year.

During the summer, employees are entitled to three weeks of continuous paid vacation between May 1 and September 30, according to global employment platform Boundless HQ.

Austria: 25 days

Vienna. Getty Images/Alexpoison

Workers in Austria are entitled to 25 working days, or five weeks, of paid vacation per year. After devoting 25 years to a company, employees' annual leave is increased to six weeks.

Are you a millennial who lives in a country that guarantees a month of paid vacation per year? Email this reporter at htowey@insider.com to share your experience.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Every town needs a general history for its young people, something written on their level that acquaints them with how their town came to be. This is especially true of a city like Fort Worth, which has so rich a history.

Yet we do not teach our citys history as part of the public-school curriculum.

The result is tens of thousands of Fort Worth kids grow up not knowing how our city got its name, why the longhorn and the panther are part of our history, or, especially today, how ethnic minorities fit into the story. Sure, there are histories of Fort Worth history, but they were written by adults for adults, and the standard reference by Oliver Knight was written 70 years ago. A lot has happened in the last 70 years, both in terms of history-making events and interpreting the past.

Fort Worth history has not always been an afterthought when it comes to young readers.

In the 1920s, The Fort Worth Independent School District employed Howard W. Peak, reputedly the first male child born in Fort Worth (June 14, 1856) and therefore one of the oldest seventy-plus years later, to make the rounds of the citys schools telling kids about our early history from the perspective of one who had lived it. The garrulous old-timer became every kids grandfather, telling thrilling stories of the old days  even if all those stories werent exactly true. For instance, Peak was the source of the now-discredited story that a Comanche war party had once been about to attack the fort when a shot from the cannon drove them away.

When Peak died in 1939, the city lost a rich primary source of information, and Fort Worth youngsters lost a friend. Sadly, the citys Black and brown students had no such living-history source of information and no written history either.

Peaks example was not entirely lost on city fathers. In 1925, the Chamber of Commerce underwrote the first official history of Fort Worth for school use. The 58-page booklet was aimed at third- and sixth-graders to be incorporated into their geography instruction. It explained how Fort Worth acquired the name of Panther City and who William Jenkins Worth was among a store of other important facts they needed to know if they were to grow up and be informed citizens. There is no record of how the free booklet was received or whether teachers even used it as instructional material, and it was never republished.

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In 1967, the FWISD finally gave the young residents of Fort Worth a textbook history of their city. Published on a tight budget, The Fort Worth Story: Yesterday and Today was written not by historians but by two education consultants assisted by two district administrators. Its purpose was to increase students pride in our city and promote ideals of good citizenship.

Because of the limited budget and time constraints, the book was not illustrated in the artistic meaning of that term but relied on photographs from Fort Worth Public Library collections. It began with a look at why Fort Worth was an All America City (a 1965 award) and ended 74 pages later with A Look to the Future, preparing its readers for the day they would be graduating high school seniors  still living in Fort Worth, of course.

The greatest flaw of the book, however, was that in 1967 Fort Worth history was the history of dead white males. The only mention of Native Americans were short sections on Indian Trouble and relating the Cynthia Ann Parker and Yellow Bear stories, incorrectly describing the latter as Quanah Parkers friend.

And apparently women and Latinos played no part in building Fort Worth, not in this text anyway, which is ironic since three of the four author-editors were women.

The book was the only authorized source teachers and students had for learning Fort Worth history for the next 56 years. A few copies of the book have survived in libraries and as hand-me-downs to new generations of teachers, but it was no longer an official textbook.

Because of the complicated process for getting textbooks approved nowadays, this situation is unlikely to change. Also working against a new history text is that today there are so many competing viewpoints about what constitutes the true history of our city and who should be included in that history.

One more irony in all this is that while history and historical fiction are perennial adult favorites, the childrens publishing industry has traditionally been content to relate the popular myths and legends as history. The prevailing idea was that childrens books should stick to patriotism and American values and not confuse young readers with the complexities of the past.

Ive actually written a new history of Fort Worth for young people: Fort Worth, Texas: Thats My town! (TCU Press). It is not an official textbook like the state-approved texts that their older brothers and sisters are assigned in Texas and U.S. history classes. This book will have to rely on parents and grandparents, school librarians and Fort-Worth-loving teachers to get the word out. But all the citys kids - white, Black, and brown  will be able to read about people who looked like them and helped build Cowtown  not to mention where in the world that name even came from. Native Americans are also part of the story.

In 2001, a Star-Telegram writer proudly dubbed Cowtown Kidtown after a Washington-based research group named us one of the Top 10 kid-friendly cities in the nation. They based that ranking on Fort Worths historically low crime rate, its variety of museums and parks, and the number of organizations in the city that serve youth. Those survey results are more than 20 years old now, but it surely cant hurt Fort Worths standing to have an updated history of our city for all those kids to read.

Author-historian Richard Selcer is a Fort Worth native and proud graduate of Paschal High and TCU.
Russian aircraft shot down

The Russian Air Force appears to have had one of its worst days of the war in more than a year on Saturday. While details remain limited and are likely to change, it appears Russia lost two Mi-8 Hip helicopters, a Su-34 Fullback strike fighter, and a Su-35 Flanker-E, with no survivors. What makes all this especially troubling for the Russian Air Force, is that all these losses happened in its own country, in areas not too far from the border with Ukraine.

All four aircraft came down in Bryansk Oblast, well within Russian territory opposite northeast Ukraines Chernihiv Oblast. Video shows one of the Mi-8s breaking up after what looks as if a missile hits it near the town of Klintsy, about 50 kilometers north of the Ukrainian border.

https://twitter.com/Faytuks/status/1657345778421997576 https://twitter.com/Archer83Able/status/1657368991235551232 https://twitter.com/Faytuks/status/1657384219830517760 Klintsy in relation to the Ukrainian border (via Google Maps).

The Su-34 reportedly came down near the village of Istrovka, less than 30 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. A video below purportedly shows the jet flying very slowly before cutting to the burning wreckage.

Theres also footage (supposed) of the Su-34 crash.



Aircraft seems to stall before crashing into the trees below. Faint smoke can be seen, as well.



pic.twitter.com/Tq9TFqUzox  The Intel Crab (@IntelCrab) May 13, 2023

Russia later confirmed that another Mi-8 and a Su-35 were shot down in the area as well, with all nine aboard the four downed aircraft killed.

https://twitter.com/UAWeapons/status/1657368124788809728 https://twitter.com/KyleJGlen/status/1657399478834397187 https://twitter.com/KyleJGlen/status/1657382686535700480

Moreover, some have claimed at least one and possibly both Mi-8s shot down were extremely rare electronic warfare variants, the Mi-8MTPR-1. Derived from the Mi-8MTV-5-1 late-model series produced at Russias Kazan Helicopters plant, each carries a Rychag electronic warfare system designed to suppress enemy air defenses.

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https://twitter.com/JimmySecUK/status/1657383020318294016 https://twitter.com/Archer83Able/status/1657373180858621952

With 20 or fewer airframes in service, the Russians could well have lost a tenth of their helicopter EW fleet in a single day. You can read more about the fleets operations during the war in Ukraine in our detailed article from October, here.

Russian Telegram channel Fighterbomber (@fighter_bomber) claims Saturdays losses are the most significant for the Russian Air Force since March 2022. This claim may be true when it comes to aerial kills, but Russia has lost more aircraft on the ground in a single instance in other attacks.

Its not clear what shot down these aircraft at this time. Initial claims suggested friendly fire downed the aircraft in yet another case of fratricide by Russian air defenses that are on a hair trigger in that region specifically. But Russian authorities have since begun hunts for saboteurs involved in the shootdowns, potentially partisans or Ukrainian special forces armed with man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS). The war has increasingly come to Bryansk Oblast, be that the bizarre cross-border raid in March or a huge increase in Ukrainian drone attacks.

https://twitter.com/JimmySecUK/status/1657325274340442113 https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1657340251558363136 https://twitter.com/SamRamani2/status/1657417253514534914 https://twitter.com/KyleJGlen/status/1657358424869425155 https://twitter.com/CasualArtyFan/status/1657356133386924034

Its possible that Ukrainian special forces and/or Russian partisans managed to ambush these aircraft with MANPADS. The helicopters, particularly if EW variants as alleged, would make lucrative and vulnerable targets during their jamming support flight patterns near the border. The fast jets, too, could be well within commandos reach if flying low en route to or returning from their targets. Russian aircraft often fire their weapons while still in Russian airspace these days due to fear of being hit by Ukrainian air defenses. These profiles would have been tracked over time and broadly known, making taking down these aircraft easier.

If not fratricide or MANPADS, Ukraine could have moved longer-ranged SAM systems much closer to the Russian border. Ukrainian air defenses are exceedingly valuable and stretched across the country to counter Russian cruise missile and drone strikes. Moving one or several systems for such a localized operation seems high-risk, but also high reward.

Ukraine has received newer systems from the West, including Patriot, IRIS-T SLM, Aspide, and more, while their stocks of Soviet-era missiles are thought to be rapidly dwindling. Still, using these systems against Russian aircraft in Russian airspace could jeopardize the relationship with the countries that donated them and their ongoing operations in Ukraine. Using a Soviet-era battery very near the border and using intelligence to rapidly 'detect-shoot-scoot' is still a clear possibility.

Reaction by Pro-Russian Telegram Channels regarding the Shoot Down of 4 Russian Military Aircraft over the Bryansk Region earlier today by Ukrainian Saboteurs or Air Defense Systems near the Border. pic.twitter.com/n97WWOvb5N  OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) May 13, 2023

There's also the more limited, but plausible chance that Ukrainian Air Force fighters jumped the Russian aircraft in an ambush. Russian newspaper Kommersant reported both the Su-34 and Su-35 were preparing to fire missiles at targets near Chernihiv when both the jets and the helicopters took hits from Ukrainian "air-to-air missiles."

Kommersant writes that the Su-34 & Su-35 were about to launch missiles at targets in the Chernihiv region and the two Mi-8 helicopters were accompanying them when all four were ambushed and shot down by enemy air-to-air missiles in the RU Bryansk region.https://t.co/WTc9zYf29V  Mattia Nelles (@mattia_n) May 13, 2023

Still, such an operation would likely put their planes within the Russian air defense envelope. This is something the Ukrainian Air Force has avoided since the air defense situation stabilized, with both sides' anti-air umbrellas reaching well into the territory each control. Even a low-level operation would have its risks near the border and would drastically reduce the reach of the fighter's air-to-air missiles.

There is the possibility that yet another new weapon has arrived in the hands of Ukraine's armed forces. A western beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile is a top ask of Ukraine's fighter pilots, one with an active radar seeker capable of long-range 'fire and forget' engagements without putting fighters at great risk. There has been talk of potential work to integrate such a weapon onto Ukrainian fighter aircraft. It would be a complex process, but there are potential workarounds, especially with the help of external surveillance assets. You can read more about this here.

Once again, there is no proof that this is indeed the case at this time, but we now live in a reality in which Ukraine's Soviet-era tactical aircraft are employing AGM-88 HARMs, JDAM-ERs, and now, it appears Miniature Air Launched Decoys. With no country yet willing to give Ukraine fourth-generation fighters, significantly upgrading the fighters they have, possibly with Western sensors, remains a possibility. It would be unlikely these weapons would be used against aircraft in Russian territory though for reasons already discussed.

Finally, there is the possibility of using the AGM-88 HARM to home in on the emissions of certain aerial assets. This would be an 'off-label' use of the weapon, but not an unprecedented one. If these were ECM variants of the Mi-8, this could even be a more plausible tactic.

Saturdays losses could seriously affect Russian Air Force operations against Ukraine. Airspace previously thought relatively safe appears to be anything but. What was something of a refuge  pairing distance from known threats with low-altitude flight profiles  could now be well within the threat envelope. Russian pilots may find that they must now account not only for the threat over territory in Ukraine they don't control and much of what they do, but also for the now very real prospect of being shot down over Russia proper.

Russian choppers now flying close to the ground in Bryansk.



I know that some claim that Ukrainian fire was the reason. Certainly not impossible but speculative.



Either way, this is a very dark day for the Russian airforce.



Source: https://t.co/v29YYOOBGI#Russia #Bryansk pic.twitter.com/c1QadDGmwF  (((Tendar))) (@Tendar) May 13, 2023

We will update this story with more information as it comes available.

Contact the author: stetson.payne@thewarzone.com and tyler@thedrive.com
The four students who were killed at the University of Idaho in November were awarded posthumous degrees and certificates as part of the school's spring commencement ceremonies, which began May 13 in Moscow.

Posthumous bachelor's degrees were awarded to the families of Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, who were both seniors at the time of the slayings, while certificates were provided for Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.

During the event Saturday morning  the first of two commencement ceremonies May 13  Mogen's parents walked the stage to accept a posthumous bachelor's degree in marketing on their daughter's behalf.

"Madison's family will always be members of the Vandal family," University President Scott Green said. "So, thank you for joining us today to celebrate her academic achievements and contributions to the University of Idaho."

Goncalves' family is set to receive a posthumous bachelor's degree in general studies on behalf of their daughter during the second commencement ceremony, Green said, which will begin at 2 p.m. PT.

University officials noted that Kernodle's family received their daughter's posthumous certificate in marketing during a private ceremony on May 8. Likewise, a posthumous certificate in recreation, sport and tourism will be given to the family of Chapin in the coming weeks.

Chapin's parents expressed their gratitude to the school in a statement to NBC News.

The University of Idaho continues to amaze us with its unwavering support," Stacy and Jim Chapin said in the statement. "We appreciate the school awarding a posthumous degree to Ethan. We also want to recognize the thousands of kids graduating and the hard work theyve put in to earn their diplomas. Our family wishes them all the best."

Guadalupe Ruiz, who died in a car crash in August, also received a posthumous bachelors degree in criminology, the university said in a press release.

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In honor of three of the students, scholarships at the University of Idaho have been established with a fourth in the works, Green previously said. The school is also working to create a memorial.

The three-story off-campus residence where all four students were found dead will be demolished as a "healing step" for the community, Green shared in February.

We will never forget Xana, Ethan, Madison and Kaylee, and I will do everything in my power to protect their dignity and respect their memory, Green said in a statement at the time.

Mogen, Goncalves and Kernodle were roommates in the house while Kernodle's boyfriend, Chapin, was staying overnight at the time of the murders, according to authorities.

In late December, Bryan Kohberger was arrested in Pennsylvania after a six-week manhunt. He was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and burglary.

Kohberger is currently being held without bail ahead of his next court appearance in June.

At this time, Kohberger has not formally entered a plea, but said through an attorney that he believes he will be exonerated.

A five-day preliminary hearing is scheduled to start June 26.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
UN chief welcomes Sudan civilian, aid delivery safety promise from warring factions

Xinhua) 09:59, May 13, 2023

UNITED NATIONS, May 12 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the signing of a commitment to protect civilians and humanitarian aid delivery in Sudan, a UN spokesman said on Friday.

"The secretary-general welcomes the signing by the parties to the conflict in Sudan of the Declaration of Commitment to protect civilians and guarantee the safe passage of humanitarian aid in the country," said Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for Guterres.

"While humanitarian workers, most notably local partners, have continued to deliver in very difficult circumstances, the secretary-general hopes this declaration will ensure that the relief operation can scale up swiftly and safely to meet the needs of millions of people in Sudan," Dujarric said.

The UN chief reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire and expanded discussions to achieve a permanent cessation of hostilities, the spokesman said.

After almost a week of negotiations in the Saudi port city of Jeddah, the warring Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces signed the declaration on Thursday.

The spokesman said the United Nations would spare no effort to assist in the declaration's implementation and will continue to deliver humanitarian aid, ceasefire or not.

Word of the accord coincided with a fire in a Khartoum factory producing food for the UN Children's Agency. "It is yet another bitter blow to Sudan's most vulnerable children," said the agency's spokesman in Geneva, James Elder. "This is the darkest, most distinct illustration to date of how this conflict threatens the lives of children through multiple means."

He said the SAMIL factory fire destroyed 14,500 cartons of Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) for the life-saving treatment of 14,500 children. The factory produced 60 percent of the RUTF used to treat children with severe acute malnutrition in Sudan last year.

Elder added that the blaze destroyed the factory's machinery. However, the agency said it has 34,000 cartons of RUTF enroute from France, with another 81,000 cartons to be sent from France at the end of the month.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned that the situation is critical, with the humanitarian response significantly underfunded in Sudan and some of its neighbors: Chad, South Sudan and Ethiopia. The agency deployed teams and is rushing to deliver aid with its partners, but ramping up its operations will require more funding.

Almost 200,000 people have fled the conflict in Sudan so far, UNHCR said.

The World Food Programme reported it delivered food assistance to 50,000 people in the states of Kassala, Gedaref and White Nile.

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Wu Chaolan)
MIAMI (AP)  Jake Fraley hit his third homer in two days as the Cincinnati Reds beat Sandy Alcantara and the Miami Marlins 6-5 on Saturday.

Henry Ramos had two hits, including a go-ahead RBI double off Alcantara in the eighth. Marlins center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. exited with a right foot contusion after he collided with the wall attempting to catch Ramos drive.

Alcantara (1-4) squandered two leads and his ERA increased to 4.91. The NL Cy Young Award winner issued a leadoff walk to Jonathan India in the eighth. India then stole second before Fraleys run-scoring single tied it at 4-all.

Its the type of atmosphere that weve created as a team, Fraley said. We all trust each other.

Matt Barnes relieved Alcantara and allowed Stuart Fairchilds RBI single. Alcantara gave up six runs, seven hits, struck out nine and walked two in 7 2/3 innings.

I just want to be able to compete, Alcantara said. I didnt have my best stuff today and they took advantage.

Peyton Berdicks RBI single and Chisholms solo shot off reliever Ian Gibaut (3-0) in the seventh gave the Marlins a 4-3 lead.

Alexis Diaz relieved Casey Legumina with one out in the eighth after Legumina sustained a right ankle contusion when he was struck on a comebacker by Yuli Gurriel.

The Marlins rallied against Diaz in the ninth. Jorge Soler walked with one out and scored on Luis Arraezs double. After Bryan De La Cruz walked, Diaz retired Burdick on a pop out and walked Jean Segura to load the bases. Gurriel struck out, earning Diaz his ninth save.

Reds manager David Bell had reliever Alex Young warming up before Diaz faced Gurriel. Bell visited Diaz and remained with the closer although his pitch count was approaching 40.

I got into trouble in the ninth but I told the manager Im going to finish this, Diaz said. He trusted me with the opportunity and I did it.

The loss ended Miamis season-starting string of victories by one run at 12.

Fraley put the Reds ahead 3-1 with his three-run shot against Alcantara in the fifth. He drove Alcantaras 0-1 pitch inside the right-field foul pole for his fifth homer.

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De La Cruz hit a solo shot in the bottom half to reduce Cincinnatis lead.

The Marlins struck first on Gurriels RBI single in the fourth.

Derek Law opened and got the first four outs in the emergency bullpen game for the Reds. Original starter Nick Lodolo was scratched late Friday because of left calf soreness. Lodolo returned to Cincinnati on Saturday for additional tests.

Cincinnati used seven relievers two-days after another bullpen outing in a 5-0 win over the New York Mets.

Thankfully, we know how to recover and grind through a long season and well figure that out, Bell said. I think its a very good exhaustion. Its a great feeling of accomplishment.

Marlins right fielder Jesus Sanchez exited after his diving catch of Tyler Stephensons line drive to end the first. Sanchez, who didnt start Friday because of right hamstring soreness, limped noticeably as he headed to the dugout.

Its just pretty unfortunate, Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. You ask him right now and he feels OK. Its a tough one to figure out exactly what it is. Well probably take (an MRI) of it and see what it looks like.

FORGETTING A PAINFUL MOMENT

For Diaz, the escape act in the ninth helped erase the forgetful image he witnessed on the same mound two months ago. Diaz and his brother, New York Mets star closer Edwin Diaz, were members of Puerto Ricos national team in the World Baseball Classic. Edwin Diaz sustained a season-ending knee injury while celebrating the teams victory over the Dominican Republic.

I didnt want what happened to my brother to affect me, Diaz said. I just focused on the moment because that already happened. I had the baseball classic in my mind but I knew I was going to go out there and get the job done.

ROSTER MOVE

The Reds recalled RHP Levi Stoudt from Triple-A Louisville and optioned RHP Kevin Herget to the same club. Stoudt followed Law and pitched three innings of one-run ball.

TRAINERS ROOM

Reds: OF TJ Friedl (left oblique soreness) sat out his second consecutive game and the next two days could determine if he will end on the injured list. ... INF-OF Nick Senzel had the day off.

Marlins: 1B Garrett Cooper (inner ear infection) went hitless in four at bats during a rehab game with Triple-A Jacksonville Friday. ... J.T. Chargois (right oblique strain) is scheduled to make consecutive appearance with Jacksonville on Saturday after throwing a scoreless inning Friday.

UP NEXT

RHP Luke Weaver (1-2, 7.36) will start the series finale for the Reds on Sunday. The Marlins will go with LHP Braxton Garrett (1-2, 5.97).

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
MIAMI (AP)  Jake Fraley homered twice, including a tiebreaking three-run shot in the ninth inning that sent the Cincinnati Reds past the Miami Marlins 7-4 on Friday night.

Eury Perez struck out seven over 4 2/3 innings in his highly anticipated major league debut for Miami. The Marlins promoted the 20-year-old right-hander, the top prospect in their organization, from Double-A Pensacola to start the series opener.

Cincinnati erased a 4-2 deficit on Spencer Steers two-run double in the seventh.

It wasnt a perfect game, far from it, and when you can win those kinds of games, thats all that matters, Reds manager David Bell said. You dont get down. You keep playing and waiting for an opportunity.

Stuart Fairchild hit a leadoff single against reliever Dylan Floro (2-2) in the ninth and advanced two bases on Jose Barreros single to right field. Floro struck out Jonathan India before Fraley homered to right.

"I was just trying to see a ball up and put it in the outfield, Fraley said.

It was Fraleys first career multi-homer game. Fraley avoided a serious injury in the fifth when he made an awkward slide near a wall in left field while attempting to catch Joey Wendles foul ball.

I knew as soon as I got up that I was good, Fraley said. It didnt feel good but I knew I was fine. I almost had it.

Ian Gibaut (2-0) threw 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief and Alexis Diaz closed with a perfect ninth for his eighth save.

Its nice when the effort leads to a win and in a lot of ways tonight it did, Bell said. We just stayed after it.

Jazz Chisholm Jr.s solo homer against Reds starter Graham Ashcraft in the fifth snapped a 2-all tie. Chisholm was at the plate when Wendle scored from third on catcher Tyler Stephensons passed ball.

Wendle, who tripled after right fielder Wil Myers lost his drive in the lights, originally was called out at the plate but the Marlins successfully challenged that Wendle beat Ashcrafts tag as he caught Stephensons throw from the backstop.

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Peyton Burdicks solo homer in the sixth padded Miamis lead.

Perezs outing ended after he allowed Fraleys two-out solo shot that gave Cincinnati a 2-1 lead in the fifth. Perez scattered four hits and walked two on 88 pitches, with his fastball topping out at 99 mph.

Going out there was an unbelievable experience to play against veteran players, Perez said through a translator. The emotions were all over the place, to be honest. I was able to control it.

Perez, who turned 20 on April 15, became the youngest pitcher in Marlins history and the first major league player born in 2003. Jose Fernandez made his Miami debut 250 days after his 20th birthday in 2013.

Ashcraft allowed four runs, six hits and two walks while striking out three in 5 2/3 innings.

Stephenson put the Reds ahead with his leadoff homer in the fourth, but Miami tied it in the bottom half on Bryan De La Cruzs run-scoring double.

SURPRISE GREETING

Instead of a Marlins staffer, NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara picked up Perez at the airport when he arrived in Miami. Alcantara and Perez, who share the same agent, formed a close bond in the offseason while working out in the Dominican Republic.

This sport is all about learning, Alcantara said. All the knowledge Ive gained, it is only right that I can share it with the younger players who are coming up.

ROSTER MOVE

To make room for Perez, the Marlins designated RHP Chi Chi Gonzalez for assignment.

TRAINERS ROOM

Reds: OF TJ Friedl (left oblique soreness) didnt play and is day-to-day. Friedl exited in the sixth inning of Cincinnatis victory over the New York Mets on Thursday.

Marlins: OF Jesus Sanchez (right hamstring soreness) struck out as a pinch hitter leading off the ninth. Sanchez felt discomfort after his ninth-inning double Wednesday in Arizona. ... LHP Trevor Rogers (left biceps strain) will throw a 20-pitch bullpen Saturday.

UP NEXT

Reds LHP Nick Lodolo (2-1, 3.82 ERA) had been Saturdays scheduled starter but was scratched for the second time this week. The team had not announced a replacement. Alcantara (1-3, 4.53) is on the mound for Miami.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen pointed to recent shocks to the global economy as a reason to diversify supply chains

The G7 plans to launch a partnership scheme to diversify supply chains this year, ministers from the group said Saturday following finance talks in Japan ahead of a major summit next week.

The ministers did not directly mention efforts to reduce reliance on trade with China or Russia as motivation for the new framework, which focuses on clean energy technology.

But after meeting her Japanese counterpart, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen pointed to recent shocks to the global economy.

"Spillovers from Russia's war against Ukraine and disruptions caused by the pandemic have made clear the importance of diversified and resilient supply chains," she told reporters.

The Group of Seven's finance ministers and central bank chiefs highlighted the "urgent need to address existing vulnerabilities within... highly concentrated supply chains".

In a joint statement, they said they hoped to launch the partnership in collaboration with the World Bank "by the end of this year at the latest".

The scheme, dubbed RISE -- Resilient and Inclusive Supply-chain Enhancement -- builds on guidance released in April, and will offer interested developing countries "finance, knowledge and partnerships", the ministers said.

Their three-day meeting in Niigata, a coastal city in central Japan, took place just days before the leaders of the group of major developed economies gather May 19-21 in Hiroshima.

Support for Ukraine and the G7's relationship with China is expected to be high on the agenda at the summit, along with nuclear disarmament and action on climate change.

As the finance talks wrapped up Saturday, the ministers reaffirmed their commitment to sanctions on Russia and said they were working together to enforce them, but did not announce any concrete new steps to tackle sanctions evasion.

They also stressed the need to bolster financial stability following recent banking sector turmoil.

"We will continue to work closely with supervisory and regulatory authorities to monitor financial sector developments and stand ready to take appropriate actions to maintain financial stability and the resilience of the global financial system," the statement said.

The Niigata talks were also attended by the heads of the IMF, OECD and World Bank, as well as finance ministers from Brazil, India and Indonesia.

kaf/cwl
Fresno is set to receive $250 million in infrastructure money from the state of California as part of Gov. Gavin Newsoms May budget revision announced Friday, and Mayor Jerry Dyer hailed it as an investment that will transform the downtown area forever.

We have a particular focus in the May Revise on the incredible work thats been done in Fresno, Newsom said, and the incredible planning that has been done that allows us to make a commitment to Fresno, in particular, to accelerate that effort because they are teed up and ready to do something transformational.

In a press conference Friday afternoon at Fresno City Hall, Dyer thanked Newsom for his belief and confidence in the city of Fresno and outlined how the city expects to spend the money  if the budget proposal is ultimately approved by legislators in Sacramento.

Far too long Fresno has been left behind, as has the Valley,  Dyer said. This is the largest investment we will have ever received from state of California, and its all going into downtown Fresno.

Dyer said downtown was the focus of the citys request to Newsom since the governor announced his goal in August 2022 of making about $2 billion  a combination of state and federal money  available for infrastructure across the state.

We knew the need was downtown Fresno, based on accelerating housing for the downtown area as well as knowing that downtown Fresno is really the hub for central California, Dyer said.

Dyer told reporters that he and his staff met with representatives of Newsoms staff numerous times since August 2022. Those meetings, he added, were very productive and provided us with a path forward.

How Fresno plans to spend the money

Great cities have great downtowns, Dyer added. We cant say were a great city if we dont have a great downtown, and thats where we need to invest.

One of the largest chunks of money, about $70 million, would be used to provide two new parking structures in the downtown area, adding 2,000 more parking stalls, almost doubling the existing 2,081 city-owned parking stalls in the area. The cost of parking structures is always a big challenge or us when we try to bring in developers to build housing, Dyer said. Taking that off the table allows for these projects not only to occur faster, but it allows the developers to be more incentivized to build in our downtown area.

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Housing developers face a requirement in downtown to provide parking for their projects at a rate of half a stall per residential unit, but in reality you need one parking stall per unit, Dyer added. This will give us 2,000 parking stalls, and that would support 2,000 to 3,000 units downtown.

Additional earmarks that Dyer has for the state money include:

$80 million for overall infrastructure investments aimed at promoting the development of housing for 10,000 residents and revitalizing neighborhoods in downtown.

$25 million for a stormwater drainage basin in the downtown area.

$20 million for an intermodal transit center to promote alternative transportation, including buses, bicycles and other ways to get around instead of driving.





$20 million for improvements to streets, sidewalks, curbs and gutters in downtown Fresno and the nearby Chinatown district.

$15 million for the development of green space such as pocket parks or linear parks.





$10 million for sewer system upgrades along Fresno and Merced streets downtown.

$10 million for a 16-inch water supply loop along H Street and F Street between Stanislaus and Mono streets.

All of those plans represent the start in a chain of efforts with the goal of enabling residential development in the downtown area and not simply relying on a concentration of daytime workers from government agencies and offices and in the district.

Were doing to accelerate infrastructure downtown so that we can accelerate housing downtown, so that we can accelerate a vibrant nightlife in downtown Fresno, Dyer said. We want people moving to the downtown area. Thats going to require housing, and housing is going to require infrastructure..

Housing is what makes a downtown vibrant, he added. It is that balance of daytime jobs in government offices as well as the people living there that will generate a constant vibrancy in downtown. That means a lot of activity.

Significant investments required in downtown

The $20 million earmarked specifically for sewer and water lines in downtown are only part of what will ultimately be needed for a comprehensive overhaul of the aging infrastructure. We have sewer infrastructure that is as old as 1896 that is still active, and we have water mains that go back to the 1930s, Brock Buche, the citys director of public utilities, said Friday. So the downtown area is in critical need for infrastructure renewal. The timing of this is perfect.

Buche added that initial estimates of the total cost for needed infrastructure work in downtown is somewhere in the neighborhood of probably $160 million to $180 million just for water and wastewater. He said a proposal will be presented to the Fresno City Council on May 25 to hire a consultant to do a thorough study of water and infrastructure needs in downtown Fresno.

Dyer said the city has also submitted an application to the state for another $44 million from a program specifically aimed at supporting infrastructure in infill areas of cities. That money, if Fresno is successful with its effort, would also go toward the downtown area. If we get both of those, Fresno will be well on its way, Dyer said, referring to Newsoms Friday announcement and the state infrastructure grant program.

State Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula, D-Fresno, said Friday that he was profoundly grateful that Governor Newsom has included this vital investment for downtown Fresno in his May revise of the State budget.

Its a priority for me to help strengthen and build the economic development of the Central Valley, including its downtowns, Arambula added in a prepared statement. The investment in downtown Fresno is especially meaningful for me because I have been working with the City of Fresno and the Central Valley Community Foundation to ensure that Fresno gets its fair share of resources.

City leaders hope the states investment will jump-start efforts to reverse the decades-long deterioration of Fresnos downtown core. This will go a long way to restore what has been lost over those years, Dyer told reporters. Some of that had to do with urban sprawl, where we know that we ended up with having houses built on our periphery of the city of Fresno and as a result of that, our downtown died.

This is our opportunity to revive our downtown, he added.
Ukrainian military training in maintenance of Leopard tanks at the Bundeswehr base

According to Yermak, the new aid package tentatively includes:

20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles;

30 Leopard tanks;

four IRIS-T-SLM air defense systems (12 launchers and hundreds of missiles);

200 reconnaissance UAVs;

100 armored vehicles;

100 logistics vehicles;

15 Gepard anti-aircraft artillery systems;

a large amount of ammunition.

According to German news website Der Spiegel, Berlin was expected to announce the aid package, which will be the largest since the start of the full-scale invasion, during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyys visit of to Germany.

Read also: Germany to allocate EUR 3 million for green industry recovery in Ukraine

Earlier, German media reported that Zelenskyy would arrive in Berlin on May 13, at the invitation of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Later, the German portal T-online, citing sources close to the Ukrainian government, wrote that the Ukrainian authorities were disappointed that the visits de-tails had been leaked.

Berlin police said they had launched an investigation into the leak, and announced that on May 14, movement restrictions would be imposed in certain areas of the German capital.

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
Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who's currently hard at work automating human labor at an incredible scale, is very confused as to why anyone might suggest that AI might replace human workers.

Fresh on the heels of Google's Wall Street-winning and heavily AI-focused I/O conference, Pichai made an appearance on The Verge's Decoder podcast. And editor-in-chief Nilay Patel wasted no time in hitting him with some tough questions about AI-abetted job losses.

"If you believe it's a platform shift, this might be the first platform shift that regulators understand because it's very obvious what kind of labor will be displaced," said Patel. "Lawyers, mostly, is what I gather, right? They can see, okay, a bunch of white-collar labor will go away, like a C-plus email about a transaction, entire floors of those people can be reduced."

Patel's question isn't exactly out of left field. Some industries have already seen job losses, while a recent Goldman-Sachs memo estimated that roughly 300 million jobs could feasibly be delegated to AI.

Pichai, however, didn't quite rise to the occasion.

"For 20 years of tech automation, people have predicted all kinds of jobs would go away," Pichai responded, adding that "movie theaters were supposed to end" as the result of tech innovation. That's an interesting choice on Pichai's behalf, considering that theater attendance has been steadily declining since 2002, not to mention that Hollywood is in the throes of a writer's strike in which AI has emerged as a major issue.

But when Patel pointed out that the film industry is in decline, the Google CEO almost seemed at a loss for words.

"There's always going to be... Unemployment over the last 20 years of tech automation hasn't fully... Twenty years ago, when people exactly predicted what tech automation would do, there are very specific pronouncements of entire job categories which would go away," said a seemingly flustered Pichai. "That hasn't fully played out."

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"I don't know. I don't know," he added later. "So it's not exactly clear to me how all this plays out."

Elsewhere, Pichai claimed that "new professions [are] constantly getting created," though he conceded that "big societal labor market disruption" will occur and "governments need to be involved."

"But I think we shouldnt underestimate the beneficial side of some of these things, too," he added. "And its complicated, is maybe how I would say it."

To his credit, it's true that no one really knows what's on the other side of the brimming AI hype wave.

Still, it's hard not to find Pichai's answer to the automation question a little disappointing. Several industries  including journalism, videogame design, and tech  have already replaced human labor with automated tools, and some of those industries have even witnessed layoffs in the wake of the tech's rollout.

Right now, though, it very much looks like AI could have a radical impact on the labor market  and Google will have played an instrumental role in that.

Look, we're not saying that Pichai needs to be particularly sympathetic about layoffs. But since this is one of the biggest questions that the public is currently asking about AI, and he's the CEO of a company that practically controls the internet, Pichai's around-the-bush response just falls short.

In fact, he just sounded deflated.

"There's a new technology," Pichai told the Verge. "It has a chance to bring unprecedented benefits. It has downsides. I think you are right."

"I think we need to think about it," he added. "We need to anticipate as early as we can."

More on AI and the job industry: IBM Replacing 7,800 Human Jobs with AI, Including Human Resources
The House Foreign Affairs Committee plans to move forward with holding Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a congressional subpoena. The committee is aiming for a floor vote in early June, the panel's Republican chairman told CBS News.

"It's a path I would rather not take, but it's necessary," committee Chairman Michael McCaul said in an interview on the eve of the May 11 deadline to provide State Department records to the House Committee.

The GOP-led committee issued a subpoena in late March for an internal confidential State Department document known as a "dissent cable," which had been written by 23 of the department's employees in Kabul, Afghanistan, that warned, according to the Wall Street Journal, that Kabul would fall after the Biden administration's planned withdrawal deadline of Aug. 31, 2021. The Journal's report also said that the cable pointed out the Taliban was gaining territory quickly and that the cable suggested ways of speeding up the evacuation.

McCaul has for weeks been warning that he would subpoena Blinken if he did not turn over the dissent cable and his response.

"This would be the first time a secretary of state has ever been in contempt by Congress," McCaul said.

During the Trump administration, House Democrats threatened to hold then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in contempt for records related to a Senate investigation into Hunter Biden. The contempt threat was dropped after the documents were provided to the House committee.

Asked about the timeline for the contempt resolution against Blinken, McCaul said he plans to move swiftly, with the committee scheduled to consider the measure May 24, which would be followed by a vote by the full House by early June.

Still, McCaul said, "We are giving [Blinken] ample time to respond. It's important to note this is criminal contempt as well ... It would be voted out of the House and go into judicial proceedings after that."

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As part of the committee's efforts to reach middle ground with the State Department, McCaul said he had offered to review the cable in a private setting, instead of requiring the document to be delivered to the committee. He had also suggested that the State Department could redact the names of the officials who signed the memo, the committee said.

Hours before the May 11 deadline passed, a State Department spokesman told reporters, "The department has already offered a classified briefing and a summary of the dissent channel cable, as well as the department's response. We believe that this information has been sufficient to meet what the committee has requested thus far, but we, again, will continue to engage with them."

CBS News asked the State Department for further comment. A spokesperson referred to Thursday's statement to the press.

 Melissa Quinn and Rebecca Kaplan contributed to this report.

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House Republicans fulfilled a major campaign promise this week with the passage of a border security crackdown measure  given the designation of H.R. 2 to symbolize its significance  that boosts border technology and funding, restarts border wall construction, adds new restrictions on asylum seekers and more.

But they did so only after months of public swipes, late-stage delays and last-minute changes.

You also saw the disagreements, some of them publicly, where members have strong opinions on different approaches, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said. And frankly, thats why Congress hasnt been able to pass a strong border security bill over the years, including when Donald Trump was president.

Not much has been simple for the slim House GOP majority this year, even passing their top priorities. Thursdays passage of the Secure the Border Act, which is dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate, adds to a pattern of House Republicans overcoming public infighting and sometimes surprising critics  from the drawn-out saga to elect Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to a recent late-night scramble over a GOP debt ceiling bill.

Some of those involved in pulling the bill over the finish line say the process really started last year, when getting almost all Texas House Republicans behind a border framework laid the groundwork for getting almost the entire conference  sans two Republicans  to vote for H.R.2 on the floor.

It was a central feature of getting where we needed to go to get this accomplished  no question, said Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), insisting that the entire conference agreed on 95 percent of what was in the final bill.

Public swipes

Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, is seen before the flag-draped casket bearing the remains of Hershel W. Woody Williams lies in honor in the U.S. Capitol, July 14, 2022, in Washington. (Tom Williams/Pool photo via AP, File)

Scalise announced at the start of the session that the GOP would fast-track a bill from Roy, H.R. 29, directing the government to deny entry to most undocumented migrants unless it has capacity to detain them or place them in a program where theyre returned to Mexico.

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But that bill never came to the floor in the face of strong opposition, even as leaders began incorporating it into the larger GOP package.

Rep. Tony Gonzales, the only Texas Republican who did not sign on to the Texas border plan, waged a public war against the bill, calling it un-Christian and anti-immigrant and vowing that the larger GOP border bill would fail on the floor if Roys bill was included. At one point he even threatened to vote against the partys debt ceiling bill.

GOP lawmaker explains vote against Republican border bill

The two spent much of April sparring publicly over the bill, but when the bill was unveiled at the end of that month, some of the stronger language regarding the entry of migrants had been adjusted in committee  and to Gonzales, that was a victory.

I give a lot of credit to the Hispanic Conference for sticking together, Gonzales said. Leaderships strategy has been to try to put people on an island. And it was very clear that I wasnt an island. I was an iceberg, and I think there were a whole lot of other members underneath me.

In the end, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), who is a co-chair of the GOP Congressional Hispanic Conference along with Gonzales, was the lead sponsor of H.R. 2.

Roy noted, however, that much of his bill did make it in the final legislation. It did not matter that his name was not on the final product, he said.

I only share that not to defend the [H.R. 29] bill  I dont give a shit. I cannot overstate the extent to which I do not give a shit. What I do give a shit about is policy. And at the end of the day, we got the policy that we wanted that we had put forth in H.R. 29, Roy said.

Last-minute delays and changes

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.)

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) leaves a closed-door House Republican Conference meeting at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, January 25, 2023.

As members of the Hispanic Conference came around to support the bill, it hit snags with agriculture-focused moderates.

Members such as Reps. David Valadao (R-Calif.) and Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) worried about the impact a provision to mandate employers use E-Verify, the government system that checks whether an individual is authorized to work in the U.S., would have on the ag industry.

For those members, it was important that any changes to E-Verify were accompanied by reforms to the H-2A temporary agricultural worker visa program  changes that were not in the bill. Newhouse has long worked on that issue with his Farm Workforce Modernization Act.

Those members struck a deal with leadership to amend the bill in the House Rules Committee  the last stop before the House floor  with language that directs the Homeland Security Secretary to consider the adverse impacts of mandating E-Verify before implementing it.

But the Rules Committee passed the bill after midnight without any changes, surprising the lawmakers. People familiar with the holdup said hardline conservative members did not want to amend the bill at such a late stage.

These two House Republicans bucked GOP on flagship border bill

A bigger issue was brewing on the other ideological side of the conference.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), who had said the bill did not do enough to combat drug cartels, sounded the alarm about many Republicans taking issue with the bill over a section that directs a study on whether drug cartels should be designated as a foreign terrorist organizations.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) started getting text messages about people concerned with that foreign terrorist organization language just a few days before the vote, with members saying to move them to a lean no on the bill.

What started as an issue for a handful of people quickly grew to a group of about 40 members as members sent word around to each other, Emmer said.

It took probably a half an hour, 45 minutes to get everybody narrowed down to what they were really upset about, Emmer said. He called the late negotiations the live exercise stage, much like the debt ceiling bill a few weeks ago.

The crux of the issue, Emmer said, was that members did not want to give any more authority to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas  even for a study.

The fix for both the E-Verify issue and the cartel issue came in a floor amendment.

Instead of DHS leading the charge, Congress would commission a report evaluating a national security strategy for the U.S. regarding cartels. Crenshaw on Friday also announced that McCarthy assigned him to lead a task force that will focus on how to combat drug cartels, after he met with the Speaker to extensively discuss the issue.

New sense of Congress language also dictated that, in enacting the E-Verify requirement, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must ensure any adverse impact on the nations agricultural workforce operations and food security are considered and addressed.

Newhouse took to the House floor ahead of the bills passage on Thursday to seek a commitment from leadership that work will continue on reforming H2-A agricultural worker visas. Scalise on the floor vowed that leadership will continue to work with him to address the workforce needs of our agricultural industry.

Some moderates were also making their own consideration on E-Verify. They realized the bill has virtually no shot at becoming law, and voting against a border security measure would be politically painful.

Emmer called the bills passage nothing short of historic from a legislative perspective, because of getting the most moderate members and the most conservative members to support it.

I didnt feel that quote-unquote, drama, Emmer said. Drama to me is, you know, going to the floor and trying to figure out if you got the votes. We knew what every single vote was.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Daniel Penny, the 24-year-old military veteran facing criminal charges for putting a New York City subway rider in a fatal chokehold earlier this month, was acting as a Good Samaritan in the eyes of hard-right Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

He shared a link to where Penny is collecting funds for his legal defense on Twitter Friday evening.

In the same post, the governor  rumored to be launching his bid for the Republican presidential nomination any day now  ranted against the Soros-Funded DAs in reference to popular right-wing boogeyman George Soros, an elderly Jewish billionaire who supports progressive causes.

Penny surrendered on a manslaughter charge this week. The former U.S. Marine claims he acted in self-defense against Jordan Neely, a homeless Black man who openly addressed other passengers in the car.

The 30-year-olds death set off protests in New York, which struggles to provide adequate services to people without housing, disproportionately represented by people of color, many of whom experience mental health problems.

We stand with Good Samaritans like Daniel Penny. Lets show this Marine... Americas got his back, DeSantis wrote on Twitter.

His message reflected broader efforts by conservative politicians and media outlets to raise concern over the threat of crime nationwide.

In Neelys case, the freelance journalist who filmed the incident, Juan Alberto Vasquez, has said Neely had been complaining that he did not have food and did not care about being sent to jail. Some people in the car moved away from him out of caution, but some did not, Vasquez told Curbed.

They were just standing, watching him. They stayed there as if to say: Well until we see that there is some kind of risk, Vasquez told the outlet. To me, when Jordan throws his jacket, it is a way of saying: There could be an act of violence here, because those things do happen all the time because just a year ago, there was a guy who went in and shot a lot of people on the train.

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He added: And obviously, the marine, in the end, went too far. But the police also went too far in not arriving on time.

Seeing people without homes in New York Citys subway system is commonplace. While the city contracts with teams to provide treatment and resources to the homeless people on the streets, advocates say the resources are not enough.

Related...
Ukrainian infantryman known as "Grandfather" holds pieces of a Russian drone he says he shot down with an automatic rifle. Territorial Defence of the Armed Forces

A Ukrainian soldier with the call sign "Grandfather" says he downed a drone with his rifle.

The electrician-turned-solider took aim at an exploding Shahed drone with his Kalashnikov rifle.

Large numbers of Shahed drones have been supplied to Russia by Iran.

A 59-year-old Ukrainian soldier, known by the call sign "Grandfather," has been awarded a medal of bravery for shooting down a Russian exploding drone with his Kalashnikov automatic rifle, according to the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces.

Only identified by his call sign, the soldier has been fighting in Zaporizhzhia for over a year. He told the news site Zaporizhzhia Public how he came out of his dugout one recent night and heard the sound of the Iranian-built drone. He grabbed his rifle and started shooting.

"Grandfather" described his incredible feat of sharpshooting.

"I caught him. He was coming straight at me. He was maybe 150 meters away from me. He was approaching above me. I took a flashlight and opened fire." He said there was no time to switch to automatic, and he fired single shots at the exploding drone that can fly at hundreds of miles per hour, depending on the series.

"There was no time for singles to switch. He flies fast. He flies 40 meters in about a second," he said.

"After it hid behind the horizon, sparks fell from it, the engine began to stall, and it became completely silent. Well, six seconds later, an explosion rang out," he told Zaporizhzhia Public.

Commending his bravery, "Grandfather" was awarded the Cross of the Brave medal from the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valery Zaluzhny, Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces said in a Facebook post.

Before Putin's invasion, "Grandfather" was employed as an electrician. He said he joined up to fight Putin's soldiers on February 25, the day after Russia's invasion began.

He said the first village he helped liberate was the place where he was born, northeast of Mykolaiv.

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"The first village we recaptured from the 'Orks' was Poltavka, where I was born. And there I met my childhood friends. Everyone came out crying," he told Zaporizhzhia Public.

After the war and the liberation of all Ukraine's territory that he is fighting for, "Grandfather" says he looking forward to a family holiday in Crimea, occupied by Russia in 2014, he told the outlet.

A Russian drone, considered by Ukrainian authorities to be an Iranian-made Shahed-136, over Kyiv on October 17, 2022. REUTERS/Roman Petushkov

The Shahed drone that the 59-year-old shot down is part of what the Institute of the Study of War describes as Russia's attempt to utilize these "lower-precision systems" to "offset the degradation of Russia's precision munition supply."

The Shahed drone has a warhead packed with explosives on its nose, per the BBC, and is intended to detonate on impact.

Russia first took delivery of Shahed drones, as well as the larger Mojaher-6, from Iran in August 2022, The Washington Post reported. According to the Post, the first shipment included Shahed-129 and Shahed-191 models.

Russia has used these drones to repeatedly attack Ukraine, including hitting the cities of Kyiv, Odesa, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, and Chernihiv.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Deb Walker, of Chester, Vt., visits the grave of her daughter Brooke Goodwin, Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, in Chester. Goodwin, 23, died in March of 2021 of a fatal overdose of the powerful opioid fentanyl and xylazine. AP Photo/Lisa Rathke

Xylazine, called "tranq" or "tranq dope," is a sedative used by vets that has been found in opioids.

The "zombie" drug has flesh-rotting effects and can lead to amputations, addiction specialists warn.

The drug has been found across the country and Congress has moved to make it a controlled substance.

A veterinary tranquilizer nicknamed "zombie drug" is being sold as a counterfeit opioid across the country, alarming addiction specialists who warn of flesh-eating effects and an overdose risk as the nation battles a drug crisis.

"I've never seen anything like what we're dealing with right now," Cary Quashen, an addiction expert from Action Family Foundation, told local news outlet KTLA.

Action Family Foundation did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Xylazine  also known as "tranq"  is a drug typically used to sedate cattle and has not been approved for human use. It has been found sold as counterfeit opioids or cut with heroin and fentanyl in Los Angeles, Long Island, Washington state, and central Pennsylvania, prompting concern over the risk of overdose and xylazine's potential to disfigure users with its flesh-eating effects.

"We had a woman come in and her sister had passed away from a fentanyl overdose," Quashen told KTLA. "But not only was it a fentanyl overdose, her skin was starting to rot  the muscles on her leg and her arm. So that's a sure sign of xylazine."

The White House announced in April that a mixture of drugs  fentanyl and xylazine  pose an "emerging threat" in the US, making the ongoing drug overdose crisis even deadlier. In March, US Drug Enforcement Administration issued a public health alert noting that the drug had been detected in about 23% of fentanyl powder and 7% of fentanyl pill seizures, CNN reported.

"It's really gruesomely disfiguring people," said Bill Bodner, a DEA special agent, told KTLA. "It's much more likely to stop someone from breathing and the things that come along with xylazine, it's a vasoconstrictor. So when you're injecting it, it's actually reducing the blood circulation."

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The DEA did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Because it is not an opioid  though it is typically sold cut with or in place of one  xylazine does not respond to naloxone, an emergency treatment that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

More than 106,000 people in the US died from a drug-involved overdose in 2021, including illicit drugs and prescription opioids, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Xylazine overdose deaths and disfigurement concerns have caught the attention of Congress, with Senator Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, along with co-sponsors including Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, introducing a bipartisan bill in March to make xylazine a schedule III controlled substance in an attempt to reduce its availability to be used as a street drug while preserving veterinary access to the drug.

Representatives for Cortez Masto and Grassley did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

"Drug overdoses remain unacceptably high as cartels and traffickers continue to flood our nation with deadly and ever-changing poison," Grassley said in a statement introducing the legislation. "We cannot successfully prevent these tragedies with one hand tied behind our back."

Read the original article on Insider
Photograph: Phelan M Ebenhack/AP

The governor of New Hampshire, Chris Sununu, said it was embarrassing that Republican voters from his state laughed and applauded when Donald Trump mocked E Jean Carroll during a CNN town hall this week.

Related: E Jean Carroll considering suing Trump for his remarks during CNN town hall

Sununu may yet have to court such voters in a presidential run of his own.

Nonetheless, the governor said, the town hall audiences behavior doesnt shine a positive light on New Hampshire.

In New York on Tuesday, a jury in a civil case found Trump liable for sexual battery and defamation regarding a 1996 assault in a New York department store changing room which Carroll described in a book in 2019. The former president was ordered to pay about $5m in damages.

Regardless, at Wednesdays CNN event in Manchester, New Hampshire, Trump said he had no idea who the hell Carroll was and called her a whack job.

He also said he had a picture taken years ago with her and her husband, nice guy, John Johnson. He was a newscaster, very nice man. She called him an ape, happens to be African American. Called him an ape  the judge wouldnt allow us to put that in. Her dog or her cat was named Vagina, the judge wouldnt allow to put that in.

Audience members laughed.

Trump continued: What kind of a woman meets somebody, brings him up and within minutes youre playing hanky-panky in a dressing room, OK? I dont know if she was married then or not. John Johnson, I feel sorry for you, John Johnson.

A lawyer for Carroll has said she was considering suing again.

Sununu, a relative moderate in a party dominated by Trump and the far right, has said he will decide on a presidential run by June.

He was speaking to Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary turned MSNBC host, in an interview to be broadcast in full on Sunday.

As the camera pans through that audience, I knew pretty much everybody, the governor said. Theyre all Trump supporters. So the audience was absolutely filled with Trump supporters. So I wasnt surprised to hear the support.

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But when youre talking about a serious issue like that, and laughter and mocking and all that, its completely embarrassing, without a doubt, and it doesnt shine a positive light on New Hampshire.

The audience for the CNN event was always meant to be Republican but Sununu said almost all who attended voted for Trump in 2016, 2020 or both.

Related: Trumps team revels in town hall victory as CNN staff rages at spectacle of lies

I believe every single one of them have voted for Trump at some point, he said. So I dont know  how [CNN] determined that and set that up but obviously it was a room full of Trump supporters. So no one should have been surprised to hear the support.

But again, on that issue, I would call it embarrassing.

If Sununu does enter the Republican primary he will be an outside bet in a race dominated by Trump despite his unprecedented legal jeopardy.

New Hampshire will hold the first Republican primary. Polling there follows the national pattern in putting Trump more than 20 points ahead of Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor who has not yet declared a run.

According to the RealClearPolitics polling average, Sununu generally places third in his own state, at around 11 points, more than 36 behind Trump.
(Reuters) - The head of Russia's federal crime agency on Saturday suggested that key sectors of the economy should be returned to state ownership to support Moscow's war in Ukraine.

Moscow has already seized assets or acquired them at a heavy discount from some Western firms that have quit Russia or scaled back their activities since the invasion.

"We are essentially talking about economic security in a war," Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee, told a conference that was streamed online. "Let's go along the path of nationalising the main sectors of our economy."

It was an unusual foray into economic policy for Bastrykin, who reports directly to President Vladimir Putin.

Russia conducted wide-ranging and often chaotic privatisations in the 1990s, after the collapse of the communist Soviet Union.

Some of the state's most valuable assets ended up in the hands of so-called oligarchs, many of whom subsequently sold their firms or were forced to cede control back to the state under Putin.

Russia's economy and government coffers rely heavily on production of oil, gas and metals.

Gazprom, Russia's largest natural gas producer, is already controlled by the state. Its largest oil company, Rosneft, is not formally under government control but is headed by Igor Sechin, a long-standing ally of Putin.

Moscow does not call its intervention in Ukraine an invasion, and says it had to act to defend Ukraine's Russian-speakers and avert a threat from NATO - arguments dismissed by Kyiv and the West as baseless pretexts for a war of conquest.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Mark Potter)
Hundreds have been killed and nearly 200,000 have fled their homes to neighbouring states

Heavy fighting between warring parties has continued in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and other cities ahead of the ceasefire talks on Sunday.

Residents say the Sudanese army has pounded civilian areas, while the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has occupied civilian properties.

Clashes were reported in Khartoum, neighbouring Omdurman and Geneina in the Darfur region.

War between the country's army and the RSF started nearly a month ago.

One resident Hani Ahmed, 28, said it was worse in the morning compared with the past two days. "You could clearly hear the tanks and the RSF were patrolling the streets more than usual," he added.

"We only see the army in the sky, but in terms of face-to-face contact, we only see the RSF. They're the ones on the ground," Mr Ahmed said.

Hundreds have been killed and nearly 200,000 have fled their homes for neighbouring states. An estimated 700,000 have been displaced inside the country.

Widespread looting, as well as the withdrawal of international aid organisations, has led to severe shortages of food and medicine.

Displaced people living in a large camp in north Darfur have cut down to a single meal a day.

Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) warned that conditions for children were likely to deteriorate.

The warring factions signed a "declaration of commitment" on Thursday, after a week of talks mediated by hosts Saudi Arabia and the US.

The ceasefire talks between representatives of the warring sides will resume in Jeddah on Sunday.

But on Friday, at least 77 people were killed in Geneina, where fighting flared after a two-week lull, said the Darfur Bar Association, a local rights group.

The group added that armed groups on motorcycles and RSF vehicles were continuing to commit acts of killing, looting, arson and terror.

In Khartoum, art curator Duaa Tariq, 30, said his area was under RSF control. "They loot and harass people and wander around, always armed, taking shelter wherever they want."

Sudan's civil aviation authority said Sudanese airspace would remain closed to all traffic until 31 May, but "humanitarian aid and evacuation flights" would remain unaffected.
Two Whatcom County sheriffs deputies have been awarded a state Medal of Honor for their actions in a February 2022 incident where both were wounded as they tried to arrest a man who was firing a shotgun from his doorway in a rural neighborhood near Kendall.

Deputies Ryan Rathbun and Jason Thompson received the award during a May 5 ceremony at the Peace Officer Memorial in Olympia, according to a statement from the Whatcom County Sheriffs Office on Friday.

During this incident, Deputy Rathbun and Deputy Thompson each placed the life of their partner and the lives of innocent citizens above their own, said David Heitzman, attorney generals chief criminal investigator and secretary of the Law Enforcement Medal of Honor Committee.

Rathbun and Thompson were shot in the face as they responded to 911 calls on Feb. 10, 2022, from neighbors who said a man was firing a shotgun into the air, according to previous Bellingham Herald reporting.

Body camera footage released by the Sheriffs Office shows the two deputies with their guns drawn, trying to reason with the armed man, who was later identified as Joel Berck Young.

That video shows both men coming under fire and seeking refuge in a garage as a neighbor with a semiautomatic pistol keeps shooting toward Young as cover, a heroic act that allowed the deputies to seek medical treatment out of the line of fire, according to previous Herald reporting.

Young is facing several felony charges stemming from the incident, including two counts of attempted first-degree murder. His trial is tentatively scheduled for Aug. 14, according to online court records.

Both Rathbun and Thompson have recovered from their injuries and returned to duty.

We are extraordinarily proud of these deputies for their performance under fire and their endurance and efforts through the recovery process as well as their commitment to return to serving our community, Sheriff Bill Elfo said in the statement.
A 17-year-old migrant boy from Honduras died in the custody of a Florida facility that was sheltering unaccompanied minors for the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement, according to a tweet from the Honduran government and an HHS statement.

The boy was named Angel Eduardo Maradiaga Espinoza, the Honduran government said. Espinoza entered HHS care on May 5 and received a clean bill of health, according to a person familiar with the matter. Then on the morning of May 10 he was taken to a nearby hospital where he died, the person familiar said.

A tweet from the account for the Honduran Secretary of Foreign Affairs said, The Government of Honduras, through the Embassy in Washington, is in contact with the family and has requested that ORR and HHS carry out an exhaustive investigation of the case to clarify this fact and, if there is any responsibility, apply the full weight of the law.

1/1 El Gobierno de la Presidenta @XiomaraCastroZ lamenta y presenta sus condolencias por el fallecimiento del menor hondureno Angel Eduardo Maradiaga Espinoza de 17 anos de edad, ocurrido en un albergue ubicado en Safety Harbor, Florida, EEUU.  Enrique Reina (@EnriqueReinaHN) May 12, 2023

An HHS spokesperson said in a statement that the agency is deeply saddened by this tragic loss and our heart goes out to the family, with whom we are in touch. As is standard practice for any situation involving the death of an unaccompanied child or a serious health outcome, [ORR]'s Division of Health for Unaccompanied Children (DHUC) is reviewing all clinical details of this case, including all inpatient health-care records. A medical examiner investigation is underway. Due to privacy and safety reasons, ORR cannot share further information on individual cases of children who have been in our care.

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The shelter where Espinoza stayed is in Safety Harbor, Florida, according to the Honduran government. The facility is run by the Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services, Inc. A receptionist at the facilitys headquarters in Clearwater directed all media calls to an email address for HHS.

The Florida Department of Children and Families released a statement saying Espinozas death is under investigation by local law enforcement and noted, The oversight responsibility of this unaccompanied alien children facility lies solely with the federal government as it is regulated by the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). To be clear, this facility is not licensed by the Department of Children and Families.

William A. Pellan, director of investigations for the Pinellas County Medical Examiner, told NBC News in a voicemail that the autopsy was completed Thursday but he had nothing further that he could share.

ORR provides care for unaccompanied minor immigrants through a network of 296 facilities in 27 states, according to an HHS fact sheet. As of May 5, the agency had 8,790 children in its care.

From Oct. 1, 2022, through March 31, 2023, ORR has released 58,654 unaccompanied minors to sponsors around the country, according to HHS. Almost a third of the unaccompanied minors that came into the U.S. in 2022 were from Honduras and their average length of stay in an HHS facility was 30 days, according to the agency.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduras will soon begin talks toward a trade deal with China, the Central American country's top diplomat said on Friday, marking the latest step toward stronger bilateral ties between the two nations after Honduras broke off relations with Taiwan.

Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina told reporters at a press conference that the goal is to launch talks "soon" and eventually ink a "free trade" agreement with the Asian giant, the world's second-largest economy.

"It will be good news and (offer) opportunities for access to our products to China," said Reina.

In late March, Honduras ended its decades-long diplomatic recognition of Taiwan, after President Xiomara Castro opted to open relations with China in a bid for more investment and jobs.

Coffee will be the first Honduran export to the massive Chinese market, Reina noted, adding that both countries are also evaluating future shipments of shrimp and melon to China.

Honduras is one of Central America's top coffee growers.

Reina said that China has also expressed interest in buying Honduran beef and bananas, among other products.

In April, the diplomat said Honduras also hopes to reach agreements with China to lighten the nation's debt burden with the support of financial organizations from its new partner.

(Reporting by Orfa Mejia; Writing by Valentine Hilaire; Editing by Anthony Esposito)
Despite efforts by House Democrats to stop a bill that would ban certain gender-affirming medical treatments for transgender children, the proposal cleared a major hurdle in the Texas House on Friday, nearing the final steps to become law.

Republicans had tried to bring Senate Bill 14 up for a vote on the House floor twice last week, but Democrats both times managed to successfully use a procedural tactic called a point of order to identify minor errors in the legislation that violated the House rules, delaying debate on the bill for more than a week.

After fixing mistakes in the bill twice, Republicans on Friday brought SB 14 to the House floor a third time, and, despite an emotional, tense debate and several attempts by Democrats to kill or amend the legislation, the House voted to pass the bill 92-48.

Eleven Democrats and one Republican appeared to cross party lines in their vote, though Democratic Reps. Jessica Gonzalez and Christian Manuel confirmed to The Dallas Morning News that their votes for the bill were a mistake or a malfunction with their voting machines, and they would be changing their votes to against the bill. Republican Rep. Charlie Geren, the sole Republican to vote against the bill, also confirmed to the Morning News that he mistakenly voted against the bill and would be changing his vote to support it. The remaining nine Democrats who voted for the bill have not clarified whether their votes were intentional or not.

The bill needs one more vote, which is often largely a formality, in the House before returning to the Senate for a review of any changes. If the upper chamber signs off on the revisions, it will head to the governors desk to be signed into law. The last day of the 88th legislative session is May 29.

LGBTQ+ activist Arywn Heilrayne cries while listening to Texas House debate Senate Bill 14 on Friday. SB14 would ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender children.

SB 14, which has already been approved by the Senate, would prohibit doctors from providing gender-affirming medical treatments  including puberty blockers, hormone therapy or certain surgeries  to minors experiencing gender dysphoria, a condition in which ones gender identity does not align with their sex at birth. It also would ban any public funds from going to physicians, hospitals or any other entities that provide such treatments, and it would revoke the medical licenses of any medical professionals who provide that care.

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The bill would not apply to children who are intersex  biologically between the medical definitions of male and female  or who need such medication to treat premature puberty.

Major medical associations  including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association  support the provision of developmentally appropriate and individualized gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth, saying it can be lifesaving and medically necessary. However, Republicans and other supporters of the bill say minors should be kept from making decisions about their medical care that could have long-term impacts or side effects.

More: Texas Senate passes ban on transgender care for minors, without current patient exemption

While the bill was previously amended in the Senate to allow patients who are receiving puberty blockers or hormone therapy by June 1 to be exempted from the ban, the bills author later reversed course and removed the amendment before the bill was passed out of that chamber. When the House took up the measure, its Public Health Committee amended the bill to allow, and require, patients who are on puberty blockers or hormone treatments by June 1 to be weaned off their medications in a safe and medically appropriate period of time. The provision only applies to patients who attended 12 or more therapy sessions at least six months before beginning medical treatment.

House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, takes Friday's final vote on SB 14.

Gender-affirming care ban debate stretches nearly six hours

Before lawmakers even began a debate over the treatment ban that would stretch for nearly six hours, Democrats raised two points of order to try to again delay debate on SB 14. But after both attempts failed, Democrats switched tactics and offered 18 amendments to soften the bill's restrictions, ranging from striking the bills enacting language  which would kill the legislation  to limiting the bill's scope to only apply to surgeries and allowing medical professionals to provide puberty blockers and hormone therapy.

All the Democrats amendments were voted down by Republicans.

In laying out the legislation, Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress, who authored the House equivalent of SB 14, argued that the bill is necessary to prevent children from being harmed.

"Let me begin by saying there is no high-quality scientific evidence (that) puberty blockers, cross sex hormone therapy, or surgery helps children overcome gender dysphoria," Oliverson said. "Children are being harmed as a result of this failure to practice good medicine.  Gender dysphoria is a mental health disorder, not a physical one."

Oliverson, however, defended the bill's provision that would allow medical providers to use puberty blockers to treat children experiencing premature puberty.

"There are situations where these medications are used in an attempt to restore normal human development, and that is exactly the opposite of what this bill bans, Oliverson said.

Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress, while speaking Friday in support of SB 14, argued, "Gender dysphoria is a mental health disorder, not a physical one."

In opposing the bill, Rep. Mary Gonzalez, D-Clint, argued that the carveout to allow these medications to treat conditions other than gender dysphoria is explicitly discriminatory against transgender kids.

It is important to note this health care, these prescriptions that we're talking about, are still available to children with other medical conditions," Gonzalez said. This bill is banning "health care for one group of people, and we have to ask ourselves why?"

Other Democrats, including Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Farmers Branch, peppered Oliverson with questions, and argued the bill would block access to medical care that could be lifesaving for transgender kids.

"You have frequently advocated for parents to have the right to make important decisions for their children, Johnson said. In this particular context, you are absolutely prohibiting parents of transgender kids from making medical decisions that they feel are necessary for their children."

Gonzalez also pointed to the negative mental health outcomes that even having a debate on banning medications for LGBTQ+ youth could have on those Texans.

"The precedent of banning the medically accepted practice of the standard of care is extremely dangerous, because in any other circumstance, we would never do that," she said.

LGBTQ+ activists Kristi and Nick Winges-Yanez embrace as they protest SB 14 at the Capitol on Friday.

LGBTQ+ rights activists rally ahead of SB 14 vote

Ahead of the Friday vote, a large crowd of LGBTQ+ rights activists filled the stairs and hallway in front of the House chamber to rally against SB 14. Democratic lawmakers read letters from parents of transgender children and from transgender kids, who wrote about the impact SB 14 would have on their families and the toll the debate over access to gender-affirming care has already had on the kids.

Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, read a letter from a parent of a transgender kid in Texas.

Our lives are pretty unremarkable for the most part, but according to the state of Texas, our family is so different from others that we deserve to be targeted by legislation that would harm us, Martinez Fischer read aloud. My transgender son, who, for most of his young life, didn't have a care in the world other than wondering if the Astros were going to win the World Series, has been waking up every other night from nightmares. Nightmares where he's taken away from his siblings and parents, ripped from his bed and forced to live with strangers who tell him that he isn't who he himself is to be.

Another letter from a family of a transgender child explained that they moved out of Texas due to fear for their childs health and safety and fear of investigations by the state Department of Family and Protective Services, which was directed by the governor last year to open child abuse investigations against families who receive certain gender-affirming care for their children.

Rep. Christian Manuel, D-Beaumont, speaks in support of LGBTQ+ rights activists as they filled the stairs and hallway in front of the House chamber Friday.

Rep. Christian Manuel, D-Beaumont, who is openly gay, read a letter by a parent who said their transgender daughter has been experiencing panic attacks out of fear of the investigations and legislation.

She said she was trying to fall asleep but couldn't because she was afraid she would wake up somewhere else, that she'd wake up having been taken away from her family, Manuel read. It didn't take much questioning to find out that she had seen stories on the news about what is happening in the Texas Legislature and bills targeting kids like her.

Rep. Erin Zwiener, D-Driftwood, read a letter written by an 8-year-old transgender child living in Texas.

I like to dance and sing. I do lots of crafts. My mom doesn't like the glitter, but she loves what I make. I love my school, Zwiener read from the letter. I like to go to rallies and protests because I know what is going on in Texas is wrong. But I would prefer to be at home playing with my friends. It makes me sad that some just don't want to learn about people like me. We did a musical program at school where we had to sing all the songs about Texas ... but singing Texas, Our Texas was hard when so many people act like it's Texas, Your Texas. I am just a normal kid.

Landon Richie, an LGBTQ+ rights activist and trans Texan, also addressed the crowd.

I am here as a young trans adult, as a college student, because I had access to lifesaving, life-giving care as a trans youth, Richie said. To be trans in Texas is to be human in the place that we call home. Trans people in Texas are loved, are divine, are beautiful and are necessary. Trans people in Texas deserve to grow up and to grow old.

"We are here today, and I've been here all session, because we know who we are and we know what we deserve. We're here today because we love ourselves and we love each other. We will never stop fighting for a Texas that loves us back.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Legislature: House OKs banning gender-affirming care for minors
Photo: Dan Kitwood (Getty Images)

Meta and other social media firms chasing TikToks short-form video success are fanning the flames of ban rhetoric while simultaneously vying to boost the attractiveness of their own TikTok clones with new monetization features. The goal? Steal away as many fearful TikTokers as possible.



Brewing fears of an impending TikTok ban could send some creators packing their digital bags and heading back to Instagram and Facebook, whether they like it or not. Digital marketing experts and content creators speaking with Gizmodo said a scenario where TikTok is made inaccessible in the US would result in diminished competition in the social media landscape broadly and a far less favorable environment for creators. It could also be a godsend for Meta and other companies racing to keep pace with TikToks meteoric ascent. Whether or not a national ban ever actually materializes is almost irrelevant; the fear is enough for their recruitment drive.

Read more

Some TikTok creators are already preparing for the worst. Montana-based metal worker and military veteran Rick Baker told Gizmodo hes already made a habit of posting his TikTok videos over on Instagram later. An exodus away from TikTok would be an unwelcome departure for creators.

The many TikTok clones available simply dont compare. Other creators, like Montana-based herbalist and cookbook writer Spencre McGowan, said she had no plans on returning to Meta-owned products in the wake of the ban, even if doing so would net her some additional ad revenue. McGowan said part of TikToks appeal, in the first place, was that it offered a healthier environment more supportive of creators. Going back to Meta would be a step in the wrong direction, she said.

It feels like getting crumbs from Meta, and a slap in the face after the work creators put into the content that keeps these platforms running, McGowan told Gizmodo. I dont think that people will switch to ReelsI know I wont be.

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Ubiquitous Influencer campaign strategist Zach Fitch told Gizmodo the looming threat of a TikTok ban could make smaller creators getting started potentially think twice about investing their time and energy into Bytedances app. In that scenario, Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts start looking like a safer bet.

Why would you focus your time onto something that might get banned when nothing else is even in question get banned, said Fitch, who himself has over 500,000 followers on TikTok. Theres a total opportunity [for Meta] if theres a TikTok ban. It has been worrying creators.

While most creators with larger followings already regularly re-post content across multiple platforms, the biggest blows from a ban would likely impact smaller creators who only invest in a single app. Big players, Fitch said, could likely survive a ban but could still take a hit. Many creators believe its more difficult to grow followings on Reels than TikTok, he added.

The loss of TikTok would create a sort of cooldown on the creator front, Eric Dahan, CEO of creator commerce service Mighty Joy, told Gizmodo in an interview. Dahan said TikToks hypothetical demise would negatively affect content creators because the platform in particular caters to them in ways that Instagram, YouTube, and others dont. Dahan told Gizmodo he sees many users hedging across platforms in ways they did not several years ago, as Baker does by reposting his TikTok videos to Instagram.

TikToks simple, discovery-focused experience leads many users to eventually stumble their way into becoming creators without ever intending to, growing the overall size of the creator market in the process. If TikTok vanishes from American app stores, any of these power users will likely move over to Reels, Instagrams growing TikTok clone, or YouTube shorts, Dahan said, but some others may simply fall off the digital map, leading to a shrinking of the overall creator pool. Thats a net negative for the creator economy as a whole, which was reportedly worth over $104 billion in 2021.

Even for larger creators, moving an audience over to a competing platform isnt as easy as turning a switch. In some cases, Fitch said, transferring followers to another app can feel like starting from scratch.

Its almost like building an entirely new audience unless you have very creative ways to move people over, he said.

TikTok creators are worried about a ban

A full-on TikTok ban may have seemed out of the question only a few months ago (even though it seemed like Trump would for sure ban TikTok in 2020), but there are signs creators on the platform are taking the threat more seriously now. This week, sources speaking with The Wall Street Journal said TikTok decided to delay an expansion of its TikTok Shop live-streaming e-commerce tool partly because merchants and other creators are worried threats of a national ban could turn the platform into an inaccessible digital wasteland. TikTok told the Journal it disagreed with the assertion its TikTok Shop expansion was delayed. The company said it plans to expand its testing of the service as interest grows. The company did not immediately respond to Gizmodos request for comment.

Despite its massive popularity among creators in the US, TikTok followers alone dont translate into income the same way audiences on other social media platforms like Instagram do. 72% of creators surveyed in a recent report by market research firm NeoReach, for example, said Instagram was their primary platform for monetization compared to 13% who cited TikTok as their number one platform. The real money for many high-profile TikTok creators, at least for now, comes via sponsorship deals or new traffic toward their real-world businesses. TikTok Shop would alter that dynamic by offering creators a space to sell and market content directly through their feeds. A national ban, however, could leave shoppers uneasy about buying goods or spending money on the app.

Midtier creators are nervous because they just havent dealt with anything like this before, Fitch said, referring to the threat of a ban.

Vivian Tu, a creator who quit her job on Wall Street to pursue financial TikTok content full-time, recently told CNBC she expects a massive exodus of creators flocking to Instagram and other apps if TikTok is banned. Others, like stuffed animal designer Emily Foster, say they are diversifying their content across other platforms. No app, Tu said, is currently capable of generating the same reach as TikTok. That really doesnt happen anywhere else, she said.

Digital marketing experts are convinced Meta will win big from a ban. Laura Martin, an analyst at Needham, told CNBC. Meta and Snap specifically could be huge beneficiaries of a prohibition on TikTok. Even in a situation where the companys US business is spun off and sold to an American company (which the Biden administration prefers), TikTok could become a weakened competitor.

More robust monetization tools for short-form videos announced by Meta just this week could make an unenthusiastic switch to Reels easier to swallow.

Meta tries to reel in anxious TikTokers with an enticing new ad-sharing model

This week, Meta stepped on the gas in its effort to siphon off TikTok creators by announcing its expanding its Ads on Reels payout model, which rewards Facebook and Instagram creators based on the performance of their Reels. Meta says these payouts will be determined by the number of plays a Reel gets, though the company noted it may look at other factors moving forward. This simplified ad-sharing model, in theory, should encourage users to create reels that generate lots of views. Short-form videos, in other words, that look more like TikToks. Meta did not respond to Gizmodos request for comment.

Were learning through our tests that payouts tied to performance are better at balancing the needs of everyone, Meta said in a blog post. Both Snapchat and YouTube are pursuing similar ad-sharing models for short-form video creators.

They [Meta] are trying to tip the sales to incentivize people to spend more time creating good Reels, Dahan said.

That tipping of the scales comes at a crucial moment for Meta. The company, once the undisputed juggernaut of social media, has struggled in recent years from self-inflicted wounds and a multifaceted attack on its business. A brief but expensive pivot to Mark Zuckerbergs metaverse cost the company more than $10 billion in a single year. Apples App Tracking Transparency Privacy feature, which asks users whether or not they want to be tracked by apps like Facebook, cost the company another $10 billion in annual lost revenues.

Amid all that turmoil, Reels stands out as a potential saving grace. The TikTok clone is already driving eyeballs back to Instagram and Facebook. Just last month, Zuckerberg said Reels was largely responsible for a massive 24% uptick in average time spent on Instagram. Dangling more money in front of creators as an incentive to switch could accelerate that growth even further.

Baker, the Montana-based TikToker, told Gizmodo he would consider making more videos on Instagram reels if the monetary incentives were good enough.

Still, for some, money is only part of the equation. Many of these creators dont necessarily rake in large profits but instead, find comfort and security in a space of like-minded internet users. Baker, for example, previously told Gizmodo he and other veterans use the platform as a recovery space. Bakers friends will call to check up on him if he hasnt posted in a couple days. Theres no guarantee that the same community would withstand an exodus of creators over to another platform. Creators would have to try and formulaically regrow that tailored audience from scratch on a new platform using a different algorithm.

I get the help Im looking for by helping others, Baker told Gizmodo. The connection is inseparable.

Some segments of Instagram users arent thrilled at the idea of their space morphing more and more into a TikTok clone either. Last year, a meme with the phrase, Make Instagram Instagram Again, went viral thanks in part to support from Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian who themselves slammed the photo-sharing app for trying to be TikTok.

If you cant beat em, copy em

Dahan told Gizmodos that Metas news strategy of sharing ad revenues for reels looks an awful lot like Metas previous decision to copy and paste Snapchats Stories feature into Instagram. Facebook faced an existential threat from Snapchat at the time. In 2023, the existential threat is TikTok.

Even if the strategies are notably similar, Dahan said it isnt clear whether Meta would see the same degree of long-term success with Reels as it has with Stories, which have eclipsed Snapchat entirely. Snapchat, at the time, suffered from a lack of user discovery on its platform, which made the Instagram clone an all-around better, easier option for many users. TikTok, by contrast, is renowned for its discovery and has internet virality baked into the product.

Instagram and YouTube Really have to grapple with the fact that you have this really strong organically grown community in TikTok, Dahan said. So its not going to be as easy as just replicating it.

The much simpler solution, for Meta as well as for other social networks, is if TikTok simply disappears. The app is already banned from federal employee devices and the devices of employees in around half of all states. Around half a dozen other bills seek to take that a step further and ban the app nationally on private devices. Last month, Montanas legislature made history by passing a first-of-its-kind law banning the app in the state. Its not just wacko lawmakers calling for bans either. Recent polling shows the general public increasingly appears split on TikToks fate.

The increasing possibility of a resurgent Instagram rising from the ashes of a banned TikTok has led some TikTok users to adopt an unfounded, but understandable theory: what if Meta was behind the ban all along?

Multiple TikTok creators have released videos in recent months attempting to tie Meta to the recent spurt of bills targeting TikTok. Many of those videos reference a March 2022 investigation from The Washington Post which revealed Meta paid a Republican consulting firm called Targeted Victory to place op-eds and letters in regional newspapers across the country with the goal of souring public opinion against TikTok. In some cases, these stories blamed the app for dangerous trends that actually originated on Facebook.

Publicly, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has taken a cautious approach when discussing TikTok. In a 2020 meeting with employees, he said government national security concerns surrounding the app were valid but said a wholesale ban would set a really bad long-term precedent. At the same tie, Zuckerberg has criticized TikTok for censoring protests. Meta punching bag and occasional attack dog Nick Clegg, by contrast, has spoken more bluntly. During a recent interview with Bloomberg, Clegg said Chinese-owned tech companies have pretty profound differences in values, compared to US competitors. Its unfair, he complained, that TikTok gets to operate in the US while Facebook is banned in China.

In the end, theres always an underlying issue of values: What values are the underpinning of new technologies? Clegg asked.

Dahan told Gizmodo he wouldnt be surprised if Meta was engaged in some form of lobbying behind the scenes to support TikTok bans.

They [competing social media platforms] all want that, he said. Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel admitted as much himself when asked about the possibility of a TikTok ban last month. Wed love that, he said.

Its impossible to say how effective these efforts were but one thing is clear. The appetite for a TikTok ban in 2023 is much more prevalent than just one the year prior.

I dont think people realize nobody wants to run back to Meta, Imani Barbarin, one of the TikTok creators attempting to link Meta to TikTok ban said, Like people are not clamoring for Reels.

tiktok-7209845503813537067

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The top two candidates in the early 2024 Republican presidential nomination polls converge Saturday in Iowa, the state whose caucuses lead off the GOP road to the White House calendar.

Former President Donald Trump will hold a rally Saturday night in Des Moines. It will be Trumps second trip to Iowa since he launched his third straight presidential campaign in November. Polling in Iowa and the other early voting primary and caucus states as well as national surveys indicate that at this early stage in the cycle, Trump is the clear front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination.

"Our massive rallies are back and bigger than ever before," Trump boasted in a video message to his supporters posted on social media Friday.

Pointing to Saturdays rally in Des Moines, Trump touted that "its the hottest ticket in town by far and unlike any other political event in history. Theres never been rallies like we have rallies. Nowhere, noplace."

TRUMP TOUTS PRO-LIFE CREDENTIALS IN SPEECH TO IOWA EVANGELICALS

But Trump will share the Iowa spotlight this weekend, as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will also be in the Hawkeye State on Saturday, headlining events in both the western and eastern parts of the state to fundraise for fellow Republicans. While the popular two-term conservative governor remains on the 2024 sidelines, hes expected to launch a presidential campaign in the coming weeks, and polling indicates hes Trumps top rival  firmly in second place and well ahead of the rest of the pack of actual and likely GOP White House contenders.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Iowa GOP chair Jeff Kaufmann, pointing to the former presidents "near universal name recognition and universal knowledge of his policies," told Fox News that that Trump "obviously has an inside track."

TWO HIGH-PROFILE REPUBLICANS ENDORSE DESANTIS AHEAD OF HIS TRIP TO IOWA

"Do I believe that Donald Trump is ahead in the polls in Iowa? Absolutely. Do I believe that the Iowa caucuses is a done deal? Absolutely not," Kaufmann emphasized. "Its not in our nature to do that. And I think a lot of Iowans would be reticent about calling a caucus before January when we actually have it."

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Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of the Family Leader, a top Iowa based social conservative organization, said that Trump "probably starts out with 30% support thats probably not going to go anywhere. They're going to stay with the former president."

"Typically, in an Iowa caucus, if you can start out with 30%, youre in good shape. The challenge for President Trump is that 30% may be his ceiling, meaning a lot of others are looking for an alternative to Trump," Vander Plaats said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to Iowa voters on March 10, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa.

While Trump will rally his base on Saturday night, DeSantis will be on a mission to help raise money for fellow Republicans and form friendships that could pay dividends in the months ahead.

The Florida governor will be in the heavily red northwestern part of the state in the late morning to headline Republican Rep. Randy Feenstras third annual Feenstra Family Picnic fundraiser in Sioux Center.

Feenstras past two family picnic fundraisers were headlined by former Vice President Mike Pence, who is expected to launch his own 2024 bid in the coming weeks, and former ambassador to the United Nations and former Gov. Nikki Haley, who declared her candidacy for the White House in February.

FIRST ON FOX: DESANTIS HELPS HAUL IN BIG BUCKS FOR REPUBLICANS ACROSS THE COUNTRY

In a statement to Fox News when he announced that DeSantis would be joining him, Feenstra praised the governors conservative values. "While liberal states shut down their economies, forced businesses to close, and kept our kids out of the classroom, Governor DeSantis championed freedom and common sense. Florida  like Iowa  are clear examples of what strong conservative leadership can deliver for our country," Feenstra wrote.

Feenstra, along with the rest of the state's all Republican congressional delegation, is staying neutral in Iowa's GOP presidential caucus race.

DeSantis will head east later Saturday, and while Trump holds his rally in Des Moines, the governor will be in Cedar Rapids to headline an Iowa GOP fundraising event and join Kaufmann.

More than three-dozen state lawmakers - including two high-profile Iowa Republicans, state Senate President Amy Sinclair and state House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl  endorsed DeSantis ahead of his second trip to the Hawkeye State this year.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, left, and former President Donald Trump, right.

Trump released a dozen endorsements from Iowa Republican leaders ahead of a March stop in Davenport.

At a campaign event in New Hampshire two weeks ago, the former president unveiled a list of roughly 50 endorsements from Granite State Republicans. Trumps campaign tells Fox News to expect endorsement "announcements" at Saturdays rally.

Iowa has seen plenty of campaign traffic so far this year, with numerous visits from Haley, Pence and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina  whos expected to declare his candidacy later this month  as well as three other declared presidential candidates: former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson; multimillionaire entrepreneur, best-selling author and conservative commentator Vivek Ramaswamy; and businessman Perry Johnson.

WHO'S IN AND WHO'S ON THE SIDELINES  YOUR GUIDE TO THE 2024 GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION RACE

A number of the candidates or likely contenders aim to make inroads with the states evangelical voters, who play an outsized role in Iowa Republican politics.

Trumps stop in Iowa comes just a couple of days after a jury in New York City found the former president liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll in an upscale Manhattan department store nearly three decades ago, but not liable for the rape Carroll accused Trump of committing.

Writer E. Jean Carroll leaves a Manhattan courthouse after a jury found former President Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing her in a Manhattan department store in the 1990s, on May 9, 2023, in New York City. The jury awarded her $5 million in damages for her battery and defamation claims.

The jury on Tuesday concluded within a couple of hours that Trump was also liable for defamation based on the former presidents denial of Carrolls allegations in a social media post from October 2022, when he called her claims a "hoax" and a "con job." The jury awarded Carroll nearly $5 million in damages for her battery and defamation claims.

Trump, who is appealing the verdict, at a nationally televised town hall Wednesday night charged that the verdict was a "rigged deal" and claimed that Carroll was a "whack job."

Asked about the reaction from Iowa social conservative voters to the verdict, Vander Plaats told Fox News, "the bad news with that is I dont think anybodys shocked by the verdict. I dont think anybody said Oh my gosh, I didnt see that coming."

But he emphasized that voters in Iowa "know that sexual abuse, sexual assault, is wrong at any time for anyone."

"I think it builds on that continued exhaustion" with Trump, he added. "If you just continue to debate the past, we dont see how that wins in 2024."

While Iowa  along with New Hampshire, which holds the first primary and second overall contest in the GOP nominating calendar  has played an outsized role in presidential politics for half a century, Kaufmann noted that its not the Hawkeye States job to decide the nominees.

The Iowa Caucuses display at the State Historical Museum of Iowa, on Jan. 15, 2020.

"Were not supposed to pick the next president. That is not what we do. What we are supposed to do is to vet the candidates, to open up a situation and an environment where these candidates can go out and take their message directly to the people," he explained.

Kaufmann spotlighted that "there is more than one ticket out of Iowa," as he pointed to Trumps second-place finish in 2016 caucuses, narrowly behind eventual nomination runner-up Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

He emphasized that candidates who over-perform in the caucuses "can leave Iowa with some momentum for the long game. And thats what Iowas all about. Its the beginning of the long game."
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -A truce between Israel and the militant Islamic Jihad group officially came into effect late on Saturday night, with an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire agreement meant to end the worst episode of cross-border fire since a 10-day war in 2021.

As fighting tapered off, streets in Gaza that had largely been deserted filled with Palestinians. Some people cheered and honked car horns while others headed to the homes of people killed in the fighting to show their respect.

"In light of the agreement of the Palestinian and the Israeli side, Egypt announces a ceasefire between the Palestinian and the Israeli sides has been reached," a text of the agreement seen by Reuters read.

"The two sides will abide by the ceasefire which will include an end to targeting civilians, house demolition, an end to targeting individuals immediately when the ceasefire goes into effect," it said.

Israel's national security adviser thanked Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for Cairo's efforts, a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

"Quiet will be met with quiet and if Israel will be attacked or threatened, it shall continue to do what it must in order to defend itself," the statement said.

Islamic Jihad also confirmed the agreement. "We declare our acceptance of the Egyptian announcement and we will abide by it as long as the occupation (Israel) abides by it," the group's spokesman, Dawoud Shehab, said.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre welcomed the ceasefire on Saturday night, joining the Israeli government in acknowledging Sisi's and Egypt's mediation efforts, and thanking Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.

Even as the truce was being finalised, the two sides kept up firing, with air raid sirens sounding as far as Tel Aviv's suburbs and Israel's military announcing it had hit Islamic Jihad targets in response to rocket fire.

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Though happy about news of the truce, some Gaza residents, weary of repeated flare-ups, feared that another round of fighting would erupt before long. "We want the truce to be based on principles, not like in the past when after a calm (truce) people died," said resident Munir Marouf, 43.

Israel launched the latest round of airstrikes in the early hours of Tuesday, announcing that it was targeting Islamic Jihad commanders who had planned attacks in Israel.

In response, the Iranian-backed group fired more than 1,000 rockets, sending Israelis fleeing into bomb shelters.

During the five days of the campaign, Israel killed six senior Islamic Jihad commanders and destroyed a number of military installations.

At least 10 civilians, including women and children, were also killed in Gaza during the fighting, and two people - an Israeli woman and a Palestinian labourer - were killed by Palestinian rocket fire in Israel.

Islamic Jihad spurns coexistence with Israel and preaches its destruction. Top ministers of Israel's religious nationalist government rule out any state sought by Palestinians in territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.

(Additional reporting by Hatem Maher and Ahmed Tolba in Cairo, Valerie Volcovici in Washington; Writing by Maayan Lubell and James Mackenzie; Editing by Mark Potter, Jason Neely, Leslie Adler and Edmund Klamann)
After talks with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni has expressed her confidence in Ukraine's victory in the war against Russia.

Source: European Pravda reporter

Quote: "I am convinced that Ukraine will win, recover even stronger, more prosperous. The future of Ukraine is the future of peace and freedom, and it is the European future. And there are no other possible solutions," Meloni said.

She noted that Rome will continue to work with allies to provide military support to Ukraine.

"Peace cannot be achieved with defeat, with the surrender of Ukraines [territories  ed.], this would be very dangerous for peace in Europe and a precedent for all the world's people. We will achieve peace only when Russia stops fueling hostilities and attacking civilian targets. We will continue to appeal to Moscow to stop hostilities and withdraw troops from the territory of Ukraine," Meloni added.

She assured that Italy was ready to provide all possible assistance when Kyiv deemed it necessary to start peace negotiations with the Russian Federation. "We support President Zelenskyy's 10-point peace formula," Meloni added.

Background:

According to the Italian media, the president of Ukraine will meet with the Pope in the Vatican in the afternoon.

According to unconfirmed information, Zelenskyy will leave for Germany in the evening, where he is scheduled to have several meetings on Sunday, including that with Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
After talks with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni has promised to provide Kyiv with full support for joining the EU, in particular, by helping in the field of reforms.

Source: European Pravda reporter

Quote: "We recognise the fair wishes of Ukraine to join the EU, we support it," Meloni said at a joint briefing with Zelenskyy.

"Ukraine is currently fighting to protect European values. These are the values of all our citizens. That is why we have decided to actively support Ukraine's status as a candidate for EU membership. We will continue to provide our full support to facilitate the gradual integration of Ukraine into the EU," Meloni promised.

She noted that Ukraine, of course, should implement reforms on the way to the EU.

"And also, within the framework of reforms, we are ready to assist," Meloni said.

"The truth is that Ukraine is a victim of aggression, and by protecting its integrity and sovereignty, it distances the war from the rest of Europe. This is extremely important for us. What Ukrainians do, they do for us," the head of the Italian government stated.

Background:

Meloni also expressed confidence in Ukraine's victory in the war against Russia, saying that Rome would keep working with its allies to provide military support to Kyiv.

In Rome, Zelenskyy also met with Sergio Mattarella, President of Italy, who said that peace in Ukraine must be real, and it should "not surrender."

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Sergio Mendoza Hochmann/Getty Images

An Orthodox Jewish woman has three children conceived with medical intervention.

She and her husband consulted their rabbi before doing an insemination.

She kept her diagnosis of polycystic ovarian syndrome from her husband.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with an Orthodox Jewish mother who asked to remain anonymous to respect her family's privacy. It has been edited for length and clarity.

My husband and I essentially had an arranged marriage. When we were considering, with our families, whether we would be a good fit I had to tell my husband about a chronic health condition that I have. He had to decide whether or not he wanted to take that on.

While I was upfront about one health condition I kept my diagnosis of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) a secret. I figured it was a woman's issue, and I was sure I'd still be able to have kids one day, so I didn't feel like I had to disclose.

We got married at 21 and at first I was on birth control. But when we started trying to conceive I noticed that I had irregular periods. I figured there was no sense waiting around to see if we would conceive  I knew we'd likely need help. But that was complicated by the fact that we are Orthodox Jews.

I looked for a doctor who was familiar with Orthodox patients

I wanted a doctor who could treat infertility while also honoring our religious customs. So, I reached out to an organization that gives referrals for doctors who are familiar with the Orthodox community. I connected with Dr. Ilana Ressler, a reproductive endocrinologist who is Jewish herself and is familiar with Orthodox culture.

I started on fertility medications to stimulate ovulation. Since I don't like needles, taking shots was difficult, especially because I wasn't talking about my health with any friends or family. Luckily, we got pregnant on our third cycle of timed intercourse. I was 23.

Looking back, I had it easy the first time. When my child was about a year old I started thinking about another. I knew I wanted to have my kids close together. We went back to Dr. Ressler, but right away we could tell that the medications weren't working as well this time. She suggested we move on to an IUI, or intrauterine insemination.

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That presented a challenge. In our understanding of Jewish law, a man is only supposed to ejaculate inside his wife. Giving a sperm sample for insemination might break our religious laws, we worried.

Dr. Ressler was very understanding. She told us we could continue to try timed intercourse. She also gave us the number of a rabbi who could discuss the implications of an IUI. Ultimately, we spoke with our own rabbi, who told us to go ahead with the procedure. I got pregnant with twins.

The decision to keep quiet is about privacy, not shame

The Orthodox community is incredibly small. Everyone knows everyone and all the nitty-gritty details of their lives. That's part of the reason that my husband and I decided not to tell anyone we used assisted reproduction. I'm not ashamed, but we felt that this was our private information.

My husband was also worried that our kids might face a stigma because they were conceived with the help of a doctor. He worried that when it was time for them to marry, people might worry about their own fertility. I thought that was nonsense, but I honored his concern.

And so, we've kept quiet. Even my mom asked if the twins were conceived naturally. I told her yes.

I realize this might be hard for outsiders to understand

I see the Orthodox community in all its complexity: the good, the bad, and the ugly. If I were deciding on my own, I would likely speak out about using assisted reproduction. In fact, that's part of the reason I did this interview. I've always been a bit of a rebel.

But I also understand why people in my community choose to keep secrets. Often, I think that decision is more based on privacy, not shame. We're a community that values modesty, so talking openly about reproduction can be tricky. Despite the secrecy, I don't think that the Orthodox community has a taboo about assisted reproduction  we just tend to keep quiet about it.

Ultimately what matters is that I have my children. I don't want people to look at them and think about what their father and I had to go through to get them here. I want them to look at my three beautiful children and think "what a blessing." Because that's exactly what they are.

Read the original article on Insider
My family has gone on many road trips in the US and in Europe. Lana Katsaros

I've spend hundreds of hours on road trips in the US and in Europe.

I love European road trips, but gas prices are way more expensive than they are in the US.

On our European trips we've seen a lot of roundabouts but not much road rage or traffic.

When my family lived in New York, we'd take road trips all the time, especially down to Florida to see family. I-95 South was basically the entire trip, and I knew the stops along the way by heart.

As my family grew, we opted for car travel instead of plane travel more and more. When our son was still an infant, we took a 3,200-mile road trip, and I think that's where it really clicked that we were road-trip people.

Eventually, we ended up road tripping during our first European vacation since it was less stressful for us. Since then, I've spent hundreds of hours road tripping through most of Western Europe.

Even though I didn't realize it at first, it's become clear there are some big differences between the road trips I've been on in the United States and those in Europe.

Rest stops are an event in some countries like Spain and France  we've seen campsites, playgrounds, and even parties

Many rest stops in Europe we've encountered have had special parks or perks. Lana Katsaros

In the US, travelers generally try to get in and out of rest stops as quickly as possible but in Europe we witnessed full rest-stop parking lots with people just hanging out and socializing.

The first time we saw what appeared to be a party at a rest stop in Europe was when we were entering Spain in 2019.

At first, we were confused  maybe it was an overload of tourist buses or some huge event was happening nearby and everyone needed gas. Nope, it was a birthday party taking place roadside with cake, decorations, and a gift table.

Sights like this one became somewhat common throughout our road trips in Europe. We've seen hundreds of people gathering at highway rest stops in Europe in the summer. From full-blown barbecues to campers fully set up, to playgrounds filled with children, rest stops often feel like a popular, local park.

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This was particularly true in France where some of the stops were sprawling with a park-like setting, including small man-made lakes.

Gas is way more expensive in Europe than it is in the US.

Gas prices in some European countries are almost triple what you can find in the US. Lana Katsaros

We instantly fell in love with European road trips, but sadly the gas in Europe is soul-crushingly more expensive than it is in the States.

Gas in some European countries can be more than double the price per gallon as gas in the US, in part due to Europe's high taxes on gasoline. In places like Germany, France, and Italy, you can expect to pay over $7 per gallon.

With such expensive gas, we plan every moment of the trip with precision. One wrong turn can not only cost us hours, but also big bucks if the next exit is far away.

France has more tolls than anywhere I've ever been, but other European countries like the Netherlands hardly have any.

The tolls in France can add up. Lana Katsaros

While driving on the autoroute (the French highways) expect to pay a lot of tolls. About 76% of the autoroutes are toll roads, and it can feel like there's a toll booth every few minutes.

These tolls are usually not cheap. They can range from a few euros for Class A cars to over 30 euros at a single toll booth. Fortunately, perhaps because of the high price of road travel, we've found French roads to be mostly traffic-free with the exception of Paris and its vicinity.

On the flip side, the Netherlands has fantastic free roads most of the time. Only Kiltunnel and Westerscheldetunnel highways will charge you a toll  the other highways tend to be flat, free, and flanked with pretty stellar scenery.

Get used to traffic circles and not making left turns.

Roundabouts can be found all over Europe. Lana Katsaros

In many European countries, you will learn about traffic circles rather quickly. Sometimes you won't see a traffic light for miles and miles and only see traffic circles. They're both my friend and also somewhat of an annoyance.

Traffic circles are great for when you are heading in the wrong direction and need to turn around, which is pretty common for us. They're also great for when you need to make a left turn because you are guaranteed to not need to wait for oncoming traffic.

Yes, you will encounter a left turn here and there, but traffic circles are the norm in Europe. Embrace them.

I've found that roadside bathrooms in France aren't quite ideal.

My advice when road tripping in France would be to bring your own toilet paper and be mentally prepared to squat. Lana Katsaros

I have a 20-year relationship with France, and I have yet to find an acceptable roadside bathroom. The toilets have been an experience in and of itself for me. For starters, I've learned to not expect a toilet seat.

Once I had to position my feet in the provided footprints, pee in a dug-out hole in the ground, and pull a rope dangled above my head to flush. Let's just say I have never needed to pee in a hole in the US.

I've also had to pay to get access to many public toilets in France  but pay toilets are actually illegal in much of the US.

We've found a lot more healthy snack options at European rest stops.

I can't say I've often found vegetables at rest stops in the US. Lana Katsaros

One of my favorite things about road trips in Europe is the snacks.

In the US, I've found many rest stops are primarily stocked with junk-food options, so it was striking to see more healthy options in almost every European country we've driven through.

Throughout Europe, I saw rest stops selling deli options that looked like they came from my local health-food store. I've found crudites, snacking olives, and even fine cheeses as snacking options.

Of course, each country's offerings vary, but I can usually expect to find lots of fruit, nuts, and prepackaged snacks.

I can count on one hand how many times we have been in traffic.

An empty road in a small town in Germany. Lana Katsaros

Again, I suspect the lack of traffic has to do with the high price of road travel in Europe. I've driven through multiple European countries with no traffic and have even gone long stretches without seeing another car on major roadways.

Considering the high price of gas, it's a relief we can usually expect minimal-to-no traffic during a road trip in Europe. The only time we've really experienced traffic is when we've gotten close to Paris.

My partner and I have never experienced road rage in Europe.

Some European roads are incredibly peaceful. Lana Katsaros

In my experience, we're more likely to get more road rage from a Dutchman on a bicycle than anyone driving a car during our European travels. Crossing a cyclist is never a good idea, and you will hear an earful, as we have witnessed many times over in the Netherlands.

Other than that, we've never seen motorists have it out. Perhaps an extended honk here and there, but very rarely. It seems road rage does not exist in the same way we have witnessed in the States where it's quite common.

I've learned that a honk in Europe is usually meant to be informative and not aggressive.

In the US, some honks have a different meaning. Lana Katsaros

In the States, a honk can mean a lot of things  but in Europe, it's safe to assume someone is just trying to inform you of something.

In many cases, they might be trying to alert you that they are coming up next to you or that you're doing something wrong, like turning down a one-way road. Sometimes drivers also flash their high beams to communicate with other cars.

This definitely took some getting used to since honks in the US can commonly mean someone thinks you're driving too slow, going too fast, or are just doing a bad job.

Read the original article on Insider
As the Jacksonville University College of Law concludes its inaugural year, it is gearing up for an even more impressive second year with the addition of four highly regarded faculty members set to join the institution in the upcoming fall 2023 semester.

These new professors will bring their expertise in diverse subjects such as disaster law, technological ethics, criminal law, and professional success, particularly in preparing students for the Florida bar exam.

With their arrival, the College of Law aims to further its mission of providing innovative and high-quality legal education.

The incoming faculty members at Jacksonville Universitys College of Law are Assistant Professor Lindsay Head, Assistant Professor Alex Yelderman, Associate Professor Latisha Nixon-Jones, and Assistant Professor Lauren Knight. Their collective experiences and scholarly achievements in their respective fields make them invaluable additions to the institutions teaching staff.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

Founding Dean of the Jacksonville University College of Law, Nick Allard, expressed his pride in welcoming the new faculty members. He highlighted their reputation as leaders in their fields and emphasized their commitment to building a prestigious law school in the heart of Jacksonville. Allard also praised their teaching and research abilities, as well as their dedication to serving the College of Law, the university, and the wider community.

The four new faculty members will contribute to teaching courses throughout the Colleges three-year juris doctor curriculum.

In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Professor Lauren Knight will assume the role of Associate Dean for Student Success and Bar Prep. With her previous experience in growing a legal education program, Knight is eager to bring her expertise to Jacksonville University.

I am thrilled to join the faculty of the Jacksonville University College of Law, said Professor Knight. Having been involved in establishing a new law school before, I understand the hard work and dedication required. I also recognize the positive impact that the College of Law is already making on its students and the community, and I look forward to contributing to its continued success.

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The new faculty members will build upon the solid foundation laid by the existing faculty, who have successfully covered the fundamentals of the first-year curriculum. With their arrival, the College of Law aims to provide students with an even more comprehensive and enriching legal education.

As the inaugural class transitions to second-year law students, and with the imminent arrival of the second class, the Jacksonville University College of Law is poised to become a prominent institution in legal education.

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The death of Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man with a history of mental illness, on a New York City subway earlier this month has sparked outcry and protests in the past couple weeks.

Neely was pronounced dead in a hospital after 24-year-old Daniel Penny, a former Marine, placed him in a chokehold. Penny and his attorneys have argued that he was acting in his own defense and that of other passengers, while the lawyers for Neelys family have said Neely did not pose any threat to anyone.

Neelys death has shone a spotlight on how mental illness is treated in the country and on race relations, with Neely being Black and Penny white.

Heres what has happened so far, beginning with the altercation on the subway:

May 1

Penny pinned Neely on the ground and placed him in a chokehold around 2:30 p.m., according to police, after the 30-year-old reportedly began yelling at passengers and behaving erratically. A witness has said Penny held Neely in the chokehold for about 15 minutes.

Neely lost consciousness and could not be resuscitated by medical responders, police said. He was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital, where he was declared deceased.

He was known locally for being a subway performer who often impersonated Michael Jackson.

Witnesses have said Neely was pacing in the train and yelling that he was hungry and thirsty and did not have much to live for, but he was not physically threatening or attacking anyone when Penny took him down. However, they also said he was acting erratically and hostilely.

Penny was initially questioned by detectives following the incident but was released from custody without charge. He told them he asked other passengers to call 911 as he restrained Neely, the New York-based ABC affiliate WABC reported, a story police said other passengers corroborated.

May 2

Video of the incident taken by a witness began to go viral on social media platforms and was reported in media outlets.

The video shows Neely struggling as Penny holds him on the ground in the chokehold. Two additional men also helped Penny hold Neely down, trying to keep his arms in place.

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It also shows several bystanders around them watching what was happening.

A man off camera could be heard expressing concerns about the situation once Neely had passed out, telling Penny that Neely needed to be let go.

The videos stirred outrage online. Some argued that Penny majorly overreacted to someone who was clearly struggling with mental illness, while others defended Pennys actions.

Additional witnesses began giving statements to media outlets to detail what they observed, mostly saying that Neely was acting in an aggressive manner but was not attacking anyone.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) said in his first public response to the incident that not enough was known to make a conclusion about what happened.

We cannot just blatantly say what a passenger should or should not do in a situation like that, and we should allow the investigation to take its course, he said on CNN.

May 3

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Braggs (D) office confirmed it is investigating the incident. A spokesperson said the office would look into the medical examiners report on Neelys cause of death, witness accounts and additional medical records.

The city medical examiners office determined that Neelys death was a homicide and that he died by compression of the neck. But it noted that the legal system would determine any charges that would stem from the killing.

A group of protesters gathered in the station where Neely had died to call for an arrest to be made.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) slammed the killing on Twitter, arguing that Neely was murdered.

But [because] Jordan was houseless and crying for food in a time when the city is raising rents and stripping services to militarize itself while many in power demonize the poor, the murderer gets protected w/ passive headlines + no charges, she said.

Adams said in a statement that any loss of life is tragic but that he would refrain from commenting further because much remained unknown.

However, we do know that there were serious mental health issues in play here, which is why our administration has made record investments in providing care to those who need it and getting people of the streets and the subways, and out of dangerous situations, a spokesperson for his office said.

Adams received criticism from some over his approach to the situation, with critics arguing that he was hesitant to call out what was clear from the video.

Following the criticism, Adams later put out another statement saying that Neely should still be alive and calling his death a killing.

His killing at the hands of a fellow passenger and the responses to this violence that took his life have been not only tragic but difficult to absorb. Racism that continues to permeate throughout our society allows for a level of dehumanization that denies Black people from being recognized as victims when subjected to acts of violence, Adams said.

He said any mental health challenges that Neely was facing were not a reason for his life to be taken and called for accountability.

May 5

Attorneys representing Penny released a statement defending their client, emphasizing his history as a member of the military and saying that he did not intend to hurt Neely.

The law firm Raiser and Kenniff, P.C. said Neely was aggressively threatening Penny and the other passengers, leading Penny and others to protect themselves until help could arrive.

Daniel never intended to harm Mr. Neely and could not have foreseen his untimely death, the statement reads. For too long, those suffering from mental illness have been treated with indifference. We hope that out of this awful tragedy will come a new commitment by our elected officials to address the mental health crisis on our streets and subways.

May 8

Neelys family denounced the press release, saying it showed Penny was acting with indifference to Neelys death.

Daniel Pennys press release is not an apology nor an expression of regret. It is a character assassination, and a clear example of why he believed he was entitled to take Jordans life. In the first paragraph he talks about how good he is and the next paragraph he talks about how bad Jordan was in an effort to convince us Jordans life was worthless, the familys attorneys said.

They said Pennys actions on the subway and his words in the aftermath show why he needs to be in prison.

The attorneys also called on Adams to call the family to show them that Jordan matters.

May 11

A spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorneys office confirmed that Penny was set to be charged with second-degree manslaughter. They said they expected Penny to be arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court the next day.

May 12

Penny voluntarily turned himself in to authorities to face his second-degree manslaughter charge. He did not enter a plea to the charge.

A judge allowed Penny to be released on $100,000 bond and ordered him to surrender his passport and not leave New York without approval. Prosecutors said they are seeking a formal indictment for Penny from a grand jury.

Penny could face up to 15 years in prison if he is convicted of the charge. He did not speak to reporters at the courthouse.

He spoke softly and stared straight ahead during the arraignment.

Penny is due for his next court appearance on July 17.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Jordan Neelys family and their attorneys recently suggested that Daniel Penny, the 24-year-old Marine veteran who put Neely in a fatal chokehold, should face more severe charges.

Neely, a 30-year-old Black homeless man, was riding the F train in New York on May 1 when Penny, with the help of other subway riders, placed him in a chokehold. Witnesses said Neely had been yelling about not having food and water prior to Pennys intervention.

On Thursday, Penny was charged with second-degree manslaughter nearly two weeks after Neelys death, which had been ruled a homicide by a medical examiner. If found guilty of manslaughter, Penny could face a five to 25-year prison sentence.

But the Neely family attorneys believe the current charges are insufficient.

Is that enough for someone who choked somebody out on a train and took their life? Lennon Edwards, one of the Neely family attorneys, said at the news conference on Friday.

Justice looks like a conviction for murder, Edwards stated.

We need a full cup of justice here, and were asking for us to continue to press forward until that happens, Edwards added.

Following the incident, Penny was questioned by the police but was then released, prompting days of protests demanding accountability and justice.

Edwards said he and Neelys family spoke with the district attorney prior to Pennys arraignment, who told them there was no timeline for an arrest because the evidence was still being gathered. However, an arraignment could occur maybe in June, according to Edwards.

We told them that there is enough evidence already for an arrest. There is enough information already for the process of justice to begin, Edwards said during the news conference.

Witnesses told the police that before Pennys involvement, Neely behaved erratically and screamed about hunger and tiredness.

The man got on the subway car and began to say a somewhat aggressive speech, saying he was hungry, he was thirsty, that he didnt care about anything, he didnt care about going to jail, he didnt care that he gets a big life sentence, Juan Alberto Vazquez, who captured the incident on video, told NBC New York. That It doesnt even matter if I died.

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On May 6, Penny and his attorneys released a statement claiming Neely had a documented history of violent and erratic behavior and Penny, along with other passengers, had acted to protect themselves after Neely began aggressively threatening them.

Daniel never intended to harm Mr. Neely and could not have foreseen his untimely death, the attorneys said in the statement.

But witnesses told prosecutors that Neely did not attack anyone, CBS News reports.

No one on that train asked Jordan, Whats wrong? How can I help you? He was choked to death instead, Donte Mills, another Neely family attorney, said at the news conference.

Penny turned himself in on Friday and was released after posting bond later that day, NPR reports. In a statement, Pennys attorneys maintained that he had stepped in to protect himself and his fellow New Yorkers on the day of the incident and that theyre confident he will be fully absolved of any wrongdoing.

The Manhattan District Attorneys Office will share evidence with the grand jury, which will be used to determine whether Penny should be indicted for manslaughter or other charges, according to NPR. Penny is expected to appear in court in July.

[Penny] cannot rewrite how the story ends, Edwards said. The story ends with his arms wrapped around Jordans neck, choking him to death, and thats what he has to pay for.

Related...
Passaic County's commissioners have bidden farewell to Superior Court Assignment Judge Ernest Caposela.

In a proclamation, the county's governing body honored Caposela, who is retiring at the end of May after more than eight years as the head of the Passaic Vicinage. Still, Caposela's departure is less of a retirement than a reassignment.

Early in May, state Supreme Court officials preemptively recalled Caposela for temporary service for two years to help ease the backlog of cases, according to a May 8 announcement. His new role: a temporary, statewide assignment to the Superior Court to assist in the implementation, maintenance and improvement of Criminal Justice Reform. Initiated in 2017, the program introduced risk-based bail reform as part of a revised pretrial framework.

Ernest Caposela, Assignment Judge at New Jersey Superior Court, is shown during a ceremony where Nadia Kahf (not shown) is sworn in as judge of the New Jersey Superior Court Paterson on Tuesday, March 21, 2023.

Judge Caposela played an invaluable role in the early success of Criminal Justice Reform in New Jersey, shepherding its first pilot program and helping both fellow judges and the public understand its benefits," New Jersey Chief Justice Stuart Rabner said in an April statement on Caposela's pending retirement.

Meet northjersey.com reporter Hannan Adely at Palestine Way festival Sunday

New Jersey legislators in 1973 passed a law permitting the use of retired judges under the state's mandatory retirement age for judges of 70. Two years later, they updated the law to include judges over the retirement age to help state courts lessen backlogs. Recalled retirees earn $300 a day and can work until they are 80.

On Mother's Day, this grieving mom from North Jersey will trust signs from above

Caposela, who turns 70 on May 31, started as a judge in Passaic County in 1999, after a nomination from Gov. Christine Todd Whitman. Initially assigned to the court's family division, the longtime Passaic County resident was moved to the criminal bench in 2003. One of his first cases there dealt with a Paterson contractor who allegedly stole nearly $1 million from more than 60 area victims.

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Caposela, who earned his law degree at the Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville, returned to the court's family division as presiding judge in 2010. In 2014, he became the court's assignment judge by succeeding Donald Volkert Jr., who also retired due to the state's age-based mandate.

Before becoming a judge, Caposela was in private practice in roles such as Passaic's zoning board attorney and the Paterson Library Board attorney.

Passaic County courthouse on Hamilton Street in Paterson.

Caposela will be replaced as Passaic Vicinage assignment judge by Superior Court Judge Rudolph Filko. Filko, a graduate of Seton Hall School of Law and former assistant U.S. attorney based in Newark, has presided over the court's family division since June 2016, records show.

Superior Court Judge Yolanda Adrianzen, who has been assigned to the court's family division since 2015, will take Filko's place as the division's presiding judge.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Retiring longtime Passaic County judge recalled to help ease backlog
Police were asking for help late Friday night to locate a 16-year-old missing from the Highview Estates neighborhood in south Kansas City.

The teenager, Lyric Crompton, was reported missing as of 7:30 p.m. She was last seen near Bannister Road and Hardy Avenue, police said.

Crompton is described as petite. She stands about 5 feet tall and weighs about 90 pounds. She was wearing a white T-shirt, white jeans and multi-colored running shoes at the time.

Police were asking anyone with information concerning her whereabouts to call the Missing Person/Homicide Section at 816-234-5043.
 Flash

Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Eurasian Affairs Li Hui will visit Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany and Russia to communicate with all parties on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis starting from May 15, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said Friday.

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks at a regular press conference in response to a related question.

He pointed out that since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, China has been actively promoting peace talks in an objective and just manner, adding that Li's visit to relevant countries shows China's commitment to promoting peace talks and fully demonstrates that China firmly stands on the side of peace.

At present, the Ukraine crisis is still escalating, and spillover effects continue to appear. The international community is increasingly calling for a ceasefire to stop the war and ease the situation, Wang noted.

China is willing to continue to play a constructive role in building more international consensus on the ceasefire, the cessation of war, the opening of peace talks, and the avoidance of escalation of the situation, and make China's contribution to promoting the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis, Wang said.
Monicah Muthike Moki keeps watch over her land in order to spot the elephants

In our series of letters from African journalists, Ismail Einashe reflects on how Kenya's changing climate is bringing animals and humans into greater conflict.

Short presentational grey line

On a sweltering afternoon in the small Kenyan village of Njoro Mata, a farmer is desperately inspecting the damage caused to her smallholding by elephants.

Kenya's famous giants have been invading Monicah Muthike Moki's land in southern Kenya, overlooked by Mount Kilimanjaro.

The 48-year-old is a single mother of three whose livelihood depends on her hard work growing cassava, maize, bananas, sugarcane and mangos.

Her harvest had been increasing after employing new farming methods introduced with the help of the Kenya Red Cross Society, but in recent months, her precious crops have regularly been destroyed by elephants.

Ms Moki says elephants come every day from the nearby Tsavo national park, one of the world's largest game sanctuaries, home to about 15,000 of the mammals.

According to her, herders have cut the fence to access pastures for their livestock in the park but elephants then cross the other way.

With consecutive years of failed rains, the pastoralists are desperate to feed their animals, while at the same time the elephants have started to roam further afield seeking sustenance.

The animals' new behaviour patterns are driven by Kenya's escalating climate crisis and drought, causing wildlife to conflict with people.

For Ms Moki, the elephant crop-raiding is "very painful" to see.

She says the elephants are "bold" and "not afraid". They can come at any time but usually from around dusk, and they raid in herds, as pairs or sometimes lone elephants with their calves.

The elephants have recently eaten her entire maize, banana and cassava crops.

Ms Moki sleeps in a small cabin close to her fields in case the elephants come

Currently, she should be harvesting five to six 90kg bags of maize she would sell in the local market in the nearby town of Taveta for 6,500 Kenyan shillings ($48; 38).

Without her crops, Ms Moki cannot feed her family or sell her produce to pay the school fees for her 10-year-old daughter.

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Farmers in her village also use the bags of maize they harvest as a security deposit or payment of school fees for their children to attend the local primary school. In turn, the schools use maize to serve children meals.

Now children as young as four years old are forced to walk up to 4km (2.5 miles) home from school for lunch before walking the same distance in the opposite direction in the afternoon.

The largest land animals in the world can consume 150kg of food per day, spending three-quarters of their day just eating. Ms Moki explains that they often leave nothing behind.

Elephants also gulp down 100 litres of water a day, so often drink the little water she gets supplied by the local authorities to use on the farm.

Homemade alarm system

It is a vicious cycle that she says is only getting worse.

Ms Moki tries to deter the elephants with bright lights and loud noises and has developed several improvised techniques to prevent them from raiding her crops.

She uses old water and oil bottles around the edge of the farm connected with a wire so if the elephants hit the wires, they rattle and she can get up and respond.

"I climb a ladder, flash my light towards them, and make noise as you cannot approach the elephants," the farmer says.

Ms Moki has created her own alarm system to warn her of approaching animals

Every night she sleeps away from her family alone on the farm, nervously anticipating the rustling of jerrycans or the barking of dogs.

Sadly, her inventive measures do not deter the elephants, but they at least alert her to their presence.

Elephants can be extremely dangerous.

"If an elephant hurts, injures or kills me, my family will suffer," Ms Moki says.

'I outran the elephant'

Her neighbour Jonathan Mulinge, a farmer and father to four young children, says he had a recent near-death experience with an elephant.

He tried to deter one from destroying his crops, but it turned around and charged him.

"The only thing that saved my life was that I was able to outrun the elephant and run into my house," he says.

Mr Mulinge says this is "a conflict between us, the humans and the elephant", in which farmers like him pay the heaviest price.

"You plant your crops so that you can benefit from it, and then the elephants come and destroy it, and the farmers are back to zero."

The community feel powerless and blames the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) for not doing enough to help them. The KWS did not respond to a BBC request for comment.

Ms Moki says the situation is getting more intolerable, and their concerns have not been addressed.

Joram Oranga of the Kenya Red Cross Society says the arid conditions, lack of rainfall and extreme weather patterns caused by climate change drive the conflict between humans and elephants over diminishing water and land resources, which he says will only get "worse" in the future.

For Ms Moki, this conflict is taking a heavy toll on her mental health, compounded by her extreme lack of sleep.

She suffers from anxiety and panic attacks and fears for her children's future if an elephant kills her.

"I am scared because if I am gone," she says, "who will look after them?"

More Letters from Africa:

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
AFP

Thailand's progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) claimed victory in the country's election Monday after a stunning result that decimated military-backed parties, which have ruled the kingdom for nearly a decade.A massive surge for MFP in Sunday's ballot left it on course to be the biggest party, followed by its rival opposition -- the Pheu Thai movement of billionaire ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.Thais turned out in record numbers to deliver a brutal verdict on former coup leader Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, blamed for economic stagnation and a crackdown on rights.MFP leader Pita Limjaroenrat said he would seek to build a six-party coalition including Pheu Thai."I am Pita Limjaroenrat, the next prime minister of Thailand," he told reporters at the MFP headquarters in Bangkok."We are ready to form the government," he added, vowing to be a "prime minister for all".Pita said he had called Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Pheu Thai's lead candidate to be prime minister, to congratulate her on her campaign and invite her to join the coalition."The sentiment of the air has changed, it was right. It was the right timing, people have been through enough," he said in English."Today is a new day, and hopefully it is full of sunshine and hope."Between them, MFP and Pheu Thai are expected to take 292 out of 500 seats in the lower house, with the two main army-allied parties mustering just 76 seats in total.But in a kingdom where coups and court orders have often trumped the ballot box, there are fears that the result may yet be thwarted. MFP has vowed to reform Thailand's strict royal insult laws, putting it on course for a collision with the kingdom's powerful royalist-military establishment.The newest force in Thai politics, MFP channelled the energy of youth-led pro-democracy protests in 2020 in an election campaign pitting a young generation yearning for change against the conservative old guard embodied by 69-year-old ex-general Prayut."I feel like my country has (hope) for the future," Beam, 29, a personal assistant in Bangkok who voted for the MFP and took part in the 2020 protests, told AFP on Monday."People have really opened their eyes."With ballots counted from 99 percent of polling stations, Election Commission data showed MFP on 14.1 million in the popular vote followed by Pheu Thai on 10.8 million.The United Thai Nation party, led by Prayut -- the ex-army chief who seized power in a 2014 coup -- was a distant third on 4.7 million.But in a sign of the potential flashpoints ahead, Pita on Monday repeated a promise to reform the lese majeste law that imposes harsh prison terms for insulting the monarchy.This was an issue once deemed untouchable in Thai politics, and which Pheu Thai shied from during the campaign.- 'Work together' -Pheu Thai, which has been the most popular party for two decades, had hoped for a landslide win that would allow it to lead a coalition.Paetongtarn, daughter of party patriarch and exiled billionaire Thaksin, congratulated MFP on their success and signalled cooperation in a potential future government.And despite their success, MFP and Pheu Thai still face many hurdles to secure power, due to a junta-scripted 2017 constitution.The new premier will be chosen jointly by the 500 elected MPs in the lower house, plus 250 senate members appointed by Prayut's junta.Adding to the uncertainty, rumours are already swirling that MFP could be dissolved by court order -- the same fate that befell its predecessor Future Forward Party after it performed unexpectedly well in the 2019 elections.The Election Commission is not expected to officially confirm the final number of seats won by each party for several weeks.But on Monday it said MFP was on course for 151 seats and Pheu Thai 141. - Protest legacy -This election was the first since the 2020 protest that demanded curbs on the power and spending of Thailand's king.The demonstrations petered out as Covid-19 curbs were imposed and dozens of leaders were arrested, but their energy fuelled growing support for the more radical opposition MFP.MFP sought millennial and Gen Z voters, who make up nearly half the 52 million-strong electorate, but early results indicated their inroads across all demographics.The party swept Bangkok, capturing every district but one.It is predicted to also take districts in the staunchly Pheu Thai northern territories -- even flipping Thaksin Shinawatra's home district near the northern city of Chiang Mai.bur-pdw/dva
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  Alex Kirilloff hit two of Minnesota's season-high five home runs to lead the Twins to an 11-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.

Joey Gallo, Jorge Polanco and Carlos Correa also homered for the Twins, who provided plenty of run support for Joe Ryan (6-1). Ryan struck out 10 in six scoreless innings, including striking out the side in the sixth.

It just kept coming and we kept hitting, so it was awesome to have that, Ryan said of the run support. Its good to see us putting up some good runs there. It was awesome.

Kirilloff, appearing in just his seventh game this season, opened the scoring with an opposite-field solo shot to left in the first. His second homer came three pitches after Gallos towering drive to the second deck in right-center in the third.

It was Kirilloffs third career multi-homer game and his first since July 5. The 2016 first-round pick made his season debut on May 6 and had yet to collect an extra-base hit in his first six games.

Kirilloff was limited to 45 games last season due to a left wrist injury, but he's showing he's fully healthy.

He has real ability to affect the game offensively, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of Kirilloff. He's shown us that as a young player. He's shown us that in the big leagues. Now he's here in a real nice spot, feeling great, swinging the bat great.

Gallos home run was his eighth of the year, tying Byron Buxton for the team high. His deep blast in the third inning drew a noticeable reaction from Cubs starter Hayden Wesneski (2-2).

I threw it and I go, No. I knew better, Wesneski said. "I knew what was about to happen, pretty much.

Polanco capped a 10-pitch at-bat against Wesneski with a two-run homer to right that drove in Kirilloff for a 7-0 lead. Correa joined the home run party with a solo blast into the bullpens in left-center in the seventh.

It felt like that contagious nature of offense that we do see in this game, Baldelli said. This was one of those days for us. There was a lot of good.

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Wesneski surrendered four of the Twins home runs. Coming in, he had given up six homers in seven starts. He allowed a career-high seven earned runs.

A lot of balls over the heart of the plate, a lot of hard contact, really good swings," Cubs manager David Ross said of Wesneski. We havent had many clunkers like that early on where were out of the game. So, well be back at it tomorrow."

Ross and Cubs designated hitter Eric Hosmer were both ejected in the eighth after Hosmer argued with plate umpire Edwin Jimenez about a called third strike that ended the inning with the bases loaded. It was the sixth career ejection for Hosmer, and the 11th for Ross during his managerial career.

Chicago's lone run came in the top of the seventh off reliever Jovani Moran.

Rain delayed the start by 1 hour, 21 minutes.

ROSTER MOVE

Minnesota recalled right-hander Cole Sands from Triple-A Rochester to give the Twins bullpen depth. To make room, right-hander Dereck Rodriguez was optioned to Rochester. Sands entered in the eighth inning Saturday and walked the bases loaded before escaping the jam.

TRAINERS ROOM

Twins: Placed outfielder Max Kepler on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain and recalled outfielder Trevor Larnach from Triple-A St. Paul to take Keplers roster spot. Kepler exited Thursdays game with what was called a cramp, and he pinch hit Friday against the Cubs.

UP NEXT

RHP Marcus Stroman (2-3, 2.28 ERA) gets the start Sunday for the Cubs, looking for his first win since April 7. Hell be opposed by Twins RHP Louie Varland (0-0, 4.32), who did not record a decision in his first three starts.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Gareth Graham from Kilkeel (right) is a contestant on the UK's first gay dating show

As a gay person growing up in a small fishing village in Northern Ireland, anxiety was a familiar feeling for Gareth Graham - but it is a feeling that he has overcome since coming out four years ago.

Now 28, he is preparing to enter the spotlight as a contestant in the UK's first ever gay dating show, I Kissed a Boy, on BBC Three.

Filmed in Italy and hosted by popstar Danni Minogue, the format is 10 single men paired up by producers based on their likes and dislikes.

They meet for the first time with a kiss that will decide whether or not they want to commit.

The ultimate objective, as with most dating shows, is to watch the drama unfold as the contestants try to find love, but Gareth insists this one is more relatable than the others.

"In Love Island, everyone is beautifully done up, the men all have abs. This show celebrates body positivity and diversity, with real backgrounds and stories.

"It's not a room full of Ken dolls and Barbie dolls... of unrelatable people, so I think that changes the trajectory of the reality TV blueprint. It challenges what beauty is."

As a child in Kilkeel in the early to late 2000s, Gareth was too young to remember fellow County Down man Patrick Kielty present Love Island in its infancy. Even in its more recent format, though, the show didn't appeal to him because he didn't feel reflected in it.

"I didn't see people like me on dating shows before, so I'm really proud to be representing Northern Ireland in this sense.

"This needed to happen and what I really hope is that some child who is feeling not accepted in their school or community will watch this and feel proud of who they are, feel confident to be who they are."

'I watched fashion shows in the dark'

Growing up in a community where family life revolved around religion and traditional roles, the stylist, who now lives in London, used to feel like "an outsider".

"I used to watch fashion shows in secret in the dark and dance to Lady Gaga when I knew no-one was watching me, or I'd secretly flick through editions of Vogue and became obsessed with fashion.

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"I heard things in school growing up, especially in the early to late 2000s, that made me feel scared and I realised Northern Ireland wasn't the right place for me - I'd never feel truly accepted there. I knew I was never going to buy a fishing boat, marry a local girl and have lots of kids."

I Kissed A Boy is about love more than sex, he said, adding: "We have real life stories and real feelings and we want to love and feel love just the same as anybody else.

"I sometimes feel frustrated by those who would say: 'I'm okay with you being gay, just not in my face.'

"We deserve to be here; we need to exist as ourselves, not some version of ourselves that isn't authentic."

'I still see men struggling'

He has also, at times, felt a degree of frustration at what he calls the "toxic masculinity" within the gay dating scene.

"It's a recurring theme - some men don't want to get together with a man who is too overtly feminine, some want a man who is gay but acts straight.

"I spent 24 years of my life pretending to be straight and it's not healthy.

It took me so much time to come out to my family, to come out in my own town, to feel proud of who I am, and it makes me sad when I see other men still struggling with all of that, still fighting against it."

Gareth feels society, particularly in Northern Ireland, still has a long way to go in terms of acceptance and understanding of the LGBTQ+ community.

"The suicide rate amongst gay men is so worrying. If being gay was normalised, gay men wouldn't be dying because of who they are," he said.

Although he views Northern Ireland as conservative and religious, Gareth stressed that he is "absolutely not against religion at all", but rather against the use of Christianity as a means to criticise gay people.

"They say it's wrong [in the Bible] - well, so is cheating on your wife, so is hypocrisy, so is hatred," he added.

"I actually love the sense of community in a church and the feeling you get from a choir, so I recently went with a friend to a church in London where the singing was just amazing and the minister was gay and not one person cared, and I thought: 'Wouldn't it be great to see this happen in Northern Ireland?'"

'We are not promiscuous creatures to be feared'

Popstar Danni Minogue has said that as a straight woman, she had doubts about whether she was the right host for the show.

"I didn't want to be part of a reality show that was using people," she told the BBC. Assured that it wasn't, she signed up and Gareth said she became a maternal figure for the 10 contestants.

"Aphrodite doesn't come close - she's an absolute goddess," he said. "Yes, she's outwardly beautiful, but she's inwardly beautiful too. She was like a mother figure to us - so protective and caring."

The overwhelming memory of the show, Gareth said, is laughter and he hopes viewers will find it entertaining.

"You put 10 gays in a room together, you're going to get a laugh. But there's an important message there too - we're not promiscuous, evil creatures to be feared. We just want to find love like everyone else."

I Kissed A Boy episode one will be released on BBC iPlayer on Saturday 13 May. The remaining episodes air Sundays and Mondays on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer.
The rumour mill is in overdrive once again regarding Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby.

Earlier this week, it was reported that the This Morning co-hosts relationship is strained, and that they barely speak off camera.

Schofield acknowleged that the last few weeks havent been easy, but was keen to pour water on the claims, stating: Were the best of friends  as always, she is an incredible support on screen, behind the scenes and on the phone. Holly has always been there for me, through thick and thin. And Ive been there for her.

Willoughby is yet to respond to the fresh claims  but this is not the first time the pair are said to have been at loggerheads.

Below is a timeline of Schofield and Willoughbys working relationship, and the ups and downs they have both endured along the way. The Independent has contacted Willouhgby for comment.

2006  Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby begin their working relationship after signing on to ITV competition Dancing on Ice.

2009  Schofield clashes with his then This Morning co-host Fern Britton. As claimed in Schofields 2020 memoir Life is What You Make It, Britton accused him of meddling with the daytime shows content, forcing him to calmly tell her: Please dont do that to me again.

2009  Fern Britton quits This Morning. In her statement, she addresses the shows team in general, without specifically naming Schofield, who claimed in his book that their previous row was the point she decided she didnt want to be on the show any more. Its claimed that she was paid 250,000 a year less than Schofield.

Fern Britton and Phillip Schofield have had a tumultuous relationship (Ken McKay/Shutterstock)

2009 - Willoughby joins This Morning, replacing Britton.

2011  Willoughby quits Dancing on Ice, leaving Schofield to co-host alongside Christine Lampard.

2013  Schofield tells Heat that he and Britton are not really in touch any more. Britton also says of their working relationship to MailOnline: Like Morecambe and Wise, we chose not to live in each others pockets. We were a great professional partnership but we never went on holiday together.

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August 2017  Its announced that Willoughby will return to Dancing on Ice after reportedly receiving a 200,000 pay rise to match Schofields salary. Its also reported that Willoughby has received a pay rise from This Morning bosses to match Schofields annual salary of approximately 600,000 to 700,000. Until then, Willoughby is believed to have been previously paid 200,000 less than Schofield.

January 2018  Willoughbys return to Dancing on Ice airs on ITV.

Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on Dancing on Ice (Matt Frost/ITV/Shutterstock)

August 2018  Willoughby is revealed to be Anthony McPartlins replacement on Im a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! alongside Declan Donnelly, after the former announces a year-long break from presenting.

October 2018  Rumours of a rivalry between Schofield and Britton resurface when, during This Mornings 30th anniversary episode, the latter claims she wasnt invited to the shows Bafta ceremony. Congrats on the Bafta, she says, adding: That was absolutely wonderful and brilliant. I would have loved to have been there but I didnt get an invitation. Schofield points out that she was on stage in Scotland at the time of the event, but Britton replies: I wasnt on Monday night  I would have come but I wasnt invited. This prompts Schofield to write on Twitter that Britton had memory loss and would have been welcome to attend.

April 2019  Schofield seemingly frustrates Ruth Langsford, who appears on This Morning to preview the ensuing episode of Loose Women she was presernting. While introducing the episodes topics, Schofield cuts her off, stating: Guys, were going to have to jump in there and stop you Im afraid because were a bit tight for time at this end. Thank you, Ruth. Langsford appears unimpressed, and fires back: Well, I only had about two more words to say.

Phillip Schofield awkwardly cuts off Ruth Langsford on This Morning (ITV)

June 2019  Schofield responds to reports that he blocked Amanda Holden from securing several high-profile presenting roles. A report alleges that Schofield has branded the Britains got Talent judge difficult to manage, and that he actively campaigned for Rochelle Humes to get the gig as his stand-in co-host despite Holden being told the job was hers. Its also claimed that Holden had been told she would replace McPartlin on Im a Celebrity, only to allegedly have her booking prevented by Schofield.

December 2019  First claims of a rift between Schofield and Willoughby are reported. The pair are said to be embroiled in a toxic rift, and its reported that Schofield was jealous about his co-hosts Im a Celebrity stint. During a press launch for a new series Dancing on Ice, Willoughby tells reporters: You couldnt do the amount of hours of TV that we do with each other without getting on. Its also claimed that Ruth Langsford has filed a complaint about Schofield to ITV bosses.

February 2020  Schofield comes out as gay ahead of an episode of This Morning, following which Willoughby, sharing a photo of herself alongside Schofield, writes on Instagram: Never been more proud of my friend than I am today. During the episode, the pair discuss Schofields decision to come out, with Willoughby telling him: I know that is something you have been living with, that inner conflict, for a long time.

Holly Willoughby supports Phillip Schofield as he comes out as gay on This Morning

November 2021  Willoughby refutes claims she ever had a rift with Schofield on Fearne Cottons Happy Place podcast, stating: I was watching from afar when youve got every person in the press saying that you and Phillip are having a tough time and, meanwhile, youre great friends and there were no arguments. She describes the 2018 reports as a particularly difficult time, adding: But I think, and I remember having this conversation with Phil at the time, it was like: But we know. I have to believe that, that as long as you know the truth, then everythings got to be OK.

February 2022  Eamonn Holmes hits out at Schofield after he and wife Langsford are replaced on Fridays episode of This Morning by Alison Hammond and Dermot OLeary. He says Schofield is passive-aggressive and accuses him of snubbing people. Speaking about the rumoured rift with Langsford, Holmes later said: Its up to Ruth to say how she felt, but I was feeling hurt for her.

September 2022  Schofield and Willoughby are criticised for seemingly queue-jumping the public while filming a segment for This Morning about Queen Elizabeth II lying in state. ITV defends the pair, who address the controversy during an episode the following week.

Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield are criticised for seemingly jumpig the queue at Queen Elizabeth IIs lying in state (ITV)

April 2023  Schofield comes off air for a few weeks after his brother Timothy is convicted of 11 sexual offences involving a child between October 2016 and October 2019, including two of sexual activity with a child. Schofield, who publicly disowns his sibling, thanks viewers for their kind messages and support upon his return.

May 2023  Schofield responds to yet another claim of a fallout with Willoughby. The presenter says that, while the last few weeks havent been easy for either of us, he views Willoughby as his rock. He adds: Were the best of friends  as always, she is an incredible support on screen, behind the scenes and on the phone. Holly has always been there for me, through thick and thin. And Ive been there for her.
YouTube star KSI beat Joe Fournier with a controversial knockout on Saturday, finishing the former professional boxer with an accidental elbow.

KSI, 29, landed the bigger punches throughout the first round of the exhibition bout at Londons Wembley Arena, and he tagged Fournier, 40, with a huge overhand right in Round 2. That was followed by an attempted right hook, with KSI (real name Olajide Olatunji) instead making contact with his elbow. The strike sent Fournier tumbling to the canvas and left him staring up at the ceiling, unable to beat the referees count.

In a post-fight interview, KSI denied that he had stopped his fellow Briton with his elbow, before calling Tommy Fury into the ring for a face-off, which ended with the pair being separated.

KSIs controversial win was his fourth straight KO victory in as many exhibition bouts. The YouTube star, who rose to fame as a gamer but also raps, previously fought Logan Paul twice, drawing with his fellow YouTuber in an amateur bout and beating him on points in a professional rematch. Meanwhile, Fury  half-brother of world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury  is best known for his time as a contestant on Love Island, but he is also unbeaten as a pro boxer. The 24-year-old outpointed Logan Pauls brother Jake in February.

No fight between KSI and Fury has been scheduled, and for some time KSI has been exchanging words with Jake Paul in hopes of arranging a bout.

Jake Paul has gone 6-1 as a pro after stopping KSIs brother Deji in his amateur debut in 2018. Last time out, in February, 26-year-old Paul suffered his first loss, a points defeat by Fury.

The YouTube star is now set to box ex-UFC fighter Nate Diaz in August.
Photograph: Enrique Castro/AFP/Getty Images

Maria Zapata Escamilla woke to the sound of shattering glass. Armed men in military fatigues had burst into her home: they dragged her disabled husband outside, along with her 14-year-old son, still in his pyjamas. Then they drove away into the night.

Two weeks later, her husbands brutalized body turned up, along with nine others. But after more than a year, her son remains missing.

Related: As Mexicos epidemic of violence rages on, authorities seem powerless to stop it

I was left navigating alone, she said through tears. If they told me, Give up your life in exchange for your son, I would give it.

Zapatas ordeal has become terrifyingly common in Fresnillo, a city in the central Mexican state of Zacatecas that is currently being torn apart by a battle between the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels. More than 70 people went missing in the mining city between January and March  nearly one person a day, and a fivefold increase compared with the same period in 2020.

Over four days in February, 10 men vanished without a trace.

Every day there are kidnappings, every day there are shootouts, every day there are deaths, said Zapata. Its terror.

Families of the Fresnillo victims say they have not received ransom demands  or if they have, they have turned out to be scams.

The epidemic in Fresnillo mirrors a nationwide trend: after dipping in 2022, disappearances across Mexico surged by almost 30% in the first three months of this year, compared with the same period last year, government data shows.

The trend is yet another testament to the failure of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obradors security strategy: while murders have decreased marginally since he took office, the surge in disappearances makes clear that violence persists.

Zacatecas offers a devastating case study. Once relatively calm, the strategic state, which borders eight others, has become fiercely contested by criminal groups. Murders have rocketed; bodies turn up regularly; cartels block roads and set trucks on fire.

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The state carries significant political weight for Lopez Obrador, popularly known as Amlo. Zacatecas is governed by the Monreal family, a powerful dynasty at the heart of the presidents Morena party. Ricardo Monreal, a federal senator, is a presidential hopeful. His brother David is state governor, while his other brother Saul is mayor of Fresnillo.

The violence has made Zacatecas a key focus for the federal government. In 2021, the defence ministry announced that more than 400 national guard and troops would be sent to the state. This February, 600 more soldiers were deployed.

But the state remains a hellscape.

Zacatecas is overwhelmed, said Leticia Castaneda Cruz, whose nephew was snatched from his car in broad daylight, leaving behind his infant daughters. We know them, Senator Ricardo Monreal, and David and Saul, and that whole family that has always governed us. But theyve shown us that theyve failed.

Spokesmen for the Zacatecas governor, David Monreal, and Fresnillo mayor, Saul Monreal, did not respond to repeated interview requests.

The burned wreckage of a bus set alight by the Jalisco New Generation cartel in Zapopan in Jalisco state last year. Photograph: Fernando Carranza/Reuters

In an interview, Senator Monreal said violence in Mexico was a nationwide issue and must be addressed as such. To think that a city mayor can resolve the issue of missing persons, or to think that a governor has the capacity to fight organized crime is to not know the country, he said, adding that his brothers predecessors had let criminals go unchecked.

Those organized crime groups were allowed to settle in, and now its very difficult to eradicate them.

According to Claudio Lomnitz, an anthropologist at Columbia University who teaches a course on forced disappearance, kidnapping has long been used by organized crime in Zacatecas as a way to terrorize the population and maintain control, to raise funds with ransoms, and as a means of gaining new recruits.

What I have seen in the case of Fresnillo is that there is a lot of forced recruitment, he said. Because on the one hand theyre not asking for a ransom and on the other hand because they go in and take several people at once, and that doesnt make sense as a kidnapping.

In any case, Lomnitz added, theres no way that this exists without a relationship between organized crime and the state.

Fed up with inaction from the local government, a group of women with disappeared relatives, including Zapata and Castaneda, recently traveled to Mexico City for a meeting with a federal congresswoman from the presidents Morena party.

One by one they told their stories, often through tears: Martina Garcia Avinas son, taken away before dawn last November; Luz Bernal Orozcos brother, nabbed on 24 February; Patricia Castillo Castorenas nephew, snatched from his grandmothers house the next day.

It feels like a knife in your heart, said Bernal of having a disappeared relative. Its worse than death because of the uncertainty we feel.

When asked afterwards about the governments response to violence, the Morena congresswoman Erika Vanessa del Castillo said the president had recognized forced disappearance as a humanitarian crisis.



This is what was given to us, what we inherited, she said, echoing a response often given by Amlo himself. Its impossible to solve this from one day to the next.

The president has increased support and funding for the National Search Commission, charged with looking for the missing. In 2020, the commission launched an online database of missing persons, providing the most accurate picture of the issue to date. The number of state-level search commissions has also tripled.

But violence continues to spiral, and the efforts have failed to make a meaningful dent in the epidemic of vanishing people: since Amlo took office, more than 40,000 people have been reported missing.

Mexican soldiers at the side of the road in Jerez de Garcia Salinas in Zacatecas state. Photograph: Pedro Pardo/AFP/Getty Images

Often, families are left to navigate a confusing bureaucracy between local police, dysfunctional state prosecutors and local search commissions, none of which seem to provide answers.

At the meeting in congress, representatives from the National Search Commission arrived to check the missing had been entered into the national database  Castaneda could not find her nephew in the system. As it turns out, his information had been entered incorrectly: his birthday and height were wrong, his last name misspelled.

Thats three characteristics that lead me to believe its not the person being searched for, she said. We need competent authorities.

The women left Mexico City disappointed. Arriving back in Fresnillo, there was more devastating news: that afternoon, Garcia Avinas second son had been taken by armed men while driving his daughters home from school.

It was my birthday, she said later. I feel so desperate, like I want to go out and look for them  but where can I look?

Lopez Obrador traveled to Fresnillo in April for the inauguration of a new hospital. The relatives of the disappeared took the opportunity to hold a protest.

Never before has a president addressed the problem of insecurity and violence as we are currently doing, said Amlo, in apparent response to the protesters cries. I understand very well the concern and desperation that relatives have for their disappeared.

But the president did not meet with the victims families, sparking frustration among desperate relatives. Garcia Avinas granddaughter chased after Amlo, throwing a rock at his car as it left.

I felt defeated because I had so much faith in him, Garcia Avina said, of the president she once championed. I had hoped he would help us.

 Oscar Lopez is a fellow of the Alicia Patterson Foundation
Photograph: Cheney Orr/Reuters

Three activists have been arrested in confusing circumstances and charged under a little-known Georgia law  an apparent tightening of the states criminal justice system in response to a movement opposing the building of a huge police and fire department training center known as Cop City near Atlanta.

Cop City has sparked a broad-based protest movement in Atlanta and elsewhere, drawing global headlines when one environmental activist was shot and killed by police.

Related: Atlanta shuts down strategic park in Cop City protest movement

The latest arrests are stunning and feel like overreach, said Ken Paulson, director of the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University. They come under a law making it a felony to intimidate a law enforcement officer, and are in response to a printed flyer.

It raises serious first amendment concerns, the ACLU of Georgia wrote in an email. It is also part of a broader pattern of the state of Georgia weaponizing the criminal code to unconditionally protect law enforcement and to silence speech critical of the government.

Caroline Hart Tennenbaum and Abeeku Osei Vassall, of Atlanta, and Julia Dupuis, of Fullerton, California, were arrested 28 April, after leaving a flyer on mailboxes in Cartersville, a Georgia town about 45 miles north-west of Atlanta.

The flyer, exclusively obtained by the Guardian, called a policeman who lived in the neighborhood a murderer for participating in the 18 January shooting and killing of activist Manuel Paez Teran.

Local police initially charged the three with stalking, a misdemeanor, according to the county sheriffs report. The activists heard officers debating whether to arrest them, with one asking another, Isnt this freedom of speech? according to Lyra Foster, an attorney defending the arrestees. But the sheriffs department was soon advised that GBI [Georgia bureau of investigation] and FBI agents would be en route to interview the suspects, according to the report.

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The arrestees declined to be interviewed without a lawyer. Felony charges were added at some point.

A GBI spokesperson, Nelly Miles, would not answer questions about how or why the agency became involved. Neither would the FBI. Events surrounding the arrest led Stewart Bratcher, another attorney representing the activists, to wonder, are they investigating a crime here or are they not liking what people are saying and therefore looking for a crime?

The day after the arrests, all three were placed in solitary confinement without explanation, and left there for nearly four days, said Caroline Verhagen, mother of Dupuis. Georgias deputy attorney general, John Fowler, will be prosecuting the charges  an indicator of the states approach to the case.

The officer mentioned in the flyer, Jonathan Salcedo, was one of six named in a recently released document from the GBI, the agency charged with investigating Paez Terans death. The 18 January incident was the first time in US history police have shot and killed an environmental activist while protesting, catapulting the training center, known as Cop City, and the forest in which it will be built, into international news.

The state alleges the activist shot first and the case is with a special prosecutor.

Paez Teran, or Tortuguita, was one of dozens of activists camped in a public park south-east of Atlanta in mid-January, protesting against the Cop City project, planned for a part of the South River forest less than a mile away, as well as a developers plans to convert 40 acres (16 hectares) of the park into private land.

In the ensuing months, dozens of protesters have been arrested and charged under a state domestic terrorism law  another first in US law enforcement response to environmental activism. Now the state appears to have added a legal arrow to its quiver, after Salcedo called local police on the three activists driving through his neighborhood in Cartersville. Two were leaving flyers under the flags on mailboxes in front of each house, while a third was a passenger, according to Foster.

The sheriffs report indicates Salcedo saw the van drive by, leaving flyers on mailboxes, and felt harassed and intimidated by these actions and wished to have them prosecuted.

The flyer features a large-type, bold-faced heading. Written as if by a resident, it reads: Dear Neighbor, a murderer lives in our neighborhood!

The same flyer was made for several of the officers involved in the shooting; only the name and street location of the officers residence varies. It explains some of the incident, including that Tortuguitas body sustained 57 gunshot wounds, according to the DeKalb county autopsy report. The flyer does not include physical or other threats. It finishes by stating that the officer has blood on his hands and he lives in our neighborhood.

The activists intent, according to Foster, was to raise awareness of a tragedy.

Language on felony intimidation of a law enforcement officer was added in 2012 to a statute on intimidating any officer in or of any court that had been on the books for three decades.

Ive never come across a law that makes it a felony to intimidate a law enforcement officer or his family through speech or communication  unless theres a very specific threat, said Paulson.

Saying unpleasant and insulting things about the way a public employee does his job is at the heart of free speech in America, Paulson added.

Bratcher, with two decades of Georgia practice, said he had never seen the charge prosecuted. Thaddeus Johnson, a criminal justice professor at Georgia State University who is researching laws in 15 states with increased penalties for assaulting police officers, also had never seen the law used.

Meanwhile, the family of the one arrestee from out of state, Julia Dupuis, has been trying to understand both the jails treatment and the states charges. Verhagen, who lives in Massachusets, said that actions such as putting her daughter in solitary confinement and, afterward, leaving lights on all night, are like a third-world jail.

Im afraid theyre going to stretch this law on intimidation to fit their needs and my daughter winds up in jail for a couple of years, she said.
Zoe Petersen, Deseret News

Recent polling data from Canada offered a glimpse into the nations opinions as the Canadian Parliament is considering further broadening the countrys already expansive assisted suicide laws  which New York Times columnist Ross Douthat has called some of the worlds most permissive euthanasia laws.

The data from the poll, released by Research Co., surveyed 1,000 Canadians online from April 22 to April 24. According to the press release, 50% of Canadians think adults in Canada should be allowed to access medically assisted death based on a disability.

Related

Also, 28% of respondents said theyd agree to the guidelines expanding to include homelessness as a reason one could seek medically assisted death, while 27% responded in the same way about poverty.

Some in Canada have raised concerns about how poverty could be driving a lot of Canadians with disabilities to consider ending their lives. Global News reported that experts like palliative care physician Dr. Naheed Dosani have said Canadas policies may have a negative impact, particularly because of the countrys poverty. Dosani said people who need to access social assistance are often living in abject poverty, which he said should cause people to question whether or not people are freely making the choice to die.

University of Toronto professor Trudo Lemmens said to Global News, Were basically sending the message that persons with disabilities who are not dying have an understandable reason to end their life. And this is discriminatory.

As for whether or not the country should broaden laws to allow for assisted suicide with mental health conditions as the sole underlying cause, 43% support the government expanding guidelines, while 45% oppose it, per the 2023 polling data.

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A couple of weeks before Canada was expected to expand access to medically assisted death in March 2023, the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying presented a report where it recommended Canada delay allowing mental health as the sole underlying condition for medically assisted death until March 2024. The committee said it would release a final recommendation in late 2023, five months before the guidelines are set to expand to include mental health as the sole condition.

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Close to two-fifths of the people who access medically assisted death in Canada are people who need disability support services, according to the countrys own data. The previously released third annual report on medically assisted suicide revealed that 3.3% of the deaths in Canada in 2021, or 10,064 people, were because of medical assistance in dying in Canada. Of those who die in this way, 43% were people who needed disability support services. This means that more than 4,000 people with disabilities accessed medically assisted death.

In 2021, The National Post reported 45% of Canadian adults supported the government expanding access to assisted suicide with mental health as the sole underlying condition. A previous poll in 2016 from the Angus Reid Institute found 78% of Canadians did not support assisted suicide with mental health as the sole underlying condition. This may mean support for expanding access for mental health conditions occurred (and roughly doubled) since the legalization of assisted suicide in Canada.

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The press release also said, When asked about the appropriate punishment for a parent who is found guilty of assisting a terminally ill son or daughter to die, 1 in 4 Canadians (24%) select no penalty at all. Fewer than 1 in 10 Canadians (8%) believe this action warrants a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment, while 29% would consent to a prison sentence at the discretion of a judge, and 14% would deal with it through a fine, but no time in prison.

Historically, issues related to that particular question have been the subject of public discourse in Canada. Tracy Latimer, a 12-year-old girl with cerebral palsy, was killed by her father in 1993. Her father was convicted of second degree murder, and according to University of Alberta researcher Heidi L. Janz, he claimed he killed her to end her suffering from her disability and from a surgery she was scheduled to undergo.

Janz said more than 2,000 news stories appeared between 1993 and June 2007 on the incident. In 1998, National Angus Reid/CTV/Globe and Mail surveyed 1,501 Canadian adults via telephone about Latimers killing. According to Ipsos, 73% of adults said the fathers sentencing was too severe and he killed his daughter out of compassion, and 41% said mercy killing should be legal under appropriate circumstances.

As it related to support of assisted suicide in Canada, the majority of Canadians support it and have for a while. An Angus Reid Institute poll in 2023 found 61% of Canadian adults support assisted suicide. Global News reported support for it has increased since 2016  the year it was legalized in Canada  when 56% said they supported it.

A different poll in 2020 from Angus Reid found Canadians generally supported fewer regulations around assisted suicide. Angus Reid said, 4 in 5 (80%) Canadians now say it should be easier to make their own end-of-life decisions, compared to nearly three-quarters (73%) in 2016. This, compared to 1 in 5 who say there should be greater restrictions to doctor-assisted dying procedures.

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What does U.S. polling data look like on assisted suicide?

A majority of Americans believe assisted suicide should be legal for patients with terminal illness. According to Gallup, 72% of U.S. adults support euthanasia  when a doctor ends the life of a patient. The number drops to 65% when Americans are asked, When a person has a disease that cannot be cured and is living in severe pain, do you think doctors should or should not be allowed by law to assist the patient to commit suicide if the patient requests it?

No states in the U.S. allow for assisted suicide outside of a terminal illness with prognosis, typically six months left to live. California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Vermont, Oregon and Washington are the states that currently allow for assisted suicide, per the Deseret News.
Tucker Carlson discussed trying to steer the overall direction of Fox News in a more pro-Trump direction and threatening colleagues who didnt go along with his vision following the 2020 election, according to text messages obtained as part of the now-settled Dominion Voting Systems defamation case against the network.

In the 19 November 2020 messages, obtained by The Daily Beast, Carlson reportedly responds to a message from producer Justin Wells regarding a story viewed as critical of Mr Trump, which featured references to the growing number of coronavirus cases nationwide and the ongoing upheaval over President Trumps refusal to concede the election to President-elect Joe Biden.

Were not going to succeed if this continues, Carlson allegedly said in the messages. The brand will be too damaged. We should jump on a couple of examples just to send a clear message. Lets start with this one. Can we find out who did this?

Im happy to start threatening people individually, he added. Its too much. And again, it will hurt us badly if we let it continue.

At the time, parts of the Fox News audience were in revolt after the conservative network accurately called certain early election results for Joe Biden.

The Independent has contacted Carlson for comment.

The alleged texts are the latest revelation from the Dominion suit, which Fox settled for $787.5m last month, and come as Carlson is planning his post-Fox future.

The wildly popular news commentator abruptly left Fox in April following the settlement. Fox News hasnt explicitly described the reason for the split, but network execs were reportedly dismayed by Carlsons criticisms of Fox leadership, and by racist and misogynistic comments revealed in private text messages.

Carlson announced this week he would relaunch a version of his show on Twitter.

The move means Carlson could forgo at least $25m from Fox Corp related to a non-compete clause in his previous contract, Puck News reports.

On Tuesday, commentator reportedly sent an aggressive letter to senior Fox News leaders on accusing the outlet of breaching his contract by allegedly leaking his private communications as part of an adverse employment action against him, and by settling with Dominion in a way that harmed Carlsons reputation and future business prospects, Axios reports.
In a leaked internal memo, a Google exec expressed serious fears about losing the ongoing AI arms race  but the competition that the exec fears most, according to an NBC report, might be a little unexpected.

"We've done a lot of looking over our shoulders at OpenAI," reads the memo, which a Google spokesperson confirmed as authentic to NBC but cautioned were only the thoughts of one person at the company. "But the uncomfortable truth is, we arent positioned to win this arms race and neither is OpenAI."

"I'm talking, of course, about open source. Plainly put, they are lapping us," it continued. "While our models still hold a slight edge in terms of quality, the gap is closing astonishingly quickly."

In other words, according to this exec, though Google and its Silicon Valley competitors like Microsoft-slash-OpenAI and Meta still have a narrow upper hand, open-source models are quickly catching up.

And that, per the memo, is reason for concern.

The Google exec makes a pretty good case. Aided in large part by a major leak of Meta's advanced language model, LLaMa, small and scrappy open-source models like AutoGPT have made major strides in recent months.

And to that end, it's one thing to have visible, tangible competition like Meta and Microsoft-slash-OpenAI. Fighting an arms race against what's effectively the open web, where users can learn and borrow from each other and tailor development to their personal needs, is another beast entirely.

"I don't think I need something as powerful as GPT-4 for a lot of things that I want to do," Simon Willison, a programmer and tech analyst and blogger, told NBC.

"The open question I have right now is, how small can the model be while still being useful?" he added. "That's something which the open source community is figuring out really, really quickly."

"Largely, I think people are trying to do good with these things, make people more productive or are making experiences better," added Mark Riedl, a computer scientist and professor at Georgia Tech. "You don't want a monopoly, or even a small set of companies kind of controlling everything. And I think youll see a greater level of creativity by putting these tools into the hands of more people."

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But while there might be some merits to a decentralized approach to AI, there are also some dangers. In addition to a number of more philosophical ethical questions, AI poses a lot of very real threats, and in the hands of theoretically unlimited bad actors, systems built by way of open-source channels may well do a lot of harm.

"It really now becomes the question of what are people going to use these things for," Riedl told NBC. "There's really no restrictions on making specialized versions of models that are designed specifically to create toxic material, or misinformation, or to spread hate on the internet."

More on Google: Google Staff Warned Its AI Was a "Pathological Liar" Before They Released It Anyway
An online fundraiser for Daniel Penny, who placed fellow subway rider Jordan Neely in a fatal chokehold in a case that has come to symbolize fears over crime, racism and vigilantism, has raised more than $1m for his legal defense.

The fundraiser for Daniel Penny, a white former marine, who was charged on Friday with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Neely, who is Black, is on GiveSendGo. The Christian fundraising website has also hosted drives for rightwing vigilante Kyle Rittenhouse and far-right groups, including January 6 insurrectionists.

Related: Its a failure of the system: before Jordan Neely was killed, he was discarded

Funds are being raised to pay Mr Pennys legal fees incurred from any criminal charges filed and any future civil lawsuits that may arise, as well as expenses related to his defense. All contributions are greatly appreciated, the fundraising page said.

The campaign, which is listed as being created by Pennys attorneys, Raiser & Kenniff, PC, claims that any proceeds exceeding the costs of his legal expenses will be donated to a mental health advocacy program in New York City. The firms co-founder, Steven M Raiser, confirmed that his company started the campaign.

Neelys killing nearly two weeks ago spurred extensive anger across New York City and the US, with his death underscoring ongoing racial and economic inequality, and the countrys lagging mental healthcare and social services. Moreover, Neelys death has renewed attention on crime  despite low crime rates in New York City  and vigilantism.

Penny has attracted the support of a broad swathe of the US right, including senior Republicans like rightwing Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who called Penny a good Samaritan for his actions.

The fatal encounter unfolded when Neely  who had struggled with homelessness and mental illness  walked onto a Manhattan subway train car shouting that he was tired, hungry and ready to die. A video recorded by a freelance journalist captured riders holding Neely against the floor.

Penny kept Neely in a chokehold long after Neely stopped moving and at least one rider implored him to release the man. Police officials found Neely unconscious, and he was pronounced dead at hospital. The citys medical examiner deemed Neelys death a homicide.

While police officers detained Penny and questioned him following the incident, they quickly released him, spurring public outcry and intense scrutiny over that decision. The Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, announced on Thursday that Penny would be arraigned on a second-degree manslaughter charge and he surrendered to police on Friday. He appeared in court shortly thereafter and was released on $100,000 bail.
Support for Sapia

I am supporting Tony Sapia for State College Borough Council. I have had occasion to work with Tony on a variety of business matters that affect downtown State College over the last several years. I have found him to be thoughtful and fair in his approach to these issues. Having grown up in State College and having his had his own businesses in this area, I believe he will bring an experienced voice to the State College Borough Council. State College Borough residents would do well to offer him their support on Tuesday.

Susan S. Benedict, State College

Best fit for judge

I am supporting Julia Rater for Centre County Judge because she knows the law and Centre County. Julia has an abundance of practical experience in family and civil law. Additionally, she has handled criminal matters through her work as a family law attorney. She is a leader both in the legal profession and in the community in which she has worked for 27 years. Rarely do we have a candidate who has the perfect background for the position. This time we do, Julia Rater.

One flyer of Mr Balachandrans, Julias opponent in this election, reads no current member of the bench has a background in criminal law. This statement and others bother me not only because they are inaccurate but also because they imply that all Centre County judges are lacking in experience/knowledge. Both Judge Grine and Judge Marshall practiced criminal law before becoming judge.

I think Mr. Balachandran is emphasizing that he has a criminal law background. The data in the Centre County Legal Journal (2022) that tracks the judges daily schedules reflects that 72% of the judges court time is on family law and civil cases and only 28% is on criminal cases. Family and civil law expertise matters in Centre County. Julia Rater appeared in a Centre County courtroom over 1,100 times through 2022. Her opponent did not represent any clients in the Centre County courtroom. Please join me in voting for Julia Rater for Centre County Judge on Tuesday.

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Wendy Moran, State College

Important perspective on school board

It is my pleasure to support Laurel Zydney for another term on the State College Board of School Directors.

In the 10 years that I served with Laurel on the board, I always found her to be well-prepared, well-informed and highly dedicated to her role. As a result, I had a deep appreciation for her perspective  even those times when I disagreed with it.

In turn, I appreciated her openness, and her willingness to listen to a diversity of voices from throughout the community.

School boards operate most effectively  and the community is better served  when a diversity of perspective is incorporated into the decision-making process, especially when it is as well-informed as Laurels.

I encourage the community to avail itself of Laurels willingness to share her experience, knowledge and dedication with us for another four years.

David Hutchinson, State College. The author is a former SCASD director.

Background of judges

I have been a Pennsylvania criminal defense lawyer since 2001, and I have been a solo practitioner in Centre County since 2006. I support Julia Rater for Common Pleas Court judge because she has the right combination of temperament, personality and local practice experience needed to be a successful judge.

Ms. Raters opponent has made some statements, which the long-time members of the local legal community can instantly recognize as untrue, while the general public might not realize these statements are false.

These are probably honest mistakes as opposed to intentional lies, as Gopal Balachandran has only been a member of the Centre County Bar Association since September 2022, and he has not been part of the local legal community long enough to have much local knowledge.

For example, Mr. Balachandran asserts that no current Centre County judges had criminal law experience prior to taking the bench, yet both Judges Jonathan Grine and Brian Marshall practiced criminal law when they were lawyers.

Mr. Balachandran also asserts that no other current Centre County judge ever tried a felony case before a jury, yet Judge Grine won a felony drug jury trial just two years after graduating from law school, which is no easy feat.

I just wanted to set the record straight so the general public can make an informed decision based on accurate information.

Matt M. McClenahen, State College

Resource to school board

As a SCASD school board member of almost eight years I have been fortunate to witness the ongoing development of the board during my years of service. During this time I have acquired an increasing appreciation for one board member who has always been diligent in her work with the board.

Laurel Zydney has been an incredible resource to our school board. Laurel adds value to our work by reminding us to look back, reflect, explain and justify our position on either a financial decision, a program, or a policy when we might otherwise be inclined to overlook further reflection. Laurel routinely helps us to refine our efforts to identify evidence based programs for student growth and learning while remaining attentive to the goals of efficiency and cost effectiveness.

All school boards in Pennsylvania have a mandated membership of nine. With such a large group it can become comfortable for members to hang back and coalesce with the larger group, falling into a pattern of Groupthink. Laurels readiness to question, challenge and bring our attention back to the fundamentals empowers the board to avoid Groupthink.

Laurel Zydney is an almost 12-year board member veteran who deserves another term of service on the SCASD board. Laurel has shown her commitment to the delivery of district programs that represent what is best for students and their families, while remaining mindful of the costs involved. Voters of both parties should include Laurel Zydney among their choices for SCASD school board in the Tuesday primary.

Dan Duffy, State College. The author is a SCASD board director.

Balachandran would be asset to the court





Please join me in voting for Gopal Balachandran for our next Common Pleas Court Judge.

It takes a uniquely qualified attorney to serve as a successful public defender  one possessing a certain blend of compassion, dedication and perseverance. As a former public defender for over a decade, Gopal possesses these qualities, plus significant experience and expertise in the area of criminal law. A judge in criminal court must be exceptionally learned in constitutional principles and criminal procedure, particularly because the majority of our court docket is comprised of cases that are criminal in nature, based on my 34 years of experience in the Centre County Public Defender Office.

Gopals experience as a public defender could have left him disillusioned. However, his experience strengthened his commitment to serve others and uphold the constitutional protections we should all as a community respect. He went on to lead the Criminal Appellate and Post-Conviction Services Clinic at Penn State Law and co-founded the Centre County Pardon Project.

Some years ago, Gopal introduced himself to the staff of the Centre County Public Defender Office, and, recognizing the heavy caseload, offered his assistance. His aid in conducting legal research, discussing case law and preparing briefs was invaluable. Gopal spent countless hours  uncompensated and unrecognized  in several homicide cases at the Common Pleas Court level and further on appeals to the Pennsylvania Superior and Supreme Courts to ensure that the clients cases received the extra attention they deserved. His brilliant legal mind and analytical skills provided remarkable assistance to the clients overall representation.

If elected, Gopal will serve us fairly and impartially without regard to race, gender, financial status, and/or any law firm affiliation.

Deborah Lux, State College

United for SCASD and parental involvement

I turned with great interest to the front-page report, School Board Candidates on Transparency, Parental Involvement, in the May 3 CDT. I was keen to read the views of the United for SCASD candidates since they have highlighted these issues as priorities.

I was surprised that two of the five original United for SCASD candidates couldnt be bothered to provide any response on these issues. A third United for SCASD candidate offered a single sentence simply saying that parents should be very involved. A fourth offered a mere 20 words stating the obvious, that parents have a right to know what is being taught and the district-parent relationship should be 50-50. Only John Krajcovic provided a substantive answer. He argues that parents should be allowed to opt their children out of teachings that do not align with their beliefs. Presumably this means that children of parents who do not believe in climate change or biological evolution should not learn these basic science concept.

The United for SCASD wants to disrupt education at SCASD. They call themselves bipartisan, but not one of them is a registered Democrat. There are six Democrats running for SCASD board seats. They are Amy Bader, Gretchen Brandt, Anne Demo, Dan Kolbe, Aaron Miller and Laurel Zidney. Please vote any of these Democratic candidates. They are all dedicated to preserving the academic excellence of SCASD.

Paul M. Hallacher, State College

Rater as judge would be gift to our community

I am writing in the spirit of Michelle Obama who said, when they go low, we go high. As such, I am responding to the May 5 CDT letter that suggested that Julia Rater is part of some good old boys network.

The picture that was painted by that letter and others is so far from the Julia Rater I know, such that I feel compelled to write my first ever letter to the editor.

Julia is a first-generation college grad, who has worked hard as an attorney helping families and children navigate what for many is one of the most stressful times in their lives (divorce/custody).

She serves in roles that are personally meaningful to her and that help those in need.

She has learned to think about what it is like to be in the shoes of whoever is in front of her. She is compassionate and sticks to the facts of the case as she is committed to helping her client, rather than promoting a political agenda.

In her work, she is committed to being fair to all. As noted publicly, Julia is pro-choice, pro-LGBTQ and anti-racist.

Lets not participate in misogyny and dismiss the overwhelmingly superior qualifications and experience that Julia Rater will bring as Centre County Judge. Combined with her compassion, thoughtfulness and emotional intelligence, it would be a gift to our community to have her in this role.

Jill Hranicka, State College
According to Merriam-Webster, "appreciation" is defined as a feeling or expression of admiration, approval, or gratitude. Thoughts of appreciation and gratitude are plentiful after recently reconnecting with several teachers who educated my now young adult children including an educator that was my first-grade teacher who then taught both of my children!

She has the same warm welcoming smile and cheerful hello, genuinely happy to reconnect and learn the path her former students have chosen. Teachers often are in the profession long enough to witness and educate generations of families. Educators make an impression on us as they help us navigate the important lessons of life. Teachers make a difference in the lives of their students that doesnt end when students move on to the next grade level, building or upon graduation. They continue to truly be interested in their former students and their path in life.

May is the month to reflect and appreciate teachers for their positive influences not only on children and young adults, but also for the contributions they extend to the entire community. The Cheboygan Library is fortunate to host educators as instructors, teachers that are also authors who present programs at the library, volunteers, and those who take an active role in our Friends of the Library group as well as numerous community groups. Giving back and participating in improving the lives of others around them is what these exceptional people do! We appreciate the impact and contribution educators impress upon our families, our library, and the community. Thank you, educators, for your efforts, time, patience, caring and kindness. You are appreciated!

When we think of appreciation how can we not have thoughts of our mothers. As a nation we celebrate Mothers Day on the second Sunday in the month of May. This year we celebrate mom on Sunday, May 14. The origins of Mothers Day dates to the 19th century when Anna Reeves Jarvis organized a celebration at her church in West Virginia to recognize her mother. Annas goal was to establish a day to honor the sacrifices mothers make for their children. Anna wished Mothers Day to be added to the national calendar as she felt many national holidays focused on male achievements.

Anna began a campaign of letters to newspapers and politicians requesting the adoption of a special day honoring motherhood. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a measure officially establishing the second Sunday in May as Mothers Day. When you think of mom on May 14 remember all the positive influences, support, selflessness, and unconditional love moms freely give. Time spent together is priceless, if you are fortunate to have your mom near to you spend the day together making new memories.

In recognition of Mental Health Awareness this month, Cheboygan Library partnered with North Country Community Mental Health (NCCMH) as they present the Community Mental Health Association of Michigans Statewide Traveling Art Show titled Creative Minds Changing Minds on display at the Cheboygan Library beginning May 15-21. The exhibit features winning pieces selected from consumer art contests across Michigan.

Included in the show are PhotoVoice images created by NCCMH clients. PhotoVoice is a process used to highlight people whose voices and perspectives may often go unheard and overlooked and is comprised of photos and words used to highlight the experience of the person with mental illness. The PhotoVoice exhibit is entitled I Am Right Here: See Me for Who I Am, Not What I Have. According to Deb Freed, NCCMH event organizer and PhotoVoice instructor, the exhibit has two goals.

One is to help de-stigmatize mental illness, intellectual/development disabilities, and substance abuse disorders by showcasing the talents of people who use community mental health services. Secondly, the exhibit aims to highlight the recovery potential of the arts.

Arts help change attitudes while enriching peoples lives. For hundreds of years, great artists, musicians and writers with mental illness have created beautiful masterpieces to share with the world. We are pleased to present this show of Michigan and local artists who have used art to further their recovery and build life skills. The local PhotoVoice artists aim to give hope to those whose recovery journeys will come after theirs and encourage people struggling with their mental health to reach out for help.

Artists selected I Am Right Here as the theme of the show as they want people to know they are much more than their diagnosis. Mental recovery starts with a good foundation. Make every effort to ensure yours is well built.  Meiko

 Paula Jewell is program director of the Cheboygan Area Public Library.

This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Library Lines: Remembering the origins of Mother's Day
Newly announced Twitter chief Linda Yaccarino told Elon Musk during a recent marketing conference interview that content moderation and safety are part of a formula to get advertisers to spend more money at the platform

Named Friday as Elon Musk's successor as Twitter CEO, Linda Yaccarino is a respected media and advertising executive considered a visionary by some.

Yaccarino left her job as head of advertising at NBCUniversal, where she worked for 12 years.

Born into a family with Italian roots, Yaccarino has spent her career in television, 20 years of it with the Time Warner group that has since become known as Warner Brothers Discovery.

Yaccarino said in a 2021 episode of the Great Minds podcast that she fell in love with television shows as a child and originally thought she would get into production.

"I wanted to create the new 'Sesame Street'," Yaccarino said, referring to a popular children's television program.

Yaccarino became fascinated with the business side of broadcasting while a student at Penn State University in Pennsylvania.

That interest shaped her career path after graduating, which her LinkedIn page indicates was in 1985.

At NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of cable operator Comcast, she redesigned advertising strategy to support a shift from traditional television to streaming shows online.

Yaccarino brought the group's channels into a single platform to streamline ad campaigns.

She also focused on providing metrics when it came to showing audience numbers and the effectiveness of advertising.

Yaccarino didn't hesitate to give Musk advice while interviewing him in front of an audience of advertisers at the "Possible" marketing conference in Miami in mid-April.

Advertisers "need to feel that there is an opportunity for them to influence what you're building," Yaccarino told Musk.

She argued that the goal is to make Twitter a place where advertisers are excited to spend marketing money, saying that involves content moderation, user safety, and product development.

"That's where the influence is," Yaccarino said to Musk.

- 'Skeptics in the room' -

Since taking over Twitter in late October, Musk has repeatedly courted controversy, sacking most of its staff, readmitting far-right figures to the platform, suspending journalists and charging for previously free services.

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In response, advertisers fled Twitter due to concerns over marketing messages being associated with troubling content.

"The people in this room are your accelerated path to profitability but there's a decent bit of skeptics in the room," Yaccarino told Musk at the marketing conference.

During the interview in Miami, Yaccarino's direct style and sharp insights visibly intrigued Musk.

Yaccarino brings to Twitter a network that reaches beyond advertising and media.

She is involved in the World Economic Forum in Davos and was a member of the US Presidential Council on Sport, Exercise and Nutrition, attached to the White House.

Yaccarino's connection to the WEF as well as her reported support for vaccinations and masks during the pandemic irks some politically-conservative fans of Musk's previous actions at Twitter.

"Twitter's problems really revolve around Elon Musk," said independent analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group.

"The real test will be, can he step aside and let her do her job?"

tu-gc/arp
Valerii Zaluzhnyi

"I see how it can be done (to win the war against Russia - ed.), I see what else needs to be done," he said.

Read also: Zaluzhnyi skips NATO meeting due to difficult operational situation on front line

But I know for sure that there is still a very long way to go. A very long and difficult one.

Zaluzhnyi emphasized that Ukraine is holding on thanks to Ukrainian people who hold their ground and create this victory.

"We will get there and we will definitely win," Zaluzhnyi said and emphasized that "there is still a lot of work to be done.

Read also: Ukraine needs F-16 fighters for its defense, says Zaluzhnyi

But again, I want to say that so far everything rests on the shoulders of these ordinary people.

Earlier, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov said that Ukraine wants to end the war completely by winter 2024.

According to military intelligence, Russia has the resources to wage war for about two more years at the current intensity of hostilities.

Read also: Top Ukrainian General Zaluzhnyi attends wedding of soldier - photo report

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
Archbishop of York - Charlotte Graham

The former Archbishop of York has been forced to step back from ministry after he failed to act on a disclosure of child sexual abuse and claimed that safeguarding is very important, but it does not trump Church Law.

An independent review published this week concluded that Lord Sentamu, who was the Archbishop of York from 2005 to 2020, failed to act on a disclosure of child sexual abuse carried out by a Church of England priest who took his own life while awaiting trial.

In response, Lord Sentamu rejected the reviewers findings, insisting there had been a fundamental misunderstanding of the responsibilities of bishops and archbishops. He also issued a furious rebuttal of the findings and claimed the reviewers stated opinion that individuals must act on safeguarding issues regardless of church law was odd and troubling, adding: Safeguarding is very important but it does not trump church law.

His comments prompted uproar from survivors of church-related abuse as well as clergy. The Bishop of Birkenhead, the Rt Revd Julie Conalty, who is the deputy lead bishop for safeguarding within the Church of England, responded saying: I am so ashamed and angered by this response. Church law and our complex structures are no excuse for failing to do the right thing.

However, it emerged on Saturday that Lord Sentamu is stepping back from ministry as a result of both the findings of the review, and his response. The victim who reported the abuse, Rev Matthew Ineson, welcomed the news and described Lord Sentamu as an arrogant bully and called for him to be barred from ever entering ministry again.

The current Archbishop of York, the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell, is also fully supportive of his predecessor stepping back from ministry.

Rev Ineson, who was 16 at the time and went on to become a vicar, was sexually abused by the late Rev Trevor Devamanikkam in the 1980s in Bradford, the independent review found.

Devamanikkam was charged with six serious sexual offences in May 2017, all relating to the Rev Ineson, but he was found dead in his flat, having killed himself before he was due to appear in court.

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A decade ago, Rev Ineson told some senior clergy members about his abuse.

The review, commissioned by the Church of Englands National Safeguarding Team (NST), said clergy, including Lord Sentamu, as well as another bishop, failed to act on his disclosures.

Rev Ineson said he reported the abuse in conversation with two bishops in 2012, and again to an archdeacon and a third bishop in 2013.

He then wrote letters to the Rt Revd Dr Steven Croft - who is now the Bishop of Oxford, but was the Bishop of Sheffield at the time - copying in Lord Sentamu, and claimed he had suffered sexual abuse as a youth by a priest.

Rev Ineson: 'It should have happened a long time ago'

Following the news that Lord Sentamu has been forced to step back from ministry in the wake of his comments, Rev Ineson said: I welcome this news. It should have happened a long time ago.

He ignored disclosure of rape and abuse, failed to consult his safeguarding advisor, failed to take action against Steven Croft, blamed everyone else for his failures, has consistently attempted to bully me into silence, refused to apologise for his actions and now criticises the 'reviewer' for not getting it right.

The man is an arrogant bully. His Permission to Officiate should be withdrawn and he should be barred from ever entering ministry again.

Since waiving his right to anonymity, Rev Ineson has become one of the most outspoken critics of the Church of England over its shortcomings in dealing with cases of sexual abuse. He previously gave evidence to the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Newcastle said: Following the publication of the independent lessons learnt review into the Church of Englands handling of allegations against the late Revd Trevor Devamanikkam, and the response of those criticised, the Bishop of Newcastle, Helen-Ann Hartley, having taken appropriate advice, yesterday required Lord Sentamu, Honorary Assistant Bishop in Newcastle Diocese, to step back from active ministry until both the findings and his response can be explored further.

The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, is fully supportive of this decision. The Diocese of Newcastle remains committed to the highest standards of safeguarding which seeks to always to place victims and survivors at the heart of this vital work.

A spokesperson for Lord Sentamu was contacted for comment.

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Sweden's Loreen was always the one to beat, and her team knew it too.

She had something none of the other contestants competing on Saturday's Eurovision grand final had - the experience of winning it before.

The 39-year-old from Stockholm took the title with her banger Euphoria in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 2012. Now, with Tattoo, and 583 points, she becomes the first woman to win it twice.

It's an experience she said was "overwhelming" as she accepted the glass microphone and took to the stage in Liverpool to repeat her winning performance.

In November 2022, at a gig in Amsterdam where lots of previous Eurovision contestants were performing, Loreen closed the show.

Rumours were circulating she was going to try to enter Eurovision again. And there is no barrier to competing more than once in this contest.

Backstage after the show in her dressing room I cheekily asked if they were true? "Darling," was all she said.

A few weeks later it was confirmed Loreen would be participating in Melodifestivalen - the TV selection show to pick Sweden's participant for the song contest in Stockholm.

It runs for six weeks and has become a must-watch event for Eurovision fans around the world - with viewing parties in different cities.

The crowd at Melodifestivalen is packed to the arena rafters in Stockholm

After one such party at the Swedish church in north London in early March, fans piled into the upstairs of a pub around the corner and Eurovision hits were played.

Tattoo, Loreen's Melodifestivalen entry came on, and people put down drinks to dance to it hard. Bear it mind, it hadn't even won the Swedish selection by then.

But she is royalty in Eurovision world and fans were excited that she was trying again.

When the final rolled around on 11 March in Stockholm, and the BBC's Eurovisioncast went to interview her, she picked up the conversation again with: "Darling...".

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Daniel Rosney with Loreen

"I didn't think I'd do it ever again," she said. "But then they sent me the song and I could just feel it was a good song, and then they popped the question.

The answer?

"Hell no."

It took her team, which included the same songwriter and producers of Euphoria, around four weeks to change her mind and convince her to go for the double gold in Liverpool.

Sweden and Finland picked their acts on the same night - the last two countries to confirm their participants in this year's contest.

Now Loreen was in the mix, the other contestants were excited.

The UK's Mae Muller continuously refers to her as a "queen", while other Eurovision artists openly said that she had it in the bag.

Meanwhile, Tattoo continued to notch up tens of millions of streams.

Pre-party events took place across Europe in the run-up to Liverpool and fans travelled to places like Madrid and London to see her perform her two Eurovision songs live.

Outside the venue in London, many fans had Swedish flags and said they were there specifically for Loreen.

It's hard to encapsulate her cultural significance in the competition's history but she generated a whole new generation of fans of the song contest after 2012 - including myself.

"I love this community," Loreen said, as she posed for selfies. "I hope people feel how much I love them and care".

Eurovision 2023 banner

Once rehearsals began in Liverpool and a full arena of 6,000 people packed into the venue for preview shows this week, it was fascinating to hear the crowd's silence when she sang.

The audience was transfixed by her and nobody wanted to miss a moment.

She created a performance that looked visually stunning on-screen, captivating the 160 million watching at home with pyrotechnics, smoke machines, incredible staging and, most-importantly, stand-out vocals.

Sweden's 2023 win puts it on par with Ireland as having the most victories in the competition with seven.

Next year, the competition will head to Scandinavia - some 50 years since Abba won in 1974 with Waterloo, catapulting them to international stardom.

My prediction for next year's slogan for Eurovision could also be a personal message from me to this year's contestants: "Thank you for the music."

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.
A 12-person jury decided Lori Vallow Daybells fate Friday, as dozens of spectators  family members, friends, reporters and podcasters  awaited the looming verdict in her criminal trial. The jury of five women and seven men convicted the 49-year-old Rexburg mother of murdering two of her children.

Guilty of two first-degree murders, the 49-year-old woman now has the same convictions Gerald Pizzuto and Thomas Creech had when they were put on Idaho death row. Had Vallow Daybell been guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit murder  she was found guilty of three  she still wouldve been eligible for execution, prosecutors said.

But for Vallow Daybell, the death penalty is no longer an option.

Two weeks before a slew of potential jurors made their way to the Ada County Courthouse in early April, 7th District Judge Steven Boyce removed the death penalty as a potential sentence for Vallow Daybell.

Jessica Bublitz, a Boise-based defense attorney, told the Idaho Statesman in a phone interview that its very uncommon for a judge to strike the death penalty.

In fact, its never happened before in Idaho. Boyce said he couldnt find any case in the state for which removal of capital punishment had been considered or ruled on  which means there isnt a precedent for the decision in Idaho, according to an audio recording of the March hearing published by East Idaho News.

Boyces decision came after Vallow Daybells defense team asked Boyce to dismiss execution as an option. The March 5 motion listed several reasons, including an allegation that the prosecution made multiple discovery violations by submitting thousands of documents and pieces of evidence past a deadline set by the court.

Defense counsel dont know what we dont have, the motion said.

Why Vallow Daybell cant be sentenced to death

To convict Vallow Daybell of the first-degree murder charges for JJ and Tylee, the jury needed to conclude that she killed her children, or encouraged or commanded someone else to do so. Anyone convicted of first-degree murder is eligible for the death penalty in Idaho, according to the states code, if the state can prove there was an aggravating circumstance  for example, committing more than one murder at the same time, creating a great risk to the public, or murdering someone in an especially heinous, atrocious or cruel way.

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Three years ago, authorities found the remains of 7-year-old Joshua Jaxon JJ Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan buried in shallow graves on the property of Chad Daybell, Vallow Daybells husband.

The Daybells were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and held fringe beliefs that dark spirits can possess bodies and should be cast out, which causes death. Prosecutors in the indictment accused the Daybells of espousing religious beliefs for the purpose of justifying or encouraging the homicides.

As attorneys began to prosecute the criminal case, investigators turned over new information during the discovery process  which meant the defense received new information as the prosecution learned about it.

The cases of Lori Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell, who were initially expected to be tried together, were severed in early March, when test results for a potential piece of DNA evidence  a hair sample found at the crime scene  was submitted too close to the looming trial date, according to a recording of the hearing published by East Idaho News.

Boyce noted that Chad and Lori Vallow Daybell complained about delays in receiving evidence and argued that the large volumes of information being disclosed too close to the impending trial were impeding the ability of the defense to prepare.

Bublitz told the Statesman that Boyce has an obligation to ensure the discovery process is fair. Theres a responsibility all the way around, she said, because its part of the judges job to determine whether certain evidence can be admitted if it was submitted late.

These disclosures were coming in at a time in the case when it could really prevent Loris counsel from having time to go through everything, Bublitz said. It puts you between a rock and a hard place. You have to be able to go through them in time.

Boyce said the items disclosed in March were inarguably and inexcusably late. He pointed to the large disclosure of evidence that was dropped the day after the deadline, plus the additional discovery that wasnt provided to the defense until weeks after the initial deadline.

Boyce also noted that leaving the death penalty on the table could hinder the conviction.

If I were to fail to address this discovery issue, I believe this case would inevitably be reversed on appeal if there was a capital conviction, Boyce said. The defense agreed and in its motion said that any death verdict would be annulled, forcing the case to start over.

Ultimately, Boyces decision in late March to remove the death penalty, he said, wasnt to penalize the state but to make sure that Vallow Daybells constitutional rights were protected and allow her attorneys the opportunity to prepare a reasonable defense against the alleged crimes. Boyce noted that he and Vallow Daybells attorney Jim Archibald have worked with the prosecution and called them honest prosecutors.

This is not the result of a single discovery violation but rather the cumulative effect of a divulge of discovery coming too close to trial, Boyce said.

The prosecution, in a written statement, said it was disappointed and disagreed with Boyces decision, East Idaho News reported.

We will continue to vigorously pursue justice, the prosecutors said.

The death penalty is still an option in Chad Daybells trial, which is expected to be scheduled for next year.

Vallow Daybell took a risk in moving forward with trial

Though Boyce said no Idaho case has considered removing the death penalty sentence, Boyce cited a federal 2012 felony case, in which a man was charged with two felonies related to the killing of a security guard at a Naval base in Puerto Rico.

Former U.S. District Judge Jose Fuste barred the prosecution from seeking the death penalty, according to the judges order. Fuste found the attorneys for the government were reluctant to disclose information, and the court practically forced the prosecution to turn over evidence to the defense, the order said.

Boyce said hes overseen hundreds of their previous cases, including murder cases, and this hasnt been an issue before.

Now, the most severe punishment Vallow Daybell could face is up to life in prison.

The logical remedy to the violations, Boyce said, would have been to postpone the trial, but Vallow Daybell has unequivocally asserted her right to a speedy trial. A criminal trial is expected to start six months after an individual pleads not guilty, if a defendant doesnt waive their right to a speedy trial.

Daybell was found guilty of all six felony charges Friday. On top of two first-degree murder counts, she was convicted of three counts of conspiracy to commit murder for her children along with Chad Daybells then-wife, Tammy Daybell, and grand theft for stealing government benefits.

I would caution the defendant  her attorneys have also cautioned her  that by insisting on going forward with the trial now, knowing theres additional evidence they are not prepared to address, thats a risk, Boyce said in March.
After an Idaho jury found Lori Vallow Daybell guilty on Friday of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, yet another murder conspiracy case in Maricopa County remains in limbo.

Vallow Daybell's verdict came back guilty of the first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder of her daughter and adopted son: 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old Joshua Vallow.

She was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Tamara Douglas Daybell, the ex-wife of her current husband, Chad Daybell.

Locally, Vallow Daybell faces another charge of conspiracy to commit murder in the death of her ex-husband, Charles Vallow, which is pending.

In an email to The Arizona Republic, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office said it has reviewed Vallow Daybell's charges, which stemmed from Charles Vallow's death in Chandler and a shooting of one of Vallow Daybell's relatives, Brandon Boudreaux, in Gilbert.

The County Attorney's Office intends to prosecute Vallow Daybell after she is sentenced in Idaho. County Attorney's Office officials would not say more about the case or their decisions about charging the case since it was still pending.

Chandler police submitted their findings to the Maricopa County Attorneys Office in June 2021.

Later that month, the County Attorneys Office announced an indictment against Vallow Daybell on one count of conspiracy to commit murder.

Chandler police found Charles Vallow with multiple gunshot wounds in July 2019. Vallow Daybell was accused of working with her brother, Alex Cox, who said he shot Charles Vallow in self-defense. Cox died before the investigation was finished.

According to Chandler police, detectives found one bullet in the floor next to Charles Vallow's body, indicating the possibility of something other than self-defense.

Charles Vallow had filed for divorce in February 2019. In the divorce paperwork, he wrote that Vallow Daybell had a God-complex and believed she would bring about the end of days. Later, a friend of Vallow Daybell would say that she believed her kids were zombies, a term she picked up from Chad Daybell to describe anyone controlled by evil.

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Verdict in: 'Doomsday mom' Lori Vallow Daybell found guilty of killing her kids

In September 2021, Vallow Daybell was declared unfit to stand trial by an Idaho judge.

The court ultimately decided that she was mentally competent for trial in 2022.

The 49-year-old Vallow Daybell will be sentenced in Idaho and faces a possibility of life without parole.

Only then, the focus will shift to Arizona.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Vallow Daybell guilty of children's murder; AZ murder case pending
Multiple People Injured After Mass Shooting At Buffalo Food Market

Buffalo Police on scene at a Tops Friendly Market on Buffalo, New York on May 14, 2022. Credit - John NormileGetty Images

Almost a year after a racially-motivated mass shooting at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store, several victims loved ones filed a lawsuit against social media companies that they allege facilitated the shooters white supremacist radicalization and gave him a platform to broadcast the violent massacre.

On May 14, 2022, 18-year-old gunman Payton Gendron shot and killed 10 Black shoppers and staff at a supermarket while livestreaming the attack, which was viewed by over three million people. In November, Gendron pleaded guilty to murder, hate crime and domestic terrorism charges.

Gendron was motivated to commit his heinous crime by racist, anti-Semitic, and white supremacist propaganda fed to him by the social media companies, the lawsuit says.

The suit was filed in State Supreme Court in Buffalo Friday by attorney John Elmore on behalf of the families of three victims, Heyward Patterson, Katherine Massey and Andre Mackniel. Its supported by the advocacy groups, Social Media Victims Law Center and Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Heres what to know about the lawsuit:

Allegations against social media platforms

The suit names major tech companies, Meta (Facebooks parent company), Google, (YouTubes parent company), Amazon, (Twitchs parent company), Reddit, Snapchat, Discord and controversial website, 4Chan.

Gendron had livestreamed the attack on Twitch, which was taken down within two minutes, but later uploaded to 4Chan and circulated on Facebook. The lawsuit accuses the online platforms of proliferating Gendrons hate sentiment by allowing the broadcast recording to spread across platforms quickly.

While Facebook eventually turned off banner advertising for searches related to the Buffalo shooting, the murder video continued to circulate on Facebook, the suit also alleges. Facebooks algorithms continued to recommend it.

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The suit also alleges that Gendron became addicted to social media as a teenager because of the dangerously defective and unreasonably dangerous algorithms powering Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat. It adds, he quickly became a problematic user and that he accessed his social media accounts multiple times per hour and at all hours of the night.

In its allegations, the suit specifies that social media algorithms are designed to take advantage of teenagers whose brains are still developing and maintain their engagement through increasingly extreme and psychologically discordant content.

Others mentioned in the lawsuit

Gendrons parents, Vintage Firearms, the gun dealer that Gendron bought a weapon from, and RMA Armament, where he purchased body armor before the attack, were also listed as defendants. The lawsuit blames Gendrons parents of negligent entrustment for gifting their son a rifle that was among the weapons Gendron brought to the shooting.

New York Attorney General Letitia James and Governor Kathy Hocul released a report in October, describing similar issues to those proposed in the lawsuit. Following an investigation, the report details how social media platforms contributed to Gendrons radicalization and disseminated the livestream.

Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act protects social media platforms from legal accountability over content posted by users, and could potentially pose a challenge for the suit. Section 230 is currently facing legislative efforts and Supreme Court cases aiming to restrict companies immunity.

Gendrons radicalization on social media was neither a coincidence nor an accident; it was the foreseeable consequences of social media companies conscious decision to design platforms that maximize user engagement at the expense of public safety, the lawsuit alleges.
Lyft CEO David Risher, who recently said the company is preparing for the changes to the industry that self-driving cars will bring. Michael Liedtke/The Associated Press

Lyft CEO David Risher told CNBC the company is not planning to use self-driving cars, but is ready for the technology.

Risher told CNBC and CNN that Lyft wants to reduce summer travel stress for its users.

He said Lyft doesn't need to "dethrone a king" and destroy Uber to be a successful company.

Lyft CEO David Risher said that while the company doesn't immediately plan to use self-driving cars, it's preparing itself as the technology advances.

"We're doing everything we can to make sure we're ready for autonomous when it comes, and I'm telling you  it's not going to be tomorrow, but you might be surprised that it comes over the next couple of years a little faster than you think," Risher told CNBC's Jim Cramer Friday.

The technology for self-driving cars is expanding every day across the globe, but companies actively using them for rideshare services are still limited to companies like Waymo in San Francisco.

Risher  who became CEO last month  told CNBC the company is not planning to introduce self-driving cars to its services right now, but is keeping an eye on the technology for future use.

Days after Risher took over the top job and Lyft's co-founders stepped away from the company, he announced the company was laying off 30% of its workforce, about 1,200 of its 4,000 employees.

Risher's recent interviews coincide with new features announced by Lyft this week, including the ability for passengers to order a ride upon landing at an airport.

The feature  currently available in Los Angeles and Chicago with plans to expand to more locations  uses the app's knowledge of a given airport and how long it will take the average traveler to collect their luggage and get outside to send a driver at the perfect time so riders and drivers don't have to wait as long.

The features appear to be competing with similar airport conveniences announced by Uber earlier this year, including photo guides from gates at certain airports directly to pickup areas.

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However, Risher told CNBC he doesn't feel Lyft needs to "dethrone a king" and destroy Uber for his company to succeed, and recently said he feels consumers benefit from the competition between the companies.

"My view is every single person who's a rider should have both apps on their phone, I really believe that, because sometimes you want a choice," Risher told CNN on Thursday. "But then we want you to choose Lyft, and the reason we want you to choose Lyft is because we think we can provide a better experience."

Read the original article on Business Insider
CHEBOYGAN COUNTY  A Detroit man was arrested this week on drug charges after Cheboygan County deputies made a traffic stop on Levering Road.

According to a press release from the Cheboygan County Sheriff's Department, deputies conducted a traffic stop on Levering Road at I-75 at 9:17 p.m. on Wednesday, May 10.

Both the driver, a 28 year-old man, and the passenger, a 27-year-old woman, had warrants for their arrest out of Detroit. Sheriff Tim Cook said the occupants were separated, and further discussion and conflicting stories led to the recovery of two ounces of methamphetamine with a street value of $5,700.

Based on the deputies' investigation things were not adding up, so they had the Cheboygan County K-9 and the Straits Area Narcotics Team assist," Cook said. "The drugs were located and the driver arrested for possession with intent to deliver."

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Cook said the investigation is ongoing and the vehicle was forfeited as it was the conveyance for the drug sales. The woman passenger was released pending further investigation.

This year my deputies have made an impact on getting methamphetamine off the county streets. They are doing a fantastic job, said Cook.

Cook added that over the last three months his deputies have removed approximately a pound of meth from the streets, which has led to the arrests of six individuals and a street value of $45,000. Cook said most of the meth they are seeing in Northern Michigan is coming from downstate and is selling for approximately $100 per gram.

At this time, Cook said the driver has been lodged pending court.

Also assisting on the scene was the Michigan State Police.

This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Man arrested on drug charges following Cheboygan County traffic stop
ulez

Police have charged a man accused of vandalising cameras installed to monitor the capitals controversial Ulez zone.

The Metropolitan Police revealed that Joseph Nicholls, 42, had been charged with criminal damage, malicious communications, handling stolen goods and aiding or abetting the destruction of, or damage to, property valued over 5,000.

It comes as part of a wider crackdown by the Met into Ulez camera vandalism, with the body now proactively investigating a list of individuals it suspects of causing damage or seeking to cause damage to cameras.

According to the Met, it has now received 96 allegations of criminal damage from Transport for London, in relation to the automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras.

Mr Nicholls, 42, of Foots Cray High Street, Sidcup, appeared at Bromley Magistrates' Court on Thursday. The force said it is waiting for an update on his custody status and the date of his next court appearance.

Since the turn of the year, there has been a spate of attacks on Ulez cameras that are being installed across outer London, as part of Sadiq Khans expansion of the zone.

Wires cut, lenses painted black

In August, Mr Khan intends to expand the Ulez zone across all of Londons 32 boroughs. The new zone will mean those in outer London boroughs will have to pay a 12.50 charge each day they drive if their car doesnt meet European emissions standards.

However, the plans have been met with fierce resistance from politicians and London residents, with some resorting to vandalism of cameras.

The regularity of attacks on these cameras increased in March as TfL began to roll them out across the new Ulez boroughs.

At the time, The Telegraph reported on instances of wires being cut in Abbey Wood, Greenwich, while another camera in Catford, Lewisham had had its lens painted black.

The 96 reported incidents is a significant increase from March 23, when TfL reported that there had been 31 instances of vandalism in the expanded zone, and 12 in the existing zone.

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A TfL spokesman said: Vandalism on our network is unacceptable. All incidents are reported to the police for investigation.

Proactively targeting those we suspect

Det Supt Daniel Smith, whose officers are leading the investigation, said: We have been proactively targeting those we suspect of causing or seeking to cause damage.

We are carrying out a thorough investigation and this includes gathering CCTV, speaking to potential witnesses and following up on active leads.

We are also working with TfL to prevent further offences in the future.

When the Ulez expansion begins TfL needs to install around 2,700 cameras to police the new zone. At the start of March, more than 300 cameras had been installed in the new area.

Some doubt was cast over the mayors Ulez plan last month after a judge ruled that five Conservative-led councils - Bexley, Bromley, Harrow, Hillingdon and Surrey - could challenge the London mayors proposals to proceed in the High Court. The trial is due to begin in July.

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'Vital' win: Manchester United striker Anthony Martial scores against Wolves

Anthony Martial put Manchester United's bid for a top four finish back on track as the French forward ended his goal drought in Saturday's crucial 2-0 victory against Wolves.

Martial had gone eight games without scoring before he netted in the first half at Old Trafford.

United's first win in three matches was wrapped up by Alejandro Garnacho's stoppage-time goal.

After successive defeats at Brighton and West Ham threatened to ruin their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League, Erik ten Hag's side restored order at Old Trafford.

Fourth-placed United, who sit behind Newcastle on goal difference, moved four points clear of Liverpool, who are fifth and play at struggling Leicester on Monday.

After that fixture, United will still have three matches left while Liverpool will have only two to play, leaving Ten Hag's men in control of their top four destiny.

"Vital. We had to bounce back after big defeats. We had no energy and played slow in those games. Today we had to win and we did it," Ten Hag said.

Critical of United's finishing despite the win, Ten Hag added: "We are very good at making the opponents' goalkeeper man of the match. We have to be more clinical.

"We have to work on better conversion. Every game is difficult. You have to be ready for every match."

Former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was back at Old Trafford for the first time since being sacked in November 2021.

Solskjaer was all smiles as he took photos with fans before kick-off, but even the Norwegian's most ardent fan had to acknowledge the impressive progress made under Ten Hag this season underlined the failings of his own troubled reign.

- Rashford sidelined -

Ten Hag made three changes as Marcus Rashford was sidelined by a leg injury, while Wout Weghorst and Tyrell Malacia dropped to the bench, with Martial, Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane coming in.

United had scored only six times in their previous nine games, offering Liverpool renewed hope after six successive wins for Jurgen Klopp's team.

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Wolves went close to snatching a shock lead when Craig Dawson fired just wide after Pedro Neto pulled the ball back to the defender inside the United area.

But Bruno Fernandes' free-kick forced a save from Wolves' rookie keeper Daniel Bentley as United's pressure gradually mounted.

The chances kept coming for United as Christian Eriksen whistled his strike just wide from long-range before Antony headed wastefully over from six yards.

Martial finally delivered in the 32nd minute as the French striker scored only his second league goal in 2023.

Fernandes' pass triggered Antony's incisive raid and when Bentley rashly came off his line the Brazilian unselfishly cut back to Martial, who finished with ease.

Martial could have doubled United's lead before half-time but he shot straight at Bentley from Antony's pass.

Wolves missed a good chance when Max Kilman headed a corner down to Hwang Hee-chan and the substitute screwed his shot wide from an acute angle.

Fernandes was unable to beat Bentley from close-range and the Wolves keeper made another good save to keep out Sancho's effort.

Weghorst, still waiting for his first Premier League goal for United, headed over from six yards.

With seconds left, Garnacho sprinted onto Fernandes' pass and finished with aplomb.

smg/dj
Mary Turner in 2005. (R. Diamond / WireImage via Getty images)

Mary Turner, considered the first lady of rock radio in Los Angeles on station KMET-FM, has died. She was 76.

Turner died Tuesday at her Beverly Hills home after a long battle with cancer, according to Jarrett Bostwick, executor of her estate.

Through the 1970s and early '80s, Turner was regarded as the most-listened-to female voice in radio. Known as "The Burner"  a moniker given to her by Peter Wolf of the J. Geils Band  she is best remembered by Los Angeles baby boomers for her years on KMET, the iconic FM outlet that was a must-listen for rock fans in the 1970s and '80s.

Turner was among the trailblazing women who received opportunities behind the microphone in the early 1970s after men had long dominated the radio business. Her chance came as FM rock music formats proliferated and offered an alternative to the tight playlists and rapid-fire style of top 40 AM stations.

Turner had two nationally syndicated programs on Westwood One, the company founded by her late husband, media executive Norman Pattiz, and broadcast to troops in 40 countries through the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service. She also hosted an in-flight music program for airline TWA. A Gallup research study in 1981 found that her voice was heard by 23.4 million people a week.

Turner was born in Maryland on Feb. 4, 1947. After graduating from Indiana University in the late 1960s, Turner hoped to pursue a career as a TV producer or director.

She moved to San Francisco, where she answered phones at Autumn Records, the label where Sly Stone toiled as a producer, and later landed a job in the promotion department of local TV station KNEW. She eventually moved to KSAN-FM, the station programmed by Tom Donahue, who is credited with first developing the progressive radio format that played album cuts instead of just the hit singles heard on the AM dial.

At KSAN-FM, Turner worked as an engineer and did some fill-in air shifts. She moved to Los Angeles to join KMET in 1972 and was part of its evolution from a free-form "underground" station to a more commercial album-oriented rock format. By the end of the 1970s, KMET, which called itself "The Mighty Met," was the second-most listened-to station in the Los Angeles market.

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Turner became one of the station's signature personalities along with B. Mitchell Reed, Jim Ladd and Jeff Gonzer. Her smooth-as-glass vocal delivery had a special appeal to young male listeners, including one who tried to get into the station at night to meet her, according to friend and former KMET colleague Ace Young.

The incident led her to travel with two large German shepherds as protection. They even curled up with her in the confines of a small studio.

In a 1981 interview, Turner described her on-air approach as "let's live it up, have a good time, let the music do the talking."

"I'm partying every single night from 6 to 10," she said. "What could be finer?"

Michael Harrison, the editor of the radio industry publication Talkers and a colleague of Turner at Westwood One, said she possessed the authenticity the rock audience demanded at the time.

"She knew the music," Harrison said. "She knew the lifestyle. She knew the artists and she spoke their language, which made her a very effective interviewer."

Turner demonstrated her ability to connect with rock stars on "Off the Record," a short-form interview program launched in 1979 by Westwood One. The show aired on more than 200 radio stations in the U.S. and led to a long-form series called "Off the Record Special."

Turner chatted in a casual, conversational tone that made stars such as Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen feel at ease. (Richards admitted to her he was an altar boy at Westminster Abbey and a soprano soloist until puberty kicked in and his voice dropped.)

Norm Pattiz, Mary Turner and Lee Zeidman at the 46th Grammy Awards in 2004. (Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic via Getty Images)

The success of Turner's syndicated shows led her to leave her on-air duties at KMET-FM in 1982.

Around that time, she married Pattiz and they remained together until his death in December 2022. She shared her husband's passion for the Los Angeles Lakers and was often seen seated next to him courtside at games.

Turner left the radio business in the early 1990s. After recovering from a substance abuse problem, she earned a doctorate in clinical psychology and became a certified drug and alcohol counselor. She later served as chair of the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage.

Turner has no survivors.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Helicopter crash in Bryansk region

"The helicopter crashed in the city of Kintsi, according to preliminary data, due to an engine fire," the report said.



Read also: Ukrainian drones alleged to have attacked Russia'a Bryansk Oblast

The Russian Telegram channel Podslushano Klintsy published a video of the "downing" of the helicopter, "which first flew and then exploded."



Another Russian Telegram channel, BAZA, reported that the helicopter had crashed in a detached housing neighborhood, injuring a 51-year-old woman who suffered burns. She was walking down the street and was hit by parts of the helicopter, the Telegram channel added.

Later, the Russian propaganda outlet TASS reported that two people were killed as a result of the downing of a Russian Mi-8 helicopter.



Read also: Su-34 fighter jet crashes in Russias Bryansk Oblast  video

The village of Klintsy in Russias Bryansk Oblast is located less than 100 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
CONSTANTINE TWP.  Michigan State Police troopers are investigating a report of a home invasion which resulted in a shooting Friday night.

Troopers from the state police's Marshall Post were dispatched at about 10 p.m. Friday to the 60000 block of Maple Road to a report of a homeowner saying he had shot a male intruder who was armed with a knife and had entered his home, a news release from the state police said.

Troopers arrived at the scene and found a male subject laying outside of the residence with a gunshot wound to the upper thigh, the release said. They provided lifesaving care to the subject until emergency medical services arrived on scene.

The wounded subject was transported to Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Indiana, where he underwent surgery and is in stable condition, the release said.

This incident is currently under investigation.

This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Michigan State Police: Homeowner reports shooting armed intruder
Local schools will receive millions in a settlement with Juul labs Inc. over claims that the electronic cigarette companys marketing strategies targeted minors.

School districts across the country alleged in lawsuits that they had to funnel time and resources into combating the companys advertising and educating children and teenagers on the dangers of e-cigarettes.

A lawsuit filed by Richland 2 in 2021 said that use of Juul products by students impacted curriculum development and class time, and that staff has had to spend additional time addressing discipline and supervision issues. The district also saw increased counselor time spent on talking with addicted students, according to the lawsuit. Addressing the dangers posed by e-cigarettes, Juul in particular, will take a comprehensive approach, the district said.

Heres how much money local districts are eligible to receive, according to documents and the school districts.

 Richland 1: $559,095.37

 Richland 2: $856,283

 Lexington 1: $829,853

 Lexington 2: $137,224

Attorneys fees, case costs and other expenses will be deducted from those amounts.

Richland 1, Richland 2 and Lexington 1 have not decided where the settlement money will be allocated, according to spokespersons for the districts. Lexington 2 did not comment on what it might do with the money.

Greg Turchetta, a Richland 2 spokesman, said a final settlement approval hearing is scheduled for Aug. 9, 2023.

In 2020, the state attorney generals office announced that South Carolina would join more than 30 other states in a bipartisan investigation of the e-cigarette companys marketing and sales tactics.

The investigation, led by Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, revealed that Juul engaged in an advertising campaign that appealed to youth, even though federal law forbids anyone under 21 from purchasing e-cigarettes, according to the Texas attorney general. The company used launch parties, advertisements with young models, social media posts and free samples to sell its products, the Texas attorney general found. The investigation also found that Juuls early packaging did not clearly disclose the products contained nicotine, and the company sold e-cigarettes in various flavors to be attractive to young users, among other issues.

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More than 2.5 million middle and high school students use e-cigarettes, according to the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Eventually, claims across the country were consolidated in the United States District Court of northern California, according to Juul. The global resolution covers 5,000 cases brought against the company by about 10,000 plaintiffs, including nearly 1,500 school districts.

These settlements represent a major step toward strengthening Juul Labs operations and securing the companys path forward to fulfill its mission to transition adult smokers away from combustible cigarettes while combating underage use, the company said in a Dec. 6 statement.

According to settlement documents obtained by The State, Juul negotiated to settled the case for $555 million, with $436 million to be allocated to school districts.

Other school districts across South Carolina are also set to see money from Juul, including Charleston, Greenville, Horry, Berkeley, Dorchester, York, Florence, Pickens, Sumter, Orangeburg, Anderson, Kershaw, Spartanburg, Oconee, Georgetown, Cherokee, Chesterfield, Colleton, Dillon, Marlboro, Hampton, Fairfield, Clarendon, Jasper, Lee, Calhoun and Greenwood counties.
Two buses of migrants from Texas arrived in New York City on Friday morning, ahead of an expected surge in arrivals in the wake of Title 42s expiration.

About 90 migrants from countries such as Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador arrived on the buses at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, just hours after the pandemic-era rule expired, according to Bloomberg.

With the end of Title 42, which allowed authorities to rapidly expel migrants without permitting them to seek asylum, New York City is expecting to receive up to 800 migrants a day.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has warned the city cannot accommodate such an influx, after providing services to more than 61,000 migrants over the last year, according to CBS News.

On Wednesday, Adams temporarily eased the citys obligation to immediately shelter asylum-seekers in private rooms and began busing migrants north, ahead of Title 42s end.

The New York City mayor slammed the White House and congressional Republicans on Tuesday over their failure to adequately address immigration.

It is not about the asylum-seekers and migrants. All of us came from somewhere to pursue the American dream, Adams said at a press conference. It is the irresponsibility of the Republican Party in Washington for refusing to do real immigration reform, and its the irresponsibility of the White House for not addressing this problem.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Asylum seekers, mostly from Venezuela, at a respite center operated by Catholic Charities in Laredo, Texas on Friday, May 12, 2023. (Christopher Lee/The New York Times)

SAN DIEGO  In the vast migrant camp that sprung up this week on a patch of U.S. soil between Tijuana and San Diego, a striking system of order has emerged, even as anxiety and uncertainty swell.

The Africans in the camp  from Ghana, Somalia, Kenya, Guinea, Nigeria  have one leader, a tall Somali man, who communicates with aid groups about how many blankets, diapers and sanitary pads they need that day. The Colombians have their own leader, as do the Afghans, the Turkish and the Haitians.

Stuck in the same holding pattern as thousands of other migrants in cities along the border after pandemic-era migration restrictions expired Thursday night, occupants of the camp here have had to make do with the scarce supply of food and water provided by volunteers and the Border Patrol.

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Through metal bars, aid workers on the U.S. side pass through rolls of toilet paper, bags of clementine oranges, water bottles, packages of toothbrushes.

Can we get the leader from Jamaica, please! Flower Alvarez-Lopez, an aid worker at the camp, called out on Friday.

A woman wearing a sun-hat and a pink tie-dye shirt stuck her hand through the wall. Another woman wearing a beanie squeezed her full cheeks through the beams. Can we get the leader from Afghanistan! Russia!

As thousands of migrants came to the border this week ahead of the expiration of immigration restrictions known as Title 42, frustration, desperation and resilience played out in one spot after another. And on Friday, hours after the restrictions had ended, the waiting, the uncertainty and the resolve persisted in place after place.

The thousands of migrants who have made it across the Rio Grande in recent days debated what to do next, while thousands of others bided their time in northern Mexico, trying to decipher how they, too, could cross, and when.

Officials in border cities were facing uncertainty as well, as they tried to anticipate how the policy changes would play out.

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Oscar Leeser, mayor of El Paso, Texas, told reporters Friday that about 1,800 migrants had entered the border city Thursday. We saw a lot of people coming into our area in the last week, he said. But since the lifting of Title 42 overnight, he said, we have not seen any big numbers.

Shelter operators reported that it was too soon to tell what could unfold in coming days, since most people who crossed were still being processed by the U.S. government. But they, too, said that the largest spikes in crossings might have passed.

The number of people that were picked up from the river levee on the other side of the wall yesterday was significant, but not nearly what everyone expected it was going to be, said Ruben Garcia, director of Annunciation House, which assists migrants in the El Paso area. Well have to see what happens in the next few days. There are many variables, he said.

But while the numbers did not spike on Friday, officials said crossings had reached historically high levels in the days before Title 42 ended.

Sheriff Leon Wilmot of Yuma County, Arizona, said Border Patrol agents had arrested about 1,500 people Thursday, the last day Title 42 was in effect, and were holding about 4,000  a population that has strained the only charity in town dedicated to helping migrants.

As hundreds of people were released from Yumas border holding facility Friday, a fleet of charter buses sat idling in the parking lot of the nonprofit Regional Center for Border Health, waiting to ferry migrants to the airport or to Phoenix. For weeks, the group has filled about six buses with migrants every day. On Friday, 16 buses carrying about 800 migrants rumbled out of Yuma.

On some days this past week, more than 11,000 people were apprehended after crossing the southern border illegally, according to internal agency data obtained by The New York Times, putting holding facilities run by the Border Patrol over capacity. Over the past two years, about 7,000 people were apprehended on a typical day; officials consider 8,000 apprehensions or more a surge.

A person familiar with the situation said the Border Patrol apprehended fewer than 10,000 who crossed the border illegally Thursday, indicating that a large increase came before Title 42 lifted.

Outside a shelter in McAllen, Texas, Ligia Garcia pondered her familys next steps. She was elated to have finally made it across the Rio Grande, but with no family in the United States, and no money, they found themselves in the same situation as thousands of other migrants along the border with Mexico: waiting, while relying on the kindness of strangers.

We will seek assistance for now, because we have no money and no choice, said Garcia, 31, a Venezuelan migrant carrying her 6-month-old son, Roime, near the bulging shelter run by Catholic Charities. It was a big sacrifice to get here, she said, describing how she and her husband traveled with their two children across the jungles of Central America, then Mexico, to reach Texas. But it was worth it. We are in America.

While Mexicans and Central Americans for decades represented the majority of migrants seeking entry into the United States, Venezuelans have been crossing the southern border in ever greater numbers, and they recently dwarfed the numbers of migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

But because large-scale immigration from Venezuela is a relatively new phenomenon, Venezuelans often lack networks of relatives or friends who can assist them in the United States, and often arrive with nothing but the clothes they are wearing, such as Garcia, the migrant in McAllen.

I have been doing this for over 45 years. I have never seen as challenging a population as the Venezuelans because so many of them do not have people to receive them in the United States, said Ruben Garcia, who runs Annunciation House in El Paso.

In the meantime, migrants were scrambling for information. Olinex Casseus, 58, was sitting on the sidewalk Friday morning in Piedras Negras, across the border from Eagle Pass, Texas, with his wife and daughter as he tried, repeatedly and unsuccessfully, to use the Border Patrol app to schedule an asylum appointment with U.S. migration agents.

We want to do everything completely legally, said Casseus, who fled Haiti for Puebla, Mexico, after the 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti. He said he hoped to piece together a new life in Miami if they are able to cross. But everything is now delayed, and the rules are constantly changing, he added. I guess that means we continue to wait.

At the encampment between San Diego and Tijuana, needs and tensions began to mount in recent days. Roughly 1,000 people have jumped one barrier separating the cities in the past week, and most remained stuck behind another wall as they awaited processing by U.S. officials. The area between the two border walls is technically on U.S. soil but considered a no mans land.

Blankets are the most in-demand item, as the nights become uncomfortably cold for the hundreds of people sleeping outdoors. But there are not enough, so volunteers have tried to limit donations to families with young children.

On Thursday night, while blankets were being handed out, migrants began shouting at one another, believing that one group was taking blankets for people who did not have young children. Aid workers stepped in to break up the fighting.

People are cold, hungry, desperate, destitute, nervous, said Adriana Jasso, a volunteer with American Friends Service Committee.

A man from Colombia, wearing a tattered blue hoodie, arrived in the camp with his family Friday morning after smugglers had led them through a hole in the wall on the Mexican side. Viewing the tents made of Mylar blankets spread across the camp and rows of migrants lying on the dirt, he was unsure how to secure food or tarps to get set up.

He approached Alvarez-Lopez to ask for supplies. Go look for Jesus, she told him, apparently referring to a fellow migrant, and he walked away exasperated. My only Jesus is up there, he said, pointing to the sky.

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Migrants, mostly from Venezuela, walk on top of railroad cars as they get ready to continue their journey to the US border (Reuters)

Thousands of migrants in Mexico have been clambering onto dangerous freight trains rumbling northward in a scramble to reach the US border before the United States migration policy changes.

In recent weeks, up to several hundred people have boarded daily, activists and officials say, with many setting off atop train cars pulling out from a brief stopping point at a garbage dump in Huehuetoca, a town north of Mexico City.

The rush has intensified as Title 42, a Covid-era policy that since 2020 has allowed the US to rapidly expel migrants back to Mexico, came to an end on Thursday. The US is preparing for a jump in border crossings, piling more pressure on authorities already grappling with record levels of illegal entry.

Migrants, mostly from Venezuela, get on a train at the site known as El Basurero, as they continue their journey towards the US border in Huehuetoca (Reuters)

Migrants travel on a train, with the intention of reaching the United States, on the outskirts of Ciudad Juarez (Reuters)

Many migrants want to reach the border as soon as possible, although they are unsure what the rules will now be. Washington finalised regulation last week that will deny asylum to many.

Will it be easier? I doubt it, says Romario Solano, 23, a Venezuelan, while waiting for hours in baking sun near the rubbish-strewn rail tracks in Huehuetoca. We know that as migration has increased, tougher measures have been taken.

Solano acknowledges that riding the train is dangerous but says he does not have money for a bus. For years, mainly Central Americans have crisscrossed Mexico on cargo trains, dubbing them collectively La Bestia (The Beast) due to the risk of injury, even death, if they fell off. Migrants are also vulnerable to gangs, cold nights and sweltering days.

A migrant travels on a train on the outskirts of Ciudad Juarez (Reuters)

Migrants travel on a train (Reuters)

The latest wave of people aboard La Bestia are largely poor Venezuelans, including families with small children, mostly aiming to reach Ciudad Juarez, opposite the Texan city of El Paso.

Many climb narrow ladders to sit on roofs; others huddle inside empty boxcars and spread blankets over gravel, steel bars and other building materials to ride in open-air wagons.

There are hundreds of people arriving every day, says migrant activist Guadalupe Gonzalez in the central city of Irapuato, where the train makes a stop. We hadnt seen so many migrants passing through here like this before.

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Victoria and Alan, migrant children traveling with their family, play on a train (Reuters)

Victoria, a seven-year-old migrant girl, plays inside a carriage as she travels with her family (Reuters)

During the past month, as many as 700 people were trying to board per day, she says. Seated on a log near the Huehuetoca garbage dump, Venezuelan migrant Allender Ruy played voice messages on his phone from a friend warning him about the several-day journey ahead: Brother, when you get the train, bundle up ... its very cold, terribly cold.

After being deported to Venezuela earlier this year from Panama while en route to the US, Ruy was hoping for a second shot. I have to get there, at the latest, before the 11th, he says.

Migrants, mostly from Venezuela, run to climb on a train (Reuters)

Seven-year-old Cathaleya, on the right, rests with another migrant girl inside a train carriage as she travels with her family (Reuters)

Migrants rest on top of railcars (Reuters)

On the cracked screen of his smartphone, fellow Venezuelan Franklin Cuervas watched a Tik Tok video captioned the border is getting tougher. Two of his brothers in the US had urged him to arrive before 11 May to avoid crowds of other migrants.

They say it would be better (to arrive) before because more people are coming, people who want to get in, he says.

A family of 10, including a one-year-old girl and several children who are coughing, retreat in disappointment to the shade of one of the few trees in the hot desert terrain when they realise a clattering train is not the one they want.

Were a bit anxious ... supposedly there will be problems before the 11th, says Alejandro Mavo, 44, who has travelled with his wife and five children from Venezuela. Were barely on time.

Photography by Jose Luis Gonzalez and Gustavo Graf

Reuters
Emergency services, police and local community members were engaged in the search

A surfer is believed to have been killed in a shark attack on the west coast of South Australia's Eyre Peninsula.

Rescuers were called to Walkers Rock Beach near Elliston at 10:10 local time (00:40 GMT) on Saturday morning.

The 46-year-old man was surfing when he was attacked and he is now missing, South Australia police said.

Emergency services, police and local community members were engaged in an extensive search.

"A man is believed to have died following a shark attack at Walkers Rock Beach," police said in a statement.

The police thanked the local community and emergency services for their assistance with the search.

"It's not easy when it's a local involved, but we commend their strength and their want to assist," the police said, adding they would continue the search.

With a population of about 1,000, Elliston, about 650 km (403 miles) south of the state capital of Adelaide, is known for its nearby rugged coastline and surfing spots.

Earlier this year in February, a girl was mauled by a shark in a river in Perth, the capital of Western Australia.

Australia has more shark attacks than any other country except the US.

Last month, a 58-year-old American surfer was attacked by a shark just north of Waikiki in Honolulu, Hawaii. He survived the attack, but lost his right foot.
Modesto Police on Thursday arrested a man whod been wanted for a 2021 homicide at Tuolumne River Regional Park.

Officers from the Modesto Police Departments Crime Reduction Team spotted Robert Banks, 51, riding a bicycle in a commercial area on Tenaya Drive, about a mile from the homicide scene, according to Lt. Martha Delgado. She said Banks fled and hid but was quickly located by officers.

Banks was wanted for murder for the shooting of 42-year-old Reymundo Flores on Sept. 28, 2021. Flores died about a month after the shooting and Modesto police issued a warrant for Banks arrest a few days later. We do believe he stayed in the area, Delgado said.

A motive for the shooting has not been released.

Banks was booked into the Stanislaus County Jail on suspicion of murder, as well as charges of resisting arrest and possession of methamphetamine.

He had not been formally charged as of Friday.
A Florida woman whose teen son was sentenced to life in prison for stabbing a cheerleader 114 times pleaded no contest to a charge of evidence tampering in the killing, officials said Friday.

Crystal Smith, 37, was sentenced to 30 days in jail and 5 years of probation for the crime, a 3rd-degree felony, the state attorneys office for Floridas 7th Judicial Circuit said in a statement.

Smith was captured on a home security camera washing the blood out of Aiden Fuccis jeans after the May 9, 2021, killing of Tristyn Bailey, 13, the statement said.

What the defendant did was not protecting her child  she was assisting him in avoiding responsibility for an extraordinarily vicious and merciless crime, State Attorney R.J. Larizza said in a statement.

Aiden Fucci at Saint Johns County Courthouse, on Jacksonville, Fla. (Bob Self / Florida Times-Union via USA Today Network file)

Smith did not address the court during the hearing but her lawyer, Matt Kachergus, said that Smith didnt know why her sons jeans were bloody when she washed them, NBC affiliate WTLV of Jacksonville reported.

She was a frantic mother trying to determine what was going on with her son, he said, according to the station.

Kachergus added that only later did she learn what her son had done, the station reported.

In a tearful victim impact statement made during the hearing, Tristyns mother, Stacey Bailey, said the choices Smith had made on Mothers Day 2021 will haunt me for the rest of my life, the station reported.

Ive tried to put myself in your shoes on that fateful day a thousand times, but I cant, she said, WTLV reported.

Fucci, who was 14 when he was arrested shortly after the killing, was sentenced in March after pleading guilty to first-degree murder.

13-year-old Tristyn Bailey. (St. Johns County Sheriff's Office / via Twitter)

Tristyn was found dead in the woods outside Jacksonville. According to a probable cause affidavit, Fucci told investigators that he got into an argument with Tristyn and pushed her to the ground after they left a mutual friends home before dawn May 9, 2021.

Before he was considered a suspect, Fucci snapped a photo of himself in the back of a police vehicle flashing a peace sign and posted the image to social media with the caption: Hey guys has anybody seen Tristyn lately.

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He was arrested May 10, 2021, and initially accused of second-degree murder.

Days later, a grand jury indicted him on a first-degree murder charge, and Fucci was tried as an adult.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
A police pursuit that began in Oklahoma ended in an arrest Wednesday in Moore County.

On Wednesday, May 10, law enforcement agencies of Moore County received an alert of an ongoing vehicle pursuit involving suspects heading toward Moore County from Sherman County, a news release stated. The Moore County Sheriffs Office, Cactus Police Department, Dumas Police Department, Sunray Police Department, and local Texas Department of Public Safety were all alerted of a black passenger car entering Moore County at a high rate of speed.

The suspect driver was seen driving at speeds of approximately 120 mph at one point during this pursuit.

"Deputies assigned to the Moore County Sheriffs Office Patrol Division located the suspects and activated their emergency red and blue lights and sirens on their patrol vehicles to signal for the suspect driver to pull over and stop. The suspect driver did not stop and continued to evade law enforcement, driving at a high rate of speed," the release continued. "MCSO Patrol Deputies pursued the suspect in a rural area of Moore County until the suspect lost control of their vehicle, crashing it into a nearby metal fence at the intersection of Schuman Road and County Road I before he could reach the city limits of Dumas."

Rojelio Rodriguez, was placed under arrest in Moore County this week on a charge for evading arrest/detention with a motor vehicle. He was later found to have other outstanding warrants out of Potter and Hutchinson counties, according to authorities.

MCSO patrol deputies detained two suspects. The driver of the vehicle, identified as Rojelio Rodriguez, was placed under arrest on a charge for evading arrest/detention with a motor vehicle.

Upon further investigation, deputies on the scene discovered Rodriguez had begun evading law enforcement that day in the state of Oklahoma, while he was being pursued by Oklahoma Highway Patrol Troopers before fleeing into Texas, and that Rodriguez also held two active warrants for his arrest that were separate from this incident.

Rodriguez was booked into jail on these two warrants as well. One warrant was from Potter County for evading arrest/detection with a motor vehicle, and the other warrant was from Hutchinson County for theft of property Less than $2,500  with previous convictions.

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MCSO said Rodriguez now faces additional criminal charges along with the ones he had prior to this date.

The second suspect, who was the passenger in the vehicle, was not found to hold any active warrants, and was later released from the scene.

Both suspects refused medical treatment.

"The Moore County Sheriffs Office is thankful for all of the law enforcement agencies who responded to this incident, and thankful that no citizens, law enforcement officers or criminal suspects were harmed during the course of this pursuit," the release states. "We would also like to thank all of the drivers who were inconvenienced by this crime for being understanding of the temporary road blockage it caused."

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Moore County police pursuit ends in arrest
Memphis-Shelby County Schools board members inched closer to restarting the superintendent search process following a Friday retreat and agreed to set a series of meetings that would further the work started.

The board worked with renowned education advocate Tomeka Hart Wigginton toward restructuring the boards superintendent selection policy  more specifically the rubric board members would use to screen superintendent candidates.

The MSCS policy for how a school board selects superintendents has remained the same since 2012; it is also a component in the at-times fraught search process. And the implementation, or lack thereof, of the selection policy has underpinned many of the grievances expressed by community members frustrated with the board process.

Hart Wigginton, a former two-term board member and current special advisor for Blue Meridian Partners, walked board leaders through exercises that would eventually help them arrive at a decision, and the board agreed to rewrite the rubric.

The decision was the first lurch forward in a stalled search process. Earlier in the week at a special-called session, board members told the public that the search remained on pause, and would stay that until at least after graduation.

The announcement was met with frustration; several community members left the meeting shouting their disapproval and continued to protest in the board of education parking lot as the meeting wound down.

After learning that the hired search firm for the superintendent search was not using the school districts own rubric for candidates, criticisms from parent advocates and community members intensified.

Friday was an opportunity for the board to decide whether they would work with restructuring the existing rubric, move forward with no changes, or scrap the rubric altogether.

Ultimately, the board opted to rewrite the rubric.

Hart Wigginton, who has participated in a previous superintendent search, cited Friday's progress in the face of a "tough issue." While a number of community members have expressed frustration with the pace of the selection, Hart said Friday's decision was necessary

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"I would say depending on the next series of decisions they make, they'll be able to articulate a more detailed timeline of when they think they can actually get a superintendent," Hart Wigginton said. "I think its actually more important for them to get their process right, to get the right superintendent, than for them to be looking at the calendar."

The retreat opened up with a reminder of the underlying dissatisfaction of some community members when some vocal critics of the school board learned they were barred from entering any MSCS facility.

Rachael Spriggs, a member of Memphis LIFT and former teacher, called it "retaliation."

"They (officers) basically said I was banned. And I asked, 'For what? And they said 'You're being banned for disruptive behavior,'" Spriggs said.

Spriggs said she was told by MSCS head of security Carolyn Jackson that she was banned from future board meetings and all MSCS properties.

Spriggs wasn't the only one to be barred from MSCS properties Friday. School resource officers and Memphis police officers also approached community activist LJ Abraham and education advocate Tikeila Rucker, and gave them paperwork that stated they were banned.

During Tuesday's board meeting, Spriggs was one of several that delivered public comments that were critical of board leadership and the search process. At the time, the board told her she had violated a policy by calling Interim Superintendent Toni Williams by her first name during her remarks  as opposed to addressing her as "Interim Superintendent Williams."

It's unclear what policy violations Abraham and Rucker committed; both have lobbed criticism towards the school board at meetings. Abraham said she was not informed she was banned until she showed up at the retreat.

The school board is expected to have at least three additional meetings to continue the work of refining the rubric.

Micaela Watts is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal covering issues tied to education, access, and equity. She can be reached at micaela.watts@commercialappeal.com.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: MSCS school board retreat marked by progress and banned individuals
Myrtle Beach International Airport just completed its busiest April ever, a signal that tourism season inside South Carolinas most popular vacation spot is poised to put up strong numbers.

The month saw more than 294,000 passengers  a 4 percent year-over-year jump from the 282,784 people who moved through the airport last April.

In 2022, more than 3.5 million people traveled through Myrtle Beach, setting another record.

The Grand Strand is a top destination for tourism in the U.S., and our continued growth pattern help demonstrate that the Grand Strand is no longer a summer-only destination, airport director Judi Olmstead said in a May 11 statement.

All the traffic comes amid several major site expansions and additional travel routes recently announced by Avelo Airlines, Delta, Spirit and other airlines.

Heres a look at whats happening

Work is continuing on a multi-million terminal expansion announced in 2022

Architect renderings of the roughly $100 million venture were made public late last month as part of South Carolina Aviation Week.

Officials are adding six gates to the airports sole terminal, bringing the total to 18 and helping to alleviate long lines for check in, car rentals and security.

Construction is expected to start sometime next year, with a projected opening date in 2025.

In addition to the added gates, new features include:

More fuel storage: The airport is adding 100,000 gallons in fuel storage capacity. This will help in case of future supply crunches as seen during the Colonial Pipeline shutdown in May 2021.

Security checkpoint: The existing TSA security checkpoint cannot be expanded because its landlocked in its existing hallway. However, a new checkpoint will alleviate the pressure created by the current TSA bottleneck.

More food options: As part of the terminals planned expansion, the airport will add more space for restaurants and retail. Its too early to know what those new food options will be, officials said.

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Profit margins are healthy, which is helping to pay for the growth. Parking will become easier too.

Olmstead said last month it costs the airport $7.73 per passenger, compared to an average $10.20 per passenger cost at facilities of similar size. That overhead allows Myrtle Beach to stay competitive while making it more attractive for carriers to add routes to and from the Grand Strand.

Look for the addition of 400 spaces to the airports long-term parking lot as one of the next big items. Construction is also under way on several capital projects including upgraded security systems, improved taxiway lighting and a relocation of its helicopter operations.

Several airlines have added Myrtle Beach runs either seasonally or full-time

On April 22, officials said United was adding seasonal runs from Myrtle Beach to Chicago OHare and Washington Dulles National Airport.

Two days earlier, Avelo said it would offer travel from Myrtle Beach to Wilmington, Del., with introductory prices of $39 for a one-way ticket.

Deltas direct seasonal flights to Boston picked up again this month  a market that area tourism officials are targeting heavily for the spring and summer seasons. Delta accounts for roughly 10 percent of the airports total traffic.

Allegiant Air will begin a Myrtle Beach to Akron, Ohio run beginning June 1.
A former North Carolina deputy accused of planting heroin and other drugs on his ex-girlfriends new beau avoided jail time with a plea deal and will serve 24 months probation, a judge ruled Friday.

David Scott Burroughs was accused of abuse of law enforcement power and planting drugs in Ray Kifers car in Anson County. He was charged in April 2019 with making a false police report, obstructing justice, breaking and entering a motor vehicle and possession of heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine. A jury deemed him guilty only of obstruction of justice and possessing heroin.

Burroughs avoided what could have been up to 53 months in jail by agreeing to supervised probation, mandated anger management counseling and no contact with his ex-girlfriend or Kifer, as proposed by District Judge Stephan Futrel.

Burroughs appeared in court Friday alongside his attorneys, Leah Catherine Austin and Anna Goodwin. His ability to return home was the best Mothers Day gift, said his grandmother. She was one of seven family members present at the three-day-trial.

While the criminal case has been decided, Burroughs could again appear in court for a lingering civil lawsuit. In it, Burroughs romantic rival delves even deeper into an alleged illicit revenge scheme, claiming jealousy drove the deputy to do more than plant drugs.

The judge denied Burroughs lawyers motion to initially dismiss charges of breaking and entering a motor vehicle and possession of marijuana and heroin with intent to distribute. They argued officers never testified to identifying the substances, which could invalidate the charge. The state, represented by Matt Victory, argued Burroughs provided enough evidence when he admitted to planting the drugs in Ray Kifers car.

NC deputy found guilty

In rural Anson County, cellphones werent at all allowed past the courthouses marble staircase, which funneled in thirteen onlookers and jurors Friday. They sat spaced throughout Courtroom 1  the largest of the buildings two rooms. A green chalkboard sat tucked in the corner with faded chalk lines. Through the windows, steeples and water towers peeked above treetops about 50 miles southeast of Charlotte

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Before the judges gavel pierced the barren room, a group of onlookers whispered about how shameful the trial had been  of how corrupt the department had gotten. Courthouse staff rotated through the room, catching bits of witnesses testimonies and attorneys arguments.

Anson County Sheriff Landric Reid  who died in September 2022  said previously deputies received a tip about drugs in Kifers car days before a traffic stop led to his arrest. Those drugs were in the exact spot the tipster said they would be, Reid said.

That was a red flag because anyone selling drugs wouldnt have them Sunday to Wednesday in the same place, Reid said in 2021, according to WSOC.

As attorneys finished their closing statements Friday, at least eight officers lined the back of the courtroom.

I think theyre here for a free show, said Burroughs. They want to be able to say they got away with it.

Burroughs, along with his parents, grandparents and other family members, maintained the former deputy had been set up by a corrupt system. They blamed Reid, mostly.

This whole town is corrupt, Burroughs father said.

Next to the courthouse, at Olivers Hometown Restaurant & Bar, a group of four men eating lunch while the trial court took a recess agreed. Among them sat the mayor and county manager, who declined to comment on the case. But, Boogie Short agreed to talk.

Short, a 38-year-old forester who has lived in Wadesboro for 20 years, said he wasnt sure what he thought about the trial, but he sure wasnt surprised.

Planted drugs

The civil lawsuit Kifer filed against Burroughs and four other deputies details incidents not mentioned in his criminal trial.

It claims the deputy would cruise through his exs neighborhood and waltz into events he was not invited to. One night, according to the lawsuit, Burroughs threatened Kifer from his patrol car and later lurked outside his exs bedroom, recording sounds of her and Kifer in bed.

The harassment worsened when deputy David Spencer, a friend of Burroughs, closely trailed Kifers car as he drove his girlfriend to work, according to the complaint. On his way home, Spencer returned, this time with a siren and blue lights.

Spencer told Kifer he had been speeding and that he smelled marijuana inside the car, according to the lawsuit. Kifer said both allegations were untrue.

More deputies and a federal agent showed up, and Kifer was later handcuffed and put in a sheriffs office SUV, the lawsuit claims.

Once in the patrol vehicle, Kifer alleges deputies made a mysterious stop outside a nondescript building near a small airstrip on their way to the sheriffs office. He thought they were going to kill him, Kifer says in the lawsuit.

He was told, however, that a narcotics investigator had to pick up something. His lawsuit alleges the item being picked up were the drugs later used to frame him.

During the two-hour interrogation that followed, Kifer denied dealing drugs. According to the lawsuit, police said they would take Kifer to a magistrates office, where he would be formally charged. After deputies left him in a waiting room, where his father and stepmother soon joined him, Spencer and Beam came in and told Kifer his charges had been dropped and his car would be returned.

One month later, the State Bureau of Investigation told Kifer that Burroughs had planted the drugs in his car.

The pending lawsuit accuses all four involved deputies of constitutional violations, false arrest, unlawful seizure, gross negligence and intentional/reckless infliction of emotional distress. Kifer has requested a jury trial. If one occurs, it would take place in Charlotte.

The sheriffs department submitted a summary judgment asking the judge to throw the case a few months ago, according to Scott MacLatchie, who is representing Burroughs in the civil case.
Its going to be devastating for these people when theyre not able to access the care that they need, said Elizabeth Barber, senior policy counsel at the ACLU of North Carolina.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper vetoed what he called a dangerous abortion ban that infringes on the fundamental rights of pregnant women in the state.

In a statement before his veto, the Democrat told North Carolinians, Dont let this so called 12 week abortion ban fool you, adding that the bill would effectively ban access to reproductive freedom earlier and sometimes altogether for many women because of new restrictions and requirements.

Governor Roy Cooper, D-NC address the crowd during the Rally for Respect outside the North Carolina Legislative Building on May 16, 2018 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Sara D. Davis/Getty Images)

Gov. Cooper had called on both House and Senate Republicans to step up and do the right thing to stop this extreme bill from being enacted into law. Yet, his requests fell on deaf ears, leaving him to take matters into his own hands.

This Saturday he is holding a Veto Rally for Health Care Freedom in an effort to protect womens reproductive freedom.

Although many support the governors veto efforts, he is outnumbered. Republicans hold the majority in the General Assembly and state Senate and they have the authority to override his veto.

North Carolinas ban restricts abortions after 12 weeks and comes with a slew of restrictions such as requiring pregnant women to attend three in-person doctor appointments before an abortion procedure.

Critics say attending so many appointments before the 12-week limit is not feasible for some. The legislation also requires clinics to obtain a license as ambulatory surgical centers which is a long and costly process that could force several abortion clinics to close.

Elizabeth Barber, senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of North Carolina, told theGrio that if this ban is authorized, it will disproportionately impact vulnerable populations.

New York, USA  26 April 2021: American Civil Liberties Union ACLU logo close-up on website page, Illustrative Editorial

Marginalized communities already have significant barriers to accessing health care, Barber stated. Folks in all parts of the state. Folks who already have a hard time making ends meet. LGBTQIA people and people of color, will be impacted the most.

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This comes just weeks after North Dakota and Florida signed near-total abortions into law making it almost impossible for women to get abortions in those states.

Kara Gross, legislative director and senior policy counsel at the ACLU of Florida previously told theGrio that these bans are dangerous and that Black and Brown women will bear the burden.

These types of anti-abortion bans particularly target Black and Latinx people. They are hit hardest because of decades of racism and structural inequality within our health care system, she stated.

WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, UNITED STATES  2023/04/15: Activists holding abortion rights signs shout slogans during a rally. Abortion rights activists rallied outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC. (Photo by Probal Rashid/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Gross told theGrio that Black women are impacted even more than other races because if they are forced to carry a child to term they could face maternal mortality, which is an increased risk for Black women.

Barber told theGrio that Republican legislators back this controversial ban because it does not impact them.

It doesnt apply to their daughters. It doesnt apply to them. It doesnt apply to their wives, their sisters, their nieces, because they have resources and they will be able to get on a plane and go where they need to go to get the health care that they need, she asserted.

Not everyone is in a position of privilege to be able to do that, she argued.

If this abortion ban is signed into law, it will have crippling effects on marginalized communities in North Carolina and those in neighboring states that have more restrictive abortion bans in place.

More than 20 states have enacted near-total abortion bans following the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022. As a result, many pregnant women from nearby states have traveled to North Carolina to get abortions at later stages in their pregnancies.

If this bill is enacted into law, Barber told theGrio, pregnant women will have to travel to Virginia if they want to access abortion care, however this may not be feasible for Black and brown women.

They dont have access to childcare. They dont have paid sick leave. They dont have transportation. They dont have the funds to get to one of the nine counties in our state that has an abortion clinic, Barber informed.

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The post NC Gov. Roy Cooper vetoes states extreme abortion ban at weekend rally appeared first on TheGrio.
A North Carolina land appraiser pleaded guilty Friday to running a fraud scheme in Georgia that bilked taxpayers out of hundreds of millions of dollars, federal prosecutors in Atlanta said.

Shelby resident Walter Terry Douglas Roberts II inflated charitable contribution deductions based on bogus and way-too-high appraisal values of conservation easements, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

Roberts wasted no time launching the ruse after becoming a licensed appraiser in 2007, prosecutors said.

And it continued for more than a decade before he was finally caught in 2020, according to the Justice Department.

Roberts, who is free on bond, didnt return a call from The Charlotte Observer on Saturday.

Details of the scheme

According to prosecutors, Roberts admitted to inflating at least 18 conservation easements, some by at least 70%, prosecutors said. He manipulated data and lied on forms, according to the Justice Department.

Roberts claimed $467 million in total tax deductions on the 18 claims, stealing at least $129 million, court records show.

He conspired with others unnamed in court documents, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for Northern Georgia. Prosecutors didnt say if his alleged co-conspirators will be charged.

When hes sentenced Nov. 14, he faces five years in prison, prosecutors said in the release.

Roberts will have to pay the money back, prosecutors said.
James Boss and a friend wait in their tent on San Vicente Boulevard in Beverly Grove on Thursday waiting to be moved to a hotel room under Mayor Karen Bass' Inside Safe initiative. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

For the first time in years, Steven Styne has a roof over his head.

The 52-year-old has been homeless on and off since 2014, when he lost his apartment in West Hollywood. During the pandemic he tried to find housing for his mother and himself, but those plans fell through.

Then, a driver crashed into the SUV he had been living in and totaled it. Styne knew some friends were staying along San Vicente Boulevard, near the Beverly Center and a luxury complex developed by former mayoral candidate Rick Caruso. Styne started sleeping there in February.

On Wednesday, Mayor Karen Bass went to L.A.'s Beverly Grove neighborhood to speak to residents of the San Vicente encampment  located across the street from Beverly Hills  and to monitor the latest operation of her Inside Safe initiative, which is designed to move unhoused people off the streets and into motel and hotel rooms.

Tierra Signer, who said she has lived in a tent on San Vicente Boulevard for the last four months, waits Thursday to be moved into housing under Mayor Karen Bass' Inside Safe program. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

Styne accepted a spot at a motel room at 108th Street and Broadway. He already packed two small suitcases and two backpacks.

"I needed to get off the streets," he said. "Even though it's far away, I wanted to give it a shot. At least it's a door to lock and a shower. I can sit and I can concentrate again. It's hard to do that out here."

Inside Safe is part of Bass' effort to bring people indoors from their tents and to prevent the encampments from returning, according to a mayor's office news release. The program has brought more than 1,200 people indoors since it was launched in December.

By Thursday afternoon, sanitation workers hosed off one side of San Vicente where a row of tents once sat. On a grassy median strip on the other side of the street, a cluster of about four tents remained.

James Boss loads his belongings onto a bus on San Vicente Boulevard in Beverly Grove on his way to new housing under the Inside Safe program. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

Relocating residents of the San Vicente encampment is the mayor's 16th Inside Safe operation, and the second to be carried out in Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky's district, which includes a portion of the Westside.

Yaroslavsky acknowledged that all of the tents that made up the San Vicente encampment were on the Los Angeles side of the street. None were on the side that's in the city of Beverly Hills.

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Asked why that is, she said there is at least one reason: "We're providing housing."

"When you have disparities in terms of how cities are addressing a problem, you're going to have people naturally moving to one side [of the street]  or being told to move to one side," she added.

In a statement, Beverly Hills Mayor Julian A. Gold said all of the cities that make up the Westside are "doing their part to help those who are homeless."

"For its part, the city of Beverly Hills spends hundreds of thousands of dollars providing services including shelter to those who need it, a responsibility we take very seriously," he said.

San Vicente Boulevard was classified as a challenging encampment to both the people living in the tents and those who work and live nearby, according to Bass. It took her team months to find hotels that were affordable and would accept unhoused people.

Marie Carpenter waits for a bus on San Vicente Boulevard, where she's been living for two years. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

Some grassroots groups that provide aid to L.A.'s unhoused have been critical of Inside Safe, saying unhoused residents are not being provided sufficient social services  and at times meals  once they are moved into motel rooms. Those groups repeatedly criticized the city for moving homeless residents to locations that are far from the neighborhoods where they work or have social ties.

Bass acknowledged that the motels were far away from the camps, but stressed that her priority was getting them out of the tents.

Our goal is to house people near where they were camping and were not always able to do that, Bass said Thursday. Given that this is an emergency, from my perspective, we dont want to leave people on the street.

Even after the tents were cleared out, residents and nearby business owners expressed worry that the encampment would return.

Theyre concerned about that, and I understand because theyve seen tents come and go and theyve seen the number of tents, especially over the last few weeks, increase because people were aware that we were going to be housing folks, Bass said.

That would explain how at least 25 residents had been relocated from the San Vicente encampment as of Thursday, according to the mayor's office, when fewer than 20 people were living there before Inside Safe.

Mima Adams, 55, who runs Mima's Spiritual Shop on San Vicente Boulevard, said it started with one tent in June 2022 and grew to half a dozen more. Her business suffered for a year, she said, because people were afraid to come near the encampment.

I dont know how long theyre going to be able to keep them there, she said. I hope and pray its gonna be permanent housing for these people because it does break my heart to truly see them out there and the conditions they lived in as well.

Workers with the Inside Safe program speak to a woman living in an encampment on San Vicente Boulevard to offer to move her into housing. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

Styne returned to the encampment Thursday afternoon to watch over a friend's tent and make sure none of his things were thrown out.

"It's the stigma," Styne said. "They're saying we're chasing the customers away. There's some mental illness. Nobody's harmed anybody. Nobody's been in anybody's way. The worst case is some messiness."

Among the unhoused was James Boss, 30, who hauled his belongings onto a bus en route to a motel. Boss lived along San Vicente Boulevard since February. Before the bus drove off, he locked his bike and made plans to come back for it.

"I can't get a job out here," Boss said. "They don't want to hire somebody who's homeless, so that eliminates that barrier. I can finally create my own income and get myself into a better situation."

Marie Carpenter, who has been living in the encampment for two years, said her youngest son was killed last year while they were living on San Vicente. The 57-year-old has tried staying in shelters and other housing in the past, but didn't like being around people who use drugs.

Carpenter sat on the sidewalk and waited for her turn to get on the bus.

"I'm just tired," she said. "I don't want to be out here no more."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
(Bloomberg) -- California Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday rejected calls to further subsidize public-transit operators, while slashing funding for new rail projects as part of his revised 2023-24 budget proposal.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Facing a projected $32 billion budget deficit, Newsom is looking for ways to cut spending, including proposing a $2.2 billion reduction on transit infrastructure and no new funding for local public-transit providers.

The California Transit Association, a 220-member advocacy group, has requested $5.15 billion over the next five fiscal years from the state to help support agencies operating budgets.

I dont want to overpromise that were in a position to offset ongoing subsidies to transit agencies all across the state of California, Newsom said during a briefing in Sacramento.

Across the US, transit providers are struggling to recover from the pandemic as ridership remains low due to work from home policies. In San Francisco, ridership on the Bay Area rapid transit system is about 40% below pre-pandemic levels, while the Los Angeles metro system is at about 70% of 2019 levels.

Read More: Biggest US Transit Systems Face a $6.6 Billion Funding Shortfall

Both state and federal, post-pandemic ridership trends have resulted in significant operating challenges for many of the states transit agencies, particularly as federal relief dollars begin to run out, according to budget documents released on Friday. The administration welcomes discussion with the legislature on potential near- and long-term solutions to support the viability of transit across the state.

Several transit systems in the Golden State, such as the Bay Area Rapid Transit District, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which operates buses and cable cars in the city, and the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority, are forecasting funding shortfalls in the coming years.

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If we are making it so difficult for people to commute  people of all income levels  we really risk losing our workforce to other regions and states, Emily Loper, vice president of public policy at the Bay Area Council said by phone. That would have really dramatic impacts on the Bay Area economy which helps drive the state economy.

By contrast in New York, Governor Kathy Hochul gave the Metropolitan Transportation Authority a major bailout with a last-minute deal in April to raise the payroll tax on New York Citys largest businesses to bring in about $1.1 billion for the agency.

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Gov. Gavin Newsoms spokesperson has corrected the inaccurate framing of his comments earlier this week in response to approved recommendations by the states task force that studied the wrongdoings of slavery and other historical forms of discrimination against Black people.

It was reported Wednesday by Fox News that Newsom declined to endorse cash payments, which is a false narrative according to the Governors office.

Newsom had said in a media statement that dealing with the legacy of slavery is about much more than cash payments.

A spokesperson for Newsom clarified his comments in an email statement to The Bee.

The sensationalized framing in pieces published by outlets like Fox News and others is inaccurate. The Governor looks forward to reviewing the final report  and all recommendations  when complete.

Newsoms chief communication advisor, Anthony York said that Newsom is not backing away from cash payments, but wants to wait for the report in its entirety to arrive on his desk before he makes any decision.

York added that the cash payments matter will be resolved after Newsom meets with Legislative leaders in the coming months.

The task force has until their June 30 meeting to make final amendments to their recommendations.

What cash payments could be part of California reparations?

Californias administrative leader showed support for the state task force and their bipartisan effort to advance justice and promote healing in the state, potentially causing a ripple effect across the nation.

On May 6, Californias Reparations Task Force approved their recommendations which entail a formal apology, policy reform, legislation change, and other forms of restitution which includes cash payments.

Some of the possible estimated values of recommended reparations for Black Californians are:

 For health care disparities: $13,619 for each year of residency, based on 71-year life expectancy;

 For housing discrimination: $148,099 or $3,366 for each year between 1933 and 1977 spent as a resident of the state;

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 For mass incarceration and over policing: $115,260 or $2,352 for each year of residency in California during the 49-year period between 1971 and 2020.

Why reparations activists are focused on cash payments

Reparations activist, Chris Lodgson, told The Sacramento Bee during a phone interview that if its not direct compensation, its not reparations.

Im very confident that the Governor will recognize what a tremendous opportunity he has in front of him to directly pay the debt owed to the descendants of persons who were enslaved in the United States, Lodgson said.

In 2020, Newsom signed AB 3121, authored by then-Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego, to explore how California might compensate Black residents for harms caused by enslavement and racial injustice.

The bill put together a nine person committee to study the vestiges of slavery and injustice towards Black Californians. Newsom appointed 5 members, two members were appointed by the President pro Tempore of the Senate, and two members by the Speaker of the Assembly.

One task force member, Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, said that reparations is more than just a check in a statement to The Bee.

Reparations take many forms. Non-officeholding members of the Task Force and the Governor now look to the Legislature to see what types of reparations will be presented as a bill package based on the final report, Jones-Sawyer said.

Until then, many will continue to speculate and drive false narratives that are based upon assumptions.
Authorities and district officials immediately jumped into action when a school bus full of children disappeared for nearly an hour while en route to a New Jersey elementary school.

The bus was taking children to Mt. Horeb School in Warren Township Thursday morning but never made it to its destination, the district and police said in a statement.

School and district officials immediately begin working with the districts transportation vendor and the Warren Township Police Department to locate the bus, the statement read.

Mount Horeb School in Warren, N.J. (NBC New York)

The bus was found a short time later. District superintendent Matthew Mingle and Warren police chief William Keane said in the statement that the driver, who has not been identified, had suffered a medical emergency and became disoriented. The driver left Warren and pulled into a parking lot in Bridgewater, a township about 6 miles from the school.

While pulling into the parking lot, the driver struck a parked vehicle, according to the statement.

Bridgewater Police Chief John Mitzak told NBC New York that the 80-year-old bus driver hit the back of a flatbed trailer. The bus was found nearly an hour after it went missing, the news station reported.

Officers...saw that the driver was still trying to maneuver the bus. They got onto the bus, put the bus in park, moved the driver into another seat, and then they started escorting children off the bus, he said.

About 20 children, ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade, were on the bus, according to the chief. Mingle and Keane said none of the children were injured and were put on a new bus and taken to school.

This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
The North Carolina legislatures GOP supermajority, which has the power to override Gov. Roy Coopers veto, looms large.

The North Carolina legislatures GOP supermajority, which has the power to override Gov. Roy Coopers veto, looms large.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) vetoed a 12-week abortion ban on Saturday. But the state legislatures GOP supermajority, which has the power to override Coopers veto, looms large.

Cooper signed the veto at a rally in Raleigh, surrounded by physicians, fellow Democrats and other abortion-rights advocates.

Weve heard Republican legislators claiming this bill is a mainstream compromise, Cooper said to the crowd, with OB-GYNs among those joining him on the stage. Let me tell you what, mainstream bills dont get written in secret, kept under lock and key, introduced in the dark of night, kept from public input, protected from any amendments and then get rammed through in less than 48 hours.

After Republicans pushed the abortion ban through the legislature in just 48 hours, Cooper traveled to several swing districts on an aggressive press tour to defend his veto. The governor, who supports abortion rights, hosted a handful of roundtable discussions on reproductive health and the impacts that a 12-week abortion ban would have on North Carolinians.

If just one Republican follows his or her conscience, if just one Republican finds the courage, if just one Republican listens to doctors, if just one Republican is unafraid to stand up to the political bosses, if just one Republican keeps that promise made to the people, then we can stop this ban, Cooper said at the rally.

Republicans crafted the abortion ban behind closed doors, unveiling it earlier this month to the surprise of many voters in the state. Instead of introducing a new piece of legislation, Republican lawmakers quietly tucked the 46-page abortion restriction into an unrelated piece of legislation. The move allowed anti-abortion lawmakers to circumvent the committee process, where most public testimony is heard, and go straight to a vote.

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The ban passed through the state House (71-46) and Senate (29-20) less than 48 hours after Republicans introduced the legislation. Four lawmakers were absent for the votes; two Democrats and a Republican in the House, and one Republican in the Senate.

Cooper, who vetoed several anti-abortion bills in the past, is newly vulnerable since state Rep. Tricia Cotham switched parties and handed the GOP a critical veto-proof supermajority. Cotham had been an advocate for abortion rights throughout her tenure in the legislature, and earlier this year she co-sponsored a bill to codify abortion protections alongside who were then her fellow Democrats. She voted to pass the 12-week abortion ban.

Democrats only need one Republican in either the House or Senate to vote against the ban and sustain Coopers veto power.

Ted Davis, Michael Lee, John Bradford and Tricia Cotham promised to protect womens reproductive freedom. Theres still time for them to keep their promises, Cooper tweeted shortly after the legislature passed the ban.

Republicans keep saying they have the votes for a veto-proof supermajority. Its unclear what the two Republicans absent from the initial vote will do.

If the restriction does become law, it would have devastating effects in North Carolina and the surrounding area. The Tar Heel State has become a safe haven for abortion care since Roe v. Wade fell last year, after over a dozen Southern and Midwestern states enacted near-total abortion bans. The state has experienced a 37% increase in abortions since last June  the highest-percentage increase of any state.

The 12-week abortion ban has a slew of other restrictions, including requiring patients to go to two in-person trips to the clinic, a 72-hour waiting period and several restrictions on medication abortion.

The legislation also seeks to impose new licensing requirements on abortion clinics, which could lead to some shutting down. There are 14 abortion clinics in the state, meaning 91% of counties are without a clinic.

There are exceptions for rape and incest through 20 weeks of pregnancy and an exception for lethal fetal abnormalities through 24 weeks. The bill also includes an exception for the life of the pregnant person, and clarifies that the removal of an ectopic pregnancy is not defined as an elective abortion. The bill requires that any abortion performed after the 12-week point, under the exceptions, needs to be done in a hospital. Its worth noting that abortion ban exceptions often dont work in practice, and sometimes represent a strategy by anti-choice lawmakers to make an extreme bill look more reasonable.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Saturday vetoed a bill banning abortions after the first trimester, teeing up an override vote by the GOP supermajority legislature.

The Democrat decried the legislation, which he vetoed at a rally in downtown Raleigh, as a "complicated and confusing monster bill" that makes patients "navigate a wicked obstacle course just to get care."

"Standing in the way of progress right now is this Republican supermajority legislature that only took 48 hours to turn the clock back 50 years on women's health," Cooper said. "Lets be clear: This bill has nothing to do with making women safer and everything to do with banning abortion."

Republican lawmakers quickly introduced and passed the bill earlier this month over the complaints of Democrats, who argued they hadnt had enough time to debate the legislation.

Legislative leaders had, however, signaled for months they were trying to reach a compromise on new abortion restrictions, though it was unclear whether they would before the end of session.

After lawmakers approved the legislation, Cooper pledged to veto the bill, and called on four moderate Republicans to oppose an override, including one who was absent from the vote. He spent the last week traveling across the state to districts represented by those lawmakers, hoping to persuade them.

"If even just one Republican in either the House or the Senate keeps a campaign promise to protect womens reproductive health, we can stop this ban," Cooper said. "There are four legislators who made these promises, but I think there may be more who know in their hearts and minds that this is bad."

Caitlin Connors, southern regional director for SBA Pro-Life America, slammed Coopers veto as extreme.

"Its alarming that on Mothers Day weekend the leader of the purple state of North Carolina is using his political power to serve the financial interests of abortion executives, rather than to represent the consensus on late term abortions, establish paid parental leave for teachers and establish a game-changing amount of funding for childcare, Connors said in a statement.



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While 93 percent of abortions are performed during the first trimester of pregnancy, according to the CDC, abortion-rights advocates argue the legislation would impose unnecessary restrictions on access.

According to a Meredith College poll from February, 57 percent of North Carolina voters support either keeping the states 20-week limit or expanding access beyond that, while about 35 percent favor of new restrictions.

If approved, the law will reduce the time in which abortions can be performed from 20 weeks to 12 weeks, with exceptions for rape and incest, fatal fetal abnormalities and to save the life of the pregnant person. The bill, which takes effect July 1, would also require patients to have an in-person doctor's visit at least 72 hours before receiving an abortion.

The legislation also includes $160 million to support maternal and reproductive health, paid family leave and adoption.

It would be the least stringent law a GOP legislature has passed since Roe v. Wade fell last summer. Indiana and West Virginia enacted near-total abortion bans, and Florida and North Dakota enacted six-week abortion bans this spring. Utah also passed a law this year requiring abortions to be performed in hospitals, not clinics, which abortion-rights advocates argue is tantamount to a ban on the procedure.

Still, the bill will make it harder for not only North Carolinians but also for people across the South to access the procedure, as North Carolina has become a haven for abortion access since Roe was overturned last year. Nearly 5,000 more abortions were performed in the state in the six months after the court decision as the state absorbed some of the demand for the procedure from neighboring states, such as Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee, according to WeCount, an abortion tracking project sponsored by the Society of Family Planning.

South Carolina lawmakers may be poised to enact a new six-week ban on abortion, after a similar law was overturned by the state Supreme Court in January, and Floridas newly passed six-week law is poised to take effect pending the Florida Supreme Courts ruling in a separate case.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) vetoed legislation on Saturday that would establish a 12-week abortion ban in the state, potentially setting up the legislature for a battle to override it and make the ban law.

Cooper held a rally on Saturday with about 1,000 abortion-rights activists and voters in the capital city of Raleigh to veto the legislation, which passed both houses of the state legislature along party lines.

The extreme abortion ban has been vetoed, Cooper tweeted. Lets work to keep it that way.

Current state law bans most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, but the bill would mostly prohibit them after 12 weeks.

The legislation also include exceptions for instances of rape and incest up to 20 weeks and for fetal birth anomalies up to 24 weeks, as well as exceptions to save the life of the mother without any deadline.

Republicans in the state General Assembly until recently would have been unable to override a veto from Cooper if all members voted with their parties on the bill.

But that changed last month when state Rep. Tricia Cotham changed parties from Democrat to Republican to give the GOP a veto-proof supermajority in both houses. Cotham represents a Democratic-leaning district in the state House and has advocated for abortion rights in the past.

Lawmakers quickly moved to advance a new ban following Cothams switch.

The measure would significantly tighten abortion access in North Carolina but would still be less restrictive than the laws passed in most other southern states that have banned abortion either at six weeks or almost entirely.

Coopers office said in a release that Republicans are trying to present this bill as mainstream, but it would majorly reduce womens access to abortion and could cause womens health clinics in the state to close.

This bill will create dangerous interference with the doctor-patient relationship, leading to harm for pregnant women and their families, the governor said. With its medically unnecessary obstacles and restrictions, it will make abortion unavailable to many women, particularly those with lower incomes, those who live in rural areas, and those who already have limited access to health care.

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He noted that the legislation will ban abortion by medication, which is the most common method, after 10 weeks of pregnancy, require three in-person appointments days apart for those seeking a medical abortion and increase burdensome attestations that patients must complete before receiving reproductive health care.

Republicans have argued that the bill reaches a middle ground between differing state abortion laws. The bill was agreed upon after negotiations between Republicans in the state House and Senate.

Cooper had until Sunday to issue his veto. The legislature could begin voting to try to override it next week.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
North Carolinas Democratic governor has vetoed legislation that would have banned nearly all abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. The veto came Saturday during a public rally.

Hundreds of abortion-rights activists and voters watched on a plaza in Raleigh between the governors office and the Legislative Building as Gov. Roy Cooper affixed his veto stamp to the bill, which also places additional restrictions on physicians, abortion clinics and the women seeking the procedure.

ALSO READ: Gov. Cooper travels to Davidson defending veto on abortion bill

The veto launches a major test for leaders of the GOP-controlled General Assembly to attempt to override Coopers veto after they recently gained veto-proof majorities in both chambers. The bill was the Republican response to last years U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

Cooper, a strong abortion-rights supporter, had until Sunday night to act on the measure that would tighten current state law that bans most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

VIDEO: NC rep pushes back against Gov. Cooper over abortion bill




Todd Meyer

Olentangy Schools has picked the district's chief operations officer to be its next leader.

The selection of Todd Meyer, 55, as the new superintendent will become official once the school board approves his hiring at its meeting Monday.

Olentangy is a very special place, and I thank the Board of Education for entrusting me with the important mission of facilitating maximum learning for every student here at Olentangy," Meyer said in a statement. "I cant wait to get started."

Board President Kevin O'Brien said in a statement: Mr. Meyers depth and breadth of experience coupled with his passion for Olentangy were significant factors, and he has clearly demonstrated that he is ready to lead Olentangy. I am confident that he will foster continuity of the districts already impressive academic track record while also introducing fresh ideas."

As chief operations officer, Meyer oversees the district's human resources and transportation departments and the business and facilities group that includes custodial, maintenance, food service and building management.

He came to Olentangy in 2007 from Westerville City Schools to serve as principal of the new Olentangy Orange High School. He has 32 years in education.

Meyer will succeed Mark Raiff, who announced in January he would retire at the end of the 2022-23 school year.

Raiff served in the role for eight years. He first came to the district in 2003 as an assistant principal at Olentangy High School and also has been the principal at Liberty High School and chief academics officer for the district.

The other finalist for the job was Joseph Clark, superintendent of Nordonia Hills City Schools in Macedonia, in Summit County, and a professor at the American College of Education.

mawilliams@dispatch.com

@BizMarkWilliams

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Olentangy Schools superintendent search: District picks COO Todd Meyer
Like most 17-year-olds, Melody McFaddens life lay before her. It was the summer after her high school graduation, and she had earned a scholarship to attend the University of South Carolina, Columbia.

Then gun violence upended her family. McFaddens mother, a victim of domestic abuse, was shot in the head by her boyfriend after she attempted to escape the relationship. He was sentenced to 21 years for the killing and served 11.

Patricia Ann Geddis, Melody McFadden's mother.

Patricia Ann Geddis, Melody McFadden's mother.

McFaddens grandmother, who cleaned houses for a living, assumed care of her three younger sisters.

Here I was leaving home, and she was going to have now three more children to raise, McFadden told HuffPost. So we made an agreement: If I went into the military and had a paycheck, and she raised them, we could do this together. And thats what we did.

Instead of starting college classes, McFadden began her service with the armed forces. She was stationed in different parts of the U.S. as well as Germany and Belgium, and she earned her degree while providing financial and emotional support to her sisters as they grew up.

That has always been a place of pride for me, said McFadden. Even though this tragedy occurred, it didnt stop us from accomplishing the goals that we had set.

McFadden became a mother herself, as did her sisters. McFaddens children grew up alongside their cousin Sandy, her sisters daughter, as though they were siblings.

When she was 22, Sandy headed to South Carolinas Myrtle Beach with some friends to see a motorcycle parade. In front of her hotel, a fight broke out. Guns were drawn, and shots were fired into the crowd. As people tried to flee amid the commotion, Sandys friends lost track of her. Later that night, over the phone, McFadden helped the coroner identify Sandys body by a recent tattoo: a star on her thigh.

Sandy PaTrice Geddis Barnwell, McFadden's niece.

Sandy PaTrice Geddis Barnwell, McFadden's niece.

In her grief, McFadden became an activist. She is now a Moms Demand Action volunteer and a senior fellow with the Everytown Survivor Network, which connects gun violence survivors to each other and supports survivors who want to become advocates. McFadden regularly tells her story to call for increased gun control. She was among the onlookers at the White House when President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan gun safety bill into law in June. The legislation enhanced background checks and limited the ability of domestic abusers to purchase guns.

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High on the agenda for McFadden and other activists is a ban on assault-style weapons, something that Biden again urged Congress to pass this year in the wake of a school shooting in Tennessee.

Why An Assault-Style Weapons Ban?

Assault-style weapons, such as AR-15-style rifles, are semi-automatic guns designed to inflict the greatest possible damage in the shortest amount of time. The bullets shot from such a weapon travel with greater speed than bullets from a handgun, so wounds are more likely to be deadly. When paired with high-capacity magazines, as they often are in mass shootings, they allow a shooter to go through many rounds very quickly. They are not designed for hunting or self-defense, but to kill as many people as possible.

In a powerful video from the group Veterans for Gun Reform, men and women who have used the weapons in combat explain why they support a ban  just like McFadden does.

I know what those bullets will do to a brick wall when I fired at them as a target, so I also know what they will do to a human body, McFadden said. Those weapons should not be in the hands of a normal civilian person. Those are weapons of war.

According to the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety, between the years 2015 and 2022, 80% of mass shootings (in which four or more people were killed) involved an assault-style weapon.

At the moment, a handful of states, as well as Washington, D.C., have assault-style weapons bans.

This country has had a federal ban on these weapons before. The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, which prohibited the manufacture of assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines for civilian use, was signed into law in 1994 by then-President Bill Clinton and would sunset in 2004 without congressional action. Congress did not act, and the law expired.

Researchers found that the total number of deaths from mass shootings decreased when the law was in effect. After it expired, mass shooting deaths began a steady, sharp rise. The researchers calculated that a persons risk of dying in a mass shooting was 70% lower during the years that the ban was in force. The average number of deaths in mass shootings per year was then 5.3. Between 2004, when the ban expired, and 2017, the average number of deaths in mass shootings jumped to 25.

The polls show that a clear majority of Americans favor assault weapons bans, John Feinblatt, the president of Everytown for Gun Safety, told HuffPost. Under NRA [National Rifle Association] pressure, Congress let the ban lapse in 2004, and we see the fallout of their cowardice every time we get a news alert about another mass shooting perpetrated with weapons of war.

2023 is currently on track to become the deadliest year on record for mass killings. A database from The Associated Press and USA Today calculates that the country has averaged one mass killing per week so far this year.

While the majority of people killed by gun violence do not die in mass shootings, and a new federal ban would likely not impact weapons that people already own (and have been purchasing in record numbers), there is reason to believe that the ban would prevent a significant number of deaths. Researchers calculated that the assault-style weapons ban could have prevented 314 of the 448 mass shooting deaths that occurred between 1981 and 2017 if it had been in place that whole time.

Aldane (left) and Shaundelle Brooks hold a photo of Akilah Dasilva.

Aldane (left) and Shaundelle Brooks hold a photo of Akilah Dasilva.

A Reason To Carry On

Shaundelle Brooks understands what a semi-automatic rifle can do. In 2018, her sons were at a Waffle House in the Nashville area when someone opened fire with an AR-15-style rifle outside the restaurant. Her 23-year-old son, Akilah, was hit. His brother Abede, who was also there, initially thought that Akilah was going to live, given where the bullet went in. But it did too much damage to his body.

What I came to find out doing research was if he was shot with a regular gun where he was shot, he would have made it, Brooks told HuffPost. He couldnt survive it. And that was because it was an AR-15.

Akilah was a lyricist. He made music with his younger brother and infused it with positive, anti-violence messages.

Abede survived the shooting, but the trauma inflicted on him that day remains. He tries to be strong for us, said Brooks. But its a struggle for him on a daily basis.

Its hard for him to be in a crowd. Its hard for him to go to places. Its hard for him to sit down to eat.

Every time there is another mass shooting, Abede faces his trauma. These reminders are frequent and have touched close to home. His younger brother, Aldane, is in the 11th grade, and when the shooting at an area Christian school happened in March, his school went on lockdown.

Aldane has followed in his mothers footsteps to activism, and has even met with his governor to advocate for measures that might have saved his brothers life.

Were speaking on Akilahs behalf, said Brooks, [and] keeping his legacy alive.

Akilah wanted to live. He loved his family. He loved us. He would do anything for us, she said. I have to do everything I can to be strong and be his voice, because he lives through me.

Both Brooks and McFadden will be taking part in demonstrations Saturday  the day before Mothers Day  to demand that Congress reinstate the assault-style weapons ban.

Members of the public can contact their representatives to share their thoughts on the potential ban. Everytown also has a form that anyone can fill out on its website to send messages to those in Congress.

McFadden speaks at a gun control rally in Washington.

McFadden speaks at a gun control rally in Washington.

While no single gun control measure can prevent every act of violence, Brooks and McFadden believe that an assault-style weapons ban is a crucial place to start. They understand the value of every life saved for families and communities.

McFadden recalls a recent interaction. I spoke at a conference, and a gentleman came up to me afterwards and he said: So what if you save one life? What difference will it make? said McFadden.

And I held up a picture that I had displayed on the podium while I was speaking. And I said: This one person right here. She is my sisters only child and if she had come home, this one person, it would have made a difference to all of us, she continued.

Its just one bullet, but that one bullet is still reverberating and rippling out through my family.

Related...
BANGKOK (AP)  Thailands main opposition parties easily bested other contenders with virtually all the votes counted from Sundays general election, fulfilling many voters hopes that the balloting would serve as a pivotal chance for change nine years after incumbent Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha first came to power in a 2014 coup.

With 99% of the votes counted by early Monday morning, the junior opposition Move Forward Party had eked out a small edge over the favored Pheu Thai Party, whose leaders earlier in the night conceded they might not finish on top.

The winner of Sundays vote is not assured the right to form the new government. A joint session of the 500-seat House of Representatives will be held with the 250-member Senate in July to select the new prime minister, a process widely seen as undemocratic because the Senators were appointed by the military rather than elected but vote along with Sundays winning lawmakers.

Sundays voter turnout was about 39.5 million, or 75% of registered voters.

The maverick Move Forward Party captured just over 24% of the popular vote for the House of Representatives' 400 constituency seats and an almost 36% share of the vote for seats allocated in a separate nationwide ballot for the 100 members elected by proportional representation.

Pheu Thai Party lagged slightly behind with just over 23% for the constituency seats and about a 27% share for the party list.

The tally of constituency votes gave Move Forward 113 House seats and Pheu Thai 112, according to the Election Commission, which did not give a projection for party list seats.

Prayuths United Thai Nation Party held the fifth spot in the constituency vote with almost 9% of the total, but it placed third in the party-preference tally with close to 12%. Its constituency vote gave it 23 House seats.

The three parties were considered before the vote to the most likely to head a new government. Paetongtarn Shinawatra, 36-year-old daughter of the former billionaire populist Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, had been favored in opinion polls to be chosen the countrys next leader.

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Move Forwards leader, 42-year=old businessman Pita Limjaroenrat, now seems as likely a prospect.

Prayuth had been blamed for a stuttering economy, shortcomings in addressing the pandemic and thwarting democratic reforms, a particular sore point with younger voters.

The returns were a good sign for democratization, said Saowanee T. Alexander, a professor at Ubon Ratchathani University in northeastern Thailand.

This is people saying that we want change ... They are saying that they could no longer take it. The people are very frustrated. They want change, and they could achieve it, she said.

Move Forward outperformed even optimistic projections, and the party appeared poised to capture all, or almost all, 33 House seats in the capital Bangkok.

Along with Pheu Thai, it campaigned for reform of the military and the monarchy. But Move Forward put those issues closer to the heart of its platform, earning a more radical reputation.

Its outspoken support for minor reforms of the monarchy, while winning younger voters, antagonized conservatives to whom the royal institution is sacrosanct.

Pheu Thai is the latest in a string of parties linked to former Prime Minister Thaksin, who was ousted as prime minister by an army coup in 2006. Pheu Thai candidate Paetongtarn is his daughter. The government of her aunt, Yingluck Shinawatra, who became prime minister in 2011, was toppled in the coup led by Prayuth.

Pheu Thai won the most seats in the last election in 2019, but its archrival, the military-backed Palang Pracharath Party, succeeded in cobbling together a coalition with Prayuth as prime minister. It relied on unanimous support from the Senate, whose members were appointed by the military government after Prayuths coup and share its conservative outlook.

Ubon Universitys Alexander cautioned that the current situation remains very unpredictable, and that the Election Commission could unilaterally affect the results. In the past, it has used its authority to disqualify opposition parties or otherwise cripple challenges to the conservative establishment.

Move Forward's Pita would be a possible target for what the opposition, from bitter experience, calls dirty tricks. A candidate from the military-backed Palang Pracharath Party last week filed a complaint with the Election Commission and the National Anti-Corruption Commission, charging that Pita had failed to list a stock shareholding on a statutory declaration of his assets. Pita denied any wrongdoing, and the accusation hinges on a minor technical point.

However, the leader of the Future Forward Party, the forerunner of Move Forward, lost his seat in Parliament on similar technical grounds, and his party ended up being dissolved. It had also been seen as a radical challenge to the military-backed royalist establishment.

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Associated Press writer Jintamas Saksornchai contributed to this report.
JACKSON, Miss.  A federal judge Friday temporarily blocked the appointment of four state court judges in the majority-Black county that is home to Mississippi's capital city  appointments that drew protests from local residents who said white state officials were stomping on civil rights.

U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate issued the temporary restraining order at the request of the NAACP, and he set a May 22 hearing to consider extending the order.

The national civil rights organization, its Mississippi chapter and its local chapter in Jackson filed a federal lawsuit April 21, hours after Gov. Tate Reeves signed laws to expand state policing in the capital city of Jackson, establish a court with an appointed judge and authorize four appointed judges to work alongside the four elected circuit court judges in Hinds County.

Members of the majority-white and Republican-led Legislature who pushed for the changes said they were trying to curb crime in Jackson. Local residents protested that state officials were usurping power in Jackson and Hinds County, which are majority-Black and governed by Democrats.

People protest against House Bill 1020 outside the Mississippi Capitol on Jan. 31, 2023, in Jackson, Miss. The bill, which was signed into law by Republican Gov. Tate Reeves on Friday, April 21, 2023, expands the territory for a state-run police department inside the capital city of Jackson and creates a new court in the Capitol Complex Improvement District in part of the city.

Under one of the laws, Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike Randolph was supposed to appoint four circuit judges by this week to serve until the end of 2026  most of the current four-year term.

Thanks to an emergency motion we filed last last night, Chief Justice Randolph cannot begin any undemocratic court packing in Jackson until NAACP v. Reeves moves forward, the national NAACP posted Friday on Twitter. We are prepared to fight for our freedom.

Another lawsuit that challenges the new laws is pending in Hinds County Chancery Court. Three Jackson residents who are plaintiffs in that lawsuit testified Wednesday that having appointed rather than elected judges would rob them of equal rights because the state constitution requires the election of most judges.

Hinds County Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas was considering a request for a temporary restraining order similar to the one Wingate issued in federal court.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Order temporarily blocks MS HB 1020 in Jackson MS, Hinds County
Two weeks after his first bout in custody, the owner of a Beaufort County ductwork company faces a second charge of criminal sexual conduct with a minor for another alleged incident with the same young victim, according to the Bluffton Police Department and Beaufort County Sheriffs Office.

Christopher Ray Donelson, 52, of Bluffton, was charged Friday morning with third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor  the mans second accusation of child sexual abuse in two weeks.

Sheriffs Office investigators have accused Donelson of sexually abusing a young girl several years ago, according to Sheriffs Office spokesperson Maj. Angela Viens. Both charges involve the same victim.

The mans first charge, coming April 28 from the Bluffton Police Department, claimed he inappropriately touched the girl for a period spanning six years, beginning when she was 7.

Donelson turned himself in Friday morning after learning of the new arrest warrant, Viens said.

The Bluffton businessmans first charge came after the Department of Social Services received an anonymous tip detailing the allegations, which were confirmed by the victim during a forensic interview with the young girl. He turned himself in for this charge as well, according to previous reporting.

Bluffton polices investigation revealed additional alleged sexual abuse that eventually led to Donelsons second charge. Because the reported incident occurred outside of the towns jurisdiction, the case was handed to county deputies.

Donelson, who moved to Bluffton in 2008, is the owner of Air Duct Southeast LLC (formerly Air Duct Dr LLC), which specializes in air duct and dryer vent cleaning services in Beaufort County and Savannah. The businessmans public LinkedIn profile also names him as owner of local solar power and food delivery services.

Second- and third-degree classifications of criminal sexual conduct with children are both felonies, with second-degree counts involving sexual coercion specifically from people with authority over the child. A conviction for the second-degree offense is punishable by up to 20 years in prison under South Carolina law.

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Donelson was released Friday afternoon on a $2,000 surety bond from the Beaufort County Detention Center, records show.

If you or someone you know has been affected by abuse, help can be found by calling Hopeful Horizons 24-hour Support Line at 843-770-1070.

When we publish mugshots

The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette publishes police booking photos, or mugshots, in the following instances:

In situations where a public figure or someone in a position of public trust is arrested

In cases where there is an immediate and widespread threat to public safety

In cases where the arrested person is accused of a crime reporters have evidence to believe involved numerous, unknown victims

Reporters will avoid using mugshots as lead images for online articles in order to limit their circulation on social media, except in cases where the public is served by the immediate identification of the accused. Reporters and editors may use discretion in situations that dont meet the criteria outlined in this policy but still present a compelling reason to publish a mugshot.
White House senior counsel Paige Herwig, who has been a driving force behind President Joe Bidens success in diversifying the nations federal courts, is leaving her post.

Herwig is headed to another role in the administration, HuffPost has learned. She will be making the move in the next several weeks.

Herwig has been in the counsels office since day one of Bidens presidency, making her the longest-serving team leader there. Shes a big reason why Bidens judicial nominations are among his signature accomplishments. Shes been overseeing the White Houses aggressive strategy for selecting, nominating and confirming his judges.

The president has confirmed 126 people to lifetime federal judgeships during his tenure, which is more than his three predecessors  Donald Trump (104), Barack Obama (83) and George W. Bush (124)  had confirmed by this point in their presidencies.

This includes 93 district court judges, 32 appeals court judges and one Supreme Court justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Paige is a phenomenal lawyer, leader, and person, who led the nominations team in Counsels Office with the utmost grace and skill, said former White House counsel Dana Remus, who served with Herwig for most of her tenure.

Beyond sheer numbers, Biden has infused badly needed diversity onto the nations mostly white, mostly male federal bench. Sixty-six percent of his nominees are women, and 70% of the judges who have been confirmed are women. Sixty-five percent of his nominees are people of color, and 64% of the judges that have been confirmed are people of color.

Paige is the unsung hero of one of the administrations most critical achievements  appointing a record number of federal judges with record diversity by race and gender and professional experience, said former White House chief of staff Ron Klain, who also served with Herwig for most of her tenure. None of this would have happened without Paiges legal acumen and legislative savvy.

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Herwigs legwork has also led to a number of historic firsts in terms of who Biden has put onto the courts. These include the first Muslim American federal judge, the first two openly LGBTQ women to serve as U.S. circuit court judges, a spike in Hispanic and Asian American representation on the courts, and 12 Black women being confirmed as circuit court judges  more than all past presidents combined.

Thats in addition to Biden confirming a record number of public defenders to circuit court seats, a shift from the more traditional corporate lawyers tapped for these jobs.

When the history books are written, Biden will get credit for putting these people into lifetime seats on the federal bench. Democrats may get a footnote for confirming them in the Senate. Herwig probably wont be mentioned at all. But shes been leading the behind-the-scenes work of picking and vetting all of them in the first place, and lining up public support for these people so theyll have a (hopefully) smooth path ahead in the Senate from the moment the president makes their nominations official.

Paige is equal parts brilliant and relentless, said White House chief of staff Jeff Zients.

From day one of the Biden-Harris transition, Paige crafted an aggressive strategy to confirm the most diverse and impressive judicial nominees in history, he continued, referring to Vice President Kamala Harris.

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson gives remarks at the White House after being confirmed to her historic seat in 2022. She gave a shoutout to Paige Herwig, who helped navigate her nomination to Senate confirmation.

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson gives remarks at the White House after being confirmed to her historic seat in 2022. She gave a shoutout to Paige Herwig, who helped navigate her nomination to Senate confirmation.

Progressives hailed Biden when he tapped Herwig for the role in January 2021, namely because she is one of them and they know Herwig from her previous jobs.

In addition to serving on the Biden-Harris transition team, Herwig was chief nominations counsel for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) when she was the Senate Judiciary Committees ranking member. Herwig was also counselor to former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and special assistant to Obama, focused on judicial nominations.

Prior to those jobs, Herwig was chief of staff and senior counsel at the Justice Departments Office of Legal Policy during the Obama administration. She also served as deputy chief counsel for Demand Justice, a progressive judicial advocacy group.

When Biden unveiled his first, much-anticipated batch of judicial nominations in March 2021, Herwig and her team were the ones who spent months pulling that group together. The batch included the highest number of Black female circuit court nominees ever put forward at once (three), and a mix of professionally and demographically diverse picks from New Jersey, Maryland, Colorado and New Mexico.

Herwig was also key in ushering Jacksons Supreme Court nomination through the Senate in 2022. She sat in the Senate balcony during the confirmation vote, and when Jackson made remarks on the White House South Lawn a few days later, she gave a specific shoutout to Herwig.

I am ... particularly grateful for the awe-inspiring leadership of White House Counsel Dana Remus. Of Paige Herwig, Jackson said to applause. Where is Paige?

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is under pressure from progressive groups to drop the so-called blue slip rule, which Republicans have been using to essentially sink Joe Biden's judicial nominees in the committee.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is under pressure from progressive groups to drop the so-called blue slip rule, which Republicans have been using to essentially sink Joe Biden's judicial nominees in the committee.

Herwigs departure comes at a pivotal moment for Bidens judicial nominations.

The White House has spent the past two years focused largely on filling court vacancies in states led by Democratic senators, which has made it easier to select and confirm nominees supported by everyone. But now, with vacancies building up in states led by Republican senators, its not as simple to nominate people who everyone can agree on. Some GOP senators may not want to help the White House pick anyone, hoping to hold out for a future Republican president who will go with more conservative candidates.

Beyond that, Republicans have been taking advantage of a courtesy in the Senate Judiciary Committee to block Bidens court picks. The courtesy, known as the blue slip rule, asks that a senator turn in a blue slip of paper as a show of support for advancing a judicial nominee from that senators home state. If both of a nominees home-state senators turn in their blue slips, they get a hearing. If only one turns in a blue slip, or neither does, the nominee doesnt get a hearing.

Republicans havent been turning in blue slips for many of Bidens court picks, effectively killing their nominations. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the chair of the committee, noted in a recent hearing that Democrats had turned in 110 blue slips during the Trump administration. So far in the Biden administration, Republicans have signed 17.

Some Republicans appear to be refusing to work with the White House at all to fill court vacancies in their states. A recent letter from progressive groups to Durbin indicates that out of 45 current district court vacancies subject to GOP blue slips, 41 dont have nominees in the queue.

Its on Durbin to decide whether to keep the blue slip rule in place. Progressive groups have been pressuring him to drop it so Bidens court picks can get moving again, but so far hes held firm in keeping the tradition. The White House counsels office doesnt have any control over this, and its not about to pressure Durbin to drop the blue slip rule. But the logjam certainly puts pressure on the White House to cut deals with GOP senators so judicial nominees from their states will have their support from the start, versus nominating people that Republicans may not like and watching them get jammed in the committee.

The White House counsels office will have to navigate all of these dynamics without Herwig. White House counsel Stuart Delery said her absence will be felt.

Paiges deep experience and knowledge of the nominations process has been a driving force behind the Presidents historic record and breadth of judicial confirmations, Delery said in a statement. Her commitment to ensuring that our federal bench contains highly qualified candidates who reflect the diversity of the country has been an incredible asset to the White House. She will be greatly missed.
Justin Tkatchenko was one of the Papua New Guinea delegates who went to London for King Charles III's coronation

Papua New Guinea's foreign minister has quit after a controversy over spending on the country's official delegation at King Charles III's coronation.

Justin Tkatchenko travelled with his daughter Savannah, who posted a TikTok showing her first-class plane journey and shopping spree in Singapore.

On Wednesday, he branded her critics "primitive animals".

Mr Tkatchenko's comments sparked protests in the capital Port Moresby on Friday outside Parliament House.

Papua New Guinea is a Commonwealth nation in the Pacific which has King Charles as its head of state.

In a statement on Friday, Mr Tkatchenko said he "stood aside" after consulting with Prime Minister James Marape.

He added that he wanted to ensure recent events did not interfere with upcoming official visits by US President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"I also want to ensure the truth of this matter is cleared and the misinformation and lies are corrected," he said.

Mr Tkatchenko and his daughter were criticised for travelling with at least 10 officials to see the coronation of King Charles, at a cost of almost $900,000, according to local newspaper Post-Courier.

Government spokesman Bill Toraso confirmed to the Reuters news agency 10 of its staff had travelled to London, alongside 10 guests.

In the since-deleted video, Savannah filmed her visit to luxury fashion stores in Singapore and her meal in the "stunning" first-class lounge on her way to London.

This prompted anger in Papua New Guinea, where some argued that public money would have been better spent on basic services.

Mr Tkatchenko blasted his daughter's critics in an interview with Australia's ABC.

"She's absolutely traumatised by these primitive animals," he said. "I call them primitive animals because they are."

"Jealousy is a curse. And, you know, these people clearly show that they have got nothing to do in their lives other than to put down people that want to do something good for their country."

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He later apologised about his comments, which he said had been "taken the completely wrong way".

He added they were targeted only at individuals who had made "disgusting and vile comments" about his daughter, including "sexual and violent" threats.

Prime Minister James Marape asked Papua New Guineans to accept Mr Tkatchenko's apology, saying in a statement he too had been offended by the remarks.

Mr Tkatchenko's resignation comes ahead of Mr Modi's two-day visit to Papua New Guinea starting on 21 May, which will coincide with Mr Biden's trip the following day.

The White House has confirmed President Biden will stopover in Port Moresby after travelling from the G7 Leaders' Summit in Japan.
Nicolai Bogdan Lungan was jailed for three years at Canterbury Crown Court. (SWNS)

A people smuggler who bolted four Vietnamese teenagers into a coffin-like space in the roof of his van has been jailed.

Nicolai Bogdan Lungan, 32, accepted an offer of 6,000 (5,200) to drive a van containing hidden migrants from Belgium into the UK.

He travelled by ferry from Dunkirk to Dover in February with four 17-year-old children bolted shut inside his Renault Master.

When the Romanian arrived at the Kent port, Border Force officers noticed the roof above the driver was unusually hot and covered with padded material.

The coffin-like hide in the van's roof where migrants were smuggled into Dover. (SWNS)

They quickly stopped him and removed the material, revealing a hatch in the van roof which led to a compartment where they found the teens.

The migrants were lying on bare metal in the cramped and insufficiently ventilated roof hatch, bolted shut using power tools.

The children had no way of escaping from the hide without assistance.

When questioned by officers, Lungan claimed he was travelling to Glasgow to collect furniture that he intended to return to Romania to open a barbershop.

He was jailed for three years at Canterbury Crown Court for assisting unlawful immigration into the UK.

The hatch to the hidden compartment. (SWNS)

Chris Foster, deputy director for the Home Offices Criminal and Financial Investigations, said the migrants were kept in atrocious conditions.

He said: I hope this sentencing sends a powerful message that breaking the law and putting individuals lives at risk will not go unpunished.

My team work tirelessly to disrupt this type of illegal activity and we will continue to take action against those who put peoples lives in danger for the sake of making money.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick added: These criminal and life-threatening attempts to smuggle people, including children, into the UK in these incredibly tight, coffin-like spaces are utterly abhorrent and we will not stand for it.

I would like to praise our immigration enforcement officers who are working around the clock to prevent this activity and to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Last year ten people were sentenced after 39 Vietnamese men, women and children were found dead in the trailer of a lorry near the Dartford Crossing.
people visit the memorial set up near the Allen Premium Outlets mall. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

When former police officer Stephen Spainhouer rushed to the scene of a mass shooting at an Allen, Texas, outlet mall last week, he came upon a battlefield. Bloody, torn bodies were scattered on the ground next to the dead killer and his assault rifle. A little girl seemed to be hiding next to a bush, but when Spainhouer turned her over, "she had no face." He tried performing CPR on other victims, but "the injuries were so severe there was nothing I could do." Hours later, cellphone images of the disfigured dead began circulating on Twitter. No mainstream publication, including this one, would publish such photos, for many reasons: the need for family consent; preserving the dignity of the dead; the sensibilities of readers. But by not showing what mass shooters do to human beings, do we make it easier to be numbed to the slaughter? If Americans were repeatedly exposed to images of children with their faces blown off, would they still accept that "nothing can be done?"

Images have great power; they can reach into hearts and minds in a way words often do not. When Emmett Till's mother allowed publication of photos of her late son's mutilated face in 1955, the revulsion galvanized the civil rights movement. Other photos have also marked turning points in history: the 1972 image of a naked, 9-year-old Vietnamese girl burned by U.S. napalm; the 2004 photos of Iraqis humiliated and tortured by U.S. soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison; the video of a police officer with his knee on the neck of a pleading, dying George Floyd. What if we'd seen what an assault rifle did to the 20 first-graders and six adults in Newtown? (Some of their bodies had to be identified by DNA.) Or the 19 kids and two teachers methodically executed in Uvalde? Or the 26 churchgoers massacred in the pews at Sutherland Springs? Would their gruesome deaths still be written off as the regrettable but necessary price of "freedom"?

Story continues

This is the editor's letter in the current issue of The Week magazine.

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Piers Morgan has hit out at Alex Beresford two years after their on-air fallout on Good Morning Britain.

In 2021, GMB viewers were left stunned when then-GMB presenter Morgan stormed off the shows set after he was criticised for his treatment of Megan Markle.

During the episode in question, Beresford called out Morgans dismissal of Markles claims that she had contemplated suicide due to the treatment at the hands of the British press.

Beresford accused Morgan of being eager to trash Markle, prompting Morgan to storm off the set in a move that Beresford called diabolical. Morgan later returned to the set.

Later that day, it was confirmed that the broadcaster was exiting the ITV morning show after six years.

In a new BBC interview with Amol Rajan, Morgan made it clear he still holds a grudge towards his former co-star.

I dont mind a guest doing that but I do object to someone who had asked to come on the show, who was on the team, who then makes a very personal attack on me, he told Rajan.

Morgan, 58, went on to recall his thinking in the moment, stating: I thought there are two things that are going to happen here. Either Im going to lose my rag and do something I regret  or Im going to go and walk off.

(ITV)

I dont like to think about what I would have done. I was certainly looking at him thinking, Yeah, I better leave the room.

The broadcaster added: Just for the record, I think he was a treacherous little p****. So he can say what he likes about me. He absolutely has a right to his opinion. That is my opinion about him.

The Independent has contacted a representative of Beresfords for comment.

The former Good Morning Britain host dismissed haters while plugging his latest book (PA)

In an interview with Tucker Carlson given a month after the incident, Morgan accused Beresford of orchestrating a premeditated attack on him during the episode.

At the time, Morgan was largely criticised by viewers for his decision to walk off set during the debate.

I think middle-aged egomaniac Piers Morgan has gotten too comfortable with zoom-interviews and cant handle face to face criticism, tweeted one viewer. Round of applause for Alex Beresford.

Morgan appeared to initially regret his response, agreeing with one viewer who called him a snowflake.

He wrote: I was annoyed, went for a little cool-down and came back to finish the discussion.
Paramedics with Pittsburgh EMS rescued six newborn kittens.

According to a Facebook post, a woman was calling for help outside of the station in Marshall-Shadeland on Tuesday. When paramedics got to the door, the woman showed them a box full of newborn kittens.

The kittens had their umbilical cords wrapped around their necks and couldnt move or breathe. Two of them had placenta covering their airways.

Two paramedics grabbed equipment and were able to cut all of the cords, and saved the litter.

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TRENDING NOW:

Body found along shoreline of Neville Chemical Company identified as man missing since March Man who was allegedly covered in blood, barefoot while knocking on doors in Eighty Four arrested TRAIN DERAILMENT: 9 Norfolk Southern cars derail in New Castle VIDEO: Body found along shoreline of Neville Chemical Company DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts
7:38 P.M. UPDATE:

The six missing Haverhill siblings have been located, according to Massachusetts State Police.

MSP thanked all that shared the missing persons bulletin.

UPDATEHaverhill Police have located all six children who were the subject of the earlier missing persons bulletin. Thank you to all who read and shared.  Mass State Police (@MassStatePolice) May 13, 2023

ORIGINAL STORY BELOW

State and local police are turning to the public for help tracking down six young siblings.

Investigators have been looking for the six missing Haverhill kids after responding to their house for a report of child abuse on May 10, according to Massachusetts State Police. Haverhill police received a call from a child inside the house saying that her mother and stepfather abused her and her six siblings.

The location of the six youngest children is not currently known but investigators believe they may be in the Randolph area.

MSP says the parents and family have been uncooperative in the search for the kids.

The six missing kids are as follows:

Omnisty Great, male, 7 months;

Cyper Great, male, 11 months;

Cyphaya Great, female, 3-years-old ;

Journea Great, female, 5-years-old;

Odyessea Great, female, 6-years-old;

Jatari Baker-Wooden, male, 9-years-old.

Anyone with information about the family or the children is asked to contact Haverhill Police Detective Conor Clark at 978-722-1566.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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A Pittsburgh man is wanted on sexual assault charges.

According to Allegheny County police, Raymond Covington, 37, is accused of drugging and raping someone in Ingram in February.

Police said that officers were called to the 100 block of West Prospect Avenue on Feb. 3 for the alleged assault.

Covington was not there when first responders arrived. Investigation showed that Covington was responsible for the assault.

An arrest warrant was issued on Feb. 3.

Detectives are still looking for Covington and are asking for the publics help. He has brown eyes, black hair, weighs 200 pounds and is 5 feet 9 inches tall.

If you see him, police say not to approach him and to call 911.

He is charged with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault and simple assault.

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TRENDING NOW:

Body found along shoreline of Neville Chemical Company identified as man missing since March Man who was allegedly covered in blood, barefoot while knocking on doors in Eighty Four arrested TRAIN DERAILMENT: 9 Norfolk Southern cars derail in New Castle VIDEO: Body found along shoreline of Neville Chemical Company DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts
A woman was arrested Friday evening after a loaded gun was found at a Miamisburg hospital.

Around 10:30 p.m. Miamisburg officers were called to Kettering Health Miamisburg for a code silver, according to a spokesperson for Miamisburg Police Department.

A code silver means there is someone with a weapon within the vicinity, according to Ohio Health Care Association.

A loaded gun was allegedly found in a womans car, according to police.

>> Elderly woman rescued from house fire in Springfield

Miamisburg police and Kettering Health Miamisburg security were able to secure the situation and the woman was taken into custody, according to a spokesperson for Kettering Health.

The spokesperson said services were not disrupted and no one was injured.

Police said official charges have not yet been filed against the woman.

We are working to learn the identity of the woman taken into custody and the charges she faces.

We will update this story as we get new information.




LIVERPOOL, England  In the birthplace of The Beatles, another beloved pop music institution is being hosted  the Eurovision Song Contest.

And Liverpool in northern England is ablaze with the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag after the city stepped in to hold the glitzy international music competition in place of Kyiv, which continues to suffer near daily bombardment almost 15 months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion.

Wherever you look, you can see Ukraine colors, Angie Desmond, who was decked out in British flags, told NBC News on Wednesday as she lined up to watch a dress rehearsal of the second semifinal.

Angie Desmond (right) and Sonia Chester in Liverpool earlier this week. (Andrew Jones / NBC News)

Desmond, a 56-year-old secretary, added that she thought the local community had done a fantastic job of embracing Ukrainian culture. Everybodys jumped on it, she said.

Founded in 1956 to help unite a continent scarred by World War II, Eurovision has grown to include 37 countries, including non-European nations such as Israel and Australia.

The European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision, strives to keep pop and politics apart  banning overtly political symbols and lyrics  but global tensions have often imposed themselves on the contest.

Ukraine won the contest in 2016 with a song about the expulsion of Crimean Tatars by the then-Soviet Unions forces in the 1940s. Coming on the heels of the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, the song proved controversial.

The countrys Kalush Orchestra, a folk-rap ensemble, won last years contest, so Ukraine would normally have hosted this years competition.

But organizers decided Kyiv was not safe enough to host, so the United Kingdom, whose Sam Ryder came second last year, stepped in.

And the beleaguered Eastern European country selected Tvorchi, an electro pop-duo, in a live television program filmed in a metro station below Kyiv to avoid any disruption from the war.

Ukraine Eurovision Song Contest (Martin Meissner / AP)

Although its taking place on British soil, there has been a concerted effort to make sure Ukrainian elements are noticeable throughout.

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One of the hosts, Julia Sanina, is Ukrainian and scenic shots of her homeland will feature prominently throughout Saturdays Grand Final.

The really interesting thing for us creatively was the relationship with Ukraine, Claire McColgan, Liverpools director of culture, said in an interview Wednesday, adding that the city had sought advice from Ukrainians on which artists to commission and advice on how to get the tone right.

She said that she hoped the art and culture on display in the city would enable people to cry at something and see something thats really beautiful and moving and shocking, but then turn a corner and laugh at something thats just really joyful.

Throughout Liverpool, bars and nightclubs have become temporarily Eurovision-themed sites, hoping to draw in fans who want to discuss their favorite entries and debate who will win.

Some have hosted performances by current and past acts and the playlists have been on heavy Eurovision rotation.

Longtime attendees wear T-shirts from past contests, while others dress up as their favorite acts. This year, one fan club chartered a train from London to Liverpool for die-hard supporters who blasted their favorite songs on the 2-hour journey north from Britains capital.

Liverpool supersizes everything, McColgan said. You know, its quite a big party city.

Ukraine, as the previous winner, automatically progressed to the final, along with the big five, comprising the U.K., France, Germany, Spain and Italy who get a free pass because of the financial contributions they make towards the competition.

Another 31 competed in two semifinals Tuesday and Thursday with 10 from each going through to the final.

Eurovision Song Contest Semi-Final 2 Takes Place In Liverpool (Christopher Furlong / Getty Images)

The winner every year is decided by a combination of votes by the public in each participating country and national juries of music experts.

One country not invited is Russia, long a powerhouse in Eurovision until it was kicked out of the competition last year after the invasion.

Tensions with Ukraine have, however, been evident for years. Russian acts were booed after lawmakers passed legislation known as the gay propaganda law in 2013, that has been used to stop gay pride marches, detain gay rights activists and effectively outlaw any public expression of LGBTQ behavior in Russia. They were also given a hostile reception after Russia annexed Crimea.

Anna Yatskiv Vasylyshyn, who fled to Britain from Ukraine with her two teenage daughters after the Russian invasion, said the contest was a moment to celebrate.

John Elliot stands next to Anna Yatskiv Vasylyshyn who he took in with her teenage daughters after they fled Ukraine. (Andrew Jones / NBC News)

Carrying Ukrainian flags, she said she had traveled to Liverpool from the nearby town of Blackpool, with John Elliot, a retired 72-year-old who hosts her family.

The contest, she said, was very big for Ukraine because it allowed her country to have a moment on the world stage. She added that she was very happy that Im Ukrainian too and that I have this chance, thanks to England to be here.

Alongside the seriousness is some silliness. Among the favorites is Finlands Kaarija, whose song Cha Cha Cha is about leaving the worries of the work week behind and hitting the dance floor.

Austrias entry Who The Hell Is Edgar? by Teya & Salena, is about being possessed by the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe and has racked up millions of views on social media.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Princess Dianas brother, Earl Charles Spencer, is keeping the memory of his late sister close to his heart.

Spencer took royal fans inside Princess Dianas childhood home, Althrop House, in his latest social media post.

"Rhododendron season at @althorphouse - with a chorus of spring bird life," he wrote in the caption.

PRINCESS DIANA'S BROTHER CHARLES SPENCER RECOUNTS SHARED CHILDHOOD TRAUMA: 'IN IT TOGETHER'

The reminiscent video captured a view of the serene lake, with birds chirping in the background and ducks swimming by in the peaceful water. The video slightly zooms into the blooming trees and spring flowers.

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A previous photo that Spencer shared was of the sunlight shining on the scenic landscape of Princess Dianas childhood home.

"May light at Althorp," he wrote on Instagram.

Spencers photos and videos honor the late Princess of Wales, as he showcased Dianas final resting place at Oval Lake.

Earl Charles Spencer, Princess Diana's brother, honored the late royal with a video of their childhood home.

Royal fans paid tribute to the late Princess Diana in sweet responses to Spencers video.

"My thoughts, go to sweet Princess Diana, never forgotten, not today or ever," one comment read.

Another person wrote, "I think youve chosen the perfect place of rest & safety for your sister. I hope you and your family have peace & calmness here. Nature is breathtakingly beautiful."

General view of Althorp, listed stately home of the Spencer family in Althorp, Northamptonshire, England, 1999. Diana, Princess of Wales (1961-1997), grew up at Althorp.

Others were awed by the breathtaking scenery of the Northamptonshire estate.

"Secret places on the Great Althorp Estate! Magical!"

Spencer, a historian and journalist, currently resides on the property with his wife, Karen.

APP USERS CLICK HERE TO SEE INSTAGRAM PHOTO

She also recently gave royal fans a glimpse of the beautiful estate with a rainbow shining over the lush trees.

Spencer's reflection on the late Princess Diana comes on the heels of her ex-husband King Charles IIIs coronation.

The 74-year-old and his wife, Queen Camilla, were officially crowned last Saturday at Londons Westminster Abbey.

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King Charles III is crowned with St. Edward's Crown during his coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey, London.

The historic event comes after the late Princess Diana's and Charles younger son, Prince Harry, made a decision to exit from the royal family.

Prince Harry supported his father at his coronation with a brief appearance but left immediately afterward to make it home in time for his sons fourth birthday.

The royal tension is followed by Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, stepping back as members of the Royal Family in order to take up a new life away from the notorious British tabloids and media coverage.

To add fuel to the fire, Prince Harry released a tell-all memoir titled "Spare," which detailed his familys royal riff.

Meanwhile, Prince Harry also noted in his book that he had taken Meghan to visit his mothers final resting place at Althrop House.
Sovereign PrivatBank is being asked to select land in Bukovel

According to court records obtained by NV Business, the Yaremche city court in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast is currently considering three cases brought by the local prosecutors office, challenging PrivatBanks ownership rights to the land in Polianytsia, where the Bukovel ski resort is located.

Read also: UBS withdraws nationalization lawsuit against Ukraines PrivatBank

The prosecutors office claims that in the early 2000s, the aforementioned land plots were illegally transferred from state ownership to certain individuals based on forged decisions of the Polianytsia village council.

Read also: Kolomoisky loses court battle to regain control of PrivatBank head office

It is worth noting that PrivatBank, Ukraines largest bank, was on the brink of bankruptcy and was nationalized at the initiative of its majority shareholders, Ihor Kolomoisky and Hennady Boholyubov, who signed the relevant letter to then-Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman on Dec. 16, 2016. The Ukrainian government, with the agreement of the IMF, became the owner of the insolvent PrivatBank at that time to avoid financial collapse, and as a result, 155 billion UAH ($4.2 billion) of taxpayers money was injected to save the bank. In January 2018, the results of an investigation into the bank, known as the Kroll investigation, were published, which confirmed that PrivatBank had been subjected to large-scale coordinated fraudulent actions  amounting to $5.5 billion prior to nationalization.

Case origins

In 2015, the first deputy prosecutor of the oblast filed a series of lawsuits to the Yaremche City Court in the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast against the Polianytska Village Council and private individuals, demanding the invalidation of property rights to land plots and their return to state-ownering, claiming that forest land plots in Polianytsia, among others, were illegally transferred from state ownership to certain individuals based on forged decisions from the Polianytska Village Council in the early 2000s.

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Of the specified lawsuits, three relate to land plots owned by PrivatBank (case No. 354/658/15-ts, under the jurisdiction of Judge M. Ostapyuk and Nos. 354/671/15-ts, 354/678/15-ts under the jurisdiction of Judge T. Vavriychuk).

Problems with the prosecutors actions

At the time of the submission of these three lawsuits, the disputed land plots had already been transferred by the initial recipients, private individuals, to third-party legal entities (LLC Bukovel Star and LLC Skorzonera, which are associated with the former owner of PrivatBank, Ihor Kolomoisky). However, for some reason, the prosecution did not properly verify this fact, which resulted in the submission of these lawsuits to the general jurisdiction court, whereas they should have been submitted to the commercial court.

Read also: State-owned PrivatBank reports net profit for 2022, pays out dividends

The subsequent court proceedings resulted in the disputed land plots being transferred to the ownership of PrivatBank under mortgage agreements. One agreement is between PrivatBank and Skorzonera (concerning the land plot in case No. 658, where the resorts above-ground parking lot is located, near the cable cars), while the other agreement is between the bank and Bukovel Star (covering a land plot, parts of which are claimed in cases No. 671 and No. 678 and where the eponymous hotel complex is located).

According to the case materials, the prosecution acknowledged the shortcomings of the filed lawsuits and repeatedly requested the court to involve new defendants (Bukovel Star, Skorzonera, PrivatBank) in the case and to change the subject of the lawsuit. Initially, the demands in all cases were to return the land plots from individuals, but were changed to recover them from PrivatBank. Then, in cases Nos. 354/671/15-ts and  354/678/15-ts, the prosecutor also changed the person (effectively the plaintiff), in favor of whom the plots are to be recovered  from the Vorokhtyanske forestry enterprise to the State Agency of Forest Resources of Ukraine, which was deemed the rightful owner of the plots according to the courts.

The prosecutors attempts to rectify the flaws in the lawsuits filed in 2015 may have been the motive behind their actions.

Court proceedings revealed that lawyers for PrivatBank argued that the prosecutors actions contradicted procedural law, as the prosecutor essentially presented new claims that should have been heard by a court of different specialization.

However, the Yaremche City Court rejected all of the banks petitions.

Risks of the prosecutors activity

If the disputed land plots are taken away from PrivatBank, the prosecutors actions will not protect the interests of the state, since the state will still suffer losses through the state-owned bank. Therefore, the prosecutors stated objective to safeguard the states interests appears to be contradictory.

Read also: Ukrainian anti-corruption bureau raids home of oligarch Kolomoisky

Furthermore, if land plots are taken away from PrivatBank, the bank will have the right to demand compensation for the corresponding losses. According to the court registry, within case No. 671, the bank filed a counter-claim for compensation for the improvement of the land plot for the amount of 3.5 billion UAH ($95 million) (presumably the value of the aforementioned hotel complex). Thus, the state-owned bank may suffer losses in the amount of this claim due to the consideration of cases No. 671 and No. 678.

Thus, as evidenced by the financial institutions arguments, if the prosecutors claims are satisfied, the bank will incur losses and will be forced to seek compensation for its losses. These losses will be related to compensation by the State Forest Resources Agency for the value of essential improvements to the land plots.

At the same time, it appears that individuals who are allegedly responsible, according to the prosecutor himself, for the unlawful expropriation of land plots in the 2000s, will not bear any material responsibility.

It begs the question: are the prosecutors claims genuinely aimed at protecting the states interests? It is logical to assume that the prosecutors office should file claims against the relevant individuals, seeking compensation for the losses incurred by the state.

The answer to this question remains rhetorical for now. The next court hearings on these cases are scheduled for May 15, 16, and 29.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Dr. Frederick Smith discussed adult friendships with Insider. Flashpop/Getty Images

The Survey Center on American Life interviewed more than 2,000 adults about friendships in May 2021.

Forty percent of participants said they didn't have a best friend.

Dr. Frederick Smith told Insider why making adult friendships can be hard and how to maintain them.

Friendships are an invaluable ingredient of life, but if you struggle with finding a best friend, you're not alone.

More than 2,000 US adults shared their experiences with friendships in the May 2021 American Perspectives Survey, where the results showed Americans are making fewer friends than in previous decades.

The Survey Center on American Life surveyed to discover how friendship evolved during the pandemic.

Survey Center on American Life (@amersurveyctr) December 27, 2022

According to the survey, 40% of the participants said they don't have a best friend. Data showed the number of people who have a best friend dwindled from 75% in 1990 to 59% in 2021, and found that 12% of participants said they don't have close friends.

Regarding the pandemic, women reported having a more difficult time than men. More than one in four women  or 27%  said May 2020 to May 2021 were more difficult than usual, compared to just 17% of men.

Dr. Smith, a psychologist working in the mental health field for 15 years, spoke to Insider about why adult friendships can be tricky to make and how to maintain them. Last month, he shared how to navigate a friendship breakup regarding Will Smith and Chris Rock's public fallout.

Smith pointed out 3 reasons adults may struggle to form friendships

During his conversation with Insider, Smith stressed how crucial it is to have platonic friendships.

"Friendships are extremely important because those supportive relationships help us get through challenging moments," Smith said. "When I do individual therapy for clients experiencing major depression, one of the interventions I talk about is improving relationships."

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Survey Center on American Life (@amersurveyctr) March 15, 2023

But adulthood is hard, and Smith acknowledges that there are a few reasons people find it hard to make genuine connections: obligations, past experiences, and mental health.

"As adults, we have many obligations," Smith said. "We may have responsibilities to our job, family, children, or education. We spend a lot of time doing these things, so we may not have enough time to devote to going out and developing friendships."

Survey Center on American Life (@amersurveyctr) March 31, 2023

Secondly, Smith said a person's past experiences could shape how to approach relationships in adulthood.

"Anytime we might be faced with something in our adult life that may resemble something traumatic or negative from the past, we tend to shy away," Smith said, adding that these past experiences can also shape how we view ourselves and how we believe we deserve to be treated.

Smith said past experiences can affect how we make friendships as adults. Mavocado/Getty Images

"If you've had negative experiences that caused you to believe that people will take advantage of you, you might be hesitant to engage in friendships that may be good for you," he said.

Lastly, Smith addressed mental health.

"People that experience social anxiety feel an extreme sense of fear or nervousness whenever they may have to answer a question in public, speak publicly, or meet new people," Smith said. "If I go to a party and struggle with social anxiety, how do you think that will impact my ability to establish friendships?"

Smith said there are 4 strategies people can use to maintain adult friendships

Smiling woman using smart phone by friend in car. Males and females are traveling together during wine tour.

Creating healthy boundaries can help maintain a friendship, according to Smith.Morsa Images/Getty Images

Fortunately, Smith said there are tangible ways to maintain a friendship amid the ups and downs of adulthood: healthy boundaries, self-care, clear communication, and actively working to keep the relationship alive.

Smith emphasized that setting healthy boundaries can improve friendships because "boundaries teach people how we want to be treated and boundaries teach us how to treat other people."

Smith added that clear communication is needed to maintain friendships. Tom Werner/Getty Images

"There are certain aspects of our lives that we prefer not to be broadcast to the public," Smith said. "If I'm a real friend, I don't care how angry my friends might make me. I'm never going to take some sensitive personal information and throw it in their face because a real friend wouldn't do that."

Self-care is another part of maintaining friendships because it's important to ensure that personal stressors don't overshadow and negatively impact them, according to Smith.

"It may not be a certain interaction that you have with a person, but it could be a lot of other extraneous variables that might be at play and causing problems," Smith said, adding that problems can be anything from marital issues to developing a physical illness.

"People may not be able to effectively separate their issue from friendship," he said. "We may not be aware of what we're doing to the other person. We may not be aware that we're not being supportive or the other person feels like we're taking advantage of them."

Smith added that communication is "key" to a thriving friendship.

Smith said it's important that both friends put effort into the relationship. Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images

"I don't care how long we've been friends. There is no way that I can read your mind," Smith said. "We have to be able to communicate to tell each other exactly what is going on and how we feel so that we can make changes."

And, finally, Smith noted it's important to actively participate in your friendships.

"Both people have to work to maintain it," Smith said. "Friendship should not be one-sided. If you only call me when you need something, or you only call me when you're going through some type of turmoil, and then I never hear from you, then that's a problem."

Read the original article on Insider
Chinese FM proposes three principles for China-Europe relations

Xinhua) 10:02, May 13, 2023

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang (L) and Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt attend a joint press conference in Oslo, Norway, on May 12, 2023. (Xinhua/Lin Jing)

OSLO, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Friday proposed three principles to maintain stable development of China-Europe relations amid the international situation intertwined with changes and turmoil.

"China and Europe are two globally influential powers, two vast markets, and two great civilizations. I deeply felt, through the visit, a strong willingness of the European side to enhance communication, coordination, and to promote mutually beneficial cooperation with China," Qin said when asked about how to maintain sound development of China-Europe relations at a joint press conference with his counterpart Anniken Huitfeldt.

He called for the adherence to an inclusive worldview. China and Europe should respect and support the different countries' development paths chosen by their people, jointly and positively respond to the universal concerns of the international community, Qin said. The post-war international order must be safeguarded, and genuine multilateralism must be upheld, he added.

Qin called for commitment to a progressive view of history. What the international community needs most is peaceful development, fairness and justice, and progress rather than retrogression. The Cold War is a tragedy for mankind, he said.

He warned that a "new Cold War" would only bring greater disaster, severely harm the interests of the Chinese and the European people, as well as the rest of the world, and would significantly undermine multilateralism and global governance.

China and Europe should jointly oppose a "new Cold War," lead in promoting coordination and positive interaction among major powers, and use their capacities and resources to promote common development and prosperity, Qin said.

Qin also called for upholding the perspective of mutually-beneficial and win-win cooperation. China is Europe's partner in dealing with risk challenges, and what China exports to Europe and the world is sureness rather than risk, Qin said.

Both China and Europe, unanimously opposing "decoupling and breaking chains," should jointly uphold the right direction of economic globalization, strengthen macroeconomic policy coordination, explore cooperation potentials, properly address each other's major concerns, and jointly maintain the stability and smoothness of global industrial and supply chains, Qin said.

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Wu Chaolan)
With the incoming heat this weekend and temperatures expected to be near 90, cooling stations across the Puget Sound are opening their doors for the community to stay cool.

King County Metro has directed operators to provide anyone a trip who is seeking a break from the heat and/or would like a ride to a cooling center.

Metro is not waiving fares during the heat wave. However, we never make fares a barrier to people in safety situations, King County Metro says.

King County

The following are Seattle Day Centers for people experiencing homelessness. These day centers remain open on their regular schedule.

Jefferson Day Center (4th & Jefferson), every day, 7:00 a.m.  5:00 p.m.

Seattle Indian Center Day Center (624 S. Dearborn Street), Monday  Friday, 8:30 am  5:30 pm

Compass Day Center (77 S Washington St.), Monday  Friday, 7:00 am  7:00 pm

Elizabeth Gregory Home (1604 NE 50th St.), Sunday  Friday, 9:00 am  4:30 pm, women only

Immanuel Community Services (1215 Thomas St.), Monday  Friday, 8:00 am  2:00 pm

Orion Center (1828 Yale Ave), Monday-Friday 9 am - 8 pm (except Wednesday CLOSED from 12:45 pm - 3 pm) / Saturday 10 am - 2 pm youth only (ages 12 to 24)

UDYC (4516 15th Ave. NE) Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri 8 am - 4 pm / Wednesday 8 am - 1 pm / Sunday 9 am - 1 pm youth only (ages 12 to 24)

S. Seattle 24 hours (except Wednesday CLOSED from 12:45 pm - 3 pm) youth only (ages 12 to 24)

Marys Place Day Center (1830 Ninth Ave), Monday  Friday from 7:00 am  3:30 pm; women or women with children only

Ballard (2014-B NW 57th St), Monday  Friday, 6:30 am  2:30 pm

Downtown (1924 Ninth Avenue), Monday  Friday from 5:30 pm  9:30 pm and Saturday  Sunday from 8:00 am  3:00 pm

Chief Seattle Club Day Center (410 2nd Ave. Ext S.), Monday  Friday, 7:00 am  2:00 pm

Aurora Commons (8914 Aurora Ave N.), Monday  Thursday, 10:00 am  1:00 pm

Bread of Life Mission (97 South Main St.), Monday  Friday, 9:30 am  3:00 pm

Immanuel Lutheran: (1215 Thomas St.), Monday  Friday, 8:00 am  2:00 pm

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Street Youth Ministries (4540 15th Ave NE, Monday  Tuesday, 10:00 am  3:00 pm, Wednesday  Friday, 10:30 am  2:30 pm

New Horizons Ministries (2709 3rd Ave), Monday  Thursday, 3:00 pm  9:00 pm Youth/Young-Adult Only (13-25)

East King County

Congregations for the Homeless  Day Center (Male-identifying) Lincoln Center 515B 116th Ave NE Suite 174 Bellevue, WA 98004, 5 am  10 pm

Catholic Community Services  New Bethlehem Day Center (Families with Children) 11920 NE 80th St Suite 100, Kirkland, WA 98033, 9 am  4 pm

The Sophia Way  Sophias Place Day Center (Women-identifying) 3032 Bellevue Way NE Bellevue, WA 98004, 8 am  3 pm

Friends of Youth (16101 NE 87th ST Suite 110, Redmond), for youth and young adults, 206-236-5437

Bellevue

South Bellevue Community Center (14509 SE Newport Way, Bellevue, WA 98006) 6 AM - 8 PM (M-F) 8 AM - 5 PM (Sat)

Crossroads Community Center (16000 NE 10th St, Bellevue, WA 98008) 8:30 AM - 5 PM (M-F)

North Bellevue Community Center (4063 148th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98007) 9 AM - 8:30 PM (M-Th) 9 AM - 5:30 PM (F)

Redmond

Redmond Community Center at Marymoor Village (6505 176th Ave NE, Redmond, WA 98052) 8 AM  8 PM (M-F), 9 AM - 5 PM (Sat.), Closed (Sun.)

Issaquah

Issaquah Senior Center 75 NE Creek Way, Issaquah WA 8:30 AM  4 PM (W/Th) 8:30 AM - 2 PM (F)

Kirkland

North Kirkland Community Center ( 12421 103rd Ave NE, Kirkland, WA 98034) 8 AM - 5 PM (M-F)

Peter Kirk Community Center (352 Kirkland Ave, Kirkland, WA 98033) 8 AM - 5 PM (M-F)

Sammamish

Sammamish City Hall (801 228th Ave SE, Sammamish, 98075) 8:30 AM - 5 PM (M-F)

Sammamish YMCA (831 228th Ave SE, Sammamish, 98075) 5 AM - 9 PM (M, T, Th, F) 5 AM - 9 PM (Wed.) 7 AM - 7 PM (Sat), 8 AM - 6 PM (Sun)

Sammamish Library (825 228th Ave SE, Sammamish, 98075) 1 PM - 8 PM (W) 10 AM - 5 PM (Th-F)

Emergency Shelters with Drop-in

Bellevue: Congregations for the Homeless (515B 116th Ave NE, Bellevue), for adult men, 425-496-4885, closest bus route is the 271

Kirkland: The Sophia Way, two locations, Helens Place (8045 120th Ave NE, Suite 200, Kirkland) and Sophias Place (3030 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue), women or women with children only, 425-896-7385, closest bus routes are the 239 and 250

Kirkland: New Bethlehem Place (8045 120th Ave NE, Suite 100, Kirkland), for families with children, 425-679-0354

South King County

Federal Way Day Center (33505 13th Place S. #D) 9:00 am  6:00 pm

Kent Community Engagement Center (1225 W Smith St) 9:00 am  6:00 pm

Auburn Food Bank, Ray of Hope (2806 Auburn Way North) 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM

Cooling Sites

Burien Community Center (14700 6th Ave SW); Monday  Thursday, 9 a.m.  7 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m.  5 p.m. (Building closed daily 2  3 p.m.)

SeaTac Community Center (13735 24th Ave So SeaTac, WA 98168), Monday-Thursday, 8:30 AM-9:00 PM; Friday, 8:30 AM-5:00 PM; Saturday, 8:30 AM-1:00 PM

Federal Way Community Center (876 S. 333RD STREET) Mon-Fri: 5:00 am  9:00 pm; Sat: 7:00 am  6:00 pm; Sun: 9:00 am  5:00 pm

Renton Community Center (1715 SE Maple Valley Hwy), Monday-Thursday 8 AM - 7 PM; Friday 8 AM - 5 PM; Saturday 9 AM - 1 PM

Kent YMCA (East Hill) (10828 SE 248th St)Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday (Nonmembers will be restricted to lobby only) 6:00 am to 8:00 pm

Kent Community Center (525 Fourth Ave. N): Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Tuesday & Thursday: 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Emergency Shelters with Drop-in

Auburn: Sundown Overnight Shelter (2806 Auburn Way N., Auburn), open 9:00 pm nightly  call 253-334-4860 or 253-397-0571, closest bus route is the 271

Auburn: Arcadia Young Adult Shelter (932 Auburn Way S., Auburn), for youth and young adults, extended hours for daytime drop-in, overnight shelter open at 9:00 pm, 253-740-7189

Snoqualmie

Snoqualmie Fire Station Community Room - 37600 Snoqualmie Parkway - Open 24 hours

Snoqualmie Library - 7824 Center Boulevard Southeast - Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Monday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Snoqualmie Valley YMCA - 35018 Ridge Street Southeast - Saturday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Monday 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.

Pierce County

Day Centers can be used as cooling sites during hot weather. You can find information about Day Centers on the Coalition website.

Tacoma Public Libraries and Pierce County Public Libraries are open during the weekdays. Tacoma libraries are also open on Saturdays and closed on Sundays. Pierce County Public Library branches are open on Saturdays, and most large branches are open on Sundays. Learn more about the Pierce County Public Libraries weekend schedules.

St. Vincent de Paul resource center (4009 S. 56th St., Tacoma) can be accessed as a cooling site when it is open, Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Snohomish County

Mountlake Terrace Library - 23300 58th Avenue West

Lynnwood Library - 19200 44th Avenue West

Sultan Library - 319 Main Street

Mariner Library in Everett - 520 128th St. SW Suites A9 & A10

Mukilteo Library - 4675 Harbour Pointe Blvd

Library Evergreen Branch - 9512 Evergreen Way

Snohomish Library - 311 Maple Avenue

Rosehill Community Center - 304 Lincoln Avenue

Everett Public Library Main Branch - 2702 Hoyt Ave

Marysville Library - 6120 Grove St.

Granite Falls Library - 815 E Galena St.

Stilly Valley Center in Arlington - 18308 Smokey Point Boulevard

Darrington Library - 1005 Cascade Street

Lake Stevens Library - 2211 Grade Road

Lakewood/Smokey Point Library - 3411 169th Place NE, Suites ABC

Bothell Library - 18215 98th Ave NE

Monroe Library - 1070 Village Way

Monroe Senior Center - 276 Sky River Pkwy

Camano Island Library - 848 N Sunrise Blvd












This is a commentary by Kyle Wingfield, president and CEO of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, a libertarian-leaning think tank based in Atlanta.

An underrated story in recent years is how much more cautiously Georgias lawmakers have moved on several issues than their counterparts in similar states.

Weve seen it regarding school choice and health care reform, two areas in which Georgia has stagnated while fellow swing states like Florida and Arizona have been forging ahead.

And weve seen it regarding tax reform. Last year, Iowa moved to shrink its nine-bracket personal income tax, with a top rate of 8.53%, to a flat rate of 3.9% by 2026. Over the past decade, North Carolina has gone from a three-bracket personal income tax topping out at 7.75% to a flat rate of 4.75% with more cuts planned. Florida, of course, has no personal income tax.

Meanwhile, Georgia laudably flattened our six brackets to a flat rate, effective next year. But since 2018 the top rate has gone only from 6% to next years rate of 5.49%, and it isnt scheduled to fall below 5% until at least 2029. Lower is better, but slower isnt.

On taxes, we need to go further, faster.

Federal taxes: Tax day no more? The pros and cons of Rep. Buddy Carter's Fair Tax Act, explained

Georgians filing state income taxes still paying too high a rate, writes public policy pro Kyle Wingfield.

Why the rush?

Youve heard the phrase voting with their feet about people who move to places that better reflect their policy preferences. Each year, the Internal Revenue Service reports data about taxpayers movement. The data speak to the relative attractiveness of states, and we can infer a few things about policy preferences.

The latest data, covering individual tax filers moves between 2020 and 2021, show Georgia received a net $1.28 billion increase in adjusted gross income from newcomers. Thats a good thing: It means the people moving here brought more income with them than the people moving out took away. Thats better for the local businesses they patronize and the state treasury that taxes them.

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What does that tell us about peoples policy preferences? While youd have to survey the newcomers to know for sure, it seems pretty clear they wanted lower taxes. The six highest-tax states according to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation  New York, Connecticut, Hawaii, Vermont, California and New Jersey  accounted for 99.9% of Georgias new net income. Movement to and from the other 43 states and the District of Columbia was basically a wash.

That said, the rest of the 10 highest-tax states (Illinois, Virginia, Delaware and Maine) also sent a net $420 million our way.

State taxes: Georgia's revised 2023 budget returns dollars to taxpayers. Here's what you need to know.

The type of taxes matter?

Georgia has the eighth-lowest tax burden, making it very appealing. But seven states take even less from their residents, and they made off with more than $86 million in former Georgia income.

However, theres a lesson here: The burden is one thing, but the type of tax may matter more.

In 2021, eight states had no personal income tax: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming. They collectively drew away almost $704 million in income from Georgia  more than eight times the amount attracted by states that actually have lower tax burdens.

Kyle Wingfield

There are of course some caveats to bear in mind. Imposing no income tax doesnt help a state if its overall burden is fairly high (Im looking at you, Washington state). Proximity matters: The lions share of income leaving Georgia went to Florida, which not only has zero income tax but is right next door (compared to, say, Texas, which took 1/16 as much).

And people have other reasons for moving. More tax filers actually moved here from Florida, although thats not necessarily a good thing since those Georgians who moved south had far higher incomes. The same goes for Utah, Colorado and Wyoming  a geographic cluster that drew fewer people but more income from Georgia, suggesting other motivations. (Head for the mountains!)

Still, its clear that lower taxes attract more people with more money, and lower income-tax rates are even more appealing than the beaches of California or the bright lights of New York. Maybe that will move Georgias lawmakers to act.

Contact Wingfield through the Georgia Public Policy Foundation website at georgiapolicy.org.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Georgia income tax rate reform slow compared to other states
Officials have been rescuing hundreds of endangered riparian brush rabbits, listed as an endangered species, from being stranded and trapped as a result of flooding in the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

With record-breaking storms wreaking havoc throughout the state, even rabbits need rescuing.

For months, a team from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has navigated the Central Valley looking to rescue from rising floodwaters stranded riparian brush rabbits, a small, brown and white creature listed as an endangered species.

Using canoes and motorboats, the five team members have trekked out in rivers from sunrise to past sundown in the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge to rescue rabbits. Some are stranded on high ground, on bush branches or trees. They are then taken to higher ground as the river water level floods the region.

During operations in January and March, 286 rabbits have been rescued, said Fumika Takahashi, wildlife biologist at the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex, which includes the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge.

More operations are planned for next week.

"These rabbits are resilient, they bounce back, but each one you rescue becomes important," she said.

The rescue effort comes couple of months after the state endured one of the wettest winters in years.

According to Fish and Wildlife Service, the riparian rabbit was believed to be found only in Caswell Memorial State Park and near Lathrop. But with dangerously low numbers, the species was reintroduced into the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge, about 75 miles northeast of San Jose.

"Riparian brush rabbits are especially vulnerable to floods because they live at the edges of rivers," refuge manager Eric Hopson said in a statement. "They only live in a small area and there aren't many of them, so events like this can have a big impact on their population and recovery."

Josh Hengel, a refuge biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, sets a rabbit trap. For months, a team from the wildlife agency searched the Central Valley to rescue the small, brown and white creatures. During operations in January and March, 286 rabbits have been brought to safety. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Living near rivers, the animals have evolved to be able to survive floods, Takahashi said, but not for extended periods of time as they've had to do so this year.

"They're actually really good at climbing on vegetation and can even swim short distances," she said. "But when we have these large floods, there's very little high ground for them to escape to."

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Animals in the area have seen the San Joaquin River flood in the past, most recently in 2017. But climate change and the current landscape, with growing farms in the area, have meant the rabbit can no longer flee upland. Levees around the river have cut off the escape path for rabbits, and the flooding has directly affected their habitat.

Because of this, officials created what are known as "bunny mounds," or areas of high land in flood-prone areas where the animals can escape to during flood events. But these areas are also limited in food and can sometimes leave the rabbits exposed to predators.

In January, 37 of the rabbits were rescued from the mounds. In March, 110 were found in the mounds.

The rescues this year have been especially significant for the endangered rabbits, considering the refuge estimates there are only 2,000 to 3,000 rabbits in the area, said Takahashi.

Biologists have worked to trap the rabbits and move them closer to drier land, at least four to five feet higher than the flood area.

But they have had to be careful that their rescue efforts don't exacerbate a growing problem among the population. Since May 2022, veterinarians confirmed the riparian brush rabbits have been facing rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus 2, a highly contagious and deadly disease that has spread quickly in the western United States.

To curb its spread, officials have vaccinated all of the rescued rabbits. But officials are also concerned that having more rabbits in a smaller area could advance the spread of the disease.

Changing the ecosystem of the environment, moving the rabbits and increasing the concentration of their population could also mean other problems that haven't yet been spotted, said Erin Hagen, director of restoration science for River Partners, a nonprofit group that has worked with the refuge on the rescues.

Officials are also concerned that climate change will leave the area more prone to flooding.

"Although they're in a safe elevation, we're not sure it's threaded the needle on being on the other side and being completely safe," Hagen said.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
From Thelma and Louise in the movies to the Absolutely Fabulous Patsy and Eddie, female friendships have been charming audiences for decades.

But there's a new couple of bosom buddies who have captured the hearts of many - Cathie and Tricia from BBC 1's Race Across the World.

Cathie Rowe, 50, and Tricia Sail, 49, who have been best friends since they were 13, spent 51 days travelling 9,942 miles (16,000km) from west to east Canada.

With a budget of just 2,498.13, and no access to phones or flights, things could have become tense - but they say there was barely a cross word.

"Our friendship is very difficult to describe to other people," Cathie told Breakfast on BBC One.

"It is very natural to us, we don't really think anything of it but other people tell us how special it is and how unique it is.

"It is a wonderful, wonderful friendship and we can be completely ourselves with each other without worrying what the other one thinks."

The pair, who met at school in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, spent much of their time in Canada holding hands.

"Cathie was literally my guide," explained Tricia, who now lives in Exeter, Devon.

Tricia has a degenerative eye condition and was keen to take on the challenge while she still could.

At the time of filming she had about 10% sight in each eye, which has since deteriorated further.

"I will lose my sight completely," she said. "I wanted to do it to prove to myself and to other people that have sight loss that you can still live, you can still do all these things.

"Doing this journey with Cathie was just incredible because I know when we grow old disgracefully she's going to be able to say to me 'you remember the Rocky Mountains, it looks a bit like that'."

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Cathie, who now lives in Bridgend, said she was incredibly proud of her friend.

"She showed enormous strength, fantastic determination and she didn't let anything hold her back," she said.

"She quite often jumped in with both feet and I had to reel her in a bit - she was just incredible and I'm hugely, hugely proud of her and to be her best friend."

Despite the gruelling challenge and being far away from family, friends and home, Cathie insists they did not argue.

But there must have been things that annoyed them about one another?

Tricia's most annoying habit is reacting without thinking, said Cathie.

"It could be anything and she would just jump in there straight away without thinking about it and sometimes I'd be like 'well you do it then'".

And Cathie's most annoying habit?

"She has to think about things for a long time before she does anything," said Tricia.

"The perfect balance," said Cathie.

Spoiler alert - the pair won the series, taking home 20,000.

Since then they have been inundated with interview requests and seen their followers on social media rocket.

Tricia believes the interest in them is down to their relationship.

"I think it's that myself and Cathie have got such a good friendship, such a good relationship and we're not frightened of anything, I think that's why people have got behind us," she said.

Looking back on the incredible adventure, Cathie has nothing but gratitude.

"It was incredible, quite surreal, [there's] disbelief but also tinged with sadness that it has actually come to an end," she told BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour.

"It was this incredible time, some of it indescribable and then turning the book over and finding that we'd won, I don't think either of us had any words, we just kind of screamed and blubbed at each other for the next 10 minutes."

Since returning home they have walked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu along with Cathie's husband, and are hoping to trek the Great Wall of China together in October.

Asked what she would say to someone considering going on a big adventure with their best friend, Cathie said: "Definitely - do it."

The third series of Race Across the World is available on BBC iPlayer.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  Republican lawmakers in Louisiana rejected legislation Wednesday that would add exceptions in cases of rape and incest to one of the strictest abortion bans in the country.

This legislative session, there is a package of bills aimed at loosening Louisianas near-total abortion ban by adding exceptions, clarifying vague language and decreasing the punishment for doctors convicted of performing illegal abortions. However, much of the proposed legislation died in a GOP-controlled committee Wednesday or was voluntarily deferred by the bills authors.

I simply do not understand how we as a state can tell any victim that she must be forced by law to carry her rapists baby to term, regardless of the impact on her own physical or mental health, the wishes of her parents, or the medical judgment of her physician, said Democratic Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, who supports abortion restrictions but believes there should be exceptions. As I have said before, rape and incest exceptions protect crime victims. We must do all that we can to protect them and sadly, the committee failed to do so today.

Across the country, lawmakers are debating abortion laws, some seeking to strengthen current restrictions and others attempting to protect access in their states. Louisianas current law, which was enacted after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade last summer, bans nearly all abortions in the state. The only exceptions to the prohibition are if there is substantial risk of death or impairment to the patient in continuing the pregnancy and in the case of medically futile pregnancies  when the fetus has a fatal abnormality.

Protesters wave signs and demonstrate in support of abortion access in front of a New Orleans courthouse Friday July 8, 2022. Inside the courthouse a judge was hearing arguments on the state's trigger law designed to outlaw almost all abortions. (AP Photo/Rebecca Santana)

Protesters wave signs and demonstrate in support of abortion access in front of a New Orleans courthouse Friday July 8, 2022. Inside the courthouse a judge was hearing arguments on the state's trigger law designed to outlaw almost all abortions. (AP Photo/Rebecca Santana)

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Many Democrats, including Gov. Edwards, made it clear that adding exceptions to the ban in cases of rape or incest was a legislative priority this year.

Democratic state Rep. Delisha Boyd, who authored the bill to add exceptions in cases of rape and incest, said the state is not truly pro-life if it does not protect all children, including those who currently are forced to carry their rapists child to term  which can lead to further trauma and health complications.

Multiple survivors of rape shared their own stories during testimony at Wednesdays committee meeting, speaking on the the detrimental impacts the current law would have had on them and future victims. One woman said if she were forced to give birth to her rapists baby, she likely would have died by suicide.

Around 3 million women in the U.S. have experienced rape-related pregnancy during their lifetime, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Additionally, prior to Roe v. Wade being overturned, Louisiana had one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country, with Black women disproportionately impacted, according to reports from the states health department

This is extremely dangerous. ... By forcing survivors who want abortions to give birth you are forcing them to forever be connected and controlled by their rapists, said Morgan Lamandre, president and CEO of the Sexual Trauma Awareness and Response organization.

Anti-abortion advocates argued on religious and moral grounds to oppose the bill. Some said that instead of adding exceptions to the ban, lawmakers should seek harsher punishments for those convicted of rape.

While Republican lawmakers ultimately decided the fate of the bill, voting 10-5 along party lines to reject the bill and prevent it from being debated by the full House, they gave little to no reasoning for their opposition to the legislation during the meeting.

A similar bill that would have added exceptions for rape and incest if the pregnant patient is a minor met the same fate Wednesday  with the committee voting 9-5 against it.

If youre forcing rape and incest survivors in Louisiana to carry forced pregnancy, you are not supporting victims. Hard stop. Theres no gray area, said Katie Hunter-Lowrey, a leader at Louisiana Survivors for Reform.

In addition a bill to change the punishment of doctors who perform illegal abortions  removing the penalty of jail time and replacing it with a fine  and a bill that would create leniency for women who have miscarriages to receive abortions, were both voluntarily deferred.
(Bloomberg) -- A record number of Thais are projected to go to the ballot boxes in Sundays parliamentary election as voters decide if theyll shift leadership away from almost a decade of military-backed rule.

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More than 50 million Thais are eligible to vote, and the Election Commission expects an 80% turnout. That would be the highest for the House of Representatives since at least 1946, according to data from the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. More than 90% of about 2.3 million people who registered for early polling did so last Sunday.

Voter interest had been building up as mostly young, liberal opposition politicians call for change in a duel with the old guards, prompting incumbent Prayuth Chan-Ocha whos been in power since 2014 to warn that groups proposing sweeping societal changes will drag the country into a black hole of conflict.

Pheu Thai, linked to influential former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, and Move Forward, a party popular among young and urban voters, are on course to sweep the election, according to many opinion polls conducted up to the first week of May.

While many parties, including pro-establishment groups, are wooing voters on a similar slate of promises such as cash handouts, wage hikes and suspension of debt repayments, Pheu Thai and especially Move Forward have been calling for changes in the political system including military reforms and a rewrite of the constitution.

On Friday, prime minister front-runners Paetongtarn Shinawatra of Pheu Thai, Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat, incumbent Prayuth and others addressed supporters at rallies to mark the end of election rallies.

A landslide win for pro-democracy parties isnt a guarantee of a clear path to clinching Thailands top job as 250 military-appointed senators have equal powers as the 500 elected lower house members to decide on the next prime minister. Even if Pheu Thai forms a coalition with another party, that union faces the risk of another coup or disbandment as what their predecessors experienced.

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Still, Paetongtarn told reporters on Saturday her party is hoping for a landslide. If I were senator I would respect the peoples voices, she said in response to a question about the senates role. I hope the senators will do that.

While the army chief has ruled out another coup in the event of post-election turmoil, the formation of a new government may be delayed if parties legally challenge the outcome.

We do not rule out legal and technical issues related to the election, which could require adjudication by the Constitutional Court, said Tim Leelahaphan, a Bangkok-based economist at Standard Chartered Bank Plc. This could delay the government formation process.

The election outcome will also set the tone for Thailands stock market, Asias worst performer this year after foreign investors pulled out about $2 billion. The baht has remained largely unfazed, gaining almost 2% in 2023 to emerge as the second-best performer in the region after the Indonesian rupiah.

More than 6,600 candidates are vying for 500 parliament seats, and over 60 politicians are in the running to become premier.

While Pheu Thai focused its strategy mostly on proposals to soothe economic hardship, Move Forward is riding a wave of support from younger voters in its campaign to amend strict laws against insults to the king and other top royals. Theres also the Bhumjaithai Party  best known for leading the push to legalize cannabis  which could end up tipping the balance after the vote.

Pheu Thai and other parties linked to Thaksin have won the most seats in every election since 2001  only to see generals and judges aligned with the monarchy boot them out of office or disband them entirely.

The opposition must win at least 376 seats in the lower house to counter the likely move of Prayuth-appointed senators, with tenures until 2024 and who would likely vote for a premier that will keep the military-backed coalition in power.

--With assistance from Philip J. Heijmans.

(Updates with remarks from Paetongtarn in the eighth paragraph)

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When Florida education officials announced Tuesday they had rejected more than 30 social studies textbooks for next school year, they also revealed they had worked with publishers to edit at least 47 others.

Gone from one book were passages about Black Lives Matter and the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. In another, the state removed a prompt asking students to discuss people who knelt in protest during the national anthem.

What else had been edited out? Was anything added? Why were that many books rejected?

The Florida Department of Education offered five examples of the changes made but did not respond to questions about other decisions involving content.

To find out more, the Tampa Bay Times contacted publishers of the 34 social studies books that landed on Floridas not recommended list, a group that will likely dwindle as publishers appeal. A few of the companies responded and provided copies of what they submitted to the state. Some said they were unsure why their books fell short.

READ MORE: Teach the truth. Teachers angry over Florida deleting race, social justice from textbooks

By all appearances, many of the materials were clear and straightforward, with no overt references to prohibited topics like critical race theory or social justice.

Others contained traces of subject matter that state officials have deemed inappropriate for schools  like institutional racism and discussions about mistreatment of minorities that could make some feel uncomfortable.

And there were places where books focused on character lessons for children  how to be sensitive and empathetic, for example. Those are elements of social-emotional learning, a longtime strategy in U.S. classrooms that is now banned in Florida.

In its book selections, the state seeks to have the highest quality materials available  materials that focus on historical facts and are free from inaccuracies or ideological rhetoric, Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. said in a statement.

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But the rejections add to an already chilling environment for educators, said Charles White, executive director of the Social Science Education Consortium, a nonprofit that works to strengthen the teaching of social studies and the related subject of social science.

I know teachers in Florida who are scared to death to teach almost anything in their schools for fear that theyll be in opposition to the standards, or even worse, theyll say something about racial history that will violate the new Florida laws, White said.

Here is a look at some of the rejected titles, and what their pages reveal about Floridas approach to social studies:

Social Studies Alive! Me and My World

Kindergarten. Published by Teachers Curriculum Institute

A student exercise in the book Social Studies Alive! Me and My World, for kindergarten students.

Eight books from this publishing house were rejected, some flagged for including special topics that the state has identified as problematic. This kindergarten text did not have that designation.

But in many of the chapters, it seeks to address childrens emotional growth and interpersonal relationships, which are basic tenets of social-emotional learning.

Company officials allowed the Times access to its digital content but declined to be interviewed. They issued a statement saying the company has worked closely with the state and respects the importance of the approval process.

Social Studies Alive! My School and Family





Grade 1. Published by Teachers Curriculum Institute.







A page from Social Studies Alive! My School and Family for first graders, published by Teachers Curriculum Institute.

This second book in the Social Studies Alive! series is marked as containing prohibited special topics. Its not clear what the problem was, but here is another example of a student exercise that seeks to teach cooperation and character, which are elements of social-emotional learning.

Social Studies Alive! Florida and Its People

Grade 4. Published by Teachers Curriculum Institute.

A section from the childrens social studies book, Social Studies Alive! Florida and Its People, about Tampa pioneer Vicente Martinez Ybor.

In this installment of the series, students learn about the waves of Indigenous communities and global settlers to Florida, including Europeans, African slaves and later immigrants from Latin America.

There are chapters on the civil rights movement and developers, including Henry Flagler, Henry Bradley Plant, Julia Tuttle and Vicente Martinez Ybor. The book also explores Floridas role in the Civil War. Its not marked as having any problematic special topics, so the reasons for the state rejecting it remain unclear.

Social Studies Alive! Americas Past

Grade 5. Published by Teachers Curriculum Institute.

This is another of the books said to include special topics of concern by the state. One possible problem: The book explores harsh treatment of Native Americans and Chinese railroad workers in the 19th century. Those lessons are reinforced in a game at the end of the chapter.

The state prohibits topics that are potential components of critical race theory. That includes the notion that an individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin.

Gateway to Early American History

Grades 6-8. Published by Florida Transformative Education.

The 15-chapter, three-part text covers Christopher Columbus voyage to the Reconstruction era following the Civil War, according to the website. Author and publisher Mark Jarrett told the Times he did not believe any content in the book was controversial. He said no dramatic changes would need to be made, and the company intends to go through the standards flagged by reviewers and resubmit.

Two other books from the same publisher were accepted. Jarrett said the books contents were similar. This text was not marked for the inclusion of special topics.

Civics Alive! Foundations and Functions

Grades 6-8. Published by Teachers Curriculum Institute.

Over seven units and 20 chapters, the book covers basic topics about citizenship and the rules of law through the Bill of Rights, political campaigns, global issues and understanding economics. The second lesson on forms of government seeks to teach the advantages of the United States constitutional republic over other forms of government in safeguarding liberty, freedom and a representative government.

The book also stresses the advantages of a federal system of government and the benefits of capitalism and the free market in the U.S. when compared with government-controlled economic systems elsewhere. It was flagged as having prohibited special topics but it was unclear where those existed.

American History

Grades 9-12. Published by ABC-CLIO.

Two paragraphs from the book American History published by ABC-CLIO.

This high school history book includes material about segregation, the Jim Crow era and redlining. It also recounts the civil rights movement of the mid-20th century with descriptions including the paragraphs above that follow a discussion of Freedom Summer in 1964.

On its list of rejected books, the state said this title contained special topics but has not stated what those were.

The African-American Experience

Grades 9-12. Published by ABC-CLIO.

An image in the high school history textbook The African American Experience, published by ABC-CLIO. The book appeared on Floridas list of not recommended titles this year in Florida schools.

This book goes into detail about segregation and discrimination, police brutality and the Black Lives Matter protest following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. In its description of the years during President Donald Trumps administration, the authors note Trumps role in perpetuating the birtherism conspiracy about his predecessor, Barack Obama. They also write that the former president drew criticism for his slowness to denounce white nationalists at a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and for his remarks that both sides were to blame for the violence that erupted there.

The state has not explained why it rejected this title, though there are many issues regarding race that are prohibited from appearing in Florida textbooks. One of them is the notion that an individual, by virtue of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.

The book also includes a chapter on institutional racism  another frowned-upon topic  that includes the passage below:

A passage from The African American Experience, published by ABC-CLIO.

Living Smarter

Grades 9-12. Published by Achievements Educational Services.

The 370-page textbook from this Brooklyn, New York-based publisher covers basic financial literacy, from how to write a resume to step-by-step guides on filing taxes. Early chapters emphasize the importance of savvy spending and strategies for saving money. Later chapters discuss investing, insurance and identity theft.

On the states 5-point grading scale, Living Smarter has one of the lowest scores. The textbook was not flagged for inclusion of special topics and does not appear to cover critical race theory or social-emotional learning. Achievements Educational Services CEO Naftali Frankel said the state Department of Education had not contacted him regarding the rejection.

Foundations in Personal Finance-Honors

Grades 9-12. Published by Ramsey Solutions.







Financial adviser and media personality Dave Ramsey offers personal finance books for educational institutions too. One of his books was accepted by the state of Florida; another was not.

This book is one of numerous products offered by a company headed by Dave Ramsey, a Tennessee-based entrepreneur, financial counselor, author, motivational speaker, radio host, podcast host and television personality.

Spokespeople for Ramsey said one of their two textbooks was accepted but the other was not. A third-party reviewer questioned whether the material in the second book conformed closely enough with Floridas education standards. They were not specific.

Jessica Britton, the companys associate director of educational products, said there was probably fault on both sides. The reviewer did not look at the correct material, she said. But, she added, We could have done a better job of seeing that the standards were met, perhaps by improving student review questions. She expects they will resolve their differences in time for the 2023-24 school year.

Modern Genocide

Grades 9-12. Published by ABC-CLIO.







It is not clear why the state of Florida rejected Modern Genocide in selecting high school textbooks to teach the Holocaust.

This textbook takes students through a number of global genocides, including the Holocaust in World War II and continuing on to Cambodia, East Timor, Guatemala, the Kurdish people in Iraq, Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur.

Going back earlier than World War II, the book explores the Herero genocide of 1904-1907 in what is now the southwestern African nation of Namibia. Following German settlement of that land, the authors write that as many as 80% of the Herero people, as well as 50% of the 20,000 Nama people and lesser numbers of other populations, lost their lives.

The state flagged this title for containing special topics of concern but has not explained what those were.

History of the Holocaust

Grades 9-12. Published by eDynamic Holdings LP.







eDynamic Holdings LP, the publisher of History of the Holocaust, is appealing a decision by the Florida Department of Education to exclude this high school textbook.

This high school textbook takes readers from the rise of antisemitism in Europe through the creation of concentration camps and death camps, non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust and Nuremberg trials. There is a passage at the end on modern genocide in places such as Cambodia and Darfur.

Tyler Wood, a spokesperson for eDynamic, said its unclear why the book was not approved, and company officials are communicating with staff at the state education department. The state did not flag the title as containing special topics of concern.

In conversations with the education department, the company said in a prepared statement: It is clear that the (Department of Education) sees the benefit of this curriculum for students but wants to ensure that all state standards for the curriculum have been addressed. eDynamic Learning will be participating in the Departments appeal process in hopes of highlighting the evidence that our curriculum meets that state standards.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has identified remains found in coastal Georgia in December as a 40-year-old woman.

Officials were able to determine that the womans body had been placed on the land of a hunting club in Liberty and McIntosh counties sometime after Nov. 18. The body was found on Dec. 2.

In May, GBI agents were able to use genealogy testing to identify the woman as Mindi Mebane Kassotis.

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Agents say they were able to interview Mindi Kassotis family members and take samples of their DNA to confirm her identity.

At the time of her death, Mindi Kassotis was living in Savannah with her husband, 40-year-old Nicholas James Kassotis. Nicholas Kassotis also went by the name Nicholas Killian James Stark.

Nicholas Kassotis was arrested in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania on Friday and charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, tampering with evidence and removal of body parts from scene of death or dismemberment.

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He is currently being held in the Lancaster County Prison and is waiting to be extradited to Georgia.

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Francisca Garcia, who did not know English when she emigrated from Ecuador in 1999 and was homeless for a time, will graduate from Rhode Island College Saturday at the age of 48.

Twenty-two years ago, Francisca Garcia arrived in Rhode Island with two young children, no place to live and unable to speak English. On Saturday, Garcia, 48, will receive her bachelor's degree from Rhode Island College.

"I can't believe that I'm going to graduate," Garcia said Thursday. "It's been a very long journey."

Her journey was hardened by hunger and discrimination, but also softened by the kindness of people and help from the government. It was a successful pilgrimage that's also led to home ownership for the single mother and college degrees for those two children.

More: Guide to RI commencements: When are college graduations and who is speaking?

The experience motivated Garcia to pursue a degree in social work and use it to help others, particularly those with language barriers and older people like those she works with as an in-home caregiver. She will start working toward her master's degree this fall.

Cary Donaldson, an assistant professor at RIC who oversaw Garcia's field work, calls her "truly one of a kind."

"Francisca is principled and passionate. She is full of stories and questions. She brings humor and humility to any room she enters. She is particularly joyous and remarkably resilient," Donaldson said via email. "These attributes are among those we can't teach in classrooms. Yet, their immense impacts on the work we do as social workers are irrefutable."

Born in Ecuador, Garcia immigrated with her six-month-old in 1999 to live with her father in the Bronx, New York, but ended up on the street two years later.

"I came here for a better life and to pursue my dreams, but I didn't know I was going to end up homeless in New York because of family problems," Garcia said.

Unable to qualify for a spot in a New York City shelter, Garcia took the advice of a woman who suggested she'd have better luck finding a place to stay in Rhode Island and handed her a card with the name of a shelter.

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"I was crying and crying," Garcia said. "This woman came from nowhere. She said, 'Take it easy. Everything is going to be fine.' "

With a five-month-old daughter in addition to her son, Garcia reached Rhode Island by bus, but she didn't know enough English to tell a cab driver where she wanted to go next. The cabbie brought them to the Pawtucket police station. Discovering there was no room at the shelter recommended by the woman in New York, the police brought them to a shelter in Cranston.

That gave Garcia and her two children a place to sleep, but they had to get up early every morning and catch a bus to Providence, where they'd spend the day. Sometimes they had nothing to eat. On the bus rides, Garcia was sometimes subject to inappropriate sexual touching.

Life improved when a social worker at the shelter, the only one who spoke Spanish, helped Garcia and her children get into a shelter in Central Falls. She took English classes and received a GED. Garcia earned nursing assistance and social service certificates from the Community College of Rhode Island before receiving an associate's degree in social work in 2019.

Garcia now works for an in-home care agency. She has worked many jobs through the years, including in housekeeping, but she believes a retailer discriminated against her years ago by withdrawing a job offer after discovering she was homeless.

Garcia is grateful for the help she's gotten along the way. A federal housing voucher helped her find a rental. Now she owns a house in Providence.

When Garcia receives her diploma Saturday at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, her son, now 24; daughter, 22; and another daughter, 18, will be there, as will her mother. Garcia has stressed education for her children and says her youngest plans to attend college, like her older siblings.

Garcia "juggled multiple responsibilities and roles while completing" her degree, Donaldson noted. She said, "I am grateful to have been a part of her journey. I know many of my colleagues feel the same."

Garcia will look for a job as a social worker even as she continues working toward her master's. She wants to help others get the kind of help she had along the way.

"The reason I was able to reach my dream is because I have a stable home and I have the resources, and I feel secure," Garcia said. "If I was able to get out of that place and do it, I believe they can do it, too."

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: She was homeless, didn't speak English but will get a RIC degree at 48
Kimberly Kaufman, Black Swamp Bird Observatory's executive director. and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine sport matching Bird Ohio hats during the Governors Bird Ohio Day on May 4.

OAK HARBOR - When Kimberly Kaufman, executive director of the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, walked into the newly remodeled Magee Marsh Visitor Center on Gov. Mike DeWines Bird Ohio Day on May 4, it was the first time she had visited the center since renovations were completed. Kaufman had been too busy doing what she does best  protecting birds and welcoming birders.

Bird Ohio Day served as the kickoff for the Biggest Week in American Birding as well as the Grand Reopening and Ribbon Cutting for the visitor center. The Biggest Week runs through Sunday, May 14.

Officials have been prepping for 90,000 regional visitors

For the last several months, Kaufman and her staff have been preparing for the approximately 90,000 birders who visit Northwest Ohio each year in the hopes of spotting the dozens of varieties of migrating birds that visit the area each spring. BSBO hosted the Biggest Week in collaboration with Shores and Islands Ohio, Destination Toledo, and Maumee Bay Lodge and Conference Center.

The organizations kicked off the annual event with DeWine, who visited Magee Marsh on Bird Ohio Day along with Ohio Department of Resources Director Mary Mertz and Chief of the Division of Wildlife Kendra Wecker. Mertz and Wecker spoke during the opening ceremony.

A steady stream of birders will hike the Magee Marsh Bird Trail, commonly known as the boardwalk, this week for the Biggest Week in American Birding.

Wecker paid homage to early Ohio hunters who, she said, were the first to protect the wetlands. A new display in the Magee Marsh Visitor Center highlights the role hunters played in preserving the land that still protects Ohio wildlife. Without their conservation foresight, the thousands of birders who visit Northwest Ohio each year wouldnt have access to the land or the birds.

Mertz thanked the federal and state partners who help fund conservation efforts in Ohio, and she gave a nod to the birders whose passion for wildlife also aids those efforts.

To me personally, the best thing about birders is, theyre very friendly, Mertz said. The best part about birding is talking to the people along the way and learning about birding.

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Marsh boardwalk swarming with birders

On Monday, the Magee Marsh boardwalk was swarming with warblers, thrushes, vireos, and the birders Mertz praised. Among them was Helene Weber of Toledo who stood on the Magee Marsh boardwalk and talked about being fortunate to live in one of the Top 10 birding hotspots in North America.

Excited birders at Magee Marsh boardwalk spot a Woodcock nest just off the boardwalk on May 8.

Ive talked with people from Florida, Massachusetts, Arkansas  I could just run the list. Everyone from all over the country and the world are saying this is such a fantastic place. Theyre all saying youre so lucky to live here, Weber said. People will travel so far just to look at birds. Its amazing.

Kathy Stolarak drove four hours from her home in Michigan to bird at Magee and other local wildlife areas.

I came to the Biggest Week in American Birding because it is the Biggest Week in American Birding, Stolarak said. I just want to see as many birds as possible.

While she was in town, Stolarak attended A Splash of Feathers: Expressive Bird Art in Watercolor, an art class at Maumee Bay Lodge taught by Christina Baal of the Drawing 10,000 Birds project. The class was one of many bird-related activities available during the Biggest Week.

Dignitaries from the political and birding worlds prepare to cut the ribbon to official open the newly-remodeled Magee Marsh Visitor Center on May 4.

She paints birds that are not so much birds but the idea of birds. Yet, theyre still recognizable, Stolarak said. Since Im not very artistic, it was perfect for me.

As Weber and Stolarak stood on the boardwalk elbow-to-elbow with other birders, Weber said she was grateful Magee Marsh is so close to home.

Youre getting ease of access here on the boardwalk. It puts you eye-level with the birds because it lifts you up off the ground, Weber said. Its great because you dont get warbler neck.

Contact correspondent Sheri Trusty at sheritrusty4@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Dewine visits Magee Marsh during Bird Ohio Day
George Santos speaking at the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) annual leadership meeting. David Becker for the Washington Post/via Getty Images

Rep. George Santos mocked Jewish people in his district, a new audio clip shows.

He talked derisively about being stuck in a room with Jewish people and imitated a Yiddish accent.

Santos notoriously lied about being Jewish while on the campaign trail.

Rep. George Santos, who has lied about being Jewish, mocked and imitated Jews from his Long Island, New York, district in a newly released audio clip.

The clip was recorded by filmmaker Blake Zeff, who spent months speaking with the congressman for a potential documentary, and shared on Twitter by MSNBC's Ari Melber.

"If you sit in a room with a lot of Jews, you're fucked," Santos said about his heavily Jewish 3rd Congressional District.

"It's funny when the -isms start coming out, right? 'Oh, he's such a mensch, he's such a mensch,'" said Santos, affecting a fake Yiddish accent, said Zeff. The filmmaker described it as a notable "Jewish" impression.

The congressman continued talking about the Jewish people he was elected to represent, saying, "Then they go on to the next thing. It's really bad, but anyway."

The embattled Republican congressman, who this week has been indicted on several charges, including wire fraud and money laundering, notoriously lied about being Jewish while on the campaign trail.

Santos, who is Catholic, later backpedaled and claimed that he used to describe himself as "Jew-ish" as a party joke.

Santos has faced numerous allegations of lying about his past and has admitted to fabricating parts of his resume, including his work history and education.

Along with the clip of him appearing to mock Jewish people, MSNBC shared multiple other audio clips from Santos' interview with Zeff.

In the clips, he denies any criminal conduct regarding questions surrounding his campaign finance reports and income discrepancies.

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Zeff said that Santos told him: "I will go to the grave before anybody on this planet asks me to reveal information before the relevancy of my service in office. I don't have to. I'm protected as an American citizen."

"Not because I'm hiding anything, just because out of spite, I won't do it. Because it's my constitutional fucking right, and I'm going to hold onto it. People get to write whatever they want and call it freedom of the fucking press. I get to have my constitutional rights too!"

Zeff said on Twitter that the documentary was ultimately scrapped because Santos wanted a lot of money for his participation in the project.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Don and Sally Garrett oppose Sandersville Railroad's plans. Institute for Justice

A retired Georgia couple is battling a railroad company that wants their land.

The Garretts' family has owned the land since the 1800s and they aren't prepared to back down.

The couple is part of a group fighting Sandersville Railroad's plan to use the eminent domain process.

A retired Georgia couple has embarked on a battle against a private railroad company attempting to use the state's power to take land their family has owned for generations.

Don and Sally Garrett are among a group of landowners who partnered with the nonprofit Institute for Justice in the hope of keeping Sandersville Railroad from using eminent domain, a process that allows a state to seize land.

The Garretts inherited the land, which has been in their family since the 1800s, and Don isn't prepared to back down. "This is more than just land to our family  it's where we've shared memories and built a life for ourselves for generations," he said. "We're not going to let Sandersville just go in and take it from us."

Sparta is a small rural town and home to just 1,300 people in Hancock County, Georgia. According to census data, 70% of the county's population is Black and almost one in three people live in poverty.

Sandersville Railroad wants to build a rail spur so it can more easily transport materials used for making concrete from the Hanson Quarry, a rock mine owned by Heidelberg Materials, a German building-materials company previously known as HeidelbergCement.

The company filed a petition, seen by Insider, with the Georgia Public Service Commission on March 8. It requested the authority to condemn the Garretts' land through a process known as eminent domain.

The company said in its petition that the Hanson Spur, the rail line it wants to build, would require parcels from 18 nearby properties. Its construction, expected to start this year, would take about 15 months.

It would, however, mean residents of Sparta would have to deal with more dust and debris from the increased capacity of transportation.

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The Guardian reported in early April that some residents were already battling the company's attempt at seizing their land with the help of Jamie Rush, a senior attorney for the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Janet Smith, a retired schoolteacher and army veteran who was already active in the fight against the railroad company, told The Guardian: "Our community is already like a dumping ground, so we're going to fight this to the end  there is no compromise."

A map shows Sandersville Railroad's plan for the Hanson Spur. Institute for Justice

US states sometimes delegate the power of eminent domain to private entities, and according to the Institute for Justice, private companies may want to acquire land for something other than public use.

Should the state of Georgia give Sandersville Railroad the authority to take the Garretts' land, the couple must be fairly compensated, according to the Department of Justice. But money isn't what they're after  the Garretts simply want to keep their land.

The Institute for Justice has accused the railroad company of abusing eminent-domain power. Bill Maurer, a senior attorney with Institute for Justice, said in a press release: "Taking people's private land and handing it over to a private company for the benefit of a private business isn't just wrong, it's unconstitutional and against Georgia law."

He added: "The power to use eminent domain is limited to public uses and the public is not going to use this railroad  a private business is. Neither the Constitution nor Georgia statutes permit this kind of abuse of the eminent domain power."

Blaine and Diane Smith are also part of the group fighting back against the railroad's attempt to take land that has been in their family for a hundred years. "We refuse to let a private company come take the land that we hope to leave for our children and our children's children," Blaine said.

Blaine Smith's cousin, Marvin Smith, and his wife, Pat, have also joined the fight to keep the land that belonged to their great-grandmother, who was born a slave there, in their family.

Blaine and Marvin Smith own separate parcels of land, both of which Sandersville's push for eminent domain would impact.

The cousins' grandparents became owners of the land in the 1920s and always told their children to cherish and hold onto it.

The Institute for Justice told Insider that other residents who the proposal could impact could join the fight  but that only the Garretts and the Smiths are part of the lawsuit for now.

And the only way for Sandersville Railroad's project to work is to run its spur to the quarry by taking parts of some residents' land, which representatives for the institute find unreasonable.

"Their stated 'rationale' is that it will take trucks off the road in Sparta, but we don't accept that at face value," a spokesperson for the Institute for Justice told Insider.

Blaine and Diane Smith also oppose the railroad company's plans. Institute for Justice

Ben Tarbutton III, a representative for Sandersville Railroad, said the company disagreed "with the assertions made by the Institute for Justice."

He said the spur line would only make one round trip a day, creating new jobs and tax revenue "for one of Georgia's poorest counties."

"The spur will not require the taking of anyone's home nor will it prevent any property owner from using their pastures, hunting areas, or timbering their property," Tarbutton said.

"Utilizing eminent domain is not our preferred approach but given the lack of willingness to engage from the Garrett and Smith families, we welcome clarity from the PSC on this matter and look forward to its ruling."

Betsy Sanz, a litigation fellow with the Institute for Justice, said: "We look forward to standing up for these property owners in their fight against this unconstitutional land grab."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Washington State University Tri-Cities will begin offering degrees in social work starting in 2024 to fill high-demand jobs that will help bolster the regions mental health workforce.

In particular, the program aims to fill the escalating need for rural and Latino social workers.

The new degree paths are made possible by a $1.6 million allocation from the Washington Legislature and a salary sharing provision from the Kadlec Foundation.

Social work is really versatile, said WSU Tri-Cities Chancellor Sandra Haynes. I call it the Swiss Army Knife of behavioral health degrees because you can do so much with it.

Graduates with a bachelors degree in social work will be able to fill unlicensed jobs such as caseworkers, family service workers, rehabilitation specialists and mental health assistants. Theyll work in schools, police departments and for locally for state agencies.

Students can also choose to continue their education and earn a one-year masters degree to be qualified to be a licensed social worker.

About 303 jobs in the social work field open up every year in the South-Central Washington region, Haynes said. The median salary for family social workers is $58,200, while those in the health care field earn about $61,300.

I think mental health is such a big need, especially after COVID and especially in our rural communities where we definitely see people with mental health needs under served, Haynes said.

WSU Tri-Cities already offers a general social sciences degree where students develop writing and research skills applicable to any variety of career fields. But these new offerings will allow students to narrow their studies and skills in quicker fashion and graduate into jobs with higher paying salaries.

Health care providers across the state have difficulty finding social workers because there are not enough training programs in the region, Kate McAteer, vice chancellor of academic and student affairs at WSU Tri-Cities, said in a statement.

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Half of students who attend WSU Tri-Cities also identify as a person of color, most of them identifying as Hispanic, Haynes said.

When youre choosing your behavioral health provider, you often want to go to someone who has had similar life experiences. So, well be putting out a highly diverse set of social workers that will meet the need of this community  not only the ethnic match, but the rural match, Haynes said.

Support from Kadlec

An endowment from the Kadlec Foundation to WSU College of Nursing was amended to include a 1-for-1 salary-sharing provision to start the social work program.

Kadlec Regional Medical Center routinely places social workers in their clinics as part of each primary care team.

WSU Tri-Cities new social workers program will be housed in an existing facility, and is expected to annually graduate 50 undergraduates and 25 postgraduates.

About six to eight new professors will be hired between the baccalaureate and masters programs.

The curricula are still being built and the university plans to hire a director soon.

2023 legislative session

WSU Tri-Cities received nearly $10 million during this last legislative session, including $7.7 to launch the universitys Institute for Northwest Energy Futures.

That new institute will serve as an applied research center to help address the increasing demand for low-carbon electricity and transportation fuels, and educate the next generation of clean energy experts in the Tri-Cities.

Staff also will benefit from a 2.2% raise for all for the upcoming academic school year, and then an additional 1.6% raise for the following academic year.

University-wide, WSU also received $27 million for compensation enhancements for faculty, professional staff and graduate students. Funding was also provided for compensation enhancement for classified staff over the next two fiscal years.
Important decisions have been made by Ukraine and Italy to protect the Ukrainian skies. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this after talks with Giorgia Meloni, the head of the Italian government, in Rome on Saturday.

Source: This was reported by the correspondent of European Pravda

Quote: "Today, we discussed our cooperation, specifically, security and military cooperation. There are very important decisions regarding protection of our skies," Zelenskyy said without providing any more details.

In addition, according to Zelenskyy, the "peace formula" implementation was discussed at the meeting.

"Unfortunately, Russia responded to our "peace formula" with missiles and artillery. They are not interested in peace," the president added.

After negotiations with Zelenskyy, Meloni expressed confidence in Ukraine's victory in the war against Russia.

In Rome, Zelenskyy also met with President Sergio Mattarella, who said that peace in Ukraine must be real, and it should "not surrender".

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law on Friday that critics say will make it harder to investigate gun crimes.

The legislation, SB 214, prevents credit card companies from affixing purchases of guns and ammunition with a special code, which can later be used to investigate various gun-related transactions.

The Republican governor framed the decision as a defence of individual privacy and gun rights.

"They can tag you or flag you as being somebody that somehow should be looked at and thats just fundamentally wrong," he said on Friday.

Critics say the bill will harm public safety and get in the way of police investigations.

Theres a lot of things that go on in these investigations, and sadly were in a crisis across this country, said state senator Victor Torres, an Orlando Democra, told Orland Weekly. Every day, every weekend we hear about shootings in our counties, in our state, across the nation. And this state should be more aware as to the purchasing of guns and ammunition.

Companies that violate the bill can be fined up to $10,000.

Last year, credit card companies like Visa, Mastercard, and Amex announced plans to change how they track purchases at gun stores, but suspended the changes amid pushback from GOP states.

Last month, Mr DeSantis signed a bill making Florida the latest state to adopt permitless carry.

Now, citizens of the sunshine state can carry weapons without training, a permit, or a background check.

As The Independent has reported, more than half of US states have such bills, which anti-gun violence advocates say make shootings more likely.

Despite continued acts of gun violence, lawmakers continue to cave to the gun lobbys guns everywhere agenda, gun reform advocacy group Moms Demand Action. said in a statement on 27 March.

Florida has been home to some of the most infamous mass shootings in the country, including the 2018 Parkland massacre, in which 17 people were killed at Marjory Soneman Douglass High School.

Following that shooting, Florida began requiring every public school in the state to have an armed security guard on campus.

However, as The Independent has reported, theres little evidence armed security guards prevent mass shootings at school, and sometimes make them worse.
The clock is about to begin ticking down on Ron DeSantis presidential announcement.

On Monday, the Florida governors political operation is set to move into its new base of operations, which will trigger disclosure requirements with federal officials.

The DeSantis political operation is currently housed in downtown Tallahassee, but staffers are set to make a short move to a new downtown location that will serve as a more official campaign home, according to a source familiar with the campaigns plans, as well as another person knowledgeable about the move.

That move will require the not-yet-filed campaign to spend more than $5,000 and, under Federal Election Commission guidelines, when someone running for federal office spends more than $5,000, they are required to register, file financial reports and designate a principal campaign committee.

Functionally, the office move will require DeSantis to file paperwork with federal election officials within 15 days, thus acknowledging publicly for the first time that he is running for president.

The DeSantis team has been housed at the Florida GOP building since the re-elect, said a veteran Republican consultant. They are gearing up to move out soon. In moving, they would be spending funds and [it] most likely would force them to file a Form 1 with the FEC, which would force an announcement sooner rather than later.

This move kicks off the countdown, according to a source close to DeSantis political operation. Hard to see how you turn back after that.

A DeSantis spokesperson declined to comment.

The move and the forthcoming filing represent the most concrete steps of what has long been a behind-the-scenes effort to slowly build up a DeSantis political operation that, in his first years in office, has been notoriously small.

A DeSantis-aligned super PAC called Never Back Down has raised tens of millions of dollars and served as the attack dog against former President Trump, whose regular swipes against DeSantis have so far largely been ignored by the governor. The organization is also airing pro-DeSantis TV ads and building out staff in key states across the country to have presidential-level infrastructure in place for a formal launch. DeSantis advisers told NBC News in April that they were plotting out a long-haul delegate strategy that would involve a lengthy battle with Trump.

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DeSantis and his wife, Casey, have also started to hold dinners with small groups of donors in the Florida governors mansion to try and build out an already substantial fundraising base. According to a source familiar with the operation, DeSantis has hosted eight dinners over the last two weeks. Each one has had between 15 and 20 of the biggest and the best donors from around the country.

The people that were at these dinners were very carefully selected major raisers, the source said.

The source, who attended one of the dinners, said that prior to the meal the guests had the opportunity to attend a briefing with the senior staff, who answered questions and addressed any concerns from the donors. The person added that, in their experience, this kind of transparency from staff members with donors was unprecedented.

Among those who attended the donor dinners were Scott Wagner, a Miami attorney and longtime DeSantis supporter who served as a co-chair of the governors 2022 transition team, and Texas businessman and major Republican fundraiser Roy Bailey, who served as the national finance co-chair of Trumps campaigns.

Bailey told NBC News he came away chomping at the bit and hoping DeSantis runs.

DeSantis told those in attendance he would not always hit back at Trumps attacks, but when he does it will be on policy, according to another source.

DeSantis also discussed his plans for going after the bureaucracy in Washington, including the idea of canceling the plan for new headquarters for the FBI, which is looking to move out of his deteriorating building in downtown Washington, D.C. He floated moving more federal agencies out of Washington in order to make civil servants quit  something that Trump did as well as president.

DeSantis additionally leaned into the idea he could have two terms in the White House to push conservative change, rather than just the one Trump would be constitutionally eligible for.

One of his arguments to us in the room is look, I understand the machinery of government and if I have eight years I can make a profound conservative impact on this, the attendee said. Like, Trump doesnt understand how to use the state or  what hes fighting against and how to beat it.

DeSantis raised the highest amount of money of any governor in U.S. history during his 2022 re-election and is already set to have more outside money behind him than any other presidential primary candidate ever.

In recent weeks, however, some big money donors have expressed concern about DeSantis potential candidacy with Trumps quick rise in the polls and seeming continued stranglehold over the Republican base. Most recently, Bloomberg reported that billionaire Steve Schwarzman, chief executive of private equity firm Blackstone Group, is holding off on giving to DeSantis after meeting with him in Tallahassee.

Trumps status as the GOP front-runner was amplified Wednesday night during a CNNs town hall event at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire. Trumps performance, though replete with lies and mistruths, put on full display the man who took over and remade the Republican Party.

Trump also brushed back at DeSantis during the event.

I think he ought to just relax and take it easy and think about the future, because right now his future is not looking good, Trump said.

Never Back Down, the pro-DeSantis super PAC, shot back.

On the same day Ron DeSantis was assailing Joe Bidens border crisis, Donald Trump was on CNN attacking DeSantis and lying about finishing the border wall, Erin Perrine, the groups communications director, said in a statement. The CNN town hall was, as expected, over an hour of nonsense that proved Trump is stuck in the past.

When asked about the formidable challenge posed by Trump, Bailey  the former Trump-turned-DeSantis backer  told NBC News: Trump has a base as solid as the rock of Gibraltar, but that rock is just one rock. You also have the rest of the party. DeSantis hasnt even put on his cleats yet to run the race.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Here's a roundup of recent incidents and announcements from Ventura County and regional agencies:

Ojai man arrested after Carpinteria OD response

An Ojai man was arrested by authorities in Santa Barbara County last month on suspicion of selling illegal drugs, sheriff's officials said.

A 26-year-old Ojai man was arrested after authorities allegedly found him in Carpinteria last month with a large quantity of drugs during an overdose call.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff's deputies had responded to a report of a person passed out in a vehicle on Birch Street in Carpinteria on the afternoon of April 22, the agency said in a release Friday. The Ojai man was found unresponsive with drug paraphernalia in his lap. Deputies also found a large quantity of suspected narcotics in the vehicle, including fentanyl, M30 pills, cocaine and ketamine, an anesthetic.

Detectives obtained a search warrant for the man's Ojai residence in the 1200 block of Gregory Street. That night, authorities found additional fentanyl, heroin, oxycodone M30 pills and cocaine during the search, authorities said.

In all, agency officials seized about 1.8 pounds of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, more than a pound of cocaine, more than 4 ounces each of heroin and methamphetamine, nearly 3 ounces of ketamine, 50 benzodiazepine pills and 616 oxycodone M30 pills.

The man was arrested on suspicion of multiple felony narcotics violations and remained in Santa Barbara County jail custody Friday in lieu of $260,000 bail.

Child molest sentence brings 34 years in prison

Rodolfo Duran

A Santa Paula man who pleaded guilty to child molestation was sentenced last week to 34 years to life in prison, the Ventura County District Attorney's Office said.

Rodolfo Duran, 27, pleaded guilty in April to sodomy of a child age 10 or younger and forcible sodomy of a child under 14. The conduct involved two separate victims, prosecutors said. Duran also admitted to special allegations including that the crimes involved great violence and he took advantage of a position of trust.

He was sentenced on May 4 by Ventura County Superior Court Judge Bruce Young.

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One of the victims had reported the molestation to her school teacher in Santa Paula in 2018, the DA's office said in a release. Santa Paula Police Department detectives soon identified a second victim that Duran had molested for years. Duran reportedly confessed to the allegations while being interviewed by Santa Paula police.

2 arrested for alleged ATM skimming activity in Camarillo

Two Anaheim men were arrested in Camarillo Wednesday after deputies suspected them of taking part in attempted "skimming" activities at an ATM.

The men, both in their 20s, were reportedly spotted near an automated teller machine on Ponderosa Drive and possibly installing a skimmer device, according to the Ventura County Sheriff's Office, which is contracted to provide police services in Camarillo.

Deputies contacted the men, who reportedly authorized a search of their vehicle. There, deputies found manufactured faceplates with pinhole cameras, so-called "deep insert" credit card skimmers and tools to install the skimmers on ATMs, the agency said. Deputies also found credit card information that didn't belong to either man.

Camarillo authorities have seen an increase in the past six months in identity theft crimes involving recipients of state benefits that provide food and other assistance to low-income residents. The CalFRESH and CalWORKS programs use debit cards that lack many security features of other cards, according to sheriff's officials. Personal information stolen from such cards through skimming devices at ATMs and point-of-sale machines can be used to make a clone card used to steal money from a victim's account.

The two suspects were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy and other offenses. Both remained in county jail custody as of Friday afternoon.

Authorities urged residents to look for signs of tampering when using ATM or point-of-sale machines and to cover keypads when entering a personal identification number.

4 arrested in connection with fatal overdoses

Ventura County Sheriff's authorities arrested four Los Angeles men late last month in connection with two fatal overdoses in Ventura County in 2022.

The four are suspected of being part of an organized narcotics delivery service based in the San Fernando Valley that supplied the drugs taken in the fatal incidents. The deaths occurred in the Thousand Oaks area in September and October, authorities said.

Ventura County's FOCUS task force  for "fentanyl and overdose crimes units"  investigated the deaths. The task force is comprised of local and federal law enforcement officers.

Authorities say such drug deliveries are directly managed by members of a drug cartel in Mexico who allegedly facilitate the "mass delivery" of narcotics throughout Southern California using delivery drivers who live in the state. Sheriff's officials described the services as well organized and difficult to investigate. Profits from the sales are funneled back to the Mexican cartels, according to the sheriff's release.

Task force detectives used surveillance and other methods to identify drivers who live in the San Fernando Valley and often made several trips a day to Ventura County to sell drugs. Information collected over several months in the Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley areas led to the April arrests.

The four suspect are all residents of the Valley's Pacoima neighborhood, age 23 to 33. They were booked and subsequently released from Ventura County jail while the investigation continues.

During the operation, task force detectives seized 7.5 ounces of heroin, half an ounce of powdered fentanyl, 2 ounces of methamphetamine, 638 counterfeit pills containing fentanyl and 3 grams of cocaine, authorities said. About $1,850 in cash was also seized.

Items may be updated.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Roundup: Ojai man arrested after OD in Carpinteria, more local news
GLENWOOD, Ark.  Last year, while campaigning for the top prosecutors job in the rural district that surrounds this close-knit river town, native daughter Jana Bradford cited a tough-on-crime record that she said had brought the worst offenders to justice and comfort to their victims.

The most important thing that Im able to do is relate to our victims, Bradford, a part-time deputy prosecutor in Pike County for more than two decades, told a crowd at a Rotary club meeting. The child who has been molested by her parents, Ive held her hand before she testified.

But time and again, Bradford used her clout and legal skills behind the scenes to assist her pedophile uncle, according to a paper trail of letters and other legal records.

Over the years, she helped her uncle Barry Walker try to get a pardon from the governor for his first felony sexual abuse conviction in another Arkansas county, vigorously disputed a girls abuse allegations when he faced more possible charges and tried to get his name removed from Arkansas sex offender registry, records show.

Bradfords efforts to assist Walker have surfaced in recent months as part of a swirling scandal in the wake of what some legal observers describe as one of the worst pedophilia cases in Arkansas history.

Last June 9, just 16 days after she won election as chief prosecutor in a four-county judicial district, investigators from the state and county, responding to new allegations from three girls, seized a cache of more than 400 homemade videos and thousands of photos and downloaded images of child pornography from Walkers residence and arrested him.

Image: Barry Walker's mugshot (Arkansas Department of Corrections)

The videos dated back a quarter century and captured Walker committing hundreds of acts of rape and other sex crimes on dozens of pre-pubescent girls, ages 2 to 14  including a 4-year-old girl whose claims Bradford had vigorously disputed to a neighboring prosecutor years earlier.

Four months later, Walker, 59, who ran a successful construction business, pleaded guilty to more than 100 felony counts in two counties related to raping or molesting 31 children, some repeatedly. He received 39 life sentences totaling 1,710 years in prison with no chance for parole.

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Since his conviction in October, investigators have shifted their focus to Walkers closest relatives and associates, amid allegations that they enabled Walker to keep preying on little girls for years.

Another of Walkers nieces and his former longtime girlfriend each have been charged with felony counts of permitting child sex abuse, while Walkers brother faces a misdemeanor charge of failure to report child sex abuse, court records show.

The special prosecutor overseeing Walkers case and related ones, who was assigned in part due to Bradfords conflicts of interest, said in a recent interview that a criminal investigation of secondary targets remains ongoing. Neither the prosecutor nor a state special agent leading that probe would say whether Bradford is among those targets.

A growing number of Walkers victims, meanwhile, have joined a lawsuit that lays out a litany of explosive claims alleging a broader scheme and cover-up orchestrated by the child rapists inner circle, including Bradford.

You dont rape this many girls this many times in a small Arkansas town unless someone is running interference for you, said David Carter, a Texarkana lawyer representing at least 14 of the victims or their parents and guardians.

The lawsuit includes allegations that Walkers relatives and a former girlfriend intentionally delayed reporting two girls sex abuse claims last year to avoid hurting Bradfords election chances. Following Walkers arrest, the lawsuit alleges, his family schemed to hide Walkers business assets and property in case any of his victims later sued.

Image: Campaign fliers sent by Jana Bradford while running for re-election. (Obtained by NBC News)

The lawsuit also details Bradfords repeated legal efforts over the years to protect and defend her uncle. It contends she wouldnt allow her own daughter to be left alone with him, but failed to warn other parents that he was a sex offender who posed danger to their children.

Bradford, 54, a married mother of two who has not been charged with a crime, remains the prosecutor for Arkansas Ninth West Judicial Circuit. She did not respond to messages left by phone, email or at her downtown Glenwood office, where she displays a sign reading, Honest Lawyer.

Erin Cassinelli, an attorney representing Bradford in the civil case, said in an email to NBC News that Bradford isnt doing interviews and is instead focusing on litigating the issues in court. Cassinelli said all of the lawsuits allegations about Bradford are absolutely false, and have not been verified or supported by factual evidence.

Ms. Bradford denies in the most emphatic terms possible that she knew Barry Walker was molesting children or that she did anything whatsoever to conceal his depraved behavior, Casinellis email said. Since Ms. Bradford did not even know about Barry Walkers continuing criminal acts, she certainly cannot be held responsible for his actions and the harm he caused.

Walker did not respond to a letter sent to him in prison. His attorney in the civil case did not return a phone call.

One of Walkers victims, now 22, who is identified in court records as Juvenile 20, said in a recent interview that she was afraid and ashamed to tell anyone about what Walker did to her as a child during playdates and slumber parties at his home. But she added that she believes those around Walker knew  and could have stopped him years earlier.

The people who knew about Barry are equally complicit in what happened to me and all those other girls, said the woman, who spoke with NBC News on condition of anonymity. Every adult that was around, honestly. Nobody did s---. They failed us.

Decades of allegations

In February 1999, Walker was a married Army veteran and ex-Air Force flight surgeon practicing medicine in Fort Smith, Arkansas, when an 8-year-old girl told her mother that Dr. Walker had touched her in ways that made her feel uncomfortable, according to charging papers.

Walker, then 35, and his wife had been over to the home of the girls parents for dinner. At some point during the evening, when he and the girl were alone in a home library, Walker sexually assaulted her, the court records say. The girl later told an investigator Walker also had rubbed her privates on two previous occasions.

A few months after he was charged with two felony counts of child sexual abuse, Walkers wife divorced him. In March 2000, he pleaded no contest and was sentenced to five years in prison. Following his conviction, the state required Walker to register as sex offender and his medical license was revoked.

In 2001, after serving only about 11- months, Walker was paroled early for good behavior, a state Department of Corrections spokesperson said. He returned to live near his hometown of Glenwood, a 2-1/2 hours drive south from Fort Smith into the rolling pastures and ragged pine stands of rural Pike County  three counties away from where hed been convicted.

Before his release, court records from his 2000 criminal case show a state psychologist and counselors had assessed and advised him that, to avoid re-offending, he should refrain from alcohol, attend regular therapy sessions and avoid being alone with children.

But Walker quickly blew off all of those recommendations  and his family members knew it, the victims recent lawsuit says.

Walker initially moved into a house within an enclave of homes along a wooded, gravel road just outside of town, where several of his relatives lived, records and interviews show. He started his own landscaping business about a year later and moved a few miles away, into an isolated rambler surrounded by pastures.

By then, Bradford was several years into her career as a part-time deputy prosecutor in Pike County, with a private practice on the side.

According to the lawsuit, she and other family members regularly saw prepubescent females riding in Barrys truck around Glenwood, riding horses with Barry at the fairgrounds, hanging out at Barrys house and regularly spending the night, but they did nothing to intervene.

During weekly family meetings, Bradford and at least two of Walkers siblings discussed how it was strange how Barry always had young girls around him, despite being a registered sex offender, the lawsuit states.

New claims of sex abuse surfaced against Walker in February 2004, when a 3-year-old girl reported he had abused her, prompting the Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division to open an investigation, a state sex offender assessment report shows.

Six months later, in August 2004, court records show Bradford helped prepare Walkers application to the governor seeking executive clemency for his 2000 child sex abuse conviction. In his application, Walker wrote: I would like a second chance to be a fully productive citizen of this state and practice medicine again in rural Arkansas. The request was later denied by then-Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Over the next several years, Walker ran a landscaping business and then built a construction firm that became a thriving enterprise.

Meanwhile, more allegations surfaced, leading to more investigations. Girls came forward in 2006, 2010 and in 2014, the sex offender assessment report shows.

Based on a 2014 allegation involving the sexual abuse of a 4-year-old girl, Walker was arrested and booked into jail later that year, court and police records show. Bradford and other family members posted his $25,000 bond, hired a lawyer for him, paid his employees and kept his business running, the lawsuit says. The state police division made a referral to charge Walker, but that referral was overturned on administrative appeal, records show.

Why none of the other allegations resulted in charges against Walker isnt fully clear because most of the records are under seal, said Carter, the victims attorney.

Bradford clearly was aware of various reports of sexual abuse against her uncle over the years, Carter said, and argued in the lawsuit. She was actively working to protect her uncle against these claims even while she was a deputy prosecutor, he said.

In response to the 4-year-olds claims in 2014, Bradford sent a letter disputing them to Blake Batson, then the top prosecutor in neighboring Clark County, where her uncle lived. In it, Bradford referred to a private polygraph test she had Walker take, accused the girls parents of concocting the claims and contended that Walker never had been alone with the girl.

Batson didnt charge Walker in 2014.

Now Clark Countys circuit court judge, Batson last year presided over Walkers multiple convictions and sentencing in that county, including his guilty plea to raping the same 4-year-old girl.

During Walkers sentencing hearing in October, the girl, who is now 13, stood to face him in a packed courtroom and read aloud a statement.

You made my whole family turn against me, and think I was lying and imagining all of it, she said. And they trusted all of you people over me. That hurt just as bad as raping me.

Image: Jana Bradford, center, arrives at the Little River County Courthouse in Ashdown, Ark., on May 9. (Shelby Tauber for NBC News)

The falsest claim ever

Two years after Bradford disputed the 4-year-old girls claims to Batson in 2014, Walker, through his business, bought a secluded five-acre plot on a dead-end road, directly across the highway from his familys enclave outside of Glenwood, property records show.

On it, he later built a sprawling warehouse with an attached residence, where he lived.

In 2018, Bradford sought to get Walkers name scrubbed from Arkansas sex offender registry, writing that he met the necessary criteria: It had been more than 15 years since his release from custody, and he wasnt likely to pose a threat to others. In a formal letter accompanying the petition and sent to the prosecutor in Sebastian County, where Walker was convicted in 2000, Bradford identified herself as a deputy prosecuting attorney.

Bradfords contention that Walker wasnt dangerous may well be the falsest claim ever made in a legal filing in the State of Arkansas, the victims lawsuit later said.

In response to Bradfords petition, the state sought to reassess Walker as a sex offender. After Walker failed a state-ordered polygraph in 2019 and a risk assessment administrator took into account the various claims and investigations, she issued a finding that his community notification status should actually be increased.

Bradford blasted the administrators finding in a December 2019 letter. She disputed that any claims were even documented in 2004, and contended each and every one of the other alleged investigations were all unsubstantiated.

Theres not one scintilla of evidence to support increasing the community notification level of Mr. Walker, Bradford added, contending that since his release from custody in 2000, he had been a productive citizen whod supported the economy and provided employment to many persons in the area.

To bolster her argument, Bradford noted that Walker already had passed the private polygraph given to him in 2014 and included a report from the polygraph examiner. It shows he asked Walker only two questions related to touching the girl who had accused him.

A state panel that reviewed the administrators finding at Bradfords request upheld Walkers heightened sex offender status in 2020, records show.

According to Cassinelli, her attorney, the work Bradford performed on Walkers behalf was done in her capacity as a private attorney and included routine matters handled by attorneys for clients in jurisdictions around the country.

There is no basis to suggest she thereby became responsible for the acts of another person, Cassinelli said in her email.

Fallout for Walkers inner-circle

By early May last year, Bradfords mother and an uncle learned from one of her cousins, Brandy Cox, that two more girls had said Walker sexually abused them, according to the lawsuit.

None of them reported the allegations to law enforcement because of the political ramifications reporting Barry would have on Jana Bradfords chances of being elected the prosecuting attorney, according to the lawsuit, which does not allege Bradford was directly involved in those conversations.

About two-and-a-half weeks after Bradford won her nonpartisan race for prosecutor, Cox took the two girls to state police to report their allegations against Walker.

That led investigators to get a search warrant for his home and warehouse, where they discovered a hard drive with the videos and photos, along with a baggie of cocaine and seven firearms, including two fully automatic submachine guns.

Officers found most of the incriminating items in a horse trailer parked outside of Walkers home, a probable cause affidavit states. Walker may have been on high alert for a police search after at least one family member had told him about the girls allegations, said John Jones, a police agent leading the criminal investigation.

Following Walkers arrest, Cox admitted to an investigator that one of the girls had reported to her that Walker had molested her six years earlier, but Cox hadnt acted on those claims, according to a probable cause affidavit for Coxs arrest. Cox added that after telling other family members about the girls latest accusations, Walker had threatened to have her arrested, and offered her a house, $10,000, and other considerations not to go to the police, the affidavit said.

Nonetheless, Cox agreed to keep allowing the two girls to stay overnight alone with Walker, the affidavit says.

In December, Cox was charged with felony permitting sex abuse of a child. Cox did not respond to messages seeking comment for this article.

Barry Walkers brother, Bryce Walker, who as an employee of a school district is required to report suspected child abuse, also was charged in March with misdemeanor failure to report, court records show.

Bryce Walkers criminal defense attorney, Shelly Hogan Koehler, said her client is innocent and added, We look forward to our day in court to be able to prove that.

Investigators also arrested Barry Walkers ex-girlfriend and employee, Lori Cogburn.

According to a probable cause affidavit in Cogburns case, the 4-year-old girl told investigators in 2014 that Cogburn had walked in on Barry Walker sexually assaulting her. Cogburn didnt report that to authorities and soon allowed another girl to spend nights alone with Walker, the affidavit states.

Cogburns attorney, Michael M. Harrison, said in an email that Cogburn categorically denies the criminal and civil allegations against her as baseless and patently false.

She had no knowledge of Mr. Walkers criminal actions with regard to the abused minors, Harrisons email said, adding that Cogburn would not have allowed any child to have been placed in a position of harm by him, or anyone else.

Bradfords mother, Joyce Perser, who has not been charged with a crime but is named in the victims lawsuit, also didnt respond to requests for comment.

Persers lawyer, Jeffrey Elliott, referred to a motion to dismiss her as a defendant, contending the lawsuit doesnt provide evidence to support the allegations against her and misplaces blame on Walkers family members.

If law enforcement did not foresee the continued behavior of Walker, how can a duty be imposed on Joyce Perser, the motion states.

Image: Barry Walker, left, rides horses through Glenwood, Ark. with young girls. (Courtesy Howard Green)

The most prolific opportunist

Investigators believe Walker has many more victims beyond the 31 children he admitted to sexually assaulting. He has lived in several other parts of Arkansas and attended military training or resided in at least three other states.

Barry Walker is going to be the most prolific opportunist as far as any rapist goes in the country when its all said and done, said Jones, adding that a criminal investigation remains very much open.

At least six of the victims captured on video have yet to be identified, according to Clark County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Turner . He said several of the victims were sedated when Walker assaulted them and didnt know theyd been raped until investigators contacted them.

How do you go tell a 28-year-old that she was raped when she was 12? Turner asked, when discussing the task that faced investigators. And, that we know you were raped because weve got a video, you just dont know it because you were unconscious.

Even though Walker, and Bradford advocating on his behalf, had purported for years that he hadnt reoffended, evidence shows that Walker didnt stop raping girls following his initial arrest in Fort Smith in 1999. And he'd offended even earlier, records show. One of Walkers convictions last year involved a girl whose rape was recorded on VHS cassette in 1997.

Turner  the special prosecutor assigned to oversee all cases related to Walker, including those in Bradfords district due to her conflicts  told NBC that as far as he can tell, police took the sex abuse claims that cropped up in the years before Walkers arrest seriously, but some just couldnt be shored up with evidence.

Walker ultimately was convicted of abusing four girls whose claims from 2004 through 2014 were deemed unsubstantiated at the time, based on the videos found last year, Turner said.

Walker was a smart, sophisticated and at times charming manipulator, Jones added.

He was a flight surgeon who passed medical school and ran several successful businesses, he said. No one should underestimate his intelligence.

After Walkers arrest, Jones said that Walker told him he was able to pass the private polygraph in 2014 involving the 4-year-old because the examiner asked the wrong questions.

Since Walkers convictions, local press coverage, including a bevy of revelations in a state political blog called the Blue Hog Report, has kept an intense spotlight on Bradford as her hometown has grappled with the scandal.

A prosecutor is required to report crimes against children, said Howard Buddy Green, who has lived most of his 63 years in Glenwood, a town of 2,200 residents where he says everyone knows everyone.

Green speculated that in my opinion, she was trying to take care of a family member and thought she had enough power to make it happen.

Green, who said Bradford should be removed from office, is among some locals who said theyve given statements in recent months to the FBI or state attorney generals office about Bradford. Others say theyve separately filed complaints with the Arkansas Judiciarys Committee on Professional Conduct, contending she filed false and misleading legal records about Walker or inappropriately advocated on his behalf. Neither agency would confirm whether it was investigating.

Bradfords attorney, who is a member of the state judiciarys ethics panel, noted anybody may file a grievance with the committee. But Bradford has never been disciplined and doesnt face any pending actions, she said.

Ms. Bradford has not violated any of her ethical duties, and any insinuation that Ms. Bradford is facing disciplinary action by the ethics committee is false, she said.

Cassinelli also noted in the email that Bradford has deep sympathy for Barry Walkers victims, and contends that, like others in her community, she was horrified to learn of (his) depraved acts against children.

Juvenile No. 20, who is now 22 years old, said she only learned she was raped last year after reading about Walkers arrest and contacting an investigator, who told her she was depicted in the cache of videos and photos seized from his home.

The woman now hopes ongoing scrutiny into how Walker became one of Arkansas most prolific pedophiles will finally embolden others who kept silent for years to step into the light and hold all of his enablers to account.

If theres other girls, I think they need to come forward, she said. Its safe now.

CORRECTION: (May 13, 2023, 12:57 p.m. ET) A previous version of this article had the wrong middle initial for an attorney. His name is Michael M. Harrison, not Michael W. Harrison.

Image: Jana Bradford exits the courtroom after spotting the photographer. (Shelby Tauber for NBC News)

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Reuters

There were apocalyptic scenes in Russias Bryansk region Saturday as four military aircraft were apparently blown out of the sky near the border, killing nearly a dozen service members.

Officially, authorities blamed the Mi-8 helicopter crash on a mysterious engine fire, but video shared on social media by local residents appeared to show a missile hit the chopper just before it exploded.

Around the same time the chopper crashed, an Su-34 fighter jet also came crashing down engulfed in flames. Residents in the town of Klintsy could be seen gathering around to gaze in horror at the fiery wreckage of the jet in a nearby wooded area.

Separately, Russian media reported that another Mi-8 helicopter and an Su-35 jet had been shot down in the region.

Russias Kommersant newspaper reported that all crew members aboard all four aircraft were killed. Russian authorities, meanwhile, remained mum on the simultaneous catastrophes, confirming only the crash of a single chopper.

According to Kommersant, all four aircraft had been tasked with carrying out strikes on Ukraines Chernihiv region, with the choppers assigned to back up the fighter jets.

But they were apparently shot down instead. According to Baza, at least nine Russian service members are dead.

Authorities in the region are now said to be frantically searching for Ukrainian saboteurs who shot down the aircraft, though some questioned if Russia may have actually shot down its own planes in its paranoia over Ukraine obtaining new long-range cruise missiles.

Pro-war Russian military bloggers are now demanding revenge over what they described as an ambush on Russias air force by Ukrainian forces.

Our aviation has not suffered such losses as today since March of last year, one pro-Kremlin Telegram channel complained.

We will avenge everyone, we will kill everyone, another pro-war channel said.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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(Reuters) - Russia rejects accusations by a Turkish opposition leader that Moscow interfered in the country's presidential election, domestic news agencies cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Saturday.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the main challenger of President Tayyip Erdogan, said on Friday his party has concrete evidence of Russia's responsibility for the release of "deep fake" online content ahead of the vote on Sunday.

Russia has been accused in the past of meddling in foreign polls, including in U.S. elections, which it denies.

"We categorically do not accept the accusations of interference in the Turkish elections. This is out of the question," the agencies cited Peskov as saying.

"We are extremely disappointed with this statement of the opposition in Turkey," Peskov was reported as saying, adding that Kilicdaroglu would not be able to provide proof of the supposed interference "because it does not actually exist".

Under Erdogan, Turkey has conducted a diplomatic balancing act since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Ankara opposes Western sanctions on Russia and has close ties with both Moscow and Kyiv, its Black Sea neighbours. It has also sent armed drones to help Ukraine.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Leslie Adler)
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's Defence Ministry said on Saturday that Ukrainian aircraft had struck two industrial sites in the Russian-held city of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine with Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles supplied by Britain.

Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports.

Britain on Thursday became the first country to say it had started supplying Kyiv with long-range cruise missiles, which will allow it to hit Russian troops and supply dumps far behind the front lines as it prepares a major counteroffensive.

British Defence Minister Ben Wallace said the missiles could be used within Ukrainian territory, implying that he had received assurances from Kyiv that they would not be used to attack targets inside Russia's internationally accepted borders.

The Russian ministry said the missiles had hit a plant producing polymers and a meat-processing factory in Luhansk on Friday.

"Storm Shadow air-to-air missiles supplied to the Kyiv regime by Britain were used for the strike, contrary to London's statements that these weapons would not be used against civilian targets," the ministry said.

It also said Russia had downed two Ukrainian warplanes - an Su-24 and a MiG-29 - that had launched the missiles.

In its latest bulletin, the ministry also said Russian forces had gained control over another block in the eastern city of Bakhmut, which Moscow has been trying to capture for more than 10 months in an attritional artillery battle.

"The units of the Airborne Forces provided support to the assault units and pinned down the enemy on the flanks," it said.

The ministry often uses the term "assault units" to denote the Wagner private militia, which has been spearheading the assault on Bakhmut at great cost in casualties.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Russian propagandists wrote about downing two more helicopters and a Su-34 fighter bomber in Bryansk Oblast. The crews were killed in the crashes.

Source: Readovka; TASS; RBC; Ostorozhno, Novosti (Beware, News); BBC Russian

Details: It is reported that a helicopter crashed in Bryansk Oblast, in the city of Klintsy.

Initially, it was reported that the helicopter was shot down; people heard an explosion before it fell.

Later, the Kremlin media wrote that the fall was due to an engine fire.

Russia still needs to recognise the helicopter's affiliation.

Later, the news channel Ostorozno, Novosti (Beware, news) reported that two helicopters crashed: one of them fell in Klintsy itself, the other near the village of Suretsky Muravei.

The propagandists have not yet confirmed the second helicopter.

Update: Propagandists posted images from the helicopter crash site.

They write that, judging by the camouflage and the presence of a rescue parachute, the helicopter "most likely" belongs to the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation.

The Russians have reported about two dead pilots.

At the same time, it became known that the "second helicopter" turned out to be a Su-34 fighter-bomber jet, which was also shot down in Bryansk Oblast.

Later, it became known that two helicopters and a plane were shot down in the Bryansk Oblast on 13 May.

The Russian BBC, citing sources, reported that two helicopters and a plane crashed there.

The outlet emphasises that some Russian propaganda channels expres unsubstantiated assumptions that the helicopters and the plane were shot down by Ukrainian anti-aircraft systems, using the Western weapons that they had received.

Others, without any confirmations, either, write about "sabotage groups of Ukrainians with portable anti-aircraft systems" on the territory of Russia.

There is no exact line of enquiry, but it is certain that the crews of one helicopter and one plane have died.

The governor of Bryansk Oblast, Aleksandr Bogomaz, said that as a result of the fall of the helicopter in the city of Klintsy, five houses were damaged on the ground and a woman was injured.

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Russia attacked Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv oblasts on May 13, injuring eight civilians, including a child.

Russian forces shelled downtown Huliaipole in Zaporizhzhia Oblast 15 times, injuring one civilian, President Volodymyr Zelensky's Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak reported on May 13.

Two civilians were injured in Chornobaivka, a Kherson City northern suburb that hosts an inactive airfield, Daria Zarivna, a communication adviser to Yermak, reported.

Zaporizhzhia Oblast Governor Yurii Malashko reported in the morning of May 13 that Russian forces attacked the region 87 times, targeting two dozen of settlements, including Huliaipole, with artillery, drones, and airstrikes.

Huliaipole has been subjected to constant Russian shelling, as it stands only a few kilometers from Russian positions in the south. Around 1,000 people remain in the town, which used to have around 14,000 residents before Russias full-scale invasion.

Stranded civilians brave shelling, return to Ukraines front-line towns ORIKHIV, HULIAIPOLE, Zaporizhzhia Oblast  A massive rumble shakes the basement under the partly destroyed administrative building, followed by another blast much closer. Not good, says 51-year-old Svitlana Mandrich, Orikhivs deputy mayor, looking warily at the sandbags protecting the cellars v Kyiv IndependentAlexander Query

Kherson Oblast Military Administration reported 88 Russian attacks in the region over May 12 with two civilians killed and four injured.

The city of Kherson and other settlements in the region on the Dnipro River's west bank have been continuously subjected to Russian shelling since they were liberated by Ukrainian forces in November 2022.

Russian troops were pushed to the river's east bank, from where they have since been shelling the liberated territories, resulting in civilian deaths and injuries.

Russian shelling of two communities in Kharkiv Oblast injured five civilians, including a 15-year-old boy, the regional Prosecutors Office reported on May 13.

Story continues

On the morning of May 13, Russian forces attacked Khatnie in the Kupiansk community with artillery, injuring two women, one man, and a 15-year-old boy, according to the report.

Less than an hour later, a Russian attack on Ohirtseve village in the Chuhuiv community injured a 61-year-old civilian.

From occupation to active war zone: Danger persists for Ukrainians in liberated territories KUPIANSK, Kharkiv Oblast  For the handful of Ukrainians left in the center of Kupiansk, life since liberation from Russian occupation has been reduced to an exercise in survival. The city in Kharkiv Oblast is shelled throughout the day by Russian artillery on the other side of the Oskil River, whe Kyiv IndependentFrancis Farrell

The Prosecutors Office is conducting an investigation into violations of the laws or customs of war.

The northeastern Kharkiv Oblast has been targeted by Russian attacks on a near daily basis due to its proximity to the Russian border.

Russia launched 21 Iranian-made Shahed drones across Ukraine overnight on May 13. Ukraine's Air Force downed 17 of them, while four kamikaze drones hit Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said.

The regional military administration reported on May 13 that 21 people were wounded in Russia's drone attack.
On Saturday, two people, including a 15-year-old girl, were killed as a result of a Russian attack on Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast. Additionally, 10 residents of the city were injured, including two teenagers.

Source: Prosecutor Generals Office of Ukraine

CONSEQUENCES OF AN ATTACK ON KOSTIANTYNIVKA, SOURCE: PROSECUTOR GENERALS OFFICE OF UKRAINE

Quote: "On 13 May 2023, Russian occupational forces attacked the city of Kostiantynivka again.

Two residents, including a 15-year-old girl, died due to the occupiers' attack on the settlement.

Ten people, including two teenagers aged 15 and 16, suffered injuries of varying degrees of severity. They were taken to the hospital for qualified medical care."

Details: As a result of the shelling, high-rise buildings and houses, a gas station, a pharmacy, and shops were damaged and destroyed.

According to early reports, occupiers attacked the city using Smerch multiple launch rocket systems.

The Prosecutor General's Office also reports that a 57-year-old resident was injured in the artillery shelling in the city of Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on Saturday. The man received shrapnel wounds to the head and torso; he was hospitalised.

Two high-rise buildings, private houses, farm buildings, a minibus and power lines were damaged.

  ,  

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Representatives of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation are conducting humiliating and abusive interrogations of civilians in the Russian-occupied southern city of Mariupol.

Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook

Quote from the General Staff: "Russian occupation forces are continuing to exert pressure on Ukrainian citizens and to violate human rights in the temporarily occupied territories.

For example, around 50 representatives of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation have been involved in interrogating the residents of Mariupol at a local police department. They are conducting humiliating interrogations during which they abuse civilians."

Details: The General Staff also reported that Russian occupation forces are continuing to use civilian healthcare facilities in temporarily occupied cities and towns to treat injured Russian military personnel.

"The occupiers have recently set up a field hospital on the premises of a kindergarten in the settlement of Tavriiske in Kherson Oblast. Three military trucks carrying injured occupation troops were seen arriving there," the report reads.

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Blade of a downed helicopter, Klintsi, May 13, 2023

5:45 p.m. Video of the second military plane crash appeared.

The footage was taken on a farm near the village of Shkryabine in the Starodubsky district.

Read also: Russia under attack  multiple drone attacks inside Russia, including massive oil fire near Crimean Bridge

4:49 p.m. Excellent job. A military expert voiced possible versions of the destructive aircraft fall in Bryansk Oblast.

Ukrainian reserve officer Andriy Kramarov, in an interview with Radio NV, said it was unlikely that sabotage and reconnaissance groups were working in Bryansk Oblast.

Lets be frank: to enter one sector and hit four targets immediately... I dont know how many shots it takes. Portable anti-aircraft missile systems are needed, he said.

There is a risky option for the development of events, says Kramarov: For example, a Patriot missile defense system was brought up to a distance of 30-40 km from the border. It quickly worked out its ammunition  four missiles. And this launcher was immediately folded and sent to another duty station. The range of this air defense system is up to 160 km. That is, being 30-40 km from the border, one can theoretically try to shoot down (targets) at a depth of up to 120-130 km.

Read also: Russian guerrillas destroy Su-24 aircraft at aviation plant in Novosibirsk  video report

4:29 p.m. Mash: The second downed aircraft is not Su-25, but Su-35.

The Russian Telegram channel Mash clarified that the Su-35 was probably shot down, not the Su-25, as previously reported.

The crews of all four destroyed aircraft were killed, according to the report.

4:24 p.m. The second Mi-8 helicopter crashed near the village of Volkustichi in Bryansk Oblast.

As reported by Telegram channel Baza, the crash site was cordoned off, and explosive experts are inspecting it.

4:15 p.m. Russian Telegram channels publish videos from the crash sites of the Russian Mi-8 helicopter in Bryansk Oblast.

3:48 p.m. Butusov announced that Ukrainian air defense shot down Russian aircraft.

Historic victory of the Air Defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the sky over Russia! In one battle, in a brilliantly organized ambush, the Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile system destroyed four Russian combat vehicles at once!  Ukrainian journalist Yuriy Butusov wrote on Facebook.

Story continues

According to him, the aircraft were flying at a considerable altitude and were suddenly destroyed by long-range anti-aircraft missiles, without having the time to perform anti-missile maneuvers.

The missiles hit the Russian planes and helicopters from the nose, so the Russians spread information that all the crews were destroyed, no one managed to jump out after a powerful strike in the cabin area, Butusov said.

Read also: Ukrainian drones alleged to have attacked Russia'a Bryansk Oblast

3:15 p.m. At least four pilots were killed.

The Russian propaganda outlet TASS reported that two members of the Mi-8 crew that crashed under Klintsy were found dead. Mash found out that a pilot and a navigator from Su-34 were also killed.

On the ground, a 51-year-old civilian woman is known to have been injured.

3:05 p.m. Information appeared about the second shot down helicopter of the Russian Aerospace Forces.

The same Medvedev reported that not one, but two Mi-8s were shot down near Bryansk.

2:45 p.m. A second plane was shot down.

In the Starodubsky district of Bryansk Oblast, not only was a Su-34 was shot down, but another Russian military plane as well, BAZA wrote.

According to Russian propagandist Andrey Medvedev, a Su-25 attack aircraft was lost.

2:30 p.m. A plan for interception was announced in Bryansk Oblast.

The Russian Telegram channel BAZA reported that saboteurs are being sought in Bryansk Oblast who may be involved in the crash of the Mi-8 helicopter and the Su-34 fighter. The interception plan has been implemented in the region.

According to the investigation version, the helicopter and the plane could have been shot down from the territory of Russia.

Read also: Drone with Glory to Ukraine slogan discovered in Kursk Oblast  media

2:15 p.m. Su-34 crashed near the border with Ukraine.

Video of the wreckage of the plane, filmed near the village of Istrik in Bryansk Oblast, was published by TASS. The fate of those who perished in the Su-34 is unknown, the caption reads.

2:00 p.m. The video proves that the Mi-8 helicopter was hit by a missile.

The fragment of it was published by the Telegram channel Mash.

Read also: Russian media report drone attacks in Voronezh, Rostov oblasts

1:51 p.m. A helicopter crashed in Klintsy, Bryansk Oblast.

The local Telegram channel Podslushano Klintsy published a video of the helicopter being shot down, which initially flew, and then exploded.

The town of Klintsy is located less than 100 km from the border with Ukraine.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Russian marines during the International Army Games at the Khmelevka firing ground in the Kaliningrad region on August 17, 2022. REUTERS/Vitaly Nevar

An investigation has found that Russia has been using a popular job website to entice war recruits.

Some of the roles offer salaries 10x the average Russian monthly salary of 63,060 rubles ($810).

More than 100,000 Russian fighters have been killed or wounded since December, said a US report.

The Russian military has been using a popular jobs website to entice recruits by offering big paydays to reinforce its depleted ranks, according to a report by the non-profit Ukrainian Victims of War and the Ukrainian Catholic University.

The investigation said that the military was offering salaries up to 700,000 rubles a month ($9,200), more than 10x the average Russian monthly wage of 63,060 rubles ($810).

Data analysis found that 5,874 jobs were advertised on HeadHunter.ru between August 2022 and March 2023.

Military employers searching on the site included the 43rd Regiment of the Russian Guard and the contractual recruitment office for military service in Tver Oblast and the Kemerovo and Novgorod regions.

"They are trying to use any possible means to recruit people, and they are activating their efforts," Yuriy Mukhin, a board member of the NGO, told Newsweek. He called the report a snapshot of the Russian efforts to bolster its depleted forces.

"After our research, we are confident that even this number of ads could have provided the Russian army with about 80,000 recruits," said the Ukrainian Victims of War report.

A man studies a leaflet given by a campaign member promoting Russian army service in Moscow, Russia April 12, 2023. REUTERS/Yulia Morozova

Last month, Insider's Michael Peck also reported that Moscow promised big payments to fight in Russia's troubled invasion of Ukraine.

This is causing problems, however, as not only does it mean that personnel costs are devouring one-third of the defense budget, but in some cases, newly conscripted troops are being paid more than combat-experienced officers, including the ones training them.

"In all my military service, I have never seen ordinary soldiers get more than the officers who command them," Yuri Netkachev, a retired lieutenant general, told Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta.

Story continues

'You're a real man. Be one'

Russia's scramble to recruit more soldiers comes amid mounting war losses that indicate the ranks of the armed forces could be severely depleted.

More than 100,000 fighters from the Kremlin's forces have been killed or wounded since December alone, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said last week, NBC News reported.

Last month, the Russian military launched a video campaign to lure more soldiers into fighting in Ukraine. It challenged potential recruits to be "real" men and cast aside banal civilian life for glory on the battlefield of occupied Ukraine.

It ends with the slogan "You're a real man. Be one," and offers service contracts with monthly wages starting from 204,000 rubles ($2,500).

The non-profit says that interest in the opportunities has steadily increased, going from seven applications per listing in January to 13 in March.

Ukrainian Victims of War has said that this increase in job applications "may indicate the activation of mobilization in the Russian Federation," first launched in September 2022.

The Russian military has consistently hinted at the possibility of a second mass mobilization, with one expected at the beginning of the year and another in April.

Read the original article on Business Insider
(Reuters) - As the Eurovision song contest was underway in Britain late on Saturday, Russian missiles hit the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil, which is home to the electro-pop duo Tvorchi, this year's contestants from Ukraine.

Local authorities, writing on Telegram, said the strike had hit warehouses owned by commercial enterprises and a religious organization, injuring two people.

Russia has launched hundreds of rocket and missile attacks against Ukrainian targets since last October.

Melinda Simmons, Britain's ambassador to Kyiv, praised Tvorchi for their Eurovision 2023 entry.

"The staging was brilliant. And poignant as their university home town of Ternopil was targeted by Russian missiles this evening," she tweeted.

Tvorchi said this week they hoped to shine a spotlight on their country's fight for freedom.

Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra rode a huge wave of support from across Europe to win the contest last year, but Ukraine was unable to stage Eurovision this year, as the winner usually does, because of Russia's invasion.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Russian forces shelled four more settlements in Kherson Oblast on May 13, injuring three people, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported.

According to Prokudin, Russian troops attacked the communities of Beryslav, Mykhailivka, Chornobaivka, and Zolota Balka. Civilian infrastructure was reportedly damaged in the attacks.

According to Prokudin, an earlier attack on Beryslav has resulted in a loss of power.

Stranded civilians brave shelling, return to Ukraines front-line towns ORIKHIV, HULIAIPOLE, Zaporizhzhia Oblast  A massive rumble shakes the basement under the partly destroyed administrative building, followed by another blast much closer. Not good, says 51-year-old Svitlana Mandrich, Orikhivs deputy mayor, looking warily at the sandbags protecting the cellars v Kyiv IndependentAlexander Query

Earlier on May 13, Russian attacks injured two people in Chornobaivka, a northern suburb of Kherson that hosts an inactive airfield.

Kherson Oblast Military Administration reported 88 Russian attacks in the region over May 12 with two civilians killed and four injured.

The city of Kherson and other settlements in the region on the Dnipro River's west bank have been continuously subjected to Russian shelling since they were liberated by Ukrainian forces in November 2022.

Russian troops were pushed to the river's east bank, from where they have since been shelling the liberated territories, resulting in civilian deaths and injuries.

Russian shelling of two communities in Kharkiv Oblast injured five civilians, including a 15-year-old boy, the regional Prosecutors Office reported on May 13.

On the morning of May 13, Russian forces attacked Khatnie in the Kupiansk community with artillery, injuring two women, one man, and a 15-year-old boy, according to the report.

Less than an hour later, a Russian attack on Ohirtseve village in the Chuhuiv community injured a 61-year-old civilian.
Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has stated that the Moskva missile cruiser should not have been in the Black Sea. Still, the Russians "dragged this rusty bucket into the destruction zone", and the Ukrainians took advantage of it. Zaluzhnyi believes that Ukraine will reach the Russian frigate Admiral Essen, the Russian corvette Samum and other remnants of the Russian fleet.

Source: Zaluzhnyi in an interview with Dmytro Komarov in the film Rik. Za Kadrom (A Year. Behind the scenes)

Quote: "We were interested in reducing and, in the future, completely depriving the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation of any activity in the Black Sea. For this, we had some opportunities, and for this, we had, let's say, a rather small chance to use these opportunities.

The sinking of the Moskva cruiser itself, of course, is of strategic importance for us because it was a carrier of cruise missiles after all. But, answering the question of whether we have fully fulfilled our plans, I would like to say that we have not yet and that we are continuing the work. We will definitely get to Essen [Russian frigate], and Samum [Russian corvette] and the rest, it's only a matter of time

The Moskva cruiser is like huge columns that were moving towards Kyiv Oblast: the fearlessness of resistance, the impossibility of imagining that the second army of the world could be damaged or destroyed; [Russians] dragged these columns near Kyiv, which we burned, and likewise dragged that rust bucket into the immediate area of destruction, and we had to take advantage of this chance.

This is who Ukrainians are, and they did not miss this chance. At the same time, some other [vessels] were somehow affected as well; let's leave it to history for now."

Details: He also mentioned the liberation of Zmiinyi (Snake) Island.

As he states, the island currently has no strategic importance as a defence hub.

Story continues

Zaluzhnyi believes the Russians made a "huge mistake" when they dragged people, guns and missiles to Zmiinyi.

At the same time, there was Russian air defence equipment on the island, which made it difficult for Ukrainian aviation. These air defence systems covered a large part of the territory of Ukraine.

Quote: "To make sure that there is no one there is very good. Getting the Russians out of there was an extremely important task."

Background:

On 14 April 2022, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the Moskva missile cruiser, sank in the Black Sea. It happened after Ukrainian anti-ship missiles hit the cruiser.

It was the Moskva cruiser that proposed surrendering to the defenders of Zmiinyi (Snake) Island.

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Investigators were looking for a man suspected of exposing himself to passersby Thursday night at a student housing complex at Sacramento State.

About 9:15 p.m., officers received a credible report of an indecent exposure incident at the Hornet Commons Housing Complex, the Sacramento State Police Department said in a crime alert message sent to students.

Police described the suspect as a man possibly in his 50s with gray facial hair, wearing a tropical-style short sleeve shirt over a blue T-shirt and a tan-colored cap. The suspect was seen riding a black mountain bike.

The man spotted Thursday night matched the description of a man who displayed suspicious behaviors at the Library Quad earlier in the day, police said in the alert.

Investigators asked anyone with information about the possible identity of the suspect or who has been a victim of a related crime to call the Sacramento State Police Department at 916-278-6000 or send an email to police@csus.edu.
The youngest daughter of the former first family earned her sociology degree from USCs Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences on Friday, May 12.

Congratulations to Sasha Obama on graduating from the University of Southern California!

Sasha, 21, walked the stage at USCs Allyson Felix Field on Friday to accept her diploma as the rest of the Obama family  Barack, Michelle and Malia  cheered alongside the thousands of proud family members in attendance, according to the Los Angeles Times.

WASHINGTON, DC  AUGUST 23: U.S. President Barack Obama (L), daughters Sasha (2nd L) and Malia (R) and first lady Michelle Obama arrive at the White House August 23, 2015 in Washington, D.C. The first family was returning from vacationing on Marthas Vineyard. (Photo by Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images)

The youngest daughter of the former first family earned her sociology degree from USCs Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences after transferring from the University of Michigan in 2022, per Teen Vogue.

Photos of the Obamas attending Sashas graduation quickly circulated on social media, showing Barack sporting a gray suit, Michelle wearing a black and navy blue dress, and Malia in a tan dress, the outlet reported.

Accompanied by Secret Service personnel, the high-profile family layed low during ceremony proceedings, smiling and waving to students and attendees who spotted them.

I was so excited to see Obama and Michelle, said fellow USC Class of 2023 graduate Michelle Davies, speaking with the L.A. Times. I wanted a picture [with them] so bad, but then they left early. If I would have gotten a picture, I would have passed out.

I waved at them and Michelle waved back at me, she added.

Sasha, who was 7 when Barack was inaugurated as president in 2009, attended high school in Washington, D.C., the outlet reported.

WASHINGTON, DC  DECEMBER 02: Malia and Sasha Obama (right) attend the national Christmas tree lighting ceremony on the Ellipse south of the White House December 3, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Olivier Douliery- Pool/Getty Images)

As a student at USC in Los Angeles, Sasha was closer to Malia, 24, who is currently making waves in the world of film and television after graduating from Harvard in 2021, per Complex.

In celebration of Sashas 21st birthday in June 2022, Michelle shared a heartwarming message about how proud she is of her daughter alongside a photo of Michelle holding her as a baby.

My baby has grown into a beautiful, independent, compassionate, highly capable young woman. But you will always be my littlest pea, Michelle wrote, adding: Im so proud of the human you are becoming.

TheGrio is FREE on your TV via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, and Android TV. Please download theGrio mobile apps today!

The post Sasha Obama graduates from the University of Southern California with family on hand appeared first on TheGrio.
A schematic drawing of the Quantinuum H2 computer. Quantinuum

Quantum computers are wondrous because they operate on quantum mechanics.

Quantinuum unveiled a new one in a Denver data center and invited a small crew of people to see it.

The computer looked like a very sophisticated science experiment.

A drab, vinyl-floored, windowless office building just north of Denver houses one of the wonders of the computer industry. It's home to several wonders, actually: a data center where two commercial-quantum computers are operating for paying customers including JPMorgan, and a third prototype under construction.

Quantum computers are wondrous because they operate on quantum mechanics: the tiniest parts of the universe where the rules of physics as we think we know them don't always apply. Instead of transistors that calculate information by switching on and off, quantum computers use qubits, which can switch to "on," "off," or "both," meaning some state in between.

Proponents say these computers are uniquely able to solve complex problems, such as discovering new materials or determining how to improve supply chains.

Quantinuum, which spun out of the defense contractor giant Honeywell in 2021 after Honeywell acquired the UK quantum company Cambridge Quantum, built the computer I saw. I visited as part of an invitational media-and-analysts' day held a few days before Quantinuum officially launched H2, its 32-qubit, second-generation quantum computer on Tuesday.

Quantinuum claims the H2 is the most precise quantum computer ever built  and it's published the results of numerous benchmarks tests it conducted to back its bravado.

That's a significant claim because for these computers to reach their potential and one day be far more powerful than today's supercomputers, they'll need to use hundreds, a thousand, or even more qubits. And to do that, the qubits must stay on task, calculating what engineers tell them to compute.

Infinitesimal environmental changes, such as temperature or light, can interfere with their work. The more qubits crammed together, the higher the likelihood that some will get distracted by that so-called noise, and the higher the likelihood that the computer's overall results will be less accurate.

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Because of that, some skeptics have said that quantum computing at that scale may not be possible. Still, Russell Stutz, the executive responsible for the design and build of these computers at Quantinuum, told me that his work has made him a believer. "It's not if, but when," he said.

Other competitors focus on size records. In November, IBM unveiled a 400-qubit machine, and Google has used a 54-qubit processor called Sycamore since 2019. A handful of startups are working on quantum as well.

No one can say how long it will be before quantum computers reach the scale and reliability to meet their promise, but they are already in use for early adopters experimenting with the tech. Companies like Nvidia and Microsoft, which is building its own quantum computer, are partners to Quantinuum.

There's still work to be done because even if a quantum computer can claim accuracy as high as 99%, that only "ensures that you will get the wrong results" when making millions of calculations, Fabrice Frachon, the principal PM lead at Microsoft's Azure Quantum unit, told me.

All that explains why Quantinuum's computer was amazing  it looked more like a science experiment than a piece of next-generation computing technology.

The H2 is the size of a small room

We were forbidden from taking pictures of the actual computer or data center, but the company shared this basic, schematic drawing of what the H2 computer looks like. It doesn't do it justice.

A schematic drawing of the Quantinuum H2 computer. Quantinuum

As the graphic above shows, the computer is the size of a small room, where its components are splayed across several tables instead of contained in a boxed casing, similar to a typical supercomputer.

Using the best artistic skills I have  yes, really  I've annotated the above illustration to show a bit better what the room really looked like.

Using my best artistic stick-figure skills, I've modified the original drawing to better explain what the computer and room looked like in person. Quantinuum

The computer was actually spread across two 100-square-foot platforms, and my stick-figure self stood in an aisle between them. Blue cables sprouted out all over the place, neatly organized, piping into conventional, but customized, computing devices that control the computer and the environment. Quantinuum uses lasers to cool and control the chamber the qubits are in.

Knobs and custom controls lay all over the lower tables. The computers are usually hidden behind black curtains that shut out the environment, and a group of Ph.D. scientists work in the room with monitors at the back against the wall.

The room controls a thumbnail-sized tray with 32 qubits on a racetrack

Quantinuum invented this tray for its accurate H2 computer where qubits composed of ions travel around an oval track in a very controlled environment. Quantinuum

Quantinuum's computer uses "trapped ions" as the foundation of its qubits, meaning that atomic scientists take atoms  from the mineral ytterbium  strip off electrons, charge them, and place them in a tiny thumbnail-sized tray that restricts their movements.

This H2 computer is currently 32 qubits, but the company says it will grow to 50. It's building a prototype that could handle more. That version will use a grid-patterned tray, and the about-100-square-foot area for the computer won't need to be bigger, Stutz said.

The tiny qubits are inside a metal chamber about the size of a cantaloupe that needs to be kept so cold that it's almost "absolute zero," the lowest temperature possible. The qubits emit light, which indicate if they are on, off, or in an in-between state.

This chamber hosts the thumbnail-sized tray and keeps it at unimaginable cold temperatures. But the data-center room was a normal temperature fit for humans. Quantinuum

As Quantinuum makes its computers more powerful, it also hopes to shrink them over time. As for when these room-sized computers could shrink in size and cost and become another PC on your desk, that won't happen for the foreseeable future, Stutz said. For now, this remains a cloud service, where customers send in jobs as easily as uploading a document.

Looking at the Quantinuum computer and hearing about all the science used to invent it made me feel like we are standing on the cusp of a new era, similar to when the computing pioneer Ada Lovelace explained the potential of an "analytical engine."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Scarlett Johansson admitted that she began to question her future in Hollywood after losing two major acting roles to Emily Blunt and Sandra Bullock.

The 38-year-old actress told Variety that she became demoralized after being rejected for parts in the 2010 Marvel blockbuster "Iron Man 2" and the 2013 science fiction hit "Gravity."

"I got turned down for two roles  the first was Iron Man 2 and then the other one was Alfonso Cuarons Gravity," Johansson told the outlet. "I had wanted that role so much."

Scarlett Johansson, left, began to reconsider her career in acting after losing the lead role in "Gravity" to Sandra Bullock.

She continued, "It was sort of the straw that broke the camels back. I felt really frustrated and hopeless. Like, Am I doing the right job?"

SCARLETT JOHANSSON JOKES ABOUT BEING THE SUBJECT OF CONTROVERSY IN THE PAST: 'I MADE A CAREER OUT OF IT'

Additionally, the New York native was discouraged by the roles that she was being offered. Though her performance in 2010's "Lost in Translation" earned her a best actress Golden Globe nomination, a best actress BAFTA win and established her as a bankable star, she felt that she started being typecast as a "bombshell."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"It was hard to get out of that pigeonhole," Johansson recalled. "And I did films like Hes Just Not That Into You and movies that kind of continued that narrative. I couldnt make any headway."

"The work I was being offered felt deeply unfulfilling," she added. "I think I was offered every Marilyn Monroe script ever. I was like, Is this the end of the road creatively?"

Emily Blunt was chosen over Johansson to play Black Widow in "Iron Man 2" but had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict.

However, Blunt unexpectedly pulled out of "Iron Man 2" due to a scheduling conflict with the 2010 film "Gulliver's Travels." "The Devil Wears Prada" star was contractually obligated to appear the critically panned fantasy adventure move starring Jack Black because of her pre-existing deal with Fox.

With Blunt out of the running, Johansson became the first choice to portray Russian spy turned Avenger Natasha Romanov/Black Widow. Though Black Widow was introduced in "Iron Man 2," the character initially wasn't given much screen time.

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However, Johansson recognized that it opened the door for future expansion in the MCU universe.

"That movie wasnt going to move the needle forward in terms of how my character was written, but there was potential for what it could be  a potential for growth in subsequent films," she said.

After wrapping "Iron Man 2," Johansson went on to star in the Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's "A View From the Bridge" and won a Tony Award for her performance.

"I had such a growth spurt doing that play, creatively and artistically," she remembered.

The actress reprised her "Iron Man 2" role in eight MCU movies.

Johansson told Variety that subsequent roles in the 2013 films "Under The Skin" and "Her" reawakened her love of acting. "Suddenly it was like, I still love this job," the "Lucy" star recalled. "And it reignited my passion for the work. I felt less anxious."

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Johansson reprised her role as Black Widow in eight movies in the MCU franchise including "The Avengers," "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," "Avengers: Age of Ultron," "Captain America: Civil War," "Avengers: Infinity Wary," "Captain Marvel" and "Avengers: Endgame."

Though Johansson's character died in "Avengers: Endgame," she returned for her own solo prequel movie, 2021's "Black Widow."

Though Johansson's character died in "Avengers: Endgame," she returned for her own solo prequel movie, 2021's "Black Widow."

In 2019, Johansson received a best actress Academy Award nomination after starring opposite Adam Driver in the divorce drama "Marriage Story." That year, she also earned a best supporting Oscar nod for her role as a single mother living in Nazi-controlled Germany in "Jojo Rabbit."

Though the "Avengers" franchise launched her to international stardom, Johansson told former MCU co-star Gwyneth Paltrow that she is unlikely to make a return in future films.

"Im done," Johansson said Paltrow's "The goop Podcast." "Chapter's over. I really felt like I kind of did all that I had to do. Also coming back and playing a character again and again, over a decade of time, is such a unique experience."
black and white microscopic image shows two swirly oval shapes with black dots speckling their surfaces

A phosphate-regulating organelle has been discovered in animals for the first time. Until now, only bacteria , yeast and plants have been known to have comparable features.

Despite scientists studying fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) for more than a century, the newfound organelle has only just been discovered in the insect. Now researchers are taking a retrospective look at older data in search of these elusive cell parts.

Organelles are microscopic structures inside of cells that perform specialized functions, a variety of which involve phosphate  an essential nutrient for metabolism, storing chemical energy and synthesizing DNA.

"In terms of intracellular regulation of phosphate [in animals], very little is known," said Charles (Chiwei) Xu , a geneticist formerly at Harvard Medical School and first author of a new report describing the discovery of the fly organelle. The report, published May 3 in the journal Nature , notes that the organelle, found in the fruit fly gut, sequesters phosphate from food and regulates its availability in the cell.

Related: Meet the 'frodosome,' a brand new organelle

The fruit fly is one of the most thoroughly researched model organisms , or non-human species used to study fundamental biology.

"It's quite amazing that, in model organisms, we are still discovering things every day that nobody suspected before," Laurent Seroude , a geneticist at Queen's University in Canada told Live Science.

Seroude, who was not involved with the work, noted that discoveries made in model organisms often apply to other species, so it's possible that other animals carry the new organelle. But for now, this is speculation.

Xu and his colleagues' work started out studying how phosphate absorption during digestion affected tissue renewal in fruit flies' guts. When they fed flies meals low in phosphate or gave flies a drug that inhibited phosphate absorption, the researchers noticed something counterintuitive: Despite having little phosphate, the cells lining the fruit fly's gut multiplied rapidly. The cells also multiplied furiously when the team suppressed a protein known to govern phosphate transport inside cells, called PXo.

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To explore PXo's role further, the team fused it to a fluorescent protein and peered through a fluorescence microscope to find that it was located on oval-shaped structures in the cell. This was when the team made their chance discovery: They used various stains for known organelles to try to identify these oval structures, but they found that no stains worked and realized they'd stumbled upon a new organelle.

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They named the newfound organelles "PXo bodies" and used electron microscopy to study their architecture, revealing membrane whorls, or spirals. These whorls were studded with PXo proteins that transport phosphate from the cytoplasm  the fluid surrounding organelles  into the PXo bodies for storage, thereby regulating the supply of phosphate available for cellular functions.

"The gut is a prominent tissue for nutrient absorption," which may explain why PXo bodies were mainly found there, where they could control phosphate supply to the rest of the body, said Xu.

Seroude said the results were rigorous because the team "systematically used different approaches to show the same thing," namely, that the PXo protein was inextricably linked to the newly discovered organelles. However, he was not convinced that cell division speeds up when an essential nutrient for growth is limited and argued that this hypothesis needs more testing. Xu argued, however, that cell renewal may help boost phosphate absorption when there's a deficit.

"I wouldn't say that we found this organelle from out of nowhere," Xu remarked, but new research techniques allowed his team to characterize the membrane whorls that had previously been overlooked.

Since the Nature report, researchers have reached out to Xu to share images of organelles that resemble PXo bodies.

black and white microscopic image shows inside a fruit fly gut cell and features swirly oval shapes that resemble the newly name organelle

One such researcher was Leslie Gartner , a retired cell biologist who emailed Xu about an old study of his : "My study occurred more than 50 years ago, so it was dead and buried beneath the thousands of Drosophila research articles and it would have been almost miraculous had you been able to discover it." Gartner added that he hasn't seen anything like these structures in the fly gut until now.

Xu and his colleagues have identified several proteins that interact with PXo and they plan to decipher what roles they play in regulating phosphate transport into the newly named organelle.
The Channel Islands are located off the coast of California, and in this May 4, 2023, photo, it was sunny and cool. The islands have a host of endemic species. | Sarah Gambles, Deseret News

Off the coast of California are some tiny yet beautiful islands known as the Channel Islands. They are protected as a national park, and you can visit two of the islands by taking a ferry from Ventura, California. The Channel Islands are often referred to as the North American Galapagos due to the presence of unique plants and wildlife.

This year is a great opportunity to see some of the super blooms of wildflowers that sprouted from the extra moisture the state received over the past several months.

Heres why Channel Islands National Park is worth a trip

Channel Islands National Park is a great spot to find wildlife you wont see anywhere else.

The series of islands are composed of five tectonically formed islands and surrounded by an extensive marine sanctuary. The park teems with wildlife not seen anywhere else on Earth, National Geographic reported.

There are 145 endemic species  species that are only found in a specific geographic area they are native to  located throughout the islands, according to Travel + Leisure.

At the Channel Islands, Santa Barbara Adventure Company says you could see endemic species like the following:

Island Fox  they are miniature and adorable.

Island Scrub Jay  a stunning blue bird with a distinct call.

Spotted Skunk  known for its glossy fur, its one of only two terrestrial carnivores who roam the islands.

Island Paintbrush  you can spot red or yellow blooms in the spring.

Torrey Pine  One of the rarest pine trees.

Channel Islands National Park is a great place to see unique wildflowers and more greenery than you often get to see in Southern California. This photo was taken on May 4, 2023. | Sarah Gambles, Deseret News

How to get to Channel Islands National Park

Getting to the Channel Islands is honestly half the fun. The trip offers stunning and peaceful views of the water, the islands and the wildlife around, but it is a time commitment.

Ferries to the islands leave from Ventura, California, which is around an hour and a half drive from downtown Los Angeles, depending on traffic.

Island Packers runs the ferry trips that last about an hour each way, and its recommended to reserve your tickets early in case they sell out on the day you want to go. When you reserve the tickets, you will select which island you want to visit, what time you would like to leave for the island and what time you would like to return from the island.

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The ferry comes with a guide who explains some of the history of the islands, shares animal facts and points out animals in the water you might miss. You do have the possibility of seeing swarms of dolphins feeding, as well as a humpback or gray whale moving through the waters off the coasts.

There are snacks and drinks on board for purchase, but no meals are provided with your ticket purchase.

Santa Cruz is the largest island. It has a visitors center and offers the most opportunities for hiking and kayaking. The island of Anacapa has the iconic lighthouse you might recognize from photos, and is often less crowded. There are pros and cons to both.

Santa Cruz Island in Channel Islands National Park is the largest of the islands, so hikes offer views of the ocean or the canyons. This was on May 4, 2023. | Sarah Gambles, Deseret News

What to do at Channel Islands National Park

Late spring is likely the ideal time to visit the Channel Islands because its your best chance of seeing wildflowers and seabirds nesting, according to Outside Magazine.

Here are some activities that you can do as part of your visit:

1. Hiking Santa Cruz Island

There are lots of hikes that offer 360 degree vistas of the water from the towering cliffs, as well as hikes that meander through rolling hilly canyons. Any hike could be a chance to see some of the unique Island Foxes or other animals on the island. Just make sure you have enough time to wrap up whatever hike you choose before you need to get back on your scheduled return ferry.

2. Kayaking and snorkeling around the Channel Islands

You can bring your own kayak on the ferry, but you must let Island Packers know beforehand. There are a few different kayaking excursions you can book with varying kayaking skill levels. Some do require you to arrive at a certain time to the island, so make sure you plan your kayaking excursion and ferry reservation to match up. Its also recommended to make the excursion reservations in advance because they do sell out.

3. Camping at the Channel Islands

There are limited campsites available, and they do require you to make reservations in advance. Campsites offer picnic tables and pit toilets, but you must bring your own water and food because there is no drinking water or food available on the island. Youre also required to carry all of the trash you make during your stay out of the park with you.

Things to keep in mind on your trip to Channel Islands National Park

Even if youre just doing a day trip, make sure to bring water and snacks because there will not be any available once you get there. Its not a park you can drop by on a whim, so make sure to plan when and where you want to go, what you want to do, and how long you want to stay well in advance.

Enjoy the peace and quiet in a unique place so close to one of the largest metropolises in the United States!

Millions of people live on the Southern California mainland, but (in the park) you dont hear engines or see lights or have any sense that human beings other than you exist, novelist T.C. Boyle told Sunset Magazine in 2011, per National Geographic.
Five civilian residents, including a minor, were injured in the Russian shelling in Kharkiv Oblast on Saturday.

Source: Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office

Quote: "On 13 May, around 9:00, the Russian military fired artillery at the village of Khatnie, Kupiansk district. Two women, a man, and a 15-year-old boy were wounded.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE BOMBING OF KHARKIV, PHOTO OF THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE

Around 9:30, the occupiers shelled the village of Ohirtseve of the Chuhuyiv district: a civilian was wounded."

Details: Prosecutor offices in Kupiansk and Chuhuiv districts (Kharkiv Oblast) have launched pre-trial investigations into violations of the laws and customs of war (Article 438.1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
An artistic map showing the varying sea surface temperatures across the globe. (Image credit: Shutterstock)

The chance of the ocean-warming event known as El Nino hitting this year is now over 90%. It will likely begin in the coming months, and there is a good chance it will persist into 2024 and have a widespread impact, experts have warned.

El Nino, which means "the little boy" in Spanish, is a major climatic event caused by changes to ocean currents in the Pacific Ocean. This heating event is strong enough to trigger major changes in global weather patterns and seriously impact marine ecosystems, especially combined with the effects of human-caused climate change. El Nino, along with its counterpart La Nina, or "the little girl"  a cooling event triggered by changes to the same ocean current system  make up the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle.

Experts have suspected that an El Nino event could be on the horizon for some time. And on May 3, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) predicted there was a 60% chance that it would begin between May and July.

But on May 11, the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA) released its own forecast, which suggested that it is a near certainty that El Nino will begin during the same period. The agency also said there was a 90% chance that El Nino will persist into 2024.

Related: Is climate change making the weather worse?

"Keep your eyes peeled on the tropics, and dont blink," Nathaniel Johnson, a meteorologist at NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, wrote in a NOAA blog post. "Conditions are evolving quickly!"

ENSO cycle 101

The ENSO cycle is mainly linked to trade winds in the Pacific Ocean that blow westward along the equator. Normally, this blows warmer surface waters from South America toward Asia, which are in turn replaced by cooler deep ocean waters in a process known as upwelling, according to NOAA.

ENSO events can influence the formation of majort tropical storms like Cyclone Freddy, pictured traveling between Madagascar and Mozambique on March 8. (Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory)

During El Nino, the trade winds weaken, which leads to reduced upwelling and in turn warmer surface waters. During La Nina, the trade winds are unusually strong, which has the opposite effect. Both events can trigger extreme weather events, such as the potentially record-breaking Cyclone Freddy that battered parts of Africa in February and March.

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The periods between El Nino and La Nina events are known as ENSO neutral.

When was the last El Nino?

In the past, El Nino and La Nina events occurred roughly once every two to seven years, according to NOAA. But their appearance has recently become much more erratic due to the effects of climate change: In the last 50 years, the ocean has absorbed nearly 90% of the energy trapped by global warming, which has drastically increased sea surface temperatures, impacting the ENSO cycle.

The last El Nino event occurred between February and August 2019 and was quite weak. Between July 2020 and March 2023, a rare triple-dip La Nina suppressed rising global temperatures.

El Nino events normally last somewhere between nine months and two years but can be longer.

How strong will El Nino be?

It's unclear exactly how strong this El Nino will become, but NOAA's predictions suggest there is an 80% chance of at least a moderate El Nino, where sea surface temperatures will rise by 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius), and a 55% chance of a strong El Nino, where temperatures will rise by 2.7 F (1.5 C).

Experts are also concerned that recent high sea surface temperatures will make the upcoming El Nino worse. In early April, the average global sea surface temperature was the highest in recorded history.

A map showing how El Nino could impact the U.S. climate. (Image credit: NOAA)

NOAA will provide more information on how El Nino is progressing in early June.

How will El Nino affect North America?

During El Nino, the weaker trade winds mean more warm water is pushed back east toward the west coast of the Americas. The warmer waters push the Pacific jet stream south of its neutral position, which impacts weather patterns in North America, according to NOAA.

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For the northern U.S. and Canada, this can lead to warmer weather than usual, while eastern states often receive less rainfall. For the southern U.S. and northern Mexico, the result is often heavy rainfall, which can cause flooding and landslides.

The WMO expects global temperatures to rise to record levels during the next few years as La Nina's cooling effect ends and El Nino begins, which could severely impact the lives of millions of people.
There are an estimated 2,500 lions in Kenya

Six lions were killed on Saturday by Kenyan herders after the pride attacked 11 goats and a dog the previous night, wildlife officials said, in the latest incident of human-wildlife conflict in the country.

The killings came a day after a lion believed to be the world's oldest in the wild was speared by herders when he wandered into a livestock pen on the outskirts of the famed Amboseli National Park.

"A total of 10 lions (have been) killed in the Amboseli ecosystem" since last week, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said in a statement, adding that officials had met with community members to discuss the issue.

"The discussions centered on exploring ways to minimise the risk of human-wildlife conflict, including developing early warning systems to alert communities of the presence of wildlife in their vicinity," the statement said.

"The KWS officials engaged the community in an effort to find lasting solutions that will address the conflict while protecting both human lives and wildlife."

Reports of wildlife straying into human habitats in Kenya have increased in recent years as the animals come under growing pressure from cities expanding into ancient migration and hunting grounds.

On Friday, Loonkito, an iconic 19-year-old male lion, was speared to death by Maasai morans (warriors) after he left the park in search of food.

KWS in 2021 described Loonkito as a "legendary big cat warrior" who had defended his territory for over a decade.

Conservation group Lion Guardians eulogised Loonkito as "a symbol of resilience and coexistence" and said he was "the oldest male lion in our ecosystem and possibly in Africa."

In July 2021, a lion caused panic after straying from its habitat in Nairobi National Park into a crowded neighbourhood during morning rush hour.

The park is just seven kilometres (four miles) from the heart of Kenya's capital, and incidents of animals escaping the grassy plains and wandering into the chaotic metropolis of more than four million people are not unheard of.

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In December 2019, a lion mauled a man to death just outside the park, while in March 2016 another cat was shot dead after attacking and injuring a nearby resident.

Just a month before that, in February 2016, two lions spent a day wandering through Kibera, a densely packed city slum, before returning to the park, and days later more lions were spotted in town.

There are an estimated 2,500 lions in Kenya, according to the country's first-ever national wildlife census conducted in 2021.

ho-amu/kjm
Skylab, as seen on February 8, 1974.

Its the 50th anniversary of the launch of NASAs Skylabthe space station that laid the groundwork for the International Space Station. These days, the orbital lab is mostly remembered for the hysteria it created prior to crashing down to Earth, but its important to reflect on its historical legacy.

Skylab was the first U.S. space station, launching to low Earth orbit on May 14, 1973. The orbiting lab had only three crews during its short life, but each successive mission set new duration records, in addition to providing unprecedented scientific and technical data. As NASA reflected 10 years ago, Skylab proved that humans can live and work in outer space for extended periods of time.



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A simple start

Illustration: NASA

Parked in low Earth orbit and traveling around our planet at 16,000 miles per hour (25,750 kilometers per hour), Skylab allowed for detailed observations of the Earth and Sun, acted as a medical lab, enabled novel microgravity experiments, and served as the first platform for studying the effects of long-duration spaceflight. It consisted of several main elements: the command and service module, multiple docking adapter, airlock module, Apollo telescope mount, and orbital workshop, the latter being a converted Saturn rocket upper stage. A key goal of the Skylab project was to use as much hardware from the Apollo missions as possible.

The program demanded innovation and ingenuity, Rocco Petrone, director of NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center from 1973 to 1974, wrote in a 1977 NASA report. Experience and knowledge gained from earlier space programs provided a solid foundation on which to build, but the Skylab Program was truly making new pathways in the sky.

Embarking on a new era in space exploration

Photo: NASA

Skylab launched to space from NASAs Kennedy Space Center on May 14, 1973, aboard a Saturn V rocketthe same type of rocket that launched Apollo astronauts to the Moon. The launch was not without incident, however, as vibrations caused the stations micrometeorite and thermal shield to fall off 63 seconds into the launch.

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Debris from the torn shield jammed one of the arrays, preventing it from opening, and a plume from a retrorocket used to separate the Saturn Vs second stage from Skylab impinged on the second array, in its slightly open configuration, tearing it completely off the station, wrote NASAs John Uri in a 2020 retrospective.

Once in orbit, this resulted in serious power issues at the station that required immediate attention from the first crew, which launched to Skylab later that same month. The missing thermal shield also meant that the stations workshop was unprotected from the Suns damaging rays.

Fabricating a replacement heat shade

Photo: NASA

With the shield gone, NASA had to scramble to create a replacement heat shade for the Skylab Orbital Workshop, as temperatures inside Skylab were untenable, reaching 126 degrees F (52 degrees C). NASA engineers devised a solution and trained the first crew on how to implement the fixes. The image above shows a team putting the heat shade together at the GE building across the street from Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The parasol solar shield, made from layers of aluminized mylar, laminated nylon ripstop, and thin nylon, was designed to protect the workshop from the Suns hot rays.

Launch of the first Skylab crew

Photo: NASA

The first crewed mission to the space station was called Skylab 2, as the mission to launch the space station to orbit was called Skylab 1 (this naturally resulted in confusion, with original mission patches mistakenly referring to crewed missions one through three). A modified and trimmed-down Saturn V rocket, called the Saturn IB, launched the first crew to Skylab on May 25, 1973 (the crew was supposed to go up the day after Skylab reached orbit, but the problematic launch forced a delay).

The inaugural crew consisted of commander Pete Conrad, pilot Paul Weitz, and scientist Joe Kerwin, the latter being the first medical doctor to fly in space. The photo above shows the Saturn IB perched atop the milkstool pedestal, as NASA called it.



Oops, there it isnt

Photo: NASA

The inaugural Skylab crew captured this image of the outpost on arrival, showing the missing micrometeoroid shield and partially deployed solar array. The Suns harsh rays had already begun to discolor and blister the exposed skin of the workshop, and the newly arrived crew could clearly see the thin strip of aluminum holding one array in a slightly open position and a tangle of severed cables where the second array had torn away, Uri wrote.

The crew would later fit the makeshift parasol solar shade in place of the mission shield and fix the solar array during a series of spacewalks. Prior to the fix, the station had to be powered by four smaller ATM arrays, which werent enough to power Skylabs systems and experiments.

Orbital repairs

Photo: NASA

The image above shows Kerwin on June 7, 1973, during one of the spacewalks done to repair the damaged station. Hes using a cutting tool to remove metal that jammed the solar array and caused it to get stuck in a partially opened position. The efforts of Kerwin and Conrad allowed the solar panels to fully deploy and provide the needed electricity for the three Skylab expeditions, according to NASA. The parasol sunshade also worked, cooling interior cabin temperatures down to 75 degrees F (23.8 degrees C).

Little station, big goals

Image: NASA

NASA had multiple objectives with Skylab, which included advancing our understanding of the Earth, Sun, stars, and cosmic space, investigating the impact of weightlessness on living organisms, including humans, exploring the effects of processing and manufacturing materials in zero gravity, and conducting observations of Earths resources. Instruments used to observe our home planet were collectively known as the Earth Resources Experiment Package. Additionally, Skylab performed 19 experiments designed by high school students. The image above clearly shows the makeshift heat shade covering the Orbital Workshop.

Putting theory to practice

Photo: NASA

We currently take it for granted that astronauts can live and work in microgravity environments for extended periods of time, but this was terra incognitaor more accurately astra incognitaat the time. For context, the Soviet Unions doomed Soyuz 11 mission to the worlds first space station, Salyut 1, lasted for 23 days, but all three cosmonauts died during atmospheric reentry. I think the greatest achievement is that we pretty much proved that the human body can stay weightless for a very long time, said Jerry Carr, commander of NASAs Skylab 4 mission. This was our first opportunity to go up and settle in.

The image above shows Carr (at right), along with Skylab 4 scientist Edward Gibson. Their crew mate, pilot Bill Pogue, snapped the photo of the two men from the hatch leading into the airlock module, showing the length of the Skylab Orbital Workshop.

Orbital guinea pigs

Image: NASA

For the Skylab crews, the work day began at 6:00 a.m. sharp and ended at 8:00 p.m., allowing for two hours of leisure time before bed. After breakfast, the crews would read the orders of the day, which mission control transmitted to an onboard teletype machine. The men spent their days performing experiments, doing routine maintenance tasks, and running medical experiments on each other. They improvised a lot, designing many experiments on the fly. It was such an interesting thing to turn loose a blob of water to see what you can do with it, Carr said afterward. In the image above, taken from a television transmission, Kerwin can be seen collecting a blood sample from Conrad.

Set the controls for the heart of the Sun

Photo: NASA

Skylab 3 launched on May 25, 1973, returning to Earth 59 days later. This crew consisted of commander Alan Bean, pilot Jack Lousma, and scientist Owen Garriott, pictured above operating the Apollo Telescope Mount. The crew was successful in deploying a second and more permanent sunshade to protect the station and keep it cool.

The Apollo Telescope Mount

Photo: NASA

Attached to Skylab, the Apollo Telescope Mount was a solar observatory that observed the Sun and other celestial phenomena in various wavelengths, including X-rays, ultraviolet, and visible light. A key achievement of the program were the observational studies done of our host star.



Record-breaking durations

Photo: NASA

Each of the three Skylab missions set new space duration records, with the Skylab 2 mission lasting for 28 days, Skylab 3 for 59 days, and the third and final mission, Skylab 4, lasting for 84 daysa record that stood for 20 years and was finally broken during the Shuttle-Mir program. Skylab 4 launched on November 15, 1973 and ended on February 8, 1974.

Planners initially overextended the Skylab 4 astronauts, leading to frustrations as the astronauts struggled to keep up with the blistering pace of the timeline, allowing no time for familiarization or to recover from errors and hardware malfunctions, according to Uri, adding that repeated requests by the crew to mission controllers to lighten their schedule went unheeded for several weeks, leading to tension between the crew and the ground. Skylabs flight director later admitted that planners made mistakes during the opening stages of the Skylab 4 mission. Media claims made later that Carr, Gibson, and Pogue went on a one-day strike on December 27, 1973 were unfounded, according to Uri.

Keep it clean, boys

Photo: NASA

Skylab 3 astronaut Lousma can be seen here taking a hot bath in the crew quarters of the Orbital Workshop during the summer of 1973. In deploying the shower facility the shower curtain is pulled up from the floor and attached to the ceiling, according to NASA. The water comes through a push-button shower head attached to a flexible hose. Water is drawn off by a vacuum system.

Mmmm, space food

Photo: NASA

Skylab crews used this food-heating and serving tray, and though it looks clunky, it was a vast improvement over NASAs previous attempts to feed its astronauts while in space; the system meant that astronauts no longer had to squeeze out their liquified food from plastic tubes. Whats more, the men were able to select their own food items and prepare them to their own tastes. The food shown outside of the tray consists of, starting from bottom left, grape beverage, beef pot roast, chicken and rice, beef sandwiches, and sugar cookie cubes. The tray itself consists of, from back left, orange beverage, strawberries, asparagus, prime rib, a dinner roll, and butterscotch pudding in the center.

Plenty of EVAs

Photo: NASA

Skylab crews spent a lot of time outside the space station. Here, Skylab 3 astronaut Owen Garriott gazes at the camera while performing an extravehicular activity on August 6, 1973. Garriott, along with Lousma, worked to deploy the twin pole solar shield in the ongoing effort to shade the Orbital Workshop.

Science outside the station

Photo: NASA

After deploying the twin pole shield, the Skylab 3 spacewalkers deployed the Skylab Particle Collection S149 Experiment, which was mounted to the Apollo Telescope Mount. The purpose of this experiment was to collect material from interplanetary dust particles on prepared surfaces suitable for studying their impact phenomena, according to NASA. The Skylab 4 crew performed a pair of impromptu spacewalks to install an ultraviolet camera used to observe Comet Kohoutek.

A premature ending, but an incredible start

Photo: NASA

Skylab was supposed to last between eight and 10 years and even host the in-development Space Shuttle, but intense solar activity roused our atmosphere, forcing a premature end to the program and a fiery demise. Skylab returned to Earth on July 11, 1979, falling as debris over western Australia and the southeastern Indian Ocean. The mission may have ended early, but it set the stage for bigger and better orbital things, including the ISS.

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ADDIS ABABA, May 12 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has warned of the ongoing cholera outbreak in southeastern Ethiopia as the death toll climbed to 94.

The UNOCHA said in its latest situation update issued late Thursday that the cholera outbreak is the longest that is spreading unabated with a high risk of cross-border spread of the disease. It also warned that floods have further exacerbated health risks, including cholera in the affected parts of the East African country.

It said some 41 cholera treatment centers and units across affected areas are operational, and an estimated 35,850 people have received clean drinking water as of the beginning of May.

Figures from the UNOCHA show that some 100,000 people were previously vaccinated, while a new round of oral cholera vaccination campaign with 1.9 million doses available as of early April is scheduled for rollout in mid-May.

It, however, said coverage by the campaign is low considering a population of more than 7 million is living in and near the affected areas.

Widening oral cholera vaccination coverage requires more funds, it said, adding that strategic investments, especially in safe drinking water supply systems, sanitation, and hygiene, can eliminate the risk of cholera, even in vulnerable communities affected by insecurity and displacement. 
There wasnt anything else like it when the abalone farm north of Cayucos was built.

Interest in the aquaculture facility is renewed as a new group of scientists propose to revive activity at the site.

When it was founded, John Alexander would be a constant over the years keeping the vision alive.

His long life and association with the project would ensure that several biographies were published on him over the years in the Telegram-Tribune.

John Alexander, left, eyes Frank Oakes handful of tiny abalone in one of the nurseries at the California Marine Associates Abalone farm near Cayucos on Oct. 12, 1978.

He had invented the tilt-up concrete commercial building process and had took pride in being part of an aquaculture project that was cutting edge.

In 1978, Alexander was the person in charge at the facility and they were still working toward economic viability a decade after he and three others started the project. Scientist David Leighton had left for a job at Scripps Institute of Oceanography, but Hugh Stanton and John Perkins were still working on the project.

The actual operation of the facility evolved over time and some details in the article that follows, like how often the abalone spawned, were quite different when the facility was operating commercially.

It was closer to a quarterly spawning cycle once commercial operation was underway.

Early opponents to the facility included commercial abalone divers who saw the facility as a threat to their business. The commercial market was impacted by the expansion of sea otters and a withering syndrome.

While the facility operated successfully for many years, it was designed in an era before computer automation and many of the processes required hands-on, 24-hour human supervision.

It took years for the abalone to grow to commercial harvest size, so any breakdown was a potential catastrophic loss.

The high cost of electric power was also a factor, and operations wound down in the 2000s.

Farmed abalone would eventually be allowed to be sold beyond California, but there was still much to be discovered when this first-of-its-kind facility opened.

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Long-time writer and editor Elliot Curry wrote this first article on the project Aug. 1, 1968:

Trio opens Cayucos abalone farm

Three young men from the Los Angeles area are staking their future here on abalone no bigger in diameter than a human hair.

They are Hugh M. Staton, John Perkins and Dr. David Leighton and they are the designers, builders and operators of a unique abalone propagation and rearing laboratory at Point Estero near the mouth of Villa Creek. Their company is known as California Marine Associates.

I think I can show you one of our abalone, said Dr. Leighton. He was holding a small glass plate with a few drops of water on it. Nothing was visible to the naked eye, but when he put the slide under a microscope, multiplying it 150 times, a tiny but lively speck of life could be studied.

Five years from now, if everything goes well, that tiny speck could become an abalone steak. The partners in California Marine Associates and their financial backers are gambling that millions of abalone can be raised to maturity in the controlled environment which they are building on the John Alexander ranch.

Staton, whos home is in Orange County, is director of operations for CALMA, and the project was originally his idea. He started out once to be a zoologist, but became interested in the declining abalone resources in California.

Perkins is the market expert with the group, hoping some day that he will be shipping abalone all over the country.

Dr. Leighton has recently obtained his doctorate after a long study of the feeding habits of abalone at Scripps Institute of Oceanography at La Jolla. He has the vital role of seeing that the abalone get the right kind of food that will make them grow into husky shellfish.

Stated in its simplest terms, the CALMA plan is a process of propagating and rearing abalone in tanks. A continuous supply of sea water is being pumped into the vats where adult abalone, male and female, have been made at home.

At spawning time the male abalone releases sperm and the female then releases eggs, millions of them, many of which will be fertilized by the male sperm, floating free in the ocean water. In the ocean many of the eggs would be eaten by fish.

The fertilized egg buries itself in a food supply and the long process of becoming an abalone is started.

Fran k Oakes checks some of the 300 to 600 pounds of bulb kelp trucked fresh weekly from the Santa Barbara Channel to feed the abalone at farm near Cayucos Oct. 12, 1978.

The CALMA tanks have had two spawnings so far. They hope to have about one each week. As the abalone grow, they will be transferred from the vats into larger and larger tanks, soon to be constructed at the Point Estero site.

Thats the theory.

Staton, Perkins and Leighton have built their plant and everything in it with their own hands. It is a plain enough building but a lot of study had gone into every detail of both building and equipment. To carry it through these early years, CALMA is getting some $250,000 in financial backing from Southern California residents, mainly in Orange County.

Another person to whom Staton gives the greatest credit is Cayucos rancher John Alexander. Without him the whole project might never have been able to get off the ground. He has supplied the site for the undertaking at an ideal location for abalone operation and is going along with the gamble which the rest of the partners are taking.

The whole community has been wonderfully cooperative, Staton said. Dr. Leighton has already moved his family to the area. Staton and Perkins each plan to do the same before too long. Staton points out that even if CALMA is supremely successful, that little or or no effect should be felt by the diver abalone industry of the area. Under present regulations, abalone cannot be shipped out of California. That would not apply to commercially grown abalone, however which leaves all the other 49 states as an open market.

CALMA is basing its economics on the theory that when abalone is selling for $2.50 a pound or more that they can be raised profitably in captivity.

The adult abalone which comprise the CALMA breeding stock were purchased in Morro Bay and seem to be adjusting to tank life. When first placed in the vats they close up at the passing of every shadow. After a few days Staton can run his hand over them and they remain quite unconcerned.

Abalone are strictly vegetarians, feeding only on certain kinds of kelp.

Abalone are grown successfully in Japan, Staton said, and a number of experiments have been made in this country. Cal Poly scientists in Morro Bay in recent years propagating abalone in a controlled environment and the CALMA people are familiar with some of those experiments.

But the time the microscopic abalone now being born at Point Estero are big enough to market, CALMA expects to have some 11 to 12 acres under water, all swarming with abalone in various stages of development.

So far as Staton knows, this is the only operation of its kind in the United States.
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South Africa's presidential security advisor said on Saturday the country was "actively non-aligned" in Russia's war against Ukraine, after U.S. allegations it had supplied weapons to Moscow led to a diplomatic crisis this week.

The U.S. ambassador to South Africa Reuben Brigety said on Thursday he was confident a Russian ship under U.S. sanctions had collected weapons from a base near Cape Town in December. Senior U.S. officials had "profound concerns" about South Africa not respecting its professed policy of non-alignment, he added.

Speaking after leading a delegation on a U.S. visit last month, Sydney Mufamadi, security advisor to President Cyril Ramaphosa, emphasised the policy of neutrality in the conflict.

"We need to explain that we indeed are actively non-aligned as far as the conflict is concerned," Mufamadi told an online briefing.

"We will make absolutely sure that should wars break out, our contribution will always be calculated at helping the parties and everybody else to bring such conflicts to an end."

Later in the day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he had spoken to Ramaphosa and urged him to help implement Kyiv's peace plan to end the war. Moscow rejects the basic tenets of the document, which calls on Russia to quit all the land it has occupied.

"Anyone who helps the aggressor with weapons will be an accomplice with all the consequences," Zelenskiy said in a video address from Rome, a day after Ramaphosa spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

South Africa has abstained from voting on U.N. resolutions condemning the war.

A spate of recent events including naval exercises with Russia and China this year and hosting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov have raised questions about South Africa's stance.

Brigety's comments led to an immediate backlash with Ramaphosa's government refuting the claims and after a meeting between Brigety and foreign minister Naledi Pandor on Friday, the ambassador moved to offer a clarification.

Story continues

A government statement late in the evening said: the ambassador "admitted that he crossed the line and apologised unreservedly to the government and the people of South Africa."

Brigety's comments also wreaked havoc on the local currency with the rand plunging 4.7% in a space of a week as concerns grew over the potential sanctions on the country.

(Reporting by Promit Mukherjee and David Ljunggren; Editing by Helen Popper and Daniel Wallis)
This image provided by York County Sheriff's Office and released by attorney Justim Bamberg shows police dash cam video of Trevor Mullinax's encounter with York County deputies in May 2021. Mullinax is suing the sheriff's office in South Carolina saying deputies shot at him about 50 times when he was having a mental health crisis in a parked truck with a shotgun in his lap, even though he says his hands were raised. (York County Sheriff's Office via AP)

This image provided by York County Sheriff's Office and released by attorney Justim Bamberg shows police dash cam video of Trevor Mullinax's encounter with York County deputies in May 2021. Mullinax is suing the sheriff's office in South Carolina saying deputies shot at him about 50 times when he was having a mental health crisis in a parked truck with a shotgun in his lap, even though he says his hands were raised. (York County Sheriff's Office via AP)

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  A man is suing a sheriffs office in South Carolina saying deputies shot at him nearly 50 times when he was having a mental health crisis in a parked truck with a shotgun in his lap, even though he says his hands were raised.

Trevor Mullinax survived being hit nine times in May 2021, with three wounds to the head, according to the lawsuit filed against the York County Sheriffs Office earlier this month.

The four sheriffs deputies started shooting only a few seconds after arriving on the scene and yelling Hands! several times, as seen in police dash cam video released by Mullinaxs lawyers. The barrage lasted all of five seconds, leaving the pickup windshield riddled with bullet holes.

Those officer went out there like John Wayne cowboys. They came out there like gunslingers, attorney Justin Bamberg said at a news conference Tuesday.

Prosecutors reviewing the case did not charge the four deputies who shot at Mullinax. Each officer gave a statement to investigators 11 days after the shooting and after reviewing body camera and other footage.

The officers said in those seconds they thought Mullinax was getting ready to flee, then they saw him reach back to the trucks rear seat, grab the shotgun and point it at them, according to the State Law Enforcement Division report on the shooting.

Mullinaxs mother, Tammy Beason, said shed been trying to comfort her son after he threatened to kill himself. She was standing by the drivers-side window when the officers opened fire.

Story continues

She wasnt wounded. But deputies handcuffed her, wailing and clearly distraught, less than a minute after the shooting. Two deputies hustled her away as she cries, What are they going to do with my son?

The video begins with the deputies driving up to Mullinaxs truck parked on his familys land near Rock Hill on May 7, 2021. A family member had called 911 because Mullinax was threatening to kill himself. He said Were just trying to get our buddy some help, and gave the operator the cellphone numbers for him and his mother, according to the 911 call.

The deputies never called either of them, driving to the truck after Mullinaxs grandfather told them where it was located, Bamberg said.

There were 47 shots fired. The video shows two deputies pull a bleeding Mullinax out of the truck and handcuff him.

Youre not a death squad. Youre supposed to try to help people, even if youve got to shoot them, Bamberg said. They handcuff this man with three bullet holes in his head and then they handcuff his mama. Treat her like a criminal. This was disgusting.

Mullinaxs mother told investigators hours after the shooting it appeared her son might be reaching for a gun.

According to medical records obtained by state investigators, Mullinax told a doctor at the hospital he was talking to his mother about getting help when officers arrived, and when they arrived suddenly, he reached for the gun so they would shoot him because he didnt have the courage to do it himself. He said couldnt say why he changed his mind from seeking help to wanting to die.

Mullinax was the only person charged in the 2021 shooting and faces one count of pointing and presenting a firearm, a felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison. At the time of the shooting, Mullinax had a warrant for his arrest on a different charge, but his lawyers said that burglary charge was dismissed and there are no court records of it.

Mullinax couldnt have a gun legally because he was a felon, York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson said at a news conference Wednesday where he took no questions.

If a suspect pulls a weapon on a man or woman wearing a badge that says York County Sheriffs Office, that situation is not going to end well, Tolson said.

Police officers shouldnt have to handle people in mental crisis or the other duties piled on them daily, and shouldnt be second guessed after they are cleared by investigators, the sheriff said.

For those of you who are out there making snap judgements about the actions of police officers, hiding behind a computer screen with your thumb courage on Facebook, Instagram  the York County Sheriffs Office is hiring deputies every day. Please put in an application so you can see firsthand what a police officer faces, Tolson said.

Mullinaxs mother said it was hours before anyone told her that her son survived the shooting. She says she no longer trusts the police and flinches every time she sees a police cruiser.

I wonder if thats the one who almost killed me that day. Or thats the one who tried to kill my son that day, Beason said.

Mullinax said he hates what his mental crisis turned into.

But if it helps one single person in this world to not have to go through what me and my family have, Im OK with it, he said.
ALLISON JOYCE

The president of the North Carolina Bar Association faced immense backlash from the groups committee for LGBTQ+ equality this week, after he canceled a planned drag trivia night and suggested that the committee present both sides of the debate about drag culture instead.

That way, NCBA president Clayton Morgan said, the committee wouldnt be perceived as trying to advance just your agenda on the world, according to a recording of his remarks shared with The Daily Beast on the condition of anonymity.

The trivia night was in the works for many months, but the political stakes for progressives in North Carolina have recently escalated. In April, a Democratic state representative switched parties, thereby giving Republicans a veto-proof majority in both the state House and Senate. Later that month, Republican legislators proposed a new bill that would criminalize hosting drag shows on public property.

The bar associations committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity had scheduled their drag trivia night for June 8, but on May 5, the groups members received an email from Morgan telling them that the event was off.

I did not come to this difficult decision lightly or without a lot of thought and consideration, he wrote. Morgan agreed to participate in a special meeting on May 8 to discuss the cancellation.

I think all of us went into this meeting thinking that it was not going to be great. It somehow managed to be about 100 times worse, Michael Roessler, a Charlotte-based attorney and member of the committee, told The Daily Beast.

Within two minutes, the meeting hit its first snag. A member of the group proposed recording the conversation in the interest of transparency and accountability. Morgan nixed the proposal, announcing that the board had recently enacted a policy against recording meetings.

After a series of introductions, Morgan launched into a lengthy speech, which featured several minutes of pablum about the importance of unity and pursuing common goals.

Story continues

Were all unique individuals, no one has ever or will ever walk squarely in each and every one of our shoes, he said, and the outcome of each of our own lived experiences is what makes us individually unique and collectively brilliant.

Morgan conceded that drag shows in general had been misconstrued by political actors, saying there are individuals in society who have now chosen to use this very type of event for something that its not. And it will therefore be hard for the association to help create the correct understanding of it by actually having an event.

He repeatedly emphasized that the NCBA tries to avoid entering heated legislative or political debates that dont advance the overall best interest of the organization. By permitting the trivia night, the groups other legislative priorities might be negatively impacted, he said. (Morgan could not immediately be reached for comment.)

From there, things went off the rails, Roessler said, after Morgan proposed hosting an open forum with a neutral moderator. Morgan insisted that he continued to support the committee, though he urged them to view his comments as an opportunity for growth.

This denial can serve as an impetus, in my opinion, to take a step back, rethink a different approach, [and] educate the members and the public along the lines I just talked about that are consistent with preserving the associations ability to operate as an effective organization for everybody.

His remarks did not go over well. Roessler opened the conversation by pressing Morgan on whether he had fecklessly succumbed to fears that the Republican supermajority in the North Carolina General Assembly would look poorly on this event. After Morgan replied with an answer Roessler deemed unsatisfactory, Roessler told him to cut the bullshit.

Kids Are Dying While Tennessee Guv Goes After Drag Queens

Another group member then sounded off. The message that Im hearing from you, Clayton, is way worse than I had ever imagined. Its patronizing, its embarrassing, its disappointing. Your words ring hollow.

The member said he expected Morgan to tell the group he had canceled the event out of concern for their safety. But it doesnt seem that anybody cares about our safety, the person continued. It only seems to be that people care about the backlash.

Morgan then insisted that safety had been a huge consideration.

Other participants on the call shared their distress about the cancellation, saying it signaled the NCBAs lack of support at a time when LGBTQ+ individuals are vulnerable to both hostile factions of the public and the state legislature. These bills, Clayton, are a death sentence for our community, said a member who seemed to be on the verge of tears.

Forty percent of homeless youth are LGBT. Every time these bills pass more of our young people decide that its not worth it to try to make it to adulthood, she added. And if we as a profession cant stand up for that, then what can we stand up for?

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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A fugitive out of Stanly and Montgomery counties wanted on child sex crimes was captured Tuesday in Colorado, police in Glenwood Springs stated in a news release on Friday.

Glenwood Springs police officers checked the registered owner information on a Dodge Durango with North Carolina plates. The Durango was connected to a wanted violent felon.

ALSO READ: Missing Stanly County teen found safe in Alabama; man charged with child abduction

Police in Colorado pulled over the Durango and tried to arrest James Gillis, 31, but he resisted.

The 31-year-old driver tried to drive away but she was detained.

It took officers several minutes to get Gillis arrested while they also rescued three children, ages seven to 12 years old, from the SUV.

Once detained, Gillis told officers he had a shotgun in the SUV, which was behind the children. Later, police learned Gillis planned to kill everyone around him, including himself.

The three young children were taken into protective custody and will be transferred to North Carolina protective services. Their small dog had been abused and was taken to a facility. It is up for adoption.

The victims were not Gillis children, police said.

The woman who was driving facilitated the felony crimes by subjecting the victims to criminal acts at the hands of Mr. Gillis when she was in a position to prevent this from happening, police stated.

Interviews with the child victims indicated that various sex crimes occurred between North Carolina and Glenwood Springs. There may be additional victims. Call the police if you have any information.

Gillis is accused of two counts of child abuse involving serious bodily injury, second-degree forcible sexual offenses, statutory sexual offenses on a child by an adult, and crimes against nature.

The woman was charged with two counts of child abuse causing serious bodily injury.

Gillis and Bryant were booked into the Garfield County jail and are awaiting extradition to North Carolina.

VIDEO: Safe and sound: Stanly County sheriff describes search for teen found in Alabama
An explosion occurred over the Polipak industrial factory on the territory of the former 100 Machine-Building Plant in Luhansk

Shadow cruise missiles have been fired for the first time by Ukrainian forces, hitting Russian supply depots located 80 miles behind the frontline.

The missile attacks on Friday and Saturday destroyed a factory in Luhansk City used by the Russian army as a depot to store military equipment.

Luhansk City was considered by Russian forces to be beyond the range of Ukrainian firepower.

They used it as a supply hub, for soldiers to rest and recover, and to host visiting Russian dignitaries who did not want to get too close to the fighting.

Videos showed a giant fireball and thick, black smoke billowing up into the sky, while photos published by Russian media showed an alleged fragment of missile casing inscribed with the Storm Shadow name.

Luhansk City was considered by Russian forces to be beyond the range of Ukrainian firepower

Pro-Russia officials from the Luhansk region have confirmed the strike and said one person was injured.

Storm Shadow missiles, which are fired from the air, carry a large explosive warhead, especially designed to destroy hardened and even buried targets.

Some important things will 'blow up'

Analysts said at least one US MALD decoy missile, which does not carry an explosive warhead but uses sophisticated electronics to distract missile-defence systems, had also been fired in the attacks.

This is going to be a living nightmare for Russian air defence. I suspect that we will see some important things blow up in the near future, said Oliver Alexander, a defence and security analyst.

The Ministry of Defence only announced on Thursday that it had agreed to give Ukraine an undisclosed number of Storm Shadow missiles, which far out-range the US-supplied Himars rocket artillery that has played a vital role in pushing back Russian forces.

Storm Shadow missiles have a range of more than 180 miles, compared to only about 40 miles for the ground-launched Himars rockets, which have already forced Russian generals to move their supply lines and headquarters further from the frontline.

Ukraine has promised not to fire Storm Shadow missiles at targets in Russia, but is now able to hit any target in any part of its territory, including the whole of Crimea.

Story continues

Rybar, a Russian military blog, told its one million Telegram subscribers that Russian officials underestimated the potential impact of the Storm Shadow missiles.

The situation is similar to last summer, it said.

They hastened to reassure everybody, and to tell them that there was no great danger from these cruise missiles and that everybody is ready for them, but two days of strikes on Luhansk shows this is not true.

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Su-34 fighter jet that crashed in Bryansk Oblast

The Su-34 crashed near the Ukrainian border, TASS claimed.

Read also: Drones attack military airfield in Russias Bryansk Oblast, plane damaged

The fate of those who were on board is being established.

The circumstances of the crash are under investigation.

Pro-Russian Telegram channel BAZA reported that saboteurs who may be involved in the crash of the Mi-8 helicopter and Su-34 fighter jet are being sought in Bryansk Oblast. A plan for interception has been introduced in the region.

Read also: Russia under attack  multiple drone attacks inside Russia, including massive oil fire near Crimean Bridge

Earlier that day, a helicopter also crashed in Bryansk Oblast.

According to BAZA, the helicopter crashed into a private residence, injuring a 51-year-old woman who suffered burns from debris.

Later, TASS clarified that two people died as a result of the Mi-8 helicopter crash.

Read also: Drone with Glory to Ukraine slogan discovered in Kursk Oblast  media

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Picture of DC Comics' Superman lfying in the air.

Though James Gunns Superman movie is a ways off, the new co-head of DC Films has been fairly open about his plans for the character and what hes looking for in an actor to play him. Historically, playing the Man of Steel has been a bit of a mixed bag, and names are frequently floated out there (either true or not true), and hes had no trouble shutting down rumors and stressing that no ones been found yet. While that still hasnt changed, it sounds like progress is well underway to finding the man wholl spend the next several years playing Super...man.

Per the Hollywood Reporter, the top name being floated around to play the Man of Steel in 2025's Superman: Legacy will be David Corenswet. The 29-year-old was recently seen in last years Pearl, and is presently in production on the TV adaptation of Lady in the Lake. Other names on that list include Euphoria star Jacob Elordi (who reportedly didnt submit himself into the mix), and British actors Tom Brittney (Grantchester) and Andrew Richardson (To Call a Spy). But the outlet may not have it entirely right. According to Deadlines Justin Kroll, another name being floated out there is The Menus Nicholas Hoult. While THR notes Hoults name was up for considerationWB has apparently loved him ever since 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road, and he was once meant considered for Batmanthe outlet claims that he may instead be up to play Supermans longtime nemesis, Lex Luthor. Interestingly, he appears to be the only name out there for Lex.

Read more

As for Supermans love interest Lois Lane, THR reports that Emma Mackey (Death on the Nile), Rachel Brosnahan (Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Samara Weaving (Scream 6), and Phoebe Dynevor (Bridgerton) are up for consideration. Its not clear who may end up taking the role, though; Brosnahan reportedly had an outstanding audition, but at 32 years old, may end up being out of the 20-something age range Gunns said to be going for.



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Sources speaking to THR said some of the actors listed have yet to screen test, and may just be in the mix of potential names. One specifically said that WB and Gunn were nowhere near a decision. But its the first real bit of casting news weve had on this particular project, and itll be interesting to see who ends up playing these characters in whats going to be the next step forward for DCs movies for at least the next decade.

Superman: Legacy is expected to release in theaters on July 11, 2025.

Update: In response to the casting news going around, Gunn stated on Twitter that he has a practice of not talking about actors that were being considered for roles, only those whove already booked a part. (And even then, only after an actor has explicitly talked about it after the fact.) Interestingly though, he cryptically teased that a role has already been cast for Superman: Legacy, saying it wasnt any of the regular players in the Superman world. And he punctuated his statement with a mermaid emoji.

Let the speculation continue even further.

For all of you asking, I would never comment on who is or isnt AUDITIONING for a role. Thats the actors business only & isnt something Id make public unless they did it first after the fact (like @GlennHowerton or @ZacharyLevi having auditioned for Star-Lord & being top  James Gunn (@JamesGunn) May 13, 2023





Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.



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Switzerland can start supplying weapons to Ukraine

Read also: Swiss diplomat defends country's ban on transferring ammunition to Kyiv

Until now, weapons and ammunition purchased abroad could not be transferred from Switzerland to countries involved in armed conflicts.

Due to its neutral status, Switzerland has consistently vetoed requests from countries such as Spain, Germany, and Denmark to transfer Swiss-made armored vehicles and ammunition to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, including ammunition for German Gepard tanks.

Read also: No neutrality for genocide and war crimes  how Ukraine will acquire Swiss weapons

In March, Switzerland definitively refused to support the re-export of ammunition to Ukraine. However, in recent weeks, pressure on Bern from its western partners has increased, with the government being urged to provide greater assistance to Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized Switzerland for its neutrality and veto on the supply of ammunition.

Currently, EU countries plan to supply ammunition to Ukraine, but their own supplies are running low. Moreover, some of the weapons and ammunition purchased from Switzerland several years ago have not yet been delivered to Ukraine.

Read also: Germanys Scholz announces new deliveries of Gepard, Iris-T systems to 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
For as long as Hollywood has been making movies, film stars have fallen in love, or lust, on set. And, lets be honest, were here for it. Were glued to those A-list romances just as closely as the films themselvesimagining secret trysts in trailers and looking for signs of real-life passion spilling over into on-screen interactions. Was the hand he had around her waist just that bit too low? Did she gaze at him for a moment too long? It allows us to imagine that the sort of fairytale we see in films might just be the stuff of real life, too.

And why shouldnt we be obsessed with celebrity hook-ups? After all, they involve sex between ridiculously attractive and rich people, allow us to hunt for clues on social media and, if were really lucky, involve the scandal of one or both actors cheating on their partners. Five stars, bring on the sequel.

Except for the fact that all that gossip and all those incriminating photographs are almost always accompanied by a shedload of slut-shaming. Take Glen Powell (who played the hot douchebag in Top Gun: Maverick) and Euphorias Sydney Sweeney, the latest pair to provide the grist for the romance rumor mill. The two have been filming a new rom-com, Anyone But You, in Australia and dared to look smiley and relaxed in each others company, hence the internet (and myriad mainstream media outlets) have naturally concluded that the pair must be sleeping together.

Of course, theres no way for us to know whether theyre actually romantically involved or not, but that hasnt stopped people from speculating that this is the reason why Powell has (reportedly) split from his girlfriend, Gigi Paris, or losing their minds over the fact that Sweeney was (briefly) seen without her engagement ring. What we can be sure of, though, is that a tidal wave of misogynistic abuse has crashed down on Sweeneys head, while Powells reputation remains relatively unscathed.

CinemaCon 2023 Opening Night - Sony Pictures Entertainment Presentation Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Its a pattern weve seen over and over again. Take Elizabeth Taylor, a pioneering woman in the film industry, who, in addition to winning a Best Actress Oscar, was a revered philanthropist and AIDS activist. And yet we are mainly reminded about how many husbands she had and her 1963 affair with Richard Burton, for which she undoubtedly bore the brunt of the publics rage. As news of their romance leaked from the Cleopatra set, Taylor was painted as a nymphomaniac, rejected by Hollywood, and even accused of erotic vagrancy by the Vatican, which suggested that her children should be removed from her care.

Sixty years later, have attitudes changed that much? Sweeney might not think so, having been called a homewrecker and all manner of things Id rather not repeat here in recent weeks. A viral video that shows her performing a backbend while on a sofa with Powell has been produced as evidence of her loose morals. As for whats being said about Powell? Not a lot and the whole (unsubstantiated) thing is already being referred to as the Sydney Sweeney scandalshorthand for: its all her fault.

Its almost as if we want an excuse to chastise women. Im sure Olivia Wilde would agree, having been derided after getting together with Harry Styles, who starred in her film Dont Worry Darling. The director was forced to block the comments on her Instagram profile following a deluge of insults accusing her of neglecting her children in favor of Styles, calling her a leech and declaring that she should be ashamed of herself. Nude pictures, purportedly of Wilde (though never confirmed), were posted online as proof that she was a whore.

Lily James, too, was the subject of a torrent of abuse in 2020 after photographs emerged of her seemingly kissing her The Pursuit of Love co-star Dominic West. Of course, infidelity isnt great behavior. But it speaks volumes that an on-set romance can derail everything for an actress  even if shes single and its her male lover whos marriedwhile he emerges largely unscathed. This is a straightforward case of double standardsa woman getting the backlash, while the man, despite being married, isnt under anywhere near the same amount of scrutiny, one of her friends told a tabloid.

The examples go on and on. Kristen Stewart cited slut-shaming as the reason she was dropped from the Snow White franchise after being pictured kissing its director, Rupert Sanders, in 2012. Yes, she was in a high-profile relationship with Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson, but she was also just 22, while Sanders was 41, married with two children, and in a position of authority on set. Can you believe that Kristen Stewart cheated? Let us know what you think, asked one magazine at the time, with Fox News calling her a homewrecker. On the tenth anniversary of the photographs emerging, they went viral againand saw Stewart rebranded as a villain once more.

Clearly, we havent made as much progress as we thought. We are impossibly quick to believe the worst of womento use any perceived transgression on set to undermine their professionalism and call into question their ability to control their emotions and impulses. We fire them from blockbuster franchises to protect profitsand the reputations of their male costars. We turn promo trails for their feature films into tabloid fodder, while we rehabilitate the reputations of famous men accused of raping or abusing women. When you think about it that way, Hollywood romances are about as far from a fairytale as its possible to get.

BFF? The Truth About Female Friendship by Claire Cohen is out now. This article was originally published in British Vogue.

Originally Appeared on Glamour
Less than 24 hours after several Broward County schools and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport were on high alert due to false bomb and shooting threats, an arrest has been made of a teenager, deputies said.

A 16-year-old faces charges of written threats to kill, disruption of a school function and false report of a bomb or firearm, the Broward Sheriffs Office said.

This comes after a Coral Springs High School student was arrested for a false school shooting threat that caused panic throughout Broward and Miami-Dade on May 5. Police did not identify the teen.

READ MORE HERE: South Florida student arrested after school threat. She is facing multiple felonies

Around 10 a.m. Friday, the teen, who was not identified, called 911 and told an operator, About to do a bombing at South Broward High School, deputies said. The teen said it would happen in two hours, so the school was immediately evacuated.

Minutes later, the teen called 911 again threatening to shoot up South Broward High and Attucks Middle School. The middle school was secured in place as a result.

In the hours that followed, the teen made additional fake bomb threats for Coconut Creek High, Blanche Ely High, Coral Glades High and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport  disrupting everyday functions, deputies said.

Detectives were able to track down the threats to a teen who did not attend any of the schools. The teen was arrested and taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center.
A 17-year-old male sustained non-life threatening injuries after being hit by gunfire early Saturday morning, according to a press release issued by the Alexandria Police Department.

A 17-year-old male sustained non-life-threatening injuries after being hit by gunfire early Saturday morning, according to a press release issued by the Alexandria Police Department.

Police officers were dispatched to the Bayview Yacht Club, 1303 Windsor Street, after receiving reports about gunshots.

An initial investigation resulted in the arrests of two men. One has been charged with one count of illegal use of a weapon or dangerous instrumentalities and the other with one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of CDS I.

The release goes on to say that more arrests and charges are pending. A total of five guns were seized by the APD in relation to the case.

The investigation remains ongoing.

The APD asks anyone with information about this incident to call (318) 441-6416, or APD Dispatch (318) 441-6559.

For a cash reward, call Crime Stoppers of Cenla at (318) 443-7867. The Crime Stoppers P3 Tipster App can also be downloaded to leave tips and get a claim number for a cash reward at www.p3tips.com/community/mobile/

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Teen shot early Saturday morning in Alexandria
WASHINGTON  Red states have required publishers to change the content of history textbooks to downplay race struggles and play up religious figures. And blue states have approved environmental standards that are tougher than those in other parts of the country.

Sometimes those policies and others like it spill outside a state's lines.

Now, some experts say a new Supreme Court decision upholding a California animal welfare law might make it easier for states  conservative and liberal  to impose policy choices on large swaths of the nation.

"If you're Gavin Newsom or Ron DeSantis and you're looking to project your legislation outside of your state, you probably feel more confident today than you did yesterday," said Ruth Mason, a University of Virginia School of Law professor, referencing the Democratic governor of California and the GOP governor of Florida.

Decision: Supreme Court sides with California on animal welfare law that could have impact beyond bacon

Argument: Supreme Court majority questions California law regulating pig pens, pork products

How a Supreme Court case about bacon could empower states

In California, pork must come from pigs that have larger pens than most farmers provide. The animal welfare law in question  known as Proposition 12  requires companies selling pork in California to ensure the sow from which the butchered pig was born was housed in at least 24 square feet of floor space. While California residents consume a lot of pork, the state produces very little of it  meaning Prop 12's burden falls mostly on farmers in the Midwest and South.

The pork industry sued, claiming the Constitution bars these types of interstate policies in almost every case. A 5-4 majority of the Supreme Court balked at that interpretation Thursday. But the heavily fractured decision did little to clarify what's allowed and what isn't.

Demonstrators with PETA gather outside the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court on May 11, 2023 upheld a California animal welfare law that bans the sale in America's most-populous state of pork from pigs raised in confined conditions.

To say there's not a hard-and-fast rule, as the court did, "seems right," said Mason, an expert in federalism. "But then what is the rule? The rule can't be there is no limit on what a state can do."

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Michael McConnell, director of the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School and a former federal appeals court judge, said he, too, is concerned about how states will respond to the decision.

"I fear the court's opinion will open the door to any number of state-level attempts to impose their wishes on the nation as a whole," McConnell said, "even when the effects are entirely in other states."

Abortion, environment, tech: How might states respond?

States have adopted divergent policies in recent years on education, the environment, labor, health care and other issues controversial and mundane. State responses to the Supreme Courts decision last year to overturn Roe v. Wade illustrate the point, with many conservative states banning abortion altogether and some liberal states taking steps to expand access.

California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks during the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California on May 2, 2023.

Things get more complicated when those policies have an effect on interstate commerce. One of the most notable examples are environmental policies. California and other states have imposed vehicle emission standards, for instance, that have forced much of the auto industry to bend to their will.

Other policies may be less obvious: New York required internet service providers to offer reduced pricing for low-income families. California imposed its own net neutrality law on internet providers, barring them from blocking or slowing some traffic or charging for faster delivery of some content.

Code: Would a code of ethics fix the Supreme Court? Some raise concerns about enforceability

Abortion: How a Supreme Court case about pig farms could muddy looming debate over out-of-state abortions

"There are still some open questions about the extent to which states can issue rules like this," said Tejas Narechania, faculty director at the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology. "I think the decision here maybe points toward the states being able to do more of that. I think that'll be true in the tech space, in particular."

Kavanaugh frets about 'blueprint' for other states

In a partial dissent, Justice Brett Kavanaugh fretted that the court's decision would provide a "blueprint for other states" and usher in a "new era" in which one state attempts to "unilaterally impose its moral and policy preferences" on others.

What if a state prohibits the sale of fruit packed by noncitizens, Kavanaugh asked. What if it bars the sale of goods made by workers paid less than $20 an hour, or who work for companies that decline to pay for birth control?

'Endless litigation.' Why some spillover may be inevitable

California approved the ballot initiative in 2018 with support from about 63% of voters. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit batted away the challenge from the pork industry and the Supreme Court affirmed that decision.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, who wrote the court's opinion, didnt respond to those concerns directly. But he wrote that in the modern interconnected national marketplace, many state laws have the practical effect of controlling behavior beyond that states borders.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis waves as he arrives for a press conference to sign several bills related to public education and teacher pay, in Miami, Tuesday, May 9, 2023.

Adopting the rule the pork farmers wanted would, Gorsuch wrote, cast a shadow over what has long been understood to be the ability of states to pass laws affecting their own residents.

"It would invite endless litigation," Gorsuch wrote, "and inconsistent results."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Supreme Court pork decision may empower states to set national policy
A Texas bill that bans gender-affirming health care for transgender children is a step closer to Texas Gov. Greg Abbotts desk after hours of floor debate on Friday.

Many Democrats pushed back against the legislation that they said is dangerous for transgender kids in the state, as mostly Republicans pressed forward with the legislation supporters say is needed to keep children and teens from being harmed.

The bill passed on Friday, but is subject to one more vote in the House before heading back to the Senate for approval as an amendment. If the change is approved, the bill heads Abbott.

The legislation would prohibit doctors from providing gender-affirming health care, including surgery and the prescription of puberty blockers, to a person under 18. A doctor who violates the rule would have their medicine license revoked. Public money couldnt go to facilities or doctors that provide the transition-related care.

Minors who prior to June 1 were taking prescription drugs that suppress puberty and had gone to therapy at least 12 times over the course of six months would be weaned off the prescription in a way thats safe and medically appropriate, according to the bill.

Rep. Tom Oliverson, a Cypress Republican who is anesthesiologist and carrying the bill in the House, told lawmakers that gender dysphoria is a mental health condition and treatment should be focused on mental health care. He likened it to anorexia, which elicited groans from some watching the debate from the House gallery.

I dont mean that flippantly, he said. What I mean is, that anorexia is also a distorted perception of body image, where a patient sees themself differently and feels uncomfortable when they look in the mirror.

The American Psychiatric Association describes gender dysphoria as distress that results from an incongruence between ones sex assigned at birth and ones gender identity, which may be experienced by some people who are transgender.

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This does not ban all treatments for this mental health condition, gender dysphoria, Oliverson said. It actually redirects patients, parents and providers to scientifically proven methods that have been around for a long time  counseling, psychotherapy. We dont treat mental health disorders with surgery. We treat mental health disorders with mental health treatments.

Democrats filed amendment after amendment  18 total  to change the legislation, but each was voted down.

One would have invalidated the bill altogether. Another would have excluded emancipated minors from those unable to access the health care. Another would have made it so the bill expires on Sept. 1, 2026, which the amendment author said would allow lawmakers revisit the law as medicine evolves.

An amendment would have allowed transition-related care when at least two doctors or mental health care providers determines its needed to prevent severe physical, emotional or psychological harm. Another would have studied the suicide rate of children affected by the law.

The bill was amended to let sections of the proposal remain in effect if another part is found invalid.

Rep. Donna Howard, an Austin Democrat, noted that the Pediatric Endocrine Society opposes bills that harm transgender youth. The society in a 2021 statement, when similar bills were in legislatures across the country including Texas, recommended an affirmative model of care that supports ones gender identity that includes both mental health care and puberty suppression on a case-by-case basis.

The care has been demonstrated to improve the psychological health and well being of transgender youth, the group said.

These prescriptions that were talking about are still available to children with other medical conditions, said Rep. Mary Gonzalez, an El Paso Democrat. Were banning health care for one group of people, and we have to ask ourselves why. There is so much misinformation. So much politicization, and honestly, sadly, discrimination happening against transgender people, and specifically transgender youth.

Rep. Tony Tinderholt, an Arlington Republican, called transition-related care child abuse.

I just think its despicable, and I cannot believe that anyone in this room wants to do harm, physical harm, to children, he said.

Some onlookers in the gallery cheered.

Rep. Shawn Thierry, a Houston Democrat, said she has researched the issue extensively, and after listening to the debate is convinced the age should be 18 for people to receive transition-related care.

I am making a decision to place the safety of all young people over the comfort of political expediency, she said, continuing that lawmakers should be consistent in giving children special conditions under the law as they cannot really appreciate the long term consequences of their actions.

Friday morning, ahead of the debate, advocates for LGBTQ rights packed the stairs outside the House chamber in the Texas Capitol as Democratic House lawmakers took turns reading letters from transgender children and their family members.

They shared the words a child who feared having to leave Texas and the testimony of a 12-year-old boy who wondered why there are more stories in the news about lawmakers in Austin trying to pass laws targeting transgender kids than there are about about kids being killed by guns.

I am here as a young trans adult, as a college student, because I had access to life-saving, life-giving care as a trans youth, said Landon Richie, a policy associate with the Transgender Education Network of Texas.
By Chayut Setboonsarng

BANGKOK (Reuters) - From the back of open-top trucks and cars, candidates of Thailand's political parties drove through Bangkok on Saturday, as a months-long campaign that could usher in a new government for the first time in nearly a decade drew to a close.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha faces an uphill battle to retain power in Sunday's general election, with opposition parties including Pheu Thai and Move Forward surging in popularity, according to opinion polls.

Thailand has about 52 million eligible voters, including 3.3 million aged 18 to 22 who can vote for the first time, with pro-military, royalist conservatives and the populist opposition vying for their endorsement.

The polls suggest that their ballots could end nearly a decade of governments either led or backed by a military and conservative forces.

On the back of a bright red car, Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Srettha Thavisin - two prime ministerial candidates for Pheu Thai - waved to onlookers.

"I would like to ask first time voters to choose Pheu Thai," Paetongtarn told reporters as she stepped off the vehicle. "We have a 20 year history and we have had success."

Pheu Thai, which is leading opinion polls, is backed by the billionaire Shinawatra family, whose parties have won elections since 2001 on populist platforms. Its governments have been ousted through military coups or judicial rulings.

Another opposition party, the youth-driven and progressive Move Forward, is seeing a late boost in popularity.

"Sleep early tonight and wake up early to vote for Move Forward," its prime ministerial pick Pita Limjaroenrat said through a loudspeaker from a truck.

Across town, a truck carrying members of Prayuth's United Thai Nation party stopped occasionally as supporters took selfies and gave flowers.

In a rally on Friday, Prayuth exhorted voters to back him, instead of opposition groups that have promised change.

Story continues

"We do not want change that will overturn the country," he told supporters. "Do you know what kind of damage it would do? We cannot suddenly change all at once because we don't know what lies on the side."

Under election rules, parties have to stop campaigning at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

(Editing by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) - Squishmallows joined Warren Buffett's business empire two years after Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian and others helped make the plush stuffed toys a viral sensation on TikTok.

For Judd and Laura Zebersky, whose company Jazwares makes the toys, the success of Squishmallows is hardly what they imagined when they met 33 years ago at the University of Miami law school.

They married in 1993 and embarked on law careers, but Judd Zebersky soon realized that wasn't his destiny. Four years later, he started Jazwares, where he is now chief executive.

"I have really loved pop culture since I was a kid," Zebersky said in an interview at this month's annual shareholder weekend for Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc in Omaha, Nebraska.

"I was into comic books and toys, and I'm also an artist--a not very good one," he said. "I looked at my wife, and I said, 'I want to make toys.' She said, 'Follow your dreams,' and that's what I did."

Laura Zebersky, a litigator, sold her practice in 2005 and joined him, becoming Jazwares' president.

Jazwares sales topped $1 billion in 2021. About 40% came from Squishmallows, as the number sold passed 100 million, and the rest from in-house and licensed brands including Fortnite, Pokemon and Star Wars.

Berkshire bought Jazwares' parent, insurance holding company Alleghany Corp, for $11.5 billion last October. It has not since discussed Jazwares' business performance.

"Jazwares is a gem," Buffett said in an emailed statement. "And, Judd and Laura are the ideal Berkshire managers."

STRIKING A NERVE

Other businesses in Berkshire's stable also make toys, including Oriental Trading's rubber ducks resembling Buffett and his longtime business partner Charlie Munger.

But it was Buffett and Munger Squishmallows that were arguably the hot item during a shopping event at the Berkshire weekend, with shareholders scooping up 10,000. Before long they were fetching more than $500 at auction on eBay.

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Launched in 2017, Squishmallows became part of Jazwares when it bought another toymaker, Kellytoy.

The Zeberskys thought the squishy toys could be a hit but had not been marketed well to a mass audience.

There are now more than 2,000 Squishmallows, each with its own name, birthdate--or "Squish date"--and biography.

"This was a brand that needed a lot of love," Judd Zebersky said. "It struck a nerve, and when you strike a nerve in the toy industry, great things can happen."

In 2014, seeking help in expanding, the Zeberskys sold a stake in Jazwares to Alleghany, which took a majority stake two years later. Terms of both transactions were not disclosed.

"Another company was courting us," Laura Zebersky said. "We weren't looking to sell, but we knew we could not grow properly without acquisitions. When Alleghany wanted to buy a minority stake, we were all for it."

Led by Joseph Brandon, who previously ran Berkshire's General Re reinsurer, Alleghany now has Buffett's deep balance sheet as support.

"Joe said that our lives would be really, really good, we're working with the best and most respected company in the world," Judd Zebersky said.

STAYING CURIOUS

The Zeberskys now report to Greg Abel, a Berkshire vice chairman who oversees non-insurance businesses and is Buffett's designated successor as CEO.

"Greg is exactly what we have all learned about the Berkshire model," Laura Zebersky said. "He lets us run our business, he lets us operate in the way we see best."

The Zeberskys said they had met Buffett once, at a 2017 charity dinner in Florida to encourage investments in Israeli bonds.

Jazwares counts Hasbro, Lego and Mattel among its main rivals.

Its products come mainly from China, as well as Vietnam and eventually Cambodia and Indonesia--the United States costs too much.

Judd Zebersky said Jazwares is looking to expand into business "ancillary" to toys, such as costumes.

Curiosity, he said, helps drive where Jazwares might go next in a fast-changing world.

"Whenever you think that you've hit the top of the mountain and you're not curious, that's when your company will fall down," he said.

(This story has been refiled to edit the list of companies in paragraph 25)

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in Omaha, Nebraska; Editing by Megan Davies and Leslie Adler)
The Tony Awards wont broadcast this years ceremony as scheduled after the Writers Guild of America denied a requested waiver that would have allowed for the show to air amid an ongoing writers strike.

The Hollywood Reporter and Variety both reported that the 2023 event will not be televised from New Yorks United Palace on June 11 as planned. A Tonys committee is set to meet Monday to consider next steps following the unions decision on the strike waiver, the outlets said.

HuffPost has reached out to the Tonys for comment.

The news comes as roughly 11,500 film and TV members of the WGA, both East and West, strike for improved wages and other demands. (HuffPosts unionized employees are also members of the WGAE.)

The Tonys had announced this years nominees on May 2  the day that guild writers went on strike.

Some Like It Hot earned 13 nods, the most of any production this year. Other nominees include & Juliet, Shucked, Kimberly Akimbo and A Dolls House featuring Jessica Chastain.

This is not the first time that the ceremony has failed to air in June as expected. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tonys put off its 2020 show until September 2021. In 1992, the ceremony aired on May 31.

The WGA strike has impacted other awards shows as well. Last week, Drew Barrymore dropped out of hosting the MTV Movie & TV Awards, with the live show then called off by MTV soon after.

In a statement, Barrymore voiced her support for the striking writers.

Everything we celebrate and honor about movies and television is born out of their creation, she said.

Related...
Ice picks, pliers, and screwdrivers. They seem like ordinary tools  but for convicted serial murderers Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris, these common implements served much darker purposes. They became instruments of torture and death for the predatory pair infamously known as the Toolbox Killers.

In 1979, Bittaker and Norris used the roads of California as their hunting grounds and relied on the remote areas of the San Gabriel Mountains, where they brutalized and killed their victims. The depraved crimes are explored in the gripping Peacock original special The Toolbox Killer.

Their prey: young women aged 18 and under, some of whom were hitchhiking. The teens made the dire mistake of getting into the deadly duos van that they ghoulishly nicknamed Murder Mack, The New York Daily News reported in 2015.

RELATED: 'For Those Who Don't Know What Hell Is Like': What Is The Lynette Ledford Tape?

After raping and torturing the teens, Bittaker and Norris would kill them and dump their bodies. They also used audio and photos to capture the vicious assaults. The Los Angeles Times reported that Bittaker took photographs of one victim performing a sexual act, all the while staying in contact with Norris by walkie-talkie. Another audio of an attack was later played during Bittaker's trial, and led people to flee the court room, according to The New York Daily News.

The Toolbox Killer is built around interviews Bittaker did with criminologist Laura Brand later in life, sharing his side of the twisted story. The show also features invaluable insights from law enforcement, journalists, and family members of victims.

The Toolbox Killers

Lawrence Bittaker Ap

Lawrence Bittaker Photo: AP

Lawrence Bittaker was put up for adoption at birth and was adopted by the Bittakers, who would later disown him after he committed a string of crimes, including theft.

Norris' childhood was difficult and he was often placed in foster homes. He later joined the United States Navy but was honorably discharged after military psychologists determined he had schizoid personality disorder.

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Pennsylvania-born Bittaker, who was found to have an IQ of 138, was allegedly the brains of the team, while Norris, who was from Colorado, was the muscle, according to The Toolbox Killer.

The two met while behind bars at the California Mens Colony in San Luis Obispo Prison. Bittaker was serving time after being convicted of assault with a deadly weapon, having stabbed a gas station worker in 1974, according to All That's Interesting. Norris, a convicted sex offender, was sent to the prison after raping a woman in 1976.

Bittaker was released on parole from prison in October 1978, while Norris was released on parole three months later in January 1979.

The Toolbox Killers' Victims

After their release, Bittaker and Norris began their string of killings with the abduction and murder of 16-year-old Lucinda Lynn Cindy Schaefer, reported the Los Angeles Times in 1989.

Andrea Hall, 18; Jacqueline Gilliam, 15; Jacqueline Leah Lamp, 13; and Shirley Lynette Ledford, 16, were killed over the following five months. The bodies of Schaefer and Hall, unlike the other victims, havent been found.

The killers recorded and took Polaroids of their victims, including Shirley Ledford. During the trial, the Ledford tapes were played aloud in court, bringing many to tears. "For those of you who do not know what hell is like, you will find out," prosecutor Stephen Kay said when introducing the evidence, according to UPI.

How Were The Toolbox Killers Caught?

On November 20, 1979, Bittaker and Norris were arrested. The charges came about after Norris told a prison friend about his and Bittakers crimes and that friend, shaken by what he heard, went to authorities.

After his arrest, Norris turned on Bittaker. Norris agreed to plead guilty and testify against Bittaker in order to escape the death penalty. In April 1981, he was sentenced to 45 years to life in prison.

Bittaker Norris

Bittaker faced 26 charges, including five counts of murder, five counts of kidnapping, criminal conspiracy, rape, oral copulation, sodomy, and being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm. He was convicted on all counts and sentenced to death on March 22, 1981.

Where Are The Toolbox Killers Now?

The Toolbox Killers are now dead.

Four decades after killing five young women, Bittaker, 79, died of natural causes on death row in San Quentin State Prison on December 13, 2019. Norris, 72, died of natural causes in prison two months later.

To learn more about the case, Bittaker's thoughts on the murders, and the latest on efforts to recover the bodies of Schaefer and Hall, watch The Toolbox Killer, streaming on Peacock.

(This story was originally published on September 22, 2019 and has since been updated.)
Several hundred people responded with thousands of dollars in donations to help the families of two North Carolina teens who were killed by a wrong-way driver who also died.

A tragic situation for all involved, Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough Jr. said on Facebook Friday when he released the name of the driver he said caused the wreck. We give our condolences to all who are affected by this.

The driver, 29-year-old Walnut Cove resident Joseph Brandon Smith, was in a stolen car and refused to stop for deputies before the crash Monday on U.S. 74 West, Kimbrough said.

Madison Grotschel, an 18-year-old from Kernersville, and her boyfriend, 19-year-old Tobaccoville resident Jayce Haverkos, were in the car hit head-on by Smith, WXII reported, citing the North Carolina Highway Patrol.

Deputies began pursuing Smith on Baux Mountain Road near Dolphin Drive in the Germanton area of the county, WGHP reported.

Smith exited onto U.S 74 westbound, WFMY reported. At the bottom of the entrance ramp, he made a U-turn and drove into oncoming traffic, the station reported.

The teens died instantly, Grotschels aunt, Tamara Grillone, said on GoFundMe, where the fundraiser she started in her nieces memory neared its $16,000 goal Saturday.

Her niece was going to graduate high school this month, Grillone said.

Losing a child is not something our family had planned for, she wrote on Go Fund Me. It has been an incredibly difficult few days, and the last thing that my sister should be worried about is covering the cost of her daughters funeral.

By Saturday afternoon, 254 people had donated a total of $15,895.

And 108 people donated $6,068 on a Go Fund Me started by the twin sister of Jayces mom. Jayces aunt on Gund Fund Me called the loss of the teens horrible and senseless.

Wrote a woman who donated $20: I lost my son in August 2022 at age 31. No parent should have to bury a child. My heart goes out to you all.

Our hearts ache for you, a couple who donated $200 wrote. Please know we are praying for you all and are sending big hugs and loads of love.
by Raheela Nazir

ISLAMABAD, May 13 (Xinhua) -- As a strong defender of world peace and close neighbor of Afghanistan, China can play an active role in bringing back stability, peace and prosperity in the war-torn country, experts said.

Unlike the United States, China supports sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries around the globe including Afghanistan. It supports peace and reconstruction of Afghanistan with the intention of helping Afghan people in fighting terrorism, which posed a major threat to regional stability and beyond, said the experts and academics during a webinar with the theme of China Position Paper on Afghanistan on Friday.

Experts from various countries including Pakistan, China and Afghanistan attended the event organized by the Asian Institute of Eco-Civilization Research and Development, an Islamabad-based think tank.

Speaking on the occasion, Saleem Khan Safi, a senior Pakistani journalist and expert on Afghan affairs, said that a peaceful Afghanistan is crucial for regional socio-economic development and connectivity as well as for the welfare of the Afghan people, underlining that all the stakeholders should work together for the prosperity and unity of Afghanistan.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, is ready to be promoted to extend into Afghanistan under trilateral cooperation which would promote economic development and prosperity in the region, he said.

Criticizing the United States and its allies for leaving Afghanistan hastily and in a chaotic condition, Safi said that without consolidating Afghanistan or making arrangements for intra-Afghan reconciliation, the U.S.-led forces pulled out from Afghanistan, creating a severe security and humanitarian crisis.

Not only that, the United States even abandoned Afghan citizens who worked and assisted them and put their lives at risk, said the Pakistani expert, adding that the United States also seized overseas assets of Afghanistan while imposing sanctions, leaving the lives of Afghan people in shambles.

Deputy Minister of Economy of Afghan interim government Abdul Latif Nazari said that Afghanistan has been facing economic problems as the United States has blocked Afghanistan's money and imposed unilateral sanctions and pushed the country into poverty.

"We want to engage with our neighbors, regional and global economies constructively because we believe that the economic growth and sustainable development in Afghanistan are impossible without interacting and cooperating with the neighboring regional countries," he said.

Appreciating China's position on the Afghan issue and its support for a safe and peaceful Afghanistan, Nazari said that the interaction between Afghanistan and the world will be continued.

China's effective engagement and cooperation with the Afghan interim government is based on the principle of mutual trust, respect, and equal consultations, without any interference in Afghanistan's internal affairs, Zhou Rong, Senior Fellow of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China said.

He said that China, Pakistan and Afghanistan should work together to enhance strategic communication, interactions and political mutual trust for the betterment of all parties and bring benefits to the people of the three neighbors and other countries in the region.

The trilateral cooperation on security and counter-terrorism needs to be enhanced further as economic development is not possible without solving security issues, he added. 
NEW YORK (AP)  Donald Trump was ordered Thursday to appear by video at a May 23 hearing in his Manhattan criminal case after a judge this week set rules barring him from using evidence in the case to attack witnesses.

Judge Juan Manuel Merchan scheduled the hybrid hearing  the former president on a TV screen, his lawyers and prosecutors in court  to go over the restrictions with Trump and to make clear that he risks being held in contempt if he violates them.

The case is continuing in state court even as Trumps lawyers seek to have it moved to federal court. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who is considering the transfer request, issued an order this week setting paperwork deadlines and a hearing for late June.

Merchan, still in charge while that drama plays out, agreed to instruct Trump on the rules by video, rather than in person, after a prosecutor reminded him last week that bringing Trump to court would present mammoth security and logistical challenges.

Trumps April 4 arraignment, where he pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, attracted a crush of media and protesters, involved multiple street closures, extra security screenings and shut down non-Trump court business for an afternoon.

Well setup the camera for Mr. Trump to appear wherever he is at that time and well do it here in the courtroom virtually, Merchan said.

Merchan issued whats known as a protective order on Monday, days after a hearing where he urged Trumps lawyers and prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorneys office to reach a compromise regarding the Republicans access to and use of evidence turned over by prosecutors prior to trial. That kind of evidence sharing, called discovery, is routine in criminal cases, and is intended to help ensure a fair trial.

Prosecutors sought the order soon after Trumps arrest, citing what they say is his history of making harassing, embarrassing, and threatening statements about people hes tangled with in legal disputes.

Story continues

Merchan added Trumps virtual hearing to the court calendar a day after Trump appeared on a CNN forum and offered up a barrage of falsehoods, excuses and insults on a variety of topics, including what he deemed the fake charge of his criminal case.

Trump, found liable in a $5 million civil court verdict Tuesday for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll, argued to CNN that you cant get a fair trial in New York City. He called Carroll a whack job, characterized her claims that he assaulted her in the 1990s as playing hanky-panky in a dressing room and denied the allegations as a fake story, made up story. He also criticized the judge in that case as a horrible Clinton-appointed judge.

Merchans protective order bars Trump and his lawyers from disseminating evidence to third parties or posting it to social media, and it requires that certain, sensitive material shared by prosecutors be kept only by Trumps lawyers, not Trump himself. Trump can review that material with his lawyers, but cant copy or photograph it, the order said.

Merchan, noting Trumps special status as a former president and current candidate, made clear at last weeks hearing that the protective order shouldnt be construed as a gag order or a way of preventing Trump from speaking publicly about the case.

Im bending over backwards and straining to make sure that he is given every opportunity possible to advance his candidacy and to be able to speak in furtherance of his candidacy, Merchan said. The last thing I want to do is infringe on his or anybody elses First Amendment rights.

Trumps criminal charges are related to payments his company made to his former lawyer, Michael Cohen. Prosecutors say those payments were intended to reimburse and compensate Cohen for orchestrating hush money payments during the 2016 campaign to bury allegations of extramarital sexual encounters.

Absent a move to federal court, Merchan expects the case to go to trial next February or March, meaning Trump could be stuck in court during next years primaries.
WASHINGTON  A rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump?

No thanks, a majority of voters have said in poll after poll after poll.

But what if there was an alternative?

Elections are, after all, all about choices.

The bipartisan group No Labels, a nonprofit organization that promotes centrist politics and policies, has launched a campaign to get a third-party candidate on the ballot in all 50 states in next years presidential election. The group already has secured a place on the ballot in Arizona, Colorado, Alaska and Oregon.

The movement, which has yet to settle on a candidate, is funded by $70 million from donors whose names the group refuses to disclose. The possibility of an independent candidate is causing consternation among Democrats and even some Republicans, who fear a third-party ticket would siphon off votes from Biden and send Trump back to the White House for another four years.

There is, in our view, no greater threat to America than the potential reelection of Trump, said Matt Bennett, founder of Third Way, a Washington-based think tank that advocates for center-left policies.

A third-party challenger cant win the presidency  it hasnt happened in the countrys 247-year history, and it wont happen in 2024, Bennett said. But a third-party candidate could act as a spoiler and increase Trumps odds of winning again, he said.

President Donald Trump, left, and former Vice President Joe Biden during the first presidential debate.

'Firsts matter': Why Donald Trump's arrest in New York is such a political earthquake

A voice for centrists or a spoiler for Trump?

No Labels counters that it has been unjustly maligned and that its motivations unreasonably questioned.

The goal, the groups leaders insist, is simply to give another option to moderate voters who are turned off by extremists in politics and dissatisfied with the choices offered to them by the major political parties.

The center needs a voice in this country, said Nancy Jacobson, a longtime Democratic operative who was one of the groups founders and serves as its chief executive officer.

Story continues

No Labels has no interest in serving as a spoiler for Trump, believes such concerns are unfounded and would even withdraw its ticket if it feels its in danger of putting the former president back in office, the group says.

Donald Trump should never again be president of the United States, two of the groups advisers, former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Democrat turned independent, and Benjamin Chavis, former executive director of the NAACP, wrote in a recent op-ed.

At the same time, a growing commonsense majority is exhausted by the politics of grievance and victimhood, they wrote. They seek unity and cooperation. And they believe our country can do so much better than the choices of the election we seem headed for in 2024.

No Labels insists its not even certain it will offer a presidential ticket next year. The objective is to field a unity ticket of one Democrat and one Republican, but a final decision wont made until sometime between the Super Tuesday primaries next March and a convention of the groups supporters in Dallas next April.

Whats more, the group would pursue a third-party ticket only if voters continue to be dissatisfied with the Democratic and Republican nominees, said Ryan Clancy, No Labels chief strategist.

The end game here is not running an independent ticket, Clancy said. The end game is making sure that Americans have the choice of strong, effective and honest leaders that they actually feel good about voting for and that they think are going to govern with common sense.

Whatever its rationale, No Labels pursuit of a third-party option has caused strife even within the organization. William Galston, another of the groups founders, resigned in April after questioning the wisdom of its launching third-party campaign.

My judgment is that an independent third-party candidacy would make Donald Trumps return to the White House more likely, not less likely, Galston said. I decided I had to act on that belief.

Biden vs. Trump: Big challenges, but opposite ones, as 2024 rematch begins  Poll

What is No Labels?

No Labels, based in Washington, was founded in 2010  the year after the arrival of the Tea Party movement  with the goal of promoting bipartisanship and countering the influence that extremists on both the left and the right wield on the nations political system. One of the organizations most notable achievements was its role in the founding of the Problem Solvers Caucus, a group of centrist Democrats and Republicans in the House who work to foster bipartisan cooperation on policies.

Putting up a third-party candidate for president will be a much bigger challenge and, if history is any indication, probably a quixotic exercise. No third-party candidate has ever come close to winning the presidency, but No Labels senses that dissatisfaction with Biden and Trump could provide a viable path to victory in 2024.

What we think is changing, Clancy said, is this vast majority of people who maybe five years ago might not have been that engaged, they're starting to recognize that if they don't start to show up, if they don't get on the playing field, then they leave it to the loudest, angriest voices  and things just keep getting worse.

The groups own polling shows that as many as 59% of Americans would consider a moderate, independent candidate for president next year. The same polling suggests that such a ticket would evenly pull voters from the Democratic and Republican nominees  contradicting the conventional wisdom that Biden would take a bigger hit than Trump.

With that in mind, No Labels has begun laying the groundwork to guarantee ballot access for a third-party ticket in every state.

In 34 states, a group that collects enough signatures can hold a spot on the ballot for a candidate to be named later. In the remainder of states, the candidates themselves must secure a place on the ballot.

No Labels plan is to gain ballot access for a unity ticket by the first quarter of 2024 in every state where thats possible, Clancy said.

How old is too old? President Biden, addressing age concerns, says voters can 'judge whether or not I have it'

How have third-party candidates fared in other elections?

No Labels is refusing to disclose who is putting up the $70 million to secure slots on the state ballots, saying only that its donors hail from across the country and across the political spectrum. The group is keeping the donors names private, it says, to protect them from intimidation, harassment and threats of violence it has faced since announcing its presidential project.

Because its a nonprofit and isnt registered as a political organization, No Labels isnt required under federal law to release its list of donors.

While it is working to guarantee a third-party option, No Labels says it has no interest in actually running a presidential campaign. Once a ticket is selected, that responsibility would fall to the candidate and his or her team, Clancy said.

Critics like Bennett remain convinced that a third-party ticket would be nothing more than a spoiler. It has happened before.

The last time a former president tried to recapture the office was in 1912, when Republican Teddy Roosevelt ran on the Bull Moose Party just four years after leaving the White House.

Roosevelt was one of the most popular presidents in history  his face would be carved into Mount Rushmore just a few years later  but he didnt come close to winning again. Roosevelt captured 88 electoral votes and more than 27% of the popular vote, far short of what he needed to win the presidency. But his candidacy split the GOP vote and helped send the Democratic candidate, Woodrow Wilson, to the White House.

Opinion: Do we really want Biden vs. Trump again? Americans need a third choice for president.

Other third-party candidates  notably Ross Perot in 1992 and Ralph Nader in 2000  commanded considerable attention but failed to win a single electoral vote.

Perot was accused at the time of costing Republican George H.W. Bush a second term, although more recent analyses have suggested that he pulled votes from both Bush and Democrat Bill Clinton, the winner. Nader, running as the Green Party nominee in 2000, won more than 97,000 votes in Florida  a state that Democrat Al Gore lost by 537 votes, costing him the presidency in a close election.The two-party system is so entrenched in U.S. politics that partisan affiliations are an important part of Americans political identities and largely drive voting patterns, Galston said. Voters may tell pollsters theyre open to a third-party ticket, but when they get in the voting booth, they often stick with one of the major party candidates because they dont want to throw their vote away.

But if next years election is as close as polls suggest it could be, even a tiny percentage of voters who choose a third-party candidate over Biden in a few key states could swing the race to Trump, Bennett said.

It really doesnt take much, he said.

Michael Collins covers the White House. Follow him on Twitter @mcollinsNEWS.

Exclusive: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launches unlikely presidential bid backed by 14% of Biden voters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Could a third-party candidate in 2024 be a spoiler for Biden, Trump?
(Bloomberg) -- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told Iowa Republicans Saturday that the time for excuses is over and said his party cant look backward if it wants to defeat President Joe Biden in 2024.

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Speaking at a picnic in rural northwestern Iowa, the as-yet-undeclared candidate for president again avoided mentioning former President Donald Trump by name. But it was clear that DeSantis was drawing a direct contrast with the leadership style of his partys de facto leader, who canceled his own scheduled rally in Des Moines because of bad weather.

At the end of the day, governing is not about entertaining. Governing is not about building a brand or talking on social media and virtue signaling. Its ultimately about winning and about producing results, DeSantis said. Theres no substitute for victory. We must reject the culture of losing that has infected our party in recent years.

DeSantiss more veiled responses to Trump highlight a challenge to his campaign: He wants to appeal to Trump voters who might consider a younger and less contentious candidate without alienating Trumps loyal supporters. Hes been holding private dinners in recent weeks to persuade donors hes a drama-free alternative to Trump.

The challenge for DeSantis so far is that hes been unwilling to respond to Trumps increasingly personal attacks  and risks becoming defined or bulldozed by the former president before the race begins in earnest.

The problem with Ron DeSanctimonious is that he needs a personality transplant, and those are not yet available, Trump said, mocking DeSantiss political skills in a video on his Truth Social platform Friday.

Trump was scheduled Saturday to hold one of his signature rallies at an outdoor venue in Des Moines that can accommodate as many as 25,000 people. He canceled four hours before the event because of tornado warnings in Iowa, saying he would reschedule soon. But he released a list of 150 elected and grassroots leaders from all 99 of Iowas counties who he said endorsed him.

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DeSantis is staking out hard-line socially conservative positions to the right of Trump in what he called a war on woke, filling his remarks in Iowa with a litany of attacks on what he said was leftist ideology that pervades schools, corporations, the media, medicine and even the military.

If that means we had to stand up to a company like Disney, here I stand. Im not backing down from that, he said, referring to his battle to strip the companys Orlando theme parks of self-governing status and tax benefits.

While DeSantis didnt give any hints about the timing of his run, his appearance at partisan events in Iowa Saturday sends another unmistakable signal that he intends to enter the race. A previous visit to the Hawkeye state in March was billed as a book tour, and he skipped an appearance last month at an Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition event that provided the largest gathering yet of 2024 White House hopefuls.

His speech in Sioux Center Saturday, at family picnic hosted by US Representative Randy Feenstra, demonstrated that hes committed to doing the kind of glad-handing retail politics that hes avoided in the past. The annual picnic has previously hosted former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence, two other Trump rivals.

DeSantis was scheduled to headline a state party fundraiser in Cedar Rapids Saturday night.

Trumps aborted visit followed an attention-grabbing primetime interview on CNN on Wednesday, in which he refused to concede his loss in the 2020 election and lashed out at writer E. Jean Carroll, who won a $5 million sexual abuse and defamation verdict against him earlier in the week. DeSantis has been holding a series of low-profile dinners with potential supporters.

Iowa will be a critical test of whether any of Trumps challengers can overcome the former presidents popularity with Republican voters.

A new poll of 500 likely Republican Iowa caucus voters released Friday showed Trump with an 18-point lead over DeSantis, 44% to 26%. No other candidate received more than 10% in the National Research Inc. poll, which has a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.

DeSantis picked up 37 endorsements from state legislative leaders in Iowa on Friday, including Senate President Amy Sinclair and House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl.

Trump already has endorsements from other high-profile Iowans, including former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker, former US Representative Rod Blum, and at least 11 other state legislators. But Iowas Republican governor, two senators and most of the House delegation have pledged to remain neutral.

--With assistance from Mark Niquette.

(Updates with Trump list of endorsements in seventh paragraph.)

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, expected to soon launch a 2024 exploratory committee, was in Iowa Saturday pitching a "positive alternative" to Republican voters while former President Donald Trump's planned event was canceled due to weather.

DeSantis and Trump, the two top names in the GOP presidential primary field, were both set to be in Iowa this weekend, which would've marked the first time the two were in the critical state simultaneously this election cycle.

But Trump announced Saturday afternoon his rally in Des Moines was canceled due over tornado threats, stating in a post to Truth Social he would "reschedule soon."

PHOTO: Supporters of former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump pose for pictures after his campaign rally was postponed due to severe weather, in Des Moines, Iowa, on May 13, 2023. (Brian E Snyder/Reuters)

DeSantis, meanwhile, kicked off his first campaign event of the weekend earlier Saturday morning in Sioux Center as a special guest at Rep. Randy Feenstra's third annual Feenstra Family Picnic. While he didn't mention Trump by name, DeSantis made clear it's time for Republicans to move on from the former president.

"If we make the 2024 election a referendum on Joe Biden and his failures, and if we provide a positive alternative for the future of this country, Republicans will win across the board," DeSantis said as he spoke to a crowd of roughly 400 to 500 people. "If we do not do that, if we get distracted, if we focus the election on the past or on other side issues, then I think the Democrats are going to beat us again."

PHOTO: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a fundraising picnic for U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, Saturday, May 13, 2023, in Sioux Center, Iowa. (Charlie Neibergall/AP)

In another indirect dig at Trump, DeSantis told the crowd, "At the end of the day, governing is not about entertaining."

"Governing is not about building a brand or talking on social media and virtue signaling. It's ultimately about winning and about producing results. And that's what you've done in Iowa and that's what we've done in Florida," DeSantis said.

Later Saturday evening, the governor will make his way over to Cedar Rapids where he will host a reception with Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann, which is being billed as an interview-style discussion with the governor.

Story continues

PHOTO: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis greets audience members during a fundraising picnic for U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, Saturday, May 13, 2023, in Sioux Center, Iowa. (Charlie Neibergall/AP)

"There's a civil war in the Republican Party coming, and it's coming quicker than everybody thinks, and Iowa is ground zero for that," said Dan Eberhart, a Republican donor who previously fundraised for Trump but is now supporting DeSantis.

"I don't think either campaign is going to say this, but Iowa is a must-win," Eberhart added.

DeSantis may sense a rare opportunity to gain ground on the former president, given that Trump's loss in the state's 2016 caucuses briefly set Trump back on his heels in the race for the nomination. Ahead of the governor's visit to the state, DeSantis received numerous endorsements from Iowan Republicans -- 37 to be exact, including from the state's Senate President Amy Sinclair.

"The support in Iowa for Governor Ron DeSantis to jump in the race and be our next President is overflowing  as shown by this historic list, which is the largest number of endorsements from Iowa legislators at this stage of a GOP primary in modern memory. Iowa's leaders are getting behind DeSantis as the future of the Republican Party," said Erin Perrine, the communication director for the pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down.

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart criticized both DeSantis and Trump, claiming that both were prioritizing extreme positions.

"Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis are tripping over themselves to prove who will support the most extreme abortion ban, the biggest cuts to Medicare and Social Security, give handouts to special interests, and continue their obsession with taking away the rights of LGBTQ Americans," Hart said in a statement.

DeSantis is not the first potential 2024 contender to be invited to the Iowa congressman's Family Picnic. In the spring of 2021, former Vice President Mike Pence, fresh off the White House, became the first special guest at the first Feenstra annual picnic, and last year, Trump's former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley -- herself now a 2024 hopeful -- joined the Feenstra picnic as she was mulling a presidential run.

"Iowans are laser-focused on defeating Joe Biden and passing a conservative agenda for our country, and that starts with the Iowa caucuses," Feenstra said in a statement to ABC News. "That's why I'm excited that Governor Ron DeSantis is headlining my 3rd annual Feenstra Family Picnic to share his record of results with my constituents."

MORE: How looming 'proxy war' in 2024 Republican primaries could define key races nationwide

At this year's picnic, top Iowa GOP leaders will join Feenstra and DeSantis, including Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Lieutenant Gov. Adam Gregg, Sen. Joni Ernst and Rep. Mariannetta Miller-Meeks.

"One thing that everyone who makes their way through Iowa comes to learn quickly is just how seriously Iowans take our First-in-the-Nation Caucus," Kaufmann said in a statement to ABC News. "We're always eager to hear what candidates and national figures have to say, and Gov. Ron DeSantis is certainly no exception -- we've heard a tremendous deal of excitement from Iowa Republicans for our sold-out event with Gov. DeSantis."

Kaufmann added that his conversation with DeSantis will be a great opportunity for Iowans to learn more about him as a person and not just as a governor.

Even without DeSantis' candidacy, Never Back Down has raised $30 million from donors seeking an alternative Republican to Trump since March, and last month, the super PAC launched seven-figure ad campaigns in four early voting states pitching DeSantis is the new leader of the GOP, as previously reported by ABC News.

But Trump's allies are coming at an even more aggressive pace  pro-Trump super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. with a massive $50 million war chest already spending more than $10 million in ad campaigns attacking DeSantis.

"Trump sees DeSantis as the biggest threat right now," Bob Vander Plaats, president of conservative Iowa-based group the Family Leader and a prominent figure in Iowa politics, told ABC News.

"I think there are two races going on: One is Trump versus DeSantis, and then you have everybody else versus DeSantis," said Vander Plaats, who has publicly said he's looking for an alternative to Trump.

PHOTO: Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2023, March 4, 2023, at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md. (Alex Brandon/AP, FILE)

Trump could prove difficult to defeat if the field remains extremely crowded, with candidates dividing the anti-Trump vote, the Iowa politico said.

"Let's say the race were to remain the way it is right now, [where] there are six or seven candidates in the races. Most likely, Trump will win the Iowa caucuses, and he'd win the Republican primary just by the math of division," Vander Plaats continued. "If there's a coalescing around one candidate who emerges as a clear alternative to Trump and that coalesce becomes one-on-one against the former president, now I think there's a chance they'll have a different nominee other than Donald Trump."

Asked whether DeSantis is ready to take on Trump, Vander Plaats said, "Definitely."

"He's the governor of the state of Florida," Vander Plaats said. "He won a massive reelection. He's accomplished a ton. He's very gifted as a leader. He's articulate. He's focused. He's a Navy SEAL. I think he's very prepared to go toe-to-toe with the former president."

But Vander Plaats, noting he has yet to endorse anyone, said he's still "keeping a very open hand" for a number of candidates. He said he met with DeSantis and his wife Casey DeSantis recently in Florida, Nikki Haley is visiting his office next week, and Mike Pence will do the same the following week.

Asked what Iowans will be looking for from the two frontrunners this weekend, Vander Plaats said: "At the end of the day, they want to know the true personal character: whether you have the ability and competency to be president and that you're the right person to win. That's really what they're looking for."

The parallel events in Iowa signal the 2024 Republican presidential primary field is ramping up for a heated battle in the Hawkeye State as DeSantis boosts his political operation ahead of a much anticipated campaign announcement and Trump attempts to raise his public profile, most recently by participating in a town hall in New Hampshire with CNN during which he continued to push false information about the 2020 presidential election.

Road to '24 (ABC News Photo Illustration / Alex Gilbeaux)

Trump and DeSantis' pseudo match in Iowa also comes on the heels of a widening polling gap, with the former president pulling well ahead of DeSantis in national polls for the 2024 Republican nomination. The Florida governor was once neck-and-neck with Trump in polls, boosted by his strong reelection victory and prolific fundraising during the 2022 midterms. But some Republican leaders and supporters have expressed doubts on whether he's ready to take on Trump, holding off on donations or actively seeking alternative contenders.

Trump's camp says the strong lead is attributable to his record.

"President Trump is dominating in the polls -- both in the primary and general elections -- and passed significant policies to improve the lives of all Iowans. He granted consumers year-round access to E15 gasoline with higher blends of ethanol, which led to improved corn prices and lower costs for drivers. He negotiated America First trade deals like the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement and with the European Union, China, and Japan to increase access to purchase agricultural products from Iowans. To protect generations of Iowa farmers and business owners, President Trump virtually eliminated the estate tax and enacted tax cuts for the middle class," a Trump spokesperson told ABC News.

Although Trump is the clear frontrunner in the 2024 presidential election and has widened his leads in the polls, DeSantis remains the biggest in-party threat to Trump's attempt to return to the White House, with the former president ramping up his attacks on the Florida governor ahead of his expected presidential announcement in the summer.

ABC News' Olivia Rubin contributed to this report.

DeSantis holds events with Iowa conservatives, Trump cancels rally due to weather originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

One day he was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation. The next he was on prime-time television pushing election lies, defending his own coup attempt and refusing to back Ukraine.

To his millions of critics, it was another week that proved Donald Trump is unfit for office and dangerous to democracy. But to the top leaders of Trumps Republican party, it was another week to keep heads down and say nothing.

Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the House of Representatives; Mitch McConnell, the minority leader in the Senate; leading state governors and even most of Trumps potential rivals for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 have made a habit of siding with him or remaining silent as each scandal comes and goes.

Related: CNN head defends Trumps lie-strewn town hall: America was served very well

Critics say their complicity underlines how comprehensively Trump took over the Republican party and shaped it in his own image. Even though McConnell and others privately loathe Trump and wish him gone, they dare not alienate his fervent support base. Rick Wilson, a former Republican consultant and co-founder of the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump group, sums it up in one word: fear.

They are afraid of the mob, theyre afraid of the horde, theyre afraid of the anger and the craziness and the rage and the threats that come any time a Republican elected official really stands up and opposes Donald Trump, Wilson said.

He added: None of the major elected officials  McConnell, McCarthy, the big state governors  are going to come out and say what they believe and know: that he is a monstrous figure and he is a dangerous figure.

Trump ran against the Republican establishment in 2016, exciting a grassroots army of supporters and eventually bending the party to his will. His victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton in the presidential election and pursuit of an agenda that fit many Republican priorities, from sweeping tax cuts to rightwing supreme court justices, persuaded many in leadership to overlook his chaotic style.

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But relations with McConnell soured over time, culminating in the 6 January 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol, for which he said Trump was practically and morally responsible. The former president has branded McConnell an old crow and repeatedly hurled racist insults at his Taiwanese-born wife, former transportation secretary Elaine Chao.

Even so, despite their mutual animosity, the minority leader made clear this week that he will support Trump if he is the Republican nominee in 2024. Asked about the former presidents improving poll numbers, McConnell told CNN: Im going to support the nominee of our party for president, no matter who that may be.

Meanwhile Steve Daines, chair of the Senate Republicans campaign arm, has endorsed Trump for president in what many see as an attempt to curry favour with him and curb his meddling in next years Senate elections. Trumps backing of extremists in last years midterms cost McConnell control of the Senate  an outcome that he is eager to avoid repeating.

Wilson, author of Everything Trump Touches Dies, commented: He can say, See, Mr Trump, Im loyal to you. I love you. Im a good person. You should listen to me. Please, please, please dont tell Tudor Dixon she should run again or dont tell Kari Lake she should run again. These are very transactional and tactical approaches but nonetheless they are approaches that these people are willing to do to survive in a war with Trump.

Kevin McCarthy stands behind Donald Trump. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock

He added: There is no Republican party. Its just Trump. It is only about his desires and his political power, his political goals. If you told the average Republican elected official, you have to cut off your arm to get an endorsement from Trump, theyre going to ask you for a saw and some Band-Aids.

McCarthy, for his part, also seemed shaken by the events of January 6, but later that month he visited Trumps Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, signalling that all was forgiven. When McCarthy was elected speaker earlier this year after a gruelling series of votes, he paid tribute to Trump for working the phones to help him secure victory.

Since then he has swatted aside every legal controversy, including last month when, as Trump became the first former president to face criminal charges, McCarthy tweeted that the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, had weaponized our sacred system of justice against President Donald Trump.

This week, in a civil case, a New York jury determined that Trump sexually abused and defamed the writer E Jean Carroll, awarding her $5m in damages (Trump is appealing the verdict). That alone would be enough to sink most political careers but McCarthy repeatedly dodged the issue when asked to comment by reporters on Capitol Hill.

Other Republicans went further in expressing their fealty to Trump. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida told reporters: That jurys a joke. The whole case is a joke. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina added: When it comes to Donald Trump, the New York legal system is off the rails. Former vice-president Mike Pence told NBC News: I would tell you, in my four and a half years serving alongside the president, I never heard or witnessed behaviour of that nature.

The following day, Trump gave an unhinged, falsehood-filled performance in a town hall event broadcast live on the CNN network. He vowed to pardon a large portion of the January 6 rioters, suggested that Republicans should let the government default on its debts and refused to call Vladimir Putin a war criminal over the killing of Ukrainian civilians.

Related: Liable for sexual abuse, yes  but Trumps political career is far from over | Lloyd Green

Strikingly, many in the audience in Manchester, New Hampshire, burst into applause and egged Trump on. When he made fun of Carroll they laughed. It was a glimpse of the Make America great again base that keeps party leaders awake at night.

Donna Brazile, a former chairperson of the Democratic National Committee, said: The voters stand by Donald Trump and as long as he has a grip on the Republican party and its voters, the leaders cannot step out ahead of where the voters are.

People should not condemn these voters, these voters who need to be educated, listened to and respected. After all, over 70 million Americans supported Donald Trump in the last election. Thats nothing to sneeze at. Thats voters who know what he stands for, know what he represents and still theyre with him.

She added: As long as theyre sticking with Trump, I do believe that the leaders of the Republican party will also stand by Trump. Regardless of what they say behind his back, theyll stick with Trump.

Even in the Trump era, the Republican party is not a monolith. The sexual abuse verdict prompted criticism from senators including John Cornyn, Mitt Romney, Mike Rounds and John Thune. In an interview with Punchbowl News, Bill Cassidy asked: What if it was your sister? How could it not create concern?

After the chaotic CNN town hall, Chris Christie, a former governor of New Jersey, described Trump as Putins puppet and there was condemnation from Chris Sununu, the governor of New Hampshire, and Asa Hutchinson, a former governor of Arkansas running for president. But these are exceptions that prove the rule. Other confirmed or likely primary candidates steered clear in what is now a familiar pattern.

After all, the Trump era is littered with the political corpses of Republicans who tried to oppose him only to suffer online abuse, public heckling, death threats or retribution at the ballot box. Senators Bob Corker, Jeff Flake and Ben Sasse and Representatives Justin Amash, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger are among those who quit or were purged. They left behind a party that increasingly resembles Trump.

Kurt Bardella, a Democratic strategist, said: They have refused to divorce themselves from someone that they know is both a political loser for them and who represents things that are completely destructive to our democracy. After everything that we have seen, after everything that the Republican party itself has endured in terms of its underperforming in multiple election cycles, the only reason why they havent divorced themselves from Donald Trump is because they dont want to.
Former President Donald Trump is hoping to squash any momentum from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) or other would-be Republican challengers before the partys 2024 primary even begins in earnest.

Trump has moved aggressively in recent days to stamp out any suggestion that another candidate can topple him or could be a viable alternative, and the former presidents allies viewed Wednesday nights town hall on CNN as a major success in that regard.

Trumps numbers among Republicans are going up after tonight, Frank Luntz, a longtime GOP pollster, predicted as the town hall came to an end.

I think last night  its over, conservative commentator Dan Bongino said Thursday in a clip circulated by a Trump-aligned super PAC.

Trumps allies viewed Wednesday night, when he made his first CNN appearance since 2016, as a win for the former president.

The decision to go on the network was itself a jab at DeSantis and his tendency to only speak to Fox News or local conservative outlets in Florida.

The former president was buoyed throughout the night by a supportive crowd of Republican New Hampshire voters.

Those in attendance cheered when he suggested he would pardon a large portion of those convicted of federal offenses for the Jan. 6, 2021, riots, and they laughed along as Trump mocked writer E. Jean Carroll whose rape allegations resulted this week in a nine-member jury to find Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation. One questioner even took a swipe at DeSantis in asking about government mandates for businesses.

Trumps campaign viewed the audience response as a reflection of Trumps connection with Republican primary voters, something any challenger will have to overcome to win the partys nomination next year.

The town hall also allowed Trump to dominate the news cycle, a familiar tactic of his that will make it difficult for any opponent to garner much traction for an extended period.

General election weakness?

But if Wednesdays town hall was a showcase for Trump and his hold on many Republican primary voters, some critics believe it also highlighted his weaknesses that could cost the party in a general election.

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Trump repeatedly pushed the false claim that the 2020 election was rigged. He falsely claimed he had the right to take classified documents from the White House and could have shown them to others at his Mar-a-Lago estate. He declined to say if he wanted Ukraine to win its war against Russia, and he defended his Access Hollywood comments about groping women.

Sarah Matthews, a former Trump press official who resigned on Jan. 6, 2021, argued the town hall mightve riled up his base, but was unlikely to help Trump with the kind of moderate voters he would need to win back the White House.

This just served as a reminder to them of how exhausting and chaotic another four years of Trump would be, Matthews said.

Never Back Down, a super PAC supporting a potential DeSantis 2024 bid, offered up a laundry list of topics Trump brought up that they argued underscored his weakness as a candidate, such as his conduct on Jan. 6, his insistence that the 2020 election was rigged, his various legal problems and his previous derogatory remarks about women.

Ron DeSantis has impressive accomplishments on so many issues  improving education, strengthening the economy, fighting illegal immigration, securing elections, promoting Second Amendment rights, supporting families, stopping woke madness  and thats what he talks about every chance he gets, the group said in a statement after the town hall.

Blunting DeSantis momentum

Even prior to the town hall, Trumps team has been working to blunt any potential momentum around a DeSantis candidacy.

The former president has relentlessly attacked the Florida governor, who has been reluctant to hit back before announcing his candidacy. And Trumps team rolled out a slew of Republican congressional endorsements, many coming from the Florida delegation, in a move intended to show Trumps enduring support in the party.

Many Republican strategists believe DeSantis will see a bump in the polls when he formally announces his candidacy in the coming weeks, and they cautioned that debates and ongoing investigations into Trump could shake up the race.

But there is concern among some DeSantis supporters that Trumps lead in the polls has only grown in the past six weeks that the Florida governor has garnered increased national attention.

A Washington Post/ABC News poll released this week found 53 percent of registered Republican voters would back Trump in a primary, compared to 25 percent who said they would support DeSantis.

A CBS News poll released late last month found 58 percent of likely GOP primary voters said they would vote for Trump, while 22 percent said theyd vote for DeSantis.

Donald Trump is a historical figure who is loved by a segment of the U.S. population, and they cant wrap their heads around it, one official who worked on Trumps 2016 campaign but now supports DeSantis in a primary told The Hill. Thats the reality of the situation, and you have to figure out how youre going to beat him.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
2022 Concordia Lexington Summit - Day 1 - Credit: Getty Images for Concordia

The governor of New Hampshire, Chris Sununu (R), called out voters from his state that jeered and clapped when Donald Trump mocked author E. Jean Carroll at CNNs town hall earlier this week.

Trump was found liable for sexual battery against Carroll, who accused Trump of having raped her in the dressing room of a New York Department store in the Nineties. During Wednesdays town hall, the former president reiterated his unfounded claims of election fraud and insisted the authors allegations made against him were fabricated, calling her a whack job with a fake story.

More from Rolling Stone

I was very famous then and I owned the Plaza Hotel right next door and I owned the buildings around it  Im not going into a dressing room of a crowded department store, Trump told host Kaitlan Collins.

The audience, which CNN stacked with Trump supporters, laughed in response.

After the event aired, Sununu, who is considering running against Trump for the Republican nomination, spoke with MSNBCs Jen Psaki for an interview set to broadcast on Sunday. Psaki, President Joe Bidens former press secretary, shared a preview of the interview Friday.

.@GovChrisSununu on the town hall audience reaction to Trump's comments on E. Jean Carroll:



"It was embarrassing. I knew pretty much everybody in that audience. They're all Trump supporters So I wasn't surprised to hear the support."



Tune in on Sunday for the full interview pic.twitter.com/JAN5wwLo7m  Inside with Jen Psaki (@InsideWithPsaki) May 12, 2023

In the clip, Psaki asks Sununu what his reaction was when he saw the crowd of undeclared New Hampshire voters laughing at someone a jury says [Trump] sexually abused, defamed.

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It was embarrassing, Sununu said without hesitation. But when youre talking about a serious issue like that, and laughter and mocking and all that, its completely inappropriate, without a doubt, and it doesnt shine a positive light on New Hampshire.

I believe every single one of them have voted for Trump at some point, he said. So I dont know how [CNN] determined that and set that up, but obviously it was a room full of Trump supporters. So no one should have been surprised to hear the support, the governor continued before adding, but again, on that issue, I would call it embarrassing.

According to a report from the New York Times, Carroll is mulling filing a third lawsuit against the former president after his CNN town hall comments.

Ive been insulted by better people, Carroll told the Times Its just stupid, its just disgusting, vile, foul, it wounds people.

Best of Rolling Stone

Click here to read the full article.
Tucker Carlson. AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File

Tucker Carlson, the conservative firebrand who was fired by Fox News last month, is hoping to make a comeback, courtesy of Twitter. Carlson announced Tuesday he plans to bring a version of his old show to the social media platform. "Starting soon, we'll be bringing a new version of the show we've been doing for the last six and a half years to Twitter," Carlson said in a video shared Tuesday on the platform. "Free speech is the main right you have. Without it, you have no others."

The conservative news network dumped Carlson, then its top prime-time host in the ratings, days after agreeing to pay $787.5 million to settle Dominion Voting Systems' defamation lawsuit accusing Fox News of knowingly airing false claims that the company's machines switched some of then-President Donald Trump's votes to President Biden. Carlson stands to lose $25 million in compensation under a non-compete clause in his contract, but he has accused the company of fraud and breach of contract in an apparent bid to void the contract.

Elon Musk, who bought Twitter last year, said the social media platform hadn't signed a deal with Carlson, and he welcomed other content creators from the right and the left to come to Twitter. Carlson didn't offer details on his plan to launch a show on Twitter, where he has 7.4 million followers. Has Carlson found a way to get back in front of his audience, or is this a recipe for failure?

Carlson is toast... or is he?

There's "something sort of sad" about Carlson's career nosedive, said Justin Peters in Slate. "Three weeks ago, Carlson was riding high as the biggest name on America's most popular cable news network." Then, apparently, he was fired "for being a jerk." Now he's desperately trying to resuscitate his flatlined show by taking it to "a money-losing website that does not actually have shows and is owned by a terminally thirsty dweeb who is desperate to win the approval of opinion leaders such as @catturd2." Carlson's pathetic attempt "to spin this move as an exciting and volitional one" is "like claiming that you're glad to be exiled to Siberia because you've always wanted to learn how to ski."

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"Tucker Carlson's acrimonious uncoupling from Fox News might just be the best thing to ever happen to him," said Teri Christoph in RedState. His departure leaves Fox News executives "gnashing their teeth" over how to fill the "gaping hole" he leaves in the heart of prime-time, and "replace him and the ad revenue." But he's "setting off on a new adventure that will make Elon Musk's Twitter the gold standard platform for honest journalists, thought leaders and intrepid content creators." Fox News desperately wants to pay him $20 million to serve out his contract in silence, but Carlson will "make much, much more by taking his show to Twitter, which opens up multiple revenue streams for him." As a bonus, he'll be breaking the establishment media "into a million pieces."

What's good for Carlson isn't necessarily good for Twitter

Carlson's show might "be a jab at his old bosses" at Fox News, said Andrew Ross Sorkin in The New York Times, but "Musk didn't exactly rush to embrace his new star." Linking up with a controversial commentator like Carlson "offers risks as well as rewards for Twitter." He's undeniably popular, as the more than 78 million views (and counting) of his announcement demonstrate. He "could bring more users" to Twitter, and "a successful subscription-only broadcast could also help generate more money for Twitter," boosting its efforts to find sources of revenue beyond ads. But Twitter is still reeling from a "sharp drop" in ad income after national brands fled over "Musk's drastic changes" to Twitter's content policies, and embracing Carlson, "whose Fox News show was shunned by mainstream advertisers, could further hit Twitter's business."

At first glance, "securing a character as popular as Carlson," whose Fox show had three million nightly viewers, appears to be "a big win" for Musk, said Hasan Chowdhury in Business Insider. "Free, Fox-style engagement certainly looks like a big victory for Musk. But if Carlson sticks with Twitter, he could be a big headache." Twitter has bled advertisers since his "debt-fueled $44 billion takeover" last year. And a December analysis estimated suggested Twitter could lose more than 32 million users by 2024 in an exodus of users angered by changes Musk is imposing on the platform. If Carlson's claim that Twitter is "the last remaining bastion of free speech" means he's planning to unleash diatribes on race and politics that even Fox wouldn't tolerate, "it could lead to an exodus" of users Twitter can't afford to lose.

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(Bloomberg) -- Keir Starmer said his his mission to reform the UK Labour Party is an on steroids version of Tony Blairs rebrand of the opposition in the 1990s.

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The Labour leaders current project goes further and deeper than when Blair in 1995 rewrote clause four of the party rule book to end its historic commitment to public ownership of key industries, Starmer said on Saturday. That move became emblematic of Blairs changes that took the party to power again after 18 years in opposition.

This is about rolling our sleeves up, changing our entire culture  our DNA, the opposition leader told the Progressive Britain Conference in central London. This is clause four  on steroids.

Buoyed by success in last weeks local elections, Starmer is seeking to lead his party to victory in a national vote thats expected next year, by which time Labour will have been in opposition for 14 years. But Blair himself warned in a Bloomberg TV interview that Starmer shouldnt be complacent about Labours chances even after winning hundreds of council seats as Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks Conservatives shed more than 1,000.

Based on the local elections, Sky News projected the opposition would win the most seats but fall short of an outright majority. Labour has also been buffeted this week by two claims of sexual misconduct against senior party officials, piling pressure on Starmer to root out bad behavior.

Corbyn

Starmer has been at pains to distance himself from his left-wing predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, in a bid to win support from Conservative voters. Hes already expelled Corbyn from the Parliamentary party and said he cant stand for Labour at the next election. And by comparing his challenge to Blairs in the 1990s, hes likely to further alienate the left wing of the opposition party.

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In his speech, Starmer underlined that his vision for Labour is bigger than simply distancing the party from the Corbyn era. This is about taking our party back to where we belong and where we should always have been, back doing what we were created to do, he said.

If you think our job in 1997 was to rebuild a crumbling public realm, that in 1964 it was to modernize an economy overly dependent on the kindness of strangers, in 1945 to build a new Britain, in a volatile world, out of the trauma of collective sacrifice, in 2024 it will have to be all three, he said.

Under the New Labour, New Britain banner, Blair led the Labour Party to three successive spells in government through to 2010. His legacy was, however, sullied by the war in Iraq and years of austerity wrought by the financial crisis.

In his speech, Starmer praised the success of New Labour, New Britain and said the Labour Party is now set to govern. A party once again on the side of working people changing Britain to govern for working people, he said.

Starmer warned that the Labour Party must not let progressive politics become unmoored from working peoples need for stability, for order, for security.

If that sounds conservative, then let me tell you, I dont care, Starmer said. Somebody has got to stand up for the things that make this country great and it isnt going to be the Tories.

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Chinese Vice President Han Zheng meets with King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands in The Hague, the Netherlands, May 11, 2023. At the invitation of the Dutch government, Han visited the Netherlands from Wednesday to Friday. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

THE HAGUE, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese Vice President Han Zheng and leaders of the Netherlands have agreed to jointly tackle climate change and strengthen green and low carbon cooperation.

At the invitation of the Dutch government, Han visited the Netherlands from Wednesday to Friday, where he met with King Willem-Alexander and held talks with Prime Minister Mark Rutte in The Hague.

When meeting with King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, Han first conveyed the cordial greetings and best wishes from Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Professor Peng Liyuan to the King and Queen.

Han said that under the strategic guidance of President Xi and the King, China-Netherlands relations have maintained healthy and stable development.

The bilateral trade volume has grown against the trend and the cooperation in agriculture, water conservancy, transportation, logistics and sustainable development has made steady progress, said the vice president.

It is hoped that through this visit, the important consensus reached by President Xi and King Willem-Alexander will be further implemented and the open and pragmatic partnership for comprehensive cooperation between China and the Netherlands will achieve greater development, Han said.

He pointed out that the current economic globalization has encountered some difficulties, but the general trend is irreversible.

There is great room for China and the Netherlands to cooperate in the fields of green and low carbon development, as well as climate change, Han said, calling on the two sides to work together to meet challenges.

He also called for mutual respect, mutual understanding and mutual support between countries of different civilizations, so that they can seek consensus in exchanges and promote win-win results in cooperation.

King Willem-Alexander asked Han to convey his and the Queen's cordial greetings and best wishes to President Xi and Professor Peng.

The most important issue facing mankind in the 21st century is the environmental issue, the King said, praising that China's achievements in solving the water resources and sanitation problems faced by its huge population are obvious to all.

Noting that the Netherlands and China have played an important role in sustainable development and environmental protection, the King urged joint efforts to further strengthen cooperation and promote global carbon neutrality and emission reduction.

The King stressed that the international community should pay more attention to consensus, respect each other's civilizations and identify with each other's identities. It is precisely because of the diversity of these civilizations and identities that every nation and country becomes unique, said the King.

During his talks with Rutte, Han said that in recent years, by upholding the spirit of mutual respect and mutual trust, China and the Netherlands have joined hands to meet challenges, jointly ensure the stability of the global production and supply chains, contributing to the economies of the two countries and the world.

Currently, China's economic stabilization and recovery momentum is better than expected, which will definitely help the global economic recovery and provide a broader space for pragmatic cooperation between China and the Netherlands, Han said.

China is willing to communicate extensively with the Netherlands, consolidate mutual trust, jointly explore the direction of cooperation under the new situation, so as to promote the healthy development of China-Netherlands relations, and jointly promote world peace, security and prosperity, Han said.

He pointed out that the key to tackling climate change lies in action, which requires the joint attention and efforts of the international community.

There is no conflict of fundamental interests between China and Europe, but instead, they have more complementary advantages, Han said, voicing China's willingness to promote the better development of China-Europe relations through pragmatic cooperation.

Rutte welcomed Han's visit, saying that China is an important trading partner of the Netherlands.

The relationship between the two sides is strong and powerful, and there is great room for pragmatic cooperation in the fields of economy and trade, green and low carbon, as well as climate change, he said.

There are many problems in today's world, and China's role is indispensable, Rutte said, expressing hope for the rapid recovery of Dutch-Chinese exchanges.

He also expressed the willingness to deepen pragmatic cooperation between the two sides, strengthen scientific and technological cooperation in the field of climate change, and help achieve the global goal of coping with climate change.

After the talks, Han and Rutte visited the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague.

During his visit to the Netherlands, Han also met with the heads of Dutch chip equipment company ASML and Dutch paints and coatings giant Akzo Nobel respectively, and visited the headquarters of Philips Company in Amsterdam. 

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng holds talks with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in The Hague, the Netherlands, May 11, 2023. At the invitation of the Dutch government, Han visited the Netherlands from Wednesday to Friday. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng holds talks with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in The Hague, the Netherlands, May 11, 2023. At the invitation of the Dutch government, Han visited the Netherlands from Wednesday to Friday. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng visits the headquarters of Philips Company in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, May 12, 2023. At the invitation of the Dutch government, Han visited the Netherlands from Wednesday to Friday. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng meets with the head of Dutch chip equipment company ASML in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, May 11, 2023. At the invitation of the Dutch government, Han visited the Netherlands from Wednesday to Friday. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng meets with the head of Dutch paints and coatings giant Akzo Nobel in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, May 11, 2023. At the invitation of the Dutch government, Han visited the Netherlands from Wednesday to Friday. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)
Flowers adorn graves in the main cemetery in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, May 9, 2023. (Finbarr OReilly/The New York Times)

OUTSIDE CHASIV YAR, Ukraine  The Ukrainian army is advancing in attacks near the eastern city of Bakhmut, Ukrainian commanders said Friday, in fighting that has shifted the front line only slightly but is exposing fissures, confusion and alarm among Russias forces in the war.

Russias pro-war bloggers were quick to claim that Ukraines long-anticipated counteroffensive had begun, but Ukrainian officials downplayed the advances and described them in more local terms. Ukrainian soldiers broke through Russian lines south of Bakhmut on Wednesday, they said, and then exploited that breach, assaulting Russian forces near the city and threatening Russian flanks to the north and south.

A video that appears to have been posted first by the Ukrainian news outlet Channel 24, which said it was provided by Ukraines 77th Airmobile Brigade, showed parts of northern Bakhmut on fire Friday evening.

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Bakhmut has been at the epicenter of the war in eastern Ukraine for months: a mostly ruined city where tens of thousands of soldiers are believed to have died, and the only place over hundreds of miles on the front where Russia was consistently on the attack. That changed this week, as Ukraine put Russian forces on the defensive, presenting them with a difficult strategic decision about reinforcing the city and setting off a new round of recriminations between Russian commanders.

Videos released Friday by Ukraines 3rd Separate Assault Brigade showed soldiers piling out of armored personnel carriers and assaulting a Russian trench. Forward, forward! a soldier yelled in the video, filmed on a helmet camera. The soldiers dived for cover as Russian fighters threw a hand grenade, then ran forward and threw their own grenade into a Russian bunker. The video could not be independently verified.

The defensive phase of the battle for Bakhmut is ending, said Andriy Biletsky, who has ultimate command of the brigade, among other units in the Ukrainian army. Now, he said, Ukraine would ramp up the pressure on the Russians from the north and south.

Story continues

We advanced a little more on our flank, said a drone operator in the Adam Tactical Group, who asked to be identified only by his nickname, Sem. In an interview Friday, he described an overnight seesaw battle to the south of Bakhmut, in which Russian soldiers tried to recapture a position but were repelled by a Ukrainian artillery bombardment.

Another Ukrainian soldier, who gave his call sign as Bandit, said the artillery and rocket fire echoing around the hills near Bakhmut was all our fire going to the Russian side.

We are still learning the enemy and want to see what he is doing in this situation, he said, adding that Ukrainian soldiers were testing Russian positions and clearing one forest belt after another.

A retreat from Bakhmut, a city that lacks strategic importance but has become a symbolic prize, would represent an embarrassing setback for the Russian military. Russia has not captured a Ukrainian city since July and had pressed ahead into Bakhmut despite soaring losses.

It was difficult to gauge whether Ukraines advances would be sustained. Russian forces had at one point flushed Ukrainian troops out of all but a few city blocks.

Ukrainian advances this week have cut through Russian lines in the largest bulge by only about 3 miles, but the success erased what Moscows forces had painstakingly achieved over several months.

That presents Russia with a difficult choice. If Russia does not reinforce the flanking positions around Bakhmut, it risks a politically humiliating setback. But if it diverts reserve forces toward the city, it could weaken defenses in the south, where many analysts expect Ukraine to strike toward the Sea of Azov in an attempt to cut off a supply route to occupied Crimea.

Ukrainian officials have not portrayed the attacks as the start of a widely anticipated counteroffensive. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in an interview with the BBC this week, said Ukraine wanted more weaponry and ammunition to arrive before it would begin the offensive.

The stakes of Ukraines offensive extend to the countrys efforts to secure more aid: A military breakthrough could persuade Western officials to send even more materiel, while failure or stalemate could push them to curtail support or encourage negotiations. European foreign ministers urged Chinas top diplomat this week to make Beijing do more to resolve the war, and China, which has cast itself as a potential mediator while giving Russia diplomatic and economic help, announced an envoy would visit Ukraine and Russia next week.

So Ukrainian leaders, keenly aware of their reliance on Western support, have taken pains to distinguish recent attacks from the broader offensive. The commander of Ukraines ground forces, Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, this week described Ukraines actions as mostly defensive, but said soldiers were able to carry out effective counterattacks.

In some areas of the front, the enemy could not withstand the onslaught of the Ukrainian defenders and retreated to a distance of up to two kilometers, he said in a statement.

Russian military bloggers have responded with alarm to Ukraines gains near Bakhmut. The bloggers, who often report from the front and have links to various commanders or the Wagner mercenary group, are fiercely pro-war and can be influential within Russia, urging Moscow to commit more resources to the fight.

Wagner gave a lot of blood and sweat for this territory, some gave their lives, wrote Aleksandr Yaremchuk, a Russian military correspondent aligned with Wagner, whose fighters have led the nearly yearlong fight for Bakhmut. Its hard for me to believe that other units are so easily abandoning their positions.

The outcry drew a rare acknowledgment by the Russian Ministry of Defense, which Friday said its forces retreated in one area around Bakhmut.

The head of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, appeared to support the bloggers assessment. On Thursday, he posted an open letter to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu about the losses on the flanking positions, saying that the enemy carried out several successful counterattacks.

The flurry of posts, videos and statements also exposed tensions and rifts among Russias disparate forces in Ukraine. Prigozhin, long an aggressive critic of Shoigus and other top defense officials, this week issued a series of expletive-laden audio and video messages, including with comments that some observers interpreted as his first direct criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Cracks appeared elsewhere, too, as Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, whose paramilitary forces have fought alongside Wagner in Ukraine, criticized Prigozhin, his longtime ally, in a video broadside.

Some prominent Russian pro-war bloggers warned that the animosity was beginning to affect battlefield performance at a crucial moment.

There is no single command that is respected without exception, wrote a blogger, Anastasia Kashevarova. We have a mass of people at the front, and no one can reach an agreement with each other.

The enemy, she added, is using this.

c.2023 The New York Times Company
Belarusian volunteer soldier from the Kastus Kalinouski regiment, a regiment made up of Belarusian opposition volunteers formed to defend Ukraine, fires a 120mm mortar round at a front line position near Bakhmut in the Donetsk region

Today on Ukraine: The Latest, the team report on Ukrainian counter-attacks around Bakhmut and analyse the news that the US believes South Africa secretly supplied Russian forces with weapons. Plus, we have a special interview on the Russian ambassador's visit to Oxford, and speak again to Dr Thomas Clausen on the latest news from Germany and the troubled legacy of the Treaty of Versailles and how it informs - or misinforms - the way leaders approach foreign policy today.

Dominic Nicholls, Associate Editor of Defence, starts by summarising the fast-moving military situation:

Russia are reporting contacts with Ukrainian forces up and down the line. They've said a 60-mile stretch around the front of the area of Bakhmut is engaged. 40 tanks and more than a thousand Ukrainian service personnel are believed to be involved in the offensive operations.

He continues with further evidence that something significant is happening:

Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group, claims that the counter-offensive is in 'full swing'. Ukraine have taken territory back in the southwest corner, which is where we think the Russian airborne forces either are or have been rushed in to stop that push through. Kremlin sources are saying that this push has increased their grip over what they call 'the road of life'. That's the road out to the southwest, the last surviving route of resupply for Ukrainian forces in the city. Ukraine's deputy Defense Minister said this morning Ukraine have advanced two kilometers in Bakhmut and that Russia has suffered significant losses of manpower.

Later in the episode, Assistant Comment Editor Francis Dearnley analyses the news that China are sending a special envoy to several European countries to discuss a negotiated settlement in Ukraine:

I do not believe it will change much  neither side, Russia or Ukraine, wants negotiations at this point. Its significance is that China is trying to act as the key broker. The choice of countries is also interesting. Of the four, Poland is the least amenable to any kind of deal that sees Russia gain territory, whereas France and Germany are believed to be slightly more anxious on the duration of this war and more fearful of escalation. It is notable that both France and Germany have also reached out to China recently - Scholtz by pushing through his controversial Chinese investment in a Hamburg port terminal, and Macron in his visit to Beijing.

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Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko shows a Kh-47 Kinzhal Russian hypersonic missile warhead, shot down by a Ukrainian Air Defence unit amid Russia's attack on Ukraine

War in Ukraine is reshaping our world. Every weekday the Telegraph's top journalists analyse the invasion from all angles - military, humanitarian, political, economic, historical - and tell you what you need to know to stay updated.

With over 30 million downloads, our Ukraine: The Latest podcast is your go-to source for all the latest analysis, live reaction and correspondents reporting on the ground. We have been broadcasting ever since the full-scale invasion began.

Ukraine: The Latest's regular contributors are:

David Knowles

David is Head of Social Media at the Telegraph where he has worked for almost two years. Previously he worked for the World Economic Forum in Geneva. He speaks French.

Dominic Nicholls

Dom is Associate Editor (Defence) at the Telegraph having joined in 2018. He previously served for 23 years in the British Army, in tank and helicopter units. He had operational deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan and Northern Ireland.

Francis Dearnley

Francis is Assistant Comment Editor at the Telegraph. Prior to working as a journalist, he was Chief of Staff to the Chair of the Prime Minister's Policy Board at the Houses of Parliament in London. He studied History at Cambridge University and on the podcast explores how the past shines a light on the latest diplomatic, political, and strategic developments.

They are also regularly joined by the Telegraph's foreign correspondents around the world, including Joe Barnes (Brussels), Sophia Yan (China), Nataliya Vasilyeva (Russia), Roland Oliphant (Senior Reporter) and Colin Freeman (Reporter). In London, Venetia Rainey (Weekend Foreign Editor), Katie O'Neill (Assistant Foreign Editor), and Verity Bowman (News Reporter) also frequently appear to offer updates.

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drone-grenade-attack-training.jpg

At least one Ukrainian unit looks to be conducting novel dual-purpose training that lets personnel hone their skills in using small weaponized drones and allows troops below to get a very realistic understanding of this growing threat. Both sides in the current war in Ukraine have been making extensive use of commercial quad and hexacopter-type drones armed with grenades and other improvised munitions. This is a trend that goes well beyond this conflict and security forces around the world, including the U.S. military, are increasingly having to contend with it.

A video showing the apparent dual-purpose Ukrainian training regimen is now circulating on social media. Exactly where and when it was shot is not immediately clear. The clip, seen in the tweet below, shows troops advanced in a line across an open field before what looks to be practice grenade falls on one of them. Underscoring that this is said to be a drill, all the other troops drop prone when the grenade goes off, except for an individual who may be a trainer walking behind them. There is no visible sense of urgency following the detonation to indicate that this is actually a real drone attack.

damn interesting clip. this is AFU on AFU with a training grenade pic.twitter.com/NQ0NUELAeQ  jabuttee - luxurious memes and takes (@jabuttee) May 11, 2023

The grenade appears to be a URG-N training type, which is a reusable design that has live fuze that detonates a small white smoke spotting charge. The URG-N is meant to mimic the Soviet-era RGD-5 fragmentation hand grenade, variants and derivatives of which remain in service in both Russia and Ukraine, among many other countries.

The URG-N produces no fragments when it goes off, but it's not immediately clear how dangerous it is otherwise, especially for someone right next to it, when it detonates. It is similarly unclear how any safety issues might have been mitigated in this case.

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A URG-N practice grenade. CAT-UXO An RGD-5 grenade. CAT-UXO

The platform used to drop the grenade is not visible in the clip. However, the footage aligns with a mountain of other videos from battlefields in Ukraine known to show commercially available quad and hexacopter-style drones that have been weaponized by adding devices to drop grenades and other small improvised munitions.

https://twitter.com/temafey/status/1622656555018592265 https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1526187528868573184

The video is interesting on a number of levels.

For one, it highlights how accurately a trained drone operator can attack a target, even a moving one, with a grenade-armed drone like this. The grenade is seen in the footage falling right next to one of the troops below, if not physically hitting them. This is in line with a regular stream of videos from Ukraine that show drones dropping grenades into the open hatches of tanks and other armored vehicles, as seen below.

#Ukraine: A Russian T-80BV tank, damaged during an attempted attack, was finished off by an F-1 grenade dropped directly into the gunner's hatch from a drone of the 25th Airborne Brigade. pic.twitter.com/dc92BoKSQP   Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) April 13, 2023

This, in turn, underscores the very real threat that weaponized commercially-available drones present. The lethal blast radius of a standard RDG-5 is around 10 feet (three meters), but it is also capable of wounding individuals out to distances of some 82 feet (25 meters).

Details about the RGD-5 from a U.S. Army training manual. US Army

As already noted, the threats posed by lower-tier drones, including weaponized commercial designs, go well beyond the fighting in Ukraine, and even traditional battlefields. The barrier to entry to acquiring capabilities like this is also low enough that terrorist groups, organized criminal organizations, and other non-state actors, in addition to the armed forces of nation-states, are increasingly employing them in various contexts.

"Ive been in the Army for 38 years, and in my entire time in the Army on battlefields in Iraq, in Afghanistan, Syria, I never had to look up," now-retired U.S. Army Gen. Richard Clarke, then head of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), said during a panel discussion at the annual Aspen Security Forum last year when talking about this new reality. "Now with everything from quadcopters  theyre very small  up to very large unmanned aerial vehicles [UAV], we wont always have that luxury."

The U.S. military, in particular, after years of operations with few if any aerial threats, has been trying to play catchup to reconstitute its short-range air defense capabilities in recent years. The threat posed by drones, including mass attacks and ones involving fully-networked swarms, has been a particular driver of these efforts and the war in Ukraine has only provided additional impetus in this regard.

At the same time support from the United States, among other countries, has also been essential for sustaining and now expanding the Ukrainian military's air and missile defenses. Supplies of short-range air defenses, including shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, also known as man-portable air defense systems (MANAPDS), like the U.S.-made Stinger, have been key components of the larger Western military assistance effort.

#Ukraine: Ukrainian forces using a US-donated Stinger MANPADS to take down a Russian drone- the type is not visible, but is said to be a common Orlan-10. pic.twitter.com/uPnjVmPeTM   Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) June 21, 2022

Altogether, the new video showing the apparent drone attack training in Ukraine is indicative of something that will become more common as time goes on. How many countries will elect to actually drop practice grenades on their troops remains to be seen, but similar training programs could well emerge using objects that don't explode at all. The U.S. military and others are already steadily integrating mock enemy drones into training exercises, but dropping real objects certainly takes that training up to another level of fidelity.

Still, one would imagine that Ukrainian troops who go through this training on the ground will be more likely to 'look up' when out conducting actual operations.

Contact the author: joe@thedrive.com
Russia targeted Ukraine's Patriot system via its radar emissions CNN reported.

Just as we predicted in December, Russia apparently used the powerful emissions from at least one of the two donated MIM-104 Patriot missile systems to target and launch an attack against it by a Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missile last week.

"U.S. officials believe the Russians picked up on signals that are emitted from the Patriot, allowing them to target the system" with a ballistic missile that can reach hypersonic speeds, CNN reported Friday afternoon. "The Ukrainian air defenders fired multiple missiles from the Patriot at different angles to intercept the Russian missile, demonstrating how quickly they have become adept at using the powerful system, one official said."

When Ukraine used the Patriot for the first time last week to intercept a Russian hypersonic missile, Russia was targeting the Patriot battery itself, two US officials tell @NatashaBertrand @OrenCNN.  Alex Marquardt (@MarquardtA) May 12, 2023

As we reported on May 6, Ukrainian Air Force officials finally acknowledged that a Patriot interceptor downed a Russian Kh-47 Kinzhal air-launched 'hypersonic' ballistic missile over Kyiv the previous day. Ukrainian officials had previously denied that a Patriot was involved in taking down the Kinzhal. The acknowledgment came after Ukrainian media and OSINT trackers posted images of missile wreckage that clearly looked like a Kinzhal, which you can see below.

#Ukraine: Today, reports suggested that a Russian Kh-47M2 Khinzal air-launched ballistic missile was shot down by air defences over #Kyiv at 02:40 on May 4th- for the very first time.



The debris matches the unitary warhead assembly used in Kh-47M2 & Iskander-series missiles. pic.twitter.com/RjAcBQYEUN   Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) May 5, 2023

U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon's top spokesman, on May 9 also confirmed that a Patriot interceptor downed the Kinzhal.

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Pentagon Spox. confirms the downing of Kinzhal hypersonic missile by the Patriot air defense system transferred to Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/RVkbqTvpKS  Sander (@SanderRegter) May 9, 2023

Back in December, The War Zone predicted that Patriot batteries would immediately become top targets for Russian standoff weapons, especially harder to intercept ones like Kinzhal, which is meant to only be spent on high-priority, and often highly defended, targets.

The Patriots emissions and footprint would be very hard to conceal from detection. David Shank, a retired Army colonel and former commandant of the Army Air Defense Artillery School at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, agreed with this assertion:

One Patriot battery with a full complement of launchers (six or more) requires 50 to 60 soldiers to emplace and then 25 to 30 soldiers to operate and maintain, David Shank, a retired Army colonel and former commandant of the Army Air Defense Artillery School at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, told The War Zone Wednesday afternoon. A Patriot battery uses approximately a square kilometer of land space so its susceptible to Russian ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance]. The radar when radiating emits a large signal and will ultimately be seen by Russian signal intelligence capabilities.

A typical Patriot battery includes an AN/MPQ-53 or more capable AN/MPQ-65 phased array radar, which would be the most likely target of a Russian strike.

The AN/MPQ-65 radar is responsible for searching, detecting, tracking and identifying potential threats. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Christopher Ruano/Released)

On Friday, Shank told us he was "not surprised" to hear that the Patriot system was targeted and that Ukraine needs a good "emissions control plan coupled with decoys" to help mitigate such attacks.

"If you radiate constantly or for example at 3 p.m. you will die," he told us. "It's a big radar and puts off a big signal. What's needed are decoys that replicate that same signal."

"Its difficult with only two Patriot batteries in country, both of which I assume are in Kyiv," he added. "Alternating radiate times (meaning turning the radar on / off) is a start. Also, radiating when an attack is expected (intelligence is key)."

In addition, Shank said it is important to procure decoys; "several to keep the Russians guessing on exact location. Moving these decoys and the two batteries occasionally will also help. Last and very important beyond the emission control plan is passive air defense measures..bunkers, camouflage, again decoys, survivability measures, etc."

It is unknown exactly how Ukraine has defended its Patriot systems, one donated by the U.S., another by a combination of German and Dutch components.

"Checked the combat positions of the "Patriot" air defense system on one of the directions!

In order for the puzzle of a promising Ukrainian air defense to be finally completed, the Air Force needs an F-16!"

Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk. pic.twitter.com/jc893bXjzR  Ukrainian Air Force (@KpsZSU) April 21, 2023

We've reached out to the Ukrainian Air Force for details and confirmation about whether the system was specifically targeted and will update this story with any details.

"We cannot confirm any potential targeting of the Patriot battery at this time and would encourage you to ask the Ukrainian Army," a Pentagon spokesman told us Friday.

Given the additional protection the Patriots provide over Ukraine's array of largely Soviet-era air defenses, this won't likely be the last time Russia targets the system. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it would be a target after word began to trickle out that the Biden administration would likely provide Ukraine with a Patriot.

Kremlin spox Peskov says that, if US provides #Patriot air defense system to #Ukraine, #Russia's military would target it.



So? Russian military has been targeting US-provided HIMARS vehicles for 5 months with little to show for it. pic.twitter.com/AKUx0jrL0h  Steven Pifer (@steven_pifer) December 14, 2022

Before we dive into the latest news from Ukraine, The War Zone readers can get caught up on our previous rolling coverage here.

The Latest

Video has emerged on social media that some claim shows the results of the first strike from a Storm Shadow cruise missile donated to Ukraine by the U.K.

The video, posted on Telegram by Russian war correspondent Adam Kulko, shows a burning manufacturing plant in Russian-occupied Luhansk City, located in eastern Ukraine.

Possible first use of Storm Shadow cruise missiles in Ukraine. A possible plant that was used as reported repair base by Russia was hit in Luhansk city. The target is reportedly out of the range of HIMARS GMLRS munitions. pic.twitter.com/BQcaljZloT  ELINT News (@ELINTNews) May 12, 2023

"Three powerful arrivals at the 'Machine-building plant' 100 in Lugansk," Kulko reported. "It sounded like rockets."

A strike on the city was geolocated by OSINT tracker.

Luhansk City is about 60 to 70 miles from the front lines, which exceeds the roughly 50-mile range of U.S.-donated Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System or GMLRS munitions - fired by the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS and the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) provided to Ukraine.

Luhansk City is about 60 to 70 miles behind the front lines. (Google Earth image)

But the city does fall within the roughly 93-mile range of the U.S. supplied Ground Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDB) and at the edge of the range of Ukraine's own domestically produced Vilkha-M guided rocket, which can reach up to about 68-miles away. You can read more about that unique weapon system here.

The Storm Shadow, by comparison, has a range of at least around 155-miles and could easily reach targets throughout Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine, including all of Donbas and most of Crimea. Beyond increased range, it also delivers a much heavier warhead and offers stealthy features and a low-flying profile that makes interception that much harder.

Speaking in the British parliament yesterday, U.K. Defense Minister Ben Wallace said that his country had begun supplying Ukraine with Storm Shadows, fulfilling a longstanding request from Kyiv for long-range missiles. You can read more about that here.

Another advanced standoff weapon that seems to have appeared on the battlefield is the Miniature Air Launched Decoy (MALD), a U.S. mini-cruise missile that acts to confuse and distract enemy air defenses. This is a major reevaluation you can read about in our reporting here, and it could have been used in coordination with the supposed Storm Shadow attack.

Evidence Of ADM-160 Miniature Air-Launched Decoy Use By Ukraine Emergeshttps://t.co/6CzY5kCDIp  The War Zone (@thewarzonewire) May 12, 2023

Luhansk officials, meanwhile, claim that the attack was carried out by "two Ukrainian-made 'Grom' tactical missiles, Reuters reported. They also said the attack injured six children and a Russian parliamentarian and damaged two disused factories.

The weapons they are referring do not officially exist in any operational capacity, although there has been rumors that Ukraine could be working to bring what was a shelved tactical ballistic missile program into an operational state. You can read all about that here. But at this time, we have no evidence that this has indeed happened.

At this time, we don't know with any certainty what type of munition, if any, hit the facility. We've reached out to Ukrainian officials for more information and will update this story with any provided.

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine jokingly hinted at the "targets" for which British long-range missiles Storm Shadow will be usedhttps://t.co/GsG7ulyfY3



The moment when you realize that the distance from the front line to warships with Caliber missiles in the Sevastopol Bay pic.twitter.com/tqn1DXEBJi  Lew Anno Suport #Ukraine 24/2-22 (@anno1540) May 12, 2023

On the battlefield, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin took to his Telegram channel to continue his feud with the Russian Defense Ministry.

He claimed that Russia's admitted retreat in the area was "a disaster and not a regrouping."

Bakhmut Update



Earlier today Russian MOD spokesman, Igor Konashenkov, said that units of the Russian Armed Forces had regrouped at Berkhovsky reservoir to relieve Wagner forces in Bakhmut.



A journalist asked Prigozhin if this was true and got a very sharp reply.#Ukraine pic.twitter.com/O6K21hMB6y  WhereisRussiaToday (@WhereisRussia) May 12, 2023

Russian officials on Friday claimed more Ukrainian drone attacks behind the lines.

"In the west of Crimea, air defense forces shot down an enemy UAV," occupation official Sergei Aksenov reported Friday on his Telegram channel. "There were no casualties or damage. The situation is under control. Keep calm and trust only trusted sources of information."

While we cannot verify Aksenov's claim, such an attack would just be the latest in a long series of Ukrainian drone strikes on Crimea, which you can read more about here.

And inside Russia, another aerial attack was reported.

"Our air defense system worked over Belgorod and the Belgorod region," Belgorod Oblast Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov reported Friday on his Telegram channel. "According to preliminary information, there were no casualties. Operational services clarify the consequences on the ground."

Belgorod, on the border with Ukraine, has been a frequent target of attacks.

Explosions were reported in the Western Russian City of Belgorod as a result of Air Defenses reportedly Shooting Down a Ukrainian Drone over the Region. pic.twitter.com/BGNsB0svPt  OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) May 11, 2023

In an effort to disrupt Ukraine's looming counteroffensive, the Russian Navy recently launched eight 3M-14 Kalibr (NATO designation SS-N30a SAGARIS) land attack cruise missiles (LACM) against Ukraine, the British Defense Intelligence directorate (UKDI) claims.

On the night of March 8 to March 9, "the Russian Navys Black Sea Fleet vessels launched eight SS-N-30a SAGARIS land attack cruise missiles (LACMs) against Ukraine. This was only the second use of Russian Navy LACMs reported since March 9, 2023."

UKDI also noted that until March 2023, the Russian Navy often launched Kalibrs. It is likely that Russia suspended using these weapons because it wanted to replenish its stocks.

Aside from trying to disrupt the expected Ukrainian counteroffensive, UKDI said that on a more strategic level, Russia also sees the Kalibr and other LACMs as "having an important role in any hypothetical conflict with NATO. How to use these scarce and expensive weapons is one of the numerous dilemmas Russian commanders face because the war in Ukraine has gone on much longer than they originally planned for."

This a conundrum we have highlighted repeatedly over the last year or so. Making things even more critical, some of these weapons are dual-role and some need to be retained for strategic deterrence.

Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 12 May 2023.



Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/TFZgYiOUlV



 #StandWithUkraine  pic.twitter.com/0Xaz39oL9C  Ministry of Defence  (@DefenceHQ) May 12, 2023

And in occupied Crimea, once a beach vacation getaway, Russian forces continue to anticipate the long-stated Ukrainian effort to liberate that peninsula, illegally occupied by Moscow since 2014. Video has emerged of ongoing Russian efforts to fortify the beaches and other areas in Crimea ahead of the expected Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Good morning 



The Russians are getting ready for the upcoming summer season on the beach. It seems like they are preparing the groundwork for our bungalows. They should also consider setting up more beach umbrellas to protect themselves from the sunny Himars 



+540 russian pic.twitter.com/or486VQBM2  Maria Drutska  (@maria_drutska) April 13, 2023

At least one of the four Su-25 Frogfoot close-air-support and ground-attack jets provided by North Macedonia to Ukraine was recently pictured in operation with the 299th Tactical Aviation Brigade. The Ukraine Weapons Tracker OSINT group says the jet, delivered last year, was upgraded to Ukraine's Su-25M1(K) standards. You can read more about the jets in our coverage here.

The Frogfoot jets join Ukraine's growing collection of donated Soviet-era airframes which include MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter jets sent to Ukraine by Slovakia and Poland.

#Ukraine: For the first time, an ex- North Macedonian Su-25 is pictured in operation with the 299th Tactical Aviation Brigade.



This aircraft, "Blue 51" (09015), was delivered in Spring 2022 and has been upgraded to Su-25M1(K) standard in Ukraine. Formerly, it was Su-25 "121". pic.twitter.com/tB2kJtFlHr   Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) May 11, 2023

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov touted the domestically developed T-84U Oplot, Ukraines most advanced homegrown tank.

It's always nice to test drive [tanks] that come to the forefront, he wrote on his Facebook page. But when it's Ukrainian equipment, it's much nicer.

Reznikov said that on Thursday, I had the honor to personally test Ukrainian Oplot tanks. The front must have an armored fist, because the most important value is saving the lives of our defenders and defenders. They need armored equipment to protect us from losing their health. And I'm convinced that in the tank coalition in the first rows should be exactly the Ukrainian tank Oplot."

#Ukraine showed off a new Ukrainian-made tank, helped by Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov. Oplot tank is an iteration of the Soviet-designed T-84 main tank. Said to be faster & more maneuverable, with advanced fire control system & better armor protection https://t.co/j6wW6CGYg5 pic.twitter.com/zHt5GyfLLW  Glasnost Gone (@GlasnostGone) May 12, 2023

The German Rheinmetall armaments company is implementing plans for a joint venture with Ukraine's Ukronboronprom defense contractor to set up a tank repair facility, the German news organization Der Spiegel reports.

"The contracts have been signed," CEO Armin Papperger said.

The cooperation includes the maintenance and repair of armored vehicles in Ukraine, Papperger continued. At the same time, the construction of tanks is being prepared.

Rheinmetall has established a joint venture for the repair and construction of tanks with the Ukrainian state-owned company Ukroboronprom.https://t.co/j8xEKzy1IX  Jeff2146 (@Jeff21461) May 12, 2023

Drone-dropped munitions continue to plague Russian forces, as in the case of this Tornado-G 2B17(M) 122mm multiple-launch rocket system in the video below.

#Ukraine: In #Donetsk Oblast, the Ukrainian 72nd Mechanised Brigade destroyed a loaded Russian 2B17(M) 122mm MRL of the modern Tornado-G system with two drone-dropped munitions, igniting the rockets on board. pic.twitter.com/RjUJ8OssNK   Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) May 12, 2023

The problem is so accuse, Ukraine is dropping practice grenades on its troops to acclimate them to the threat. You can read our full report here on this apparently new training tactic.

The U.S. provided Switchblade kamikaze drone is also wracking up kills, like the reported strike seen below against a rare modernized Russian 2B26 Grad-K multiple launch rocket system.

Ukrainian Switchblade strike against a rare modernized Russian 2B26 Grad-K MRLS. pic.twitter.com/6Etnt8dRzl  OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) May 12, 2023

Switchblade is also meeting a new defense  nets.

A Ukrainian Switchblade loitering munition that was reportedly stopped by the net on a Russian Osa air defense system. https://t.co/yKBMtKsAz7 pic.twitter.com/nVzkngwml0  Rob Lee (@RALee85) May 6, 2023

It appears Russia made a Ukrainian-style attempt at humor. Moscow's embassy in Belgium tweeted out a play on the iconic Ukrainian-tractor-towing-a-Russian-tank stamp with a mock-up of one of its own. It depicts the battle-damaged Russian tank from the Ukrainian stamp towing a U.S.-provided HIMARS.

But unlike the Ukrainian tractors that really have towed Russian tanks, there is no evidence that Russia has destroyed nor captured any of the 18 U.S. provided HIMARS.

From now on all communucations with the embassy will need the official postage stamp that we totally didn't steal from Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/ejZGFL0Bvn  Russian embassy in Belgium () (@RussiaInBelgium) May 11, 2023

And finally, Ukraine continued its strong trolling game Friday in the wake of frantic Russian Telegram channel chatter that Kyiv's troops were seen heading to the border with Russia's Belgorod Oblast.

Someone created a video, which clearly looks faked, of a Ukrainian soldier chewing on a snack right at the border.

That's all for now. We'll update this story when there is more news to report about Ukraine.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com
A man wearing a camouflage uniform walks out of headquarters for the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary organization, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Igor Russak/File Photo/Reuters

Ukrainian soldiers have wondered if Russians advancing on Bakhmut may be on drugs.

No evidence has emerged to show that Russia is giving drugs to soldiers.

But performance-enhancing drug use has been prevalent among troops from different countries since at least World War I.

Ukrainian soldiers recently wondered aloud whether Russians fighting for the country's mercenary Wagner forces in the key city of Bakhmut were on drugs as they advanced to "certain death," according to The New York Times.

No evidence has emerged that Russia or the Wagner Group is giving their troops drugs. But it wouldn't be a surprise. Performance-enhancing drug use among soldiers has been commonplace throughout history.

British stores sold syringes of heroin as gifts to send to troops during World War I

AP Photo

During World War I, British department stores  including the famous Harrods  sold "kits" that came filled with syringes, needles, cocaine, and heroin, according to the BBC.

The kits were marketed as gifts for friends and family members who were serving on the frontlines to comfort them as they dealt with the horrors of the war, according to the outlet.

Women often bought these kinds of kits and took them to train stations to give to their boyfriends or husbands who were shipping out, according to Volteface, a London-based advocacy group that promotes policies to reduce the harm caused by drug use.

Harrods also offered small packs of morphine and cocaine "complete with syringe and spare needles," according to the advocacy group.

The Nazis gave meth to their soldiers during World War II to give them a boost

Crystal Methamphetamine. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File Photo

Nazi Germany touted methamphetamine as a "miracle product" when the drug first entered the commercial market in the late 1930s. The excitement stood in sharp contrast to the Nazi Party's general stance that drugs were considered a sign of weakness, according to TIME.

German soldiers who invaded Poland in September 1939 used methamphetamine in the drug's "first real military test" in the field for the Nazis, according to TIME.

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The drug would go on to play a major role in the Third Reich. As it focused on physical and mental superiority, Nazi troops used it for hyper-alertness and vigilance, the outlet reported.

Blitzkrieg, the form of Nazi warfare that consisted of fast, unsuspected, mechanized attacks on enemy troops, was "guided by methamphetamine," historian Peter Steinkamp told the outlet.

While Nazis were the most enthusiastic adopters of the drug, allied forces also used meth during World War II to increase "confidence and aggression" and "elevate morale," according to a report in The Journal of Interdisciplinary History.

Russia gave its frontline soldiers rations of vodka during World War II

Getty Images

During World War II, meanwhile, the Russians relied on alcohol to get through the war. Whether or not it enhanced their performance, however, is another matter.

In World War II, Russia's Ministry of Defense gave each soldier on the front lines a 100-gram ration of vodka  which was called the "commissar's ration." The policy was widely criticized in the country  especially by doctors.

In a report published by the Russian Studies department at Macalester College, vodka has been a "featured player" in the Russian military since the late 1800s.

Many historians attribute Russia's defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 to vodka use among the Russian troops, which decreased morale and impaired their abilities so much that the army began giving out beer and wine instead by the end of the war, according to the report.

The US military gave troops speed and painkillers during the Vietnam War

A stock photo of white pills. Xvision/Getty Images

The US military distributed painkillers and "pep pills" to soldiers heading into long-range reconnaissance missions and ambushes, according to The Atlantic.

The military gave 20 milligrams of dextroamphetamine to soldiers for 48 hours of combat readiness, but the men rarely followed the recommended doses, according to the report.

A 1971 report by the House Select Committee on Crime found that troops had used 225 million tablets of stimulants from 1966 to 1969.

The stimulants used by US troops during the Vietnam War were nearly twice as strong as the amphetamines used during World War II, according to The Atlantic.

Drug use in general among American troops skyrocketed during the Vietnam War. Soldiers used using marijuana, psychedelics such as LSD and mushrooms, and even hard drugs like cocaine and heroin, according to History.com.

A 1971 Department of Defense report indicated that 51% of US Armed Forces had smoked marijuana, according to the outlet.

The US allows Native Americans in the military to use peyote

A peyote cactus. Federica Grassi/Getty Images

While not an example of performance-enhancing drug use, it's worth noting that the US military allows limited drug use for religious reasons.

The US Military allowed Native American troops to use peyote, a psychoactive plant that can cause hallucinations, beginning in 1997, according to The Associated Press.

Peyote is considered sacred among many Native American tribes and is used during religious services. The military only allowed Native American troops to use the drug for religious services.

"If they're using peyote in their religious practice, it's a sacrament, not a drug, just as sacramental wine is not considered a drug, a Pentagon spokesperson told the AP at the time.

In 2020, the Department of Defense amended the decision. It still allows indigenous troops to use the drug as a part of their religion, but it puts "reasonable limitations on the use, possession, transportation, or distribution of peyote" among troops.

Military service members may not use peyote while on duty or within 24 hours before a scheduled duty shift, according to the DOD.

Read the original article on Insider
The Kyiv City Military Administration has reported that there was no destruction or casualties in the capital during the nighttime air attack launched by Russian forces, and all drones were shot down.

Source: Kyiv City Military Administration

Quote: "The sixth air attack on the capital since the beginning of May! This time, the enemy carried out an attack using only unmanned aerial vehicles.

During the last air-raid warning, which lasted for 2.5 hours in Kyiv, Iranian-made loitering munition Shahed was detected in the airspace [flying] towards the capital. All enemy drones that were moving towards Kyiv were successfully destroyed!"

Details: According to the Kyiv City Military Administration, there was no destruction or casualties.

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By Andreas Rinke and Sarah Marsh

BERLIN (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has landed in Berlin, according to a post on his Twitter feed, as the leader seeks to shore up support from key allies against Russia's invasion.

"Already in Berlin," Zelenskiy tweeted shortly after midnight on Sunday, arriving from Italy where he met with Italian officials and Pope Francis on Saturday.

The Ukrainian leader last visited Germany for the Munich Security Council in February last year just before the war broke out.

Germany, which is Europe's largest economy, faced criticism at the start of the war for what some called a hesitant response, but it has become one of Ukraine's biggest providers of financial and military assistance, ahead of other European powers like France.

Germany on Saturday announced 2.7 billion euro ($3.0 billion) of military aid to Ukraine, its biggest such package since the Russian invasion, and pledged further support for Kyiv for as long as necessary.

The country has also taken in around a million Ukrainian refugees.

Zelenskiy will likely want to know directly from Chancellor Olaf Scholz how he sees the war ending, said Christian Moelling, deputy director at the German Council on Foreign Relations.

"Does Germany want a Ukrainian victory or is it enough for the war to end?" he said. "It will be important for Zelenskiy to hear directly from the chancellor how he thinks."

Ukraine is also likely aware of the need to shore up support from the allies supporting it financially as they deal with a cost of living crisis at home, said Moelling.

"Ukraine needs financial assistance to pay its debt so it doesn't go bankrupt and Germany plays a big role there," he said. "And Ukraine is seeing that in Germany other topics are beginning to move into the foreground."

An Ipsos survey in January showed the share of Germans who believed the country could not afford to lend financial support to Ukraine due to the current economic crisis had risen 9 percentage points to 56%.

That survey also showed a drop in German support for accepting new refugees from Ukraine and providing military assistance.

(Reporting by Andreas Rinke, Sarah Marsh and Victoria Waldersee; Editing by Frances Kerry and Daniel Wallis)
Russian forces attacked Ukraine with Iranian-made Shahed-136/131 attack UAVs from the northern and southern directions at midnight on 13 May. Seventeen drones have been shot down.

Source: Ukrainian Air Force

Details: A total of 21 UAV launches were recorded. Seventeen drones were shot down in different areas by anti-aircraft missile systems, jet fighters, and mobile fire groups.

In addition, an Orlan-10 UAV was destroyed at night.

Quote: "Unfortunately, there were some hits by enemy drones on infrastructure facilities in Khmelnytskyi Oblast. Local authorities and services are working to deal with the aftermath."

Background: On 12 May, air defence units shot down four Lancet UAVs.

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Ukrainian soldiers next to a captured Russian near Bakhmut. May 11, 2023

Its too soon to say, but it seems so because the Ukrainian forces are counterattacking on the flanks, creating certain problems for the Russian invaders in the Center of Bakhmut, Vertsner said in an interview with Radio NV on May 13.

Read also: Russian irretrievable losses in war against Ukraine reach 200,000, report says

He also explained how the Ukrainian Armed Forces were able to achieve success, saying that there is a certain difference between Russian troops, including Wagner mercenaries, who operate in the city itself, and Russian Armed Forces units that operate on the flanks.

There is a motivational difference. They are not as powerful, not as well-trained, and not as motivated. That is why the Ukrainian military is having some success on the flanks.

Vertsner added that the invasion forces have retreated, mercenary company military company, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced the retreat of the Russian Armed Forces 72nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade from Bakhmut, and alleging that they had left behind 500 dead bodies.

Read also: Ukrainian intelligence explains conflict between Prigozhin and Shoigu

The commander of the Azov Tactical Group, Andriy Biletsky, seemingly confirmed Prigozhins statement, reporting that the Ukrainian military had practically completely destroyed the 6th and 8th companies of the Russian 72nd Brigade during their offensive operations.

The commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, also stated on May 10 that Ukrainian defenders were conducting effective counterattacks on the Bakhmut sector, resulting in Russian occupiers retreating up to 2 kilometers in some areas of the front.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The 24th separate mechanised brigade named after King Danylo published a photo of Bakhmut destroyed as a result of Russian attacks.

Source: 24th SMB on Facebook

Quote: "This is what Bakhmut looks like right now. You might think it is fog. However, it is not. It is smoke from fires and smoke shells used by the enemy in a desperate attempt to break through our defences."

Details: According to the unit commander with the call sign Prince, after a short, tactical pause, the enemy resumed active assaults on residential areas.

"Artillery fire, rocket and airstrikes do not stop for a minute. Every metre of the city is now under artillery fire," he said.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia Zhao Zhiyuan (R) poses for photos with a graduate while handing over the certificate during the closing ceremony of a basic Chinese language training program in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on May 12, 2023.

Twenty-one immigration officers from the Foreigners' Service Directorate within the Ethiopian Immigration and Citizenship Service (ICS) on Friday graduated from a short-term basic Chinese language training program. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

ADDIS ABABA, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-one immigration officers from the Foreigners' Service Directorate within the Ethiopian Immigration and Citizenship Service (ICS) on Friday graduated from a short-term basic Chinese language training program.

While handing over the certificates to the graduates in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia Zhao Zhiyuan said the training program will promote strategic cooperation and people-to-people relations.

"What you have achieved in the program and what you will achieve in further study will help consolidate friendship, mutual benefits and communications between the two countries," Zhao told the graduates.

Serving our Chinese brothers and sisters with the Chinese language will not only improve our customer service but also promote bilateral relationships, said Bruhtesfa Mulugeta, director general of the Ethiopian ICS.

Habtamu Seyoume, one of the graduates who is working as a supervisor at the immigration office at Bole International Airport, said he is enjoying easy communications with the Chinese customers after attending the training. "Now we communicate with them at ease to process their visa and other requirements."

The Confucius Institute at Addis Ababa University granted the three-month basic Chinese language training program to the 21 immigration officers. 

Ethiopian immigration officers attend the closing ceremony of a basic Chinese language training program in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, May 12, 2023.

Twenty-one immigration officers from the Foreigners' Service Directorate within the Ethiopian Immigration and Citizenship Service (ICS) on Friday graduated from a short-term basic Chinese language training program. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)
Editors Note: This is issue 87 of Ukrainian State-Owned Enterprises Weekly, covering events from May 6-12, 2023. The Kyiv Independent is reposting it with permission.

Ukrainian SOE Weekly is an independent weekly digest based on a compilation of the most important news related to state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and state-owned banks in Ukraine. This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union within the project Supporting Ukraine in rebuilding and recovery implemented by the KSE Institute. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the editorial team of the Ukrainian SOE Weekly and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.

Corporate governance of SOEs

The Cabinet published a resolution on Ukroboronproms corporatization, but with a six-week delay. On May 4, the Cabinet of Ministers published its resolution to convert the State Concern Ukroboronprom into a joint-stock company called Ukrainian Defense Industry.

As SOE Weekly reported in its Issue 80, the Cabinet said that it approved the corporatization on March 21. In Issue 83, we reported that the corporatization of Ukroboronprom had not yet begun: The government resolution was not public yet.

According to the minutes of the government meeting seen by Liga.net, the resolution was given only one day to be finalized, but its publication was delayed for six weeks.

The leader of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction and former member of Ukroboronproms supervisory board Davyd Arakhamia explained that new Minister of Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin suspended [the publication] for a little while to look into it.

It is unclear why Kamyshin suspended the publication of a resolution that was already approved by the Cabinet, and whether he has the authority to do so.

In Issue 80, we reported that on March 21, the Verkhovna Rada appointed former Ukrzaliznytsias CEO Kamyshin as the new Minister for Strategic Industries.

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The publication of the resolution officially launches the corporatization of Ukroboronprom. The resolution provides for the establishment of the joint-stock company Ukrainian Defense Industry (UDI for short) through the transformation of the State Concern Ukroboronprom.

The authorized capital of the company will be Hr 237 million ($6.5 million). The charter of UDI and the regulations governing its supervisory board, approved in March, were also published.

According to its charter, the purpose of the company is to strengthen Ukraines defense capability, implement effective management, investment, and innovation development of Ukraines industry, as well as regulate, control, and coordinate the activities of business entities in the defense industry.

The sole founder and shareholder of the company is the state, represented by the Cabinet of Ministers.

According to its charter, UDI must pay annual cash dividends to the state equal to 30% of its profit no later than Sept. 1.

The governance bodies of the company will be the general meeting (effectively, the Cabinet of Ministers), supervisory board, and CEO.

The supervisory board must have six members  three independent and three state representatives. Their tenure will last for three years.

The supervisory board will appoint the CEO.

The concept of corporate governance reform and conversion of Ukroboronprom, including its target model and detailed action plan, was drafted by Andriy Boytsun, Oleksandr Lysenko, and Dmytro Yablonovskyi, members of the SOE Weekly team, as well as the international law firm Kinstellar, in March 2020. For a discussion of these documents, see the OECD Review of the Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises in Ukraine.

In Issue 59, we reported that in July 2021, the Verkhovna Rada adopted Law 1630-IX (previously known as Draft Law No. 3822), which laid the groundwork for Ukroboronproms transformation.

On Dec. 9, 2021, the Cabinet of Ministers approved resolutions and ordinances to convert Ukroboronprom into a joint-stock company. The Cabinet also approved the conversion of Ukroboronproms 43 uncorporatized enterprises into joint-stock companies or limited liability companies fully controlled by the state.

This Week in Ukraine Ep. 7  Why Russia relies on private militaries, like Wagner, for its war effort This Week in Ukraine is a video podcast hosted by Kyiv Independents reporter Anastasiia Lapatina. Every week, Anastasiia sits down with her newsroom colleagues to discuss Ukraines most pressing issues. Episode #7 is dedicated to Russian private military companies, how they operate, and the role Kyiv IndependentAnastasiia Lapatina

Court orders arrest of two people accused of involvement in theft of Hr 500 million ($13.7 million) from UMCC and Odesa Portside Plant. On May 4, the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) ordered the detention (in absentia) of the former acting CEO of United Mining and Chemical Company (UMCC).

The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, or SAPO, did not name the suspect, but the media identified him as Artur Somov. Somov is allegedly one of the members of the criminal organization that stole more than Hr 500 million ($13.7 million) from the Odesa Portside Plant (OPZ) and UMCC between 2019 and 2021.

On May 8, the HACC also ordered the detention (in absentia) of a former acting EO of OPZ, Mykola Parsentyev.

Both in the case of Somov and Parsentyev, after their detention and delivery to the place of pre-trial investigation, the investigating judge will decide on the application of these measures of restraint, SAPO added.

In SOE Weekly (Issue 80), we reported that the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and SAPO said that they exposed a criminal group run by the former head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU), Dmytro Sennychenko. See more about this case in Issue 80.

The court issued a warrant for the arrest of Sennychenkos former adviser Yuriy Lypko and OPZs former acting EO Mykola Synytsia (see Issue 81).

The suspects in this case, including Sennychenko, Parsentyev, and Somov, were placed on the wanted list. (See more in Issue 83.)

Energy

Naftogaz pays Hr 33 billion ($902 million) in taxes for the first four months of 2023. On May 8, Naftogaz Group reported that it paid almost Hr 33 billion ($902 million) into state and local budgets for JanuaryApril 2023.

According to the company, that accounts for 15% of Ukraines total tax revenue for this period.

In April alone, Naftogaz Group paid Hr 6.2 billion ($170 million) in taxes  almost 13% of all tax revenues in April, Naftogazs CEO Oleksiy Chernyshov said.

Chernyshov said that heat producers only paid 41% of the cost of the gas they used and urged local governments to pay up or restructure their debts with the company. Households that buy gas directly from Naftogaz have paid about 80% of the total costs.

In SOE Weekly (Issue 85), we reported that the Cabinet of Ministers established how much SOEs must pay in dividends for 2022. Naftogaz must allocate 30%, and the rest of the profit must be used to purchase natural gas produced in Ukraine.

In Issue 77, we reported that Naftogaz expected to post a loss of Hr 40 billion ($1 billion) in 2022, according to preliminary results. If Naftogaz gets losses, it will not pay any dividends.

Chernyshov blamed significant receivables that arose due to the states use of Naftogazs working capital to meet the needs of energy consumers.

He said that the underlying receivables of the company had three components: the difference in tariffs (Hr 36 billion, or $984 million), the debt of regional gas suppliers and gas distribution companies (Hr 76 billion, or $2 billion), and public service obligations (PSOs) for 2022-2023 (Hr 158 billion, or $4.3 billion).

It appears that if Naftogaz gets the compensation for PSOs from the state budget as expected, its net fiscal impact will be negative.

From Eurovision to international advocacy: Kalush Orchestras journey to promote Ukrainian culture EDMONTON, Canada  This time last year, Oleh Psiuk felt a little nervous. The 28-year-old from the small western Ukrainian town of Kalush was about to do something he had never experienced before, but he was ready to give it his all. Psiuk and his band, Kalush Orchestra, were set to Kyiv IndependentOlena Goncharova

Energy regulator investigates alleged market manipulation, with DTEK benefiting at Energoatoms expense. On May 9, the National Energy and Utilities Regulatory Commission (NEURC) started an investigation into whether energy company DTEK caused financial damage to Energoatom. DTEK is owned by Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov.

The investigation concerns DTEK subsidiaries DTEK Zakhidenergo, DTEK Dniproenergo, DTEK Kurakhivska TPP, D.Trading, Energo-Gaz, and Energozakhid, as well as the state nuclear operator Energoatom and state-owned energy trader ECU.

NEURC will review these companies activities on Ukraines electricity market from Feb. 1 to April 30, specifically the day-ahead market and the balancing market.

There are four market segments: (i) market of bilateral contracts, (ii) day-ahead market, (iii) intraday market, and (iv) balancing market.

Ideally, buyers and sellers trade using (i) bilateral contracts. However, as electricity production and consumption are highly volatile and cannot be predicted with much precision, additional volumes are traded in segments (ii) and (iii). In case they fail to fully smoothen the fluctuations, segment (iv), the balancing market, is invoked.

If there is a shortage of electricity, the price in the balancing market is high, as sellers have no other way to buy it if they have not bought the necessary volumes in segments (i), (ii), or (iii). In case of excess supply, the price is low.

NEURC says that it identified possible violations, such as distortion of competition and/or restrictive contractual practices in the market.

The behavior of these market participants may have led to a significant reduction in Energoatoms sales, creating a significant excess supply of electricity (in the day-ahead market), the regulator said.

The alleged scheme was discussed earlier in social and traditional media. According to these reports, Energoatom failed to sell some of its electricity on the day-ahead market in March due to high prices. Instead, it had to sell it at a much lower price on the balancing market, primarily to DTEK.

As a result, Energoatom made a symbolic Hr 0.01 per megawatt hour instead of at least Hr 2,600 per megawatt hour, observers said. Thus, the state-owned company lost at least 300,000 megawatt hours in March.

If the observers data is correct, assuming the minimum price of Hr 2,600 ($71) per megawatt hour, Energoatom has lost at least Hr 780 million ($21 million) this way.

At the same time, Energoatom shifted the financial responsibility for these imbalances to the ECU by joining its balancing group, the regulator said. As far as we understand, this suggests that the losses from such a scheme would be covered by ECUs revenues from electricity exports.

According to observers, ECU is the state-owned trader that was established on the initiative of Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Rostyslav Shurma and Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko to export electricity from Energoatom. In the summer of 2022, the company was the largest electricity exporter after DTEK. ECU is headed by former DTEK manager Vitaliy Butenko, observers added.

During a NEURC meeting, Natalia Karabenko, head of ECUs Regulatory Support Department, noted that the regulator had not requested any information that could give grounds to start an investigation.

DTEKs press service said that the group abides by the law and electricity market regulations.

Privatization

Date set for third auction to privatize Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi seaport. The SPFU has scheduled a third auction to try to sell the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi trade seaport for June 6.

The starting price has been set at Hr 184.92 million, or $5 million (excluding VAT). Bidders must deposit a guarantee fee of Hr 36.98 million ($1 million).

A deposit guarantee of 20% of the starting price is required by law.

The starting price for the first auction was Hr 187.6 million ($5.1 million). For the second one, it was halved to Hr 93.8 million ($2.6 million).

Oleksandr Slavskyi, head of the SPFUs regional office in Odesa and Mykolaiv oblasts, explained on Facebook that the starting price changed due to the change in the companys asset value. He added that they decided to relaunch the procedure to start with a full starting price as they saw demand for the asset.

According to SPFU, whoever buys the company must pay its wage arrears within six months of the purchase date. According to Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, the wage arrears were Hr 96.4 million ($2.6 million) as of March 31. The final amount will be established when the ownership is transferred.

In the buyers expenses on purchasing the asset, the wage arrears effectively add up to the price itself. This means that the effective starting price is no less than Hr 318.3 million ($8.7 million), including VAT and wage arrears.

The first privatization auction for Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi failed as no one registered.

At the second auction, the seaport was sold for Hr 220 million ($6 million) to Ukrdoninvest LLC, owned by Ukrainian businessman Vitaliy Kropachov. However, Ukrdoninvest did not pay up, failing to explain why.

As we reported in SOE Weeklys Issue 85, the company said that it backed out while hashing out the terms of the purchase agreement with the SPFUs regional office in Odesa and Mykolaiv oblasts. Ukrdoninvest did not provide any further details.

Later, SPFU announced that it would put Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi up for privatization for a third time.

For more detail, see SOE Weeklys Issues: 74, 78, 79, 84, and 85.
By Andrea Shalal

NIIGATA, Japan (Reuters) - British finance minister Jeremy Hunt said on Saturday it would be "absolutely devastating" if the United States failed to reach agreement to raise its debt ceiling and had its gross domestic product "knocked off track".

Hunt told reporters that Group of Seven (G7) finance chiefs in Japan had "very frank and open discussions" about the challenges they face, including banking regulation and the impact of Russia's war in Ukraine on the global economy.

A standoff between President Joe Biden and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which has raised the prospect of a first-ever U.S. debt default, posed a "very serious threat to the global economy," Hunt said.

"It would be absolutely devastating if America, which is one of the biggest motors of the global economy, was to have its GDP knocked off track by not reaching agreement," he said. He said he hoped that Biden and Congress would be able to resolve their differences.

Hunt said G7 officials also discussed the impact of Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, and talked at length about the need to stop sanctions evasion, or leakage.

He said it was clear that economic sanctions on the Russian economy had not been as effective as military support for Kyiv, but were generating more of "a slow burn" and there would be a point when Western pressure "starts to bite".

Hunt said it was very important that non-G7 members invited to the meeting by Japan - India, Indonesia, Brazil, Singapore and Comoros - took part in the discussion about Russia.

One key area of agreement was that G7 rich countries want to "de-risk" relations with China, rather than to decouple from all trade, Hunt said, noting that Britain's "strong view" was the need to avoid an approach that inadvertently returned the world to "protectionism".

Story continues

"No one's talking about not trading with China, not exporting to China, not importing from China, but we do need to make sure that we don't have dependencies that can make us vulnerable," he said, adding that the difficult part was working out the concrete steps needed to accomplish that.

G7 members also agreed that any country that engages in economic coercion should expect a united response from advanced democracies, but gave no details on what that would entail.

Hunt, who spoke before meeting U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, said one disappointing thing had been the inability of G7 members to convince more developing countries - or the Global South - to support the West's unified response to Russia's invasion, and more soul-searching was needed on that front.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Writing by Kantaro Komiya; Editing by William Mallard, Kirsten Donovan)
By Daina Beth Solomon and Julio-Cesar Chavez

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico/EL PASO, Texas (Reuters) -The Biden administration began implementing a sweeping policy shift at the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday as a COVID-era order that had allowed the swift expulsion of many migrants expired and new asylum restrictions took effect amid confusion and uncertainty.

Several last-minute court actions added to questions about how President Joe Biden's reworked border strategy will play out, with advocates filing a legal challenge to the new asylum regulation as it was enacted.

Facing concerns that the end of a three-year-old order - known as Title 42 - could further strain U.S. border facilities, cities and towns, U.S. officials were keeping a close eye on the movements of migrants that had already reached record numbers in recent days.

"We continue to encounter high levels of non-citizens at the border, but we did not see a substantial increase overnight or an influx at midnight," when Title 42 expired, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official Blas Nunez-Neto told reporters on Friday.

Seeking to discourage migrants from traveling to the border, the Mexican government said its national migration institute has ordered its offices not to issue immigration documents or other permits enabling travel within the country, creating another obstacle for migrants.

Though a chaotic race to U.S. border ports of entry on Thursday appeared to have given way to relative calm on Friday, there was a sense of confusion among some migrants.

At the U.S. border fence dividing El Paso, Texas, from Mexicos Ciudad Juarez, hundreds of migrants who had slept there overnight formed a single file line to be brought into the U.S. by authorities and put on buses. Texas National Guard, state troopers and border agents patrolled the area.

Immigration advocates represented by the American Civil Liberties Union filed a legal challenge against the new asylum bars, claiming they violate U.S. and international laws.

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Advocates argue the new regulation, put in place by Biden's Democratic administration to curb illegal crossings, resembles restrictions imposed by his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, that they had successfully blocked in court.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas defended the Biden regulation, saying it aims to encourage migrants to enter using legal pathways. "It's going to be a tough transition," he told MSNBC.

U.S. asylum officers hurried to figure out the logistics of applying the new asylum regulation.

Further complicating the new U.S. policy, a federal judge in Florida ordered the U.S. Border Patrol not to release any migrants without first issuing them formal notices to appear in immigration court. The Texas attorney general later asked a federal judge to do the same.

SCRAMBLE AHEAD OF THE CHANGES

In chaotic scenes on Thursday, migrants scrambled to enter the country before the new rule went into effect. The regulation presumes most migrants are ineligible for asylum if they passed through other countries without first seeking protection elsewhere, or if they failed to use legal pathways for U.S. entry, which Biden has expanded.

Tens of thousands of migrants this week waded through rivers, climbed walls and embankments onto U.S. territory.

Lindsay Toczylowski, director of Immigrant Defenders Law Center, one of the groups suing the Biden administration, said the new asylum policy was "extremely disappointing when peoples lives are in the balance.

Around 25,000 migrants were being held in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities near the border on Friday, down slightly from record highs earlier in the week, according to the National Border Patrol Council, a union for agents. About 10,000 migrants per day were reported crossing illegally this week.

A 17-year-old Honduran boy died after being found unconscious in a Florida shelter on Wednesday, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Unaccompanied children are exempt from the new regulation, and advocates have warned that parents might send children across the border alone.

As the sun set on Friday in Juarez, Cuban migrant Ivon, her sister and 11-year-old son, walked up to a port of entry hoping to request asylum. CBP officials told them they needed to make an appointment using an app known as CBP One, she said.

"They said we couldnt request asylum, that it wasnt the way, that this had changed, that asylum was only through the app," said Ivon, who asked to be identified only by her first name.

COVID EMERGENCY ENDS, ASYLUM BAN BEGINS

Trump first implemented Title 42 in March 2020 as COVID swept the globe. The order allowed American authorities to quickly expel migrants to Mexico or other countries without a chance to request asylum.

Some Democrats and immigration advocates say Biden's new regulation is too harsh.

The measure also counters previous statements Biden made in 2020 on the campaign trail, when he said it was "wrong" for people not to be able to seek asylum on U.S. soil.

Biden, who campaigned on reversing Trump's policies and is now running for re-election in 2024, kept the order in place.

Migrants have been expelled more than 2.7 million times under Title 42, although the total includes repeat crossers.

Mexico has generally only accepted certain nationalities - its own citizens, migrants from northern Central America and more recently migrants from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua. So, during the same period, around 2.8 million migrants ineligible for expulsion were allowed into the U.S. under a process known as Title 8 to pursue immigration claims.

Republicans fault Biden for easing Trump's more restrictive policies, while the Biden administration has blamed Republicans for blocking legislation to reform the immigration system.

(Reporting by Julio-Cesar Chavez in El Paso, Texas; Daina Beth Solomon in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; Daniel Becerril in Matamoros, Mexico; Dave Graham in Mexico City; and Ted Hesson in Washington; Additional reporting by Evan Garcia in Brownsville, Texas; Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City; Kristina Cooke in San Francisco; Susan Heavey in Washington; Dan Trotta in San Diego; Writing by Mica Rosenberg and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Kim Coghill, Chizu Nomiyama, Jonathan Oatis, Aurora Ellis and Diane Craft)
Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero / The Daily Beast / Getty

They live in multicultural, matriarchal societies. Their 18-pound brains have neocortexes and spindle cells for higher-order thinking, emotions, memory, language, and love. They could be the most intelligent beings on this planet. Were talking about sperm whales. And by the way, they dont just make whale sounds: They speak.

According to City University of New York biological oceanographer David Gruber, sperm whale vocalizations arent your typical harmonious whale songs. Their phrasesseries of Morse Code-like clicks called codassound more like a door slowly creaking open and shut on the deck of a sunken boat. But when researchers really started listening, they found that these codas carry all the hallmarks of a highly evolved language, even regional dialects, passed down from generation to generation. In fact, Gruber has said he believes sperm whale speak to be perhaps the most sophisticated form of communication that has ever existed.

In 2021, Gruber officially launched the CETI Project (Cetacean Translation Initiative), a global interdisciplinary collaboration devoted to cracking the code on interspecies interpretation and communication, starting with the resident population of sperm whales in Dominica, in the Eastern Caribbean. The list of partner institutions includes the Dominica government, and about 50 cryptographers, linguists, technologists, and biologists who are heavyweights in their own fields. Theres natural language processing expert Michael Bronstein from Oxford University, Harvard University roboticists who specialize in extremely gentle technology for humane animal research, and Roger Paynethe American biologist who, 56 years ago, discovered for the first time that humpback whales sing, sparking the marine conservation movement. Tech superpowers like Google, Amazon and Microsoft are on board, too.

The CETI team. Handout

The end goal of the project: an open-source database and interspecies communication toolset that can be applied one day to other species, tooon Earth and who knows where else?

CETI recently raised a significant chunk of funding under the umbrella of TEDs Audacious Projectan incubator program for world-changing ideas. At the 2023 TED conference, Gruber held an intimate learning session where he presented the latest on the projects progress. According to Gruber, when Payne first began studying humpback songs in the 1960s, he didnt bring human language experts into the mix. This time around, the plan is different: Linguists are going to be the special sauce, he told attendees. Its almost like Arrival.

Sperm whales. Amanda Cotton

Decoding the codas

Interspecies listening and translation research is happening across the animal kingdom, from birds and bats, to turtles, to honeybees. But once humans understand other species, the next logical step is to talk back. That, according to Canadian scientist and Rhodes Scholar Karen Bakker, opens up a whole can of worms.

Some believe that interspecies communication would help foster respect and empathy for nature, Bakker, a professor at the University of British Columbia who studies bioacoustics and non-human communication, said in a yet-to-be-published talk also at TED. Others believe that it is profoundly disrespectful and unethical to eavesdrop and engage in this way.

One of the upsides, so far, she said, is the bioacoustic tech already put into use last year to triangulate the locations of massive, majestic North Atlantic right whales, of which fewer than 350 remain in the world, and convey those coordinates to ship captains in real time so they can slow down or stop. Not a single right whale has died in a ship strike in this zone since this program was launched, she said.

Could These Mysterious Radio Signals Point Us to Alien Life?

Meanwhile, another group of scientists working with a non-profit called the Earth Species Project are using algorithms to generate hypothetical humpback whale vocalizations in a guess-and-check approach to understanding what certain humpback sounds mean.

The CETI team isnt ready to jump to this step, Gruber told The Daily Beast. He wants his team to master listeningand to feel confident that they understand to some extentwhale speak before they fire off messages into the deep ocean.

I'm coming at this from someone whos studied animals for two decades, and, Im coming at it as someone who has also seen coral reefs disappear, quite rapidly, in my lifetime, he said, noting that its important to him that this innovation is being led by experts specifically from the animal behavior and conservation spacenot big tech. The fact that we want to hear what the whale says is most important to me.

A sperm whale mother and her child. Arun Madisetti

To do that, theyre learning from scratch, like a baby would, he said, with a focus on mothers and their calves.

Basically, we need to train the computer to be a baby whale, he said. Of course, that will take massive amounts of dataand acquiring it wont be easy.

Thanks to longtime whale-listening researcher Shane Gero, the founder of the Dominica Sperm Whale Project and a CETI collaborator, the team has an initial few thousand sperm whale vocalizations from Dominica to work with. But for CETIs custom machine learning program to do its thing, the team will soon require hundreds of millions of audio recordings, at the least. And those all need to be annotated and mapped to behaviors, down to the millisecond.

Thats why CETIs work right now is mostly unfolding not on the deck of their 40-foot research sailboat in Dominica, but in the robotics lab at Harvard, where roboticists are developing and testing CETIs core whale listening stationfloating beacons strung with a multitude of dangling, waterproof microphones on long, long cordsand a series of whale recording units.

Handout

Were building all the technology de novo, Gruber noted. Its not like you just go get off-the-shelf equipment on how to communicate with whales.

Complicating matters further is the teams commitment to never drawing a single drop of blood from its study subjects. That makes it a big challenge to tag whales with trackers, mics, and eventually cameras that stay put on animals that regularly dive as deep as a mile underwater.

When data is collected (about four terabytes per month), its uploaded from the Eastern Caribbean to the cloud, and CETIs algorithms start searching for linguistically significant patterns, like recursion (which requires grammar) or displacement (the discussion of things that are not immediately present, physically or in terms of timeonly observed in human communication so far).

Eventually, the researchers will start playing back codas to the whales, not necessarily to talk to themyetbut to test theories about what theyre hearing. In my mind, its not really that I have something to say to a whale, Gruber says. This is a way to validate that our algorithms are right. [...] The fact that we want to hear what the whale says is most important to me.

Handout

Overcoming Our Inner Captain Ahab

Sperm whales and humans can relate on some pretty fundamental issues: Were mammals, and theyre mammals. We share that in common, Gruber said. Obviously, theyre eating and theyre sleeping. And theyre caretaking. And theyre babysitting. So there are some features that we definitely know are overlapping.

But he is most curious about the parts of our world and their world that dont overlap. Their world is so different from ours, and those are the fun things that my brain goes to, he said.

Scientists are supposed to be completely objective, he added, but its pretty much impossible to shed the biases about how the world works that come from the sheer experience of being humanbreathing oxygen, eating food, amassing and sharing knowledge, living in an environment with gravity.

We have to keep open to what the data will show us, and what new things will come out, he said. And that, I think, will be relevant if we were to meet an extraterrestrial Honestly, the first question for me is: Are we ready to meet an alien? Say the whale was the alien: When we met it, we harpooned it.

Gruber doesnt feel confident this will become a pressing issue within his lifetime, but if and when humans do encounter extraterrestrial life, he believes there is a real risk theyd make the same mistakes they made when encountering new species on Earth. CETI, he hopes, could help. Part of this is to get our training wheels and get ready for that.

I work with sharks, and for 400 million years, theyve been top predators. For so long that theyve developed this kind of consciousness to be at the top of the food chain, Gruber said. Humans, were kind of mid-tier primates. We [havent] been at the top that long. Thats why I think we like to watch Shark Week: because we still have that kind of primal part of our brain.

Ultimately, Gruber thinks the CETI project isnt simply an exercise in learning how to talk to aliens, but a longer practice that could teach us how to ensure these communications occur peacefully and ethically for all involved. I think its kind of like a race to get our consciousness to the point where we recognize how powerful we are, but also how fragile and vulnerable we areyou know, before we destroy everything.

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As Albanians go to the polls on May 14 in local elections in a region that many experts and policymakers consider a tinderbox in Europes tumultuous Balkans region, critics worry that the Biden administration has retreated from the former communist county.

"Albania has been a NATO member in good standing, serving as a stabilizing force within NATO that Russia is trying to divide. Albanian troops served alongside the U.S. military in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan," Rebekah Koffler, a former defense intelligence analyst, told Fox News Digital.

While Albanias democratic credentials are seriously questioned, the small Balkan nation, one of Europes poorest, has made significant contributions to U.S. foreign policy goals over the years.

Albania, once an authoritarian Marxist country with bitter relations with the U.S. during the Cold War, is now one of the most pro-U.S. countries in Europe and has a large diaspora community in the United States. But the amount of attention Albania receives from President Biden and Western policymakers is little for a country struggling to consolidate its democracy.

LONGTIME FOES SERBIA AND KOSOVO NEARING NORMALIZATION OF RELATIONS

A woman casts her ballot at a voting station in the village of Paskuqan, near Tirana, during Albanias' Parliamentary elections on April 25, 2021. Albanians vote in municipal elections on Sunday. (Photo by GENT SHKULLAKU/AFP via Getty Images)

"Historically, its been the United States that has shown leadership in the Balkans, and corralled the rest of Europe towards resolving the conflicts of the region and setting the current political and security architecture in the region," former Albanian Ambassador to the U.S. and the United Nations, Agim Nesho, told Fox News Digital. "This was especially the case during the Clinton and Bush 43 administrations. However, the focus shifted during the Obama and Trump administrations, giving space to special interests to push dangerous new projects anchored on autocrats like Prime Minister Rama and Serbian President Aleksander Vucic, such as the Open Balkans initiative."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Along with Vucic, Rama is a co-leader of the "Open Balkans" initiative, a proposal that would facilitate a freer flow of people and goods across the Balkans, which on the surface seems like it would benefit the entire region. But many people in Albania and across the Balkans in Montenegro, Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina oppose the initiative over fears that it is a Serbian ploy to supplant the common regional market of Europe and would threaten Balkan countries' desire to join the EU.

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"The Open Balkans initiative seeks to redraw everything from borders to economic, political and military interest in the Balkans, by bringing in the influence of Russia and non-Western actors like Turkey and China into play, and risks renewed conflict in the region," Ambassador Nesho warned.

Albania may be a small and neglected nation, and while it struggles with the rule of law, organized crime and corrupt institutions, a strong turnout and clean electoral process without any irregularities will be a beacon of hope for a region caught between a democratic West and an authoritarian east, mainly championed by Russia.

US WARNS RUSSIAN-LINKED ACTORS SEEKING TO 'FOMENT MANUFACTURED INSURRECTION' IN EUROPEAN COUNTRY

"U.S. foreign policy, if it continues to be indifferent and pragmatic in its policy towards the Western Balkans, will lose the Balkans and its influence in the region," Ambassador Nesho said.

Polls open on Sunday, and Albanians will elect mayors and members of local councils across 61 municipalities. The last local elections held in 2019 were boycotted by opposition parties, leading to a rout by the ruling Socialist Party.

Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama waves as he addresses his supporters in the central square of Tirana, following his Socialist Party election victory on April 27, 2021. (Photo by GENT SHKULLAKU/AFP via Getty Images)

The main parties vying for power in the local elections include Prime Minister Edi Ramas Socialist Party, the center-right Democratic Party and the Together We Win coalition, an offshoot of the Democratic Party.

Although Albania does have competitive elections, they are often marred by corruption and allegations of votebuying, worrying many international election observers. Many of the cases of vote-buying and rigging involve Ramas Socialist Party. One notable example saw the chief of police in one region mobilize the entire force to block buses loaded with opposition supporters, a clear instance of voter suppression and intimidation.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) will have about 300 short-term observers throughout the country to monitor polling stations and counting of the votes.

Allegations of electoral corruption are not new in Albania, and it has been become a widespread feature of elections throughout the years. Freedom House, which tracks democracy standards around the world, notes that some voters in previous elections have reported being threatened with being fired or loss of benefits, depending on how they vote. Its also common for criminal organizations to have an influence on Albanian politics.

This aerial photograph taken on April 24, 2021, shows Tirana's main boulevard "Deshmoret e Kombit." Albania held its general election in 2021, with the centre-left sitting Prime Minister of the Socialist Party winning a third mandate, after facing a challenge from a dozen parties united behind the main opposition Democratic Party. (Photo by GENT SHKULLAKU/AFP via Getty Images)

HISTORIC RUSSIAN ALLY SNUBS PUTIN IN GROWING SHIFT TO EUROPEAN UNION

International election observers from the U.S. and EU will be closely monitoring the vote.

"Our expectation is that a country like Albania, which is a member of NATO and an aspirant for EU membership, will do its very best to ensure that the elections are conducted in accordance with international standards and norms. We also know that there is room for improvement," U.S. Ambassador to Albania, Yuri Kim, said in a recent interview.

The State Department directed Fox News Digital to a series of tweets from the U.S. Embassy regarding the election. The tweets called on authorities to respect the call for free and fair elections.

Koffler warned that "Unless team Biden re-engages in the Balkans, including Albania, and pronto, Putin and even China are likely to be already filling the vacuum, as they have done in other places, such as in Syria, when Obama withdrew, and many parts of Africa."

Fox News Digital reached out to the Foreign Ministry of Albania for comment but did not hear back by publication time.
'Doomsday' mother Lori Vallow has been convicted of killing her two children

A US mother with "doomsday" religious beliefs was found guilty Friday of murdering two of her children and conspiring to kill her husband's ex-wife.

Lori Vallow was on trial in the northwestern US state of Idaho over the deaths of her 16-year-old daughter Tylee Ryan and adopted seven-year-old son Joshua "JJ" Vallow.

Vallow, who has reportedly claimed to be a goddess charged with preparing humanity for the second coming of Christ, faces up to life in prison without parole.

Her fifth husband Chad Daybell -- the self-published author of several apocalyptic novels -- will soon go on trial separately over similar charges, which also include the murder of his first wife, Tammy.

The couple's "religious beliefs" were cited by prosecutors as a factor in the murders, and their story was the subject of a Netflix true-crime documentary series "Sins of Our Mother," released last year.

The case first drew national headlines in late 2019 following the disappearance of Vallow's children, which was first reported to authorities by Joshua's grandparents.

The police inquiry quickly took a macabre turn as it emerged that several people associated with Vallow and Daybell had died in recent years, and she was arrested in Hawaii months later.

Vallow's third husband, Joseph Ryan -- Tylee's father -- had died in 2018 of a heart attack.

She was in the process of divorcing her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, when he was killed by a gunshot, fired by her now-deceased brother, in July 2019.

In October 2019, Daybell's wife Tammy died ostensibly of natural causes. Vallow and Daybell moved to Hawaii a few weeks later, where they married.

Vallow and Daybell never reported that the children were missing, and their bodies were found in June 2020 on property owned by Daybell in Idaho.

The judge agreed to take the death penalty off the table for Vallow, whose sentencing date has not been set.

Daybell has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and could still face the death penalty if found guilty.

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Vallow, raised a Mormon, became increasingly radical in her religious beliefs over time, coming to believe she could communicate with angels.

In 2018, she met Daybell -- the leader of a radical Mormon sect that was preparing for the end times -- at a religious conference in Utah.

Her previous husband Charles Vallow said she had claimed to be "a god assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ's second coming."

Some religions believe that 144,000 of the faithful will be resurrected during the Apocalypse to spend eternity in heaven.

Prosecutors also claimed a financial motive for the crimes.

Vallow was also convicted of grand theft, having obtained social security benefits intended for her already deceased children. Daybell is charged with insurance fraud.

amz/hg/sst
Concerns over exploding air bags have long plagued the auto industry

A company that supplies airbag parts to about one-quarter of US vehicles has rejected a request to recall its defective product.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said ARC Automotive's airbag inflators had ruptured and caused injury on several occasions due to a safety defect.

It urged the parts maker to immediately withdraw 67 million of its inflators.

ARC replied that the agency's findings did not support a large-scale recall.

Concerns over airbag inflators that explode and hurl shrapnel at passengers have long plagued the auto industry.

ARC's products are used by several top automakers, including BMW, General Motors, Hyundai and Kia.

GM on Friday agreed to recall almost one million vehicles. The driver of a GM-made SUV sustained facial injuries from a ruptured air bag this March.

That incident is one of nine, dating back to 2009, that was cited by the NHTSA in a letter to the parts supplier that presented the findings of an eight-year investigation.

"An air bag inflator that ruptures when deploying in a vehicle is plainly defective," wrote Stephen Ridella, director of the NHTSA office of defects investigation.

Recommending an immediate recall for safety reasons, he warned the defect had created "an unreasonable risk of death and injury" to front-seat passengers.

The company wrote back on Thursday that it "strongly disagrees" with the NHTSA's findings.

"ARC takes any potential issue with its products very seriously," said Steve Gold, ARC's vice-president of product integrity.

But, he said, investigators had failed to identify any "systemic or prevalent defect" in the inflators, instead relying on incidents that resulted from "random "one-off" manufacturing anomalies" that have already been addressed.

The stand-off is likely to tee up a legal battle if the two parties cannot reach an agreement.

The spat is reminiscent of the years-long recall of more than 100 million defective inflators sold by Takata Corporation.

The sprawling recall was the largest in the history of the US auto industry and ultimately led the Japanese parts maker to file for bankruptcy.
Tacoma is home to a number of museums, many of which have free entry hours and neighborhood nights. If youre planning an outing to a Tacoma museum in the region of Dock Street and Pacific Avenue, sometimes called museum row, scouting parking options and nearby restaurants ahead of time is crucial.

We took a look at Tacomas museum district, including opening and closing times, entry fees, free visitor days and times and contact information for more questions. We also mapped out nearby restaurants and parking.

Heres everything you need to know before you go:

Museum row in Tacoma

Tacoma Art Museum

1701 Pacific Ave.

253-272-4258

Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wed., Fri.Sun.; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thurs.

The Tacoma Art Museum was founded in 1935 and has been in its current location since 2003. The multi-level, mid-sized museum has over 5,000 pieces of art in its collection, most of which were made by Pacific Northwest artists. Admission is also free Thursdays 5 to 8 p.m. to the community. Parking is available in a lot on Hood Street.

The Tacoma Art Museum has art pieces dating as far back as the 1600s. The museum hosts free neighborhood nights on Thursdays.

Museum of Glass

1801 Dock St.

253-284-4750

Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wed.-Sun.

This institution, dedicated to the medium of glassmaking, has been a Tacoma mainstay since 2002. The museum spearheads several innovative programs aimed at educating children about glassmaking and art, including the Kids Design Class and Science of Art. In addition, veterans and soldiers can partake in Hot Stop Heroes and expose glassmaking as a therapeutic passtime. Admission varies based on the exhibits currently on display. Parking is available on Dock Street.

Foss Waterway Seaport Maritime Museum

705 Dock Street

253-272-2750

Hours: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Thurs.Sun.; closes 8 p.m. every third Thursday of the month

This heritage museum in downtown Tacoma has a robust collection of memorabilia cherishing South Sounds storied maritime history. The museum states it is equal parts education facility, boat shop, maritime museum, dock, moorage, and iconic events venue. Admission is free evenings every third Thursday of the month from 4-8 p.m. Public street parking and boat moorage are available.

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Childrens Museum of Tacoma

1501 Pacific Ave.

253-627-6031

Hours: 15 p.m. Thurs.; 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fri.Sun.

Members-only hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mon.; 910 a.m. Sat.

The Childrens Museum operates on a donations-based admission and centers on providing art activities, storytime and dancing programs for families to enjoy together. Paid parking is available in the lot adjacent to the museum on the weekends, but it is closed during to the public on weekdays. Become a member with the museum to get access to members-only hours and free admission and enjoy free parking in the museums lot.

Childrens Museum of Tacoma features nature-centric environments for youth ages 12 and under. Admission is made in the form of a donation.

Washington State History Museum

1911 Pacific Ave.

1-888-238-4373

Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tues.Sun.; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. third Thurs. of the month

The Washington State History Museum features an array of permanent exhibitions, rotating displays and events. Explore a model railroad display, the history of migration and immigration in Washington state and view art pieces from third-generation Japanese-Americans. Upcoming events include the South Sound Day of Remembrance on May 18 and a series on Skate history for people aged 21 and over. Admission is free every third Thursday of the month. Parking is available on the buildings Pacific Avenue level, or behind Union Station.

Additional Tacoma museums

Buffalo Soldiers Museum

1940 South Wilkeson St.

253-272-4257

Hours: Noon to 4 p.m. Wed. & Sat.

This museum opened in 2012 and honors the legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers, a regiment of American Army fighters comprised by Black Americans who served between 1866 and 1944. Tacomas Buffalo Soldiers Museum is only one of two of its kind nationwide, the other being in Houston. The facility was started by Jackie Jones-Hook, the daughter of Buffalo soldier William Jones, who died in 2009. Street parking is available on South Wilkeson Street.

LeMay Americas Car Museum

2702 East D St.

253-779-8490

Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thurs.-Mon.

This car museum aims to preserve the history of Americas automotive treasures, offer training opportunities on automotive preservation and teach visitors about the automobiles impact on American culture. The museum has obtained more than 3,000 vehicles and thousands of artifacts over the years. Paid parking is available, and there is also street parking.

Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum

407 South G St.

253-383-2575

Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wed.Sat.

This library, founded in 1983 by David and Marsha Karpeles, has more than a million historical documents across multiple nationwide locations. The Tacoma location has a permanent exhibition on the 1945 Japanese Surrender. Admission is free.

Job Carr Cabin Museum

2350 North 30th St.

253-627-5405

Hours: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fri. & Sat.

The Job Carr Cabin Museum was built in 2000 to be an exact replica of Tacomas first permanent non-Native residence on land not belonging to the Puyallup tribe. The facility hosts interactive living history programming and education opportunities. Its named after Job Carr, Tacomas first non-Native permanent settler. He was born in New Jersey in 1813 and arrived in Olympia in late 1864 at the age of 51. Free parking is available on North 30th Street and North 29th Street.

Restaurants on museum row

Some museums on Pacific Avenue and Dock Street have their own cafes, but you may want to explore what else downtown Tacoma has for grub. Heres a list of eateries to check out if youre spending an afternoon trekking through museum row:

Bobalust Cafe for bubble tea

1701 Dock St.

Hours: 210 p.m. Sun.-Thurs.; open until 11 p.m. Fri. & Sat.

The Fish Peddler Restaurant for seafood

1199 Dock St.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Camp Colvos Brewing + Pizza Co. for pizza and beer

2104 Commerce St.

Hours: Noon to 9 p.m. Mon.-Thurs.; open until 11 p.m. Fri. & Sat.; open until 8 p.m. Sun.

THEKOI for sushi

1552 Commerce St. #100

Hours: 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Mon.-Thurs.; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fri.; Noon to 10 p.m. Sat.; Noon to 9:30 p.m. Sun.

Zeeks Pizza for beer and pizza

1702 Pacific Ave.

Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Sam Choys Poke to the Max for Hawaiian

1716 Pacific Ave.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The Old Spaghetti Factory for Italian

1250 Pacific Ave. #101

Hours: 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Mon.-Thurs.; 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Fri. & Sat.; 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sun.

Rock The Dock Pub & Grill for burgers, salads and live music
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company, arrives to pay the last respects to slain Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, during a funeral ceremony at the Troyekurovskoye cemetery in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, April 8, 2023. AP Photo

Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, is ranting at military leaders and even taking what looked like a veiled shot at Putin.

Putin plays his factions off one another, which can fuel their anger. That fury has come out publicly.

The Russian leader can't afford to target Prigozhin, but the Kremlin may feel it has other ways to keep him in check, a war expert said.

The tide has turned against Russian mercenaries in the Ukraine war's fiercest battle, and their boss is going off the rails.

He has ripped into top military leaders, and even taken what looked like a veiled shot at the Russian president. He has also made shocking threats to withdraw his troops and to release details of Russian military failures if his forces don't get the ammo they need.

Russians have ended up dead or in prison for far less.

The taunts and tirades of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the paramilitary Wagner Group who has become one of Russia's most prominent voices in the conflict, are increasingly laying bare apparent rifts in the Russian war effort, and undermining Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin has recently appeared to shift his support away from Prigozhin in favor of the defense ministry, which oversees the vast majority of Russian troops but has come under harsh criticism for bungled operations.

That shift seems to be fueling Prigozhin's anger. Though he strikes hardest at the defense ministry, he has apparently aimed his frustrations at Putin as well.

According to Kateryna Stepanenko, an expert on the Russian military at the Institute for the Study of War, these internal tensions are of Putin's own making, but he may have little choice but to let them play out.

"He sets up a very toxic environment where he only allows one faction to capture his attention at a time," Stepanenko said of Putin. "He switches between teams, and that forces the two factions to compete against each other."

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Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin attends the funeral of his fighters at the Beloostrovskoye cemetery outside St. Petersburg, Russia, on December 24, 2022. AP Photo

Prigozhin's endless fury

Wagner's forces have played a crucial role in Russian combat operations in Ukraine, which allowed Prigozhin to expand the group at the expense of Russian military resources and push command decisions to Putin directly, often bypassing the defense ministry. But for months now, the mercenary forces, including Wagner's army of convicts, have been bogged down in the battle for Bakhmut, a horrific high-casualty fight.

During the intense fighting in Bakhmut, where the mercenaries have suffered tremendous losses, simmering tensions between the Russian defense ministry and the Wagner boss have boiled over. With the replacement of Gen. Sergei Surovikin, an infamous Russian leader pushed by ultranationalists like Prigozhin, in January, the Russian defense ministry retook control.

Prigozhin, a financier for the notorious paramilitary company and long-time Putin ally, has posted videos showing piles of Wagner corpses as he blasts Russian military leadership, specifically Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and Gen. Valery Gerasimov, Surovikin's replacement and the latest commander of Russian operations in Ukraine. Under this leadership, support for Wagner has drastically declined, infuriating Prigozhin.

He blames them for the "shell hunger," as he calls the lack of ammunition and essential supplies that he says is costing the lives of the men in his company. The situation got so bad for Wagner at one point that expert observers speculated that the Russian military was purposefully decimating the group.

More recently, as the problems persisted for Wagner, Prigozhin threatened to withdraw his forces from Bakhmut, a bold threat that he later walked back after purportedly securing a promise to deliver the necessary ammunition from Russia's defense ministry.

Beyond potentially jeopardizing operations around Bakhmut, the Institute for the Study of War wrote in a recent update on the war in Ukraine that "chain of command problems" caused by irregular commanders like Prigozhin seems to be "having a significant impact on the Russian military's ability to conduct coherent theater-wide operations."

Prigozhin said he was threatened with treason over his assertions that Wagner forces would pull out of Bakhmut. That threat hasn't slowed him down or curbed his rants though.

When his forces did not receive the promised supplies and ammunition, Prigozhin posted a video threatening to release details of Russia's military failings if he didn't get ammo. He also mocked the Russian victory parade, and he seemingly hinted that Putin, though the mercenary boss doesn't criticize him by name, might not be a kind "grandfather" but rather a "complete asshole." He later said he wasn't talking about Putin.

It is not clear if the ammunition problems, which Stepanenko suspects Putin likely permitted as the Russian military conserves ammunition ahead of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive, was ever resolved, but it does look like the Russian leader may be letting his commanders spar for influence.

"He is definitely pitting those two factions against one another," Stepanenko said of Putin's manipulation of Wagner and the defense ministry, adding that Putin "likely allowed the Russian Ministry of Defense to stop providing Wagner with shells in Bakhmut," the issue at the heart of much of the recent infighting.

"Putin," she said, "is definitely the mastermind that juggles the two of them."

But, even if Prigozhin's concerns might have merit, a question lingers: How can he say what he does without consequence? And he's not the only one in this situation. Former FSB officer Igor Girkin is another outspoken nationalist who is now somewhere in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region.

"It's obviously a longstanding question," Stepanenko said. "Why are they able to do so when Russia is so repressive and is able to suppress any protests, arrest so many of the opposition leaders, and so on?"

Founder of Wagner private mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin makes a statement as he stand next to Wagner fighters in an undisclosed location in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in this still image taken from video released May 5, 2023. Press service of "Concord"/Handout via REUTERS

Putin can't risk upsetting his ultranationalist allies

"These ultranationalists, such as Prigozhin, serve as a source of recruitment for force generation efforts for Putin," who desperately wants to avoid another mobilization, which previously led to substantial discontent within Russian society, she explained.

Prigozhin is a leading figure in the Russian ultranationalist network, which is a source of recruits and has a firm grip on key parts of the online information space in Russia. As the Wagner Group's head, he has promoted its culture of extreme violence as symbolized in a sledgehammer, a reference to the execution method for Wagner deserters.

"Putin does not want to upset the ultranationalist community," Stepanenko said.

"He cannot just simply kill Prigozhin and expect that not to trigger some sort of reaction," she said. "He, of course, could, but that would undermine his appeal to the nationalists, who are the only people that are so inherently invested in his ideology and his belief in this war."

Russia has created a tightly controlled information space by closely managing television, press, and radio and limiting social media platforms in the country, but in the remaining social media spaces, which are less restricted, the ultranationalists have found a place to share both information and disinformation on this war.

"Imagine if Putin decides to kill Prigozhin and frame it as an accident, that aspect of the information space is going to explode," Stepanenko said. Prigozhin knows how to weaponize information, and the nature of these spaces has been carefully crafted for a purpose.

Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin addresses former convicts as he releases them from serving in his mercenary army, according to state-controlled media RIA Novosti

Even amid the ranting, Prigozhin has demonstrated a cautiousness at times, clearly self-censoring to some degree when it comes to Putin, perhaps not wanting to completely severe those ties because there is a potential point where he risks becoming more hassle than he is helpful, especially if his value declines.

"Prigozhin still holds some value if he's able to operate," Stepanenko said. "I don't know how long that value is going to continue, if he's going to be able to retain that authority after his forces are fully depleted or have to go through reconstitution, or if his recruitment rates fall down through Russia and Wagner is no longer an appealing private military company."

At that point, Putin could opt to replace Prigozhin. Russia has already opened the door to new private military companies, which may be part of a play to de-emphasize Wagner.

Notably though, Putin, as ISW noticed in a recent analysis of command changes, doesn't really fire anyone.

"Instead, he kind of rotates them out and then sends them to Syria" or somewhere else "despite major military failures on the battlefield," Stepanenko said. "I feel like that kind of approach that Putin takes also applies to the way he sees Prigozhin."

"I think that Putin's way of leadership is he never really wants someone to fully hate him," she said. "Putin's approach is different in the sense that he gives hope. He gives hope that one day you can come back to power, one day can be heard, or one day you can impress enough to regain your position."

But even if Putin can't really punish Prigozhin right now, an important part of why Russian leadership may tolerate outbursts by ultranationalists like Prigozhin is that the Kremlin feels like these leaders are not independent of it and that they require support to function, giving it leverage.

Recent independent Russian media interviews with officials indicate that "the reason Prigozhin and all of these ultranationalists are allowed to operate is because the Kremlin really thinks that they're able to control them," Stepanenko said.

And there's been some movement in that space. As Prigozhin makes one move, the Kremlin makes another, such as allowing the rationing of shells at his and his forces' expense or cutting his access to the recruitment of prisoners.

The Kremlin is "thinking they can tolerate this because these ultranationalist figures, like Prigozhin, Girkin, and so on, they rely on some sort of supplies, military provision from the government, she said. "I think the Kremlin is playing that up right now." For now, though, the feuding and fighting continues.

Read the original article on Business Insider
MEXICO CITY (AP)  For weeks, Solangel Contreras raced.

The Venezuelan migrant and her family of 22 trudged through the dense jungles of the Darien Gap and hopped borders across Central America.

They joined thousands of other migrants from across the Hemisphere in a scramble to reach the United States-Mexico border and request asylum.

They raced, unsure what changing migratory rules and the end of a pandemic-era border restriction, Title 42, would mean for their chances at a new life in the U.S.

But after missing that cutoff, robbed in Guatemala and crossing into Mexico shortly after the program ended Thursday night, Contreras, 33, had only one certainty in her mind: Were going to keep going.

Confusion has rippled from the U.S.-Mexico border to migrant routes across the Americas, as migrants scramble to understand complex and ever-changing policies. And while Title 42 has come to an end, the flow of migrants headed north has not.

From the rolling mountains and jungles in Central America to the tops of trains roaring through Mexico, migrants from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, Colombia, Nicaragua, Ecuador and beyond push forward on their journeys.

Weve already done everything humanly possible to get where we are, Contreras said, resting in a park near a river dividing Mexico and Guatemala.

The problem, say experts, is that while migration laws are changing, root causes pushing people to flee their countries in record numbers only stretch on.

It doesnt appear to be the case that this is going to curb the push or pull factors for migration from Central America, South America and other parts of the world, said Falko Ernst, senior analyst for International Crisis Group in Mexico. The incentives for people to flee and seek refuge in safer havens in the United States are still in place.

For Contreras, that push came after her brother was killed in Ecuador for not paying extorsions to a criminal group. The family had been living in a small coastal town in the south after fleeing economic crisis in Venezuela two years earlier.

Story continues

Others, like 25-year-old migrant Gerardo Escobar left in search of a better future after struggling to make ends meet in Venezuela like Contreras family.

Escobar trekked along train tracks Friday morning just outside Mexico City, with 60 other migrants, including families and small children. They hoped to climb aboard a train migrants have used for decades to carry them on their dangerous journey.

Escobar was among many to say he had no clue what the end of Title 42 would mean, and he didnt particularly care.

My dream is to get a job, eat well, help my family in Venezuela, he said. My dream is to move forward.

Despite misinformation prompting a rush to the border last week, analysts and those providing refuge to migrants said that they dont expect new policies to radically stem the flow of migrants.

Title 42 allowed authorities to use a public health law to rapidly expel migrants crossing over the border, denying them the right to seek asylum. U.S. officials turned away migrants more than 2.8 million times under the order.

New rules strip away that ability to simply expel asylum seekers, but add stricter consequences to those not going through official migratory channels. Migrants caught crossing illegally will not be allowed to return for five years and can face criminal prosecution if they do.

The Biden administration has also set caps on the amount of migrants allowed to seek asylum.

At the same time, Biden is likely to continue American pressure on Mexico and other countries to make it harder for migrants to move north.

Mexicos Secretary of Foreign Affairs Marcelo Ebrard said they don't agree with the Biden administrations decision to continue to put up migratory barriers.

Our position is the opposite, but we respect their (US) jurisdiction, Ebrard said.

Yet in a news briefing on Friday, he announced Mexico would carry out speedier deportations, and that it would no longer give migrants papers to cross through Mexico.

While the new rules likely wont act as a strong deterrent, Ebrard and the head of a migrant shelter in Guatemala said they saw a drop in the number of migrants they encountered immediately following the rush on the U.S. border. Though the shelter leader said numbers have been slowly picking up.

Still, migrants continued to make it across the U.S. border, even as the new rules were announced. At a cemetery near Roma, Texas, about 60 migrants who had crossed the Rio Bravo were waiting to be processed around midnight. They included a large group of Chinese migrants who huddled for cover under a driving rain.

Another member of the group, a Guatemalan who left her country to escape an abusive husband, crossed the river with her four-year-old son. With the rules changing, she was unsure if shed qualify for any asylum help.

Ernst, of International Crisis Group, warned that such measures could make the already deadly journey even more dangerous.

Youll see an increase in populations that remain vulnerable for criminal groups to prey on, to recruit from and make a profit from, he said. It could just feed into the hands of these criminal groups.

Meanwhile, Contreras continues trucking forward alongside many other migrants, even with no clear pathway forward and little information about what awaits them at the border.

Its worth it, she said, to give a better life to small children traveling with them.

Weve fought a lot for them (the kids)," she said. All we want is to be safe, a humble home where they can study, where they can eat well. Were not asking for much. Were just asking for peace and safety.



Associated Press journalists contributed from Marco Ugarte in Huehuetoca, Mexico, Edgar H. Clemente in Tapachula, Mexico, Mark Stevenson in Mexico City, and Colleen Long in Washington. Janetsky reported from Mexico City.
ISLAMABAD, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Thirteen people, including six soldiers and a civilian, were killed, and six hostages were injured in a clearance operation at a military compound in Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province, a military statement said on Saturday.

The operation was completed on Saturday morning after the terrorists attacked the compound of paramilitary troops' frontier corps in northern Balochistan on Friday morning, the military's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in the statement.

"The complex clearance operation involved hostage rescue operation as well to save three families from a residential block. The terrorists had not even spared children of their horrendous approach," ISPR said.

All the six well-equipped terrorists involved in the attack were killed, said the statement. 
The northern lights, aka the aurora borealis, have been appearing more frequently in the night sky over the United States recently. In late April, for example, a stunning aurora display was seen as far south as Arkansas in the South and Arizona in the West. And a more modest event occurred this week.

So why the uptick in aurora sightings? And is this expected to continue?

Well, if you love the aurora, you're in luck, as it may be coming to a sky near you more often over the next few years thanks to the "solar maximum," which occurs in 2025.

"There have been an increase in aurora seen in general on Earth," Shannon Schmoll, the director of the Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University told USA TODAY. "The sun has been more active, resulting in more solar storms that cause solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CME).

"The material released during these solar flares and CMEs interact with the Earth's magnetic field and excite particles in our atmosphere resulting in a beautiful light show in our sky known as the aurora," she said.

Northern lights photos: See aurora borealis light up skies across several states

The northern lights in Norway.

What are the northern lights?

The aurora forms when the particles flowing from the sun get caught up in the Earth's magnetic field. The particles interact with molecules of atmospheric gases to cause the famed glowing green and reddish colors of the aurora, according to NASA.

The composition and density of the atmosphere and the altitude of the collisions determine the colors of the lights, the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, said. "The aurora is most often seen as a striking green, but it also occasionally shows off other colors, ranging from red to pink or blue to purple," the University said on its website.

The lights are visible in both the far northern and southern parts of the world. The southern lights are known as the aurora australis.

More aurora news: Northern lights expected Thursday night in US. Here's where and when to see the aurora.

Story continues

What are solar cycles? What is the solar maximum?

Solar cycles track the activity level of the sun, our nearest star. A cycle is traditionally measured by the rise and fall in the number of sunspots, but it also coincides with increases in solar flares, coronal mass ejections, radio emissions and other forms of space weather.

"The sun has an 11-year cycle where it goes through maximum and minimum," said Schmoll. "This results in the number of sunspots seen on the sun. Sunspots result from areas of the sun that have stronger magnetic fields."

The number of sunspots on the sun's surface changes on a fairly regular cycle, which scientists refer to as the sun's 11-year cycle variation. Sunspot activity, and hence auroral activity, tends to peak every 11 years.

Scientists use sunspots to track solar cycle progress, NASA said. The dark blotches on the sun are associated with solar activity, often as the origins for giant explosions  such as solar flares or coronal mass ejections  that can spew light, energy and solar material into space.

"This material and radiation is what interacts with the Earth resulting in aurora," Schmoll said.

Northern Lights over the Arctic

When is the next solar maximum?

Scientists have forecasted the next peak of solar activity (the solar maximum) will be reached in July 2025, NASA said. Thus, as we approach the solar maximum, we'll start to see more intense and more frequent aurora.

The last solar maximum was in 2014; The chances of seeing the aurora at lower latitudes increase when the sunspot cycle is at a maximum.

When were in the minimum part of the solar cycle, the sun is very quiet, basically nothing going on, Taylor Cameron, a research scientist with the Canadian Hazards Information Service, told the New York Times. And then at maximum, weve got lots of solar flares, lots of coronal mass ejections. The sun is just much more active.

The current cycle started in 2019, he added.

The northern lights in Alaska.

The sun has been surprisingly active, defying predictions

The Solar Cycle 25 Prediction Panel, an international group of experts co-sponsored by NASA and NOAA, predicted that this would be a below-average solar cycle, like the one before it  Solar Cycle 24. However, the sun has been much more active this cycle than anticipated, said Nicola Fox, director of NASAs Heliophysics Division.

"With more activity comes an increase in space weather events including solar flares and solar eruptions, which can impact radio communications, electric power grids, and navigation signals, as well as pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts," Fox said.

Where can you see the northern lights? When is it most common?

An aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, is seen in the night sky on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023, near Washtucna, Wash.

According to the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, the best places to view aurora are high northern latitudes during the winter in Alaska, Canada, and Scandinavia.

Furthermore, there is quite strong (but poorly understood) tendency for auroral activity to be stronger at the equinox than it is at solstice, according to the University. "This so-called "Russell-McPherron effect" means that the statistical likelihood of seeing aurora over interior Alaska, for instance, is roughly twice as high at equinox as it is at solstice."

In addition, combined with a slight preference for better weather in spring than in fall, this means that late February to early April are usually considered the best aurora viewing months in Alaska.

During very large auroral events, the aurora may be seen throughout the U.S. and Europe, but these events are rare. During an extreme event in 1958, the aurora was visible from Mexico City, the University of Alaska reported.

The aurora will be stronger

The northern lights in Finland.

We're just at the beginning of the most active part of this cycle, Bill Archer, a mission scientist with the Canadian Space Agency, told the CBC. As the sun becomes more active, looking to peak in activity in 2025, he said that we could see some of the strongest storms in years.

"Right now we're moving into a solar maximum, which means it's more likely that things like that are going to happen," he said, referring to a spectacular auroral display in March in Canada.

"Not only will we see more auroras, but the aurora that we see will be stronger," Archer told the CBC.

Photo gallery: Best spots to see the northern lights

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Experts predict years of good northern lights viewing: Here's why.
At half past five in the morning on 3 March 2022, Vitalii Perehon, 47, who lives in Kyiv Oblast, was woken by a phone call. It was Serhii Martovytskyi, his cousin from Izium. Vitalii's hands started shaking.

"Hello?"

"Vitalii, they're gone"

"What are you talking about?"

"They are all dead"

Serhii sent Vitalii a video of a house in his aunt's yard where he had spent time since he was a child. Only one wall was left. Everything around it was destroyed, reduced to ashes  just a cloud of smoke.

Vitalii's daughter Liza and other members of his family had been there in that house on Ukrainska Street. The people who died there were:

Yelyzaveta (Liza) Horbach, 19

Valentyna Perehon, 73

Oleksandr Perehon, 41

Iryna Perehon, 40

Arina Perehon, 9

Nikita Perehon, 3

Tetiana Balaban, 68

But it was only recently that Vitalii Perehon was able to bury all the dead. The process took over a year. This is the story of the difficulties he faced, and what his life is like now.

"In one moment, the Russians took everything from me..."

Valentyna Perehon and her granddaughter, Yelyzaveta Horbach, Vitalii's daughter (Liza for short), lived in a high-rise building in Izium near the optical and mechanical plant. On 26 February, Valentyna's youngest son, Oleksandr, came to visit from Tsyrkuny [about an hour and a half's drive away], with his wife Iryna and their children, Arina and Nikita. The family decided to stay together in the house on Ukrainska Street. Serhii Martovytskyi's family lived there too  his wife and children and his mother-in-law, Tetiana Balaban, Valentyna's sister. There were two family houses in the yard, so there was enough space for everyone.

On 2 March, day seven of the full-scale war, Vitalii Perehon called his relatives in Izium from Kyiv Oblast, which was under attack from the Russians at the time. His 19-year-old daughter Liza said that a friend of hers and her mother were leaving for Poland: there was a taxi waiting outside, and she wanted to go with them.

Story continues

"At that time, evacuation convoys were being fired on in Kyiv Oblast, and I was worried that this would happen to my daughter," said Vitalii. "So I forbade her to go. I told her to stay with her grandmother and my brother. Now I want to turn back time; I wouldn't mind where she went, I just wish she hadn't stayed at home."

Now he often goes to church and talks about it with the priest. He says he feels better afterwards.

On the night of 2-3 March, the Russian army bombarded Izium.

"The Russians dropped three aerial bombs that night," says Viktoria, who is from Izium. "The first hit the Martovytskyi family's yard, the second hit the home of Oleh Kuznetsov, who was also killed, and the third hit the night school, where ATO forces were based back in 2014." [The ATO or Anti-Terrorist Operation is a term used from 2014 to 2018 by the media, the government of Ukraine and the OSCE to identify combat actions in parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts against Russian military forces and pro-Russian separatists  ed.]

Shortly before midnight on 2 March, Liza, Valentyna, Oleksandr, Iryna, their children Arina and Nikita, and Auntie Tetiana were having a cup of tea together. Then Valentyna and Iryna went to put Nikita to bed. Tetiana was waiting for her relatives in another room. Oleksandr, Liza and Arina went out into the yard. At that moment, the Russian military dropped a bomb on the Perehons' home. Oleksandr, Liza and Arina were thrown back by the blast wave. Their bodies remained intact. But of Valentyna, Iryna, Nikita and Tetiana only fragments remained.

"In one moment, the Russians took everything from me," Vitalii says.

Seven lives

Valentyna Perehon, 73, was from Kharkiv. She worked at the Izium Optical and Mechanical Plant in the optics quality control department. There she met her future husband, Mykola. The couple had two sons, Vitalii and Oleksandr.

The Perehon family (from left to right): Vitalii, Valentyna, Oleksandr

PHOTO: PEREHON FAMILY

"My parents worked at the plant in three shifts," Vitalii recalls. "While they were at work, I used to pick Oleksandr up from nursery school, feed him and play with him. At weekends we'd visit my grandparents  my dad's parents  in their village in the Balakliia district. When the plant went bankrupt, most of the workers started working in the optics business. My mother used to travel to Izmail, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro selling lenses and glasses to earn at least a few pennies."

Liza Horbach enjoyed taking photos for social media

PHOTO: PEREHON FAMILY

Yelyzaveta (Liza), 19, was Vitalii Perehon's daughter from his first marriage. After 9th grade (aged 15), she started at Izium Vocational and Technical Lyceum No. 24, specialising in IT. She loved taking pictures and dreamed of opening a beauty salon.

"I met Maryna, Liza's mother, in Izium," Vitalii says. "She was my first great love, but unfortunately our relationship didn't work out. I went to work in Kyiv, and Liza was raised by her grandmas, especially my mum. She used to take her to nursery, and later to school. Maryna often used to travel long distances to earn money too."

Vitalii says that he now regrets that he spent so little time with his daughter.

"We often talked on the phone. Liza used to send me photos and she'd share her problems and joys. She would have graduated from technical school, and we'd agreed that I would take her to live with me in Kyiv. But I never got to do that," Vitalii says.

Oleksandr Perehon

photo from his social media

Oleksandr Perehon, 41, Vitalii's brother, was five years younger than him. He is remembered as sociable and hardworking. He met his wife, Iryna, in Kharkiv. The couple lived in the village of Tsyrkuny and had two children, their daughter Arina and son Nikita.

"Oleksandr built their house with his own hands, from the foundation up. During the day he worked at a petrol station, and then he built the house, brick by brick. Iryna and his children were his whole world. He did everything for them," his brother Vitalii recalls.

Iryna Perehon with her husband Oleksandr, daughter Arina and mother-in-law Valentyna

Photos from their social media

Iryna Perehon, 40, was born in the village of Tsyrkuny to her parents, Tetiana and Ivan Bobro. She worked as an accountant.

"Iryna was a really joyful person," says Iryna's colleague Larysa Zhuravska. "She was cheerful, always smiling. She worked in Kharkiv. She was smart, professional, and a quick learner. She had a beautiful family  so friendly, and they loved their children so much."

The last time Larysa spoke with Iryna on the phone was on 2 March.

"Irochka [a diminutive of Iryna  ed.] was very worried because she hadn't been able to persuade her mum and dad to come with them. She said she would never forgive herself for letting them stay [in Tsyrkuny] under bombardment. She was also happy that her children could finally sleep in a warm house," says Larysa.

Arina Perehon

PHOTO: IRYNA PEREHON

Nine-year-old Arina Perehon, Iryna and Oleksandr's daughter, went to school in Tsyrkuny. She is remembered as a kind and calm girl.

"Arina had extra English and maths lessons with tutors. She went to art clubs, she danced, and she loved drawing," says Iryna's friend Nataliia Tiutiunnyk.

Arina's younger brother Nikita would have turned four in the summer of 2022. A shy but cheerful little boy, he attended a nursery school in Kharkiv.

"Oleksandr built a playground near the house," Nataliia says. "We used to get together there with our children almost every evening in the summer. We used to have a tradition of celebrating the New Year together. In January 2022 they came to ours  Iryna dressed up as the Snow Maiden [Santa Claus's granddaughter and helper] and Oleksandr as a tiger. That's when we took our last photo together. They had so many plans; they had just covered the roof of their new house and were planning its interior."

Nikita Perehon at a New Year's Eve celebration

PHOTO: NATALIIA TIUTIUNNYK

Tetiana Balaban, 68, was the mother-in-law of Serhii Martovytskyi, Vitalii's cousin. She used to work at the optics plant. After the plant stopped production in 2012, she went on to work at a market, where she sold blankets, rugs and bedlinen. In her retirement, she helped her children to look after their grandchildren, and she couldn't get enough of them.

"Tetiana's husband died a long time ago," says local resident Viktoria. "She lived with her daughter Olena, her son-in-law Serhii and her grandchildren. When Serhii built a new two-storey house, Tetiana stayed in the old one. That's how the two families came to live in the same yard."

Next to Iryna's name on the list, it said "Body part"

From 3 March until Izium's liberation on 10 September, Iryna Perehon's parents Tetiana and Ivan did not know what had happened to their daughter and grandchildren. They hoped that their loved ones were alive. They just had no way of contacting them.

Meanwhile, the Perehons' friends, who had known about the tragedy since March, were looking for them.

"My daughter found a list on social media, a list of people who had been killed in Izium around 20 March," says Iryna's colleague Larysa. "Next to Iryna's name it said 'Body part'. It's just horrific... Iryna was always smiling, her eyes shone. That's how I remember her."

Iryna's friend Nataliia said that Iryna's brother and his wife knew about the tragedy but could not bring themselves to tell her parents. They were afraid their hearts would not be able to take it.

Vitalii not only knew, he also helped to organise his family members' burial. He tried to travel to Izium from Kyiv in early March but was not allowed to leave the city of Boryspil, so he decided to try to help remotely.

"I managed to contact Volodymyr Matsokin, Deputy Mayor of Izium," says Vitalii. "We discussed what to do next. The bodies of Liza, Oleksandr and Arina were taken to a morgue in the right bank part of Izium. My cousin Serhii and his son Artem collected the remains of their relatives themselves. They searched under the rubble and picked up pieces from the trees. They kept them in a bucket in the shed."

The Izium forest where people killed by Russian soldiers during the occupation of the city were buried

PHOTO: SVITLANA SADKOVA

Meanwhile, the Russian advance on Izium continued. All the bridges were blown up. Temporary pontoon crossings were set up there when the city was occupied on 1 April.

Volodymyr Matsokin contacted some funeral directors in Izium, and they managed to get into the morgue and retrieve the bodies of the Perehon family. At the same time, the pieces of Valentyna, Iryna and Nikita's bodies were collected in bags and taken to a mass burial site in a forest. The intact bodies were placed in two coffins  Oleksandr's together with his daughter Arina's, and Liza's separately.

The rest of the deceased were placed in a single bag marked "Auntie Valia [a diminutive of Valentyna] and other family members" and put in a single coffin. The funeral service dug three graves, buried them all, and put up crosses with nameplates.

Serhii Martovytskyi buried his mother-in-law Tetiana Balaban himself. After the tragedy, he and his family went to the city of Kupiansk to visit relatives, and then to Russia.

"When this was happening, we used to speak on the phone often, but now we don't talk to Serhii much. I dont want to. We are in constant contact with our cousin Maryna Mitilova, who was under occupation the entire time," Vitalii said.

The morgue attendants mixed up the bodies and brought us different ones

On the eve of his trip to liberated Izium, Vitalii received a call from a Kharkiv investigator who informed him that his relatives had been found in the mass burial site.

"I went to Kharkiv, but I didn't find them in the morgue or the refrigeration units. I started to feel hopeful... Then I went to Izium. I found Dmytro, the funeral service worker who had buried them, and we went to the forest together with him and my sister Maryna. Dmytro showed me the place. Only then did I believe it had really happened. There were hundreds of recently-dug graves all around, and crosses and sheets [to cover up bodies] lying around... I still have this image in my mind," Vitalii recalled.

Maryna Mitilova accompanied Vitalii not only to the cemetery, but also to the site of the tragedy. When he got there, he fell to his knees and sobbed uncontrollably for half an hour.

Forensic scientists take DNA samples from exhumed bodies in Izium

PHOTO: SERHII BOLVINOV

Vitalii then took a DNA test in Kharkiv and gave a statement at the prosecutor's office.

"The investigators promised that everything would be over quickly, but six months on they called me to identify Liza on a monitor. But the person I saw was not my child  I did not recognise her. Liza was wearing different clothes at the time of her death. Later, the investigator called and said that he had some upsetting news to give me: Liza's body was missing. I asked: 'How can it be missing, there was a DNA match on her?' I was told that there had been a mistake. They tried to calm me down, saying that there were still 70 unidentified bodies in the refrigerator and maybe one of them was hers," Vitalii says. You can hear the pain in his voice.

Oleksandr, Iryna, Arina and Nikita Perehon were buried in the village of Tsyrkuny

PHOTO: VITALII PEREHON

On 3 March 2023, one year to the day since the tragedy, Vitalii was finally able to bury his brother and his brother's family. Oleksandr, Iryna, Arina and Nikita Perehon were buried in the village of Tsyrkuny.

"Since Arina and Oleksandr were in the same section of the Kharkiv morgue, and Iryna and Nikita were in another, we asked that they all be placed in the same bag and coffin so that they could be together. On the day of the funeral, we were waiting at the cemetery. The diggers had already dug the grave, and the priest had arrived. The bus bringing the bodies arrived, but suddenly it turned back. It turned out that the morgue attendants had mixed up the bodies and brought us different ones. We waited at the cemetery for almost five hours until they brought our relatives. What if we had buried strangers?" Vitalii says indignantly.

Vitalii says he felt a little better after burying his brother Oleksandr and Oleksandr's family.

"This tragedy is a loss that I will have to live with for the rest of my life. I realise that I will never hear Arina, Nikita or Iryna's laughter again, or go fishing with my brother. But at least now I have a place to visit them at the cemetery," Vitalii says.

The next challenge was to bury his mother Valentyna and daughter Liza. For the past six months, he had been having dreams about his mum and daughter almost every night.

"There was such pain and heaviness weighing on my heart. We were into the second year [since they were killed], and I hadn't been able to return their bodies to the earth. I wanted them to finally find eternal peace. My heart felt uneasy. When my mum's remains were identified, the investigator said I could write an application to take her back, but I didn't want to do that without Liza, because I planned to bury them together in Izium," he says.

On 16 March, Vitalii had another dream about Liza. He was hugging his daughter and holding her tight. His mind was racing: "I have to save her from the explosion. I have to keep her alive. I have to give her all the warmth I didn't give her when she was little. I have to... I can do it..."

A wedding dress is placed in Liza's coffin

While the journalists from the Memorial project were putting this story together, they kept in touch with Vitalii Perehon and tried to support him. On 24 March 2023, Vitalii reported that investigators had called and said that he could come in, write an application, and pick up his mother and daughter for reburial in Izium.

On 27 March, Vitalii travelled to Izium. Together with his cousin Maryna Mitilova, they went to the city council and wrote an application asking for help with the burial of Valentyna and Liza. They were then directed to a funeral home, where they presented copies of the death certificates. Based on these, the council provides a coffin and a cross free of charge. If they don't like them, the relatives of the deceased can pay extra and get different ones.

"Valentyna and Liza were brought to Izium in closed coffins on 30 March," says Maryna Mitilova. "We bought Liza a wedding dress, a veil and shoes. [According to Orthodox tradition, an unmarried woman is the bride of Christ, so she wears a wedding dress  ed.] She wanted to get married to her fiance last summer  they should have had their wedding..."

About 30 relatives and neighbours attended Valentyna and Liza's funeral

PHOTO: VITALII PEREHON

Vitalii was able to bury his mother and daughter at the new cemetery in Izium, on Nekrasov Street, on 31 March. Relatives and neighbours came to see Valentyna and Liza off on their final journey.

"It was snowing and raining, it was cold. But I felt a little warmer and lighter in my heart," Vitalii says.

Moving on and remembering

Iryna's friend Nataliia Tiutiunnyk hasn't told her daughter that Arina and Nikita, with whom they had spent so many summer evenings, are no longer alive.

The last joint photo of the Perehon and Tiutiunnyk families, taken on 1 January 2022

PHOTO: NATALIIA TIUTIUNNYK

"When I look at the photos of us together, my hands start to shake. My daughter asks me if she'll be going to the same school as Nikita and Arina. I can't tell her that not only is that not going to happen, but also, we no longer have a home in Tsyrkuny. I still haven't thrown away the keys, I carry them in my pocket," Nataliia says.

Iryna's parents, Tetiana and Ivan, moved in with their son in Kharkiv. They are finding it very hard to cope with the loss, and they have not found peace: their native Kharkiv region is being relentlessly shelled by Russian missiles.

Maryna, Liza's mum, is afraid to leave Poland and go back to Izium. The last time she saw her daughter alive was in December 2021. She says her biggest fear is going into Liza's room, where all her things still remain as they were.

"We've both lost any reason to return to Izium. There's no one there for us any more," says Vitalii.

Now he has a lot of legal issues to deal with: debts for utilities that were never provided, who should inherit the property that survived...

Vitalii says he wants the memory of all those who died in Izium because of the Russian occupiers to be preserved forever. He wants their names to be engraved on a monument and never forgotten.

This story was prepared by the Memorial project, which tells the stories of civilians and Ukrainian soldiers killed by Russia, especially for Ukrainska Pravda. To report data on Ukraine's losses, fill out the forms for fallen servicemen and civilian victims.

Inna Kubai, especially for Ukrainska Pravda Zhyttia

Translation: Yelyzaveta Khodatska, Artem Yakymyshyn and Oxana Hart

Editing: Teresa Pearce
Immigrants turn themselves in to a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Somerton, Ariz., on Thursday shortly before Title 42, a pandemic-era policy that allowed officials to quickly turn back people seeking asylum, expired. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

Hello, and welcome to this week's selection of top visual stories by Los Angeles Times photographers.

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The Title 42 public health order policy expired on Thursday. With the arrival of COVID-19, the Trump administration enacted a novel interpretation of a rule created in 1944, allowing U.S. border officials to keep asylum seekers out of the U.S. during the pandemic, citing the potential public health threat.

Hours after the Biden administration ended the policy, U.S. officials said they hadn't seen an influx of crossings at the border or any significant increase in migration. The end of Title 42 ushers in a new era for U.S. border control, and President Biden is urging asylum seekers arriving at the southern border to voluntarily return to Mexico. The administration is further seeking to curb an influx of migrants with a policy that would limit asylum access for those who cross through a third country on the way to the U.S. and do not seek protections on the way to the southern border. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in federal court on Thursday aiming to block the policy.

You can view our complete coverage of the end of Title 42 and our photographers' images from the southern border.

Border Patrol agents make contact with migrants who are hoping to cross into the United States from Tijuana on May 11, hours before the Title 42 pandemic-era policy ended. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Some of the items left by migrants who turned themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol agents Friday in Somerton, Ariz. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

A man looks up at the border wall while waiting to surrender to the U.S. Border Patrol in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

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Retired California boxers may be eligible for a boxers' pension, the only one of its kind in the country. The plan began making payments to boxers in 1999 and, to date, has provided 235 retired fighters a total of $4 million. However, several boxers contacted by The Times said that they were unaware of the program or that they are owed payments.

Hector Lizarraga, 56, was a champion featherweight known for his toughness in the ring and a "deadly body shot." Lizarraga took up boxing as a teenager to defend himself from bullies and fell in love with the sport. He is owed $39,000 from the California Professional Boxers' Pension Plan. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Gonzalo Montellano, 65, is a retired lightweight with a record of 35-3-2. He is owed $20,000 from the California Professional Boxers' Pension Plan. At right, Montellano trains a student in his Bakersfield garage. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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On Wednesday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein voted in the Senate for the first time since she left in mid-February for an extended absence due to a bout with the shingles virus. The senator is back at work but in need of helping hands as she eases back into a grueling schedule. She is still experiencing some side effects, including vision and balance issues.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is escorted by Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), left, after she arrived at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

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The atmospheric rivers are gone, but the water they dumped on Southern California supercharged this spring's blooms and prompted some dormant plants to bloom for the first time in years. To the delight of humans and bees alike, native wildflowers and invasive weeds are thriving.

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You can go for a walk and under your feet are millions of seeds just sitting there in the seed bank. That potential for beauty in a landscape that is otherwise essentially barren in a non-good year is so freaking cool.

Nick Jensen, director of the conservation program at the California Native Plant Society

A bee lands on a Pride of Madeira plant near a walking path in Redondo Beach. Following a record-breaking rainy season this year, conditions are ripe for flora growth in and around Los Angeles County. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Bougainvillea clusters hang down a wall along Vicente Fernandez Street near 1st Street in Boyle Heights. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

An Eastern redbud tree in front of a purple wall in South Los Angeles. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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The bandits tore the birds from their cages, stuffed them into backpacks and fled.

from a story by Times staff writer Hannah Fry

How do you break another human being's heart on purpose? You steal their pet. Southern California is seeing a rash of parrot thefts. The pricey feathered companions have been stolen from pet stores, porches, even a vet.

Michelle Martin, owner of Feed Barn in Dana Point, holds Rio, a blue-fronted amazon. Three of Martin's birds were stolen when her store was burglarized in December, part of a surge in parrot thefts across Southern California. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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In 2020, a few months before George Floyd spoke his last words, "I can't breath," a California man  Edward Bronstein  used the same words when pleading with California Highway Patrol officers as they pinned him down, kneeling on his back and restricting his airways after a traffic stop. Bronstein's desperate last moments were caught on video.

"These officers' erratic behavior was inhuman."

Edward Tapia, the father of Edward Bronstein

On Wednesday, California announced it will pay $24 million to his family to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit. The civil rights settlement is the largest in California history.

"These officers' erratic behavior was inhuman," Edward Tapia, the father of Edward Bronstein, said at a downtown Los Angeles news conference announcing Wednesday's $24-million settlement with the state. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

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California has a big plan for young children. Gov. Gavin Newsom said that by 2025 nearly 400,000 4-year-olds would be enrolled in an additional year of public education called transitional kindergarten. But as the state expands what is expected to become the largest universal prekindergarten program in the country, schools struggle to recruit and accommodate young learners.

Transitional kindergarten students observe ladybugs at Oropeza Elementary School in Long Beach. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

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And finally, to close off, enjoy a little bit of magic captured by our photographer Allen J. Schaben at the Los Angeles County Fair, which continues through May 29 at the Fairplex in Pomona.

Fairgoers enjoy a ride at the Los Angeles County Fair at the Fairplex in Pomona. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border could turn into a humanitarian and political crisis for President Joe Biden after a 3-year-old pandemic-era immigration policy ended this week.

Title 42 blocked thousands of migrants from entering the country during the Trump administration on the grounds of preventing the spread of the coronavirus. The Biden administration fought to turn back the rule despite criticism from political allies over a perceived lack of preparation.

Now Biden and the Democrats are facing renewed pressure from Republicans, who've been vocal about immigration since he took office and who took steps to address the complex border crisis in Congress.

Migrants line up on gate 42 as they await to be processed by Customs and Border Protection on the last day of Title 42 on Thursday, May 11, 2023 in El Paso, Texas.

Former President Donald Trump's character stains are becoming harder for Republicans to ignore. This time it's because a federal jury found him liable for the sexual abuse and defamation of E. Jean Carroll, a professional writer, in 1996. The situation wasn't helped by Trump comments during a town hall on CNN the day after the jury decision, which became an inflection point in the 2024 presidential contest.

Republican's political woes also continued thanks to Rep. George Santos, whose scandal-plagued career reached a new phase after federal prosecutors indicted him with 13 different counts, including wire fraud, money laundering and lying to Congress.

The clock continues to tick for Biden and Congress in terms of whether America will raise the debt ceiling before the country runs out of money to pay its bills. That could happen as early as June 1.

Biden met with the top four congressional leaders to discuss ways to end a brinksmanship that could hurtle the U.S. economy into unknown territory should the country default. And Sen. Dianne Feinstein finally returned to Capitol Hill after a nearly three-month absence that created a rift among Democrats due to demands she resign.

What happened this week in politics?

The Republican-controlled House passed a major border security measure to bolster an expected surge at America's southern border as immigration reform leaps to the forefront of political debate.

Former President Trump is appealing a $5 million judgment against him in a sexual abuse and defamation civil suit, but his controversial CNN town hall may ignite a second case.

Congressman George Santos pled not guilty to more than a dozen criminal charges in what marks a significant escalation in the New York Republican's many legal and ethical probes.

White House and congressional staffers are meeting over the weekend to further discuss how Washington's leaders can reach an agreement on how to pay the country's bills.

California Democrat Dianne Feinstein is back, which could unclog some of Biden's judicial nominees and help Democrats put a focus back on forcing the conservative-leaning Supreme Court to embrace ethics reform.

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Chaos at the southern border

For years Republicans warned that the southern border is a crisis that cannot be ignored, and that concern could be multiplied due to an expected wave of migrants seeking to enter the U.S. with Title 42's end.

The Pentagon is deploying 1,500 active-duty troops to help U.S. Customs and Border Protection manage the expected surge, and Biden admits it will be a "chaotic" period.

But now the Biden administration is facing criticism from fellow Democrats too, who says it is shameful that the White House did't have a better plan ahead of time.

Guatemalan migrants deported from the United States walk on the airport runway upon their arrival at the Air Force Base in Guatemala City on May 11, 2023, during the last flight of returnees from the United States under Title 42. On May 11, President Joe Biden's administration will lift Title 42, the strict protocol implemented by previous president Donald Trump to deny entry to migrants and expel asylum seekers based on the Covid pandemic emergency.

House Republicans passed a measure that would restore construction on a southwest border wall and hinder asylum access while slashing a program that lets U.S. officials quickly accept or turn back some migrants.

"More than 11,000 migrants were caught yesterday crossing the border illegally, the highest single day total ever," House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said. "This is President Biden's record on the border. Record crossings. Record carelessness. Record chaos."

The Democratic-controlled Senate has its own bipartisan bill, which would give the Biden administration a two-year extension on the functions of Title 42 without it being tied to a public health emergency.

Trump's troubles: Civil suit to CNN town hall

Donald Trump once again stretched how far Republicans are willing to put up with questions about his character after a tumultuous week.

It started with the former president losing a $5 million sexual abuse and defamation judgment brought by columnist E. Jean Carroll.

Then there was the CNN town hall the next day, which generated heavy criticism of the cable news network where Trump chastised the moderator, continued to peddle lies about the 2020 election and refused to say who he wanted to see win the Ukraine-Russia war. He also called Carroll a "whack job," which drew chuckles from the pro-Trump crowd assembled in New Hampshire.

(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on May 09, 2023 shows Writer E. Jean Carroll at the Manhattan Federal Court in New York on April 25, 2023 and former US president Donald Trump at the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on April 4, 2023.. A New York jury ruled May 9, 2023 that Donald Trump was liable for the sexual abuse of an American former magazine columnist in the mid-1990s, multiple US media reported.

Now Carroll and her attorney are considering a new lawsuit due to the former president's caustic comments.

Trump remains the clear frontrunner in the Republican primary field, but all of this is giving some GOP officials a reason to pause.

Sen. Todd Young, R-Indiana, told reporters he would not support Trump for the GOP nomination for president in 2024.

Will Santos survive a federal prosecution?

Embattled Rep. George Santos has been in the headlines for months with multiple scandals, but being arrested by federal authorities is a bit different.

Santos pleaded not guilty to 13 federal charges including fraud and lying to Congress. He faces seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds and two counts of lying to the House of Representatives, according to an unsealed indictment.

Rep. George Santos walks on a sidewalk a block away from the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse on Tuesday, April 4, 2023.

If convicted, Santoswho was released from custody on a $500,000 bondcould face up to 20 years in prison.

"I'm going to fight the witch hunt, I'm going to take care of clearing my name and I look forward to doing that," Santos said.

The charges mark a significant escalation in the many legal and ethical probes the fabulist Republican lawmaker has faced since taking office.

Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement that the charges against Santos aim to hold the freshman lawmaker accountable for numerous alleged "fraudulent schemes and brazen misrepresentations."

But beyond that Santos is losing political support, including from Ed Cox, head of New York's Republican Party, who said in a statement to USA TODAY that the "story of George Santos is over."

Debt talks reaching critical moment

Every so often Democrats and Republicans reach an impasse how to pay America's bills. Recall the 2011 tussle between President Barack Obama and GOP lawmakers fueled by the Tea Party movement.

But those who were involved in past talks say this time around Biden and McCarthy don't just appear miles apart but have done very little direct negotiating.

Im much more scared now, Neil Bradley, a former aide to McCarthy, told USA TODAY. Negotiations in 2011 went right up to the 11th hour (but) it was very clear that both sides understood that default is not an option.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy of Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of N.Y., listen as President Joe Biden speaks before a meeting to discuss the debt limit in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, May 9, 2023, in Washington.

The Congressional Budget Office issued a stark warning on Friday, saying if the debt limit remains unchanged, "there is significant risk that at some point in the first two weeks of June, the government will no longer be able to pay all of its obligations."

Everyone keeps saying default is not an option, but as White House and House GOP aides meet over the weekend, it's uncertain when and how the two parties will cut a deal.

Feinstein's return boosts Biden's judicial picks

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) returned to Congress this week following a near three-month absence due to shingles. Immediately her votes in a Senate Judiciary Committee get three of Biden's stalled judicial nominees through the tightly divided panel.

This had been an ongoing dilemma for Democrats, with some progressives demanding the 89-year-old liberal lion step down and others arguing such calls were sexist.

I know that shes been through some significant health challenges, and we all wish her the very best, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the committees chair, said.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) escorts Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) as she arrives at the U.S. Capitol following a long absence due to health issues on May 10, 2023, in Washington, DC. Feinstein was fighting a case of shingles and had been absent from the Senate for almost three months.

Feinstein, who is not seeking re-election next year, had asked to be temporarily replaced, but Senate Republicans rejected that idea as progressives grew restless over the inability to usher through more liberal-leaning nominees.

Now liberal groups, such as the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, are calling on Durbin to issue subpoenas as part of an investigation into concerns over Supreme Court corruption.

But other political observers, such as writer Sarah Joes for the New York Intelligencer, said seeing the California Democrat looking "fragile, stooped over in a wheelchair" was a "ghoulish spectacle" that underscores the country's political rot.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: This week in politics: Title 42 ends; Rep. George Santos indicted
Luxembourg will participate in Eurovision 2024, competing for the first time in three decades.

On Saturday night (13 May), 26 acts will perform on behalf of their respective countries for a shot at taking home Eurovisions top prize.

Some countries are already looking towards next year, however, including Luxembourg who will participate in the 2024 song contest for the first time since 1993.

Despite the fact that the country has not competed in three decades, Luxembourg has won Eurovision a total of five times.

Luxembourg most recently triumphed in 1983 when Corinne Hermes lifted the trophy with her song Si La Vie Est Cadeau.

FOLLOW ALONG WITH UPDATES FROM EUROVISION AT OUR LIVE BLOG HERE

Prior to that, the country saw victory in 1961 with Jean-Claude Pascal, in 1965 with France Gall, in 1972 with Vicky Leandros, and in 1973 with Anne-Marie David.

Luxembourgs final decade in Eurovision, however, was far less successful. (Although, with fives wins under their belt, it remains one of the most successful participating countries in Eurovision history.)

Kalush Orchestra of Ukraine, last years winners, perform during the Grand Final of Eurovision (AP)

The country finished in 20th place or lower in four of their last seven competitions.

According to the Eurovision website, it was after a poor result in 1993 (which led to relegation from the 1994 contest) that Luxembourg declined to enter Eurovision again.

Speaking about Luxembourgs forthcoming return next year, Martin Osterdahl, the executive supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest said: We are thrilled to welcome back Luxembourg to the Eurovision Song Contest after 30 years.

(PA)

The country has one of the most successful records in the Contest with five wins in the first three decades of the competition alone.

We very much look forward to working with RTL [the main public and commercial television channel in Luxembourg] on their return to the worlds biggest live music event in 2024.

Representing the UK this year is Mae Muller. You can check out our interview with the pop sensation here.

Mullers odds arent looking good, however, with bookies expecting Swedens Loreen to take home the coveted glass microphone trophy instead.

You can find a full list of favourites and odds here.
Since its Mothers Day weekend, its only fitting that Whats Your KCQ? respond to a query about Kansas Citys Pioneer Mother sculpture in Penn Valley Park.

A memorial to mothers who made the arduous trip west to seek better lives for their families, the 13-foot bronze statue depicts a woman perched sidesaddle on a mount, holding an infant, her expression reflecting grim determination and exhaustion. She is flanked by two men with rifles and a weary pack horse.

Front-facing view of the Pioneer Mother, Penn Valley Park

The monument, dedicated November 11, 1927, bears the inscription: Presented to the people of Kansas City by Mr. Howard Vanderslice to commemorate the Pioneer Mother who with unfaltering trust in God, suffered the hardships of the unknown West to prepare us a homeland of peace and plenty.

Whats Your KCQ? reader Jesse Barker was curious about the history of the sculpture and the Kansas Citian who commissioned it, Howard Vanderslice. Furthermore, if the statue depicts a pioneer family traveling westward, Barker asked, Why are they heading southeast?

Pioneer Mother, Penn Valley Park, 2023.

The story of the Pioneer Mother begins with the Vanderslice familys emigration from Kentucky to Kansas Territory in 1853. The same year, Congress passed an Indian appropriations bill that cleared a path for white invasion of Indian lands in Kansas Territory.

Howards grandfather, Maj. Daniel Vanderslice, was appointed by President Franklin Pierce to serve as U.S. Indian agent to the Iowa, Kickapoo, and Sac and Fox tribes in northeast Kansas Territory. Agents acted as ambassadors to Native American communities on behalf of the U.S. government. They were tasked with resolving conflicts between Native Americans and white settlers, as well as between different Native American nations, to make sure that U.S. trade interests were protected. The government also assigned agents to work toward assimilating American Indians to the culture of white settlers by encouraging indigenous people to adopt European American agricultural methods, forms of education and religion.

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Vanderslices father, Thomas Jefferson Vanderslice, was assigned to give instruction in cultivating crops in the territory.

Howard was about 4 months old when his mother Sarah Jane, father Thomas, and paternal grandparents began the journey west on foot and horseback to what is now Doniphan County in northeast Kansas.

Pioneer Mother figures representing Sarah Jane and Daniel Vanderslice in 1853

The party crossed the Missouri River at Westport Landing in August 1853 and headed northwest, settling in present-day Highland, Kansas. The men assumed their duties in Indian affairs for the government, while Sarah and her mother-in-law Nancy built a home life on the western frontier.

Reflecting on his early childhood on the plains, Howard Vanderslice said, The women did so much yet so little was heard of them.

Map of Kansas Territory, including Indian lands, in present-day Doniphan, Atchison, and Leavenworth counties. Drawn by Maj. Daniel Vanderslice, 1854.

They were Kansas pioneers. Howard Vanderslices father was elected to the territorial legislature in 1860, the state legislature in 1868, and served two terms as Doniphan County sheriff.

Howard worked as a youth on the family farm and later attended Highland University in his hometown. He relocated in 1873 to Iowa Point, Kansas, took a job as a station agent for the Atchison and Nebraska Railroad, and married Minnie Elizabeth Flinn. The couple then settled in nearby White Cloud, Kansas, where Howard established a grain business.

Wishing to expand into a larger market, he opened a grain commission house in Kansas City in 1890 and put down roots there. He later invested in another lucrative commodity, purchasing the Central Ice Company in 1907.

Howard Vanderslice from Kansas City Missouri Pictorial and Biographical, 1908

By the 1920s, Vanderslice had earned considerable wealth through his various business enterprises.

Wanting to honor the sacrifices of his mother and other pioneer women, as well as the city he now called home, he commissioned celebrated western artist Alexander Phimister Proctor to immortalize his familys journey in sculpture. In Proctor, Vanderslice saw a fellow man of the West who was also the son of a pioneer family.

THE ARTIST

Raised in Colorado after his family emigrated by wagon from Iowa in 1871, Proctor became infatuated with hunting and sketching Rocky Mountain wildlife. While his initial art training took place in Denver, he also studied in New York and Paris.

His first major commission came in 1891 when he collaborated with a team of esteemed artists to create sculptures for the 1893 Worlds Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

Proctors Cowboy from The Dream City: A Portfolio of Photographic Views of the Worlds Columbian Exposition, 1893

In the years to follow, Proctor, the self-proclaimed Sculptor in Buckskin, made a name for himself creating monumental bronze sculptures of American Indians, cowboys, buffalo and other iconic imagery of the American West.

A. Phimister Proctor, ca. 1878

In 1923, Vanderslice approached Proctor at an art show in Los Angeles about crafting a monument to heroic pioneer mothers. The artist was interested in the subject matter, having already created a pioneer monument in 1919 for the University of Oregon campus.

Proctor began work on a 4-foot-tall, 6-foot-long model based on details provided by Vanderslice about his familys 1853 migration. He worked out of a studio in Hollywood, California, where human models and props were easier to procure. The completed model was then shipped to Proctors New York studio.

Proctor with a working model of Pioneer Mother, 1924

The casting was completed in Rome, Italy, where according to Proctor, he could find more skilled artisans for that type of work. When the 16,000-pound bronze statue was completed in 1927, it was transported by ship and rail to Kansas City.

THE UNVEILING

Potential sites for the statue had previously been studied using an enlarged, 14-foot-tall by 8-foot-wide mounted photograph as a model. The Kansas City Arts Commission recommended Meyer Boulevard near the entrance to Swope Park. Westport was also suggested, considering its early history as a trails outpost.

A knoll in central Penn Valley Park, a few hundred feet from the old Santa Fe Trail, was preferred by Proctor and Vanderslice. The park provided ample room to view the statue at multiple angles and was the site of two other iconic monuments, the Liberty Memorial and The Scout.

Photographic model of the Pioneer Mother, The Kansas City Star, April 29, 1928.

Large slings were employed to lift the 6-ton statue onto a pink granite pedestal designed by the prominent Wight & Wight architectural firm. It was installed facing southward.

When questioned why it did not look west, in the direction the pioneer group was traveling, Proctors pragmatic response was, A statue shows to the best advantage when facing south and should never face any other way unless it is impossible to have it in that position. By being oriented southward, the face of the statute received optimal lighting.

An estimated 5,000 people, including Proctor, attended the unveiling on Nov. 11, 1927. The modest Vanderslice refused to take part in the ceremony or have his name on the program.

Despite his absence, the dedication was very personal for Vanderslice, memorializing his familys migration west to the prairies of Kansas and his own mother carrying him on horseback during the wearisome journey.

He viewed the Pioneer Mother as a uniquely American artistic form and subject, a departure from the classical works of Europe. It is time for an American expression in the arts, he told The Kansas City Star, and that expression will have to be on native topics, since those are the ones we know best.

Pioneer Mother postcard, 1930s or 40s

Vanderslice died from a stroke in 1929. He is best remembered for his work in promoting the arts and purchasing the estate of industrialist August Meyer at 44th Street and Warwick Boulevard to donate to the Kansas City Art Institute for its campus. The institutes Vanderslice Hall, formerly the Meyer residence, was named in his honor.

THE RESTORATION

Some 50 years later, the Pioneer Mother was showing its age. Decades of exposure to the elements and vandals left the statue in decay. It was rusting from the inside, creating cavities, and had become structurally weak.

In 1988, a team of conservationists worked onsite for months to clean and repair the statue. They removed dirt and graffiti from the surface, replaced corroded iron rods used to reinforce the horses legs, and referred to historical photographs to recreate missing parts.

Pioneer Mother restoration, The Kansas City Star, September 9, 1988.

The refurbished sculpture was rededicated in a modest ceremony on May 14, 1989. It remains in Penn Valley Park as a tribute to pioneer mothers and Kansas Citys frontier heritage.

THE LEGACY OF PIONEER MEMORIALS

Honoring pioneers through public art wasnt unique to Kansas City. Dozens of pioneer memorials were erected throughout the western U.S. in the early 1900s.

After the close of the American frontier in 1890 (when the U.S. census that year showed no territory remaining without pockets of settlements), many municipalities and heritage organizations began memorializing their pioneer forefathers and mothers by erecting monuments. It was not only a way to acknowledge the fortitude of their forebears but also celebrate frontier history and nostalgia, and promote heritage tourism.

The Big Timers Madonna of the Trail in Lamar, the county seat of Prowers County, Colorado. It is one of 12 such monuments marking National Old Trails, from Bethesda, Maryland, to Upland, California. They were erected in the 1920s and 1930s by the Daughters of the American Revolution. This one, like the others created by by sculptor August Leimbach of St. Louis, Missouri, was crafted of a cast composite stone called Aldonite. It was dedicated in 1928. The area known as Big Timbers was a long belt of large cottonwoods, now part of Lamar.

Historian Cynthia Culver Prescott, in her book Pioneer Mother Monuments: Constructing Cultural Memory, contends that pioneer memorials reflected the prevailing cultural superiority of early 20th century Anglo-Americans. They celebrated the arrival of white civilization (in the form of manly pioneers and saintly Pioneer Mothers), Prescott wrote, to the allegedly untouched western wilderness and supposedly savage indigenous peoples.

As there has been recent public debate among communities about the merit of Confederate monuments, pioneer memorials and similar monuments to westward expansion have also been scrutinized.

American Progress by John Gast, 1872 | LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. This work embodied 19th century Manifest Destiny, the belief that U.S territorial expansion was preordained.

For some, these monuments celebrate the American pioneering spirit and western heritage. Others view them as markers of displacement, poverty, violence and cultural assimilation that white settlers inflicted upon Indigenous people, whose ancestors were forced to cede lands and relocate.

In May 2019, on the 100-year anniversary of the unveiling of Proctors statue The Pioneer at the University of Oregon, students from the schools Native American Student Union protested the bronze figure of a frontiersman, armed with a whip and rifle, as a symbol of white supremacy. Demonstrators later toppled the statue, and it was removed to storage.

The Pioneer, A. Phimister Proctor, 1919

Locally, statues of Jackson County namesake Andrew Jackson outside the county courthouses in Independence and Kansas City have been debated.

Critics questioned the veneration of the countrys seventh president through public art considering he owned enslaved people and authorized the forced removal of thousands of American Indians from their native lands. Jackson Countians ultimately voted to leave the statues in place in 2020. Plaques were added that gave a more nuanced picture of Jacksons legacy.

Whats Your KCQ? wants to hear from the Kansas City community. Does the Pioneer Mother still hold significance as a memorial to the citys pioneering past? Or is it a vestige of a period that largely ignored the devastation white settlement of western lands wrought on Native Americans?





Email us at kcq@kcstar.com to share your thoughts.
This article was originally published in Wisconsin Examiner.

Republican lawmakers are proposing to remove certain books from schools and prosecute school staff who allow students to access materials deemed inappropriate. A co-sponsorship memo entitled Protect Childhood Innocence authored by Rep. Scott Allen (R-Waukesha) and Sen. Andre Jacque (R-DePere) began circulating Tuesday. One proposed bill removes protections of schools and their staff against prosecution for obscene materials violation. The other bill prohibits a school district from using school library aid funds to purchase any item that would be considered obscene material.

Rep. Scott Allen

The Wisconsin Examiner first reported last May on emails sent by former Rep. Jesse James (R-Altoona) showing that James had been provided a list of potentially inappropriate books by parents in his district. The books on the list dealt with LGBTQ topics and characters, issues of gender identity and sexuality and the burden of overcoming racial stereotypes and inequality.

James approached school districts in his Assembly district to determine whether they had copies of the books on the list. The emails also discussed plans to open up librarians and teachers to prosecution for providing such materials. Allen, Jacque, and other school districts also discussed nearly identical copies of the list and used it to remove books.

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Now, the effort is making its expected debut in the Legislature. Imagine your middle school student shows you a book that they are reading from school in which characters describe how to perform oral sex, the memo circulated by Jacque and Allen reads. Most parents would be shocked that a student could find a book with this type of sexually explicit material in their school library. Since the pandemic, parents have paid more attention to what material their students are encountering and demanding that their students not encounter sexually explicit material in school. The memo references Wisconsin statutory language which makes clear that obscene material is sexual conduct described in an offensive way with no educational value.

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Sen. Andre Jacque (official photo)

The memo states that the bill related to funding would help school districts do their jobs to prevent obscene material from showing up in schools and school libraries. It adds, some might worry that the removal of exemption will unleash waves of lawsuits against schools but this is untrue due to provisions in current law. The memo states that two layers of review, a district attorney and the attorney general, help ensure that only clear violations of the law result in litigation.

It concludes by further downplaying concerns which may arise from the proposal. With these protections there should be no reason for a school employee to fall afoul of distributing obscene material, but if they do distribute obscene material, then parents should expect there to be accountability. Surely our school employees who are influencing the future generation of Wisconsin should not be immune to accountability.

Wisconsin Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Wisconsin Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Ruth Conniff for questions: info@wisconsinexaminer.com. Follow Wisconsin Examiner on Facebook and Twitter.
The Christie NHS Foundation Trust Manchester - APS (UK)/Alamy

A world-leading cancer hospital hit by claims of alleged staff bullying has had its rating downgraded by a regulator.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) told The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester it requires improvement when it comes to safety and leadership.

A previous external review, commissioned by NHS England in 2020, found current and former staff had reported instances of inappropriate behaviours and unfair treatment... feeling intimidated... the existence of cliques, the abuse of positional power.

Reviewers added: An experience of bullying, harassment and racial prejudice was described along with lack of respect at work.

In the new CQC report, the trusts overall grading was downgraded from outstanding to good, with the ratings for safety and well-led marked as requires improvement.

The report said: Staff told us that some senior leaders were not always visible or approachable...

Very senior executives were heavily invested in the promotion and protection of the trust's reputation.

This impacted negatively on some staff; staff did not always feel supported and valued.

A minority of staff expressed reservations about raising concerns and others did not always feel listened to. Although, staff remained focused on the needs of patients receiving care.

The CQC said it carried out an unannounced inspection of the acute medical services at the Christies main site as part of its continual checks on the safety and quality of healthcare services.

It added: Inspectors also undertook an announced well-led inspection of the overall trust partly due to information of concern received from whistleblowers regarding the culture and leadership of the trust.

Following this inspection, the overall rating for the trust has changed from outstanding to good.

However, the team of experts said they did find outstanding practice at the trust and that, in medical care, we found staff treated people with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity and met people's individual needs.

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The Christie NHS Foundation Trust - Mark Waugh/Alamy

The Christie is the largest single-site cancer centre in Europe, treating more than 60,000 people a year.

It serves a population of 3.2 million people across Greater Manchester and Cheshire but more than a quarter of people treated there are referred from elsewhere in the UK.

Ann Ford, the CQCs director of operations in the north, said although the trust had made some changes to improve the culture, more work needs to be done to address the issues we identified.

Roger Spencer, chief executive of The Christie, said: We are pleased that the CQC has rated us good despite the difficulties the NHS has faced over the past few years.

Demand for cancer services has continued to rise, resulting in us treating more patients than ever before.

We are working hard to make the improvements that have been highlighted by the CQC, ensuring that all our staff feel supported and valued and I thank all of them for continuing to put patients at the centre of everything we do.

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Bobi, the world's oldest dog, is turning 31 this week.

A purebred Rafeiro do Alentejo, Bobi lives with his owner Leonel Costa, 38, and his family in the rural village of Conqueiros, in Leiria, Portugal, according to Guinness World Records.

Bobi, who eats only human food and loves a good nap, will celebrate his birthday in style with a blowout bash on Saturday that will feature more than 100 guests, some of whom are flying in internationally for the occasion.

PORTUGAL-ANIMAL-GUINNESS-AGE-RECORD (Patricia De Melo Moreira / AFP via Getty Images)

Bobis party will be a very traditional Portuguese party, Costa told Guinness World Records. Local meats and fish will be served with extra helpings, of course, for the birthday boy.

A dance troupe is also set to perform, and Bobi will participate in one of the dances.

Bobi is not only the oldest living dog in the world, hes the oldest living dog ever. Guinness World Records honored him with both titles in February.

Weve had a lot of journalists and people come from all over the world to take a picture with Bobi, said Costa.

PORTUGAL-ANIMAL-GUINNESS-AGE-RECORD (Patricia De Melo Moreira / AFP via Getty Images)

Bobis birth date, May 11, 1992, was confirmed by Servico Medico-Veterinario do Municipio de Leiria (Veterinary Medical Service of the Municipality of Leiria), who registered Bobi in 1992.

His age was also verified by SIAC, a pet database authorized by the Portuguese government and managed by the SNMV (Sindicato Nacional dos Medicos Veterinarios; National Union of Veterinarians).

Costa, who has lived with and cared for Bobi since he was 8, said Bobi is in good health, although he noted that he recently took Bobi to the vet because he was concerned that Bobi's fame was causing him physical and mental stress.

There were a lot of pictures taken and he had to get up and down many times. It wasnt easy for him, said Cosa.

His health was a little damaged, but now its better," he added.

Several of Costa's dogs have live long lives, including Bobis mother, Gira, who lived until 18. But even Costa never could have imagined that a dog of his would reach his 30s.

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If Bobi spoke only he could explain this, said Costa.

Costa credits Bobi's lifestyle, which includes a calm, peaceful environment," for his longevity. A "very sociable" dog, Bobi has always been allowed to roam the forests surrounding Costa's home and has never been chained or leashed. Although these days, Bobi, who has difficulty walking and whose eyesight is declining, prefers to stay in the family's yard.

Like many old timers, Bobi relishes his rest, particularly after a good meal. On cold day, he naps by the fire.

Costa said that living with Bobi for all these years helps him to remember loved ones who are gone.

Bobi is special because looking at him is like remembering the people who were part of our family and unfortunately are no longer here, like my father, my brother, or my grandparents who have already left this world," he said.

Bobi represents those generations.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Theres growing urgency to stop the spread of fentanyl, which is being laced with the animal tranquilizer known as tranq.

Researchers at UNC Chapel Hill said in North Carolina, the drug is mostly in Greensboro and Charlotte.

Channel 9s Dan Matics spoke with a woman who unknowingly came into contact with the drug.

Its just a terrible drug, said Louise Vincent. Its a veterinary drug. Its not meant for humans.

Vincent told Channel 9 how horrible the drug is for humans.

It is truly one of the most difficult things Ive had to overcome, and Ive overcome a lot, Vincent said.

Tranq is slang for the animal tranquilizer xylazine, which is being combined with fentanyl thats sold on the street to mimic the effect of heroin.

Tranq causes the heart to slow down, and creates ulcers and skin lesions.

The federal government is calling the drug an emerging threat, which means it will put together a national response plan.

Ive seen some of the worst flesh wounds ever, said Dr. Rahul Gupta, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Gupta said it is often necessary to amputate limbs due to the wounds.

The DEA said the presence of tranq rose by 193% from 2020 to 2021 in the South.

Overdoses where tranq was detected increased by 1,127%.

Vincent didnt know she was in contact with tranq, which is most often found in heroin.

Vincent said the wounds were so bad on her arm that she was forced to go to a hospital. Fortunately, doctors didnt have to amputate.

She now helps run the North Carolina Survivors Union, which helps drug users on a path to recovery by providing food and a needle exchange program.

Vincent said more needs to be done with boots on the ground.

Meanwhile, health leaders at the national and state level are studying how to prevent tranq contamination.

The North Carolina Department of Health said they are monitoring tranq in communities, but its hard to track because its being used in combination with fentanyl.

VIDEO: Lancaster County deputies warn against Xylazine, drug used to cut opioids
Putin, Ramaphosa discuss global food security, Ukrainian crisis in telephone call

Xinhua) 10:06, May 13, 2023

MOSCOW, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed global food security and the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis during a telephone conversation on Friday with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The Russian side confirmed its readiness to supply needy African countries with substantial amounts of grain and fertiliser, including no-cost deliveries, the Kremlin said.

Putin welcomed Ramaphosa's proposition with regard to the participation of a group of African leaders in potential discussions on the prospects for a resolution of the Ukrainian conflict, according to the Kremlin.

Putin "set forth his principled assessments of the destructive line pursued by the Kiev regime and its patrons," adding the Russian side had always been open toward working on a diplomatic settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.

Both leaders agreed on the importance of maintaining close coordination during their preparations for the upcoming BRICS Summit in August, and the Russia-Africa Summit in July.

The leaders also discussed key issues for the Russia-South Africa strategic partnership, and agreed on the importance of developing mutually beneficial relations in a range of fields.

(Web editor: Zhang Wenjie, Wu Chaolan)
KATHMANDU, May 13 (Xinhua) -- A team of rope fixers on Saturday afternoon became the first climbers to summit Mt. Qomolangma from the Nepal side in this spring climbing season.

The nine-member team conquered the world's highest peak at 13:52 local time.

"The team of rope fixers from Imagine Nepal Trek and Expeditions, led by Dawa Gyalje Sherpa, successfully stood on the top of Mt. Qomolangma," Yubraj Khatiwada, director of the mountaineering section at Nepal's Department of Tourism, told Xinhua.

Imagine Nepal Trek and Expeditions was contracted this year to fix the ropes en route to the 8848.86-meter-high peak which straddles Nepal and China.

"Our team is returning after fixing the ropes," Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, managing director of the expedition company, told Xinhua from base camp.

"Now the climbers will push for the peak starting from this evening," he said.

467 climbers from 65 countries and regions have received permits to conquer Mt. Qomolangma, a record high from the Nepal side.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the first ascent of Mt. Qomolangma. 
A Jacksonville man pleaded guilty to the brutal murder of a 34-year-old mother of three. Otis Tucker now faces up to life in prison as he awaits his sentencing in July.

Investigators say last November, Ashley Fowler was beaten with a hammer and strangled with an electronic cord.

She was such a good person, she didnt deserve it and it happened in the most gruesome way, her brother Taylor Fowler said. As far as the trauma and pain and dealing with this, its literally been unbearable.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

It happened at a Southside apartment complex, her brother Taylor Fowler said they used to live nearby, and shed walk through the area sometimes, but they dont know who Tucker is.

Definitely no connection or relation to my sister at all, Fowler said.

The family worked with attorneys, so they knew a guilty plea was coming and felt as if the deal was the best route moving forward, but Taylor said it still wasnt easy.

We didnt want to make the wrong decisions or let up on someone who caused us the worst pain in our life, he said.

Tucker also has a violent arrest history in Virgina. The Richmond Police Department considers him a suspect in the 2016 disappearance of 21-year-old Keeshae Jacobs; Fowler said theyve spoken with her family since learning about the connection.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

Hopefully they do put some more pressure and investigation on her situation and bring something to light, he said.

The Richmond Police Department told Action News Jax that anyone with information about Jacobs case is asked to call Richmond Police Department Major Crimes Detective C. Key at (804) 646-5984 or Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000. The agency says P3 Tips Crime Stoppers app for smartphones also may be used and that all Crime Stoppers reporting methods are anonymous.

For Ashley Fowler, shes remembered as a loving mother who put family first.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

She was funny. she cared about everyone, Taylor Fowler said.

Story continues

Anytime I fell short she opened up her home for me or did whatever she could thats the type of person she was, Fowler said. We love you, Ashley, youre making us so much stronger.

The State has also filed Habitual Offender and Habitual Violent Felony Offender enhancements on Tucker to be considered by the judge, the sentencing will be on July 31.

Action News Jax at 11 will have more on this story.

Related read: Otis Tucker pleads guilty to second degree murder of woman

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X44 Vida Carbon Racings Fraser McConnell and Cristina Gutierrez claimed victory in the first part of the Hydro X Prix in Scotland after on-track winners Andretti Altawkilat were handed a penalty.

Timmy Hansen and Catie Munnings led much of the four-lap final after Hansen swept past the fast-starting McConnell on the opening lap, but a 15.3-second penalty for failing to meet the minimum driver switch time took away the teams first victory since Round 3 of the 2021 season.

Four of the finals five starters opted to use their one shot of Hyperdrive power boost off the start line, with Rosberg X Racings Johan Kristoffersson looking like the best-placed to prevail with a sweeping move around the outside, but McConnell saved his boost for the exit of the first turn which catapulted him to the lead. However, moments later, an unsighted rut forced him off-line at Waypoint 6, opening the door for Hansen to sneak through at the next gate.

Behind them, Kristoffersson  who dropped back after his unsuccessful first turn pass attempt  was battling for third with GMC Hummer EV Chip Ganassi Racings RJ Anderson when he suffered a slow roll amid visibility issues at Waypoint 13.

Hansen maintained Andrettis lead until the mid-race driver change, but once Gutierrez took over from McConnell in the Lewis Hamilton-owned X44 entry, she began to hunt down Munnings in the lead car.

Munnings responded to Gutierrezs early charge to maintain a seven-second gap on the final lap, but with her teams penalty being 15.3s (15s penalty, plus 0.3s gained by their switch zone infringement), it wasnt enough. They nevertheless finished second, ahead of Carl Cox Motorsports Timo Scheider and Christine Giampaoli Zonca, competing in the teams first final.

The Carl Cox duo had a slow start to the final, but a puncture for the Ganassi entry on the second lap allowed them to close the gap and make a first rostrum appearance in only their third series start.

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X44s win means that Extreme E has now had four different winners in the last four races, stretching back to last seasons Energy X Prix in Uruguay  a run that would have extended to seven in seven, going back to Round 2 last year had Andrettis on-the-road victory stood.

It was also a maiden victory for McConnell, who took over from Sebastien Loeb alongside Gutierrez  now a three-time winner  at the start of the year.

Hydro X Prix I Final

1. X44 Vida Carbon Racing 10m 12.670

2. Andretti Altawkilat +8.986s

3. Carl Cox Motorsport +38.977

4. GMC Hummer EV Chip Ganassi Racing +1m 01.716

5. Rosberg X Racing DNF

The day started with thick fog covering the track, resulting in the cancellation of the first round of qualifying. That left just two heat races, with half the field in each, to decide the final lineup rather than the usual four.

X44 won the first heat, beating Ganassis Amanda Sorensen and Anderson into the first corner then taking off to win unchallenged.

Andretti was third, with Acciona Sainz (Laia Sanz and Mattias Ekstrom) and JBXE (Hedda Hosas and Andreas Bakkerud) completing the Heat 1 field.

The second qualifying heat was a much more dramatic affair. RXRs Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky muscled past Scheider into the first corner, but then Schieder tagged Klara Andersson as the Abt Cupra driver used her hyperdrive to try and get by on the exit of the first corner. The contact forced Andersson into the hay bales lining the straight, pitching her into a violent flip. She emerged from the car unaided and unhurt, but the car was destroyed and the race red flagged.

On the restart, RXR continued to lead comfortably, with McLarens Emma Gilmour and Tanner Foust behind. They were relegated to third post-race, however, after it was deemed that their car was not entirely in the designated area in the switch zone, some loose bodywork from a race-start collision with the Veloce Racing car of Molly Taylor and Kevin Hansen hanging outside the confines of the teams switch box.

That contact broke an axle on the Veloce car, ensuring that they would miss a final for the first time since the team signed 2021 champion Taylor and the younger Hansen brother ahead of last years finale.

Andretti took the fifth and final spot in the main by having the fastest time through the Traction Challenge sector on the track of the two second place finishers.

That put Acciona Sainz into the Redemption Race too alongside fellow Saudi Arabia winners Veloce. Both locked out the top two positions in the consolation race, beating McLaren and JBXE, with Abt Cupra failing to start after their earlier crash.

Hydro X Prix I Redemption Race

1. Acciona Sainz 9m 49.303

2. Veloce Racing +3.650

3. McLaren + 16.200

4. JBXE + 32.779

5. Abt Cupra DNS

Story originally appeared on Racer
By Philip Pullella and Gavin Jones

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy asked Pope Francis on Saturday to back Kyiv's peace plan, and the pope indicated the Vatican would help in the repatriation of Ukrainian children taken by Russians.

"It is a great honour," Zelenskiy told Francis, putting his hand to his heart and bowing his head as he greeted the 86-year-old pope, who stood with a cane.

Earlier on Saturday, Zelenskiy met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who promised full military and financial backing for Ukraine and reiterated support for its EU membership bid.

Zelenskiy, who was visiting Rome for the first time since the war began, spoke with the pope for 40 minutes and presented him with a bulletproof vest that had been used by a Ukrainian soldier and later painted with an image of the Madonna.

A Vatican statement said that in their private talks, Zelenskiy and the pope discussed "humanitarian gestures", which a Vatican source said was a reference to the Vatican's willingness to help with the repatriation of Ukrainian children.

Kyiv estimates nearly 19,500 children have been taken to Russia or Russian-occupied Crimea since February 2022, in what it condemns as illegal deportations.

"We must make every effort to return them home," Zelenskiy said in a Tweet afterwards, saying he had discussed it with the pope.

Zelenskiy also said he asked the pope to "join" Kyiv's 10-point peace plan.

It calls for restoring Ukraine's territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities, and the restoration of Ukraine's state borders. Zelenskiy has repeatedly said the plan is not open to negotiation.

At the start of the war, the pope tried to take a balanced approach in hopes of being a mediator but later began forcefully condemning Russia's actions, comparing them to some of the worst crimes against Ukraine during the Soviet era.

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"I asked (the pope) to condemn Russian crimes in Ukraine. Because there can be no equality between the victim and the aggressor," Zelenskiy said in his Tweet.

Returning from a trip to Hungary on April 30, Francis made an intriguing but puzzling comment about the Vatican being involved in a mission to try to end the war. "There is a mission in course now but it is not yet public. When it is public, I will reveal it," he told reporters during his flight home.

But the Vatican statement made no mention of any such mission and later in an Italian television interview Zelenskiy appeared to rule out a mediation outside of Kyiv's own peace plan. "Putin only kills. We don't need a mediation with him," he said.

PLEAS FOR PEACE

Francis has pleaded for peace practically on a weekly basis, and has repeatedly expressed a wish to act as a broker between Kyiv and Moscow by visiting both capitals. His offer has so far failed to produce any breakthrough.

Earlier, both Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella reiterated Italy's full support for Ukraine in terms of military, financial, humanitarian and reconstruction aid in the short and long term.

At a news conference, Meloni condemned Russia's "brutal and unjust aggression", pledged Italy's support for Ukraine for "as long as is necessary" and urged Russia to immediately withdraw.

"You can't achieve peace through a surrender," she said. "It would be a very grave precedent for all nations of the world."

She emphasised Italy's support for Ukraine's membership of the European Union and the "intensification" of a partnership with NATO.

As he headed to the presidential palace, Zelenskiy's motorcade passed by small groups of people holding Ukrainian flags. One person held up a sign condemning Russia.

Zelenskiy flew to Rome on an Italian government plane that was escorted over Italian airspace by fighter jets.

He is due to visit Berlin on Sunday, German government sources told Reuters on Saturday.

(Reporting by Philip Pullella; editing by Jason NeelyAdditional reporting by Olena Harmash, Max Hunder, Gavin Jones and Giselda Vagnoni; editing by Frances Kerry, Helen Popper and Mark Potter)
Germany's new weapons package for Ukraine will include 30 additional Leopard-1 tanks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Pope Francis and Italy's prime minister on Saturday as part of a diplomatic tour also involving Germany, as Berlin unveiled a huge new weapons package ahead of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive.

"An important visit for (the) approaching victory of Ukraine!" Zelensky tweeted as he arrived in Rome, on his first visit to EU and NATO member Italy since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Zelensky was due to travel on Sunday to Berlin, a German government source said, where the defence ministry earlier Saturday announced a new weapons package worth 2.7 billion euros ($2.95 billion) for Ukraine.

There was a heavy security presence in Rome for Zelensky's visit, which began with a formal welcome by President Sergio Mattarella, followed by a 70-minute face-to-face with Meloni.

In a joint press conference, Zelensky thanked Meloni "for helping to save lives" while detailing what he called fresh aggressions by Russia.

"I have not come to complain, I have come to talk about our cooperation and to thank you once again for helping us, for the sake of our country, because we want peace," he said.

Despite a history of warm ties with Moscow, including within Meloni's hard-right coalition government, Italy has been a strong supporter of Kyiv, sending weapons and aid and backing sanctions against Russia.

Meloni, who visited Zelensky in Kyiv in February, added: "I am convinced that Ukraine will win and be reborn stronger, more proud and more prosperous than before."

Zelensky then headed straight to the Vatican for a meeting with Pope Francis, which he described as a "great honour", according to footage released by the Holy See.

The 86-year-old pontiff has repeatedly called for peace in Ukraine and prays for the victims of the war almost every week, although his offers to mediate have yet to yield any public results.

- Russia 'bound to lose' -

Story continues

The new package from Germany, which will include 30 additional Leopard-1 tanks, Marder armoured vehicles, air-defence systems and surveillance drones, is reportedly Berlin's largest since Russia's invasion.

"We all hope for a rapid end to this terrible war by Russia against the Ukrainian people, but unfortunately this is not in sight," Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said in a statement.

"This is why Germany will supply all the help that it can, for as long as necessary," he said.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelensky, hailed the announcement, saying it indicated that Russia was "bound to lose and sit on the bench of historical shame."

Western allies have delivered increasingly powerful weapons to Ukraine, and Britain this week announced it was sending Storm Shadow missiles, becoming the first country to send longer-range arms to Kyiv.

Russia described it as "an extremely hostile step" and on Saturday accused Kyiv of using the British missiles to target civilian sites in eastern Ukraine, and wounding six children.

But EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Saturday urged other European nations to provide long-range weapons for Ukraine, while accelerating arms deliveries overall.

"The Russians are bombing from far away so the Ukrainians have to have the capacity to reach... the same distance, the same range," Borrell said after a meeting with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Stockholm.

"But we have to speed up," he said.

- Fighting intensifies -

On the front line, meanwhile, near the eastern flashpoint town of Bakhmut, both sides claimed to be making progress.

"Our soldiers are moving forward in some areas of the front, and the enemy is losing equipment and manpower," commander of the Ukrainian ground forces Oleksandr Syrskyi said on social media.

Russia said its forces were still pushing inside Bakhmut.

"In the Donetsk direction, assault detachments liberated a block in the northwestern part of the city of Artemovsk," the defence ministry said, referring to Bakhmut by its Russian name.

The conflicting reports from the battlefront suggest an increase in fighting after months of relative stability, as expectations grow over Kyiv's spring counteroffensive.

The question of when and where Ukraine might launch its high stakes battle to push Russian forces from occupied land has been the subject of steady speculation, although Zelensky insisted earlier this week that his army needed more time to prepare.

- Suffering and death -

Pope Francis last held an audience with Zelensky in February 2020, but they have spoken on the phone since Russia invaded.

During an address to ambassadors earlier Saturday, the pontiff again lamented the conflict in Ukraine that he said "has brought suffering and unspeakable deaths".

During a papal audience last month, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal invited the pope to Ukraine and asked for his help in returning children forcibly taken to Russia.

burs-ar/ams/ach
Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Italian publication Ansa.it reported that Zelenskyy landed at Romes Ciampino airport at 10:13 a.m. local time and was greeted by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

Read also:

The visit will begin with a meeting between Zelenskyy and President Mattarella, followed by talks with Prime Minister Meloni and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. After 4:00 p.m., the Ukrainian President will meet with Pope Francis, and at 6:30 pm he will visit Italian journalists Bruno Vespa for an interview.

Earlier, German media reported that Zelenskyy would come to Berlin at the invitation of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on May 13. Later, the German news portal T-online, citing sources close to the Ukrainian government, wrote that the Ukrainian authorities were disappointed that the visit had leaked to the public. Berlin police announced that they had launched an investigation into the leak.

Read also:

On May 3, Zelenskyy visited Finland, and on May 4, the Netherlands, as part of an official visit. He met with the leadership of these countries and representatives of the International Criminal Court, participated in the Ukraine-Northern Europe summit, and gave a speech in the Dutch parliament.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived for a meeting with his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella in Rome.

Source: European Pravda

Details: Zelenskyy arrived at the Quirinale presidential palace around 13:00 Kyiv time. He was welcomed with military honours.

After talks with Mattarella, Zelenskyy will hold talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Then they are to have lunch together.

According to Italian media, Zelenskyy will meet with the Pope in the Vatican after 16:00.

As reported, Zelenskyy arrived on Saturday on an official visit to Italy for the first time since the beginning of the Russian invasion.

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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Pope Francis held a 40-minute conversation in the Vatican.

Source: This was reported by the Italian publication La Repubblica, as "European Pravda" writes.

Details: Pope met Zelenskyy, leaning on his cane. President Zelenskyy, greeting Pope Francis, put his hand on his heart and bowed his head.

During the conversation, which lasted 40 minutes, an interpreter was present with Pope Francis and Zelenskyy. The details of the negotiations are currently unknown.

Pope Francis presented President Zelenskyy with a small sculpture of an olive branch, a symbol of peace. Instead, the Ukrainian president presented the Pope with an icon of the Madonna painted on the remains of a bulletproof vest.

After the conversation with Pope Francis, the President of Ukraine left the Vatican.

Since the start of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation on 24 February 2022, Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials have regularly appealed to the Pope to visit Ukraine. The Pope said he was ready to visit, but only if he could go to Moscow to promote peace.

Finally, on the 444th day of the full-scale war, Zelenskyy visited the Pope.

Zelenskyy's trip followed intriguing comments from Pope Francis last month when he hinted at participating in a peacekeeping mission, an initiative that neither Russia nor Ukraine has confirmed.

Background: Today, Zelenskyy also met with Italy's president and prime minister in Rome.

After negotiations with Zelenskyy, Meloni promised to provide Kyiv with full support for joining the EU, particularly helping in the reform field.

Meloni also expressed confidence in Ukraine's victory in the war against Russia, saying that Rome will continue to work with allies to provide military support to Kyiv in the future.

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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has recalled that former US President Donald Trump, who repeatedly promised to end Russia's war against Ukraine in 24 hours, had not done so before the full-scale invasion.

Source: Zelenskyy in interview with Italian media

Quote from Zelenskyy: "Trump was the President, we had a meeting. There was no full-scale invasion at the time, but there was a war. ...I'm not sure whether he was deeply involved in this issue at the time, but he didn't solve it.

No one has solved this issue. And because no one has solved it, we could not get out of this situation. Putin received a signal: That is, you can do this. We need to wait a little longer, we need to work with [other] countries and we can go further. That's why he went further."

Background:

On 26 March 2023, former US president and likely Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump promised his voters to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours if elected to a second term.

Before that, Trump had claimed that after the West supplies Ukraine with tanks, the war could flare up and include nuclear strikes.

On 11 May, Trump said that the United States provides too much military assistance to Ukraine. He also couldn't say who, in his opinion, should win Russia's war against Ukraine. Instead, he said he wanted "everyone to stop dying."

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Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Holy See have released details of the talks between Pope Francis and the Ukrainian President that took place on 13 May in the Vatican.

Source: European Pravda and President Zelenskyys Twitter feed

Details: Zelenskyy said on Telegram (and Twitter) that he thanked the Pope for his "personal attention to the tragedy of millions of Ukrainians."

"I spoke about tens of thousands of deported Ukrainian children. We must make every effort to bring them home," Zelenskyy said.

The President also asked the Pope to condemn the crimes Russia has committed in Ukraine: "Because there can be no equivalence between the victim and the aggressor."

"I also talked about our Peace Formula as the only effective mechanism for achieving a just peace. I proposed [that the Vatican] join its implementation," Zelenskyy added.

The Holy See Press Office said Pope Francis and President Zelenskyy spoke about the humanitarian and political situation in Ukraine amid the conflict.

"The pope assured of his constant prayers, evidenced by his many public appeals and continuous invocations to the Lord for peace since February last year," the press office said.

The press office added that both leaders agreed that humanitarian efforts to support the people of Ukraine have to continue.

"The pope particularly stressed the urgent need for gestures of humanity toward the most fragile people, the innocent victims of the conflict," the press office said.

Background: European Pravda reported that President Zelenskyy and Pope Francis held a 40-minute conversation in the Vatican and exchanged gifts.

In early May, Francis said that the Vatican was involved in a peace mission aimed at ending the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, but no details have been disclosed. Neither Ukraine nor Russia have been able to confirm the mission.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials have repeatedly invited the Pope to visit Ukraine, but to no avail. Francis said that he wants to visit, with a peace mission, not only Kyiv but Moscow as well.

Story continues

Zelenskyy visited Pope Francis in the Vatican on the 444th day of the full-scale war.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 13)  GCash users on Saturday expressed their frustration anew as the mobile wallet experienced another temporary downtime in its services.

GCash apologized for the inconvenience but assured users, who have been tagging the e-wallet giant on Twitter and commenting on Facebook posts, that funds were safe during the system outage.

The downtime, which lasted at least nine hours, happened amid an ongoing investigation of the National Privacy Commission (NPC) into a potential personal data breach during a GCash "glitch" early this week.

On May 9, reports of suspicious transactions involving GCash users were circulating online. They said they did not receive any notification nor OTP but unauthorized bank transfers still went through.

A "preventive maintenance" was conducted to investigate the complaints. In the afternoon, GCash said it already adjusted the e-wallets of affected users and assured that funds were "intact, safe, and secure."

In a statement on Saturday, the NPC said it conducted a clarificatory meeting with G-Xchange, Inc. (GXI) on Friday, wherein the company presented information about its own investigation and actions taken to address the issue.

The NPC said it will issue another order for GXI to "provide further information and documents to enable an independent assessment and verify the claims presented by GXI on the supposed phishing being the cause of the glitch."

"The NPC is committed to safeguard the privacy of all individuals and will continue to provide guidance on how the public can better protect themselves from violations of their data privacy rights, even as these threat actors are also becoming more sophisticated in the pursuit of their criminal design," Privacy commissioner and chairperson John Henry Naga said.

The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), an attached agency of the Department of Information and Communications Technology, also vowed to conduct an "objective probe" into the anomalous fund transfers.

"The CICC assures GCash and the public of the objectivity of its probe on whether there were lapses in GCash's security system, and if warranted, make recommendations to GCash moving forward to ensure that public interest is safeguarded," CICC Executive Director Alexander Ramos said.

In a statement, GCash reiterated that "no hacking or glitch" happened in its platform, only a "deliberate phishing attempt" that occurred outside of the app.

"We have been in constant coordination with the authorities and regulatory bodies like the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the NPC in providing the necessary information required of us," the e-wallet said.

"We enjoin the NPC in reinforcing efforts to educate everyone on the importance of being vigilant in securing their personal information, it added.

A House investigation has already been sought on the alleged unauthorized deductions from GCash accounts.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Boying Remulla earlier said GCash may not be held liable for cybercrime violations if it has already "rectified" the glitch.

The e-wallet said its preventive measures comply with global cybersecurity standards and are in line with its commitment as a financial services provider regulated by the BSP.
One of the busier traffic corridors in Lynchburg is now the home of an increased speeding fine zone after Lynchburg City Council took action to reduce speedy travelers in the Wyndhurst neighborhood.

This week, city council voted unanimously to create an increased fine zone for speeding on a portion of Enterprise Drive in the Wyndhurst area, beginning at the northern intersection of Paulette Circle and Enterprise Drive and proceeding throughout the neighborhood to the southern city limits on the other end of the street.

The increased fine zone for speeding will go into effect immediately, according to city documents.

The speeding fine zone implementation was brought forth by Vice Mayor Chris Faraldi, who represents the neighborhood on council as the citys Ward IV representative.

Faraldi said this week the increased speeding fine zone had the support of the neighborhoods homeowners association, as well as the residency council at The Summit Rehabilitation Center located in the heart of Wyndhurst.

According to city documents, a speeding violation in the increased fine zone will result in a $200 fine, in addition to other penalties provided by the law, and no portion of the fine will be suspended unless the court orders 20 hours of community service.

In addition to the increased fine zone, the city will be installing four new pole-mounted speed display signs throughout Enterprise Drive at the cost of $50,000 for all four.

Faraldi said hes been working on getting this done for his constituents for my full time on council, adding its been a really large project that included a major traffic study to find remedies to speeding complaints from neighborhood residents.

Working on getting additional signage for crosswalks for seniors who are looking to cross, additional time for folks who are looking to cross the street ... and even working on landscaping to make sure folks can see around the corner, Faraldi said about the improvements hes pushed for in the area.

With a posted speed limit of 35 miles per hour, one traffic study in the area showed that the average rate of speed in the corridor was 37 mph with more than 16,000 vehicles per day traveling the roadway, according to city documents.

The documents also show that there are two areas of the street where the pace speed range, which is defined as the speed that a majority of cars travel on that road, falls within 36 and 45 mph.

At-large Councilor Martin Misjuns, a former firefighter for the City of Lynchburg, said hes seen many nasty traffic collisions in that area.

I tell you what, people arent going 35 miles per hour, Misjuns said. So anything we can do to encourage people to obey those speed limits, especially in an area where you have so much pedestrian traffic ... I think its really important.

Ward III Councilor Jeff Helgeson, who said he was unsure on supporting this previously, said this is a good example of council listening to the ward councilors when it comes to problems in their own backyards.

I was at first somewhat reticent about it, but being a ward councilmember, I think its very good to support the councilmember who has been in that ward, that has met with the neighbors, that understands the challenges, that has worked as hard as Councilmember Faraldi has with the citizens in that area ... so [Im] glad to support this, Helgeson said.
EL PASO, Texas  The border between the U.S. and Mexico was relatively calm Friday, offering few signs of the chaos that was feared following a rush by worried migrants to enter the U.S. before the end of COVID-19 immigration restrictions.

Less than 24 hours after the rules known as Title 42 were lifted, migrants and government officials were still assessing the effect of the change and the new regulations adopted by President Joe Biden's administration to stabilize the region.

"We did not see any substantial increase in immigration this morning," said Blas Nunez-Neto of the Department of Homeland Security. He said the agency did not yet have specific numbers.

Migrants along the border continued to take their chances getting into the U.S., defying officials shouting for them to turn back. Others hunched over cellphones trying to access the appointment app that is a centerpiece of the new measures. Migrants with appointments walked across a bridge hoping for a new life. Lawsuits sought to stop some of the measures.

The Biden administration said the new system is designed to crack down on illegal crossings and to offer a new legal pathway for migrants.

Migrants are now essentially barred from seeking asylum in the U.S. if they did not first apply online or seek protection in the countries they traveled through. Families allowed in as their immigration cases progress will face curfews and GPS monitoring.

Across the river from El Paso in Ciudad Juarez, migrants watched their cellphones in hopes of getting a coveted appointment to seek entry. Nearby, other migrants were charging their phones on a lamppost to try to get an appointment. Most were resigned to wait.

"I hope it's a little better and that the appointments are streamlined a little more," said Yeremy Depablos, 21, a Venezuelan traveling with seven cousins who has been waiting in the city for a month.

Fearing deportation, Depablos did not want to cross illegally. "We have to do it the legal way."

The legal pathways touted by the administration consist of a program that permits up to 30,000 people a month from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter if they apply online with a financial sponsor and enter through an airport.

About 100 processing centers will open in Guatemala, Colombia and elsewhere for migrants to apply to go to the U.S., Spain or Canada. Up to 1,000 can enter daily through land crossings with Mexico if they snag an appointment on the app.

Biden commended Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez for his country's collaboration to establish the migration hubs. The two leaders sat down Friday at the White House for wide-ranging talks on Russias invasion of Ukraine, climate change and other issues.

The Biden administration argues that the current migration quandary facing the Americas is a global problem that needs a global solution  much like refugee crises that impacted Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine in recent years.

Spain and the U.S., we have common interests about democracy, prosperity and safe, regular and orderly migration patterns," Sanchez said.

The new system could fundamentally alter how migrants come to the southern border.

Biden, who is running for reelection, faces criticism from migrant advocates, who say he's abandoning more humanitarian methods, and from Republicans, who claim he's soft on border security.

Melissa Lopez, executive director for diocesan migrant and refugee services at El Paso said the streets were calm Friday, with few migrants present. She said many migrants told her they are willing to follow the pathway created by the federal government, but there is fear about deportation and possible criminal penalties for people who cross the border illegally.

The lull comes after large numbers of migrants crossed the border in hopes of being allowed to stay in the U.S. before the Title 42 restrictions expired.

Hundreds of migrants, mostly families, sat in two dozen rows between the border walls between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico, as Border Patrol agents selected who would be allowed to be processed. When some got up with them, those left behind cheered.

Title 42, in place since March 2020, allowed border officials to quickly return asylum seekers back over the border on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. The U.S. declared the national emergency over, ending the restrictions.

Title 42 carried no legal consequences, encouraging repeat attempts. After Thursday, migrants face being barred from entering the U.S. for five years and possible criminal prosecution.

Border Patrol chief Raul Ortiz said Friday in a tweet that the agency apprehended 67,759 people in the last week. That averages out to 9,679 per day  nearly twice the average daily level of 5,200 from March.

It's slightly below the 11,000 figure that authorities said was the upper limit of what they expected after Title 42 end, but it wasn't clear where numbers peaked before Title 42 expired Thursday night.

Border holding facilities were already far beyond capacity. Officials had orders to release people with a notice to report to an immigration office in 60 days if facilities reached 125% capacity or when they were held 60 hours or more. The quick releases were also to be triggered when authorities stopped 7,000 migrants along the border in a day.

Late Thursday, a federal judge temporarily halted the administration's plans to release people into the U.S., and set a court date on whether to extend the ruling.

Other parts of the administration's immigration plan were also in legal peril.

Advocacy groups sued the administration on its new asylum rules minutes before they took effect, alleging the new policy is no different than one adopted by former President Donald Trump, which a court rejected.

Photos: Migrants rush across US border in final hours before pandemic rule expires
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New Delhi: Oscar-winning actor Ke Huy Quan was invited to the White House to celebrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. US President Joe Biden also took a selfie with the actor and shared it on his official Twitter account. Biden shared a hilarious video that shows Ke Huy Quan asking him to take a selfie.

In the video, the actor can be seen in his ever-stunning and adorable energy, running towards the US President. Ke Huy Quan and his wife Echo posed with Biden. A moment later, Quan asked President Biden to take the selfie of the selfies as he posed with his mouth wide open, pointing at Joe Biden.

Little did Ke know he was dealing with a selfie expert. pic.twitter.com/xzjBFO3fD9  President Biden (@POTUS) May 11, 2023

Sharing the video, Joe Biden called himself the selfie expert.

The video received tons of adorable and funny reactions as netizens savoured the moment.

At the AA and NHPI Heritage Month celebrations, Ke Huy Quan hosted and introduced Joe Biden to address the public meeting. Even while introducing the President, the actor jumped and called out his name keeping his candid energy intact. The event is held annually to celebrate the contributions and achievements of these communities and immigrants.

Our nation is stronger because of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. It was great welcoming community leaders to their house  the White House  to celebrate AA and NHPI Heritage Month. pic.twitter.com/bo8kT3zJLk  President Biden (@POTUS) May 11, 2023

Ke Huy Quan recently won an Oscar for his performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once, the film that swayed the Academy Awards this year. The Vietnamese-born Chinese-American actor will next be seen in the Disney+ Hotstar series American Born Chinese. A screening of the show took place at the White House. As per the reports, he will also feature in MCUs Loki Season 2 alongside Tom Hiddleston and Sophia Di Martino.
Google Cloud launches A3 GPU Supercomputer by Nvidia H100 GPUs: Check A3 GPU Supercomputer features

New Delhi, Sat, 13 May 2023 NI Wire

Google announced the availability of Nvidia H100 GPUs powered A3 GPU Supercomputer VMs in the private preview. In an official blog post Company announced the launch of A3 GPU Supercomputer service, which is designed for running most demanding AI models such as todays generative AI and large language models.

On the official Google Post, Roy Kim, director of product management, and Chris Kleban, group product manager at Google Cloud, announced the launch of A3 GPU Supercomputer for the private preview. The A3 GPU Supercomputer VMs are paired with the Nvidia H100 GPUs, which can be used for large scale AI Model training. A3 GPU Supercomputer by Nvidia H100 GPUs is the next generation supercomputing offering from Google Cloud. Currently this service is available for the private preview.

The A3 GPU Supercomputer is developed to provide a solution to the enterprise customers for training todays most demanding AI models. These models are based on today's generative AI which uses large scale processing for training and deployment. With the launch of this service Google Cloud brings very high processing capabilities to the enterprise customers.

Google Cloud's new service will allow companies to use it for building and training the most demanding AI models, such as generative AI and big language models. In the last few years we have seen tremendous growth in the AI and ML field. Now enterprises will be able to build similar types of models due to availability of A3 GPU Supercomputer service.

Implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) models requires lots of GPU processing power both for model training and model deployment. So, companies planning to develop such models need huge computing power and now A3 GPU Supercomputers will be very common. Companies will be able to use the high computing power of Good Cloud for training next generation AI Models.

Google's new A3 GPU Supercomputer can be used to solve large number use cases such as very language models (LLMs), generative AI and many other complex models. This solution from Google Cloud is the first company to offer new NVIDIA L4 Tensor Core GPUs, which can be used to train and server large generative AI models/workloads. Currently Google's new A3 GPU Supercomputer is available for private preview, later Google might release this service or modified service to all the users on the Google Cloud.

Google Compute Engine A3 supercomputers are so powerful that they can be used for training and serving large Generative AI models to meet todays business requirements. Google Cloud offers A3 VMs which combine NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs and Googles leading networking advancements to help all its customers to run AI workloads.

According to the Google Cloud official blog post Google Compute Engine A3 is the first GPU instance which uses custom-designed 200 Gbps IPUs. The 200 Gbps IPUs further uses GPU-to-GPU data transfers without using CPU running on the host machine, which is awesome and provides a powerful mechanism to train huge models. It uses separate interfaces from other VM networks for the fast data transfer. All these makes network transfer as 10x network bandwidth is available.

NVIDIA official further stated "Google Cloud's A3 VMs, powered by next-generation NVIDIA H100 GPUs, will accelerate training and serving of generative AI applications,"

"On the heels of Google Clouds recently launched G2 instances, we're proud to continue our work with Google Cloud to help transform enterprises around the world with purpose-built AI infrastructure."

The A3 supercomputer is very powerful which scales up to 26 exaFlops of AI performance. Google Cloud further improves the time and costs for training large ML models. This solution is expected to change the way people are using Cloud computing for AI/ML solutions.

Companies around the world use this platform for A3 GPU Supercomputer AI Application Development. Companies are already working on the AI/ML technologies for various AI solution development. A3 GPU Supercomputer will further help organisations to use these solutions in their business environment.
Sixty-five juniors and seniors from 13 southwest Iowa high schools got a closer look at the legal system during a Federal Judiciary Youth Summit Friday at the Council Bluffs Federal Courthouse.

The Council Bluffs courthouse is one of three for the Southern District of Iowa, with the others located in Des Moines and Davenport.

The event at the facility, which opened 18 months ago, featured U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and the Honorable Chief Judge Stephanie Rose of the Southern District of Iowa. Grassley talked about the process of selecting candidates for federal judgeships, and Rose traced her career path and answered questions about legal issues.

When the president is preparing to nominate a federal judge, the senators from the state where they will serve traditionally suggest a candidate, Grassley said. He said when Iowas other senator was Tom Harkin, a Democrat, they had an agreement that the senator with the same party affiliation as the president would suggest a candidate. So when Clinton was president, Harkin suggested candidates, and when Reagan was president, Grassley did.

That system worked very very well, he said. There was absolutely no partisanship.

Now, the state has a five-member commission that suggests three possible candidates, and Iowas senators  currently Grassley and Republican Joni Ernst  pick one to relay to the president. The president is not required to nominate that person but often considers them along with a few other candidates.

When the president decides on a candidate, a blue slip is given to the two senators from the state of the jurisdiction, and they sign to indicate their approval. If the slip is not signed by both senators, the president generally nominates a different candidate but is not required to.

Once the president makes a nomination, the matter goes to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which Grassley currently serves on. The committee asks the nominee to fill out a questionnaire, and the FBI does a background check. Generally, each committee member interviews the person individually. After that, the chairman  currently Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois  schedules a vote, giving members at least a weeks notice. If the committee approves the nomination, it goes to the full Senate, where the nominee must be confirmed in order to serve. This is true for all federal judges  not just Supreme Court justices.

Most candidates, if they get to the floor of the Senate, are confirmed, Grassley said.

Rose was nominated for district judge for the Southern District of Iowa on Feb. 12, 2012. It was the culmination of what she had seen as an unlikely journey. She grew up in Mason City sharing her parents with a series of foster children.

I saw a lot of foster children come in and out of the system, she said. I could see, even as a child, problems in the system, and I decided when I grew up I was going to reform the foster care system.

Rose attended law school and worked on cases involving the child welfare system. Now, she could have an impact on the lives of foster children. But the cases she heard that involved horrible things being done to children were tearing her up. She decided she couldnt do that full time.

She landed an internship at the U.S. Attorneys office and decided that was something she could do, once she got enough experience. As her internship was winding down, the office received a grant to hire more attorneys to prosecute cases involving methamphetamine, and she got one of the positions.

After some years in that position, an Iowa lawyer asked Rose to apply for U.S. Attorney. She resisted, figuring she wouldnt have a chance, anyway. After all, she hadnt gone to an Ivy League school and had no political connections. But then they asked again  and again. Finally, she did, and was offered a job as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa. She was the first woman to serve in that position.

A few years later when a judge for the Southern District of Iowa retired, Rose got another call and was equally skeptical about being a candidate for the judgeship. But when she was asked to interview with President Barack Obama, she realized she did have a chance.

Rose was the first women appointed to the bench in the Southern District of Iowa and the youngest federal judge in the country.

Ive been incredibly fortunate, she said. I worked hard to make the people who took a chance on me proud.

While judges are given laws and the facts of a case  as seen by the attorneys representing each side  judges are left to interpret both, Rose said.

All judges are made up of their life experiences  which is why diversity on the bench is so important, she said. The kinds of cases that really tear me up are cases where the defendant was in foster care. The vast majority of criminal defendants we see have suffered some kind of trauma or abuse.

Rose said she sees a lot of cases that involve child pornography, child abuse and/or sex trafficking. A student asked how sex trafficking could be stopped.

I wish there was an easy answer, Rose said. But I think there are things we can do to reduce it. Theres a whole lot of sex trafficking at rest stops and truck stops in Iowa. We have to stop tolerating internet sex.

Rose asked people to be aware of their surroundings and, if they see someone who looks like theyve been abused, ask them if they need help.

Rose recalled a wage discrimination case she had adjudicated. Women working at a factory were getting paid less than men for the same kind of work. The defense tried to justify it by saying the women hadnt asked for raises.

You cant pay women less just because they accept it, she said.

That was her ruling, and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed it, Rose said.

That was one I was really proud of, she said.

Internships are valuable, when it comes to starting a career, Rose said.

Had I not had that internship at the U.S. Attorneys office, I would not be here, she said.

What you express in public or on social media matters, Rose said.

No matter what you say on social media, somebody can twist it, she said. I dont have an online presence at all. Ive never set up a social media account.

A persons online statements are checked during a background check, Rose said.

You have to print the first 200 entries under every search you do, she said. They send out 200 letters; they make 200 calls.

A student asked about the acceptance rate in federal judicial jobs. Rose said there are 50 federal prosecutors in Iowa, and there are more than 50 who represent the state in Polk County alone.

Its certainly a lot easier to get into the state system, she said. Also, there are more female prosecutors in Iowa than male. When I was a U.S. Attorney, there were often times when I was the only female in the room.

Another student asked if Rose ever felt sure that someone was guilty but they were not convicted. She said sometimes that happens when the state does not build a strong enough case against the defendant.

There are going to be hard cases that you arent going to win, she said.

And while some cases are horrible, others are inspiring, Rose said.

Every single day, I have something that challenges my brain, theres something that challenges my heart, she said. I couldnt ask for a better career.
Six Thomas Jefferson High School students attended the Federal Judiciary Youth Summit Friday at the Council Bluffs Federal Courthouse.

The students played an active role, asking questions that opened new topics.

Ryan Loots, government and social studies teacher at Thomas Jefferson, said they had discussed how a person becomes a judge in classes.

The great thing was, I like the fact they went into greater detail at the summit, he said.

They also discussed checks and balances in the federal government and how the Senate can confirm or reject a presidents nominee for a judgeship, Loots said.

He noted how Rose, despite not having any political connections, was able to become a judge.

Even a kid who grows up in Mason City without any political connections can become an important person  very important and very powerful, Loots said.

Two of the students are interested in possibly working in the legal profession in some capacity, he said. One is Emma Planck, a junior, who is already an intern at McGinn Law Firm in Council Bluffs. She has classes for six periods and then works for William McGinn at the law firm for a couple hours each weekday.

I am very grateful for the opportunity I have had with McGinn, she said.

Emma writes letters to clients and internal messages for the law firm, she said.

He gives me an outline they want, she said.

Once Emma is done writing the letter, McGinn reads and approves it. Then she prints it on letterhead, he signs it and its sent to the client or employee.

The legal field has been a longtime interest for Emma, she said. Her sister, Caitlyn, earned an associate degree in criminal justice but decided to go in a different direction.

Its really eye-opening to see what law is like and what attorneys have to deal with on a daily basis, she said.

Emma thinks she will earn an associate degree in criminal justice and then transfer to a college where she can take classes and become a paralegal. She is considering transferring to Roosevelt University or College of St. Mary.

Weve had kids take that route and become lawyers, Loots said.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.  McDonald's and a franchise holder are at fault after a hot Chicken McNugget from a Happy Meal fell on a little girl's leg and caused second-degree burns, a jury in South Florida found in a case reminiscent of the famous hot coffee lawsuit of the 1990s.

A second jury will determine how much McDonald's USA and its franchise owner, Upchurch Foods, will pay the child and her mother, the South Florida SunSentinel reported.

Thursday's decision was split, with jurors finding the franchise holder liable for negligence and failure to warn customers about the risk of hot food, and McDonald's USA liable for failing to provide instructions for safe handling of the food. McDonald's USA was not found to be negligent, and the jury dismissed the argument that the product was defective.

"Our sympathies go out to this family for what occurred in this unfortunate incident, as we hold customer safety as one of our highest priorities," McDonald's owner-operator Brent Upchurch said in a statement. "We are deeply disappointed with today's verdict because the facts show that our restaurant in Tamarac, Florida did indeed follow those protocols when cooking and serving this Happy Meal."

Jurors heard two days of testimony and arguments about the 2019 episode that left the 4-year-old girl with a burned upper thigh.

Philana Holmes testified that she bought Happy Meals for her son and then-4-year-old daughter at a drive-thru window at a McDonald's in Tamarac, near Fort Lauderdale, the SunSentinel reported. She handed the food to her children, who were in the back seat.

After she drove away, her daughter started screaming. The mother testified she didn't know what was wrong until she pulled over to help the girl, Olivia Caraballo, who is now 7, the newspaper reported. She saw the burn on the girl's leg and took photos on her iPhone, which included audio clips of the child's screams.

The sound of the girl's screams were played in court. The child, who is autistic, did not testify, the newspaper reported.

Lawyers for McDonald's noted that the food had to be hot to avoid salmonella poisoning, and that the nuggets were not meant to be pressed between a seat belt and human flesh for more than two minutes.

The girl's parents sued, saying that McDonald's and the franchise owner failed to adequately train employees, failed to warn customers about the "dangerous" temperature of the food, and for cooking the food to a much higher temperature than necessary.

While both sides agreed the nugget caused the burns, the family's lawyers argued the temperature was above 200 degrees (93 Celsius), while the defense said it was no more than 160 degrees (71 Celsius).

The case is likely to stoke memories of the McDonald's coffee lawsuit of the 1990s, which became an urban legend of sorts about seemingly frivolous lawsuits, even though a jury and judge had found it anything but.

A New Mexico jury awarded Stella Liebeck, 81, $2.7 million in punitive damages after she was scalded in 1992 by hot coffee from McDonald's that spilled onto her lap, burning her legs, groin and buttocks, as she tried to steady the cup with her legs while prying the lid off to add cream outside a drive-thru.

She suffered third-degree burns and spent more than a week in the hospital.

She had initially asked McDonald's for $20,000 to cover hospital expenses, but the company went to trial. A judge later reduced the $2.7 million award to $480,000, which he said was appropriate for the "willful, wanton, reckless" and "callous" behavior by McDonald's.

Every major fast-food chain, ranked by customer satisfaction Intro #23. McDonald's #22. Popeyes #20. Jack in the Box (tied) #20. Taco Bell (tied) #19. Wendy's #16. Sonic (tied) #16. Dairy Queen (tied) #16. Dunkin' (tied) #12. Subway (tied) #12. Burger King (tied) #12. Little Caesars (tied) #12. Panda Express (tied) #9. Arby's (tied) #9. Papa Johns (tied) #9. Five Guys (tied) #5. Chipotle (tied) #5. Panera Bread (tied) #5. Pizza Hut (tied) #5. Starbucks (tied) #3. KFC (tied) #3. Domino's (tied) #2. Jimmy John's #1. Chick-fil-A
IOWA CITY and URBANDALE  Vivek Ramaswamy started an event on a swing through Iowa this week with a promise: Were not going to be angry tonight.

Tonight we're going to start a little curious, he said.

The 37-year-old biotech entrepreneur is making a long-shot, largely self-funded campaign for the Republican nomination for president. And hes doing it, in part, by lobbing hard-line conservative policies  including his suggestion in Dallas County on Thursday to institute duty based voting for ages 18-24.

Ramaswamys proposal, which would require a constitutional amendment, would raise the voting age from 18 to 25, unless a person is in the military, a first responder or passes the U.S. citizenship test.

Its the latest of a number of proposals  dismantling the Department of Education, stationing the U.S. military at the southern border and using military force on Mexican drug cartels, and reversing affirmative action policies  that are part of his promise to take former President Donald Trumps America First agenda far further, by exerting powers in ways Trump never did.

Eliminating the Department of Education would have sweeping implications on the administration of federal education grants, student loans, and how students civil rights protections are enforced. The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 prohibits the use of the military for civil law enforcement, unless expressly authorized by law. And any constitutional amendment would require buy-in from two-thirds of the states or of Congress.

Diverging from Trump, Ramaswamy packages his right-wing agenda as a message of unity and a cohesive national identity rather than addressing grievances.

And I think we can do that if were doing it based on first principles and moral authority, not just vengeance and grievance, Ramaswamy said of pushing forward an America First platform that emphasizes American exceptionalism.

Campaigning across the state, Ramaswamy said he believes the country is in the middle of a national identity crisis. One he said has been caused by turning away from the founding values of the country, where success by merit and adherence to the rule of law  values that wooed immigrants like his parents to Ohio  have disappeared to be replaced by wokeness and cults of racial victimhood, radical gender ideology and climate culture.

Faith, patriotism, hard work, family, these things have disappeared, he said, adding he wants to fill that void with a vision of American national identity that runs so deep that it dilutes this woke poison.

Voting age amendment

Speaking to a crowd gathered at Royal Flooring in Urbandale on Thursday, Ramaswamy pitched raising the voting age as a solution to what he sees as a decline in national pride for the next generation.

The requirements  that a person spend six months in the military or as a first responder, or otherwise pass the U.S. citizenship test  would instill young people with a sense of duty, Ramaswamy said.

When I think about young Americans today, I see a deficit of national pride because I see a deficit of duty, he said. You don't value that country you inherited. You will only value a country you have a stake in building and knowing something about.

Ramaswamy acknowledged the view may not be popular, but he said he believes he can convince voters.

I don't believe in just giving people dopamine hits by telling them what they believe. I believe in telling them what I believe, and if they don't agree with me, persuade them of it, he said.

George Pierson, a 20-year-old, Republican Iowa native who attends college in Washington, D.C., said the idea is thought provoking and he likes the citizenship test portion, but he was not fully convinced. He said he worries about the effect the policy would have on getting young people, who already have low voter turnout, engaged in politics.

Part of me is thinking about the implications of that, of voter turnout and younger people getting engaged, he said. If younger people have to demonstrate civic proficiency and voter material, then should older people have to do the same thing as well?

Iowa Democratic state Reps. Sami Scheetz, 27, of Cedar Rapids, and Adam Zabner, 23, of Iowa City  among the youngest members of the Iowa House  criticized the proposal as an attempt to disenfranchise young Iowans.

We support voting rights for all adults and we believe that our democracy is stronger when young people engage in the process, the pair said in a statement. If Republicans are concerned about the political power of young Iowans, they should work to earn their support rather than working to strip their voices. Republicans should work with us on issues that concern our generation like gun safety, protecting reproductive freedom, and legalizing marijuana.

Path to the nomination

Relatively unknown when he launched his campaign in February, Ramaswamy has been gaining the interest of Republican primary voters. Polls, both nationally and in New Hampshire, show him on the rise in the Republican field.

In one CBS poll released last week, the son of Indian immigrants from Ohio and the GOPs first millennial presidential candidate managed to tie with former Vice President Mike Pence in third place among likely Republican voters, ahead of establishment figures such as former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, South Carolina U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson.

Trump, however, remains popular among Republican voters, despite his myriad legal troubles and GOP voters in the state who say theyre keeping an open mind and eyeing an alternative  someone without the constant turmoil, who is less controversial and has a compelling backstory and an upbeat message that can inspire the next generation.

Youre aware that your biggest obstacle is going to be defeating Donald Trump for the nomination, 19-year-old University of Iowa student Kyle Clare asked Ramaswamy during a Q&A in Iowa City.

Clare pointedly asked whether Ramaswamy is truly running to win the nomination, rather than looking for some other gain.

And why should someone who is voting for Donald Trump choose you instead? he asked.

Ramaswamy said while he and Trump have a relationship of mutual respect, I am running this race to win.

He pitched himself as a more energetic, but less divisive version of Trump.

Ive got fresh legs. Im the outsider in this race, Ramaswamy said to a group of about 60 gathered in a rooftop ballroom at Courtyard by Marriott in Iowa City for the Johnson County Republican Central Committee Dinner.

I think you get to be the outsider once. (Trump) was the outsider in 2015, said Ramaswamy.

Clare, the UI student, said he appreciates seeing younger people in politics. And while Ramaswamy could become an important part of the future of the Republican Party, Clare doesnt foresee supporting him in Iowas first-in-the-nation Republican presidential caucus.

I lean more toward DeSantis as this moment, he said. Vivek, he could do great things, but I think (executive) experience matters. ... Its two things for me, electability and experience. Hes unproven. Thats my thing.

Eric Rosenthal of Cedar Rapids, a former Linn County Republican Party chairman, said theres a large chunk of Iowa evangelical voters like himself open to a White House hopeful other than Trump.

Rosenthal supported Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who won the 2016 Iowa GOP caucuses.

Asked whether Trumps recent legal battles  including being found liable this week by a New York jury for sexually abusing and defaming an advice columnist nearly three decades ago  will cause him trouble with Iowas influential evangelical voters, Rosenthal said that remains to be seen.

For a lot of evangelical voters they want a personal story that aligns with their values, he said. And thats a big deal. To say it doesnt matter, thats ridiculous. These things matter.

That, he said, gives candidates like Ramaswamy and Tim Scott an opening with Iowa GOP voters.

Ramaswamy plans to take that opening and run with it. His path to the nomination, he said, starts with finishing among the top three candidates in Iowas first-in-the-nation caucuses, then winning first or second in New Hampshire, the first primary state.

The race is turned upside down, I think its wide open for us after that, he said.

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 12)  The Department of Health (DOH) will not let its guard down even after the World Health Organization (WHO) lifted the Public Health Emergency of International Concern on mpox.

While the WHO's move signifies that the world is on its road to recovery, the DOH stressed that it is vital to stay alert for the possible resurgence of the disease.

The department reminded the public to seek medical attention if they experience symptoms such as fever, lymphadenopathy, and rashes after traveling to a country with mpox cases.

Wearing of face masks, isolation, and hand washing also help in containing the spread of the virus, the DOH added.

The Philippines did not declare a public health emergency on mpox, but health officials said the country is capable of containing the virus.

There had been four recorded infections in the country. All of them have recovered.
Portugal has reaffirmed its strong backing to the autonomy plan offered by Morocco for the Sahara under its sovereignty, describing the Moroccan initiative as a serious and realistic solution in line with resolutions of the UN and the Security Council.

The supportive stand comes in the Joint Declaration issued following the 14th Portuguese-Moroccan High-Level Meeting, held Friday in Lisbon, under co-chairmanship of Portugal Prime minister Antonio Costa and Moroccan peer Aziz Akhannouch.

Lisbon also reiterated its firm support for the UN-led process seeking to find an enduring and mutually acceptable political solution to the Sahara regional conflict.

Both parties agreed on the UN exclusive role in handling the Sahara issue and reaffirmed their support for UN Security Council Resolution 2654, which stresses the role and responsibility of the parties to the conflict to find a realistic, pragmatic, and political solution based on compromise.

The 14th Portuguese-Moroccan high-level meeting was crowned with the signing of several cooperation agreements destined to bolster further partnership between the two countries in trade, economy, energy, investment, ports, youth culture, higher education, crafts, social solidarity, and justice.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Akhannouch was received by President of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in presence of Foreign minister Nasser Bourita and Moroccan ambassador to Portugal Othmane Bahnini.
U.S. State Department special envoy to Monitor Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt has hailed Moroccos religious tolerance and deeply rooted cultural and historical co-existence.

She made the remarks during a visit to the Moroccan city of Essaouira wherein she met Royal advisor Andre Azoulay, civil society representatives, students and religious figures at Bayt Dakira (House of Memory), a museum and synagogue in a historic 19th century home that preserves the countrys Jewish heritage.

Moroccos grassroots initiatives seeking to bolster interfaith understanding and acceptance here are impressive and an example for us all, said the U.S diplomat.

She also visited the Abidari Ghafari School in Essaouira, where the children regaled her with recitals and songs in both Arabic and Hebrew. Im very pleased to experience first-hand how Morocco has highlighted its Jewish heritage and historical coexistence in its national curricula, said Mrs. Deborah Lipstadt.

The US official also commended Moroccos exemplary commitment to a diverse and tolerant society.

Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, who is a world-renowned antisemitism scholar, develops and implements policies and projects to support efforts to combat antisemitism worldwide.
A 2016 knee replacement forced Ann Marie Baker to leave her first career love: serving North Platte residents in medical distress as a Fire Department paramedic.

But Baker, one of 20 nursing graduates Friday from North Platte Community College, decided during the COVID-19 pandemic that her Great Plains Health business office job wasnt enough. She wanted back in an emergency room.

It was a great job, Baker, 51, said before the McDonald-Belton Gymnasium commencement and pinning ceremony. But my heart was still in patient care in the E.R.

Baker and Ansley James Wood served as student speakers during the exercises that led off an afternoons worth of exercises for the 284 NPCC graduates receiving associates degrees, diplomas or certificates this spring.

Baker, who spoke first, thanked her husband, Jeff, their 10-year-old daughter, Caroline, mother-in-law Peggy Baker and grandmother Bonnie Erickson for their patience during her two years of study for her associates degree in nursing.

She received a bachelors degree in business in 2018 from Bellevue University during her hiatus from emergency medicine. But she had done her original emergency medical technician and paramedic training at NPCC, she told the audience.

My (GPH) office window faced West Francis Street, Baker added. Every time I saw an ambulance come in, I would wonder what kind of patient they had in there illness, injury, stroke, cardiac arrest or trauma.

Honestly, my heart broke a little more each time I saw another ambulance pull in. I so badly wanted to be downstairs in the E.R., helping to take care of whoever was in there.

During her pre-ceremony interview, Baker said she was able to transfer to GPHs emergency department during her studies. Shell remain there now that she has her degree.

Kathy Harrison, NPCCs director of nursing, said this springs class is the first in which the majority have received provisional registered nurse licenses.

Wood fought back tears as she talked about losing her father to cancer and a male nurse named Brock whose caring bedside manner gave her further inspiration to become a nurse herself.

Registered nurse isnt the only title we will hold, she said. We also will become an advocate, a shoulder to cry on, a light in someones darkest days.

Because they occupied opposite alphabetical ends of their classs roster, Baker was first and Wood last to cross the platform to receive their diplomas, nursing pins and flowers and shake hands with Mid-Plains Community College Area President Ryan Purdy.

During the main 3 p.m. commencement ceremony, Purdy presented GPH with the colleges Presidents Award as a strong financial supporter of the health education provided by Mid-Plains campuses.

The hospital recently donated $500,000 to expand the NPCC South Campus Health and Science Center, on top of the $1.5 million GPH contributed to the centers initial 2012 construction.

GPH also employs NPCC nursing students as nursing assistants and licensed practical nurses during their studies. As they reach their last academic quarter, theyre paired with practicing registered nurses, according to the Presidents Award citation in the commencement program.

Tessa Metschke, an NPCC volleyball player and pre-pharmacy student from Chambers, was student speaker for the main graduation ceremony.

She plans to finish her prerequisites this fall at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln before finishing her pharmacy degree at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Two businessmen in North Platte are going head to head to see who can out-earn each other in a charitable competition.

From 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday at the North Platte Fire Department Station 1, both men will be there to try to out collect each other for donated cases of water. Whoever has the highest volume of water wins.

Fire Station 1 is on 715 S. Jeffers St.

Chase Dodson, farm manager and a real estate salesman at Agri-Affiliates, and Jordan Boston, agent and owner of Jordan Boston State Farm have joined forces to raise water supplies for local volunteer fire departments in the area.

Drought conditions really led to the increase in wildfires in the last couple years and the problems weve had with that, it prompted me to want to try to figure out how we can give back and help, Dodson said.

Entering in a friendly competition, the two have directed their media departments to fire shots at each other on social media, creating flyers depicting the two with their heads Photoshopped on various characters in wacky scenes.

Their faces appear on professional wrestlers shaking hands to boxers duking it out. The most recent one made by Dodsons team depicts him as a cowboy roping Boston depicted as a rodeo clown.

We want the agriculture community to show up and show out their support and appreciation for what these rural fire departments do, Dodson said.

Weve been doing some promotional things together and we decided that we wanted to do something to give back to the community, a joint effort that was bigger than us, so I challenged him to see who could raise more donations.

There was little trash talk between the two with Dobson saying it was a friendly competition. Mostly, he said it was a challenge to have fun.

With a little coaxing, however, he managed to say, donate to the contender, not the pretender, Jordan Boston.

The winner will earn bragging rights for saying they had the most water, while the loser has to sit in a dunk tank and fall in some water.

Dodson said he reached out to North Platte Fire Chief Dennis Thompson and asked him how he could support the local fire departments. Thompson said bottle water donations are always very helpful.

One easy way people can donate currently is to go to Garys Foods and buy a case of bottled water. Donors should tell the staff there they want to donate to the firefighters and they will take care of the rest. If a donor wants to show support to a particular candidate, they have to haul the water by themselves to Fire Station 1.
A new incubator space Auburn University students designed for local tech and manufacturing startups opened in Auburn on May 3.

Located on 2175 Pumphrey Ave., The Yard is a two-story building made of 10 recycled sea containers that have been insulated and brought up to code. It includes five office suites, two manufacturing bays and shared areas to facilitate collaboration among tenants.

Around the time in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing, the contests AU science students usually competed in were canceled.

Alan Bugg, an AU associate professor at the McWhorter School of Building Science, was in search of an another opportunity for the students. He decided to hold an internal competition amongst the students in building science and the school of architecture.

We found that doing student competitions like this really helps the students apply what theyve learned, Bugg said.

The Auburn Industrial Development Board then reached out asking for help with designing the building designated for startups. Bugg said they thought it was the perfect opportunity to get the students involved.

Arndt Seipmann, the City of Auburns economic development deputy director, said they told the students what they wanted to be included in the design: two offices for two people, two offices for four, one office for eight, a break room, a bathroom and a conference room.

Bugg helped put together three teams of students who came up with a design and estimated the cost for it.

After the winning team was selected, the design was passed to architect John Randall Wilson and HBS Construction to bring the idea to life. After about 18 months of construction, it was completed and the City held a grand opening on May 3.

The building is two containers wide. They kept the original flooring and original paint of the containers on the outside, each one a different color. Some of the container doors were taken out and replaced with glass windows, and several walls were also cut out to become windows and bring in more natural lighting. They also constructed a staircase to lead to the second level.

It was very gratifying to see something get built by those students cause they put a lot of time and effort into coming up with designs, all three teams did, Bugg said.

The Yard not only serves the city by providing a unique space for entrepreneurs to grow their tech or manufacturing business, but it also highlights the ingenuity of Auburn University students in the building science and architecture programs.

I think part of our mission is outreach in the community and this is just one example of that. I personally love to see it, Bugg said.

This is the first time Siepmann has worked with AU students in this capacity.

The case was just ideal because we wanted it to be an attractive location and facility for startups, mainly young people, so I think it was just the perfect project for involvement for Auburn students, he said.

The building is owned and operated by the Industrial Development Board and theyre able to lease five offices spaces. Siepmann said it depends on several factors, but they would typically support a company for up to five years if needed.

Siepmann said the Economic Development Departments mission is to create more jobs in the city, and this startup space is a perfect fit for a college community.

It is an ideal area to collaborate with the university. It is an ideal platform to generate the creation of companies that come based on ideas and know how and initiative that come out of the university campus, Siepmann said.

The City of Auburn stated in a release that The Yard expands the Citys efforts to help fuel local startups, adding to space available at the Auburn Center for Developing Industries, which has been a resource for budding businesses since the 80s. This building is also located on 1500 Pumphrey Avenue.

Those interested in leasing space at The Yard can contact the Economic Development team at webecondev@auburnalabama.org or 334-501-7270.
From delivering babies to saving lives in emergency rooms, nurses perform countless difficult and sometimes heartbreaking duties each day.

They risk their lives to help others. They worked long hours, day and night, helping the sick and their families.

"Nurses and healthcare workers were heroes long before the COVID-19 pandemic," said Alabama editor Sarah Robinson, who oversees the Dothan Eagle and Opelika-Auburn News. "We join the Auburn-Opelika community in recognizing their dedication to the countless people they serve daily."

During National Nurses Week, we honor winners of the Opelika- Auburn News' "Nurses: The Hearth of Health Care" initiative. In February, we asked the public to nominate nurses or other health care professionals who have gone above and beyond to make a significant impact in the lives of others. Our winners earned the most votes.

On Sunday, we dedicated a special section of our newspaper to telling their stories. We also recognized them Friday morning during a ceremony at the South Union State Community College in Opelika.

Here are the stories behind our Heart of Health Care honorees:
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 13)  The International Criminal Court (ICC) has approved the Philippine governments request to reply to the arguments raised by the ICC prosecutor regarding the country's appeal against the resumption of the tribunals probe into Duterte administration's anti-drug war.

In its decision dated May 2 but made public only on Saturday, the ICC appeals chamber said a reply to certain issues raised by ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan would help it decide on the appeal.

It gave the Philippines until May 16 to submit its response, which should not exceed 10 pages.

In November 2021, the ICC suspended its probe into the previous administrations controversial drug war following a deferral request from the Philippine government.

However, in January this year, the courts pre-trial chamber authorized the resumption of the inquiry, saying it was "not satisfied" with developments in local investigations.

The Philippines appealed this decision, arguing that the move would violate its sovereignty and that the chamber erred in some of its findings.

On April 4, Khan submitted a 56-page response where he urged the ICC to reject the country's petition. According to the prosecutor, the government failed to show any error in the decision of the court to roll out the probe.

A week later, the Philippines sought ICCs permission to reply to the points made by Khan, particularly citing five issues which could not have been reasonably anticipated by the government.

The appeals chamber said that the Philippines would need to respond to only two out of the five issues it mentioned.

During Duterte's term, state monitoring platform RealNumbersPH showed that over 6,000 people died in anti-illegal drug operations.

Local and international human rights groups, however, estimate an even higher tally of between 12,000 and 30,000.
I hope she rots, what mother does that to her children. Rot in hell c*nt

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I never heard about this case wtf

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These two assholes destroyed everyone around them, it's awful. "Sins of our Mother" on netflix would be somewhere to start if you're interested.

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theres a doc on netflix about it called Sins of Our Mother

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It's wild. The documentary is on Netflix. I just don't understand how a mother can do that to her children and see nothing wrong with her action. I feel so bad for her oldest who lives grappling with his loss. And also the other *alledged* asshole she married. He also had kids too.

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murder with my husband podcast on this is really good.

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Fecking impossible to even write a summary about this clusterfuck. I didn't even mention her two dead husbands or her hitman brother.



This case upsets me so much. Those poor children. When it seemed like Lori was a good mom before? I still don't get it really.

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Also, do you think Alex Cox really died of natural causes??

And justice for Charles Vallow who seemed like a decent human.

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I think Alex Cox probs did die of natural causes. He was Lori's hitman and was incredibly loyal to her. She had no reason to kill him off.

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I think his wife that he married weeks(?) earlier who was cult-adjacent was involved in that part. And/or he was manipulated into suicide in some way. Too much coincidence.



Maybe now that her cult husband realizes he is going to 100% be found guilty and probably get death penalty he will start throwing the others under the bus. Idk how else he could get a plea deal

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Well, her oldest son, who appeared in the Netflix doc, is a rapist so maybe not that great.

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Burn in hell, demon.

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This case is so terrible, hopefully she rots for what she and her horrible husband did to her kids and everyone else that died for their selfish desires.

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Absolutely despicable to murder your child and then go enjoy yourself in Hawaii



And then to act like it's because of some deeply held belief when you were really just pissed that you didn't get the life insurance money from the husband you murdered...

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Good. I hope she rots.

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Is there a Netflix doc on this woman? She looks familiar but I can't remember from where.

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yes, it's called sins of our mother

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Okay thought so! I started watching it one day and never went back to finish it. I had no idea this is how the story turned out.

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I wonder if her delusions will partially shatter a year from now when the apocalypse doesnt happen and shell have some realization of what shes done? Her demeanor while the verdict was being read was unsettling like she still think she did something right. I hope her surviving son finds some peace. Religion + mental health issues is an awful combo.

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We're already well past the original apocalypse date. Idk if Chad and Lori have changed the date since though.

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"oh, did I say the apocolypse was today? I meant NEXT year". it's always how it goes.



I heard the recording of her son just begging her for an explanation in the jail phone call. So heartbreaking.



Also, he called Chad "Peter Griffin" 

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I dont even know how or if hes been able to reconcile the actions of his mom. I was shocked to read she was even sending him texts impersonating the sister, such a vile excuse for a human

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did you hear the call with her sister? that woman went on national television to defend her only for her niece and nephew to be found buried in her new bil's backyard

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He's a rapist, so he belongs in hell with her.

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No, apparently she's always been a narcissist from what other family members have said. Also, there's a thing called The Sunk Cost Fallacy . If you woke up from your religious delusions and realized that your kids were not zombies and that you had your actual children murdered, then your brain would never be able to handle it. She will make excuses for the rest of her life.

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Her lawyers threw her husband under the bus, blaming it on him and calling his books 'nutty' or something and apparently that really upset her.

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i doubt she will ever take responsibility for what she did. she will remain willfully delusional

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Those poor kids. I feel so sorry for Tammy Daybell's kids/family, and JJ's bio grandparents who let Lori raise him. Throw the book at these monsters.

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The fact that Tammy's murder was dismissed as being natural is kinda wild to me. She was young and had no preexisting conditions and her husband got remarried like 3 weeks after she died and it wasn't until the stuff about JJ and Tylee started to come out that anyone really started to view her death as suspicious.

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right... if the husband refuses an autopsy for an unexplained death shouldn't that be an automatic autopsy..

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Theres a dude that pushed like, 3 FUCKING WIVES off of cliffs and its only after it happened - THIRD time that the police was like, huh, thats kinda sus!



You dont think??

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It's like when people say the police have no interest in actually protecting people.

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i remember this case, she's fucking evil and i hope she rots in jail the rest of her life

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Her poor children, throw away the key for these goblins.

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They are such monsters.



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I'll watch this.



I just tried the flaming hot cheets with carolina reeper in it! Pretty good!

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Wasn't his story debunked?

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https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-05-16/flamin-hot-cheetos-richard-montanez



yes, a junior employee in marketing created it in 1989. she contacted frito-lay in 2018 to investigate his claims.



Edited at 2023-05-13 01:55 am (UTC) yes, a junior employee in marketing created it in 1989. she contacted frito-lay in 2018 to investigate his claims.

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LMAO WELL DAMN

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Omg and they made a whole ass movie about him before fact checking?

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In a statement, a spokesperson for PepsiCo  Frito-Lay is a subsidiary of PepsiCo  tells PEOPLE, "A great deal has been recently discussed about the origin of Flamin' Hot Cheetos. The information we shared with the media has been misconstrued by some, which resulted in confusion around where we stand, a range of emotions among our employees and consumers and a strain on our valued friendship with Richard Montanez and the Latino community."



The statements adds that PepsiCo attributes "the launch and success of Flamin' Hot Cheetos and other products to several people who worked at PepsiCo, including Richard Montanez."



"Far from being an urban legend, Richard had a remarkable 40-plus-year career at PepsiCo and made an incredible impact on our business and employees and continues to serve as an inspiration today," the statement continues. "His insights and ideas on how to better serve Hispanic consumers were invaluable and directly resulted in the success of Flamin' Hot Cheetos. To be clear, we have no reason to doubt the stories he shares about taking the initiative to create new product ideas for the Cheetos brand, and pitching them to past PepsiCo leaders."



In the statement, PepsiCo acknowledges there "was a separate division team developing a spicy product offering for Cheetos and other snack brands that were tested in market and found their way into permanent products on store shelves, including Flamin' Hot Cheetos."



"Different work streams tackling the same product without interacting occasionally occurred in the past when divisions operated independently and were not the best at communicating," the statement continues. "However, just because we can't draw a clear link between them, doesn't mean we don't embrace all of their contributions and ingenuity, including Richard's."



The spokesperson for PepsiCo concludes the statement, saying, "Richard is an important part of PepsiCo's history and the success of the company. He is an inspiration and his story cannot be belittled. We regret the confusion that has come from the recent speculation, but most importantly want Richard to know he is valued and cared for among PepsiCo's employees and we only wish him happiness and success."



https://people.com/food/man-claims-flamin-hot-cheetos-creator-responds-frito-lay-claims/ PepsiCo later backtracked a little on the initial statement.

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I'll watch it. I was surprised with the Spanish swear words and folks from the hood and seeing Hulu/Disney on the top right lmao



I feel so validated knowing there is such thing that "it burns good." lol That's how I feel when I eat Asian cuisine like spicy ramen, pho, or curry. Pass the tissue, but I'm still gonna finish my plate/bowl. I love their Flaming Hot Fritos. I think those are spicier than the Flaming Hot Cheetos.



Edited at 2023-05-13 01:58 am (UTC)

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They're still going with this after he turned our to be a scammer 

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Idk but xxtra flamin hots are straight 

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I will watch. Happy for Eva tbh now i wanna go rewatch dh

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i yearn for the day these will be available in europe and wheat thins and even disgusting triscuits

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God triscuits are terrible..they are so dry and salty.

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You're supposed to put stuff on Triscuits. Wheat Thins are next level though.

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Wheat Thins??? THEM??

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Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in Hello! Your entry got to top-25 of the most popular entries in LiveJournal!Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in FAQ

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My 3yo niece is obsessed with tasting hot Cheetos and then panicking when the heat hits. She does it all the time knowing shes not going to like the consequences. Its the cutest/dumbest thing I have ever seen in my life. 

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I'm in my 30s and i do that with takis. Well, knockoff takis from trader Joe's.

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I don't care HOW much of his story is true, all I care about is that Flamin' Hot Cheetos are 1 step up from mid. Probably not even top 5 as far as hot chips go.

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wait I'm curious (and hungry) what are your top 5

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I'm more for flavor than straight heat, so my choices may not be elite, but even some of the ones I've tried and NOT fucked with have been generally better than Cheetos, lol



Off the top of my head tho:



Most Paqui flavors,

El Sabroso Hot Cheese Crunchies,

Lays Flamin Hot Dill Pickle Chips,

Salsa Verde Doritos,

Flamin Hot Funyuns



But, then you have Andy Capp's, and other shit which are pretty good. And also ones I've tried, and either liked or didn't that I can't even recall.

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Flamin Hot Cool Ranch Doritos, when you get a genuinely spicy super coated batch >>> Flamin Hot Cheetos



especially with queso as a dip... I could die

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I love them but they completely destroy my stomach lmao

Im such a bad Mexican :(

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I like them, but they tear my shit up too.

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I blame my parents for making me grow up eating spicy stuff lmao ;(

I remember my mom giving me huevos and splashing hot sauce on it for breakfast

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this genre of movie does NOTHING for me, like it does not feel remotely entertaining but if they're gonna make a movie about the white guys who i guess thought of the idea of having michael jordan sell shoes or whatever? this might as well exist too.

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Prime forced me to watch that Air trailer and i was like uhhh?? Its a genre that do not speak to me at all

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I like the jalapeno cheetos

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Throw him under the jail already!

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Go to jail and die slowly, asshole.

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Hope he rots slowly and painfully

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Fuck him

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The defense SWEARS they didn't give it to the CoS



If anybody believe this, I've got a bridge to sell them.



Edited at 2023-05-13 12:07 pm (UTC)

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I saw Leah Reminis IG post ( https://www.instagram.com/p/CsHKuNhpc1W/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== ) about the leak and shes right about the lack of media coverage. That is a big deal and seeing the practices that cult engages in, Im scared for the survivors and people testifying against that vile rapist.

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"A man acknowledged as the husband of one of the alleged victims was scolded by the judge for glaring and intensely staring at Masterson"



This judge is weird. Idk how glaring could cause a disturbance in court. Seems like this admonishment was just for Mastersons own comfort



Like oooh a criminal defendant on trial for sexual assault is being glared at, because that doesn't happen at almost every trial ever when there are victims involved.

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She had to scold him because Masterson complained. From following both trials, she's been very fair, and unfortunately, she has to protect Mastersons comfort as well as the victims



Edited at 2023-05-13 02:31 pm (UTC)

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I get that she wants to give the appearance of "fairness" but it just seems weird to me. Idk how this court was set up but usually the defendant is in front of the gallery facing the Judge and he didn't testify so he was never on the stand. He has to turn around to see him intensely staring lol



maybe it could be that her wording was more gentle and not necessarily an admonishment too



Edited at 2023-05-13 02:46 pm (UTC)

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Yeah, I don't think it was an outright admonishment like she did to the defense- she told the husband he could stay but he had to cool it, he opted to leave.

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If she let the husband do it shed also have to let Dannys supporters do it. He complained and she did the right thing. Danny being a POS doesnt change standard court etiquette.

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I bet they do glare, the church of Scientology isn't known for being subtle in their attempts to harass people. the prosecution just isn't so petty that they'd complain about it. Glaring/staring isn't disrupting court. I've seen people audibly sigh, throw their hands up, make snide comments to other people sitting in the gallery and if judges stopped to admonish people every single time they'd never get anything done lol



She has a lot of discretion here. Her saying something about him STARING at someone who is not even facing him is definitely a choice. She's probably erring on the side of caution, but still.

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Just because all judges dont do it doesnt mean they shouldnt. They really only have to admonish and kick people out one time and people will chill. Also, again, he specifically complained. She couldnt just ignore it then.



This was not a slight against her husband. Shes been plenty stern with the defense and very fair. I dont get why youre so hung up on this.

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Another reporter there described the incident completely differently than Ortega. Accoring to him, the defense complained to the judge about Jane Doe 1's husband allegedly staring at Masterson. The judge had a short conversation with the guy and then told the entire room that everyone was allowed to look wherever they wanted, they were just not allowed to make faces or gestures.

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Die pls

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I'm worried about the women who testified and whose identities have been exposed to CoS! I hope they get the eff out of LA if they can and go live in a city without a scientology presence! Shit that's scary. The judge needs to issue orders of protection for these women NOW against any CoS reps





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He has a daughter, right? Granted she'll most likely be shielded from this for now, and given how mommy has stayed by daddy's side, she'll be fed the narrative that daddy is innocent once she's old enough to understand it. But at some point she's bound to know her dad is a rapist and I honestly can't even imagine what that feels like. It'd absolutely break me.

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honestly, if she stays inside the cult, she may never really know the truth. she'll be fed lies her whole life.

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Please God let him be convicted.

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I feel for these brave women - I hope they have strong support systems.



DM needs to be in prison like yesterday.

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A man acknowledged as the husband of one of the alleged victims was scolded by the judge for glaring and intensely staring at Masterson.



well what else is he supposed to do, damn!!

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A man acknowledged as the husband of one of the alleged victims was scolded by the judge for glaring and intensely staring at Masterson. Soon after, the man left.



Honestly Id do the same thing if one of my loved ones were hurt by this monster. 

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Governments worldwide are encouraging private companies to move away from fossil fuels and invest heavily in green energy and related technologies. In doing so, they are also trying to expand the consumer market, pushing the public to accept a movement away from fossil fuels, such as the natural gas used for heating water and houses, to green alternatives, such as wind, solar, geothermal, and green hydrogen power. And while a lot of consumers would like to play a role in the green transition, many do not have the funds or space to install renewable energy technology in their homes. But one U.K. company thinks it has come up with a way of helping consumers to invest in the green transition, as well as help lower their energy bills.

Ripple Energy is raising funds for the U.K.s first shared solar park to be built in Devon, in the southeast of England. With two successful community energy schemes already underway, Ripple hopes to develop the 42-MW Derril Water solar park as its third. It expects the project to commence operations in the summer of 2024, so long as it can attract investors. It should produce enough energy to power around 14,000 homes across the U.K.

Ripples idea is to launch a co-owned energy project, consisting of 70,000 panels, to be shared by thousands of people. Investors can pay a one-off fee of as little as 25 to enough money to cover 120 percent of their homes electricity bills, usually between 3,000 and 3,600, to own a piece of the park. This will allow homeowners to reduce their bills, by around 200 a year, by paying the wholesale rather than the market price of electricity. Ripple owns 10 percent of the park and households can purchase shares for the remaining 90 percent until mid-May.

The companys idea is to provide people across the country with an opportunity to invest in the green transition. While many of these people may be unable to afford their own solar panels or may not have the house space or orientation required to install panels, this allows them to invest in the future of U.K. solar power, as well as decrease their utility costs. The installation of solar panels at home can cost between 7,000 and 12,000 on average, significantly higher than the investment required to own a piece of the park. The park is also expected to have a significant impact on the U.K.s carbon emissions, which it could decrease by around 19,000 tonnes a year.

Sarah Merrick, the founder and CEO of Ripple Energy, believes that by offering consumer ownership, the Derril Water solar park will become a completely different kind of solar park, one owned by the people it supplies low-cost green power to. She added, We want Derril Water to become a blueprint for consumer-owned solar parks around the world. The aim is to create a wave of green energy ownership that enables people to make a real climate impact, as well as stabilising their energy bills. We hope as many as possible become part of this pioneering project.

The co-ownership scheme will work by allowing consumers to buy shares in a cooperative society managed by Ripple. Investors will be asked to choose between six energy suppliers that will be connected to the site. Consumers will then be given a discount on their electricity bills, of between 20% and 25%, for the next 40 years. While the future of electricity prices is uncertain, particularly as the U.K. moves away from fossil fuels to renewable alternatives, the recent rising costs of natural gas have caused household bills to soar over the last year. This is the first project of its kind, which may deter many consumers from investing. However, Ripple hopes that households will buy into the project to support the green transition, thereby demonstrating the willingness of the public to move away from fossil fuels, which could spur similar developments in other countries.

There have been several studies on the impact of community input on renewable energy projects worldwide, with the participation and acceptance of the community providing a greater chance of project success on average. In the U.S., the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) sees community participation as key to the success of the green transition. In a 2022 report, the NREL outlined that, more than 180 communities in the United States have committed to transition to 100 percent clean energy by 2050, there are 332 U.S. members and 2,500 international members of ICLEI  Local Governments for Sustainability, and around the globe, 11,752 cities, representing more than one billion people, are committed to the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy.

While the evidence for community-driven renewable energy projects being more successful has been widely discussed in studies and reports from several countries, Ripple is taking this idea one step further by asking households to invest in a shared solar farm. This scheme allows people across the U.K. to pay for solar power that they may not otherwise have been able to afford, as well as supporting the acceleration of the green transition. If successful, the Derril Water solar park design could be replicated elsewhere in the U.K. and other parts of the world.

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

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Iran and Iraq signed an agreement on Wednesday to expand energy ties and establish a joint office aimed at overlooking cooperation between the two countries, the Iraqi Oil Ministry announced, coming as part of Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owjis visit to Baghdad.

Upon arriving in the Iraqi capital, Owji was received by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and discussed with him the overall cooperation between Iraq and Iran, and ways to develop them, as well as the ability to jointly confront global economic challenges.

The energy agreement was signed between Owji and Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abdul Ghanni. The meeting between Sudani, Owji, and Abdul Ghanni resulted in an agreement to establish committees to discuss the development of joint fields under international agreements and cooperation in refining, petrochemicals, as well as oil exploration and infrastructure development, an Iraqi Oil Ministry statement reads.

According to the statement, the Iranian oil minister expressed his countrys desire to expand the horizons of cooperation in the implementation of joint projects in oil and gas sectors, projects for the construction and development of oil refineries, the expansion of oil and gas pipelines, and environmental cleanup.

On Tuesday, Irans President Ebrahim Raisi called for expanding energy ties between Iraq and Iran.

Raisi also emphasized the need for Baghdad fulfill its commitments regarding gas and electricity payments owed to Tehran.

As a result of harsh US sanctions, billions in Iraqi funds owed to Tehran have been frozen as an attempt by Washington to pressure Iraq into avoiding energy cooperation with the Islamic Republic.

Iraq has paid around $1.6 billion out of the staggering debt; however, US sanctions continue to complicate matters. Due to the sanctions on Iran, Iraq is only allowed to receive Iranian energy imports and pay for them via waivers that extend up to 120 days, a policy implemented by former US president Donald Trump and kept in place by current President Joe Biden.

In March, an Iranian trade official announced that a US sanction waiver resulted in Iran receiving another $500 million from Iraq. Iran provides a third of Iraqs electricity and gas supplies, and the two countries continue to cooperate despite the complications.

As a result of US economic hegemony, Iraq is one of the many regional countries considering the path of de-dollarization and fiscal independence from the west.

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Amber Schiltz says she and son, Sawyer, woke up to the most glorious chorus of bird songs last weekend while camping at Two Rivers State Recreation Area.

"It was incredible," she said. "I saw my first warbler. It's something I look forward to every year."

It's a good sign of spring and summer, she said, and warmer weather ahead.

Schiltz, who works in the Fish and Wildlife Education Division of Nebraska Game and Parks, uses the Merlin App to identify birds by their song. They found a rose-breasted grosbeak, an Eastern towhee, a tufted titmouse, Baltimore orioles, a yellow-rumped warbler, a white-crowned sparrow, a brown thrasher, a gray catbird, a ruby-throated hummingbird and pelicans.

"It's a great tool for anyone to use to learn more about the birds around them," she said.

Joel Jorgensen, nongame bird program manager for Nebraska Game and Parks, said the majority of songbirds that nest and raise their young in Nebraska  and points north in summer  have arrived or are migrating through.

Millions of birds are on the move, including several species of warblers, vireos, flycatcher, buntings, tanagers and orioles.

"In addition to songbirds, now is peak migration for a number of shorebirds and water birds," he said. "While sandhill cranes and waterfowl get a lot of the fanfare, early and mid-May is the height of avian migration in Nebraska."

May is Nebraska Bird Month and Saturday is National Migratory Bird Day.

With its many wetlands, the state is a great place to watch birds. The diverse areas include marshes, lakes, river and stream backwaters, oxbows, wet meadows, fens, forested swamps and seeps.

"Wetlands are highly productive  they produce lots of food and cover that birds like. And because of that, they probably have a better concentration of overall bird life than some other habitat types," said Ted LaGrange, wetland program manager at the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

If you want to travel farther than your backyard or don't have a favorite spot to visit like the Schiltz family to see the spring migration, Game and Parks shared eight wetland areas that offer good birding opportunities. Sawyer Schiltz loved his first camping trip of the spring and the chance to see a lot of birds.

"It was 23 million-billion thumbs up," he told his mom.

Marsh Wren Saline Wetland:

Located just north of Lincoln, this site is 150 acres of unique saline wetlands. It's a great place to observe spring and fall migrants, including a variety of waterfowl, shorebirds and songbirds. About 2 miles of minimally maintained maintenance roads offer outstanding birding opportunities'. In the summer, these roads can be overgrown, so boots and pants are recommended. Visitors may be able to view such species as eastern meadowlark, marsh wren, shorebirds and waterfowl.

Fontenefle Forest:The 1,500acre area includes a variety of landscapes  deciduous forest, oak savannah and prairie, along with wetlands along the Missouri River. Seventeen miles of maintained trails, including a 1-mile, ADA-compliant boardwalk offering year-round opportunities to observe wildlife.

Fontenelle Forest attracts many migrants and breeding songbirds. The half-mile Marsh Trail offers great views of riparian birds, as well as forest birds. This trail can get muddy after rain. A few species you can observe include wood ducks, yellow-throated vireo and prothonotary warbler.

Ponca State Park:With its wetlands along the Missouri River, this a must-stop location during peak spring migration, when the forests come alive with singing migrant and resident passerines. Here the Missouri River is still unchanneled, resembling its original state with sandbars that offer refuge for shorebirds, including the piping plover. There are several places with scenic overlooks of the Missouri River valley that offer great views of bald eagles in winter. Ducks and snow geese migrate past the Missouri River in spring and fall and can be seen from a viewing blind.

Harvard Waterfowl Production Area:Rainwater Basin site consists of 760 acres of wetlands and 725 acres of upland habitat. These wetlands attract tens of thousands of snow, Canada, cackling and greater white-fronted geese in spring, with numbers peaking in mid-March with up to 500,000 waterfowl. Occasional flocks of sandhill cranes stop over, and bald eagles are regular visitors in early spring. Later in spring and summer, the main basin and several smaller wetlands to the south offer excellent shorebird watching. As with any Rainwater Basin wetland, check conditions before visiting as they can some times be dry.

Valentine National Wildlife Refuge:Nebraska's largest national wildlife refuge contains a large number of Sandhill wet lands that attract a variety of wetland birds. At least 224 bird species have been sighted here. There are numerous marshes and shallow lakes that offer breeding habitat for western and pied billed grebes, Forster's and black terns, a dozen species of waterfowl, shorebirds and other water birds like American bitterns and soras. A 9-mile gravel auto tour road, starting at U.S. Highway 83, is great for bird viewing, and some of the lakes are open for kayaking or boating, offering, additional viewing opportunities.

Kiowa Wildlife Management Area:The alkaline wetland area attracts various shorebirds, including nesting American avocets, and is designated a Nebraska Important Bird Area. Canada geese nest here, and about 20 waterfowl species have been reported, including cinnamon teal and large wintering goose and duck populations. Common migrant shorebirds include Baird's, white-rumped and stilt sandpipers. Nesting shorebirds also include the black-necked stilt and likely Wilson's phalarope and Wilson's snipe.

Rowe Audubon Sanctuary:

The 2,900-acre site attracts a variety of wetland and grassland birds. It is owned and operated by the National Audubon Society and includes a visitor center with educational displays, gift shop and viewing windows. The sanctuary protects prime sandhill crane and whooping crane stopover habitats, and guided and self-guided crane viewing opportunities are offered.

Lake Ogallala:Very attractive to migrant ducks, ospreys, Caspian terns, cliff swallows, gulls, American white pelicans, double-crested cormorants and other summering species, and it is used by numerous bald eagles and gulls in winter. An eagle-watching facility is available during peak periods, open from December to February on weekends or by scheduled appointments during the week.

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It started with a weird breakout on his face.

So Tommy Dennis, who was 22 years old at the time, had the bumps checked out by an Omaha dermatologist. The doctor told him that the breakout looked like the symptoms of a potential HIV infection. Then he ordered a blood test. I came back a week later and found out that my test came back positive.

Dennis, who is now 35, was devastated.

In the United States, more than 30,600 people ages 13 and older were diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus, the virus that causes AIDS, in 2020. More than 1.2 million people are living with it.

In Nebraska, the number of new HIV diagnoses hit 107 in 2021, up from a yearly average of 81, state health officials said, noting that a drop in HIV testing during the COVID-19 pandemic is at least partly to blame for the increase. The spike occurred primarily among White men, mainly in the states rural areas.

However, since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Black Americans have been disproportionately affected, and that disparity has deepened over time, as the KFF health policy group notes.

HIV conference Nebraska health experts will present a daylong "Nebraska HIV Prevention and Care Update" on Thursday, May 18, at the University of Nebraska at Omaha's Barbara Weitz Community Engagement Center from 7:45 a.m. until 5 p.m. Topics to be covered include barriers to HIV prevention, treatment disparities, aging with HIV and what's new in HIV care. Although the conference is at capacity, people can attend virtually by going to bit.ly/UNMC-HIV

Although they represent only 12% of the population, Black people account for a much larger share of HIV diagnoses (42%), people living with HIV (40%) and HIV-related deaths (43%) than any other racial or ethnic group in the U.S., according to 2020 figures reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The disparity persists in Nebraska, where Black people, who make up 5% of the population, accounted for 21% of new HIV diagnoses in 2021. That reality, according to advocates and health care providers, can make seeking care onerous for patients and complicate providers ability to deliver treatment that is much more effective and causes fewer side effects than earlier treatments.

Dennis, who is Black, went to work at the Nebraska AIDS Project in 2017. I was charged with basically developing a program to do outreach toward Black same-gender-loving men and really try to promote (HIV) testing efforts in the community, which, you know, in large part has been successful ... But I think there is such a level of medical mistrust when it comes to testing  in minority communities especially.

Lack of access to health care also is an issue for minority populations, said Dr. Nada Fadul, a professor in the University of Nebraska Medical Centers Division of Infectious Diseases. Fadul is the medical director of the UNMC Specialty Care Center in Omaha, where 1,200 HIV patients  a little more than half of all HIV patients in Nebraska  are treated.

For some people, Fadul said, issues such as a lack of transportation, food insecurity and/or difficulty finding housing play a role in their not getting treatment. Distrust in the health care system also factors in.

Dennis still bristles at the way the first doctor told him he was HIV-positive.

He didnt even bother closing the door, he recalled. He stood in the doorway and basically said, Yep, your test results came back positive. Ill send the nurse in with a referral, and were going to get you on your way.

Fadul said some medical providers still have unconscious bias against racial minorities and the LGBTQ+ community.

Patients feel that, she said. If I walk into a clinic and the doctor is looking at me (disapprovingly) or saying words that imply that Im less of a person, Im not going to come back. Im not going to feel comfortable in this clinic.

Whether providers look like the people they serve also matters, Fadul said.

If 30% of my patients are Black, Fadul said, then I need to have representation of that population in my workforce. So when patients walk into the clinic, they can see that, Oh, there are people who look like me, talk like me, dress like me, so I can feel comfortable in this environment, I can feel safe.

If they can overcome the initial barriers, people with HIV can begin a fairly simple treatment regimen, albeit one they will have to continue indefinitely.

HIV medications today have fewer side effects than they used to, and theyre easier to take.

In March 1987, AZT became the first drug to get FDA approval for the treatment of AIDS.

It was something, Dr. Susan Swindells said, but it was really a pretty awful drug. We gave people big doses of it, five times a day. I used to have to tell people, Set your alarm for 2 oclock in the morning, wake yourself up and take this medicine. ... And it generally made people feel terrible. On average, they lived about a year longer than they would without it.

Swindells, a professor of medicine and longtime HIV researcher at UNMC, said treatment didnt improve until the mid-1990s, with the introduction of new medicines called protease inhibitors.

That turned the corner, she said. That made people better, and they stopped dying.

Cindy White remembers the harsh drugs. She said her friends with AIDS used to call AZT rat poison.

White, who is 62, figures she contracted HIV from a man she was dating in 1984 while living in Denver.

White had gotten really sick that summer, spiking a temperature of 104 degrees, but she recovered from that while the HIV quietly continued to build up in her, damaging her immune system.

After breaking up with the guy, she met her future husband in early 1985, and they moved back to Omaha, where White grew up. They divorced about four years later after having a son together.

Then her ex-husband contacted her in 1990 after he had tried to sell plasma. A sample of his donation had been found to be HIV-positive.

He called me everything, White said. You know, like, everything. Im gonna die. Its your fault.

Then she phoned the man she was seeing to give him the news. Well, you gotta go get tested, he told her. And I said, Well, you gotta go get tested.

She and her boyfriend eventually both tested HIV-positive  her first, then him a few months later. Four months after the diagnosis, White was found to have no immune system and officially had AIDS, which kicks in when the number of infection-fighting CD4 cells drops below a certain level.

Then its kind of game on, White said. Because with such a low immune system, everything made you sick.

Eventually, White said, the virus beat my immune system down to a point that it reactivated an infection called cytomegalovirus and it took my eyesight. She has been blind ever since.

After being on AZT, plugging into various drug trials  at one point taking about 100 pills a day  plus going through chemotherapy, White was down to 95 pounds and wasnt in good shape.

Her doctor started her on a new drug that White said made her weight skyrocket, requiring her to wear size 3X clothes. But it worked on her HIV infection, and her viral load was undetectable about two years after she started taking it.

White stayed on that drug for about 20 years after her doctor adjusted the dosage. Her weight gradually returned to normal.

Whites boyfriend, who also had been on several HIV drug trials, died of a fungal infection in December 2001. Her ex-husband died in 2005.

Today, people with HIV who stick with their treatment can get their viral levels down to basically zero and cant transmit HIV, a concept dubbed U Equals U  undetectable equals untransmittable.

If your viral load is undetectable, meaning that youre taking medications, theyre wiping out the viral load in your blood, Fadul said. Youre not going to transmit HIV sexually to your sexual partners. And this is a proven fact, you know, thousands and thousands of patients have been studied  using condoms, not using condoms ... There is no transmission.

And people today also have access to PrEP medicines  Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, which reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99%. Dennis, Fadul and Swindells all noted that PrEP can keep you from getting HIV, but it cant stop you from getting chlamydia or gonorrhea or herpes.

We understand condoms arent everybodys thing, Dennis said, but we still encourage folks to use them. And if youre not going to use them then you should be getting tested (for HIV) often.

Testing is important  an estimated 13% of people in the U.S. with HIV dont know they have it, so if theyre sexually active, theyre spreading it to their partners. The CDC recommends that everyone between the ages of 13 and 64 be tested at least once, and people who are in certain high-risk categories should be tested at least once a year. (And its not just gay or bisexual men  people who acquired HIV through heterosexual contact made up 22% of HIV diagnoses in the U.S. in 2020.)

For more information, contact the Nebraska AIDS Project at nap.org.

The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraskas first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of May 2023
STOCKHOLM (AP)  Swedish prosecutors said that a 50-year-old man was charged on Thursday with spreading sensitive military information online.

The man, who authorities didn't identify, administered a database that was used for the exchange of secret information, said Lars Hedvall, a senior prosecutor with the National Security Unit. The information was posted in a forum that he allegedly was responsible for.

He was charged with suspected gross unauthorized possession of secret information" and sharing "secret and sensitive information about a large number of defense facilities online.

Hedvall called the man's alleged actions serious" because the information was "of great importance for the defense of the kingdom.

It is unclear whether a foreign power actually got hold of the information that was spread on the unnamed forum where he posted the information.

Hedvall told Swedish news agency TT that the 50-year man is a private person who has a very big interest in defense facilities. Citing the charge sheet, TT said the man disseminated secret and sensitive information about a large number of defense facilities between 2015 and 2017.

Swedens domestic security agency was involved in the investigation. No date for a trial was announced.
An Omaha neighborhood that was once one of Nebraskas oldest towns celebrated both its history and current culture with a parade Saturday.

Hundreds gathered along North 30th Street on Saturday afternoon to watch the Florence Days parade make its way from Redick Avenue to McKinley Street.

Entries in the parade included the Omaha North High School and Norris Middle School marching bands, two drill teams, the Ponca Hills and Carter Lake fire departments, and local churches and businesses.

A crowd favorite was the Omaha Tangier Shrines variety of entries, which included clowns, motorcycles, mini race cars and a train.

An entry from the Mormon Trail Center paid homage to Florences beginnings as a Mormon settlement as early as 1846. Florence was established as a town in 1856 and annexed by Omaha in 1917, according to History Nebraska.

The Mormon Trail Center, Bank of Florence Museum, Florence Mill and the Florence Depot are all sites that showcase the history of the neighborhood, which is located in far northeast Omaha.

The annual parade, organized by the Florence Historical Foundation, has been a tradition for over 50 years.

Florence resident Robert Sanders was at Saturdays parade with his grandchildren. He said he has been to the parade many times and enjoys watching it.

Parades bring joy, he said.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of May 2023
(CNN)  Turkey's main opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu has accused Russia of interfering in the country's ongoing presidential election campaign.

"Dear Russian friends, you are behind the montages, conspiracies, deep fake content and tapes that were exposed in this country yesterday," he said in a tweet posted Thursday.

"If you want the continuation of our friendship after May 15, get your hands off the Turkish state," Kilicdaroglu said. Voters go to the polls Sunday in Turkey's presidential and parliamentary election.

Kilicdaroglu, who is the head of the Republican People's Party (CHP), and is incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main rival, addressed Russia in the tweet, saying "we are still in favor of cooperation and friendship."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the accusation in a Friday briefing, calling those who spread such rumors "liars."

"Russia does not interfere in the internal affairs and electoral processes of other countries," Peskov said.

Polls suggest a tight race between Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu, but give Kilicdaroglu a slight lead.

If no candidate wins a majority in the first round of elections on May 14, the country will hold a second round on May 28.

Turkey, a NATO member which has the alliance's second-largest army, has strengthened its ties with Russia and in 2019 even bought weapons from it in defiance of the United States.

While many NATO members and other Western nations sought to reduce their reliance on Russian energy after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, Turkey instead extended its dependence on Russia.

The strengthening ties between Erdogan and Putin have caused jitters in the West, with some watching the upcoming elections with anticipation of a possible Erdogan exit.

"We place great value on our bilateral relations with the Turkish side, because the Republic of Turkey has so far taken a very responsible sovereign and well-thought-out position on a whole range of regional and global problems that we are facing. And this position is very appealing to us," Peskov said.

When US Ambassador to Ankara Jeff Flake paid a visit in March to Kilicdaroglu, Erdogan lashed out against him, calling the US diplomat's visit a "shame," and warning that Turkey needs to "teach the US a lesson in this election."

On Thursday, one of the main four presidential candidates dropped out in a surprise move, citing "a campaign of slander." Muharrem Ince, the candidate who withdrew, had faced weeks of lurid allegations on social media in Turkey.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Turkeys main opposition candidate accuses Russia of election interference"
HELENA, Mont. (AP)  A Montana judge on Friday said a climate change lawsuit from young people challenging the state's pro-fossil fuel policies will proceed to trial despite efforts by the state to derail the case.

The upcoming trial in Helena would be the first of its kind in the United States, according to experts in climate law who said the nation is lagging behind the rest of the world in terms of climate litigation.

However, because of prior rulings that limited the scope of the Montana case, a victory for the plaintiffs would not automatically alter the states regulation of fossil fuels.

Attorneys for the 16 young plaintiffs, ranging in age from 5 to 22, alleged state officials were trying to avoid the upcoming trial when Republican lawmakers in March repealed the states energy policy  one of two laws that the case challenges. The plaintiffs and their backers are hoping to use the two-week trial that's set to start on June 12 to highlight the dangers of fossil fuel emissions that scientists say are making climate change worse.

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, a Republican, had asked state Judge Kathy Seeley to dismiss any part of the case touching on the cancelled energy policy. Attorneys for the state also wanted more time to offer legal arguments over recent amendments to a law that allows officials to ignore greenhouse gas emissions when approving fossil-fuel projects.

The judge was not swayed.

I would suggest you continue to prepare for trial, Seeley told attorneys at the end of a Friday court hearing. Im not intending to just stop everything so that we can spend months wrapped around that spoke."

The case was brought in 2020 by attorneys for the environmental group Our Children's Trust, which since 2010 has filed climate lawsuits in every state on behalf of youth plaintiffs. Many cases  including a previous one in Montana  have been dismissed.

The latest Montana lawsuit originally sought in part to repeal a state policy promoting coal, gas and oil development. Scientists say burning those fuels is largely driving climate change by releasing planet-warming carbon dioxide.

An attorney for the plaintiffs, Philip Gregory, told The Associated Press the policy was repealed by the Legislature not because the state has committed to changing its fossil fuel policy and actions, but because the state seeks to avoid standing trial.

He said the states continued support for fossil fuels violates environmental protections in the Montana Constitution, which says the state shall maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and all future generations.

The lawsuit documents how the consequences of climate change already are being felt by the young plaintiffs, with smoke from worsening wildfires choking the air they breathe and drought drying rivers that sustain agriculture, fish, wildlife and recreation.

The state argued that the plaintiffs were resorting to emotional appeals about the dangers of climate change, regardless of whether their legal claims have merit. They should have challenged specific laws that allow state agencies to issue permits for fossil fuel projects, said Assistant Attorney General Michael Russell.

When plaintiff's attorney Roger Sullivan said that Montana had never denied a fossil fuel development permit, Russell said projects that meet state requirements cannot be denied.

Judge Seeley already narrowed the scope of the case, ruling in 2021 that it was outside her power to issue a requested order that would have forced the state to craft a greenhouse gas reduction plan. The judge also said she could not order the state to complete an inventory of emissions caused by fossil fuels.

In both instances, Seeley said such work should be left to experts in the executive and legislative branches of government.

But Seeley said the court could declare that the state was in violation of the Constitution, without ordering that anything be done in response.

Sandra Nichols Thiam, an attorney with the Environmental Law Institute, said that could further the case of the failure of governments to address climate change.

Its highly significant that this case is going to trial at all, Thiam said. "Getting all of this information on the record will be a major advancement in climate litigation.

The sponsor of the measure that repealed the energy policy, Republican Rep. Steve Gunderson, did not return a call seeking comment. He said when it was under consideration before the Legislature that the policy was meaningless and outdated.

Costley reported from Washington.
Offutt Air Force Base just doubled its fleet of radiation-monitoring planes.

The 55th Wing took delivery Wednesday of the second of three refurbished WC-135R surveillance aircraft, known informally as nuke-sniffers. The first arrived last July; the third is slated for delivery in the fall.

The new plane boosts the Wings ability to take air samples and detect atmospheric radiation from, say, North Korean weapons tests or nuclear submarine bases in the Russian Arctic in support of the 1963 Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The Air Force calls the mission Constant Phoenix.

When we had one jet, if something happened in the Pacific and something happened in Europe, we had to choose, said Lt. Col. Chris Crouch, commander of the 45th Reconnaissance Squadron, which operates the Constant Phoenix jets. Now ... at least we have the option to respond to both.

The former Arizona Air National Guard refueling tanker (tail number 64-14831) arrived with little fanfare after a delivery flight from Greenville, Texas, where it was converted by the defense contractor L3Harris under the supervision of the Air Forces Big Safari program. Big Safari manages and supports special weapons systems aboard surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft.

The plane had been scheduled for delivery last winter. The 55th Wing declined to comment on the delay.

The total cost of converting the three aircraft is $218 million, appropriated by Congress in 2018 and 2019 at the urging of Nebraskas congressional delegation.

They are replacements for two 60-year-old WC-135s with outdated engines and avionics that had among the worst maintenance records in an Air Force filled with aged aircraft. Both are now retired. One was so notoriously cranky and prone to breakdowns that 45th Squadron crew members called it Lucifers Chariot at a mock retirement ceremony in November 2020.

Compared to the older jets, its a huge change, said Lt. Col. Sean Orme, commander of the 21st Surveillance Squadrons Offutt-based Detachment 1, which operates the radiation-detection gear.

The new Constant Phoenix planes arent really so new. All three rolled off Boeings assembly line in Renton, Washington, in August and September 1964, said Robert Hopkins III, a 55th Wing veteran and historian of Air Force reconnaissance flights. Each has about 25,000 to 27,500 flight hours, compared with between 29,500 and 36,000 for the now-retired WC-135s.

Though only two to three years newer than the aircraft they replace, all three were upgraded with new, quieter, turbofan engines in the early 1990s, and are equipped with newer avionics and flight controls.

That means most any 55th Wing pilot will be able to fly them.

Its brand-new on the inside, new equipment, new avionics, Crouch said. The mission-capable rates of these jets is just awesome.

Hopkins said their prior service in the Air National Guard means they are in better shape than the 55th Wing workhorses. He said Guard tankers typically rack up fewer flight hours and are maintained by National Guard mechanics who care for the same aircraft for years, unlike in the active-duty Air Force.

Offutt flies their jets hard, he told The World-Herald in 2020. Airplanes that come out of the Guard and Reserve have been pampered.

During the conversion, the long aerial refueling booms have been removed from the former tankers, and the flight controls and avionics modernized to match the other 24 C-135 variant aircraft in the 55th Wing fleet.

In the back end, they have been equipped with sensing pods on each side of the fuselage, over the wing. Filters inside the pods can capture tiny particles from a nuclear blast, giving analysts critical information about the composition of the bomb or other radiation source.

The planes also have been equipped with compressors that channel air samples into tanks for further study.

Crouch and Orme said their crews have learned a lot since the delivery 10 months ago of the first updated WC-135R, tail number 64-14836.

The first shift was more of the heavy lift, Orme said. We want to be sure the lessons learned on Eight-Three-Six will be applied on Eight-Three-One.

The first WC-135R deployed for the first time in January, to Puerto Rico  an unusual place for 55th Wing jets to operate.

Orme declined to discuss the types of missions flown from the U.S. territory in the Caribbean but hinted that it could see more reconnaissance deployments.

Puerto Rico is an option that could be exercised in the future, he said. We were able to hit some new ground.

For the past month, the jet has been operating in Europe and the Middle East, according to information gathered from flight-tracking websites by a 55th Wing veteran who goes by the Twitter handle MeNMyRC.

On Friday, for example, it flew from a deployed base at RAF Mildenhall, England, over the western Mediterranean, off the coast of Algeria and Tunisia. Other recent sorties overflew the Barents Sea on April 17, the Black Sea on April 21, the Persian Gulf on April 26, and the eastern Mediterranean on May 5.

From what Ive been seeing, shes been doing great over there, Orme said.

Photos: Offutt Air Force Base through the years
Atiku gave the assurance while addressing thousands of party faithful at a presidential rally at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt on Monday.

The PDP presidential candidate who was accompanied by his running mate, Peter Obi, and other leaders of the party promised to uphold the rule of law.

If you (masses) elect PDP and Atiku into office; I will restructure Niger Delta and all other parts of the country. We must restructure the country.

Secondly, after the Obasanjo/Atiku administration started the East West highway project; till today it has not been completed.

It has not been completed because we did not vote PDP to continue in power in 2015. The project has been haunted till today. We are going to complete it, if voted into power, he assured.

Atiku said that his administration would complete the dredging of old Port Harcourt and Onne sea ports if he wins Feb. 16 presidential polls.

According to him, Rivers state, Niger Delta and South-South had been abandoned by the administration since 2015, notwithstanding being the economic hub of the country.

Every development that the people of South-South, Niger Delta and Rivers have gotten was done by PDP-led governments. The roads, schools, hospitals and water, among others were provided by PDP.

I assure you that I will protect the constitution, protect separation of powers and will not interfere with the National Assembly and Judiciary because I believe in checks and balances.

My administration will uphold rule of law and will never allow the rule of law to be trampled by anybody, he promised.

Also speaking, former President Goodluck Jonathan called on the people of the state to come out enmass to vote PDP at all levels.

He said that nepotism, divisiveness, discrimination, factionalism, favouritism, sectionalism and killings had now become prevalent in the country.

Senate President and Director-General of Atiku Presidential Campaign, Bukola Saraki, said that Atiku had experience to take the country to greater heights.

He said that poverty and unemployment had reached an all-time high never seen in the country since its independence in 1960.

On his part, PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, assured the people of victory at the polls.

He expressed optimism that Atiku would win the North Western states of Jigawa, Kebbi, Kaduna, Kano, Sokoto and Zamfara.
President Muhammadu Buhari

As intense lobby for the new cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari hots up, a string of intrigues and complex power play is unfolding at the nations seat of power, Aso Rock.

An unfazed President Buhari will however leave the country for London any moment from Friday 29th March, to stave off pressures, draw up his ministers list and take a deserved rest before returning home to face challenges of governance again.

President Buhari has been playing host to numerous groups, since he was announced winner of the February 23rd presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). While on the surface some appear to be congratulatory visits, some observers say those with vested interests might be using the opportunity to pressure him to consider them for political or ministerial appointments.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, had last month hinted of the possibility of Buhari dissolving his cabinet before the May 29th inauguration ceremony. The Presidential Spokesman had assured that his boss would announce his new cabinet members as soon as he is sworn in as president.

President Buhari took six months to constitute his cabinet after he won the 2015 elections. There has been constant speculations that he would reshuffle his cabinet that will expire on May 29. On March 14th, a committee headed by the Secretary to the Government of Federation, (SGF), Boss Mustapha, ahead of May 29 swearing-in ceremony, was inaugurated.

It took Buhari one year to nominate Professor Stephen Ikani Ocheni to replace late James Enojo Ocholi as Minister of State for Labour.

Ocholi died in a motor accident along Kaduna  Abuja road alongside his wife, Blessing and one of his sons, including his driver in 2016. In the case of six ministers that had left his cabinet to take up appointments or run for elective office, Buhari has only replaced them with ministers in the cabinet.

But to stave off current pressure from lobbyists and party members who played key roles in his re-election, the President is said to be planning to take his annual vacation shortly after the supplementary elections in affected states to enable him compile his list of ministers and other political appointees and forward them to the Department of State Services, DSS for clearance, before forwarding them to the Senate for screening and approval. It was further learnt that but for the birthday of a national leader of the ruling APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which the President plans to attend on March 29, he would have travelled this weekend.

Presidency sources however said that Buhari was travelling to take a well-deserved rest after a rigorous campaign across all the states of the federation that led to his victory at the polls.

Already, the complex power play in the seat of power has claimed his Chief Security Officer (CSO), Bashir Abubakar, who had been redeployed with his replacement, Idris Kassim Ahmed, announced immediately. His Aide-De-Camp (ADC), Colonel Mohammed Lawal Abubakar, sources say, is also likely to be replaced. He is set to be due for a course in a foreign country. Lawal Abdullahi Kazaure, Buharis State Chief of Protocol (SCOP), is also said to be on his way out.

The trio have been said to be at loggerheads when carrying out their official duties and President Buhari is said to have had enough of them and want them replaced.

As President Buhari plans to inject fresh faces into his cabinet as he begins his second term on May 29th, there are ministers who are sure of retaining their seats all other things being equal. The Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, it was gathered might be retained for his strategic role in helping the president on critical issues.

Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika is also said to be part of the Presidents inner circle and because Buhari is keen about bringing back Nigerias airline before he leaves office, Sirikas return is almost a done deal.

On Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, sources in the Villa say though the initial plan was to send him to the United Kingdom as Nigerias High Commissioner and replaced him with the current Minister of education, Adamu Adamu, there are indications Buhari is yet to make up his mind on whether to let him go or not.
In the wake of the recent admittance that Boeing was indeed at fault, the slander against Ethiopian Airlines, its capable pilots and crew bring into question why Western media was so quick to shift blame.
The U S is deploying an amphibious assault ship and a Patriot missile battery to bolster an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers already sent to the Gulf, ratcheting up pressure Saturday on Iran.

In response to alleged threats from Iran, the USS Arlington, which transports marines, amphibious vehicles, conventional landing craft and rotary aircraft, and the Patriot air defence system will join the Abraham Lincoln carrier group, the Pentagon announced Friday.

The carrier and a B-52 bomber task force were ordered towards the Gulf, as Washington reiterated that intelligence reports suggested Iran was planning some sort of attack in the region.

CENTCOM, the US forces for the Middle East and Afghanistan, said Friday on Twitter that the B-52 bombers arrived at the area of operations on May 8, without saying where they had landed.

US President Donald Trumps national security advisor John Bolton has said the deployment aimed to send a clear and unmistakable message to Iran about any attack against the US or its partners in the region.

Washington has not elaborated on the alleged threat, drawing criticism that it is overreacting and unnecessarily driving up tensions in the region.

There was no immediate reaction from Tehran on the latest US moves, but earlier in the week it shrugged off the carrier deployment.

Boltons statement is a clumsy use of an out-of-date event for psychological warfare, Irans Supreme National Security Council spokesman Keyvan Khosravi said.

The increasing tensions come as Tehran said Wednesday it had stopped respecting limits on its nuclear activities agreed under a 2015 deal with major powers.

Iran said it was responding to the sweeping unilateral sanctions that Washington has re-imposed since it quit the agreement one year ago, which have dealt a severe blow to the Iranian economy.

The Pentagon, for its part, said the deployments were in response to indications of heightened Iranian readiness to conduct offensive operations against US forces and our interests.

The Department of Defence continues to closely monitor the activities of the Iranian regime, their military and proxies, it said.

The United States does not seek conflict with Iran, but we are postured and ready to defend US forces and interests in the region.

Amid the rising tensions, Trump said Thursday he was open to talks with Tehrans leadership.

What I would like to see with Iran, I would like to see them call me, Trump told reporters at the White House.

We dont want them to have nuclear weapons  not much to ask, he said.

In the latest of a series of escalating statements, however, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo the same day threatened a swift and decisive US response to any attack by Iran.

Our restraint to this point should not be mistaken by Iran for a lack of resolve, he said, adding however: We do not seek war.

In May last year, Trump pulled the United States out of an agreement aimed at curtailing Irans nuclear ambitions and reinstated unilateral economic sanctions.

On Wednesday, President Hassan Rouhani said Iran would no longer implement parts of the deal and threatened to go further if the remaining members of the pact, including the European Union, failed to deliver sanctions relief to counterbalance Trumps renewed assault on the Iranian economy within 60 days.

AFP

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Lagos State Governor-elect, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has promised to employ graduates as drivers of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), with a monthly payment between N80,000 to 100,000.

Sanwo-Olu made this promise on Saturday during an interactive session with his classmates at the Executive Master of Business Administration class, University of Lagos, 1998/2000 set.

According to him, the employment of graduates as BRT drivers would add more dignity to the profession and will reduce reckless driving in BRT. He said:

The BRT issue is something that has to do with culture. When we take over, by the Grace of God, we will advertise and see if we can employ some of our graduates as drivers. What I realised is that apart from the money we will be paying them, which is more than what they are paying an average graduate, we need to very quickly tell our people and encourage ourselves that there is dignity in work. We are going to be paying (them) between N80,000 and N100,000 to come and drive these buses because we expect a lot more decency. By the time we get the culture of the drivers right, the routes are coming up, by the time we finish the Abule-Egba/Iyana Ipaja/Ikeja route, it will boost the number of BRT (buses).

The governor-elect further stated that Lagos could one day adopt technology to upgrade and model the BRT ticketing system after what is obtainable in the United Kingdom.

At the dinner, the governor-elect also explained his plans to eradicate gridlock around the city.

He said his administration hoped to, by the middle of next year, complete the blue rail starting from Okokomaiko, through to Mile 2, Orile and Marina.

The water will work, BRT buses will work and rail will work, Sanwo-Olu added.
The man killed his father

It has been reported that a young man has been arrested after going berserk and hacking his father to death in Amoda, Imo State.

The suspect, identified as Hope, attacked his dad, Chief Paul Eke, in the early hours of Thursday, shortly after he returned from a trip to Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

It was gathered that the boy lost his mom to sickness, about a week ago, and she is yet to be buried. When asked for the motivation behind his action, he couldnt give any reasonable answer.

Below is the graphic photo of the murdered man:
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By Izunna Okafor, Onitsha

It was a gathering of who is who, as personalities from different parts of the country converged in Anambra State to bid farewell to the Deaconess Victoria Nneka Chidoka, the mother of former Nigeria Aviation Minister, Chief Osita Chidoka.

The event, which held in Obosi, Idemili North Local Government Area of the State with a funeral service at St. Andrews Anglican Church, Obosi.

Some of the personalities present at the occasion were former Nigeria President, Olusegun Obasanjo; former Nigeria Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar (represented by the Director-General of the Atiku-Okowa Presidential Campaign in Anambra State, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo); Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo; former Minister for Women Affairs, Mrs. Josephine Anineh; Chief of Staff to Governor Soludo, Mr. Ernest Ezeajughi; Senator Pius Anyim, Senator Uche Ekwunife, Senator Tony Nwoye; Amb. Bianca Ojukwu, Bishop on the Niger, Most Rev. Owen Nwokolo, among others.

In their separate remarks at the event, the guests hailed the deceased as a great and selfless woman who lived a worthy life and left many commendable legacies behind; even as they consoled the Chidoka Family and prayed God to grant the deceaseds soul eternal rest.

Earlier speaking, Governor Soludo explained that Deaconess Chidokas death was a loss for all of Anambra, but described her as one who lived a victorious and impactful life.

We celebrate life today because, according to the testimonies weve heard, Mama Victoria lived a victorious and impactful life.

We honour Chief Osita and all of the children Mama Victoria left behind. They are a metaphor for what we should strive to be, he said.

In his remarks, the deceaseds son and former Aviation Minister, Osita Chidoka appreciated God for the life of their mother, while testifying that they learnt many good things from her and her lifestyle.

While revealing that his mother died of cancer, Chief Chidoka further explained that he organized free medical services in his community as a means of honouring their mothers legacy.

He preached to the church about the importance of early detection and management of any disease.

Deaconess Chidoka (Nee Nzelu) slept in the Lord late hours of Monday, April 3, 2023, at her residence, after a brief illness. She was aged 75.

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By Joshua Chibuzo Andrew, Owerri

As the count down to the scheduled swearing I of the President-Elect remains 17 days to the event, residents of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, Imo and others have approached the Federal High Court in their States for an order to halt the ceremony.

The plaintiffs, in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/578/2023, applied for an order, restraining the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, any other judicial officer and/or any other authority or person from swearing in any candidate in the February 25 presidential election as President or Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, until it is judicially determined with finality or in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution that such candidate has fulfilled the requirement of Section 134(2) (b) of the Constitution.

They further want a declaration that, the plaintiffs and other FCT residents have a legal interest and constitutional rights to be heard on the question of whether a President-elect must secure at least 25% of votes cast, on the first ballot, in the FCT, Abuja.

A declaration that no state of the country is at the same time the FCT for any propose whatsoever, including, in particular, under section 134 (2) (b) of the Constitution.

A declaration that no candidate in the February 25 presidential election in the country may validly be declared elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria without that candidate obtaining at least 25% of the votes cast in the FCT, Abuja.

A declaration that no candidate in the February 25 presidential election may validly be sworn in as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, without such candidate having obtained 25% of the votes case in FCT, Abuja.

A declaration that following the February 25 presidential election and until a successor is determined in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and sworn in, the term of office of his Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, GCON, as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria subsists and endures in accordance with the provisions of section 135 (1) (a) of the Constitution.

As well as, An order setting aside or suspending any declaration and/or issuance of a Certificate of a Return to any candidate in the February 25 presidential election in the country as having been elected, save and except it is judicially determined with finality that such candidate fulfilled the conditions stated in section 134(2) (b) of the Constitution.

The five plaintiffs behind the suit, who identified themselves as registered voters of the FCT, Abuja are; Anyaegbunam Okoye, David Adzer, Jeffery Ucheh, Osang Paul and Chibuike Nwachukwu.

The Attorney-General of the Federation and the CJN were cited in the matter as 1st and 2nd defendants, respectively.

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Former Anambra State governor and presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the last general election, Peter Obi, has made a resolute pledge to Nigerians, declaring, I am here to stay, not in a hurry to become president.

Emphasizing his unwavering commitment to the countrys welfare, Obi stated that his primary concern lies in the process that brings leaders to office, rather than personal ambition.

Speaking at the unveiling of a book titled Peter Obi: Many Voices, One Perspective in Awka, Obi expressed his conviction that he would eventually assume the presidency of Nigeria, firmly believing that his purpose transcends freeing the nation from flawed leadership solely for the benefit of the elite. Instead, his mission is to usher in positive change for all Nigerians.

Emphasizing his commitment to freeing Nigeria from bad leadership, not just for the elite, but for every Nigerian, Obi said: For three years, I was in court in Anambra to reclaim my mandate, just to challenge the process.

Many people tried to discourage me, but I said even if the entire four-year tenure elapsed for us to prove a point and correct the process, I will be fulfilled, Obi stated.

My argument is that, lets do what is right. I always tell everyone that I will not give people money to do the wrong thing. I have been the chairman of a committee; TETFUND committee, and Prof. Yakubu Mahmud was my member. We know one another, but when he became INEC chairman, I have never met him. I told him, you are an umpire, just do what is right.

If you have the chance to do the right thing and you insist on perpetuating anarchy, then, it will consume everybody one day. I insist that we must do the right thing.

Obi emphasized the need for Nigerians to cultivate a habit of doing the right thing and warned that failure to do so would eventually affect everyone. Undeterred by sceptics, he firmly asserted his conviction of becoming the President of Nigeria.

Anyone who thinks I am on a transit is wasting his time. Let me tell you, I must be the president of this country. I am sure of that. If it is not today, it must be tomorrow, Obi declared.

Other people who want to be (president) should come and tell us what they want to do, and how to do it. This is my country, I dont have dual citizenship. If anyone thinks I am going to run away from Nigeria, they are lying.
The Delta State Police Command has arrested a 25-year-old suspected kidnapper and armed robber, Diarhe Oghenemarho at the Ethiope East LGA during a routine road search.

Delta State Police Spokesman, Bright Edafe disclosed this in a statement issued on Friday evening.

Edafe said the suspect, who is also a member of the notorious Eiye confraternity cult group, was arrested on 11 May when operatives of the Eagle-Net were on patrol along Oreorokpe-Sapele road.

According to him, the operatives intercepted a commercial minibus for a routine search.

He said, During the search, they recovered a locally made single barrel gun with five (05) live cartridges concealed in the bag found in possession of one Diarhe Oghenemarho m aged 25yrs of Okpara inland waterway community, Ethiope East LGA.

The suspect was arrested and taken to the police station. During preliminary investigation, the suspect confessed that he belongs to the notorious Eiye confraternity cult group and that his syndicate has been terrorizing Warri and Ughelli axis.

He also confessed to being a member of an armed robbery/kidnapping gang, and his gang leader is one David Oghotomo Mathew a.k.a cucumber.

The police spokesman disclosed that the suspect and exhibits are in custody while an investigation is ongoing.

12th May, 2023 PRESS RELEASE DELTA STATE POLICE COMMAND FOILS AN ATTEMPTED KIDNAP, ARREST OF SUSPECTED KIDNAPPER/ ARMED ROBBER, RECOVERS FORTY-NINE(49) ROUNDS7.62 AK 47 AMMUNITION, AND TWO PUMP ACTION GUNS pic.twitter.com/NMM8ADixCJ  Delta State Police Command (@DeltaPoliceNG) May 12, 2023

In other news, Kanyi Daily reported that former Kaduna Senator, Shehu Sani has narrated what his Friday mosque Imam said at the place of worship.

Sani said the Imam spoke about what political office seekers are doing to him now that the polls are over.

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American actor, Jamie Foxx has been released from the hospital after suffering a medical complication last month.

KanyiDaily had reported how Jamie Foxx was filming a new comedy with actress Cameron Diaz in Atlanta when he took ill and was hospitalized on Tuesday, April 12.

Reacting to reports that the 55-year-olds condition had worsened, the actors daughter, Corinne Foxx, took to her Instagram page on Friday, May 12, to reveal that her father is doing well.

According to her, Jamie Fox was out of the hospital for weeks and hes currently recuperating, adding that the actor will be making an exciting work announcement next week.

Update from my Family: Sad to see how the media runs wild. My dad has been out of the hospital for weeks, recuperating. Infact he was playing pickle ball yesterday !

Thanks for everyones prayers and support. We have an exciting work announcement coming up next week, Corinne Foxx wrote.

KanyiDaily had also reported how Jamie Foxx was denied entry by security when he pulled up at the 30th birthday party of popular female rapper, Cardi B.

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Dr Onimode Bandele, Director of Special Duties, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) gave the figure in Abuja on Saturday when 125 stranded Nigerians arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.

2,371 stranded Nigerians in crisis-ridden Sudan have been evacuated by the federal government.

Dr Onimode Bandele, Director of Special Duties, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) gave the figure in Abuja on Saturday when 125 stranded Nigerians arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the batch was the 15th set of Nigerians the Federal Government airlifted back to the country.

They were airlifted from Port Sudan.

Bandele, who welcomed the returnees on behalf of the Federal Government, said there were no more stranded Nigerian women and children in Sudan.

He said arrangements were already made to airlift the remaining Nigerians stranded in Sudan who are mainly male, adding that another batch of evacuees would arrive later on Saturday.

Representatives of the Ministries of Humanitarian Affairs, Foreign Affairs, NEMA, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, among others were on ground to receive the returnees.
A 14-year-old boy simply identified as Danladi has been arrested for allegedly punching an 18-year-old man, Biliya Lawal, on his stomach, which led to his demise.

The duo was said to have engaged in a heated exchange of words at their compound in Gadabiu in the Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory which resulted in a physical fight.

Punch gathered that the incident which happened around 6 pm on Friday had become the talk of the town.

A commercial driver in the area who gave his name as Aliyu said the reason behind the exchange of words and subsequent exchange of punches was unknown.

He said immediately after Lawal fell to the ground, he was rushed to the Kwali General Hospital where he was declared dead.

He said, Both Lawal who is about 18-year-old and Danladi, a 14-year-old boy, live in the same compound located at Gadabiu in Kwali Area Council. I dont know what in particular led to the exchange of words but it must have been a serious issue.

The verbal exchange of words became heated and later resulted in a physical fight. The two exchanged blows, in the process, Danladis punch hit Lawal in his stomach. Lawal fell to the ground and immediately went unconscious.

He was immediately rushed to the Kwali General Hospital where the doctor who attended to them pronounced him dead. The matter as I speak to you has spread to everywhere in the community. 

When contacted, the FCT commands spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, confirmed the incident, adding that Danladi had been arrested.

She said, I confirm it and the suspect is in custody. The case has been transferred to SCID for further investigation.
CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force, has reacted to claims that the suspects fingered in the killing of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto state in May 2022, have been released and walking freely.

Recall that the 200-level Home Economics student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto, was stoned and burnt to death on May 12, 2022, by irate youths including some people believed to be her classmates over allegations of blasphemy.

Many Nigerians are of the opinions that the suspects arrested over the gruesome murder of the young lady have been released.

Reacting via his Twitter handle, Adejobi said the arrested suspects are currently being held in a correctional center.

He also stated that he has asked the Sokoto state PRO to release photos of the suspects so as to clear any doubt that they have been released.

Read his tweets below 




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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has praised the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Usman Alkali Baba for his dedication to work and efforts in refocusing the Nigeria Police Force.

Obasanjo made the commendation on Friday night in Lagos while giving a keynote address at the National Daily newspapers Awards for year 2022 ceremony.

The former President explained that the Inspector-General of Police deserved the honour of being named the National Dailys Man of the Year for his immense contribution to Nigerias internal security.

He said that the I-G deserved the award.

For you to be singled out for the Man of the Year Award by the National Daily, I believe you deserve it. Your job is not the one that is particularly glamorous.

When thieves attack us, we come to you; when we quarrel with our neighbours, we come to you, and you must be ready to answer us even when we may not show appreciation.

In his response to the award, Baba said that the award was motivation as well as a challenge to him and the police to do more.

Baba gave the assurance that the police would do more in fighting insecurity.

READ ALSO: Group felicitates with Otuaro over National Daily award

This award is not for me as an individual, but to motivate the force, the personnel of the force, so that we can do more, he said.

Earlier, the Chairman of the occasion, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, thanked the National Daily for the awards, saying that they would spur the beneficiaries to work harder.

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Adelusi-Adeluyi said that excellence awards should be given only to possible agents of change to motivate them.

The National Daily Chief Executive Officer and Editor-in-chief, Mr. Sylvester Ebhodaghe, said that the awards were made to encourage the recipients to do more in the areas they were recognised.

Ebhodaghe said that Nigerians who distinguished themselves should be recognised with a view to spurring them to do more and encourage others to do well.

Baba, Obasanjo, Gov. Babatunde Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State and 44 other individuals and organisations were given awards for excellent performance in various spheres of life.
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The KBO Political Vanguard, a prominent political group, has expressed its warmest congratulations to H.E. Deacon Kingsley Burutu Otuaro, Esq. the Deputy Governor of Delta State, for his remarkable achievement as the recipient of the highly coveted Most Outstanding Peace Builder of the Year Award at the prestigious National Daily 2022 Award of Excellence.

Pastor Arex Akemotubo, the Director of Media and Publicity for the group, spoke on their behalf in a statement made available to newsmen in Warri, Delta State.

The KBO Political Vanguard hailed Deacon Kingsley Burutu Otuaro as the pride of the Niger Delta, recognizing his visionary leadership, profound commitment, and unwavering efforts in promoting peace.

The Deputy Governor has had a significant impact on the lives of countless individuals through his tireless dedication to peace-building initiatives. One of the remarkable achievements highlighted by the group is his instrumental role as the chair of the Advocacy Committee, which has addressed critical oil-related issues in Delta State and Nigeria as a whole.

Under Deacon Kingsley Burutu Otuaros guidance, the Advocacy Committee has worked tirelessly to foster understanding and cooperation between oil companies and the communities in which they operate.

READ ALSO: Soludo bags National Dailys Most Outstanding Innovative Leadership award

By facilitating dialogue and finding common ground, the Deputy Governor has ensured that community concerns are addressed while providing a conducive environment for oil companies to carry out their operations comfortably.

The KBO Political Vanguard praised Deacon Kingsley Burutu Otuaro for bringing harmony and stability to the Niger Delta region. His exemplary efforts have not only fostered mutual growth and progress but have also paved the way for sustainable development in the area.

Both the communities and the oil companies have experienced the positive impact of his work, which has created an atmosphere of collaboration and prosperity.

Pastor Arex Akemotubo, speaking on behalf of the KBO Political Vanguard, commended Deacon Kingsley Burutu Otuaro for his outstanding achievements.

The group considers him a beacon of hope and inspiration, and they expressed their unwavering support and loyalty to his leadership. They anticipate witnessing the continued positive impact he will undoubtedly make in Delta State and beyond.

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Once again, the KBO Political Vanguard congratulates H.E. Deacon Kingsley Burutu Otuaro on this well-deserved recognition. They acknowledged his commitment to peace-building initiatives and his instrumental role in resolving oil-related issues, solidifying his position as a leader of exceptional merit. They expressed their hopes that his achievements will inspire and guide all Nigerians as they work towards a peaceful and prosperous nation.
Nigerian musician and activist, Charly Boy has cleared the air about a recent viral photo of him sitting on a wheelchair at the airport.

In a tweet on Saturday, Charly Boy said he was perfectly okay and that he was just tired of walking, so he asked airport officials to push him around.

He also apologized if he made anyone worry about his health, adding that his not trying to be the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Olukayode Ariwoola, who reportedly disguises himself to meet the president-elect, Bola Tinubu, in London.

I apologize if I made anybody worry about me. No be say anything dey do me. I just lazy/tired as I dey waka upandown for airport. So I tell officials make dem just dey push me around.

I no dey form Chief Justice oooo and I no disguise myself to go see Tinubu for London sha, Charly Boy wrote.

I apologize if I made anybody worry about me. No be say anything dey do me. I just lazy/tired as I dey waka upandown for airport. So I tell officials make dem just dey push me around

I no dey form Chief Justice oooo and I no disguise myself to go see Tinubu for London sha. pic.twitter.com/Ww6HbclOyr  Charly Boy Area Fada 1 (@AreaFada1) May 13, 2023

KanyiDaily recalls that Peoples Gazette reported that CJN Ariwoola disguised himself as a physically-challenged old man in a wheelchair for a secret meeting with Tinubu in London.

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A faction of the Labour Party led by the suspended acting national chairman, Lamidi Apapa, on Friday urged security agencies to arrest anyone, including the partys presidential candidate, if they push for an interim government in the country.

The factions National Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Arabambi, made the call in a chat with journalists in Abuja.

He was reacting to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Courts decision to assume jurisdiction in the suit filed against the LP national chairman, Julius Abure, by some party members.

He charged security agents to arrest any person planning to stop the inauguration of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu on May 29 irrespective of the persons status in the society.

Arabambi added that if the LP legal team at the presidential election petition tribunal in Abuja failed to meet Apapa in his capacity as the acting national chairman and brief him on the legal proceedings within 48 hours, the faction would appoint new lawyers to take over the case at the tribunal.

He said: If anyone calls for interim administration including Peter Obi, they should be arrested. For him or any other person calling for such, we are calling on the IGP to immediately arrest them because nobody is above the law of the land.

READ ALSO: LP asks tribunal to disregard Apapa factions push for dismissal of petition against Tinubu

You cannot plunge Nigeria into war and say that you want to rule the country. We in the Labour Party are saying capital No to that. We dont understand the call by Peter Obi that the President-elect, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu should not be sworn in on May 29. As far as we are concerned, the LP came third in that election behind the PDP.

The irony is that today, the LP is not challenging the PDP that came second, that means that we are saying that the votes allocated to PDP are correct in the eyes of the law. But the PDP that Peter Obi is defending is challenging the validity of the election that brought Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the President-elect.

PDP is claiming that it scored the highest lawful majority votes in the election while the LP is saying that, No, the votes you have, we are not challenging it because it is in accordance with what we believe in. That was why Peter Obi with Julius Abure deliberately excluded the PDP after the shenanigans with them and now challenging the results of the APC.

So, how on earth will he not cover his face in shame for excluding the PDP? Why didnt he challenge the second person but challenged the first person?

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Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

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The Nigerian movie industry has been thrown into a state of mourning following the death of popular actor, Obinna Nwafor aka Saint Obi.

Reports emerged on Saturday that the 57-year-old actor who rose to prominence with his role in Zeb EJiros movie Sakobi died on May 7 after a protracted illness.

However, the film stars death has not been officially confirmed by his family or the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN).

There were reports that disagreement in Saint Obis family delayed the formal announcement of his death.

On a parting shot, Ripples Nigeria compiled eight things Nigerians may not know about the actor who featured in over 60 movies during his lifetime.

Saint Obi majored in Theatre Arts at the University of Jos

He came into the acting scene after doing a commercial for Peugeot on NTA in 1996.

In 2001, Saint Obi produced his first movie titled: Take Me to Maama, where he starred as Jerry alongside Ebi Sam, Rachel Oniga, Nse Abel and Enebeli Elebuwa.

He was also well known for his roles in Candle Light, Goodbye Tomorrow, Heart of Gold, and many other movies.

Saint Obi rose to prominence in the 1990s and early 2000s when he captivated audiences with his powerful performances in films.

His charisma, acting prowess, and dedication to his craft solidified his status as one of Nollywoods leading actors during that era.

Beyond his acting career, Saint Obi made significant contributions to the industry as a film producer and director and helped to shape the Nollywood landscape.

Though he had stepped back from acting in recent years, his impact on the Nigerian film industry will remain indelible.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Chief James Ibori has concluded arrangements to take over the structure of the All Progressives Congress in Delta State.

It was gathered that there was a high-level meeting between Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Chief James Ibori and some selected leaders of APC in Delta, Bayelsa, Edo, Ebonyi, Speaker of the HoR, Rt. Hon. Gbajabiamila, and the Imo state Governor, Sen. Hope Uzodinma in Rivers State during the Commissioning of projects executed by Governor Wike.

At the meeting, it was agreed that Edo, Imo and Bayelsa must be taken by the APC in their next elections in order to consolidate the grips of the APC in the regions. According to inside sources, Chief Ibori spoke as the Leader of Delta APC at the meeting, thereby giving more credence to the fact that the APC gubernatorial candidate was not in the good books of the President-elect, but in swift reaction, Imma Niboro, media manager of his campaign organization, described the story against his boss as untrue adding that he ( Omo Agege) was in the good books of the President- Elect.

Chief Ibori allegedly believes that his interest in the party structure ahead of 2027, will not see the light of day if Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu influences the party hierarchy in favour of DSP Ovie Omo-Agege, as they cannot guarantee his loyalty if given the opportunity to wield the executive powers of a Governor.

According to Chief Ibori, he only supported the candidacy of the Deputy Senate President because he was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.

But having lost the election, he (Ibori) is now constrained to go back to the drawing board and prepare for 2027 with his choice of David Edevbie.

He is rather favourably disposed to having Chief David Edevwie run for governorship again in 2027 on the platform of the APC against Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori.

Meanwhile the new pact is believed to have availed Chief James Ibori the opportunity to nominate four names to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for political appointments in his administration. It was gathered that those who are being tipped include: Mr. Mofe Boyo (Minister of Petroleum); Olorogun David Edevwie (Executive Director, Finance and Administration, NDDC); Chief Ovuozorie Macaulay (MD. Niger Delta River Basin Authority); Rt. Hon. Monday Igbuya (Undecided portfolio) as well as Barr. Chiedu Ebie (Undecided portfolio).

In the light of the above, all hopes of Delta APC to have Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Ibori support the legal battle of Senator Omo Agege, may have been buried.

The only person that is coming to Government House is Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori. And it is the prayer of Deltans that God gives him the grace to perform beyond the expectations of the people so that the 2027 election will be easier for him, a source said.

But in a swift reaction, close aides to the former Governor James Onanefe Ibori who did not want their names in the print dispelled the story as untrue adding. According to them, We are aware that our Oga is in love with APC at the moment because of the ways of PDP and if you observe he was not prominent during Campaigns in Delta State, to say he has taken over APC, is not true because he has not officially dumped PDP. As much as we know, he is still in PDP.
A moneylender of Indian nationality has been shot dead by a police officer at Yako Bank, Parliamentary Avenue, Uganda.

The suspect identified as Police Constable (PC) Ivan Wabwire shot and killed the money lender at Raja Chambers in the afternoon of Friday, May 12, 2023.

According to Patrick Onyango, the Kampala Metropolitan Police Spokesperson, its alleged that at around 1230 hours, one Uttam Bhandari an Indian by nationality and the Director of TFS Financial Services was sh%t dad by police officer PC Wabwire Ivan. The deceased was k#lled with an AK47.

Onyago said the suspect had acquired a loan with the company in 2020, and by the time of the incident, he had come to the victim to get a quotation to take to unidentified bank so that the bank buys off the loan.
UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, is trending online as reports emerged that his ex-girlfriend is demanding half of his net worth.

Adesanya and the woman, reportedly Charlotte Powdrell were never married but dated for a very long time.According to UFC fighter Sean OMalley on a podcast, he expressed displeasure at the demands issued to Adesanya by the woman.

On his podcast, he said, They are not married right they were never married I didnt believe it she wants half of his s*t. I dont know how their relationship was ever because I didnt even know he had a girlfriend, but to want half of his s*t, to want half of what hes gone out there & done is absolutely ridiculous.

Charlotte who doesnt have kids for her ex, believes that she has a stake in Adesanyas wealth for supporting him through the years to become UFC Champion & because they dated for a very long time.
Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola

It is ironic that it had to take a member of the military establishment now turned democrat, that is General, now President Muhammadu Buhari for June 12 to be accorded its pride of place in the socio-political calendar of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Before now, the recognition/celebration of June 12 as a watershed in Nigerian history had been observed majorly by the states of the South West of Nigeria, thus making its symbolism and significance a restricted and ethnic referent.

But that has changed, thanks to President Buhari. His decision to declare June 12 a national holiday, his award of a post-humous honour of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR) to Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola and the subsequent amendment of the Public Holidays Act to accommodate June 12 as a Federal holiday is a welcome development. President Olusegun Obasanjo (1999-2007) had pointedly ignored all entreaties for his administration to take the same step.

President Umaru Musa YarAdua (2007  2010) did not address the June 12 issue. President Goodluck Jonathan (2010 -2015) had taken steps to immortalize MKO Abiola when he decided to name the University of Lagos after the late icon of democracy, but the staff, students and the alumni of the University rejected this, as they insisted that the name University of Lagos must not be changed. The Jonathan administration would later recognize Chief MKO Abiola as one of the major Nigerians of the 20thcentury. That administration also considered giving Chief MKO Abiola a post-humous national award, but the then President was advised against doing so on the grounds that national honours in Nigeria are never given post-humously. Obviously, the controversy over the re-naming of the University of Lagos was so overwhelming, President Jonathan chose to listen to the Justice Alfa Belgore-led committee on national honours.

Whereas all other Presidents before him failed to make a statement with June 12, President Muhammadu Buhari has now chosen to do so. Tomorrow, all Nigerians will observe June 12 as a national holiday. It will be the first time that this will happen. This should lay to rest all the conspiracies and the revisionism involved in the attempt to reduce June 12 to a narrow, ethnic event, which it is not. The recognition of June 12 as a special national event would be one of those developments for which President Buhari will be positively remembered. It is again ironic that 26 years after, it took another member of the military elite to correct the problem caused by the military. It has taken President Buhari to correct the error committed by General Ibrahim Babangida and his group on June 23, 1993 when they chose to annul the Presidential election held in Nigeria on June 12, 1993. That unwise decision became General Babangidas Achillees heel, and the ugly thing around his neck.

General Babangida or IBB as he is fondly known, could have ended up as one of Nigerias greats, given the performance of his government, but what is now remembered as his legacy, despite the best efforts of his biographers and PR managers, is that singular negative act, his violation of the peoples sovereignty. President Buhari is now being lauded for the courageous manner in which he has taken Nigeria beyond the denial and conspiracy foisted on the people by both the military and a segment of the professional political class. We look forward to what President Muhammadu Buhari would say to Nigerians and the international community, tomorrow, June 12. His speech writers have a good opportunity to put words in his mouth that can reverberate like the claps of thunder. They must not waste that opportunity with their sleepy prose. President Buhari should have a word for those who have kept this country down by perpetually denying the truth and turning back the hands of the countrys clock. He should take credit appropriately for the wise decision that he has taken on the matter of June 12.

I remember June 12, 1993, as clearly as if it happened only yesterday. On that day, Nigerians trooped out en masse to make a choice between the Presidential candidates of two political parties, Bashorun MKO Abiola of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Alhaji Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention (NRC). General Ibrahim Babangida was military President, ruling the country with his Armed Forces Revolutionary Council and finally getting to the final stage of a slow-moving democratic transition programme. By 1993, Nigerians were already tired of military rule and particularly of the Babangida government which seemed to have mastered the art of deception.

The people wanted the military out of the way, to allow a return to civilian rule, which had been truncated by the military at regular intervals since independence in 1960. On that day, Nigerians voted massively for the Social Democratic Party and its candidate, Bashorun MKO Abiola (8, 341, 309 million votes  58.36%).

The NRC candidate, Bashir Tofa came second (5, 952, 087 million votes  41.64%). This was an election in which neither religion nor ethnicity  two major dividing factors in Nigeria was an issue. MKO Abiola, a Southerner got as much support in the North as he did in the South, even beating his rival, Bashir Tofa in his home state of Kano. The National Electoral Commission (NEC) was headed by political science Professor, Humphrey Nwosu. As the results were collated, it was clear that MKO Abiola (SDP) was leading in 19 states, with Bashir Tofa (NRC) winning in 11 states.

On June 16 however, NEC announced that it would no longer announce the results until further notice. Civil society and pro-democracy protesters objected to this. It had been a free and fair election, the most peaceful that Nigeria had ever known. On June 23, 1993, the Babangida government annulled the election and suspended the Electoral Commission. The NEC Chairman, Humphrey Nwosu went underground and became incommunicado. Bashorun MKO Abiola claimed victory. The people demanded that their will as expressed on June 12, 1993 should be respected and that the results of the election should be declared.

The refusal of the military establishment brought it into direct collision with the people and the international community. June 12 became a catalyst for much that would happen to Nigeria. The crisis escalated so quickly, General Ibrahim Babangida known then as the evil genius had to step aside as President of Nigeria. He put in place as he left, an Interim National Government (ING) led by UAC chief, Ernest Shonekan with General Sani Abacha as Defence Chief. That ING survived for only 83 days. General Sani Abacha, a veteran of military coups in Nigeria, pushed aside the ING and its Head and proclaimed himself Head of State. To put it as it was, hell broke loose. Civil society became tempestuous.

Concerned Professionals, Concerned Democrats, Progressives, voices of reason in Nigeria across all divides, the church, market women, every one with a voice, took to the streets to say: Never Again to military rule. The general consensus was that the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election was after all a subterfuge by the military to remain in power and that IBB had played a Maradona game against Nigerians. On June 12 we stand, the people proclaimed and they took to the barricades. The diplomatic community even joined the protests, with the likes of US Ambassador Walter Carrington, leading the charge on the diplomatic front. The Abacha government was bound to fail. It died a-borning. It descended on Nigerias civil society and the progressive camp, and as Nigeria began to witness the worst form of dictatorship since 1960, the people fought back. And Abacha fought back. Not even newly born babies were spared. Journalists were special targets: those who were not hauled into prison, were made to flee abroad, or go underground. Those were the days of guerilla journalism in Nigeria. The people at home fought, those abroad set up a short wave radio, Radio Kudirat which reported Abacha to the world. In due course, Nigeria became a pariah nation.

Three major events made this happen: the first is the declaration by Chief MKO Abiola of his due right to the mandate that Nigerians gave him on June 12, 1993. On June 11, 1994, Chief MKO Abiola in the Epetedo area of Lagos declared himself the democratically elected President of Nigeria. That speech is now known as the Epetedo Declaration. It should be widely circulated tomorrow, June 12 and on every June 12 henceforth, for it has become one of the landmark speeches in the mapping of Nigerian history, and the trajectory of our countrys democratic evolution. I am tempted to quote from that eminently quotable speech but I recall that it was in that speech that the phrase Enough is Enough was first pronounced as a revolutionary call to action. Abiola said: Today, I join you all in saying Enough is Enough! We have endured 24 years of military rule in our 34 years of independence.Enough of military rule And he went on and on.

The Epetedo Declaration became another catalyst for the Nigerian Spring! It was a call to action. The people responded. Abiola was arrested by the Abacha junta but the genie had left the bottle. The people of Nigeria heard Abiola: Enough is Enough and they too responded: Never Again to military rule. Second event: On November 10, 1995, Ken Saro-Wiwa, a writer and internationally renowned environmental rights activist was hanged by the Abacha administration. Third event: On June 9, 1996, Abiolas wife, Kudirat was assassinated by Abachas killer squad. There were attempts on the lives of key pro-democracy activists as well including Chief Alfred Rewane who was murdered, and Chief Abraham Adesanya who survived. Journalists were murdered. It was as if at the Epetedo Declaration, Abiola had placed a curse on General Abacha. Nigeria suffered but the people wanted an end to it all. On June 8, 1998, General Sani Abacha died. There was dancing in the streets. But as it happened, Chief Abiola also died, in very suspicious circumstances, while still in detention, on July 7, 1998. By then, General Abdusalami Abubakar had succeeded General Abacha as military Head of State. Nigerians still didnt give up. They wanted democracy. They wanted to be liberated from the shackles of military autocracy. On May 29, 1999, their will prevailed. General Olusegun Obasanjo who had also been framed and jailed by the Abacha government became Nigerias civilian president after all the turmoil.

It is sad that those who have benefitted most from the June 12 debacle have been the most desperate in denying the value and symbolism of that date and what happened therein. June 12 was a turning point for Nigeria as the foregoing narrative indicates, and it became, in its trajectory, the catalyst for Nigerias second liberation, that is liberation from internal colonialists, but as things stand 26 years later, we may still need to construct a strategy for a third liberation: liberation from the rent collectors who seem to have resolved that Nigerias progress is a threat to their own interests.

By declaring June 12 a national public holiday, President Buhari has given us all an opportunity to reflect, to think and to remember. In a country where memory is short, people dont like to think, and state institutions are constructed to erase memory, the teaching of history was even at a point outlawed, now it is taught as an optional subject, it is a good thing that President Buhari in making June 12 a national holiday has given us all an opportunity to do what we do not like to do in this country: to think, reflect and remember. June 12 is an idea that cannot be ignored. It is about national unity. On that day in 1993, we saw that it is possible for Nigerians, though tongue and tribe may differ to unite around an idea. June 12 is a philosophy, a way of thinking by a people who resolved at a critical moment in their lives to move forward. The evil agents in the military tried to block that and suppress the peoples sovereignty, but tomorrow, the point shall be made that the truth is indestructible! We hope that there will be celebration in every state of the Federation.

The story of June 12 has inspired a bibliography that should be promoted. Indeed, apart from the civil war, it is probably the most dramatic and telling incident in post-colonial Nigeria. I have been privileged to read many of the books, which I recommend to the reading public. They include, not necessarily in any order of importance, Abraham Oshoko,June12: The Struggle for Power in Nigeria, Abraham Oshoko,June 12: The Annulment; Frank Kokori,The Struggle for June 12,Omo Omoruyi,The Tale of June 12: The Betrayal of the Democratic Rights of Nigerians;Humphrey Nwosu, Laying the Foundations for Nigerias Democracy: My Account of June 12, 1993 Presidential election and its annulment; Wale Oshun,Clapping With One Hand; Wale Oshun,Open Grave; and Wale Oshun, Kiss of Death; Kayode Fayemi,Out of the Shadows: Exile and the Struggle for Freedom and Democracy in Nigeria;Joe Igbokwe, Heroes of Democracy; and Wole Soyinka,The Open Sore of a Continent. These works represent in varying degrees, the literature of resistance against military rule in Nigeria.

The revisionists led by General Ibrahim Babangida have tried to rewrite and revise the same story (there would have been a coup if the result was allowed (!), a cabal within the military didnt want Abiola, it was an unfortunate incident story); see: their narrative is not selling. On June 12 we stand! I have also heard some people express the view that the Buhari government should go a step further and formally announce the results of the June 12, 1993 election and thereafter declare Chief Abiola the rightful winner of that election. I disagree. The June 12, 1993 process having been inchoate and the beneficiary dead, such a declaration will have no probative value. For me, what has been done serves the purpose.

It would all have been better though, if June 12 had been declared MKO Abiolas Day. He was the symbol, the rallying point, the icon of Nigerias second liberation in whom is fully embodied the essence of the struggle from June 12,1993 to May 29, 1999. But have we learnt any lessons from June 12? Sadly, I dont think so.

Written by Dr. Reuben Abati
President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday congratulated the Super Eagles of Nigeria for making progress in the ongoing 2019 African Cup of Nations in Egypt, after defeating the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon.

A statement from the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, in Abuja,noted that the president acknowledged the hardwork, team spirit and sportsmanship the Eagles had exhibited in the tournament.

The president said such virtues were good signs for a team destined to excel, but added however, that there were more hurdles to scale before lifting the trophy.

He urged the team and their handlers to remain focused and determined and assured them of the fervent prayers and support of all Nigerians.

Nigeria ousted holders and bitter rivals Cameroon from the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations as they scored twice in three minutes to come from behind to win a thrilling last-16 match 3-2 on Saturday.

The Super Eagles will play the Bafana Bafana of Saturday in the quarter finals.
The Kremlin lauded two Russian pilots as heroes and said they would be handed state awards after they landed an airliner carrying 233 people in a cornfield outside Moscow after striking a flock of birds during take-off.

Russians have said it was a miracle that no one was killed when the Ural Airlines Airbus 321 came down in a field southeast of Moscow with its landing gear up after hitting a passing flock of gulls, disrupting the planes engines.

Up to 55 people, including 17 children, were treated for injuries, six of whom have been hospitalized, Russian news agencies quoted the emergencies ministry as saying.

State television said the incident was being dubbed the miracle over Ramensk, the name of the district near Moscow where the plane came down around one kilometer (0.62 miles) from Zhukovsky International Airport.

The Komsomolskaya Pravda tabloid praised pilot Damir Yusupov as a hero, saying he had saved 233 lives, having masterfully landed a plane without its landing gear with a failing engine right in a corn field.

Some drew comparisons with U.S. Airways Flight 1549 which performed a landing on the Hudson River in New York in 2009 after striking a flock of geese.

We congratulate the hero pilots who saved peoples lives, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that the Kremlin would see that the men were quickly given state honors. Theres no doubt about this. They will be given awards.

BELLY-FLOP LANDING

The planes engines were turned off when it executed the emergency landing and it also had its landing gear up, according to Elena Mikheyeva, a spokeswoman for Russias civil aviation authority.

Footage shot by passengers showed the flight lasted less than two minutes and that the engines had experienced difficulties almost immediately after take-off.

Vitya Babin, 11, who was on the plane with his mother and sister, said passengers had not been warned there was going to be an emergency landing. There was silence in the cabin and then screams began when it touched down, footage showed.

We were not warned, said Babin.

An unnamed passenger interviewed by state television said the plane had started to shake moments after it took off.

Five seconds later, the lights on the right side of the plane started flashing and there was a smell of burning. Then we landed and everyone ran away, he said.

Passengers were evacuated via escape slides and were told to distance themselves from the plane.

One of the stewardesses said there was smoke coming from the plane and we immediately panicked. We ran after one of the men. He said follow me, Babin said.

A local resident quoted by radio station Govorit Moskva said the gulls that struck the plane had probably come from an illegal rubbish dump near Zhukovsky airport.

Moscow region officials, however, rejected that assertion and said the nearest rubbish dump to the airport was 14 kilometers away, TASS news agency reported.

The plane was due to fly to Simferopol in Crimea, the peninsula annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014.

Safety concerns have plagued Russias airline industry since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, though standards are widely recognized to have sharply risen on international routes in particular in recent years.
Senator Shehu Sani, who represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the 8th National Assembly, on Sunday commended the International General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, for leading mass protest of Christians in Nigeria over killings and incessant insecurity in the country. Senator Sani declared that the involvement of the highly rated Pastor in Nigeria signified that Daddy Adeboye, as widely called, ended the era of caution, neutrality and now faces reality.

Shehu Sani remarked that Pastor Adeboyes participation in the protest march will propel wings and wheels to prayers in the country.

The General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, had after the monthly Thanksgiving Service at the churchs National Headquarters in Ebute Meta, Lagos State, led a prayer walk to end the rising insecurity and killings in Nigeria.

ALSO READ: Fani-Kayode celebrates the warrior in Sen. Abaribe

The procession which commenced from Ebute Meta, went through Atan Cemetery, Yaba, then, back to the church.

The Christian Association of Nigeria had declared a three-day fasting and prayer beginning January 31st to empower the government and the military forces in the fight against terrorism and the spate of killings in the country.

CAN President, Dr Samson Ayokunle had said the spiritual exercise would end on Sunday, February 2 with a prayer walk.

Senator Shehu Sani, in a tweet commending Pastor Adeboye wrote: Pastor Adeboye finally disembarking from the fence of caution, moderation, and neutrality and leading a match against insecurity is commendable. Protest gives wings and wheels to prayers.

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No fewer than 28 people have been quarantined in Ogun State over the outbreak of the deadly Coronavirus, State Governor, Dapo Abiodun said on Friday.

An Italian was diagnosed with the deadly Coronavirus in Lagos on Thursday, while the victim travelled to Ogun State and had contact with workers of a giant company (name withheld) in Ewekoro, Ogun.

Abiodun, at a news conference in Abeokuta said the state government had converted the guest house of the company into a quarantined centre to monitor workers who had contact with the index case.

Details later




Lagos Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has urged residents of Lagos state to dismiss speculations that the two-week Coronavirus lockdown has been suspended.

He admonished the citizens to think long term and stay safe while the country is still combatting the ravaging pandemic.

Governor Sanwo-Olu made this announcement while commemorating with the Christian faithful on the occasion of Easter, a significance of the birth and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

On his Twitter handle Friday morning, he stated that: The true meaning of Good Friday and Easter is the power of sacrifice.

This weekend, the sacrifice of staying at home and social distancing is required to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Avoid fake news, the lockdown hasnt been lifted. Think longterm, #StayAtHomeAndStaySafe.

The Federal Government has announced a public holiday, do spend time with your loved ones AT HOME, Sanwo-Olu warned



We are thankful for technology; I will be worshipping virtually with my family on #Easter Sunday. Kindly say a prayer for all our health workers, the governor ended.

It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday, March 29, in his national address announced a total lockdown in FCT, Lagos and Ogun states in a bid to halt the spread of Coronavirus pandemic.
BLOOMINGTON  Law enforcement announced Friday afternoon that Michael Bakana had been taken into custody, five days after he failed to appear for his murder trial in McLean County.

At approximately 4 p.m., members of the U.S. Marshals Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force took him into custody in Lexington, Kentucky, according to a statement from the Bloomington Police Department.

Bakana, 44, who was convicted earlier Friday afternoon of first-degree murder, attempted murder and aggravated battery, was detained without incident, police said.

Over the past five days, Bloomington Police Department's Criminal Investigations Division, working with the United States Marshals Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force (USMTF), were able to develop information related to the travels and location of Bakana, according to police.

A no-bond warrant for his arrest was issued Monday after he failed to appear for his trial and authorities said he cut off his GPS monitoring bracelet. Bakana had been out on bond before his trial began, having paid $200,035 to be released from custody.

He is expected to be sentenced June 22 on the charges of first-degree murder in the death of 22-year-old Mariah Petracca, attempted murder in the shooting of Petraccas friend, Bibianna Cornejo, who survived with permanent nerve damage and multiple bullet wounds; as well as aggravated battery with a firearm.

Photos: Emergency crews train on air disaster readiness at Bloomington airport 061222-blm-loc-1training.JPG 061222-blm-loc-2training.JPG 061222-blm-loc-3training.JPG 061222-blm-loc-4training.JPG 061222-blm-loc-5training.JPG 061222-blm-loc-6training.JPG 061222-blm-loc-7training.JPG 061222-blm-loc-8training.jpg
BLOOMINGTON  Bloomington police are investigating a stabbing reported on the south side of the city Friday afternoon.

Shortly after 4 p.m., officers were called to the 300 block of DeVille Drive for a reported stabbing, Lt. Rick Beoletto said.

One victim was located with injuries, though the extent of the injuries was not immediately available. One suspect was detained at the scene. Beoletto said he believed both involved were male, but he could not confirm the details.

Emergency medical personnel responded as well, and the victim was removed from the scene.

The incident remains under investigation.

No further information was available Saturday.

Updated mug shots from The Pantagraph Bryant Lewis Derek Roesch Justin M. Mata Marcus D. Wesley Phillip Tinch Trisha L. Hanke William B. Givens David L. Oliver Kenneth E. Funk Jordan R. King Holly M. Isaacson Kenneth L. Minton Tony L. Jackson Britley L. Hilger Jasmine L. Smith Jackie S. Claypool Noah R. Demuth Brandon L. Parsano Alexander N. Williams Carlos Sanchez-Solozarzano Jaylin S. Bones Jordan R. King Dominique M. Banks Austin T. Daugherty Sandra M. Lewis Samantha E. Morris Nolan C. Love Nikkita L. Sandefur Katlin M.B. Wilson Eli C. Garozzo Tysean T. Townsend Curtis J. Byrd Noral K. Nelson Charles J. Tankson Davis, Micah S Livingston, Joshua D. Kevin L. Ewen Emmanuel K. Mpay Ahmad S. Manns Dylan R Mann Tony L. Jackson William R. Linden Zadek U. Moen Zachary T. Willis Cecily M. Sexton Tonisha A. Jackson
BLOOMINGTON  Michael Bakana was found guilty Friday of first-degree murder in the January 2021 shooting death of a Bloomington woman.

A McLean County jury returned the verdict after about two hours of deliberation that began late Friday morning.

Bakana, 44, of Normal was accused of killing 22-year-old Mariah Petracca after an argument outside Daddios Bar in downtown Bloomington on Jan. 30, 2021.

The jury convicted him of first-degree murder in her fatal shooting; attempted murder in the shooting of Petraccas friend, Bibianna Cornejo, who survived with permanent nerve damage and multiple bullet wounds; as well as aggravated battery with a firearm.

Bakana remains missing after authorities said he cut off his GPS monitoring bracelet Monday just as he was due in court. He has not appeared in court since his final pretrial hearing on May 4. A no-bond warrant for his arrest was issued Monday.

A sentencing hearing was scheduled for 11 a.m. June 22. He faces 45 years to natural life in prison.

After the verdict, Assistant States Attorney Jeff Horve said he hoped this verdict was justice for the victims.

Were hoping that this brings some sort of closure to the victims, he said. The pain and agony that they suffered will never end, but we hope this helps a little bit and that law enforcement safely finds the defendant and brings him into custody so that he can be at his sentencing hearing.

Petraccas parents, Stephen and Madeline Petracca, said the conviction meant a lot, but not as much as if Bakana were behind bars.

If they catch him, there will be justice, Madeline Petracca said.

Despite his absence, Bakanas trial proceeded with testimony and evidence presented in less than two days.

A video recording was played several times during the trial, as the entire incident was captured by a Bloomington Police Department public safety camera.

The video shows Bakana and the two women arguing. Attorneys on both sides said the disagreement began after one of the women cut in line to get into Daddios Bar, 527 N. Main St. in Bloomington, after she realized she had left her phone and wallet inside when she was kicked out for dancing on a stage.

In the video, Bakana is seen walking across the street and away from the bar during the argument. He leaves the view of the camera and within one minute, he is seen walking back to the women and continuing to argue down the street as they walk away.

Petracca is seen shoving Bakana into the wall outside the bar. Both women turn and walk away. It then appears that the defendant reacts by pulling a gun from his back waistband and firing multiple shots at the women.

Ten shots were fired. One shot missed; four struck Petracca  three of those in her back. The other shots hit Cornejo, including two after she was already on the ground.

Bakanas attorney, Clyde Guilamo, argued that his client acted in self-defense, noting a bruise that formed on Bakanas face after he hit the wall. Calling attention to the insults thrown at Bakana during the argument, Guilamo said the women initiated the violence, and that Cornejo spit on him and smacked Bakanas phone out of his hand.

In a rebuttal to closing arguments, Assistant States Attorney David Fitt said the self-defense claim breaks down when he chose to act, when he follows them.

Never once was he even close to being threatened with imminent danger of death or great bodily harm, Fitt said.

After the jury was released, Guilamo said Bakanas family was saddened by the verdict.

He said he believed the jury gave consideration to their self-defense argument.

Guilamo also noted the defense had made a request to the court to include in the jury instructions an option to find Bakana guilty of second-degree murder as a lesser charge instead of first-degree murder. Judge Casey Costigan denied that request but allowed the self-defense claim to be presented.

It begs the question what would they have done had they received this second-degree instruction. However, we definitely honor and respect the jurys decision in this case, Guilamo said. We are going to be filing post-trial motions, specifically challenging the jury instructions.

Well be challenging some other issues in the case and ultimately coming back before court in June to be heard on those motions, as well as the sentencing in this matter.

He declined to say whether he had been in contact with Bakana since Monday.

In a statement, States Attorney Erika Reynolds credited the work of Bloomington police, specifically Det. Paul Jones, and the two prosecutors who tried the case.

Justice was reached on behalf of the two victims in this case. It is our hope that this will provide some closure to the victim and the victims families, she wrote.
BLOOMINGTON  An Oklahoma City woman is facing burglary and financial institution fraud charges after prosecutors said she tried to cash a forged check at a Commerce Bank in Bloomington.

McLean County Assistant State's Attorney Mark Messman said that on Thursday, an employee of Commerce Bank's East Empire Street location contacted police about a suspicious check.

Messman said the check had been made to the order of 39-year-old Cecily M. Sexton from the account of "Modern Maintenance Inc." in the amount of $5,812.43. Sexton later was apprehended by police.

Messman said after Sexton consented to having her car searched, police found several similar checks, a prescription bottle with a substance containing cocaine, and other contraband.

Sexton was charged with two counts of burglary, a Class 2 felony; one count of forgery, a Class 3 felony; financial institution fraud, a Class 3 felony; and possession of a controlled substance, a Class 4 felony.

McLean County Judge Pablo Eves set bond at $25,000, with 10% to apply for release from the McLean County jail.

An arraignment hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. June 2.

Updated mug shots from The Pantagraph Bryant Lewis Derek Roesch Justin M. Mata Marcus D. Wesley Phillip Tinch Trisha L. Hanke William B. Givens David L. Oliver Kenneth E. Funk Jordan R. King Holly M. Isaacson Kenneth L. Minton Tony L. Jackson Britley L. Hilger Jasmine L. Smith Jackie S. Claypool Noah R. Demuth Brandon L. Parsano Alexander N. Williams Carlos Sanchez-Solozarzano Jaylin S. Bones Jordan R. King Dominique M. Banks Austin T. Daugherty Sandra M. Lewis Samantha E. Morris Nolan C. Love Nikkita L. Sandefur Katlin M.B. Wilson Eli C. Garozzo Tysean T. Townsend Curtis J. Byrd Noral K. Nelson Charles J. Tankson Davis, Micah S Livingston, Joshua D. Kevin L. Ewen Emmanuel K. Mpay Ahmad S. Manns Dylan R Mann Tony L. Jackson William R. Linden Zadek U. Moen Zachary T. Willis Cecily M. Sexton Tonisha A. Jackson
3 students nominated for ICCTA awards

NORMAL  Three Heartland Community College students were nominated for state-level awards from the Illinois Community College Trustees Association.

The ICCTA awards recognize outstanding contributions from people and programs at community colleges in Illinois, and are given annually in various categories.

Four students were selected as the collegewide winners for their respective categories and were recognized at the April Board of Trustees meeting. They will also receive a $200 award.

Three of those students are nominated to the ICCTA for the state awards.

Andria Merkle of Bloomington was nominated for the Gregg Chadwick Student Service Scholarship for extraordinary commitment to volunteer service. The award was named after the former board chair, the late Gregg Chadwick.

Landon Shaffer of McLean was nominated for the Gandhi/King Peace Scholarship for those who best articulate the peaceful messages of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Two students won the collegewide competition for the Paul Simon Student Essay Contest: Juan Ortega of Bloomington and Michael Costigan of Normal. Costigan's essay was submitted from Heartland for the state-level competition.

The Paul Simon Student Essay Contest awards students who best describe "How My Community College Has Changed My Life."

All currently enrolled students at ICCTA member colleges are eligible to participate each year, but each college is only allowed one student entry per scholarship in the statewide competition per academic year.

Heartland Community College Day of Service HEARTLAND DAY OF SERVICE 042923-blm-loc-service2 042923-blm-loc-service3 042923-blm-loc-service4 042923-blm-loc-service5 042923-blm-loc-service6
NORMAL  Illinois State University Student Trustee Ash Ebikhumi addressed Saturday morning the 2023 graduates of the College of Education at CEFCU Arena in Normal.

He noted for 8,000 students, faculty and visitors that he stood before them with immense pride and gratitude.

As you ventured through your unique Redbird journeys, you embraced the vibrant tapestry of experiences and opportunities that ISU has to offer, said Ebikhumi.

He said graduates faced doubt and adversity, but then quoted Jedi Master Yoda from "Star Wars": Do or do not. There is no try.

Ceremonies honoring around 5,000 total graduates, who will earn their degrees in either May or August, began Friday afternoon with the Mennonite College of Nursing, and continued through Saturday, concluding with the College of Business. Students in fine arts, interdisciplinary studies and university studies also graduated during Saturday morning's ceremony.

College of Education Dean Francis Godwyll said in his address that his colleges 60,000 alumni have gone on to work in all 50 states, plus 68 countries around the world.

He also said they get excellent teachers and leaders evaluations, and they persist in their fields.

I cant wait to see where you make your mark, Godwyll said.

ISU Interim President Aondover Tarhule gave comments, too. He said he acknowledges the graduates commitment and salutes their accomplishments.

Tarhule said he knows they will go on to do remarkable things. He said some will become innovators, advocates, teachers, artists, entertainers, businesspeople, or will fill jobs that havent yet been invented.

Whatever you choose to do, and however you choose to do it, and whomever you choose to do it with, and where you choose to do it, or however small or big you choose to do it, I am confident that you will succeed and you will change the world for the better, he said.

Before the ceremony, Tarhule told The Pantagraph the day would mean excitement and fulfillment for those graduating.

Its a measure of the fact they have reached a milestone  a goal that they set , he said.

The best of times

Attending Saturday were several varieties of supporters to graduates: families, friends and even students.

At least two seniors of Peorias Richwoods High School were in the arenas stands, just one week before attending their own graduation ceremony. Olivia Beck and Donte Smith both said they were recognizing their high schools assistant principal, Renee Sherie Andrews, who completed her doctorate in educational administration and foundations.

Beck said Andrews is a like a motherly figure to her, and so she was excited and very happy to see her graduate. She added its a big accomplishment.

Smith said Andrews is very respectful and patient.

Junias Holmes, from Grand Rapids, Michigan, earned his degree in public health, and said he's a first-generation college graduate. Walking the stage was exciting, he said.

Holmes said his favorite memories were made with the ISU Track & Field Team, including placing at the Missouri Valley Conference.

Also on the team is Matt Blanco, who majored in physical education. In spring of 2020, he said being conference champions in cross country was awesome.

Teaching kids and making an impact on their lives was another big accomplishment at ISU, Blanco said.

Walking across the stage, he said, was cool because it took five years of hard work to make it happen.

It was a bittersweet ceremony for the family of Zofia LeHew, who graduated with a marketing degree from the College of Business. Her father, Rich LeHew, described the day as: The best of times, and the worst of times.

Mr. LeHew said he lost his wife, Kim, Zofia's mom, to breast cancer one year ago.

When Zofia walked across the stage, her father said: I had to catch a few tears.

Nine family members and relatives of Zofia LeHew came to her graduation, including her 7-month old niece, Ripley Alley, of the Seattle area.

Rick LeHew said he was very proud of his only daughter, adding that she won a medal Friday with the track team at the Missouri Valley Conference javelin throwing contest.

The father said Saturday was a mix of emotions. He agreed Kim was with them in spirit.

Photos: 2023 Illinois State Football Spring Showcase
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

May 13, 1923: The new park board consisting of Reid S. Davidson, Mrs. E.R. Morgan and J.H. Hudson made an inspection of Miller Park and decided on a number of improvements. It will be recommended that the tourists camping ground be moved to a site in Steins Grove. There is adequate water supply at the new site.

75 years ago

May 13, 1948: The Ralston-Purina company of St. Louis, Mo., revealed it had an opportunity for nine acres here as a site for a soybean solvent, oil and meal plant. The site, west of Euclid Avenue and north of Olive Street, has won out over those in Mattoon, Tuscola, Champaign, Sterling and Clinton.

50 years agoMay 13, 1973: One hundred thousand down, the second hundred thousand to go. This month the McLean County Health Department shot its 100,000th immunization. The first immunization clinic, held 25 years ago, gave smallpox vaccinations and DPT (diptheria, pertussis, tetanus) inoculations.

25 years ago

May 13, 1998: Authorities removed a World War II-era hand grenade from the home of an elderly Normal woman, averting a potentially explosive situation. The woman, who asked not to be identified, found the grenade in her veteran husbands belongings after he died, but did not realize what it was until she read a story in The Pantagraph about a Massachusetts widow who found a similar apparent keepsake.

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'
SPRINGFIELD  The Illinois House passed a bill Friday that would bar anyone convicted of a felony, bribery, perjury or misuse of public funds while serving as a public official from ever being elected to a state or local office again.

That measure was introduced as an amendment to House Bill 351 on Thursday and moved quickly through the House Ethics and Elections Committee Friday morning with bipartisan support. It then went to the House floor, where it passed 106-0.

Current law bars anyone convicted of a felony from holding a state office until theyve completed their sentence. And a provision of the Illinois Municipal Code bars anyone who has ever been convicted of a felony from holding an elected municipal office.

But those people are free to run for the General Assembly, governor or any other constitutional office once theyve completed their sentence.

I think it's important to note that Illinois is the only state in the nation that bars an individual from running for office based on the office sought, as opposed to the crime committed, said the bills sponsor, Rep. Curtis Tarver, D-Chicago.

Former Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich was barred from running for state or local office in Illinois after his impeachment in 2009, but the ban was specific to him.

HB 351 would allow exceptions for people whose convictions have been reversed, if they are restored the right to run by terms of a pardon, if theyve received a restoration of rights by the governor or their rights are otherwise restored by law.

It also calls for setting up a task force to review current laws and policies about disqualification standards and make recommendations as to what criminal conduct should preclude an individual from holding public office.

The measure comes less than two weeks after the conclusion of the ComEd Four trial in which four former officials of Commonwealth Edison were convicted of engaging in a yearslong scheme to bribe former House Speaker Michael Madigan. They were convicted of giving lobbying contracts and no-work jobs to Madigan allies in exchange for favorable legislation in Springfield.

Madigan himself is scheduled to go on trial starting April 1, 2024, on racketeering charges related to his dealings with ComEd as well as his similar alleged dealings with AT&T Illinois, which agreed to pay a $23 million fine in a deferred prosecution agreement in October. Madigan is also accused of improperly wielding his power as both House speaker and head of the states Democratic Party to enrich himself via his real estate law firm.

The bill also came during the same week that the Illinois Senate confirmed Michael P. McCuskey, a retired state and federal court judge, to a full term as legislative inspector general. McCuskey was appointed to that post in February 2022 to succeed Carol Pope, who resigned in July 2021 saying she was frustrated at the General Assemblys lack of action on meaningful ethics reform.

In recent days, Republican lawmakers have been harshly critical of Democrats for not taking swift action on ethics reform following the ComEd Four convictions. Meanwhile, former Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, who succeeded Blagojevich after his impeachment, made a rare appearance in Springfield to deliver letters to Gov. J.B. Pritzker and legislative leaders urging them to call a special session to focus on ethics reform.

Photos: Pritzker sworn in for second term
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said the good news that the International Monitory Fund (IMF) board is set to approve Ghanas programme positions the country for accelerated economic and move towards the path of development.



The sacrifices that the country had to make since last year, the difficulties it may be that at long last, we are going to see the recovery because, with the approval of the IMF, we are then in a strong position to do other arrangements that will help our economy get back into a strong place, he added.



President Akufo-Addo stated this when the Catholic Bishops Conference paid a courtesy call on him at the Jubilee House in Accra Friday (May 12, 2023).



The IMF is set to approve Ghana's US$3billion programme by May 19, 2023, after the country received financial assurances from its external creditors.



President Akufo-Addo told the Bishops that today is a special day in the recent history of Ghana. At long last, after our various issues with the IMF, today, we are informed that the last hurdle towards our agreement with the fund has been overcome.



He explained that the Paris Club met today and formed the credit committee, co-chaired by China, and had okayed and approved Ghanas request, adding that and, in fact, put very strong word behind the approval. So it is fortuitous that you [Bishops] should be here on such a date.



He described the announcement as good news, which meant that hopefully, next Wednesday, the board itself would meet and give a final agreement to Ghanas demand.

Source: graphic.com.gh









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Hi-life musician Ofori Amponsahs performance at the just-ended Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) hosted at the Grand Arena of the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) on Saturday, May 6 was one of the refreshing moments of the night.



For about 10 minutes, Ofori Amponsah wearing an off-white political suit and wielding a walking stick in one hand, virtually got everyone in the auditorium on their feet as he rocked the stage with a medley of four of his evergreen bangers Hello Hello, Emmanuella, Otoolege and Odwo.



And according to him, last Saturdays showing is just the tip of the iceberg because he has been using his silence on the music scene for some time now to perfect his act.



Ofori Amponsah, also known as Mr All4Real, has been slammed one too many times of poor stagecraft especially when he performed with a live band but this time round, he just delivered with no stress leaving patrons asking for more at the end of his act.



In a chat with Graphic Showbiz, Ofori Amponsah explained what had brought about the change.



I have been criticised for not doing very well on stage and as a result, I have been busy rehearsing and recording in my house and last Saturday was evident of all the hard work and effort I have been making to enhance my performance.



You see, when you love what you do, you work on your weaknesses and move on and that is what I have just done. I think I am getting there and my hard work is paying off. All I do is music, so, if I have the chance to improve on what will enhance my career, I dont need to take chances.



Ghanaians should just brace themselves for more mind-blowing performances because I am coming back with fire. What Ghanaians witnessed at the 24th VGMA does not scratch the surface of what I have in store. I have a studio in my house and I have a band I always call on so I am always recording songs and rehearsing with the band to get my act together, he added.





At the Ghana Music Awards in 2006, Ofori Amponsah won Artiste of the Year, Most Popular Song of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Collaboration of the Year, Highlife Artiste of the Year and Highlife Song of the Year.

Source: graphic.com.gh









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Papua New Guinea's foreign minister has quit after a controversy over spending on the country's official delegation at King Charles III's coronation.



Justin Tkatchenko travelled with his daughter Savannah, who posted a TikTok showing her first-class plane journey and shopping spree in Singapore.



On Wednesday, he branded her critics "primitive animals".



Mr Tkatchenko's comments sparked protests in the capital Port Moresby on Friday outside Parliament House.



Papua New Guinea is a Commonwealth nation in the Pacific which has King Charles as its head of state.



In a statement on Friday, Mr Tkatchenko said he "stood aside" after consulting with Prime Minister James Marape.



He added that he wanted to ensure recent events did not interfere with upcoming official visits by US President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.



"I also want to ensure the truth of this matter is cleared and the misinformation and lies are corrected," he said.



Mr Tkatchenko and his daughter were criticised for travelling with at least 10 officials to see the coronation of King Charles, at a cost of almost $900,000, according to local newspaper Post-Courier.



Government spokesman Bill Toraso confirmed to the Reuters news agency 10 of its staff had travelled to London, alongside 10 guests.



In the since-deleted video, Savannah filmed her visit to luxury fashion stores in Singapore and her meal in the "stunning" first-class lounge on her way to London.



This prompted anger in Papua New Guinea, where some argued that public money would have been better spent on basic services.



Mr Tkatchenko blasted his daughter's critics in an interview with Australia's ABC.



"She's absolutely traumatised by these primitive animals," he said. "I call them primitive animals because they are."



"Jealousy is a curse. And, you know, these people clearly show that they have got nothing to do in their lives other than to put down people that want to do something good for their country."



He later apologised about his comments, which he said had been "taken the completely wrong way".



He added they were targeted only at individuals who had made "disgusting and vile comments" about his daughter, including "sexual and violent" threats.



Prime Minister James Marape asked Papua New Guineans to accept Mr Tkatchenko's apology, saying in a statement he too had been offended by the remarks.

Source: BBC









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Samuel Nartey George has described the primaries in the constituency as a contest between light and darkness.



According to him, he has not only represented the constituents well in the house of the legislature, but has also represented the party well by holding the feet of Nana Addo administration to the fire of accountability.



The Ningo-Prampram race is a straight fight between the incumbent and former constituency chairman Michael Tetteh. Speaking to Starr News about his chances in todays exercise, Sam George questioned the real motive of his contender in seeking to enter parliament.



Saturday (today) is a contest between light and darkness. A contest between anyone who stands for whats just, whats it honest, speaks the voice and mind of the ordinary Ghanaian, serves this country with all that he has. Has served his party, laid his life on the altar for his party on several occasions. Someone who is dedicated to both the course of the NDC and Ghana and the ordinary Ghanaian on one side and then someone who says hes looking for a position because he is a business man and wants to do business.



Someone who has no qualms with where his support comes from whether its from the despicable LGBTQ community or wherever, hes willing to take money from any and everybody because all he wants is power at all cost. Walks around making all kinds of promises he cannot fulfil. When he had a track record of never fulfilling the promises hes made in the past in this constituency, its a contest between light and darkness, the lawmaker stated.



Sam George in the last NDC primaries defeated Michael Tetteh by polling 407 votes against his 400 votes. Michael Tetteh then moved on to contest the Greater Accra chairmanship slot of the NDC this and lost to Emmanuel Nii Ashie Moore.



The delegates list has however now increased to over 1,700.



Reacting to the comments by the incumbent MP to Starr News, Michael Tetteh denied all the claims against him. He is also sure of victory in the ongoing exercise.



As the lead sponsor of the anti-gay bill, many groups and individuals have called on the NDC delegates to return Sam George to parliament to complete the work he has started.



Sam George recently commissioned an ultramodern KG complex for the Ahwiam D/A Basic School in his constituency worth GhC850,000 put up by the Dzata Foundation.

According to him, he has not only represented the constituents well in the house of the legislature, but has also represented the party well by holding the feet of Nana Addo administration to the fire of accountability.



The Ningo-Prampram race is a straight fight between the incumbent and former constituency chairman Michael Tetteh. Speaking to Starr News about his chances in todays exercise, Sam George questioned the real motive of his contender in seeking to enter parliament.



Saturday (today) is a contest between light and darkness. A contest between anyone who stands for whats just, whats it honest, speaks the voice and mind of the ordinary Ghanaian, serves this country with all that he has. Has served his party, laid his life on the altar for his party on several occasions. Someone who is dedicated to both the course of the NDC and Ghana and the ordinary Ghanaian on one side and then someone who says hes looking for a position because he is a business man and wants to do business.



Someone who has no qualms with where his support comes from whether its from the despicable LGBTQ community or wherever, hes willing to take money from any and everybody because all he wants is power at all cost. Walks around making all kinds of promises he cannot fulfil. When he had a track record of never fulfilling the promises hes made in the past in this constituency, its a contest between light and darkness, the lawmaker stated.



Sam George in the last NDC primaries defeated Michael Tetteh by polling 407 votes against his 400 votes. Michael Tetteh then moved on to contest the Greater Accra chairmanship slot of the NDC this and lost to Emmanuel Nii Ashie Moore.



The delegates list has however now increased to over 1,700.



Reacting to the comments by the incumbent MP to Starr News, Michael Tetteh denied all the claims against him. He is also sure of victory in the ongoing exercise.



As the lead sponsor of the anti-gay bill, many groups and individuals have called on the NDC delegates to return Sam George to parliament to complete the work he has started.



Sam George recently commissioned an ultramodern KG complex for the Ahwiam D/A Basic School in his constituency worth GhC850,000 put up by the Dzata Foundation.

Source: Ghanaweb.com









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The National Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, has assured that Saturday's presidential and parliamentary primaries will go ahead as planned.



He said the party has already taken steps to resolve a court suit brought against it by one of its three presidential aspirants, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, which sought to injunct the party from going ahead with the elections.



Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Friday, May 12, 2023, the NDCs Chairman said, with the court case now withdrawn, all was set for the party to hold the internal elections.



He commended Dr Duffuor and his team for taking steps to withdraw the court case they initiated against the party.



Mr Asiedu Nketiah, however, urged party members to use the partys internal structures to resolve any issues they may have with the party before resorting to the court.



He said the party has elaborate structures to deal with all issues regarding internal elections and that it was right for party members to exhaust such structures before going to court.



He further indicated that although the party had entered into an agreement with the Electoral Commission (EC) to conduct the internal elections, the party also reserves the right to use its own mechanisms to conduct the said elections if the EC fails to do so.



He said the party today [Friday, May 12, 2023] held a Zoom meeting with its executives and have come to a conclusion that the internal elections remain an internal affair of the party and no other external party.



He said the party engaged the EC to conduct the election since the EC was a neutral party, however, the party will not allow itself to be taken hostage by the EC.



Mr Asiedu Nketiah admonished aggrieved party members who resort to court not to add the EC as a party to their suit since the party has granted the EC an indemnity concerning their internal elections.





Source: graphic.com.gh









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Former Volta Regional Minister, Kofi Dzamesi says the only person who can break the 8 for the NPP in next year's election is Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.



Dzamasi, who is now the Chief Executive Officer of Bui Power Authority, was addressing a meeting of party faithful in the Volta Region on Friday.



"Dr. Bawumia is the only one who can break the 8 for NPP. I support him," Kofi Dzamesi said amidst applause by the party faithful.



Dzamesi's emphatic endorsement of Dr. Bawumia came as a surprise to many, considering the fact that he has been a key ally of Alan Kyerematen's previous campaigns.



At one time, he was at the forefront of Alan's flagbearership bid and his public declaration of support for Dr. Bawumia is surely a heavy blow to the Alan campaign.



A number of key allies of Alan have already crossed carpet to offer their support to the Vice President who is tipped to win the NPP flagbearer contest.

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"Good riddance to ..." was the response by Sam Nartey George the Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram who is seeking re-election in the ongoing primary when he was asked about what he makes of Dr Kwabena Duffuor's withdrawal from the presidential primary.



"I told you that Kwabena Duffuor was not in this race to contest John Mahama, you remember? I told you that he was contesting against spoilt ballots. Spoilt ballots have beaten Kwabena Duffuor, too badly," he told journalists who are in the Ningo Prampram contesting covering the primaries.



A contender in the Ningo Prampram Constituency primary, Micheal Kwetey Tetteh is hinting of an undesirable outcome should 16 delegates from two branches be prevented from voting.



The High Court in Tema has ordered the NDC to allow some 16 delegates to partake in the primaries in the Ningo-Prampram constituency.



These individuals are executives from two branches in the constituency who were not sworn in following the partys branch elections.



As a result, they were also not added to the constituencys delegates list, thus leaving them out of today's primaries.



The aggrieved executives, led by Jonas Tetteh Obinya, Mattew Ayiku, Mathias Narh, Emmanuel Tawiah and Joshua Tetteh dragged the party to court to compel the party and the constituency executives to swear them in before the upcoming primaries.



The court presided over Emmanuel Ankamah, a Court of Appeal judge, sitting as an additional High Court Judge ordered the party to not only add their names to the delegates list but also swear them in to enable them partake in the election.



Speaking to journalists on Saturday, Mr Tetteh said, "where even the two that have been sworn in as ordered by the court will be prevented to vote. This election will not end well, I am assuring you," he said.



Mr Tetteh was optimistic of his chances at winning the ticket to represent the NDC in parliament this time round having missed out at the last primary with seven votes to Sam Nartey George.

Source: graphic.com.gh









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Former President and Presidential hopeful in the ongoing national primaries of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama says there is no disunity in the party despite Dr. Kwabena Duffour withdrawing from the presidential contest.



Dr. Kwabena Duffour, who was vying to become the Presidential candidate of the NDC in the 2024 elections, withdrew from the primaries in a shocking turn of events Friday evening.



He announced his decision to the public yesterday after raising concerns about the partys voters register.



The former Finance Minister, Dr. Duffour had filed for an injunction against the NDC presidential primaries, disclosing there are errors in the register that make it incomplete and inaccurate to be used for the elections happening today, May 13.



His campaign team emphasized that using the register will cause irreparable damage to their candidate, Dr. Kwabena Duffour, hence insisting on the legal action against the party until yesterday, after negotiations with the aggrieved aspirant, he dropped the law suit giving the party the opportunity to hold the primaries.



However, Dr. Duffour delivered the news that he will no longer contest the flagbearer race of the NDC.



Responding to whether or not Dr. Duffours decision could have a negative impact on the NDC, the partys favorite, former President John Mahama said NDC is a family and all of them are part of that family and so, as long as they are willing to come together and lets work towards 2024, I dont think there is any problem.



He stressed that the party is very solid and this action by Dr. Duffour isnt going to cause any divisions.



"His withdrwawal at the last minute there is no change in anything . . . there are many delegates who don't even know he has withdrawn so the results is still going to be what it is, I expect that it will be overwhelming victory . . . there is no disunity in the party, absolutely no, where is the disuntiy? one contender was dissatisfied with the process and withdrew it doesn't mean there is disunity," he said after casting his vote in Bole-Bamboi in the Savannah Region.



According to him the only problem is Dr. Duffuor waiting till the last three days to the elections and deciding to file an injunction and later withdrawing the injunction and withdrawing from the elections.



"It made it very difficult to deal with some of the issues they were raising at that time and so I think that that is where the problem was, but this things happen so we just look forward," he added.



Mr. John Mahama said this while speaking to the press at a polling station where the voting is taking place today.





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Former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Defunct Unibank, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor Jnr who is running in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary primaries in Sekyere Afram Plains Constituency has categorically stated that he will unseat his uncle in the race.



Duffuor Jnr, who wants to enter the political arena, says it is about who can deliver for the people of the constituency and not just representation in parliament without impact.



The people of the constituency have been crying for me for long, its been 12 years of unfulfilled promises all these years, and its time for one of their own to lead them.



The Sekyere Afram Plains Constituency needs a person who can mobilize resources and bring development. We dont need an MP who will just sit and wait for salary to come.



I am winning the primaries to lead my people into parliament in 2024, he told the media.



The current MP, Alex Adomako  Mensah is a blood brother of Dr. Kwabena Duffuor Snr. and thus relates to Duffuor Jnr as an uncle.



There are some reports that suggest Duffuor Jnr has said he will win by a margin of 70%



Prior to its collapse, Duffour Jnr served as CEO of Unibank which was ranked as Ghanas sixth largest bank by assets in 2015, and one of several big companies in HODA Holdings stable of 15.



Before then, he was Chief Operating Officer of Unibank for over three years.



He is a former Credit Analyst with Standard Bank, Ghana Limited. He holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Banking and International Finance from Cass Business School, United Kingdom

Source: Ghanaweb.com









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The National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, who today visited some polling stations where the party's presidential and parliamentary primaries are ongoing, has been spotted leaving the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai constituency amidst heavy security.



Violence broke out at the constituency over over-voting allegations, resulting in a fierce fight among the delegates.



Mr. Johnson Asiedu Nketia, popularly called "General Mosquito", who had gone to the on his visit to monitor the progress of the primaries, was however seen escorted to his vehicle in the company of Police personnel preventing the crowd from reaching him.





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Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Actress and the 2020 defeated Parliamentary candidate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at Tema Central constituency, Ebi Bright has won the NDC Parliamentary elections held at Presco Park, Tema Community 4.



Ebi Bright won with 520 votes against her contenders, Courage Makafui Nunekpeku and Carl Owuompesika who polled 409 and 38 respectively.



She has therefore been elected as the Tema Central Parliamentary candidate for the party into the 2024 elections.



Ms Bright is also a social worker, talk show host, and media producer. She studied Management at the University of Leicester, United Kingdom, and also has four levels of French language proficiency awarded by le Centre International de Recherche et dEtudes de Langues (CIREL), France.



She also holds a degree in Development Communication from the African University College of Communications in Accra, Ghana











Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Dr Kwabena Duffuor Jnr has called for an immediate recount of the ballot papers after earlier results did not go in his favour.



Reports from his constituency, Sekyere Afram Plains indicate that he lost by nine (9) votes.



Provisional results put Duffuor Jnr in second position with contender Hajia Nasira declared winner after she garnered 211 votes while Dr Duffour garnered 203 votes.



Incumbent Dr Adomako who is also an uncle of Dr Duffuor jnr polled 86 votes with Edward Brenya gaining 65 of the vote cast.



With a slim margin of defeat, it is believed that the camp of Duffuor jnr is displeased with the counting and has thus called for a recount of the papers.



Source: Peacefmonline.com









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" " On a rainy day, graduates of the Morehouse College Class of 2013 cheered the commencement speech given by President Barack Obama, one of the 10 on our list.  JASON REED/Reuters/Corbis

"I have a dream."

"Four score and seven years ago."

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Some speeches are so memorable we can quote them at will. But few of them are commencement speeches. How many of us can recall the commencement speech at our college graduation?

What if a commencement speech was not something to be endured, but to be treasured? And what if, instead of the same tired sentiments to "go forward and seize the day," the 20-minute address dispensed a glimpse of humanity's higher self?

Thankfully, some of those exist. But it's not all rainbows and butterflies. Many memorable speeches have a touch of the macabre that foreshadow the underbelly of adulthood.

After reading dozens of transcripts and viewing hours of footage, we've distilled 10 famous commencement speeches to their essence. Some speeches are memorable because of their time in history or because millions watched it online. Some were later published as books. At least one became a hit song. Here they are, in chronological order.
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:

Black Summer smoke. Credit: NASA

The 2019-2020 bushfire season was devastating. Vast areas of pristine forest burned, many for the first time in memory. By some estimates, a billion native animals died up and down Australia's east coast. Dozens of people died.

While Sydney's skies are blue again, Australia's Black Summer has kept scientists around the globe busy. The sheer size of these megafires produced startling effects. Recently, researchers found the huge volumes of smoke ate away at our protective ozone layer.

Now, new research by American scientists suggests the Black Summer fires were massive enough to influence the El Nino Southern Oscillation cycle. It's one of the most important drivers of unusual weather over the entire globeand one which Australians know intimately.

The three successive years of La Nina we just had? They could have been made more likely by the Black Summer fires. The reason, strangely enough, is the smoke.

But it's important not to say the link is proven. While groundbreaking, this research relies on a single model. It's too early to clearly say bushfire smoke can trigger La Nina.

Where there's fire, there's smoke

We've long known that the huge volume of ash blown high into the upper atmosphere by a big volcanic eruption can cool Earth's surface for many months, or even years.

We also know volcanoes can influence the tropical Pacific, and thus affect whether an El Nino or a La Nina phase develops.

How? By blocking light. Particles of ash reduce how much light gets to the surface.

Volcanic ash gets blown high into the stratosphere, the part of the atmosphere just above the clouds where long-haul airplanes fly. Then, sunlight gets reflected before it reaches the ground, thus cooling the surface much like an umbrella can.

So much forest and scrub burned over the Black Summer that smoke plumes could be seen from space. Credit: NASA

Is bushfire smoke the same as volcanic ash?

It's tempting to equate smoke with ash, and assume a large enough bushfire would have similar effects to a volcano.

But there are important differences. Most obviously, a bushfire does not smell of rotten eggs.

That might sound unimportant, but the rotten egg smellwhich comes from sulfurindicates major differences in the composition of volcanic ash and bushfire smoke.

Different chemicals could mean very different responses to sunlight once in the atmosphere, which in turn could affect how much light is reflected.

Second, bushfires don't explode.

A decent volcano erupts with enough force to blast smoke high into the stratosphere. Bushfires don't have the same propulsive force.

Bushfire smoke is hot, though, and hot smoke rises well. Some of the smoke from the Black Summer fires reached the stratosphere, although after a much longer interval than for volcanic eruptions.

So, does a large bushfire have the same effect on climate as a volcano?

The American researchers begin by checking the similarities using climate model simulations. They found bushfire smoke does indeed shade the surface from sunlight in these simulations.

How much? Over a region of the south-eastern Pacific, about 150 terawatts of sunlight bounced back to spacethe equivalent of about 100,000 coal power plants.

Whiter, thicker clouds make the surface of the ocean cooler. Credit: Shutterstock

Clouds matter

The surprising finding is how it happens. In contrast to eruptions, bushfire smoke didn't reflect the sunlight directly. Instead, clouds were responsible.

How does that work? This is where the magic of the climate system kicks in. Our atmosphere, oceans and lands are constantly interacting with each other.

In their simulations, Black Summer smoke was first blown eastward by strong winds in the atmosphere. Under specific conditions, some smoke particles can interact with droplets in clouds and make clouds thicker and brighter. One region where this can happen is the subtropical south-eastern Pacific.

The researchers were able to show the brightness of the clouds over this area increased considerably just around the time when the smoke particles arrived.

These brighter, whiter clouds reflected more sunlight back into space and shaded the surface underneath. The net effect: cooler seawater.

The effect was particularly important because of the timing. Smoke-whitened clouds emerged around our summer solstice in late December, which is the same time of year when the strength of the incoming sunlight peaks in the southern hemisphere.

How is this linked to La Nina?

Follow the chain: huge volumes of smoke blow east where they whiten clouds, cool the seawater, and cause less water to evaporate.

Surface winds carried this cooler, drier air over the tropical Pacific, where it cooled the ocean surface again, and made it harder for tropical storms to form.

A cooler sea surface in the tropical Pacific is a hallmark of La Nina, the cold phase of the El Nino Southern Oscillation cycle.

That's how this research was able to trace a link between Black Summer smoke and the rare back-to-back La Nina events in 2019-20 and 2020-21. As you know, we ended up having an even rarer triple La Nina in 2021-22, though the research period ends before this.

Smoke plumes reached as far as South America. Credit: NASA

Is the link now proven? Not quite

This study offers a consistent physical explanation for how bushfires might influence the El Nino cycle.

It's yet another example of how complex climate science can be, and how much we can still be surprised and challenged by what mother nature presents us.

But there are a few caveats to keep in mind.

For one, the ENSO cycle in the simulation was heading for a double La Nina even without the impact of the smoke. The simulation stops in the winter of 2021, which is before the real-world ENSO tipped into a third La Nina.

What does that mean? In short, we can't know for sure if the effect of the bushfire smoke really did cause the triple La Nina.

Another caveat is the fact the study relied on a single climate model, and relies heavily on the representation of clouds in that model.

That's a potential problem, because we know cloudsand especially their interactions with aerosols like smokeare still the largest source of uncertainties and model errors.

To prove or disprove the link, we'll have to simulate the impact of ballooning Black Summer smoke plumes across many different models.

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

Indigenous Mapuche women of Chile weave on a loom; a new study has linked an ancient Asian lineage with the First Americans.

As the last continents to be settled by humans, the question of how and when people first came to the Americas has long intrigued scientists.

A new genetics study published Tuesday in Cell Reports finds that some of the first arrivals came from China during two distinct migrations: the first during the last ice age, and the second shortly after.

"Our findings indicate that besides the previously indicated ancestral sources of Native Americans in Siberia, the northern coastal China also served as a genetic reservoir contributing to the gene pool," Yu-Chun Li, one of the report authors, told AFP.

Li added that during the second migration, the same lineage of people settled in Japan, which could help explain similarities in prehistoric arrowheads and spears found in the Americas, China and Japan.

It was once believed that ancient Siberians, who crossed over a land bridge that existed in the Bering Strait linking modern Russia and Alaska, were the sole ancestors of Native Americans.

More recent research, from the late 2000s onwards, has signaled more diverse sources from Asia could be connected to an ancient lineage responsible for founding populations across the Americas, including Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico and California.

Known as D4h, this lineage is found in mitochondrial DNA, which is inherited only from mothers and is used to trace maternal ancestry.

The team from the Kunming Institute of Zoology embarked on a ten-year hunt for D4h, combing through 100,000 modern and 15,000 ancient DNA samples across Eurasia. They eventually landed on 216 contemporary and 39 ancient individuals who came from the ancient lineage.

By analyzing the mutations that had accrued over time, looking at the samples' geographic locations and using carbon dating, they were able to reconstruct the D4h lineage's origins and expansion history.

The results revealed two migration events. The first was between 19,500 and 26,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum, when ice sheet coverage was at its greatest and climate conditions in northern China were likely inhospitable.

The second occurred during the melting period, between 19,000 and 11,500 years ago. Increasing human populations during this period might have triggered migrations.

Coastal migration

In both cases, the scientists think the travelers were seafarers who docked in America and traveled along the Pacific coast by boats. This is because a grassy passageway between two ice sheets in modern Canada, known as the "inland ice-free corridor," was not yet opened.

In the second migration, a subgroup branched out from northern coastal China to Japan, contributing to the Japanese people, especially the indigenous Ainu, the study said, a finding that chimes with archeological similarities between ancient people in the Americas, China and Japan.

Li said a strength of the study was the number of samples they discovered, and complementary evidence from Y chromosomal DNA showing male ancestors of Native Americans lived in northern China at the same time as the female ancestors, made them confident of their findings.

"However, we don't know in which specific place in northern coastal China this expansion occurred and what specific events promoted these migrations," he said.

"More evidence, especially ancient genomes, are needed to answer these questions."

More information: Qing-Peng Kong, Mitogenome evidence shows two radiation events and dispersals of matrilineal ancestry from Northern Coastal China to the Americas and Japan, Cell Reports (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112413. www.cell.com/cell-reports/full  2211-1247(23)00424-2 Journal information: Cell Reports

 2023 AFP
MAYS LANDING  Communication students at Atlantic Cape Community College were recognized during the colleges 16th annual Communication Awards ceremony, held April 28 in the Walter E. Edge Hall Theatre at the Mays Landing campus.

The evening included more than 100 awards bestowed in more than 40 categories. The event didnt just recognize current communications students  alumni, faculty and media professionals were also honored.

Communication Major of the Year was awarded to Katherine Kat Jaques, of Buena. She was recognized for her leadership within the Communication Club.

Some of the additional individuals recognized were Atlantic Cape alumnus Nate Evans Jr., class of 2015, of Mays Landing, who was recognized as the Communication Alumni of the Year; and Christian Monroe of Cedar Creek High School and Kyle Warren of CharterTech High School for the Performing Arts, both recognized as Faculty Pioneers for contributions to communication students in their districts.

Atlantic Capes Communication program is a family, Communication Awards Club Co-Advisor and Communication Professor Keith Forrest said. When I think of this generation, I know that our world is in very capable hands. I am very proud of the work our students do here.

A full list of award recipients can be found at atlantic.edu/news.
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP  High school student Matthew DiTizio, of Egg Harbor Township, recently won third place in a statewide music competition created to raise awareness of substance use prevention efforts.

The Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jerseys Your Song! Your Voice! Shout Down Drugs music competition was held virtually April 26. The contest was hosted on the website ShoutDownDrugs.com. Winners were announced live at the end of the event.

In its 19th year, the competition challenges New Jersey high school students with musical abilities to be leaders among their peers and take a stand against substance abuse. Winners are chosen by a panel of independent judges, in addition to online voting by the public.

DiTizio received third place with his original song Revealed, which touches on the pain of addiction with lines such as, They fuelin their addiction and addin to the bills. Its just another pill before the truth gets revealed.

DiTizio received a $2,000 music contract and will be performing his song at statewide events for the next year. To watch a recording of the contest, visit ShoutDownDrugs.com.